You held the badge with some interest. It had power, you could sense it clearly but...
A nagging voice that sounded awfully like Aqua urged you to give it to the crying Cindy. You stepped suggestively towards the woman and held the badge out. She looked confused before seeing the picture.
"Memories are important. You should keep his alive," you said calmly. The woman teared up and you were surprised when she threw her arms around you.
"Thank you..." she sobbed and you guessed Cindy had been through a lot since her city had been invaded by a zombie plague and a set of lions tried to eat her. You patted her back.
"Save your tears. Water that isn't infected will be rare," you instructed logically. Cindy snorted despite herself and she looked back to the still body of Kevin.
"No more tears," she said firmly and the accessory lost its power as Cindy seemed to come to some understanding.
Cindy gains +2 on all rolls.
David, who was obviously feeling the weight of his mistake, was taking lead with his shotgun. You felt maybe you were half-way through the zoo...
Thankfully, the rhino enclosure was long empty along with the hyenas. You were nearing the far exit of the zoo and Cindy decided to be social.
"Eraqus... what are you? Are you some sort of Anti-Zombie weapon?" she asked politely. David slowed to hear the answer.
"I'm Nobody. I lost everything and now I wander to seek purpose," you responded. Cindy frowned.
"That sounds sad," she commented. You looked at her.
"Does it? I wouldn't know," you answered softly. Cindy looked around at the empty cages.
"If you don't have anywhere else to go... you can come with me? I can't promise I have a plan, but... you're welcome to stick with me once we escape," she smiled with a bright expression, grasping the police badge closely.
How nice of her.
"I have a cookie I must feed. Hence why I need the food. But your offer is quite kind," you promised and Cindy looked a bit crestfallen but quickly picked herself up from the slump.
"Here!" she undid her bowtie of her uniform and bent down, tying it around your wizard hat.
"A splash of black on all that silver! You gave me Kevin's badge, so I'll give you that," she grinned.
Cindy's Bow: Gives a lovely first impression. +1 to first meeting rolls if needed.
The nice times could not last as a series of explosions in the city went off. It looked like the city still had some fighters in it. The downside was the noise shook loose lots of noises in the zoo. You moved into a narrow tunnel like space that was the fastest way out of the zoo, but were stopped as something moved above.
Looking up revealed about ten to countless different monkeys, chimps, lemurs, and those of similar make.
The trees were full of them and in the middle was a single lion torn to shreds which the group was eating.
You tried to back off, but David's shaking nerves made him stumble, knocking over a trashcan nearby. Countless eyes turned to your group. The gnawed bones of the lion were dropped as two juicy humans just walked right up to them.
You made a note to shove David into the Dark Realm. The shotgun, the handgun, and pure lightning fired at once as the horde fell upon you.
Your Thunder spell got a few tiny lemurs at most, their glistening teeth falling. Most dodged oddly enough. David fired and ended up on his ass the shot not only failed to hit anything, but the idiot couldn't handle the recoil.
Cindy stepped up and pointed Kevin's handgun. She took a form she must have copied from the fallen officer.
Her first shot took the head off a chimp, foaming at the mouth. The bullet ripped right through its head and into the chest of another chimp. Her next shot took down a monkey, the thing exploding. She stepped next to you, trusting you to keep her back covered.
The action was... interesting.
"I don't have weird lightning or Kevin's training... but I won't let you take another human life!" Cindy warned the now cautious beasts. A chimp snarled and Cindy's eyes narrowed.
"I promised Eraqus he'd come with me... even if he doesn't take it... I don't break my promises," she whispered and there was a crackle in the air. You felt your empty chest filled with something for a brief moment.
Cindy took a step forward as Kevin's badge around her neck that hung from a chain began to glow. The bow on your hat began to glow as well.
N-Link Established: Cindy Lennox
Cindy's uniform shifted from the waitress colours to pure black and the letters' R.P.D hovered over her back like a hologram. The gun in her hand extended slightly and gained a blazing blue line down the barrel.
You didn't get anything like that change, but you did get something more... to yourself.
N-Link: Cindy Lennox level 1: +1 HP and +2 to all range weapon usage.
Cindy looked bewildered.
"What on Earth..." she whispered but had no more time to react. Three animals leapt at her.
Her gun fired arcs of lightning that erased a chimp, two lemurs, and a bunch of other monkeys you didn't know. The act was done well, but the remaining horde was adapting. Half of them dove to the side and went for David who was still trying to stand.
