AN: Okay, so, this one turned out to be rather short.
Buzz: I don't suppose that it was meant as some passive joke about XR's height, was it?
AN: No, not in the slightest. It's just that I honestly expected this chapter to be longer than it turned out to be, but then again, this wasn't exactly one of the more...profound moments of the story so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.
Buzz: Well disappointment is always something we should be prepared to face. That way we can learn from the things that had led to such disappointments and try to improve so that we may avoid them again.
AN: I suppose that's true. So, what're your thoughts on this chapter's team, Buzz?
Buzz: Well, XR has plenty of experience on Trade World so that should give them a slight edge, on the other hand, Kairi is normally perceived as someone that would not do that well in such a place at first glance, but given how she's quick to adjust before facing a dangerous situation head-on, even if it means charging in, I doubt that will be much of a problem.
AN: Thanks Buzz. Now with that said, if I may be so bold, to the next chapter...and beyond!
Buzz: That was actually really good. Have you been practicing that?
AN: Little bit. Thanks for noticing.
I do not own anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter VII
If she were being honest with herself, Kairi would be the first to admit that she honestly wished that Sora had asked Terra to stay with her on Trade World, because after hearing XR's not so subtle explanation of how the planet was basically the bad side of town of the Galactic Alliance, not counting Planet Z or any other world in Zurg's territory, she could not help but feel a good deal of nervousness overcome her before they went around every corner. Of course, the fact that her current partner was a small robot that only came up to her waist did not help matters, but the chances she had to cut down any Heartless and Unversed they came across certainly did. There was just something about destroying creatures of darkness that seemed relaxing to the young Princess of Heart, not that the Robot Ranger did not try to help a little.
The problem was, XR's way of helping was to state a worse case scenario rather bluntly while also mentioning a few of the more unimportant things like how outrageous the prices at some of the shops were on Trade World, but Kairi did still have to give the guy credit for trying, and that fact alone was enough to make her feel better. Of course, from where she was standing, XR seemed to be more lax about his job than the rest of Team Lightyear, but even so, it was still pretty obvious that under the façade he tried to put up, XR was actually rather nervous about how well he did on his job for whatever reason that Kairi could not begin to figure out. After blasting away another swarm of Heartless and Unversed with her Keyblade and XR's blasters, Kairi finally decided that maybe she should attempt to figure out the answers to the robot's nervousness, if for no other reason than to try and get to know XR better and to distract her from her rattling nerves.
"Say XR," Kairi called out as she dismissed her Keyblade for what seemed like the twentieth time since she had arrived on this world. "How come your so nervous about how you're doing anyway?"
"What," XR exclaimed with a slight stutter that almost anyone else would have missed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I mean, why would I be nervous about something? Hello, I can just get blown up and not worry about it because Buzz and the others can easily put me back together again."
"You're really good at hiding it, but I know you're nervous about something, and it's not blowing up. Although, I have to admit it is kind of strange that you have such a lax attitude about that, even for a robot," Kairi admitted.
XR had tried to simply keep moving and hope that the redhead would drop the matter, but when he heard her statement, he could not help but freeze in his tracks before letting his shoulders sag as he turned around and began to say, "Well I guess it's mostly cause I don't want Pop to think I can't make it as a Ranger."
"Pop," Kairi asked in confusion.
"Commander Nebula," XR clarified as he pulled out a clipboard with a sheet of paper on it. "He signed the work order that would allow the LGMs to build me, so I think of that as his way of giving me life, even if they did slip the paperwork in with a vacation request. You see, Commander Nebula was convinced a long time ago that a robot Ranger was a really bad idea, so even though I know that he's proud of the things I've accomplished along with Buzz and the others, I still feel like one small slip up would be cause enough for him to give the order to have me deactivated."
