Pandemic
You guys asked for it so here it is, the sequel to Outbreak. Sorry it has taken a while but I wanted to have the basic premise of the story ironed out before I dived into another epic tale. Hopefully it all goes well and you guys like it, otherwise kindly point out what you don't like and leave the pitch forks down by your sides.
For newcomers I strongly recommend reading the first one before reading this one just for your sake because although I try to construct a summary of the last tale in the beginning of this one I leave out a few key things that you will most likely need to enjoy this to its full extent.
This an Akuroku tale so if you do not enjoy that kind of thing you might still enjoy this because its not the main plot but if you really hate it I suppose this story isn't for you.
This is written for the intent of enjoyment so please enjoy and let me know what you think of it as well as any critiques you see fit to tell or opinions on where you think the story should go. You guys have no idea how much of what you said got worked into the story because I thought it sounded so good. Also sorry for any spelling errors, I proofread this all myself so a few might slip by my radar.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that belongs to Square Enix, Disney, or any other company.
So without further ado, Pandemic
So much has happened, changed, corroded and been erased in front of my eyes that it sometimes doesn't feel real. More than anything I wish that I could have known what was going to be around the next bend but then again if that were true I probably would never have gotten out of bed. I only can keep walking, walking and hoping that everything will be ok.
An explosion coursed through Normandy City killing thousands instantly as it long fingers of destruction ranged out further from the park it originated from with next to nothing hindering its progress. Additional explosions rang out as the fire reached unguarded gas lines creating a disaster that would ring out through the ages like a lone bell tone.
But among the midst of it all stood one lone figure that stuck out in the panicking crowd that filled the streets with their swarming bodies. He had matted down spiking blond hair and his blue sweatshirt had the tinged look to it that often came from standing next to a sudden onslaught of fire. He stood still, as if paralyzed, as the mob of people slowly ran away to leave him standing alone in the explosion reddened street.
His fear filled eyes could only watch as everything he knew got destroyed while all the while a mass of soldiers covered from head to toe in gear, walked through the flames towards him, their faces hidden beneath dark gas masks. With the flames still alive behind them they looked like a satanic army on the march.
A soldier that radiated an air of authority stepped forward and simply said with no remorse, "Because…you're a Nobody."
This was all swept away a moment later to reveal Hojo leering out from behind his glasses, his cold grey eyes watching every move the blond child that was simply known as Subject Seven made with calculating precision. A pen was in his hand, a blur from all the writing he was doing in such a short time, but the subject, whose real name was Roxas, could care less about the man's words per minute as he struggled to survive the intense training he was being put through by Sephiroth. This man believed only two things worked when it came to training someone, fear and pain.
And he had his master's degree in both of these categories.
The long sword that was Masamune cut through the air with ease as Roxas did a quick handspring backwards, careful to keep his distance from the high walls that leered down around him in the training facility that was in a subsection of the military branch he was currently located in. His faded white tennis shoes slid across the upraised ground as he quickly darted to the left to dodge yet another swing from the silver haired man to only retaliate with a swing from his keyblade that was summoned gracefully to his hand a mere mili second later.
The yellow hilted grey keyblade was swung with ease as if his muscles had been made for such motions but the blow ended in failure as Sephiroth seemed to fade into nothingness just as the ground gave way beneath Roxas, sending him into a giant vat of water below.
The water shot up from the force of his fall and splashed into the sides as Roxas sank out of sight for a single moment before he burst through the surface gasping for air as well as in surprise. Looking up he saw a menagerie of scientists that stood along the top rim of the hole peering down at him with masks obscuring their features. In his initial attempts not to panic Roxas grasped at the sides in a pathetic effort to find a hold but his fingernails scrabbled uselessly against the metal in his search.
