Episode 11: The Revengers
I'm halfway through the story! Yay! I'm excited to write the second half because I have more solid plans compared to the first half. And in response to Guest about wanting more acting scenes or the cast actually working on their jobs, there will be more chances where you see them work. Keep an eye out for them.
Genre: Romance/Humor
It was finally Friday and the plan was set for tonight. Kairi was eager because it was time to finally to bring her nemesis down. If what Namine's mom said was to be true, then the actors had the upper hand already. They just hoped it was right. Everyone was gathered at Kairi's house near the garage where Sora was applying the wires to Roxas and Kairi's clothes in the back of the van. Namine couldn't believe the type of van Kairi bought. It had the looks of a plumbing van, but inside were tons of tech ranging from monitors to computers, and other equipment she can't name. It kind of felt ridicules that any actor would spent money on it at all. "Now, Namine and I will be around close to your surroundings," Sora informed Roxas and Kairi as he gave them each a tracker to put in their pockets. It was a simple circled device that was the size of dime. "So in case you guys run into any trouble, we'll help fix it."
"What happens we get the information we need?" Hayner asked.
"Simple. We try to destroy every possible evidence of it and Selphie has nothing to cover herself with, thus her bad girl image will stay with her forever," Kairi happily replied. "But I wonder how bad it is that the poor guy is forced to be with her."
"We'll see when we find out," Namine answered. "I still can't believe the things you have here. The only thing missing right now is—."
"Here are you and Sora's headsets," Pence interrupted, heading the gadgets to the two. It was a small bluetooth headset that seemed to be built for phones, but it wasn't. "Me, Hayner, and Olette will be feeding you information as Roxas and Kairi can't wear these. They would be too obvious."
"Why do I feel like you were some secret agent in another life?" Namine wondered, looking at Kairi, and she seemed to like the idea.
"Ohh… that would be so cool. Me kicking some butt and shooting stuff up. Sign me up! Or better yet! After this show, I should try and do action movies!"
"Good luck doing your own stunts because they're a lot brutal when it comes to movies," Sora advised. "I did one action movie as a kid and was eager to do something on my own rather than have a stunt double do it for me. Those invisible wires can hurt," he recalled.
"I don't care! I'm going to make it one of my goals!" Kairi hastily replied and then her phone ringed. "Hm? Hello? Finally! We need to head out soon, so just go through my gate and meet us by the garage. My password is the same as always." Then she hung up on the phone. "Rikku is here!"
"Oh my god! I just realized I get to meet an old cast member!" Namine beamed, making Roxas laughed. "What's so funny? Don't mock me!"
"Nothing. It's nice to know you still scream internally about other celebrities," he smirked.
"I wish I can slap you right now," Namine smiled, looking all innocent.
"Then you should just do it," he playfully taunted.
"Oohhh, we get to slap Roxas? Can I go first?!" a familiar voice chimed in as she revealed herself. It was Rikku holding onto a laptop of hers while looking at her former co-stars. "You know, I thought you were kidding about this, but now that I'm here, I see it is very serious. Plus, I just saw your fight with Selphie on YouTube."
"Hey Rikku!" Kairi greeted, giving her a hug. "It's been a long time."
"That's what happens when you and I have different filming schedules." Rikku scanned the area to see familiar faces greeting her and she did same. Then she finally saw Namine who was staring at her whom seemed to be frozen. "Let me guess… Namine?"
"You know my name?" Namine said in disbelief.
"Of course! There's so much buzz about you these days! Like a new girl on the block ready to take the world by storm! Three episodes in and people are becoming interested again. That says a lot about your addition to the show."
"It was nothing. I-I'm just doing my best," Namine stammered.
"Enough about her public recognition," Kairi interrupted. "Let's hurry on up!" she continued, slamming the passenger door.
"How do you deal with her?" Namine asked Rikku, always wondering how people handle Kairi's behavior.
"I don't know. Kairi seems to have gotten more ambitious and not in a good way."
"It's probably the whole Selphie thing," Namine answered. "I never seen her so cray-cray," she laughed. "I'm going to go inside now. Hope we can talk more while we have the chance."
"Yeah…" Rikku trailed off and saw Sora, signaling him to come over with her head. "I know it's been a while since I last saw Kairi, but was she always like this when I left?" she asked, curious about her behavior and Sora didn't immediately answer her. "Sora, I'm serious. What's the deal? You must know something."
"She usually acts a bit more of a… how do I say this nicely? More of a bitch when she's around Namine."
"What a nice way to put it. It only took one sentence for me to figure something felt off."
"She's jealous of Roxas and Namine's relationship."
"Why? Do they have something going on? It's not like she and Roxas were dating in real life."
"Yeah, but you know, it has to do something with—."
"Sora! Rikku! If you don't get in the van now, I'll come over there and throw you in myself!" Kairi screamed, meaning the two had to finish their conversation at another time.
