The Azure Knight and the Radiata Knight

[gantzgun74]

Gantz and the others looked on in wide-eyed awe as Johnathan was soundly thrashed by the powerful attack. "Well... I'll be damned..." Gantz muttered under his breath.

"Oh please be fair! I can't help it when I get curious!" Went this Lea person.

"Lea for the love of GOD!!" The voice, sounding quite like Misty, groaned. "Why Gantz let you into the clan I'll NEVER know..." That was around the time when she heard the kaboom. "WHAT- What the hell was that?!?"

[doctorzero]

Jihl was quite startled as the building began to shake. "What on earth is going on now?!"

---

As Yana landed, he saw that Jonathan was actually decaying before his very eyes. All of the skin and bone melted away, until all that was left was Nightmare.
Well, what USED to be Nightmare. The lifeless armor fell to the ground, shattering into a million pieces.

---

A.J. blinked. "...that didn't happen last time..."
It was right then that they realized that the entire building was shaking. "What the?!"

---

Jihl's voice crackled over the speaker. "This is Jihl Nabaat. All personnel inside the base are to evacuate NOW if they haven't already, if they don't want to be in there when the thing collapses. That means you too, Mr. Yana!"

---

Okay, seriously, did they have a Self Destruct sequence or something?! A.J. thought irritably.
Wait...
"Oh, crud, R.J.!" A.J. swung his Keyblade at the barrier, only to see that it was STILL unrelenting. "Shouldn't beating that thing shut this down?!" he yelled, frustrated.

---

It became very clear to Yana that Jihl was being honest when pieces of the ceiling began to fall. "Okay, time to go!"

[gantzgun74]

When everything started shaking, that's when the group KNEW they were in trouble. Gantz looked wide-eyed as he awoke from his awe of the situation when he saw the roof was caving in. "... Oh jeeze..." He quickly turned to the barrier. "YANA!!! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!! CAN YOU GET IT?!?" He quickly noticed the looks. "What?! Maybe it only keeps people out!!"

Rosaline considered this. "It's worth a try..." She yelled into the barrier. "Yana move!!! Let's get out of here!!!"

[doctorzero]

Yana didn't need to be told twice. "I really hope you're right, Gantz..." Without further ado, he ran fult tilt toward the barrier--

SMACK!!!

Guess it didn't.
Yana fell on his back. "Ow..."

---

Kaitlin was still on the phone. "What the heck is going on over there?!"
"Can't talk now, later!" A.J. immediately hung up and started bashing the barrier. "WHY--WON'T--THIS--THING--BREAK?!"
Yana got up, rubbing his head. "Ugh...listen, you guys need to get out of--"
"I AM NOT LEAVING YOU!!!" A.J. yelled. "You're my brother, you think I'm going to let you die here?!"
Yana stared at A.J. in confusion for a full ten seconds, then said, "I'm your what?!"
And as if anything couldn't get worse, the floor gave out under him.

---

At that same moment, Gantz heard someone mutter into his ear, "I'll be taking that, thank you," followed by Soul Edge being torn out of his hand.
If he turned to see the culprit, he would've glimpsed someone turning the corner down the hallway away from them.

---

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!"
Yana, unable to grab onto anything to stop his fall, plummeted down the hole created by the tremors, as he heard his friends screaming his name.

---

A.J. just stared blankly, not understanding what just happened.

[gantzgun74]

Gantz watched as Yana disappeared in the below grounds.... Wait a second... He quickly snatched his phone from A.J. and resheathed Soul Calibur. "GUYS MOVE!!!"

"B-But what about the kid?!?" Nina asked with a yell.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine!!!" He created a barrier to block a piece of the cieling from collapsing on his head. "Sides! I think I know where he is now! We can find him there!"

For a fraction of a second, Rosaline considered what Gantz might've meant... ... Before it hit her. "Guys listen to him!! Just run!!!"

Climber did as such without question, followed quickly by Red, whom was seen carrying Erin. If AJ hesitated, Red looked to the young man and tilted her head in the direction the others were running too.

As they ran, Gantz's mind was racing as he dialed his phone, dodging around debris all the while. Once he was done, he took Rose's hand with his now free one, and put the phone up to his ear. "Gene!!"

"Bro?? What?? What is it??"

"You do have a detailed map of Dimensional Island right?"

