A Serendipitous Key of Hope

Disclaimer: My imaginary lawyers tell me I do not own products owned by Disney, Masahi Kishimoto, anything from Shonen Jump, or Square Enix.

- Omakey -

Konan rushes to the scene following the Unversed. As she does, she spots her friends Yahiko and Nagato. "Yahiko! Nagato!"

"Konan!" the boys say in unison, as three Unversed come together in the skies above. They combine into a single being, and land as a single, gattai robo.

The Trinity Armor Unversed unleashes a powerful beam at the group, forcing them to jump away to avoid the destructive force. Konan says, "Let's take it down!"

"Right! Shinra Tensei!" Nagato makes ninjutsu seals before unleashing a wave to repel the laser show, but it forces through his attack and forces him to dodge. "Guess ninjutsu won't be enough."

"Deep Freeze!" Konan unleashes a powerful ice age scale technique that frosts over the Unversed. But it quickly begins moving again breaking through the ice. The body turns a deep red of anger, before punching the ground where they stand. She hits it again to slow its movements, and then Terra calls down a meteor to strike it in place.

"Wind Raid!" Ventus throws a Strike Raid that slices through its left arm. "Nagato!"

"Ultima Cannon!" Nagato's Keyblade transforms into a cannon, before firing dead center at the Unversed, blowing parts of its body away.

"He's weakened! Now!" Konan spreads her paper wings and flies towards the Unversed, passing by while slicing through it.

Nagato and Yahiko come down upon it and carve through the monster, all three separating into a triangle position centering the Unversed. The being loses two parts of its being and explodes into a dark blue flare. Breathing out with relief, the three friends come together, Nagato saying, "That was awesome guys!"

"Yeah, you three've gotten stronger with this venture," says Konan.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Yahiko takes out two tickets. "Here you guys go, two life time passes to Disney Town."

"Disney Town?" Nagato and Konan take their passes. The girl then asks, "What're these for?"

"I got these from a nice old duck. He said two adults, so I thought of you guys," he replies. Konan and Nagato look at eachother before laughing. "What? It's not like I think of you as parents."

"It'd be a little weird if you did, and I'm not even that much older than you," she says to him, taking his hand. "Look, you have to go back. You're not safe out here-"

"Oh don't worry Konan! That guy in the mask is gone! He'll never badmouth Nagato again!"

"What?" Nagato moves before the younger friend. "Did you see him?!"

"Y-Yeah."

"Vanitas..." Nagato makes a slight pause. "Yahiko, Konan is right. You go home with her," he tells him. The Keyblade Master of the three examines him as he speaks. "We're on a dangerous mission here, and you can't be caught up in it. You're better off safe at home."

"And just WHAT is this dangerous mission?" Konan soon begins to speak up. Her eyes become downtrodden and sullen. "It doesn't sound like what the master said."

"Look, it may be different, but I am fighting the darkness."

"Are you?" Her question seems to assault his feelings along with his pride. "I've been to the worlds you've visited, and seen what you've done. How can you put your life in range with the darkness like that?"

Nagato's eyes stare with judgment. "Konan, how can you say that about Nagato? He's not-"

"Is that what you were told to do, to look after me? To spy on my darkness?!" His heart feels broken at this realization. All this time he thought he was making a change, given a chance to become a master; in reality he was just being watched like a beast. Nagato turns around to walk out of the scene.

"Wait, Nagato-"

"JUST STAY BACK!" shouts Nagato in anger. "I'm on my own!"

As he leaves, Konan slowly begins regretting what she said. "Nagato, wait! The master had no reason to distrust you! He was just worried!"

But he's gone, not having given her the time of day to respond. Yahiko looks to Konan in a new light, a dark one. "Konan, I'm surprised with you."

"The Master loves Nagato, you know that. But yes, those were his orders."

"Were you also ordered to bring me back?" She looks down out of his eyesight. "Master Eraqus is one thing, but you know us much better than that. I think you let this Master thing go to your head." He then looks off to the side before saying, "I gotta go find him."

