Kingdom Eds: Rise of Darkness

Chapter 7: Unexpected Encounter

"Why, it's only just the beginning!" Clayton remarked, pointing his weapon towards the group. As soon as the battle began, Alex had charged towards Clayton.

"You guy's attack the power wild's, I'll deal with Clayton!" Alex insisted, leaping towards the sinister poacher. Ed had dashed towards one of the power wilds, smashing it across the head with his keyblade. The heartless screeched in pain, before being finished off by a fire spell from Donald.

"Freeze!" Edd exclaimed, as the sock hat had frozen one of the evil primates with a blizzard spell, before Sora smashed the block of ice into millions of pieces with his keyblade.

"Two down, four to go!" Sora exclaimed. However, things weren't going so well for Alex, as he was fired at by a barrage of bullets.

"I see the darkness within you boy, why do you fight against me?" Clayton questioned, before shooting at Alex. Using his agility and judging the aim of Clayton before he fired his shot, Alex had rolled out of the way.

"What makes you think I'm gonna tell you?" Alex asked, pointing his sword at Clayton "You're a greedy, cowardly man! You don't deserve power." Clayton, enraged by this had roared wildly.

"Weak!? I'll show you weak you filthy child!" Clayton exclaimed, picking a whistle from his pocket. Eddy was dealing with two power wilds while observing the fight between Clayton and Alex. One of the power wilds had leaped high into the air to scratch his face, however Eddy was fast enough to dodge roll out of the way.

"Eddy, catch!" Ed shouted, throwing his keyblade at Eddy.

"Why are you giving this to me for!?" Eddy questioned exasperatedly "You need it too ya know!" Eddy however, caught the keyblade, and faced the two assailants.

"Don't worry Eddy, we took care of two of them, now you just need to beat them too." Sora explained, as he turned to Clayton "We'll help Alex with Clayton."

"Okay, but I don't like it..." Eddy grumbled, facing his two feral foes with dual keyblade, ready to take them on. He dashed towards one of the heartless with blinding pace, hitting the hellacious heartless with a barrage of blows, destroying it effectively.

"Whoa! This is better than Alex's dark powers!" Eddy exclaimed, twirling one of the keyblades in his hand. "You want some too?" The monster, however accepted defeat before teleporting away from Eddy, "Now to help Alex".

Xxx

"Well, it seems you've defeated my heartless..." Clayton grumbled, standing in front of the rocky wall. "However, I have one more ace in the hole!" Suddenly, a massive quake had shook the ground beneath the group; the wall behind Clayton was completely obliterated.

"What the heck!?" Eddy exclaimed, as Clayton seemed to be lifted up in the air. "What's going on?" Eddy foolishly dashed towards Clayton, which caused many of his friends to gasp in surprise and warn him.

"No Eddy, wait!" Alex exclaimed, however it was too late. Eddy had leapt up in the air to strike Clayton with the two keyblades, however he was struck with a seemingly invisible force, sending him almost half way to the battlefield unconscious. The battle, then had resumed, as Clayton had loaded his gun.

"I don't like to end such precious life, but it's time to say goodbye!" Clayton shouted, as he aimed towards the group. Alex ran towards Clayton at a quick pace, which prompted him to shift his aim towards Alex. "I guess you're next." However, Alex had guessed where Clayton was going to shoot, and rolled out of the way before he could pull the trigger, perplexing the sharpshooter.

"I'll buy us some time; you find a way to beat Clayton!" Alex ordered, getting in a defensive stance. "Come on Clayton, aren't you gonna get me!?"

"Hmph, your time will come." Clayton replied, aiming at Alex, "I hope you don't feel so bad about this, but you're going to die!" Alex had rolled out of the way before Clayton could pull the trigger, inciting a gasp from Clayton. The group looked on, as Alex had evaded all of Clayton's attacks so far.

"I've got a plan Donald, but I need your help and Double D too." Nazz suggested, "If we use that magic sword attack on the thing below Clayton, we might stun it..."

"Okay, let's try it." Double D said, getting ready. Nazz had ran and stood behind Clayton, grabbing his attention.

"Hey Clayton, I'm over here!" Nazz taunted, grabbing the attention of Clayton. He turned around to face her, aiming at her too.

"You too, I suppose today isn't your day." Clayton stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That's what you think, Thunder Sword: times two!" Nazz exclaimed, dashing towards the invisible being below Clayton.

