Black Coats: Volume 1

With Luther's technique forcing Tango into a corner, a small smirk escape the corner of his lips. A giant explosion blasted back Luther and broke his illusion along with it. The focus he brought to fool Tango this time didn't go unnoticed as the skilled swordsman had a back-up plan. The flaming dragon spell was a decoy to help keep Luther at bay, but the real trump card was for when Luther got close enough. Tango's ultimate ability came from his ability to destroy anyone in close combat. For whenever Luther would get to close, Tango could unleash pinpoint explosions at blank point range without dealing any damage to himself. Mastering the ability over fire for years and years, he had learned to take as little damage as possible without getting burned.

Watching as Luther got knocked back, he took his keyblade and prepared the final blow. "You fought well young man. But the truth remains that Ignicio De la Vega remains undefefeat-" before he finished his last sentance, he felt a piercing pain in his chest as a burst of air had caused the flames surrounding his body to waver for a moment. Two more bursts that had hit his body previously were dissintigrated before hitting his body, but created enough of an opening for the third wind based arrow to his his mark. A twinge of fear caused his eye to twitch as he looked down at his chest. His heart was beginning to bleed through his shirt, causing him to fall to his knees. He had managed to cover all his bases for an epic sword battle, but he didn't account for any long distance attacks, let alone from the other contender. "Only a fatal blow..." he repeated in disbelief, falling to his knees. He could have argued against the rules or the legitimacy of the attack, but the fact remained; he had been bested. He looked to Melus and sighed as he held his chest. "Sly as a fox, but the conditions have been met." looked up to Luther who he knocked back with the explosion. "You have been declared victor... My element is now yours. You are free to finish me off senor..." He closed his eyes and opened his arms to embrace his demise.

 

"I'm afraid you don't realize the gravity of the... como se dice... outcome." He looked to Luther's hand and slowly pushed it away with his own. "Regardless of how or why, I have still been bested. The Red Society is surmised of only the most worthy and unbeatable of opponents. Seeing as how I have been bested in combat, I no longer serve a purpose there. I am better off on finishing things on my own terms." He summoned his keyblade and pointed it at his own heart. "I end my very existence in a way befitting of a De le Vega... With honor... and without regret." He pierced his heart, dropping his keyblade to the ground. His hands following suit as he closed his eyes and began to vanish from the area. "This is only the beginnning..." he said in his final words, as he faded from existence.

A small of cigar smoke lit the room as a man's deep southern voice echoed about the room. "Well that really is just a damn shame, ain't it?"
There was no man in sight, but the voice could still be heard. "Would've wagered my money on the spaniard, but seeing the outcome, makes me rather glad I didn't." He let out a heavy sigh as he continued. "Now I'm gonna have to take y'all in for questionin.'" Before he could give them time to react, both Melus and Luther were warped out of the room. The only thing remaining in the room now was a lot of damage, and Lea's broken keyblade.

----------------------

Mizu breathed deeply. "I've just missed so much. I've never felt so out of the loop before." She took a brief pause. "Wow, this is what Kaida must feel like..." She looked to Kiara. "Well if you think there's a chance she's still alive, why would we go back to your base? Why don't we just got to where Shiro is?"

 

Crossing her arms and huffing a breath, Kiara just stared down Mizu for a moment. "... If there are thousands of heartless we could use all the help we could get." Kiara repeated sounding rather annoyed. "Besides I think that Lea would have a heart attack in his old age if we didn't return and kept all the fun to ourselves." Kiara stated back to Mizu. She was not impressed with the child's attitude but dealt with it to some extent, to the best of her ability. She didn't try and punch some sense into her, so she supposed that was an improvement.

Koa then approached Kiara, and she turned to face him as well. "Yes I know them. Lets say I worked along side them for a while, but it didn't feel quite like my path to walk. We need to go though, it sounds like they are in trouble and I am not waiting around for them all to die. Lets go get back up." From there Kiara turned and walked away, keeping rather fast pace heading towards the hideout.

