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 flips in the air slashing through the attacking Unversed, before landing next to the two girls behind her. The girl with pink hair accidentally touches her Keyblade as she backs up, too focused on the battle to realize what really happened. She turns her eyes to look for more coming her way, and relaxes her hand when nothing comes about.
"Phew." Konan glances to the side hearing something, and senses people on the move. "Take care kids. Also..." The blue haired beauty places a finger on the hime haired girl with white eyes, which causes her heart to shine even more.
"What happened?" asks the girl.
"I just cast a magic spell on you. One day you might be in trouble again, but the light within you will guide you to the light of another, someone to keep you safe." The little girl looks down at her chest and smiles.
"Thank you lady."
"Come on Hinata, let's go!" says the other girl with them, as they head out.
Konan takes off quickly as shinobi arrive, escaping their sights. She ends up in a tree watching Anbu take the girls away to safety, before sighing with relief. She then moves on down the road until coming before two boys play fighting. She lands nearby, and the boys see her.
The first boy has black hair shaped like a duck butt while the other is a typical spiky blond. She stares at the former. 'That boy… Nagato must have given him the Keyblade Inheritance Ceremony, somehow…' She then looks over at the other boy while his friend leaves.
"Hey, wait up!" he calls out to his friend. "Ah. Sasuke you jerk."
"Kid, or, whatever you'd like me to call you..."
"Naruto Uzumaki!" he declares proudly.
"Naruto, was that your friend?" asks the beautiful master of him.
"Yeah, he's my friend. And, the one person I want to surpass," he tells her, not knowing why he did so.
"Then, stay by him." She bends down to her knees before him. "In case he ever decides to walk down a dark path and gets lost, you have to make sure to keep him safe, and stay with him. That's your job as his friend."
Konan then pats his shoulder, though her eyes widen as she touches him. The boy runs off for whatever, while she watches him leave. She rubs her fingers remembering what she felt, darkness inside of him. And, a strong light overshadowing it completely. It gives a familiar feeling. "I'm glad I didn't do the ceremony. One Keyblade is enough for any friendship. I learned that the hard way, and there's no way I'd wish our lives on anyone."
She looks up to the dark blue skies. "Nagato, what's going to become of us? Yahiko, what should I do?"
…
Yahiko returns to the world of dead stone and sand. "Mickey!" He spots his buddy facedown on the ground unconscious.
Going to him, he lifts Mickey up in his arms seeing he's stable. "We meet again boy," says a coarse, ominous voice he remembers. Turning around he sees Master Xehanort coming up to him. Yahiko lays Mickey down to confront him, only to fall when his head begins to writhe in pain.
"Ah yes, you're starting to realize what you lost. Oh, but not for good." He wriggles in fingers cracking bones with an evil grin as he speaks. "You lost so you can gain, and you can get what you lost back! Reclaim the part that left you, and clash with him. Pure light against pure darkness, to forge the ultimate key. The χ-blade!"
Yahiko grabs his head from the pain tormenting him, and falls over. "A Keyblade?"
"No, χ-blade." Xehanort raises his hand, and with dark magic summons the letter x. "Not the ones you and I carry, but from χ. It's an ancient letter that represents death and endings, and I can understand how you can mistake it for Keyblade. After all, the Keyblade War originated because people wanted the χ-blade for themselves, and forged weapons based off them to fight. That is the Keyblade.
"As for the pronunciation itself, some call it Kyeblade or the Xblade, but the meaning's still the same." Yahiko looks up at him as his memories return: he fought against denizens of darkness in an attempt to balance the light and darkness in his heart, and failed.
"And, I have the power to make this thing?"
"Yes. Eraqus knows about it too," says the ancient master as he explains his plan. "Didn't you ever wonder the truth? Of why you were never allowed to leave the safety of your home? Why he never granted you permission to leave his side, to unlock your great potential? Because he never trusted you.
"He knew that if you realized what you were you'd threaten him. Why else would he keep you within his sight at all times?"
The truth hits Yahiko like a purple lightning bolt. He pushes himself to stand, saying, "Yeah. No matter how much I asked, I could never see other worlds."
Xehanort chuckles in a lowly voice, before thrusting his hand out. A dark portal opens up above Yahiko and Mickey and summons a powerful wind that sends them within. "Go! Ask your master the truth! And remember that you have a greater purpose!"
With Yahiko gone, Xehanort grins with a laugh. He then looks to the side and senses another's presence; said person arrives minutes later, revealed as Nagato. "Master! You called for me?"
