Master of Puppets [Open]

[Slash]

Searching, Iblis?

[/center]

Here he was, walking the more abandoned streets with his new creation at his side. He had to be careful to keep it from sight- he was already on thin ice due to his brother, and to be seen with such an inhuman thing...

Iblis was restless, Daniel could see. So soon after being finished, too...he wondered if he should tune down its aggression a little.

Master. Master, I sense. I sense something, Master.

At least the mind-link worked well. That was essential. Daniel replied back in a dialect that the creature would understand.

Identify source, Iblis.[/color]

Unknown source, but primary sensors indicate that it is of top priority. Must track it, Master.

Top priority...did that mean Vincent?

No, not Vincent anymore. Jericho. He'd heard the stories of the horrors that Jericho had committed.

Track it down, Iblis.[/color]

Jericho...if it was Jericho, then he'd stop the bastard right here and now.

___________________________


Soren looked out from the clock tower. He liked this place- liked it a lot. It was...peaceful. Serene. Maybe he could convince his dad to take residence here instead of Traverse Town...not that Traverse Town was bad or anything...whatever.

Randomly, a chill went down his spine. Something big was coming. Heartless? He didn't have a clue. This premonition felt odd, though.

It feels...feels like darkness.[/color]

[Axel]

Hi, again.
--------

He always seemed to end up here whenever he needed a moment to think. Before, he expected to find company waiting for him and remembered loneliness whenever there was no one here. Now, he sought out that solitude and found someone else invading "his" spot.

Upon closer inspection, Axel recognized the figure sitting on the edge. It was that winged kid from Destiny Islands. Instinctively, the Flame shot several wary glances around. When no crazy woman leaped out of nowhere to tackle him, he figured it was safe to approach.

"I see you managed to avoid the crazy woman on Destiny Islands for this long."

He sat down next to the bird guy and looked out at the oh-so-familiar sunset. "Don't think we were properly introduced when we met. The name's Axel."

[Slash]

Oh, hi. Do you feel that too, or is it just me?

[/center]

Soren turned to see the red-haired guy he'd seen on Destiny Islands. "Oh, yeah. I hitched a ride with that other guy, but he was really boring, so I left..." He shrugged. "I'm Soren. Nice to meet you without a crazy girl poking at my wings."

He looked around, nervous. That premonition was getting worse. It felt like something big was going to appear right around here.

___________________

They were below the clock tower now, near the train station. If Iblis was human, Daniel would have described him as on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

Large amounts of darkness sensed. Class B Heartless, with multiple Class D in tow.

Heartless? Here? Well, at least it would give him a chance to test out the link in battle.

Iblis. Execute Protocol 143. Identify targets and destroy.

Shadows began to appear. Iblis became a whirling display of blades and razor-sharp claws, tearing through them with mechanical efficiency.

_________________

Soren's premonition had been correct. Heartless began appearing below them, attacking some guy he couldn't really make out.

"Oh! Heartless! I'm going to stop them. I'd appreciate your help if you could give it."

He began preparing to fly down, readying his staff.

[Axel]

Heartless: Almost as boring as watching paint dry
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Heartless? Eh... Don't really want to waste my time with them.

The bird guy--Soren--was all-too-eager to swoop down and save the day, however. Typical of these heroic types, even if this one had an odd appearance.

I really just wanted to sit and think for a while, but whatever. A fight's good, too.

It was a long way to the bottom of the clock tower, but a Corridor made that easy enough. By the time he stepped out, both halves of Eternal Flames were in his hands, though one quickly shot toward a nearby Shadow Heartless, ripping through it with satisfying efficiency.

He was vaguely aware of some other guy standing there, but Axel paid no attention to him. Not as long as there were Heartless around.

[Slash]

I'm going to help!

[/center]

Soren flew down and began to attack the Shadows. The guy they had been attacking was just...standing there. He looked as if he was concentrating. Weird... "Hey, guy! You okay?"

