"How many of these weirdo islands does this place have?!" Maylin exclaimed as the Gummi Ship continued through another connecting route, this strange realm full of floating islands and gigantic Nobody ships resembling AT-ATs from Star Wars.
"Incoming Big One, dead ahead!" Nick shouted as Haruka prepared for the approaching opponent. "Are we going Falcon Mode for this one?"
"You'd better believe it, buddy," Haruka laughed, activating the Big Red Button™ and switching the Gummi Ship into Falcon Mode as the Big One encroached on their flight path. This one was a rather large impression of a dragonfly with Nobody spikes all over its body.
"Yeesh, talk about your non-standard ugly set," Maylin quipped.
The dragonfly monster spun around and fired off a swarm of spikes from its bladed tail that the Gummi Ship was barely able to dodge.
"I don't think it liked your insult, Maylin," Haruka teased.
"It's not gonna matter once this thing's toast," Maylin responded.
The Gummi Ship continued to dodge around the dragonfly's spike blasts as its pilots searched for an opening.
The dragonfly reared back to launch another attack, and subsequently revealed a vulnerable spot on its chest cavity that had, until then, been blocked by the beast's razor tail.
"Gotcha!" Nick shouted, firing off a Falcon Burst while the Teeny Ships fired off blasts of their own. The three shots combined into one large energy sphere that exploded on contact with the dragonfly's vulnerable chest, swiftly tearing the creature apart and revealing a large keyhole that the Gummi Ship flew through. After a short trip, they were back out in the Lanes Between, and the barrier surrounding the world ahead vanished into light. The world appeared to be a large forest of sorts, a mystical location like you'd see in an RPG, complete with a large tree in the center and an impressive castle floating above it all.
"Oooh, swank," Maylin giggled.
"Let's hope it lives up to expectations," Haruka stated. "Prepare for landing!"
(In your hand, take this key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend. No ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love. May your hearts be your guiding key.)
The Blue Time Ranger is proud to present:
W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart II
Story Created: January 2nd, 2017
Story Rated: T for Teen
Story Summary: A year has passed since Nick, Maylin, and Haruka saved the heart of all worlds from being consumed by the darkness. Things are getting back to normal in Heatherfield, but true peace is always a fleeting dream. New arrivals start pouring in, including a girl from the future who claims to be the daughter of two of the Guardians, strange new creatures very much unlike the Heartless, and a group of black-hooded tyrants who only aim to bring destruction to the worlds. To save the multiverse from these new threats, Nick, Maylin, and Haruka must once again take up their keyblades and travel through many worlds to keep the balance of light and darkness in check. But what does the mysterious Organization XIII truly want with the worlds?
On Today's Episode: The strange world of ALfheim Online is the next stop for our traveling trio, and it's going to take some time to get used to the fact that they're inside of a video game. As it turns out, this is the home world of another of Nick's former summon allies, but why exactly is the game her world now? And what is another member of the Organization doing snooping around?
And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to W.I.T.C.H. or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Elisabetta Gnone and Disney if we're talking the cartoon. The only things of this story I DO own are any characters created by yours truly for the story. Any characters or things I don't own, I am just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of my readers. The same goes for any anime, video game, or comic book series that will be represented here. Besides, if I did own W.I.T.C.H., which I don't, why would I be writing fiction on a fan site?
Author's Note/For Today's World: Okay, today we're going to the world of Reki Kawahara's Sword Art Online, specifically the Mother's Rosario arc (light novel #7 and episodes 18-24 of anime season 2). Readers of the previous story will know that Yuuki was Nick's final summon there and that Yuuki is one of my absolute favorite anime characters. ONE MOOOOOOORE THING! Big thanks to Lonnie Lonnster/AlexisRhodes74 for designing this world's particular keyblade.
UPDATE 10/17/18: Added the first "DLC", shall we say, in the form of a new "storybook" adventure.
Episode 4: Swear to the Sword
"Well, it definitely fits the 'enchanted forest' theme I was going for," Maylin quipped as the trio disembarked from the Gummi Ship. Their current location appeared to be a forest, like they'd seen from the Lanes Between, centered around a large tree in the middle.
"Um, I've got a strange question for you guys," Haruka quipped, sounding a little unsure. "Do either of you see a health meter at the corner of your eye? Like you would in a game?"
Nick was the first to check this out, and sure enough, he saw a lot of strange visuals that he hadn't seen in any other world. At the bottom right corner of his eye was a large circle with an oddly anime-styled portrait of himself. Curled around the picture were three different meters. The first and largest was bright green, most likely his health if he knew anything about games, followed by a smaller and segmented blue gauge, which Nick believed to be his magic power. Hanging off the blue gauge was an angled yellow meter labeled "Drive", apparently having something to do with his Drive Forms and Harmonization powers.
To the bottom left of his vision was a small square-shaped menu, segmented into four smaller sections, each labeled "Attack", "Magic", "Item", and "Drive". Flipping the menu with his fingers revealed three extra commands under "Attack", consisting of "Summon", "Party", and "Harmonize".
To the upper right was a simple window labeled "NICK KELLY: LVL. 25", and to his top right was a long, currently-empty bar, which Nick guessed would be for the enemy's health.
No matter which way Nick moved his head, the strange game-like interface would stay in the exact same points of his vision.
"This is tripping me out," Maylin admitted. "Why does it seem like we're suddenly in a game?"
"Maybe because this world is a game of sorts," Haruka stated. "I'm sure in one of these worlds, technology's progressed that far."
"Oh, god, it's one of those virtual reality games, isn't it?" Nick groaned. "Fantastic... I'm horrible with VR."
"Not into the whole VR craze yet, huh?" Haruka giggled.
"Haruka, I tried a Virtual Boy when I was younger," Nick proclaimed. "Biggest mistake of my life."
"That doesn't set the whole precedent, though, ya know?" Haruka quipped.
"I know that, but virtual reality just seems weird to me," Nick explained. "Probably just not used to it yet, even when it seems to be all the hype nowadays. But, I have a feeling I'll have to get used to it while we're in this world..."
"Hey, I think there's someone up there by the tree..." Maylin quipped. "My 'interface' is telling me there's another player just up ahead."
The trio made their way to the tree in question just as a figure stepped out from behind it, hand already on the handle of her sword.
"Hey, sorry, but I'm not accepting any new challengers right now, since everyone's focused on the boss..."
"Wait, that voice," Nick quipped.
It seemed that Yuuki had it completely figured out before Nick did, because she quickly re-sheathed her sword and rushed over to hug Nick.
"I knew I'd be seeing you guys eventually!" Yuuki exclaimed. "Has everything been going all right for you?"
"Pretty much," Maylin giggled. "We're on a new adventure, after all. No rest for the wicked awesome!"
"Say, Yuuki?" Haruka asked. "We have a very odd question to ask you. By any chance, are we inside a game?"
Yuuki smiled proudly, drawing her sword and hefting it in a dramatic fashion. "Why, yes you are, my fellow warriors! This is ALfheim Online, the boundless virtual frontier!"
Yuuki looked back at the trio and flashed a goofy grin. "How was that?"
"So cheesy, but it works," Maylin laughed.
"So, it's like a virtual reality RPG?" Nick asked.
"Basically," Yuuki stated, gazing out at the lush landscapes of this particular floor. "And if this is your first time here, I've gotta give you guys the grand tour!"
Before Nick could take Yuuki up on that offer, he felt a strange flare of darkness from nearby.
"What is it, Nick?" Haruka asked.
"Is it another one of those stupid Demon Tower things?" Maylin groaned. "Because I've seriously had enough of those things popping up in every stinkin' world we visit!"
Nick was about to answer when he saw it.
A swirling vortex of dark energy had formed just by the bridge that lead back to the floor's town level, eventually coming together to form a semi-transparent figure.
Nick had to take a step back when he recognized the figure in question.
It was Marie.
"W-w-wait, what the hell?!" Maylin exclaimed, immediately summoning Counterpoint to her hands.
The shadowy Marie slowly lifted her head to gaze at Nick, opening her eyes only to reveal the sharp gold eyes that marked a Heartless. Out of nowhere, a completely black Kingdom Key flashed into the shadow's hand.