- End Omakey -

Kei: We welcome you to the two year anniversary of Key of Hope. We only have so many chapters left before the story is over, we're kind of excited.

The XXX Keyhole: The Power of Darkness! Hollow Bastion Arc 2

"If my faith in my friends is a weakness, your overconfidence is yours." Naruto dashes in with the Keyblade, slamming down at Sasuke who blocks. His sword clashes with Sasuke's, a struggle of light and darkness forming.

Sasuke grabs the sword arm and throws Naruto to the floor. He however rolls along the ground as his clothes and skin glow a bright yellow shine. Arms of chakra shoot out to attack Sasuke, who is forced to cut through them. "What's going on!?"

Naruto comes in blocking with the Keyblade. "Looks like this form comes with all sorts of surprises! It's just like my Tailed Form." With that in mind, he forms the chakra on his left hand for the Rasengan.

Sasuke creates the Chidori on his free arm and the two attacks collide with one another. At such close range the force of the attacks blow them both back. While flying Naruto throws a Strike Raid which knocks the Uchiha through some steps. He rises up from the rubble in pain, glaring his Mangekyou at Naruto.

"Amaterasu!" The black flames rise up around Soul Eater. "Dark Firaga Taka!" Forming a hawk in a manner similar to the Chidori, Sasuke slashes and unleashes the attack upon Naruto.

He easily dodges and moves to an open area, where five more appear around him. "It's over!"

Naruto drops down as his chakra arms form an Oodama Rasengan over him. The suction force draws in the dark fire, causing an explosion. Sasuke shields his eyes as this happens, which turns blurry suddenly. 'Oh no, not now!'

"Gotcha!"

"What?!" In the split amount of time Sasuke was distracted, Naruto rushes in and hits him using Sonic Blade. But as he comes back around for the second hit, the Uchiha jumps up in the air landing underneath the pedestal floating above them. He holds his hand out firing many Dark Firagas at him.

'If I can do that, then I'll try that. Ragnarok!' Naruto's eyes flash with inspiration. He jumps up and with light surrounding his key slashes wildly at the many fireballs that came for him. He then swipes at Sasuke who jumps away, and aims the Keyblade at him. A rune forms before the Keyblade, but instead of unleashing something it sparks and pulls in his golden chakra. The rune then fires beams at Sasuke-each one explodes, including one that hits his left eye-and knocks him into the earlier made rubble.

Naruto hits the deck, his form at its limit and fading away, while Sasuke reverts back as well. His eyes return to normal as well, causing a dark aura to rise on him and go away. From the darkness of his power Donald, Goofy and Elsa fall out.

"Guys!" Naruto calls out happily, but is so tired from fighting he couldn't properly move.

"Naruto!" His friends rush to his aid.

Sasuke remains beaten and on the floor, his vision worsening every second. He makes a final stand facing Naruto and his friends. "How? How?!"

"Sasuke..." Before Naruto could finish, the Uchiha makes a break for it.

"And get lost!" Elsa shouts, a rare moment for her. "What? He deserved it."

The doors behind them open up, revealing Ichigo walking in. He seems worse for the wearer as well, still in his Hollow Form yet bleeding from his chest and stomach now. "Ichigo!"

Goofy goes over to help him sit. The Soul Reaper takes one good look at the situation. "So, I guess your heart won this battle." Naruto gives a simple nod.

Elsewhere…

Sasuke continues to run, hitting a few things along the way. "How did this happen? I was to win! He shouldn't be that much stronger than me!"

"Actually, you were pretty equal." Sasuke looks back to see one of the men in black coats. "You clearly haven't awakened your Keyblade yet, but you made up for it with your power in the darkness. Had he the magic necessary to fuel that last attack, you would have been a goner."

"Okay, I get it!"

"It's not too late for you." He steps closer. "You showed courage stepping into the darkness. When he offered you power to kill your brother in exchange for your services you didn't hesitate. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow stronger."

