Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel
Episode 15: Friend
"Dude, what's going on!" Sonic shouted as he and 009 burst inside the Dolphin, the cyborgs' choice of transportation.
"It's bad," 006, the fat man, nodded nervously.
"Just look outside," 005 pointed to a large window. Sonic and 009 looked outside. Sure enough there was a mad flood of Heartless heading towards the city. "Well, crap," Sonic muttered in shock.
"Our odds don't look too good," Ash added. He pulled out a Pokéball as Pikachu climbed on top of his head. "We're going to need everything we got, and we can't find the Keyblade Masters anywhere."
"Why are they swarming in on this city?" 009 asked.
"I can't believe I wasn't smart enough to see this earlier," Cloud muttered. "It's obvious they're after the Keyhole. They're going to swarm the city in hopes of finding it."
"Keyhole?" 006 blinked.
"The Keyhole is the pathway to a world's heart," Cloud explained. "When the Heartless find it, the world is flooded in darkness, and ceases to exist."
"Oh no!" 003 gasped.
"If we don't find it before the Heartless do, we'll be plunged into the darkness as well."
"Dammit!" Sonic cursed, stomping his foot. "This crap's all a front so that Sirius bastard can find the keyhole!"
"What?" 008 asked.
"Yeah, that makes sense," 009 tapped his head in thought. "He mentioned something about 0013."
i-i-i
"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!"
i-i-i
"This 0013 project... what was it supposed to do?" 008 asked.
"As Sirius said: the end of us," 009 answered.
"I can only guess he's after the keyhole. Either that or stalling until he gets enough power to kill us all," Cloud thought.
"Then we put an end to him first!" Sonic pounded his fist into his open palm. "You guys should look for Rob and that Sora kid! We can stop 0013 before it gets too strong!" Sonic revved up to race away.
However, he heard the voice of 001 shout, (Wait!)
"Uhhh..." Sonic stopped and nearly crashed on top of himself. "Is there something wrong?"
009 and Sonic dashed from rooftop to rooftop.
(Black Ghost's minions are all over the place. Neither Keyblade Master is here. If we don't stop this madness, then the entire world will fall to darkness!)
Sonic leapt up and sped down the wall of the building, his feet carrying him in speeds of over 200 miles per hour. He hit the pavement and sped north. 009 continued to follow the hedgehog with the use of his acceleration.
(Sonic, 009, we hope you guys' idea works. I'm not sure why they might pull back if this Sirius you speak of is fully defeated, but seeing as there was hesitation in the Heartless during that power surge, the two of you might be right.)
Sonic took a sudden right, only to come across a flurry of bat-like Heartless with giant red hooks. These Hookwings, however, stood no chance as Sonic shredded them with his buzzsaw attack. The hedgehog didn't slow down at all as he continued his trek towards the suburbs.
(While you guys hunt down the leader, we're going to hunt down the Keyblade masters, and destroy any heartless that get in our way. Word has it a giant robot is in the city somewhere. If we get to it before Black Ghost does, we might have an easier time.)
009 dodged a swipe from a Shadow Heartless as he continued his accelerated drive in an effort to keep up with Sonic. Two NeoShadows leaped out of the ground and began swirling towards the cyborg, but he countered with two perfect shots, killing them both. 009 then dropped down and continued his sprint towards the outside of the city.
(We're counting on you two. Best of luck.)
Sonic and 009 met on an abandoned alleyway. "I actually have no idea of where we're going." Sonic admitted when 009 came to a stop.
"We're on the right track. Tails said Sirius's signal went this way." 009 answered. They were about to sprint off again when they heard something.
(009. Sonic.) A telepathic voice rang out.
"Huh? What's going on?" Sonic blinked.
(Follow my word. You'll find 0013.)
"What if this is a trap!" 009 shot out.
(You'll have to take the bait and avoid the trap itself. Head down this street and to your left.)
"Nothing to lose if we follow the voice. Let's go," Sonic nodded towards 009, and he flew off in the direction that the voice instructed.
As Sonic hung a left, he heard, (Take a right, and look for the shrine.)
009 grit his teeth as he and Sonic took another right and boosted forward, keeping an eye out for a Shinto shrine. Sonic looked ahead to see a long cement staircase leading up to a Shinto shrine. "There!" Sonic pointed, and he and 009 raced forward, coming to a final stop in front of the cement staircase.
"What's 0013 want here?" 009 asked.
Sonic shrugged. "Beats me."
(Watch out.)