"Yes I have," he speaks, keeping up the facade he's been working on him. "Yahiko has learned the truth of his origin."
Nagato gasps, fearing the worst. "Where is he?"
"He's returned home, to confront Eraqus. I fear the worse may happen. You must flee to your friend and save him!"
- End Omakey -
The XXXIII Keyhole: Kurt Zisa and the Hades Cup
Naruto and the others can be seen in the white Gummi ship they're borrowing. Elsa stares out into the blank darkness with a sigh. After sealing the Keyhole, they learned something from the princesses.
"Naruto, thank you for sealing the Keyhole," says Aurora.
"But, we can't leave just yet," speaks Snow White.
"There is still darkness spilling from the Final Keyhole, but as long as we're here we can contain it," Orihime tells them.
"Even though you sealed it, the Door to Darkness is starting to open." This is Cinderella's two cents.
"I'm sorry Elsa, but we need to stay," Anna reluctantly tells them, mostly her sister.
"Tell Aladdin I'm sorry, but we need to remain," Jasmine says.
With their stay, they can do nothing but try and accomplish their task on their own. Luckily, Yugi and the others are there to protect them. Not from the Heartless for they have no darkness for them to hunt, but from anything they may have missed.
"Elsa, it'll be okay," says Naruto to her, trying to cheer the girl up. "At least she's safe. Once this is over, you can be with her again."
The ice queen traces her fingers on the window of the ship. "I know… I know what happens when this ends…"
"We're getting closer to Agrabah!" says Donald while piloting the ship. The dragon ship moves in closer to the Arabian world, landing within with ease and grace.
Naruto and the others land in the city of Agrabah, ending up in the sandy desert surrounding said populace. They step into its sanctum ready to look for Aladdin. After a short period of examination the quartet see the city quite empty. Donald notes this asking, "Where is everyone?"
Elsa holds her hand over her eyes to see people are hiding inside buildings. "Looks like everyone's indoors. But why?"
Naruto steps ahead, saying, "Let's find Aladdin. We'll ask him what's up." He heads towards the palace feeling he may be there.
On their way towards the palace, they're stopped by the whisking speed of Carpet. "Carpet! Abu!" As Goofy says, Abu can be seen hidden behind Carpet's furls.
"Where's Aladdin?" asks Naruto. The monkey shouts hysterically before pointing out into the desert. "The desert?"
Carpet then lowers itself allowing all four of them to climb aboard. It takes off for the desert, leaving Abu behind. As they travel, Elsa looks in awe at the beauty of the Arabian desert.
"Wow. This is beautiful."
"But dry," says Donald. "Luckily, you have no problem with that."
Elsa opens her mouth to say something, but before she could Carpet moves closer to the sandy floor. In the distance Naruto spots their friend Aladdin, facedown in the sand. "Al!"
As they near him, a mighty beast bursts through the sand. Carpet is forced to turn and dodge to avoid the six arms reaching for them. "What was that?!" Naruto shouts.
"Look out!" Goofy pulls on Carpet as it careens left, as pillars rise up. Barriers form between them, so fast they're knocked off Carpet.
The unfortunate heroes promptly pick themselves up and turn, facing the mechanical sounding behemoth that slowly turns to face its new prey. Its true nature revealed upon witnessing the Heartless emblem on the golden sash it wears, this monster with a golden cobra for a head roars as its six arms armored white rise skyward. Two of the talon hands wield khopeshes larger than even Tensa Zangetsu, crossed overhead.
Naruto and Goofy stand up first, just in time to witness Kurt Zisa – a name they don't know about – wave its lower two arms. A veil appears over its new company, a green light that holds them in place. Elsa picks herself up and glares at Kurt Zisa, before conjuring up a tidal wave of snow. But as she does, she begins to realize she can't.
"What? I can't use my ice magic!"
"You can't?" Naruto summons the Keyblade Oathkeeper and attempts a Firaga, only for nothing to come out.
"Thunder!" Donald shouts, but nothing happens.
"Uh oh! That thing somehow must have sealed our magic!" says Goofy being the first to realize it. "That must be why it did that!"
"It must be the Silence series," says Naruto looking upon Zisa. He would say more, but the Heartless lunges in to slash at them. "Spread out!"
Everyone jumps to the side to dodge its blades. Naruto switches out with the Oblivion Keyblade and slashes at the Heartless, who counters with its khopesh. He lifts his sword as it slashes upward, preventing his head from being nicked, before hacking at the legs. His attack deals no real damage as it remains standing and even kicks him aside.
