The Darkness Within
Chapter 5: This is Where it Begins
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As Jetta and Neron were getting up on the other side of the split, the heartless slammed its foot into the ground creating a shock wave that knocked Riku and Max down with ease. While laying on the ground Riku looked over at Neron, watching him attack the heartless's leg. He then sat up and looked over at Max who was shooting off fire spells at the heartless's arm, but wasn't coming close to hitting him. As he looked on he realized the heartless was paying no heed to their attacks, not even the slightest winch. Was this one heartless going to stop their adventure before it even started?
Jetta and Neron ran from the heartless when it bent over to try and swat them away. Surprisingly, Neron could hold his ground quite well when in dangerous situations, then again he had a Keyblade in each hand. Riku looked over at Jetta who also had no trouble at all since she could just shoot little fireballs out of her fingertips for long distance, but once she got in close she showed a new ability. Her hands and feet would in case themselves in a flame and she'd give her attacks a burring force of power. The attacks flowed out so gracefully that they appeared to be a dance with her twirls, kicks, and punches that burned the heartless's black skin, but sadly seemed like nothing to it.
Once Riku was back on his feet, he marveled at the weapon he held in his hand since he really hadn't had time before to look at it. Of course this wasn't really the best time either, but he didn't seem to care at the moment. It's heaviness made it clear that even the handle was made of metal, which would do well for a clear, clean slice. Taking in closer inspection of the weapon the handle was a dragon that wrapped around the base of the sword with its wings spread out fully. The wings served as a guard to other sword attacks so it wouldn't cut off any of his fingers, or severely damage his hand. The sword seemed fit for decoration than a weapon for a battle, but a sword's a sword. Nevertheless, Riku gripped the handle tightly, holding it firmly, still sheathed, by his hip on the left side, before he charged at the heartless, showing no sign of fear.
When he got in close enough, he jumped high in the air and did a complete flip once reaching his maximum height. While diving back down to the ground he pulled the sword out of its sheath and struck the heartless's shoulder. He twirled a bit in the air from the force he put into the attack, slicing its arm several more times before he landed safely on the ground.
"Show off!" Neron shouted at him. Riku could only flash the boy a smile of satisfaction.
"At least you're doing some damage over here," Max chuckled before he shot a fireball off that actually hit.
Everyone did their best at trying to destroy the heartless, but their attacks only seemed to breeze across the heartless's skin without the slightest effect. The thought of not being able to defeat this heartless crossed everyone's mind, but nether of them would loss without a fight. Their chances seemed to worsen when out of nowhere the heartless's fist came flying at Jetta and Neron. Neron managed to escape it, by the skin of his teeth, but Jetta wasn't as lucky. In a split second Jetta was flying to the other side of the town square. Seconds later her body sat lifeless at the base of the crumbled building that had stopped her from flying any further. Everyone stood there in a stunned state and waited for her to move, but she didn't.
"...Jetta..." Riku was the first to pull himself away from the battle to check up on her and he was relieved to see her still breathing when he got there. He started to search his pockets for a potion but remembered that he had nothing on him since he had no munny, which for some reason he kept forgetting about.
"Hey! Catch!" Riku turned around just in time to catch a small bottle with a glowing green liquid inside. He looked up to find a girl with shoulder length black hair pulled back in a white headband smiling over at him. She was dressed in a black top designed to look like a tube top, but had buckle like straps holding it in place from her shoulders. A mesh black fabric fell from the bottom of her top and reattached to her shorts, covering her stomach. Her black shorts were very short with a dark blue belt hanging loosely from her hip. Her long legs were covered by white stockings that came a little past her knees, and black boots fit snugly to her feet with little chains draped on them for decoration. To finish her outfit off she wore white gloves, one glove going to her shoulder and the other only around the palm of her hand. (Think of Riku's gloves.)
"What are you waiting for? That is what you wanted, right?" The girl asked. Quickly Riku opened the bottle and pored the liquid into her mouth. She slightly grunted as she opened her eyes to find Riku staring down at her, fuzzy at first, but it eventually cleared.
"Are you okay?" Riku asked.
"...I am now." Jetta said as she looked herself over, amazed that she survived something like that, "What a close one, huh?" Jetta started to get up but Riku stopped her.
"Maybe you should stay here, and rest a bit. You can join the battle when you feel better." Jetta glared at him as she knocked his hand away and got up.
"I don't need to rest! I'm fine!" Jetta looked over at the new person who stood in the marketplace and cocked an eyebrow at her, "Who's that?"
"I don't know, but you should be thanking her. She's the one who gave me the potion."
"What are you staring at?" The girl asked getting annoyed with the two of them staring at her. The question was soon forgotten as a ball of fire shoot past her, causing her to duck to the ground, "Hey! You almost hit me, you jerk!"
"You where in my line of fire. How else was I supposed to get you to move?" A man spat as he ran past the girl, making his way to the heartless.
He was a tall man with shoulder length brown hair and dark blue eyes that held a stern glare at everything. Along with that, he had a scar that ran diagonally in between his eyes, making him seem even more menacing than he already was. He dressed in a black leather jacket with a red lion head design on the back, and had several red buckles on the sleeves for decoration. Under that was a normal white shirt that was tucked into his loose leather pants with a zipper going all the way up to his thighs. His pants were held to his waist by a black belt along with several other belts that hung loosely. The pants hung lose around his ankles where a pair of black boots could be seen. To finish it off he had on black gloves that had metal attached to the knuckles of them, and in his hands he carried a large sword. The handle was bent and the design of it made it look exactly like an oversized revolver. Right away he started to attack the heartless with all of his might and was soon helped by the girl who would throw little ninja stars at the unshielded area on the heartless's body.