Upon arriving the hide out was empty, all that was left was Lea's keyblade broken on the ground. Before anyone else could enter she walked up and picked it up. "Stupid old man, you were supposed to help me change, not put me in charge and leave me." Kiara sounded actually a bit upset and confused. Trying to take a deep breath and calm herself she turned back to the rabbit. "Well Oswald, lead the way, there is no more help to be found. Whatever was planned... they wanted us to split up and now I fear they might kill my friends." There was a bit of fear in Kiara's voice but she tried to keep it hidden. For once she didn't mind referring to those people as friends, the thought of losing them too, it was kind of scary, enough to make Kiara realize that she might not have done a good job at keeping herself distant from people. ​

 

Oswald nodded as he looked to the group. "Okay, but we have to hurry! I don't know how many monsters are with that guy, but it didn't look like they were letting up soon..." Oswald led the way as he hopped towards their destination.

[VOLUME 1]
- CHAPTER VI -
ARMY OF DARKNESS​

(This Chapter will be held in the Kingdom Hearts SOS thread when the next heartless wave begins)​

 

[VOLUME 1]
- CHAPTER VII -
CHARLIE'S GAME​

At the gathering of the Red Society.​

Nequa in a newly fashioned purple cape sits non-nonchalantly on a throne made of keyblade. Delta and Zulu by her side, Hotel approaches with Melus and Luther walking in front of him.
"You seem to be lookin' just peachy. Guessin' yer all better now?"
Nequa stretched. "Oh I'm just wonderful Hotel dear, thanks for asking! and who are these two?"
"New toys!" As Zulu reached out, two shots fired from Hotel.
"Mitts off nutjob. I consider them more like recruits."
Nequa shook her head. "Didn't you get the memo? Auditions were over weeks ago."
"Maybe so. But these two just took care of Tango. Right after he got rid of Lea too. Damn shame." Hotel pulled out a cigar and stuck it in his mouth, before lighting the end of it with a lighter.
"Perhaps new recruits is something to look into." Delta spoke out. "With Juliet's demise and Uniform's dismissal, this puts our group down to ten."
Nequa whined in annoyance before looking at the two. "And are you two... interested in joining this little party?"
Melus stepped forward a bit, looking at the revered leader. "If one of your guys was able to take out Lea so easily, arguably the most experienced one there, their side doesn't exactly look like a side worth banking on."Luther also spoke; "We've been fighting a losing battle from the start. Sometimes you simply need to go with the winning side."Nequa seemed rather amused. "Wow. Your loyalty is so easily flexible and I love it!" She sat properly to get a good look at them. "Well a bit on the young side, but nothing wrong with some young blood."
Hotel spoke as he exhaled heavy smoke. "Youngins have already been debriefed. Seem pretty into the idea."
"Well goody!" Nequa replied before X-Ray strolled in.
"Yo Neq!" An older teen with blonde hair to his shoulders, rocker clothes and silver chains showed up. This was the one they called X-Ray. "Just got back and saw Uniform get completely wiped by a bunch of keybladers and black coats.... It was awesome!" He looked to Luther and Melus. "What's with them? New vessels or something?"
Delta shook his head. "On the contrary. Possible new allies to replae Juliet and Uniform."
X-Ray shrugged. "Whatever. And I kept an eye on those black hooded guys like you wanted. They're all headed to Shibuya."
Delta smugly chuckled. "Just as predicted... They're attempting to re-enter the realm of light."
"Yeah, but this time they got two of the order guys with em. A small chick with blue hair and some buff dude," X-Ray informed.
"Your vessel! Along with another member of the order!" Zulu exclaimed.
Nequa sighed. "Well it looks like Operation Pandora was a bust. Still I got one and so did Tango. 2/7 ain't bad. Unless you got that DJ kid."
X-Ray remained silent before answering. "It's handled." he said, before slouching into one of the lesser seats in the room.
"Well let's just say 3/7" Nequa said, before looking back to Melus and Luther. "And seeing as you two are so eager to join. I do hope your loyalty with me is more... shall we say loyal than your last group?"

"W-we'll see... for now you're already doing better, so you've got me," Melus replied.
"Well, The Black Coats were barely managing to hold together as it was. With the two of us defecting, that drops them down to six. Lea was the only one with any sense, and now that just leaves that....Kar-Kiara girl in charge. She has a mental breakdown from the stress of tying her shoes in the morning. I'm more likely to listen to you than her, at the very least," Luther added.
"Sounds like fun, X-Ray replied before getting a stern look from Delta."What? I was kidding, jeesh..."
"Oooh, fun. I do so enjoy branding new members. Think of it like... Initiation that really hurts."Melus and Luther looked at each other. "I don't follow.""Are we to be cattle, then?"Hotel rolled up his sleeve to reveal a glowing red "H" on his arm. "Its like a tracker. A pledge both physical and mental so she can always keep an eye on you."
"It also gives you full access to travel between both light and dark realms," Delta informed.
"I... haven't seen the realm of light in so long..." Melus said silently.
"I see. Keep a little tighter of a leash than the others to make it so that they don't...well..." Luther said as he gestured to himself and Melus.
"On the contrary." Delta revealed a scarlet "D" on the back of his neck as he spoke. "We all have one."
X-Ray shows his scarlet X on the back of his palm and Zulu showed the red Z on his own face by pulling down on his eyelid and sticking out his tongue.

