( open ) our ag wing's back and you're gonna be in trouble (hey now! hey now! our ag wing's back)

[initiates]

Date & Time: October 31st, 3313, 11:59PM - November 3rd, 3313, ????
Location: Agriculture Wing, Moon Base to start. Cafeteria, warehouse, docking bay, VR rooms, Transport Pad, or Observatory later on.
Characters: Any & all!
Summary: Space Zombies are allowed out of the Agriculture Wing, slowly revving up their systems to try and infect and absorb as many of the Transports (or 12 Initiative Members) as possible.
Warnings: Log will be locked for potentially graphic violence. Please warn in threads should the violence or gore become graphic.
Notes: Specify a date and location in your top comment. You may specify multiple dates/locations. Specify a time if you wish as well.

Everything is a success at first, from the cool rush of air out of the Agriculture Wing once the doors are fully unlocked, to the heady sense of accomplishment for finally moving forward on something good for the long-term usability of the Moon Base. It's intended to remain a resource, after all, but not be a permanent home. Fraying tempers and the sense of cabin fever descending on Transports continues to showcase how important it is to get back down on Earth to regain some breathing room.

There's little enough dust between all the unmoving, unlit structures, many even supporting the barest dried husks of what once grew there. Upon the lightest touch, they disintegrate, turning into a dust that falls to the ground. The silent rows will be reclaimed and turned into functioning units, based on Transport efforts, and Transport time invested in the project.

There's just one problem. Something stirs in the reclaimed wing, among tangles of hosing and wiring. Skitterings and movements that make no sense for a long abandoned Moon Base. The further in Transports go, relying on magic or technology to generate light past the bare minimum maintained by the base, the more disturbing sights they may run into.

Of course, the most disturbing of all might be lying just around the far corner -- but don't worry, it's only a flesh wound. Try not to get surprised in the machinery, caught suffering from not looking up or caught making out with anything unsavory this holiday season, Transports. We need all of you to stay alive!

We can't bring you back right now!

Comments

Late November 2nd, closed to Roxas and Lea

[attheclocktower]

Xion hadn't been sleeping much. Hadn't been eating as much as she should be either. Sleeping was worst though, because there was something about these things that stuck in her head and kept her awake more than almost any Heartless ever had (the one exception being the one that had transformed in a blink of an eye into her best friend when Axel stepped between them, stopped what the Organization had been trying to do).

She had to make sure her friends were safe. If they were out there risking their lives, then she wanted to be helping them.

Thankfully she and Roxas had found each other, had teamed up. With his Keyblade and her focusing on magic, they had been cutting a sizable swath in the zombies horde, though as they'd gotten more and more mutually exhausted, the less good a thing that became.

Finally they managed to take down the last one leaving the warehouse they were in quiet. Xion glanced around briefly, before turning to Roxas, looking dead on her feet.

"Let's take a break," she stammered, leaning back against a crate and sliding down into a sitting position.

[otherness]

Roxas didn't look that much better. He was slouching a bit, trying not to breathe too hard so she got nervous, but... it'd been a long time since he'd fought on his own, at least for him, and he'd exhausted himself. He realized too late that his strength without Sora was halved. That made sense. He'd totally pushed it out of his mind, because fighting alongside Xion felt so natural. He was sure that they'd been friends before, but not so sure because he couldn't remember. Every time he tried, he just...

"Yeah... a break sounds good." He took in a deep breath, trying to pace himself, and ended up leaning on his Keyblade a bit. "Been a while since we fought like this, huh," he commented without really thinking about it. Then he realized the stupidity of his statement and looked foolish. Did they really fight together? He didn't remember. "Uh, I mean—"

He didn't get the chance to correct himself. Something terrifyingly fast and only vaguely human dropped from the ceiling, knocking Roxas to the floor. Judging by the hanging wires and the swinging grill, it'd crawled out of the depths of the ventilation system-- and it wasn't alone.

[promises_to_keep]

Lea had a fairly good sense of direction, but this was the third time he'd gotten lost trying to navigate this blasted moonbase. Too many hallways, too many rooms he wasn't familiar with. Dammit, he needed some breadcrumbs. Zombies didn't eat breadcrumbs, right?

His inane contemplation of zombie eating habits was interrupted by a clamor from around a corner, and he picked up his pace. Breadcrumbs or otherwise, he wasn't interested in turning down a hallway to find the leftovers of zombie eating habits. When he turned the corner, however, nothing could have prepared him for the sight before him.

