Organization XIV - The Story So Far

"I could be wrong about this, but I believe I may be deceased." He said without a trace of irony. "I distinctly remember those 'Heartless' attacking me and stealing my heart, then oblivion. The same happened to everyone else in my domain, as far as I'm aware. Some of us have lingered as these... phantoms." The king waved his hand for emphasis, but he wasn't transparent or anything. "Hence my past tense, and the lack of people in the streets."

Walking over to one of the windows, he looked out of it. Despite this room being located somewhere in the middle of the castle's floorplan, the window showed the town in the distance. "The only lead we have are the Ansem Reports. If they are carried by powerful Heartless, then our only recourse is to hunt down and destroy as many as possible. But where have I heard the name 'Ansem' before?"

Jackie nodded. "If destroying these creatures is the way forward, then count me in. Ansem is not a name I've heard, but if we can travel to other worlds, as these Heartless seem capable of as well, then naturally somewhere along that trail we'll find Ansem."

Holding up a hand, Jackie let electricity crackle at her fingertips for a moment. "Whatever it takes."

Dispatch grinned at his companion's power. This ride was gonna get interesting, huh?

"I never heard of him either, but hey. We won't figure anything out until we start looking. Where are we headed first?"

"There are a few worlds nearby." Gestalt interjected. "We can go to the closest one. I think it's thick with woods and forests. The navigation system on Jacqueline's ship should be able to get us there safely."

"I will attempt to make travel easier." Reumos muttered. "Gestalt, show me how to open one of these dark pathways. If I can move between this place and Traverse Town, then perhaps I'll be able to acquire a ship. Having more than one between us will make it possible to split up and regroup more effectively."

The small swordsman nodded. "It might take a while before you can do it. You two go ahead; I can catch up to you after we figure this out."

Jackie nodded in the affirmative before heading to walk out the doors. As she neared the exit, however, she turned back to Gestalt. "We'll need you soon, Gestalt." She turned away, choosing not to mention anything about the dark paths Reumos had mentioned. 


As they approached the ship, Jackie called over her shoulder to Dispatch. "Got any nerves about flying in space? Steel them if you do, I'll need you alert once we hit ground in whichever world we get to next." Hopping in the ship, she made room for Dispatch to enter before taking off in a hurry, using the onboard controls to chart a course to the nearest world. The lights flew by, and Jackie had to resist the urge to stop and gawk. Time spent dawdling was time that the Heartless spent propagating, and they needed answers fast. Setting her sights back on navigation, Jackie punched it into overdrive, and before long the world came into view. "Seems pleasant... Almost like home." Jackie started landing prep, and turned around to Dispatch one more time. "Eyes forward, Wild Child."

Dispatch couldn't help but laugh. "I'd be pretty bad at my job if I was nervous about flying in space."

He looked around at the controls. They were really nothing like the ships he'd piloted during his childhood. But then before he knew it, the woman had slammed the ship into motion, nearly costing him his balance; he only remained standing by virtue of his tail whipping around in all directions.

By the time his surprise had worn off, they'd reached their destination. The planet was pretty small, it seemed, but it was rife with lush greenery. Could probably fetch a decent price on the market. Well, if the planet trade were still around. Dispatch paused. Right, the planet trade was still around. Not that it was his job any more. And he liked his new job better anyway.

A quick prompt from Jackie snapped him out of his reverie. "Yeah, yeah," he replied. "What's the worst that could happen? I can take anything this place can throw at me, and you're not too bad yourself...Thunder...Spear."

They had landed in a shady grove, away from the eyes of any locals. All around were trees and bushes in an array of greens, blues, and purples, in understated tones and strangely boxy shapes. There was a road nearby, a beaten path with no actual paving or stonework, little more than a hiking trail. There had been two large castles visible from the air, and the path likely connected them. Still, a more immediate concern was the darkness in this place.

Hidden in the shadows of the trees, dark, thorny vines had worked their way across everything, concealed by the brush and shade. There was something lurking under the surface of this place.

