KINGDOMHEARTS III:

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE: HOSTAGE

Kenji was bummed out once more. He continues to lose people every time he goes to save one. He felt like he was going in circles and will never get anything done. But a strange encounter that has stuck with him continued to invade his mind: Zeta. He shows up as a member of Organization XIII, but introduces himself to Kenji as the former master of the Keyblade. Kenji bit down on his thumb nail as he wonders what's going on.

Roxas and Zul approached Kenji from behind. With them was Matt, who had fully recovered after his encounter with Hakaider. Namine was also with them. She held onto Roxas's hand as they approached. They fond Kenji sitting on the wall edge on the second level of the town near the residential area. Roxas sat down next to him. "Hey, Kenji." He said as hr stared at him while Kenji stared into the valley beyond the wall. "Feel like talking?"

"…sure…" he responded with his nail still in between his teeth.

Roxas sighed. "Dude, you can't be like this all of the time." Kenji did not respond. "I'm sure your brother can take care of himself and Motoko the same. We'll find everyone and bring them back when this is all over."

"Yeah." said Zul. "Being bummed out here ain't going to bring them back; you go to work towards it, yo."

Kenji didn't take his eyes away from the valley. "…maybe I should give up the Keyblade…"

"What?!" reacted Roxas. Namine gasped quietly

"I'll give it to Leon; he can use it, right?"

Matt clenched his fist and hit Kenji in the face with it. Kenji fell out of his seat and on to the ground. He rubs his face and looks up at Matt. "Don't be foolish! You need that weapon, or else my world would still be plagued with Dr. Eggman's robots!"

Roxas stood up. "He's right. You've saved people with the Keyblade. And not just Planet Freedom—but in Hyrule, and Cornaria too!"

Kenji looks down. "But I couldn't save Trinxty…"

Namine walked over to Kenji and got down on her knees next to him. "All Nobodies want to exist again, Kenji." Kenji looks to her face. "Trinxty is just going down the path that she feels will bring her back to existence." Kenji looked away. "I'm sure she misses you."

Kenji nods. "Y-yeah." He gets up off his rear and dusts off his pants. He lifts his head and looks around at his friends. "Thanks guys." Matt nods and Roxas gives a thumbs-up.

Zul nods. "Okay, who wants to eat? I feel like Chinese food."

"Yeah, one just opened up in the market." said Roxas pointing towards the market area.

Zul punches his fist into his other hand. "Sweet!"

Market Area…

Kristian went shopping with Lane for small items like earrings and necklaces. She picked out two sets of earrings and tried to decide on them. "What do you think looks better, Lane?" She heard no response. "Lane?" She turned and noticed that Lane was looking away and looking at Shrax and Rikku as they sat on a bench drinking coffee.

"They seem happy with one another." He commented.

Kristian smiled and stood next to him. "Do you see us like that in the future?"

Lane was unprepared for that question. "Huh? Um…well…" He looked away as his face turned red. Kristian sighed.

Shrax and Rikku have started to get closer and closer to one another the more they spend time with each other. "So your friends, Yuna and Paine, what are they up to? Do you see them anymore?"

"Yes." said Rikku. "They're both okay with me being who I am now and Yuna's thinking of becoming human as well." Shrax nods and sips his coffee. Rikku gives a playful smile and turns away to look up at the sky. The sky was clear with very little clouds hovering over head. Suddenly, something caught her attention. She looks down and notices some one standing over the accessory shop. It was a man. He was dressed in black and wore sunglasses over his eyes. Even his hair was black. She stated mesmerized by his eerie appearance and noticed that he was looking down at her. And as he did, a sinister smile slowly grew on his face. Rikku quickly turned away and shook Shrax's shoulder. "Shrax, look!" She pointed over to the roof of the shop to see that the man was gone.

Shrax turned and stared at what she was pointing at. "Huh?" He did not see anything out of the ordinary. "What is it?"

"There was this guy standing on the roof!" said Rikku. "He was dressed in black and was staring right at me like a pervert!"

Shrax raised an eye brow. He would understand why someone would stare at Rikku because of her outfit, but a mysterious man in black usually meant bad guy. He took Rikku by the hand and stood up. "C'mon." Rikku got up and followed. Shrax ran by Lane and Kristian. "Guys, let's go!" Confused, yet understanding the situation, they followed him quickly.

