Kingdom Eds: Rise of Darkness
Chapter 13: Rogue
(A/N: Sorry for the long wait... I sorta had writer's block and was busy with some stuff. There isn't too much action in this chapter. But all things aside, I hope you like the update)
"What did Riku mean... my friends lost forever?" Alex questioned, his Gummi Ship travelling towards his main destination at top speed, Maleficent's headquarters and main base of operations: 'Hollow Bastion'. His vessel had traversed inter-space for several hours, although he managed to cut a few corners by using the warp drive function implemented by Cid. He had finally reached the stronghold, and within minutes had approached the witch and her devilish consortium.
"Ah, Alex... how's it going kiddo?" Greeted Hades, rather laxly considering his disposition. Alex had ignored him, instead focusing his attention towards Maleficent herself.
"Maleficent, is it true!?" Alex interrogated, his fists clenched in fury "Will I never get to see my friends again!?" Maleficent didn't even register Alex's questions for a moment, in fact she seemed rather non-plussed. "I'm asking you a question!" She turned to him, and with a little smile said,
"No, of course not."
"What!?" Alex exclaimed confusedly. He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to make sense of the situation "But Riku said-"
"I know what Riku said. And as he said himself, he was only following orders, which of course was to give you disinformation on the whereabouts of your friends." Maleficent answered bluntly. Alex stepped forward ever so slightly, becoming even more befuddled than before. Had Riku lied to him? Why? And for what purpose?
"Why Maleficent... why would you lie to me?" Alex asked, his face becoming twisted and contorted with each emotion that filled him up "Are my friends still safe?"
"To answer your second question, not only are your friends safe... they're right here with me." Maleficent replied sharply. Suddenly Rolf, Jimmy and Sarah were brought into the room by Captain Hook, followed none other by the Kanker Sisters. "And as for your first question... I needed to you to come to me."
"Wait, what?" Alex mumbled, "What are those three doing here? And why did you need me here?"
"These three, the 'Kankers'... shortly arrived after you had Alex. I just hid them away from you until the time was right. While you were gathering intelligence on your 'friends', I had sent these three... 'ladies' to do some dirty work for me." Maleficent answered. She slowly made her way to Alex, almost inviting a false sense of security as she placed he hand on his cheek ever so softly "As for why I needed you here... you are the last piece to my puzzle."
"What puzzle? I got what I wanted... I have my friends back!" The boy retorted, knocking the hand away from her "What could you possibly offer me?"
"You have your friends... are you sure about that child?" Maleficent questioned, firmly yet with a hint of a fake kindness to keep a false impression of sorts. She then, with her magic showed Alex an image of his friends. Particularly, she focused on the Eds.
'Where did Alex go anyway Shovel Chin?' Eddy asked.
'I dunno, his ship was gone by the time I caught up with you guys'
'Oh, well... I'm sure he is fine. He can handle himself' Double D assured.
'It's not like we need his help anyway, we can kick plenty of butt all on our own.' Eddy retorted, smirking broadly.
'You got that right Eddy!' Ed agreed with a wide beaming smile.
'You don't mean that you two, surely?' Double D wondered, scratching his head... 'He's our friend.'
'Maybe you're right, but do we really need Alex's help when we have a group as large and strong as ours? It's not like we're missing out dudes.' Nazz interjected. After a period of prolonged discussion, the group had agreed... deciding that in the end they didn't need Alex, and Alex would be fine without them.
The image had dissipated, and at first Maleficent was met with a blank expression from Alex. However, something dark had stirred within him. Neglect, jealousy... envy. He had at first frowned, before which his lips had eventually formed into a venomous scowl.
"Okay then, Maleficent... what do you want me to do?" Alex asked, spitting out each word in a contained fury. After saying this, Oogie Boogie put a hand on his shoulder.
"Your duty... is to make sure the operations in Halloween Town go undisturbed." Maleficent pointed towards the Kanker Sisters before continuing "These three will give support."
"Understood." The boy replied, his eye's focused narrowly on where the dissipated image formerly appeared.
Xxx
"So... where're we headed anyway?" Nazz queried, folding her arms. She and Kevin had stared at inter-space through the windows, as the ship glided past the floating debris of space rock and asteroids.
"We are on course towards a world called Halloween Town... of course, judging by the name and nature of this world we will need a disguise to fit in." Donald replied, as he steered his ship on course. The Eds, in the mean time, had bundled together. They were still slightly worried about their missing friend.
"I hope he's okay..." Edd muttered an a concerned way.
"I'm sure he'll be fine Double D. With any luck we'll probably bump into him sooner or later." Eddy answered confidently, before shifting his attention to Ed "Speaking of luck... will you get rid of that stinking hunk of cheese Ed? It reeks!"
