On Today's Episode: Our keyblade-wielding now-quintet returns to Lost Jerusalem in order to seal the Final Keyhole and hopefully find Ellen before it's too late. What dangers await them now that the keyhole is letting the darkness overflow this world? And who is this strange foe wielding what appears to be some kind of massive keyblade? One thing's for sure, our heroes are in for a fight...
Episode 18: Into the Depths of Darkness
"At least the world's still here," Maylin quipped once they'd all disembarked at the Cliffside of Lost Jerusalem. "I would have thought this place had been completely overrun by now..."
"Like Jr. and the gang said, it's probably because the princesses are holding the darkness back for us," Haruka stated.
"But I'm pretty sure even they can't hold it back forever, so we need to get back to that keyhole and seal it before it's too late," Marie proclaimed.
"Right, we cannot afford to waffle," Sophia stated, only to giggle when Nick gave her a funny look. "...did I say it wrong?"
Suddenly, a Wyvern flew through the fog towards them.
"All right, ugly bird," Marie quipped as she summoned Star Cluster to her hands. "Time to show you what I can do!"
The Wyvern roared and attempted to hit Marie with its multi-kick attack, but she raised Star Cluster to parry the kick before going on the offensive, striking out with a vertical downward slash, then a forward thrust, and finishing by drawing her keyblade back, flipping it, and then leaping forward to do an angled spinning slash.
While the Wyvern was reeling, Marie jumped into the air and attacked with an upward slash from the right leg, followed by a vertical downward slash, and finishing with two downward spinning slashes from either side.
As the Wyvern faded away, a Darkball also broke through the fog to attack them.
"Okay, this is just getting ridiculous!" Maylin shouted, preparing to cast a spell.
However, Marie beat her to the punch by raising Star Cluster and casting a spell that briefly surrounded her with a spiraling barrier of water before launching a sphere of water at the Darkball that exploded on contact, destroying the Darkball.
"...that was cool," Maylin gasped. "I don't think even I know that kind of spell!"
"How 'bout we trade notes when this is all over?" Marie giggled.
When they made it through the fog, Nick looked up towards the edge of the Rising Falls at the edge of the cliff and saw Tohru waiting for something.
"Is everything okay, Tohru?" Nick asked. "Did Kobayashi make it out okay?"
"She's still in the castle," Tohru replied.
"Wait, against her will?" Marie wondered.
"I don't think so," Tohru answered. "I think she's there for a reason, given the rest of the princesses are there, too."
"They're probably doing everything they can to keep the darkness at bay," Sophia answered. "Let's go and help them."
"You might need my strength, so I'll go with you," Tohru proclaimed. "Now let's hurry."
The team took the nearby lift to the Castle Gates, where another new Heartless was waiting for them. This one resembled a knight clad in purple and blue armor with white trim and yellow buttons, a purple head and a silver jaw, the arms and torso proportioned much larger than the head and legs, the arm that wasn't holding its main weapon actually resting ape-like on the ground.
The Heartless was carrying a large, circular shield with a triangular bump on the top, bottom, and sides. The border of the shield had a very thin, yellow outline and was mainly blue, except for the areas near the bumps, which were sky blue. The most prominent feature of this shield was the massive, black canine head protruding from the center. This head sported long ears, circular, pupil-less, pale yellow eyes as well as a similar eye on its forehead, and a snarling mouth filled with long, sharp teeth and a silver, spiked collar around its neck.
"Oh, goody," Haruka sighed.
"Are these ones annoying, too?" Nick wondered.
"Defenders are, well, very defensive," Haruka explained. "That shield they carry blocks all frontal attacks, and it can shoot fire and ice, and it's really just a pain in the teeth."
Sophia raised Super Yo-yo and summoned Pandora to cast Kougaon on the Defender as it raised its shield. Parts of the blast were blocked by the shield, but most of the spell hit the Defender and caused it to keel over. This allowed Sophia to slip behind it and hit it in the back a few times to finish it off.
The group continued through the Castle Gates and eventually into the Entrance Hall. When they did, Tohru's gaze snapped towards the library and she flew up there lickety-split.
"H-Hey, Tohru, don't leave us behind!" Maylin shouted as the group all ran after her into the Library.
On the second floor, Kobayashi was looking through as many books as she could to hopefully find a solution to their current predicament when she heard the doors slam open.
"KOBAYASHI!" Tohru wailed as she flew forward and hugged Kobayashi tightly, causing them both to collapse to the ground.
"Ack, I should have seen that coming..." Kobayashi groaned as she picked herself up.
"S-Sorry, Kobayashi," Tohru admitted. "I was just worried about you..."