Kairi stared at XR in shock for a minute before she allowed a small smile to reach her face as she knelt down next to XR and said, "You know that's not true. The fact that you're still around now is proof that he would never deactivate you for one mistake. Everyone messes up sometimes, but what really proves their worth is how they learn from their mistakes so that they can do better in the future."
"Easy for you to say," XR argued. "You and your friends are Keyblade Masters, and you guys don't ever make mistakes."
"You sure about that," Kairi asked. "Then maybe I should tell you of all the times that Sora's made a mistake of some type while he was on his adventures, only for me or one of our other friends to have to bail him out. One of Sora's biggest faults is that he tends to be a little too trusting and childish at times, but even so, he's still able to know when to be cautious about a situation and not mess around."
XR thought over Kairi's words for a minute before a smile of his own reached his face which he flashed to Kairi in thanks before they began moving again. As they were going though, XR had to ask, "Say, are you really okay with talking about your boyfriend like that behind his back?"
"What," Kairi exclaimed as her face turned almost as red as her hair. "S-Sora's not boyfriend."
"That's not the impression I got off of him," XR smirked, teasingly. "I mean, he was giving me a pretty intense glare when I tried flirting with you and the blue haired beauty that left with Mira for Tangea, and I doubt he would've told me that you were his girl before he left otherwise."
"W-well, maybe you were just…" Kairi started to say, but when her mind registered what XR had said at the end a small smile graced her face even though her blush did not fade even a little. "Did he really say that I was his girl?"
XR just nodded in reply, but before either of them could say anymore on the subject, they heard someone cry out in fear, and they immediately raced towards the source, blasters and Keyblade ready. Upon reaching said source, they discovered that it was a large building with a sign that read "The Fixer" above the entrance, and upon running inside, they saw a man with pale green skin, a dark blue, thick, scraggly beard, and wearing an orange jumpsuit with a blue hat surrounded by Heartless and Unversed. Kairi and XR only glanced between themselves for a minute before they ran into action, weapons swinging and firing at each of the two types of dark creatures.
Kairi may not have had as much in the way of experience as Sora did when it came to the Keyblade, but she was still a Keyblade Master nonetheless, and it truly showed as she swung her Keyblade through multiple different Heartless and Unversed with a precision and ease that was befitting of a master. When it seemed that a group of Neo Shadows were about to catch her off-guard, she simply cast a Magnet Spell that drew them into the air, and then followed up with a Holy Spell to finish them off with the power of the light spell. She then turned to the other Heartless and cast a small barrage of similar light spells at them in rapid sequence that would cause one to think that she were barely expending any energy at all with each orb of light that she fired, which technically was quite true, because during her training, Kairi found that she had a natural talent for healing and light magic due to her nature as a Princess of Heart, so it came as no surprise that she would master such spells to the point where she did not need to expend as much energy as others would, as opposed to how Sora would sometimes need to use at least half of his own energy to cast just one healing spell.
XR on the other hand was using his size to his advantage, as even when the larger monsters such as Large Bodies and Bruisers tried to attack him, he simply either extended his legs upward to let them run right under him or rolled to the side as fast as he could to let them just run right into a wall, disorienting his opponents long enough to finish them off either with the blasters in his hands or the larger blaster that he extended from his chest from time to time. Soon enough though, XR found himself arming all of his blasters at once and unleashing a barrage of lasers at the remaining Heartless and Unversed around him, effectively wiping nearly all of them out with one fell swoop. The surviving monsters were easily dealt with by a few slashes from Kairi's Keyblade, ending the battle and saving the would-be victim's life.
When they turned to tell the man he was safe now, they were a bit surprised to find him grumbling to himself before he said, "Alright, your job's done here, now get out! I've got a business to run, so if you don't mind."
"Well that's a bit rude," Kairi muttered under her breathe to the Robot Ranger.
XR was about to agree with her when he suddenly gave a small start at the sight of the man, showing that he recognized him. The next thing Kairi knew, XR had rolled right up to the pale green individual and grabbed him by the front of his shirt as he snarled, "So our paths cross again, Mister Fixer. Don't think I forgot about how you set me up the last time we met."
