Chapter 8: A Favor Repayed
"Damn! Damn those Heartless!" Charlie punched her hand.
"I wonder if this Heartless has anything to do with the man with the power over water we, well, mostly you, met back in the Inu Realm," Josh spoke. The three were alone, in a back alley, near the docks.
"Possibly. Should we just continue on doing good deeds till more Heartless appear, or worse, that water man?" Riza suggested, leaning up against the wall, looking out the mouth of the alley.
"Yeah, act like nothing's out of the normal. We should split up, better chance of protecting the people from Heartless attacks. Charlie you'll head with Cherushi and demon fish-oof!" Charlie closest to Josh, elbowed him, "Sorry, Mr. Bubbles. Riza you go check on Old Man Flippers, and we'll meet back a little ways down, say Dock 7," the trio where currently at Dock 4.
"'K," Riza left the alley way to check up on the scarred old man. Josh and Charlie left to find the little girl.
Mr.Bubbles blew ten bubbles a second; he was yelling at the young girl. "I know, Mr. Bubbles, but we can't tell them just yet. You know how it works, they're lucky I'll show them this soon!" She looked up, hearing the hurried footsteps of two of the Keyblade team.
"C'mon Cherushi, Riza got back with Old Man Flippers! We're meeting her by Dock 7," Charlie called to the youth and pet. The youngster jogged to the older friends.
Riza just got done talking with the old man, trying to explain the situation to him, and he agreed to staying of the high seas for the time being. She met up with the rest of her team at Dock 7.
"Mr.Bubbles says that Riza should help out Mrs. Parrotfish with taking her dogfish and tiger shark for a walk," Cherushi instructed," She lives on the small Northern Island, toward the entering bridge, grey and blue house can't miss it!" Riza was off, north to help Mrs. Parrotfish with her troublesome pets.
"Josh, you'll help out..." Chersushi waited for Mr. Bubbles to tell her, while Josh was prying it had nothing to do with fish, "Mayor Seaweed. He needs some help with some technical mombojumbo that my ten year old mind can't understand. He's on the eastern island, you'll see a big, white and green building. If the Mayor asks you, say that Mr. Bubbles sent you, the secretary will let you in." Before Josh could run off, a blood curdling scream rang out.
The three took off, "Charlie, make sure Cherushi is safe!" Josh rushed up ahead, the same direction of Riza. Josh rushed ahead the see Riza locked in a fierce battle with a Heartless, a humanoid fish-like Heartless with a black trident; she was barely holding it off with her Keyblade. "Icy Daggers!" The sharp icicles flew from the staff's jewel, impaling the opposing Heartless, freezing it in a light sheet of ice. Riza broke away and slash twice in quick succession, slicing the Heartless in three pieces. "What happened?" Josh asked, now back to back with the keybearer; the two surrounded by the surrounding Heartless.
"I was just about to cross the bridge when that heartless attacked a woman. But it proved to be a bit stronger. Where's -" Riza blocked a heartless assault, "Charlie and Cherushi?" She said through clenched teeth.
"Still a little ways back," Josh explained, blocking a heartless attack with his weapon.
"Josh! Riza!" Charlie called, her blade drawn, holding off heartless. "Stay close to me, kid," Charlie ordered. The warrior called forth the thunderous power of her sword, letting loose the raw electricity destroying the surrounding heartless.
"Are you...heroes?" The ten year old asked.
"Yeah, kid, you could say that."
"Charlie! Look!" Riza pointed out to the sea. On the horizon, was the serpent Heartless, but bigger. At least the size of a one story house, give or take a couple of feet. A shadowy figure stood on the head of the great beast, which was swiftly making its way toward the coast.
Cherushi, fish bowl in hand still, darted to the closest dock, "Cherushi!" the trio yelled. But it was too late to stop the youth, she was mid air, over the water when their voices reached her. With a splash, she and Mr. Bubbles was under the water. Thirty feet from the dock, a wake appeared, moving quickly toward the serpent heartless and its rider. Out from the water, a great dragon appeared, roaring to show off might. This startled the Heartless, sending it rearing backwards. The rider disappeared under the turbulent waves.
The trio continued to fight off the Heartless, worried for the young girl's safety. "Riza, watch out!" Josh called. Riza turned in time to catch the heartless's trident in her hand. The keybearer pulled the Heartless down to her side, and twirling the Keyblade so it was backwards in her grasp, slashed through the Mer-Heartless, then twirled the Keiyblade back to its original state. Behind her, Riza heard the sound of water running.
