Terra lowered his keyblade. "I did found a way out of here... a secret exit during the attack, but it doesn't work right... it never leaded me to where I wanted to go." His keyblade dispersed. "I tried to find my way back to the land of departure,but it failed. And I wanted to help fight off those creatures, but then..." he hesitated before continuing. "There was too many... i ran... i didn't know who was here or why it happened. All I know is I was taken, wake up here, and tried to find my way back. Please, just take me to Master Eraqus." He paused for a brief moment. "Im only one person. How many of you are there?"
"About No Heart. And Aux, Nequa and Vanitas! They're hunting people down and taking worlds!" Terra replied. He looked to Kel and Karina. "I was trapped in this world after a bunch of heartless attacked. After the invasion ended, I tried to leave on my glider but couldn't... I've been stuck here ever since. How did the two of you get here?" ------------------------------------------------------------------- "Yes the SOS.... I need to speak with them. We have to find Yen Sid as well... what were there names..." He pondered to himself. "There was Anora, Leo.... Kross, Noroz, Kel... Any of those names ring a bell?" Eraqus asked as he looked to his pupil. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- "She's got a point," Aux replied. "You said a lot of the stars have been fading... How much longer until they're all out? Sooner we master our strength, the sooner we can help restore things to normal." "Anything else you can tell us about No Heart?" DJ asked. Aux paused as he thought to himself. "He's strong. Real strong... Never takes off his mask. He always went on about clearing the board, but... it almost sounded like he cared about the worlds. Planning something for them..." "Sure got a funny way of showing it," Oswald scoffed. "I'm gonna try to bring the order back as soon as possible," DJ informed. "But until then, we'll be preparing you for the worst.
"After I was taken, I escaped!" He barked at Karina. "I've been going from world to world trying to find them... I've been looking for over a year..." He took a deep breath before calming down. "Please... I have to warn them..." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Erauqs sighed, but Ventus was right. "The night you three vanished, I called upon Yen Sid. He sent out letters to see who would aid in my cause. Little did I know that your disappearance was just the beginning, before I could investigate further, I was taken by the same assailants who had taken you... I was a fool for keeping my guard down." He looked to Ventus. "Who knows how much I missed..."
He was about to say something else, but then hesitated for a brief moment. "Terra" he aggressively stated. "Now its your turn. Im looking for Eraqus, Xehanort, Aqua or Ventus. Do any of those names mean anything to you?"
HALL OF THE ORDER DJ addressed the comment regarding the rest of the order first. "I've been trying to find a way to contact the rest of the order for sometime... There's a spacial element I have yet to grasp before I get access to the void to get them out. I think I can get them out but I'll need more time..." He turned to Beuce. "But boosting your abilities doesn't seem like a bad idea." He motion to Shiro. "Training is Shiro's department. I wouldn't be as strong as I am without him." Shiro cracked his knuckles. "I'm more than up to the task, friend. It's been some time, but I'll happy to teach any wielder the 3 principles of mastering the key! And once Eraqus recovers, we should be able to get them up to speed even faster!" He nudged Kaida and tussled her hair. "I still have plenty of training I owe miss Kaida as well." "Good to know...." DJ looked to Goofy. "How goes the efforts on recovering the core memories from each world?" "Goin' A-okay Mr. DJ sir!" Goofy saluted. "That Dreamer guy has been helpin' us get to the worlds we can't reach. Not to mention we found lotsa help from the folks that the SOS helped!" "I don't trust that Dreamer!" Donald pouted. "Me neither, but so long as he's helping us, he's considered an ally." He looked to Koa. "Primarily the black coats were supposed to help us from the shadows, but seeing as how everyone's out in the open we'll need you to help some other way." He propped a book open onto the table."You said you guys found this in Hotel's manor... I think it holds the key on her to solve our void problem. So far only Nequa has been able to open the portals to the void. But that's because she's been inside the Void the longest... My dad knew a similar patient and using that, he made the time belts... When No Heart started abusing them, he created tears in the void. Nequa must've found a weak point and escaped. Now she's acting like a secret tunnel to send people to and from the void. "He looked to Aux. "Anything else we need to know on her?" Aux thought long and hard. "She kept saying something about... releasing the Chaos. She didn't care much about Kingdom Hearts. Only something about... swords?" "The X-blade?" Shiro asked. "Only part of the answer..." He turned the pages of the book. "This... Enchiridion of sorts holds a bunch of old secrets regarding the "Void." it was used like a prison holding the most dangerous creatures known to man. A realm beyond light, darkness and in between." "And Mick's in there!" Goofy sighed. "In the age of fairytales, world leaders would use six blades to banish the unstoppable into the void. Blade of Honor, Blade of Plight, Blade of Truth, Blade of Might, Blade of heroes and their start Blade that watches every heart. "Perhaps young Alex knows which she's collected..." Shiro suggested. DJ sighed. "That'll be a fun conversation... When I kept reading, I found something about the Children of Cosmos. Twelve heroes of light that severed the connection between the void. It may also be my answer to fixing the tears in time... I could theoretically make a giant reset button from it. But the children of cosmos are very rare and far... Only those blessed from the light of Cosmos can give their light into this." He showed an orb that could fit roughly in the palm of his hand. "How they gonna do that?" Oswald replied. "The Black Coats need to scout out Children of Cosmos and have them give their light into this orb. Once we get all twelve, we should be to stop any plan Nequa or No Heart has for the void." Oswald sighed. "This seems like a lot of extra steps just for one bad guy." "Well it's a good thing, we have a lot of teams," DJ replied agitated. "Whoever No Heart is, he has planned, and has kept us busy for over a year. He took down our base, stole our records, and we don't even know what he wants to use Kingdom Hearts for... so yeah... I'm taking every precaution..." He took a deep breath as he leaned back. "I'll work on a way of contacting the rest of the void. I'll try and get info out of Alex if I can.. The Black Coats will find the Children of Cosmos to help RESET the world order... The Disney Station crew will help recover core memories to RESTORE the world order. And Shiro and any other master we find will will help train the SOS. To PROTECT the world order. That sound good to everyone?" he asked the room. ------------------------------------------- TRAINING GROUNDS Kel and Karina came across.a man with brown hair and a tight black shirt. His garments similar to that of Eraqus. "Stay where you are!" He pointed his keyblade at the two of them as he stepped closer from their rear. "Tell me who you are... and what you're doing here..." he held his keyblade firmly pointed at the duo. ------------------------------------------- MED BAY "The SOS are here? How long have I been asleep?" Eraqus tried not to panic, but questions continued to plague his mind. He tried to sit up and get to his feet. "I'm still weak, but... we need answers." He propped onto his feet but quickly feel down to his knees.
