*James, Rancis, Gloyd and I are watching Ghost Rider in the theatre room*
Rancis: Man, Ghost Rider is the coolest.
Me: Got that right.
Sofia: *walks in* Hey there, Archer. What you watching?
Me: Ghost Rider.
Sofia: Sounds scary.
Me: He does, but he's actually a good guy when you see what he did.
Sofia: That's a relief.
Me: *pauses the movie* Well, I guess I better see Kite. And while I do, you readers enjoy this chapter.
The 7 Medallions
Chapter 9: The Big Crash
In a secluded laboratory in Castle Oblivion, a young man with steel-blue hair with messy bangs that cover the right side of his face wearing the black coat of Organization XIII is looking through the database for information on the Elemental Medallions. Then, a much older-looking man with frayed, blue hair that is slicked back into wild spikes at the top and reaches down to the middle of his back and an X-shaped scar between his golden yellow eyes wearing a similar black coat enters the laboratory.
"Zexion, have you located the Medallion yet?" the man who entered asked.
"I have, Saïx. If my deductions are correct, the Medallion appears to have landed in a type of virtual world." Zexion replied as he turned around to face his fellow member.
"A virtual world, you say?" Saïx asked.
"Yes. Once we have the Medallions in this virtual world, we'll be one step closer to completing Kingdom Hearts." Zexion replied as he turned back to screen.
"Perfect. I shall retrieve that Medallion." Saïx said as he turned to exit the laboratory, but Zexion stopped him in his tracks.
"I hear those Keybladers are powerful. It would be dangerous to find that Medallion alone. I'll ask Master Xemnas if he could send Marluxia to accompany you." Zexion suggested. Saïx only grinned with determination as he left the laboratory.
The heroes are currently traveling to Lyoko in the Gummi Ship. While Sora is piloting the ship, looking around for an enemy attack with the young royals, Scarlet had just explained to Mason, the Core 4, and the Sugar Rush racers how she is Sofia's guardian.
"So you really are Sofia's guardian?" Ralph asked. Scarlet only nodded to that. "This changes everything I know about her."
"Until our encounter in Sugar Rush, I did not believe that you were real. Or that you actually formed an army." Mason remarked.
"There are many things that you don't know until it happens. The night you arrived, I saw you fight those husks Xaldin called 'Nobodies' using that very Keyblade." Scarlet replied, pointing to Mason's Keyblade.
"If the Organization is after the Medallions, we need to be prepared for anything that comes our way." Mason said with determination. Suddenly, the ship began to rumble, causing most of the heroes to lose their balance.
"What was that?!" Vivian asked.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, it cannot be good." Calhoun replied as she left the ship's training room. The rest of the heroes follow her to the cockpit and they see small ships with a black and red, heart-shaped emblem shooting at them.
"Heartless! They're attacking the ship!" Scarlet pointed out.
"I figured that out already. Zandar, Rancis, man the port cannons. James, Calhoun, take the starboard cannons. Battle stations, everyone!" Sora ordered. Zandar and Rancis came into a chamber where the portside cannons are located and mount the turrets that control them. James and Calhoun do the same at the starboard side.
"Here they come!" Taffyta exclaims as she sees about 10 Heartless ships approach the ship from the left.
"Port cannons, open fire!" Sora commanded as the two turrets from the left of the ship started shooting at the enemy ships, destroying them. Then 4 more ships start to shoot at the right side of the ship. Sora tries to keep the ship in place.
"Sofia, damage report." Sora commanded as he leveled the ship.
"Minimal damage on the starboard side." Sofia reported.
"Fire starboard cannons!" Sora commanded. The cannons mounted on the right side of the ship start shooting at the enemy ships and destroy them. With the Heartless ships destroyed, the heroes began to cheer.
"All right! We did it!" Vanellope cheered. Zandar, James, Rancis, and Calhoun came out of the turrets and into the cockpit to confirm the enemy ships' destruction, but just as Calhoun was about to say something, they feel a massive quake in the ship and an alarm begins to blare.
"W-w-what the hell is going on?!" Sora asked with worry.
"Another Heartless ship has ambushed us. Engines 2 and 3 are down." Sofia reported. Then, they see the Keyhole open, which drove away the hostile ship. The heroes enter the Keyhole and find themselves in a nosedive in a type of glacial region.
"Brace for impact!" Sora ordered as everyone in the ship holds on to their positions. The ship lands in the area and slides for about 10 seconds. They exit the ship afterwards and five of the girls complain about the freezing tundra.
"Brrrr! It's f-f-freezing out here!" Hildegard complained. Mason looks around and figures out that the area is only virtual reality.
"It's not really cold out here. The whole place is created from virtual reality, remember?" Mason explained. The girls who complained see that Mason was right.
"Oops. Sorry about that." Amber apologized. All of the heroes then look at the ship, which was badly damaged from the attack and the landing.
"What a mess." Gloyd said with disappointment.
"I hope the radar made it through okay." James said with a worried look. Mason reentered the ship to look for the radar and finds that it only sustained minimal damage.
