Time to Rise Again

"What a fool," Asuka said. "Acting as if she has experienced the hardest life, saying she has things to live up to...we all do. She needs to learn that heroes aren't made from following the same footsteps as your predecessor but by walking your own path and using your own power, not the power of stories and myths."
Turning to Shinji, she said, "Fighting alone is always reckless. Even the best of warriors rarely fight alone because they know it can spell instant death. You make one mistake, you're dead. Dead because no one is there to find you until you're breathing your last breath. I've seen many people fall that way. They think it's courage and heroism, but it's just goddamn foolishness. And for Cat to go off on her own with hardly any battle experience...it won't end well."
Asuka started to walk away. "I'm taking the sidecars off my bike and leaving them here. I'm going to look for Midgar."
Without staying any longer, Asuka took her Keyblade and opened a portal to leave the world, taking off through the sky on a small path of darkness.

 

Cat sensed a dark portal open and close. She looked around thinking it was Kurgari and saw something fly past her. It looked like Asuka's bike without the sidecars...
Asuka? What's she doing? ...I'd better avoid being spotted. Chances are she's looking for it too.
Cat tried to remain out of sight. If anyone knew how to find Midgar, it would be her. She just followed her from a good distance away. If Asuka saw her then the plan would be worthless.
Why does everyone have to care so much...? Can't they just understand that this is something i've gotta do on my own? This is my burden to bear and nobody else can get rid of it for me.

 

"There is some truth to that but..." He saw Asuka leave quickly, there were supposed to be together but instead, it was falling apart before it even begun, he placed his arms down his sides in defeat. "This isn't going off to a good start." Shinji whispered under his breath.

"What could I do though...Cat ran off by herself, Asuka just left on her own for her own world, not caring if she goes alone, Crimsion and Luna are standing here, the Leon guy was somewhat of a drifter." Shinji thought to himself

"Then...should I stay with Crimsion and Luna or go and look for Cat?" He cupped his chin in thought, he hadn't known everyone that well as he rubbed his black hair, it certainly a troublesome problem to think out, it was either stay with two other wirlders or go and search for one.

 

"Alright Fenrir...take me home," Asuka said quietly. The bike had a coordinates system installed because of the delivery business, and she was hoping that it was still functional. Entering the coordinates of her home, she let herself get lost in memories from her past. Memories that she didn't want resurfacing.

"Congrats on the promotion, Asuka!"
"Haha, yeah, you're gonna be the one ordering us around now!"
"Her ordering you punks around will probably make you rise up to be the best damn squad, kid, I ain't seen this much potential in any sole person since Cloud's and Zack's days in the military. But anyway, congratulations, Captain Strife."
Asuka laughed. "Captain Strife sounds way too comical. People would think I'm something out of a cartoon or video game, not a real person fighting for their benefit..."

"Hey Asuka...now that you're an officer, does that mean our squad's split up?"
"Don't be ridiculous, the Fenrir Squad is inseperable and unstoppable..."

"Take cover! Use the underground tunnels to circle around their flanks, we can't let them win this battle!"
"Asuka, I'm going by myself, I know how to arm a device that will decimate their numbers."
"Wait! Don't go by yourself, it's too dangerous..."


Asuka was shaken out of her memories by Fenrir's navigation system beeping. Looking up, she saw her home world in front of her. "It's still here..." she said quietly. She started to descend towards the planet, heading for the continent Midgar was located on.

 

Stupid Cat, trying to use my own stratagy against me, Crimson thought as he sensed her false trial. He didn't expect her to pull such a cheap trick and he was surpised that she expected him to fall for it. He was able to catch up to Cat only to see that she was following Asuka into another world. "So, this must be Midgar."

"I'm following his trail," Luna promlaimed, already planting herself on her Oathkeeper skateboard. She felt something wrong about where Crimson was headed, so she needed to help. In her mind, it felt like Crimson was sending out a distress signal. She left, not even waiting for Shinji's responce.

