((Collab between Double and Letter Bee))

[b][I]Timeskip - Relevant to Everyone[/i][/b]

As one of his last acts before going back to protect Mai's world, Shahrukh Mirza asked that Fredrick be transferred to said universe, considering the former Mafiosi's probable PTSD potentially interfering. This reduced the group of fighters for the expedition to four, but they can manage. Either way, they went off to the [i]Ruler of the Sea[/i], then went off to the world known as The Glory of France!

[b][i]Three Days Later - Relevant to Double and Me[/i][/b]

Tocsax would call Seth to the hangar in private, as the Gummi Ship and Main Fleet met with the blue, white, and red ships of the French Armada. He would then say to the other Nobody:

"There is someone I want you to meet - another someone. He will be in French Egypt, near the Pyramids of Giza. We can slip in and out using Corridors of Darkness."

Should Seth agree, he would depart with Tocsax to a small patch of deserted sandy ground at the foot of the Pyramids, where a medium-height, brown-skinned, tall and slightly fat man in arabian costume, with a full white and straight beard, waited.

"Hakim the Wise, former vizier of the Caliph in Baghdad in the world of Shining Field, and the one whom Leo, posing as a student eager to learn from him, turned into his pawn, starting the fall of many worlds. He is here to test the two of us."

As he walked toward the hanger, it wasn't lost on Seth that this was the second time he was called for a private meeting. More training? It didn't seem all that logical to do that when the mission was now officially underway. So maybe this was some kind of secondary assignment? Well, there was only way to find out.

"Egypt, eh?" Seth reached a gloved hand up to scratch the back of his head, "You seem to know a lot of people from there... well, worlds notwithstanding." he chuckled a bit, obviously he was just making a little joke, Seth did appreciate humor after all.

Finding himself standing in the desert alongside Tocsax, they were greeted by a large fellow with a white beard. Tocsax introduced him as Hakim the  Wise, a vizier to some royal from another world, "Another noble? Talk about having friends in high places." Seth sounded pretty nonchalant about the meeting, but that didn't mean he wasn't paying attention. Hakim's employer had apparently been manipulated into serving Leo.

And then a test was mentioned, "Test? I'm not great with tests. Don't suppose its multiple choice?" Seth asked with his usual innocent grin.

A chuckle from Hakim.

"No, my dear Nobody, rather, it is a secondary objective, one that is [i]almost[/i] as necessary as finding the Princess of Heart. Tell me," he continued, "do you know of the world's Keyhole?"

"They're doors," Seth responded. Indeed, he had heard of these, though he never went out of his way to actually locate any of them, "to the Realm of Darkness. It's how the Heartless find their way in every world." he almost sounded serious. Almost. After a moment, he shrugged, "Maybe. I think. My memory's not the greatest in the world." there was that grin of his, now he sounded like his usual self again.

"Well," spoke Hakim the Wise, "Tocsax is going to seal one, but he needs bodyguards, as Leo has stationed Non-Heartless minions of his' near the Keyhole, which in turn is inside the Pyramids, where the French had abandoned one of their secret projects. Want to accompany us?" He then, with a flash-step, leaned closer:

"This will also be a test of whether you have regrown your Heart sufficiently to earn the [i]right to be[/i], young Seth. Do not fail this." He would then walk back a few paces, saying:

"So, I am ready to open the Corridor to the interior of the Pyramid. Does anyone object to me beginning?"

"I don't," spoke Tocsax, who, at Hakim's words, was now glaring angrily at the former Vizier. "And I thought we talked about this long ago."

"We did, Tocsax, but that was about [i]your[/i] right, not his'."

Even in the face of Hakim's obvious prejudice, Seth never lost his grin. Even his lazy, laid-back composure didn't change an inch. This wasn't the first racist Seth had ever encountered, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"So um... just out of curiosity, what exactly do you think you're gonna do to me if I fail?" Seth asked, seeing right through Hakim's "subtlety" and picking up the implied threat, "Because, last time I checked, people who try to kill me usually end up having a [i]bad time[/i]. Tell me," Seth's left eye lit up its bright blue, "are you looking to have a bad time?"

"Oh, I've endured being thrown into the Realm of Darkness, twice," spoke Hakim the Wise. "I'm sure anything you can do will just be as pinpricks." 

He would then open a Corridor of Darkness to the centre of the Pyramid, where, once Tocsax and Seth went inside, they would find...

They would find metal-plated walls and scaffolding, moving cranes that carried boxes, and small prefabricated rooms where unknown experiments were being done. And, at the centre of it all was a woman in bulky-seeming Power Armor, accompanied by a dozen people similarly-clad, but with helmets, along with throngs of people in normal-looking infantry armor who seemed to be carrying laser and plasma guns. This woman was looking at an ancient egyptian statue...one that looked not to be made of sandstone, but from a Gummi Block.

"Leo's servitors from the realm of Apocalypse Averted," Hakim would say, as suddenly, two more soldiers, in black, more form-fitting power suits, appeared before them, bringing out two laser miniguns and pointing it at the three!

