The following is a crossover of sorts between Kingdom Hearts, and the Japanese series Kamen Rider Ryuki. I do not own the rights to either of these series, nor do I intend to profit from this story.
Enjoy!
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Riku rushed as quickly as he could…past the streets of his hometown, and over to the beach where many of his memories lay. He was older now, in his mid 20's, but with the same, stern, determined look in his eyes as his silver hair flowed. His attire now consisted of blue jeans, with a black shirt, that had silver lightning bolts printed onto the fabric.
It had all happened so fast, he thought to himself…one moment he was putting the finishing touches on his personal project…next thing he knew, these…things had jumped him. He managed to fight them off with his keyblade, but at the last moment, it had suddenly vanished from his hand. He had also just gotten a call from Kairi, who, in a panicked state, told him of an attack on her and Sora.
He rushed onto the sands of the warm beach, the waves gently lapping the shore, as what he saw had confirmed his fears…Kairi was knelt over the form of Sora, who was now lying on the beach, unconscious.
"Kairi!" He yelled as he ran to her side. "What happened?"
"I'm…I'm still trying to figure it out myself…" Kairi spoke softly as she looked to him with concerned eyes. "We were just sitting here, admiring the view together, when these dark figures just came out from under the shadows and attacked…"
She then looked to Sora's unconscious body. "He fought them as well as he could, but there were too many…then one of them just…struck him in the back of the head with some kind of blade…" She began to tear up a little.
"Hey, it's ok…" He reassured her as he held Sora's wrist for a moment. "He still has a pulse…and he's breathing…" He looked at his chest as it naturally rose and fell.
"So why isn't he waking up?" Kairi asked, even more distressed now.
Before Riku could think of a response, he suddenly sensed something materializing in back of him. He quickly turned to see Donald and Goofy running to their side now.
"Sora!" Goofy yelled as came over.
"Oh no…Sora." Donald lamented as he joined his side.
"What are you guys doing here all of a sudden?" Riku asked them, suspiciously.
"We were hoping you and Sora could help us." Donald responded.
"Yeah…" Goofy nodded. "Some weird creatures just came outta nowhere and attacked the king…and he's exactly the way Sora is now…"
Riku furrowed his brow as something came to his mind…he then looked over at Donald. "What do you think?…Heartless? Nobodies?"
"Didn't feel exactly like either one…" Donald shook his head as he answered.
Riku sighed as he stood up, thinking. He then looked at Sora, and back at Donald and Goofy.
"Get him and Kairi on the Gummi Ship! I'll join you as soon as I can!"
Kairi got up just as Riku began to run off. "What are we doing, Riku?"
"I'll explain later!" He yelled as he ran. "Right now, we need to get you both to someplace that's heavily guarded!" he then looked straight forward as he vanished back into the town, headed for his home.
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Riku rushed into his private lab, where he had been doing much of his work over the past few years. Usually the door had an encryption lock, but it was now busted wide open from the attack. He ran past a few computer monitors on his custom built system, which was made mostly of scrap metal, and old, discarded electronics.
He moved over to a shattered capsule, looking inside of it. There used to be a number of electronic units he had created, resting inside of specially formed grooves. But now, the attackers had stolen nearly all of them.
"Only two left…" he spoke softly to himself, looking over to the two remaining units on the far right of the capsule.
"Three, actually…" A deep, male voice suddenly called out to him.
He quickly turned to see the form of a large tiger walking into the room. It had an odd, unearthly glow around its form as it entered.
"Pardon me if I startled you…" The tiger spoke again. "But time is of the essence…in your universe, that is."
"Who are you?" Riku tilted his head a little.
"My name is Shere Khan." The tiger answered. "…and I believe we both have a common enemy."
Riku noted the glow around the tiger. The time he spent in the other realms of the universe had taught him many things, things he never shared with his friends.
"You're a spectre, aren't you?" He asked the tiger.
"Correct." Khan nodded. "I was robbed of my mortal body by someone…who shall remain nameless at this time."
"What are you doing outside of the Spectral plane, then?" Riku spoke as he walked closer to Khan.
"Because I know about the attacks…" He slyly answered. "I know who perpetrated them…"
"Ok…who?" Riku asked, still not entirely convinced about Khan's sincerity.