Chinese Restaurant that just opened up…

"So I told him to go piss off and kicked him in the dick. Then I took Cream out for ice cream." said Zul as he plunged his chopsticks into a piece of sweet n' sour chicken.

Kenji, sitting in between Matt and Namine, just stared blankly at Zul with his chopsticks held in his right hand. "I have no idea what you were talking about in the first place, but good job." Namine giggled at Kenji's response to Zul's awkward ally fight story. Kenji noticed this and looked at her. He quickly noticed some one enter the restaurant and looked up to see Shrax, Rikku, and the others. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Shrax leaned over and put his hands on the table. "Kenji, someone's sneaking around Radiant Garden."

"Who?"

Rikku pulled herself into the conversation. "Some pervert in black leather and sunglasses."

Kenji could only think of one person with that description. "Did he have a metal shoulder plate on?"

Rikku looked up and thought. "Um, well…yeah, now that you mention it."

"Hakaider." said Roxas.

Matt grit his teeth and gripped his chopsticks. "Him again…?"

Kenji stood up. "How did he get here? We saw him in Travers Town."

"I don't know." said Shrax. "He might be a Heartless."

Matt stood up. "Far from it! We got to get rid of him!"

Kenji looked to his companions. All of them stood up. "I guess we'll eat later." said Zul. Everyone ran to the door ready to fight this enemy.

Kenji was behind everyone with Namine behind him. He stopped, spun around and grabbed Namine. "You stay somewhere safe." He reached into his pocket and pulls out his wallet where he removed about 350 munny and handed it to her. "This should pay for the meal." Kenji looked up to notice that she was looked at him directly.

"Will you be alright?" she asked with concern. "You have been depressed lately; I fear it might interfere with you."

"Yeah, I'll be fine." said Kenji. "Don't worry; we'll get this guy—."

Namine throws her arms around his neck and puts her lips against his. Kenji almost jumped back at this sudden action, but instead he slowly set his hands on her hips and accepted it. She pulled away and stared into his eyes. "Promise me that. And please make sure Roxas is okay."

Kenji nods and drops his hands as soon as she let go of him. He quickly turns around and runs out of the building. He meets up with everyone at the Postern. "Okay, how Hakaider got her is a mystery." he said. "But why is he here now?"

"He must be here to get what he wanted before." said Roxas. "He wants the Keyblade."

"True." said Matt. "He'll target Kenji, Roxas, and Shrax this time."

"But this time we have the home field advantage." said Kenji.

"I'm well aware of that." Everyone suddenly turned to the source of the new voice to see Hakaider standing at the edge of the Poster with his hands in his pockets and smiling at them. "But that'll soon change!"

"Get him!" Matt gripped his sword as he charged at him. As he swung, Hakaider raised his wrist and blocked the blade with it. Then he spun around and kicked Matt on the side of his head.

He grinned after moving Matt from his path and charged in with both of his hands in his pockets. Zul runs over with his blade in hand and swings it at Hakaider. He bends back to avoid while keeping a smile on his face. Zul swings again and his target ducks before thrusting his head into Zul's stomach. Then he brings his foot up and slams it down on the back of Zul's head. Kenji and Roxas charge at him at the same time with their Keyblades. Hakaider jumped over them and put his feet on their backs which he used to push off to jump over Lane and Shrax. As he did he finds his target: Rikku. He lands on his feet and thrusts his fist into her belly which rendered her unconscious. Then he picks her up. "All too easy!"

"Rikku!" called out Shrax. He summons up his Keyblade and points it at Hakaider. "Put her down, bastard!!"

"If you want her, come and get her!" He opens a dark portal behind him. "Where I have the field advantage!" He jolts in and vanishes.

"He went to another world!" said Lane.

"We have to follow him!" said Roxas. He dashes for the portal and vanishes once he enters.

Kenji and the others follow him in to the dark rift to another world. On the other side was a world that looked like a factory filled with pipes and a metal ground. There were also metal ramps that lead to an upper level. Above all of that, there where normal people with long ears walking around and hover cars flying through the air. When Kenji noticed the people he knew where they were. "This is Jak and Daxter's world…this is Haven City."

Shrax looked around in a panic and quickly located a large hover car sitting in mid-air with Hakaider and Rikku in it. "Rikku!"

