AN: If you need proof of how eager I was to get this chapter out, then you need look no further than the fact that it's already been posted so soon after the last chapter was. Pretty sweet, huh? What I can't believe though is how so many reviews blew up onto this story just from the fact that RWBY showed up in the last chapter's author's note.
Sora: I'm pretty sure the fact you mentioned you were thinking about doing something that involved RWBY either in this or your other Kingdom Hearts series, and that you were brainstorming on some ideas for a RWBY fanfiction had something to do with that too.
AN: You say potato...Anyhow, wait no more everyone, because the fun's about to continue with this chapter. But first, we've got some reviews to answer without spoiling anything too big for later in the series.
Riku: You mean like how in the next chapter, you plan to have the team meet...
AN: DAH! SPOILER! [hits control]
Riku: [suddenly has a trap door open up under him] Aw not this again! [drops down trap door with a scream]
Xion: Really? We're back to doing that shtick again?
AN: Wait for it. [loud explosion is heard before Riku is sent flying back up out of the trap door and into the ceiling, where he sticks for a few minutes until he drops down to the floor again] Ooh! I felt that. And it looks like Riku's really rocking quite the fashion statement now.
Ventus: I'll say. Slightly cooked lizard skin seems to be in season.
Riku: Urgh...What do you mean by that? [looks in a mirror to see that he's covered in ash, and now has lizard skin] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!
AN: Do you think I should bother reminding him again that lizard's shed their skin?
Kairi: Nah, he'll figure it out. Besides, you need to hurry up and answer reviews so we can get to the story! I want everyone to see me and Aqua dominating the action already!
AN: Wow! Someone clearly got an extra dosage of happy mixed in with their breakfast this morning. Anyways, let's begin with those review answers, shall we?
Xion: I'll start off, if no one minds. Namely to answer that "Guest" from 5/27/2019 who asked about my eating habits. One, don't you know its rude to ask a girl something like that? And two, it's not that much more than the average person. We were just there for a really long time, and again, I had skipped a meal a little while earlier, so after all that we had been through, you'd be hungry too!
AN: Okay, good to know. Moving on before the cutest girl in the Organization decides to murder anybody...
Roxas: Like it's really hard to win that competition. Unless you count Namine as an unofficial member, the only other girl in the Organization, both old and new, is Larxene.
AN: Not the point or what we're talking about right now. Let's move it along to "CG"'s questions. First off, Cloud's sword will most likely be like it was in KH2 for the most part, but it may actually end up being unraveled from those bandages later on. Also, I did take notice of your story ideas, and while they are interesting, I'm afraid that I don't really have much time to really consider pursuing any of them at the moment. Even if I did, I still probably wouldn't. I'd kinda like to at least get this series or Kingdom Marvels through to their respective KH3 stories before I start anymore Kingdom Hearts projects if I can help it.
Sora: In answer to your question for me, I think that if I was able to use Master's Defender in the fight against Anti-Aqua, I would probably have just gotten a more powerful version of Second Form as my form change, or something. I mean, when Aqua was using it, all she was able to do was activate Spellweaver, and that was an ability she had even before she had Master's Defender. If it was an entirely new form though, I can't say that I've really thought that much about what I would call it or what abilities it might have. Maybe the name would be something like "Guiding Key" and I'd have a bunch of abilities that were similar to my Master Form in KH2. I'd answer the rest of your questions, but for some reason, every time I try to read them, the others stop me, or turn on some filter thing so that they look like a blur to me.
AN: Don't worry, Sora. It wasn't too important. [hits a control that slaps a pair of noise canceling headphones on Sora and Kairi's heads] Just to be clear, we're still trying to avoid mentioning You-Know-Who around those two, since they do in fact still go back into the torture chamber to beat him up even more, so that should probably answer that question.
Riku: [still peeling off the lizard skin] I actually like that idea of having Braveheart forming a blade within a blade when I use my ultimate form change for that story, even if it doesn't turn out like what you suggested.
Kairi: [having finally removed the headphones] I think I agree with your assessment of how Royal Radiance would change when I use my ultimate form in this story, but it's just a possibility idea for the moment, so you never know. The author could still surprise you.
Mickey: I'd still end up using Kingdom Key W by the time we reach this series's version of KH3, and in response to your other question, what makes you think I haven't met Master Yoda?
Ventus: I can't really say anything in regards to Chirithy at this time, as for the moment, there doesn't really seem like too much of a plan in regards to him, and anything beyond that is being kept tightly under lock and key.
Aqua: Yeah, I do think I didn't really get too much of a chance to talk with Kairi in the KH3 game, and just so you know, the author is going to have there be at least a little dialogue between Terra and Riku in his version of KH3.
Terra: Aqua! I was going to say that! I don't think I would've been able to stop the exam when I noticed the darkness. That would've more than likely resulted in immediate failure for me either way. Besides, the fact that it came out all was the whole reason why I did fail. As for your other questions...sorry, no spoilers.
Xion: I was actually pretty happy to hear that there was likely going to be KH3 DLC that would be focused on me, because I really need a few more answers on some things that had happened to me in Kingdom Hearts 3, and I would like to say I was more involved in the story than as just the character who had switched to the good guys' side in the final battles.
Xigbar: Hey! Look who's getting to answer! Pretty cool, right?
AN: Just make it quick, will you? I will hit this button.
Xigbar: Oh yeah? And what's that gonna do? Another trap door? [AN hits button, and electric shock suddenly zaps Xigbar] OW! The hell was that?! Felt like I was getting blasted by Larxene.
AN: Behavioral collar. Surely you noticed when we slipped it on you earlier.
Xigbar: So that's what that was...Anyway to answer "CG"'s question...Gee, I just don't know. Be a good boy now. [disappears before he can get zapped again]
AN: [tiredly sighs] Bad guys. Anyways, moving on to the next set of review answers. "Dragon Rider 66", I haven't had a chance to try Gen: Lock yet, and as for Endgame, I'd have to say that one of my absolute favorite parts, (both in that movie and in all the movies of the MCU as a whole), would have to be at the final battle, when literally the entire MCU shows up to fight Thanos, and we finally hear Cap say the line. That. Was. SO. UTTERLY. EPIC! Another would be that last scene between Tony and Thanos. If you've seen the movie, I'm sure you know the one I'm talking about, but I'll clarify a little better for you: it's when Tony looked Thanos straight in the eye and said a very specific line that had helped to kick start everything. And while I did not cry at any point, I did come pretty close to tears at one particular point or two.
"Monkey D. Conan", we'll be seeing them using the armor again soon enough, but Wisdom Form won't be coming until after they've dealt with the problem that arises at Disney Castle, just like in the canon story line.
Mickey: By the "Guest" of 5/28/2019, the one who asked about Pete's family...well, we tried to let them down gently on the news, but...well, let's just say that I'm really glad that PJ is good friends with Goofy's son, Max, because that helped a lot. At least in regards to the timeline of this series. I'm not sure if that was a thing in canon, but we'll probably find out someday.
Xion: Oh, and "Guest" of 5/28/2019, the one who offered me a little something to give Xigbar the next time he calls me Poppet, thanks for that, but I never really minded the nickname that much, at least, not as far as I can remember, but if it does get annoying, I'll be glad to have that around and at the ready.
AN: Next review answer is to "Guest" of 5/29/2019, who made a suggestion about Ven liking old timey music. I do kinda like the idea that you suggested, and I may work something like that in later on, but I can't promise anything. I will do my best to try and work it in though.
And finally, to the "Guest" of 5/29/2019 that asked about Xion teasing Ven&Aqua...Do you really have to ask? I think it's pretty obvious that she's going to be doing that to everyone until it finally comes back around to her.
Now, if we're all done with that, it's time for you all to watch as two of our favorite leading ladies finally get to join in on the action, and at the same time, see how the story diverges from the events of the canon story. Let's fly to the adventure!
