Last time found our heroes splitting into three groups to take out the three shield generators that were preventing them from escaping Banoi. With time running out before the island faced nuclear annihilation, our heroes and allies destroyed each shield generator, only to discover that they had been lead into a trap. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 9: Traps Within Traps
"Okay, this is not good," said Simon as he, Ellen, Bethany, Kate, Nerissa, Taranee, Nigel, Aiden and Riku, found themselves surrounded by hundreds of Neo Shadows that were practically crawling over each other to get to our heroes. Nerissa was using her powers to project a barrier that kept the creatures away, while Riku, Aiden and Taranee provided support with magic bullets, alchemic bolts and fire attacks. A handful of Heartless pushed their way past the barrier, only to be destroyed by Simon, Ellen, Bethany and Kate with their weapons, while Nigel mopped up the rest with his Shardblade. Yet for every Neo Shadow that was destroyed, two appeared to take its place.
"It's official!" said a panicking Ellen, "I regret coming to Banoi! I regret even asking my parents to come here! We should have gone to visit my cousins in Toledo!"
"You think you would have had a better vacation?" Bethany asked as she bashed in the head of a Neo Shadow, while Kate threw a knife at another, "we could have gone on a tour of Europe! Paris, Rome, Berlin, Madrid, London, we could have seen it all!" She then glared at Kate, "but someone had to beg mom and dad to come here instead!"
"Hey, I wanted to go to Europe too!" said Kate, "so don't blame me for getting us into this mess!"
"Oh, that's right, we both wanted to go to Europe," said Bethany, "and so did mom and dad. Why did we come here anyway?"
"Worry about it later!" said Riku as he shot and destroyed a group of Neo Shadows, "let's just focus on surviving." He then looked at Nerissa, who's brow was furrowed and sweat soaked in concentration, "how're you holding up?"
"I'd be a lot easier if that mutant wasn't throwing things at us!" said Nerissa in a strained tone. She then winced as a wrecked car slammed against her barrier and exploded, destroying several Neo Shadows. The barrier held but more Heartless rushed in to replace their fallen comrades.
Riku then saw that Miranda had picked up another wrecked car. The spider creature was clearly a lot stronger than she looked as she effortlessly heaved the car at the barrier.
Aiden aimed and fired his Keyblade crossbow, shooting a bolt of alchemy at the car and turning it into sand that harmlessly bounced off the barrier.
"Is that the best you can do, little miss spider?" Aiden taunted.
"You'll need a lot more than Heartless and heavy objects to beat us!" said Nigel.
"That's far from the best I can do!" hissed Miranda, "and my power over The Heartless is far greater than you can imagine!" she then jumped onto the roof of another car, "Merge and grow, my mindless slaves! Merge and grow!"
At that dozens of Neo Shadows began piling atop each other, forming three mounds of throbbing Heartless. The mounds then seemed to melt and converge, growing in height until they solidified into three enormous Neo Shadows. The first had red markings, the second had blue markings and the third had yellow markings.
"Uh…they couldn't do that before, could they?" Taranee asked nervously.
"Get them!" shouted Miranda at the three giant Neo Shadows. The creatures then advanced on the barrier. The one with red markings began slamming its fists against the barrier, while the one with yellow markings shot Thunder spells and the one with blue markings shot Blizzard spells.
"I hate it when the enemy pulls out new Heartless!" said Aiden as he fired alchemy bolts at the giant Neo Shadows, yet his attacks had little effect on the creature. Taranee shot a stream of flame at the creature with red markings. In response, the giant Neo Shadow backed up and joined the other two, now shooting Fire spells at the barrier.
"Why don't you fight fair, Miranda!?" exclaimed Taranee.
"Where's the fun in that?" Miranda asked viciously. It then spat a glob of sticky webbing at the barrier. The webbing then began to smoke and bubble as if it were acid, "as you can see, I've had time to improve myself!"
"So have we all!" shouted Aiden as he turned his Keyblade back to normal and shot a bolt of alchemy at Miranda. The bolt flashed just before it hit her, transmuting the area around Miranda into a sphere of airtight crystal that encased the creature.
"Let's see you get out of that!" said Aiden confidently as Miranda struggled to escape her crystal cage. Miranda responded by spitting more acid webbing at the crystal sphere, melting it from the inside enough for her to shatter her way out, then spat more acid webbing at the barrier.
"I can't hold it much longer!" shouted Nerissa in a shaky voice as she swayed in her footing, nearly losing balance as she struggled with all her power to maintain the barrier.
"Then let it go!" said Riku, "we'll fight those things head on!"
"You'd better know what you're doing!" said Ellen as she and the others braced themselves to face the dark creatures out to destroy them.
"I hope so too," said Riku.
At that Nerissa let out a cry of exhausted effort as she released the barrier. Aiden and Simon caught her before she collapsed to the ground.
"Finish them!" shouted Miranda as the three giant Neo Shadows and regular Neo Shadows rushed at our heroes and allies.
But then a concentrated earthquake shook the area, disrupting the balance of the Heartless and Miranda, while leaving Riku and the others untouched.
"What?! What is this!?" shouted Miranda, only for her to see and dodge an incoming fireball.
"Did you do that?!" Nigel asked Taranee, whom shook her head in confused negation.
Just then the giant Neo Shadow with red markings was hit by a blast of water that came out of nowhere.
"Irma?" a confused Taranee asked.
"Nope," said Cassidy as she came out from around the corner of the street, "just me."
"And me!" said Kadma as she also emerged from hiding.
"And me," said Halinor.
"And me," said Yan Lin as she flashed the peace sign.
"It's you," said an astonished Nerissa as Aiden and Simon helped her stand up, "my old friends."
"Don't you 'old friends' me, you crazy bitch!" snapped Kadma.
"Save it for later," insisted Halinor, "we old broads have a job to do."
"Let's show the younger generation how we do things old school!" said Yan Lin as she summoned two tornadoes and shot them at the lesser Neo Shadows, scattering the creatures about the ground and knocking others into the air.
