I feel the need…
The NEED FOR SPEED
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.
I'm Nobody Chapter 30: Platinum
Roxas, Xion, Tali and Garrus were strolling through the Silversun Strip as they were partially taking in the sights. It had been a while since they've been here.
They were on their way to the Arnax Arsenal Arena but not in a rush.
The group stopped here and there to look around and participate in some games, get some snacks, browse what the shops had here and so on.
It was a simple moment really for them to relax and enjoy themselves for the most part.
Whoever sent the invite to the Arena didn't appear to demand their immediate summons for a challenge, just that they would be patiently waiting for their arrival.
It's what was literally said in the envelope.
So they opted to take a long winded detour until reaching the arena.
Wasn't far off from where they stood at the moment.
Roxas glanced over to it, spotting the entrance and didn't see many people going into it.
"What do you figure?"
No. XIII looked up at Garrus who stood by him, the Turian eyeing the arena himself.
"Think we should see who it was that called you out?" Garrus asked, looking down at the sandy, blond haired Nobody who frowned in thought.
"I… guess so. Nothing really to do at the moment." Roxas said.
"Right then." Garrus nodded.
"What's going on?"
The two were joined by Xion and Tali, both girls looking at them expectantly.
"We figure it's high time we see what this Platinum challenge is all about." Vakarian stated. "Not much else we can do here on the strip."
Tali hummed in thought whilst Xion pulled out the Platinum card from her pocket as she was the last one to hold it.
Looking at it for a second, she held it out for Roxas to take which he did and he began to walk towards the arena with the rest right by his side.
Reaching the front entrance to the Arena, they walked straight into the familiar building and walked towards its front desk.
"Welcome to Arnax Arsenal Arena." Greeted an Asari employee behind the desk. "Is there anything I can help you out with today? Do you perhaps have a reservation or wanting to reserve one?"
"We… I somewhat do." Pulling out the Platinum Pass, Roxas handed it over to the person behind the counter.
"Oh my, I wonder who gave you that." The Asari inquired more to herself then to Roxas.
"We don't know. We're just here to figure that out." Garrus stated.
"Wait, you don't know either?" Xion asked in surprise.
The Employee shook her head. "Afraid not."
She flipped the card several times and frowned a bit as she held it up for them to look at it.
"Usually some means of procuring the passes can be done either in person or online. If it was done in person, then I most certainly wasn't here for the transaction."
Roxas slowly nodded. "I see."
"Do you perhaps have security footage?" Asked the Turian detective.
"We might have to look up on the designated time when the purchase was made. And it's far easier given how rare these particular passes are handed out." The Asari employee then narrowed her eyes a little as she crossed her arms. "Any reason why you're asking for this?"
"Curiosity sakes." Garrus stated.
"Then sorry. I will not look up the footage unless you have a warrant." Asari said politely.
"Fair enough."
"Are there any specifics registered on this pass?" Asked the Quarian.
Inserting the pass into the console, the employee typed away to pull up the results.
"Huh…"
"Is something wrong?" Xion asked in concern.
"Not sure. But I've got to ask you all this, were you expecting a team match?" Asari inquired, looking at the group.
"...Excuse us?"
"Says here the request is a 1 vs 1 match."
"Huh?" Was the collective response.
The Asari nodded her head. "Yes, yes, only one challenge was issued and it was for… Roxas. Wait… don't I know you? All four of you look… familiar."
"We've been here before." Tali said.
"No, no, not that… hmmm, haven't I seen you all with-"
"Commander Shepard, we're her friends." Xion quickly said, a glint of realization appearing in the Asari's eyes.
"Yes, yes." She said with a beaming smile. "You all saved the Citadel. Thank you, all of you."
"Daw~" Xion appeared bashful, a sentiment shared by the rest of the group. "We just knew we had to do what was right."
The Asari giggled at their reactions, standing up from her seat.
She bowed with a wide smile. "Then I wish to thank you once again. Now, if you'll excuse me, while you get yourself prepared, I'll get the match ready and inform your combatant on your arrival."
The group simply watched as the Asari walked away, leaving them for the moment.
"Only a one on one?" Garrus hummed. "Didn't notice that on the card."
"The envelope it came in was addressed directly to Roxas." Xion mused.
"Wonder why him in particular and not with us." The Turian remarked.
"Do you think it's a trap?" Tali turned to Roxas. "It seems a tad suspicious."
Roxas placed a hand on his chin in thought. "I'm… not sure. If it was a trap, wouldn't whoever do it just… do it?"
"I guess." Garrus murmured. "What do you think? Are you still gonna go for it?"
No. XIII stood there, now crossing his arms as he mulled this over in his mind.
He thought about it for a few seconds with his friends watching him until he nodded his head.
"I don't see why not." Roxas declared. "And if anything does happen, I know you guys will come in to help out."
Xion smiled at him with Garrus puffing his chest out in joking pride yet Tali…
"Are you sure?" She asked quietly.
Roxas regarded the Quarian for a few moments before smiling softly and placing a hand on her arm.
"I'll be fine Tali." Roxas said. "Promise."
She didn't verbally respond, instead leaning into his hand with a small nod of acceptance.
Giving her, Xion and Garrus a bright smile, he turned to enter the arena with the Asari employee waiting for him there.
"I couldn't find the individual who had sent you the challenge." The Asari quickly notified him. "But I did get the confirmation that he is awaiting you inside."
Roxas frowned slightly yet still inclined his head forward all the same.
Looking forward, he stepped through the doorway into the arena and was momentarily blinded in a small white flash of light.
He shielded his eyes, surprised by this light that made it impossible for him to see entirely.
When everything was clear, everything seemed remotely normal. He momentarily blinked in confusion as he seemed to be at the Citadel of all places.
Why the station of all places? Why not one of the original registered field maps the Arena have in their records?
Not to mention… Where was his opponent?
"Curiouser and curiouser." Roxas quoted from Sora's memories of his time in Wonderland.
Exploring the space before him, No. XIII saw it was eerily quiet. Like everyone was vacated off the station. The only sounds he could pick up on are the nearby fountains and standard machinery functioning to their standard means.
Everything seemed quiet for the most part other than the ambient background noise of it all.
He walked around this appearance of the Citadel, trying to see if anyone was even here.
"Helloooo~" Roxas called out loudly, cupping his hands over his mouth. "Can anyone hear me?!"
On the outside, the Arena's audience area watched on with Xion, Tali and Garrus standing before one of the many screens.
"Since when could the Arena change its appearances?" Tali asked.
"I… don't know." Garrus said. "It can change up structure to add obstacles and other items here and there but… never seen it do a full makeover to replicate an entirely different location. Didn't know it could do that."
