Always

(Yeah, could it stay open, Number XV? I just figure it would give Mariah something to do, because I haven't been able to post a whole lot about her lately. ) The sound of James’s name hit Mariah with a force she didn’t quite expect. She shook her head. “I have no idea. The last time I saw him was in the forest...” She couldn’t even remember exactly when he had left. “Why do you ask?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Rebekah laughed again. Though she had been extremely hungry, she was only able to finish half of the dish she ordered. “Don’t worry, I think a lot of them would love to have a good breadstick...or three. So are you sure you’re feeling better? One moment I’m leaving you at a hospital in full body cast, and the next you’re carrying me to a fancy restaurant.” She made sure to say this part a little quieter so that the other people in the restaurant wouldn’t hear. “I hope you’re not overexerting yourself.” ------------------------------------------------------------ Troy was hit from the side by Scott, and he groaned. Alexis also lunged at him again, and he had to react quickly through the pain. He slid at both of them with Fire Dash, hitting Alexis’s leg.

(Okay, everyone, I will be controlling Troy until Not-with-a-whimper gets back. @Number XV: Sorry, I'm a little confused. Is the Corridor of Darkness still open, or did it close when Callum went through it? @Yuffie: LOL were you going to have Elie respond to Mariah?) Rebekah wondered what Felix had muttered to himself, but she became distracted when the waiter arrived. “Wow...we’re going to have a lot of leftovers to carry back to the others once we’re done here. That...is your plan, right? Or do you have some kind of superhumanly fast metabolism?” she laughed. ------------------------------------------------------------ “Whoa!” Troy shouted. He held up the χ-blade and reflected Larxene’s attack just in time. However, the force of it still nearly knocked him over, and he slid back a small distance, somehow managing to stay on his feet. This girl was fast. “Alright, my turn!” He swung his weapon at her with Blizzard Edge, hitting her left arm. Larxene gritted her teeth from the icy pain and leaped back, her ego bruised from being hit so easily and so early on in the battle. “Ah, I’d almost forgotten how worthy an opponent you actually are, Sora! But I promise you, I’ll be the winner of this fight!” “My name is not Sora or Roxas! It’s Ventus!” Ventus spoke through Troy, going in for another attack. “My bad. It’s just so hard to keep track,” Larxene replied melodramatically. She warped behind Ven and slashed at him several times with her knives. Troy regained control of his body as the knives were cutting through his skin. He tried to get away, but she was too fast for him, blocking him no matter where he tried to go, and the slashing was ceaseless. All Troy could do was try to block her attacks, but then there was an instant in which Larxene had the slightest moment’s hesitation, as if she needed to catch her breath. Without much thought, Troy swung the χ-blade at almost the exact spot where he had hit Larxene before, and Larxene let out a piercing shriek. Suddenly, he felt himself lift off the ground just a little, and time appeared to slow down around him. Or was he getting faster...? There was a soft, white glow around himself and his weapon. “Awww yeah!” Ven said. “Fever Pitch!” Troy grinned with the same confidence and determination he could hear in his Inhabiter’s voice, almost unaware that he was only imitating the emotions, and he ran at Larxene again with incredible speed, hitting her several times. “ENOUGH!!” Alexis screamed, now back in control. She hurled Thundaga at her opponent, shocking him and throwing him off balance for just a moment. He was able to recover quickly, though, and charged at her again.

I always tell my friends who are experiencing the series for the first time to play the games in the order they came out. Like several others in this thread have said, that's the order in which they were meant to be experienced. Playing the games in chronological order would be like watching Star Wars in chronological order. Just...no... As for skipping any of the games...it really depends on how much your friend loves the series. If he's head-over-heels for the series, don't tell him to skip any of them. If he thinks it's cool but isn't passionately in love with it, the only game I think that's appropriate to skip would be Re:coded...just have him watch the ending and the secret ending, and he'll be good. And I guess he could also skip CoM as long as he plays Re:CoM, but I'm not really counting remakes/originals here. That's just my opinion.

Rebekah took her seat and started looking at her own menu. It was only now that she realized she hadn’t eaten since this morning, and she was famished, so it was difficult to pick out what she wanted. After some deliberation, she was finally able to narrow it down to a delicious-looking crab dish. “So, Felix,” she said, putting her menu back down, “what other surprises do you have for me up your sleeve? You’ve told me a lot about yourself, but after that gymnastics stunt you pulled on the street today, I feel like I still hardly know you.” She chuckled. ------------------------------------------------------------ Keilani watched Elie, Mariah, and Callum with mild interest. She was wondering where Troy had gone to after she had seen him briefly, but all in all, she was feeling tired after the long day. She lay down on several of the seats in the waiting room and soon fell asleep, even with the general noise around her and the glaring fluorescent lights. ------------------------------------------------------------ “Y-you!” Larxene snarled through Alexis. She was seeing the spitting image of Roxas right in front of her, and the brat’s Inhabiter also felt terribly similar to the little wimp. “How many different versions of that Sora kid are there, anyway?! I’ll just have to make sure I get rid of this one!” She brought out her knives again, shooting lightning through them, and lunged at Troy.