~ Our Life is Not a TV Show or Maybe ~
Pence had driven the van to the carnival with everyone inside it. It took almost half an hour from their location, but an extra ten minutes to find a close parking spot to the entrance. Thankfully, someone pulled out and he drove into the available lot. Roxas slid the van door open from the side and got out. "Man it's kind of cold tonight," he said. "It's a good thing I brought my jacket." Sora and Namine got out too and were rubbing their sides from the low temperature. "And I see you guys didn't."
"Shut up Roxas," Sora sneered, making Roxas laugh a little. He noticed Namine was cold and was about to offer her his jacket for comfort. He started to take his off until Kairi quickly came into the scene and offered hers instead to the girl.
"Here," she bluntly said, shoving her pink jacket in the girl's hands. "I don't need it, but please don't get it dirty."
"Um… thank you?" Namine wasn't sure how to respond because it felt out of the blue for Kairi to lend her something of hers. Besides the odd moment, she looked at the sight in front of her. The Island Carnival Festival was a stunning sight to look in her opinion at this hour. She saw the colorful, dazzling lights flickering in the area, the screams of carnival goers from the rides and the music being played in the background. It was her first time here and she hoped it will be a memorable experience. She was for sure going to remember this, considering how she's helping bring down Selphie.
"Pretty isn't it?" Sora asked her.
"Yeah. It's like what I see in the movies," she responded.
Kairi got close to Roxas and whispered to him. "I knew what you were going to do, but you were too slow. Shucks. Well, let's go now before—!" Roxas' phone soon interrupted her sentence. "Speak of the devil. That means she knows we are here."
"Hi Selphie!" Roxas forcefully greeted. "You're in there already? Man, you should've waited for us by the entrance." He felt a harsh nudge from Kairi, signaling him that it would have been a bad idea or their cover would be blown. "Anyways, where are you now? Alright, Kairi and I will be there shortly."
"So where is Satan?" Kairi asked.
"In line for the Zipper."
"Oh! I wanna ride that! Let's go!" Sora cheered, wanting to feel the thrill and excitement through the carnival rides. He was about to take off until Kairi held onto the back of his shirt, holding him back. "Hey!" he playfully pouted.
"Careful Sora. We can't have you gallivanting off to the same ride as us," Kairi told him. "You and Namine are technically not here, so as far as Selphie know, it's only me and Roxas."
"Then what's close to Zipper?" Sora asked. Moments after, it turned out that the closest ride was none other than a kiddie ride called the Dizzy Dragons, which he and Namine happened to be one right now.
"Come on, at least pretend to have some fun," Namine said, holding onto the wheel between the two. "Woah!"
"Someone save me," he pleaded.
Elsewhere, Roxas and Kairi were in line for the Zipper next to Selphie and her supposed boyfriend, Irvine. On the outside, Kairi was acting pretty mature, given her arch-enemy was no more than a feet from her, and hasn't beaten her up yet. However, she was screaming internally inside, wanting to silt her throat. Okay, maybe not literally. To make the time go by fast, she spent it by fixing Roxas' clothes. Over and over that it eventually was starting to irritate him. "Kairi! I think the collar on my shirt is good. Now please stop."
Kairi slightly screeched from her teeth. "Sorry. Time just seems to be going slowly."
"It's only been five minutes," Roxas replied.
"Yeah Kairi. Just take a chill pill," Selphie happily advised with a fake smile and Kairi quickly flashed one back in response. "See Irvine, I told you I made amends with my old friends. Aren't you excited that we're going to ride the Zipper?! It's one of my favorites!"
"Yeah, you told me," Irvine answered. "About ten damn times," he whispered, looking away from her.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Nothing is more exciting than me being here with you," he casually played it off, looking into her eyes.
"Isn't he the dreamiest?" Selphie asked, looking at Roxas and Kairi.
"Of course, but we're the better couple," Kairi laughed off, wrapping her arm around Roxas. "I mean, we've been going out for two years now!"
"Oh? But Irvine and I…" Selphie stopped looking at the boy, and then moved her eyes at the two. "Did it."
"Oh my god! No way!" Kairi said in higher pitch with a snobby attitude. "Like I totally didn't think you would do such a thing."
"Come on Kairi. You and I both know I would do something like this," she admitted with no shame. "There's a spot for you Roxas if care to join one day."
"Whoa! No way! I'm good!" Roxas retorted, backing away a bit, feeling the conversation was getting awkward now. It made the two of them feel rather uncomfortable and dirty inside; on the other hand, everyone else heard Selphie's disturbing words through the wire and shuddered in disgust. They felt the need to cleanse themselves now.
"Oh my god. I think I need a drink to drain out the words I just heard…" Pence groaned out, opening the driver's door. "One of you stay and watch while I get us something."
"Yes, please… and some snacks too!" Hayner added.
"Hey look! You guys must go in!" Kairi noticed as the man was signaling the other couple to go inside the ride. "Don't want to hold up the line now." Selphie and Irvine got inside and the man closed the cage where he checked to see if it was secure. "I pray their compartment flies off when the thing starts to spin," Kairi whispered to Roxas.
