Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ NSX ❯ Blacker ( Chapter 4 )

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

Rain continued to pound at the ground along the barren plateau, even in the middle of the night. Large pools of water had already formed deep within the basin, threatening to engulf whatever small amount of wildlife remained at the site. It was a stark contrast to the rising sun that usually baked the rock and dirt dry. Still, as the rain ever so unconsciously mentioned, things still lived there. Whether they were prosperous was another matter altogether. A pair of small feet hit the dirt one after another, working up a steep hill and down, navigating the nearly impossible terrain.

"...drat.. DRAT!" Fawful bunched up his bright red cloak, making sure none of the big splashes he created soaked him any more than they needed to. "What timeframe for dire things to occur to such planned happenings! Trouble will happen definately!"

He darted around another rock, speeding up as his destination appeared. Dug deep into the side of a rock mound was a large, metal-plated bunker. However, entrances were also visible at various other spots around the large cliff - the compound was much bigger than anyone would have figured looking at it. He zipped up to the door, pounding on it with one fist. "I SAY OPEN!" On cue the heavy iron door zipped upwards with a loud grind, allowing him entrance. While the corridor that he darted down was bunker-like in apperance, with various stores of food and weaponry in subcompartments, he soon found himself at a large, suede-covered door. He coughed, pushing it open.

A group of shadows were seated at a table in the middle of the lounge, playing cards. Everyone froze as they stared at Fawful. All at once the chairs slid back, but only the person at the table's helm stood - a hulking, built frame. "...well... how did it go?"

"Unsatisfactory to the greatest extent! I have set my retinas of my eyes on the CHRONICLE Keyper! I have belief that associated finkrats and he defend it with high vigor and force, and the royal family helps in with such complicated problems!"

The headmaster glanced through the group. "...so it is in Toad Town then."

"Was when I last appeared such in the place of the royalty, yes."

"Forget that for now." another figure stood, wrapped in a flowing coat. An outline of wispy hair was visible around his head. "...did you get the other keyblade?"

"No luck such. Stubborn people of stupidity fended me off with grace."

He fell back in his chair, grumbling to himself. The leader glared at him before turning back to Fawful. "...no matter. We have the whereabouts of CHRONICLE... that is really all we need for the time being. And... seeing as how it's confirmed that the weapon lies in the hands of a resident of this world, we have a better idea of what to expect from the Keyper in question."

"But what about the other keyblade?" the coated man hissed.

"We'll GET the other keyblades in due time. Right now the CHRONICLE is our target. It is more powerful than the others in ways that only I can comprehend. So just SIT your ass down and wait, you'll get one to rape and pillage with soon enough." he turned back to Fawful. "Anyways, excellent work. Now, we must focus on what the Keyper intends to do with the keyblade, and possibly head him off. It has been destroying the darkness, so we call it... so, the person who holds it is indeed using it for pure purposes. Which makes it that much easier to track him..."

A slender woman leant forward, noisily chewing gum. "And, like, what do you mean by that?"

"The darkness will come to him, or he will come to the darkness. And thanks to our friend's sentry drones..." he gestured to a large, round boy across the table. "...we have pinpointed a particularly large growth of it in the Koopahari desert region closest to the Dark Lands. As I understand it a local regime frequents the area to extract raw sludge oil from it. I'm not sure why exactly it's heading there, but I know for a fact it's too big for any half-witted Keyper NOT to notice."

"So..." the fat boy laughed. "...what's the game plan?"

"We cannot be sure of the Keyper's power yet. One of you will patrol the Koopahari oilsands should this Keyper come to investigate. We will attack and capture the CHRONICLE by all means necessary. The rest of you will stay here for the time being - there's no telling when another outbreak will occur, and you may be needed there. You..." he pointed at the coated man. "...will go to the oilsands. The rest of us will remain here, to deploy to another outbreak should one occur. I and those not on duty here will guard the keyblade we have."

Everyone nodded, leaving the table and dashing into the recesses of the fortress to return to their previous duties, or in the case of the draped man, prepare for his shift outside. The hulking shadow sat back down, folding his arms as another sleek, slim man stepped out from the darkness. His skin was pale, and even with the lack of light, it was noticably a purple shade. His eyes were blindfolded with a black bandana, but he still moved with grace as he advanced. "...and.. what about me?"

"Remain here. I will help you find who you are looking for... but at the moment we have more pressing matters to attend to. Have patience."

He let out a low snarl, slinking back into the darkness. He glanced over his shoulder. "...about your tone... let it be known that you are not yet my master."

The leader stared back solemnly as the shadows blended back around the man.




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NSX

Chapter 4: Blacker


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"Hm, hm, hm-hm hm hm, hm-hm hm hm HM hm, hm..."

The palace corridors were sheeted with a pale shade of blue, eerie light floating in through the windows as Peach trudged by carrying a large sack over her shoulder - and the loose keyblade in her free hand. Slowing down she glanced down at her watch. In her regal life she couldn't remember ever being up at 3 in the morning - rulers need their rest, early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, she'd been bombarded by comments in the same vein as long as she could remember. She could only help but think, though, how much longer that would go on with the steps she was beginning to take. She rounded the next corner, slowly opening the cage-like doors that led back out into the courtyards.

Already she could hear the familiar putter of a low-cc engine in the distance, and picked up her pace. She was ready to exit the grounds through the hedges ahead before noticing Luigi slumped down against the side of the fountain. She sighed, walking up to him. "Sorry."

"Sorry what?" Luigi glanced up, visibly surprised to see the princess - or, moreso the princess ready to bash his head in with the sack's contents. He shrieked as he rolled out of the way, the bag hitting the rim of the fountain with a dull clunk. "...ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"I can't have anyone notifying the officials of my trip..." Peach said flatly.

"Hey, hey, that's none of my business, whatever's not my responsibility, I stay out of, right? Never figured you were gonna sit tight while Troy and company were all running around the Kingdom. But that's besides the point."

"Then... why ARE you out here, exactly?"

"Can't I just sit somewhere and THINK once in a while?" Luigi grumbled, parking himself back on the fountain. He rested his chin on his palms, sighing.

