Piercing Light

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

"Hmph." Ryoko's shoulders shifted as she let out a stifled chuckle. The more time she spent with Salforge the more off cuff he seemed to become. "You throw a rock in any direction and you will find a willing rat, greed is a tenet shared by far too many." Ryoko mused. She was prepared to leave, but stopped as Salforge placed a hand over his chest. A small hexagonal object came out of his chest, he called it his heart. She took hold of Salforge's hand, and brought it closer to her eyes. "CI?" She read what was engraved into the steel heart. She had no idea why he was showing something like this to her, as far as she knew the two of them weren't very close. Perhaps he wished to become better acquainted with her, why was beyond her, she wasn't the easiest person to get along with. She let go of his hand. "So, you really do have a heart of steel, I was not aware such a thing was even possible." She was curious as to how he ended up with such a body, but she hardly felt the desire to pry further into his personal life, even if he wanted her to. "Come, we have an informant to meet." She said, walking to the door. "And don't go showing such a thing to just anyone, alright?"

She didn't think it possible, but the slums of Agrabah were even more unsightly than the ghettos of Hollow Bastion. People wore tattered clothing, and there were many homeless living in the streets. "Now this is pathetic..." Ryoko mumbled to herself as she walked over to a vegetable stand. One of the palace soldiers was harassing the woman attending the stand. "What are you doing?" She asked the soldier. He turned to face her, and his aggressive expression turned to that of a puppy being ridiculed for peeing on the carpet.

"T-this cretin mam, she-" Ryoko didn't bother hearing what he had to say, and slapped the man across his face.

"Rhetorical question you imbecile. I ordered you all to search the city, not waste time harassing citizens. Get out of my sight and make yourself useful, now." Ryoko said, her tone remaining calm and cold. The man stammered an apology, and ran off. In contrast, the young woman behind the stand thanked her. Ryoko glanced at the woman, and then to the vegetables. "Uh huh... try to store this stuff better, don't you know what this heat does to produce?" She shook her head, and went on her way.

As she made her way down the sandy street, she noticed something odd, a majestic horse in the middle of the road. The sight of a horse wasn't that rare, however, this animal was leagues above the other horses seen in the slums. She figured it must have been from a well groomed pedigree, and as she looked up at the man riding it, she felt the same about him. Not only was he handsome, but she could tell just by looking at him that he was strong. She walked up to the horse, and made eye contact with the man riding it. "That's a beautiful creature you have there." She said, placing a hand on the horses head. She tried to pet it, but the animal didn't seem to react to her presence. Ryoko grimaced, disappointed, but looked back up at the man with a smile. "So, what is someone like you doing here in the slums?"

_____

"Right..." Ace said with a chuckle. Rika didn't seem to respond to his gratitude, but she was quick to express how bad his choices were, and how lucky he was to have her on their side. "Where we're headed there should be more than enough supplies for all of us, and it's in a safe location." Ace said, letting out a yawn. "I could use some rest too..." He stopped at the corner of the alley, as he heard heavy footsteps marching in tandem. He backed up, and hid behind a large pot. As he suspected, a patrol of soldiers passed by.

"Damn, I thought we'd have a bit more time before they started hunting us down, I hope the others can make it back alright." He said, standing up once the men were out of sight. "The hideout is right across the street inside that tavern, let's go." Peeking out into the street to make sure the coast was clear, he moved across the dirt road and entered the building. The tavern only had a few patrons, locals that one could tell nearly lived at the place. The barkeep noticed him, and nodded towards a door to the back of the building. Ace sat down at the bar, and let out another yawn, he felt like he could fall asleep at any moment. "We'll head inside once the others get here, you want a drink?" He asked Rika, motioning for her to take a seat beside him.

_____

Shizuka grinned at Gavin, and lightly patted him on the back. "It's nice to meet you, Gavin. If my bestest buddy Lin says you're a good guy, then I'll believe her." She said, all too welcome to have another person she could call a friend. They made their way towards the tavern, taking a longer route than Ace and Rika to avoid suspicion. "Don't worry Gavin, you'll be in safe hands with us, I mean, we did kind of screw up in the factory, but that was an exception." Shizuka said, walking beside the red haired boy.

