Before we get started, I'd like to remind you all that I've changed a few things from the W.I.T.C.H. story line so that I would fit with this story which you're reading. How it will work is all thanks to The Heartless, for The Heartless can cause a timeline to deviate from it's cannon course. I'll try to keep things as cannon as possible, but some things, such as how a certain boy discovered the truth about five certain girls, that's changed for this story. If you don't like what I've done, that's your prerogative, but just remember…THIS IS FANFICTION!
Thank you for your understanding. We now return you to your regularly scheduled story.
Last time found Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, along with Donald, Goofy and Ranma, learning from King Mickey and Queen Minnie that the enemy could now control Nobodies.
An unexpected visitor from a world between worlds arrived to enlist the help of Sora and the others. The Oracle of Kandracar told our heroes that The Heartless are on Metamore, a once bright world corrupted by the mad prince Phobos. Five young women with the power of the elements, The Guardians of the Veil, have opposed Phobos and sought to free the rightful ruler of Metamore, Elyon, from Phobos' clutches before he kills her and takes her power. But with The Heartless now involved, as well as the Hakonians and Nobodies, The Guardians have been overwhelmed. The Oracle asked Sora and the others to go to Metamore to help The Guardians save Elyon before it's too late. Roxas and Naminé went with them as well, for Naminé has the power to restore the minds of The Guardians.
At the same time, The Oracle then temporarily infused Sora, Riku, Kairi and Aiden with the power to traverse across a world in the blink of an eye, a power that came from the essence of a great man who gave his all against the darkness. With this new power, our heroes then set out to Metamore, knowing that they had just under two days to succeed before the darkness claims another world.
Over in New Hollow Bastion, Maleficent learned of Pantyhose Taro, the shape shifting godson of Happosai. Intrigued by the idea of a martial artist who transform into a combination of a yeti, a bull, an eel, a crane and an octopus, Maleficent ordered Erika and Rakel to bring the irate Pantyhose Taro to New Hollow Bastion.
Back at Disney Castle, Sara Lancaster arrived in search of answers to making The Rainbow of Light whole again. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 2: The Swiss Cheese Effect
The next thing Sora and the others knew they were in an underground chamber lit by torches. The walls had a slight greenish tint to them, giving the whole place a gloomy atmosphere.
"Are we on Metamore?" Aiden asked.
"I guess so," said Sora, "but I'm stumped as to where on Metamore we are."
"I'll check the book The King gave us," said Kairi as she recovered said tome from her pocket and enlarged it, "good thing I'm a speed reader."
"I was wondering how you managed to finish Atlas Shrugged so quickly," said Riku.
Just as she opened the book, the pages began to rapidly turn on their own.
"That's interesting," said Riku.
"Weird, more like it," said Aiden.
"I guess the book has a spell on it," said Sora, "that it'll tell us what we need to know."
The pages stopped turning and a section of one page was highlighted with blue light. "You're right, Sora," said Kairi as she read the article, "the book will tell us what we want to know about Metamore. It says that this place we're in is called The Infinite City. It's an underground labyrinth that was part of a city from an ancient civilization, and that the labyrinth runs under Meridian. According to the book, no one in living memory knows exactly how extensive The Infinite City is."
"Is there a map of the labyrinth in the book?" Riku asked, "we could end up seriously lost down here."
The book then flipped a page and revealed a highly detailed map. A single blue dot shone on the map.
"I'm guessing that's where we are," said Ranma.
"There's an exit up to the city above less than half a mile from here," said Kairi, "and several large chambers close by."
"I think it would be a good idea to check out those chambers first," said Riku.
"Why?" Aiden asked.
"Well," said Riku, "if I were in charge of the rebellion against Phobos," said Riku, "and there was a large underground maze right underneath Phobos' nose, I'd use that as a base of operations."
Just then our heroes heard the sound of dozens of approaching foot steps. They soon found themselves surrounded by over twenty humans and human-like people, all wearing various styles of clothing that would fit in with a pre-Renaissance society. Most of the human-like people differed from the humans in several ways; some of them had wildly colored skin, while others had animalistic features. All of them carried weapons. Some had swords, others had spears or axes, and a few had bows with notched arrows, all of which were aimed at Sora and the others.
"I hate it when you're right," said an irate Aiden to Riku.
"I'm guessing you guys are the Rebels," said Ranma.
"You guessed right, stranger," said one of the armed men, a humanoid youth in his late teens. He was tall with gray skin and bony knobs around his bald head. He wore a purple tunic shirt and gray pants and was armed with a sword that was pointed at Ranma, "either you people are incredibly lucky or incredibly stupid to come seeking us out."
"They're probably working for Phobos!" said one of the Rebels, while several other rebels shouted in agreement.
"No we're not!" said Roxas.
"We're friends!" said Naminé, "we've been sent to help you and The Guardians!"
Just then a particularly large humanoid with blue skin and wearing a gray coat and pants stepped forward, "what do you strangers know of The Guardians?" he asked.
"That that they were chosen by fate to wield the elements," said Kairi, "and that their mission is to defeat Phobos and restore Elyon to the throne of Metamore."
"We're here to help them and you defeat Phobos," said Roxas.
"Maybe you are," said the large blue man as he pointed a large axe at Sora and the others, "or maybe you're here to destroy us!"
"For all we know they're also working for those two outworlders who brought in that huge Heartless that defeated The Guardians!" said the bald youth, "you were probably sent by Phobos to destroy us!"
"We're enemies of The Heartless!" Riku insisted, "and even though we haven't met him, we're also enemies of Phobos."
