Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 12

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

One day ago

Iris couldn't take her eyes of this strange young man, who was likely not much older than herself, taking down those white monsters as if they were nothing.

The way he moved was like something out of one of those shows she used to watch, quick as lightning yet as strong as a truck. He flipped around the malleable creatures, seemingly untouchable to them. His strange sword was almost like Noctis' royal arms from what she saw from the photos Prompto would send her.

He spun the weapon his hand with each swing of the strange object, in fact, it looked like a gigantic car key from her spot. When he severed another creature in half, he made it disappear with a flick of his hand. It only then did she see that they were alone in the alleyway, she guessed the monsters must have retreated or he just beat them all.

The young man turned to Iris and approached her. He stood before the girl and offered his hand. 'You alright, miss?', he asked. Now that her life wasn't in peril, she finally took note of him. He wears a black hooded jacket that is unzipped, with short sleeves, gold buttons, and a checker-based pattern at the hem. Underneath, she sees him wearing a white shirt with a V-neck. Blue cropped trousers that are hemmed with the same checker-based pattern as the jacket, black glovelettes on each hand, and black high-top boots.

His hair was short unkempt silver, with bright blue-green eyes and his skin was rather pale compared to the locals in Lestallum. Even his voice didn't register to her, it was not from around here she knew that much. What truly perplexed her the most was, his facial features and clothes, strongly resembled Noctis to a degree, almost like if Noct threw on a wig. And she unashamedly would admit he was just as handsome.

'Err, you alright miss?', he asked again, his voice was smooth and playful with a touch of worry.

Iris took his hand and he easily pulled her back to her feet with ease. On her two feet, she looked up at her savior, who was at least two inches taller than her, she smiled back. 'Thanks for that, but what were those things?', she questioned. 'They're called nobodies, long story short, they're bad guys', he explained simply and straight to the point. He offered no other explanation to them, which Iris presumed meant they were an off-limit topic.

'Ok? But who are you? I've never seen you around here before', she said, smiling at him.

'I've just arrived here actually, and I'm looking for my friends', he said. 'They uh, kinda got lost and I've been looking for them'.

'Oh? Well, …what do they look like?', Iris asked.

Before he could respond, they heard a small growl emitting from them, namely Iris' and the stranger's stomachs. She blushed while he awkwardly chuckled in response, scratching his neck. This embarrassment gave the girl an idea, and seeing as he did rescue her, she gestured to the hotel. 'If you're hungry enough, there's a café at the hotel I'm staying in', she hinted. 'How about I buy you lunch, to say thanks for saving me?'.

'I'd like that, thanks', he said with a nod. They both went down the street towards the hotel as she turned to him. 'So what did you say your name was again?', Iris chirped.

'Its…'.

Present Day

'RIKU!'.

Next thing Riku knew he was tackled by his two friends, nearly losing his balance with the combined powerful hug. He let out a yell as he was balancing two overly affectionate friends with only one leg support him as they nuzzled into him.

'How'd ya find us?', Sora asked.

'It's great to see you again!', Kairi cheered.

'Guys, balance! Gravity!', Riku yelled, feeling himself almost falling.

As the islanders hugged, Noctis and Iris just watched with amusement, the girl smirking at Noctis in particular. Now that she could compare the two, while there was a significant similarity between them, it was easier to tell them apart with their hair and apparel.

Though she was still trying to decide which was cuter.

Once he calmed down his more excited friends and prevent his back from getting acquainted with the ground, he gave them both a friendly smile. 'So how DID you find us?', Sora asked, hands behind his head. 'Well to be fair, you found me so, there's your answer there', he said.

'We mean in this…place', Kairi said, choosing her words very carefully when she subtly glanced back to Noctis and Iris. 'Yen Sid told us this place was way too distant from the other places Sora's been to'.

'He wasn't kidding', Riku said, folding his arms. 'It was in a different section altogether, only thanks to Chip and Dale did we even trace the ship's last point before it went silent'.

'But are you alone?', Sora asked, 'Didn't the King come with you? Or Ven? Axel?'. 'No…I was sent alone', Riku sighed.

After he frowned and looked to Kairi. 'After you and Aqua went "poof" on us, Master Yen Sid was adamant that losing one keyblade wielder was bad enough but another one and a master to boot, was not an option'.

Kairi sheepishly nodded at this, a look of regret was on her face from Riku's frown. 'I offered to go look for you five after Kairi and Aqua disappeared, and with some help from the King, we've managed to trace Sora's ship out here before he went silent'.