Daniel's concentration was quickly broken, and he stammered. "Um, um, just give me a few seconds, please!" Soren wondered if the guy was panicking, but then he saw a metallic, snake-looking thing surrounding a Shadow and tearing into it. Could that be...? Man, that was cool.

More powerful Heartless began appearing- Soren knew this kind. Wyverns. They flew up into the air. Soren joined them, meeting them blow-for-blow.

He hated these things. Pathetic creatures, floundering about in the darkness...better off dead.

The exhiliration of the airborne battle was intense, especially combined with his hatred of Heartless, but Soren tried to keep himself under some control.

[Axel]

Have we met before?
--------

The Shadows were scattered in no time at all, but they were soon replaced by a much hardier breed of Heartless--Wyverns. They could fly. So what? He had range. He probably wouldn't have to use anything fancy, either. Heartless were not worth the effort.

His chakrams flew at faster and faster speeds, slicing into the flying creatures and exploding on contact. The skies of Twilight Town were filled with fire for a brief moment as his weapons' targets were consumed.

In a brief moment of reprieve, he took a closer look at the other guy present... and almost did a double-take. Hadn't he seen someone very similar here in Twilight Town before? Oh, right. When he had first seen Saïx after their resurrection, there had been some other guy. But Axel didn't remember seeing that guy with a weird creature hanging around fighting for him.

Wonder if they're related. Hmm...

"Hey, anyone ever told you that you look oddly familiar?"

That was all he had a chance to ask before another Wyvern dive-bombed him. He spun and slashed into it twice, sending the thing careening away until it exploded in a puff of shadow.

[Slash]

Do you know...

[/center]

The link was going well. Better than expected. As long as he concentrated, he could control Iblis's every attack.

But his concentration was once again broken. Looked familiar?

"Hey, do you know my bro-Ah!" A Wyvern dive-bombed him, and he fell back. He was no good at this. Embarassed, he pulled out his one move. A defensive shield formed around him as Iblis rose to attack the Wyvern.

Meanwhile, Soren had taken down a few Wyverns and was moving in for the last. The fight was already close to over, although the last of the creatures were putting in a good fight.

[Daniel used Seal of Protection.

Effect lasts for two turns.]

[Axel]

Don't ask me; I don't know anything.
--------

Axel caught the first part of the word "brother" and knew he had guessed correctly. Not that this knowledge was helpful in any way. When the Flame had run across this brother before, he hadn't even gotten a name before he had left the scene.

First things first, finish dealing with the Heartless. Most of the Wyverns were gone now, leaving just a few Shadows to clean up, which Axel did in no time flat. As soon as he was sure there were no more Heartless surfacing, he dismissed his weapons.

"So, he's your brother, huh? Nah, I don't really know him. Don't even know his name. I was a little more preoccupied with other things that day."

[Slash]

Strange...

[/center]

Daniel nodded, then looked around. Oh. Iblis was temporarily out of commission and was on the floor. That was the problem with having it work only by telepathic link- the second you stopped thinking about it completely, it decided to go dormant. Or perhaps Daniel had overestimated its battle capabilities and it was slightly damaged.

"You're lucky you don't know him. He's a monster in every sense of the word." Oh, he'd forgotten to introduce himself. He was bad with things like that. "Thankfully, it doesn't run in the family. My name's Daniel Carter. Nice to meet you, even though the circumstances could have been better..."

Soren, meanwhile, was looking down at the metallic creature that the guy had apparently been using. He reached down to pick it up.

"Don't do that-!"

Too late. The second Soren touched him, he got a violent shock. Iblis shot straight up into the air and returned to Daniel.

"Sorry about that. Iblis can absorb a limited amount of energy from direct contact from a living thing if it's damaged." He stared down at it strangely- you'd think it was talking to him or something.

After a few seconds, he raised his head again and gave Soren a closer look. His eyes, although not unkind, were curiously piercing. For a second, Soren felt like he was going to be interrogated or something.

"Those wings of yours..." he said, trailing off for a second. "You must be...Soren, is it? I know your father. James Grey?"

"Um, yeah. He told you about me?"