The mere sight of that black keyblade started bringing up painful memories for Nick as his mind flashed back, against his will, to that fateful battle a little over a year ago, where he had been forced to kill Marie in order to destroy Izanami-no-Mikoto and save the multiverse.
"This is the omen that still hangs over you," the shadowy Marie hissed, even though her mouth made no movement whatsoever.
Nick said nothing, summoning his own Kingdom Key to his shaking right hand.
"Don't you dare," Nick growled. "Don't you DARE screw with my mind, you black-hearted son of a bitch!"
Both Maylin and Yuuki tried to reach out, but they fell on deaf ears as Nick raised the Kingdom Key and charged straight for the Omen.
Nick quickly unleashed a Zantetsuken, hoping to end this fight quickly before any more painful memories assailed him. Sadly, this was not to be, as the Omen raised her keyblade to easily block the strike before countering with a vicious overhead slash that Nick, still recovering from his own attack, couldn't block in time. Even as Nick went tumbling from the hit, the Omen pressed her own attack, swinging upwards to create a wave of darkness that slammed Nick into the tree.
Speeding past Maylin and Haruka, the Omen continued her assault by slashing Nick across the chest with her dark keyblade, causing Nick to fall to his knees and clutch his wound.
"You see how it is to be so dark?" the Omen hissed. "You still believe that you failed her, don't you?"
"Oh, shut up!" Maylin shouted, casting Thundaga to blast the Omen backwards, away from Nick.
"It is the truth," the Omen responded. "Despite everything you said you would do, despite your most valiant efforts to save her, YOU FAILED. And now look where we are."
"I SAID STUFF IT!" Maylin near-screamed, firing off a Firaga spell, only for the Omen to easily dodge it.
"For the so-called 'hero of the keyblade' to break a promise seems like quite the failure in my eyes. After all, you 'never break a promise', and yet she's dead. Where does that leave you now?"
Maylin was about to unleash a super spell just to shut this thing up when dark energy exploded from Nick's clothes and forcibly shifted him into Anti-Form again.
"You have some nerve insulting me and my family," Nick growled, his voice low and hateful. "I will make you suffer!"
The Omen simply smiled, and this pushed Nick over the edge. Letting out a loud bellow of pure, animalistic rage, Nick practically teleported in front of the Omen, ravaging her shadowy body with his sharp claws as much as he possibly could.
The Omen simply laughed the damage off, slashing forward with her keyblade and catching Nick across the shoulder, interrupting his attack and pushing him away. This only served to enrage Nick further, as he came back with a triple strike followed by slamming his hands into the ground and creating geysers of darkness underneath the Omen, follwed by raising his hands and creating a twister of dark energy blades around him, yet nothing seemed to faze the Omen in the slightest.
"See? Your rage will get you nowhere. I shall take my leave now. Go ahead and wallow in your failures, you pathetic excuse for a keyblade wielder."
With those final taunts, the Omen vanished, leaving Maylin to calm down the enraged Nick.
"Nick, please, please calm down," Maylin pleaded. "I don't want to sit through another rerun of last time..."
Sadly, history only seemed to repeat itself, as Nick lost himself to his darkness-induced haze and attacked Maylin with a fierce double claw slash, sending her careening into a nearby pond.
Nick leapt right after Maylin, intending to brutally rip apart anything in his way, but as his claws descended for a fatal blow, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the flowing water.
Rational thought slowly but surely chipped its way back into his mind, and Nick took a few steps back, the darkness of Anti-Form fading away.
Looking down at Maylin, Nick shakily summoned his keyblade again and cast Curaga, relieved to see Maylin's wound disappear completely, even if he broke down into tears the very next second.
"N-Nick, what's the matter?" Maylin asked.
"As... as much as I hate to admit it..." Nick gasped. "That thing was right... I failed her, Maylin. After all the promises I made, my promise that I would save her... I let her down..."
"Nick, don't," Maylin immediately countered. "Don't start believing that thing. It's obviously trying to get to you."
"But it's the truth!" Nick shouted, causing Maylin to actually flinch. "I never break my promises, Maylin! NEVER! And... the one promise I did break... cost me the life of my only sister!"
"But it wasn't your fault!" Maylin exclaimed. "That divine bitch was the one who put you into that position!"
"I still killed her, Maylin!" Nick shot back. "Even if she wanted me to do the deed, it still doesn't change the fact that I killed my sister by my own hand! What part of this isn't getting through to you?!"
Maylin just stared at Nick, unable to believe that her best friend was capable of tearing himself down like this.
"What kind of person am I, calling myself a hero when I can't even keep a goddamn promise?!" Nick exclaimed, rushing away before anyone could stop him.
Maylin stared at where Nick had just been, stunned into complete silence.
"Um... pardon me if this isn't the right time, but what exactly happened back there?" Yuuki wondered.
"Well," Haruka started. "You remember Nick's sister Marie, the girl we'd been searching for on our last adventure?"
"Yeah?"
"It turns out she was one of the vessels for an ancient bad guy that we had to take down, but..." Maylin sighed. "The only way we could stop that freak before she became too powerful for us to do anything was... to destroy Marie. I guess I underestimated how much Nick's still hurting about it."
"I know how he feels to lose family," Yuuki quipped. "I'm the only member of my family who's still alive, after all."
"Wait, really?" Maylin gasped. "It's just you?"
"Yeah," Yuuki continued. "AIDS got all of us, and it'll probably be getting me soon, too."
Maylin honestly had no words for the shock she felt at that.
"Wait, Yuuki," Haruka wondered. "If you're suffering from AIDS, um... oh, jeez, how do I put this..."
"Oh, I'm not worried," Yuuki giggled, surprising Maylin and Haruka. "Hey, if it's my time, it's my time. I'll just live my life to the fullest in the time I have left so I can honestly say that I lived with no regrets! I'm not going to let life beat me, after all."
Yuuki suddenly heard footsteps approaching, turning towards the source, only to see a figure in a black cloak dashing across the field like he was scared.
"Run, run away!" the figure stammered.
Maylin inwardly decided she wasn't going to stand for this and immediately summoned Counterpoint, tripping the figure up by firing a Thunder spell just in front of him.
"All right, you," Maylin growled, grabbing the cloaked figure by his collar and yanking him angrily to his feet. "What's your deal?! Did you send that Omen thing to harass us?!"
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about!" Demyx stammered, quickly wrenching himself out of Maylin's grip.
"Oh, you'd better not cross me, buddy," Maylin growled, staring Demyx down. The Melodious Nocturne could clearly see the burning anger in Maylin's expression. "Frankly, I don't give a damn that you're a part of the Organization. You clearly saw what just happened, and you should know that I don't tolerate anyone upsetting my best bud in the universe."
Maylin punctuated her threats by aiming Counterpoint straight for Demyx's face. "And if I find out the Organization's responsible for that Omen jerk, or, god forbid, you were the one who summoned it, you'd best pray to whatever god or devil you serve, because not even Kingdom Hearts itself will be able to fix what I'm going to do to you."
Demyx yelped in terror before opening a dark corridor behind him and making himself scarce almost immediately.
Maylin just sighed, resting Counterpoint on her shoulder.
"Holy crap, Maylin," Haruka quipped. "I don't think I've ever seen you that angry."
"Well, the bastard deserves it," Maylin huffed.
"Okay, so... what should we do now?" Yuuki asked.
"Simple," Maylin answered. "We go find Nick."
"Where is he?" Lily groaned, searching around this strange landscape for any sign of her target. "I know he's here, and I'm not missing him a third time!"
Heartless popped up at intervals to jump her, but Lily simply swung both of her keyblades to clear them out. She didn't want anything distracting her.
After a few more minutes, Lily finally spotted Nick leaning against a rock formation, looking incredibly upset for some reason.
"Papa..." Lily sighed wistfully. She quickly snapped to attention when she saw a muscular red-haired man in armor approaching Nick with obviously bad intent.
"What are you doing here, outsider?" the Salamander growled.
"Um, excuse me?" Nick shot back.
"You've got some nerve stepping in your opponent's territory, boy," the Salamander proclaimed. "All on your own, too? You must really have a death wish."
