KINGDOM HEARTS

PARADOX'S DISSONANCE

CHAPTER 2

TRAVERSING ADVERSITY

"This is definitely an interesting turn of events." The figure spoke, standing on top of a chapel during the late hours of Destiny Island. "I have to admit, I couldn't have done it better myself." Nagi smiled impishly, gazing over the neon lights of the city in the distance-- somewhat admiring the darkness. Those 'Heartless' were indeed intriguing beings. "I love this place."

"Enjoy this world while you can, boy." A ominous presence loomed behind him, highly sinister. "Rest assured, this place may cease to exist in due time."

"Ah, they're that bad, huh?" Nagi wondered. "That's something one can expect from you, Maleficent."

With a dark cackle escaping her, the malignant sorceress appeared. There was much to fear about her, with her vile face and the foul air about her. Her form was a complete blanket of shadows, unsure if it is her true form or merely a robe of darkness. She had the glare of a demon and she looks like a very denizen of hell itself. "Quit yammering, boy. I want to know have you met the wretched boy."

"Oh, that's right." Nagi fisted his palm. "You mean Sora, right? What's so special about him?"

Maleficent burst out in cruel, mocking laughter. "Why, how could you hadn't recognized him, boy? He's the fabled 'Key of Destiny'. Haven't you been paying attention at all?"

"Sorry. I'm kinda new to all of this, Maleficent." Nagi recalled.

"Humph. There is much for you to learn." Maleficent remarked with a wave of your arm. "Allow me to educate you." The night skies were slowing becoming filled with storm clouds, meaning another irregular storm was imminent. "That boy couldn't have gone far. I may need you to scout out for him."

"As you wish." Nagi bowed mockingly. "But I must ask, what if I was to encounter any of the maidens? If there are any of them still in existence?"

Maleficent narrowed her eyes, spooking Nagi a bit. "The infants from your world? Don't make me laugh, boy. They are merely insects underneath my feet. I can discard them with a mere breath." She tapped her long chin and grinned with a thought. "Let them join in our little game if they wish. The more players there are-- the more fun for me."

"Right. As they say, 'The more, the merrier'." Nagi laughed, giving Maleficent the middle finger-- err, I mean, the thumbs up.

"Ugh. Just leave." Maleficent waved off and disappeared into the darkness. Her voice echoed in the air, "Bothersome cretin..."

Nagi chuckled darkly to himself. "Well ladies, it looks like the difficulty of this game has turned up a notch hasn't it? I'm not even sure that they will be prepared for things to come."

KINGDOM HEARTS

"So, you're saying Sora's on a journey Ms. Branford?" Shizuru queried the older woman, a sheet draped around her shoulders and sipping hot tea. She still couldn't believe that she shed a tear or two when Sora was seeming pulled into oblivion. "Is he going to be okay? I honestly thought that he was lost forever back at the cave."

Terra sat at the terrace of the Viola estate, seemingly ambivalent. "Yes, that's right." She confirmed. "He was destined to do this. But I'm beginning to worry for him." That statement startled Shizuru. "He may be the chosen one, but he seems inadequate for the journey ahead of him. Sora's a bit too young..."

Shizuru's expression grew concerned. "Those beings... they're horrible. Are you sure he can prevail over countless armies of them?"

"Ah... we shall see." Terra sighed. "I have faith in him."

"The Heartless... I've seen them before." Shizuru revealed. "They raided my home unexpectedly. Researchers there thought that they were a mere phenomena, but they were wrong. They hailed from the darkness and completely reduced our world to nonexistence in a matter of days."

"So you've encountered them before." Terra noted. "I'm terribly sorry for what happened to your world. I see now that I'm not the only one that took refuge in this world. The Heartless devour my abode as well. Fortunately, there will be a time of reckoning."

Shizuru's eyes widened. "You're from another world, too?"

There was a ghost of a smirk on Terra's face. "I guess the universe isn't that big after all."

Shizuru, admittedly, had to giggle about the pun. "Destiny Island: The Foster Home for Aliens."

Terra regained the issue. "Speaking of aliens, if Sora has obtained that weapon by now the Heartless will be pursuing him relentlessly-- marching their way to their doom like moths to a flame. This may very well be good news for us."