After he comes to a stop, Sasuke asks, "What should I do?"

"It's really quite simple. Fully embrace the darkness; only then will you achieve the true power of the Mangekyou." He holds up his hand, and in Sasuke's appears a black Keyblade. It has a dark blue aura, overshadowing a golden one. "Let your heart and your being become darkness itself."

Back to Action…

"Heal!" Naruto manages to use magic to restore his and Ichigo's wounds. "Guess Sasuke's spell wore off. I can use magic now!"

"Good. Let's get moving." With Donald's words, Naruto turns over to where Sasuke escaped to, and together the five of them made their way up the steps to a small hall closed up by a door. Naruto takes out the Keyblade to use, but there's no lock.

"Ah balls. The Keyblade doesn't work if there's no keyhole. We'll need another way in," he says.

"Couldn't we just blast the door down?" asks Donald.

"We tried, but there's some magic force at work keeping us from blowing holes in walls," Ichigo says, knowing from experience.

"Wait," speaks Elsa before looking at the door. She sees markings. "There might be something here we can use to unlock the door. Let's split up and search the area."

"Yes ma'am!" Enthused, Naruto and the four heroes search the room for anything.

Ichigo looks up and sees the platform above them. "That looks suspicious." He makes a mighty leap for the top, just barely grabbing the edge, before pulling himself up. Donald tries the same, but needs to use Aero to do so. They then begin their search on the higher level.

"Ah! I found something!" Elsa says before breaking a pot to pull out a small object. It strangely resembles the Heartless symbol.

A statue from up top falls over. "Sorry!" says Donald.

Goofy looks over at it, and sees another item similar to what Elsa has uncovered. "Hey look!"

Naruto comes up from the fountain and pulls out a third piece. "Got it!"

Ichigo up above finds the fourth in a chamber of flames. He raises Zangetsu and swings, extinguishing the flames briefly for him to grab it. "Found something!"

The five come together by the door and hold the items together. They try to assemble the emblem properly, before finally making the Heartless emblem. They then put it together on the door, unlocking it. Ichigo nods saying, "Good. Now let's get Maleficent."

"Hey, where were you earlier?" asks Naruto.

"I had to fight this snake guy. He was really annoying and gross," he tells him. The Uzumaki files that away for later.

Moving forward, they to a brightly lit room housing the elevators they took, and soon come across the Heartless. Included among them is the Defender, as well as the Soldiers and Shadows. Though the small fry were easy, the shield wielder is pretty tough as always.

Elsa uses her ice magic to combat its fire, allowing Ichigo to hit it from behind with both blades. Goofy bashes its head in allowing Naruto to cut through it. With this freak down, they make their way forward to the outside, just above the entrance into the castle interior. They climb up the steps and reach one of the elevators, just as Wyvern Heartless drop down from the skies.

"They just keep on coming!" Ichigo says preparing to use Getsuga Tenshou. But when he makes the swing, one of them comes down at him from behind.

"Beat it!" Donald and Goofy jump and kick it away just in time, leaving Ichigo his devices.

More begin to show up, forcing Naruto's hand. "Ripple Drive!" He gathers magical energy to unleash a sphere of light that repels the Heartless. Free, they now board the elevator, which takes them further across this video game like world.

Ichigo takes a minute to rest himself, before asking, "Naruto, why can't you use that move you did before?"

"What, Faith?" Naruto says. "That spell's too draining on me. It's best as a last resort. Allot of the Expert level spells are too much if you're not a master."

They soon reach the upper level, and find another elevator to take. Taking a moment to step in, it slowly takes them to the other side. As soon as they get there however, they find more Heartless getting in their way, this being the Darkballs, the Wyverns and a new type shaped like wizards.

"Here we go again!" Donald unleashes Thundaga to weed them out, but the Sorcerers absorb the magic. "Uh oh!"