"And what would you be thinking about at this time of night?"

Luigi slumped forward, sighing again. Shaking his head he glanced back up at Peach. "...I'm worried, princess. Everything that's been going on lately, people getting flung every which way across the multiverse, random people with keyblades running amok around here... Mario's not that concerned about it... well, that's him for you... he's the one with the namesake to live up to... there's not much that can discourage him, really. I... on the other hand... just look around you. While he's out fighting the good fight in his scout duty, what do I have on my mind? This entire dimensional travel thing seems more random every time I think about it. Don't get me wrong, I think you guys are all fine, but... how are we going to get home?"

Peach nodded. "You'll find a way, I'm sure of it."

"Leave it to Mario," Luigi stood up, dusting himself off. "...how am I supposed to find a way? I'm telling you... everything's been turned upside down by these cross-dimension expeditions that everyone's running off on. Bro'll pull some miracle out of his hat... but, I'm... I'm just confused."

Peach seated herself, smirking as she leant forward. "Inferiority complex?"

"You could call it that." Luigi sulked.

Peach sighed, facing back forward before regaining her smile. "...why don't you come with us?"

"...with who?" Luigi suddenly glanced back.

"Troy and I. We're heading out to the Koopahari oilsands to check out that disturbance at the Koopa sludge plant. We could always use a hand, and best of all..." she waved her arm in a disappearing-act manner. "...no Mario."

Luigi stammered. "...y-you sure? Isn't Sirius a bit ornery about that still?..."

"We're still the authority in the Mushroom Kingdom... don't let him get to you... I know he's got wisdom about the Vast, but... I still get a weird vibe from him. Kind of like he's actually too experienced for his own good..."

"That doesn't mean I want to mess with him."

"Just come with us, you dork."

Luigi paused for a moment, eventually throwing up his arms in defeat. "Fine, fine. How long is this trip gonna last? I'm not going to be up to my eyeballs in Vast or interdimensional invaders, am I? How are we even getting there?"

"Troy's giving me a ride. I don't think he has any more room, but I bet Toad would be willing to lend his out for a bit." Peach walked across the small yard, Luigi following at a reasonable distance. As they reached the end and walked through the small archway that cut through the thick hedge wall, they came upon a wide, paved path that wound around the castle's wall, eventually leading up to the main doors of the palace a distance away. The road twisted again afterwards, leading out of the castle grounds. No sooner did the two set foot on the road, Troy's bright red kart rolled up, a small sidecar latched onto the side. Peach nodded, smiling. "Well, Troy, you ready?"

Troy's head slowly twisted to the side, showing a pair of tired eyes. "...uhh.. yeah. I just... took a minute to get the sidecar set up... that's all... say, why do we gotta leave so early anyways...? Oh... Sirius, right..." he rubbed the back of his shell as Luigi examined the sidecar.

"Duct tape?" Luigi said flatly, poking at the struts supporting it.

"..I-it'll hold, I'm sure..." Peach shoved him out of the way. "...uh, Troy, are you sure you should be driving like that? Maybe I should..."

"You drive?" Luigi asked. Peach glared at him. "...right, I know better than to talk about a woman's driving.. uh, I mean..."

"Forget it. Troy, you take the sidecar, I'll take the wheel." Troy's hand was already raising the CHRONICLE jutting out next to his seat, but he collapsed halfway through, quickly beginning to snore. Peach sighed, lifting Troy out of the driver's seat and tossing him into the sidecar. She wrapped her hands around the wheel, glancing back at Luigi. "Oh... Luigi. I almost forgot."

Peach put the vehicle into reverse, backing into a sideroad and bashing the back end of the kart into the sliding door of a small shack. With a loud rattle the door flew upwards and back, exposing Toad as he vigorously rubbed at a blue-framed kart similar to Troy's. He glanced up, reeling back as he noticed the three. "..AIIEE! P-Princess?!"

"I hereby demand as a member of the royal family of the Mushroom Kingdom that you give up your kart for Luigi." Peach quickly blurted out, glancing over her shoulder.

"You've never been good at those regal commands." Toad remarked. "...but... do you gotta take it? I was just about done fixing up the scrapes I got from the Dark Land tourney, too... okay, you're going to be the only person that's gonna hear that I was out there to begin with, alright? I had to miss two days of work, just to get the bronze..."

"I'm guessing THAT was your two-day cold? Well.. okay, I'll keep my mouth shut if you lend us your kart for the time being. We just need one more ride to the Koopahari oilsands."

"I never figured you'd listen to Sirius. Well, a regal command's a regal command... 'kay, Luigi, for future reference, if I find a scrape on this in a day or whenever you people are done with the investigation, I own your soul. Have a nice day." Toad pressed himself off the cool blue frame, darting around to the rear of the kart and pushing it out onto the pavement. Luigi grabbed the back of the seat, taking it from Toad's control. He stared at it for a moment, blinking before turning back to Peach.

"Well?" Peach revved the engine. "...let's roll."

Luigi climbed into the small kart (hunching up a bit as it was obviously small for him), and twisted the ignition. As the red kart ahead of him slowly began to roll away, Luigi pressed down on the gas, keeping close behind. For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to move up alongside the princess. "...calm down... this is just a little buisness outing, that's all... if anything happens Troy can take of it."

He found himself sighing as he rolled out of the castle gates. The lack of a nearby Mario didn't appear to be changing anything. What was he getting himself into? Why did he even bother coming with Troy? He obviously wouldn't be able to do anything... again Sirius' remark about the Keyless being Vast fodder ate at him. Taking a deep breath, he began to pull alongside of Peach and Troy. "...I want to be able to take care of myself. Once. Please."

Peach gave him another warm glance, which he returned with a nod.

"...please..."


