Chapter 5: The Battle of Destiny Islands
It had been two years since that day. Two horrible and wonderful years. Horrible, because he was in uncharted territory with absolutely no way of getting home. Wonderful, because he had a bunch of friends and Destiny Islands was as close to paradise as he could find.
The years passed by slowly for Alex. He was able to stay in the house he lived in because Kairi was able to convince her dad, the mayor, to let him. Alex kept up the lie of not remembering where he came from and nobody asked any questions. In the first year, Alex had cried almost every night. Cried for his family, his home, Ashley, anything he could think of. Alex often wondered why Dark Alex sent him here. If he wanted Alex to suffer, he wasn't doing a very good job of placing him in bad surroundings. Destiny Islands had literally become Alex's second home. In the second year, Alex cried less and he began to accept the fact that he wasn't going home. He began to start living. He smiled a lot more, joked more, and worked more.
Alex trained with Sora and Riku. They would get up every morning and go to Zangan's house. Zangan was right in the fact of Alex being gifted in combat. He was able to start right in. They trained with weapons and without weapons. Alex was gifted with both. Zangan entrusted Alex with teaching Sora and Riku some karate moves. Sora and Riku were entrusted with teaching Alex swordplay. What surprised Alex the most was how much he enjoyed it. Every morning he got up, desperate to learn something new. He also loved the feel of combat. He felt truly alive. Sora and Riku loved it too. Whenever they trained, they always had smiles on their faces. In terms of the best in any kind of combat, Riku was the victor. Alex often called him a beast at swords. It was true. Riku was very good. Sora and Alex were about equal. Alex wasn't sure how Sora couldn't beat Riku. The two of them had started training at the same time. Sora just said that Riku had more of a killer instinct. Alex definitely believed that. Every time he would beat Alex or Sora, he just had this sneer on his face. It was one of the things that Alex didn't like about Riku. His attitude was a little snobbish. Sora never payed any attention to that. He looked up to Riku like a big brother. Alex didn't really share that opinion. Nevertheless, the three of them were great friends.
Kairi was another great thing in Alex's life. Every time he saw her, he couldn't help feeling good and a little loopy. She was very funny and a great friend. Although they tried not to show it, Alex knew that Sora and Riku felt the same way about Kairi. They would get the very same look on their face whenever she was around. Alex often thought about if Kairi liked him too, but one thought would always invade his mind. The fact that Kairi has been friends with Sora and Riku longer. Alex had eventually become friends with Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. They seemed to have one thing in common. They loved to annoy each other. This eventually struck up a friendship which Alex welcomed. Tidus and Wakka trained harder than ever with their weapons, waiting for the one day that they could defeat Alex Bane. Selphie didn't really care much about that. She was much more interested in kissing Alex. Alex would often hide from her in a playful way. He would always get found on purpose. Their relationship was strictly business. If either one of them was feeling down, they would "comfort" each other. All in all, Alex loved his life on Destiny Islands. He sometimes thought about Dark Alex, the creatures, and the prophecy in his dream. Alex would always brush the thoughts out of his head. The darkness had already come for him. It sent him here. Alex knew that it was over and done with. He was wrong.
Alex got out of bed. He put on his trademark outfit, like Riku and Sora. His sneakers, blue jeans that hung a little loose, white tee shirt, and a blue sweatshirt jacket that had two pockets near the waist. The weather on Destiny Islands was really weird. It was always sunny out, but people rarely sweat except if you were playing or training. Alex got his shoes on and walked out the door. It was about 8:30 in the morning. The sun was starting to come out over the mountains. Alex smiled at the sight. The sunrise was his incentive for getting out of bed. He walked over to Sora's house and Riku's house, waking them up along the way. The three of them marched to the beach to begin the morning workout. They each had their practice swords with them.
"Okay, let's get this party started," Alex said, enthusiastically. His response was grumbles from Riku and Sora, as if they couldn't believe he had the nerve to be happy in the morning.
"Hey it's not my fault you guys were up last night," Alex said. "Now come on."
The three began their usual routine of push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches until Zangan came along.
"Good morning Zangan," Alex said, which got him a whack on the back of the head.
"I mean Master Zangan," Alex corrected himself. He still hadn't gotten used to the whole "master" thing.
"Good morning boys," Zangan said. "It's a pleasure to see you up and training this morning. You know what today is boys."
