Kingdom Eds: Rise of Darkness
Chapter 12: A heart for a heart
"Riku?" Alex asked, standing up firmly. He stood beside Jasmine, who was laid out on the floor "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for her." Riku answered curtly, pointing at the unconscious Princess of Heart "And I've got something to tell you."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Alex pondered, staring into Riku's eyes.
"I was sent not only to bring the Princess back to Maleficent, but to tell you something important." Riku said, stepping forward "Your friends that you're looking for..." He then stared at Alex, who stood with anticipation.
"What is it Riku?" Alex asked, boring his eyes into the young silver haired youth "Can I still find them?" Riku continued to stare, before sighing deeply.
"Your friends are gone, forever..." Riku replied. Alex stepped back in shock, before slumping to the floor in a rugged manner.
"N-no..." Alex muttered, staring at the ground "What am I... going to do?" Riku merely looked on, taking Jasmine and putting her over his shoulder. Alex looked up, scowling at the boy "What, you're just gonna leave me here like an idiot?"
"Sorry, but orders are orders." Riku remarked, as he walked through a corridor of darkness. Alex stared at the ground again, sighing deeply.
"I failed... but don't worry, I'll make up for it..." Alex muttered "I promise..." Alex's flashback ended, now standing up straight as he stared upwards. He was notably inside of the mouth of the mighty Monstro, consumed in his thoughts. The Eds and Nazz were huddled together unconsciously, whilst Sora slept on his own. Donald, Goofy and Jonny were awake, whilst Kevin was knocked out on his own too.
"Hey Alex, do you think we should wake 'em up now?" Jonny asked, walking up to him "They've been sleeping for a good while now." Alex shook his head, glancing at Jonny.
"We could but..." Alex muttered, smirking as he pointed at Ed "I don't think we need to." Jonny looked at the large Ed to notice he was now wide awake, a big smile on his face.
"Hiya guys!" Ed shouted brashly, waking up the others around him. Eddy, in particular was in a foul mood.
"Hey, I'm next to ya know lumpy!" Eddy moaned, shaking his fist at his friend. Meanwhile, Sora slowly shifted from the ground, getting up a little slowly. When he was finally on his feet, he rubbed his head and whilst looking around, saw Donald folding his arms whilst tapping his feet impatiently and Goofy holding his shield above his head.
"What's going on?" Sora asked as he moved towards the duo, with Donald waving his fist in the air.
"We're expecting showers." Goofy answered, as a large treasure box fell on him "Oof! Heavy showers."
"Knock it off!" Donald ordered, as another large treasure went flying in Sora's direction.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed worriedly, leaping backwards to avoid the flying treasure. Kevin woke up as well, albeit a little bit quicker than Sora. He scanned the area, before looking upwards.
"Hey, who's that?" Kevin asked, as the group came towards him.
"Hey, isn't that Pinocchio?" Double D asked, folding his arms. Jiminy crept onto Sora's pocket, a worried expression on his face.
"Pinocchio, what are you doing? Pinocch!" Jiminy called, looking at Sora "We've got to get to him Sora!" Pinocchio walked and jumped across different platforms towards a wrecked little ship, holding some treasure in his arms. The group looked at it, as Alex stepped forward.
"Alright, let's go." Alex commanded, pointing his arm at the boat.
Xxx
"Gepetto, is that you?" Jiminy asked, his eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. An elderly man wearing glasses smiled kindly, his eyes closed.
"Ah, Jiminy my old friend, it's nice to see you again." Gepetto greeted.
"How did you get here?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, how?" Jiminy wondered.
"Oh, well that big old whale Monstro swallowed me and my boat whole." The old inventor replied. Pinocchio almost stared vacantly, mesmerised as he slowly stepped forward out of the vision of the others "I hope that my Pinocchio's been a good boy."
"Yeah, he's been good." Sora answered "In fact... hey!"
"What is it Sora?" Alex asked, folding his arms. Sora pointed to the spot that Pinocchio was before gulping.
"Wasn't that where Pinocchio was standing?" Sora questioned as he turned his head, finding Pinocchio wander through a passageway "There he went!"