"Just don't knock me down again, and we're square," Kobayashi chuckled as she hugged Tohru back while the rest of the keyblade wielders caught up.
"Oh, Kobayashi, these are my friends," Tohru proclaimed. "They helped me find you."
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you've come to seal the keyhole, right?" Kobayashi asked. "Just be careful if you're going back up there. The darkness is raging deep inside of that thing, and I don't know how much longer we'll be able to hold it back."
"We've got this," Nick quipped.
"I'm sure you do," Kobayashi replied, handing something off to Nick. "Here, this is for you. Use it to face the darkness just like we have."
Nick quickly attached the token to his keyblade and swung it horizontally, the keyblade transforming mid-swing. This keyblade appeared to be modeled after all of the dragons that lived with Kobayashi, with the hilt resembling Tohru's maid uniform and the handle scaly and green like her dragon tail, two multi-colored eyes like Lucoa's decorating the upper hilt, the blade being a large feathered wing like Kanna's dragon form, a sea serpent tail much like Elma's acting as the teeth, and a small hand-made doll resembling Ilulu's acting as the keychain token. The words Dragon Scale ran through Nick's mind as he studied the weapon.
The group decided to let Tohru and Kobayashi have some alone time, so they exited the Library and moved through the Lift Stop, once again beginning the rather arduous process of heading up to the Castle Chapel near the top of the castle.
"I will be so happy if I never have to see this accursed Lift Stop ever again," Maylin groaned as they continued their trek up the castle. "My feet are killing me, and it doesn't help matters that my Cure spells only heal battle damage, not sore limbs from all this frickin' walking we're doing!"
"I'm sure you probably said that at some point in the other multiverse," Haruka chuckled.
"Wait, what's this about 'another multiverse'?" Nick asked. "What chapter did I inadvertently skip?"
"Oh, right, you weren't there when Yaldabaoth said that," Maylin responded. "Apparently, he completely destroyed an entire multiverse before all of this."
"You know those visions you were getting?" Haruka stated. "I think they were some sort of psychic memories from that multiverse that hit your mind, especially if that Blue Sky Kingdom place was similar to this world."
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the whole multiverse concept now, given what keyblade wielders generally do," Nick quipped. "But if Yaladbaoth's capable of destroying an entire multiverse... does that mean we're in over our heads?"
"My friends in the Phantom Thieves have faced multiple god-like entities before, and they came out on top," Sophia proclaimed, remembering their battle with EMMA. "So, that would most likely mean Yaldabaoth is not invincible as he claims."
"And I'm pretty sure he's never actually faced a keyblade wielder properly before, too," Marie quipped. "After all, he only fought you while he was possessing Ellen."
"I just hope Ellen's all right, wherever she is," Nick sighed as the group finally entered the Castle Chapel, where the other five Princesses of Heart were all convened.
"Ladies, we have returned!" Maylin proclaimed.
"Ah, we've been expecting all of you," Fena Houtman quipped.
"Do you know where Yaldabaoth went?" Nick asked.
"Unfortunately, I think he disappeared," Fena replied.
"When that keyhole showed up, the darkness just started pouring out of it," Ochako Uraraka stated, floating around the room. "It looked like it swallowed him up and he disappeared."
"Even though Yaldabaoth vanished, that flood of darkness still hasn't stopped, so we're all working together to hold it back," Hinata Hyuuga proclaimed.
"Oof, that look on his face freaked me out," Suletta Mercury stated. "He was smiling when the darkness took him."
"You all need to hurry," Fena proclaimed. "Darkness is pouring out of that keyhole, and we might not be able to hold it back much longer."
"Don't worry, ladies, we're on it," Nick responded, summoning Dragon Scale to his hands.
"You know what I think is weird?" Bridget asked, casually twirling her yo-yos around. "Yaldabaoth kinda... you know, ignored us since the keyhole appeared. I don't think he's coming back here."
"That's good for us," Marie replied. "One less problem to deal with right now."
Deciding that they didn't have any more time for talking, the group all beat feet for the Grand Hall so they could close the Final Keyhole before it was too late.
After tearing their way through a horde of Neoshadows, they ran up the stairway towards the entrance to the Dark Depths, where the keyhole lay in wait.
Inside the Dark Depths was a trippy-looking void of multi-colored light.
"Oof, this is hurting my eyes," Maylin quipped. "Can we just seal the keyhole and get out of here?"
"I... don't think it's gonna be as easy as that," Nick responded.
Before Maylin could question why, however, Nick simply pointed to the gigantic Heartless that was standing in front of the keyhole as if to say "try and get to this keyhole, I dare you".
