Back in the mysterious villain's meeting ground, Will stands before a few more baddies. The number had apparently dwindled as Nick and his friends traveled through the worlds and defeated their enemies.
"Hey, that robed chick could have stood a chance if SOMEONE had stuck around to give her a hand instead of looking for that angel girl," Dr. Amagi noted.
"Hey, lay off! I did my part. I brought the princess, didn't I?" Will shot back, tightly gripping the Soul Eater.
"The insect prince was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred for those space explorers," Lord Diablos explained. "He failed to notice the darkness eating away at his heart. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely."
"Don't worry about me, Lord Diablos," Dr. Amagi reassured. "I'm as cool as they come. By the way, kid, we've got a little present for you."
"What?"
"We had a deal, yes?" Lord Diablos replied. "You help us, and we grant your wish..."
At the center of the round table, an image of the unconscious Irma appeared.
"No way! Irma!" Will exclaimed, the evil look in her eyes vanishing for a couple seconds, which proves she still wants to rescue her friends.
"Go to her," Diablos stated.
"Irma... don't worry. I'm coming for you," Will said to herself as she raced out of Villain's Vale. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back towards Lord Diablos.
"Wait a minute. Why are you doing all this for me?" Will inquired. "What's the catch?"
"What catch, my dark warrior?" Diablos replied. "You're like a daughter to me. I only wish for your happiness."
Something in Will's eyes bothered Diablos to no end, though.
"I seriously doubt that," Will shot back before racing off.
"Believe what you wish, little girl. But lest you forget, I upheld my end of the bargain," Diablos stated to no one in particular.
"Maybe she does not believe that you have," a mysterious voice resonated.
Diablos turned around, his staff at the ready.
"Oh, it's only you," Diablos retorted to a mysterious man completely covered in a brown cloak.
"Her lifeless friend is making her recover her old feelings," the hooded man explained. "If you let her slip out of your control, you will regret it."
"You would be wise not to order me around," Diablos shot back.
"I am merely telling you this for your own good," the hooded man continued.
Suddenly, an explosion could be heard from far away.
"What was that?" Diablos exclaimed.
"A refugee. The Heartless found her world and destroyed it. Apparently, she made it here through sheer force of will," the hooded man explained. "She is stronger than most survivors, being that she is one of the ancient Guardians."
"You lie!" Diablos shouted. "The ancients are still alive?"
"You had best see for yourself," the hooded man replied before disappearing in a swirl of darkness.
"Oh, we shall see indeed," Diablos noted, twirling his staff.
Outside, in the Rising Falls, a girl can be seen strafing around pillars of ice, plowing straight through various Heartless. Before we can get a closer look at her, the screen fades to black.
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(A true hero is measured not by the strength of his abilities, but by the strength of his heart.)
S.P.D. Gold Ranger presents:
W.I.T.C.H.: Key to Her Heart
This Chapter: June 5th, 2007
Summary: 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... right?
World Exploration Theme: "The Afternoon Streets"
World Battle Theme: "Working Together"
Absent Silhouette Theme (Demyx): "The 13th Dilemma"
Boss Battle Theme (Hooded Unknown): "Disappeared" from Kingdom Hearts II
Boss Battle Theme 2 (White Monkey): "Destiny's Force"
"Freeze Drive" (Nick, Maylin, and Haruka)
"Magnet Spiral" (Nick and Maylin)
Author's Note: School is almost over for me, so you can expect more updates as I kick Key to Her Heart into high gear! I may even throw in a Final Mix version of The Keyblade Warriors sometime soon if I feel up to it! Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: Yet again, I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or Kingdom Hearts, with the exception of Nick, Maylin, Haruka, and Mina, as they are my characters. The respective properties belong to Disney and Square Enix. Futari wa Pretty Cure is copyright Toei Animation. This story is copyright S.P.D. Gold Ranger, 2006/2007. Can we start the show, please?
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Chapter 12: The Bond Between Best Friends! We Are Pretty Cure!
The portal opened just in time for Nick, Maylin, Haruka, and Mina to come flying out, landing in a tangled pile.
"Hey, hey! Get your foot out of my face!" Maylin shouted.
"I could do that if someone would get their keyblade off of my head!" Haruka shot back, batting the Chinese Spirit keyblade out of her face.
"Where are we?" Mina asked.
"It looks kinda familiar," Haruka noted, thinking about the worlds she'd visited on her travels.
