Chapter 2
Traverse Town
"Where's that key?!" Donald shouted as he and Goofy walked through the First District of Traverse Town. This town was made up of three different districts. Pluto was walking beside them but suddenly ran off into an alley.
"Hey Donald," Goofy got his attention and pointed toward the alley. "You know, I bet that if we..."
"Aw, what do you know you big palooka?" Donald said as he kept walking.
"What do I know?" Goofy wondered as he started to follow. "Pluto! Hurry up boy!"
Pluto ran into the alley and had very little light to see but he smelled something. He sniffed at the ground until his head bumped something. This thing was a yellow shoe. Pluto pulled some trash away to reveal the form of Sora. Pluto jumped up and licked Sora's face a bit.
"Hey!" Sora shouted as he pushed Pluto off of him and looked around. He looked around to find that he was no longer on his island. He layed with his back against a wall and on a brick walkway. "What a dream."
Pluto turned his head a little and then pushed Sora with his paws. "It isn't a dream!" Sora yelled as he stood up. He shivered slightly. To others it would have been considered pretty warm but not to Sora who had lived on a tropical island his whole life. He started to walk from the alley and up some steps. There was a big sign saying, "First District" above him.
There only seemed to be a few shops around and a small outside resturaunt. He stood near the door of one of the shops. He walked in to find some answers.
"So this is Traverse Town?" Sora asked the store owner, Cid. He was a rough man with blond hair and flight goggles on his head. He wore a white shirt and blue jeans. On one of the tables was a small creature that was entirley white that Sora learned was known as a Moogle to these people.
"Yeah, it sure ain't your island," Cid told him. Sora sighed and sat on the table behind him. Sora stopped his train of thought and stared up at Cid.
"So what do I do now, gramps?" Sora asked.
"Don't call me gramps, kid!"
"Don't call me kid, gramps!" the two stared each other down.
"Well," Cid said as he forgot about it, "You should look around for these friends of yours. Who are they?"
"Riku and Kairi," Sora told him. Cid nodded. "Guess it's the only idea I got." Sora said as he stepped out of the shop.
"Intresting," A voice said. Cid jumped and turned to an unlit corner of the shop. There stood a man that had shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. He had on black jeans with a white t-shirt that was covered by a short, black jacket. One of his black gloved hands held a sword known as the Gunblade. It's handle was that of a gun with a two foot blade coming from the barrel.
"Geez Leon! You scared the crap out of me!" Cid told him. "How long you been standing there anyway?"
"Long enough," Leon said.
"What do you think of the kid?" Cid asked.
"He's not ready but I know that both you and I could sense the Keyblade within him. I'll have to test him."
"Fine. Don't kill him though. If he does hold the Keyblade then he is our last hope."
Sora walked into the Second District. There was a bottom part that had a fountain and a bunch of benches, plus a few houses. Then there was an upper part that formed a wall around the bottom part. A hotel and a few shops were there.
"Help me!" someone shouted before Sora could take even a few steps. He summoned his Keyblade as a man ran toward him. The man tripped over himself and hit the ground. He turned onto his back and Sora saw his horrified expression. Then it happened.
A shadowy, elongated heart cam from his chest and his body dissapeared. The heart then flashed and a creature stood there. It came to about Sora's waist. It was black with he fingertips sharpened into claws and a red color. It had a small knight's helmet on with two glowing, yellow eyes staring back at Sora. On its chest was a black elongated heart with a red outline and a red X across the middle. Sora guessed that it must have been the symbol for these creatures.
"A Soldier!" Sora shouted. He didn't know where that name had come from but didn't care right now. A group of Shadows from his dream and his island surrounded him with the Soldier in front. The Shadows ran forward and Sora sliced one down as the flat edges of the Keyblade became sharp. He ducked as one jumped at him and turned, destroying it before it hit the ground. He struck through one and also caught the one behind that one. One final upward slice at one in midair and the Shadows were gone.
The Soldier stepped forward and Sora got ready. The Soldier attacked with his claws but Sora blocked it and attacked back. He hit the Soldier in the chest and it recieved a nasty cut. The Soldier yelled at him and jumped forward. Sora jumped away but the claws caught him in the leg on the Soldier's way down. He grapsed his leg and winced in pain. As the Soldier jumped at his head Sora rolled under it and sliced backwards, hearing the sound of one of those creatures turning into black smoke and dissapearing.
Sora saw more Shadows and Soldiers appear on the lower level and some on the upper one. He dragged himself on one good leg and opened the door back into the First District. He immeadetly had to duck as a Shadow flew over him. He stood as best he could with his injured leg. He tripped and stumbbled until he opened the door to Cid's shop and hit the floor with a thump.
"Kid!" Cid yelled and propped Sora up. He stared at the youth's leg and focused. He wasn't as good with magic as most Mages and Wizards but he knew enough. "Cure!" He yelled. A green light washed over Sora and his legged healed up, along with some of the scars he had recieved on Destiny Islands.
"What happened?" Sora asked as he stood wearily.
