Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel
Episode 6: All Hollow's Eve
All of his brainpower, and Sora STILL couldn't get it.
This was supposed to be Hollow Bastion, the dark and dreary castle that Ansem once called home, up until he corrupted it with the Heartless. And yet...
This wasn't the castle, or anything near it. Rather this was a very large village. Although built in the same rustic design as the castle itself, this village took the appearance of a Japanese city in the Meiji era. Magic appeared to power the buildings in a similar method that electricity powered homes on earth. And considering that the town was rather lively for a Heartless-infested world, things simply did not compute with Sora.
Neither did it compute with Donald or Goofy. "Where's the Heartless? I thought there would be all over the place! But I don't see a single one!" Donald looked around in obvious confusion.
"That's because they're all at the CASTLE, you fools," Sara glared at the other three through her white-irised eyes. "And we've got a long way to go."
"Just how long?" Sora asked.
"Very long."
"Wow, you're such a big help!" Donald retorted sarcastically. "I suppose you'll also tell us where we are? No YOU CAN'T! WE'RE LOST!"
"For your information, we're actually ten miles away from the rising falls, and if we don't hurry up, it'll be nightfall, and we'll be Heartless bait," She leered at Donald's face. "Now shut up before you're roast duck."
"Not before YOU'RE roast chicken!" Sora got between the two. "Let's not fight, as Sara said, we've got a long way to go," Sora stepped apart from the group and began walking away...
...Only to bump straight into a running man. They crashed into a messy heap.
"Ow..." Sora groaned.
"You all right, Sora, mister?" Goofy looked between the two of them.
"Oro?" The man rubbed his messy red hair. He wore a lavender gi and baggy, rugged pants. A very thin sword stood sheathed at his side. He then saw Goofy. "Umm... I am alright, that I am," the man nodded.
Sora stood up with a bit of difficulty, and turned to the red-haired man. "Umm... Sorry about that. My name's Sora." He shook hands with the man. "These are my friends Donald (Donald waved.), Goofy ("How do ya do?"), and Sara ("Pleasure," she said calmly.)."
"I'm Kenshin Himura," Kenshin answered. "I was uhhh... taking a light jog through here when I ran into you, that I did. I am new to this area."
"New?" Sara asked. "Do you mean you're from another world?"
"Indeed I am. Our world was destroyed some time ago, and my friends and I found our way here. This village is called Termina, and it's the closest village to the castle," Sara secretly made a face at Donald.
"We've got business at the castle," Sora explained. "And we've got to get there before the Heartless become too big in number to fight!"
"You shouldn't go there," Kenshin warned. "The Heartless in the valley are like a flood... In fact," Kenshin noticed something behind Sora and his eyes bugged out. Jumping over the Keyblade master, Kenshin performed a powerful downward slice against a Heartless that stood right behind him. "Heartless from the valley! Get back!"
Sora turned around to see a small pack of Heartless. However, they had the appearance of knights, wielding armor, a broadsword and pegs for feet, and they rivaled Sora in height. Rather than take Kenshin's advice, Sora instead leapt into attack and parried an offensive strike from the first in line. He threw off the sword from his Keyblade and sliced through the monster with a well placed combo.
"What, you think we can't take care of ourshelves!" Donald smirked as Sara knocked another Iron Guard into the air. He leapt off of Sara and finished it with a swift Thundaga attack. Goofy yelped as he dodged the sword strikes of two of them. He then spun like a tornado, knocking out one and knocking away the other.
"Goofy! Watch out!" Sora warned.
Goofy turned around too late, as the last Iron Guard was already descending for an attack. Goofy's pupils shrank as the blade came mere inches from his brain. The unfortunate Heartless had no chance of actually attacking Goofy, as Kenshin and Sara had already sliced it to ribbons before it could make contact. The Heartless stopped a mere centimeter from Goofy's nose before falling apart and disappearing. Goofy sighed in relief. "Thanks guys!" He waved at Kenshin and Sara.
"Be more weary next time," Sara chastised Goofy.
"So you are warriors?" Kenshin asked. "All of you have quite some skill, that you do."
