A/N: I'm not dead! Sorry that I haven't updated sooner, Calculus 1 really takes up your time.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, storylines, or concepts mention in the story, just the OCs.
Chapter 13: Plunder and Lightning
Trevor, Miranda, Bonkers, Baloo, and Kit were all in the Seaduck heading out of Cape Suzette. Kit was busy looking at a map trying to navigate them to Pirate Island.
"Look, I'm in favor of rescuing Molly," Baloo said to Kit, "Heck, even ol' Becky, but we don't know where they are."
"I do," Kit lamented. "Pirate Island."
"Uh? Nobody knows where that is."
"Once you pass the cliffs, fly 1-6-0 south, southeast."
"Kit, how do you know so much about the air pirates?" Miranda questioned.
Kit remained silent and continued to study the map.
"Come on Kit, we are all friends here," Baloo said trying to get Kit to talk, but to no avail.
"Did the pirates kidnap you?" Trevor asked. Silence still. "Maybe…maybe your father was a pirate."
That was the right button to push. "No," Kit protested. "I was a pirate! All of you happy now?!" Kit got up from his seat and paced in the back of the plane. "You see…I never had a family, no home. I hook up with Don Karnaģe's gang about a year ago. But I got sick of them, so when I saw that stone I thought, 'Hey, make your move.' And that's when I ran into you guys."
"Aww, forget about them, little breeches. For now on, you're with me."
"Thank papa bear."
'Little breeches, papa bear… Why does that sounds so familiar,' Trevor thought, knowing he heard the phrases somewhere before.
After a few hours, they reach an island with jagged pecks and two active volcanoes. A deep and heavy mist covered the edges of the island making it look like it was floating in a sea of clouds.
"There it is, Pirate Island," Kit announced.
"Where, behind the volcano?" Baloo questioned.
"No, in the volcano," the young navigator said matter-of-factly. "But it's safer the use the back way. Now come in low and fly through that fog bank."
"That's solid rock down there," the pilot worried, but nevertheless he did what he was told and wound up flying in a secret cave entrance.
Baloo landed the Seaduck in an underwater stream and the group made their way through hideout. More than once they had the avoid booby traps set up by Don Karnaģe. Luckily, they had Kit who knew where each traps were so they can travel the hideout safely and only once Bonkers got his hand caught in a bear trap.
They arrived in the dungeon area, which is pretty much several craved out caves with wooden doors to each cell. Guarding these cells was a Large Armor Heartless, when it spotted the group, it charged right for them. Miranda and Trevor tried to attack it, but their attacks keep bouncing off.
"This thing is a tough egg to crack," Trevor dodged the Heartless' arm swing and rolled over to the side to distance himself.
Miranda tried to look for a weak spot in the armor, then realize only one spot wasn't protected. "Aim for the head!"
The keyblader leapt up and preformed a three-hit combo on the creature's head causing it to fall over and flail around like a fish out of water. Trevor and Bonkers simultaneously fired a Firaga spell while the Heartless was down, and destroyed it releasing its heart.
When the Heartless was destroyed, it dropped a piece of paper. Baloo picked it up and realized it was the deed to the Seaduck. He guessed that the Heartless stole it from Cunningham when she got here. He put the deed in his pocket for safe keeping.
"Ms. Cunningham, Molly, are you in there?" Kit yelled looking for them.
"Kit, Baloo," Rebecca called out as Trevor unlocked the cell with his keyblade. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're saving you, isn't that obvious?" Baloo said.
All of a sudden, red lights began to flash in the caves and an alarm was sounded. "What's going on?!" Trevor covered his ears and tried to yell over the noise.
"Karnaģe is back, we gotta get!" Kit yelled and led everyone down a corridor to the front entrance. However, they were too late, the entrance opened and Don Karnaģe's air carrier ship, the Iron Vulture, slowly made it descend. "Everybody, hide!" the cub yelled and everyone hid behind a stack of crates. Once the aircraft landed hundreds of Heartless and pirates came out of it, carrying their daily plunder. One could tell that the pirates (with the exception of Don Karnaģe) were uneasy with the Heartless. The pirates wouldn't even go near the creatures of darkness, and it didn't help that the Heartless outnumber them two-to-one. Furthermore, Don Karnaģe had so many kinds of Heartless under his control: Shadows, a few Neoshadows, at least fifty Yellow Operas, more than twenty Air Pirates, Aeroplanes, Air Solders, a baker's dozen of Soldiers, thirty Snapper Dogs, five Pirates, and two Green Requiems.
The groups watch as Don Karnaģe order around a couple of Neoshadows. "Alright, you Heartless take those fish bowls to the workshop and do… shop work on them." The Heartless obeyed and carried crates full of fishbowls to down a corridor to the left. "Another profitable looting is complete, yes, no?" Karnaģe addressed his crew.
Then one of his crew members, a weasel named Mad Dog, stepped forward. "A thousand groveling pardons captain," he said is a whiny, nasally voice. "Can we ask you just one little question?"
"Speak up; my door is always open sometimes"
"Oh," Mad Dog said thrilled. "Well, lately we have been skipping the valuables, and swiping flagpoles and wires and fishbowls and stuff…"
"Yes, yes," Don Karnaģe waving off his crewmembers' concern. "What is your insignificant, little point?"