"Hmm... what do you mean, Ms. Terra? What is this weapon that you speak of?"

"The Heartless fear it-- they are so afraid of it that they would desperately pursue the person that wields it." Terra revealed to her, brandishing a mysterious weapon out of nowhere. "I was supposed to confront them, and rid the cosmos of them as well, but I was afraid..."

Shizuru surveyed the strange, key-shaped 'sword'. "That's the weapon that you used against them in the cave. You saved me from them, but how could you wield it if Sora's fated to use it?" She nodded in confusion. "I'm afraid that I'm bewildered now."

Terra gazed at the KeyBlade in her grasp, her face full of worry. "Even I don't know that. The KeyBlade is just as mysterious to me now as to when I first obtained it. One thing I learned was that once I wielded it, the fate of many worlds were upon my shoulders... and I..."

"Ms. Terra?..."

She rested a hand over her chest. "I was scared of it... deathly. I couldn't bear such a burden."

Shizuru tilted her head to the left, studying the KeyBlade in wonder. "The KeyBlade..."

Sora's homeroom teacher gazed at the dark skies, the clouds slowly recollecting themselves. "Lets just hope that Sora can defend the world better than I could. There is much for him to learn."

KINGDOM HEARTS

"The King's letter said that the Key should be around here by now." A mallard groused rather impatiently. "Darn it! We've been here for hours and there is still no sign of him."

"Gawrsh. Maybe we should search for the Key a bit harder once we leave the cafe," A strange man-dog being suggested. "The King wouldn't want us to be givin' up on our mission, Donald. This is a pretty big place but I believe we can pull it off."

"This is turning to be one big wild goose chase!" Donald nodded. "And if that weren't bad enough, the King suddenly left the castle without telling any of us where he is heading."

"It looks like all we can do is to trust the King on this," said Goofy. "There's bound t'be a reason why he's on a quest."

Donald, frankly, didn't really care. He was just ready to find this 'key' that the king mentioned in his letter to them and get this ordeal over with. The duck was in a foul mood for so long his cup of coffee had gotten cold. "Oh waitress!" He hollered across the cafe, earning questionable glares from the other costumers. "More coffee!"

"Hmm... and we can't forget about that Leon feller, either." Goofy reminded.

"Yeah... yeah. We find Leon and then the Key, I get it." Donald responded in a bored voice. One of the cafe's waitresses finally approached him with a pot of coffee. "Oh, thanks ma'am."

"No problem." The waitress, a rather mischievous looking woman with red hair, replied. She began pouring coffee into the mug but something unexpected happened: she accidentally spilled some of the coffee on Donald, alarming the temperamental duck. "Ah! I'm sorry!"

"Hey, what are you trying to do?" Donald squawked indignantly. "You're roasting my feathers, lady!"

"I'm so sorry!" The redhead exclaimed apologetically. "I'll get you cleaned up right away!" She went on a frantic search for a damp cloth.

"Yeah." Goofy agreed. "Maybe I should help out a bit." He grabbed some napkins from the table and tried to lend a hand and he ended up repeating history. While Goofy's intentions were noble he too spilled hot coffee on Donald when he knocked over the coffee mug by accident. This irked and scorched the poor duck more. "Oops! Did I do that?"

"AAAHH!"

While that little commotion between the Donald, Goofy and the redhead waitress was going on, a regular customer entered the cafe. On many quiet nights he enjoyed dining here in this district of Traverse Town. The cafe was an ideal place for him to cogitate over recent events and to enjoy a good meal. However, tonight there was something 'irregular' going on at the cafe. He noticed that a waitress was trying her best to help a customer with a problem but she was failing miserably. It was evident with all the screaming coming from the said customer.

"What in the heck is going on here?" He wondered aloud.

A girl just so happens to overhear him. "Oh it's nothing, Leon." She answered with a hint of laughter in her voice. "It's just Midori working night shift again."

Leon nodded, half understanding her. "Oh-kay... but it sounds like a riot is going on in here." He pointed out, looking at the duck in blue that's currently going through a mad fit of rage. "Let's just hope that she doesn't get a headache from dealing with him."

"Just ignore him," the girl said. "He'll live."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that." Leon nodded, but somehow the said duck seems familiar to him.