"And even though we haven't met them yet," said Naminé, "we're friends of The Guardians."
"And we're your friends," said Roxas, "we're all on the same side when it comes to the darkness."
"What do you think, Aldarn?" the large blue man asked.
"With the way things are, Vathek," said the bald youh, "we can't take any chances."
"But shouldn't Caleb be told about this?" one of the rebels asked.
"Caleb's got enough to worry about," said the bald youth, Aldarn, "I'll except full responsibility for this."
"I agree," said the large blue man, Vathek, as he hefted an axe, "best not to take chances." The other rebels then readied their weapons as well.
"Oh man," said Ranma as he took up a fighting stance, "just great."
"Just our luck," said Donald as he pulled out his staff, while Goofy readied his shield.
"We shouldn't have to fight these people," said Naminé, "they're the good guys."
"But they think we're the bad guys," said Roxas, "so we'd better get ready."
Just as Roxas, Riku, Kairi and Aiden were about to summon their Keyblades, Sora had a brilliant idea. "Parle!" he shouted.
"What?" Aldarn asked.
"I said Parle," said Sora.
"That's right!" said Donald, "Parle!"
"Yep!" said Goofy, "Parle!"
"What's Parle?" Aiden asked.
"I'd like to know that myself," said an irate Vathek.
"It means we want to talk to your leader," said Goofy.
"We want to talk to Caleb," said Sora, "yes, we definitely want to talk to Caleb."
"What do you know about Caleb?" Vathek demanded.
"It's a long story," said Sora, "I'm sure he'll want to hear what my friends and I have to say, and if you rebels have any sense of honor, you'll let us talk to Caleb, and you won't hurt us until we're done talking. If Caleb still thinks we're the enemy after we're done talking, then we can fight, but not until then."
"This stinks of Phobos' work!" shouted one of the rebels, "let's get rid of these intruders! They know too much already!" Several other rebels shouted in agreement.
"No!" said Aldarn in a stern tone, "they want to talk to Caleb, so, let's take them to Caleb."
"This is a bad idea," said Vathek, "what if it's a trap? An assassination plan?"
"I'm second in command, Vathek," said Aldarn, "I'll take full responsibility. Besides," he looked at Sora and the others, "If they really wanted to kill us, they would have attacked by now, trap or not trap," he looked at Sora, "you want to talk to Caleb? The let's go."
"I hope you know what you're doing," said Aiden to Sora, "and where did you get this Parle thing anyway?"
"I picked I up in Port Royal," said Sora, "It's part of the Pirate Code."
"I didn't know pirates had a code," said Aiden, "Luffy and his crew were honorable enough, but for pirates as a whole to have a code of honor? That's just contradictory."
"Well…" said a slightly nervous Sora, "the Pirate Code, it's more like a guideline."
"Of course," said Aiden. He then sighed, "I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning."
Our heroes soon found themselves in a larger chamber that was clearly part of the rebel headquarters. The chamber had several other tunnels leading off to other parts of the labyrinth. There were several hundred men and women, most of them human the rest from humanoid species, all of them either sharpening weapons, preparing medical supplies or delivering messages from one person to another. It was a highly organized scene. Yet nearly all activity stopped when Sora and the others were escorted through the room. The assembled rebels glared at our heroes suspiciously, while those with weapons brandished them threateningly.
"I'm really feeling uncomfortable about all of this," said Aiden.
"Don't do anything that would set them off," said Riku, "These are desperate people who have already been pushed to their limits by a ruthless tyrant. And now they've been facing The Heartless. These people are so on edge that they may attack us on general principle, so don't give them a reason."
"I just hope their leader is still capable of reason," said Kairi.
Sora and the others were then told to wait outside a side chamber. They could see inside and hear two teenagers having an argument. Our heroes recognized the two teenaged boys from the images shown to them by The Oracle. The boy in the brown coat was Caleb, the Rebel leader, and the boy in the hoodie jacket was Matt Olsen, a human from Planet Earth who not only accepted The Guardians for who they were, but was also the unofficial boyfriend of the leader of The Guardians, Will Vandom.
"There's nothing more I can do, Matt!" said an irate Caleb, "I've sent as many men as I can risk to find the girls, but the streets above are swarming with Heartless and enemy regulars. They're watching the main entrance to the Infinite City and are looking for more. I can't risk anyone else to go aboveground."
"But Will and the others are out there lost and without their powers!" said a nearly frantic Matt, "I've seen some of the crazy stuff that lives on this crazy world of yours. How long can the girls last out there alone?"
"You're worried about Will," said Caleb, "I understand how you feel. I'm just as worried about Cornelia, and Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin. But if we were to go looking for them, we'd only risk our lives as well as theirs."
"Then what the hell do you expect me to do?" Matt asked, "just sit here and wait while that lunatic Phobos has his way?"
"I don't know!" snapped Caleb, "I…I don't know what to do." Caleb then looked at the chamber entrance, "What is it, Aldarn?"
"We've captured several strangers in the labyrinth," said Aldarn, "they say they're enemies of Phobos and The Heartless, and that they're here to help us and The Guardians. They don't look like the enemy, but it could be a trap."
Caleb and Matt then walked out of the smaller chamber and looked at Sora and the others, "They sure don't look like they work for Phobos to me," said Caleb.
"But how can we be sure?" Aldarn asked.
"We're not your enemies!" Sora insisted as he pushed his way past Aldarn, "we came here to help."
"We've defeated The Heartless before on many worlds," said Riku as he and Kairi walked past Aldarn, "and we've defeated those who have controlled them."
