On Today's Episode: With their argument settled and their bond stronger than ever, the trinity heads back to Traverse Town to gain some insight on the strange Gummi Blocks that came from the keyholes they have sealed thus far on their adventure, and maybe even seal Traverse Town's keyhole while they're at it. And who is this familiar face that shows up in Nick's time of need?
Episode 5: The Keyhole
"Man, it feels like it's been forever since we've been back to Traverse Town, hasn't it?" Nick quipped as he, Maylin and Haruka disembarked in Traverse Town's First District.
"I don't think it's been that long," Maylin stated.
"Hey, let's go see if we can find Ziggy and the others," Haruka proclaimed. "After all, the whole reason we're here is to see if they know anything about those weird Gummi blocks we picked up."
"Hey, you said you're looking for Ziggy?"
Nick looked over towards the stairwell and saw Jr. standing there, practicing his gun-slinging skill.
"He's probably holed up in that underground cavern," Jr. answered. "He goes down there a lot to train himself. If you're wondering how to find it, the cavern's connected to the back alley in the Second District."
"Much appreciated, Jr.!" Maylin exclaimed as the trinity set off for the Second District.
However, when they crossed through the back end of the Second District and reached the Alleyway behind the Hotel, something didn't feel quite right.
"Everything all right, Nick?" Haruka asked.
"I don't really know... do you have this strange feeling we're being watched?" Nick answered.
Maylin was about to chime in on the discussion when she felt something whiz by her head. But when she summoned Spellbinder to her hands and spun to face the source of the attack, she saw nothing.
"Um... I have several questions," Nick quipped, only for another projectile to bonk him in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward.
Maylin quickly noticed movement from one side of the hotel roofs. It turned out to be a monkey-like Heartless sitting there on the balcony railing, aiming its slingshot weapon straight for the trio.
"We've got a sniper!" Maylin exclaimed, using a Thunder spell to destroy the Sniperwild before it could fire again.
However, two more Sniperwilds spawned on the same rooftop and quickly ducked out of sight, having seen what had happened.
"Oh, wonderful, they're learning," Maylin groaned.
"Just gotta wait for the right moment," Nick quipped, waiting for the Sniperwilds to peek out from their sniping spots before firing off two separate Thunder spells that destroyed both of them. Three more Sniperwilds appeared at the opposite end of the alleyway, already aiming for them.
"Okay, this is just getting stupid," Maylin proclaimed before readying another Thunder spell. However, before she could, at least six more Sniperwilds spawned by the others. "COME THE FRACK ON WITH THIS!"
"Guess we gotta snipe to beat the snipers," Nick stated, switching Kingdom Key with Sniper Queen and dashing forward to bait the Sniperwilds into firing on him at the same time, each shot missing by inches and allowing Nick to rapid-fire Fire spells until the Sniperwilds were all defeated, the last one dropping a strange, glowing stone in the process.
"Well, THAT was annoying," Maylin groaned. "I'm so sick of snipers, those dumb little campers..."
"At least it's nice to know that some of these things aren't completely mindless," Nick teased. "But let's leave that alone for now. Where did Jr. say the entrance to that secret cavern was?"
Maylin's eyes landed on a water channel on the opposite end of the street that was blocked off by a metal grate.
"Sounds like that's the one we're looking for," Maylin quipped. "Haruka, if you would?"
Haruka nodded, summoning Divine Rose and charging towards the metal grate, striking it with a horizontal slash that easily caved in the grate and allowed the trinity passage into the channel, eventually leading them down to an underground cavern.
In this cavern, Ziggy could be seen swinging his arm blade a few times while MOMO was checking his robotic body to make sure everything was working right.
"How am I doing, MOMO?" Ziggy asked.
"Everything seems to be working correctly," MOMO answered. "I know it's hard to get actual maintenance on your body since our world was lost to the darkness, but..."
"You're doing a great job, MOMO," Ziggy replied. "Don't sell yourself short."
MOMO couldn't help but smile at that, just then noticing the trinity approaching them.
"Well, well, we meet again," Ziggy proclaimed. "Did you find the keyhole?"
"We've found two of them so far," Nick answered, the Kingdom Key flashing into his hands. "My keyblade automatically locked them up nice and tight."
"That's good to hear," MOMO giggled.
"Every world among the stars has a keyhole, after all," Ziggy stated. "And each one leads to that world's heart. Which can only mean that there is one in this town as well."
"Wait, where did you hear that?" Nick wondered.
"It was in Yaldabaoth's report," MOMO answered.
"When it is exposed, the Heartless enter through the keyhole and do... something to the core of the world," Ziggy stated. "And as I am sure Sophia has already told you, this leads to the world's destruction. That is why your keyblade is so important to our protection."