"Where are these people coming from?" Jetta asked as she looked over at Riku.
"I don't know, but lets not complain, they are helping after all."
"Yeah, you've got a point," Jetta said as she smiled over at him, "Lets go!"
Riku and Jetta both ran back into the battle and started an all out attack on the heartless. Neron was now having a harder time since all the attacks on his side were now aimed directly at him. To make things easier on him, the new girl hopped onto the heartless's arm and ran up to its head, throwing a few stars along the way. Once reaching the head she dashed down the other arm, tossing Neron a potion as she zipped past him, putting some distance between her and the heartless since she was more of a distance fighter. Once she had enough fun on that side she would switch sides again; this continued throughout the battle.
With the two new people on their side it seemed like the attacks were finally taking affect. The heartless's attacks were getting weaker and not only that but he was getting slower as time progressed, then again so did the others. The only good thing was that the ninja girl had succeeded in taking out an eye with one of her ninja stars, this seemed to be the most effective attack yet, but it still wasn't enough. What seemed like minutes in this battle must have felt like hours to the gang. They started to back away from the beast one at a time to rest, but it just wasn't enough. Max had used all of his ethers and was out of magic, leaving him to fight with his fists. To put it simple, things seemed hopeless.
"This is ridiculous, why hasn't it been defeated yet?" Jetta asked out of breath as she looked over at Riku, who was out of breath as well.
"I don't know," Riku sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow, "But I do know it's not enough."
"...I've got an idea!" Jetta proclaimed as she started to rummage through her pockets, "Oh I know I have it. Where is it?"
"If you didn't have so many pockets it might be easier to find what you're looking for," Riku spat. Jetta growled as she quickly shot the sliver haired boy a hatful glare.
"Don't start with me!" Jetta yelled before her eyes lit up with happiness, "Found it!"
"Found what?" Jetta simply held up a bottle of blue liquid.
"My extra elixir, I always carry one for intense situations," Jetta said proudly before she opened the bottle, "All my magic and health will be restored, that way I can use my very best attack. I just hope it'll be enough to finish it off." Jetta then drank the bottle in one swig before she stood.
"What's your best attack?"
"You'll see," Jetta said with a smile before she ran back into the battle, "Everybody stand back!" Jetta ran past every one and didn't stop until she was in front of the heartless. The others didn't listen to her warnings at first, that is until Jetta's entire body lit on fire, but after a moment or two they decided to back away.
Her once green eyes turned a bright red and glowed with rage, and an enormous ball of fire formed in her hand building up from the fire around her body until the flames were gone. She charged at the heatless once again and jumped high in the air, using a blast of flames from her feet to get her high enough in the air. The heartless wasn't quick enough to swat her out of the sky before she unleashed her attack. The ball shot off from her hand, forcing her backwards from the force. An explosion was heard as the ball hit the heartless in the chest, knocking it back into a building.
The man in leather caught Jetta before she hit the ground, seeing as she had slipped into unconsciousness from the sudden loss of power. As the smoke was clearing a large glowing heart floated out of the smoke, swirling with colors of dark blue and purple, before it disappeared into the sky. Before the heartless disappeared along with it's heart, it was seen leaning on a building with a hole going strait through its chest from the brutal attack. As it faded away every one looked over at Jetta, who was now waking up.
"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Neron shouted from across the gorge in the ground.
"It had to be weakened first!" Jetta spat, "Other wise it probably wouldn't have worked."
"Whatever," Neron mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Man, look at this mess," The ninja girl said as she looked around at all of the destruction, "It's going to take forever for them to fill up this gap."
"I'm sure the town's people can handle it," The man said, not really giving the subject much concern. The girl smiled as she walked over to Jetta and gave her a good pat on the back.
"That was some attack!"
"Thanks," Jetta said as she gave the girl a tiered smile.
"You just gave a whole new meaning to big things come in small packages," The girl laughed, "You fellin' okay?"
"Just a little tiered, nothing big," Jetta said as she slowly stood up, "Thanks for the help... um..."
"Yuffie!" She said with a smile, "And that's Squall."
"Leon!" He corrected, giving Yuffie one of his stern looks.
"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie said without much care, "So who are your other little antisocial friends over there?" Jetta looked behind her to find all three of the boys gathered around the gap discussing something.
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"Look at how far down it goes!" Neron said as he carefully looked over the edge, not wanting to fall in, "It's like it goes to the very center of this world."
"That's not good," Riku said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why?" Neron asked.
"Because the world's heart is in the center of the world," Leon said as he walked over to them, "Normally the heartless look for the keyhole that leads to the heart...but it looks like they're taking a different approach this time."
"What's that?" Max asked as he pointed to a light at the bottom of the gorge. The tips of Neron's Keyblades began to glow a bright blue, and they started to shake in his hands. A blue lazar like light shot out of each end and twisted together into one light before it plunged down into the split. A low, almost silent, click was heard moments later, echoing up the rocky walls, like the sound you hear when you lock a door. The light on Neron's Keyblades faded away and everyone but Riku, Leon, and Yuffie were left in wonder and confusion.
"What...what was that?" Neron asked as he stared at his Keyblades in amazement.
"You just sealed your first Keyhole," Riku said as Jetta and Yuffie came running over to the group. The ground began to shake and rumble, yet again, knocking Jetta down easily in the state she was in, with Yuffie dropping to her side. Max was next to fall but the others managed to keep standing as the rip in the ground began to mend itself. Soon it was nothing but a crake but even that disappeared, leaving the ground looking like it had never been disturbed.