"Now!" Double D and Donald exclaimed simultaneously, as they both empowered Nazz with thunder magic. Nazz, encased with thunder energy and surrounded by sparks of lightning had struck the beast down below with a mighty force, a screech emitting from the creature. The monster had bucked Clayton off of it, before revealing its true form: a green and yellow camouflage and large, beady yellow eyes. Clayton had slowly risen up, aiming at the party.

"It's time to say goodnight kids." Clayton muttered, fingers inches away from the trigger.

"Um, okay... goodnight." Alex said, pointing behind Clayton. Clayton, looking behind him had seen the beast, known as the Stealth Sneak towering above him. Suddenly, the monster had fallen on top of Clayton, crushing him.

"AAAH!" Clayton screamed, before he along with the creature faded into darkness, releasing a stolen heart. The group, Tarzan in particular had spotted Kerchak, who was standing next to the wall. The two exchanged looks, before Kerchak nodded.

Xxx

Alex and the Eds rubbed their backsides, as they were standing in the insides of the cave.

"Geez that was a rough landing..." Eddy muttered.

"Tell me about it..." Alex groaned, as he examined the inside of the cave: water was gushing from below and covered almost the entire cave, making it hidden. Tarzan was standing upon a higher platform, waving his hand at them.

"Let's go guys." Sora said, as he jumped up the rocks. It took them a while, but they finally reached the top of the cave; they gazed at the massive keyhole coming out of a tree lodged in the wall. Jane was standing near Tarzan with her arms folded, while the cul-de-sac kids and Sora were standing in front of the tree. Donald and Goofy were standing on the other side of the tree, arms folded as well.

"Where are they then?" Alex asked, as he walked around the room. Jane stared at the youngster in confusion.

"Who?" Jane asked, putting her finger on her chin.

"Where are my friends, Riku and Kairi?" Sora asked, as he searched around the place.

"%&&%*" Tarzan said. The group were confused, before Jane realized what he was saying.

"I get it now, %&&%* means heart." Jane explained. Tarzan had repeated the word again, so that the group could understand, except they didn't understand.

"So, it was all a goose chase?" Alex questioned, a hint of exasperation creeping up on his face.

"Clayton had no heart, no heart, no see friends..." Tarzan muttered. Sora had sighed, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I guess..." Sora grumbled, taking his hands out of his pockets. However, the keyblade from both Sora and the Eds had materialised, as they pointed at the giant keyhole. Blue beams of light had hit the keyhole, locking it permanently. Finally, a strange looking gummi had come out of the tree, as Donald picked it up. A small gorilla had appeared next to Donald, staring him in the eyes.

"I think he likes you Donald!" Goofy guffawed, as everyone else began to laugh as well. Donald had waved his hand and shook his head, his face painting an anxious expression.

"No, what will Daisy think!?" Donald exclaimed...

Xxx

"Ha ha, he used the darkness as bait, and got chomped on instead!" A figure joked, laughing as well.

"The hunter was a fool, he used the darkness as a weapon and it backfired on him." Another said.

"What about the boy?" questioned one of the figures "What if he betrays us?"

"He won't, believe me." The leader of the figures reassured "He's completely loyal to me, and we've got a princess out of it." Suddenly, Alice had appeared in the only spot of light in the room, as sinister of laughter echoed through the room.

Xxx

"So, where to now?" Sora asked. "Are we going to traverse town?"

"I suppose." Donald replied, hand on the steering wheel. "We need to find out how that gummi works." Sora had sighed, sitting on one of the seats, head hung low.

"I hope we find them quickly, I miss them..." Sora mumbled, shaking his head. "This is my fault, if I wasn't so weak-"

"Stop pitying yourself Sora!" Double D exclaimed "We're all going through trauma at the moment, losing and finding friends. Feeling sorry for yourself won't make it any better."

"He's right Sora, we just need to keep our heads up and find our way." Goofy advised, patting his hand on Sora's head. Sora had smiled, with his hands behind his head.

"Hey, Sora." Eddy said, glancing at his acquaintance.

"Yeah?" Sora replied.

"Why do you get that cool keychain, and I don't!?" Eddy asked furiously, standing firmly with both hands by his side.

"You mean this?" Sora asked, materialising a different looking key: the Jungle Key to be precise.

"Yeah that's right!" Eddy shouted, pointing in his face. "And I'm havin' the next one!" The party had just laughed, as the two young prodigies argued over who should have the keychain, however in Alex' ship...

"Hey Alex, what's it like?" Kevin pondered, lying on a chair. Alex put the ship on auto pilot, before turning to Kevin.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked with his arms folded.