"Oh dear, do make sure you bring back Pinocchio, he's my only child, and he's such a kind boy." Gepetto pleaded.
"Don't worry, we'll bring him back." Jiminy swore, pointing in the direction "Let's go!" The group followed Sora towards the passage way before stopping in front of it.
"Hmm..." Alex mumbled quietly.
"What?" Eddy asked, staring at his companion "What's up?"
"I don't think all of us should follow after Pinocchio." Alex suggested, as Jiminy glared at the youngster.
"What do you mean?" Sora wondered, "The more the merrier, right?"
"Maybe, but we have to make sure that Gepetto is alright." Alex explained "We've got to make sure he doesn't fall to the heartless, or even worse that hooded guy."
"Alex is right, some of us have got to stay." Double D agreed "However, who will go and retrieve Pinocchio?" Alex folded his arms, pausing in thought.
"I'll go!" Sora volunteered.
"Us too!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed, grabbing their arms on both of Sora's shoulders.
"Anyone else?" Alex asked, as he stared out towards the Eds, Nazz, Kevin and Jonny. He sighed, before standing straight "Alright, I'll go too." The Eds looked at each other, before looking at Alex before nodding.
"We'll join you as well, pal." Eddy said, as Ed and Double D stood behind him. Alex smirked, as he stared at Nazz, Kevin and Jonny. The three merely nodded, knowing what they were supposed to do, with Alex also responding with a nod.
"Come on then, let's go!" Alex ordered, stepping though the passage towards finding the puppet. They were inside a new, slightly small area with a higher platform with one 'doorway' and another pathway opposite them.
"Come on Pinocchio, now's not the time for games!" Sora shouted forcefully, as he and the rest of the search party tried to find Pinocchio.
"But Sora, I thought you liked games?" A familiar voice called out.
"Huh?" Sora wondered "Riku?" the boy soon stepped out, with Pinocchio shortly behind him.
"Or are you busy to play games with that Keyblade of yours?" Riku taunted, smirking. Alex looked on vacantly, the memory of Agrabah still lingering in his mind. Sora stepped forward, a small frown on his face.
"Come on, Riku!" Sora exclaimed, as the silver haired boy grabbed Pinocchio by the hand and ran though another pathway.
"So that's Riku." Eddy realized, smiling nervously "I see what you meant when you said he was strong, heh..."
"Nah, he's a good friend, my best friend." Sora answered, with Double D raising his head slightly.
"He seems to be acting strangely, for a friend." Double D mused, as Sora stared into the ground.
"Yeah, you're right..." Sora muttered. The group then followed where Riku went, in the hopes of finding the key to escaping the jaws of Monstro...
Xxx
It was the usual in Traverse Town, the sky covered in darkness and the burning light of the stars. The first district, whilst empty, was filled with an eerie chill. Yet there were two figures standing far apart, one wearing the same hooded cloak as the one who encounter Sora and his friends, and another being a blond haired boy with emerald green eyes. The blonde wore a light blue jacket and a white shirt, as well as blue jeans and brown leather boots and gloves. He held a peculiar weapon in his hand, a blue tinted weapon called Insanity, a Chinese sword-breaker. He encompassed a stern, serious stare as he focused upon the mysterious enigma, gripping his sword tightly.
"Who are you, where am I?" The blond asked impatiently "Why am I..."
"Don't worry about that." The enigma soothingly ensured. The blond suddenly ran towards the hooded figure, raising his blade high in the air.
"Tell me!" The boy shouted angrily, slamming his sword down. The enigma, however had evaded the attack with calm, casual deftness as he shifted his body slightly to the right before slapping the boy so hard that he was sent flying into a few tables and chairs.
"Don't we have a temper?" The hooded man mockingly quipped; as he stood folding his arms "All bark and no bite! Typical." He turned his on the boy, whilst chuckling to himself. The young boy stood up then, an aura of darkness beginning to surround him. He began to breathe heavily, pointing his sword towards the enigma.
"Shut up!" The blond roared in anger "I'll show you!" The mysterious figure turned, as smirk creeping up on his face 'Interesting... I could use him...' the enigma thought, summoning his sword.