"NEVER!" Ed exclaimed, as he cradled the smelly block of cheese in his arms "Sheldon will not expire!" The trio had laughed together, sharing an almost unbreakable bond. Meanwhile, Sora and Jonny had stood behind Goofy and Donald, surveying the controls of the ship, as well as the course that the ship was running on.
"You know Donald... you never did say when I could have a ride on the Gummi..." Sora pestered persistently, leaning against the wall "I mean I am the-"
"Yeah yeah, Keyblade Master. Sheesh I get it." Donald remarked, sighing loudly "One day I might let you use the Gummi, possibly..."
"A-Hyuck! We're here!" Goofy announced excitedly, turning towards the party. With an air of enthusiasm, he shouted "Let's get ready to land."
xxx
"Yeesh... this place is a dump..." Eddy grumbled. They were in a damp, drab world. A world fit for many a dark being, and the heartless too. The area they were in was small, although at the end of the path there was a gate leading to a small, quaint town.
"Hey, what's up with these threads anyway?" Kevin queried, tugging at his pointed teeth. He wore a costume like that of classic Dracula, complete with the slicked back hair. Well, when Dracula looked younger at least.
"I think they're pretty gnarly dude." Nazz twirled around, she wore short jeans and a black tank top, yet looked like a decaying Zombie "We'll fit in nicely..." As for the rest of the group, Donald had the appearance of a mummy with his torso being dissected. Ed and Goofy looked like Frankenstein, with the bolts on their neck to boot.
"Cool!" Ed exclaimed, poking and tugging at the bolts on his neck "I have always wanted to be a monster guys!"
"You were a monster bonehead, remember?" Eddy remarked, shaking his head. Moving on, Sora himself had a modified version of his normal clothes with bat wings on the back, a pumpkin Halloween mask and vampire fangs. Eddy was a little unique, wearing nothing but a sort of stitched together rag, like some sort of feral creature. Edd however, looked the same as usual except for a rather large black cape and dark clothes, with his hat adorned with multiple sharp spikes. As for Jonny... he stayed behind to tend to the ship. "Hahaha Double D, you look like Pinhead with a cape and hat!" Eddy guffawed at his friend, pointing insultingly at his complexion.
"Yeah... well at least I don't look like some sort of Gollum!" Double D retorted, sticking out a defiant tongue "Compare to you, I think I've done well." Eddy's face quickly became redder, most likely a combination of sheer embarrassment and outright fury. The rest of the group joined the sock-hatted Edd in the laughter, before continuing on with the exploration.
Xxx
The town square was eerily quiet, and startling empty... except for the heartless of course. However, unlike the other heartless before them, these creatures weren't hostile. Suddenly, a short, pointy headed man had exclaimed,
"Tonight is the night of Halloween, a true scare fest. And our new act tonight are these delightful creatures!" The party were bemused, and looked on, almost confused. These heartless... they were being used?."Do you know what's going on around here mister?" Sora asked, scratching his head "Why do you have heartless in your town?"
"And more importantly, why aren't they wreaking havoc?" Double D added.
"I can answer that!" The group turned to see a walking skeleton in a suit. Despite the menacing appearance, he sported a friendly smile "The name's Jack Skelington, it's been a pleasure to meet you."
"Yeah yeah, just tell us what you're doing with the heartless." Eddy said impatiently, before being met with a swift kick in the shin from Nazz "Ouch!"
"Well, I can tell ya in the lab if you want, after I give the Professor his last ingredient." Jack answered curtly, before bowing gently to the party "Shall we?"
xxx
"So you're telling me... that you're using the heartless as some scary act of sorts?" Donald pondered, before growling in frustration "Arrggghh! Of all the idiotic-"
"Donald!" Sora exclaimed, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.
"I've gotta agree with Ducky over here, this does sound pretty stupid..." Eddy muttered, shaking his head "I mean... we've fought all bunch of guys who've tried to control the heartless, and they end up becoming lunch." Donald looked disapprovingly at Eddy.
"Ducky!?" Donald questioned furiously, quickly becoming red in the face.
"Yeah, but it would be cool to see the heartless dance!" Sora said laughingly, with Ed joining in. Edd examined the ghoulish heartless that laid limp on the bed-like construct, before pointing out,
"It seems this heartless in particular is inactive."
"Why of course it's inactive! I cannot fathom about why this is the case however..." The Professor muttered, shaking his head profusely "I made sure that the control unit was in proper working order."
"Maybe it just needs a heart dude." Nazz suggested.
"A heart shouldn't be too hard to make..." The Professor mumbled, as he got to work with collecting and assembling his ingredients together...
