Hello everyone! Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer, I was kept rather busy and had a nasty cold. I hope everyone's well! Please review and enjoy!
Chapter Eight - The King Is Dead
"There the hell ya go, you buncha nitwits," Cid said, slamming the last panel shut on the Gummi-Ship.
By sunrise of the following morning, the tech savvy pilot had managed to completely repair Sora's mangled ship after a few days of strenuous labor.
The group along with the Restoration Committee gathered outside of the ship in the marketplace plaza and marveled at the repaired ship. Sora, Donald and Goofy slowly approached the ship, as if to inspect it to try to find any flaws. The ship more or less looked the same as it was before with a few modifications found here and there throughout.
Sora, Donald and Goofy nodded at each other in approval of their newly-repaired ship.
Cid made his way around the side of the ship and placed his hands on his hips as he surveyed his handiwork. "Looks pretty damn good, I reckon. I threw in a warp gummi for the hell of it, so you'll be able to return to worlds you've been to before in a snap. But don't be makin' a habit outta crashin' this god-fersaken thing. Next time, I'll charge ya."
"Thanks Cid. We'll try not to," Sora nodded.
"Please do," Yuffie rolled her eyes with a smile and turned to look at the marketplace, "We'll never be able to restore the town if we keep on having you guys fall from the sky right into the busiest part of Radiant Garden!"
Leon nodded, "Yuffie's right for a change."
The ninja turned back and threw her arms down, "Hey! What's tha-"
"With the rate we're working, it won't take too long before the rest of the town is restored. We're entering our final reconstruction phases now," Leon said. "Just a little bit longer and this town should be just what it was like over a decade ago."
Aerith nodded and smiled, "And with Noctis and the others helping out around the town and taking care of the Heartless, there are less of them in Radiant Garden now and people aren't afraid to walk around town nowadays. I think things are definitely looking up."
"Yepp, reminds me of the time you all were just youngins 'round here," Cid said, placing a cigarette in his mouth and turning to Leon, Aerith and Yuffie. "Ah, the good, ol' days."
Yuffie sighed and crossed her arms, "If only Maleficent and her Heartless had decided not to destroy this place, we'd never have to even have a 'Restoration Committee' in the first place!"
"Well, no use complaining about it now after all the work we've done," Leon said. "But if we can get our world back to how it was before, all our hard work would be worth it."
There was a small rumble that was heard off in the distance of the town then. The group went to the edge of the marketplace plaza and looked over the stone wall.
"What's that now," Yuffie asked.
"Oh geez," Donald sighed, "Some more bad guys?"
"A Heartless," Kairi questioned, scanning through the vast town before them.
Lea sighed and rolled his eyes, "Great, just when I thought we were gonna be able to get out of here without a problem..."
Aerith thought out, "Even without the Heartless, the town doesn't see many quiet days."
Goofy tilted his head and placed a finger on his chin, "Gawrsh, but I don't see any Heartless."
Sora turned to the steps that led down into the town, "We should go check it out just to make sure that everything is alright."
The five friends made their way down the stone steps that led into the entrance of the town plaza. They followed the sound of the loud clanging as it directed them through the twisting town streets. The rumbles directed them back to Merlin's house.
"It's coming from Merlin's!" Donald said.
"We should check to make sure he's okay," Kairi said.
Sora nodded and went to the the heavy wooden door. He knocked lightly on it, only to be met with a loud shake. He pushed open the door and found that there were no Heartless in sight, but rather, that the old wizard was at the center of his chamber, using his magic wand to enchant and shrink down all of his chamber objects and items, as they shrunk so incredibly small to fit into the wizard's small traveling bag.
It was quite a fascinating sight to see, watching as huge bookshelves, an entire fireplace, a bed, chairs and tables and quite literally everything else in the chamber, shrunk down in size and floated into the bag, leaving the chamber room as a big vacant space.
Sora tilted his head in confusion, "Um, Merlin? What are you doing?"
The wizard turned around with a surprised expression on his face, startled by the unexpected visitors. "Oh, my word! It's just you, lads and lass! I'm sorry, I was so concentrated on packing my things I didn't even notice you come in," the old wizard said, straightening the glasses on his face with a wry smile.
Donald took a few steps into the room, "Packing your things? I'll say! Your entire house is packed up!"
"Going on a trip," Lea asked.
The old wizard bent down and picked up his bag, as if it was as light as air even with all the contents of his house packed inside. "Why, yes, actually. A very important trip, one that came unexpectedly!"
"Where are you goin' off to, Merlin," Goofy asked.
Merlin walked towards the door, "Back to my home world - as of just this morning, I sense a powerful darkness building somewhere close near the world. I had cast a spell long ago to help keep the darkness from entering the kingdom, but I fear something from within the world itself has brought the darkness out."
Kairi tilted her head, confused, "Wait, home world? I thought Radiant Garden was your home?"
"Not originally, my dear!" Merlin said, placing his bag down and reaching inside, pushing his way through the various belongings to find what he was searching for. "I'm a traveler, after all. I've been to many worlds in my time, exploring different realms and kingdoms and training many others in the power of sorcery and logic, too."
Sora crossed his arms and pouted, "Hmm, and the darkness is going to your world?"
"I fear it has already arrived," the wizard continued, looking up from his bag. "The kingdom is broken - in the middle of much discord and on the verge of war ever since the last king passed. The people of the kingdom have no hope and with the darkness on the way, I can imagine there are dark times ahead. Very, very dark times..."
Lea turned to Sora then and whispered, "Say, how about we just cut to the chase and help Merlin out? I know you can't resist," he said, giving his friend a small smile.
Sora smiled and chuckled, "You're right. I can't. It's just how I am."
"Darn you Sora for being so darn noble," Lea said with a sarcastic smile on his face. "I'm looking forward to the day when we can just sit back and relax for like a minute before something else tries to kill us."
Kairi turned to him and crossed his arms, "Well, today's not that day...and it won't be until this Xehanort problem is taken care of."
Lea smiled and playfully shook his hands in front of him, "I kid, I kid! So, let's get this show on the road then, shall we? We got worlds to save and keyholes to find and Xehanorts to defeat."
"That's more like it," Kairi said with a small nod and turned to the wizard. "Merlin, we'd be happy to help you out if you'd like."
Sora continued, "Yeah, with us, we'll help you protect your kingdom. And who knows? Maybe we might even be able to find the Keyhole and push the darkness away."
Merlin looked up, "Oh, no, no. I couldn't ask that of you, friends. Not after all of your adventures you just had in Wonderland. I couldn't let you get wrapped up in all this."
Lea playfully pouted, "Well, to be fair, I didn't have any Wonderland adventures, so I feel kind of gypped off right now and am actually in the mood to do some questing. Second, don't worry, you're not getting me wrapped up in any of this. Sora's doing that for me."
"Yep!" Sora said, turning back to the wizard, "And we're going to help you!"
"Yep! Because it's what we're good at," Donald said.
Goofy nodded, " And it's what friends do!"
Merlin nodded and smiled wide, "Splendid! Oh, here it is!" The wizard reached down and pulled a map from his bag, handing it to Sora, as Kairi and Lea looked over his shoulder. "Here's a map of the kingdom."
Sora studied the map of what looked to be a medieval kingdom, one with dense forests, large lakes and a royal castle which stood at the center of it all. It looked like the pictures from the books that he, Riku and Kairi used to read as kids.
"Camelot? That's a real place?" Sora asked.
"You're really questioning it?" Lea asked, "You just got back from 'Wonderland' and I'm pretty sure you've been to a bunch of other places that you didn't think could be real."
"Uh-huh!" Donald said, "Like flying and fighting pirates in Neverland with Peter Pan!"
"And singin' and dancin' in Atlantica with Ariel!" Goofy finished.
Sora looked up from the map and to his friends, specifically Kairi, "Yeah, I know, but...I just remember reading about stories of Camelot with RIku and you on the islands. We even used to draw pictures on the secret place cave walls. Remember, Kairi?"
Kairi nodded, "Hm. It is interesting though. That an outside story and a 'real' world could co-exist all at once. Makes you wonder which came first."
Merlin threw his bag over his shoulder, "Oh, now, now, friends. This Camelot is unlike any of the ones you've heard about in any stories, I assure you. I fear the kingdom is in worse conditions than I expected and my magic wasn't enough to protect it. Oh, if anything were to happen to that poor Wart, I don't know what I-"
"Wart?" Sora asked, "Wart? Who's Wart?"
"Oh, he's a young boy from Camelot. His real name is Arthur - a bright, optimistic boy, much like yourself, Sora! I started training with him a short while ago before you and Riku started your Mark of Mastery examinations."
"Do you think he might be in danger," Kairi asked.
Merlin's face grew concerned, "Oh, I don't know. A young boy his age isn't skilled in combat like you're all used to, especially against foreign creatures such as the Heartless."
Sora crossed his arms and nodded, "Okay then, we should all go to Camelot then."
Kairi nodded, "And once we get there and find Arthur, we can seal the Keyhole and protect the world from falling to the darkness and the Heartless, right?"
"Sounds about right to me," Sora finished.
Merlin gathered the group around him, preparing them for their departure to this new kingdom. "There's just one last thing that's on our plate for our trip to Camelot..."
"What's that?"
Merlin smiled, "We're going to find ourselves a new king to lead Camelot!"
With a wave of his wand, Merlin whisked the five friends and himself away from his empty home in Radiant Garden and to the rolling countryside in the kingdom of his homeland.
From the rooftops of the town outside of Merlin's house, Ansem - the Seeker of Darkness and Xemnas, Master Xehanort's secondaries in command, watched down, waiting for the friends to exit the house. They silently waited, determined to follow through with Xehanort's plans to affect the Keyblade wielder's heart.
"Where are they?" Ansem questioned, looking down at the house. "They couldn't have gone far."
Xemnas descended down towards the ground of the town plaza, closely followed behind by Ansem. The leader of the Nobodies went to the house window and stared inside finding the empty room, not a person, or anything for that matter, in sight. "Empty."
Ansem let out a frustrated grunt and slammed the door open, charging inside the wizard's chamber. "They were just here. Where could they have gone?"
If anything, Ansem and Xemnas considered themselves to be two of the most, if not the most, loyal servants and vessels to Xehanort and were ruthlessly determined not to fail him. Although considering the man a superior, the two vessels considered themselves to be physical parts of Xehanort themselves and aligned their goals exactly with his.
Something caught Xemnas' eye on the ground then, as the cloaked man slowly knelt down and picked up the wrinkled paper that had recently fallen to the floor. He studied it for a brief moment, before a dark smile grew across his face.
Ansem turned to his other half, "What did you find?"
Xemnas turned the parchment around to show a map to Ansem, "Where our traveling companions are headed..."
The Seeker of Darkness took the map in his hands and looked over it, as the same dark smile on the Nobody leader's face appeared on his own.
"Camelot."
In the quiet castle courtyard outside of the Disney Castle, a golden-furred dog was resting, his eyes shut as he enjoyed the morning shade from beneath one of the courtyard's many topiaries.
The moment of silence was short-lived, as second later, Pluto's eyes shot open as the dog watched Huey, Dewey and Louie pull Scrooge McDuck along with them, leading and pushing their great uncle through the courtyard.
Huey jumped up, tugging on Scrooge's arm, "C'mon, Unca Scrooge! You gotta see what we found!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Louie said, pushing Scrooge from behind. "It looks very peculiar!"
Scrooge huffed up, "What's all the racket, lads? It's barely sunrise and I haven't had my spot o' tea yet. What's all the commotion about?"
"Just c'mon! C'mon!" Dewey said, leading Scrooge a short distance away from the courtyard to another part of the castle grounds. "We found it over there."
His interest piqued by the four wandering ducks, Pluto decided to return from his morning rest and follow the four as they made their way from the courtyard and towards the wall that surrounded the castle grounds. As he walked after them, he was unaware of the unseen pairs of eyes that were keeping a hidden watch over the courtyard.
Pluto trailed behind the ducks until they arrived at an interesting sight - a manhole cover lifted up from within the ground and carelessly pushed to the side, leaving scrape marks along the pavement floor.
"We found this hole opened up!" Huey said, pointing down into the darkness of the manhole, "Someone musta pushed it open from all the way down there," the young duck said, his voice echoing downward.
Dewey peaked down, "Maybe Queen Minnie had someone open it from up here and it's nothin' to worry about!"
"No, look," Louie said, pointing to the scrape marks the manhole cover made along the grounds, "Someone pushed it open from down there! No one's been down there in forever, ever since the Heartless started appearing around town! Who coulda come up here?"
Scrooge placed a hand under his bill and furrowed his brow, a concerned expression growing across his face, "Thank ye, for pointing it out ta me, lads. This is a matter we must tell Her Majesty about."
The ducks set off to make their way up the garden pathway towards the castle's grand hall, as Pluto followed closely behind them.
Cruella peeked out from behind a tall castle shrub and stared at the ducks and dog that walked away from the garden, unaware of the infiltrating villains. "Oh, what a lovely purse you would make, doggie. And those ducks would be wonderful hats, too."