"This place kind of reminds me of Kurumi's world," Nick stated, twirling the Oathkeeper once everyone had gotten themselves untangled. "The same architecture, but much more modern-day."
"You sure?" Mina asked.
"I can tell. That's one of the reasons I took Geography class," Nick noted.
"Things seem pretty peaceful," Haruka wondered, taking a look around them...
...only to be jumped by a pack of Neoshadows. Haruka quickly swung Sweet Crest and knocked the creatures of darkness away.
"You just HAD to say it, Haruka," Maylin taunted, bringing out Chinese Spirit.
Haruka was the first one to act, getting close to a Neoshadow and sweeping it into the air with a leaping spin attack reminiscent of Sora's Aerial Sweep. As soon as Haruka touched the ground, she shot into the air again, this time batting the Neoshadow around with her keyblade.
"Nick! Over to you!" Haruka shouted, knocking the Neoshadow towards her partner, baseball-style. Nick responded by leaping into the air and going into a somersault attack, sending the Neoshadow flying back to the brunette. The two continued this pattern for a while before Maylin decided to cast a Stop spell on all the surrounding Neoshadows. Nick and Haruka finished up their tag-team attack with a spectacular dual diving attack. Moments later, the Neoshadows vanished, only to be replaced with Bolt Towers and a few Hot Rods. Nick charged for one of the Hot Rods, only to have it drive away from him.
"Oh, no you don't!" Nick shouted, leaping into the air and spinning his keyblade around him. The swiftness of this spin created a spherical magnetic field around Nick that drew the escaping Hot Rod right towards it. As the van-shaped Heartless spun around helplessly, Maylin aimed Chinese Spirit towards it, firing a series of magical bullets towards it. Nick finished up by throwing his arms out, causing the magnetic field to explode and the Hot Rod to go flying.
Haruka and Mina were facing down the Bolt Towers, when all of a sudden, one of them shot out a beam that ensnared Haruka and lifted her into the air. Needless to say, she wasn't going to stand for it.
"Get off of me, you freak! Find your own girl!" Haruka shouted, spinning around and tossing the beam straight back to its owner, creating a shockwave that badly damaged the Bolt Tower and all surrounding Heartless.
However, once those Heartless were out of the picture, a new group appeared out of nowhere.
"Drat! There's too many of them!" Haruka shouted.
Before anyone could ponder what to do next, they heard a pair of voices from far off.
"Power of hope, will of light! Face the future and press onward! Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm!!"
Once those words had been spoken, a rainbow beam of light came down from out of nowhere, instantly vaporizing one of the Bolt Towers. Before anyone had a chance to ask, a storm of rainbow energy beams came flying from the sky, wiping out each of the surrounding Heartless.
When the coast was clear, everyone began searching for the source of this new arrival. Haruka was the first one to spot the source: two teenage girls were standing there, wearing outfits that reminded her of Kurumi back in Taisho Era Japan. The girl on the left, who had bright silver eyes and short, spiky orange hair, was wearing a black uniform. The girl to the right, who had long, flowing purple hair and blue eyes, was wearing the white uniform.
"Wait. Why do they look familiar?" Haruka asked herself. Suddenly, she noticed rainbow-colored bracelets strapped around both girls' wrists. That easily gave away their identities.
"Nagisa! Honoka!" Haruka shouted to her old friends.
"Who?" Nick asked, visibly confused.
"They're friends of Haruka," Maylin explained. "This was one of the worlds that she liked to visit before the Heartless started acting up. Nagisa and Honoka can transform into Pretty Cure to fight off the evil forces of the Dusk Zone."
"Wow," Nick noted after readily absorbing the information.
"Hey, Haruka!" Nagisa exclaimed, walking up to the brunette. "How've you been?"
"Oh, the usual. Tracking down some friends, wiping out some Heartless," Haruka replied. "Pretty much all in a day's work."
"Hey, girls," Nick stated, walking up to Nagisa and Honoka. "I just wanted to thank the two of you for saving our butts back there."
"It was no big deal, really," Honoka replied. "I'm sure you would have done the same thing for us."
Just then, everyone heard what seemed to be a guitar solo. Nick was the first to spot the source: a silver orb surrounded by lightning bolts, with the image of a familiar-looking sitar on it.
"What the heck?" Nagisa wondered.
"Another Absent Silhouette," Mina explained.
"I think this one's Demyx," Nick noted after studying the orb. "I can tell because of the way that guy sings."