Xion and Tali caught each other's eye and like that, a pit formed in their guts as they felt something was off. They turned back to the screen as they watched their friend walking around the empty replica of the Citadel.
Exploring the empty space station, the sandy blonde gazed around to survey his surroundings. But he seemed cut off when something big partially came over his face.
"Wha-"
Snatching the object before him, he saw it was a large black feather.
Blinking down at it, Roxas twisted and turned it around for closer inspection.
"Huh." He held it in front of him, squinting his eyes slightly. "This looks… familiar…"
Roxas first saw this feather, or something like it, back on Feros once he and the others took down the Thorian. It was just there and was quite odd as there were no animals from Earth on the planet… as far as he knew.
In mere moments, the avian feather crumbled into dust… just like before.
"Huh… weird."
Roxas looked around again, now starting to get a bit frustrated.
"HEY!" He shouted now. "You sent the invite! Where are ya? Who are you? What do you even want with me?"
His answer came in the form of a light that appeared above him.
Head snapping up, Roxas' eyes widened at the sight of three circles that were magical in nature.
Taking a step back, he saw that the three circles spun about in the air until the three converged and combined together. Upon the three aligning in perfect synchronization, they dispelled and in their wake came a "storm" of large black feathers that descended down to the ground.
Out of instinct, he quickly summoned his Oathkeeper Keyblade out of precaution.
Suddenly, violent winds whipped up around him and caught the black feathers, making them follow along as the winds began to swirl around a single spot.
The feathers spun in a small twister faster and faster until there was a flash of light with someone appearing, kneeling down on the ground.
Those watching on the outside murmured in confusion as to who it was that appeared.
"Um… who is that?" Tali asked nervously.
"I… I don't know." Xion, sharing in her friend's concern gazed upon this new figure with great trepidation.
Garrus remained silent but stood rigid and tense, eyes ablaze as he analyzed just who it was that Roxas was about to face with a feeling of dread now growing within him.
Back within the arena, Roxas had yet to assume his usual battle stance but still held Oathkeeper tightly in hand.
He couldn't explain it but he felt a cold sweat down his spine as he kept his eyes affixed on the man in the center of the black feathers that slowly subsided.
At long last, they all disintegrated away and the man kneeling with his back turned to the Nobody shifted.
He slowly stood up, as if measuring his movements and upon standing at full height, just as slowly turned to face Roxas.
No. XIII took a subconscious step back as his gaze met the one who was undoubtedly his opponent.
This tall person had long, silver hair as it seemed to reach past his waist. His bangs were long which framed his pale face with these cold blue-green cat-like eyes. He wore a long black, leather coat with silver pauldrons, black combat boots and black trousers. The top of his coat is open to reveal his chest with suspenders criss crossing over the exposed flesh. His silver belt buckle has a wing motif in the center and black feathers hanging from it, which matched the silver bracelets he wore.
From there, Roxas saw the man's weapon. The greater Nobody somewhat recognized it as a two handed, seven-foot long ōdachi, given his past research and of his Samurai Nobodies.
Yet it seemed far larger within the silver haired man's possession.
"You wouldn't happen to be Roxas, right?"
The man's cold tone sent some shivers down his spine. Shaking the feeling away, the Nobody gave his response.
"I am, but who… who are you?" Roxas stammered.
The man was silent for the barest of moments, only forming a small smile before speaking. "Me? You may call me Sephiroth."
"...So you're the one who sent me the match invite?" No. XIII eyed the man warily. "The one you referred to as 'He whose Mother is of the Ancients'?"
The now identified Sephiroth gave a small nod, not giving a verbal response.
"Is there a reason why you got this match put together?" Roxas asked carefully.
Sephiroth tilted his head in thought, a small smirk appearing on his face as if the question amused him.
"I've heard… a number of things as of late." Spoke the swordsman. "And I wanted to perhaps see if they were true."
"And what would that be?"
All he did soon after was letting his cat-like eyes travel to the Oathkeeper Keyblade which was in Roxas' hand.
"Well... that is quite the interesting sword you are carrying."
"This?"
"I've never seen a weapon such as yours. What is it?"
"It's the Keyblade."
"I see... So that's a Keyblade." Sephiroth spoke slowly. "I have heard a great many things about it. Its power, its nature. How it is one attains it. And I suppose you must be its chosen wielder."
Roxas tensed. "...S-So what if I am?"
Sephiroth hummed as he gazed at the sandy blonde's form. "I sense a great amount of power within you. I wonder… how is it you've achieved a balance between Light and Darkness."
This utterly confused Roxas while feeling quite cautious.
"Wh-What are you talking about?"
The smirk coming from the silver haired man seemed to grow into a smile, one which greatly unsettled the Keybearer.
"I wonder if your Keyblade won't change its mind... once I defeat you." Sephiroth said, raising his elongated blade and grasping it with both hands, got into a wide stance.
-Insert Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Advent One-Winged Angel Extended-
"Show me your strength."
The hairs of Roxas's neck stood up right as he felt a jolt of complete and utter fear overtake him.
If not for his immediate instinct for survival…
Roxas' body appeared to flail about wildly when moments later, multiple flashes of light followed by sounds of metal meeting metal was heard clashing and echoing about the arena.
However, a moment later did a dozen or so gashes appear all over his body making him gasp in pain and drop to his knees.
Outside, those present all gasped aloud with the Nobody's friends all now fully entering panic mode.
"ROXAS!" Tali cried out in horror.
"We have to get in there, NOW!" Garrus shouted, running towards the arena entrance, Xion and Tali on his tail.
Back in the arena, Roxas was breathing heavily, vision blurry as drops of blood fell from his body.
He looked behind him to see Sephiroth bent forward, sword held out to its full length.
'What was that attack?' Roxas wildly screamed in his head. He barely survived that.
That was his opening attack?
What in the name of Kingdom Hearts did he get himself into/
Who was this psycho?!
The Nobody grunted with a shake of his head, knowing he wouldn't get any answers right now. Casting a quick Cura spell to heal his wounds, he stood back up just as Sephiroth turned to face him with a satisfied smile.
"Ah~ so you're not one so easily to die."
Roxas began to feel another bout of cold sweat all over his body and this one wasn't subsiding.
"Good." Sephiroth now held his blade in a back hand with his right hand hovering over it. "Then we can begin."
'Begin?!' Roxas thought incredulously, getting into his usual battle stance now.
"Alright fine." Roxas put on a brave front. "Bring it!"
Roxas dashed forward with Sephiroth only taking several measured steps until both met their blades, Keyblade grinding against the ōdachi of the One-Winged Angel.
Sephiroth's menacing smile only grew larger at the defiance he saw in Roxas's eyes.