Quill's intrudence didn't seem to be bothering much as those with worlds in the matter deserved to be heard. "Quill is right, but seeing as how we were spread pretty thin, we don't really have much know how on the status of several worlds... No Heart took the record of all active worlds, however there's something even very troubling. Over a year ago Yen Sid reported that stars were overfilling the night sky. Each star is a world of course, and the time travel must have created an influx beyond normal capacity... But recently stars have begun to dwindle. As if No Heart is pushing them to another point in time... But all the time belts were destroyed, so we fear he may be sending the worlds to darkness...." "Lotta folks from our worlds have gone around collectin' memories from places just in case!" Goofy chimed in. "So just in case this No Heart Fella plans to get rid of the worlds, we can try and form new ones from each world's core memory!" "It's a long shot, but Goofy's right. Each world has a core memory that represent the history of the world. If the darkness consume the heart of that world, we may at least be able to rebuild it with the date from the items they've collected. So at the very least we have a contingency for the fall of all worlds...." Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. "The clash of light and darkness may be a bit more difficult. Originally, there were seven members of the order that would help fight off the darkness should anyone wish to claim Kingdom Hearts. However, three of our comrades are lost to the void, and one has shown to a treacherous swine!" "The point of his three apprentices were to gather factions of darkness Nequa chose to create a Red Society to best select her dark champions. The Black Coats that Lea assembled have dealt with them the longest and only recently have the SOS been introduced to them. Ventus was rescued from their control, but we're still not sure how many are left..." "Vanitas has also been shown to be gathering his own faction. From what it looks like, Sho from your Mark of MAstery exam is also in his ranks. It's safe to assume he'll try to gather more warriors with vendetta's against your group.... That just leaves the man in the black armor... Whoever he is, he's been inactive for some time..." Shiro stroked his chin, unaware of his identity. DJ looked to Aux and back to the monitor. "I'll keep a tab on him just in case." Donald hopped forward onto a chair. "Last I heard, he was outta the picture. Besides, you're forgetting another group!" "Right... The hellfire club. Seems like No Heart made another ally. While I was traveling along Disney Station, One of their group members attacked us..." "That no good Mortimer sent Mick and Oswald outta the realm!" Goofy pouted. "I was sent into darkness, and Mickey into the void." Oswald added. "From what Mortimer said, they have roughly ten members... You guys may have ran into a few of them. They've been the ones kidnapping princesses for the past year..." "No Heart is gathering darknesses. And Until I can communicate with Yue, Mizu and Lea, we may need 4 more champions of Light as a back up." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Some time went by as Eraqus' hand weakly moved towards Ventus, his listless eyes slowly openeing. He turned his head to his pupil. "Ventus?.." he softly whispered. "I'm sorry I failed you..." He tried to get up but was still very weak. His entire body mostly asleep. "I'm glad you're safe though.. Where.... Where are Terra and Aqua?" He looked around, unsure where the two of them were. "Where are we?"
"Doesn't look like," Shiro replied, hooking Eraqus up to a life monitor. "Seems to have just been taken out of a cryo-nap. It will take his body a few hours to adjust to regular body temperature. Best not wake him until he's ready. Shock would be too much to his system." He patted Ventus on the head before heading off. "Keep vigilant young Ventus. We are working hard to achieve our goals." He walked back.to the rest of those waiting as the meeting was prepared to get underway. Those who wished to Inside the Hall of the Order, each faction of light sat at a corner of the table. Seven seats were available to sit in. Representing the order was DJ, Shiro, and Kaida. Representing Disney Station was Oswald, Donald and Goofy. Representing the Black Coats was Koa, Dawn and Vallus. Representing the SOS was Beuce, Luna and Aux. DJ sat at the head of the table and brought up a schematic of the four factions. "From what we know, all the events that have transpired started well over a year ago." A picture of No Heart was displayed on the holo screen for all to see. "From what Shiro and I have gathered, he's already fully aware of all Central Haven's inner workings meaning he must have been someone who lived here or from a past member of the order." "Quite possibly one we haven't even met from the future," Shiro sighed. "But that's not even the strangest thing... Once he traveled to this point in time, he gathered help from these three masked figures. Aux glared down at the ground upon seeing his past self. "With their help, No Heart has been going around and claiming worlds from different time periods with versions of a time belt that my dad first designed..." He threw a disabled time belt on the table. "We gathered up and destroyed all the belts, but there are many worlds were brought back. They also went around capturing keyblade wielders, several who became members of Nequa's Red Society.. Ventus and Eraqus were just a few we managed to bring back... There's still a to unpack beyond that... What's first on the agenda to discuss?" 1) The State of the Worlds 2) Nequa, The Red society and the Void 3) The clash of light and darkness
"Smart lass," Finlay nodded. "Finlay is a warrior, not a diplomat. I'll be goin' on patrol." He waved his hand as he wandered off. Passing their way from him were Donald and goofy carrying an older mn with a scar on his face. His hair was black and tied up neatly. "Is that..." DJ rushed over to the old man while Shiro accompanied him. "Master Eraqus..." Shiro added. He took Eraqus over his shoulder. "I'll place him in the medical bay and return shortly after" HE looked down at Ven. "Mr Ventus, you may accompany me if you wish." He walked off with the unconscious master motioning for Ven to follow. Aux looked towards the rest nd stepped back a bit. "I appreciate the inclusion and all, but..." he hesitated, trying to remember to be more inclusive and help the group more. "I'll only go if there's no other takers." It wasn't the cleanest excuse, but he gave himself an out if needed. Most of what he new about No Heart was still fairly vague.
