The Alternative Paths(A KH Collaborative RP)

[Aphex]

Footsteps echoed throughout the darkness, pressed against a stained-glass platform. There was nothing but pitch black, the platform itself being the only source of light. It was eerily quiet as there appeared to be nowhere else to go, a boy now standing directly in the middle of the platform. . .

"You know what you have to do. . ."

The goggle-headed teen glanced around wildly upon hearing the disembodied voice, trying to look for the person but saw no one.

"Who's there?"

As the boy continued to look around, an army of what appeared to be yellow-eyes now gazed straight at him. There were hundreds, no, thousands of them! They all stared at him, almost as if what they saw intrigued them.

"You will be the one to lead us, Derrick. . ."

Without warning, shadows started to form along the stained-glass as they risen up and took form of these strange batch of creatures. They each possessed a pair of antennas on their heads as well as claws. They were too many of them, now taking slow steps towards the boy who can only back away from them.

"Lead you? What are you talkin' about?!"

But before anything else could be said, they all lunged in unison, overwhelming the boy as there was a flash of light. . .

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

"Gah!" startled, the boy rolled out of bed and landed flat on his face onto the floor. "Oww. . ." he grumbled, rubbing his nose as he stood up slowly. Taking a seat onto the edge of his bed, he let out a sigh as he lowered his hand back down to his side. "Another dream. . ."

The boy, now known as Derrick, fixed his goggles just to make sure that they were secured over his forehead before standing up again. Leaving his small home that lied within the Third District, he stretched before scratching the back of his head as he examined his surroundings. It was silent and empty for that matter.

"Why the heck did they have to leave?" Questioning this, he was referring to Leon and the others when they had left Traverse Town to go to some place called Radiant Garden. He only stayed behind because he felt the need to protect his home, now realizing that this wasn't one of his brightest ideas. As the days went by, the goggle-headed teen started to feel lonelier considering he practically summed up the entire population of Traverse Town.

"Hmm. . . I guess I should check up on how the Moogles are doing," All though he was taking directly to himself, Derrick didn't have anything better to do but to head over to the First District. This was just another plain old day that was beginning. . .

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

A figure could be spotted standing atop of rooftops, watching the boy as he headed towards the First District. The figure twitched a few times, its head tilting to the side as the points of their jester hat drooped off to the side as well. Their pitch black pupils examined the goggle-headed teen, but why were they so interested in him?
​

 

[Mason Stark]

There was the nastiest taste in her mouth. Eyes were half-opened now, but whomever this was didn't seem the least bit tired as they scampered out of an alleyway; already standing in front of some big stairs in front of an enormous shop.

Where was this? One second, wind was kicking up and dragging her, literally dragging, into some big, ominous, dark orb. Next, hi, weird place! What did happen?

Sneakers stepped quickly down one side of the stairway, making little taptaptap steps, before the brunette was scampering off somewhere. Maybe it was to explore this place!

Or not. Only one thing caught her eye in this weird place: big, red letters. They were painted on the brick ground just outside of some dark shop (or something...) under a building that looked like a house. Of all of the sights in this place, she picked seeing what this was!

Her sneakers stopped just a step away from a can of spray paint. It found its way into her grasp when the girl picked it up off of the ground, examining the little details on the label. Yet, moments later, it fell to the ground with a little clank.

The words on the ground read only two letters: Hi. Next to the letters were two dots over a curved line, looking like a smiley face.

Weird? Yup! It was even weirder when there came shuffling from inside of the shop, like someone was standing right there. Whatever was going on, it made the girl's hands clammy and made her stiff as a board.

clickclickclick!

There were a door at the front of this area, reading 'World Exit.' But it said one clear word: exit! That must've been a way out of this creepy place, and that was it! She slammed her hands against the pair of doors, pushing and pushing and pushing to try and move these huge, heavy doors.

They barely budged, just enough to see through them.

And, through them, all you could see were blue. Blue swirls of different shades and stars. There was no ground at all, so you'd drop and keep on falling if you walked through.

SLAM!

Her wide eyes started shifting side to side, her back and arms pinned to the doors.

There had to be some way out of there! There was no one here, there was weird writing on the ground, and it was pretty freakin' creepy, especially being alone like that.

To add a cherry on top, the door on the other side of this district was suddenly opening. And someone was coming through it!

Just stand there, or start running?

clickclickclick!

The second option sounded pretty good. She scampered across the district, rushed up the stairs, and hid beside that enormous shop. Her hands were hanging onto the edge of her hood that was pulled over her head, the hood now covering her face completely. That little action had to be weird; very weird!

 

[Shinra]

Reon was on the floor, just ahead of this wierd black pod-thing it seemed but oddly a erie white light emanated from the walls of the room.
"Where am I?" He asked himself.

Then his memories shot back, quick as a flash. His parents death at the hands of the unversed, His rage that almost shattered the world itself, the man in a white cloak who knocked him out and then his trial of heart... Then he remembered that he was asleep for a really long time...He slowly rose and then his keyblade appeared.