A chimp tackled him, and with a frenzied clawing motion, scratched one of his eyes raw. You had one chance to save him. Reversing into that horde and hoped you could get out...
You made it easily in time, stabbing the chimps head and pulling Deadwe- er... David to his feet. He was screaming about his eyes and you had a bad feeling as he tried to raise that damn shotgun in a vague direction of the monkeys and... Cindy.
You had enough of emotional stupidity. You took the gun harshly and batted a monkey away with the butt of the weapon.
"Give me that back!" David reached for it, sounding quite insane from pain and fear.
"No," you said, so done with this weapon that you sent a burst of Nothing through it, intending to blast it with Thunder, but the weapon shimmered and vanished into your body.
You felt something you couldn't touch light up before going dormant once more.
Sharpshooter Class gained one weapon.
Cindy was unleashing another barrage of bullets and there was that pulling feeling of finality to her form. It felt familiar to Aqua... when she had done this linking business with you.
"Oh... this again," you mumbled as you were pulled closer to Cindy.
"Eraqus... are you with me?" she asked, glowing slightly. The last ten or so monkeys looked nervous at the motion.
Your body contorted around Cindy's shoulders as your arms and legs stuck up like needle prongs, making Cindy look like she was carrying some Sci-Fi equipment. Between your legs and arms, lightning crackled and travelled down Cindy's arms and into the gun. Cindy pointed the gun straight up into the sky and fired.
"Radiant Flash!" she cried and the bolt of energy she shot split into dozens upon dozens of tiny seeking missiles. The remaining zombie animals were decimated; burned to a crisp as they were also torn apart.
Cindy gasped as she fell to one knee, her magical uniform reverting back to normal. David stared in utter shock.
Fitting word.
"What was that?" Cindy panted. You wondered what Aqua would say?
"Your heart. Kevin's will. Our bond. Many things, Cindy Lennox," you said and she looked at you as if you just opened a whole new world to her. Her fingers crackled with energy but it quickly vanished.
It didn't take too long for you all to emerge to an open field where a bunch of dead lions were surrounding a helicopter where two men with assault rifles stood guard. They saw you approaching and one entered the vehicle.
Cindy stopped but David just ran for safety.
"Eraqus... you need to get your friend out of this city," she whispered sadly, knowing you would not be coming. You shook your head.
"He isn't here, but I can travel fast if I need to be. You should go," you said coolly. Cindy hugged you.
"Stay alive Eraqus... I want to cook you a big meal and do more cool things," she said, voice trembling. This woman liked hugging. She got on board the helicopter and one of the men lowered a camera. He seemed to have taken a picture of you and Cindy hugging.
The thing flew away and you eyed the red and white hexagon-like symbol on the side. You eyed the pile of four food bars Cindy had left behind.
All this... for these bars.
Interesting.
Monkey horde defeated. 40 EXP gained.
Sorcerer level 5 reached!
Banked EXP 15. Levels 610 require 62 exp a piece.
New class available. Next class available at total class levels of 10. Example: Sorcerer level 7 and New class level 3 will unlock next class.
The symbols went as follows.. A crossbow of sorts. A lance surrounded by swirls. A shield frozen over. A strange sword. A book covered in shadows. A giant greatsword. Twin wheels of fire. An instrument with bubbles. Cards showing an ace. A scythe with petals coming off it. Weird knives crackling with energy. Acurving katana.
Crossbow chosen!
Sharpshooter of Misdirection unlocked!
Class can now be equipped and have EXP. ALL EXP will be banked from now on.
Sharpshooter required 31 EXP per level until level 5. Current level: 0
Sorcerer level 5:
Fire spell unlocked. Single target missile that does fire damage. Cost 1 NP
Your portal was ready... you hadn't noticed. And this new power felt frail and tender. You'd have to fatten it up soon.
Nearby, just outside the zoo gate was a destroyed vending machine soda cans like Neverland Grape, Midnight Pumpkin, and Deep Jungle Berry. You grabbed one of each and found Riku easily enough. You left the odd Raccoon City behind.
In a secure room, watching with interest, a man named Albert Wesker watched the anomaly vanish into a bending of shadows from what remained of the Raccoon security system cameras. Some space distortion that sucked in light? A blackhole of sorts?
He touched a radio on his desk.
The pilot carrying the whimpering male and the interesting woman known as Cindy Lennox reported they'd be at a secure holding facility soon enough. If this was some subject of an unknown means, then Wesker needed to have access to any leftover DNA or remnants she had on her body.