"NEVERTHELESS," Shiro pontificated. "We should wait for the rest of our allies to unite with us." A few more minutes of cautious exploring later, they stood at the main hall of the castle in Central haven. There, they met up with Donald, goofy and the rest of the black coats. "Hiya Oswald!" Giofy waved. "Glad to see yer doing okay!" He nodded. Oswald waved half heartedly. "So whats the status report?" DJ asked "Places looks deserted for the most part. I cannee make heads or toes of it. Everything was just wrecked about or burned. The library alone is decamated!" Finlay spoke. "Its like a ghost town!" Donald proclaimed. "All we found was an old man locked in a sleeping pod!" "We uhh.. need some help to open it in the mess hall." Goofy scratched the back of his head. "Okay, I'll go wake up the geezer and meet you back here," oswald sighed, running off with donald and goofy to find the man. "I managed to look over my files remotely.. he didn't take anything. We dont know what he was after here but the only files he accessed involved was the world catalogue. Its an extensive list of all the worlds we know about. Aside from that he burned the library. Its hard to say if he took something." "That being said, I would like for us to convene in the meeting hall. Not everyone need attend, but we need a strategy to conquer this threat. Three from each faction. Myself, DJ and Kaida will represent the order. Oswald, Donald and Goofy will represent the disney station. Then you will be able to pick between 3 members of the sos, and 3 from black coats," Shiro nodded. DJ looked upward after a few minutes on his scanner. "No sign of life. I activated defenses just as a precaution. Changed all the passwords too.." "Very good," Shiro nodded. "Now... who will be your elected officials?" He asked the group.
DJ returned back with Oswald, quickly waddling behind him. His large rabbit feet moving quickly to match the wielder's speed. "About time... Are we setting sail or what?" Riku asked. Sora and Kairi looked at him with curiosity as well. Oswald went ahead onto the ship, leaving DJ to deal with them. "Yup, that's what I said, I'll just uhh..." DJ focused on Sora for a moment. He didn't know what bringing a younger version of the legendary wielder would fair. Kairi being a princess of heart also made things troublesome There was already a lot they had on their plate. Shiro approached behind DJ and patted him on the back. "Now now DJ, the kids want to go off on their next venture. We have to make it as easy for them as possible." he hardily laughed. "What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked in offense. "Oh I meant no offense by is sirrrrr-a....Sora...." Shiro was used to addressing the boy's older self as his superior. It was a strange time for everyone. "I know from personal experience how difficult a journey can be without the help of adults. Back when I was your age, I worked hard here and raised money by doing local errands. Eventually I accumulated enough gummi scrap to build a ship and set sail. Some of the best years of my youth." He turned around and gestured the trio to follow. "Anyways, we should probably get going now." "Hey! Who says we can't do this ourselves?" Riku argued. "Yeah! We can work and raise the money. Build our own ship!" Kairi pouted. "Guys! What if we stayed behind and did things our way!?" Sora chimed in. "Welly golly gosh... I never even considered you'd want to do it the hard way... Are you sure your don't need a chaperone?" Shiro asked. DJ smirked and rolled his eyes. Shiro was very blunt and forward with people but there were times he could show a deceptive side. "No way! This is our story!" Riku nodded, waving by to everyone. Sora and Kairi followed suit and waved their goodbyes. DJ turned to Shiro. "Was all that true?" "Well, some of it...." Shiro replied, still waving to the kids. "Besides, Traverse town is one of the hardest places to find, making it one of the safest... You can only find it when you're lost or in need of refuge. Something our villainous adversaries don't seem to grasp... Quickly now, he have a base to reclaim!" The ship's engines began firing as the group left the world of Traverse Town behind them.. Onward to return to Central Haven.... It had been one year's time since the fall of Central Haven. Shiro at the pilot's helm slowly approached the world. "DJ?" He asked in concern. "I know... something's wrong. All the world's defenses are down... I scanned for the lockdown device but it's gone too... This is too easy... Be on guard just in case... Reinforcements are almost here...." "Reinforcements?" Shiro asked. "You didn't think I was gonna go in with just one ship did you?" He turned on his comm link and looked around for any other vessels on his private frequency. "K-04 Online.. Anyone out there?" There was a small hush of radio silence before a gargled duck's voice came in earshot. "Where have hyou beeenh!!" Donald yelled out. "Donald and Goofy checkin' in! A'huk!" Goofy added. "SOS to Black Coats?" DJ replied. "Respond." "There was a harsh static before a loud voice was online. "I know how to work a dang tele!" Finlay shouted. "BLACK COATS ARE HERE! AND SO IS FINLAY! READY TO WRECK SOME HIGH BROWED, SELF POSESSIVE-" DJ cut him off before he rambled on. "Move in with caution. Radio silence..." DJ sat next to Shiro as their ship edged into the world ahead. CENTRAL HAVEN The party of over a dozen walked through the emptied echoed halls of their former base. The base was abandoned.