"Let's see what makes you so special." Sephiroth goaded, pushing Roxas back and swung his sword horizontally.
Roxas seized up, performing an aerial recovery and struck the sword with his Keyblade to get enough of a ricochet to flip away.
Landing on the ground, he looked up and his eyes bugged out, hastily throwing up his Keyblade to deflect a powerful blow from Sephiroth's sword.
"Show me your power, Keyblade Master." The silver haired man goaded, raising his sword over his head.
Stumbling back, Roxas barely dodge rolled out of the way in time as Sephiroth brought his blade down and cut the ground in half itself.
Going in for a glide of sorts, he managed to get right up Sephiroth and swung his Keyblade forward.
Seeing this happen, the winged foe angled his body down slightly and had his pauldron deflect the boy's weapon. Oathkeeper bounced off the metal shoulder plate, leaving Roxas wide open for an attack.
Sephiroth proceeded to spin about and land a powerful kick to the teens stomach, sending him flying back and crashing down to the ground.
Skidding on the ground, Roxas managed to shove his hand down on the floor and land on his feet and held his Keyblade over his head.
"STRIKE RAID!"
Roxas's form glowed with the power of Light as he flung his Keyblade at Sephiroth in rapid succession.
The man sidestepped the first two, deflected another and another when one struck his right shoulder making him flinch slightly.
Seeing this, Roxas went in for several more throws until the swordsman up and vanished in a flurry of feathers and the space warping where he stood.
*KKSSVVV*
Roxas' Oathkeeper returned to his hand in time for him to spin about 180 degrees and held his Keyblade up to block Sephiroth's blade.
He visibly flinched as he felt his entire arm rattle in pain from the stress of blocking such a strike with it vibrating uncomfortably.
"Impressive." Sephiroth stated, holding his ōdachi forward, its tip an inch away from Roxas. "Show me what else you can do."
Gritting his teeth, No. XIII hopped backwards several times to get some distance away from Sephiroth but the silver haired swordsman wouldn't allow it to be that easy.
Dashing forward once more, Roxas instantly conjured up a Seeker Mine Wall in response. Once it was formed, he leaped back and let the spell do its work. When Sephiroth crossed over it, the conjured mines swiftly tracked the man and exploded once making contact.
Gazing at his spell, the blond haired teen froze up as he felt the air around him heat up.
For the briefest of moments, Roxas felt a swell of hope within him only for it to be dashed in its entirety.
Three pillars of fire appeared around the One-winged Angel, the flames burning away Roxas' spell with ease.
The flames subsided moments later with Sephiroth appearing completely unscathed.
He gazed forth at Roxas with his menacing smirk in place.
"Come."
No. XIII couldn't help but slump slightly, dramatically bemoaning his misfortune.
A moment later he scrunched up his face up in defiance as he resumed his fighting stance.
"Alright fine. You asked for it."
Roxas' form glowed with Light radiating off his body.
He disappeared in a flash of light with Sephiroth doing the same in a spatial warp and flutter of feathers.
There was a ringing clash of metal as both combatants appeared before one another, their weapons colliding to create a small shockwave.
Roxas face was strained, teeth gritted against one another as his entire body trembled against the calm, composed and dangerous Sephiroth who stared at the boy with a manic gleam in his eyes.
"Yes, there it is." He said reverently. "Let's see how far you can go."
Pushing off against one another, Roxas landed on the ground whilst Sephiroth went into the air.
He heard the sheen of the large blade, the silver-haired swordsman adjusting his grip and position as he prepared his next attack.
Sephiroth flew at Roxas with the teen running forward in response.
Leaping up at the winged enemy, No. XIII's Keyblade met Sephiroth's ōdachi and the two switched places in air and ground.
Though it lasted for no more than a second as Roxas went in for the next attack.
Diving to strike down his opponent, Sephiroth delivered an upward wide-range slash to counter him.
*KLANG*
Roxas winced, feeling pain in his arms from blocking that strike.
That was all he felt with every block.
Just pain.
How strong was this enemy?
Shaking his head, Roxas knew that if he dwelled on this, he'd be dead in an instant. He needed to remain focused otherwise one wrong move would be his last.
The two proceeded to clash a number of times with their forms barely being visible.
It was a series of blurs across the background of the Citadel Arena. Every spot where the two exchanged blows left a small shockwave in its wake with several slashes embedded either into the ground or whatever other structure was nearby.
This continued with the glowing form of Roxas and the menacing aura of Sephiroth crashing into one another repeatedly. All that was heard was the loud ringing of metal hitting metal and the "swishing" of power and magic either emanating or being thrown from the two fighters.
Skidding to a halt in front of a building, Roxas backflipped up from Sephiroth stabbing his blade into the wall behind him.
He landed on the building and broke into a run with the swordsman in hot pursuit.
Roxas thrust his Keyblade in front of him. "Thundaga!"
Several large bolts of lightning rained down past him towards his enemy who simply held his sword aloft.
The metal absorbed the lightning and had it dance around the blade with Sephiroth grinning maniacally.
"Dammit." Roxas berated himself and began taking large jumps up the building.
Swinging his Keyblade out horizontally to his side, it appeared that Roxas seemingly struck the air and with it summoned five pillars of light with the symbol of the Nobodies atop each of them.
The pillars proceeded to infuse themselves into Oathkeeper, the Keyblade bursting with power as Roxas kicked himself off the building and plummeted down to Sephiroth.
Seeing this, he raised his sword in time as Roxas came down at full force with Oathkeeper colliding against the large blade.
An explosion of light made the silver haired swordsman fall away from the Keybearer.
Instead of plummeting all the way to the ground, Sephiroth jabbed his ōdachi into the building a few stories up from the ground. He merely hung there for a brief moment and gazed up at the teen with a deadly smile before thrusting himself upwards to quickly catch up to Roxas.
Conjuring a ball of Flare into his hand, the silver haired swordsman threw it forward. It was like a speeding baseball, greatly aimed at the Keybearer. It landed it's mark, causing the sandy blonde to momentarily flail before recovering from the recent explosion.
Jamming his Keyblade into the building, he used it as leverage to fling himself all the way up to the rooftop.
Landing on the edge with a slight stumble, No. XIII felt a gust of wind from behind.
He looked back in time to see the blurry form of Sephiroth go up over him and land before him.
Gritting his teeth in anger and annoyance he opted not to wait for the man to make his next move and simply ran at him.
Sephiroth simply grinned at this reaction and held his blade horizontally above his eyes and waited for Roxas to get close.
In a mere moment, Sephiroth performed eight sword swings all at once. His Octaslash was devastating as Roxas appeared to hit from all sides.