"What is all this junk for, we don't understand."
"Of course, you don't understand," Don Karnaģe yelled. "That is why I'm in charge and you all are bit players!" Then in mock regret he said, "Did I hurt your feelings?" Mad Dog nodded his head yes and the pirate captain only smiled. "Good, this is all part of my master plan. Do you not see?" All of his crewmen said 'No' causing Don Karnaģe to slap his forehead. "Very well then, I would just have to show you."
Karnaģe led his crew to his secret workshop and Trevor and the others followed, being careful not to get caught. In the workshop, Bagheera and Vincent Valentine were overseeing the Heartless construction of a massive laser weapon. "Voila," Karnaģe said as he showed everyone the gun.
"Ohhhhhh," his crew said in awe even though they didn't know what they were looking at.
"Come everyone, get a closer look. Thanks to Bagheera, and his copy of Electronics for Dummies, soon we will have a handy device that will get us into Cape Suzette!"
"Are we going to rob it?" Mad Dog said willing.
"No, we're going to plunder it!" Karnaģe corrected him. "And after we plunder Cape Suzette, we will use this Lightning Gun to destroy Naraku and take over the inter-circle! Once we do that, we will control KINGDOM HEARTS!!!!!!!" All of his crewmembers began to cheer, even the Heartless seem happy.
"Naraku?!!!" Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers yelled in a harsh whisper.
"Yeah," Kit whispered back. "Naraku is like some sort of leader of a secret society of villains. He was the one who gave Karnaģe technology to leave this world, so the gang can rob other worlds. But something happened, and Don Karnaģe was kicked out of the group."
"Whoa, slow down kid," Baloo said trying to comprehend all this. "What do you mean other worlds? Are you saying that ol' Karny been making deals with aliens?"
"More like a demon," Kit shivered a little. "That guy gives me the creeps."
"Wait, you saw what Naraku looks like?" Trevor said in surprise. Maybe this was the information they were looking for, maybe Kit can help them stop Naraku once and for all.
"I saw him only once and I never been the world he was from," Kit admitted. "But he had dark, long hair, piercing red eyes like hellfire, and he wore clothes like he was from the Far East." Trevor memorized what Kit said, now they know what the creep looks like. "But it's not him I'm worried about," Kit said after a few seconds.
"What do you mean?" Miranda asked wondering who could be worst than Naraku.
Kit bit his lower lip, "When I first saw Naraku, there was somebody else with him. I didn't catch his name, but I will never forget what he looks like. Brown hair, brown slacks, white dress shirt, black notebook; he looked like he was going to some sort of prep school. But, there was something off about him, like…I can't describe it, but it was like he was worse than a demon. A living monster in the form of a man."
Trevor thought about what the cub has said and knew who he was talking about. "Light…" he said bitterly.
"But what a minute," Mad Dog asked Karnaģe. "What wrong with robbing, aren't we robbers?"
"No!" Don Karnaģe shouted, "We are pirates! Pirates, pirates, pirates!!! How often must I remind you?"
Vincent wasn't listening to Karnaģe, because he always thought the captain was full of hot air. He grazed his eyes around the crowd of pirates and spotted his once-time friend. "The keyblader and his friends are here," he announced and fired a bullet toward the direction of Trevor.
Trevor dodged the bullet, but it only put him out in the open. Two seconds later, they were surrounded by Heartless and pirates with no hope of escape.
"So it the keyblader, his friends, the fat pilot, and the annoying business lady," Don Karnaģe said. "Wait a minute, wasn't she locked up?"
"It's obvious that she escaped," Bagheera said flatly. "The real question is whether or not they brought the stone with them. So we can complete our machine."
"Stone, what stone?" Baloo said playing dumb. "I don't see any stone."
"Don't be the clever guy with me," Karnaģe yelled. "None of you are qualified!"
"Give us the stone or die," as soon as Bagheera gave that ultimatum the Heartless started closing in.
Kit's mind was going at warpspeed trying to find a way to save them all. He arrived at one conclusion, and he didn't like it, but it was the only way. "Hiya, gang I'm back!!" he shouted drawing attention to himself. "Did you miss me?"
"Kit, what are you doing?" Baloo yelled.
"Can it runner-rump," the cub yelled as he made his way to Don Karnaģe. "Yo captain, howado!!" he said confusing everybody.
"What are you talking about, you juvenile delinquent?" Karnaģe folded his arms not believing the boy.
"I'm talking about what you taught me; the ol' Karnaģe hustle. First I pretend to be their friend so I can wrangle up some ransom money from Shere Khan."
"What ransom money?"
"Hundred thousand dollars," Kit said knowing that would be hook-line-and-sinker.
"Really," Karnaģe and his crew said impressed. Even Valentine looked astonished.
"I was going to steal the rock back and give everything to you. That was until these guys," he pointed to the crew, "messed it up by grabbing the lady and the kid. But it's all good captain; I manage the bamboozled these clowns into bringing me back."
"Kit…," Bonkers said crestfallen.
