Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel
Episode 10: Darkness Heroes
In a large tree, Latios and Latias slept. Their peaceful slumber noted the only noise in the entire garden. However, their rest was soon to be disturbed. The wind chime whirred, noting the presence of an intruder. Latios rose. Who would come here this time of night? He lifted gently, trying not to disturb his little sister Latias's slumber. Too bad... Latias woke up anyway. She looked at him.
(What's wrong?) She asked, in her own language, of course.
(People here... I don't think they're friendly.) Latios responded.
The two flew over to see the two thieves Annie and Oakley had arrived! Snarling, Latios led in for an attack.
"Aren't we the uninvited guests?" Oakley snickered as both she and Annie cartwheeled away from Latios's attack. Latios simply swirled around and attacked a second time, but they easily dodged.
(They're too swift!) Latias panicked.
(Time to play Faint Attack...) they both turned invisible.
"They've gone invisible!" Annie shouted.
"Thanks for the warning," Oakley's smirk only grew bigger. Latios dived at Annie, who flipped out of the way using keen skill.
(Faint attack MISSED?) Latias though hard, waiting for the moment to strike.
Oakley scrambled back to Annie, and they stood back to back, putting on their special glasses. Now they could easily see the Eon Pokémon. Oakley saw Latios swoop again and commanded Espeon, who stood by her side. "Espeon SWIFT ATTACK!"
Espeon shot stars from its mouth, dealing a painful blow to Latios's stomach.
Latias roared and smashed Espeon away. Annie saw this and pointed for Ariados. "Ariados, Shadow Ball, NOW!"
Ariados launched the jagged ball and smashed Latias... hard enough to lose her invisibility. He launched another without Annie's command and smacked Latios, making him temporarily out-of-sync and unable to fly fast.
"This should work!" Annie threw an electric net, which expanded and captured Latios in a shocking wrap.
Hitting the ground hard, Latios struggled to get free. Latias, seeing her brother, only grew enraged as she dove towards Espeon.
Big mistake.
"Espeon! Psybeam!" Oakley commanded.
Espeon let loose a beam of mighty power, and although it didn't do much to Latias, it was enough for her to crash into the ground.
Latios wasn't liking this, but for both to be captured... (GO!) he called to Latias.
(Latios! I can't leave you!) Latias cried, recovering.
(NO... GO! Don't let them catch YOU! GO!)
Oakley made pursuit of Latias and threw another net, but Latias dodged. Latias sighed sadly and ran away through the waterfall, as Annie and Oakley watched her escape.
"How odd... I thought they'd never leave each other..." Annie said.
"No matter... we got one, and the Soul Dew is OURS!" Oakley ran up to the fountain and grabbed the magical sphere. After a few tries, she finally wrenched it free from the holding place.
"Look at it... it's so magnificent!" Oakley cooed. They paid no attention to the fact that their deed dried up all the water in the park...
"Come on... According to the legend, there's a machine at the museum powered by this thing! Let's GO!" Annie dragged Oakley away, unknowing of the unspeakable horror they were about to unleash...
Heartless.
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Cloud looked on in the night sky. He, Tifa, and Maya had chilled out on top of the roof that night, not feeling sleepy in the slightest. Rob simply decided to be anti-social and opted to stay in the room. Everyone else was fast asleep. "It's peaceful out here," he said. "Reminds me of the days back at home."
"Yeah," Tifa sighed. "I'm so glad you came with us, Cloud. I feel much more peaceful now that you're around."
"Am I gonna hafta leave you two alone for a romantic moment?" Maya asked.
"Don't think so," They said in unison having heard questions like this before. Cloud continued. "We're too good of friends to consider romance, and all we want now is for Aeris to be with us," he gazed at Maya before looking at the moon again.
"Oh, is THAT so..." Maya rolled her eyes. However, she twitched when she noticed something. Several Soldier Heartless emerged. Her eyes widened as she avoided the first swipe of one of their claws. "Heartless?!"
