Kingdom Hearts: Time Wars
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the property of its creators. All characters used here are the property of their respective writers/creators and are used for non-profit reasons. No copyright infringement is intended. However, any original characters are mine, and cannot be used without my permission.
Chapter one
Dark Thoughts
In the world of Radiant Garden, now recovering from the recent attacks by the Heartless, Maleficent and Organisation 13, something incredibly strange was occurring. A man with spiky blonde hair, dressed in armour, was seemingly having a heated argument…with himself. The man in question was known as Cloud, a man with a dark and mysterious past. A past that is about to catch up with him.
"Admit it", Cloud muttered to himself, although in a voice much different to his own. He then shook his head.
"I don't need to admit it, because it isn't true", he said, this time speaking in his own voice. He then began laughing, an unpleasant, cynical laugh, as a wide grin broke out across his face.
"Admit I'm getting to you, Cloud. Admit that all your control is failing you, because deep down, you want me to be back. You want someone who you can target all your rage and anger at. You NEED my darkness", the voice said, causing Cloud to slam one of his fists into a wall.
"You're not going to win! I'll kill myself first!" Cloud screamed, only for his arm to twist away from the wall.
"It won't come to that, Cloud. I'm coming back. And there's nothing you can do to stop me", the voice taunted, as Cloud screamed, clutching his head.
And then, slowly but surely, Cloud's chest began to expand, stretching and twisting in a bizarre way. And an arm came through; literally passing through like Cloud's whole body was a door. The arm clutched at the wall, dragging its owner through, a man clad in black with long silver hair and a wing on his right side. An impossibly long sword was clutched in his hand. It was unmistakeably the form of Sephiroth, Cloud's long time nemesis.
"Feeling weak, Cloud?" Sephiroth asked, as Cloud collapsed, gasping for air.
"Why….won't you stay dead?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth smiled at that, holding the sword close to Cloud's neck.
"I told you…I will NEVER be a memory. But perhaps…it's time to end our conflict", Sephiroth said, pressing the blade against Cloud's neck. Then, he turned, looking into the distance, and smiling in an unpleasant way.
"Can't you feel it, Cloud? There's a storm coming", Sephiroth said. And then he brought the blade down.
In another part of the world of Radiant Garden, specifically the old study of Ansem the Wise, there stood a painting, covered in an old dusty sheet, a painting of Ansem's former apprentice, Xehanort. However, Xehanort was gone now, his Heartless and Nobody destroyed by Sora and his friends. All that was left was the painting, and the memory.
But that was the problem that they couldn't see coming. There's an old saying that the departed can "Live on in our memories". It's not meant literally, of course. At least, it's not meant literally normally. But then again, in a world like Radiant Garden, few things are ever truly normal.
And so, in the darkness of Ansem's study, three people clad in dark black robes lowered Xehanort's painting to the ground. The lead one removed case from his robe, as the others removed similar cases from theirs. The painting seemed to glow, briefly, the image shimmering. And then, as they flicked the cases open, it began to warp and twist, the paint melting into a puddle at their feet, a pool of liquid which seemed to move of its own accord.
It was a sight both amazing and bizarre, as the liquid bubbled, a figure slowly but surely rising from it, glowing with a dark energy. Pure white hair stood out in the dark of the room, as the eyes of the figure snapped open, his hands clenching themselves as he stepped forward. He stood, staring at the three who had come to this place, the place he thought of as HIS study, despite the fact it technically belonged to his former…master. He grinned as the memories of one of his selves, his Nobody, revealed Ansem's death. The old fool, pathetic and weak to the end, was now just one more enemy consigned to the grave.
One of the three figures stepped forward, handing the man a robe to clothe his naked form. A white lab coat, similar to the one he once wore. The man standing there, the man who had called himself both Ansem and Xemnas, and hose true name was Xehanort, smiled a smile that would terrify any who saw it. Except these three, standing before him, who had summoned him back into life. To them, it was just a sign that their old friend had returned.
