Sora, Donald, and Goofy are speechless as they stare at this wonderous new weapon within the grip of Vex's right hand. A keyblade…and a more magical-looking one, at that. The glowing aura that is surrounding the weapon matches the same glow as the moon, reflecting the glanderous white light above with pure excellence. The foe Vex is facing stares continuously at this new item and seems to not want to move at all.
Vex, eyes open wide and mouth in awe, slowly turns the keyblade around, examining every detail engraved on it. The handle is not the ordinary square shape like the Kingdom Key wielded by Sora. Instead, it seems to be in a curved shape, with two opposite corners of the handle having the longest bends.
The heroes finally get to their feet, but keep their distance. Somehow, they know it is not their fight, that Vex wants to fight it one-on-one and prove he is worthy of possessing such a weapon. The boy gets into a guard position and points the Moon Key toward Darkside.
"Alright, it's my turn to take you down," yells Vex.
"You do know how to use it, right, Vex," says Sora standing behind him.
Vex turns toward the three, but replies:"Uh…yeah…"
"Vex, do you know how to use a sword?"
"Well…I never really….used any swords before."
"Oh, man." The three sigh.
"But I learn fast!"
Vex turns back toward Darkside. "What should I do first?"
"First off…get out the way!"
The right fist of Darkside comes slamming down onto the roof, but Vex is able to roll out the way in time.
"Attack the hand, now!" Sora shouts out.
Vex recovers and swings his keyblade at the grounded fist. The weapon slashes through the dark hand, the white aura following the swing of the blade and dark mist erupting from the area of impact. The boy follows up with three more swings before Darkside retreats its hand from the roof. Vex smiles, appreciating his first triumph with the awesome power of the Moon Key.
He turns to Sora and says happily:"Did you see that? I got him good, did't I?"
Sora puts a thumb up and brings forward his weapon. He says to Donald and Goofy:"Let's give him some backup!"
"But your keyblade…" Goofy says.
"Don't worry. Its head is just not a weak spot anymore."
When Sora looks back toward Vex, he finds the joyful boy slashing away at Darkside's head from its right shoulder with the giant Heartless trying to get the keyblade wielder off it. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stand there with their mouths dropped in shocked.
But Sora shakes out of it and shouts:"Vex, get down! That's too dangerous!"
Vex stops his assault and shouts back:"I'M too dangerous! This thing is easy!"
After those words, however, Darkside roars loudly and grabs Vex with its left hand, squeezing the boy almost to where he couldn't breath.
"Help!" he cries as he struggles to escape the creatures grasp.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy charge at Darkside to his rescue. Goofy hops onto the closed fist and pulls by Vexs hands to get him out. Sora and Donald stay on the roof and cast different spells at Darkside to keep it distracted. But Thundaga, Firaga, Blizzaga, Stopga…all their magic seem to inflict no damage on the Heartless at all.
"This is bad," Donald quacks. "Very bad!"
Goofy pulls with all his might to release Vex from Darkside's grip, but is not successful. The knight quickly jumps off the fist to dodge a swift slap from the monster's free hand. Their attacks are doing nothing to this beast and all hope seems to dim at the thought of this.
"We only have one chance left to defeat this creature," Sora says to the group. "Vex!"
The skirmishing boy lets out a difficult "Yeah?".
"Use your keyblade!"
"What good---will that help me," Vex shouts while still trying to get out of the Heartless's relentless grip.
"Trust me! Attack its fist! It may let you go!"
"Are you sure?" Vex looks below and sees countless Heartless already bunched up under the giant Darkside, like baby birds waiting for their next meal from their parent.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy witness this, too, now realizing that all hope is lost.
"We can't let the Heartless win!" Sora cries out, gripping the edge of the roof tightly. "They just can't!" Sora looks up at Vex and yells to him:"Come on, Vex! You can do it! Believe!"
Vex looks down at Sora, noticing the vigilance present in the hero's eyes. He couldn't be the boy who always called for help, anymore. He couldn't be the boy who sat there that night when the Heartless invaded Elward Town for the first time and consumed all those people's hearts while he hid quietly in his room, waiting for his father and the guards to clear the town of them. He couldn't…not anymore.