"My guess is you were attacked," Cid said as he helped Sora up. "I take it you didn't find your friends."
"Old friends? No. Old enemies? Yes," Sora said as he shook off the dizziness. Cid stared at him and finally said something.
"Give it another try kid. You never know," Cid told him. Sora wasn't really happy with that notion but figured it was worth a shot.
"Why not, gramps?" Sora said as he stepped out into the First District.
"That kid's gonna be the death of me," Cid sighed as he walked back behind the counter. He pulled out a picture of him and another blond with spikey hair. There were also a couple other people in the picture, his former team in his own struggle against evil. He was never the strongest of that group but they were all friends. To bad all but two of them were gone, Yuffie and Aerith. He stared at the spikey haired man again. "If only you were here, Cloud. You always seemed to know what to do."
Sora stood next to the door to Cid's shop in deep thought. "How did I know what that thing was called and why are they after me anyway."
"It's your Scan ability getting stronger," Sora jumped at the voice. It belonged to the man, Leon. "As for the creatures, they'll keep coming."
"Who are you?" Sora stood with Keyblade in hand. He dropped into a defensive stance, just in case.
"That's not important," Leon said. "Now, let's see that Keyblade." Leon held up his hand and started walking forward.
"No way! You'll never get this!" Sora held the Keyblade up again.If those creatures were truly after him then he would not give up his only defense.
"Have it your way," Leon said as he brought up his Gunblade. The two stared at each other with heated stares. Leon was the first to strike and he sliced downward with the Gunblade. Sora brought up the Keyblade to block but the force almost knocked him to the ground. Man, this guy was strong.
Sora ran forward and went to hit him with the back of his Keyblade so that when it sharpened he wouldn't kill Leon. He didn't need to though as Leon blocked quickly and also, the Keyblade never sharpened!
"What the heck?" Sora yelled as he stared at the flat edges.
"Confused?" Leon asked. "The Keyblade will only sharpen when attacking it's sworn enemies, the Heartless, or minions of the Heartless!"
"Heartless?" Sora asked. Leon ignored him this time and struck again. Sora reacted quickly by jumping to the side. Sora lunged at Leon's open side but with amazing speed Leon blocked again. Leon swung at him but Sora jumped back at just the right time. Sora barely dodged another swing from the Gunblade as it hit the brick ground and created many cracks in them.
Sora jumped down the steps as Leon leaped after him. They once again ran at each other and sparks flew from thier respective weaons as they met in a struggle. Sora moved away, knowing that Leon would win a battle of strength.
"So, what is a Scan ability?" Sora asked. He was stalling for time since he was already getting tired.
"Scan is an ability that lets you know the name of your enemy!" Leon shouted as he ran forward.
"Why can't I Scan you then?" Sora asked as he jumped away from another attack.
"Because believe it or not, I'm not your enemy!" Leon told him as one of his attacks forced Sora to block. Sora was once again knocked back from Leon's strength.
"You could have fooled me!" Sora shouted as he counterattacked with a swing at Leon's head. At the last moment Sora changed his mark and spun, hitting Leon in his stomach. Leon grunted as he was knocked back. Leon looked around to see a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers rising from the ground.
"Sorry, I have to get that Keyblade away from you!" Leon raised his Gunblade and a ball of magic energy was fromed at the tip. Leon shot it off and Sora brought up his Keyblade to block. The magic energy bounced of the Keyblade but Sora was thrown back into a wall and soon saw only black as the Keyblade dropped to the ground. The magic energy had been knocked back at Leon and he was knocked down by his own attack.
Leon smiled as the creatures, the Heartless, went away now that the Keyblade was no longer being held. The Heartless would stop at nothing to take the heart of the Keybearer but did not yet know which person held the blade. Since it was not in Sora's hands they could not trace him through the Keyblade.
Leon propped himself up on his Gunblade and panted on one knee. He rolled his eyes as he could already sense the person behind him.
"Aw, you're slipping Leon," the female ninja, Yuffie came up behind him.
"I went easy on him," Leon said as he stood back up. "Besides, looks like things are worse then we thought. A lot worse."
In an alleyway, Donald and Goofy continued their search for Leon. Goofy shuddered as he looked around.
"Gawsh, sure is spooky," he said.
"Phooey! I'm not scared!" Donald told him.
"Excuse me," someone tapped on Donald's shoulder. The Wizard screamed out and jumped onto Goofy's shoulders. They saw this person was a woman with a long pink dress that reached her ankles. Her long brown hair came the middle of her back with some falling into her bright green eyes. "Did the king send you?"
"Wake up, lazy bum," Sora's heart lept at the sound of Kairi's voice. He opened his eyes and sure enough, she stood over him. "The creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want."
"I'm so glad you're okay Kairi," Sora ignored her last statement.
"Kairi? Who are you talking to?" the form of Kairi suddenly changed to a girl with black hair and dark blue eyes. She had on a yellow scarf and a green top that left her stomach exposed. She also had short yellow shorts that were held up by a blue belt. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie."
