Mary
*After running through the Dark Corridor...

*...Suzuka finds herself and Ika at the base of a gray, oddly shaped hill. All is quiet.*

*A second Dark Corridor then materializes a few feet away. A cloaked figure walks out, takes their hood off, and-*
Debra
"-That fucking bitch, I swear. Literally, why the hell would she even do that? Stupid fucking..." *He shakes his head, cursing.*

"Raise." *Darkness swirls out of his coat sleeve, then soothingly drapes over Ika like a weighted blanket. Zero hopes it'll be enough.*

"Suzuka, right? Are you okay?" *He removes his blindfold, golden eyes staring at her with a concerned expression.*
Martin
*Suzuka looked a little worried but slowly calmed herself with a few deep breaths.*

"Dado.. Isn't it? Yes.. I'm... I'll be okay. I'm more concerned with him..."

*She still held onto Replika, even as Zero cast his spell.*

"What did they do to him..."
Kimberly
*He wore a distressed and pained look on his unconscious face. It looked very much like he was having a nightmare... Zero's effect seemed to ease it a little bit.*
Debra
"Organization XIII isn't the only group with a Replica program. Another is headed by a 'Dr. Zaki'. He gave *Xion*," *He spits the name out venomously.* "A micro-SD containing a program that shuts down Data Hearts, and asked her to, and I quote: 'bring him back alive'. The fact that she'd go *This far* To get at the Organization, though..."

*His glare bores into the soft ground.*
Martin
"I'm not surprised. When Lord Amyrx described her research to me she mentioned the existence of an old lab partner that 'stole' her work..."

*She slowly looked up at Zero.*

"But what does surprise me is you being here... From all of Ika's memories of you, darkness wasn't a part of your moveset... You've changed..."
Kimberly
*Replika would begin to stir, his eyes moved behind his eyelids, before he snapped awake.*

*He shot up from resting his head on Suzuka and looked around frantically.*

"I- what is- who is— where—"
Debra
*Old lab partner who stole her work... Rival scientists. His initial judgement checks out. But from Ika's memories of him? Does she mean descriptions?*

"Oh, thank fuck. You're awake." *He breathes a sigh of relief.*

"Hi, Ika. Good to see you again. Xion used a program to turn off your Heart in an attempt to bring you to a rival scientist. Suzuka got you out."

"Speaking of, to answer your question... I'm to Dado what Inaxuma was to Ika... Kind of."

"I got my darkness extracted, wound up like this, still have most of the memories. And, I might add, a stronger moral character than my *Other*."

"Functionally? I'm still the Dado Ika knows. Only now... I'm the unwanted, discarded half. A 'Fake Dado', if you will." *He chuckles.*

"I go by Zero now. I recommend picking a new name for yourself too," *He nods towards Ika.* 

"The Ika stuck in Inaxuma's Heart won't stay there forever. Best to get a jump start on your individuality."
Martin
*Suzuka lightly pat Replika on the head to calm him down.*

*She nodded along with Zero. It made sense.*

"Regardless of your origin... Nobody deserves to be called a fake... You're still real, Zero."

*She wore a light smile.*

"I figured his friends would eventually challenge Inaxuma to get him back."
Kimberly
*Replika came down from his panic, his eyes slowly went back to normal from being widened.*

"You're like... Inaxuma? So you're darkness... And the original me..?"

*"A new name for myself... Huh..." Replika muttered to himself. He shook his head, best not to linger on those thoughts.*

"Dado— er... Zero... I'm just glad you're okay... When we went our separate ways, I was afraid we'd never get to see one another again..."

*He squinted again, a bit of pain trying to think of the events of Hollow Bastion...*

"Everything fell apart... I-i'm sorry... You all were relying on me, and I failed... I did a pretty bad job as your mentor figure, huh?"

*He gave a defeated laugh.*

"What happened to everyone else...? Are they... Okay? Fio? Master Aria and The Storm Riders? Did... Did they make it out okay?"
Debra
*He smiles.* "Thanks, Suzuka. I appreciate it. What I'd appreciate more, though..." *He walks up to the two, then flicks Ika's forehead.*

"Is for *You* To get that through *Your* Head. 'I'm worthless without Suzuka'? All this talk about being a failure? *Really?*"

"We all failed, one way or another. *Everyone.* Master Mod, Oswald, you, me, Fiora, the Storm Riders... Hell, Xion's nothing *But* Failures. But we can't just fucking give up ourselves!" 

