Axel's Heartless © me
Clockwork © Butch Hartman
I do not own Avatar, Kingdom Hearts, or Danny Phantom!
Sora walked out of the portal with one hand over the hole in his coat.
"How in the hell am I alive?" he asked no one. Suddenly two figures appeared before him. One wore a suit of armor that looked like an Organization XIII coat with armor plating. The other resembled a young version of Father Time; the pendulum of a Grandfather Clock could be seen on his stomach.
"I sent Axel here to resuscitate you," the ghost said. The "Organization member's" metallic hood retracted like roof shingles and revealed a face identical to Axel's.
"Who are you?" Sora asked the ghost.
"I am Clockwork, the master of Time and guardian of Danny Phantom's world," he replied.
"Why are you here?" Sora asked. Axel stepped forward.
"This world's balance has been thrown way out of whack. Someone else has returned who shouldn't have, Princess Azula. She and the two who helped her return must be eliminated. The two that helped and are helping her are Xemnas and Sephiroth," he finished.
"WHAT!!" Sora snapped, "I killed both of them!"
"There's another problem," Clockwork started, "Upon removing your old, damaged heart a Nobody attacked Axel and transported the heart to this world…your new home, the Avatar's world."
Axel handed Sora a pair of gauntlets with retractable blades.
"You'll need these for your mission. Xehanort and Sephiroth have imprisoned Fire Lord Zuko and the Earth King in the Fire Nation palace's dungeon. Then they took on the forms of the leaders. They must be found and the magic on these blades will seal their souls to the weapons upon their death. The same goes for Azula."
Sora slipped on the gauntlets, extended the blades and then retracted both. Sora looked up from the gauntlets. He had no hint of humanity in his eyes. They were completely cold, almost machine-like.
"Consider it done," Sora said. Axel snapped his fingers and a new outfit appeared. It was a Dai Li outfit. Clockwork sent Sora back to the Avatar's World to carry out his task.
Upon arriving at Ba Sing Se Sora slipped into and alley and changed. He placed on the hat and headed to the palace. He arrived and saw the Earth King with Aang and his friends. Killing the imposter without exposing himself was impossible. He gently pushed various people in the crowd out of the way.
Suddenly one of the Earth King's guards noticed the Dai Li in the crowd. He pointed and shouted. One of the two non-bender guards took out his sword. The Dai Li slid to Sokka, not revealing his face and swiftly snatched his Knife and machete. The Dai Li threw the knife and nailed one guard right in the heart, he was dead before even hitting the ground. The second non-bender swung his sword. Sora leaned back and looped around the swing. It missed him so he took the machete and hooked it in the one of the guard's kidneys. Sora placed a foot on the guard's back and leapt off of him. In midair he extended one of the blades on his wrists. Aang ran to the Earth King, to try and tackle him out of the way.
The "Earth King" swiftly turned to another non-bender and tried to unsheathe his sword to defend himself. Right as the tip of the sword left the sheathe Sora landed on top of him. He took his gauntlet blade and jammed it into the imposter King's throat. The imposter's disguise faded, it was Sephiroth!
"How did you know?" he asked. Sora chuckled.
"Let's just say, I have a pretty good intuition," Sora said. Sephiroth died right then and there. His body withered into odd-looking purple orbs. The orbs got pulled into and fused with the gauntlet blade. Suddenly he heard Katara gasp.
'Shit!' Sora thought, 'She must have recognized my voice.' Sora swiftly looked around and saw the swordsman close in on him. He ran down the steps, knocking people down as he plowed through the crowd. He ran to the Dai Li headquarters. He ran across rooftops and saw a guard with his sword drawn, standing in front of the headquarters. Sora leapt off of the roof and drove his gauntlet blade into the guard's chest. He got up and turned around to face the guards. Suddenly the doors opened and dozens of Dai Li walked out. The guards pushed their way through the crowd and searched inside the headquarters for him. The Gaang had caught up. Toph suddenly turned around.
"He's over there!" she exclaimed in a normal tone. Katara spun around and took off like a bullet. The Assassin noticed this and took off as well. Katara finally cornered him in an alley.
"Let me…see your face," Katara said. The man looked down further, his hat obscuring his face. Suddenly his shadowy figure vanished and a gust of wind announced his reappearance behind her. Katara's eyes widened when he placed a kiss on the side of her neck.
