sirenspull_logs | falling in the black, slipping through the cracks

Entry tags:

falling in the black, slipping through the cracks

Who: Riku, Xigbar, and then two others.
When: Night. (Actual date will be when the log ends.)
Where: Sector 3.
Summary: Riku goes out to train and encounters something (and someone) he should not have.
Warnings: SPOILERS FOR KH3D. Violence. Fridge horror. Will update as needed.

[It's not so often any longer that Riku has the time to go out into the Darkness to fight. His job and providing for his friends always takes priority. Still, it's nice to get out, to stretch his legs, and to put his power to good use. He can make sure he's still on top of his game and training hard, even if he doesn't have the time to go to Terra's dojo.

He makes his way out through Sector 4 and then into Sector 3, fighting monsters as he goes. They aren't too much trouble, just enough to work up a sweat and to flex the muscles. He hasn't even tried to use his magic yet.

Riku continues on, unheeded by the dark. He's almost comfortable, having grown used to wandering on his own in the deepest of darknesses. He's still wary, however, and even more so when he thinks he sees someone in a dark coat head down a side street.

He frowns. Who's that? It's too tall to be Roxas or Xion. He hurries after them.]

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[ He's out late tonight.

Arguably, he's out late most nights, keeping the things that go bump in the night at bay, but tonight he's on a special sort of assignment. It's been well over a year since he arrived with Xemnas in Siren's Port, and despite all appearances, they have not been as idle as one might suppose. That they've received a few additions to their ranks only helps matters.

All thing's considered, everything's lining up quite nicely, really -- all they need now are the appropriate components and timing.

Hood up, his stride is casual yet purposeful, undeterred even by the encroachment of some local beasties. A brief flare of dark energy and a gesture is enough to make them scatter.

Tonight, he's all business. ]

[Even if he can't tell who it is, their darkness is enough to make him stop at the mouth of the street and watch, transfixed, as he scatters the monsters. That same energy once slept inside of his heart. It still does. He would know it anywhere, in any world he ever steps foot in.

Riku frowns. Is it Xemnas? No one else could be out here with that stench.

Hesitantly, he starts to follow him into the dark, feeling like he's about to stumble into an abyss he isn't ready to face just yet.

The monsters heed the cloaked man's warning, scattering, keeping their distance from both him and Riku. For his part, the Keybearer walks with strength and sincerity in his step, unafraid of what lies ahead. It doesn't take him long to catch up, either.

That's when he smells it. It reeks of the same darkness Xemnas and Ansem hold, but there's another scent mixed in there that's not theirs. It's someone else.

He frowns.]

What are you doing?

[ He detects the other in short order so he's not entirely surprised when Riku calls him out. He pauses, tilting his head just enough to catch a glimpse of the Keywielder's face.

Oops.

He turns on his heel and runs. ]

[He expects that if it's Xemnas, he'll turn and let the hood down. But instead, he runs off. Riku starts, surprised. If it's not Xemnas, then who's going around smelling like that?

With a faint growl, he takes off after the man, running through the darkness. The monsters start to go after him, one by one, curious. A boy with a heart treading the line between light and darkness, chasing someone so powerful? They don't try to hurt him, but some give chase just the same, heading after the strange darkness he himself is going for.

He skirts around a corner in his pursuit.]

Get back here!

[ Fat chance of that, Riku.

He's going at a pretty good pace already, navigating the narrow alleys like he knows them all to well -- and perhaps he does. It's not the first time he's been this way, though he never quite expected to run into Riku here in the middle of the night.

Dodging around another corner he leaps -- and proceeds to run up the side of a building. If the kid still wants to follow, well, more power to him.

He'll deal with it when the time comes. ]

[[Riku chases after him, keeping good time with him. He's in no position to close the gap between them, not when he doesn't know this route so well, but he's confident that he'll get there.

...Until the cloaked man runs up the building.

He skids to a halt, staring for a moment, and then he follows him. It's been a long time since he's done anything like this, but his hands and his feet move like he's been doing these things all his life. He balances himself up the side until he gets to the roof, where he flips over the edge and continues running.

If they stick to the rooftops, then he'll be much more at home.]

[ Running on the rooftops is one thing. Keeping up with someone like him, who habitually defies laws of physics, is something else.

He doesn't slow down; if anything, his path becomes sharper and more erratic -- not out of panic, but rather a very deliberate purpose. His feet hit the ground, of course they do, but every so often he warps, disappearing off the beaten track only to appear somewhere else.