He hadn't dared to hope Roxas would still be here. After having had to come to terms with the fact that he was never going to see the kid again, after stoning up and making the decision to help Sora and Riku and the others, to protect Sora, for the sake of more than just protecting whatever shadows of Roxas remained a part of him... He didn't realize he'd tangled his hand in the front of his coat until his hand started to ache with how tightly he'd clenched it.

Roxas was here. Roxas was alive. Roxas was... about to become zombie eating habits.

As the creature reared back to make lunch of his best friend, Lea summoned one of his chakrams and sent it winging toward the thing. It neatly severed the zombie's head, leaving the body to crumple forward and pin the kid to the floor.

That's when the second figure in the hallway caught his eye, and there was a sudden blinding headache behind his skull. Small, slim, dark hair, blue eyes, for an instant she looked like Naminé, don't hold back, seashells, the sound of the ocean, this IS right...

His hand flew to his head as the images faded, the headache abating, and he snapped his eyes up to meet hers.

"Xion."

So it was true, then. She had erased herself from everything back home. He hadn't thought about her until this moment, hadn't remembered her until this moment. And something in his chest ached to know that had he not returned to this place, he wouldn't have thought to think of her at all.

Two. He had two best friends. And as long as he was allowed, he would keep it that way.

Shaking his head to clear it as a rattle from the broken ventilation ducts heralded the advent of more of whatever those creatures were, Lea darted forward and sharply kicked the decapitated body from Roxas' form.

"Hey kids, miss me?" he asked flippantly. "This isn't exactly the reunion I was hoping for, but I guess I'll take what I can get." He reached down and offered a hand to pull Roxas to his feet, then turned to look at Xion again, at those eyes that were the same blue as Roxas'. He hated himself for forgetting, even though he knew he wasn't to blame for it.

"You okay?" It was asked of both of them, but his eyes remained on Xion.

[attheclocktower]

Xion, on her feet from when she'd jumped up to try to help Roxas, turned to stare at Axel, surprised and... frankly dumbfounded. In all of the chaos she had forgotten that new arrivals were coming, it being the beginning of the month. And even if she had remembered... she wouldn't have expected this. She wouldn't have thought he'd be back, not already.

And he said her name. He said her name. He knew her, knew who she was. Now was he like Roxas, who only remembered here, or did he remember home-

She realized he'd asked her a question, and had nodded, opening her mouth to reply when an even larger rattle issued from the ventilation ducts and something - two somethings - dropped at them again.

Yelling with shock and some fright, Xion raised her arms, heart filling with the need to do something, to protect her friends. A barrier, much like a Reflect spell, formed above their heads. Her hands quivered slightly with exertion - she'd never tried to cast the spell like this before.

The first, then the second hit the barrier and slid off to either side, then it broke, Xion going down one knee, breathing heavily. She really had been pushing for too long.

[otherness]

Roxas wasn't expecting to get landed on, but he was expecting Axel's suave rescue even less. He tried to scramble back to his feet, then realized there was a hand being offered to him. He took it with no small amount of gratitude, though he had a healthy amount of shock as well.

"Y-you're back!" Unfortunately, his happy outburst was about to be ruined by the zombie's backup. Roxas was ready this time, Keyblade returning to his hand in a flash of light, but Xion was quicker with that shield.

She was also weaker. Roxas could still stand, at least. He moved to cover her, blade still out. While he was able to deflect the zombie that charged at them, he knew his own magic was exhausted, and that was really the only way to stop them.

"Ugh, they just keep coming!" Maybe it was time to retreat.

[promises_to_keep]

Roxas took his hand and Lea stepped back to haul him to his feet--"So it would seem. Ah... surprise?"--then reflexively flinched, bracing himself when the rattle from above became deafening. Well, if he got landed on, that wasn't a huge deal; he could just fry them off of him. He wasn't looking forward to breaking their fall, though.

He was surprised when he wasn't struck, however, and glanced up in time to see the glimmering fractal pattern of a barrier spell above him. With a start, he looked at Xion as she took to a knee. She had done that? Her magic had matured that much?

Making a mental note to be proud of her when they had time, he moved silently to her other side so she was covered from both, then called his chakrams to his hands.