"I am sorry…but I can't. Not yet," he said.
When Sora kissed her, he instantly regretted it because he knew he would have to hurt her. He raised his hand and summoned the Keyblade. He brought the handle down on her head. Katara's eyes drifted closed as she fell into unconsciousness. Sora caught her and gently placed her on the ground.
A single tear fell from his eye, "I'm so sorry," he sighed. He put the Keyblade away a split second before Sokka rounded the corner.
"Katara!" he shouted. Sora looked up part way, as not to reveal his face. Sokka swung at him with his sword and Sora leapt over Katara and ran up the wall and vaulted over it. His footsteps grew faint as he went from a sprint to a walk. Sora glanced over his shoulder.
"You will see me again Katara. But it can't be until my mission is done," Sora murmured. He walked off until he saw an Ostrich Horse. He got on and rode out of the city.
Sora headed to the Fire Nation palace with the crowd. He knew there was a party going on to celebrate Zuko's, well the imposter Zuko's, 47th birthday. He saw a precession of Fire Sages headed towards the palace. Sora thought he might stand out too much if he continued to wear his Dai Li outfit. He hid in the shadows until the last Fire Sage passed him. He grabbed him and took possession of his robes. He smoothed his hair down as a precaution placed the hood over his head and continued to follow the Fire Sages.
The Gaang was invited to Zuko's 29th birthday party. There was music, food, etc. In the middle of the party a group of fire sages strolled through Aang watched them suspiciously. Suddenly one branched off and walked up the stairs towards Zuko. Aang saw the sage extend a blade from his sleeve and instantly yelled out, "ASSASSIN!"
Aang leapt from his seat and dropkicked the hooded assailant. He grabbed him by his lapel and hurled him to the dance floor. Suddenly Toph and Hitomi encased him in earth. He lifted his head enough to glare directly at Toph at Hitomi with emotionless blue eyes. He strained himself to his limits until he let out a yell of frustration. Suddenly his earthen cage shattered like glass. The sleeves of his robe were in tatters. The assassin noticed this and tore both of them off, revealing extremely large arms. The two ladies took a step back then Roxas stepped forward and drew his Keyblade.
"I don't know who you are pal but you're going down!" Roxas said as he charged. He swung his Keyblade down and the assassin caught his wrist. Roxas then saw his opponent bring his elbow up to hit his own elbow. This blow caused him to drop his Keyblade and shout in pain. Roxas' elbow was forcibly bent in the wrong direction.
Sora winced at his son's shouts of pain, but to keep up his act he had to do it. He heaved Roxas over his shoulder and threw him into the wall. Sora grabbed his son's Keyblade and threw it upwards. It got caught in the ceiling and was out of the fight. He turned around and ran at "Zuko". Several people tried to stop him but they just got strong-armed out of the way.
Hitomi grabbed his arm. The assassin turned and glared at her. She heard him say, "Sorry," before grabbing her face and shoving her backwards. She hit her head on a pillar and was knocked unconscious. The assassin finished "Zuko" off. Katara gasped when he turned into someone almost identical to Xehanort and then dissolved. The assassin placed both blades in a crate and threw the crate into the air. It vanished in a flash. He began to exit when suddenly a hand shot through the wall and grabbed his hood. His hood fell and he turned around.
Sora looked at his severally wounded son and winced. Suddenly Roxas whipped his shoulder around and his elbow popped back into place.
"I don't care what happens to me, but no one hurts Hitomi!" he snapped.
"Oh, shit…" Sora mumbled. Roxas used his other hand and hurled Sora across the room. He slid to a stop at Katara's feet. His long hair covered his eyes. He reached into his belt for any kind of disguise Clockwork might have given him. He found a pair of colored contacts from Danny's world. He placed them in his eyes, faking like he was wiping dust out of his eyes. He whipped his hair away from his face. His eyes were pure black. Roxas charged forward and threw a punch. Sora brushed it aside and went to break his other arm. Hitomi came in just in time and punched him in the jaw. Sora got up and relocated his jaw. He took off down the now clear hallway. Sora made a sharp turn down an alley. He made sure that Roxas and Hitomi had past by before changing back into his Dai Li outfit. He returned the sage's outfit back to him and sent him on his way. He emerged from the alley with his arms folded behind his back and walked calmly down the street. He took out his contacts and threw them to the ground. Roxas and Hitomi ran up to him.
