Toward the Dark
Disclaimer:I dont own Disney, Squaresoft, or KH characters.Just Ace, Tai, Sarah, Calm, and Twin Cities, and any other extra I decide to bring in...Dante is meant to be from DMC(Devil May Cry).
Thoughts
Flashbacks
The third part in my Kingdom Heart/Ace series is here!This one is not with KHII as most would be, but it is during Sora's sleep in Castle Oblivion.What Riku had been doing and now with Ace and Tai, there are differences than he described.Anyway, enjoy!
Old Enemies Return, New Keybearers Awaken
Riku had led them down the middle of the two roads for a while now. King Mickey was on guard as was Ace and Tai. They were itching for a fight after so long, until they saw something.
"Hey, when are we getting there?", Ace asked.
"I dont even know where we are going", Riku sighed.
"Well, why dont we get a ship?", Mickey asked.
"Where?", Ace asked.
"My palace!", Mickey exclaimed, remembering something. He pulled out a small control. "All of you touch my shoulders", Mickey instructed,"We'll be at my castle in no time." They did as they were told and disappeared in a flash. They appeared again in a grassy field with different forms cut in the bushes around. "Ah...This is Queen Minnie's garden", he said walking foward through a door. The group followed behind. "We shall grab a ship before they know we are here", he said.
"Why not visit them?", Riku asked.
"They would beg me to stay, which I simply cannot do", he sighed. They entered the hanger and quickly scrambled into a gummi ship. "Listen", the King said,"This ship isnt that powerful...With the increase in Heartless, I may only take us to one place before we crash...I am hoping my friend has his old transportations." They took off and flew towards another planet far off from Disney Castle. Ace watched as the gleaming white castle faded in the window.
"Where is this friend of yours?", Ace asked.
"We can get there by a train...In Twilight Town", Mickey said. They went saw another planet further off. It had some buildings going up and looked strange. They landed there and began walking. "Okay, I'll let you guys look around while I go see the wizard...", Mickey said,"According to the things I've heard from my sources, Sora will be asleep for a year...We are gonna try making it as easy as possible for him when he awakens." They nod and seperate. Mickey went running to where ever this wizard was while Riku, Ace, and Tai went off on their own. They went down a path and saw some people fighting with bat type things. There was a fat man beside a booth. He was talking to another kid about 15. The kid had blonde hair, spiked up and were a beige white shirt with the same colored pants. He was handed a bat with a hand guard on it. The three boys walked to the man.
"Whats this?", Tai asked.
"This is the Struggle Battle!", the man shouted,"A bunch of people fight one on one for the trophey!"
"I'll enter", Ace said. Tai shook his head.
"You arent showing me up again", Tai said,"Im in."
"Me too I guess", Riku gave in. The man nodded.
"What is your type of fighting?", he asked,"Magic, Attack, or Defence?"
"Attack", they all said.
"Then here", the man said, handing each of them a normal club. The three walked off and waited. They gave their names to the man as they left and now waited.
"Who'd you think'll win?", Ace asked. The other two shrugged.
"Dont know", Riku said,"We dont know who we are up against." Tai chuckled.
"Yeah, but we've fought all over", Tai said,"The others stand no chance...We are the ones to worry about." They nodded in agreement, but Riku still looked unsure as he eyed another boy with blonde hair. He had a white trench coat with a black tang top and black, baggy jeans. He held a normal club like them and was watching Riku as well.
"Okay!", the fat man from before yelled,"To start, we have Ace VS Hayner!"
"Hayner?", Ace asked walking up to the stage. He then noticed the boy from before. "Oh...Sorry, but you wont win", he said.
"Ace?", Hayner asked,"Who are you? I've never seen you before."
"Im not from around here", Ace smirked. He took out his club and got ready as Hayner took out his hand guard. They got ready as the fat man began talking.
"Okay!", he yelled,"The rules are, if you are knocked out, you lose! If you are out of the ring, you lose! Begin!" They ran at each other and Hayner slashed, but missed a Ace jumped over him and rammed him in the back with a tackle.
"Wow...You're good", Hayner said, surprised anyone could jump that high.
"Thats nothing", Ace smirked again. He held his hand open, towards the ground, but saw Riku motioning to calm down. Ace sighed and stopped. He brought his sword into his stance again and waited. Hayner was getting impatient and charged. He lunged foward, but Ace sidestepped him and batted the back of his head. He flew off the edge of the ring and was panting heavily. Ace sighed as he walked toward his bench.
"Winner of Round 1 is Ace!", the fat man yelled. Ace sat down and closed his eyes as he let his head go back. "Next round is Riku VS Seifer!", he shouted.
"Who are you?", the kid in the white trench coat, Seifer asked.
"The man just said, Riku", he replied with a grin. Seifer got ready with his club.
