A horrific thunderstorm raged on in the unnoticeable background of the city intersection. The buildings and streets sparkled in reflective response to the torrential downpour. It was a quiet city, or at least this area was. Uncountable rows of towers and houses were left dead, devoid of purpose. Street lamps flickered on, illuminating the dead metropolis, and as if the life had been drained out of it the buzzing stopped, sending the city into darkness once again. Time stood still. It was the middle of winter and the snow had fallen, yet no footprints could be found.
A loud cry broke through the night as the sword-wielding warrior plunged his weapon down onto the creature before him - slicing it in half. Rolling forward onto one knee, he spun his blade around on his hand before gripping it and dividing another monster in two. Intimidated, the remaining creatures cringed in fear before running off in a random, befuddled manner. His weapon sparkled in the reflection shown by the rainwater running off of it. Its shape was curved, with an icy pattern. The end of the blade had a big, snowflake-like formation on it, which made the weapon look like a key.
With the threat now ceased, the fighter got to his feet. His long, mahogany jacket, which reached down just below his knees, blew back in the wind, as well as his short, grayish blonde hair. His red lapels fluttered in the breeze, as the water on his metallic neon red shoulder pads gleamed, as well as his perfect white leather shoes, covered by grains of dirt, as well as his crimson, fingerless gloves. The warrior made one slashing motion as he brought his blade to his right side, then lifted it up. The weapon evaporated, transforming into a keychain as he attached it to the button on the right front pocket on his jacket. The keychain looked like a large, stained glass snowflake. His silver-tinted eyes were momentarily covered as he blinked, clearing the dust from his eyes.
"Nice moves." a voice came from behind. His eyes lit up in surprise as he turned to see a familiar identity before he lowered his head a little, laughing to himself. "Good to see you're still alive." "Yeah, well," The woman standing there revealed her hidden hand from the other side of the corner of the building she was leaning against to reveal another long, key-like sword. It was what was known as a Keyblade. There were many different types and models of Keyblades, and the one the woman was holding was the Lionheart model, a long, silver, metallic blade with an emblem of a lion under the end of it, with a circular hand guard. "when you have this, and my skills, nothing can touch ya." He laughed again as she gripped the blade. It evaporated into a keychain of the lion emblem, as she attached it to her belt. "I suppose not. How have you been, Kit?" The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. You?" "I've been fine. There's been a lot of Heartless in my area lately, so I've been quite busy." "Same here. There seem to be a lot more than usual in the last few weeks." "Yeah. Weird..."
The woman stood there, leaned against the corner of a building. Her smug, tempting expression was composed of deep, blue eyes hidden behind clear, lower-semicircular glasses. She wore a typical female soldier's uniform, which was a crimson outfit with ceremonial form all around it, including golden metal shoulder pads, one side of the front covering the other, attached by fancy sashes and buttons. Her outfit came with a skirt, which fell down to just above her knees. Her long, black, braided hair was topped off with a crimson cap decorated with a golden trim line around the bottom, a small blue crystal on the front, and a white, dome-like decoration on the top of it. Her right leg supported her as she kicked the corner with her left, her feet and lower legs covered by metallic light blue boots. A short silence followed before Kit's eyes lit up in shock. She pointed to the sky behind him. "Look!" He turned to look at what she had noticed. A loud screech was heard throughout the area, as the lightning revealed a hidden figure lurching on top of the building on the adjacent corner. "A Wyvern..."
The beast leapt off of the building and began descending. It was a brown-orange hue in color, with a tetrahedral head shape. On its chest was an emblem of a black heart; the insignia of the Heartless. On cue, the two instantly snatched their keychains from their places and held them to the sky. The male warrior shouted, "Diamond Dust!" as Kit shouted, "Lionheart!" The keychains began to glow, as random star-shaped sparks were seen orbiting them. With a flash, each keychain became light, as their shape expanded into their respective weapons. Gripping them, the two keyblade wielders dashed towards the Wyvern, their hands flowing behind them as they ran. The male then reached into his jacket and tossed up a small blue card with the image of a snowflake on it. "Blizzard!" he cried, as the card turned into light and flowed around his weapon, which then began to shoot bolts of ice. Screeching furiously, the airborne beast was hit face first with the snowy spell, as its wings became encased in ice. Unable to fly, the Wyvern came crashing into the pavement. The two warriors jumped back as the monster ceased its scraping movement where they had just been standing. Still screeching, it manage to shatter its cold shackles and break free, reascending into the night sky.