"We may have lost a lot of our former glory," said Cassidy as she smiled mischievously, "but we've still got a few tricks up our sleeves." She then pointed up and created a condensed rain cloud that hovered over Miranda and drenched her with a downpour that had the force of Niagara Falls.
Halinor then sent several fireballs at the giant Neo Shadow with blue markings, forcing the creature back, while Kadma trapped the giant Neo Shadow with yellow markings in a sinkhole she created.
This allowed Riku and the others to rush in and destroy the remaining regular Neo Shadows. At that they faced the giant Neo Shadows. Riku and Aiden faced the red Neo Shadow, alternating between normal Keyblade attacks and shooting it with magic bullets and alchemy bolts while dodging fire attacks from it.
Aiden then transmuted the ground beneath the creature into spikes, impaling one foot of the giant Neo Shadow and trapping it in place. Riku then jumped atop a nearby wrecked car and stabbed the creature in the head, delivering a critical amount of damage and reducing it to black smoke.
Simon, Ellen and Bethany were facing the blue Neo Shadow. One would rush in to attack the creature while the other two distracted it and drew its Blizzard attacks, then they would switch attackers and distracters. At the same time, Kate provided further distraction and damage with her thrown knives. Kate then threw two knives that hit the creature in the eyes, blinding it and allowing Bethany, Simon and Ellen to rush in and attack as one, delivering enough damage to destroy the giant Neo Shadow.
Nigel faced the final giant Neo Shadow alone, dodging its Thunder attacks and waiting for a chance to rush in. He got his chance when he deflected a Thunder spell back at the creature with Blazing Justice, stunning the giant Neo Shadow with its own attack. Nigel then rushed in, jumped high into the air and delivered a downward stroke that cut the creature in half, destroying it in a double puff of black smoke.
Taranee meanwhile was trying to catch Miranda, whom was jumping all over the rubble-strewed cul-de-sac and shooting back globs of acid webbing that Taranee was forced to dodge.
But then Yan Lin blasted Miranda with a gust of wind. Cassidy added a blast of water, Halinor a fire blast and Kadma a large boulder, all of which hit the spider creature and knocked her to the ground.
"It's over, Miranda," said Taranee as she landed in front of the dazed creature, "we're taking you back to Meridian and lock you up again."
"Only this time you'll be in a jail so secure, so isolated," said Kadma, "you'll never escape."
"Your days of hurting people are over!" said Riku.
"I think not!" said Miranda as she got to her feet and leapt at Bethany, tackling the surprised girl to the ground.
"Bethany!" shouted Kate as she and the others rushed in to help, but stopped as Miranda got up and held Bethany by her throat.
"Stay back!" shouted Miranda, "or she dies!"
"Let her go, you sick monster!" shouted Aiden as he aimed his Keyblade crossbow at the creature.
"You won't risk hitting her, you foolish boy!" said Miranda. She then exposed a set of venom-dripping fangs, "no, you're too good to risk the life of an innocent."
"Where as you're completely without reason and accountability," said Nerissa as she walked over, "I regret recruiting you into my Knights of Vengeance."
"And yet you did," said Miranda, "setting myself and my love, Cedric, onto the path of power. We have become so much stronger since Kandrakar and Heatherfiend in our confinement, yet there is more power awaiting us! Leslie explained it to us."
"Leslie?" Riku asked, "The Lord of Illusions helped you escape?"
"He set us free and gave us this task of delaying you fools!" said Miranda, "and as a reward, he shall introduce us to Columbina, whom shall endow Cedric and I with ultimate power!"
"Sounds like a really great plan," said Bethany in a strained tone as she struggled to get more air past Miranda's grip, "Too bad it'll never work."
"Oh? And why's that?" Miranda asked.
"Because I'm the designated hitter on my school's baseball team!" said Bethany as she held up her baseball bat in both hands. She then kicked up a piece of rubble that had a spherical shape and hit it with her bat. The rubble then bounced off several more pieces of rubble before hitting Miranda in the eye.
The spider creature hissed with agonized fury as she released Bethany and thrashed about. "I'm also good at trigonometry," Bethany said smugly as she leaned her bat across her shoulder.
"You wretched little girl!" snapped Miranda, "I'll rip you open and devour your heart!"
"Eat this, you freak!" shouted Kate as she threw a knife at Miranda. The blade embedded itself in the creature's midsection yet did little damage.
But then Miranda heard a beeping coming from the knife and saw that a homemade grenade was attached to the handle. "Oh no," she said meekly, just before the bomb exploded, reducing Miranda to a pile of gray goo.
"Nobody messes with my big sister," said Kate as she hugged Bethany, whom hugged her back.
"Well, so much for Miranda," said Aiden as he looked at the gooey remains of the spider creature with disgust.
"A life spent deceiving and inflicting misery," said Kadma, "such a waste."
"At least she won't hurt anyone else," said Halinor.
"Yep, we all did good," said Cassidy, "and I gotta say, it felt good fighting the darkness again! We got to come out of retirement more often."
"Yes, it was satisfying," said Kadma.
"But I still have a bitter taste in my mouth," said Yan Lin. She then walked over to Nerissa, "I didn't want to believe that you were here, that Alegra got you involved."
"I didn't want to believe that you came of your own volition," said Halinor.
"And yet here I am," said Nerissa, "here and willing to help."
"I don't believe that you're not helping us without planning to stab us in the back," said Kadma harshly.
"She isn't," said Riku, "Nerissa drank a truth potion."
"It's worn off but I assure you," said Nerissa to Kadma, "I'm done forcing others to do my bidding. What's done is done, so I hope we can move beyond the past to a better future."
"Move beyond?!" an irate Kadma asked, "after what you did to us?! Never!"
"Then go back to Meridian and wait," said Cassidy sternly, "because if we're not all in this together, we might as well not be in it at all." She then walked up to Nerissa, "I'll give you another chance, only because deep down, despite everything that's happened, you're still my friend and forgive you." At that she embraced Nerissa, whom hesitantly and unsurely, hugged back.