"And how exactly do you go about this branding?" Luther asked.
Nequa raised her hand and clasped her fist as a searing pain was etched into Luther's chest, engraving a scarlet "V" onto him.
Luther groans in pain briefly "Well, I suppose I can't say I didn't see that coming..." Luther took off his shirt to look at it.
"V For Victor, cuz you're a winner kid." Nequa shot a quick finger gun his way before turning to Melus.
"What about you cutie? Where do you want it?" Nequa asked.
Melus looks around conflicted a moment as to whether or not she wants to even answer But eventually sighs and points towards her right shoulder, "Here's fine, hot stuff."
"it's funny because it burns," Luther joked.
Nequa raises her hand and burns a red "F" onto her shoulder, making it burn harder than usual. "Only I get to make fun pet names."
Melus rubs her shoulder and manages out through gritted teeth, "Noted."
"So what does hers stand for?"
Nequa was about to speak before turning to her advisor. "Ummm... Delta?"
"The letter was available. F stands for Foxtrot"
Nequa clapped once. "Yes! Exactly that. Welcome Numbers 11 and 12!"
"Which is which?" X-Ray asked.
".... Delta?"
"Seeing as how Victor was branded first, he takes on the 11th rank."
"And there you go," Nequa finished.

Melus and Luther talked amongst themselves.
"So we're numbers and not letters?"
"Well, you anyway. Im 'a winner' apparently"
"Ah yes, the majestic letter 'winner'."

Delta began to educate them. "In a sense, you're letter represents your new identity as one of Nequa's followers. Your rank is merely a formality."
"So who replaces Tango? Much as I respected the Spaniard, that still puts us down a man," Hotel asked.
"I got a guy who was meant to replace Uniform, but replacing Tango is just as good. And that reminds me. Delta, please fetch Lima for me." Nequa ordered.
Delta leaves the room to fetch her.
"So where are your keys? Thought that was like a requirement or something," X-Ray asked.
"Well we've already been branded so apparently not, unless we get more as a membership bonus than the world's more beta tattoo."Luther said.
"Wait, they were?" Melus looks to Hotel, "I wasn't briefed on that part." She looked back at arm and moves sleeve to look at shoulder and massage the area cause it was still hurting, "I mean if Lea could get a keyblade, it can't be that hard or special to get, can it?"
"Not for a master anyways. I give them as tokens of my appreciation," Nequa said.
"Meaning you gotta earn em," Hotel replied
Delta brought in Lima, who is more chipper than when she was at the last battle she was in. "Oh! New members! Hi, I'm Lima, it's so nice to meet you guys!" She went forward and shook Melus' hand. "I know the stinging hurts, but trust me, if fades after a while. Whose this? Is he your boyfriend. Oh my god, that's so cute!" Delta raised his hand. "Lima. Please." Lima piped down. "Right. Sorry..."
"He's not my boyfriend... he's all sword. I'm more into sheaths," Melus replied.
"Nice..." X-Ray commented.
Luther looked mildly surprised, followed by mildly disappointed, but says nothing on the matter. "So what now?"
"Now you get to see a demonstration on discipline." Nequa looked to Lima. "Why did you go and run out on your post?"
"I did? I mean, right... I did. Very sorry..."
Delta glared silently at her in suspicion.
"And that's completely understandable. We all have to run sometimes to fight another day. But leaving at a very crucial time for your master is not gonna fly so easy. I'm afraid I have to use you as example."
Lima seemed confused. "Example of wha-"

Several keyblades flew from Nequa's throne and stabbed her in several places against the wall. Blood leaking from her mouth, she died immediately with her eyes wide open in horror. The sight alone was distasteful. Nequa turned her head to Foxtrot and Victor. "Get the picture?"
Luther stayed silent for a moment "... Doesn't.. doesn't that mean you need another replacement now?"
Melus mumbles to him, "If you don't shut up she's gonna need two more."
"No. I'm done with all that. Not enough of a people person to interview someone new. I only got my last group because I had them all kill each other. Besides, I only need three of you in the end..." Nequa replied.
Luther perked up a bit at this "So, as long as you have three left at the end, it's fair game between us?"
Hotel cocked his firearm. "If you think you can, son."