"I think I'm traumatize by her words," he claimed.
"Alright look. We need to place the trackers on those idiots, but it has to be their back pockets," Kairi informed Roxas. "Since the tracker we have is like a dime, they won't notice it."
"Do you have some kind of plan to go with that logic of yours?"
"Yes. As much as I hate to say this, but you need to grope her butt. Swoon her over or something. Anything to distract the wench." The two then heard the man signaling them to get inside the ride and both got in as the cage they were in started to swing around as they try to get comfortable. "You know, I want to thank you for going through with this."
"Of course Kairi. You're my friend and friends help each other."
"I was thinking more than friends."
"You just love to kill the moment huh?"
Elsewhere, Sora and Namine exited their kiddie ride and she actually felt a bit woozy. She couldn't believe she got dizzy from a children's ride while Sora was being a downer. "Can you believe I pretended to have fun? Only to actually get dizzy," she fumbled through her words.
"Namine, we were only on it for like three minutes and probably spun for only three miles."
"Fine! What ride do you want to go on?" she asked nicely, hoping to lift the mood.
"You sure because you might regret it. I love to go on attractions that can give me a small adrenaline rush."
"Please," Namine brushed off. "Back in Twilight Town, we had an amusement park."
"For a place that has the word 'town' in it, it sure is pretty big," Sora pointed out, remembering his hometown. He scanned the area, looking for one particular ride because it was his favorite one at the fair. Through the huge crowds of people walking in every direction, he looked above as the ride should be easy to spot. Eventually, he found it. "Alright, let's go now!" he said, grabbing Namine's wrist.
"What ride is it?" she asked.
"That one," he pointed to and Namine looked to see a looping coaster where she heard numerous cries and screams coming from it. "It's called the Fire Ball."
"On second thought, maybe we should try another ride…" she protested, chickening out as she tried to get out of Sora's grasp. What set her off was the fact that the attraction put the riders upside down for a significant amount of time. Namine loved to go any typed a roller coaster unless it had a loop because she was always terrified of falling out of her seat.
"Hey! You made me choose, so you're going through with it!" he sternly said, pulling Namine back as he approached the line.
"No! I'm not going on what can send me to the morgue!"
"Namine Hamasaki! Quit acting like a child! You are coming with me!"
"No…!" she cried. "You won't make me! I can be a strong girl!" Before she knew it, Sora picked her up and draped her over his shoulder. "Hey! That's not fair!" He got them in line and many people were staring at the two because of the situation they were in. Eventually, they were up and he managed to get her inside as the man started to lower the shoulder harness. "I'm going to get you for this Sora. I'll see to it!"
"Yeah, yeah. Enough about your dumb vendetta and just enjoy the ride. We were in line for a couple of minutes, so let's not waste it."
"We should be paying attention to the mission. How else are things going to move forward if we keep on having fun?"
"Too bad. I want some fun!"
Roxas, Kairi, Selphie, and Irvine exited the Zipper where the guys ended up talking to each other of how crazy it was since Irvine's phone dropped out of his pocket and the screen completely broke along the whole ride. They were joking around while the girls had a small chat. "I see our boyfriends are having fun, especially Irvine. He should have more guy friends to hang out with," Selphie smirked. "Always playing off that loner persona to draw women in. But of course that worked and here I am."
"Here you are. He makes you a better person," Kairi lied. "Cuz that whole bad girl image of yours was starting to wear down."
"I know right. When I met the man, it was love at first sight," Selphie swooned. All of this made Kairi want to barf because it was obvious she was trying very hard in putting up an act.
"Don't worry man. I'm sure your provider will lend you a free replacement. Same thing happen to me once," Roxas told Irvine.
"Thanks man, but I'm gonna be phone less for the rest of the night," Irvine replied.
"Come on. You can't have fun if you keep looking at that screen of yours."
"Hey Irvine!" Kairi greeted and stood close to him. "Selphie has been telling me great things about you guys." In the midst of this, Kairi had the tracker within her palm. She carefully looked at Selphie in case she might suspect something and softly placed the tracker in Irvine's back pocket. She then signaled Roxas to do the same by swaying her head to the right twice.
"Selphie! Looks like your boyfriend is phone less for the night," he informed her, approaching her, getting the tracker ready by placing it in his hand.
"That's ok. He gets to pay attention to me instead of looking at that damn screen of his."
"And this!" Roxas took Selphie in his arms and placed his left hand on her butt. Kairi had a horrified look on her face of the compromising position while their friends in the van stood frozen with drinks in their hands. They may not visually see it, but they can clearly picture it from Roxas' words and tone.
"Alright that's enough!" Kairi swiftly grabbed Roxas to pull him away from the She-Devil. "Did you have to so over the top?" she gritted through her teeth in a hush tone.
"Hey, do whatever it takes right?" he softly replied and noticed something. Selphie's boyfriend didn't look phased of what he did to Selphie. Normally a guy would be defensive at another guy if he was getting intimate or better yet, punching the man, but there was no reaction from Irvine at all. He knew something was up. "So whose up for more rides?!" he suggested.