Vex raises his hand into the air and spawns the Moon Key and yells before swinging down the glowing weapon through the creature's dark fist. He begins swinging nonstop at Darkside's fist, leaving the blade's traces in a bright light, until finally the creature lossens its grip, allowing Vex to get free. The boy jumps onto the Heartless's left arm and runs up it to the face. The tentacles lash at Vex's as he approches, but he dodges them with a few jumps and rolls. He reaches his target and thrusts forward his weapon into the center of the creature's face, releasing a smog of dark mist through the new wound. Vex pulls out his blade and performs a battle cry before swinging his keyblade vertically down through the face and adding more dark haze to the air.
He runs back down the arm and hops onto the roof just before the Heartless has time to retaliate. Darkside skirms around in pain, holding its face with its hands, wondering what I had just happened to it. More dark mist appears, this time around the entire body and it starts to encircle the giant Heartless, obscuring the view of it. The four look on in wonder as Darkside growls in pain, and at last vanishes within its own darkness. The four look at each other before realizing that they had defeated their tyranny foe.
They all high-five in the center of them and shout in excitement of their victory, Donald jumping up and down, a contrast to his usual moody attitude.
Vex and Sora shakes hands as Sora replies:"Nice job, Vex! You handled that weapon of yours quite well!"
"Hehe.Thanks…"
"Oh! The name's Sora. These two are my friends, Donald and Goofy." The two wave to Vex at the mention of their names.
"Nice to meet all of you." But Vex suddenly loses his happy expression and changes it to a more sorrowful look. "I apologize for pulling you three into this. I shouldn't have ran away."
"No, you shouldn't have," Donald quacks, now angry since Vex reminded them.
Sora responds:"It's okay. Something good did come out of all of this, after all."
"That's right. That keyblade of yours," Goofy replies.
"Oh yeah!" Vex holds the still-glowing weapon forward, so they can all get a closer look at it.
"You called it the Moon Key?" Sora asks.
"Yeah…that's what this weird voice said to me.
"A voice?" Sora responds.
The four start back down the stairs of the building to the streets. As they are running, Vex asks:"How are we going to get through all those Heartless things?"
Sora smiles and replies:"We'll get through them like we always do."
"Right!" Vex smiling back.
They arrive at the bottom of the stairs and push open the doors. In front of them are masses and masses of Shadow Heartless peering in their direction. Just off in the distance is the Mayor's building, not yet taken over.
"Come on!" Sora shouts.
They all spawn their weapons and charge into the Heartless crowd. Sora launches the first attack, but it happens again. His keyblade is unable to pierce through the creatures, and this time the monsters are much smaller than him, so he is able to at least push them out of the way.
"What?" Sora says surprised.
"Just knock them out of the way!" Donald quacks frustuated. "We'll deal with that later!"
Sora, not very happy with Donald's comment, agrees with him anyway and swings away the small Heartless. Vex spawns the Moon Key and swings the radiating weapon forward, however, something intriguing happens. The path of his slash turns into a glowing projectile and launches forward, piercing through the many Heartless in its path before its end. The boy, quite shocked, takes another look at his blade and swings the keyblade forward again. Another energy crescent is made and it destroys many more of their foes. Sora, Donald, and Goofy become amazed again at the magnificence of this new item and finally know that the Shadow Heartless are nothing but dust in their way. They dash forward toward the mayor's hall, slashing and knocking away every Heartless that got in their way. Donald's and Sora's magic still affected these little buggers, so the powerful thundaga spells gave the group a clear path to follow toward their destination.
Up on the roof of the building, Jerild looks down at the Heartless with his binoculars and sees a welcoming sight. His son, along with the visitors, are making their way toward the building, and he becomes very surprised to find Vex actually fighting.
"To the hall," Jerild shouts to the guards and they all run downstairs. The doors open with Jerild greeting them. The guards run out and cover the group while they make their way inside, and close the door as Donald runs hastily last inside the building.