"You've got some too," Sora complimented. "Thanks for the help, but we've got no time to waste."
"ONWARD!" Donald pointed to the valley, and he, Sara, Sora, and Goofy sprinted away.
Kenshin sighed in defeat. "I trust that they can take care of themselves, that they can..."
"Oh Kenshin!" He heard a female voice.
"Oh no..." Kenshin paled. "Kaoru made dinner..."
------
"This is the valley? Looks barren to me!" Donald commented, looking at the expanse of blue before them. Right before the rising falls was a large, blue expanse highly resembling dark, frozen water. Not sound outside of the merry little group was heard, and this only heightened the creepiness.
"This silence is downright spooky!" Goofy commented.
"This journey is not for the faint of heart," Sara answered.
Sora jogged forward a bit only to stop. "Ah!" He gasped before clenching his teeth.
"Um Sora, what's wrong?" Donald asked, worry creeping into his voice.
"We're surrounded," Sara noted, looking behind the group and seeing the flood of Heartless marching in to greet them. Several Iron Guards; strange, pot-like Heartless; large, monster-like Behemoths; and even several Wyverns flying in the sky began to gather in front of our heroes.
"From both sides!" Sora added.
Sara smacked herself. "Isn't that what 'surrounded' is?"
"Can we make it?" Goofy asked meekly.
"We'll try." Sora conjured his Keyblade and gave his friends a thumbs-up. They smiled and returned the favor.
"Cut a swath through the Heartless and reach the castle!" Sara shouted.
Sora charged towards the first Iron Guard. From there, it was pure hell.
For the next two hours of their lives, Sora, Sara, Donald and Goofy hacked and slashed through an insane brigade of bloodthirsty Heartless. Sara sometimes used her Flame Pillar technique to knock the Behemoths off guard, and Donald sometimes showered Thundaga on the sneakier Wyverns and pot Heartless. Each of the warriors poured their anger and their concentration on ending the lives of the Heartless demons and surviving the slow trek to the castle.
As was said earlier, pure hell.
------
Tired, bruised, but overall happy and alive, the four heroes stumbled at the base of the castle, right at the Rising Falls. Crashing to a stop right next to the falls, they all let out a collective sigh.
"Wow," Sora sighed. "That was... intense."
"Let'sh not do that again anytime shoon," Donald sighed. He then noticed Sara drinking from the Rising Falls.
When she detected Donald looking at her, Sara simply said. "Take a drink, it'll restore your strength." The other three scrambled to the falls and greedily imbibed the fresh liquid. Sara continued, "We don't have much time to rest, so we need to get moving pretty soon."
"I know it's important to be here, but why exactly?" Sora asked between gulps of water.
"As I said earlier, the Keyhole has reopened, and the Heartless are swarming this castle. I heard my father was making his way back here, and I also hope to meet him while we're here," she explained.
"I got that much," Sora said, standing up. "Anything else?"
"We might find the Enigmatic Man here."
"Enigmatic Man..." Sora remembered their fight in Traverse Town. His words "you are incomplete" still haunted Sora's mind. "Yeah, maybe."
"All righty!" Goofy said as he and Donald stood up. "We're ready! Let's get ta movin'!" The four of them trekked inside the caves and stepped onto the lift, which teleported them to the front gates of the castle.
There it was, Hollow Bastion as Sora remembered it. The twisted, tan castle, surrounded by beautiful mountains, stood as firmly in Sora's memories as it did on the Rising Falls. "Yeah, this is Hollow Bastion all right," Sora affirmed. "Wonder if Beast is still around here..."
"Beast?"
"Yeah, he was there for me when..." Sora turned to Donald and Goofy, who flinched at his slightly angry leer. Sora then softened his face to a sad look. "Riku tricked my friends. But luckily, my real friends came through in the end." He smiled at Donald and Goofy. "Even Riku saw through Maleficent's trickery."
"Ah," Sara nodded. "We'll see."
The four of them stepped through the gates, keeping an eye out for rogue Heartless. They stepped into the main foyer room. "Helloooooooo!" Goofy rang out. "Anyone HOOOOOMMMMEEE?"
