[b]Chapter 3: Lost Safe Haven[/b]

[i]Week 6, Traverse Town First District[/i]

Heat. Intense heat and the sounds of a distant battle of blades and guns. Those were the first sensations Greg felt after he and the others tumbled through the temporal wormhole to their own time, landing on his side. The elder Zivaku brother took his girlfriend's hand when he saw her, and helped her to her feet with him, the two older men and his little brother also standing. It was then that he saw the reason for the heat.

Traverse Town was burning. The last time he had been there, it had been quite nice, and not on fire at all, so this was pretty disorienting. Many buildings were in various states of disrepair, from large piles of ruins to some broken windows. Many others were more or less unharmed. Apparently the time traveling sextet had missed some time.

Isaac was bending down beside Simon, holding his supine form up with one arm. "Fixer needs a healing, now. Really bad burn on his back."

It was true. The blind mechanic was wincing at the pressure on his smoking back holding him up. When Black Paladin came close, readying a Curaga, Simon spoke, his voice frail, strained, and soft. "Don't. Save what you have...for whoever's fighting."

"Why not? We can save you," Greg told the boy from a recently-escaped dark future. His hands glowed green with a charging First Aid spell.

A cough. "My family is dead..." Another two coughs. "My group of my closest friends, my second family, too. There's nothing left to save."

"Don't say that," Kynthia backed up the angel's argument. "You can help us. We can avenge your friends."

"Then stop them..." His voice weakened, and he slid his hand into his pocket, drawing Headshot's custom pistol and dropping it beside him. "Stop Omega..." The body went limp, hand falling to his side. Simon "Fixer" Goodman was no more.

Greg had not known the boy long, not enough to cry, but he gave a solemn salute. "We will."

As Isaac lowered the builder of Sparky to the ground and took the pistol, a flicker of light was visible behind him, a faint organic sucking noise shortly after.

Dolor and Black traded silent, sidelong glances. They had both seen it and heard. The former spoke. "I'll go ahead and see what's going on. Maybe we can get the drop on those guys." He started walking, and flicked his wrist, a short out-the-front switchblade coming from an armband on his left arm. A cold wind rushed through the area, accompanied by another sucking noise to Dolor's left, and he snapped out the arm, blade meeting resistance as a male voice cried out, a bald man in black clothing with green eyes materializing. He had the hidden blade lodged in his left hip, before it was retracted and he collapsed, weak but not dead.

Black drew a Chimeran Bullseye machine gun, and shot a glowing, white tagging bolt in the direction of heavy footsteps, the light stopping in midair before he traded his weapon for a longsword. The blade was stabbed into the marker, a large Brute fizzes into sight from blue sparks. He had dark blue armor and a helmet of the same color sporting a triangular, mouth-revealing faceplate with a single red light in the center, likely for the eyes. The Brute Stalker groaned at he was fatally wounded, and collapsed in a growing pool of thick, purplish red blood when the weapon was retracted from his chest.

The younger Interferences were surprised by the suddenness with which the older men dispatched the two enemies. Although Black's subsequent stab to the side of the Brute corpse confirmed that the Jiralhanae was indeed dead, Dolor knelt beside the quietly cursing Houdini Splicer.

"What were you gonna do, then? Freeze me solid?"

"General...gah, damn it....general idea." The man looked to the teenagers. "You gonna kill me in front of them? Elesius was--"

Greg walked to him. "Did you just say Elesius?"

"What's it ta you? 'E's dead now, over there." The man motioned toward the dead Stalker rank Brute.

"Are you Kyle Chambers?" Kynthia asked, understanding where the Cruxis angel was going with this.

"Yeah, girly, I am. You gonna get the Hashashawhatsit off me now?" The now identified Kyle Chambers coughed, red splattering on the ground.

The demigoddess frowned. "Did you kidnap a woman with silver hair and an armored man?"

"Was on my way. Can...can I go?"

A pause. Angel and half-goddess traded glanced, and nodded. The former looked to Dolor.

"Kill him." And with another stab of the hidden blade, he did. "Hashashawhatsit?"

"I think it's better if we don't ask," Isaac said, looking at the bodies. "Why kill him?"

"Changing the future, I guess," Dolor shrugged, standing. "Let's go help the good guys."

"Not 'our' guys?" Isaac asked.

"Don't take it personally, runt," Black told the then-fuming demon boy. "He's a jerk."

