Sorry for the delay, Hurricane Ike knocked out my power here in southeast Texas.

A nice, great big team fighting chapter is here for you people! And introducing my first original Heartless boss: The Howler!

Riku: "You're overdoing it, man."

Just do the disclaimer.

Riku: "Fine. DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else he wants to use. Only his plot and O.C.s. See? Nice and simple.

Shut up or I'll kill you off.

--

Chapter 33: Gorilla Hunt

Riku gazed at the Howler past his blade. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuffie take out her shuriken and began twirling it between her fingers in anticipation. Donald and Goofy got on either side of them with Save the King and Save the Queen already in hand.

The Howler beat it's chest with it's massive forearms and let out another howl.

It rushed at them at an impressive speed for something so large, it's knuckles beating the ground on the way.

Riku readied a blast of dark fire and shot it at the oncoming Heartless. It hit it square in the chest, but it did little but slow it down. If anything, it only got angry. It got to Riku first and smashed into him with it's shoulder.

As the young Keybearer went flying across the temporary arena, it stopped and swung it's massive arm at Yuffie. She was more fortunate than her boyfriend and jumped over the arm. She tossed her shuriken at it's massive head. But just like Riku, the weapon had little effect, and it bounced right off.

Riku stumbled to his feet just as the weapon struck the ground at his feet. He yanked it out and tossed it back to the ninja, who tried throwing it again.

Meanwhile, Donald was launching shards of freezing ice from the tip of his staff. But the Howler just lifted one of it's arms and they hit the firm skin there. It then swept it's arm out at the wizard, sending him flying.

It turned it's attention to Goofy and brought down one huge fist. The knight raised his shield to block, but he was practically flattened under it. He staggered to his feet and retreated from it's follow-up attack.

Riku came up from behind the Heartless, leaping into the air with his Keyblade over his head. He landed on it's head, fully intent on driving his blade into it's face. But before he could do anything, the Howler started thrashing around widly. Riku lost his balance and fell off.

The Howler was about to bring both arms slamming down on him. Riku immediately put up a dark shield, which caught the blow and just managed to repell it. Yuffie appeared in a puff of smoke in front of him and tossed a single throwing knike at the face of the Heartless. It stuck right between it's yellow eyes, and Riku followed up with a barrage of dark fire in the same spot.

The Howler staggered back, clutching it's face. It fell onto it's back, and stayed there for several seconds.

"Alright!" Yuffie cheered herself. "Score one for Master Ninja Yuffie!"

Riku laughed and was about to say a comeback, when miraculously, the Howler got back up. It glared at them, and then let out another monstrous howl.

Pure sound blasted them, hurting their ears and sending them reeling backwards. When the barrage stopped, Donald blasted the Howler with bolts of lightning, which had absolutely no effect. Goofy threw his shield, only to have it smacked away by a giant palm. The Howler advanced on them again.

It's way too durable to hurt by conventional means. We have to find a weak spot.

Riku realized what it was soon enough: the face. But it had been trying to protect it, it was only by luck that he and Yuffie had been able to strike it last time. To experiment, he tossed a ball of fire at the face. It blocked the attack immediately.

"Aim for the face." He told the others. They nodded an affirmative. "Yuffie, follow my lead."

Goofy made a run for his shield, and Donald made sure to give him cover. Riku ran at the charging Heartless with his blade outstretched, a barrage of fireballs preceding him. The Howler blocked the fire with one arm, and immediately swiped at the Keybearer with the same arm when he was within range.

Riku overlept it and tossed Way to Dawn down at it's face as he went by. At the same moment, Yuffie –who had been running along behind him- went right past the arm and threw her oversized shuriken into it's face at almost point-blank range.

Both weapons crashed into the Howler's face at the exact same time, and met in a crash of light that was as intense as the roar the Heartless made in it's death throws. It thrashed about clutching it's face as Yuffie's shuriken boomeranged back to her. Riku's Keyblade returned to his hand in a burst of blue light.

The Howler toppled over and landed with a huge thud. It's body began to dissolve into plumes of black smoke, drifting upward along with a large, pink heart. There was a soft flash of light, and the barriers keeping them trapped disappeared.

"Now you can score one for Master Ninja Yuffie." Riku said.