"What?!" Cloud pulled out his sword, and Tifa back-flipped out of the way from a rush from another Soldier. Cloud took a wide sweep with his sword and easily killed three of them. Tifa used a roundhouse on one, countering its attack and killing it. Maya kicked one and stabbed it with one of her daggers, causing it to crash before disappearing into a black mist. Cloud slashed another one that was about to jump on Tifa, and they stopped. "They aren't supposed to be here."
"Something's wrong... dead wrong," Maya shook her head. "It can't be this way! I'm going to find the source of this problem!" She hopped off the roof and sprinted away before Cloud or Tifa could do anything about it. Tifa nearly went after her, but Cloud laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I think she'll hold her own," he said calmly. "And besides," he noticed a shape land right on their balcony and enter inside. "We have company."
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"Lorenzo! What happened?!" Bianca rushed to Lorenzo, who was gaining consciousness.
"Urgh..." Lorenzo stood up. "Bianca... I was in the boat shop, when this Espeon came through, and the next thing I know, I'm unconscious."
"Lorenzo! These guys must've been looking for Latios and Latias! We've got to go quick!"
The two ran into the garden, and to their dismay, Latios and Latias weren't there...
And neither was the Soul Dew.
"They took the Soul Dew!" Lorenzo gasped. "Without the Soul Dew these waters won't flow! They must've seen that machine in the museum..."
"Oh no! We've got to get there, and FAST!" Bianca and Lorenzo rushed to the museum, unaware of the shadows that formed behind them...
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Rob snarled. This was not the best night to have insomnia. He considered going out to talk with Cloud, Tifa, and Maya, but he didn't feel like talking. He was too busy musing over his mom's words. Doubtless his father would have a few words about this, but he'd be ready. However, the boredom threatened to devour him. He envied Ash, who seemed to sleep like a rock. That kid was something else.
His Heart seemed awful strong for an ordinary human.
NO matter. Without warning, Latias appeared in the window in human form. This caused practically EVERYONE in the room to stir and awaken. Ash spoke first. "Latias... what's wrong?"
The girl ran to him and cried silently on his shoulder. Everyone but Rob, Ash, and Sonic seemed horribly confused in the matter, so Ash told her to sit down.
Eventually, Ash began to introduce everyone to Latias. Nervous waves and laughter showed everyone's only response. "Latias. Show them your true form," Ash trailed.
Latias focused, and to everyone's (everyone being the people who didn't go to the garden) surprise, she formed into a Pokémon!
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At the grand museum, in the darkest of night, Annie, Oakley, and their Pokémon walked in, carrying Latios. They laid Latios on a small circle. At this, it glowed white, and the ancient machine's guardrails shrank into the depths. Several twisting spheres emerged, capturing Latios inside.
What looked like an odd crane emerged. The center "ball opened to reveal a seat and a wide, blue "screen." However, Bianca and Lorenzo dashed into the main area.
"STOP!" Lorenzo shouted. "What're you doing?"
"What does t LOOK like we're doing?" Oakley snarled. "We're going to OWN this world."
"Espeon! Put them away," Annie smiled.
Espeon fired a Disable attack at Bianca and Lorenzo, shocking their bodies and knocking them unconscious. "Good night!" Annie sang.
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Maya dashed through the alleys, smelling trouble closer and closer. With the Soul Dew in this town, not even those Soldiers should've shown up. But this must've signaled that the Soul Dew must've fallen into malignant hands! "I've got to find it!"
"Find what, little girl?" she heard. Whirling around, Maya came face to face with none other than Jesse and James. "You won't find ANYTHING."
"Team Rocket!" Maya hissed. She drew he daggers. "Always ones to stir trouble..."
"Make that double," James sneered and launched a kick to Maya's stomach. Maya curled in pain, but James wasn't finished yet. James smashed Maya with yet another vicious kick, forcing her on the ground. "Heartless shall overcome all this land. When those two thieves corrupt the Soul Dew enough, the Heartless will flood this former safe-haven, then no-one will stop us!" James and Jesse let out a pretentious laugh.
"Define no-one," from out of nowhere, a figure landed on top of the gloating members of Team Rocket, forcing them to eat the ground. "You two are sorry excuses for Darkness wielders; let the true carriers of the darkness do their work." Maya recognized the figure as Ansem.
