Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel

Episode 14: Defeat the Nemesis

(A/N: The Pokémon movie adaptation that WAS here has been dropped. Some similar conversations, but this chapter is new. And I don't own Cyborg 009, so please don't sue me. I've also gotten legitimate complaints that my OC's are too powerful—I'll fix that ).)

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

More silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Still more silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Yet more silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Still another round of silence.

"Are we there yet?"

"NO."

A round of silence. Then—

"Are we there yet?" Maya asked.

"FOR THE LOVE OF CHAOS, NO!" Dr. Eggman roared. Maya let out an evil-sounding laugh.

"Wow…" Tails plastered his face into a window like a curious child. "Look at that!"

"Whoa!" Sonic gaped at the massive sight before him. The flashing lights, kanji language, and tall skyscrapers meant one thing: they were now in Tokyo, Japan.

"Cool!" Ash added.

"That's right…" Dr. Eggman said. "This is Tokyo, Japan, one of the most densely populated cities on Earth. I dreamed of terrorizing this place when I was evil…" Dr. Eggman reminisced as he stared off into space, imagining a Godzilla machine chasing away townspeople.

"Eggman, get a grip," Sonic gave the scientist a mild slap. "You're not evil for the time being, and Godzilla is WAY overplayed."

The mad scientist grumbled as Rob continued to ponder. "I see…" He trailed off. "Where are the other two?"

"Cloud and Tifa promised to meet us at downtown," Dr. Eggman pointed to a map as it formed on the main CPU. "They say they've got something, and it's not just Team Rocket."

"More than Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed. "You can't mean—"

"Yes, Ashy boy, Black Ghost," Dr. Eggman began. "They've recently been providing funding to those clowns we've chased all over Kanto."

"If they're teaming up, this means big trouble," Ash responded. "I've vaguely heard about Black Ghost, and they're sorta like you—I mean, while you were a jerk," he hastily added as Eggman raised an eyebrow at his words.

"You mean they invent meanie electric toys to terrorize people?" Maya asked. "Who needs more Dr. Robotnik rip-offs when you can have DOOM!" She exclaimed, laughing maniacally. She ran to the back of the ship, while everyone stared at Rob.

"Don't ask me. She just had ice cream!" Rob snarled, not wanting to both with these imbeciles, he stalked off behind his energetic sister.

Dr. Robotnik blinked. "What's with him?"

"I'm thinking he's still souring over Ken… and Maya?" Sonic whispered in Eggman's ear, as if to deliver a juicy secret. "She's just in denial."

Dr Eggman face-faulted.
------------

"ARRGH! I'm an IDIOT!" Sora yelled once again.

"Cool your jets, kid," Jim Raynor answered. "I know you're still beatin' yourself up about not sealing your hometown, but chances are your girlfriend already did it!"

"I know, but I could've at least CHECKED." Sora continued to grit his teeth. "Where's Riku, anyway? Maybe somebody around here will chew me out for what I deserve…"

You won't find him here. He said somethin' about how the Chaos Saints told him to collect somethin' here. You ain't got a hope in hell of finding him in Tokyo."

"Tokyo? Is that where we are?"

"Yeah," Siege, who was in the room the entire time, "Tokyo's one of the busiest cities on earth, and it's the current target of the bad guys."

"I'm guessing this is the place where the world's true keyhole lies?"

"Should be right, according to what Vexen told us," Siege answered.

"What're we waiting for then?" Sora readied his Keyblade. "LET'S GO!"
----------

"Rob… what's the matter?" Ash and Pikachu walked in on a somber Rob, who had sat down and gazed sadly at his knees. His eyes looked desolate, as if there wasn't a glimmer of light.

"You know… back when I lived at the Crying Church… we used to travel…" Rob looked up at Ash. "All of us. Me, Maya, Clara, Taz, Ken, Charlotte, Christie, and Mr. and Ms. Mira… We've been all over the U.S/Kanto region. We used to spend so much time together… I hoped that when I found all of my friends, we could all stop the evil versions of the Heartless and the Soulless together… But too many times, that dream has been denied…" Rob rose. "I've been acting all hard and bold, mostly because it's been two years since I went on my last travel with my family, and I let my drive for justice shadow out my fears… but all of this is just too much… we're all going apart, and I may never see my friends again…" Tears began to fall from Rob's face. "DAMMIT!" He punched a wall in fury, but he only hurt his fist, making him cry even harder—and more comically.

Ash unfortunately had to stifle a laugh from Rob's tragic rage. "I'm sorry Rob. But you can't give up hope now," Ash put his hands on Rob's shoulders, therefore cutting out his need to laugh at Rob's situation. "And besides, even though those seasoned heroes like Cloud and Sonic don't seem to show any fear doesn't mean every big monster that comes our way doesn't scare them out of their wits. To tell you the truth, I'm scared too. I don't know what losing your heart or soul is like, but I'm afraid I might find out. But we gotta hold strong, no matter what!" At this moment, Ash felt… something tugging at his heart. Instinctively reaching into his pocket, he found some sort of chain that was never there before. "Here!" Ash gave Rob a key chain that had a pokéball design dangling from one end. "I believe this belongs to you. No idea how it got there but I think it came… from my heart, as weird as that sounds."

Rob smiled at these words and accepted Ash's gift. "Thank you Ash… But just one question…"

"What's that?" Ash let go of Rob.

"Could you check the back of your pants? I think Maya just put melting ice cream down there…" Rob pointed meekly. Ash looked at his butt to see an upturned ice cream cone and melting vanilla all over his pants.

Ash panicked and tried to get it off, amidst the howling laughter of Maya. Rob shook his head, laughing, and escorted Ash to go request Eggman's help before they leave the ship.
----------------

"I take it you survived that surprise attack," Cloud looked at the group.

"I've been through worse," Sonic shrugged.

"I haven't," Rob sighed.

"What's the matter?" Tifa asked.

"Real nasty family issues. Don't ask," Sonic answered. "So, what did you guys pick up?"