"Huh!" Sonic blinked, but then saw a Shadow Ball race towards the two of them. He quickly tackled 009 out of harm's way before the powerful darkness could crush them. Quickly bouncing off 009, Sonic shouted, "Hey, what's the big idea!"
"Prepare for trouble!" One voice shouted.
"And make it double!" Another voice added.
"Aw, crud, not these two clowns again," Sonic muttered.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite the darkness for our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend the darkness to the stars above."
"Jesse."
"James."
"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight."
"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth concluded, showing his sharp claws. Behind them stood the fat man they had met earlier, a calm smile on his face.
"Feh, at least you guys improved your motto," Sonic grinned. He then dropped his smile and looked at the fat man. "But what I DON'T get is you. What's YOUR deal? You were nice earlier!"
(Don't mind me for now,) The fat man was obviously the person speaking to them telepathically. (Team Rocket wants a show with you.)
"We want a show with you!" Jesse bellowed. "We have new Pokémon we'd like to show you!"
"We've got no time for games! We're looking for 0013!" 009 declared.
"Aw, but you have PLENTY of time. In which we will spend SUBMERGING YOU INTO DARKNESS." Jesse threw her Pokéball first. Out emerged a much darker and more vicious-looking snake than Arbok. "Meet Seviper. He'll be escorting you to your eternal rest."
"See VII PAAAAAAAAA!" The snake lunged at Sonic, who countered by ducking and whipping his foot out to smack the snake out of mid-air. Seviper crashed into the ground, but also whipped its poisonous tail out. Sonic reacted just in time to avoid the tail smashing into him. Seviper reared back and hissed at Sonic before lunging again.
Meanwhile, James laughed as he said to 009, "You can face MY new beauty. Go Cacturne!" James threw out his Pokéball, and it opened up to reveal a demented green creature. It resembled a cross between a scarecrow and a cactus, complete with an empty smile. The creature aimed a limb at 009 before firing a round of needles like a machine gun. 009 blurred past the attack and launched a direct kick to the Cacturne's chest. It flinched, but didn't fall. It reared back its right arm and smashed 009 off the steps. James grinned devilishly.
"Faint Attack." He commanded.
Cacturne disappeared from sight. "Huh?" 009 blinked. However, an invisible force smashed 009 in the face twice before knocking him into the ground. James giggled with glee as 009 continued to suffer severe pummeling from his beloved Cacturne.
As 009 crashed into the ground, Sonic struggled to keep Seviper's fangs off of him. "Ain't goin' so hot. Wanna team up?" Sonic grunted to 009.
"Sure." 009 grabbed Sonic's hand. Using his augmented strength, 009 whipped the hedgehog around, allowing him to deliver a super-powered blow to Seviper, who in turn crashed into Cacturne, and then crashed into James and Jesse. They all crashed into a messy, defeated heap at the top of the stairs.
Meowth blinked, then shuddered. "This don't look too good..." He then sprinted away like a coward, screaming all the way.
"Too easy," Sonic dusted his hands. He then turned to the fat man. "I guess we owe you one... but where's that 0013?"
"Right here," The fat man answered. "I'm 0013."
"Umm... Coop?" Jamie ventured. "I'm bored. We played every machine here fifty times, the babes aren't even talking to me anymore," He then showed his empty pockets. "And I don't have anymore quarters! So let's go someplace else."
After victoriously smashing yet another fool into oblivion in Smash Bros. Melee, Coop turned his attention to his thin friend. "Aww, all right! I'm hungry anyway," Coop left his devastated opponent and left with Jamie.
"YAH!" Rob sliced down a Neoshadow with his Keyblade.
Sora noticed this as he deflected the laser fire of a nearby grunt. "I've never thought of using my Keyblade like an axe before..." Sora smashed in the head of the grunt with the blunt side of the blade, his usual style of attacking.
"That's because your prongs ain't sharp!" Rob responded as he whipped over Sora's head to bring down one last Shadow. He then turned to Sora, "Your Keyblade isn't so much a blade as it a magical baseball bat. I, on the other hand, don't have the strength you do, so I make up for it by actually using it like a blade." He noted the sudden silence and looked around the empty streets. "Ummm... Sora. Where's your bounty hunter friends?"
Sora took a look around as well, seeing nothing and no one else outside of Rob. "Uhhh..." He turned to Rob, his face betraying his confusion. "Don't know! They were here just seconds ago!"
Rob snarled before letting his shoes rev up. He skated past Sora. "Then let's find them," Sora scrambled behind the relentless teenager as he skated past another round of buildings, the arcade where they had "fought"... Each building was well lit and lively, but the outside streets remained desolate and empty. It almost felt like Hollow Bastion again...