"We know what we're doing," said Kairi.
"You can help us find Will and the others?" Matt asked in a hopeful tone.
"Just give us a chance and we'll find them," said Roxas.
"And I can heal their minds," said Naminé.
"And we'll come back and tear Phobos off his dark throne," said Aiden.
"I'm just here to kick Heartless ass," said Ranma.
"Us to!" said Donald, while Goofy nodded in agreement.
"I still think they're not to be trusted," said Vathek.
"Well, we'll just have to prove ourselves," said Sora. "You said that the entrance to this palace are being watched by The Heartless?"
"And the enemy regulars," said Caleb, "Phobos has an army of soldiers; giant men, strong soldiers but not very smart. And then there are the Lurdens; troll-like creatures that are even dumber but more vicious."
"Kinda like Heartless," said Riku, "one of the easiest ways to destroy a Heartless is to get behind it. One on one, they're helpless when outflanked."
"How can you outflank an enemy when there's only the frontal approach available?" Aldarn asked. "We only know of a few entrances to The Infinite City, but Phobos' dogs have found most of them and has then guarded by his soldiers and Heartless."
"Show us one of these guarded entrances," said Aiden, "we'll unblock it for you."
"We'll show you exactly what we can do against The Heartless," said Roxas.
"I still say this is a trap," said Vathek.
"I'm starting to think otherwise," said Aldarn.
"Well, if they say that they're here to help the girls," said Matt, "then we should at least give them the chance."
Just then several of the rebels spoke up, half saying to give Sora and the others a chance, while the other half said to treat them like enemies and get rid of them, permanently.
"You're still the leader, Caleb," said Aldarn, "it's your choice."
"If they say they're here to help The Guardians," said Caleb, "and save Princess Elyon from Phobos, then I'll give them the chance."
"You won't regret this," said Riku as he held out his hand, which Caleb then shook.
"I hope I won't," said Caleb as he shook hands with Sora and the others, "there's way too much at stake and we're running out time."
"Well that's one problem we can solve," said Sora, "we've got our own way to move about without wasting too much time. Just show us that blocked entrance and we'll show you what we mean."
"Alright then," said Caleb as he picked up a sheathed sword and strapped it to his back, "just follow me."
"If you're going to show them, Caleb," said Aldarn, "then I'm coming to."
"Same with me," said Vathek.
"I want to see this," said Matt.
"Just try not to blink too much," said Kairi, "you might miss it."
"We'll see about that," said Matt.
Caleb then showed our heroes to a staircase that lead to an opening in the roof that revealed a heavily overcast sky. The clouds were dark purple and flashed once with lighting, revealing a handful of Neo Shadows sticking their heads down into the opening.
"There's about twenty of those things last time we checked," Caleb whispered, "with about five enemy soldiers."
"What's the layout topside?" Aiden asked.
"We're right under what used to be an abandoned wheelwright building," said Caleb, "when the enemy discovered the place covered the entrance, Phobos had his minions pull the house down and set guards the entrance. About ten paces west is a street full of empty shops, and twenty paces south is an abandoned lot."
"The edge of the empty lot is our best bet," said Riku.
"Right," said Sora, "I'll try it first."
"You'd think The Oracle would at least demonstrate how to use The Möbius Continuum," said Aiden.
"We should have tried it first before we left for this world," said Kairi, "but it's too late for that."
"Okay then," said Sora, "I'll go first. If you hear me fighting Heartless above ground in a few seconds, that means it worked. If you don't…well…"
"Just get up there and kick Heartless ass already," said Ranma, "we'll follow from this end when you get up there."
"Pincer movement," said Caleb, "but how are you going to get up there without the enemy seeing you?"
"Like this," said Sora. In his mind he visualized the equations he received from the Keogh essence, then with his mind and heart working as one, he opened a door that didn't exist, and vanished.
The next thing Sora noticed was that there was nothing, no ground, no tunnel, none of his friends, no air, just empty darkness all around. Yet he did not feel a lack of gravity, or a need to breathe for that matter.
So this is the primal darkness, thought Sora, It's not so bad. He then visualized a door that would open up above ground on Metamore and opened it.
The next thing Sora knew he was in the empty lot described by Caleb. He looked and saw dozens of Neo Shadows standing around the hole in the ground, and with the assembled Heartless were five, 7ft tall gray-skinned humanoids that were heavily muscled with slightly elongated limbs, wore spiked armor and carried wicked-looking axes.
All around Sora were various dilapidated buildings that would have fit in a medieval setting. Here and there were massive thorny vines that all converged on a large hill at one end of the city. Atop the hill was a black gothic castle, and above that castle was a vile pink light that centered the gloomy clouds that completely covered the city.
Sora then focused on the enemies at hand. He summoned his Keyblade and aimed it at the throngs of Neo Shadows, "Force!" he shouted sending a Gravity spell at the Neo Shadows, crushing eight of them.
This caught the attention of the enemy soldiers. "A rebel!" shouted one of them, "get him!" The four other soldiers and the rest of the Neo Shadows then ran towards Sora.
"Sounds like Sora made it," said Riku as the Neo Shadows looking down the hole left, "okay, I'm going next, and I can take one with me. Everyone else can go up the hole and attack them from the rear."
"I'll go," said Ranma, "I mean, if Sora can do it, and if you guys can do it…"
"Talk later," said Riku as he grab Ranma's arm and opened the door with his mind. He and Ranma then vanished and appeared above ground next to Sora. While the two of them had spent several seconds in the primal darkness of the Möbius Continuum, hardly any time at all in the real world had passed.