Jerild walks over to Vex, who lowers his head in shame for his trouble-making.
"Now why are you doing that?" Jerild says to Vex smiling.
The boy raises his head and smiles back at his father.
Jerild looks toward the doors, which are now rumbling with the beating sounds of the Heartless trying to get in. The mayor puts on his shades slowly and says:"This is it, you all. It is time for us to leave Elward Town."
Vex loses his smile, and a few of the guards look down at their feets, wanting to shake off the fact that they have lost their only home. Sora, Donald, and Goofy feel their sorrow and become disappointed, too.
After a moment of silence, despite the bashing against the door, Vex raises his head and says to his father:"I'm ready."
Jerild turns slowly to Vex. Vex repeats:"I'm ready."
Jerild, although shocked at his son's words, nods in agreement. The commander of the guard unit, distinguished from his comrades with a blue helmet and star-shaped badge, walks forward and replies:"We're ready, right, men?"
"Right!" the guards shout out loud, although many of them not meaning it.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy nod. Jerild smiles and says to everyone:"I'm ready, too. Captain, does Wessler got the transport ready?"
"Yes, sir," the commander replies. "Wessler, says its good to go.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy look at each other in wonder. They thought they saw the Wessler garage closed down.
"Transport?" Sora asks.
Jerild faces the three and answers:"Yes, but we have to get to the garage first."
"Leave it to us, Dad," Vex responds heroically.
Jerild draws his pistol and cocks it back replying:"Hey, I won't just let you have all the fun."
Five minutes later, the entire group is out in the streets, making their way to the garage, while at the same time, clearing their path of the merciless Heartless. Vex gets rid of a lone Heartless that was jumping toward his father with one swing, his father repaying the favor by destroying a Heartless that was heading for his son, too, with a single shot from his firearm. One Heartless grabs onto Sora's blade, the wielder trying to shake it off. But he gets rid of it by launching it into the air with a Firaga projectile.
They reach Wessler's Garage and the once boarded door slides open, allowing the group to enter. Jerild leads them down some stairs into a corridor and opens the door to the basement. It is the largest basement that Sora, Donald, and Goofy have ever seen in their lives. The actual garage was here and it held a very astounding sight. Held above the ground by mechanical arms from the ceiling is a gummi ship. A world-traveling vehicle is right there in front of their eyes. The cockpit, along with the body, is entirely blue, the glass darkly tinted over the driver's seat. The armor parts are composed of Protect-G's and a few Shell-G's, which greatly surrounded the cockpit area. The wings are decent black Aerora'G's. Behind the ship are three engines. Two, each on one wing, are Fira-G's and the main one directly at the back is a Firaga-G's. Under each wing there is a Thunder-G, weapons that fire lasers forward. Also equipped to this ship is a Shield-G to reduce damage of any attack that may come toward its way.
The size, however, is what really amazed them. Unlike the three-person cargo size of their previous ship, this gummi ship is big enough to hold up to ten times more load. The three walk forward slowly, viewing the enormous vehicle with both appreciation and wonder. Standing on a platform that is raised up to the ship is a middle-aged man. The slim mechanic has slicked back gray and black hair, a well-cut beard, and wears a grey jumper suit, a usual wear of many mechanics.
The guy turns to everyone and waves. "Well, you're finally here," the man hollers.
The man lowers the platform he is on by use of a control panel at the side and walks over to them.
"Jerild, my good man."
The mayor walks over to the mechanic and greets him with a friendly handshake:"It's good to see you again, Wessler." Jerild looks up at the ship and says:"Wow, Wessler. You really got this thing upgraded from the last time I saw it."
"Ever since that meteor shower, I've found many new gummi blocks that fell from the sky. Like that Firaga-G." Wessler points to the engine. "With it, we'll be able to fly like the wind."
Jerild smiles and says:"Well, done. Does it still work?"
"Does it?"
Wessler pulls out a small device and pushes one of the buttons on it. The metal arms holding the ship up are let up. Instead of falling to the ground, however, the vehicle stays afloat in its current position, now hovering on its own.
"Good job, Wessler."
