SEE FIRST CHAPTER FOR MOST DISCLAIMERS
KINGDOM HEARTS IS THE PROPERTY OF SQUARE-ENIX
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE & CHARACTER PAGES
Just for avoiding confusion: Fate Averruncus is not on Midchilda right now. Thus, any mentions of "Fate" are Testarossa-Harlaown.
NOTE: I tried so very hard to come up with Boss Battle music for this chapter's fight that wasn't from Kingdom Hearts, out of fear that I've been overusing that series in terms of battle music. But I couldn't. Over TWO HOURS of just sitting there, going through every single other series I know of, trying to find a song that worked, that fit the battle, the mood, the situation. And I. Just. Couldn't. For those of you who are getting tired of KH music being used so often here, I'm sorry. I tried my best. And my best just wasn't good enough.
Kadak's voice: Kevin Michael Richardson (Tartarus from Halo 2, Trigon from Teen Titans, Jolee Bindo from Knights of the Old Republic, etc.)
-CHAPTER START-
Eragen (city), Mid (continent), Midchilda
Day After Initial Attacks
Right Where the Previous Chapter Left Off
Three Type-G demons were dead before the rest of the enemy even knew what happened, Erika's new Keyblade cleaving through them in one wide swing. The remainder immediately leapt back, Erika slashing a Type-E across the chest diagonally as it was too slow to get away, stunning it. She followed up with three more strikes, a combo that knocked the demon back, dispelling into raw Darkness as it fell. She then quickly pointed her Keyblade at two more of them, and fired from the tip a concentrated barrage of Light-type Sagitta Magica that took them down before they could react. She then rushed in, the Stroke of Midnight grasped in both hands, and got to work.
She leapt high, flipping over a Type-E (dodging its weapon's swing) and slashing out at its head at the peak of her jump. As it fell, dead, she spring-boarded off the face of another, knocking it over and stunning it, and delivered two more quick slashes to a third, killing it as well. She moved with grace and lethal purpose, her speed and small size letting her dart around and strike at the Type-Es while her superior reach allowed her to quickly wipe out the Type-Gs. Timmy could only watch in awe as his sweet little girlfriend proceeded to thrash an entire squad of demons with that odd new weapon of hers. On the nearby rooftop, Marie was in equal awe, still trying to process and get over that fact that her little sister now had a Keyblade. Feeling something building within her, Erika leapt high, pointing her Keyblade down at the surviving demons, and as the sphere of magic rapidly built up at her blade's tip, she spoke the words that came to her:
"Prism Rain!"
A barrage of bolts of magic covering the seven colors of a rainbow shot out, impacting the demons. All of the remaining Type-Gs, all but two of the Type-Es, and the leading Type-B were wiped out. As she landed, the Type-B pointed his shield/crossbow hybrid at her and fired an "arrow" of Darkness. Instinctively, Erika cast a shield spell, but this time she channeled it through her Keyblade rather than casting it directly. In result, the barrier/shield was composed of interlocking hexagons forming a half-dome, which deflected and absorbed the attack with significantly less strain than her old, basic rune-shields. The moment she dropped she shield, she rushed the Type-B, Stroke of Midnight in hand. She dodged two more shots as she closed in, drawing and firing her Needler off-hand to kill one of the two remaining Type-Es. The other one tried to intercept, only for Marie to nail it with a long-range Charge Beam shot from the nearby roof, leaving the Type-B to fight Erika alone.
Once she got in close, she brought her Keyblade up to block a downward strike from the sharp edge of the Type-B's weapon. She lashed out with a chakra-charged kick at his lower left leg, which hit hard enough to nearly break the limb in question. The being stepped back, favoring his left leg, and fired a point-blank Darkness Arrow that narrowly missed Erika's head, but she paid no mind to the close call, instead lashing out with a rising swing of her Keyblade that dealt Light-type magical damage, causing quite a bit of harm to the Darkness-based entity. She followed up with a quick and devastating combo that sent the demon reeling. To finish, she channeled a Light-type Sagitta Magica into her left fist and struck with the technique Negi had taught her:
"Ōkahōken!"
The powerful, Light-infused strike sent the Type-B flying back several feet, slamming into a wall and sliding down it into a slumped seated position. His form was wavering, as if he were barely holding himself together. Erika walked up and finished the job, a downward strike from her Keyblade finishing the demon off. Taking a few deep breaths, she turned around and went over to Timmy, to check on him. He was staring at her for a few seconds, wide-eyed and in awe, but then he gathered himself and, when she came close, hugged her as well as his injuries would allow, which she (carefully) returned.
