Chapter 9
Riku was concentrating on the road blocks when he heard the crowd.
Bastion was yelling out loud, chanting "Death for the Beast!" with the heartless. Riku ran back to the castle and told the Beast that there was company.
"Stay down! Let them get here, and we will hold them at this hall," ordered the Beast. Everyone was ready to brawl, which scared Riku.
"We should make everyone retreat to the upper floors," suggested Riku. "Let the traps take Bastion."
"No," growled Beast.
Riku touched his head, feeling like as if something was wrong. Wait...
"What is it, Riku?" asked Lumiere the candelabra.
"WAIT!" Riku widened his eyes. "The name...isn't he Gaston?"
The Beast eyed him with surprise. "I didn't notice that before, but I don't remember it being Gaston."
Riku knew better. Something else is going on with his memories. If the town was influenced by Maleficent, then why would the antagonist's name be changed? She welcomed all evil as long as it welcomed her. Did she do something to Gaston?
"Maybe there was a mistake," said Cogsworth the clock. "We always knew him as Bastion. Maybe there is something else going on here?"
Cogsworth was saying the obvious. The side effects of a planet being swallowed by the gray mist must be that. He never noticed this happening inside Eren's world, but that world was not near the mist, nor had it dealt with its exposure.
"They're here!" cried Chip the teacup.
"FIRE!" cried Cogsworth.
The men and heartless were caught off-guard by the explosion that came. Mrs. Potts the teapot poured watery tea all over the floor. "Tsuzuri Raiden!" Riku felt electricity coursing through him, and slammed it to the ground. The electricity took down three-fourths of the enemies near them. Lumiere hit the townsfolk with planks of wood, while Cogsworth tackled the men near him into the electrified water.
Bastion did not look like Gaston. Riku saw red eyes and hands that held a gunblade. "Silly human," he yelled, "You were foolish to think that we couldn't fight against you? All we need to do is kill the Beast, and your pathetic duo in town-the stones were set the instant you came here."
He teleported, and Riku became aware that the Beast was somewhere else. "The bridge!"
In town, Lexaus attacked first. His fists curled, and he hit the house, reducing it to rubble. Sora and Axel moved to the sides. "Maurice, move!" shouted Axel. Bell's father moved far away from the area. Lexaus moved, hitting the ground with a energy slash. Sora dodged it, but Lexaus moved up and grabbed him.
Sora fought against the virtual Lexaus, and knew what was about to happen. He tried to move out of his grasp, but he held on with more power. Axel got pushed back by the immense power. Lexaus threw Sora to the nearest building, and smashed him with a mega punch. He flew across many buildings before he landed on the ground.
"Alright, pal, you asked for it," Axel replied, closing his eyes. His clothes turned more reddish-golden, and his blade fused into his body. He opened his eyes, and reiatsu flowed in him.
"Flowin' Fire Form!" announced Axel. "I can transform too, got that memorized?"
Lexaus frowned, angry at the surprise. Sora got up, making him even more angry. "Is that all you got?!" Sora roared.
Lexaus tried to go after Sora, but Axel was suddenly in the way. "No way, baby. There is no way that you can win here."
Suddenly, Lexaus felt multiple slashes. Axel passed him, trapping Lexaus with his extending arms. As he tried to move, Axel's left hand warped, lashing at him until he was trapped between the blows. The arm went back to Axel, and he shouted "Magma funeral!" A giant fireball went towards Lexaus. Half of his body nearly eroded, but with his full power, Lexaus deflected the attack. Too late, he saw the trap, and looked over to the Valor Form Sora.
"Slapshot!" Sora slammed him like a hockey puck to multiple buildings. Axel put his palm on the ground to create a fire barrier in Lexaus's way. He hit it, bumping into the ground. He got back up, only to see Sora say "Cloud!"
Lexeaus made the terrible conclusion that he was going to perform a regular sonic attack, but Sora decided to combine that aspect with his experience over his battles. He moved with the speed of sonic, but retreated after every hit, bouncing off other buildings to power up his hits. All Lexaus saw were after images, as if a thousand Soras were hitting hit at once. "Valor Tempest!" Suddenly, a storm of Soras hit Lexaus for a few moments. Lexaus collapsed, dead from the ordeal.
Back at the castle's bridge, the Beast looked sadly at his castle. Bastion looked at him with anger.
"Thanks to you, I was reverted to this," whispered the villain. "I wanted to have the women, the power, the fame. But now, I have to be like you, until the very end!"
As Bastion lunged at the Beast, a dark barrier blocked the path between them. "You have to face me first!" shouted Riku.