"Well, at least now the town doesn't have to worry about filling the gap up," Yuffie commented with a light laugh.
"Your weapons... what are they called?" Max asked as he walked up to Neron.
"Keyblades?" Neron slightly asked as he looked over towards Riku, making sure he got the name right.
"This is great!" Max shouted, "I can't believe I found the Keyblade master so soon."
"You mean you were looking for me?"
"Yeah! Are you Sora?"
"No, I'm Neron."
"...I didn't think so," Max said as he hung his head, "I didn't see Donald or Goofy with you."
"Goofy? Donald?" Neron asked, "Who are they?"
"Just some people I was told to look for," Max sighed, "You must not be the right one. Does this mean there are two Keyblade masters?" Max asked most of this out loud to himself, not minding the others.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Jetta asked, "I'm sure if I've seen you before I would have recognized you by now."
"No, I just got here last night."
"So you're from another world?" Neron asked. Max fidgeted with his wand and looked down at the ground.
"It's okay, we know about the other worlds... well, at least I do," Riku said.
"You do? How? I was told they were supposed to be a secret!"
"They are," Yuffie cut in.
"At least they're supposed to be," Leon commented.
"If you're from another world then does that mean you have a Gummi ship?" Jetta asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool! Maybe we can help each other out then," Jetta said with a smile, "We can help you look for Sora, and assist you in battle, and you can just take us around so Neron can seal the Keyholes and save the worlds. I think it's a good enough deal."
"Okay, I sounds like a plan to me," Max said with a smile, "Maybe then we'll have a chance of running into the other Keyblade master."
"Great!" Jetta shouted before she turned to face Neron, "And you didn't want me to come." Neron simply rolled his eyes at her before he looked over at Riku.
"Sora..." Neron trailed off, "That's your friend isn't it?"
"...Yeah."
"Sora? Wow! He's gotten popular hasn't he?" Yuffie said with a smile, "Looks like he's wanted by more than just the heartless."
"You know Sora too?" Jetta asked, slightly amazed.
"Yep, met him when he was just a beginner at the whole Keyblade master thing," Yuffie said, "Seems like that's what you are too, Neron, was it?" Neron simply nodded his head.
Riku had strayed from the conversation and was off to the side, thinking to himself. His head was hung low as he stared off at the ground, the look of sadness and sorrow in his aqua blue eyes. Sure he said he was Sora's friend, but he didn't even know if Sora still wanted to be friends with him. After all the things he did: taking his Keyblade, trying to kill him, falling into darkness, making things worse on his friend, and even in a way plotting against him. Would Sora even want him back as a friend?
He kept thinking back to the last time he saw his brunet friend, closing him behind Kingdom Hearts, locking him in that world of darkness. He knew that Sora knew it was the right, and only thing, to do but in a way he seemed eager to close the door on him. No, Sora wouldn't want to close Riku up in darkness. Or would he? Riku wouldn't blame him if he did. After all he did do some pretty bad things, he even questioned their friendship.
"Riku?" Riku's head snapped up when he heard Jetta calling him. Her expression looked a little worried at first, as if questioning him if he was okay. "We're gonna go to my apartment to get some things before we leave, are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, of course," Riku said as he walked over to the three. He brightened his expression to fool Jetta into thinking he was okay, and apparently it worked cause the girl smiled up at him.
"Great!" Jetta exclaimed, "I call shotgun!"
"What?" Neron asked giving her a confused look along with everyone else.
"You know? Shotgun?" Jetta asked, still getting looks of confusion.
"What's shotgun?" Max finally asked.
"I can't believe you people have never heard of shotgun," Jetta sighed, "It means I call front seat."
"That's not far!" Neron exclaimed, "We didn't know what that meant!"
"Well, now you do. So, I call shotgun!" Jetta shouted with a smile, getting several dirty looks from the other two boys who would have to sit in the back seat since Max was the driver.
"Lets get going," Max said as he started to walk off, letting the others fallow him.
"I think it doesn't matter if you call shotgun or not, I should get the front seat since I'm the Keyblade master," Neron proclaimed.
"But that wouldn't be fare because then you'd get the front seat every time," Jetta said.
"So?"
"It's not far to me and Riku!" Jetta yelled, "At lease with shotgun we get some chance of riding up front. You're just mad cause I get to ride in the front first." Jetta grinned as she stuck her tongue out at him like a little four-year-old child.
"Am not! I'm mad cause you didn't give me a chance to call shotgun!"
"You had your chance!"
"Yeah two seconds!"
"See, two seconds was enough time to start saying it before I got to."
"But I was still confused about the concept!"
"Oh go cry about you big baby!"
"Make me!"
"Don't tempt me!" Jetta and Neron's yelling was still faintly heard from the alley as they walked away, leaving Leon and Yuffie still standing in the town square.
"Riku..." Leon trailed off.
"Isn't he one of the people Sora was looking for?" Yuffie asked, looking over to Leon.
"He was also the boy who Sora fought against."
"The one Ansem controlled?" Yuffie asked getting a head nod form Leon, "He looks like he's okay now."
"Maybe, but once your in darkness it never leaves your heart," Leon said, "I wonder if he's still got the dark powers?"
"He didn't look like it when he was battling."
"True, but he could be hiding them."
"Do you think it's okay for him to be around a Keyblade master?" Yuffie asked, "Isn't that the reason why he fought Sora, for the Keyblade?" Leon gave Yuffie a small head nod.
"We can only hope it wont happen again," Leon said before he turned and walked off, Yuffie fallowing close behind. She looked off at the alley before she completely left the town square, not to sure what to think about the silver haired boy.