"Halt -" said one of the soldiers, before Tocsax and Hakim hurled a Dark Firaga and a Fission Firaga at them simultaneously!

In response to the attack, Seth did... nothing. There was no point. Both Tocsax and the bearded man jumped on their attackers immediately. Any action Seth took would be a wasted effort at that point, "I'm guessing that armor isn't exactly heat proof? Seems like a pretty obvious design flaw if ya ask me. So... we should probably get out of here before someone comes to investigate."

At that Seth vanished. Like, he literally seemed to vanish into thin air. Well, he actually moved away to find a better hiding spot, he just happened to moved so fast it only [i]looked[/i] like he vanished. One of the reasons Seth survived for as long as he had wasn't because of strength, speed, or his level of power. He didn't look it, or act like it for that matter, but Seth was smart. At the very least, he knew how to be pragmatic.

[i]Okay... now where's that Keyhole...?[/i]

As sounds of battle began to echo from Tocsax and Hakim's position, Seth's mind might - might - wander to the Egyptian Statue made of Gummi Materials, a statue of Isis, perhaps? That's a probable place to have a Keyhole; such suspicions would be furthered by the fact that the woman in Power Armor and her battalion had formed a defensive circle around it while sending forth patrols of mooks to systemically search for threats...

[i]Way to be subtle, Leo.[/i] Finding the location of the Keyhole was surprisingly easy. It certainly helped that the apparent bad guys weren't very subtle about what they were guarding. Really, all it was missing was a neon sign that read 'Insert Keyblade Here' or something. Of course, Seth himself had no Keyblade, so locking this thing was impossible for him. But maybe he [i]could[/i] do something else.

It was a good thing Seth dedicated a good chunk of his downtime to practcing that little skill he learned from Shahrukh. At Seth's mental command, the one armored soldier not wearing a helmet would find herself in a bit of a coughing fit. A gust of sand seemed to be trying to force its way in her mouth and nose. Didn't matter how tough the armor was, or how much you trained your body, inner bodily functions were always vulnerable to attack, assuming one knew how to fight using their brain.

As the woman coughed, half of the men in Power Armor would look at her, saying:

"Lieutenant [i]Autumn[/i]! Is there an -" but the Lieutenant, still coughing, would accurately point in Seth's direction with her index finger, and the men would fire lasers at the Nobody, even without knowing for sure he was there!

Unfortunately for them, the lasers didn't actually hit anyone. A small wall of sand compressed into a tough shield jutted up upward, absorbing the laser fire. Even if bits of was destroyed, more sand would just take its place, and so the shield wall honestly looked liked it was regenerating. The soldiers needed to reload sooner or later, and when they tried to do that, the wall of sand seemed to break apart into tendrils that shot forth. They targeted the guns, stuffing as much as sand down the barrels as possible.

Lasers were fast, and could also be powerful. But if the focus lenses became dirty enough, firing them would either prove useless, or they would overheat and explode. With a little luck, Seth's little maneuver would, at the very least, disarm them of their guns. When the sand tendrils attacked, Seth had stopped hiding and was now standing in view, his hood pulled up so that they wouldn't see his face. He was still grinning, however.

"Sorry, but... I'm gonna have to ask you guys to clear out of here. I'm not really in any mood to fight but, anyone who feels like having a [i]bad time[/i] can feel free to step forward and try and stop me." there were those words again. [i]Bad time[/i]. Seemed like every time Seth said those words his tone subtly changed. Not as laid-back, not as chill. It was serious. It was threatening, and accompanying that threat his left eye glowed its bright, eerie blue.

Lieutenant Autumn looked hatefully at Seth, then waved to her men to stand down for now, before saying:

"Seth...Kixham and the [i]other[/i] Hakim have heard of you..." Seth would remember reading a dossier back at Blachrenae explaining that Kixham and Hakim, Seeker of Darkness, were actually the Nobody and Heartless of Leo the Second Mathematician, which were destroyed by Tocsax in his rebellion, only for Leo to reconstitute himself and summon the two from another time, rendering the Nobody's efforts meaningless. Nevertheless, Autumn would smirk, and say:

"You know, Leo can promise you so much. Power, Riches, Land, and even Knowledge. What will it take to top the price [i]The Emperor[/i]," she spat in contempt, "gave you? Once the 'Tyranny of Light' is broken, you may yet achieve a high place in the New Order that Leo will bring."

Seth looked like he was genuinely considering the offer, "Hmm, well, there is [i]one[/i] thing he could do to convince me to stand down." his grin never left his face. Was he joking? This time it was legitimately hard to tell.

"I won't whore myself out to you," spoke Lieutenant Autumn, "but Leo can give you a harem of any woman of any ethnic group or even species you want -"

Seth laughed, like, legit laughed, a pretty rare thing for a Nobody of his status, "Don't flatter yourself. I wouldn't want [i]you[/i] if you were the last woman in the multiverse. No, what I want..." Seth seemed to vanish. In actuality, he simply moved with the same kind of flash-step speed that Hakim demonstrated earlier. When they could see him again he was suddenly behind the Lieutenant Autumn and spoke softly in her ear, "...is for Leo to surrender." of course, he was gone again and back in his original position before anyone in their bulky power armor could move to stop him.

