[IC] More Than Just Pieces (Gummi Bunnies & Gohan)

[Gummi Bunnies]

Unaware of Riku and Mickey's presence, Add had no idea that Mickey aimed to knock him out before any real damage could be done. However, before the keyblade would strike him at the back of the neck... some invisible force deflected the weapon away and moments afterwards, a purple flash came from it. Soon following that, five other purple flashes of light came from different locations in the area, different from the distortions of time occurring around them...



"Something else doesn't want us to stop the distortion that's happening here... We need to take them out if we're going to get close to Add!"

Noticing another purple flash closing in on him, Riku summoned his keyblade and swung at where he saw that flash come from, slamming that invisible force to the ground. Being revealed upon being "disabled," the invisible forces with these flashes would be seen as some sort of mechanical weapon...



With one down, there was five to go...

[JustTheRider]

"Yeah!" Mickey simply said, turning his attention away from Add and to the invisible weapons still flying around the room. Focusing, Mickey jumped into the air and slashed at another one of the purple flashes. They were fairly fast, but so was he.

[Gummi Bunnies]

As Riku managed to take down another one of those invisible weapons after Mickey did the same, the purple flashes of the rest were simply... gone. The time distortion came to a sudden halt, and silence came from Add. Possibly wearing himself out from the abrupt traumatic episode, the young boy caused himself to faint on the spot, mumbling quietly to himself before he lost complete consciousness,"Mom... Dad... you have to be... alive... please..."

[JustTheRider]

Mickey sighed in relief, dismissing his keyblade. "Thank goodness..looks like he wore himself out." Mickey looked at Add's unconscious body. "What do you suppose that was about? think we're gonna get dragged into another mess?" Mickey asked, turning to Riku.

[Gummi Bunnies]

"It doesn't matter if we get stuck into another mess, but I'm not leaving Add alone here. Not when we have particular Witches here that might get the idea of using him... whether or not they were the ones that gave him those powers..."

If Add was here in the first place, Riku didn't want to think on how the Witches would use him... especially Bernkastel, the one that brought Sora to this place and started this entire mess... Having his keyblade disappear, Riku carefully picked up Add and carried the boy in his arms. For some reason, Add felt a bit... heavier than he expected, but that was the least of his worries right now.

Down the hallway, they would see a particular black cat watching them, not long before it would retreat from their sight by making a left into another hallway.

[JustTheRider]

"Yeah, you're right about that." Mickey nodded in agreement. He was inwardly relieved the battle was over, as it could've gotten more dangerous. He watched Riku pick up Add, but then noticed the cat and watched it scurry away.

He looked at Riku, worriedly unsure what to do. "It could either us being watched by it, or being led into a trap by following it. Either way, if we don't follow it though, we won't know where it came from." Mickey said, and ran after it.

[Gummi Bunnies]

Without much to say as Mickey gave chase after the cat, Riku followed, keeping an eye out for anything that may jump out at them. The cat, on the other hand, didn't seem to stop or falter with it's movements, possibly knowing it was being followed. Showing little to no care to that fact, the cat would scurry into one of the rooms in the Metaworld, and it was actually one of the rooms that they were in not too long ago. However, what they found wasn't exactly... pleasant.

The dead bodies of Kaika and Sota were found here, each of them had a single strange mechanical device lodged into their heads... and that device was no doubt the same type of device seen during the moments that Add was having a traumatic episode.

Riku wasn't sure on what to say, taking a moment to look over Add... Something wasn't right about this. There was no way that Add had purposefully did this, it was clear that his powers were somehow unstable with his emotions... there wasn't a way that he could...

[JustTheRider]

"Oh my Kingdom Hearts..." Mickey looked on in despair. He looked on in despair. He couldn't quite remember the girl, but the boy he was sure they had met before.

"When people get old and their bodies can't sustain their hearts..they go-to Kingdom Hearts and eventually live again. When people sustain unlivable injuries, their heart leaves their body and the same thing Happens. But in this world..you get one shot..who would be evil enough to take that away?" Mickey sorrowfully questioned.

[Gummi Bunnies]

"... Whoever did this, they truly have no heart..."