The Fixer just looked at XR in confusion for a minute before he finally gained a shocked look in recognition of his own and stuttered, "Oh, you're that robot that came in here looking for an AFD-thing! Look, whatever problem you got with me, I swear I didn't know what was going to happen to you! I just…I mean I didn't…"
"Want to take care of your own dirty business in Killerville," XR asked rhetorically. "Yeah, I kinda got that impression just from the fact that you asked me to deliver that part to someone who hung out there. You're just lucky that I'm a Space Ranger, and I would never harm a prisoner, although I should have you arrested for selling some illegal parts to known criminals."
"No, no! Please, I've already got one crazy robot after me," Fixer begged. "I don't need Star Command after me too!"
"Wait a minute," Kairi then cut in. "What do you mean that one crazy robot is after you?"
"Look kid, you seem like a nice girl, despite the company you keep," Fixer told the redhead as he cast a sideways look in XR's direction as he said the last part. "Just drop this matter right now, 'cause I would honestly hate for something to happen to you or someone you care about."
"Here's a better idea," XR stated as he pulled out one of his many laser blasters and aimed it right at the Fixer. "You tell us what we want to know, and I may not bust your butt for every crime you've committed, assuming my waning patience doesn't cause me to just plain, bust it."
Fixer seemed to pale even more at that until Kairi placed a hand on XR's shoulder, getting the robot to back up a bit as she stepped forward and said, "I can't promise that I'll be able to control my friend here for long, but I can promise that we'll be able to help you deal with whoever has been giving you such a hard time lately. Just tell us what's wrong, or at the very least if that person you were talking about sent those monsters after you."
Fixer glanced between the two peace keepers for a minute before he finally relented and said, "Alright, I don't know nothing about where those things came from, but I do know for a fact that they showed up after that crazy robot that used to be one of my regulars threatened to have me silenced or something. Thing is, he's not exactly your average robot. I mean his head is kinda similar to your friend there, just a different color and with mismatched sized eyes, but the strangest thing is that he seems to be made of a variety of different parts that don't really blend together all that much."
XR gasped upon hearing that and exclaimed, "XL!"
"Yeah, that's him," Fixer confirmed. "I don't give him one thing simply because I don't have it in stock, and he figures that's reason enough to end our business and me. Please tell me that you're going to get him."
"Oh, I intend to," XR confirmed as he turned and raced out of the store after getting XL's location from Fixer. Kairi stared after XR for a minute before she finally thanked the Fixer and took off after the small robot, wondering what had gotten into the seemingly carefree Robot Ranger all of a sudden the whole time she went.
After they had traveled a decent ways and fought off few hordes of Heartless and Unversed, Kairi could easily see that XR was getting more vicious in his attacks, almost like the battles had become more personal for him. He would basically be using all his guns at once and fire off a massive barrage that would wipe out a large swarm of the two groups of dark monsters with so much ease that it was practically overkill, and the fact that he did not let up even for a second would make just about anyone worried about the small guy. If it were not for the fact that XR was a robot, Kairi would have been worried that he was going crazy with anger every time he fought, but that did not mean that she was not worried about XR at all.
After they had dealt with a group of Shadows, Floods, Scrappers, and Soldiers though, Kairi felt that she had to ask what was bothering XR so much since he had torn through them in the same way he had all the other groups since they had left the Fixer's shop, despite the fact that those four monsters were some of the weakest of the Heartless and Unversed. "XR, are you okay," Kairi asked as she dismissed Destiny's Embrace.
"I will be after we bring down XL," the small robot replied as he retracted his guns into his body.
Upon hearing that, Kairi could not help but ask, "What's the deal with this XL person, anyway? Do you know him?"