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"Weegi!..." Mario jogged down the carpeted corridor, checking every nook and cranny he came across for any sign of his brother. Hallways, rooms, rooms in rooms, rooms in rooms in rooms, he found no sign of anyone anywhere. Soon he had absentmindedly resorted to checking behind hanging pictures, in vases and underneath tables. After he'd woken up, by the time he made it out to the main hall he had easily spent an hour poking around the castle for any sign of the group he had associated himself with the night before. As he entered the hall, he grinned, noticing Sirius standing at the far entrance of the chamber with his arms crossed. He was busy talking to a handful of guards. "...hey! Sirius! Where is everyone?"

Sirius suddenly went silent, glancing over his shoulder. "...enjoying themselves, obviously. If no one wants to stay around the castle to pertain to their duty, then there's nothing I can do. No studying for me today, either, if I have to watch over and assist the guards should the Vast or any Keypers attempt to gain entrance to Toad Town." Mario caught the hiss that accompanied the end of his statement.

"Well, I'm always around." Mario gave a mock salute. "What's on the menu? Did you find any more Keypers coming down? Or keyblades? I'm ready for duty, just tell me where you want me to be-"

"No." Sirius droned. Mario blinked, letting his arm drop back to his side. "...do not bother. We cannot safely search for keyblades without one. And seeing as how Peach took the other one when she went out to the Koopahari oilsands with Troy and your brother, we're in no position to be doing ANYTHING."

"Peach? And Luigi?" Mario staggered. "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Sirius paused again, his eyes narrowing as he twisted his torso. "...let them find the error of their ways. If the koopas are correct, they'll soon see their futility. Don't take that the wrong way, now... Troy's there. He'll keep an eye on them." he turned, walking by Mario - who instead whirled around to again face Sirius' back.

"What, one moment you're trashing Troy and the next you're putting the crowd's fate in his hands?"

"Quite frankly..." Sirius said sternly. "He has a better chance than those two ever will." with that, he turned back, walking back the way that he had came.

Mario still seethed as the door shut with a slam.


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"NOT AGAIN!!" the Troopa lurched forward, sending his cup of coffee flying as he stared with wide eyes at the video monitor. He fell off his rolling chair as he tried to manuver it closer to the wall, quickly springing back to his feet, and slamming the large red button in with his fist. He grabbed the phone next to it off the wall, yelling into it. "ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE! VAST HAS BEEN DETECTED IN SLUDGE CHAMBER B-13! I REPEAT, ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE!"

Troopas began to pour from every visible entrance on the painted hill like a swarm of ants. Those on the lower levels of the sludge borehole had a little more of a fight on their hands.

"We just had a drill last night." one yellow-shelled koopa beat on the work elevator gate with his fist as a goomba hauling a cart full of dirt watched. He watched as the car shot straight upwards, tilting his helmet as he continued to grumble. "What the crap is this stupid Vost thingy anyways? You think they'd put these things in the worker's manual." The goomba nodded. "...well, I guess we'd better try the stairwell." the goomba dropped his load and headed off. The worker Troopa was about to follow suit until he glanced over his shoulder - a short distance away a Birdo was busy fighting off the purple sludge with a wide broom as it continued to cover the floor of the hallway.

He continued to stare, bewildered as a tidal wave of it crashed around the corner.

Outside, a Paratroopa continued to rush the workers along in a straight line as they exited the compound. "MOVE! MOVE! MOVE! WE DON'T GOT ALL FRIGGIN' DAY HERE!!" he glanced over, checking the huge cluster of workers as they gathered a safe distance away from the rig - which even he knew was less than had entered to begin with. As the huge crowd continued to panic, a bald man with white hair jutting out backwards to both sides stood on top of a mesa a short distance away, wrapped in a large lab coat.

"...just as I figured. The Darkness came to this spot... and no one's prepared to do anything about it. Pity." he folded his arms, closing his eyes as a massive robot crashed down beside him, kneeling - even then being twice as tall as its owner. It was fitted in a massive, reinforced marroon suit of armor, with alternating black and yellow composite stretching over the rest of its body, making the implanted muscle and machinery beneath it visible. It wore a large hardhat, with a black band winding around its base and a red gem on the front. "...well... how goes things?"

"Just as you figuhed. The turtles are goin' berserk down there wit' the darkness showing up everywhere an' stuff. Further instructions, master?"

"...well, I suppose all we can do now is wait for the Keyper and his cronies to show up. Gutsman, return to the rig grounds. Try not to be seen... if, that is possible. We want the chaos here to be at its peak when the CHRONICLE arrives." he nodded as he watched the massive cyborg hunched down, suddenly leaping from the platform of earth.

It was hard not to notice the large plate reading "W" on his back.

A distance off, a pair of karts continued to tear through the sandy offroad, kicking up a massive cloud of dust behind them. Troy still rode shotgun, slumped over the edge of his sidecar in a halfasleep stupor. Peach still sat at the wheel aware as ever. Luigi, meanwhile, hadn't slid forward or behind her for the past several hours.

"So what's going on between you and your brother?" Peach tried to say over the buzzing engines. "...you like to talk as if you're a LONG way behind him in regards to impulse and stuff."

"We get a lot of business... Brooklyn being leaky faucet capital of the world and everything... I agreed when he himself suggested we put our family trait of wrench-twisting to work... I guess him making the proposition and not me that we start a plumbing service is the beginning of things... I just feel so behind him when it comes to leadership, and just general functionality... Mario and Luigi, we need you to change our main valve. Mario and Luigi, we need you to operate this plunger because we're idiots, etc. etc. Why'd we have to make our official title Mario and Luigi, anyways? Everyone just uses Mario for shorthand anyways, people wonder who the hell I am when I show up with the M-cap-guy scribbled in the yellow pages ad... well, I guess it's for the better..."

"And why would that be?"

"I'm not ready, I'm not willing to go, I'm not presentable."

"What's holding you back then?"

Luigi buried his face in his hands, suddenly remembering to put them back on the wheel. "I told you, working with a partner for so long, you start to realize how little you can accomplish on your own... but when I saw Mario taking this entire situation with grace, I guess that was the last nail in my coffin..."

"We'll give you all the spotlight you need. From the sounds of things you're gonna be here a while anyways. Who knows, if the situation with the Vast gets bad enough you'll wind up with your own keyblade down the road. Lookit Troy here, some shrimpy little Troopa who's shown more valor than most of his bretheren ever will, armed with a keyblade and ready to defend those in need. Maybe that's the little confidence boost you need."