 

Shinji gasped. "H-Hey!" He called out as he followed Luna quickly, it was almost as if everyone was leaving him, he honestly found it a bit annoying and rude to say to the least until he found himself in another world.

"Is this...really a different world?" he asked himself aloud, it was certainly an amazing sight to see and perhaps feel, it could really feel excitement.

 

Asuka guided her bike down to one of the many alleys in Midgar. While it grew out of the slums it had become in Cloud and Tifa's time, wars still broke out from time to time. "Sector Seven...I'm home..."
Revving the engine, she left the alley and took off into the main road, which she noticed was much less busy than usual, and headed towards her home. She got a few honks and waves from passing people, and she quietly returned some of them. "It's...quiet. Unusual...it's middday, the roads are normally jammed. What happened here?"
After she broke away from the main traffic flow, Asuka gunned the engine, which roared in response and took her flying down familiar streets until she stopped outside of a well-kept looking building. It was small in size, but she knew the history behind it.

 

Cat landed a few blocks away from Asuka and made sure to stay out of sight. This world was much different than anything she'd ever even heard of before. She landed in an alley and her keyblades disappeared. She heard the roar of the bike's engine and ran after Asuka. People stared at her as she ran by but she could care less at this point. She ran into an old church thinking that she could relax there for a minute. It wasn't anything special, but it was particularly odd that flowers were growing in the middle of the floor. She sat down and tried to think about what to do next. She knew it was only a matter of time before Crimson found her.
"Well... at least things can't possibly get any worse."
She sighed and summoned her Kingdom Key. She stared at it for a while and then muttered to herself.
"Stupid thing... I hate it..."
She stood up and threw it into the middle of the church floor. She turned around to try and walk out of the church but the Keyblade reappeared in her hand.
"...why am I not surprised?"
She made it disappear and walked outside to try and figure out where to go.

 

As Asuka parked and dismounted her bike, she instantly sensed there was something wrong. There was almost no activity around the building, and the sense of dread grew as she neared the door only to find it broken open. She summoned her Keyblade, cautiously pushing the door further open, looking around for any sign of life.
"Grandfather?...Grandmother?" she called out. Silence answered her. As she rounded the corner of the bar to go up the stairs, her blood ran cold. There was a small trail of blood drips going up the stairs, and at this point she sprinted up, taking the steps two at a time. Running into her grandparents' room, she stopped short and Fenrir fell to the ground, disappearing.
"No...dammit...no, no, this isn't right, this isn't...real..." Asuka said, voice rising with each word. The scene before her was a grisly one, she dared not look too long or else she felt extremely sick. Her grandparents were dead, killed in some kind of fight that started downstairs and ended here. Upon closer inspection, she saw black fur scattered about the room. "Kuragari...he was here. They're dead because I wasn't fast enough. I couldn't save them, just like I couldn't save my squad..."
Asuka, who was never known to cry, fell to her hands and knees and let the tears fall freely. Sitting back on her knees, she shouted out, "Why must everyone around me die? What the hell am I fighting for!"
As she said this, she felt her emotions twist into sadness and anger, but didn't even try to restrain the darkness in her. It flowed freely from her, but she didn't care, nor did she notice the Heartless that were starting to be attracted to it.

 

Having been informed of Midgar from the picture Asuka gave him, Leon arrived in the world through the use of his grandfathers old and out dated Gummi Ship. Departing from the vessel he looked around the world, he had arrived just outside the city. For a short while he searched the different districts and areas of the city, noticing how different classes of people lived partially separated from each other. It wasn't a pretty world, though the same could be said for anything. He eventually arrived at the place Asuka mentioned noticing a bike outside. In that moment he saw Heartless climbing in through the bottom floor windows and rushed inside, striking a few down as he entered.
The place was a mess, the scene of a harsh battle and trails of blood. Following those trails he came across Asuka who was near two dead bodies, clearly her relatives. But the concern would have to come later, Heartless where gathering inside the house, "Hey, get up. Where's your fighting spirit? I don't know the specifics of what's happened but I'm sure those two wouldn't want you dying here", he called out to her preparing his keyblade on his shoulder as the Heartless started coming upstairs. He couldn't sense the darkness coming from Asuka, he was never good at seeing the light or darkness in people.

