Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel
Episode 4: Compromise
(Note: Pokémon haters and fans alike beware these next chapters. Standard disclaimer applies.)"So where's our destination?" Asked Rob to the attendant of the train.
"We'll be arriving at Viridian City in Kanto shortly." The attendant responded.
"Good enough. We can make plans from there," Rob crossed his arms.
"Dr. Eggman says the ship's not ready yet, and he and Tails'll meet us down there," Sonic said. He turned and looked out of the window, seeing that they appeared to be traveling through some sort of warp. "I don't know where Earth is compared to Twilight Town, so I'm clueless as to how long Egghead will take."
The train slowly rolled to a stop. The door opened, and the attendant said, "Welcome to Viridian City. As it is nighttime, please seek out a Pokémon Center."
The door opened, and our heroes stepped out of the train into a subway. Sonic nodded towards the attendant with a "Thanks," before leaving with the rest of the group. The cool, brisk air assaulted them before they even stepped outside.
Rob took a precursory glance around the streets of the suburban community. "This place looks barren..."
"No worries!" Sonic boasted. "We're the good guys; we can beat any Heartless that come our way!"
"I hope you're right..." Tifa added as they began to move.
Rob landed on the ground and started skating. The feel of speed was great, although Sonic still bested him. Maya simply hung onto him, as she was slower than either one. Tifa hung on to Sonic.With a sudden flash of darkness, some Heartless appeared.
"Heartless!" Shouted Sonic.
But these weren't your ordinary heartless. Rather, they were Pokémon. A pack of Sneasels, to be exact. The blue creatures leapt up and tried to slash down Rob. Sonic, however countered their appearance and smashed into two of them with a homing attack, killing them instantly. Tifa bounced backwards and let a Sneasel have it with a well-placed kick.
"Fire!" Maya shouted, a radical burst of flame killed another Sneasel. Rob simply countered the attacks with combos.
"Hmph... we better keep an eye out." Rob said. Rob and Sonic continued to skate through the dark of night in Kanto. The moon was out in full, however, lighting the way from our heroes.
More Sneasels appeared. However crows escorted them. Murkrows, to be exact.
"These guys are persistent..." Sonic muttered. Rob slashed them down, and Sonic kept using his homing attack on them. Despite Rob's powerful Keyblade, Sonic usually killed them faster.
Maya and Tifa were also putting up quite a fight. Knowing the creatures feared fire and thunder, they teamed up and used either element to get rid of them easily. Tifa launched a fire kick combo, frying another Sneasel. As Maya downed the last Murkrow, she asked, "In what direction exactly are we going?"
"...Good question." Rob muttered.
"YOU MEAN WE'RE WANDERING ABOUT AIMLESSLY?!" Roared Sonic. Rob just nodded.
"Well, crap... At least we're fighting Heartless, so we CAN'T be far off from the right trail, right?" Maya asked.
"I suppose..." Sonic muttered, disappointed that they weren't really going anywhere. However they spotted something in the distance. "What's that place?" Sonic asked.
"It's the Pokémon Center!" Maya exclaimed. "And look, it's still open! Maybe we could get a place to stay!"
"Wow, this place is pretty big..." Tifa marveled at the sheer size of the center, easily dwarfing the many houses nearby it. A sudden flash of darkness erupted right behind them, and Rob turned to see a giant horde of Sneasels and Murkrows. The other three turned to witness this awful sight, and all four paled. Rob snarled, and began to back away.
"Wish we could join the party," Sonic cracked before turning tail. "But we gotta split!"
"AUUUUGGGGHHH!" Rob and Maya squealed as all four tore towards the Center. The horde made pursuit, but luckily our heroes were far too fast.
The door slid open, and a young lady with pink hair looked out. Spotting our heroes, she instructed, "Quickly! Come inside!"
"Not fast enough for ya?!" Sonic, Rob, Tifa, and Maya showed up right behind her, and the pink-haired lady flipped a switch, and a steel reinforcement slid down in front of the door, letting the Pokémon horde crash right into it. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned to our heroes.