"I'm warning you, jackass," Nick snarled, summoning Kingdom Key to his hands. "I am in an extremely foul mood right now. So, if you keep pushing my buttons, I don't think you'll survive the consequences."
"Oh, is that right?" the Salamander laughed, drawing his large and serrated sword. "Well, sorry, but there's no penalty for PKing in this game, you know. So I'm well within my rights to do this."
"You leave papa alone, jerk-face!"
Lily leaped out from the nearby bushes and lashed out, planting her right foot square into the Salamander's face and knocking him away from Nick.
"You're going to regret that, little girl," the Salamander growled.
"I think you've got it the other way around," Lily shot back. "You're going to regret trying to hurt papa when he's clearly in pain."
Lily wasn't going to let the Salamander get any kind of witty retort in, and flicked her hands out to summon Kingdom Key and Light Seeker to her hands. The Salamander backed up pretty quickly after that, as if he could now understand Lily's potential.
"Oh, yeah," Lily proclaimed. "You're in trouble now."
The Salamander didn't get any warning as Lily rushed in and began to assail him with wickedly fast slashes from both of her keyblades, not giving her opponent any chance to break free of the assault.
Lily leaped into the air, and for the finisher, she did two backwards somersaults before performing an upwards X-slash that caused the Salamander to shatter into shards of light, leaving behind a dark red flame where he had been defeated.
Eh, he'll respawn eventually, Lily thought. She knew this world was a video game; after all, her vision held the same "interface" that Nick was seeing as well.
"Hey, you're that girl, aren't you?" Nick asked. "The one who saved me from Axel back in Heatherfield?"
"Yep!" Lily giggled.
"Okay, I have a couple questions to ask, actually," Nick stated. "Most of all, who exactly are you?"
Lily twirled and did a cute pose. "My name's Lily, thirteen years old. Ice skater in training, most fashionable girl of Sheffield Institute two years running, and..."
Lily's eyes twinkled. "...I'm your daughter from the future!"
That line instantly snapped Nick to attention. "Wait, my daughter? Is that why you keep calling me 'papa'?"
"Of course! You're my papa, so that's what I call you!" Lily laughed.
"I'm assuming you can't tell me who I get married to in the future?" Nick quipped.
"Oh, papa, it should be obvious," Lily stated.
Nick's face instantly turned red once he realized what Lily was talking about. But when Nick saw Lily's sad face for a brief second, he realized something else.
"Okay, second question, Lily. Why exactly did you travel back in time?"
"Simple," Lily replied with a conviction that very much reminded Nick of his own. "The Organization. They're from my time, and they're just as dangerous then as they are now, so the Oracle sent me back in time so I could take care of them before they ever become a problem."
Nick then cast an errant glance at Lily's two keyblades. As far as he knew, he was the only known keyblade wielder who could dual-wield. And one of her keyblades was the exact same as his base keyblade.
"All right, third question," Nick asked. "Part one, where did you learn how to wield a keyblade, and part two, how can you wield two? I thought I was the only one who could."
Lily suddenly sighed heavily, gazing at her reflection in her Kingdom Key, much like Nick had done since that day.
"Hey, if I brought up any bad memories, I'm sorry..."
"It's not you, papa," Lily answered. "You gave me the ability to wield a keyblade. Well, future you did. We performed the Inheritance Ceremony together, and I got my keyblade only a few minutes after that. As for the other part to your question... in my time, mama and papa were killed by the Organization just before I jumped back in time. That's why I'm so dead-set on taking them down."
Lily glanced at Light Seeker for a second. "And, to be honest, I don't know why I can wield two keyblades. I just had my own until I found mama and papa and the jerk who killed them. To tell you the truth, this Kingdom Key is actually my papa's, but I got it when I went to attack that jerk."
"And, if you are my daughter, you'll know where I got my Kingdom Key from," Nick stated.
"From Auntie Marie, of course," Lily giggled, though she instantly regretted bringing up that particular memory when she saw a few tears falling from Nick's eyes. "Papa, what's wrong?"
"If you've been following me..." Nick sighed, "then I'm sure you saw what happened back there. That Omen... thing... pretty much effectively and brutally reminded me that no matter how much I did, I actually failed Marie in the end."
Nick took a voluntary step back as Lily rushed over and hugged him tightly.
"Papa, don't," Lily stated. "Whatever that Omen jerk was, it was just trying to get in your head. You never failed her. You freed her. Think of it this way, papa: would you have wanted her to be trapped as that freak-o's vessel for all of eternity?"
"N-No..."
"There you go, then. And don't ever think you broke your promise to Marie," Lily continued. "Even if she's not physically with you, as long as you keep her in your heart, she'll always be watching over you. That was what you promised each other, right? And I know for a freakin' fact, papa, that that's a promise that can never be broken."
Nick just stayed in the position he was in, letting all of Lily's speech sink in. After a couple seconds, Nick hugged his future daughter back.
"Never took you to be the philosopher type, Lily," Nick laughed.
"I learned it from you, papa," Lily giggled.
"Serious talk, though," Nick stated. "Thanks for the pep talk, Lily. I still miss Marie, you know? And I guess I underestimated just how much I missed her. All it took was that one little barb, and the Omen just forced its way into my mind. It's like it knows what my insecurities are or something... but I'll definitely never make that mistake again."
"Glad to hear it, papa!" Lily laughed.
As they let each other go, Nick suddenly felt a strange power emanating from his Kingdom Key. As if guided by some unseen force, Nick placed both hands on the handle of the Kingdom Key, then yanked them apart, creating two copies of the Kingdom Key that swiftly transformed into Oathkeeper and Oblivion, his preferred pair of keyblades to use when dual-wielding.
"There we go, papa! Now you're ready to kick some butt!" Lilt exclaimed.
"Ah, it's been a while since I dual-wielded," Nick quipped. He didn't count Drive Forms as dual-wielding, technically. Whenever he merged with Haruka to use Valor Form, he could feel Haruka being the one to control her keyblade during the transformation. They each controlled one side, as Haruka often put it.
"Well, I should probably get going," Lily stated, lifting her own keyblades. "Things to do, after all."
"You sure you'll be all right on your own?" Nick wondered. "Now that I know you're my daughter... well, I'm sure we've been through this shtick before."
"Hey, I'm not scared," Lily stated. "Just let those Organization jerks try something!"
"That definitely sounds like something I'd say," Nick sighed. "I think Maylin's been a bad influence on me. Just... take care of yourself, okay?"
"You got it, papa!" Lily giggled before slashing Light Seeker vertically to create a portal to somewhere that she quickly entered, waving goodbye to Nick the whole time.
Nick stood there for a few seconds, staring at where Lily had just been.
"Yep. She's my daughter, all right."
"HEY, NICK!"
Having expected something like this, Nick wisely stepped to the side so that Maylin went flying through the air and into another nearby pond.
"Ack, why'd you dodge me, Nick?!" Maylin exclaimed.
"Because the last time I got hit by one of your flying hugs, we both ended up in about five feet of mud," Nick quipped, silently repressing that particular debacle. "Definitely never going to that park during a storm ever again. I still can't believe I let Irma talk me into that."
Maylin quickly picked herself up, shaking the water out of her robes before walking up to Nick. "What, I can't hug my best bud ever?"
"I never said that," Nick teased. "Just don't come flying at me and make us both pay for it, silly."
"I can live with those terms," Maylin commented before pulling Nick into her arms, hugging him tightly as if she never wanted to let go. "You are feeling better, right, Nick? We were so worried about you when you ran off..."
"I just needed a pep talk from someone," Nick answered. "And I promise, if we ever run into that Omen thing again, it's gonna regret ever messing with me."
Maylin just smiled, happy to have her friend back.
"So, who did you talk to?" Haruka wondered.
"My daughter."
Maylin did a swift double take at that. "Wait just a minute here, you've got a kid?!"
"Well, in the future, I do," Nick stated. "Lily's that girl that saved my bacon when Axel attacked me back in Heatherfield, and she's my daughter in the future. Basically, Organization XIII came from her time, and she jumped back alongside them so we can take them down before they ever become a threat. I have no idea why they're back here, but that's why we've gotta stop 'em."