 

Asuka barely registered that there was another person in the house now. "Fighting spirit...?"
She looked over at her grandparents. "Why should I have a fighting spirit if the people I love keep dying? It's the same goddamn thing, over and over again, but with different people..."
"...But I'm not close to anyone anymore..."
"That's right..." she muttered, "I am alone...no more family, no more friends..."
The darkness surrounding her grew stronger, but she then willed it all away - back inside of her. Her tears stopped and her sadness was replaced with pure rage and hate. Breathing hard, she summoned her Keyblade, but it was not Fenrir. She looked at it, instantly recognizing it as One-Winged Angel. Without saying a word to Leon, she flew into a swarm of some of the Heartless, mercilessly destroying them with the dark blade.

 

Leon watched, trying to understand what was happening. He wasn't surprised by the rage but more so that her Keyblade changed. He expected the slaughtering of the Heartless would calm her rage enough to defeat the enemy and stop her from acting irrational. What worried his plan was that the Keyblade changing to this dark natured one would come with some adverse effects. The narrow stair way made it impossible for him to attack directly and he instead leapt out the window to double back through the house to fight from the other side. Having landed he took a moment to stand right again before running around to the front of the building where he proceeded to hack his way through the Heartless and to the bottom of the stairs where the majority of them where. Now with pummelling from either side it wouldn't take long before they cleared them out. Leon's strategy seemed to be going well so far.

 

Asuka was blind to everything except the Heartless, still cutting through them like paper. As she worked through the swarm of Heartless, fighting down the stairs, she saw another person at the bottom of the stairs. Not realizing who it was in the dark rage she was in, she threw the Keyblade through the remaining Heartless on the stairs, then attacked Leon, jumping down the rest of the stairs and catching him off guard with her first strike.

 

Leon barely had time to block the first attack from the surprise of it. Defending left him wide open to numerous attack patterns. Realising Asuka was in a blind rage he attempted to lure her outside where he could fight properly without damaging her home. He slowly backed outside dodging and blocking her relentless attacks. Now that the Heartless had been cleared, she was the only problem left to solve.

 

Asuka kept up her attacks, each swing getting more and more vicious.
"Asuka..."
Her eyes widened.
"Remember who you are..."
Asuka's strikes ceased, and she stood still, unsure of what was happening.
"Don't let the darkness control you, Asuka...remember who you are..."
As she was about to respond to the voice, she felt an immense pain in her head. Her Keyblade disappeared, and she fell to the ground, holding her head in pain. She felt the darkness in her retreating incredibly fast and realized that Leon was the person she had attacked. She tried to speak, saying, "L-Leon..." but only before the pain subsided and she felt her eyes close before she blacked out completely.

 

Leon watched her collapse and waited a moment to see if anything would happen. "Well now, don't expect me to carry you", he joked knowing no one would of heard him leading him to sigh as he lifted Asuka off the ground and rested her against a wall outside before heading inside himself to inspect what happened. He looked around the place, finding the same clues as Asuka. Black fur. "The hell...", he thought aloud as he headed back outside carrying a piece of the fur as a sample.

 

When Crimon landed in Midgar, he landed in front of the chuch. He was able to sense the Keybade that Cat was able to use. He stormed in and found her. "Cat," He said in a rather loud voice. When he was right in front of her, he couldn't hold his anger. He hit her across the face, not enough to do any kind of damage, but enough to make a point. He wanted to hit her again and again. He had no choice. In one swift action, he wrapped his arms around her body, embracing her, crying. The last time he had hugged her was when they were kids, saying their final goodbyes. "Don't you EVER do anything like this again! Everyone'se worried about you!"