"I do hope we can find the girl that was in the pod, I feel like it's my fault she ended up like that." She said, turning to Lin. "She should be alright, shouldn't she? We would have heard something by now if she went berserk here." Shizuka asked, though she was only hoping to make herself feel less guilty than she already did. She had acted rashly by opening the pod without knowing what the consequences were.

Minutes later they reached the tavern and rejoined Ace and Rika. Ace opened the back door and waited for them to go through. The back room was a simple space, that appeared to be a storage area for the taverns goods. on the side of one of the walls, Ace pushed a shelf to the side, revealing a staircase to a basement. "By the way." He said, speaking to Shizuka. "Did you see any patrols on your way here?" He asked. Shizuka shook her head. "That's fortunate, but we should be careful, there's no telling how desperate they are."

They went down into the basement, and Ace moved the shelf back into place. It was dim on the stairs, but by the time they reached the basement light spilled in from windows just above street level. From one of the rooms, a dark skinned teenage girl came to greet them. She had short black hair, and wore a grey cloak. "Acesto, Shizuka, welcome." She said.

"Osa!" Shizuka ran up to the girl and gave her a hug. Osa patted Shizuka on the head.

"Still as affectionate as a puppy I see." She said. "So, would I be correct in assuming your arrival is the cause of the disturbance in the city?"

"Yeah." Ace said. "We've run into some trouble and need to lay low while we make a plan."

"I thought as much. Make yourself at home, that's what we're here for, after all."

_____

Asahina shifted, but did not back away as the man approached her. She did not sense any ill intent from him, for the moment, she believed he had no interest in harming her. He wrapped the cloak around her, which she assumed was another show of good will. His face was close to her own now, and she could see his features in full. Now that she got a good look at him, she realized he was quite good looking. She averted her gaze, and looked to the ground. She had no idea what her own face looked like at the moment, but if the claws on her hands were any indication, she looked frightening.

"Worth? Not sure." She mumbled. She understood that he was trying to be cordial, but he did not know her, far as long as she could remember she had not considered herself worth anything. The most she had been good for was the pawn of a mad man and a battery for his disgusting machine. Before she questioned her worth, she still needed to know if it was even worth living. She watched him back from her, his hands up in a show of non aggression. He told her the cloak was a sign of trust, but he had another. He pulled out a dagger, revealing that he had been armed this whole time, however, that did not alarm her. She understood how powerful she was at the moment, but beyond that, she knew she could trust this man.

He then told her that he would leave to find her clothes, she did not understand what he meant at first, but then she thought about it. "Nude?..." She looked down at her body behind the cloak, the darkness that covered her body made it feel as though she had a layer of clothing on, so the thought that the features of her body were obvious to anyone else had not crossed her mind. She shivered and quickly knelled down to the ground, wrapping her arms around her chest. "Quickly. Go!" She screamed, hoping he would take less than a few minutes to return with clothing.

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

Holding a hand over his eyes, Acesto looked off into the distance of the city. The royal palace could be clearly seen, it's rotund architecture looming over the citizens below. The Palace was once a symbol of the royal family, however, the Sultan had been stripped of his power by the Empire, and the Princess had vanished. He had always thought the Princess was dead, but what he knew now made him question that.

"You think Jasmine's in one of those machines too?" Shizuka stepped in front of him, from the look on his face she knew what he was thinking. "I think she's alive too, but how do we tell Aladdin? The girl in Hollow Bastion... What happened to her was terrible, Ace." Ace lowered his eyes from the palace to Shizuka.

"One thing at a time, we still don't fully understand why there was a human being in there in the first place. For all we know anyone could be a victim stuck in one of those things." Ace said. He looked back to the others, seeing Lin carry half a dozen apples over to them. In spite of the troublesome situation they were in, she maintained her cheerful demeanor and helpful attitude. "Try not to worry about it, Lin's fine isn't she?"

"Lin didn't see what I did. When the darkness from that machine hit me I-" Shizuka stopped talking as Rika huddled in between the two of them suddenly. Ever vigilant, she wished to know what their next move was. Shizuka looked to Ace for the answer.

