The Axiom
“Sora, what happened back there?” asked Lewis, as Edna removed him from his car outfit.
“I…don’t know,” wheezed Sora, barely able to stand. “Riku was there, and so was Lexaeus, and they were hurting those guys, and I got so…so angry.”
“You unleashed the darkness within you,” said Lewis. “That’s why I was sent back to get you.”
“I guessed as much,” said Sora, regaining his feet as they exited the time machine. “But the darkness…it feels good to use it.”
“Sora?” said Lewis. “You’re not…”
“I don’t want it to,” added Sora quickly. “But it’s so…so powerful. I’ve never had that kind of energy.”
“And you won’t,” said Elsa, marching up to him. “How long have you known you had that darkness in you?”
“I don’t know,” answered Sora. “It just kinda…happened.”
“But why? How?” demanded Elsa. “We can’t afford to lose you to the darkness now. Not after…” Elsa seemed unable to continue speaking after this.
“After what?” asked Sora.
“Sorry Sora, we’ve all been through a lot,” said Judy. “Now, we have to decide what we’re gonna do with you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sora. “I’m a keyblade wielder. You need me to defeat the Organization.”
“But if you’re going dark, you’re too much of a risk,” said Ace. “We shouldn’t…”
“No,” interrupted Elsa. “We still need him going out there.”
“But, Your Majesty…” started Hiro.
“The prophecy is very clear about this,” said Elsa. “Whatever happens, there will be three keyblade wielders at the end. Keeping Sora here will not stop him from getting into trouble, so we might as well let him go and hope for the best.”
“Gee, thanks Elsa,” said Sora.
“Let me be clear though,” said Elsa. “I’m not sure I trust you as much as I did. I know the darkness was probably inside you for a while, even if you weren’t aware of it, but I can’t trust that you won’t suddenly turn on us like Riku did.”
“Elsa, I promise you, I will never surrender to the darkness,” said Sora.
“I wish I could believe you,” said Elsa sadly. “Come on in, we need to talk.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Lexaeus, placing the unconscious Riku into a bed. “It was like he was possessed. Riku never stood a chance.”
“But now that he’s had a taste of the darkness, he will want more,” said Xemnas. “I’ve sat back and watched too long. I will confront him myself, see if maybe we can draw the girl out too.”
“And how will you do that?” asked Lexaeus. “He’s too good. He may be able to fight the darkness.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” said Xemnas. “It’s in his nature to serve the darkness. After all, he was once Roxas.”
Lexaeus flinched at this. “You’re sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” said Xemnas. “The witch Naminé was trying to take the darkness from him before we…intervened. When I tell him the truth about who he is, the darkness should take control.” Xemnas turned to leave the room. “Tell Marluxia and Saix to help you heal the boy. Me and Xigbar are going after the boy.”
“HEY! YOU MOVED MY STUMP! I’M GONNA WRECK IT!” said the large 8-bit character on the video game console, who then climbed up the side of a building and started breaking things.
From the right side of the screen, another 8-bit character holding a hammer appeared. “I CAN FIX IT!” he said, jumping up the side of the building after the giant.
“Are you sure you don’t want to play Sora?” asked Penny, moving the joystick around expertly. “It’s so much fun.”
“I don’t feel like playing,” said Sora glumly. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now.”
“Suit yourself,” said Penny, her character fixing windows while carefully dodging bricks. “Hey Rapunzel, you up for a game of Hero’s Duty after this?”
“No way, you always beat me at that one,” said Rapunzel. “How about Sugar Rush?”
“Whatever,” said Penny, finishing the level she was in with great ease. “That Ralph guy must be super strong. I’d love to see what kind of damage he could do in a fight.”
“I can find out,” said Hiro, then backtracked a little. “Err, that is, if you want me to.”
“That’d be cool,” said Penny, starting the next level. “So, what are you guys planning now?”
“We’re still figuring that out,” said Lewis, staring at something incomprehensible (to most people) on the computer. “We don’t know when or where the Organization is going to show up next, and now that Sora is being affected by darkness…” He didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, because at that moment an alarm went off. “Found them,” he said. “We need to get there.”
“Alright, I’ll get ready,” said Sora, getting up off the couch.