"Ansem!" Maya cheered. "Hooray for plot devices!"
Ansem face-faulted before correcting himself. "Err... you're welcome. I understand you're on a quest?"
"Yeah," Maya rubbed her neck nervously as she tried to recover. "Something called the Soul Dew got snatched by some people. If we don't get it back, the Heartless will take over!"
"I understand. But from here on in, this won't get any easier," Ansem dug in his pocket and pulled out a black jewel, resembling a skull. "It takes more than proper wielding of darkness to overcome the flowing evil. Sometimes we need more friends." He dropped the jewel in the girl's hands. "An old friend of yours wants to help out. See if you can summon him."
Maya blinked as the jewel seemed to radiate some invisible power though her. Without warning, foreign memories flooded her mind... a Tyranitar smashing a building, an attack on that Vicious guy, howling at the moonlight...
With this Maya shouted, "Darkness, give me bravery! Houndoom!"
The eerie howl she once remembered pierced through the night, and she looked up. Visible against the strangely now-full moon, was Houndoom. It landed down off a building and trotted over to Maya.
"Amazing," Ansem smiled softly. "You already understand the power by instinct. Remember your friends, Maya. They'll help you no matter what." With that, Ansem stepped off of the groaning Team Rocket and walked away, disappearing into the night.
"ARGH!" Jesse twitched, recovering. "You're going to pay for that, BRAT!" she charged.
"Houndoom! Sic'em!" Maya commanded.
NOW seeing the dangerous dog, Jesse and James paled, turned around, and ran for their lives. Houndoom quickly made pursuit, breathing flames and roasting their asses.
"You may have won this round, but we'll be back!" Jesse cackled before she dropped a rose, and they both ran away. Maya, with renewed confidence, decided it might be better if she gathered her brother and his friends. She sprinted back towards the Pokémon center.
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"She's... she's that legendary Pokémon?" Misty gasped.
"Bingo," Sonic answered.
"What's wrong?" Ash queried.
Latias sighed and closed her eyes. Then, she opened them, and everyone was no longer in the room. Rather they stood in a vision of the museum, where Latios's eyes glowed as well.
"Cool. They keep a psychic connection together," Rob observed.
"This is... the museum!" Ash said.
"And look!" Brock pointed to a giant spider web, holding two people wrapped inside. "There's Lorenzo!"
"Those two thieves we encountered at the canal... they've activated that machine!" Sonic gasped. "We don't know what the hell that thing does..."
The group heard Lorenzo shout to the duo, "You'll destroy the whole city!"
Oakley stepped in the "ball" of the crane. "Never mind THAT, old man. We'll be able to control THE WHOLE WORLD from here!" Annie cackled madly.
"I'M TELLING YOU, FOR THE LAST TIME! THAT MACHINE IS THIS TOWN'S DEFENSE MECHANISM!"
Oakley sweat-dropped. The Pokémon sweat-dropped. The group sweat-dropped. Everyone sweat-dropped.
Everyone promptly crashed into the floor.
Oakley rose and corrected herself. "No matter! I'll CONTROL THE WHOLE WORLD ANYWAY! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She rose up on the crane, and at once the waters began to rumble. "I have control of this city's very waters. Soon the world will BE MINE!" she began to "type" in the air. "Reanimation... Aerodactyl, Kabutops... find Latias!" Oakley cackled.
"They have the Soul Dew!" Rob pointed out. Latios felt a shock, and the vision ended. Latias dropped, but recovered "And if THEY have the Soul Dew, that means-"
"The Heartless are here," Cloud and Tifa dropped in, slightly tired.
Rob missed nothing. "Where's my sister?"
"She ran off, looking for the Soul Dew..."
"Figures," Rob snarled, before his face changed to worry. "Maya, please don't get yourself killed..."
"We've got to stop them!" Ash said. "But... why are the Heartless here?"
"Those two are filled with horrible greed," Rob answered. "Their evil corrupts the Soul Dew, making it a Heartless magnet instead of a Heartless repellent. We must move out now before their power destroys this city."