Today was the day when Zangan would pit the boys against other combatants, picking out their strengths and weaknesses. Riku loved these days because he would always win. Alex and Sora loved these days because all of the kids on the island would come to watch these great matches. Kids on the island included girls, more importantly Kairi. The first match was Alex vs. Sora. This match was famous for never finishing. Neither Alex or Sora could best each other. It always ended in a draw. It was like a regular sparring match. If you whack someone, you get a point. First to get three points, wins. Alex looked around to see a crowd had already gathered.
"Let's give them a good show Alex," Sora said. Alex nodded. The two of them drew their wooden swords.
"Ready guys," Zangan said. "Three, two, one, fight!"
Sora started out the fight, lunging forward with his sword. Alex twisted to the right and dodged. He swung the sword at Sora. Sora blocked and swung the sword at Alex's side. Alex quickly brought the sword down to block. His sword came at Sora's head. Sora ducked out of the way, twisted his body, and blocked another blow. He tilted his sword, sliding Alex's off, and came at Alex with a spin. The audience heard the crack of Alex's block. Sora came in for a vertical strike. Alex brought his sword out of the block and whacked Sora's chest.
"First point goes to Alex," Zangan exclaimed. The audience whooped and hollered.
Sora, determined to match Alex's point, swung at his legs. Alex jumped up and brought his sword to Sora's head. Sora rolled out of the way, whacking Alex's leg along with his roll.
"Point to Sora," Zangan said. The crowd cheered.
Alex decided to mix the fight a little. Alex began to make short, quick jabs at Sora. Sora blocked all of them. He was used to Alex's fighting style. Alex tried one last jab. Sora tilted his head to dodge and started his own armada of jabs. Alex ducked and parried. His reflexes were working overtime. Sora shot forward with a slash. Alex quickly veered his body off to the side. He felt the strike almost hit him. He waited until Sora's back was to him and he whacked Sora in the back.
"Point to Alex," Zangan said. The crowd cheered for the great move by Alex.
Sora wasn't about to give in and rushed Alex with an upward slash. Alex blocked horizontally and tried to kick Sora with a front kick. Sora saw it coming and blocked the kick with his left hand and quickly brought his sword down. It whacked Alex's leg.
"Point to Sora," Zangan said. The crowd began to cheer for the final round was starting. They wanted to see if the tie would finally be broken. Alex and Sora wanted to find out the same thing.
Their swords cracked upon impact. They tried to look for an opening. Alex blocked a low jab from Sora. Sora blocked a side strike from Alex. Their swords came together again. This time Alex swung his foot out and tripped Sora. Sora fell to the ground and saw a sword coming at him. He quickly blocked. Sora kicked out with his foot. Alex backed up to avoid the kick. He saw Sora get up. Alex and Sora sprinted at each other. Both of them vertically striking. Suddenly, both of them changed their strikes to horizontal. Both of their blades hit the other's chest. They both groaned.
"Tie match," Zangan explained. The crowd cheered for such a great match and couldn't believe that it was still a tie.
"Someday we are going to break that tie," Sora assured Alex. He smiled in response.
"Great job to both of you," Zangan said. They both grinned.
The matches continued with other boys and girls fighting, desperate to prove who was the best. It was obvious who the best was though. Riku was pitted against Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie and beat them in a minute. The crowd was shocked. Alex was even flabbergasted. He reckoned he had beat those three in at least a minute and a half.
The mini tournament came to an end around 11:00. Everyone got ready to go to lunch. Alex, Sora, and Riku ate with Kairi. After lunch, the four of them got their boats ready to go to the smaller island. The island that Alex first appeared on was an island that was used for playing, relaxation, training, parties, almost anything. The four of them rowed to it. The trip took about ten minutes. Other kids followed them including Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie. As soon as they got there, everyone sprinted off to do individual things.
Alex saw Selphie walk up the pathway of the huge tree.
"Y'know Selphie looked kinda down," Alex explained. "I think I'll go comfort her. See ya guys later."
He walked up the pathway of the tree, smelling his breath, and entered the little hollow at the top.
Kairi looked at Riku and Sora.
"Do you think-," she began.
"No. Not in a million years," Sora and Riku said at the same time. Kairi shrugged and walked on the beach. Sora and Riku let out a quick sigh of relief. They knew Alex would give them the silent treatment if they told anybody.
"I think I'm gonna take a nap," Sora yawned. "That match with Alex wore me out."