"Dr. Eggman picked up some highly advanced technology within the city," Cloud explained. "Usually he'd be responsible, but Eggman had deactivated his robots. Further investigation showed Team Rocket activity scattered about the city. Apparently they're searching for something, and planning to wreak as much havoc as they can while finding it."

"Any clue on what they're looking for?" Ash asked.

"No..." Cloud answered. However, he tensed and pulled out his sword. "But I got a feeling we might find out."

The other heroes turned around to see various robots and cyborgs standing behind them. There were 3 large robots that had horns, clunky but shiny armor, and the Heartless crest emblazoned on their chest. Rob felt with his Keyblade, using the scan ability to read them. They were called Enforcers. The smaller variety was almost fully black; only their white gloves and their Heartless crest contrasted in color, and their outline suggested that they were once human members of Team Rocket. The scan ability referred to them as Grunts.

"Who ordered these clowns?" Sonic took a fighting stance.

"Team Rocket plunged their Hearts into darkness… and turned into these things?" Maya blinked.

"Yes," Rob whipped out his Keyblade and held it up. "THUNDER!" The first bolt rained down on a Grunt, stunning it so Sonic could finish it off with a buzzsaw attack. Cloud and Tifa used various attacks on the other Grunts, clearing the way for the rest of the team to focus on the enforcers.

Ash sent out Pikachu. "Pikachu! THUNDERBOLT!"

The electric rat focused his charge and shot a blast of electricity at the lumbering robot, but it only forced it back. Pikachu gasped as the Enforcer sent a fist down, forcing Pikachu to evade being made into yellow paste.

"Maybe we just need a stronger dosage!" Maya twirled, leapt, and shouted "Thundara!", summoning a stronger blast of lightning from the sky and frying the circuitry of the robot. It twitched a bit before falling over to the ground.

Meanwhile, Rob was having more trouble with the second Enforcer. Try as he might, he couldn't damage the robot enough to expose its circuitry. Growing frustrated, he summoned a blast of darkness. The enforcer shook, having been damaged. "Guess that works," Rob shrugged as he tore into the machine once more.

Tifa swung forward with a powerful kick that sent the last of the Grunts into oblivion. Unfortunately, this set her up perfectly for the last Enforcer to smash her away into Cloud.

Rob's luck with the other Enforcer had run out. The big robot timed a perfect hit that flattened the dark boy into the ground. An angry Sonic's counterattack missed it, and the hedgehog had to evade another attack. Pikachu and Ash backed up next to Sonic, and they stood together, ready to attack—

Without warning, the robot crashed and shut down, almost as if an invisible force had crashed it. The third Enforcer looked about in confusion before a ray gun blast shot its head clear off. The robot exploded as a result.

"Looks like we got here just in time," From the sky, a man flew down, landing on what looked like jet boots. He had an incredibly long nose and equally long hair. He wore a red suit with large yellow buttons, a long, winding scarf and black boots. "You held your own pretty good, though."

Eight others arrived. They dressed identically to the man who flew in, but they contrasted in size and shape. The lone woman in the group stepped forward, carrying a baby. "It's not over yet. There are still robots here."

"How many?"

"Twenty." With that revelation, the twenty robots emerged out of a nearby subway, causing the local populace to flee in terror. One Enforcer aimed a fist at a fearful child.

"Oh, no you don't!" The silver-haired man of the group kneeled down, and his knee popped open, much to the shock of our heroes. A full rocket emerged and shot at the large robot, while the long—haired man swooped down and carried the child out of harm's way. The rocket blew the Enforcer to smithereens and gathered the attention of the other robots.

Once the crowd of robotic menaces made their way to the group, the largest of the yellow-scarfed group stepped forward. His Indian face hardly broke a sweat as he used his strength to pick up an Enforcer and toss him into a group of grunts, blowing them all into smithereens.

A row of grunts aimed their guns at the group. Rob got his Keyblade ready, but another member of the group beat him to the punch. The fat Chinese man blew a steady stream of concentrated flame on the grunts, effectively disabling them, except for one.

Before Maya could even point this out, the lone Grunt turned on the other Grunts, shooting them into oblivion instead. The Grunt let out a mischievous chuckle before shape shifting back into a bald man, who leapt back into the group.

6 Enforcers remained. The one in front lumbered forward, only to be shot dead perfectly in the eyes. The robot soon lost its head and other body parts in a massive explosion. The shooter turned out to be an African with white hair. He grinned as he stepped down and said, "It's your turn, 009."

009 was the most unusual of them all. Mahogany hair blocked one reddish-brown eye. He stepped forward and shouted "Acceleration mode!" It was almost as if he flickered out of sight. In the time it took for Sonic to blink, all five Enforcers lost their heads and subsequently blew up. He seemingly phased back into existence.

"Whoa!" Sonic blinked in amazement. "It's like Chaos Control without the Emerald!"

"Chaos Control?" 009 blinked.

"Ummm… I don't know what that is either!" Maya suddenly chirped. "So who are you guys? And what are those powers you guys use?"

"I'm 002," the long-nosed man said. "I can fly, and I'm an excellent marksman." The curious and hyper Maya started looking at his hair and nose.

"WOOOOWWW It's so LOOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG!" Maya chirped like a child.

"I'm 003," The young lady holding the baby said. "I have a psychic radar built into me." Maya examined her pretty face: Blond hair, blue eyes, and soft features. She then looked the baby. "That's 001."

"AWWWW! Isn't he cute?" Maya tried to tickle the blue-haired baby, but suddenly she heard, (Hey, cut it OUT!) Maya jumped back in surprise. "Whoa! It talks!"

(Yes, indeed. I have psychic powers, you know.)

"COOOOOOOOLLLL!" Maya chirped. She dashed over to the tall Indian man, and looked him over. "Who are you?"

"I am 005," the large man shook Maya's hand with a rather gentle touch. "I wield super strength."

"Okay!" She zipped on over to the fat man, who had a rather large nose. She noticed this and wasted no time in squeezing it.

"Hey! That's rather rude!" The man spoke.

