A/N: Hello fellow KH fans, and welcome to Zack Rello's interpretation of Kingdom Hearts III. This is a story born of patterns, particularly the patterns in the villains. The first game's antagonists (excluding Ansem/Xehanort's Heartless) were the Disney villains, CoM and II had original characters made for the games, and so whose turn is it now? In my opinion, seeing as this is Disney-Final Fantasy crossover, the great Final Fantasy villains should have a shot at Sora and company. So then, without further ado, I give you Kingdom Hearts III!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any of Square-Enix's or Disney's characters. All properties are owned by their respective owners.
Prologue
"Then Organization XIII is no more?" one of the eight around the table questioned. The man, if one could even call him that knowing what he truly was, resembled a medieval knight in light blue armour crossed with a near-extinct group that had once been called Black Mages. He sat with a regal disposition, one secure in his power, absentmindedly drumming his fingers against the head of his wooden staff.
"Well, yes and no, I suppose." replied the one who had brought them the news, striding across the table in a way so that his robes and long blue hair made the movement appear more grandiose that it actually was. "The final six were dealt with quite effectively by the Keybearer, However…"
"What exactly happened Seymour?" a man with a horned headdress and kingly robes asked, leaning forward and pressing his elongated fingernails together, a mix of curiosity and impatience in his eyes.
If Seymour was affected by the interruption, he didn't show it and continued "Number XIII and the memory witch managed to become whole with their other selves."
That brought out a cold, mocking laughing from the groups second in command, a laugh which perfectly fit the image of an evil clown, helped along by his flamboyant green attire, cape, red facial markings and pale skin (a few Heartless had learned the hard way it wasn't makeup). "It makes no difference! The Keybearer and Princess becoming whole doesn't affect our plans in the slightest. Although," he paused as he jerked his head to his left, an insane grin spreading across his face, "this does prove that Nobodies can be reunited with their hearts. As you can see Zande, sticking with us has indeed paid off. Your one step closer to your heart's desire…though I'm not sure the one holding that heart is too thrilled!" and the mocking laughter began anew.
Zande, for his part, said nothing, did nothing but allow the scowl on his dark face to deepen, his teeth and eyes glowing in the torch light, a dark silhouette of black mist forming around him. "Laugh while you can Kefka," he though. "If I can't reclaim my heart, I'll gladly take yours."
"Kefka, that's enough. Zande, call off you Heartless. Seymour, take your seat. We have other matters that can be attended to now that we no longer need to worry about Ansem or Organization XIII." A cultured voice rang out, not loud, but filled with an undeniable authority. Seymour scurried to his seat, Zande dismissed the black fog around him, and Kefka (eventually) stopped laughing and settled on a mad grin. "Now then," the earlier voice continued, running a hand through his silver hair "moving on, how goes the recruitment of the General to our cause Ultimecia?"
The group's only female member arose and delivered her report. "Better than expected, not as well as we hoped. Between his obsession with Cloud and his mother, X-Death and I haven't had a lot of luck convincing him."
"It would help if we could find Cloud. Damn kid is like a ghost." The knight know as X-Death added. "I've searched Hollow Bastion and Olympus Coliseum, and Gilgamesh has been tailing Tifa since she left to find him-nothing. I think we'd be best off using Jenova instead."
"I concur." the leader replied. "Ultimecia and her apprentice will move on to the next stage of the plan, I'll leave recruiting Sephiroth to you and Zemus. After all, manipulation is your speciality."
A man in azure blue armour stirred at the leader's words. His heavy armour rattled as he made slow, deliberate movements, as if awakening from a deep slumber. "Very well, it shall be done. We need only the co-ordinates."
"All in good time Zemus." the leader replied with a chuckle. "Now then, if and when Garland decides to show up, we can —" the word lost in the loud crashing of the room's doors. "Speak of the devil. You certainly took your good sweet time."
The knight standing in the doorway chuckled and stepped forward "It took me awhile to find a Keychain I liked. You'd think on a world filled with Keyblades it would be easier, but such is life, eh Kuja?" His silver armour glittering in torch light, he took a seat next to aforementioned man then continued "Ah well, better late than never; speaking of which, your loyal subjects are looking for you Paramecia, so you should probably go deal with them."
The man with the horned headdress nodded. "Just as well, one of us has to keep the population on our side. By your leave, Kuja."
Kuja leaned back in his chair, making a dismissive gesture "On that note, you can all return to your duties. I'd like to speak with Kefka and Garland in private." Once the others had shuffled out and doors had closed, he turned to the other men, his two most trusted companions. "The time has finally come; we will reveal ourselves to our enemies and, through them, Kingdom Hearts will be ours. Kefka, you'll go after Maleficent, the last thing we want is for her to interfere. Steal her heart if so fits your whim."
"But then we'd have a pathetic Heartless to deal with!" Kefka chortled. "Don't worry Kuja; I'll give her quite a show."
"I'm certain you will." Kuja said as he turned to Garland. "I suppose it goes without saying that you will be going after the Keybearer."
"I'd have it no other way." The knight responded, summoning a familiar dark keyblade into his hand; the same Keyblade forged from the 7 princesses hearts. "Sora and Riku will make fine additions to the Chasers."
"Just make sure you do not take the heart of the princess, she still has a part to play in our scheme." Kuja warned as got up and headed for the door.
"And where, pray tell, are you going?" Garland inquired.
Kuja smirked as he took a dramatic turn, "Why, good sirs, I have an audience with King Mickey."
A/N: Well, "the board is set and the pieces are in motion" to quote Gandalf. So just some quick notes. For those of you who haven't played all 10 of the main Final Fantasy games and aren't sure whose who, I suggest you check out FF Compendium or Wikipedia for information, though I've tried my best to describe them here. Also, Sora, Riku, and Kairi won't be showing up 'till chapter 2, but Mickey, Donald, and Goofy are in the next chapter. Anyway, read and review, constructive criticisms welcome, and hope to see you all next chapter.