The sound of metal sliding against metal alerted him to look back up to see the hole beginning to close dimming the light that shot in as it slid close. His eyes widened in a silent no as he couldn't help but start to breathe rapidly in his upped anxiety. The last thing he saw in the disappearing light was a heavy built man take off his mask to reveal a particularly shaggy man who had a crooked smile adorning his face as well as blood leaking down the side of his face.
And then there was darkness.
Roxas treaded in the water as he fought the panic that began to settle into his very bones. But as soon as his rapid heart rate began to settle down the muscles on his back began to squirm and writhe in a convoluting way. Unable to see what was happening, all he felt next was a fierce pull of skin before the pain worsened and eclipsed his entire body in one single moment that seemed to happen outside reality. He convulsed and seized in a sporadic fit as two new appendages shot out of his back in a vicious display while all the while he sank further into the darkness of the water.
"ARRGHHH!" His scream of pain and fear erupted forth in a cascade of bubbles as he fought against the mounting horror of the situation.
He didn't have long to wait though as a door opened suddenly in the side of the tank releasing all the water out along with Roxas as both he and the liquid were dumped unceremoniously into a bed of grass. He fumbled about as he fought to stand only to dimly recognize the area he now lay in as the forest that surrounded his prison. Hauling in a long breath he stood while his hands explored his searing back to find two feathery appendages sticking out in an awkward way and were covered in silky fluids.
The sound of explosions caused his head to whip backwards to see a column of flames envelope the building he had been in mere moments ago. In mere minutes the whole west side of the institution was consumed in simmering flames that were still spreading with no hints of stopping.
His eyes narrowed in hatred as he turned back forward and began to walk deeper into the menacing forest which was soon transformed into a fast run as he tried to get as far away as he could from the place that would soon be the source of so many nightmares.
The densely packed forest became clearer and clearer as a voice floated by that said, "Ok Rucksack, names Axel, got it memorized?" Roxas whipped his head about but saw no one in the woods and only felt a growing dread that was forming in the pit of his stomach with each second that passed urging him to run faster.
Bending his head down he tried to go even faster but when he looked up the he saw that the forest had ended abruptly and he now stood in a torn apart city block where both destruction and huge mars of black stains littered the area like flies on a piece of rotting meat. Dust seemed to cover everything and floated through the air lazily giving the city a sense of age. Silence ranged outwards leaving the sound of his breathing the only thing around.
He started to walk forward again refusing to look at all the signs of an attack on the area and instead started to head towards the building that shot out above the rest and had an almost incomprehensible sign that read 'Hollow Bastion.' The sound of claws scratching against the rough surface of the road brought his attention back to the front where he saw yellow eyes bobbing up and down in the all the corners that could be seen.
No escape route was to be found.
He took a step back in surprise just as his brain exploded in mind altering pain that seemed to be splitting his head apart at the seams. The pain honed into the very fabric of his being but soon was gone when he was ripped away from the front of the hotel by a powerful force that sent him careening into a black filled grocery store where a blue vested man handed him a list with the fateful name "Sora." A mop of red hair appeared in the corner of his vision just as two black cloaked people rushed at them from the back corners of the grocery store while the air seemed to filled with the fading bodies of the deceased heartless that littered the floor.
Running from his pursuers, he ran out of the ajar front door that had long since been ripped off its hinges and stepped out into the open where he found himself out into a raging windstorm on a roof. A low growl behind him alerted him to the giant Heartless that was clawing its way out of ripped apart elevator shaft with its maw of a mouth hungering for him. Blackness dripped down from its mouth like a flowing river that needed to be staunched.
This time Roxas found he felt no fear as he calmly walked backwards to the edge of the roof he stood on and fell off the side of the building just as a claw swept forward towards him. He turned over and expanded his wings and flew off into the night sky only to have the world start to melt away a second later to leave him flying straight at the ground. His wings did the best they could to slow him down but he rammed into the ground violently, his wings bent at odd angles, as he stood up to only find himself surrounded by blue adorned Nobodies that had either guns or hands glowing with power pointed at him.