"It's one thing if you wanna hang up the sword. And if you wanna lie low, avoid attention, I get that too. But own it. Don't just write yourself off."

*Satisfied, he takes a seat on the ground across from the duo.*

"Fiora could probably do well to see you again. Master Aria too, I imagine. She's in the Tower. I dunno where Fiora went off to." *Ika's likely to notice a slight look of annoyance every time Zero mentions Fiora.*

"As for the Storm Riders... They killed Suke while she was possessed. Sir Icidro was chosen by Dark Kingdom Key. Brad killed him at the Door to Darkness, then broke his Keyblade. Haven't seen Furo, but I'm sure he's around. The other me locked himself in a pocket dimension in front of the Door, presumably waiting for Dark Kingdom Key to be reforged."

"I wish I could tell you things were better. But I *Can* Tell you it's not your fault, and that no one remembers you as the big stupid idiot who failed to defeat Inaxuma."
Kimberly
*Replika flinched back after Zero flicked him in the head.*

"Well, everyone's account of the situation pretty much confirms it... Were we destined to lose from the start?"

*Ikazuchi shook his head, not wanting to get flicked again, but also not wanting to start a mental spiral of negativity.*

"No, I know you're right... Thank you. I just feel so hopeless is all. Half of my memories are missing, and the other half aren't exactly pleasant. I may not be my original self but I've still got all these memories of fighting... For the past six years. It's been so long since I've actually taken a break... I'm just tired, Zero..."
Martin
"And that's why we've been traveling around the worlds together, we're going to fix your memories. There's only so much I can do with my ability. It's hard to mend what is shattered beyond repair."
Debra
"Hey, no, I get it. Breaks are good." *As Suzuka talks, though, something slowly registers. From Ika's memories of him, using her power for the Organization, hard to mend...*

"Wait. Suzuka. Can you... Can you mend memories?" *His eyes widen.* "That weird stun move back there! Was that a memory flashbang? That's so fucking-!"

*He takes a deep breath, collecting himself. His grin practically reaches from ear to ear.*

"I'm sorry, that's just so *Cool*! You're like a psychic superhero! Wait, did your world have superheroes?" *Gasp. He can fish a few comic books from his old world to give to her!*
Martin
"You could say its that way. My ability allows for me to manipulate someone's chain of memories. But I suppose, as a cosmic consequence for this blessing, I no longer have any memories of my own from before I became a nobody. I'm sorry I can't really say what my world of origin was like."
Kimberly
"I still don't totally get it... But you're basically right Zero haha.. Suzuka is also able to help keep me calm whenever things go rough..."
Martin
"But that shockwave that caused him to fall apart... And also seemed to affect Xion and Ranoa as well... That was not my doing."
Debra
*At this revelation, he frowns... Then his eyes widen. Holy shit. No way.*

*Who does he tell? Master Aria definitely needs to know, but she'll probably kill him on sight; who knows what his Other has told her. What about Silax? Surely she knows. Maybe she can provide insight... But would that just force them to activate her sooner?*

*And, perhaps most pressingly of all...*

*Who the hell is Ranoa?*

"Wow. That's..." *He shakes his head, then tries to find the words.*

"The device that made that shockwave... It's designed to shut down *Data Hearts.*" *He gives Ika and Suzuka a look, indicating it's up to them to make the inference.*

*After letting the thought hang in the air for a moment, he changes the topic.*

"So, you can manipulate memories. Since Ika's Heart is a recreation, it's possible the missing memories were never properly recreated to begin with. That could explain why you haven't been able to fix them."

"What if, instead of going to worlds to try and trigger latent memories, you tried connecting his memories to others? That way, for example, he could remember his happy memories with Fiora from her perspective. It's not quite the same, but... Maybe it could help."
Martin
"Hm... That means Xion and Ranoa have had something done to their hearts... Of all the-"

*Suzuka would go off mumbling nonsense to herself before she put her hands up and sighed.*

"And You're already partially right. After he was created, nothing I did would wake him up. In fact, he didn't fully wake up until I started talking to him like we were old friends, and convince the lords not to refer to him as a puppet or doll... From what I could tell, Inaxuma shattered all of the connections between the other Ikazuchi's heart and his friends. Maybe rekindling those connections, even with our Ikazuchi, could help with the original one?"

