Greetings fellow readers and writers! This is the third volume in Path of the Keyblade Wielder and I hope you like it! Okay, this time Sora and the gang will be crossing paths with one of my absolute favorite franchises ever; Super Sentai!
Now I know what some of you are thinking; why Super Sentai when there's Power Rangers? Well, I'll be honest, I want nothing to do with Power Rangers. I admit that I did like it, back when the first season of MMPR first aired in 1993 and I was an avid fan on and off, but fell out when I missed the premier of Power Rangers SPD and never was interested again. But then a few years ago I finally learned that Power Rangers was based on the original Japanese productions of Super Sentai. I started watching on Youtube Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, from which they chopped up, dubbed and overall mutilated into Power Rangers. Since then I've come to realize just how mediocre, at best, Power Rangers is, when compared to Super Sentai and ever since watching Super Sentai, what I could watch that has been subbed and was available online, I've been wanting to do a crossover.
This particular story was one I originally planned to cross with Winx Club, but it didn't fully work out in my mind, but when I thought about it with Kingdom Hearts, it just clicked.
But then when I told my former beta reader about it, this was when he was still my beta reader and I had no idea just how much of an outright jerk he was, he told me not to do it, to just forget about it, that it would be terrible. Well, I've done it and I think it's pretty darn good. I'm sure there are those out there who won't like this story, well, if you don't like it, don't read it. As for my former beta reader, well, I hope you're mature enough to say you're sorry for trying to crush my dreams.
Now, this story crosses Kingdom Hearts with Hyakuajuu Sentai Gaoranger, Ninpu Sentai Hurricanger and Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger, but the three teams will arrive in reverse order. Time wise it takes place, within the Super Sentai metaverse, shortly before the events of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, which I'll eventually do a special volume about later on.
Also, in some chapters of this story I'll be crossing with Brave, one of the best Disney films I've seen in quite a long time, so there will be some spoilers for those whom haven't seen the movie yet. If you haven't seen it yet, go see it, you won't be dissapointed yet
None of the above mention are things I own except for some original characters, so please don't sue me, I'm just trying to tell a good story.
And now, please enjoy…
Kingdom Hearts: Path of the Keyblade Wielder
Volume 3: Keyblade Wielders vs. Super Sentai!
By AndrewK9000
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Trip
Just then an orange and yellow portal opened up at the end of the dock, and from it emerged a tall, wiry man wearing a blue and white messenger's uniform. He walked up to our heroes, "excuse me," said the messenger, "but is there a Tess Thatcher among you?"
"Uh, yeah," said Tess as she stepped forward, "that's me."
The messenger then pulled out a parchment scroll that was tied with a gold and white ribbon and sealed with red wax, "permit me the honor, Lady Teresa Angelina Francesca d'Avrnoy, of delivering this letter to you."
"Who?" Tess asked.
"Lady Teresa Angelina Francesca d'Avrnoy," said the messenger, "of Valkasia. That's you." He then handed the parchment scroll to Tess, "I'm sure you have many questions about who you really are. Please, these will answer them."
Hesitantly, Tess took the scroll, broke the seal and unrolled it. Her eyes widened in shock as she read the message, "oh my! It says that I'm the heir to the duchy of Avrony on Valkasia."
"No way!" exclaimed Sora, Riku and Kairi.
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Malcolm asked.
"With us, you learn to expect the unexpected," said Aiden.
"This can't be right," said Riku as he looked at the scroll over Tess's shoulder, "there's got to be a mistake." He then looked at the messenger, "are you sure you've got the right Tess Thatcher?"
"Do we know any other?" Aiden asked.
"There has been no mistake, gentlemen," said the messenger, "the young lady here is indeed Teresa Angelina Francesca d'Avrnoy, and it is my duty to escort her back to her manor in in the duchy of Avrony."
"I have a manor?" Tess asked in a dazed tone.
"You have far more than that, m'lady," said the messenger, "all will be revealed when you arrive on Valkasia."
"Hold on a second," said Kairi, "are you absolutely sure that Tess is the one you're supposed to talk to?"
"There can be no doubt," said the messenger. He then pointed to Tess' left hand, which had a brown birthmark in the shape of a Keyblade, "the lady Teresa Angelina Francesca d'Avrnoy was born with that exact birthmark."
"Lots of people have birthmarks," said Riku.
"But is there anyone else with that exact birthmark?" Malcolm asked. He then looked at the messenger, "if that mark proves that Tess is this Lady d'Avrony that you've been sent to fetch, prove it."
"Gladly," said the messenger. He then pulled out a faded photo of an ornately dressed couple, a husband and wife, with her holding a baby girl in her arms. The man had Tess' hair, while the woman had Tess' eyes and face. The baby girl's left hand did have the brown Keyblade birthmar .
"Is that really Tess?" Sora asked.
"Oh, you were so cute, Tess!" said a smiling Kairi.
"But is it really Tess?" Aiden asked, "and are they here real parents?"
"I…I don't know," said Tess in a shocked tone as she took the picture in her hands.
"The answers are just a portal jump away, m'lady," said the messenger, "your destiny awaits."
"She's not going anywhere!" said Riku, "for all we know, you're working for Xehanort!"
"He doesn't look like he works for Xehanort," said Aiden, "but that's just my opinion."
"I thank for your vote of confidence, young man," said the messenger.
"See?" Aiden asked, "he's too polite to be working for Xehanort."
"Actually, Xehanort was always polite," said Sora, "at least he was that one time at The Old Mansion. Then again, we really don't know Xehanort that well."
"Regardless," said Riku, "Tess isn't going to some crazy world we've never heard of."
"I never said I didn't want to go," said Tess in a serious tone, "yes, this could be a setup, but for all we know, it's legitimate and I could finally learn the truth of who I am."
"Why take the risk?" Riku asked.
"Because it's my life," said Tess, "it's my life and I'm willing to take the chance. If it's not for real, if it's a set up, then whoever did set me up, be he Xehanort or someone else," she then pulled out her razor, "is going to get a real close shave, and I'm not just talking about his neck, if you know what I mean."
"I get it," said Malcolm.
"Smashing," said Tess as she pocketed her razor. She then looked at the messenger, "I'll go, but only if my friends can come with me, just to be sure."