"I still can't believe it…"
The two startled a bit as Marie leapt down, walking over.
"My little sister has not only become a badass, but manifested a Keyblade…"
"Huh?" Erika held the Stroke of Midnight up. "M-Marie, you know what this thing is?"
"Oh, do I ever" the teen replied. "I'll explain it to you after we finish reclaiming this city. Or Chizuru will. Or Chisame. Or Yūna. Or Fate – girl Fate, that is. Or Keiichi. …The point I'm making is that weapon is one of the core elements of a rather epic game series that I and those I just mentioned have all played. We can tell you all you need to know. But still… I can't believe that my little sister has one of the most powerful types of magical weapon ever made!"
Erika looked at the weapon in her hands with slight awe as she heard this.
"Only those who possess strong Hearts can wield a Keyblade" Marie continued. "And that you managed to manifest one without ever having performed the Rite of Succession with another Wielder is…"
"I, on the other hand," Timmy cut in, "have known ever since I first met her that behind Erika's shyness and quietness was a strong Heart. So that bit doesn't surprise me as much."
Erika gave her boyfriend a smile at that remark. "Well," she said, "let's test it out more and help clear the city, shall we? …Oh, b-but first, I… I need a change…"
Marie let her own smile form. "Okay, kiddo" she said as she pulled the necessary supplies from a subspace storage pocket. "I'll help you out, with both of those. Come on over and lay on this bench over here…"
-Mini-Break-
While Erika was testing out her new weapon, the Type-A demon in charge of attacking the city was fending for his life against the rampaging, 4-Tailed-Form Jinchūriki that Subaru had become after the demon had stupidly made one implied threat too many against Ginga and Teana. Now the demon was losing a fight for his life against a pseudo-daemonic entity that vastly outclassed him. He threw another barrage of dark fireballs at the beast, only for her to swing her claw and generate a pulse of wind and chakra that snuffed them out. She fired two blasts of explosive chakra, one right after the other; the first hit his shield, badly damaging it, while the second broke it and knocked him out of the air, falling in an arc toward an empty parking lot.
The Type-A left a small crater where he landed, and seconds later barely rolled out of the way to avoid a spearing strike from one of the Host's four tails' tips. He leapt back as the pseudo-daemon landed where he'd just been, and he flew backwards along the ground while firing bursts of Darkness at her. Suddenly, he felt a horrible burning pain in his torso. He looked down, and saw the tip of one of the Host's chakra tails emerging from his chest from behind. When she'd made the initial spearing strike, she had not retracted the tail when it stabbed into the ground, instead extending it and moving it around just underground to get it into position.
The tail then coiled around the being it had impaled, and with a lurch the underground portion of it surfaced, violently displacing the concrete directly above it. The appendage then rapidly yanked its victim inward, straight into the path of a massively powerful punch that killed the demon instantly, the shockwave of the impact shattering a nearby supermarket's front windows. After several seconds of standing there, relishing victory, the "Blood Shroud" opaque cloak of chakra dissipated, leaving an unconscious Subaru to topple over (her skin growing back completely before she'd even hit the ground). Less than 20 seconds later, Kaede Nagase arrived on-scene. Recognizing the faint familiar residual chakra in the air and remembering Shion vs. Secundum, she picked Subaru up and then leapt away, heading for friendly lines.
-Mini-Break-
Graf Eisen swung again, taking down two more Type-G demons.
"Ha!" Vita shouted. "That's 56 to Sarah's 54! I'm in the lead again!"
Suddenly, a massive war-mount thundered by, its steps shaking the earth as the dozen or so lesser demons aboard took potshots at the coalition soldiers below. Vita steeled herself, getting ready to shift Eisen to Gigantform. Suddenly, however, a figure leapt from atop a nearby four-story building, landing on the war-beast's back. Sarah ran along the beast's spine, dodging the fire sent her way by the surprised demons, and then she brought her gravity hammer down as hard as she could on the base of the beast's skull.
The beast let out a pained roar, and then began to topple over like a falling tower, its spine pulverized just behind its head. Sarah leapt high off of the war-mount as it fell, crushing its side-slung troop compartment and the 11 demons within, the ground trembling with the impact. Sarah made a stylish landing, completely unharmed, and slung her hammer over her back. Vita stared, slack-jawed, before finally pointing.