"Excuse me, have you seen a guy in a sleeveless Fire Sage outfit?" Roxas asked. Sora just pointed over his shoulder and they ran after the innocent sage.
"Wait! I'm not the one you want! He is!" the man said. He pointed to the Dai Li Roxas had just spoken to. He swiftly glided off along the ground and was quickly out of sight. Azula was quick to take the throne after "Zuko" was assassinated. She always had two Dai Li agents with her. She was vacationing on her family's summer retreat. Suddenly one of her two agents was killed and the other attacked her.
Sora tried to attack the Fire Nation princess but she stopped the knife before it reached her throat by catching Sora's wrist.
"I am not who you think I am Sora," she said. Sora's eyes widened.
"How did you…who are you…" Sora started.
"You think I wouldn't know about Clockwork's little scheme to kill me," she said, "As for who I am…"
The same "shadow bugs" that Sephiroth and Xemnas had dissolved into began to cover her form. While she was covered she spoke.
"This bitch was dead years ago, I had killed her and when your little "war" with Gorea started, that's when I stole her identity."
"No…" Sora gasped. The "shadow bugs" sunk into the creature's flesh. It now resembled the anti-form Sora, but with normal looking eyes. Threw Sora to the ground, brought its foot over its head and then brought it down. Sora shielded his face and suddenly water from nearby urns flowed out and in front of him. The water cushioned the impact of the blow. The creature snarled as it leapt back.
"Wow, those motions I went through with Katara all those years ago weren't only relaxing they actually did pay off, thank you Katara!" Sora joked. The creature whistled and suddenly an metal orb was dropped from the sky. Two robots inserted their arms into slots on either side of the "bomb". They pulled it apart to reveal and sparking core and a timer set for three minutes. The Sora copy leapt from the beach house and hit the water below. Then Sora saw it jet off. Sora followed it and looked back every few seconds. He then saw a short flash. Suddenly a huge bubble of dark energy appeared on the horizon where the island used to be. The Sora copy saw the Gaang in the small coastal village and smiled. It changed back into Azula.
Roxas saw the Assassin chasing what looked like a heartless version of his late father. He turned back to try and act nonchalant. Suddenly they all heard Azula's voice.
"Help! He-help! Assassin!" she shouted. The Gaang reluctantly got into position to help. She suddenly got a look of dread on her face when she looked at Roxas. He pulled out his Keyblade and impaled the princess on it.
"How…?" she asked.
"I ain't blind you stupid whore…" he spat. The imposter snarled as it pulled itself from Roxas' blade. The "shadow bugs" ran off off her body and it revealed it true form. The Assassin grabbed a soldier's dual broadswords and got ready. The dark Sora pulled out a Fatal Crest Keyblade. Then it duplicated itself and went after the Assassin.
"Don't worry, I got this bitch," he said. Roxas put away his blade.
Sora was easily able to fend off the two attackers with his two weapons. He parried one downward strike and spun the attackers blade around. He then swiftly moved forward and sliced it in half. One attacker disappeared and the other was swiftly impaled on the blade. Sora removed the sword and in a flash the dark Sora turned to stone.
"Huh?" Sora said. It was pretty much a statue of himself when he first started his journey. He was in his old battle pose too. The statue dissolved into the "shadow bugs" and floated away.
"Impressive, 'stranger'…" Roxas said sarcastically. Sora turned and saw his son smiling. Sora noticed Roxas was about to call him "dad". Sora ran up to Roxas and placed his hand over his son's mouth.
"Shh-shh, not yet," Sora whispered as quietly as he could, "I want my return to be a surprise for your mother. Understand?" Sora finished as he released his son's mouth, Roxas nodded. Sora smiled and leapt off.
Sora stood in the center of the field.
"Clockwork! Where are you?" he shouted. Suddenly Clockwork appeared before him.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I have a need to master the waterbending abilities this new heart has given me, do you know of anywhere I could go?"
"I know of just the time you should go to," Clockwork said with a grin.
Northern Water Tribe, 17 years ago…
Katara stood frozen in time in the moment before her defeat at the hands of Master Pakku. Clockwork dropped Sora off there.