"Better than I would like to admit," XR sighed. "You see, XL is the reason why Commander Nebula was so against the idea of having a Robot Ranger before I was built. XL is actually the Robot Ranger that was built before me, meaning that he's essentially my big brother, but he was not exactly Ranger material, to put it mildly. He went a little crazy and tried to destroy a lot of the station, which led Commander Nebula to have XL deactivated until he suddenly came back online one day. After that, XL used a bunch of stolen parts to rebuild himself into a bigger, stronger, and more dangerous robot, all so he could get his revenge on Star Command."
Kairi had to stop and stare in shock at XR's story, hardly believing that what was easily XR's own family could have become such an awful being, especially considering that XR seemed to be so nice and true to his cause as a Space Ranger, an impression that she got just from the short time she had known him. Knowing this, it now came as no surprise that XR would take the actions that XL had taken so personally, as XL was essentially XR's worst nightmare; what could likely happen to XR if he were to end up deactivated like XL had been.
The two continued on their way towards where the Fixer had told them XL was hiding out in silence after that, only speaking or even uttering a word when they needed to in battle against the groups of Heartless and Unversed that they encountered along the way, until Kairi finally decided to ask XR something that had been bothering her for a while. "Um, XR," Kairi nervously asked after they walked. "If you don't mind my asking, if XL had caused so many problems for Star Command, why did they create you?"
XR paused for a moment before he finally looked up proudly as he recounted his story to the Princess of Heart, saying, "I guess that its mostly thanks to Buzz, in a somewhat indirect way. You see, before Buzz had taken me, Mira, and Booster on as his teammates, he had been caught up in a mission that went bad and resulted in his former partner losing his life. What we didn't know at the time was that it was all faked because Buzz's so-called partner and long-time best friend was actually a double agent for Zurg, but that's another story."
"Sounds like one that really messed with Buzz a lot," Kairi commented as she found herself thinking of multiple ways to get back at Buzz's former partner for betraying the Space Ranger like that.
"Well that's putting it mildly, if you ask me," XR remarked before he continued his story. "Anyways, after 'losing' his partner, Buzz kind of made a promise to himself that he would do whatever it took to make sure that no one would lose their life because Zurg was gunning for him, and pretty much insisted on working alone, despite the fact that regulations state that no Space Ranger is to go into a mission without backup. He had already flat out refused to work with Mira after Commander Nebula tried to spring that on him, and when the LGMs heard about the resulting fight, they decided to take matters into their own hands. The result of that was my being built."
"No offense, but what did the LGMs think building you would solve," Kairi asked.
"Oh don't worry, none taken," XR assured her before he continued his story. "Anyways, the LGMs built me to be Buzz's new partner, and their reasoning behind why I would be perfect for Buzz as a partner was that if Zurg ever tried to blow me up, then they would be able to put me back together. Buzz and the commander were still skeptical because no average robot could be expected to measure up to a real Ranger, but of course, the LGMs thought of that. My artificial intelligence chip is state-of-the-art, made it so that I was programmed to watch and learn, and being that I would be learning from the best, that being Buzz, it seemed ideal for me to at least be given a test run."
"I'm guessing that it worked out well since you're part of Buzz's team," Kairi assumed.
XR cringed a bit before he replied, "Eh…not exactly. You see, my test run came up rather sudden and only went ahead since there was no time to argue. I was to help Buzz save the LGM's homeworld from being destroyed by Zurg's forces while also keeping the big glowing orb that provides the little guys with their mind-link safe. Things went pretty well at first, until Zurg decided to sick his newest agent, who we knew at the time as Agent Z, on me and Buzz, and he was able to match us move-for-move, which is not an easy thing to do since Buzz is the best Space Ranger in Star Command, and I was following his every move at the time. The end results was that I got blown up, suffered a system malfunction, Buzz was knocked out for a minute, and the Uni-Mind was stolen."
"Ouch," Kairi winced. "But they were able to put you back together again, and you did eventually end up on Buzz's team, so I guess everything worked out in the end huh?"
