Chapter III: Duel Academy, Day 2
"Everythings gonna be fine..."
Porky Pig, Captain of the King's Knights, was laying in the pristine pruned garden, enjoying a restful morning nap. The day was bright and beautiful, as it was most days at the Castle, and the garden seemed even more bright and beautiful than the rest. Throughout the garden, hedges were cut in the shape of different denizens of the castle. Birds chirped quietly atop them, forming a calming atmosphere. The garden was cool in the morning, with the sun just peeking over the castle wall. For all intensive purposes, if you were the type to desire a peaceful, soothing place, the garden of Looney Castle was the one place in the universe where you would want to be.
But, unfortunately, you would not want to be there for very long.
"Wake Up, Porky, wake up! This is serious!" Daffy screamed as he almost plowed into the sleeping pig-creature.
Porky let out a noisy snore and continued to sleep.
Daffy, who was never really a patient duck, called down a bolt of magic lightning to zap Porky awake. Just a little one, mind you. Not enough to kill the pig-Captain, but enough to waken him, which is not an easy feat.
Porky sat up, rubbing his eyes. He tried to remember something he heard once about the chances of being struck by lightning, but he gave up when he saw Daffy standing next to him, looking more impatient then normal.
"Hey Hey-eh-ha-eh-ha-Hey- there, Daffy. G'morning!" Porky greeted happily.
"We've got a problem, Porky!" Daffy interrupted, shifting his eyes slyly, "But don't tell anyone...".
Porky blinked a few times and titled his head.
"Queen Lola?" He questioned.
Daffy shook his head emphatically, "Not even the Queen!"
"Melissa?" Daffy continued.
Daffy blanched, and said even more emphatically, "Noooo! It's top secret!"
It was then that Porky noticed two guests standing just beyond them. One was a small rabbit wearing a pink dress and the other was a duck, quite like Daffy, and wearing purple.
"G'morning Ladies!" he cheerily greeted.
Even though Daffy's normal pallor, being a duck, was black, he paled to an even whiter-white as he turned about to see none other than Queen Lola, looking on curiously, and Melissa, who looked quite unhappy. At him most likely.
"Eheheheh..."
The next morning, warm and sunny as it always seemed to be in Duel Academy, Jaden arrived on the shore of Duel Academy and made his way to the cove on the northern side of the island. It was there they had housed their raft in it's construction stages.
No sooner had he the raft in sight, just down a few stairs and over a small rise, he saw Zane sitting on the top step.
"Finally! I've been waiting for you." Zane remarked as he stood. "You know our raft still needs a name. I was thinking Millennium, but since I'm such a great guy, what do you think?"
"Ahhh...I was..." Jaden pondered, "I was thinking...Excalibur?"
Zane looked quizzically at Jaden, "Hey, how about we-"
Jaden, anticipating what was coming, quickly replied, "The usual?"
"Let's do it!" Zane nodded.
Alexis chose that moment to appear over the rise, most likely having just finished giving the Raft her daily check. Seeing Jaden and Zane, she knew exactly what they were up to.
"You guys at it again?" she asked. "All right, I'll be the judge. Usual rules apply."
Jaden and Zane took their places.
"If I win...uhhhh...I'm captain! And if you win..." Jaden began to bet.
"I get to share the paopu with Alexis," Jaden whispered, completely serious.
"Huh?" Jaden faltered, quickly checking to see if Alexis had heard. She hadn't. She just looked at them oddly, wondering what they were whispering about.
"Deal? The winner gets to share a paopu with Alexis."
Jaden's mind began to slow, "Uhh...wait a minute..."
Jaden blushed slightly at the thought of sharing a Paopu with Alexis. How could he possibly be thinking this? She was one of his best friends for goodness' sake! He gulped. What if Zane won? Was he serious that he would share a Paopu with Alexis? The thought made him uneasy. But why? So what if Zane had a paopu...with Alexis...
No, definitely didn't want that to happen.
Fortunately for Jaden, he was saved from making it a deal-or-no-deal by Alexis's voice calling out a countdown.
