Betwixt and Between, arc 1, ch 1
Betwixt and Between
A Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy and Star Wars crossover
Arc 1 - Assassins
Chapter 1
Coruscant Stadium, Coruscant, Inner Rim (3:13 PM)
The stadium's crowd roared with excitement as the vehicles passed by them like blurs of color that carried the wind behind them. On one side of the stadium at the top of the stairs, a lone cloaked figure stood staring at the large screen situated in the center of the arena. Her sea blue eyes studied each and every driver that was viewed on the screen. She was looking for someone. Then, the screen showed a man on a hover cycle quickly driving past the others. Even though the camera didn't zoom in on his face, the figure recognized his identity almost immediately. A blond haired man with a black bandana, a blue vest, long coat, baggy pants, boots and gloves; for her, he was hard to miss. She rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Of course..." she muttered.
-----
"...Wow! Look at this folks! Competitor number thirty three is just speeding through the tracks like he was born to do it! If he keeps this up, we might have ourselves a winner!" said the announcer.
The driver of the hover cycle smirked. The announcer was right. If he kept this up, he might just win. His heart pumped energetically and the wind blew in his face as he neared the finish line. But then, something caught him off guard. One of the other competitors rammed their vehicle into his from the side. The driver cursed and rammed back. In response, the other driver kept running into him. It went on like this for a couple of minutes until the driver number thirty three tried to run into the other one, only to have his vehicle pushed away.
"Outta my way!" shouted the opposing driver.
The push was hard enough to send the driver off course and lose balance, falling onto the dirt road. After a few moments of lying there with the world spinning around him, driver number thirty five pushed himself for the ground clutching his head from the dizziness. Once he regained his balance, a replay of the event was shown on the screen.
"Ohhhh!" shouted the announcer. "What a cheap shot! Well, folks, it looks like competitor number thirty three, Snow Villiers, will not be able to make it in first place this time. But, a foul will be called on competitor number eighty five, Victor Kramm, and will have his license to participate revoked for the rest of the season."
Snow winced.
"Well, that's embarrassing." he said.
"Snow!" called a voice.
Driver thirty three, Snow Villiers, turned around to see his friends from their group, NORA, running towards him from the pit crew station also located in the center of the arena, obviously worried for his well being. Snow waved as his friends approached him.
"Are you alright?" asked Yuj.
"Yeah, you totally went flying!" commented Maqui.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," said Snow. "A few bruises here and there, but nothing serious. The Shiva Sisters and I have been through worse."
"Yeah, like that one time when you failed to check if they were in good condition to go and then their engine set on fire?" asked Lebreau.
"Whoa, whoa," replied Gadot. "First off, he was late for the race. Second, cut the guy some slack, he just got forced off the race track and now we aren't going to get the prize money."
"He needs to be more careful, Gadot!" said Lebreau. "Otherwise, he's gonna get himself killed!"
"Relax, Lebreau," smiled Snow. "I can handle myself. After all, I am a Jedi."
"An irresponsible one at that." said a familiar voice behind him firmly.
Snow turned around to see a cloaked figure. A pair of hands removed the hood to reveal a young woman with medium length blue hair and sea blue eyes. And she did not look happy. Snow was surprised by this person's arrival. He didn't expect to see her here of all places. Why didn't he sense her? Was she using Force stealth or something? Judging from the look on her face, he knew he was really in trouble.
"Oh! Hey... Aqua... What're you-" said a sheepish Snow before being cut off.
"What am I doing here?" asked Aqua. "What are you doing here? Master Eraqus has summoned us and here you are racing again?"
Snow blinked.
"Wait, Master has summoned us?"
"Did you not listen to him?" sighed Aqua. "He said today that there would be a meeting with the council. That meeting is in twenty minutes!"
There was a pause.
"Ohhhh..." replied Snow, realizing with surprise just how much trouble he was going to be in.
Gadot laughed along with Maqui.
"Looks like someone's in trouble!"
Snow glared at his friends for a moment before turning to Aqua.
"Alright, I'll go get the Shiva Sisters." he sighed.
He walked over to his hover cycle, the Shiva Sisters, picked it up by the handlebars and walked it over towards the entrance to the arena.
"See ya later Snow!" waved Maqui.
Without looking back, Snow waved to his friends while walking alongside Aqua.
-----
"So, how did you know I was here? Did you sense me or somethin'?" asked Snow.
"No," said Aqua. "Just a lucky guess."
"Ah, right." Snow muttered quietly.
When they got to a near by alleyway where no one could see them, the hover cycle immediately transformed into a pair of two beautiful yet ethereal navy blue and white biomechanical twins. The twins, the Shiva Sisters, looked at their rider with disappointment. Snow sighed. He knew he blew it and sorry wasn't going to cut it. He promised the Shiva Sisters that this year was going to be the year they won. And after that, no more racing. But of course, they lost. The sisters, like practically every Jedi (Aqua included) didn't approve of Snow's racing simply because the races he participated in were dangerous. Furthermore, he had entered said race illegally due to the fact that the Stiria and Nix weren't actually vehicles, but rather spirits (or Revenants, as their race was called) that transformed into a vehicle. How was that illegal? Because the rules clearly stated that no rider was to use a vehicle out of a living being (i.e. animals and the like).