"Kit, don't do this," Trevor pleaded. "It's not too late, you can-"
"Can it, keyblader," Kit interrupted. "Once a pirate, always a pirate!" Kit went over to Molly, grabbed her doll, and took out the stone. "So, what do you think of my plan, Karnaģe?" he said as he tossed him the stone.
"You, my boy, are a refreshing addition to my normally thick-headed crew," Karnaģe said as he looked over the stone.
"Now, uh, how about we let these saps go, huh?" Kit said hoping to get everyone out of there.
"Don't be so silly, I don't let anybody go."
"Well then, eat our gold dust!" Trevor grabbed a bag of nearby gold dust threw it to create a smokescreen. Once the pirates were blinded and coughing, he and the others fled going down the cavern they hoped was the way out.
"Shoot them!!" Karnaģe coughed. "Shoot them a lot!!!!!" but it was too late, they were gone.
They made it to the Seaduck and hurried inside. "What about Kit?" Rebecca pleaded. "We can't just leave him here!"
Baloo said nothing and just started up the plane and flew as fast as he could away from Pirate Island. It wasn't fast enough, the air pirates were gaining on them and there was no way Baloo can fight off the pirates this time. "I was hoping that I didn't have to use this," he said as he pressed a huge red button. As soon as he pressed it, the Seaduck broke the sound barrier and left the pirates in the dust. After a minute, he turned the button off leaving everybody bewildered.
"What was that?" Rebecca said trying to get over the shock.
"A little something I added," Baloo said pointing to the button. "Use it too long and the engines overheat. And then its boom-boom, bye-bye."
As soon as they landed in Cape Suzette, several men grabbed them and tossed them in a limousine. Every time they tried to get answers from the men they would answer, 'You know what this is about.' In ten minutes, they arrived at the Shere Khan Corporation building and were hurried up to Shere Khan's penthouse office.
"So glad that you could stop by," Khan said from behind his desk.
"There are rules about this sort of thing, you know!" Rebecca yelled at the tycoon.
"I make my own rules," Shere Khan said standing up. "Now, where's the stone?"
"Before we tell you anything, what is this stone everyone's talking about?" Rebecca said feeling out of the loop.
"Of course, … doctor?" Shere Khan then gestured over to the corner where a short rabbit wearing glasses and a lab coat was waiting.
"The stone," the doctor began, "is actually a sub-electronic amplifier, which means it can create an unlimited amount of electricity. Enough to run all of Mr. Khan's businesses!"
So that's why you want the stone so bad," Trevor said getting it. "So you can have all the free electricity you want and never have to pay the electric bill."
"Precisely, now where is it?" Shere Khan said ticked off.
"Well, you see…we don't have it, Don Karnaģe does," Bonkers said sheepishly.
"I'm displeased Baloo. You have let me down."
"Don't tell me about being let down mister, because I'm an expert," Baloo yelled. "You let someone get close to you and then they stabbed you in the back. Well, I'm sick of being used!!" And with that Baloo stormed out of the office.
"Hmm, a very emotional man," Shere Khan rolled his eyes. "You're all dismissed." As everybody was leaving, Shere Khan stopped Trevor. "Hold on a minute, Trevor is it?"
"Yes?" the keyblader said looking up at the tiger warily.
"By any chance, do you know what a Mowgli is?"
As soon as the tiger said 'Mowgli,' Trevor felt a pain inside his head. He saw images of a burning jungle. Trevor swore he could remember a time when he was eight years old. He was separated from his family and now another boy and him were running through the jungle trying to evade whatever that was hunting them. "You can't get away from me, man-cubs," a dark voice said from the mist of the jungle.
Trevor was interrupted by an impatient Shere Khan. "Well," he said tapping his foot.
"No…," Trevor weakly said. "I don't know anyone named Mowgli." And with that, he left the office.
Shere Khan sat back down in his chair and pondered what the keyblader said. 'I said that I wanted to know what a Mowgli was, but he implied that Mowgli was a who,' the tiger thought as he lean back in his chair. 'I best keep an eye on that one. He apparently knows a great deal about the nature of the world than he lets on.'
Back at Higher for Hire, Baloo loaded his things on the Seaduck, pissed off that Kit betrayed them.
"Where are you going?" Rebecca demanded.
"I'm outta here, sister. I will try Louie's for a bit," Baloo said as he tossed the luggage in the back of the plane.
"But that's my plane!" the owner persisted.
Baloo took out the deed to the plane out of this pocket and waved it around for Rebecca to see. "Nope, I own it now. And to make it all fair and square, this gold that I stole from the pirate's hideout should cover it."
"This isn't about the stone, the plane, or even me; it Kit."
"Oh, what are you, the pirate den mother?"
"Baloo, I know it looks like he betrayed us, but think with your heart and not with your head!"
"Forget it, from now on I fly solo," then Baloo got on the plane and left.
Molly hugged her mother tight as they watched Baloo leave Cape Suzette. "Mommy, will we ever see Baloo again?" she said in a small voice.
"I don't know sweetheart," Rebecca said truthfully.
"And what about Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers? Will we see them again?"
Rebecca thought about it and realized that she hasn't seen the three since they got
back to Higher for Hire. "Wait a minute, where are those three?"