"I heard that." Troy slurred.

"I assume it's right now Sirius says something that cuts me to pieces." Luigi sighed.

"I wouldn't be surprised. Hey, Troy, how much longer do we have to keep heading in this direction?"

Troy grumbled, leaning over and digging through the compartment beneath him. He removed a small pamphlet, unfolding it until it completely cut off his view as he held it out in front of him. "...probably another five minutes."

"Five minutes too many, apparently." Peach mumbled.

"Wha?" Troy and Luigi looked up, their eyes fixing on the same target as Peach's - off in the distance, a massive geyser of purple ooze could be seen flowering from the top of a mesa. On cue, both karts nearly tripled in speed, quickly beginning to bear down on the sludge plant. "...uh, 'kay, we're all fine with one minute?"

One minute did pass, actually, before the two vehicles power-slid to a stop a distance away from the facility, sending Troy flying out of the sidecar and facefirst into the dirt as Peach and Luigi quickly made their way over to the rapidly growing crowd of workers waiting outside. Troy quickly climbed back to his feet, taking up the rear as the two pierced into the crowd.

"What's going on here?" Peach shouted.

A paratroopa burst out from the other side of the gap in the crowd that the princess had created. "Alright, I'm the warren here, if you have any questions, I'll answer th... Princess Toadstool?! Listen, we'll GET your sludge soon enough, right now we have a bit of a PROBLEM on our hands!"

"You WANTED Troy, so here you go!" Luigi shoved Troy forward, causing him to stumble a bit. He was surprised to find the entire crowd give a victorious roar in response.

"It's Troy Kiemen from 99th brigade!" the warren shouted to the gaggle. "...the super koopa lord Bowser spoke of! We're saved!"

"Uh, yeah, spiffy, whatever." Troy mumbled. "Uh, but you guys never said what was going on here..."

"We must've hit a nice deposit of it or something, 'cause, well, you know." he gestured out to the massive fountain of the the substance. "...I'm not so much concerned about our foundation here as I am for the workers that are still inside... I'm just hoping the place hasn't been flooded yet with that crap."

Troy was already fighting through the crowd, slowly getting to the main shaft entrance. Images of what damage it had done to Bowser were already beginning to creep back into his mind. "Just tell me where and I'll dig 'em out!" he slowed down as he heard the warren talk again.

"We've shut down all the lower levels so you shouldn't have to head in deep. I hate to think of what kind of situation we'd be in right now if we hadn't..." his eyes crept to the open corridor leading into the mountain, from where a trickle of the dark ooze had already begun to seep along the ground. Troy moved straight into it, the substance seeming to shrink away from his feet as they hit the ground. Peach and Luigi watched as he disappeared from sight.

"NOW what do we do?" Peach grumbled.

"You're not thinking of going in there, are you? From the looks of things that place is absolutely soaked in Vast - not the best place to try out a keyblade, I'm thinking." Luigi folded his arms.

"How right you would be." a voice boomed.

"Huh?" Troy spun around as the metal cage door slid shut with a loud clank behind him. He ran back up to it, shaking it with one hand as the warren stared on, blinking.

"Get that door open!" he barked.

Several Troopas were already at a control panel nearby, beating on the buttons. "We can't, sir! The console is reversing any commands we send to the security system! Almost like someone else's controlling it remotely!"

"Now how would someone do THAT? We don't even have phone access out here! You IDIOTS, let me do this..." the warren shoved his way to the front, swiping a key from within his shell and slapping it into a gap marked EMERGENCY FAILSAFE. He twisted it a few times, glancing back up to the door. Nothing had changed.

"Uh.. heh..." Troy chuckled nervously. "...you just get that patched up quickly, 'kay? I'll be back in a bit... but it'd be nice to be able to get out of here eventually."

"I imagine."

Everyone turned back to the direction of the voice in time to see the massive cyborg plummet out of the sky. It landed with an enormous crash, hunching down and letting its passenger off its shoulder. The slim man hopped to the ground, folding his arms behind his back as he took a bold step forward. "...why the long faces? I assure you, your technical problem can be solved easily enough..." he lifted up his sleeve, exposing a blinking wrist computer.

"You're!..." the warren growled.

"Such primitive devices..." he shook his head. "...you saw yourselves... it took me mere seconds to destroy what you call a security system and bring it under my command. And now the brave little Keyper enters the mine not knowing how little the failsafes in there will work to his benefit. Such a sad state of affairs."

Peach's face went pale.

"Oh, what is with all this chatter... I haven't even introduced myself. Who stands before you but I, the great Wily, and just one of my many creations... the goliath Gutsman. Now, I like many others wouldn't mind setting my hand on the CHRONICLE - so I'd like to make a little deal - hand over the keyblade, and I'll be happy to spare his life AND all of yours'. Is or is that not the sweetest little bargain you reptiles set your beady little eyes on? Hm? Either way I think it'd be best if you made your minds up quickly... my friend here isn't particularly fond of negotiation."

Luigi staggered. "...NOW what do we do? It doesn't look like we're going to get this guy off our backs soon enough..."

"Can't we just trounce the guy controlling him?" Peach asked. She was promptly answered as Gutsman leapt high into the air, landing directly in front of the two, in the process sending the two flying off their feet. Peach was the second to pull herself back to her feet, dusting herself off. "Well, that was uncalled for."

"Grr..." Troy rattled the bars.

"Troy, forget about us, just get in there and get people out of the mines! We'll worry about this bucket of bolts..." Peach lifted up the keyblade, pointing it at the robot golem. Troy glanced between the two, frowning. Eventually he began to back away, darting off into the darkness ahead.

"Well, I'll be." Wily mumbled. "Another keyblade, stuck in inferior hands... ready for me to scoop up like candy from a baby. Maybe I would've shown mercy before, but I think this is too good a situation to pass up. GUTSMAN! Crush the girl!"

"Spiffy." Luigi huffed.