Unfortunately for Jaden, he didn't hear Alexis' pronouncement, being so preoccupied with his thoughts. Only when he felt sand blow against his face from Zane speeding off and Alexis giggling at his seeming inability to run, did Jaden realize he was supposed to be racing Zane. Again.
Needless to say, Jaden lost that race. Badly.
Thus the raft was named Millennium, just as Zane had suggested.
Jaden didn't find out until later that Zane had not been at all serious.
"OW!" Jaden yelled, rubbing his head with his hand. A jagged rock jutted out from the earthen ceiling above him as he climbed through the small tunnel that led to the Abandoned Dorm. He wondered why Alexis said they had needed mushrooms, of all things. He wondered why he had to climb into the Abandoned Dorm to find some. He wondered how he could still fit.
The Abandoned Dorm was the hideaway of younger years, years when it took less trouble to fit down the tunnel. He could still get through with little problem, but after they get back from the Raft Trip, they would have to expand the tunnel.
But...what if they didn't come back?
The thought of not returning had never crossed Jaden's mind before then. He had always just thought this would be the last adventure of their summer, no matter how much Zane thought they would find. What if he never saw his home again after tomorrow? What would his mother think? Or Zane and Alexis' families? Jaden doubted Zane's brother knew about what they were doing, but his mother and Alexis' parents thought it was just a fun little thing their kids were attempting. Never to be realized, of course.
What if something happened to them while they were sailing?
Jaden eventually found himself in the circular room at the end of the tunnel, high enough to stand up in. Against the far wall, right beside the odd oaken door that had always been there, grew a couple mushrooms. As he walked over to them, he admired the wall art.
He smiled nostalgically. This was where he, Zane, and Alexis would doodle on the walls while talking of what the odd door, without a handle or a knob, could lead to. One drawing in particular caught his eyes.
Two drawings to be exact.
One displayed the head of a small boy with big hair, obviously the work of someone who was fairly good at drawing with chalk on cave walls. The other, a slightly-worse drawn picture of a small girl with long hair.
Jaden's mind arrived back at the present and he found that he had drawn an arm on the side with his portrait, the one Alexis had drawn.
The arm was holding out a Paopu fruit to Alexis.
Jaden looked at the drawing, wondering how he had done that without noticing, and hastily tried to erase it with his jacket.
Jaden didn't have much time to resign himself to the inevitable, as a fluttering of something passing ticked him at the base of his neck and he jumped to his feet.
"Wh-Who's there?" he asked, wondering who would've followed him in. Hopefully not Alexis. He wouldn't survive the embarrassment.
A deep voice that seemed to echo throughout the room reached Jaden's ears.
"I've come to see the door to this world." the voice intoned.
"Huh?" Jaden questioned. His mind briefly touched upon the door to his right, but it quickly moved on.
"This world has been connected."
"Wh—What're you talking about?" Jaden asked the room.
"Tied to the darkness..." the voice continued, unhurried. "soon to be completely eclipsed."
"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this." Jaden, for the first time, noticed a brown-hooded and cloaked figure standing in the corner across from him.
"Huh? Wh—Where did you come from?" he asked, becoming only slightly fearful.
The figure's deep voice continued."You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
"Are...are you from another world?" Jaden asked, having never seen this man before.
The figure ignored Jaden, "There is so very much to learn. You understand so little"
Taken-aback at the stranger's insult, Jaden shot-back, "Oh yeah? We'll you'll see! I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!"
"A meaningless effort." the voice replied unemotionally, "One who knows nothing can understand nothing."
Jaden, for the first time, felt something from behind the Door. Something moving. Something thumping. Something pulsating.
He turned to see what it was, expecting some large monster, perhaps the one from his dream, to jump out at him. Nothing was there.
Jaden turned back to the man, but he was gone as well.
Taking the mushrooms with him, an unnerved Jaden left the Abandoned Dorm and made his way back to Alexis who was waiting at the Raft.