"Alright, show me what you've got." The suspicious man urged, holding his sword in front of him. The blond boy gripped his sword with both hands, dashing towards his enemy with enhanced speed from the darkness. Reaching the enigma, he swung his sword to the right, before crashing down with power. The man simply blocked the swings with one arm, seemingly yawning. The blond then committed to a spinning strike, with which the figure responded with a simple back step. The aura around the blond soon dissipated, as he stood with shoulders slumped as he breathed heavily still.
"How... did you..." The blond asked weakly "I can't even hit you." The boy ran towards the hooded man with his sword raised, the latter dismissing his sword. He then smirked as the blond came nearer.
"Goodnight, kiddo." He said, as he threw a ball of darkness at the boy's chest, sending him to the floor. The blond boy was struggling the keep his head up, his eyes slowly closing as he was beginning to lose consciousness.
"You're gonna... gonna, ugh..." The emerald eyed boy muttered, fatigue finally settling in as he slumped on the floor. The enigma walked towards him, folding his arms before nodding, as he lifted the boy up in his arms and opened up a corridor of darkness.
"Hmm... this could be interesting..." The Hooded man muttered, as he walked through the portal to his unknown destination...
Xxx
"I see you met your friend, Riku." Maleficent noted, appearing from a Corridor of Darkness. Riku turned around with a stoic expression on his face as he shrugged his shoulders "Why do you care about that boy, he only cares about that keyblade and his new friends."
"I don't care; I was just messing around a while with him. It's nothing." Riku answered bluntly.
"Be wary of the darkness in your heart Riku, it his prey for the heartless." Maleficent mocked, before disappearing.
"Shut up!" Riku growled, as footsteps were heard rushing towards his direction. Pinocchio ran through to another chamber, with Sora and the gang running shortly behind him before stopping to encounter Riku.
"Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora asked sincerely, receiving merely a scowl from the silver haired boy.
"What do you care? All you're interested about these days is showing off that keyblade of yours to your new friends." Riku said bitterly "Do you even want to save Kairi?"
"I do!" Sora exclaimed, raising his fist in the air.
"AAAH!" Pinocchio screamed from the bowels.
"We've gotta do something!" Ed exclaimed valiantly, running towards the aid of the puppet.
"Ed, wait!" Double D urged, following him along with Eddy. Donald and Goofy ran through, leaving Alex, Sora and Riku alone. Alex simply walked through, with Riku following and Sora behind him.
"Ugh!" Riku gasped, as he saw what the cause was: a gigantic heartless, its stomach like a cage as it trapped the young Pinocchio inside.
"Help!" The puppet pleaded, as Riku summoned his weapon. He looked at Sora, who stood ready in an offensive stance.
"You up for this?" Riku asked coolly.
"Yeah!" Sora replied excitedly, nodding fervently.
"I will destroy you, disgusting belly monster!" Ed exclaimed, leaping high into the air to strike the monster's head with his keyblade. The heartless, however had clasped both of its hands together before slamming Ed across the ribs and into a wall, stunning him slightly.
"Ed!" Eddy shouted worriedly.
"I'm okay Eddy!" Ed assured, smiling dumbly. Eddy and Alex ran towards the heartless with their weapons raised high, looking at each other.
"Ready?" Alex asked.
"You betcha!" Eddy answered, as the two leapt in the air and slammed their swords into the face of the 'cage-like' heartless, sending it back a little.
"Help me, please somebody help!" Pinocchio begged as the two landed on their feet. Double D sent a Fira spell into the monster's face, as Riku jumped in the air with his arm raised, before slamming down with his sword on the head of the heartless, damaging it slightly. Goofy had thrown his shield at its face, whilst Donald summoned Thunder above the heartless, shocking it somewhat. The newly recovered Ed ran at the heartless, slamming into it with his keyblade, before Sora jumped in the air and sliced at the head of the heartless, causing it to jump back slightly.
"Help!" Pinocchio screamed, as the heartless jumped up in the air. It then released Pinocchio, who fell down a newly created hole from the fight, before jumping down itself. Riku followed after them, leaving the party behind. Meanwhile in the mouth of Monstro the water level had lowered considerably, making it slightly easier to possibly travel across platforms.
