Wow it's been a while…but I'm back, and I'm finally done with this bastard. I finally pumped this baby out in celebration of a US release date of Kingdom Hearts 2: March 1st! Also, I found today that They've put in Scrooge! And Leon all up ons!…Don't kill me for not posting in a very long time.
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The Adventures of Leon and Yuffie
Episode #8 : Beauty and the Beast , part 2 .o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o..o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Last time, on The Adventures of Leon and Yuffie:
Aerith stood up at the middle of dinner. "Leon, I have a confession… The baby is yours."
. o . o .
Leon jumped into the room. "Yuffie, NO! The bomb is in your cereal!"
. o . o .
Cid slapped Leon. "You're out of line!"
. o . o .
"I can't take it anymore!" Scrooge McDuck jumped off the building, on fire.
And now the dramatic conclusion.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o..o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Leon looked up at the Darkside which stood before him. The huge monster glared down at the three, then reared up to slam its fists on top of them. The girls both screamed and jumped at the same time.
"Get out of here!" Leon yelled at his younger friends as they stumbled back to their feet.
"What? What about you?" Aerith called back, making sure the living items in her bag were still there. The Darkside slammed its fist into the ground just in front of Yuffie, and the ground started to melt around the wrist.
"GO!" the SeeD shouted, and the girls ran toward the town, needing no further encouragement.
Leon watched the girls run off, once they were safely away, he turned and faced the giant apparition, who's arm was still thrust in the ground. The SeeD commander's eyes grew wide as the earth around him turned black and diseased. The fear he had been keeping at bay boiled into rage, and with a roar he launched himself at the huge heartless in front of him.
The monster at first didn't notice as Leon sliced down on its wrist. After a few more chops, the heartless reared and looked down on its attacker. It made an unnatural wail and slammed down into the ground again, aiming for the man swinging at its legs.
Leon dodged nearly being crushed by the blow, he recovered and went back to swinging at the wrist when he noticed a sphere of dark energy form in the corner of his vision. He turned just as the crackling ball flew at him. It collided with the SeeD and sent him into a nearby tree.
The man stayed where he was, unmoving for a few moments as the shock coursed through him. He looked up at the Darkside, which had gone back to corrupting the ground around it, thinking its attacker dead.
Leon, who had decided to ignore the slight crunching noise in his shoulder, stood and marched back to the shadow goliath and sunk his gunblade into the monster's forearm and shot a round into its murky flesh. The monster let out a roar and slammed down in Leon's direction, only to meet air as the man dodged. It reared up and sent another globe of dark energy towards Leon. The SeeD backpedaled, but bounced into a tree he hadn't realized was behind him. The ball struck Leon directly in the chest. He fell back against the tree and slid down.
The Darkside lumbered closer and reached for him. He was weakened, and there was nowhere to dodge. This was it. This was the end…
"But we must fight til the end…" spoke a familiar voice into his mind.
What?…
Bright white punctured by black lines. The lines formed into an outline of a man on a horse.
…
The huge man moved closer into his line of vision before it swirled and went completely white. A few moments later, it cleared completely.
Behind the gigantic heartless was Odin, sitting on his horse, pointing his sword at the black creature before him. Time seemed to stop for a moment and Leon could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand. A blinding flash of lightning struck and when the spots faded from Leon's eyes, the two neatly-cleaved halves of the Darkside fell apart and dissipated.
Odin turned to leave, but Leon stood.
"I thought you were dead." Leon said to the Guardian before him, who he had seen cleaved in half, eight years ago.
The god stopped, looking at Leon for a moment, then spoke in a booming voice, "What is a warrior without battle? One must continue to fight, even when all hope is lost."
. o . o .
"Yuffie…I think we should go look for Leon. He's been gone too long." Aerith looked around worriedly. The SeeD had been gone for nearly an hour. The two women had spent that time convincing the villagers to evacuate to the Ragnarok.
The ninja was stopping an old woman from wheeling an armoire into the ship, "I'm sure he's fine."
Aerith frowned at that. "I don't know…"
Before she could finish her thought, the SeeD in question crashed through the bushes on the edge of town, breathing hard and covered in wounds.
"See, he's fine," said Yuffie.