"You guys have gotten a lot better," Riku replied truthfully. "I'm impressed you guys still can't break that tie."
"It's only a matter of time," Sora assured Riku.
"Whatever," Riku said. "I'm gonna go work on the raft."
The raft. Sora smiled at the mention of that. It had come up in a discussion about two months ago. The two of them had been wondering about where Alex might have come from. That thought eventually led to another and pretty soon they were talking about going to see new worlds. They proposed their idea to Kairi and she immediately said yes. It wasn't an unknown fact that Kairi didn't get along so well with her dad. It took a lot of arguing just to get Alex his house. Eventually, they told the idea to Alex. At first, Alex was shocked that they would ever want to leave this place. However, the more he thought about it, the more he believed that this could be his ticket to getting home. He loved Destiny Islands, but the thought of going home never left his mind. He decided to go with them. Seeing new worlds would be pretty cool too. About a week ago, they had started working on it. It was only a day away from completion. Sora smiled, layed his head on the ground, and went to sleep.
About an hour later, Alex came out of the tree and decided to help Kairi and Riku with the raft. He walked past Sora who was still sleeping and walked to the door at the end of the beach. Kairi was standing in front of it.
"Hey Alex," she greeted him. "Have you finally decided to help?
"Hey I've been helping," Alex protested.
"Sorry, but I don't think throwing coconuts at Sora counts as work," she referred to yesterday.
"Hey I was helping Sora out," Alex said.
"How?" Kairi asked.
"I was teaching him to be more aware that danger is everywhere," Alex said.
"You just made that off the top of your head didn't you," she said.
"Do I still have to work even if I'm truthful?" he asked.
"Yep," Kairi smiled.
"Fine," he gave in. "But if I have to work so does Sora. Let's go wake him up."
Kairi agreed and the two set off to do so. They found Sora still asleep. Alex wanted to wake him up by yelling in his ear, but Kairi convinced him not too. Alex was disappointed. Kairi stood straight over Sora. She whispered his name. Sora moved his head and began to wake up. Somehow, Alex didn't think it was because of the whisper. Sora looked at the ocean and leaned back just in time to see Kairi staring at him.
"HOLY CRAP!" he yelled in surprise. He turned his body and saw Kairi and Alex laughing.
"Give me a break Kairi," Sora pleaded.
"Too bad Sora you lazy bum," she said. "I figured I'd find you snoozing down here."
"Actually I told you," Alex said, but Kairi ignored him.
"No I wasn't snoozing," he said urgently. "This big black thing swallowed me up. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't- OW!
Kairi turned around to see Alex holding a coconut.
"What?" Alex asked innocently.
"Look are you still dreaming?" Kairi asked. "You were eating beef sandwiches again weren't you? You know they give you bad dreams.
"Hey it wasn't a dream okay," Kairi backed off. "It was just- hell I don't know. That place was really bizarre though."
Alex was sitting on the sidelines wondering what kind of dream it was and how the heck did Kairi know what beef sandwiches did to Sora.
"Sure it wasn't a dream," Alex said. "We believe you. You were either abducted by aliens or sleeping. I think I'll go with aliens. It sounds more interesting."
Kairi laughed and walked to the edge of the water.
"Say Kairi?" Sora asked. "What was your hometown like, you know, where you grew up?"
Alex realized that he had never asked Kairi about that. He knew she had moved here, but he never bothered to ask where she was from.
"I told you before Sora," she said. "I don't remember."
"Nothing at all?" Alex asked.
"Nope," she said. "Nothing at all."
"I'm starting to see a trend here," Sora stared at Alex.
"Well would you ever want to go back?" Alex asked.
"Not really," she said. " I mean I'm happy here."
This coming from the girl who's about to go on a raft with three boys on a trip to nowhere, Alex thought.
"But you know," she began. "I wouldn't mind going to see it."
"I'd really like to see it too," Sora said. "That along with any other worlds out there. I just want to see them all."
"Well what are we waiting for?" Alex said.
"Hey aren't you guys forgetting about me?" They turned around to see Riku with a log in his arm.
"So I guess I'm the only one MAN enough to work on the raft," he said.
"No," Sora said. "You're just the only one DUMB enough to work on the raft while we smart people don't do anything."
Riku responded by throwing the log on top of him.
"And you're just as lazy as they are," Riku pointed at Kairi.