"Are you okay? What are you people doing out on this time of night?" She asked.
"We came here tracking down Heartless activity..." Rob read her nametag and tried to address her properly. "... Nurse Joy... Unfortunately, we encountered those Pokémon instead... What kind were THEY?"
"Those two were Sneasel and Murkrow..." They turned to see a man, looking to be in his late fifties. He sported a lab coat, red shirt and brown pants. He had just shut a book he held in his left hand. He showed pictures of the two Pokémon they saw outside. "Those two Pokémon normally don't live in this area, but their presence multiplied right after the Heartless began attacking Earth."
"I see..." Rob said.
"HEY WAITASECOND," Sonic held up a hand. "I think I know you... Professor Oak, I resume?" (A/N: This is a multi-verse Earth, and Sonic is well connected...)
"That's correct!" Professor Oak answered, happily taken aback (if that's even possible) by this question. He studied Sonic. "I think by your appearance, you must be Sonic the Hedgehog, aren't you?"
"You've heard of me?" Sonic asked.
"Who hasn't? You saved the world twice!"
"I wish I could again, I've got no idea how to repulse the Heartless invasion..."
"I believe that must take a team effort," Professor Oak said thoughtfully. "It will take some time before we keep the Heartless from tearing the Earth apart. Excuse my manners, who are your friends, Sonic?"
"My name Rob," Rob said, shaking hands with Professor Oak.
"I'm his twin sis Maya," Maya chirped.
"I'm Tifa," Tifa introduced herself.
"I'm glad to meet you all." Professor Oak said with a quick nod. "As you all know, the Heartless have been attacking planet Earth for around two weeks now. As it's understood, they appear to be connected with the metaphysical Hearts of not just people and Pokémon, but of this planet as well. They seek to corrupt these Hearts and plunge them into darkness..."
Rob nodded in understanding, even though most of this wasn't new to him. Sonic simply continued to stare at Professor Oak, ready for any information he could gather. Professor Oak continued. "Speaking of that," he opened his book and pulled out some notes. "A man named Ansem stopped by here..."
"Ansem?" Maya asked remembering what the Heartless said to her.
"Yeah, we got a mention of him," Rob added. "What did he do?"
"I talked with him for quite a while, asking him all he knew of the Heartless," Professor Oak responded. "He explained all of his research, how the Heartless had corrupted him for some time, and what he knew of the answers... but the most intriguing thing would be the Soulless. They have emerged, but what side are they on? What he knows so far of the Soulless specifically are in these notes..." He handed them to Rob, and the four heroes crowded around Rob to read it.
-
The Soulless is an interesting race. Some Soulless I've seen keep a human appearance, only lacking a soul, or perhaps having it filled with light. Others I've seen mirror a drive like the Heartless... they flood the Soul with light and create more Soulless. These forms of Soulless either have no mind or are under the control of something greater. To this day I have yet to find what happens to the discarded bodies and minds of those who lose Heart or Soul...
Another thing about this world is the "Pokémon" phenomenon. They are connected to the Heartless and Soulless somehow... I noticed the "dark" type of Pokémon follows the Heartless closely, while the "Dragon" type follows the Soulless...
-
"That makes sense... But I've yet to see an evil Soulless..." Rob said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man walk by. This man was in a brown and black striped suit, and his face seemed to have a look as cold and evil as a deranged wizard. Rob got the feeling he wouldn't like that guy, so he shivered and muttered, "Or maybe I just did..."
"What? WHERE?!" Maya and Sonic looked around.
The man Rob saw was gone, so Rob simply shook his head and said, "Never mind, I'm going delusional from lack of sleep."
"There's another room upstairs where you can sleep," Nurse Joy offered.
"Thanks... maybe Tails and Eggman don't know where we are?" Maya asked Sonic.
"Their fault they had to stay back an make a ship, but I think I'll give them a call," Sonic dashed away. Rob snickered and turned to Nurse Joy and Professor Oak.