"Leon! What happened?" Aerith asked, running up to him. Yuffie followed a moment later.
"Darkside. Odin. Slice. Guts everywhere…" he gasped as the girls looked at each other, perplexed.
"O…kay… Let's finish evacuating the townspeople." Aerith said, and started off when she saw Leon nod. There were few people left running around, gathering their possessions. The town had been in a panic with the girls had shown up. Heartless were already attacking at the borders of town. By the time they had been cleared out, the terrified townspeople were willing to trust these strangers to help them.
"Is the Ragnarok fixed yet?" Leon yelled as he checked the last house on his side, finding it abandoned.
"Uh…sure?" Yuffie called as she herded children onto the ship.
"Great…" Leon frowned as he looked back and saw a villager head back the way they came. He broke off from the group to retrieve the man, frown growing as he went. It didn't take him long to recognize the bookshop owner ducking into his shop. Leon grumbled and went in after him.
Leon's frown deeped as he found the man rummaging in the shelves. "We have to get out of here," the SeeD said simply as the man continued his search.
"Wait, a moment, I need to get my books!" He grabbed a few books from the shelf and dug around the stack of papers on the desk.
"We don't have time for this," Leon growled. The bookshop owner didn't stop.
"Just a moment, just a moment." The man filled a bag with the books he had gathered. "There we go." He handed the stuffed bag to Leon, who grunted at the weight.
"What is all this?"
The old man smiled as they walked out of the shop. "First editions, irreplaceable, and a few books of interest."
Aerith had waited outside the shop for them, but had caught the man's last remark. "Books of interest?"
"Yes, old things full of interesting information. Like tales of dark shadow creatures and such."
Leon scowled, but Aerith looked up at the man "…You mean the Heartless?"
"Yes indeed."
Leon stopped at that, looking at the older man. "Heartless? Do you work for the king here?"
The older man laughed, "No, I'm just an old scholar, trying to retire peacefully. Not so much luck with that…"
Leon didn't say anything as they reached the Ragnarok. Aerith went inside with bookshop owner as the SeeD looked around the abandoned town for a moment. He sighed and went inside the ship, preparing it for take-off.
"What about Belle and the Beast?" Yuffie called from further in the ship.
"There's no time…" Leon answered, trying not to make eye contact with Bell's father and starting to lift off the ground.
The SeeD commander tried to ignore the wail the old man made as he launched the ship into the now black sky, leaving the doomed world to its fate.
. o . o .
"Leon, we haven't been able to contact you. Did you find Stiltzkin?" King Mickey looked concerned as Leon started to make his report from the ship. Leon closed his eyes a moment and tried to speak evenly. "Yes, we got him out, but Planet France has fallen." The SeeD didn't bother to wait for a reply. "We gathered as many people as we could before we left, but we couldn't find the keyhole in time."
The king was silent for a few moments. Leon finally looked up to see how he was reacting. To his surprise, there was a look of grim determination.
"Thank you for your efforts, Leon. I will send Donald and Goofy to retrieve Stiltzkin. I'm sure you and Aerith can attend to the new refugees in Traverse Town."
Leon nodded slowly. There was something the king wasn't saying…
"I will contact you again shortly." King Mickey paused a moment. "Take good care of the town."
"I will," Leon answered. He knew for sure now that something was wrong, but didn't question it. The king bade him farewell and ended the transmission. The SeeD sat back at the controls and looked at Aerith.
"There's something he's not telling us," the man murmured.
"You're right. He's up to something," Aerith said thoughtfully, she sighed and looked at the lift down to the rest of the ship, "I need to go tend to our guests," she got up and left, leaving the SeeD alone in the cockpit.
He stared dully at the stars zooming by, replaying the day's dark events in his head.
. o . o .
When the Ragnarok landed at Traverse Town, it didn't take long for the citizens to realize that there we newcomers to tend to. Refugees were given rooms at the hotel or taken by townspeople into their own homes. Those who had been injured were brought to the street near the café to be treated.
Leon oversaw the entire operation; helping the injured walk to the healers, reuniting separated families, finding places for those who's families hadn't made it. Hours melted without his notice as the last of the people were found places to go. He started as someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"Leon," Aerith said softly, "Why don't you get some rest? Everyone's situated, and Donald and Goofy are on their way back with Stiltzkin."