The blond haired teenager summoned his keyblade in a flash and ran to do his best to finish them off but this too was only felt for a brief moment before the worlds slipped away once more to reveal him standing in an underground basement as a woman with long golden hair bled out in front of him while Sephiroth pulled his slick sword out of her quivering body before looking up at him with a low glowering smile as he said. "Glad to have you back."
Hands grabbed onto him as a multitude of faces whizzed by in quick succession with him recognizing Xemnas, Xigbar, Lexaeus, Marluxia, Larxene, Xaldin and Saïx. The last one stepped forward out of the rotation and grabbed the base of Roxas' wings roughly picking him up only to smash him down on the ground again a second later.
Roxas pushed off of the ground and tried to scramble away but a hand was placed firmly on his neck and forced him back down to the ground as the man crouched over him. The sound of the man panting above him made his insides squirm and scream but it was made worse a second later when his head was wrenched up and teeth leered down to tear in to his neck despite his struggling.
He looked up as they drew nearer to see that in the room stood five other people with blackness sprouting up from under their skin to cover their bodies, their eyes deep pits of nothingness. A sixth person stood in the background with a single wing on their back looking at him with sickly slitted green eyes. Roxas knew they were the subjects that had come before him.
They began to walk closer with the sixth one staying in the back to watch as Saïx drew nearer enjoying the moment. They never met their mark though as another flash of light left Roxas deposited in a desolate room where his body did its best to pathetically crawl towards an open door dragging his useless mangled body behind him. He could hear the sounds of heartless crying out in bloodlust and anger nearby but he ignored them in favor of concentrating on getting to the exit which seemed to be getting farther and farther away with each consecutive pull forward he made until it was completely out of sight.
He briefly saw a flash of two faces, one that he thought was Hayner and the other had vivid green eyes that scorched his very soul.
"Can't even be defined as human," was spoken next as a giant hole was ripped into his heart by the force of these words as he spasmed on the floor watching the colors drain out around him leaving the environment devoid of color.
The pain slowly deadened away and left him lying there breathing hard until a smooth voice flowed into his ear drum prompting him to move. A female voice spoke something incoherently as Roxas stood to his feet to see a brief flash of a beautiful cityscape flashed before his eyes before the darkness returned and along with a hand that reached out and grasped his neck choking him violently. His hands scraped uselessly against the force until his breath returned in one glorious moment leaving his head swimming as words were pushed into his brain.
"You were a horrible mistake Roxas, one that the scientists that created you were to blind to see at the time and even now. All they see is what you can do and not the future of the entire world that you jeopardize."
"And most likely, it's going to kill you."
"Normand City, boasted as the safest city ever created, was made by the military to be a giant test tube to develop and test the Heartless virus they had created."
"There is still hope; there is one last chance for the fate of the world."
As he came back to his senses he watched as colors swam violently until he found himself standing in the attic of the library judging by the book scattered everywhere. He stood up and expected the scenery to change any moment when his attention was brought forward by a single sentence, "You found me Roxas." Looking up upon recognizing the voice from before, he briefly saw a pale blond girl holding her hand out to him before an earthquake brought the room down around them.
After a moment of darkness the rubble parted too accompanied by the noise of single gunshot that left him feeling empty and filled with guilt. The particles of black started to dissolve until he stood on the roof of the hotel he saw earlier along the edge peering down. The sense of utter hopelessness enveloped him but a hand grabbed and brought him back where he met a rough pair of lips in a course embrace as two people tried to express so many things at once.
A strange emotion burst up in his heart that took him a moment to recognizes as happiness before everything was scattered away in a gust of wind that whipped up. Once in settled down Roxas reopened his eyes to see his arms hugged the pale blond haired girl who had pain laidened eyes and quivering body that was on the verge of death.
Naminé.
Instantly Roxas knelt down and brought her close as he refused to accept what was happening. She lifted up a single hand to caress his face while she whispered her last words, "Don't forget me."
