SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR (MOST) DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
With a flash of light from a teleportation spell, four people appeared groundside. Joining Sora, Donald, & Goofy was Kairi, ready to join her "friend" on his big adventure. The quartet found themselves in what seemed to be a verdant jungle, massive trees forming a shading canopy overhead.
"This place looks kinda familiar, for some reason" Sora said. "I can't quite put my finger on it…"
"Sora! Trouble!"
At Kairi's call, Sora turned to see her facing down a troop of Powerwilds, her Keyblade already drawn. He followed suit, Donald & Goofy summoning their staff & shield as well. The monkey Heartless charged, spreading out to attack from several directions. One of them made a sliding kick at Kairi, but she leapt over it and brought her Destiny's Embrace down on the Powerwild's head, concussing it and leaving it open to a swift combination of strikes that destroyed it. Sora dashed in with a Sonic Blade, cutting two more of the primate Heartless down, while a Firaga from Donald and a charging shield-bash from Goofy dealt with two more.
By chance, Sora narrowly avoided a shot from a Bouncywild hiding up on a branch. He threw his Keyblade in a Strike Raid at the sniper Heartless, but it leapt free to dodge… only to be cut down by a Strike Raid from Kairi instead. Kairi then fired a wave of Light-type Sagitta Magica that battered the Powerwilds, killing two of them. Sora snatched three of the monkeys up with Zero Gravira, letting Donald zap them with Thundaga. Goofy beat another Powerwild senseless with his shield, but then he turned in surprise to see two more of the evil monkeys dropping in from the trees above. So soon after his latest blow, he wouldn't be able to bring his shield to bear in time…
From the treeline, a thrown spear shot in, impaling the nearest Powerwild and knocking it into the other one. As the two Heartless disintegrated, the spear's owner leapt down, a lean-muscled man with wild brown hair and clad in a loincloth using his weapon to cut down two more of the monkeys as they swung at him. As Kairi cut down the last Powerwild, the man straightened up and turned to the heroes with a warm smile.
"Sora!" He said. "Donald! Goofy! Long time, no see."
Recognizing an old friend, Sora grinned wide.
"Tarzan!"
Deep Jungle
"You've gotten bigger" Tarzan said as he came closer. "You're growing up."
"And you're speaking a whole lot better than I remember! …Uh, no offense?"
Chuckling softly, Tarzan shook the youth's hand. "None taken. Jane and the Professor have been a big help teaching me things, just as I've taught valuable things to them. But boy, we've been through a lot of crazy adventures since I last saw you. And I'm guessing you have, too?"
"You don't know the half of it."
"So, who's this?" the wild-man gestured to Kairi.
"Oh, this is Kairi!"
"Hello there" the pink-clad girl smiled and bowed.
"Kairi… One of the friends you were looking for, the last time you were here?"
"Yep" Sora nodded. "I found her and Riku, though there was some… drama involved. Kairi's learned to fight since then, helped by a Keyblade Master we rescued not too long ago."
"So, what brings you to the jungle again? The Heartless acting up?"
Sora sighed. "That's part of it. Telling you about our current enemies is… kind of a long story."
"Well, why don't you folks come with me back to the camp? We can swap tales, and you can meet the Professor and Tantor, see Jane and Terk again…"
"How's Kerchak doing? He still head of the troop?"
Tarzan's smile was replaced by a solemn expression. "I'm afraid not. Not too long after you guys left last time, there was an earthquake … Kerchak saw two young gorillas trapped right where a big rockslide was coming down, so he leapt in and tossed them to safety… even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to get out in time…"
Sora looked sad. "He gave his life to protect the children of his family…"
Tarzan nodded. "I'm the chief of the tribe now. I'm doing the best I can to fill the role he left behind. It's been hard at times, but we're still going strong so far. Anyway, come on; this way."
The four followed Tarzan through the jungle, soon coming across the camp Team Sora remembered from last time, now looking a little more spacious. At the camp was Jane, a brunette young woman, along with a shorter old man, balding with white hair, clad in a yellow top and dull-orange pants, a big bushy white mustache on his face. The boyish gorilla Terk was also there, lounging around, and toward the edge of the camp, a big red elephant was relaxing. The elephant looked up at the newcomers, starting to get a bit nervous.