"Begin!", the fat man yelled as the two jumped at each other. They clashed and Riku round house kicked Seifer in the side as he jumped back. Seifer rose, angry. He ran foward and quickly jumped up to come down with a big slash, but Riku blocked and got him with a punch. Seifer grunted as he hit the ground. From the sidelines, one of the people Seifer had been hanging around began yelling.
"C'mon Seifer!", a man with a blue vest that showed a strong chest was yelling,"You're stronger than this guy, y'know!" Seifer went for a flurry of slashes that Riku kept jumping away from so he then lunged as Hayner did. Riku went back so Seifer's club went above him and he grabbed his arm.
"You are done", Riku grinned as he threw Seifer over him and out of the ring.
"Winner of Round 2 is Riku!", the man yelled,"Next up is Vivi VS Tai!" Tai walked out and saw a small kid around 5 or 6 standing in front of him. He was completely black and had two glowing yellow eyes.
"A Heartless?", Tai asked, surprised as he took in what he wore. It wasnt one they have seen before. It wore a brown hat that looked like a mouth was on it and an oversized blue coat with big brown gloves and blue pants. The short kid, Vivi held up a staff like bat in defence. Tai sighed. "I get some small runt", he sighed as he noticed how frightened the kid seemed,"Lets get this over with." He held his bat up.
"Begin!", the fat man yelled. Tai charged quickly, but as he slashed, Vivi made a front flip over his head. He landed and spun around to slash, but Tai quickly blocked. He now noticed some determination in Vivi's eyes as he glared at Tai. He quickly broke their swords away and slashed again, but Vivi had taken off. He appeared behind him and batted him away with his staff.
"Quick runt", Tai muttered as he rose. He went foward as Vivi ran again. He was quick, but this time, Tai was ready. Vivi appeared behind him, but Tai just swung his bat and nailed him in the face. Vivi went off and landed hard, but got back up. He went at Tai with his staff and they noticed it glow red for a second as he swung down. Damn! Hes dangerous! Better end it! He grabbed the small kid by the collar and chuck him out of the ring. He stepped off the platform and sighed.
"A little rough, huh, Tai?", Ace asked.
"The kid is dangerous", Tai said,"His staff glowed red. He was about to use fire when I blocked." Riku nodded.
"For the last match, it will be the three victors in one match!", the fat man yelled,"We have never had six competers before, so we have them all fight each other! Enter the ring now!" They all walked onto the platform in a triangle form as the others watch. Ace, Riku, and Tai all grinned at their friends. "The last one standing may go against the champion, Zane!", he continued. They saw a man walk out, grinning. He had a slick, black hair pushed back and his eyes were pitch black like black holes. He wore a purple overcoat and purple pants with a white undershirt showing. He crossed his arms under the overcoat as his arms were not in the sleeves. Ace glared at him.
"Ace, this wont end up like the last couple times!", Tai yelled.
"Begin!", the fat man yelled. The three charged foward, locking bats in the middle. Ace spun back and slashed at Tai's back, landing a powerful blow. Tai went to a knee as Riku slashed at Ace, but was blocked. The three twirled around each other, slashing with master swordsman skills as they went for open spots. Ace kicked Riku back and jumped away from Tai. Tai went for Riku first and Ace took his opening at Tai's back. Tai and Riku were about to lock bats again, but Tai ducked, making Ace lock bats with him. Tai jabbed quickly at Ace's gut and he stumbled back.
The audience stood in awe at the three warriors. Seifer's eyes went wide at how powerful and savage they were while fighting each other. Ace slashed at Tai, but was attacked from behind by Riku. He quickly went back and Tai was hit with the blow as Ace jabbed his sword up. He sweep kicked both of them and swung his sword to hit Riku's side, knocking him out of the ring.
"One down", Ace said. He swung up to block Tai's bat and then kicked him in the shin swiftly. Tai went down to a knee as Ace grabbed his arm and tossed him to the side. Tai slid, but managed to stop himself from falling off. Ace tossed his bat at Tai and it hit him in the face, making him go a little more, off the edge. "Done", Ace said.
"Winner of the last match is Ace!", the fat man cheered,"Now, for the winner, he gets to face last year's champ! Zane!" The man walked up with his bat in hand.
"You are a good swordsman", Zane said,"You seem like a good opponent." The two looked at each other for a long while.
"Begin!", the fat man shouted. The two jumped at each other. Their bats locked in the center of the ring. The two jumped back and got ready again. Ace ran foward and made a sweep kick, but he just jumped over his leg and went for a strike in Ace's face. He quickly blocked and grabbed the handle of Zane's bat. The two stayed there for a while, struggling against each others' strength. Then Ace saw Zane begin emiting some dark energy toward his hand. Ace gritted his teeth and let some light energy come to his hand. A purplish, blackish aura surrounded Zane's hand as a bright white aura surrounded Ace's. They struggled against each other as everyone watched on. Ace kicked Zane's shin and his grip loosened a bit so he could rip it from his hands and kick him away.
