KINGDOM HEARTS

LIMITLESS UNIVERSE

THE BEGINNING

CHAPTER TWELVE: VENGENCE

"Tell me, Lau," Saburo started as he did crunches on the training ground of the old temple where Lau once trained with Rei under their late master's guidance. "If Rei is immortal like you, how do we stop him?"

Lau was practicing his sword forms before the question came up. "I don't understand what you mean."

Saburo, confused that he confused Lau, stopped and sat up. "Doesn't being immortal mean you can't die?"

Lau placed his swords down. "Being immortal, we have an indefinite life span, but we can be killed just like an ordinary human." He crossed his arms. "I hoped that we could not die, or else my master would still be here now."

Saburo stood up and stretched his arms. "I wonder if my father's immortal."

Lau cocked his head in wonder. "Why do you say that?"

"I once asked him about his age and he gave me a ridiculous number like…two hundred or something big like that." Saburo answered. "I know it had hundred in it."

"Is your father aged in complexion?"

"Not really. Looks young."

"Perhaps your father is one." Lau commented. "And perhaps, you as well."

Saburo looked at Lau, bewildered. "Huh, I never thought of myself as immortal; I just live."

"How long have you lived?"

"19 years."

"You would not display signs until after 30 years." Lau stated. "However, if your mother was not an immortal, the chances that you are not one is there."

Saburo pondered that idea. He has never met his mother nor knew anything about her. His father would never talk about her nor did Saburo or his siblings ask many questions. The idea of him living forever, however, did seem wild to him. He did not even know what he would do with an eternal life span. Maybe his father does, but he did not want to follow his father's example and meditate for the rest of his indefinite life. Saburo did not care to think about it any further. He looked back to Yohfa who stood waiting for them. She could produce a portal that would lead straight to Rei's fortress. "Anyways, I think I'm ready to take on Rei, how about you?"

Lau picked up his swords and did a quick display of his ambidextrous technique before nodding his head in approval. "Yes, I am ready." Both of them moved to Yohfa, who stood atop of the first flight of stairs that lead to the temple. "Please take us to Rei."

Yohfa nodded. "I will, but you must be sure that you are ready."

"We're confident that we can take him on. " Saburo said with an assuring tone. "Besides, it's my job to take on the Heartless and anyone associated with them."

Lau nodded with confidence. Yohfa looked at the two determined fighters and decided to comply. "Very well, I'll lead you to where you can find Rei."

"There's no need for that!"

Saburo and Lau both heard a voice that belongs to neither of them, but was very familiar. They both reacted and turned to see a fourth individual at the temple with them. It was Rei. He was standing on one of the higher platforms of the training grounds. "Rei!" Lau shouted. He drew both of his swords. Rei leaped from the platform and glided over to them. Lau jumped to intercept Rei, but his efforts proved futile as Rei cast him aside with a strong swing of his sword. Lau landed on his feet and rolled on the ground. "Saburo!"

"I've got him!" Saburo called upon his black keyblade and engaged Rei. Their weapons collided as soon as Rei landed on the ground. Rei revealed a second sword and swiped Saburo's keyblade to the side. Given the opportunity, Rei swung at Saburo with the sword in his right hand, but Saburo was quick to guard against it. Saburo was quick to push his weapon away and decided to strike back by turning his body full circle and swinging his keyblade at Rei. However, Rei predicted the attack and leaped over Saburo with a double full twist. Saburo turned around just in time to see Rei wrap his arm around Yohfa's waist and leap away from them. "Damn, Yohfa!"

"Save me, Lau!" Yohfa called as Rei took her through a twisted, purple portal he produced. "Hurry!" She called before fading into the darkness of the portal.

Saburo looked to Lau. "Lau, let's go!" Lau nodded and leaped for the portal. Saburo followed behind him right before it closed. Stepping through the portal was like stepping into a foggy doorway. As soon as he went in, he came out the other side to a location he was not familiar with. It was a large, temple-like building that produced a wall surrounding the area on all four sides. The round on which they stood contained intricate oriental designs and patters around a large black and white yin-yang symbol. As for where it was located, Saburo did not know, but the terrain around them suggested that they were somewhere in the mountains. Saburo was next to Lau when he arrived and standing on the other side of the circle was Rei without Yohfa. "Hey, where's Yohfa!?"

