The battle began. Loxernette had a long range and the chain wasn't very fun to get hit with, and she, like Gantu, preferred to stay at a distance from Maru. She was faster than Gantu, too, but had a MUCH smaller battlefield to work with. Maru had to avoid the chain as he went as best he could, but it was a bit difficult. He had to swerve when it was coming right for him, duck when it was being swung high, and jump when it went low. Since it went fast, he didn't have much time. If he could just go as fast as he could to get to her and dodge the attack in time, he could potentially get in a combo. He had attempted to use projectiles, but after getting hit, Loxernette revealed to use, in Naruto language, a Substitution Justu, complete with Sasuke's worst enemy, the log. She would then punish them by reappearing right behind them and whipping them.
Not only would she use the chain she had to whip them and "punch" them, but the konoichi would wrap the chain around them and swing them around at full range once before launching them. The bigger the person, the more damage inflicted to the others if the target, not the chain, hit. This means that while Figment and Woody didn't hurt all that much, Elliott hurt a LOT. Maru and Buzz hurt medium and medium-hard, respectively. Furthermore, Loxernette would summon chains from all over the place to bind them down, whack them, or bar their progress by having a thick chain come down and stay there for a bit. These thick chains came down only after she got hurt by a couple full combos. Yes, Maru was able to discover this. Finally, instead of just running around, Loxernette would instead dash around or, in another attack, jump off of someone's head and away. (This happened often when Maru or someone was closeby after she'd executed a melee attack.)
Maru felt more than one chance during this battle. One came without really being a true chance when he tried beating back Loxernette's incoming chain with the Keyblade. It worked the first time only because it was the end of the chain, but the next time was when he hit in the middle. It wrapped around the Keyblade, Loxernette laughing. "Yoink!" she quoted, yanking it from his hand the first time this happened. She quickly swung the thing right back at him, bashing him with the heavy weight of the wrapped-up chain bundle. The second time she did this, though, Maru was ready, having an idea. It wrapped again, and he grunted as he grabbed the hilt with both hands. This idea flopped, too, since he was pulled back to Loxernette. "Nice try," she giggled before slamming a hard kick to him. But, as they say, third time's the charm. Instead of letting her yank him towards her, Maru braced and, during something where the player would be button-mashing the Reaction Command button, had a bit of a tug-o-war with her. They both grunted for a second before, finally, Maru succeeded in yanking HER, this time. "Nice try!" he returned the favor, giving her a full-on Gunshot Kick, knocking her stamina down quite a chunk. She even staggered after the hit and was open to a combo. Most of the time after getting combo'd, she would disappear again.
The second chance came when she wrapped him up and swung him around. Thinking quickly after getting hit with the attack, he freed an arm and grabbed onto the chain. In order to release the chained captive, Loxernette had to whip the chain back and command it to unwrap. However, since Maru was holding onto it himself, he didn't fly off. In fact, he flew right for her. "Huh?" Loxernette went when she saw this, stopping in surprise as Maru came at her.
"Hi!" Maru greeted as he let go and ducked low after hitting the ground. She got hit in the face with her own chain, which hurt quite a bit and dazed her a moment, opening her for attacks. She was promptly comboed by Maru for a second before she vanished again.
After every two combos, she summoned one of those huge, thick chains. If they went to end in the barrier, they would go through a dark portal. These barred the way sometimes for a moment, but otherwise had no purpose except to hit anyone who didn't see it coming (which everyone usually could from a mile away).
Another chance felt by the Keyblader was just simply one where he'd break himself free from being bound by chains if she summoned them up from nowhere. However, after he broke them, the links scattered about from him and he felt a fleeting chance before they vanished. He failed the first time to get it, but he was ready the next time. Yelling, he raised his Keyblade and psychically grabbed a bunch of links with the boost of power granted during the chance. He turned and aimed at Loxernette before, with another chance, swinging his Keyblade down and launching a horizontal rain of iron links. They managed to hit Loxernette and weren't fun for her.
Speaking of, after a while in the fight, the kunouichi had summoned three thick chains. The use for these was at last revealed when she came to the center of the ring and made a few handsigns, starting to float up. "You wanna see 'Naruto wannabe?' Here ya go: Hidden Art," she announced, the links of the chains breaking and coming up to swirl around her. When all of them were around her, she began to fire them off at her enemies. "Steel Meteor Shower Jutsu!"
They weren't that slow-moving, either, and they were hard to avoid. Let's not forget these were HUGE chain links, metal as thick as a buff man's arm (proportionately, given the change in size right now), and so they hurt A LOT. Maru didn't find a chance, exactly, but he knew he had to try something after being put in the danger zone and watching ALL his comrades faint around him. He swung at a falling link.