"Like that one I scared off before we came running," Maylin proclaimed, looking rather proud of herself. "One of them was running away from something, and I basically sent him running for the hills by threatening to bring down all of my wrath."
"Y-you're scary, you know that?"
Maylin immediately spun around, her gaze trained on Demyx, who had just appeared at the edge of the field.
"What did I tell you, jerk?!" Maylin growled.
"I-I know, but I have my orders," Demyx stammered. "Much as I hate the idea of messing with someone who terrifies me so badly, I n-need to do my civic duty and bring 'him' in. N-Now, what did they say to do?"
"Excuse me?" Nick quipped.
Demyx reached into his pocket, where a hand-written note was waiting. "Hmmm... 'If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition.' Right... jeez, they really picked the wrong guy for this job..."
"You're bizarre, you know that?" Yuuki groaned.
Demyx didn't respond, just raising his hands and summoning his weapon, the sitar Arpeggio. As he began to play on it, a horde of strange water creatures began to appear all around him.
"Okay, that's different!" Haruka exclaimed.
Nick decided not to waste time talking, rushing over and slashing hard with Processor Unit, cutting down a few of the water forms.
Maylin spun Counterpoint around before casting Thundaga, cutting a swath through the horde of water forms.
Haruka leaped into the air and came down swinging, slamming Rumbling Rose into the ground and unleashing a pink shockwave that obliterated even more water forms.
Even Yuuki got into the act, dashing around with incredible speed and grace and slicing down water forms left and right with her sword.
Once the first swarm was cut down, more water clones formed, only these ones had wings and immediately took to the sky.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Maylin shouted. "You water bastards can't just grow freakin' wings and chicken out when you're getting stomped!"
Yuuki just smirked, activating her own Imp wings and taking to the sky to meet the flying water clones head-on. Even in the air, Yuuki fought with the same fluidity and grace she showed on land, destroying the water clones left and right with each swing of her sword.
It wasn't much longer before Demyx stopped playing and summoning more clones. "I told them I wasn't cut out for this..." Demyx sighed before vanishing via corridor of darkness.
"Yeah, run, coward," Maylin groaned.
"Guy's a broken record, honestly," Haruka sighed.
"Guess all we can do is keep moving until we find some answers," Nick stated. "Let's move out, everyone."
"Follow me, you guys. I know just the place!" Yuuki stated, activating her wings and taking off, leaving the keyblade wielders to catch up.
Yuuki led them through many different areas, eventually settling on what they read as "floor twenty-two", the journey finally ending at a small lakeside house.
"Say, you guys?" Yuuki wondered. "Do you know anything about those weird monsters that kept attacking us on the way here? I didn't think that monsters could suddenly start attacking us in what's supposed to be a safe zone. You think the developers might have bugged something up?"
"Those aren't monsters from the game," Nick instantly answered. "Those were Heartless, creatures born from the darkness of people's hearts."
"How long have they been around here?" Maylin wondered.
"Honestly, only a couple days," Yuuki replied. "After me and my friends cleared the floor twenty-eight boss fight, a lot of players kept saying something about a glitch that let monsters into safe zones."
"It was the Heartless, then," Haruka quipped. "They're not bound by this world's limitations, sadly."
As the group approached the house, Yuuki was the first to notice a strange occurrence in the sky just above the forest house.
"Hey, are my eyes weirding out again, or is there a giant keyhole in the sky?" Yuuki wondered.
Nick immediately summoned the Kingdom Key and aimed it for the keyhole, firing a beam of light into it and sealing it off with a loud click.
"Well, that's another keyhole down," Haruka stated.
"You guys see a lot of weird things on these adventures of yours, don't you?" Yuuki giggled.
"Oh, you haven't even seen half of the nonsense yet," Maylin laughed.
Nick gazed to his right, as he had caught something out of the corner of his eye. He saw a figure standing right next to the house's doorway, studying the house carefully and debating whether or not to force his way in.
"Those two look really strong..." Demyx groaned. "I swear, why do they send me out on missions like this when they clearly know that I'm not cut out for the really dangerous things?"
"YOU AGAIN!" Maylin shouted, scaring Demyx so badly that he fell back on his behind. "What the hell are you doing back here, jerk-face?!"
Demyx quickly picked himself up, trying to think of some way to save face. Thinking quickly, he composed himself and tried to appear jovial. "Hey, you guys are looking lively as always."
"You know, I'm curious. How'd a wimp like you make it into the Organization?" Haruka wondered.
"I bet you can't even fight," Maylin taunted. "You just hide behind your water clone things whenever things get ugly, am I right? Stop me if I'm wrong."
"You know, it's a bad idea to judge someone by appearance," Demyx proclaimed, trying to sound intimidating, only to immediately shrink back in reflexive fear of Maylin's anger. "Ooh, I told them they shouldn't have sent me... send the time-dude, or miss lightning witch, not me..."
Nick was honestly more confused than anything else. "Who... exactly, is this kook?"
"Hey, remember, Nick, the Organization's made of Nobodies," Haruka reminded. "No hearts, remember?"
"Oh, we do too have hearts," Demyx answered. "Don't be upset or anything."
"Oh, stop trying to fool us," Maylin groaned.
"And what, exactly, were you planning to do to Kirito and Asuna, ya weirdo?!" Yuuki challenged.
"My orders were to eliminate them if they got in my way, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stand a chance against them," Demyx admitted. "I keep saying that I'm not a fighting man. I'd rather have the others do my dirty work, like unleashing that specter thing and even that really cool music trick that..."
Demyx immediately decided to mentally backpedal a couple sentences, only to quickly realize, to his growing horror, that he'd inadvertently blabbed about something he probably shouldn't have. Just to be sure, he chanced a glance at Maylin, and her narrowed eyes were positively blazing with a fury he'd never seen in anyone before, not even Saix when he went berserk.
In all honesty, Demyx knew that he was completely screwed. "W-wait, that's not what I meant, I-I just, I didn't..."
"So you're the one who summoned that Omen thing?!" Maylin growled, her anger peaking as she summoned Counterpoint. "Ooh, I warned you, freak show, didn't I? I warned you, but you just refused to listen. I gave you one chance to walk away and leave us alone, and you freaking BLEW IT!"
Maylin spun Counterpoint in her hands, lightning crackling along its blade like it had been blessed by Zeus himself. "I'll give you one minute to pray, asshole, because you're not leaving this place alive."
Demyx, his mind made up, put on a hardened grin and narrowed his eyes, hoping to intimidate his opponents. "Silence, traitors."
Not waiting for any of them to respond, Demyx summoned Arpeggio to his hands and struck a show-tune pose, a spiral of water surrounding him as he did so.
"Don't think I'm intimidated, freak!" Maylin challenged.
"Dance, water, dance!" Demyx shouted, playing Arpeggio to summon a horde of his water clones, which immediately took to the sky.
"All right, I'm getting real sick of this," Maylin proclaimed, casting Thundaga and obliterating a fair chunk of the clones.
Yuuki wasted no time in unfurling her wings, only to be stopped by Nick. "Hey, can I try something, really quick?" Nick asked, to which Yuuki nodded. Nick let his hands rest on Yuuki's shoulders, concentrating on what he wanted most out of this moment. A ring of bright white energy surrounded the both of them.
"Harmonization Ready!" Nick shouted, the ring of light shattering around them and allowing Nick to sprout two pairs of wings from his back that resembled those of a mythical fairy creature.
"Let's do this," Nick proclaimed, taking to the skies alongside Yuuki. The two of them lashed out with their respective weapons, cutting down Demyx's clones left and right.
After a few minutes, no more water clones were summoned, and Maylin honestly looked disappointed. "Is that really all you've got?! Sorry to disappoint you, but that was pathetic!"
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but this concert's just getting started!" Demyx proclaimed, playing a few power cords on Arpeggio and causing geysers of water to erupt from the ground around him, forcing the four heroes to back away.
Even as Demyx continued to surround himself with water geysers, Nick and Yuuki were easily able to fly over them, thanks to their wings, and swoop down from above to attack the Melodious Nocturne.
"Special delivery!" Nick shouted before firing a Thunder spell directly downward to blast Demyx backwards.