A sudden rush of movement answered Goofy. The four tensed up in a panic, but nothing happened...
...for about ten seconds.
"Feh, just our imaginations..." Sora said, walking up the stairs to the library. Unfortunately, something popped out.
A Bee.
No, strange helicopter-like things with their yellow eyes peering though shells, and giant HORNETS with stingers for arms were in there.
About 50 of them.
"Ungah, Bee Heartless, and possessed Beedrills." Sara snarled.
"Beedrills?" Sora asked.
"Variety of Pocket Monster. I thought they were only on earth... but I guess those creatures teamed up with the Heartless and spread to other planets..."
"What do we do?" Donald ask.
"Spread them out to kill them. But first... RUN." Sara turned tail and ran into another room, with a few of the bees in hot pursuit.
"You heard her! RUN FOR IT!" Sora screamed. All the good guys took separate directions, with the frenzied bees taking hot pursuit. Sora continued to sprint into the library, where several Beedrills kept hot on his tail. Sora's eyes bugged out as the Beedrills began to zoom in and try to stab Sora, painfully crashing their three stingers into bookcases. Sora leapt over two trying to sting him and rolled under a third. He rounded a corner and nervously watched the other Beedrills fly on by. He sighed in relief and rounded another corner...
...before running straight into another pack of Beedrills. The Beedrills tried to stab Sora in their usual fashion; Sora squealed and ran like a cartoon character. He scrambled up some stairs and through more book cases before he ran right into a wall of Bee Heartless. Sora snarled and turned tail, only to see the Beedrills start to change him. Thinking quickly, he whipped out his free hand and shouted "Firaga!"
The flames appeared, but rather than shoot out at the Beedrills, it swirled around Sora, setting all the bees alight. All disappeared under a mist of Darkness.
"COOL!" Sora grinned before heading upstairs.
------
Donald ran like a madman from the flurry of bees on his tail.
Well, more like a mad hedgehog.
Donald wall-jumped up a narrow chasm, avoiding the crashes of the bees, and whipped around to smash one that had caught him by surprise. It disappeared, and Donald continued to run away from the angry bees that pursued him.
-----
Goofy matched blows with a couple of Iron Guards while deflecting the attacks of the Beedrills. One Guard sliced down, only to cut open a Beedrill instead. Goofy then used an Angel Descent (the crashing move he first used on the Enigmatic Man) to smash the Guard to smithereens. Goofy quickly dodged another Beedrill, letting it kill the other Iron Guard. Goofy yelped at the sight of the Beedrill summoning backup from its brethren and turned tail to run.
------
Sara snarled and cut through a wave of Bee Heartless, running though the lift hallways. She flipped and ran along the wall, slicing through two more bees. She then swung on a pole and sprinted outside to a pedestal. There she could look at the front of the castle from where she was. Calming down, Sara took in the twisted look of the castle and its tiny smokestacks, and saw exactly why Sora wasn't very fond of this place. "Hmph..." she huffed, but looked up again when she saw a black spark show up at the top of where Ansem's crest was. A hooded person showed up at the top.
"Enigmatic Man," Sara breathed, as she heard Sora run up behind her.
"Stupid bees!" Sora cursed. He turned to Sara. "What's the matter?" She simply pointed, and Sora looked up to see the Enigmatic Man appearing to summon something. "Enigmatic Man!"
"WAAAAHHHH!" Donald crashed next to Sora.
"YAAAAHOHOHOHOHOOOOOEEEY!" Goofy crashed next to Sara.
"We're all here..." Sara said in monotone.
"And so are the bees!" Sora shouted as the last of them flooded out and began to fly towards Sora and the gang. "Donald! Get ready to cast Firaga!" Sora commanded as he ran towards the bees. Donald reluctantly ran after Sora headlong into the swarm of insectoid Pokémon/Heartless mix. Sora leapt up and shouted, "NOW!" Donald let loose his spell and Sora did the same, unleashing a swirling tornado of flames that consumed the last of the bees.
When all was said and done, Goofy pointed up at the top of the castle, where there were now FIVE hooded people. "What's going on up there?"
