Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ NSX ❯ A Bridge Too Many ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

(A/N - Taking a look at some of the KH-ish game crossovers lately I notice there's a lot of characters named Sirius O.o' I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes here, I just thought of it as a semi-Dark Cloud reference...)








Troy's boot pressed firmly into the ground.

The sensation sort of surprised him. The fields that he walked through were more vibrant than any he had seen in the vincinity of Toad Town - it was close to two hours since he had left that morning, and already he was out in the clean, clear wilds east of the dense metropolis - farther away from home and further into the depths of the Mushroom Kingdom than he had ever been in his life. A gentle breeze crawled along the green hills, causing waves of viridian to ripple across the ground as the tall grass followed the current. He walked along with a hop in his step, the CHRONICLE in its normal position over his shoulder. As he reached a dip in the ground, he turned back to the crest behind him, watching as Mario jogged over it.

"Hey!" Troy laughed, waving his free arm. "Do we still got a schedule to keep?"

"I'm comin', I'm comin..." Mario darted down the hill, slowing to a stop as he neared Troy. He hunched over for a moment, taking a deep breath as he stood back up. "...really, what is UP with you today..."

Troy shrugged. "I like orienteering. YOU on the other hand, I think you hit that fettucini alfredo a little hard last night."

"Hey, do or do not people around here make good food?" he stood up firmly again, moving ahead of Troy. "...how close are we, anyways?"

Troy fished a parchment out of his shell, unfurling it. Mario instinctively seized his compass. "...well, if I'm right we should be a fair distance out of Toad Town and getting closer to the border of Water World. The Trilobite Sea lies straight north, and the Koopahari Desert is south-southwest, and..." he glanced back to Mario, who appeared a tad bit annoyed. "...alright, alright... it should be twenty minutes from here. Peach said that a large abandoned Goomba nest is out in this direction, and so says my guide... Sirius pinpointed energy radiating out from there."

"And you're guessing another keyblade lies out there somewhere."

"Maybe. We gotta get in there and investigate at least. If it is a keyblade we should take it back to the castle, that way if a Keyper does come for it he'll have to play right into our hands, and we'll be able to clue him in about the Vast and whatnot. You know... what he said about people taking the keyblades and doing bad things to them..." Troy heaved a sigh.

"What?"

"He told me on the way to Toad Town... I was getting kind of racy about having to stand up to Bowser and everything... but he said that with something like this in my hands I held the power to take down the entire Koopa Troop if I wanted to."

"You're serious."

"That I am. And the way it just sliced through the Vast back there..." he shivered. "I don't wanna see what it could do to other stuff."

With that, Troy straightened up, beginning to walk away again. Mario took off his cap, wiping his brow as he followed him. No sooner did they get to the top of the next hill, Troy froze again, his view pitched upwards. Mario moved around him. "...I'm not sure if you were told this, but staring at the sun is a bad thing."

"I'm not."

Mario mumbled to himself, trying to follow Troy's vision - his eyes widened. With a great flash the clouds parted, a pair of green lights plummeting downwards with a dark trail of smoke in their wake. Troy winced as they crested the horizon, a massive crackle echoing out throughout the field moments later. He and Mario stared on in disbelief. They were both quick to realize that their excavation was about to become a little harder than Sirius had made it out to be.

"I'm guessing that landed..." Troy threw up his arms, turning to Mario. Mario shook his head dully. "...cripes... whatever the heck that was... we have to get the keyblade out of there quickly, I doubt a Goomba nest would be standing after a hit like that..." he let the keyblade drop to his side, ready for use as he quickly dashed up the hill, Mario in pursuit.


********


Sirius stood at a ornately-carved wooden desk in the castle's tower observatory, its surface completely covered with documents extracted from the depths of the royal libraries. The observatory itself had a selection of writings to itself, but with Sirius up there the shelf load would probably double in due time. He held his hands behind his back, watching as outside the window a similar burst of energy tore down from the heavens. He slowly sat down, resting his elbows on the table and accordingly his massive arms.

"Well, well." Sirius said plainly. "They're here."

"Who's here?" Peach said firmly. Sirius slowly spun his chair around. Peach was back in her regular clothing (all the better to get coated in the observatory's dust with) and had just been torn from doing some reading of her own. "...Sirius?"

"Is it not obvious? People from other worlds are beginning to make their advance into yours. Whether by circumstance or choice, that's beyond my understanding."

"Grrr..." Peach was ready to throw whatever huge volume of the Encyclopedia Fungtannica she had in her hand, but eventually just sighed. "Can you be any more vague?"

"What's there to be vague about? You don't expect the universe to stay still as it quickly comes under siege and is turned into a playground for the Vast, do you? Some have come to seek sanctuary, some now realize their innate power to seek out and find their keyblade whatever world it may lie on, and some are simply castaways from worlds that have been destroyed."

"...destroyed?!"

"...relax... worlds are destroyed not only by the Vast, you know. The case in a world being destroyed occurs only under extreme circumstances, and not only those initiated by the Vast... like, you know, if some scientist develops some sort of weapon of mass destruction and in a typo states in his submission to the world government it has a 20-mile blast radius when in fact it's 20-lightyears, someone coughing on someone else and causing a worldwide plague, you know, little things like that... oh, but don't worry, I assure you that your world is far from obliterated, especially after fighting off the Vast as well as we did... anyways, where was I... oh, yes... in the case of the physical and dimensional fabric of a world being completely annihilated, most forms of life in the process are whisked away randomly to other worlds... just as those who left on their own free will."

"And I'm assuming the Vast situation is the most common out of those?"

Sirius frowned. "...well, just about."

Peach sighed. "I guess it's none of my concern... but, Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"How exactly do you KNOW that?" she smirked. "...you... YOU'RE from another world too?"

Sirius blinked. "...well.. you could... say so."

"Well, that's just great. Tonight, I'm getting Mario and Luigi AND you up here and we're going to have a little chat. I don't know how I'm going to beat this into that big head of yours, but I'm going to figure out what's going on in the worlds out there... even if I have to bound and gag y..."

Sirius looked highly unamused.

"...hm, 'kay, maybe some other time then... but, I'm just starting to wonder... if any Keypers coming here to find their blades obtain them, there's no real chance of any of THEM holding the power to destroy a world, right?"

"Most definately not. The keyblades in this realm are just awakening... those who are coming to claim them will have no prior experience with them."

"Is there any chance they would be more powerful than Troy?"

"That's not particularly saying much of them."

"Well." Peach fell back in a dusty recliner. "That makes me wonder... why did you split the others into two groups then, if you can't even trust Troy being out there by himself... you talk like he'd just be Goomba chow out there!"

"He's the best you've got." Sirius grumbled, standing. "Do you know how I pinpointed where the possible locations of keyblades were? I didn't. I sent them to the point where dimensional ruptures were depositing their cargo. In the past day I've felt three - two are converging on Troy and Mario's destination, and the other is headed for Luigi and Toad's position."

"The only person out there with a keyblade is Troy, and he's got TWO potential Keypers bearing down on him, and who even KNOWS if they're on our side or not? And what about Luigi? Toad? How are THEY supposed to fight one off?"