"Goofy, Donald, Thunder Shield!" Donald does it again on Goofy's shield, who throws it at Naruto. He slams the Keyblade and sends it flying, slicing through even the wizards. The Wyverns fly up high to dodge, but they're left at the mercy of Ichigo's swords. Elsa uses her magic to form a spear to impale one of the Darkballs, but gets surrounded. "Elsa!"

She cries out, sending a wave to freeze them all. "What?"

"Oh..." He's rather surprised, when he shouldn't. A part of him is glad Elsa now has more confidence in her powers. As he admires her, the frozen Heartless begin to move and break free. "Fire Raid!" He throws a fire Strike Raid cutting through them, before saying, "Let's move on! This castle isn't gonna overwhelm us!"

Heading into the Lift Stop again, they go through out to another elevator, which goes up to another opening. Where more Heartless show up. They prepare themselves, when the orb they have begins glowing. "Hm?"

From the stone appears Kenshin. "Kenshin!"

"Hey!" The wandering samurai waves to them before turning over to their opposition. "It seems I came back for some assistance-gozaru."

"Who's that?" Ichigo asks.

"Apparently, there's a guy who's heart took form in a gem," says Naruto. "He's actually really strong."

Kenshin draws his sword and rushes in, slashing and carving through the Heartless in a wave of punishment only Ichigo could keep up with. "Wow. Not bad for someone without magical powers."

Kenshin stops for a moment allowing his enemies to fall, before facing a Defender. "Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu – Douryusen!" He slams the ground with his sword, unleashing a tremor that bulldozes the Heartless. Naruto takes this moment to use Firaga on it, ending its life.

"Thanks Kenshin!" says Naruto.

"No problem. Make sure everything gets fixed." With that, Kenshin returns to being a stone.

Naruto holds up his stone with appreciation. He then nods to the others before moving on.

Meanwhile…

Maleficent watches over the progress over the Keyhole. As she does, she notes footsteps in the background. "About time you came back. Did you fail?"

"Not entirely," says the person in an echoing voice. She looks back seeing Sasuke in his dark armor. "The stage just isn't set yet. Once the Keyhole is fully unlocked, we'll unleash the ultimate darkness upon this world. Nothing can stop it."

"You speak as if I am afraid." Her voice brims with utter cockiness, a dark veil in her eyes. "The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use it to rule all worlds."

"Such confidence." The Uchiha holds his hand out and forms the dark, chainless Keyblade. The beautiful mistress of darkness sees this in shock and awe.

The light from the Keyhole stops shining. "What?! Why isn't it opening?!" She looks over at the princesses. "This should be working, yet all seven princesses are here!" The dark sorceress then eyes Hinata. "It must be her."

"Her heart is still missing; that's why the Keyhole won't finish." Sasuke tells her. He then looks ahead at the doors, sensing powerful energy. "It's them."

"Yes, the Keyblade wielder and his annoying friends." Maleficent raises her scepter. "It's time I put an end to this farce. I will dash away all hope of victory they have, and crush them with the power of darkness!"

She callously steps out and spreads wings of the fallen angel, flying out to greet her guests. Sasuke looks on undeterred. 'Fool.'

Back with our heroes, they come around the other side of a room. Luckily, no Heartless yet. "Feels like a dead end," says Elsa looking around.

"What's that?" Goofy points over at one of the crystals that powers the elevators. Ichigo goes over to it and pats the crystal, causing a structure to move.

"We found an opening," says Naruto before leading the others to it.

There looks to be a large block keeping them from passing by, but there is enough of an opening to crawl up. Elsa makes steps and guides the others up safely, coming out to the area above where Kenshin helped them. Around the corner is another entrance inside.

This leads them inside the Lift Stop, but higher up now. "This place is like a maze," complains Ichigo.

A Defender appears in front of them. "Get lost!" Donald and Elsa combine their ice magic to blast it into a wall.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo finishes it off with his signature move, beginning to feel a drain on his power. "We better be getting close."

"Can't be that far away now," says Donald with hope. They pass over to the exit, coming out to a dark chapel within the castle. Seeing it, Donald states, "Yes, I knew it!"