"Oh yeah... I remember now... Trial of heart."

 

[Aphex]

The large doors creaked open, Derrick now peeking his head from behind it. As always, there was no one to be found within the First District. It's not like he didn't expect this but still, he figured that the Moogles would be wandering around.

From above, a silhouette could be spotted watching the boy, knelt down. It was almost as if this person was waiting for something, but what? They stood up slowly as they took a few steps back, their silhouette disappearing completely. . .

As the doors closed behind him, the goggle-headed teen made his way over to the Cid's Accessory Shop, a store once owned by a friend of his before they had left Traverse Town. But after their departure, the shop was given to the Moogles to watch over in which Derrick figured he would find them in.

"Hello?" he said aloud upon entering the shop. He noticed that there was no one even behind the counter which he found a bit suspicious at this point. A shop left unattended? That wasn't like the Moogles at all. A ladder leading to a second floor lied up against the wall, the boy now climbing to the top as he again, peeked his head up.

Just like before, he only found an empty Synthesis Shop. Now this was just getting ridiculous. Where in the world was everyone?! Sure, Traverse Town was a ghost town but there had to be someone around!

Sliding down the ladder, he let out a sigh upon landing back down in the Accessory Shop. He hopped onto the counter, now sitting on the edge as he started to find this situation a bit nerve-racking. Now he was definitely all alone in this town, that or the Moogles ended up wandering into the Second District.

Seeing how he had nothing better to do, it was worth a shot to find out if they really were there or not. . .

 

[Cassette-Disk]

One Ace
One King
One Queen
One Jack
One Ten
All the same suit: Spade. Amazing most would say, seeing as a royal flush is a rarity in poker games. Looking around the table, Jet reasoned no one suspected a thing about it. There was the man in the trench coat who looked as if he had lost too many gambles already, the snobby well groomed man with a funny accent whom needed an ass beating (which Jet would've been happy to give), a rather pretty women who wore a small red dress, and a regular joe who simply wore a sweater and was piss drunk.

"Fold," the lady announced.
"I'm in." said Trenchcoat as he threw a chip into the center. The regular Joe passed out and banged his head stupidly on the table, revealing his cards. Nothing but junk. The players added all his chips to the small pile in the middle of the table and pushed him off. The snobby man didn't say anything, but he threw his own chip in as well. All eyes were on Jet who smiled softly as he shoved his stack of chips into the middle.
"In."
Cards were slapped down: 2 pairs from Trenchcoat, and a full house from the snob. Jet's eyes met his as he slowly laid down his cards. "Royal Flush," he cooed "Real shame, old chap." Enraged, the snob stood up and stalked off as Jet laughed loudly and pulled his winnings to his side. "I love this game," he told the red dressed woman who responded with a scow. Trenchcoat sobbed into his hands. "I really do."

 

[<3]

An excited giggle filled the room of angry or upset adults who had just lost a poker game. The little girl covered her mouth politely, her eyes closed. She did enjoy a good game. Normally, her giddiness is only shared within her sisters company; however, something was beginning, making her more and more excited for the games to start.

Fable stepped ahead of her sister, a devilish grin marked her features. If this had been her own game, all these losers would have met the end with her scythe. Just the thought made her shudder."Did you miss us, Jet?" She teased, the thirteen year old not afraid to stand tall in front of the older man.

Fable reached out her arm to its full length, clamping her fist shut around the white staff that had just appeared from mid air. She stabbed the sharp end into the ground effortlessly and watched as the woman in the tiny red dress screech and run out of the room.

“If these were my losers they’d be dead by now.” She dramatized her words by slicing the air in front of her. A swift white line trailed the path she made followed by a crude hissing noise.

Dawn crept up beside her sister, traced a finger along the sharp, dark blade, stained in red, and watched carefully as her own blood ran in a straight line down the same finger. “Perhaps Jet deals with his losers in a different way than we do, Fable.” She added silently, a nonchalant tone layered her words; her light blue eyes never left the blood on her pale finger.

Fable scoffed at Dawn’s remark and she waited for Jets input. His words usually put a smile on her younger sisters lips.

 

[*Destiny_Seeker*]

Neonica twirled her jet-black hair around her middle finger as she continued her walk down the dark alleyways of the city, her hips swaying from side to side as the heels on her brand new shoes stabbed into the cobblestone pathway rather uncomfortably. She growled at the brief shot of pain that poked at her lower back. "Dammit.....This is ridiculous..." Neonica had always been the type to chose fashion over comfort, and this proved to be a mistake on her part on several occassions. It's difficult to fight someone with painful high-heels on.