The Heartless in question was a massive, quadrupedal beast with a predominantly lilac-colored body, its back and all four of its legs being violet instead, each of its legs having two toes with black claws, two large, curved tusks sprouting from its lower jaw that were white on their upper half and lilac on their lower half. The beast also had a conical black horn on its forehead.
"Holy crapbaskets, that thing is huge!" Marie shouted.
"Yeah, but you know what they say, right?" Nick proclaimed, brandishing his keyblade. "The bigger they are..."
"THE HARDER THEY FALL!" all five keyblade wielders exclaimed, summoning their keyblades before rushing in to do battle with the Behemoth.
The Behemoth didn't do much at first, merely stomping around the Dark Depths, but this still kept the group on the move, since each footstep created a small shockwave when it landed.
Maylin attempted to strike the Behemoth's flank with a Blizzaga spell, sending a shotgun-spread blast of seven large ice crystals out, but it didn't seem to affect the Behemoth at all.
Sophia slipped behind it while Nick distracted it, summoning Pandora to hit it in the keester with Kougaon, but this didn't affect it either.
"Are you seriously telling me this lumbering ninny is immune to magic?!" Maylin shouted when she realized what was happening.
The Behemoth bent down to charge forward towards them, and then Nick noticed the horn on its head looked more fragile than the rest of its body.
Out of curiosity, Nick waited for the Behemoth to charge, then jumped and struck the horn with a Blitz. This seemed to finally have an effect, causing the Behemoth to stumble backwards.
"Girls, the horn is the weak point!" Nick exclaimed.
"That's all I need to hear," Haruka quipped as she jumped off of Maylin's shoulders to get enough height to swing Divine Rose at the Behemoth's horn. Nick attempted to pelt the horn with rapid Firaga spells, only to discover that magic didn't work against the horn, either.
"Ooh, now I'm mad," Maylin growled. "How dare you nullify my entire fighting style, you son of a bitch?!"
Just to vent her frustrations, Maylin charged forward as Nick landed a Hurricane Period on the horn that caused the Behemoth to kneel down in exhaustion, exposing its horn to direct attacks.
While the Behemoth was incapacitated, Maylin started attacking the horn with an upward-right, diagonal slash, followed by an upward-left slash, and finishing by jumping into the air and performing a spinning slash that caused a trio of magical orbs to erupt upwards from around her. To Maylin's surprise, this did cause damage.
"...huh," Maylin quipped. "Well, as long as it works, I ain't complaining!"
"Probably because you're channeling your power into your physical hits instead of just casting a plain ol' spell," Haruka stated.
"I guess some Heartless are just weird like that," Nick responded.
Just then, the Behemoth got back to its feet and roared loudly, calling down a barrage of violet lightning bolts around it that threw Nick, Maylin and Haruka backwards.
As the Behemoth reared upwards on its hind legs to stomp on them, Marie suddenly got a devious idea, raising Star Cluster to cast a Water spell near the Behemoth. Maylin caught on quickly and cast Blizzaga to freeze the water puddle into a sheet of ice on the 'ground'.
When the Behemoth attempted its stomping attack, its right foot touched the ice sheet and caused it to topple over, exposing its horn once again.
Nick wasted no time in lashing out with an Ars Arcanum, intending to do as much damage to the horn as possible before the Behemoth got back up again.
When the Behemoth picked itself up again, this time it charged up dark power into its horn before firing a sphere of darkness into the sky. About two seconds later, blobs of dark energy started raining down from the air, forcing the group to stay on the move.
After a few more minutes of this, Sophia swung Super Yo-yo in an upwards arcing slash to knock the Behemoth down.
A sparkle emanated from the teeth of Dragon Scale, which could only mean that Nick had just learned something new. Figuring this would be the perfect chance to try it out, Nick rushed towards the Behemoth and jumped, executing a stylish five-swing combo before floating backwards and aiming Dragon Scale towards the Behemoth, energy gathering into a large sphere around Dragon Scale's teeth.
After charging up just a bit longer, Nick unleashed his gathered energy in the form of a barrage of light projectiles that all homed in on the Behemoth's horn, doing enough damage to shatter the horn in the process.
The Behemoth roared in pain before slumping to the ground and dissipating into particles of darkness, a large energy heart floating off into whatever was the sky in this place.
All that remained of the Behemoth was another thumb drive for Yaldabaoth's Report.
"Well, well," Nick quipped. "Sophia, can you decode this for us?"
"Okay, I've got it," Sophia responded, briefly jumping back into Nick's Gummiphone so she could decode the thumb drive. "Yaldabaoth's Report, number 8."