In the meanwhile, Nequabots were cleaning Lima's corpse as Delta watched closely.
Luther smirked at Hotel and shrugged "Maybe later. I've already got an extra element, maybe I'll collect a few more while I'm here."
"Well I take it you don't want us just to kill each other. So what else did you need new tools for?" Melus asked finally getting over the shoulder pain.
"If you really wanna show off your guts, I got an assignment for yah. Charlie needs a couple of volunteers to keep those black coats in check. He's off already applying to be game master. Was thinking He could get these two as well as X-Ray and Echo." Hotel requested.
"Aww bummer... I JUST got back. Can't one of the others go?" X-Ray whined.
"My sentiments exactly! You can't go using my new toy! I have many improvements to make!" Zulu insisted.
Looking back at the conversation, Delta spoke. "As it stands, Hotel, Zulu and I have our own assignments."
"Also Kilo is still rather upset at not being chosen to assassinate Kaida. Kid seemed to really look forward to it, so I thought I'd give him a break and Whiskey is just out having her own fun. I'd really not want to interrupt her." Nequa informed.

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing I didn't have any attachments there." Luther replied.
"Wait, you're putting us back near them already? Seems like a..." Melus looked towards her mark and clicked her tongue and continued, "Nevermind. Still, sounds... relatively amusing..."
X-Ray sighed. "You guys are gonna make this dramatic aren't you?"
"I'm a performer, drama's in the game. But if you mean causing a scene, I don't think so." Melus informed.
"Well you better ensure my Echo doesn't get a scratch on him! Or you will feel the wrath of DOCTOR L!" Zulu threatened.
X-Ray groaned loudly. "UGGGGGH Why are you so laaaaaame?"
"I thought you were Z?" Luther asked.
"It's just like, his really weak stage name... Get a better one, dude."

"Enough. You have your assignments, now move out," Delta commanded. He handed two sheathed Void Discs to Delta. "For the members of the order. Make sure they are at the very least, deterred..."
Nequa sat back comfortably in her throne. "And the show continues..."

 

That was not what she wanted to hear, Karina didn't want to know that she was still in charge of this group. She didn't know how to lead them, and... in the end now that she had her keyblade, she would need to leave them anyways. They had pointed out the issues that it would cause with her being there. Either way it was one step at a time, and Karina gave one last nod to the group before leaving with Shiro and her group to go back to where they belonged. After all they had to do that thing to get back to the realm of light, and they had two members to find, as well as figure out what happened with Yue and Lea. There was a lot on the plate and Karina didn't even know where to start, perhaps they shoudl find out what happened with Lea, Melus, and Luther first.

Turning to Shiro once more Karina spoke up. "When do we have to do that thing you were talking about? Should we look into that happened to Lea first?" She didn't know how they were going to look into that, what they were going to do with it, but Karina didn't want to just leave this place without knowing anything. The least they could do was try. ​

 

​

Arctus had held a keyblade and yet...he was sort of unimpressed with it. Perhaps because it was Karina's instead of a weapon that belonged to him. "Lea." Arctus repeated upon hearing the name. "If we can only do so much at a time, we might as well start with something. ...So finding out what happened to Lea makes sense." At the very least, he was curious about the fate of the man who had brought him into this mess.

 

Shiro nodded his head to Karina's request. With Aeira's input, he had come to a conclusion. "WHILE IT IS WISE TO INVESTIGATE THESE FINDINGS, PERHAPS IT IS BEST IF WE DIVIDE OUR EFFORTS. I SHALL TAKE YOUNG KARINA, TO INVESTIGATE THE LAST KNOWN LOCATIONS OF YUE AND LEA. BUT BEFORE WE DO, WE SHALL TAKE THE REST OF YOU TO TAKE PART IN THE REAPER'S GAME. THAT INCLUDES YOU AS WELL MIZU. BEING A MASTER ALREADY, THEY WOULDN'T LET YOU TAKE PART IN THE EXAM."
Mizu didn't seem to like this idea. "But we're a team! Why would we split up!"
"IF WE DIVIDE OUR EFFORTS, YOU CAN TAKE THE MAJORITY OF THE GROUP AND GET TO THE REALM OF LIGHT FASTER!
"But it would just be you two."
"WE WILL BE FINE LADY MIZU. I ASSURE YOU, WE CAN OURSELVES," he smiled, while holding a thumbs up.
Shiro looked up at the town facing them as he kicked open the gate.