Donald stared angrily at the coffee stain on his shoulder. "Oh great. How am I suppose to get rid of this?"

"Well... maybe you could machine wash it cold," Midori suggested. "Then you should tumble dry it."

"Well that sounds like a plan to me." Goofy chuckled. "But, umm, could you use your magic to remove the coffee stain from your shirt?"

Donald went into alarm with an idea. "Hey! Why didn't I think of that?"

Midori's face brightened at the revelation. "Eh? You're a magician or something? I should have known from looking at your odd clothes." She grabbed his cap off of his head. "Say, how about demonstrating a magic trick for us?"

"Hey, I don't do this for show, lady." Donald retorted as he took his cap back from her. "On second thought, maybe I can turn you into a kitten, or an infant." He suggested, tiny red horns appearing on his head as he grinned evilly. "Wouldn't you like that, missy? Heh heh heh."

"What?" Midori rose a brow. "I think I'll pass."

"That wasn't nice, Donald." Goofy chided.

"Yeah, your friend here is right," Midori agreed with her hands on her hips. "You're being a meanie. You know what they say, 'What comes around, goes around'. Karma could one day come back around and bite you on your fluffy--."

"Donald. Goofy." Leon approached their table. "I thought it was you."

"Hey! We were just looking for you." Goofy said with a guffaw. "There seems to be a little situation going on and King Mickey suggested that we should look for you."

The seemingly taciturn man's interests were piqued, "What's up?"

Goofy thought about where he should begin. "Hmm, for starters; do you know anything about this Key feller? If you do then that mean we're going to have a pretty good card in our deck."

"The Key..." Leon paused. Then a smirk appeared on his face. "It's about time."

Midori was still curious about Donald's profession. "Hey, mind if I check out that magic wand of yours? I think sorcery is cool."

"No!" The mallard magician retorted.

Midori pouted cutely. "Meanie."

KINGDOM HEARTS

"Ugh..." Sora groaned as he propped himself from the pavement. "What now?" He looks around his surroundings and discovered that he was no longer in that strange realm called the 'Altar of Awakening'. Instead of terrible darkness, he noticed many towering building that were embellished with neon lights underneath the gaze of a cloudless night with many stars in the skies. What is this place? Could it be that I'm actually in another world? What is going on?

He notices the KeyBlade laying right beside him and he began to recall recent events. Oh right. I was at that creepy dimension and I got this funny looking weapon. Well, it did get me out of a pinch. I took down a whole gang of those shadow monsters with this thing. He grasped the KeyBlade and examined it closely. Then there was that huge monster with the tentacles-- but I laid the smackdown to him too!

After confronting the huge creature, he was back at Destiny Island-- but it was not the Destiny Island that he remembered. From what he can tell, the place seemed empty... it seemed as though that his home had lost it's essence. Even his long time pals were weird as they were asking him strange and irrelevant questions. What was the strangest of all was when he saw Kairi in the old alcove at the beach. But when she turned to face him, Sora was horrified by the look of her. "Scary... Kairi looked like she was about to die from sickness." He thought.

Then there was that creep in the cloak...

"Woof! Woof!"

He registered the sound behind him and turned around and saw the most peculiar dog. "What the? You're one of the most interesting dogs I have ever seen." He noticed that he had a name tag. "Pluto, huh?" He patted Pluto on his head. He stomach was growling. "Maybe you're as hungry as I am." His stomach began growling as if it were trying to communicate with him. "Man... a huge pepperoni pizza with extra cheese sounds good right about now."

Pluto's face lit up and there was an aberrantly huge smile on his face. "Woof!"

Sora nodded his head. "Right. Could you lead me to a place where I can get some grub at, boy?" A map of this place would be nice too, Sora thought.

"Woof! Woof!" The friendly dog seemed to obey him and he took off in the opposite direction. "Woof! Woof!" He vanished from Sora's sight as he ran around a corner of a building.

"Hey Pluto, wait for me!" He sprinted after the dog, nearly forgetting about his KeyBlade in the process. Pluto was still quite a way ahead of him. "Man you're way too fast for your own good!" He exclaimed but that wasn't really helping anything. When he approached a dark neighborhood lined with apartment houses, a assembly of Heartless appeared before him. "What the! You guys wanna piece of me?" Sora challenged. "You creeps picked the wrong time to bother me. Who knows what kind of harm I'm capable of when I'm fighting on an empty stomach."