If that fails to shake the teenager off, he'll go for the tried and true Darkness Corridor method. Not exactly the way he wanted to spend his night (delays upon delays), but he can adjust. ]

[The warping takes Riku by surprise, not just because it makes his chase even harder, but because he recognizes it. Xemnas can do those moves, but so can one other Organization member.

He grits his teeth and narrows his eyes, rearing a hand back and preparing a Thunder spell. He waits just until the cloaked man's feet are about to touch down, and then he fires, his other hand commanding a Blizzard spell. The moment one of those sparks hits Xigbar, he'll be following up with the second spell to pin him down until he can pounce him.]

[ The thunder spell is a bit of a shock, but he reacts warping out of the line of fire with relative ease. What he doesn't expect is the blast of frigid water and air slamming into him moments later.

It knocks him off his feet, and though there's fire gathering at his fingertips to counter already, quite suddenly he's being pounced on, pinned to the ground without even the slightest bit of mercy.

Awkward. ]

Oi!

[ The hood falls back, and Riku has the pleasure of seeing a rather indignant-looking Xigbar. ]

What's the big idea?

[[Riku tackles him down, resting a knee on his chest to make sure he doesn't go anywhere. He's already starting to draw his Keyblade in retaliation, ready for whatever trick this is.

He stops short when he realizes it's Xigbar.]

You?

[In his surprise, he almost forgets why he knocked the man over in the first place.

This close, the scent of his darkness is overpowering and very easily identifiable. It's just like Ansem's and Xemnas'. He grits his teeth in anger.]

I asked you a question. What are you doing out here?

[His Keyblade snaps into his hand.]

And why is your darkness different?

[ It doesn't show on his face, still so carefully schooled into an expression of annoyance and surprise, but when Riku asks, it's almost like something coils, deep inside his chest. The seed, so carefully hidden and allowed to flourish over the course of ten years and counting -- it lives, it beats, it breathes, and though he's known this for quite some time, he has to quell the realization of exactly what this means.

The time is drawing near.

He scoffs, the picture righteous indignation. ]

Business that's none of yours, tiny brooder.

What darkness?

[Frustration snaps across his face. He's uncertain whether it's directed at Xigbar, at Ansem, at Xemnas, at the implications of this situation, but he knows that the tightening in his chest is true anger.

If Ansem is capable of passing his darkness into other Nobodies... If Xemnas is capable of giving them power beyond their own...

He grabs Xigbar by the coat and drags his face up. The Keyblade's point rests on his chest.]

Your stench is like Ansem's, like his darkness. Why?

[ He watches Riku's reaction, and part of him just wants to laugh -- to laugh and proclaim the truth for all that it really is. But no- ah, ah, ah. Musn't being telling tales. Or at least, not yet.

It's too soon for this, and things are not yet set.

He frowns, apparently annoyed by being handled so. ]

How should I know, tiny brooder. I'm just the lapdog, remember?

Besides- [ he peers at the other sharply ] how do you know it's not you that sniffer of yours is smelling?

[He growls faintly, his grip tightening.]

I know my own darkness. This isn't it.

[He's suppressed that darkness enough. He knows how he smells. This...This is wrong and he doesn't know why. The point of the Keyblade digs into his coat.]

What's he done to you? Did Xemnas do this?

[It couldn't have been Ansem. He absorbed him too long ago for this to have happened. Wouldn't he have known, somehow, if that was the case?]

[ Very wrong. Not to Xigbar, of course -- he's lived with the knowledge of what was growing inside him for more than ten years, and in that time, he's not only accepted the inevitable but embraced it. To Riku, however, scarred and traumatized after his dealings with the same darkness, he can only imagine what the other must be thinking.

He scoffs. ]

He didn't do anything to me.

[ It was Master Xehanort, all those years ago, who first planted the seed within his heart. He never knew it, then; he only thought the old man meant to unleash the darkness inside and show him how to use it. Foolish in hindsight, maybe, but he hardly has regrets.

His eye narrows at the Keyblade being shoved at his chest. Like the boy would know how to untangle the threads of Xehanort's heart and will even if it he tried. ]

I suggest you point that trinket of yours somewhere else.

Edited 2012-08-05 02:44 (UTC)

[It has to be denial. It has to be.

Riku's mind is abuzz with ideas, with excuses for Xigbar. It's not that he likes the man - far from it - but Xemnas and Ansem are two sides of a very dangerous coin, one he's watched from afar and attempted to understand. More importantly, Xigbar's never given Riku any sort of impression beyond being Xemnas' spokesman, his informant, and his second.

If anyone's to blame, it's them and not him. ...Right?

