Chapter 9 – Hollow Bastion Part 2
The four Keyblade Wielders rushed to the Bailey, which over looked the Castle. Upon arriving, they encountered a familiar face.
"Well, if it ain't the boat boy King and his pathetic friends!" laughed Pete. "Come to stop me eh? Well, you ain't gonna!"
"How did you escape exile Pete?" asked the King.
"Oh, you wanna know how eh? Well, Ansem the Wise broke me out! Now, I serve him and continue his plans for conquering the Worlds!"
"You know he got turned into a Heartless, right?" asked Sarah.
"WHAT?!" yelled Pete. "Hmm... well, that does put a damper on things. Maybe I'll side with his Heartless!"
"We met the Heartless." said Ken. "I don't think he'd take anybody to be his partner."
"Shows how much you know!" said Pete, wiping his nose. "When ol' Ansem found me and rescued me, he trusted me. Somethin' 'bout my morals and ideals. Now, with this power he gave me, I'm gonna finish his work and conquer the Worlds!"
"You don't know what you have. Darkness will destroy you from within." stated Alex.
"He's right!" said King Mickey. "Let go of the Darkness and I will welcome you back to the Castle. How about it, Captain Pete?"
"Umm..." started Pete. "NO! Heartless Squad, round up!" At that moment, Soldier Heartless, Mega Shadows, and Large Body's appeared, looking menacing. "Charge!"
The Soldiers pounced at them, the Mega Shadows moved into the ground, and the Large Body's moved slowly toward the four. King Mickey jumped high behind one Large Body and destroyed in instantly, then proceeded to destroy the other ones without hesitation. The trio slaughtered the Soldiers and Mega Shadows with no difficulty. Pete stood there, mouth dropped and amazed. He then began stomping in place, angry.
"I'll get you for this! Nobody, and I mean nobody messes with the mighty Pete!" he waved a hand and a portal opened, which he stepped through, vanishing from Hollow Bastion.
"That was easy." said Ken as his and the others Keyblades vanished.
"Sure was." said Alex.
As they started going back, a light shot down from the skies and an explosion occurred. Out of it, was the familiar villain that had long silver hair, a long sword, and had one wing.
"Sephiroth!" shouted Ken.
"Well... if it isn't the humans chosen by the Keyblade... and the King. How pleasant." laughed the villain.
"Who are you?" asked King Mickey.
"That's Sephiroth," began Sarah. "He's the Dark part of Cloud's heart. We beat him in battle the last time we were here."
"He doesn't know when to quit." said Alex. "We beat him once, we'll do it again!"
"Cloud is the only one I wish to fight." said Sephiroth. "You three are not worthy enough to fight me."
"Hey, we beat your butt last time!"
"I was testing you. If I went all out on you, you'd be dead within seconds."
"Don't tempt me!" said Alex angrily.
"That's it." laughed Sephiroth. "Give into the anger in your heart. Let the Darkness free. You see, Darkness is the only way to achieve ultimate power."
"You're wrong!" said King Mickey. It's true that Darkness is powerful, but... as long as one has a drop of Light, they can prevail. Cloud is a prime example of that."
"Cloud? Cloud is weak. The weakest creature I have eve encountered."
"SEPHIROTH!" shouted a voice.
Cloud jumped down from a building and landed directly in front of the four, sword in hand. He swished his hair back and gave Sephiroth an angry look.
"Cloud..." smiled Sephiroth. "How long have you been up there?"
"Since I saw these guys fight that Pete guy."
"You followed us?" wondered Alex.
"Yeah. I thought you'd need some help, but I was wrong. Now, my attention is toward Sephiroth."
"Look at you Cloud. No matter how hard you try, you will always fail to destroy the Darkness in your heart." said Sephiroth.
"Shut up..."
"You will never be rid of me. Wherever you go, I will follow I will always be there to stand in your way."
"Shut up!" shouted Cloud as he ran toward Sephiroth, swinging his mighty sword. Sephiroth laughed as he blocked it with his owns word.
"You will never destroy me." said Sephiroth as their swords pushed against each other. "Give into the Darkness and become part of me."
"Never!"
Cloud moved back and swung again, but Sephiroth dodged it easily. Before Cloud could go again, his villain vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind a few feathers.
"COWARD!"
All that was heard was an evil laugh by Sephiroth. Cloud put away his sword and began walking back to the house.
"Cloud?" wondered Sarah.
"The fight against Sephiroth is mine and mine alone." said Cloud coldly.
"We understand that Cloud." said Ken. "Just know that we are with you. Friendship is one of most powerful forms of Light. Believe in us and we'll believe in you."
"I fight for my own reasons. Friendship doesn't matter in the heat of battle."
"How about fighting us sometime?" asked Alex. "Then we'll show you what friendship is about!"
"I think I'll pass." said Cloud before he turned the corner.
"Well, I guess we should be heading on soon." said Ken. "We gotta find Ansem's Heartless before it causes more chaos."
"I agree." said King Mickey. "I will help out here a bit more then be on my way as well."
"Will we meet up again?"
"Yeah!" laughed the King. "It's a promise Ken!" the King shook Ken's hand and chuckled. "As long as we believe in each other and keep each other close, we're never truly apart!"
"You always know what to say, your Majesty." smiled Sarah.
"Oh, and here Ken." Mickey handed Ken a Summon Charm.
"Flubber? Thanks your Majesty." said Ken happily.
"I found it in a World with this crazy scientist and he had a wife and a female robot that followed him everywhere. It serves me no purpose."
"We'll treasure it always." smiled Ken. "You sure you can't come with us?"
"I'm sure. I got to find out clues to this powerful Heartless, but I'll let you know."
"How?"
"I have the same watch as you guys, so if I find anything, I'll give you a beep."
"Good luck, King Mickey."
"Same to you, Ken... Alex... Sarah."
With that, the three beeped their watches, returned to the Gummi Ship, and took off. When they reached the next World, they came across a World that was completely covered in water and they saw a giant skeleton and a massive kingdom.