It didn't work.
"UWWAAAH!!" he cried, getting thrust back. He was on his last legs. 'Aw, SHIT!!' he thought. 'No...not now...' He held up a Barrier shield and watched as the links kept on coming, jarring him back with each hit and threatening to shatter the concentrated psychic energy. 'No...NO...NO!!'
It hit him.
Maru thrust his Keyblade up. "ICE SHARD!" he cried with every ounce of his being. The attack began again, forming the six clouds of frost around him. Almost as soon as he had used the move, the incoming link made to strike him. It hit an invisible hemisphere around Maru and stopped. Between the six clouds formed the figure of a basic-looking, hole-centered snowflake, which spun around Maru rapidly and grew, as well as blasting the projectile, covered in ice, from Maru back at Loxernette's jaw. She let out a magnificent cry of agony and fell to the ground after getting hit. (Hey, I said he got hit--I didn't say by what ;) )
***Maru: LEARNED Ice Shard (Properly)***
"THAT'S what the hell it's supposed to do!!" Maru cried triumphantly, pulling out a Mega Potion. "Here we go," he said with relief as the item healed everyone in the party. (He hadn't used it before since he would either get hit or it would've been useless due to getting hit right away again.) After healing everyone, he charged over and, taking advantage of the very dazed (and hurt) state the kunouichi was in, landed more than one combo on her.
They still had a ways to go, however, after about three combos of his on her. She disappeared and continued to fight. 'She has an impressive defense,' Maru thought, 'for a ninja, who usually don't have that much defense due to their tendency to try NOT getting hit more than others.' The battle wore on until she tried her Steel Meteor Shower Jutsu again. This time, Maru immediately knew what to do. "Chill," he ordered as he used Ice Shard and summoned the shield of invisible ice again at the right time. It worked yet again, and the hail stopped before long.
Near the end of the fight, Maru didn't have enough energy to use Ice Shard and Loxernette was using her Steel Meteor Shower Justu. He had SOME energy, though, and he had gotten the idea about what happens when he works together. Nearby Buzz and Woody, he called, "GUYS! Think you can cooperate without ripping each others' throats out?"
"No duh!" Woody called back.
"Then c'mon!" Maru beckoned. He spun his Keyblade around and hoped they got it. The toys raised their eyebrows, looked at each other, then nodded. Maru gripped his Keyblade. "Then let's do it!"
In a flash of light, all three were rendered invulnerable and Buzz felt immense power surge through him. Maru felt power, too, and it was a kind he'd been missing for a long time. He smirked and floated up as Buzz cried, "Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!" He opened his wings up and started to fly around, too.
"You had to, didn't you?" Woody asked. He grabbed his pullstring and revealed its length to be greater than normal. Buzz came and grabbed him up while Maru flew up beside him. Maru swung with his Keyblade and created a short cyclone beneath them that would have blown back any enemies below.
Maru and Buzz were granted the ability to fly for the duration of the Limit, and they made good use of it. Maru charged toward Loxernette with a dashing slash while Buzz charged after, Woody swinging a wide-range whipping pullstring that even struck with the string. When Maru and Buzz attacked together, they both aimed with an arm--Buzz his right and Maru his left--and fired their energy attacks, with Buzz firing a rather large laser beam and Maru spraying a mess of miniature Shadow Balls a la his back throw in Melee.
When the Limit was up, Woody smirked and shouted, "Let's round 'em up!" as he swung a HUGE pullstring lasso out. It came out front and pulled together a good two-foot (literal) radius towards a central point. In this case, it was Loxernette and some of the big links, tying them all together and not letting them move. This hurt a bit, and Woody grabbed the lasso back after gathering all he could (speaking, of course, for future Limit usage).
Maru and Buzz quickly made triumphant battlegrunts as they dash-flew across the center of the circle that still remained, since it hadn't been given a chance to disperse. "To infinity..." Buzz began.
Then, the two flyers flew opposite each other at the edges of the lasso's original radius. Maru caught Woody's pullstring and hung on as he and Buzz each circled around the spot, somehow summoning a HUGE (relatively) laser from above between them. (How Woody's string survived was beyond the cowboy) "...and the great beyond!!" Maru finished, adding in his own fighter's flair.
"YEEEEHAWW!!" Woody whooped while they spun around.
When it was finally finished, Maru pulled himself to Buzz and Woody and they all landed outside the ground zero.
This huge Limit proved to be the final blow for Loxenette, who staggered from the hit. "UUUHNNGH!!...But...you...you're just a...bunch of plastic...!"
