Kingdom Hearts: Dream Team

Chapter 25: An Ambush at the Theatre 💜

Group A (Rhyme, Joshua, and myself) had arrived at Tri-City Theatre and had begun the wait for Group B (Neku, Shiki, and Beat). At the time the sun had nearly set, they arrived. All of them looked pretty beat up. "What happened?" The question was immediately out of me. Neku explained that the three of them had been attacked by a large quantity of heartless. The fight was brutal and they had lost all of their potions and ethers. Bummer.

"I heard that," said Neku. What was weird was I hadn't said anything. "The player pin must be working again," he thought out loud. "I'm starting to hear a lot of background noise." Shiki stepped forward. "So where's the keyhole?" I was also confused about that. Usually, a keyhole appears when it senses the presence of a keyblade wielder. I assumed that this one was somewhere in the parking lot. Then, it hit me.

I took out my keyblade and there it was, the heart of my world, etched into one of the theatre's outside walls. In that moment, I braced myself to seal the deal (sorry about the pun). However, something happened that even my foresight couldn't predict. "Hello, Aislynn!" A voice I knew all too well spoke to me. Cyrena was here. Her hood was down, revealing my face underneath. Oh, how that disgusted me.

"How are you feeling," she said in a mock-nice voice. But she wasn't addressing me anymore, she was addressing Joshua. "I've never felt better." Why was Cyrena mocking Joshua? I thought she was only after me. However, I noticed an opportunity. With her distracted, I had a chance to seal the keyhole! So, I raised my keyblade... and fell to the ground.

My doppelganger had hit me again, but this time, she didn't hit me hard enough to knock me out. "Ha Ha," she laughed. "You really think it's that easy to distract me? If you want to seal the keyhole, I'm sorry, Aislynn, but I can't let you do that." As I suspected. Foresight, my thoughts sang. Suddenly, all of the moves she was likely to make revealed themselves in my mind. Get her! Hold her down!

Neku must have heard my thoughts, as he tackled Cyrena holding her in place. Shiki cried out, "Go, Mr. Mew!" Fast as lightning, the stuffed cat began hitting Cyrena all over. The time had come. Finishing what I had started before, I held out my keyblade. The keyhole sealed itself... but it wasn't over yet. "Get off of me!!!" A cloud of darkness exploded, sending Neku into some trees nearby.

Cyrena was back on her feet, staggering, but still ready to put up a fight. Yet, I noticed that streams of darkness were coming off of her face. In that moment, I realized the truth... Cyrena doesn't actually look like me. This was only an illusion created by the darkness, like a mask made of human skin.

Cyrena's true appearance is that of a lanky teenage girl with cropped, orange hair. The front pieces were tied in a messy ponytail and dyed purple at the tips. The res of her hair was dyed blue at the tips. Her eyes still remained the same gold as before, but with red eye shadow around them. Joshua looked at her, realization dawning on his face. "I know you," he said. "You're Cyrena Tanaka!"

"It's been too long, Joshy-boy," Cyrena said, a horrible smile stretching from ear to ear.

"What is going on here?" I wanted to know how Joshua knew Cyrena back in Shibuya. A harsh laugh escaped from Cyrena. "You mean he really hasn't told you. Well, if you must know... we used to date."

Wait, what?! Was she telling me that she and Joshua used to.... I looked at Joshua for a sign, any sign that it wasn't true, but there wasn't one. "You're the reaper who sent them here," I stated. "How could you do this, Cyrena?" Joshua was getting up as he said it. "You work for me." Her face twisted from maniacal to just angry. "Not anymore, Joshy-boy!"

Shiki rushed toward Cyrena, but with one sweep, Shiki was knocked unconscious. "I have a new master now," Cyrena stated, the smirk returning to her face. "Perhaps you've heard of him. He did give me this wonderous new ability I possess." She didn't have to say his name; I already knew who she was talking about. "Master Xehanort," I concluded. Her eyes had given it away. She had been Norted. To be honest, I wasn't surprised.

"Regardless, it's time for you to get what's coming to you." Both Beat and Rhyme rushed at Cyrena. They, too were knocked unconscious. "Don't waste your breath," she shrieked. "You're no match for me." I gazed around the area. Most of the Dream Team was down for the count. I needed to do something, anything, and that's when it hit me. "Why are you doing this , Cyrena?"

I knew that I had her attention now. The last light of day was fading. A gust of wind blew through Cyrena's rebellious hair. Her eyes, two pools of pure  topaz, gleamed in the fading light. "What I want with them is simple. I want revenge!"