Episode One: The Beginning
Part 1-7
They went halfway into the alleyway, Arkanin stopped and inspected Ame.
"Damn. . . I'm no doctor. . ." Arkanin pouted. Arkanin placed Ame over her shoulders, allowing her to rest on her back. Although it was painful, it was the only way that Arkanin could resume fighting. Opposite Armor had not stopped following them.
"Blizzard!" Arkanin casted. It barely affected Opposite Armor. Arkanin summoned her Keyblade and glared at Opposite Armor, staying on the defensive so that Ame would not get hurt.
"Tigers!" Mikayla yelled to help Arkanin. She pulled her Keyblade out and transformed into a tiger and started to attack the heartless. "Arkanin, I have your back don't worry." Mikayla yelled to Arkanin.
Ame slowly opened her eyes and let out a soft moan. Where was she? She could tell that she was moving, but her mind was too groggy to try and figure out how that was possible. She waited until her brain was significantly less foggy. The memories came floating back through the mist of her brain, as she shot up, or tried to. Actually, all she managed to do was slip off of Arkanin's back a little.
"Huh? What happened?" she muttered, looking around. She heard the clash of weapons, which meant that giant heartless was still alive.
Arkanin had just deflected an attack when she heard Ame speak. She ran behind a sturdy box and let Ame off. She spent a moment analyzing Ame, and then looked down and began to tear up.
"YOU SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!" Arkanin yelled holding in tears, although unable to hold her feelings back. She took a moment to breath and then continued calmer, "Sowwy. . . Ame, be careful. Here's an extra elixir."
Arkanin jumped from behind the box and ran towards Opposite Armor.
"Hope, you feel better." Mikayla said to Ame trying to be nice. She charged after Opposite Armor and started to fight it, using her tiger instincts.
"Thanks," Ame said to both of them. She blinked in confusion a few times due to the fact that she still wasn't completely sure what was going on. Why were they in Mikayla's alley? Shrugging it off, she drank the elixir and jumped up with a lot more energy than she had before.
"Alrighty then! I'm ready for battle!" she shouted, a little messed up from the medicine. She aimed her Keyblade at the claw she had previously been attacking, resuming her old strategy.
"WATER! WATER!" she cried as two, short bursts came from her weapon and hit the heartless. It disappeared, but there were still two legs, one claw, and the body to deal with.
"Better stop with the spells," she said, her speech just a tad slurred. With that, she charged back into the battle, using her Keyblade to slice at the other claw.
Arkanin jumped up and attacked both of the feet at the same time. She managed to stare at Ame in amazement, she had never seen anyone able to spam that many spells. Even after drinking an ether or elixir.
Arkanin dodge rolled away from Opposite Armor and then jumped up. She made a running start and then jumped onto the wall, which she then kicked off of and attacked Opposite Armor, destroying a foot.
"Finally. I think we're making progress." Arkanin smiled, while resuming to beat down the other foot.
"I do think we are making perfect progress." Mikayla agreed with Arkanin. "Ame... remember don't use your spells a lot." Mikayla remembered Ame. Mikayla went for the opposite armor's hand and slashed and jabbed them until they were almost gone, which wasn't that quick. She was turned back into her normal form because the tiger transformation wore out. She yelled "thunder, thunder", then she summoned her spectral tigers and helped Arkanin with the feet.
"Don't worry. I won't," Ame said, shaking her head to clear out the dizziness she felt from the elixir. She focused her attacks on the other hand to help Mikayla. The hand began to attack more now that it's health points were low, swiping more often at Ame and Mikayla. Ame managed to roll out of the way most of the time, but occasionally, she wasn't as lucky.
Arkanin saw that Opposite Armor was slowly being defeated. She also no longer found the Shadows annoying.
Finally, Arkanin's back pain gave in, forcing her to jump behind the sturdy box.
"Arkanin, are you okay?" Mikayla asked Arkanin in a curious way. She looked at Ame and said, "Hey, can you get my back while I go help Arkanin?" Mikayla jumped on a hand and started to stab it and slash it. She was taking a risk at saving her friends. All of a sudden she was thrown off by the heartless and she hit the wall really hard, but she stood up and saw that her arm was broken and her head was in major pain. She was groaning, but she went to go fight with her arm completely broken. She was holding her arm a lot while she was fighting. "Ugh..... my arm! It hurts, I have to keep fighting." Mikayla pushed herself to help them fight. Still groaning, while she was in pain.