No. XIII had actually managed to deflect several of them yet he was still cut a few times with one large gash on the right side of his temple and another on his left cheek.
Crying out slightly in pain, this momentary display of weakness was enough for Sephiroth to shoot his hand out and grab him by the collar.
This action seemingly caused Roxas to snap out of his pained state and unleashed a burst of Light that momentarily blinded the Swordsman.
Landing on the ground, he went in for another attack.
"Ars Arcanum!"
A flurry of blows landed on Roxas' enemy who appeared to take considerable damage judging by the way in which his body jolted about after every strike.
"That's enough."
Roxas' eyes widened as he felt power surge from his foe.
Winds whipped around Sephiroth and a moment later came the flaming pillars that engulfed Roxas and then sent him flying back.
"AURGH!" Roxas spasmed, his entire body burning in utter pain and agony.
It was only his adrenaline that forced him up to his shaking feet with the slightly burnt face of the teen glaring at the swordsman.
Smirking to himself, Sephiroth swiftly snapped his fingers. A dark purple light emanated from the snap and quickly formed into a glowing sphere and it was swiftly shot forward. Roxas was unprepared for this attack as he was blasted by Sephiroth's Shadow Flare.
"Give in to the darkness." Sephiroth said, walking towards the teen.
And it wasn't the only one he sent as the silver haired swordsman kept snapping his fingers like he was listening to a catchy song. Instead of exploding right away, purple flames hovered around the Keybearer and more were added on. Roxas tried fleeing as fast as possible, but he was too late as they soon detonated.
"Is this the best you can do?"
When the next volley of Shadow Flares came to him, Roxas was a bit more prepared. When more of the purple flaming spheres encircled him once more, he flew around and waited for them to detonate. As it happened, Roxas swiftly casted Barrier, which shattered moments later from the force behind the enemy's attack.
"Ah, so you have more tricks up your sleeve." Sephiroth taunted.
The onslaught of snapping continued as Sephiroth seemed to be toying with his opponent.
Roxas was getting fed up with the multitude of Shadow Flares. After the latest explosion was averted by casting Reflecta, No. XIII swiftly grabbed one of them out of frustration and threw it back to their maker.
This did surprise both fighters but made Sephiroth relatively impressed on the action when it exploded right in his face.
"Very impressive." Sephiroth said, the flames wafting away from his unscathed face. "You truly are a worthy foe."
Roxas stared in slight disbelief until he stomped his foot defiantly and got back to his fighting stance.
"Shut up asshole. It's gonna take more than a few tricks like that to kill me."
Sephiroth chortled at the boy's words. "How uncouth. You remind me of him in a way. Though much younger and still much to learn."
"Do you ever stop talking?" Roxas rhetorically asked in a snide fashion.
"I don't know." Sephiroth spoke condescendingly. "Can you make me?"
Snarling now, Roxas dashed at the swordsman and once more the two clashed their weapons against each other.
All the while on the outside, Tali, Xion and Garrus saw the entryway into the arena proper and saw a number of Arnax's employees all fretting about.
"What's going on?" Xion asked aloud.
Garrus saw the Asari clerk they had spoken to earlier and went right to her.
"Hey, what in the Spirit's name is happening here?" The Turian asked, grabbing her arm to gain her attention. "Why isn't anyone going in there to stop this?"
"We can't." The Asari said in a panic.
"What?!" Xion said in alarm. "What do you mean you can't?"
"Something is preventing us from entering and shutting down the arena." The Asari elaborated. "We can't do anything to get inside or stop the fight. The entire arena's systems have shut us out."
"Keelah." Tali whispered in horror, looking up at the screen over the doorway inside to see Roxas struggling to stay ahead of this man's attacks.
"We've gotta get inside somehow." Garrus said, pulling out his gun.
"How?" Xion asked fearfully. "They said they're locked out."
"They are." Garrus said. "But that doesn't mean we are."
Tali realized what her friend meant before both of them turned to look at Xion.
"Xion."
"Right." Xion said, calling forth Seashell Resonance.
Without missing a beat, she pointed it at the doorway that led into the Arena and light gathered at the tip of her blade.
A beam shot out and struck the door…
Only for nothing to happen.
Xion blinked at this with her friends looking between her and the door.
"Xion?"
Shaking her head, No. XIV tried once again only to be met with the same result.
Panic and fear began to set in as Xion tried again in vain several more times and still the doorway did not open.
"I-It…" No. XIV felt tears appear out of the corners of her eyes. "It isn't working."
"What?!" Tali and Garrus practically screamed in shock.
"I can't get in." the teen said, tears now streaming down her cheeks.
"What do you mean?!" Tali was now feeling as though she was about to freak out from hearing this.
"Something is preventing me from getting in!" Xion cried, looking up at the screen in time to see Roxas narrowly avoid getting stabbed in the stomach.
He moved too late as the sword still cut his waist and the teen let out a cry of pain.
"We need to help him NOW!" Garrus said frantically by this point. "He's getting killed in there!"
Within the arena, the duel only continued to escalate as Sephiroth had changed up his fighting style.
He opted to remain in the stance with his sword held on the left side of his hip with the blade held backwards.
Sephiroth ran forward at the Keybearer with multiple spheres appearing right behind the swordsman.
He jumped and angled himself into the air to perform a spinning attack with the spheres rocketing towards Roxas at the same time.
Being pushed back to such a degree, No. XIII opted to utilize one of his last resorts.
Form glowing once more and Keyblade coated in light, Roxas dove in for a multitude of strikes that deflected away the spheres whilst repeatedly clashing with Sephiroth's sword.
He tried to go in for his finishing attack only for Sephiroth to swing his blade so forcefully that it struck Oathkeeper and left its wielder wide open.
"Now perish."
Making another ball of Fire, Sephiroth focused more power into it as it grew exponentially. Within his grasp was a Megaflare, a condensed fire composed of blue, white and black light. And it's power was great once he threw it at the Keybearer.
Roxas honestly tried blocking it, but the massive blast sent him plummeting down to the ground as a small indent in the ground was soon formed.
Struggling to get himself back up, Roxas casted Curaga before using a Hi-Ether to get himself back into the fight.
"I… I can do this… all day."
He watched Sephiroth float down to the ground before him and resumed his backhanded stance once again.
"Let's prove that statement, shall we?"
Teeth grit with fierce determination now, Roxas yelled aloud as he ran at Sephiroth who ran back in return.
All the while, No. XIII's friends were still at the door and were still unsuccessful in their attempts to get into the arena.
Garrus shot at it.
Tali tried her hacking the terminals to no avail.