Yeah, that was basically the only reason I bought my 3DS. But some of the other 3DS games look cool, too, and I may end up buying them eventually.

DUDE!!!! That's like the coolest thing ever!!!!!

Mariah smiled a little. “Don’t worry, Callum, I won’t tell Joy if you don’t.” She then looked back at Elie. Was Elie being honest when she had said that it was only Aerith who cared for Cloud? Why was Elie doing this for them now? If Elie and Joy really did care for each other, it wouldn’t be right to not allow Elie to see him while Mariah and Callum went in. Though it hurt her to think about it, Mariah at least had to make the offer. “Elie...you can put yourself down as a family member as well, you know. It’s completely up to you.” Mariah’s voice was quiet and gentle, though a little sad.

July 31.

(Awww poor Tudi. ) Rebekah gasped when Felix picked her up, and she put her arms around his neck, laughing as he carried her across the street. She giggled again at his interaction with the waiter, but then said, “Felix, is this really necessary?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis felt a chill run down her spine as Scott told her his first rule, but kept smiling and wouldn’t allow her face to even twitch. Then, when his hand landed on her hip and he blushed, Alexis realized that, at least in one way, she was stronger than him. At this point, there was a chance that she could even end up having total control of him later on down the road. Maybe she already did, and hadn’t realized it yet. She placed her hands on his chest and said, “I say...what are we waiting for? Oh! But first, let me get my clothes back. Wouldn't want the police to find them when they finally show up here.” She ran to the bathroom and retrieved her clothes, not offering the corpses a second glance. When she looked in the mirror, she saw that some of her hair had fallen out of its hasty up-do after all the action. She shrugged and folded her clothes neatly, not bothering to change out of the dress, then met up with Scott again. “Lead the way,” she smiled.

Nice, Lu Xun!

Rebekah screamed a little when Felix hugged her from behind, but she relaxed when she heard his voice. She turned around and looked at him. “Felix...oh, well, um, the restaurant sounds great! But what are you doing out of the hospital?” She realized that he was shirtless once again, and her hands were against his bare chest. She blushed and fumbled for the shirt she had bought for him. “Here, finally got this,” she said, trying not to sound embarrassed. “I hope you like it. You’d better put it on, or else I don’t think they’ll let us into the restaurant.” She chuckled nervously. ------------------------------------------------------------ “The FBI, huh? You’ll stop at nothing, will you?” Alexis said. “Alright, let’s go for it! I’m definitely going to need your guidance on this one, though. The biggest organizations I’ve taken down have just been small gangs, nothing like what you’re proposing. But I’m certainly willing to try.” She grinned.

When Rebekah got to the museum, there wasn’t a lot to be seen from the outside, except for banners advertising the ball and the Mona Lisa. Then a glimmer caught her eye. Was that a piece of shattered glass she saw closer to the building? No, there were several pieces, catching the light coming from the street lamp. She approached the shards for a closer look. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis was surprised at Scott’s reaction, and when she looked around her, the thrill of what she had done overcame her once again, and for the moment she forgot her anger toward him. As the smoke settled, she saw a few remaining people cowering in corners, and finished them off by shooting more bolts at each of them. She looked at Scott again. “Why not?” she said with a smile. She was now feeling a different kind of rush--the kind one would get from pulling a stunt that could very well kill them, but having the willingness, or lack of intelligence, to try it anyway. She was still afraid of Scott, and though she knew she was powerful, he was even more so. But for the moment, she let the adrenaline course through her and faced the fear as she danced with him, laughing.