"Come on!" Goofy charges in hitting the beast's back legs, causing it to jerk down slightly. However a quick recovery allows Zisa to kick Goofy away.
"Goofy!" Elsa runs over to him.
"Elsa, go check up on Aladdin! We'll find a way to destroy this thing!" Naruto tells her as he prepares himself.
Seeing the idea has merit, as Aladdin can give some detail on what's going on, the ice queen makes her way to the prince of thieves. Naruto immediately uses Strike Raid to deter the Heartless' attention to him the moment it reaches out for her. "Pay attention; you want us don't you?"
Kurt Zisa twirls sideways to attack them. Normally, he would use a spell like Reflect, but now he has to jump with Goofy and Donald. He gets nicked on the side of his head, blood painting the desert floor like a canvas.
Elsa reaches Al and lightly nudges him. The Arabian hero's eyes adjust slowly to the light, a gasp of pain escaping his throat. His eyes focus on the frozen beauty, asking, "Who are you?"
"Elsa. I'm Naruto's friend," she tells him, calming his nerves enough. "What happened to you?"
"That thing." He points to Kurt Zisa. "It came two days ago, and attacked Agrabah. I tried to lure it away long enough to save the city, but spending a day away from a water source..."
"I'll help you. But our magic is being sealed right now..." Elsa looks back at the fight.
Naruto and Goofy get tossed back. The former recovers enough asking Donald, "What do you know about Silent Magic?"
"Silent Magic? It basically seals magic. But this is too advanced for me," says Donald. He then looks at Kurt Zisa, which has the lower arms holding out green spheres. "See that? It must be controlled with that!"
"Then let's break some stuff!" Naruto rushes in to slash at the left orb, going past it as he does. 'If magic doesn't work, then the sword techniques will do!'
Kurt Zisa turns around to face Naruto, leaving it open to Goofy to strike the other one. The snake head turns to Goofy and stretches out to bite him. Donald jumps in the way using his staff to take the fangs, and is launched into the sky hitting the top barrier. As he impacts the wall and comes down painfully, the snake stretches up to tear into him, but is knocked back by the shield spin performed by Naruto and Goofy.
This attack saves Donald and sends it crashing into the barrier, allowing the duck to land safely. The other orb shatters in Kurt Zisa's hand, and the spell around them lifts. Naruto then runs in to take it down, only to stop when it swings at him.
"Guess this guy's still got some bite in him," says Naruto as he prepares himself. Donald and Goofy stand up by his side. The demon's mouth ejects a sparkling gem from its mouth from the result, before quickly retreating back inside. Seeing this, Naruto comes up with an idea of how to defeat it.
Kurt Zisa withdraws its blades and takes up a karmic pose. It enters a samsara state floating in midair, using its arm to forge a barrier around itself. The Heartless floats across the battlefield looming further and closer to our separated heroes. With its hands, it summons through magic tornadoes of sand that pummel Naruto and Donald.
"Knock it off!" Goofy shouts before he jumps up and bashes the shield. Unfortunately his attack fails to deal any real damage to it. "Uh oh!"
Kurt Zisa summons fireballs and shoot them at Goofy, who runs away for safety. Another comes his way, which Naruto deflects using Reflect. It hits the shield barrier, giving a different effect to it; a small crack forms at the edge.
Another tornado hits Naruto. An enraged Donald shouts, "Hey! You leave my friends alone!" He then casts Thundaga, hitting the shield with many lightning bolts. More cracks appear, and the demon begins to send spheres of energy at them. The heroes manage to dodge and avoid the attacks with ease, escaping the explosive impact zone.
Kurt Zisa begins spamming all three spells, keeping the three warriors on edge trying to escape the assault. All three get caught in a burning twister, and are sent flying high up painfully.
"I gotcha!" Elsa summons a bed of snow to catch them, safely bringing them to the ground. As a fireball comes her way, she uses an ice wall to block it. "Magic can damage that shield right?"
"Yup!" Donald tells her before Naruto moves in, forming the Mahou Rasengan. He bashes into the shield, but gets repelled easily.
As he rolls along the sandy dunes, he shouts, "Go," and Donald fires three sets of Firaga to crack the shield even further.