“No way,” said Hiro. “We can’t risk you…”
“Let him go,” said Elsa. “He’s a flight risk, but we need him out there.”
“But…Your Majesty,” started Hiro. “We can’t send him out there alone.”
“That’s where Ace comes in,” said Elsa.
“M…me?” asked Ace.
“Yes, you,” said Elsa. “We need one of our resident geniuses to follow and observe Sora more closely, since you guys are quick enough thinkers you might know how to snap him out of it. And since Lewis is the only one who can drive the time machine, and Hiro’s building that robot…”
“I’m expendable. I get it,” sighed Ace in resignation. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Ace, I didn’t mean it like…” started Elsa, but the small chicken had already left the room.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” said Sora.
“I hope you can,” said Elsa. “Here, I’ve got a new spell for you.” A glowing ball appeared in Elsa’s hand, and floated over to Sora. “It’s called Esuna. If you get sick in battle, use it.”
“Will do,” said Sora, heading towards the time machine.
“Okay boys, welcome to The Axiom,” said Lewis as they appeared in what appeared to be a docking station in a spaceship. “Be careful though. The reading I got from the Organization members here…it was huge. It’s like they’re more powerful than before.”
“I guess beating most of their members is making them desperate,” said Sora, jumping out of the time machine. “Come on Ace, we have to find the Organization.”
“Whatever,” said Ace, much less enthusiastically as he joined Sora.
“Come on buddy, what’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“It’s just…I know I’m not useful in this mission,” said Ace. “Look at me. I’m a chicken. And not just as in a coward. I know that if something happened to me, no-one would care.”
“That’s not true,” said Sora. “Everyone back at Radiant Garden cares about you. I know they’d be upset if something happened to you.”
“You say that,” said Ace. “But when it happens…”
“Ace, I swear…” started Sora, just as a small, broken down looking robot crashed into him.
The robot blinked its eyes at him and lifted its cube shaped body a little. “EV-E?” it asked.
“Uh…no,” said Sora. “I’m Sora. And who are you?”
The robot blinked its eyes, and seemed to be looking past Sora. “EV-E!” it said, rolling past Sora after some kind of stretcher with a white pod on it.
“Hey, wait up little guy,” said Sora, running after the robot.
“Wait Sora,” said Ace, running after him. “We’re supposed to be here looking for the Organization.”
“Well, we’re probably not going to find them in there,” said Sora. “We might as well help him out while we look.” The group entered a busy corridor with robots rushing everywhere. The little robot was desperately looking everywhere for the stretcher, but was too short to see anything. Sora looked around, then spotted it. “Hey, it’s over here,” he said, motioning for the little robot to follow him.
“EV-E!” cried the robot, following Sora through the busy corridor, making many of the robots whizzing back and forth swerve out of their way.
“Here we go,” said Sora, catching up to the stretcher, then helping Ace and the robot onto the back of it. The robot driving the stretcher didn’t seem to notice the extra passengers. “So little guy, I didn’t catch your name.” Sora then noticed the writing at the bottom of the robot’s body. “Is it…Wall-E?”
“WALL-E!” said the robot, indicating himself. He then rolled up to the white pod strapped down next to them. “EV-E”
“Okay…” said Sora, unsure what to say. “Is…is Eve a robot too?”
“I think it might be,” said Ace, indicating some slits on the pod that might fold out.
“Is you’re friend broken?” asked Sora.
WALL-E blinked at Sora, giving the impression of not knowing how to answer. “DI-REC-TIVE!” said WALL-E, as if that explained everything.
“Um…okay,” said Sora, realising communication with WALL-E was going to be difficult.
“Sora, check it out,” said Ace, looking around them. Sora saw what he was looking at: all around them were people in floating armchairs, and every single one of them was extremely overweight. In front of each of the people were several screens, and all around them were billboards advertising a company called Buy n Large.
“What is this place?” asked Sora, thoroughly confused.
“This must be when humans were still solely in space,” said Ace. “I heard stories about this, but I never thought I’d actually see it. After the war, the humans deemed the earth uninhabitable, and were loaded onto a ship called The Axiom. The Buy n Large Corporation were one of the main builders of the war machines that caused all the destruction, so they felt responsible for what happened. They decided to assist the evacuation of Earth by building one of the ships to do so.”