There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to the people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart.
As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially.
This device is the culmination of all my research thus far. The machine's test run successfully created a Heartless.
This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits.
But the two types remain distinct for the purpose of the experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.
"Wait, just a flip-truckin' minute, Yaldabaoth made a machine that creates Heartless?!" Maylin shouted. "How in the absolute..."
"Remember, this may have happened before he truly fell to the darkness," Sophia responded as she leapt out of the Gummiphone. "It seemed like he at least wanted to find ways to combat the Heartless and rescue people who had already been taken before he fell."
"Man, this is all pretty nuts," Marie admitted. "I'm sure you've all had time to let it sink in, but... oh, wait, we have to close the keyhole!"
"Crapbaskets, you're right! That's the whole reason we came back here in the first place!" Nick shouted as he rushed over to the other side of the Dark Depths, where the keyhole was waiting.
Nick raised Dragon Scale towards the Final Keyhole, light shining around its teeth before firing a beam of light into the keyhole, sealing it off with a much louder CLICK that caused the keyhole to vanish in a flurry of dark and light sparkles.
"Hey, I think the darkness is dissipating," Haruka quipped. "I sense a lot less of it than when we got here."
"That can only mean that we did it!" Maylin shouted.
"Damn tootin' you did."
The group all glanced back towards where that voice had come from, and retreated out of the Dark Depths back into the Grand Hall, where Jr., MOMO, Ziggy, Shion, and even Matthews were waiting for them.
"H-Hey, how'd you guys get here?" Haruka wondered.
"We came on Matthews' ship," Shion answered.
Nick remembered what Matthews had told him on his second major visit to Traverse Town, that Matthews had been researching with Gummi Blocks in the hope of recreating his old spaceship, the Elsa.
"Yup, I finally recreated my masterpiece," Matthews laughed. "Obviously, my own Elsa is the superior version, but this one'll serve us well until we can find the original."
"This was where humanity was said to have originally come from," MOMO stated. "My friends and I have been searching for Lost Jerusalem for a long time now."
"But it's in a lot worse shape than I thought," Jr. groaned. "Look at all of this damage..."
"To be fair, I'm not sure if this castle was here on Lost Jerusalem before Ichinose and her council took it over," Nick responded, glancing back at Sophia to make sure he didn't upset her, though she simply smiled at him.
"But I don't think we'll have to worry too much," MOMO giggled. "Everything should be restored once Yaldabaoth is defeated, including your home, Nick."
"But it may also mean goodbye," Shion stated. "Once the worlds are restored, they'll all be separated again, and everyone will go back to their own worlds."
"Um, that's what we have a Gummi Ship for, am I right?" Maylin quipped. "We can just visit you guys with that, right?"
"...it may not be that simple," Jr. admitted. "Nick, you didn't know about other worlds before this, am I right?"
"Well, true, but I always had a theory," Nick replied. "I have a pretty vivid imagination."
"You didn't know about other worlds because they were all isolated, divided by impassable walls," Ziggy proclaimed.
"And those walls were destroyed by the Heartless," MOMO replied. "And if the worlds return, then so will the walls, most likely."
"Which means Gummi Ships won't be any help," Jr. stated.
"Wait, does that mean we'll never..." Nick gasped before trailing off when the realization hit them.
Shion walked closer and put her hand on Nick's shoulder. "Hey, we may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other," Shion proclaimed.
"That's right," MOMO giggled. "No matter where we are, our hearts will find a way to bring us together again."
"And hey, I couldn't forget you jokers even if I wanted to," Jr. laughed.
"And that's supposed to mean what, junior gun nut?!" Maylin taunted, causing everyone to start laughing.
After the Elsa crew moved to the computer consoles to see if they could find coordinates to set sail from, the keyblade wielders retraced their steps back to the Castle Chapel, where most of the Princesses were still waiting, though they looked much more relieved now that the keyhole had been sealed.
"Nice job, you guys!" Ochako proclaimed. "It looks like the darkness is starting to get weaker."
"Problem is, we can feel a much stronger darkness forming somewhere far away," Hinata stated. "It must be the heart of the darkness, and it no doubt is where Yaldabaoth has retreated to."
"Well, then we'll just fly there with our Gummi Ship and stop them both," Nick proclaimed. "That's kinda what we do, after all."
"That's just the answer I expected from you, Nick," Bridget giggled, walking up to him and placing something in his hand. "This should help you in the battles ahead."
