Remnants: Objects or persons who survived the destruction of their world, and wound up in another world; either one similar to their own, or Traverse Town.
X0X0X
The Emperor's urge to gawk increased at the sight of the library. Though not as large as some archives he had seen as Ken, there were thousands of titles he never knew existed on the first row alone. Even as he walked through, led by the somewhat disinterested Glyde, he noticed strange linings around the shelves that indicated secret passageways, possibly hiding even more books.
"Were these all taken from destroyed worlds?"
"Some of them, maybe, but most were here before the Heartless ever appeared, according to our ape of a leader... I'm not that interested in old literature, though."
The sound of a turning page caught the Emperor's attention, thinking it to be one of his new allies (one more interested than Glyde, to boot.) Instead, however, the person he saw was a nerdy-looking girl, slightly taller than him with long black hair, large round glasses, greatly overdressed in a large yellow coat. She was reading a book roughly as tall as she was from her table, with a slightly glazed look in her eyes.
"Who's she-" He started to ask, before Glyde promptly covered his mouth and pulled him back several steps.
"No idea." The taller man answered, releasing the outraged tyrant. "Apparantly she's a remnant from some world that was destroyed. Those who can tell say she has incredible power, and we originally thought she'd be a problem... but the second she reached the library, for some reason, she lost all interest in attacking us. Any Heartless we sent down here died within seconds of disturbing her, so Chimpy says it's better to just leave her be."
"I see... is there anything else interesting in this castle?"
"Besides the amazing view from any random point outside? Not a one." Glyde answered, grinning. "There are our private rooms, which I'm guessing are pretty unusual to the people who don't sleep in them, but I wouldn't try and go in one other than your own."
"Quite sound advice, Glyde. In fact, I believe that's the only thing intelligent I've heard you say so far.."
The Digimon Emperor blinked at the sight of someone his own height. "Who are you?"
0X0X0
Through much effort on their part, the group managed to push the oversized turtle up through the dungeon entrance. Though slightly cut from the spikes on his shell, and more than a little off-balanced from his many attempts to walk on his own (the resulting trips shaking the entire dungeon,) Yoh had to grin; it was easier, and more amusing, than Anna's demands would have been. "So, Bowser...what exactly did you do in your world, anyway? Kaiba's explanation was a bit vague, but we were all exhausted then, anyway.."
"Me?" The large one asked in an obviously fake expression of modest surprise. "Well... I was the King of all Koopas! Tyrant of all Turtles! Sovereign of all Shell-bearers!"
"Arranger of Annoying Aliteration?" Kaiba asked blandly.
"Hey, don't diss aliteration; it used to be big! Anyway, I had the average obligations of your basic ruler... management of state affairs, upholding of the law, making said laws, attempting to take over the adjacent kingdom, etc."
"Er, are ya sure about the last one?" Joey asked, disbelieving. "No offense, but it doesn't seem like an army of turtles would be a good invasion force-"
"HEY! Do YOUR ships have the strength to sail on lava... while they're made out of WOOD?"
"Er...no."
"So shut up! The Koopa invasion force is legendary for its tenacity and resilience! Our only problems were a race of annoying, all-consuming dinosaurs called Yoshis, and those two infernal plumbers; my eternal nemesis, Mario, and his brother... the green guy... Mr. Green, or something. I never could remember his name..."
"I remember meeting Mario at that conference. " Kaiba said, thinking back. "You couldn't have asked for a less assuming hero... but he was on par to our king as a fighter, from what I saw. It was amazing... on that note, did you attack because of the meeting, or-"
"Meeting? There was a meeting that day?" Bowser asked, confused. "Feh, well, whatever. No. I attacked because it had been roughly a week since the last time I kidnapped the princess! A WEEK! I couldn't let the Mushroom Kingdom think I was losing my edge!"
"So, in essence, this man named Mario defeats your entire army every week?" Amidamaru asked, slightly annoyed. "Who trains them, anyway?"
"A question I ask myself every day, humanoid Boo guy. And when I find them, they're dead."
Amidamaru clenched his teeth. "For the last time... I am not a 'Boo' of any sort, whatever one is."
