KINGDOM HEARTS DX
Chapter 2: Welcome to Traverse Town
Carmen was busily typing on her keyboard in an attempt to reconnect with terminal 124. The door to the room opened up, and Jacob and another man entered the room. The new man had long, midnight blue hair, a black suit, and sunglasses.
"Mr. Paragon!" Carmen exclaimed.
"What seems to be the problem?" Mr. Paragon asked calmly. "I was busy with some paperwork when Jacob knocked on my door."
"Pod 124 has become completely unresponsive," Carmen answered as she returned to her keyboard. "No matter what I try, I can't seem to reconnect to it. We don't know what has happened to the boy inside."
Mr. Paragon walked right over to the computer and examined the screen for pod 124.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Paragon said. "It seems fine to me."
Carmen and Jacob looked at the screen once again. The screen showed a new map with the yellow player-dot merely standing there.
"But…it…how?" Carmen stuttered.
"Unless we have an emergency, please do not disturb me," Mr. Paragon said. "I'm very busy. If you'll excuse me."
Mr. Paragon then left the room.
"It was unresponsive, right?" Carmen asked Jacob.
"I thought it was," Jacob answered.
The two of them continued to stare at the screen for pod 124. Meanwhile, inside the game, Akira slowly regained consciousness. He found himself lying in an alleyway.
"Ow," Akira groaned as he rubbed the back of his head. "What happened."
Akira then looked down and noticed his clothes. He was now wearing a red shirt with a large, yellow coat on top of it. He wore black pants and black tennis shoes. Next to him was something even stranger.
"A giant key?" Akira thought as he stared at this new object.
It was a sword-sized key with a square-shaped grip. The key had two teeth at the end of it. Staring at the key, he remembered the image on the glass where he battled the giant black creature.
"That boy was holding a key just like this one," he thought, examining the key. "There's no use worrying about it now. I'd better get out of this alley."
Akira began to make his way out of the alley and into the open. The moment he left the alley, the number of people in the area surprised him. He was in a strange city filled with hundreds of teens and kids. Some wielded different kinds of weapons, ranging from staffs to shields. There were also all kinds of shops scattered throughout the area.
"This is cool," Akira thought.
"There you are!" a familiar voice shouted.
Akira turned towards the direction the voice came from. Kimiko was standing there, far across the area. She ran up to Akira, who immediately got a good look at her. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail. It flowed back behind her. There was a black headband behind Kimiko's bangs. She wore a sleeveless, black martial-arts top with matching black pants. She wore a black boots, dark-grey socks, and black sandals. On her back was a large shuriken-star.
"You're late again!" Kimiko shouted. "It shouldn't have taken you this long to take out those weak Heartless."
"Heartless?" Akira asked.
"The black, bug-like monsters with yellow eyes," Kimiko answered. "The ones that could be taken out in only a few swings."
"What about the giant one?!" Akira exclaimed. "That one took forever to kill!"
"Giant one?" Kimiko asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"The giant monster that emerged from my shadow when I was walking towards the light!" Akira answered. "It's not easy to forget."
"There's nothing like that in the tutorial," Kimiko said. "Stop joking around."
"But I did…" Akira began.
"No time!" Kimiko exclaimed. "Let's hurry and get your supplies so we can start leveling up!"
Kimiko grabbed Akira's arm and dragged him into a nearby shop. After purchasing basic healing items, the two of them left the store.
"So where do we go to level up?" Akira asked.
"The Second District," Kimiko answered.
"Second what?" Akira asked.
"The area where we are now is the First District," Kimiko said. "There are a total of three districts. The second and third are filled with Heartless. Those two places are perfect for leveling up."
Before Akira could say anything, Kimiko dragged him up a few stairs and into another part of town. The moment they entered that area of town, Akira looked ahead and saw something strange. Several black blobs began to form on the ground. The blobs rose up and transformed into the creatures that he fought back in the earlier area.
"Shadows," Kimiko said. "They'll be easy to beat. CHARGE!!!"