"Of course, m'lady," said the messenger, "your friends are more than welcome." He then summoned a portal, "this way, m'lady."
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Riku asked.
"99% sure," said Tess, "the chance of it being true outweighs reasonable doubt, so are we going or not?"
"We are," said Kairi, "I'm just as curious to know the truth as you are."
"So am I," said Sora.
"Same with me," said Malcolm.
"And me," said Aiden as he pressed his wrists, "alright, let's do it!" With that they all followed the messenger into the portal, with Riku hanging back for a second before going in.
They arrived outside a large mansion with white walls and a red tile roof. It had a set of large doors with steps leading down to a long driveway that bisected a seemingly endless lawn.
"This is mine?" Tess asked as she and the others gazed at the mansion in amazement.
"This and so much more," said the messenger, "come, your servants are avidly waiting to greet you."
"Just how many servants are we talking about?" Kairi asked.
"The manor has a staff of thirty maids and twenty butlers," said the messenger, "with five cooks, seven seamstresses, ten gardeners whom double as handymen and four stable boys whom take care of the horses."
"I have horses?" Tess asked.
"The best in the duchy," said the messenger, "I happen to be the family herald, and the whole estate is managed by your majordomo, Mr. Pensive."
"I have a majordomo," said a brightly smiling Tess, "cool."
They all walked up the stairs to the front door, where the messenger rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a man in a blue and white suit and tie with gray hair and eyes opened the door and smiled at Tess with joyful delight, "Lady Teresa!" said the man, Mr. Pensive, "at last, you've returned! Please, do come in!" he opened the doors wider, revealing a long hall where all the servants the messenger talked about waited at attention.
"Welcome home, Lady Teresa," said Mr. Pensive as our heroes walked in, "and your friends are welcome as well."
"Welcome home, Lady Teresa!" said all the servants as they bowed.
"I…uh…that is," said Tess as she blushed with embarrassment.
"Of course, you're confused and have so many questions, Lady Teresa," said Mr. Pensive, "do follow me to the study. Tea has been prepared for you and your friends, as well as answers."
The majordomo showed our heroes up a nearby staircase to a large study that was also a library, the walls lined with bookcases that were full of tomes. Several comfortable chairs and sofas were in the middle of the room, arranged around a large table that had a tea service.
Sora and the others sat on the chairs and sofas. Immediately, two maids appeared and served them tea and biscuits.
"Now," said Mr. Pensive once everyone had been served, "Lady Teresa, I'm going to guess at the first question you have in mind; 'who am I?' Your are the daughter of Lord Joham Vincent d'Arvony and his wife, the Lady Helena Isobella. You were the light of their life and the apple of the eyes of everyone in the duchy.
"But alas, the days of happiness in Avrony were shattered only a few months after you were born. An evil enchantress, Sinestra, sought to take the duchy for herself. She placed a terrible curse on your parents that, I'm sorry to say, destroyed them utterly. You would have been destroyed as well, had you not been spirited away to another world."
"My parents are dead?" Tess asked.
"Yes," said Mr. Pensive in a somber tone, "and again, I am so sorry."
"What about this Sinestra bitch?" Malcolm asked irately, "I'd like to have a talk with her about magical ethics."
"There are many in the land who wish far worse on the foul woman," said Mr. Pensive, "but she's gone as well. Sinestra was a powerful enchantress, but while her prowess in curses was extraordinary and terrifying, she severely overestimated her own defenses. She was killed by the first avenging soldier with a sword.
"We then began searching for Lady Teresa and after nearly seventeen years of searching the countless worlds of existence, we've found her and brought her home."
"This is all incredible," said Sora.
"And a load of hogwash," said Riku as he irately crossed his arms, "this can't for real, it just can't be."
"Why are you so eager to say that?" Tess asked as she stood up.
"Why are you so eager to accept it?" Riku asked as he stood up.
"Why are you so paranoid?" Tess demanded as she glared at Riku.
"Why are you so gullible?" Riku demanded as he glared at Tess.
"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaimed Kairi, "do I have to make you sit in the corner? You're behaving like little kids!"
"I'm not the one being immature here," said Tess.
"Well, I'm not the one being an idiot!" said Riku.
"I don't get it, Riku," said Sora, "everything seems real to me, so why are you acting like we're walking into a trap?"
"This place seems legit to me," said Malcolm.
"And me," said Aiden, "so, why are you acting so paranoid? And don't give me the excuse of 'just because you're paranoid doesn't meant that they're not out to get you.'"
At that Riku was at a loss for words. He then sat down, finally speaking, "I just do, kind of a gut feeling, you know."
"Well, my gut tells me that this is for real," said Tess, "both my gut and my heart tells me that I've finally found out who I am and where I came from, that I'm finally where I belong."
"You belong with us, your friends," said Riku.
"I belong where I damn well want to belong!" snapped Tess. She then blinked in surprise, as if realizing just what she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it that way." She sighed and sat down, "this is all so…overwhelming."
"That's understandable, Lady Teresa," said Mr. Pensive. Just then one of the butlers walked up to the majordomo and whispered something in his ear. Mr. Pensive then smiled brightly, "and it's about to get even more overwhelming, Baron Zalliak is on his way!"
"Who?" Tess, Sora, Kairi and Riku asked.
"Marcus Jarvis Othello b'Zalliak," said Mr. Pensive, "Baron of the neighboring barony of Zalliak. His family and yours have been friends for generations."
"A friend of the family," said Kairi, "that's awesome. When's he coming?"
At that Mr. Pensive looked at an ornately crafted gold pocket watch, "right now, it seems."
"Announcing Barron Marcus Jarvis Othello b'Zalliak!" said the butler.
A tall man in his early 20's with shoulder-length black hair tied back and gray eyes, medium skin tone and wearing a blue and gold coat and trousers and black boots, walked into the room. He then looked at Tess and smiled happily, "my dear Lady Teresa," said the man as he bowed with an elaborate hand flourish, "words alone cannot express my feelings at seeing you returned to the land of your birth."
"I…thank you," said Tess in a slightly unsure tone, "it feels…good…to be home."
Sora, Kairi, Aiden and Malcolm then realized that Tess was looking at the man, Baron Marcus, like he was the only light in a dark room, that he was the most important thing in her world.