The Heartless paused in their advance for a moment and they seemed to consider what Sora said. After a split second, the group charged at him. They were scuttling ominously towards him and they were ready to take him on. "None of you can take a hint." Sora grasped the KeyBlade tight in his hands. "Oh well."

An unfortunate Heartless had the gall to try to jump the gun, thus being the first victim to the KeyBlade. With a robust swing of the blade, Sora knocked the shadow creature away and it slammed into a parked minivan with a violent thud which made it's alarm go off. "Back off! Unless you want to be the next to be a homerun hit."

The Heartless didn't care. They just hoped that they could snatch out his heart and make him join in the ranks of the fallen. They continued to attack him relentlessly-- hissing and clawing with everything that they were made of. Sora knocked a number of them away from him and they crashed into poles, car, and street hydrants. One of them was even shish kabob as Sora drove the KeyBlade right through it-- impaling it.

He was faring well against them, but he knew that he couldn't keep it up for long. Not when he was growing weaker and weaker from hunger. What made the situation even worse, they seemed to multiply when he thought that he gotten rid of the creatures. Sora groaned at this realization as well as his stomach in hunger. "Man, you guys just don't wanna quit," he grunted. "Gimme a break."

Unknown to him, a rather clever Heartless was behind him, well hidden. It stood on top of someone's motorbike and it was awaiting a good opportunity for Sora to leave himself open. Sora vanquished three heartless simultaneously when he performed a spin slash on them. Then he struck the pavement with the weapon which produced a shockwave that battered even more shadow creatures. That hidden Heartless could clearly see that Sora was growing more tired by the second. "Let's just hope that was the last of them... at least for now." Sora said to himself, wiping his forehead of sweat. "Now I got to try and find that dog again."

He let his guard down and he was no longer tense. At the moment of truth, the heartless sprang into action. "Hey! What the?"

The pitch black monster was latched onto his chest like a boa constrictor. It seemed to hiss in victory when Sora realized that he was mostly immobilized. Aw man! It's that trick again, Sora though in frustration. That creature was trying to drained out his heart-- just like the very first Heartless he had encountered by at Shizuru's place. "Let me go!"

With as much strength as he could muster, he finally managed to break the Heartless' grip. The monster rolled across the pavement in pain and collided against the parked motorcycle it was using as a hiding spot earlier. "Oh no you don't!" He didn't want to give it any opportunity to recover. "I'm putting an end to you, right now!" He charged at the monster and swiped down at the Heartless-- right along with the motorcycle! He cut the bike in half by accident!

"Oops!" He realized the damage he had done. He looks around the street and searches for any signs of damage. He gasped as he now noticed that he also lobbed off the top of a fire hydrant in his skirmish. There was also a downed light poles and some of the vehicles now had dents on them. He could see that some of the resident on this street was waking up as well... the several lights coming on in many apartments was the indication. Man, it's time to get out of here.

When he was about to haul tail, he heard someone say, "What is going on out here?"

Sora gritted his teeth at the sound of the sleep laden voice. Aw man! Busted! He was compelled to look towards the owner of the voice and he soon find himself nearly loosing his. At the entrance to one of the homes was a dashing young woman dressed in a white tank top and sweats. She was pretty, having long raven tresses that dips past her hips. Her hair was styled bang-less and it put emphasis on her cute forehead... but it was hard to tell the shape of her eyes because they were narrow with sleep. He could tell, however, that her eyes were a jade green. "Could you please keep it down, please?" Her voice was tomboyish, but dulcet. "Try to sell dope a little more quietly, okay? I gotta head to work in three hours and I really need this sleep."

Sora blushed-- but it was not from the girl's pulchritude. Did she just called me a dope boy? "Uh... sorry about that," he excused, "I was just leaving. I'll be on my way..." He backs away nervously. He understood that the girl could be angry for having to wake up in the middle of the night to some noise on the streets. Another thing about her was the fact that she seems familiar to him. Maybe he had seen her before. "Have a good night."

Sora's fate was sealed when he stepped on a broken rear view mirror that belong to a now decapitated motorcycle. CRACK!