“But why is everyone so fat?” asked Sora.
“The Buy n Large Corporation were a massive company,” said Ace. “You name it, they made and sold it. It doesn’t surprise me that they’ve made literally everything mankind could possibly need so that they never have to leave the comfort of those chairs.”
Sora was speechless. Could mankind really get that lazy? He was pondering this question when the stretcher went into an elevator, sending the group up into a high tower in the middle of a kind of beach resort. “Where do you think we’re going?” Sora asked.
“I’m not sure, but probably nowhere good,” said Ace, just as the elevator stopped. “Quick, get down.” Ace pulled Sora down behind the stretcher, and the two slowly followed it into the room. A hole in the ceiling opened up, and what looked like a steering wheel with a red light appeared out of it. WALL-E seemed to shiver in fear, then rolled off the stretcher to join Sora and Ace.
The wheel lowered itself to the white pod, and opened up the front of it. It reached inside, and pulled out a plant growing inside an old boot. “GO-4,” it said. A small robot with red lights on top of it appeared and stopped next to the stretcher. “DESTROY THIS.” A blue beam shot out of the little robot, and carried the plant away from the wheel, before driving into a hole in the wall.
“Is that you AUTO?” came a voice, as an elevator lowered an overweight man wearing a captain’s uniform into the room. He looked at the stretcher, and his face lit up with glee. “Hey, one of the probe droids is back. That means it found plant life on Earth, right?”
“NO SIR,” said AUTO. “THIS EVE UNIT OBVIOUSLY MALFUNCTIONED, AND CAME BACK BY MISTAKE.”
“That’s a lie,” said Sora, stepping out from behind the stretcher. “You took the plant out of EVE and told that little robot to get rid of it.”
“What the? Who are you?” asked the captain. “And why aren’t you in your chair? And how are you standing by yourself? No-one’s ever done that before.”
“I’m Sora, and I think AUTO’s trying to hide something from you,” said Sora.
“Impossible,” said the captain. “AUTO’s just the ship’s autopilot. His job is to keep us going through space until it’s safe to return to Earth. The EVE units malfunctioning is relatively common.”
“But this one didn’t,” insisted Sora. “I saw it. There was a plant growing in a shoe, but then AUTO told another robot to get rid of it.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!” said AUTO.
The captain seemed to think for a moment. “AUTO, reactivate this EVE unit,” said the captain.
“BUT CAPTAIN…” started AUTO.
“That’s an order AUTO,” said the captain.
“AYE AYE CAPTAIN,” said AUTO, plugging something into the EVE unit. There was a short buzzing sound, and then the EVE unit rose off the table, blue lights appearing where its eyes were. Its arms floated separately from its body, and it seemed to recognise WALL-E instantly.
“EVE,” said the captain. “Did you find a plant when you were on Earth?”
EVE blinked, then checked her front storage compartment. “PLANT? PLANT!” she said in a panicked voice, frantically checking everywhere around her for the plant.
“CLEARLY SHE IS NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY,” said AUTO. “ALLOW ME TO SEND HER TO MAINTENANCE…”
“She’s not broken. She had a plant,” said Sora.
“INCONCLUSIVE!” said AUTO.
“Unless we can prove it,” said Sora. “Ace, can you fit through that gap after that other robot?”
“Can do Sora,” said Ace, running towards the hole in the wall.
“I’M SORRY. I CAN’T LET YOU DO THAT,” said AUTO, suddenly turning the ship so that Ace skidded across the floor.
“Oh no you don’t,” said Sora, grabbing the steering wheel and pulling at it to straighten it up. WALL-E and EVE came up to Sora and began to help him, but AUTO was much stronger than expected.
“STOP RESISTING,” said AUTO. “I’M DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR HUMANITY. AFTER EARTH WAS DESTROYED, IT WAS DEEMED UNLIVEABLE! I CANNOT ALLOW HUMANS TO DIE LIKE THAT!”
“That was seven hundred years ago,” said Sora, pulling back against AUTO as hard as he could. “Things are different now.”
“THINGS DON’T CHANGE,” said AUTO. “MY PROGRAMMING SAYS THAT EARTH IS RUINED, AND I WAS CREATED BY THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS IN THE WORLD. THEREFORE…” Before AUTO could finish his sentence, there was a sharp tug, and the ship righted itself. Everyone turned to see the captain, struggling to stand properly, but doing everything he could to hold the ship steady. “IMPOSSIBLE!”