"Yeah. I'll try." Ame stopped what she was doing and ran over to where Mikayla was, trying to defend her, but was of absolutely no help when the heartless threw the other girl off. She then noticed that both Mikayla and Arkanin seemed to be injured.
"Hey! Are you guys okay?" she called.
"No..... I broke my arm really bad.... Uggh." Mikayla was groaning and complaining about her arm. "For, Arkanin I don't know really....Uggh....." Mikayla still struggling to get up and help her friends and not worry about her injury. She got up, "ugh..........", then all of a sudden she fell to the ground and was unconscious.
"What the!?" Arkanin twitched. "Nice, Mikayla, nice. . .Damn, here I go again. . ."
Arkanin emerged from behind her safety box, and ran to Mikayla. Instead of scooping her up or placing her on her shoulders, she simply dragged her by her leg and ran back behind the box.
She took the moment to place Mikayla over her shoulders and then yelled to Ame, "Ame, lets head over to your mom! We'll have to try to lose Opposite Armor though!"
"Alright!" Ame cried, racing over to Arkanin. "Come on."
She started to run in the direction of the library, but stopped and looked back at the two injured girls. "Are you sure you wanna carry her? You already spent all that energy lugging around me..."
"Well, you were very light. . . This chick weighs a ton though!" Arkanin smiled. She looked back at Opposite Armor, who was approaching somewhat fast.
"If you think you can carry her, be my guest." Arkanin stated, dropping her off of her shoulder and onto the ground. She gripped her Keyblade and stared at Mikayla, Ame, and then at Opposite Armor.
"Alright... I'll try," Ame said, a little nervously after she heard that Mikayla was heavy. She picked up the unconscious girl and heaved her onto her back, putting the other girl's arms around her neck for support.
"O-okay! I'm ready," she grunted, not used to carrying heavy objects.
Arkanin looked at Ame skeptically, but then said, "Let's go." Arkanin pointed her palms at Opposite Armor and casted, "Blizzard!"
Opposite Armor froze for a while, soon breaking the ice and charging towards them at a slower pace.
"Mikayla's an idiot. . ." Arkanin commented, beginning to run a lot slower than she usually did.
Ame followed, gritting her teeth.
"That's a rather mean thing to say," she managed to breathe out, but barely. She tried to urge her legs to run at their normal pace, but they couldn't support the combined weight.
"Sowwy. . ." Arkanin apologized. She looked at Ame and stated, "Well, I don't really mean it. . . I just feel like she's way too immature. . ."
Arkanin saw the library appear within her sight. She smiled and then said, "Oh, crap. Wouldn't your mom be mad that we're bringing a Heartless over to the library? It looks like it's catching up."
"Nah... Mom's got mad skills," Ame replied, without thinking. She was still a little loopy from the elixir. She glanced over Mikayla's unconscious body at the heartless, and shook her head again, trying to get rid of the strange feeling she had gotten from the medicine. This was serious.
Arkanin skid to a stop when they got in front of the library. She turned to Ame and smiled, "Get your mom."
"Hurry up. I'll stay close to the entrance and make sure that Opposite Armor doesn't ninja its way over here. . ." Arkanin smirked, gripping her Keyblade tightly.
"Alright," Ame replied to Arkanin and nodded, rushing inside the building.
"Mom!" she called, rushing through the aisle of books, searching for her.
"Yes?" she shouted back. Ame followed the sound of her voice to a group of shelves near the stairs. She skidded to a stop in front of her, breathing heavily, while still carrying Mikayla on her back.
"Umm... Sorry to bug you again, but another one of my friends broke their arm," the blunette admitted, sheepishly.
"Goodness gracious, Ame! What have you been doing all day? All of these injuries," the mother replied, shaking her head. "Set her down and get some gauze. I'll have a look at her."
"Thanks," Ame replied, carefully setting the unconscious girl down on a nearby chair. She then left to search for gauze, not running anymore due to exhaustion.