Nick attached the token, which was a simple black crown, to his keyblade and swung it horizontally, the weapon transforming mid-swing. This keyblade similar in shape to the Kingdom Key, though black and with a longer reach. The hilt guard was comprised of two bat-like wings extending downward with a diamond in the hilt, the teeth were in the shape of the Japanese kanji for "darkness", and like Oathkeeper, this weapon's blade was hollow, but it had a chain passing through the gap. The word Oblivion came to mind as he studied the weapon.
"I know for a fact that you guys can bring our worlds back," Bridget stated. "I still can't believe that we all played a part in opening that keyhole. I really didn't think I had such a power, to be honest! ...and I probably can't get back to my world until mister Yaldy's toast, so I guess I'm gonna stick around here for now."
"Considering the darkness is still lingering here, we're going to stay here, too," Ochako quipped. "You guys did so much to help Eri, so I guess it's my turn to help you out."
After waving goodbye to the princesses, the keyblade quintet retreated out of the Castle Chapel and into the Lift Stop.
"Oh, by the way, that Matthews guy said he activated the Lift Stop elevator, so you don't have to go the long way to get back up here now," Bridget called out. Sure enough, there was now a central platform that could more easily take the group between floors.
"Thank my poor feet," Maylin sighed in relief as they took the central elevator to the bottom floor and back into the Entrance Hall.
Before they could leave, though, MOMO appeared from the doors to the Library and waved to them.
"What's up, MOMO?" Marie asked.
"I found something you might find interesting," MOMO replied, handing off four separate thumb drives. "It's the remaining pages of Yaldabaoth's Report. I think Ichinose was holding onto them."
"Well, looks like we hit paydirt again," Nick quipped. "Sophia, would you kindly?"
"Okay, I've got it," Sophia replied, jumping back into the Gummiphone so Nick could plug the first thumb drive in. "Yaldabaoth's Report, number 2."
It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:
Extract the darkness from a person's heart.
Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.
Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.
The experiments caused the test subjects' hearts to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are!
My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle.
Sometime later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...
What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?
"I'm starting to wonder if this guy was ever as completely noble as these reports tend to make him appear," Maylin quipped.
Yaldabaoth's Report, number 4.
The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living.
They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.
I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.
Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral principles. Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them?
It's just occurred to me: Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?
"This is really creeping me out," Marie admitted.
Yaldabaoth's Report, number 6.
A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may be the ultimate goal of the Heartless.
But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless.
The Heartless feed on other's hearts, and they yearn for that energy core.
That thing beyond the door must be a heart, too... the heart of this world.
There is no proof, but, having felt that immense energy, I am certain. That was the heart of the world.
The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from all living creatures, but from the planet itself.
But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?
"Yeah, I'm starting to get unnerved, too," Nick responded. "It sounds like Yaldabaoth may have been pretty loony well before he succumbed to the darkness."
Yaldabaoth's Report, number 10.
Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart.
The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart.
Yes, that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness.
Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing.
My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses.
My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.
End of file.
"...that appears to be the end of the whole report," Sophia proclaimed as she jumped out of the Gummiphone.
"Okay, yeah, I don't think he was all there in the head after all," Maylin stated. "Even if he's destroyed a whole multiverse like he claims, he still oughta have known that the Heartless are not to be trifled with."
"Oh, hey, one more thing," MOMO replied, handing a small, glowing book page to Nick. "I think you've been collecting these, right?"
"Hey, yeah, that looks like the last page to the Pipo Storybook," Nick quipped. "And that probably means I'll be facing off with Specter when we get back to Traverse Town."
"Hey, MOMO, can you hear me?" Jr. asked through MOMO's communication device. "If those keyblade wielders are still here, can you tell them to get their butts up to the chapel? The princesses told me that something weird just showed up in there."
"We're on our way," Nick proclaimed.
Ever thankful for an actual elevator now, the quintet took the Lift Stop elevator back to the Castle Chapel, where the Princesses were all staring intently at a pulsing dark portal at the far side of the room.
The group made their way closer to the portal to investigate, only for Nick to suddenly be pushed by an invisible force right into the portal. Sophia had barely managed to jump into Nick's Gummiphone before he vanished through the portal.
"Um... what just happened?!" Maylin shouted.
When Nick was spat out of the portal, he fell down onto what appeared to be a watery surface, looking up to see that he'd been taken to an expansive sea and sky that seemed to reach out into infinity.
"Whoa, this is weird," Nick admitted before suddenly realizing that he was all by himself. "Wait, where did everyone else go?!"
Nick took a few steps forward, only for Sophia to suddenly jump out of the Gummiphone.
"Are you all right, Nick?" Sophia asked.
"I'm pretty sure I am," Nick quipped. "Just... where did that portal take us?"