"Easy, Tantor" Tarzan said. "{These are Sora, Donald, & Goofy, along with a friend of theirs. Remember what I told you about them?}"
The elephant relaxed. "{Oh. The ones who helped you deal with the bloodthirsty hunter and the shadowy creatures he was using? I… guess they're all right, then.}"
"{I know you're cautious, Tantor, but don't worry; they're trustworthy}."
"I say, Tarzan, you're back?" the old man called out. "Oh, and I see you've brought some newcomers! A-And, they would be…"
"Sora!" Jane said happily. "And Donald, and Goofy! Oh, I'm so glad to see you again! And you've brought a friend along, it seems?"
"I'm Kairi" the girl waved. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Same to you, dear. I'm Jane Porter, and this is my father Archimedes."
"Or Professor Porter, if you prefer" the old man added. "Jolly good to meet you in person, young Sora, after hearing from my daughter of the things you accomplished."
Terk came over, checking the gang out.
"…{Wow, Sora's gotten bigger}" she said to her friends. "{Not as scrawny anymore}."
"…Hey Donald," Sora turned to the mage, "weren't you working on a translation spell?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" the duck replied. "I almost forgot!"
"There's magic that can do that?" Tarzan asked.
"Yeah," Sora replied, "it may be kinda hard to believe, but-"
"Ohoh, lad," Prof. Porter chuckled, "after all the trouble we had dealing with the evil sorceress Queen La, we're a bit more open-minded regarding magic and the supernatural."
Nodding, Donald focused his magical power and then released it, startling Terk and Tantor.
"W-What was that?" the red elephant was on edge.
"It was a spell to let us understand the other's speech" Sora replied. "It's working on my end; how about yours?"
"Yep" Terk replied. "We get ya loud & clear! Boy, this woulda made some of our past troubles a bit easier to handle…"
"So…" Kairi said. "Tarzan said that he could tell us about some of the adventures you guys have had since Sora was last here, and we can tell you all about what we've been up to."
"I'll go get some tea ready" Prof. Porter replied. "I suspect telling each other's tales may take a while…"
Over the next hour or so, the local group told Team Sora about some of the adventures they'd been through, threats they'd faced, and lessons they'd learned. Sora, in turn, told them about the rest of his first big adventure as well as about the others that followed, including their current enemies.
"So, these 'Seekers of Darkness'…" Jane pondered. "You think they might be up to something around here?"
Donald nodded. "We detected a powerful dark-magic energy signature somewhere here in the jungle. With the Heartless around, it's gotta be someone from the Organization."
"You sure about that?" Tantor asked. "This 'black box' the sorceresses are lookin' for… This jungle's pretty out of the way, lots of places to hide something; maybe it's hidden somewhere around here…"
"We can at least be reasonably sure it's not Joker & Infinite" Sora said. "Those two would've announced themselves and made a scene by now; they love causing chaos and panic, not skulking around unnoticed."
"We'll keep a close eye out for any signs of unusual activity," Tarzan replied, "whoever it might come from."
-Break-
In a cave bordering a waterfall, a huge and vicious exile perked his head up as he heard footsteps.
"Who dares intrude upon my den?" he announced.
"Such malignant darkness you have…" a female's smooth, contralto voice purred. A humanoid figure enveloped in a black hooded cloak sauntered in. "I believe we can make use of that…" she said, eyes glowing red from within her hood as she gave a fanged grin…
-Scene Break-
Later, the team – plus Tarzan – was patrolling a section of the jungle not far from where the elephant herds mingled. They'd encountered a couple of parties of weaker Heartless, easily dealt with, but no sign yet of which Seeker of Darkness was present on this world.
As they entered a small clearing, another pack of Powerwilds spawned in for an ambush, but this time they had a trio of Assault Riders leading them. The gang got ready for battle, and as some of the monkey Heartless rushed in, Donald made the first kill, blasting one of them with Firaga. Tarzan made ready to deal with a few Powerwilds coming close, only to have to roll out of the way of an Assault Rider's charging attack, the centaur Heartless swinging its glaive at him. He ducked under another swing and stabbed his spear into the big Heartless' side, making it roar in pain and thrash around to fling him back. Goofy caught Tarzan and steadied him, while Sora spun around the Assault Rider's spear-thrust and landed a quick combo of blows that knocked it back. He & Kairi then bombarded the monster with magic blasts until it was destroyed.