"Th… That still only counts as one!" she insisted indignantly.
-SCENE BREAK-
Raynor's Raiders prefabricated structure
Eragen
90 minutes later
Some of those who had fought to defend the city gathered in this location. Wounded were tended to, stories were swapped, and heads were counted. In one room, Fate, Chisame, and Yūna were gathered, having gotten together on Marie's radioed-in request.
"I wonder what she wants to show us" Yūna said.
At this point, the girl in question and her little sister walked in. They looked a tad roughed up but otherwise okay.
"Girls," Marie said, "what we're about to show you is not fake, not an illusion, not made up; it's the real deal. She manifested it while defending Timmy."
She then looked down to Erika, who nodded and held out her right hand… and in a flash of light, the Stroke of Midnight appeared. There was wide-eyed silence for several seconds, jaws dropped.
"…Holy shit…" Chisame finally forced out.
"I want to protect the people important to me, more than anything else" Erika said. "This blade is a manifestation of that desire, I believe."
"…Things are getting more and more interesting…" Fate said.
"…We're eventually gonna end up fighting Heartless, aren't we?" Yūna asked.
After several seconds, Chisame composed herself and spoke up again. "Knowing our luck? Definitely. Better start training with that thing, kid; I have a feeling you're gonna need to get good with it."
-SCENE BREAK-
Vendol (city), Mid (continent), Midchilda
Three Days Later
This was it. It was time to take Vendol back and kick these monsters off of Midchilda. Armored convoys, squadrons of dropships, and half a dozen capital ships all advanced on the enemy-held city. A tightly-packed swarm of flying demons – Type-Ds, the coalition was calling them – advanced toward the approaching military hardware, darkening the sky with their approach. In response, the frigate UNSC Saratoga fired its MAC, the relativistic-velocity 600-ton shell of depleted uranium – and the shockwave its passage produced – utterly obliterating about half of the swarm before zooming off into space. Banshees deployed from the Sangheili Alliance Vigilance-class corvette Illuminating Spark, while "Valkyrie" air-superiority craft and flight-configuration Vikings departed from the hangar bays of the Koprulu Terran Behemoth-class battlecruiser Halberd.
From the hangar of the Starshot, Gamma Team and RF6 deployed, spreading out to cover the areas where they were most needed. As Nanoha and Teana flew toward the city center, the former began preparations to enter Sage Mode just in case, hands already pressed together. They quickly reached their target area and started carving through the demons waiting there, Nanoha relying on her feet and on hands-free spells. Soon enough, the gathering of energies was complete, and Shima & Fukasaku appeared on Nanoha's shoulders, accompanied by a tremendous jump in the girl's power level, the skin around her eyes turning red while her eyes changed to yellow irises with horizontal pupils.
"What's going on, Nanoha-chan?" Fukasaku asked.
"We're fighting to retake a city from… demons, for lack of a better description. This is where their leader is, whoever that may be. I anticipate that he'll be strong enough to warrant Sage Mode, and I figured I'd enter it preemptively, rather than try to fight him or her off without the use of my hands."
"Hmm…" Shims replied. "Wise of you, dear."
"Speak of the Jūbi…" Fukasaku muttered as his attention was drawn to a figure floating serenely toward Nanoha and Teana. "Looks like we got here just in time."
The being was around eight feet tall, a black hide clad in armor, with four glowing red eyes and sharp, backwards-jutting metallic spikes in place of hair. He looked at the two girls, focusing on Teana.
"At last we meet face-to-face, Ms. Lanstar" he said with a smirk.
Teana's eyes widened briefly and then narrowed in anger as she recognized the voice. "Kadak…" she snarled.
The two Sage Toads, meanwhile, were almost quivering. "A d-daemon…" Shima whispered, eyes wide with nervousness and fear. "A lesser daemon, but still… Thank goodness you summoned us when you did, Nanoha-chan."
"It seems that the two of you have caught my Master's eye" Kadak said. "Enough so that I have been instructed to ensure your deaths personally. You should feel privileged; this hasn't happened in nearly a century."
"Pardon me if I withhold my enthusiasm" Nanoha replied with a cold glare.
Kadak chuckled in response. "Now then…" he said. "Let us begin."
