Kingdom Hearts: Warriors of Light
Shadow Showdown - Chapter 7
"I see it! There it is Ti-Day!" Kita said while guiding the Gummi Ship towards Halloween Town. There out in front of them was a dark, creepy looking world full of shadows and mist. There was no mistake this was certainly Halloween Town. Kita landed the Gummi Ship in a secluded area that was blocked off from the town by a huge gate. Leaving the Gummi Ship for the first time since leaving the Magic Kingdom, the atmosphere had certainly changed. Halloween Town was a cold, dark world. The only lights were coming from torches in the town square on the other side of the huge gate before Kita and Ti-Day.
"This place certainly is lovely," Ti-Day said looking around. When his wondering eyes finally found Kita, he realized she was wearing something new that reminded him of a bat costume. "Kita, you didn't tell me to bring a costume," he said feeling left out.
"What?" Kita asked, not having a clue what Ti-Day was talking about. "I didn't-. Hey, you did to bring a costume!" Kita was pointing to Ti-Day who was now wearing a red grim reaper outfit.
"Cool," Ti-Day said, looking over his new décor. "And my hands are nothing but bone!"
"There must be something special about this world. We look like real residence now with clothes that aren't ours." Kita tried to reason. It was the best explanation to the sudden change of wardrobe. Kita didn't want to waist anymore time standing around, so she made her way to the gate that separated them from the town square. She looked through the gate to see an eerie square lit by a few torches. The sun had just gone down and it left the entire place in shadow. Old metal fences were surrounding the area with a fountain of glowing green liquid, but no soul was in sight. "Are you coming?" Kita said looking back at Ti-Day who was unbelievably still way too occupied with admiring his outfit.
"What? Oh sorry," Ti-Day said, caught off guard. "Pom-Pom, stay here and guard the ship." Ti-Day commanded grabbing his Magician Staff King Mickey had given him and catching up to Kita at the gate. "So… how do we get in?" Ti-Day asked.
Kita gave him a dumb founded look. "You mean to tell me you're a warlock and you don't have a solution?" Kita just fixed her eyes on Ti-Day's staff to see if he would catch on.
"Ahh, gotcha!" Ti-Day said. "Stand back Miss, for your own safety," he said motioning for Kita to move away. Ti-Day held up his staff and closed his eyes to concentrate hard on the gate. "Obliterate!" He shouted. In a mere second, the gate blew up into many pieces. Kita and Ti-Day stood frozen in their spots looking at the now empty spot where the gate used to be.
"Well… I think that was a bit much," Kita said sounding lost for words.
"Honestly, I meant to knock it over, not blow it up," Ti-Day said to defend himself. "Gosh, King Mickey wasn't kidding when he said this thing would make me four times stronger."
Kita slapped her hand to her forehead. "Come on, we gotta get out of here before someone finds-,"
"What happened to our gate?" a voice shouted from behind Kita.
"-us," Kita finished in absolute fear. She was too scared to turn around and see who was standing behind her.
"Umm, it was an accident," Ti-Day said with a nervous laugh.
"May I ask who you are?" the voice said again.
"Please don't hurt us," Kita said with a shaky voice, still unable to turn to face the voice. "We were sent by King Mickey."
"Is that so?" said the voice. "Looking for Ni-Ne Nite?"
This time Kita turned around. Standing there was a tall skeleton wearing a pinstriped suit. "How did you know?" Kita asked? Her fear slowly melting away feeling this skeleton had been expecting them.
"He said you were coming," said the skeleton. "I'm Jack, Jack Skellington, also known as the Pumpkin King." Jack took Kita's hand to shake it. "I'm glad you made it ok," he said with a smile on his boney face. "What are your names?"
"I'm Kita and this is Ti-Day," Kita introduced them. "I apologize on his behalf about the gate."
"It's alright. Come with me, I'll take you to the lab." Jack said motioning for Kita and Ti-Day to follow.
Kita and Ti-Day followed Jack. Halloween town was growing darker by the second. "Jack?" Kita started to ask. "Do you ever have any heartless here?"
"We have. But not recently," Jack explained. "Since Ni-Ne returned, they've stayed away."
"So she is here?" Ti-Day asked, just to make sure.
"Well yes, but where exactly, I don't know," Jack said unsurely. "She likes to hide."
"We need to speak with her though," Kita explained. "Any chance of finding her?"
"There I'm afraid you are on your own," Jack said. The three arrived at the lab where inside waited three little kids. They were dressed in Halloween costumes too, but not to the extent of Kita or Ti-Day's outfits. They seemed to be digging through a pile of candy on the floor fighting with each other over who got what. "Alright you three, that's enough!" Jack yelled trying to split up the fight.
"Well Jack, did you see what happened to the gate?" one of the kids said.
"Yes, yes. And I'm sorry I assumed it was you," Jack said sounding as though these were tough words to say. "Lock, Shock, Barrel. I'd like you to meet Kita and Ti-Day."
"Pleased to meet you," said the girl in a witch costume bowing to Ti-Day's feet. Kita had a feeling this one had a liking for Ti-Day. "And Jack, I am shocked you would think we would blow up your gate while in the same room as you."