Zane had to head home early, so Jaden and Alexis sat on Duel Academy's dock and watched the sunset by themselves.
As he sat and watched the last gleams of light disappear into the ocean, Jaden's mind continued to think about the Paopu he had drawn on the Abandoned Dorm's wall. Why did he find the girl sitting beside him more beautiful than the sunset they were watching? More than the rays reflecting off the water?
Why was he thinking this right now? Why him? Why now?
Part of his mind wanted to accept the fact that he just might love Alexis. That part desperately wanted to reach over, take her small, delicate hand in his own and hold it close. Maybe a small kiss. The other part didn't know what it wanted, aside from wanting the other side to shut up.
What was love anyway?
"You know, Zane's changed." Alexis suddenly spoke, interrupting the calm silence.
"What'd you mean?" Jaden asked, a bit confused by Alexis's statement.
Alexis didn't say anything and just looked out at the ocean silently again.
"You okay?" Jaden asked concernedly.
"Jaden! Let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!" Alexis blurted out.
If Jaden's mind hadn't ceased working at that moment, he would have noticed Alexis' eye widen, as if she couldn't believe what she had just said.
"Wh-What?" Jaden stammered.
Alexis giggled slightly, "Just kidding."
Jaden's mind began to reboot then, "What's gotten into you? You're the one that's changed, Alexis." he chuckled.
Alexis' voice became thoughtful, "Maybe..."
Jaden was about to tell Alexis he had just been kidding with her, but she continued.
"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here," she turned to Jaden, "Right?"
"Yeah, of course!" Jaden affirmed.
"That's good." Alexis sighed, contented. "Jaden?"
"Yeah, Alexis?"
"Don't ever change."
Alexis stood and looked down at Jaden, smiling. She looked back out at the sea.
"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great."
Jaden knew this to be true, but he still couldn't shake his odd conversation with the hooded man in the Duel Academy out of his mind.
Daffy,
Sorry to rush off without sayin' goodbye, doc, but there's big trouble brewin'.
Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin' out, one by one. And that means disaster can't be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I've gotta go check into it.
There's someone with a "key"-the key to our survival. So I need you and Porky to find him, and stick with him. Got it, doc?
We need that key or we're doomed!
So go to Traverse Town and find Joey. He'll point you in the right direction.
P.S. Would ya apologize to Lola for me? Thanks, doc.
~Bugs
Queen Lola Bunny placed the letter she had been silently reading for the fourth time down on the desk and looked at the others gathered in the Castle Library: Her Lady-in-Waiting, Melissa, Melissa's sweetheart, Daffy, and the Captain of the Royal Guard, Porky.
"Oh dear! What could this mean?" Melissa asked, confused.
Lola looked down at the ground, "It means...we'll just have to trust the King." The Queen wondered silently why her husband would just leave, and without telling her. He only left a note, and that was only for his best friend, not his wife!
Porky put his hand to he chin thoughtfully, "Oh my, I sure ah-he-uh-he-uh... hope he's all right."
"Your highness," Daffy addressed the Queen, "Don't worry, we'll find the King and this 'key'."
Lola smiled, "Thank you, both of you."
"Melissa, can you take care of-" Daffy began.
"Of course." Melissa finished, "You be careful now, both of you."
"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you." Lola pointed towards the desk.
"Over here!" a small voice called out.
Upon close inspection, Daffy and Porky found that Lola had been pointing to a small mouse standing on the desk. A mouse who was now jumping up and down on the table trying to garner attention to himself.
Seeing that he had accomplished his goal, the smartly-dressed, in a top hat and frock, mouse introduced himself.
"Sniffles' the name, at your service."
Minnie looked back at Donald and Goofy, "We hope for your safe return," and a bit more quieter, "Please help the King."
Daffy saluted down the line, Queen Lola, then Melissa, then Porky...
Porky?
"You're coming too!" Daffy quacked as his dragged Porky toward the Dodger Hangar.
"Oh my, Sniffles, your world disappeared too?" Porky asked.
"It was terrible! We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle." The mouse replied sadly from his placement on Porky's helmet.