"Do me a favor and pass that along to him, won't you? Hey, it's a worth a try right? I mean, at least think about it, wouldn't you rather forget about all this war stuff and do something more relaxing? Y'know like... go for a drink? Grab a bite? Go on a nice picnic? Literally anything else?"

"Die!" shouted Lieutenant Autumn, taking out a Plasma Pistol that spat out green projectiles that can melt even sand!

Seth just.. chuckled? The attack was plenty telegraphed, and Seth knew exactly how he wanted to counter it. He reached out a hand and... opened a Corridor of Darkness? Sure, the plasma could burn through sand, but could it burn through a dark portal? Doubtful. And, as if adding salt to the wound, the Corridor led to... a Corridor that opened right behind Autumn. It's not every day one can say they shot themselves in the back.

"Argh!" Lieutenant Autumn screamed as the back part of her Power Armor began melting, just as Tocsax and Hakim were racing towards the Keyhole, having killed the normal guardsmen!

Now, however, the rest of the Power Armored men began to throw grenades filled with sticky foam, hoping to catch the fast Nobody!

The armored soldiers tried using grenades now. They were persistent, Seth had to givve them that. Like the Plasma Pistol, however, the attacks were all pretty well telegraphed. Seemed to be a flaw in wearing such bulky armor in general. Then again, these guys weren't exactly doing a great job in considering the environment.

Seth never actually closed the Corridor from earlier. Dodging the grenades was a matter of simply ducking into the Corridor, and making sure he closed it behind him so that none of the projectiles could follow. That, of course, put him right behind the Lieutenant, practically in the center of the armored soldiers.

"You should have stood down." chuckled Seth, who then proceeded to command as much sand as he could to start spreading out around him. In particular, he tried to get it in as many of the nooks and crannies of the Power Armor as he could find. He primarily aimed for joints, and other places where the armor plates were broken up to allow movement. Just how much of this invasive sand could the armors take before they broke down or locked up? Seth wasn't sure, but he was pretty certain he was about to find out.

The Power Armor had filters, and redundant systems, so they would withstand the sand long enough to set off their self-destruct systems, which would - hopefully for them - blow up the pyramid with a fusion explosion!

"Wow... now that's what I call dedication..." chuckled Seth, but even [i]this[/i] tactic could be countered. Opening up portals like Corridors of Darkness was a [i]very[/i] handy ability. Seth had to wonder, though, why no one ever seemed to think of the potential battle applications of such a power. Thinking fast, Seth opened up a final Corridor. This one led to just one place: The Moon.

Naturally, the moon had no atmosphere, and as such, the Corridor became a vacuum of sorts trying to suck in everything immediately around it. This would include Seth as well, but thankfully he had a trick up his sleeve. He used sand to hold himself down. It wasn't easy, in fact it took just about [i]all[/i] his concentration to do it. Thankfully, this concentration only needed to last for a split moment. Just long enough for the self-destructing armors to get vacuumed through the Corridor. Seth only targeted the soldiers trying to blow themselves up, by the way, once they were all gone he closed the Corridor, sparing anyone who didn't try such an extreme tactic. That likely included Autumn, who seemed to have been put out of commission by Seth's earlier tactic.

"Are you all right?!" he can hear Tocsax saying, while Hakim was imprisoning Lieutenant Autumn in what looked like a crystaline hardlight hologram, aka a giant crystal made up of light. Once the Arabian Vizier was done, however, he would say:

"Good, Tocsax, close the Keyhole. I'll tell the young man here how he did in his test." Hakim the Wise would then walk towards Seth, who would be drained by his' opening a portal to the flipping' moon.

"Face me, young man," the sorcerer would say. "It seems that your laugh at the woman's offer was the only legitimate emotion you showed." A wave of his hand, and triangular panes of rainbow light would gather around Seth, forming into a giant gun, much like an Ultima Cannon, pointed towards Seth.

"You failed the test."

"You're forgetting one very important thing, mate..." Seth said, still grinning but just about ready to collapse. No, he had no chance of fending off Hakim in his current state. But then, he wasn't really alone, was he?

From the shadows all around, energy bolts fired, all converging on Hakim. They were lesser Nobodies, Snipers to be exact. They were showing up to defend the Nobody who commanded them, just like they were instructed to long ago. Snipers had an interesting ability to shift their bodies into the form of large crossbows that fired quick, precise energy bolts at their victims. Seth had long ago "trained" his Snipers to only appear when their bodies were shifted into crossbow form and ready to fire. This allowed them to open fire instantly and, more often than not, overwhelm whoever they were targeting. Let it never be said that Seth wasn't smart.

[b][i]Relevant to Everyone[/i][/b]

Hakim prepared a warding gesture to create a shield against the Nobodies' assault -

"Stop!" Tocsax said, having finished sealing the Keyhole...and he had brought, through a Corridor of Darkness, Mai, Mac, and Cheese!

[@Arty Fox][@SMS]