I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter XIII
She just could not help herself lately. Ever since a few days after she came back to Destiny Islands, Kairi found herself gazing out at the horizon, wondering where her dearest friends were and what kind of adventures that they were experiencing, as the more thought about it, the more restless she became. At first, she thought she could ignore it, but that just made her feel a terrible because it made her feel like she was trying to forget Sora and Riku, and she did not want that. After realizing she could not ignore her restlessness, Kairi decided that she needed to try and prepare herself for the moment when she saw them again, because part of her knew that she would be joining their fight again once they had reunited. This was a bit difficult to do, because it was not like she could ask just anyone on the islands to help her train with the Keyblade, but thankfully, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie were all still very much aware of what had happened a year ago, so they were able to give her some assistance. It even had the added benefit of helping to keep Tidus from sitting around and being all depressed about Yuna, but for the most part, her friends could only help her refine her basic fighting abilities. None of them really knew anything much about using magic, let alone magic that came with being a Keyblade wielder, so Kairi was especially happy that Aqua had appeared to her almost half a year ago to help continue where Ventus had left off with her training. Sure, she had to keep it secret from her three friends for reasons that only Aqua knew, but it was still a good distraction from the empty feeling she would get whenever she came to watch the Destiny Islands sunset on the beach these days.
That same emptiness had slowly started coming back again as Kairi began to come down to the beach and gaze at the horizon after her training a lot more often than ever, but there was more to it than just that. It felt like something was just calling out to her, egging her on to do something, and with it, there was also a feeling of concern for her friends. She was not sure what had brought that on, but she did know that only started after she had somehow gotten into contact with Roxas, Xion, and Sora that one day, and that had been what drove her to watch the horizon as often as she did now, even when she was dead tired from her training sessions with Aqua. Today though, as she stood on the beach looking out to the sunset and the Play Island across the water, clad in her casual wear, Keyblade armor gauntlet included, all those feelings finally helped Kairi come to an inescapable conclusion.
"Maybe…waiting isn't good enough," Kairi decided, and apparently, that was just what someone had been waiting to hear.
"My thoughts exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. Act," a strange, cocky voice cheered. Kairi immediately began looking all around her for the speaker, even reaching out with her senses as a Keyblade wielder to try and determine where they were, until she finally saw a collection of shadows suddenly spring up into existence and deposit a tall man with wild, flaming red hair, and what looked like tear-shaped tattoos beneath his green eyes. "One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?"
"Who are you," Kairi questioned as calmly as possible, not because she was afraid, but because she was very suspicious of this stranger.
"Axel," the man introduced. "I happen to be an acquaintance of Sora and Ventus's. Why don't we go see them?"
Kairi was not entirely sure if she believed him or not. As far as she knew, most of Ventus's acquaintances referred to him by his nickname, so hearing Axel refer to the blonde master with his full name threw up a red flag or two for her. Add in the fact that his overall stance did not really scream friendly, even without the fact she saw him appear from some kind of portal made of darkness, and Kairi felt that it would be foolish to take the taller redhead at his word. Still, she was not going to attack him outright if there was a chance he was telling the truth, so she decided to try another approach, "If that's true, then just where is Sora right now?" A minute later, she thought of another thing she could ask, and immediately added, "And do you know anything about someone named Roxas or Xion?"
Her first question did not get any reaction from Axel, but hearing her second question did seem to surprise Axel a little from the way his eyes widened by a small amount, but whether or not he was going to answer her questions remained unclear, as a moment later, they both heard a dog barking. Turning to the dog in question, Kairi was surprised to see none other than King Mickey's ever faithful dog, Pluto bounding towards her, happily barking in excitement as he did, and she was just about to reach out and pet him hello when something very odd pricked at her senses. It seemed to get Pluto's attention too, as he soon stopped barking and started growling while several, strange silver creatures suddenly sprang up from the ground around them.
"You know, part of me is kinda glad that the Assassins still listen to me, but then again, what do you expect from guys that are practically made for you," Axel muttered aloud, not thinking that Kairi might be able to hear him.
In point of fact, Kairi did hear what Axel said, and just hearing the name of these things had put her even more on guard, right to the point where her hand had slowly moved to hover over the dial on her gauntlet so that she could summon her full armor at any moment. She ended up not needing to though, as they were all soon distracted by the sound of a sharp whistle cutting through the air. A minute later, another dark portal opened up behind Kairi, but for some reason, Pluto seemed to think that this one was safe, because he was soon rushing over to it, while barking at Kairi like he wanted her to follow him. Kairi was not really sure if that was a good idea though, but then again, the alternative was to stay routed where she was and find out why these things were called Assassins. Thankfully, the decision was made a little easier when someone else decided to step in.
In a flash of light, the Assassins had all fallen to the ground and disappeared, while another figure in a black coat had appeared alongside Kairi, with the Master's Defender Keyblade in hand. While Kairi was very relieved and had never been happier at Aqua's insistence of always keeping an eye on her at a distance, Axel was far less pleased. "Hey, easy there! Those things don't grow on trees you know, and I only have but so many of them, now," the tall redhead shouted.
Aqua did not pay him any mind, but instead, looked to Kairi and said, "Get to the portal! It'll take you somewhere safe!"
"How do you know that," Kairi asked, skeptical of the idea that a portal like this could lead anywhere that would be described as safe.
"Call it a hunch," was all that Aqua said in reply. "Hurry! I'll be right behind you in a moment!"
"Now why would you all want to do that, anyway," Axel asked. A minute later, more Assassins appeared around the girls, this time with a Dusk or two alongside them, but Axel just carried on like everything was normal. "I mean, we've all got something in common, you know. The three of us each miss someone we care about. Hey…I feel like we're friends already."
"Last I checked, friends don't set monsters against other friends," Aqua retorted, and she then looked back to give Kairi a look from under the hood of her coat that made it clear that the girl needed to listen to her.
Both Aqua's look and comment finally spurned Kairi into action, as she summoned out Destiny's Embrace and slashed through a couple of the Nobodies surrounding them before running to the portal. "You know, Aqua's right," Kairi shouted back just as she was reaching the portal. "You're not acting very friendly!"
A minute later, Kairi had disappeared into the portal, and after firing off a few spells from her Keyblade, Aqua followed right behind the girl, leaving an apparently disgruntled Axel in her wake. That façade was instantly dropped when the portal closed behind the Keyblade master, and Axel was soon seen smirking in satisfaction. "Well, I did my part, or at least the first half of it. Now to just make sure they ended up where you wanted, and we're good," Axel said to himself, dismissing the few Nobodies that were still loyal to him as he, too, teleported away.
It was a little hard for Kairi to really be sure of what had happened after she stepped through that portal with Aqua and Pluto. The place she had ended up in was very strange to say the least, and despite how the portal had appeared to be formed, she did not pick up on any signs of being in a place of darkness. Yes, she could feel darkness all around her at the time, but it was not like the kind that she had come to associate with the dangerous power that had given rise to the Heartless and thrown her and her friends into the strangeness that was now their lives. More than that, before she followed Aqua and Pluto through what she could only have assumed was the exit, she could have sworn that she had seen someone watching them; someone that felt very familiar to her in a way that she could not quite describe. Before she could turn back to try and better figure out that mystery, she found herself being blinded by the exit's light.
She must have passed out afterwards, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the ground, and she could hear several, lively sounds that she knew were not common to Destiny Islands. Upon opening her eyes, she quickly found visual confirmation of what she was already suspecting, as the place she had ended up in was also unfamiliar to her. The only saving grace was that she was not alone, as Aqua was kneeling over her, making sure she was okay, Pluto was sitting off to the side, panting and wagging his tail happily, and there were three other kids all around them looking down at her in concern.