Hook stepped out from behind the shrub with Cruella, "Those blasted fools don't suspect a thing."
"Let's find that data Maleficent requested before we're caught," Gaston said, pulling out a bow from behind his back and steadying his arrow, ready to attack and slaughter anyone who stood in their path.
Hades scoffed and join the others, "Now, now. Let's not be so hasty. Let's just chill out and enjoy this little task ahead. By the looks of things around this place, the castle is a bit too cheerful, amirite? I think a little darkness could never hurt."
Pete let out a boisterous laugh, "Well then, now it's easy! We breaky-break our way up into that castle, take down anyone who wants a fight and high-tail it outta here with that data for Maleficent!"
Hades turned to Pete, "Didn't you sat there was something protecting the castle from sorts like us?"
"Uh, well..."
"Yes, I recall, too," Cruella flipped open a pocket mirror and examined her face, before she started powerding it up with make-up after their sewer escapades, entirely uninterested in the conversation. "What did you call it? The corner-something...of prosperity or...something of the sort, right, darling?"
Pete shook his head, "No no no no! The Cornerstone of Light!"
"That's what I said, cat," Cruella scoffed and snapped her mirror shut, "So, what the bloody hell do we do if we can't get into the castle?"
Gaston looked up at the castle, "Yes, how indeed."
Hades rolled his eyes, "I suppose we don't NEED to flood this place with our dark powers..."
"...ugh, I suppose, darling, but wouldn't this place seem far more interesting with a touch of delicious darkness?" Cruella said.
Hook smirked, "Ah, I do enjoy the way you think."
Cruella smirked back, "Hmph, the way I think will be the very least of what you'll enjoy, love."
"Wait wait wait wait wait," Pete said, "What are you all so down for?! You all might not be able to get into that there castle, but I for sure can!" He let out another big laugh, "I done it loadsa times before - even when Maleficent brought her darkness into the castle and I snatched up that Cornerstone real quick! I can do it again, too!"
Hades turned to Pete, "You sure you can get the job done?"
"Pfft, this is easy!" Pete said, "I'll sneaky sneak my way into the castle again, snatch up that Cornerstone and then all of you will be free to enter and use the darkness however you want! That data is as good as ours!"
"Get on with it then," Gaston threatened.
Pete cowered back for a moment, but let out a small smile when he turned back to the castle, "Right! Leave it to me!"
Pete turned away and ran towards the castle, as the villains returned to their hiding spots and waited until he returned.
Xehanort walked down the long, dark grey hall of his acquired headquarters in the Castle That Never Was. He smiled, thinking of the task ahead of him - to set off into the realm of darkness and find the mouse king and corrupt his brain with darkness, turning him into puppet of sorts to use at his disposal.
It was for sheer amusement and toying with the 'heroes of light' if nothing else. Something to test their abilities, while also demoralizaing their morale.
Xehanort stopped in the hall when he saw his seconds in command approach him from down the hall. Xemnas walked along with Ansem, who held what looked like a parchment, a map, in his hands. They stopped just a few feet in front of their leader, "What are you still doing here, Master? I thought you were leaving for the Realm of Darkness?"
"I was, but I could use some assistance," Xehanort flashed them a dark smile. "I've spent many lonesome, days traveling on my own. I've always hated it."
"You want us to join you in finding the king," Xemnas asked.
"But of course," the leader sneered, "I know you both must despise that...loathesome king as much as I do. It would simply be rude of me to not let you share in the enjoyment of destroying that little rat's brain."
Ansem nodded, "That would be most appreciated, Master."
"While on reconnaissance through the worlds, we were clued in to where Sora and his friends were headed." The Nobody said, taking the map and opening it up to show Xehanort, "Camelot - the old wizard's home world. The wizard took Sora and his friends from Radiant Garden and brought them to his world."
"Hmm, most interesting," Xehanort said with a small smile, "Perhaps my plans to blacken the boy's heart can begin...And I know just who to send to begin this task."
Xehanort made his way down the hall, followed closely by Ansem and Xemnas. He walked through the castle until he arrived at a large atrium chamber with a tall glass window that looked down towards the abandoned, dark city below. The chamber was a routine place for the former Organization XIII members to gather, as it was the place where they would receive their daily missions.
However, just as he had suspected, he found the vessel he was searching for and slowly approached the young replica of Sora's best friend.
"I have a very important task for you, puppet," Xehanort said. "Are you familiar with the realm of Camelot?"
The replica of Riku stood up from his seat then, "I've never been, but I've heard of it before."
Xehanort gave out a smug smirk, "Of course you've never been. You haven't seen much outside of Castle Oblivion and this castle, have you?"
"Of course not. As you said, I'm a puppet," Riku Replica sneered out and turned to Xemnas, "I only exist because the scientist from your Organization created me from Sora's memories."
"Yes, Vexen was quite skilled at creating masterful experiments," Xemnas said.
Ansem smirked, "If only he'd managed to give you a heart, puppet."
The replica hated the word puppet or fake or fraud, anything that reminded him that he was, in fact, not his own self and just a copy - another part of someone else. It especially stung the emptiness in himself, knowing that there was a version of himself out there in the worlds that had his own heart and friends and a home - when the replica had nothing to call his own other than his darkness.
"Shut up," the replcia said lowly to the heartless man.
"Now, now, puppet. No need to wallow in anger over what you are," Xehanort said, placing a hand on the boys shoulder and pulling him closer, "When what really matters is 'who' you will become. You see, when the Keyblade War has begun and I have the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts in my control, I will use their powers to create...a new world order...one where darkness is not equal to light, but prevails over it. A world where...you could finally be your own person."
Riku's eyes widened, "Can you do that?"
"I will...in time," Xehanort said, turning away from the boy, "But in order for you to get what you want, I need to get what I want first - which is where you come in."
"I'm listening," the replica said.
Xehanort smiled to himself and turned back to the replica, "You've met Sora before, have you not?"
"We've had a few run-ins at Castle Oblivion after I was created, both he and the real Riku" the replica explained. "But the younger version of yourself took me from the castle and brought me here before Sora and his friends reached the top of the castle. I suppose...a version of myself is still back at that castle."
"Indeed. As my younger vessel has explained, taking someone from the past and bringing them into the future leaves a shell of themselves in the past - in order to ensure that all past actions and consequences play out the way they were originally intended." Xehanort smiled, "Now, that's not what matters here. No...Sora and his friends have quested off to the kingdom of Camelot."
"And you want me to find them," the replica questioned.
The leader smirked, "More than just find them, I want you to...dig deep into Sora's past with his friendship with Riku. Although best friends, I can tell there was much jealousy from Sora about his friend's accomplishments - even most recently, Riku obtaining the title of Keyblade Master when Sora had not."
"And what do you hope to achieve by having me bring this up to Sora," the replica asked.
Xehanort smiled, "As I said, dig deep into their friendship...and begin to plant the seeds of doubt and darkness in Sora's heart. Doing so would only cause those feelings of jealousy and anger between the two to arise again, which would hopefully lead to the destruction of Sora and Riku's friendship...and what better way to cause the deterioration of these 'so-called' best friends than to remind Sora of everything that Riku had managed to accomplish...which Sora never could."
The replica nodded, "Understood."
"Don't be afraid to play around with the Keyblade wielder's heart," Xehanort suggested, "Let's see how strong it is before enough anger and hatred causes it to break...and when it does, I'll be there to fill it with the darkness."
The replica nodded and left the room, leaving the three men behind.
Xemnas turned back to Xehanort, "Could you really do what you said and give the replica a heart?"
Ansem continued, "When Kingdom Hearts is in your control, Master, you'll be able to create your own universe, certainly, Master, but...could you really give a being that was never supposed to exist with a heart an actual heart of their own."
"Hmph, that's the replica's sorrow to deal with, not my own," Xehanort said and turned from the two men, walking through the large chamber. "I don't care what fates lie beyond the creation of this new world order - only what happens to line the pieces up exactly as I've intended them to get me the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts." The old-devilish man said, summoning his Keyblade to his grasps, staring deeply into the eye that was imbedded in the blade's handle.
"All that empty boy wanted was a heart...to be his own person," Xemnas said, trying to almost sound sincerely sympathetic for the replica, but not quite feeling it.
"That puppet will get his heart...if it is possible. The replica is much like Vanitas - beings that want to exist as their own people with their own hearts when they were never destined to. ," Xehanort said, approaching the glass windows and staring down at the dark world below - the dark world he had created a long time ago.
Some time long after Xehanort had become a Master and began trailing down the path of darkness, he had used the mixed powers of being a Keyblade Master and the darkness to his advantage. His Keyblade led him drifting through the lanes between worlds on a vast adventure in pursuit of knowledge and power over the darkness. With the Keyblade, it had opened and created a path to a new world - the very dark city in which his headquarters now stood. When the empty man created the world from the darkness, it became the sole world to exist without a heart or a Keyhole at its' core...thus becoming a haven for darkness and Nobodies alike.
It truly was a World That Never Was - it was never meant to exist and even as it did, the world never had a heart at its' core like all other worlds due to its' inception from the darkness.
"No hearts...an empty affliction, indeed," Xehanort muttered out, staring at the emptiness of the dark world and musing over the thoughts of the replica and Vanitas, who both very much wanted the same thing. "Should they find hearts in what awaits beyond the great Kingdom Hearts, I cannot say..."
Ansem nodded, "The closest that they could ever reach to having hearts of their own are the fragments of your heart inside of them, Master."
"Indeed," Xemnas nodded, "Those that exist without hearts...may never have one to call their own."
"That is no concern of ours, however." Xehanort turned to his two cohorts, "What matters is that we get what we all want - Kingdom Hearts...and we will."
Xehanort turned and opened a portal of darkness, streams of blackness pluming up to the tall ceiling. He approached the corridor of darkness, as Ansem and Xemnas stepped behind him.
"First, however, we have a mouse to trap."
Camelot
The silent woods stretched for miles beyond the castle which stood at the heart of the kingdom of Camelot. Trailing through the woods, leading throughout the realm and encircling the castle in a wide moat, a river trailed through.
Though the waters of this river were black - filled to the brim with darkness. The darkness traveled down and seeped over the river's edge, slowly spreading its' way up the forest trees, leaving them dead and decayed, as if burnt by a roaring fire. It was like a slow spreading oil spill trickling its' way through the forest and tainting everything in its' path with the darkness.
Deep within the woods, a small mystical house stood, alone and untouched. It quite resembled the other homes Merlin had made for himself in Traverse Town and Radiant Garden, except this one was now entirely empty. Outside of the home, a cloud of magical smoke appeared and Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Lea and Merlin appeared from within.
"Wak!" Donald swatted the smoke away.
"Gawrsh, that was quick," Goofy said.
Merlin adjusted his glasses and put his wand away within his robes, "My magic never fails."
Lea then noticed the forest that surrounded them and pointed out, calling everyone to his attention. "Huh? Look."
The group of friends looked out to the forest that was slowly deteriorating from the darkness before their eyes.
"The woods..." Kairi said, looking around, "...they're dying."
Sora shook his head, "It's not that the woods are dying. The darkness...it's managed to find its' way into the kingdom...and destroy it from the inside out..."
Merlin's eyes grew soft in sadness and concern, watching as his home world was slowly draining of life. "Things are worse than I feared, friends! So much worse, I'm afraid. Come, quickly! Into the house. Hurry," the old wizard said, tapping on their shoulders to direct them to the small, forgotten house.
The group took in the house. It was now just as empty and bare as the other house they had seem hin packing up in Radiant Garden. The only thing that was actually found in the house was what looked like a good-sized birdhouse attached from the ceiling. They could only assume Merlin was most certainly a traveling man and magic must have been a quite useful skill when it came to moving between his many homes.
Once inside, Merlin quickly shut the door behind him and went to the window where he peered out on the outside world. "Oh, dear. This is terrible. I HAD cast a barrier spell that would help repel the darkness away, but the darkness has still managed to seep through somehow and taint this world," the wizard said, looking up at the sky through the dusty window. "I suspect my magical barrier had been taken down in the process and made it easier for the darkness to enter Camelot."
Lea stepped up next to the window and looked out at the dark woods, "I've seen this happen before - to my own home world, to Radiant Garden. Shortly after I'd...'become' an Organization member, my world was taken by darkness, too. Before Xemnas had taken us to the World That Never Was and began his work to form the Organization, I remembered seeing what had become of the town. It was overflown with darkness, much like what I see out there," the red-headed man said, pointing outside the window.
Merlin listened on to the young man.
"The darkness was just...sweeping through - draining all life out of everything it came close to...and well, you saw what had become of Radiant Garden when Maleficent took over. It was just an empty shell of what it used to be, wasn't pretty."
"And you think the same thing could happen to Camelot," Kairi asked, concerned.
Merlin nodded, "Oh, it most certainly could. It could happen to any world for that matter. We must find the Keyhole and quickly. It just might be the only way to save Camelot from falling. We'll have to set off and find the Keyhole immediately!"