"Are you sure you can beat this Demyx character?" Nagisa asked, a little concerned.
"Don't worry, Nagisa. We've taken care of this freak before. You two wanna come with me?" Nick propositioned.
"We'd be delighted," Honoka replied as she and Nagisa followed Nick into the orb.
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On the other side, Nick, Nagisa, and Honoka ended up in the plaza of what appeared to be the pathway to a grand castle in the distance. Nick immediately recognized this place as Hollow Bastion's Castle Gates, where Demyx had originally fallen by Sora's hand.
"So, where is this Demyx?" Nagisa asked, getting a bit impatient.
"Patience, Nagisa. I'm sure he'll find us," Nick noted.
And sure enough, Demyx, the Melodious Nocturne, appeared via a column of darkness, twirling his sitar.
Nick quickly brought out the lucky charm that Irma had given him a few years ago.
"Oh, that's cute," Honoka stated.
With one swift flick of his wrist, the lucky charm materialized into the Oathkeeper keyblade.
"All right, Demyx," Nick challenged as Nagisa and Honoka shifted into fighting stances.
"Let's dance."
Demyx was quickly on the offensive, playing a few notes on his sitar. "Dance, water, dance!"
Responding to Demyx's call, a couple dozen liquid clones appeared and started bouncing around.
"The clones again, Demyx?" Nick taunted, swiftly transforming into Limit Form. "You seriously need to get a new act! Sonic Blade!!"
With that, Nick stuck out the Oathkeeper and zipped around the arena at superluminal speeds, wiping out a huge cluster of clones with each pass.
Nagisa and Honoka joined hands before glowing with a rainbow light. "Power of hope, will of light! Face the future and press onward! Pretty Cure Rainbow Storm!!"
As Limit Form Nick destroyed the final clone, Nagisa and Honoka thrust their hands towards Demyx, discharging a storm of rainbow energy beams that knocked the Melodious Nocturne around like a rag doll.
Nick took this as his chance, running towards the flailing Demyx. Suddenly, he was knocked away by a wall of water. Typical.
"Got you now!" Demyx shouted, swinging his sitar around in random patterns, creating geysers of water energy that kept Nick from getting close.
However, Nick wasn't discouraged, because he had a trump card up his sleeve. Holding out both hands, he combined the powers of fire and wind into a sphere in his outstretched palms. The exact second Demyx got close enough to Limit Form Nick, he thrust his hands forward, and a mighty gust of hot air that broke right through Demyx's water wall.
"Of course!" Honoka exclaimed. "Heat evaporates water!"
"Well, duh," Nagisa shot back. "I knew that!"
"Ain't it a blast?" Demyx stated before beginning a charge for Limit Form Nick, swinging his weapon all the while. Unfortunately for the Melodious Nocturne, Nick had already grown wise to his dirty tricks.
"Guess it's time to try that technique I learned the other day," Nick said to himself before holding the Oathkeeper into the air.
As Demyx danced around, shooting off water attacks every which way, Nick charged forward, his keyblade flying through the air and striking Demyx. Nick quickly spun a 360 and swung his keyblade into the air again, this swing creating a rather large magical field that interrupted Demyx's attacks and sent him crashing to the ground.
Nick wasn't done yet, however. He shifted back into stance and tapped the ground with his keyblade, staying still for a few seconds.
Everyone stared at Nick for a couple seconds.
Suddenly, Nick's smile turned into a grin as he focused on Demyx, leaping into the air and slamming the Oathkeeper straight into the ground. From completely out of nowhere, pillars of light surrounded Demyx, lifting him straight into the air and continuously damaging him.
The pillars of light lasted for about eight or nine seconds, and when it finally ended, Demyx dropped back to the ground, dazed and badly damaged.
"All right, time to end this! Ars Arcanum!!" Limit Form Nick shouted, ripping through the air with rapid keyblade strokes before jumping and performing a lethal somersault attack. This was the end of the battle.
Demyx stood there for a couple seconds.
"Aw... booed again."
"Keep practicing, Demyx," Nick replied, reverting out of Limit Form. "Maybe one day you'll find the right melody."
"Yeah."
With that, Demyx disappeared, leaving behind a mysterious paper. Nick immediately recognized it as one of the Torn Pages from Kei and Yumi's Storybook.
"That's the second one," Nick noted, pocketing the Torn Page just as he and the girls were warped out of the arena.