"Porky." Daffy reprimanded, knowing well what was coming.
"Oh, right...I gotcha. While we're in other worlds, we can't let on where we're from, huh? We've gotta protect the world border."
"Order." Daffy tiredly corrected.
Goofy chuckled."Right. World Order!"
Daffy sighed.
"I guess we'll need new duds when we get there, huh?" Porky asked.
Daffy sighed again and opened the door to the Dodger Ship Hangar.
Inside was a cacophony of noise. Gears turned, lights flashed and above it all hung a red box, in which two small mice, Pinky and Brain, sat controlling the hangar. In the middle of the room sat a large red ship, simply made with a rocket-shaped body and two wings. This was the Dodger Ship.
"Hello up there? Daffy Duck to launch crew!" Daffy spoke into the radio beside the door, "Anytime you're ready!"
Pinky and Brain both saluted and began to push buttons and pull levers. The ramp descended from the belly of the ship, allowing access for Daffy and Porky.
The WB-head-shaped Launch Tunnel slowly opened in front of the Dodger, and Daffy proceeded to place himself in front of the controls. He gave a thumbs-up and a wink to Melissa, who had just entered with the Queen. Daffy wondered where Scooby-Doo, the King's loyal friend, had gone, but he didn't dwell on that much, since, in a few moments, the ship was flying out into open space.
"-Tied to the Darkness."
Jaden lay in his bed, looking out his window into the night. The sky was darkening, filled with swirling black clouds. Duel Academy was covered in darkness, unable to be seen clearly. The water was calm, lapping against the shoreline. The air was warm and humid at midnight, and jaden knew that he should be asleep. Tomorrow was the day they were to leave. He needed his rest.
He just couldn't stop thinking about that...figure in the Abandoned Dorm.
Had he really been there? What did he mean by "tied to the darkness"? Or "the door to this world"?
Who was the man? What was he? Where did he come from?
Jaden turned his head and looked at the toy ship hanging from his ceiling. Two cloth figures were inside, one male and one female. One with big hair, the other with straight, long hair. His mind wandered briefly to he and Alexis on the Raft. Alone.
"I just can't wait. Once we set sail, it'll be great." Alexis' voice echoed in his mind.
For a split moment, Jaden's room was bathed in a glow from a strike of lightning.
"A storm?"
Jaden peered out his window and saw Duel Academy illuminated by another flash of lightning. The waves had gotten worse and were now beating against the shore. Rain had started to fall a few moments ago and was now deluging upon the Island.
Jaden sat straight up in bed. "Oh no! The Raft!"
Upon reaching the ocean around the shore, Jaden found himself staring up into a swirling blue-and-red hole in the sky. He sat frozen in his boat for a moment, just watching the rip in the sky convulse. He eventually felt his boat hit the sand and come up onto the beach. He stepped off onto the muddy sand, soaked through from the rain and waves. Down the beach he noticed two other boats. Zane's and Alexis' were pulled up on the beach. He worried slightly for Alexis, but, quite suddenly, the shadows from his dream returned.
They were small, spindly beings with black claws and a pair of black antenna sticking from their round heads. Two large, glowing yellows eyes shined from the otherwise black skin. Every few moments they would twitch, looking as though they were being jerked about on puppet strings. Jaden's eyes widened as his dream from the day before flashed before his eyes.
"You are the one who will open the door"
Since Jaden didn't have a weapon, he tried dodging the creatures with a small amount of success. A few scratches later, he was standing atop the bridge staring out onto the Paopu Islet, wondering why the dark creatures hadn't followed him. It was then that he noticed that someone was standing in the middle of the Islet, looking up into the dark hole in the sky.
It was Zane.
Jaden didn't think about what Zane was doing out there or why, he just ran towards his friend.
"Zane! Zane! I found you!" he stepped onto the Islet itself, looking around confusedly."Where's Alexis? Isn't she with you?"
Zane ignored him, speaking simply. "The door has opened."
"I've come to see the door to this world."