A second later her hand fell and her body went still. The pain of losing her was felt anew as Roxas lunged out towards the man he knew would be standing there with his slatted green eyes peering at him with a crooked smile that clearly said he was enjoying Subject Sevens pain.
Roxas let out a low growl which was punctuated by the blackness that roared out from under his feet as a twisted black keyblade that was summoned to his hand. The roof seemed to shoot up into the sky while they launched themselves at one another in a fight to the death. Swords clashed seemingly issuing the command to the lightning to fly out of the clouds and pierce the ground around them as blackness battled the one winged angel.
Falling back, Roxas watched indifferently as a shot of lightning struck the man that had caused him so much pain ending his existence in one giant herald from god. Disgust lined his face but not for long as surprise took its place when his limbs began to ignore his commands and act on their own to grasp his keyblade tightly and held it high in an unknown proclamation.
He felt sweat trickle down his face along with the rain as his eyes caught sight of the man that had cold amber eyes that watched him with sadistic pleasure when he was forced to plunge the keyblade into his chest sending blackness shooting out from his chest to cover every inch of his taut muscles. He fought vigorously against the onslaught of power but was ultimately dragged under into their depths with a sound laughing fill his ears.
"You never did find out what power the keyblade holds did you…oh well I guess you never will."
Bright yellow eyes opened to reveal a massacre in progress as torrents of Heartless flew through the streets to cut down screaming and struggling people. It slowly dawned on him that he was a part of it all as his animalistic eyes caught sight of his bloody claws and tasted the iron coating his fangs.
An animalistic scream roared from deep within him to explode out as he cried out in pain, fear, and loathing.
As he clutched at himself to try and contain all the emotions roiling through him he saw out of the depths of all the darkness that surrounded him a pair of glowing red eyes that leered out at him from the shadows with a Cheshire cat smile. The red eyes radiated a slew of emotions that seemed all focused on him. Slowly it was coming closer and closer, the crimson eyes becoming wider with each second that passed until it was almost upon him.
Its black hands outreaching, glowing scarlet eyes leering until he felt his very soul quake with fear.
All the while the hands were drawing nearer.
Roxas' dark blue eyes jutted open with his pupil's pinpoints as he jolted awake and out of the nightmare that had held him in its grips moments prior. His sudden movement had left him sitting upright and dangerously out of balance on the tree limb he had been sleeping in. His hand whipped out to steady himself against the rough bark causing slight abrasions in the palms of his hands but his hands stayed where they were despite the slight pain that was elicited from the steady pressure he was applying to the branch.
This made him wince on the inside as his eyes did a routine sweep of his surroundings checking the perimeter for any threats that could be nearby that might have woken him up. It was hard to see in the darkness but his eyes knew how to see in such little light from his time at the institute with the training he had been put through.
No danger was to be seen though and he only saw the nearby camp that was filled with sleeping Nobodies and all the trees that surrounded the clearing they lay in.
It was only after three consecutive sweeps that reaped the same results did Roxas finally let his grip on the tree loosen up and feel his heart start to slow down until it settled back into his natural rhythm. His back relaxed as well allowing him to settle back down in the nook that the tree provided. His mind refused to stop racing though with the thought of the nightmare still clear in his mind.
His wings bristled up involuntarily at the thought. He ended up staring vaguely into the gloomy forest that offered some protection from forces such the military but also housed a range of unknowns.
"Damnit Axel, why did you have to be assigned to patrols of all people?" He said to himself quietly narrowing his eyes in anger at the uncontrollable nature of who got assigned to these said night escapades. After that day he almost died it felt wrong when he and Axel were apart, purely and utterly wrong but sadly they didn't always get to dictate when they got to be together.
It always seemed that either he or Axel was on patrol with the latter being put on more than his fair share. This was especially annoying for Roxas because when they got to sleep together the nightmares almost always stayed away and he was allowed to sleep in peace but when he slept alone they were all but guaranteed.