Her breath caught in her throat when she turned around. Standing behind her was Eau, the water master.
"Hello keybearer," his voice laced with his foreign accent. "I'll finish what I started back in the Inu Realm." His gloved hand shoot out, tightly around her neck. As he begun to squeeze, the body of the teen poofed into a cloud of smoke. Eau's eyes grew wide, and before he knew it, he was against a dock pole, a sharp pain in the side of his head. "What the bloody hell?" I though I had the keybearer in my grasps.
"Sorry dude, but you're too slow if you wanna catch me," Riza smirked. The water master kept his cool and collected mind at ease.
"You mustn't underestimate your foes, young one. You might just," Eau appeared behind her, "lose your life," He whispered harshly. She went for a sweeping kick to his legs. Eau jump dodged the kick and switch to the offensive with a stomping attack. Riza dodged just in time, pushing off the ground.
"Raah!" Charlie came charging, the electricity still crackling around her blade. "Lightning Strike!" The strike came fast and invisible to the untrained eye. Charlie's attack went through the water master like a hot knife through butter. The body collapsed into a puddle. "What?!!" It was a trick, an illusion the water master set up.
"If you can't tell the difference between the real me and my H2O Decoys, you lost this fight," Eau went on the attack, creating the H2O Decoys around Charlie and Riza. Josh was still fighting of the trident wielding Mer-Heartless, protecting the people.
Charlie and Riza were quickly surrounded by twenty H2O Decoys. "What now, Princess?" Charlie asked the girl to her back.
"I don't know, I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'!" Riza's thoughts flew between the voluminous water creations. "Got it! We hit'em hard and fast! If we take out more that he can create, he'll be open to attack!"
"Not a bad idea, Lightning Strike!" Charlie launched herself at the ten infront of her.
"Delayed Death!" Riza sliced her way through the water illusions. Thirty seconds later, ten H2O Decoys were destroyed while the other ten stood motionless until she rested her Keyblade on her shoulder, making the remaining H2O Decoys dissolved.
"Not bad, warriors. Let's see how you deal with hand-to-hand combat," Eau appeared in front of Charlie and thrust his fist into her solar plexus, right above her stomach, knocking the wind out of the teen; Charlie hung limp on his arm. "Hmm, not as quick as your ninja counter part? Too bad, it'll cost you dearly," Eau said it so calm it was frightening.
"Charlie! You bastard!" Riza growled, but remained where she was. Her father and sensei always said to keep check your emotions, you can be blinded by them and possibly lose the fight, or worse your life. "You'll wish you never joined with the Heartless," Riza readied her weapon.
Eau tossed the semi-conscious Charlie to the side, landing with a thud followed by a pained moan. "Come, if you want to feel death," he hissed. Riza charged then leaped before Eau could land a punch. She took out two shurikens and threw them with expert precision. One lodged itself in Eau left shoulder, the other grazed his right arm. He hissed in pain, already feeling the blood trickle down his arm, Is it useless? His mind tried to move the pained arm. No, not useless. But it's a bitch to move. Bloody hell. He right arm, in pain but not as severe, dislodged the irksome object. Riza appeared behind him an swiped with her Keyblade. The injured water master easily dodged the slow strike. "Tired already, Keyblade Mistress?"
"Hardly," the voice was to the left of him, so was Riza. She rushed his side, but did a quick turn and ended up punching him in the gut, "That's for Charlie." Her ninja like speed made her look like she disappeared before his eyes. Riza was behind him and went to hit him in the back of the head with her elbow, but missed. Eau sidestepped the attack and grabbed Riza's arm with his good limb, slamming her into the boardwalk under their feet. She countered quickly sweeping at his feet in another attempt. Eau tried to dodged, but was a bit late and landed hard on his back. Riza sprang from the ground and went to impale the fallen man with a kunai knife. Eau rolled out of the way just before the knife's point made it's home in the spot where his neck was. The agile ninja dodged a punch and replaced her kunai in her pouch. She leaped back and summoned her Keyblade; the two took up their stances, locked in a stare-down.