Yoh chuckled. "Don't get too mad, Amidamaru. Since he can see you, he's probably a pretty decent guy deep down."
"Decent? How dare you!" Bowser roared, getting to his feet and wincing again. "I'm as bad as they come! I burn down trees and sell the ashes as counterfeit pavement! I pay my troops in...well... nothing, really. I'm not decent at all!"
At this, he fell again, and the other four had to jump out of the way to avoid being flattened. "Erk, stupid leg..."
As the dust cleared, they moved to help push him again, Kaiba starting to call the BEWGS on a wristwatch he had pulled out of nowhere. "It's been circling this world, so it'll take a few minutes to get back here..."
The area immediately darkened, followed swiftly by a loud clap of thunder. Joey groaned. "You just had to say it, didn't ya?"
Dozens of purple flashes called Powerwilds, Soldiers, Green Requiems and Shadows around them. Kite dashed forward leaping into the air, actually jumping on top of the flying, bell-shaped creatures, slamming them to ground. Joey moved to finish them off, but had to jump to avoid a burst of flame. He turned to its source to see Bowser smirking. "Hey, who says I can't help?"
A leaping Shadow bumped into his leg, and the Koopa fell in pain. On top of a half-dozen Soldiers. Kaiba stared as the creatures vanished in their purple flashes of death, then cast a Blizzaga on a trio of Shadows. "Pretty impressive, for a turtle."
Kite and Yoh ran around the field, slashing Heartless with every step. Joey finished the last Green Requiem off with another boomerang-like shield toss. "Man, these things are annoying. They go down pretty quick, but there's way too many of em..."
The second set arrived. Four Large Bodies and three Powerwilds. Yoh fused with Amidamaru, and sent a large Celestial Slash across the field, wiping out the monkeys and sending the other four spiralling into the air. Kite pulled a sutra with green inking from his bag, throwing it toward the spot where the Bodies landed... and two incredibly big TREES appeared in midair, before pummeling the creatures out of existance, and disappearing.
"...well, that's all the proof I need that this world is a game." Kaiba muttered silently. "Even in Duel Monsters, trees don't act like that."
However, as the group prepared for a third set, something strange happened... the Field around them vanished, briefly replaced by pure static...and then reappeared as a large plateau, with an odd, orange sky. Kite's eyes widened as he looked around, fear evidant on his face. "This is... this the place where we fought the Phases!"
"The what?" Yoh asked, worried as he looked around, Keyblade ready.
"There were these eight creatures called Phases... it's hard to explain right now, but get ready; we might not be able to handle what shows up-"
On cue, it appeared. A vaguely human-shaped beast, with grey, abnormal flesh, faceless, taller even than Bowser. The Heartless insignia was emblazed on it's bare chest, as well as the large, red staff it held in its hands.
Kite didn't seem afraid anymore, come to think of it... now, he looked furious. "Skeith..."
And then, it moved. So fast it left images of itself behind it, coming behind them before they could turn. Yoh felt pain flood through him as the staff conected with his back, and he was suddenly flung into the air, all the way to the battlefield's other side.
Joey flung his shield... which bounced off of the creature named Skeith swirling like a frisbee into the void. He tried to grab a card from his pocket, but the staff struck before he could summon whatever he had grabbed.
Kaiba ducked to avoid his partner's flight path, then summoned a Blue Eyes, which caught Skeith off guard with a blast of White Lightning. Noting how the only effect it had was that it was pushing the monster back, Kaiba raced to his two partners, performing a Curaga. "Well, any bright ideas?"
"If I had any, they're halfway back to Traverse Town..." Joey muttered, rubbing his head. Yoh drowsily looked to the battle across the area; Kite was somehow blocking the staff with his knives, dodging whenever possible, sometimes even leaping onto the beast's shoulders to cut into its flesh, though it didn't seem to injure the creature at all. 'Strange...even that giant black thing felt pain when I struck it with that sword in my dream.. though, granted, in a dream I could-'
He blinked as he realized his own thoughts. 'Sword? Waitasec... I remember choosing the shield! But... when I fought the monsters, I was holding some kind of sword... but I also remember holding a shield...how is that possible?'