That is…if he was able to get to sleep at all.
Each night they camped, the fear of the heartless, roving gangs or the military finding them hung over their heads like a guillotine smeared with blood that was ready to drop at any second. This all lead to the daytime travels being almost as stressful as the night because everyone seemed to have their own idea of what the group should be doing as well as the different factions being at each other's throats.
Cloud had been doing his best to try and lead them onward but the factions that had held the group together in the city were now tearing the group apart from the inside out with whispers of deceit and schemes that lined everyone's mouths.
It made Roxas sick to hear it and more often than not he would hang back with Axel out of the group to be the rear guard. Sora and Riku didn't like it as well but they were in the front lines trying to keep everyone together though Roxas thought it was a losing battle.
But it wasn't just the fear of what lurked in the darkness that drove the sleep from him. No, there was something else that lay not out but within his mind. During each dream at the end he had seen those piercing red eyes that seemed to peer into his very soul with such hatred it almost made him hate himself. And if that wasn't bad enough, after each consecutive dream they were getting closer. That was enough to make him not want to go to sleep at all.
Tousling his hair in frustration, he held back the shiver that had begun to creep up the base of his spine from these thoughts and instead looked out on the camp that held all the Nobodies that had escaped the fall of Normandy City. On that fateful day their numbers had been reduced by a fair amount but there had still been over four hundred people that had survived and made it out of the city. Right away though dysfunction had erupted when the panic of what they were going to do set in. This resulted in a big split in the huge group leaving the camp he was looking at left with two hundred people.
He let out a puff of air and rested his head on his knees as he watched the sleeping group with a longing feeling that took a moment for him to recognize as envy. He was far off from the camp in an old oak tree that offered some imaginary protection from the dangers that prowled around them in the woods but any kind of defense, imaginary or not, was appreciated. In the beginning he had tried to sleep on the ground but in the end he had abandoned his blanket and scaled the tree to his perch.
Sadly, even if there were no trees calling to him he wouldn't have slept in the camp with all the other Nobodies of their wary group. He saw the stares thrown at him mixed with either fear or disgust and at night when he was already uncomfortable he didn't need that but on the inside he still wished for the made-up feeling of mutual protection that he could have if not for what he was.
It didn't help that his brother Cloud was acting particularly distant after that night, ultimately blaming him for the loss of Naminé.
Roxas looked at his hands for a second before looking up through the branches of the tree to stare up at the night sky. The stars shone sparingly through the clouds that coated the sky like streaks of paint.
It had been his fault that Naminé died. He had been right there when Sephiroth had pushed that blade through her stomach and out the other side but yet he had been able to do nothing to save her even after all those times she had been there for him. It hurt even more when he sometimes saw her in his dreams with the same wistful smile she had on so often when she was alive and looked at him. Her pale blue eyes peered into his soul with that soft sadness that never left them except for the moment when her life left her.
He often wondered if what had happened before he became Heartless in that white room had been real and there really was a part of her still inside him but for now he couldn't be sure. Had it been a hallucination as his brain did one last ditch effort to save itself or did she really seal a part of herself inside him?
As his mind wandered to that sore point of his life he thought about the mind fuck that was his weapon, the keyblade. Why was it important, what service did it serve and why the fuck did he turn into that beast when he had been forced to stab himself. When he had been passed out Naminé had said it had to do with pulling the darkness into his heart all at once but what did that mean? Could it only work on him, should he keep using it, and many more questions bubbled up but he forced them away for the sheer peace of his mind
He shook his head softly as his gaze returned back to earth to try and rid himself of these troubling thoughts. Tomorrow was going to be a hectic day if yesterdays stress level had been any indication. Soon the breaking point would happen and another split would happen and he didn't know what would happen.