"Yeah, but some were a bit skeptical of me after I got put back together in the events that followed that mission, but in all honesty, I think it worked out for the best," XR clarified. "Before then, I was practically just copying everything that Buzz did and said in the best way that I could; I mean, it was like I was a parrot or a trained monkey, or something. Now, I'm this charming piece of hardware you see before you."
Kairi had to laugh at XR's description of himself just then, and felt that she was really getting closer to the robot than she would have originally expected. Despite what the little guy said, XR was much more than what he gave himself credit for, and the fact that he acted and sounded so human was probably more than enough to make one almost forget the fact that he was a robot at all if they were not looking at him. She was soon brought out of her musings when they heard a pair of voices coming from close by, and upon turning to the source of the voices, they immediately ducked for cover hoping that they had not been seen by either the large, strange-looking robot or the person with a pair of horns on his purple head, red eyes, and yellow teeth.
"I'm telling you this is a pathetic investment," the robot gripped in a high-pitched voice. "Not only did these Heartless and Unversed things you sent me fail to off that old man, Fixer, but now you're telling me that they were even beaten by a bunch of farmers?!"
"Lightyear had split up his team as we had expected him to in order to counteract our efforts," the horn-headed man that Kairi finally recognized as Zurg replied. "However, something that was more unexpected must have happened, as I have no doubt that the large, bumbling, buffoon should've been overwhelmed by both Torque and our new benefactor's agents. See that you remain on your guard, or you may share Torque's fate after I discover what went wrong."
"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it," the robot said as he waved his long, blue, clawed arm dismissively. "Just make sure you uphold your end of the deal and let me take a good number of damaging shots on Star Command when we finally make the big play. Oh, and remember, I want to personally scrap Commander Nebula and my little brother."
"Not to worry, XL. You will soon get what's coming to you, just as we all will," Zurg laughed as he ended the transmission, leading XL to join in on the cackling before he turned to give orders to the group of Heartless and Unversed that had gathered around him.
What the oddly shaped robot did not know, was that XR had heard all that he needed to hear before he raced out from behind his cover with an angry glare and all his blasters armed and ready as he shouted, "Sorry, XL, but I'm afraid Dad's not going to be able to give you that little quality time in the way that you want him to!"
XL immediately spun around as Kairi had just run out with her Keyblade in hand, and after staring at both the Robot Ranger and the Keyblade Master of the future, he found himself bursting out in laughter. "Oh, you…you've gotta be kidding me," XL laughed. "It's funny enough that you would try to take me on alone, little brother, but…haha…HAHAHAHAHA…I didn't think that the best you could do for a temporary partner would be some little girl with a silly sword!"
XL was laughing so hard that he failed to notice Kairi's eye twitching a little as she softly asked, "Little girl…with a silly sword?"
"Well, duh," XL gasped as he regained control of himself for a minute. "I mean, look at that thing. Not only is shaped like a dumb key, but it's all covered in flowers and stuff. I mean what're you gonna do? Garden me to death? Maybe give me the dreaded sad puppy stare? Oo, oo, how about hugging me to death?"
XL's laughter returned once again in full force, but it turned out that he had done the one thing that many who knew the young girl would tell you would be the wrong thing to do, especially in the case of a certain spiky-haired, Keyblade Master who wielded the Kingdom Key; XL had just seriously pissed Kairi off, and you do not so much as make Kairi mad. This was a lesson that XL had to learn the hard way, as he soon found himself jolted by a sudden blast of lightning, and just when the lightning had ceased, he had to roll away from a particularly powerful blow from Destiny's Embrace, which ended up putting a hole in the street where XL had previously been standing. XL's eyes had instantly widened in horror when he saw what the Keyblade had done to the ground he was recently standing on, but the dangerous, murderous look he saw Kairi give him was enough to make him think that he would be permanently shut down just from looking at her.