Rebekah reached the department store safely, though she had gotten some weird looks on the street on her way there. She went to the men’s clothing section and found several different shirts that seemed to match Felix’s description of what he wanted. She knew nothing about men’s fashion, and all she could do was pick one out at random and hope he would like it. After purchasing the shirt and exiting the store, she saw a newspaper rack with an article featuring the Mona Lisa and talking about how there was a ball at the museum tonight in honor of the Mona Lisa being lent there. She looked more closely at the paper behind the glass, and saw the museum’s address--it was just another block away from the department store. Curiosity took over, and Rebekah decided to head there, just to see if there was anything special to look at from the outside. If not, she would just turn around and go back to the hospital right away. If she was gone much longer, Jayson would probably end up running into Felix, and then she’d be in trouble. ------------------------------------------------------------ Thirty-three. Through the smoke, Alexis saw something strange coming towards her. The barrel of a gun. No, three barrels. Six?? “Unarmed civilians, huh?” Larxene said wryly. Alexis gritted her teeth in anger. The lying bastard! She shot bolts at two of them, and when one armed person was right up next to her, she grabbed the gun, threw the guy over her shoulder, and slammed him back to the floor, then electrocuted him. Three to go. She dropped to the floor as they started firing at her.

Rebekah looked around for Jayson in the lobby, but couldn’t immediately find him. She didn’t want to spend forever just tracking him down, so instead she left the hospital alone. Not like Felix would know, anyway. She laughed to herself. It was nice to know that he was worried for her safety, but the more she fought with Aqua, the less vulnerable she began to feel. Besides, the enemy Inhabiters were gone for now, so there was nothing to worry about as far as that was concerned. She walked down the street towards the nearest department store, which was a couple blocks away, but she didn’t mind it so much. Being as skittish as she had been before, she would never have dared to walk through such a big city as night was falling, but now she knew how to defend herself with powers that weren’t of this world. She felt liberated. ------------------------------------------------------------ When Alexis got to the top of the stairs, she walked to the open part of the second floor that overlooked the main hall. There they all were the now forty-eight unarmed civilians, listening to a speech from the museum’s manager about how honored he was to be hosting this ball. Next, she looked for the guards Scott had been talking about. Two a few feet away from the Mona Lisa, four on the opposite side of the room, behind all the attendees. These six would be the first to go. She looked up at the ceiling where a gold chandelier was hanging. Just what she needed. She looked to the main entrance and found that its double doors were no closed--locked from the inside, no doubt. So if anyone happened to get a distress call or anything like that, they wouldn’t have an easy time entering the building, unless someone let them in. Which wouldn’t happen, because Alexis wouldn’t be allowing anyone to even get close to those doors. Finally, Alexis located all the surveillance cameras that she could at the moment. She shot bolts of electricity at them to short them out. Alright, let’s get this show on the road. Ready, Larxene? “Oh, Lexi, I was born ready! Let’s give these people an experience they’ll never forget,” Larxene replied. Alexis grinned. Her Inhabiter seemed to have forgotten about whether Scott could be trusted, and to be just having fun with this, as Alexis herself was. Here we go. She walked behind a column and ducked down, then crawled over to where she had been standing just a moment before, only now she was hidden behind the low wall. She focused on the chandelier and brought to her mind the approximate location of each of the guards. Then, she held out both her hands and shot a bolt at the chandelier, channelling two currents out of the fixture--one towards the four guards, and a smaller one towards the two in front of the Mona Lisa. She hoped she wasn’t accidentally hitting the painting. There was the sound of several bodies collapsing at once, then a collective gasp and hush. Now. She reached under her dress and brought the grenade out. Not very lady-like, but killing dozens of people at a ball wasn’t very lady-like, either. Oh, well. She pulled the pin and threw the grenade into the hall below, hearing a skull crack as it landed. Hopefully that was one less person to deal with. And that was when the chaos started. Alexis fastened a handkerchief around her face, perched herself atop the low wall, and jumped down to the floor below, sending bolts of electricity out in every direction, hitting at least ten more people. She brought out the knives and positioned herself between the front doors and the panicked crowd, stabbing people who passed her, piercing their hearts most of the time. Nineteen down. Twenty. Twenty-five. Twenty-seven. More bolts of electricity. Alexis’s lips curled with pleasure. Whether Scott could be trusted or not, she was getting an amazing rush at the moment.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAMION!!!!