In the meantime, the elder woman knelt next to the Mikayla, examining her broken arm. She shook her head sympathetically, noticing that she was passed out too. Soon, Ame returned with the gauze and handed it to her mother.
"Thank you," Erika replied with a smile. She quickly wrapped Mikayla's arm in gauze so it would heal in the proper fashion. Once she was done, she pointed her finger at her arm and muttered the word, "Curaga."
A white light surrounded the girl's arm and healed it, but didn't wake her up from her sleep. Ame looked up at her mother, curiously.
"I thought she could use some rest," the raven-haired female replied with a kindly smile.
"Uh-huh," Ame said, her voice holding a note of skepticism in it.
"Uh-huh is right, young lady. And what's with your voice? Is it slurred? HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES!?!" the woman shouted, going into full "mom-mode".
Ame laughed nervously, a sheepish grin forming on her face. "Not alcoholic! It was an elixir, I swear, mom!"
Arkanin hopped over to where Ame and her mom was. She came in as soon as Ame's mom went "mom" on Ame. Arkanin hesitated to come closer, but did so anyway.
"Hey, Ame's mom. . .Yeah. . . " Arkanin smiled, contemplating whether to turn back or to stay.
"What the hell just happened?" Mikayla asked in a broken up voice. She stared at Ame's mom and yelled, "Who the hell are you, a mythical women?" Mikayla said to her, she stared at her longer then noticed that they were at the library. She turned to Ame and said, "Hey, so this is where you work, Ame? Interesting place so do you work here alone because if you do I am willing to work here." Mikayla gave Ame a big scary smile.
Luckily, for Ame, her mom never got a chance to reply due to the sudden commotion.
"Oh, hello there, Arkanin!" the black-haired female chirped. She then turned to Mikayla and smiled. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Ame's mom, Erika. I'm the librarian here, and no. I am not a mythical woman. I just read a lot."
She finished her explanation with a hearty chuckle before launching into another speech. "Would you really be interested in working here? I do hope that you won't scare away people like Ame does. She has such a rotten habit. Oh, by the way, how's your arm? Is it better?"
Ame's hand somehow ended up on her forehead in the midst of the speech as she rolled her eyes at her mother's long, pointless rant while a giant heartless was outside, terrorizing the town. She couldn't help but feel a sting at her heart when she heard Mikayla had shown an interest in volunteering there, as well as seeing the creepy smile. Ame Kuruma was the only creepy librarian in this town, but she said nothing, pretending it didn't bother her.
". . ." Arkanin stared at Ame's mom, wondering how she knew her name. Shaking that thought out of her head, she looked at Ame's mom and asked, "Hey, can you help me out with my back? I got hurt while carrying Ame. . . Er. . . Yeah."
Arkanin just remembered that Opposite Armor was outside, coming closer and closer every second.
"Uh. . . " Arkanin smiled. She looked at Mikayla and shot her a glare, "How's your leg--I mean your arm?"
"Um...my leg..." Mikayla asked Arkanin in a warily voice. "Umm... sorry ma'am, I didn't know that you were Ame's mom, sorry for calling you that, but you're daughter is very special she is very weird sometimes but is a lot of fun to hang out with. Um.. I would like to have a job here, but I don't think I have the time because I have to protect my alley, I really hate people who stay on my alleyway, oh yeah by the way my arm is doing a little bit fine now but my leg is starting to cramp though." Mikayla replied to Erika. "So... Ame it would be a privilege to work with you, but you should know my excuses right, um... Arkanin is your back okay sorry I was so heavy I had some Twinkies before I came to your house." Mikayla's smile was hyper and happy.
"Aww... If you're sure, there's always a job position open!" the mother replied with a smile. She then turned back to look at Arkanin.
"Sure thing! Can you straighten up your back up as much as possible first though?" the elder female questioned, rolling up her sleeves and preparing to cast the curing spell again.
Ame immediately felt bad for feeling slightly jealous and turned her gaze towards the floor in embarrassment.
Arkanin straightened up her spine and asked, "Like this. . . Ma'am?"