"You're right, we do need to get off the streets. Luckily we have a place nearby. We shouldn't go there as a group, so we'll split up. Rika, you come with me, Shizuka, you lead Lin and that other guy to the hideout." Shizuka nodded her head, and walked over to Lin and Gavin. "Alright, let's go this way, Rika." Ace said, moving away from the others down the market streets.

Putting her worries on the sideline for the moment, Shizuka took an apple from Lin's small stockpile, thanking her as she did so. She pulled out a potato peeler from her pocket, and began to peel the skin from the apple. "So um, we're gonna get off the streets and go to a secret base we have here." She said, much of her attention on the boy with the red hair, he didn't seem to be holding up very well. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked. "I'm Shizuka, and this is Lin." She told him their names in good faith, hoping he would tell them his own."

Still walking through the street, Ace led Rika down an alley on their way to the hideout. Even between buildings, the area was still bright and smoldering hot. "So you hate me, huh?" Ace said plainly. "You're awfully frank with your feelings, aren't you? Well, I'd just like you to know that I appreciate what you've done for us, you didn't have to come back, after all."

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

Slums of Agrabah

The Princess of Heart was in solitude. Her body no longer recognizable to her, she thought herself a monster. Her pale skin was muted by dense black, and her senses betrayed her. She gazed at her hands, slender fingers had been turned into sharp claws that one could only imagine being fit for murder. It was dark, yet her eyes could see fine in the dim light, her eyes had become akin to a predator of the night. Her body twitched, and for a moment she lost control of her body, a primal instinct entered her mind, something ghastly and taboo. She was no longer sure if she was sane, for once she thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but now she realized that it was simply being reformatted into something else. Feeling returned to her body, she quaked and grasped at her chest in agony. Something inside of her was fighting the darkness that was attempting to kill her identity. She should count herself lucky, but the very thing that made her special was what caused this to happen to her. The pain was becoming unbearable, and as time passed so did her will to keep struggling. She cried, not only due to the pain but the despair she felt. Her tearful cries sounded foreign and disturbing, but she knew they belonged to her, for she was alone.

Her pointed ears perked at the sound of footsteps behind her, though her body only moved when she sensed the beating heart approaching her. A young man was walking towards her, fanged teeth clenched, and she backed into the corner of the room like a startled animal. "Huaa.." Her mangled vocal cords stressed as she backed away. The man approached her calmly, but her sharp ears picked up on his greeting. Her body went numb once more, her teeth snarled and she slashed the wall in beast like fury, cleaving through the stone with ease. "You. Threaten!?" Words growled from her mouth. She quickly regained control of her body, and quivered with fear at her own hostile reaction.

The man laid out food and water for her, her eyes widened, and her dark strands of hair wrapped around the items, bringing them towards her. She could not recall the last time she had eaten anything, without a second thought she quickly devoured the food, and dumped the water down her throat. As she tossed down the canteen, she head him ask her why she was crying. The question almost sounded like a joke. She silently glanced at him, and then down at her body. She wondered who wouldn't cry.

Thinking straight, much less talking, was a struggle. She raised her clawed hands, letting the man get a good look at them. "Asahina. Monster." She said, her eyes squinting in frustrated concentration as she spoke. "You. Can't help. Dangerous." She muttered regretfully. "Hope. Gone."

____

Ryoko raised a brow as Nomis exited the Royal Library. It was likely a good thing he had left so quickly, as she had more than just a few choice words for him. She wasn't the only one in the factory before it was destroyed, oh how easy it was to shift the blame to others. She let out a sigh, and turned to Salforge. He had questions of course, and she knew he was owed the barest explanation at the very least.

"A girl pure of heart is at the core of each of the factories, and frankly that is all you need to know of the matter. You have seen what has become of her, regardless of how pure her heart is, the amount of darkness inside has transformed her into a beast. We still have a use for her, so she cannot fall into the hands of those rebels."

Ryoko snapped her fingers, and a group of soldiers entered the room. The soldiers stationed in Agrabah were different from those in Hollow Bastion, guns were not a known commodity here, so they were equipped with more archaic weaponry such as swords and spears. The soldiers were given their orders, within the hour the entire city would be teeming with men searching for the Princess of Heart, as well as any Rebels.