"I thought I made this clear from the beginning, Princess." Sirius finished his statement with a hiss. "We DON'T have the resources at this time to guarantee anyone's safety. I decided the groups on the basis of efficiency. And it would be highly unlikely ANY of our guests are Keypers to begin with. It's early... far too early for ANYONE to be jumping worlds. I can't promise anything at this time. For now all we can do is play our cards effectively and hope for the best."

"These... people aren't your, or my pawns!" Peach scowled, rising from her seat again. "You're just going to throw them around wherever you please and 'hope for the best'?!"

"And you have a better plan?"

"What about the Guard?"

"And what if the Vast attacks THIS place? What then?"

"...then I'LL just have to fight them off!"

"Humor me."

"I'll get that keyblade in the basement going. I'll show you... we're not as powerless as you think we are!" Peach threw her arms down, stomping away as Sirius watched with dim eyes.

"...mistake #1."







********

NSX: Chapter 3

A Bridge Too Many

********







Toad shook his head sadly. "Halfwhy Marsh."

Luigi glanced back to Toad before turning back to face the slough. Ahead of them, around them and beneath the aging wooden dock they stood on lied an endless wetland, teeming with every form of slimy life that Luigi could bring to mind. "...that's what you people call this place... huh, I'm just trying to figure out, why Halfwhy?"

"Usually because people get halfway through it before wondering why they ever wanted to come here in the first place." Toad stepped forward, poking at the mud below with his shoe. "It's supposed to be a faster way to the steppes of Dark Land as opposed to travelling through the wastelands, but, well, I rest my case. Now, what did Sirius say? There's supposed to be energy coming from within? Yeah. I know what. Good 'ol swamp gas, that's what."

Luigi was still scratching his head, looking around in the process of being completely oblivious to whatever Toad bothered to say. "Wow... this place REALLY reminds me of.. now what was it..." he snapped his finger. "Yeah! That one issue where Dirk Drain-head was forced to battle through the Noxious Helga's nefarious frog minions at her lair in the bowels of Manhattan to save his lovely Marianne!" He chuckled to himself, resting his hands on his hips as he glanced back down at Toad, who just stared back at him funny. "...what, you guys don't get comics around here?"

"Pe.. Toadstool got a 50-year subscription to Baroness Blueblood for her 14th birthday, that's about my length of comic know-how..."

"Wow... Baroness Blueblood. What she got, ice beams? The ability to control water at will?... uh... blue blood?"

"Let's pretend we never had this conversation." Toad stepped off the dock, wrapping himself the best he could around a tree. Standing on its roots he quickly shuffled to another, repeating the process as Luigi clambered down to the first set of roots. The murky, tar-like soup bubbled beneath them as they quickly navigated from dry haven to dry haven. Toad sighed, resting on his sixth platform - he held himself loosely from the tree. With a thunderous roar the green comet raged through the immediate sky above them, causing Toad to lose his grip - he yelped as he leant backwards on his feet, just about ready to fall off. Luigi lunged forward, grabbing Toad's hand and dragging him back onto his feet.

"Holy macro... what was that?..." Luigi's voice lowered to a mumble.

"It looks like it's going to crash further into the swa-aaah!" he swayed again as a huge crash, followed by a splash rang out through the swamp. "...grrr!!"

"Well.. c'mon, we got further to go." Luigi jerked Toad back onto his feet. "...we can wait until we get what we came for, then we can go investigate that thing..."

"Did I ever say I wanted to?"

"Point." Luigi leapt over to the next tree, wrapping around himself and sliding down to the hardened dirt surrounding its base. The ground was steadily continuing to lower beneath the two as they progressed, and the water around them bubbled over into the deepening swamp. The two had easily gotten another 50 meters below that, nearly stepping on and/or being torn apart by the native wildlife, before the smell coming out from everywhere had finally become overpowering.

"Awwf..." Luigi held his nose shut. "...something die down here?"

"Every other day." Toad was now far ahead of Luigi, having no annoying nose to speak of. Luigi noticed, taking a deep breath and grappling through the trees. Finally landing on the roots behind Toad, he took a deep breath - through his nose. He started to hack, beating on his chest a few times before finally getting his breathing back to a bearable level. He continued walking, almost completely tripping over Toad. "...wha? What's here?"

Toad stood in place, looking around. "...you hear that?"

"Helloooo?"

Luigi jumped in place. "Yipes... swamp ghosts!"

Toad stared at him blankly.

"...helloooo!"

"Hey!" Toad shouted. "Over here!"

"Wha?" Luigi glanced around again.

"Hello?" the voice was closer now. Now Toad could make it out more clearly - it was that of a young girl.

"Yeah, over here!" Toad waved his arm, hoping that it would be seen.

Luigi glanced over to an adjacent mound of dirt - a girl did, in fact, step out of the thick mist. She blinked as she moved into plain sight, flashing her bright blue eyes. She looked no older than 15, and wore a long, bright yellow blouse. She had shoulder-length brown hair, curled up slightly at its end - however, she still on the whole looked roughed up a fair bit. As Toad began to work his way towards her platform, Luigi followed.

She shook her head, stepping backwards as Toad landed near her. He glanced up at her, frowning. "...now what's a girl doing this far out into Halfwhy?"

"...Halfwhy..." she glanced around, obviously not as aware of her surroundings as either Luigi or Toad would have believed. "...Halfwhy?! Where am I? Wha.. how... where is everyone?" she gaped, slapping a hand on her forehead as she glanced around again. "...Tiiiidusss!! Waakkaaaaa!!" oblivious to the two she turned around, calling out to the swamp. She grit her teeth as she panned her vision again, throwing up her arms in defeat. "Where ARE those two? Where am I?!" she spun around again, finally taking notice of Luigi and Toad. Both blinked at her curiously. Spotting the mushroom retainer she leapt back from the alien-looking creature - stumbling and falling back. Once again Luigi yanked another person away from the viscous goop below.

"Calm down..." Luigi muttered. "...now... who's.. Teedus? And Wakka?"

She was already pacing around again. "...no, this isn't home, that's for sure... hey, I know, those little black guys must've just sent me somewhere, somehow..." she spun around to face the two again. "Hey, you don't happen to know where the Destiny Islands are from here, do you?" she waited, tapping her feet as Luigi and Toad stared dully at her.

"Destiny Islands?" Toad said.

She slumped down in defeat. "...wow... I must've been flung out far... what just HAPPENED back there, anyways?"

"What happened where?" Luigi asked.

The girl stared back up sadly at the pair. "...it's... a long story."


********


Troy and Mario slowed down, regaining their breath as they began to walk into the grove of decayed/decaying trees ahead of them. The sight was familiar to Troy - a Goomba nest, ironically, was enough of a breeding ground for every specie of fungi in the book that the very vitality of the land could be siphoned out in from underneath it. As was the usual grounds upon which nests were established, places that were ripe for the abusal. The rapidly dimming grass beneath them stopped, now replaced by a carpet of brown mold - decay still occuring, but the cover itself was harder than Mario would have first thought.

"I don't see a whole lot of nesting going on here." Mario pressed his foot down, hopping back in surprise as the lichen crunched beneath his weight.

