towerofanimus | Endgame: This Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms; Part Two

A portal opened after some time, and from it, Riku emerged. By this point, he had already seen one dead world-- seen the ruin, the destruction, and death lurking all around. But this crater... it's far more dismal than anything he would've anticipated. A gaping maw in the earth, rising up around him.

Fortunately, with the rest of the world dead, it was easy to make out the one remaining life form. And a familiar face, at that. After gathering his bearings, Riku took off running, sprinting at the one familiar face in this deserted wasteland.

"Hey, Suzaku!"

Someone shouting his name was the last thing he expected and he startled, head coming up, hand going to his belt even though his gun wasn't there.

"Riku?" He knew the voice even though the figure running towards him was a wire frame.

He tried to scrub away the tears and moved towards the figure. "How are you here?"

He skidded to a stop once he neared Suzaku, taking a few short seconds to catch his breath. Once the adreneline faded, he stood up straight and peered over his shoulder.

"A portal popped up once the power went out, and I wound up on somebody else's dead world. Bumped into another portal, and here I am..."

He crossed his arms. "Feels like somebody's trying to get us all back together."

"The power." Suzaku blinked and looked at Riku. "You were still in the tower?" He had thought Ruana had banished everyone. Suddenly things did not look as dire as before. "Was there many of you?"

"I think over half of us were in the cells..." Diarmuid arrives on the world through a different portal, but it is easy to track down Suzaku and Riku by following their voices. After all, there isn't much else making noise on this dead world, "Does that sound about right, Riku?"

After asking his question, Diarmuid turns to Suzaku and smiles in relief...not that his current condition makes that very easy to see, "I'm glad to see you are okay, brother."

Edited (Typo!) 2014-07-16 23:38 (UTC)

Riku's eyes widen at the sound of Diarmuid's voice, and he whirls around to face him. "I'd say so. Makes me wonder why Ruana decided to drop some of you guys back home, while the rest of us became her jailbirds."

But whatever the reason, what matters is that they're okay. They can work out the details when Ruana's finally dead and gone, as far as he's concerned.

Diarmuid turns back to Riku and bows his head apologetically, "Sorry for startling you. Whatever Ruana's motives, one thing is clear. Whoever is behind this wants to make sure we find everyone. Why else would they send more than one portal to a world? And why else would we be feeling stronger with each person we find?"

This is four for him and he is feeling noticeably better than when this whole search started.

Another portal opens, sending a bird-shaped wireframe soaring out of it. Find everyone... sure, okay. He can do that. They'll be the only ones moving around, anyway. But as he spots movement and dives towards it, he sees there are two other wireframes nearby. Seems he's not the only one. Still, he calls out, his 'voice' appearing in their minds.

<Everyone okay down there?> He perches at the edge of the crater, looking down.

Suzaku startled as well when he heard a second voice. Diarmuid... Somehow that was even less believable than Riku turning up. "She locked you up..." And had banished half of them. Why? And how had they escaped?

So many questions yet he was distracted by the voice from above the crater. He blinked at the bird shaped wireframe as it 'spoke'.

"Yes... I think so." He looked back at his brother, "What do you mean feeling stronger?"

Simplest question, most practical anyways. The whys could wait until after. If there were an after.

The voice in Diarmuid's head distracts him from Suzaku's question for a moment, but as soon as he sees the 'speaker' he nods to him, before returning his attention back to Suzaku, "It's hard to say exactly. I feel...more real? Like my abilities might be starting to return?"

He pauses there, something in the back of his mind shifting as if it is trying to fit together with other information he has. Then...the pieces snap together.

"Wait...we still have our Tower bodies and are moving through the worlds with them. We shouldn't be able to do that. Before only souls have been able to move. Whatever they inhabited got left behind... That means those who we have found so far with bodies..." His eyes grow wide, "They have their real bodies! Suzaku, that is your body and you won't have to leave it here when we go!"