But somehow, those thoughts ring false to him. Xigbar isn't stupid. (I'm just the lapdog--) No. No, it's not right. It's not. Something's going on here.

Riku keeps his Keyblade where it is and he stares down at Xigbar.]

You're lying. [You know.] What are you hiding?

Edited 2012-08-05 02:45 (UTC)

[ Sharp as always. Though he supposes he might have been a little heavy-handed with the excuses. Not that it matters now. ]

Heh.

[ His expression shifts, a smile replacing whatever "consternation" might have been there previously. Even in the gloom, there's an eerie gleam to his golden eye. ]

Wouldn't you like to know?

[ He warps, appearing behind Riku as a flash of light marks the summoning of his Arrowguns.

He fires. ]

Edited 2012-08-05 02:49 (UTC)

[That's all the confirmation he needs. He grits his teeth once more, his grip on his Keyblade tightening. He's being played here, he knows. And he's about to ask something more when Xigbar disappears and he hears the click of his guns.

He doesn't think. He moves.

Riku ducks to the left, one of the arrows whistling mere centimeters past his side. He skids to the side and then launches himself at Xigbar, Keyblade out.]

Big mistake!

[He swipes down at him, summoning another spell to aid him in case Xigbar moves.]

[ He doesn't just move; he warps again, appearing above this time, both guns pointed down. ]

Too slow, tiny brooder! [ He cocks his guns. ] Take this!

[ Firing rapidly, a stream of bullets not only hurtles towards the ground but also veers off to the side, circling as he wills them.

They'll make impact at the least expected moment. ]

[He is too slow, too slow to get Xigbar immediately, but he makes up for it with force.

The arrows come flying at him and he rushes to the side, trying to get away from them. He brings up his barrier once, twice, both for only mere seconds. And then he casts Fire, tossing the flames directly at Xigbar.]

You'll have to do better than that!

[He jumps backwards, not realizing until it's too late that some of the arrows were merely waiting. He spins, missing a few by inches. One slides past him and through his arm; the other slices into his side.

Riku winces tightly in pain, gripping the Keyblade tightly. He throws himself into the air and back at Xigbar.]

[ He sees the incoming flames, a twist of air and space carrying him out of the line of fire. Directing his bullets, he watches them as they dart and tear, taking the time to reload just briefly. It gives the youngster an opening, though, as the weight of Riku's blade slams into him.

His face twists, and he disappears in midair again. His response almost instinctive, the darkness gathers about, lacing down his arms and the intricacy of his guns -- a familiar blight and stench.

He fires at Riku again. ]

[Darkness. The stench and the power behind it assails him, and his attention is drawn to it. He draws back to prepare himself for the next wave of arrows. He spins his blade and rushes at Xigbar, striking down the shots coming for him. Some still hit their marks, brushing past him and clipping him.

He needs to close the gap. Xigbar is all about range, after all.

Riku finally breaks into a dash towards him, letting out a barrage of blasts through his Dark Break move.]

[ He doesn't tap it, not fully -- even knowing the depths of darkness that have taken root in his seeding heart, he has yet to explore all its aspects for the simple fact that he's been mostly unaware of how much its development has progressed. There's almost always been the danger of being detected at some point, which this situation will testify to. Thus, he relies primarily on his own strength and only augments it with darkness.

Wisps of black and purple curling around the edges of his coat, Xigbar dodges most of the blasts in rapid succession, firing of a few more tainted bullets as he does so. Eventually, though, one of the attacks hits him squarely in the chest, knocking him off kilter. Hitting the ground hard, he snaps his guns together, threads of light and dark tangling together into one massive crackle of energy and power.

He sends it hurtling at Riku in moments -- a final resort. ]

[Riku's all determination now, unwilling to let him get away. The darkness he wields, though not as strong as it could be, has always been his battle. So long as Xigbar has it, he will fight to stop him from using it, regardless of whether he has it willingly or not.

The blast nearly catches him off guard, and he skids to a halt. He raises his blade and catches the attack, blocking it. The force behind it is impressive; had he not stopped, it would probably have pushed him clear off the building.

He growls, closes his eyes, and then slices his blade downwards. He hurls the attack right back at Xigbar.]

Enough!

[He rushes him right after, Keyblade out and ready to hit him one final time.]

[ His eye wides, an expression of strangely genuine shock passing over his features. He warps a few feet away, just barely missing the rebounded attack.

He's a little too slow for once, though. All he sees is the curve of Riku's blade sweeping down before everything goes black.

The darkness about him dissipates, and he slumps lifeless on the ground. ]

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