"The darkness, what's it like?" Kevin asked. Alex had frozen for a moment, before regaining his composure.

"Well, it feels good, to be so powerful." Alex replied, as his eyes were fixated on Kevin "Why do you want to know anyway?"

"Well, I want the power too." Kevin said, standing up "I'll do anything!"

"Kevin, the power of darkness is corrupt, the only reason I'm not a heartless is because my heart is so strong." Alex stated, as he created a dark fireball in his hand "You see, the darkness is like a fire, like a fire needs air; darkness needs a strong heart to ignite strength." Kevin had given a perplexed stare at Alex, cocking his head to the side.

"I didn't understand any of that!" Kevin moaned in exasperation. 'Good, I don't want you to end up like me, a monster...' Alex thought, smiling.

"You weren't supposed to." Alex replied, flashing a cheeky smile.

Xxx

"It seems the hunter, was hunted." A figure muttered, looking into the sphere of energy where he saw the two gummi ships travelling to Traverse Town.

"Are you going to test them?" Another, female figure asked, walking back and forwards in anxiety.

"Of course, especially the boy who uses the darkness, I want to gauge his strength..." He muttered.

Xxx

As the group had finally arrived at Traverse Town, they began to observe what was going on around them.

"Where to first then?" Alex asked "Should we split up?"

"Maybe, who are the groups?" Double D asked "Me, Eddy, Ed, Alex and Nazz?"

"I'm cool with that." Eddy said, with his hands in his pocket "We need to split up to cover more ground" And so the groups had split off, with Alex, the Eds and Nazz staying in the first district while the others went into the second.

"So, where do we go now?" Alex asked "The accessory shop?" The party simply nodded, as they followed their friend inside. The shop was the same as they left it, as Cid occupied the back of the till.

"Hey kids, what's up?" Cid asked.

"We need to find Leon, we found a certain gummi." Alex replied, as he placed his hand behind his head. Cid had raised his eyebrows, his interest piqued.

"A gummi you say?" Cid asked. Alex nodded.

"Why, do you know something?" Nazz asked, folding her arms as she did so.

"Come outside, I've got something to show you." Cid said, leading the cul-de-sac kids away, meanwhile...

Xxx

Mean while, Sora, Donald, Kevin and Goofy had reached the third district as they searched for Leon.

"Well, he's not here either, let's go." Donald said, getting ready to go.

"Hey Sora, I finally found you." A familiar voice said. As the trio looked behind them, they saw a silver headed teen wearing a yellow vest, blue pants and blue and white shoes. His piercing blue eyes were familiar to Sora as his friend...

"Riku!" Sora exclaimed, running towards him. Riku had summoned his weapon however, causing Sora to stop. "Huh?" Suddenly, Riku had leapt towards Sora...

*SLASH*

A heartless was sliced in half by Riku, who stood up straight and dismissed his weapon.

"Geez, it looks like I'm going to have to protect you, as always." Riku said. However, Sora had suddenly dashed towards Riku, preparing to attack.

*CLANG*

A heartless, which was behind Riku, was destroyed as Sora had stood back up straight.

"What was that about me needing your help?" Sora asked sarcastically, twirling the Keyblade in his hand.

"Hey guys, have you found Leon yet?" A familiar voice asked, sounding female. The group turned around to see Yuffie, arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"No, have you seen him?" Sora asked.

"I know where he is; just meet me in the alleyway." Yuffie replied, walking away slowly. Riku, turning away from his friend had begun to get ready to walk away.

"Where're you going Riku? We've got this awesome rocket!" Sora exclaimed, a beaming smile stitched across his face.

"No." Donald said with his arms crossed.

"What? Why?" Sora questioned, eyes getting bigger.

"Because I say so, that's why!" Donald argued, glaring at Riku.

"Hey, where did he go?" Goofy pondered, looking around.

"You scared him off! Ah well, at least he's okay, and we might find Kairi too." Sora said as he had his hands behind his head. "So, what now?" Sora asked, looking to his two companions.

"Let's wait for Alex and the Eds." Donald replied.

Xxx

"So, you deal with gummi's" Alex asked, eyeing Cid.

"Yep, haven't done so in quite a while, but what you're talking about sounds like a Navi-G." Cid reassured, hands on his hips. "Why don't you find your friends, and I'll install it for ya."

"That's great!" Eddy exclaimed, eyes growing wider. "That means we can get out of this place!"

"Yeah, but one more thing, can you do me a favour?" Cid asked, as he got out a book. "Can you deliver this for me, an old man gave it to me."

