Story 2

Haruka and Michiru Return: The Ghost Puppet Play

In a room with walls all around, at a fancy hotel, A man sat on a chair after lighting a set of candles and began playing with his own puppet, which would have certainly reminded Sora of Pinocchio.

"I'm so hungry! I'm so hungry!" said the puppet.

"Mr. Dummy, please. Remember to mind your manners, we're about to start our performance," the man said.

"But I can't read anymore, I'm really, really hungry!" complained Mr. Dummy.

"So you are," replied the man.

"Don't blame that on me, that was your stomach!" snapped Mr. Dummy.

"You'll have to forgive me, I suppose I'm absolutely quite famished myself," sighed the man.

"I'm hungrier than you! I've been hungry for several hundred years, you can't even compare! But I guess I'll just have to wait a little bit longer," admitted Mr. Dummy.

"Oh?" asked the man.

"I can sense that something tasty will be here soon," said Mr. Dummy.

"Well, I'll look forward to it," replied the man.

When the performance began that night, Mr. Dummy and the puppeteer sat before a crowd of people at many tables. Among them were Haruka and Michiru, who were joined by another of Sora's friends, Cody, son of Xehanort, a Keyblade wielder whose father tried and failed to become a God of Destiny, but ended up surrendering the X-blade to Sora. They were watching the performance with the other people.

"So, what was hidden inside of the bottle then?" asked Mr. Dummy.

"Unfortunately, all of the people in the town were too afraid to open the bottle, because it was filled with everyone's true feelings," replied the puppeteer.

"Okay, but I thought that in order to defeat the evil dragon, they needed to destroy the bottle, didn't they?" said Mr. Dummy.

"Well, even the traveling knight who told them to destroy it, ended up protecting the bottle," replied the ventriloquist, making the people laugh.

Michiru Kaioh sat contently at the table, as a hotel worker opened up a bottle. He was about to pour the contents of the bottle, when she stopped him, making the worker seal the bottle and place it into the ice-tray to keep it cooled off.

"Come on, Michiru. Haruka's waiting," said Cody.

Michiru nodded, and followed Cody out.

"In the end, the townspeople fell under the control of an evil sorcerer, their true feelings were kept secret. Because even the self righteous people were too afraid of those feelings being known. How sad," said the puppeteer.

Michiru and Cody left the hall after hearing the story, but they didn't know they were being watched by him. When they reached the hotel room, they heard a maid talking to Haruka Tenoh who was in bed.

"You're sweating quite a bit, though it looks like your fever might be breaking," she said.

Carefully she rubbed the washcloth across Haruka's forehead.

"Are you hungry? I can call room service to get something to eat for you," continued the maid.

"Yeah," replied Haruka.

But she took the maid's hand, making her surprised.

"Can you be the one to bring me my meal?" Haruka asked.

"Uh, yes, of course," replied the maid.

"Thank you. I'm so fortunate to have a cute girl like you looking after me," smiled Haruka.

"Hey, sorry to have bugged you," piped in Cody.

"Thank you for your help, but I think I can handle it from here," said Michiru.

"Ah, yes, please excuse me," replied the maid who quickly raced out the door.

"Oh, Cody, Michiru, you're back early," Haruka said quickly.

"Yeah, but at the very least, I'm just glad you're doing okay, Miss Tenoh," replied Cody.

"Come now, Cody, don't you think it would be more prudent to call her Haruka, instead of Miss Tenoh?" asked Michiru.

Cody chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, but I still have a bit of a fever. So, did you find anything?" Haruka asked, despite the slight cough.

"No, not yet, but I can sense a terrible darkness in this hotel we're staying at," replied Cody.

"I sense it as well, Cody," added Michiru.

"Really? This was a bad time to catch such a cold," sighed Haruka, as Cody walked towards the window, while Michiru sat with Haruka.

"Sorry to be a burden," she said apologetically.

"Hey, don't worry about it. But, I'm gonna do some investigating of this place for a bit, and leave you and Michiru alone for a while," replied Cody.

"Well, before you do, Cody, I just want to say, thank you for understanding," said Michiru.

Cody nodded towards her, then walked out with a thumbs up, but decided to listen in on their conversation.

"They're not outside invaders like the Death Busters, Maleficent, or this Organization XIII Sora mentioned. If they were, it would definitely be easier to sense their presence sooner than we did," mused Michiru.

Cody however remembered that the Solar Eclipse caused a circus tent to emerge from the sky above.

"But, I've been sensing this darkness since the last solar eclipse," she continued, unaware that one of the eyes on the clock had opened.