The fluidity and the strange intelligence would go far in aiding the Tyrant project...
If not... then perhaps Cindy would be an excellent subject given her survival instincts and odd readings. The electromagnetic frequency she was giving off was causing some system issues onboard the helicopter...
Early reports of the T+G virus reported similar things, the various labs already working on the same recovered by Hunk... Wesker leaned back and clasped his hands together.
So many things are happening. He turned to the reports of the Nemesis Tyrant tracking down Jill. Oh, he did enjoy watching this little chase.
You found Riku. To be fair, you found two Rikus. Damn, you were good!
"I brought snacks, but you'll have to share," you warned. They both turned and one Riku was in a weird body suit with a hula skirt. It was not the most tasteful clothing, but you were a sock, so who could you judge?
One Riku was familiar. He had a grumpy cookie vibe that you knew. The other felt... raw. Cold inside, but not monstrous. As if something about where his heart should be there was something more akin to a crystal.
"Eraqus, help me defeat this coward," the not-Riku commanded. You tilted your head and talked to your Riku.
"Riku, talking to one self means madness, actually spawning a clone to fight is something I'm sure the psychiatrist world is going to love," you stated dryly. Riku snorted.
"I'm just beating this guy. He was saying how he was going to wipe the floor with me," he smirked. Cloneku... Twinku?
Faku... perfect. Faku scowled.
"I'm still new, remember! I'll get stronger before you know it. I have Darkness on my side," Fake warned. You held up your snacks.
"Anyone?" you tried, but you were ignored as they two angst off. Riku slashed at Faku, but the dark version unleashed a wave of darkness that sent Riku flying back.
Faku laughed in glee at his power
"You are so not getting a soda," you told the fake. He glared at you.
"You're nothing. Just a weirdo that he's using to get out of here. Then he's going to ditch you when he finds Sora," he said and began to walk off.
"It's nice having darkness on my side. You are SO missing out. How could you be scared of something that can be so thrilling?" Faku sneered over his shoulder.
"Enough!" Riku warned.
"Hmph. So now the coward is playing tough. So long, Real Thing. Hope you don't miss me," he taunted.
God, Riku was a brat. Even his clones were a brat. You hope he matured like milk soon. Riku muttered to himself but stopped to fully take you in.
"You have a hat," he said, confused.
"And snacks. I went to a zoo for them," you explained calmly. Riku looked where his fake went once before accepting the gifts.
"Was it fun?" he smiled, clearly grateful as he tore into the bland bars.
"Blew up a zombie elephant, fought some lions, swarmed by monkeys, and made a friend by giving her magic and stole a shotgun from an idiot. I rate it a solid 7," you nodded once. Riku had frozen in shock as he listened.
"...You weren't even gone an hour," he said a bit faintly. You gave him a long look.
"It wasn't a big zoo," you agreed. You stood up.
"I learned how to do this," you said and class changed to your new style. You changed styled to show you had a coat with long sleeves on it. Almost like giant gloves. Your bow shifted to be like a wrist ribbon. Your hat was gone, a shame.
In a flash of twisting white lightning, a weapon appeared in your hands.
A long bluish weapon with a purplish handle close to the shotgun you had liberated appeared. The difference was the single barrel, rows of spikes that acted as twin wings on either side of the handle and the Nobody symbol you were coming to know well as a tiny crosshair.
It was bigger than your own body.
Dishonored Armament: High penetration of armour. Massive reload time. Gives +2 bonus against all animal type foes.
"Is that a gun?! Why did your clothes change?" Riku spluttered. You pondered that, thinking of Aqua and Cindy.
"Changing clothes for power is the new fad," you decided. Riku just sipped his Deep Jungle Berry with an odd look.
"What was with Faku?" you asked suddenly. It took Riku a moment to understand, but he smiled at the name.
"Some weirdo named Vexen fought me and... took my Data? He must have made that fake with it," Riku grimaced.
"I see..." you said, not seeing at all.
"Your card stuck around, It helped a lot and it changed before I met the Fake. Mickey's doesn't change, but yours does..." Riku mused.
"I blew up a zombie elephant. Maybe that's why?" you pondered as Riku polished off the rest of the food.
"Can you do me a favour? Sora is somewhere around here and I was wondering if you can take him a message?" he hoped.
"About Faku?" you asked, it made sense. A clone acting like a dick wouldn't be good for their friendship. Still this place was not nice to your finding senses and you weren't sure you knew Sora from a nobody.