"Awww! It doesn't make the funny clown noise!" Maya pouted. Rob grit his teeth at that comment.

"Hmph!" The fat man continued. "I'm 006! I breathe fire, I can tunnel underground, and I'm a good cook, to boot!"

Maya walked over to the next one. She gasped in recognition…

"You know me?" The man blinked.

…or so everyone thought. "Sorry, don't know you." 007 crashed.

"I'm 007! I can shape-shift!" He proceeded to prove his point by turning into a kangaroo, a mouse, and then into Maya's double.

"James Bond! Wow! I thought you had more hair than that…" Maya blinked. EVERYONE crashed from those words.

"Sorry to break it to you, sis, but HE'S NOT JAMES BOND." Rob bellowed into his sister's ear. Maya blinked in realization.

"Ohhhhhh…" She said. She walked to the African and ruffled his white hair. "WOW… cool hair."

008 sweat-dropped. "Oookay…" He backed away. "I'm 008, and I'm an even better marksman than 002, and I'm very swift underwater."

"And I'm 009. You saw my powers," 009 said.

"Excuse me for asking, but what's with all the numbers?" Tifa asked. "You don't have names, do you?"

003 hung her head down. "Those were the numbers Black Ghost gave us."

"We aren't fully human anymore," 008 added. "We're cyborgs, products of Black Ghost's experimentations. He took us from our homes and made us into this."

"So not every robot's a willing design in Black Ghost's schemes…" Rob said. "The bastard," Rob came out of his thoughts and turned to 009. "Let's compare notes. What brings you here?"

"We came here when we heard Black Ghost was launching an offense on this city."

"So did we," Rob said. "Don't know us, do you? Well, I'm Rob, the crazy thing that attacked you is my sister Maya, and there's Ash, Cloud, Tifa, and Sonic," Each respective person waved as Rob introduced him or her.

"We'd love to help you guys out," Sonic said. "We've got a grudge against Black Ghost and their new partner Team Rocket, too."

"That's a great idea!" 007 said.

"You sure about that?" 002 looked at his friends. "With the exception of two of them they're a bunch of kids!"

"TEENAGERS! Get it right!" Ash retorted.

"But you're the youngest out of all of us…" Maya pointed out.

Ash's face fell. "Don't ruin my moment."

"You said it yourself, we hold out on our own pretty well," Sonic said to 002. "So what's the problem? Afraid we'll kick more ass than you?"

002 got in Sonic's face. "NO." He backed off. "Fine! You can join us, but don't come crying to me if you get hurt!"

"That's IF we get hurt," Sonic kept his grin.

"I won't be joining you guys," Rob said, his voice low.

"What! Why not?" Ash said in shock.

"I need to… find myself," Rob answered. "I won't be of any use to you guys in this state." He looked back with a sad smile. "Besides, Black Ghost is gone for now; we should relax." He skated away deep into the city.

"Wait!" Maya cried out. But her twin brother was gone. "Awww…" she sighed. In a matter of moments, however, her visage changed dramatically. "I WANNA EXPLORE!"

"All right," 003 said. "That sounds nice. However, we should stay in groups just in case Black Ghost's forces come back."

"Groups? Pshaw," Sonic slapped the thought away. "Y'all stay as one! I'll keep in touch," Sonic revved up, but stopped. "Unless someone can keep up."

"I'd like a friendly race as much as the next guy, but—" 009 began, but Sonic interrupted.

"Cool! Race ya!" At that, Sonic dashed off.

"Jerk," 009 clicked his teeth and disappeared in an Accelerated flash. Everyone else just blinked.

"Who else thinks Sonic's gonna lose?" 002 offered, only for the rest of the large group to return blank stares. "What?"
-----------------

Sonic's running took him to the housing within the city. To tell the truth, Rob didn't have a bad idea of taking a solo walk, and Sonic wanted to see something on his own.

However, he skidded to a surprised stop when 009 phased right in front of him. "AUGH! Aww man…" Sonic hung his head.

"You should know better than to pull stunts like that," 009 admonished Sonic. "If you wanted to be alone, why didn't you say so?"

"Come on! You didn't hear 003 say 'we should stay in groups?' Rob already got lucky bolting off on his own." Sonic pointed out. "Besides, there was something I wanna see while I'm here." Sonic ran off, and 009 followed.

Sonic zoomed over into the suburb area just outside of Tokyo. All he really wanted to do was sightsee a bit and clear his head. As he wondered when will this war against the Heartless end, he came to a stop at a small park. The resulting wind blasted a swing-set to life, and it began to teeter as if a phantom child were swinging on it. 009 appeared to Sonic's left. Once he acknowledged the cyborg's appearance, Sonic then gazed at the setting sun.

"Yeah… this is it. Not a better view of the setting sun anywhere else in the city," Sonic said. "It's awesome."

"You know… the last time I saw a setting sun… I was back at home, the night before everything changed," 009 said. "Back before I was a cyborg, I lived in a church."

"You know, you sound just like Rob," Sonic grinned at 009. "Rob was raised in a church just like you." Unbeknownst to them, a fat person casually strolled by, carrying groceries. His eyes were shaded by his mop of orange hair, and he had a body physique similar to that of Eggman. He looked at the two and saw them gazing at the setting sun. Mesmerized by the sun, he calmly set his groceries in an inconspicuous space and went to join them. Sonic continued, "The last time I saw the setting sun, I was stuck in Twilight Town. Heh, the sun ALWAYS looks like this over there."

"Twilight Town?" 009 asked. "Where's that?"

"It's not here… That's all I can say," Sonic answered. Feeling that 009 already had enough on his mind, Sonic didn't want to flood the young man's mind with the possibility of Black Ghost reaching out to other planets… In fact, Sonic shuddered at this thought.

"Are you all right?" 009 asked.

"Yeah, just thinking…"

009 went back to gazing at the sun. After a few moments, he began talking again. "The sun was so beautiful… Back then I didn't have a care in the world. But then… everything changed."