"The nests are underground. The fungi up here just feeds nutrients to the chambers down below..." Troy looked around, holding himself up against a tree. "I'm surprised we haven't been chased out of here yet, to tell you the truth."

"What if something else scared THEM out?" Mario said firmly. He stood unfazed, watching as a Micro-goomba skittered around his leg. He blinked, looking down at it as it hunched up instinctively to his boot - trembling obviously more out of fear than anything else. Mumbling to himself he looked back up to see what the matter was. A long distance ahead, a large clearing stood - the shattered trees spread across the ground every which way, with a glowing green gap in the ground lying in the center. "...Troy."

"...let's check it out." Troy nodded, drawing forth his keyblade. "...you.. just wait here for a second, okay?"

"...eh? What, you think something's gonna come out of that hole and-"

"Nothing surprises me anymore." Troy set foot down the lane - stumbling back again as the crevice let out an ear-piercing screech. A massive column of light leapt up from the crater, its noise racking the air as the blindness left Troy's eyes. "...I stand corrected."

The shaft of energy slowly closed in on itself. Troy slowly began to make his way towards it, Mario following slowly. As Troy edged closer to the trench, the light eminating from deep within gradually began to dim, the light of actual day taking over. Troy took a solid step forward, placing himself at the edge. Crouching, and with Mario peering over his shoulder, Troy stuck his head over the edge. Down in the darkness, a tiny shred of green light could be seen, waning...

"I'm not liking this..." Mario quickly backpedaled. "...c'mon, I think we've seen all we needed..."

"...I second the motion." Troy said blankly.

He froze as a pair of beady red eyes stared back at him.

"CRIPES!!" Troy screeched as the ground beneath him exploded, sending him flying back a fair ways. Mario quickly moved over to him, dragging him back onto his feet. As Troy began to right himself, Mario quickly dusted himself off the best he could. "...WHAT.. was THAT?!"

Mario stared up into the air. The sun was virtually blocked out by a dark silouette. "Move."

Troy let out a half-yelp again as he and Mario leapt backwards, both landing roughly upon the fungus. The Micro-goomba let out a shriek as it darted away in a winding path. Mario threw his weight back onto his hands, and bounded back onto his feet. Troy was slowly pushing himself back to his feet as the sun faded again. He coughed, looking up.

Bowser was pretty much nothing to Troy now.

Standing in front of them, towering nearly as high as Bowser, was a massively-built man - sheeted from head to toe in jagged, almost ritually-crafted dark armor. His left hand, clenched in a raged fist, was contained in a great onyx gauntlet. His other arm was downright deformed - a crimson, cancer-like growth of muscle, it easily being a foot wide. At its end was an enormous claw. His knight visor shuffled with an unearthly clank as he shifted his head - it had a pair of batwing-like outshoots on the side shooting backwards, a dark red ponytail spilling out from behind that hung down by his legs... and a pair of fiery eyes piercing out from within.

Mario was far enough back to gape in an appropriate matter. Troy feet his legs become shaky as he slowly began to stumble back, the keyblade taking a little less precedance in his mind at the moment. "...I... uh... er... oh... eep."

The man slouched, letting his uneven arms fall to rest. He took no notice of Troy as he reached back, stretching. Afterwards he cracked his neck, and simply walked away. Troy's eyes uneasily followed him as he made his way over to a nearby tree, running his bulky claw across its surface. Troy gulped as he pulled the outer layer of bark he had scraped off with even that light a motion. He stood there for a moment, staring at his claw before relaxing it again. Slowly he craned his head to the sky, a low chuckle eventually escaping from within the armor.

Troy scratched the back of his head, taking a deep breath.

"My, my..." he growled, suddenly turning his glare to Troy. "...just what is this place, anyways? I never thought I'd end up in a hole like this... everything I've seen on my way in.. this world is just some kind of fairy tale... never seeing any of the darker side of life... here I am, looking down on a walking, talking turtle and his fashion-challenged comrade... mushroom people... no war, no battles, no tragedy... it is now I wonder... for what logical reason does this world have keyblades, if there are none who know their true power... their true potential?"

"And what would that be?" Troy frowned.

"Complete and utter universal domination, why, of course." he snarled. "Too many worlds are like yours, my friend... too shallow in your own existance to be my equal as a perpetual threat... at least that way you could know how to defend yourself. I came to this world to find more keyblades... and, if I'm not terribly mistaken..."

"W-wha?!" Troy felt his arm jerk, swinging up the keyblade in front of him.

The dark soldier shook his head. "Tsk... I don't know who in the hell put you in charge of a keyblade... you simple-minded fool... now, I will crush you... as I hope to crush all others in this world in the pursuit of power..."

Troy held on tight to the keyblade, its end beginning to bob as he mumbled. "...uh, Mario... do you think I can take him?..."

Mario blinked. "...uh.. well..."

"Hey, I took down Bowser, didn't I?"

"Bowser didn't have a greatsword."

Troy whirled around, wide-eyed.

"COME, SOUL EDGE!" The warrior leant onto his right leg, stancing himself as he cast his claw to the sky. A great void appeared above him, lowering the ethereal form of a massive triangular blade that was nearly his height. He threw his claw around its hilt, causing dark energy to flow into the weapon - quickly it began to take physical shape, the actual blade of the weapon a crudely-carved plank of metal held in place by a billowing pillar of deformed flesh. Above its hilt an eye pierced out, twitching wildly as the skin around it locked it into place. He threw his other hand up, grabbing tightly onto the Soul Edge as he spun, cleaving the air. "...I hunt for the keyblades... as much as I wield my own! Those fallen to me know me as Nightmare... as you will!!"

Troy stepped back, trying to hold back his pounding heart as he stared unto the demonic weapon. Quite ironically, it stared back. "...there's.. no way that's a keyblade.. right? I mean, I think it would need to be more.. uh... keyish..."

"Well, I suppose that confirms things," Nightmare said cooly. "...you really need to put that weapon of yours in the hands of someone with an IQ greater THAN 10!!"

"I take offense to that." Troy said dully. "What makes yours stronger than mine?... Mine will cut through your Vast just as easily." he raised the CHRONICLE, pointing it forward in its usual pose.

Mario glanced between the two as a long pause followed. Eventually, Nightmare's shoulders bucked. They did again. Eventually, he completely threw his head back, bellowing out a long, hard laugh. "...by the gods... you really think I've got Vast in me, don't you? Just because you aren't having your way with me? You've got a lot to learn if you think that people out there can't think such things on their own from time to time! I can't help but give you some regards... you, of all people, some little reptile I can and will crush beneath my foot, fighting in the name of all that is good?" Nightmare swung the massive SOUL EDGE forward, in very much the same posture as Troy. "...now, I agree you have the power. The power to remain still and accept oblivion."

"Righty-o." Troy skippped forward, quickly finding himself being held back by Mario.

"Are you CRAZY?" Mario grit his teeth, glaring at Nightmare again. "...this isn't Bowser! This is a LOT WORSE! This is Bowser with a keyblade, and in my opinion his looks a teensy bit more menacing than yours!"

