Kingdom Hearts III: Darkest Storm

By Nintendoman01


Disclaimer:

I do not own any characters in this story, save for my OCs; Kingdom Hearts and all associated characters are the property of Disney and Square Enix.

Author's Note:

Oh, lookie here; another distraction from my other stories. I figured I could work on this stuff while I power through my writer's block on the other stories. Fair warning: this is set after Kingdom Hearts 3D, so spoiler alert!

Just FYI, I only intend to use characters and properties that belong to Disney and Square Enix, no others. In the case of the latter, that might include Marvel Comics and Star Wars; still debating that.

The pairings I've decided on so far are as follows: Sora x Kairi, Riku x OC, Roxas x Naminé, Terra x Aqua, and Ventus x Xion.

And yes, I'm well aware that this will most likely conflict with the real Kingdom Hearts III whenever it comes out, but oh well. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but NO FLAMES; if you don't like it, don't read it.

Okay, now that that's done, here we go...


- Prologue -

Where's Sora?


The World That Never Was

On a distant world covered in darkness, a majestic silver castle towered over an endless abyss. Said castle was covered in Nobody emblems, with the city near the castle filled with towering buildings, many of them lit up brightly. Inside the castle was an elderly man, bald except for thin eyebrows and a curled silver goatee, with tanned skin, pointy ears, and golden eyes. He had broad, hunched shoulders and a crooked back, his seemingly frail appearance defying his great power. He wore a white buttoned shirt with two thin black belts, black pants, and calf-high black boots under a white and black long coat with red inner lining, and white elbow-length gloves. This man was Master Xehanort.

A corridor of darkness appeared before him, and out came a tall figure in a black hooded coat, the hood down to reveal the face of an early middle aged man with long dark hair, streaked in grey, tied in a ponytail, with a patch over his right eye, the other eye golden, and a old, jagged scar extending from his left cheek to just under his left eye. Xehanort just nodded to acknowledge Braig, his second in command.

"Have you found him yet?" Xehanort asked. Braig scoffed.

"As if," he said in his usual casual tone. "We've all been combing the worlds for the past six months, and haven't seen hide nor hair of him. It's like the kid just when 'pfft.'"

Xehanort stroked his beard in thought. "I see," he said. "Well, just continue the search for now. Sora is out there somewhere, and I want you and the others to search every last world you can find until you find him."

Braig shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, whatever, you old coot."

With that, he summoned a corridor of darkness and departed.


The Mysterious Tower

On another world was a tall, majestic, and crooked tower that was colored golden brown. The roofs were blue and cone-shaped, decorated with several stars and moons. The tower itself rested on a floating island with a few pine trees, while the island was surrounded by sparkling blue clouds. This was the Mysterious Tower, the home of Yen Sid.

Sitting on the steps to the tower was a girl around sixteen years old with red hair that reached a little past her shoulders and sapphire blue eyes. She was wearing a short pink dress decorated with multiple zippers and a black belt around her hips that supported a black pouch. Underneath the dress was a white halter top with a black hood, around her neck was a silver teardrop-shaped bracelet, and around her left wrist was a trio of bracelets, one blue, one grey, and one white. Finally, she wore violet-and-white high top sneakers. The girl, Kairi, looked up at the stars, a sad look in her eyes.

Sora, she thought to herself. Where are you?

"Hey, Kairi."

Kairi turned her head to see Riku approach. She just smiled at him as he took a seat next to her.

Riku was a young boy around seventeen years old with chin-length silver hair and sea-green eyes. He wore a black zip-up tank top under a white and yellow vest, baggy blue jeans with large pockets, a black belt with a silver buckle and square spike studs, and a pair of white-and-grey sneakers with yellow strings. Around his left wrist was a thick white band, which Riku had told her and Sora was an injury he had suffered during his fight with Roxas in The World That Never Was (1).

"Thinking about Sora again?" Riku asked. Kairi nodded.

"It's that obvious, huh?" she said. "When do you think he'll be back?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"I hope so," Kairi said. "I just remember what you said, about Xehanort's men being after him."

Riku smiled and patted Kairi's shoulder. "It's Sora, remember? He can handle it."

"Sora ain't going down easy," spoke a third voice. "Got it memorized?"

Riku and Kairi turned to see Lea coming out of the tower door. Lea was a young man in his early twenties with spiky red hair and green eyes. He had discarded the black coat of Organization XIII in favor of more casual clothing: a red muscle shirt under a black leather jacket with red flame designs on the sleeves and shoulders, dark blue jeans with similar red flames on the legs, black fingerless gloves, and red sneakers.

"Eavesdropping, Lea?" Riku said, rolling his eyes. "What are you, twelve?" Lea snickered.

"No, I just happened to overhear," the pyro replied. "Master Yen Sid wants to talk to us. He told me to get you."

Kairi nodded and stood, Riku following suit, and the three entered the tower.

As they walked up the long, spiraling stairs that led to Yen Sid's study, Kairi once again found her mind drifting back to Sora. They hadn't heard much of anything from him for the past six months. Was he safe? Where did he go?