Xion tried using her Keyblade to unlock and in frustration at being unable to do so simply bashed her Keyblade against the doorway repeatedly until tiring herself out.
She slumped down to her knees, tears falling to the ground as she hated herself right now for being unable to get in to help her friend.
"Whoever rigged this thing, I have to sadly say I'm impressed." Said the frustrated Quarian.
"My credits are on this Sephiroth person or whoever arranged the fight in the first place." Garrus muttered darkly before viciously punching a terminal, breaking it in the process. "This is getting fucking ridiculous. We can't let Roxas fight this bastard by himself. He's barely hanging on as is."
"Well I'm trying everything I can here." Tali yelled angrily, thrusting her Omni-Tool out to send out a torrent of omni-bolts at another door only to be met with the same response as before.
"God *BSHZAP* Damn *BSHZAP* BOSH'TET!"
The Quarian threw out one more Omni-bolt and threw her gun down at the ground in a yell of rage.
She then collapsed to her knees with her hands catching her as her shoulders shuddered repeatedly with tears now coming out of her eyes.
Tali felt so completely and utterly helpless as she could do nothing but watch her friend fight to stay alive with everything he had.
Looking over to her friends, it was easy to tell that they were in a similar level of distraught helplessness.
Garrus's was more along the lines of worry coupled with unbridled fury directed at this strange man with the long sword.
Xion appeared to be more or less in the same boat as her and…
Tali gazed upon the Puppet Nobody in realization with her heart stopping momentarily.
Xion!
Of course!
Shakily getting back to her feet, Tali walked over to the crying girl and placed her hands around her.
"X-Xion." She said softly, making the girl look up to the Quarian to reveal her tear stricken face.
She carefully helped the girl up to her feet and placed her hands on her shoulders.
"We can get to Roxas." Tali said, voice cracking slightly. "I know we can cause you can get us there."
"But how?" Fresh tears welled up from Xion's eyes. "My Keyblade isn't working."
"I… I know." Tali said unsurely. "But it's not your Keyblade we should use."
Both Garrus and Xion watched as Tali hesitated in this instance.
"We… We might have to use a Corridor."
"What?" Garrus and Xion said at the same time in surprise.
"Hang on a sec Tali." The Turian spoke first. "Haven't they told us just how dangerous it can be since we don't have their coats."
"The Darkness can swallow and consume you entirely." Xion said fearfully. "It's not safe without wearing a coat-"
"I know that Xion but-"
Both were unable to finish their sentences as the entire arena shook violently and the trio looked to the screen displaying the fantastic battle between Roxas and Sephiroth.
Their recent clash sent a shockwave that the entire arena felt.
The three of them could see exhaustion begin to creep up on their friend whilst Sephiroth appeared only to be getting started.
This was enough of a sight to eliminate any hesitation Tali had as she looked directly at Xion and grasped her shoulders tightly.
"We have to." She said determinedly. "Roxas needs us."
Knowing that there was no other choice, Xion nodded solemnly.
"Keep your hands on my shoulders at all times and do not let go for anything."
Garrus and Tali only nodded silently, hands placed upon her shoulders now.
Summoning a Corridor of Darkness beside her, there was a brief pause before they rushed in as the doorway behind them closed.
It was a unique experience for Tali this time around. During the past times of traversing through this Corridor was with her wearing Axel's Organization coat when she and Roxas went to Rannoch several times. She had grown used to the feeling over time, but now was different. The Quarian didn't wear the proper protection as this dark feeling was trying to swallow her up.
Garrus was in a similar boat. Being through a Dark Corridor reminded him greatly of when he and the others fought against the Saren-Sovereign machination which became a Heartless. And yet this passageway made him feel like drowning.
Yet both Turian and Quarian had to fight on so they could reach their destination in one piece.
They couldn't see anything.
Nothing but the frightening eternal void of Darkness.
"Hang on!" The duo heard Xion's voice that appeared to echo from afar even though she was right in front of them.
Moments later, the Darkness subsided around them and they found themselves inside the arena itself.
Tali and Garrus practically collapsed onto the ground and were gasping for breath.
"K-K-Keelah." Tali shivered uncontrollably. "Th-That was-"
"Spirits." Garrus wheezed, visibly shaken and even his complexion had changed. "I-I-I N-never… Spirits, God above. Is that what you all g-go through every time?"
"Not like you two." Xion said with sorrow written all over her face. "That's what the coat is for."
"Urgh." Was all Garrus managed out.
"Hold on." Xion closed her eyes and concentrated. "I'm going to try something."
Hand hovering over her chest, No. XIV exhaled softly as an aura of light surrounded her.
Tali and Garrus stared at their friend in anticipation, taking a moment to realize how serene and graceful Xion looked just now.
It would have made for a beautiful sight had it not been for the situation at hand.
"Light." Xion whispered to herself. "My element is Light. So I can control Light. Just like Sora. Just like the King. Just like… Roxas."
The Light she had summoned converged to her one hand and she interlaced it with her other hand.
Both glowed brightly when she separated them and stepped forward to her friends.
She placed her hands over where their Hearts would be and dispelled her Light.
It washed over them and in an instant the two felt a warm feeling of rejuvenation come over them and forcefully evict the lingering negative effects of the Darkness.
"Spirits." Garrus whispered in awe. "Th-that was-"
"Amazing." Tali said in an equally awestruck voice. "Xion."
She gave them a small smile when the shaking of the area snapped them back to the matter at hand.
They shot up and ran towards the center of the arena and looked around to see the damage caused by Roxas and Sephiroth's battle.
The three saw the holographic Citadel was more or less smoking ruins due to how the fight escalated.
"Where are they?" Tali looked around.
There was a flash out of the corner of Xion's eye and she turned to spot who they were looking for.
"There they are!"
Looking towards where Xion pointed towards, they saw Roxas was gliding through the air to give himself some breathing room against his opponent. And yet the man was relentless in catching up with him.
Black spheres pursued the teen along with Sephiroth being right on his tail with the silver haired swordsman appearing calm. Yet the eyes told of a man enjoying this "hunt".
"Let me hear you wail."
The next Flare he conjured was something outright dangerous. Everything seemed to condense into a small ping-pong ball before he chucked it onwards. The light from it was small and seemingly harmless.
Yet Roxas knew better this time.
Swiftly avoiding it, he let the small ball of light strike the building.
*KRAK-KABOOOM*
The results were utterly alarming as a large part of the building was seemingly vaporized from the magnitude of the explosion. Roxas was hit from the blast's shockwave, causing him to flail in the air before performing an aerial recovery.
Goes to show how dangerous a Gigaflare was with Sephiroth being the conjurer.