Loxernette stumbled back a bit, gritting her teeth into a snarl. "Owch...Sheesh...Damn, I wish I could say I was just joking, 'cuz that felt a bit unfair..." she grumbled.
Maru stepped over to her, taking this chance. "Why are you guys doing this?" he asked. "WHO are you guys, exactly?"
Loxernette chuckled a little. "Well, since you killed my mood, I'll be blunt," she replied, wincing as she buckled a little. "We're doing whatever the hell the guy who gave us a home and a purpose wants us to do, and I don't quite get WHO we are, myself. Frankly, I'm just like Tinny, lookin' for a heart, which I think might be in bad shape after all that..." She opened up a portal behind her. She gave a little chuckle. "And thanks, guys," she wince-smiled. "It's been years since I could play with toys with an excuse...Heh..." She retreated back into the portal.
"WAIT!" Maru called, running after. "Can't you give me more than that?!" He stopped when the portal shrank away before his outstretched hand. He let it fall, sighing. "Well...hmm..." He looked around, feeling the wind on his face from the truck. "..."
"You guys alright?" Figment asked Buzz and Woody.
"We're fine," Woody said, breathing a sigh of relief. He chuckled. "Wow, remind me never to play with YOU guys like that again. I mean, hey, you know what they say: It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."
"Or an arm," Maru added, walking beside Buzz. He shook his head as everyone laughed. "Why did I do that...?"
Afterwards, Maru summoned out Terroge and asked to carry Buzz and Woody back to the car. He did so and dropped them through the sunroof. They landed in the box by Andy, who looked and gasped happily. "Mom!! I found them! Woody and Buzz were here in the car all along!" he cried in joy, hugging the toys to his chest.
"I TOLD you so," his mother said knowingly.
Woody and Buzz winked at each other before freezing again.
- - -
When they got to the new house, Maru walked into Andy's new room. Andy's new bed was set up, so, when there was a break between moving treks, he went over and reset the save disk. "That was fairly intense for a fight," Maru commented.
"I bet she's into heavy metal," Figment joked.
"Don't even, Figment," Elliott growled, not in the mood for bad jokes.
"I think we've had enough jokes for a while, with Loxernette," Maru grumbled.
"Hey, you three," called Bo Peep, walking over from a box. "I just wanted to thank you for helping out Woody and Buzz. They're great friends, now. I think life in Andy's room is going to settle back to normal, if not better." She smiled and nodded at them. "Thank you very much."
Maru bowed. "Not a problem, Bo Peep," he replied. "It was to everyone's advantage we help out."
"Well, we appreciate it," Woody said, walking over. "As thanks, why don't you take this thing I found lying in the box we landed in? I doubt we could use it."
"Why? What is it?" asked Elliott.
Buzz came over, carrying a violet and black (I think) disc the size of himself. "Something I doubt I could ever use on my ship," he joked. "You guys take it." He tossed it to Maru.
Maru squeaked and caught the disk the size of a stone coin to him, fingers hooking under an edge while he held it like a bundle of wood (though with straight arms). He looked through the center and nodded. "Thank you, Buzz. You think you can handle life knowing you're naught but a toy?" he asked.
Buzz grinned and put his hands on his hips. "Buzz Lightyear always carries out his mission, and if it's to make Andy happy, then I'm happy to be a toy!" he said, blending acting with talking truthfully.
"That's it, Buzz!" Woody praised, swinging his fist across his middle. "I think you'll be happy here, don't worry."
"Are we ever gonna see ya again, Special Effects-san?" asked Potato Head, walking over and pointing at Maru. He didn't seem angry, like he normally did throughout Maru's experience there.
"No, but you might see MARU again," Maru replied, anger-veining.
"Face it, 'Special Effects-san' is your newest official nickname," Figment told Maru in a comically blunt tone.
"LIKE HELL IT IS!!" Maru roared, eyes glowing a little bit at Figment, and everyone else laughed.
Suddenly, Maru's Keyblade appeared, which made carrying the SM difficult. "Meep! Uh, Elliott, catch," he stumbled, tossing it sideways to his draconic cohort. He held the Keyblade and looked at it. "Why the heck...?" he muttered. Then, he looked up and noticed the keyhole on Andy's door was glowing. He gave a small chuckle as he realized it. Then, stepping forth, he twirled his Keyblade around his body before tossing it up, turning a circle, and catching it above his head with his hand three-quarters of the way through. He finished the turn while swinging down the Keyblade and bringing both hands to it. A light formed at the bit before shooting out as a beam to the door.