Baron Marcus then looked at the rest of our heroes, "thank you, for brining Teresa home. If there is anything I can do to repay you for this grand service you've done for Avrony and all of Valkasia, name it and I shall see it done."
"Uh…that's not necessary," said Sora, "we were just helping out a friend."
"We honestly had no idea that Tess was the heir to a small kingdom, or something," said Aiden.
"Avrony won't be small for much longer," said Baron Marcus in a happy and official tone, "the duchy and my land of Zalliak shall soon become one land."
"You're merging into a new nation?" Kairi asked.
"A merger that was long promised," said Baron Marcus, "when Lady Teresa was born, her parents, heaven rest their souls, struck a bargain with my parents, whom, sadly, also perished under the foul treachery of Sinestra. Even though they have moved on to the other side, their spirits live on, as do their wishes," he then walked up to Tess and took her hands in his, with her having an expression of one about to faint from a sudden surge of intense emotions, "my dear Lady Teresa, it was the heartfelt wish of your parents and mine, that we would one day be joined together as man and wife, and in that union, bring our two lands together as one."
At that all our heroes were left thunderstruck, with Tess the most effected.
But then Riku spoiled the moment, "what the hell?!" he exclaimed. "Tess, you can't marry this guy, you barely know him! You don't even like him!"
At that Tess looked at Riku like she had just been severely insulted, "what the hell's wrong with you, Riku!" she shouted, "first you insult my home and people, and now you're insulting my fiancé! Have you flipped your wig?"
"I'm kinda curious to that myself," said Aiden, "Riku, you're really acting a bit irrational."
"I'm not irrational, Tess is!" snapped Riku. He then glared at Tess, "how dare you agree to marry a total stranger!"
"How dare I?" Tess asked, "how dare you! It's my life, I'll marry anyone I damn well want!"
"You have to admit, it is a bit all of a sudden," said Kairi in a worried tone, "you and Baron Marcus did just meet."
At that Tess blinked and shook her head a bit in confusion, "you're right, we did just meet," she looked at Baron Marcus, "I…I'm sure your parents and mine had the best of intentions, but still…"
"I understand, it's a lot to take in in one sitting," said Baron Marcus, "you did just arrive."
"The poor girl needs time to get reacquainted with her home and people," said Mr. Pensive, "she's far from ready to exchange vows."
"I'm perfectly willing to wait until you're ready, Lady Teresa," said Baron Marcus, "and I'll understand completely if you decide not to go through with the wedding."
"Damn right she's not marrying you!" snapped Riku, "and her name is Tess!"
At that Tess stood up and walked right over to Riku, "I never said yes or no. This is a big decision that I've got to think about, which I can't do if you keep trying to decide for me, Riku!"
"But, Tess!" said Riku.
"But nothing, Riku!" said Tess, "and I'd be most appreciative if you stopped calling me that. Tess Thatcher isn't real. My name is Teresa Angelina Francesca d'Avrnoy, remember it."
At that Riku looked like Tess's, now Teresa's, words had punched him in the face, or, down to his heart. For a second, he looked ready to commit murder, but he held his temper, more or less, "fine! Good luck with your future, Tess!" he shouted and with that, Riku stormed out of the room.
"Riku!" said an offended Sora. With that he ran after him.
"Please excuse us," said Kairi as she chased after Sora.
"We'll bring him back," said Aiden as he and Malcolm started after Kairi. But then Aiden turned around and faced Malcolm, "you, stay here with Tess."
"And do what?" Malcolm asked, "and why should I stay while you all chase after Riku?"
"Because I say so," said Aiden, "just keep an eye on Tess while we go calm Riku down." With that he ran out of the room.
"Is this normal for them?" Malcolm asked.
"I don't know," said Teresa as she gazed fondly into Baron Malcolm's eyes, "and strangely, I don't think I care."
"If he couldn't accept your happiness," said Baron Marcus as he took Teresa's hand in his, "then he's no friend of yours."
"It looks that way," said Teresa, "but, he's just confused and angry. Sora and the others will calm him down and then he'll be reasonable."
"I hope so," said Baron Marcus, "I'd hate to be the cause of ruining your friendship with that young man."
"Well," said Teresa as she continued to gaze into Baron Marcus' eyes, "if he can't accept it, then I'm better off without him."
At that Malcolm was left highly confused, but he held his tongue.
"Riku!" shouted Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden chased after their friend out of the mansion. Instead of heading back down the driveway to where they stepped through the portal into the world, Riku was walking to the right and around the side of the house.
"What's back there?" Aiden asked.
"I don't know," said Kairi, "but wherever he's going, we've got to calm him down."
"I've never seen him like this," said Sora as they hurried to catch up with their friend, "Riku's always been the one with the cool head, most of the time."
"And Tess," said Kairi, "well…I honestly don't know what to say about her. I mean, yes, she's finally got the answers she's been looking for, but now that I think about it, things here don't seem quite right."
"I think I know what you mean," said Aiden, "ever since we got here, I've had this itch in the back of my mind that things aren't quite kosher on this world, if you get my drift."
"If you mean that things seem too real," said Sora, "that they seem too perfect, that everything seems to be tailor-made for Tess, then yeah, I get your drift."
"And you know what's really weird?" Kairi asked, "when we were back in the mansion, especially when Baron Marcus came in, I felt like…like I was so happy for Tess and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy."
"Me too," said Sora, while Aiden nodded in agreement, "something really weird is going on here."
"And Riku's not making things any better," said Aiden. They then turned the corner and saw a large forest at the rear of the mansion. "Riku!" Aiden shouted.
Instead of turning around, Riku began running. Sora, Kairi and Aiden started running after him, but they were too late to stop Riku from reaching the forest and ran in. The forest was so big, so dark, Sora and the others quickly lost sight of him.
"Riku, come back!" shouted Kairi as she, Sora and Aiden reached the edge of the woods, "Riku!"
"I don't think he can hear us," said Aiden, "and not just because he's in the woods now."
"Whatever's messing with us," said Sora, "it's messing with Riku even more."
"So what do we do?" Aiden asked.
"We go after him of course," said Kairi.
"Just checking," said Aiden.
