Alright guys, time for the rundown of this chapter.
Here's the thing, I haven't be able to work out the Space Paranoids world to have Takuya in it. I know I probably would be able to given enough time, but I have a feeling none of us are that patient, right?
So here's how it's gonna work. The adventures in Space Paranoids remain the same and the scenes I'm gonna show are what Takuya's doing while the others are in Space Paranoids. After that comes the Battle for Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden. Depending on how it goes from there, I'll see what's next and if it's good enough, I'll add the next world to this chapter.
(Sorry, no dialogue with OCs today)
Disclaimer: Don't own, see first chapter for more.
(Chapter Begin)
(Recap)
"Aw man," sighed Sora, "The King, Riku, and now I've lost Kairi as well."
Takuya walked up beside Sora and whacked him in the back of the head.
"Are you forgetting what happened last time?" asked Takuya, "Kairi was taken once before and you got her back once, right? You can do it again this time too."
"You're right," said Sora, remembering how far he went to save Kairi last time, silently vowing to do so again, "Let's press on. We won't find Kairi moping around here."
"Let's go," said Goofy.
"You said it," agreed Donald.
Soon, Chip and Dale communicated them.
"Guys," said Chip, "Darkness is showing up all over Hallow Bastion."
"You better get over there and see what's up," said Dale.
"Let's check it out," said Sora, getting himself together.
So, they made their way to Hollow Bastion.
(Recap End)
When they landed, they immediately noticed some Heartless roaming around, before disappearing in mini portals of Darkness.
"You don't think?" asked Sora.
"There's more Heartless?" finished Goofy, "Looks like it."
Soon Nobody Dusks floated by, as if searching for something.
"Oh great," sighed Takuya, "Nobodies as well. Why not bring all the Organization here as well! It'd save us the time to find them if nothing else."
"We don't we first go check in with everyone," said Sora.
"Let's head to Merlin's place," said Goofy, "They should be there."
So, they made their way through town. They stopped when three of them noticed a familiar figure not far from Uncle Scrooge. It was Cloud, a Hero they had met before.
"It's Cloud," said Sora, surprised to see him.
"It's you guys," said Cloud, trying not to sound disappointed, but it wasn't totally masked, "I thought I'd see you soon or later when Leon said you stopped by a while ago."
"Name's Takuya," said Takuya, "Leon may have mentioned me."
"He did say something about a fire user," said Cloud.
"What are you doing over here?" asked Donald.
"I'll get him," said Cloud, changing subjects, "This time, we settle it. Me and the one who embodies all the Darkness in me."
"I thought you looked different, Cloud," said Donald.
"Don't know why you would want to put away half of yourself," said Takuya.
"Who's the one who embodies your darkness?" asked Sora.
"Sephiroth," replied Cloud, "Tell me if you see him."
"What does he look like?" asked Sora.
"Silver hair, carries a long sword," said Cloud, "Oh, and a black wing extending from his right shoulder."
"Well, be seeing you Cloud," said Sora.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy continued on, but Takuya stayed back, regarding Cloud for a moment.
"What?" asked Cloud, a bit rudely.
"Why do you need to settle things?" asked Takuya, "Why not try to understand him?"
"He tries to make you think Darkness is the only way."
"Not to contradict you or anything, but sometimes Light isn't all that great either," replied Takuya, thinking of one of his friends that he never got along with too well, "I've got this friend who uses Light, but he ain't nice guy, or what you'd call friendly. You could say he's a lone wolf with an attitude that can get to you if you let it."
"What happened?" asked Cloud, now interested.
"We had it out over our latest opponent, a Warrior like us that uses the power of Darkness. Me being my usual self thought that by just working together, we'd be able to defeat Duskmon; however, he retaliates, knowing how powerful Duskmon really is. He then demanded to know why I was with them, in the Digital World in the first place. I didn't understand him then, because I didn't know the reality of the situation. The point I'm trying to make is: Don't just blindly believe that light is always good, because right now, you're reminding me of my friend, and you claim to possess light as well."
"I see," said Cloud, "However, it doesn't change things. I want it to be over between the two of us, one way or another."
Takuya nodded, respecting Cloud's decision, before moving off to meet Sora and the others.
(AN1)
As Takuya made this way through the borough, he saw Sora, Donald, and Takuya heading for the Bailey. By changing into Flamon, he was able to catch up to them, before changing back.
"What's up?" asked Takuya.
"We found a computer that can tell us all about the Organization and the Heartless. It's at the Castle Postern."
"Excuse me," said a voice, "Are you with the restoration committee?"
The four of them turned around to see three tiny female sprites floating a few yards away from them.
(AN2)
"And what if we are?" asked Takuya.
"What's Leon's gang up to?" asked on of them.
"And why would want to know?" asked Takuya, preventing Sora from talking.
"Just curiosity," replied a second one.
"We're heading over to the Postern," said Sora, "Something's up and we were asked to check it out."
"Score!" said Paine.
"Huh?" wondered Sora.
"Let's report," said Rikku.
"To who?" asked Donald.
"Our leader of course," said Yuna.
"You know," finished Paine, "Malefi…"
The other two shut her up before she said too much.
"Maleficent, huh?" said Takuya, "She's not really that great. I mean, these three beat her and they weren't really all that powerful back then from what I heard."
"HEY!" said Sora and Donald, indignantly.
"Go with it," whispered Takuya, before turning back to the others, only to find them gone.
"That was strange," said Sora.
"Let's get going, the Postern's up ahead, right?" said Takuya.
They continued on their way, taking out more Heartless as they moved through the Restoration Site. When they got to the Postern, Sora called out for Leon, though another old friend responded.
"Over here," said Aerith, "Ansem's Computer is just past here. The King seems very interested in it."
"The King!?" said Donald and Goofy.
"It'd be good to see that mouse again," said Takuya, before getting a bop on the head by Donald using his staff.
"Show some respect," demanded Donald.
"Watch it, or I burn that broom of yours," said Takuya, getting a look in his eyes that intimidated Donald.
"What about Riku?" asked Sora.
"I'm sorry," said Aerith, "I haven't seen him."
"It's okay. The King's here and he should know where Riku is."
When they got inside, they heard a noise, but couldn't find the source. The source happened to be a very familiar Blue Alien with four arms and can lift up to 3,000 times its body's mass. The four of them made their way through the corridors, taking out even more Heartless. When they got to the door, they went through it, only to find a messed up room on the other side. One of the things that remained untouched was a portrait of someone familiar to Sora and the others, just not in a good way.
"Ansem," said Sora.
"This must be his room," said Goofy.
"Somebody forgot to pay his cleaning bill," joked Takuya.
"Where's the King?" asked Donald.
"Hello?" called out Sora.
"Hey, you!" responded a voice.
They turned to see a girl in black fighting gear and long dark brown hair.
"And you are?" asked Takuya.
"Name's Tifa," replied the girl, "I'm looking for someone with spiky hair."
Sora touched his own hair, remembering how spiky it was.
"Spikier," said Tifa.
"You must mean Cloud," said Takuya.
"That'd be him."
"He'd be back in town," said Takuya, "He's still looking for Sephiroth."
"Okay, thanks," said Tifa, heading over to a wall and gave it a firm kick, "I'll just be going now. Sorry to bother you guys."
"No bother, ma'am," replied Sora, Donald, and Goofy, acting all professional-like.
Just after she left through the door, a voice from behind spoke up.
"So you made it," said Leon, "That Tifa has some kick to her. She could hold her own in any fight."
"I can tell," said Takuya, "So, about the King?"
Leon shushed them before they could say another word.
"The King stepped out for a second," said Leon, speaking softer, "However, this is what'll interest you."
He opened a panel that triggered the wall that Tifa kicked, to disappear.
"This way," sad Leon, "Ansem's computer is just over here."
So, he led them to the computer room, where Sora ran straight for the computer, the others minus Leon joining him. When he couldn't get it to work, do to his lack of training with electronics other than the Gummy Ship, he started banging on the keyboard, trying to make it work.
"Easy," said Leon.
Everyone then noticed Stitch climbing up the wall behind Leon. They watched as he traveled across the ceiling before falling straight onto the keyboard feet first.
"Get offa there!" demanded Donald, jumping up after him.
Stitch jumped off onto Takuya's head, before heading off back down the corridor they entered. Donald turned around, activating a security measure.
"Attention current user," said a mechanical voice, "This is a warning. Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action."
"Who's there?" asked Sora.
"I am the Master Control Program," said the MCP, "I oversee this system."
"So, you're like the operating system?" asked Takuya.
"That is correct, user," said the MCP.
Donald accidentally stepped on the keyboard again trying to get off of it.
"Donald," said Sora, Goofy, Leon, and Takuya.
"Decision gate reached," said MCP, missing the apology Donald made, though he didn't care, "You are now under arrest."
"Arrest!?" said Sora, thinking it was overkill.
Leon then noticed a light coming from the wall opposite of the screen. A light shown from it and shot out two beams of light.
"Watch out!" said Takuya, managing to get out of the way before the beams paralyzed Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Then multiple beams of light made them disappear bit by bit until they were no longer there. They had been downloaded into the computer mainframe, into Space Paranoids.
"Dang it," said Takuya, getting in front of the screen, "Return my friends NOW!!"
"Request denied," replied the MCP, "They are under arrest. They must be punished for misusing this system. Have a nice day."
(AN3)
"Let me try," said Leon, moving to the computer, "You track down that thing. I have a feeling he may be of help."
"Be right back," said Takuya, heading back to Ansem's room.
As Takuya trekked through the corridors, he found King Mickey talking with Stitch.
"There you are," said Takuya, "You got a lot of nerve doing that to the computer."
"Meega Nala Questa!" replied Stitch, in his carefree way.
"Just great," muttered Takuya, "A bad mouthing alien."
"Not just any alien, Takuya," said Mickey, "He's an experiment. Number 626, nicknamed Stitch. Stitch was just telling me that Sora and the others found the computer."
"More than that, they're INSIDE the computer," said Takuya.
"That's bad," said Mickey, "The MCP doesn't particularly like users. I hope they can get out of there without too much trouble."
"Leon's trying to see if he can't get something to work," replied Takuya, "Let's go."
Stitch laughed again before disappearing into a small charm with a picture of a small guitar called a Ukulele. Mickey and Takuya headed back down the corridor; however, by the time Mickey and Takuya made it back to the room, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were already back and Tifa had managed to move the picture of 'Ansem' to reveal an intricate design behind it. The others and Leon were examining it.
"See, the DTD! The Door to Darkness," said Sora.
"But that still leaves the password," replied Leon.
"Did someone mention the Door to Darkness?" asked Mickey, announcing their presence to the others.
"Your Majesty!" cried out Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Mickey shushed them while Takuya did a 'quiet down' motion with his hands. Takuya closed the door while Mickey was bombarded with hugs from Donald and Goofy.
"So, where have you been?" asked Takuya.
"Space Paranoids," said Sora.
"A world inside the computer," explained Leon.
"You mentioned the Door to Darkness?" asked Mickey.
"Yes sir," reported Goofy, King Mickey's Captain of the Guard, "We're looking for the secret password that activates it."
"Password?" wondered Mickey.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy felt sadness, thinking that Mickey didn't know.
"Maybe a code?" suggested Takuya.
"That's got to be it," said Mickey, moving towards the mural on the wall.
"Wasn't Kingdom Hearts referred to as the 'Door to Darkness' by 'Ansem' your majesty?" asked Takuya.
"That's right," said Mickey, "And the way to open that door was by gathering the Princesses of Heart. That's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…"
"Aurora, Alice, and Cinderella," continued Takuya, counting them off.
"And Kairi," said Sora.
"I'll put it in," said Leon, heading back to the computer.
"What's the password for?" asked Mickey.
"We can access Ansem's research data if we had the password," said Sora, "And now that we have it, we can get information about what's going on around here."
"So you might be able to find out where he is!" exclaimed Mickey, getting a little excited.
"You mean he's moved his base of operations?" asked Takuya.
"He just disappeared a few years back and I haven't been able to contact him since," replied Mickey.
(AN4)
"What's with the joke guys, we already defeated Ansem," said Sora, "You both know that."
"Looks like I've got some explaining to do," said Mickey.
"There's more than one Ansem?" asked Takuya.
"Hey," said Leon, "Isn't Tron waiting for you guys?"
"That's right," said Sora, "We'll be right back, you majesty!"
"I'm not going anywhere," said Mickey, "I'll be right here if I'm needed to fight alongside everyone."
"Thanks your majesty," said Sora.
"No, I should be thanking you, Sora," countered Mickey, "And as a thank you present, I'm gonna give you some of my power. This should unlock the Master Drive Form for you. Unlike Valor and Wisdom, you'll need both Donald and Goofy for this one."
"I'll use it with pride, your majesty," said Sora.
"One more thing," said Takuya, as he brought out the Ukulele Charm, "Stitch gave this to me."
Takuya handed the Charm over to Sora. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran off to return to Space Paranoids to meet up with Tron.
"So," said Takuya, "Mind telling me who this other Ansem is?"
"Not Ansem per say," said Mickey, "He just claimed he's Ansem. I couldn't tell you who it is."
"And Riku?" asked Takuya.
"He's working his way into the Organization's stronghold. With Namine's help, he's going to try and free Kairi so they can escape."
"Okay," said Takuya, "So we have the Organization on one side, Maleficent on another. Is there someone else we need to worry about?"
"I don't know," said Mickey, "Something's telling me there is, but I can't place my finger on it."
Just then a great rumbling shook the Postern, and the rest of Hollow Bastion.
"I'll go check it out," said Takuya, "Stay here and explain things to Sora and the others."
"Right," said Mickey, heading towards the computer room.
Takuya headed out into town, only to see darkness off in the distance.
"Oh great," said Takuya, "More Heartless than I can count. This is gonna be tough."
Before he headed over there, he stopped by a Moogle Merchant.
"Here," said Takuya, handing some items over to the Moogle, "Everything I've collected so far. With what I got from Riku, how close are the items to being ready?"
"The items on request still need a few more ingredients for synthesis," said the Moogle, "Please return with the items and the weapons in question will be synthesized in a matter of minutes."
"Thanks," said Takuya.
Takuya ran towards where the army of Heartless was, changing into Flamon on the way there. He had to bring his best if he was going to survive.
(AN5)
Mickey passed by Leon on his way to the Computer Room. When get got there, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were getting access to the data within Ansem's research file. Mickey recognized Ansem's picture when Sora managed to bring it up, as it was the only uncorrupted piece of data in the DTD program.
"Well," said Mickey, getting their attention, "I see you managed to get things working."
"Where's Takuya?" asked Sora.
"Checking out the town with Leon. Something's going on out there. However, we need to get this data now if we're gonna keep it away from the MCP."
"Right," said Sora, "So, do you know who this guy is?"
"Of course I do," said Mickey, "That's Ansem the Wise."
"Not that joke again," said Sora, "It's not funny."
"I'm not laughing, or joking," replied Mickey, "That really is Ansem."
"Sorry your majesty," said Sora, dragging him back to Ansem's room, "you gotta see this."
When they got back to the room, Sora brought Mickey to the portrait of 'Ansem'.
"Look," said Sora, "THIS is Ansem. The guy we all battled our hardest to prevent from getting Kingdom Hearts?"
"Oh, that's right," said Mickey, now understanding the mix-up, "I never got to explain everything.
"Well, the man in the painting is definitely the guy who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts, the one you fellas defeated. However, what you don't know is that you actually defeated his Heartless. You see, he not REALLY Ansem, he just claimed that he was."
"WHAT!?!?" exclaimed Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, "You mean we did all that to defeat an imposter!?"
"Yep, but he still had to be stopped," said Mickey.
"Wait a second," said Goofy, "Didn't Takuya ask if there was two Ansems? If this guy's the fake, then where's the real one."
"That's right," said Mickey, "And that's what I'm trying to figure out. I met with Ansem long ago one time, but I haven't been able to find him since he disappeared. And there hasn't been a trace for me to follow. But I do know that he had access to the Organization's plans and what's been happening to the worlds, and I'm sure he's logged it in the DTD program."
"Hmm," said Goofy, thinking over something.
"There's more?" asked Sora.
"Well, think about this," said Goofy, "Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't REALLY Ansem, became a Heartless. If he had a Heartless…"
"Then a Nobody was formed as well," said Donald, catching on to Goofy's train of thought.
(AN6)
"That's right," said Mickey, "And it's that Nobody who's Leader of Organization 13."
"No way," said Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"Yes," continued, "I know I met the Fake Ansem somewhere and I've also seen the Leader of Organization 13 as well. Felt like the same guy to me."
"So, where'd you meet him?" asked Sora.
"I don't know," said Mickey, getting disappoint from his friends, "Ansem the Wise should know this guy's real identity, and that's why I'm trying to find him."
"You," said Sora, looking at 'Ansem', loathing in his voice, "It's because of you that all of this happened. Because of you, Riku and Kairi… Wait, Your majesty. What about Riku? Where is he?"
"I'm sorry," sighed Mickey, downtrodden, "I can't help."
"Do you know about Kairi? Axel kidnapped her from Twilight Town," said Sora.
"That's bad, real bad," said Mickey, before realizing something, "Guys, I forgot the most important thing about friendship before now, and that is: helping others should come before asking for help. We're alright and able to help the others. Why don't we look for Riku and Kairi together, after finding Takuya of course."
"Right," chuckled Sora.
Another rumble went through town, more violently than before.
"Hurry," said Sora, "Outside!"
"Look's like we might need to help out here first," said Mickey, leading the way outside to the front of the Postern.
After a short encounter with Maleficent, battling Heartless and Nobodies, as well as managing to convince Yuna, Paine, and Rikku to join Leon's side, Sora Donald and Goofy finally got outside to the Postern, only to be met by Sephiroth.
"No way," said Sora.
"It's Sephiroth," added Donald.
"Isn't he supposed to be the Dark part of Cloud's Heart?" asked Goofy.
"Did Cloud tell you that?" asked Sephiroth, "Then I guess he knows what must be done."
"What do you want with him?" asked Sora.
"Nothing," replied Sephiroth, "It's Cloud that wants Darkness if he's searching for me."
"He says he wants to settle the score with you," informed Sora.
"I see," said Sephiroth, "He wants to face off with me once more. Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out."
Sephiroth disappeared to find Cloud. Sora and the others continued toward the restoration site, only to see Leon and Aerith fighting Heartless. Aerith noticed Nobodies behind Sora and warned him. After defeating the Nobodies, Leon called after them, heading towards the Bailey.
"The King's over at the Bailey. Meet him there!" said Leon.
"Right!" replied Sora, as he, Donald, and Goofy continued on their way to the Bailey.
When they made it there, they saw another opening, which they went through. They got to the edge of a cliff, only to see a HUGE army of Heartless heading towards town from the dark castle across the way.
Yuffie had been battling for a while with her Kunai and Shuriken and was getting exhausted. Before the Heartless could overwhelm her, Aerith healed her with a Cura Spell. Yuffie thanked her and they rejoined the battle.
Stitch was battling his hardest with his blasters to destroy the Heartless as they got close to him.
Even the trio from before was helping out; using combo moves to take out the Heartless one at a time. It wasn't very effective, but was still getting the job done.
Leon managed to join up with Cloud, but both were surrounded by Heartless.
"Think you can handle this many?" asked Leon, though he already knew the answer.
"Might be tough if one more shows up," replied Cloud.
"Then that'll have to be the one I destroy," added Leon.
"What?" said Cloud, feigning surprise, "You're battling too?"
And so, the two warriors engaged the Heartless surrounding them in battle.
Flamon was having a bit of trouble battling the Heartless that had cornered him.
"Hey, bozos," said Flamon, "Get a load of this!"
DIGIVOLUTION!
"Flamon Digivolve to…" said Flamon.
"Agunimon," finished Agunimon.
Agunimon called forth his Pyro Tornado to defeat the Heartless before moving on to the next group.
Cloud managed to defeat the last few that charged in on him, only for another group to surround him. However, before he could battle them, Sephiroth showed up and destroyed them.
"Sephiroth!!" shouted Cloud, preparing his Buster Blade weapon for battle.
"I understand that you've been looking for me," replied Sephiroth, calmly.
"Yeah," said Cloud, "Once I defeat you, the Darkness will go away!"
"Is that right?" replied Sephiroth, "Good luck with that. I guess it'd be so easy to erase your own dark memories, to erase that dark past of yours."
"Shut up!" said Cloud, his patience wearing thin.
"Face it," said Sephiroth, "You can't get rid of the darkness anymore than I can get rid of the light."
"You don't know me!"
"Cloud!" shouted Tifa, heading over to where the two of them were.
Sephiroth disappeared and Cloud ran away from Tifa, with the intent of chasing his dark half.
"Cloud wait!" shouted Tifa, before Heartless surrounded her.
She began using her martial arts and powerful attacks to defend herself.
(AN7)
"Leon, everyone," vowed Sora, "Hang on, we're coming!"
They started to head out, only for Mickey to jump down in front of them.
"Okay guys," said Mickey, wanting them out of the fight, "You look for Riku and Kairi."
"We can't just abandon Leon and the others," said Sora, "They're our friends as well. Not to mention we gotta get Takuya out of there!"
"Everyone can manage here," said Mickey, "We can handle it."
"I promised Leon," said Sora, "And I can't turn back on that promise."
"You gonna have to," said Mickey, "Donald, Goofy, take Sora and get out of here. I'll send Takuya along as soon as I can reach him."
"Riku, Kairi," said Sora quietly, "Give me a little more time, okay?"
Donald and Goofy were indecisive as to follow the king's orders, or keep Sora's promise to their friends. They made up their mind, to follow Sora, because he's where they need to be. They had to stay with the Keyblade's bearer, so technically they wouldn't be disobeying the King, as his previous orders were to stay with Sora.
"Your majesty," said Donald.
"We understand," followed up Goofy, "We'll go after Kairi and Riku."
"Right," said Mickey, keeping his eyes on the battlefield, "Keep a watch out for danger."
"You be careful too," replied Donald.
"But, you guys," pleaded Sora.
"Sora," replied Donald, seemingly ignoring the plea, "Do as your told."
"You're coming with us whether you want to or not!" finished Goofy.
"Come on, Sora, you gotta be good," said Donald, before winking at him.
Sora finally understood that Donald and Goofy were with him. He gave a silent thank you.
"Well then," said Goofy, "Skedaddle!!"
Sora turned around, ready to head into battle.
"Let's go," said Donald.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy then ran right past the King, and jumped down the cliff, landing at the surface before.
"Sorry your majesty," said Sora.
"Please forgive us," added Goofy, as they continued on down to the next landing.
Mickey couldn't help but smile.
'One could say their just like you, Takuya,' thought Mickey, 'Always jumping into battle to help others.'
Mickey sighed one last time before jumping after them. Even they couldn't do it on their own against this many Heartless.
(AN8)
As Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their way down, Demyx showed up, looking surprised to see them.
"Hey," said Demyx, trying to cover his surprise, "You guys are looking lively."
"Get out of here," said Donald.
"Weren't you messing around in the Underworld?" asked Sora, "How'd a wimp like you end up in Organization 13?"
"Can you even fight?" teased Donald.
"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," said Demyx, in an attempt to be intimidating.
The three of them just summoned their weapons, not afraid of threats.
"Oh," sighed Demyx, "I told them they were sending the wrong guy…"
"Just who is this kook?" asked Sora.
"He's a Nobody, just like the other members," said Goofy.
"That's right," remembered Sora, "No Hearts."
"Oh we do too have Hearts," replied Demyx, "Don't be mad."
"Like we're gonna fall for that," countered Donald.
"Silence traitor," said Demyx, adopting that intimidating voice from before.
Demyx then summoned his Sitar weapon, and the battle began.
By the time Mickey caught up with the others, they had already defeated Demyx.
"NO WAY!!" shouted Demyx, as he faded into nothingness.
"Anyone else wanting a piece of me!!" shouted Sora.
"Don't antagonize them," chided Donald.
"Sorry," said Sora, "I guess I got caught up in the moment."
"AHA!" said Mickey, getting their attention, "I finally found you."
The others looked fearful as though he was there to scold them for disobeying him.
"You sure got a lot of friends to help out," said Mickey, surprising them, "So, we better give it our best so we can go look for Kairi and Riku with our full focus."
"Yes sir," replied Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
Agunimon was battling a few Heartless just above where Sora, Donald, and Goofy were battling Demyx. He noticed them as he was dodging attacks.
"I'll join them once I'm done here," said Agunimon, dodging another attack.
However, the blast from this Heartless collided with some rubble, sending a piece flying down to where the others were.
"Oh no!" shouted Agunimon, heading for the edge.
Agunimon could only watch in horror as Goofy got King Mickey out of the way before getting hit on the head himself. He fell back and knocked his head against the other wall. Agunimon turned to the Heartless, fury in his eyes.
"That was my friend," said Agunimon, flames surrounding him, "YOU WILL PAY!!!!!"
Using the flames, he transformed into BurningGreymon, but this time, the beast had control, only following Takuya's order to take out the Heartless. BurningGreymon used Wildfire Tsunami to take out that Heartless, before flying off to destroy more.
"This is not happening," said Sora, fear evident in his voice, "It can't be happening."
"Goofy," said Mickey, fearful of his friend's demise, before swearing silently, "They'll pay for this!"
He took off his cloak, revealing his Battle garments. He summoned the King's Crown Keyblade, which had the opposite color scheme than the Kingdom Key Sora was using, and charged into battle, taking out Heartless like Nobody's business. Donald soon followed, with Sora right behind them.
As Sora charged through the Heartless, he managed to get help from Yuffie, Leon, Tifa, and even Cloud.
"Are you okay?" asked Mickey, as they got to a safe point.
"I'm fine, but…" said Sora, not finishing the sentence that didn't need to be finished.
"Goofy," finished Donald for him.
"HEY FELLAS!!" shouted Goofy, getting their attention.
Apparently, Goofy managed to recover thanks to Aerith, and he had to chase after the others that had gone ahead without him.
"Aw, Goofy," said Mickey, hugging one of his best friends.
"I get hit on the head all the time, don't you know?" reminded Goofy, causing the other three to chuckle.
Donald marched up to Goofy and hit him on the leg.
"That hurt too," said Goofy, rubbing his smarting leg.
"Don't do that to us again!!" said Donald.
"Hey," said Sora, noticing something hiding in the crystal, "It's a few more pages from Pooh's book."
"Let's press on," said Donald, "We'll get back to Merlin's house later."
(AN9)
BurningGreymon continued to fight the Heartless, but was getting beaten himself since he wasn't using his rational mind at the moment. One critical blow knocked him back to his human form.
'Oh great,' thought Takuya, trying to get up, ignoring the pain telling him otherwise, 'Can't defeat a few lousy Heartless.'
However, before the Heartless could finish him off, Wind from the sky surrounded him as Ice Shards formed out of the air itself to defend Takuya and attack the Heartless respectively.
"No way! Thank you, Zoey," said Takuya, receiving the two Wind Spirits in his D-Tector, "I owe you big time, guys."
The Spirits then appeared around him, his two Fire spirits in the middle. The five of them glowed and an image appeared above them, a symbol that he had seen before, but didn't recognize. He felt a power inside his heart being unlocked, one that he liked.
(AN10)
"This is a new…" said Takuya, as his Spirits returned to his D-Tector, the Symbol glowing on the screen, "Evolution."
More Heartless appeared around him, but Takuya just smirked, his energy returning ten fold in excitement of a new evolution he hadn't tried before as well as his Heart's new power being unlocked.
"Alright, Heartless," said Takuya, "See if you can handle my new Ace up the sleeve."
Holding the D-Tector with his left hand, he summoned a ring of Data around his right, then added more around the first ring.
"EXECUTE NOW!!" shouted Takuya, running the data rings through his scanner, "FUSION!! EVOLUTION!!!!!"
Using both Human and Beast Spirits of Fire, Takuya changed into Aldamon, a Digimon who's power outmatched Agunimon and BurningGreymon's power put together.
"Time to party," said Aldamon, "ATOMIC INFERNO!!"
Using his new attack, he took out dozens of Heartless without even trying.
"I'm liking this," said Aldamon, before landing and concentrating his power in front of him, "Time to end this: SOLAR WIND DESTROYER!!!"
Sending and HUGE Fireball, he destroyed a few hundred Heartless. He then looked down into the valley next to where he was and saw Sora, in Limit Form, taking on a thousand Heartless at once, using a combination of his Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanum, and Ragnarok abilities to destroy them. He just chuckled, glad that Sora was doing alright himself, before turning around and seeing more Heartless. He charged into battle once more, intent on finishing it.
After battling and defeating 1000 Heartless at one time, Sora was extremely exhausted. He noticed Donald and Goofy racing up to him after battling the Heartless that had gotten between them and Sora.
"Where's the King?" asked Sora.
Just then, they noticed King Mickey defeating another Heartless.
"There he is," said Donald, as the three of them raced up the hill to join him, "Your majesty."
Mickey regarded them for a moment, before turning towards Xemnas, "Xehanort."
"How long since I abandoned that name?" wondered Xemnas, as if to himself.
"Out with it, Nobody," demanded Sora, "Where's Kairi and Riku?"
"I don't know of any Kairi," replied Xemnas, "As for Riku, why not ask your king?"
"STOP!!" shouted Mickey, going after Xemnas, who disappeared into a portal of Darkness with Mickey right behind him.
"Sora!!" said Aldamon, as he landed.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy got ready to fight, before they recognized their friend.
"Takuya?" asked Sora.
"That's me," said Aldamon, "Call me Aldamon like this."
"Why did he do that?" wondered Sora.
"He had to go after Xehanort's Nobody," said Aldamon.
"Way to fall right into their trap," said Axel, someone they had not seen in days, "Come on, it's a setup by Organization 13. Xemnas is using you to take out the Heartless, that's his big master plan."
"Xemnas?" wondered Donald.
"That guy you just saw," said Axel, "Xehanort's Nobody has named himself Xemnas. X-e-m-n-a-s, got it memorized?"
"The Organization wants to get rid of the Heartless?" asked Goofy, confused.
"And everyone wonders why no one's defeated you before," muttered Axel, "It's the Hearts that the Heartless release is what the Organization is after."
Sora turned to Aldamon, betrayal on his face.
"You knew!" said Sora.
"Of course he did," said Axel, "He's been playing you all along."
"What about Kairi?" countered Aldamon, "Where is she?"
"Yeah," said Sora, turning back to Axel, "Where's Kairi, Axel?"
(AN11)
"Look, about Kairi…" said Axel, "I'm sorry."
"Axel," said Saix, appearing out of his portal of Darkness.
"Uh oh," said Axel, disappearing into his own, mentally cursing himself for staying in one place for too long.
Sora tried to go after Axel, but Saix stopped him.
"We'll make sure that he receives the maximum punishment."
"I don't care about any of that," said Sora, "I want to see Kairi!!"
"Don't worry about Kairi," said Saix, "We're not going to kill her, if that's what your worried about."
"Take me to her," pleaded Sora.
"Is she that important to you?" asked Saix.
"More than anything," replied Sora.
"Show me," said Saix.
Sora fell down to his hands and knees and practically groveled before Saix.
(AN12)
"So," said Saix, "That's how strong you feel for her. The answer's no. Just keep slaying those Heartless, with all the rage you feel towards me for keeping you from the one you care about most. That way, we can complete Kingdom Hearts."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" said Maleficent, appearing in green fire.
"Great," said Aldamon, "All we need now is a Darkside Heartless and a Twilight Thorn Nobody."
"That's the last thing we need," said Sora.
"Dude," said Aldamon, "Kidding."
Maleficent teleported herself between them and Saix.
"Go, now," said Maleficent, "I am buying you time as you leave and devise a way to end their existence once and for all."
Maleficent disappeared, taking the Nobodies with her. More Heartless appeared, Sora destroyed them, before seeing the Hearts being released.
"Keep it up, Sora," said Saix, disappearing himself, "Extract more hearts for us to collect."
Aldamon attacked with his shields as melee weapons, destroying the Heartless. Another attacked Sora, who blocked it with his Keyblade.
"Maybe everything we've done," said Sora, "maybe it was pointless from the beginning. What can I do if I can't use the Keyblade?"
"Use it anyways," said Aldamon, deflecting another Heartless attack.
"But, the Hearts!" cried Sora.
"You truly are imbeciles," said Maleficent, "I can't trust you to do anything, can I?"
A portal of Darkness appeared under them, and they fell into it.
From afar, Cloud and Leon saw a bright flash of light from where Sora's group was.
"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Takuya!" said Leon, worried about his friends.
"I wouldn't worry about them," said Cloud, "Sora, Donald, and Goofy won't go down that easily. Not to mention Takuya is a True Hero. He won't quit until he returns to his friends. And the Keyblade's chosen one is a very lucky kid."
(AN13)
When Sora woke up, he saw nothing but Darkness. Soon, Donald and Goofy came into view from one direction, Takuya from another.
"What's this place?" asked Goofy.
"I'd have to say the Realm of Darkness," said Takuya, "This is the path that the Heartless take to go between worlds."
"Maybe Kairi and Riku are here!" said Sora.
They looked around, but saw nothing, except for Donald who saw a man in a cloak similar to that of Organization 13. He held a box in his hand.
"Hey!" cried out Donald, "Who's there?"
The man disappeared, leaving behind the box before Donald got there. Donald opened the box to reveal a sea-salt Ice Cream bar and a picture.
"Hey, it's the gang from Twilight Town," said Goofy, "Hayner, Pence, Olette, and uh…"
"Roxas," said Sora.
"You know him?" asked Donald.
"No, I just know that name," said Sora, before turning to Takuya, "How about you?"
"I never met him personally, but he definitely was friends with these three," said Takuya, omitting the part about the picture being from a Digital Twilight Town.
Just after Donald took a bit out of the Ice Cream, it glowed a familiar glow.
"Look's like that's our ticket out of here," said Takuya.
Sora summoned the Kingdom Key and opened the pathway out of the Realm of Darkness.
"I can't go yet," said Sora, "I've got to look for Kairi."
"Later," said Takuya, pushing him out the doorway, "You won't do anyone any good unless you get out of here now!"
They managed to return to the Gummy Ship relatively unharmed.
"I guess help can come from unlikely places," said Sora, still reeling over the fact that Maleficent actually saved them, despite her intentions.
"I know what you mean," said Donald.
"Hmm," said Goofy, "A photo and some Ice Cream? Maybe it's a clue, but who would've left 'em there for us, anyway?"
"Riku?" asked Sora.
'Good guess, though you won't truly know for a while,' thought Takuya, before saying out loud, "Maybe. If he's alright, maybe he's choosing to help out in his own way."
"Look, we're almost there," said Donald.
"What about the Heartless?" asked Sora, "If they're back, I can't use the Keyblade, because then that would just help the Organization out."
"You use it anyways," said Takuya, "Even in a lose-lose situation, you have to continue down your path. I learned that the hard way. Sometimes helping your enemy is the way to find a way to defeat them."
"Alright," sighed Sora, "I'll keep using it."
So, they headed for their next destination, and their next journey.
(Chapter End)
I thought this would be enough, given everything I've covered between Takuya and the others.
Also, in this story, Takuya has researched about his world on DiZ's computer, and found out about the balance between Light and Darkness. Again, doesn't matter because at the end his memory is erased and his timeline goes on as if nothing had ever changed.
Time for Character Profiles:
Name: Sora
Keyblades: Kingdom Key, Star Seeker, Hidden Dragon, Hero's Crest, Monochrome, Follow the Wind, Circle of Life, Photon Debugger*
*Got from Tron in Space Paranoids
Drives: Valor, Wisdom, Limit, Master
Name: Takuya
Spirits collected: Fire, Earth, Wood, Ice, and Wind
Evolutions: Flamon, Agunimon, BurningGreymon, Aldamon
Name: Maleficent
Powers: Fire and Darkness
Wants: Kingdom Hearts
Name: Ansem
Other Names: Xehanort's Heartless
Weapon: Darkness
Protection: Dark Guardian
Name: Xemnas
Other Names: Xehanort's Nobody
Weapon: Nothingness and Aero blades
Protection: Nothingness
Name: Axel
Other Names: Lea's Nobody
Occupation: Organization Member VIII, Roxas and Xion's friend
Weapons: Fire and Chakrams
Name: Leon
Weapon: Gunblade
Name: Aerith
Weapon: Magic
Name: Yuffie
Weapon: Ninja equipment and skills
Name: Tifa
Weapon: Martial Arts
Name: Cloud
Weapon: Buster Blade
Name: Sephiroth
Weapon: Masamune and Darkness
Okay, time for Author Notes:
AN1: Yeah, I know I removed Aerith, but this takes away the confusion of how Aerith gets to the Postern before Sora's group.
AN2: Only the most dedicated of FF fans know who's who among these three. Sorry if I got them wrong.
AN3: Like MCP would ever REALLY say that. (LOL)
AN4: Mickey doesn't know that DiZ is Ansem at this point.
AN5: Well, gotta give something for Takuya to do to keep him away from Sora and the others for part of this chapter.
AN6: Like Goofy HAS a train of thought. (LOL)
AN7: I feel like she is the Final Fantasy version of Sakura from Naruto: Shippuden and a Martial Arts user. Lots of strength and good martial arts when using it
AN8: I didn't add these scenes because I didn't feel the need. Besides, I didn't even recognize Aqua's armor and Keyblade until today, when I saw that cutscene again. Nice foreshadowing that can be easily missed.
AN9: Yeah, how about way later after a few more worlds have been covered, and again, not really being covered in the first place, remember?
AN10: This is when Takuya figures out what it means to be a True Hero, and where he gets the power of Fusion Evolution. The Power of his Heart comes from Zoey, and only when he realizes this does he access this power.
AN11: Yeah, I already put down that Sora and the others knew who Axel was.
AN12: Very sad sight here, Sora groveling; however, it's for Kairi, so I admire how far he's willing to humiliate himself for her. That shows true love.
AN13: Yeah, couldn't figure out this scene either. The last one between Xemnas and Saix was easy enough, because of what was coming up next, but this time I don't have a clue.
Alright, only thing left is an Omake/Deleted Scene/Blooper. Whatever you want to call it. It can also be considered homage to Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Let's do it.
(Omake Begin)
After the battle was over, Sora walked up to Aldamon, looking at his Keyblade for one last moment before dismissing it.
"Final Count: one thousand, two hundred fifty-two (1,252) Heartless," said Sora.
"One thousand, two hundred and fifty two, eh," said Aldamon, "Not bad for a Keyblade Wielder. I, myself, am sitting pretty on One thousand, two hundred fifty three. (1,253)"
Sora noticed a Heartless at Aldamon's tale, took out his Keyblade, and destroyed it with a quick Blizzard spell.
"One thousand, two hundred fifty-three," said Sora.
"That one counts as mine," said Aldamon.
"He twitched," complained Sora.
"He twitched," repeated Aldamon, "Cause he had MY tail embedded in his Shadow Nervous System."
(Omake End)
Anyone who can't guess what's that from has yet to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. I just couldn't help it, when preparing this chapter. So, I settled on putting it in as something separate.
Okay, time to move on out.
Later,
RDF1