Flashback-

Joe Shimomura was taking a casual walk back home at night. A calm breeze messed with his hair as he strolled back home towards the church. However, as he got closer to his home, his sense of smell caught something.

"Something… something's burning!" Joe realized as he quickened his paste into a sprint back home. He skidded to a horrified stop when he saw what was burning… the church! "Oh no!" terrified at the thought of losing his friends and family inside, he kicked the door down and burst inside. "Hello! Anyone here!" Nothing. Only the steady rage of the flames answered his calls. He ran into the main room. Through the flames he could only see the altar…

…And a figure on the floor.

Joe recognized him immediately. "Father!" He ran towards the figure. The priest who served as Joe's adoptive father lay in a bloody heap. "No! Father…" Joe cradled the murdered figure, ignoring the blood on his hands.

Big mistake.

At this moment the police burst in. "Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Joe, unable to think straight, answered in a panicked voice," I know what it looks like, but I didn't do it!" He then sprinted away out of the backdoor. This riled the police, who ran after him in hot pursuit.
------------

Joe found himself cornered. The police had surrounded him from all sides except directly behind him, where a rocky cliff led to the ocean. The police tried to calm him down.

"Surrender peacefully and you won't get hurt!" One yelled on a loudspeaker.

Joe, now fearing for his life, backed away slowly until he nearly slipped on the cliff. He looked down and saw rocks splashing against the ocean waves. He looked down, then gazed at the police.

He stepped forward…

… and suddenly whirled around and took a running start before jumping off the cliff. Like a fallen bird, Joe sailed into the rocky ocean below.

End Flashback-

"When I woke up, I found that I was a cyborg prototype for Black Ghost…"

"Ouch…" Sonic grimaced. He looked to his left and saw the fat man standing there. "Hey, how long have YOU been there?"

"A while, I guess," He answered, his voice deep.

"I take it you enjoy sunsets, too?" 009 asked.

"To tell the truth, I never got to look at one… But yeah, I enjoy it now."

Sonic grinned. "Heh, you're not half-bad!"

The three chatted, unaware of the dodgy old man that walked by. He was short, having tufts of white hari divided by a gaping bald spot. He carried a black umbrella. He looked at the three, saw the fat man, snarled, and started stomping towards him.

Sonic, 009, and the fat man continued to chat until the old man showed up out of nowhere and grabbed the fat one by the ear. "Hey, let's GO!" His scratchy voice boomed.

"Ouch!" The fat man compained.

"Hey, what's your problem!" Sonic and 009 echoed.

"WE have business to attend to, and we can't be late!" The old man shot back.

"Is that it, Igor?" Sonic taunted. Several ideas went off in Sonic's head, and he grinned malevolently. Mimicking the hunchback old man and the famous assistant Frankenstein the best he could, Sonic mocked, "Are we late for Dr. Frankenstein's lab! Huh? Hehheh, HEEHEE…"

"Shut up!" The old man shouted, prompting Sonic to stop. However, the hedgehog continued to mock the old man as he continued, "We're going. Don't try to stop us." With that, he left in a huff, dragging the fat man with him. As soon as they were gone, 009 turned to Sonic.

"What was YOUR deal? Why'd you compare that old man to Igor?" He raised his voice at Sonic. He suddenly changed. "Igor was far less ugly."

Sonic rolled over, laughing hysterically. "That's a good one," Sonic said between laughs. 009 slightly chuckled.

"I think we should find the others now," 009 proffered.

"Good idea," Sonic concurred, and both of them dashed away.
---------------

Meanwhile, the fat man and the old man hopped into a red car, driven by a shady man, complete with black suit and sunglasses. As the car started down the highway, the sunglasses man said, "The boss is waitin' to talk to you," He flipped a switch, and a video screen opened up. It flipped on, showing Black Ghost's face.

"Have you prepared 0013 yet?" Black Ghost boomed through the connection.

"He's ready. We're supposed to meet him at the pier nearby the city warehouses," the old man answered. "We're late because I found this oaf at the playground with the 9th prototype and a blue hedgehog!"

"A blue hedgehog! He didn't engage them, did he?"

"No."

"Good. If they get suspicious before it's time, this plan will fail. That hedgehog may not be able to match the speed of 0013, be he's still a force to be reckoned with. We'll annihilate him with the prototypes, and the Keyblade brats will soon follow." Black Ghost shut off the link.

The old man chuckled gleefully at the thought of revenge, while the fat man stirred deeply in thought. He was in no mood to summon his other half against the man and the hedgehog who had treated him so kindly…

----

Rob solemnly skated through the crowded city streets. He felt out of place in a world where the darkness was so feared… and to add insult to injury, he had very little grasp of his dark powers. He glanced at his hand for a moment. Was it still human? Would he still be human after it was all over? The darkness had a way of distorting things…

Rob looked up and to his left to see a flashing sign. Although mostly Japanese, he did see one thing in English, and it was enough to motivate him inside: Arcade.

Nothing like a good round of video games to ease his mind.

As he skated in, three other people followed.

"Coop, are you sure you can leave M.E.G.A.S right there?" A red-haired woman asked. She wore a blue and white futuristic suit, and had a highly toned body not unlike that of Samus Aran. She stared awkwardly at the giant robot parked at the edge of the street. Despite this, it still created mass havoc and traffic jams without even moving.

"Aww, Kiva, relax! It'll be fine!" Coop answered. The man in question was fat, wearing a large white shirt, red vest, and big boots, and not worried about a thing.

"That's what you said LAST time, Coop," Jamie pointed out. Jamie was a stark contrast to Coop. While Coop was fat, he was bone thin. His blue jeans were a tight fit, rather than Coop's large jeans. He wore a black jacket and had black hair, complete with a blue skull cap.

Coop merely stared at his disbelieving friends before walking into the arcade. They sighed before following.
---------------

Sora glanced cautiously around him. Night had fallen on the flashy city, and even though the city's bright lights and several friends accompanied him, the feeling that something wrong was about to happen kept knocking on his mind.

