KINGDOM HEARTS III: Final Mix
Disclaimer: I do not own the story or characters featured in this story. They are the sole creation of the Walt Disney Co., PIXAR, Marvel Comics, Tetsuya Nomura, and Square Enix. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.
WARNING! Contains story spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III, so read with caution if you haven't played the game yet.
Chapter 23: Where is Buzz and When Aqua Falls
Deep within the Realm of Darkness, some time before Riku and Mickey made their voyage to search for Aqua, she and Ansem the Wise were sitting on the beachfront of the Dark Margin conversing.
"Tell me, Aqua, my dear, will you stay here?" Ansem the Wise questioned the young woman.
"I don't know;" Aqua answered. "I just can't shake this feeling that these waters touch another shore I've visited once."
"The Destiny Islands," Ansem deduced.
"So you've heard of them?" Aqua asked.
"Yes. They are quite lovely... certainly a far cry from this desolate wasteland."
"If I stay, then someone's sure to come," Aqua told her acquaintance.
"You realize that these waters are the in-between space of darkness and light. If they brought you and I together, then who's to say it wouldn't also unite you with someone else?"
"...True enough," Aqua replied as they continued to take in the sight of the distant waves out in the sea. Their silent reflection was eventually broken by footsteps crunching against the sand behind them.
"Who's there?" Aqua called out, as she whipped around and saw a silver-haired man adorned in a black coat similar to Ansem's approach.
"You!" Ansem recognized the figure as his traitorous apprentice: the one who took the name of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness.
"Master, I would have words with you," the Seeker told his superior, as Ansem lowered his hood and revealed his face.
"So now you mock me, my apprentice?" Ansem sternly questioned.
"You recall those experiments of the heart you forced me to cease, do you not?" Ansem SoD asked. "Among the many test subjects was a girl who lost her memory, just as I had. Where did you put her? If her memory was ever reconstructed, she would be a great asset."
"What girl?" Ansem replied, refusing to give a straight answer.
Frowning in disdain, Ansem the Seeker gave a devious grin and answered as he reached out for his former teacher "Very well then; if you won't tell me voluntarily, then perhaps you will once I make you scream." Ansem the Wise was then moved away as Aqua stood in front of him and stood on the defensive side.
"Get out of here, now!" Aqua demanded.
"Hmm... a lost guardian of light? Interesting; you can wait here, for the rodent King and his fool," Ansem spoke as he summoned his Dark Guardian to restrain Aqua, but she kicked it away through sheer force of will, but her efforts weren't enough to completely stop it, as it eventually took a vice grip on the Keyblade Master.
"Please, no more! I'll go with you if you spare her!" Ansem pleaded with his apprentice.
"Now you see reason," Ansem the Seeker told his teacher knowingly. "Truly you are worthy of the name 'Ansem the Wise'." Aqua then took this moment to break free and make her next move. "You poor girl, I mustn't leave you with nothing, Now I shall use my ultimate attack: the Mega Destruction Dark Ball of Darkness and Destruction!" Ansem SoD then proceeded to fire off a homing blast of dark energy from the Guardian's chest which made impact with Aqua, sending her plummeting into the ocean, as Ansem the Wise watched the scene unfold in horror. Far from their sight, Aqua was slowly becoming corrupted by the dark blast as she sank deeper and deeper into the depths.
"No! You told me you'd spare her!" Ansem shouted at his apprentice.
"I lied, you of all people should've realized that," Ansem SoD told his master matter-of-factly as the two of them then left through a Dark Corridor, back into the Realm of Light.
Back in the Toy Box, Sora hopped out of the Verum Rex game he was trapped in and made his way over to his friends, who were still recovering from Buzz's sudden attack against them.
"Guys! Are you okay? Where's Buzz?" Sora asked as he helped the toys back on their feet.
"After Buzz attacked us, the guy in the black coat took him through a dark portal and they disappeared," Rex explained.
"Buzz isn't the kind of toy that would just turn on his friends like that," Jessie added. "One of those critters that got all those other toys must've got to him!"
"Well, we can't let him get away with this!" Goofy and Donald piped up. "Just where can we find him though?"
"Gentlemen!" Sarge spoke up, as he and his men arrived. "We've just finished recon, and found that there is a dark portal lying deep within Babies and Toddlers; back in another part of the store! My men have already unlocked the hatch to get inside."
"Thank you, Sarge. Now, looks like we're not done yet," Woody said as he turned his attention back towards Sora. "Sora, let's go rescue Buzz, so then we can all find our way back home. If it's okay with you, that is."
"Don't worry, I won't leave you to get him back all by yourself. Like you said, what matters the most is that you're there for both Andy and each other. I know how important something like that can be," Sora replied.
"You can count us in too!" Donald and Goofy added cheerfully.
"Me and Bullseye are rarin' to go," Jessie told Woody, who nodded in acknowledgement.
"Thanks, everyone. Now then, let's get moving out!" Woody told the others as they began to make their trek back to the second floor, on a mission to save their space ranger friend.
And that finishes this another chapter. I hope you enjoyed this little update (and yes, that was a flipping Just a Pancake reference; please show your appreciation by subscribing to him on YouTube), and please remember to leave a review! See you all next time, and may your heart be your guiding key.