~ Our Life is Not a TV Show or Maybe ~
After riding majority of the attractions at the carnival, the two couples finally took a seat to eat some food. Sora and Namine ended up drifting apart from everyone else due to Sora's demand of riding almost every ride, much to her dismay. It was starting to exhaust her. Meanwhile in the stake out van, everyone in it were happily eating their food that Pence bought. Rikku was drinking from her soda cup while browsing on her laptop. "What are you doing Rikku?" Olette asked. "We should be paying attention to the mission."
"Uh huh. Nothing, but endless noises of our friend's voices," she complained. "We haven't gotten anything at all, so I'm putting my skills to the test to figure more about this Irvine guy. Let's see… Irvine Kinneas…" she trailed off, looking him in Google.
"The only thing you'll find on the guy is the recent news of him and Selphie," Hayner told her. "Other than that, he's just another actor working on another show that's some sort of western genre or something."
"Then that means you guys are not looking good enough. Hmm… I wonder if I can tap in his phone from here," Rikku wondered.
"Remember he broke it?" Pence pointed out.
"Yes, but it was only the screen," Rikku replied, plugging in a USB drive in one of her ports and started to type incredibly fast on her laptop. She started to run a program she made herself that was special in decoding things. "With the rise of smartphones these days, I should be able to detect his phone and see what he could possibly be hiding," she explained. Hayner, Pence and Olette gathered around her to see a bunch of windows, text, and numbers going all over the place that only Rikku only seemed to understand.
"For someone our age, you seem to be pretty good at this," Hayner pointed out.
"That's what happens you have a dad who specializes in technology and machines for the military."
"I need to update Sora and Namine," Olette said, pressing her headset. "Hey guys, can you hear me? Hello?"
A little bit before Olette called out to the two, Sora and Namine get off the Wave Swinger, which was a swing ride that rotated riders on chairs from a carousel. It felt nice for the two because it give a small allusion that they were flying in the air and it wasn't some crazy ride either. After the numerous one Sora forced Namine to get on, it was nice to slow it down with a relaxing ride. "You know, I always wondered if Selphie was ever like this? What was she like when she started the show?"
Sora tried hard to recall as five years have passed by rather fast for him. "Hmm… surprisingly normal, at first I mean. Kairi didn't like her for whatever reason, but I think after the show became a hit, it went all through her head. Hard to believe she played one of Kairi's best friends."
"It's strange how that works," Namine thought. "You all play nice for the camera, but once they stop rolling, that persona seems to get disappear."
"As the years go by though, the writers tend to bring in our own traits to our character, so it's like we become one person over time."
"I remember Riku telling me the TV version of me is someone I ought to be. What do you think about that?"
"Maybe as we grow into adults, you'll be someone you want to be thanks to the show."
"You really believe we can make it to ten seasons?"
"I do. Plus, the more episodes we produce, the more money we get from syndication through royalties. So even if our show is done, we still get money when it airs elsewhere."
"What?! I wasn't aware of that," Namine was shocked at the news.
"It was part of our new contracts that we signed. I don't think it's in yours though since you're a newbie. You just got the extension. You can renegotiate, but probably later on in the future when you're more established in the show."
"What will you do when it all ends?"
"Go back to doing movies," he answered with no hesitation. "I still managed to do a few during my five years here, but it's exhausting, and they weren't big roles either. I was fine playing a supporting or a small character. What about you? I know you never saw acting as a career for you, but you should at least give it a try."
"Uhh I don't know," Namine awkwardly answered. "I'm lucky to even be here Sora. What kind of projects would I even do?"
"Heh, you should totally and try do a musical," he smirked at the idea. "I wonder how your voice sounds like."
"Yeah right! You are never going to hear me sing!" she quickly denied.
"We can do an acapella with your possible lovely voice."
"Aca-scuse-me?"
"Aca-believe-it." A small pause ensued between the two and burst out of laughing about their recent exchange with each other. "What the heck was that? Is that even a word?"
"I-I don't know. It just came out of my mouth! But whatever I just said, it'll be our little inside joke. Boy, we are totally terrible at our job right now because we're not even paying attention to it." After that, they hear Olette's voice in their ears and asked what was up. "Yes Olette? Has something come up? Did you guys find anything?" Namine asked her.
"No, but Rikku will try to find something on Irvine through his phone," the brunette replied. "She believes we can find whatever it is that Selphie has on him."
"Damn it! I'm not close enough!" Rikku shouted, looking at the screen where the two couples were located on the map. "We need his phone to be in our range. Try and see if any of you guys could move him to the mini-coaster near the four of them."
"I don't see any of them around," Namine mentioned, looking around the place.
"They're located at the food court," Hayner answered. "So either you get Roxas and Kairi to do the job or you guys steal his phone." Sora and Namine looked at each other and knew it was going to be rather tricky to pull it off.