This dark haired girl didn't miss the sound either. "What was that?"

"Oh this?" Sora looked down on the ground and picked up the ruined mirror. "Somebody's unlucky. This is a rearview to a motorcycle."

"Hmm..." She squinted her eyes to catch a good view of the object in Sora's hand. "That's too bad. I bet the owner's going to be pissed." Then she yawned. "Oh well. Run along now. I need my sleep." Just as she was about to return to her apartment a expression of realization crossed her features. "What in the world-- Hey! That rearview didn't just so happen to belong to a parked bike in this neighborhood, wouldn't it?"

"Um... yeah." Sora recalls reluctantly. "I believe it was the only one in the neighborhood."

"What?" The girl was clearly awake now and she gazes over in the direction the spiky haired boy was pointing to. "Ah! My bike!" She screamed in fury. "What happened to my bike?" She leaped off the stairs and ran towards her demolished vehicle as if it were an injured child.

Sora was surprised. The girl just didn't seem to be the biker type to him. "Really? Was it yours?" He asked her.

"Of course it is!" The girl seethed. "I wouldn't be nearly driven to tears if it weren't, would I? Kid, do you know who've done this to my baby?"

Sora scratched the back of his head in nervousness. "Well... technically I kinda smashed it," he admitted. "I'm terribly sorry. Will you please forgive me?"

She stared at the boy in utter disbelief. "You? It was you who've done this?"

Sora couldn't even reply to her. The guilty look on his face said it all.

The girl groaned and slowly approached him. She stood a bit over an inch taller than Sora. "Listen you..." She tried a little breathing technique that could help her calm down but that didn't seem to be helping. "You have five seconds to haul off all that you worth and get out of my sight."

She issued an ultimatum, he has an excuse. "But it wasn't my fault!"

"One..." As she began counting, a silver handgun materialized in her hands seemingly out of nowhere. "Two..."

"You know, I think I should take your work and leave right about now. Bye!" He turned on his heels and blasts off in a frenzied sprint. In his mad dash, he even dropped the rearview mirror and it smashed into pieces when it hit the pavement.

"Ah!" The girl gasped and she knelt towards the crumpled pile of metal. "This is not happening!" She shot her glare back at the retreating form of the terrified boy. "Why you! Come back here! You got hell to pay for crashing my bike!"

"No! I'm not going to take that chance!" Sora yelled back, sprinting like a gazelle. He took a turn in a dark and narrow alley, hoping that he could escape her. Just when was about to lose her-- big surprise! Another group of Heartless appeared. "Aw man! This is the worst possible time for you guys to come out and try me!"

He brandished the KeyBlade and prepared himself to take them on, but gunshots rang through the alley and they next thing Sora knew, the Heartless was gone. "Ahem..."

Sora agonizingly turned slowly to face her. She was surely a good shooter. "Listen... I'm terribly--"

"Quiet." She simply commanded and Sora did so. "First my bike and now this. Those creatures... I've encountered them before." She revealed. "Are you in liege with them? If so, that means I'll have to bust you right in your forehead."

At a desperate moment like this, he thought explaining himself to her wouldn't help anything. He steeled his resolve with a final decision and went into a stance with his KeyBlade drawn. "Stay back. I have the right to defend myself."

"Is that so?" She replied, but the weapon of his suddenly caught her interest. "That's a highly unusual weapon you got there." She trained her gun on him again and continues to advance towards him. "But it's best for you to put that thing down right now. You could get hurt."

"As if! You harpy!" Sora retorted.

The girl was clearly affronted by the insult. "What? Did you just call me a harpy?"

"Yeah, I did!" Sora yelled. "Take this!" He swung his KeyBlade and batted a nearby garbage canister to distracted her in order for him to get away. He headed towards the fence at the end of the alley.

"What? Ah!" She narrowly avoided being showered in old trash. Once she was in the clear, she realized the boy had climbed the high fence and jumped onto the other side of it. He was heading towards the second district of town. "Oh no he won't! He's not getting away from me that easily!" She growled. "Duran!"

She called forth a creature-- a huge mechanical wolf. It was of a very articulate design and it was mostly silver and lavender. She mounted on it as if it were a horse. "Duran, after him! Let's go!"