Seeing that ice wouldn't work, he pulled out yet another card with a blue border on it; this one had an image of a large flame on it. Searching through his pocket, he pulled out another card of the same type. Holding them together, he tossed them out in front of him, as they hovered side by side. With a horizontal slashing motion he struck them in succession. "Fira!" he chanted, as the two cards combusted into blazing balls of fire, which bound themselves to the other, generating a larger flame. The large fireball hung on the tip of the Keyblade, as the warrior carefully aimed at the Wyvern's head before thrusting forward, signaling the release of the spell, as the fireball took off. As the beast observed the ball of flame heading for it, it inhaled for a few seconds before spitting out a fireball of its own, nearly equal in size and intensity of the warrior's spell. As the two balls connected, they canceled each other out. The flames dissipated, leaving nothing accomplished from either side. "Looks like fire is useless as well..."
Kit bore a determined expression as she ran directly under the beast, holding her weapon upwards towards the beast. "OK, my turn! Strike Raid!" she cried, as the Keyblade was engulfed by a bright aura. Kit then spiraled around and hurtled the blade upwards, as it began to spin in midair, careening towards the beast. It was smart, though; smarter than it appeared. It began to soar through the air, in an attempt to dodge the projectile, which was closing in fast. It looped around and headed for the far direction. Kit smiled, as the spinning blade changed course and began to follow the dragon-like creature. The blade began to increase in speed as it gradually closed the gap between itself and the Wyvern. Just when it was about to contact, Kit drove her right palm upwards. "Judgment!" she cried, as the blade immediately halted, blade pointed towards the Wyvern, as it stopped and turned around to find out what happened. As it hovered there flapping, the blade began to emit vibrations and small, unnoticeable shockwaves. Over the next few seconds, the intensity began to increase, to the point where the shockwaves were blowing the Wyvern backwards. It angrily fought the force of the wave, trying to get its claws at the source of its pain. Kit let the blade's shockwaves dim slightly, as the beast got closer. Just before it could grab the Lionheart, Kit snapped her fingers, as the eyes on the lion emblem glowed red. A loud lion's growl echoed throughout the city as the blade then caused a gigantic explosion of fire. As the fog began to settle, the Keyblade returned to her undaunted or stained, as she swung it around after catching it. The cloud of dust settled, as the Wyvern hovered there, in suspended animation in an injured pose. After a few seconds, the black heart emblem on its chest glowed as the rest of its body dissolved into it. The emblem then dissolved into nothingness. In response to the monster's defeat, the two held their Keyblades up, returning them to keychain form, and attaching them to their respective keeping places.
The male looked to her. "Nice work." She winked happily in response. "You didn't do so bad yourself, Ekiken."
As he trudged through the streets, which were coated in a thin layer of icy snow, Ekiken covered himself with the loose sides of his jacket. It was around minus twenty degrees Celsius. The rain was still coming down, but not as hard; it had settled down to a drizzle, which didn't bother him that much. He was used to this kind of weather; it made frequent appearances with the type of climate this area had.
Soon he came to the center intersection of the city. He stared momentarily at the street signs; Saint Street and Heart Road. This intersection was the location of the city's biggest shopping mall, or was, rather. Ever since the Heartless attacks began to grow in frequency, they began to destroy property, and the city's population slowly began to decrease as people began evacuating. There was nobody left living in the city, and consequently, the Heartless had made this their main hangout. The four five-storie buildings sat as dead as the rest of the town. This was the perfect starting point for the eventual rebellion, to which Ekiken belonged, being a member of one of its strike force teams. He usually preferred to work alone, but would usually have to end up working with the rest of his team.
He approached the entrance to the subway, which was on the east-northeastern sidewalk of the Saint-Heart intersection. The stairway had been sealed shut, since the Heartless had destroyed the underground railway as well. Not hesitating, he made a swiping motion with his arm as he snapped his fingers. In reaction, the wall blocking the entrance rumbled and moved aside, closing back up as he entered. However, he didn't notice the eerie shadow that followed him in as he turned the northbound corner...
The floor inside depicted a huge, white heart with the word "SAENTHART" embroidered on a red sash graphic around it. This was the rebellion's emblem, and all the members' outer layers of clothes had this emblem on the left front, as Ekiken's jacket did. He passed countless people who were doing various things, such as mapping strategies, testing various spells, and crafting weapons. As for the use of Keyblades, this rebellion had studied the information on their existence they had read in legends, and had discovered a way to create their own. They were granted only to elite fighters who had performed exceptionally in recorded battles and test sequences. Ekiken, as well as Kit, were just such fighters.
Ekiken reached the end of the hallway, and passed through a large, ceremonial doorway, into a large room, clearly built by the Saenthart Rebellion and not previously existing in a normal subway station. A large, crescent-shaped desk was at the far end of the room, with a chair behind it. The chair turned around to reveal a woman sitting with her elbows on the rests, her fingers tented, and her right leg across the other. "Hey, Kit."