Jaden paled, remembering the mystery man's words. "Wh-what?" he stuttered.
"The door has opened, Jaden!" Zane repeated, glancing at Jaden. Annoyance laced the edges of his words like poison. "Now we can go to the different dimension!"
"What're you talking about? We've gotta find Alexis!"
"Alexis' coming with us." Zane said straightforwardly and looked back.
Jaden didn't like the way Zane had said that at all, and would've told Zane as much had the older boy not continued talking.
"Once we step through," he said. "We might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back" he continued on with a sudden renewed vigor, "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"
Zane turned fully around and held out a steady hand for Jaden to join him.
Jaden's mind flashed. The waves, the fall, the monster, the shadows, Zane reaching...his dream.
"Zane...?" Jaden began, unsure.
At that moment, a pool of darkness snapped open beneath Zane's feet and began to snake tendrils of darkness up the boy's body. Yet Zane's hand still held out, an open invitation for Jaden to join him. Zane seemed not to notice the darkness slowly covering him.
Pools of darkness...his dream...
Jaden began to reach for Zane, but a pool of darkness appeared beneath him as well. It froze him in place, legs unmovable. He could only strain his arm, closer and closer to Zane's hand.
Three Inches.
Zane continued to stand, staring emptily at Jaden, still as a statue. A statue being eaten by a tentacled monster of darkness.
Two Inches.
Jaden pushed his fingers to their full extension. He felt the muscles in his fingers stretching themselves, sending pain up his hand.
One Inch.
Darkness enveloped Jaden.
Too late.
All Jaden saw was darkness.
"Was that it?"
Was that all that was? Darkness? Darkness, everywhere. Pulling, pushing, grasping, choking.
"Or maybe this was all there ever was..."
It was within this darkness that a small speck of light suddenly gleamed. A faraway star calling Jaden to it. It shone with a sudden brightness and Jaden was standing back on the Paopu Islet, rain pelting his face and thunder pounding in his ears. Everything was the same.
Jaden then noticed that two things were, in fact, different.
One, Zane was gone.
Two, Jaden hand grasped a golden hilt connected to a long, silver sword. It was sharp, and three prongs of metal stuck out from the side of the blade, near the tip.
The shadows, the sword...his dream...
Suddenly, a million voices inside Jaden's head began to speak, all chanting the same words.
Keyblade...
Keyblade...
Keyblade...
Keyblade...
Jaden stumbled forward a bit, clutching his head, not noticing that the sword had disappeared. The voices continued to chant, but their noise soon disappeared. With that, the shadows reappeared. Jaden slowly moved backwards, well aware that the Islet was not that big. He had no idea what to do next. That was when he felt the sword back in his hand.
Now, properly equipped, Jaden put his seven plus years of dueling against Zane to the test.
After returning a dozen of the shadow-beings to smoke, Jaden realized that the Paopu Islet was being literally flooded with the little creatures. He knew he had to escape. He hastily beat a path through the shadows with his sword and ran across the bridge back to Duel Academy's mainland. Now, with Zane disappeared, he had to find Alexis. Wherever she was. He couldn't let another one of his friends disappear, especially not Alexis.
From his vantage point on the bridge, Jaden noticed that something was amiss on Duel Academy.
Well, aside from shadow creatures, unusual storms, disappearing friends, strange key-swords, and black holes.
A door had appeared in front of the entrance to the abandoned dorm.
A...door...his dream...the man...
"I've come to see the door to this world."
Jaden quickly ran through the shadows and dragged open the door and entered the tunnel. No shadows were assaulting him here. He continued to speed down the passageway, only bumping his head once or twice. He pulled up short when he found Alexis standing before the oaken door.
"Alexis!" Jaden exclaimed, relieved. He had found her. She was safe. He felt a small smile manifest itself on his face. He felt like everything would be okay for now.
Alexis hadn't reacted to his call yet, she seemed to be staring at the door. The large, oaken door that rimmed itself in gold.
"I've come to see the door to this world."