(Author's Note: Anyone who's played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories will recognize that pillar of light attack.)
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However, no sooner had Nick and Pretty Cure returned than a swarm of Nobodies, mostly Dusks and Creepers, arrived on the scene.
"And to think I was actually getting tired of these freaks," Haruka noted, brandishing Sweet Crest.
"Stand back, girls," Nick stated, bringing out the Oathkeeper. "I want to try something I picked up back in Castle Oblivion."
Nick twirled the Oathkeeper in his hands before jumping straight into the air. Calling upon his natural element, Nick began a spinning dive attack. The instant his keyblade touched the ground, a massive maelstrom of electricity came from out of nowhere, completely obliterating the Nobodies.
Before anyone could get their bearings, they heard a mysterious voice from in the shadows.
"Bravo, Pretty Cure," the voice stated. "You have done far greater than I expected."
"Why don't you show yourself?" Nagisa shouted. "Quit being such a coward!"
As if responding to Nagisa's taunt, the mystery person stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a man draped in a dark brown coat.
"Okay, that didn't help much," Nagisa shot back, shifting into fighting stance.
"Wait a minute," Nick noted. "Why does this guy seem familiar?"
Not giving Pretty Cure or the keyblade wielders any time to react, the mystery man shot his hand outwards, expelling a massive ball of electric energy. Nick quickly batted it away with the Oathkeeper.
"Just who are you, buddy?" Haruka shouted.
"I would like to know that myself," the hooded man replied simply.
Without wasting any time, the hooded man drew what appeared to be a pair of lightsabers.
"Xemnas?" Mina asked.
"No," Nick replied. "The energy I'm feeling from this guy is different."
Nick quickly put up his keyblade to block a series of strikes from the hooded man. Going on the offensive, Nick charged forward, performing a Ripple Drive finisher, only to find that it didn't affect the mysterious man.
"Okay, THAT didn't work," Nick said to himself.
Haruka decided that it was her turn, spinning Sweet Crest and focusing on her own powers. Just a few seconds later, a series of heart-shaped energy beams flew from the twirling keyblade. Haruka called this her "Charm Sweep", as it could charm pretty much anyone into doing something for her.
However, Haruka didn't expect the hooded man to just bat the energy hearts away like it was nothing.
"What? That usually works!"
"Not this time, little girl," the hooded man taunted. "It will take more than a simple charm to stop me."
"Guess that's where I step in," Maylin shot back, drawing a special spell coin from her pocket and tossing it into the air.
"Let's see how you like this! RAINBOW BLITZ!!" With that, Maylin brought Chinese Spirit back and slammed it into the coin. The letters on the coin shined as Maylin's special spell came to life. Before the hooded man could react, a collection of rainbow-colored light blasted forth, striking the hooded man and causing him to scream in agony.
"I KNEW that would work!" Maylin exclaimed in triumph.
"All right, you," Nick taunted, facing the hooded man. "Are you ready to give up yet?"
"Fools. I have only begun to fight," was the hooded man's simple reply.
That's enough! Return to Hollow Bastion, my mysterious ally. The time has come to open the final door!
Everyone stopped and looked around for the source of this mysterious new voice.
"I guess my time here is at an end," the hooded man stated, backing away from Nick and the girls. "But this will not be the last time we meet."
"I wouldn't count on that!" Nick shouted, racing forward. "I'm finishing you right here!"
Nick leaped forward, the Oathkeeper held high. But just before Nick could strike, his world turned black and white for a second, and his keyblade only struck air.
"Where'd you go, coward? Show yourself!" Nick challenged.
"Where did he say he was going?" Haruka wondered.
"I think he said something about a 'Hollow Bastion'," Maylin replied.
"I'll bet that's where we'll find Will and this Lord Diablos!" Nick realized.
Before anyone could say more on the matter, a bright flash caught their attention. Nagisa was looking at her Rainbow Bracelet, which seemed to be acting quite strangely.
"Hey, Nick?" Nagisa asked. "There's something weird on my bracelet..."
Nagisa showed Nick her bracelet, revealing that a keyhole was resting where its jewel should have been.
"It's the keyhole! Nick!" Mina exclaimed.
"Right," Nick replied. "Hold up the bracelet, Nagisa. I have to close that keyhole."
"Okay..." Nagisa replied, holding up the bracelet as Nick held the Oathkeeper towards it. Energy began to gather on the tip of the keyblade before shooting a beam of light that shined into the keyhole, forever sealing this world from the Heartless.