"Nice talking with you two... I'm horribly tired, so I need a rest. See you in the morning," Rob yawned and left upstairs. Tifa and Maya followed suit.
Professor Oak sat down, thinking about his conversation with Ansem. About two minutes later, however, a Chansey came in. It had the appearance of a big, pink egg with pink dreadlocks and a pouch where another egg sat. This Chansey wore a nurse hat, so when it approached Professor Oak, shouting "Chansey! Chansey!" He rose immediately.
"Did the girl you found awaken yet?" He asked.
"Chansey!" It nodded.
Nurse Joy and Prof. Oak wasted no time in following it over to a caring unit, where the girl rested. Now, however, she was wide awake and horribly confused. "Where am I?"
"You're in the Viridian City Pokémon Center," Nurse Joy answered calmly. "It was too dangerous to take you to a real hospital, so we took you here... are you all right?"
"Yeah..." She said.
"What is your name?" Professor Oak asked.
"...Clara," The girl answered.
-------------
"Bye Sonic!" Tails said before he hung up the phone. "We've got coordinates, so we can land now!"
"How I hate that hedgehog," Eggman muttered, bringing the ship closer to the Pokémon Center. Tails gave him a look. "I mean, at TIMES... Tails, didn't we whip up a security system at some point? How do we activate it?"
"Oh, man, where IS it?" Tails dug through a compartment, closed it in frustration and opened another one. "AHA! Here it is!" He pulled out a remote. "This button here," he pointed to a red one. "Thing is, we have to be out of the ship..."
They came into view of the Pokémon Center. Tails stared in awe, but Eggman only looked on listlessly. "Tails... what was that?" Eggman whispered.
"Huh?" Tails took a further look. He saw several people hop in from the roof. Tails sweat-dropped and his eyes shrank. "That can't be good..."
"They were expected..." Eggman stated plainly.
"How do you know that?"
"Why else would this happen RIGHT AFTER Sonic declared everyone went to sleep? There are better times to rob this place, like BEFORE THEY SHOWED UP."
Tails blinked. Then he shouted "CALL SONIC IMMEDIATELY!"
"I'm on it!" Eggman pulled out a receiver.
--------------
"Is it here?" A red-haired youth asked, searching a computer.
"Is it there?" A blue-haired youth asked, searching through an office.
"IS IT ANYWHERE?" A talking cat with a gold charm on its head and an overly large mouth bellowed as he threw some papers up in frustration.
"SHUT UP, MEOWTH!" The two youths shouted.
"Calm yourselves," Giovanni came in with Professor Oak and Nurse Joy, who were both bound and... nervous. Team Rocket nevertheless strained to avoid panicking at the sight of their boss. Giovanni put the two in a corner and went to Jesse and James.
"You're doing good so far... I KNEW that kid could reduce any Rocket to bumbling fools like you... I have Ansem's notes, so you can stop messing this place up, I paid for this you know. If I'm correct, Rob and his cronies should be here any minute. Then we can put this 'Soulless' thing to the test. And of course, if things go wrong, there's always Darkside, and our trump card," Giovanni's Umbreon came in, with Clara on top of him. Her hands and feet were bound behind her back. Thick gray tape was over her mouth, and one close enough could hear soft mewing sounds. She barely moved, however.
(Rob could be desperate enough... sources say he knows this girl.) Umbreon stated.
"So what do we do?" James, the blue-haired youth asked.
"You will distract the fools while I prepare a mano a mano with Rob," Giovanni instructed.
(Team Rocket is ready. Should you induce a quick failure or the heroes pull a surprise attack, we'll have enough time.) Umbreon winked, and picked up Clara by running under her and scampering off to the back.
"I trust you'll keep everyone else out of the way... there's no worries with the Ash boy, he's halfway across the globe." Giovanni grinned and stepped off into the shadows.
Jesse, the red-haired youth, looked back as Giovanni left. She sighed. "Too bad. I wanted something more to do than to just be a diversionary tactic, but I guess the boss knows best," Jesse pulled up her sleeves. "Besides, my dark powers could use a warm-up!"