"Alright!" She exclaimed, punching the air with her fist and jumping up and down enthusiastically. That was what Riku loved about her. She was always so ecstatic (until she wore herself out because of it). She jumped into his arms and kissed him with enthusiasm to match.

I'm liking this more and more every second.

Their friends walked up to them as they broke apart. "Great job, guys!" Sora said.

"What about the gorillas?" Jane asked.

It dawned on everyone that the gorillas were long gone, and that everything had gone quiet. They could be half way across the jungle by now.

"We have to save them." Sora said. Nobody bothered to go against him –not they they wanted to.

--

"I can sense a few over this way!" Nehrut said.

After the fight against the Howler, the group agreed to split into three separate teams to track down the scattered gorillas. The first group of four held Nehrut, Bariss, Axel, and Mickey. They had been racing through the jungle for several minutes now following Nehrut's psychic perceptions.

The four of them burst from the trees and into a clearing surrounded on all sides by bamboo trees.

Sure enough, about a dozen cowering gorillas had been herded into the center of the clearing by Nobodies. Some more were trying to climb up the bamboo, and desperately trying to avoid strikes from Dark Beaks.

A crack of Bariss's whip sent those airborne Heartless away from the gorillas. They dashed at the group, and were immediately set ablaze by Axel. The Nobodies turned away from their prisoners, and a handfull of extra Heartless popped up.

"Now that we have your attention..." Nehrut said, grinning.

"It's time to fry!" Axel shouted. He hurled his chakrams at the nearest two Dusks, which burst into flames. The Heartless and Nobodies seemed to forget all about their gorilla captives and charged the new arrivals.

Mickey jumped in ahead of everyone, landing in the midst of the enemies with one huge leap. He spun his Keyblade (Kingdom Crown) in a circle and cut down the ones surrounding him before they even totally registered his presence among them. They turned their attention to him and brought their claws or weapons at him, only he was no longer there.

He had jumped straight up with his Keyblade held over his head. He spun in the air and plundged the blade into the ground. A burst of light radiated from the mouse, sending the nearest enemies flying.

The gorillas were using the distraction to escape up the trees. A pair of Nobodies were just about to follow after them, but suddenly found themselves lifted off the ground by some invisible force. Nehrut lifted his hand, then made a fist and tossed them onto the ground at fifty miles per hour, crushing them.

He then lept into the air and intercepted three Dark Beaks with his blade. They burst into shaows and he landed squarely on the ground. He thrust forward and impaled a Dusk, then ripped the blade from it's body and spun around to catch a Gladiator in the side. It staggered away and was picked off by a precise strike of Bariss's whip.

He flashed her a smile and got back to work. He blocked a strike from another knocked it totally out of it's hand, then sliced it's faceless head off. A Creeper transformed into the form of a giant sword, but he caught it in his grip and used it to attack another two Heartless. When it transformed back, he smashed it into the ground.

Bariss lept high into the air and kicked an oncoming Heartless in the face with enough force to 'kill' it. She landed on the shoulders of a Gladiator and stabbed in the face with her sai. She jumped off as it died and spun the whip around her as she went. It killed or injured everyone within two meters of her. She landed lightly and coiled the whip around a Dusk's neck, and tugged. The Dusk flew through the air and slammed onto a group of enemies. She smiled.

Axel spun with his arms outstretched, his chakrams cutting into everything that got close enough to attack. When he stopped spinning, he launched his twin weapons into an approaching Gladiator and set them ablaze. It exploded, taking three of it's fellows with it into darkness. The chakrams flew back into Axel's hands and he spun, decapitating another two with identical swipes. He kicked behind him and knocked another one flat.

The fighting raged for what felt like hours, and the Heartless and Nobodies just kept coming. But they weren't about to give ground, and stayed strong.

Nehrut stood back-to-back with Bariss. They were surrounded by enemies and Axel and Mickey were several meters away fighting on the other side of the clearing.

"How're you liking your first day on the job Bariss?" he said, craning his neck to get a slightly better look at her.

She smiled, "Well, it's certainly not boring..."