Xehanort's mouth opened and shut, his new body adjusting itself to it's new vocal chords. And then, in a voice identical to his old one, he spoke one word, the name that had filled his mind since his previous defeats.
"Sora", he growled, his grin growing wider.
In Disney Castle, where King Mickey ruled, the king himself was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Sora, Riku and Kairi. He had sent a message to their world, the Destiny Islands, telling them that he needed help. Now, he just had to hope they arrived quickly.
He walked up the window, looking out. As far as he could see the sky was pitch black, despite the fact that it should be the morning. Lightning flashed across the sky as rain poured down. This storm hadn't stopped for close to a month, and from what he'd heard, other worlds were being affected.
"Sora…hurry". Mickey said, as the doors burst open, Goofy and Donald rushing in.
"Your majesty, it's an emergency!" Donald yelled in his typical frantic voice, waving his arms in the air.
"Goofy? Donald? What is it?" Mickey asked.
"You better come quick, your majesty! There's big trouble!" Goofy said, motioning with his hand toward the very edge of Disney Castle.
It was a quick journey, Mickey's magic taking them to the sight of the problem at lightning speed. He knew what Goofy and Donald had been talking about immediately. Put simply, there was a hole in the sky, a huge white emptiness which covered several miles of sky.
"What do you think it could be, your majesty?" Donald asked. Mickey's face was dead serious.
"Trouble", he said, simply.
On the other side of the hole, in a separate world, a small ship hovered. A ship that was spherical in design, no visible engines or propulsion system, but moving all the same. It's occupants had a plan, a plan that was advancing in stages. They'd opened a pathway…the power they sought would soon be under their control. And they would have an infinite number of worlds to conquer.
In the Destiny Islands, Sora, Riku and Kairi all stood, waiting for Sora to begin. Waiting for him to use the Keyblade and open the pathway to Disney Castle. The connections between worlds they had established should still be waiting for them, the pathway open to lead them to King Mickey. But for some reason, it wasn't working.
"I don't get it…the Keyblade always managed to open the paths before. What's the problem?" Kairi asked, tilting her head.
"Perhaps…it needs more than one Keyblade", Riku said, extending a hand. Kairi looked worried, stepping forward.
"Are you sure you can?" She began, before Riku nodded.
"It won't turn me back into Ansem, if that's what you mean. The darkness will always be there…but it'll never control me again". Riku said.
"Yeah, he's way to stubborn to be mind controlled", Sora said, smirking. Riku and he both pointed the Keyblades at the same point, only to see nothing happen. It was like the pathways were gone.
At that point there was the sound of rapid footsteps and they turned to see Tidus running towards them, a panicked look on his face.
"Sora! You've gotta come quick!" the boy yelled, pointing towards the shore of the beach. Seeing the usually confident Tidus looking so worried immediately alarmed Sora, causing him to rush towards where he was pointing, followed closely by Riku and Kairi. Upon arrival they looked down to see a man clad in a tattered blue suit, a woman in green and black lying beside him, both of them completely unconscious. And in the water, clearly visible, was a Gummi Ship.
"Maybe that's why ours won't work…maybe the two are cancelling each other out", Sora wondered aloud, as he and Riku dragged the two unconscious people onto dry land. The man, for some reason, seemed to have blue skin, but with all he'd seen it took more than that to shock Sora.
"Are they…dead?" Tidus asked, looking worried. Sora shook his head.
"They're alive…but who are they?" Sora asked as Riku walked towards the Gummi ship. He'd seen them before, but never one like this. It was covered in scorch marks and damage, clearly showing it had been in some kind of battle. Whatever had attacked it had practically torn it apart, leaving most of it strewn about the beach.
"Sora, look at this. It looks like some kind of machine", Kairi said, pulling a small cube out of the mans hands, holding out to Sora. It was a cube, made of some kind of metal, with a small circle on the top. And as Sora reached towards it, it began to glow.