“Go kid, go,” strained the captain. Ace nodded, and ran through the small doorway after GO-4, just as the group lost control of the ship.
“CAPTAIN, I AM CONFINING YOU TO YOUR QUARTERS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY,” said AUTO, as the captain’s longue chair floated up and strapped him down. “AS FOR THE REST OF YOU…”
“Kid, get out of here,” said the captain as he was dragged away. “That’s an order.”
“Yes sir,” said Sora, running towards the door to the elevator. “Come on you two.” WALL-E and EVE began to follow him.
“YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE,” said AUTO, locking the elevator door.
“Not that way I won’t,” said Sora, turning to the window. “FIRAGA!” A ball of fire melted one of the windows, which EVE flew out of. Sora picked up WALL-E and threw himself out after her. WALL-E looked down at the ground and began freaking out. “Don’t worry WALL-E, this is called Falling With Style.” As if on cue, their descent slowed right down, and they hit the ground gently. “There, that wasn’t so…”
“SOR-A,” said WALL-E, pointing up at the screens. Sora looked at what WALL-E was pointing at, and saw a picture of himself, WALL-E, and EVE with the word “DANGER!” in big red letters.
“Uh oh…” said Sora, as SECUR-T bots surrounded them. Sora brought out his keyblade, ready to fight.
Ace emerged from the tunnel in what appeared to be a dock full of escape pods. Ace ran through the pods looking either for GO-4 or a missing pod. “I hope I’m not too late,” said Ace, getting close to the end and still not seeing anything. Right at the end though, he saw GO-4 loading the plant onto an escape pod. “Not so fast.”
GO-4 turned to see Ace, then looked at a control panel that looked like it controlled the escape pod. GO-4 rolled towards it, but Ace was quicker, running the robot down and pushing it away from the machine. GO-4 made another attempt to get to the machine, but Ace grabbed GO-4 from behind. “Hmm, let’s see here,” said Ace, opening the machine’s control hatch. “What happens when I play with these?” The small robot squirmed, trying to get away from Ace, but it was useless.
After a few moments, GO-4 seemed to shut down, then rebooted. The robot wheeled itself into the escape pod, then used its anti-gravity beam to give Ace the plant back. “Thank you,” he said, grabbing the plant and heading over to the control panel. “And goodbye.” Ace pressed a few buttons, and the door to the escape pod closed, followed soon by the pod blasting off into space. “That takes care of that.”
“But what takes care of you?” asked someone right behind him. Ace shuddered as he turned around, and came face to face with Xigbar. “Hey there little chicken.”
“Err…hi,” stammered Ace, backing away a few steps, then running as fast as he could in search of an exit.
“Aww, don’t be like that,” said Xigbar, casually walking after the fleeing chicken.
“…and that’s the last of them,” said Sora, knocking down the last of the SECUR-T bots. He walked over to a nearby snack bar and grabbed a tomato for Linguini. “Quick, we’ve gotta find somewhere to…”
“You’re not leaving already, are you?” asked someone, as a dark portal opened up and a man with long silver hair wearing one of the Organization’s black coats walked out. Sora immediately got on his guard. “Oh, what’s with the serious tone?”
“You’re with the Organization, aren’t you?” asked Sora, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
“Relax, I just want to talk,” said Xemnas. “I’m sure you want to hear what I have to say, Roxas.”
“Who is Roxas?” demanded Sora. “My name is Sora.”
“You don’t remember, do you Roxas?” asked Xemnas. “That’s okay, I’ll explain everything.”
“Stop calling me Roxas,” snapped Sora.
“Why? That’s your name,” said Xemnas.
“What are you talking about?” asked Sora, unsure what was going on.
“You are Roxas,” said Xemnas. “At least you were, when you were one with the darkness. But then that witch Naminé tried to remove your darkness. Luckily we stopped her, but by then you were too far gone. We have been searching a long time for what was left of you Roxas. Why don’t you join us?”
“Why? So you can hurt more people?” asked Sora. “Why should I even believe you?”