"They don't seem to like fire too much," he said, turning over his shoulder to cast Roxas a sly grin. "Don't suppose you know anybody who might have a knack with that, do ya?"

Before the zombies-from-heaven could recover from their unexpected tumble off the barrier shield, Lea spun his weapons in his hands and then dropped to one knee, slamming them to the floor. A ring of fire sprang up around the three of them, and the creatures screeched in... pain? Could undead monsters even feel pain? He really wasn't sure, and frankly he really didn't care. Lea might have been hard pressed to just kill a person, but he'd just gotten his two best friends back after thinking he would never see them again.

He wasn't giving them up without a fight now, that was for sure, and if that meant setting some creepy zombies on fire, then so be it.

There was another distant rattle from the ventilation duct, and Lea realized the cry had probably been more to summon backup. Well, that wasn't good. He turned to Roxas.

"Okay, remind me to thank you later for never being this kind of zombie." He waited a moment to make sure the zombies on fire were out of commission, then took to a knee beside Xion. "Can you stand?" he asked. "I just got here like.. half an hour ago, so I have no light-forsaken idea where the hell we are right now or how to get to the housing wing, but if you guys know where we're going, I can get us there."

[attheclocktower]

She couldn't help it, she laughed a little at the zombie joke, the one he'd made far too many times, though in a very different sort of time. "Yeah," Xion nodded, pushing herself a little unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled against Axel a bit as she rose, mumbling, "S-sorry."

It was still a bit unreal to think he was actually back, that he was there and he'd saved them. Helped them like he had so many times before. But there was time to think about that - and what it meant - later. Roxas and Axel were right. The rattling up above was just getting worse, and she wasn't sure she had another barrier like that in her. They had to get out of here.

Once she was upright she looked around quickly, trying to get her bearings. Hadn't she. Oh right.

"That way," she said, pointing to a doorway a little ways to their left. Thankfully there weren't even that many boxes between them and the entrance, though as Xion walked it probably would quickly become clear that she wasn't much steadier on her feet than she was getting to it.

[otherness]

Roxas wasn't expecting Xion to catch that zombie joke, though he smiled too. Honestly, he was still having trouble understanding all of this. Axel appearing like nothing had happened, making jokes like that... It made him happy, so incredibly happy, but this wasn't the time to celebrate. They had to get out of here.

They would need Axel's firepower to keep the way clear. Knowing that, he moved and offered Xion his arm. Besides, he wasn't about to leave a friend hanging. This-- this was all he could do. Exhausted of what magic he had control over, and a bit sloppy with his Keyblade, he was still going to help however he could. He trusted Axel, trusted in his ability to protect them even at the worst of times.

His presence here proved it.

... it feels so natural.

But why? Why couldn't he remember her at his side? If he closed his eyes for a moment, he could almost see it, but then it was gone and it left only pain in its wake. Maybe... he couldn't remember. Was it a personal reason, or something bigger he was missing?

Later. He had to think about that later.

"Axel. Can you cover us?"

[promises_to_keep]

Lea put a hand on her shoulder as she sort of stumbled, catching herself on his hip, and he made a sibilant noise. He had a feeling she wasn't going to make it too far, but he wasn't going to just toss her over his shoulder until it became absolutely necessary. Last time he'd done that unprompted it had evoked death glares from Roxas, after all. Roxas stepped in to offer his arm anyway, and Lea glanced to where Xion pointed.

Then he scoffed. Could he cover them? Please.

"What is it you kids these days say? 'Duh'?" He reached over and tousled Roxas' head fondly, then made an ushering gesture. "You guys go first; if anything jumps out at you, I'll get 'em. It's someone getting picked off from behind I'm concerned about."

He wasn't prepared to let the kids out of his sight.

[attheclocktower]

Xion leaned gratefully on Roxas arm, almost too worn out to really feel nervous or guilty about causing the others trouble or anything like that. Thankfully they were close to the housing wing, they just had to go through the loading bay and through a hallway to get to it. And with Axel covering for them they could make it, right?

"Thanks," she said to them both, smiling tiredly. Thankfully with Roxas to steady her she's able to pick the pace up a bit, though it's still a quick walk at best.

The docking bay itself was a lot more exposed, unfortunately. There was evidence of others fighting, perhaps even other Transports here and there. Sounds of a fight were certainly echoing around the place, at least.

