A/N: Sorry for the delay. I was out of the house most of the time, plus, I suffered writer's block. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews so far! ^_^ They really helped me to continue. It's nice to see that people actually read this.
Oh, yeah. Before I forget, with school coming up, I won't be able to update as often as I'd like. Sorry again for the delay.
Reminiscing and New Troubles
Silence hung in the air as light glinted from the silver Keychain that was held by the young brunette. His friends just stared at the object, trying to register their surprise. Zell was the one to speak up first.
"What the- where did you get that?"
"He gave it to me." the youth answered.
"Why?"
"I dunno. I guess it was just a prize at beating him at a tournament."
"Wait, let me get this straight." said Irvine. "You beat Squall, weilder of the Lionheart Gunblade, in a fight?"
"Yeah, but I think he was going easy on me." Sora explained. "I saw him fight better in his other matches."
"Squall, going easy on someone?" Zell repeated. "Now I've heard everything."
"You should see him fighting Heartless, then."
"Um, hold that thought." said the sharpshooter, glancing around and taking out his rifle.
Heartless began to emerge around them. To their surprise, the group consisted of the regular Shadows and the NeoShadows.
"How the hell did they find us?!" Zell exclaimed, punching one of the smaller creatures.
"They follow the darkness in someone's heart." Sora explained, using the Keychain to summon his own Lionheart. "But they're also following the Keyblade, so it's partially my fault."
"Don't blame yourself, kid." Irvine replied, shooting three Shadows at a time. "These Heartless, like you said, have become more powerful than before. I'm willing to bet that even if you didn't have your weapon that they'd still would've found us."
"Okay, enough with the pep talks." said the blonde. "It's time we dealt with these stinkin' Heartless!"
The fight began. Irvine shot those that were far away, Sora slashed those who dodged the bullets, while the ones who got past the Keyblade came face to face with Zell's fists. The Heartless began to lessen, and soon, all that was left was one NeoShadow.
"I'll deal with this one." said Zell. "It's time to get to some real Shadow-boxing."
His companions groaned at the pun, yet stepped back to let him do what he wanted.
The NeoShadow attacked first, trying to tackle the martial artist. Zell dodged it and countered with a roundhouse kick, sending the Heartless down. Zell prepared for a final attack, his fist engulfing in flames. Before he could land the blow, the Heartless made a futile attempt to attack the blonde as it got up, resulting the fire to consume it entirely before it faded away as another 'heart' floated up to the sky. Zell brushed himself off, his face beaming with pride.
"Well, that was easy."
"Don't get to cocky." said Sora. "The Shadows and the Neos are the weakest of all Heartless. There are others that're tougher to beat."
"The more the better!" the blonde commented. "It's been a long time since I had a challenge."
"That's 'cause you keep using your GF's." Irvine stated walking past Zell.
"I do not!"
"This's gonna be a long day." Sora muttered, following the arguing duo.
As they made their way to the town, Zell suddenly turned to the Keyblade Master.
"Hey, kid. Is Squall still anti-social?"
"Huh?" the boy said, startled at the question. "Kinda, but he gives me information and advice when I need it."
"So he hasn't changed much, then." the martial artist stated.
"I wouldn't know. He didn't like to talk about his past."
"Goes to show that he is the Squall we all came to know." said Zell.
"Probably not, since he doesn't like to be called Squall." said the youth. "He uses the name Leon as far as I know."
"Leon?" Zell chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't he be more original?"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure that he took it from his last name: Leonheart." the blonde explained.
"Hey!" Irvine called as he neared the town. "I think you two might want to take a look at this!"
Zell and Sora, who were lagging behind due to their conversation, ran up to Irvine. What they saw slightly unnerved them. Yes, the town was there, and it looked like it was freshly built. A platinum colored street signaled the town's entrance, and buildings of various kinds covered both sides of the path. However, it was empty, void of any living being. Irvine took a cautious step forward and raised his rifle. A bullet flew straight from the weapon and into the alley. When nothing else happened, Zell spoke up as Sora summoned his Keyblade.
"Should we go in?"
"If you want to keep on living your pathetic lives, I suggest that you keep away from this town."
The three immediately went to a fighting stance, looking around.
"Who are you?" Zell shouted, with fists clenched tight.
"Wouldn't you like to know Mr. Dincht? You seem to be curious about the simplest things. Isn't that what got your good friend and commander in trouble in the first place?" the voice mocked.
Zell's eyes widened at the statement as he began to shake with rage.
"Oh, no." Irvine whispered loud enough for only Sora to hear. "Zell's not going to be able to control himself if this goes on."
The teen got the hint and attempted to change the topic.
"Why should we listen to you? For all we know you just want us to stay out here and die."
"Close enough, Keyblade Master." the voice answered. "But I'm afraid that if you fail to listen to what I say, you can very well consider yourselves as naught among the living. I want you to stay out of there, yes. But I want you very much alive."
"I'll ask again, why should we believe you?" Sora repeated.
"Isn't it obvious to you by now? I want to fight and kill you myself!"
Sora switched the Lionheart to the Oblivion.
"Sorry, but the last guy who tried that was completely consumed by the darkness."
"Foolish lad. I am the darkness." the voice chuckled. "All those who are consumed are absorbed by myself. Hence, making me stronger and more powerful as time goes by. If you still don't believe me, here is a small gift I would like to leave you with."
A dark patch appeared in front of the group.
"Good luck with the new Wyverns!"
With that, the owner of the voice seemingly disappeared and three Wyverns flew out of the dark portal. Taking a god look at them, Sora saw that they have, indeed, been improved. Their wings no longer had holes of tears, horns sprouted backwards from their heads, their snouts, necks and tails were longer and slimmer, and their fangs were obviously sharper. They looked more like dragons with no arms then the Wyverns Sora was used to.
"Just three? That's it?" Irvine asked. "Either he's underestimating us or he means what he said."
As if to prove the sharpshooter's second theory, one of the flying Heartless swooped down to attack. Seeing the action, Irvine immediately aimed and shot. To his surprise, the Wyvern dodged the bullet, sweeping lower and knocking him down with a head butt.
"Irvine!" Sora shouted.
Quickly afterwards, the second and third Wyvern shot towards Sora and Zell respectively. Things were not looking good.
A/N: Sorry again for the delay. Well, just so you know school's up and I might not get the chance to update as much anymore. But I promise that I will finish this fic. Oh, yeah, do you have any suggestions or requests? I'll be happy to consider them if you put them in your reviews! Well, 'till next time!
