Organization XIV - The Story So Far

Her smile widened as another flash of lighting shot through the sky. "Swear yourselves to the service of I, Maleficent. If your survival and the opportunity to serve me do not entice you, I offer you the power of darkness as well. With a strong enough will, you would even be able to command the Heartless, as I do."

Chuckling, she swept her arm out, gesturing to the land around. "I have so much more to offer you than you believe. Is there something you're searching for, perhaps? I may be able to grant your wishes."

At the word "search," Dispatch tensed. Did she know, somehow? Then there was no way he could trust her. That and, well, everything else she was doing. "I dunno about noble, but I've destroyed enough worlds in my life. And people who could just throw their home away and then act all high and mighty about it...they really piss me off."

He smirked. "Besides, those horns make you look like a moron."

'Searching for'. A 'wish'. These words were even more effective, laced with enticing honey and promises that called an alluring siren's song, her heart falling into mourning and yearning. So powerful, Jackie stood upright and still, her spear at her side. There was always another route to be considered... Reumos had already let his world fall to darkness, and had asked her to fight that dark. Yet this woman, who clearly outpaced anything she could hope to be, whose life Jackie had attempted to end, called her over to her side, and all but implied she could help Jackie find her father.

Is this what I meant when I made that promise to myself? Whatever it takes?


"...answer me this." Jackie said in an even, yet frail, voice. "Do you know an Ansem?"

"Ansem?" She intoned, her tone betraying nothing. "Perhaps. In the castle which I've taken up residence, there is a grand library, with knowledge compiled by generations of scholars and wisemen. It is quite possible that you will find this person's knowledge within. I can take you there, if you swear fealty to me."

She appeared to be slightly nettled by the Saiyan warrior's blunt refusal and insult, but opted to simply ignore him for now. "The darkness can provide you with a swift path to what you seek, if you are bold enough to walk it."

There it was. Before her, the ultimate path to what she sought would be within her grasp. Whatever the darkness held, it was mysterious, and held fright, but Jackie was a scientist. There was only fear in the unknown, and fear itself was nothing that could harm her.

But.

If she was to travel along a road less travelled, what had ever been the point of doing anything to fight against it? She could have fallen to the dark at any point, and if that was the case: why hadn't she let herself go before? Why put her life in danger to save those children, to find her father? Was it moral to save the light, or was it irrelevant and what mattered was results?

Taking a step forward amidst a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder, speaking over the rain, Jackie spoke again. "Can you tell me the name of the castle? I have a ship, and the means to travel with it."

With a wave of her hand, Maleficent dismissed the idea. "You wish to seek it out for yourself? How foolish! The Heartless would simply devour your vessel. It is no ordinary fortress; a bastion of darkness, overflowing with Heartless. You would never reach it without this power of mine." She seemed unwilling to give a name at all.

Stretching out her hand again, she turned away from Dispatch completely. "The only way is to pledge yourself to me."

Dispatch lunged forward. The crazy witch was using the Heartless to destroy her own world and attack them, then try to get them to join her and pretend he didn't exist when he refused? Like hell. He plunged his sword into her back. "Don't turn your back on a Saiyan."

...no. Not like this. No matter what happened, the idea... the thought that she could be responsible for more heartache like she herself experienced, was unbearable to Jackie. As tempting, as alluring, as charming as the idea was, she would choose to stay on what she felt was the correct path. In which case, there was nothing more to do than heed the witch's words about where to find this castle, and capitalize on Dispatch's surprise attack, moving to thrust at the witch at the same time. "Deal's off, then."

The end of Dispatch's sword vanished into the blackness of her cloak, but didn't meet resistance. Wisps of dark smoke billowed from the point of contact, but there was no physical feedback. She glanced back at him. "I have enough unruly servants like yourself. You may perish."

"As for you..." Her free hand grasped the shaft of Jackie's spear, holding the point inches from her own face. Shadowy, wispy hands reached out of the ether to grip it at the same time, pinning it more effectively than the witch's spindly arms could. "You could be most useful to me."

Stepping towards her, the hands still trapping her spear, she struck the young woman on the forehead with her scepter, a green glow spreading from the orb and surrounding Jaqueline's body. With a slight aside glance, she raised up the earth behind her, aiming to throw Dispatch off the roof to keep him from interfering, or at least occupy him for a moment. "I'll give you a marvelous gift; one that will guide you to what you seek. But you'll find that, in the end, your only path lies with me."