But what does that mean for the rest of them? Those still in wireframes and those like Saber and Ryoji who didn't have bodies to reclaim on their worlds?

"...Fuck."

That was apparently the sound of an epiphany. Following closely behind Diarmuid as usual, Waver looked to the back of his right hand.

"Diarmuid, you just said you felt like your abilities were coming back. And we can already assume everyone left out here like Suzaku are back to their own bodies through god only knows how." The magus crossed his arms, frowning in concentration.

"It's obvious--about as obvious as something goddamned insane can be. The longer we spend out here picking up you poor bastards, the more real these godforsaken wireframes become. I'd bet anything that if we cross enough worlds, we'll actually be normal again."

Beat.

"That was the strangest leap of logic with absolutely no scientific basis behind it that I have ever made and I'd be ashamed, if I didn't think I was right."

"Hey, science isn't everything." Riku chuckled and shrugged. "But I guess when you've seen worlds with talking doorknobs, it's easy to shove logic out the door."

Still, it was a good point. Looking down at his hand, Riku flexed his fingers, noticing the vague image of his gloves overlying the wireframe body. It had grown just a little more solid than when he started out on his journey. Logic dictated that if they kept pushing forward, they might as well end up with real bodies. And then what?

"Maybe real bodies are just what we need to beat her. If we can break outside her control, then all we've gotta worry about is the power boost she got from Riki."

"You mean the wireframes will actually... turn real..." It sounded impossible. But Suzaku couldn't think of anything to dispute it. He looked down at his hands, this was his real body? But how was it alive? How after he had left it for close to three years was it still functioning.

"She wouldn't be able to control real bodies... hopefully." He blinked trying to take everything in. He was real... He looked at his hands again, unable to process the enormity of that.

<Maybe.>

Tobias flies down into the crater, flapping a bit as he brakes and lands. <Having my actual body back would be helpful. But it does mean that we'll have to be really careful not to do anything stupid and die. We won't be able to come back.>

"Risk versus reward. That is always how these things go, isn't it? This final battle shouldn't be any different in that regard," a wary grin crosses Diarmuid's face. "Somehow, though, I get the feeling that this reward is going to be much higher than the risk. After all, if Zo has enough power to be doing this now, he has enough power to have just grabbed us all and pulled us back to the Tower. Remember, he is linked to every person he ever brought in. He has to think this is going to help us defeat her!"

Edited (Ugg...typo!) 2014-07-18 17:13 (UTC)

Another portal opens, and two more wireframes step through, one leading the other by the hand. They're recognizable by their clothes as Lucifel and Enoch, though they've clearly seen enough worlds that their features are more distinguishable through the wireframes as well. The two approach the gathered group, Enoch raising his hand in a wave. He's glad to see such a relatively large group, and his returning strength is lifting his spirits.

"Hello, everyone. Are any of you feeling stronger than when we left the tower?"

Naturally, he has no way of knowing that subject was just discussed. Doubtless, that's a little annoying.

((ooc: Lucifel's presence is handwaved with player permission, unless he's directly addressed or the player is available, since she's very busy. Just letting you guys know not to wait up for him if he's not spoken to!))

"Much greater, if the reward is what we wish." Suzaku blinked another portal opened and more wireframes appeared. Enoch and another man.

He let the others answer, since he was still putting it together in his mind. If it were right, if their logic made any sense then this was a huge step in the right direction.

When Enoch walked into view, Riku paused for a moment. His brow furrows as he trieds to call for his Keyblade as a test of his new-found strength. At first nothing happened, and then a faint white light started to swirl around his fingertips. It lasted for about three seconds before fizzling out, and he heaved a heavy sigh.

"Well, I definitely feel stronger, but not strong enough. Looks like we're gonna have to keep moving if we want to come out on top, but Diarmuid's right-- after everything we've been through, I'd say we can all handle a few more risks."

Endgame: This Broken Jaw of Our Lost Kingdoms; Part Two

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