"Where do you think it goes?" Goofy asked, looking down directly over the hole. Donald kicked his behind, sending him hurtling downwards "YAAAAHOOOHOOOHOOIIEEE!" The entire party snickered softly, before following Goofy down the hole...
Xxx
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Please, give me back my son..." Geppetto begged. Riku held him in his arms, smiling softly.
"Sorry old man, but I have unfinished business with this puppet." Riku replied curtly.
"He's not a puppet, he's my little boy!" Geppetto exclaimed desperately, reaching his arm out in a futile attempt.
"He is unusual, not many puppets have hearts." Riku agreed, gazing deeply downwards towards the party "I'm not sure, but maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."
"Wait a minute, do you mean Kairi?" Sora wondered, before Riku scowled at him.
"What do you care?" Riku sniped, before walking off with Pinocchio. Geppetto sat on the floor, his head down in a sullen mood.
"Guys, we need to get Pinocchio..." Sora urged "We cannot let Riku have his way; he's my friend but..."
"We understand." Nazz said "Me, Kev and Jonny will stay behind, you guys can go get him."
"Right!" Sora said, nodding as he turned back to get Pinocchio.
"Wait Sora!" Nazz exclaimed, as the spiky headed boy turned to face her. She placed a certain item in his hand "This is a shared ability from Geppetto called High Jump. He said that it might help."
"Thanks Nazz." Sora said gratefully, smiling. The rest of the party then jumped from the front of the ship and across a wooden platform, before jumping onto a large wooden plank. They ran across the plank, before jumping towards the platform leading towards the throat and walking through it.
"You know what Nazz?" Kevin mused, as he saw Goofy as the last one to walk through towards Monstro's throat.
"Yeah Kev?" Nazz asked.
"How can a pup- err I mean Pinocchio have a heart?" Kevin wondered, folding his arms.
"Maybe he has a soul." Jonny suggested.
"Oh yeah, and how do you figure that Jonny?" Kevin questioned. Jonny placed Plank to his ear, before nodding and grunting in affirmation.
"Plank says, because every living thing has a soul, even a puppet." Jonny answered, smiling. Kevin smiled serenely, before shrugging.
"Wow, never thought of it that way..." Kevin muttered "I wonder if we'll ever find Rolf..."
"And don't forget Jimmy and Sarah dude." Nazz reminded, "Wait a minute, Alex said something about being lost in darkness..."
"Wait, you don't think they're..." Kevin muttered "Rolfy..."
"No, don't think like that Kevin!" Nazz said sternly "Never think negative, you've gotta think positive, after all we do have save the world."
"Plank says don't bet on it!" Jonny interrupted, causing the two to turn their heads towards him.
"Shut up Jonny!" They both shouted, causing the boy grumble. Back to Sora and the gang, and their endeavour to bring back Pinocchio...
Xxx
"Hey, let Pinocchio go Riku!" Sora shouted forcefully. The rest of the party followed behind him, their weapons in hand. They were in a room surrounded by many pulsating platforms with bones in them. In the centre of the stomach was a large ring of yellow acid, surrounding a circle of flesh which linked up to a single straight strip.
"A puppet that's lost its heart to darkness... maybe it holds to key to helping Kairi." Riku muttered sombrely. He turned to Sora, holding his arm out towards him "How about it Sora? How about we join forces to save her, we can do it together!" Sora stepped back, getting into a fighting stance "What, you'd rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart?"
"Heart or not heart, at least he still has a conscience." Sora remarked, causing Riku to step back painfully.
"Conscience?" Riku repeated, frowning.
"You might not hear, but right now it's loud and clear..." Sora trailed off, before saying "And it's telling me that you're on the wrong side!"
"Then you leave me no choice." Riku said ominously.
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Jiminy cried worriedly, as Pinocchio raised his head weakly.
"Jiminy, I don't think I'm going to make it..." He muttered, yet strangely enough his nose grew bigger, causing Jiminy to light up in excitement "Well what do you know, I guess I'm okay." Suddenly the large heartless from before had jumped down from the ceiling in front of Riku, surprising him. The silver haired boy simply opened up a Corridor of Darkness and walked through it, leaving his friend behind.