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"There it is, the new world," Max said as he slowed the Gummi ship down as he approached the world.
"Wow!" This was the only word Jetta could think of as she pressed her face to the glass hoping to get a better view, which didn't really matter since she had the front seat.
"Looks like a jungle down there," Neron commented.
"More like a forest," Jetta corrected. Neron simply rolled his eyes at her.
"Before we go down there, I want to go over something," Max said, catching everyone's attention, "We're outsiders so we can't meddle in the affairs of others, and whatever you do don't mention anything about other worlds."
"Okay, no problem," Jetta said, "Now are we going or what?"
"Hang on, I need check the habitants. Sometimes we might need to disguise ourselves to fit the world, that way they don't think any different of us."
"We have costumes on this ship?" Jetta asked as she looked around.
"No, but I can give you a different appearance with magic," Max answered. Everyone exchanged worried glances with one another, not sure if that was a good idea or not.
"No offence Max, but we've seen what you can do with magic," Neron said.
"You're not going to turn us into mutants or anything, are you?" Riku asked.
"If so, is the change reversible?" Jetta asked. Max simply sighed.
"Okay, so I'm not the best when it comes to fighting spells, but I'm really good with disguising spells," Max said, but the three still gave him a skeptical look, "Just trust me okay."
"...Okay," They all said, still a little worried about the whole thing.
"So are we landing this baby or what?" Jetta asked after a moment of silence. Neron, feed up with her asking silly questions throughout the whole ride, growled and kicked the back of her seat, causing her to jerk forward. Jetta simply turned and gave Neron a look that could kill, luckily glares and hateful glances couldn't do that or they'd be short of a Keyblade Master.
"You better be lucky I'm not back there with you!" Jetta growled, holding up a fist. If she was able to reach him she would have hit him by now, that's for sure.
"Oh I'm so scared," Neron said, sarcasm practically dripping from his tongue. Once again the two started to argue and bicker at one another. Max and Riku sighed as the came to the conclusion that they would never get a moments peace with those two around, if they did then something would be wrong. That or the apocalypse was coming. Either way they were both perfectly good reasons.
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Author: I'm so happy that I got another long chapter out. *Bounces up and down* I'm on a roll! Go me!
Sora: This calls for ice cream!
Author: Yummy! That's a great idea Sora! Ice cream for all my lovely reviewers, and a nasty tasting nutrition bar for Riku.
Riku: What!?!?
Author: Just joking. *Smiles* You may be trying to get me in trouble for making it seem like I've kidnapped you, but I can't deprive you of ice cream just because of that reason. Then again… *Grins evilly* No I'll just torture you later with something better. ^-^
Sora: I told you Demon was nice! *Sticks tongue out at Riku* Well *thinking* somewhat nice… *Demon rolls her eyes at Sora.*
Riku: Well... thanks, but this doesn't mean you're off the hook. *Walks out to get the ice cream*
Author: *Glares at Sora*
Sora: Sorry, I thought being nice to him might work.
Author: *Sighs* It's okay Sora. I forgive you. Anyway, ice cream for all my reviewers so you'll hopefully review again and again and again! LOL! I'm just so nice. In the next chapter we finally get to go to a new world. Yeah buddy! It's about time, huh? *Grins* Try and guess what world it is, I bet you'll never guess it. I'll give you a hint, it is an old Disney movie, based on a classic legend/story thing, and it's not one you visited in the game. I just want to see what your guesses are. Anyone who can guess it right gets a cookie! *Grins again*
Sora: Cookies are good! ^-^ Is it going to be a gooey chocolate chip one?
Author: Whatever kind the lucky winner, or winners, wants. *Grins* But lookie at what else I have! I have more notes for you people. Hurray for me! Don't you feel loved? Ice cream and a note. ^-^
Mizutaka's note: I'm glad I did better last time. *Grins* Makes me feel like I'm actually improving. Do people really call you the Grammar Nazi? That's awfully mean, considering your only giving helpful criticism. I mean if people can't take it then they shouldn't put stories up... especially when it's helpful. I'm glade you liked it. Thanks for the review. ^-^
Author: Score another person for torturing Riku! LOL! *Riku sulks*
Rurouni Saiyan's note: I'm glad you loved the chapter, and by the way I love your story, keep up the good work, and yes you really know how to torture Riku. ^-^ Thanks for the review. (Anyone who hasn't read Rurouni Saiyan's story "A Fragmented Tale" I suggest you go and cheek it out. It's a cool story! I love it!)
Riku: Why does everyone like to torture me? What did I ever do to them?
Author: You should be happy Riku, look at all of the attention you're getting. They love you! *Riku mumbles with a slight blush on his face* ^-^
Inuyasha's apprentice's note: I got glomped. I feel so loved! ^-^ Boy do I ever feel stupid for spelling jeans wrong, LOL. I told you I couldn't catch my mistakes. I'm glade you think I'm improving as well. This is great! Anyway, thanks for the help, and for reviewing. ^-^
animefreak321654's note: Look! I'm mentioning you again! Don't you feel loved? I'm glade you're enjoying my story. It makes me so happy to know people like it. ^-^ It's great! Thanks for reviewing me yet again!