Clearly someone had it out for them, having left the very weapons that ended the lives of Kaika and Sota still present for whoever wandered into this room. But who that person was happened to be unclear? Both Riku and Mickey were unaware of any individuals that had personal grudges or vandettas against them... but maybe this might connect to Bernkastel. The Witch of Miracles was the reason why both Sora and Kaika were dragged here in the first place, causing this mess. However, they weren't exactly alone in this room that was now a crime scene within this Metaworld.

"Isn't that right?"

A sudden voice that would catch them offguard, a girl with empty purple eyes sat over at a chair that was furthest away from the door. A sinister air came about from her... she wasn't just an ordinary Witch...



"It's astonishing to see that two individuals such as these happen to fall on their end short against... these contraptions. Interesting that they originate from that boy you have there..."

Almost like a teasing gesture, the girl seemed to have interests towards Add, saying that he was the source of the machine-like weapons killing Kaika and Sota.

"... All of that power in a boy like him, he's bound to go about and accidentally kill those that didn't need to die. So... I suggest that you leave him in my care..."

Riku didn't respond to the girl's demands, whoever she was... but he had a gut feeling that she wasn't being as genuine as she was putting herself to be.

[JustTheRider]

"Just who're you supposed to be then? we've already met some witches, and never seen you before. Are you Bernkastel, perhaps? here to finally tell us what the point of all this is?" Mickey said, getting kinda fed up by the second. "Look, there's no way we're handing this kid over, so don't bother. If you wanna be of help, tell us where Sora is and what he's doing." Mickey said, trying to cut past whoever this was's crap and get to the point.

[Gummi Bunnies]

"If that's what you want to know, I'll share a little information that you're asking from me. Yes, I'm Bernkastel, the Witch of Miracles. As for... Sora, he's quite busy... I should say."

Her emotionless face showing the true disregard she had when it came to uncovering what was going on with Sora, Bernkastel would let a single Kakera reveal what had happened to Sora... showing that he had sacrificed himself to keep a similar timeline to this Metaworld from being taken down from some "time-eating" presence.



"... you had something to do with this. There wouldn't be any other situation that would force Sora to resort with that."



"I had nothing that related to that scenario other than bringing him to the Metaworld. Another Witch had brought him to that other timeline. That was not my doing."

As Bernkastel spoke, it seemed like Add was starting to wake up, and at that same moment, that whirring noise as if machines were starting up once more came about...

[JustTheRider]

"It does sound like something he'd do though..Donald and Goofy told me he once stabbed himself with his keyblade and used his heart to save Kairi.." Mickey said with a touch of sadness as he saw what Sora had done. He then heard the whirring coming from Add. "Earlier, we saw strange rifts open that Add caused when he freaked out..could it be Add has some sort of uncontrollable ability that messes with time, and ended up here because of it? and when he ended up here, his power bled into the other timeline and tried to eat it up.." Mickey said, theorizing.

He drew his keyblade as he knew those little machines were dangerous. "It's just us then, Riku. It hasn't been like that since the Door to Darkness and Castle Oblivion." Mickey commented.

[Gummi Bunnies]

A subtle laugh came from Bernkastel, as if she knew what were to happen next. Getting up from her seat within this room, an unsettling smile appeared on her face.



"In that case, go and see for yourself if that is the cause of the distortion of time. It is not my doing, after all."

Without much warning, she disappeared in a cluster of blue butterflies, right at the moment that the whirring noises that would come from the area nearest to Add would intensify.

"Right. Just like old times..."

Keeping one arm to securely carry Add with, Riku summoned his keyblade with the full intention of defending against the mysterious machines that followed Add around. Some sort of cursed power that the young traumatized boy was stuck with... While Bernkastel claimed to have no direct involvement with this matter whatsoever, that didn't deter Riku's thinking that she had influenced this to occur... a delicate and elaborate plan by the Witch of Miracles. However, what Riku wasn't ready for was the sudden electrocuting feeling coming from where he didn't expect the most: from the boy Add himself...

Being let go from Riku's grasp, Add got himself back onto his feet, his traumatized and anxious exterior replaced with a sneering gaze. With a tilt of his head, the young boy happened to willingly command three of the strange machine-like weapons to surround the downed Riku, who was still stunned by the sudden electrocution, and soon enough, he would be encased in a plasma-like force field.

"... that was unbelievably easy."

Add mumbled as he held what seemed to be a purple crystal attached to a necklace string. How come the boy happened to be acting like this all of a sudden? Was this some sort of mind control? Or... or was this more of his own doing?