Mariah turned and looked at Elie in surprise, and there was gratefulness in her eyes. “Thank-you, Elie,” she said quietly. “Do we need to get you a computer? How can we help you out?” ------------------------------------------------------------ “Okay, I’ll take Jayson with me, but your wallet is staying on that night table,” Rebekah said with a grin. “I told you I was buying the shirt. Maybe Jayson could even help me pick it out, because I’m not sure I would be any good at this.” She kissed Felix on the cheek. “I’ll see you in a little while.” With that, she walked out and into the lobby to find Jayson. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis found what she was looking for--a vent in the back of the building, which was almost above her head and just big enough for her to squeeze into. Classic. She weaved her her into a single braid that went She brought out Larxene’s knives and used one of them to loosen the screws holding the bottom of the grate in place. “What are you doing?” Larxene snarled. “That’s not what they’re for!!” Geez, Larxene, give me a break! Scott didn’t give me much to work with here. It’s like he wants me to get arrested...or killed. “Right, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that you’re an idiot for trusting him.” Alexis’s face reddened with embarrassment. Of course, Larxene was absolutely right. Shut up! I’ve gotten myself out of bad situations before, and if anything goes wrong here, why shouldn’t I be able to find my way out of this one? I’m not that bad at improvising. Regardless, let’s just think of this as a fun little challenge. She had now finished with the screws, and she opened the flap-style grate and hoisted herself inside. After several minutes of crawling through the tight space full of old spider webs and dust, she finally found some light filtering through grates located in one of the museum’s large halls, and continued until she came to what she hoped was the women’s restroom. She scanned the room carefully to make sure no one was there, then managed to get her body twisted just enough so that she could position herself to kick the grate out with her steel-toed boots. The screws broke out of the old wall after a few kicks, and Alexis dropped down into the Victorian restroom, picking up the screws and pieces of wall and throwing them in the trash can. Yes, this was definitely the women’s. Thankfully, like the grate outside, the top of this one was still intact, so the fact that any damage had been done to it or the wall wouldn’t be overly noticeable at first glance. Alexis examined herself in the mirror and found that she was covered with dust. She quickly unbraided her hair and removed her jacket, combing the dust out of her hair with her fingers, brushing it off of her clothes. She then put her jacket back on and walked out of the restroom door, and found a slender woman who was in her 30’s coming towards her. She was wearing a floor-length, strapless, peach-colored dress. Perfect. She came up to the woman with a relieved look on her face. “Oh, thank goodness! Do you have any lipstick on you? I feel so extremely under-dressed for this occasion, and I feel like the least I can do is put on a little more makeup.” The woman looked back at her in shock, giving her a how-could-you-not-have-known-this-was-a-formal occasion kind of expression, but then smiled uncertainly and nodded, going into the restroom with Alexis and offering her lipstick as she touched up her own makeup. Alexis put the lipstick on, then looked at the woman and said, “I love that dress! Where did you get it?” “Oh, a friend of mine makes gowns like these as sort of a hobby. You really like it?” “Yeah! Mind if I borrow it?” Alexis asked cheerily. The woman laughed a little, not fully registering the question. “What?” Then, before the woman knew what hit her, Alexis took hold of the back of her neck and gave her a lethal electric shock. The woman slumped to the floor, and Alexis immediately took the dress off of her, and threw her own clothes carelessly over the woman’s body. She put on the dress, which was just a little snug on her in the chest area, but otherwise a great fit. She then dragged the woman’s body into the stall farthest from the door and went back to the mirror to pin up her hair in a more formal fashion. When she was finally done, the result was that it would be difficult for many people to tell that she had just crawled through a vent. Fortunately, since the dress was floor-length, she could keep her own boots on instead of “borrowing” the woman’s high heels as well. She fished her thigh holster out of her jacket pocket and fastened it around her leg, placing the grenade in it. Now she was ready. When she walked out of the restroom, there was now a man coming in her direction. He looked just as surprised as the woman had been. “Hey...that looks a lot like my wife’s dress,” he said. Oops. Alexis laughed. “Oh my gosh, that’s your wife in there? Yeah, we totally just ran into each other in the restroom, and we each had to do a double-take when we saw we were both wearing the same dress! I feel so embarrassed!” Then Alexis’s face turned concerned. “Oh, but she doesn’t seem to be feeling well. She was saying something about wanting to see you, but I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Come on, I’ll help her out of the restroom so that you can see her.” The man looked equally concerned now, and he let Alexis guide him closer to the door from behind. “Okay, I’ll let you see her now.” She shoved him through the door with all her strength and he gave a small cry. “W-what--” he started to say, but was cut off when Alexis shot a lightning bolt into his eye socket--another lethal shock. Alexis shrugged. “You’ll see her in hell.” Then she dragged his body to where his wife’s was, and exited the restroom one last time. Finally the coast was clear. She made her way to the stairs so that she could get an overhead view of the main hall where the ball was being held. Two down, fifty-four to go. (Yep, Alexis is a horrible horrible horrible person. And again, sorry I write such long posts guys! I hope you don't mind too much...)

I usually watch TV about once a week, if that. Now that Legend of Korra and Revenge are over for a while, I have nothing to watch. Can't wait for September!