"You got lucky," says Naruto as they move forward. He then shouts, "Hello?"

"I'm afraid you're too late." They all erect into fighting positions preparing to face their enemy. Maleficent appears from the skies, landing and retracting her wings. "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. It is, unstoppable."

"We'll stop it!" Naruto draws out his Keyblade, saying, "After coming this far, no way we'll let it end like this!"

Maleficent stares at him, before slowly laughing. It then goes maniacal before she stops, turning serious. "You poor, simple fools! You think you can defeat me, the Mistress of All Evil?!"

The platform she stands on enlightens with magic and lifts upward. "Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!" From an extra dimension, magical meteors fly down to pulverize the group.

"Ice Shield!" Elsa makes a barrier to protect everyone, but it soon shatters under the meteor's impossible weight.

Ichigo comes out from the ice to attack, but she summons a shield of energy to block. An opening appears in the hole allowing green flames to raze Ichigo, sending him flying. Naruto, Donald and Goofy wordlessly charge in.

She summons her wings and avoids their assaults, casting a spell upon them from above. This causes them to become drowsy, slowly bobbing back and forth. With a grin she then summons fire, but this is frozen by Elsa. "Begone, queen of ice!"

"No, you begone!" Elsa sends a wave of snow to bombard, but it's easily countered by her green flames. As she fights back, Darkballs appear and attack Elsa from behind.

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo fires his attack, but she blocks with her stone platform, forcing him to cross it with another. "Juujishou!"

The attack turns the platform to rubble, but she flies in through the dust to place her hand on his face. A powerful electric current shocks him so hard he cries out. "You're the one who bested Orochimaru. But, don't think I'm the same as that weakling. I won't make the same mistakes as Jafar or Ursula!"

Naruto comes in at her from behind, but she turns quickly enough to block with her scepter. "I told you, I won't go down that easily!"

"You're still going down! Limit Drive!" Naruto musters up all his energy to transform, turning into the chakra Drive form. He backs away before slipping back in to swipe at her, but she dodges easily. While still running he uses Kage Bunshin and the three out of four extras jump her.

"Fool!" She unleashes thunderbolts to fry them, before unleashing a green flame to attack the other two. It consumes them entirely, causing great joy to Maleficent.

Until he comes out holding a Rasengan. "Rasengan!" Maleficent counters using her scepter and a powerful blast of energy. The Rasengan is destroyed, but he continues and grabs her. "What are you doing?"

The real Naruto comes out from the green flames left over shouting, "Ichigo, Donald! Hit her!"

The sorceress looks in shock realizing she's been had. Ichigo fires Getsuga Tenshou while Donald unleashes an explosion of fantasy sparks that collide and brain her. She cries out in pain flying backwards while the clone disappears.

"No! This won't be the end!" A twister of wind and green flames rise up and blow everyone skyward. "Now you shall know the meaning of fear! I still have enough power to turn you all into dust!"

"Rasengan!" Naruto lunges forward to strike her, only hitting a barrier. "Rasenrengan!" Using two, he manages to crack it slightly before being repelled.

"How's that?!" Her answer is Ichigo coming in using Getsuga Tenshou, but instead of unleashing it as a stream of energy he retains it inside his blade. This shatters the barrier, leaving her exposed. "Now!"

"Ars Arcanum!" Elsa makes an ice slide allowing Naruto to slip in at high speed to finish the job. As Ichigo jumps away, he ends up striking her seven times before five more. The 13th and final strike sends her sprawling along the ground, wings scattering into feathers.

Naruto steps forward tired, propping himself up with the Keyblade. "We did it!"

"Yeah!" Ichigo pumps his fist triumphantly. Elsa places a hand over her heart while Donald and Goofy jump up and down happily.

But, their joy is cut short when more meteors come down from a portal at them. "Reflect!" Donald uses the last of his magic to create a barrier for everyone, but in the midst of it all Maleficent manages to stand.