KH-KH-KH
In his penthouse office, Shere Khan was making several important business calls. Now that Don Karnaģe has the stone, he would have to find another to cut business cost. When he was in the middle of a call, the doctor, who helped develop the stone, burst in. "Shere Khan, Shere Khan!! I believe I figured it out!"
"Can't you see that I am busy," the tiger stared daggers that the rabbit doctor.
"But this is important!" the doctor pressed on.
Shere Khan hanged up his phone. "It had better be," he warned.
"I have been studying the list of the things that the pirates had stolen from you over the last week. Well, it's possible that they have built a machine that can focus the energy of the stone."
"And?"
"Basically, Don Karnaģe could have in his possession a lightning gun!"
Shere Khan's left eye twitched, he has been interrupted because of some crackpot theory?! "That's absurd," he said with his arms crossed. Right on cue, there was a bright flash in the sky and thunder rolled through the city. Shere Khan turned around to see that Don Karnaģe invaded Cape Suzette using the Iron Vulture and it the aircraft's makeshift "beak" was the lightning gun.
"There, see!" the doctor said frantically. "I told you!"
"Yes, I now believe you," Shere Khan picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Yes, get me the Air Field."
KH-KH-KH
Minutes later, a large number of Shere Khan's planes started attacking the Iron Vulture. Needless to say, Don Karnaģe was not amused. "They think to stop me with their puny type planes?! Well, see if they like this! Fire!!!!" The lightning gun then fired several rounds destroying all of the planes. Once the last plane was destroyed, Karnaģe got on the intercom to address the city.
"Attention, attention," he began. "Hello wonderful people of Cape Suzette. Allow me to introduce myself, a man who needs no introduction, I am Don Karnaģe! For years I have tried to visit your fair city, but you have always shotted at me!! However, now that I am here, you will hand over all of your money and valuable knicky-knacks to me! Okeydokey? … I didn't hear a yes." Karnaģe then turned to his crew and shrugged. "I will just have to soften them up a bit." With that, they fired the laser several times at city causing massive damage.
Kit was horrified at what Don Karnaģe was doing. "I gotta stop this," he said to himself. He grabbed a rubber glove and crept over to the machine. He then grabbed the stone and ran for his life.
"Put it back!!" Karnaģe ordered.
"Make me!" the cub yelled back. Kit ran to the radio room and locked the door. He got on the radio and called for help. "Mayday, mayday!!! If anyone could hear me, anyone who can fly, this is little breeches. Somebody get word to Baloo; tell him that little breeches has a message from him!!"
KH-KH-KH
Back at Louie's, Baloo was dancing and drinking drinks from a coconut shell. "Hey Louie, isn't this the life? No worries, no bosses, no obligations."
"Yeah, coz," Louie said wiping down the counter. "Keep saying that every five minutes and you will believe it in a year or two."
"What's that's supposed to mean?" Baloo said bitterly.
"It means that you know that Kit is innocent." Baloo turned around and saw Trevor, Miranda, and Bonkers staring at him with disapproval.
"How did you three get here?" the pilot said not happy to see them at all.
"We stored away in your plane," Bonkers said.
"Great, can't I go anywhere without somebody stealing away in my plane these days?"
Miranda ignored his comment, "Baloo, you know that Kit was trying to save us."
"Oh yeah? Prove it!"
Just then, a golden retriever pilot burst in looking worried. "Is there anybody here named Baloo?!" he asked.
"You're looking at him," the bear pilot said flatly.
"Well, there is a distress call for you and from someone named little breeches."
Louie turned on the radio and Kit's voice filled the room. "…can't stop them from wreaking the city. But I tried… Please tell Baloo, tell papa bear, I'm his navigator…"
"You guys were right," he apologized to Trevor and his friends. "He didn't double-cross me. We gotta get back to Cape Suzette!"
They all boarded the Seaduck and Baloo fired up the engines.
"How are we going to get there on time? Cape Suzette is so far away," Trevor wondered.
"I will use the overdrive button," Baloo said as he took off.
"But I thought you said it will overheat your engines if you use it for long?"
"It doesn't matter, Kit is in danger." Baloo pressed the button and they sped toward the city.
KH-KH-KH
Don Karnaģe finally opened the door to the room that Kit locked himself in and approached the boy with murderous intent. "There you are, you naughty, little nuisance. Now hand over the stone!" the captain said venomously. Kit rushed past him and ran toward the beak of the Iron Vulture. He was about to jump off the plane with his glider when Karnaģe caught him. "Boy, my boy, you cannot make the fool of me twice." Don Karnaģe grabbed the stone from Kit and tossed him aside.
The captain then grabbed Kit's glider and broke it into two. "So Kit Cloudkicker, you will kick the bucket instead of the clouds." He then laughed at his bad joke and walk toward the lightning gun. "From now on, I will easer you from my list of noble pirates."
"Noble?" Kit spat. "You are nothing but a cheap crook, Karnaģe."
"A cheap crook? Let's see how you feel about that after a little dirt nap. Bagheera kill him!"
"With pleasure," the panther picked up Kit and tossed him out of the aircraft. Before Kit could fall twenty feet the Seaduck came, Baloo grabbed Kit from midair, and pulled him inside.