 

As soon as Asuka blacked out, she felt the strange sensation of a strong light. She opened her eyes, but quickly realized that she was not conscious. She was standing in a field of flowers, but there was no sky - just white light.
"My Asuka...you've grown up so much."
Asuka looked in the direction the voice came from. It was the same voice that had called out to her before, but now there was a woman standing near her. She read the question in Asuka's eyes and said, "I am your mother, Asuka. We never got to know each other, but I have been watching over you from here, the Lifestream. All of us have."
After the woman finished speaking, several other figures appeared from out of the bright light. Asuka assumed that the man that stood by her mother was her father, and she felt a pang of sadness that she never knew either of them. She then saw two very familiar people.
"Grandmother, Grandfather!" she shouted as they walked towards her. "I'm so sorry...I couldn't protect you. I failed as your guardian, please forgive m-"
Before she could finish, her grandfather put his hand to her mouth. "Don't apologize. You did nothing wrong. It was our time to go anyway, now our duty has been passed down to you."
That's when she saw them. Her great-grandparents were walking to her now, and Asuka did not know how to react. "Tifa and I have been watching you grow up," Cloud said. "We were only around until you were four...but they were good years. You are the last Strife left, Asuka. Though the burden is heavy to bear, you have strong allies around you. You're stronger than the darkness, you just need to find the light to guide you until you can defeat it by yourself. And I think that you've finally found that light."
"What? You don't mean...Leon, do you?" Asuka said.
"Yes, that's right. His light is strong, just as his grandfather's was. Tifa was my light, but yours may very well be him. That group of kids you met have a stong collective light as well."
Asuka looked at the family surrounding her. Her heart felt significantly lighter than it ever had before, and she smiled. "I understand, Cloud. I'm going to fight the darkness, I'm not gonna let it win. Thank you," she said, "All of you."
Her grandmother moved forward and hugged her. "We are always with you Asuka, even if you're not in Midgar. We'll all be watching over you from the Lifestream, so don't worry about us. Live your life, dear..."
Asuka smiled, then opened her eyes once more, but this time to the real world. She tried standing, but almost immediately fell over again.

 

By the time Asuka had awoken Leon was resting stood up against the wall a foot or two away from her. "Standing up ain't gonna work if you haven't got the energy", he told her looking at something in his hand which he quickly put away. "So, you have two Keyblades?", he asked out of curiosity and to keep the topic out of sour territory.

 

Cat didn't know how to react to the punch in the face but when Crimson hugged her she immediately sterted to cry. She remembered the last time they had to do this. It was one of the worst times in her life. Just recalling that moment was enough to make her cry but this was too much for her. She put her arms around him as well and she was taken back to a happier time. A time when neither of them had to deal with Heartless or Keyblades or anything so cruel as this.

Sky... why does his have to happen to us...?

She knew this moment would make it harder if anything happened to either of them. She whisperd in his ear.

"I... I can't deal with this anymore. Having to live up to what Sora was... I don't wanna have to go through that kind of heartbreak. Sky, I never want to lose you... ever."

As she said this she remembered the day she was taken form her home... from everything she knew. And everything she loved. She remembered crying until she had no tears left to shed. She remembered screaming in pain until her voice was all used up. She remembered trying to fight heartless until her body just couldn't take anything else. That time had taken its toll on her and she never was able to get over it. She would just push the pain aside and go on with life. Regardless she would sometimes awaken from a nightmare crying, and the nightmare was always the same. She would wield the keyblade and try to save the islands. She would kill every heartless and she thought she had won but in their secret place there was a lone shadow and it stole the heart of her best friend right in front of her. She would try to grab his body before it fell to the ground but it would fade into nothingness before she could even react. She would wake up crying and she would just put her head into her pillow and let the tears come for as long as they did. Sometiems they would only last a few minutes but sometimes she would stay up for hours until she fell asleep again to nothingness.

She tried not to cry as much but the tears kept coming no matter how hard she tried to hold them back. She tried to break away to stop this from hitting her hard later but it was no use. Her body wouldn't move. She hated this but at the same time it was the best thing that had ever happened to her.