"My turn!" Yuuki exclaimed, landing right in front of the dazed Demyx and immediately going on the offensive, readying her sword and stabbing outwards five times, creating a horizontal line down Demyx's chest. Yuuki spun around and stabbed out five more times, creating another line going the opposite way, both lines forming a sort of X. Finally, Yuuki reared back and thrust her sword forward with a loud battle cry, driving the point of her blade straight into the center of the X she'd formed with her earlier sword stabs. Purple light exploded around them as Mother's Rosario did its damage, sending Demyx flying into the nearby lake.
"That's what you get, jerk," Yuuki giggled.
"I don't think he's done yet," Nick quipped. Sure enough, Demyx jumped out of the lake, playing another cord that caused large bubbles to rain down onto the battlefield.
Maylin remedied this by casting Thundaga, the bolts of electricity clearing out any errant bubbles and shocking Demyx into a stunned state.
"RIOT!" Maylin shouted, and everyone took this as their cue to rush in and wail on Demyx while he couldn't move. After a few seconds, Demyx recovered and blasted everyone away with a wall of geysers.
"Come on, you guys, keep up with the beat, why don'tcha?" Demyx cackled, swinging Arpeggio in random directions. Each swing caused a pair of geysers to rise up in the direction of the swing, keeping the heroes from approaching him.
"Okay, I'm getting sick of this," Haruka groaned, slipping through a space in the geyser assault and slamming Rumbling Rose into the ground, causing the ground under Demyx to explode violently and deal some much-needed damage. "Nick, let's wail on him."
"You know it," Nick stated. Haruka reached out to touch Nick's shoulder as silver light exploded from his body. When it cleared, Nick was back in Valor Form, dual-wielding Rumbling Rose and Processor Unit.
Demyx picked himself up, realizing that he was probably about to get demolished, as Larxene had always said. Valor Form Nick quickly confirmed that for him as he went on the attack, slashing wildly with his dual keyblades and not giving Demyx a single chance to break out.
Eventually, Valor Form Nick finished his combo with Brave Beat, knocking Demyx into the air so he could leap after him and continue the assault. Demyx, in one last vain attempt to defend himself, raised Arpeggio to tank the incoming attack, but Valor Form Nick dashed those hopes with a Sonic End that destroyed Arpeggio.
Demyx collapsed to the ground, lamenting the loss of his weapon and just waiting for Valor Form Nick to end it.
"Say, Maylin? Why don't you do the honors?" Valor Form Nick asked.
Maylin smiled evilly, raising Counterpoint in anticipation. "Ooh, I'd be delighted," Maylin cackled, readying a super spell coin.
Demyx looked up at Maylin, holding out for one last hope, and tried his best to look apologetic.
"Don't even feed me that home-grown crap, buddy," Maylin proclaimed, not buying it for a second. "I gave you a chance, you know. I offered you a way out to save your ass, and you just couldn't let it go, could you?!"
"B-But I was just following orders!" Demyx exclaimed. "I didn't even wanna go on this stupid mission anyway!"
"Doesn't mean a damn thing!" Maylin shot right back. "You made Nick cry. And that, in my honest opinion, is unforgivable."
Maylin decided she was done talking, tossing the super spell coin into the sky and spinning Counterpoint dramatically.
"Hold fast to the ancient laws, and let magic be my guide! THUNDAJA!" Maylin shouted before striking the coin.
A circle of light beams surrounded Demyx, who was still trying to weasel his way out. Just then, multiple bolts of lightning began to bombard Demyx from all sides before three wicked thunderbolts cracked down all at once, followed by another bombardment of regular lightning bolts, and finishing with one final, bluish-white thunderbolt surging down into Demyx's body and causing a great explosion of electricity. Once the storm cleared, Demyx had finally had enough, slumping to his knees as his body faded back into darkness.
"And that's the end of you," Maylin proclaimed.
"What was all that?!" a new voice called out. Yuuki was the first to see her friends Kirito and Asuna make their way out of the house, no doubt being drawn by the commotion of the battle with Demyx.
"Oh, nothing to worry about," Yuuki giggled. "We just stomped on a bad guy."
"But this is a safe zone, right? Monsters shouldn't be able to get in here," Kirito quipped. "Unless they're some of those glitched-out monsters that people have been seeing lately..."
"It's a long story, honestly, but short-hand, the game's not glitched," Maylin stated. "We just sent the guy responsible packing... well, I did, at any rate."
"That was surprisingly brutal, even for you, Maylin," Haruka laughed once she and Nick had split back into themselves.
"Hey, the asshole deserved every last jolt of that!" Maylin countered. "No one makes my best friend cry and lives to brag about it!"
Kirito and Asuna just looked confused until Yuuki decided to say something. "Oh, Asuna, these are the friends I kept telling you about, the ones I met while I was gone!"
Asuna had been quite confused when Yuuki had shown up one day and began talking about the adventures she'd had while stuck in the Heartjewel, as she was the only one in this world who remembered that their world had been swallowed by darkness.
"And boy, do I have a lot of stories to tell you!" Yuuki giggled.
The little fairy that had been perched on Kirito's shoulder began to fly around, noticing something curious about the trio.
"Daddy, I don't see any information on these three," Yui stated.
"That's because we're not really from this world," Nick answered. "Like I said earlier, it's a pretty long story."
Suddenly, Yui's tiny body began to glow with a bright light. "W-what is this, now?" Yui gasped. Nick just nodded to his comrades, holding Processor Unit out.
Energy began to gather around Processor Unit's teeth, before eventually absorbing into the ground below Nick and creating the shape of a crown under his feet. As wind began to swirl around Nick's body as he channeled his power, the glow surrounding Yui created a wave of light that eventually formed into a large keyhole in the sky.
Nick jumped back, spinning Processor Unit a few times before aiming and firing a beam of light from the keyblade into the keyhole. Reality seemed to shatter in a large circle around the keyhole, lines of light flowing into it before creating a bright flare that caused the keyhole to disappear.
"Whoa, talk about a light show, eh?" Yuuki laughed.
"A new road is open," Nick proclaimed. "Which means we've got more worlds to help out."
"A hero's work is never done, after all!" Maylin stated heroically.
"It's just what we do best," Haruka admitted. "We've got quite a bit of experience in that field."
"Hey, if you're gonna go, take this with you," Yuuki replied, dashing over to Nick and handing him a small charm. "I think it'll be more useful in your hands."
Nick, like clockwork, attached the charm to his keyblade and watched it transform into a new keyblade. The main body and handle resembled Yuuki's sword, though the larger yellow diamond was replaced by a purple heart. The teeth of the blade was a purple heart with two wings based on the personal symbol of Yuuki's guild, the Sleeping Knights, the handle guard was shaped like Yuuki's Imp wings, and the keychain was an Imp symbol connected to the base by a long chain that resembled Yuuki's headband. The words Absolute Sword ran through Nick's mind as he studied the weapon.
"Well, you guys have fun out there, okay?" Yuuki stated. "And be sure to call every once in a while!"
"Will do!" Nick exclaimed as the trio began to make for the nearby clearing.
"Hey, Maylin?" Asuna asked, stopping Maylin in her tracks.
"What's up?" the young mage asked.
Maylin was expecting Asuna to ask any one of a myriad of questions... anything other than what she did ask.
"You love him, don't you?"
Maylin's face instantly heated up at that seemingly innocent comment. After a few seconds of debate, Maylin sighed in acceptance.
"...yeah. Yeah, I do," Maylin answered. "I know it sounds weird, especially when I've only known him for a little over a year at this point, and he's got a girlfriend waiting for him back home, but..."
Maylin looked up towards the sunset sky, casually spinning Counterpoint in her hand. "He's been so good to me, honestly. Haruka and I were really all he had for most of our past adventure. I was just so happy to finally make another friend after I lost everything that I had, that I... guess I just didn't question if it was love or just really super-strong friendship."
Maylin sighed again, glancing at her reflection in Counterpoint. "But I guess I was just fooling myself in the end. Nick kept on gushing about how much he was crushing on Cornelia, and I teased him a lot about it. Though I never meant any harm by it, now I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe... I was doing it to hide how I really felt. I didn't know if I had a chance with him, so when he finally got his chance to confess to Cornelia, I kinda egged him into confessing. I mean, I'm glad it worked, but..."