Rob and Ash wasted no time in hopping out the window. Cloud moved as well. However, when Sonic began to race, Cloud said, "Sonic, stay here with the others!"
"What?!" Sonic's jaw hung open in rage. However, he noted Tifa, Misty and Brock, and he understood Cloud's request. "Okay... don't take forever!"
Latias flew out, and Ash noted rising gates sealing the alleyways. "They're trapping us!" Ash, Pikachu and Rob jumped out just in time, however Cloud couldn't make it out without getting a severe cut due to the sharp edges forming on the gate that would've sealed them inside.
"Cloud!" Ash exclaimed.
"I've suffered worse," Cloud moved out. Rob attempted to seal the wound with a Cure anyway before letting the warrior move further.
"The canal ways should lead us to the museum!" Ash instructed as Latias nodded and led the way. Rob skated, Ash and Pikachu grabbed Rob's hand, and Cloud, proving them to be quite speedy in the air.
"We've got Heartless Ahead!" Rob stopped as several Shadows and two Sneasel hopped up to strike. Pikachu hopped off Ash and struck with a quick Thunderbolt, smashing them away. Cloud flipped away from a sneak attack and slashed two Shadows easily. Rob whipped out his Keyblade and went for the Sneasels, dodging a weak Blizzard attack and smacking them with his weapon. Ash punched a Shadow, and they stopped.
"As bad as I imagined," Ash sighed.
The group moved forward again, not noticing the flying shape heading towards them. Only when it was too late did Rob note a swooping Aerodactyl landing to attack. It grabbed Latias, and tried to carry her away.
"Shit!" Rob exclaimed, stumbling back.
"PIKACHU!" Ash shouted as he made a futile leap on the creature to try and apprehend it. "THUNDERBOLT!"
Pikachu answered his trainer by sening huge blasts of lighting on Aerodactyl. The bird cried and flew away, but Latias panicked.
"Latias!" Ash cried as she put on her invisibility and flew away. Aerodactyl swooped back to smash the other guys with a Hyper Beam. "LATIAS!"
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"I can't wait around here any longer!" Sonic paced. "I'm feeling something awful, and I just can't sit on my ass all day!"
"I feel the same way," Misty added, "But we can't get past those gates!"
"Leave that to me," Tifa grinned and cracked her knuckles and Sonic smiled at her. He easily ricocheted off some walls and landed on the ground on the other side. She went to Misty and Brock. "Hope you aren't afraid of sudden heights," She picked up Brock first and chucked him over the gate. Sonic caught him and set him down. Tifa did the same to Misty, and then Sonic jumped back, threw Tifa over, and zipped back to catch her. The four of them bolted down the steps and headed over to the museum.
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Ash came to. Somehow, he wound up in the canal. As his sight returned though, he saw Latias shaking him awake, and Rob, Cloud and Pikachu walking alongside. "Latias..."
Latias cooed happily in response.
"Those Pokémon, they're controlled by the Heartless, aren't they?" Ash pondered.
"YES!" the group heard. Ash turned his head a bit to see Maya running towards them. "There's something dead wrong with the city! Some thing called the Soul Dew is missing!"
"MAYA!" Rob embraced his sister in a bear hug. "I was worried about you!" He smacked her with his Keyblade. "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
"Awww..." Maya massaged her aching head.
"Where'd you go, anyway?"
"I went looking for the problem, but then I saw Team Rocket," Maya responded. "They said they were counting on the thieves to steal that Soul Dew so they could destroy the world with the Heartless! Luckily Ansem saved me!"
"Shoulda known Team Rocket had something to do with this," Ash snarled.
"ANSEM?! WHERE?!" Rob looked around in excitement.
"Hate to interrupt your little chat, but we've got company," Cloud alerted. The reanimated Aerodactyl had reappeared with a vengeance, and now a wicked Kabutops was with it!
"Run for it!" Ash shouted.
Aerodactyl made chase, but most everyone was faster with Ash now riding Latias. Aerodactyl promptly crashed into a wall, fainting. Ash made a face at it and Rob gave it the finger, making fun of its less-than-dramatic exit. Kabutops was still on their heels, so Cloud advised the group to make more turns to confuse it. However, the vicious Pokémon was not one to be duped, and it kept up easily with them. Cloud turned to the others.