"We're lucky. The Medallions are okay and the radar has only minor damage." Mason reported as he exited the ship.
"What a relief." Candlehead replied.
"Now, according to the radar, the Medallion should be over there." Mason said as he pointed towards the east.
The heroes began their trek to where the Medallion's estimated landing point, but a group of mechanical crabs with scythe-like legs approach the heroes from the right. Clio and Swizzle were the first to see them.
"W-what are those?!" Swizzle asked with fear. The rest of the heroes turn to see the mechanical crabs coming.
"I don't know, but I have a feeling that they don't want us here." Mason answered as he unsheathes his Sleeping Lion.
"My thoughts exactly." Sora replied as he summons his Kingdom Key. Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, Sofia, Amber, James, and Scarlet take out their weapons and prepare to fight the mechanical crabs.
(Battle Music: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 - Mission ~Make a New Legend~)
One of the mechanical crabs fires a laser from a set of three orbs, but Scarlet deflects them with her sword. Another one fires another laser, but from the same three orbs below it. However, Sofia uses a Reflega to send it back, damaging it. Two more of the mechanical crabs prepare to fire a blue laser at James, but they were hit on the shell with an arrowhead-shaped projectile and the two explode.
"Huh?" Sora asked in confusion and surprise. The mechanical crab that fired the first laser suddenly knocks Sora back. It was about to finish him until a sword goes through it and after the blade leaves its body, the creature explodes.
Amber was having trouble with two more of the mechanical creatures. Fortunately, Ralph and James were there to help her. Then, as Ralph was holding on to the creature's legs, a steel fan slices the shell and the creature explodes.
Mason, Felix, and Calhoun were dealing with a mechanical crab that is larger than the others. Calhoun tries to shoot it with her blaster, but it ended up becoming deflected by the creature's legs. The creature attempts to slice them but Mason and Felix block the attack. Then, a pink energy orb flies right above them and hits the creature in the shell. The creature staggers for a moment before exploding. The heroes then regroup to find out who has been backing them up.
"What just happened?" Vanellope asked.
"There were these mechanical crabs that attacked us. They outnumbered us, but then they started to explode. We don't know how, but I saw that those creatures had a weird emblem on their shells. That's probably their weak point." Mason explained.
"Who would send such heinous creatures?" Vivian asked.
"Not who, what." A voice answered from behind the heroes. They turn to see a group of two boys and two girls approach them. The first boy was tall and had scruffy, dark brown hair and wore a yellow and brown body suit with two katana swords sheathed on his back. The second boy had blond hair combed to a point with a patch of purple on the front and wearing a purple jumpsuit with claws and a tail. The first girl had neck-length black hair and wore a dark purple geisha suit. The second girl had bright pink hair and pointed ears and wore a pink form-fitting jumpsuit with a white belt. The first boy was the one who answered Vivian's question.
"Are you saying that something was controlling those creatures?" Sora asked.
"I'm afraid so. Those creatures were created by a virus known as X.A.N.A." The second girl answered.
"X.A.N.A?" Ralph asked with a confused look.
"Yeah. It's a terrible virus that can infect any mechanical object that it can come into contact with. And it can even control people and animals." The first girl explained.
"As long as that virus is in here, until we figure out a way to exterminate X.A.N.A for good, there's no stopping it." The second boy finished.
"So that's what was in control of those mechanical creatures." Sofia replied.
"Hey, I didn't see you when those creatures exploded, but thanks for the backup." Mason said as he extended his hand, offering a handshake.
"No problem. My name's Ulrich and these are my friends: Yumi, Odd, and Aelita." The first boy said as he accepted the handshake.
"I'm Mason. This is Sora, Scarlet, Ralph, Felix, Calhoun, Vanellope, Taffyta, Rancis, Gloyd, Candlehead, Jubileena, Adorabeezle, Minty, Crumbelina, Swizzle, Snowanna, Sofia, Amber, James, Zandar, Hildegard, Clio, Vivian, Maya, Khalid, Jun, and Jin." Mason introduced the others to the four individuals.
"What brings you to Lyoko?" Odd asked.
"We were wondering if you had seen some type of Medallion somewhere around here." Sora answered.
"Now that I think about it, I saw a yellow comet crash somewhere in the east yesterday. When we saw what it was that crashed, it was gold and it had a lightning bolt on the face." Aelita replied. The heroes began to think about the description Aelita gave them and then Mason figured out what had landed.
"That's the Medallion of Thunder!" Mason reported.
"Can you take us to the crash site?" Calhoun asked.
"Sure we will." Odd answered.
"Lead the way." Sora ordered.
To Be Continued…
*I enter the studio's arena and find Kite standing at the center*
Kite: Took you long enough.
Me: Sorry, Kite. I took a couple of wrong turns on my way here.
Kite: Figures. So, why do you need to see me?
Me: I called you here so I can test your skills for my second story.
Kite: Trying to see if I'm rusty?
Me: Not necessarily. *activates duel disk*
Kite: a duel against me is soon going to be your biggest mistake. *activates Photon Mode*
Me: Guess we'll find out the hard way. You readers please review. Peace!