"I guess that means we have to go," Mina wondered.
"Will you come and visit us?" Nagisa asked.
"As soon as we can," Nick replied. "That's a promise."
"Okay, then! Looks like we're off to Hollow Bastion!" Haruka shouted in excitement.
"Wait, girls. I want to make a quick stop in Traverse Town," Nick remembered. "When I took care of Demyx, he coughed up another torn page from Kei and Yumi's Storybook."
"Okay. I can see how you'd be worried about them," Haruka replied before using her keyblade to open a portal back to the Magician's Study in Traverse Town.
Once the party had left, Nagisa began thinking. "Why am I getting this feeling that something bad is going to happen?"
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Nick and the girls came from the portal, only to find the study empty. "Guess Merlin's not here," Mina noted.
"Then I guess he won't mind if I used the storybook," Nick replied, walking up to the table where he'd placed Kei and Yumi's Storybook. The book instantly opened and covered Nick in a bright green light.
Kei and Yumi's Storybook Chapter 2: The Fantasy of White MonkeyJust as Nick landed back inside the TV Station, Yumi came running up. "Oh, Nick! Thank goodness you're here! I've got another lead on the Freaky Monkey Five!" Yumi exclaimed.
"Then let's not waste any time," Nick replied, heading for the Warp Gate with Yumi in tow.
The two ended up at what appeared to be a castle. A machine that strongly resembled a dragon was standing at the entrance, piloted by White Monkey, the scientist of the Freaky Monkey Five.
"Well, well," White Monkey taunted. "I never expected a couple kids to make it this far. But I have orders from Specter, and I shall not allow you to pass!"
Nick and Yumi readied their weapons just as the machine discharged a massive blast of fire. The two heroes had already begun their transformations, much to White Monkey's surprise.
"Transform! Fantasy Knight!"
"Light, GIVE ME STRENGTH!!"
Once the light cleared, Nick was in Limit Form and Yumi had become the Fantasy Knight, clothed in a medieval-era style witch uniform and holding a magical wand.
"You really think that changing your clothes is going to stop me?" White Monkey taunted, piloting his machine into the sky and dropping swarms of missiles onto our heroes.
Yumi reacted quickly, holding out her wand and shouting "Protect!!", covering them in a magical barrier that protected them from the missile attack.
"Strike Raid!!" Limit Form Nick called out, throwing the Kingdom Key like a boomerang, hoping to knock White Monkey's machine out of the sky.
"Feeble-minded fools!" White Monkey exclaimed. "You're going to have to do better than that!"
As soon as White Monkey said that, his machine was knocked back by a rather large chunk of ice that Limit Form Nick had unleashed.
"You DARE attack my..."
That was as far as White Monkey got before another elemental attack, this one the power of fire, crashed into his machine. Limit Form Nick kept up his elemental assault, not letting up for a second. Eventually, White Monkey's machine had taken enough elemental damage and began sinking towards the ground.
Nick wasn't finished yet, however. In one final maneuver, he held his keyblade to the sky, calling upon both Limit Form's power and Nick's natural element.
"This ends here, White Monkey! HOLY THUNDER!!" Limit Form Nick exclaimed. Yumi watched in amazement as Nick's Holy Thunder shot forth like a spectacular maelstrom, completely destroying White Monkey's machine and sending said monkey flying.
"Yumi! He's all yours!"
Nodding, Yumi reverted out of Fantasy Knight Form and readied her Monkey Net. The instant White Monkey was in range, Yumi swung the net, swiftly capturing the next of the Freaky Monkey Five.
Once the dust had settled, Yumi looked around. "Kei's not here, either."
"We'll find him, Yumi. I'll find the rest of the Torn Pages so we can put an end to Specter once and for all," Nick reassured.
"Thanks, Nick. Where are you headed now?"
"I'm going to Hollow Bastion. A friend of mine is being held hostage there."
"That place sounds dangerous. Be careful out there, okay?"
"I will, Yumi."
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Author's Note: All right! Finally, here comes the part I've been waiting to write ever since I started this story!
Next time:
Chapter 13: Decisions, Betrayals, and Lies! Finally, to Hollow Bastion!Nick and the party head to Hollow Bastion to confront Lord Diablos and Will, rescue Irma, and stop the threat of the Heartless. Needless to say, things are not going to be easy...
