Okay!!! This is the 8th chapter, and like I said, one of my favorites. I hope all you guys like it too, but I think you will!!!!!!!!!! Just a note for all the karate haters out there (if there are any, I mean, who would hate karate!?!?!?), THERE IS KARATE IN THIS CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*see chapter 1 for disclaimer*

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Chapter 8: Keyblade

Ari jolted up in her sleeping bag. Her palms were sweaty and she was breathing heavily. She looked at her surroundings. She was in her tent, in her pajamas, safe and sound.

"Just a dream." She said to herself. "Just a stupid dream."

Ari got dressed and ready inside the tent. She had slept longer than everyone. Ari walked out of the tent. Riku, Sora, and Kairi were sitting logs by the fire, eating breakfast.

Riku looked at Ari. "Finally!" He said with a smile. "Your breakfast was getting cold."

"What's for breakfast anyways?" Ari asked. "It smells like fish."

"That's because it is fish." Sora said as he handed Ari her plate.

"Oh." Ari said as she smiled and began to eat her breakfast.

Kairi looked up at the sky. "It looks like it's going to rain." She said.

As if on cue, drops of water quickly found their way from the dark sky onto the heads of the kids on the beach. The rain started to become harder, soaking Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Ari's clothes.

"Come on!" Riku yelled to them as he started running to the dock. "Let's go before the rain gets harder!"

"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Ari yelled playfully as she dashed by Riku. And with that, the four friends raced to the docks in the rain, but something made them stop in their tracks.

A Heartless, like the ones in Ari's dream, started pulling itself out of the wet sand.

"Oh, that's great." Riku said sarcastically.

Sora obviously didn't note the sarcasm in Riku's voice. "Don't get any ideas Riku!" He yelled at him.

"What?! You think I'm gonna side with them again?!" Riku yelled back at Sora. "There's no way I-"

Kairi cut Riku off. "JUST SHUTUP AND FIGHT FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!!!!" She yelled at the two boys.

More and more Heartless started to rise from the ground and began circling around the four teens.

"Works for me!" Sora said as he pulled out his Kingdom Key and began slicing the Heartless. To Ari's amazement, Riku and Kairi both took out Kingdom Keys too. Riku's had a silver handle and a black blade, and Kairi's had a pink handle with a white blade.

Kairi started slicing all of the shadows in front of her, whereas Riku charged into a large group of Heartless and slashed at then without mercy.

"Well," Ari said to herself, "if this is like my dream," she looked at her right hand, "Keyblade!" She said. Nothing happened.

"Keyblade!" She tried again. Still, nothing.

"KEYBLADE! KEYBLADE! KEYBLADE! KEYBLADE! KEYBLADE! KEYBLADE!!!!!!!" She yelled while jumping up and down, but still, nothing happened.

"Perfect." Ari said to herself. "Just perfect. I'm being surrounded by Heartless, and I have no weapon. I know! I'll improvise!!!!"

At that instant, Ari started punching and kicking the Heartless around her.

"Hiyah!!! I didn't take karate lessons for nothin' ya know!" She yelled as she kicked a shadow in the face.

Ari looked for her friends, the rain still pouring from the sky and soaking everything below it. She saw Sora and Kairi fighting back to back, so neither of them could be attacked from behind. Ari then looked for Riku. She finally found him, being cornered against a rock by a sea of Heartless.

"Don't worry Riku! I'll help ya!!!" Ari yelled as she ran over to him, on the way attacking Heartless that just happened to be in front of her.

"Ha ha! Take that you worthless scum! I'll show you who's boss!!!" She screamed at the shadows who had cornered Riku.

Soon enough, all of the shadows were gone, the rain was still pouring, and the four friends walked over to each other.

"That was weird." Kairi said.

"Yeah," Riku said, "looks like the Heartless are new and improved."

"How do you think they got like that?" Sora asked.

"I don't know, but they're still weaklings!!!" Ari exclaimed. "I didn't even have to use a Keyblade!!!"

Then, right after she said 'Keyblade', a light flashed in her right hand, and Ari was holding the Keyblade from her dream.

"Figures," she said, "it shows up after I need it."

"Wait, how do you know about the-" Sora started, but the ground beneath the teens opened up, and swept them into another world.