FF:T Chapter 7

 "Makes one wish our upgrade will come faster, right Todd?" Carl asked as he kicked a Skrall in the face.  The Skrall and Rahkshi hordes had started to clear out near the two, but the stone Toa knew that generally meant a bigger problem was going to surface.  What that problem was and when it would arrive was the mystery.  All Carl knew was that this fight was just beginning and it was already wearing him down.
 "I won't judge if ya need to use yer Oni form," Todd admitted, knocking down a Rahkshi.  "Might actually be helpful."  Carl laughed slightly.
 "My friend, the situation isn't that dire yet."  As soon as he said this, he was knocked down by Todd landing on him.  Moving out from under him, Carl looked over at where Todd had been to see Sephiroth Remnant Loz with what might have been Azul the Cerulean.
 "I thought Azul was supposed to be taller."  Todd looked at Carl.  "Is it dire now?"  The stone Toa nodded.
 "I think it's close enough."  The two got up and brushed the dirt off themselves.  "Loz specializes in speed and agility while Azul is in strength and tactics, I think."
 "I get Azul, you get Loz?"
 "Good idea?"  The cowboy grinned.
 "Fine by me."
 It didn't take long for the two to end up back in the dirt.  Even with their Toa powers, they were having trouble with their opponents.  Todd's forehead had a gash where his head hit a rock and Carl was nursing a sprained wrist.
 "Where's the back-up when ya need it?" Todd asked.
 "No joke," Carl agreed.
 "Come on, you two can't be done already," Loz taunted.  "We were just getting warmed up."  Both Toa groaned.
 "If this is getting warmed up, I'd hate to see the real fight," a girl said.  No sooner had Loz and Azul turned around did they both get kicked in the face, A.J. on Loz and Jenny on Azul.
 "Hey!  That's no fair, meanie!"
 "Was it fair to ambush our friends while they were occupied?" Jenny remarked.  "You have to room to talk."
 "Carl," Todd whispered.  "Loz and Azul got somethin' on the back o' their necks."  Carl looked carefully and saw something that looked like a mini mechanical shadow leech on the back of Loz's neck.
 "Get it while they're distracted?" Carl whispered back.  A nod in response, he immediately switched to his Oni form while summoning a Keyblade and quickly smashed the devices before the two could turn around.  Loz held his head as he started swaying slightly.
 "Whoa, wha-" The Remnant and Tsviet were then knocked out by both sets of earth and stone Toa.
 "Well, now we know these guys weren't fighting of their own will," Carl said as he picked off the shattered devices once human again.
 "What are those?" Jenny asked.  The stone Toa looked at Azul's mako suit and watched as the green faded to mako blue.
 "Someway for the Makuta to maintain control over these guys."  He then sighed.  "But why choose Sephiroth's remnants and the Tsviets?"
 "Maybe because they're more lethal together," A.J. suggested as she picked up a shattered device from Carl's hand.  "They did knock you and Todd on your butts, after all."
 "Or head, in my case," Todd muttered, rubbing his head.
 "Wait a minute, these guys were dead before," Jenny pointed out.
 "So was the Nobody Organization XIII," Carl stated.  The earth Spright shook her head.
 "No, Nobodies can be erased and later recomposed, something easy enough for a Makuta to do.  These guys were straight up dead.  I doubt even Teridax is capable of resurrection."
 "If that's true, then... who the hell is Teridax working with?"
 "I'm almost afraid to find out," A.J. said.  "Remember how we couldn't recognize the Toa and Matoran as the good guys?"
 "A.J., we forgot about the Bionicle storyline completely," Todd pointed out.
 "Exactly.  That was before the Kingdom Hearts-"
 "Mark," Carl said suddenly.  The others looked at him in confusion.
 "Mess.  Before the Kingdom Hearts mess."
 "No, A.J.  I found a mark on Loz's neck."  He pointed out a blue mark, a vertical line with a triangle centered and hanging on the right, on the left side of Loz's neck.  Todd then checked Azul.
 "Same mark," he said, looking at the others.  "Same color, and same side of the neck."
 "Whoever's helping the Makuta must definitely be capable of resurrection and distorting memories."
 "At least we know what that person, or creature's, brand looks like," A.J. said.