"EVERYONE. WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND OF SHIBUYA!"

The group arrived at Shibuya, as the streets were empty more or less, with a few straggling reaper's game participants were seen walking around. Shiro looked around for any sign of an authority figure. This was quickly met when a bald, dark skinned man approached them. He was a goliath of a man, being just shy of Shiro's height by a few inches. "Well well well, looks like we got some new players," the man spoke. His voice was that of a raspy Australian accent. He wore a tight black shirt, jeans, rings on his fingers, and his belt was just a giant chain wrapped around his waist.

Shiro shook the man's hand. "SUCH A DELIGHT TO SEE A MAN IN SUCH GOOD FORM! A GRAND CONGRATULATIONS ON KEEPING SUCH A PHYSIQUE. I AM SHIRO. AND I WOULD LIKE TO ENTER THESE SIX INTO THE REAPER'S GAME." Shiro pointed to Mizu, Koa, Finlay, Vallus, Aeira and Arctus as he shook the man's hand. "AND WHAT MIGHT YOUR NAME BE MY GOOD MAN?"
The man smiled confidently. "Name's Charlie. And don't worry... I'm sure I'll find a good match for their sills. I'm the game master. And a tough one at that." Charlie looked to the other participants. "What about the girl?"
"THIS GIRL WILL BE TAKING PART IN THE MARK OF MASTERY EXAM. I WISH TO BE HER PROCTOR FOR SUCH AN OCCASION. MIGHT I SPEAK WITH A MR. MEGUMI KITANJI? I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH HIM ABOUT SUCH A MATTER?"
"Oh you didn't hear?" Charlie asked, peaking his interest. "The UG is under new management. But provided you put in the hours, I'm sure I could put in a good word for you," he smiled, keeping his eye on the others.

"WONDERFUL!" Shiro burst out. "IS EVERYONE PREPARED?"

 

The idea of spitting up didn't sit well with Karina. After all, didn't they know to never split the party? It was only asking for trouble. That being said she had been trying to get rid of the leader role and here she was ready to argue the moment someone else took lead. At least they were following long enough to make sure they got to where they were going. Karina lingered near the back as they entered Shibuya since she was not here to participate but only an escort for the time being. However the change of management that was mentioned did bring a little concern to Karina. "So if someone new is running the game, are you even fit to run the Mark of Mastery? Are you the ones who ran it last time, or has the change been since then?" Karina pressed for information, not trusting a single thing about this place. She didn't know what it was about it that bothered her but it did. Trying to push back those thoughts Karina just stared down Charlie, waiting to either leave, start their exam, or perhaps even fight this guy, if worse came to worse. ​

 

Shiro looked to Aeira. "WHILE I'M NOT ACCUSTOMED TO THE IDEA OF DIVIDING OUR EFFORTS, I MUST GET YOU TO THE REALM OF LIGHT QUICKLY. OUR ENEMY IS IN THEIR ELEMENT HERE. WITH THE OTHER KEYBLADERS HAVING A HEADSTART ON US, WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO CATCH UP." Shiro nodded his head away from the group to prompt her to follow him to investigate where Lea and Yue had vanished.

"Rest assure Shiela... I'll take extra special care of them," he grinned looking back at the new arrivals. "And I see we have a new arrival. Welcome to the Reaper's Game. I'll be your game master Charlie..." He said in reply to Dastgir. "And don't worry, I have some others arriving soon that will help even the group."

 

Well none of what was said particularly answered any of the questions Karina had, but crossing her arms and rolling her eyes she got ready to follow Shiro anyways. Karina didn't even acknowledge the person who approached and asked if they could join as well. That was a question for the game master, not her responsibility. She might have had the minor responsibility for the rest of the brooding bunch, but she didn't particularly like it, and she didn't want to deal with a new person either. Glaring back once more at Charlie, she started to move with Shiro but mumbled under her breath. "I don't like him." ​