"She is in a place you cannot reach, keyblade warrior." Rei stated.

"What have you done to her!?" Lau demanded.

"She is safe, for now…" Rei looked around at the area that they were taken to. "It's poetic that we should fight here. This is a special place…this is where I became a demon; this is where I killed Master Nagui." Then he glared at Lau. "The last of my humanity will die here as well…" Rei's swords appeared in both of his hands. "I'll kill you here. Then I will finish off the keyblade warrior and take it by force!" Rei assumed a combat stance. "Let's finish this!"

Lau stood prepared with both of his swords ready and Saburo with his keyblade. Both of them dashed towards Rei. Saburo struck first. He swung at Rei horizontally, which was blocked by Rei's left hand sword. Saburo quickly pushed away Rei's weapon as soon as he saw the second one coming. To avoid it, he rolled under the swing of the sword and got behind Rei.

Lau engaged Rei next with and intense fury of sword strikes. Rei was quick to match him in skill and was able to react appropriately to each attack. Saburo took an opportunity to strike Rei, but Rei was aware of Saburo's attack and blocked it with his right sword before switching over to Lau and defending against him again and defending against Saburo once more. Rei was clearly very skilled and he showed that off by taking on both Lau and Saburo with ease. Then Rei kicked Lau aside and locked weapons with Saburo, pushing him down. "You should have considered my offer, boy. With the keyblade, my power could be endless."

Saburo continued to push against Rei as he fell to one knee. "Ugh, and my answer will be the same as before: go fuck yourself!" Saburo released one hand and put it up to Rei's face. "Blizzard!" Upon command, a cloud of ice and snow shot into Rei's eyes, which forced him to move away. Saburo was quick to take advantage of Rei's opening and swung his keyblade horizontally at Rei, but Rei was quick enough to avoid it with a full twist. Still trying to recover from the magic, Rei did not see Lau coming as he leaped through the air and hit Rei with a tornado kick. Rei was sent flying over to the edge of the yin-yang symbol on the ground before he hit ground and rolled back to his feet.

Lau pointed his sword at Rei. "Rei, you will pay for your actions!"

Rei was not amused, he resumed the attack. With both of his swords he continued to fight against Lau and Saburo. Rei's abilities were in no way affected by the attacks from earlier as continues to fight determined to kill Lau and Saburo. In the middle of the combat, Rei kicked Saburo aside and focused on Lau. Rei swung at Lau twice from one side and twice another, but Lau was able to defend. Then, when Rei clocked his swords against Lau's, he brought his foot up and kicked Lau's sword out of his right hand. Lau was forced to concentrate on using one sword. He defended against each simultaneous strike from Rei waiting for Lau made a bad move. Lau turned his body and swung at Rei with his one sword, which Rei guarded against leaving Rei open to sneak in with his other sword and stab Lau's left leg. Lau made a short cry out from the sharp pain but continued once the blade left his leg. He made two swings at Rei, but his agility was affected, giving Rei the ability to strike Lau's blade away and stabbed Lau in his right shoulder. As he pulled the blade out, the whipping motion brought with it a trail of blood that flew out in the shape of a crescent that stained the ground. Rei kicked Lau over afterwards. "I was always the better student." He grinned.

Saburo returned to the fight, swinging his keyblade at Rei who moved back and away from Lau. "Did you forget about me or something!?" Saburo made two swings at Rei, both guarded against easily, before attempting to get in a 360 round kick. Rei avoided that as well.

"You have skill, boy, but you are centuries too early to take me on!" Rei commented.

