Author's Note: I do not own any Kingdom Hearts or Pokemon franchise characters. I do however, own Xecal. Matt belongs to bizzleb.

~Kingdom Hearts: The Dark Keyblader~

~Chapter 8: The Trans-Warp Conduit~

It had been several days since Lucario had joined Xecal on his journey. That entire time, Lucario had been training to try and summon his Aura Staff. But no matter what they tried, it seemed that it was just beyond his reach.

"We're almost at our destination of Mobius," Cait Sith said, "We'll reach Mobius in approximately thirty hours. However, we're running low on fuel and may need to stop somewhere to refuel."

"That may not be necessary," a voice said from the intercom. Then on the display screen, Auron appeared.

"A Spy!" Lucario exclaimed as he took on a defensive stance. But Xecal made sure he didn't make any irrational actions.

"He's not a Spy, he's a friend," Xecal said, "That's Auron."

"So this is the one you told me about?" Lucario asked, "It is an honor to meet the one who trained Sir Xecal." Lucario then bowed to show his respects.

"Sir Xecal?" Auron questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Lucario here refers to anyone that he considers his mentor as 'sir'," Xecal explained, "I assume you've been eavesdropping...as usual?"

"I didn't hear much. I was originally going to contact you to see if you were there yet," Auron said, "But I overheard Cait Sith mentioning the situation with fuel. The crew of the Federation star ship, Voyager had been developing a new and faster way to travel. It is known as a trans-warp conduit. It will save you fuel and also get you to Mobius in under an hour."

"That could work in theory," Cait Sith said, "But traveling at such velocities would tear a ship apart."

"They've taken that into consideration in the research," Auron said, "But that would only be if you were traveling in normal space. Trans-warp conduits allow you to travel through sub-space. And if you use the power of your Keyblade to create a barrier, you shouldn't have any difficulties." Auron then sent the schematics of the trans-warp conduit technology to Cait Sith.

Cait Sith looked over the schematics, "I'll get right on the upgrades to the ship," he said as he headed off to do the work, "It shouldn't take me any longer than an hour."

"And since the trip itself will be under an hour, we should be getting to Mobius in under two hours," Xecal said.

"Well then, good luck on you assignment," Auron said before the screen went blank.

"While he's working on the upgrades, I'll continue my training of trying to summon my Aura Staff," Lucario said. Xecal then joined him to help.

"Obviously, our current tactics of getting you to summon you Aura Staff have proven to be uneventful," Xecal said, "Perhaps the key isn't to envision the staff as a separate item. Since you weren't thinking when you summoned it before, that must mean you were acting on instinct."

"What are you saying, Sir Xecal?" Lucario asked.

"Try to use your Aura while 'feeling' an extension from your hand," Xecal instructed. Lucario did as he was instructed and tried to 'feel' the staff as an extension of his own body. "Well...it's a start. At least we're making progress now."

Hearing this, Lucario looked at his hand and saw a ten inch rod, "I...I did it? I did it!" Lucario exclaimed.

"I wouldn't necessarily call that a success. I mean, all you could do with that little pipe is maybe give a heartless a headache," Xecal pointed out with his usual negative outlook, "Try it again. But this time, try not to just feel it as an extension of your body, but also try to extend your mind into it as well."

"Yes master." Lucario then did as he was told and tried to summon the staff again. But this time, he took Xecal's suggestion and extended his mind into the Aura Staff. Lucario looked into his hand and saw that he had successfully summoned his Aura Staff just like the one he summoned in the past.

"Well done," Xecal said, congratulating Lucario for his success, "Now that you know how to summon it, let's see how well you can actually use it."

Without warning, Xecal summoned his Keyblade and attacked Lucario. But the attack was negated by Lucario's Aura Staff. Xecal continued his striking, each time being blocked by Lucario's staff.

"Good reflexes," Xecal said, "But training this way will have to wait. This ship is too cramped for what I have in mind." Xecal then put away his keyblade.

"Well, it should be very soon that you have a chance to get some room," Cait Sith said as he came back, "I have the trans-warp conduit system installed and ready to go!"

"Then let's get going," Xecal said. Cait Sith went to the controls and activated the system. After a few moments of getting the engines synced up with the trans-warp conduit system, Cait Sith activated the trans-warp conduit.

As the gummi ship was pulled into the trans-warp conduit they felt the sensation of being pulled in only to feel as if they were staying still once inside. It was obvious that they were moving faster than they even thought possible. But it felt like they weren't moving at all.

"For being Borg technology, this is impressive," Xecal said.

"What is a Borg?" Lucario asked.

"That's not important," Xecal said.

X~~~~~X

After about fifty minutes of traveling through the trans-warp conduit, they were pulled out of the conduit the same way they were pulled in. And there in front of them was a planet.

"Well, there it is," Cait Sith said, "It's the world of Mobius. And I'd suggest we land. That trans-warp conduit really did a number on the engines."

"Did it damage the engine?" Lucario asked.

"No, they're not damaged," Cait Sith said, "But they are over worked. It will take a few days to get the engines back into useable condition."

"Perhaps we could get a new engine," Xecal said, "That engine is an older model. And the trans-warp conduit is Borg technology after all."

"If you can pay for a new engine, I'll happily replace it," Cait Sith said, "But I don't have the kind of money to get one of those newer models." Cait Sith then proceeded to land the ship.

"I'll see what I can do," Xecal said, "But most of this ship is old parts. I assume it's either because you can't afford to replace the parts, or you keep the old parts for the sentimental value."

"It's a little bit of both," Cait Sith said, "I can't afford to make many replacements. But it would be too hard for me to part with the parts because it was my first ship. So I milk every part for all that it can give. Besides, if a part still works, you should continue to put it to use for as long as it will continue to work."

"I assume by how willing you'd be to replace the engine that this isn't the original engine," Xecal said.

"No, it's not," Cait Sith answered, "It's the second engine this ship has had. And it's nearing the end of it's life span. That's also why the trans-warp conduit put so much strain on it. This engine would've probably had about another year. But now it probably has about half that at best."

With that said, Cait Sith landed the ship in a clearing. The group came out of the ship and saw that the engine was smoking from over use. "I'd say that perhaps you have a couple months left of use," Xecal said.

"If that much," Cait Sith commented.

There you have it. This chapter has 2 events. The 1st was Lucario learning how to use his Aura Staff, and the 2nd is arriving at Mobius...finally.

~The Dark Keyblader, Alec~