Kairi shook her head to clear it as they entered Yen Sid's study. Although relatively small, the study was the largest room in the tower. It was filled with several large shelves of books, several about the exploits of King Mickey, with two windows in the respective shape of a star and a crescent moon. The most prominent object in the room, however, was Master Yen Sid's wooden desk, which was empty save for an open book and a lit candle. Seated behind the desk was Yen Sid himself.

Master Yen Sid was a rather severe-looking old man with long gray hair, bushy eyebrows, and a long gray beard that parted down the middle. He wore long blue robes with sky blue lining, the insides of which were dark red, and a blue conical sorcerer's hat, decorated with yellow stars and a yellow crescent moon.

Accompanying Yen Sid were three familiar figures; King Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy, and a new figure, Goofy's son Max.

Mickey, the ruler of Disney Town, was a black furred anthropomorphic mouse. He wore a short-sleeved jacket with white lining, the top half being black,while the bottom half was red, and there were two yellow straps dangling in front of it. He wore red pants that sported a zipper going down the front of each leg, and each leg also had a yellow pouch with a black strap that partially covered the zipper, as well as a blue strap on the outer side of each pant leg. To complete the look, he wore very large, yellow shoes with grey backs and two orange, intersecting straps attached to the front of each shoe.

Donald, King Mickey's court magician, was an anthropomorphic duck with white plumage, a yellow-orange bill, legs of the same color, light blue eyes, and a short tuft of feathers on his head, visible under his hat. His blue hat, which resembled a beret, had a belt in place of a normal brim, and sported a zipper that spanned the length of the hat. His high-collared jacket was navy blue with sky blue lining and cuffs, three pouches, all of which were blue with yellow lining, along the middle of the jacket; the center pouch was secured by a flap, while the other two used silver zippers. The middle pouch was framed by two other silver zippers that spanned the entire length of the jacket, from the top of the collar to the bottom. He had a short, blue cape with yellow lining that he wore draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap. Donald also wore a thick, gold bangle on each of his wrists, but no pants.

Goofy, the Captain of Disney Town's Royal Knights, was an anthropomorphic dog with black fur and droopy ears. He had two buck teeth and three short hairs coming out of the top of his head, just in front of his hat. Said hat was orange (save for a blue band in the middle) and the top was an odd shape, resembling a teardrop placed on its side. There were a small pair of red goggles around the bottom of the hat as well. Goofy wore a green turtleneck sweater with sleeves that belled out slightly and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff and white gloves with a brown band around each wrist. Over the sweater, he wore a sleeveless, black combat vest with grey lining and four pockets of the same color. Goofy's pants were yellow and secured by a thick, black belt, with rather large pockets and a pouch on each leg with a silver zipper. The legs of his pants had a peculiar style, with the bottom rims (which were dark orange) being pulled upward in the front by a brown strap. Finally, he had very large shoes which were brown with steel toes on the outside.

Max, much like his father Goofy, had black fur and droopy ears, though he had a full head of messy hair. He wore a red T-shirt with a hood and pull strings, with the sleeves being pulled upwards in the front by yellow straps similar to those on Goofy's sweatshirt, under a black combat vest similar to Goofy's, blue pants with a vertical yellow stripe on each leg, white gloves with a yellow band around each wrist, and red-and-black sneakers with yellow straps.

"You wanted to see us, Master Yen Sid?" Kairi asked. Yen Sid nodded.

"Yes," he said in a deep voice. "I believe you will all be happy to know that we have finally pinpointed Sora's location."

Riku and Lea's jaws dropped, while Kairi let out a squee of happiness.

"You did?!" she said excitedly. "Where is he?!"


Wutai (2)

Wutai was a world in the Realm of In-Between, not too far from the Mysterious Tower. It had incorporated various Asian cultures and traditions, but was predominantly Japanese. Within a clearing on the outskirts of the village were two figures, a boy and a girl. The boy was Sora, while the girl was named Hikari.

Sora was a boy around sixteen years old with lightly tanned skin, spiky light brown hair, and blue eyes. He wore a sleeveless navy blue T-shirt with a red-and-white patch in the center under a black short-sleeved zippered hoodie with silver pauldron-like additions to the shoulders that held in place with yellow straps and white lining and a pair of pants that were colored black on the outside and a navy blue on the inside, lined with silver-white edging, along with a silver crown pendant around his neck. Yellow straps criss-crossed around his pants, held together with a black belt. The pants also featured red pockets with a black cross over them. He also wore black fingerless gloves that bore silver X shapes across the backs and palms, yellow bands around the cuffs, and blue squares across his knuckles that also bore silver studs, and large yellow-and-black sneakers with silver soles, a zipper running across the top, and black straps holding them together with buckles here and there.

Hikari was a girl around Sora's age with skin noticeably paler than Sora's, long black hair that touched the small of her back, and vibrant green eyes. Her hair was kept in place by a red headband that bore a pattern of stylized white hearts. She wore an elegant yellow kimono with a red obi that bore the same white heart pattern as her headband, with orange maple leaves sewn into the skirt and sleeves, along with white tabi socks and sandals. Strapped to her waist was a beautiful katana in a dark blue sheath.