"Yes." He lapsed into silence, as if in deep consideration.

[Axel]

...Soren's not related to Sephiroth, is he?
--------

From what Axel could remember, the guy he had seen before wasn't anything like Daniel. That was a good thing. It meant it would be easier to carry on a conversation.

"Same to you. The name's Axel."

Would he be able to tell that Axel was a Nobody? If so, would he even care? Probably not. But there was no reason to go around broadcasting that information to people who didn't already know it.

Soren was having fun with that creature, apparently not well-versed enough in manners to know not to touch other people's stuff without asking. Daniel seemed to know Soren already, or at least know his dad. Weird. Were there other winged people flying around somewhere?

[Slash]

Perhaps this will not be necessary.

[/center]

Iblis had apparently taken a liking to Soren, and floated around him, hovering a bit above his shoulders. Daniel began to talk again.

"Soren...do you know who I am? Do you remember me?"

Soren, who had been watching Iblis's movements with a cautious eye, turned to Daniel. "No. Should I? Have we met?"

"Yes, but I suppose...Gabriel. Does that name mean anything to you?"

This guy was weird. What was he going on about? "No, not really. I-"

He was cut off by a serious chill running down his spine. That was a...Oh, man.

A great shadow appeared, spreading across the area and slowly rising. It took the form of a large, humanoid shadow-being with a huge hole cut in its chest.

Darkside.[/color] He had never seen any before, but that didn't matter. He was sure that this was a Darkside. Hatred, bitter and cruel, rose in him.

No, he couldn't let that control him. He couldn't kill this thing out of hatred. He would destroy it only to save the people on this world.

Soren rose up into the air, not noticing the sad resolve on Daniel's face as he decided to go through with something that was horrible but necessary. If he didn't remember...

Soren also didn't notice when he mumbled the words, "Iblis. Target the primary objective. Ignore all other stimuli. Activate the real function."

[Administrator]

The fun has arrived~!

As the Heartless rose, there was one who was hidden behind it. A mental compass--more like GPS, really--had brought him here. And he was going to help bring this creature down. After all, he shared no allegiance to a single Heartless. And this Heartless might just attack his bonded ally. Which made the Darkside his direct enemy, in fact.

But all this thinking wasn't getting anything done. A flash of multicolored light from each hand and his black longswords had appeared. The Chaosling then charged, letting his feel for the battle take over as it always did. Leaping from his vantage point, which was actually up on the clock tower, Ava gave a loud cry of, "Time for dying~" as he began to fall towards it.

Unfortunately, he was slightly off, so he began to fall past it, but his swords dug into its back and he stopped his plummet. "Time for action," Ava muttered as he climbed the thing's back with his swords. Eventually, he reached the shoulder and climbed up. He steadied himself; the creature moved around a lot. After doing so, he prepared his offense and attacked.

First, a stab with the left, followed by a right to left slash with the right. Then, without even pulling back the left sword, a descending slash to the right with the left and a stab with the right. The right moved into an ascending leftward slash, and the left completed the cross with a descending slash across the center. He then formed a box around it with slashes, and stabbed the center. The shape flashed a moment, but it was nothing, just random chaos energy flaring.

[Axel]

Oh, good. My stalker's here.
--------

Another Heartless showed up, this one a Darkside. While it would be intimidating to many people, the sight of the Heartless meant nothing to Axel. He could probably stand out of range and not worry at all about getting attacked. Not having a heart had at least one perk.

Soren once again wore his hero card on his sleeve and determined to attack the thing, probably to save the town or some other inspired reason. But the one who was doing the most damage at this point was Ava, who had appeared out of nowhere. Figured.

I suppose I might as well...

The chakrams were in his hands once more, and flames propelled them along their way until they exploded against the Darkside's right shoulder.

[Slash]

The Gabriel Unit.

[/center]

I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I'm sorry for reneging on the gift we gave you. I promise I will give it back soon- but now I need your help.[/color]

Iblis executed its main function. There was a silver blur, and then nothing. Soren froze in the air for just a second, but inside his mind hours and even days were passing.