The Keyhole glowed for a moment before a CLICK was heard. The light faded, and Maru lowered the Keyblade. "There," he said quietly in relief. "Our work here is done."
"What was THAT all about?" Buzz asked.
"Simple," Maru said, dismissing the Keyblade. He gave a little smirk. "Home is where the heart is."
"Then why didn't it pick up BEFORE, when we first got here?" asked Elliott.
"Because of the fact Andy was moving, so it wouldn't be his home for much longer," answered Woody. "I dunno exactly why that all happened, but I take it that, if us toys have hearts, who's to say that our world doesn't have one?" He raised an eyebrow in guess.
Maru nodded. "Sharp, sheriff," he complimented. "You should have not a worry about the Heartless taking this world. In fact, since we're leaving, they'll die down or vanish, since they seek me like a magnet." He sighed and shook his head, smiling a little. "Well, we'd best be off. Take good care of Andy," he bade, holding a hand up.
"And make sure he's able to have as much fun as possible with you guys!" Figment added, grinning broadly as he waved.
"I know Maru just said it, but I'll say it, too: Make sure Andy's safe!!" ordered Elliott, batting his paw in goodbye, carring the SM with the other one.
"Bye, you guys!" Woody called, waving back as the other toys that were out waved and bid farewell.
Maru gave a last Mewtwo smirk over his shoulder before disappearing in the save disk's light.
***OBTAINED SM4***
- - -
Chip narrowed his eyes and tapped his foot as they returned. "Another three day-er?" he asked.
"What? You rather we sat around and wasted our time for, like, a week?" Maru asked sarcastically. He touched his neck and sighed in relief. "Real skin..." he muttered.
"Besides, Chip," added Dale, holding a tiny paw out, "it really didn't seem that long. And they came out midway through! Why're you complaining?"
Chip grumped and crossed his arms. "Well, I just want to seal up as many worlds as we can," he defended.
"You just wanna sit and watch Maru own every Heartless and Nobody ship for miles, doncha?" Dale asked, elbowing his brother (right?) and looking smug.
"Watch it," cut Chip, blushing.
"We've got to go to other worlds, now," Maru said as he got back to the wheel and looked at the SM, now normal-sized. "Well, let's just see what we've got, here," he said, taking out the scanner. When it was done, he raised an eyebrow and wrinkled a nostril. "Sludge? What in the worlds?" he muttered. 'Thought that was what type it was by the color of the disc...' He shrugged and tried to scan it. To his surprise, he was able to. The disc crackled and blackened when he was done with it and had set it down.
"Well, looks like Maru learned, of all things, Sludge," Maru confusedly joked.
"Doo-doo-doo...doooo...?" went Navi a little.
'Gonna have to figure out how to use...whatever-kinesis this is. Hmmmm...Perhaps as a trap...' He then chuckled, finding it made sense, now. 'Hey, Koga's a ninja, and he's got Poison-types...'
Navi remembered something. "Oh! Maru!" she said, dipping into his collar and coming out again with an empty Full Heal bottle. "You're out of Full Heal!"
Maru paled at this. "That is not good! I need that for whenever I overextend my abilities!" he said tensely. "Where the heck can we find some, though?" he asked.
"Maybe Melee Arena?" suggested Dale. "There were folks from your world there, so why not run over and check?"
Maru nodded. "Good idea, Dale," he said. He plotted the course and warned everyone to buckle up as he gripped the wheel. "Here goes!" They rocketed off.
Bit 16: Melee Arena Pitstop(?!)
Maru reentered the arena, Figment and Elliott following behind, and looked around. Another brawl was going on, and so everyone was watching again. He hoped that he wasn't going to be called anytime soon to a brawl as he dashed up the stairs to the level where all the shops were. He searched and searched, paying attention to the stores.
"When's the next time they're going to host another battle tourney?" asked a human boy to a human girl they passed by.
"Dunno, but my pokémon are ready for it anytime!" the girl answered.
Maru heard this and turned to the two. "Excuse me, you two?" he asked.
They stopped and turned, then gaped in awe. "WOAH! One of the brawlers!!" the boy went.
"Hey, you still got that creepy black pokémon?" the girl asked.
Maru nodded, making a shoving-aside gesture to dismiss it. "Do you know if there are any Trainer Shops around here?" he asked. "I'm in need of some Full Heal."
"Oh, sure," said the boy, pointing down the circular hallway. "It finally finished opening up. They've had trouble opening since they haven't been able to make new potions or anything, but now they can, so they're open."
"They accept both pokédollars and munny," the girl informed him. "You should head over there and get some stuff so you can help your pokémon out when you need to!"