"We'll get on it," Sora answered, walking off to the food court.
"Hey wait! Do you have some sort of plan?" Namine asked.
"Not really, but let's hope it works. Text Roxas that we need Irvine's phone."
"Uh okay." From there, Namine busted out her phone to deliver the news.
Right in the food court, Roxas and Kairi were off alone while Selphie and Irvine went to get food. "You think we're going a little overboard with this?" Roxas wondered and Kairi looked at him strangely as she thought he was starting to have some doubts. "I mean, think about it. This is a little crazy even for you."
"I know I can be crazy, but since I acknowledge it, I am not really crazy. Isn't that crazy?"
"I'm sorry, what? I could barely follow that." After that, his phone vibrated and he checked to see Namine's text. "They want us to get Irvine's phone for Rikku to hack into it and it's contents."
"I thought that thing was busted?"
"The screen was, but not the actual phone."
"Then we better get on it!" Kairi cheered when Selphie and Irvine came back to sit with the two with some nachos and drinks.
"Get on what Kairi?" Selphie asked, showing up a devious smile.
"That ride!" she lied, pointing to the Pharaoh's Fury, another type of an amusement ride, where riders were in an open seated gondola that swung back and forth. "I mean, we must sit at the very end to feel the thrill!"
Selphie couldn't help, but respond with a laugh. "You guys are something. Faking a relationship to the public and giving us—." Selphie dug through her back pocket and threw the two trackers on the table in front of Kairi and Roxas. "These small little trackers is a bit going over board. Even for you Kairi. Did you think you could bring me down that easily? Tracking us on whatever gear you got in your back pocket? I thought you could do better than that."
"I told you," Roxas whispered to his friend.
"Shut up Roxas," Kairi gritted through her teeth while looking at him and back at Selphie. "You're not too obvious yourself. Bringing us here to keep with your so called new good girl image. It was not that hard to figure out you know; after all, those undercover photographers you hired seem to capture the moment for you to sell to the public," she mentioned, eyeing out a few with DSLR cameras in their hands. "I mean, you could've at least had them be more discreet."
"Like you told me before: image is everything."
"It's not my fault you can't land yourself a decent acting job." After making that sentence, Kairi wondered if there was more to the whole thing and decided to immediately call out on it. "Unless this whole charade of yours is because you did land one?"
"What makes you think that?" Selphie asked, keeping a straight face.
"It's spring, which means you probably filmed a pilot episode since the networks need to announce new shows at the May Upfronts and that's happening next month."
"Hey, you're right," Roxas agreed. "It's pilot season. I totally forgot about that."
"Looks like you guys caught her," Irvine answered and Selphie stepped on his feet. "Ow!"
"Fine, you're right," Selphie confessed. "In order for me to keep this job, I was told to keep up with the good work I've been doing or I would get recast. You know how TV pilots are. You may film an episode for a potential new series, but there's still a possibility of getting recast when the network orders it to series and decides to change a few things for whatever reasons."
"You should've just slept with the director or something," Kairi sneered.
"Now, you guys must play along or I will reveal to the public you two aren't a real couple. I didn't believe that Nama-what's-her-face words anyway. She's such a fake."
In the midst of the conversation, Namine's blood was boiling as she heard the girl's words. "I wanna kill that girl," she growled. "I would gladly push her off a cliff to fed her to the sharks!"
"Tiger sharks like hunting in shallow waters here," Sora said.
"I don't care! Anything to remove that She-Devil from the planet."
"Okay Nami. Calm down."
"I am calm!"
"Oh boy." Sora knew her emotions were getting the best of her, but saw no reason to talk her down when Selphie was already getting into her head.
Back at the other four, Kairi knew she had to hurry up and think of something fast. "What solid proof do you even have of us faking a relationship?"
"A simple recording. I bugged that car you guys rode that other day when I visited the set. I always knew your relationship was a shame, but I needed hard evidence to proof it. What better way to instigate the problem to make sure you were exactly where I wanted you to be."
"Then you bumping into Kairi at the shoe store was no coincidence," Roxas replied. "You've been planning this from the start."
"My, aren't you perceptive?" Selphie snared, digging through her pockets again to reveal the tape recorder she mentioned and pressed play while the two recalled what they discussed about in the car earlier that very week.
A few days earlier
At first it was silent, but Kairi noticed Roxas seemed too happy-go-lucky. She didn't have to see it because she could feel that very aura from him. It was slightly bothering her that she couldn't help, but ask about it. "Okay, your happiness is creeping me out you know."
"Why? I'm glad to see you and Namine actually doing something civil together," he replied. "You're always putting her down and you stood up for her for once. That's was surprising to see."
"It was Selphie. That girl didn't deserve that kind of assault from her unless it was coming from me," Kairi sympathize for a moment.
"Did I actually hear a tone of sincerity from you?" Roxas gasped, laughing it off after.
"Shut up moron. I'm just glad that for once she's playing along with our relationship."