"Please, keep locking the keyholes," MOMO pleaded. "You're the only ones who can."
"That is kinda our job," Maylin quipped.
"Also, seeing other worlds would probably serve you well in the long run," Ziggy proclaimed.
"Not to mention you're still looking for your friends and your missing emperor," MOMO stated.
Just then, Nick suddenly remembered the entire reason they'd come back to Traverse Town in the first place, reaching into his pocket to pull out one of the strange Gummi blocks the trinity had found by locking the keyholes.
"Say, Ziggy, this Gummi block's different from most of the others that we've seen," Nick asked. "Do you know what it could be for?"
Ziggy just silently shook his head.
"Try asking Captain Matthews about it," MOMO answered. "He should know what to do with it.
Just as the trinity turned to leave the Secret Waterway, MOMO tossed something to Nick, who caught it just in time to keep it from hitting the floor. It turned out to be a glowing, spherical crystal colored the deep blue of the ocean.
"This crystal seems to hold a mysterious power within it," MOMO explained. "Ziggy and I have been carrying it for luck, but we both decided that you could probably use it better than we could."
"What's it for?" Maylin wondered.
"That's the one thing we don't know," Ziggy admitted.
After leaving the Secret Waterway, the trio passed through the alleyway, dealing with another group of Sniperwilds on the way, then returned to the Accessory Shop in the First District to speak with Matthews about the strange Gummi blocks.
"Oh, hey, you found a Gummi block," Matthews quipped.
"Yeah, we did," Haruka stated. "What's this one do?"
Matthews just facepalmed in response to that question. "You serious? You're flying a Gummi Ship and you don't know what a Navigation Gummi is?!" Matthews proclaimed. "You dolts, interspace isn't a playground, you know!"
"So what? There's a lot we don't know," Nick shot back. "We don't really have a choice, since the Gummi Ship's our only means of traveling to other worlds. It's not like we have a choice in the matter!"
"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Matthews replied. "I didn't know, 'kay? So, no hard feelings. Let me see what I can do."
Matthews inspected the two Gummi blocks before delivering his report on them.
"Basically, with Navigation Gummis, you can travel to more new worlds," Matthews explained. "You want this on your ship? I'll install it for you, then. In return, I want you to deliver something for me."
Matthews reached under the counter to hand Nick a beat-up looking book that was embedded with the picture of what appeared to be a cartoon-ish monkey wearing a helmet.
"This book is real old, if you couldn't tell," Matthews stated. "When it was brought to me, it was practically falling apart, way too beat up to restore it to its original condition. But, all in all, I think I did a good enough job putting it back together. Either way, would you mind delivering this to the old house just past the Third District for me? It's the door with a big fire sign on it."
Nick nodded, handing the book off to Maylin for the moment. Just then, a loud ringing sound bellowed across the area.
"Okay, what the heck was that?" Maylin wondered.
"I think that was the bell above the Gizmo Shop," Matthews answered. "You can check it out if you wanna, but make sure you deliver that book first. After that, meet me in that empty house in the Third District, 'kay? Don't keep me waiting."
With that in mind, the trinity made their way out of the Accessory Shop and back towards the Third District, stopping to reflect in the big plaza area where they'd first met.
"Ah, the memories are coming back already," Maylin giggled.
"It hasn't been that long, has it?" Haruka laughed.
"Honestly, it kinda feels like it with everything we've been through on our adventure," Nick admitted.
"And hey, our adventure's only just beginning, too!" Maylin proclaimed. "We've got a lot more worlds to explore!"
The trio eventually found the door in question, but it wouldn't open until Maylin hit the door with a Fire spell, undoing the magical seal placed on it and allowing them into a large, cavern-like area. Just across the bridge ahead was a rickety, worn-down house that looked like it had seen better days despite its festive purple hue.
Once inside, they noticed that the room was practically empty save for a raised platform in the center.
"This place feels so familiar, doesn't it?"
Nick whirled around to see Marie walking across the room, still in the outfit given to her by Sophia.
"Doesn't this remind you of the old farmhouse?" Marie giggled. "That was our secret place. We always had so much fun just doodling on the walls there, letting our imaginations run wild."
Nick took a step forward, but when he blinked, Marie was gone.
"What... what was that about?" Nick wondered, a little concerned by the fact that Maylin and Haruka apparently hadn't seen Marie.
"Ah, you made it at last."
The trinity turned around just in time to see a tall, middle-aged man with short messy blond hair, purple eyes, a blue six-pointed star on the left side of his forehead, and a very fancy royal outfit enter the room.
"You arrived quicker than I thought," the man proclaimed.