Elsa summons a giant icicle and drops it down on Kurt Zisa. The shield shatters upon contact and the Heartless falls backwards crashing into the sand. Frost holds it in place courtesy of the ice queen, while Naruto sees the gem from before coming out. He jumps with all his strength just as the Heartless breaks free of its frozen bonds, and slashes through the gem.
With a single hit it shatters, shrapnel flying in every direction. The Heartless groans mechanically, stumbling over head towards the group. The barriers disappear as well, allowing Carpet to fly in and scoop up Aladdin. As Kurt Zisa stumbles forward, wobbling, the group runs away. Its arms hit the dirt keeping them straight, until it collapses forward. Carpet manages to catch everyone just in time, and they escape the corpse of the super Heartless. A blue heart flies up from its body, as the rest of it vaporizes into light.
Later…
"So, Jasmine is staying behind?" asks Aladdin as Naruto uses Curaga on him and everyone else.
"Yeah," says Goofy. "The princesses were keeping more darkness from spilling outta dat Keyhole."
Al sighs. The more she's away, the more he worries. "I guess if she needs to…"
"Don't worry though; once we defeat Ansem everything will be set back to normal," Naruto says before turning to Elsa. "Anna will go home too." She nods in response to him.
"Let's get going. Ichigo said he was going to the Olympus Coliseum first," says Goofy.
"When did he say that?" asks Donald.
"When we left."
"Then, there's our next stop. Maybe he knows something," is Naruto's response before helping up Aladdin. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Just need some water." With that, Al and Naruto shake before the latter and his friends make their exit. They make their way to the Gummi Ship and take off.
In almost less time than usual they make it to the world of the Olympus Coliseum, exiting right outside said coliseum. They make their way towards the entrance, where they spot Phil walking back and forth. Naruto calls out, "Phil!"
"Oh, hey rookies! About time ya showed up!" says the Satyr as he runs up to them. He then notices Elsa, and almost immediately inhales his gut. "Well, hello! How's it goin' there, sweetcheeks?"
"Huh?" Naruto steps on Phil's face, not giving Elsa a chance to reply.
"You still have a tournament right?"
Phil pushes Naruto off. "Too late, turkeys! The Hades Cup's already started! That Ichigo fella though popped his head around at the last second!"
"Where is he?" Naruto enters the stadium. There he and the others spot Ichigo in battle against a horde of Darkballs, wielding the twin Zangetsu.
"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo wipes out the monsters around him, leaving him free to move on.
The group comes up to him. "Ichigo, what are you doing here?" asks Elsa.
"Hey guys," he says first. "I'm here for Hades. I figured he was working with Maleficent even back then, so he may know something about Ansem."
"Good idea," says Naruto as he turns over to them. "Will you be enough?"
"I figured you guys would show up, so I made you my subs," he tells him.
"You can get subs?"
"And now, the finals!" The crowd cheers while Hercules looks over with worry. He sees a strange presence making its way towards the arena.
Ichigo steps in to face his opponent – Hades.
"Yo, how's it going kid? Remember me?" The cocky Lord of the Dead chuckles a bit.
"Yeah, you're the guy who gave Naruto that certificate, and lied to me about Inoue. What's this about?"
"Let's just say I got a special place for you, DOWN UNDER!" He stretches his arms out as flames rise.
"What? You think you got a chance? I am a god!" he bellows before firing flames at him.
Ichigo swipes away the flames with his small sword, before energy explodes out from the hole in his larger one. "Getsuga Tenshou!" Hades shoots a pillar of flames skyward to block it.
"Nice try! I've been watching all your fights; you ain't got a chance kid!" He snaps his fingers, causing the area around the Soul Reaper to explode in flames.
"Ichigo!" shouts his friends seeing him in pain.
As the twister of fire continues to assault Ichigo, it explodes with the shout of, "Bankai!" A twister of power releases, revealing Ichigo in his Bankai state. He then holds his hand out and fires a Cero like Heilig Pliaf, sending Hades spiraling into the barrier.
"You think that's gonna stop me!?" Hades throws a large fireball Ichigo is forced t cut through, leaving him open to his flaming palm to the throat. The god of the Underworld turns bright red furiously, burning Ichigo eternally. In a blight of anger he shouts, "You should have stuck with the deal kid! You can't kill the god of the Underworld!"
Ichigo screams out in pain, but regains himself soon to smirk. "Jokes on you, idiot! Soul Reapers are the only real gods of death needed!"
"What?!" Ichigo bawls his free fist and punches Hades, unleashing a ball of red light. He then raises his sword up to his horns. "Please! You're really gonna try that again?!"