"Righto." the robot let out a dull grunt again, stomping towards Peach and lifting up its massive hands to deliver a crushing haymaker to the target below. She let out a yelp as she dove away, the massive force guiding the heavily-armored hands to the ground, smashing it to pieces.

"What's wrong?!" Wily cackled. "Don't tell me you can't even USE the thing! This is ridiculous!"

Luigi stood frozen as Peach leapt clear of another blow that tore apart a nearby transmission pipe. The nearby Troopas let out screeches as they quickly began to notice exactly how powerful the mechanized behemoth in front of them really was.

"Foolish... it really isn't that kind of you to be holding someone's keyblade from its rightful owner..."

Peach stumbled back to her feet, still dragging the dulled keyblade with her. "...right."

"No, I mean it! Don't you feel it? If that were your rightful keyblade would it not have shown its true form by now? Don't tell me you're wielding that out of your own free will!"

"What do YOU know about these things? If anyone has any working knowledge it should be the royal figures!" the warden growled.

"More than you, I'm afraid. Though... a royal figure, you say? I'm under the assumption you're NOT some kind of reptile, so you would be... what's the name... Princess Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom? Ah, yes, I've heard a lot about the place... yes... I guess that just confirms our analysis of this world... if you of all people can't hold a candle to me, this domain will fall to us sooner than I expected... brilliant!"

"Who are you people?" Luigi gaped.

"I think you'll find out soon enough... well, maybe not you, I mean, you're all gonna be pound as fine as this sand here in a moment, but you get the picture... GO! GUTSMAN! LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH ALREADY!!" Wily stabbed his finger forward, causing Gutsman to slam his fist into the ground again. Peach had little time to dodge, this time being thrown hard into what remained of the transmission pipe. She let out a dull groan as she landed face-down in the dirt, the keyblade flung high into the air. Luigi let out a shriek as he dove forward for the device, as did Gutsman and the warden.

"Heya, you wanna get crushed or what?!" Gutsman bellowed.

The keyblade continued to spin through the air, slowly beginning to fall again. Gutsman was much taller than Luigi, but his massive hands weren't exactly built for handling three-foot-long strips of metal. Knowing that Gutsman would take longer to lumber over to the weapon's position in the air, Luigi continued to sprint with his hands held high as the keyblade quickly sped down towards him. What he hadn't counted on, however, was Gutsman making a last-ditch dive without his master's approval.

Luigi screeched to a halt as he was quickly eclipsed. Glancing up he realized the grim truth. The multi-ton metal golem was coming down. Hard.

"AAACCKK!!" the warden spasmed, waving his arms. "GET OUTTA THERE!!"

Gutsman glanced up, seeing the keyblade finally fall into his hands. Or, more precisely, directly between them.

"GAME OVER!!" Wily yelled, pointing a wavering finger. Luigi let out a barely-audible squeak as Gutsman finally hit ground zero - all the Troopas shielded their eyes as a massive crash echoed out across the wastes, followed by a massive rush of unearthed sand. The workers rubbed the dust out of their eyes as quickly as possible, awaiting the aftermath. Gutsman remained facedown in the dirt, seeming to relish the moment. "...HAH! HAHAH!!" Wily jumped up and down, continuing to point at the downed robot. "...guess the first catch didn't particularly matter... we'll just have to fetch the keyblade from your remains, or, dare we say, pudding!"

"What a riot." Gutsman extended his limbs, slowly beginning to pry himself off the ground in a push-up motion.

"Lui-gi..." Peach waved her arm before sulking back into the sand.

"Can you see him?" the warren barked.

"Gutsman, get the keyblade." Wily ordered, folding his arms triumphantly.

"No... way..." Peach flopped back down, unconscious.

"Uh... Toadstool? Toadstool? I... think I see someth... oh." the warren prodded Peach's limp body.

"Found it." Gutsman hunched down lower for a minute.

"Then bring it." Wily grumbled.

"'kay, whatever you s-RRRHGHGHGHHHAAAHAH!!!" All at once Gutsman seized up, rattling as purple energy arced across its body. The electric pulse suddenly ended, causing smoky fumes to erupt from the robot. Wily stared at it, blinking for a moment. He began to walk back towards his creation - suddenly being thrown back as its back completely exploded, a steady column of electricity suddenly slicing through the heavy robot like butter. With one pained groan, Gutsman was hurled away, landing with another crash nearby. "...w-what?!"

"...uhh... what just... happened there?" Luigi glanced around, one hand scratching the back of his head, the other unwittingly holding up the keyblade. He glanced up at, suddenly stumbling back as he noticed the artifact glowing with an unearthly blue light. Its appearance itself had changed - the handgrip had changed to a pair of dark batwings, with a circle bored out in the center where he held onto the shaft of the weapon - which itself was sending off the ominous glow. The teeth no longer had a set pattern, now replaced by jagged blades of dulled metal. "...I.. uh... er.."


========

ALASTOR

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Strength +100%
Lightningstrike
????
????
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Said by many to be the reborn form of a demonhunter's weapon from ages past. It carries an immensely powerful electric charge on it that is rumored to be eternal in its master's hands. As was presumably required in its last user's experience with it, the weapon itself is extremely powerful physically, and also carries many other arcane enchantments to suit the situation... some of which have never truly been accessed fully...

========


"...ridculous!!" Wily sputtered. "...Gutsman! No holds barred!! Get that keyblade out of his hands before anything else goes wrong!!" he continued to glance around, biting his nails as the robot slowly began to crawl upwards, its emergency power systems firing up. Meanwhile, all around, the Troopas gathered, staring in awe at the superweapon in Luigi's grip.

"...did I do... something?" Luigi looked around, jumping at the sight of the flayed Gutsman. "...uh.. I... holy.. crap?!"

The warden cupped his hands to his mouth. "USE IT, YOU MORON!"

"What?! Me?!"

"I've got a BONE TO PICK WIT' YA!!" Gutsman's components let out a screech as the machine drug itself into the air, ejecting its fists. Both monoliths of metal screamed down towards Luigi, who let out a shriek as he leapt backwards - he was launched violently backwards as both fists crashed harmlessly into the ground. All at once his mind was flooded with thoughts, streamed in from the keyblade in his hands.