"Wait, you knew we were gonna show up here?" Nick responded. "You're not a Heartless, are you?"
"He definitely doesn't look like one," Haruka quipped. "Though, to be fair, I have no idea if Heartless can even have human forms..."
"Oh, my, no," the man laughed. "My name is Julius Novachrono, Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom. Your emperor has requested my help, so, well, here I am."
"Hold the frog legs, you know Emperor Clow?!" Maylin gasped.
"He is an old friend of mine," Julius answered. "And who might you be, young man?"
"M-My name's Nick," Nick replied. "Sh-should I be bowing or something?"
"No, no, it's okay," Julius stated. "So, you are the wielders of the keyblade. Emperor Clow has spoken very highly of all of you."
"Um, pardon me, but what exactly did Emperor Clow ask you to help us with?" Haruka wondered.
Julius snapped his fingers, and magical energy began to radiate outwards from his hand, transforming the empty room into a sort-of throne room with many elegant decorations.
"Your emperor has asked me to train you in the art of magic," Julius explained. "We can start anytime you're ready, so just let me know. Oh, and one more thing. Dorothy, you can come out!"
A shimmering, multi-colored portal opened up at the opposite end of the room to allow a young woman to emerge from it. She had short, lilac hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a pointed hat with a wide brim and a garland of natural flowers wrapped around the cone's base, her outer cloak clasped by a flower-shaped brooch, a light-colored shirt with puffy sleeves that ended just past her elbows, light-colored puffy short pants, and a dark-colored vest that has light-colored fur draping down over her hips.
"This is Dorothy Unsworth, captain of the Coral Peacocks," Julius proclaimed. "She was the only captain I could find after our world was destroyed by the Heartless. She will assist you throughout your journey as well."
"Oh, speaking of which, Captain Matthews asked us to bring this book to this house," Nick stated, handing off the book to Julius. "I would assume it's yours, or am I wrong?"
"Honestly, I do not know what kind of book this is, as it isn't mine," Julius admitted. "It simply found its way into my possession one day. I felt extremely curious about it, so I asked Matthews to repair it for me."
Julius walked over to a nearby desk and placed the book on top of it. "I'll leave it here for now, if you want to look at it," Julius stated. "I believe that this storybook holds a great secret, and that the missing pages will unlock those secrets. Do give my regards to Matthews for fixing it for me. Oh, and one more thing? You should ask Dorothy about the stone in your possession. She will know what to do with it."
So, Nick dug out the crystal and showed it to Dorothy, who gasped in shock.
"Oh, the poor thing!" Dorothy gasped. "She's been turned into a summon gem!"
"A summon what?" Haruka quipped.
"This really cool person used to live in a world that was consumed by the darkness," Dorothy explained. "When a world is consumed, the people in it vanish as well, as I'm sure you know. But this girl had such a strong heart that she became this summon gem instead of vanishing with her world."
"Can she regain herself?" Nick wondered.
"Yes, but only her spirit, technically," Dorothy replied. "Watch this."
Dorothy brought out her grimoire and opened it, flipping its pages to the spell she wanted.
"Dream Magic: Spirit Reconfiguration!" Dorothy proclaimed, the pages of her grimoire glowing and surrounding the summon gem with a cloud of multi-colored magic. After a couple seconds, the cloud vanished, and the summon gem had transformed into an aquatic-blue crystal seashell.
"Whenever you call on her, she'll help you," Dorothy proclaimed as Nick claimed the Wavecrystal from Dorothy. "Make sure you come and see me if you find any more summon gems, 'kay? Oh, and you don't have to worry too much about them, since they'll return to their worlds once they've been restored."
Nick nodded to Dorothy as she jumped into another multi-colored portal, most likely her Glamour World. Now appropriately curious, Nick took a look at the storybook on the desk, opening it to see that, indeed, a lot of pages were missing from it.
Before Nick could study it any further, the storybook emitted a bright glow that actually pulled Nick inside the book.
When Nick found himself able to see again, he found himself standing just outside of a large, dome-shaped building in a grassy meadow.
"Okay, now I'm starting to question what the heck's up with this book," Nick quipped.
Just then, he saw an explosion come from the building, and that was enough reason for Nick to charge in and investigate.
Proud of his work, Jimmy turned around and noticed Natalie walking into the laboratory.
"Don't worry, Natalie, I sent the professor's stuff just like you asked!" Jimmy proclaimed.
Natalie, however, was less impressed than expected, mostly shocked that, in the act of sending the professor's requests, Jimmy had apparently trashed the teleporter in the process.
"J-Jimmy, you idiot, you went over the weight limit!" Natalie shouted.
"Why are you so worried?" Jimmy quipped as he walked around the lab. "It all went through just fine."