"Let's go," said Sora. With that the three of them ran into the forest.
Almost instantly things got dark, the foliage of the trees was so thick hardly any sunlight was getting through.
"This is the kind of place Flora would love," said Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden tried to find Riku's trail, "if it weren't so dark and gloomy in here."
"Am I the only one who notices something creepy about this place?" Kairi asked.
"What?" Sora asked.
"Listen," said Kairi, "no birds, bugs or anything. Usually woods are teaming with life and are full of sounds, but here, there's nothing, not even the wind."
Sora was stunned to realized that Kairi was right, it was so quiet in the forest, you could hear a pin dropping on grass.
"Look on the bright side," said Aiden, "if it's so quiet, all the better for Riku to hear us. Riku! Riku! Come back!"
Yet as Aiden's shouts sounded through the trees, Sora had a bad feeling that Riku couldn't hear them.
"Now what?" Aiden asked.
"We keep looking," said Sora in a determined tone, "we're not abandoning our friend!"
"You don't have to tell me twice," said Aiden. With that he, Sora and Kairi ran further into the woods.
But it soon became all to clear that in their search for Riku, they had acquired a worse problem.
"Which way is back to the mansion?" Sora asked.
"It's back the way we came," said Kairi.
"But we made a few turns in the forest," said Aiden, "when we spotted a recently broken twig or bush and thought Riku had just came that way," he looked around, "I can't remember which way is out."
"So, we're lost," said Sora in a distant tone.
"We're not lost," said Kairi, "we're in Avrony." She then frowned, "but that doesn't mean we know exactly where we are."
"We can't let that get to us," said Sora, "let's just focus on finding Riku, then we'll worry about getting back to the mansion."
"Sounds like a plan to me," said Aiden in a slightly unsure tone.
"Wait, why didn't I think of this before?" Kairi asked. "Aiden, can you transmute something in the woods just enough so that it'll be a marker?"
"So we don't get any more lost," said Aiden as he summoned his Keyblade, "yeah, I can do that." he then transmuted a patch of ground into a stone marker. But then the marker vanished, only to be replaced by the patch of ground it was before.
"That's not right!" said a shocked Aiden. He tried to transmute the ground again, but the same thing happened, the created marker vanished and the ground returned to normal.
"Okay, Aiden's Alchemy isn't working," said Sora in a shaky tone, "nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about?" Aiden asked in an exasperated tone, "my powers are on the fritz!"
"It's probably just this world," said Kairi, "maybe Valkasia is a world where Alchemy just doesn't work."
"Maybe, or maybe not," said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade and used it to scratch an X on a nearby tree. But then the mark vanished, leaving the tree as pristine as it was before.
"Okay, something freaky is going on here," said Sora as he touched the tree, making sure it was solid, which it was.
"It's a mystery," said Kairi as she used her Keyblade to scratch a mark on a different tree, but the mark also vanished, "someone or something is messing with us."
"Oh, yuck!" shouted Sora as he flinched away from the tree, wiping his hand furiously on his cargo shorts, "that tree has this really gross sap on it!"
Aiden and Kairi looked at the tree closer and saw that it was oozing a pungent sap. All of the trees they could see were also covered in the sap that was more like an oil slick than sticky sap.
"Well," said Kairi, "there goes my idea of climbing a tree to get our bearings."
"Now what?" Sora asked. "this place is so big, we could be lost here for days."
"We're not lost," Kairi insisted.
"It sure feels that way," said Aiden in a nervous tone as he looked left and right franticly, "and I don't like feeling lost."
"Who does?" Kairi asked, now feeling nervous herself.
"Well, just standing around and doing nothing isn't going to help us," said Sora. He then started shouting as loud as he could, "RIKU! RIKU!"
"He's just as lost as we are," said Aiden, "but right now, yelling for help does sound like a good idea." he then shouted as loud as he could, "HEY! IS ANYONE THERE! ANYONE!"
"I don't think there's anyone to hear that," said Kairi.
"It couldn't hurt to try," said Sora. He then shouted, "HELLO! IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE!"
But then he got an answer in the form of a male voice, "HEY! OVER THERE! WE HEAR YOU!"
"WHERE ARE YOU!" Sora shouted.
"OVER HERE!" shouted a female voice, "BY THE TREES!"
"THERE'S TREES EVERYWHERE!" Kairi shouted.
"WE KNOW THAT!" shouted a second male voice, "WE'VE BEEN STUCK IN THIS FOREST FOR HOURS!"
"WE JUST GOT HERE OURSELVES!" Aiden shouted. He then spoke normally to Kairi and Aiden, "what now? These people could be villains or something else."
"They don't sound evil to me," said Kairi, "or maybe I'm just glad to hear other people in this forest."
"Me too," said Sora, "I'll risk it, we might just be able to help each other."
"Okay," said Kairi, while Aiden nodded, "go for it."
Sora gave his friends a smile, then shouted, "KEEP YELLING, WE'LL FIND YOU!"
"TAKE YOUR TIME," said the second male voice, "WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!"
"Let's go," said Sora. With that he, Kairi and Aiden followed the voices of the other people and within a few minutes, found them and were soon happily introducing themselves to each other.
The first male voice belonged to Hakua Ryoga, age 25; a highly optimistic, warm hearted and friendly man in his mid 20's who values himself for his courage, friendship and handyman skills, and is also a certified environmental protection investigator from the USA on his world. Ryoga had short black hair and wore a red pullover shirt with a red and white tyrannosaurs on the front and blue jeans with a red backpack.
The second male voice belonged to Sanjyo Yukito, age 24; a world-renowned chiropractor famous for his chrismal and bone-manipulative therapy techniques, he seemed cold and uncaring on the surface but underneath his hard shell lay a heart of gold, one that valued his friends and would do anything to help them. Yukito had long back hair with white highlights and wore a blue jacket with a blue and white triceratops on it and black pants and a blue backpack.
The girl was Itsuki Ranru, age 23; a technology genius, amateur photographer and inventor, she was highly sanguine and cheerful, valuing peace and love above all else, but was not afraid to stand up for what was right. Ranru had shoulder-length dark brown hair and wore a yellow jacket with a yellow and white pterodactyl on it and a short black skirt and a yellow backpack.