Donald cast Thundara, wounding and stunning a handful of Powerwilds, letting Kairi and Tarzan cut them down. Sora & Goofy were being taken on by both of the remaining Assault Riders, the two high-level Heartless keeping them on the defensive. Kairi fired a Prism Rain barrage at one of the Assault Riders, catching it off-guard and letting Sora & Goofy pull off a Bombardier special and a quick barrage of hits to put it down.
(MUSIC: Kingdom Hearts 1.5 – "Squirming Evil")
Just as the remaining Assault Rider prepared to counterattack, though, a new player entered the field. With a trumpeting roar, a massive bull elephant charged out, trampling a few Powerwilds. The Assault Rider tried to attack, but the beast gored it with his one complete tusk, killing the Heartless. As the surviving Powerwilds fled, Sora got a good look at the newcomer. The elephant was covered in battle scars, tears & holes in his ears, and his right trunk was broken. His eyes were completely red, with no sign of the caring and intelligence that Tantor's had. Turning, Sora noticed that Tarzan had an expression of dread and a hint of fear.
"Mabaya…" he breathed out.
"Not friendly, I'm guessing?" Sora asked.
"Mabaya is a rogue elephant. He's completely insane and knows nothing but hate, fury, and bloodlust. He'll try to kill anything that moves."
Goofy gulped nervously. "Ya think he won't pay no mind to us?"
"Maybe we can sneak away quiet before he realizes we're here…" Donald suggested, speaking softly.
With fate thus tempted, Mabaya turned to face the heroes, hate and rage in his all-red eyes. With a roar that almost sounded more like a bear than an elephant, the mad beast charged. The heroes scattered to dodge, and Sora fired a Blizzara shot that did virtually nothing to the rogue elephant's thick hide. Mabaya swung his trunk at Sora, and even though the youth cast Reflera to protect himself he was still sent flying. Kairi used Cure on him while a shield-throw from Goofy got the rampant rogue's attention off them, and Mabaya charged at him instead.
Tarzan swung in, pulling Goofy to safety, and Donald zapped Mabaya with a Thundaga spell. The mad brute roared as his muscles briefly seized up, flailing his limbs in a stomping tantrum that shook the earth. Sora and Kairi threw Strike Raids at the crazed elephant, knocking it to the side a little, but the beast's mind was so far gone that he barely felt pain anymore. All it did was draw his attention, the rampaging beast turning and charging at the two humans. Sora & Kairi fired Shotlock barrages, but the charging elephant powered right through them, forcing them to roll and scatter to avoid being trampled.
With thick vine in hand, Tarzan leapt onto Mabaya's back and tried using it as an impromptu bridle. The rogue elephant thrashed around, only partially going in the directions Tarzan tried to tug him, and just as Mabaya threw the human off he was hammered by a Goofy Bombardier special that knocked the beast for a loop. Next, Sora dashed in with an Ars Arcanum barrage of strikes, beating the insane pachyderm around. Finally, Kairi charged an orb of Light at the tip of her Keyblade and fired it as a concussive magic blast. The blast knocked Mabaya off his feet, and left a new crack in his previously-intact left tusk.
(MUSIC END)
Growling, the rogue elephant staggered to his feet. Then, Mabaya did something Tarzan completely didn't expect: he turned and left, stomping his way through the jungle, away from the irritating creatures that had just beat him around.
"I guess even a psychopathic rogue elephant has his limits" Sora remarked.
"It's news to me" Tarzan replied. "Last time, he only left because we sent him sliding down a cliff, meaning he physically couldn't reach us and keep trying to kill us. But I guess there's just enough of a mind left in him to know when he's beat."
"We'd better get back to camp" Donald suggested.
-Scene Break-
The next day, Team Sora (including Kairi and Tarzan) were relaxing around camp, swapping more stories.
"I still can't believe you guys found real, living dinosaurs!" Sora said excitedly.
"Yes, it was quite a surprise for us as well" Jane replied over a cup of tea. "And the stories of some of what you and your allies have been up to… Truly fascinating!"
"Clayton had no idea just what kind of mess he could've gotten dragged into if he'd survived" Tarzan remarked.
Sora was about to respond, when suddenly Goofy threw himself into position with shield raised. There was a loud clang as a long, thin metal javelin was deflected by his shield, knocking him backward into Sora. Everyone immediately readied weapons and went on alert, looking all around.