"Pants alone couldn't do that, though," Natalie stated. "There's just no way that..."
Natalie trailed off when she saw a small helmet with a blue light in one of the flattened boxes, and this scared her to the point she barely even noticed Nick rushing into the lab.
"Hey, what happened in here?" Nick asked.
Natalie sprung to her feet when she saw a video feed of Monkey Park on one of the lab's viewscreens, the place they had been instructed to send the pants. To Natalie's growing horror, she could see a bunch of monkeys running around the park, each one wearing one of those helmets.
"Monkey Helmets?!" Natalie gasped. "It can't be!"
"See, Natalie, everything arrived safe and sound," Jimmy stated. "I don't see what the problem is. And aren't the helmets cute? They're just like Pipotchi's, right?"
Jimmy gestured to the tiny monkey with wings that was perched on his shoulders.
"No, these helmets are nothing like Pipotchi's," Natalie responded. "These helmets have caused us no end of trouble in the past. When monkeys put those helmets on, they get into all kinds of mischief and trouble."
Just then, Jimmy noticed a white monkey with a rather sinister grin raising his hand up. The other monkeys appeared to be listening to whatever he would do next.
"Hey, cool, there's a white monkey!" Jimmy laughed.
Nick didn't like the evil-looking grin on that white monkey's face, and it seems like Natalie didn't, either.
"What?! Specter?!" Natalie shouted. "Oh, no, it's happening again!"
"He doesn't look like he's bothering anyone," Jimmy stated.
"Specter's a smart one," Natalie responded. "There's no telling what's going to happen if he uses his powers to control all of the other monkeys..."
Sure enough, Specter pointed forward, and all of the other monkeys began charging in that direction just as the video feed cut out.
"Hey, come on, it looks like they're having fun," Jimmy quipped.
"I don't know, that doesn't look like fun to me," Nick answered.
"Listen, Jimmy, you have to go out there and get all of the Monkey Helmets back before the professor returns from his trip," Natalie proclaimed.
"H-Huh? Why me?" Jimmy asked.
"Because you're the one who messed this up! Now get going!" Natalie shouted, and that was enough to get Jimmy to grab his Monkey Net and Stun Club and head out.
"Um... is there anything I can do to help?" Nick asked.
"I'm pretty sure you'd have to find the rest of the missing pages," Natalie answered as she began to work on fixing the machines as best she could. "The pages have been scattered to many different worlds, so when you find one, bring it back here as soon as you can, okay?"
"Roger on that," Nick responded as he turned to leave the laboratory, considering there apparently wasn't much else he could do for the moment without the missing pages.
Once Nick had returned from the Pipo Storybook, Julius had advised the group to talk to Matthews, so they exited the Mystic Cavern back into the Third District, only to encounter a small platoon of Soldiers on their way out.
"Oh, what, you want some?!" Maylin exclaimed, summoning Spellbinder to her hands.
But just before Maylin could cast her spell, the Soldiers were destroyed by something that lunged by them.
When Nick finally got a glimpse of the person who had destroyed the Soldiers, he couldn't help but let a tear fall.
"Well, well, I finally found you. Mind telling me what's going on around here?"
It was Ellen Baker, Nick's girlfriend.
After taking a few steps forward to make sure he wasn't dreaming this like he had with Marie earlier, Nick finally flung himself into his girlfriend's arms.
"Hey, hey, what's with the sudden flying hug?" Ellen giggled. "Not that I mind, but..."
"I'm not dreaming this time, right?" Nick asked.
"I'd hope not," Ellen laughed. "Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"
"I could say the same thing for you!" Nick exclaimed.
"Wait a minute, isn't Marie with you?" Ellen wondered. "I could swear you two were together before everything back home went to hell."
"Sadly, I haven't seen here yet," Nick sighed. "But, we found you, so that must mean Marie's around here somewhere as well."
"Ah, so you're the titular girlfriend Nick won't shut up about, huh?" Maylin proclaimed.
"Hey there," Haruka stated. "We've been looking for you and Nick's sister together ever since your world got taken. Nice to meet you!"
Nick suddenly noticed another Soldier attempting to get the drop on Ellen from behind. But before he could act on that, Ellen did that honor, lunging forward and summoning a keyblade into her hands before destroying the offending Soldier with an overhead swing.
Ellen's keyblade resembled his own Kingdom Key, only its guard was a deep, pastel blue color while the handle itself was a deep indigo, the shaft was light-blue and rounded, ending with an orb past the teeth, which were formed by a spike and a five-pointed star of the same color, resulting in the teeth having a double-edged appearance, a gold rainguard at the bottom of the bar, and a five-pointed gold star attached to the hilt of the keyblade with a silver chain. When he studied the weapon, Nick felt the word Starlight come to mind.