Ryoko turned back to Salforge, lifting her head upwards to see him eye to eye. "I have a contact in the slums. I am going to meet them, and you are coming with me. If we were sent here, then it's likely those brats were sent here as well."

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

yeah, everyone in the factory was moved.

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

accepted.

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

Ace's frantic pace slowed in the middle of a hall. He could suddenly feel in full force the heat that pervaded the air, his mind had been focused on the mission, but for a moment he was pulled back to earth. Regardless of how nonchalant Rika was with the news, a troubling amount of information had been weighed on him, and he did not know what to handle first. He had never suspected that Cori was once a solider of the Empire, as far as he knew he was a trusted ally, always had been. He wasn't sure what to do with him, all he felt at the moment was frustration towards him. Ace took a breath, and focused on the other news that Rika had decided to glaze over in favor of berating him.

The core of the factory was a human being, a living human being. He wished he could be shocked at the Empire's depravity, but he was only further disgusted by the lengths at which they were willing to go for their own goals. A thought occurred to him, what would happen if they were to remove this person from whatever machine she was hooked up to? He could not pretend to understand how it worked, after all he did not even understand why she was there in the first place. However, he did understand that the forces of darkness were not something to be trifled with, and that's exactly what they were doing right now. He reached for his badge to call Rika back, but the screams of a girl stopped him, it was Lin calling for his help.

Thankfully he was on the same floor as her, and he was easily able to pinpoint which room she had yelled to him from. When he finally got to the room he quickly took in what was happening. Cori and Lin were here, as he had expected, however, there were three others here that were unfamiliar to him. Lin was beside a boy with red hair, there was a woman in the center of the room, and another man was off to the side. He had no idea who the two males were, but upon taking a closer look at her, he recognized the woman as Ryoko, an infamous member of the Empire. Judging by the body language of the young man, Ace could see that the only enemy here was Ryoko, and she was outnumbered severely.

"Another one, just how many of you brats got in here?" Ryoko scoffed. Ace ignored her, and turned to Cori.

"Why didn't you tell me you used to work for the Empire?" He asked. Ryoko, tired of being ignored, stepped towards him.

"The better question is why haven't you killed the traitorous bastard yet!? Also, again, how the HELL did you get in here?" Ryoko grumbled. She knew she was in a tight spot here, but she still knew what her mission was. She needed to protect the secret of this place. There were already multiple people in this room alone, there was no telling how far they had gotten down, some of them could already be... "Hey, where are the rest of you?" She demanded, Ace did not answer. "I asked you a questi-" Ryoko was suddenly staring down the edge of Ace's katana. He slowly turned his attention from Cori to Ryoko.

"I wasn't speaking to you, but if you want my attention so much, you have it. Cori, we will discuss this later, I hope you know that."

_____

Shizuka had stood to her feet, but she hardly felt okay. Her legs were shaking, and her mind was racing. Compared to Rika's calm demeanor she must have looked like a mess. "Cori's... what?" She hand waved the thought away. "Cori's one of us, that has to be a mistake. He wouldn't keep...something like that from us." Shizuka stammered, her eyes going back to the pod in which the young girl was kept. She watched as Rika initiated the emergency release. "You saw her face, didn't you? She looked like she was in pain... I hope she comes out of it okay." She said.

A voice spoke behind them, startled, Shizuka turned around. A man in armor was standing before them, how he got there, she had no clue. the man pointed towards the pod, and prepared to shoot something at it. "No!" Shizuka panicked, moving in front of the pod. She realized a little too late that moving into the path of an unknown attack wasn't the smartest thing to do, she only wanted to protect the pod, and the girl inside. With the yellow beam heading towards her, Shizuka hardened her foot into lead, and stomped the floor, a metal panel broke off and rose vertically into the path of the beam. She quickly turned around and rushed to the pod. The emergency sequence had been activated, but it required manual opening once the locks were released. Grabbing the side of the pod, Shizuka yanked it open an immediately regretted it.