"You condescending bastard, I'll show you why its people like me who get picked for the keyblade and not people like you!" Saburo made a swing for Rei swinging from his lower left to his upper right, but Rei avoided it by jumping backwards. However, as the tip of Saburo's weapon scrapped against the ground, it struck his shadow and as it left the ground, something that looked like a claw launched out of Saburo's shadow and swiped its nails against Rei's chest. The claw did not look like a physical object. Its appearance was dark and transparent like Saburo's shadow. After it reached its target, it receded back into the shadow. Rei moved back as far as he could while clutching his chest. At the same time, Saburo stopped to wonder what just came out of that strike. "What the hell…was that?"

Rei heaved as he held his chest where he was injured. "So many mysteries surrounding the keyblade…they only make me desire its power more…"

Lau regained possession of his swords and rejoined Saburo's side. "As you said Rei, it ends here!"

Rei looked up at Lau and Saburo. "This is not over…not like this!" Rei took aim with one of his swords and threw it up into the air which cut another portal into the sky. Then he quickly leaped into it before it disappeared behind him.

With Rei gone, Lau collapsed to his hands and knees. "Lau, are you alight?" Saburo asked.

"I recover quickly…" Lau spoke. "But now we've lost Yohfa…"

Saburo sighed. When he thought about it, this did not feel like a victory at all, more like a defeat. Rei now had Yohfa. "Damn…what is wrong with that guy?"

Lau returned to his feet. "I can only imagine that Rei has become corrupt by the darkness he claims to control…" Lau looked up to the sky. "There was a time when Rei would do anything for Yohfa. He would go anywhere to save her."

"Because he loved her, right?"

Lau nodded.

"Then what the hell happened."

"I don't know…" Lau shook his head. "I have been in exile far too long." Lau crossed his arms. "Now with Yohfa gone, I don't know how we can get to him…I wish I could go to my master for answers…"

Saburo put his hands on his hips. The idea that they were unable to continue or that they might be stuck there made progressing seem impossible. Lau already appears to be losing hope. In his contemplation, he heard a faint humming sound. He found himself looking for the source until he spotted another portal right behind them. He tapped Lau. "Lau, look!" Lau turned and saw the same portal that Saburo had noticed. It was one of Yohfa's portals. "Looks like Yohfa hasn't given up on us yet!" He looked to Lau.

Lau looked back at him and nodded with newfound confidence. "Let us continue our fight then."

Both Lau and Saburo leaped through the portal. Once they were through, they found themselves back at the temple. Lau grunted a bit as he grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, Lau, maybe we should rest."

"No need," Lau stated, "I am nearly fully healed."

"Dude Lau, your buddy fights dirty." Saburo put his hand on Lau's shoulder. "We should take time to prepare."

"There's no time. Rei has Yohfa and is controlling the Heartless to break apart my world." Lau regained his normal posture. "I know we can defeat him if we give him everything we have."

"Is that what you think?"

Saburo and Lau again heard a voice that belongs to neither of them. To Saburo, it was unfamiliar, but Lau recognized it as a voice he had not heard in centuries. They both reacted and turned to see another individual at the temple with them. It was an older man in elegant purple robes with decorative trim and he held two different swords in his hands, but they were the same kind of swords as Lau's. "It can't be! Master Nagui!"

"What?" Saburo responded. "I thought he was dead!"

"Surprised to see me Lau?" Nagui spoke in a strong proud voice. "I spirit lingers on, even after my death!"

"Master, for what reason have you returned?" Lau questioned.

Naguri laughed. "I have returned thinking that you might not be capable of facing the challenges that lie ahead!" Naguri looked to Saburo and pointed at him with the sword in his hand. "The fact that someone from another world has come here tells me that this battle is greater than you think."

Saburo was shocked. He had never met Master Naguri before, but he appears to be knowledgeable of the other worlds. Who could have come to this world in the past? Is that person how he knew Saburo was not from this world? "How…how did you know that I'm from another world?"

"This is not the first time that a keyblade wielder has come to this world." Naguri stated. "Now, Lau, we shall see what kind of an ally you have made." Naguri lifted both of his arms up and out to his sides. "Now it is time for your final test!"

Lau stepped forward and faced his master with eagerness in his eyes. He drew his swords, ready to take on the task. Saburo put his hand on Lau's arm. "Whoa, wait, Lau. You haven't recovered from your injuries."