Aux leaned away from the wall he was pressed against and walked passed the destiny islands trio. "I'll be back soon," He was very to himself on the trip over, still wondering what it was that would make him happier after seeing his family. He decided to stretch his legs off the ship and explore for a bit. Sora looked to Faust after his question was asked. "We were floating across the ocean for a while until DJ found us and picked us up." "So what brings you guys here?" Riku asked. "And where have you been since you left Monstro?" Kairi added. ------------------------------------- 2ND DISTRICT Aux began to walk about, looking at all the shops as he strolled about. He stopped in front of a store that had the mad hatter on it's sign.Aux squinted, trying to remember where he last saw that goofy looking face. A brief flash of memory happened where he saw Beuce and Luna in Wonderland. But why did that happen? He'd never been to that world before... He looked to the store window to investigate further and saw the plethora of hats and outfits that were being showcased. He caught another hint of his reflection. He ran his fingers along his bangs and noticed they were starting to cover his face. He then looked at his old, beaten gloves. He was due for a change of clothes. He reached into his pocket and took out a small pouch of munny, causing a few items to fall out in the process. As he bent down to pick them up, he seemed visibly confused. The first item he dropped was the burnt up lion that Kaida made for him, but the second was a cracked whittling of a wolf. Why did he have two of them? He recalled stepping on one of them and burning the other, but he didn't know why. Maybe Kaida would know when he got back to the ship. He decided to put them back into his pocket again and opened the door to the store.
Aux looked at the screen windows on the main deck. He stared out into the vastness of the empty space between worlds. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection and notice his eyebrows were naturally furrowed. He had just seen his family after so long and still looked angry. The remnant was gone, his family was safe, and he was on a better enough standing with everyone. Why was he still so mad? It had been a while since he saw himself in the mirror without his hat. His hair had gotten a bit longer, as did the patch of beard on his chin. He'd gotten older, stronger, wiser in the last five years.... but not happier. It was a few hours or so before they approached a new world. "LAND HO!" Shiro called, as he gave a hardy salute to the world DISTRICT 1 DJ left the cockpit and began going on a stroll of the town. "This'll be quick," he told the others as he left the ship and headed for the first district. He marched along and looked up at the night sky noticing there weren't many stars out tonight. HE began to worry as he sighed heavily. "Ain't lookin' too good, pops..." he said, talking to himself. "Hey!" Riku's voice called out to DJ, as the master was approached by Sore, Kairi, and Riku. "You said you'd be back to get to get us after you found your friends! We're supposed to be exploring other worlds!" Riku demanded. "Oh yeah... That is something I said... Have you finished exploring the town already?" "Yeah, we've been through all three districts. Now we're bored..." Sora whined. "Look, I have to find Oswald, if you wanna look at the ship, you can, but I'm not gonna be here long." "Oswald? Like the rabbit?" Kairi asked. "Yeah." "He's in disrict three. Come on, let's go see the ship! Race ya!" Sora told Riku as the three of them darted to the ship. DJ smirked and shook his head, almost envious of their simple adventures, before he made his way to district three. DISTRICT 3 DJ banged on the door with a fire symbol on it. "Oz, I know you're in there..." There was no reply. "I could just cast a fire spell and open the door, but I want you to come out on your own..." No reply. DJ thought to himself before speaking again. "Knock knock," "Who's there?- DANG IT!" Oswald cried out before opening the door. "What do you want?" "There's a lot more work to do. Dream Team needs a leader and until they find Mickey, you and your keyblade fit the bill." "Why me? Daisy's smart enough and they got a lot of help enough as it is." "She's doing an amazing job. But they need guidance. You helped run your world for years. I know you'd do great at it. "Yeah... and I need to keep looking for those pages, because that's my motivation. Their problem isn't mine." DJ looked more frustrated. "You've been gone a while so let me catch you up to speed... After you were thrown in darkness and Mickey was cast to the void, they took Minnie and Pluto. Daisy took over the ship, and Donald and Goofy can't rally everyone by themselves. If the bad guys get ny more princesses of heart, then nobody get's their happy ending." "So you do it." Oswald replied. "I've helped them all I can, but they need me at Central Haven with the S-O-S," he paused. "A lot of the people on that ship are missing worlds too you know... Some can't just find lost pages.. Their worlds are lost." "Well... I'm needed here too... Heartless are running this place into the ground. Besides... I'm not Mickey Mouse. I can't just smile and give everyone a pat on the shoulder." "I'm not asking you to be Mickey. I'm asking you to be Oswald. The Lucky Rabbit with a good hearts who gets things done... And they could really use some luck right about now." Oswald sighed looking at the District. "What about this place? And the lost people that need protecting?" "Leave that to me..." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- S.S. BEACON Sora, Riku, and Kairi opened the hatch door to the gummi ship and showed mixed reactions on their faces. "Hey, it's the people we met in the whale!" Kairi cheered. Sora seemed a bit distracted, holding onto his heart for some reason. Riku noticed, and turned to him. "What's wrong?" Sora shook his head. "I dunno... It's like this weird feeling I haven't felt since I was little.."