"I couldn't find any data in the Gummiphone about this place," Sophia admitted. "That is very strange."
A drop of water fell to the 'ground' and caused ripples along the water's surface. Nick looked ahead towards the source, and just a few feet ahead of them, he locked eyes with a slim and willowy woman with pale skin and brown hair resembling tree bark, slanted yellow eyes, and wearing a revealing violet dress.
Her form seemed to be slightly transparent and see-through, but she looked up and smiled.
A vortex of light and darkness surrounded her, and when it dissipated, she had donned a black suit of armor with red outlines, silver greaves with red outlines, serrated red gauntlets, silver and red high-heeled boots, and a dark purple tunic worn over the armor, decorated with red and two black belts around her waist.
Nick and Sophia immediately summoned their keyblades, realizing they were in for a fight.
She raised her hand and summoned a very strange weapon to her hand. This weapon appeared to be made up of two crossing Kingdom Keys, with the teeth facing outward, a gleaming golden filigree, and a long, glimmering blade extending from the middle slightly resembling the Dream Sword. Two keychains fell from each Kingdom Key before joining into one larger keychain, and the keyblade token was a black and red heart similar to the Heartless symbol, only without the fleur-de-lis bottom and jagged cross, with two Kingdom Keys crossed over it.
"Okay, what exactly am I seeing?!" Nick shouted.
Keyblade Armor Meter glided forward across the watery surface and slashed the χ-blade in three different swings. Despite raising Dragon Scale to parry the swings, they were far more powerful than Nick expected, and the third swing broke through Nick's guard and sent him tumbling backwards.
Before Nick could recover, Keyblade Armor Meter thrust the χ-blade to fire a dark ice projectile at Nick's prone form, though Sophia swung Super Yo-yo upwards to deflect it.
"Are you okay, Nick?" Sophia asked.
"Yeah, just... wasn't expecting that to be so strong," Nick quipped. "Who is this lady?!"
Keyblade Armor Meter decided not to wait for Nick to figure that out, rushing forward and slashing upwards with the χ-blade to knock Nick into the air before slashing downwards to send him crashing back to the ground.
Nick didn't even have time to get up before he was blasted with a powerful dark lightning barrage, then knocked away with another three-swing combo.
Keyblade Armor Meter was absolutely relentless in her barrage of attacks, not giving Nick a single chance to counter or even react. Eventually, the assault ended with Keyblade Armor Meter stabbing Nick in the chest with the χ-blade and seemingly knocking him out for the count.
Sophia quickly jumped in, summoned Pandora, and cast Samarecarm, surrounding Nick with an upwards well of light that brought him back to consciousness.
At this point, Sophia was glad she hadn't forgotten all of her Persona skills as Keyblade Armor Meter switched attention to her, rushing forward and swinging the χ-blade at her. Being more nimble on her feet, Sophia was actually able to dodge each swing before jumping backwards.
Keyblade Armor Meter responded by swinging the χ-blade upwards and sending three shots of black ice towards Sophia. Nick quickly shot three Firaga spells to counter each ice shot while Sophia moved in to attack.
Sophia wisely jumped into the air when Keyblade Armor Meter swung the χ-blade towards her, then cast a Kougaon spell downwards to drive her opponent into the ground.
"Nice shot, Sophia!" Nick exclaimed.
After regaining her balance, Keyblade Armor Meter snapped her free hand upwards when Nick charged towards her, raising pillars of water that knocked Nick away.
While Nick was stumbling, Keyblade Armor Meter lunged forward, grabbed Nick by the face with her free hand, and slammed him to the ground before jumping back and blasting Nick with a cloud of ice.
Sophia ran in to grab Nick and pull him back before the ice cloud froze him completely, then cast another Kougaon spell that Keyblade Armor Meter blocked by simply raising the χ-blade. But this did accomplish Sophia's intent, giving her a moment to cast Diarahan on Nick and heal him up.
"Thanks for saving my bacon again, Sophia," Nick quipped.
"Always happy to help," Sophia giggled as she hugged Nick. "But that still leaves the big question. How do we defeat this opponent?"
"I'm still thinking of a way to do that," Nick responded. "She's absolutely savage and relentless. We're not going to get anywhere if we can't actually land a hit on her."
"I might have something," Sophia quipped as she dashed behind Keyblade Armor Meter, who had just gone back on the offensive towards Nick, launching fireballs and swinging the χ-blade relentlessly.
When she had a good enough vantage point, Sophia temporarily dispelled her keyblade so she could bring out her yo-yos and swing them at Keyblade Armor Meter, the yo-yos wrapping themselves around her waist and stopping her in place.