"But in the end it's still a keyblade, right?" Troy shoved Mario away, smirking. "You heard what Sirius said... again, and again, and again... and again before we left... Keypers might possibly come to this world... but the keyblades are just getting warmed up, and I doubt Nightmare here's got a whole lot of playtime with his yet either."

Mario backed away, shaking his head. "I can't watch..."

"Any day now." Nightmare droned.

Troy swung his keyblade behind him, suddenly launching forward at Nightmare. He leapt, adding his other hand to the weapon as he lashed downwards at him. Troy grimaced as a loud clang ran out, Nightmare virtually suspending Troy in the air with the SOUL EDGE as it and the CHRONICLE hit.

"Ridiculous." Nightmare said softly. Troy was thrown back up into the air as another shock of dark energy shot through the blade. Troy numbed up nearly instantly as the energy tore through him, making him fall back down limply to the earth. Nightmare began to recharge, lunging forward and spinning - slamming his clenched, overcharged claw into him as he fell to his level. Troy rocketed off in a straight line, eventually hitting the ground and carving a long trench in the fungus. He stanced himself, holding up the massive blade once again and reeling back as it shot out a wave of energy wisps. They riddled the ground off in the distance, blasting the vegetation around Troy's position to pieces - there was no telling what was happening within.

Mario shivered, slowly turning back to Nightmare. Troy's state was unknown, but it was probably an unpleasant one. "...how.. what was that for?! He's not even a teenager for-"

"Even through all of my threats he was the first to attack. Can I defend myself?"

"YAAAH!!" in a flash, a battered Troy rushed at his side, lashing out with his blade - he leapt upwards, carving the blade clean through Nightmare's calves and up to his midsection - as soon as the airborne Troy realized that he hadn't actually cut anything, however, he lost his balance, causing him to land awkwardly on his heels. "WHAT?!"

"Well, I give you my regards. I'm not sure whether you evaded my attack or survived it, but the fact that you're back onto me isn't really important. What were you trying to do, anyways... probe me? You want to check my temperature or something?! You can't even HARM me physically because you're so goddamned intent on trying to destroy Vast with it at this moment!"

Troy growled, remembering back to Sirius' first speech - the CHRONICLE wouldn't be able to physically harm people or things unless he willed it to.. but how was he supposed to go about that?

"You can't stop me." Nightmare slowly walked up to Troy, causing him to stumble backwards and fall on his back. "I control my keyblade, and it does as I command. You're just some fool drug along on a leash by fate. If you are a Keyper against the Vast, then that is all you are good for... and you are just another pawn, waiting to be toppled by those who seek true enlightenment by the keyblades... and don't think a fireball to the back of my head is going to change things, you might as well be throwing lighted matches at me... I do wear armor for a reason, you know..."

Mario grumbled in defeat, dismissing the bright flame from his hand.

Troy winced as he rolled over, exposing the fractures running along the back of his shell.

"Well! I guess I did do something to you. But... now I believe it's time I did everything..." Nightmare growled, slowly lifting up the SOUL EDGE. Troy groped around for the CHRONICLE, but eventually found it knocked a short distance away from him. He stared back up at Nightmare, shielding his face as he leapt up, ready to bring the massive sword down on his head.

wt-tang

Nightmare didn't notice immediately but his weapon was now held in front of him, wobbling as it tried to force an unseen obstacle out of the way. Troy, noticing, rolled away, leaping back to his feet and getting back to a safe distance with the CHRONICLE in tow. He didn't notice what exactly had slowed Nightmare down before he and Mario checked back.

The SOUL EDGE was tied up with another sword - an enormous daikatana. Nightmare fought for control of his weapon, its oppressor coping with the force. He was tall, though not as high as Nightmare, and was wrapped in a large red, black-trimmed overcoat, with a series of belts holding it wrapped at the waist. One arm stuck out of its sleeve, the other sticking out from the loose center opening above the beltline, to which a large flask hung loosely. The large, baggy collar of the coat kept any facial features below his nose concealed. A pair of shades hung just below his dim eyes - his right was held shut, a large scar crossing it vertically. His head was covered on top by ragged, faded black hair.

"Sigfried, Sigfried." the swordsman sighed. "You really are getting no better."

"You..." Nightmare growled. He quickly drew his blade from the lock, spinning and performing a massive downwards cleave with his right hand. It was evaded easily, and Nightmare could only make another angered growl as he slashed back diagonally in his opponent's direction. This time the SOUL EDGE was deflected again by the other massive blade. "...allow me to make one thing clear... I am no longer Sigfried... I have surpassed that feeble name..."

"You really are a nightmare. But, really, I was figuring you would at least be a nightmare to someone your own size." This time it was him that escaped the grapple, gliding to the left and delivering a solid strike to Nightmare's right pauldron. He reeled back from the blow, blocking the ground in time with his weapon and springing back at the man. As the SOUL EDGE was raised it suddenly ignited, Nightmare letting out a roar as he smashed downwards, sending out a flaming shockwave. The warrior jammed his katana into the crowd, seeming to completely catapault off it as the tremor tore apart the ground beneath him. He swung his sword upwards, ready to bring it down on Nightmare - Nightmare quickly caught on, bringing the SOUL EDGE back in a wide swing that collided with his attacker. A flash of a blue barrier could be seen as the man in red tumbled to the ground in a flip, landing on one knee. He swung out his blade to one side as he locked eyes with Troy. "You! LEAVE! NOW!!"

"But-"

"Now! I don't know how long I can hold off Nightmare! Just get out of here! I'll try to meet up with you later... but for now it is your responsibility to protect your keyblade!"

Troy ground his teeth, fondling the keyblade as he glanced back at Mario. He had already taken off, and as well was calling out to Troy. "TROY! You heard 'im, he's standing up better to him than you, let's MOVE!"

Troy shot another worried glance back. "...well... thanks... but, I still didn't get your name..."

"Auron." he said gruffly. "Now, may we continue this discussion at another time?" he turned his focus back to Nightmare, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Troy was beginning his retreat. He watched the two carry themselves out of the grove, quickly disappearing down the hill as he himself locked eyes with Nightmare once more.

"Well... what a pity. It appears I'll just have to take YOUR keyblade instead." Nightmare slung the SOUL EDGE over his back, waving on Auron. "Well... it does seem a bit more powerful... then again, its owner has a brain... shall we?"

Auron glared at Nightmare, drawing his MURASAME once more.

Troy watched over his shoulder every step of his way.





********





Luigi trudged over the next hill, Toad behind him, and Selphie in tow further behind. Luigi was still a bit shaken, Toad was still thinking about what Selphie had said and was also planning a picnic if the weather was this great tomorrow, and Selphie was still a tad intrigued about all the metal boxes floating in the air everywhere. They had long left the marshes and the barren wastes that bordered it, and were now back in Mushroom Kingdom territory - nothing but rolling hills, sheeted in deep grass, clouds in the sky and not a tree in sight. The gates of Toad Town could be made out in the distance, easily a fifteen-minute walk.

