It seemed like an ordinary day, at least after Xaldin's defeat. Heatherfield was quiet for the moment, and Nick, the Guardians, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were all situated at Irma's house, though Nick and Irma were absent from the little grouping, those two having opted to position themselves in Irma's room to talk about something.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Will asked.
"I'll bet it's about their feelings," Sora replied, the Kingdom Key sitting perfectly still on the couch he was sitting on.
"You sure, Sora?" Cornelia asked.
"You saw them yesterday," Sora replied again. "It's so obvious that they love each other."
"Yeah. Like you and Kairi?" Hay Lin asked with a giggle.
"Yeah, like me and – HEY!" Sora shot back. Everyone present began to laugh.
Up in Irma's room, Nick and Irma were sitting close to each other on the bed.
"Nick, I know there's something you've been trying to tell me these past few weeks," Irma said. "You can tell me."
"I wish I could, Irma," Nick replied. "But every time I try, something bad has to happen! Especially now that we know Organization XIII is on the loose..."
"It's okay, Nick. You can do what you want," Irma replied. Nick took note that Irma wasn't acting at all like her usual self. She seemed a little more... what was the word he was looking for?
Romantic.
Suddenly, Nick found himself moving a little closer to Irma, who appeared to be doing the same.
As they drew closer and closer, Nick could feel his heart beating in his chest. Just as their lips were about to touch, a telepathic voice screamed across the room.
Nick! Can you hear me?
It was Elyon, Cornelia's best friend and current Queen of Meridian, sending out a distress signal to her friends.
"Darn it! See, this is what I--" All of a sudden, Irma placed her hands on Nick's shoulders, pulled him close to her, and kissed him. Keeping that position for a while, she eventually released their liplock.
"That better?" Irma asked, smiling brightly.
"Lots," Nick said before focusing on Elyon's call.
What's wrong, Elyon?
Some freak in a hood's taken me hostage! I need you and the Guardians to come to the Royal Palace immediately! Elyon's distraught voice responded.
"Freak in a hood?" Irma asked.
"It's gotta be Organization XIII!" Nick replied, the Oathkeeper and his new Keyblade (which he had aptly named Fatal Crest) materializing in his hands. After Irma materialized Mysterious Abyss, the lovers rushed downstairs.
"What's wrong?" Will asked upon seeing Nick and Irma rush in, holding their keyblades.
"Organization XIII is at it again."
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(Holding the power of the Keyblade is no small feat. It takes practice and a good deal of mystical energy. But what would happen if said mystical energy would turn to the dark side?)
S.P.D. Gold Ranger presents:
W.I.T.C.H. in: "K is for Keyblade"
Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure
Rating: T for some violence, 'moments' and a bit of harsh language
Summary: Nerissa, the Guardian's new enemy, has found and unearthed an ancient evil force, one that consumed Nick's old friend. What wicked plans does Nerissa have for the Dark Keyblade? Can the Guardians stop her and save their home from the darkness? Features Nick, my original character.
Today: Everyone heads to Meridian when a member of Organization XIII ransacks the palace, kidnapping Queen Elyon. What does this gambling freak have in store for the Light of Meridian?
W.I.T.C.H. is copyright SIP Animation and JETIX. Kingdom Hearts is copyright Disney, Square Enix, and Buena Vista Games. This story is copyright S.P.D. Gold Ranger, July 2006. This takes place during the animated series, even though the Knights of Vengeance I'm using for this story are from the comics.
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Chapter 4: "L is for Luxord"
Everyone had suited up and assembled outside Irma's doorway once Nick had relayed the news of Elyon's distress. Nick quickly created a portal to Meridian's royal palace, which all present quickly entered.
Upon arriving, the team noticed that everything around the castle perimeter – the sky, the flags that would usually be waving in the breeze, even the guards that patrolled the castle walls – was completely still.
"What the heck happened here?" Taranee asked. "Why is everything frozen?"
"Organization XIII," Nick simply replied.
"It's gotta be," Sora said as the team busted into the castle hallways, where gigantic playing cards were attacking almost anything that was moving, which at this point wasn't much.
"Which member of this Organization attacks with playing cards? Some poker freak who got his butt whipped at the last tournament and who's looking for revenge?" Irma asked, drawing on her unique ability to make a joke out of any situation.
"That would be me," a deep voice said. Nick was the first to pick up the source: another hooded man, this time one with very short blonde hair. He almost looked bald.