Jackie recoiled from her touch, as her eyes flickered over to the sudden wall where Dispatch had been, a wave of regret compounded by her revulsion at her own actions flooding her. Unable to move, barely able to speak, Jackie defiantly charged her body in electricity. Maybe it couldn't hurt the witch, as nothing seemed to, but maybe on contact she would at least feel some of the pain Maleficent had put them through.

Dispatch sailed through the air. He'd nearly managed to dodge, but the pillar caught him on the chin. He just barely managed to regain control of himself as he tumbled over the castle wall, grabbing onto the edge. A quick kick off the wall was enough to get him back up onto the roof. He spotted Jackie charging up her lightning as he did, and decided that, just maybe, it'd be better to let her do her thing before he jumped back in.

Looking at her with one eyebrow raised, Maleficent didn't seem entirely unfazed by the display, but didn't look particularly worried either. "You aren't afraid of me yet? Very well. I will demonstrate my power further. Come forth!" Raising her scepter, she swept out her arms in an arcane gesture, dark portals opening in the sky above. Burning rocks began to rain down, tearing away chunks of the castle and even the landscape. As one shot past the ledge Dispatch was on, the scale became clearer; these were massive stones, some the size of a small house. Getting hit with one would be almost unavoidably fatal for most people.

There it was again. 
That feeling.
The falling.
The fear.
Sinking.
Down.
Deep in the pit of her stomach, Jackie confronted a feeling so overwhelming it subsumed the magic she'd conjured and the rest of her courage. Maleficent had been not only toying with her but she was also capable of easily performing vast feats beyond her comprehension. Was this her natural talent... or that power of the darkness? The meteors rocketing down gave her a jolt of energy, but still pinned her in place with fear. If one of them came near, they'd have no chance of stopping it.

So Jackie did what she did best, and chose to go all-in. If this was the only way out, then at least she could carve a way out for Dispatch. Focusing on how she generated her electricity, she attempted to force a negative charge, the hair on her arms and neck prickling and raising. If I mess this up there's less than no chance. I'll have to do it right or... else.

...That could be a problem. Dispatch knew he could probably survive these meteors, but he sure wouldn't be in fighting shape afterwards. Unfortunately, the only way to stop them would probably be to kill the witch. And since his sword didn't seem to work, he really had no idea how to do that. Only one possibility came to mind, so he sheathed his sword.

Then, with a scream, he surged forward, drawing back his fist. It glowed gold as he pushed his energy into it, and seemed to pulse as he slammed it into the base of the witch's skull. Surprise attacks had never been his favorite strategy, but at this point, it was his best shot.

Seeing them both prepare attacks, Maleficent cast another spell, cracking the ground beneath her and raising a circular platform, lifting herself out of harm's way. She sneered at the both of them as more meteors approached from above.

In a brief moment, as she reveled in her sense of superiority over them, another rock approached, shooting down at them at lightning speed. It was a little smaller, though. By the time it came close enough to identify its scale, it had already crashed down.

Strait onto Maleficent. And it wasn't a rock.

The impact shattered her platform and sent her back to the ground, reeling slightly. There was a green glow around her, no doubt the same spell that had stopped previous attacks. Apparently, it wasn't enough to completely stop a supersonic attack, but it mostly just dazed her and put her right back into range.

Dispatch's fist connected with her head, sending her stumbling forwards. The same barrier spell was still active, blunting the force, but it was easily powerful enough that it couldn't be shrugged off, especially when aimed for the base of the skull. This sent the witch unsteadily towards Jackie, off-balance from the unexpected one-two hit.

Jackie smirked and closed her eyes, waiting for the opportune moment. With as fast as she would have to move, her best best to react was her sense of smell. Even in the rain, the smell of burning ozone would be the first sign she got. Looking up again, she noticed some... Thing had rocketed into the witch, and Dispatch had scored another hi--

She caught a whiff, and moved her body, raising her arms up high, two fingers held up on clenched fists.

Lightning struck her, and the power alone nearly sent her reeling. Pulling it down and in, she let the roiling, coiling beast take hold in her, allowing it to absorb her own energy, away from her heart. Locking eyes on the falling Maleficent, she changed her stance, sliding her foot forward she pushed her arms up, and released.

For just an instant, Jackie was able to see the witch's eyes widen. It was the closest she came to expressing fear or shock at all. The bolt sent her reeling back, stumbling to the side as its energy arced over her form, shooting down through her and into the ground below. She spasmed and twitched inhumanly, glaring at them. A sudden surge of malice and killing intent washed over them.