"...so you're saying... that a hurricane and a bunch of black gooey little men tag-teamed your Destiny Islands... that sounds a little too convenient... we were just attacked by things perfectly matching that description... well, not word-for-word, but Bowser did happen to throw off a couple of 'em while we were busy fighting off his troops..."

"Is that the guy that you said attacked your kingdom...? Sounds like a mean guy... about as mean as the.. Vast, or whatever you call it..."

"Just wondering, Selphie or whatever... exactly how did the Vast destroy your island, anyways?"

"I don't know... it was late at night, I'd just gotten to bed after eating some Frosted Sugar Bombs cereal, and the moment I could fall asleep... BAM! A storm had just sprung out of nowhere... I crept towards the window and the first thing I saw... was this little imp just staring at me with hollow eyes... just creeped the heck out of me! But, a moment later, I could already see one of my friends out in the storm already! He was just running around all these little things, trying to beat them back with a dinky little wooden sword of his as he ran off... of course... I snuck out and followed him..."

By now both Luigi and Toad had stopped. "...what then?"

"I was lagging behind him a bit but I managed to get out onto the beach... what I saw only weirder yet! He was standing there... he ditched his sword for some kind of big key-thingy and the ground beneath him was getting torn apart! It was getting thrown into the sky, along with all the beach around it! I tried to run but the hurricane caught up to me and just tossed me into the sky!"

"A keyblade! Your friend's got a key-UUH!" Luigi felt himself getting twisted around by the half-pint Toad.

"A what?" Selphie was visibly confused, not that she wasn't before.

"Shut your TRAP!" Toad snapped. "She's messed up totally... she's far from home, she's lost her friends and the last thing we need to do is drag her into more trouble! If her friend's got a keyblade, good for him, right now we should be focusing on HELPING this girl, wherever she's from and whatever happened to her."

"But Sirius-"

"Sirius'll get the point. I'm sure of it." Toad quickly spun around, quickly regaining a wide smile.

"That's what I'm afraid of..." Luigi rubbed the side of his waist where Toad had dug into. "What happened then?"

Toad threw up his arms in defeat.

"...I don't know... the last thing I remember seeing is the same guy, stuck on one of the larger chunks of rock... right in front of him was another thing made out of that black stuff... but it was HUGE... it had its giant arms dug into the rock and everything... I hope he's alright..."

"What was his name?"

"Sora." Selphie nodded.

"That's just spiffy." Toad rubbed his hands together. "Now, miss, we understand the situation you're in... as you know, we've run into that same situation too... though we managed to fight them off. If you'd let us, we can get you a place to stay for the time being while we figure out this whole mess, and we'll do everything in our power to try to get you home. That alright?"

Selphie nodded fervently. "Yeah. Yeah! For complete strangers you guys aren't too bad..."

"I'm Toad." Toad ushered out his hand.

"Name's Luigi." as did Luigi.

"Selphie Tilmitt." she stuck out hers, twitching as she noticed both greetings. She brought both their hands together, slapping hers down on top. "Pleased to meetcha. I'm guessing this is your guys' abode?"

"We are representatives of the royal family of this kingdom... we were out in the Halfwhy Marshes for a... expedition. Yeah. Anyways, you can bet you'll get somewhere comfy to park yourself until we can figure out what's going on here, like we said..." Toad glanced over as Luigi's stare began to wander. Over the next hill Troy and Mario could be seen holding up a very dogged windsprint. "...well... looks like we've got company."

"...Troy looks a little beat up." Luigi mumbled. He stepped towards them as the two stumbled up to them. "...uh.. hey, what's up? What's the rush..."

Troy was bent over, wheezing as he barely managed to hold the CHRONICLE on his shoulder. "I'll TELL you what! We almost got creamed back there! We were at the site that Sirius pointed out to us, and this giant friggin' armored dude just came out of nowhere and threatened us for my keyblade! That's not the point... he was MASSIVE! And he had this huge gooey-looking sword-thing that... well..." Troy impatiently tried to charade the SOUL EDGE. "...but that's not the best part, he was telling us that it was a keyblade! Now, how that kind of thing could be a keyblade, I don't know, but-"

"He called himself Nightmare." Mario interjected. "...anyways, Troy was getting thrown around a bit, and-"

"You didn't do anything?" Luigi said dully.

"Flicking sparks at him wasn't really my best option at the time." Mario grumbled. "...this OTHER guy revealed himself, calling himself Auron, and he just laid into Nightmare... I don't know for sure but I think he was trying to defend us... he told us to get out of there, and, well, here we are... well, Troy tried to defend himself, but that didn't go really well... I think if he didn't have that shell of his he'd be in more than one piece instead of it."

"Speaking of which..." Troy rubbed the back of his plain green shell. "...anyone got any superglue?"

"He's got a key just like him!" Selphie hopped up in down in place. Toad and Luigi tried their hardest to ignore her.

"It's a long story... anyways, I didn't find any keyblade... except Nightmare's, if you want to get technical about it... I guess we'd better be heading in now..."

Everyone heaved a sigh, heading towards the gates down below. As Troy fell to the back of the group, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder to notice Selphie. "...uh.. hey... I guess I didn't properly introduce myself... I'm Troy, and yes, you're talking to a walking sentient turtle... if you're comfortable with that I'd be surprised... it seems people that come from other worlds seem to be uncomfortable with that..."

"...other worlds?" Selphie tensed up. "...what's that supposed to mean..."

"...nothing.. I've... just had some run-ins with the interstellar types lately... sorry if I made an assumption there..."

Selphie blinked. "...right... anyways, I was just wondering something..." the two both started walking again, entering the wide-open gates of the city once more. Troy felt a great weight shift off his shoulders as he set foot down on the familiar cobblestone. "...I was wondering where you got that keyblade from."

"You know, huh." Troy sighed.

"Not really... that... big... green guy, what's his name..."

"Luigi."

"Yeah. But you could tell he was holding something back there. A friend of mine... oh, you weren't around, were you... anyways, I'm guessing what these guys call the Vast attacked the island where I lived and flung me out somewhere... somewhere being here... anyways, one of my friends, the last I saw of him was when he was holding a big key thing sorta like yours."

Troy cringed. Her otherworldly origins weren't so hard to doubt now - still, he kept his mouth shut. "...well.. I found it in a big pile of debris underground, to tell you the truth... that was before I met up with Sirius, and ever since he's been guiding us in ways to stop the Vast from greatly affecting this wor.. place. Seems these things are the only weapons that can fight it properly, or so I hear..."

"Then I guess Sora's in good hands then." Selphie sighed.

"Sora?" Troy mumbled.

"...yeah, that's him. I guess a way to translate it would be that he was fighting the Vast when I last saw him..."

Troy stared back at the ground. "Well, I guess we're not alone then. I'll have to be trying my best too..."

"You fight the Vast a lot?"

"Not really. But we've only really seen the beginning. Sirius likes to say that a lot."

"Who's Sirius, anyways?"

"...oh, he came from.. a long ways away to warn us about the Vast... he helped me find my keyblade and set us all on our feet. This kingdom here's started to set its resources into motion to help us out, so things can only really go uphill from here. If you want to know more, you can always ask Sirius. He knows everything about the Vast and stuff."