"Sure, let's get going." Alex said, taking the book from Cid and putting it in his pocket. The group had gone to through the door to the Second District, but had felt a slight chill, as well as hearing the sound of ringing bells.

.

"What?" Alex questioned, looking around the district "Was that, ringing?"

"Yeah, it seemed so." Double D replied, staring straight at the clock tower "It seems to be coming from there."

"Hey, you're right!" Eddy exclaimed "And there's a slight chill too."

"Freaky..." Ed muttered, scratching his head.

"Well, let's not dwell on it now, we must deliver this book. Remember what Cid told us, go to the door with a emblem on it." Double D instructed.

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice exclaimed. The group saw Sora Donald, Goofy and Kevin running towards them.

"Did you find Leon?" Kevin asked with his arms folded.

"No, not yet..." Double D replied, "Besides, we need to deliver a book to an old man..."

"Yeah, we need to go to a door with fire on it." Alex stated, crossing his arms.

"A door with fire on it? No I don't remember- wait! I saw something like that in the third district!" Sora exclaimed.

"Really? Let's go then." Alex said, and after that he ran away as quick as a flash.

"Hey! Wait for us Alex! We're a team, remember!" Nazz exclaimed. Soon, the Eds and Nazz took after Alex, whilst Sora, Donald, Goofy and Kevin went to the meeting place...

Xxx

"What took you so long?" Yuffie asked, placing her hands on her hips "You sure are a bunch of slow coaches." As the group looked around the Alleyway, they stared at a large grate, scratching their heads.

"I don't get it, Leon is here?" Kevin asked.

"Yup." Yuffie replied, flashing a cheeky smile towards him. Kevin shrugged, before getting out his spear.

"Here goes..." Kevin muttered, before dashing at the grate. He then proceeded to bash the grate, but failed as he almost broke his spear.

"Hey, I've got an idea." Sora suggested, looking at Goofy, as an evil grin was etched across his face. Goofy gulped, as both Sora and Donald advanced towards him.

Xxx

*Yahoohoohoie!* Followed by a crash was heard, as Alex, Nazz and the Eds looked around the third district.

"What the heck was that!?" Eddy questioned, summoning his keyblade.

"Probably nothing, maybe a heartless..." Alex replied, searching the district. "We won't find the door if we don't try." The group had searched around, inspecting every nook and cranny.

"Jackpot!" Eddy exclaimed "I found it!" The group rushed towards their diminutive friend, as they confronted the door.

"Well, what now?" Ed asked.

"That's simple; now step aside if you please." Double D said as his keyblade appeared in his hand.

"Fire!" Edd exclaimed, as a massive fireball crashed into the door. A clicking noise had sounded, as the door was unlocked.

"Well, ladies first." Alex said, gesturing towards Eddy.

"Ha ha ha, very funny!" Eddy replied sarcastically, as he marched angrily through the door.

Xxx

In the meantime, in the second district a man with a black cloak was standing on top on the clock tower. His hood was up, concealing his face. The enigma wore spiked, black shoulder guards and had white shoes with black stripes and a white spiral covered the chest area of the cloak. An evil smirk crept upon his face, as another enigma, this time wearing a blue cloak appeared.

"Have you found him?" The blue cloaked enigma asked, her voice sounded in an effeminate tone indicating that she was a woman.

"Yes, I have..." The man in black replied.

"Then, what are you doing here?" She pondered, crossing her arms. "Why are they so important? Why is the boy, so important?"

"You will soon realize..." He answered, vanishing in a purple smoke.

"Hmph, fool..." The female enigma mumbled, before teleporting in an icy blue mist.

Xxx

"Ow, my head hurts..." Goofy groaned, painfully gripping his head. The quartet had found Leon training, swinging his sword from side to side.

"Hey Leon." Sora greeted, walking towards the aloof man. Squall stopped training, before facing the young Keyblade Master.

"Hi Sora, I see you've got a new friend." Leon said, pointing at Kevin.

"Yeah, that's Kevin. Do you know what this is?" Sora asked, showing him a gummi block. Leon placed his hand on his head, trying his hardest to think.

"Sorry, I have no idea... maybe you can ask Cid." Leon replied, as he resumed his training.

"Oh, okay..." Sora muttered, before walking away.

"Wait, Sora I have something for you." Leon said, as he took out a stone. As Sora walked towards Leon, he noticed that it wasn't just a normal stone.

"What is it?" Sora asked, as he put his finger on his chin.