"You're tense, Sora, you should relax," Beelzemon gave him a hardy pat on the back. He, as well as Jim, Buu, and Conker, had accompanied Sora, and were also on the lookout for possible attacks. However, all they saw were the dazzling lights, the technological wonders, the psychotic robot Heartless attacking people, the endless amounts of cake (which Jim had to use all of his strength to keep Buu from eating.)…

Psychotic robot Heartless!

Sora conjured his Lionheart Keyblade and turned to face the same types of Heartless Rob fought earlier. The grunts and enforcers regarded their opponents before rearing to attack.

"I knew something was wrong!" Sora exclaimed. "But what are these things…? Oh yeah, I've got my Scan ability!" Sora simply gripped the Keyblade and "read" what came to his mind. "The small guys are grunts, and the large ones are called Enforcers… They're driven by destruction; they attack whatever is easiest to destroy."

"ACTION!" Buu raced forward and smashed an Enforcer with a mighty punch. It reeled back, heavily damaged, but it still recovered for more. "Excellent," Buu grinned. "Buu needs a challenge," he lunged forward with another punch.

Jim pulled out a rifle and let the bullets fly. The grunts went down easily with each shot. Beelzemon raced forward and struck down a couple of Grunts with his Darkness Claw technique.

The Grunts finally pulled off a decent attack, firing their laser pistols and forcing our heroes back. That is, until Conker donned his Matrix suit. He went into "bullet-time," and gracefully dodged the return fire. He shot down the last of them with his pistols. Cockily blowing out the smoke form his gun, he asked, "That was it?"

"Looks like it," Sora glanced around to see the various people coming out of hiding. "But with this many people, if we suffer another attack, people are going to get hurt."

"That's not going to happen," Beelzemon cracked his knuckles. "We'll find who's controlling these things before they get worse."

Sora walked a bit before stiffening, something… familiar catching his senses. "He's here."

"Who's here?" Conker.

"Rob. He's close by," Sora snarled, his natural hatred of the darkness-wielding boy growing.

"I've never seen you get this worked up over Rob before," Beelzemon blinked.

"That was before I learned he's leaving family behind in his little quest. I'm going to set him straight," Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade before sprinting headlong into the place he sensed the boy… in the Arcade.

The other four puzzled over this move, but Buu recognized the Arcade and immediately shouted, "I GO FIRST!", leaving the others in the dust. The other three immediately pursued Buu inside the arcade.
--------------

"… And then we traveled here!" Maya exclaimed, finishing her story on the group's adventures so far.

"Uh-huh," 008 answered. "So this goes beyond Black Ghost…"

"We're following the Heartless and sealing the Keyholes before they can use them to destroy the planet," Cloud added. "Black Ghost likely has connections with the Heartless."

"So that might explain why we've been seeing these shadow creations crawling around," 002 said, "We've had a hard time getting rid of them until you guys showed up."

"That's the same story we get on every place we visit… that's why we're glad to help!" Maya cheered.

"Yeah! The Heartless don't stand a chance as long as we're around!" Ash added.

"Easy for YOU to say," 006 glared at Ash.

003 suddenly froze and tensed.

"What's going on!" 004 asked, knowing that it was urgent.

003 took a moment, her radar powers going on overdrive. "A large offensive… over 200 of them. They're coming this way!"

Morbid curiosity took over as Maya and the others rushed to the corner of the street. As 003 said, there was a slow but steady army of Black Ghost cyborgs and Heartless marching towards the city. This apparently caught the attention of the people around them, as they talked and pointed at the advancing wall of shadows.

"This… doesn't look good…" Tifa blinked.

"Tell me about it!" Ash added. "Call Tails and Eggman! We need to get Sonic and 009 back, and most of all Rob!" Ash dashed backwards towards the ship, only to comically crash into the asphalt.

"Clown!" Maya chided before peeling Ash off the ground. They ran to catch up with the rest of the group.
---------------

Sonic came to a sudden stop at the pier. The sky was slowly becoming red, and Sonic despised the feeling that was coming from that fact.

009 came out of Acceleration. "What's the matter?"

"Ever have one of those predictable-but-still-awful feelings of something about to go wrong?" Sonic asked.

"Yep. Plenty of them."

"I'm feeling it right now." Sonic snarled. "And I don't have time for it!"

"Heeheeheeheeheee… Oh, but you have plenty of time!" Sonic and 009 turned to see the same old man they saw from earlier. "Well if it isn't those two clowns I saw at the park today. 009 and Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"It's Igor again!" Sonic blinked. "And apparently he's worse news than I thought!" Sonic quickly went into mocking mode. "So Igor… hehheh, are you going to tell us your mad plan to take over the world?"

"Shut up!" The old man snapped. "You can call me the Umbrella Man," His grin returned as he twirled his namesake umbrella. "And Black Ghost has specifically engineered something to get rid of you! However, I don't think you're even worthy of being exterminated by 0013! I can kill you myself!"

"HA!" Sonic taunted. "Whatcha gonna do, Igor, smack us to death with your umbrella, man?"

"No, THIS!" He AIMED his umbrella, and a flurry of bullets shot at Sonic. The hedgehog quickly dodged, taking a sudden sprint and running up to the top of one of the warehouses. So he was surprised when the Umbrella Man appeared right in front of him and smashed him across the rooftop.

Sonic recovered and stared in shock. "Whoa! Not bad, Igor!" Sonic decided to lay on the mockery once again. "Did Black Ghost give you cyborg enhancements, too? Heeheeeheeheeheee…"

"As a matter of fact he DID!" Umbrella man aimed his umbrella and fired more shots, but Sonic dodged and hopped across a rooftop. 009 appeared behind Sonic as the Umbrella Man appeared about eight feet away.

"Tell Black Ghost to stop this madness, or he'll pay the price!" 009 barked.

"Oh, but the Father at your church paid a BIG price for not listening to Black Ghost!" The Umbrella Man returned. "He refused to lend his adoptive children into Black Ghost's experiments! That's why I came one night…"

Flashback

"You understand me, Umbrella Man? I refuse to let my children be a part of Black Ghost's experiments anymore! I know what goes on now!" The Father stood his ground against the old man.