"Ame, look, I'm an inch taller!" Arkanin smiled. Her smile faded away as she remembered Opposite Armor. "Ack! Please, Ms. Kuruma, can you make this fast? We has to go!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Arkanin," Ame's mother replied, focusing on the healing spell.
"Yeah, I would like to go to it is kind of big and scary in here, never liked library's ever." Mikayla said to everybody, then she remembered what they were fighting then she said out loud, "Arkanin, Ame, is it still out there?" Mikayla started to question about Opposite Armor.
"Curaga!" she cried, a white light shooting out of her finger and surrounding Arkanin. She couldn't help but wonder what "it" is, but decided to ignore it for now. "Better?"
"I feel much better, thank you, Ame's mom." Arkanin smiled, stretching.
Ame glanced over at Mikayla. "Yeah. Unfortunately it is."
"Wait, it?" Arkanin responded, dumbfounded, "Oh. . . It. It. Haha. It. I know who it is! It's Opposite Armor! Yeah, I figured it out. . . I'm totally ninja that way."
Arkanin dropped her smile and said, "Um. . . Whoops. . . Anyway, we should get going. . ."
Mikayla slapped her face, "Damn, you Arkanin.... let's go."
Ame resisted the urge to slam her head against her desk in the dark corner. Freak out time.
The mother blinked twice. "Wait a second. You kids are going out there to fight a type of heartless by YOURSELVES!?!" she shouted in a shrill voice. "So, that's why you keep coming in with broken arms!"
At this point, Ame broke in, grabbing both Mikayla and Arkanin by the arms as she did so. "Hey, mom! We'd love to explain and everything, but we've got to go! Kay? Thanks. Bye."
With that, she tugged at the two girls' arms towards the door, hoping they could escape the wrath of her mother.
Arkanin literally ran to the door, scared of what her moment of stupidity would've caused. As soon as she arrived outside, she saw that Opposite Armor had just arrived. That gave them either the option to run again or to stay and fight. Arkanin thought that they would be better off facing Opposite Armor at least a mile away, but maybe that was because Arkanin was worried about Ame's mom.
"Don't you guys try to get away from me!" Erika shouted, taking a threatening step towards them.
Ame watched as Arkanin fled from the library. Now that was a good idea. She gave a sheepish grin and mumbled another apology before racing after her.
The mother let out a low growl as she glared after the two. Ame was so grounded if she lived through that battle. "And to think, I was the one who raised her! Who knew she'd turn out to be so disrespectful?" she grumbled.
"Well, then you don't know her that well, and the fact that I know her a lot when I just met her, scary!" Mikayla yelled to Ame's mom. She ran out of the library, then came out and saw opposite armor, "So we meet again? This time I assure you, I will kick your butt and then I will take your hands and feet and ball it up and throw you all the way to another planet!" Mikayla threatened.
Arkanin looked over at Mikayla and then to Ame.
"So. . . Anyone have any bright ideas? Because I don't. . ." Arkanin smiled, stupidly.
Ame smiled, the dazed expression back on her face. "I want to spam spells again."
She then snapped out of it, and shook her head furiously. Stupid elixir.
"Gah! Sorry. Still a little loopy," she explained, sheepishly. "Anyway, I say that each of us should focus on a part of it's body. The arm, the leg, and the main armor. Once the arm and the leg are destroyed, we should all team up and try to take down the main body."
"I want the leg, now I get my revenge, mwhahahahaha!" Mikayla laughed really loud in a weird creepy way. She looked around to Ame and Arkanin and glared at them for some odd reason. "So.....you guys ready....let's burn it!" She said in a creepy way.
"Hm. . . I'll get the hand I guess. Ame, you take the main armor down. We'll help you when we're done." Arkanin smiled. She ran towards the hand that was acting as a foot, spawning the Blade of Benevolence. When she was close enough, rolled towards it and attacked it.
Arkanin looked at it and cast, "Blizzard!" It only did minor damage, but it was trapped in ice.
"Alright! I'm on it!" Ame cried, charging forward. She did a move similar to the one when she had fought Arkanin, with a running jump, she slammed her Keyblade into the armor. Grunting, she managed to stay up in the air to finish up a combo before falling to the ground again. Luckily, she'd been expecting this and landed on her feet, then she jumped up to repeat her attacking methods.
