"Anger and Hate are supreme."-Xemnas
At his father's words, Tadahsi found himself frozen, momentarily stunned. Then his features contorted into a mask of terror, and outrage. He turned towards Gavener and Garen, who wore the same look of anger.
"We need to stop Yama and get Hiro back, now!" he said determinedly.
The twin nodded in complete agreeance, matching Tadashi's determination.
"Don't worry, we will," Garen said in an almost silent voice. "No matter the cost, we'll save him.
"There's no way in hell we'll let anyone hurt Hiro," said Gavener.
Tadashi's parents pushed past the officers and joined their son and the twins.
"Wait, if you're going after Hiro then we're going with you," said Mrs. Hamada.
Garen hesitated, but one look at the Hamada's faces and he knew it would be futile to argue. He pulled his remote out of his pocket and pointed it in the air, pressing a button. The Gummi Ship instantly flew out of the garage and landed in front of them. He pressed another button and the cockpit opened up. He then turned to Xehanort, Nadia, and Eraqus.
"We need to stop this thing, it's partially our responsibility," he said solemnly. "We'll take the Hamadas, do think you can help us with the Heartless?"
"Do even need to ask," said Eraqus, placing his hands behind his head.
"I told you before, it's our sworn duty to uphold the order of the worlds. It's our job to help you," Nadia said with a smile.
"Don't worry guys, we'll get Hiro back safe and sound," said Xehanort.
Tadashi, Garen, and Gavener all nodded; Mr. and Mrs. gave the trio a smile, grateful for their help.
"Alright, let's get moving then. We need to catch up to Yama and that Heartless," said Garen in an authoritative tone. "I integrated the GPS tracker onto the ship's navigation computer, so just follow us."
He herded the Hamadas and his brother into the ship and began prepping to take off. Xehanort, Nadia, and Eraqus stepped away from the ship. Activating their Armor Triggers, Eraqus and Nadia summoned their respective Keyblades and tossed them into the air, transfiguring them into their glider bike and glider board respectively. Xehanort materialized his Ethereal Blades and tossed them into the air, morphing them into a pair of wings that attached to his armor. As the Gavener and Garen lifted off Xehanort, Nadia and Eraqus followed suit. The chase for Hiro had begun.
...
It took them only a short while to catch up. Even without Garen and Gavner's tracking device implanted into the Heartless, Mr. Yama and the Heartless made their trail crystal clear, a trail of destruction left in the wake of their chase across the city. As Xehanort flew higher overhead, he spotted the Hamada's car driving recklessly onto the highway that led to the San Fransokyo Bridge. The Heartless was in hot pursuit blasting cars and pushing aside any obstacle that got in between it and its target. Xehanort motioned to Nadia and Eraqus.
"It's over here!" he shouted, while the Gummi Ship changed course to follow the Heartless.
The Heartless continued to cause carnage; single-minded in its pursuit of Mr. Yama. Each time it grew closer and closer to catching them. As the chase neared the San Fransokyo Bridge, the Heartless managed to get a clean swipe on the Hamada's car. The car swerved, thrown off balance by the blow. Fortunately, Mr. Yama managed to get the car back under control.
The Heartless roared angrily and prepared to swipe again. Xehanort dove and transformed his Ethereal blades, materializing them back into his hands. He transformed them into ropes and quickly wrapped them around the Heartless' arms. Using the Heartless as an anchor, he pulled himself down towards the Heartless. The momentum propelled Xehanort, allowing him to kick the Heartless with great force, causing it to topple over. The Heartless roared angrily, swiping Xehanort away with a blow to the chest.
Mr. Yama had wisely taken the moment of distraction to further the distance between himself and the Heartless, managing to get to the bridge. The Heartless, however, was not going to allow Mr. Yama to escape so easily. It spread its wings and took off into the air. Eraqus and Nadia tried to intercept it, but they were quickly swiped aside. The Heartless charged up and let out a powerful beam of energy that blasted a hole in the center of the bridge. Mr. Yama swerved and avoided the hole just in time, completely stopping the car. He opened the door and stepped out, prepared to run. The Heartless roared in triumph and lumbered after Mr. Yama.
"Why the hell is this thing after me?" he asked in a panicked voice.