Yeah, I died a little inside from sheer happiness when I found out.

Rebekah blushed as she remembered that moment. Had it really been just this morning? She never thought she would experience this, but it was one of those memories that seemed to have taken place only an instant ago, and many years ago at the same time. Then she remembered something else: Felix didn’t have a shirt after tearing up the one he had for her, and she was going to buy him one. “Well, soldier, I still owe you a shirt. Unless you wanted to discuss anything else with me, I think I’ll go buy one for you right now. What kind of shirt would you like?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Mariah shook her head in response to Callum. “No, unfortunately...” Her voice sounded far off, but she was starting to come back to the present. “Anyone else?” ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis looked straight back into Scott’s eyes, her expression neutral. She would never allow it to show on her face, but she was feeling uncertain about whether she could pull this off. Most of her take-downs involved much more preparation and careful planning, and weren’t quite so public as this. Now, she was expected to just waltz into a ball where, though there were only six guards, there were also metal detectors and surveillance cameras. She had no fake ID, no way to keep the metal detectors from picking up the grenade, not even a dress to wear so she could blend in with the attendees. But Scott never said she couldn’t sneak in, which was really her only option in this situation. At this thought, a plan started forming in her head immediately. She snatched the grenade up from her lap and grinned darkly. “Just watch me, darling.” She climbed out of the car and started walking off to the side of the old building, shoving the grenade in her coat pocket.

Rebekah nodded. “I think it’s a good plan. It’ll probably make it harder for our enemies to detect our Inhabiters as well if we aren’t all in one enormous group, so they’ll be less likely to stalk us all over the place. Like you said, we’ll get the jump on them, instead of the other way around. Have you set up many strategies like this before? Sounds like that military camp served you well.” She smiled back. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis took one last moment to consider, twirling her hair with a finger, before responding. “Hm. Alright, Scott, I’ll accept this partnership. Mind you, if I find out that you’re deceiving me in any way, I won’t hesitate to kill you. Now, what is this surprise you’re referring to?”

No, not taking any spoiler risks.

Rebekah looked at Felix questioningly, but decided not to ask anything until Alex and Victoria were out of the room. She smiled at them as they left, then looked back at Felix. “What are we discussing? You’re not trying to trick me into another kiss, are you?” ------------------------------------------------------------ “Even better...” Larxene sneered from inside Alexis. Alexis couldn’t believe what Scott was telling her. He had to be lying. He had to. So why was she still allowing herself to even think of the possibility that his words were true? “You want my partnership? You have all this power, could probably get any other woman in the world, and you choose me? Why? I mean, hell, I know I’m attractive, but are you really thinking this through?” She shrugged a long strand of hair over her shoulder.

Rebekah felt a rush as Felix kissed her, caught completely off guard, but she kissed him back after the initial surprise. She smiled. “Oh, Felix, don’t worry...I need one, too,” she said with a laugh. “You know, it’s a good thing we’re Inhabited, because that means you can heal faster, and we’ll be out of here in no time. You won’t be all wrapped up like a mummy for several weeks.” Her eyes turned serious then. “I’ll always be here for you. No matter what.” She didn’t notice Victoria entering the room. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis smirked. “I’d forgotten how much I like the way you think,” she said. “So we’re still killing them all off, just slowly. Very nice.” Larxene then spoke through Alexis unexpectedly. “Well, since I’m involved here, I’ve got a condition. Marluxia, were you aware that one of those Inhabiters is Naminé? Well, she’s mine. As long as I can take her out, I’ll be satisfied with this agreement.” Larxene then gave control back to Alexis, who was a little surprised at the request, but then shrugged. “Alright, sure, what she said. We get that Keilani girl, and whoever else you want us to take down. But I have to ask, what’s in it for you? Seems a little strange that I get rewarded with even more superhuman powers while you...only end up killing a few Inhabiters? And for what?”

Rebekah leaned in closer, and she could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks when her face was less than an inch away from his. “What?” she asked again. ------------------------------------------------------------ Alexis’s face grew thoughtful. “I see...I may know of one or two that Larxene wouldn’t miss. But why only a few of them? You’re Scott, capable of disabling entire organizations, thousands of people, and you’re loaded with connections! And you only want to take out three or four of those twerps?”

Rebekah leaned in, her eyes widening at how weak Felix’s voice sounded. “What is it?” she asked. ------------------------------------------------------------ “Well, it sounds good, depending on what you’re asking me to help you with,” Alexis said. “I’m not the most trusting person, you know.” She folded her arms and leaned back, never taking her eyes off of Scott.