Author's Note: By the time I post this, I'll already have most of the story finished and waiting to follow its brother, The Prologue. I'll just wait a while between each chapter to maximize reader to nonreader ratio, whatever that means. Just, continue reading. Go on, read the boring disclaimer telling you that I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise. No! Don't read the boring author's note telling you to read the boring disclaimer telling you that I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise! Fine! Be that way! Do whatever you want, see if I care! (Turns back to readers and pouts.) Meanies!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. No one fully does. It's just a giant conglomeration of Disney movies and previous Square Enix games with a few original characters and worlds thrown into the mix. Hate to break it to you diehard fans of the games, but it's true. Nevertheless, it's still an awesome game, and I still don't own it. Well, technically I do. I mean, I own the game. All three of them, in fact. I just don't own the rights to it. Um… yeah. You get my drift. READ ON!
With a yell, Leon slashed his gunblade through Heartless after Heartless.
"Well, that's the last of them," he said, turning to Tifa, who was readjusting her gloves.
"Not quite," she responded, nodding in the direction of the run down castle across the crevasse. "Cid says there's still a pretty large on in there."
With a sigh, Leon hefted his weapon onto his shoulder and walked towards the makeshift bridge the Restoration Committee had put across the crevasse. That's right, a giant log.
"What are we waiting for then?" he said in his usual blunt manner. Tifa shrugged, then followed.
Leon grunted as he was flung back into a wall by the colossal, gorilla-like Heartless he and Tifa were fighting. Breathing heavily, he pushed himself off the ground, only to be slammed against the wall again as Tifa was thrown back into him.
"It's no use!" she exclaimed. "This thing is too powerful.! We need Sora to kill it!" Leon nodded, and took out his walkie talkie.
"Merlin," he said. "We've run into a bit of a problem. We need you to summon Sora ASAP. When he gets here, tell him to come to the great hall of Maleficent's castle. We need his help."
"I'm on it," came the response. Leon turned to Tifa.
"He should be here in about ten minutes. We're on our own until then." Tifa nodded, then charged the giant Heartless again. Again, she was slammed into the wall with a vicious backhand. Concerned, Leon rushed to her side.
"You okay?" he asked, helping her up.
"Yeah," she answered through clenched teeth. "But I think that I broke a rib or two."
Then, the giant Heartless appeared over them, raising its fists above its head in preparation for the kill. Leon cringed, trying to think of a way to escape.
So this is how it ends, he thought. I'm sorry, Rinoa.
Suddenly, someone yelled and came flying past the two fighters to deliver a flying kick to the giant Heartless' chest. Still yelling, the person threw a few punches into the gorilla's stomach and a sweeping kick to the feet, followed by an elbow drop to the head. Satisfied it was dead, the figure walked over to Leon and Tifa.
"Wow, Squall. You've gotten soft," he said with a smirk on his face.
Author's End Note: How'd you like it? Kudos and mad props to whoever can guess who the mysterious "stranger" is. See you next update.