"But what about, um, what did you call him? Wert? The boy who you were training?" Sora asked.
"Who?" A voice called from above.
Donald turned and looked up at Goofy, "Did you say something?"
"I didn't say anything," Goofy said.
"Who?" The voice said again.
Sora looked up, "Who's there?"
Their attention was drawn up to the ceiling, where the bird house stood.
From within the bird house, a small owl emerged, calling down to Sora, "I'd like to know who?"
"Oh, Archimedes!" Merlin said, calling up to the owl. "Oh, friends! Don't be alarmed. This is my pet and good friend, Archimedes. Now, have you been up there this whole time, my friend."
The owl nodded and perched himself on a spoke at the base of the birdhouse, "Oh, yes, Merlin. It is most dangerous out there in the world, Merlin. The approaching darkness is growing every moment! The kingdom is still without a king. There are dark times ahead for Camelot. Dark times, indeed!"
There was a small shout from the outside, which diverted their attention from the owl and turned to the window to look outside. From within the forest, they could make out a young blonde-haired boy in a dark red tunic run down the forest trail towards the house, followed closely behind by a swarm of Heartless.
"Who's that," Lea asked. "He looks like he could use some help."
"Oh, my word! That's Wart!" Merlin said, before storming out the door, calling back to the friends, "Fight off those devious creatures!'
"Got it!" Sora said, summoning his Keyblade to his grasps before quickly making his way out towards the forest, followed by Donald and Goofy.
"Looks like we've got more Keyblade-wielding practice ahead of us," Kairi said, summoning her Keyblade and running to the door.
"Of course we do," Lea said, rolling his eyes and summoning his Keyblade.
The group immediately went outside, their weapons drawn and charged towards the Heartless creatures. These beings in this world looked bizarre - like dark, shadowy figures in a stone shell that seemed almost inpenatrable. The creatures flexed their claws out from beneath their stone barriers.
Sora went to strike down on a Heartless creature but found that his blade was simply deflected away, not able to do any harm to the creature. "Agh, no good."
Kairi and Lea tried, but the same thing had happened to them, as well. Their blades, no matter how powerful, were unable to break through the tough stone of the creatures.
"I know the trick that'll take these bad guys out! Magic!" Donald said, jumping up and pulling out his staff. "Blizzard!"
A flurry of ice shards and crystalline snowflakes shot from within Donald's staff, freezing the Heartless in place. Sora, Kairi and Lea then went to strike the Heartless down and when they did so, they found that the ice crystals had frozen the creatures over, as they hacked away at the creatures as if they were breaking apart ice. When the creatures were defeated, they dissolved away into a dark cloud which dissolved into the air.
"Well, that takes care of that," Sora said, dusting his pants off and turning to his friends, "I suppose we'll have to use more magic in this world to take on the types of Heartless here."
Merlin turned to Arthur, concerned, as he placed his hands on the young boy's shoulders, "Oh, Wart. I was so worried something had happened to you. Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Merlin." The boy nodded, "I was making my way back here to see if you'd come home, but those creatures attacked me and I ran. What are they, Sorcerer Merlin? They've just started appearing out of nowhere so quickly."
"They're called Heartless," Sora said. "They're creatures born from the darkness in peoples' hearts."
Merlin nodded and went over to the Keyblade wielder, "Oh, right. How could I forget? Wart, this is Sora and his friends. They're good friends of mine and I've helped them along their journey many times before."
"Sora..." Arthur mused, "You're...the legendary Keyblade wielder Merlin's told me about."
"Legendary?" Sora smirked and summoned his Keyblade. He let out a small chuckle, "No, heh heh, that's not me. Well, I mean, I am a Keyblade wielder, but definitely not a legend."
Lea interrupted, "I think you meant to say Lea, the legendary Keyblade wielder because I am a legend."
"Sora and his friends are here to help us fight off the darkness," Merlin said. "With his blade, he'll be able to seal away the heart of the kingdom so that the Heartless will not be able to reach it, my boy!"
Arthur pondered, "And if we find this 'heart' of the world, the darkness will start to fade away? Camelot will be saved?"
"Oh, of course, yes, but-" Merlin stood upright then, his eyes wide. "Wait, we?! You are not going, young man!"
"What? Why!?" Arthur whined, following Merlin into his house. The other friends soon followed the two inside.
"Why?! It is much too dangerous for a boy your age to see so much trouble!" Merlin explained, "Wart, I've been training your for some time now, in the studies of logic and history and all sorts of subjects any noble leader would need to rule over any kingdom one day. We have barely begun our necessary swordsmanship training. You are much too naive for these matters, especially when the whole kingdom is at stake!"
"What?" Arthur rolled his eyes, disappointed. "I'm sure Sora wasn't too much older than I am when he started getting involved in his adventures. Right, Sora?"
Sora shrugged, "I mean, I was probably only a year older tha-"
"Quiet, young man," Merlin shut Sora up and the Keyblade wielder instantly obeyed. "You are not going, Arthur, and that's final!" Merlin went to his bag then and opened up, magically pulling all that he had somehow packed in his bag, restoring all of it to its' original size and placing it perfectly around the room in its' correct spot. Now in this new home, the place looked exactly like his house in Radiant Garden.
Arthur went over to the old wizard, who was starting to tend to the fire he had started in the fireplace. "Merlin, please. If I'm going to become...at least a nobleman in Camelot one day, I need to go out and explroe - protect the kingdom."
Merlin sighed, "I know, Arthur, but if something happened to you, boy, I would never be able to forgive myself."
"You know, Merlin, we can look after him," Kairi suggested.
Sora agreed and nodded, "Yeah. I mean, there's a whole bunch of us. I'm sure we can take on any Heartless that might show up...and we'll keep an extra close eye on Arthu...Wart?"
"Oh, whichever is fine, thanks" Arthur said with a smile.
"Warthur," Lea said.
Merlin turned back to look at the young boy, "Are you sure, Wart? It could be very dangerous."
Arthur smiled and nodded, "Positive. We could consider this the next steps of our training, Merlin."
"Very well," the old wizard said, "but I will be keeping a close eye on you, young man. If I see any funny business, any at all, I will drag you back here 'Prestigitonium'!"
"Preso-what" Goofy asked, confused.
"Ah, nevermind that. It's a spell, very powerful stuff," Merlin turned back to Arthur, "Are we understood, my boy?"
"Understood. Everything will be okay since I've got you and Sora with me Merlin," Arthur nodded with a smile. "So, where are we off to first, then?"
Merlin pondered for a quick moment, tapping his finger against his chin. "Well, first...I think we should try and find the source of where all the Heartless are coming from...and then..."
Sora finished, "We find the Keyhole and seal it, protect it from the Heartless."
"Yeah, and that should make the darkness in the world disappear, at least lessen it a little," Goofy said.
"And it'd help out with getting rid of some of the Heartless, too!" Donald concluded.
"A worthy answer, my friends," Merlin nodded.
Sora's face grew determined. "We'll find that Keyhole. We'll make sure that Camelot is saved from the darkness."
"I'll protect the kingdom, too." Arthur said, "I might not be able to fight like the rest of you, but I would risk everything if it meant saving my home. I will fight for Camelot until my end."
"Hmm, and after we've defeated this darkness and restored all to how it should be, who knows," a small smile grew on the old wizard's face.
"We might even find Camelot's new king."
Yen Sid, Riku, Aqua and Ansem the Wise had left Traverse Town with the help of the old sorcerer's magic and returned to the Mysterious Tower, where they made their way up to Yen Sid's chambers, gathering around the desk that was placed at the center of the room.
Yen Sid closed his eyes and took a seat down at the chari behind his desk. He sighed deeply, "One master saved, while another lost..."
Riku scratched the back of his head, "Didn't turn out exactly as we planned, did it?"
"Indeed, it did not," the sorcerer replied. "With Mickey still lost to the realm of darkness, we are still short two Keyblade wielders to join in the war against Xehanort."
"The seven lights," Aqua recalled, remembering what Riku and Mickey had told her about Xehanort's ambitions while they were trapped in the dark world. "There's me and Ventus. Riku and Mickey..."
"Lea, Kairi and Sora..." Riku finished, "All seven are needed to fight against Xehanort and the war won't begin until we're all gathered, but with Mickey missing now, too..." Riku sighed out, feeling like he had failed his friend when he would do anything to save the King.
"I know what you're thinking Riku," Yen Sid bowed his head. "You're thinking of returning to the realm of darkness to rescue the king."
"Of course I am," Riku said.
"But it's much too dangerous, Riku." Yen Sid said, "Mickey has fallen even deeper into the darkness and there is no guarantee that all of us would return from the dark realm again."
Riku sighed and crossed his arms, "Well, then what do you suppose we do?"
Yen Sid closed his eyes, deep in thought as he formulated their next steps.
While the two men spoke back and forth with one another about what to do next, Aqua glanced over to the side and caught sight of Ansem the Wise, who appeared to be in deep thought.
She slowly walked up to the robed man, "Is everything okay? You seem...perplexed."
"The haze is clearing," Ansem said.
"Hm?"
"My memories," Ansem mumbled, "They're slowly returning to me, rechaining themselves together in my mind ever since returning from the realm of darkness."
"Well, that's a good sign, then," she replied with a small smile.
Ansem nodded, "Yes, each day, more and more memories are returned. I can remember Xehanort and the apprentices, my study of the light and darkness, my time in Radiant Garden, meeting the King, Kairi..."
Aqua turned, her interest piqued, "Kairi?"
"My niece," Ansem said with a small smile, "My sister's daughter. I'm certain Riku was the only one who had established our connection, however."
"I suppose so," Aqua said, "I'd only met her once. Long ago at Radiant Garden, beneath the castle."
Ansem nodded, "Yes, she'd spent a short time of her childhood with her parents living in my castle, but when the darkness had turned its' wrath on Radiant Garden, she and her mother had escaped to the very islands in which Sora and Riku had lived."
"And they all grew up there, together as friends," Aqua mused.
Ansem lowered his head, "I had tried to spare her from the darkness, but it only worked for so long, as the darkness soon took her home, too. The darkness...it has a way of spreading to everything, even that which we try to protect so."
"Yes, it does," Aqua said, lowering her head, as her mind went to Terra. Her attention then turned back to the old sorcerer who was conversing with Riku.
"Very well then," Yen Sid said, "We will try to send a message to Mickey and establish communication with him. Since Aqua was able to send Master Eraqus' Keyblade from within the realm, perhaps we'll be able to send a message to him, too."
"Right, at least we might be clued in a little to be able to track him down," Riku said, crossing his arms. "Hmm, I wonder how Sora and the others are doing with tracking down the princesses..."
"Let us see," Yen Sid said, waving his hand above the wooden desk. A puff of smoke appeared and from within, a rippling magical portal appeared with a vision of Sora, Donald and Goofy bringing Alice back to Radiant Garden with them from Wonderland.
Riku smiled, "They found Alice. There's just five more they have to find. Once we get Mickey back, it'll look like thing'll be looking up."
The image in the vision portal then transitioned elsewhere - a dying forest in the kingdom of Camelot. Sora, with Spooky on his shoulder, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Lea, Merlin and an unknown young boy trailed their way down the forest path.
"It seems they never did release that shadow like I requested," Yen Sid sighed and placed a hand to his forehead, slightly agitated, but he figured there was little he could do to change the Keyblade wielder's heart in keeping the Heartless shadow nearby. "It appears as though they're keeping themselves busy in Camelot with my good friend Merlin."
Riku nodded, watching over the portal, "We should try and contact them...tell them we brought Aqua back to the realm of light safe and sound. And I suppose, tell them what happened to Mickey, too..."
"Indeed," the sorcerer nodded. Yen Sid began to wave his hands in the air, beginning a magical spell to send an illusion of himself to update the other group in Camelot. However, Yen Sid stopped when he caught sight of Riku.
The white-haired young man stared down into the portal, with confusion and an ounce of fear in his eyes. From within the portal, secretly trailing down the forest path behind Sora and his friends, he saw himself...and yet, it wasn't himself. It was the dark version of himself, clad in the uniform that had materialized whenever the darkness took hold over his heart. This 'other' Riku crept through the trees, keeping his eyes fixated on his targets, stealthily moving about the forest like a snake.
"Huh," Riku gasped, "That's not...me?"
The dark Riku stood still then and stared directly ahead, staring face to face with Riku through the portal, as if knowing the 'real' Riku was spying on him. He let out a dark chuckle as he summoned his Soul Eater blade.
Riku's eyes widened, as visions passed through his mind's eye, seen only by him.
He was in the fogged town streets of Radiant Garden, as a figure wearing an Organization robe approached him. Instantly, the two met with the clash of blades as Riku summoned his Keyblade. Their blades continually clashed, fending off one another's attacks and trying to strike the other down before they could attack again. The intensity of the battle was immense, the attacks and counterattacks never ceasing, as sparks flew as the blades clashed.
When Riku's opponent had seized an opening in his attacks, they lifted their foot up and kicked Riku in the chest, sending the young man to the ground.