"Talk about a twist of events because Namine reminds me from time to time why this publicity stunt of ours is wrong. Especially to our fans. It's not even real."
"Who can blame her? You're the beloved hotshot actor I fell in love with. Our chemistry is undeniable as the critics and fans say to us," Kairi blissfully said. "You shouldn't always worry about what she has to say. You probably have been hanging out with her too much."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You two are always hanging out whenever we work close together with her."
"That's because half of our scenes on the show are actually in the school. And it's the only place we tend to hang out during work because we're in the same location. Here or the beach club, and whatever location we must go to."
"Damn. That is true. I can't believe I never noticed that."
"Are you afraid that I'm replacing you with her? Because I am not and I don't see any reason to see it that way. You have Sora, so why can't I have Namine?"
"W-what?! No! Of course not," she denied.
"You and Sora are close and you don't see me questioning your relationship. What if I said he had feelings for you?"
"Hah, I doubt that'll ever bloom. We're too close."
"That's why I wonder if you two will get together one day," Roxas softly whispered, making sure she didn't hear him. For a while, he was curios as to why Sora and Kairi never did go out or a date for the past five years. It seemed odd, but he guessed a boy and a girl can be close friends without any budding romance lurking between the two. He never admitted it, but he was a fan of the two as a couple when the show began. It felt shameful to say it in public to him because he had a small feeling the writers might shift her character to his, which did happen.
"Can I ask you something?"
"You can tell me anything."
"Why do you like me? And I mean on a romantic level." Kairi stopped in her tracks and didn't give an immediate reply. "Is something wrong? Shouldn't someone who likes—loves me answer my question easily without much thought?"
"O-of course! How dumb of me. I like you because…" Kairi trailed off not wanting to respond. Roxas raised his eyebrow waiting for answer. "Would you look at the time? We're going to be late, so we better make haste or we'll get in trouble for delaying production." As usual, she avoided the question and ran off. Roxas always asked her the same question once in a great while, but she fled every time. Certain times were understandable due to work or exhaustion, but this time, it was different. She came up with a weak excuse.
"I hope what I'm thinking is wrong…" Roxas sadly said. "Because I hate to be right when it's bad."
Now
"Gee, I'm sure the fans will be heart broken, but also on how you've been lying to them for a couple years now. I'm sure ratings will drop after I break the news tomorrow," Selphie informed the two. "But that girl seems to keep things steady… oh whatever. It'll do something to your guys' image anyway. Of course that doesn't have to happen if you guys continue to be friends with me for the public to see I am redeeming myself slowly."
"Why you little bitch…" Kairi glared, forming a fist in her left hand. "Blackmailing us. I'm sure it's the same for your pretend boyfriend!"
"Yes, I too have some leverage on him," Selphie admitted. "It's easier to control people when you got dirt on them." Irvine had a disgusted look on his face since the jig was up. "I know Irvine hates my guts now, but he has to stay with me. His stuff is a lot more scandalous than yours. It can definitely ruin him, so he has no choice."
"You'll never get away with this!" Roxas told her as he was slowly getting infuriated with the She-Devil.
"Tch, face it idiots. I've won," Selphie smirked, looking at all three of them.
~ Our Life is Not a TV Show or Maybe ~
"We have to do something and it better be quick!" Namine told the others as everything was starting to fall apart now. She was starting to get worried as she and Sora watched the scene from afar earlier. "That damn girl has been playing us from the start! We've clearly underestimated her! We can't have her play our friends for fools and leak that recording."
"What do you suppose we do?" Sora asked.
"We know she's using that tape recorder as blackmail on the two, but we still have yet to find out what Irvine is hiding."
"If we get control of both, then she has nothing to cover her," Sora figured out.
"Exactly." Sora and Namine rushed back to the van to get Rikku as time was racing against them. She quickly slide the door open and grabbed the tech-savvy from her position. "Alright. We don't have time to steal a phone, so you're coming with us. We need to lay low still since it seems she doesn't know we're here still."
"Alright, alright. You don't have to drag me to do such a thing," Rikku replied, getting out of the blond's hands. "Get me close enough for me to pick up a signal from his phone." The two were power walking while Rikku kept her laptop open, tightly in her hands. She kept typing on one hand to start prepping things as the three rushed back to the scene. A few moments, they now stood about ten feet away from the four. "Got it! Now let's see if there's anything in here that ties in with Selphie…" A bunch of windows started to pop up as Rikku started to rummage the boy's phone from his contacts, messages, and email.
Back at the other scene, Roxas was starting to lose it because Selphie had painted them into a corner. He couldn't believe what was going on because he knew they were all in trouble. He didn't know what his friends were doing, but he never thought about it because the news Selphie brought down on them came pretty hard. His hate for the girl grew when she only seemed to care about no one, but herself. He also remembered Irvine was also a victim. "Irvine, what does she have on you? You have to tell us or we're stuck being with her for a long time. If you do, we can bring her down together."