Author: *Sighs blissfully* I just love all you guys. Your people are the greatest! Now where did Riku go with that ice cream... he better not be hogging it all! *Runs off to find Riku*
Sora: ...Demon! Don't leave me all alone. *Runs out of the room* Oh... bye reviewers! Have a nice day! ^-^
Chapter 5: This is Where it Begins
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As Jetta and Neron were getting up on the other side of the split, the heartless slammed its foot into the ground creating a shock wave that knocked Riku and Max down with ease. While laying on the ground Riku looked over at Neron, watching him attack the heartless's leg. He then sat up and looked over at Max who was shooting off fire spells at the heartless's arm, but wasn't coming close to hitting him. As he looked on he realized the heartless was paying no heed to their attacks, not even the slightest winch. Was this one heartless going to stop their adventure before it even started?
Jetta and Neron ran from the heartless when it bent over to try and swat them away. Surprisingly, Neron could hold his ground quite well when in dangerous situations, then again he had a Keyblade in each hand. Riku looked over at Jetta who also had no trouble at all since she could just shoot little fireballs out of her fingertips for long distance, but once she got in close she showed a new ability. Her hands and feet would in case themselves in a flame and she'd give her attacks a burring force of power. The attacks flowed out so gracefully that they appeared to be a dance with her twirls, kicks, and punches that burned the heartless's black skin, but sadly seemed like nothing to it.
Once Riku was back on his feet, he marveled at the weapon he held in his hand since he really hadn't had time before to look at it. Of course this wasn't really the best time either, but he didn't seem to care at the moment. It's heaviness made it clear that even the handle was made of metal, which would do well for a clear, clean slice. Taking in closer inspection of the weapon the handle was a dragon that wrapped around the base of the sword with its wings spread out fully. The wings served as a guard to other sword attacks so it wouldn't cut off any of his fingers, or severely damage his hand. The sword seemed fit for decoration than a weapon for a battle, but a sword's a sword. Nevertheless, Riku gripped the handle tightly, holding it firmly, still sheathed, by his hip on the left side, before he charged at the heartless, showing no sign of fear.
When he got in close enough, he jumped high in the air and did a complete flip once reaching his maximum height. While diving back down to the ground he pulled the sword out of its sheath and struck the heartless's shoulder. He twirled a bit in the air from the force he put into the attack, slicing its arm several more times before he landed safely on the ground.
"Show off!" Neron shouted at him. Riku could only flash the boy a smile of satisfaction.
"At least you're doing some damage over here," Max chuckled before he shot a fireball off that actually hit.
Everyone did their best at trying to destroy the heartless, but their attacks only seemed to breeze across the heartless's skin without the slightest effect. The thought of not being able to defeat this heartless crossed everyone's mind, but nether of them would loss without a fight. Their chances seemed to worsen when out of nowhere the heartless's fist came flying at Jetta and Neron. Neron managed to escape it, by the skin of his teeth, but Jetta wasn't as lucky. In a split second Jetta was flying to the other side of the town square. Seconds later her body sat lifeless at the base of the crumbled building that had stopped her from flying any further. Everyone stood there in a stunned state and waited for her to move, but she didn't.
"...Jetta..." Riku was the first to pull himself away from the battle to check up on her and he was relieved to see her still breathing when he got there. He started to search his pockets for a potion but remembered that he had nothing on him since he had no munny, which for some reason he kept forgetting about.
"Hey! Catch!" Riku turned around just in time to catch a small bottle with a glowing green liquid inside. He looked up to find a girl with shoulder length black hair pulled back in a white headband smiling over at him. She was dressed in a black top designed to look like a tube top, but had buckle like straps holding it in place from her shoulders. A mesh black fabric fell from the bottom of her top and reattached to her shorts, covering her stomach. Her black shorts were very short with a dark blue belt hanging loosely from her hip. Her long legs were covered by white stockings that came a little past her knees, and black boots fit snugly to her feet with little chains draped on them for decoration. To finish her outfit off she wore white gloves, one glove going to her shoulder and the other only around the palm of her hand. (Think of Riku's gloves.)
"What are you waiting for? That is what you wanted, right?" The girl asked. Quickly Riku opened the bottle and pored the liquid into her mouth. She slightly grunted as she opened her eyes to find Riku staring down at her, fuzzy at first, but it eventually cleared.
"Are you okay?" Riku asked.
"...I am now." Jetta said as she looked herself over, amazed that she survived something like that, "What a close one, huh?" Jetta started to get up but Riku stopped her.
"Maybe you should stay here, and rest a bit. You can join the battle when you feel better." Jetta glared at him as she knocked his hand away and got up.
"I don't need to rest! I'm fine!" Jetta looked over at the new person who stood in the marketplace and cocked an eyebrow at her, "Who's that?"
"I don't know, but you should be thanking her. She's the one who gave me the potion."
"What are you staring at?" The girl asked getting annoyed with the two of them staring at her. The question was soon forgotten as a ball of fire shoot past her, causing her to duck to the ground, "Hey! You almost hit me, you jerk!"
"You where in my line of fire. How else was I supposed to get you to move?" A man spat as he ran past the girl, making his way to the heartless.
He was a tall man with shoulder length brown hair and dark blue eyes that held a stern glare at everything. Along with that, he had a scar that ran diagonally in between his eyes, making him seem even more menacing than he already was. He dressed in a black leather jacket with a red lion head design on the back, and had several red buckles on the sleeves for decoration. Under that was a normal white shirt that was tucked into his loose leather pants with a zipper going all the way up to his thighs. His pants were held to his waist by a black belt along with several other belts that hung loosely. The pants hung lose around his ankles where a pair of black boots could be seen. To finish it off he had on black gloves that had metal attached to the knuckles of them, and in his hands he carried a large sword. The handle was bent and the design of it made it look exactly like an oversized revolver. Right away he started to attack the heartless with all of his might and was soon helped by the girl who would throw little ninja stars at the unshielded area on the heartless's body.