"-Tied to the darkness"
As Alexis slowly turned around to face him, Jaden knew that something was dreadfully wrong. Alexis looked to be almost dead. Her eyes were dim, her skin was pale and clammy. Her movements, slow and weak.
Her pained moan of, "Jaden..." didn't do much to reassure him either.
As Jaden looked into her dim eyes, he forgot all about the world going to hell outside, about Zane's disappearance, about the key-sword, about the shadows, about the man.
Alexis needed help. Something was wrong with Alexis.
Slowly, her hand began to raise from her side, fingers hanging limply as her hand reached out for him. Jaden barely noticed his feet moving forward.
But that was when the door, the door that had always been wondered about, the door that had never opened, did just that.
The Door Opened.
And as the door opened, darkness poured out. Monstrous waves of dark energy moved out like a nuclear blast from it's epicenter. Jaden thought he caught a glimpse of the shadow creatures inside the door, but he wasn't sure. Furious winds blew from within and pushed the weak Alexis toward Jaden. He, seeing this, moved forward against the winds to catch her before she fell.
Just as he felt the most ghostly of touches from her, she simply clenched his eyes against the winds. She was gone. How had all this happened?
She had been close enough to feel her breath, touch her body against his, to smell her strawberry scent.
But, just like that, she was gone, and the raging, screaming wind blew Jaden off his feet and out of the Abandoned Dorm.
Jaden tasted sand in his mouth. He also felt his in his eyes and up his nose. He had landed face first outside, allowed plenty of sand to find it's way into his face's cavities.
As he spit the sand from his mouth, he found that he was on Duel Academy, or what was left of it, surrounded by Black-purple nothingness. The wind still swirled and pulled upwards slightly. Above him pulsated the dark hole. The hole had grown at least ten times it's original size and now filled most of the sky.
Nothing of the Paopu Islet remained but a small spit of land floating in nothingness. Jaden couldn't see the island was reduced to nothing more than sand, wooden rubble, and a few stubborn, half-uprooted, tree stumps.
The black hole was sucking the life from Duel Academy.
His Islands. His friends. His home.
Jaden thought, for a brief moment, that he might've seen pieces of the raft spin by, chewed upon by the winds, being carried up to the always thirsting black mouth of the hole.
Without warning, the ground quaked.
Afraid, Jaden turned to find none other than the Monster from his dream. The monster with a eye-shaped hole in it's torso and black tentacles for hair.
The monster...my dream...
The sword appeared in his hand again as the monster's hand came down. Odd. He hadn't noticed when it disappeared before.
Jaden again dodged the blow, but the monster seemed to see this coming and moved his hand to crush the boy where he had moved to.
Jaden brought the sword up, and slashed away at the massive hand coming toward him, beating it off long enough for him to move out from its path. Jaden, now knowing that the monster had become wise to what had happened in his dream, ignored the fact that the monster really hadn't, in fact, been in his dream and moved toward the monster's small feet.
Jaden thought, perhaps, that a few well-aimed hits would take it down at it's weakest points. He remembered this time to be ready to dodge the projectiles the monster had just began to shoot at him.
After a few dodges and cuts, the monster's feet separated from the body and, with a ground-shaking roar, it began to collapse.
It then occurred to Jaden that there wasn't too many places to run on what was left of Duel Academy.
He caught sight of some planks, left still hanging onto the tree stump them were nailed to. He hid by them, hoping to shield himself from some of the blow should the monster fall towards him.
When no crash came, Jaden peeked out to see the monster slowly floating into the black hole. Floating up and up and up into nothingness, arms outstretched as if offering itself to some god.
The winds picked up even higher then and Jaden felt his body come off the ground. His feet slowly switched places with his fingers until he was grasping at the wood planks, feeling his body being stretched toward the hole. After a sort struggle, the winds easily overpowered him. His last thoughts were erratic, ranging from his mother, to his friends, to his house, and finally finding themselves a resting place in Zane and Alexis.
Jaden then felt a sense of weightlessness as the dark hole welcomed him in.
"One who knows nothing can understand nothing."