Riku winced in pain, but before the opponent could approach, he back flipped onto his feet and again, their blades clashed with one another. Riku clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, trying to use all of his power to fend the enemy off and push him back with his Keyblade. As Riku tried to fend off the enemy then, he caught a glimpse into his opponent's glowing golden brown eyes, masked beneath the shadows of their hood.
The glance was soon over though, as within a moment, the battle resumed. Riku encircled his Keyblade in the air, angling it down to strike the enemy - but the opponent had anticipated the attack and blocked the Keyblade with his own weapon, sending Riku's blade flying through the air.
Riku watched in terror as he looked behind him, seeing his weapon clatter to the ground, out of reach.
He turned his face around just in time to see his opponent impale their blade right through his chest, a sharp cry of pain escaping him.
The white-haired young man went to grasp the handle of the blade that had impaled him. It was Xehanort's blade, with the all-seeing eye centered at its' helm.
Riku snapped out of the vision then and the portal closed. He stumbled back as his breath came harsh and quick. It was the same dream he had been experiencing ever since he entered the realm of darkness, though he hadn't had it since he returned. A part of him hoped and believed that it was just a sick vision brought to him in the realm of darkness, one that would leave after he escaped, but he couldn't help but remember the nightmare Ansem's words.
"All these dreams are memories of things that have happened before...and things that will happen in the future."
He knew that, no matter where he was, realm of darkness or not, this dream was going to become a reality at some point - with Riku's end met by Xehanort.
Yen Sid went to the man then, "Riku? Are you alright? What happened?"
"Another nightmare," Aqua questioned.
"Yeah," Riku said low, "The same one as before."
"What happens," the woman asked.
"It's...just a nightmare of me fighting Xehanort...or someone like Xehanort..." Riku began.
Yen Sid looked at the young man, "And?"
Riku stuttered for a little bit, "And...well, I...the dream ends before anything else happens," he lied, not wanting to reveal the truth of this visionary fate, at least not yet.
"A dream of just a battle," Aqua mused. "Well, we'll be fighting Xehanort and his army sooner or later, so it's bound to happen anyway."
Riku nodded, "Yeah. Bound to happen..."
"I suppose that we'll..." Yen Sid began, but then his face grew with concern. He brought his hand down to rub his chin as if in deep thought, sensing something stirring far away - darkness rising.
"Master Yen Sid," Aqua questioned, looking up at the man. "Is everything alright?"
"No. Not quite. I sense a troublesome darkness brewing somewhere near," Yen Sid said, closing his eyes and raising his hands to the sides of his head, as if trying to pinpoint the location of this darkness through his mind. He searched through the vast galaxy of knowledge and ability in his mind, finding the destination of where this darkness was brewing before his eyes slowly opened.
"The King's kingdom - Disney Castle."
"The darkness is taking over that kingdom," Aqua questioned.
"It's threatening to, that's certain," Yen Sid confirmed. "I can sense it ready to strike the kingdom down..."
"We should go and make sure everything is alright," Riku suggested. "We might even be able to find some way to communicate with Mickey there."
"Indeed," Yen Sid nodded. "We must hurry to the castle. Ansem the Wise, stay here. It is much too dangerous to expose you to the darkness yet again. The tower is protected by enchantments to repel the darkness away. You'll be safe here."
Ansem the Wise nodded, thinking it'd be best to not jump right back into a fight against the darkness as he was still recovering.
"Quickly, to Disney Castle," Yen Sid said, before a cloud of smoke wrapped around him, Riku and Aqua.
The hallway of Disney Castle stretched a long ways, as banners with the king's royal crest on them draped down from the tall castle ceilings above. The long hall stretched all the way towards the library, where Queen Minnie and Daisy had peacefully been gathered during their morning tea and studies, before they were met with the loud interruption of Huey, Dewey, Louie and Scrooge McDuck, informing them that the kingdom might have been infiltrated by unwanted visitors.
"Queen Minnie! Queen Minnie!" Huey jumped up, "Come quick!"
"The castle might be in danger," Dewey said, running to the queen.
Minnie rose from her desk, "Oh, dear. What do you mean?"
"We found a funny looking entrance opened up which goes all the way down to below the town!" Louie said, "Someone opened it up and came through!"
Daisy looked between her nephews and the Queen, concerned, "Are you certain, boys?"
Scrooge nodded and tapped his cane forward, "Aye, lasses! I was right there with 'em when I saw it! The boys speak the truth! A large entrance opened up on the castle grounds! I've seen it with me own two eyes."
Minnie ran out from around her desk, walking to the exit of the library, as Daisy, the three nephews and Scrooge ran out after her, "Oh, dear! This doesn't sound good!"
"Not good at all," Dewey said, running down the hall after the Queen.
"Please, please show me where you found this," the Queen said, leading the group down the hall and into the courtyard below.
Once the coast was clear and the hall was then empty, Pete appeared from over the side of the balconies that looked out onto the courtyard on the one side of the hall. He climbed his way up with a boisterous laugh, before he plopped himself down into the hall with a heavy thud, which seemingly shook the castle.
"Ahaha, now that those goody two-shoe royals are too busy worrying about their pwecious wittle kingdom, it gives me the perfect chance to bust in and steal that there Cornerstone of Light," he let out another loud laugh.
He stomped down the hall and went to the large twin doors that led to the grand hall. He pushed open the smaller door that was found within the bigger door and stomped his way into the large white hall. Ue quickly made his way to the end of the massive hall, which led to a royal blue platform where the King and Queen's golden thrones stood.
"Let's see now. It should be here somewhere," Pete said, as he examined the platform which he stood. He stepped a few times on the platform before he went over to the thrones. He patted around the thrones for a little bit, as if trying to find a little latch or switch. He went to the underside of one of the throne's arms and found what felt like a little button there.
"Aha! Got it!" Pete pressed down on the button and watched as the platform slowly started shifting to the side, revealing a hidden staircase which led down to the Hall of the Cornerstone chamber, where the beacon of light was kept safe and away from prying eyes.
Pete walked down into the grand audience chamber and saw the crystalline, shimmering orb floating above it's podium. The big cat rubbed his hands together and let out a devilish grin. "When I get a holda that thing, my buddies'll be able to fill this darn castle up with the darkness," he laughed.
He went over to the orb and grasped it with both hands, picking it up as if it was as light as a bubble and heaving it up onto his back, carrying it away even as the Cornerstone was almost twice the size of him. Without another word, with the giant orb being carried and supported on his back, Pete ran from the chamber, stealing the castle's precious beacon and protector of light.
He laughed to himself, running down the grand hall and back towards the courtyard, "Those darn fools left their precious Cornerstone unguarded AGAIN! All's I'm doin' is teachin'
em a lesson! They shoulda learned the first time I took the Cornerstone!"
Pete rushed down into the garden outside of the castle, heaving the large Cornerstone behind him. When the villainous accomplices saw that Pete had indeed been successful in his task to abduct the Cornerstone of Light, they emerged from their hiding places in the garden.
"I'm impressed, darling," Cruella said. "You actually managed to do it. I thought you were just an utter, incompetent failure. I guess you're just utterly incompetent."
"Now, we can fill that castle up with our very own special touch of darkness," Hades said with a snicker. "Doesn't seem like it'll be the happiest place in town once we're finished with it."
Gaston emerged, steadying his bow and arrow, "More importantly, we can find that data extractor now and continue on with Maleficent's plans."
"And that blasted cricket's journals, too," Hook said with a wry smile, "I would gather that they're somewhere in the royal library for safe-keeping."
"Seems our plans are going rather swimmingly well then, wouldn't you say so, James," Cruella asked.
"Indeed," Hook nodded, "Let's begin our next move while those bloody royals are still dawdling about like a bunch of confused fools."
"Yes, we break through," Gaston said, leading the way through the garden and up to the small doorway at the base of the castle which led to the castle hall.
Pete stumbled back, catching the Cornerstone in his hands before almost dropping it to the ground. "Ooh, um, d-don't worry about me! I'll find someplace to hide this thing where those royals won't get their nitty gritty hands on it!"
"We weren't worried about you," Hades said.
"Just don't mess anything up, Oaf!" Cruella called back and turned to Hook, "I don't even know his damn name. I've just been calling him Oaf this whole time."
"We've come this far, just keep yourself out of sight so you don't set us back." Gaston called out to Pete, "We'll handle it from here."
Pete sighed out and lowered his head, feeling dejected and sad as he watched his cohorts leave him behind, not really caring about where he went or what he did as long as it didn't affect their plans. It made a part of him wonder why he was even here with them doing any of this, especially since it wasn't like he necessarily enjoyed working alongside them, either.
Truth be told, the only reason why he was still in this gig was because, although clumsy and lazy, Pete had a sworn loyalty to Maleficent ever since she had helped him escape from his confinement in the Disney Castle years ago and he strived to help her succeed. Though, thinking back now, he and Maleficent never got along and there certainly wasn't any feelings of companionship or friendship between them or between him and any of his other cohorts.
It made him question to himself why he was still in this business when there wasn't much he seemed to enjoy from it other than not having to play by anyone else's rules.
"Hmm, doh!" Pete said, slumping down next to the Cornerstone, not really caring if he'd get caught at this point anymore. "You know, I guess...some rules to play by wouldn't be so bad. Hmm, ohhh...it's just not fair."
The burly cat huffed up and stood up, taking the Cornerstone with him and heading to one of the many exits of the castle grounds, heading into the town that surrounded the castle.
Back inside the castle, Hades, Hook, Cruella and Gaston made their way down the long hall, headed towards the library.
"Eh, nice place they got here," Hades said.
"Nice? Darling, it's a castle littered with mice and ducks and who knows what other animals they just brought in from outside," Cruella said, fluffing her coat up. "Just being in this ghastly place makes me want to take a bath."
"We won't be here long enough to hear any more complaints from you," Gaston said, leading them to the chamber at the end of the hall.
Cruella scoffed at the hunter, "Didn't Oaf say that he found the 'data extractor' in the library when he and Mal took their trip through the journal?"
"Indeed, he did," Hook said, "It should still be there."
They reached the end of the hall, where Gaston pushed open the door to the chamber and the four villains entered. They walked in and searched the room. There was a fireplaced along one wall, a huge bookcase which took up an entire wall from the amount of books in the library, a desk at the center of the room and framed portraits of the King throughout different stages in his life - but no sign of the data extractor.
"Well? Where the hell is the blasted thing," Cruella asked.
"It's not here," Gaston said. "It must have been moved to a different part of the castle. We continue our search."
"Ah, yes, but the cricket's journals might be here," Hook said, moving over to the bookshelf and scanning through the countless books.
Hades turned from them and smirked, "In the meantime, I think this place could use a little touch of darkness to spice things up." The Lord of the Dead focused on building up the dark powers within him, as a fleet of large shadow Heartless emerged from within the dark waves that pulsed through the castle from the library. The dark aura traveled through all the chambers of the castle, releasing large Heartless beasts throughout as the castle slowly became overflown with the dark creatures.
Cruella peaked out of the slightly opened door, seeing the hall flooded with Heartless as they began rampaging through the castle, clawing at the walls and stomping down hard on the floor, wanting to destroy the castle on purpose. "Lovely work."
"Of course, as always," Hades said, brushing off his shoulders, feeling accomplished by the easy work.
"That should help take care of those pesky royals," Hook said.
"I should have known it would be you!" The villains looked back from the bookshelf and saw Queen Minnie standing there along with Daisy.
"Spoke too soon, did you, James," Cruella said.
Daisy pointed at the villains, "It was you that flooded the castle with those dark creatures and broke into the kingdom!"
"Well, aren't you a smart duck," Hades said, moving closer to the two royals. "From here on out, we'll be doing the talking, ladies."
"Right. Enough games," Cruella said, walking up to the two. "Let's have a little chat, shall we? Women to women. Where's the data extractor and the Cricket's journals? We know you're keeping them hidden away within the castle somewhere. So talk."
Minnie stomped her foot down, "Never! They're hidden away and you'll never find them! That's all you need to know."
"Oh, let's not think irrationally, darling. We need those journals," Cruella said. "And we won't be leaving until we get them."
"And neither will you," Gaston threatened.
Daisy placed her hands on her hips, "How did the sort like you even manage to get into the castle?"
"Well, we're so high and mighty, aren't we," Hades scoffed.
"We couldn't have done it without Oaf's help," Cruella said with a small smile.
"I believe you're familiar with Pete. After all, he comes from this kingdom," Hades said.
Minnie's eyes widened, "Pete!? He's here, too? What did he have to do with this!?"
Hook sneered, raising his sharp hook up to them, "Ah, thanks to Pete and his help, he must be off hiding your precious Cornerstone of Light by now."
"Leaving the castle to the complete disposal of the darkness..." Hades smirked.
"He took our Cornerstone!?" Minnie said, "Oh, dear!"