"That was freaking trippy," said Ranma as he assumed his fighting stance, while Riku summoned his Keyblade.
"Glad you made it," said Sora as the first of the Neo Shadows reached them.
"What, you'd think I'd let you have all the fun yourself?" Riku asked as he stabbed and destroyed one Neo Shadow after another.
"And I'd like to get my two cents in as well," said Ranma as he kicked one Neo Shaodw after another into oblivion. He then faced one of the enemy soldiers and blocked an axe chop, then punched the soldier in the face, sending him across the street.
Just then Kairi, Aiden, Donald, Goofy and Roxas jumped out of the hole and attacked the Neo Shadows from behind, destroying several dozen before the enemy soldiers realized what was happening.
By then Caleb, Vathek and Aldarn were out of the hole as well and were dealing with the remaining enemy soldiers. But one of them began blowing a whistle, clearly a signal for help. But Matt had gotten behind the soldier and bashed him in the head with a large piece of wood that was shaped roughly into a baseball bat.
"Nice," said Sora.
"You should see me at school," said Matt, "I'm no Cal Ripkin, but I'm okay."
Just then ten more enemy soldiers came around a street corner and charged at our heroes.
"I got this," said Aiden. He aimed his Keyblade at the cobblestones in front of the oncoming soldiers and transmuted them into mud. The soldiers soon found themselves stuck in the mud, which Aiden then transmuted back into cobblestones, trapping the soldiers further.
"How'd you do that?" an impressed Aldarn asked, "are you a wizard?"
"No," said Aiden, "I'm an Alchemist, The Keyblade Alchemist to be exact."
"Donald's our regular wizard," said Kairi.
"Take this!" shouted Donald as he cast a Thunder spell on the trapped soldiers, blasting them out of the ground. They all fell to the ground like bowling pins.
By then all of the Neo Shadows guarding the entrance to the labyrinth were destroyed, with Goofy smashing the last one with his shield, "an' that's how we do that!" he said.
Just then another twenty enemy soldiers came running up the street, along with twenty troll-like creatures armed with clubs. These creatures, clearly the Lurdens described by Caleb, had greenish skin and yellow eyes.
With them was a living nightmare. Sora and the others saw a giant snake with a humanoid upper torso , meaning it had arms and face. The creature was well over 30ft long and had green, red and yellow scales and long white hair, while its face was one like a demon.
"Cedric," said a nervous yet determined Caleb as he tightened his grip on his sword.
"So that's Phobos' shape shifting majordomo," said Ranma, "definitely more uglier than Pantyhose Taro."
The giant snake creature, Cedric, paused next to the disabled soldiers. "Pathetic foolsss," he hissed contemptiously, then slithered towards Sora and the others. The creature glared down at Caleb, "Ssso, the rebel leader once again ssshowsss hisss face again."
"I figured that now's as good a time as any to make a stand, fang-face!" said Caleb.
"Only thisss time you and your rebelsss ssshall fall," hissed Cedric. He then glared at Sora and the others, "and who are thessse ssstrangersss?"
Before Sora could respond, Ranma stood forward, "my name is Ranma Saotome, of the Saotome Style of Anything Goes Martial Arts! I'm here to kick Heartless ass and to turn you into snake-skin accessories."
"That's a good idea," said Kairi, "I've been meaning to get a new purse."
"And I would look gorgeous in snake-leather boots," said Naminé.
"We've come to this world to free it from Phobos' darkness," said Riku.
"And if you are Phobos' majordomo," said Aiden, "then you're dead meat, fang-face!"
"What he said!" said Roxas.
"We ssshall sssee about that," said Cedric.
Just then another enemy soldier ran up to the snake creature, "Lord Cedric! One of the Guardians has been sighted!" the soldier then pointed down the street.
Cedric looked down the street, then glared at Caleb, "another time then, rebel!" he then slithered down the street faster than any creature that size should be able to move. The enemy soldiers and Lurdens followed him.
"He's going after one of the Guardians!" said Aldarn.
"But which one?" Caleb asked.
"I'll find out!" said Kairi. She then jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and pulled out a pocket telescope. She used it to see the snake creature slithering towards a 14 year old girl with red hair and wearing a pink jacket. The girl's brown eyes were wide with terror as Cedric stalked towards her.
"And ssso the leader of the Guardiansss finally meetsss her demissse," hissed Cedric.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" exclaimed a horrified Will Vandom, "I don't even know how I got to this crazy world! What do you want with me, you…you thing!"
"Your life, of courssse!" said Cedric. He barred his fangs and prepared to strike.
"Not on my watch!" shouted Kairi. She opened a Möbius door with her mind and appeared next to Will.
"What the…?" a frightened and confused Will asked as she saw Kairi.
"How did you get here ssso quickly!" Cedric demanded.
"It's a secret," said a grinning Kairi, "and this is for you!" she threw a Strike Raid at Cedric, hitting the snake creature across the face. He reared back and roared in pain.
Kairi caught her Keyblade and grabbed Will's hand, "just hold on! I'll get you out of here!"
Before Will could protest, Kairi had transported them both through The Möbius Continuum and back to the others.
"I think it would be a good idea that we all got out of here!" said Aiden as Cedric recovered from Kairis' attack and headed back towards them with even more enemy soldiers, Lurden and now more Heartless.
"Everyone back underground!" shouted Caleb.