"You're sleeping in a tree?" A voice called in a hushed tone that automatically brought a relieved smile to Roxas' face that left him peering down at the red head that meant so much to him. "If you keep that up people are going to think you really are a bird." He pointed a finger up and shook his head softly with a lazy air about him. Though his words held playfulness Roxas saw the sleep mar the man's eyes.
He casually sat up and sat on the branch as he leaned down to gaze at Axel who even in the darkness could be seen to have that cocky smile on his face despite the circumstances. "I don't know, for all you know I will just fly away one day and join the other birds," Roxas whispered. As it seemed to be becoming, whenever it was just Axel and him he seemed to be able to be more like he was before the explosion had occurred and all the guilt on his shoulders seemed to lift making him feel lighter somehow. "Would be better than waiting for the heartless to find us." He said almost forlornly as he looked back up and at the camp.
"I suppose so but then you wouldn't have me and we all know that's more than enough reason to stay." Axel retorted back quietly with a quick flip of his hand. Roxas just smiled weakly in response before pushing off of his perch and landing softly on the ground thanks to his outstretched wings that caught the air effortlessly. He stood then straight up with his wings in tight as he stepped close to Axel who had his head slyly tilted to the side.
"Hmm, that's debatable." Was his sarcastic reply.
"Sure it is." Was Axels countered before he took the last step forward and engulfed Roxas in a hug. His chin rested casually in Roxas' hair as Roxas closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth Axel enveloped him in allowing him to feel safe. They stood like that enjoying each other's company as Axel nuzzled Roxas' head for a while before slowly they both laid down on the blanket that still lay at the base of the tree to get a few more winks of sleep before the sun rose in the east and started the new day.
"Anything exciting happen while I was gone?" Axel asked softly into Roxas' hair. Roxas noticed how tired the poor guy was getting after so many sleepless nights of working since he seemed to be a favorite to go on patrols. Everything had gotten so hectic after the day they had escaped the city combined with the fact that by the time night came they were both exhausted had lead to them, or at least Roxas, to become frustrated with their lack of time to possible repeat the intimate scene that seemed like forever ago.
Only the minimum amount has transgressed but he guessed he should be grateful for that at least.
"Roxas?"
"Oh uh…" Roxas thought fast bringing himself out of his earlier thoughts to answer the question. The repeated nightmare was a possibility to tell but he pushed it back and instead said, "Nothing at all, how about you?"
"Demyx thought he saw heartless but it was just a deer…" As the sentence went on it became quieter and quieter until it drifted away and the even breaths resounded out peacefully from Axel. Roxas fitted his wings in closer into his body as he snuggled further into Axels embrace enjoying the simple act of human contact that his body didn't instantly revolt against.
So much had happened yet Axel was his person, the person that was there for him always and never gave up on him. Roxas once again vowed to himself that he would never let anything happen to this man.
Not anything.
As his head lay into Axels' chest the sound of his steady heartbeat thumped into Roxas' very soul allowing him to finally let go of his fears and drift off into a peaceful sleep which went undisturbed of anymore nightmares. A sharp cry rang out that sent the hairs on the back of his neck up but did in the end it didn't rouse him though it was a sign that there were more things to come.
The cry had come from a long owl that flew overhead across the tops of the trees. The moons light shone down causing a slight dappling effect on its outstretched wings as it let out another single hoot that pierced the silence like a leaf falling on a clear lake. It continued to glide over the forest until it had left it far behind for the greener pastures of destroyed farmland. The wind blew through the dilapidated stretches of corn where the occasional yellow eye could be seen and around a destroyed settlement of houses where a lone figure could be seen standing on one of the taller buildings. It was surrounded by a thriving black mass of yellow eyes and contorted bodies.
The lone figures eyes radiated an unearthly red that stood out prominently in the swarm of yellow as it whispered, "Soon Roxas,"
Its hands caressed a Heartless with a coarse hand that showed it was just an absentminded act that had little love or heart to it. The red eyes closed as a slow smile bounded forth that held only menace as the ambiguous voice whispered once more, "Very soon."