"FIVE Enigmatic Men!" Sora gaped. "That's IT! We're getting up there NOW." Sora grabbed Donald and Goofy and swung back inside. Sara smacked herself again and headed off behind Sora.
-----
The empty silence of the dark hall welcomed our heroes as they sprinted through it. Fearing that Heartless would attack if they slowed down, they took no time to sightsee and continued to sprint, rounding a corner into the Lift Station and bursting outside. Sora could see the five hooded ones discuss something at the top of the platform. One apparently saw him and signaled to the others.
"HEY!" Sora shouted as they all began to leave.
Unluckily for Sora, about this time a group of Shadows began to appear. However, these Shadows looked much taller and muscle-bound, and had longer claws. They actually weren't anything too new to Sora; in his travels he had come across this type a couple of times. "Neo Shadows!"
"Get to the Enigmatic Man! We'll handle these things!" Sara unsheathed her sword. She then proceeded to slice down a Neo Shadow with a combo. Donald and Goofy took to attacking the other Neo Shadows that surrounded them.
Sora nodded and gave her a thumbs-up, before running straight into the mess of Neo Shadows. Determined to get to the Enigmatic Men, Sora ignored the attacks of the Neo Shadows and merely smacked them away. One leapt up to attack, but Sora crashed his Keyblade into it, knocked it into the air, leapt up, and spiked into the ground, killing it. When Sora looked up again, only one hooded one stood there. Sora growled in rage before leaping up to the platform, Keyblade in hand.
The hooded one began to take off his hood...
...and sidestepped Sora's enraged attack. "Ow..." Sora whined before turning over to now face a silver-haired man. Sora was heavily reminded of Cloud. "You... are you the Enigmatic Man?"
(So we meet again...) Sora heard, noticing that all the silver-haired man did was smile. (It seems you remember me quite well, incomplete one.)
"What do you mean by that!" Sora asked, exasperated.
"Patience," Sora practically jumped out of his skin upon hearing the man speak. The man chuckled slightly. "You will learn soon enough. We all serve a purpose in reviving of the Chaos Angel."
"The... Chaos Angel?" Sora asked. He heard Sara, Donald, and Goofy gather behind him.
"A weapon so complex even we cannot grasp its capabilities. But if this chess game is to go smoothly, we are to revive it."
"Chess game!" Sara interjected. "Don't make me laugh. Too many lives are wasted for this... chess game. Only the strong should fight."
"You too will learn the extent of the chaos we are in," He leered at Sara. He then stood back, and put on his hood. (You must remember to have an open mind. Embrace the Chaos Theory. Remember the words of the Chaos Saints.)
A burst of darkness consumed the man before he faded away. Sora blinked for a while before turning to Sara. "Chaos Theory?"
"Chaos Theory..." Sara thought for a moment. "Mary once told me about it... the belief that order comes from disorder; that all life is meant to end."
Donald's eyes bugged out. "We're dealing with real nutjobs then!"
"So we gotta stop them before they... end all life!" Sora exclaimed.
"Worse..." Sara snarled as she began to walk off the platform and down the rest of the deck to head back inside. "If they're loyal to both equations of the system, their real goal is to reduce all life to chaos."
"That even SOUNDS worse that losin' all life!" Goofy shuddered. "Isn't there somthin' we can do?"
"We gotta find those guys first, Goofy," Sora answered as they made their way into the throne room. "If we can find them, we can almost certainly find a way—"
Sora stopped suddenly; his pupils shrank.
Sara raised an eyebrow to disguise her shock. "W-what the hell is that?"
The thing in question sat on the throne. Its scaly orange skin fit well with its green, spiked shell, giving it the appearance of a fierce turtle-dragon hybrid. Its flaming red hair and sharp claws completed its look. Red-irised eyes regarded our heroes. "You call me AN 'IT'!" it roared. "I AM ALL MALE!"
"Well excuse me, sir," Sara snidely countered. "But I wasn't aware that throne-stealing dragons gave a damn about gender."
"You're about to see a change," The beast stomped off the throne and gave a deep roar, making Sora and Sara flinch slightly. "I've actually been expecting you, spiky-haired shrimp!" The monster lumbered over to the four of them. "I am Bowser, king of the Koopas, and YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" The heroes scattered as Bowser slammed a claw into the ground where they stood just a second before.