Sora, Riku, Ranma and Caleb stayed back to make sure that everyone else got into the tunnel first. Kairi and Matt helped a confused Will into the hole, followed by Aiden, Donald, Goodfy, Vathek and Aldarn.
"Ssstop them!" hissed Cedric.
"Not today!" shouted Caleb as he and Riku jumped into the hole. At the bottom of the shaft was Aldarn preparing a gunpowder charge.
"I'll skin you later, fang-face!" shouted Ranma as he jumped into the hole, followed by a smiling Sora.
"Everyone get clear!" shouted Aldarn as he lit the fuse on the bomb.
"I've got a better idea!" said Riku. He cast his Dark Shield in front of everyone, separating them from the bomb. Several Lurdens and Heartless had jumped into the hole, but then tried to scramble back up at the sight of the bomb.
They were too late and were blasted out of the hole when the bomb went off, which also collapsed the tunnel.
"We're okay on this end," said Riku as he kept his Dark shield up long enough to make sure the rest of the tunnel wouldn't collapse, which it didn't.
"Well," said Vathek as he looked at the wrecked tunnel, "that's one entrance to the labyrinth that Phobos won't exploit."
"It's been a while since we've had a real victory," said a grinning Aldarn, "this will seriously boost our moral."
"I wonder how mad Cedric is right now?" Caleb asked.
As if in answer, there then came a loud rage-fueled roar from the streets above.
"I'd say he's pretty pissed," said Aiden.
"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on?" a very confused but much calmer Will asked.
"We just saved you from that snake thing," said Kairi.
"I get that," said Will, "but I have no idea how I got into that mess. I remember waking up in this weird city here, and then these creatures are chasing me. Everything before that is all..." she closed her eyes in frustration, "I can't remember!"
"Your memory has been damaged," said Naminé, "but I can help you. Let's go somewhere were we can relax."
"Don't you remember anything, Will?" Matt asked as everyone headed back to the main chamber, "anything at all?"
"Just bits and pieces," said Will, "I know who I am, and I remember remember everything up to when my mom and I moved to Heatherfield, and that on my first day of school at The Sheffield Institute, it rained and I got soaked from a car driving through a puddle. After that, it's all patchy, like my mind is full of holes or something."
"Like your memory has been turned into Swiss Cheese?" Sora asked.
"Yeah," said Will, "like that! Like my brain's been turned into Swiss Cheese! I remember some things though. I remember meeting four very nice girls at the science fair, but…I can't remember their names, only their faces. But I know they're very important to me, and I'm important to them."
"What about me?" a worried Matt asked, "am I in one of those memories?"
Will closed her eyes in concentration, "I…yeah, I remember you, a bit. You're…Matt…something, and you're in a band, Cobalt Steel, or something like that."
"Cobalt Blue," said Matt, "you've been to some of my concerts," he smiled, "and we're kinda dating."
"I feel like you're right," said a blushing Will, "because I seriously want to kiss you right now." At that Matt also blushed.
"That's a good sign," said Naminé, "the memories of your heart are intact. Your feelings for Matt are still there, and so are the memories of your friends. Can you remember anything else?"
"Well," said Will, "there's this," she pulled from under her jacket a bright pink spherical crystal about the size of a large marble that was hanging around her neck, "I know that this was given to me by someone very special, and that I'm supposed to keep it safe, and that it helps my friends and I, but that's it. I'm sorry, but everything else is a blank."
"There's no need to be sorry," said Naminé in a reassuring tone. By then they had reached the main chamber, where Aldarn and Vathek were spreading the news of the minor but definite victory over the enemy to their fellow rebels. Morale was definately improving throughout the freedom fighters.
"A monstrous and unforgivable crime has been committed against you and your friends," said Naminé as she and Will sat at a nearby worktable. "My friends and I are here to bring those responsible to justice, and we're going to start by restoring your memories."
Naminé then summoned her sketchpad and a set of pencils. Will's eyes went wide in amazement.
"That's magic!" Will said, "real magic! I should know…because…" she sighed in frustration again, "it's on the tip of my tongue, but I just can remember."
"You'll remember soon," said Naminé as she began rapidly drawing. Within a minute she had a highly detailed rendition of Will's face on the paper.
"Wow," said an impressed Will, "you're good. One of my friends is really good at drawing to. I think she's…her name is…"
"In a minute you'll remember everything," said a smiling Naminé.
"Is this going to work the first time?" Aiden asked, "'cause when you tried to fix the memories of Usagi and Mamoru, it didn't work at first."
"This is something different," said Namine, "with Usagi and Mamoru, I was trying to restore memories from a previous life. In this case, I'm helping someone who's mind was damaged because of dark magic. Don't ask me how this is easier for me, the details are too complicated to put to words, but this will work." She then placed her hands on the sides of Will's head and concentrated. She sent a pulse of healing magic right into Will's mind, whom then gasped at the sudden influx of energy.
"That should do it," said Namine as she stood up, "how do you feel?"
"Like a TV set that's just been whacked to clear bad reception," said a slightly disoriented Will. She then blinked and shook her head, "wait…yeah…yeah! It's coming back! All of it!"
She stood up, "my friends, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin! That day after the science fair, after school we all met at The Silver Dragon, the restaurant run by Hay Lin's family! Her grandmother, Yan Lin, told us all about our powers, how that we're the new generation of Guardians, and she gave me the crystal," she held up said glowing jewel, "The Heart of Kandracar!"
Will then began pacing back and forth, reciting her memories of her adventures with her friends, "this one time we thought our history teacher, Mr. Collins, was a monster sent by Phobos. That didn't turn out so well. And this one time we all got stuck inside an enchanted painting, except for Irma. And then there was the time we rescued Caleb's father from a slave mine."