"Where are these people coming from?" Jetta asked as she looked over at Riku.
"I don't know, but lets not complain, they are helping after all."
"Yeah, you've got a point," Jetta said as she smiled over at him, "Lets go!"
Riku and Jetta both ran back into the battle and started an all out attack on the heartless. Neron was now having a harder time since all the attacks on his side were now aimed directly at him. To make things easier on him, the new girl hopped onto the heartless's arm and ran up to its head, throwing a few stars along the way. Once reaching the head she dashed down the other arm, tossing Neron a potion as she zipped past him, putting some distance between her and the heartless since she was more of a distance fighter. Once she had enough fun on that side she would switch sides again; this continued throughout the battle.
With the two new people on their side it seemed like the attacks were finally taking affect. The heartless's attacks were getting weaker and not only that but he was getting slower as time progressed, then again so did the others. The only good thing was that the ninja girl had succeeded in taking out an eye with one of her ninja stars, this seemed to be the most effective attack yet, but it still wasn't enough. What seemed like minutes in this battle must have felt like hours to the gang. They started to back away from the beast one at a time to rest, but it just wasn't enough. Max had used all of his ethers and was out of magic, leaving him to fight with his fists. To put it simple, things seemed hopeless.
"This is ridiculous, why hasn't it been defeated yet?" Jetta asked out of breath as she looked over at Riku, who was out of breath as well.
"I don't know," Riku sighed, wiping the sweat from his brow, "But I do know it's not enough."
"...I've got an idea!" Jetta proclaimed as she started to rummage through her pockets, "Oh I know I have it. Where is it?"
"If you didn't have so many pockets it might be easier to find what you're looking for," Riku spat. Jetta growled as she quickly shot the sliver haired boy a hatful glare.
"Don't start with me!" Jetta yelled before her eyes lit up with happiness, "Found it!"
"Found what?" Jetta simply held up a bottle of blue liquid.
"My extra elixir, I always carry one for intense situations," Jetta said proudly before she opened the bottle, "All my magic and health will be restored, that way I can use my very best attack. I just hope it'll be enough to finish it off." Jetta then drank the bottle in one swig before she stood.
"What's your best attack?"
"You'll see," Jetta said with a smile before she ran back into the battle, "Everybody stand back!" Jetta ran past every one and didn't stop until she was in front of the heartless. The others didn't listen to her warnings at first, that is until Jetta's entire body lit on fire, but after a moment or two they decided to back away.
Her once green eyes turned a bright red and glowed with rage, and an enormous ball of fire formed in her hand building up from the fire around her body until the flames were gone. She charged at the heatless once again and jumped high in the air, using a blast of flames from her feet to get her high enough in the air. The heartless wasn't quick enough to swat her out of the sky before she unleashed her attack. The ball shot off from her hand, forcing her backwards from the force. An explosion was heard as the ball hit the heartless in the chest, knocking it back into a building.
The man in leather caught Jetta before she hit the ground, seeing as she had slipped into unconsciousness from the sudden loss of power. As the smoke was clearing a large glowing heart floated out of the smoke, swirling with colors of dark blue and purple, before it disappeared into the sky. Before the heartless disappeared along with it's heart, it was seen leaning on a building with a hole going strait through its chest from the brutal attack. As it faded away every one looked over at Jetta, who was now waking up.
"Why didn't you do that in the first place?" Neron shouted from across the gorge in the ground.
"It had to be weakened first!" Jetta spat, "Other wise it probably wouldn't have worked."
"Whatever," Neron mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Man, look at this mess," The ninja girl said as she looked around at all of the destruction, "It's going to take forever for them to fill up this gap."
"I'm sure the town's people can handle it," The man said, not really giving the subject much concern. The girl smiled as she walked over to Jetta and gave her a good pat on the back.
"That was some attack!"
"Thanks," Jetta said as she gave the girl a tiered smile.
"You just gave a whole new meaning to big things come in small packages," The girl laughed, "You fellin' okay?"
"Just a little tiered, nothing big," Jetta said as she slowly stood up, "Thanks for the help... um..."
"Yuffie!" She said with a smile, "And that's Squall."
"Leon!" He corrected, giving Yuffie one of his stern looks.
"Yeah, yeah," Yuffie said without much care, "So who are your other little antisocial friends over there?" Jetta looked behind her to find all three of the boys gathered around the gap discussing something.
~~~~~~~~
"Look at how far down it goes!" Neron said as he carefully looked over the edge, not wanting to fall in, "It's like it goes to the very center of this world."
"That's not good," Riku said as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Why?" Neron asked.
"Because the world's heart is in the center of the world," Leon said as he walked over to them, "Normally the heartless look for the keyhole that leads to the heart...but it looks like they're taking a different approach this time."
"What's that?" Max asked as he pointed to a light at the bottom of the gorge. The tips of Neron's Keyblades began to glow a bright blue, and they started to shake in his hands. A blue lazar like light shot out of each end and twisted together into one light before it plunged down into the split. A low, almost silent, click was heard moments later, echoing up the rocky walls, like the sound you hear when you lock a door. The light on Neron's Keyblades faded away and everyone but Riku, Leon, and Yuffie were left in wonder and confusion.
"What...what was that?" Neron asked as he stared at his Keyblades in amazement.
"You just sealed your first Keyhole," Riku said as Jetta and Yuffie came running over to the group. The ground began to shake and rumble, yet again, knocking Jetta down easily in the state she was in, with Yuffie dropping to her side. Max was next to fall but the others managed to keep standing as the rip in the ground began to mend itself. Soon it was nothing but a crake but even that disappeared, leaving the ground looking like it had never been disturbed.