"Thank goodness," said Ranru, "we've been stuck in this forest for hours."
"We only just got here," said Riku, "how'd you get lost in here?"
"We were looking for a friend," said Yukito in a slightly annoyed tone, "we were separated and have been looking for him since."
"We're pretty much in the same boat," said Sora, "our friend got really upset just now and ran into the woods. We ran after him and got lost."
"Maybe we can help each other find our friends," said Aiden.
"That's a great idea," said an eager Ryoga.
"There's still the fact that we're completely lost," said Yukito, "I knew we should have packed a compass."
"You're traveling without a compass?" Kairi asked.
"We didn't know we'd end up in this crazy forest," said Yukito.
"Wait!" said Ranru, "I know how we're going to get out of here. We came in from the north."
"And the mansion is to the south," said Kairi, "I remember the angle of the sun when we came in, but how does that help us? We don't have a compass."
"And we can't climb the trees without getting stuck in the sap," said Sora, "so we can't go up to see where the sun is."
"We don't need to do that," said Ranru, "all we need is a needle or a pin."
"So we can make a compass," said Aiden, "I get it now!" he then took out from his pocket a set of keys that looked like they belonged from an earlier time.
"What are those?" Sora asked.
"They were from my village," said Aiden as he began counting off the keys on the ring, "I don't know why I still have them but I do. This one was the house key, this one for the deadbolt lock, this one my bike key," he paused in thought, "I completely forgot I even had a bike," he resumed counting the keys, "this one's for my roller skates," he paused in thought again, "wait, when did I ever have roller skates?" he then shrugged his shoulders, "it's not important. There's enough metal here for what I've got in mind," he then placed the keys on the ground, summoned his Keyblade and transmuted the metal into a six inch long, very thin metal rod.
"Amazing!" said both Ranru and Ryoga.
"It's okay," said Yukito in a slightly indifferent tone.
"It's better than okay," said a grinning Aiden, "it means that while I can't use alchemy on the stuff that's native to this world, I can still use it on anything we've brought here."
"That's good to know," said Sora, "so, what now?"
"Now we magnetize the rod," said Ranru, "Yukito-san, I need your handkerchief."
"This one?" Yukito asked as he pulled out a blue silk handkerchief that had red embroidery, "this was a gift from Emiri-chan."
"Well, now we're putting it to good use," said Ranru as she took the handkerchief from Yukito and furiously rubbed it around the metal rod, "now, we just need some string."
Sora and Kairi then searched their pockets but failed to produce any string, "sorry," they both said.
But then Ryoga pulled a length of string from his pocket, "will this do?" he asked, grinning happily.
"It's perfect," said Aiden as he took the string and tied it to the rod.
"Why did you have some string in your pocket?" Yukito asked.
"It was a gift from Mai-chan," said Ryoga, "she's got some in her pocket, so then she told me that as long as we both had it near us, even though we'd be worlds apart, we'd always be together."
"That's so sweet," said Kairi, "is she your daughter?"
"Ruoga-kun is Mai-chan's uncle," said Ranru as she tied the string to the magnetized rod, "and her legal guardian, long story." She then held her arm out and waited for the rod to start pointing. Soon it was pointing north.
"That way," said Kairi as she pointed south, "that way back to the mansion."
"What about Riku?" Sora asked.
"And what about Asuka?" Ryoga asked, "that's our friend we've been looking for."
"We can't help Riku until we've got a better idea of the layout of these woods," said Kairi, "and I've got a feeling that Asuka can look after himself," she looked at Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru, "not to belittle your friend."
"No offense taken," said Yukito, "Asuka's very capable."
"But what are you all doing here?" Sora asked as they started walking south.
"You tell us first," said Yukito.
"It's a very long story," said Aiden.
"Same with us," said Ranru.
"Well," said Sora, "it's like this," he, Kairi and Aiden then gave their new friends a brief explanation of how they arrived on Valkasia, of Tess learning of her heritage, Riku's negative reactions and of his storming off after meeting Baron Marcus.
"This Marcus guy sounds okay to me," said Ryoga.
"We felt the same way," said Aiden, "but there's something about this place, this entire world and it's people that doesn't seem right, that doesn't ring kosher, you know what I mean?"
"I know what you feel," said Ranru as she pulled out a digital camera. She then showed Sora, Kairi and Aiden the back part with the screen and pulled up the saved photo album. Ranru selected a photo of her, Ryoga, Yukito and a third man in his late 20's with short, spiky black hair and strange, whisker-like marks on his face. He was wearing a black shirt and jacket with black jeans.
"That's our friend, Asuka," said Ranru as she pointed to the man in the picture, "I took this before we left our world and came here." She then selected another photo, one that came up as gray fog, "I took this as soon as we got here, and every picture I took since has come up wrong," she then showed more digital photos, all of them of fog.
"There's nothing wrong with the camera," said Yukito, "it's this world, it's like…I don't know how to describe it."
"Like there's this big secret and someone wants it kept, no matter what," said Kairi.
"Exactly," said Yukito.
"Well, we won't solve this mystery by just standing around," said Sora.
Just then, from apparently out of nowhere, came a gruff male voice, "my thoughts exactly, Tera!"
"Who said that?" a startled Sora asked, while Kairi and Aiden looked around in confusion.
Ryoga then clutched at his left wrist, covering a red and white item that Sora, Kairi and Aiden hadn't paid much attention to yet. They then saw Ranru cover a yellow and white item on her left wrist, while Yukito covered a blue and white item on his wrist.
"It's noting," said Yukito, "probably a bird or something."
"Yukito-san," said a voice that sounded like it belonged to a young boy, "there's no point in hiding us, Kero."
"They're going to figure us out sooner or later, Pura," said a girl's voice.
"That wasn't any bird call," said Aiden as he looked at Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru with suspicious eyes, "just what is going on here?"
At that Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru looked at each other, as if silently trying to decide what to do. Ryoga then decided for them, "looks like the jig is up," he said as he held out his left arm. The item on his wrist was shaped like a meta, red and white tyrannosaurus head. "this is my Dino Brace, and it allows me to talk to my partner, Tyrrano."
The item on Ryoga's wirst then roared as it spoke, the metal parts moving as it vocalized, "nice to meet you all, Tera!"