"That's too bad. Black Ghost gave an ultimatum, and he sent me to make sure I would see through to it. If you refused to send your children, then…" He quickly pulled out a knife, and without hesitation, stabbed the taller Father in the chest. The man quickly fell into a growing pool of his own blood. The Umbrella Man knocked over several candles, setting the church alight, before calmly leaving the scene.

End Flashback

"I killed the Father!" The Umbrella Man dramatically announced.

Very. Big. Mistake.

009, after a stunned silence, answered with a very dramatic "DAMN YOU!" and whipped out his laser pistol. A fierce laser blast pierced the Umbrella Man directly in the heart.

Sonic apparently felt 009's fury, as he dashed over to the wicked man and punched him square in the face before unleashing a high kick that sent the man sprawling to the ground below. The hedgehog looked at the ground below where the old man crashed, and taunted, "Good night, Igor! Hehheh, have fun in your eternal rest!" Sonic tried (and failed miserably) to perfect Igor's maniacal laughter.

He unfortunately gathered the attention of a white robot that was now staring him in the face. An uppercut sent Sonic several feet in the air before comically crashing into the roof in front of 009. Sonic shook off his pain before yelling, "What was THAT FOR!"

"HA HA HAAA! That was a foolish mistake!" Thus the white robot Sirius gave his answer, and 009 and Sonic stared down their next opponent.
-------------

Rob calmly walked through the crowds, gazing at all of the arcade games. There were games he recognized back home, such as Galaga, but there were some strange ones he'd never seen before.

"Sonic has a FIGHTING GAME modeled after him?" Rob blinked in shock as he recognized the blue hedgehog's visage beating the crap—err rings out of some strange purple weasel. He continued on until…

"Amazing…" The thing that had caught Rob's attention turned out to be Super Smash Bros Melee… the arcade game. Finally, a game he was GOOD AT to vent his frustrations! The people crowded around the machine had just dispersed as a previous champion, a girl, shouted in celebration as the loser, a guy, sulked away. Rob was about to co claim his winning streak when a familiar voice rang out.

"Rob! I'm calling you out!" Rob turned slowly to see an angry Sora.

"Aw hell nah… You again!" Rob snarled.

"YOU..." Sora growled, pacing around equidistant from Rob. "While you're on you so-called 'righteous' quest to control the Heartless, you do know some guy by the name of 'Taz' is worried sick about you! Do you ever think about the family you left behind!"

"WHAT!" Rob snarled back. With rabid fury he grabbed Sora by the shirt. "WHERE IS HE! IS TAZ ALL RIGHT! HAS HE SEEN THE OTHERS! DID YOU SEE REVEREND MIRA TOO!"

"Okay… I was wrong…" Sora blinked. "I'll show you the way LATER. And another thing? The Heartless don't like you."

"What!"

"Yeah, that's right. The Heartless DON'T LIKE YOU," Sora got in Rob's face. "Right now they're all deranged because they want FREEDOM, and your quest ain't helpin' in that matter!"

"Oh like YOUR noble quest to destroy them is any better?"

"I'M NOT PLANNING TO DESTROY THEM!"

"OH YES YOU ARE!"

"NO, I'M NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"ARE NOT!"

Sora and Rob were about to lunge at each other, but then they noticed the crowd gathered around them. They chanted, "SMASH! FIGHT! SMASH! FIGHT!" in bad "Engrish." Sora and Rob blinked in confusion before one person calmly pointed to the Smash Bros. Arcade console.

Rob gripped the console, a devilish grin crossing his face. "You're DEAD." He taunted Sora. He selected Roy.

"Don't think so. I may not know this game, but I'll still beat you!" Sora answered. Sora picked Link.

Two controls stayed empty. However, that stayed true only until Coop noticed…
------------

Sora and Rob faced each other. To them Smash Bros was no longer a game. They weren't playing Link vs. Roy in an arcade in Tokyo, Japan. It was Rob vs. Sora in Final Destination. The two of them pulled out their Keyblades. Sora still hand his Lionheart, but Rob's Keyblade had changed greatly. The navy blue/black was now gone, replaced by shining gold. The key hilt didn't have the normal jagged edges at the end—a sharp Pokémon League insignia replaced it. The hilt had the shape of a Pokéball, as did the dangling end of the chain.

Rob and Sora bared their teeth, ready to destroy each other.

"3…2…1… GO!" The announcer shouted.

Sora and Rob leapt at each other with amazing speed, clashing loudly with the Keyblades. There were no incredibly lame jokes traded this time, they focused instinctively on ripping each other to shreds. Rob brought down his Keyblade in a furious slam, but Sora parried the blow. Sora chanted, "Power!" and unleashed an Ars Arcanum. Rob dodged every swing except for the last, which hit him square on his side, and he tumbled backwards and crashed into the floor. He saw a Pokéball and picked it up.

"Put down the ball, pansy! Nothing will save you!" Sora shouted.

"Wanna bet?" Rob grinned evilly. He had seen enough Pokémon battles to grasp how to throw them. "Pokéball, GO!" Rob threw it at Sora, who stepped back and let the thing fall at his feet.

Big mistake.

A red dragon-looking thing emerged. Its height, flaming tail, and threatening wingspan intimidated Sora, but nothing like its powerful roar. However, this' creature's bite was far worse than its bark.

"Charizard," Rob grinned. Charizard roared and snapped at Sora with his jaws. Sora dodge-rolled out of the way and continued his assault on Rob, figuring he couldn't harm Charizard. Rob flipped back and struck Sora's Keyblade, causing the brunette boy to stumble back…

… Right onto Charizard's flamethrower. The flames burnt Sora's butt to a crisp, causing the poor boy to run around in panic, and Rob to issue howling laughter. Charizard snorted triumphantly before disappearing.

"ARGH!" Sora roared in pain. He clenched his Keyblade and began to stalk towards Rob. "You… are SO dead."

