"Why would Leon want this old book?" Mina asked Nick as the quartet of keyblade bearers walked through the Second District of Traverse Town. After Nick had won a spectacular Absent Silhouette battle in Taisho Era Japan, Mina had found a mysterious old book downtown.
"I'm not really sure, but if Leon wants it, it's gotta be important," Haruka responded, twirling her Sweet Crest keyblade in her hands.
"The only thing I can make out on the cover is something that looks like a monkey," Nick noted, studying the book. "I wonder what it means?"
Suddenly, before anyone could voice their own opinions, a swarm of Soldier Heartless appeared, and they looked like they meant business.
Everyone readied their keyblades just as one of the Soldiers made a grab for the book that Mina was holding.
"They're after the book!" Maylin shouted, tossing one of her spell coins into the air and striking it with Chinese Spirit. The letters on the coin blazed as the spell took effect, causing a whirlwind to form under the Heartless, blowing them into the sky. Nick took advantage of the opportunity and flung the Oathkeeper for the clumped-together Heartless. The silver and gold blade did its job rather quickly, easily dispatching the Soldiers. However, no sooner had the Soldiers disappeared than a collection of Large Bodies and Fat Bandits appeared, all intent on acquiring the mysterious book.
"This could be trouble," Mina stated.
"You girls ready to Drive up?" Nick asked his partners.
"As we'll ever be," Maylin and Haruka exclaimed at the same time. Nick pulled out his Drive orb and concentrated.
"Light, GIVE ME STRENGTH!!"
With that call, Maylin and Haruka disappeared from sight, and Nick transformed into Overdrive Form, wielding both of his partners' keyblades.
"That's still a lot of Heartless," Mina noted, holding Infinity Bullet in a battle stance. "It could take quite a while..."
"Not with what I've got," Overdrive Form Nick responded. He quickly held his hand out towards the concentration of Heartless, and suddenly, a blue and white clock seemed to radiate on each of the Heartless in the area, causing them to freeze completely still. Letting out a mighty battle cry, Overdrive Form Nick charged forward, lashing out with a series of swift strikes and finishing with a powerful spinning attack. Everything stayed silent for a few seconds, not a single Heartless flinching from Nick's attack. Then, all of a sudden, each and every one disappeared in an instant, leaving only a series of glowing hearts.
"Whoa..." Mina stated in awe.
"I call that one the 'Lethal Frame'," Overdrive Form Nick explained. "I simply cast Stop on all of those Heartless, and then just ran through them. I guess the damage only took its toll after the Stop spell wore off."
Nick quickly reverted out of Overdrive Form and picked up the mysterious book. "Good. The book didn't take any damage. Let's go find Leon before any other Heartless try to get their grubby hands on it."
Hello?
That caught Nick's attention. He looked around for the source of this new voice. "Did one of you say something?"
"Wasn't me," Mina responded.
Hello? Is anyone there?
"There it is again!" Nick exclaimed, trying his hardest to pinpoint the source of the voice.
"I don't hear anything," Haruka wondered.
Please, someone answer me!
"It feels like someone's calling out to me," Nick noted. He took a look at the mysterious book. It seemed to be glowing a bright green.
"Wait. Is that voice coming from the book?"
Can anyone hear me?
"Someone's in the book!" Nick realized. "And whoever it is, they're trying to call for help!"
"Are you sure?" Haruka asked.
"Wait, now I can hear it, too!" Maylin noted.
"Yeah, me, too," Haruka replied.
"This is weird. I'd better head in and see what's wrong," Nick stated, brandishing the Oathkeeper. Mina opened up the book and held it out towards Nick. Soon enough, a radiant green light shined forth, and Nick was pulled into the book.
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(Each world has a special treasure. Many of these treasures are unique. Who knows what would happen if they were taken?)
S.P.D. Gold Ranger presents:
W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart
This Chapter: May 24, 2007
Summary: Nick and the gang bring an old book to Leon, only to discover that a whole new world lies inside it. And there's someone in this world that needs Nick's help...
World Exploration Theme (Aunt Aki's TV Station): "Lazy Afternoons"
World Battle Theme: "Sinister Sundown"
Boss Battle Theme (Monkey Blue): "The Deep End"
Monkey Blue's Music Box Theme: "Hikari –KINGDOM HEARTS Instrumental Version-"
Author's Note: This is only the beginning of this world, folks. Like with the Hundred Acre Wood, Nick will be able to access new areas as he collects more Torn Pages later on.
Disclaimer: As always (this seems to be getting a bit repetitive), I don't own W.I.T.C.H., Kingdom Hearts, or any anime or video game properties and characters used in this story. The only things I own are my characters. W.I.T.C.H. and Kingdom Hearts are copyright Disney and Square Enix, and Ape Escape 3 is copyright Sony Computer Entertainment.
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Chapter 11: Monkeys on the Loose! The Storybook Tale of Kei and Yumi!
Prologue: A Mysterious WorldNick fell down from his transport, landing in what appeared to be a TV station, except outdoors.