Aux turned back to his mother. "I know you say you're proud of me... but I still have some things I need to do before I can be proud of myself." His mother smiled, trying to hid back tears as she gave him a big hug. "I love you both." Mari pulled on Aux's scruff of beard, causing him to wince silently in pain. After everyone finished their goodbyes, Shiro summoned everyone to the docking bay. Castur and Stratos chose to stay behind for the time being with Aislinn agreeing to keep things running smoothly aboard the Sanctuary. Aislinn has left the party! Castur has left the party! Stratos has left the party! Quill has joined the party! "ALL ABOARD THE S.S. BEACON!" yelled Shiro, addressing the rest of the S.O.S. "DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?" he asked DJ. "Yeah.." "BECAUSE WE SHINE LIGHT!" "I get it." "THROUGH THE DARKNESS..." he proclaimed. DJ went on board to pilot the ship. On his way tot he cockpit, he passed Alex in his own isolated room, who was sitting quietly with his hands bound. "What're you looking at?" he asked offended. DJ shrugged and stared at him with dismissing eyes. "I don't know yet." "You expecting an apology?" "Not really... besides, dealing with you isn't my priority right now.." DJ left Alex, who rolled his eyes after he left. "Pfft... shocker..." he scoffed. DJ activated the Gummi Ship, as the engines began to fire. Ventus passed out next to him in the shotgun seat. Everyone boarded, waving goodbye to their allies, Noctis, Prompto, on their families. Aux waved bye to his mother as his mother and sister waved back. He smiled faintly before turning back to take a seat. Ananta, AJ, Aux, Beuce, Faust, Kaida, Karina, Kel, Luna, and Quill all took their seats Shiro addressed them at the main deck aboard the ship. "I KNOW THINGS HAVE BEEN MOVING FAIRLY QUICKLY LATELY, AND A LOT OF YOU MISS YOUR HOMES. I'M VERY HUMBLED TO STILL HAVE ALL OF YOU FIGHTING HERE." He pulled out a small piece of crumpled paper. "WHILE SEARCHING FOR YOU IN OLYMPUS, I FOUND THIS NOTE FROM ONE OF YOUR ALLIES. I FELT IT BEST TO READ ALOUD." He cleared his throat as he read the contents. To anyone from the S.O.S. I've traveled alongside you for some time now. I always felt I didn't have a place at times and felt invisible. Before I met you, I was on my own path. But the more I got to know all of you, the further away my goal became. I know the worlds are important. And as a keyblade wielder, I should be helping... But just because I wield the key, doesn't mean I'm meant to fight forever. I found a new path that could hopefully lead me to my goal and help me learn more about myself. One by one I've seen allies come and go. Ignis... Glen... Base... D'daear. I feel like they left not because they didn't care, but because they had something more pressing at hand. I'm the same way. That's why I have to leave you for now. I hope that one day, you'll understand why. Just know, that I'll be there when it counts. Steel, "FIRST, WE NEED TO MAKE A PIT STOP IN TRAVERSE TOWN, THEN WE MAKE WAY FOR CENTRAL HAVEN." ---------------------------------------------------------- VANITAS' LAIR Vanitas punched a wall angrily. "We were so close!" he punched the same wall again. "Would it kill you to lower the decibel?" Sho complained, tinkering away at his pad. ""They have the remnant! They have Ventus! And two of the order members are still alive!" "Please... Our odds of successfully defeating them as this juncture was the equivalent of-" "I don't care! We got nothing out of that stupid mission!" "I wouldn't say nothing..." Sho smirked. He scanned passed the profiles on his pad. "Knowledge is power, And I just obtained the majority quotient." "Don't tell me we're going to try kidnapping their families again?" "No, that's a redundant task. Besides, I just checked, and that DJ kid upgraded the security. They're gonna be more on guard now. I'm referring to the enemies of our adversaries." "Explain..." Vanita ordered. "We try attacking their weakness. That made them stronger. So with that in mind, what counteract their variable of love making them stronger?" "Hate." Vanitas replied. "Bullseye... And I just so happen to find some candidates who fit that bill." He showed the profiles of some of the people aboard the sanctuary. Vanitas grinned. "Hate is a powerful motivator... Now I remember why I keep you around." "My calculations are flawless.. and our victory? Will be absolute..." --------------------------------------------------------------------
Mari giggled as Kaida and Ananta made Aux turn more red. "Pusheeebahhh!" Mari smiled. Aux's neck creaked as he turned to Kaida. 'WHY?' he would over-emphasize, mouthing the word. "Sorry to have doubted you Ananta," his mother replied to Ananta. "Anadaaa" Mari spoke. Iso shook Kaida's hand while holding Mari with the other. "It's lovely to meet you Kaida, I'm Iso." she looked to her son. "Do you actually hurt this girl." "No!... Well, it's kind of a long story..." "Pusheebahh!" Mari repeated. After Ananta asked her question of returning with them, he turned back to his mom. "Don't look at me... I know where I'm needed right now. Regardless of your choice, I'm your mom. I'm proud of you no matter what." He tilted his head down somberly at Mari. A small four year old that already tugged at his heart strings. He put his hand over her hatted head, as the toddler grabbed his thumb and pinky, pulling his large fingers like another hat over her head. He smiled faintly, turning back to Kaida. "What do you think?" he asked Kaida.