"Of course it wouldn't be that easy to get rid of the Keyblade's champion…"
A figured shrouded in the black coat of the Seekers of Darkness emerged, striding forward and lowering her hood to reveal a woman with pale skin that almost seemed to have a bare hint of blue, along with light-grey hair in a shoulder-length "business cut" and maroon eyes. What appeared to be a small tattoo of a queen chess-piece was on her left cheek. Even in a transformed human form, the DDF contingent recognized her:
"Checker Monarch…" Kairi identified, gripping her Keyblade in one hand and readying magic in the other. "Xehanort's sociopath…"
"What are you doing here?" Sora took a ready stance.
"Just looking for candidates to make into powerful Heartless" the human-form unicorn replied. "And lucky me, I've already found a couple! It'll take a bit for me to pin down that insane elephant, but as for the other candidate… Well, perhaps I'll test him out on you…"
(BOSS MUSIC: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep – "Extreme Encounters")
Checker raised her gloved hand glowing with dark magic, and a large shadow-portal formed in the air. Out of it dropped a huge figure, black and dull-purple and dark-blue, shuddering the ground as it landed. The Heartless stood like a gorilla on knuckles & feet, its hunched posture doing little to hide how huge it was, easily 12 feet tall even in this position. Bluish-black fur solidified into razor-edged spines and spikes at various parts of its body, and a black aura clung to it as its massive muscles flexed. Its monstrous black face still had some gorilla-like facial structure to it, a glowing mouth full of huge red fangs sitting beneath a pair of glowing yellow eyes and a slightly misshapen nose. As he saw the face and noticed a missing toe on one of the monster's rear feet, Tarzan paled as he realized he recognized who & what they were facing:
"Tublat…" he breathed out. "That's Tublat's Heartless!"
"The dangerous exile you told us about?" Goofy replied. "The one you said you've never beat in a straight fight? Gawrsh, this ain't good…"
"I call him the 'Black Jungle Tyrant'…" Checker said with a grin, a Corridor of Darkness forming around her. "Crush them, big guy. And make it hurt…"
As the Seeker of Darkness warped out, the Black Jungle Tyrant roared and slammed its fists into the ground, bringing up a huge chunk of rock that it then hurled at the heroes. They scattered, and straight away Tarzan hurled a (much smaller, obviously) rock at the beast's face, getting its attention as he fell back into the jungle. The Heartless followed, being led away from the camp and from Jane & the Professor.
As Team Sora caught up, Kairi & Donald fired Firaga blasts at the Black Jungle Tyrant, the gorilla Heartless snarling and waving its arm in a wide swing in their direction, unleashing a wave of stabbing needle-hairs. Sora and Donald cast a double Reflera to weather the barrage, and Sora then flung a Strike Raid at the beast's chest. Powering through the hit, Tublat's Heartless charged at the boy with surprising speed, trying to crush him. Tarzan leapt in, slashing and stabbing with his spear, and then jumped back to avoid the retaliatory strike thrown his way.
Sora was enveloped in a red flash as Goofy's lent power let him assume his dual-bladed Valor Form. Seconds later, a blue light briefly engulfed Kairi as Donald's donation allowed her to assume Wisdom form, her pink & black outfit now bearing blue portions as her feet floated just above the ground on sparkly blue magic. Kairi floated to the side to avoid a swing of the gorilla Heartless' mighty fist, using her Keyblade to fire a continuous rapid-fire barrage of little blue mana bolts. The Black Jungle Tyrant brought an arm up to shield its face, and Sora took the opportunity to dash in and land a flurry of punishing blows. The massive beast roared and pounded its fists down, creating a shockwave that tore up the ground it and flung Sora back.
Tarzan and Goofy rushed in, the latter providing defense for the former as he lashed out with rapid thrusts & swings of his spear. Tublat's Heartless roared and swung its massive arms to beat them back, and then ducked under a Blizzaga shot fired by Donald. Picking up a boulder, the gorilla-beast hurled it at the duck mage, who squawked and threw himself to the side. Wisdom-Form Kairi skated around, firing a couple of boosted Waterga spells that drenched the Black Jungle Tyrant and shoved it back a little. Snarling, the beast threw out another wave of needle-hairs at the girl, who cased Reflega to protect herself. The Heartless then raised one of its arms to block a leaping strike from Valor-Form Sora's Keyblades, the armor-like spiked fur on its forearm withstanding the two weapons' bite. Sora then used the brute's arm as a platform to leap up and land a few blows on its face before being swatted away.