Sora turned around. "How'd you know I was coming here? You're not even from this world!"
"How would YOU know that?" Bowser wagged a finger tauntingly. "Even so... I have..." He pulled out a tiny sheet of paper and read it, then stuffed it away. "Friends in low places! Now sit still you pasta-eating moron!" Bowser unleashed a power burst of flames form his mouth, forcing Sora and the gang to scatter once again.
Bowser snarled and attempted to slash Sora with his claws. The Keyblade master dodged the move with a "Ha HA!" and smacked Bowser in the face with four strokes of the Keyblade. "I don't even eat pasta, you freak of nature!"
"Suit yourself," Bowser grabbed Sora. Smiling evilly, he flung Sora right into Sara, and they both crashed into the ground. Donald fired a Blizzaga in Bowser's face, but Bowser countered with another round of flames. Bowser leapt up and attempted to crash on top of Donald, but he failed, earning a smack from the mage staff instead.
Bowser spun and knocked Donald away. Goofy used his Angel Descent, but Bowser blocked it. He swiped Goofy with his tail and knocked him away.
Sora rose and charged Bowser. Surprisingly, Bowser simply put his guard up, blocking Sora's attacks. Bowser slammed the ground, forcing Sora to backflip out of harm's way. "Power!" Sora chanted, and his Keyblade began to glow and speed up. Sora leapt up and smashed Bowser with a Ragnarok combo, and then he finished it with a Judgment attack, knocking Bowser back a few feet. Bowser roared again and charged Sora.
Sara came through, driving her sword along and through Bowser as he charged by. Her single wing emerged again, as she kept her back to Bowser. Sora turned around to see Bowser swing back around in shock...
... and bleed darkness.
"You're not...!" Sora's features widened in surprise.
Bowser's wounds sealed themselves, but darkness was still flowing from out of his body. "I am merely a shadow of the true Koopa King. There is no need for me to use my full power on you." A demonic smirk played on his lips. "But if you give up now, I promise I won't hurt you... much." Bowser roared and charged at Sora and Sara again, but Donald beat him to the punch.
"I got REAL darkness for ya!" Donald whipped his wand out. "Graviga!" The dark orb flattened the shadow Bowser and forced more darkness to exude from the Koopa King.
Bowser, however, returned to normal and shook it off. He smacked Donald away and blew Sora backwards with a very quick fireball. Sara gritted her teeth as she dodged consecutive fireballs from the dark Koopa. Goofy put up his shield just as Bowser aimed a fireball, and reflected it. The return fireball surprised Bowser and knocked him off of his feet, allowing Sara to unleash a combo. Sora delivered a final Ars Arcanum to his face.
By now, Darkness flowed off of the Shadow Bowser like a misty river. The hulking being rose...
...and easily smashed all four of them away.
"What you clowns GET for underestimating me!" Bowser roared. "Now feel the bowels of HELL." Bowser heaved a breath...
...but a wicked flash stopped through him, cutting him like a sword. A silver-haired man decked in black with red trimmings appeared. His single black wing retracted, and he sheathed his sword.
If that weren't enough, a rapid fire of energy blasts began to blast the Shadow Bowser into smithereens. "EYYAAAHHHH! The REAL King Bowser will rip you fools apart later!" The blasts stopped, and when the smoke cleared, there was no trace of the shadow left.
The silver-haired man spoke first. "Samus, that was entirely unnecessary."
"What can I say," a female voice responded. What looked like a person in an orange and red spacesuit landed. The streamlined design and overly large shoulder pads suggested that she wielded a technology far beyond the average human. "I had an itchy trigger finger." She turned to the four. "You guys all right?"
Sephiroth looked over to see Sora amongst the fallen. "Well look at this," He dashed past everyone else, unsheathing his sword and pointed it at Sora's neck. "It's the Key boy, the fool who nearly beat me by bludgeoning me to death by A GIANT METAL STICK!"