Maylin turned back to Asuna and her knowing gaze. "...sometimes I still wonder what might have been. Am I weird for thinking that?"
"Not at all," Asuna answered. "If there's anything I've learned from my time with Kirito, it's that you can't really control who you fall in love with, after all. Love just happens sometimes, even in the most unlikely of situations."
"Do you guys think I should ever tell him?" Maylin asked.
"I'd think that should be your decision," Yuuki replied. "If he cares about you, and I know he does, he'll understand. After all, you three have an unbreakable bond, right?"
"Yeah," Maylin giggled, turning on her heel and rushing off to catch up with her friends.
"Another world down!" Maylin proclaimed, taking her usual seat at the cockpit. "We're really rolling, aren't we?"
"All in a day's work, right?" Haruka laughed. "Shall we be off to our next destination, then?"
"You're the pilot," Nick teased.
"Darn tootin' I am," Haruka laughed.
Maylin glanced back at Nick, unable to stop a sudden blush from highlighting her cheeks. Now's not the time, Maylin, she thought. I'll tell him later, when we're done with this whole adventure. Besides, I need time to think about just HOW I'm going to tell him...
Thankfully, Maylin was saved from distractions about her sudden revelation when she noticed something appear on the map screen.
"Hey, did a new world appear already?" Maylin wondered.
"Actually, I think we're getting a call from the Pretty Cures," Haruka answered. "Fortune's saying that she found something that we might need to see. Shall we go check it out?"
"I reiterate, you're the pilot," Nick laughed.
"Good to know we're all clear on that," Haruka teased. "Let's go see what the hubbub's all about, then!"
Haruka returned to the controls, piloting the Gummi Ship towards the Blue Sky Kingdom.
"Hey, guys, what's the skinny?" Maylin asked once the trio had entered the Restoration Committee headquarters. "You said you found something that might interest us?"
Cure Fortune, currently the only one in the room, looked up as the trio walked up. "Actually," Cure Fortune answered, holding up a strange-looking book. The cover displayed four high-school age girls with a fifth, slightly older girl with pink hair flying near them on what appeared to be an old Vespa scooter.
"A book?" Haruka quipped.
"A magical book," Cure Fortune answered. "Apparently, there's a whole world inside the pages of this book. And since I've heard you guys have dealt with magical storybook worlds before, I figured you'd be the best ones to call about this one."
"Well, say no more," Nick proclaimed. "If I must investigate, then investigate I must."
Cure Fortune couldn't help but burst into laughter. "W-what cheesy television show did that line come from?" Cure Fortune laughed.
"Ah, an old detective drama from my world," Nick admitted. "Long story."
Cure Fortune steadied herself so she could open the storybook. Green light shined outwards from the pages and created a small vortex that eventually pulled Nick into it.
"What the heck is Sudo's problem, anyway?! He was way louder than any of us were!" Kana Koumoto proclaimed. "That really pisses me off."
Every day just drifts off into an orange light.
"Yeah, he really should take it down a notch," Man 'Mossan' Motoyama responded.
It's too bright for my migraine or my eyes that are swollen from crying all night.
"Yeah, but he's just a big wimp on the inside," Hijiri Yajima replied, still gazing at the image on her phone.
...but familiarity can be a novelty.
"Oh, wait, what exactly was Sudo going on about, anyway?" Kana asked.
"You mean the post-graduation stuff?" Tomomi 'Pets' Hetada answered.
"Yep," Kana groaned. "Seriously, how are we supposed to know exactly what we wanna do with our lives right stinkin' now?! Let's be real here, we've only been alive seventeen years, so how would we know that?"
So even if tomorrow is just a gathering of yesterdays, cracked and tangled...
"Besides, your grades are just average, and when it comes to sports, you're barely mediocre," Pets teased, the smile never leaving her face.
"Hey!" Kana sniped back. "I'll have you know that the ping-pong club says one of the hardest things to be in life is average."
"I'm planning to marry rich," Hijiri admitted, scrolling through the pictures on her phone. "Maybe to a basketball player, or how about a famous rapper? I could totally see myself doing that."
...like my favorite nail art and worn out loafers...
"Like Kardashian did?" Mossan quipped.
"Sure, why not?" Hijiri giggled.
Kana yawned and stretched before lying back down on Mossan's lap. "You know what I'd like?" Kana asked. "I'd like to be visited by something cool, like a talking cat. Then, I'd get, like, a magical wand."
Unknowingly, Kana had no idea just how right she was about her wish.
...in this city, I will...
Nick glanced around the city as he continued to explore. This was definitely nothing like the world inside the Pipo Storybook had been, which had mostly consisted of short stays in the Travel Station before going out to fight one of the Freaky Monkey Five and eventually Specter.
"There's a whole city here," Nick quipped. "How exactly do entire worlds get stuck inside books? That's what I want to know."
Nick glanced towards a restaurant just across the street, where Kana was waving goodbye to her friends.
"So, I'll see you all at the community center after work!" Kana exclaimed to her friends.
As Kana turned to walk into the restaurant, her eyes met Nick's.
"Oh, hey," Kana stated. "You new around here? You've kinda got that 'new guy in town' look about you."
"Well, you could say that," Nick laughed.
Before Kana could ask Nick where he'd come from, several spheres of darkness surrounded them and formed into angel-like Heartless with two pairs of golden wings made of two large wings and two smaller wings attached to the top of them, all the wings kept on with two bright yellow orbs at the joints. Their bodies were made of transparent glass that formed the shape of a bell, housing a filament that resembled the jagged jawlines of many other Heartless. The bell body rested on a tapering blue-colored stand which ended in a spike and was decorated with two pale gold rings. The top of the glass was covered with a blue cap, on top of which was a tear shaped gold topper which featured three shining bright gold dots towards the bottom resembling eyes, and the top end of it was curled in a manner reminiscent of the hats of several other types of Heartless.
"W-what the heck are those things?!" Kana exclaimed.
One of the Angel Stars floated over to slash at Kana with its wings, but Nick was quicker on the draw, summoning Absolute Sword to his hands and ripping through the Angel Star with a Blitz attack, something he hadn't done in a while.
"Fantastic, there's even Heartless in a book," Nick groaned. "Just my luck."
"Um... sorry, but I'm confused," Kana sighed.
"I would be, too," Nick admitted. "Just stay back there where it's safe while I clean house here."
Three Angel Stars surrounded Nick in a triangle formation, but Nick simply let them get close before blasting them all away with a Ripple Drive.
Nick leaped to attack another Angel Star, only for it to fold its wings across its body and cause Nick's attack to bounce right off.
"Oh, that's just cheap," Nick growled, leapfrogging off the Angel Star in question and slashing at its back to get it to drop its makeshift shield.
As another cluster of Angel Stars approached him, Nick raised Absolute Sword and cast Thundaga, only for the Angel Stars to absorb the electricity and fire it at him all at once.
The bolts all converged and exploded, creating a large crater where they struck. Kana looked up to see that Nick had jumped to dodge the attack.
"Okay, not using that on these things again," Nick quipped before falling down with a spinning buzzsaw attack that cut down two more Angel Stars.
One of the Angel Stars began to glow green, and Nick, after seeing a green circle of light underneath him, decided to beat it and attack the Angel Star in question just as the green circle exploded into an upwards tornado.
A few seconds later, and all the Angel Stars were destroyed, allowing Nick to rest Absolute Sword on his shoulder and hope he hadn't freaked Kana out too much.
"Am I all clear now?" Kana asked, peeking out from behind a pillar.
"Yeah, they're all gone," Nick responded. "Sorry if I scared you."
"Hey, I've seen weirder," Kana admitted. "Like that one time Pets kept messing with the TV settings. What even was that abomination?!"
Kana brushed her shirt off before extending her hand. "By the way, my name's Kana Koumoto."
"Nick Kelly," Nick answered, shaking Kana's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to be met," Kana giggled. "Say, you hungry?"
"I could go for a bite," Nick stated.
Kana turned around to head back into the restaurant, only to seemingly freeze completely in mid-step.
