Chapter 37: Dilemma
“Can I kill them now?” the sack asked, sounding incredibly whiney.
“Not yet,” Tekunoroji replied, walking over to where Rixa lay, unconscious on the floor. “We wait until they wake up. Then you may kill them.”
Oogie smiled. “I’ll finally be able to get rid of Jack Skellington. After years and years of sitting here, doing nothing but planning his death. Many failed attempts-“
“Shut up, you stupid bag of bugs!” Tekunoroji shouted. He stood up and walked over to Donald, Goofy, and Sally, who were struggling to get the ropes that secured them undone.
“Let us go!” Donald shouted. Sally elbowed him.
“Shouting isn’t going to help anybody,” she said calmly.
“So right, Sally,” Tekunoroji said. “In fact, it could get somebody killed. So shut it.”
“Um…… I think they’re waking up,” Oogie said, his voice wavering.
A smile crossed Tekunoroji’s face as he turned around towards Rixa. She moaned and opened her eyes, squinting in the light. He stepped in front of it, casting a shadow over Rixa’s face. Then she caught sight of him and gasped.
“Tekunoroji.”
Tekunoroji just smiled and walked over to Rixa, knelt down, and put a hand under her chin, tilting her head up. “Consider yourself lucky I was here when Oogie Boogie found you, or else you would already be dead.”
Rixa moved her head to the side, breaking the grasp Tekunoroji had on her chin.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, hate running thick in her voice. “I don’t have a chance of living through tomorrow anyways. So why do I care?”
Tekunoroji chuckled. “Then what difference will it make if I kill you now?”
“The only difference is that I won’t be the one who stops your heart.”
Tekunoroji’s laugh boomed through the room. “I’d like to see you try.”
Rixa smiled evilly, and suddenly lunged at Tekunoroji, sending him flying across the room into Oogie Boogie. She had gotten the ropes on her arms undone and was now summoning her keyblade to free the others. Jack and Roxas still had not woken up.
“Now can I kill ‘em?” Oogie shouted. Tekunoroji nodded and Oogie lumbered over to a lever and pulled it. The ground rumbled, and the floor slowly started to slope downward, opening up to reveal a boiling pit of lava stuff. Rixa jumped over to where Roxas and Jack were and picked up Roxas.
“Get Jack!” she shouted at Goofy. Then she made a running start and jumped onto a moving platform in the air, out of reach of anything. She set Roxas down and went for Tekunoroji, but he deflected her attack.
“Are you sure you want to see me try to stop your heart?” Rixa questioned. She slid to the side and swept her keyblade underneath his legs, making him fall onto his back. “Wait. I’m not gonna just TRY. I’m going to succeed. Unlike you.”
Rixa stopped sliding and ran towards Tekunoroji, jumped over him, and landed, then throwing her keyblade at his chest. It went through him and out the other side. He just stared at Rixa, then fell when another keyblade went through his chest. Rixa caught it and realized that it was Roxas’s keyblade. But Roxas wasn’t there. Rixa turned around and saw him fighting Oogie Boogie with Jack, Donald, and Goofy. And he had her keyblade.
She ran over to them just as Oogie Boogie fell into the lava stuff and disappeared, screaming the whole time.
“Roxas!” Rixa yelled, running up to him and handing him his keyblade. “This is yours.”
He looked at the keyblade in his hand and blushed, handing it back. “Oops. Sorry.”
As soon as Rixa’s fingertips made contact with the keyblade, a white light blinded her, and she fell to the floor.
“Rixa!” Roxas shouted, dropping to the floor beside her. Rixa sat up and shook her head.
“That…. was… weird,” she said, shaking her head again.
“What was it this time?” Donald asked, coming up behind Roxas.
“Just a blinding, white light.” Rixa frowned. “I could’ve sworn that I saw Xillian.”
“Xillian?” Goofy asked.
Rixa nodded. “Yeah.”
Sally came up behind her and put a hand on Rixa’s shoulder. “We should get out of here. It is not wise to mingle here.”
“I agree,” Jack said. Then he turned and said, “Follow me,” before walking towards a giant staircase.