"Sorry XR, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to have a few words with your dear brother before you haul him off to the scrap yard." Even though her voice still sounded rather even, anyone could tell you that Kairi's apology was not sincere in the slightest.
XR could only dumbly nod to Kairi before the redhead began to go at it on XL with the fury which hell hath none like. The sight alone would drive the average man to their knees, begging the heavens that they would never be so foolish as to incur the Princess of Heart's wrath, for despite her title as such, Kairi was in fact very vicious and dangerous when she was angry, as all in the area were quickly discovering. XL tried to use his long, clawed arm to blast acid at the girl, but Kairi merely jumped out of the way before spinning her Keyblade in a rapid motion to block the laser barrage that XL had tried to follow up with using one of his other arm's many guns. The minute she was close enough, Kairi wasted no time throwing slash after slash into XL in a blaze of speed that many would consider inhuman, until her Keyblade began to seriously damage XL's cobbled together body, right to the point where she had successfully managed to sever XL's acid spewing arm and one of his legs off with a brutality that had XL screaming in terror for his life.
As he continued to just look on with a stupefied expression at the sight of XL, one of the toughest, most dangerous robots in the galaxy, getting torn apart like he was made of paper by this one girl with a Keyblade, XR eventually began to notice that he was not the only one frozen in shock at the sight. Looking around, the robot member of Team Lightyear saw that even the Unversed and Heartless were all just standing frozen in place and staring at the sight of their current boss getting torn apart. In a normal situation, XR probably would have taken advantage of the enemy's moment of distraction to blast them with his guns, but when he saw what he assumed to be shock and slight fear in the eyes of the dark creatures, XR had to give a little smirk as he declared, "You fellas do know that as soon as she's done with him, she's going to be coming after all of you next, and I doubt she'll be any more merciful. Trust me, I do not want to be on the receiving end of that, but since you guys are going to end up there regardless if you stick around…"
The next thing that happened would have shocked Sora, Mickey, Roxas, and anyone else who had been fighting against the Heartless for so long had they seen it, for it was a sight that one would only have been able to believe if they had seen it themselves. The Unversed and Heartless all seemed to jump in fear before they immediately began to disperse, vanishing into the thin air that they normally appeared from in many desperate attempts to escape the wrath of the angered Princess of Heart. The ones who did not make an attempt to leave the planet ended up on the receiving end of some lazy shots from XR, which all hit their mark with little to no effort what-so-ever. "Well, as much as I enjoy an easy solution, that was disappointingly anti-climatic," XR commented as he holstered his guns once again and then moved to stand off to the side as Kairi finished destroying XL.
He did not have to stand around waiting for long, as it was not long before Kairi had torn XL apart so badly that he ended up with nothing more than his helmet with his head inside of it. As soon as she saw this, Kairi immediately pulled Destiny's Embrace out of the remains of XL's torso, which she had just finished gutting apart, and immediately raced over to jab the flowery Keyblade into the evil robot's face as she snarled, "So, what were you saying about me being a little girl with a ridiculous weapon?"
XL's head shuttered inside of his helmet before he stuttered, "D-did I say little girl with a silly sword? N-no, no, no! You must've h-heard me wrong. I said…uh…strong, fearless, brave girl, with a very unique weapon that I'd never seen the likes of before. Yeah, to be honest, I-I kinda wish I had a sword like that of my own."
Kairi smirked triumphantly, feeling she had made her point crystal clear to XL, as she dismissed her Keyblade and walked over to XR and said, "So, what happened to the Heartless and Unversed?"
"Eh, I blasted a few of 'em while the rest made a smart decision," XR replied with a small wave and a chuckle. Kairi raised an eyebrow in confusion at the robot's words, but she decided that it did not matter in the end and simply shrugged it off so that XR could call in the authorities to collect XL.