(BOSS MUSIC: Kingdom Hearts 2 – "The Corrupted")
Teana struck first, firing a barrage of 73 Fire-type Sagitta Magica that streaked through the air toward Kadak, the ambient temperature spiking briefly from the combined heat of the fire bolts. Kadak responded by throwing both arms outward, casting a spherical shield that surrounded him completely, withstanding the barrage. He willed the shield to shatter into countless jagged pieces which he then shot at the two girls, only for Nanoha to call up her own senjutsu-enhanced rune-shield, easily deflecting the barrage.
Teana then charged in, Mirage Longswords in hand, and in response Kadak summoned an ornate and deceptively delicate-looking blade. He dodged, parried, and blocked her strikes with some effort, slowly giving ground to her. Suddenly, Teana broke off and flash-stepped back, just in time for Nanoha to fly in and lash out with a Sage Mode-enhanced punch. Kadak was pushed back a fair distance as he blocked the blow, quietly surprised by how much of a boost Sage Mode gave the young woman. He then narrowly dodged a Zessenzan from Fukasaku, avoiding decapitation by less than a meter, and then took a hit from a Fūton: Shinkūgyoku from Shima, though it did little damage.
Nanoha brought Raising Heart up in time to block a horizontal swing from Kadak's blade, and then entered a short but fast-paced duel that lasted around 11 seconds, ending when Kadak narrowly dodged a kick… and got smacked by the Sage Mode aura of the limb, sending him tumbling back. He quickly regained control and brought a rune-shield up to block Teana's Katon: Gōkakyū, and then countered with a dark-purple fireball nearly three times as big, which Teana barely managed to dodge. Kadak then began charging a considerable amount of dark power into a sphere of energy… only to be forced to cancel it in order to dodge several Jaculatio Fulgoris lightning spears from below. The individual responsible quickly took his position in-between Nanoha and Teana.
"Hello, ladies" Negi said, the air around him crackling as he hovered in Raiten Sōsō form. "Mind if I cut in?"
-Mini-Break-
Shion charged through another swarm of lesser demons, her two chakra-tails giving her two extra 'limbs' to strike with. Nearby, Subaru was in her 1-Tailed Form, making her own dents in the enemy's numbers. On her other side was Mai in her 2-Tailed Form, adding her power to the cause. The three Jinchūriki (well, two Type-1s and one Type-2) had teamed up and combined forces to take chunks out of the enemy hordes, as well as to help handle the bigger, stronger, tougher ones so the soldiers following in their wake wouldn't have to.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Erika used her Keyblade, magic, and jutsu to cut down lesser demons … but she was quite aware that she paled in comparison to her current combat partner, who had arrived aboard the UNSC Saratoga yesterday. The Master Chief John-117 was unstoppable, the green-armored super-soldier taking down demons by the dozens without breaking stride and with almost no effort. His Mark-7 MJOLNIR armor practically shined in the sunlight, his upgraded energy shields easily withstanding what few glancing hits he took. He moved with a grace and economy of movement that came from decades of experience, and with a speed that only armored-up Spartans could manage. His MA5C assault rifle and M90A shotgun dealt out hot death to any demons he pointed them at, and his punches and kicks alone were strong enough to kill nearly all of the dark beings he hit.
Sarah and Vita cut their way through a swarm of Type-Gs using the former's plasma sword and the latter's Device. As they advanced, they came across another demonic war-beast slowly trampling its way through the area, mounted AA guns shooting down a Banshee before it could get a bead on it. The two watched as a squad of soldiers was cut down by the demons riding the beast. Vita's mind was quickly made up.
"Sarah!" she said. "Toss me!"
"…Okay" the blonde replied with a shrug of her shoulders, getting herself and Vita into position.
"And don't you dare tell Signum about this" the little redhead added with a glare.
Sarah smirked in response, and then with a heave Vita took flight, moving much faster than she could fly under her own power in such short distance, Graf Eisen growing to several times its normal size as she moved.
"Gigant Crusher!"
-Mini-Break-
The four high-level combatants zipped around the aerial battlefield, firing attacks and trading blows. Kadak was on the defensive, unable to deal any notable damage to Nanoha, Teana, or Negi; however, his defense was good enough that none of the three were able to land any decisive blows on him, either. A Katon: Gōenkyū from Teana hit an equally-large dark fireball from Kadak, the two detonating in a massive, bright explosion. A Titan-Slayer spear punched through the rising cloud of smoke and flame, Kadak dodging it by less than two meters. He could not dodge the following huge barrage of pink Accel Shooter bolts, which pounded relentlessly against the rune-shield he summoned, eventually breaking through it to strike him directly.