'Oh that's great, so you have a ship right?', Sora asked excitedly.

At this though, Riku's frown turned into a look that screamed "oh crap" and suddenly he looked like he wanted to walk away as quickly as possible from this. It made the two younger friends smirk in response seeing as Riku would often have that cat-like grin when he knew the two of them messed up or were about to be in a lot of trouble. 'U-uh…heh…funny story…', he muttered, scratching his cheek.

'You crashed it didn't you?', they both asked, still smirking.

'…kinda?', he said. 'L-Look, there's something about this…place…that's screwed up the gummi ships controls, it shuts it down'. At this, the two younger teens' smirks disappeared and in their place was confusion and worry. 'What do you mean?', Sora asked. Riku folded his arms, shaking his head. 'When I was orbiting around, everything just went shut off, and next thing I knew the ship was starting to fall into the…place'.

'Ok, we need a better code name for worlds because this is just getting silly', Kairi whispered.

'It was *your* idea!', Sora argued back with a chuckle.

'And what would have you called it?', accused the redhead.

'Eos?', Sora questioned, 'That's what this world is called'.

Kairi gave the boyfriend a look of disbelief before she groaned. 'Why didn't you say that earlier?', she whined. 'Why didn't you ask me?', teased Sora.

Riku chuckled at the two, a sense of nostalgia washing over him as he remembered how much he missed his two friends. 'A-Anyways! You were saying?', Kairi said, looking back at Riku. 'Right, bottom line something about this world seems to be affecting the ships that are orbiting it. Which means if anyone else gets too close, they'll end up here too'.

'Did you contact the King about this?', Kairi asked.

'Yeah, and he told me they're gonna be working with Chip and Dale back home about this', he said, 'If we're lucky they'll figure this out soon'.

'But wait a second, how did you get down here anyway without your ship?', Sora asked, remembering his landing. 'I just used the warp system on it before all the power went off, and well, I'm not sure where it is now or heck if it didn't explode on the way in'.

Kairi frowned. 'So that means we still don't have a way off Eos…'.

'Sorry, no', Riku said. 'So much for the rescue, huh?'.

Sora though was still grinning. 'What's with those looks?', he asked, looking between the two. 'This is great! We can finally go explore a new "place" together!', Sora hummed, beaming. Riku opened his mouth to retort but he was silenced by a now starry-eyed Kairi. 'You're right! Just like when we built that raft!', she agreed wholeheartedly. They both looked to the silver-haired youth, eyes glowed with excitement.

He chuckled at them, shaking his head in disbelief. 'You two are way too ok with the whole "we're trapped on Eos" thing', he said. Sora laughed while Kairi giggled. Just as they were about to ask more, they both turned to the approaching Noctis and Iris. 'Hate to interrupt but uh, we're kinda on a mission', he said. 'Oh right! Uh, Noctis, this is Riku. Our best friend', Sora introduced, smiling. 'Never would have guessed', Noctis chimed with a smirk that Kairi slightly shuddered at. It looked worryingly like Riku's…

'And Riku, this is Noctis, he's been helping us find our way around here'.

Riku gave the prince an analytical look before he gestured his jacket. 'Like the jacket', he complimented. At this Noctis smirked back. 'Thanks, but I like those greaves of yours, badass', he said. The prince turned back to Iris. 'So uh, was Riku what you were going to tell me about?'.

'Yeah, he just showed up here a day ago when those weird monsters in white attacked me', she explained. 'But then once Riku took them down, everything went back to normal until the empire arrived'.

'That's when the entire city went under lockdown. Pretty much anyone who looked remotely suspicious was arrested', Riku said. 'We've been stuck in the hotel all day thanks to them'.

Noctis frowned at this, glaring hatefully down the alleyway where they could see several magitek soldiers patrolling the streets. They could also spot some dusks and berserkers patrolling alongside them, though the latter nobodies were fluttering in the air and slithered upwards to the rooftops. 'And those, nobodies? They've been helping the Nifs out?', he asked, turning to Riku.

'Yeah, but only this morning though. Once the empire had the place locked down, they started to appear', Riku elaborated. 'Not sure when or how the empire got their hands on them but all you need to know is there dangerous, more so than the heartless'.

Iris looked at Sora and Kairi with questions evidently on her face before they both mouthed "long story", then she turned to Noctis. 'Where's Gladdy and the others?'. 'They're outside the city, me and those two snuck in to find you and the others, they ok?', Noctis said.