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

Gantz raised an eyebrow as he and the others continued running. "You can track my phone. Are there underground tunnels situated underneath this building?"

[doctorzero]

A.J. was yanked out of his shock by Rose's announcement. "But--" Red gave him a look. A.J. opened his mouth to protest...then realized there was nothing he could do. That guy seemed to think he had survived...he just hoped he was right. "Fine."
As he followed them down the hallway, he saw that Red was holding Erin. "What the--Erin, what're you doing here? Shouldn't Max be with you?"
Erin had been surprised beyond belief when she saw A.J. appear. She was now a little frustrated that she couldn't tell him what was going on, though. I'd give anything to speak English!

---

Meanwhile, Jihl was directing her men outside the compound. "I want all files and equipment returned to the Regnum Dei, understand? Have someone send a team into the building to retrieve Yana and his companions! I am not allowing any of them to die on my watch, not under this current situation! And while we're on the subject, for the Maker's sake, WHERE IS ZERO?!"

---

While Gantz and Gene were having their conversation, if Gene had been paying attention, he would've heard the You've got mail indication on one of his monitors.

---

Meanwhile, the building continued to collapse.

[gantzgun74]

Thankfully for Gene, Lilia happened to see the screen herself. "Hmm? Gene, you've got E-Mail."

"See what it is Lilia, I'm checking the location now." Gantz could almost swear he could hear Gene's grin from his end. "Don't worry bro, we'll get back to you. Just stay on the line."

Nodding, Gantz continued running Rosaline in hand, with Nina, Red, Climber and AJ right behind him. "Don't worry, we'll be here!" He quickly dodges a falling boulder. "Okay guys closest way out!! Anyone remember where it is???"

Red shook her head as she dodged a boulder. "I remember where the front door is!" Nina yelled as she ran. "Take a left down this hallway!!!"

[doctorzero]

The e-mail said the following:

Mr. Kavma Raleigh has formally invited Mr. Gantz Gun, Ms Kaitlin Roslyn, and their compatriots to the Grand Opening of

THE CRYSTAL ROOM

at the Void City Plaza

Tonight at 11:00 PM

For a Formal Dinner and Showing of the Play

Draco and Maria

Please arrive on time with a print of this invitation.

PS. THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. We have a major emergency on our hands. You NEED to arrive on time, with or without Mr. Roxai.

K. Raleigh

---

"No, no, go left on the turn after that!" A.J. yelled, rolling to avoid a chunk of the ceiling. "It'll lead to a shortcut, it's faster!" Noticing their inquiring glances, he said, "Hey, I managed to sneak in here, didn't I?"

[gantzgun74]

........ "Point taken." Really, Gantz was in no real position to argue. "Okay, second left it is then!"

"LOOK OUT!!!" Nina pointed at a boulder that was about to fall in the way of their path. "Oh no oh no oh no!!!" Instinctively she pulled out her keyblade and fired a dragon-esque fire ball at the boulder, which blew it up before it could land.

The cheers erupted as they rounded around the needed turn. "Nice thinking!" Rosaline said with glee. "And nice move too! You really saved us there!"

Nina blushed as she ran. "Don't get too excited! We're not out of the woods yet!!"

"Hey Bro!" Gantz nearly jumped at the voice. "Apparently your pretty famous! We just got an invite from Kavma to attend a party tonight at 11!."

A loud groan was the response to this. "The fucking little... Send a response saying we're not interested! He's almost got us killed a grand total of 4 times today alone!!"

"I don't know bro, this invite says it's important."

"Who cares!?" Came back the biting remark. "We've got other plans anyway! We need to find Jaron!!"

[doctorzero]

A.J.'s eyes widened. "Is that a KEYBLADE?!"
There was an extremely loud earth-shattering KABOOM as they heard and FELT half of the building they were in get blasted into smithereens.
"What the HECK was that?!" A.J. yelled.

---

"..."
"..."
"You forgot to turn off the Memetic Kill Satellite, didn't you?"
"Shut up Jenkins."