This attack hadn't put her down. It had only made her truly angry. As she straightened up, the smile returned to her lips. There wasn't even a glimmer of condescending mirth in her eyes. "I see. So you've chosen to die now. Very well."

The castle beneath them began to shake as she raised her arms. One burning rock shot through the roof, a few meters behind Jackie, and a current of flames surged up from below. It seemed the fortress below had become a burning hellscape on the inside, and the outside was starting to resemble it.

The thing that had hit her from above stirred and got up. Now that it was up close and not moving so much, the figure was easily recognized as Gestalt. "What the hell are we fighting? I kind of expected that attack to instantly kill any-"

The surface of the roof began to break apart, cutting him off.

Dispatch smirked as he felt the wave of dark energy rush over him. A fight on top of a castle disintegrating into a pit of fire? Now things were getting good. He jumped up onto the parapet, bounding off of it to take another charged swing at the witch, intent this time on following up on it.

Throwing up a barrier of green flames, Maleficent smiled coldly at Dispatch as he rushed at her. The spell absorbed the first strike, but there was some give to it. It didn't feel impassable. Still, she stood on the other side, eyes locked on him. She had to have seen his fist pushing through her shield, but she still appeared unconcerned.

Gestalt stood up shakily, moving closer to Jackie. "So, um, I clearly missed a lot. And I see that my surprise attack didn't really hurt the target." This is really bad... I can't feel my right arm right now. It's totally numb from the shock of hitting something so hard. If hitting this person at terminal velocity won't do much, what do my attacks matter? He looked at Jackie, giving her a quick once-over. "Are you okay? You really look like hell."

Jackie was more or less frozen in place. The amount of electricity didn't seem to visibly harm her, though her body was coated in steam. Despite her brains protests, her body wouldn't move. That's bad. That's probably really bad... Can I speak? "Witch... Going... To... Destroy... World. Evil. Very evil. Strong. Lightning... Need... Potion. Stuck." Good enough for now.

Dispatch pushed through with his outstretched fist. The shield was giving way, he could feel it! But if he pulled back, there was a good chance it'd close up. No good. But he did have another fist.

"How's this?!" he shouted, driving an uppercut into the barrier.

The barrier was twisted beyond what it was designed to withstand, the surface rupturing and breaking apart. It was completely dispelled by the force of his attacks. Maleficent, however, didn't seem bothered in the least. She simply raised her staff while his arm was up, sending a blast of green flames at him, with the intent to send him flying back into one of the spires.

Gestalt clumsily sheathed his weapon and started to check Jackie's pockets. "Grunt twice if what I'm touching is the right potion."

Meanwhile, far above, a strange mass gathered. A black ball with a red center, as debris began to swirl around it. The clouds spun alarmingly fast, and the rain began to fall more slowly. Little bits and pieces of rubble around them were beginning to be drawn upwards.

Dispatch barely realized what hit him. The moment he broke through the barrier, all he saw was a burst of green, and suddenly he was hurtling backwards through the air, not able to stop himself. The wall of rocks did that job for him, though not without suffering damage of its own. As he stood in the crater, he caught sight of the void above him. Just like the one from his home planet. "Damn it!" he yelled.

Again he concentrated his energy into his fist, but no doubt the witch would be expecting another punch. So instead, he twisted, pivoting back on one foot, and with a scream, flung the ball of energy at her as hard as he could.

"What?!" She started, swatting the ball of energy aside with her scepter, with some visible difficulty. He could see her body heaving a little from so far away, from the exertion of deflecting this unusual projectile. "To think that you Saiyans are capable of such savage power..." The look on her face twisted with shock and rage. Having been hit with so many unexpectedly-powerful attacks had driven her into a bit of a state of alarm.

Maleficent retaliated by sending a ball of darkness at Dispatch. It didn't seem too powerful, and it wasn't extremely fast-moving. It flew over in an arc, wispy and immaterial.

"No... can't. Can't feel... Right... Bottom po-... pocket." Jackie's mind began to scream out against her defiant body, willing any part of her to move, to do something. There's nothing for me to do but wait while Gestalt heals me... Curses! If Dispatch hadn't gotten caught up with me in this, we could have... I could have... Argh! And yet, the worst was beginning just before her. The rain was stopping, the rubble began to rise of it's own volition, and a spot in the clouds seemed to gap into infinite darkness. The same that had taken her beloved Cliffs of Mirth, the happiest home she had. And it dawned on her that it was truly, utterly, finally too late to stop what was about to happen. Had she any volition of her own, she may very well have collapsed to the ground. "No... we...."

"We lost."