"P-p-please don't kill me! You'll stain your new carpet! I don't taste good!" Sora shot out random reasons of why he shouldn't be dismembered by the angry One Winged Angel.
"Sephiroth, you can't kill him. He has to save the universe." Samus stated calmly.
Sephiroth grabbed Sora by the neck instead. "What made you think I was going to kill you? Beating you to a pulp in a fair rematch would be far more satisfying... The Coliseum awaits us, Sora."
"Father?" Sara inquired.
Sephiroth turned slowly to Sara, taking in her form before a small grin appeared on his face. "My daughter... you're alive after all!" He flung Sora aside, who comically crashed somewhere in the room, and walked over to give his daughter a hug. "You know, we could kill Sora together, after he's saved the universe, of course."
"I bet, father," Sara imitated her father's slight grin.
"Hey, mister One Winged Angel guy, you don't justh beat up our friend!" Donald snarled.
"That's KING Sephiroth to you now, Donald Duck," Sephiroth put Sara down to stare down the duck. "I'm the new ruler of Hollow Bastion."
"Nice job of ruling the place, kingy," Sora mocked as he limped back into view. "Fine job you have of controlling all those Heartless running around here."
"It's because of me the Heartless haven't been running around anyplace else," Sephiroth smirked, unfazed by Sora's pot shot. "I put a very strong barrier around the castle and the valley, so only a few weak Heartless ever manage to make it to the village... and that samurai there is more than happy to clean up the remaining mess."
"Kenshin..." Sora remembered Kenshin.
"That's right. Ms. Aran and I saved him and his friends when the Heartless wrecked his world. In turn he decided to act as our last line of defense from the Heartless chaos. As long as that barrier is still up, he won't have too much trouble."
Sora sighed in defeat. Kenshin seemed alright, but being the only thing between the Heartless and absolute destruction tended to induce some horrible pressure.
"But where are the Heartless coming from?" Sora asked.
"I scoured the area earlier..." Samus noted. "But I haven't found the exact source yet. All we know is that it's somewhere within the confines of this castle. Sora, as a Keyblade Master, you've got urgent business on planet Earth."
"I do?" Sora asked stupidly.
"That planet is one of the largest worlds. Failure to seal the keyholes there could spell disaster," Samus answered.
"Ah!" Sora nodded. "So how are we gonna get there?"
"Hitch a ride on my ship; I've got it parked right outside."
"Okey dokey, let's go then, ahyuck" Goofy said as he and Donald got ready to go.
"Oh no you don't," Sephiroth smiled, almost evilly. "You two are staying here with me."
"WHAT!" Donald and Sora exclaimed.
"Don't get your toga in a twist. Your King's coming back, and he'd requested Donald and Goofy stay here before he came to meet with Sora."
Donald sighed. Stuck here for who-knows-how-long with a psychopathic king and a random army of Heartless.
Joy.
"Well Sora... it was nice knowing you..." Donald and Sora gave each other a sad hug.
"We'll miss ya," Goofy sniffed and joined the hug.
"Oh, lay off of it, you three clowns will be back together before you know it," Sephiroth pulled out Sora and threw him in Samus's direction. Sara began to move slowly towards the exit as well. "We meet for the first time in years, and already you leave me?"
"I must find mother, too," Sara responded, emotion creeping into her voice. She then dropped back to her deadpan demeanor. "Take care of the two stooges for us."
"Oh, lay off of it!" Sora imitated Sephiroth and dragged Sara away, oblivious to the vein popping in her head in rage.
"Your funeral, Keyblade Master," Sephiroth made a face at Sora.
------
"Ouch..." Hades commented as he saw what was left of the Shadow Bowser. "That pest is getting stronger than we thought."
"That's only because the Hunter and that Sephiroth guy interfered!" Ridley pointed out.
"I could've taken them on," Bowser huffed.
"You would've stood no chance," Black Ghost glowered at Bowser. "Even if you DID manage to take down the brat, Sephiroth would have torn you to pieces."
"Gah, that Sephiroth burns me up," Hades threw up his hands. "To think that being king and having a kid is enough to make you into a goody-two-shoes. Back in the day he had such villain potential!" Hades flared into 'heat mode.' The other villains stood back a bit, but otherwise seemed relatively unfazed. Hades attempted to calm himself and breathe slowly.