A torrent of pitch black poured from the machine, quickly overwhelming Shizuka's senses and spreading throughout the entire factory, passing through the walls as if they weren't even there. She felt as if she had been thrown into a sea of ink, she couldn't see she could barely breath. There was a pressure on her like the weight of a gummi ship, she fell to her hands and knees, and struggled to not pass out. The Darkness was simply passing through her, and yet she could feel her heart buckling, rotting in the cavity of her chest.

Ten seconds passed, seconds that felt like hours of torture before it finally stopped without warning. The thick darkness was being drawn back into the pod, back into the girl that laid within. Her body shot upwards and fell out of the pod, her limbs stiff and twitching. Her hair was blue in color, and had grown out in the pod long enough that it was long enough to reach her feet, and was the only thing covering her nude body. The girl's body stood unnaturally as if she were a scarecrow, and she held her chest in agony. She was mumbling unintelligibly, her eyes darting around the room.

Shizuka stumbled to her feet, and gasped. Starting from her feet and the top of her head, the girl's entire body was being engulfed in dark. Her eyes turned bright yellow, her blue hair turned into black strands that hung in the air as if she were submerged in water. Her body convulsed, and she thrashed about the room, cutting through wires and pipes like a hot knife through butter. Eventually her entire body was had turned pitch black, and she stood still, her back to Shizuka and Rika.

Shizuka slowly approached her, noticing that for all of the darkness that must be inside her, she couldn't feel a hint of it from her. she reached out for her shoulder, but stopped when she heard the girl mumble in a distorted voice. "W-what?" Shizuka mumbled, not sure if she should feel worried, or frightened.

"Get... Away!" The girl screamed, knocking Shizuka away and into the side of a wall. The girl's scream was unbearable to the ears, reverberating throughout the entire building. Shizuka was fighting to stay conscious after banging her head against the metal wall, from her position on the ground she could see what looked like a corridor of darkness forming over the girl's head. It contracted and expanded wildly, before filling up all of her sight. Shizuka had never seen such a thing before, to simply open up a small corridor took an immense control over darkness, what this girl was doing was unfathomable.

Everything went dark, her body felt weightless, the next moment she opened her eyes she was somewhere else entirely.



Slums of Agrabah: Outskirts

Out on the sandy streets, a duo of men in shambled clothing ran out of a decrepit building. Their eyes were nearly popping out of their heads, and they were screaming out of the top of their lungs that there was a monster on the loose. Strangely enough, no one listened to the men. The sight of a couple of hobos ranting and raving was nothing new there in the slums.

Agrabah Market district

Shizuka was awoken by the sound of a busy crowd, and the glare of a blazing sun on her face. As she opened her eyes, she saw Ace standing by her.

"About time you woke up. Come on." He said, pulling her to her feet. She looked around, dazed and trying to tell where she was. "We're in Agrabah, I don't know how we got here, but I know for sure that's where we are right now. We visited this world while training, remember?" He looked to Shizuka, she let out a weak cough, and nodded her head.

"R-right, Ace, we need to find her."

"Don't play the pronoun game Shizuka, find who?"

"The girl that was in the pod, she was the core of the factory." Ace let out a sigh, and ruffled his hair.

"Dammit, I just knew something bad was gonna happen. Well, we'll look for her once we get settled, it looks like the others were sent here as well." Ace said, pointing towards Rika, Lin, Minoru, Gavin, and Cori.

Agrabah Palace

Sitting in a large extravagant library, Ryoko tapped her fingernails on the wooden table in front of her. Somehow, she and Salforge had been transported to Agrabah. She had landed in the royal palace, which was now under Empire control. She had placed a small compact mirror on the table, and was waiting for it to connect to a receiver. There was a click, and a channel opened.

"Ryoko, why are you bothering to call me?" A deep voice spoke, sending a shiver down her spine.

"W-well lord Emperor, the rebels have opened the factory core and let out the Princess of Heart."

"I know, I felt it, why are you calling me, instead of handling it?"

"I was hoping you could let me know how I am to find her, even the best tracker would not be able to sense even a hint of the darkness that is inside of her."

"She is no different from a common Heartless right now, Search for her, and you will find her, you are dismissed." The channel closed, and Ryoko let out an annoyed sigh.