"Serves you right. All we're really doing is teaching you a valuable lesson and well, if you're kingdom gets destroyed in the process, well, that's just the icing on the cake," Hades said. "Now, let's just make this easy on all of us and tell us where the data is. Maleficent has great plans ahead...and we're not going to dissapoint her."
"Never!" Minnie shouted. "We won't give up so easily, no matter how many Heartless you summon!"
Daisy nodded and shouted at Hades, "We're not going to give up, so run along now cause you'll have better luck when your Underworld freezes over."
"Fine, if you want to do this the hard way..." Hades said with a smirk, "...then we can do this the hard way."
The four villains' shadows loomed over Minnie and Daisy, as they cornered the two royals in the library. Minnie and Daisy trembled in fear as the villains approached, knowing that they would not be able to rid the kingdom of these dark figures unless the Cornerstone was returned or they gave the villains exactly what they wanted.
After having escaped from the grounds of Disney Castle, Pete had managed to make it all the way to the outside limits of Disney Town, where he had decided to leave the Cornerstone of Light shrouded in a cluster of trees, still not entirely hidden away, but he figured, with the sheer size and brightness of the beacon, it was probably going to be the best he could do to hide it at this point. It didn't matter now anyway - the villains had already infiltrated Disney Castle by this point and were on their way to retrieving the data they needed and flooding the castle with darkness.
Pete was actually quite surprised and proud of himself, managing to get this far and not doing anything to mess up the villains' plans yet.
'If only it was for a betterer cause or somethin',' Pete thought to himself. 'Whoa, wait wait. What are ya sayin' to yourself, Pete?' He turned back to the castle, knowing that his cohorts were there engaging in the next steps of their plans and even though he felt like he should go re-join them, he just didn't want to.
'But if I don't go back with 'em, I ain'ts got nowhere to go,' Pete thought, as he made his way opposite of the castle and walked into the downtown districts of Disney Town, a place he was all to familiar with after spending most of his life there. The courtyard was big and colorful, surrounded with tall city buildings, bright street lamps and benches lining the sidewalks, a huge stage on one side of the square and a big gazebo structure at the center.
On one side of the courtyard, at the correct vantage point or if you were tall enough, one could see the tall cranes and construction site of which was soon going to be 'Disney Kingdom', the most wonderful place in town. In royal proclamation by Queen Minnie, Disney Kingdom was built as a place to celebrate the Million Dreams ceremony and it was going to be a place unlike an other, filled with many attractions, amazing food, sights and sounds only to be experienced there - even a huge castle which was rumored to stand hundreds of feet tall at the center of the theme park.
In hasty preparation for the opening of Disney Kingdom, Queen Minnie, Clarabelle Cow, Scrooge McDuck and Ludwig Von Drake had put their brains, skills, munny and knowledge together to create a place which was sure to be masterful. It was only a matter of time before the place officially opened to one and all...with the hope that it would be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
But, hope and inspiration was what Pete needed right now...and not from some theme park.
Pete walked up and slumped down on one of the benches. He saw a few familiar faces from the past as they made their way through town.
Clarabelle Cow and Clara Cluck walked by, as the two gossiped about all sorts of things. Ludwig Von Drake was at the far corner of the square, testing some new type of gadget he'd been working on that helped power the electricity within the city. The box he was working on faltered for a moment and spasmed, causing the street light to blink on and off for a moment before stabilizing. Moments later, Horace Horsecollar walked right by lugging supplies to prepare for the upcoming season of Disney Town's Annual FruitBall tournament. On the stage, two birds, a chicken and a parrot, whom he recognized as Panchito Pistoles and Jose Carioca, well-known performers in Disney Town, were setting up for an afternoon performance.
The plaza was bustling with busy toons, but Pete simply slouched on the bench, feeling like he had nowhere to go and nothing to do.
The citizens of Disney Town were far too busy with their own lives to even notice Pete sitting there. And even if they had noticed him, it was likely they would have either ignored him regardless or would have turned him in to the royals at the castle upon spotting him. It was rather common knowledge that Pete was a trickster back in the day and it was unlikely that the citizens of Disney Town had forgotten about it. It was even more unlikely that they were willing to forgive him for all the trouble he used to cause, at least that's what Pete thought.
"Aw c'mon, Max. What happened with Roxeanne," Pete heard a voice speak from the other side of the gazebo.
"Ugh, I don't wanna talk about it. I made a fool of myself in front of her...as usual," Another voice said, the two voices growing closer to Pete. "AND school's ending this week, so now I probably won't even get a chance to see her until September, P.J."
"Max, we all live in the same town. She doesn't live too far away from the castle. It's not like she's disappearing forever," P.J. said. "Have you thought about just asking her out? Maybe she likes you, too and is waiting on you to make the first move, buddy."
"Me? Roxeanne? Ha, yeah right." Max rolled his eyes and scoffed, "She's the prettiest girl in school. She could have any guy she wants. I'm...nothing special. I'm lucky enough to see her every now and then between classes."
Pete looked up from the bench and saw Max, Goofy's boy, walking along with his own son, backpacks slung over their shoulders, as they made their way home from school. His heart lifted, but felt sad at the same time. It had been quite awhile since Pete had spent time with his son or even saw him for that matter and he wasn't entirely sure if Pete Jr., as his father had named him, wanted anything to do with his dad anymore.
"Aw, c'mon, Max! You're a catch," P.J. reassured his friend, "And Roxeanne would be lucky to have you as her guy. You just gotta find some way to catch her attention."
"Hmm, maybe you're right," Max said. "Oh, shoot. I forgot, the Powerline television special's on tonight."
"Aw, man, that's gonne be so awesome!"
Pete stood up from the bench then and slowly stepped a few feet towards the two boys. His feet dragged behind him, somewhat defeated and already knowing that his son was going to be disappointed in him for not being around too much anymore.
He slouched a few feet forward more when Max and P.J. nearly walked past him, before clearing his throat and waving weakly, "Son."
P.J. turned to look at his father, after what seemed like so long without him, "Dad?" A loon of confusion and hurt flashed across the son's face, "Dad, what are you doing here?"
"I...um, well..." He knew that if he had told his son what he was really doing, helping the villains infiltrate Disney Castle and stealing the Cornerstone, Pete Jr. would only be more infuriated with his father, but the bigger part of Pete's heart didn't want to continue the sneaky charades, the lies or the deceit. He figured, honestly, for once, was the best policy.
"I, um...oh geez..." Pete continued.
Max stood a few feet back at the gazebo and watched the awkward and unexpected meeting between father and son.
"Dad, come on. What is it?"
Pete huffed up and lowered his head, defeated. "I was helpin' some of the villains break into the castle to steal somethin' for that mean, old witch Maleficent."
His son's expression didn't change, although it still showed disappointment. "I figured as much. You still haven't changed after all this time, dad. You're still doing these petty schemes and these tricks and for what?"
Pete frowned, "Son, I-"
Pete Jr. shook his head, "Dad, a part of me was hoping that you'd say you were here because you wanted to see me. After your whole stupid Captain Dark-Justice thing you tried pulling in this town years ago backfired, you just up and left me and mom and we've barely seen you since!" The son's voice rose, digging deeper into the problems he had towards his father. "And now I realize, you're still doing the same bad things, now for worse people."
Pete lowered his head and nodded, feeling ashamed with his himsekf, but also understanding that his son was right and did have every reason to be upset. "Aw, but son, I-I do want to see ya and mom. Things just...got complicated real fast...workin' with people I shouldn'a been workin' with."
"You just completely left us behind, dad. Like you forgot about us," Pete Jr. said, "At least Max's dad has been doing a royal honor to the king and has been trying to protect the worlds!"
Max opened his mouth to speak, but remained silent, figuring it best to just let the father and son hash it out - as he, himself, has been in squabbles many times with his own father. Although, he had missed his father, even though Goofy had the easy ability to drive him up a wall with his overprotective parenting techniques, Max understood that his father was serving a helping duty that not only protected his world, but all the other, too. He couldn't have been prouder.
Plus, living in a huge castle with Minnie, Daisy and a dozen other royal subjects looking out for him wasn't necessarily the worst life, either.
"At least Mr. Goofy is off saving the world, dad. You're just doing things to mess it up," Pete Jr. said. "Why couldn't you at least try to be better? If not for me, then at least try for yourself..."
"Son, I'm...I'm sorry," Pete said, lowering his head, ashamed. "But...I wanna try to do better. I wanna be there for you...and stop all these silly antics."
Pete Jr. sighed, but looked up at his father, "Then you need to show me that, dad, and you have to start by saving the castle."
"I know, son. I know...and I will," Pete nodded, "Oh, but that Queen Minnie'll probably throw me away forever when she realizes what I've done again..."
Pete Jr. shook his head, "Dad, Queen Minnie doesn't think you're a bad person...Misguided a lot of the time,...but not bad. Right, Max?"
Max nodded and walked up to his friend, "Yeah, Mr. Pete. I mean, I know you've done...some sneaky things around town, I guess, but if you try to be better, I'm sure the Queen will respect that. The best you can do is at least try."
"I...I think I can do that," Pete said, before turning to his son, "I'm sorry, P.J. Can you ever forgive me?"
A small smile appeared on his son's face, "I can, dad." He slowly moved in to hug his father. It would take some time to repair everything that had happened and to make up for the time, but Pete Jr. figured, the least he could is 'try', as well.
"I also stole the Cornerstone of Light and most likely imperiled the whole castle by my actions," Pete said in one breath as they hugged.
Pete Jr. sighed, but smiled slightly and nodded, "Any other secrets you want to get out?"
"No, that's it, son. I promise," Pete pulled away from the hug. "But I'll put that Cornerstone of Light right back to where it belongs if it means proving to you that I'm gonna change!"
Pete Jr. smiled, "Well, come on then, dad. You got some work to do!"
"Leave it to me," Pete said, running to the spot where he had hidden the Cornerstone of Light, followed by his son and Max.
Minnie and Daisy struggled against their binds, as Hades had placed smoky chains around them and the two ladies found themselves forced against the walls, as the other villains tore apart the library in search of the missing journals.
"I've already searched this shelf before," Gaston said, throwing the books out and onto the marble floor. The library floor was soon cluttered with dozens of books. "Useless books."
"Just because some books don't have pictures in them doesn't mean their useless, blockhead," Hook disparaged the man. "Search again. The bloody royals have hidden it somewhere! That much is certain! It's only the 'where' we have yet to find."
"You won't find them!" Queen Minnie confidently said. "They're hidden away, somewhere where you'll never find them! The data extractor, too!"
"Yeah, so you might as well scram out of here," Daisy said, struggling against her binds. "You're not going to get what you want!"
Hades sneered out, an inferno orb building within his hands as his skin turned blood red and his normally cool-blue hair turned bright orange. "I've had enough of this! Where are you keeping them?!"
Minnie and Daisy refused to answer, struggling against their binds. This caused Hades to move closer to them, until the two of them could feel the heat from Hades' flames on their skin.
Cruella laughed to herself at the sight, "Mmm, what's on the menu tonight? Looks like roast duck with a side of incredibly unappetizing steamed rat."
"It's your last chance," Hades said, "Are you sure you don't want to tell us? It would make things so much easier and less deadly," he threatened.
Minnie and Daisy stayed defiantly quiet and only continued to struggle against the chains.
Cruella smirked, "Try not to char them too badly. I'm sure I could find a great use for their skins."
"Oh, just get on with it already then," Gaston sneered. "They're not going to tell us where the journals or extractor are. We'll just have to tear apart the castle ourselves then after the Heartless do."
Hades turned back to the struggling royals, an evil grin on his face, as he prepared to do them.
There was a sudden jolt against the door then, causing the four villains to turn back, hearing only silence. They turned back to their task, before the same jolt occured again.
"What the bloody hell is that now," Cruella said, watching as Hook moved over to the door.
Hook opened up the tall library door and was then blasted back by a powerful force, thrown into the library bookshelf, as tons of books came down, toppling over him.
The villains eyes went wide as three unexpected visitors barged into the library - Riku, Aqua and Master Yen Sid.
"I don't remember inviting party guests to this little shin-dig," Hades commented.
"Oh, damn it all to hell," Cruella groaned.
Master Yen Sid's eyes went wide, "It was you dark souls that brought the darkness into the King's castle!"
"Guilty," Cruella smirked.
"If only the royals had been more cooperative, our business here would have been over and done with by now," Gaston said.
"Well, we're not going to let you ruin this castle any further," Riku declared.
"Hmph, the many Heartless are already doing that for us," Hades said with a wide smile.
Aqua summoned her Keyblade, "We'll fight them off, too."
"Good luck with that, girl," Gaston said, moving to reach for his bow and arrow, but found himself blasted back into the wall by Yen Sid, where Hook was starting to recover. Gaston collapsed in a heap.
Riku charged towards Hades and summoned his blade, just as the Lord of the Dead summoned a fury of fire to come blasting towards the young man. The Keyblade Master held his blade out in front of him and blocked the fiery orbs, sending them away, where they exploded mid-air. When the attack was finished, Riku leapt up and tried bringing his blade down onto the Lord of the Dead, as Hades tightly gripped the blade in his hands, trying to fend of the man's attack.