"MY turn," Cloud whirled around and charged, pulling an upward sweep with his sword, driving right through Kabutops's thick armor and knocking it down. Cloud added insult to injury by plunging the Buster Sword through its stomach, causing it to convulse and then sit still. The Heartless crest faded from its head before the fossil crumbled into nothing. Ash and Latias came back. Rob and Maya gave a thumbs-up. They raced on.
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Latios strained in pain. Oakley's mad drive for power harmed his very soul and sapped him of energy. Oakley's growing frustration at failing to stop Latias and Ash only angered her. Bianca and Lorenzo only stared, pure horror etched on their faces. Oakley's face then twisted to a grin, calling the screen to monitor the charging group. "I'll just summon the very water they tread on them!" Oakley's mad cackling rang through the museum, unaware of the twisted evil that besieged her heart. She then began to control the water...
"The museum's right there!" Ash pointed. Latias swerved and headed for it.
"It's too quiet..." murmured Maya.
"What the..." Rob turned to see a huge tower of water flowing towards them. "RUN!"
The team turned tail and tried to evade the chasing tower of water, but it proved faster. Water streaked across the wide floor, trapping our heroes and allowing the water tower to consume them. Our heroes struggled for air, the rushing water denying them oxygen. Latias panicked, but then clamed down and saw only one way out.
There was no other choice.
Her eyes flared, noting the psychic burst of power.
The Soul Dew shattered.
The water dropped away at once. Cloud smacked himself to get rid of the water in his throat, and Pikachu jumped on Ash's stomach to squirt out the water in his stomach.
The group wasted no more time and rushed in the museum.
By now, Oakley saw the error. The Soul Dew was destroyed! The complete lack of power suddenly drew the crane into a state of madness and it went haywire, trapping Oakley inside and driving her mad.
As Rob and the crew entered, they surveyed the chaos before them. The ancient machine had gone haywire, and everyone else, Pokémon included, could only watch in utter confusion. Annie noted the arriving heroes and summoned Ariados and Espeon.
"Get them!" Annie commanded.
"My turn!" Maya rushed forward. "I'll show you a new trick Ansem taught me!" She danced around and bellowed "HOUNDOOM!" With a flourish of magic, the dark dog appeared before her once again. Ariados reacted with a Shadow Ball, but Houndoom shot a powerful flamethrower, smashing it away and knocking it out. Espeon also leapt in to attack, but the swift Houndoom used a powerful Crunch attack, KO'ing it with just one hit. Annie could only stare in shock, until Maya dashed over and kicked her in the stomach. Then she could only keel over in shock.
"How did you do that?!" Rob shot at his sister.
"Ansem taught me! Isn't he cool?" Maya beamed at her twin brother. Rob grumbled something before turning back to the matter at hand.
"Are you two all right?" Ash said, trying to peel away the webbing trapping Lorenzo. However, he couldn't peel it fast enough, so Cloud came over and easily tore through it with his sword, freeing the two.
"We're fine... rescue Latios!" Lorenzo exclaimed.
Rob had already set foot towards Latios with Maya. Rob tried to smash the barrier with his Keyblade, but his efforts proved futile.
"Hmmm..." Maya thought for a moment. "What was that spell I picked up yesterday... AHA! Dispel!" She shot a hand up, and the barrier began to crack. Then, almost like glass, it shattered. Latios fell to the ground, exhausted.
Latias, seeing that Latios was free happily circled around him.
"As much as I like happy reunions, we're not finished yet!" Rob pointed to the machine. "The machine's haywire!"
True to Rob's word, the machine was still going awry, Ash narrowly dodged getting smashed to death by the crane's "ball." Latios looked over to the holder where the Soul Dew once sat, a white orb of electricity in its place. Latios nodded towards it, and Rob knew what to do.
Bringing his mighty Keyblade, Rob slammed it into the orb, ignoring the great shocking pain coursing through him. Reaching his limits, Rob finally forced the Keyblade completely down, destroying the orb and silencing the machine.