"You really are forgiving me?" Nerissa asked.
"Being dead for four decades and then getting a second chance at life can really put things into perspective," said Cassidy.
"If you're giving her another chance, then so am I," said Hallinor as she rushed in and hugged Nerissa, "I can't stay mad at you."
"Unlike some people," said Yan Lin as she looked at Kadma, "I for one believe in second chances." She then hugged Nerissa.
"This is madness," said Kadma as she shook her head in denial, "sheer madness. Do you all honestly expect me to believe that she's changed? You expect me to forgive her after what she did?"
"I forgave her," said Taranee, "so did Will and the others."
"She's still on thin ice," said Nigel, "but not that thin."
Just then Riku's phone rang, "it's from Sidney!" he exclaimed. He then answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Riku!" said Sidney, "finally! What's happening down there?!"
"It's a long story, Sidney," said Riku, "but it'll have to wait. Can you call Sora and Kairi?"
"I'm still trying to get through to them, the reception is still a little fuzzy," said Sidney.
"Keep trying," said Riku, "and get ready to help. We've got a plan to evacuate the survivors from the island and we need your help, now more than ever."
"I'm ready," said Sidney confidently.
…Jungle Lab…
"Damn you, Cedric!" shouted Caleb as he and the others fought with all their might against the swarms of Neo Shadows, "you've gone too far this time!"
"I've only jusst begun, rebel!" shouted Cedric as he slithered up to and tried to ensnare Caleb in his coils, yet Caleb jumped out of the way and struck back with Dauntless Forest, barely missing the snake creature as it reared back, then lunged at Caleb. He dodged, then was hit on the side by Cedric's tail, knocking him to the ground and cracking his armor.
"We've got to help Caleb!" shouted Cornelia as she used her powers to grow several vines that ensnared and crushed a group of Neo Shadows, while Hay Lin trapped several more in a concentrated whirlwind.
"We'd love to help but we're a little busy right now!" shouted Kevin as cut a Neo Shadow in half with one of his hatchets, then threw another hatchet at another creature, destroying it. He then ducked an attack from a third Neo Shadow, whom was then destroyed by one of Danni's hammers, while Eric rushed in and destroyed several more Neo Shadows with a furious combination attack from Soaring Justice.
"I'd give real gold to find out how to stop a villain from summoning Heartless!" said Kairi as she and Malcolm fought back to back against the encircling Neo Shadows, "it'd certainly make our lives a lot easier."
"Wait! That's it!" said Malcolm. He then shot several Poison spells at the Neo Shadows, weakening them enough for him and Kairi to finish that group off. He then rushed at Cedric, "hey! Leather-lips!" He then shot a Blind spell at Cedric, hitting him in the eyes.
Cedric roared in fury as he clutched at his sightless eyes, thrashing about violently as Caleb got out of the way of the writing coils. Several nearby Neo Shadows weren't so lucky and were crushed by Cedric's flailing body, while less and less Heartless were appearing to replace those destroyed.
"Just got to distract the villain," said Malcolm confidently, "otherwise they can't control so many Heartless."
"LOOK OUT!" shouted Cornelia as she flew in and pushed Malcolm out of the way, only for her to be hit by Cedric's smashing tail, knocking Cornelia across the area and into a nearby wrecked car. She hit the vehicle hard and hit the ground in a slump.
"Cornelia!" shouted Hay Lin as she tried to fly over, but Cedric reached Cornelia first and ensnared her in his coils.
"Sstay back!" shouted Cedric as he tightened his grip on Cornelia, causing her to gasp in constricted pain, "sstay back, or I sshall crussh her like an inssect!" he then tightened his coils again, earning another gasp of pain from Cornelia and making it extremely difficult for her to breathe.
"I thought I blinded you!" shouted Malcolm.
"I can sstill hear and ssmell you foolss," hissed Cedric.
"Okay, I see where this is going," said Eric as he vanished his armor and sword.
"Are you crazy?!" exclaimed Danni.
"If we don't put our weapons down and give up, he'll kill her," said Eric.
"He'll…kill me…either way!" gasped Cornelia, "don't…give up!"
"Ssilence, Guardian!" shouted Cedric, "but you are correct. You will die, by my own fangss!" he then reared back and prepared to bite Cornelia.
"CEDRIC!" shouted Elyon as she walked into the area, her eyes blazing with cold fury, "let her go, Cedric!"
"Elyon," hissed Cedric as he relaxed from his striking pose, "I was hoping I'd ssee you again, sso to sspeak."
"Let Cornelia go, Cedric!" said Elyon as she stalked towards the snake creature, "I won't say it again!"
"Or what?" Cedric asked as he tightened his coils again, earning another gasp of pain from Cornelia as a few drops of blood escaped her lips, "neither you or your friendss are in any posssition to isssue demandss to me!"
"Imperio!" shouted Malcolm as he aimed his Keyblade at Cedric, hitting the creature in the head with a flash of green mist-like magic, at which Cedric's expression changed from vicious fury to relaxed happiness, as if the snake creature hadn't a care in the world.
"Let Cornelia go," said Malcolm in a commanding tone. At that Cedric instantly released Cornelia. Caleb ran forward and caught her before she hit the ground then hurried away from the creature.
"Is she…?" Caleb asked as he placed Cornelia on the ground, while Kairi, Elyon and the others rushed over.
"She's alive but seriously hurt," said Kairi as her hands glowed with healing magic over Cornelia's body, "another minute or so and she would have been completely crushed."
"But you can help her, right?" Elyon asked nervously.
"That's what I'm doing," said Kairi, "good thing Malcolm did what he did," she then looked at Malcolm, "just what did you do?"
"Imperius Curse," said Malcolm, "it allows the user to completely take control of whomever you use it on. It's one of three Unforgivable Curses I learned about at Hogwarts. But I think this time I can be forgiven."
Just then Cedric roared with unbridled outrage as he glared at our heroes.