"They are called Phantoms…" Khan informed him. "You see, your old friend Malificent has been going into the spectral plane, and continuing the work of those who created the heartless…she's been trying to perfect them."
"How can Malificent move into the Spectral plane so easily?" Riku asked Khan as he sat in an old computer chair slowly.
"Because, when Sora first defeated her…" Khan responded. "She found a way out of the Spectral plane…but in doing so, she left half of her spirit inside of it. So, while half of her is in this world, her other half is in the Spectral plane, working together with her."
"So that's why she never fought us directly, last time…" Riku thought aloud. "She only had half of her original strength."
"Correct." Khan nodded. "That was one of the reasons she corrupted so many souls and turned them into the phantoms that just attacked you and the others…she's trying to find away to re-unite both halves of her spirit, and return to full power."
Riku nodded, before quickly eyeing Khan again, suspiciously. "How do you know all this?"
"Because she gave me a chance to aid her…" Khan answered. In that moment, one of the stolen devices from Riku's collection materialized in front of him. "She got wind of your 'Advent Knights' project, and decided to utilize it…she offered many strong spirits, including myself, one of your devices, as a means to reconnect to the mortal world, and fight for her."
Riku frowned as he stood up. "And you expect me to help you fight for her? Forget it!"
"Wait!" Khan yelled, before quieting himself again. "You didn't hear the rest of my story…see, I have no interest in serving another, and if Malificent gets her way, I'll have no choice in the matter…I fight for myself, and exist for myself. I always did in the mortal plane, and I don't intend for that to change here."
Riku nodded. Being a free spirit himself, he could sympathize, in a way.
"Well…" he answered. "You make a good point…plus it seems my keyblade powers have been neutralized…but that's why I created the knights. In case such a thing was ever to happen."
He walked over to the device that Khan left for him, and picked it up. It looked very much like a rectangular black container of sorts. He reached into it, and pulled out what looked like a deck of cards. They were all blank, except for a grey one on the top, marked "CONTRACT".
He pulled out the contract card slowly as he thought things over, nodding slowly. "Well Khan…you've convinced me for the time being. We both stand to lose a lot from letting Malificent win, and I need a new weapon." He then flashed the blank face of the contract card towards Khan. "Join me…"
"Gladly, young sir…" Khan smiled as he walked towards Riku. A strong glare of light soon shone through the card, and into the room, overcoming Riku's eyes as they squinted shut. Soon after, the light subsided, and Riku opened his eyes to find the card changed. It now had the picture of Khan lunging into action, with the word "SUMMON" now at the top.
Riku then put the cards away, as he ran out of the house with the device in hand.
Before he could get out to the beach, though, he was greeted by the sudden appearance of several dark, hooded figures. They each had red, glowing eyes, and flashed their jagged teeth, each bearing the symbol of Malificent's dragon head on the chest of their black robes. Riku recognized them from before…Phantom soldiers, being led by a faceless, dark figure with a sword and shield, a commandant of sorts for this group, dressed almost in the manner of a Roman centurion.
Riku grunted a little in frustration, as he looked to the Advent deck he held, the remaining two now in his pocket. The one he held now had the head of a tiger on it, a symbol of the contract he made with Khan. He then eyed the phantoms, and held the deck out in front of him, pressing a red button on the top of it, wordlessly, making it glow with its power.
The phantoms all charged towards him, only to see him suddenly vanish right in front of them as the power of the deck took hold…
They all growled and looked around, trying to find Riku, before he suddenly reappeared, and moved in with a flurry of kicks and punches, all knocking them quickly into the air and back onto the ground.
The phantoms all looked up and saw Riku, who was now in an impressive suit of armor, very much like a knight. Black coverings protected much of his body, as silver and dark orange armor was plated onto much of his upper body, the grill like visor of his helmet displaying three stripes, that all dipped down and up slightly in the center. It looked very tiger-like, again as a symbol of the contract he'd made.
The phantoms all rose and prepared to attack Riku again, as he then quickly flipped a switch on his wrist. This caused a holographic display to come up above the wrist, showing each of the cards available to him. He was able to quickly select a card through this display, and flipped another switch, causing the display to close as his wrist glowed.