Kimiko ran straight ahead. She kicked some Heartless away. She then sliced the remaining with her large shuriken. Akira watched in awe as Kimiko kept fighting on. He suddenly noticed a few of the Shadows appearing behind him. The creatures rose up from the black blobs and attacked him. Akira swung his large key and knocked a few of the monsters away.
The two of them continued fighting in this way for a while. As they fought the Heartless, Kimiko and Akira continued their conversation.
"So you wield a Keyblade, huh?" Kimiko said as she sliced several Heartless.
"Is that what this thing is?" Akira asked.
"Of course," Kimiko said. "It's a pretty good weapon. It's highly adaptable. By getting different key-chains, the weapon can change form and gain new abilities."
"Cool," Akira said.
The two kept knocking down the Heartless. Standing on top of a building were three players who were watching them. One was large and muscular, one was small and meek, and the third was an average-sized teen.
"They're pretty good, but not as good as you, Boss," the large one said.
"Yeah, Boss!" the small one said. "You could kick their butts in an instant."
The third man was silent for a moment.
"Maybe we should test them," he said eventually.
He held out his right arm, and a Keyblade appeared in his hand out of nowhere. Meanwhile, the Heartless stopped spawning, allowing Kimiko and Akira to get some rest.
"That was pretty good for your first time," Kimiko said.
"Thanks," Akira answered.
Suddenly, the three players that were standing on the roof jumped down in front of them. Akira got a good look at them. The small one was wearing a wizard outfit, including a large, pointy hat, and was wielding a staff. The larger one wore thick armor and wielded a shield. The third man wore a black shirt, black pants, white shoes, and a chain for a belt. The Keyblade he wielded was much unlike Akira's. It was blazing red and was shaped like a wave of fire.
"The name's Gofure," the third man said. "These two are Meek..." (He pointed at the small teen) "and Largo" (He pointed at the large one).
"What do you three want?" Kimiko asked.
"Just a friendly fight between Keyblade wielders," Gofure answered. "I want to see if you really are worthy of wielding the Keyblade."
"I thought we fought Heartless," Akira said to Kimiko.
"Players can challenge other players to battle," Kimiko replied. "It really keeps the game interesting."
"So do you accept my challenge, Keyblade wielder?" Gofure said.
"The name's Akira!" Akira shouted. "And I accept!"
"Then prepare for a duel like no other, Key-Keeper!" Gofure exclaimed as he got into a fighting stance. He pointed the tip of his Keyblade towards Akira, preparing to perform a thrust. Akira saw this and got into a fighting stance as well.
Before Akira knew it, Gofure thrust straight towards Akira. Akira barely managed to get his Keyblade up in time for a block. Akira then attempted to take advantage of this moment and strike Gofure. Gofure swiftly slipped out of the way as Akira swung down. Gofure then swung his weapon like a bat and hit Akira in the ribs. Akira was sent crashing into a wall.
"Ow…" Akira thought as he held his ribs. "I felt that. This game is more dangerous than I thought."
Gofure charged once again towards the downed Akira. Akira barely dodged this thrust. Gofure created a huge hole in the wall where Akira just was.
"That could've killed me!" Akira screamed.
"That's the point," Gofure said.
Gofure then quickly pulled out his Keyblade and thrust towards Akira once again. Akira parried this attack, but Gofure continued his assault with multiple swings and thrusts. Akira somehow managed to block every strike, but he was never given a chance to strike back. Gofure eventually burst through Akira's defense and struck him directly with a series of harsh blows. Akira fell to the ground.
"Akira!" Kimiko screamed.
Akira looked up and saw Gofure standing above him. Gofure looked disappointed.
"This fight is over," Gofure said. "You aren't worthy of the Keyblade. Come on, guys."
Meek and Largo followed Gofure as they left the Second District, heading for the third. Kimiko ran over to help Akira stand up.
"It's alright, Akira," Kimiko said. "Everyone loses once in a while. You did well for your first player-versus-player fight."
"I guess," Akira replied. "That guy was tough."
"Come on," Kimiko said. "I'm taking you back to the First District before anymore Heartless show up."
Kimiko and Akira left the Second District, heading back to the first.