"Sneaky little things, aren't they?" Ellen chuckled.
"Ellen? When did you get a keyblade?!" Nick gasped.
"Oh, 'keyblade'? Is that what this thing's called?" Ellen asked, studying Starlight. "Honestly, I couldn't tell ya. I just... had it when I woke up."
"We've all got keyblades, too," Haruka proclaimed as the trinity summoned their keyblades.
"Destined to slay the Heartless and bring light back to the worlds!" Maylin exclaimed, dramatically pointing Spellbinder to the sky.
Nick couldn't help but chuckle at Maylin's antics...
...but when he turned back to address Ellen, she had disappeared.
"W-what? Where'd she go?" Maylin gasped. "Aw, man, I was really hoping we could take her with us..."
"Hey, at least I know she's okay," Nick proclaimed. "And since she's got a keyblade, I think she can take care of herself."
"I'm sure we'll see her again somewhere down the road," Haruka stated.
With that in mind, the trinity made their way to the (formerly) Empty House just up the road to find that Matthews was in there, conversing with Ziggy, MOMO, and Jr.. There was also assorted furniture around the room now.
"Hey, you all made it!" MOMO giggled.
"What's with the big pow-wow?" Maylin wondered.
"Have you ever heard of a woman named Kuon Ichinose?" Matthews asked.
"Can't say that I have," Nick quipped.
"She's a real witch, honestly," Jr. answered.
"No doubt she's the reason that this town is full of Heartless," Ziggy responded. "Don't let your guard down if you ever run into her."
"Apparently, she's been using the Heartless for years," MOMO proclaimed. "We lost our world nine years ago, thanks to her..."
"Hey, you guys mentioned something about someone named Yaldabaoth the last time we were here," Haruka quipped. "Anything you can tell us about them?"
"All we really know is that Yaldabaoth was a wise man who dedicated his life to studying the Heartless and finding ways to get rid of them," Matthews explained. "His reports could tell us how to do that, but..."
"All the pages got scattered when our world was destroyed," Jr. proclaimed. "And I'm sure that Ichinose chick's got most of them, too..."
"Sounds like an invitation to a beatdown," Haruka giggled.
"Oh, you had to go there!" Maylin sputtered.
While bantering with his comrades, Nick just missed the strange hum from Sophia, who was wondering why that name sounded so familiar to her.
Just outside the Small House, who else but Kuon Ichinose herself was watching the lively conversation unfold, and Ellen was standing right next to her.
"See?" Ichinose quipped. "It's just like I told you. While you worked your fingers to the bone trying to find your precious boyfriend, he just replaced you with new companions. From the look of things, he apparently values them far more than he does you."
Ichinose smiled at Ellen, a smile that, while looking sincere enough, Ellen could tell hid quite a lot of pain.
"Honestly? You're better off without him," Ichinose proclaimed. "Now, just don't give him a second thought and follow me, 'kay? I'll help you find what you're looking for."
As Ichinose walked away and entered a corridor of darkness, Ellen glanced at her reflection in Starlight's gleaming blade.
Back in the Small House, Matthews remembered what he'd set out to do earlier.
"Did you guys deliver that book for me?" Matthews asked.
"Piece of cake," Nick replied. "Julius was apparently expecting us."
"Good job, you guys," Matthews proclaimed. "I installed that new navigation gummi for you, so you're ready to go whenever it's time to head out. Remember to bring me another one if you find it, got it? I even installed a Warp Drive gummi, no extra charge, so you can jump right back to any world you've already been to before."
Matthews stretched his arms before walking towards the exit. "Well, time for me to get back to my real job," Matthews stated.
"And... what is your real job?" Haruka asked.
"If you wanna know, come and see me in the First District," Matthews quipped.
"Is... is everything okay, MOMO?" Jr. asked when he noticed that MOMO was thinking hard about something.
"I've been thinking about that bell in the Second District," MOMO answered. "You know, the one that rang earlier today?"
"Apparently, there's a legend about that bell, but nobody can get to it since it's all boarded up," Ziggy proclaimed.
"Why don't you three give it a whack?" Jr. stated. "Try ringing it three times and see what happens."
With nothing else better to do at the moment, the trinity decided to give that a shot, heading back to the Second District. On the way to the Gizmo Shop, however, a veritable army of Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, and Green Requiems appeared to surround them, along with a pack of Soldiers and two Large Bodies.
"What the hell?!" Maylin shouted.
"Okay, that's just not nice," Haruka responded. "Any battle plans, you guys? This one looks like it's gonna get ugly."