The mechanical beast howled and it rocketed towards the skies. He's no ordinary kid, that's for sure. Maybe he is an ally with those monsters.

Sora could have sworn that he heard a howl while he was escaping the trigger-happy girl. It must be my imagination. That girl got me so nervous that my mind's playing tricks on me. He slowed himself to a halt on a street that was filled with stores that were closed. It seemed as though he had lost the girl for good. He spotted a bus stop down the road and took a seat, trying to regain energy. Man, my life has definitely taken a wilder turn. I doubt my college years would be as wild as this.

The streets was empty, but all of a sudden he heard a sort of an engine. He looks towards the direction of the sound and discovered the girl was still chasing him. This time she was riding on a... robotic wolf? "Ah ha! I got you now!"

"C'mon now, can't you just leave me alone?" Sora pleaded.

"Not until I teach you a lesson!" The raven haired girl spat. She hopped off her mechanical companion and give it a command. "Duran, it's time. Load Silver Cartridge!"

The nest thing he knew, there was a large canon that appeared on the mechanical wolf's back. From the looks of it... it can do some serious damage. What's worse... Duran was aiming directly at him and it was charging a very lethal blast. "Uh oh! This isn't good!"

"FIRE!" The girl yelled.

Sora didn't even have enough time to react. The only thing that he could do was to raise the KeyBlade as a shield. Miraculously, the weapon was capable of defending him against the blast. But there was a struggle between him and Duran. He slowly felt himself being pushed back by the beam of energy. Unreal! This thing is protecting me from the blast!

The girl looked on at this in disbelief. What is that thing that kid got? The Silver Cartridge couldn't penetrate it? I can't believe this. Huh? She realized the beam was gradually becoming a huge ball of energy as it was struggling against the boy's weapon. Oh no! It looks like it's going to explode! "Duran, fall back!"

Sora noticed the compression of energy as well. Can't... hold this up much longer. Shoot! It's gonna blow!

KABOOM!

Sora, the girl and her wolf was blown away from the force of the blast. Fortunately, neither of them weren't injured. Sora pried his face from the pavement and looked to make sure that the girl wasn't harmed in the explosion. To his relief, the girl had fallen on her butt and she was looking on with a befuddled look on her face. Duran was shook up but it was okay. It was only nodding it's mechanical head. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

With her hair ruffled and the look in her wide eyes, she seemed even cuter. "This can't be." She said. "How did you do that?"

He, honestly didn't know either. "I dunno. It just happened."

"I can't believe it." She said to herself. "Did I... just lost to a kid?"

"I wouldn't say that," Sora reassured. "I'm at a loss too."

The girl was silent for a long moment. Then she looked towards his face and asked him, "What do you know about those shadow monsters?" She requested. "Are you with them or not?"

"You mean the Heartless? You said that--"

His statement was interrupted as a stranger came onto the scene. "Hmm? The Chosen One huh?" His voice was deep and calculating. "So this is what the fuss is all about?"

Sora stood on his feet and gather the KeyBlade. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Very well..." Leon appeared out of the shadows of a dark alley. He held the GunBlade on his shoulders. "I just can't believe... that it chose you as it's wielder."

The raven haired beauty stared at him in realization. "Leon."

"Now, let's put you to the test." Squall said and drew his sword.

Donald and Goofy reached the scene as well. "Hey, it's him!" Donald squawked in confirmation.

"Uh oh." Goofy said uncertainly. "I thought that we were suppose to make friend's with him."

Darn! Everyone's beefing with me! Sora thought in confusion, but he still kept his guard. "Very well then. Come and get it!"

END OF CHAPTER

Next Time:

The duel between Sora and Leon is on. But can he really keep up with the veteran swordsman? Later, Sora meets Cid and the others and he further learns the nature of the Heartless. Plus, the gang devise a plan to rid the cosmos of their adversaries by building the Gummi-Ship. Meanwhile, The Destiny Islands are being invaded by the Heartless. Will Terra, Shizuru and the others be able to thwart them off? Tune in next time.

Leon: "Let's see if you are truly capable of wielding the KeyBlade."

PARADOX'S DISSONANCE

CHAPTER 3

ANSEM'S STUDY: THE MENACE OF THE HEARTLESS