"It's obviously a rock, you dummy!" Kevin retorted while inspecting the special stone.

"It's a good luck charm, you see, one day while I was training I found this rock with the face of a lion on it... although I think you should have it Sora." Leon said, giving Sora the rock.

"Thanks Leon!" Sora exclaimed excitedly, as he put the stone in his pocket. "Come on guys, we're leaving!" Soon the whole of Sora's group had left Leon alone to train, as he prepared himself against the invasion of the heartless.

Xxx

"Gee, this place is more run down than Ed's room..." Alex muttered, glancing around inside of the old and tattered house.

"Yeah, it's funny how it's in a cave too." Eddy stated, rubbing his head.

"Really? I don't think it's a laughing matter personally." A voice replied. An old man had walked through the door, donning blue robes and a wizard's hat to boot, as well as carrying a large brown bag.

"Who are you?" Alex questioned, "Are you a heartless?"

"Of course not, I'm Merlin the Magician." Merlin replied.

"Oh, right... we need to give you this book." Alex said, getting the book from Double D.

"Oh, hang on a minute." Merlin replied, as he had retrieved a large brown rucksack. Suddenly, many pieces of furniture such as a table, a work desk and even a pumpkin carriage had appeared. The room looked transformed, it looked more homely than it did before and the cul-de-sac kids head marvelled at the magic that had taken form.

"Whoa!" Ed exclaimed, "Funky!"

"Now, about the book you wanted to give to me." Merlin said, as he stretched himself. Alex had thrown the book at Merlin, who caught it with slight ease. "Ah yes, this is the book that I asked Cid to repair, it was tattered when I found it." Merlin had laid the book on the work desk, before folding his arms.

"What is the story of the book? I noticed that all of the pages were gone." Double D asked, as he placed his hands on his head.

"Why don't you have a look inside?" Merlin asked "Although, only one person can go in."

"Well, who's going in? Or should we tell Sora?" Alex wondered, crossing his arms in the process.

"Maybe, I think Sora should do it." Eddy suggested, "I got a feeling he should be going to have a look at the book.

"Alright then, so, while you're here you might as well learn about magic." Merlin stated while he had his hands behind his back.

"Maybe another time." Alex said, as he turned around to leave.

"Come on Alex, don't be rude!" Double D exclaimed furiously.

"Yeah, stop bein' a spoil sport." Eddy said.

"I wanna learn some magic tricks!" Ed shouted as he summoned his keyblade.

"Alright, have it your way." Alex submitted, grimacing. Meanwhile...

Xxx

"So, the old man's teaching them magic?" The female voice asked.

"Yeah," The male enigma replied. "I guess it gives me more of a challenge, or not."

"Don't underestimate them, especially the one who uses darkness." She warned, as the orb focused in on Ed performing a fire blast.

"I won't, after all, it's just a test." The mysterious man replied.

"And make sure they are alive after." She demanded, as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Xxx

"So, where to now?" Sora asked "We found Leon, shall we go to that place Alex and the others went to?" The group were in the third district, staring in front of the door with a fire sign on it.

"Yeah, sure." Kevin replied confidently.

"Okay, let's go then." Sora said, as he opened the door. The others followed behind, and discovered that they were inside a large cavern and saw a small house on an island surrounded by water, with moving platforms used to travel to it.

"Jeez, that's pretty special." Kevin remarked, folding his arms.

"Well, who's first?" Sora asked, as he stared at each of his companions.

Xxx

"Wow Ed, not bad..." Alex muttered, "You might give Double D a run for his money."

"I wouldn't go that far Alex." Double D sharply replied. Merlin was sitting on his chair as he watched the two argue, thinking slowly to himself. Nazz and Eddy meanwhile were having a discussion of their own.

"I wonder if Alex could use magic..." Eddy mumbled "And not that darkness mumbo jumbo either."

"Probably, although he doesn't need to does he?" Nazz replied, staring at Alex "Although, I do have my doubts."

"About what?" Eddy asked.

"About the darkness." Nazz replied "It seems to change Alex somewhat, he almost killed Ed. An you too, if you remember."

"Yeah, I remember that. Maybe the darkness is dangerous." Eddy said. The door was opened suddenly, as Sora and his group walked through the door.

"Hey guys!" Sora exclaimed excitedly "I know what to do now, all we need to do is find Cid!"

"Yeah, we know." Alex replied dully "We did an errand for him, that's why we're here, although we were just leaving weren't we?" Alex asked, staring at Double D in the process.

"Yes, shall we get a move on?" Double D asked.