The energy collecting spins like a razor, mixed in with his blade. He then swings down, leaving a huge gash on Hades. The god's eyes widen in horror feeling the power of the blade, before falling backwards slowly. "This… power…!"
"Now, you're gonna answer my questions!" Ichigo aims his sword in front of the god, before asking, "What do you know about this Final Keyhole? What does it open?"
"How should I know?" Hades spits back, holding his wound. "Something about the Door to Darkness that leads straight into Kingdom Hearts! There's three keys that emerge from it that'll lead you straight to it!"
"Keys?" Naruto cups his chin as he thinks. 'He must mean the three Heartless that came out. That big guy, the cobra, and what else?'
"And, why didn't you help her out at Hollow Bastion?" asks Ichigo, his final question.
"Didn't wanna get involved," he says with a laugh. "I already have a plan to rule all the worlds, so no need for me to jump into all this Keyhole crap! They all did, and now they're all in the darkness!" He then grabs Tensa Zangetsu and pushes it aside, before igniting Ichigo ablaze once more. "Didn't anyone teach you? Don't let your guard down!"
Ichigo swipes away the flames in his path before slashing Hades once more. "I won't."
This final attack actually leaves a mark overtop the last hit. "This… isn't… happening!"
He then kicks him off the stage, into a cage far off inside the stadium building. The gates to the exit lock down on him, and he's left to the mercy of several things hidden in the darkness. "Whoa, hey, hold up! Come on, OUCH!" His anguish cries can be heard in the darkness.
The crowd uproars even louder with Ichigo's victory. The Soul Reaper raises his sword high as he takes in the cheers, still feeling the burns. With the victory in hand, everyone enters the coliseum entrance where they first met Phil.
There, as Ichigo is being cured, Hercules says, "You two were really good. Even I'm not sure if I can defeat Hades that quickly."
"Those two shots I had were the last I had in me," says Ichigo with a withered sigh. "Had I continued, I don't think I'd be left off with more than a few burns."
Naruto looks over at Hercules and then back to Donald and Goofy. "You know, I think I figured out what you were talking about. What makes a true hero, and that's the people around you."
"Oh?" The demigod is rather impressed with his answer. The Satyr however, couldn't believe him, and just stares blankly. "What makes you say that?"
"We've been through allot on this adventure, and while I don't know how it was for my friends, I for one feel great that I could share this experience with these guys. Alone I've had many problems, but they got easier as I hung around Donald and Goofy. Not even Ansem stands a chance if we work together; that's what being a hero is." Donald and Goofy look by bashfully at the praise they received.
"Wait, that's not exactly what-" Hercules clasps Phil's mouth shut.
"Naruto, if teamwork and cooperation is the answer to being a hero, you go with it. The thing is, there really IS no right or wrong answer; just a path and the choices you make that you don't regret down the road." Hercules pushes Phil aside. "Just remember to stick together, and no one can or will stop you."
"Now, if only someone could move that thing I've been busting you about!" says Phil, going back to the stone pedestal he asked Naruto to move when they first met.
"Hmm..." Naruto goes over to it and tries to move it. Only to complain, "Nope! Still too heavy."
"Did you forget already Naruto?" asks Donald cockily.
"Let's all push it!" Goofy says, and together the three of them push on the stone.
The pedestal of pure bedrock actually caves on their unified force and moves, though to everyone's surprise a light sprinkles up from below. They look down to see that on the floor is a Keyhole. The fact of this discovery causes them to jump back in shock. Naruto summons his Keyblade and aims it up in the air. The beam of light shoots out, before curving down and entering the Keyhole, locking it indefinitely.
With all their work over, Naruto and the others return to the Gummi Ship. Ichigo checks on the monitor as an image appears. "Hey guys, there's something up on the screen. It's leading all the way back to another world."
"Which one?" Elsa asks before she checks it out. To her surprise, the world is Neverland. "It's where we met Peter Pan."
"That could be the last one," says Goofy with hope.
Naruto nods, before says, "Let's go then, to Neverland!"
Julia: That was completely lackluster.
Kei: Next time we have the final Super Heartless battle, and then it's straight to the End of the World. Now, considering the unimportant nature of the battle it'll be mostly short, like this one with Kurt Zisa.
Yusei: The omakey story is coming to a close too. Before the final battle and epilogue we'll have a chapter dedicated to Birth By Sleep with the battle on the Keyblade Graveyard. Or maybe it's after.