Vex walks to the side of the three heroes and says cheerfully:"Sure is a beaut', isn't she?"
The three nod with their mouths still open and reply:"Uh-huh."
Vex walks forward and continues:"We had another one that was much smaller than this, but we let that Mickey fellow keep it. He did deserve it after all."
"What is the ship called," asks Sora.
Vex rubs his nose and puts his arms to his side, getting into a gallant stance as he stands under the floating ship. "Its name is Elwardragon."
"Nice name. Where did you all get this ship?"
Jerild walks over to them and says:"Alright, its time to board the ship. Everyone, onboard now!"
The entire crew enter into the transport, now on the ground, with Wessler and Jerild sitting at the controls. Vex walks to the side of his father to see the many buttons and gadgets present on the panel. The three sit behind them in seats of their own. In the room before, the ten guards, including the commander, sit in chairs sat against the wall and strap themselves in the seatbelts. The others do the same.
"It's time for lift-off," Wessler says into the intercom put throughout the ship. "Make sure you have your seatbelts on. This is going to be a bumpy ride."
Wessler pushes one single button, and the entire ship comes to life. The controls light up, the ship's overhead light flashes on, and the engines begin to run. Vex gets into a seat beside Sora and puts on his seatbelt, smiling at his new friend.
Jerild presses another button, which turns off all the lights within the garage to where only the ship was the only source of light left. Wessler then presses, yet, another button. This time, the ceiling above them begins to open. Above the ceiling is another which opens, and another after that. It took about five ceiling openings before they were able to see the stars in the sky. Before pressing an additional button, Wessler whirls his finger around in a gesture of proudness. This action causes the ship to float upward toward the opening. Jerild brings down three screens, with a push of a button yet again, and turns them on. The left screen displays what is to their left, the right screen displays what is to the right, and the middle screen displays what is behind them. The pane of glass in front gave them a great view of what will lie ahead.
The ship arrives above the roof and the acceleration upward ceases. Using a manuverable camera present outside the ship, Jerild brings out another screen from above that displays its view. The mayor has it to look down into the streets. They see what they expected to see; a multitude of Shadow Heartless looking up at the Elwardragon.
"Woah," Vex says in a low, but strectched out tone.
Sora gazes on with him and replies:"Yeah, they're very persistent, aren't they?"
"Where do they come from?"
Sora continues to look on. He finally answers after a pause:"I have no idea myself. But we believe that they come from the darkness in everyone's hearts."
Vex turns his head to him and replies:"Darkness in our hearts?"
"Don't be scared. Whether we have darkness in our hearts or not, just remember: we all have a light present in us that will never diminish.
Vex nods his head and says smiling again:"Right."
"We got a problem, guys," says Wessler.
Rising from behind the buildings are the new versions of Darkside, all four looking toward the ship with their menacing glare.
"What the heck are those?" Wessler says leaning forward.
Jerild replies:"Something we do not want to meet up close. Let's get out of here."
"But their blocking the way we want to go."
Jerild looks over at Wessler and smiles:"Are they really, Wessler?"
The mechanic snickers and pulls out a cigar. He lights it and smokes it calmly, seating back in his chair. He then sits straight up and grabs the steering stick.
"Hold on to your hats, guys! Like I said….this is going to be a bumpy ride!"
Wessler presses a button and the ship launches off forward. Sora, Donald, and Goofy feel themselves being restrained to their seats as the speed of the Elwardragon goes to exceeding limits.
"Obstacle one," Wessler says.
A Darkside walks toward the ship with its arms ready to knock it out the sky. But Wessler only grins as he speeds toward the creature with no fear. As the two are about to collide, Wessler quickly turns the ship to the right, flying under the assaulting arm of the Heartless.
"Three more, Wessler. Sure you can take them?" Jerild says to his buddy.
"You're kidding, right?"
This time, there is two Darksides that the ship must dodge and they look more than ready to bring the ship to the ground. The Darkside in the front sends its right fist forward, but Elwardragon dives under it, through the creature's legs. However, the Darkside behind it follows up with a fist of its own, but again Wessler gets the ship around it. He, also, adds his own style to his evasion by spiraling around the creature before continuing on their path.