During the moment of confusion from the massive smoke cloud from the latest attack, Roxas was unprepared for Sephiroth to swiftly rush towards him and ensnared him by the hem of his Organization coat.
"Impressive you were able to avoid that." Sephiroth said with a shockingly honest tone from Roxas' point of view.
"So glad I can entertain you like this." No. XIII grunted, leaping away as Sephiroth came down with his landing creating an impact shockwave.
Thrusting his Keyblade forward, light gathered at the tip and it fired into thirteen separate beams for a shotlock attack of his own making.
Sephiroth simply made a single twirl of his elongated blade and there was a shockwave that dispelled the beams. Roxas only groaned aloud in anger and annoyance.
"You just wanted to show off with that, didn't you?" Roxas couldn't help himself with that.
His enemy simply arched a brow in amusement. "I know not of what you mean."
Roxas simply rolled his eyes. "Right, whatever you say."
Before their bout could continue, a volley of bullets rang out in the air. In that moment, Sephiroth swiftly deflected most of the bullets about to land their mark with his ōdachi.
"Now that was rather rude of you to do."
Roxas was momentarily confused before looking back. He then smiled soon after.
"About time you guys showed up."
"Sorry Roxas." Xion said, running up to him with Tali and Garrus. The four of them faced the Silver haired swordsman who regaled them with what appeared to be mild annoyance at best.
"Don't care. All that matters is you guys being here." Roxas said in utter relief.
"You think help shall save you from me?"
Sephiroth took a moment to look over the three newcomers until stopping on Xion.
The swordsman gazed at her Keyblade before sensing her unique power from within her. It was like his one opponent, yet different in some manner.
"Well~ Well~ Aren't you a peculiar one?"
Xion faltered slightly as the man's eyes bore into hers.
"I've never encountered one with an existence such as yours." Sephiroth remarked, taking a step forward towards her with the girl subconsciously taking a step back.
"A memory that has anchored itself to the World and can vanish in an instant." Sephiroth went on. "Yet in that memory, truth was formed. And with it, a Keyblade to call your own with no replicas for it to stem from."
The man held out a hand for her to take.
"You can be more than a memory." Sephiroth said. "More than a Puppet."
Xion found herself freezing up as the overbearing aura of the swordsman began to bear down upon her.
"S-Shut up!"
Sephiroth chuckled at her childish response. "Make me."
Before Xion could get the chance to act, her Turian and Quarian companions beat her to it. A high powered sniper rifle heavily rang out with a series of Omni-bolts soared through the air to strike the swordsman.
"She doesn't need to prove anything to you." Tali yelled, unleashing a torrent of Omni-Bolts before firing off her pistol.
"Humph, come and try to prove me wrong."
Sephiroth swiped his sword down and cut the bolts apart or deflected them to crash elsewhere. With the shots, he merely conjured up a green multi-hexagonal barrier to block them.
"Spirits he's fucking insane." Garrus muttered underneath his breath.
Garrus and Tali tried landing their onslaught on their opponent, but they were swiftly blocked each and every time. Even with the Keyblade wielders contributing with conjured spells, nothing seemed to work.
"Let Darkness fall."
In a mere moment, the silver haired swordsman greatly leaped into the air. Angling himself, he shot downward and jabbed his ōdachi into the ground. What happened next as a powerful explosion with purple light knocked everyone back as he performed his Hell's Gate technique.
To add more pain onto them, Sephiroth casted Aeroga, sending a number of them back even farther.
It was the two Nobodies who recovered the quickest and acted right after.
Roxas and Sephiroth clashed their blades against one another. Sparks and light coming off with each hit in a repeated fashion. Soon enough Xion leaped into the battle, hoping she could help overwhelm their opponent.
Unfortunately, the silver haired swordsman saw this coming and swiftly delivered an upper wide-range swing to intercept her coming blow. After which he leaped back and thrusted his ōdachi forward to strike the dark haired Keybearer.
Xion blocked the strike but was sent back from the strong hit. Roxas caught and stopped her from getting too far before spinning her around in order to give her an added boost. Once away from the sandy blonde, No. XIV performed the Sonic Blade technique to rapidly attack Sephiroth from multiple sides.
As this went on, No. XIII swiped his Oathkeeper and sent out magical arcs of light to crash into the man's form when Xion wasn't in the way.
"Ha! Is that the best you can do?" Sephiroth egged on, incensing the two Keyblade wielders.
Roxas jumped at Sephiroth, several bullets coming from behind the teen courtesy of a recovered Garrus.
He swatted away the bullets and blocked Oathkeeper with his elongated sword, pushing the boy back to sidestep a swing Xion sent at him and parried several more.
"Good." Sephiroth praised. "Very good. Show me what else you can do."
"No problem." Xion growled, water and air beginning to flow around her Keyblade.
With a quick spin of her body and Keyblade, a small twister that resembled both a tornado and crashing waves appeared around her weapon.
"Typhoon Boom!"
Thrusting her Keyblade forward, wind and water converged into a torrenting twister that speared itself directly at Sephiroth.
He held up his sword to block the oncoming attack yet it bypassed his blade entirely.
The typhoon struck the swordsman dead on and the group heard a verbal grunt of pain. He was sent flying to a nearby building and kept there before the attack started dying down.
Right after, No. XIV conjured a Blizzaga Burst above her head. The pieces of the large chunk of ice shot out and crashed into their target to keep him in place. Sephiroth was able to break himself free, but Xion acted quickly to deliver a series of strikes before casting Thundara to help add in more damage.
"Whoa, what was that move Xion?" Roxas asked in amazement.
She panted slightly, giving him a small smile. "Been *Pant* practicing and figuring out *pant* new moves to use. Seen how you and Axel do it."
"And I do admit, that was quite the display."
The duo seized up in fear and saw Sephiroth coming out of the smoky area where Xion had attacked him.
Dusting his coat off from some debris stuck onto his person, the silver haired man merely smirked at them as he walked towards them.
"You two are truly something special." Sephiroth said, eyeing them both and then looked past them at Tali and Garrus. "And those two… have potential to become something far more than the limitations of this World… this galaxy had bestowed upon them."
Tali and Garrus shared a look with one another before turning back to Sephiroth who held his arms up horizontally from his body.
Floating in the air, Sephiroth raised his available hand and gave a wicked smirk.
"The time has come."
The lighting within the station seemed to change. It swiftly darkened before a growing orange light could be seen all around.
Fear crept into the Normandy members, for when looking above, they saw a volley of "small" meteors falling down from the very sky.
"KEELAH!"
"MOVE, MOVE!"
"Get to cover." Roxas ordered, crouching down. "We'll handle this."