"Someone saved the boy?!!" Karnaģe yelled stomping in place. "Shoot the plane down, shoot it down!!!!"
The pirates tried to shoot down the Seaduck, but it was too fast. Soon the Seaduck was out of range.
Inside the Seaduck, Kit was still in shock, "You guys came back for me."
"Of course," Baloo said. "Every pilot needs his navigator."
Once they made sure that Karnaģe wasn't following them, they headed over to Higher for Hire. There Baloo was arguing with Rebecca on whether or not should they leave the city.
"Come on Becky, throw your stuff in the Duck and let's scoot!" Baloo persisted.
"Baloo, I told you I'm not leaving!" Rebecca insisted.
"Be sensible, will ya?"
"I can't, this is my home."
"But Karnaģe is going to deep-fry the whole city any second! Come on you guys, back me up and talk some sense into her."
"I agree with Rebecca, we need to stand here and fight," Trevor said with his arms crossed. One by one, everybody crossed their arms siding with Rebecca and Trevor.
"Okay, okay, I give," Baloo said with his arms throw up. "But there is not going to be much left when Karnaģe is done with the city."
"That's why we bring the fight to him."
"Oh no, I'm not the hero type. Besides, how are we supposed to get close enough when Karnaģe has his lightning gun?"
"Don't worry," the keyblader said. "I have a plan."
A few minutes later, the group managed to cover the Seaduck with anything and everything rubber. "This should protect us from the lightning," Miranda said wiping her hands.
"Well now it's time to pay ol' Captain Karnaģe a visit, right gang?" Baloo said rallying everybody.
"Right," everyone said including Rebecca.
"Now hold on, Becky," Baloo protested.
"It may not be my plane anymore," Rebecca insisted, "but I owned the tires that this plane is covered in, so I go!"
"Well, okay, just get in," the pilot give. "We're going to bag us a lightning gun!" Baloo started up the engines and flew toward the Iron Vulture.
When they got close to the giant aircraft, Don Karnaģe fired the gun at them, but just like Trevor planned, the rubber tires absorbed the electricity. The pirates fired twice more, but it had no effect. "Nothing can stop us now," Trevor said thrilled that his plan worked.
"You guys better hang on," Baloo said as he picked up speed. "We are going to destroy that lightning gun once and for all." He then crashed his plane into the machine destroying it and most of his plane. What was left of the plane fell out of the Iron Vulture and started plummeting to the sea. "We are going into a tailspin!" Baloo yelled. "Brace yourselves!"
KH-KH-KH
Back on the Iron Vulture, Don Karnaģe was in a state of shock. "They have beaten me… How did they do that?" His question was interrupted by the sound of Shere Khan's reinforcement coming in. "Retreat, retreat! Full steam backwards!!"
"We can't retreat now!!" Bagheera yelled. "We need to find a way to rebuild to gun quickly and use it to destroy Naraku!!!"
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Karnaģe said. "We must run away, so we can fight another day."
The panther clenched his fist; there was still one more thing to do in Cape Suzette. "Ran away with your tail between your legs, Karnaģe. I, however, choose to stay and fight! Come on Vincent!" Bagheera opened a portal and he and the gunman stepped in it.
KH-KH-KH
Trevor washed up on the beach near the city. He got up slowly and coughed looking for the others. "Is everybody alright?!" he called.
"I fine," Miranda said a few feet from him. "Just a little bruised."
Bonkers appeared from a small sand dune and spit up a bucket full of sand. "I'm here," he said weakly.
Kit and Rebecca both appeared to be fine. "We're okay, but where's Baloo?" Ms. Cunningham asked.
Then they all saw Baloo, a few feet away from him, sitting down on the beach, holding what's left of his plane. "My baby…," he lamented.
"Don't worry Baloo, we can always get another plane," Rebecca tried to comfort him.
"My baby…," Baloo repeated.
"Look on the bright side, at least we are still alive," Trevor stated.
"My baby!" Baloo broke down.
"But Baloo, we won!" Kit pressed.
Baloo got up and tossed the small piece of his plane away. "I guess you're right. Don Karnaģe was defeated and we save Cape Suzette."
"Not quite…" Everybody turned away and saw Bagheera and Vincent staring straight at them. "I have a couple of aces up my sleeve," the panther pulled out an orb from his right sleeve and showed it to everyone. The orb looked like a large marble with dark smoke swirling around in it. Trevor can have sworn he saw piercing red eyes in it. "Do you know what this is, Trevor?" the panther asked. "It's called materia. It used to be red, but over time I poured the power of the Heartless into it, hence it's dark color. Let's see if you can defeat the creature that dwells within it."
Bagheera crushed the materia and threw the pieces in the air. The pieces reformed into a ball of purple light and ascended into the clouds. Dark clouds started to gather and lightning rolled across the sky. Finally, the sky spit in two and a huge reptilian head with the horns of a ram descended. Attach to this head was a large black dragon-like body with six bat wings, and a very long, spiked tail. The monster was about 80 stories high from tail to head with a wing span of 70 stories. The beast gave a giant roar and the Heartless emblem on its chest glowed a violent purple.
"Behold, the terror of the sky!!!" Bagheera said with satisfaction. "It's-"
"Bahamut, the god of dragons," Trevor said in frighten awe, somewhat surprised that he knew the beast's name.