THE SUMMIT (Under Reconstruction) "YOUR HEART IS YOuR GUIDING KEY, MS. AISLINN," Shiro replied. "ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT IS TRULY BEST FOR YOU.... THAT BEING SAID, IF YOU DO DEPART, YOU WILL TRULY BE MISSED." He was soon after approached by AJ, who asked if they should pursue the red society. "AN OBJECTIVE WE CAN POSTPONE. RIGHT NOW, WE NEED TO MAKE A FEW MORE PIT STOP BEFORE RECLAIMING OUR BASE OF OPERATIONS." He turned to face the rest of the S.O.S. crew. "WHICH BRINGS ME TO ANOTHER POINT I WISH TO MAKE. YOU'VE ALL GROWN EXPONENTIALLY IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS. SOME OF YOU HAVE STAYED TRUE TO THIS CAUSE. AND OTHERS HAVE MOVED ON TO MORE PRESSING THINGS. BUT THE JOURNEY FROM HERE ON OUT WILL ONLY BE MORE DIFFICULT. AND IF YOU WISH TO STAY BEHIND OR CHART YOUR OWN JOURNEY, NO OFFENSE WILL BE TAKEN. WE ARE APPROACHING THE FINAL STAGES OF MASTER NO HEART'S PLAN..." DJ stepped forward to add onto Shiro's bittersweet speech. "You guys made a lot of sacrifices and responsibility that was never yours to bear. IF you need a break, we understand. IF you're still in it for the long haul, we'll be departing in the next hour. Say goodbye to your loved ones and take care of any extra business you still have." He looked to Kaida. "I'm gonna go check on Alex and Ven on our ride out of here... let me know when your team is ready to eject." DJ turned to prepare their departure in the docking bay. As the members of the order finished their instruction, Aux had seen that Quill appeared to be joining them. He pouted pettily at Beuce's comment regarding his face and was honestly just more irked by that. His eyes wandered to the back of the auditorium where he saw his mother giving a gentle friendly wave. Her eyes were happy to see him, but she looked like she was going to grow. Aux swallowed the lump in his throat as he slowly started moving towards her, further away from the group. He didn't even know what to say to her. It had been nearly five years and he honestly didn't know what the first thing would be. He recalled all this letters he planned to write her, but none of it was resurfacing. HE had run out of time, now only being a few feet away from her. He took a deep breath in and looked her. "Mom, I-" He was cut off as his mother quickly rushed in to hug him. He head just reached his chin as Aux was taken aback. He stood a bit shocked but eventually patted the back of her head and hugged her back. She was so much smaller than when he last saw her. "Oh I'm trying not to cry," Iso spoke through fainted laughter. She stepped away and dried her eyes looking up at her son. "You've gotten so much bigger. It's like you took my son and replaced him with a tree hehe." Aux nodded. "Heh, yeah..." "Oh, that was the wrong this to say, wasn't it... oooooh Iso, why are you calling your son a tree?" she fretted to herself. It was almost a relief to see his mom being her old scatterbrained self. Only time she ever looked calm was when she was working on a project. "It's fine, mom. Really. I'm sorry I lost touch.... I thought about contacting you all the time, but Kurt was always insistent on-" "Speaking of, where is your grandfather?" He didn't want to make matters worse with the whole Orion situation. "He uhh... passed away not to long ago. I'm sorry." Iso nodded and sighed heavily. "I mean, I never really knew him and my mother never liked him. But you got to know him at least... and I'm sorry you lost some one like that. He'll be missed" He couldn't believe how naive he was back then. He was just an old man with tall tales, and promises of making Aux a strong warrior. He had no idea just how corrupt that man was. "Not as much as I missed you..." He looked around noticing his father missing. "Where's dad?" Iso looked down for a moment. "When the falls fell, your father went missing. I joined the Sanctuary arc hoping to find him. We haven't heard anything yet." she seemed a bit worried. Aux was saddened by this, but his father was still resourceful. He tried to be optimistic for his mom. "He's out there. We'll find him soon enough," he let off a little smile to her. "Oh how I missed these little dimples!" She went into mom mode and began pinching his face. "Oh but the beard is new... You are just the spitting image of your father, aren't you?" He smiled again, before his eyes trailed off to the small blue haired girl staring at him next to Iso. She had been doing so for a while. "Is that another of Asilinn's?" "Oh! I'm so sorry sweetie, I forgot to introduce you." His mother kneeled down and brushed her hair back, smiling at her. She picked her up in her arms as she turned back to Aux. The little girl was still tightly hugging her pink stuffy. "Aux.. this is your baby sister Amare... 'Mari' for short." Aux and Mari stared blankly at each other not knowing how to react. "She's not here to take your place, but.. she makes quite the cute addition," she said smiling to her daughter. The little girl's face was pretty neutral for the most part. Aux tried to think of something nice to say to her. "So uhh... That's a nice bunny you have- Hey!" Mari quickly snatched the hat of Aux's head and put it on her head. Aux got overly defensive before he watched her put it on. The hat was pretty old, but it got a nice smile out of her and she giggled to herself. It's like whatever attachment he had to it faded, when he saw how happy it made her. Spoiler "Mari, that was rude. Please give it back." "No it's okay... She uh... she can have it." He put his large hand on the hat she sore and patted her head. "An overdue gift from your big brother," he smiled, folding his arms. His head felt a bit lighter. Still flat, but lighter. "That's so sweet... Mari, say 'Thank you Aux." "Thankou Ausshhhh" She sweetly replied, pulling down on the hat till it covered her eyes. She took it off on her bunny to see how it would look, smiling at it. Her mom smiled happily, looking back up at Aux. "Some days I would wonder if I ever saw you again, you know. I always thought about what I would say if I saw you again... but when I saw you, I didn't care. I'm just so happy to see you before you leave." "Why do you think I'm leaving?" he asked concerned. "Because you set out what you wanted to be. Some one I could be proud of. And I've never been more proud." She nudged her head over to the rest of his team. "Your friends over there think you're strong enough. Certainly confident." He thought back about all the wrong he did to get to that point. "I'm just... making up for a lot of time I wasted." He looked at Mari. "Part of me wants to stay and make up for lost time with my family though." "Well, it's your decision in the end sweetie... You know I will always support what you do. I sleep easier knowing you have all those people looking out for you..." Aux looked back at them, and gained a bit of a new introspective on his relationship with them. "So which one are you dating? It's the one in the purple dress isn't it? She's very beautiful." she giddily winked. "What?" he asked embarrassed. "It's your business I know, but you're telling me you didn't get all that muscle for a girl? Is it the blonde?" "Mom..." "Just tell me if I'm close... Xares' girl?" "Please stop..."