"So you noticed," Kairi grinned mischieviously. "Okay then, we will finish it together. I'll race you."
The three of them had just either fought in a tournament, worked on a raft, or woke up from a nap, so all three guys' mumbled responses were along these lines:
"You gotta be kidding me"
"She's so bossy"
"The woman is on drugs"
They just sat there until they started to look at each other. They started smiling and before they knew it, all of them were racing down the beach. Alex in front, Riku and Sora tied, and Kairi bringing up the rear. All of them were laughing their heads off.
They reached the end of the beach, stopping to catch their breath.
"Okay let's do this thing!" Alex said. The other three nodded in agreement and set off to work on the raft.
Kairi told Sora to find supplies and Riku and Alex to build the rest of the raft with the supplies. She told Sora to get a move on.
"She's gonna make a great mom someday," Alex said to Riku. Riku cracked up.
"What's so funny?" Kairi asked.
"Nothing," both of them replied.
Sora eventually came back with two more logs, a cloth for a sail, and rope. The others asked what took him so long.
"I had to fight Tidus for the rope," Sora explained. "When I beat him he said he didn't want it anyway."
"So why the hell did he fight you?" Alex asked confused.
"I don't freakin know!" Sora yelled, obviously frustrated.
"Well anyway," Kairi said. "Riku, Alex, time to get to work."
"Yes your majesty," Alex replied.
The actual working part took about three hours. Alex and Riku roped the logs together to make the floor. They used the remaining logs and rope to create a mast. They tied the cloth on to make a sail. When it was all done, the four friends took a good look at the work they had done.
"Well before it looked like a piece of crap," Alex said. "Now it looks like a piece of crap that can actually float."
Kairi punched him on the arm. "Don't be so negative," she said.
"Wow," Sora said. "Kinda hard to believe we did all this. I mean, before it was easy to say that we would build a raft and go visit worlds, but now that it's finished all of this feels real. This is actually gonna happen."
Riku didn't say anything. He just stared at the raft. Alex recognized that look. It was the same look Riku had given him when he first got here.
"Hey guys the sunset is about to start," Alex said. "Wanna watch it?" The others agreed.
All of them journeyed to the circular plateau in the water and stood by or on the leaning tree. The sun was bright, but Alex started straight into it. This was truly living. Watching the sunset had become a tradition with the four of them. It was their way of saying goodbye to the day and hello to night at the same time. Riku was standing by leaning against the tree with his arms folded. Kairi was sitting on the tree, swaying her legs. Sora was lounging on it like it was a recliner. Alex was sitting right by Kairi. The three of them were silent for several minutes.
Finally, Sora said,"So Kairi's home is out there somewhere right?"
"It could be," Riku said. "We aren't gonna find out by staying here that's for sure."
"How far could a raft take us?" Alex asked.
"Who knows?" Riku said, not the response Alex was looking for. "If we have to, we can think of something else."
"Okay so let's suppose you do get to another world," Kairi said. "What would you do there?"
"Well, I haven't really thought about it," Riku said. "It's just that I've always wondered why we're here. On this particular island. I mean if there are other worlds out there, then why did we end up on this one? Does someone just choose where you go? And lets suppose that there are other worlds... then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?"
"I dunno," Sora answered, laying back even farther.
"Exactly," Riku proved his point. "And that is why we need to get out there and find out. Just sitting here isn't going to change a thing. It's just the same old stuff day after day. So let's go."
Alex disagreed with Riku. That "old stuff" that Riku talked about meant a lot to Alex. It had become part of his life.
"Wow," Kairi exclaimed. "You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"
"It's all thanks to you," Riku turned to face her. "If you hadn't come here, I probably would have never thought of any of this. Thank you Kairi."
"You're welcome," she said. The two of them stared at each other, smiling. Alex could tell that they were having a moment and he didn't like it one bit.
"Well," Alex said loudly. "I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm gonna call it a day."
Alex's voice popped Kairi and Riku out of their little spell.
"Yeah," Kairi agreed. "This has been a long day."
"What do you mean this has been a long day?" Sora protested. "You didn't even do anything."
Alex, behind Kairi, motioned with his hand to stop talking.
"Excuse me," Kairi said. "Without me, you guys wouldn't have had a clue what to do."
"Point taken," Sora said.
"Dude I told you," Alex said. "Never ever get into a fight with a woman. You will lose."