"I think your curse wore off!" said Kevin, "and he can see again!"
"You impudent bratss!" hissed Cedric, "you won't sstand in my way of assuming ultimate power!"
"And just how are you going to get ultimate power this time?" Hay Lin asked, "I don't see any super-charged dark magic users nearby for you to eat!"
"I don't need to sswallow Phoboss again," hissed Cedric, "Columbina promissed to endow Miranda and I with ultimate power once sshe and I had completed our tasskss!"
"So you are working for Columbina!" said Malcolm.
"Yeah, she busted Cedric, Miranda and Phobos out of jail," said Elyon.
"Phobos's out again!" exclaimed a now conscious Cornelia.
"Phoboss is of no concern for you!" snapped Cedric, "you sshould be more focussed on me!" He then slithered over to one of the few Neo Shadows still in the area and before anyone could react, ate it.
"Oh my god!" exclaimed a nauseated Kairi as she and the equally disgusted others watched as Cedric swallowed several more Neo Shadows.
"You are one sick snake, Cedric!" exclaimed Hay Lin. Her eyes then widened in horror as Cedric began to mutate. The creature stood upright as a pair of scaly legs sprouted from his tail, while his arms elongated, while his overall height increased. By the time Cedric had settled into his new form, he was almost three-hundred feet tall, while his scales had darkened to near black and his eyes glowed a luminous yellow, like those of a Heartless.
"Did I say you were sick, Cedric?" Hay Lin asked as the mutated creature glared down at her and the others, "you are a FREAK!"
Cedric responded by roaring a deafening bellow, then spat a ball of black fire at Hay Lin, whom barely flew out of the way in time. He then tried to grab her out of the air with his elongated claws but she was too fast for him. Hay Lin then shot a concentrated blast of wind at Cedric but the creature was barely phased by it as he breathed more black fire at her.
"Chew on this!" shouted Kevin as he threw his axes and hatchets at Cedric. The blades hit Cedric, embedding in his scaly hide but causing little if any damage.
"Oh, this is definitely not good!" said Kairi as she and Malcolm helped Cornelia to her feet. They then barely dodged another black fireball.
"There's got to be a way to beat that thing!" said Malcolm as he watched Eric, now back in his Shardplate and wielding his Shardblade, tried to run up to Cedric, but was knocked aside with a swipe of the creature's tail.
"How?" Cornelia asked, "it took everything us Guardians had to stop him last time, and we nearly lost our humanity in the process."
"There still has to be a way," said Malcolm.
"I'm open to suggestions," said Kairi as she saw Elyon throw bolts of magic at Cedric, yet this only annoyed the creature, whom now advanced on the young queen, "how can we stop a creature that takes on the power of what it eats?"
"Eats, that's it!" said Caleb. He then lifted the visor on his helmet as he took Cornelia by the arms, "do you trust me?"
"Uh…yes, I trust you," said a slightly confused Cornelia, "but…"
"Because I'm going to do something incredibly brave and stupid," said Caleb, "and it may not work. So, just in case I don't come back, I just…"
"You don't have to say anything," said Cornelia. With that she and Caleb embraced and kissed.
Caleb then released Cornelia and lowered his helmet visor while vanishing Dauntless Forest. By now Elyon had tripped and was laying on the ground, while Cedric stalked towards her.
"Hey! You!" shouted Caleb up at Cedric, grabbing the attention of the creature, "it's me you want, Cedric, it's always been me you wanted."
"What's he doing?" Danni asked as she and Kevin helped Elyon back up and over to Cornelia and the others.
"Remember all the times we fought during the rebellion, Cedric?" Caleb asked, "and after the war was won? Remember how you always thought you had me cornered and beaten? Only to slip out of your grasp to fight again another day!" By now Cedric's face, already a mask of natural hideousness, was twisted even further with blind fury, "well, I always got away because I'm better than you, and I'll always be better than you!"
"He's gonna get himself killed this way!" said Hay Lin.
"He's not gonna get killed," said Eric. He then pointed at Cedric as the creature stomped up to Caleb, "he's making him mad!"
"I always beat you and I always will!" said Caleb as Cedric got within striking range, "now eat me, you slimy sack of lurden crap! Eat me! EAT ME!"
At that Cedric reached down, grabbed Caleb and swallowed him whole in one gulp.
"Well…that was…unexpected," said a shocked Kairi as she and the others looked at Cedric with dumbfounded eyes.
"I thought you trusted him!" exclaimed Malcolm at Cornelia as Cedric began stalking towards them.
"I…did," said a horrified Cornelia, "I…"
But then Cedric stopped in his oversized tracks as he clutched at his stomach, bending over in agony.
"I think I get it now!" said Elyon, "Cornelia! Snap out of it and trap that thing!"
"Huh? Oh!" exclaimed Cornelia. She then raised her arms and summoned dozens of vines that rapidly sprouted from the ground and ensnared Cedric, dragging him to the ground as he continued to groan in agony.
"That won't hold him for long," said Kairi.
"Hey, give me some credit," said Cornelia as she summoned more vines, "but you may be right. We've got to finish him before he breaks lose."
"I don't think he's in any shape to do that," said Malcolm as he and the others watched Cedric feebly struggle against the ensnaring vines.
Just then the creature's stomach began to distend violently as Cedric let out several screeches of agony. With a gush of blood and guts, Caleb sliced his way of the creature's digestive track, leaving behind a disgusting mess as he walked clear of Cedric's body.
"Are you okay?" Elyon asked as Caleb walked up to her and the others.
"A little grossed out," said Caleb as he took off his helmet, "and I'll need a couple baths to get rid of the smell, but yeah, I'm fine."
At that an irate Elyon slapped Caleb across the face, "what the hell is the matter with you!?" she shouted, "letting yourself get eaten alive like that!? Are you crazy or something!?"
"I…" Caleb tried to explain himself, but then Cornelia slapped him across the face.