"Haha, this is too easy! Just one more to go!"
"Uh, where is the fourth on?" Jerild says looking in the screens and out the window.
The heroes look around, too, but cannot see it anywhere. Jerild has the ship's free camera look up into the sky and finds the remaining Darkside flying in the air. Its wings are much, much larger than the tiny ones its kind is use to having. Probably another feature that the new Darksides possess.
"Well….this one's going to give me some fun," Wessler responds, taking a few puffs of his cigar. "Time to test out the new Haste-G gummi block I acquired."
Wessler presses a button. From under the ship, the special gummi block appears from its hatch. The three know the power of the gummi block, so inform Vex to hold on. Wessler warns the guards in the back of the ancipated event.
"Time to zoom off!"
He activates the Haste-G block and the ship dashes off, almost about to the exit the town. But the flying Heartless speeds after them, its giant wings making a big woosh after each flap. And despite the speed boost of the Haste-G, the Darkside is still gaining on the Elwardragon with great agility, considering its size.
"It's after us," Vex exclaims.
"I see that," Wessler replies. "No, bother. I can take them down easily with the Thunder-G's.
:I'll take care of it," Jerild replies.
He starts the offensive system, turning the Thunder-G's present on the ship's wings toward the rear, at Darkside. Crosshairs appear on the screen displaying the back view of the ship and hone onto the shadowy creature. Jerild grabs his personal control stick and presses the button atop it, causing lasers to emit from the weapons and shoot into Darkside. He continues to press it, showering the Heartless with an array of red beams.
"It's not causing any damage," Sora says.
"I know,"Jerild says worriedly.
The Haste-G soon runs out of energy returning the ship to a regular speed. The Heartless was now approaching Elwardragon quickly. Jerild continues to fire the weapon upon their enemy, hoping to cause some kind of damage on it, yet this does not occur.
"We're done for,"Donald quacks.
"You all jump to conclusions too soon for me," Wessler replies, leaning back in his chair with fine puffs of smoke rising from the burning end of his cigar.
The mechanic whirls his finger again and presses a button right off to the far side of the panel. From the bottom of the ship, a missile appears, still attached to restraints. It is directed toward the back and comes online, lights appearing around it and the engine on its back beginning to light up. The crosshairs for it appear on screen and zone in on the Heartless again.
"What is this," Jerild asks.
"Another new contribution to this ship. Fire it and see what happens."
Jerild nods and presses down onto the fire button, releasing the missile. The projectile swirls around as it hones toward Darkside. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Vex lean forward, waiting to see the power of this great weapon. The missile hits the Darkside's stomach area, but smog erupts instead of an explosion. The Heartless still chases them.
After a moment of shock, Sora asks:"Uh…did it work?"
Donald crosses his arms and looks agrily at Wessler. But the mechanic keeps on smoking and leaning back in his chair.
Jerild looks over at Wessler and says:"Wessler…was that a dud?"
"Hey, look," Goofy says. "It's slowing down."
Darkside begins to lose speed and falls back. They look on in puzzlement. Soon, they are out of Elward City, the pursuing Heartless far behind now.
"What was that missile, Wessler?" Jerild asks.
"Like I said, you all jump too much into conclusions. That missile was called a Slow-G. Whatever object is hit by it, will have its current speed halved temporarily. Long enough for us to make our escape, though."
"Sorry for doubting you," Jerild replies.
"Next time, Jerild, try to give me more trust."
Vex stares sadly at the middle screen as Elward Town vanishes from view. He lets out a small sigh, until Goofy lays his hand on Vex's shoulder and says to him:"It'll be alright. We'll find a way to get back your home."
"That's right," Sora adds. "We're going to do all we can to get rid of the Heartless once and for all. And we believe the keyblades may be the answer to our problem."
"The keyblades," Vex repeats.
The Elwardragon flies off into the horizon as the sun begins to rise in the east, a new journey, brewing over the streams of orange and yellow in the sky, awaits the heroes as they venture toward their next destination.