"Why, there goes Rob now..." Giovanni whispered, almost to himself, as he left the room. "Stall the others as well as possible... Rob is mine..."
"It's all over for you fools now..." James grinned evilly.
----------------
RING RING RING
Rob woke up to the sound of a ringing communicator. It wasn't his, though, it was Sonic's, and despite the ringing, Sonic still snored away. Rob grumbled and answered it.
"Hello?" He ventured.
"SOMEONE EVIL IS IN THE BUILDING!" Tails's voice rang in his ears.
"Oh, CRAP..."
---------------
Rob, Sonic, Tifa, and Maya hurtled down the stairs. The urgent message from Tails showed that something wicked was brewing right under their noses.
Rob came to the main large foyer, and saw that the lights were off and silence took residence. He wearily looked around. "The lights here are usually on no matter what... something's deathly wrong..."
"Death will probably be the LEAST of YOUR worries!" A snide, New York-accented voice echoed.
"Prepare for trouble!" One voice boomed.
"And make it double!" Another echoed.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse." A spotlight turned on, and Jesse appeared.
"James." Another spotlight came on, and James appeared.
"TEAM ROCKET, blasting off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
"MEOWTH! That's right!" Meowth appeared, and all the lights came on.
"Wobbuffet!" The blue Pokémon appeared from out of nowhere.
Jesse groaned.
The good guys just blinked, utterly disturbed by the introduction. "Hey, uhh... doesn't your motto sound a LOT like a good guy's motto?" Sonic asked.
"QUIET, YOU," Jesse roared. "You fools are in the way of our grandiose plan to flood the world in darkness! So we're going to terminate you!"
Rob, however, had not paid attention to the entire thing. His Keyblade was spazzing out and an awfully familiar voice was begging for help. (Please... someone help me! I'm lost... I didn't ask to be terrorized by these forces of evil! Please... help!)
Some words came to his mind. I'll save you... as long it takes...
"It... it IS! CLARA!" Rob bellowed. To add to his high emotion, he also saw the man he'd seen earlier, looking as evil as ever... RIGHT AT HIM.
"Huh?" Rob took everyone aback with his random outburst.
"OUTTA THE WAY, FREAKS! I'M GOING TO RESCUE CLARA!" Rob bellowed, skating at maximum speed and passing a very confused Team Rocket. The man simply left, having expected this.
"How did he...?" Jesse blinked.
"CRAP!" Meowth exclaimed. "It's the trump card! He went straight after it!"
"Umm hello?" James interjected. "That's a GOOD thing."
"Trump card?" Tifa raised her eyebrow. She dropped to a whisper. "It's a setup! Maya! Sonic! Can you distract Team Loser? I've got to help Rob!"
"We'll handle these freaks," Sonic grinned, getting into a fighting stance.
"I think they're not even worth the dirt on my feet!" Maya taunted, as Tifa sneaked away to find Rob.
"Feh, without your Keyblade master, you simply guarantee your defeat, brats!" Jesse sneered. "It's all over for you! Taste the power of darkness! Arbok! GO!"
"Weezing! GO!" James added. They both summoned two Pokémon. One had the appearance of a large, purple cobra, its chest holding a giant Heartless symbol. Weezing was simply a really ugly floating... thing with holes all over its floating body, and three heads. Each of its holes emitted poisonous gases of all types. "Weezing! Sludge Bomb!"
"Arbok! Poison sting!" Jesse bellowed.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" Sonic dashed right by the Pokémon, being too fast for them to hit. Maya unleashed a Thunder attack, striking both. Sonic dodged Arbok's tail, punching it in the gut and sending it flying. Weezing tried to hit Sonic with another Sludge Bomb, but it failed. Sonic punched it, but unlike Arbok it was far more resilient.
"Weezing, Smokescreen!" James commanded.
"WEEZING!" The Pokémon cried, spreading its noxious gas all over the place. Sonic and Maya could barely see, as Jesse and James prepared a surprise attack.