The woman finally reached the lounge after a few more minutes of walking, the pain in her feet and back now irritating her to the point of anger. She busted open the door to the small place and stepped inside, ripping her shoes off and screaming. Neonica's screams were the worst. When she screamed, it sounded like a banshee who was more than pissed off. "I HATE THESE F**KING SHOES!" The woman held the shoes by their toes and jammed the sharp heels into the eye sockets of the closest person to her, the middle-aged man collapsing to the ground as the blood ran down his face and into his open mouth. The people in the lounge were hysterical as they all separated and ran in different directions, eventually finding an exit in the back door and hauling themselves away from the horrific scene.

Neonica stood there for a moment, breathing heavy and keeping her hands balled into fists. She turned her head and cracked her neck, popping her shoulders back and standing up straight before walking to the table where her minions sat. "So! What's up guys?!" she asked, rather cheery now.

 

[Cassette-Disk]

Jet hugged the chips lightly, ignoring the few that fell between the table and himself. Drops in the bucket, tears in the rain, all that jazz. The he heard a giggle. That giggle. As far as he was aware, that giggle only belonged to one of two people, both of which looked nearly alike.
"Did you miss us, Jet?"
Jet left his winnings on the table and turned around. Fable and Dawn. Or was it Dawn and Fable? Whatever, they were both there.
"Aww how could I not miss those two cute ittle faces?" He hoped treating them like children annoyed them; it was all he could do to stop himself from pinching Fable's cheeks. Then Fable summoned her staff and spooked off the red dressed lady. What a shame, he might've bought her a drink later. That's to say if she wouldn't mind him using her own money to pay for it.
“If these were my losers they’d be dead by now.” She went on to say.
“Perhaps Jet deals with his losers in a different way than we do, Fable.” Dawn intervened after cutting her finger on the staff's blade.
"I remember when 13 year olds played outside." Jet told no one in particular. "You know, maybe played with some nonlethal toys. Anywho, if I go around killing everyone I beat in poker, then I'll soon run out of people to--

An ear piercing yell filled the air.
"Hoo Boy. Neonica sounds like she's having a fit." Jet reached into his pockets and pulled out two cotton balls. Then he shoved them into his ears.
"I HATE THESE F**KING SHOES!"
Her yell would normally have sent shivers up and down his spine. Now it was dull white noise. He couldn't but chuckle when a man--the drunken Joe who had passed out during their poker game--lose his eyes to high-heeled shoes, which led to a frenzy among the people around. Neonica took a seat besides Jet, who plucked out the cotton balls and threw them at the eye-gouged man.
"So! What's up guys?!"
"Have I ever told you," Jet rubbed his cleanly shaven chin, "you have a lovely voice?"
Just in case Neo really was pissed off he gripped the back of his chair, ready to use it as a mount to push himself off and run.

 

[Mason Stark]

There was some sound, like that great big door was sliding back and shutting. As if glued to the brick wall, Rena kept her back plastered against the side of the building while clammy hands hung onto that huge hood. She kept on listening, hearing those footsteps droning closer. Her fingers were just barely twitching, and she was biting her lip.

But the footsteps went another way... and a voice was coming from inside the shop! Whomever was in there sounded like a boy. Maybe they weren't scary... even though she imagined everyone was scary.

Out of the blue, a sneaker stepped on a big, looks-like-it's-about-to-crumble-to-pieces box and she jumped onto the level above that when the box gave a little squeak. Her footsteps were stumbling, but she fought to keep them quiet. She wanted to see who that person was, but not let them notice her!

click... click... click...

Rena stepped quick and quiet over to a stairway, stepping down it, and looking as if she were heading to the front of that shop. How do you get in without that person noticing her? Blue orbs trailing around, she found that answer: a green door on the other side of the shop!

She waited a moment or two, thinking she heard something, and then snapped onto the golden knob. A turn and a tug pulled the door open a little, but the door was stuck; like it hadn't been opened in a while, she guessed. Another tug and another tug, then the door opened! She scampered inside.

Inside were benches, ovens, and bulletins on the walls holding recipes and notes... but no one was there! Rena stepped over, trying to be quiet, over to a square hole in the floor. There was light streaming through it and there was a bit of a ladder sticking out of the hole.

Sitting on her knees, she stared down at the shop below. Not much that she could see down there... but there was one thing: the person talking before! It was a boy, sitting on a counter.

And that was really it. Nothing more than that. Rena kinda wanted to go downstairs, but going down there probably meant talking; not her forte. (Plus, she acted like she was scared of her own shadow whenever people were around!) The tomboy got up on her feet and stared over at the wall ahead. Recipes and notes... She took a step closer, determined to see what it read.

There was one little problem, though: she didn't look before she leapt.

"Ahh!"

The room suddenly got brighter and a lot different. Rena was sitting in a heap on the floor, staring around wildly. All of a sudden, there was a square hole on the ceiling, not on the floor, and... uh oh.

She jumped to her feet, eyes glaring down at her shoes, and started brushing off her vest as if it were caked in dust. Her hood was back on her shoulders, so she couldn't hide away like before... Crap!

"U-um..." Rena's gaze trailed over to the door, before jerking down and staring back at her shoes. It seemed pretty rude to just run off after that whole thing! What could she do?