"Salforge, we have our work cut out for us."

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

yeah, sorry, I'll be posting soon

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

Flora's accepted.

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

"Light as a feather, got it." Shizuka whispered to Rika, nodding and following after her. As they made their way through the claustrophobic halls, her eyes gazed down to Rika's feet. As far as she could tell, the woman's feet were touching the metal flooring at the same pace as her own, however, Rika was not making a single sound. It was as if someone had hit the mute button on her, silencing any possible noise from her. As adapt as she was in the art of stealth, anyone with eyes and ears could tell that she was being slowed down by the presence of a partner.

Shizuka took a deep breath, and focused on altering her body's composition. She rubbed her thumb against her fingers, and recalled the sensation of something soft she had once held in her hands. An image of a plush moogle entered her mind, and as it did her fingers softened and bent backwards. She tried to apply the same texture to the rest of her body, but her memory was stunted by something. She was blocking out part of the memory, a pair of caring hands holding out the plush to her. She let out a sigh, finding herself loathing this process once more, if only she wasn't forced to always remember the exact moment she first touched something, she wouldn't have to keep seeing his face, wouldn't have to keep seeing things that reminded her of what was no more. The rest of her body and clothing took on the light, flexible texture, and her steps turned nearly silent. Rika could likely still hear her, though she was effectively silent against the noise of the factory.

Carefully making their way around a corner, Rika had spotted a group of soldiers in front of what looked to be an elevator. Before Shizuka could ask what they should do next, Rika told her to stay put while she handled them, and handle them she did. Rika moved swiftly and silently, taking out one solider after another, seemingly blinking out of her sight as she struck them down. Shizuka nearly had to pick up her jaw from the floor, she knew Rika was good, but what she did exceeded her expectations. A quiet whistle let her know to come out of hiding, Shizuka walked forward, stepping over bloodied bodies. A thought occurred to her, that this is what Rika had meant by being able to take a life so easily. She was able to look death in the eye without fear, and deal it out in the same turn. Shizuka had seen enough death to warrant it being an acquaintance, but it was not a friend. She had trained to become a keyblade master in the hopes of finding solutions to conflicts that did not involve lethal force, needless to say she had not found an answer yet.

Rika told her to destroy the communicators of the soldiers, and as Rika began interrogating the only standing solider she did just that. It wasn't pleasant pilfering things from dead or dying men, so she moved as quickly as she could, gathering the devices and crushing them in her hands using a metal grip. Tossing the scrap metal away, Shizuka watched the exchange between Rika and the man she had on the edge of her blade. She would have to admit to being a little nervous when the man was called for a check in, however, Rika stayed calm and handled it without issue. The man gave them the directions to the core room, and was knocked out by an elbow to the jaw. "Impressive." Shizuka said with a grin.

Rika told her to take the stairs, Shizuka wasn't too sure about splitting up, but she trusted her partner's judgement in the matter. Rika took the elevator to the floor below, and Shizuka was left alone to head into the depths of the factory.

_____

"What? Lin, hold o-." Ace let out a disgruntled sigh and followed after Lin. "Cori, let's go, we don't want to be near Cerden when the Heartless find him any....way." As if on cue, Ace heard the sound of claws scraping against the floor behind him, from the sound of it, a group of at least five Defender Heartless had found Cerden. "Yeah... Let's get the heck out of here."

He went off after the rouge assault team member, wondering what it was that she had heard. Their goal was to ensure a safe exit for Rika and Shizuka, but he had no qualms with saving someone if they were truly in duress. What he was not okay with was Lin trying to go off on her own. Besides the fact that she was a friend, they were a team, and they needed to operate as a single unit. He kept pace with Lin as she walked, however, she soon broke out into a sprint. Ace moved to rush after her, but a pipe released a stream of boiling steam that cut off his sight of her.. "Dammit..." Ace grumbled as he wiped sweat from his forehead. The factory's temperature as well as it's humidity rose the further they went down, it made it feel as if they were descending into the bowels of a living creature. Ace kept a hand on his blade, and walked through the halls, trying to find Lin.