"The jerk with the data to save your efforts," the mercenary countered, smirking at the grunt in response, and led them in the direction of the battle at a run, picking up the pace when Greg materialized wings of pure energy and carried the Nippon native of them past the future of Sam Dolor.

---

[i]Traverse Town Second District[/i]

Sora blocked the sword of another Templar, then pushed him back, smashing Kingdom Key into his legs and leaving him moaning on the ground. Six weeks of fighting, and they had finally been attacked at their home base. Olette, Pence, and Fuu had been lucky enough to spot the incoming ships before they could be in firing range, but still they were still not able to save First District from damages.

"Sora!" Goofy's call brought the Keyblader's attention to an enraged Brute charging at him from the left. He let reflexes do the dodging for him, jumping straight up with a backflip using his High Jump technique before falling back toward the pavement, slashing the now-unarmored back with his signature weapon and following up with a baseball-like swing upon landing, sending the alien at a Grunt that was about to attack a distracted Donald Duck. All of these battles had really been a good way to strengthen his Master and Valor Forms enough to improve his Aerial Dodge and High Jump, if he was going to look on a bright side. Not much Heartless or Nobody fighting either. The only one, beside the fact that they had managed to protect some worlds. Not all, though.

"Hayner!" the Keyblader called, "Up!" He saw as the Twilight Town native bashed his new weapon into an oncoming Drone, green-white blood spilling on it. Kaith had given the Struggle players metal bats that were approximately the same size as their normal foam ones, with sharp spikes near the fatter end to improve damage. Not much, but better than nothing.

They all had fought for so long. It was very tiring, even for Ephraim with his multitude of abilities, Axel with his, and many others. It was a wonder they were still in the action at all.

"Keyboy!" The call annoyed him, as it always did. Even as the boy from Destiny Islands defeated yet another Jackal, he realized what he had heard, and turned toward the sound.

"Greg?!" It was indeed his friend and traveling companion, along with the others who had gone missing. "When...what--?"

"Good to see you too," the boy called back, letting Kynthia to the ground.

Gradually, the enemies in the area took notice of the new arrivals. As gunfire was drawn toward them, Sora heard the hooded man who he assumed to be Dolor groan. "Not now..."

However, a voice called out. It was one all in the area found familiar. [i]"Stop, humans and Covenant! Let us be civil for the time being!"[/i] With that command, all of the Omega troops stopped, retreating to the horde farther from the Gizmo Shop at the center of the battlefield. Bodies of various enemies lay scattered about the area, ranging from quite dead or dying to unconscious or moaning at broken bones.

The hordes parted. Through came two men. One was a figure in full red Templar armor, but for a lack of the helmet. He had brown hair that had been combed back, and dark brown eyes. He was the leader of the Templar forces of the army under their Grand Master Reaper, Seneschal Richard Brier. Beside him was a very familiar face. Clad in his usual black robe, but lacking the mask, Isaac "Reaper" Zivaku followed, his arms crossed. Two black serpents were visible over his shoulders, their red eyes denoting his activated Demon Arm technique. Not that the current power mattered, with the speed he could switch between them. Brier walked in front of the many humans and aliens, his arms crossed, and began to speak.

"Why must you continue to oppose us? We will be victorious. The more you fight, the more you lose. I am certain that our leaders would be more than willing to allow your survival if you would only accept the inevitable." The man paused in his rant temporarily, unfolding his arms. "Look around you," he continued, waving his left arm to the collapsing buildings, the flames. "We will not do more harm if you would just join us. These worlds need order, judgment." He looked to the hand in the air, watching as it began to crackle with azure electricity, warts forming on the shown part of his arm. "We have such power. Power of the sky," the ElectroBolt Plasmid was replaced by a fist that was blue with cold, icy spikes coming from the back of it, "the freezing cold," the Winter Blast again changed, the ice melting instantly as the hand blistered from an internal heat that reddened it, a small blue flame forming between his thumb and middle finger that readied a snap, "and the hearth." The Incinerate! Plasmid deactivated, the hand returning to normal as he turned his back on them in his reverie. "And so many more. Thunder, pure rage, devotion. And those are only the gifts of Rapture. If you would only join us, or send us your leaders such as the aid of the Assassins, we would be happy to allo--" The Templar lieutenant was cut off suddenly by a sharp pain from behind him, accompanied by a [i]*shink*.[/i]

A dagger was buried in the back of his armor, having cut through quite easily. Sora watched in surprise as Brier staggered forward, then fell, half-conscious. The weapon ejected itself from the Omega fighter, soaring back toward its owner. Somnio and Hawk stared at the person as she caught the weapon, along with all others in the area.

