The Road Home
Chapter 1
"Wait, you know how to kill Ansem?" Sora asked Greed. Ed was still really wary around Greed.
"Heh, yup! I'll tell you how to kill that nasty ol' Heartless, fer a price!" Greed offered.
Ed snorted, "Oh, and name your price, Greed. We probably can't afford you're great bargains, so be on your merry way and I won't have to kill you."
"Come now. My best bargain is free today! I wanna get rid o' him as much as you do,"
Greed admitted. "Ya see, he brought me back against my will (Ed grunted again) and I didn't wanna come back, see. I was kinda happy bein' dead. I shouldn'ta really been in existence anyway."
"So, let's cut to the chase; how can we get rid of Ansem?" Riku asked sharply.
"Well, I can tell ya that he's got a body now."
Everyone took a sharp intake of breath.
"Oh, God!"
"Really?!"
"How?!"
"Crap in a bucket!!"
Greed was overwhelmed with the reactions. "W-well, it's not all THAT bad-"
"Not all THAT bad?!" Sora interrupted with shock. "He's gonna kill us all!"
"Just take us to him." Haku spoke up. Greed looked at him funny, kind of surprised that Haku didn't have a ridiculous outburst like everyone else.
"Kay. Follow me." Greed led everyone back to the cave. Sora shuddered as he remembered the failed attack. It wasn't exactly the 'perfectly thought out attack plan.' Everyone suffered from some kind of injuries. Haku turned into a full demon when he saw the solar eclipse (authors note: solar eclipses cause half dragon demons like Haku to turn into full fledged demons for the entire duration of the eclipse.) and nearly killed Riku.
"Here ya go. Have fun killin' him!" Greed ran off out of the cave. Everyone looked up at the grotesque thing that stood before them. It was a huge compilation of the bodies of Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Pride, Wrath, and Sloth. Ansem had finally found a way to move at last.
Chapter 2
"Heh, how do you fools like my new body?" Ansem chortled evilly. Roxas was absolutely horrified at Ansem's new body. It had the traditional Oroboros tattoo, like all homunculi had. The only scary thing was that it was a huge blob of pulsating flesh. You couldn't really tell if it was human or not. Roxas and everyone watched as the mass of tissue morphed into an actual body.
The new Ansem looked like a human; he had a sharp face, long metallic hair, and really creepy blood red eyes, unlike his traditional orange ones. He suddenly lashed out against Sora. Roxas watched in terror as Ansem's foot collided with Sora's head. Everyone shouted out Sora's name as Ansem proceeded to try to kill Sora. Haku, fortunately, intervened with the Shohiko.
"All of you get out of here!" Haku yelled at everybody.
Sora got up very slowly, his face swelled from the beating Ansem gave him. "Haku, you can't fight Ansem alone. You have to-" Sora was cut off when Haku gave him a hard stare. He solemnly nodded, understanding what Haku wanted to do.
"Guys! We have to find the demons!" Sora called.
"But, what about Haku?" Al fretfully asked. "Will he be able to fight Ansem by himself?"
"He'll live. But we gotta find those demons and get the hell outta here!" Demyx growled. He grabbed Al forcefully. Ed and Riku rushed after them. Roxas started to run, but he saw that Sora drew the Kingdom Key and was faced towards Ansem. Roxas had a sudden realization; Sora wasn't leaving.
"Sora! What the hell are you doing!? We have to find the demons, remember?"
"I'm not leaving."
"Why the hell not?!"
"Haku needs help, even though he won't admit it."
Roxas jogged up to Sora, grabbed his hood, and gave him a long deserved slap. "DON'T BE THE HERO, DAMMIT!!!"
Sora easily shrugged Roxas off. "It's what I have to do. Ansem is the one I have to kill." Sora turned around and charged at Ansem, leaving Roxas behind, as well as his last chance to run.
Chapter 3
Ed and company had been running around the labyrinth of tunnels trying to find the two demons.
"Damn……how much more of this crap to we have to go through?!" Ed hissed under his breath when they all came to another dead. Al had his gaze fixated on something or other.
"What are you looking at Al?" Riku asked. Al pointed to a strange mark on the wall of the cave.
"See that thing? I think I've seen that thing before!" Al exclaimed. He ran his fingers across the rocky surface, tracing the mark.
"Gack! Stop your absentminded gazing and fight some friggin Heartless!" Demyx said urgently as he smushed a Shadow under his sitar. Al tried to think quickly, but Ed beat him to it. Ed clapped his hands together and slammed them against the side of the cave. A wall of rock shot out of the ground, closing everyone into a somewhat crammed space. This gave Al more time to examine the mark. Then he snapped his fingers.