Xehanort ran forward and once again used his Ethereal Blades to restrain the Heartless. Nadia and Eraqus landed on the ground, instantly calling back their Keyblades. The pair pointed their Keyblades and shot chains made of light energy to further hold the Heartless. As the three Keyblade wielders, restrained the Heartless roared in anger; Garen brought the Gummi Ship to a safe landing, the twins and the Hamadas then exited the ship. Garen and Gavener rushed forward.
"Yama, where is Hiro?" asked Tadashi.
"Relax, Hamada, the kid is conked out in the back seat," said Mr. Yama. "Kid sleeps like a log, to be honest."
"Mr. Yama! Please, can you grab him and get over here," said Gavener. "Please, we can protect you guys."
Mr. Yama's sneer once more plastered itself onto his face.
"No way you little squirts! I don't know what is going on here, but I'm getting the hell out of here," he said
"Dammit Yama, you bastard!" cried Garen his eyes glowing with rage.
The Heartless suddenly glowed with dark energy as its body expanded, making it harder for Xehanort, Nadia, and Eraqus to maintain their hold.
"Yama!" it screeched.
With a sudden surge of strength, the Heartless flexed its body and broke free of Xehanort, Nadia, and Eraqus' restraints. Mr. Yama froze, having previously been prepared to run, was now caught in front of the brutal Heartless that stood before him.
"Look out!" cried Xehanort as the Heartless prepared to swipe at Mr. Yama.
Nadia, reacting quickly, cast Reflega onto Mr. Yama, just in time to block an incoming blow. She jumped swiftly into the air and delivered a flying heel kick. Nadia, who was deceptively strong, managed to knock the Heartless over.
"Move in, now!" she cried.
Xehanort and Eraqus rushed in; Mr. Yama turned around and ran behind the car. Xehanort slammed his Ethereal Blades into the ground causing jagged bursts of earth-based magic to sprout from the ground with his Quake magic. Eraqus swiped his Keyblade sending forth a volley wind-based energy. The barrage of the two attacks knocked over the Heartless once more.
"We got to keep it away from Yama and Hiro," Xehanort shouted to the other two.
The three friends formed a perimeter around the Heartless. Xehanort quickly warped around the Heartless leaving behind bits of Ethereal energy behind. When he was done, the Heartless was surrounded by bits of Ethereal energy. Xehanort brought his hands down causing the bits of energy to rain down, impacting the Heartless with devastating force. The Heartless fell to its knees, reeling from the effects of the Ethereal blasts.
Nadia and Eraqus prepared to strike the dark creature down when it once more got to its feet. It swung at Nadia knocking her aside. Eraqus prepared to strike in retaliation, but the Heartless blocked the blow. Immediately after, it blasted at Eraqus with its energy beam. Eraqus dodge rolled underneath the blast, barely avoiding taking its full impact. The blast missed Eraqus and landed near the car causing the concrete to crack. Xehanort took note of the crack. The combination of the earlier blasts and the destruction the battle was putting more strain on the bridge. What was worse, the damage was getting closer and closer to Hiro and Mr. Yama.
Nadia caught Xehanort's eyes and the two silently exchanged information, Nadia nodded in understanding. Xehanort tossed his second Ethereal Blade to Nadia. Each using a blade, they each grabbed onto an arm and ran the opposite direction from Yama and Hiro. With all their strength, they began dragging The Heartless away. The Heartless roared furiously, desperate to reach its target.
Eraqus cottoned on and motioned to Garen and Gavener. Gavener, Garen, Tadashi and his parents began inching their way towards the car. Unfortunately, the Heartless took notice of this, further enraging it. Once more it broke free of their attempts to restrain it. The dark creature picked up two nearby cars and flung them into their direction. Garen and Gavener managed to pull Mr. and Mrs. Hamada out of the way just in time. Tadashi also managed to avoid the attack, though it was a close call.
"Yama!" cried the Heartless.
The rage of the creature was growing by the minute and it was getting harder and harder to control the situation, especially with Hiro practically being held a hostage. There was too much going on. It was at that moment, something happened to make matters even worse. Right then and there Hiro had decided to awaken and make his presence known.
"Mom...Dad...Tadashi...what's going on? Hiro asked stepping out of the car.
Everyone froze, time itself seemed to momentarily freeze.
"Hiro, please get back in the car. Everything is going to be okay," said Tadashi softly
Hiro, however, was still disoriented from just waking up and was still not comprehending the magnitude of the situation.