"I'm sorry… I can't… not here at least," he sadly answered, referring to how open they were in the public. It was amazing no one took a second glance of what was going on. Destiny Islands was surely humble on giving the actors space because in their eyes, it seemed the cast came down to just have fun.
"I don't think so," Selphie replied. "You won't be telling them anything or I will make more copies. I feeling like your family should see it first before the media. They certainly won't approve o it."
"You home wrecker!" Irvine fiercely said.
"Just when I couldn't believe you to be lower than dirt. You're far worse than I imagined," Kairi sneered. "I should've fought harder at that shoe store to render you in a coma."
"Too bad you can't or this," she said, referring to the recorder, "Gets sent out to every tabloid, newspaper, magazine out there."
"Hey, there's a text from Selphie last week," Namine spotted and Rikku clicked on it. "I guess they broke up earlier before the tabloids caught up on their their breakup recently."
"The last text reads, 'Do what I say and you won't have to live with the humiliation,'" Sora read, and looked at the previous ones to see which one started the conversation. "There's one that says to check his email because after that he starts losing it."
"I'm sure we will find something in his email." Rikku started to go through it with any connections to Selphie. There was one and it had the email subject: You thought you could get away with it? She clicked on it and it only had a link.
"I wonder what this is," Namine wondered as Rikku clicked on the link that led to a video where she hit play. It appeared to be a hotel room that mainly overlooked the bed. After a few seconds, there were sounds of two people making out. The first person to appear was Irvine, but the person he was making out with wasn't Selphie. Nor was it a female. It was another man.
"No. Way." Sora gasped as the video continued with the two taking off their clothes one by one until they were completely strip down to only their boxers.
"This is a sex tape! Close it! Close it! We've seen enough!" Namine softly shouted as Rikku closed the window. "Irvine's gay? Since when?"
"I don't care right now, but we finally got a hold on the dirt she has on him," Sora said. "We need to delete this and whatever copies Selphie has on this. Can you do that Rikku?"
"Tracing any sources of the video and they'll be deleted as soon as possible. With my software, it should take a couple of minutes. Now let's go and save the day," Rikku smiled as the three started to walk toward the others to rescue them. "It's been a long time Selphie," she greeted, putting herself between Sora and Namine. "You're like a cockroach, you know. Always coming back no matter what we do unless we officially send you to the other side."
"Rikku? What the hell are you doing here? And Sora and…" Selphie stopped for a moment as she clearly doesn't remember Namine's name. "What's-her-face. Coming to join in on our little fun? You're too late to save the party."
"What the heck are you guys doing here?" Kairi asked. "I told you to keep your distance."
"Don't worry. We got this," Namine replied and flashed a small smirk at the She-Devil. "You see Selphie, blackmailing is easy to do when you got the right pieces. It's easy to control and manipulate people that way, but you, you still have to know it all falls apart when those pieces aren't around anymore."
"What do you mean…?" Selphie asked, growing skeptic at her words.
"I mean this," Namine turned Rikku's laptop around to see the sex tape of Irvine and his mystery man being deleted right before her eyes. "A sex tape of Irvine with another man is very incriminating, if you know, it even existed in the first place."
"You're gay?!" Kairi and Roxas screamed at the same time and instantly remembered they were in public. It prompt to the two fumble through random words aloud and how they were referring to the original meaning of the word: happy. Luckily, no one seemed to pay attention, which was strange enough.
"No! You son of a bitch!" Selphie was about to charge after her like a lion, but Irvine held her back. "I will get you for this!"
"I'm guessing you didn't even bother to make a hard copy either, judging by your reaction," Namine added. "Rookie mistake."
"Roxas! Get the tape recorder from her now!" Kairi shouted and he did as he rummaged through her purse to get it. He found it and handed it over to Kairi. "It seems your plan falls apart now! What. A. Shame. I thought you could do better than that," she snapped, using Selphie's own words against herself.
"Blackmailing you asses was the only way I could get away with this. Everyone in show business sucks!" she complained.
"Nope. Just you," Roxas told her, crossing his arms. "You are never going to change."
"Aww look at you. If you weren't plotting against me, I would take you to the back for some alone time," she flirted.
"Excuse me," Roxas calmly said and ended up throwing in a nearby thrash.
"We didn't even ear food yet," Kairi said to him, wondering why he even threw up in the first place.
"I was practically holding it in when we first stood in line for that ride."
"Hmph, deletion complete," Rikku happily announced, closing her laptop. "You might wanna run off now Selphie because while I was deleting those videos, I tipped off places about your recent actions. Man, it's a good thing those mics Kairi got record audio too. Talk about a relief."
Selphie started at everyone in utter defeat and stormed off as everyone watched her. In a short moment, she turned back to face them. "Do what you will Kairi, but you will never have Roxas. You and I both know the real reason you agreed to that sham of a relationship." She had nothing else left to say and continued walking away by screaming and wiped a family's food off the table out of anger along the way.
"What is she talking about Kairi?" Roxas curiously asked.