Leaping high into the air, the two Nobodies quickly slashed through the incoming space rocks. Their pieces fell and crashed into the nearby buildings in a fiery blaze.
More and more kept coming down by the minute, yet it seemed far longer for them and their companions.
Roxas sliced through a particularly large one and nearly dropped his Keyblade at Sephiroth, appearing right before him.
At the very last second he managed to block a powerful blow from the deadly foe.
He plummeted down to the ground and crashed down hard. The blonde teen groaned in pain within the small crater he had made in his body.
"Roxas!"
He blearily looked up to see Tali sliding down to the ground with Garrus standing over him.
"You alright? Still conscious?"
"Alive." Roxas muttered. "Does that count?"
"It'll do for now." Garrus said, holding out his hand for him to take.
As Roxas got hefted up to his feet, Xion skidded to a halt right next to Tali with her looking singed and scorched in a few places.
"Xion." Tali instantly had her hands on the girls back and shoulders as No. XIV looked like she was about to fall over.
"Tali." Xion said quietly. "Thanks."
Wordlessly, Roxas pulled out a Mega-Potion and threw it above him.
The healing essence of the Mega appeared and descended around the team, healing and relieving their stress and injuries.
"Impressive that you lasted this long, despite the interference your friends caused."
The four of them face the descending Sephiroth with his blade gleaming from the fires that surrounded them.
"Most would've fallen earlier." He remarked. "But you are not like other individuals. Are you, Roxas?"
"Glad… that I exceeded your… expectations."
His body was very exhausted. His magical reserves were heavily drained, even if he tried to refill it with Ethers. His nerves in certain parts with a growing feeling of pain beginning to wash over him. Even with the potion he just used, Roxas was breathing heavily and tiredly.
He didn't know how much more he had left in him but Sephiroth…
It seemed as though he had barely even tried.
"Who are you?" Roxas abruptly asked. "What are you?"
"I? I am the one who will bring about a new age to all." Sephiroth spoke in a grandiose fashion. "To sail the winds of the cosmos and finish the work that Jenova had started."
"Yeah~" Garrus sarcastically said. "That makes all the sense in the Galaxy. Any other poetry you got on you?"
Sephiroth only smirked, chuckling a moment later. "You remind me of friends I once had."
"Friends? Who would want to be friends with you?"
"Who indeed." Sephiroth said enigmatically. "Tell me, Roxas. Have you seen Cloud lately?"
Roxas blinked. "Cloud?"
His vision blurred and changed into that of Sora's.
He stood in the Olympus Coliseum and watched as a tall man with bright blond hair walked by him and placed something within his hand.
"Your light. Don't lose sight of it."
He blinked, jolting slightly as he found himself back in the present.
"I've never met Cloud."
Sephiroth tilted his head with his eyes narrowed before a smirk appeared.
"Ah~ but you know of Cloud, don't you?" Sephiroth mused aloud.
Roxas said nothing in response, yet the confirmation seemed clear to the silver haired swordsman.
He began chuckling to himself as he slowly looked over the four individuals that stood before him.
"Your powers are still immature. You have yet to reach your true potential. This match was a mere glimpse on what you all are capable of." His gaze soon shifted to the Quarian. "Even if some haven't tapped into it yet."
'Our true… potential?' Was the resounding thought from the group.
"Or perhaps that's a misleading way of phrasing it." Instead of elaborating, Sephiroth changed the subject. "We will meet again someday. Until then, grow stronger. Strong enough to defeat me." The swordsman was silent for a few moments as he gazed at the Keybearers, Roxas in particular. "You remind me a great deal of him. You both prefer the light, but still have inescapable ties to the dark." He then turned his back and began walking away. "I look forward to witnessing how you'll grow."
He then hunched forward making the group tense until something came out from his back that halted them in their tracks.
Protruding out from the man's back was a singular massive black wing that fluttered once for Sephiroth to levitate up in the air.
He looked like a One-Winged Angel -a fallen one at that- gazing down upon them with a serene, deadly look.
"Farewell… until our fates cross once more."
The swordsman then wrapped it around himself. Moments later, the man was gone with a mixture of a flurry of black feathers and wispy arcs of darkness in his wake. From there, the feathers fluttered to the ground before disintegrating into dust.
The four of them remained there, standing still until Roxas' Keyblade flashed out of his hand and he fell to the floor.
"Roxas." Tali said, going down to her knees beside him.
"You alright?" Garrus asked in concern.
"I'm… fine… just… tired."
A hand went through his hair before he rested his face with his eyes being covered.
The arena started to shut down and go back to its normal state when not using any holographic functions at all. No sign of debris from the recent battle was present at all.
"That guy…" Roxas visibly shuddered. "That was the strongest being I ever fought. Stronger than anything we've ever fought."
"But who was he?" Xion asked worriedly.
"He knew… of Cloud." Roxas murmured.
"Who's Cloud?" Tali and Garrus asked at the same time.
"Someone… Sora knows." Xion said, sharing a look with Roxas.
"Where is he then?" Tali inquired with Roxas shaking his head.
"No idea." Roxas muttered, head hung low.
There was a silence that permeated the air around them until Garrus let out a strangled sigh of sorts.
"Spirits, we're never gonna have normal lives ever again, aren't we?"
AN
Well now, fast wasn't it?
This chapter basically wrote itself. Jeb and I knew exactly how the chapter was gonna go and it was done like that.
Jebest4781: It was basically a one sided fight, given how much Sephiroth held back while showing the others were no match against such a being. And this was intentional, especially with what we've seen in the first two KH games that even if Sora defeated him, it wasn't definite or all that much unlike Cloud who can properly do so.
FMW: So, ladies and gentlemen, officially speaking, we are done with part one of this story. Mass Effect 1 has been concluded, Chain of Memories averted and the transition period between here and into KH2 and ME2 has begun. The seeds of many arcs to come have been planted and we have a lot of work ahead of us. Thankfully, Jeb and I now have foresight of planning things out after years of writing.
But we're not gonna end it there.
Since we have a lot to work on, we shall give you this to feast on until the time comes.
Within a darkened room, illuminated only by a dying Red Star sat a single man with a contemplative look to his face.
He had gone by many names in his life but recently has found a new one that better suited him.
A new title that reflected the objectives and goals of the organization he ran.
The Illusive Man presently sat within the central Cerberus Base at an undisclosed location. Momentarily taking his focus away from drinking his favorite alcoholic beverage and his brand of cigarettes to work on the present task at hand.
"-What of Commander Shepard and Roxas?" Questioned Miranda Lawson.
"Neither of them have any idea what they're getting into." Was her superior's response.
Swiping through the hard light constructs, the Illusive Man was reading and observing through a collected amount of files and video footages.