---

...Muh...
Yana figured that it had been the second time today that he had woken up from unconsciousness. He sat up, rubbing his head. "Ow..."
The sound of a pebble falling caused him to look up to see that he was in what looked like a small cave. The ceiling above him seemed to have closed up or something; he saw no indication of a hole or anything similar.
"That's right," he muttered. "The floor collapsed and I fell...and...that guy...he called me his brother?"
The more he thought about it, the more the idea seemed familiar to him. That guy DID look exactly like him--were they twins or something? Why had his hair been blue? Did Gantz know him? Something made him doubt that last one...
And that name...the name he muttered when he had been choked by Nightmare...
"Lucas...Lucas..."

"Jaron..."
Jaron sighed as he sat down on the bed, facing his foster brother. "Lucas...I'm sorry, but you're too sick right now to come with us. I'd love it if you could come, I really would, but right now I don't want to risk you getting hurt in your condition!"
"But I can't just let you guys go face him yourselves!" his voice had a pleading tone to it. "You remember what Kavma was like, what if--"
"And YOU remember what he tried to do to you," Jaron replied. "I know he doesn't want to hurt you anymore and that he's sorry about it, but we don't know for sure what he wants this time. And like I said, you're SICK. You're in no condition to go anywhere."
Lucas opened his mouth to protest. Jaron silenced him by placing his hand on his shoulder and said, "I don't like the idea of you sitting here like an invalid either, but right now you wouldn't even be able to conjure up a Love Alpha. Lucas, we promise that we'll be back as soon as we can, but until then, STAY HERE. Mr. and Mrs. Chadi will take care of you until we get back."
Lucas seemed to struggle for a moment, then deflated. "...Okay..."
Jaron smiled sadly and embraced him. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

Yana jumped up in shock. "LUCAS!!!"
He remembered now! Lucas, that young boy he had befriended, the one with the psychic powers, the boy he had been searching for a year until...
Until...
Drat. There wasn't anything else.
Well, except for a name...
"Jaron's my name, then?" he mused. "Well, better than nothing."
He looked around and saw an opening in the rock--an obvious exit. "I need to get out of here...the others must be worried sick..." And so is Lucas, he thought.
He took a step forward and accidently stepped on the shard he had defeated Jonathan with. "Oops, forgot about this thing..." He picked it up and pocketed it. "Better than nothing..."
Jaron walked away, fully determined to get back or die trying.

---

"THERE'S THE EXIT!!!" A.J. yelled. "GO GO GO!!!"

[gantzgun74]

Gantz was seething as the group picked up speed for the exit. He literally cast a haste spell as the building started vibrating even more violently then ever before, likely no thanks to that beam. "Wha-?! I'm running faster?!?" Nina looked panicked as she ran. "What just happened?!?"

"It's Gantz's haste spell!! Just keep running!!!!" As Rosaline spoke, the building truely started to collapse and fall over, a boulder beared down, threatening to close up the entry way. "HURRY!!!!!!"

The gang put the pedal to the medal, and just BARELY... BARELY Made their way out as the boulder crashed down. Hell AJ needed to slide just to make it out from underneath the boulder.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At last the Warehouse slammed down, as the group slowed to a walk, the debris long since behind them... The Warehouse of Sector 9 was now little more then a pile of rubble...

--------------------------------------------------------------

..........................................................

"So... There WERE underground tunnels underneath the building." Gantz monotoned as the group sat in what appeared to be a taxi.

"Yeah. It's one of the many tunnels that make up the underground of Dimensional Island." Gene let out a sigh. "Even with a map, finding him won't be easy."

Nina looked up to Gantz. While she was initially in awe of the horseless carriage, she quickly got over it when she saw the others jump in. "So... there are mining tunnels, that snake all over this continent? How is this possible?"

Sighing, Rosaline looked out the window. "No-one knows for sure. There are rumors that monsters exist deep in the caverns, but those may very well be rumors since miners of all ages and genders go down there on normal occasion."

"Jaron may still be in trouble though." Gantz sighed. "We have to go after him."

"But what about Kavma's party he mentioned in the E-mail?"

He groaned at this. "Unless he can find a way to convince me otherwise, I'm not going. We have other business we need to handle."

[doctorzero]

A.J. stared at Gantz as he spoke to the others, not saying a word. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
"You're Gantz."
They all looked at him curiously.
"You're the guy R.J. was always talking about. The one he missed so much. What was he doing with you? And what're you doing on this island, anyway? And..." He gestured to everyone else in the taxi. "Who the heck are you guys, anyway? What's going on?!" He was quickly becoming agitated. "And why didn't my brother recognize me?!"
It was right then that Gantz's phone indicated that there was a call coming on the other line.