"That's right! This is half of a transmutation circle! See? Look at the pattern! All you have to do is draw the other half and you can get in!!" Al explained quickly. He pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket and drew the other half of the circle. Before he could perform the transmutation, everyone heard banging on the other side of the rock wall.
"Guys?! I know that you're in there! Let me in! Otherwise, all the Heartless are gonna devour a member!" That was most definitely Roxas. Al heard the thwack of the Keyblade as it hit a Shadow. He also heard Roxas yowl like a dog when a NeoShadow slashed at him.
"Brother! Open the wall!" Al didn't really have to say this as Ed was already opening a passage way for Roxas to get through. Roxas tumbled in with a Soldier on top of him. Riku cut the Soldier in half.
"Thanks…..huff….I owe ya one, Riku…..huff…." Roxas sustained a cut down his back, most likely inflicted by a NeoShadow. "Owwwww…….that hurt…." Al resumed with the transmutation when he saw that Roxas seemed okay. He put his hands up against the wall of the cave. A bright light shone, completely illuminating everything. After the light went away, everyone saw a small cavern. Everyone also recognized the cavern; it was the failed attack battleground. There was still dried blood on the ground. The only different thing was that there were now two huddled figures over a pool of water, or some type of liquid that was unidentifiable.
"There you are. We've been waiting." The two figures turned and revealed that they were the two demons that everyone had been searching for.
Chapter 4
Roxas immediately drew the Keyblade and pointed at the demons and said, "You two are the reason we're in this damn mess! So, why are you conveniently seated in a place where we can find you?!" Ed and Al both were battle ready. Riku summoned the Way to the Dawn and Demyx pulled out his sitar.
Jikoku put up his hands and said mournfully, "Calm down. It's not like we wanted to bring you here….." Kankaku nodded silently.
"Pffft…yeah, right," Roxas growled sarcastically. "After everything you put us through, do you REALLY expect us to believe you?!" Jikoku shook his head sadly.
"You're right. Why should you trust us? We created this world, so we can very easily destroy it, too." That shut Roxas up. "Just listen to what we have to say."
Ed glared at Jikoku. "Even if you do have the power to kill us, you helped bring Ansem back, for God's sake!"
"It wasn't our fault," Kankaku said quietly. Everyone stared at the demon, and he sighed softly.
"Alright. You already know that Ansem wanted his body back. You also most likely gathered that Ansem heard of our powers to make and distort worlds. But, here's the stuff you probably didn't know. Ansem brain-washed us to think that all of you were our worst enemies. He told us to create a world and a door to get you all to come. Ansem is just using us and you. He wants us to gather you all up, using us as bait, and ingredients. See, even with the bodies of the homunculi he needs humans, not replicas. You are simply elements in a human transmutation. So you see, if you stay, you will be killed."
"But……how do we get out of here? How can we kill Ansem before his plan will succeed?" Riku asked shakily.
Jikoku let out a small laugh, "Heh! We can help you with that! We don't wanna be here as much as you guys! If you let us, we can get everyone outta here and get rid of this world."
"So….what do we have to do?" Ed wondered out loud. He looked at Al, who shook his head, then Ed looked at Riku and Demyx; Riku looked down in thought and Demyx shrugged.
"All ya gotta do is bring Ansem here. But that's not easy. He's gonna need live bait, if ya know what I mean." Jikoku replied.
Demyx did understand. "I'll bring him here."
Chapter 5
Everyone stared in disbelief at Demyx. He can't ACTUALLY be thinking that he'll sacrifice himself to get us all out of here?! Riku thought urgently.
"Ya sure, kid? This is the ultimate sacrifice for anyone. Do ya really wanna throw away your life for these guys?" Jikoku asked Demyx. Demyx nodded somberly. He turned away from everyone to get back to Ansem. Before he could run, Al pulled him back, tears forming in the kid's eyes.
"D-Demyx? You can't do this!" Al sniffled and wiped his eyes. Demyx leaned over so he was at eye level with Al.
"Don't worry, Al! I'll be fine!" he lied. In his mind, he knew he wasn't coming back. Demyx stood up and ran towards where Ansem was fighting Haku and Sora. Ed lightly grabbed his brother.
"Come on, Al. If Demyx is bringing Ansem here, we should probably get out of here." Al nodded sadly. Ed, Al, Riku, Roxas, and the demons retreated to a corner of the cave. By the time they got there, Demyx was gone.
Meanwhile, with the battle, Haku was completely worn out. Blood flowed from every wound. He looked over at Sora. One of the teen's arms was hanging limply while the other held the Keyblade bravely.