"Do you remember how I found out about you guys?" Matt asked.
"As if I'll ever forget," said a smiling Will, "it was after we recovered The Seal of Phobos from Blunk, and The Heart of Kandracar absorbed it. That was the day of the downhill rollerblading challenge, and you came looking for us because you were worried that we didn't show up at the finish line.
"You saw us in our Guardian forms and then we saw you seeing us. I tried to explain, somehow, so you'd think you were hallucination, but you said you thought that it was cool that we had magic powers, and wings."
"Well of course you're cool to have wings," said a smiling Matt, "you can fly for crying out loud!"
"And I remember our first kiss," said Will, "it was after we learned Phobos' full plan. I tried to ask you to not get involved any more than you were, but you kept saying that you wanted to help in any way you could.
"I told you that I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to you, and you told me the same. And then we said we liked each other, and then we kissed."
"That's about it," said Matt.
"Well, I'm glad this worked out," said Naminé, "we can now go find the other's; Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin, and fix their memories."
"I've got a few questions to ask first," said Aiden. "One; what's The Seal of Phobos? Two; what's a Blunk? And three…" his face then contorted in disgust as he smelled something really awful, "and three, what in the name of sanity is that stench!"
"Good grief!" exclaimed Kairi as she held her nose, "what is that?"
"This has got to be the single most disgusting I've ever smelt in my life!" said Ranma, "and I know disgusting."
Sora looked and saw the source of the stench; a small green creature that looked to be a cross between a goblin and a frog, wearing a fitly red shirt and brown trousers.
"Oh," said an annoyed Caleb, "that's Blunk, a Passling who's been sort of a help to the rebellion, but deep down, he's still a smuggler."
"Retailer," insisted the green creature, Blunk, in a throaty, slightly raspy voice. He then saw Sora and the others, "oh! New customers! You need anything while in Meridian? Blunk find good merchandise, negotiate good price, yes?"
"Don't take anything he offers you," said Aldarn, "you never know for sure of it's stolen or not."
"The little one may be a resourceful scrounger," said Vathek, "but he's still a pain in the neck."
"Blunk vital part of rebellion!" insisted the Passling, "and Blunk not scrounger, wholesaler."
"He's not so bad," said Will, "once you get pass the smell, Blunk can be pretty nice."
"Will remember Blunk!" the Passling then hopped over to Will and hugged her, "Blunk so happy Will remember!"
"Yeah," said a slightly uncomfortable Will, "but there are some things I wish I could forget permanently."
Just then one of the rebels ran up to Caleb with bad news.
"We've got trouble coming!" said Caleb, "the enemy's gotten into the labyrinth through another entrance and they'll be here in five minutes!"
"Is there another way out?" Riku asked.
"None that are close enough," said Aldarn, "half our people will still be trapped underground by the time the enemy catches up with us."
"And with the streets above full of Heartless," said Vathek, "the other half will be slaughtered."
"Then we've got a choice," said Caleb, "either we risk getting lost in the labyrinth in hope of finding a safe exit, or we make a stand here."
"We're with you, Caleb!" shouted one of the rebels, "we're ready to fight to the end!" The other fighters shouted in eager agreement.
"Martyring yourselves won't solve anything," said Riku.
"There's always an alternate solution," said Kairi, "I can't think of anything right now, so I'm open to suggestions."
"We could transport everyone somewhere else through The Mobius Continuium," said Sora, "but there's no way we'll get everyone out in time if we can only take one person with us at a time."
"Well, it's a good thing I've got my brain working again," said Will as she held up The Heart of Kandracar. The crystal flashed bright pink and a portal appeared.
"Everyone through the portal!" said Will, "I'll open another one on Earth that'll take us somewhere else on Metamore that's safe."
"How's you think of that?" Caleb asked.
"It just came to me," said Will, "so, any ideas of a new rebel base?"
"I've got one or two," said Caleb. He then told Will of a location and she nodded in agreement. Will then went through the portal.
Caleb then spoke to his fellow freedom fighters, "everyone go through! I'll hold the line till the last second!"
"We'll stay to," said Sora, while Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Donald, Goofy, Ranma, Roxas and Namine nodded in agreement. They went to the tunnel opening where the enemy would exit from. They were joined by Caleb, and a few other rebels who decided to stay and hold the line.
"There's something we need to take care of!" said Aldarn, "we'll be right back!" With that he and Vathek ran off to a different part of the chamber.
One by one the rebels went through the portal with as much of their weapons, equipment and supplies as they could carry, but it would be several minutes before the hundreds of fighters were all safely out of the cavern.
Will then jumped back through the portal and ran up to Caleb, "The other portal us set up and the line is moving."
Sora and the others then heard the sound of dozens of angry enemy soldiers, Lurdens, and the stampeding of Heartless.
"Here comes more trouble!" said Roxas as he held up his Keyblades.
"You might want to keep back," said Naminé to Will, "you just got your memories back after all."
"And that's going to stop me from fighting?" Will asked as she held up The Heart of Kandracar again. There was a bright pink flash, and Will had transformed into her Guardian self.
"Now that's impressive!" said Kairi as she admired Will's Guardian outfit, especially the wings.
"Thanks," said a smiling Will as she hovered and did a midair summersault, stretching her wings.
Just then the first of the attacking Heartless burst through the tunnel, followed by several ranks of enemy soldiers and Lurdens.