"That's right, some kind of darkness must be emanating from within that circus tent Sora told me about," Cody said to himself.

"Something bad is about to happen. I feel that the world may be in danger again," said Haruka.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dummy began exclaiming about how he sensed three warriors of light.

"Well, this could be a problem. But a preaching traveling knight is the perfect prey for an evil sorcerer. Are these three the tasty meals you mentioned, Mr. Dummy?" asked the puppet master.

"Uh-huh, you can feel their energy too, right?" replied Mr. Dummy.

"Indeed. So which one should we start with then?" mused the puppet master.

"I say we start with Cody, son of the Dark Lord, Xehanort. Not only does he carry his blood, but he also has his Keyblade," snickered Mr. Dummy, until the maid who took care of Haruka cried out in shock.

Cody heard the maid's cry, and rushed to her side to see that all the people had fallen unconscious.

"What have we here?" asked the ventriloquist.

"You monster! What have you done!?" shouted Cody.

"Ah, Cody Xehanort, we meet at last," chuckled the man.

Elsewhere, Michiru stood outside on the balcony overlooking the ocean. The wind blew against her aqua-marine hair, but her eyes seemed distant and full of concern, she suddenly turned round to face the Maid and Cody.

"Whoa, easy Michiru! It's just us," Cody said quickly.

"Oh, my apologies. So what is it?" Michiru asked, feeling somewhat relaxed.

"Um, the ocean winds are quite chilly this time of year. You should really come in side," said the maid.

"Oh, thank you, but I'm fine," replied the aqua-marine haired girl.

"Hey, it's like Sora said, Hakuna Matata," grinned Cody.

Unfortunately, as she was about to turn around, the maid grabbed Michiru's neck, forcing Cody to ready his Keyblade.

"MICHIRU!" he cried.

"What are you?" gasped Michiru.

The maid laughed, as she held Michiru dangerously over the ledge.

"Please stop!" she choked.

"Oh no, if Michiru dies, it'll break Haruka's heart!" shuddered Cody.

He swung his Keyblade furiously at the maid, and the force of the attack sent her crashing to the ground.

"Are you okay, Michiru?" he asked.

"I'll be fine, Cody. But, thank you for saving me," replied Michiru.

The two of them looked down at the maid, and saw a third eye.

"What is that?" she asked.

Suddenly, Haruka screamed, making them look up at the window.

"Michiru, it's time for Sailor Neptune to step up!" said Cody.

"Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!" cried Michiru.

A burst of aqua-marine light surrounded Michiru, engulfing her from head to foot. When it faded away, she was now Sailor Neptune.

"Hang on Haruka, we're on our way!" called Cody.

As they ran towards her room, Haruka was snow being strangled by thick ropes over a void behind her, as the man and Mr. Dummy looked at her with wicked joy.

"I see. Well, I can't pass this up," said the ventriloquist.

"Let's hurry and devour her energy," snickered Mr. Dummy.

Haruka struggled with all her might, even as her transformation wand appeared in her hand. But her vision became blurred which in turn caused her wand to clatter to the floor.

"It's time to eat," smirked the puppet.

It opened its mouth wide open, and Haruka's life force was slowly beginning to be drained from her making the dirty blonde girl cry out in pain and anger.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" called Sailor Neptune.

"We don't know who you think you are, but you will pay for someone Sailor Neptune holds most dear to her!" added Cody.

"Aw, that maid didn't do her job correctly," whined Mr. Dummy.

"Good help is hard to find," admitted the ventriloquist.

"Now release Haruka," Sailor Neptune said.

"I'm afraid I can't," replied the puppet master.

"There aren't very many people who have such tasty energy like she does," added Mr. Dummy.

"Very well then, if you won't release Haruka, then you will die here. BE GONE!" roared Cody, his eyes briefly flickering from blue to golden.

"Ah, I see, you truly are Xehanort's son, Cody. You both share the same blood, which means that one day, you will finish what your father started," said the Ventriloquist.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY FATHER! YOU ARE A DEMON! A DEVIL! AND EVEN IF I CAN'T HARM YOU! YOU'LL STILL DIE!" shouted Cody.

"Cody, please, you have to calm down. If you fight now, Haruka will die," warned Sailor Neptune.

"I'd listen to her if I were you, son of Xehanort. Unfortunately for you, you cannot even lay a finger on me," added the puppeteer.

"True, but that doesn't mean I can still protect Haruka as well as Sailor Neptune," retorted Cody.

"Of course, but as of now I'm holding what's known as the shadow sealing bottle. And do you know what happens if the bottle breaks?" asked the puppet master.