Yukito reluctantly held out his wrist, revealing the item to be a miniature triceratops head that was blue and white, speaking with a bellow, "this is my partner, Tricera."
"I'm happy to make all of your acquaintances, Kero!" said the metal item.
"And this is my partner," said Ranru as she showed off her item, which looked like a yellow and white pteranodon, "Ptera."
"I just know we'll all get along, Pura!" said the metal item, vocalizing with a high pitch cry.
At that Sora, Kairi and Aiden were left speechless for a few seconds. Finally, Sora broke the silence, "umm…just what is all of this?"
"You're partners with dinosaurs?" Kairi asked.
"Bakuryu," said Ryoga, "they're evolved dinosaurs from another world; Dino Earth"
"It's a parallel world that was created 65 million years ago," said Yukito, "when the asteroid hit Earth and killed off the dinosaurs, it wound up creating Dino Earth and a lot of dinosaurs from our world wound up on the new one."
"As time went on," said Ranru, "the dinosaurs continued to evolve, eventually becoming Bakuryu. And when humans evolved on Dino Earth, becoming Ryyujin, they and the Bakuryu formed a deep bond that lasts to this day."
"But how come you're partners with these Bakuryu if you're from the Earth where dinosaurs became extinct?" Kairi asked.
"It's a long story," said Yukito.
All of a sudden they all heard a high, cruel laughing. Up in the trees, laying on a branch in a relaxed manner, was the most bizarre looking monster Sora, Kairi and Aiden had seen yet. It was humanoid, about seven feet tall and covered in reddish-brown fur and two inch long needle-like spikes. It's head was green and had vulpine features that had a large blue X just above the eyes, while attached to it's arms were axes, while in it's clawed hands was a larger, double headed axe.
"Well, well, well," said the monster as it leapt down from its perch, "isn't this a sight," it looked at Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru, "the ones who murdered so many of my comrades," it then looked at Sora, Aiden and Kairi, "and the famous Keyblade Wielders, we meet at last."
"You know about us," said Sora, "but who are you?"
"Oh, forgive me," said the monster, "I sometimes forget my manners. I am Kitsuneonosaboten, formerly of Invasion Garden Evolien."
"What?" Sora, Kairi and Aiden all asked.
"It's a Torinoido," said Yukito as he, Ranru and Ryoga, all glared at the creature, "a monster that's literarily painted into existence by dark forces out of a combination of three things. It's name literally means 'fox, axe, cactus.'"
"You mean someone made a monster that's part fox, part axe and part cactus?" Sora asked, "and made it out of paint?"
"At least it's a Torinoido," said Ranru, "and not a Giganoido, those are giant monsters that are created by dark music."
"And Invasion Garden Evolien?" Sora asked.
"An evil group that was hell bent on wiping out all life on all worlds," said Yukito, "they nearly killed everyone on Dino Earth, then tried to conquer our world."
"But we stopped them!" said Ryoga as he glared defiantly at the hybrid monster, "we, our partners and friends from our world and Dino Earth, we fought Evolien and destroyed them!"
"You got lucky, that's all," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "I happened to have gotten away before all hell broke lose for my comrades," he then glared at Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru, "well, your luck has just ran out, Abarangers!"
"What did he call you?" Sora asked Ryoga and his friends.
"We'll show you in a second," said Ryoga. He then glared back at Kitsuneonosaboten, "my friends didn't have just luck with us, we had Dino Guts!"
"That's a form of energy that allows us to call on our partner's power and augment our own courage," said Ranru, "pretty much every human on our world has the potential for Dino Guts, but when our friends called out for help, we were the ones who answered."
"And boy did it turn our lives upside down," said Yukito, "but what's done is done."
"The only one done here will be you three," said Kitsuneonosaboten, it then glared at Sora, Kairi and Aiden, "don't think I'm ignoring you brats, you'll die as well."
"What'd we ever do to you?" Aiden asked.
"Nothing," said the hybrid monster, "except that you're alive. We of Invasion Garden Evolion, whom owe our existence to the Wicked Life God Dezmozoria, hate all things that are not of Dezmozoria, we hate everything else with a vengeance, and I, Kitsuneonosaboten, Torionoido X, shall avenge all of my comrades and god!" it then clapped its clawed hands twice and summoned several smaller, but still vicious looking monsters.
The creatures were bipeds with either white or black scaly hides, heavily muscled, with single-eyed heads that had maws full of razor-sharp teeth, while their clawed hands carried long staffs.
"They look like Barmia Soldiers," said Ranru as the creatures surrounded the six humans, "but…"
"They're very different," said Yukito as he, Ranru and Ryoga assumed fighting stances, while Sora, Kairi and Aiden summoned their Keyblades.
"And they're Heartless!" said Sora. True enough, each of the creatures had the Heartless Embalm on it's front.
"I fused the two together," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "pretty ingenious, don't ya' think?"
"It's original, I'll admit," said Aiden.
"Two whole adventures without Heartless," said Kairi, "and now they're back."
"Well, since they're a mix of our respective enemies," said Ryoga, "let's fight them together!"
"Right!" said both Ranru and Yukito.
"We're ready, Ryoga, Tera!" said Tyranno.
"Willing and able, Kero!" said Tricera.
"Let's cut these things down to size, Pura!" said Ptera.
Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru then pressed a button on the Dino Braces, causing the mouths of the items to open, each roaring furiously.
The three of the then held their left arms up and brought their right hands up to the Dino Braces, "Bakuryu Change!" they all shouted and pressed the buttons again. The mouths on the items closed and released a bright energy that engulfed the three humans.
On each of their chests appeared a golden icon that was a dinosaur footprint surrounded inside a black circle. Expanding out from the icon was a wave of a different energy that transformed the three of them, now outfitting them each in spandex-like armor, that had white belts and blue blasters in holsters on the right side, as well as gloves and boots and helmets with black visors. Each outfit matched their respective colors and Bakuryu partners.
Ryoga wore red with white triangles and helmet that looked like a tyranosaurs head, Yukito wore blue with white triangles and helmet that looked a triceratops head and Ranru wore yellow with white triangles and helmet that looked like a pterandon.