Sora just shook his head. Riku scoffed behind him. Kairi began to walk on the wooden bridge that would lead to the stairs to bring her down to the beach. Alex and Sora followed her. Riku stayed behind.
"Hey Alex!" Alex turned around to catch something in his hands. It was a yellow star-shaped fruit. A paopu fruit.
"You wanted one didn't you?" Riku asked.
"A paopu fruit," Alex said. "When did I say I ever wanted on of these?"
"The legend says that if two people share one, their destinies will becom intertwined," Riku explained. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what. C'mon I know you want to try it?"
"What the heck are you talking about?" Alex asked, puzzled.
Riku just laughed. Alex just assumed it was an inside joke. He threw the fruit aside and ran after Riku. The four friends got in their boats, sailed home, and got into bed, eagerly awaiting tomorrow.
The sun beamed on Disney Castle every morning which showed off its brilliance. It had multiple towers. Its main color was white. The top outline of the castle was blue. It seemed to be bending in some places. This castle definitely had a quirkiness about it. It was also home to King Mickey and Queen Minnie. This castle had gigantic hallways with cielings that would take two ladders to get to. Someone was walking down one of these hallways.
Donald Duck was eager to get his morning going by greeting his friend Mickey. He walked past the broomsticks that were walking back from cleaning the grand hall, which was where he was going. Donald was the court wizard of Disney Castle, trained by Merlin himself. Merlin often called him his best pupil. Donald never had to use his skills in combat because Disney Castle was the most peaceful place you could find. Even though he liked the peace, he was still eager for some action so he could prove that all his training had paid off.
He eventually reached his destination. A set of double doors that looked like they were built for a giant. Donald cleared his throat, knocked twice, and a smaller door which everyone used opened. That left Donald wondering why they even had the big doors. He entered the grand hall.
It was majestic. It was entirely white, with columns on either side stretching up to the ceiling. The only thing that wasn't white was the long red carpet that led up to the King's throne. Right behind the throne, to the left there was a statue of Donald in a wizard's outfit and to the right there was his other friend dressed like a knight.
"Good morning your majesty," Donald said, as he got closer to the throne.
"It sure is nice to see you this morn-WHAT?!" Donald quacked and his jaw dropped.
King Mickey wasn't sitting in the throne. He wasn't even in the throne. Donald looked around and called out Mickey's name. No one responded. Donald was starting to get a little nervous. The king was almost always in here. Something moved behind the throne. It was Pluto, the king's dog. He looked up at Donald as if he had done something wrong. Donald was paying attention to the envelope Pluto had in his mouth. The envelope was marked with the king's seal. One large circle with two smaller ones attached to it. Donald yanked the letter from Pluto's mouth and opened it. He read it once, twice, a third time and he was still having trouble believing it. He needed to tell someone. He ran out of the hall, quacking all the way.
He made his way out to the castle gardens. The gardens had multiple sculptures. There was a circular path around the whole thing. In the middle, was a sculpture of the castle itself. It had many different colors on it. Donald ran on this path and found what he was looking for. His other best friend, Goofy.
Goofy was captain of the Royal Guard at Disney Castle. Donald often wondered how he had gotten that position because Goofy was not the brightest tool in the shed. Nevertheless, Goofy took his job seriously and did it well. Like Donald, Goofy never had to put any combat skills into action. Unlike Donald, Goofy enjoyed the peace and didn't secretly yearn for danger.
Goofy, at this moment was performing his favorite activity: sleeping. Donald ran over to him and stopped to catch his breath.
"Wake up Goofy, wake up, this is serious," Donald said, but to no avail. Goofy only snored louder. Donald decided to take drastic measure.
"Take this you lummox!" Donald said. He raised his hand to the sky and a lightning bolt struck Goofy. Goofy was taken completely by surprise and yelped. When he finally returned to the ground, he rubbed his eyes and said like nothing happened,"Hey there Donald, good morning."
Donald cut to the chase. "We've got a problem Goofy," he said. "But don't tell anyone."
Goofy thought about this for a second. "Queen Minnie?"
"Not even the queen."
"Daisy?"
"Nooooo!" Donald screamed. "It's top secret."
"Aw good mornin' ladies," Goofy said, looking away from Donald.
"What?" Donald turned around nervously to see Queen Minnie and his lover, Daisy looking very cross with him. All Donald could do was laugh nervously and was prepared to get a tongue lashing from Daisy.