"TELL ME!" snapped Cody.

"Yeah, tell him what's gonna happen," added Mr. Dummy.

"Every shadow that belongs to a human will come to life and attack its owner," said the ventriloquist.

Cody was enraged.

"HOW DARE YOU! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR HURTING THOSE PEOPLE!" he roared furiously.

"Ah, there it is. The very power your father passed down to you," said the puppet master.

"He's right you know, show us Xehanort's power," added Mr. Dummy.

"Don't give in to darkness, Cody!" cried Sailor Neptune.

"Must be hard playing the hero. Why don't you both stay right there, while I take your friend's energy. Move even an inch and I'll be forced to smash this bottle," mused the puppet master.

"THEN DO IT! Destroy that bottle so that I can take on every single living shadow on my own terms!" replied Cody.

Unfortunately, Sailor Neptune had unleashed her Deep Submerge attack, forcing him to dodge, causing the bottle to crash to the floor.

"So, when should we expect the shadows to start attacking?" she asked.

"But, how…? How did you know that I was lying about the bottle?" asked the puppet master.

"So, you were lying after all, weren't you? Then you will die here," said Cody.

But before he could strike him down, the void vanished and Haruka landed on the bed.

"You mean, you attacked her? And you call yourself a hero who protects the world?" the puppet master asked in shock and dismay.

"There's one thing you failed to realize about Sailor Neptune. This world is worth protecting as long as Haruka lives on in her heart. And that's one fact that gives her strength," said Cody.

"You're insane," protested the man.

"No, you're the one who's insane. You are a disease. Albeit a disease created by the darkness, no more," remarked Cody.

"Looks like you had your share of fun," added Haruka, who slowly stood up.

"And now, it's time for Sailor Uranus to rise to the challenge," Cody said to Haruka.

"Uranus Planet Power, Make UP!" called Haruka.

A flash of amber light soon engulfed Haruka, then vanished revealing her as Sailor Uranus.

"Now it's payback time," she said.

"My thoughts exactly, Sailor Uranus," agreed Cody.

"Don't be fooled, he's just harmless. That puppet is the real mastermind," warned Sailor Neptune.

"Uh oh," gasped Mr. Dummy.

"I see. So the ventriloquist was being controlled by the dummy," mused Sailor Uranus.

"Then it's time to dismantle the puppet who was behind this madness," added Cody.

Mr. Dummy was so afraid he tried to run for his life.

"Sailor Uranus, show this demon that we're not to be trifled with! Attack with World Shaking!" cried Cody.

"WORLD SHAKING!" cried Sailor Uranus.

An amber orb surged towards Mr. Dummy, then it collided with him.

"I was only brought back to life only to die before I could help sir Ventinmon!" cried the puppet.

As the puppet exploded, the puppet master's third eye vanished, as Cody the two outer Guardians left the building.

"W-where am I?" he asked.

He glanced around, thinking that someone should contact the staff to clean up the mess. At the same time, everyone who was a victim was soon brought back to normal.

"How are you feeling?" Michiru asked, as they were now a safe distance away from the hotel.

"Hunh? Oh, I actually feel a lot better after that fight," replied Haruka.

"I'm glad you're okay, Haruka, and so is Michiru," said Cody.

"What's that?" inquired Michiru, as she glanced at a strange object in Haruka's hand.

"It's a fragment of that doll. So, this is the new enemy." replied Haruka.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's gonna be okay," Cody assured them.

"I agree, Cody. The messiah can handle it, along with her friends," agreed Michiru.

"You're right, we can count on them," said Haruka.

Cody turned sadly from them, his expression different.

"What's wrong Cody?" asked Haruka.

"Haruka, Michiru, it's time I told you why that guy said Xehanort. My true name is Cody Xehanort, and I'm what you call Master Xehanort's son. But, believe me when I say that I'm nothing like the man who wanted to use his power to become a god, after opening Kingdom Hearts. It's because he was a monster, who tried to destroy the realm of light," explained Cody.

"I see, but listen Cody, the only reason you saved Haruka from death, is because you acknowledged our bond, as well as said that she'd always be in my heart, just as I'm in Haruka's heart," replied Michiru.

"Yeah, Michiru's right, Cody. If Michiru says you're a good guy, I'll trust her judgement," added Haruka, as she took Cody's hand and shook it.

"Thank you, Haruka. May your heart, as well as Michiru's heart, be your guiding key," said Cody.

"Farewell, Cody, and may your heart be your guiding key," Haruka and Michiru said together.

Then they watched as Cody walked down the road with a content smile on his face, knowing that he would fight to protect what he held most dear to him.