"You ask me to trust you and then you go do something insane like that?" Cornelia asked, "Why don't you just throw yourself off a cliff while you're at it? Or drink a bucketful of industrial waste?"
"It seemed like a good idea at the time," said Caleb as he felt where the two girls slapped him, "and it worked, he's down for the count."
"He's not dead yet," said Kevin as he and the others saw Cedric shrink down to his normal yet still gigantic size, all the while the wound in his midsection was regenerating. Already he was beginning to get back up.
"No you don't!" shouted Danni as she ran up to and swung her hammer with all her might, hitting Cedric on the head and cracking his skull, dropping the creature back to the ground.
"He's still alive after everything!" said Malcolm as he rushed over with Kevin and Eric.
"Not for long!" said Eric.
"Let's mess him up for good!" said Kevin as he, Eric and Malcolm began hacking, stabbing and slashing at Cedric, while Danni continued to smash with her hammer.
"You'll…never…defeat…Columbina!" shouted Cedric between hammer blows to his head.
"Go to hell, you freak!" shouted Danni as she flipped her hammer around and hit Cedric with the hammer claw. The two sharp and heavy prongs broke through the creature's skull and damaged his brain. Danni pulled the hammer out and hit again, and again, and again, and again, until Cedric's head was a mess of blood, skull fragments and puréed brains.
"If he's not dead now, he never will be," said Malcolm.
"Oh yes he will," said Elyon as she used her magic to lift broken pieces of one of the trailers up and impaled Cedric dozens of times.
"And for good measure," said Kevin as he walked over to one of the jeeps our heroes used to travel from the lab. The car had a working cigarette lighter and he pressed the device. He then pulled out a spare can of gasoline, walked over to Cedric and poured the gas over the body. By now the cigarette lighter was red hot. Kevin got the device, walked over to Cedric's body and tossed the lighter, setting the body aflame.
"For extra good measure," said Hay Lin as she used her powers to summon a tornado that concentrated the fire around Cedric's body, raising the flames higher and hotter until the body was reduced to ashes.
"And for even more good measure," said Cornelia as she opened the ground up, spilling the ashes down into a makeshift grave. She then closed the grave up and raised up grass and flowers, leaving no trace of the creature that had inflicted so much pain and misery on the lives of her and her friends for so long.
"And that's the end of Cedric," said Kairi, "he won't be missed."
"I still can't believe I had a crush on that jerk," said a disgusted Elyon.
"He's dead and can't hurt you or anyone again," said Cornelia.
"You're right," said Elyon, "and I'm glad you're alright."
"Me too," said Cornelia, "nice outfit by the way."
"Thanks," said Elyon, "I just threw it together for the zombie apocalypse." At that the two best friends hugged.
Just then Kairi's phone rang, "it's from Sidney!" she said as she answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Kairi!" said Sidney, "first of all, the jamming field's down over the island. Riku and his group are okay and they're evacuating the survivors in the city to the resort."
"That's good," said Kairi, "any word from Sora's group at the prison? Are they alright?"
"I still can't get through to them," said Sidney, "I'm still trying. In the meantime, you'd better get to the survivor camps in the jungle and tell them to get ready. I'll beam them to the resort when I'm finished beaming the city survivors."
"With luck we'll be able to get everyone off the island before it gets nuked," said Eric.
"I just hope Sora and the others are as lucky," said Kairi.
…Banoi Island Prison…Hospital Rooftop…
"We've got to get off the roof!" shouted Sora as he, Tess, Will, Matt, Roxas, Naminé, Anna, Kristoff and Amada, fought with everything they had against the seemingly endless horde of Neo Shadows, Nova Shadows and Invisibles that Phobos had at his disposal, all the while the deposed prince leisurely leaned against an air vent, watching with vicious glee at the ensuring struggle.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere," said Phobos, "not until I'm done with you!" with that even more Heartless swarmed the rooftop. It took everything Sora, Will and the others had to keep from being buried alive by the dark creatures flooding the area.
But then Amanda overbalanced a punch at a Neo Shadow and tripped, landing on the rooftop hard. Almost instantly she was pinned down by several Neo Shadows, restraining her so she could barely move.
Roxas and Naminé were next to be restrained, followed by Anna and Kristoff, the four of them held down by so many Heartless, they could barely breathe.
Matt blasted left and right with his eye beams, unaware that scores of Nova Shadows were piling atop each other behind him. He noticed too late to stop from the creatures falling on him, pinning him to the rooftop.
"Matt!" shouted Will as she tried to fly to his rescue, only to be hit in the back by an Invisible. She landed hard on the rooftop and was pinned by more Invisibles.
Sora and Tess suddenly found themselves the only ones still fighting as hundreds of Heartless closed in on them.
"Oh, this is bad," said Sora.
"We can still beat them!" said Tess defiantly.
"I disagree," said Phobos as he walked over, the throngs of Heartless parting to allow his passage, "in fact, now would be a good time for you two to surrender."
"Never!" shouted Tess, "face me, you coward!"
"Now why would I do a foolish thing like that?" Phobos asked, "I've lost my magic, and it's only by the strength of my own wickedness that I am able to control so many Heartless. What chance would I have against a vengeful Keyblade Wielder like you?"
"Come over here and find out," said Tess.
"I would, but Columbina wants you and Sora alive," said Phobos.
"So you're working for Columbina," said Sora.
"And she so wants to see you, Sora," said Phobos, "personally I'd kill you myself, but Columbina wishes to do the honor herself."
"How is she gonna do that?" Sora asked, "she never comes out in the open."
"Every time we've seen her, it was a holographic avatar," said Tess. "Are you saying that she's truly coming here? To Banoi? To finish us off?"
"That's what your old beau, Leslie, told me," said Phobos.
"I hate that guy," said Tess irately.
"He's not too fond of you either," said Phobos, "so here is the situation; both of you are to surrender and await Columbina's arrival for summery execution. Do so and I may, repeat, may, consider sparing the lives of your friends."
"Don't listen to him!" shouted Will, only to have her face slammed against the roof by a Heartless.