After gathering up all of XL's parts and making sure that they were all offline for the moment, Kairi and XR spent a couple more hours looking around Trade World in case there were still any Heartless or Unversed around. They did not find very many, but the ones that they did find seemed to instantly try to run away or just simply disappear as they came into the monsters' sights. Kairi was a bit confused by this sudden change in the behavior of the dark monsters, and XR's chuckling in response to the sight did nothing alleviate that confusion, but since it did seem to help things move along more smoothly for them, she decided not to complain about it.
Eventually, the two had concluded that Trade World was Unversed and Heartless free, at least in the terms of the creatures of darkness that were actually known by those names, and they soon ended up at a street vendor to grab a can of oil for XR and a small drink for Kairi as they waited to either hear from the others or simply be picked up by one of them.
"You know, I gotta say, you really know how to make an impression," XR told Kairi as he took a large swallow of oil, getting a look of confusion from the girl. "I mean, at first glance, I figured you were the type of girl who was adventurous, yet also forgiving and never one to let something or someone get under your skin, at least judging from what I heard about most Keyblade Masters, but you really know how to show that while you are unique in your own way, your still just as much like everybody else as the average Joe is."
Kairi was not entirely sure if that was a compliment or not, but she elected to simply go with it and smiled in thanks for that. She then thought for a minute before she said, "You know, despite what you may think, you're a really tough guy, and you're a lot more than just something that's only good for blowing up. In my book, you're one tough Space Ranger, XR, and I know that your friends are more than happy to have you with them."
XR had to let a small blush come to his face in response to that as he chuckled, "Awe, well, that's really nice of you to say. I guess this means that we're both a lot more than the sum of our parts, huh?"
Kairi had to laugh along with the robot at that comment, but the moment soon passed as she felt a strange ringing sensation suddenly begin to enter her heart. She was not entirely sure what it was, but she could somehow tell that it was not something harmful or bad in any way, so she just simply allowed it to happen, until the ringing died down and she began to hear Terra and Aqua's voices inside her head. "Guys, what's going on," Kairi called out in her mind, ignoring the concerned look from XR as she did.
"Just relax, Kairi," Aqua's voice told her soothingly. "Terra and I are just talking to you through a D-Link."
"Okay, but what's a D-Link," Kairi asked.
"We'll explain later," Terra cut in before Aqua could say anything, getting a small huff of irritation from the blue haired woman in response, and leading Kairi to already picture the older woman crossing her arms and pouting like a moody child. "I just wanted to let you guys know that we've finished up on Jo-Ad, but there's something you guys should know. One of the locals here might've seen one of the guys who came back in time before Kairi and Sora."
"Did they tell you who they were," Kairi immediately asked, knowing that Aqua was now giving her undivided attention to this as well.
"Sorry, but the witness said that he couldn't get a good look at the person's face because the man was wearing a hood the whole time. He also said that he was wearing a long, black coat along with black gloves and shoes."
"That's not a lot to go on," Aqua murmured in thought. "Kairi, do you have a guess as to who it could be?"
"The only people that I know of that would fit that description to a "T" would be the members of Organization XIII, and I doubt that really helps at all," Kairi admitted with a small shrug.
"Still, it is a start," Terra stated. "At least we know something about who's here. Anyway, Ven and I will be heading back to Trade World with Booster to meet up with Kairi and XR as soon as Booster finishes the last of his…uh, snack."
Neither one of the two girls were sure what to say in response to that last comment, but they both had a feeling that they probably did not want to know, so they just shook it off and replied in acknowledgement of Terra's words. Just before she ended the D-Link with them though, Aqua was able to say, "Try not to get too cozy in the darkness of space on the way back, Terra."
"Wow, real clever. Did it hurt trying to come up with that," Terra asked with heavy sarcasm and an apparent eye roll that Kairi could somehow sense him doing.
The redhead just put that small detail aside for a moment to break up another argument between the two with a simple statement of, "Knock it off you two. You sound like an old married couple."