Kenji noticed him too. "What are you planning, Hakaider?!"

He smiled. "Catch me and find out!" His vehicle started flying forward down one of the roads.

Zul looked around and saw a bunch of hover bikes hovering just above the ground. Conveniently, it was the right number of bikes needed to follow him. "Guys, I found us some rides!"

Everyone jumped onto a bike with Lane and Kristian sharing one. Kenji started his first and it shot up into the air. "Whoa!" Everyone else followed his lead. He looked back to them. "Let's go!" Kenji started chasing Hakaider with everyone following behind him. "Why is he doing this? Is this a game for him?"

Ahead of everyone, Hakaider maneuvered his bulky vehicle through traffic with ease with one hand on the wheel and the other draped around the back of Rikku's seat with her still unconscious. Hakaider took his eyes off the road to examine his catch before returning to the path in front of him. "Nice body, too bad you're going to die today." He looked in his rear view mirror to see Kenji and the others catching up. "Heh!"

Kenji flew up along side his car and looked at Rikku sitting in her seat. Kenji glared at Hakaider. "Stop now!!"

Hakaider looked to him and smiled. "Gladly!" He put his foot on the breaks and came to a complete halt. Lane's bike appeared in his mirror. Hakaider reached out his arm and once Lane passed by; he snatched Kristian off her seat.

Once Lane felt her get forced off of him, he looked back. "Kristian!"

Hakaider pulled her into the cockpit by her shirt and he plunged his fist into her as well before setting her next to Rikku. "Two is always better than one!" He slammed his foot on the peddle again and shot forward and passed everyone who were trying to turn about to get him.

"He got Kristian!" shouted Lane to the others.

"This guy's a lady snatcher." said Zul.

Kenji grunted and tried to follow Hakaider again, but they got caught in traffic. Kenji lowered his vehicle and followed by ground. His bike suddenly started slowing down. "What the—?!" He looked down to see that his fuel was depleted. "Damn!" he quickly jumped off and landed on his feet. Kenji started running to see where Hakaider was going. He was headed to the landing port of the city.

Everyone stopped and got off their rides and ran over to Kenji. "Hey, you alright?" asked Roxas.

"That dick gave us bikes with almost empty fuel tanks." said Kenji.

"He gave them to us?" asked Zul.

"Yeah." said Kenji. "This is all a game to him."

"That sick bastard!" said Matt. "Where is he now?!"

Kenji turns and points to the area with two large towers and ware around them. "At the port."

"We have to get him." said Roxas.

Kenji folded his arms and closed his eyes and looked down to think. Seconds later his head shot up and he turned to Roxas. "Let's call Luna."

"Luna?" asked Roxas. "The angel?"

"Who?" asked Zul.

"Yeah, she hasn't been around lately and we could use her help." said Kenji. "When was the last time she showed up?"

Roxas looked back. "Chapter…nine and ten I think…"

"Isn't this chapter thirty-five?" asked Zul. "So there's a girl you guys know that hasn't shown up for twenty-five chapter?" He puts his hands on his hips. "What kind of men are you?!"

"She's an angel, I'm sure she was busy performing miracles or something." said Kenji. He looked up into the grey sky. "LUNA!!"

Suddenly, in a flash of light, Luna bursts onto the street with a skateboard and rides around them a few times. She stops behind Kenji, kicks her board up and it turned into bright dust. Then she jumped on Kenji. Kenji grabs onto her as she did and tried to maintain his balance. "Kenji! Long time no see!" Then she leaned forward and kisses him.

Zul stares at her with amazement. "Damn…"

Kenji taps her back for air and she pulls away. "Oops, sorry!"

Kenji puts her on her feet. "Such energy." Kenji looked at her bright and smiling face to notice a pair of earphones in her ears playing music even he can hear. "Can you hear me?"

She tilts her head. "What?"

Kenji points to his ears to indicate that she had earphone on. She reaches up and pulls them out. "Sorry, I was skateboarding."

"Yeah, right."

Luna wraps her cord around her music player and looked around at the scene. "Where are we?" she looked down and noticed Roxas among the group of people. "Hi Roxas!" She waved. He shyly waves to her.

"Luna." said Kenji. She quickly turns her attention to him. "Our friends are in danger and we need your help.