Kadak emerged from the 'smoke', bearing a handful of light or moderate wounds that were very slowly healing themselves. Before the three could react, he unleashed his own wave of dark fire-bolts; Negi used his superior agility and speed to dodge the ones coming at him, while Nanoha and Teana tanked them with Sage Mode-enhanced shields and a Stage 1 Susanō, respectively. Teana's skeletal Susanō swung its serrated sword, unleashing a slicing wave of chakra. Kadak flew over it (barely) and charged at Negi, the lightning-form boy following suit, the two entering a high-speed joust that met with a thunderclap, leading into a fast-paced close-combat brawl. Negi's superior speed allowed him to land several powerful blows, but it didn't do too much.
"Jeez, what is this guy made of?" Teana remarked.
"Scanning stats…" Raising Heart stated. "Target specifications are as follows: Physical Strength S; Magical Strength AAA; Speed AAA+; Stamina/Energy Reserves S+; Defense S+. Overall level: S+."
Teana sighed. "So all three of us have him outmatched in offense, Negi-kun's faster than he is and I'm as fast, but he can take more damage than me or Negi."
"We need something that can either break through or circumvent his defense" Nanoha said. "Negi-kun's Titano-Ktonon should be able to, but he hasn't been able to land a solid hit with it. And I don't think Kadak will give me or you the time to charge up a full-strength Starlight-class barrier buster."
"Might a Rasengan work?" Shima suggested.
"Maybe…" Fukasaku replied. "But maybe not. This one can regenerate. Granted, his regeneration is quite slow, but it could still enable him to outlast us. We need to hit him with something he can't regenerate from."
After a few seconds, Teana spoke. "I have an idea."
Meanwhile, Negi continued to do battle with Kadak, the boy's speed and the daemon's defense nullifying each other's advantages.
"I must admit that I am quite impressed, boy" Kadak said. "As I would expect from one of the individuals responsible for slaying a Precursor Archmage – a being capable of destroying me without much effort. Of course… you had more overall firepower between your group that time than you three do now."
"…There's more to fighting top-tier foes like you and him than just raw power" Negi replied, having been telepathically informed of Teana & Nanoha's plan. "Skill and technique can play a deciding role, too, as can targeting an opponent's weak points."
"Indeed."
Negi smirked. "That is why I'm going to be doing this!"
He formed a dozen Lightning Release Shadow Clones, and he & they then began blitzing at Kadak from all directions, gradually battering down his guard. The daemon forced them away with a roar and an omni-directional pulse of power… and was then caught by the delayed Wind-style Bind spell that Negi had set up, holding him in place as Nanoha and Teana rushed at him. In the second before they hit him, he noticed that the two were holding a large swirling sphere of energy between them, which wasn't so bad… until he noticed that the redhead's Mangekyō Sharingan were active, and the spiraling sphere of chakra was infused with the black flames of Amaterasu. For that last moment, Kadak felt genuine panic and fear, right as he was hit by a technique empowered by one of the few forces capable of killing him:
"Hellfire Rasengan!-!"
The Ōdama Rasengan empowered with black hellfire grinded and burned into Kadak. Nanoha & Teana, their arms enshrouded in Sage chakra and defensive reinforcement magic to protect them from the all-consuming, unquenchable flames, immediately launched themselves backward a split-second before the sphere of destruction detonated, a spiraling column of black flame enveloping Kadak. He did not have time to scream before his vocal chords were incinerated, along with the rest of his body. The black fires corkscrewed through the air, only to vanish at Teana's mental command before they could fall and set alight any parts of the city below. As Kadak's soul was sent away to where all evil souls go, the three heard one final telepathic speech from it:
"I was the weakest of my Master's four Generals. Enjoy this victory while you can; my three compatriots will not be so easily defeated."
With that, Kadak's presence vanished forever. Across the city, the demons suddenly found their will to fight severely weakened due to losing Kadak's artificial boosting of it (similar to a technique the Jedi had known as "Battle Meditation"). At the same time, a Sangheili assault carrier appeared above the city, dropships deploying en masse. Within minutes, the enemy was in full retreat, their warriors being gunned down or blown to bits as they ran. The trio, tired but still able to fight, harried the demons as they retreated.
Within 15 minutes, the city of Vendol was again in Bureau hands.
-CHAPTER END-
One more chapter to come, which will lead directly into Book 10. Then, there will be a BONUS mini-chapter displaying data on the starship classes currently used by the various civilizations presently involved.