The crane slowed to a stop, opening on the ground and revealing Oakley, lifeless and unmoving.
Annie rushed over to her fallen friend, cradling the purple-haired woman like a baby. "Oakley? Oakley!" She shook her gently, and the body stirred. Oakley awakened.
"Annie?" She whispered.
"I... I'm glad you're okay," Annie smiled weakly. "I think it's all over for us."
"I hope you learned your lesson!" Ash suddenly said, catching them off guard. He boldly walked over to them. "This is what happens when greed becomes you!"
"Evil overtakes your Heart, and you attract the Heartless, and you nearly put this town in grave danger!" Lorenzo added.
Annie stared at the angry crowd of heroes and Pokémon in sadness. All they wanted was the high life, to have the thrill of thievery and own the world... and this is what they get? She bowed her head in shame. Oakley turned her head and weakly said, "Please spare us the moral reminder, we just had... everything... you just said... and are about to say... shoved into our heads in about five seconds by... these events."
"I guess people change, huh?" Ash said.
"Not a bad idea," A slight smirk appeared on Cloud's face. Latias studied Annie and Oakley and flew around them, wondering why they had such a sudden change in morals.
As Latias finished her investigation, Ash continued, "In any case, you'll still have to go to jail, but I see that you have at least had a change in heart... the town's back to normal, I guess."
"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.
(The Darkness never dies,) Rob jumped at the "voice" that echoed throughout the room. A pool of darkness formed from right under him, and he swiftly skated out of the way before something could happen. From the pool one giant, black form emerged, leering down at them.
"Not DAD again!" Rob groaned.
"That's your dad?!" Bianca gasped.
"Believe it, faker!"
Bianca promptly fainted.
(So, you absorbed the balanced power, didn't you?) Darkside continued staring impassively. (In any case it won't save you. The Darkness always grows and consumes. There's no controlling it without the loss of your soul.)
"There's no controlling it without the loss of your soul," Rob mocked. He then got into a fighting stance. "You think I'm gonna join YOU? Not a chance, ugly! What have you this time?!"
Darkside continued to stare, but Giovanni's Umbreon emerged right behind it. (Since Team Rocket and the thieves have failed, I will take matters into my own hands. As long as the Soul Dew is destroyed, I WILL destroy this land in Darkness!) Darkside slammed the ground, and a wave of Darkness consumed Umbreon...
And made it bigger.
In fact, it was roughly four times its original size. The fiendish Pokémon roared, and the team heard, (A new form has taken place. I am Fenrir, and as the Darkness consumes me... I will consume YOU.) The new Umbreon, now known as 'Fenrir', lunged for an attack.
Rob and Cloud back-flipped out of the way as Fenrir attempted to Crunch them to death. Ash whipped out one of his Pokéballs and flung it. "Heracross!" Ash shouted as the giant beetle Pokémon emerged. The blue beetle acknowledged is trainer before he charged into battle. "Megahorn attack!" Heracross jutted his horn and smashed into Fenrir. The blow sent the giant Pokémon crashing into the ground.
Fenrir rose again, and with a powerful lunge, smashed Heracross away with a headbutt. With this, Rob dodged the flying bug and skated towards the ferocious dark Pokémon. Whipping out his Keyblade, he leapt up and performed a Slicer attack to Fenrir's face. Cloud readied his Buster Sword and sliced at the creature as well. Both fighters sliced at the offensive creature as it struck back with gnashing teeth.
Fenrir reared back and smashed Rob away with a front paw, and slapped Cloud away with another. It then changed its attention and stalked towards Maya and Ash, ready to chomp down with mighty jaws.
As it lowered its jaws to strike, a figure suddenly smacked its face and crashed it painfully into the ground. Ash sighed with relief as he saw Tifa land and take a fighting stance.
Unfortunately, the angry Fenrir recovered and started to stalk towards Tifa. The woman nervously backed away as the nightmarish creature, up until Rob lunged forward and struck with a four-hit combo. Fenrir lunged and attempted to crush Rob in its jaws. Tifa stole the opportunity by running forward and smashing it with a meteor punch.