Bahamut opened its mouth and fired a gigantic energy beam toward the city, wiping out one-third of it.
Trevor was sacred out of his mind, but he knew what he must do. He grabbed Bonkers and went into his Aviator Drive Form and soar in the sky to attack the dragon Heartless. The keyblader tried to attack the monster, but the attacks keep bouncing off. Bahamut noticed this and stared at the keyblader went its dead yellow eyes.
'Trevor Birch…seed of Matthew Birch…what a pleasant surprise.' Trevor was shocked beyond all reason. The Heartless was communicating with him telepathically. 'Do you seek my power like your father did long ago?' it continued. 'Or perhaps you wish to destroy me for your own amusement?'
"You-you knew my father?" Trevor stammered.
'Your father made a summon pact with me long ago, but over time he feared my power… He then imprisoned me in a blank materia to conceal my power.'
"So you do know my father. Do you know where he is?! I want to know!!!"
Bahamut gave a low growl, which was loud enough to shatter several windows in the city below. 'I told you, youngling. Your father imprisoned me, because of that I broke off the summon pact. I cannot sense Matthew Birch even if I tried. How long I waited to get my revenge on that wielder, but I suppose devouring you, son of Matthew, would be a close second.'
The Heartless roared and lunged itself at the keyblader, with its mouth agape. Trevor managed to dodge the beast, but got hit by its tail in the process. He spiraled down several feet in the air before he regained control and went after Bahamut. The gigantic Heartless turned around and shot a large plume of hellfire at the keyblader. Trevor dodged and fired a Blizzaga spell at the monster, but it had no effect. Bahamut spread open all of its wings and fired several lightning bolts. Trevor cast NulShock to cancel out the spell, but some bolts got through the barrier and struck him.
'He just way too powerful,' Trevor thought. 'Only if there was some way to defeat him, some sort of spell.' The keyblader felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. When he blacked out, he found himself remembering something, like a far-off dream.
KH-KH-KH
It was a memory of himself when he was a boy, only seven years old. Next to him was a teenager around the age of fifteen who had dark hair and wore glasses. In front of them was a tall man in a grey Italian suit with the same dark hair as the teenager. Next to the man was a woman that had long flowing brown hair.
"Today I will teach you both a spell that has been in our family for generations," the man said. "It's a powerful spell, and shouldn't be use lightly. Also, it's difficult to master."
The teenager huffed and adjusted his glasses. "I bet I can master in two minutes," he boasted.
"Don't be so sure, (static). Even I had difficulty learning it," the woman said.
"No way, mom," the young Trevor said. "But you are, like, the best Black Wizard ever!!"
The woman smiled at young Trevor and placed a hand on his head. "Even the most experienced, the most strongest, of us have difficulty from time to time."
"So what's this spell called?" the teenager wondered. "Why it's so important to our family?"
"Because," the man said, "Our ancestor created this spell. It is one of the three most powerful spells in the universe. It's able to transcend both darkness and light."
"A spell can do that?!" young Trevor said in awe.
The man smiled. "That and so much more. This spell is called-"
KH-KH-KH
Trevor awoke and found himself in a very vulnerable position. Bahamut was about to unleash another round of Hellfire and he was in range. The keyblade lifted his keyblade and pooled together all of his mana. "THE SPELL IS CALLED ULTIMA!!!!!" he shouted.
The sky became amber and Trevor glowed a golden yellow. From the tip of his keyblade three golden Eastern dragons came forth and charged at Bahamut. The three dragons merged into one massive dragon and hit the Heartless. The gigantic Heartless started to evaporate leaving behind a giant floating heart.
KH-KH-KH
Back on the beach, Baloo, Kit, Rebecca, and Miranda were cheering. "I knew you guys can pull it off," Miranda said never doubting Trevor or Bonkers.
However, two people weren't celebrating. "Well, there goes that plan," Vincent said bitterly. "Time to head back, we wasted enough time in this world."
"Coward!!" Bagheera cursed. "We can still pull this off. I can get my world back, bring Trevor to our side, and rally the pirates to attack Naraku!!"
Vincent stared at the panther with dead eyes. "Trevor just defeated a dragon god and you want fight him at your current level?" He opened up a dark corridor and went in it. "Have fun dying," he called out before the portal closed.
Bagheera clenched his fists. He will bring Trevor to their side, he thought.
KH-KH-KH
Shere Khan and his employee watched Trevor's battle from the penthouse office. The gears were turning in the tiger's head as he planed his next move. "Doctor…" he said without taking his eyes away from the window.
"Yes…," the rabbit doctor said nervously.
"I want you and your team to start on a new project. You will be granted unlimited resources."
The doctor jaw hit the floor; he couldn't believe what his boss just said. "But sir, what is the project?"
"To create a keyblade," the tiger said as he sat down at his desk.
KH-KH-KH
Trevor panted in midair as he watched the giant heart flowing above the city. 'Why didn't the heart go back to Kingdom Hearts?' he wonder. Then the heart glowed and Bahamut, in his real form, appeared before him. 'Oh great, here we go again…'
But to his surprise, Bahamut wasn't looking for a battle. 'Thank you for freeing me from the accursed darkness, son of Matthew,' the dragon god thank him. Bahamut's true form was twice as small as his Heartless' version. Its scales glowed a deep blue, it only had two wings, which had blue and crimson red feathers, and the horns on its head were gone.