"What?" Sora shook his head.
"I think you might have overdone it Squall!" Yuffie shouted behind her to a familiar looking man leaning on a door. He also realized they must have been in a hotel.
"That's Leon," he said. Sora was confused but quickly took note of the Keyblade missing from his grip. He searched around to find it and saw it leaning on the wall next to Leon. Yuffie followed his gaze.
"Oh yeah, the Keyblade," she said. "We had to get it away from you. Turns out, that's how they were tracking you."
"But why?" Leon said as he picked up the Keyblade. "Why would it choose a kid like you?" The Keyblade sensed it was not being held by its master and in a flash of light, reappeared in Sora's hand. "Oh well, I suppose beggers can't be choosers."
"What's going on?" Sora demanded. "Why don't you start making sense?"
Donald and Goofy sat in the next room of the hotel connected by the very door that Leon was leaning on. The woman from before, Aerith, sat on the bed.
"All right," Aerith began, "You know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town right?"
"Yeah," Donald nodded.
"But they're supposed to be a secret," Goofy said as he covered his mouth with his hands as if it still were a secret to Aerith.
"They always have been secret," Aerith's expression turned sad. "But when the Heartless came, everything changed."
"Heartless?" Sora asked. He had a pretty good clue what Leon and Yuffie were talking about but just wanted to be sure.
"The ones that attacked you, remember?" Yuffie asked. Yep, he was right.
"The Heartless feats on people hearts," Leon told him. "The darkness in people's hearts is what atracts them. And there is darkness in every heart."
"Hey," Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?"
"Ansem?" Goofy asked, but pronouncing it wrong. Aerith hid her laugh as best as she could but soon got to the point.
"He used to study the Heartless," Aerith said. "He wrote down all of his findings in a very detailed report."
"Maybe the king went to find 'em!" Goofy said.
"Yes, those were my thought exactly," Aerith nodded.
"Wait!" Donald yelled. "What about that key?"
"Oh yes, the Keyblade," Aerith said.
"So, this is the key," Sora said as he held the Keyblade out in front of him and studied it closer then he had before.
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon told him. "As its master you are destined to defeat them."
"I didn't ask for this thing," Sora told them.
"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie explained. "And it chose you."
"So, tough luck," Leon told him.
"How did this happen?" Sora asked to nobody inpeticular. "I remember being on my island when... My island! What happened to it? My family? Riku? Kairi?"
"You know what," Leon lowered his head. "I really don't know. But you'd better prepare yourself."
"Prepare myself?"
"To fight for your life," just as Leon said that a Soldier bust through the window, into the hotel. "Yuffie, go!" Leon pulled out his Gunblade.
Yuffie jumped across the room and opened the door Leon had been leaning on. She felt the door hit something but shrugged it off.
"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled as she followed her friend. Goofy pulled the door away from the wall to reveal a flattened Donald.
The Soldier was thrown into the alleyway below and dissapeared into black smoke as it hit the ground. Leon followed as he jumped out the window and Sora after him with Keyblade ready. Leon started to cut through the Soldiers that came before him.
Sora turned to his side to see a Shadow lunge at him but he knocked it away with the Keyblade and struck another one down. Leon stabbed through one of the Soldiers and then spun around, catching another in midair.
"Leon! Look out!" Sora yelled. It was to late as a Soldier landed on Leon's back and stabbed through with its claws. The Soldier dug deeper, searching for the Leon's heart but Sora came and sliced through it. Sora propped the injured Leon up with his shoulder but Leon was a full grown man and this was not easy.
More Heartless came at him and he tried to fight using only his left hand but he was fighting a losing battle. As one Shadow came at him a ninja throwing star struck it in the head and killed it. Yuffie came from behind them and propped the other half of Leon up on her shoulder.
"Go!" Sora shouted as he let Yuffie take the full weight. "I'm the one they want!" Sora started to run the other direction and the Heartless followed. Yuffie wished for his safety and started running full speed towards Cid's shop.
"Fire!" a burst of fire came from the tip of Donald's staff and destroyed one of the Soldiers. Goofy used his shield to crush the other Heartless.
"Stairs!" Goofy pointed to a set of stairs, not far away.
Sora opened up a door to the second district and shut all the Heartless inside the alley. He sighed in relief but then looked ahead to see even more. The Heartless ran at him but Sora was growing very skilled with his Keyblade. He desperatly cut through more until he got to a door to the Third District and ran in.
Yuffie bust open the door to Cid's shop had to let Leon drop to the ground. Cid ran over and helped her lay him on a table.
"You know, my shop is not a hospital," Cid told her but she ignored him. Aerith was standing in the back and Yuffie gestured for her to come over.
"Leon?" Aerith asked.
"W-wh-what?" he asked through his pain.
"I'll heal you but you must promise to not to go help Sora, Donald, and Goofy," she said and Leon gazed at her in dibelief. "This is their journey, not yours."
"F-fine," he said.
"Cure!" Aerith said as the green light washed over him and he was healed.