DOCKING BAY A "THEN WE'VE NOT A MOMENT TO LOSE!" Shiro carried Kel like an infant in his arms and raced to the elevator. "Fellow master DJ! Assist me by taking the reverse route!" DJ quickled rushed after me as they went to opposite sides of the prison. PRISON BLOCK E Shiro burst in immediately with Kel in hand. "I HAVE COME TO ASSIST! DOES ANYONE ELSE REQUIRE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE?!" PRISON BLOCK K "Honestly, when did people become so unnecessarily involved in my family's affairs?" he calmly asked aloud. "I'm going to go and check in with the rest of my security team... I'll get this cleared up soon enough." PRISON BLOCK T While Aux guarded for his life, he yelled back at Luna. "What did you do to piss her off?!" The woman's eyes glowed as more and more chains pushed them to the wall with Quill. She grew more furious as her hair began to rise with her power output. "Elle a pris ma lumière!" She walked forward, her eyes glowing brighter ans brighter. "J'étais l'un des sept. Puis ma lumière m'a quitté ... Et a trouvé son chemin vers son cœur ... " Before she planned to take the hostages, she sighed as she heard Hotel's voice on the comm link. "Tu es un voleur. Et un jour bientôt ... je prendrai ce que tu chéris." She released her chains and stepped back into a portal of darkness. She looked back at Luna's brother and friend and shook her head. "Not close enough to her heart... she muttered under her breath as she left. Aux breathed heavily as he pulled his back away from the wall... "Let's just find the others without anymore interruptions please..." DJ ran into the hall and looked at all the damage. HE readjusted the glasses to see if he could spot anyone. "Yo.... anyone here in the S.O.S by chance?" Aux groaned. "If you joined the enemy side I'm gonna scream..." DJ raised and eyebrow and looked at him judgmentally. Aux has switched sides at one point after all. "Yeah yeah, I know..." Not long after, everyone was recalled back to the Summit auditorium to recall the past events and how to move from there. An announcement over the intercomm summoned them all back to a more private meeting with only high ranking Sanctuary personnel. Everyone was reunited with their lost ones. THE SUMMIT (Under Reconstruction) Captain Cranston stood in front of the large group of reunited SOS members with DJ and Shiro directly in front. "I understand, much has happened in the last few hours. Everyone on the ship is still in a frenzy, but we've managed to help re-imprison those who've escaped. A few are still at large, but personnel are working diligently." Shiro gave him a hardy salute. "YOU ARE DOING A PRIME JOB CAPTAIN!" "So from what you told us, Orion has just been playing you for his own gain. He's the one who really betrayed the Order. Not Kaida." DJ turned back to Kaida. "Honestly, you're probably the most productive master we have on deck. Nice work," DJ gave a quick thumbs up for appreciation. "I see, well under the circumstances, I will have her released. The others however..." "Are to be released." DJ interrupted. "The people you see before you have been an invaluable resource to keeping order, saving worlds, and restoring balance. If the Order knows anything, it's where to find the light. And this lot is full of it." This was actually the most confident DJ had been in a while. "Excuuuuuuse me?!" A shrill voice from the back of the council rammed herself forward. She looked a little roughed up from all the damage and her glasses were now cracked. "When Judge Karen Miller makes a sentence it is final! I don't care what organization you're from, no snot nose entitled little brat has the right to question my-" Shiro lumbered over in front of Karen. "EXCUSE ME MADAME! BUT I WILL NOT HAVE YOU BELITTLE MY FRIEND AND CO-WORKER IN SUCH A MANNER." He pontificated. Karen looked up at Shiro in disgust. "What thinks you have the right to question the hammer of justice!" She waved her gavel very close to his face, but he did not falter. "WELL WITH ALL DO RESPECT MA'AM." He held out his hand and summoned the hammer form of his keyblade. "MY JUSTICE OUTWEIGHS YOURS." He placed the hammer delicately beside him. "These guys are involved with Central Haven, No heart and a whole mess of other nutty stuff. That makes it our jurisdiction." DJ adjusted his glasses. "Should you still wish to battle the dispute, simply give us a court date and we'll get back to you when it suits our schedule." Karen turned beat red, looked at all the children and left swiftly from embarrassment. "And... the rest of the order?" The Captain asked hesitantly. "Currently MIA." DJ replied. "Ive been working on a way to communicate with them, but it's not ready yet. Mizu, Lea and Yue just need to wait a little longer. As for Orion, we'll deal with him when we find him..." "My apologies to the rest of your team... Speaking of which, I have to get to mine... A lot of chaos to fix and only so much time. If any of you wish to stay and help, we'll gladly take it..." Captain Cranston turned to Karina's father. "Speaking of fixing errors, Xares? A word in private." He nudged the general to follow, but Xares didn't like that tone. He looked back to his daughter and glared before following The Captain and the guard of the Sanctuary out of the Summit room. Shiro turned around and his professional demeanor immediately fell. "I'M SO PROUD OF ALL OF YOU! EVEN IF I DON'T RECOGNIZE SOME OF YOU..." "Yeah, roster's definitely changed a bit since we last saw you guys," DJ agreed.
PRISON BLOCK E "Kid? I'm like... a year younger than you... friggin' *kupo*...." Alex scoffed. Soon after his legs were frozen by Ananta to which he groaned. "Shoulda Portales out when I had the chance..." The chief engineer Izo looked down to Zeke and her child and tried to comfort them. "So... there any chance you're both gonna repress or forget what you saw here?" They both looked unsure of what that meant, but regardless, they both shook their heads. "Yeah, I didn't think so..." she sighed. The blue haired woman took Zeke and her daughter's hand and walked over to Ananta. "Umm excuse me, not that I'm ungrateful, but... what's going on exactly?"