"I know! I apologized already," Jack said sounding annoyed. "These three are the biggest trouble makers in town," Jack explained to Kita and Ti-Day. "You're probably wondering why I brought you to this lab."
"Sorta," Ti-Day said looking around at all the paper and books scattered all over the lab.
"Well ever since the day I found Ni-Ne, I've been trying to figure out how she came to be," Jack explained. "It proves to be an unsolvable mystery. I was wondering Kita if you know anything having been exposed to Ni-Ne's blood."
Kita was silent. How did Jack know about that? Had King Mickey told him? She wasn't expecting this trip to be a reason for her to have to venture down memory lane and remember what was best left forgotten. "It's not like I can explain it. I was a victim. I just ended up in that black abyss where so many are trapped right now." Kita looked up at the wall where a list was posted. It read 'How to make a heart.' The ingredients read: pulse, emotion, fear, hope and despair. Leaving the subject of Ni-Ne, Kita asked, "Is that really what a heart's made of?"
"Well according to my experiments. I've always felt like something must be missing because when I try to make a heart, it always backfires," Jack explained. "I guess I've just always seen those traits in Ni-Ne so I thought it best to keep the list. "She's a mystery all right. I wish I could figure out where she comes from. She's a heartless hybrid and a witch. I gave her a key blade so she could channel her powers into something useful."
"Is there any chance of us having a go at finding Ni-Ne anytime soon?" Kita asked feeling as though they were no closer to finding her then when they had stepped off the Gummi Ship.
"Oh, of course. You may go find her. But I must warn you to be careful," Jack said. "I don't know how she'll take to strangers, and her powers are stronger at night."
"I'm not so much a stranger any more," Kita said knowing once she had rescued Ni-Ne from her own father's grip. "Come on Ti-Day," Kita said, fully prepared to seek out Ni-Ne Nite.
"Good luck," Jack said just before they closed the lab door.
Kita and Ti-Day walked around Halloween Town. The entire world was dark and eerie. Everywhere they looked, there was no sign of Ni-Ne Nite. "It's a shame I didn't get to meet Ni-Ne back when we were looking for her at that ball," Ti-Day said. "Then I might just know what she even looks like."
"She's got brown hair and purple eyes," Kita explained. "So start looking harder. Though I wouldn't be surprised if she's the only other human here in Halloween town."
"But Jack said she was a heartless hybrid," Ti-Day mentioned. "How do you know she won't look like a heartless?"
"Do you honestly think Jack would have found her and cared for her all these years if she looked like the other heartless?" Kita asked. "She would have blended in with all the other ones."
"If you say so," Ti-Day said. "I just hope we find her soon cause I'm tired of walking already." Ti-Day didn't have to wait long for excitement to arrive as he and Kita stepped into a streambed and were suddenly under attack by a bunch of heartless that resembled mummies. Ti-Day started casting spell after spell knocking the heartless down one by one. Kita was jumping and spinning around in circles, slicing the heartless with her key blade. After a few minutes of intense combat, all the heartless were cleared out.
"Thank goodness that's over with," Kita said stepping out of the streambed, now a little less dry than before. The pair of warriors walked on until they reached a giant tree house of some sort that was standing in the middle of a huge circular clearing. "Is it possible she's here?" Kita asked.
"I don't know, but that is one sweet tree house," Ti-Day mentioned.
"May I help you?" a voice said from behind Ti-Day and Kita.
Kita turned around with high hopes that it was who she thought it was. There stood Ni-Ne Nite. She wore an expression of boredom and slight agitation. Her hair was messily flying around her head in the wind, and her light purple eyes were glowing in the moonlight. She wore a witch like costume with lots of patches. Kita started to feel a bit intimidated. She seemed so different here in Halloween town than she had back in Hallow Bastion. She definitely seemed stronger now that she was no prisoner, or was it because it was night?
"Ni-Ne?" Kita asked, without any need for an introduction.
Ni-Ne didn't reply. She merely stared at Kita and Ti-Day with an evil glare. Without warning she jumped up into a tree and out of reach. "You want me? Come and get me," she said as she started jumping from tree to tree towards the giant tree house.
"Hey! Come back!" Kita shouted taking off in a run after Ni-Ne, her key blade in hand. Ti-Day had little choice but to follow.
As he caught up with Kita he said, "She's pretty cute."
Kita almost tripped when she heard Ti-Day's words. "Ti-Day! Can we stay focused here?"
"Sorry," Ti-Day said with a laugh. Immediately he cast a spell that aloud him to take flight and catch up to Ni-Ne, where he then shoved into her and pushed her out of the tree. Ni-Ne fell hard to the ground out in front of Kita who was still running to catch up. Kita was right over top of Ni-Ne now as she stopped running. Kita when to grab Ni-Ne's arm and make sure she couldn't run off again when Ni-Ne lifted a key blade in her arms and swung hard with it. Kita stepped back and barely escaped having her arm whacked off.
"You're gonna have to do better than that," Ni-Ne said. "TIME!" she shouted and suddenly Kita was frozen in place. Ni-Ne made a run for it continuing on her way to the giant tree house.