_____

Ryoko backed away from the scrawny man she had just forced awake, astonished by his late reaction to the venom in his veins. The pain hit him like a sack of gummi blocks, and he began to writhe on the floor, groaning in agony. Ryoko was in no rush to help him, and spent the spare time until it wore off to check her nails. She kept them polished, and sharpened them to make it easier to draw her own blood, but she wondered if she should paint them a shade of violet, it would greatly complement her hair.

The man that she could only only refer to as 'Min' since his introduction was cut off, eventually sat forward, and began to ramble incessantly. She had been called quite a few things in her life, but no one had ever outright, plainly called her a 'bad guy.' Ryoko couldn't help but crack a grin, this man was amusing, at least. He tried to stand up, and attempted what she could only assume was a pathetic attack. But his legs seemed to numb, and refused to move. Ryoko's smirk spread into a wider grin, and she had to cover her mouth with her right hand. The small amount of blood she had forced into him couldn't have caused any level of paralysis, so she had to wonder how in the hell he had ended up in such a state.

Even with a pair of rubber legs, the man threatened her, calling her an enemy to the light, and spouting lines she expected from a cheap sentai show. Her hand couldn't contain the laughter that then erupted from her mouth.

"Good lord, is the newborn fawn here serious!?" She held her gut, going into a full on giggling fit. Her legs buckled, and she fell over to the floor, just then, a blaze of fire passed over her, and headed straight towards him.

Ryoko's giggling fit stopped, and she looked up to see the young girl that had just tried to fry her alive. "And then there's THIS!" She yelled, still on the floor, extending both her arms out at the Chinese girl in a hyperbolic manner. She stood up, and crossed her arms like a teacher disciplining a student. "Who the hell are you? And how the HELL did you get past the guards? I swear some people are just completely useless." Ryoko shook her head, upset that the Emperor had been right in expecting the Unbound Hearts to attack the factory.

She dug her nails into her wrists, and black blood pooled into her palms. "There wouldn't happen to be more of you brats here, would there?"

_____

Heading down the stairway on her own, Shizuka had decided to try and remain as covert as Rika was when she was leading. She hugged the edge of the rounded spiral stairway's wall, and quickly but quietly eased her way down. "Do do duh, buh da bah, dah-da bah bahhh." She mumbled a tune to herself, building up the drama of her rather mundane method of sneaking. She reached the bottom most floor of the factory, and pulled on the collar of her shirt. It was nearly as hot and humid as a sauna. Keeping close to the hall's wall, she peeked around a corner and saw the elevator that Rika had taken. A guard had walked up to it, rifle in hand and ready to fire. Shizuka figured Rika could handle one lone man, but a tugging in her gut told her to take care of the man anyhow. She turned the corner and dashed towards him, her softened feet letting her close the distance without alerting him. The moment her hands could reach him, she hardened her arms into steel and grabbed the man, placing a hand over his mouth, and the other on his back. She slammed him to the ground, the impact to his head rendering him unconscious. The elevator had not arrived yet, but she decided not to wait for it and instead headed towards a large door at the end of a hall.

The door was different from the rest in the building, it had a valve instead of a nob, and was made of a thick, black steel. Shizuka turned the valve, and steam poured out from the sides of the door. The metal slab swung open with a groan, as if it wished she had not bothered to open it. The room she stepped into was larger than she thought it would be, compared to the tight quarters elsewhere in the building, this room was the size of a ballroom. And yet, for as large as the room was, much of it's space was occupied by large black tubes and pipes, all of which converged onto a single object in the center of the room. A large glass tube lay diagonally on a pile of wires that were connected to the back. Shizuka moved closer to the tube to see what was inside, but whatever it was, was obscured by a swirling dense miasma of darkness. She moved even closer, and pressed her face against the glass to get a better look. For just a moment, the darkness let her see through to the tube, and what she saw inside shocked her. It was hard to see, but she knew for a fact that inside the tube she saw the face of a human being. Shizuka fell backwards onto her bottom, and backed away quickly.

Solace In Night: A Kingdom Hearts RP

Well it's getting retconed. I told you I had plans for the factory, and then you decided to mess around in the most important part of it. so Nomis isn't in the real "Core" room, nor is it the bottom most floor.