 Jesse and Luke were slouched against a still intact boulder while they rested.  A good number of defeated Skrall and Rahkshi littered the surrounding area.  Gavin had taken off already to help some of the others still fighting.
 "After this is done, you up for a few drinks?" Luke asked.  Jesse laughed slightly.
 "Luke, I never thought you'd ask," he said.  The ice Toa looked over at him with a serious expression.
 "I meant as a means to forget that we ever agreed on anything here."  The fire Toa sighed.
 "I remember when I came of age to legally drink my dad took me to a bar, as a joke, to get me drunk.  Twelve drinks in and I still wasn't even slightly buzzed."
 "So you can't get drunk?"  Jesse shook his head.
 "I try every time I go to a bar and I have never been able to get drunk."  Luke sighed in disappointment.
 "That sucks."
 "But I can keep a secret like no other.  Except Summer, but she's had better practice with it."  A fireball suddenly struck the boulder in the space between the two.  Luke growled in frustration.
 "Damn it!  I'm tired of something getting shot between us!"
 "Then let's give you two a break from each other," someone said.  The two Toa looked forward to see two silver-haired men, one wearing all black with a twin-bladed sword, the other wearing only white pants and boots wielding two swords.
 "Kadaj and Weiss the Immaculate," Jesse acknowledged before looking at Luke.  "Who do you want?"
 "I want the dumbass who shot the fireball at us," the ice Toa said loudly.  Kadaj smiled and stepped forward.
 "Then you're in luck," he said.  "Because I was pretty eager to fight you myself."
 "That leaves you and me, boy," Weiss said, drawing out his swords.
 "Don't hope that I'll die quickly," Jesse stated, activating his fire sword.  "I am bound to disappoint."
 The two Toa fought their individual opponents with relative ease for the first few minutes, each using both defensive and offensive spells.  After a while longer, Jesse and Luke were beginning to tire out, Kadaj and Weiss not being too different.
 "Damn, these guys just don't quit, do they?" Jesse asked.
 "They're more stubborn than us and very determined," Luke agreed.  "I don't think they'll give up."  The fire Toa looked at him.
 "Wanna switch?"  The ice Toa snorted.
 "You're an ass just for asking that."
 "You guys aren't done, are you?" Kadaj asked, snapping his fingers.  All of sudden, Heartless of multiple varieties arrived from their shadows.
 "What!" both Toa exclaimed together.
 "That's a shame.  These creatures will have no trouble finishing you off."  Kadaj and Weiss suddenly went down unconscious after getting ambushed by Helen and Sarah.
 "What were you two waiting for?" Luke asked.
 "A cue to jump in," Helen said.  "Xehanort's younger self and his bloody Heartless are here, too."
 "Terrific," Jesse said.  "Sugar just turned to shit."
 "And worse yet, they're keeping Xarcran ground and muzzled," Sarah added.
 "Now that is worse," Luke said.  "Why would Nightwind's dad come along if he was only going to end up getting captured?"
 "Luke, Nightwind is Summer's dragon," Jesse explained.
 "Yeah, so?"  The fire Na'Vi looked at Luke like he was an idiot.
 "As yourself that question again and leave out the getting captured part."
 "Why would Nightwind's dad come along if..."  The ice Na'vi's eyes widened in shock.  "...unless Summer... Oh, shit."
 "We gotta find her."

 Summer's left knee buckled suddenly as one of Nero's bullets grazed her calf, leaving the Toa sprawled on the ground defeated and out of Toa form.  She had Shane take off a while ago to keep him from getting hurt.  She didn't expect to end up outnumbered because Nero wanted to join the fight.
 "Is this really all the strength you have to off?" Nero asked, kneeling beside Summer and digging a metal wing tip into the ground by her head.  "Or are you holding back?"
 "I'm not a monster," the Toa said, more to herself than to the Tsviet.  She started shivering as she felt cold.  "Not like you."  The dark Tsviet grabbed her jaw and turned her head so she was looking at him.  She didn't bother resisting.
 "I can feel a person's darkness.  Your 'Heartless' change was a preview of the many monsters you can become."  Summer glared at him, but still felt no anger, like she'd forgotten what anger was really like.  In a sense, she kind of did after holding it back for so long.  No fuse for the spark to light.
 "You're wrong."  Nero's grip tightened around her neck as he lifted her off the ground.
 "Then prove me wrong, Malice."  Memories of being humiliated by the Makuta and other fellow students suddenly piled up and lit up by that name too fast.  Nero was forced to drop her as he was blasted into Yazoo by a water jet.
 "I think you boys are done hurting my friend," Molly said, still pointing her Tidal Spear at the Tsviet.  He looked back at Summer and behind that metal muzzle he wore was a dark grin his red cat eyes.
 "We are now."  The water Spright looked toward Summer and almost started crying when she saw her fellow water Toa shrouded in darkness for a second time.
 "No."
 "This could have been avoided, had you shown up sooner.  But I'm quite glad that you took your time."  Thunder sounded overhead as clouds rapidly rolled in.  As soon as the clouds rolled in, rain began pouring down.

 Jason and Kia looked up at the sky when the thunder started and noticed how quickly the clouds began to clamber together before the rain started pouring down.  The air Na'Vi's tail drooped.
 "Just our luck," he said.  "On top of everything, it's raining."
 "That's a bad sign," Kia agreed.
 "Kia!  Jason!" someone called.  The two looked around to find most of what remained of their group running toward them.
 "All we're missing now are our water Toa," Jason said with his arms spread out.
 "The rain is probably Summer," Jesse said.  He looked pretty worried.  "Did you two happen to see her?"
 "Sadly yes," Kia said.  "Come on.  She's this way."  She and Jason led the rest of their teams to find Summer.
 "We were closer," Jason explained.  "But we were driven away by Heartless and more damn Rahkshi."
 "The last we saw, she was going against Nero and Yazoo by herself.  She must have had Shane and Shawn run off to hide."
 "How does everyone seem to know who these guys are?"  Kia looked at Jason in surprise.
 "I thought you were our Final Fantasy geek.  Did you never hear about Dirge of Cerberus?"
 "It's a first person shooter.  I hate those games."
 "It's Vincent's game!  It's really important, especially in this situation."  Kia sighed.  "On a side note, I really hope Molly found her alright."
 "I'm also hoping that.  Sorry about not knowing who these guys are.  I'll do research later."
 "There's Molly!" Helen exclaimed.  Jesse suddenly threw two fireballs, one at each adversary, before approaching Molly.
 "Where's Summer?" he asked automatically, Jason and Carl slipping in the mud as they tried to stop.  He could see, even in the rain, tears rolling down her face as she pointed at a mass of darkness.
 "Sorry Jesse," Molly said as she started crying.  "I wasn't quick enough."  The fire Na'Vi dropped to his knees, mud splashing onto his pants.
 "Jesus Christ," Carl said sadly as he and Jason got back up.  Both were covered in mud.
 "That's the second time we've had to see Summer shrouded in darkness," Jason said, tears slowly falling from his eyes.
 "Why does the worst of a situation always have to happen to her?" Luke asked.  The darkness shrouding Summer then began to solidify and mold itself into a figure.