He chuckled. His eyes searched the clearing, and he was struck by inspiration. Using only his mind, he ripped one of the smaller bamboo trees from the ground and tossed it at a Nobody. It speared right through it, and passed through another two before sticking into the ground.

Bariss jumped in the air and twisted, with her whip outstretched. Anyone who was too close to the two of them was seriously injured. She landed on Nehrut's other side and he blocked a strike aimed at her. As he blocked, she stabbed forward with her sai and took out the attacker with barely a move. She smiled at Nehrut.

They were both thinking the same thing.

We work well together.

--

Riku, Yuffie, Donald, and Goofy were tracking down a group of gorillas somewhere near Tarzan's treehouse. It wasn't hard, they only had to follow the sound of the screeching.

Once again, they had to do a lot of climbing, and blasted any Heartless that tried to dislodge them. It took ten full frustrating minutes to reach the top of the tree, and by that time Riku was really wishing that Nehrut had come with them. They could have made it ten times as fast.

They got onto the netting under the treehouse itself, and were nearly knocked over by the fleeing Terk. Three Dark Beaks were right behind her, though they were quickly dispatched by one of Donald's lightning spells.

Not pausing, they climbed up a conveniant rope to the treehouse. The second Riku's feet hit the wood, he had to block a strike from a Gladiator. He twisted around, and tossed the Nobody off the treehouse and over a hundred feet down to the ground below.

There were eight gorillas stuck in the center of the treehouse, Kala and the gorilla children were among them. They were clearly terrified, and for good reason. This group had mostly Powerwilds in it. One lept forward with it's claws ready to steal a heart. But it was hit with a throwing knife in midair.

Riku said admiringly to Yuffie, "Good shot."

She smiled and brandished her shuriken. "Come and get some!" She shouted at the Heartless and Nobodies.

Riku wasn't sure whether it was her taunting, or the sight of his Keyblade that made them attack, but they did.

Riku blasted the first wave with a ball of black flame, being very carefull not to set fire to the treehouse. It was hard in the confined spaces, but he managed to pull it off. The oncoming Heartless were incinerated, and he rushed into the treehouse with Yuffie right behind him.

The gorillas were now grouped together in one corner of the single room, which made them easier to attack and defend. "Donald! Goofy! Give them a bit of cover!"

They did as he instructed, and took up positions in front of the frightened apes with their weapons raised. Riku and Yuffie were clearing out the house itself. In those cramped quarters, there wasn't much they could do that wouldn't endanger the gorillas, so they had to lure them out into the open.

Riku dove out a window, beckoning Yuffie to follow him. The Heartless inside took the bait and started pouring out after the Keybearer and the ninja.

All too easy. Give them an obvious target, and they go nuts.

Riku lept at them, shearing a Powerwild in half, and spinning around to slice into the chest of a Bouncywild. He jumped over a charging Heartless, (kicking a flying one in the middle of his jump) and landed on it's other side. He stabbed though it, and casually stuck his blade out behind him to catch the blow of another one. He did a one-eighty and sliced it in two in one fluid motion.

Yuffie tossed her oversized weapon into the mass of enemies rushing from the other side. It cut through seven before boomeranging back to her hand. As soon as the first on reached her, she vanished in a puff of smoke and reappered on it's other side. She stabbed through the back of her head with a dagger and spun around to smack another with the shuriken. She tossed her dagger and caught a Bouncywild between the eyes. She pulled it out the side of it's head and then plunged it into another Heartless head.

She turned around and jumped over Riku, and just like that, they had switched opponents. Riku waded into the Heartless, cutting them apart with wide slashes of his blade, and the occasianal precise stab. Yuffie put her shuriken and daggers to good use.

The treehouse was cleared in minutes.

They walked back inside to find all the gorillas safe and sound, though understandably shaken. They were immediately set upon with hoots and shrieks that apparently meant 'thank you'. Riku tried to return them as best he could, but he didn't even know for sure if they understood him. He wondered how Sora had dealt with that particular problem the last time he was here.

"I hope Sora and the others are doing alright." Yuffie said.

--

Are they doing alright? You'll find out next chapter when I introduce the next Absent Silhouette. I hope you liked this chapter, and please review!

And please disregard my argument with Riku, I don't really want to kill him.

Keep all those affected by Hurrican Ike in your prayers.