Fenrir stopped for a moment. It howled, and a rush of Darkness began to explode form under our heroes' feet. "Augh!" Everyone shouted as they were forced back.
Without warning, Pikachu rushed forward.
"Pikachu!" Ash cried.
The electric mouse dashed forward, avoiding the plumes of Darkness as it charged towards Fenrir. Pikachu leapt up...
...and fell right into Fenrir's jaws.
"PIKACHU!" Ash almost passed out from the sheer panic of losing his prized Pokémon.
To think it was over for the yellow rat was terribly erroneous. Fenrir shook from pain as powerful plumes of lightning shot from it, at last ending in a terrific explosion.
When the dust cleared, Fenrir was no more. Only a fallen Umbreon and a victorious Pikachu remained. Having worn out its power, Pikachu keeled over as Ash scooped it up into his arms. "Pikachu!" Ash sighed in relief.
Just then, Misty and Brock rushed in. "Is everything okay?!" Misty asked.
"Uhhh... we're still alive if anyone cares," Annie chuckled nervously.
"It's all settled now," Ash said, with a soft smile towards his Pikachu.
(I see I failed,) Darkside emerged once again. (However, I leave you one last gift. If this place cannot be submerged in Darkness, it will simply be submerged. CYGNUS.)
Rob stared down his father, having been called by his true name.
(Your time of judgment will come. You will not escape the Darkness. Farewell.) Darkside flew up and plunged down, disappearing into a portal of Darkness that made the earth shake.
"Who said I was trying to escape?" Rob blinked. He then turned back to the rest of the crowd. "I guess it's over... wait... where's Sonic?!"
"Umm... guys?" Sonic walked in, his pupils having shrunk to the size of a small speck of dust. "We have a problem. Go look outside..."
The entire group sprinted outside, Annie and Oakley included, and the team came face-to-face with an absolute lack of water in the canals...
...and looking towards the edge, the biggest tsunami the world has ever seen.
"Holy crap!" Rob breathed. "God spare us..."
"We can't die this way..." Misty gasped sadly as the tsunami picked up momentum and drew closer to smash them into oblivion.
It was here that the Eon Pokémon rose. They nodded towards each other, then flew towards the oncoming wave.
"What're you DOING?!" Maya shouted.
"Saving us all," Bianca stated grimly. "This is their... Memento attack. A sacrifice to save someone..."
Latias and Latios glowed white, and they formed a white orb together. It grew in power and began to flicker as it charged towards the tsunami. However, inside that ball...
(You cannot perish,) Latias suddenly heard from her partner.
(What?! But...) Latias tried to reason with Latios.
(I can do this alone... there is no need for you to suffer with me. Please! Live on, continue our legacy. You've done what you could... give the humans, the Keyblade child some hope.)
(But...)
(GO...) Latios forced Latias out of the white orb, forcing him alone to encounter the wave. The orb flickered as it collided with the wave, and the water died down before it could drown the city. Latias looked up in dismay as the orb was gone, and Latios with it. She lowered herself down slowly, as Ash, Sonic, and Rob came dashing towards her.
"Latias!" Ash shouted as the three of them came to the Eon Pokémon. Ash took one look at the sad face of Latias and knew something bad had happened. "Latios... he didn't make it, did he?" Latias shook her head forlornly. "I'm... I'm sorry for... your loss."
Latias nodded. Rob saw her rise up and fly past him. Rob took a look at his Keyblade and remembered, "Keyhole!"
Arriving back in front of the museum, Rob and the others came to a stop. Rob alone stepped forward a bit, seeing something shine in front of the building. Rob looked closer.
The Keyhole.
Pointing the Keyblade with both hands, Rob aimed at the hole, and a thin light shot out into the Keyhole. He heard something click like a lock being shut, and another being opened.
"I guess... this place is now protected again. It's finally OVER," Rob sighed in relief, but then stood up. "For now."
"Latias, will you be okay?" Ash asked the Pokémon.
It seemed to nod slightly.