"Thundar..a?!" Luigi screeched, cutting a swath through the air with the blade. It lit up, sending out a swarm of energy bolts down on the two exposed hands. With a deafening crackle the two downed hands were struck with the blasts, several smashing the metal cord holding the left one in place - Gutsman reeled back, swinging his other fist prematurely from the ground. Wily screamed as he dove away, the loose limb nearly swatting him out of existance. Luigi landed on the ground unharmed - the same couldn't be said for Gutsman.

"Rggghhhh..." Wily clenched his fists, seething. "...Gutsman's taken far too much damage to operate properly... this isn't happening!! Gutsman! We flee!!"

"U@h... I'm% u25p with t@hat..." Gutsman's shattered exterior continued to crackle as he fell back, scooping up Wily. Wily continued to fume as Gutsman raised back into the air, barely keeping himself afloat.

"Don't think this is the end!" Wily yelled. "Don't think you or that brat are the only ones with keyblades around here! You got that?!" he pounded his fists against Gutsman's thick exterior as he was quickly whisked away by his marginally-functioning creation. Luigi continued to blink, slowly bringing down the keyblade and looking it over again. Wily and Gutsman were already a speck on the horizon by the time he raised his head again. He spun around to the echoing cheers of the koopa brigade behind him.

"...that was me?" Luigi pointed back at the ALASTOR.

"Hamanah." the warren let out a wheeze, removing his goggles. "...holy crap... you Mushroom Kingdom folks, you've got a bunch of these super troopers!" Luigi quickly found the koopa at his heels, laying kisses on his sandy boots. He promptly spewed out a mouthful of dirt.

"...Peach." Luigi's attention returned to the heap a distance away. As the crowd cleared away, he watched as another pair of Troopas leant her back up against the transmission pipe, another of the exterior workers fanning her with a clipboard.

"Sir," he sputtered. "...I just checked... and our security clearance has been restored!"

"Ah, I think we're about done here. She looks like she's alright. ALRIGHT YOU CRETINS, CRISIS AVERTED! Get back to work!"

Again Luigi's emphasis shifted as he jogged towards the chain-link gate. "...Troy?!"

"Okay, crisis not averted." the warren continued to pound on the control panel sticking out of the ground nearby. "We've got all the computer access we need, but none of the mechanical gates are responding to my commands. That Vast crap's gotta be gumming up the works somehow."

Luigi twitched, holding up the keyblade. Quickly an electric charge built into it, ready to blast the gate into pieces. But, as he continued to stare at the door, the enchantment dampened again - Luigi grit his teeth, feeling his newfound might waver as he again realized what lied behind those doors - unabridged Vast. He backed up, gripping the weapon with both hands as a trickle of the dark ooze slithered out from underneath the windowed gate. "...oh, man..."


--------


"Eeeniemeeniemineymoeichooseleft." Troy pivoted, changing direction and dashing down another greyed corridor. He had already lost track of the first five turns he made, already starting to pray dearly that he would run across other more easily-accessible emergency exits. What worried him more was the lack of Vast. While it was gushing in certain spots outside, it obviously wasn't where Troy was - meaning it was bottled up somewhere. Whoever happened to be in that location...

Troy screeched to a halt, taking a deep breath - it was then that the stale air hit him, far from any sort of lifegiving surface vent. More noticable, however, was the sudden drop ahead of him - not much of a long drop, instead leading into a ravine of Vast upon which supply crates floated. Troy let out a hack as both his vision was blurred and the stench quickly thickened the air. "...this... isn't good. I'm under the assumption this would be a bit much for CHRONICLE to protect me from..." he scanned the room again, noticing the exit on the far side, and a pair of Troopas standing on top of a giant smelter. The device's top sat just inches above the top layer of the slime.

"Hang on!" Troy shouted, swinging his arms back and forward again as he leapt to the first crate. His legs shook as the crate sunk to the side he landed on, almost throwing Troy off balance. He tried to straighten himself, and just as he was about to throw his arms back to give himself the leverage needed to make another bound, the sea of darkness under him shuddered again. This time he fell on his rear, and quickly noticed the massive mound of Vast rising in front of him. It craned up, its 'head' parting. The ooze formed thick strands that held the two pieces together, as a dull roar erupted from within.

"Aiaiaiaiaiai..." Troy stuck the CHRONICLE into the Vast, paddling away as fast as he could. A shaft of the sticky material lanced out from the beast, arcing around and slamming back into the sludge where he had just been. Troy rode the waves, which tossed his box to the side - the tremors hit the wall and rebounded back, sending him back at the behemoth - Troy sheepishly drug the blade out of the Vast and slashed at the base of the Vast golem as hard as he could, and the sentient snake responded with an appropriate scream as it began to crumble apart. Troy shielded himself again as he was again thrown into the wall, this time closer to the blast furnace upon which the worker Troopa perched. He scrambled up onto the machinery, now in much the same situation as the Vast's hostage - the box behind him splintered apart, damaged from the impact.

"Smooth." the miner replied dully.

Troy spun around as the monster now skimmed back in his direction. It bellowed again as a pair of tendrils shot out of its side, suddenly lunging down at Troy - he leapt back with a yelp as the limbs pierced through the top of the reinforced forge with an ear-piercing shriek. With them temporarily lodged in the metal, Troy lunged back forward, cleaving through the left one with ease. The beast reeled back in shock, but simply thrust out another one from the murky mess. "...he's got all that crap to just fix himself up with..."

"Hey, that thing's got a head, doesn't it?"

"And how am I supposed to GET to it?" Troy backed up again, pushing the worker back in the process as the tentacles continued to thrash in front of him.

"Listen, if it's the others you're worried about, we've gotten most of them out! This place has more than one emergency shaft, you kn-"

"Most?!" Troy whirled around.