Gabriel.

A warmth surrounded him as he slept, images passing slowly through his mind. Dimly, he could hear voices outside of the comforting emptiness he was born to.

"The processes are running smoothly, and the mutation was a success. He will be fully capable of flight, as well as other abilities suited to his purpose."

"Good. And the indoctrination process?"

"It is proceeding smoothly."

He didn't understand the meaning of the words they spoke, nor did he care. For now, the only thing that mattered were the dreams.

____________________________

"We have to. We can't be responsible for creating something like this."

"I know, I know. But if the others were to find out..."

"Don't worry about that. We'll reprogram him to different codes. They won't be able to reach him. And his false memories will be practically impenetrable. I'll take him into hiding until they give up."

"Okay. I'll begin the procedures. Poor child...at least now he'll have a chance to be something other than a weapon. We'll suppress his abilities with this new personality."

A young man with blonde hair and bright green eyes behind large glasses looked down at him. "Soren. That will be your new name. Say it. Sor-en."

____________________________

What was his name? He was back in the emptiness that had once been so familiar to him, but now he felt lost. Was he Soren? Who was he? Where was he from? What was real?

A series of images and sounds ran through his head, revealing the answer.

Please, stop. I don't want this. I don't want to know this. Please stop. Please. Please!

His protests grew with his horror, but nothing could stop the unwelcome memories that were breaking through to him.

No!

_____________________________

There was a great, blinding flash of light where Soren had been, and a high-pitched screech just barely at the limits of the range of human hearing. It seemed to go on forever, and Daniel recognized it for what it was- the cry of a creature just born.

The light faded, and the screech ceased- and in the place of Soren was something else, something that could be glimpsed for only a second before it became a blur of motion. The Darkside was attacked by something that could not be traced, something horribly efficient in its attacks and unrelenting in its brutality.

All of a sudden, it was over. The figure landed.

Daniel approached it cautiously. Had the fusion with Iblis been successful? If he had suceeded, then Soren's personality had been shattered completely, to be rebuilt at a later date. It should be subservient. A telepathic link was beginning to form, but would take a while- at least he knew that part was successful.

"What is your name? Do you remember it now?"

"I am...I am..." To Daniel's surprise and dismay, he fell to his knees. A tear could just barely be glimpsed.

"My name is Gabriel. Soren Grey never existed."

Soren-no, Gabriel- wanted to scream. He wanted to run from all of this, or fight this man. Daniel Carter. Gabriel remembered him now.

Why? Why did you do this to me?[/color] He found it impossible to conjure up any sort of hatred for the scientist, and knew that he would never be able to attack him or leave him. No, that was what the creature had been for. Iblis was now a part of him, and would make its presence in his mind known.

You bastard,[/color] he tried to say, but all that came out was "Master."

Daniel was horrified. No. There weren't supposed to be remnants of the Soren personality. Now that there were, Gabriel would suffer. He'd taken back his one gift and replaced it with misery. But what else could he do? Gabriel was necessary to defeat his brother.

I'm so sorry, Gabriel. I'm so sorry.[/color] The telepathic link was not strong enough for this to be carried over yet.

[Administrator]

Not much to see, huh?

Ava was about to continue attacking when the creature's darkness was rent asunder and he plummeted to the ground, accompanied by a softening darkness. Chaos pulsed around him, and his swords vanished in a puff of multicolored smoke. Getting up at this point, the Chaosling watched the strange conversation--or half-conversation, rather--go on between the winged person and the man.

Turning his head to look at Axel, and surveying him with the mental connection, he found the Nobody to be perfectly fine. Nothing was wrong with him; he didn't sense anything bad from Aerith, either. "Heya Axel. Nice to see you again." Turning to face the other two, Ava grinned and waved. "I'm Avarice Entropy, Chaos Incarnate. You can call me Ava, though."

Looking from one to the other, he finally laid his gaze on the one that didn't have wings. The one who did have wings was Gabriel, it seemed. The other one... "What's your name?"