"Say... it wouldn't be a problem if I went and saw what a heart looked like. Riku does seem like a good place to start off with..."

The boy almost smirked as he had another one of his machines hover over the unconscious Riku, the machine turning into a drill-like form. Clearly Add, or whoever might be controlling him if that were the case, had overheard the various sayings that Riku and Mickey had been sharing this entire time. Letting his own words sink in, Add held one hand to cover his right eye, closing his left eye... before reopening it. This wasn't the same Add that they both met not too long ago.



"Now how about you? What can I do with you? Hm?"

As Add spoke, his body seemed to having a statical effect, as if something was completely off with this...

[JustTheRider]

"Look, I don't know your situation, but clearly you're in despair. So stop and think for a moment. Is simple curiosity really worth someone else's life? because I don't think so." Mickey said, trying to talk Add down. "Whatever you do now, I promise you it will not solve your problems. So why don't you just release my friend, we'll call it even, and we can talk all about your life story. Okay?" Mickey said gently.

[Gummi Bunnies]

"... hm... is that it? You know, Mickey... nothing proved to solve my problems anyways..."

More of that static appeared around the young boy, further distorting Add's appearance. More and more of this occurred, and it soon enough, the static stopped... along with Add appearing rather differently than before.



"Besides... I won't have to worry too much anymore once there's no time anymore!"

Add had gone with a completely different type of behavior, supposedly that his child-like appearance as all a facade... Looking over at Mickey, he had three of his machines floated in front of him.



"Loook... your time's all up now! Kekekekekek!"

Laughing crazily, Add swung his arm down, signaling his machines to let loose an electrical shockwave to come Mickey's way.

[JustTheRider]

"Stopza!" Mickey used the time-stopping magic on the electric shockwave, stopping it in it's tracks. Mickey moved out of the way, and the attack struck the wall in it's immediate way. Mickey ran up, grabbed Riku...and dived out.

Mickey and Riku would leave the realm of dreams and come back into the real world, back into their real bodies. With Sora gone and Riku about to lose his heart, this was the only way he could think to get out intact. And, with little to no one to get info from which left them at a disadvantage, and with Add seemingly being unable to be reasoned with or at least no info on his powers, Mickey was out of options.

He woke up slowly, being out of it for several hours.

[Gummi Bunnies]

Due to the fact that Riku was indeed hit hard by electricity that came from Add's weapons, it didn't seem like an easy recover by the looks of it. Majority of this didn't seem to tie in together well. What was Bernkastel's plan with all of this? With how Sora was seemingly gone, with how there was a possibly insane time traveler and manipulator on the loose, it was like everything was becoming more and more harsh on what they were to prepare for next.

"... e-excuse me for the abrupt entry here."

As if she had been here for awhile, a certain Witch that Sora had encountered before his sacrifice had been done in some other timeline, Crona, happened to appear in the real world with Mickey and Riku. Knowing that her actions had only made things easier for Bernkastel, Crona felt a tinge of guilt, but with that, she felt the need to somehow fix this mess... just somehow.



"May I share... some words with you? I never had the chance to until now... not without the constant watch of the Witch Bernkastel over me..."

[JustTheRider]

Mickey, a bit out of it, rubbed his eyes and then stood up. He stared at Crona, wondering who she was and how she got here, but he decided to answer her first. "Sure, why not. Whatever you have to say can't be bad compared to what's happened so far." Mickey said, ready to listen.

[Gummi Bunnies]

"... I'm the current Witch of Time, Crona... and I had Sora go and resolve a timeline for me, as it wasn't... having a normal course. As if someone had tampered with it... little did I know that Bernkastel took advantage of this, sending another time manipulator into the equation, and putting my progress into a regression... All that I know that this time manipulator happened to disguise himself as his past self... this manipulator being named Add... correct?"

Crona tried to bring together all that she knew of the situation that she could pass on to Mickey, supposing that she had some info regarding Add at this rate.

[JustTheRider]

"We met him crying and sobbing. We thought he was just some scared kid who was displaced here somehow, but eventually there was the time rifts, and the bodies of those two kids. We thought maybe he was just being controlled, but I sort of realized he was doing this of his own volition." Mickey explained.

"That's all we really know. Bernkastel seemed to want him for some reason though." Mickey concluded. "Now about Sora..what EXACTLY happened to him and this timeline of yours?"