"Are you okay," one of the kids asked Kairi. When she did not say anything in response, he took that to mean she was a little confused, and quickly explained, "You two and that dog came flying out of a hole in the wall. You nearly gave us heart attacks!"
"Um…Sorry," Kairi apologized. It was not like she could really think of anything else to say, but she did relax a little more upon seeing that these three meant no harm. Granted, she probably should have realized that by now since neither Pluto nor Aqua seemed too concerned about them, but you could never be too sure. "Who…are you three? And where are we?"
"My name's Pence, and these are my pals, Hayner and Olette," the boy who spoke up said. "As for where you are, you're in our regular hangout in Market Street. You know, of Twilight Town?"
Kairi nodded to each of the new faces upon introduction, but she could not help but tilt her head in confusion upon hearing the name of their location. When she turned to Aqua, she did not even get a chance to ask the obvious question before the older woman gave an affirmative nod. "Different world," Aqua whispered to further confirm it for Kairi, making sure to keep her voice as low as possible so that the other three could not hear her.
It did not matter whether or not they could hear her or not though, as Olette found herself commenting aloud, "You know, you two kind of remind me of some friends of ours that were here recently, but had to leave pretty fast. They seemed pretty lost when we first met them, too, but they looked like they had been to a lot of places."
"Really," Kairi asked, intrigued by the comparison. She was sure it was probably just a coincidence though.
"So…what're your names," Hayner asked.
"Oh! Sorry, I guess we both forgot our manners for a moment there," Aqua quickly apologized. "My name's Aqua and this is Kairi. The dog is Pluto, and he belongs to a very good friend of ours."
"Nice to meet you all," Kairi bowed in greeting. She then thought of something else she could add, and figured she had nothing to lose, she revealed, "We're actually looking for some friends of ours. There are four of them all together, but the most notable are two boys, a man that looks to be the same age as Aqua and a boy my age, both with spiky hair, and maybe carrying around giant keys. Any chance you guys have seen them?"
Kairi's question seemed to draw surprised looks from the three local kids, and she soon found out why when Hayner said, "That actually sounds a lot like some of the guys Olette was talking about."
"Yeah. Does that mean you two know Sora, Roxas, Xion, Ventus, Donald, or Goofy," Pence asked.
"SORA?!" Kairi gasped in surprise.
"Ven's here?!" Aqua asked in equal shock.
"Well, they were here," Pence clarified. "But they left a while back on one of the trains."
"How do you know them, though," Olette asked.
Aqua and Kairi shared a look with each other, before the former finally said, "It's a bit of a long story."
"Hey, we've got time," Hayner shrugged, and he was soon taking a seat along with his two best friends so that they could get comfortable for the tale.
A short time later, Kairi and Aqua had each regaled the Twilight Town gang with their individual stories, or at least as much as they could tell them without revealing anything that they should not be telling the three. Everything from Aqua's Mark of Mastery Exam, the tragedy that had befallen her and her friends, Destiny Islands being attacked by the Heartless, Kairi's heart ending up inside of Sora's for nearly the entirety of his last journey, and all the other important details in between were told. Laughs were shared, tears were shed, and by the end, the two Keybearers could tell that they had left quite the impression on their current hosts.
"What a romantic story," Olette dreamily sighed.
"Which one? Kairi's or Aqua's," Hayner questioned, since both girls' stories did seem to paint quite the pretty picture about their feelings for their respective loved ones.
"Both," Olette insisted.
"Well, technically, it's all really the same story, so…" Aqua pointed out with a shrug, and even though she was still wearing her hood, they all knew she was smiling underneath it.
That earned a small laugh from Kairi and the others, and when they all calmed down again, Pence told the two new arrivals, "You know, if you guys stick around, Sora and Ven are bound to show."
"Yeah, they said they're coming back," Hayner remembered.
Part of Kairi wanted to say no and find a way to get to other worlds so she could go searching for Sora herself. Aqua had still not taught her how to use a Keyblade Glider yet, let alone, how to navigate other worlds on one, so she was not going to be able to travel that way. On the other hand, staying somewhere that Sora said he would be coming back to did seem like a better option, but what if Sora never did come back? After all, as far as she knew, it was not possible for Sora to visit any of the worlds they had been to before ever since they defeated Ansem, so what if the path Sora traveled down to leave Twilight Town was no longer there?
Aqua was just as conflicted about this as Kairi. Part of her thought it would be better if they returned to Destiny Islands, because she would be able to better protect Kairi there. Then again, after that encounter with Axel, Aqua was not so sure if it was safe for them on the islands anymore. Perhaps it would be better for them to remain in Twilight Town, both to keep Kairi safe, and so that they could wait for the boys to come back. Plus she could also sense that there was something connecting this town to a place she was very familiar with, and if it was, she could more than likely get Kairi some better training, and more suitable combat attire. She continued going over all the list of pros and cons to their staying in Twilight Town for a few more minutes, until suddenly, something peaked at the edge of her senses that she did not like the feeling of at all.
"I don't think our staying is entirely all that optional either way, at the moment," Aqua announced, jumping to her feet and racing out of the small hangout, much to everyone's surprise.
"Aqua, what's wrong? Hey! Wait for me," Kairi shouted as she chased after her master, not realizing that Hayner, Pence, and Olette were right behind her.
Aqua's rapid departure from Kairi and the others may have been abrupt, but the blue haired woman just could not ignore what she had sensed. It was not darkness, necessarily, but it was not light either. If anything, the only comparison she had for this sensation would probably be the unease she had felt when the Unversed were threatening the worlds eleven years ago, and even that was a stretch. The Unversed may not have been creatures born of natural means, but they were still manifestations of negative emotions, so there was at least something to feel from them. Whatever it was that Aqua was picking up on, the only way she could think of to describe it was emptiness, and that worried her a little, because the last time she had sensed that from someone or something was almost a year ago, when she had finally found herself back at the place that had once been her home before she transformed it to keep its secrets safe: Castle Oblivion.
Following her senses, Aqua ended up having to push her way through a crowd of frightened people who were fleeing the scene until she finally made it into the Sandlot and saw just what it was that she had picked up on. Going around the perimeter of the large, open area that laid in the center of Market Street in their usual, strange dance of twists, flips, and spins, were more of the same silver creatures that Axel had set loose on her and Kairi, or more accurately, the basic Dusks, and standing right in the middle of the circling creatures was a gang of kids that appeared to be led by a blonde boy in a white coat and a black beanie. Aqua had to applaud these kids for being brave enough to try and fight these creatures, but from what she could see, she had to wonder if it was bravery or stupidity that was driving them to act. It did not really matter though, because right now, those kids needed help, and she was the only one who could provide that assistance.
"Back off," Aqua shouted as she summoned Master's Defender, and as she continued to charge, she quickly fired off a couple blasts of Firaga before casting a simple Blizzard spell to create an icy trail along the ground. When the trail fully formed, Aqua immediately jumped on and rocketed right into the center of the battlefield using Flowmotion. Just before she reached the end of the ice path, she used that same power to warp next to several Dusks, and delivered a powerful slash that took them all out at once. While her efforts did not get rid of all the Dusks that now surrounded her and the kids, it did help her to create the opening she was aiming for. "Get out of here! I'll handle these things!"
"Yeah, right," the blonde boy scoffed. "I'm not gonna take orders from some outsider. Besides, I can't just let someone threaten my town without taking disciplinary measures."
"Oh yeah, Seifer's always lookin' after the town, y'know," the bigger boy grunted in agreement, obviously not knowing that he and his buddy were just getting Aqua annoyed with their attitudes.
"Well you won't be able to take any kind of measures if these things kill you, so leave, now," Aqua ordered, her tone indicating no room for argument.