Hades smirked, "Hmph, I see you're still just as hard-headed as you were when you were in league with Maleficent and I."
"Things have changed since then, Hades," Riku said with a confident smile. "I'm on the winning side now."
"Please..." Hades sneered, trying to gain the upper hand in the attack, "You really think you can kill me? Hmph, I'm the Lord of the Dead. I'm a GOD. You can't kill me!"
"We might not be able to destroy you, but we can still stop you," Aqua said, leaping up into the air over the two and sending a flurry of ice shards towards Hades. The Lord of the Dead frozen in place, his flames completely extinguishing and leaving him with a rather bald head of hair.
Aqua ran over to the trapped Minnie and Daisy then, "Queen Minnie! Daisy! Are you okay? We came as soon as the Master sensed the darkness."
"Aqua! It's you!" Minnie exclaimed upon greeting her old friend. "We're fine. Could you help us?"
Aqua nodded and with her Keyblade, sliced through the smoky chains that kept the two ladies bound. Once free, Minnie and Daisy thanked Aqua and turned their attention to the Heartless in the corridor.
"We must take care of those Heartless," Minnie said, running to the hall, where a beam of holy light protruded from her and blasted the Heartless creatures back. "Light!"
Aqua quickly moved to follow after the two, but was cut off when Cruella stepped in her path. "And who are you?"
"De Vil, darling. Cruella De Vil," she scoffed. "Now be a good, little girl and leave the castle with your friends and let us finish what we started."
"No!" Aqua said, holding her Keyblade out in front of her. "If you're aligned with Hades and Hook, you must have a soul just as dark as theirs! I won't let you do anything to the castle!"
"My, my, harsh words for such a pretty face." Cruella smirked and fluffed out her coat, "Now, you're quite the fiery one. Just who the hell are you? I haven't seen the likes of you before, darling."
"I could say the same for you, darling," Aqua shot back. "My name is Master Aqua...and I'll fight the darkness until my end, which means...I'll fight you."
"Aqua. Too ironic, love," Cruella scoffed while she looked up and down Aqua's form. "It looks like you got lost in a can of blue paint and bad fashion sense."
Aqua tilted her head, pretended to be offended, "Really? I don't think you have the room to talk about appearances."
Cruella shrugged, "What can I say? Born flawless."
"Well, are we going to fight then?" Aqua questioned, "As I said, you're not getting what you want today."
"Oh, darling. Calm down," Cruella rolled her eyes and laughed at the girl. "I'm a lover, not a fighter. I'm too much of a lady to fight, take a lesson, darling. I leave the dirty work to the boys."
Aqua couldn't believe her opponent, "So, you have no powers, no weapon...and you're not fighting for anything? So, why are you even here...?"
Cruella thought for a long moment, before a guilty smile appeared on her face, "...I'm a really horrible person and I like watching people not be happy."
Aqua sighed and shook her head, "At least you're honest."
"Ah, darling, look we're getting along already," Cruella smirked.
"Yeah, but by the looks of things, your friends over there could have really used you in their corner," Aqua said, pointing to the three other men in the room.
"What?" Cruella said and turned her head, seeing Gaston still lying unconscious on the floor. Hook was in a duel with Riku and was slowly losing to the boy, while Yen Sid had kept Hades enchantedly frozen in place, like a pillar of ice. Cruella scoffed and stomped her feet, realizing that if it hadn't been for the three intruders, they would have been able to get the upper hand, but now - they were forced to accept the failure of their mission and return to Maleficent empty-handed.
"Enough of this madness. You shall not harm the castle," Yen Sid said and with a single wave of his Keyblade, a beam of light shone forth and shot into the air. The light grew so strong that it became blinding. The power of light scoured the room and detected the power of darkness and it was only a short moment before Hades, Hook, Cruella and Gaston found themselves flying through the air, ejected from the library, and landing in a heap on the floor in the castle hall.
Hades rose to his feet, disoriented and confused, "You dare attack a diety?!"
From the library, Yen Sid unleashed another beacon of light, which brought Hades back to the ground, pushing the other villains back down the hall, as they toppled over one another like a bunch of fools. It was like a powerful barrier kept on pushing against them, as if they were being pushed by a strong screen of blinding wind that tore them asunder.
At that same moment, Pete, Pete Jr. and Max appeared in the hall with the Cornerstone of Light, catching the villains by surprise.
"Oaf? What are you doing back here," Cruella said.
"And with that blasted Cornerstone of Light," Hook added.
Pete looked down at his son and smiled," I'm doing the right thing...for a change. I realized you guys're only bringin' me down and I've been doin' not so nice things for too long! But no more, we're done!"
Without another word, Pete Jr. and Max opened the large doors which led to the Grand Hall and the Hall of the Cornerstone, where Pete was going to return the Cornerstone of Light to its' rightful place.
"Blasted Oaf! He's managed to undo what little good work he actually managed to accomplish," Cruella grunted.
There was another piercing, blinding light from Yen Sid's Keyblade, which brought the villains to their knees again, struggling to keep their vision clear.
Gaston stammered back, feeling as if he'd met his match, "We're outmatched. We can't compete against them...at least not without Maleficent. We retreat," he said, before storming from the hall.
Hades turned to Cruella, "He's right. We can't keep going like this. The three of them...are all too powerful and skilled for their own good. We'll deal with Maleficent's wrath later."
Cruella nodded and followed after the Lord of the Dead. Before she reached the steps which led down into the courtyard, she stopped in her tracks and turned back, running back to the hall, where she saw Hook unconscious on the floor. "Jimmy!"
She quickly ran over to him, and bent down next to him. She whispered out to him, "Jimmy! Jimmy! Come on, love."
Hook groggily responded and sat up slowly, feeling like his head was spinning fully around his body.
"Oh, dear. Let's get you better. I can think of a few things to help," she said, placing Hook's arm over her shoulders to help support him while the two of them walked away.
"Something to help with the pain? Gin?" Hook questioned.
Cruella let out a small laugh, "I was going to say bed rest. Though, gin could work, too."
The two villains went down the hall, following shortly behind Hades and Gaston, escaping from Disney Castle after their mission had ultimately failed once they had been outmatched.
Pete, Pete Jr and Max made their way down into the Hall of the Cornerstone with the Cornerstone of Light.
Minnie turned when she saw them, "Oh, dear! You've found it!"
"That's why the Heartless were able to get into the castle!" Daisy said, "The Cornerstone was stolen."
Minnie gave a sigh of relief when she walked up to the glowing orb, "Oh, who could have stolen it?"
Pete peaked his head out from the large object which blocked him from the queen, "Oh, um, hiya, Queen Minnie."
"Pete!? What are you doing here!?" Minnie said, stomping her foot down, angrily. "Were you the one that's responsible for all this!?"
Pete nervously scratched his head, "Um, well,...uh...kinda. I helped the others, Hades and them, sneak into the castle by taking the Cornerstone..."
"So you helped bring the Heartless into the castle, Pete! Do you realize what damage you could have done," Daisy said, pointing at the big figure.
"Doh, hmm...I'm sorry," Pete lowered his head, ashamed.
"Please don't be too mad at him, Your Majesty," Pete Jr. said, turning to Queen Minnie. "I know what my dad did was wrong, but...he wants to be better. He's sorry for everything he's done."
Minnie remained silent and looked between the father and son.
Pete nodded, a sad expression on his face, "It's true...I'm sorry, Queen Minnie, for everything I've done. I really am, but...no more schemes or tricks from me, Your Majesty! I-I promise! Could...could you ever forgive me?"
Minnie lightly smiled, "Of course I can, Pete. Just as long as you try do be better from now on.'
"Oh, I will," Pete replied. "I will! First things first though, I gotta return this big ol' shiny orb back to where it belongs." Pete lifted the Cornerstone of Light up and carried it over to the center of the chamber.
He placed the orb back on the pedestal and back in its' place. After a moment, a wave of pure light passed out from within the orb and spread out until it completely moved through the whole castle. Any and all Heartless that were still in the castle were immediately vanquished once the Cornerstone was returned and all darkness was removed from the castle then.
By the change of heart by an unexpected hero, the darkness within Disney Castle was vanquished and the kingdom, the royals and the hidden journals were saved from the villains.
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Lea, now also accompanied by Merlin and Arthur, traveled down the forest path, which led deeper into the dying woods and away from the castle at the heart of Camelot. As they progressed further through the woods in search of the Keyhole, the woods seemed to grow quieter and gloomier, the darkness growing with every passing step. The tree branches and roots stretched around the forest path like a tunnel of tangled vines.
Arthur turned to Sora as they walked down the path, his voice cutting through the unnerving silence, "So, what exactly is this Keyhole?"
"Oh," Sora tilted his head in thought, "Well, they're...the heart of the world. They're what the keeps the worlds alive."
"Yup. And every world out there has a Keyhole to help protect it from the Heartless and the darkness," Goofy said.
Sora turned to explain to Arthur, "You know, it was some time ago, when Donald, Goofy and I first met that we went on a quest through many worlds, finding Keyholes and protecting them from the darkness. Though, we...have much more to worry about nowadays than just the darkness."
Arthur continued to question, "What happens if the Keyhole isn't found and the darkness gets to it?"
Lea sighed, "Well, if the Heartless find the Keyhole, they enter into it and attack the world's core, which...well, causes the world to fall to the darkness and disappear."
"Oh, no," Arthur frowned and shook his head. "That would be a horrible fate."
Merlin nodded, "Yes, my boy! That's why it's so important that we find that keyhole while we still have the opportunity to do so."
Kairi turned to Arthur and tried to reassure him, "But even if the worst does happen, any world that falls to the darkness could be restored. It just might take some time."
Sora nodded and turned to the younger boy, "You know, that's actually how this whole adventure began."
Arthur tilted his head, curious, "Hm?"
"My home, the islands, it's where Kairi and I and our friend, Riku, live." Sora explained and summoned his Keyblade to his grasps, "As our islands were surrounded by the Heartless, our friend Riku was sucked away into the darkness...and then my Keyblade appeared to me...just moments before all the islands fell to the darkness...and my entire adventure to set things right started from there."
Arthur nodded, "It's almost as if the Keyblade came to you when you needed it most - to fight the battles ahead...and guard what needed protecting."
Sora let out a small chuckle, "Heh, something like that, I suppose..."
Kairi smiled, "But don't worry, Arthur. With all of us here, we're going to find that Keyhole and-"
"Look," Donald interrupted and pointed to the forest alcove ahead. There seemed to be a dark aura sweeping and gliding around the forest from the open alcove up ahead. Wherever the dark mist spread, the ground chipped and cracked, breaking away and draining the life out of the forest.
From out of the darkness, a group of larger Heartless shadows emerged - the NeoShadows, as they were called. The creatures were more humanoid than the other creatures, with arms and feet lined with faint blue veins. Evolved from the smaller shadow Heartless, the NeoShadows were larger pureblood Heartless, born from pure darkness and were altogether more ferocious and powerful.
The group charged towards the strong Heartless and lunged into battle, slicing and slashing their way through the Heartless, facing a bit more of a struggle than they usually would have against the Heartless enemies. While Sora, Kairi and Lea used their Keyblades to do the brunt of the work and slash through the dozen NeoShadows, Donald spent the battle using his magic on the creatures and 'sometimes' coming to his friends' aid to heal them. Goofy fended off the creatures and helped corner them so that Sora and the others could get a better advantage while fighting them.
Not long after, the NeoShadows dissolved into a cloud of blackness, but the darkness still remained heavy and constant within the forest.
Spooky leapt down from Sora's shoulder and walked adjacent to the dark trail. He examined the trail for just a moment and then wiggled its' antenna, looking ahead into the forest.
"What is it, Spooky," Sora asked, looking ahead and picking Spooky up off the ground.
"The darkness that's spreading into Camelot," Merlin said, examing the black aura, "...it's coming from up ahead."
They continued along the forest trail walking alongside the dark aura that trailed through the forest until they arrived at a crooked-looking hovel surrounded by the dense forest. The roof of the house was black and pointed, looking like a witch's hat.
"Oh, I should've known!" Merlin said, his brows furrowing in anger.
"What is this place," Sora questioned, taking a few steps closer to the twisted house.
"Ohh, hmph!" Merlin said, taking his wand from his pocket and angrily shaking it, "A place I'd hoped to never see again! She's always up to no good, that man woman!"
Lea scratched the back of his head, "Um, who exactly are we talking about?"
"Mim! Mad Madame Mim!" Merlin said, "She's a crazed witch, one that has been practicing the art of magic and sorcery for years!"
"Mad Madame Mim?" Donald questioned and then gave a heavy sigh, "Does she have to be mad? First the Mad Hatter, now this."
"I warn you, be careful," Merlin said, carefully stepping towards the house. "Mim is a trickster!"
"Just how much of a trickser are we talking about," Sora asked the old wizard. "Worse than Maleficent?"