"You! Where is the Queen?" Nick exclaimed, brandishing Oathkeeper and Fatal Crest.
"Her Majesty is my prisoner, and I will only release her if you can survive my games," the mysterious man said.
"I don't have time for your damn riddles!" Nick exclaimed, getting ready to charge for the Organization member, but was quickly surrounded by a series of the man's gigantic cards. When he could see straight again, the entire palace – and his friends – were gone, and he was standing in a realm of complete nothingness with the mysterious man being the only other person around.
"Now just who are you?" Nick asked, swinging Oathkeeper.
"I am Luxord, the Organization's number X. They call me the Gambler of Fate," the mystery man replied.
"Okay then, Luxord, I'd rather we just skip the formalities," Nick replied. "What's your little game?"
"A battle of time. 20 minutes worth of the Sands of Time reside in these hourglasses," Luxord replied, and hourglass necklaces appeared around both Nick and Luxord's necks.
"The first to run out of time is the loser," Luxord continued.
"All right then, you're on!" Nick replied.
"Time start," Luxord commanded.
"Bring it," Nick challenged.
Nick: 20:00Luxord: 20:00
With that, Nick charged for Luxord, who put up a shield with his cards. Nick easily cut through the flimsy, yet sharp cards and began attacking Luxord. After a few hits, however, Nick felt a sharp pain in his chest that sent him crashing into a wall, which – surprise, surprise – was made up of Luxord's cards.
Nick: 19:30Luxord: 19:10
"Man, if you were a poker champion, you must be REALLY sore about that last defeat," Nick joked, checking his hourglass – only a few sands had run out of his, whereas Luxord's seemed to be emptying a little faster than his own.
"A joker, are you?" Luxord replied, holding up two more cards and flinging them towards Nick. He cut both down with Oathkeeper, and suddenly noticed that for each card he cut down, Luxord's hourglass seemed to empty a little faster, which Luxord didn't seem to notice. This gave Nick a devilishly clever idea. He got to his feet and began taunting Luxord.
Nick: 19:15Luxord: 18:50
"Come on, you poker washout! You call THAT card-playing?" Nick shouted, making Luxord fling some more cards, which soon joined the shredded remains of the others Nick had destroyed.
Nick: 19:07Luxord: 18:20
"My grandmother has better aim than you!" Nick continued taunting the Gambler of Fate, who promptly became enraged and threw at least 15 cards for Nick, which, like the others, were quickly and mercilessly cut down. Luxord had just lost about a quarter of his remaining time.
Nick: 18:52Luxord: 14:33
"Come on, mama's boy! I've seen better cards at the laundry register!" Nick shouted, but unfortunately, it seemed Luxord had finally caught on to Nick's little plan. The Gambler of Fate smiled fiendishly, and threw a bigger card straight for Nick.
"He makes this so easy," Nick said, preparing to cut down yet another card. But, suddenly, it disappeared. "What the —" Nick's sentence was cut short as the giant card he was about to attack slammed him in the back, promptly knocking him into the air. The attacking card came back for more, easily juggling Nick in the air as if he were a conductor's baton. When the assault ended, Nick fell to the ground and checked his hourglass.
Nick: 16:22
Luxord: 14:21
"Lucky shot," Nick said, getting to his feet. "It's not happening again."
Suddenly, Luxord surrounded himself with more cards. "A challenge, is it?" he said. "I dare you to pick one of the cards surrounding me."
"All right then," Nick said, slowly walking up to the revolving cards and thinking. After a short time, he tapped one of the cards with Oathkeeper, and it spun around to reveal Luxord. The cards disappeared and left Luxord stunned, giving Nick an opportunity to draw Fatal Crest and smack Luxord around with the dual Keyblades, ending in his "Cross Attack" finishing move. Nick stole a glance at Luxord's hourglass.
Nick: 15:54
Luxord: 09:37
"Looks like I'm going to win," Nick said.
"Don't squander your time!" Luxord exclaimed, once again surrounding himself with cards, this time throwing the cards at Nick before he could react. Nick jumped and dodged to the side to avoid the cards that were flying at him at incredible speeds. Nick was able to cut a few of them down, but he opted to simply dodge the faster ones.
"Look who's talking, Luxord!" Nick shouted, jumping onto the wall and running along it. "I'm 6 minutes ahead of you! There's no way you're going to win now!"