In Radiant Garden, Cloud was running. He narrowly managed to avoid Sephiroth's blade, moving away just in time. He was always weakened after Sephiroth resurrected himself, but this time was worse. He could barely move, let alone run, but he knew he had to warn everyone. If Sephiroth was back, they were all in danger, especially…
It happened in an instant. The sword lashed out, cutting into one of his legs, causing him to tumble to the ground, barely able to move. Sephiroth stood over him, grinning.
"You should know by now, Cloud. You can't run from me", Sephiroth said. Cloud braced himself for the end, realising that this time there was no escape, this time Sephiroth would kill him and then go on to kill hundreds more.
However at that point, he felt something, a strange sense of something rushing towards him. Sephiroth obviously felt it too, as he turned around, trying to see what was causing it. When he turned back, Cloud was gone. He'd literally vanished into thin air.
On the Destiny Islands, Sora was staring at the hologram with interest. The strange metal box had begun generating it the minute he'd touched it and it seemed to be some kind of recording. The man with blue skin was on it, claiming to be Professor Drakken, explorer and researcher for the Multi-World research Institute, an organisation dedicated to seeking out various new worlds and learning of their cultures. Apparently his ship, custom designed from various parts, had become damaged in some kind of fire fight with hostile Gummi ships, resulting in it having to crash land into the Destiny Islands.
"Who do you think attacked him?" Kairi asked, as Sora lowered Drakken onto the grass.
"It's got to have something to do with King Mickey's message", Sora said, as Riku walked up, nodding.
"Maybe Maleficent and Pete survived the battle at Castle Oblivion? If they are still around, they might be summoning more Heartless", Riku said. Sora nodded, but he hoped Riku was wrong. Maleficent and Pete had helped them at Castle Oblivion…despite all they'd done, Sora still hoped that maybe they'd reformed.
At that point, Drakken's eyes fluttered open, as he stared up into Sora's face, his eyes widening.
"You! I made it! I actually made it! Ha! And to think, Shego said it would never work!" Drakken yelled, leaping up, only to wince in pain.
"Be careful! You were knocked out in the crash, Who attacked you?" Sora asked.
"Was it Maleficent?" Riku added. Drakken stared for a few seconds, before shaking his head.
"Why would Maleficent attack me? She's the one who sent me!" Drakken said.
"WHAT!?" Sora, Riku and Kairi all yelled at once, causing Drakken to cringe.
"Not so loud! Maleficent sent me here…to ask for your help", Drakken said.
Far away, in the land of Port Royal, the Black Pearl was currently anchored in the port of Tortuga as Captain jack Sparrow had once again found himself short on crew members. As a result he had done what he always did in situations like this…find anyone drunk or stupid enough to accept his offer and bundle them onto the ship before they sobered up.
However this night something was bothering him, and not just the fact that his bottle was empty. There was someone sitting in a corner of the bar who'd been watching him all night, someone who stood out from the others. He wore a bright red suit, with dark eye glasses, with a huge moustache. He'd ordered something to drink every few hours but mostly he just watched Jack Sparrow and his crew, and that made Jack nervous. Being watched generally meant trouble.
Deciding that taking the initiative was probably best he stood up unsteadly and swaggered over to the mystery mans table, making sure that he saw he was armed with post pistol and sword.
"Excuse me, my good man. I was wondering exactly what you're after, staring at me all night? Because I'm afraid it'll take a good deal more rum for me to be interested in you in that way…savvy?" Jack asked. The man smiled standing up, he touched his fingers to the side of his darkened eye glasses and they suddenly became clear, revealing he had grey eyes that seemed to hold a calculating malevolence.
"My dear Captain Sparrow…you misread me. The partnership I'm interested in is one of business. I've heard a great deal about you. They say you're the worst pirate on the seven seas", the man said.
"Oh, they do, do they?" Jack asked.
"Personally I don't believe that. I would say you're the best", the man said, folding his hands behind his back.
"Honesty compels me to agree, mate", Jack said.
"This is why I'd like to offer my services to you. I think you have much to offer me…and I believe I have something to offer you. The names Robotnik…Dr Robotnik", the man said, extending his hand in greeting.
To Be Continued…