Sora and the others easily dealt with the attacking Heartless and other enemies. Caleb and the handful of Rebels who stood behind were able to hold their own as well, but the real star of the battle was Will. She seemed to be everywhere as she flew across the chamber.
Sora and the others soon realized that one of the powers of a Guardian was increased strength, which Will displayed by ripping a Neo shadow in half, then by grapping a Large Body by the head and tossing it into a group of Lurdens. Will then flew circles around a Zip Slasher and kicked it into oblivion.
After a few minutes all of the attacking Heartless had been destroyed, while the remaining Lurdens and enemy soldiers were hesitant to attack.
"They're not so tough now," said Donald.
Just then a familiar angry roar echoed from the tunnel. The Lurdens and soldiers hastily got out of the way as Cedric slithered his way into the chamber.
"There will be no essscape thisss time," hissed Cedric as he reared up and prepared to attack.
"I don't think so!" shouted Will as she flew at Cedric and delivered a summersault kick to the head of the snake creature.
Cedric quickly recovered and lunged at Will, but she flew out of the way, barely missing his gnashing teeth by inches.
"Ssso, Guardian," hissed an irate Cedric, "your memoriesss are recovered. But you are jussst one! Without your friendsss, you are nothing!"
"Guess again, fang-face!" shouted Sora as he shot a Fireball at the snake creature, but it barely made Cedric flinch.
"We found Will!" shouted Kairi, "and we'll find the others!"
"And then we'll come back and tear Phobos off the throne and save Elyon!" shouted Riku.
"And in the meantime," said Ranma as he ran at Cedric, "this is for you," he jumped up and delivered a Cobra Punch to the snake creature's face, knocking Cedric back.
"That was Julia's special move," said Sora.
"And here's something I picked up from Andrew!" said Ranma as he jumped up and delivered a flying no-shadow kick to Cedric, knocking him back even further.
By then nearly all of the rebels had gone through the portal, leaving only those who chose to stay with Caleb.
"Now would be a good time to make a tactical withdraw," said Caleb.
"There isss no essscape for you, rebelsss!" shouted Cedric as he recovered from Ranma's attacks.
"How do you stop this thing?" Aiden asked.
Just then a baseball sized rock smacked into Cedric's left eye. The snake creature roared in pain as he clutched at his assaulted eye.
"How'd you like that, leather lips!" shouted Matt as held another rock, "and here's another!" he threw the rock and hit Cedric on the side of the head, but the rock did little damage.
"Now we need to go," said Will as she held up The Heart of Kandracar. The crystal produced a bright pink flash that blinded the remaining enemy soldiers and Lurdens. With that our heroes and allies headed for the portal.
"Wait!" said Caleb as they reached the portal, "What about Aldarn and Vathek?"
"Don't forget Blunk!" shouted the Passling as he jumped thought he portal.
Just then Vathek and Aldarn came running up to our heroes. With them was a girl, about 16 years old, with long brown hair and mixed eyes, one green the other blue. She wore a brown and gray jacket over a gray shirt, brown gloves, and brown pants and boots. All three of them were carrying several rolled up charts.
"Sorry we took so long," said Aldarn as he, Vathek and the girl reached the portal, "she wouldn't leave without the maps."
"All my hard work for nothing?" the girl asked, "I don't think so." With that she jumped through the portal, followed by Vathek and Aldarn.
"Ssstop them!" shouted Cedric as more soldiers, Lurdens and Heartless arrived in the chamber.
"I think we should be leaving now!" said Aiden.
"That's probably a good idea!" said Sora. Just then he had an idea, "follow my lead!" he threw a Strike Raid at the chamber ceiling, causing a large crack to form.
Kairi, Riku and Aiden also threw Strike Raids at the ceiling, while Roxas threw a double Strike Raid. The damage done by six Keyblades had destabilized the roof of the chamber and the ceiling began to collapse.
"The Infinite City is yours, Cedric!" shouted Caleb, "enjoy!" with that he, Will, Matt, Sora and the others all jumped through the portal, leaving Cedric and the other enemies to be buried alive.
The next thing Sora knew it was very bright outside. He and the others blinked in the sunlight and realized they were near a large bridge over a river in a modern city. Sora then saw a second portal nearby.
"This is your planet Earth?" Kairi asked Will as said Guardian used The Heart of Candracar to close the first portal.
"Yep," said Will, "Heatherfield, California, Earth; home sweet home." she then sighed, "oh man! My mom's gonna kill me! Come to think, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin, we're all gonna die when our parents realize that our Astral Drops aren't us."
"Astral Drops?" Aiden asked.
"They're magical copies of us," said Will as she and the others went though he other portal. On the other side was a large forest where the hundreds of rebels waited for their leader to arrive. "Not very smart, but they can follow directions, so long as they're not too complicated."
"Oh, so they're kinda like Shadow Clones," said Sora, "we know a guy who can create hundreds of copies of himself."
"That's cool," siad Will as she powered down from her Guardian form and resumed her normal size, shape and attire, "my friends and I will have to talk to this guy. We sure can need some pointers. A few days ago, my friends and I prepared for a long stay in Metamore and instructed our Astral Drops as best we could, but by now our parents must know something's up."
Just then Sora and the others heard Caleb arguing with the girl with long brown hair.
"I don't care how much work you put into those maps, Tess!" said an irate Caleb, "I ordered everyone to evacuate. You should have gone through with the others! You risked the safety of everyone by waiting until the last second. Those maps aren't so important as to risk all our lives."