"Fair enough!" Bastion charged at Riku, pairing blows with him. Riku moved back, luring Bastion to his trap. "Freeze!" he yelled, and parts of the man were stiff and rigid. "Time to end this!"
Riku hit Bastion off the bridge. However, as he was about to enter the ravine underneath, a giant hollow and a giant nobody fused into his body, and the newly fused being stood up. "Thanks to this power, you will die!" shouted the fanatic man. "I have gained the two opposites, and since I am the third formed and the origin, I am immortal!"
Riku was confused about what was going on, but he know one thing that is wrong: there is no way that Bastion is immortal.
"I'm going in!" shouted the Beast. Bastion slammed a meteorite towards the Beast, but the barrier holds. Bastion aimed at Riku, who skillfully dodges the blast. Riku attempted to hit him close up, but Bastion surrounded himself with dark aura. It affected the ground around Bastion, making it a trap.
Riku decided to hit him with magic. "Fire!" It bounced off the man.
"Magic is useless, Riku!" shouted Bastion. "Tombstones of sealing!"
He got the rock around Riku, almost trapping him near Bastion. Now, Bastion used his nobody skills to get closer to Riku. His hits kept stunning Riku until Bastion slammed him towards his own barrier.
"Once I kill you," grinned Bastion, "I win."
"Riku!" yeled the Beast.
As Bastion prepared his last hit, Riku remembered a person who never gave up, and the people who were counting on him.
Sora. Kairi. Ichigo. Cloud. Axel. Countless more.
Riku roared, catching Bastion by surprise. He transformed to his dark self, the red heart appearing on his chest, and the muscles showing up. "I WILL STOP YOU!" shouted Riku.
He attacked, darkness radiating from his blade. Riku hit Bastion with speed, deciding to add light and darkness, combining his strengths together to weaken him. "NOOO!" cried Bastion. "I HAVE TOO MUCH TO LOSE!"
Riku pushed him downwards, and then opened his salvo of darkness to hit Bastion as he hit the ground. His body stopped moving, and Riku assumed that he was down.
The barriers broke down, and the Beast ran towards the entrance of the building. Belle stood there, waiting for him.
"No way!" Bastion moved upward, slashing at the Beast.
"No! NO!" cried Belle and the Beast's servants. Riku felt anger at what Bastion has done.
"DARK SONIC!"
Riku hit Bastion, but unlike the regular sonic attack, he repelled Bastion off from the field. He died, crashing into the pillars near the castle.
Belle brought the flower with her, running to the dying Beast. "No, don't die!" she pleaded. She kissed him, and then, an enchanted glow appeared over them. The Beast started to turn human! As he started to do so, every of the servants did so too, and the skies were filled with rainbows.
Riku felt that the world is safe again. Maurice approached the area, glad that everything is ok again. The townsfolk saw the Beast turn into a human, and were stammering that they have not noticed before. Sora and Axel, looking grim, came to Riku.
"Sorry," said Sora. "We had to fight Lexaus. We found some data, though." He held up a flash drive. "This was found near him," explained Sora. "It was in his pocket, and showed up after he was defeated. We'll analyze this on the ship."
"Thank you for restoring me, Sora and Riku." The Beast smiled. "Perhaps you can come back someday and celebrate with us."
"Sure," said Axel. "I mean, its not like as if I care..."
Everyone laughed at that. The trio went back up to the Gummy Ship.
Sora decided to plug the flash drive, and it showed a mysterious document.
"According to this document," explained Riku, "There has been a change in plans. Someone is interested in the three Keyblade wielders, so Maleficent and the Xheanorts are declaring war on each other to gain their powers. Their first interest is in Twilight Town. There is an ancient artifact that can alter energy crystals to attain a certain spiritual aura."
"What are they really planning to do with it?" asked Hisagi.
"I have no clue...but this spiritual aura could explain some of why the worlds are being altered."
"What do you mean, altered?" asked Ichigo.
Riku explained, and Ichigo was scared. "If the gray mist can affect planets like that, then it really is disappearing. Most characters in that universe would have been gone had it not been for you. We have to go check out Twilight Town. I'll go."
"So will I," said Roxas.
"And I," said Rukia.
Ichigo nodded, and then turned to Jimmy the cricket. "Did any of the journal pages change or differ from what I said?"
"No," said the worried Jimmy. "How did you predict that?"
"I just had that feeling," said Ichigo. "The first time it happened, it directed us to the Beast's Castle, and now it's going to direct us to Twilight Town. Maybe it works in a good way."
A thousand miles away, a young man was manipulating some text boxes in a space pod. He smiled to himself as the heroes descended to the troubled planet. Without that artifact, the neithermen will be disappointed, and will rage all the universe for it. Where was it? How did they find it?
The tides of the fight have begun to shift.