Everything here was strange. The nature and wildlife didn't seem to correlate to normalcy, let alone the atmosphere. Everything around them was tense and oppressive, and Jackie acutely felt the leering gazes of Heartless around them. "Ooh, feel that? The tingle in the air? Time for Professor Thunder Spear and Wild Child to work, is it not?" Grabbing her spear, Jackie twirled it over her head, electricity whipping and lashing about. The power surging in her hands, Jackie's eyes went wild and wide. "Come on then, Heartless! Come to us!"

To answer her challenge, a single, giant flower sprouts from the ground, up by the road. It's about as tall as Jackie herself is, but it's not very dangerous-looking. Aside from the sinister face and Heartless symbol, it doesn't seem like much of a problem. Still, it shoots a large seed at the duo. A few tiny shadow-creatures appear between them and the flower, trying to block their advance.

Dispatch slashed the seed out of the air, rolling his eyes. "C'mon, is this the best they can do?" He hopped forward almost lazily, stabbing the plant clean in the face and slicing one of the shadows in half. He sighed. "This is just busywork..."

Jackie took the opening to whip her spear around one last time, pointing it at the cluster of smaller Heartless, blasting a line through the group with a beam of bright lightning. In the after flash of darkness that followed, Jackie darted forward, swiping her spear across her body and taking one more. "The more we beat, the less they spread. Don't get lazy on me, now~"

Dispatch rolled his eyes, swiftly cutting through another three of the monsters, turning to split a fourth down the middle. "I'm just sayin', it's not like these guys are all that tough." He slashed another that had leapt at him, and it burst like all the others. "Case in point..."

Upon realizing how thoroughly outclassed they are, the few remaining Heartless scatter, fleeing as fast as their tiny legs will allow. Most of them dashed into the woods, but one of the little shadows darted up to the road, turning and following it away from the fighters.

In the absence of the creatures, however, that feeling of evil still lingered.

Still uneasy, Jackie sheathed her spear and took a cursory look around. Pointing down the road, she called over to Dispatch, "Would you want to follow that little one, or inspect the area for another road?" Taking a moment to think, she adds, "This area doesn't seem populated, so that Heartless is unlikely to harm anyone. It could also be a decoy, or headed towards the leader of its bunch."

"Gimme a second," said Dispatch. He closed his eyes, focusing. One way...a thick, heavy power, one full of hate. It had to be more of them. A lot more. Maybe even their nest. But as he tried to search elsewhere, he felt nothing. Not only were there no Heartless, there didn't seem to be anyone at all.

He opened his eyes and pointed his sword in the direction he'd felt the Heartless from. "There's a bunch of those creatures that way. But the rest of this place...it's empty. I can't sense anyone or anything. There's nothing alive, at least not near here."

"...so if the pattern repeats, then everyone here is evacuated or... gone. Which means we need to be careful and approach that nest, or keep looking around. I say we meander when the keystone is gone and we are safer to wander and explore." 
Jackie gestures to Dispatch with one hand, before gesturing at the path ahead. "You seem capable of detecting danger before it happens more than I can, would you lead the way?"

Dispatch blinked. "So...we should fight the big one? Because if that's what you're sayin', we're on the same page." He shrugged, closed his eyes again, and began walking toward the source of the Heartless.

The pair found that the path led in the direction of the Heartless. At least they wouldn't have to cut through the eerie-looking flora. After a while, they found a wooden sign, old and worn. It said 'Beware of the witch, Maleficent! Don't go any further!'.

The road looked less well-trodden beyond that point. Black, thorn-covered vines wound around the trees, choking the life out of everything they touched. This squirming evil had been present since they landed, but here it wasn't even attempting to hide. The sky was dark and gray with storm-clouds, the light was weak and without color, and there was a persistent feeling that they were being watched from all angles.

Further ahead, the forest gave way entirely to rocky crags, and a massive cliff. A jagged stone slope joined the barren earth to a black castle. In the distance, the gate stood open for them, like a challenge. Or negligence. The Heartless hadn't exactly exhibited much in the way of intelligence.