This battle can't go on much longer. If it does, Sora'll get himself killed, Haku thought while blocking an attack coming from Ansem. Though, as Haku noticed, Ansem's attacks were getting sloppier. Either he's getting tired, or that body of his is failing, Haku thought again. The next attack went for Haku, but sharply curved and hit Sora. Having no time to block, the attack hit Sora square in the gut. He keeled over onto the floor. Haku ran over to protect Sora, but was knocked out of the way. Just as Ansem was going to deal the final blow, a column of water hammered him away from Sora.
"Hey, Ansem! If ya wanna kill someone, how 'bout goin' after me?" Demyx shouted. Ansem whipped around and charged at Demyx, blinded by the battle's ferocity. Demyx swore and turned and ran into the cavern.
Haku got up slowly, still very much hurt from the last blow. He gimped over to Sora and lifted him up onto his feet. Haku started to carry-drag Sora to the place where Ansem and Demyx ran to. They got there just in time to see something terrifying.
Demyx had been tripped by Ansem. Haku, Sora, Roxas, Ed, Al, and Riku watched in horror as Ansem used razor sharp claws to slash Demyx open.
Chapter 6
"DEMYX!!!" everyone yelled. Ansem turned to face a very shocked Haku.
"Heh, I told you this would be a blood bath!!" Ansem laughed maliciously. Haku looked at Ansem, then at Demyx bleeding his life out. That's when he actually dropped Sora (much to Sora's surprise) and looked at the floor. This was Ansem's golden opportunity. He lunged at Haku and threw a punch. Much to ANSEM'S surprise, Haku caught Ansem's hand with his own. Haku looked up at Ansem, glaring at him with blood red eyes (authors note: no, he's not a demon). He then threw Ansem to the back wall of the cave.
"Huh? Where the hell did you get this power?!" Ansem snarled at Haku. Haku was surrounded by a bright blue light. The light enveloped Ansem and everything else. Haku tossed his head back and let out a mighty roar. Everyone, including Ansem, noticed that Haku was transforming into something that wasn't human. His neck and tail grew considerably, his arm (and auto-mail) morphed, his legs also morphed, and finally, his head completely changed. When the light died down, everybody saw that Haku was gone. In his place stood a huge dragon.
"H-how the hell…." Ansem stared in awe of the dragon form of Haku, as did everyone else. Haku's dragon form had the head of a wolf, talons of an eagle, and a long mane like a horse. Covered in tough blue fur head to tail, long whiskers with lightning crackling at the tips, and a seriously bad attitude, Haku wasn't going to let Ansem win this fight.
"Hmph, two can play at that game, dragon-breath!" Ansem also had a new power. Instead of a blue light that Haku had, Ansem was surrounded by a black light (authors note: yup, you heard me. BLACK LIGHT!!) and began to morph into a huge dragon, bigger than Haku. Ansem was different; he had a skull of something or other covering his face, impenetrable black scales, huge black wings were positioned on either shoulder, sharp poison green spikes ran down his spine and he had the traditional Heartless symbol on his chest. He struck Haku in the head with a sharp clawed hand, throwing him against the wall in a helpless coiled heap.
Haku roared and charged at Ansem, jaws wide open to bite at his throat. Ansem blocked with one arm allowing Haku to chomp on it. A fizzing sound was heard and Haku reeled back in pain.
"I forgot to tell you that my blood has turned to poison!" Ansem snarled and slammed Haku to the back wall again. He bit Haku hard on the left shoulder, leaving his right free to clobber Ansem in the chest.
"I'm not….going to let…..you WIN!" Haku growled viciously, the poison starting to take effect. He let out another mighty roar and threw himself at Ansem, slashing at his neck. All but two claws broke on Haku's left hand. Ansem began to laugh evilly, and that grew to a wicked, hysterical cackle.
Chapter 7
Ed and everyone stared unbelievingly at the battle that unfolded before them. Haku and Ansem were dragons, Sora and Demyx looked pretty dead, and they had no way to escape from this fight.
Think, THINK damn you!! Urg……uh…….crap! I can't come up with any good plans with all this crap going on! How can I help Haku get rid of Ansem?! HOW!? Wait……there might be one way, but it's a long shot. I'll have to be careful, thought Ed as he snuck past Riku, Roxas, and Al. Then he ran for it.
"Die, you pathetic god!! DIE!!" Ansem roared while he elbowed Haku in the gut. All the air was forced out of him. Ansem then clawed him upside the jaw and crushed his auto-mail in his fist (authors note again: the auto-mail still works, just it's not working as well). Haku slumped to the floor in a coiled pile.