"Okay... I wasn't expecting this," Nick noted to himself as he took a look around the station. At the front was a giant blue TV set that seemed to act like a portal of sorts. Near the back, there was a staircase that led to a "Shopping Center", as denoted by the sign above the stairs. There was a home theater system off to the right side, and a set of photo books to the left.
"I don't think I've ever seen such elaborate mechanics before," Nick wondered.
"Someone! HELP!"
Nick instantly recognized this new voice as the one that had called out to him back in Traverse Town. Materializing the Oathkeeper, Nick charged into the Shopping Center, where the voice had come from. Down there, a girl of about 13 or so with brown hair tied into two fluffy ponytails, wearing a pink jacket, and carrying what appeared to be a net, was chasing what seemed to be a monkey with a helmet on. The helmet's light was flashing bright red.
"Get back here, you stupid monkey!" the girl exclaimed, swinging her net at the monkey, but to no avail. The monkey easily dodged each swing.
Guess it's time I put in an appearance, Nick thought.
"Hey, monkey boy!" Nick shouted, drawing the monkey's attention. "You want a fight? Then try me!"
The monkey seemed to like a challenge, flailing its arms towards Nick. The keybearer easily dodged, opening up with a swift aerial combo that sent the monkey flying.
This didn't discourage the monkey, who began another charge for Nick once it had landed on the ground. Nick simply smirked and charged up his keyblade. The second that the monkey got close enough to Nick, he lashed out with a powerful Zantetsuken attack, knocking the monkey to the floor and causing the light on its helmet to turn off.
Nick turned his attention towards the girl with the net. "He's all yours!"
The girl nodded, charging forward with her net extended. She swung the net for the stunned monkey in a spectacular jump attack, this time easily catching it. A bright flash filled the area, and when it cleared, the monkey that the young girl caught had disappeared.
"That's another one down," the girl stated before turning to Nick. "Thanks for the assist."
"No problem. I'm always happy to help out," Nick replied.
"My name's Yumi," the girl replied, extending her hand, which Nick promptly shook.
"I'm Nick. Nice to meet you, Yumi."
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"So, what was the deal with that monkey?" Nick asked Yumi as they walked back to the TV Station.
"Well, to put it shortly, there's this evil monkey named Specter who wants to use monkeys to rule the world," Yumi explained. "So, he uses those Monkey Helmets to control them, and hopefully take over the world. Right now, those stupid monkeys are broadcasting these strange TV shows that turn anyone who watches into a mindless couch potato. Me and my brother Kei have been capturing these monkeys and shutting down their broadcasts."
Nick nodded, readily absorbing all of the information.
"The problem is, the Freaky Monkey Five kidnapped Kei and took him somewhere. Aunt Aki and I have looked high and low, but we can't seem to find him..."
"I'll just bet the Heartless are behind that," Nick replied.
"Heartless?" Yumi wondered.
"They're what comes out of the darkness in people's hearts," Nick explained, hoping to prepare Yumi for the worst. "The Heartless go around stealing peoples' hearts so they can become stronger. If they find the way to a world's heart, they take it and the world just vanishes. The only way to stop that from happening is if I lock the door to the world's heart with the keyblade." Nick showed Yumi the Oathkeeper. "The keyblade is the only thing that can stop the Heartless."
"Wow," Yumi replied. "That's one incredible story."
"If my instincts are telling me right, the first of those monkeys is waiting somewhere out there," Nick wondered.
"Why don't we use the Warp Pad?" Yumi explained. "Aunt Aki built the Warp Pad so we could head into the monkeys' TV shows and take care of them."
"Sounds as good a place to start as any," Nick replied. "Let's go!"
Together, Nick and Yumi stepped onto the nearby warp pad. Nick aimed the Oathkeeper towards the screen, and a few seconds later, the two were pulled into it.
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Page 1: Monkey Blue's Western StoryNick and Yumi landed in what appeared to be an old western town. Facing the two down at the other side of the arena was a tall monkey on a motorcycle, dressed in blue western garb, along with a helmet like the one the other monkey had been wearing.
"Well, well, little kids. I have to commend you for making it this far," Blue Monkey retorted. "But, as you can see, I'm the fastest shooter in this here television show. This is as far as I'm going to let you get. As soon as my music box stops playing, we draw."
"Sounds good to me," Nick shot back, readying the Oathkeeper.
The three waited patiently as Blue Monkey's music box finished up its tune. Once the last note stopped, Blue Monkey drew his guns.
"HERE I COME!"
Nick readied the Oathkeeper as Blue Monkey came charging in on his motorcycle. Nick swung at Blue Monkey, but he easily dodged it. It seemed as though every attack Nick made was stopped cold by the ever-agile Blue Monkey.
"Man, this guy's fast!" Nick noted, trying to catch his breath.
"I think we may need to stick to long-range combat," Yumi explained.
"Hey, good idea! He's definitely not a long-range kind of monkey. That much I know," Nick replied, pulling out his Drive orb.
Yumi held out a mysterious gadget on her right wrist, which began glowing with a bright green light.
"Transform!! Wild West Kid!!" Yumi shouted.
"Light, GIVE ME STRENGTH!!" Nick shouted.