Donald and Goofy had been chased by the Heartless to a balcony above the Third District and were cornered. Goofy looked over the side to see Sora run into the Third District as well and stop to take a rest.
"Look out!" Donald yelled as the Soldiers started to close in on them. "Let's go get 'em Goofy!"
Sora heard screaming from above and looked up. Two figures were falling toward him! Sora started to run but they landed on him.
"The key!" Donald and Goofy yelled as they noticed the Keyblade in Sora's hand. They didn't have time to speak as a bunch of Soldiers appeared before them.
Sora ran forward with Keyblade flashing and started his attack. Donald scoped a Soldier out and used his Fire spell to burn it up. Goofy ran over and crushed one of the Soldiers between his shield and the ground. Sora cut two down in a spinning slash. One Soldier jumped at him but a burst of fire from Donald destroyed it. Goofy ran to the last one and hit it with his shield so it came flying towards Sora. Sora brought his Keyblade up and destroyed it.
"Well, that was easy," Sora smiled. He spoke to soon as two purple, metallic feet about half his size hit the ground. Then came a body that floated just above the feet. It was cylindar shaped and widened at the bottom and it also had the Heartless symbol on his chest. The came the two arms with long, clawed finger. The last was the head that looked like a knight's helmet. It was the Guard Armor.
Leon and Cid sat at a table playing cards while Aerith sat doing Yuffie's hair over. A thought struck Aerith and she looked over to Leon.
"Hey Leon?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you remember to tell Sora about the Guard Armor?" Everyone stared at Leon who could only say one thing.
"Oops."
Sora slammed into a wall as one of the Guard Armor's gigantic fists came flying at him and connected. Goofy ran up and knocked the arm away before it could return to the body and started to beat on it. Donald started shooting off his Fire spell but he was kicked away for his effort. Sora got up and shook his head and ran forward. He attacked one of the feet but created a few cuts.
The arm Goofy was still beating on knocked him away and joined with the body once again. All three ran up to the Guard Armor but the body started to spin and with the arms spread, knocked them away. Goofy got up and stood behind the Guard Armor and Donald stood in front of it. Donald used a Fire spell and the Guard Armor dodged it. The attack hit Goofy's shield and bounce off, hitting the Guard Armor in the back.
Using this distraction, Sora started attack the body and created a few more cuts. The Gurad Armor righted himself and punched Sora again. As Goofy tried to jump at it from behind the Guard Armor spun around and backhanded Goofy with such force that the knight was knocked out when he hit the closest wall. Donald grew mad at this and jumped forward. He hit the Guard Armor in the head with his staff and the faceplate was knocked up revealing two yellow eyes underneath. The Guard Armor growled and did a headbutt that knocked Donald away.
Sora came back at him and tried to attack but it seemed that the Guard Armor never got tired while Sora had been fighting all day. The Guard Armor used both of his feet in a drop-kick that sent Soar flying again. Donald fired another Fire spell but it effected the Guard Armor very little. With one powerful punch, Donald joined the unconcius group with Goofy. Sora was now the only one left.
Sora yelled with new found energy as he jumped and landed on the top of the body, face to face with the Guard Armor's head.
"I've had a bad day!" Sora yelled. "My home's been destroyed! My friends and family gone! Went a round with Darkside! Fought way to many Heartless! Attacked by a crazy man with a Gunblade who calls himself Leon! The only sleep I got was when I was knocked out! Now you show up!" Sora released all his pent up anger. "Well I'm tired of this! Fire!" A Fire spell came from the tip of the Keyblade and struck the Guard armor in the face. The familiar shadowy, elongated heart rose from body and the Guard Armor dissapeared.
In a dark room, five shrouded figures watched the fight between Sora and the Heartless by an odd hologram.
"That little squirt took down that Heartless. Who would have thought it?" said the first figure, clearly a man.
"The boys strength is not his own," said the man next to him. "It is the Keyblade."
"Why don't we just turn him into a Heartless?" asked the third figure, a woman this time. "That should settle things quick enough." She laughed.
"And the boy's friends are the knig's lackey's," said the next man. "Swoggle me eyes! They're all bilge rats by the look of them."
"You're no prize yourself," laughed the next man.
"Shut up!" the other man shouted back.
"Enough," a woman stepped into view. She wore a long black dress with a hood that made it appear as if two horns came form her head. Her face was pale and she held a long staff with a green crystal at the top. It was the evil witch, Maleficent. "I'm quite interested in this boy. Will it be he who conquors the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way he could be quite useful."
Sora had agreed to go with Donald and Goofy on their search for the king in order to search for Riku and Kairi.
"Good luck you guys," Leon told them as they started heading for the Gummi Ship. Sora smiled when he saw the name Excalibur on the side.
"Have a nice trip," Yuffie waved.
"Protect each other," Aerith said last.
"We'll probably be back soon for rest and supplies," Donald told them. They waved and walked toward the Gummi Ship. Jiminy walked on the ground next to them.
"I can see a grand adventure for these three. And I'll be there to record it all!"