"WATCH IT!" Both troopas bounded away in time as the Vast whips flayed the surface of the forge, scraping it up further. "...anyways... we appreciate your coming in here, but we've already got things under control! I can't say much for the facility itself, though... speaking of the facility, we're in a bit of a pickle here... we can't get to the rafters with the Vast up this high. The ladder is on the far side of the chamber... and, we're kind of... stuck."

Troy's pupils shrunk as he turned around again to face the behemoth, its surface wildly warping as it continued to emit its low rumble. Its two tendrils quickly multiplied, dozens of dark lances suddenly shooting out from its surface down at them. Troy leapt up in response, flailing his weapon across in an attempt to break through - his shell let out a loud groan as one of the tentacles slammed into it, exploding and sending its host flying back. Troy slid down the wall, shaking his head as he hit the ground - another cluster of them sped at him, while the other Troopa dove to safety.

"Dragon Fang!!"

Troy regained his composure soon enough to notice the entire celing come down over top of the Vast serpent's head - a massive chunk of granite slammed into its 'back', causing its head to rear up - in just the right position for a red-cloaked swordsman to plummet down and drive a katana through it.

"Auron!!" Troy yelled.

Auron flipped over as the creature spasmed, planting his boots onto its face and pressing off - with a loud splash the sword was ripped free, trailing Auron as he leapt from the slick surface of the creature and down to Troy.

"There's no time!" Auron growled. "Leave!"

"And how are we supposed to do THAT?" Troy shouted back.

"You, wield a keyblade! Meaning, YOU, have the power! I'll take care of this beast, escape while you can!" Auron swung out his blade again, harmlessly deflecting another precision strike from one of the many slimy strands flung at him. As the entire cluster was hurled at him, he suddenly dashed to the edge of the platform - Troy watched with a blank expression on his face as he let the blade scrape against the ground, suddenly letting out a blast of flame that sent him flying across the expansive chamber. He landed with a roll on the adjacent smelter, far out of range of the Vast.

Troy lurched as he felt the other koopa grapple onto him. "What gives? I don't have any fire, or whatever he's got! Auron, how are YOU getting out of here?!" Troy stepped out of the way as another large piece of the structure crashed down onto the smelter.

"If you don't yet have the power, then awaken it! And... I have my own means of leaving!"

Troy glanced down at his keyblade again, feeling it pulse with energy under his control. "...I'll... see what I can do?"

Auron turned his attention back to the Vast, watching as it lashed its tentacles back to strike him again. He effortlessly dodged backwards as it struck the ground where he once stood - lunging forward again he completely ran up the limb. It stretched considerably under his weight but still held as he darted up it with surprising agility. As he neared the top he leapt, letting out a bellow as he delivered a hard slash straight into the side of the serpent's head - the heavy blade cleaved through the sludge with little effort, causing the solidified form of the substance to destabilize. Auron performed one last step off the head, launching himself again as the Vast beneath him crumbled back into the liquid below it. He landed where Troy had commandeered his crate, knelt in the corridor as he nodded back to him.

"Right..." Troy gripped the other koopa's hand tightly, his other fidgeting in the handcage of the CHRONICLE. Slowly he began his run, his partner trailing behind. He hunched down as he neared the edge of the smelter, starting to wonder for what reason the miner had no problem with him running straight towards a long fall into a murky death.

"You CAN do what that other dude pulled off." he mumbled. "...I'm assuming."

"Let's find out." Troy grumbled.

Troy crouched down lower, ready to leap as he slammed the keyblade down against the tempered metal of the furnace. "...let's FLY!"

He forced himself upwards, seeing the leap as very much the same one he had accomplished earlier - a legion of Troopas behind him, ready to beat him down and drag him back to Bowser at a moment's notice... he was running then for reasons he didn't know quite yet, but his ambition was enough to propel him over a large gap in the ground that would've tripped him up severely and cost him the chase. It was then he'd go on to be drug back anyways, and meet Sirius, which would lead to his discovery of the CHR...

Troy was suddenly jarred from his daydream as he slammed facefirst into the rung of a ladder. On instinct he threw his hand out, gripping both the keyblade and the next rung down in one hand. He sagged, his other hand still holding up the other Troopa - who now stared at him with wide eyes.

"...huh?" Troy said dully.

The worker wedged himself free from Troy's iron grip, falling a few feet before grabbing onto the ladder with both hands. He still didn't seem to be holding on with all his strength, but was instead using it to study Troy again. "...what... ARE you?!"

Troy looked up again, noticing where he was - the platform he had been on moments before was a good 60 feet away from the catwalk access ladder he and his companion hung from. Wasting no more time he quickly started to clamber up the chute, the other koopa in pursuit - the Vast beneath them continued to bubble violently, and Troy quickly realized the truth - it was rising. Had he not jumped when he did he would have had no time to do so later. It took only minutes of hastened scaling for the two to come to the chute's cover - Troy jammed the CHRONICLE into the wheel, giving it a hard jerk. The cover swung down, nearly sending Troy flying off the ladder. "Let's go!"

"I'D say so!!" The other Troopa started shoving him up. The Vast beneath had skyrocketed, and was no longer rising but shooting up the tunnel behind them. Troy yelped, dragging himself out of the pipe - he hoisted his partner out behind, both leaping to their feet. They had come out on top of the mesa, and in the moment it took them to realize that the dark ooze exploded out of the gap in the rock behind them, turning into a fountain as the two blindly leapt off the edge.

"Crud." Troy said flatly as he hit the largely-slanted hill. Both retreated into their shells as they began a very painful bounce down the side of the exploding mountain. More painful would be the baseball-sized rock that he just managed to notice out of his peephole, which by a streak of very bad luck would fly straight through the hole.


--------


The throne room was quiet as the mushroom retainers lined the chamber, all glancing around and chatting amongst themselves as the king rose from his throne. Suddenly he parted his arms, and the crowd went silent. He himself looked around again. Finally his eyes settled on Luigi, standing directly in front of him.

"Two steps back." the monarch whispered.

"Oh." Luigi stumbled backwards, settling into position. He slowly began to kneel down, staring back at the king for approval. Finally he settled.