“Don’t you wonder why you don’t remember anything from before a year ago? When Roxas ceased to be?” asked Xemnas. “That’s because you didn’t exist until then. And you weren’t meant to. You’re what the witch failed to create: a version of Roxas with no darkness.”
“Yeah, because you killed her,” said Sora, getting more and more agitated.
“She gave us no choice,” said Xemnas. “All we want is to regain our hearts. And with Kingdom Hearts, we can do that. But we need happiness to do that. Is it too much to ask for happiness?”
“But why from kids?” demanded Sora. He was starting to get nervous. This guy was remaining strangely calm, even though Sora kept yelling at him. He wasn’t like the other members of the Organization he’d met.
“Because kids are innocent. They don’t know true despair,” said Xemnas. “Yes, there are plenty of adults who would be perfect for…harvesting, but children have much more innocence, which makes their happiness more powerful. But we need seven to unlock Kingdom Hearts, and we only have five.”
“Five?” asked Sora. “But…you only have four right? Spot, Jack-Jack, Nemo, and Riley. Who’s the…”
“Got him boss,” said Xigbar, walking past Sora. In one hand was the beaten but still conscious Ace, in the other was the plant. “What should I do with this?”
“I don’t care,” said Xemnas. “I’m only interested in the child.” Xigbar shrugged and tossed the plant away, which was quickly caught by WALL-E. “Now Sora, will you join us? We will let your friend here go if we can have your word.”
“Don’t do dare, Sora,” wheezed Ace.
“Quiet kid,” said Xigbar, smacking him across the back of the head.
“Let him go,” said Sora, running at Xigbar. Before he could reach him though, Sora began floating above him. “Wha…what’s happens?”
“Ah, space,” said Xigbar, still standing on the ground. “My attribute. You can say goodbye to gravity kid.”
“Why you…” growled Sora, trying to push himself towards Xigbar, when he fell face first into the floor.
“Or not. I can make gravity a little stronger if I want,” said Xigbar. “Now, I can’t kill you. Not because I don’t want to, but because we need you. So, how about you join us, and you won’t have to put up with ten times normal gravity anymore. How’s that sound?”
“I…will…not…join…you…” grunted Sora, trying to pull himself to his feet.
“Suit yourself,” said Xigbar, strengthening his grip. Suddenly, there was smoke coming from his robe. Xigbar looked down to see WALL-E was using a blowtorch on his robe. “HEY! You knock that off,” he said, sending WALL-E flying across the room towards a machine with a plant symbol on it. Part of the machine came down and crushed part of WALL-E’s head
“WALL-E!” screamed EVE, firing madly at Xigbar. Xigbar tried to use his gravity powers on EVE, but she was too fast, keeping Xigbar from able to affect her. Or keep Sora down.
“Hey Xigbar,” said Sora. Xigbar turned to see Sora jump at him. “YOU’RE FINISHED!”
“No I’m not,” said Xigbar, bringing Sora down to the ground with his powers. However, Sora began to glow purple, and was back up and attacking within seconds. “What? That…that was fifteen times normal gravity. How did he…” Whatever Xigbar was about to say was cut off, as Sora sliced clean through him with his keyblade. “Impossible…” he said, dropping Ace to the floor. Ace was just getting to his feet when a dark portal appeared on the floor, swallowing him up.
“I guess I shall take my leave,” said Xemnas. “Roxas, think about what I said today. You’re in your element when you let the darkness take control.” Xemnas walked to the dark portal he created and disappeared through it.
“You get back here,” snapped Sora, but the portal closed before he could reach it. Sora’s rage lingered for a moment, then he realised what had happened. “ACE!” he cried. “No…” Sora looked around the room and saw EVE trying to get WALL-E out from under the machine crushing him. “Here, let me help,” said Sora, grabbing the plant from WALL-E and putting it in the machine. The machine beeped and it began to rise up, allowing Sora and EVE to pull WALL-E out. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“FIX WALL-E!” said EVE, indicating herself. “FIX WALL-E!”
“Good luck,” said Sora, just as he saw Lewis in the time machine turn up. And there was someone else with him…
“Sora, I’m sorry I have to do this,” said Judy, pulling out her handcuffs. “I’m putting you under house arrest until further notice, at the request of Queen Elsa.”