Traverse Town
"Where's that key?!" Donald shouted as he and Goofy walked through the First District of Traverse Town. This town was made up of three different districts. Pluto was walking beside them but suddenly ran off into an alley.
"Hey Donald," Goofy got his attention and pointed toward the alley. "You know, I bet that if we..."
"Aw, what do you know you big palooka?" Donald said as he kept walking.
"What do I know?" Goofy wondered as he started to follow. "Pluto! Hurry up boy!"
Pluto ran into the alley and had very little light to see but he smelled something. He sniffed at the ground until his head bumped something. This thing was a yellow shoe. Pluto pulled some trash away to reveal the form of Sora. Pluto jumped up and licked Sora's face a bit.
"Hey!" Sora shouted as he pushed Pluto off of him and looked around. He looked around to find that he was no longer on his island. He layed with his back against a wall and on a brick walkway. "What a dream."
Pluto turned his head a little and then pushed Sora with his paws. "It isn't a dream!" Sora yelled as he stood up. He shivered slightly. To others it would have been considered pretty warm but not to Sora who had lived on a tropical island his whole life. He started to walk from the alley and up some steps. There was a big sign saying, "First District" above him.
There only seemed to be a few shops around and a small outside resturaunt. He stood near the door of one of the shops. He walked in to find some answers.
"So this is Traverse Town?" Sora asked the store owner, Cid. He was a rough man with blond hair and flight goggles on his head. He wore a white shirt and blue jeans. On one of the tables was a small creature that was entirley white that Sora learned was known as a Moogle to these people.
"Yeah, it sure ain't your island," Cid told him. Sora sighed and sat on the table behind him. Sora stopped his train of thought and stared up at Cid.
"So what do I do now, gramps?" Sora asked.
"Don't call me gramps, kid!"
"Don't call me kid, gramps!" the two stared each other down.
"Well," Cid said as he forgot about it, "You should look around for these friends of yours. Who are they?"
"Riku and Kairi," Sora told him. Cid nodded. "Guess it's the only idea I got." Sora said as he stepped out of the shop.
"Intresting," A voice said. Cid jumped and turned to an unlit corner of the shop. There stood a man that had shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. He had on black jeans with a white t-shirt that was covered by a short, black jacket. One of his black gloved hands held a sword known as the Gunblade. It's handle was that of a gun with a two foot blade coming from the barrel.
"Geez Leon! You scared the crap out of me!" Cid told him. "How long you been standing there anyway?"
"Long enough," Leon said.
"What do you think of the kid?" Cid asked.
"He's not ready but I know that both you and I could sense the Keyblade within him. I'll have to test him."
"Fine. Don't kill him though. If he does hold the Keyblade then he is our last hope."
Sora walked into the Second District. There was a bottom part that had a fountain and a bunch of benches, plus a few houses. Then there was an upper part that formed a wall around the bottom part. A hotel and a few shops were there.
"Help me!" someone shouted before Sora could take even a few steps. He summoned his Keyblade as a man ran toward him. The man tripped over himself and hit the ground. He turned onto his back and Sora saw his horrified expression. Then it happened.
A shadowy, elongated heart cam from his chest and his body dissapeared. The heart then flashed and a creature stood there. It came to about Sora's waist. It was black with he fingertips sharpened into claws and a red color. It had a small knight's helmet on with two glowing, yellow eyes staring back at Sora. On its chest was a black elongated heart with a red outline and a red X across the middle. Sora guessed that it must have been the symbol for these creatures.
"A Soldier!" Sora shouted. He didn't know where that name had come from but didn't care right now. A group of Shadows from his dream and his island surrounded him with the Soldier in front. The Shadows ran forward and Sora sliced one down as the flat edges of the Keyblade became sharp. He ducked as one jumped at him and turned, destroying it before it hit the ground. He struck through one and also caught the one behind that one. One final upward slice at one in midair and the Shadows were gone.
The Soldier stepped forward and Sora got ready. The Soldier attacked with his claws but Sora blocked it and attacked back. He hit the Soldier in the chest and it recieved a nasty cut. The Soldier yelled at him and jumped forward. Sora jumped away but the claws caught him in the leg on the Soldier's way down. He grapsed his leg and winced in pain. As the Soldier jumped at his head Sora rolled under it and sliced backwards, hearing the sound of one of those creatures turning into black smoke and dissapearing.
Sora saw more Shadows and Soldiers appear on the lower level and some on the upper one. He dragged himself on one good leg and opened the door back into the First District. He immeadetly had to duck as a Shadow flew over him. He stood as best he could with his injured leg. He tripped and stumbbled until he opened the door to Cid's shop and hit the floor with a thump.
"Kid!" Cid yelled and propped Sora up. He stared at the youth's leg and focused. He wasn't as good with magic as most Mages and Wizards but he knew enough. "Cure!" He yelled. A green light washed over Sora and his legged healed up, along with some of the scars he had recieved on Destiny Islands.
"What happened?" Sora asked as he stood wearily.