'Jared got hurt by some high-ranked member of the army, but otherwise, he'll live. Talcott is just shaken up by all this', Iris explained. 'But how are we gonna get out of here with all seven of us?'. Noctis folded his arms in thought, looking at the other three were doing the same thing. Even with them and the others outside together reclaiming this city was certainly out of the question. With the empire having soldiers all over the place and the nobodies to add, it would be a full-scale battle on their hands.

Not to mention if the heartless start to spawn, that's three adversaries on ten of them, and then there's the people inside too. 'There'd be too many people to keep an eye on in this city to fight everyone', Kairi pointed out, 'Not to mention the empire could send reinforcements, right?'. 'Once they find out Noct's here, they'll probably send all of the empire at him', Iris hummed.

'That's it…', Riku said. He looked at Noctis with a grin. 'They're hunting for us, right? So, what do you think they'll do once they see us running away?'.

'Chase after us…and leave Lestallum behind', Noctis mused, catching on to Riku's plan. 'Then all we must do is get everyone out of here while making sure Noctis and Riku are seen!', Kairi cheered, clapping her hands together. 'Okay…but how are we going to outrun an army? They've confiscated all vehicles in the section and there is no way Jared and Talcott can run down the tunnel', Iris pointed out.

Sora, however, grinned. 'Leave transportation to me, I've got an idea!'.

*Later*

Caligo Ulldor, the Brigadier General of the Niflheim, that was a name Noctis had only heard once in passing from the Marshal. A man who according to Cor was the human definition of a snake and an insult to said reptilians. He was the one who locked down the town the very moment someone had reported sightings of the renegade prince.

As he exited the empire vehicle, followed by a few men but no nobodies insight. It was a relief for the party since it'd be easier to outrun a few tin heads than flying malleable monsters. One of the supposed captains of the town saluted him in greetings but the general barely acknowledged the greeting alone, instead, he was glaring all around them for Noctis.

'Well? Where is the would-be prince?', he demanded, 'His grace is losing patience with our lack of success on the hunt', he demanded.

'Up here old man!'.

The entire platoon of the empire's forces looked up to see Noctis standing on top of the building, engine blade in hand as he glared down at them defiantly. 'You want me? You're gonna have to catch me first!', Noctis declared. 'Shoot him down! Today we'll claim the false King's head! For the glory of our empire!', Caligo declared, pointing at the prince.

The soldiers started to open fire on the prince just as he ran back for cover, bullets hitting the building and chipping off some of the stone. 'Get someone up there! Surround the building, do NOT LET HIM ESCAPE!'.

As the soldiers started to swarm around the building and some using the fire escapes to climb up to the rooftop, the next thing they saw was a bright light that nearly blinded them all. Then, a huge geyser of water sprouted from the rooftop that reach higher than the city's buildings could ever reach. Waves and rivers of water raced down onto the ground, swallowing up any unfortunate soldier in water and dragging them away while some were crushed by the weight of it.

Next thing Caligo could see were two large dinghies shaped like attraction seats fly upwards into the sky, their forms right in front of the sun caused him to squint his eyes in annoyance from the glaring beam of light. Then the dinghies flowed on the many streams of water and raced down the buildings, he could hear the yells of more than just the prince as the moment they landed on the ground the entire street was as if a huge wave suddenly washed over Lestallum.

Caligo was lucky enough to climb on his vehicle to avoid being swept away by the ludicrous amount of water that suddenly appeared out from nowhere, no water tower in the town could even contain a fifth of the amount of water that near flooded the streets. The dinghies sped along the waters as he, to his dismay, spotted Noctis in one of them with the Amicitia girl, the butler, and his brat all holding onto the railing in the center of the dinghy.

The other dinghy carried three other teens he had never seen before, and to add more fury to the ever-growing stew of rage in his eyes, he could see one of them nearly looked identical to the prince. Caligo growled as two and two were put together, realizing they had been hunting for nothing but a lookalike.

The emperor was going to have his head for this…

*Outside of Lestallum*

Gladiolus was pacing around in front of the Regalia, often checking his phone for any missed messages or calls Noctis tried to do to reach while everyone else was waiting around. Aqua herself was tapping her arm in anticipation, biting her inner cheek with a pensive look as Donald and Goofy were quietly waiting for Sora and Kairi.