Josh finished off the last of the fish like Heartless, with just barely enough magic power for a simple spell. He scanned the area to find Riza and Eau by Dock 6, Charlie out cold on the dock itself, and the serpent Heartless and dragon guardian roaring loudly in and out of the crystal blue waters. Thinking quickly, he decided that Charlie needed the most help. "Char-, Charlie, wake up," Josh whispered. Charlie didn't stir. "Out cold. Damn, what now?" Before he could figure something out, something behind him knocked him out. It was one of Eau's remaining H2O Decoys, which dissolved quickly.
A flash, and a sicking sound of leg meeting head echoed throughout the dock area. Riza crashing into the aluminum door of the dock storage rooms. The metal bended to the new force, and was forced to almost break when Eau crashed into Riza, his knee jammed into the her gut. Riza was left with her mouth agape, blood trickling down; internal bleeding from Eau's recent assault. His knee still pushing into her gut, hard. "Not so tough are you? You should just have let the Heartless swallowed your heart. You're worthless to your friends, you couldn't even stop me from attacking your friends. How path-" Eau couldn't utter another syllable. Riza kicked with her left leg, right into his manhood, abruptly halting the man's banter.
"That'll teach ya...to..open yer trap," Riza smirked. Eau dropped the assulting knee and graped the pained area, falling to a fetal position. Riza staggered from the extremely dented wall that her body involuntarily created. She stood up from her slouched state, and looked at the pitiful man, "I swear, do all men think they are invincible? They all have the same, exact weak spot, no matter how macho the man. Now get up, I'm not done with you," she drew her Keyblade, the sharp sword blade to his throat, "Don't think I'm letting you get away with insulting me, you heartless bastard."
He gingerly got himself up, "Agua Style, Shining Waters Fist!" He came at her with surprising speed with a man who just had his crotch kicked. His right fist was encased in swirling water. He missed and hit the storage room, it creaked with more discomfort.
Riza noticed the water martial artist was cradling his left arm, Must be in more pain than he thought, fine with me. Riza charged the crippled Eau, throwing punches and pulling kicks on his left side, knowing he'll have a difficult time with it. The ninja reached out and grabbed the martial artist's black trench coat, and swung him around, but before she could let go, the sound of a gun was heard, and the dreadful sound of a body getting shot. Riza looked down to see the tip of a harpoon protruding from his body, "That doesn't look good," she said, still looking at the harpoon tip, dripping with blood.
The water master staggered away, uttering something along the lines of a threat then the word retreat; he proceeded to fall into the ocean at the edge of the docks. Riza reached the edge just in time to see the last of the bloody splash. In the distance, the serpent Heartless retreated from its battle with the guardian dragon. The dragon roared in a victorious tone, dived under the water's surface and swam back to the coast line.
Riza looked from the bloody water, then looked to see where the projectile came from. Forty feet down the dock, was Old Man Flippers, making his gruff self toward the bewildered Keyblade Mistress. He was in front of her now, the harpoon gun slightly smoking. "It looked like you needed a bit o' help, so I shot the bastard," he mumbled.
"Thanks. You didn't need to do that," she thanked him.
"You saved me, repayin' the favor."
"Hey, it's in the job description: Wield the Keyblade, kick Heartless ass, save people," Riza joked.
"Don't forget about the keyhole, honey," Charlie gasped out, smirking all the same. She had her arm around Josh for support, who smiled and rolled his eyes at his cousin's antics.
"Charlie! Josh! You guys are ok," Riza rushed to her friends. "Where's Cherushi?"
The ten year old made her appearance, soaked to the bone, and caring Mr. Bubbles's fish bowl and the fish. "Right here, Riza. Wet, but ok," she smiled.
"That's good. So, I guess your secret is out," Riza said in a serious tone.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Now look, before you start to ask questions, I had to hide it from you, because I though you were just a bunch of people looking for a selish wish," her rambling was cut off by Riza.
"It's ok. So you went to find the guardian dragon, desperate times call for desperate measures," Riza stated.
Josh just shook his head in disbelief, Charlie's jaw hung open, and Old Man Flipper just mumbled about the stupidity of youth. "Riza," Josh began, "Cherushi is the guardian dragon."
"Oh...I knew that!" No you didn't, her mind chimed in. Her self esteem was slightly defelated. "Can we just find that damned keyhole already?!" the keybearer stomped off in huff.