PRISON BLOCK T Aux glared his eyes at Quill. He didn't like the chummy vibe he was giving off by calling him 'big guy.' He turned to the Elven eared fellow and shrugged his shoulders. "Better than whatever happened to you... sheesh," he whinced at his beaten up appearance. But as Quill went on to talk about Minamimoto, Aux chimed in again. "Whatever Sho did to the system, we have someone working to counteract it. We should be fine provided no one else from the Red Society-" "Princess Luna!" Whiskey called out walking into the room, her high heels echoing through the hall. Aux groaned loudly. "You have something that... belongs to me," she mustered out, trying to keep her English well pronounced through the french accent. She leashed out a chain towards Luna, causing Aux to react, He placed his healthy arm in front of the chain while he covered Luna. As Whiskey's chain glowed white, Aux's dark aura activated. The chain's glow faded as Whiskey receded in disgust. "AHH! Sinner!" she yelled out him. "Hey! I don't go calling you names!" He let out his keyblade and fired a gravity spell, to where her down. He turned back to Luna and called out; "Get your family out of here!" ----------------------------------------------- DOCKING BAY A Sho Minamimoto grunted as he met up with Hotel, Vanitas and the Remnant. "What's your damage?" Vanitas asked. "Were the computer games too boring?" "What happened up there?" Hotel demanded. "MY coding is flawless! In the next five minutes, the virus I uploaded will open the exit portal again. Faster than whatever wannabe plebian is trying to counterhack me!" "Faster we get out the better," Hotel pressed his com link in his ear to verify. "Everyone! We're porting out in 5 with or without you, grab what hostages you can, and let's motor." He let go of his ear comm as a ship docked quickly into view. He turned to Minamimoto in a fury. "You said exits were sealed!" Sho quickly typed on a small electric device on his arm. "It's the zero who's been messing my plan... Signal's coming from his ship!" Hotel quickly summoned his pistol. "Get outta yer ship before I start blastin!" he called out. The hatch door to the gummi ship opened as DJ stepped out, his hands awkwardly above his head. "Uhh... don't shoot?" Hotel grimaced. "I thought X-ray took you out!" "Oh he definitely got close... Honestly I'm just as surprised as you." "Whatever, just waste the loser. It's four against one," Vanitas yelled out. Hotel let lose two ice shots at DJ, only for them to hit a spacial barrier in the form of a spinning record. DJ lowered his hands as two glowing energy record disc were placed onto a turntable that manifested itself. "May wanna check your math again..." DJ had activated his level three sound aura while the roof of his ship popped open. Shiro jump from the roof of the ship and landed quite loudly in front of the antagonists."Forgive the intrusion, but we cannot permit you to take our comrade. Are you alright Sir Kel?" Vanitas raced forward at the opportunity to take an order member out. "That's not part of the plan!" Hotel yelled out. But it was too late, as Vanitas made up his mind.Twisting his body, Shiro summoned his keyblade and transformed it into a hammer. Thinking he could catch him off guard, Vanitas appeared behind Shiro. Unfortunately for him, Shiro had already made the turning motion and made a powerful 360 motion smashing Vanitas to the other side of the room. He twisted his hammed and swung it over his shoulder, cracking his neck in the processes. "Bad form," he spoke with a more serious tone. In quick response to Vanitas' defeat, the remnant leapt off Kel and ran towards Shiro . "Uh-uh, not this time.... " DJ reached into his pocked and throw a small empty orb at Shiro. "Shiro! Twist and release!" he yelled out, throwing the orb to Shiro, As the remnant jumped to Shiro, the large master did as DJ instructed and twisted before opening the small spherical object. A large vacuum of darkness came from the object as a large screehing sound was made, the remnant covering his helment in pain. The dark armor corroded off Ventus' body as it was sucked into the orb, causing Ventus to unconsciously pass out. Shiro put the orb containing the remnant into his pocket, DJ had made a good plan for most of the threats they would face. "After Central Haven fell I made sure to take several precautions... What else you got?" Sho slowly backed away from the fight, gritting his teeth. A small beeping sound from his gauntlet went off. "Virus is out, Time to divide by zero!" He twisted pressed a device on his glove and gltiched out of the room. Vanitas, held his ribs as he looked to the now normal Ventus. Nothing had went the way he so childishly bragged about. He scowled before silently stepping back into a portal of dakness, leaving the ship. "Plan your next action carefully Mr. Harland," Shiro spoke. Hotel looked back to Kel with his good eye before looking to the two members of the order. Hotel quietly put his finger to his ear comm and uttered. "Everyone retreat, Regroup at base." A portal appeared behind Hotel as he stepped slowly backwards, leaving Kel behind."We're still watching Bravo... ain't nowhere you can go without her knowing..." He disappeared and fled the scene. "KELFORD!" Shiro quickly raced up to Kel and grabbed him off the ground by the shoulders. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT! DO YOU REQUIRE MEDICAL ASSISTANCE?! WHERE IS THE RES OF YOUR SQUADRON?!" He shook the poor boy vigorously with his hands. "Shiro, dial it down buddy!" DJ yelled out, dispersing his aura. PRISON BLOCK E Gilgamesh grabbed Kaizo by the collar and lifted him off the ground. "What- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he barked at Gilgamesh. "Moving the plot forward," he blankly replied, stepping backwards with him through a spacial rift and disappearing from the scene.
Prison Block K After the group with Kaida, Beuce, Karina and Ananta ran past a few more cell blocks, They came across a cell with five people. Karina's mother; Joanne, and her brother; Eric. The otger side had Aux's mother; Iso, her baby daughter, and Aislinn's nephew; Zeke. Before any exchanges could be made, Victor and X-Ray showed through A PORTAL. Victor immediately armed himself as X-Ray sighed. "Aww man..." he whined as he quickly hopped on his skateboard-like key glider. PRISON BLOCK E The prisoners ignored the instructions and all escaped into elevators, clearing the area. The group of Castur, Aislinn, Aj, Faust and Stratos instead moved on to the next area where they found Alpha and Kilo. "Hey, we got the season 3 and onward cast!" Gilgamesh yelled out. "You'll have to excuse him..." kilo sighed. "He's not exactly well in the head." "Well yeah, thats why I'm a BAD guy..." The cell had inside it 2 people; kel's father, karinas father. "Hey, let us out of here so we can help you!" Commander Xares instructed.
DOCKING BAY A "Son, you're really not in any position to make demands. Besides... you've been Bravo since the Deep Jungle. You just haven't realized it yet..." Hotel stepped forward to the disarmed youth. "Do you really think it's a coincidence that Nequa always ended up in the same world as you? You think they always kept finding you by chance? Really think about it...." Deep Jungle... Nottingham... Land of Dragons... Camelot... Hotel crossed his arms. "Those moments you thought to be sarcastic praise was simply her choosing you to be her insurgent. She even branded you while you weren't looking... She made it feel more painful than a muskeeta bite so you wouldn't even take notice..." He lifted his shirt to show a branded scarlett colored 'B' on his right shoulder. "You've been a marker for us without even knowing it.. Bravo." Vanitas smiled. "Hah! Look at his face... It's like you turned his entire world upside down." ----------------------------------------------------------------- PRISON BLOCK F Castur, Faust, Stratos, Aislinn and AJ went to Block F. They were met with mostly rioting prisoners that escaped their cell. PRISON BLOCK H Beuce, Karina, Ananta and Kida went to Block H. The cell was empty.