In fact, everything around with the exception of Nick seemed to have frozen in time. Nick took a step closer and reached out to touch Kana's forehead, see if that would get her going again...
...only to be blasted far away by an invisible force.
When Nick was able to regain his bearings, he found himself back in the Blue Sky Kingdom, just outside the Restoration Committee HQ. Maylin and Haruka had their keyblades drawn and were fending off a pair of Nightwalkers while Cure Fortune was staring down a Pagemaster.
"What just happened?" Nick wondered, quickly re-summoning Absolute Sword.
"These freakin' Heartless jumped us and damaged the book!" Maylin exclaimed.
"They took a bunch of the pages and chickened out," Haruka continued.
"No wonder everything froze there," Nick stated. "Well, let's take these guys out of the picture so the book doesn't get any more damaged."
"Oh, I'm all over it," Maylin laughed. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! THUNDAGA!"
Several bolts of lightning rained down to obliterate the Nightwalkers, leaving Cure Fortune to prepare herself as the Pagemaster threw a bunch of its razor-sharp pages towards her.
Cure Fortune leaped into the air, starlight gathering in her hands.
"Fortune Starfall!" Cure Fortune proclaimed, landing on the ground and slamming her palm into the concrete. This motion unleashed a shockwave of purple stars that eliminated the Pagemaster and its wayward pages.
"And that's that," Cure Fortune stated. "You should probably go back in and see if everyone in there is okay, Nick."
"That was the plan for sure," Nick replied as Cure Fortune picked up the damaged book and held it open. Only the first chapter of the book was seemingly still intact.
Green light shined outwards from the pages and created a small vortex that eventually pulled Nick into it.
When Nick found himself back in the city, night had fallen, but everything seemed normal.
Despite this, Nick kept his guard up, knowing that if the Heartless could attack in here, then trouble could still show up at any moment.
In fact, just as Nick was thinking about it, something fell from the sky and crashed down through the roof of the nearby community center.
When he saw emerald electricity crackling around the tip of the "pin" that had fallen and travel towards the ground, Nick made that his incentive to summon Absolute Sword and sprint towards the chaos.
When he reached what was left of the community center, the first thing Nick noticed was a gigantic Heartless monster, with a comically oversized mouth being most of its body, with a small action figure-like head and a mass of metal pipes and tentacles holding it aloft.
And it had its mouth open wide as it rushed forward, attempting to take a bite out of a fleeing Kana.
Nick quickly decided he wasn't having any of that, raising his free hand and casting a wide-range Stopga spell that completely froze the Metal Mouth where it was.
While Kana and her friends watched in a mix of shock and awe, Nick rushed forward so fast it appeared he was gliding over the floor and unleashed a storm of lightning-fast slashes on the Metal Mouth's head.
The entire area was silent for a few seconds, just waiting, until the Stopga spell wore off and the damage was inflicted, sending the Metal Mouth flying backwards into what remained of a nearby wall.
"No friend-chomping while I'm around, freak boy," Nick taunted even as the Metal Mouth picked itself up and roared at him. "Oh, shut up."
With that, Nick charged the Metal Mouth, juking to the side to avoid a bite before landing a resounding slash across its side.
"Hey, isn't that the boy you were telling us about?" Hijiri wondered.
"Yeah, the kid with the giant key who saved you from angels?" Mossan quipped.
"I might not have believed it if it wasn't coming from you, Kana-bun," Pets giggled.
"H-hey, what does that mean?!" Kana shot back.
Nick leaped over a low tentacle sweep before rushing in to stab at the Metal Mouth's face, only for it to open its mouth and clamp its teeth down over Nick's keyblade.
To the girls' surprise, however, Nick simply smiled.
"Wrong move, metal breath," Nick taunted, switching his keyblade to Oblivion and summoning Oathkeeper into his free hand before leaping up to stab Oathkeeper into one of the Metal Mouth's eyes, causing it to jerk back in agony and release his other hand.
Nick took a step back before charging back into the fray and laying into the Metal Mouth with both keyblades, attacking with a left slash with Oathkeeper, then a right slash with Oblivion, followed by a spinning attack with both keyblades. Nick continued his attack with an upward slash with Oathkeeper, a downward spike with Oblivion, and finishing the combo with a double forward thrust, digging into the Metal Mouth like a drill.
The Metal Mouth began to march forward, only for Nick to leap into the air and pressed the attack with two quick slashes to either side followed by a somersaulting attack with both keyblades, keeping the Metal Mouth away from him.
"Look at him go!" Kana exclaimed.
Nick ducked under another bite attack, only to realize too late that the Metal Mouth had taken advantage of that to once again go after Kana.
"Get back here!" Nick growled, turning around to chase after the Metal Mouth.
Only this time, a girl with spiky pink hair and yellow eyes burst through one of the still-intact windows and literally kicked Kana away from the Metal Mouth, sending her crashing into a wall.
"Oh, it's pink hair," Hijiri quipped.
"My bad!" Haruko proclaimed. "Is she dead?"
Haruko looked up at the Metal Mouth even as it swung its tentacles at her, forcing her to leap around the debris until bouncing off the wall to hip check the Metal Mouth in the face, bending its upper jaw back.
"So... hard!" Haruko shouted as she continued to do battle with the Metal Mouth while Pets attempted to awaken a dazed Kana.
"Mind if I cut in?" Nick teased, swinging both of his keyblades low to sweep out the Metal Mouth's tentacle legs so Haruko could strike its face with an overhead drop kick.
Suddenly, a pulse of energy caught Haruko's attention, and she looked over to Kana, who was clutching her head as if in pain.
"Ow... it hurts... what is this?!" Kana gasped as something sprouted from her head, only to turn into a glowing pink flower.
"Damn you!" Haruko exclaimed as she ripped out one of the Metal Mouth's figure head eyes, only to casually toss it aside. "Ew, gross."
The Metal Mouth seemed to react to this, twitching its head before something broke through its head and shot into the sky.
Soon enough, the Metal Mouth began to expand itself, growing swiftly in size until it demolished what remained of the community center.
Now, the Metal Mouth was completely different, having become a large dragon-like head with at least eight tentacles sprouting from its head, being held up by comically-oversized robotic legs.
"Whoa, this is right out of a kaiju movie," Mossan stated.
"But this is real... isn't it?" Hijiri gasped.
Pets decided to just take a few pictures of the Metal Mouth until Haruko leaped down to in front of them, Nick following closely behind.
"Definitely didn't expect that," Haruko admitted. "I figured it'd get bigger, but not that much bigger."
"Oh, trust me, I've seen my fair share of kaiju," Nick quipped.
"Hey, wait, aren't you that girl who showed up at the soba shop yesterday?" Kana gasped when she realized she'd seen her before.
"Yep. Haruhara Haruko's the name," Haruko answered. "Space Investigator! Member of the Brotherhood of Galactic Police!"
Everyone just looked at Haruko like she was nuts.
"Wait, space what?" Hijiri asked.
"Dunno," Mossan admitted.
"Heh, she said 'space' twice," Pets laughed.
"All right, now back to what's actually happening," Haruko quipped. "Here's the skinny: if we're gonna beat that thing up there, I need that thingy."
Haruko pointed to the flower sprouting from Kana's head.
"Wait, what?" Kana gasped.
"Pay no attention to little ol' me, this won't hurt a bit!" Haruko cackled. Naturally, she reached out to grab hold of the flower and start pulling it out, causing everybody else to start fretting.
Eventually, Haruko yanked the flower completely out of Kana's head, where it transformed into a guitar, of all things.
"Holy crap, this is... a 1967-model Mustang!" Haruka gasped before revving it up. "MAMA LIKE!"
The Metal Mouth turned its attention back to Haruko, growling threateningly.
"Hey, key kid," Haruko stated. "You up for another round?"
"As many rounds as it takes," Nick quipped, brandishing both Oathkeeper and Oblivion.
("Star Overhead" by The Pillows plays)
With that, Nick and Haruko charged into the fray even as the Metal Mouth began to swing its many tentacles.
Haruko parried most of the tentacles with her Mustang, allowing Nick to get in close and slash at the Metal Mouth's legs, causing it to stumble slightly.