After a decent rest and a fresh meal of the fish Riza and Old Man Flippers caught earlier, Josh asking for a different type of meal, the five were off to find the "damned keyhole" as Riza put it the previous day. They were actually closer than they thought. The Key of the Ukaizr sensing out the keyhole. The weapon lead them back to Dock 6, more precisely, the storage room that was abused during Eau's and Riza's fight. The doors gave a high-pitch creek as they opened, and the smell of the salty water clearly evident to the five, but only really affecting the nostrils of the three outsiders.
"Here we go," The keyhole glowed in a light blue around the edge and black within the hole. Riza pointed at the relatively large hole the Keyblade locked it with its locking beam; the locking click echoed through the space the size of a large house. "One more world saved."
The five walked out, their eyes greeted to the sight of the setting sun, which casted varity of colors, ranging from orange to purple. "Pretty," Cherushi whispered. She turned to the group, "Thanks for saving our world, I present you three with gifts. Charlie, wielder of the elements, I grant you one wish, name it and it shall be done."
Charlie mused over various ideas, from riches to invulnerablity, but one request stuck out the most, "I wish my motion sickness was gone, forever."
"Done!" Cherushi closed her eyes and glowed a light blue, almost white. After two seconds, Cherushi's light subsided. "You will no longer get motion sick. Now, Riza, the Keyblade Mistress, for you, I'll grant you one wish."
"I wish for you to read my future, give me some things to look out for," She said without hesitation.
"Of course," Cherushi glowed, Mr. Bubbles swam quickly around his bowl, the created whirlpool rose out of the small opening. The ten year old spoke with an unusual voice, one that sounded centuries old, and growl-like, a voice that seemed to belong to the guardian dragon. Ukaizr Riza of the Keyblade, your future is wrought with dangers and betryal. You'll come across familiar faces from your past. Dark beings will test you mentally and physically. But don't forget, you hold the mightiest weapon of all; it'll never break unless you let it. Stay true and you'll be rewarded with what you seek. Good luck, Ukaizr Riza of the Keyblade. The voice faded. As the dragon spoke, images of the future played within the swirling water of the fish bowl's mini cyclone.
Riza smiled at the prediction, "Thanks."
"Now, Josh, sage of the black arts, I present to you a special gift. One you will bond with very closely. I give you Mr. Bubbles." Everyone but the girl and fish looked at them dumbfounded.
"But he's your pet! You can't give him away, especially to the guy with ichthyophobia!" Charlie exclaimed.
"I'm quite aware of that, Charlie, but Mr. Bubbles feels that he'll be of more use to the sage then he is to me. And plus, his little water cyclone is just a trick. Not really needed," The little girl smiled.
"Well, whaddya say, Josh?" Riza questioned the twenty-year old.
Josh looked stone-faced, like he really was thinking this over. "I'll do it," he answered. They all looked at him. "Do I have to repeat myself?" 'Cause if I do I'll say no.
"Good. Hold out your staff," The girl commanded, she held out the bowl in front of her. Josh did the same with he bladed staff. The jewel resonated a reddish glow and the fish bowl took on the same glow. "See ya later Mr. Bubbles." the fish glowed brightly and was sucked into the jewel."Hey, I got a summon. Heh, who would have thought it was a fi-fi-fish," Josh stuttered, but smiling a shakily smile.
"We should head out before Josh here melts down. We'll be back to return Mr. Bubbles to his home. Bye Cherushi, Old Man Flippers," The trio waved to the two and left to take off. Returning to Sunset Suburbia to see how things are going with their friends.
Glace got out of the shower with slightly warm fog roll over the icy domain which was quickly dropped in temperature to below freezing point; just how the ice manipulator liked it. It was then he noticed a body in the Freezer, as Glace called it.
"Acier," Glace said. The silent assassin looked at his superior. Glace was in a pair of ice blue pants, nothing more, with the toned torso exposed. One would assume that Glace was male, but lacked certain parts of the male torso. "I'm glad it was you that sees me like this. Knowing your probably the sharpest knife in the drawer, sorry for the pun, you already know my secret." The steel master nodded. "And I know you won't blab since your accident." Glace was right. A botched mission ended up with Acier losing his voice, the thick scar across his throat a lasting reminder, next to him being permently mute. "Now, why are you here?" The steel master walked over to his boss and handed over a note. It was from Feu. It read that the third prince has been captured. "Good, you may go now Acier. Keep up the good work and remember, no spilling my, sorry, our little secret." The flirt winked at the mute assassin, making a twisted joke about Acier's eternal silence.
TBC
Acier-Steel/Metal