"My guess is you were attacked," Cid said as he helped Sora up. "I take it you didn't find your friends."
"Old friends? No. Old enemies? Yes," Sora said as he shook off the dizziness. Cid stared at him and finally said something.
"Give it another try kid. You never know," Cid told him. Sora wasn't really happy with that notion but figured it was worth a shot.
"Why not, gramps?" Sora said as he stepped out into the First District.
"That kid's gonna be the death of me," Cid sighed as he walked back behind the counter. He pulled out a picture of him and another blond with spikey hair. There were also a couple other people in the picture, his former team in his own struggle against evil. He was never the strongest of that group but they were all friends. To bad all but two of them were gone, Yuffie and Aerith. He stared at the spikey haired man again. "If only you were here, Cloud. You always seemed to know what to do."
Sora stood next to the door to Cid's shop in deep thought. "How did I know what that thing was called and why are they after me anyway."
"It's your Scan ability getting stronger," Sora jumped at the voice. It belonged to the man, Leon. "As for the creatures, they'll keep coming."
"Who are you?" Sora stood with Keyblade in hand. He dropped into a defensive stance, just in case.
"That's not important," Leon said. "Now, let's see that Keyblade." Leon held up his hand and started walking forward.
"No way! You'll never get this!" Sora held the Keyblade up again.If those creatures were truly after him then he would not give up his only defense.
"Have it your way," Leon said as he brought up his Gunblade. The two stared at each other with heated stares. Leon was the first to strike and he sliced downward with the Gunblade. Sora brought up the Keyblade to block but the force almost knocked him to the ground. Man, this guy was strong.
Sora ran forward and went to hit him with the back of his Keyblade so that when it sharpened he wouldn't kill Leon. He didn't need to though as Leon blocked quickly and also, the Keyblade never sharpened!
"What the heck?" Sora yelled as he stared at the flat edges.
"Confused?" Leon asked. "The Keyblade will only sharpen when attacking it's sworn enemies, the Heartless, or minions of the Heartless!"
"Heartless?" Sora asked. Leon ignored him this time and struck again. Sora reacted quickly by jumping to the side. Sora lunged at Leon's open side but with amazing speed Leon blocked again. Leon swung at him but Sora jumped back at just the right time. Sora barely dodged another swing from the Gunblade as it hit the brick ground and created many cracks in them.
Sora jumped down the steps as Leon leaped after him. They once again ran at each other and sparks flew from thier respective weaons as they met in a struggle. Sora moved away, knowing that Leon would win a battle of strength.
"So, what is a Scan ability?" Sora asked. He was stalling for time since he was already getting tired.
"Scan is an ability that lets you know the name of your enemy!" Leon shouted as he ran forward.
"Why can't I Scan you then?" Sora asked as he jumped away from another attack.
"Because believe it or not, I'm not your enemy!" Leon told him as one of his attacks forced Sora to block. Sora was once again knocked back from Leon's strength.
"You could have fooled me!" Sora shouted as he counterattacked with a swing at Leon's head. At the last moment Sora changed his mark and spun, hitting Leon in his stomach. Leon grunted as he was knocked back. Leon looked around to see a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers rising from the ground.
"Sorry, I have to get that Keyblade away from you!" Leon raised his Gunblade and a ball of magic energy was fromed at the tip. Leon shot it off and Sora brought up his Keyblade to block. The magic energy bounced of the Keyblade but Sora was thrown back into a wall and soon saw only black as the Keyblade dropped to the ground. The magic energy had been knocked back at Leon and he was knocked down by his own attack.
Leon smiled as the creatures, the Heartless, went away now that the Keyblade was no longer being held. The Heartless would stop at nothing to take the heart of the Keybearer but did not yet know which person held the blade. Since it was not in Sora's hands they could not trace him through the Keyblade.
Leon propped himself up on his Gunblade and panted on one knee. He rolled his eyes as he could already sense the person behind him.
"Aw, you're slipping Leon," the female ninja, Yuffie came up behind him.
"I went easy on him," Leon said as he stood back up. "Besides, looks like things are worse then we thought. A lot worse."
In an alleyway, Donald and Goofy continued their search for Leon. Goofy shuddered as he looked around.
"Gawsh, sure is spooky," he said.
"Phooey! I'm not scared!" Donald told him.
"Excuse me," someone tapped on Donald's shoulder. The Wizard screamed out and jumped onto Goofy's shoulders. They saw this person was a woman with a long pink dress that reached her ankles. Her long brown hair came the middle of her back with some falling into her bright green eyes. "Did the king send you?"
"Wake up, lazy bum," Sora's heart lept at the sound of Kairi's voice. He opened his eyes and sure enough, she stood over him. "The creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want."
"I'm so glad you're okay Kairi," Sora ignored her last statement.
"Kairi? Who are you talking to?" the form of Kairi suddenly changed to a girl with black hair and dark blue eyes. She had on a yellow scarf and a green top that left her stomach exposed. She also had short yellow shorts that were held up by a blue belt. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie."