"Tadashi, I don't understand, how did I get here and what's Mr. Yama doing here?" he asked pointing to Mr. Yama.
At the mere mention of Mr. Yama's name, the Heartless let out a terrifying roar. It seemed that it had finally reached the end of its tether. It charged itself full of dark energy, turning itself to face Mr. Yama and Hiro.
"Mommy! Tadashi! I-I'm scared," said Hiro in a frightened voice.
"My baby...don't worry, I'm coming," said Mrs. Hamada.
Everything happened in slow motion. Mrs. Hamada pushed her way past Tadashi and the twins, running towards her endangered son. The Heartless charged it's beam to full capacity, just as Mrs. Hamada reached her son. Her husband also ran forward, pushing past the twins, he cried for his wife.
"Irene! Watch out!" he cried.
He joined his wife, and the two parents wrapped themselves around their son, desperate to protect him at all cost. The Heartless fired its blast, a burst of pure dark energy firing itself in their direction. It was too late to stop it from reaching its target.
"NO!" cried Tadashi.
An explosion of dark energy crackled through the air as the blast hit its target directly. Dust and debris rose from the ground, obscuring their view, hiding the inevitable sight of what could only be the end of the three Hamadas.
The dust eventually cleared revealing Mr. and Mrs. Hamada strewn on the ground, still clinging to their now limp son. Tadashi fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Gavener and Garen stood in shock, shaking with emotion.
Suddenly the bodies began to shift. Tadashi instantly looked up as his beloved little brother miraculously began to stir. Hiro sat up and looked at his lifeless parents, unable to comprehend that they had given their lives to save his. He shook his mother, then his father.
"Mommy, wake up," he said, his voice trembling. "Dad, come on. You said we were going to get ice cream."
Tears began streaming down Hiro's face as he suddenly began to grasp the permanence of what had just happened. He began pounding on his parent's corpses.
"Come on Dad, we were going to get ice cream," said little Hiro, trying to deny the fact that they were gone. "Gavener was going to get sea salt, Garen was going to get blueberry, and Tadashi was going to get boring chocolate and I was going to get Neopolitan...just like we always do."
Hiro began sobbing hysterically. Unable to cope with the gruesome deaths of his parents, he slumped to the ground and passed out. Tadashi, Gavener, and Garen ran to him immediately. Garen glared furiously at Mr. Yama. He pulled Mr. Yama out from behind the car and held him by the scruff of his shirt.
"You damn bastard, you could have helped them!" he cried angrily.
"It's not my fault that they were trying to be heroes," he said smugly. "They should have run when they had the-"
Garen did not let finish his sentence. He punched him square in the jaw knocking him out. Mr. Yama fell to the floor in a heap. Suddenly the Heartless began flexing itself, prepared to resume its attack. Tadashi gathered Hiro into his arms as Garen and Gavener stepped forward, both of the brothers trembling with a surge of emotion.
"Our mother was always in the hospital growing up. It wasn't her fault but she wasn't always around to raise us," said Garen, trembling with anger.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hamada, were always looking out for us," said Gavener, the thirst for vengeance permeating his every word. "They took us in, treated us like their own sons."
"You'll pay for this!" the twins screamed simultaneously.
An aura of darkness began surrounding the two boys, the air crackled with electricity as the darkness grew stronger. The Heartless stood there in anticipation as the aura of darkness grew larger and larger.
Nadia and Eraqus both suddenly collapsed clutching their chests in pain. Xehanort rushed over to the two.
"Are you guys okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so-" started Eraqus still clutching his chest.
They were stopped short by the twins, whose aura of darkness shot to the sky, as they cried out. The power emanating from the two was immense, as miraculously they were able to bring the darkness into focus. They both lifted their right hand and the dark energy began concentrating there. Once the full power concentrated to one point, it dissipated. What replaced it shocked everyone.
Somehow, without any sign of undergoing the Inheritance Ceremony, Gavener and Garen had summoned Keyblades.
This chapter was intense to write. I hope I did it justice. This is a pivotal moment in the series and will introduce a concept that will carry on throughout the series. I'm curious to see if anyone else has picked up on how Garen and Gavener summoned their Keyblades. As always I hope you guys enjoy and I would love to hear some feedback.