Seifer looked like he was going to snap at Aqua for that when a Dusk suddenly jumped him, making him stumble back. He tried to smack it away with his Struggle bat, but the simple weapon just seemed to pass right through the Dusk, allowing it to knock Seifer on his back. Just when it was charging again, an orb of light suddenly blasted the Dusk into nothing but smoke and air, saving Seifer at just the last minute. When the boy turned to face his savior, he was honestly a little surprised to see Kairi moving to stand between him and the remaining Dusks with her Destiny's Embrace Keyblade in hand. "I'd listen to my master if I were you buddy. We can't fight these things off if we have to worry about you and your friends getting hurt," Kairi advised as she assumed what looked to be similar to a basic fencing stance.
This time, Seifer did not argue, but from the blush on his face, Aqua had a pretty good idea as to why he was keeping quiet after Kairi told him to run, and it made her narrow her eyes at the boy to the point where they were practically slits. After all, in his current position, Aqua would not be surprised at what Seifer had probably gotten a good view of at some point while Kairi was making her way over, and that was all the more reason for her to kick him as hard as she did. "Will you get moving already," Aqua irritably shouted. "And take your friends with you."
"Uh…Yes ma'am," Seifer stuttered before helping his bigger buddy drag the other members of his gang away. This time he had definitely picked up on the woman's irritation, and he had clearly decided to listen due to remembering a certain bit of ancient wisdom regarding a woman's scorn.
Aqua watched the four kids go for a minute before she assumed her own regular battle stance, and then glanced over at Kairi. "You shouldn't have followed me," Aqua lightly scolded.
"Hey, what did you think was going to happen when you suddenly took off like that with little to no explanation," Kairi asked in retort. "Besides, you got to have all the fun dealing with these guys last time, while I only took down one or two. I think I deserve a chance to get in on the action this time."
Hearing her apprentice say that, Aqua could not help but sigh in defeat, knowing that it was pointless to say anything in order to dissuade her now for many different reasons, and said, "Well in that case, you may want to armor up, just to be on the safe side. We don't know the full extent of what these things can do."
Kairi nodded in response and immediately tapped the dial on her gauntlet to summon out her Keyblade armor. In an instant, Kairi became clad in her form-fitting, basic Keyblade Warrior armor, which was colored pink, white, and purple, and upon resuming her previous fighting stance, the redhead was ready to enter battle once again. Aqua could only nod at the sight of this, mainly because that was the only reaction she could give at the moment due to the Dusks suddenly charging again. The girls were both ready though, as they each immediately summoned forth a magic barrier with a wave of their free hands, and when the Dusks hit the shields, they were quickly blown backwards when said barriers exploded outwards.
Aqua made the next attack, jumping forward to strike down three enemies at once with a single attack, before she spun on her heel and fired off a blast of magic. Instead of a basic spell though, Aqua made it a point to use some of her more advanced spells, starting off with Triple Blizzaga, which sent three large chunks of ice flying through multiple Dusks, each. Her next spell was a hot one, as she shot a large ball of flames overhead that soon sent multiple fireballs fling in all directions, setting some of the Dusks on fire if they were not immediately destroyed, and to make sure that they did not get too far away, she quickly cast the spell Zero Graviga to suspend the Dusks in mid-air. Aqua switched it up to fight with some simple sword slashes, stabs, and strikes for a little bit, but when she caught sight of some Dusks trying to get her from behind, she immediately cast the spell, Seeker Mine, creating a number of magical traps near her that zoomed out and exploded on her attackers before they could get close.
While Aqua's latest spell granted her the ability to finally activate her signature Command Style, Spellweaver, Kairi was also able to take advantage of that last magic attack and destroy the Dusks that had survived the explosion from Aqua's Seeker Mine with a few quick thrusts of her Keyblade. Looking on at Kairi, Aqua had to smile a little as she watched the girl attack with simple, regular attacks as opposed to just spamming her magic over and over like she had early on in their training. Not that Aqua was opposed to Kairi being primarily a magic fighter like her, but even she knew that the auburn haired girl had needed some serious help in developing her fighting technique, even with the help that her friends had given. Luckily Aqua had studied up on various different fighting styles, and soon found that the one Kairi now used was perfect for her. On the surface, it seemed rather similar to the style of a fencer, but it also allowed Kairi to make good use of her flexibility and speed so that she could easily outmaneuver and wear down opponents without taking too much action, a very good style to utilize for any magic user. Kairi proved this as she spun around a pair of Dusks that tried to jump her from the side, and then proceeded to return the favor by blasting them with one of the spells that Aqua had taught her: Fission Firaga, a very fiery spell that shot out a fireball that exploded outwards on impact and caught nearby foes in the blast.
Kairi's last spell turned out to be just what she needed to activate her own Unique Command Style: Shooting Star and the girls were both grinning in excitement as a result, knowing that their opponents were in so much trouble now. Aqua took the lead for the most part, gliding across the Sandlot and spinning her Keyblade through the air via light magic, allowing her to destroy several enemies at once, but near the end of each of her combo attacks, Kairi would always come dashing in to slash and/or blast away any foes that would dare to try and come close to Aqua as she spun her Keyblade around for the final hit in her combo attack. Eventually, they had to bring things to an end, and they did so in style by unleashing the full powers of their Command Styles' respective finishers. Aqua's Spellweaver quickly destroyed several of the Dusks, and any stragglers were soon wiped out by Kairi's Shooting Star, leaving only the two Keybearers in the Sandlot.
Once they were sure that there were no longer any enemies in the area, the two finally relaxed, thinking that they had been through the worst of it, until the sound of someone clapping reached their ears. Upon turning around, their eyes both narrowed again at the sight of the very person who was at least partially responsible for their being in Twilight Town. "You again," Aqua hissed as she raised her Keyblade, preparing to fire off her best Shotlock.
"Hey easy there, hottie. I was just here to enjoy the show and make sure you could get through that," Axel placated, but he ended up flinching a little when Aqua growled at him for calling her hottie. "Besides, you're acting like I'm the one who sent those Nobodies after you."
"You know, just because they're monsters, doesn't mean you can call them something like that," Kairi admonished.
Axel just looked at her for a minute before he chuckled, "Wow. I thought you were supposed to be one of the smarter ones in your bunch of friends. I'm not being mean and calling them names; that's literally what those creatures you just fought are called: Nobodies. Sure, Dusks like those are the lowest common denominator on the totem pole, but they're still Nobodies all the same, and like any other Nobody, they don't have hearts. Some people say that means they don't exist, but others…well, everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right?"
The girls just exchanged confused glances with each passing word that Axel spoke. One minute the guy seemed like he was going to try and either kidnap or hurt Kairi, and then the next time they see him, he was actually giving them what could likely be valuable information? Just what was his story? "Why are you telling us all of this," Kairi asked.
"Oh, I just thought you might like to know a little about whose public enemy number one for anyone that travels to other worlds these days. I mean, it's only right that you're at least a little in the know like each of your boyfriends," Axel shrugged. "That said, I'd avoid anyone wearing black coats like the ones me and your Keyblade master friend there are wearing. It's a sure sign of someone being with the Organization, and they're definitely not Nobodies that you want to deal with without being ready."
"The Organization," Aqua questioned in surprise. She had heard of the group before, back when she was at Castle Oblivion with Mickey and Riku, and during a specific event in her first journey through the worlds as a Keyblade master, but she did not think that she would be hearing of them again this soon. "How do you know about them?"
Axel's confident posture faltered at that point, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he said, "Yeah…that's complicated."
"Axel," an intimidating voice interrupted, startling the tall redhead when he heard it. A moment later, another dark portal appeared, and a man in a black coat just like Axel and Aqua's appeared. The only difference was that he was keeping his hood up, but Axel did not need to see this person's face to know who it was, or that their being here meant trouble for him.
"Whoops! Looks like our time's up for now, ladies. Gotta go," Axel rapidly bade in farewell, and before anyone knew what was happening, he had disappeared into another dark corridor.