Luna nods and adjusts her hat. "Then we should get going."

The group headed to the port with Kenji leading. He led them to a bridge that lead to one of the two towers that Hakaider was standing on. Hakaider looked down with pleasure. "And now all of the players are in place." He looked to his sides to see Rikku and Kristian placed on each side of him. He reached his left hand out at Rikku and his right at Kristian and they both got enveloped in dark purple orbs that made them levitate in the air. Then they floated off the edges of the tower and stood stationary in their positions. Satisfied with that, Hakaider put his hands in his pockets. "Let's see how this plays out."

Kenji and the others came to the foot of the tower and looked up. "Hakaider!!" called out Shrax. "Let Kristian and Rikku go!"

"It's completely your decision on who gets to go free!" Hakaider called out.

"What?!"

"It's quite simple: try to save one, and I kill the other!" he said. "But if you give me what I want, the Keyblade, then I'll let both of them go."

Shrax grit his teach as Kenji spoke up. "Why are you doing this?!"

Hakaider smiled. "Why, you ask?" He pulls his hand out of his pocket and put the cigarette that was in it in his teeth then lit it with the liter from his other pocket. "Because I'm fascinated with female humans. The feelings of these creatures are so tender that they are easily manipulated by others." Hakaider puts it back in his mouth in between sentences and removed it to blow out smoke. "Also, they have a tremendous effect on the lives of males, so removing them or putting them in danger would make them frantic. Same goes for other females because of their feelings towards people they care for." He repeated the process of smoking again. "Why is this, I ask. Could the lives of women have that much of an affect on the lives of other? Is this another one of the immeasurable effects of the Heart? Could a woman's Heart have that much power over others?" After those words he crushed the lit cigarette in his hand. "We're about to find out!"

"You think you can manipulate other people's hearts so easily?!" shouted Shrax.

Hakaider looked down at him. "Yes."

"You're lower than any Heartless!!" he called out.

"As if I care. I don't need a heart!" said Hakaider. "Let's get back to the current situation at hand!" he said indicating to Rikku and Kristian. "Their lives are in my hands, Shrax Heymund! What's it going to be?!"

Shrax gripped his hand.

"Shrax."

He turned to Kenji, who called out his name. "Huh?"

"Go after Kristian with Lane, Zul and I are going after Rikku." he said. Then he turned to Matt, Roxas, and Luna. "Here's what I want you guys to do…"

Hakaider sighed. "I'm a very impatient man."

"Don't wait any longer!"

Hakaider spun around to see Matt and Roxas being flown up to him by Luna. "Now they've done it!" Hakaider released the orbs and both Rikku and Kristian dropped.

Land and Shrax quickly ran to Kristian and caught her before she hit the ground. Zul and Kenji did the same for Rikku. Kenji left Rikku in Zul's hands. "Stay here!" Kenji jumped onto the side of the tower and started wall running up to the top. At the same time, Shrax sprouted bat wings and flew up at the same pace.

At the top, the three warriors did battle with the fully transformed Hakaider. Luna swung down at Hakaider just to have it deflected by his large knife. Matt swung his weapon at his chest, but got kicked back. A hatch on Hakaider's thigh opened up and he reached in to grab his destructive Hakaider Shot pistol. His first target was Roxas. He quickly aimed at him. As soon as Roxas noticed this, he put up a Reflectaga shield. Hakaider fired at him and it collided with the shield, destroying it and sending Roxas flying back. He would have fallen to his death if he had not grabbed the edge in time. "Child's play!"

"Then let's kick it up a notch!" Kenji jumped up and focused his magic into his hand. "Aeroagia!!" Suddenly, busts of air currents shot out, struck Hakaider and forced him off his feet and onto his back. His Hakaider Shot flew from his hand and slid under Matt's foot. Kenji landed on his feet and walked up to Hakaider. His body showed noticeable damage from the attack as he tried to pull himself up. Kenji summoned his Keyblade and put it at Hakaider's neck. "Answer me, why do you want the Keyblade?!"

Hakaider reverted back to his human form and glared at Kenji from behind his sunglasses. "You want to know…?" Lane and Zul showed up with Rikku and Kristian as everyone gathered around to hear Hakaider's words. "…revenge…"

TO BE CONTINUED…