As Nick thought of something they could do, he felt a magical resonance nearby, and fug into his pocket to procure the Wavecrystal that Dorothy had given to him.
"You know, I did just get a stone that allows me to summon an ally to our side," Nick proclaimed. "Why don't we take her out for her first field test?"
"Ooh, I like that idea," Maylin giggled. "Well, bring her out so we can waste these jerks!"
As the Heartless advanced on them, Nick clenched his hand around the Wavecrystal, causing aquamarine energy to radiate from it. Just then, Maylin and Haruka were briefly enveloped in that same glow before completely vanishing.
Huh, maybe these summon gems require the power of my friends as well, Nick thought. But enough talk. Let's see what this baby can do.
("Viva! Spark! Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure" by Machico plays)
A large whirlpool of water sprouted underneath Nick, but didn't suck him in. Nick raised the Wavecrystal to the sky, and bursts of ocean water exploded from it and flew into the whirlpool. Nick looked down to see someone swimming through the whirlpool for a few seconds before she jumped out of the pool to finally reveal herself to Nick.
She was a mermaid girl with long, waist-length bright pink hair and bright ocean-blue eyes. She had pearl clips on her bangs, and was wearing a cyan top with white with pink pearls on the front. Cyan fins were sprouting from her elbows, she was wearing gold bracelets on her wrists, and her mermaid tail was blue with a pale pink and yellow fin, with a pink ribbon tied around her tail by a yellow star with pearls.
Laura, the Princess of the Grand Ocean, looked at Nick before smiling happily and swimming through the air on a current of water to hug him tightly before spinning around him to face down the army of Heartless alongside him.
One of the Large Bodies lunged forward, but Laura simply raised her hand to create a barrier of water around Nick that bumped it backwards so they could go on the offensive. Laura leaped high into the air before coming down with a big splash that actually damaged the Large Body through its frontal defense.
Nick noticed that the splash attack actually left a pool of water where Laura had landed.
Knowing what that meant, Nick continued to move around the battlefield, occasionally jumping alongside Laura to create a pool of his own and blasting Heartless away with each leap they made.
While they were leaping through water pools, every now and then Nick fired a blast of water from his keyblade to deter any Large Bodies from interrupting their watery dance, though Nick had reason to believe he probably couldn't be damaged while channeling the power of a summon gem.
Eventually, as the remaining wizard Heartless closed in, Nick and Laura decided that it was time for the finale, and they dove into a larger pool of water before jumping out of it, high above the battlefield, and thrusting their hands towards the Heartless. All of the pools they'd created during their rapid-fire jumping erupted with concussive water blasts that flooded the entire nearby area and utterly obliterated all of the Heartless that got caught in the torrent.
When the water cleared away, all of the Heartless that had attacked were gone. Her work finished, Laura swam over and planted a kiss on Nick's cheek before vanishing in an outwards burst of water that reformed into the Wavecrystal in his right hand.
Once Maylin and Haruka had reappeared, they were very surprised by what exactly they'd just been a part of.
"Holy crapbaskets," Maylin gasped. "THAT WAS FREAKIN' AWESOME!"
"And if just Laura could do that, who knows what other crazy powers other summon gems might give us when we find them?" Haruka quipped.
"No kidding," Nick replied. "Let's keep an eye out for more summon gems while we're traveling."
The trinity crossed over to the opposite side of the building by cutting through the Gizmo Shop, and climbed to the top of the building where, sure enough, the area where the bell resided was covered by a set of thick wooden boards.
"Someone didn't like this bell," Haruka quipped.
"Yeah, but no mere wooden boards can stand up to the power of the keyblade!" Maylin proclaimed, shooting a Fire spell into the board barricade and incinerating it rather easily.
With their passage opened, Nick did the honors of pulling the string to ring the bell. As it rang, the mural in the fountain changed into something different.
"Huh," Maylin quipped. "Pull it again."
Nick did so, and this time, the mural changed into a portrait of an old-timey city.
"One more oughta do it," Nick stated, pulling the string one last time, and for this one, water began to spurt out of the fountain, and the mural changed to a flock of butterflies surrounding a flower. The butterflies quickly flew away to reveal a large glowing keyhole in the center of the mural.
"Hey, that's gotta be Traverse Town's keyhole!" Nick exclaimed.
"Well, peeps, what are we waiting for?" Maylin stated. "Let's get down there and seal it promptly!"
The trinity jumped down to ground level and rushed to the fountain to seal the keyhole, but before they could get close to it, a vicious rumbling stopped them in their tracks.