"I'll make you all pay!" She holds her hand back and summons another portal, passing through to escape. Unlike the others they're used to, this one remains open.

Naruto turns to the others, asking, "Is everyone okay?"

"My leg hurts," says Elsa, holding a wound from fighting one of the Heartless.

"Well, she's gonna get away at this rate. We'll go in after her," Ichigo says while stretching his arm and next.

"Elsa, wait out here. We'll deal with Maleficent, and make her stop everything," says Naruto to the ice queen. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

"I'll be fine. You end this," she tells him, smiling with hope that he'll save everyone.

"Right." After helping her to a place to sit, Naruto, Donald, Goofy and Ichigo head into the portal.

On The Other Side…

Maleficent stumbles painfully within the open chamber, a dead end for her. She grips her heart, which only now suffers from the pain of darkness she has been using this whole time. 'How could this have happened; it was all going so smoothly. Sasuke had sealed the Keyblade, the boy was powerless without his friends, and the Keyhole was about to open.'

All of a sudden, Sasuke appears from a portal of darkness. "Would you care for some assistance?"

"Like hell."

"I'm disappointed in you Maleficent. In the end you couldn't go as far as I imagined," he tells her in a condescending tone. He then grins before chuckling.

"And just what is so funny about this situation?! As if you-" She then stops, taking a moment to look at him. "Wait..."

"That's right. You finally realized the truth, of who is really in charge. Did you think you were above this? Hades was the smart one not fully embracing the darkness, but you were just like everyone else, a pawn in our plan."

"You mean… All these years… You-" She stops when she sees Naruto and the others arrive from the portal.

"Sasuke, so there you were," says Naruto.

Goofy notes something and points. Donald sees what she's looking at and asks, "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes, a Keyblade." Sasuke holds it up. "But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts."

"It what?" Naruto asks, now shocked more than usual.

"Don't believe me? Allow me to demonstrate. Behold!" Without warning, he punctures the witch's heart. She morbidly looks at her wound, feeling darkness escape her body. "Now, open your heart. Surrender it to the darkness! BECOME DARKNESS ITSELF!"

Sasuke then pulls out, disappearing into a portal. Maleficent looks at herself, dropping her scepter as she brims in a dark green aura. "Yes, this is it! This power! 'she laughs' Darkness! THE TRUE DARKNESS!" At that, a pillar of darkness erupts from her. As Naruto and the others get ready for whatever move she would throw their way, all they could see is black. The darkness melts away from their vision slowly, revealing their newest enemy and what may be Maleficent's true form; she is now a black dragon towering overhead larger than any Biju Naruto has faced.

The black dragon snarls unintelligently before unleashing a powerful shockwave upon landing on its front two claws. This attack blows away everyone, sending them rolling along the ground. The dark dragon breathes green flames surrounding them in a ring of fire.

Ichigo is the first to stand, taking out his two blades. "This thing is way too strong. I'mma have to unleash everything I got."

"Wait, you got a special power too?" asks Naruto as he pushes himself to stand.

"More like a final form." He holds his large blade out and then the short one beside it. His reiatsu rises to its peak, before he yells, "BANKAI!"

A wave of energy releases from his body and sword, creating a twister that swallows up the flames as well. The dust clears up to reveal Ichigo in his new form; he stands normally in his clothes as if nothing's changed, but his face now has a full white and red striped mask with two of the horns this time. He also has a longer shikuhasha and wields an enlarged version of Zangetsu, which has a white outer edge and a black inside. The hilt has a chain attached to it and the blade like a bow string. It essentially looks like the two Zangetsus combined.

He removes his mask and stares at his enemy, both his eyes back to normal once it's not over his eyes. "Tensa Zangetsu!"

Yusei: That Tensa Zangetsu looks a little different.

Kei: It IS different. Ichigo couldn't fully control his Hollow powers in the manga. After some time has past this is him with more control.

Yusei: Anyway, this chapter is now over. Next chapter we end the Hollow Bastion Arc by concluding the fight with Maleficent, and then the rematch!