"Like he gives a damn about us!" said Matt, only for his face to be slammed down.
"And Columbina's not gonna let me live!" said Anna as she managed to partly shrug off her Heartless captors, "I'm a Princess of Heart, no way she'll let me go!" She was then roughly shoved back down.
"True, you won't survive the coming of Columbina," said Phobos, "but she's not scheduled to arrive for a few minutes." He then glared at Sora and Tess, "surrender and your friends will have a few extra minutes to live."
"What do you think?" Sora asked Tess.
"We've been in some tough spots before," said Tess, "but this one takes the cake."
Just then the area darkened as an enormous storm cloud covered the sun, while an intense wind began blowing.
"The typhoon," said Tess as she and Sora looked up, "as if things couldn't get worse."
"That's no typhoon," said Kristoff.
"Of course it's the typhoon," said Tess.
"Have you ever been in a typhoon?" Sora asked.
"Well…no," said Tess, "but it's a huge storm, so what else would it be?" she then shivered and rubbed her arm, "are typhoon's supposed to be this cold?"
Sora and the others also noticed that the temperature was rapidly dropping
"Why is it getting so cold?" Naminé asked as she struggled to sit up against her captors.
But then to everyone's even greater surprise, it began snowing.
"Snow? In the tropics?" Amanda asked.
"What the devil?!" exclaimed Phobos as he looked around at the falling snow in panicked confusion, then even in greater confusion as the rooftop began to freeze over. Scores of Heartless were frozen solid, while the ones restraining Will, Matt and the others also froze, leaving our heroes unharmed and still warm somewhat.
"What the devil is going on!?" spat Phobos as he glared at Sora and Tess.
"I don't know," said Sora honestly while Will and Matt smashed their frozen captors into pieces, then broke Amanda and the others free.
"It's not devil," said Anna as she smiled with warm joy, "it's my sister."
Everyone then saw Elsa standing at a nearby doorway to the inside stairs, her face set with concentration and her hands raised to maintain the snowstorm, while her left foot was outstretched, from which emanated magic that froze the Heartless in place.
"You!" shouted Phobos as he glared hatefully at Elsa. "How dare you interfere! I'll…"
That's as far as Phobos got before Amanda walked up and tapped him on the shoulder, distracting him. Phobos turned around, just in time for Amanda to deliver a bone-shattering punch to his jaw, knocking Phobos six feet into the air and crashing down on the icy rooftop.
At that Elsa sighed with satisfaction as she ended the snowstorm. The clouds broke apart and sunlight flooded the area as Elsa rushed up to and embraced Anna, "are you alright?" she asked earnestly.
"I'm a little traumatized by the whole zombie apocalypse thing," said Anna, "and I'll probably have nightmares for the rest of my life, but yeah, I'm alright. And what are you wearing?"
"Just something I put together for the zombie apocalypse," said Elsa, "why? Is it too tacky? Too gaudy?"
"No, you look great in it," said Anna.
"Thanks, and I'm glad you're alright," said Elsa as she hugged Anna a bit more closely. She then walked up to Kristoff, "and you? You okay?"
"I'm no worse for wear," said Kristoff as he brushed some snow off of himself.
"Good," said Elsa. Without warning, she slapped Kristoff hard across the face with enough force to nearly knock him down.
"Ooh, I felt that all the way over here," said Matt, while Will, Sora and the others winced.
"Elsa!" said a shocked Anna.
"I asked you to do one thing, Kristoff!" snapped Elsa, "one simple thing: keep Anna safe, and you couldn't even do that!"
"I did keep her safe!" said an irate Kristoff as he felt where Elsa slapped him, a bruise the size and shape of Elsa's hand already forming, "I kept her safe from the zombies, Heartless and vicious gangsters. I kept her safe from herself."
"Please don't argue," said Anna, "I'm fine, Elsa, really."
"What do you mean 'kept her safe from herself?'" Elsa asked.
"It's nothing, really," said Anna, "I just…got a little in over my head for a while, that's all."
"You wanted to single-handedly save every single kid on the island," said Kristoff, "even if it meant diving headfirst into a flock of zombies."
"You dove headfirst into a flock of zombies?!" an exasperated Elsa asked.
"No," said Anna, "it was more like four or five, and I jumped, not dove."
"Uh, can we talk about this later?" Sora asked.
"Especially not when we're on the roof of a prison full of vicious criminals," said Amanda, "whom no doubt are on their way up here to find out what all the racket is."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about the prisoners," said Elsa, "they're all dead, well, a few are. There weren't any alive when I got here, and there weren't that many zombies either."
"They must have either been destroyed or turned into Heartless," said Will in a slightly depressed tone, "so much for saving the convicts and guards."
Just then Sora's phone rang, "it's from Sidney!" he said as he read the caller ID. He answered the call and put it on speaker.
"Sora!" exclaimed Sidney, "thank the matrix you're alright!"
"We're all fine here, Sidney," said Sora, "but how are Riku, Kairi and their groups?"
"They're all safe and sound," said Sidney, "a little roughed up, but safe. The whole jamming field is down and I've got clear reception all over. I'm trying to make contact with the military to stop that sub from launching the nuke. In the meantime, I've been beaming survivors from the city and jungle camps to the resort. Irma's got the Fold to Meridian up and running and the evacuation's started. It's going slow but steady. What about you guys? You found any survivors in the prison?"
At that Sora, Will, Anna and the others looked at Elsa hopefully, whom shook her head regretfully.
"There's no one here we can help, Sidney," said Sora, their either all zombies or Heartless."
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Sidney, "no one deserves that kind of fate. Just hang tight for a bit. Riku, Kairi and their groups are already back at the resort to help the evacuation. As soon as I've finished beaming the survivors from the city and jungle, I'll transport you all, so just hang in there for a bit longer."
"We'll be standing by," said Sora, "over and out." With that he ended the call and pocketed the phone. "So all we have to do now is wait."
"In the meantime," said Anna, "everyone, this is my sister, Queen Elsa of Arendelle."