The next day, Alex got out of bed and immediately made his way to the smaller island. He knew the others would already be there. He made it in five minutes. He docked his boat and began to walk around. Selphie was sitting on the dock.
"Hey Alex," Selphie said. "Have you heard about the legendary power of the paopu fruit?"
Alex shook his head. He had a very bad idea where this was going.
"They say that is you share it with someone you really care for that it will bind you two together for eternity," Selphie explained and sighed. "It's so romantic. I just gotta try it sometime."
Alex noticed that she was staring at him. "Well good luck with that Selphie."
He immediately began to run away. If the others weren't on this part of the island, then they would be on the back part. They had shown Alex the back part after his first week. Alex walked to the end of the beach and went through the door at the end.
The back part started off as another rock platform that was held together by wood. Connected to it was another wooden bridge, only this one was prone to fall down more than the other one. Beneath it was the ocean. The walkway stretched out to a higher level of land. On it was a tower the kids had built. The tower was a lookout and a zipline. Alex had lots of fun with that. The zip line stopped at a smaller and shorter tower that was near a bunch of coconut trees. Behind it was a sandy ramp that led to the trees at the very back of the rock wall. In front of the coconut trees, was the raft and the ocean.
Alex shut the door behind him and immediately saw Riku and Sora arguing.
"Highwind!"
"Excalibur!"
"Highwind!"
"Excalibur!"
The two argued back and forth. Sora preaching Excalibur. Riku was for Highwind.
"Whoa guys calm down," Alex said. "What are you guys talking about?"
"The name of the raft," Riku explained.
"Oh I see," Alex realized. "And you guys are trying to decide this by screaming the name back and forth."
"You know he's right," Sora admitted. "How about-"
"The usual?"
"Let's do it!" Sora exclaimed.
"Are you guys at it again?" The boys turned to see Kairi standing on the walkway.
"Okay you guys know the rules." Kairi said.
"Okay if I win, I get to be captain," Sora said. "And if you win...
"I get to share the paopu with Kairi," Riku said. "Deal?"
His answer surprised Sora. He almost wanted to back out of the race, but he didn't. He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to win. He was going to beat Riku.
"On my count guys," Alex said. "Three, two, two and a half, one, GOPHER... just kidding, GO!"
Sora and Riku sprinted on the wooden bridge. Kairi cheering them on and Alex yelling,"Run Forrest Run!"
Sora and Riku were side by side. They zoomed on the bridge, jumping over a rotten plank. They got to land. Riku took the beach. Sora took the zip line. He knew he would lose precious seconds climbing it, but he would get it back. He worked his arms and legs to get to the top as quick as possible. Riku was running by the beach, pumping his arms and sprinting. He took a quick look back. He didn't see Sora. He smiled to himself and passed the coconut trees, thinking he had this race in the bag. He was taken by surprise when Sora fell out of the sky screaming right in front of him. Both of them stopped, surprised by what happened. They took a quick look at each other and started running again. They ran up the ramp and began to jump on the trees. Sora leaped, while timing the jumps in his head. Riku skipped over them. Both of them got to the last tree. Embedded into the rock was a very rare paopu tree. The tree was brown. At the top was a giant star. Sora and Riku leaped to the tree, touched the star, and started back again. This time Sora couldn't take the zip line. He just used the route Riku took. They ran past the raft, leaped over the land and made it to the wooden bridge. Sora used every ounce of strength that he had to make it. Suddenly, he was in front of Riku. He saw Kairi smiling and he knew he was going to win. That was when the floor dropped out from under him. He fell through the bridge and splashed into the water. He came out of the water spluttering, wondering what happened. He looked up to see Riku on the rocks.
"You forgot about the rotten plank," Riku said.
"Dammit," Sora cursed and climbed out of the water.
"All right we're naming the raft Highwind," Riku declared.
Sora stood gaping at Riku. Whatever happened to sharing the paopu with Kairi? He realized then that Riku had played with his emotions. He gave Sora incentive to race. He couldn't believe he had fallen for it.
"Dude don't worry about it," Alex said. "It's a dumb name anyway. What kind of name is Highwind? How about the Jolly Roger or the Black Pearl or Alex's Sea Cruiser of Love? Any of those would be better."
Sora laughed. "Alex's Sea Cruiser of Love?"
"That would be the name for it when you guys aren't on it," Alex smiled. "It'll just be me and the finest wenches in the land."