"How's THIS for villain potential?" The group twirled to see a tall, mummy-wrapped man walk in the doorway. "Naturally, when I heard there were methods of controlling the Darkness that consumed worlds, I decided I HAD to have that power. I came down here because this is where 'the darkest hearts gather', if I'm correct."
"I'm surprised you managed to actually think of that plan all by yourself, let alone get down here," Black Ghost leered at the newcomer.
"Yeah? And? The REAL question is... is he a good villain?" Ridley craned his long neck at the arrival.
"Let's see if he's good enough," Hades gained an evil, toothy grin, and folded his fingers together. "New guy! If you're such an evil bastard, you will kill one of the villains standing in this room!"
Everyone gasped except the newcomer, who stood silent. The mummy-wrapped man however, answered, "Gladly." He unsheathed a sword and looked around the room. Each of the villains had taken a defensive stance, and none looked off guard. The man finally charged straight forward and unleashed an impressive upward swipe with his sword, and then plunged it down for a final blow.
When all was finished, Hades comically noticed the top half of his body sliding off the bottom half.
"Whooooa!" Hades' two halves crashed into the floor. He flared up and emerged in front of the mummified man, fully healed. "I gotta admit, for the new guy you've got considerable power actually hurting me. Guess we don't need Sephiroth after all."
"That was fun. Any other tests?" The newcomer asked.
"You... are absolutely amazing..." Bowser blinked.
"You shouldn't have expected less from the legendary samurai Makoto Shishio..." yet another man stepped from the shadows. He wore silver armor plates on a black stealth suit, and he wore a mask that was half orange, half black. A single, devilish eye leered from the orange half. His dangerously calm voice continued. "But it was I who showed him here. Please forgive me for being late; I had to finish training my newest apprentice."
"Should've known you'd show up eventually, Slade," Hades glowered at the masked man. "Are you even aware of our latest schemes?"
"What were those schemes? Failing to take down a Keyblade master with a shadow of a Koopa King?" Slade simply stared back. "I'd say those schemes are quite the successful failure."
Hades snarled and flared, but quickly tried to calm himself.
"Don't worry yourself, Hades, we have plenty of expendable resources to get rid of the Keyblade masters with. But a newer threat is at hand," Slade placed his hand on the crystal ball. The inside swirled to show a replay of the scene in which the hooded ones appeared at the castle. "They call themselves the Chaos Saints. They're motives are entirely unclear, and we must change that. From what I gather, an inside member should be able to gather what they are planning. I've already got my apprentice on the job and we will hear from her soon."
"In that case," Giovanni, having been silent the whole time, finally rose and spoke. "I'm betting the Keyblade masters will eventually head into the Eastern Hemisphere. Black Ghost and I will have operatives ready and waiting for them. We'll keep an eye out for these 'Chaos Saints' as you call them." Giovanni and Black Ghost left, and the white robot Sirius quickly followed them.
Hades glared at Slade again. "You'd better be right."
"Aren't I always?" Slade countered, smiling under his mask.
--------
Ken Mira strained to wake up. That darkness had somehow enervated his entire body. How long he had been asleep was the least of his worries as he tried to make his senses come back.
"Chill out, crudmuffin! You look like you're taking a crap!" He heard. Ken Mira stopped straining and opened his bleary eyes to a trio of teenagers standing at the foot of a small bed. Ken took a quick scan of his surroundings ("Looks like a giant beehive," he would say later.) before turning to the three teens to his front.
"Umm... where am I, and who are you?" He blinked.
"You're at the H.A.E.Y.P, and I am Jinx," The lone, pink-haired girl introduced herself.
"I'm Mammoth. Don't piss me off," The large, muscle-bound teen with shaggy hair leered at Ken.
"I'm Gizmo!" The green-suited child gave Ken a malicious grin. "Question is, who are you, newbie?"