"Whoa!" said an amazed Sora, while Kairi and Aiden were rendered speechless.
Ryoga, Yukito and Ranru then each spoke in turn, with their Bakuryu also sounding off with them.
"Enormous Energy! Aba Red!"
"Bursting Seriousness! Abare Blue!
"Dashing with Courage! Abare Yellow!"
Ryoga, now Aba Red, now held his gloved hands over the dinosaur footprint on his front, which glowed brightly, "the ubiquitous Dino Guts! Bakuryu Sentai…!"
All three of them then spoke as one, "Abaranger!"
"Wow!" said Sora, Kairi and Aiden together.
"I'm not impressed!" snapped Kitsuneonosaboten. It then glared at the assembled Heartless, "alright, you Snap Hoppers! Get them!"
The summoned Heartless, Snap Hoppers, then bounced towards our heroes and allies.
"It's never easy," said Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden, readied their Keyblades.
"It'd be boring if it were!" said Aba Red. He, Abare Yellow and Abare Blue then pulled out their blasters, "AbaLasers!" shouted AbaRed as the three of them shot at the Snap hoppers, hitting several. The laser beams produced sparks as they hit their targets and dropped the incoming Heartless like flies.
The three Abarangers then unfolded their AbaLasers, turning the blasters into swords and the six heroes rushed at the incoming Heartless, slashing at the slow moving minions, each hit producing sparks as the creatures self destructed. The three Abarangers augmented their sword attacks with punches and kicks, while Sora, Kairi and Aiden were their usual fantastic selves with their Keyblades.
But more and more Snap Hoppers kept coming.
"Have I told everyone lately how much I hate Heartless?" Aiden asked as he stabbed a Snap Hopper, then transmuted the ground underneath three more into spikes, impaling the creatures.
"Not lately," said Kairi.
"We've been through worse," said Aba Red as he slashed a Snap Hopper across the torso, destroying it in a burst of sparks.
"Thought not in as many numbers as these things!" said Abare Blue as he folded his sword back into a blaster and shot two Snap Hoppers, "these things are just annoying!"
"Oh, they're not so tough!" said Abare Yellow as she slashed two Snap Hoppers into oblivion, "but there are a lot of them." She then holstered her blaster sword and pulled out, from an apparent subspace pocket, a pair of yellow daggers that resembled pterandon wings, "Ptera Daggers!" she shouted as she used the twin daggers to destroy six Snap Hoppers.
Abare Blue then pulled out a large blue shield that had triceratops horns and spikes, "Tricera Bunker!" he shouted as he smashed several Snap Hoppers.
"Tyrano Rod!" said Aba Red as he pulled out a long red and white staff that had a tyrannosaurs head on one end, which he used to bash several more Snap Hoppers. They, along with Sora, Kairi and Aiden, soon defeated all the Snap Hoppers.
"And now for this freakazoid," said Aiden as he, Kairi, Sora and the Abarangers, faced down Kitsuneonosaboten.
"You want to dance with me?" the hybrid monster asked in a vicious tone while gripping its axe, "okay, let's tango!" he then rapidly rushed at our heroes and allies, delivering dozens of axe strikes at them faster than they could block. Sora, Kairi and Aiden were severely cut and were knocked down, while the spandex-like armor of the Abarangers protected them from the worst of the axe strikes, but each blow landed on them produced sparks. They were still standing when the hybrid monster stopped attacking, but the three warriors were left a bit unsteady.
"This guy is serious!" said Kairi as she used her healing magic on Sora, then Aiden and then herself.
"So are we!" said Aba Red as he, Abare Blue and Abare Yellow regained their footing.
"You really think you can beat me?" Kitsuneonosaboten asked.
"We've beaten everyone else in Invasion Garden Evolien," said Abare Blue.
"Well, I'm not like those other goobers you've faced," said the hybrid monster, "I guess you could say that I'm a mutant among Torionoidos."
"How so?" Abare Yellow asked.
"I can't be defeated!" snapped Kitsuneonosaboten as it rushed at the Abarangers again. This time they were ready and blocked his furious axe strikes. Aba Red then countered with a thrusting attack from his staff, while Abare Blue countered with his shield and Abare Yellow struck back with her daggers.
"We've got to help them!" Sora shouted as he and Aiden got back up.
"Wait," said Kairi as she stood up, "we can't rush into this. Without our armor, we'd be cut to pieces by that thing."
"How much longer is it going to take for our armor to finish upgrading?" Aiden asked, "we should have asked Sidney how long it would be."
"We had other things on our minds," said Sora, "so what can we do?"
"Just sit and watch," said Kairi, "and try to think of a plan."
By then Aba Red had forced Kitsuneonosaboten to drop his large axe, but the hybrid monster drew the smaller axes from its forearms and struck back, furiously hitting each Abaranger and dealing damage that produced sparks.
"Just surrender and die, Abarangers!" snapped the hybrid monster, "today's the day I avenge Dezmozoria!"
"Not a chance!" shouted Aba Red. He, Abare Blue and Abare Yellow then shouted in fury as their helmets roared again. The white marks on their suits then glowed brightly and turned into armor plates and spikes.
The three Abarangers then rushed at Kitsuneonosaboten and attacked with savage attacks, using the spikes on their arms and legs as weapons, moving with animalistic movements and shouting with each attack, their voices having rougher edges than before.
Each attack on the hybrid monster dealt damage that produced sparks, forcing the creature to stagger back and leaving it slightly out of breath.
The spikes and armor plates then returned to the normal white marks on their suits as the Abaragers recovered their dinosaur-like weapons, "it's over, Kitsuneonosaboten!" shouted Aba Red.
"Over?" the hybrid monster asked, "it's just beginning!" the creature then laughed viciously as it vanished.
"Well, that was rude of him," said Abare Yellow. She, Abare Blue and Aba Red then powered down, becoming Ranru, Yukito and Ryoga again.
"That was unbelievable!" said Sora as he, Kairi and Aiden ran over.
"You guys were so…cool!" said Aiden.
"And you looked cool too," said Kairi, "especially after you grew that armor stuff."
"That's just our Abare Mode," said Ryoga, "where we draw on more of our Dino Guts."
"We can get a little rough when using it," said Yukito, "but the extra strength is worth it."