Now, now, now, NOW!! Do it now, you fool!! Ed clapped his hands together, ran up to Ansem, and thrust both hands onto Ansem's back leg. All of the black scales vanished and it was replaced by fluffy pink fur.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!?!" Ansem shrieked. Everyone began laughing maniacally. Even Demyx, with a severe wound, started to chuckle. Haku saw a window of opportunity and slammed his tail into Ansem, blood staining his perfect pink fur.
"Wha….WHAT?! My blood isn't poison?!" Ansem exclaimed in shock. Ed sneered at Ansem, even though he was not in a great place to be, seeing as Ansem was 400 feet taller than he was.
"Nope! See, when I turned your scales into fur to match your personality (everyone snickered at that) I ALSO decided to revert your blood back to normal. Really, I think that fur matches your eyes!" Ed said in a sing-song voice. Ansem growled and tried to smush Ed under his foot. However, Haku saved the day! He tackled Ansem into a huge transmutation circle that was originally drawn to capture Sora and Pals.
"Heh, how ironic. Wasn't this circle meant to trap us? Well, I'm using it to open the gate!" Haku reverted back to being a half-demon, clapped his hands together (Ed gasped in astonishment), and placed his hands on the ground. A huge circle of light shone all around Ansem. He screamed in terror as the light consumed him, body and soul.
After all of that, everybody saw that the gate was finally opened once again.
"Finally. Finally, we can get out of here and go home!" Sora said while he limped over to Haku and everybody to stand by the gate.
Chapter 8
"How did you use alchemy?" Al asked Haku while they stood before the gate.
"Actually, I don't really know. I was kinda hoping that would work……" Haku said, his gaze on Al trailed off towards Demyx. The realization that Demyx was almost dead hit Haku like a punch. He dashed off to where Demyx was laying. Everyone followed suite.
"Hey…..that was some pretty killer alchemy, man….." Demyx said weakly. He had a huge slash across his torso, and it wasn't going to stop bleeding anytime soon.
"Demyx! You can't die!" Al cried with tears running down his face. Ed stared in shock, Riku looked down and away, Roxas bit his lip really hard, Sora was on the verge of tears, and Haku was speechless.
"C-C'mon, Demyx. Can't you use your killer 'Demyx-jitsu' to get away again?" Sora asked shakily. Demyx shook his head slowly.
"Nope. No 'Demyx-jitsu' will save me today." His body was already starting to fade; his feet and arms were nearly gone.
"Hey, Sora?" Demyx asked softly.
"Yeah?"
"Sorry….for all the trouble…..ya know, in Hollow Bastion…..and Olympus……sorry for everything….."
That got Sora crying. "N-no problem……."
"Hey, guys……don't look this sad. I'm a Nobody, remember? It doesn't really matter all that much if I die….." Demyx's arms and legs were completely gone now. "Heh…..even if I am a nobody…….you all, yeah, all of you……….definitely made me believe that……I….had…..a heart….." With those final words, Demyx faded away into nothingness, leaving his sitar behind. Al howled like a wounded dog. Ed couldn't hold back any tears. Riku couldn't bear to look at where Demyx was laying. Roxas and Sora both stared at the ground, sobbing.
Haku picked up Demyx's sitar and said sadly, "C'mon, we have to get back through the gate." Ed picked up Al onto his feet, Roxas and Sora stood up quietly, and Riku walked next to Haku.
"Let's just go home." The band of six and the two demons were enveloped in the golden light, and when the light faded, they were all back home.
Chapter 9
Sora, Roxas, and Riku were finally home.
"Hey, are we back?" Sora asked himself. Roxas and Riku nodded. Sora looked around; everything was normal, even the scuff-marks of the battle with the Stealth Sneak were still there. All three of them saw a familiar figure standing on top of the hill.
"Heeeeey!! Sora! Roxas! Riku!" Leon shouted to them. Sora, Roxas, and Riku couldn't believe it; it was someone they actually knew! Sora and friends began running up the hill to meet there friend.
"Leon!" all three of them yelled as they tackle-glomped Leon. They all fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust. Leon managed to wriggle away from his attackers.
"Jeez, I missed you guys, but not THAT much!" Leon said while rubbing his back.
"We're gonna need a ride back to Destiny Islands," Riku told Leon, getting over his excitement to see someone familiar.
"We have a ride for you. Oh, and Sora." Sora got up off the ground, cradling his broken arm, and stood at attention. "Kairi's waiting for you." That immediately brightened Sora's mood.
"Well, what're standing around here for?! Let's go!" Sora dashed off to the Radiant Garden, leaving Roxas, Riku, and Leon to bite the dust.
