Chapter 7
Brothers In Arms
(Kingdom Hearts Zack's point of view)
The fight against Marluxia was dragging on and on. I could barely stand, let alone fight. But I had to, not just to secure Xion's heart fragment, but to save this world from drowning in darkness. I parried one of his scythe slashes, only to feel his fist hit my face two seconds later. I was drained and weak, and my opponent knew it.
"What's the matter, can you not keep up?" he called out cockily, breaking character for once. "Is this all a great Keyblade Knight can do? I'm disappointed. Who do you think you are, anyway?"
"I'm your prom date, you transvestite son of a b-" I was cut off mid-sentence by a deafening roar, one that I knew to be Giratina's. Marluxia turned to his left, where I saw the dragon-heartless fly in. I could tell by his eyes and aura signature that he was no longer a deity.
"Ah, backup has arrived. Not that I needed it, anyway. I could kill you with ease." Marluxia said.
I retorted, "Then why haven't you?" However, inside, I asked myself, Where is Zack? Did he fail? Did he… die? I brushed the thought behind me, however, dodging a blow from my opponent's scythe. I jumped skyward, my injuries limiting my reach. I flung my blades downward, both of them stabbing his shoulders, missing his face by inches.
I stumbled on my landing, grabbing my ribs in pain. One of them must have broken during the exchange. "Now would have been a great time to be able to use magic. I should've had Xion teach me some…" Giratina was helping my pink-haired enemy, however, as he charged me down, enveloped in a shadowy aura. I was hit head-on, my body bending almost in half around the dragon's head.
"Shit shit shit!" I screamed out loud- we were headed straight for a stone pillar. However, Giratina was knocked off course by a blue orb of energy. I got up off the ground, the dragon having thrown me off. Looking towards the direction the orb came from, I saw Zack standing next to a spirit of what I assumed to be a Pokémon. It was a while since I picked up my DS, so I couldn't tell the species.
"What took you so long?" I asked, smiling.
"I had a short detour come my way after the Lord of the Reverse World flew off." Zack responded, helping me to my feet. "This is Abita, a good friend of mine now."
"Pleasure." The spirit said, bowing his head. I nodded in return.
"Look out!" Zack yelled loudly, turning me around. I looked up, and Marluxia was diving at us with his scythe, about to hit me. I rolled out of the way, wincing in pain as my ribs hit the ground. I summoned my bow to my hand, reaching up with the other for an arrow. It hit home, lodging itself in his shoulder as Zack jumped up with his blade for a slice to his head. Abita, as a spirit, could do nothing to hurt him, but tried to distract him.
Giratina flew overhead, launching Dragonbreath attacks whenever he could at us. I saw his glittering Griseous Orb, and a thought struck me. I aimed my bow at him, switching my arrows to the faster lightning ones. One of them hit the orb, knocking it out of the dragon's grasp. Almost at once, Giratina landed, resuming his original form. The orb, however, fell right next to yours truly.
"Ha! I got the orb, Giratina." I said cockily. I noticed something strange about it, though. It was glowing, and pulsating, in my arms. I held it out, and it floated up a few feet, glowing brighter and brighter. I aimed my bow at it, and the world went dark, just me and the orb.
A starry background appeared around me. I knew myself to have found the heart of the world. The orb transformed, turning into a giant keyhole in the sky. My bow was aimed at it in seconds, launching one single beam of light into it. The area around the keyhole shattered, revealing a yellow path into a void.
"This world is now connected." I said, knowing it to be true. When I opened my eyes next, I was back where I was, but two things happened. Firstly, the Griseous Orb fell to the ground, dull and lifeless. Second, the darkness covering Giratina was flowing out of him, and the Heartless insignia on his head disappeared.
"No, all my hard work, for nothing!" Marluxia shouted, pinning Zack to the ground. My twin blades were at his throat in seconds, pushing him off of my comrade.
"Thanks, Zack." He said.
"No problem, other Zack." I replied. Abita ran over to Giratina, obviously to see if he was okay. I'd figure that the darkness would take a while to banish for good, so we had to defend the dragon. I decided that backup would be nice right now.
"Cover me, I'm going to get us some help."
"No problem, my bow-wielding friend." He ran over to our pink-haired foe, locking blades with him to stall for time. I banished my bow, concentrating on the magic inside my heart. I focused on the gummi ship, and its teleportation system. A ring of green energy surrounded me, and when a white light appeared on the ground, I knew the process to be over.
"Come and get some!" I yelled at Marluxia, ramming my shoulder into his body to knock him back. Xion and Rex appeared shortly, using the green teleporter to jump right in with us. Xion threw her Keyblade outright at him, obviously out of some personal vendetta by the expression on her face. Rex charged an aura sphere, holding it to get a clear shot at him.
"I've about had it with you, flower boy!" Zack yelled, brandishing his sword-arm with a pink glow to it. When he swung it, the pink energy flew off, and I swear, if it was an actual blade, would have sliced Marluxia in two. "What the fuck?" he said to himself afterwards.
"Boss, you're a Pokémon now?" Rex hollered, running to him after hitting Marluxia with his energy sphere.
"I… don't know. That looked like Psycho Cut, but it couldn't have been. I just used my Aura Powers in a new way, that's all. It's good to see you again, Rex, and that you evolved."
"Something seems wrong, Boss."
"I'll tell you after we're done here." Marluxia, on the other hand, had had enough.
"You brats… ruining my schemes… I'll get you for this… Just pray we don't cross paths again!" He vanished in black smoke, and the battle was won.
Xion ran up to embrace me in a hug, and I stupidly stood there, not knowing if I should hug back. I eventually did, though, after hearing Rex and Zack's laughter.
An hour later, Zack had filled Rex in on his travels, not telling Xion or I, since we were outsiders. Giratina had recovered, and was talking to us. "I must thank you four-"
"Ahem" Abita interjected.
"Five, sorry. I must thank you all for helping me to recover from the darkness. Please, tell me if you require anything in return, heroes."
I responded, "Xion and I require nothing, I have what I came here for." I held out the fused gems, which started to resemble a heart's bottom.
"I'd like a way back to the Hall of Origin with you, and a small favor when we get there." Zack said, Rex nodding next to him.
"Of course. Climb aboard, all of you. Even you two spacefarers; my father will want to thank you for your assistance himself." We climbed up onto Giratina's back, and he let loose a roar to split apart the heavens in his realm. Through the portal, I saw a pearl-white room, filled with Pokémon.
(A/N: Another chapter down. I can tell you, I am excited to write the next chapter. So excited, in fact, that don't be surprised if it's up tomorrow or even later today. What happens next? Find out relatively soon! ~Nano)