Ace spun the two bats around and got ready as Zane put his fists up. Zane charged foward and made some quick jabs that Ace easily dodged. He whacked him across the face and then jabbed him in the stomach. Zane doubled over and Ace put both his bats together and batted Zane in an uppercut. He flew up and fell out of the ring.
"Winner is Ace!", the fat man yelled out. Zane rose from where he sat and looked angry.
"This isnt over!", he yelled. He held out his hand. "Fire!", he shouted as a ball of flame came at him. Ace threw the bats at it and the flames disappeared. He held out his other hand. "Fira!", he shouted. A bigger ball of flame shot forth, but Ace let his keyblade appear and slashed it away. Everyone was getting worried here. "Firaga!" A giant stream of flames shot at Ace. He held his sword out and the flame hit dead on, but it surged back and hit Zane in the palm it came from. Zane fell back and when he rose again, his eyes glowed yellow and then went back to pitch black. "I knew you were powerful Ace...", he said.
"Who are you, really?", Ace shouted. Zane chuckled.
"You dont remember me, Ace?", he asked,"Im hurt." His voice had changed and Ace suddenly realized who it was.
"Hias!", Ace yelled,"Stay dead all ready!" He held out his hand. "Fire!" The fireball shot out of his palm, but Hias just flicked his hand up and it flew up. Zane's body suddenly melted into darkness and Hias' body appeared.
"Ace, it'll take more than that to kill me", he said,"I am darkness itself. If you have any darkness in you, I will always be around." Hias walked foward, but Riku and Tai jumped down, brandishing their weapons. Riku's blade was held ready from his dark times as Tai drew out his black blade from being dark as well. The two were ready. Hias chuckled.
"Stay back!", they both yelled.
"Oh, I dont mean to fight now, but you should be wary", Hias said,"I'll be back when the time comes." Riku and Tai both began to advance with their swords, but Hias just chuckled again. "If you really want a fight, then here", he said as a group of Heartless Shadows appeared around them. "Oh, and if thats not enough, then here", he continues as a group of strange white creatures appeared. They all moved strangly. Their bodies were hunched over like the Shadows, but they stood tall and they went back instead as if they had no spine. They also had no eyes, but there was a mouth where they should have been.
"What the hell?", Riku yelled, but Ace had already found out the same way he had found out the name of the keyblade.
"Nobodies", Ace said. The two were worried. They slashed, but their blade did nothing. They continued fighting, but nothing happened. Riku and Tai backed up panted as Ace was trying to run at Hias. Hias continued laughing and disappeared into shadows. Riku and Tai rose and got ready again. Just as they were about to charge again, but two more people jumped down and struck two Shadows. Hayner and Seifer stood there with their bats. The Heartless poofed away. Riku and Tai went to their sides and slashed two more. By now, everyone was running out of the stadium.
"You should leave too!", Tai shouted,"This isnt some stupid Struggle Battle! This is real!" The two nodded.
"We know!", Hayner shouted.
"We're rivals, but we both want to protect our town!", Seifer shouted. The two grinned and lunged at two more Heartless. Ace went at a couple Nobody Dusks as Ace had identified them as. One was about to attack, but he quickly slid under it and got two from behind while they were confused. Riku, Tai, Hayner, and Seifer were having trouble. They had finished the Heartless, but now Dusks surrounded them. Ace ran to them and slashed past more Dusks on the way. Tai and Riku held them off with their swords, but their strikes didnt injure them.
"Tai! Riku!", Ace shouted, slashing past more. The Dusks began jumping at them until they were being buried, but then there was a flash of light from beneath them. The Nobody Dusks flew off from the force and they saw Hayner and Seifer in between Tai and Riku, holding new blades. Riku had one that was like a big wing with a angel's wing at the end, near the tip. Tai had a green one that had edges at the dull side so both sides could be deadly. Tai and Riku both lashed out at the Nobodies, destroying them all in silver smoke.
"What is that?", Seifer yelled.
"Keyblades?", Ace yelled in surprise. The two smirked at their new weapons as they both disappeared at their will. Ace smirked too and let his disappear. The three joined back together and smiled at each other. "You should go home, guys", Ace yelled out. The two smiled, weakly and nodded as they took off. They heard clapping as the two ran up the stairs and they turned back to the main entrance to see Mickey in a black cloak.
"You guys are good", he said,"Well, take these. Our ship is over here" He threw them some black cloaks and the group grinned as they put them on. They all walked out of the Sandlot with their cloaks on and headed for their new ship. This adventure promised to be fun at the least.
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First chapter done!Hope you enjoy this next story.As always, read and review.