"Legend has it every once in a while, such as every thousand years, one dies to recreate the Soul Dew," Lorenzo walked out, along with the rest of the large group. "It is then that the legacy of the Eon Pokémon continues, to forever guard this place from any form of evil."
"I understand," Rob nodded. "The evil the permeates throughout the world continues to attack what it cannot have in many ways. I can only imagine what... could possibly go wrong. My father, despite his apparent evil, is still an enigma to me."
"I don't know," Ash sighed sadly.
"Maybe I'll find the answers..."
"Rob..." Ash began, looking at Misty and Brock. "I wanna ask you something."
"Yeah?" Rob answered.
"This is gonna be difficult..." he continued to steal glances at Misty and Brock. "But can I come with you? I wanna understand all this, the Heartless, the Soulless, the Pokémon... Everything, and I can't do it on a normal journey."
Rob's smirk returned. "Heh, why not? The problem is, will your friends let you?"
"Ash..." Misty's eyes watered, and she glomped Ash again. "I'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you too, Misty..." Ash hugged back.
"Ash," Brock said in a serious voice. "On your new journey, there's one thing I request of you..." he gave Ash a pen and a notepad. "Could you get girls to write down their phone numbers here and bring it back?!"
Everyone crashed. Misty smacked Brock over the head with a mallet.
"Well, for safety reasons, I'll stay here," Brock came back to his senses. "Good luck Ash."
"I'm gonna miss you, Brock," Ash nearly cried as he hugged his friend. As he let go, he turned back to Latias. "And who knows, maybe starting a new journey isn't so hard..."
"Or maybe it's already begun," Sonic added. "Chill out everyone! We won't be leaving until tomorrow afternoon! And besides, we need to take Latias home," Sonic grinned as he started racing back into the city.
"WAITADAMNSECOND!" Rob bellowed, making everyone stop.
"What?" They all responded.
"Where's Annie and Oakley?"
They spotted the two of them attempting to sneak off. Rob was the first to bellow "STOP RIGHT THERE!"
They panicked and attempted to run, but Sonic had beaten them to the punch. Knocking them down and tying them up with rope in one smooth motion, Sonic then stood on top of them, gloating. "Hey guess what? I WIN!"
The ladies grumbled and complained, but Rob stepped up and started rubbing his nose cockily. "I guess it pays to have fast friends. You ladies fail. I thought you had changed morals. Guess I was wrong."
"You have a nosebleed, boy," Oakley taunted in a sensual voice. Rob stopped his rubbing to note blood on his finger. At this, Oakley winked at him, and Rob buried his hands in his face again.
"Urrrrrrgggh! DAMN YOU!" Rob bellowed, as everyone else laughed at his expense.
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"Huh?" Sonic looked in the distance. "Isn't that Latias?" he noted the girl running by them as the group headed towards the shore to the recently landed spacecraft that afternoon. After several tearful goodbyes from his friends, Ash had finally managed to tear away and head off with the "Keyblade gang" as he referred to them.
"Or is it faker?" Rob grinned.
Latias came to Ash. She held a painting in her hand. Ash received it, and opened it.
Inside was a detailed picture of Ash, Rob, Pikachu, and Sonic, chilling out in front of a large tree.
"Wow..." Ash said, not expecting an even bigger shock.
Latias pecked him in the cheek.
"Lucky bastard..." Sonic muttered under his breath.
Latias ran back. Lorenzo showed up in the distance. "Goodbye! Thank you for everything!"
"No problem!" Ash saluted, and the group all boarded the spacecraft.
"Wait, does this thing have a name?" Ash asked as he came inside.
"I prefer the name 'Nevershadow'," Tails came into view. "Hello, Ash Ketchum. My name's Miles Prowler, but you can call me Tails!"
"Hi Tails!" Ash shook his hand. "So... where we off to?"
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"WE'RE GOING TO HOENN/JAPAN! WHEEE HAW!"
(Nice ending note, don't you think? Too bad next episode doesn't follow them! Sora and The Four are next... More entries into the depths of the Chaos Saints, now confirmed in the real KH world as The Organization! (They're still Chaos Saints here, folks.))