"All right," Leon said reluctantly.
Aerith gave him a supportive smile. "Good, go on then."
. o . o .
King Mickey pressed the royal seal into the wax on the envelope, sealing the letter. He tucked it next to another envelope in his robe and stood, going to the throne room where Stiltzkin waited.
"Your majesty." the Moogle bowed. Mickey nodded and he straightened.
"Things are getting worse," the king said and took one of the letters out of his robe pocket. "I'm going away for a while. I need you to deliver this to Leon and Aerith." He handed the letter to Stiltzkin, who took it.
"Where are you going?" the moogle said after slipping the letter into his bag.
"I need to take action now before things get even worse. Do not tell anyone about this."
The moogle nodded and patted his bag.
"I'll deliver the letter."
The king smiled grimly. "Good, take care."
. o . o .
Leon trudged out of the bar. He thought to himself to go check on Aerith and Yuffie before he turned in. Aerith had a tendency to forego her own needs when tending to others and she had been hard at work for hours healing the wounded.
He found her sitting in a chair at the café, looking as exhausted as he felt.
"Take a break," he said to her.
"Later," she answered, staring ahead sleepily, "There are more people who need help."
"You're no good to them like this. You need to rest." He watched her gulp down an ether, then drop it onto a pile of empty bottles next to her chair. "Too many of those aren't good for you."
"I don't have time to rest now," she said, stretching and looking more alert with the ether moving through her system. She started to get up, but fell back into the chair, putting a hand to her head. Leon was about to insist again that she rest when she said, "Something's wrong…"
No sooner had she spoken than black portals began to open on the street in front of them and a group of Shadows poured out.
"Damn." Leon drew his blade. "We must have been followed." He moved in front of the building, prepared to defend the wounded refugees, but the heartless completely ignored the café and moved in the other direction. Not stopping to question what was happening, Leon went after them.
He took out a few from the rear, but the others kept on, soon joined by others. They were definitely after something. A few broke off to face their attacker. The SeeD made short work of them before focusing on the main group. He took out most of them, forcing the others to scatter in all directions.
"Great…" Now he would have to hunt them all down. He scanned the area around him. The Shadows had led him to the street in front of the accessory shop. He saw no further sign of them, but did spot something else, a boy wandering the streets. He looked lost but was moving quickly, keeping an eye out and sometimes looking over his shoulder. It looked like he had taken a few hits. Leon wondered if he had been attacked by the heartless, and how he had survived. Then he saw what was in the kid's hand, what had attracted the heartless.
It looked like a sword with a large, ornate handle. But the blade was oddly shaped, like no weapon he had ever seen before. Like a key.
Leon watched as the kid he had nearly ignored walked into the Accessory shop, Keyblade in hand.
"Shit."
. o . o .
Leon waited in the shadows outside of the shop, waiting for the Keyblade-toting kid to come back out. His mind was a whirlwind and he tried to decide how approach the potential Keybearer.
No, he might not be the bearer, he might just have the key.
The SeeD tried to ignore how shallow that sounded in his head. At that point, the door to the shop opened. Leon got a good look at the boy this time. He looked like he'd be an average kid where he was from, with spiky hair similar to Cloud's.
Leon took a deep breath and decided he would try once to be nice and give the kid a chance. The vacant look in his eyes caused the SeeD to blurt out, "They'll come at you out of nowhere."
The kid started and turned, "Who are you?"
Leon ignored him. "And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." he stopped and rubbed the bridge of his nose."
"But why?" he looked at the teenaged boy. "Why would it choose a kid like you?"
The kid looked insulted. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Leon's patience was waning, and he wasn't in the mood to humor questions. "Never mind," he stepped toward the kid, "Now, let's see that Keyblade," the SeeD heard in his head how menacing he sounded, but no longer cared.
"What? There's no way you're getting this!"
Leon sighed and hefted his gunblade over his shoulder. "All right, then have it your way."
The SeeD launched himself at the younger man, slashing. To his credit, the boy managed to block a few swings. He even managed to get away from the SeeD, which only worsened the older man's mood. He closed his eyes and held out a hand, casting a spell. A ball of fire shot at the kid, who took the hit directly. As the smoke cleared, the boy charged at Leon. As he reached the SeeD, the older man swung at an angle, hitting the boy in the back of the head with the flat of his blade.