Sora finally stopped when he saw Rob skid to a stop next to the pink Majin Buu. Sora walked a bit further to hear Rob shout at them, "Hey! Where WERE you guys! You left us alone to kill all those friggin' Heartless..."
Rob's yammering dropped out of Sora's recognition when he saw what the crew was staring at.
A sea of BLACK was heading right towards them. Sora's jaw dropped when he saw the unwavering mass of Heartless stalking towards them. When Rob finally finished his rant, Conker merely pointed, and Rob looked to see.
"Aww SHIT." Rob's eye began twitching in fear. "Black Ghost was preparing THIS! We're dead!"
Sora swallowed hard, but formed a bold fighting stance. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"What am I afraid of?" Buu blinked. He then assumed his own fighting stance, inspired by Sora. "THESE PUNY THINGS ARE NOTHING TO ME! NOTHING BUT FOOD!"
"These things ain't settin' foot inside the city," Jim Raynor cocked a rifle. "Not while I'm still alive."
"I'd say they're screwed," Beelzemon readied his Berenjena.
"I'm not dyin'! Not while I can still get rich!" Conker took a stance as well.
Rob, assured by the other fighters, regained his confidence. "Hmph. I think we'll be living today." He took a fighting stance, leering at the army slowly moving towards the city.
The Heartless suddenly swarmed forward. This planet's true Heart would be theirs. Nothing would stop them.
Our heroes ran forward, weapons ready, minds confident, ready to sacrifice themselves if need be. The Darkness would not succeed.
Sora whipped his Keyblade back, ready for a first strike.
Rob let out a battle cry as two Heartless bounced up to meet him. He whipped up his Keyblade, ready to bring them down...
And then a giant metallic foot stepped down, crushing the entire front wave before anyone could reach it.
Rob comically crashed into the back of the foot. Sora later said he looked rather funny, although Rob never let him complete that thought before several whacks to the head. Rob slid off and floated to the ground like a piece of forgotten paper, as the rest of the warriors stared blankly at the giant robot's anti-climatic entrance. It walked on, not even noticing as it devastated Heartless armies and tall buildings alike.
"Hey guys, did I just feel something?" Coop asked as he piloted Megas out of Tokyo.
"It must've been big for you to feel it, Coop," Jamie quipped.
"There was supposedly a Heartless invasion of this city earlier today," Kiva answered. "But I don't see a thing. Megas appears to be fine. No external damage."
"Oh well," Coop shrugged it off. He then thought of something. "Wonder where those two kids with the giant keys went. Maybe they kicked the Heartless out?"
"Sounds like the Keyblade Masters, Coop," Kiva added. "And most likely they did succeed. But Coop, we still need to do more training. Who knows when the Heartless will strike next?"
"Awww Kiva! Relax! The Heartless aren't any threat... But if you say so, I'm bored now..." Coop continued to pilot Megas out of city limits before flying off into space.
Our heroes continued to stare blankly as the giant robot left. Even as the 00 cyborgs, Maya, Ash, Cloud, and Tifa came on the scene, they didn't move. The newcomers stared at the hulking behemoth of a robot.
"COOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!" Maya marveled.
"It's terrible! It's knocking down just as many buildings as it is Heartless!" 003 pointed out.
"Damn, I want that robot," 002 muttered. When he saw that 003 heard this regardless, he hastily "corrected" himself. "Uh... I mean that robot is bad news."
Ash heard his stomach rumble. "If I knew that thing was gonna save us the bother on the Heartless, I would've stopped for lunch. Awwwwwwwwwwww man..." He looked around the stunned group. "Hey, anyone seen Sonic?"
Both of our heroes' eyes' shrank in shock. "Wait...YOUR 0013!" Sonic pointed disbelievingly.
He nodded. "If you want to stop the Heartless invasion, you'll have to sever the link between me and my robotic half."
"I don't like this..." 009 said. "You were nice when you were with us. Why change on us now?"
"It wasn't my idea, but seeing this world's inevitable doom isn't making things better," 0013 walked somberly up the stairs. 009 and Sonic followed as 0013 continued. "I thought there might still be hope for this planet to survive. I wish that you would give me that hope." He came to a stop. Sonic and 009 went forward until they were on the opposite side, equidistant from each other.
"I don't want to do this," 009 nearly pleaded.
"I understand... but we must do this anyway," 0013 answered.
Sonic merely grit his teeth in frustration. He held on to 009's hand in hopes of being able to keep up with them in Acceleration mode.
Both cyborgs clicked their teeth.