This gave Nick the opportunity to charge forward and swing Reverberating Abyss to land a resounding slash across Keyblade Armor Meter's chest.
Nick wasn't surprised to see that the attack hadn't done much damage (because armor), but at least they were making progress.
Just then, however, Keyblade Armor Meter floated backwards, her expression unreadable due to her mask, but both Nick and Sophia knew that things were about to get even tougher.
Keyblade Armor Meter raised her free hand to the sky, and this summoned twelve phantasmal copies of the χ-blade that floated behind her.
"...oh, crapbaskets," Nick and Sophia gasped at the same time.
Keyblade Armor Meter charged towards Nick and swung the χ-blade upwards to knock Nick into the air, and all twelve phantasmal χ-blades rushed to stab at Nick at the same time.
Sophia quickly cast Diarahan again before Nick could hit the ground, then re-summoned her keyblade to defend herself as Keyblade Armor Meter blitzed her as well.
Sophia parried every blow that she could before casting Kougaon in Keyblade Armor Meter's face, only for her to suddenly warp backwards and summon a ring of eight revolving green flames around Sophia. The flames converged on her before she could respond and warped her to right in front of Keyblade Armor Meter.
"Don't you dare!" Nick shouted as he charged forward and swung Reverberating Abyss to clash with the χ-blade before Keyblade Armor Meter could strike Sophia.
Keyblade Armor Meter glided backwards after the parry, and the twelve phantasmal χ-blades flew into the air and started stabbing downwards into the watery ground at random points, forcing Nick and Sophia to stay on the move.
After recalling the phantasmal χ-blades, Keyblade Armor Meter raised her free hand to shoot a bunch of fireballs in a scatter formation, then swung the χ-blade downward to send a shockwave of darkness towards her opponents.
Nick jumped over the dark wave while Sophia parried the fireballs, hoping to find some kind of gap in Keyblade Armor Meter's relentless assault.
Keyblade Armor Meter continued to furiously swing the χ-blade in different patterns, warping between keyhole-shaped portals with each swing and making it harder for Nick and Sophia to keep track of her.
When Nick jumped over a swing to attack from above, Keyblade Armor Meter reached out to grab Nick by the face again and slam him into the ground, then warped backwards before swinging the χ-blade three times. The first swing released a cloud of cold air, the second swing released three fireballs that flew towards Nick, and the third swing called down three massive lightning bolts.
Nick was clearly in bad shape after an attack of such magnitude, and Keyblade Armor Meter intended to capitalize, rushing forward to deal the final blow.
Sophia wasn't having any of that, however, once again parrying Keyblade Armor Meter's swing, then doubling back to cast Diarahan on Nick.
"I'm surprised you haven't run out of mana or whatever you use to power your spells, Sophia," Nick quipped as Sophia helped him back to his feet.
"I have quite a deep 'SP reserve', as Skull once put it," Sophia giggled.
Suddenly, the sky around them turned grey and thirteen large thrones rose from the water, and Keyblade Armor Meter floated into the highest chair, her armor glowing with darkness.
"...oh, this can't be good," Nick stated.
Keyblade Armor Meter raised the χ-blade before pointing it at Nick and Sophia, causing dozens of shadowy afterimages of her to fly out from her body and start attacking them. While this was happening, the twelve empty thrones began to fire dense rays of light towards Nick, forcing him to stay constantly on the move, parrying each afterimage of Meter and diving away from the light rays.
This continued on for quite a while, until multiple light rays fired for Nick and Sophia at once. All thirteen thrones fired light rays that combined into a much larger blast that struck the 'ground' and caused a massive shockwave to erupt from the point of impact.
Nick had barely managed to cast a Reflect spell around himself and Sophia in time, and though the shockwave instantly shattered the barrier, it still protected them from actually getting hurt by the attack.
After gathering himself, Nick noticed that Keyblade Armor Meter had stopped moving and was just floating in place, as if she needed to recover after that massive attack.
"I think this is our chance, Sophia!" Nick exclaimed.
"I see it, too!" Sophia shouted.
Together, Nick and Sophia charged forward as fast as they could and struck at Keyblade Armor Meter before she could recover, both of them lashing out with a mighty downward slice.
One flash later, and Keyblade Armor Meter was now floating just a few feet away from Nick and Sophia. Though she didn't appear to have taken any damage, her phantasmal χ-blades all vanished before she dispelled the actual χ-blade, which was now also transparent.
Another flash, and Meter's Keyblade Armor vanished.
"Very well done. I would like to think that, in another time and place, we could have been friends."