"I have recovered enough." Lau assured, "Besides, my master has returned from the dead to test me one last time, I cannot refuse him!" Lau spun both of his swords before he assumed his usual fighting stance.

Saburo stepped back. "Ok, good luck then."

Lau charged at his master in a full sprint before closing the distance with an aerial. Their swords clashed right away with both of them fighting ferociously with each other. Lau was doing so well, one could not tell that he was injured not even half an hour ago. Lau attempted a powerful technique by running into a front flip and swinging down at his former master with both of his swords. However, Naguri was not about to let such a wide attack injure him. He easily avoided this attack with a butterfly twist. He moved to the offensive with another butterfly twist, this time towards Lau with his swords held out, swinging like a circular saw blade. Lau kept his defense up for this attack. "Impressive, you have improved!"

Lau spun his swords around again. "It has been centuries since I last saw you."

"Heh, but how good is your magic?" Naguri lifted his right hand. "Ryouseiken!" Upon command, multiple arrows appeared around Naguri and fired at Lau.

Lau responded with a spell of his own. "Gouenken!" Lau launched a fireball from his hand that incinerated all of the arrows and continued towards Naguri. Naguri was not fazed by Lau's attack and deflected it with ease with a swipe of his sword. Lau dodged his reflected attack and it struck the brick training grounds. Lau decided it was time to use magic differently. With a running start, Lau leaped into the air and started spinning head first with his swords pointed at his master. "Souyuuken!" Aided by a spiral of magical energy, Lau flew at his master like a drill.

Naguri, still not intimidated by Lau's attacks, launched his counter attack. "Dankuuken!" With a swing of his swords, he unleashed shockwaves at Lau which collided with his attack, cancelling it out. Lau hit the ground hard, but his tenacity slowly pulled him up to his feet. "Good, you won't let yourself go down easily!" Naguri took his focus off of Lau to look to Saburo, who watched eagerly. He pointed his sword at him. "What do you think you're doing, keyblade wielder?" Saburo was slightly surprised. "This test is for you as well! I want to know that Lau made the right choice in choosing you!"

Saburo clenched his fist. A chance to prove himself was something he could not pass up. Before he knew it, his feet started to move and pick up speed. To gain momentum, Saburo performed a roundoff which helped him leap into a full twist, closing the distance between him and Master Naguri. Naguri was ready for Saburo to get close and swung at him horizontally. However, instead of landing on his feet, he landed in a forward split and Naguri's sword passed right over his head. Saburo knew that Naguri would underestimate his landing, which gave Saburo an easy opening. Saburo sprung to his feet and called his keyblade to his hand and swung at Naguri, but Naguri was fast enough to bring his sword between him and Saburo's weapon. Saburo turned around for a strike from the other direction, a strike that was also deflected. He tried again with a vertical swing. Naguri defended against this with both swords and kicked Saburo back before warming up for a 360 back kick which propelled Saburo onto the ground.

"Not bad, keyblade user, your predecessor was not this easily overpowered." Naguri commented.

Saburo pulled himself back to his feet as Lau moved to his side. This other keyblade user that Naguri spoke of was someone Saburo believed he had not met before, but the only one that could match that description was his father. "I think I have an idea of who you're talking about, and trust me; he's had years of more experience than me!"

"Saburo, this test is for both of us. Let us join our power to defeat my master together!" Lau directed.

"Right!" Saburo replied.

Lau charged in and swung at Naguri, who leaped back to avoid the attack. Lau crouched down and Saburo moved quickly to leap off of Lau's back with jump front kick. Naguri dodged that with ease and still had time to counter Lau's next attack and strike back with his other sword with a swipe to his torso section.