"Please?" Riku bowed his head slightly. How cute... well, you could at least try. Something about this castle or not being in danger really boosted your portal recovery time.
You turned and opened a portal.
Looking back, you gave Riku a long look.
"Don't be giving into Darkness or wearing hula skirts. You're better than that," you decided and left.
Sora... goofy kid with giant key. Sora. Sora…
He was an important person to Riku. You just had to follow that link. The Darkness parted and you stepped into the absolute opposite of the clean and simple white castle decor.
The link you used went wonky as if it could decide where it wanted to go. You weren't asking much, just for this one kid Sora. It couldn't be that hard.
So, why did it lead you here? A dusty bowl of nowhere? A sandstorm passed and you saw something... fields of keys. A large crossroads of dead pieces of metal.
Oh, that was... neat, you guessed. Bit morbid really, but neat. You walked over to one with the metal crest of a lion acting as the teeth. It looked rusty and old. You touched it and it snapped loudly in half, the half with the lion falling over. You put the piece back on sideways and stepped back. You decided not to touch the rest for a moment.
You wandered among the keys for a while. You didn't see a single one that looked like Sora's. Did the kid get some special one or something? You wandered for some time until you came to an even odder sight.
A huge piece of land with huge grooves cut out the ground as if some powerful laser had gouged the land in multiple directions. The air here felt so strange. You turned for a moment and stopped as someone was walking towards you.
"Well, well, well... you think this task from above would be boring. 'No one ever comes here' I promised. Well, you've gone and made me a liar," said the hooded figure. He eyed you.
"And a Dusk of all things? What are you doing out of your post, fella?" the man leaned down and peered at you closely.
"Looking for someone. What's with the spooky cloak?" you asked. The guy snapped back, as if not expecting a proper response.
"That's a heck of a firm voice you got there... you also look a bit weird for a Dusk..." the man said before lowering his hood. Long black and white hair flowed out. Not peppered, but actual contrasting stripes places. The yellow eye staring at you was interesting as the other was under an eyepatch.
Deadweight David would be needing one of those soon.
This guy? He felt... like you.
"What are you?" the man asked as he rubbed his chin.
"Nobody important," you promised. The man scowled.
"That joke is so old by now its learning to drive. I'm Xigbar. Your superior. You gotta tell who ordered you here," he warned.
You shrugged.
"He has silver hair. Kinda grumpy all the time. Knows Ansem. Wants to find Sora. Struggling to find who he is and deal with his other self. Doesn't find Vexen nice," you listed.
Xigbar sighed.
"Xemnas would have done. Any idea what the leader wants you to do here?" he asked, tone turning humorous and... mischievous. Who the hell was Xhristmas? Okay, lie time.
"Told me to keep an eye on any links to Sora, since he's in the castle. Lot of his jam in his jelly is getting rustled. I've to track any weirdness. Got sidetracked here," you explained. Xigbar, the weird human Nobody tilted his head.
"And what have you found? Nothing here but old keys and bad memories," he said far too calmly.
"Nothing. The trail ended here. I think the castle is obfuscating things. It does weird things to the senses," you admitted.
"No kidding... do you have a name?" Xigbar suddenly asked. You didn't like his gaze. It was like the lions in the zoo.
"David," you said easily. This threw the guy for a moment. Your name was for friends and people that weren't trouble.
"David... the Dusk?" Xigbar repeated.
"Is that an issue?" you asked blandly. You didn't think it was an issue. It wasn't even your name.
"Er... no, great name... really... interesting," he said, shaking his head.
"I need to get back to work. Report anything you find to me as well. I'm counting on you... David," Xigbar said, stressing the name in amusement.
"Aye aye, sir," you said blandly. You sensed he knew you were lying to an extent. Odd man. You were sure this was a one off meeting. That weirdo wasn't important.
Weirdly, your body felt strange after being near that man...
Sharpshooter banks 5 XP for encountering Xigbar since it was equipped.
It was time to try this portal thing again.
Where you ended up was nicer than the dust bowl. It was a quint island which you saw was surrounded by miles of ocean. You appeared on a wooden bridge staring down at a village of sorts. The idyllic peace of the place was only made better by the bright sunshine and blue skies.
You felt this world had a very...light vibe to it, but out of sight... just niggling at your senses, a touch of darkness brewed beyond sight of the horizon.
After a moment, what you thought a lone dark cloud moved in on the island, followed by a hail of cannonballs, you stared at a monstrous large bird being pursued by a ship of all things. The bird risked a look back, wearing some odd protective mask, and a cannonball slugged it right in the face. Unseen before now, something in its talons fell out of its grasp.