Suddenly, strange armor pieces began to fall from the sky, all of them landing in a pile until they came together to form what appeared to be a powerful Heartless. Its body was divided into several pieces (a body, a head, two arms, and two legs) none of which were directly connected to each other and all of which seemed to be acting independently of the other. The Armored Torso was vaguely hour glass-shaped, violet with a lilac, diamond pattern around its waist, and had light black additives on it. That same wicked-looking heart emblem, most likely the symbol of the Heartless, was emblazoned on the center of the armor. Its head was violet, spherical, and sported three silver spikes and a silver faceplate with several holes in it. Both of the Gauntlets were violet with wide wrists and three lilac, segmented fingers, the Hammerlegs were short, violet, and ended in large, hammer-like, black feet, and all of the pieces of the Guard Armor seemed to be hollow.
"You again!" Maylin exclaimed, raising Spellbinder into a fighting stance. "Didn't we already roast you the first time we were here?!"
"Well, it clearly wants to be roasted again, so let's give it what it wants," Nick taunted, switching to Sniper Queen.
The Guard Armor floated towards the three keyblade wielders, glaring menacingly at them before it thrust its Gauntlets towards them. Maylin moved forward to parry the punch so Haruka could swing Divine Rose and knock the arm backwards. Nick took this opportunity to start hacking away at the torso, having quickly figured out that they needed to destroy all five parts of this thing in order to achieve victory.
While this was happening, the Hammerlegs started stomping forward, pushing Haruka backwards with the small shockwaves created by each stomp. Nick landed from another aerial combo on the Armored Torso and saw the Hammerlegs approaching him as well.
"Yeah, how about no?" Nick taunted, performing a twirl with his keyblade extended that knocked both Hammerlegs away from him.
While Nick was distracted with the Hammerlegs, the Gauntlets began spinning around the Armored Torso, which began moving forward like some kind of demented helicopter. One of the Hammerlegs kicked Nick back into the spinning attack, which caused him to fly back in that same direction and fall to the ground, his damage obvious.
"Hold on, buddy, I've got ya!" Maylin exclaimed, aiming Spellbinder towards Nick. "Force, know my plight! Release the light! HEAL!"
Nick's body was covered in a soft green glow, and when it faded, the pain he was feeling from the Guard Armor's combination attack faded instantly.
"Hey, thanks for the heal," Nick proclaimed. "Now watch me give this thing some payback."
The Hammerlegs once again attempted to kick Nick back into the Guard Armor, but Nick was ready this time, parrying the kick before striking at both Hammerlegs with an overhead chop, and this seemed to be the final blow, as the entire Guard Armor collapsed into pieces.
"...that was it?" Haruka quipped. "That was... deceptively easy."
"That probably means we're not done yet," Maylin stated.
And almost as if some cosmic force had been listening to Maylin, the pieces of the Guard Armor all started floating again, reconfiguring themselves into a new Heartless. This time, the Armored Torso was upside down, with the collar-like additive now being on its underside and the Heartless emblem is emblazoned on the center of the armor, the Gauntlets now acting as the Heartless' legs, and the Hammerlegs taking the places of its arms, seemingly converted into pincers. Its head was the only part of its body that wasn't actually inverted, but instead its faceplate dropped down, exposing its pitch-black face and glowing yellow eyes.
"Okay, who can say they expected that?" Nick proclaimed.
"Definitely not me!" Maylin shouted.
The Opposite Armor started the battle by performing a backflip and striking with its Gauntlets, forcing Nick to parry it so that Maylin could cast Thunder and rain down lightning bolts on all five components at once.
At first, the Opposite Armor didn't do much else but stomp around the Second District, forcing the trinity to keep up with it as it occasionally struck at them.
At one point, the Opposite Armor thrust all four if its limbs to attack Maylin, knocking her into the fountain even as Haruka struck back at its Hammerlegs.
While this was going on, Nick rushed over to help Maylin out of the fountain and cast Cure on her, the spell he'd learned from the Magic Crystal dropped by the Gummi Golem.
"Ah, I feel better now," Maylin giggled. "Thanks for the heal, Nick."
"Always happy to be of service," Nick replied.
Maylin charged towards the Opposite Armor and jumped up to smack its bulbous head with Spellbinder. In response, the Opposite Armor rearranged its body so that the outer hole of its torso was aiming towards the trinity, eventually firing balls of lightning energy toward them.
During a small break in the barrage, Nick was able to deflect one of the energy balls back into the Opposite Armor, and this caused the entire thing to collapse to the ground in a stunned state.
Naturally, the trinity all went to town while the Opposite Armor was stunned, dealing as much damage as they could until the Opposite Armor picked itself back up and split its body parts into two separate formations.
The first formation had the head revolving around the Hammerlegs, and the second formation had the Gauntlets spinning in front of the Armored Torso.