Merlin tilted his head and squinted his eyes, "Well, compared to Maleficent, Mim can't magic her way out of a shoe box!"
"Well then, what are we doing being so cautious around here for," Donald said, "If that's where the darkness is coming from, why not just bust in on her and stop her." The duck said, charging at the door.
"Donald, wait," Sora called out.
Doofy called out, concerned, "Don't do anything reckless, Donald!"
"Merlin, should we help," Arthur asked.
The old wizard protectively held his arm out in front of the young boy, "No, no, no. You will not be going in there."
"The jig is up!" Donald slammed through the door and entered into the witch's small house, where Mim was sat at her table with a deck of playing cards in front of her. The sudden intrusion caused Mim to nearly jump up into the ceiling from the surprise.
When Donald caught sight of the witch, he was expecting something more terrifying and threatening. Instead, he caught sight of a pale-skinned, slightly frumpy looking woman with light purple hair in a pink dress.
"Oh ho ho, a duck!" Mim replied.
Sora and Goofy ran in after Donald and kept their distance away from the witch who stood at the table next to the fireplace hearn.
Mim gleefully clapped her hands together, "So many wonderful visitors today! What are you doing here, lads?"
"We saw the darkness coming from your house," Donald accused her, pointing at her. "Now stop what you're doing right now or you'll be sorry!"
"Darkness? Ah?" Madame Mim tilted her head confused. "I have no idea what you're talking about! I've done nothing!"
Sora crossed his arms and pouted, "Hmm, maybe Merlin was wrong then." He turned to the door and watched as Kairi and Lea entered into the house.
"Merlin!?" Mim threw her hands down and twilred through the cottage.
"Yupp, you know, Merlin, don't you?" Goofy asked, "One of the most powerful wizards throughout all the worlds."
"Merlin!? Merlin!?" She let out a loud laugh, as she gleefully bounced and twirled around her home like a deranged mad woman. A sense of mockery filled her tone and expression, "One of the most powerful wizards in the worlds? Why, I have more magic in one little finger! Now, don't tell me you haven't heard of the Marvelous Madame Mim!"
Lea scratched his head, "'Marvelous' wasn't the word used to describe you."
"I am the greatest! Naturally marvelous," Mim happilly spun around with a wide smile, flittering about. "I find delight in all things gruesome and grim!"
Sora shook his head," That's terrible."
"Oh, thank you, my boy," Mim happily clapped and bounced up and down.
Sora turned and whispered to Donald and Goofy, "Well, she's definitely, er...mad, but, I don't know. I don't think she has anything to do with the darkness here. At least she didn't sound like she did."
Lea shook his head and walked over to the others with Kairi, "Hey. I think we've reached a dead end here. We should head back to Merlin and start looking for that Keyhole in the right place.
Mim emerged from behind the group then, catching them all by surprise, "Hmmm! In cahoots with Merlin, are you!?"
"Maybe," Goofy shrugged.
Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the ground, "And what's it to ya?"
"Cause in my book, that's BAD," Mim shrieked and stomped her foot down in anger. "So, my friends, I'm afraid I'll have to destroy you..."
"What?" Kairi gasped, "D-destroy us? Why? What did we do?"
"Ohhh!" Mim laughed, "Any friend of Merlin's is an enemy of mine!"
Sora and the group started to back away from the insane witch, "I think 'Mad' Madame Mim is an understatement."
Mim gleefully clapped her hands together and leapt, or rather, more like floated up onto the table. "So, what shall it be? Turn you all into rabbits and release you to the wolves!? Or should I turn you all into ants and squash you like the bugs you are!?" She joyfully laughed.
"Getting madder by the second," Kairi remarked.
Lea shook his head, "Nah, she skipped mad and went straight to psychopath before we even walked into the room."
Mim slowly approached the group, "Oh, now, now! Don't look so frightened, dears! I'm only going to painfully wipe you from existence!"
Donald stomped his foot down and crossed his arms, "Why do we always get outselves into these situations!"
Sora shrugged and summoned his Keyblade, "Yepp, well, we always get out of them, too."
Merlin appeared in the door then, carefully guarding Arthur from the mad woman, "Mim! Mim! Enough of this already! You won't be harming any of my friends today!"
Mim spun around, surprised to see her old wizarding nemesis. She tried to pass off her surprise with a look of sheer innocence. "Oh, Merlin! Merlin! We were just having a little chat."
"Yeah, it was so great!" Lea said, "She said she was gonna destroy us and gosh, if that just didn't make this day better, I don't know what will."
"Enough of your madness, Mim," Merlin said, approaching the witch and taking her away from the others.
"And what are you going to do about!?" Mim stomped towards him and playfully swatted at his face, "Want to fight!? Want to have a wizard's duel, do you!?"
"No, Mim! We haven't the time for unnecessary duels to prove our skills in wizardy," Merlin said. "There are some things bigger than an age-old feud between us! Camelot is dying."
"I know, I know," Mim clapped her hands together. "Isn't it just wonderful?"
"Confound it, Mim!" Merlin stomped his foot fown and wagged his finger in her face, "Were you responsible for this?! For bringing the darkness to Camelot?"
"I did no such thing, you old geezer!" Mim said, leaping down from the table in a graceful twirl as she pranced around the cottage. "I certainly wouldn't have beckoned those terrible creatures here myself. Though, they are so dark and exciting, aren't they?!"
"Then, how did the darkness seep through," Merlin questioned.
"Oh! You remember that wonderful, bright barrier you kept up around Camelot!?" Mim happily spun around and exclaimed, "I took it down! Dispelled it!" She laughed out loud.
"What!? Why, you -" Merlin angrily grunted, unable to finish his sentence. "Why would you do that!? That barrier was keeping Camelot protected from the darkness!"
"And you see, if I had known that, I might have considered keeping it up for just a little bit longer..." she grinned, a wide, terrifying smile with the look of insanity in her eyes,"...but when it comes to undoing your precious work, why, I simply can't help myself!" She let out another shriek of giggles.
"Mim, now all of Camelot is in danger! Because of you," Merlin shouted.
Mim gleefully clapped and fell backwards into one of her chairs, "I know! Isn't it wonderful!?"
"Oh, blasted insane woman!" Merlin angrily glared, before gathering his friends and leading them away from Mim's house, leaving the crazed woman to laugh meniacally on her own.
Sora shook his head walking back down the path that led back into the dark forest, "So, she didn't bring the darkness, but she didn't necessarily prevent it from coming, either."
"She egged it on, though," Lea said.
"And now, Camelot's facing the consequences," Kairi concluded.
They group walked a short distance further before Arthur turned his head to the sky and pointed upwards, a look of fear on his face from the dark omen he saw.
"Look," the young boy said.
The group looked upwards and saw that the otherwise afternoon sky had turned fully and completely dark - a blanket of pitch black darkness hovering over Camelot. All the light that was offered to the world was now kept hidden away and only the darkness continued on. Altogether, the world seemed all the more darker and gloomier than it did before.
"The sun...it's gone," Kairi examined.
"Something happened while we were at Mim's." Sora continued, a frown on his face, "The darkness...it's grown closer."
There was a large rumble that shook the world then. The group stumbled and fell to the ground as the violent shakes continued, causing leaves and branches to fall throughout the forest, clattering and covering the forest path. From the blackness of the dark sky above to the darkness that trailed throughout the forest, the dark aura wrapped around and through Camelot seemed to pulse as if alive, growing stronger with every passing second, sending waves of dark energy through the world.
"What's happening," Arthur said, looking around as the tremors continued to shake the world, the forest crumbling around them.
Merlin's eyes widened with fear, "The darkness...it's coming!"
Through the quakes that shook Camelot, the darkness seemed to be propelled towards the farther side of the forest, which led to the castle at the heart of Camelot. The darkness traveled in constant waves towards the castle grounds.
"The darkness is moving," Kairi examined, looking upwards.
Lea continued, "Traveling back towards the way we came."
"Back towards the castle," Merlin finished.
"It's...doing what the darkness does when it threatens to destroy the world," Sora said, looking up at the black sky. "...The darkness is moving towards the Keyhole. It's searching for it! And if it finds it before we do, this place...is..."
Merlin looked outward, "The Keyhole...it must be somewhere at the castle! Quickly, we must hurry! Camelot is depending on it!"
The group rushed off through the forest, back the way they had come and towards the castle.
Tired and weary from her long journey back to her castle at the edge of Radiant Garden, Maleficent used her staff to support her frail body as she walked up the path towards the entrance of her castle.
She sighed, defeated and tired, the years of darkness eating away at what was left of her heart and taking its' toll on her.'
She had arrived at the door of the castle when she was met with the most unusual sight - an apple, with a single bite bitten from it.
Her eyes widened, as she bent down picking up the apple. She examined the fruit for a moment, before she looked up towards the top of the castle.
'It's been a long time, old friend...'
Maleficent stared upwards, spotting a raven fly to the balcony of the castle, but not her own bird.
The raven landed on the stone ledge of the balcony, as a fair woman's hand trailed over the bird's feathers.
"She's arrived, my pet. I'm sure she'll be surprised to see me after all this time," the woman turned, her regal robes flowing out behind her as she entered the dark and gloomy chamber.
The raven fluttered its' wings and flew into the chamber, where it landed on the table at the center of the room and kept a close eye on the woman.
The figure walked directly to the back wall of the chamber and chuckled, "Hmph, I hope she doesn't mind that I took some liberties and did a little re-decorating."
She went to an object along the wall that had a thin drape over it. She pulled down on the cloth and revealed a round, oval mirror hung on the wall. Her attention was called when the raven made a small noise.
The woman let out a dark smile as she traced over her flawless reflection on the mirror, "Oh, she's nothing to worry about, my pet..." she smirked.
The Queen stared down her fair reflection in the mirror, a cruel glint in he eyes as she smiled.
"Maleficent may be the Mistress of All Evil, but I defined what evil truly is..."
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Lea, Merlin and Arthur quickly traced their back through the dark woods of Camelot, as the world was on the brink of falling to the darkness. The sky had turned fully black and the woods began fading away into the darkness. The world trembled and shook, as the darkness scoured through the sky in search of the keyhole at the castle, never wavering until it would find the core of the world.
The only hope for now would be to find and seal the Keyhole.
Merlin pointed to the path that traveled along the river's edge and trailed through the forest path all the way up to the draw bridge that led into the castle walls. "There!"
The team traveled through the short forest area, feeling another tremble once they reached the drawbridge to the castle. This castle was unlike many of the others that they had seen along their journeys. It wasn't nearly as tall as the castle in Radiant Garden or the one found in Rapunzel's world. This one was entirely made of stone and almost looked more like a fortress than some type of fantasy castle. It was a fortress that looked as if it was certainly prepared for war if it ever needed to fight.
The darkness swirled overhead, like a tornado, with the castle of Camelot at the eye of the storm.
"Come on, guys. The darkness is searching for the Keyhole." Sora called out to his friends, directing them forward, "It has to be somewhere up ahead!"
"We have to same Camelot," Arthur cried.
Before they could fully make it across the drawbridge that led over the loat that surrounded the castle ground, Sora stopped dead in his tracks when a figure emerged from the gate at the castle entrance.
"Huh? What are you doing here," he said, calling out to Riku - who looked exactly as he did when they had parted ways at Yen Sid's tower a week before.
Riku stopped and stared down at Sora from the entrance of the castle, blocking off their path.
"Riku?" Kairi questioned, looking at her and Sora's old friend.
Sora's eye grew concerned, "Riku, what's the matter?"
The white-haired man let out a dark chuckle then, "Riku? Hmph, not exactly." His clothes than transformed into his garments of darkness - the same Sora had recognized him in when they had fought at Hollow Bastion, when Riku was in full pursuit of the darkness and the powers they offered him.
Sora took a few steps backwards, holding an arm protectively in front of Kairi, "You...what are you?"
"Hm, so you really don't remember, Sora? We've met more than once before," the replicated Rilu cockily crossed his arms and smirked. "Castle Oblivion? I'm sure Axel...or whatever the hell his name is could inform you."
"Castle Oblivion," Sora spoke out loud. He recalled the name and he knew that he, Donald and Goofy had adventured there after defeating Xehanort's Heartless, but he was aware that the memories of the time spent at that mysterious castle were lost to him and his friends. He also knew that there were most likely people, specifically previous Organization XIII members, that he had most likely encountered at Castle Oblivion.
Lea smirked, seeing the replicated puppet again, knowing how easily manipulated it was and how much it wanted to be a person of their own. "Sora, he's just a puppet - a replica from Riku's memories made by Vexen, another former Organization member. It battled you and RIku many times at Castle Oblivion. Xehanort must have sent his younger self back in time to when we were at Castle Oblivion and made it into a new vessel for himself!"
"Very wise," the replica said. "But with Xehanort's help, I'll finally get what I want."
"What?" Lea smirked, "To have a heart? Is that it?"
"You wanted the same thing once before," the replica said.