A small blond girl with a red scarf fell into a deep forest from the birds talon. The forest was high on the plateau above the village.
You stared, but after a minute, you weren't alone on the bridge. Rushing up the opposite side of the forest was a boy. He panted as he climbed the steep cliff. He had a sword on his back, the most garish green costume, white pants, and a hat that didn't contain his blond hair. He stared at you.
Then blindly charged with his sword drawn. He got three feet before a board on the bridge broke and his whole leg went through it. You walked over and hauled him free. He blinked and then slowly turned pink.
Was the boy mute?
"...Tha...you," the lad said so softly you struggled to hear it. He rushed off into the forest as if being called there by destiny herself. You watched him just charge in like some hero.
You were beginning to see that children from all worlds were sort of energetic. Good grief, did this one need feeding too?
...
You walked after him, just to make sure he was going to be okay. Your inner Aqua demanded it.
You entered the forest and wondered if you could get whatever soup the boy smelled off. Homemade soup might cheer Riku up or Cindy if you wanted to go and visit her.
When did you get your social calendar so full?
As the Dusk entered the forest, a dark portal opened on the bridge behind it.
Two hooded figures stepped out and looked around.
"It's... nice here," one said.
"Has a whiff of chance about it," the taller one stated. Dark shadows gathered on the bridge.
"The Darkness is following you... but there are so few, this world must have miraculous protection in place," the taller one marveled. The smaller one summoned a giant key and moved to dispatch the Heartless.
"Why did we come here?" the smaller one asked, pulling his hood down to reveal startling blue eyes and unruly spiky blond hair.
His companion did the same to reveal neatly maimed blond hair and a goatee.
"Xigbar passed on intelligence about a potential leak and risk to the organisation. A Dusk acting unusual. Something to investigate, but we dare not be seen by the locals and meddle. I hear there are rules, but honestly, the whole act breeds wild cards. Keeping to ourselves limits the danger we put others in," the taller man began to flick cards between his fingers two to four then back to one.
"Luxord, do you care about people in the Worlds?" the younger one asked. The cards vanished.
"Care? No... we cannot really care, but I like to think I am someone who keeps his hand close to his chest until needed. No need to stir up trouble until you have a winning hand, Roxas," he said easily and stared at the ocean.
The boy known as Roxas frowned before he saw people herding lost piglets into a pen. He smiled at the energy the animal had.
Axel would have laughed. This place was perfect for some ice-cream.
Maybe also... Xion? She was still shy... but Roxas liked her.
"Roxas, why don't you take off your hood and go explore the village, claim you came on the boat," Luxord offered. Roxas blinked at him.
"We don't exactly look like the people around here," he pointed out. Luxord merely smiled and clicked his fingers, a cloud enveloped Roxas, causing him to shrink and his eyes to grow. He stared up at Luxord with wide chubby cheeks, glaring.
"Now you are a local! Enjoy!" Luxord waved smiling, he walked through a portal and left Roxas on the bridge.
Why was the Organization filled with weirdos?
Luxord left the boy to his own devices, appearing many miles away. A dark foreboding island surrounded in perpetual darkness. A man staring out a window as he eyed the sea merely glanced over his shoulder.
Luxord could sense the scared hearts of the girls below.
"A man tried collecting seven pure hearts and that destroyed him. A word of caution," Luxord warned.
"I only need one in particular. Why are you here? Were the ancient battle between our forces not enough evidence we are best left alone to our devices?" the dark man with red hair rumbled. Luxord frowned as a flash of something... flittered past, but it was gone before he could parse it.
"Perhaps, but things are leaking into this world and when I cast my senses out... I felt something familiar. Perchance, do we happen to know one another?" he pondered.
The man turned, revealing red iris set in a face of deep thought and planning.
"Your face is not known to me, but you do... remind me of someone," the imposing man admitted.
Luxord shook his head with a laugh.
"Maybe our hearts know each other?" he mused and opened a portal to leave. He suddenly thought of something and turned back.
"May your heart be your guiding key," he echoed, the words coming from somewhere deep within.
"And as I said to that bumbling buffoon of a master long ago. Those led by their hearts without power to protect it are doomed to lose it," the dark man growled. Luxord couldn't quite argue with that.
He was Luxord, Gamble of Fate. Member X of Organization 13.
What did he know about the heart?
X... or 'χ'? An insidious voice in his mind whispered.