"Likely threat, loser," Rob snarled as he swept his Keyblade to counter Sora's attack. Sora jumped over Rob and tried to attack him from behind, but Rob had yet again parried the attack down. They clashed blades several times before Sora suddenly jumped back. Rob gripped his Keyblade in anticipation—this couldn't be good.

"I wanna show you something cool…" Sora smirked evilly. He held his Keyblade in the air. "FORCE!" Before Rob knew it, a dark energy had expanded all over him. He suddenly felt 2000 pounds heavier, up to the point of incredible pain. By the time the spell was over, Rob had been flattened into a pancake. Evil grin still plastered on his face, Sora picked up Rob the Pancake and tossed him out of the ring. "I WIN!" He yelled, celebrating.

Rob-the-Not-a-Pancake-anymore grimaced as he crawled back into the ring. "I… want a rematch."

"I'll beat you anytime," Sora responded cockily.

Round 2
-------

Round 2 went largely the same as Round 1, but Rob suddenly had an idea. "How about I introduce you to a friend of mine?"

"Why not?" Sora sneered.

"All right…" Rob twirled his Keyblade. "If my sister can summon, so can I! Darkness… give me bravery…"

Oh no, Sora thought. He's got summons! I should've figured his powers were similar to mine!

"HOUNDOOM!" Rob bellowed. However, only silence followed Rob's ritual. Rob stood frozen in his final pose for about 25 seconds before Sora burst out laughing. "What! Dammit Ansem, how come only my sister can do that!"

"You call THAT a summon!" Sora continued laughing. However, he suddenly stopped and grinned evilly. "Meet MY summon… Courage!" Sora felt the energy in his heart, and twirled his Keyblade. "SIMBA!"

The sun pierced the dark arena, and a full male lion, complete with a red, shaggy mane and powerful claws, walked slowly onto the arena. It roared triumphantly, and Rob nearly wet himself. "Give me strength…" Sora said as Simba wasted no time in mauling a squealing Rob to shreds. Simba then spit out Rob's carcass out of the ring. "I WIN!" Sora cheered again.

Rob crawled from out of the darkness… again. "I hate you."

"The feeling's mutual," Sora flashed Rob a cheeky grin. Simba disappeared.

Round 7
-----

"AHA!" Rob shouted, as he suddenly stopped fighting Sora. "You won't beat me with THIS!" He grabbed a HUGE black mallet. "This is none other than the Super Smash Bros. Mallet of death! Just two hits and you're HISTORY!" Rob laughed maniacally as he uncontrollably swung the hammer and ran towards Sora.

Sora, however, kept his calm, and just as Rob was about to rush him, he simply sidestepped and tripped Rob, causing the kid to crash into the ground.

However, he was still holding the hammer, only now he was bashing his own brains in uncontrollably. "I WIN!" Sora cheered for the 7th time. "You know, I don't think that's ORIGINALLY from that game… I saw it was from Donkey Kong. You should stop hitting yourself," Sora grinned. "Stop hitting yourself! Stop hitting yourself!" He mocked.

"I… OW hate… OW you…"

Round 13
-----

Sora's last words before collision with a Bob-omb, allowing Rob to spike him out the arena and earn his first victory: "I hate my life."

Round 27
-------

BAM! Rob sprawled on to the floor. Sora had got his mitts on a light-saber, and he had wasted no time in smashing Rob all over the place, reducing the lead Rob had over Sora in health. As Rob bounced back to avoid Sora hitting him out the arena, he shouted, "I hope Darth Vader sues your ass!"

"Who?" Sora blinked. He grinned. "Forget darkness! Come into the light! You know you want to…"

"No way! What next, Bigfoot, you gonna say you're my father! Already had that cliché since the FIRST EPISODE!" Rob back-flipped again, and landed right next to a motion-sensor mine and a Screw Attack. He grinned and tossed the mine over Sora's head. He then picked up the screw attack. "Come and get me, Darth Sora!" He leapt, spinning with the screw attack, over Sora, then leapt again to dodge the placed mine. Sora charged towards him. However, he saw the mine and skidded to a stop.

Thank Chaos for backup plans.

Rob immediately smashed Sora with the screw attack, forcing him to spasm and automatically use it. Rob then flipped over the mine, careful not to activate it, and placed a light kick to Sora's back after he was in range.

"Curse you, Rob!" Sora shouted as he collided with the mine, sending him sailing into the stratosphere. "CCUUURRRSSEEE YYOOOOOUUU!" He disappeared with a ding.

"I love my job." Rob grinned, twirling his Keyblade. He had earned his 10th victory.

Round 33
-----

"God… dammit." Rob cursed as the final blast from the Super Scope prepared to blow him across the galaxy.

Round 48
-----

"BURN IN THE FLAMES OF HELL!" Rob bellowed to Sora as Ho-oh circled around to attack.

"Aww, crud…" Sora's pupils shrank as Rob laughed a maniacal laugh that would've scared even Maleficent.

Round 54
-----

Just his luck.

After receiving nothing but a Goldeen and several small foodstuffs, Rob felt sincerely doomed. Sora would win again. For the 28th time. Rob couldn't let this happen. He was fed up of losing. Just because he was based on a ruthless self-insertion didn't mean he had to get his butt owned every time he faced the main canon character to balance out weakness! ARRRGGHHH!

"Come back, Rob, all I want to do is BE YOUR FRIEND!" Sora taunted, laughing. Having grabbed a Starman, Sora now flashed with invincibility. He ran towards Rob with the intent of destruction. Rob tensed and got into a fighting stance. He was tired of fighting, losing, and getting to angry to give it up, but…

"HIIIII!" A cheery Larxene stood between the combatants.

"NOT YOU AGAIN!" Sora and Rob bellowed. Realizing they mimicked each other, they said, "You met her before!"

"Indeed," She laughed. "Here is the world: poor, miserable, and about to decimated by the grandest Heartless Army known to Man… And here are the Keyblade masters, fighting in some silly game. Axel is right; the universe really IS doomed."