"I have made it so not only has Katara disrespected Pakku but you have as well for trying to stand up for Katara," Clockwork explained, "plus you'll appeared 14 to everyone here." Sora rolled his eyes.
"Great, this guy'll hate me and I haven't even met the guy," Sora said.
"Oh, and if you want you can use all of your energy to amplify your waterbending." Clockwork finished as he disappeared and time started to flow freely. Sora leaped to Katara and deflected the icicles raining towards her.
"I thought you could use some help," Sora said.
"Thanks," she said, then she gasped, "look out!" she yelled.
Too late, the last icicle impaled Sora through the shoulder. His eyes shut tight as he bit his lip in agony. He lowered an open palm and the icicle melted.
"Are you alright?" Katara asked. Sora just glared at her. Katara smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, standard question," she said.
"You shouldn't even have shown your face here pupil Riku," Pakku spat.
"Oh please, you're just a dried up old fart. I bet, even with this wound, I could beat you." Sora said. 'Jeez Clockwork just had to give me that alias.' He thought.
"Very well," Pakku said raising a wave of snow, "I accept your TERMS!" he shouted the last part as he launched the wave forward. The onlookers gasped as Sora threw Katara to the side and out of danger. Sora took the full brunt of the wave. When Pakku came over to check on his opponent Sora wasn't there. Suddenly Aang felt a huge spike in spiritual power. A second later the ice shards scattered around the field began forming together. They all formed a huge clawed hand. It propped itself on the ground as if it were attempting to pull a buried body out of the snow. Suddenly a huge head made of snow formed and soon a half torso was above the snow. It had a blunt, yet reptilian head. It looked similar to the "Cloverfield" monster. Suddenly a bump appeared on its head and Sora reappeared on top.
"I should've expected as much," Pakku said, "You got backed into a corner so you used all the waterbending you could muster to create this foul beast. I know, after that wound, you don't have enough energy to finish this."
Suddenly the creature's claw swept across the field.
"THIS FIGHT IS OVER!" Sora bellowed.
"Alright! Alright!" Pakku yelled. Sora dropped him and the creature melted away. Sora's vision blurred as he picked up Katara's necklace.
"Pakku, you might want to look…at…this," Sora said as he collapsed. The necklace bounced to Pakku's feet. The healers ran to his side and took him to the healing huts. Everything that followed mirrored the events of "The Waterbending Master" episode.
At the end of the Siege of the North…
Instead of the Ocean Spirit taking Zhao's life the spirit passed right under him.
"What the?" he said. He turned around and saw a huge form swimming towards him and Zuko. Zuko blasted Zhao onto his back and climbed up to the nearest building. Zhao sat up only to see a set of fang-shaped icicles come down on him.
"AAAAAAH!" he shouted just before the ice beast devoured him and continued to swim to the spirit oasis. The stream it swam in was stained in blood. Sora stood on the wall of the Northern Water Tribe's city.
"Is this really goodbye?" someone asked. Sora turned around and saw Katara.
"I'm afraid so," Sora said, "I have to get back to my family." Katara sighed, turned around and began to leave. Sora grabbed her arm and turned her around. He locked his lips firmly with hers. Sokka was looking for Katara when he saw his sister wrap her arms around "Riku's" neck and return a kiss. Sora broke the kiss and turned towards the edge of the wall.
"See you later," Sora said. He looked up at his "neat" bangs and rolled his eyes. He ruffled his hair until it was spiky again. He turned slightly and smiled. He did a butterfly dive off of the wall. Katara gasped and ran to edge. She looked over and didn't see anything. Then Sora's ice beast erupted from the frigid water and roared. It swam off into the sunset before vanishing in a green flash. Katara smiled as she turned to leave.
When Katara met Sora 2 weeks later she couldn't help but get a strange sense of deja vu...
Sora was standing in the Betwixt and Between area. Axel's heartless appeared.
"I thought you might need a new outfit for your triumphant return," Axel said.
Sora smiled as he looked at the Organization XIII coat he held. Axel threw it to Sora and he caught it.
"See ya around," Axel said before disappearing. Sora changed into the new outfit and exited the dimension and into the Southern Water Tribe.
He saw two undead about to bite into his wife. He took some snow off of the ground, turned it into two icicles, and launched them into the skulls of the two undead…