"Children, PLEASE," the three teens face-faulted and moved to their left as a tall man walked into the room. His white hair matched what looked like a priest's robe, and his long face only accented his large grin. The robe had a black cloth that formed a V around his neck; on it was a white crest looking similar to an anchored cross. "Do not crowd our newest arrival, unless of course you're interested in your own DOOM..." his eyes glowered red. But they flickered back to normal when he turned to Ken. "We found you in the streets unconscious. It appears you may be the latest survivor of a string of Heartless attacks."
"Heartless?" Ken asked. He though back to when those Shadows were chasing him around the church that night. "You mean those Shadow creatures?"
"Precisely," The elder man answered as Ken hopped out of the bed. "Here at the HIVE Academy of Extraordinary Young People, we normally take extremely talented superhero teens and children, but as of late the Heartless have been destroying the homes of superhero and normal teens alike, so I've expanded our humble abode to welcome all refugees of the destroyed worlds and cities."
"Wow..." Ken Mira rubbed his neck. "Thanks, mister..."
"Blood. Brother Blood." Brother Blood took a slight bow. "Come with me, mister..."
"Ken Mira," Ken answered.
"Yes," Brother Blood left, and Ken followed, with the other three teens tailing him. Ken checked his surroundings once more, affirming his beehive stance from earlier. Turning through several maze-like hallways, Ken saw various teenagers milling about, nervously moving out of the way of their headmaster. "Ken? You know of a way to stop the Heartless?"
"Uhh..." Ken thought again. What was that thing Rob used to smash the Heartless again? "I remember one of my friends used some sort of giant, black key..."
"The Keyblade, just as I thought," Brother Blood continued on, as the four teenagers continued to follow him down a few stairs. They at last arrived at the VERY large training room at the basement. A vast empty space of honeycomb-shaped tiles stood before Ken, only occupied by a blond-haired kid and another red-haired girl. The blond guy was mopping the floor with the red-haired girl, who despite her excellent judo stood no chance against his... two Keyblades!
"Get 'im, KP!" Another blond boy shouted from the bleachers, but when the blond in the arena easily smashed her out of the ring with a powerful combo, he cringed before he stood up and ran down the bleachers. "Don't worry, KP, I'm comin'!"
"As you can see, we have our very own Keyblade Master," Brother Blood smiled. "You said your friend had a Keyblade as well? The Key was black?"
"Yeah..." Ken looked at the blond kid, who also had both a black and a white Keyblade. "It seemed to have some sort of dark mist coming from it..."
"Alas, that is the Keyblade of Darkness," Brother Blood shook his head. "If you say he fought the Heartless, he won't be doing that for long."
"What do you mean?" Ken titled his head in confusion.
"That Keyblade's said to control the Heartless," Jinx elaborated. "When he learns to control them instead, he'll use them to destroy worlds."
"But Rob's not like that!" Ken sharply defended his friend.
"Doesn't matter, snotbrain!' Gizmo retorted. "In the end, the Darkness will control his brain. Your friend better not have any rage issues with humanity or something!" Gizmo illustrated his point by pretending to claw like a monster.
Ken sighed in defeat. Rob had rage issues, all right, and the general morality drop in humankind lately will only exacerbate it... "But Rob..."
"Don't give up hope," Brother Blood patted Ken on the shoulder. "There is something you can do to change that." His eyes glowed red.
"There is?" Ken's eyes also glowed red, producing a calming effect on his mind. "What is it?"
"You have a power, young one," Brother Blood looked at Ken. "You can take it from him. We'll teach you how."
(Yep, that's Episode 6 for ya! Sora's ready to party, and my story's gonna gain momentum, just you watch! The BHK has already shown his presence, and Namine, for those watching Chain of Memories, will show up in a very close future episode. Bonus points go to whoever picks up where KP comes from.)
Sephiroth hails from FF7, like you didn't know that. Samus Aran is from the Metroid universe. Kenshin Himura, Makoto Shishio and Kaoru hail from Ruroni Kenshin. Brother Blood is a villain from the Teen Titans, as are the H.I.V.E kids. Slade is the coolest Teen Titans villain, you WILL see more of him; he's the new Maleficent of the Heartless bad guys. "Pasta eating morons," is an insult from Bowser that he used on an old Mario T.V show.