When the light cleared, Nick had transformed into Limit Form, switching the Oathkeeper for the Kingdom Key. Yumi had changed into a bright, rainbow-colored wild west uniform, complete with two laser guns of her own.
"Get along, little doggies!" Yumi exclaimed, firing lasers from her weapons towards Blue Monkey.
However, Blue Monkey easily dodged the shots...
...just as Nick had planned.
"Strike Raid!!" Limit Form Nick shouted, tossing his keyblade like a boomerang. Blue Monkey couldn't recover in time after dodging Yumi's shots, and he took a few hits as the Kingdom Key flew past him and came back for another whack.
Limit Form Nick quickly called his keyblade back to him. "Yumi, you up for a tag team?"
The young girl nodded, holding her guns towards the recovering Blue Monkey. A charging sound could be heard.
Meanwhile, Limit Form Nick leapt into the air and began floating there as beams of energy concentrated around the tip of his keyblade.
Just then, Blue Monkey noticed the duo charging their attacks, and began riding towards them.
"Now! FIRE!!" Limit Form Nick shouted.
With that, Yumi fired a massive blue beam from her guns, while Limit Form Nick released his concentrated energy in the form of a stream of rays that joined with Yumi's energy bullet.
Blue Monkey tried firing at it with his own guns, but the powerful dual attack was too strong, knocking Blue Monkey straight off of his motorcycle and doing big damage.
Limit Form Nick wasn't about to stop there. Blue Monkey may have been fast, but Nick still had a trump card up his sleeve.
No sooner had he said that than Yumi reverted out of her Wild West Kid persona, seeing as how her Morph Stock had run out of energy.
"Yumi! Could you sit on my back and hold your Stun Club towards Blue Monkey?" Limit Form Nick propositioned.
"Sure. What for?" Yumi responded, climbing onto Nick's back. Surprisingly, he wasn't being weighed down by Yumi.
"You'll see. Sonic Blade!!" With that call, Yumi stuck her Stun Club out towards the charging Blue Monkey just as Nick rocketed forward, keyblade extended.
As Nick had expected, with Yumi attacking as well, his Sonic Blade attack did extra damage. Nick kept up the attacks for a while, eventually ending in a powerful dual uppercut. This was the end of the battle, as Blue Monkey fell to his knees after being knocked off of his motorcycle.
"All right, you got me, kid. You're a better shooter than I," Blue Monkey admitted.
"He's all yours, Yumi," Nick noted. Yumi nodded, bringing out her net and catching Blue Monkey in it. There was a bright flash, and suddenly, the transmitter that was on top of the nearby saloon fell to pieces.
"That's one down," Yumi stated, holding her Monkey Net triumphantly. "But this one didn't have Kei..."
"It's all right, Yumi," Nick replied after reverting out of Limit Form. "We'll find him. That's a promise."
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"I take it you're Aunt Aki?" Nick stated to the young woman who was standing by the Warp Pad once he'd returned from the Warp Station.
"That's me, all right," Aki replied.
"Yumi's pretty worried about her brother," Nick noted.
"I know. But the only way we'll find Kei is if we defeat the Freaky Monkey Five and find Specter. I'm afraid you'll have to find more Torn Pages and restore the other areas of the TV Station if you want to confront the rest of the Freaky Monkey Five," Aki explained.
"Right. I'll look around the worlds as hard as I can. I'm worried about Yumi, so I'll come back once I've found more of those pages," Nick replied, before waving goodbye to Aki and Yumi and heading for the world's exit.
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Back in Traverse Town's Magician's Study, Maylin and Haruka were talking with Merlin the Wizard about the book that Nick was in. Mina had gone off to scout the town for any signs of the Heartless.
"So, where did you find that book, my dears?" Merlin asked.
"Actually, it was Mina who found it," Haruka explained. "While Nick was fighting Luxord, Mina found the book in Taisho Era Japan."
"Kurumi's world," Maylin continued. "There was a note on the book that instructed us to bring it to Leon. I figured he would know something about it."
"While I'd been meaning to tell Leon about the book, I believe we should keep this our little secret for now," Merlin proposed.
"Good idea," Maylin and Haruka stated at the same time.
Just then, a bright light filled the room, and Nick was back, the book having closed on its own.
"Couldn't bother waiting up for me, could you?" Nick asked.
"We're going to keep the book with Merlin until we're sure it'll be safe," Maylin explained.
"That's a good idea," Nick responded. "Yumi's brother was kidnapped by the Freaky Monkey Five," he explained, recalling what had gone down inside the storybook, "and the only way I can save him is if I find the rest of the Torn Pages. I'll bet they're hiding on some of the other worlds out there."
"I guess that means we have to get going, right?" Mina asked, who had just returned to the Magician's Study.
"We'll be back. Right now, sealing the worlds is our top priority," Nick explained. "We'll come back just as soon as we can."
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Author's Note: Okay, folks! We're almost to the turning point! Be ready for anything!
Next time:
Chapter 12: The Bond Between Best Friends! We Are Pretty Cure!
Nick and the party head back to Japan, finding a duo of superheroes that defend the city from an evil dimension. In other words, all in a day's work...