Meter smiled before she disappeared completely, leaving no trace that she had ever been here in this endless sea and sky.
"...okay, then, now that that's over," Nick quipped. "WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?! Who was that crazy chick with the oversized keyblade... thing?!"
"That was definitely a strange foe," Sophia admitted. "But did you notice that for the whole fight, she was almost completely transparent? I wonder if that may have been a phantom memory of the old multiverse that Yaldabaoth destroyed?"
"It would make sense why we didn't do crap to her, despite hitting her with everything we had," Nick stated.
"Hey, I think she left something," Sophia proclaimed, pointing to where Meter had just been. Lying on the 'ground' was what appeared to be some kind of letter.
Nick walked over to pick it up and read it aloud.
Please accept my deepest gratitude for the invitation to witness your pupils' accession to the office of true Keyblade Master. It was a heavy mantle our Master placed upon your shoulders naming you Successor, but you have nonetheless persevered and raised two Masters yourself. I know it cannot have been easy.
I did you terrible harm in the past over a petty difference in opinion, and just a few years ago selfishly thrust my own burdens upon you. I think of you like a younger sister, and yet, fool that I am, I have never availed myself of countless opportunities to apologize or thank you for opening your home to the girl. Yet not once have you blamed me. On the contrary, here you are inviting me to such an important ceremony. I intend to be there to offer you all my blessings.
Our Master chose his heir wisely. Ours is a bizarrely ironic task, to watch over the light from the shadows, but in the face of that, the warmth in your heart and unfailing dedication to the light impress me to no end.
I have taken to wandering the World, and seen much darkness hiding in the light. Lately, I fear it has taken a turn for the worse. Perhaps the Master has already told you about... them? Fledgling emotions that derive from negativity, and I can now sense their presence in nearly every world.
And on the topic of darkness, we must speak of another matter that concerns me, one related to the upcoming ceremony. When I visited several years ago, your pupil Minako drew my attention. Her power is immense, to be sure, but within her heart I could see darkness just waiting to be awakened.
I know this is none of my business, but I have reservations about welcoming Minako as a true Keyblade Master without taking certain precautions. The traditional examination, perhaps, to see if she shows the Mark of Mastery? The choice is yours, and I will humbly respect your decision.
Take care. I eagerly await our long overdue reunion.
"Maybe this Meter was some kind of teacher in the old 'verse," Nick quipped.
Just then, another dark portal opened up behind Nick and Sophia.
"Welp, I guess that's our way back," Nick stated. "Shall we?"
Sophia nodded, taking Nick's hand so they could jump into the portal together.
As the portal closed itself up, one sentence echoed throughout the endless sea and sky.
"Holy crapbaskets, are you two okay?!" Maylin gasped once Nick and Sophia had returned to the Castle Chapel. "You were gone for quite a while!"
"Yeah, what exactly happened in there?" Marie wondered. "You two look almost like you got tossed through a wood chipper and somehow lived to tell the tale."
"It's a long story, really," Nick quipped. "Let's get back to the Gummi Ship and we'll explain on the way back to Traverse Town."
As the five keyblade wielders exited the Castle Chapel, Nick and Sophia stopped to look back at where the portal had come from, and they uttered the sentence they'd heard before leaving that strange world.
"May your hearts be your guiding key."
To be continued...
New keyblade acquired!
Dragon Scale
Strength: 13
MP: +0
Recoil: 60
Critical Rate: x2
Critical Bonus: 0
Ability: Fire Boost
Description: A keyblade representing a family of dragons brought together by a selfless act of humanity. A powerful weapon that is difficult to deflect, capable of dealing a string of critical blows and increasing damage done with fire-based spells and attacks by 20%. Equip more to increase the effect.
New keyblade acquired!
Oblivion
Strength: 15
MP: -1
Recoil: 30
Critical Rate: x1
Critical Bonus: +4
Ability: Combo Master
Description: A keyblade representing long forgotten memories that promise to return someday. Possesses colossal power and strong critical blows, but reduces max MP by 1, and allows you to unleash a combo whether or not your attack lands.
On the next episode...
Maylin: Oh, my lord, we're so close to the end of this journey!
Haruka: We just have to put that last page into the Pipo Storybook and then we can head off after Yaldabaoth.
Nick: Yeah, but Specter's clearly not making this easy for me. I mean, look at this freakin' cymbal-banging monkey robot he's using!
Marie: Hey, you've never let monkeys stop you before, right?
Nick: True that, so let's spank this last monkey before the endgame, next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse, "Monkey Madness"!
Nick, Maylin, Haruka, Marie, and Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!