"I'm just irked that that jerk, Kitsuneonosaboten, ran away," said Ranru as she tried to scratch an itch on her back but her fingers couldn't quite reach the spot, "I hate it when the monster does that."
"They do that all the time," said Yukito as he and Ryoga stood behind Ranru and both scratched the itch on her back, the two of them familiar with this apparently recurring itch, for Ranru sighed with relief at their scratching.
"And you guys fight this kind of monster on a regular basis?" Sora asked.
"We used to," said Ryoga, "we thought we defeated all of Evolien."
"But just when you think they're gone for good," said Tyrano, "another one pops up, Tera!"
"They're like roaches," said Ptera, "only a lot bigger, Pura!"
"And a lot harder to smash, Kero!" said Tricera.
"Well, you guys were still awesome," said Sora.
"So where you guys," said Ryoga, "and those key swords, what's up with those?"
"I think we're in for a long story exchange," said Kairi.
"We can tell them on the way back to the mansion," said Aiden, "not only do we have to find Riku, and Asuka of course, we also have to warn Tess that her home world has monsters."
"I wonder if Baron Marcus knows?" Tess asked in a suspicious tone.
"Knowing him, anything is possible," said Aiden, "and I mean it in a bad way."
"Then let's go," said Sora.
But then Yukito asked, "where's the compass?"
Ranru looked around, "oh no! I lost it during the fight!"
"Oh great!" said Aiden, "we're lost again!" with that they all franticly started searching the forest floor.
"Have I told you how beautiful your eyes are, dearest Teresa?" Baron Marcus asked.
"They are?" Teresa asked, "I never thought about it that way.
"Like an emerald and a sapphire," said Baron Marcus.
Just then a servant entered the room and whispered something to Baron Marcus. He then stood up, "forgive me, my lady, there's something I need to take care of."
"Is something wrong?" Teresa asked.
"No, just business," said Baron Marcus, "I'll just pop out and be back before you know it!" he smiled brightly and left the room.
"Are you okay?" Malcolm, whom had been watching the whole scene from the corner of the room.
Teresa blinked and shook her head a bit as if to clear water from her ears, "I…I think so. This whole thing has been…crazy. I find my home world and discover that not only am I a noble and a large duchy, an estate complete with a huge house, servants and horses, I also have a fiancé."
"But what about Riku?" Malcolm asked, "the two of you seemed so close, at least that's what I've seen."
"Oh, Riku," said Teresa in a shocked tone, "I was so mean to him, I hope he's okay. Wait, what am I going to do about Riku? I do love him, but…Marcus is…well, Marcus." she closed her eyes, leaned back and sighed, "I'm so confused."
"You're not alone," said Malcolm.
Baron Marcus walked up the staircase and down the hallway. When he reached the end of the corridor, to a dead end with the wall covered by a tapestry of the mansion, he pushed the tapestry aside and pressed a hidden button. He then waked through the tapestry and wall, the force field that made the wall solid becoming transparent.
He emerged into a hidden room that was lit by a single overhead lamp. "I got your message," said Barron Marcus, "it had better be important, Kitsuneonosaboten."
The hybrid monster emerged from the shadows into the lit area, "oh it is, Marcus," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "The Keyblade Wielders are here."
"I know," said Baron Marcus in an annoyed tone, "I met them not long ago. There's nothing to worry about them, they're fools, despite their famed fighting prowess. I have them in the palm of my hand; just like I have Tess. In a while, she'll be ready for the ritual. The master will surely be pleased."
"That he will," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "but you shouldn't underestimate The Keyblade Wielders, they're not as big of fools as you think. They know that this world isn't completely kosher."
Baron Marcus then looked at the hybrid monster with suspicious eyes, "you didn't reveal yourself to them, did you? Tell me you didn't let them know you even existed!"
"It's not like I wanted to reveal myself," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "they were with the ones I was trying to destroy. I also meant to tell you; The Abarangers are here as well."
At that Baron Marcus grabbed Kitsuneonosaboten by the fur of its chest and, in a display of unnatural strength, lifted the hybrid monster two feet off of the ground, "you assured me that they wouldn't get involved! That they were finished fighting Evolion and wouldn't come after you! You told me that they were retired!"
"Let go of me!" shouted the hybrid monster, "you're pulling my hair out!"
At that Baron Marcus threw Kitsuneonosaboten to the ground, "be fortunate that that's the least I do. Just imagine what the master will do to you when he hears of this."
"What the master doesn't know won't hurt him," said the hybrid monster as it stood up, "why bother him when the situation can be quietly resolved? You just focus on keeping Tess enthralled until the ritual, I'll take care of The Abarangers and Keyblade brats."
"You do that," said Baron Marcus, "and you had better destroy them, for if anything goes wrong, you'll be praying that the Abarangers and Keyblade brats destroy you, before the master goes to work on you."
"I know what the master is capable of," said Kitsuneonosaboten , "I won't do anything to bring his wrath down," he then looked at Baron Marcus with puzzled eyes, "but I'm curious? The ritual isn't for several days, so why go through the farce of a wedding?"
"Because I can," said Baron Marcus as he smiled viciously, "as you just said, the ritual isn't for another few days, so in the meantime, I might as well enjoy Tess. The ritual doesn't require for her to be a virgin, and we will be married, so…"
"I get the picture," said Kitsuneonosaboten, "enjoy yourself, but don't get attached to her; in the end, she belongs to the master."
"Don't remind me," said Baron Marcus, "and I won't remind you about keeping your end of the bargain."
"I know, destroy our enemies," said the hybrid monster, "don't worry, they're all as good as dead." with that it vanished.
Baron Marcus then left the hidden room, made his way through the mansion and back to the room where Teresa was waiting for her, "sorry, darling, we won't be interrupted again." Teresa immediately brightened her expression and smiled at him He then sat down next to her and she cuddled up against him.
"That's good to know," said Teresa happily, "now, what were you saying about my eyes?"
"There's something rotten in Valkasia," said Malcolm to himself.
The end of chapter 1.
Next chapter finds our heroes and allies digging deeper into the mystery they've found themselves into, all the while Tess falls deeper into the spell of Baron Marcus. Will Riku and the others be able to snap her to her senses? Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!