"I think WE wanna have fun NOW!" Jesse sneered. She cupped her right hand, and Dark energy formed. She chucked it at Sonic, and its jagged path made it hard to counter.
"Sonic watch out!" Maya said, but it was too late. The dark energy smashed Sonic, and the blue hedgehog was sent fifty feet.
Sonic cursed and recovered. "ARGH! That was the last time!"
"We'll see about that," Jesse taunted as she threw another Shadow Ball, but Sonic already had an idea.
Ducking to avoid the energy Sonic then hopped up and raced around in a tight circle. Eventually the smoke was absorbed in Sonic's newly formed tornado. Weezing was sucked in, as well as Wobbuffet, and James could only stare in horror. "My Weezing!" he cried.
"Curse you!" Jesse roared as she charged Sonic. The blue hedgehog coolly clotheslined Jesse and flipped her on the floor. She instantly recovered.
"I HAVE FURY!" Jesse bellowed. Sonic easily dodged the giant Shadow Ball and swept Jesse again. Maya sneered as she took on Meowth.
"I'll own you!" Meowth said as he used Crunch.
Maya back-flipped and kicked Meowth away. Sonic chucked James into the tornado, which was still going strong, and it eventually picked up Jesse and Arbok as well. Sonic stood back and admired his handiwork.
"Sweet, no?" he grinned.
"I'll make it sweeter. THUNDER!" Maya shouted, shocking all inside the tornado. Team Rocket's squeals could be heard as the lightning pierced their hides, and the tornado stopped, blowing up Team Rocket for no apparent reason.
"You may have won this round, but we'll be back!" Jesse cried weakly.
"It's too late to assist your Keyblade master, in truth, we WON!" Meowth cackled.
"It looks like Team Rocket is blasting off once again!" They all cried as they disappeared with a ding ("Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet added.).
Sonic saw Nurse Joy, who had calmly watched the battle tied to a chair. "Thank you for rescuing me, but I'm afraid this whole center is in danger!" she said as Sonic easily sliced off the blades.
Sonic also rescued Professor Oak. "A girl named Clara had been taken to the back room, and the Pokémon here have all been looted by Team Rocket! Please save them!" He cried.
"I think Rob's on it, ma'am," Maya said. "But we'll clean up what he leaves behind!"
"You're okay, right?" Sonic asked both Nurse Joy and Professor Oak, who nodded. "Okay, I bet Rob, Tifa, and whatever Pokémon that are left need our help, and FAST!" Sonic grabbed Maya and zipped away.
-------------------
Rob tore through the back halls of the large Pokémon center. Here he could see strange men in suits with a red letter "R" stealing Pokéballs and hacking data off of computers. Rob desired to stop their evildoing ways, but the most important thing on his mind was Clara. Unfortunately, he wasn't exactly silent."It's the kid, GET HIM!" the Rockets bellowed.
Rob had no time to fool around with these losers. He snarled and smacked two away with his Keyblade and flipped another.
"Rob, watch out!" He heard Tifa. He whirled around just in time to dodge a real rocket from one of the grunts. The explosion shattered a bit of the wall and produced thick smoke.
Big mistake.
Tifa hopped right in with a flying kick and broke the grunt's jaw, sending him some good fifteen feet away. Rob sliced through a wave of grunts. "Let's go, Tifa..." he picked up her hand and sped away into a back room, where he saw the man he had chased finally come to a complete stop.
And there, sitting bound and gagged behind him, was Clara.
"You... who are you?" Rob sneered. Tifa punched her other hand and cracked her fists menacingly.
"I am an important man around these parts," Giovanni grinned, still not revealing his name. "But of course, what you REALLY want to know is why I have your precious friend, and most yet, how do I KNOW that she is one of your precious friends..." Giovanni stepped forward. "But if you truly want to rescue your friend... you will open your Heart to the Darkness, and tell me how to control these new... Soulless..."