Kairi and Donald bombarded Tublat's Heartless with Fira blasts, wounding it a bit more and giving Sora and Tarzan a chance to close in and deal some more damage. The beast tried to chomp its huge fangs down on Tarzan, only for a shield-throw from Goofy to smack it in the side of the head, giving Tarzan the instant needed to get distance. Sora threw his Keyblades in a double Strike Raid, and then Kairi fired an extra-large Prism Rain barrage at the big Heartless.
Weathering the storm, the Black Jungle Tyrant then roared loud and long, releasing shockwaves that cracked the earth and made the trees sway. It grabbed a nearby fallen log and wielded it as a huge club, swinging the dead wood and sending Goofy flying. As Kairi used Curaga to get Goofy back on his feet, Donald fired a Firaga shot meant to blow the log-club to bits. Instead, it just set it ablaze, and now he & Sora had to dodge swings from a flaming tree-club.
"Why not just hand him a laser cannon, Donald?!" Sora snarked.
"Sorry!" the duck replied. "I can fix this!"
Casting an Aeroga barrier, Donald then flung the magic forward as a wave of slicing wind blades. They didn't do much damage to the big Heartless, but they cut its new weapon into harmless little chunks (which Kairi quickly doused with a Water spell before they could start a wildfire). Tarzan and Kairi moved in closer, the latter imbuing the former's spearhead with elemental magic for a little extra kick. As her mana bolts and his spearing thrusts peppered the Black Jungle Tyrant's hide, the beast tried to swat him away, but they were both too agile for it to hit.
Donald charged Goofy's shield with Blizzard magic, and Goofy threw the weapon at the gorilla Heartless, the resulting shock stunning it as icy-cold energy coursed over its body for a moment. Sora swung his Keyblades to release twin slicing waves of raw magical force in an 'X', crashing into the monster's chest. Kairi cast a powerful Thundaza spell, a mighty thunderbolt crashing down on Tublat's Heartless and leaving it reeling. Finally, as Sora & Tarzan both leapt high, Sora tossed one of his Keyblades to Tarzan, knowing that the wild-man would have a few seconds before the weapon teleported itself back to its owner. Using that moment, Tarzan cried out and swung with all his might.
(MUSIC END)
There was a slicing flash of light as Tarzan struck true. As he landed, the Keyblade teleporting itself back to Sora, the Black Jungle Tyrant let out a growling groan, staggering. Then, slowly, it toppled over and hit the ground with a thud that shook the trees. Its massive body came apart into particles of Darkness, and a shadow-wreathed Heart floated up and away, soon vanishing. The heroes caught their breath, Sora & Kairi dispelling their Drive Forms.
"That was wild" Sora said. "You weren't kidding when you said Tublat was a tough fight. Even five-on-one, that wasn't easy."
"At least he's outta the picture now" Kairi said.
"I'm not so sure about that" Tarzan replied. "From what you guys told me… Tublat had a pretty strong sense of self, so if he became a Heartless, odds are there'll be a Nobody of him, too."
"We'll have to keep an eye out for that" Goofy said. "I wonder if his Nobody will retain his intelligence…"
"Let's hope not" Donald replied. "That'd make him even harder to deal with."
"We should get back to camp," Tarzan told them, "let Jane & the Professor know we're alright."
-Scene Break-
"I can't believe they managed to make Tublat into a Heartless…" Terk remarked. "If they can conquer somebody as strong as that, what can't they do?"
"We'll stop them" Sora replied. "Xehanort and Ganondorf must be stopped, so they will be stopped. We & our friends have pulled miracles out of our hats before, we'll find a way again."
"Here's hoping" Tantor said.
"You're sure you can stay around for much longer?" Jane asked.
"I'm afraid so" Kairi replied. "There are other people out there who need our help, other places where the Organization will be causing trouble. We have to be there for them."
"Well," Tarzan said, "you're always welcome to visit us again. And let us know if there's anything we can do to help."
"Thanks" Sora grinned and nodded. "We will. Good luck with whatever comes your way, Tarzan."
The wild-man smiled and shook the youth's hand. "Same to you, Sora."
-CHAPTER END-