Aqua and Kairi were about to give chase when the mystery man suddenly turned to them and summoned out a massive, spiked claymore that he soon held at the ready. "You two are to come with me, at once," the man stated coolly. It may have been a threat, but his voice was so even and emotionless that it almost came off as though he were stating a simple fact.
"And why would we do that," Kairi demanded, already adopting her battle stance once again.
When Aqua also assumed her ready position, the man seemed to scoff a little as he said, "If I had a heart, this would be where I would sigh in irritation. I am merely trying to deal with at least one of our three traitors, and keeping the two of you out their reach can ensure that."
"Right. I'm sure you care a great deal about what happens to us," Aqua retorted.
"Perhaps we would, if we had hearts to care," the man stated. "We're more interested in what you two represent."
"Meaning?"
"You're the fire that feeds Ventus's anger, just as Kairi is the fire that feeds Sora's," the man replied as simply as you please.
When they put together the pieces on what that simple sentence would entail, both girls were quickly riled up to whole new level, and Kairi proved it when she snapped, "If you think we're going to let you use us to put Sora or Ven in danger, then you've got another thing coming."
"So then, you don't wish to see them again," the man questioned.
"Of course we do. More than anything," Aqua replied as she held a hand to her heart, feeling it ache at the mere thought of finally being reunited with her love again. The ache quickly passed though as her heart hardened as she finished, "But I don't need your help to finally reunite with Ven."
"Yeah. I'll see Sora again, and without you around," Kairi promised as she pointed her Keyblade at the cloaked stranger.
The man just stared at the two for a minute before he finally just dismissed his weapon with a huff and opened another dark portal. "We'll just see about that. Either way, I doubt you two will be going anywhere any time soon, and I have other matters to address for now. Just make sure you are careful should Axel appear again. I may be Number VII, but Axel was only one rank below me for many different reasons."
With his part said, the man stepped into the portal and disappeared from the Sandlot. The girls still took a few minutes to survey the area with all of their senses before they finally stood down and breathed sighs of relief. "I get the feeling that he's not going to give up on getting us that easily," Kairi panted after she had dismissed her armor.
"And that may put the townsfolk here in danger," Aqua mused. "Maybe staying here isn't such a good idea after all."
"But what if those things come back and this time no one's around to stop them? We're the only ones who could do anything against them, and if these Nobodies are as bad as the Heartless, then we can't just let them do whatever they want," Kairi pointed out.
Aqua nodded in agreement on that, and then smiled as she said, "I never said that we were going to leave right away. Besides, neither of us has any way of getting to other worlds at the moment, save for maybe one particular world that we can get to from here, so we're going to be sticking around for quite a bit."
"You'd better be, because you've still got some business with us," a rather rude voice cut in, making the two girls turn to see that Seifer and his gang were back. "Like I said, no one causes trouble in my town without paying a price."
"Um, excuse me? We just saved your town and your lives from those monsters. Last I checked, the usual thing to say to a person that helps you is 'thank you,'" Kairi snapped back.
"Please. We didn't need any help," the big guy scoffed in an attempt to look tough. "Seifer had 'em right where he wanted 'em, y'know."
"Unnecessary interference," the girl of the group nodded in agreement, while the shortest kid in the large hat just kept quiet in the back, but still seemed to agree with the others.
"Really? Because those bruises on your arms and faces say otherwise," Aqua pointed out, indicating the obviously visible injuries on the gang before them. There were a few more on Seifer and his bigger friend than the other two, and Aqua had to figure that it was due to them just rushing in without thinking. It would have made her smile in reminiscence of how Ventus was like that so many years ago if the situation were not so bothersome.
"What did you say," Seifer growled. "You want to start something, lady?"
"Hey, back off, Seifer," Hayner's voice suddenly shouted, finally alerting Kairi and Aqua to the fact that he and his friends had followed them. "They've got enough problems of their own without you making things harder for them."
Seifer immediately sneered as he moved to get in Hayner's face, with the other blonde starting to do the same, until Olette and the girl from Seifer's group both moved to hold the two back. "Easy Hayner," Olette said. "Seifer's just being a typical bully like always. You know how he is, especially with people that are new in town."
"Settle later," the other girl whispered to Seifer.
Both boys continued glaring at each other for another minute or so, until Seifer finally just shoved off his girl's hand, and leveled one last glare at the group in front of him as a whole before he looked directly at the two Keybearers. "Fine. I'll let you off for now, but I'll expect to see you two here later for a Struggle match so that we can really settle things."
Neither Aqua nor Kairi could voice any protest before Seifer turned around and stopped away with the rest of his gang, so in the end, they just let out tired sighs, feeling like that encounter was more exhausting than the fight with the Dusks. "What's his problem," Kairi asked.
"Oh, don't mind him," Pence waved off. "Seifer's always been a jerk to just about everyone in town, but most especially to us since he and Hayner have had a beef with each other for years. It only got to this point when he got Fuu, Rai, and later Vivi to help him form the 'Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee.' They say that they're job is to go around and help out the town, but it's really just an excuse for Seifer to pick on anyone he wants."
"Not that they don't do anything to help out at all, but most of the time, it is mainly just a way for Seifer to find some poor sap that he can try and force into a Struggle match," Olette clarified.
"If that's the case, maybe we should meet up and have a match with him sometime while we're here," Aqua determined, feeling more than a little irritated at the idea of someone using a position of power, or the closest they could get to one in order to bully someone.
"Ah, leave it for later," Hayner huffed, still a little irritated from his encounter with Seifer. "He'll get what's coming to him soon enough, and I guarantee, it'll be so beautiful when it happens."
"Yeah, for now, how about we help you guys find some place to stay while you're waiting for Sora and Ven to come back," Pence offered. "It may be pretty pricey, even if we were to try somewhere on Sunset Boulevard, but I think we can get together some munny if we all take on some odd jobs here in town."
"That's very nice of you to offer, but I think we'll be okay," Aqua declined. "I have a friend that lives nearby who might be able to help us out."
Kairi quirked an eyebrow at Aqua upon hearing that, wondering if that was just a convenient lie to hide that they were probably going to be camping out in the woods nearby or something until she felt a familiar tingling in the back of her head. "The last time I spoke with Mickey, he told me that Master Yen Sid had set up a connection between his world and another via a train station. I could sense traces of his magic nearby earlier, so I'm betting that this is that world he set up the link with."
"So basically, we're going to stay with this Master Yen Sid," Kairi thought back in questioning. She was still not quite used to using the D-Link to secretly communicate with someone, but she did have enough of a hang of it to keep herself from saying the question out loud.
"Among other things. I think it's high time we got your wardrobe a few upgrades," Aqua replied with a smile. She then looked to the three local kids and said, "You can still show us around the town a little if you want before then, but we are going to have to head for the train station before it gets too late."
Hayner, Pence, and Olette all nodded in agreement, and with that, the three eagerly began to lead the two newcomers on their own personal tour of Twilight Town. Kairi was excited to be exploring a world without any big threats looming or having some major mission to undertake for the first time, but at the same time, she could not help but hope that wherever he was, Sora was okay.
The next time Axel opened a Dark Corridor, he practically barreled out of it before grasping the wall in an effort to stay upright while he caught his breath. Not that you could blame him. He knew better than anyone how Saïx could be when he was mad before he was a Nobody, and it had only become even worse afterwards. Sure, you could say that the Lunar Diviner was never actually mad since he did not have a heart like the rest of the members in the Organization, but more often than not, Axel could swear that was not true for the claymore wielder. If anything, Saïx only kept the parts of his heart that allowed him to feel anger, spite, and various other unpleasant emotions that had led to their falling out with one another. In all honesty, if Axel were to fight Saïx, he was only fifty percent sure that he could win by himself, so it was only natural that he would want to fight with someone by his side when up against the man who was once his childhood friend, preferably Roxas and Xion, and maybe even Ventus just for the hell of it. He probably would include Sora on the list of people he would want to have his back in a fight against Saïx, but after what he just did, he had a sneaking suspicion that the spiky haired Keyblade warrior would not be too eager to team-up once he found out about it.