Troy and Selphie were a distance away from the remainder of the group at this point. Mario could easily be heard up front, falling with a thud to the street. "...ow! What the..."

Troy blinked. With a pitter of rapid stepping, a little man had settled in front of him, glancing this way and that before noticing Troy standing in front of him. Troy wasn't sure what to be confused about - that he looked outright freakish or that he was even shorter than his 4'7". A bright red robe several dozen sizes too big housed a green little man, glaring at the two through his huge swirly glasses.

"Finkrats like yourselves will stop from being the pylons in my road! Move now with speed unless you will be moved with the force of a city bus times ten thousand!"

Before Troy could decide what really was the plural noun of bus, he was promptly plowed into by the midget, sending him sprawling backwards across the cobblestone as the culprit escaped off into the distance. Troy painfully pushed himself up, feeling the shell beneath him buckle. "...I think that's the last nail in the coffin." he and Selphie quickly made their way over to the rest of the group, which had just helped Mario onto his feet.

"...who was that?" Selphie asked.

"Whoever he is, he don't look like a regular." Toad said. The group turned around to find Peach stumbling towards them, letting out loud wheezes. "...eh.. princess, should you be out of the castle right now... dressed like that?"

"That little freak just walked right into the castle and tried to take the keyblade!" she breathed, straightening up. "...lucky SOMEONE was around to watch it!" she held up the device, waving it around for a bit before letting it rest at her side again.

"Another one?" Selphie murmred.

"It's a long story." Troy glanced at her, and back to the crowd. "...uh.. well, what about Sirius? Isn't he around?"

"That idiot is out exploring, excavating, expeditioning, whatever he likes to call it... he said that he was going to try to pinpoint more keyblades or something. Is that all he's got in his head, keyblade keyblade keyblade? I mean, it's not like I don't want to find out more about them too, but he just can't be controlled. I imagine he'd be back soon... I think... hey, did you guys manage to find anymore? And who's your friend here?"

"We found this girl lost in the marsh, around where a green... thing hit the ground." Toad sighed. "We're getting the assumption she's a long ways from home, so would it be alright if we let her hang around for a bit? You know... until we.. find out what all these people are doing getting flung across our world."

"I'm not the only one?"

"I'm one." Luigi slurred, sticking up his hand.

"I'm not being told something here." Selphie ground her fists into her sides. Everyone looked at each other. "...alright, Troy, you were going to say that I was thrown to another world, right?"

"Well, I-"

"DING DING! 200 POINTS FOR SELPHIE!" Selphie half-laughed, half-pouted. She made her way off the ground, dropping against the grass off the main road. "...something was a little wrong when I found out that I was found by a man and his little mushroom buddy! There's no WAY I could be anywhere the Destiny Islands now! And from you guys talking about the Vasp or whatever every other minute I think you know what's going on here! Did I hit my head? Am I dreaming? Or did I really get roughed up and thrown into another universe?"

"I was hoping you people would keep your mouths shut." Troy spun around, spotting Sirius as he entered between the city gates. "...can I not leave you people for one minute without you YELLING at everyone about the Vast?!"

"Sorry." Troy sighed.

Selphie stuck out her hand. "You must be Sirius... hi, I'm Selphie Tilm-"

Sirius marched straight by, heading in the direction of the castle. Selphie's face twitched as she watched him walk off down the street. Sirius paused, glancing over his broad shoulder. "...all of you... we're meeting back in the castle. And.. Selphie... Tilmitt, sorry, I've had a bit of a rough day." everyone continued to watch as he slowly continued on his way.

"...tough..." Selphie grimaced. "...is he always like that?"

"Yeah." Peach muttered.

"He's just a bit uptight about this entire Vast thing... once you get to know him he's not so bad." Troy continued to stare off in Sirius' direction. "...still, I wonder what've happened out there to put him in that kind of mood..."

"...well... anyways," Peach sighed. "We'd better get inside... it's been a long day and the retainers and servants have already begun mixing up some supper for us..." she suddenly noticed Toad's glare. "...okay, DINNER. Why do we have to be so formal about these things? We've got bigger things to be worrying about at the moment than freaking formality..."

"Let's get some eats." Troy marched off, leading the crowd.



********



Supper was served in the same hall in which Bowser and the regal figures of the Mushroom Kingdom met, this time lit not by candlelight but a brilliant sunset visible through the ornate glass windows that took up most of the walls on either side of the chamber. The food being served was certainly better than what had been served to the king of the Koopas during his summit with the Dynasty, which sort of irked Troy. As everyone did during their previous meals, they continued to ignore Troy as he ate, making a stained warzone out of the tablecloth in front of him. An hour passed, and everyone found themselves listening to the head of the table as they did every evening.

"...I'm under the assumption at this point the key hunt isn't going too well..." Peach murmured.

"We did find things... well, not keyblades, as you might've noticed." Luigi and the others all glared at Selphie, who let out a weak laugh.

"I found one, alright.. except I was having the crap beaten out of me with it." Troy sighed.

"Tell me, Troy..." Sirius continued to stare down at the table. "What did this Keyper look like? And you said that another intervened and helped you escape... could you explain this all to me?"

Troy grumbled as he stood up, explaining again to the group about his encounter with Nightmare and Auron. As he finished, he planted his hands on the table, sitting back down. Sirius looked particularly intrigued.

"Tough guys, yeah..." Mario scratched the back of his head. "...the big one was way out of Troy's league... he's lucky that Auron showed up when he did to save us, otherwise we'd be mincemeat from that giant blade of his..."

"What did I just TELL you guys?" Troy glared at Mario. "I told you, I was about to deliver the finishing blow, and then he just countered like WHAM! And he sends me flying! Some cheap blow that was!" he sat back, his arms folded as he looked through the group.

"That's not what you told us." Toad smirked.

"I don't tell people a lot of things." Troy shot back.

"If you got out of there without so much as a scratch, what's that then?" Sirius pointed to the hairline fracture on Troy's shell.

"What's what?"

Wooster, sitting next to Troy, rubbed his chin as he examined the damage. Humming, he pressed on it with his finger. Everyone went deadpan as Troy's shell let out a deafening crack, suddenly crumbling apart into several large chunks and leaving him in nothing but his boxers. Troy stood up to speak, quickly realizing the error of that action as he sweatdropped. "I can explain."

"I hate to break up your discussion here," the king tugged at his collar. "...but I believe we have an updated status on our oil deal."

Two retainers took up trumpets, playing an agonizingly bad entree as a Shyguy rushed into the room, carrying an envelope the size of him under his arm. He quickly darted up to the table, tearing it apart and holding up the telegram. He began to read it out, his voice muffled by his huge mask. "...From Bowser of the Dark Land kingdom of the Koopas STOP. The Koopa kingdom sends out this message in hopes that STOP the Mushroom Kingdom's officials will receive this in time STOP. We regret to inform you that we have lost control of our oil STOP facility to attacking foriegners. Nationality unknown. Reports have STOP identified them as the Vast specimen. We request STOP immediate assistance in stopping these aggressors from halting our oil STOP processing. Expanding on 99th brigade member Troy Kiemen's success in routing the STOP epidemic earlier, we recommend he be placed on our liberation team, that is, STOP, if you still want your oil STOP. Signed, STOP, King Bowser Koopa, STOP."