"SABRE VENT" The voice inside of his armor's computer system spoke, as twin swords appeared in his hands, just as the Phantoms charged in for another attack. He effortlessly dove in with the swords, slashing each one gracefully as he felt the power of Khan's spirit assisting him, cutting through each of the phantom soldiers.
They all collapsed and vanished as he stopped and clashed his blades against each other. It all seemed like smooth sailing, until the commandant of the group rushed in and bashed him with its shield.
Riku grunted and fell back as the commandant then took a few swipes with his short sword, making sparks fly in and out of the armor as it cut into the chest plate. Riku shouted out in pain and rolled back, as the commandant then ran in for a killing strike with its sword.
Riku then felt another surge of energy go through him, as he held up and caught the sword between his crossed blades. He grunted slowly as he pushed back against the commandant, slowly getting back to his feet, and shoving the short sword away with a roar, hitting the commandant across the chest with a diagonal slash from his right sword.
The commandant fell and rolled away, as Riku then saw a red aura flashing on its form. This was special sign from the armor, he knew, telling him that the phantom was weakened; and now was the perfect time to finish the job.
He then reached to the switch on his wrist, and quickly selected the card he wanted, before hitting the switch again as it clicked and glowed once more.
"FINAL VENT" The voice in his armor called out, as the commandant struggled back to its feet. The spectral form of Shere Khan then leapt out from nowhere, and caught the phantom by the neck, growling.
Riku then held out his arms, as his twin swords transformed into a pair of impressive gauntlets with large metal claws. Khan then quickly dragged the commandant over to him, as he caught it by the chest in his right gauntlet, and lifted it into the air, sending shockwaves of energy into its body.
The commandant shook and yowled in pain, as Riku then used the gauntlet to toss it into the air for a moment. As it fell, he quickly shot out his right leg, and caught it right in the head with a hard front kick, making it explode in an instant with great force.
All was silent as Riku stood, watching the smoke from the battle clear. After making sure that no other phantoms were around, he quickly flicked a switch on his belt that disengaged his armor. It quickly broke off in pieces, and vanished into the device that held his advent deck, catching it as it fell into his hand.
"Well…" Riku thought to himself. "At least I know it works now…lets just hope that we can stop Malificent before she uses one of the stolen decks." He then ran off to where his friends, and the gummi ship waited for him.
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ATLANTICA (A few years after the events in TLM 2)
The figure of a man in his 30's walked slowly down the hall of his large estate, brushing his short, brown beard, which matched his brown hair, with a hand. His green eyes looked thoughtfully out to the ocean, as he stood in his regal blue jacket and gold chains.
He gazed down at the throngs of people and servants to King Eric and Queen Ariel, preparing to celebrate the 16th birthday of Princess Melody, which the aging King Triton would also attend.
The bearded man, known to all as Lord Ivar, shook his head slowly, seeming to be the lone person determined to break the mood.
"Why are we celebrating this?" He thought to himself. "The King may have everyone else fooled, but he can't distract me from what's going on…" he gripped the edge of the balcony as he sneered a little now.
"Why can't I get them all to understand? By associating with these…these fish people…these sub-humans… we stand to lower the quality of our human blood, and become a lesser kingdom in the eyes of our rivals…"
"If only there was a way to stop this folly…" He thought to himself, unaware of the shadow creeping up behind him.
"Ivar…" a Female voice whispered to him.
"Who's there?" Ivar furrowed his brow as he slowly turned around, seeing the form of Malificent walking towards him.
"Lord Ivar…" She smiled slowly. "I come bearing a gift…"
"You're in the wrong party then…" Ivar scoffed as he pointed past the balcony. "The royal castle is that way…"
"No, you don't understand…" Malificent kept her smile as she toyed with the head of her staff. "This is purely for you, my lord…" She then reached into her robe, and pulled out a device…an advent deck, just like Riku's.
"What's this?" Ivar looked it over curiously as it was handed to him.
"The means to make your dream come true…" Malificent answered, "With the help of one who despises the merpeople just as much as you…"
Ivar looked to the front of the deck, which had the design of an octopus on the front…