"What?" Sora shook his head.
"I think you might have overdone it Squall!" Yuffie shouted behind her to a familiar looking man leaning on a door. He also realized they must have been in a hotel.
"That's Leon," he said. Sora was confused but quickly took note of the Keyblade missing from his grip. He searched around to find it and saw it leaning on the wall next to Leon. Yuffie followed his gaze.
"Oh yeah, the Keyblade," she said. "We had to get it away from you. Turns out, that's how they were tracking you."
"But why?" Leon said as he picked up the Keyblade. "Why would it choose a kid like you?" The Keyblade sensed it was not being held by its master and in a flash of light, reappeared in Sora's hand. "Oh well, I suppose beggers can't be choosers."
"What's going on?" Sora demanded. "Why don't you start making sense?"
Donald and Goofy sat in the next room of the hotel connected by the very door that Leon was leaning on. The woman from before, Aerith, sat on the bed.
"All right," Aerith began, "You know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town right?"
"Yeah," Donald nodded.
"But they're supposed to be a secret," Goofy said as he covered his mouth with his hands as if it still were a secret to Aerith.
"They always have been secret," Aerith's expression turned sad. "But when the Heartless came, everything changed."
"Heartless?" Sora asked. He had a pretty good clue what Leon and Yuffie were talking about but just wanted to be sure.
"The ones that attacked you, remember?" Yuffie asked. Yep, he was right.
"The Heartless feats on people hearts," Leon told him. "The darkness in people's hearts is what atracts them. And there is darkness in every heart."
"Hey," Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?"
"Ansem?" Goofy asked, but pronouncing it wrong. Aerith hid her laugh as best as she could but soon got to the point.
"He used to study the Heartless," Aerith said. "He wrote down all of his findings in a very detailed report."
"Maybe the king went to find 'em!" Goofy said.
"Yes, those were my thought exactly," Aerith nodded.
"Wait!" Donald yelled. "What about that key?"
"Oh yes, the Keyblade," Aerith said.
"So, this is the key," Sora said as he held the Keyblade out in front of him and studied it closer then he had before.
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon told him. "As its master you are destined to defeat them."
"I didn't ask for this thing," Sora told them.
"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie explained. "And it chose you."
"So, tough luck," Leon told him.
"How did this happen?" Sora asked to nobody inpeticular. "I remember being on my island when... My island! What happened to it? My family? Riku? Kairi?"
"You know what," Leon lowered his head. "I really don't know. But you'd better prepare yourself."
"Prepare myself?"
"To fight for your life," just as Leon said that a Soldier bust through the window, into the hotel. "Yuffie, go!" Leon pulled out his Gunblade.
Yuffie jumped across the room and opened the door Leon had been leaning on. She felt the door hit something but shrugged it off.
"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled as she followed her friend. Goofy pulled the door away from the wall to reveal a flattened Donald.
The Soldier was thrown into the alleyway below and dissapeared into black smoke as it hit the ground. Leon followed as he jumped out the window and Sora after him with Keyblade ready. Leon started to cut through the Soldiers that came before him.
Sora turned to his side to see a Shadow lunge at him but he knocked it away with the Keyblade and struck another one down. Leon stabbed through one of the Soldiers and then spun around, catching another in midair.
"Leon! Look out!" Sora yelled. It was to late as a Soldier landed on Leon's back and stabbed through with its claws. The Soldier dug deeper, searching for the Leon's heart but Sora came and sliced through it. Sora propped the injured Leon up with his shoulder but Leon was a full grown man and this was not easy.
More Heartless came at him and he tried to fight using only his left hand but he was fighting a losing battle. As one Shadow came at him a ninja throwing star struck it in the head and killed it. Yuffie came from behind them and propped the other half of Leon up on her shoulder.
"Go!" Sora shouted as he let Yuffie take the full weight. "I'm the one they want!" Sora started to run the other direction and the Heartless followed. Yuffie wished for his safety and started running full speed towards Cid's shop.
"Fire!" a burst of fire came from the tip of Donald's staff and destroyed one of the Soldiers. Goofy used his shield to crush the other Heartless.
"Stairs!" Goofy pointed to a set of stairs, not far away.
Sora opened up a door to the second district and shut all the Heartless inside the alley. He sighed in relief but then looked ahead to see even more. The Heartless ran at him but Sora was growing very skilled with his Keyblade. He desperatly cut through more until he got to a door to the Third District and ran in.
Yuffie bust open the door to Cid's shop had to let Leon drop to the ground. Cid ran over and helped her lay him on a table.
"You know, my shop is not a hospital," Cid told her but she ignored him. Aerith was standing in the back and Yuffie gestured for her to come over.
"Leon?" Aerith asked.
"W-wh-what?" he asked through his pain.
"I'll heal you but you must promise to not to go help Sora, Donald, and Goofy," she said and Leon gazed at her in dibelief. "This is their journey, not yours."
"F-fine," he said.
"Cure!" Aerith said as the green light washed over him and he was healed.