In his own world, Ed and Al, accompanied by Haku, arrived in Resembool. They were outside of Winry's house.
"Oh man….she's gonna kill me….." Ed muttered. The repairs that Haku made were efficient, but only for a certain amount of time. Ed was greeted to the traditional 'throw the wrench at Ed' sort of thing.
"You idiot! What's all this I heard from Mustang?! 'We're sorry to inform you, but Edward Elric and his little brother, Alphonse Elric, have disappeared off the face of Amestris?!' You probably broke my auto-mail for the umpteenth time, too!" the familiar voice of Winry rang out all over the country side.
"Is that your girl-friend?" Haku asked in terror and awe. Ed glared at Haku furiously.
"No, that's not my effin' girl-friend!" Ed growled. Winry appeared at the window where she looked down at Ed, Al, and Haku.
"Well, I guess you're back, so I need to fix you up." Winry disappeared from the window and zoomed downstairs to open the door for everyone.
Chapter 10
Sora, Roxas and Riku returned to Destiny Islands to find Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka waiting for them.
"Heh….hey guys!" Sora said sheepishly. He was surprised when Kairi ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Sora blushed deeply and Roxas snorted in laughter. Riku looked a little disappointed.
"You're finally back," Kairi said simply, but with deep compassion. Sora shut his eyes and hugged Kairi back, with one arm though. Kairi suddenly looked serious when she saw that Sora's left arm hung limply.
"What have you all been doing?" Kairi asked. Sora, Roxas, and Riku all looked at each other at a loss of words. Roxas put his hands behind his head, Riku coughed nervously, and Sora just kind of stood there.
Kairi sighed, "It doesn't matter. You're all back." She then assisted Sora back to the mainland where family was. Riku still looked jealous and Roxas tried not to laugh at him as they finally went back home.
Back in Amestris, Winry was fan-girling over Haku's auto-mail, examining every little detail, every battle scratch, and every bolt, gear, and artificial nerve.
"Ooooh!!! Where'd you get it?! How do you maintain it?! Can I use this model?!" Winry asked excitedly. Haku was completely overwhelmed.
"Er……..can you just fix Ed's auto-mail? It IS your job…." Haku was so relieved when Winry went to work on Ed's auto-mail. It took 5 days to make everything look spiffy and fine-tune the auto-mail.
"Well, I guess its back off to the military. See ya, Winry," Ed called to a sleepy Winry.
"When are you guys coming back?" she asked. Ed shrugged and waved good-bye. Al and Haku did the same thing. They all went of to catch the next train leaving Resembool to Central.
"Argg….this is a train?" Haku was squirming around trying to get comfortable on the train seat. Ed rolled his eyes and Al laughed.
"This is kinda what you have to deal with if you're going to be a state alchemist," Ed said to Haku, who was still moving around.
"Oh, well. It'll be worth it." Haku finally got comfy. Ed was staring out of the window into the setting sun.
This is the end of my adventure, I guess. At least everything will be back to normal. Although, I'll never forget anyone from the other world, Ed thought as the train sped away towards Central. Back in his own room, Sora was thinking the same thing.
The End
Epilogue
Now, if you were wondering whatever happened after everyone got back to there own worlds here's your answer.
Sora, Riku, and Roxas finally started back into school with Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. Sora decided to play baseball with Tidus and Wakka. Their team dominates every game. Riku learned to NEVER go to a girl's slumber party. They gave him a makeover and he was super embarrassed at school. Roxas is considered a genius in all of his classes. The only thing that he isn't very good at is reading a girl's atmosphere (so far, he's had 6 girl-friends; all 6 dumped him).
Ed, Al, and Haku went back to the military to be shot down by Colonel Mustang. Ed's been having deskwork ever since he got back. He should be done in awhile. Maybe. Not really. Al's helping out in the library to organize books. Unfortunately, he got buried under a pile of papers. Haku applied for the alchemy exam. He got the promotion and his nickname; the 'Dragon-blood alchemist.'
That's everything that ever happened.
In loving memory of Demyx (sniffle)
Sora: Do you LIKE almost killing us all in every story?!
Me: I don't know what you mean!
Sora: *growl*
Me: Oh, I get it. You're sad cause I killed off.....I mean, nobly sacrificed Demyx.....yeah
Sora: AH!! So you admit it! You purposefully killed Demyx! *draws Keyblade*
Me: Oh, fudgie
Sora proceded to kill me with the Keyblade after this little conversation......
Oh, and I'm aware that I kinda stole one of Axel's lines and had Demyx say it. But hey! Axel gave me permission after I paid him 20$