00 Flashback 00
"Yoh-dono, you may not remember my name, but I am still your blade to wield."
"Play this song whenever you do so, as an offering to those worlds that could not be saved the same way... and your shamanic potentials shall be further unlocked. In this case, you can now summon your Furyoku."
"I'll explain the details when it's neccessary, but it's much more powerful than our integration..in fact, our integration is a cheap parlor trick by comparison. It's the true method of shaman battles..."
00 End Flashback 00
'Waitasec... my blade to wield... could it mean?' "Amidamaru, how do I use my Furyoku?"
Though he appeared to be stunned, the spirit grinned. "You must put my spirit inside of something that represents me, in this case, a blade, instead of your own body. This will draw out your own power, creating an Oversoul, which will be much more powerful than Spirit Unity!"
"Got it!" Yoh said. "Spirit Form!"
As usual, Amidamaru appeared as a head-shaped ball of fire in his hands, but this time, he slammed it into his weapon instead of his chest. "Into the Keyblade!"
The Keybearer felt a pull in his chest for an instant, and then a blinding light erupted around him. When it passed, the Keyblade was suddenly covered in a glowing, bluish light, with a larger version of Amidamaru's spirit ball form around his head, complete with the red armguards...combined, so that they formed a shield. "A shield and sword combined..."
"LOOK OUT!" Kite's voice shouted from the sidelines. Yoh looked to see the grotesque creature racing toward him. Unprepared, Yoh started to leap, knowing another strike would send him into the strange void at the edge of this area...realizing he wasn't fast enough-
And a sound erupted through the world around them. The sound of something smashing into something incredibly solid, and breaking is, causing an almighty crunch. Bowser's eyes were shut hard as he fell to the ground from where he had leapt in front of Yoh.
For a few seconds, even Skeith appeared to be startled... then...
"GRAND HALO BLADE!" The next thing Yoh knew, as the anger he had summoned began to fade, he was standing in the space behind Skeith, with Kite staring at him, his face pale. And, with an eerie, echoing groan, the monster split in two, and vanished into thin air. As his Oversoul faded,the ground in front of him changed, revealing the shape of a keyhole. Yoh dimly pointed the Keyblade at it, launching a beam of light to lock the Keyhole... then, remembering Sheik's words, pulled out the Ocarina.
As soon as the six basic notes of the Song of Time had been played, he ran towards the spot where his newest friend lay, unconscious and bleeding, with Kaiba casting a contant stream of Curagas. "We have to help him! Kite, is there anything you can do?"
The Twin Blade turned away, releasing a pained sigh. "I've been trying to heal him since I found him.. The World's items can't help." His voice was shaky and straned, like he was about to cry, though his face seemed to be merely sad. Then again, this face was a program, only able to express itself so far...
"Curaga! Curaga! Cura-" Kaiba fell to his knees, struggling to breath. "Darnit... I can't..."
"I can help him." A new voice stated, causing them all to turn, weapons bared. For the second time, Sheik stood before them, unstartled at the fact they almost attacked him. "I cannot save his life, but I help him remain with you, so he can help you in anyway possible."
"What are you talking about?" Joey asked, sounding slightly angry. "How can he do that? You just said you can't stop him from dying..."
"Yoh." Sheik said, staring the young shaman in the eyes. "I had hoped to teach you this song another day, because I knew it would be neccessary... play these notes. This song helps the tormented spirits of the dead and near-dead...those with painful pasts, with grudges, or with the pure passion to continue existing... it heals their pains, and allows them to pass on... but still leave their mark on the world. This is the Song of Healing."
The harp played another three notes, and then repeated them, and Yoh did the same. This song was eerie, desperate... yet it had the same strange allure of the Song of Time...
There was another flash of light, this one a bright bronze... and Bowser dissapeared. What remained was what appeared to be a miniature version of his shell, just small enough to be a shield. Joey picked it up, noting it was surprisingly light. "Wow... we hardly knew the guy, but he gave his life to help us... so he bacame a shield..."