"Awesome, Ame that was cool!" Mikayla yelled to Ame. She jumped up and went after the foot and slashed it and countered until she fell to the ground then she transformed into a tiger and went after the foot and started to use her tiger skills.
Arkanin repeatedly attacked the hand with quick speed. The hand broke out of its ice prison and knocked Arkanin's Keyblade away from her. Arkanin glared at the hand and then yelled, "You know what!? That's it!?"
Arkanin went into her bag and pulled out five shurikens and 3 kunais. She threw all of them at the hand, which were all direct hits. She ran up to the hand and kicked one of the kunais deeper in, causing the hand to disappear.
"There we go!" Arkanin cheered, the adrenaline rush fading away. She turned to where the main armor was, and ran towards it. She picked up her Keyblade on her way.
"Thanks, Mikayla!" Ame called. She then directed her attention towards Arkanin and smiled.
"Coming to help me out?" she asked, as she leaped up to attack the armor again. "With that leg gone, this heartless will have almost no way to attack us!" she thought with a smug smirk on her face.
"Okay, one more hit and this baby is gone." Mikayla yelled. She went to throw her last shot and got it, it disappeared when she hit it. "YES, I WIN. NEXT TIME I SEE YOU OR YOU SHOW UP, I WILL BURN YOU DOWN AND I WILL THROW THE REST OF THE PIECES TO DIFFERENT PLANETS, THEN I WILL MAKE SURE THEY ARE FAR AWAY WHERE YOU CAN'T REBULID YOURSELF, YOU STUPID OPPOSITE AMOR!" Mikayla yelled in victory but still threatening opposite armor. Then she looked around at Ame and Arkanin and giggled evil, she smiled also which was evil as can be!
Arkanin ignored Mikayla, knowing that saying anything would provoke something bad or just make her worse. She smiled at Ame and then turned to Mikayla and said, "I say we tag team this Heartless! All at once!"
Arkanin gripped her Keyblade tightly and then laughed. She backed away from Opposite Armor and looked at her partners.
Ame smirked and nodded at Arkanin. "Good idea!" she agreed, backing up as well. She focused on the metal armor, preparing for another running attack. This time, she'd try to hit it as hard as she could.
"Okay, I am ready!" Mikayla looked at her team mates and nodded really hard and big. She pulled out her Keyblade and started to grip it hard, then she transformed into a tiger and was ready now.
When everyone was ready, they all charged towards Opposite Armor's main armor.
Arkanin swung her Keyblade at Opposite Armor, aiming for the chest area. At the same time, Ame swung vertically and hit mostly Opposite Armor's mid-section. Mikayla clawed the stomach area.
Then, the armor collapsed, literally exploding out of existence. Arkanin looked at her partners and smirked, "That was cool. . ."
"You know what? I think we're pretty damn epic. We make such an awesome team." Arkanin smiled, as she sat on the ground.
"Yeah!" Ame exclaimed with a nod and a grin. "I almost can't believe we took it down!"
"That was a relief.... oh, yeah sorry about being kind of a nutcase when we were fighting, I just lost it." Mikayla told Ame and Arkanin. "So...... what do we do now Arkanin, Ame.....anybody." Mikayla asked in a confused voice.
Ame turned to Mikayla, the smile still on her face. "No problem. That heartless really started to tick me off too. And I guess that's that."
She held up the Key of Pages, about to make it disappear, but noticed something. Her eyes immediately widened in shock. The top "book cover" of her Keyblade was missing. Jaw dropping, she fell to her knees, crawling around the street to try and find it. She didn't even know Keyblades could be broken, but she supposed it made sense. The blade of her key was oddly shaped, and probably was not meant for attacking steel over and over again. It seemed to be more suited for magic.
Arkanin tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Ame, what are you doing?"
"Omg!" Arkanin's eyes widened when she noticed that Ame's Keyblade was chipped. "Wow. . . You'd better get that fixed. . ." Arkanin looked at the Keyblade and then said, "Hey, I think there is a blacksmith's somewhere in the main city."
Arkanin lifted Ame onto her feet and grabbed Mikayla, "Lets go!"