Grace looked at them all in silence for a moment. Then she spoke. "What?"

Derest responded first. [color=purple]"Nice aim,"[/color] he commented, wiping one of his katars off on a groaning Splicer. "Great way to shut him up."

The other Templars panicked. "Lord Brier!" The shout resounded among them. If Sora had a piece of munny for every time he heard someone called "Lord" or "Lady" in the past six weeks...

"Get him to the back with potions," Reaper finally said. "Now." Several of the soldiers from the Holy Land rushed to do so, carrying the man to a position in the mass out of sight. The probable de facto leader of Omega stepped forward, his black cloak waving in a slight breeze. He spoke calmly. "Though long winded, my lieutenant has made my point. You have much to gain from just stopping the fighting. How many worlds have you lost?"

"I don't suppose this would be the time you tell us all your master plan, like a nice and cliche villain, now would it?" Ephraim spoke up, the humor of his words likely masking anger. He was unarmed, but that did not in any way mean he was not dangerous. The many fallen men around him proved as much.

The demon ignored the Original Interference, looking to Demi. "Miss Usagi, I could offer you so much. You know you need--"

"Screw you!" the silver haired woman shouted, seeming on the verge of attacking him with the Moon Scythe in her grasp. "You aren't getting me again, or Greg either!" She meant Kaith by that, as evident by the lack of a "mini" prefix as much as the long time without seeing the younger boy.

"How ironic," the Darkness user chuckled for a moment, but not enough to lose focus. "I would definitely give any help you need with your baby, Kynthia. Delivery and raising him or her."

Sora joined all of the heroes, aside from the newly come ones for some reason unknown to him, in staring incredulously at her. Baby? She had been pregnant this whole time?

[i]No wonder Kaith is so protective of her, defending her choice to not go on some missions, Roxas noted. He must know this. Have known for a long time.

But whose--

Let's not ask,[/i] The Nobody told his other, receiving a silent agreement.

"You won't get me back there unless it's rip you in half," the future of Kynthia shot back.

"A pity," Reaper sighed. "You seemed to enjoy our company so much." Sora knew that to be technically true from what he heard of "Diana" from the Twilight Towners, Ephraim, and Derest. But it did not mean the boy would admit it. "Brother!" the man called. "If you do not come, I will choose another warrior in your stead!" After the call for the captain, he looked to the assembled Interferences. "Single combat for the fate of this world. Formal. Appropriate. Do not say I am not civil."

[i]"Not civil,"[/i] Fuu monotonously retorted over an intercom system from the inside of the Shop. Kaith has said he was getting ready to take the few with no combat experience out of the Shop as soon as he could.

"Childish remarks will not rile me, Fujin," was the only response.

Sora thought frantically. Reaper had a heads up on him. He knew most of his abilities. Unlike previous enemies, he did not seem to care about the Keyblade as a tool for him to use, and so would likely kill him instantly. The man--if he still could be called human--was an unrepentant cannibal as far as he knew, and would murder any of them to amplify his own power through consumption of their hearts either himself or through one of those snakes. The physical kind, not the metaphorical one.

But he had a weakness. Light. The fires here evidently did nothing, but light magic had worked wonders. And his best bet was the use of light magic through a Drive Form. That meant...

[i]I got your back on this one, other,[/i] the Key of Destiny reassured him. They were both evidently considering the same plan. A clothing color change to silver, and the use of power he had only ever known in Alexander, not himself. A Drive Form that used three companions, including Roxas.

Final Form.

The Keyblader sprang to action, looking to the two combatants nearest to him. "Leon! Goofy! I'm Driving!"

Both nodded as he ran ahead of the other heroes. Glaring at his opponent, the boy shouted at the top of his lungs, letting Drive energy course through him. [i]"Light!"[/i] He heard others shout his name. Cheers, he supposed. Encouragement. He closed his eyes to protect them from the flash to come.

As he expected, Sora was above the ground, hovering. But what was that sharp agony, that feeling like a spear through him? Had he really finished the incanting word, or had he been cut off? Why did he feel weak, rather than strong?

He heard shouts at the edges of his perception. Then he understood. They were not cheering. Well, the Omega troops definitely were. Those behind him were shouting concern. Was that Goofy's voice? Leon's? How?