"Like heck I did!" Bowser's voice shouted loudly. The four heroes jumped back, looking wildly around (although Joey's was more panic-filled.) Bowser was standing in front of them, now only slightly taller than Kaiba... and transparent. "Yeesh... these guys wanna save the world? If they'd replace Mario, I'd be ruling the Mushroom Kingdom by nightfall!"
"Like I said, this song ALLOWS people to pass on, and leave their tormented forms... but when they actually leave is up to them. As a spirit, I believe Bowser would be much more helpful to you all... and transportable."
"Wouldja warn us before doing that, then?" Joey exclaimed, face red. "Man, I'm gonna have a heart attack before this is over..."
"Like I said before, with each Keyhole sealed, your shamanic potentials are increased." Sheik continued, ignoring Joey. "Yoh, although you cannot bring out your ultimate Oversoul without a certain item, your Furyoku from your previous life has returned in full. You can safely use your Oversoul without worry of running out, though I would still train to be able to use more Furyoku in a single Oversoul... you can always get stronger; remember that well."
"Thank you, Sheik!" Yoh said, grinning as he bowed in respect. "For both Bowser and this power!"
"The power came last time, actually." Sheik admitted, causing Yoh to tilt his head in confusion. "The first time you sealed a world, your potential was unlocked. This time, however, another among your group has had his abilities as a Shaman unlocked. He will come to realize it when it is needed, just as you did mere moments ago."
Kaiba and Joey glanced at each other, and then to their own hands. Obviously, neither of them had expected this, and neither felt any different, either.
"Until next time, Yoh Asakura... keep your heart strong, and your feelings controlled. Though rage can strengthen your Oversoul, it weakens your focus... and there is another form of power within you, one that will be more fully unlocked when you seal a fourth world... " Sheik said, before throwing something on the ground and vanishing in another flash.
XXXXX
In the dimly lit room, another meeting commenced. This time, only three were there to discuss the transpiring events, but the tension and malice remained.
"What lead the Heartless to that strange world?" The old man, asked, puzzled. "It seems odd they would cling to worlds of data so frequently..."
"The Heartless are attracted by negative emotions...fear, rage, hatred..." The apparant leader said, hidden once again in the shadows. "Small pieces of a massive entity are scattered throughout that dimension, an entity whose sole purpose was to die...and fought to survive through betrayal and cowardice."
"Regardless, things are now more complicated than before. Two worlds have been sealed from us; large worlds where the Heartless could have thrived before devouring the hearts." Yggdrasill informed, his glowing wings identifying him.
"Yes, that is true... but it doesn't matter." The leader smirked. "For our ultimate goal will connect us to the hearts of every world... and we almost have all the 'keys' neccessary. Speaking of which.."
From the other side of the room, near the door, someone nodded, before leaving through the massive doors, his destination unmentioned...
00000
"Bowser, I'm sorry I wasn't able to heal you, but I hope you do okay with these guys." Kite said apologetically to the spirit of his large friend. "Well, I mean...as okay as you can...since, well..."
"Quit while you're ahead, kid." Bowser said, laughing in a loud, semi-villianous way. "I have enough stammered apologies to deal with when my world comes back."
Yoh shook Kite's hand, his goofy smile still there. "Thanks for the help... but try and trust people a bit more. You'll wind up with less bumps on the head, that way."
"Thanks..." The thief-like fighter mumbled. "Meh, Balmung'll never let me live this down..."
Meanwhile, Joey was still concerned about the fact that he might have a new power, yet he didn't know how to use it. While Kaiba was, as well, he was more worried about the lack of supplies they currently had. "We need to head back to Traverse Town to stock up. While we're there I should probably try and get one of those new Warp-G Gummi blocks..."
"What?" Joey gasped, forgetting his other problem. "You didn't install a warp engine on that thing? That means we have to go all the way back the normal way!"
"I know that." Kaiba snarled. "But I couldn't figure out where to put the block, and still have the ship look like a Blue Eyes White-"
Before Joey could complete the lunging strike, his new shield's spike end in front, the three heroes and two spirits were warped to their ship.
00000
Next time: Musings of Power.
Chapter Posted: September 5th, 2005.