"Well, at least now the town doesn't have to worry about filling the gap up," Yuffie commented with a light laugh.
"Your weapons... what are they called?" Max asked as he walked up to Neron.
"Keyblades?" Neron slightly asked as he looked over towards Riku, making sure he got the name right.
"This is great!" Max shouted, "I can't believe I found the Keyblade master so soon."
"You mean you were looking for me?"
"Yeah! Are you Sora?"
"No, I'm Neron."
"...I didn't think so," Max said as he hung his head, "I didn't see Donald or Goofy with you."
"Goofy? Donald?" Neron asked, "Who are they?"
"Just some people I was told to look for," Max sighed, "You must not be the right one. Does this mean there are two Keyblade masters?" Max asked most of this out loud to himself, not minding the others.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Jetta asked, "I'm sure if I've seen you before I would have recognized you by now."
"No, I just got here last night."
"So you're from another world?" Neron asked. Max fidgeted with his wand and looked down at the ground.
"It's okay, we know about the other worlds... well, at least I do," Riku said.
"You do? How? I was told they were supposed to be a secret!"
"They are," Yuffie cut in.
"At least they're supposed to be," Leon commented.
"If you're from another world then does that mean you have a Gummi ship?" Jetta asked.
"Yeah."
"Cool! Maybe we can help each other out then," Jetta said with a smile, "We can help you look for Sora, and assist you in battle, and you can just take us around so Neron can seal the Keyholes and save the worlds. I think it's a good enough deal."
"Okay, I sounds like a plan to me," Max said with a smile, "Maybe then we'll have a chance of running into the other Keyblade master."
"Great!" Jetta shouted before she turned to face Neron, "And you didn't want me to come." Neron simply rolled his eyes at her before he looked over at Riku.
"Sora..." Neron trailed off, "That's your friend isn't it?"
"...Yeah."
"Sora? Wow! He's gotten popular hasn't he?" Yuffie said with a smile, "Looks like he's wanted by more than just the heartless."
"You know Sora too?" Jetta asked, slightly amazed.
"Yep, met him when he was just a beginner at the whole Keyblade master thing," Yuffie said, "Seems like that's what you are too, Neron, was it?" Neron simply nodded his head.
Riku had strayed from the conversation and was off to the side, thinking to himself. His head was hung low as he stared off at the ground, the look of sadness and sorrow in his aqua blue eyes. Sure he said he was Sora's friend, but he didn't even know if Sora still wanted to be friends with him. After all the things he did: taking his Keyblade, trying to kill him, falling into darkness, making things worse on his friend, and even in a way plotting against him. Would Sora even want him back as a friend?
He kept thinking back to the last time he saw his brunet friend, closing him behind Kingdom Hearts, locking him in that world of darkness. He knew that Sora knew it was the right, and only thing, to do but in a way he seemed eager to close the door on him. No, Sora wouldn't want to close Riku up in darkness. Or would he? Riku wouldn't blame him if he did. After all he did do some pretty bad things, he even questioned their friendship.
"Riku?" Riku's head snapped up when he heard Jetta calling him. Her expression looked a little worried at first, as if questioning him if he was okay. "We're gonna go to my apartment to get some things before we leave, are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, of course," Riku said as he walked over to the three. He brightened his expression to fool Jetta into thinking he was okay, and apparently it worked cause the girl smiled up at him.
"Great!" Jetta exclaimed, "I call shotgun!"
"What?" Neron asked giving her a confused look along with everyone else.
"You know? Shotgun?" Jetta asked, still getting looks of confusion.
"What's shotgun?" Max finally asked.
"I can't believe you people have never heard of shotgun," Jetta sighed, "It means I call front seat."
"That's not far!" Neron exclaimed, "We didn't know what that meant!"
"Well, now you do. So, I call shotgun!" Jetta shouted with a smile, getting several dirty looks from the other two boys who would have to sit in the back seat since Max was the driver.
"Lets get going," Max said as he started to walk off, letting the others fallow him.
"I think it doesn't matter if you call shotgun or not, I should get the front seat since I'm the Keyblade master," Neron proclaimed.
"But that wouldn't be fare because then you'd get the front seat every time," Jetta said.
"So?"
"It's not far to me and Riku!" Jetta yelled, "At lease with shotgun we get some chance of riding up front. You're just mad cause I get to ride in the front first." Jetta grinned as she stuck her tongue out at him like a little four-year-old child.
"Am not! I'm mad cause you didn't give me a chance to call shotgun!"
"You had your chance!"
"Yeah two seconds!"
"See, two seconds was enough time to start saying it before I got to."
"But I was still confused about the concept!"
"Oh go cry about you big baby!"
"Make me!"
"Don't tempt me!" Jetta and Neron's yelling was still faintly heard from the alley as they walked away, leaving Leon and Yuffie still standing in the town square.
"Riku..." Leon trailed off.
"Isn't he one of the people Sora was looking for?" Yuffie asked, looking over to Leon.
"He was also the boy who Sora fought against."
"The one Ansem controlled?" Yuffie asked getting a head nod form Leon, "He looks like he's okay now."
"Maybe, but once your in darkness it never leaves your heart," Leon said, "I wonder if he's still got the dark powers?"
"He didn't look like it when he was battling."
"True, but he could be hiding them."
"Do you think it's okay for him to be around a Keyblade master?" Yuffie asked, "Isn't that the reason why he fought Sora, for the Keyblade?" Leon gave Yuffie a small head nod.