"Hey Sora, do you wanna' look at the book?" Nazz asked, pointing to the desk.

"We don't have time, let's move!" Alex ordered, and with that, the party left.

Xxx

"So Cid, now that we've done that errand, can you fix up our gummi?" Donald asked as he folded his arms.

"Sure." Cid replied, as he went away to upgrade the gummi. He was gone a couple of seconds, but came back seconds later.

"Geez, that was quick!" Eddy exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Well, you can go if you want." Cid said.

*Ding Dong*

"Huh? It's that bell again." Alex said, scratching his head.

"Yeah, could you do me a favour and check it for me?" Cid asked, "And if you need to, ring the bell three times."

"What!? More favours!?" Eddy questioned, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"Yeah! Why, you got a problem with that, shrimp?" Cid asked, hands on his hips.

"No he doesn't, look we'll find the cause of the problem." Alex replied, and with that said Alex had lead the group outside to the second district.

"I can't believe it!" Eddy roared, kicking a pebble as he did so.

"You're right, but sooner or later we'll find em'." Ed replied, "Especially with Sheldon, my luck cheese!"

"I thought you got rid of that..." Alex mumbled, before looking up at the bell. He noticed something suspicious though, a cloaked man or woman was standing there. "We've got company..."

"Huh?" Eddy asked "Who?" Just then, the cloaked man had jumped to the centre of the district, crossing his arms in the process.

"Umm, who's he?" Sora asked "Is he a heartless?"

"I don't know, but whatever he is he's going down!" Alex exclaimed, summoning his sword.

"Good, I could do with a challenge." The figure replied, materialising a long, black sword. Alex had jumped down to his level, followed by Ed and Eddy. The others had looked on, perplexed at the arrival of the newcomer.

"Who are you? What business do you have here?" Alex asked, preparing to charge.

"That doesn't concern you, what does is that you are a test subject, a guinea pig if you will." The enigma replied.

"Right! That's it!" Alex bellowed with rage, dashing towards the spectre with great speed and might. He raised his sword in the air, however before Alex could quickly bring it down, the enigma had teleported behind him with ease.

"Too slow." The shadow remarked, kicking Alex greatly in the back, causing him to be flung face first into the wall from across the battle field.

"Ow, that hurt." Alex muttered, turning to face him.

"Wow, a poor effort on your part." The phantom stated, as black smog formed around his hands. However, before he could execute his attack, Ed had struck him hard in the head with his keyblade.

"Take that, foul ghoul!" Ed cried valiantly, casting a fire blast at the nefarious foe.

"Hmph..." The unknown muttered, quickly moving away from the blast in an almost instant manner. Alex had ran towards the opponent and leaped high into the air, charging a massive amount of darkness in his hand.

"Take this!" Alex shouted, launching a massive dark fire ball at the intruder. However, the monster had merely stood still, absorbing the darkness. Clearly, he wasn't a normal person, an entity of darkness, hatred and malice. Alex had landed to the ground fairly quickly, quaking in fear of the malicious entity facing him.

"Really, is that all? Is that all you could muster?" The enigma questioned sarcastically, as he slowly stepped towards Alex. "I hoped you'd have more potential."

Xxx

"What are we gonna do?" Nazz asked, fretting over the situation. "He'll die if we don't help him."

"Alright, I'm going in!" Kevin exclaimed, wielding his spear. He suddenly jumped high into the air, and landed between Alex and his assailant.

"Kevin!?" What are you doing!?" Alex questioned, "You'll get hurt!"

"Maybe, but I've got to try." Kevin replied, facing the mysterious man. "So, you wanna play rough huh?"

"You're merely fodder to me." The enigma said, folding his arms. However, Kevin had rushed towards the enigma with great pace and managed to strike him in the gut with his spear, and followed up by launching him up in the air.

"How about that!?" Kevin asked, raising his fist in the air. The figure had teleported out of site however, confusing everyone.

"Impressive, but it's time to lose!" The enigma harkened, appearing behind Kevin with his sword to his neck. "You're a gnat, but you're the strongest here no doubt." Alex, Ed and Eddy had dashed towards the enigmatic force, hoping to strike him with their weapons. However, before they could attack, he reacted almost instantly and teleported away from them. Suddenly, he reappeared at the bell at the clock tower, and walked to the rope.

"What are you doing!?" Alex asked forcibly.

"I'm going to ring the rope three times, let's just say I'm helping you, and hurting you." The enigma replied shallowly, reaching towards the rope...

(TBC...)