[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220729/023912a75a8a9b16c801799640a60148.png[/img]

[H3]Suoh[/h3][u]Concealed Atrocities[/u]

[b]Word Count:[/b] 917
[b]Level 7 Roxas:[/b] 9/70
[b]Exp:[/b] +2
[b]NEW EXP Balance---[/b] 11/70[/center]

After they left Peach with the rebels, Roxas couldn't help but clam up. He replayed that conversation in his head over and over. It was clear he regretted what he said at the end. Even if the Power of Waking [i]could[/i] help, he'd still have to find Sora. And Roxas couldn't even begin to think of where to start there. Last he knew, Riku and Kairi were tirelessly searching for their missing friend. They even enlisted the help of Aqua and the others to take the search into the Realm of Darkness. And as far as Roxas knew, none of them had had any progress in locating him. So how exactly was [i]he[/i] supposed to do so while in this completely unfamiliar world?

Well whatever doubts Roxas had needed to be set aside. Next thing he knew, Luka was announcing a message he'd received from one his peers in the Otherlobe. Apparently their entire platoon now had an APB out on them, and that sounded like bad news. But among the cacophony of names getting dropped, Roxas actually managed to recognize at least one of them: Oleander. He was that coach guy Raz introduced Roxas to the other day. The one who Raz asked to let some of the seekers join the platoon, unaware that it was meant only for psionics. Had he really brought Sina and Dexio to Beacon Hospital? And did he know they were being controlled?

Roxas was equally concerned about hearing of Raz being injured and in hiding at Musubi's. He was just as eager to get over there and rescue Raz as the rest of the Seekers were. But then the alarms started blaring, signalling an Other attack just like the one from the other day, [color=Gold]"What? Now? You can't be serious!"[/color] Roxas bemoaned, but then found himself agreeing with Luka, [color=Gold]"You're thinking that someone did this on purpose?"[/color]

Roxas wouldn't put it past someone in the upper echelons of Midgar to orchestrate this kind of disaster. The problem was that Roxas had no earthly idea how this could even be done. But regardless, it looked like the Seekers would be fighting against Others again whether they wanted to or not. And thus the Keybearer was quick to leap into action.

At first things were more or less straightforward. Roxas hacked and slashed his way into a small group of five Rummies, and then lit them up with a Thundaga Spell to finish them off. And then Roxas suddenly heard what sounded almost like... hoof beats. He turned and yelped in surprise when a ram-like Wither Sabbat came charging past, nearly trampling him. It let out a snorting sound as it pounded its front hooves in preparation for another charge. Roxas turned and sprinted, but he knew he'd get overtaken unless he did something. So he ran for a nearby street-light pole and then hopped up and pushed himself off it.

The Sabbat crashed into the pole, but Roxas was already airborne. The Nobody flipped and oriented himself to land squarely on the Other's back. He immediately grabbed the creature's horns and held on with all his strength and for dear life as he was bucked around on the back of the monster. After what felt like a very long seven or eight seconds, the Wither Sabbat lunged into another charge with Roxas still riding its back and clinging to the horns some kind of desperate rider in a rodeo.

[color=Gold]"Whoa! LOOK OUT!"[/color] screamed Roxas when he realized where the Sabbat was going. It was attempting to charge into a pair unsuspecting civilians currently firing at different Others. Roxas yanked the creature's horns aside as hard as he could to try and force it to turn a different. At the same time the two civilians heard Roxas' warning and dove out of the way. So that was at least a couple casualties averted. But Roxas himself was still kind of stuck on this Other's back. He could jump off, but then he'd just get charged at again. Meanwhile the Sabbat in question went into another charge, and so Roxas had to act fast. He tightened his grip on the horns and yanked at them again, once more trying to forcibly control it's charge.

The Keybearer managed to direct the Sabbat's charge into a trio of Rummies. At that point he finally ditched the creature and quickly leaped backward to put some distance between it and himself. He pointed both Keyblades forward and fired a Dual Shot, whose explosion manage to catch the Sabbat and the Rummies and finish them off, [color=Gold]"Uh oh..."[/color] Roxas said to himself as he realized this maneuver had apparently separated him from his friends and allies. He hear their voices but they were a ways away and he'd have to make his way back where he had just been brought from. To make matters worse, a growing crowd of Rummies and Paws were slowly trying to close in on him.

After taking a calming breath, Roxas stared down the crowd of Others before him, [color=Gold]"You don't scare me!"[/color] he shouted as he ran right for the enemies before him. He was determined to make it back to the others even if he had to fight his way there every step of the way.