There was maybe one or two zombies that tried to follow them out of the warehouse, but no more. The rest seemed to be successfully confused at falling into a suddenly empty storeroom. The biggest surprise came halfway across the docking bay, when Xion looked up to see one hanging from some of the machinery, ready to strike.

She stumbled away from it, trying to take Roxas with her, calling, "Look out!"

[otherness]

"Thanks. Let's go!" Roxas couldn't help feeling more at ease with Axel around. As bad as the situation was, it had leaned a little more in their favor.

Xion was the first to spot the dangling monster, while Roxas had been scanning the sides of the docking bay. He was just a little late; there was no room for grace in his next maneuver, which was little more than a stumble with his Keyblade raised.

Well, if anyone was going to get to Xion, they'd have to go through Roxas first. Maybe literally.

[promises_to_keep]

Nobody was going through either of them without getting through Lea first, thank you very much. Xion saw the creature first, and Lea whirled from where he'd been making sure they weren't being followed. Xion's shout sent a sharp lance of alarm through his veins, and as he watched Roxas stumble, the creature's rotting jaws closing in, he just moved without thinking. He lunged forward, extending one arm with the intention of calling his chakram to his hands and slicing the thing's face off.

What happened, however, was not at all what he'd been expecting. The flash of light wasn't the usual swirl of silver and darkness. The burst of heat that usually accompanied his old faithful weapons wasn't there. In his hand wasn't the black crossguard of a chakram, but a--

"Aw hell, now you show up?"

As the jagged edges of the flame-headed Keyblade tore into the zombie's skull and pinned it to the ground with a sickening thunk! two things crossed Lea's mind in quick succession. One, that he was officially certain now that he had no freaking idea what circumstances made this damn Keyblade cooperate, because this was nothing at all like the last time he'd managed to get it to manifest. And two, that Xion and Roxas were probably a thousand times more confused than he was.

He pushed back upright and yanked the blade free of the now very dead zombie, snapping his wrist to get the fetid blood off the curved edges before he glowered at it. Then he turned awkwardly to the kids.

"You guys okay?" he asked, and then sort of attempted to hide the Keyblade behind him. Unsuccessfully. "This... isn't how I wanted this topic to make it to the table, I'll admit..."

[otherness]

Roxas braced himself, but the impact never came. With a flash of fire and pure light, the zombie was blown clean off its original trajectory and ended up somewhere else. He opened his eyes, then slowly lowered his keyblade, only to find Lea standing there with his own.

Something about that didn't register like it should have. With that final oddity, something clicked into place. Axel had been missing his tattoos, at least from what he saw from Sora's point of view. He didn't remember the Keyblade, though. That was sort of a big thing.

So... Axel was back to being-- well-- whoever he was before. And that meant he had a Keyblade. Despite being here for a while, Roxas was still trying to tangle his memories from Exsilium before from Sora's. It was weird being himself again, weird and kind of lonely, but he couldn't feel either when Lea had that dumb look on his face.

He glanced downward and offered Xion a hand to help her up, then glanced back at the redhead. "Thanks for the save," he breathed, and then his face broke into a wide grin. "Just how were you planning to break it to us? A surprise party?"

He never imagined that Axel might be a wielder like Sora and Riku, but Axel wasn't a part of someone else anymore. That keyblade was entirely his. Though his personal mystery had been solved, Roxas realized there was so much he really didn't know.

[attheclocktower]

Xion accepted Roxas' helping hand up, staring in wonder at the Keyblade. She doesn't make the tattoo connection as quickly as Roxas had. Though she did realize something had changed - something big. Because she knew he hadn't had a Keyblade before. Had he gotten it after she died? He must've... But how?

Thankfully Roxas' joke broke the tension and she smiled a bit sheepishly.

Seeing the Keyblade put questions in her head, questions she'd pushed aside in the midst of trying to escape the zombie horde. Now that they were in her head, it was a lot harder to push them out. But now was definitely not a place for questions, especially ones that would probably be as long as they looked to end up to be.

So she opted to go another familiar route.

"Hey, maybe now we'll get to show you how to do some things!" she teased. As opposed to him always showing them the ropes or even just learn about the world around them back home.

Her face fell though into something a little more solemn. "I don't think it's too far now. We just have to make it to the housing rooms. And... thanks."

To Axel, for saving them again. And to Roxas, for protecting her.