"Still quite the joker, I see," Luxord replied, flinging more cards from his seemingly unlimited supply towards Nick, but each card simply pierced a chunk of the wall, since Nick was moving too fast for Luxord to focus on him. After a while of this, Nick propelled himself off of the wall and aimed a powerful attack straight for Luxord, knocking the Gambler of Fate right into a nearby wall.
Nick: 13:09
Luxord: 06:54
"Okay, then. It's time I got serious," Luxord said, disappearing and littering the floor with dozens of his cards. After a short while, many of those cards began attacking Nick, cutting into his clothes and causing heavy damage and quickly depleting his remaining time.
Nick: 01:09Luxord: 05:27
After a while of this, Nick shouted "ENOUGH!" and began spinning rapidly, the Oathkeeper releasing a whirlwind energy slash that destroyed the majority of the cards that littered the floor. More cards materialized out of nowhere, but Nick, who was now showing no mercy, quickly cut them down.
Nick: 00:33Luxord: 01:33
Luxord reappeared, smiling brightly. "I have the advantage now," the Gambler of Fate said. Nick said nothing, charging straight for Luxord. He kept flinging enormous cards at Nick, but they quickly met their end as Nick slowly but surely drew closer to Luxord.
Nick: 00:15
Luxord: 00:30
"No! I cannot lose!" Luxord exclaimed, shielding himself with a giant card.
"Guess what? You just did," Nick retorted, Oathkeeper glowing brightly.
Nick: 00:03
Luxord: 00:07
Nick brought Oathkeeper back, and the second he reached Luxord, he struck, slicing through the card shield and literally cutting Luxord in half, though we don't see it.
Nick: 00:01
Luxord: 00:00
Luxord groaned. "Ugh... you... you play the game quite well..." was all Luxord said before disappearing in a swirl of darkness.
A few seconds later, Nick walked forward and picked up the only remaining evidence of Luxord's defeat: his cracked and empty hourglass.
"Okay. Now, how do I get out of here? Elyon may still be in trouble," Nick said, when Oathkeeper let out a sparkle, and a giant keyhole appeared far above him. Nick smiled.
"Of course," Nick said, holding Oathkeeper towards the keyhole and shooting a beam of light into it. The keyhole shined brightly, and once the light cleared, he was back in the hallway leading to Queen Elyon's quarters, surrounded by all of his friends.
"Nick! You're all right!" Irma exclaimed, rushing up and hugging Nick.
"What just happened?" Sora asked.
"Another member of Organization XIII has been pasted," Nick simply replied, holding up Luxord's hourglass. "Only 5 more to go."
"Indeed," a small female voice replied. Everyone turned to see Queen Elyon coming down the stairs, dressed in her ice-blue robe, the mark of a true queen.
"Your Majesty!" Nick exclaimed. "Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about little old me," Elyon responded. "I wonder why Luxord wanted me?"
"I have no idea," Sora replied, "but the good thing is that you're safe now, Your Majesty."
"So old Luxord finally fell. I'm glad. That guy is always hogging the spotlight," another mysterious voice replied.
"Let me guess," Nick replied. "You're another freak from Organization XIII?"
"Good guess," the voice replied, revealing himself to be a slightly old man with a scar on his face and a patch over his right eye. As with all Organization members, he was dressed completely in black robes, but this particular member held two uniquely shaped guns.
"The name's Xigbar, the Freeshooter," the man replied.
Nick materialized Oathkeeper and Fatal Crest, while everyone else that had a Keyblade did the same.
"Whoa, whoa, I'm not here to fight you just yet," Xigbar replied. "This is just a warning – your final warning, actually. Tell Roxas over here," motioning to Sora, "that if he doesn't comply with the Organization's demands, we'll be forced to destroy him."
"For the last time, my name is Sora!" Sora shouted.
"Next time we meet, it won't be pretty, dude," Xigbar shot back before disappearing in a column of darkness.
A few seconds of silence ensued after Xigbar vanished.
"Okay, is it me, or do these freaks from Organization XIII keep getting stranger and stranger?" Nick asked.
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Next time:
Chapter 5: "N is for Nerissa"
After a few days, things seem to be quieting down, until Nerissa and the Knights of Vengeance wage a full-out attack on the Meridian Plains. Can Nick, Sora, and their friends stop this invasion before it's too late?
'Till next,
S.P.D. Gold Ranger