"Yeah, rock it!" Haruko shouted, leaping off a tentacle before coming down with a flying slash that severed it cleanly. Nick leapfrogged off of Haruko's shoulders so he could get enough height to fire a Thunder spell directly into the Metal Mouth's face.
Haruko squeaked slightly as one of the Metal Mouth's tentacles brushed against her, though she quickly batted it aside. "Damn it, don't you dare get cocky just because you're so much bigger now!" Haruko shouted. "We're gonna cut you down to size!"
Haruko leaped off of another tentacle strike to propel herself towards the Metal Mouth's head.
"HEADS UP!" Haruko exclaimed, slamming her Mustang into the Metal Mouth's head so hard that its legs and tentacles broke off from it.
"Hey, key boy, wanna deliver the finishing blow?" Haruko offered.
"You know it," Nick quipped as Haruko swung her Mustang hard enough to send Nick flying downwards. Just before hitting the ground, Nick thrust both Oathkeeper and Oblivion into the Metal Mouth's head, causing the beast to explode rather violently.
Kana could only stare at a lone bottle, all that remained of the bottle rocket they'd worked so hard to build.
"It's shattered, just like your fragile teenage dreams," Haruko quipped, casually picking up the bottle and tossing it back to Kana. "Look at it this way. All you gotta do is rebuild it."
Kana looked up at Haruko, realizing that she was right. "Yeah," Kana replied.
Almost the instant Nick landed, everything around him froze in time again. "Okay, what gives? Did the Heartless attack the book again?!" Nick groaned.
"The world froze, because the rest of the story's missing," Haruko quipped.
"Oh, yeah, the pages those dumb Heartless stole..." Nick realized. "And I assume this world won't 'play' again until I come back with another page?"
"Pretty much," Haruko stated. "When a page comes back, so will the world for however long that chapter lasts."
"And... what are you gonna do, Haruko?" Nick asked. "Being the only one besides me that can do anything here while the story's on hold?"
"Heh, whatever the heck I want," Haruko cackled before setting off for parts unknown, leaving Nick all on his own.
"What a strange girl," Nick quipped. "But as long as she's on my side, I guess I'm not gonna complain."
With his job done for now, Nick raised his keyblade to transport him out of the storybook.
"All done, fearless leader?" Maylin asked once Nick had leaped out of the book again.
"For now, anyway," Nick replied. "Haruko told me pretty much exactly what I suspected, that we're gonna have to find the torn pages that the Heartless stole to complete the storybook and set things right over there."
"Looks like a hero's work is never done, huh?" Cure Fortune laughed. "I assume you guys will be back soon?"
"The instant we find a page," Nick stated. "I don't wanna keep Kana-bun and her friends worrying."
"'Kana-bun'?" Haruka giggled.
"It's a nickname one of her friends gave her," Nick responded.
As Nick began to explain what had occurred inside the storybook, he'd just missed Maylin glancing wistfully at him.
Red gazed out at the vistas that spread before him. All of this would have been his to control, had it not been for those pesky Pretty Cures and the keyblade wielders.
However, he was ready for them this time. He still had no clue how he'd been brought back (he believed his new self-proclaimed "lieutenant" had something to do with that), but he wouldn't waste this second chance.
"And? What of the other ones?" Red asked.
"Hell if I know," Black Fang answered, pacing around the raised platform in the center of the room. "They must have had other things to take care of."
"'Things', you say?" Red growled, turning to face Black Fang. "You mean those dullards have more important affairs to tend to than my resurrection?!"
"Well, to be honest, there's this strange group called 'Organization XIII' that keeps getting in our way..." Black Fang started.
"Let those fools play their dumb game, then," Red proclaimed. "They are of no consequence to us."
"On top of all that, those keyblade-swinging brats that defeated you are still mucking about the worlds," Black Fang continued. "They've been a royal pain, as well."
Red smirked evilly. "Have they, now? Very well, then, Black Fang. Perhaps you should inform me of what has happened during my absence."
"Is there anything you can do, Your Majesty?" Cornelia asked.
"I still do not understand what has cut us off from the rest of the universe," Himerish answered. Like the Guardians, he, too, was trying to find the source of whatever dark spell or curse was isolating Candracar from the rest of the multiverse.
"This is annoying me now," Irma groaned. "Why does trouble keep popping up at every turn?!"
"We're the Guardians of the Veil," Hay Lin replied. "Trouble honestly attracts to us like the world's biggest magnet."
"That definitely sounds like something Nick would say," Taranee laughed.
Before Will could offer her two cents on the matter, a surge of dark energy suddenly radiated throughout the entirety of the Congregation Hall, driving the Guardians to their knees. As this happened, evil green thorns began to grow like wildfire across the hall, completely shrouding the light that usually shined from above.
"What the heck's happening?!" Irma shouted.
"And what was with that surge of darkness?" Will wondered. "Could it be the same as whatever's keeping us isolated?"
Suddenly, pools of darkness began to open up on the floor, spawning Heartless from them, mostly Neoshadows and Soldiers.
"Ack! How'd they get in?! Isn't the Veil supposed to be keeping them out?!" Irma exclaimed.
One of the Neoshadows rose into the air, and began spinning through the air while aiming straight for the surprised Hay Lin. Cornelia wasn't having any of that, however, dashing over to plant herself firmly in front of Hay Lin. As the Neoshadow continued on its spiral, Cornelia summoned Earthshaker to her hands, performing a wide vertical slash that destroyed the Neoshadow easily.
"Sorry, dark boys, but you'll have to do better than that," Cornelia giggled.
Not waiting for the Heartless to come to her, Cornelia began practically dancing around the Congregation Hall, swinging Earthshaker left and right to take out any Heartless that dared get close to her, wiping them out one by one with grace and fluidity.
Once the swarm was cleared away, Himerish rose to his full height and summoned his own keyblade, the Master Keeper.
"We must call the wielders of the keyblade to Candracar quickly," Himerish proclaimed. "We may need their help to deal with whatever is happening."
Himerish swung the Master Keeper towards the thorn-covered skylight, chains of golden light exploding from the keyblade's teeth and flying through the holes between the thorns.
"Well, guess it's time to head out on another trip," Haruka quipped, taking the controls of the Gummi Ship.
"Here's hoping we don't get sidetracked again," Maylin stated, only for the ship's radar system to start beeping.
"I think you jinxed it, Maylin," Nick quipped as Haruka checked the readings.
"Did we find a new world?" Maylin asked.
"Hold on just one minute," Haruka proclaimed. "That's Candracar! I thought we'd lost it when it disappeared earlier!"
"Hey, yeah, why is it back all of a sudden?" Maylin quipped.
"Um, maybe because of that?!" Nick exclaimed, pointing out towards where Candracar rested in the Lanes Between. The temple was surrounded by a vortex of jet-black darkness that appeared to be slowly closing in on the actual temple.
"W-what the hell?!" Maylin exclaimed. "What's happening there?!"
"We're not going to find out by just sitting here," Haruka proclaimed, turning the Gummi Ship around and making it fly straight for Candracar. "Let's go check things out."
To be continued...
New Harmonization acquired!
Spreading Wings
Drive Gauge Points Needed: 2
Purpose: Sprout wings to take on airborne threats and make overworld navigation much easier.
New keyblade acquired!
Absolute Sword
Strength: 9
Magic: 5
Ability: Wind Boost
Description: A keyblade representing the swordswoman who refuses to be defeated by fate. A strong weapon that boosts the effectiveness of Aero-based spells and attacks by 20%.
EXTRA NOTE: Big thanks again to Lonnie Lonnster/AlexisRhodes74 for designing this keyblade!
On the next episode...
Nick: Well, it looks like big trouble's brewing next episode!
Maylin: That's an understatement, Nick! Why is the darkness threatening Candracar?!
Haruka: I guess it's up to us to figure things out.
Maylin: Gah, there's Heartless everywhere, which shouldn't be happening because of the Veil! Man, what else could go wrong?!
Nick: How about the return of one of our old enemies?
Maylin: Oh, crap, not this nutball again!
Nick: Next time on W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart II, "The Waves of Time"!
Nick, Maylin, & Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!