*She put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment.*

"I'll incorporate meeting more of his friends into our plans... Although, I'm not sure how much longer we'll have on our little escapade now that Lord Silax had to step in..."
Kimberly
*Replika looked saddened.*

"I would have liked to talk it over with the storm riders... But with what happened... And with Suke gone... I'm not entirely sure... Would... Would your light half also benefit from seeing me..?"
Martin
"Our options are also limited. We can't get too comfortable. Ranoa and Lirio- the red head and blondie back there, wanted us to go back to Mod's tower with them. And, we aren't exactly in a position to go there freely. Especially now that it's confirmed to them we're working with the organization, anyone at the tower will likely be a no-go. Xion will surely run her mouth..."
Debra
"Knock yourself out," *He deadpans to Ika.* "Just... Do me a solid and don't mention me. To anyone, if you can avoid it."


*As Suzuka speaks, Zero cocks his head.* "Are you not supposed to be out and about right now?" *Silax did mention Organization Thirteen members no longer being allowed to leave their world for their safety... But that seems harsh. Why enforce that on Ika and Suzuka?*
Kimberly
"O-of course... I wouldn't even try to bring it up. I promise I won't say anything about you."
Martin
*Suzuka nodded with what Replika was saying.*

"Same here, since I'll be with him while going through with this... And to answer, its more like we have special permission to leave. Lord Amyrx wants Ika to be complete as soon as possible for some reason... And traveling to fix his memories was the fastest method I could come up with. Besides, both heartless and these new creatures of light seem to ignore us... Me specifically. But they also ignore Ika while he's near me. Also... It's likely that we're being monitored closely whenever we do leave, especially since we snuck out the first time. Its definitely how Silax knew where we were, and knew precisely when to step in..."
Debra
"Complete...?" *And "As soon as possible"? That sounds dodgy.*

"So, to sum up: Ika's allegedly 'incomplete', even though he seems fully functional to me, barring a crippling lack of confidence and the absence of memories that may or may not have even been properly copied to begin with. The Organization wishes for him to be "Complete", and seems more focused on recovering memories than anything else." *Either they want knowledge on how to restore memories that were lost, how to extract memories from a remote target, or Ika's memories specifically. The former is noble, but the latter two...*

"You've been traveling the worlds in an attempt to trigger spontaneous restoration of associated memories. However, you've been doing so with specific permission, due to the Organization's... *Reputation*. I dunno *Why* They'd leave Xion with such certainty that the Organization's up to no good..." *Though Zero does have a few suspicions.* 

"But now that she knows about you two, she's bound to tell others. The Organization may bar you guys from going out, which could impede Ika's ability to connect his memories to others. You both want him to have his happy memories again, so we wanna avoid that if we can.

"You have a few options:

"One: stay here and wait for someone to pick you up. The Organization knows about this world. They know it's safe. And if it was Silax that showed up... This'll be the second place they check for you.

"Two: I've gotta go with a... Hopefully a friend, Gursht, to Monstropolis. His Gummiphone's battery isn't holding a charge, and we were told they may have tech there that can fix it. You two could tag along if you want. We'll keep you safe as best as we can, and hopefully help you rekindle connections. When Dr. Zagi told us to capture 'the Replica in Traverse Town'... Gursht seemed uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure you can trust him."
_ _

"Three: If you're not being attacked by Heartless..." *He grimaces.* "The Realm of Darkness is technically an option, if you really wanna avoid going back before you're ready. That said, it's pitch-black, and I know for a fact that Silax is able to navigate it trivially."

"Four: No clue... But there's always another way. If there's any way I can help, just say the word."
Kimberly
"If you'll be there... Then..."

*Replika looked to Suzuka.*
Martin
*Suzuka, in turn, nodded.*

"I don't know who to trust right now. I owe my life to the organization, but I've learned some things that are troubling. Yet, I can't entirely be sure if all of Ika's old friends would be so willing to accept him. We're at an impasse where we can't exactly go back, or make too much progress yet."

*Suzuka closed her eyes and nodded once again, before looking back to Zero.*

"We'll accompany you for now, if you and this 'potential friend' would allow for it."
Debra
"Alright." *A Dark Corridor materializes, leading to the front doors to the Scare Factory in 

"You two go on through. I'm gonna go grab Gursht."
Martin
*Suzuka nodded and walked towards the dark corridor. She stopped and looked back when she realized replika wasn't following her.*
Kimberly
"...Kaminari"

*He nodded to himself.*
Julia
"Call me Kaminari."

*Kam smiled and would go through the dark corridor if Zero had nothing to add.*
Debra
"Nice to meet you, Kaminari." *Zero flashes Kami a proud smile before putting his hood up, then disappearing through a Corridor himself.*