When he finally managed to breathe easy again, Axel stood up straight before leaning his back against the wall and sighed, "Phew! That was way too close. But, I got the thing done, so I'd say me and Ansem should be all good now."
"Hey, Axel. Welcome back," a sweet voice called out, startling the pyro so much that he jumped almost six feet in the air.
Upon turning to the culprit, Axel sighed again, this time in both relief and slight annoyance, and said, "Naminé, don't scare like me that! I thought you were taking a nap or something."
"I was, but I woke up a little while ago and saw that you were gone. Shouldn't you be keeping an especially close eye on me at a time like that? I can't exactly defend myself that much when I'm awake, let alone when I'm sleeping," the blonde artist critiqued, though she did so with a good-natured smile, so it was obvious to Axel she was mostly messing with him.
"Come on! Have you looked around this place," Axel asked as he gestured about the room they were in. Their latest hideout was actually a very fancy hotel room, and even at a simple glance, one could tell that it was very high-end, and likely possessed some very impressive security. "I'm pretty sure that if anyone tried to get in here, you'd have noticed long before they could try something."
Naminé was not entirely sure if she could agree with him or not, so in the end, she just shrugged in reply, pulled her out her ever-present sketchpad, and decided to address the big concern. "Just what were you doing that left you so jumpy and panting like you had just run a few marathons?"
"Taking care of a favor for a friend. Shouldn't have been too big of a problem, and it went pretty smoothly for a bit, until Saïx showed up looking ready to put an end to me. I'm not sure how they realized I was even there. I mean, I know the place we all ended up on last is pretty close to the Organization's main stronghold, but even so, they shouldn't have been able to easily catch a whiff of my scent since I'm still wearing this coat," Axel explained.
"Well maybe it was just a case of bad luck. I mean, it's not like you summoned any Dusks while you were doing this favor or something," Naminé reasoned as she moved to put colored pencil to paper. She paused just as the tip of the drawing utensil was a hair's breath away from the page though, because Axel did not immediately reply, and when she turned to face him, she saw that the towering redhead had gone a little stiff in the shoulders, nervously glancing from side to side. That got her attention and made her both concerned and a bit annoyed. "You didn't summon any Dusks while you were doing that favor, did you, Axel?"
"Pfft! What?! Of course not," Axel replied a little too quickly, and even then, the fact his voice cracked a little bit as he spoke definitely indicated that he was lying, making the blonde girl start to glare at him a little. It may not have been very intimidating coming from Naminé, but Axel had been hanging around this kid long enough to know that she would only give a person that look if she was really upset with them, right to the point where she would make them regret it once she learned what they did. That did not mean he was going to go down without a fight though. "I didn't! Really! I mean, why would I do that? Summoning Dusks is…is bad for us. Really bad."
"Yes, it is, and do you remember why it is bad," Naminé questioned.
"Uh…Of course I remember," Axel nervously chuckled, proving to Naminé that he had forgotten. Hey, the girl's a memory sorceress, so she's learned a thing or two about picking up facial and body language that indicates a person is thinking of certain memories. Axel had definitely realized this early on in their time in this crazy witness-protection thing, and he quickly tried to deflect the question back to her. "Do you remember why it's bad?"
"Because, the Organization can track us through the Dusks," Naminé easily answered, talking nice and slow as if she were explaining something to an idiot. "Even if it's one that only answers to a specific member of the Organization, like your Assassins for example, since any member can command any and all varieties of the Nobodies if their ranking or number is high enough. For example, since you were Number VIII, you can control the Samurais, even though they were directly commanded by Roxas."
"Right, but you forget, not all of the member specific Dusks will always follow those commands, especially if they encounter the person they are supposed to work under," Axel pointed out.
"Maybe, but even then, their instincts are not as easily overridden," Naminé countered. "Since a good amount of the remaining members in the Organization are of a higher rank and number than you, Roxas, and Xion, they can easily command each of your Nobodies, assuming Xion ever had any to command. More importantly though, the Organization can track the Dusks movements so they know when, where, and who summons them at a moment's notice, a fact that we learned Xemans had ordered to keep a closer eye on so that he may better find us. This was all stuff that we learned thanks to some of your reconnaissance missions to the Organization's base."
"Right, exactly, which is why we agreed that it would be best if I did not try to summon any Dusks at all, even if they were some of the few Assassins that are still loyal to me," Axel rapidly nodded. He then went silent for a few seconds, and Naminé took that to mean that everything was okay now, until he asked, "So…Assuming I did use any Dusks recently…How long does the trace last again?"
"AXEL," Naminé cried in despair, now knowing for a fact that the redhead had used Dusks.
"I'm sorry! I didn't have much of a choice in the matter! I had to make it look like I was a bad guy at first so that…" Axel started to explain in his defense.
Naminé just groaned in disbelief and slight annoyance before he could get any further than that, and then leapt up from her seat to put away her art supplies and gather up what few other things she had. "Great. That's just great. Now we've gotta pack up and move earlier than expected. Better grab your stuff and make sure to check us out as fast as possible."
"Wait a minute! I'm the one in charge," Axel started to snap, only to stop short when Naminé leveled him with another look, so he quickly made an addition to his statement. "…Of keeping you safe. I'll decide if we need to move early." He then fell silent for a moment or two, making sure that Naminé was taking his hasty correction well, before he finally said, "All right, pack up all your things while I check us out as fast as possible. We've gotta move earlier than planned."
Naminé rolled her eyes a little at her current guardian the second he turned his back to leave the room and check out at the front desk, but she did so with a smile. Axel may not always be the brightest of people, but he was a good friend to have around. She would have also said that his heart was in the right place, but then again, unlike Roxas and Xion, Axel had not gained a heart of his own. At least, not as far as Naminé knew, but even before the two of them fell into this whole mess together, there had been days when she was not so sure about that.
What Naminé and Axel did not know was that the very world that they had been hiding out on also turned out to be the next destination for the team in their adventure. After enjoying a very amazing dinner at Beast's castle, which was accompanied with a very musical performance that they all got a kick out of, the team had only stayed for a few more moments due to being so stuffed. While they were resting up, Beast actually pulled Roxas aside and gifted him with not one, but two new Keychains. Roxas had to take some time in order to identify the first one, which he revealed to be called Rumbling Rose, but the second one, surprisingly, he named in a matter of seconds as Pain of Solitude. When the others asked how he figured out what the second Keychain was so quickly, Roxas just shrugged and said that it was familiar, much like Midnight Roar had been for Xion when she first obtained it. He was more interested in how Beast had come to have it, but when he asked the big guy, Beast just said that he found it one day while he was patrolling the castle grounds for Heartless, and decided to hold onto it just to be safe. It seemed a little strange that one of the Keychains that Roxas may have once used ended up here of all places, and everyone was left pondering on whether or not they would find anymore Keychains like that for Roxas and Xion.
After those conversations and a few last goodbyes, it was back to the Kingdom-A, and off to another world. This time though, the ride did not go quite as smoothly, as they found themselves attacked by several Heartless ships while en route, and so, the new ship had flown right into its first battle. Thankfully, the only overwhelming factor that they had to deal with was the numbers, and the ship's shields were able to hold up well enough under any attacks that were launched or able to get through. Not that they had to worry too much about any of those things, because Roxas and Xion proved to be just as capable at handling the weapons systems as Sora had been with the weapons on the old gummi ship. It was probably the shortest in-flight battle that any of the team could ever remember having, but instead of feeling reassured, they just got the ominous sense that the next few battles would only get worse as time went on.