"It's an honor to meet you, your majesty," said Tess as she, Sora, Will, Matt, Roxas, Naminé and Amanda bowed.
"Oh, it's just Elsa," she said, "any friend of Anna's a friend of mine." She then glared at Kristoff, "we'll finish our talk later," she scowled. She then smiled as she looked at Anna, "but what happened to you? Tell me everything."
"It's a really, really long story," said Anna, "but you first. How'd you get here?"
"I can guess," said Tess, "Alegra."
"She told me that I had to come and help," said Elsa, "I don't trust her fully, but she's been honest so far, albeit a little strange."
"Strange doesn't even begin to describe Alegra," said Tess.
"Well, she did get me here to help," said Elsa, "though I had to run through the prison first."
"But what if you had run into zombies and live convicts?" Will asked.
"I actually did run into a few zombies," said Elsa, "nothing I couldn't handle. And I had a plan for the convicts. If I ran into any prisoners whom wanted to have their way with me, I'd freeze their manhood off."
"You wouldn't," said a shocked Matt, while Sora, Roxas and Kristoff winced.
"In a heartbeat I would," said Elsa smugly.
"Good grief!" said Sora, "that'd be so cold!"
"Not as cold as I can be, you impudent, snot-nosed guttersnipe!" spat The Lord of Illusions as he watched on the triple screen the unfolding events in the city, jungle and prison, growing more and more irate with each intervention on the behalf of the former Guardians, Elyon and Elsa. At the same time, a fourth screen showed Irma standing beside a large Fold near the hotel, through which the survivors were slowly but steadily making their way to Meridian.
"Well, well, well," said Regina smugly, "looks as if Columbina will have to seek allies elsewhere."
"The campaign isn't lost yet, my dear evil queen!" said The Lord of Illusions, "I can still turn this around." He then pulled out a syringe and vial from his coat pocket.
"What is that?" Regina asked cautiously.
"A little insurance policy," said The Lord of Illusions as he filled the syringe with a dark yellow fluid from the vial, then put a cap on the needle, "just in case Sora's companions prove uncooperative in their destructions." He then summoned a shimmering gray door, "now let's go upset Sora's little victory."
"No thank you," said Regina as she summoned a Dark Corridor, "I've had enough."
"But the battle is far from over," said The Lord of Illusions, "Sora hasn't suffered his defeat."
"Nor will he," said Regina, "not by your hands or Columbina's. I'd rather not be here to see you two crash and burn." With that she stepped through the Dark Corridor, which closed up behind her.
"Insufferable woman," said The Lord of Illusions. He then smiled with vicious lust, "I do believe she's beginning to like me." With that he stepped through the gray doorway, which vanished after him.
…Banoi Island Prison…Hospital Rooftop…
He emerged through the gray doorway to the surprise of Sora and the others, "I wasn't invited to the party, so I thought I'd crash!"
"You bastard!" shouted Tess as she summoned her Keyblade, "I'll skin you alive and stuff you as a trophy!"
"I'd love to give you that chance, dearest Tess," said The Lord of Illusions, "but I have other matters to attend to first." He then walked over to the unconscious Phobos and cast a Heal spell, reviving him.
"Easy now, Prince Phobos," said The Lord of Illusions as he helped Phobos stand up, "you've had a quite an unpleasant experience just now."
"It's you," said Phobos as he looked at the trickster, "I knew you wouldn't let me stand alone." He then glared at Amanda, "you! How dare you strike me!"
"I'll do it again in a heartbeat, you son of a bitch!" snapped Amanda, "you and your fruity friend!"
"He's no fruitcake," said Tess, "he's much worse."
"You have no idea just how evil I can be, dear Tess," said The Lord of Illusions, "but enough about me," he then pulled out the syringe and handed it to Phobos, "a final gift from Columbina."
"What is it?" Phobos asked as he took the syringe.
"The means to wreck your vengeance on your enemies," said The Lord of Illusions, "or rather, a secondary means. Inject that into your veins and you shall become more powerful than ever before!"
"More powerful than when I stole Nerissa's power?" Phobos asked, "more powerful than I was before Cedric betrayed me?"
"You shall surpass all!" said The Lord of Illusions, "nothing will be able to stop you!"
"What's in that needle?!" Matt demanded.
"I don't' know," said Sora, "but I've got a bad feeling about it."
"I've got an even worse feeling," said Elsa. "Phobos, whatever you heard from that guy, don't do it!"
"Just put the needle down!" said Amanda, "drugs are bad!"
"Oh, it's no drug," said The Lord of Illusions as he smiled viciously. He then looked at Phobos, "do it! Do it and destroy all whom stand in your way!"
"Don't do it, Phobos!" shouted Sora.
"You dare to tell me what to do!" snapped Phobos as he rolled up his sleeve and injected the contents of the syringe into his veins. Almost instantly, Phobos collapsed to his knees, grasping his arm with agony.
"You evil, evil bastard!" exclaimed Tess at The Lord of Illusions, "you poisoned him!"
"It was no poison, you fool!" the trickster spat back at Tess.
"Then what…oh no!" exclaimed Will, "it can't be! It just can't!"
"What?" Kristoff asked.
"The virus!" said Anna, "he gave Phobos the virus!"
"And now it's power shall transform Phobos!" exclaimed The Lord of Illusions.
By now Phobos's skin began to fester, his blood vessels distending and his eyes turning gray, all the while his height and muscle mass doubled. Spikes erupted down his arms and legs, while his hands and feet sprouted claws. His mouth enlarged, his teeth elongated into rotting fangs, while a pair of half-decayed bat-like wings sprouted from his back.
"Oh, I hate it when bad guys do that," said a horrified Sora as he and the others looked at the mutated Phobos.
"Let's get him now before he catches his breath!" shouted Tess as she changed her Keyblade back to its shotgun form
"You're not going to fight him," said The Lord of Illusions, "not yet anyway."
The zombified Phobos then spread his wings and took flight towards the resort.