"Look, don't worry about the match," he said. "We'll win next time. I'll see ya both later, alright?"
The Shiva Sisters did not look convinced, but they left anyway, disappearing in a light blue ball of light that shrank down to the point of nothingness. The two Jedi then turned around and started heading back towards the Jedi Temple. Snow and Aqua didn't speak to each other much while on the way back, as they were in a hurry. It didn't take very long to get to their destination. It wasn't getting to the actual location that was the problem. In fact, the temple was only a few blocks away from the Stadium. It was navigating inside of the building that was the problem. It was huge and confusing when you enter it the first time. Upon entering the temple grounds, the two looked up to the grand clock that was located on the front of the building and saw that they were running out of time; it was nearly three thirty when the meeting was supposed to start.
After looking at each other with shock, they raced inside, hoping to get there in time.
-----
By the time they entered the council chamber, Snow and Aqua were panting from running so much. They were late; so very, very late. The council members looked to the two apprentices when they ran in. The two bowed in respect as was mandatory for lower ranking members of the Order. After a small moment of silence, the head of the council, Master Yen Sid, an old but stern looking man in blue robes and a pointy hat, cleared his throat.
"Very well then," he said. "Now that we have our chosen apprentices here at last, let us begin."
Aqua flushed with embarrassment. It wasn't like Master Eraqus's apprentices to be late. Well, okay, maybe for Snow, unless Aqua was there to drag him along with her.
"The reason we have called you here is because we have assigned you to..." started Yen Sid.
As the speech went on, Aqua noticed that Master Eraqus, a member of the Council, shot a brief glare at Snow, who merely shrugged and grinned sheepishly in return. How could he be so reckless, she thought. He knew that participating in races was forbidden in the Jedi Order unless given special permission that would benefit the mission. While thinking these things, Aqua noticed that she was spacing out and turned her attention back towards the Council members who were still explaining the mission that was to be assigned to them. Yen Sid then turned his attention to the side of the room.
"...You may step forth, my dear." he said.
Upon being welcomed, two women appeared from behind one of the Council members' chairs and walked to the center of the room. They looked strikingly similar enough for Aqua to believe that the they were related; long pink hair, blue eyes, fair complexion; how could they not be related? Aqua looked over to Snow who seemed... surprised. Like he had been stricken somehow. Although she mused at his reaction, she had secretly hoped that this wouldn't affect the mission.
"This is Serah Farron," explained Master Yen Sid referring to the younger of the two females and the one Snow happened to be "stricken" by. "She is currently a target of the Sith for possessing an important artifact of theirs."
"Why didn't she just get rid of it, then?" asked Snow.
"I've already tried," said Serah revealing an ancient looking bracelet with runes on her wrist. "But it's stuck. It won't come off."
"So until we can find a way to remove it without harming her, she will be placed under your protection," finished Master Tellah, one of the Council members. "Her sister, Clai-"
It was then that the older of the two women, who was well toned, was wearing a Naboo military outfit and had a cold gaze, threw a deadly glare at the councilman, who ended up correcting himself.
"Excuse me, her sister, 'Lightning' Farron, was gracious enough to bring her here."
Snow, being the friendly person he was, walked over to the two with one of his classic charming grins. Judging by the fact that she sensed that Lightning did not seem to be in a happy mood, Aqua had a feeling that this wasn't going to end well.
"Nice to meet ya, Serah, Lightning." he said, extending his hand out to Lightning.
"Listen, Jedi," said Lightning coolly, not even bothering to even shake Snow's hand. "If anything happens to my sister, you can bet your ass that your head is mine."
Snow flinched and raised his hands defensively as he backed off from the irate older sister. Lightning then turned to the rest of the Council.
"That goes for all of you as well," she muttered, making some of the council members exchange glances. "Don't think this means it only applies to this idiot."
"Lightning..." whispered Serah as if embarrassed.
Lightning turned to her sister and placed a hand on her arm.
"Be careful," said Lightning quietly. "If these guys don't treat you right, you give me a call right away."
With that, Lightning marched out of the room, ignoring the fact that everyone in the room was staring at her as she left. Aqua flinched. Yikes, she thought. She definitely didn't want to be around her when she was ticked off. After a moment of silence, Serah smiled with embarrassment and got everyone's attention by speaking up.
"Um... I'm sorry," said Serah. "My sister has been... really overprotective of me since our parents died."
Aqua could have sworn she heard Snow mutter the words: "Gee, you think?".
"Er... yes... Eraqus, Snow, Aqua and Serah, you are dismissed," said Yen Sid. "Serah, if you wish to leave the premises, you must have one of these three Jedi with you at all times. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." replied Serah.
With that, the three Jedi and their charge left the room. Aqua and Snow's first mission in some time had begun.