"Shut up," Sora growled, flipping over her and landing next to Rob. He prepared his Keyblade.

"Just because you clowns have an agenda with us doesn't mean we're going to make it easy for you!" Rob bellowed. "Stay out of our way, or be devoured by our Keyblades!"

"Devoured?" Sora gave Rob a look.

"Come on, theatrics scare everybody!"

"Not her."

"Oh. Dammit."

"Poor little fools," Larxene taunted. "You have a job to do. And for once, at least for a little while, it has nothing to do with us. I brought a friend over to make you stop fighting and get back to reality."

And thus, Sora and Rob screamed liked teenage girls in a horror flick as Coop happily belly flopped on top of them.
--------------

The Keyblade masters snapped back into reality as they saw Link and Roy sail into the distance, defeated by a taunting Bowser. Rob panicked and jumped when he saw Larxene , as Sheik, right next to him, playing furiously and cursing Coop—err Bowser's near immunity to her attacks. They sighed and turned around—

right into Jim. "Hey you two!" he said. "We've got serious business outside, and we need your help!"

"Right!" They both said as they followed Jim outside.
-------------

The reddening sky proved to only add to the foreboding atmosphere, as Sonic and 009 came face to face with the glaring Sirius. The fallen Umbrella Man lay in a forgotten heap somewhere below the factory rooftops.

"What's your deal! We we're kicking Igor's ass just fine until you showed up!" Sonic shot at the white robot.

"I'm afraid that won't happen. You see, we work for Black Ghost, and I am in no mood to pick up my subordinate's carcass before I complete the 0013 assimilation!" Sirius answered. "0013 will be the end of all of you!"

"Not if we end YOU first!" 009 flickered into Acceleration mode. He dashed towards Sirius and sent a roundhouse towards the robot. However, Sirius blocked the attack.

"You telegraphed that move, fool!" Sirius bellowed before kneeing the cyborg in the chest and throwing him down into the rooftop. Sonic raced towards the robot, tearing at it with a fierce buzzsaw. However, Sirius merely flew back and launched a rocket, the blast knocking Sonic out of form. "HA HA HAAAAA! You cannot defeat me!"

"We CAN, and we WILL," Sonic dashed forward. Sirius expected the hedgehog to bounce up in front or behind him, but Sonic jumped UNDER him instead, delivering a screwdriver kick that knocked the robot off balance. Sirius countered with another rocket. Sonic caught the rocket and allowed it to push him back until he landed safely on the rooftop. He then threw it away just as it exploded.

009 recovered. He blurred and aimed his blaster, trying to take down the robot with a flurry of laser fire. Sirius twirled to negate the attack, but 009 then leapt up and smashed him in the face…

…only to have his foot caught. Sirius, using 009's foot, swung him around and threw him to the ground below. 009 recovered, though, and landed on his feet. Sirius's visor rose as the robot prepared a super-laser.

"Take this!" Sirius flew after 009, trying to fry him with his red laser. He set the ground on fire in the process, leaving a fiery trail. "Perish under the might of Sirius!"

"You're full of yourself!" 009 shouted as he ran down the factory grounds. Sonic dashed next 009, keeping even with him.

"I can't stay close to Mr. Ha ha haaaaa long enough to shut him down! Any ideas?" Sonic asked.

"As a matter of fact I do," the cyborg answered. "Follow me." 009 blurred away.

"Aww, man!" Sonic groaned as he increased his speed to try and match 009's Acceleration.

"Fools! You cannot escape the wrath of Sirius! HA HA HAAAAA!" Sirius increased his own speed as well.

009 came to a power line. "Hope this works…" He aimed his blaster, waiting for Sonic and Sirius to arrive. Sure enough, the two of them dashed on to the scene, Sonic trying to evade the mad robot's attacks. Sonic saw 009 and rushed towards him.

"Whatever you're planning, it'd better work," Sonic muttered under his breath as he raced towards 009 and the power line.

009 saw Sonic coming, and he fired the laser at the middle line. The cable snapped, and the cable fell, swinging towards Sonic and Sirius. "Sonic! Watch out!"

"Whoa!" Sonic saw the cable swing towards him and he dived to the left. Unfortunately, Sirius got the warning as well, and he dodged to the right. The cable missed, and it swung harmlessly away.

"HA! You failed!" Sirius laughed as he launched a volley of rockets at Sonic and 009. They back-flipped out of harm's way.

Sonic, however, didn't stop grinning. "You sure about that?"

Sirius looked back to see the loose cable, with all its flowing electricity, coming towards him. His eyes shrank. "This doesn't bode well."

And so the power line proceeded to light up Sirius with enough wattage to power a large subdivision of Tokyo.

When it ran out, Sirius twitched violently as the power began to fade. Sonic gloated. "Maybe next time you should pay attention to your power source, eh?"

"Maybe you fools… should have paid… attention… instead," Sirius faded from the power. "I served as… a mere stalling device… by now our forces are in position… and your precious teammates… are in deep trouble."

"What!" 009 said. At this, Sonic's communicator beeped.

"Hello?" Sonic answered.

"Sonic! We've got serious problems!" Tails said in urgency. "We need you back, pronto!"

"What? What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"Black Ghost has launched a direct attack all over Tokyo, and Rob's NOWHERE IN SIGHT! We need your help!"

Sonic looked back up to give Sirius a death glare, but the white robot was gone. "Dammit!" He turned back to Tails. "We'll be right there! Maybe I can find Rob!"

"Hurry up! This looks bad…" Tails paled before shutting off the link.''

"Black Ghost," 009 grit his teeth. "We've got to save this city."

"I've faced worse odds," Sonic said darkly. "I'm not afraid."

"I never said I was. Let's do this."
-
-

(PLEEEAAASSEE forgive me for lack of updates. I hate writer's block, it jammed me pretty badly during these days. Luckily, I managed to preserve and get this EXTRA long chapter to you, the masses. Enjoy. Next episode concludes the 009 saga... for now. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAA...)