"To their credit, they're going to be recruiting an impressive team for the task at hand." TIM began before listing off a number of examples. "Assassins, scientists, biotics, explorers. Both are scouring the galaxies for the best."
Miranda Lawson observed the Cerberus leader pull up a file of a green skinned Drell assassin named Thane Krios. More importantly captured video footage of one of his latest hired assignments over on Illium.
Inside of a corporate building a band of Eclipse mercenaries were investigating a series of gunshots coming from their contractor's office. Upon entering the space, they saw the man was dead with some bullet wounds on his person as he tried to defend himself.
The mercenary band should've paid more attention to their surroundings as the perpetrator -Thane, the assassin- snuck up from behind and fired precision shots to quickly break through their shields and kill them right then and there.
Others fought back, causing Thane to quickly adapt. Rushing in, he swiftly disarmed them by breaking their arms or delivering a flurry of punches and elbow strikes. When they were down for the count, he reached down to one of the Eclipse members and snapped their neck as they tried to get back up. Once done, the Drell quickly fired at the other members so they wouldn't fight back.
After that, the footage ended as Thane vacated the premises.
Soon after, the Illusive Man swiped over a few times to pull up the file of one Nakmor Drack, a 1400 year old Krogan barring a number of bones which decorated his yellow-orange armor.
"A grizzled, experienced warrior from sunny Tuchanka."
The footage pulled up revealed Nakmor Drack plowing through a number of Blood Pack members at their base of operations. His trusty shotgun was repeatedly barking as he came in close and delivered powered payloads into his enemies.
A number of Varren started running at the intruder. Leaping at the grizzled Krogan with the intent to kill. Yet Drack was able to take them out easily, smacking them out of the way or shooting them as they were still in the air.
Once they were killed, Drack moved onward to finish his personal mission as to why he was at this decrepit base.
The footage then ended as Miranda Lawson typed away on her data pad.
The Illusive Man then pulled up files of Della Duck and her two compatriots, Balthier and Fran; a human male and what appeared to be female Viera, a near human species with some rabbit characteristics.
"Even a trio of adventurers from the Ōkoku galaxy."
The footage he got on them was hard to track down with a number of his operatives now residing in the new galaxy.
And this came from a sky pirate ship the trio had taken out some time ago. Fran fired off a number of specialized arrows from her high compact bow at some pirates and Heartless in the distance. A couple were electrocuted while others were killed off by explosives.
Once they were down, she quickly had her bow straighten out to form a fighting staff. Fran then smacked away a few Heartless which tried to come up from her from behind once picking up their movements.
One of them almost got her if it wasn't for a well-placed shot from a high powered pistol.
Looking over, she gave a subtle nod to her human companion before moving onwards to secure the package.
Balthier was reloading his pistol as Della was covering for him. The avian woman was rapidly firing from their present hiding place before tossing in a few grenades. As the explosions went off, the human sky pirate came out of cover and fired off his trusty pistol before coming up to an enemy and punching his lights out.
The sky pirate then withdrew a one handed battle axe as he cleaved through a couple of Heartless before both he and Della got a call from Fran. Once learning she acquired their target, they swiftly vacated the enemy ship to get back onto theirs.
Leaping out, they dived towards their gummi ship hovering in the air before seeing Fran come out soon after. With everyone out, Balthier pulled out a detonator and activated it. In mere moments, the enemy ship started to explode as the trio took off to parts unknown.
"An unlikely band of brothers." Lamented the Illusive Man as the footage came to an end. "But are they loyal? If neither Shepard or Roxas can gain their trust, they're all as good as dead."
An unknown amount of time has passed as Commander Shepard and Roxas were facing off against Heartless, Nobodies and a new yet ancient enemy; an insectoid race called the Collectors.
Alongside the pair were Thane, Drack, Della, Balthier and Fran as they were facing against them at a far off world in the Milky Way galaxy. Other members of their assembled team were elsewhere as they still faced off the same threat.
Bullets soared through the air alongside arrows and magic bolts. Their enemies were slowly being taken out one by one as Roxas and Shepard's squad occasionally ducked into cover.
Soon enough they had to break off like with Drack giving out a battle cry as he charged into a large Heartless. His shotgun repeatedly barked into his current opponent before it went into wisps of darkness. Another tried to come from behind, but a combined strike between Roxas' Keyblade and Fran's arrows were able to slay it easily.
Thane advanced farther, firing off his pistol at the Collectors before switching to his assault rifle. He used his biotics to hold some Nobodies in place before firing from his weapon to take them out.
Shepard rushed forward into cover and fired off her assault rifle. Barely seeing a Collector from the corner of her eye, she swiftly turned and struck it with her weapon. Jane then activated her Omni-blade to drive the hard light construct into the face of a Collector before using her biotics to throw the corpse into another.
Seeing a grenade rolling near her position, Shepard rolled out of the way just in time for an explosion going off. Looking to the source, she saw Della tossing out more of her signature bombs before firing off her Lunarian pistol to some airborne enemies. Once they were done, she whipped out a grenade launcher, took careful aim and fired off at a congregated number of enemies where a larger explosion took place.
Roxas could then be seen cleaving through enemies left and right before casting Thundaga to help clear some space. After which, he switched from Oathkeeper to Pirate's Dream and had it shift into its gauntlet form to deliver some powerful strikes onto a Berserker Nobody. Once it was destroyed, he picked up a large crate and threw it at a charging enemy.
From behind the Keybearer, Balthier pulled out his pistol and switched to some specialized ammunition. Some explosive rounds went off before the sky pirate went into biotic rounds at some nearby enemies. Whipping out his one handed battle axe, he cleaved through them before going into electric rounds to help stun a few others. As those were kept in place, Fran and Drack took them out in their own respective ways.
The area was clear, or at least assumed for the time being, the team moved onward before noticing their surroundings were starting to darken considerably. Looking above, they saw the source of it all.
Running onward, the seven squad members reached the end of the area as a massive light shines down from above. It wasn't friendly at all as it was coming from a foe they were facing.
Shepard quickly radioed in the others to regroup when possible as this new part of their mission will require them all working together. Once done, she and the others beside her charged forward to take out the threat in order to save the residents of this far off world.
FMW: And there we have it folks. There's your teaser and more to come. So much more.
Things are greatly changing in both the Milky Way and Ōkoku galaxies.
And would you look at that? Andromeda has a role to play.
To say that the ME2 roster is gonna be huge is an understatement.
We've already changed the trajectory of a great many things with all there is in the future and changes will only continue to grow.
Thank you all once again for reading this story, be sure to check out our other works, A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts, Nobody, Infinite Wars and all and we shall see you next time at the start of Part two.
Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.