"Uh…you're welcome," Trevor managed to get out.
'I shall lend you my power, wielder of the key. Use it well.' Bahamut burst into thousands of lights and went inside of the keyblader.
Trevor felt stronger than ever before, still he had to wonder was his father somewhere out there? Was he looking for him? He wished he knew more.
He descended down to the beach where he spilt into himself and Bonkers, and Miranda hugged them both. Before the reunion could be started, Bagheera interrupted them.
"So, Trevor, learned anything new," asked the panther. Trevor readied his keyblade, but Bagheera held up his hands to show him he didn't want to attack him. "Calm down, I just want to talk," he stuck one of his hands in his jacket pocket and pulled out a picture. "And to show you this."
Bagheera threw the picture and Trevor caught it. He looked at the picture and his mind was doing back flips. In the picture was himself when he was eight, a teenage boy, and a man and a woman. "This is my…my-" with that, he blacked out.
KH-KH-KH
Trevor found himself in a world filled with mountain islands and has a soft, cool breeze blowing through it. He was on top of one of these mountains where there was a castle on it. He looked around a recognized it immediately. "This is the Land of Departure!!!" he said shocked.
He spotted his younger self play-fighting two older kids with wooden keyblades. One of them was the teenager from the picture, who Trevor now recognized. "Zackary, my brother!" The other teen his younger self was fighting was a boy who looked a lot like Sora, expect he had blond hair. The keyblader ponder about this trying to remember the teen's name. Then it hit him, "Ventus, that's it!" He watched as his younger self dodged very one of the attacks. Both Zackary and Ventus charged him, but he blocked both of the attacks and reflected them making the older boys take a couple of steps back.
"Watch that footwork, Trevor," said a voice behind him. Trevor turned around and saw the man from the picture. He knew it was Matthew Birch. "Dad!!" he cried out, but this is only a memory and his father could not hear him.
Next to his father was a man whose outfit had a Japanese flare to it. The keyblader also knew who this man was. "Master Eraqus?!"
"Your sons show excellent prowess in fighting," Eraqus said to Matthew.
Matthew smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yes, although Trevor is the one more skilled in fighting. Zackary excels in magic. I remember when he was two years old, he accidentally froze half of the living room!" Both men chuckled at this as they watched the boys fight. "Although I'm afraid that Trevor doesn't have the heart necessary to obtain the keyblade. Zackary does, but Trevor…" his father trailed off not revealing what's on his mind.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Eraqus said at last. "I could take young Zackary as my pupil. Trevor too, and then we will truly see if he's fit to wield the key or not."
Matthew shook his head, "Thank master, but I think it would be best if I trained them myself."
"But do you think it's wise to train them while traveling throughout the worlds? You know about the world order."
"I want my sons to train in every kind of environment as possible. Besides, it will only last for six months and we will only stay on a world for three days max."
"Well then, I wish you the best of luck, and give my regards to your wife, Ginger."
"Will do," Matthew said as he gave a two-fingered salute.
"Oh, and Master Matthew," Eraqus said. Matthew turned around. "If you see Master Xehanort, keep an eye on him. I fear he is going down a path that no keyblader should follow."
Matthew nodded and then everything became white.
KH-KH-KH
Trevor awoke finding himself bending over the picture. "This-this is a picture of my family…"
"Finally," Bagheera exclaimed, glad that Trevor finally gets it. "And the leader of our organization is your older brother, Zackary."
"You're lying!!!" Trevor said picking himself up. "Zackary would never work with a bunch of villains like yourself!"
The panther laughed out loud. "You think we're villains?! Nearly all of the members of the Forsaken were heroes or honorable people from their home world!"
"So what happened?"
"Kingdom Hearts happened. Our worlds were destroyed and when they were brought back they were changed. Many of our friends, our families, were erased from existence. We became nothing more than outsiders in our own home. So we outsiders band together and formed the Forsaken. We will do whatever it takes to bring back our world. And your brother gave us the means to do it."
"That's not true!" the keyblader pressed.
"Put the pieces together! If your brother wasn't behind this, than how did Marsupilami get his hands on your family's crest? And how did I receive a picture of your family?"
"Shut up!!!" Trevor yelled not wanting to hear this.
"If you don't believe me, then come with me and see for yourself!" Bagheera extended his right hand.
"I don't think so," Trevor pointing his keyblade at the panther.
Bagheera sighed and summoned his magic rapier. "Then I'm afraid I will have to kill you." The panther raced toward the keyblader with his weapon readied. Trevor then parried the attack and rolled out of the way.
Bonkers launched a Firaga spell, but the panther jumped out of the line of attack. Miranda then rushed Bagheera and performed countless of attacks with blinding speed, but the panther evaded every one of the attack with one hand behind his back and his eyes closed!
'He's toying with me!' Miranda thought. Bagheera then jumped ten feet in the air and brought his sword crashing down. The female cop jumped out of the way and prepared her next attack. "Dodge this: Zeninage!!!" Miranda tossed countless of munny at the panther, who couldn't block the attack.