The boy took a step back and stood for a moment with a dazed expression, then fell over.
Leon couldn't manage a smile, despite his efforts.
"Hey, you found it. Nice going, Leon," Leon looked over his shoulder at Yuffie, who had been watching from the alley.
"Still," the SeeD looked down on the easily beaten boy, "It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."
They both looked at the kid for a moment, until Yuffie spoke up. "Well, we'd probably better get him indoors…"
The SeeD reached down for the blade and picked it up. It was a lot lighter than he expected. He gave it a swing and found it to be surprisingly balanced.
"So, is this kid the Keybearer? " Yuffie spoke up, looking at the blade in her older friend's hand.
The SeeD swung again, and the blade vanished from his hand, reappearing next to the unconscious boy.
The two looked at each other, Leon picked up the blade again and backed away. Once it got a certain distance from the boy, it disappeared and then reappeared by the boy's side.
"Looks that way..."
. o . o .
Leon dumped the kid on Yuffie's bed in her hotel room. He tried to tone down his glare. This little punk couldn't be the keybearer… could he?
The blade had gone back to him, of course he was the bearer. Leon took a deep breath and let it out. Some of the turmoil left him, but most of the irritation remained. He glared at the boy hard enough to garner a reaction from Yuffie.
"Jeez, Leon, you're going to bore holes in his head."
Leon didn't answer, he instead left the room. He paced outside the door a few moments, reigning in his temper again. He went back into the room as he heard voices coming from it. As he walked in, he saw the boy sitting up.
"I think you might have overdone it, Squall," said Yuffie, turning away from the kid.
Leon's scowl deepened. "That's Leon." The kid started at him a moment before his eyes wandered to the Keyblade leaning against the wall.
"The Keyblade…" he murmured.
"Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures," Yuffie explained, beginning to pace, "It turns out that's how they were tracking you."
She noted the dazed looked on the kid's face. "It was the only way to conceal your heart from them."
"But it won't work for long," Leon growled as the kid still looked dazed.
The SeeD picked up the Keyblade and gave it a swing. "Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one," as he completed his swing, the blade dissolved from his grip. It reappeared in the boy's hand. Leon scowled.
"Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers…"
. o . o .
He watched the boy run off, looking for the leader of this invading heartless party. The SeeD groaned and head towards a small gathering of heartless. He stepped up to them, finally letting a smile come over his face as he found targets he could annihilate without repercussion. The group of shadowy creatures looked at the man approaching them menacingly, and ran.
. o . o .
Leon was in the cavern below the town, practicing with his gunblade. He had run out of Heartless to fight hours ago and decided to continue training alone. He needed to keep sharp. And it helped to calm the turmoil in his mind, helped him forget everything that had happened today. He heard someone approach him from behind. He stopped, and only then noticed the aching in his muscles.
"I found the keybearer," he said to his new company.
Aerith moved closer. "I know…"
Leon remained silent, catching his breath.
The girl waited a moment, then spoke up. "And you're wondering why it wasn't you, why you weren't chosen."
Leon stared at the floor for a long time, his back still turned to her. Finally he spoke, his voice cold and emotionless. "I thought my heart would be strong enough…"
But it wasn't, he thought silently after trailing off. That was why he couldn't defend that world today. That was why he couldn't save his own world…
Aerith thought for a moment before answering. "Leon… Your heart is strong, one of the strongest I've ever known… But it's been wounded. All the loss you've suffered in your life, all the pain and fear you keep hidden inside, it's hurting you. You try to hide it, you keep yourself closed off from everyone around you, but I can see it, and so can the Keyblade. Your heart needs time to heal. That's why it didn't chose you."
Leon didn't say anything, staring out at the walls of the cavern.
Aerith walked up behind him and gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "We have to support him, so that he can succeed. That's what's important now." She gave him another squeeze and left him alone. Leon stared at the cavern walls, lost in his thoughts.
End of Episode #8
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I hope you liked it…it's the very slow work of like…eight months…cough
There won't be any more sad stuff in this series…I think.
Thanks again to my editor, he's a nice boy.
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Leon and Yuffie will return in:
Frogged