"All right guys," Kairi said. "Today is the day that we collect provisions for the trip."
"Everyone," Alex demanded. "Grab as much beer as you can carry.
Kairi punched Alex in the arm. "What he means is grab provisions that we NEED!"
"Great,"Alex complained. "So much for raft parties."
"Alex you are gonna look for a seagull egg, three mushrooms, two coconuts, three fish, and fill this cup up with drinking water...no, not from the ocean!"
"Darnit," Alex walked away from the water. "You think you could write all that down for me?"
He took it by her expression that she wouldn't.
"Bring everything back here when you're done, okay?" she said.
Alex mumbled what she took as a "yes". He decided that he would get the coconuts first. He walked over to the trees and started to kick them. He kicked for about two minutes when the coconuts fell. The good news was that he got the two coconuts, the bad news was that they fell on his head. Alex cursed loudly and brought them to Kairi who was waiting by the raft. He went off to get more things. He found a mushroom in a stone hollow and another one by the tower. He filled the cup with fresh water at a spring that emptied into the ocean. He went to the front of the island to get the other things. He had a heck of a time trying to catch the fish. He had to endure laughs from Tidus and Wakka, but they stopped when Alex threw the fish at them. The hardest was the seagull egg. Selphie knew where one was, but she wouldn't tell Alex. At least, not until he comforted her. He found out thirty minutes later that it was on top of a tree at the plateau. He made his way to it and started climbing trees. It took all of his strength to hold the seagull egg and himself from falling. He eventually made it down and gave it to Kairi.
"Only one more mushroom to go," she said.
Alex made his way back to the front of the island and asked if there were any mushrooms. No one knew. Not even Selphie.
"Well I don't know where any mushrooms are," Wakka said. "But me and Tidus are gonna do a little explorin' today."
"Where at?" Alex asked.
"You know, to the secret place at the base of the big tree," Wakka explained. "I figure there's gotta be something there, ya?"
"Ya," Alex replied and made his way to the secret place.
He had never gone in here. Riku had always said that nothing was in here. He was still curious. There could be mushrooms in there. Alex went to the crack in the rock and bent down so he could get in. The inside was dirt that had been hollowed out to make a path. He went in the only direction he could go, forward. He walked for a short while until he came to the place he was looking for. It was a small area, but still was intriguing. The walls were rocks that were held together by the tree's gigantic roots. Alex looked at the rocks. There were lots of drawings on them. Some were knights on horses. There were drawings of animals and imaginary creatures. They were everywhere. Alex assumed that the others must have drawn them. They sure had a wild imagination. But the most distinguishing feature about this place wasn't even the drawings. It was the door. Alex couldn't believe his eyes. A door was here at the bottom of the tree. The door was outlined in gold, but the rest was wooden. Alex walked over to it. There was no doorknob on it. Alex tried to open it, but nothing worked. He wondered what lie inside of the door. He remembered what he came here for. He looked to his right and on the ground was a mushroom. He kneeled down and picked it up. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a particular drawing right by the door. The drawing was of two faces. One was smiling and had spiky hair. The other was smiling and had short hair. Alex could immediately tell that it was Sora and Kairi. Sora was giving Kairi a paopu fruit. It looked like the paopu fruit had been drawn in recently. Alex guessed that Sora must have been in here. He realized that his friend was trying to tell Kairi something. He sighed and felt a presence behind him.
"Hey who's there?" Alex asked, a little scared.
Alex looked around and gasped. Standing in the shadows of the rocks was a figure. The figure was dressed in a brown, dirty coat that stretched to the floor. The figure had no face, the hood covered it all. It looked like his face was shadows itself. The figure spoke in a low, booming voice.
"I've come to see the door to this world."
"What?"
"This world has been connected."
"What are you talking about?"
"Tied to the darkness...soon to be completely eclipsed."
Alex started shaking. "Okay, whoever you are stop freaking me out like this. Wait, where did you come from?"
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."
"So you must be from another world, right?"
"There is so very much to learn...you understand so little."
Alex was starting to get annoyed. "Oh yeah, well you'll see. My friends and I are building a raft and we're gonna learn what's out there."
"A meaningless effort...one who knows nothing can understand nothing."
"Whatever," Alex said.
The figure motioned to the door. Alex looked at it. It was the same way it was a second ago. Alex looked back. The figure was gone. Alex looked around for him, but he was gone.