"Nonsense. She's just mad I got to be with you instead of her," she sternly replied.
"I wonder how she'll be getting home when I'm the one who took her," Irvine wondered, watching the girl walk off and turned his attention to the five teens who helped him. "Well, I guess it's best I leave now. Thanks for everything guys." He was about head out until Namine spoke up.
"We won't tell anyone!" she blurted out, referring to his big secret, but took a step back because she sort of regretted saying those words until Irvine reassured her.
"Don't worry. I know you guys won't. One day… the world will get to know the truth. I'm just not sure if they're ready for it now."
"Why did you two start dating in the first place?" Namine asked.
"I'll give you the short story. We met, I knew about her reputation, but she seemed she was willing to change. Over time, I realized it was all an act and wanted to get out, but she wasn't having any of it. That is about it."
"You live a good life now," Roxas advised.
"Boy, I'm only two years older than you. I'm not that old," Irvine replied, which made everyone laugh, and he finally left the scene.
"Looks like our night is done," Namine sighed, taking a seat on the table Roxas and Kairi were sitting on earlier. "I'm exhausted! I don't want to go any more rides or try to bring down a common enemy of ours."
"Then you at least must be treated," Hayner came in with a bunch of food in his hands with Pence and Olette behind him carrying many more.
"Where were you guys?" Roxas asked.
"While you guys were off having your awesome face-off with Selphie without us," Olette answered, hinting she felt sad that she and their other friends were slightly left out of the confrontation. Thankfully they head it over the additional headsets Kairi had when they left the van. "We went to get some food because we knew we were going to win. We must celebrate our victory!"
"Sorry Olette," Kairi apologized, walking on over to her friend to give a hug, which she gladly accepted. "Next time I'll bring you along." Namine cleared her throat and the two girls looked at her. "Yes Namine? Got something to say as always?"
"Don't forget our deal."
"Fine. I must honor it. We will announce the break up… right after we eat some food! I am hungry!" Kairi immediately snatched a small pile of chili nachos from Olette and took a seat on the table. Everyone laughed and started taking a seat at the empty table as Hayner and Pence disturbed the food to each person. After everything that has happened in the week, they hoped things were going to go smoothly after.
"What about the food Selphie got?" Roxas asked.
"Ew…" Kairi said in disgust. "It could be poisoned or something. I don't want anything bought with her hands," she continued, picking up the food and throwing it into the trash.
"Hey! I want a picture for my Facebook!" Namine shouted, getting up from her seat to have someone take a group picture. Once she found someone, the person gladly got into position as Namine returned to her seat. Everyone smiled and the man returned the phone. "Thank you so much! Now let's eat!" It was definitely a moment to celebrate.
"Thanks for saving us back there," Roxas said to Namine, looking at her while she ate some of her food. "I thought we were done for when she had that recording. She would've leaked it either way."
"Thank Rikku." She stopped grubbing on her food and gave her attention to him. "I just lay down the smack talk by giving the She-Devil the news. It's nothing I haven't done before. After all, I am a 'badass' as my classmates say," she giggled.
"Yeah… still don't see it," Roxas denied. "The image doesn't seem to suit you." She gasped and playfully hit his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but it's true!"
"I'll have you know that I can be a strong girl."
"Yet I saw Sora carry you over his shoulder," he pointed out as he saw the scene from afar earlier. "It was kind of amusing to see. Maybe I should try that trick. I am stronger than him, so I can do more things to you." He stopped for a moment at his last words. "That sounded wrong in so many different ways didn't it?" he asked and Namine nodded. "I swear to you I'm not trying to be a pervert."
"The fact I can swallow down your words and my food at the same time means I'm not," she assured, but slapped him anyway.
"Hey!"
"But then again, you need to chose your words better. Pervert," she quipped.
From afar, Sora and Rikku looked at the two. "I can why Kairi seems to harbor some sort of grudge against the girl," Rikku examined. "The boy is falling for the girl, but what I don't get is why does Kairi continue with the charade? I think him and Namine are kind of cute together after seeing their little banter."
"She won't anymore now that she made that deal with Namine. It's what's best for her."
"Always looking out for her, huh? "
Sora looked at Rikku as did she. "Always."
"After everything, you and I both know why Kairi acts like that with Roxas… and I guess Selphie. You think she's over it?" Sora sighed and looked at his dark red hair friend, whom was enjoying herself with Olette and the others. "It's been two years now." All Sora did was shook his head in response.
"Maybe not now, but she will get past it," Sora claimed. "I have to believe that."
And that ends the little Selphie plot. Honestly, I have nothing against the actual character, seeing how I painted her as a bad girl once again. I always loved her since Final Fantasy VIII came out, but the Kingdom Hearts version kind of downgraded her personality for me. As for Sora and Rikku's conversation, that's up for debate for you readers as to what exactly is Kairi's backstory. You will get answers in the future, but a certain one with a spiky brown hair boy and a blond girl needs to be resolved first before that happens.
Thanks for reading and leave a review or any thoughts if you can!