"We can only hope it wont happen again," Leon said before he turned and walked off, Yuffie fallowing close behind. She looked off at the alley before she completely left the town square, not to sure what to think about the silver haired boy.
~~~~~~~~
"There it is, the new world," Max said as he slowed the Gummi ship down as he approached the world.
"Wow!" This was the only word Jetta could think of as she pressed her face to the glass hoping to get a better view, which didn't really matter since she had the front seat.
"Looks like a jungle down there," Neron commented.
"More like a forest," Jetta corrected. Neron simply rolled his eyes at her.
"Before we go down there, I want to go over something," Max said, catching everyone's attention, "We're outsiders so we can't meddle in the affairs of others, and whatever you do don't mention anything about other worlds."
"Okay, no problem," Jetta said, "Now are we going or what?"
"Hang on, I need check the habitants. Sometimes we might need to disguise ourselves to fit the world, that way they don't think any different of us."
"We have costumes on this ship?" Jetta asked as she looked around.
"No, but I can give you a different appearance with magic," Max answered. Everyone exchanged worried glances with one another, not sure if that was a good idea or not.
"No offence Max, but we've seen what you can do with magic," Neron said.
"You're not going to turn us into mutants or anything, are you?" Riku asked.
"If so, is the change reversible?" Jetta asked. Max simply sighed.
"Okay, so I'm not the best when it comes to fighting spells, but I'm really good with disguising spells," Max said, but the three still gave him a skeptical look, "Just trust me okay."
"...Okay," They all said, still a little worried about the whole thing.
"So are we landing this baby or what?" Jetta asked after a moment of silence. Neron, feed up with her asking silly questions throughout the whole ride, growled and kicked the back of her seat, causing her to jerk forward. Jetta simply turned and gave Neron a look that could kill, luckily glares and hateful glances couldn't do that or they'd be short of a Keyblade Master.
"You better be lucky I'm not back there with you!" Jetta growled, holding up a fist. If she was able to reach him she would have hit him by now, that's for sure.
"Oh I'm so scared," Neron said, sarcasm practically dripping from his tongue. Once again the two started to argue and bicker at one another. Max and Riku sighed as the came to the conclusion that they would never get a moments peace with those two around, if they did then something would be wrong. That or the apocalypse was coming. Either way they were both perfectly good reasons.
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Author: I'm so happy that I got another long chapter out. *Bounces up and down* I'm on a roll! Go me!
Sora: This calls for ice cream!
Author: Yummy! That's a great idea Sora! Ice cream for all my lovely reviewers, and a nasty tasting nutrition bar for Riku.
Riku: What!?!?
Author: Just joking. *Smiles* You may be trying to get me in trouble for making it seem like I've kidnapped you, but I can't deprive you of ice cream just because of that reason. Then again… *Grins evilly* No I'll just torture you later with something better. ^-^
Sora: I told you Demon was nice! *Sticks tongue out at Riku* Well *thinking* somewhat nice… *Demon rolls her eyes at Sora.*
Riku: Well... thanks, but this doesn't mean you're off the hook. *Walks out to get the ice cream*
Author: *Glares at Sora*
Sora: Sorry, I thought being nice to him might work.
Author: *Sighs* It's okay Sora. I forgive you. Anyway, ice cream for all my reviewers so you'll hopefully review again and again and again! LOL! I'm just so nice. In the next chapter we finally get to go to a new world. Yeah buddy! It's about time, huh? *Grins* Try and guess what world it is, I bet you'll never guess it. I'll give you a hint, it is an old Disney movie, based on a classic legend/story thing, and it's not one you visited in the game. I just want to see what your guesses are. Anyone who can guess it right gets a cookie! *Grins again*
Sora: Cookies are good! ^-^ Is it going to be a gooey chocolate chip one?
Author: Whatever kind the lucky winner, or winners, wants. *Grins* But lookie at what else I have! I have more notes for you people. Hurray for me! Don't you feel loved? Ice cream and a note. ^-^
Mizutaka's note: I'm glad I did better last time. *Grins* Makes me feel like I'm actually improving. Do people really call you the Grammar Nazi? That's awfully mean, considering your only giving helpful criticism. I mean if people can't take it then they shouldn't put stories up... especially when it's helpful. I'm glade you liked it. Thanks for the review. ^-^
Author: Score another person for torturing Riku! LOL! *Riku sulks*
Rurouni Saiyan's note: I'm glad you loved the chapter, and by the way I love your story, keep up the good work, and yes you really know how to torture Riku. ^-^ Thanks for the review. (Anyone who hasn't read Rurouni Saiyan's story "A Fragmented Tale" I suggest you go and cheek it out. It's a cool story! I love it!)
Riku: Why does everyone like to torture me? What did I ever do to them?
Author: You should be happy Riku, look at all of the attention you're getting. They love you! *Riku mumbles with a slight blush on his face* ^-^
Inuyasha's apprentice's note: I got glomped. I feel so loved! ^-^ Boy do I ever feel stupid for spelling jeans wrong, LOL. I told you I couldn't catch my mistakes. I'm glade you think I'm improving as well. This is great! Anyway, thanks for the help, and for reviewing. ^-^
animefreak321654's note: Look! I'm mentioning you again! Don't you feel loved? I'm glade you're enjoying my story. It makes me so happy to know people like it. ^-^ It's great! Thanks for reviewing me yet again!
Author: *Sighs blissfully* I just love all you guys. Your people are the greatest! Now where did Riku go with that ice cream... he better not be hogging it all! *Runs off to find Riku*
Sora: ...Demon! Don't leave me all alone. *Runs out of the room* Oh... bye reviewers! Have a nice day! ^-^