Ti-Day landed back on the ground thinking that Ni-Ne was caught, but when he did, he only found Kita frozen stiff. "Come on now, we'll never get her if you stand around like this," Ti-Day said, not realizing Kita was under a spell. He grabbed Kita's hand and as he started to run after Ni-Ne, was knocked to the ground himself. "What's the big idea?" Ti-Day said thinking Kita had pulled him down on purpose. He got back to his feet and pushed Kita, but she didn't go anywhere. "Oh…" Ti-Day said, catching on. "Release!" he shouted, and suddenly Kita fell to the ground released from the Time spell.
Kita, having been frozen in one moment of time, hadn't realized anything that had happened. "Where's Ni-Ne?" she said, unsure of how she had gotten away.
"Come on!" Ti-Day said grabbing Kita's hand once more and guiding her in the right direction. Together they ran at full speed towards the giant tree house and eventually caught sight of Ni-Ne running up ahead. But as they got closer and closer, Ni-Ne made a sudden stop, planting her feet in place and raising her key blade high.
"Thunder!" She shouted.
"Uh oh," Ti-Day said. He stopped, still hanging on to Kita who was dragged to her feet. Ti-Day covered Kita and himself with his cloak, hoping with all hope it was thick enough to stop the lighting bolts that came raining down at them from the sky. It seemed to work as the shock waves passed without hurting Ti-Day or Kita.
"Thanks Ti-Day. I owe you one," Kita said getting up and charging after Ni-Ne who was a lot closer now than before. Kita's key blade was no good for casting magic spells, but physical attacks were its specialty. If only she could get close enough.
Ti-Day started up another flying spell in hopes to get ahead of Ni-Ne. It seemed to work. As he flew over her head he reached his Magician Staff down low and snagged the back of Ni-Ne's shirt. "Direct hit!" Ti-Day shouted now lifting the helpless Ni-Ne right off the ground. He started directing into the large clearing that surrounded the tree house. Kita followed sliding down a steep hill of dirt to meet them in the clearing.
"Did you think you're little plan was going to work?" Ni-Ne asked Ti-Day who was still carrying her by his staff. Ni-Ne shouted, "Time!" and Ti-Day froze in midair. Ni-Ne used the opportunity to swing herself off of the hook on the staff and landed on the ground just before Kita arrived.
"Let him go!" Kita shouted at Ni-Ne.
"You're gonna have to fight me for it," Ni-Ne said. "I know you can't do magic, so he'll just have to be stuck there unless you beat me."
"Oh I will," Kita said, now with a fury of fire raging through her. Kita made the first move without any thought and charged at Ni-Ne with her key blade held high.
"Fire!" Ni-Ne shouted. The blaze hit Kita right on, but thanks to her costume, she was protected from fire attacks and so charged on without flinching. When she was right up in Ni-Ne's face, the key blades collided.
There was no magic now. Kita and Ni-Ne were using their key blades like swords, swinging them around in the air trying to stab one another. "Stop this Ni-Ne! We didn't come to kidnap you," Kita started to reason through the fight.
"Why should I believe you?" Ni-Ne asked. "After what your father did to me, I don't know if anyone can be trusted."
"He tried to kill me! I'm fighting against him now," Kita said. She dodged Ni-Ne's key blade. "King Mickey needs you on our side!"
"I can't. I'm heartless," Ni-Ne pointed out. "King Mickey only wants to experiment on me like Ansem did! I'm not going!"
Kita was at full rage. A sudden burst of energy flooded through her. And somewhere in the back of her mind came two words. She didn't know what they meant, but she felt like she had to say them. "Ars Arcanum!" she screamed. Suddenly she was flying forward at Ni-Ne, her key blade charging like a bullet. It all happened so fast. She hit Ni-Ne once and in mid fall she hit her again and again and again, until she had hit her at least six times in a row. Ni-Ne fell to the ground breathing hard. Kita walked over to her and kept Ni-Ne down while holding the point of her key blade at Ni-Ne's neck. "How dare you assume we are all out to get you," Kita started to explain. "King Mickey is trying to help you. We are trying to help you, and this is how you repay us?"
Ni-Ne stayed on the ground. "What do you want?" she asked sounding really beat.
"Just come with me back to Jack's place and we're going to talk, got it?" Kita said trying to lay down some rules.
"Fine," Ni-Ne said, for the first time starting to sound defeated. Kita pulled back her key blade and instead reached out her hand to offer Ni-Ne some help getting up off the ground. At first Ni-Ne just stared at Kita. Finally she accepted the hand and got up off the ground. Kita and Ni-Ne started to walk out of the clearing, but before they got far, Ni-Ne snapped her fingers and there was a crash behind them.
"Ouch!" Ti-Day shouted as he hit the dirt.
"Oh yeah, thanks," Kita said, realizing she had completely forgotten about Ti-Day. As they walked on, and Ti-Day stumbled to catch up, complaining about how he had just missed what happened, Kita thought she saw a tiny innocent smile on Ni-Ne's face.