As Bagheera was reeling from Miranda's attack, Trevor came from the side and launched a powerful Blizzaga spell. The panther sliced at the spell causing the ball of ice to explode. When the smoke cleared, everyone was shocked at what they saw. Bagheera was still standing, but in his hand was a keyblade. The keyblade looked exactly like the rapier he had a few moments ago, but the keyblade was more slender and the teeth of the keyblade was in the shape of an "E" in bold print.
"What…you're a keyblader too?" Trevor said not believing what he is seeing.
"Of course not," the panther said. "Your brother use the spell Reverse Osmosis on everyone is the Forsaken."
"Reverse Osmosis?" Trevor said remembering the spell. "But that is a forbidden keyblade technique. It let the keyblader gave portions of his power to someone else, increasing the non-wielder's strength ten-fold. Giving them powers they were not meant to have."
"That's right. And thanks to it I am now able to fight beings such as yourself." Bagheera began charging up and one could see the energy flowing around him. "So keyblader, ready for round two?" He unleashed an energy wave causing the three friends to scatter. The panther then fired three balls of energy at each opponent.
Everyone dodged the attack and proceeded to regroup. Both Trevor and Bonkers unleashed a Thundaga spell and made a direct hit. Miranda then rushed forward and performed several combos. Bonkers was about to cast Graviga when Bagheera cast Reflect causing the bobcat's spell to be bounced back at him. Trevor leapt in the air, feeling the darkness rise up within him again, he brought his keyblade crashing down on Bagheera who blocked and reflected the attack.
Trevor gave a wicked smile at the panther, "You're finished."
"What are you talking about, I'm…" the panther looked at his faux keyblade and saw Trevor's last attack shattered it. When he looked back up again, Trevor was already on him. The keyblader executed out slash and then it was over. Bagheera closed his eyes and laughed. "Well done, keyblader. I guess I will see you in the afterlife." With that, the panther burst into gray smoke.
"Wow," was all that Baloo said. "You guys sure know how to fight."
"Yeah…" Trevor said making his keyblade disappear. "Although, sometimes it feels like a curse."
"Hey, Baloo," Rebecca said. "I know you are brokenhearted about your plane being wreaked, so I have a proposal to make. I will rebuild the Seaduck, but there's only one condition; you and Kit must work for me."
Baloo looked at Kit. "Hey, that's fine with me."
The bear pilot rubbed his chin and then came to a decision. "Becky, you got yourself a deal!"
Then, a piece of the wreak Seaduck started to glow and floating in midair. It transformed itself into a giant keyhole and Trevor locked it.
"You three are not ordinary bodyguards, are you?" Rebecca said with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
"You can say we are bodyguards for the universe," Trevor said with his keyblade on his shoulder. "And it's time for us to go."
"Will we ever see you guys again?" Rebecca asked.
Trevor thought about this for a minute. "Perhaps, if the wind blows this way again." Three then turned around and walk away from the pilot, the business woman, and the cub.
KH-KH-KH
"But you promised," Miranda said to Trevor when they got back on the Heart of Gold.
"You're right, you're right," the keyblader sighed. "It's time to tell Leon the truth. Eddie, make a call to Leon."
"You got it boss," the computer chimed and seconds later Leon was on the screen.
"Trevor, Miranda, Bonkers," Leon began. "I didn't expect a call from you so soon."
"We have some news for you, most of it is pretty disturbing," the keyblader said.
Leon lean back in his chair. "Go on."
"It turns out that the Forsaken wants to capture me."
The president of Radiant Garden looked shocked. "But why?"
"There a chance…a good chance that the leader of the group is my brother, Zackary, who is also a keyblader."
Leon looked down, deep in thought. "You're right, that is disturbing."
"He is also using a forbidden technique called Reverse Osmosis to make other members of the group stronger than they originally were," Miranda added. "Some of the members are strong enough to make false keyblades."
Leon was silent for a long time. "Trevor, where do your allegiances lie?" he said at last.
To be honest, Trevor didn't know. On one hand he could help save the universe, but that would mean having to fight his brother. But on the other hand, if he helps his brother a lot of innocent people will get hurt. "I just don't want any good people to get hurt. Also, I want to find out the truth. If I have to fight my brother to get both, then so be it."
The president nodded. "Alright, Trevor. I will pass this information down to the other keybladers. Though, I fear that they are not going to like it… If you received anymore information then contact us, immediately." Leon cut the feed and the screen went blank.
"So where do we go from here?" Bonkers questioned from the couch with he feet on the table.
"We go where the truth is," Trevor answered.
Next Chapter: A Star is Born
Miranda's Log Updated!
New Characters:
Mad Dog: Talespin(1990)
Matthew Birch (OC): Kingdom Hearts III: Beyond the Kingdom
Ginger Birch (OC): Kingdom Hearts III: Beyond the Kingdom
Ventus: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
Master Eraqus: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
A/N: I finally finished this chapter! The next chapter will star both Sora and my OC Cynthia. So, all of you Sora fans will have something to look forward too. Also I will include Zim and Gir in the fanfiction at the request of chaosglory626.