"Don't insult me by putting me in a situation like that with her/him," was the simultaneous response from both parties in said argument, and like with Terra's eye roll, Kairi could somehow sense the blush that the two of them had gained just as the D-Link ended, abruptly. Admittedly, she was a bit amused by the fact that she was the one causing two people to react like that after indirectly implying that there was something more than friendship between them instead of being on the receiving end of such implications, but that small bout of amusement did little to help the fact that they still had no solid idea as to who the two villainous time travelers were, and the worry she felt rising up from how Terra and Aqua's arguments could escalate to a level that could cause serious problems for her and Sora's mission if something was not done soon.
Yen Sid Report 7:
Sending Kairi and Sora into the Realm of Sleep so that they may unlock the keyholes to the sleeping worlds may be a very dangerous way to test them for the Mark of Mastery, but given the current circumstances, I feel that this would not only benefit them, but that it would also provide us with a stronger foothold against Xehanort's forces. That does not mean that I am to proceed without taking whatever precautions I can. I have asked my apprentice, Naminé to assist me in making sure that the spell is successfully cast so that there would be no intrusions into this test for the two, and after having asked for Roxas, Lea, and Mickey to temporarily leave the training for the newly recruited warriors of the light in order to help us safeguard their bodies, I now feel that there is very little more that we can do.
It is a dangerous task that the two young Keybearers face, one fraught with danger and challenges the likes of which neither of them have ever known, but with Naminé's help, we shall all be able to watch over them as they proceed on their most perilous journey yet, and upon seeing the two together as they faced the earliest dangers in the Realm of Sleep, somehow I feel that they may yet prevail no matter what obstacles we may face. I can only hope that feeling is not ill-placed.
AN: So there you have it. That's the story of how things went on Trade World after Kairi and XR were left there by the others.
Buzz: You know, when you say it like that, it sounds kinda...bad.
AN:...hmm, yeah I guess it does. Anyways, with this chapter, I wanted to showcase a bit of BL of SC history, namely the story of the origin movie, or pilot movie, whatever you want to call The Adventure Begins, and so, that was left to explaining XR's history. For those of you who know that story, hope you enjoyed my belief on how XR would go about giving an honest reminder, because let's face it, it would need to be someone like Kairi for him to give an honest explanation on those events.
Buzz: I...can't really argue with that, mostly because I'm a little sacred of what you might have Kairi do to me after what she ended up doing to XL in the story.
AN: Yeah, I kinda figured that even someone like Kairi would not take stuff like that sitting down, so I decided to show just how true that is. Of course, my reasoning behind this is that Kairi actually tried to attack Axel in an attempt to escape him in the manga adaption of Kingdom Hearts II, so I'm not sure how well that will be received.
Buzz: What about how the Unversed and Heartless ran away in terror like that? They're creatures of darkness, as in feeding off fear, anger, and all that other stuff.
AN: Would you want to be a creature of darkness that was faced with the possibility of confrontation against someone like an angry Princess of Heart? You know, a person who's heart is pure light?
Buzz:...Good point. Anyways, To the Preview...and Beyond!
AN: HEY!...I was gonna say that...
Aqua and Mira arrive on Tangea, and Aqua's initial impression of Mira's people is not a very strong, positive one, even in the case of Mira's father. The two soon discover that there are far worse than that on the Tangean Ranger's home planet, as an old enemy of both Mira and her father's bursts onto the scene with Tangean Grounders, Heartless, and a man in a large, black coat to threaten them all. The following confrontation will lead to great struggles, desperate efforts of defense, and a shocking revelation as to the identity of one of the evil time travelers that Sora and Kairi were sent back in time to stop. Find out the answers to all the questions that this preview has given rise to, next time.
AN: Phew, I'd hate to be in King Nova's shoes if he does something to get Aqua mad.
Buzz: Ditto.
AN&Buzz: Please read and review, and see ya real soon!