"Brilliant. Just brilliant." Toadsworth buried his head in his hands.

"Troy, you know what you must do." Sirius folded his hands.

"...yeah." Troy nodded. "...still, Bowser suggesting me of all people to lead the charge? That's some kind of honor..."

"What is that, anyways?" Peach muttered, folding her arms. "He just wants Troy? What about the rest of us? What's there to say we can't do a thing?"

"Because you can't. That is all." Sirius responded. "...anyone fighting the Vast directly without a keyblade is just fodder. In its presence... if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

"What if I had a keyblade?"

"Are you still convinced that your keyblade is actually yours? For all you know it could belong to someone millions of lightyears away in the universe, and he/she's on his/her way to pick it up as we speak. Don't assume because it happened to be sitting in your basement it truly belongs to you."

"But I know.. it has to! I've waited so long to discover other worlds, to explore, and as long as this keyblade remains as an active link to those places I'll believe in it! And even if this isn't mine, I'll FIND a keyblade out there somewhere, I'm sure of it! If I can't find it myself, if you guys can't, then I'll have to broaden my search... and get a few more helping hands. I bet Daisy'd be more than happy to help me look for mine if it meant that she could come along too!"

"Daisy?" Mario asked.

"...the Mushroom Dynasty is connected to a slew of smaller ones." Toad explained. "...Peach's sister helps in the running of the desert kingdom of Sarasaland. It's way far south, on a continent south of the Koopahari desert... some people like to think of it as an island extension of the Koopahari desert, though they themselves prefer not to call it that. It's divided up into four provinces; Birabuto, the main desert/wasteland sector of the continent, Muda, the outer islands, Easton, a mountainous region east of the main cities, and Chai, the ring of plateaus that finish surrounding them. All in all, they're close to Land's End as well."

"And you know all this?" Luigi said. "...you've got good relations going on with 'em, eh?"

"They're our primary trading partner... we get glass materials and lumbers from them mostly... and, yeah, I need a new hobby."

"Even if this were your keyblade," Sirius growled. "You have NO training with it... what makes you think you could stand up to the Vast on your own?!"

Peach frowned, drawing the new keyblade from under the table where it laid. She braced it against the back of her neck, resting her arms over both ends. "...and what about Troy? I mean, I think he's great with the thing and all, but he didn't have any training with it, or any weapon for that matter! I hate having to keep say it.. but I'm a princess, that doesn't make me defenseless. If Troy's heading out tomorrow to the Koopahari desert tomorrow, then I'm going with him. And I'm taking the keyblade with me."

The king was at a loss of words. Sirius quickly filled in. "...common last words."

"Even if I turn out useless, Troy'll keep an eye on me. Right?"

Troy glanced through the group, eventually locking eyes with Peach. He nodded fervently, turning a beet red. "...er-yeah!" Selphie rolled her eyes.

"Question..." Mario rested his head on one hand, sticking up his other. "...you KNEW we could have run into Keypers? Then why did you send Weegi, Toad and me out if you knew we'd be defenseless? It's starting to sound like you're more concerned about the keyblades than us!"


--------
What if I am?
--------


"...my apologies." Sirius nodded. "...it's just... getting a lead on the keyblades was an urgent matter... as you've seen, people have started to come into our world... at an alarming rate. It's imperative that we secure as many as we can before their hosts arrive... it's not known if any of them have dark intentions.. but in Nightmare's case, it is very much possible. Troy and... Peach are heading out to the Koopahari desert tomorrow. In the meanwhile, the rest of us will continue our search. That is all. Now if you'll excuse me.. I have some reading to catch up on." everyone watched Sirius as he stood, shoving his chair in.

As he strode away, Peach noticed him giving him a cold stare. She turned back to the table, waiting for the door to click shut before scowling. "...what is UP with him..."

"I'm more concerned what's up with YOU." the king said sternly. "...why are you so convinced that you yourself have a keyblade now? I agree with Sirius to some extent, you can't just rush out there blindly swinging that thing around. This is a matter for Troy, we've confirmed he has his rightful keyblade. Please, Toadstool, just calm down for now..."

"...why is it.. that whenever you say something..." Peach sulked. "...you make it sound so right?... I guess.. I need to cool down for a bit, if I ever get a keyblade I can't expect it to be right away... well, whatever..."

"That's better." the monarch nodded, turning to Troy. "...anyways, speaking of Bowser, I appear to have a special delivery for you out front."



********



Troy gaped, slapping his forehead. "...CRAP!"

"Crap what?" the king asked.

"I forgot all about the kart tourney! CRAP CRAP CRAP!!" Troy beat his head against the outside wall of the fort, before the king drug him back and turned him to face the courtyard. Sitting at the bottom of the steps was a small go-kart, sheeted in glossy, cherry-red paint. It puttered as it sat in neutral, Iggy Koopa sitting in the seat.

"Well, dad says that if you're gonna be away from Last Chance Ramparts, you might as well take your stuff with you." he nodded, his bushy, prism-colored hair bobbing in pursuit. "...you got a spiffy ride here, it worked great in the tourney!"

Troy twitched. "..you...?"

"...took home the gold! Dad'll be so proud..." Iggy dug out the large gold-plated trophy out of nowhere, rubbing it affectionately. "...and it's all because of all your customizations on this beauty!"

Iggy could be seen flying off into the horizon a moment later, disappearing with a twinkle. Troy huffed and wheezed as he brought the CHRONICLE down from its home-run swing. Sighing he walked up to the machine, rubbing one of the metal shafts that made up the frame of the kart. "...there you go, baby, no more scary people sitting in you..." his eyes floated to the back, where a large crate sat on the back supports of the cart. "...huh?" slowly he wrapped his arms around it, lowering it to the ground. He glanced back to the king, nodding before prying the top off with the keyblade.




--------

Hey. Nice work back there. I didn't want to make a big fuss over you, you know, make my own reputation go to waste and everything. If it didn't sound like it before, you're always welcome at Last Chance Rampart. Think about coming back sometime, eh? I hope those guys over at the Mushroom Kingdom aren't working you too hard... you know firsthand they drive a hard bargain against anything even I suggest! Some big dopes running the place... but money's money... either way, give the koopas something to be proud of, you know, you gotta be the biggest ambassadoass.. or something, that we've got over there, so keep on truckin'...

Some of the troops insisted this was yours... ain't right to take someone else's gear for granted, I'm not sure if the brats can get that through their thick skulls but this should be arriving at the Kingdom palace soon in Iggy's care. Whatever...

Anyways, I thought this would match the kart, so, hey, I threw it in... take good care of it.

-Lord Bowser

--------



Troy tucked the note back in the box, tossing away the styrofoam layer inside. He blinked, hoisting out a bright, shining red shell - with not scales, but sealed, tempered hexagonal plates sheeting the back. Troy recognized it on sight - it was a heavy-class soldier shell. "...uh... wow?" his grin spread a mile wide as he held it above his head, quickly shimmying into it and letting it fall into place. He pounded on its front with his fist, receiving a satisfying clunk in response - his new armor was greatly denser than his generic, used carapace, bought on limited coinage prior to his service at Last Chance Rampart. He locked it into place, striding forward and leaping into the kart. "...uh, hey, do you mind if I park this out back?"