Donald and Goofy had been chased by the Heartless to a balcony above the Third District and were cornered. Goofy looked over the side to see Sora run into the Third District as well and stop to take a rest.
"Look out!" Donald yelled as the Soldiers started to close in on them. "Let's go get 'em Goofy!"
Sora heard screaming from above and looked up. Two figures were falling toward him! Sora started to run but they landed on him.
"The key!" Donald and Goofy yelled as they noticed the Keyblade in Sora's hand. They didn't have time to speak as a bunch of Soldiers appeared before them.
Sora ran forward with Keyblade flashing and started his attack. Donald scoped a Soldier out and used his Fire spell to burn it up. Goofy ran over and crushed one of the Soldiers between his shield and the ground. Sora cut two down in a spinning slash. One Soldier jumped at him but a burst of fire from Donald destroyed it. Goofy ran to the last one and hit it with his shield so it came flying towards Sora. Sora brought his Keyblade up and destroyed it.
"Well, that was easy," Sora smiled. He spoke to soon as two purple, metallic feet about half his size hit the ground. Then came a body that floated just above the feet. It was cylindar shaped and widened at the bottom and it also had the Heartless symbol on his chest. The came the two arms with long, clawed finger. The last was the head that looked like a knight's helmet. It was the Guard Armor.
Leon and Cid sat at a table playing cards while Aerith sat doing Yuffie's hair over. A thought struck Aerith and she looked over to Leon.
"Hey Leon?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you remember to tell Sora about the Guard Armor?" Everyone stared at Leon who could only say one thing.
"Oops."
Sora slammed into a wall as one of the Guard Armor's gigantic fists came flying at him and connected. Goofy ran up and knocked the arm away before it could return to the body and started to beat on it. Donald started shooting off his Fire spell but he was kicked away for his effort. Sora got up and shook his head and ran forward. He attacked one of the feet but created a few cuts.
The arm Goofy was still beating on knocked him away and joined with the body once again. All three ran up to the Guard Armor but the body started to spin and with the arms spread, knocked them away. Goofy got up and stood behind the Guard Armor and Donald stood in front of it. Donald used a Fire spell and the Guard Armor dodged it. The attack hit Goofy's shield and bounce off, hitting the Guard Armor in the back.
Using this distraction, Sora started attack the body and created a few more cuts. The Gurad Armor righted himself and punched Sora again. As Goofy tried to jump at it from behind the Guard Armor spun around and backhanded Goofy with such force that the knight was knocked out when he hit the closest wall. Donald grew mad at this and jumped forward. He hit the Guard Armor in the head with his staff and the faceplate was knocked up revealing two yellow eyes underneath. The Guard Armor growled and did a headbutt that knocked Donald away.
Sora came back at him and tried to attack but it seemed that the Guard Armor never got tired while Sora had been fighting all day. The Guard Armor used both of his feet in a drop-kick that sent Soar flying again. Donald fired another Fire spell but it effected the Guard Armor very little. With one powerful punch, Donald joined the unconcius group with Goofy. Sora was now the only one left.
Sora yelled with new found energy as he jumped and landed on the top of the body, face to face with the Guard Armor's head.
"I've had a bad day!" Sora yelled. "My home's been destroyed! My friends and family gone! Went a round with Darkside! Fought way to many Heartless! Attacked by a crazy man with a Gunblade who calls himself Leon! The only sleep I got was when I was knocked out! Now you show up!" Sora released all his pent up anger. "Well I'm tired of this! Fire!" A Fire spell came from the tip of the Keyblade and struck the Guard armor in the face. The familiar shadowy, elongated heart rose from body and the Guard Armor dissapeared.
In a dark room, five shrouded figures watched the fight between Sora and the Heartless by an odd hologram.
"That little squirt took down that Heartless. Who would have thought it?" said the first figure, clearly a man.
"The boys strength is not his own," said the man next to him. "It is the Keyblade."
"Why don't we just turn him into a Heartless?" asked the third figure, a woman this time. "That should settle things quick enough." She laughed.
"And the boy's friends are the knig's lackey's," said the next man. "Swoggle me eyes! They're all bilge rats by the look of them."
"You're no prize yourself," laughed the next man.
"Shut up!" the other man shouted back.
"Enough," a woman stepped into view. She wore a long black dress with a hood that made it appear as if two horns came form her head. Her face was pale and she held a long staff with a green crystal at the top. It was the evil witch, Maleficent. "I'm quite interested in this boy. Will it be he who conquors the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way he could be quite useful."
Sora had agreed to go with Donald and Goofy on their search for the king in order to search for Riku and Kairi.
"Good luck you guys," Leon told them as they started heading for the Gummi Ship. Sora smiled when he saw the name Excalibur on the side.
"Have a nice trip," Yuffie waved.
"Protect each other," Aerith said last.
"We'll probably be back soon for rest and supplies," Donald told them. They waved and walked toward the Gummi Ship. Jiminy walked on the ground next to them.
"I can see a grand adventure for these three. And I'll be there to record it all!"