The young man looked down at the point of agony. He saw a black tentacle sticking into him at the chest, close to his heart, if not at it, through it. By the pain in his back, he knew that it had completely skewered him, lifted him off of the ground about half of a foot. The tentacle was fanged along its length, which his eyes followed back to Reaper. Laughter, cruel, hideous laughter, could be heard, the Darkness within the future of Isaac Zivaku its source.

Reaper had murdered him.

The tentacle withdrew from the gaping hole in his pectoral region, the right serpent head rocketting at the opening and ripping something from his chest. The pain was blinding, but he coughed red liquid when he almost screamed. He saw the bloody heart in the many teeth of the Darkness manifestation, still beating twice more before it was swallowed hole.

The teenager fell to his knees as he was let go, and weakly raised his Keyblade with the remainder of his strength. He had to save them, his friends. Could he be healed? Then he remembered the words of Sain Zivaku, his killer's father. Dark energy seemed to negate healing properties. He was a goner.

A thin beam of light erupted from the tip of the weapon, hitting Reaper directly in the single crimson eye on his forehead. He grunted, temporarily blinded as he held his face, and the assailant collapsed. He heard someone running toward him, possibly several someones. Roxas was shouting, telling everyone to get out of Traverse Town while they still could.

A single word came to Sora's lips. He labored to speak it as he saw a light, a green one of probable healing and another, distant one. He dismissed his Keyblade to be certain that someone else would not use it somehow against his friends. Then he saw nothing more.

---

"K--"

"First Aid!" Greg was determined, the glowing green hands on the chest wound. His Aselian magic did next to nothing. "Stay with me, big guy!"

Sora was his best friend. He had known him since the second world unconnected to Radiant Garden on his journey. In a sense, this Kingdom Hearts protagonist was the reason he and Kynthia had become a couple. He was always there to laugh with or sometimes at. The Cruxis angel knew that the others around him, including the rushing Donald and the future of Flora Shadowflash known as Ele, were close to him as well.

"Kai...ri...." It was then that the young man went limp, the Kingdom Key disappearing.

[i]Roxas![/i] Lukgar Revak called from Greg's mind, serious [i]and[/i] not swearing for once. [i]Talk to me, man![/i]

Nothing. The Aselian pounded his fist on his companion's chest, or what was left of it. "Wake up, damn it! Get up! You'll see her again!"

Donald was crying. "Sora!"

The Aselian angelic Interference was too distraught to look back toward Isaac of the present as he heard the present of the same influence that had attacked his companion and pilot chuckle. [i]"Aw, what did he do to Sora? Hehehe..."[/i]

Ele caught Greg's fist as it came back. "He's gone," she told him solemnly.

"He's not! He can't be dead! He just can't!" The boy wrenched his hand from her grasp, and almost hit his friend again, but she took him by the waist, dragging him off. He started to cry as well. A friend gone. A true friend, someone who would never hurt anyone who wasn't out to kill anyone.

The murderer spoke as his serpents' eyes turned blue, his hand still on his face as he waited for sight to return. A new power. "Now, then. Darkness, I give you free reign." He laughed, slowly and gaining frequency, as the Darkness took control of his actions. A black hole appeared in the sky, beginning to suck in parts of buildings, including the Gizmo shop.

Kaith arrived, all of the other non-combatants with him. "Save point, now! I have everything!"

"What about Sora?!" Yuffie shouted back over the din.

"Leave him! There's no time!" Objections all around, and he continued. "He's dead! We can't fix that! We've gotta go!"

Reluctantly, the majority of the fighters and others came into the Shop in the process of destruction by black hole. Someone spoke from the Omega force.

"Flora, come to your mistress," Elena ordered from beside the possessed Reaper.

Before Hawk could stop her, his fraternal twin sister ran back. "Flora!"

"My name is [i]Elori![/i]" she called back in defiance, a blast of pure lightning knocking Hawk back into unconsciousness. Demi caught him, dragging him to the save point.

Ephraim was already there, Sora's corpse in his arms. He gave a death glare to Kaith, then was gone in an upward beam of light, others soon following him.

We have to tell her, Revak, also known as F. Lukgar, told his host before they left, the remaining heroes with him.

And so, Traverse Town was lost. And with it, a hero had fallen, another captured. Sora, the hero of Kingdom Hearts more than once and one of the original Internal Interferences, was well and truly dead.