"What?!" Rob shot back. "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE! You've got the wrong man to control the Soulless!" He held up the Keyblade as he said this, and it glimmered. "You WILL let Clara go, whoever the hell you are!"
In the distance, Giovanni saw something... spinning out of the window, like a pinwheel, and heading straight towards them. It shattered the glass and opened up right in front of Rob. The towering creature had six arms, two large, hooked swords, a cobra's head, and a large, mechanical body. Near the bottom of its torso, a cloth showed an unusual crest... the SAME crest as the Guard Armor Rob saw. The biomechanical creature roared and came to face Rob and Tifa.
(Another Keyblade Master... you finally show yourself,) it said. (Allow me to test your powers...)
"I'm sort of in the middle of a conversation here?" Rob gestured.
"No... go on! This is most interesting... I'll just sit back and watch the show..." Giovanni grinned.
The creature raised its two swords and roared again.
A name came to Rob...
"You must be... Kurt Zisa..." Rob whipped out his Keyblade, and leapt up to attack.
Kurt Zisa twirled one sword and sliced the air, and Rob could barely block the blow. In fact the attack knocked him back a few feet and caused him to stumble onto the floor. Tifa rolled under the second swipe it made and punched it square in the gut. It bounced backwards, but used its swords to smash her away. When Rob swept in to attack, Kurt Zisa twirled its swords around itself in rapid fashion like a fan, and Rob was also knocked away.
As Rob struggled to stand up, Kurt Zisa raised its swords. Rob back-flipped just in time to avoid being smashed by the weapons. It hopped into the air and crashed next to Tifa, who took advantage of its recovery time and smashed it with a Dolphin Punch.
(AUGH! URRGGHGH... That's cheap!) It snarled, as it twitched like a malfunctioning robot. Tifa leapt up to hit it again, but Kurt Zisa grabbed her by the arm at the last minute. It slung her away and she crashed head first into a wall. Tifa fell unconscious.
"Tifa!" Rob shouted.
(Do not worry... she's alive... This was supposed to be a fight between you and me anyway...) Kurt Zisa lunged at Rob, who jetted backwards to avoid being hit. Rob then reversed direction and smacked it in the face. Kurt Zisa launched a direct combo with its swords and Rob strained to parry them all. The last strike blew Rob away, and he forced a quick recovery to avoid the lunging sword that crashed below him. Rob hacked at the creature's stomach again, but Kurt Zisa simply picked him up and threw him in the sky.
(Surprise,) The monster fired a white beam from its mouth at the airborne Rob.
"Ay, CRAP!" Rob jerked his body and the attack missed by only millimeters. As Rob began his descent to the ground, he whipped out his Keyblade again and held it tight. "Here goes..." He began to pour on the speed, and landed a strike right on the back of the creature. He landed, and looked back to observe Kurt Zisa.
The creature staggered and turned around. (Amazing... just one full day on the job and you're already that strong... you truly are worthy of the Keyblade you hold.)
"What IS it with people trying to see if I'm worthy of the Keyblade?!" Rob roared, throwing up his hands.
(I can see I wasn't the first, but I won't be the last. This man still has questions to answer, but I can't do much to help you here. But mark my words,) It turned away. (I'll be back...) Kurt Zisa turned into a pinwheel and flew away. Rob blinked, and went to Tifa.
"Interesting... so that Keyblade can attract a Soulless, hmm?" Giovanni stood and walked back to Clara. "But what if... someone was MADE Soulless? how does that Keyblade react THEN?" Tifa began to stir. Rob did NOT like how Giovanni kept glancing between him and Clara. Giovanni continued. "I believe a test is in order."
A pool of darkness formed. And from that pool of Darkness, one being emerged.
Darkside.
"Father..." Rob gripped his Keyblade.
(We meet again. Tell me now, do you know the full powers of your Keyblade?) Darkside rose to his full height-quite difficult but still possible in the building. (We will see. What is... a mindless Soulless?) Darkside suddenly whipped around and poked a finger right through... Tifa. Rob could only watch in horror and shock as Darkside ripped out... her soul.