Both rocketed in Acceleration Mode. Sonic bounced off 009 and circled behind 0013; should he stop moving, he would slow down and be unable to assist 009 without a chaos emerald.
0013 struck first. With blinding speed he smashed 009 in the gut, forcing him to crash down on the rooftop. Sonic moved in for a punch, but the fatter cyborg merely swept his foot in a roundhouse and sent Sonic careening over to the other side.
Sonic recovered quickly, trying his best to keep moving. 0013 circled around 009, leaving after images effortlessly. 009 tried to smash him with an overhead kick, but 0013 blocked his move. The faster cyborg grabbed 009 and threw him across the rooftop. Sonic dodged his friend and sailed in for a kick.
He struck 0013 perfectly in the stomach.
Unfortunately, he hardly appeared affected.
"Aw, sh-" Sonic cursed before a slightly smiling 0013 punched Sonic and sent him crashing into the ground below. The hedgehog felt his head rushing fiercely before he started to slip out of acceleration mode. "No!" He cried as he tried to speed up to avoid falling out of sync with the cyborgs. He succeeded and zoomed up the rooftop to where he saw 0013 and his after images thrashing 009. Sonic ran forward and started punching wildly, trying to avert the attention of the 0013s running around.
Meanwhile, Jesse tried to recover from her beating. "Meowth! You spineless coward! Get BACK HERE!"
"And fight those speedy lunatics! NO WAY!" Meowth shouted from a corner. "Not to mention my ears hoit like th' dickens! Their runnin's making this high pitched frequency I can't stand!"
"Meowth, if we don't find a way to stop them their high-pitched squealing will make ME go mad!" James complained.
"FINE!" Meowth howled before pulling a powerful yet random slash.
About 2 seconds later, 009 and Sonic crashed into a stop, and 0013 stopped mere centimeters away from Meowth's attack.
His left side was bleeding.
0013 turned slowly and glared at the cat. "This... is not... your fight." He grabbed a squealing Meowth and threw him into the defeated heap of Team Rocket, causing all five of them to careen into the sky.
"We're blasting off AGGAAAIIINNNN!" Team Rocket whined before disappearing with a ding.
The three remaining fighters stared mutely at each other, tired from their fighting. However, 0013 perked up and saw something on the horizon.
Flying towards them with breakneck speed was the white robot Sirius.
"YOU!" He tackled 009, trying to crush the cyborg with his bare hands. "CURSE YOU. 0013... help me FINISH HIM!"
Sonic was about to strike down the robot, but 0013 held up his hand. The cyborg walked resolutely towards the struggling duo...
...and grabbed Sirius intead.
Electricity surged between the two of them as Sirius strained against 0013's grip. 009 had long sprinted away. "What... are you doing!" Sirius's robotic blue eyes shrank.
"What I should've done... A long time ago," 0013 increased his grip.
"0013! Please!" 009 shouted. "You don't have to sacrifice yourself! You could help us! We can still be friends!"
0013 looked at 009 and smiled softly. "I would love to... but I cannot betray Black Ghost... not without dying." And with that, his features turned into pure rage as he focused back on Sirius.
The electricity began to tear apart the robot. "NOOOOOOOOO!" Sirius shouted in pain, anger, and desperation.
009 had to click into acceleration mode and sweep Sonic away as the white robot was terminated from existence with a furious explosion.
The sudden silence afterwards fell upon our heroes as they wearily trekked back to where the remains of 0013 were. Surprisingly, he was still breathing. 009 walked somberly towards the fallen hero, Sonic close behind him. "0013?"
"009... Sonic... thanks for... giving my life... meaning..." He strained to talk, his breathing was shallow, he was shutting down. His body was charred from the explosion.
Sonic smiled sadly. "Dude, that's crazy talk. Your life always had meaning."
"I wish... I could... agree..."
"0013... we never even knew your true name," 009 said.
"Joe..." 0013 responded. "My name is... not important... in fact... it's long... forgotten. Don't worry... about... me..." He took his last breath and fell into eternal slumber.
Sonic and 009 stared in silence for what seemed an eternity, their eyes beginning to water. A sudden voice snapped them out of their sad reverie. "Sonic! 009!"
Sonic and 009 turned to see a much happier Rob running towards him. Alongside him was Sora, smiling slightly. "Looks like you guys won." Rob got closer. However, he saw Sonic and 009's somber faces. "What's wrong?"
"The purveyor of all this turned out to be a new friend of ours..." 009 sighed.
Sora stepped forward. He gasped when he saw the charred remains of 0013, "I guess this is him."