By the time that the team had fended off their attackers and made it to this world, Axel and Naminé were already long gone without any of them ever even suspecting that the two were there. At least, for the most part none of them seemed to notice, because as they were passing by the building that the two had been hiding out in, Roxas could not help but pause and stare at it curiously. "What's the matter, Roxas," Xion inquired.
"Nothing. I just got a funny feeling all of a sudden," Roxas replied with a shrug.
Xion just looked at him before she finally returned her attention to the street they were currently heading down, and she could not help but chuckle a little at how Sora was turning every which way to take in their surroundings with a wide smile on his face. "Geez, Sora. You're acting like you've never been in a city before," Xion teased.
"Not one like this! I mean, just look at this place! It's huge," Sora cheered as he continued to run about like an excited child.
"Yeah, it does seem pretty exciting," Goofy agreed, and the four Keybearers all turned to look at their two friends in response, once again having to pause for a moment as they took in each of their new appearances.
For some reason, when they arrived on this world, the enchantments that allowed Donald and Goofy to blend in better on whatever world they visited had activated, and granted both of the two cartoon characters very human-like appearances. They were still the same size as they were before, but instead of looking like some type of dog, Goofy now looked like a tall and lanky black man with very short hair, while Donald was a shorter man with slightly tanned skin that was common among sailors, with regulation-length, white hair. Goofy's outfit had remained largely unchanged, save for how his gloves seemed to have shrunk down to better fit his hands, but Donald's outfit did see the addition of a pair of stark white pants and boots that were the same color of yellow as his usual feet. It was still pretty weird for Roxas and Xion to see the two go through such a drastic change, and while Sora and Ven had experience with world-specific form changes, this was the first time that only certain members of their group had been altered to such an extent.
Shaking off the still surprising change in his two friends' appearance, Sora was soon smiling again as he declared, "I feel so metropolitan!" He then crossed his arms in thought before he reconsidered his choice of words. "Uh, cosmopolitan?"
"Try not-apolitan, you crazy island brat," Donald snapped, having gotten rather annoyed with Sora's excitement over their location when they had barely even done anything just yet. After he had spoken though, everyone froze in their tracks and stared at him, because they had just witnessed another change in Donald that this world seemed to have required of him.
"Whoa…Was that…Was that Donald's voice," Roxas asked.
"I think it was," Ventus confirmed, hardly able to believe it himself.
"He sounds so…so…" Xion analyzed as she tried to find a word to describe the change in a way that was not offensive.
"Normal," Sora finally finished, having already figured out that there was no other way to say it.
Donald must not have been paying any attention, because he was still quiet even after hearing everyone's comments on his voice. A minute later, he opened his mouth to speak again, starting slowly before picking up the pace with a single sentence, and smiling a little more with each repetition of the phrase. "Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber baby buggy bumpers. Rubber-baby-buggy-bumpers," Donald recited until he finally just let out an excited cheer of his own. "Wow! I've never been able to say that before!"
"Probably because your voice was always so high-pitched, scratchy, and unintelligible," Roxas pointed out without really thinking.
"I'll show you unintelligible," Donald growled before giving chase to the younger blonde of the group, earning a round of laughter from everyone.
"See? Now that's another good reason to be excited! This place is a blast," Sora cheered, thinking that proved his point.
"But we only just got here. We haven't even done anything yet," Goofy mused, confused as to how the place could be considered that great so quickly.
"Well, that's Sora for ya," Ventus shrugged with a casual smile. "Always finding something incredible in the simplest of things."
"Oh, you want a blast? I'll show ya a blast," Donald declared as he gave up his chase of Roxas in favor of preparing to go for Sora, and with the change to his voice, his statement actually made some of the group get shivers up their spines. Those shivers turned into straight up jumps of surprise when they all heard an explosion from somewhere close by. "Uh…that wasn't me," Donald immediately insisted.
"No, that was trouble," Ventus determined, summoning Guardian Wind as he spoke, having already sensed a very familiar presence from the direction that the sound had come from. "Come on!"
"Right behind you," Sora shouted back with Kingdom Key already in his hand, and the others were all quick to follow after as well.
One race down several city blocks later, the team finally came to a halt at the sight of the explosion that they had previously heard, and while they were not too surprised to find several Heartless about the area, both old and new, they did still find something that they were not expecting at all. Right in the center of all the chaos, thrashing around at anything and everything it could, was what the team could only describe as the largest man they had ever seen, and the most peculiar thing about him was the fact that he was in a grey suit of armor with a horn on top of his helmet, making him look a lot like a rhino. Apparently, his size was a good reflection of his strength, because they all saw this big animal-like man easily lift up a number of cars to toss around like baseballs, before he finally lifted a bus over his head and threw it towards a building.
Hearing screams coming from inside the bus, Ventus knew that there were likely still people inside, and he immediately aimed Guardian Wind at the bus before casting Zero Gravity, halting its flight in midair. Sora then summoned out his Keyblade Glider, and flew up to make sure that the people were okay, while Donald and Xion set to work making a way to get everyone down to safety on the ground. With those three handling things there, Roxas and Goofy joined Ventus in his attack on the rhino-man and the Heartless. Among the Heartless were a number of Shadows, but a good majority of them were new ones that were capable of changing between two different modes. One mode had it racing across the ground on its tires, while the second saw those same wheels lift up and become a pair of energy-bladed wings so that it could fly, but no matter what mode they were in, they were still capable of delivering very vicious attacks that had the three jumping and dodging for their lives.
"Just what are these guys," Goofy asked as he deflected one of the new Heartless away from him with his shield.
Sora glanced over at the new Heartless, and then turned to his hood where he could just barely see Jiminy flipping through the pages of his journal. "Anytime, Jiminy," Sora prompted.
"I'm looking as fast as I can," the cricket insisted. Finally, he found the entry he was looking for, and he quickly read it aloud. "They're called Tireblades. They're still really new, so not that much is known about them other than what you guys are seeing right now."
"Good to know," Ventus remarked as he leapt from the ground and up to a lamppost, using Flowmotion to spin himself around in preparation for a powerful slashing attack. His spin attack destroyed a good number of Shadows and airborne Tireblades, but the fire spell he shot off at the rhino-man afterwards did not seem to do anything to the big guy. "So…any ideas on what that thing is?"
"There's nothing in my journal about that," Jiminy shouted.
"I don't think it's a Heartless," Xion reasoned as she carried the last bus passenger to safety. Upon getting that person clear, she turned to rejoin the fight, not noticing that the Zero Gravity spell holding the bus up was starting to fade out, or that the bus was already beginning to slowly descend to the ground again while she was passing underneath it.
Sora did notice though, and made to try and help her, but was ultimately cut off when some of the airborne Tireblades suddenly knocked him out of the air and away from where Xion was. He would have tried to rush back over but even without the Shadows that were blocking his path, he knew that he would never make it, so all Sora could do at that point was shout, "Xion, get out of the way!"
Xion made the mistake of stopping when she heard Sora call out her name, and when the rest of his declaration registered in her mind, she immediately looked up just in time for the spell holding the bus up to finally give out and begin dropping the massive vehicle from the air. At that moment, Xion just froze in place, a sense of panic having overridden all other instinct and feeling in her, right to the point where she ended up just ducking her head down when she found the ability to move again, bracing herself for the end. Even as all her friends cried out for her, she could not bring herself to move, but thankfully, a last minute save came just in the nick of time.
Just seconds before the bus could touch her, Xion felt a strong arm quickly grab her around the middle, pulling her off her feet and away to safety. Instead of falling to the ground afterwards though, Xion felt the wind blowing across her face like she was flying through the air, while a strange sound could be heard going off every so often as she was carried away from danger. She was a little worried that when she opened her eyes, she would discover that one of those new Heartless had actually grabbed her in preparation to slam her into a building, until she heard a new, cheerful voice speaking that she could only remember hearing at one point before in her life: in her dreams about Sora's past adventures.