"...uh.. sure?"

Troy nodded, revving the engine. The kart suddenly took off, speeding around the other side of the fort.

Wooster walked out, raising an eyebrow. "...is that not the direction of the royal gardens?"

The king sighed. "Oh dear."



********



Selphie keeled over, wheezing as she crested the last flight of stairs. She grabbed onto the banister, pulling herself up again - why Sirius would want to make residence in the castle's observatory, a respectable distance from solid ground, she'd probably never understand. What she did comprehend, however, was the means of getting up there - one twenty-minute-long stair climb. She slumped over to the large wooden door, ready to deliver a solid pound to it - but stopped, leaning up against the stone wall. "...hm.. how am I going to introduce myself... I wouldn't want to barge in on if he's doing something important."

She jumped as a voice called out from within. "Yes?"

"..oh, uh, er, well... uh, yeah, this is Selphie! I just wanted to talk to you for a moment..."

Selphie waited for a moment. Eventually a response came in the same dull tone. "...come in." she reached over, slowly opening the door, thus prolonging the agonizing creak it made in the process. Selphie leapt in, quickly slamming the door shut. Sirius was, as usual, hunched over his desk, an enormous stack of books blocking out most of the moonlight.

She folded her hands behind her head as she walked up. "...how do you READ like this?" she reached over, taking one of the towers of books and setting it on the ground. Almost immediately the room started to fill with cool blue light.

"I'm still not used to light." Sirius replied. "...I want to apologize again for earl-"

"Alright, alright." Selphie sighed. "Yeah, I know I can get a bit annoying."

Sirius blinked. "...well.. yes. Anyways, what did you come all the way up here for?"

"You heard what Luigi and Toad were talking about earlier, how they found me in that swamp and everything. Well... the truth is, I really don't belong here... if everything that's been happening lately is true and what I heard about the Vast is right and everything, well... what I'm trying to say is.. I don't know where I am. Sorry, I don't make a whole lot of sense..."

"You just appeared in this world, correct? And you have previously encountered the Vast?"

"See, I don't know, I was just hoping I could come up here and talk to the great sage Sirius and everything would be all fine and dandy and I'd know perfectly what happened to my world, and..." she could see Sirius' eyes becoming clearer as he swiveled in his chair to face her. "...did... I say something wrong?"

Sirius bowed his head, letting it sway. "...those fools.. I don't think they will ever understand the danger their world is in... like they can just prance in the streets and announce that their world is under attack for all of the world to hear... as you might imagine, the Vast is a very dangerous thing. Still, I do not know if this applies to you. Please, tell me everything that happened prior to your arrival at the Halfwhy Marshes."

Another half-hour passed as Selphie spent the next half-hour relaying everything that had happened to her to Sirius. She kept switching position, never finding any stance in the cramped study comfortable for more than two minutes - by the end of her speech it had turned into a half-charade. Still, Sirius watched intently, absorbing everything Selphie said. Eventually Selphie collapsed in the recliner opposite of him, staring at him with tired eyes. "...and, well.. that's it. I just woke up here, in this world, and I have no idea how I actually got here, or how I would get back home."

Sirius frowned. "...could you explain to me what these little... imps.. looked like?"

"The Vast took on a different form... it just looked like a bunch of little guys running around, none of them hurt me or bothered to attack me, they just tried to SWARM... by the time I'd caught up with Sora the beach was pretty much a sea of this black stuff..."

Sirius flinched. "...black?"

"...yeah, black."

"...are you sure it wasn't purple?"

Selphie shook her head. "Black. I remember it as clear as day. Blacker than black. Than black."

Sirius leant back in his chair. "...well, then I find that most peculiar. While your situation does sound like many encounters with Vast I've had in the past, there's enough discrepancy in your explanation for me to be unable to confirm whether or not you were dealing with Vast. Are you telling the truth?"

"Do I have a reason not to?"

"...anyways... I guess we can leave that argument until later... now, onto the details of you losing contact with your world, you watched a friend of yours combat this blackness before being raised into the sky... and you were deposited in a vortex. Am I correct?"

Selphie nodded. "Yeah."

Sirius folded his hands. "...alright. Do not be alarmed by what I tell you. You witnessed first hand the usual symptoms of a world being destroyed. Likely, either under the attack by this darkness or by sheer circumstance, the dimensional fabric holding your world apart was torn asunder. However, you have experienced what I like to call the assured destruction failsafe, and that is what had attempted to draw people into the vortex as well - that is what cast you off to this world, saving you from instant death. Likewise, many of the people you know would have likely been thrown into the void as well. Parents, friends, everyone you know is scattered amongst the worlds. If what you say is true and your friend Sora obtained a keyblade, I can definately guarantee that everyone is alright."

"...so..." Selphie slouched back in the chair. "...that takes a load off my shoulders and everything... but.. Sirius, if everyone is completely spread across the cosmos and everything, will I... see them? Again?"

"Of course. As keyblades are drawn to each other, hearts follow suit. And if you don't currently have one.. another will be your guiding light."

"So, I can just visit other worlds and try to find them! Right?" Selphie jumped up, fists clenched.

Sirius stared sadly at Selphie, eventually heaving a sigh. "...alright, getting between worlds isn't terribly complicated... but as it stands, I'm in no position to help you... it is my primary concern to make sure that this world continues to contain the Vast. Selphie, this is the farthest I've come in purifying a world, and I don't want to waste that chance. I'm sorry if I sound selfish, but I'm doing this for the better of this world..." he glanced back up, staring into Selphie's dull eyes. Turning away again he breathed out a groan. "...we'll leave this world soon enough. But right now we have the Vast to take care of, alright? Just... for the time being, try to live the best you can in the Mushroom Kingdom, okay? We'll have things cleaned up here soon enough..."

Selphie frowned for a moment, before suddenly transforming back into her usual self. "...'kay, I can do that! I'm sure I'll have enough fun with you guys until I get ready to head out into the multiverse or whatnot... well, I guess I'd be best hitting the sack, I'll see you and the guys tomorrow, alright?"

Sirius waved weakly as he watched Selphie skip back out the door, slamming it tight behind her. He could only watch that door, closing, closing, before it finally shut - just as his dreams upon other worlds had earlier. Turning back to the desk, he stared out through the gap exposing the window that Selphie had created.

He stared out over the rapidly dimming skyline of Toad Town. All at once it saddened him. "...contain the Vast... what could possibly contain the Vast... how much longer do I have before its true wrath visits this world... how could it not pass up a chance like this..."

He glanced up at the sky, watching as more green bolts of energy cascaded down to the horizon. "...this world... is too perfect.. too easy to corrupt... and soon, more will exert their influence on this fragile balance..."



"Troy, Peach... I hope for the Star Road's sake you know what you're doing..."




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TO BE CONTINUED

NSX: Ntropy
Chapter 4 - Black Gold, Black Day