"I'm afraid we can't stick around for the funeral," Rob said. "We still haven't located the keyhole, and I have to visit someplace."
"Don't worry," 009 answered. "I'll give him the proper burial." He turned to Sonic. "Thanks... for helping out."
"No problem," Sonic gave 009 a thumbs-up. "You were awesome."
"Maybe one day we'll cross paths again," Rob said solemnly. "Until then, farewell."
"Goodbye," 009 said to the three of them as they walked down the stairs towards the rising moon. Turning back to 0013, he said, talking mostly to himself, "It's not fair to leave you here. I wish I knew where to bury you..." However, he suddenly got an idea. He picked up the fallen cyborg and disappeared into an accelerated flash.
"Black Ghost!" Riku called out, fading into solid form from his teleport. The silver-haired teen walked through the darkened palace that once served as Sirius's home base. "I came for someone who belongs to US." Riku bellowed. He then added sardonically, "Are we quite finished yet?"
"What makes you think you can just barge in the sanctimony of the mind of Black Ghost?" The villainous Black Ghost faded into existence not 20 feet from Riku. The darkness inside the room shielded all from sight except the wicked leader, the Chaos Saint, and a few green lights. "Nevertheless, you come seeking the girl called Clara. She is not here."
"My new boss told me she'd be here," Riku met the glare of the man in black. "Where is she?"
"You need not worry, Riku. She is being delivered as we speak," Black Ghost walked towards Riku. "I have to hand it to Slade. Although brainwashing her was my idea, I was surprised that Slade held such a strong effect on the girl. The Cygnus fool doesn't stand a chance." He stopped about three feet in front of Riku.
"What did you do to her?" Riku asked in wonder and disgust.
"My technology allowed me to create her into a cyborg. What would be a better weapon against a man than a woman he cares about, defiled and loathing his existence? He'd be utterly defenseless."
Riku contemplated alerting Sora and his friends of Black Ghost's trick, but alas, the Chaos Saints would not approve, not to mention that the plan had enough holes in it already. "Something tells me that your little plan won't work," Riku smirked, betraying his troubled conscience. "but hey, whatever floats your boat."
"You must be a Chaos Saint..." Riku turned around to see Giovanni. The neatly groomed man walked in, and alongside him was the girl Riku was looking for. The meek Clara was wrapped in chains, unresisting against Giovanni's pull. "Not just any Chaos Saint, but the purveyor of Darkness. Captain Hook and Hades told me about you. You would be excellent among our ranks."
"Been there, done that, no thanks," Riku declined Giovanni's offer. "Besides, Captain Hook wouldn't take too kindly to me, I kicked his ass earlier."
"You make a good point," Giovanni shrugged. He gently pushed Clara forward. "Here, I believe this is yours?"
Clara shuffled her feet as she came closer to Riku. Unfortunately, having the upper half of her body wrapped in chains didn't do well for her balance, so she tripped and fell. Riku reacted quickly and caught her. At this, Giovanni continued. "You don't need to set her free. She's strong enough. Her employer requested her added strength."
Riku blinked, then stared at the young girl in his arms. He sort of knew Oni wanted her to have the Black Ghost modifications to secure her place in the Chaos Saint circle as the mistress of metal, but why the villains had done something was still beyond him. She stared back. No hate, no paranoid fear, just submissive and shaken, as if she were cold. "I don't think murderers have those eyes..."
"Doesn't she? But see what happens when you mention the name 'Cygnus.'" Giovanni grinned. Riku look at her again. At once, she sprung free of Riku's grasp and exploded out of her chains. Her eyes had a hateful glow, and once Giovanni produced a picture of the boy in question, blades emerged from her arms as she mercilessly tore the picture to shreds. "She understands her directive. As long as she follows it, she's free."
"Hmph." Riku scowled, marching over to the meek-once-more Clara, grabber her, and disappeared into the darkness.
"It's going as planned," Black Ghost said to Giovanni, "Darkside said his son's a ticking time bomb of darkness. Whether Clara fails her objective or not, the dark child will be driven mad at the prospect of losing his family to evil. The Keyhole will be complete, and this world will fall."
"Excellent," Giovanni smiled. "I give this planet 24 hours to live."
(YES! Finally done! Please forgive the UBER SLOW update, but writer's block is a bitch, not to mention my busy schedule. I promise Season 1 will be done two more episodes by the end of June. Next time, see Rob further fall into darkness as he is forced to fight a longtime friend, and the world become worse for wear. Next time on Kingdom Hearts: Chaos Angel!)