Sora threw his arms down, "Riku...or whatever you are, we don't have the time for this! We have to save Camelot! We're wasting time," Sora said, looking up to the spiraling darkness as the ground shook again, stone structures from the castle crumbling down.
"Now is the only time," the replica said, taking a few steps towards Sora. "You're so worried about the darkness consuming this world when you should be more concerned...about the darkness consuming you, Sora."
"What?" Sora shook his head, confused. "The darkness won't consume me. I don't have any darkness within my heart."
The replica let out a dark laugh, "Of course you do, Sora. All but the seven princesses of light have some amount of darkness in their hearts. Haven't you learned anything?"
Sora held a hand to his heart, "I might...have some darkness in my heart, but not enough for me to be consumed by it! I won't ever be consumed by it! Not when I have my friends."
The replica summoned his Soul Eater blade and chuckled darkly, "And you really think you'll always have your friends by your side no matter what?"
Sora looked back at Donald and Goofy, then Lea and finally to Kairi, who gave him a reassuring nod. "Of course I do."
The replica slowly stepped closer to Sora, dangerously closer. "And what happens when the darkness consumes your heart? What happens when you start hurting them and stop acting like yourself?"
Sora felt a building anger begin to burn within him.
The replica continued, "What happens when your darkness turns you from their best friend into their worst nightmare?"
"Shut up!" Sora charged forth, summoning his Keyblade and clashing with the replica, as their blades met and caused a spark to shoot out as the light and darkness clashed.
Riku laughed to himself and sneered, "Hmph, you do have some darkness in you..."
Sora grunted out, his voice hoarse and angry, almost not sounding at all like himself. "Even if I do, I will NOT let it defeat me! I will overcome it!"
"Like Riku has?" The replica smirked, "Hmph, Sora enough already. You just have to accept the fact that you will never be Riku."
"No, you will never be Riku," Sora said, trying to push his blade back to fend off the puppet of darkness.
The replica laughed at this, "Please, I don't want to be that fool, but...doesn't a part of you just...'loathe' him? Hate him for everything he's done? Maybe things would be entirely different now if he never was pulled into that portal of darkness at the islands?"
"Of course I don't hate him! He's my best friend," Sora defended.
"Is he now?" The replica laughed, "Seems like he's left you behind in the dust. He's off doing some important mission for his Master while you are...what, on a wild goose chase through all the worlds?"
Sora gritted through his teeth, pushing the man back, "I'm playing an important role!"
"And Riku is ultimately more valuable, isn't he?" The replica smiled sweetly, "After all, he's the Keyblade Master...unlike...you."
"SHUT UP!" Sora clashed his blade against the replica's then, grunting out in anger. He breathed heavily, feeling an inner rage set a fire within him, as his blood began to boil.
"Ooh, did I hit a sore spot?" The replica smirked, "You know you hate him for that. He took what was supposed to be your title. After all, you were the Keyblade Wielder first. You fought your way through how many battle with that key...and yet, here you are. Still the delivery boy, doing these stupid errands, while everyone else...actually plays their part."
Sora glared down at the replica who looked exactly like his best friend. Seeing 'something' that looked exactly like Riku say all this stuff to him caused him to grow some animosity towards the actual Riku, even though he know he shouldn't have those feelings - but seeing the likeness of his best friend say all this to him only hurt his heart.
"Because that's all you are, Sora - a doormat."
"SHUT UP!" Sora shouted.
"Sora, stop," Kairi pleaded, trying to pull Sora away from the battle.
The replica chuckled, "You're just a boy that should have never left his island...and now, you've fooled yourself into believing you have a destiny far greater than what you actually are. You're just a fool with a raging darkness in them waiting to be awakened."
Sora grunted out, as Kairi tried to pull him away.
"Not a Keyblade Master now...and you never will be."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Sora shouted again, yanking his arm away from Kairi hard, as he lunged towards the man.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy both shouted.
Just as Sora and Riku's blades had met again, their was nother rumble that shook all of Camelot. Lightning struck from overhead and a huge blast of wind swept through the air, sending leaves flying about. It was as if they were trapped in a cyclone.
"The darkness," Merlin shouted out, pointing up to the dark storm clouds that emerged. He protectively hovered over Arthur.
Sora glared down at the replica, who laughed right in his face.
"I've had enough of this. I just wanted to give you a warning," the replica said, pushing Sora back. "There IS darkness inside of you and you WILL succumb to it."
Sora grunted out, his lip trembling, "No, I will overcome it...Just like Riku!"
The replica smirked, "Yes - but you are NOT him. You can't do what he can. When the darkness arises within you, that's all you'll have. No friends, no Keyblade, no heart - just the consuming...growing...raging darkness inside of you."
"And you'll be the nightmare that you fear you will become."
The replicated Riku vanished then, leaving the friends alone on the drawbridge as the sweeping darkness pushed through. They fought against the strong wind that nearly swept them off their feet. As they looked behind them, they saw the woods begin to chip and break apart, falling into the darkness and disappearing.
"The darkness...it's here!" Arthur shouted, running across the rest of the bridge to Sora.
"We have to find the Keyhole," Donald screamed over the wind.
"Where is it?!" Goofy shouted and pointed upwards to the darkness that swooped over the castle, "Look out!"
The darkness swept downwards towards them, sensing them enter the castle courtyard. The darkness roared, as if alive like some sort of wild beast and pulsed outward. The impulse of darkness caused the castle to shake, as one of the stone towers crumbled apart, falling to the ground.
"Watch out!" Lea yelled, pointing upwards to the falling structure, pushing Merlin and the friends out of the way, as he was hit hard by one of the stone pieces.
"Lea!" Sora and the othes yelled.
'I-I'm okay..." Lea recovered, clutching his head as blood collected in his palm.
The castle began and crumbling apart, pieces of stone and glass flying through the air, as the small pieces of debris began breaking away and disintegrating into the darkness.
Sora lunged to his feet and tried using his Keyblade to fight off the darkness, but it seemed futile.
Arthur looked at the now destroyed castle courtyard and then, he saw it - at the center of the large square, there was a sword in what appeared to be an anvil, settled on top of a stone. Even in the swarming, endless darkness that tore through the castle, the sword stood radiantly, its golden hilt shining brilliantly.
Arthur ran forth towards the stone in an effort to retrieve the weapon to fight off the darkness and save the kingdom. He grasped the golden hilt of the sword and only then, noticed the plaque that was placed on the stone.
"WHOSO PULLETH OUT THIS SWORD OF THIS STONE AND ANVIL
IS RIGHTWISE KING AND BORN OF CAMELOT"
Arthur firmly grasped the handle, fully believing it wouldn;t even budge an ince, but was surprised when, without any resistance, the sword unsheathed itself fully from the stone and anvil. Arthur stared up at the blade in amazement. From the righteous goodness in his heart and his honor to protect Camelot in its' most dire hour...the blade had chosen him.
Merlin yelled out over the wind, "Arthur, my boy! You pulled the sword from the stone! You are king of Camelot!"
Arthur stared up at the darkness above and swung the sword in the air, trying to fight off the eternal despair that threatened to overcome Camelot.
Sora and his friends watched then as the anvil which the sword was contained in splintered and cracked apart, breaking into a dozen pieces and falling to the ground. There, on the stone, hidden away beneath the anvil...was the Keyhole.
"The Keyhole!" Donald and Goofy both yelled when they saw it.
"Sora, we have to seal it," Kairi yelled.
Sora took Kairi by the hand, running through the courtyard towards the stone, ducking and weaving through the debris and darkness that flowed through the castle grounds. A moment later, they had reached the stone.
"Let's seal it!" Sora said, as he and Kairi raised their Keyblades into the air, but before the energy from the blades could be summoned, Camelot's fate had been sealed.
The darkness shot forth from within the air, as dozenes of Heartless shadows seemed to materialized within the plume of darkness. The darkness rapidly fell to the earth and entered directly into the Keyhole.
Sora's eyes widened, watching as the darkness worked quickly and then, the Keyhole disappeared. "We're...we were too late..."
All fell silent then, as the entire world seemed to freeze in place - not even the darkness moved.
"Huh? What?" Donald said, glancing around the dark world.
"What's happening," Goofy questioned, concerned.
Merlin looked upwards to the sky, "The darkness...has taken Camelot."
A moment later, the ground beneath their feet began cracking and breaking away, as pools of darkness opened up beneath them, threatening to suck them into the endless realm of darkness. The entire world began distorting and becoming morphed by the darkness and then, vanishing without a trace.
"Merlin, you have to get us out of here," Sora shouted, trying to find a solid piece of land to stand on that wasn't yet claimed by the dark.
Merlin nodded, quickly retrieving his wand. It was too late for Camelot, but his friends still needed help. With a tear in his eye as he watched his home be destroyed by the dark, Merlin chanted a spell and he, Arthur, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kairi and Lea disappeared in a plume of white smoke, returning back to Radiant Garden and escaping the destruction of Camelot.
The entire world collapsed in on itself as the darkness grew and consumed Camelot in complete darkness, before it had vanished without a trace, disappearing from the realm of light.
Camelot had fallen.
From the highest tower of the Castle That Never Was, the replicated RIku watched with a dark smile as a star faded from the sky.
The Realm of Darkness - Prydain
Towards the deepest reaches in the realm of darkness, a destroyed castle stood, crumbled and left to decay in the endles darkness. Even when it was in the realm of light, the place had manifested a great darkness and was rumored to have been overseen by a evil horned king who used the dark arts for his bidding. The life seemed to be drained eternally from the shattered kingdom and only darkness remained.
Though, as the legends say - a small light still exists within the overwhelming darkness.
Mickey, with Keyblade in hand, charged through the ruins of the dark kingdom, taking out any shadows that crossed his path in an endles struggle to return to his friends in the realm of light. As he leapt from structure to structre in the fallen castle, the King had come across a legendary black cauldron, where a fleet of NeoShadows had appeared in a swarm.
'Enough of this endless darkness,' Mickey thought, before a determined glare appeared on his face. Without another moment, he skillfully sliced through the shadow creatures, cutting his way through and clearing a path through. He ran through the castle debris before he reached a wide open path that led to another part of the realm of darkness.
Before he could take another step, he felt the ground beneath his feet rumble and shake. It grew uncontrollably violent to the point where the king fell over to take cover. Mickey ducked down and covered himself, feeling as though the endless trembles would never end. After a long moment, Mickey lifted his head and waved away the debris dust that had collected in the air.
"Huh?" Mickey said, his eyes growing in concern at what he now saw before him - the crumbled debris of a new castle from a different kingdom. The castle had been reduced to a pile of stone.
"Another world has been taken by the darkness," Mickey said, walking a few feet forward towards a new stone that had appeared within the realm. His eyes caught sight of something, a plaque on the stone. The King looked up at the fallen world.
"Camelot?" Mickey said, "Camelot has fallen. What is happening in the outside worlds? I wonder how Sora and Riku are doing..."
"Would you like to pay them a visit?" Xehanort's voice said behind the man.
Mickey turned around, fear and surprise rising within him, "Xehanort!?" The King saw Ansem and Xemnas appear behind the old man and knew that there was no chance that he could take on all three of them by himself. "What are you doin-"
"Let's just cut to the chase, Your Majesty," Xehanort evilly smiled. "We've been searching through this endless darkness for you for quite awhile."
"You're...you're here for me!? What do you want!?" Mickey said, pointing his Keyblade forward.
"Now, now, that won't be necessary," Xehanort said, pushing Mickey's Keyblade down. "Of course, I could always force you to cooperate with me, but...why would I do that when I can just make you instead?"
Ansem and Xemnas went after Mickey then. The King tried to attack either one of them, but in the blink of an eye, the dark figures tightly kept the king in place.
"What are you doing!?" Mickey yelled, dropping his Keyblade, "Let go of me! You won't get away with this, Xehanort!"
"Oh, don't worry, Your Majesty," Xehanort smirked and lifted his Keyblade, "When I'm done with you, you won't remember any of this...for your brain is going to meet a...sudden 'change'."
Mickey glared up at the man, confused, "What are y-"
Without another word, a dark aura emerged from within Xehanort's Keyblade. The dark aura impulsed before leaving the Keyblade and taking the form of a small orb. With his blade, Xehanort directed the dark orb straight into Mickey's forehead, where the orb dissolved and took hold of the King's brain.
Mickey choked out and gasped for air, struggling against the darkness that consumed his brain. He wildly thrashed about and screamed out. Mickey's eyes turned yellow then and his ears became ragged and misshapen. His usual, friendly face twisted and became distorted, more terrifying than even some of the worst Heartless.
Xehanort smiled to himself, watching as the King was transformed into this new being, controlled by the darkness inside of him.
When the act was done, Mickey let out a snarl and shifted his eyes back and forth between Ansem and Xemnas, an evil, almost insane smirk on the King's face.
Xehanort let out a dark chuckle, "Our work here is done. Now, come along, new friend," the man said to this new creature the King had become.
The dark-possessed Mickey nodded and obeyed, trailing behind the three leaders of darkness.
Xehanort smiled, "The King is dead. Long live our new King of Darkness."