"WHAT?! NOO!" Rob turned from shock to anger and he tore straight to his dad like a bat out of hell. "GIVE THAT BACK!" But Darkside predicted this, and smashed Rob away with his other hand.
Darkside held the Soul. He only watched as Tifa's body became completely white and elastic, and her body and Heart began to fade away. Her Heart still fading, a white creature emerged, its head covered in a white cloth and the Soulless symbol right on top. The "evil" Soulless had emerged.
Giovanni only laughed cruelly. "Ah, what a sight THIS is... you've already given up?" He looked at Tifa, or what was left of Tifa. "Look at this, I think she's becoming an INVISIBLE!" He continued to laugh cruelly.
Rob fell. But a voice sounded.
(You're not fun anymore, Bob.)
"Huh?" Rob said as a reaction.
(It's not too late... Destroy that thing, and reunite Tifa's Heart with her body. I can't have you an emotional wreck before I take your blood...)
"CHARLOTTE?" Rob roared.
(Time is not on your side, Bob... The Dusk awaits you.)
"YOU WILL NOT CALL ME BOB!" Rob roared as he turned to attack Tifa's former soul. The Dusk, as Charlotte referred to it, had an elastic body which made it hard to hit. The Dusk twisted around and proceeded to deliver a powerful scratch to Rob's back. Rob flinched with pain, but he stopped and focused, pretending it was Charlotte, still messing with him. He swung his Keyblade out. "YOU..." He struck again with each syllable. "WILL... NOT... CALL... ME... BOB!" The last blow destroyed the creature, and the soul flew away, until a dark purple swipe seemed to make it disappear. Rob's father had made no motion, so he deducted another force was at work. Rob touched Tifa's Heart with the Keyblade, darkness flowing from it, and gently melded it inside of her body.
Giovanni blinked. Did he really pass that test?
Darkness formed under Clara, and STILL bound and gagged, she sank into it.
"AIEEE!" Rob dashed to save her, but that same voice echoed in his head. (I think she is a much safer damsel-in-distress with me. Until I have your blood, I'm keeping your girlfriends out of the battlefield. Farewell, Sir Bob...) Rob stopped stomped his foot, comically cried, and bit his shirt in frustration.
Giovanni looked on at Rob's now pathetic state; Tifa's solid form now had a small Soulless crest emblazoned on her forehead. "A most... interesting change in events," he looked to see that Clara was now gone. "Now I see what the Soulless are... ROB!" Rob stopped crying and leered at Giovanni with a straight face, Keyblade in hand. "I think we can call this one a draw... I got what I want, you received what YOU wanted... a little compromise. I have a feeling we shall meet again..." Giovanni sank into darkness, and only Darkside remained.
(You hold a power in your hands,) Darkside spoke, but Rob dared not attack. (Pure control over darkness. You have yet to develop these powers, but as they grow, your side will become clearer. You cannot deny destiny...)
"But whose side will I be on?" Rob asked coolly.
(That would be your choice, but I suggest you follow me. Your mother has little grasp over the extent of you and Sora, and your importance. She knows not all the answers...) Darkside sank into the ground in another pool of Darkness, and he was gone.
Rob thought... is there something my mom isn't telling me?
"ROB!" Sonic burst in, looking around. "What happened? Who's CLARA?! She one of your friends?" Sonic looked at Tifa. "What happened to Tifa?" Maya walked in, dizzy from Sonic's super speed.
"Team Rocket's gone now!" She slurred before fainting.
Rob looked at his sister emotionlessly as he answered Sonic's last question. "Tifa?" Rob asked, as if the name meant nothing. "Tifa... she's... her soul is gone now..."
(This concludes Episode 4. The Soulless will be more important as the story progresses. This chapter had very little editing required, I simply had to make it flow with my new plot. Next chapter will hopefully take even LESS time to edit, but alas, my computer is dead, so my updates will be VERY SLOW...)
Wanna know why Wobbuffet always interjects TR's motto? Wobbuffet's Japanese name loosely translates to "That's right."