"Thank you very much," Maru said, bowing. "Perhaps I could see you next time I participate in a battle tournament."
"That'd be awesome!" the boy said. Then both waved by and went off.
Maru faced the direction the boy indicated. "Alright, let's go," he said, and they continued.
"How's it feel to have fans, Maru?" asked Figment.
Maru sweatdropped. "Uncomfortable," he answered. "I dislike having many people know about me too much."
"Then why get up in front of everyone and battle here?" Elliott asked.
Mewtwo was silent. 'Because I'm behind an elaborate costume,' he answered. 'Because Maru is a fake.'
They got to the shop, to Maru's relief. He purchased five each of the following: Full Heal, Hyper Potion, and Revive. These were in case he was in a situation where he wanted to battle longer but couldn't reach a save disk in time. After shopping, he found that his partners were gone. "They said they'd meet back here after doing some shopping, too," Navi told him.
Of course, during this period, Maru was called to a brawl. He was genuinely surprised when he found a newcomer. "A Lucario?!" he asked, wide-eyed. "...It looks like a trophy..." He brawled his best in the 2-minute time period. He managed to grab the Smash Orb and used it. This time, though, he ended up with his Mis Form. As Mewtwo floated there, blinking from the unexpectedness, he wondered if his Final Smash, Drive, was random now that he had more than one form. He shrugged and began flying around, mowing people down with bullets and his magic/move attacks. He used his newest one (Poisludge in this form) as a trap that harmed any who ran into it and lasted for a while, even after he changed back to normal. He was, of course, victorious.
To his further surprise, he was the only one to remain after the results were in. He fought against Samus, Lucario, and Pikachu; all disappeared after the brawl officially finished. "Pikachu's...gone?" he muttered. He furrowed his brow. "I wonder..." He shook his head, dismissed his Keyblade, and ran back up the stands.
Thankfully, his teammates were there, waiting for him after they heard his name being called. They both had new weapons. Elliott wore armor that appeared to be made of wood slats tied together with vines--very jungle-like. None covered his tail this time. Figment's new cards were big and zigzag-edged with checkered backs. They said they also got Maru a gift--an Aquamarine Ring that raised his stats. Maru thanked them, put on the equipment, and led them back out onto the Gummi Ship.
While running off, he remembered Loxernette. 'She...She didn't want to do all that, did she...?' he wondered. 'What's with these folks?'
- - -
*Faints* FINALLY!! I did it!! And I've set a new record, too: Less than ten pages for a chapter in this fic!! w00t!!
*-*-*
Loxernette: *sits at a bar with Cardixa, sipping some alcoholic substance* ...blurted out a bunch of crap!
Cardixa: *sipping a pina colada* I KNOW!! Isn't FT the worst at introducing an unimaginative main antagonistic group in a KH fic?
*some guys in the bar stand up and aim at Loxernette with guns*
Guy 1: LOXERNETTE! You're coming with us or...or...*they aim at each other* WE'RE COMMITTING MASS SUICIDE!!
Loxernette: *sips her drink* Mmm-hm. Whatever. Just don't make a mess, boys. This cloak's fresh from the cleaners.
Guy 2: We're DOING this because of your CREULTY to TOYS!! YOUR PRANKS CAN ONLY GO SO FAR!! D8
Cardixa: *sweatdrops* Uhm...Foxy-Loxy? You DO know that they've got themselves wired with explosives, right? And this is your favorite bar?
Loxernette: *sips* Yup.
Guy 3: ANDWE'VEGOTYOURFAVORITEPETPOODLEFLUFFYKINS!! *holds up an unshaved white poodle with a tag, who whiness*
Cardixa: *gasps* No! Not Fluffykins!! Shouldn't you DO something?
Loxernette: *sips* Nope.
Cardixa and guys: WHY NOT?!
Loxernette: *sips, sets down drink, and expressionlessly does a few handsigns. In the background, a sound of static is heard, some people yell, and Cardixa and the guys all drop what they're holding and tear at their right ear, pulling out an earpiece*
Cardixa and guys: AWUGH! HIGH-PITCHED WHINE!! OWOWOWOW!!
Loxernette: *picks up drink again* 'cuz I know when I'm getting punk'd. Don't mess with the best, kidletts. *sips*
Guys and Cardixa and Fluffykins: *groans and stomps out the door, each grumpilly paying a smirking Arxeron $10*
Arxeron: *opens mouth as Cardixa passes by*
Cardixa: *a la The Scottsman from Samurai Jack* SHUT IT!!
*-*-*
Yey, finally made a real omake!! *trots off to work on composition*