Saburo came up next with a side swipe that missed its target when Naguri dodged with a butterfly kick. Saburo tried for a spin attack, but Naguri countered it with ease. Saburo quickly gained distance decided to try magic. "Thunder!" He raised his keyblade into the air and emitted a thunder bolt that came down and struck Naguri. The attack stunned him for a second which gave him time to use an attack that could cover the distance between them. Saburo remembered the attack he used against Rei earlier, a dark claw that sprung out of the shadows. Saburo repeated the same thing he did before and swung at his own shadow. He got the same result and a claw sprung out of the shadow that reached out for Master Naguri. Naguri was not stunned for long, however; as he cleaved through the claw and it turned to dust like a Heartless. "Oh, shit…"

Naguri raised his hand. "Gouenken!" Naguri launched the same fire ball magic that Lau had used earlier at Saburo. Lau moved between Saburo and the incoming fire ball and deflected it using the same technique that his master had used before. Naguri laughed. "Good, Good! You've improved and you've shown excellent coordination with your partner, but you seem to be lacking!"

Saburo regained his footing and assumed a fighting stance with Saburo's keyblade hand lowered with the head of his weapon pointed at his opponent and his other hand hovering slightly over the handle. "We need one good opening. If I can get that for you, can you land enough strikes to finish this?"

Lau nodded. "It must be one hell of an opening, because my master never puts his guard down."

"I'll make one, we just need to focus on you."

Lau nodded. "I know what to do." Lau gripped both of his weapons tightly and called out another magical incantation. "Tekkuken!" The incantation covered him in a red glow moving all over his body.

"I see, so you're focusing all of your magic into power." Master Naguri grinned. "So you plan to finish it here?"

Saburo squatted down. This plan would only work if he learns to control the claw. "Go!" He dashed forth with Lau following behind. Naguri prepared himself for Saburo's attack, but Saburo did not attack. He leaped right over Naguri with a full twist and landed right behind him. Just as Saburo expected, Naguri did not focus on him at all, instead, he moved to attack Lau, who was charging in at full speed. Saburo noticed that Naguri was going for a horizontal swing that required him to step forward with his back foot. Saburo was waiting for this. He pictured in his head what he wanted to be done and plunged his keyblade into his own shadow. The claw reached out and grabbed Naguri's foot before he could make the step. Without being able to make that one step, Naguri's swing came up short and missed Lau. Not only that, but the momentum of making that swing without stepping forward threw him off his center of balance with no room to recover. It was the opening that Lau needed.

Lau took this chance and unleashed a fury of interchanging strikes with both swords. Each strike fueled by Lau's magic. As soon as Lau landed the finishing blow, Master Naguri dropped his swords to the ground and fell to his knees before falling face first into the ground. Lau's boost faded from his body as he tried to catch his breath. Saburo did the same as he pulled his weapon from the ground. "We got 'em."

"Incredible, the student has surpassed the master!" Lau and Saburo almost jumped at the sound of Master Naguri's voice coming from another direction. Both of them looked around until they saw Master Naguri hovering in the air with his arms crossed, which confused them. They looked to the ground once more to see Naguri's defeated body no longer there and returned back to the one present in the air. "Even you have shown great skill for someone as young as you are, keyblade wielder."

"My name is Saburo, actually." Saburo corrected.

"Together, you show great promise." Naguri stated. "You two must kill Rei's demon to release his heart. You must try to save him."

"I will do what I can, Master." Lau replied.

"Once you've done so, then we shall be free." With that, the apparition of Master Naguri faded away.

Saburo looked to Lau to ask him what they should do next, but seeing Lau stare at the sky where they last saw Master Naguri stopped him from asking. "Lau?" Saburo slowly approached him. "Hey, are you okay, Lau?"

"I have not seen my master in so many years." Lau replied. "Seeing him on last time is relieving to me."

"Yeah that's right, he died while you were gone."

"When your master passes, do you think you will miss him as well?"

"Well, my master is my biological father; so yeah, I think I'd miss him."

Lau smiled. "With your help, I think we will be able to bring Rei back to his senses." He looked back to the portal Yohfa left behind for them. "Yohfa's last portal will lead us to Rei's stronghold where he is undoubtedly keeping her captive." Lau looked back to Saburo. "Wielder of the keyblade, will you help me?"

"I've come this far, it wouldn't make sense to stop now." Saburo replied. "Besides, I have nowhere else to go."