"He's heading for the hotel," said Amanda, "why's he doing that?"
"Because that's where your friend Irma Lair has set up the evacuation Fold to Meridian," said The Lord of Illusions, "where the rest of your friends are holding back the normal ghouls while the survivors evacuate."
"You bastard!" shouted Tess as she aimed her Keyblade shotgun at the trickster, but he had vanished, only to appear behind her.
"Now you have a choice," said The Lord of Illusions, "you can stay here and fight me, or you can go after Phobos and try and stop him before he completely slaughters your friends and turns the survivors into even more ghouls. The choice is yours!" He then vanished, laughing like the vile villain he was.
"God damn it!" shouted Tess, "I will kill that man! If it's the last think I do, I will kill him!"
"Later!" said Sora as he called up to The Intrepid Heart, "Sidney! We need to be beamed to the hotel and we need to be beamed now!"
…Royal Palms Hotel…
"Are you sure it's safe here?" a survivor asked Kairi.
"Safe as can be," said Kairi. The large area of pools and bars on one side of the hotel had been cleared of zombies and Heartless, leaving a considerable amount of space for the hundreds of survivors from the resort, city and jungle. Riku and most of the others were keeping an eye out for more zombies as Elyon, Kairi and Irma helped the survivors through the large Fold to Meridian.
"It'll be even safer on the other side," said Elyon to the survivors as they walked up to and through the Fold, "I swear it. There's no zombies where you're going."
"I'm amazed that Sidney got everyone over here so quickly," said Aiden as he, Malcolm, Eric and Nigel, kept their eyes out for ghouls, "she's amazing."
"She's a computer or something," said Nigel.
"An amazing computer," said Malcolm, "and don't you forget it!"
Just then Hay Lin, whom was in the air with Cornelia to act as an early warning against approaching ghouls, called out to her friends below, "there's something coming!" she shouted, "something big and fast!"
"Where?" Eric shouted up as Malcolm, Aiden and the others looked around with ready weapons.
"It's already here!" shouted Cornelia, just as the zombified Phobos crashed into the hotel several stories up. Large pieces of masonry, metal and broken glass fell down onto the panicked survivors.
Elyon summoned a protective shield that blocked the falling debris, just as zombie Phobos emerged from the hole in the hotel. He jumped down to the ground, causing the already panicked survivors to back away in even greater terror.
"Is that…Phobos?!" exclaimed a horrified Elyon.
"Either he's been messing with some real bad mojo," said Irma, "or he got real unlucky with a zombie.
The undead mad prince roared with vile fury and began attacking the survivors, ripping them apart with claws and spikes, smashing with his tail and tearing apart with his rotten fangs as he devoured the living.
"Phobos!" shouted Elyon as she shot a sphere of white magic at her zombified brother. The sphere hit but did little more than irritate him as he continued to attack and feed on the survivors.
"We've got to stop him!" shouted Kairi as she fired magic bullets from her P90 Keyblade, while Aiden shot bolts of alchemic energy from his Keyblade crossbow, yet both barely scratched the undead creature.
Just then they all heard the telltale scream of approaching Infected.
"Zombies!" shouted Cornelia from above.
"How many?!" Caleb asked.
"Too many!" shouted Hay Lin, "they're all over and coming right this way!"
Just then Sora, Tess, Will, Matt, Roxas, Naminé, Amanda, Anna, Elsa and Kristoff, beamed into the area. Sora, Tess, Will and Matt immediately attacked Phobos, yet their magic bullets, lightning and eye beams again did little more than irritate the zombified prince.
Elsa tried to freeze Phobos solid but he shrugged it off. He then tried to grab and eat Elsa, but Kristoff pulled her out of the way.
"Thanks," said a gratefully smiling Elsa as Kristoff set her down again, "but you're still in trouble!"
"At least I made you smile again," said Kristoff.
Meanwhile, the terrified survivors were all but climbing over each other to reach the Fold. It took everything Elyon, Kairi and Irma had to keep them calm enough to go through.
"There's plenty of room!" said Elyon as she forced the survivors to go through in groups of ten, "and there's still time, so stay calm!"
But then, just as another group of ten passed through the Fold, it closed up, leaving our heroes and almost two-hundred survivors still on Banoi.
"What happened?" Will asked as she flew over, "why'd it close up!?"
"I don't know," said Irma as she pulled out Nerissa's ring, put it on and swiped the air to open another Fold, yet nothing happened, "it worked before!"
Will pulled out The Heart of Kandrakar and swiped the air, but nothing happened.
"Oh no," said Kairi as she pulled out her phone and called The Intrepid Heart, only to get an unavailable number message, "not again!"
"What's going on?!" Cornelia asked as she and Hay Lin landed, "the zombies will be here any second!"
"And we've still got uber-zombie-Phobos to stop," said Hay Lin.
Just then the zombified Phobos stopped in his undead tracks, startling our heroes and the survivors. At the same time, the throngs of Infected and other zombies approaching the area stopped just before they reached the survivors.
"Okay, this is weird," said Cassidy as she and the other former Guardians looked at the stopped ghouls. The creatures looked as if they were still intent on eating the survivors down to the bone, yet some force kept them in place, not even their eyes moved.
"What's going on?" a highly confused Sora asked.
"I can explain," said Nerissa in a wickedly triumphant tone as she walked into the middle of the area. In her hand was a tall wooden staff topped with a large yellow stone that glowed with an insidious light.
"Where'd you get that, Nerissa?" Yan Lin asked, "wait…are you…controlling the zombies?"
"Indeed I am," said Nerissa as she smiled viciously, "as for where I got it, my new friends gave it to me."
Just then The Lord of Illusions and Columbina's avatar appeared next to Nerissa.
"Well done, Nerissa," said The Lord of Illusions, "well done indeed."
"All has gone according to plan," said Columbina, "the trap has sprung perfectly."
The End of Chapter 9
Next chapter finds our heroes and allies leaning just how far up a certain creek without a paddle they are. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!