'You think they got there ok?', Prompto asked, looking at Ignis, who was watching the city.

'With Noct's warping and Sora's air-borne mobility, they should have reached the hotel hours ago', Ignis said. 'I just hope Iris and the others are unharmed, the empire isn't known for gentle hospitality'.

Gladiolus let out a deep growl in retort to that, eyeing his phone impatiently as Aqua gave him a sympathetic look. Just then, Ignis' phone vibrated and immediately he answered while throwing it on loudspeaker.

'Noct, have you-

'IGGY! GET THE CARS READY! WE'RE GONNA BE MOVING FAST!', yelled Noctis. The team could hear several other voices yelling along with him. 'W-What happened?', Ignis questioned. 'JUST GET READY! WE'RE ALMOST OUT!'.

They all heard a large ominous sound emitting from the tunnel behind them, and when they did turn to see, they spotted several streams of water rushing leaking from the tunnel that was slowly growing in height and mass. 'What the hell…?', Gladiolus said with uncertainty. Even the Nifs at the roadblock were confused by the slow crawling but growing amount of water, but when they turned around all of a sudden, the entire tunnel fired off a huge wave of water.

The roadblocks were destroyed along with the mechanical enemies of the team that were washed away, structures and all as they were thrown onto the woodlands. The team watched in awe at the sight as the water rushed onwards like they were watching a tsunami wave.

'…so, who wants to bet Sora might have done this?', Prompto pips.

'And we'd take that bet because?', Gladiolus grumbled.

Speaking of Sora, they see the two dinghies riding the massive wave, thunderous cheers and laughter rang out the area. Slowly though the wave receded until finally, the dinghies were now touching the roads until coming to a complete stop. The dinghies disappeared as everyone stood up, though the teens and the child known as Talcott were cheering.

'Holy crap! THAT WAS AWESOME!', Noctis shouted, throwing his arms in the air.

'AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN!', Talcott cried with glee.

'Riku! WE GOTTA LEARN THIS! Think of all the things we could do with this back home!', Kairi declared.

'Oh my god yes!', Riku said.

'Had fun I hope?', Ignis chimed in as they all joined up. When all eyes fell onto Riku though, the royal retinue did a double-take before comparing the two to Noctis, while Aqua smiled at the boy. 'Good to see you here, Riku', she greeted. 'Likewise, Aqua', he replied, his tone was respectful and mannered. 'And you too as, Donald and Goofy'.

'Iggy…doesn't he look a lot like Noct?', Prompto whispered, looking at Riku and his best buddy.

Ignis didn't comment, as he was just grateful that their mission was a success and more importantly no one was harmed. Though judging from the energy, they were all displaying, he was dreading the drive back home. But his silence sadly gave Gladiolus ammunition.

'I know Iggy…it's too much for you to handle', he said in such a somber tone like he is telling him some tragic news. 'Bad enough we've one Noct…now we got two…'.

'…oh my god, that IS terrible news!', Prompto cried, grabbing his head with both hands.

'Oh hahaha…very funny', Noctis grumbled, glaring at his shield. 'Next time you can save your sister!'.

'Jokes on you, I've got Sora and company, and we both know they'd do it', retorted Gladiolus.

Noctis growled in annoyance, but before the argument could continue, Kairi pipped up. 'Um, everyone? Maybe we could have this debate on the number of Noctis' out there somewhere without the imperials?', she suggested.

'Oh yeah, because I think we made them mad!', Sora said, pointing at the tunnel, where lo and behold a small platoon of soldiers were racing down towards them. 'Go!', Noctis yelled.

Quickly they piled Iris and the others into the Regalia with Noctis in front while Aqua took Gladiolus, Prompto, Donald and Goofy in her own just as Sora whistled for the chocobos for himself and the other two. Just as the soldiers reached the end of the tunnel, the group sped off away from Lestallum, leaving the imperials behind in the dust.

A successful mission…

A/N:

Not gonna lie, not my best chapter. Sorry, but I wasn't getting any ideas for this one so think of it as a way to bring Riku into the story. So from here on out, we'll be focusing on collecting the royal arms until the very end.

I know I barely mentioned Talcott and Jared, but like the game, they'll barely be in this so yeah. I'm sorry for this being a very "ehhhh meh" chapter, next one will be better promise!

1st Q: Should Riku have the form change too?

2nd: What royal arm should we do next?

Final Q: Bust-a-Base?

Thanks for reading as always! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!