"Whoa, talk about safety hazards. They should really have a warning sign out here for these types of situations. Something like, I don't know, 'Caution: falling debris, dangerous monsters, and big, dumb walking insults to animals ahead,'" Xion's rescuer joked.
If the rest of the team had not been facing Xion when at the time, they definitely would have turned towards her position when they heard that voice, because aside from Roxas, they all recognized it as the voice of an old friend that they had not seen since their last journey a year ago. "Hey, is that who I think it is," Goofy asked.
"How many other palookas do you know of that wear an outfit like that and swing around on a web," Donald questioned in return.
"No way," Ventus whispered with a grin.
"So this is his world," Sora cheered happily.
When the sensation of rushing wind finally ceased, Xion finally opened her eyes to face her rescuer, and was left just as amazed as the others. A rather appropriate feeling, given one of the adjectives that people of this world used to describe her rescuer, because as it turned out, the man who had just pulled her out of danger was none other than Sora's very first summon. Even if he had not spoke up, Xion would have very easily recognized that red and blue suit with a web pattern running along the red portions, with a small, black spider emblem on his chest, and red mask with large, white eyes. "Spider-Man," Xion gasped in awe.
"The one and only, at your service," the amazing, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man answered with pride. "Welcome to New York."
Aqua's Journal Entry 3:
It's actually kind of amazing to see all of these worlds that Riku's been to; even it wasn't for the noblest of purposes at the time. Well, not entirely noble, anyway. I get that he wanted to try and save Kairi, but allying with darkness alone, never mind Maleficent was definitely not the right way to do it. I'm don't have to tell him that, but I can't help but wonder whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, since Riku's really beating himself up over it. More importantly though, as we kept going up, I could swear that I've been sensing someone else was here with us, battling against our current hosts, and just recently, one or two of those people just disappeared. That must mean that they were beaten, but I can't really be sure until after we've gotten out of the basement levels.
What really frightens me though is the encounter that we just had a moment ago with a man calling himself Lexaeus. He was a very powerful warrior to be certain, and his strength only grew with every passing second of our battle, but the part that concerns me is that he looks and sounds just like someone I had met once on Radiant Garden. Come to think of it, from what I can sense, there are a few people here that feel familiar to such people. Just what had happened on that world while I was trapped in the Realm of Darkness for all these years, and how did they end up becoming these "Nobodies" as Riku says that they call themselves? I just have so many questions and not nearly enough answers. Thankfully, it looks like I was able to get some pretty quickly.
Despite all of our efforts, Lexaeus nearly defeated us, and it was not until Riku's darkness suddenly overtook him that axe-sword wielder finally fell, but from what I could tell, it was not really Riku's darkness controlling him. It was his: Xehanort's, or more accurately, Xehanort's Heartless. He had come to try and destroy me as well, and probably would have if Mickey had not arrived to save me and free Riku just in time. Now, all three of us are here together, and it seems that Riku is especially happy to have another friend here with him on this mission of his. Hopefully that means that we'll be able to get out of here and drive these Nobodies out a little sooner, but I can't shake the feeling that we're not even close to being through the worst of things.
AN: Okay, let's review what happened here that remained the same. Axel appeared on Destiny Islands, acting like he was going to kidnap Kairi, Pluto showed up and lead her through a Dark Corridor to Twilight Town, Kairi met Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Now, the stuff that changed: Axel didn't just use Dusks, but instead, was primarily using the Assassin Nobodies. It makes sense since they were supposed to be his direct underlings, so it makes you wonder why he didn't use them in the canon story. Perhaps they wanted to keep it simple and not over complicate things with the cutscene? I don't know, and it doesn't matter at this point. Another change: Aqua's presence. That one's pretty obvious and self-explanatory, so no need to go into detail there. Third change, Kairi doesn't seem to cower away or like she's willing to entertain the idea that Axel's being honest for very long, and actually attacks some of the Nobodies that had her surrounded before she went through the portal.
And finally, let's not forget the biggest change: Kairi didn't get kidnapped after she arrived in Twilight Town! Did you really think I was going to let that happen this time around? If you did, then you clearly haven't been paying attention to this series so far. Not only that, but we got to see Aqua and Kairi show off their battle skills, while showcasing a little bit of how much Kairi has improved since the last story. Plus, Axel seemed to relay a little bit of intel to Kairi and Aqua before he left them in Twilight Town, while the girls also had a little chat with, you guessed it Saix. A part of me did actually want them to fight him, but at that point, I felt that it would just be overdoing things. Oh, and for those of you who were hoping that one of them would put Seifer in his place back there, don't worry, that will happen, and I'll try to find a way to work that moment into the story, or at least mention it happening. And look at that, it looks like Kairi's a little ahead of Sora, Roxas, and Xion when it comes to certain abilities, namely the D-Link. Then again, she has been training with Aqua for the last year while those other three have only just started/resumed their training with Ven.
Axel: Not to mention we also got to see me and Namine a little more, and I'm thinking that it probably gave you guys a pretty good laugh while giving out some important info for everyone.
AN: Also true. Yeah, I felt that scene between Namine and Axel was necessary, because to be honest, we really don't see that much of Namine in KH2, despite how big of a help she was to everyone in that game, and I want to give her as much screen time as I can while it's still possible. Does that mean we'll see Namine again some time in the future? Well, we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?
Sora: And then we wrapped up by revealing where me and the others went next, and it turned out to be none other than the world of Marvel!
AN: Yeah, I had a feeling you would say that. I'll admit, some of the dialogue used here was similar to what was used when Sora and the gang visited San Fransokyo in KH3, but only because it works so well. Oh, and yeah, I had Donald and Goofy turn human for this world. Obviously they couldn't appear as they were since it was confirmed that they are cartoon characters on this world, so they have to be given some way to better blend in. And yeah, that did extend to Donald's voice being changed. If you need a better idea, just look up a YouTube video about Donald's voice in the new Ducktales series.
Finally, sorry for those of you who were expecting Olympus Coliseum, but to be honest, I'm a little surprised how many of you did not guess that the Marvel world would be where they ended up next. Well, if you really needed further proof, then the fact that Rhino was rampaging in the streets and Spider-Man came swooping in to save Xion was definitely it.
Roxas: Hey, how about we mention the fact that I now have a couple new additions to my Keychain collection.
AN: Oh, right. Yeah, Roxas has got a couple new Keychains now. I mean, it only seemed fair since Sora already has a bunch of his own Keychains, Ven has a big collection of his own, and Xion has already gotten two more Keychains, counting when she got Midnight Roar from her Valor Form. So now the twins each have one Keychain that they obtained during their days with the Organization and that you can get in KH2. Don't worry though, Sora's going to get a new Keychain soon, too, and Kairi will get a few new ones as well, so they won't be getting left out on that.
Now then, hope you guys are ready for more marvels, because the next chapter is definitely going to have plenty of them and then some, as if that wasn't already clear. For more information, let's head Onto the Preview!...
Spider-Man is here! And the team's over the moon with excitement at the chance to team-up with him again, but that's nothing compared to who they end up working with to really stop the Heartless rampaging alongside of Rhino. This world's mightiest heroes are facing a little problem of their own, and they're definitely looking for any and all help they can get in stopping the Heartless. Good thing that there's a new team of heroes in New York to help out, or should we say a new legion, but just what is it that the villains of this world plan to do with the aid of the Heartless, and just how grave a threat could be unleashed unless all the heroes assemble as one? An entire world of marvels awaits our brave adventurers, next time.
Yeah, it's not just Spidey we'll be seeing here, but a few other Marvel heroes as well, and I'm sure you've all already guessed which ones they'll be from that. Can't wait for that, can we? Well, until next time...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon!