Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and everything else belongs to Walt Disney and Square-Enix.
The OCs and their alter-ego that appear in this story belong to their respective authors. More information about them are found in the "Original Characters' Intro" chapter.
Author's Note BEFORE YOU READ: Everyone! This is the start of a new saga (if it was a TV show, it'll have been a new season, special event kinda thing). To be honest, this chapter wasn't intended to be written, but a lot has happened that I was forced to change the plot a bit. And boy, did it come out great!
As you may have noticed, the title has changed, but only for this special event. This long special episode "Keyblade Riders" will reveal the truth behind the game, will reveal secrets, will reveal betrayal, challenges, surprises you won't see coming, and will be running in three to four consecutive chapters depending on how the plot goes. Of course just to let you know that the chapter is still part of KHIII Online HD, so it's not a sidequest like KHIII Christmas HD. It's a real chapter.
I hope you'll enjoy this freshly-made new episode of KHIII Online HD. 'Cuz believe me, it's gonna pack a punch.
Here's the first part of the special episode.
::KINGDOM HEARTS III Online HD::
-Keyblade Riders-
Part 1
Rian was found in a complete void of darkness, unconscious, unresponsive… as if he had died.
"GAAASP!" He let out a sharp gasp as his eyes flew wide open. His eyes glanced around feeling out of place and he quickly sat up as if he woke up from a terrible nightmare. He looked around again, breathing heavily. He saw nothing but void. Complete darkness with the foul stench of rotting bodies, the feel of scorching heat at about 120 degrees and cries of tormented pains. He saw Keyblades everywhere, rotted Keyblades, like it was the hell version of the Keyblade Graveyard… He was out of place.
"Oh god… where am I?" he muttered, quickly standing up, "Guys?" he cried out, but only got an echo.
Guys… Guys… Guys…
"Where are you? Is anyone here?"
Anyone Here…Anyone Here… Anyone Here…
"I need help, please! Somebody!"
Somebody… somebody… somebody…
"What is this place?" his eyes searched around for at least something or someone wandering this dark place, or at least a pinch of light, glimmering at a distance. Though he could hear presence all around him, it sounded like they needed help more than he does. But he couldn't see through all that foggy darkness either and series of abandoned haunted Keyblades. "Am I dead?" he wondered.
"No need to know." A throaty voice answered behind him. Rian quickly looked back. He saw him and he felt a wave of absolute terror. It was Master Xehanort, emerging from the depth of darkness, surrounded in black smokes, eyes gleaming bright yellow, as if for vengeance.
"You…" Rian felt transfixed by his bright yellow gaze. He tried to say his name but only let out quivering sounds.
"Master Xehanort." The old man said his name for him, "In the flesh." He chuckled, approaching Rian as Rian receded, "You must be very disappointed to see me again." The master grinned.
"What are you doing here? What have you done to me?" he shouted, obliged to ask all these questions.
"Simply put… nothing."
"You lying bastard."
"Ah, there you go again with the catchphrase." Xehanort smiled, "We used to be best of friends now remember? I used to call you Johnny Boy… you'll laugh at it all the time, but now… after all these years… I'm your own worst enemy. How could this happen I wonder?"
Rian couldn't recall these times Xehanort mentioned. But somehow, he knew he wasn't lying, and that freaked him out more. "I'm not afraid of you!" he said, furrowing his brow to prove it. But the old man read him like a book: he was afraid.
The old man laughed "Yeah right. Just look at your heart."He reached his gloved fingers up toward Rian's heart, but Rian quickly moved back to avoid being touched, "It cannot withstand courage. If you have joined me into the darkness, it would have."
"No…" Rian shook his head.
"But it is too late for reconciliation now. Too late for made-up minds. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon… soon will you dread the day of my return! You and your Keybearers friends!"
"YOU LEAVE MY FRIENDS OUT OF THIS!" Rian threatened, summoning his Keyblade and dashed toward the menace before him.
YEEEAAAH! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! The old man raised his arms up and a massive powerful white light suddenly overwhelmed him. Rian stopped running as he watched the light expanding to where he and Xehanort were in and in a mighty white flash everything exploded and the old man's screaming laugh went with it.
Rian screamed in reaction, his arms over his face, in an attempt to shield from the blast. But he felt nothing. He wasn't taken by the explosion nor did he get incinerated.
He looked up and saw that he was no longer in the darkness… he was in a different place. The place looked very similar to the Land of Departure, but it wasn't. The land was perched on the highest clouds rather than on the highest mountains. Like Olympus Coliseum.
"What the—!"
He suddenly saw something opening up right in front of him. It was a Keyblade Portal. The light poured out of that portal like a flood. He looked up in awe. He had seen Keyblade Portals before, but never one with that much power.
Rian watched as the light from the portal released two characters: a Keyblade Knight in a suit of armor of golden and mahogany blend color, and King Mickey.
"King… Mickey?" he breathed at the tiny King and the Keyblade Knight approached him. Mickey was in a dazzling burgundy wizard robe and sea-blue hat gleaming in sparkles. The Keyblade Knight looked different than Terra and the one knight Talen saw in his vision.
As the duo was closing in on Rian, they morphed back to their regular selves in a shed of light: Mickey to his regular red royal outfit, and the Keyblade Knight to his true identity. One shocking identity Rian never saw coming… Himself!
"You!" he gasped.
xXx
Back at Midlight City, the Gummi Ship's door suddenly busted open and in came two men and a woman wearing formal suits and ties and sunglasses. To Terra's surprise, the uninvited trio looked very familiar: the mid-length sized woman looked like Aqua but with blonde and wavy hair, the first man who appeared to be the youngest looked like Ven but with auburn hair, and the second man looked like Terra himself but with black hair. Donald and Goofy also appeared surprised.
"What is this?" Terra approached the trio, and the Terra-like agent pulled out a stun gun and jolted Terra enough to put him down to his knee.
"Terra!" Donald and Goofy screamed for their friend. They summoned their weapons, and Goofy charged toward them with his shield, while Donald sent out some Fantasia Comet spells. The Ven-lookalike agent leapt over Goofy and landed a kick on the back, sending him flying to a wall. Goofy fainted. The Terra-lookalike dodged most of Donald's attack. Donald then casted a Thundara spell from his staff. The Terra-lookalike dodged the spell, only to land toward the Aqua-lookalike. The girl agent blocked the spell with her arm and pushed it away, before pulling out a whip gun (similar to Zero-Suit Samus's) and shot a whip, wrapping around Donald and jolting him down to his knees.
The unknown trio approached the defeated trio. Terra was on the ground as he slowly and painfully looked up to stare at them.
"Who…" he grunted, "who… are you?"
The unknown trio flipped their badges and showed them to Terra right before he closed his eyes,
"US Secret Service." The Aqua-lookalike said, "You're coming with us."
Moments later, the remaining Keyblade teens—minus Rian, Talen, Kami, and Tenshu—busted inside the Gummi Ship, appearing somewhat edgy. Matt and Violet quickly spotted the control panel and went for it, typing something up.
"What a sweet ride!" Trayne gasped, marveled at the Gummi Ship's architecture.
"I know!" Denzel agreed, "I didn't know this place existed at all! No really!"
"I can't believe what you guys are saying is true." Jean-Michel said, "Everything that is happening in the game. It's for real?"
"For real." Matt replied. There was anger in his tone of voice, "The Blackheart Dominion. Their attempt to steal our hearts. Rian and Talen being erased. It's all real."
"Rian…" Sierra said his name in sadness, "What's gonna happen to him? What's gonna happen to Talen? Can we save them? Is it too late?"
"I hope not." Pierre said, trying to stay positive for his girlfriend.
"GUYS!" The teens heard Chip and Dale yelling. They turned their attention toward the panicked chipmunks engineers. "This is terrible! TERRIBLE! You gotta rescue them?"
"We know, but how?" Taylor asked them, already guessing what they were talking about, "They were erased."
"Erased?" Chip and Dale appeared surprised, "Who got erased?!"
"Rian and Talen." Axel disclosed, "Who else?"
"WHAT?!" the chipmunks screamed, "Rian and Talen?! How could this happen?!"
The teens appeared confused. "Wait! You didn't know?" Violet said.
"What were you talking about?" Pierre asked.
"Terra, Donald and Goofy!" the chipmunks disclosed, "They were captured by the US Secret Service!"
"WHAT?!" the teens screamed in panic. Hearing this news was WAY worse than Rian and Talen getting erased. Their secret somehow got exposed!
"Wait! Whoa! The US Secret Service?" Jean-Michel exclaimed, "How can they be involved in this?!"
"Simple." Violet angrily responded, "Someone in our group opened their big mouth about Kingdom Hearts being real. About our secret." Then on cue she turned to face Jean-Michel and so did everyone else.
JM's jaws dropped "Wait, whoa! Stop the limo here! You're blaming ME for this mess?! First of all, I DIDN'T KNOW about this whole Kingdom Hearts being real business, and second, my cousin got erased or killed, or whatever piece of junk you sayin', and that's bigger than me telling paparazzi! My family's safety ain't NOBODY'S business but MINE!"
"Guys, guys! Before we get all worked up," Axel said, trying to keep everything cool, and noticing JM's face was turning pure rage red, "we gotta figure out how we can fix all of this!"
Suddenly from out of the blue, Kami teleported in front of the teens using the Corridor of Darkness. "YIKES!" Denzel and Trayne freaked out by her sudden entrance.
"Sorry I couldn't help but overhear." Kami said to the gang, "You said Rian and Talen got erased? As in PKed?"
"Oh my gosh, it's the Creepy Freshman." Trayne said.
"I know." Denzel agreed, "She's creepier up close."
He turned, only to see her all up in his face. He jumped, "Aye!"
"Yes, it's true." Violet replied, "It was all Phantamis's doing. He was about to PKed Rian when Talen jumped in trying to save him but alas. Now we're trying to find them in the Gummi Net Locator."
"But hearing about Terra and the others being gone too is conflicting with what we should do." Axel pointed out.
"What?" Kami snapped, "You guys care more about your secret being exposed to the public than your friends?" Before the gang could even think, she went on, "Your priority should be to find Rian and Talen's assassin and bring him justice! Terra, Donald, and Goofy are gonna be fine. They can handle a couple of US agents if they can handle Heartless, Nobodies, and Unverses!" She then interrupted them when they were about to speak again, "You know what, let me handle this. I got resources. Your assassin is my assassin."
She turned to leave when the entire Gummi Ship flashed white and the gang fell on their knees, unable to move. The Gummi Ship started shaking.
"H-Heyy! Wh-what gives?" Pierre grunted, struggling to stand up but couldn't.
"W-we're s-stuck!" Sierra yelled out.
Out of the blue, the Gummi Ship's door poured in an army of SWAT Team. Guns loaded and shield ready for protection, they completely surrounded the gang. The gang raised their hands in surrender.
Enemies of the Earth! The female voice of the Aqua-lookalike sounded over PA system of the Gummi Ship. This is Agent Eagle of the US Secret Service! By order of the United States of America, you have the right to remain silent! Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Axel snarled. Taylor elbowed Axel to keep him quiet.
You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning.
"I don't wanna go to jail…" Sierra silently whined.
If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.
On cue, the Aqua-lookalike came into the Gummi Ship to face the teens. The teens' jaws dropped.
"Do you understand these rights?" she said.
"Aqua…" Matt whispered.
xXx
Rian couldn't stop staring at his twin. But his twin looked different. His outfit was different: a black graffiti t-shirt that says "hot eagle" near the left shoulder side; baggy jeans, and black shoes, a silver ring, and a necklace of the same symbol similar to Rian's. His hair was different with a dark blond color and his Widow's Peak was the shape of a thunderbolt. He appeared to have a sense of coolness and cockiness.
"Oh my god…" Rian muttered to himself, "…I'm dreaming…" he was still unable to remove his gaze from his twin standing in front of him.
"Uh… Rian?" King Mickey tried to speak.
"No, no, no, no. You." he pointed at his twin menacingly, "You can't be real… I mean, seriously, you look like… you look like…" he hesitated, "…y-y-y-you look like…!"
"Uh… you?" the other Rian responded.
"No! You look like me!" Rian freaked out, "You can't look like me. Why do you have to look like me? Why do you even look like me? There can't be two of me! There can only be one of me! What kind of a psycho are you to look like me?" he paused uncomfortable, "Oh, my god! I'm talking to myself!"
The other Rian leaned toward the King and whispered with a troubled smirk on his face, "Seriously, King? That's my twin from Earth?" his gaze was on Rian.
King Mickey shook his head, "Thunder, please, not now." He called him.
"What? No. That's Rian for you! You fake!" Rian protested, "YOU'RE NO TWIN OF MINE!"
"Rian?" the other Rian said, "No, no, no, no, no." he shook his head, smiling cockily, "I'm Thunder."
"The real Thunder." Mickey clarified, before scolding him, "Keyblade Rider of Lightning. And he is nothing like you."
"Thank you." Thunder said snobbishly, before whispering again to Mickey, "And I'd prefer Master over Rider. Rider is like… ehh…"
Rian looked at Mickey then looked back at his twin. He just saw his twin talking to him. He was seeing his twin talking to him.
"All right, what the heck going on here?" he barked.
He then looked up to the sky and shouted out to the darkness, "Is this another sick trick of yours, Xehanort? Cuz I'm not laughing!" he chuckled nervously, "I really am not!"
"Dude!" Thunder laughed, "Hate to break it to ya man, but I think you are laughing." He placed his hand on Rian's shoulder. Rian startled, jumped out of the way and summoned his Keyblade. Thunder quickly backed away, arms in the air. Mickey also startled.
"Whoa, hey! Take it easy!" Thunder said.
"Rian," Mickey said. "May I suggest you put your Keyblade away, so we can talk about this?"
"Only after I wake up from this freaky dream!" Rian said.
"It's not a dream, Rian." Mickey pointed out, "You're Thunder's Earth twin!"
Thunder then looked over Mickey questionably, "Wait, I thought it was my Earthy twin. Is there a difference?"
Rian fixed his narrowed eyes on Thunder as if giving him a thorough scan, "You sound… just like me." He said, "Only cockier than Thunder."
"That's because I'm Thunder." he replied, "Sheesh, can anyone gets me?"
"He's the Keyblade Rider of Lightning from the Land of Heroes. The place we are now." Mickey introduced him again, "And I'm lending him a hand on our secret mission against the Blackheart Dominion."
"Dude! Can we like talk about this, and not try to hurt each other?" Thunder said to Rian, still staring at the Keyblade Rian pointed at him, "I'd really appreciate it."
Rian hesitated for a second before looking back at King Mickey who smiled at him, reassuring him that it was okay to put down the weapon. Rian finally made his Keyblade vanish. "All right, but to tell you the truth, I'm still woozy about this whole thing with you and me, and this twin business."
"What if we tell you that this whole thing started with Sora?"
That caught Rian's attention, "Sora?" he said, "What does he have to do with this whole thing?"
"Not long ago, I wrote Sora a letter." Mickey began, "He and Riku were summoned to take on the Mark of Mastery to become Keyblade Masters. It was crucial for them to take on the challenge because of Master Xehanort's return. So the best friends came together and took on the trial."
"I'm aware of that story." Rian said.
"Then you are also aware that Sora's latest journey was one of the toughest journeys he has ever faced since he took on the Keyblade right?"
Rian nodded, "Yep. But with his friends by his side, he was successful."
"But there is more to the story." Thunder added.
That caught Rian's ears.
"Something grave happened after the final battle with Xehanort." Thunder said, "The old crone returned, bringing back enemies of the Keyblade: an army summoned by the darkness of the lost hearts from the Keyblade War. They could manipulate the power of the Keyblade with pure darkness. They were pure evil. They were called Chasers."
"Chasers?" Rian said.
"Chasers of Darkness." Thunder said, "Agents of Darkness, who chase after the darkness. Hence the name, Chasers."
"They are able to control the forbidden magic lying beyond the Keyblade." Mickey added, "They are also called Blackhearts, for their nature."
"The Blackheart Dominion…" Rian breathed the frightening words, already getting the picture.
"Dude, I just said that." Thunder said to Mickey.
Mickey ignored him, "Somehow Xehanort got an entire army of them. We soon found out how."
"How?"
"There is another Realm of Light..." Mickey began.
Rian's eyes widened, "ANOTHER Realm of Light?" he cut in.
"...which can be breached by the power of Time Magic." Mickey said, "The rarest magic of the universe. Our Realm of Light is apparently the nexus point that connects all the Realms of Light together. So there are many Realms of Light besides this one. Xehanort was able to access one of them."
"So what did you do?" asked Rian.
"Play his own game of course." Thunder said, "We requested the help of a great Time Wizard. We don't know his name and I don't care, so..."
"He don't care because the Time Wizard has told him-I'm sorry-warned him not to change the timeline." Mickey said laughing. Thunder rolled his eyes. "Anyway," Mickey went on, "We reached an ancient town called Daybreak Town in that other Realm of Light. Our travel brought us sheer good luck because we soon found out from the Master of Masters that the Realm of Light we were in, was the Realm of Light Without the Keyblade War."
"...the Realm of Light Without the Keyblade War?" Rian breathed.
"And the Master of Masters was well, the descendant of the original Master of Masters."
Rian blinked. "Am I being punk'd right now?" he looked around as if searching for a camera.
Mickey and Thunder laughed, but the King went on, "Thanks to the Master of Masters, and his Foretellers, we formed an army: an army of Keyblade warriors-or should I say, Keyblade Riders-were trained under that council guidance to pit against those of the darkness. Thirteen of them had powers beyond belief. Powers coming out of pure bravery."
"Pure Bravery…? Thirteen Riders… so that must mean…" Rian then glanced over at Thunder. Thunder waved a greeting as if in response to his unfinished question. "Hi, Johnny Thunder, at your service."
"Tandem, Aegis, Arctic, Kage, Naraku, Sharx, Cross, Flora, Soledad, Stone, Ciel, Blazen, and their fearless leader Thunder." Mickey said, "They all joined Sora and his friends' cause with the remaining army. These Thirteen had powers equal to the Chasers, and together they were able to defeat them and send Master Xehanort back where he belonged." Mickey explained.
"Sweet taste of victory that was." Thunder said.
"But… what about Sora?" Rian asked. "I keep hearing that he died. Did he?"
"Not that time." Thunder replied, "But…" he paused uncomfortably.
"…but the Dominion. They came back, did they? For revenge this time?"
"They were not easily defeated." Mickey said solemnly, "We celebrated too soon."
All three took a moment of silence.
Thunder grumbled, "Curse it! If we knew what we were up to? That we got a betrayer in the rank?"
"A betrayer?" Rian blinked, "Among the Keyblade Riders?"
"Ah, yes." Mickey said, "Rian. I must inform you right now, that Thunder's betrayer, will be the same betrayer you will encounter. By that I meant his Earthy twin."
"What are you talking about?" Rian asked.
"If I were you Rian," Thunder advised, "I would make him my enemy on the spot before he strikes. I'm sorry man, but that's my thought on what's gotta be done."
"Which betrayer?" Rian asked again, "Tell me!"
"The one who bought back the Blackheart Dominion, and erased everyone in the process, including Sora." Mickey said before he took another breath of silence and spoke, "Keyblade Rider of Wind Fire: Cross."
That name startled Rian, "Matt?!"
xXx
xXx
"I know you don't want to believe this, but if Cross was capable of doing this, then surely his twin of Earth might betray the team too." Mickey said to a flabbergasted Rian.
Rian shook his head, "No, no, no. I understand Cross doing that, but not Matt! Matt believes in his friends. He wouldn't dare join the Blackheart Dominion!"
"But he did." Thunder said.
"No, that's a lie!" Rian shouted, "No way man! I mean… I…" he sighed, not knowing what else to say.
"I still do not know why he did what he did." Mickey explained, "But once he joined the Dominion, the Dominion set out on destroying everyone, including Cross himself. The day came when Sora was gonna be crowned ruler of the Realm of Light. It was going to be an eventful ceremony, drawing crowds from near and far, when the Dominion came in uninvited, and by surprise, wiped out everyone from that room, including the Thirteen Keyblade Riders, Terra, Ven, Aqua, Kairi, Riku, and even Sora."
"We were gone man." Thunder said.
"But what happened after that?" Rian asked, "How did you come back?"
"It was Terra." Mickey disclosed, "He was the only survivor there."
"Terra?" Rian repeated.
"While he was still clinging to his wounds, he spied on the Dominion." Mickey explained, "They were planning to steal the Hearts of Pure Bravery and use its power to do what they had to do when Master Xehanort had first summoned them: to capture Kingdom Hearts."
"But they couldn't do that because they have erased us. So they had to look for an alternative." Thunder explained.
"That's where they heard about Planet Earth. A place full of diverse places, full of wonders and full of people…" Mickey didn't finish and Rian finished for him, "…who are perfect replica of those from the Realm of Light. Hence, the Earthy twins." He gasped, getting the full picture now.
Mickey and Thunder nodded.
"Terra came to me at Disney Castle and told me what happened at Sora's ceremony. So I had to leave." Mickey said, "I had to tell Terra to tell Donald and Goofy of their friend's loss when the time was right, because I couldn't bear telling them myself. So I left without leaving a note. I took off to find a way to bring everyone back from their erasure state. I managed to bring back Thunder. And once I did, we met you in the process. And here we are now."
"Wow." Rian only let out a faint whisper, "So, the game Kingdom Hearts III Online HD. It was made to train us into perfect versions of the Keyblade Riders the Dominion have accidentally erased, so that when the time comes, our heart will be just like the original Keybearers and perfect for stealing? So the game Kingdom Hearts III Online HD was a way to trap us into our doom?!"
"But it made you stronger now, right?" Thunder asked him, "All the battles, all the sidequests…?"
Rian couldn't deny his answer, "Oh, yeah. Of course! Totally! It's just that… I never actually realized that the game that I thought I was enjoying was actually a world I was enticed to by evil in their attempt to steal my heart and kill me! I mean, I kinda knew that ever since Terra told me, but…"
"But now you can use this game as a mean to save your world and the Realm of Light. And all beings threatened by darkness!" Mickey reminded Rian, "You and all your friends involved in can beat the Dominion at their own game! Without Xehanort by their side now, the battle shouldn't be as hard as the last, but the battle promises to be just as long."
Rian nodded, "Mmh- hmm." He appeared nervous. Like he wasn't ready for the big battle at all.
"And you can start by crossing Cross." Thunder advised.
"What?" Rian shook his head, "Uh-huh. No way, man."
"What do you mean, no way?" Thunder asked, and Rian quickly added, "I understand where you're coming from, but Matt is a cool friend of mine! He'll never cross us like that. Trust me… and I ain't gonna let anyone get him! Not Xehanort, not the Blackheart Dominion, and definitely not the Keyblade Riders."
xXx
Right in the middle of all the busy skyscrapers of Midlight City, there was this glass-made skyscraper, very high-tech and professional, that unfortunately no onlookers care about, paid attention to, or ever wondered what was inside that building. But that was all about to change in an instant, as a heavily-guarded black vehicle pulled out in front of the building and the SWAT Team army started pouring out of it, escorting the heroes into the building. The onlookers looked on, now curious and full of questions.
"Excuse me! Where are you taking us?!" Denzel asked, "You're not gonna put us in jail are you? Or in one of these locked-in ward places like some psycho kids, right? Cuz we really aren't those things!"
"Is this going to be televised?" JM nervously said, noticing the public eye on him.
"This is National Security." Agent Eagle replied, "We do not wish to alert the media at this moment. Even if it means getting more publicity from you, Mr. Elincio!"
"Why would I get more publicity when my cousin is missing?" JM complained.
Agent Eagle and her troops continued dragging the teens down the lobby when an officer called out, "Agent Eagle! We're missing a number!"
She stopped her paces, "What?" she glanced over him through eye corner.
The officer was ready to reply when he felt a slit on his throat and fell. Death-Scythe was behind him!
"What the—!" The appalled Eagle screamed in alert, "Enforcers! Get her! Bind her hands or kill her!"
The SWAT Team army all rushed out at Death-Scythe. Death-Scythe pulled out her Scythe Keyblade and wiped the team out with horizontal, diagonal sweep moves, and vertical slams attack. Once she finished she swung her blade upward to release a flashing arc. The arc zoomed right past the teens, freeing their binding hands.
"GO!" Death-Scythe yelled out and the teens spread apart.
"I SAID GET THEM!" Agent Eagle yelled out and more SWAT Team swarmed the massive lobby like it was a fire drill. They aimed their guns at the teens. Death-Scythe vanished before the SWAT team started firing. The lobby turned into a furious rain of bullets for the teens. They barely dodged every one of them.
"DUCK!"
"WHOA! HEY! NO!"
"WHAT'CH'ALL DOING MAN!"
"STOP!"
They were all screaming collectively, as they were looking for ways to hide. Sierra, Pierre, Taylor, Matt would protect themselves with their Reflect shield from all the bullets as they were running, but the bullets kept hammering on their shield to the point where they would shatter. Axel tried on his Super Armor, but it was depleting fast, Denzel would use his Reserve ability whenever he got struck by the bullets and Trayne would heal himself. But the time for their ability to recharge was slimmer by the second. The teens knew that this fight was an inevitable losing battle.
Axel quickly hid behind a pillar at a shaded area, transformed his Keyblade into his Dessert Eagle gun and he started firing at the SWAT Team, striking any soldier he could find, sending them flying. Matt stepped in the middle of the lobby and raised his hand up, casting Gust at a couple of soldiers, sending them flying helplessly as well before he followed it up with blast of fires, eradicating them. JM joined in and fired Blizzara attacks, freezing any SWAT soldier he could target. Denzel shot Firescatter at the enemy while Violet and Pierre joined Matt's Gust attacks with Aero attacks and Zero Gravira respectively. Sierra and Taylor sent their own attacks with Water and Fire, and Trayne tossed out a couple of Blizzard and Impact moves.
"IT'S NO USE!" Sierra yelled out, noticing the number was increasing, "THERE'S TOO MANY OF THEM!"
"I got it!" Pierre said before running to the middle of the warzone-like lobby and raised his Keyblade up shouting, "Zero!", casting out Zero Gravira.
A good number of SWAT officers got suspended into the air, unable to attack. Pierre turned to face his friends only to get greeted by Agent Eagle's Karate chop attack. Pierre fell out cold.
"Pierre!" Sierra yelled.
Eagle faced the teens and aimed her palm at them. A white flash took over the lobby and the teens froze in place, immobile. She then flew her hand down and the teens obeyed, falling on the ground, out cold.
"Drop your weapons!" Eagle called out to the SWAT officers who weren't affected by the Zero Gravira and they immediately obeyed. Eagle faced the teens again, with bitterness on her face, "You'll rue the day you've crossed the United States." She muttered.
xXx
Moments later, Axel woke up, realizing something's wrong. He didn't wake up on a soft bed, hearing the chirping of the early birds on a bright weekend morning. He woke up, tied up on a chair against his will… again!
But this time, he was on an executive chair, by a large rounded rectangular executive table where the rest of the Keybearers were, also in the same situation as he was. They were also waking up at the same moment.
"Uh… guys?" Axel wondered, looking around the fancy Board of Directors' bureau of ivory walls and with two US Flags gracing over a large widescreen window overlooking the entire Midlight City, "Why are we in an office? Bounded against our wills?"
"Maybe we're getting a promotion?" Denzel wondered.
"Or maybe we're getting fired." Pierre said, "But not before a good-old fashioned corporate torture."
"This isn't a joke you guys!" Taylor exclaimed, "It's the US Secret Service's doing! They did that to us!"
"I know!" Pierre burst out, almost in tears, "Can't you take a joke or pretend? I'm freaking out here!"
A loud boom from across the hall made the teens jump. The teens turned to face the door, where they heard the noise.
"What was that?" asked Trayne amongst the silence.
The Corridor of Darkness opened up behind the distracted teens and out, came a Blackheart.
"The beginning of your end." The Blackheart spoke, catching the teens' attentions. The teens couldn't believe who they saw standing there.
"Sora?!" Taylor gasped.
"No." Matt said quietly, "…Aros."
The Blackheart indeed did look like Sora, except his eyes were yellow and his hair were as black as the darkest of blacks.
"Seems we meet again…" Aros smiled, his eyes were on Matt. He then said in a ticked-off tone, "…friend."
All eyes turned to Matt as Aros started chuckling. Matt stared back at Aros; with anger in his eyes, and the expression that something big was going to be revealed.
xXx
Back at the Land of Heroes,
"I understand your trust in your friends. I too do feel the same way." Thunder said, "But—!"
"If you're going to continue arguing about this, Thunder," Rian warned, "May I remind you that it's gonna take a long time before we get into some sort of compromise."
Thunder smiled again, shaking his head, "Nah, I'm not into that subject anymore. I actually want to show you something."
Thunder approached Rian. Rian watched as his twin raised his hand into the air, wondering what kind of trick he was going to do. Suddenly, Thunder thrust his palm onto Rian's chest and a spectacular light show took over the teen. Rian screamed in pain as the light took over the Land of Heroes in a mighty blur.
The blur cleared up and Rian found himself on the ground, holding painfully onto his chest and letting out short breaths. Mickey who was nearby came running to see what was going on.
"There. It's done." Thunder declared.
Rian opened his shirt to see the Heart Symbol on his chest. He stared at it, shocked, then glared back at Thunder, "What did you DO to me?"
"I connected your heart to the D-Link Network." Thunder replied.
"What?!"
"D-Link Network." Mickey said, "Dimension-Link. It's a special kind of power anyone can use, when someone within that network can summon in their friends for help, from near and far."
Thunder helped Rian up to his feet, "You are exclusively in our D-Link Network, buddy." He said, "Should you need our help wherever you are, you can call on either me of King Mickey, from special charms inside your heart."
Rian blinked, looking freaked out, "Charms?" he stuttered. He couldn't possibly fathom the idea of having charms in his heart. "Okay, first of all, I have a charm inside my heart? My actual heart? And second—!" He then cringed, still feeling the burn on his chest. "…why didn't you warn me that it was going to hurt?"
" 'Cuz you wouldn't let me do it. Duh!" Thunder replied.
Rian hesitated, "Well… yeah… cuz I don't really like chest pains, y'know? Last time I had them, I thought I was gonna get erased."
Mickey then faced Thunder, looking puzzled, "I don't get it, Thunder. We planned that we'd travel with Rian to find the other Keyblade Riders. Why connecting him to the D-Link Network when he's not going anywhere?"
Thunder smiled again, "True that, King. He ain't going anywhere."
He turned around, pounded on his chest and a light show took over him again, and to Mickey and Rian's surprises, Thunder was back in his Keyblade Knight Form. Thunder summoned his Keyblade, opened a Keyhole Portal in the air, tossed his Keyblade into the air and it morphed into a Jet Motorbike, similar to Rian's Style Mode. He hopped on the Jet Motorbike and faced the puzzling duo.
"I am."
"WHAT?" Mickey and Rian exclaimed.
"Where?!" Rian asked.
Thunder was halfway toward the sky as he shouted, "To prevent your mistake!" at Rian.
"What mist—?" Rian cut himself off, suddenly getting the message. And he didn't like that, "Ohh, no! Oh, hell no! Thunder, don't! THUNDER!"
"Thunder!" Mickey shouted also. Both Rian and Mickey tried to catch up to Thunder but the Keyblade Rider was already gone into the sky.
"Your Majesty! We can't let him get away with this!" Rian told Mickey, "We need all 13 Keybearers together! If everyone finds out about Matt's secret—!"
"…it'll be over. I know." Mickey said with a defeated sigh, "But we can't."
"Your Majesty!"
"Rian, I understand your concern." Mickey said, "But we have to keep going. We gotta make sure that our secret mission stays intact. That the Blackhearts doesn't know the Keyblade Riders are alive. And to do that, we have to keep Thunder's existence a secret."
"But he's already gone." Rian said. Mickey continued to stare back at Rian, waiting for him to understand the plan. He suddenly lit up, "Wait a minute, that means Thunder is gonna be like me, and I'll be like Thunder?" he asked, and Mickey nodded, smiling, "I guess that's the plan."
Rian shook his head, "Oh boy… I don't know how we gonna pull this one off."
Yo, buddies! Thunder here, giving you an update of whatch'all gonna see next time on KHIIIOnline HD – Keyblade Riders special.
Mickey and I rescued my Earthy twin Rian, but yeah, like you saw it firsthand, I decided to go into his world, posing as him to clean up his mess. I can't have another betrayer ruin the Keyblade Riders again. But hey, don't worry 'bout me. I'll be fine. What you should be worried about is the Blackhearts finding out the secret switch and the fact that I'm still alive. But hey, I live for danger!
…and I'm gonna have to deal with Blackheart Aros too. Gosh, I feel like I've seen him before… he's definitely not Sora, that's for sure. But what's with these Black-hearted jerks and their business with the US Secret Service? And where is Terra, Donald, and Goofy?
Check it out, but till next time!
Next Chapter:: Keyblade Riders (pt.2)-