[promises_to_keep]

They were taking this remarkably well. He had expected shock and disbelief, like when Riku and Sora and Yen Sid had first seen the darn thing. Holding it out for them to look at, his free hand awkwardly affixed to the back of his neck, Lea turned the blade in the light, watching the way the translucent spikes of the flame head warped the images of the lines of the floor beneath their feet.

He gave a helpless laugh at Roxas' comment, shaking his head.

"Well, I mean I could have pulled a Sora and gone with cake and Groucho glasses," he said, "but I feel like that would have been pushing it." He realized half an instant too late that they probably had no idea what he was talking about, but pushed on anyway. "I guess in terms of showing off a new weapon, though, using it to help your friends out ain't the worst method."

Part of him wanted to dismiss it so he wouldn't have to carry it, but there were probably still more zombies and he wasn't sure he'd be able to call it again. Lea exhaled softly, then cast his eyes toward the far end of the bay. The housing area wasn't too far, if he recalled, just on the other side of the bays, maybe? Ugh, he wasn't really sure, but at least it seemed they were going in the right direction.

He looked at Xion, then at Roxas.

"You guys all right? Xion, how you holding up?" He grimaced. "I could probably throw you a Cure if you think it'll help, but..."

Well, they knew he kind of sucked at restoratives. He was willing to give it a shot though.

[otherness]

"I don't really have any objections to cake," Roxas replied. He did actually have some idea of what Lea was talking about, but he didn't want to go into details when they were still in danger. He hadn't really gone into the details to... anyone, come to think of it.

The blond felt a bit odd, like he shouldn't be caught wandering around without his other half. It made him a bit tight-lipped especially since he didn't want to hurt Xion more than he already had. So he didn't elaborate, and instead tried to stay in the moment.

"I'm worried." Xion was looking worse the longer they dallied here. He made a little motion like he was about to take her hand, and then he stopped himself. It'd almost seemed natural for a second, instinctive. He shook off his uncertainty and looked at Lea seriously. "We need to get to the safe zone right now. You and I can look for a healer afterward."

[attheclocktower]

Since Roxas seemed (oddly? not oddly?) hesitant about it, Xion completed the motion herself, reaching out and taking his hand. She smiled over in his direction, trying to let him know by those two gestures that it was okay.

She shook her head at the boys' concern though. "I'm fine. I'm not hurt or anything. Just... just a bit tired," she would admit that much. Because they'd probably scold her if she collapsed like she had on that one mission. Not that she had any plans on doing that.

That wasn't to say she probably wouldn't drop shortly after making it back to safety, but that was a matter for later.

[promises_to_keep]

Lea nodded. It was in Roxas' nature to worry about Xion, he knew that well enough, but this was a concern he could get behind. She really did look about ready to drop. Right, then; time to kick it up a notch. Without bothering to ask permission he just takes a step forward and nabs Xion around the middle, tucking her under his arm. She's light--lighter than Sora was, even. Obviously she needs to eat more ice cream; what the hell were they doing while he was away for two months? Sheesh, can't turn your back for a second!

Hefting her gently and not brooking any arguments about this, he met Roxas' eye.

"Lead the way, hype. I'll tell you guys a really great story about all of this once we're not surrounded by the undead."

[otherness]

Xion's gentle smile and warm hand did reassure him somewhat. Though it did nothing for the muddled memories in his head, it lifted his spirits in a way he didn't entirely anticipate. The moment was short-lived, however, as Lea reached down and plucked Xion without effort.

Something about the gesture was incredibly alarming-- and familiar-- though he couldn't place why. "Axel!" he blurted without thinking, then immediately felt bad. Lea wasn't actually doing anything to her, he just... picked her up. The reaction was so unconscious, he just... "Don't you think that's a little much? -- Never mind, let's just move."

Time to go. With his own dwindling strength, he held tightly onto his Keyblade, and still tried to lead Lea and the captive Xion toward safety.

[attheclocktower]

Xion, for her part, very nearly yelped at Lea suddenly hauling her up under one arm. She bit down on the noise at the last second though, so all that came out was a strangled sort of squeak. Thankfully she'd figured out by now that noise and zombies were a bad combination.

Robbed of most ability to complain, Xion wriggled a bit into a more comfortable position (as comfortable as she could get) then waited as Roxas led them back, trying to keep an eye out for anything else.