"And let the enemy know that we know their secrets?" the girl, Tess, asked, "if we'd left those maps behind, Phobos would know that his defenses has weaknesses that can be exploited. I'd hope you'd appreciate the fact that I risked my neck to get those secrets to you, Caleb, but it's clear that you're more concerned about the rebelion as a whole than about the lives of the individuals."
"I care for the lives of every rebel in my army," said Caleb, "I feel for each man and woman in the rebellion as if he and she were my family; and every casulty is like a knife to my heart. And for your informaiton, Ido appreciate that you risked your life," he then spoke in an angry tone, "but I don't appreciate your attitude. This rebellion depends on all of us working together to bring Phobos down. If we're to succeed, then there's no room for rouge elements. If you're going to stay with us, Tess Thatcher, then you need to stop acting like you're the only one fighting the war."
"Old habits die hard," said Tess, "I've been fighting alone since I was 11. I've killed more of Phobo's dogs in the past five years than I'd like to count, but I got the job done."
"Straightforward killing won't end the war," said Caleb, "we need to reunite The Guardains. They're the only ones who can convince Princess Elyon of the truth."
"And what good will Princess Elyon do for the world?" exclaimed Tess, her eyes blazing with fury, "where was Elyon when my life was ruined and I had to kill in order to survive! What has Elyon done now that she's back in Meridian? What has she done other than become so wrapped up in Phobos' lies that she betraied her own friends?"
From her pocket Tess pulled out a straight razor and opened it, "if I had the chance, I'd slit the throats of the entire royal family. We'd be better off without Phobos, Elyon and royalty in general."
"You don't mean that," said Will in a calming manner, "Elyon is still a good person in heart. I know that if she would just listen, if she would just give us a chance to talk, she'd believe the truth. When Phobos is gone and Elyon's the queen, everything will be alright in the world and everyone can start over. The same can be for you, Tess Thatcher."
"Don't try to patronize me,Guardian" said Tess in a voice full of contempt, "and don't call me that. Tess Tatcher has been dead for five years. I am The Razor," she pointed the straight razor at Will, "and don't you forget it." she then put her razor back into her pocket, "I do appreciate what you and your friends did for me last week, but now that I've finished those maps of the castle, my debt is paid in full. The first chance I get, I'm going off on my own again." With that she walked towards a rock under a nearby tree and sat down.
"What's her freaking problem?" an exasperated Aiden asked.
"Like the rest of us," said Caleb, "her life was ruined by the tyranny of Phobos."
"But with her, it's worse," said Will, "I remember now. It was a week ago when my friends and I found Tess cornered by The Heartless. Tess has a ability that allows her to be invisible. She could be in the middle of a crowded room and nobody would even see or hear her."
"But her ability doesn't really work on Heartless," said Caleb, "she can slip pass soldiers and Lurdens, and she even once managed to make it past Cedric, but The Heartless found her out and nearly killed her. And there's a limit to how long she can stay invisible. She told me that she tired several times to sneek into the castle to kill Phobos, but she became visible again before she could reach Phobos and had to run for it.
"But last wee wesaved her from The Heartless," said Will, "and she promised to go inside the castle and find an unguarded way in, Which she did," she then looked at Tess with sad pity, "but now that that's done, she's going off on her own again."
"So what?" Donald asked, "she doesn't seem like she wants to be here, so why try and stop her?"
"Because she's on the verge of losing herself to the darkness," said Riku as he looked at Tess, his face betraying a feeling that went beyond simple concern.
"That's what we all felt when my friends and I met her," said Will, "we know that when a Heartless is created when ones heart is consumed by darkness."
"Glad you know," said Aiden, "at least we don't have to explain that."
"But what about Tess?" Kairi asked, "why is she so immersed in the darkness?"
"No one really knows," said Will, "she didn't tell us, but my friends and I are sure that something terrible happened to Tess five years ago, something that filled her heart with so much rage and hate that she's been using her ability to assassinate enemy minions ever since."
"Well, then we'll just have to save her ourselves," said Riku.
…Earth, China…
"So, we're back on the Earth where the Forsaken One resides," said Erika as she and Rakel found themselves on a dirt road on a wooded mountain.
"We shouldn't worry about her so much," said Rakel, even though she really was nervous, "this is a big world with billions of humans. The chances of us running into her are so small that it's stupid for us to fret about it."
"Well the chances of us finding this Pantyhose Taro before Maleficent get's impatient are just as small," said Erika, "this one country alone, China, has a population of over one billion."
"Then we had best get started then," said Rakel, "the sooner we find this shape shifting dark martial artist, the sooner we're all back with the others. And the sooner we'll be back in Maleficent's good graces so we can go back to plunging worlds into the darkness."
"I can't believe that Maleficent sent both Nikolai and Katarina to Metamore," said Erika, "you'd think the two of them would cancel each other out."
"Nikolai's a genius," said Rakel, "and Katarina's such an airhead it's a wonder she doesn't float away on the wind. I'm sure the boss lady has her reasons, but at least those two are out of the picture for now. We can plan our eventual escape while we search. Who knows? Maybe this Pantyhose Taro may be the ally to us, one whom we can use to make our escape from Maleficent."
"Well, let's hope he's even willing to talk to us," said Erika, "and just what is this offer that you'll make that he can't refuse?"
"You'll learn when we find him," said Rakel, "now start walking. We won't find Pantyhose Taro by just standing in the dirt."
"You're standing around to, you know," muttered Erika as the two Hakonians walked up the path.
The end of chapter 2.
Next chapter, Sora and the others plan their next move in the rescue of The Guardians. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!