"Sora, we'll take Pinocchio back!" Alex shouted, taking him by the arm "You, Donald and Goofy take care of this heartless!" Alex, the Eds and Jiminy ran away, leaving Sora, Donald and Goofy to fend for themselves.
"Alright guys, we can do this!" Sora exclaimed confidently.
"Let's go get him Goofy!" Donald roared while pointing his staff at the cage-like heartless "Thunder!" bolts of thunder had struck the beast, not affecting it in the slightest. Goofy threw his shield at it, bouncing off of its head whilst doing no notable damage. Sora dashed towards the monstrous foe as quick as he could, jumping high into the air with both hands clutched firmly onto his weapon. He raised the keyblade high, before crashing down with a lot of force behind him, stunning the heartless slightly before running back to his friends.
"Did that do it?" Sora wondered, as the heartless merely stood still. Suddenly, it opened its mouth as a sizeable amount of green liquid propelled outwards towards the party. The trio jumped out of the way onto the platforms, dodging the attack.
"Did it just... vomit?" Donald asked while shivering "That's just creepy."
"Come on, don't give up!" Goofy urged, as he rapidly span in the air with his arms outstretched and shield in hand. He flew like a helicopter towards the heartless, which simply clasped both arms together and smashed Goofy into a wall.
"Goof!" Sora exclaimed worriedly, as Goofy sat down on the floor unconscious "Donald, is he okay?"
"Don't worry Sora, I'll get him!" Donald shouted, running towards his friend "Goofy? Goofy!"
"Donald, look out!" Sora warned, as the heartless smashed Donald into the other side of the arena and knocked him out cold "No!" Sora jumped down to meet the heartless alone, getting into his stance. He ran at the heartless and jumped in the air with his weapon raised, the monster swinging wildly in an attempt to hit Sora. The spiky haired boy parried the swings, before using the momentum to smack the heartless in the face with his keyblade and send it stumbling back a bit "Yeah, you like that?" Sora stepped back a little, but the heartless had one more trick up its sleeve. It propelled itself towards him with its mouth agape, as it attempted to bite him. Sora held is keyblade in front of him in an attempt to block, firmly closing his eyes as he awaited his fate.
"Sora!" Goofy cried loudly, jumping in front of Sora with his shield outstretched as he blocked the attack. The heartless stumbled back a little, as a fire ball hit the cage-like monster in the face, stunning it. Donald jumped down next his companion as he held his staff high in the air.
"Goofy, Donald! You're okay!" Sora shouted joyfully.
"Of course, you think a guy like this can take care of us that easily?" Donald asked, smirking "Let's do this together."
"Right!" Sora said, nodding. He ran towards the heartless and leapt high into the air, raising his keyblade high in the air before crashing it downwards onto the monstrosity's head, causing it to stumble. Goofy quickly through his shield at it, the impact against its face causing it to almost lose its footing and to finish it off, Donald sent a barrage of ice projectiles towards the belly of the beast and sends it flying backwards. The beast, finally defeated had flew around in the air like a popped balloon as it relinquished a heart, the stomach of Monstro rumbling violently as the heartless disappeared into the darkness.
"Let's get out of here!" Goofy exclaimed, running out of the chamber along with Donald.
"Riku, where are you? Riku!" Sora shouted, searching around in vain for his friend...
Xxx
"So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?" Riku asked anxiously, standing over his sleeping friend. He was aboard a creaking boat, with Maleficent standing broadly behind him.
"Precisely." She answered.
"And her heart was..." Riku muttered gravely, failing to finish off the sentence.
"Taken by the heartless no doubt." Maleficent said calmly.
"Tell me, what can I do?" Riku questioned urgently.
"There are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call the princesses of heart," Maleficent answered, raising her arms in the air "Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. There you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart." She placed her hands over Riku's shoulders, as a cold smirk crept across her face "Now I'll grant you a marvellous gift: the power to control the Heartless!" Riku then was enveloped by a green aura, as he turned towards Kairi.
"Soon, Kairi. Soon." Riku muttered hopefully as smiled sadly at her...
(TBC)