(A few hours later)
After concocting his ingredients together : Fear, Terror, and Hope and Despair, the professor had completed his task of creating the heart. And all he needed now was... "The key to it all." Sora pointed his Keyblade towards the grotesquely shaped heart, using it's power to truly make it work...
"Hmm... I just can't seem to still get it to dance with me..." Jack said almost dejectedly, although his optimistic demeanour won out in the end "I just want the heartless to put on a good show."
"Maybe we could try adding some memory... Sally should have said ingredient that we need..." the ghoulish doctor pointed out.
"Ah yes, Sally! Come along friends, let's make this Halloween one to remember!" And with that, the party followed Jack along on his rather mad attempt. However, before they could go outside to the main square, they were approached by the Mayor.
"Jack! Jack! The heartless of out of control!"
"Don't worry sir, we'll stop them. Right guys?" Jack said, looking at his new-found friends. They nodded in agreement, as they proceeded to deal with the inconvenient manner of the heartless. Meanwhile...
Xxx
"Ya know Plank... I'm kinda bored." Jonny said, flicking a pack of cards "What, you too? I know we're supposed to be watching the ship... but I wanna be doing something exciting! Hey, how about we get outta this place?" With what is to be assumed to be an agreement, Jonny had opened the Gummi Ship's door. He had a glance of the outside world, a glum, gloomy world filled with nothing but horrors and misery. The duo continued on, despite the fact that they weren't in disguise. However, something even more grim was happening "What?" Before his eyes, he saw the Kanker Sisters, alive and well. "What are they up to?"
"Hey Lee, how long are we on 'Duty'? I wanna smash stuff!" Marie moaned, making punching motions with her fists.
"As long as that punk is bossing us around... we ain't gonna be off duty for a while..." Lee answered, twirling an Arrowgun around by the trigger with her finger "Which is a shame, 'cause I'd sure like to wring his neck right about now."
"Y-yeah, but did ya see the look in his eyes? He was like a man possessed!" May shuddered, her body shaking involuntarily "I'd hate to mess with him either way..."
"Oh well... let's just report back to Alex... the Eds and their pals are here. And it looks like they'll be here for a while." The Kankers opened up a dark portal, walking through them whilst not noticing Jonny at all. The bald boy looked on, almost bewildered...
"Alex... the Kankers... we've gotta go tell the Eds Plank, pronto!" And with that, Jonny had rushed off towards the group to bear the bad news...
xxx
"Those heartless were hard work..." Eddy groaned, stretching his back painfully. He was met with agreement by his friends, who made similar actions. They had ended up in the graveyard, finding Sally due to the investigative work of Jack's loyal friend Zero.
"Thank you Sally, your memory is just what we needed!" Jack proclaimed thankfully, shaking her hand with an undying enthusiasm. Sally, on the other hand, seemed less than thrilled. She smiled almost worriedly, as if she was concerned for her lifelong friend.
"Are you sure you'll be alright Jack?" Sally asked.
"Of course Sally, it'll be the best thing ever... Halloween Town will have the most eventful festivities it has experienced for a very long time! And with this heart, we'll make this festival the best."
"But can't you try something else? I'm worried about you Jack..." Sally begged.
"Guys, guys!" Jonny rushed in with hammer in tow, breathing heavily.
"Aren't you supposed to be watching the ship, Melonhead?" Eddy remarked, folding his arms "What's up with the heavy breathing anyway?" He paced himself, and allowed himself some time to catch his breath. He composed himself, before revealing the following...
"The Kankers are here!" Jonny exclaimed, rubbing his head furiously "And from what they were saying, they're working under Alex as well!" Sora, Donald and Goofy looked on almost incredulously. However, the Eds, Nazz and Kevin had looked on in a mix of both fear and apprehension.
"K-Kankers..." Double D mumbled "They're... here?"
"And working under Alex?" Ed questioned, grabbing Jonny's collar furiously and lifting him up "You can't be serious!? Say it isn't so!"
"It is, straight from the horses mouth!" Jonny explained "The Kankers are on some sort of 'duty'. And they're being bossed around by Alex too!" The party couldn't believe it, Jonny was a pretty imaginative child, even a little... mad. But this is one thing he wouldn't think up or imagine. He must have told the truth...
"We'll speak more of this later, let's get back to the Professor first." Edd said, with the group heading back out of the graveyard. Yet, unbeknownst to them, three rag-tag children eavesdropped on their conversation.
"A heart?" One of them, a girl named Shock asked.
"Yeah, sounds pretty nifty." Lock, a child wearing red, replied, smiling devilishly.
"Should we tell Oogie?" Barrel wondered, a tubby child wearing green. They looked at each other in mischief, and in unison exclaimed.
"Yeah!" With that, they escaped back to their master, Oogie Boogie...
(TBC)