As they passed through the gate, it fell to the ground, locking into place and trapping them within the castle's walls. Brilliant green flames sprouted up on the battlements above as little cannon-like Heartless appeared, taking aim at the invaders.

Jackie's senses flew into overdrive, but a second too late: just as she scanned the room for cover, a Heartless fired and struck her in the back. Jackie's body flew forward, and she barely had time to brace and roll with the momentum before skidding along the ground. Reaching towards Dispatch, she faltered before nearly blacking out. "Gotta... Focus..." she muttered before forcing lightning to her fingertips.

"What the--hey!" Dispatch exclaimed. He glared at the Heartless. "Oh, so that's how we're gonna play this, huh? Lemme tell you somethin', buddy..." He launched forward, kicking the creature straight into the wall. "You won't live to regret that." He sliced it clean down the middle with no further ceremony, then turned his attention to the rest of the monsters.

"Sneaky little rats." His tail flicked. "Time to clean up."

The cannon-shaped Heartless - or rather, its pieces - went flying away, dispersing into darkness. A large mass slammed down behind Dispatch, not having accounted for his velocity. It belonged to a giant, rotund creature with a cheap-looking helmet and the same beady eyes as the weaker shadows. It completely lost sight of its target as it got up from its belly-flop, giving him plenty of time to cut it down before it would notice him and try to follow up.

Meanwhile, the rest of the cannons all paused and fell forwards, their barrels aimed straight for the lanky Saiyan. Not a one of them was still concerned with the downed Jacqueline, which meant they could focus on bringing down this assailant completely. They all fired in unison, all of their vantage points being about level with Dispatch.

Dispatch surged toward the fat monster, aiming to cleave it in one strike as he had all the smaller ones. After all, he was on a roll, why not go after the--

BAM!

One of them caught him in the side, and he immediately felt why Jackie had been downed so easily as he was knocked off his course, his ribs searing. Still, though he rolled a few feet on the ground, he managed to regain his footing. There was no way he was going to lose here. Not a chance. He rolled his arm. The injury wasn't that bad. Might be a problem if they'd all gotten him, but he'd moved enough to dodge most of them.

Alright. Ranged ones first, then.

The large-bodied Heartless swung at the empty space Dispatch had just occupied, its arm taking a few of the shots aimed for the Saiyan fighter. It was stunned from the damage, but recovered to pursue its target. It charged at him, belly out, ready to knock aside anything in its path.

Meanwhile, the cannons continued to train on the man, all aimed level. All fired roughly in sync, encircling Dispatch - mostly. His position on the wall meant he wasn't entirely surrounded. There weren't any cannons positioned outside the courtyard, so he wouldn't be fired at from beyond the building limits. And the wall made for a straightforward path for him to tear through, so hunting them down wouldn't be much of a pain.

Pushing herself up from the ground, arm shaking, Jackie looks back up to the battlements, spying Dispatch and the bulky mass behind him. Lightning would reach for sure, but she had little control of whether the arc would leap to Dispatch or no. Realizing the cannons were ignoring her, Jacqueline crouched, pulling as much energy from her reserves as possible. Sparks flew, lightning arced out of her body, and her eyes glowed. In a swift, fluid motion, Jackie stood, fingers splayed and flat, swiping the air in front of her and across the battlements to her right. "THUNDAGA!" She cried, as a massive fan of lightning poured out from her fingertips, grasping and cutting through most of the cannons, leaving the big one and just a few others. As she turned back to assess the rest, however, she felt light-headed, and the world spinning, collapsed onto the floor.

Spotting his companion's fall, Dispatch decided to end the fight. He held out both hands, a burst of energy destroying what few cannons remained, and leapt over the large one, slashing it one, two, three times in the back, not stopping to check on it as he made his way over to the woman.

"Hey! C'mon, wake up, it's too early to burn out! Besides, you've handled way tougher stuff than this!"