"That doesn't look pleasant," Nick stated.
The first formation stabbed outwards with its head spike, causing Nick to jump away while Haruka chopped at the Hammerlegs with everything she had, eventually destroying the Hammerlegs and forcing the head to return to its body.
The second formation began following Maylin around, the Gauntlets spinning around the torso and seemingly preventing Maylin from getting any closer.
That was remedied when Nick slid under the Opposite Armor and blasted the hole in its torso with a Blizzard spell, forcing its attention onto him so that Maylin could sneak in from behind and cast her own Blizzard spell that obliterated the Gauntlets, leaving only the Armored Torso and its head.
Naturally, without many options left, the Opposite Armor continually used its energy cannon attack in a last-ditch effort to keep the keyblade wielders away from it.
Maylin and Haruka slipped through the barrage and landed a powerful slash each on the Armored Torso, causing it to fall to the ground so that Nick could make a mighty leap through the air and stab Sniper Queen into its head.
The Opposite Armor started shaking violently until its head fell into the hole of its torso and the whole thing collapsed to the ground, a large, glowing heart escaping from the torso before the Heartless disintegrated in a flash of light, leaving behind only a small, silver Magic Crystal.
With the battle finally over, Nick raised Sniper Queen and fired a beam of light into the keyhole, sealing it off with a loud click. A Gummi block fell out of the keyhole before it vanished completely.
"And our reward is another navigation gummi, huh?" Maylin quipped.
"My question is, why are all these strange Gummi blocks hiding inside the world's keyholes, of all places?" Haruka asked.
"Another mystery to be solved," Nick stated as the trinity made their way back to the First District to see Matthews, only to discover that he was tinkering with many different kinds of Gummi Blocks. He turned around when he noticed the trinity glancing at him.
"Well, well, that was quick!" Matthews laughed. "I guess you've figured it out by now, but I'm in the gummi block business. I've been trying to recreate my old ship, the Elsa, in hopes that we could all use it to get home. Hey, workin' on your Gummi Ship was a blast. If you ever stop by my Gummi Shop, I'll give you guys a big discount, promise."
"All right, Matthews, we'll hold you to that," Haruka proclaimed. "By the way, we found another navigation gummi when we sealed Traverse Town's keyhole. Could you possibly install it for us?"
Matthews took a good look at the gummi block in question before slowly shaking his head. "This is one of those navigation gummis that come in pairs," Matthews explained. "In order for this one to work properly, you're gonna have to find this piece's mate. Just come back once you find another one and I'll let you know if it's the one you need."
"Sounds like a plan," Nick quipped. "Well, girls, it doesn't really look like there's anything else we can do here for now, so what say we head out?"
Maylin and Haruka nodded, and with that, the trinity walked towards the exit of the First District that would take them back to the Gummi Ship.
"Hey, I hear there's a tournament going on somewhere."
"Really? Do you think I'd stand a chance?"
That random chatter caught Maylin's attention.
"Tournament? You think...?" Maylin asked.
"That can only mean that Nordopolica's open for business again," Haruka stated. "How about we go see what all the hubbub's about?"
Once they were back on the Gummi Ship, Haruka pressed a new blue button on her command chair, which in turn activated the newly-installed Warp Drive. Haruka chose the coordinates for Nordopolica, and the Gummi Ship vanished through a tunnel of blue light, swiftly spearing directly in front of Nordopolica.
"Wow, that was awesome!" Maylin exclaimed.
"Matthews sure knows his stuff," Haruka admitted. "Well, let's land and see what's waiting for us!"
To be continued...
New summon acquired!
Laura, Princess of the Grand Ocean
MP Required: 3
Anime of Origin: Tropical Rouge Pretty Cure (2021)
Theme Song: "Viva! Spark! Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure" by Machico
Action: Watch the rings on the ground and press O with just the right timing to leap really high into the air and create a pool of water that damages enemies nearby.
While leaping, you can press X to fire a blast of water at enemies.
Every Heartless killed while Laura is active fills the Charge Gauge by 1/6. When Laura's Charge Gauge is full, press /\ to make waterspouts erupt from the pools you created and really rain on the enemy's parade.
On the next episode...
Haruka: Wow, they really rolled out the red carpet.
Maylin: Well, duh! The crowd's excited for a good fight!
Nick: I wonder if we should tell Shion that her friends are in Traverse Town... wait, she's not here.
Haruka: Hey, I'm sure we'll run into her soon enough. Let's get to the fighting already!
Nick: You heard it here first, readers, it's tournament time! We've got some Heartless to bash on the next episode of Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse, "Tournament Fighters – Round 1"!
Nick, Maylin and Haruka: May your hearts be your guiding key!