Meanwhile, Sirius, Selphie, Peach, Troy, Mario, Toad, Toadsworth and Wooster all stood on the side. Troy clenched his fist, grumbling as he rubbed the giant bandaid on his head with his free hand. "What's the deal here? Someone tell me exactly why Weeg is getting the credit?"

"If dad really wants to start a chapter of knights... Luigi could use the boost, especially after today. He's still a little shaken up by the keyblade... springing to life and everything in his hands. And... he's still not comfortable standing in the same situation as Troy is... I mean, now that he's got a keyblade, he's going to be an asset to us, and he's going to be running into more Vast either way, right?"

"That is his duty." Sirius said emotionlessly.

Toad twitched.

"We stand at a crossroads," the king said firmly. "...many of you may be full aware of our contact with the Koopa kingdom, and the unfortunate tragedy that led to our conflict... we are obviously facing a challenge that is affecting more than our kingdom alone. It is for this reason that we, along with the Koopa kingdom and many other smaller regimes, are forming knight chapters to deal with the security situation that our world is experiencing, and help us learn more about the Vast, as it has been named. It is now that we must seek out the keyblades, and prepare properly for the threat of the Vast."

"Well, I guess we can sleep easier, huh?" Selphie folded her arms behind her head.

"Not yet. Only when more keyblades get within our grasp can we be safe." Sirius interjected.

The king raised a staff, lowering it slowly and letting it touch Luigi's shoulder - as soon as he did, a loud slam echoed out from across the room. "...what in blazes..."

A daikatana's tip rested against the floor. Auron tugged on the front of his collar before letting his hand fall back to his side. "...I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Troy stepped out into the aisle. "Auron? What are you doing here? How did you know where here IS?"

"Oh, I've been around." Auron nodded. "...I don't imagine Troy's part of this spectacle? I'd like to have a word with him."

"Oh, by all means." the king waved his arm. "...we'll still need a few minutes."

Everyone watched as Auron turned around and left in his melancholy manner. Troy jogged to catch up to him as the mushroom retainers shut the door behind them. Troy was back out in the grand hall, looking around. He grumbled to himself before noticing Auron staring out one of the stained glass windows. "..uh, yeah? What's going on?"

Auron's shoulders sagged. "I feel something, and I imagine others do as well."

"Do I get twenty questions?"

Auron sighed. "...and you obviously don't. I don't imagine these are matters that concern me, but I am still getting a little worried. You came unscathed out of a Vast-infested kingdom, and it's only seemed to follow you as you've combated it far too much in these past few days to be healthy. Siegfried, that man back there, that Wily... he made mention of your keyblade as well. Apparently you're a little too popular."

"Yeah, Keypers do that, they run around, they beat the crap out of Vast, I figured by now that was routine?"

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I have this really bad feeling that the keyblade you possess is going to become a hot commodity around these parts. You're quite the celebrity, and the CHRONICLE itself has shown to be extremely powerful. Tell me, how exactly did you leap that far to get to the escape chute? The gap between must have been at least double the distance I jumped beforehand. On top of that, I didn't seem to notice much mana expelled, at least the amount required to throw you that far."

"...I..." Troy glanced back to the window. "...really don't know."

"The CHRONICLE's power is still awakening, and people are already jealous for it - I'm only going to say this once. You're going to need to be careful if you want to go any further as a Keyper. That weapon is yours and yours alone, and in the wrong hands it could do disaster upon this world, or any other for that matter. I'll be in touch if you want to discuss matters later, but for now I must be off. And keep in mind... I'm not going to be in this world forever." Auron straightened himself, shooting a glance at Troy before tugging up on his collar. He turned, walking off - Troy continued to stare at the man as another great door, and the shadows beyond it, sheathed him.

Troy raised his arm, but let it fall again. "...ugh."


--------


Wily crashed to his knees, slapping his hands down against the exotic rug beneath him. "I mean it! From the bottom of my heart, I-"

"Ha." the wispy-haired man, dressed in a bright red bathrobe, lowered the lit incense. He let it fall softly into a tall vase, turning around. He sat down cross-legged on the straw mat beneath him, seeming to actual attention to the scientist. "...ha. Ha ha... heart, you say? Heart? Dare you say you're immune to the Darkness? Obviously, if you can't even tackle the Princess, let alone the plumbers, I would just love to see you stand up against the rising tide without a keyblade. The one possessing ALASTOR had no experience at all using it, you say, yet you and your creation were still defeated. Well, I guess that confirms things."

Wily shrank back.

"No going outside without a buddy." he set his large, bandaged hands on his kneecaps. His eyes seemed to burn brighter than before as he glanced down. "...I must be alone at this time. I have to prepare. Prepare for the Darkness."

Wily reeled back. "...is it coming?"

"Soon enough. If everything goes to plan we'll be long gone by then. But... we must step up our efforts." his head sagged for a moment, before snapping back up. "Fawful!"

"What is in the process of being asked?" the paper door at the edge of the chamber flew open again, revealing Fawful's scrawny frame. "Leader! Inform me!"

"Let Pokey know that he has some work to do tomorrow. The CHRONICLE needs to be seized. Tell him that Valentina will be accompanying him."

"That is also in the process of being done!" the doors slammed shut again.

"But-" Wily stammered.

"You failed. You'll get another chance soon enough. That is, if you can justify it. Now... begone." he cast his hands apart. Wily obediently did as he was told, grumbling as he quickly sped back to the exit.


--------


Auron's eyes flashed open. The wind rustled through the streets of Toad Town, gently tossing his robes about. He stood upon a thick wooden rafter, the sign suspended from its bottom rattling softly. His sword was held across his shoulder, it bobbing as he shifted his frame again. Grumbling he stared back up into the starry sky - something still remained amiss. Though Troy had sounded confident in his own abilities, he had bore witness to many of the same attitudes in fallen Keypers. The sudden intrusion of the Vast, coupled with the relentless attempts by others to seize control of the weapon did not particularly help matters.

He leapt down, brandishing his weapon as the shadows surrounded him.



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Ultimanium

chandk@stu.augustana.ca