Sora had come across Wutai shortly after spending some time with his Dream Eaters in the Sleeping Worlds after he failed the Mark of Mastery exam, and was pleasantly surprised to discover the citizens' knowledge of the Keyblade and the Heartless. They themselves followed a similar philosophy to Riku's "road to dawn," and strove to wield light and darkness in equal shares. Intrigued, Sora had decided to stay in Wutai and train. This led him to the world's ruler, who agreed to help and assigned his daughter Hikari to assist Sora with his training.

Over the course of six months, Sora had improved, and finally felt ready to rejoin his friends. He grinned at Hikari, folding his arms behind his head.

"Well, Hikari, it's been fun," he said. "But it's about time for me to be moving on. My friends are waiting." Hikari nodded, a small smile on her pink lips.

"It was an honor to aid you, Sora," she said, her voice calm and serene. "But I do have a request."

Sora raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "What is it?"

Hikari twiddled her fingers shyly. "If it's not too much trouble, would it be possible for me to accompany you?"

Sora was shocked. "You... wanna come with me?" Hikari nodded.

"I wish to help stop Xehanort and save the worlds. I can't just sit here and do nothing while they hurt innocent people." While Hikari spoke the truth, there was another reason why she wanted to go with Sora, one she wasn't about to tell him, at least not right now.

Sora took a moment to consider his answer, and smiled. "It's okay with me, but we should probably take it up with your dad first."

Hikari nodded. "Yes, of course."

Before the two could say anything else, there was a loud explosion that came from the village. Sora and Hikari jumped and turned towards the sound.

"Come on!" Sora yelled as he and Hikari dashed back to the village.

The two made it to the central hut of the village, where Hikari's family lived, and saw the roof was smoking, with some parts blasted off. Standing at the steps of the hut was a man in his early thirties who wore a black haori with white lining over a dark blue shirt, tan-colored hakama, and black tabi shoes; Hikari's father, Hiro (3). In his hands was an elegant katana with a blade that glowed with an aura of mixed light and darkness.

Standing opposite him was a figure Sora had hoped he wouldn't see again: a teenage boy with tanned skin, yellow eyes, and silver hair that reached a little past his shoulders, dressed in the trademark black coat of Organization XIII. It was Young Xehanort, Master Xehanort's past self.

Young Xehanort glared at Hiro. "You will tell me," he said. "Where is Sora?" Hiro glared right back at him as he tightened his grip on his sword, but before he could attack, Sora jumped right in front of him.

"Right here!" he shouted, summoning his Keyblade to his hand. Said Keyblade, the Kingdom Key, appeared to be a standard skeleton key approximately three-and-a-half feet long, with a long silver key chain that extended from the hilt that ended in a Hidden Mickey token. The blade and teeth of the Keyblade were silver, the rainguard was blue, and the guard was bright gold, with the teeth forming they outline of a crown.

Young Xehanort smirked. "So this is where you've been, Sora," he said. "We should have known better than to leave it to Braig to search for you." With that, he held out a hand, clearly wanting Sora to take it. Sora shook his head.

"Not a chance! I'll never be one of Xehanort's puppets! Never!" he shouted, tightening his grip on his Keyblade. "I don't know how you found me, but I won't let you hurt these people!"

Young Xehanort just looked at him, the smirk still on his face. "Is that your final answer?" he said. "Pity. I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

On that note, he snapped his fingers, and a corridor of darkness appeared on the ground before him. Almost immediately, a massive dragon-like Heartless emerged from it. It had black scales with a red underbelly, a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, piercing yellow eyes, a long, powerful tail, and a giant pair of wings. The Heartless emblem was branded on its forehead, right between its eyes.

The Dark Dragon Heartless snarled and exhaled a tongue of flame as Sora, Hiro, and Hikari prepared to face it.


Author's Note:

(1): In the cutscene depicting Riku and Roxas' fight in Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Roxas slashed Riku's left hand with his Keyblade before Riku tapped into his darkness to beat him. If you pay attention during gameplay in Kingdom Hearts II, you notice that even during combat, Riku keeps his left arm stiff at his side and doesn't move it except during certain combos. It stands to reason that the wristband is a cast or something.

(2): Not Yuffie's homeland from Final Fantasy VII. An original world I came up with.

(3): I don't really need to explain how Hikari can be sixteen and have a father in his early thirties, do I? Aside from that, the name Hiro is meant to be a reference to Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series.

Well, I believe I'm off to a good start here. What do you guys think?

Hikari is my OC. I took most of the basis for her design from official artwork of Erika from Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, with my own twist, namely the longer hair and green eyes. Also, in case you didn't know, Hikari is a Japanese girl's name meaning "light," and yes, it's supposed to be symbolic. The Dark Dragon Heartless is also my own design, with some cues taken from Maleficent's dragon form.

Max's design here is the property of PrismRain13, used with her permission, of course.

Also, I'm open to suggestions for Disney worlds.

Please R&R. Until next time!