[gantzgun74]

Really, Gantz and the others had no time to address AJ back in the warehouse given all of the stuff going on. Now that they had time though, Gantz had time to absorb everything that had just happened. Jaron was lost in a mine shaft deep underground, Soul Edge was taken from him by god only knows who... and now he had this copy of Jaron with him, who apparently didn't know anything about what was going on. He groaned as he heard the beep, calling his attention back to his call. "Rose. Think you can tell our friend here what we know?" When Rose turned to the boy in confusion, he resumed his conversation with Gene. "Yeah, Gene? Hi. Continue scanning the mining tunnels... I have another call, and I think I've got a pretty good idea who it is..."

"Okay, sure thing bro. I'll do just that. Ending transmission."

And with that, Gantz pushed the call button, as he was sure Gene ended his call. He frowned deeply as he answered. "Bitch at me all you like, I'm not going."

As the person on the other side of the phone talked, Rose turned to AJ. "Please understand that there is a lot that must be explained... But I shall try to shorten it for you." She tried to look gentle. "You see... We are with Gantz, and we are trying to help your brother same as you... He arrived on the island with no memory of who he is, who Gantz was... He remembered absolutely nothing. We're lead to believe it was Kavma's doing, and he won't give them back until we play some sort of game with him... Well I think we're in the middle of the game now..."

Red nodded to this as she held on to Erin carefully. "Jaron?" Climber asked looking confused. "But... I thought his name was Yana..."

Nodding to the mannequin, she turned back to AJ. "Yes Climber, we did call him that... But ONLY because Jaron took on that name when we first found him. Kavma forbade us from speaking his real name..." She thought back a second... "Suddenly, I think I'm starting to figure out why."

That giant beam that helped take out the warehouse... It came down mere seconds after Gantz uttered Jaron's name... Could that have been what Kavma meant?

"So.... Let me see if I have this straight..." Nina said, taking this all in. "Something happened to MY world, launching me all the way to some alternate dimension, and NOW I'm stuck in the middle of some sick demented game that some sociopathic demi-god has cast on us?!?"

[doctorzero]

A.J. couldn't believe his ears. Jaron's memory--stolen? Why would Kavma do that? It didn't make sense. None of them had seen the man in two years, and this happens? He closed his eyes. "I can't believe this...I don't know what Kaitlin, Max, and Lucas are gonna say..."
After Nina's outburst, he looked at her curiously. "...If you don't mind me asking, what's your name? And why do you have a Keyblade?" Almost out of reflex, his own blue Keyblade materialized in his hand.

---

Kavma spoke without any indication that he had heard Gantz. "The game has been canceled. We have an extreme emergency on our hands that makes what you went through four years ago look absolutely pathetic in comparison. This is something you need to be aware of, Alex, and I don't have enough time to explain it to you now. Ms. Roslyn and Mr. Chadi have been contacted and will be arriving at your residence later this evening and will be staying there until the event tonight. I believe that Ms. Roslyn has some questions for you." Kavma wasn't speaking with his usual calm demeanor. He sounded nervous, even scared. And that actually frightened Gantz. Not once in the entire time he had known the man had he sounded so disturbed. "You need to come here tonight, Alex. The problem at hand will target you, I know it! Please...Gantz...I'm begging you. If not for my sake, then for your own."

[gantzgun74]

Nina looked more then a little startled when AJ pulled out his own keyblade. "Keyblades? Is that what you call them? I... I just found mine-"

Click! The group turned back to Gantz to find that he had hung up....

And his face was considerably paler then it had been a few seconds ago...

"Gantz?" Rose looked VERY concerned by this point. "Are you okay?"

........... Instead of answering Gantz leaned forward and caught the cab drivers attention. "Change of plans... Take us to the Church district near Void City..."

.... Okay... Now EVERYONE looked confused and scared. "Gantz?" Rose asked, looking close to horrified.

"Gantz?" The Climber tried to address him by that point. "What's going on?"

............... Gantz sighed. "Guys... The circumstances have apparently changed... For the worse..."

Gantz refused to speak the rest of the trip that followed, looking simply petrified with fear.