"How the heck did he get here?" Alex said to himself. "The door doesn't have a freakin' knob on it."
Alex didn't like what that guy said about this world being connected and that it was tied to the darkness. Alex thought back to that day his parents were killed. Was the darkness still coming after him? The man also mentioned a door.
"What is it with these mysterious people and their doors?" Alex thought to the voice in his dream all those years ago. "Someone needs to open this door already. It's getting on my nerves."
Alex decided to put this behind him and he walked out of the secret place. He journeyed back to the raft and found Kairi doing something.
"Hey Kairi," Alex smiled, trying to show that nothing was wrong. "Watcha doin'?"
Kairi looked up. "Oh nothing. Just making a necklace."
"What kind of necklace?"
"It's a necklace of thalassa shells."
Alex looked at the white shells that were attached to a thread.
"Does it stand for something?"
"Well, in the old days, sailors always wore these necklace to ensure a safe voyage."
Alex nodded. "Yeah I guess we could use all the help we can get. That dunderhead Riku is our captain after all."
Kairi giggled. "I think he'll do a great job."
"Yeah he probably will. But if he starts ordering me to do stuff, I swear to Blackbeard that I will equalize him when it comes to pirate talk."
"I imagine that you will," Kairi smiled and handed him the necklace.
"What's this for?" he asked.
"You seem more scared than I am. So you can have it."
"Please I'm not scared."
"Suuuuurrrrrre," Kairi said, grinning.
"Okay this has been a long day," Alex said. "Let's go home."
"Yeah," she agreed. "Riku and Sora already left. They said they had to get started on their packing."
Kairi started to walk to get her boat.
Why do they have to pack, they wear the same exact outfit all the time, Alex wondered.
He quickly followed Kairi. The sun had began to set into the ocean and the sky boasted its lovely colors. Alex stared at for a moment thinking that tomorrow he would leave it all behind. It made him a little sad. He followed Kairi to the dock on the beach. She was about to untie her boat, but decided to sit on the edge of the dock instead. Alex didn't know what she was doing, but decided to sit with her. They sat together for awhile.
"Y'know Riku has changed," Kairi finally said.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
"Well-hm," Kairi couldn't bring the words out. She struggled to think of the right way to explain it.
"I mean yeah he's kinda more philosophical then usual," Alex admitted. "He also kicks ass at fighting more then he did, but that's just age stuff. I don't think he's changed all that much."
"Yeah," she said. "You're probably right."
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Kairi didn't respond. Alex guessed that she wasn't.
Suddenly she said,"Alex let's take the raft and go. Y'know, just the two of us."
"What?!" Alex couldn't believe what she was saying. He also felt his face get a little hotter. He blamed it on the sun.
Kairi just laughed. "Just kidding."
"Jeez, what the heck has gotten into you?" Alex said. "If anyone has changed, I'd say it'd be you Kairi."
"Maybe I have," Kairi admitted.
"In a really good way though," Alex quickly added.
"Thanks Alex," she smiled and Alex's heart jumped. "You know I was a little afraid at first, but now I know I'm ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know that I can always come back here. Right?"
"Of course," Alex reassured her.
"Alex," Kairi slipped her hand into his. "Don't ever change, okay?"
Alex wasn't sure what was happening. Suddenly, he was worried if his palm was sweating. Alex looked into Kairi's eyes and he knew what was happening.
"I won't change," Alex managed to croak out. "You can count on that."
Kairi smiled at him and did something he didn't expect. She kissed him on the cheek.
"I just can't wait," she said. "Once we set sail, it'll be great." She got up, untied her boat and began the trip home.
Alex stood there for about a minute trying to remember what his name was. He finally snapped out of it and followed Kairi in his boat. He knew he was going to have a hard time getting to sleep tonight.
The letter read:
Dear Donald and Goofy,
Sorry to rush off without saying goodbye, but there's big trouble brewing.
Not sure why, but stars in the sky have been blinking out one by one.
That must mean that disaster can't be far behind.
I really hate to leave you all, but I've gotta check into it.
All I know is that there is someone with a "key", the key to our survival.
So I need you guys to find him and stick with him. Got it?
We need that key or we're doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon.
He'll point you in the right direction.
P.S.
Would you apologize to Minnie for me? Thanks pals.
"Oh dear what could this mean?!" Daisy shrieked.
Donald, Goofy, Queen Minnie, and Daisy had gathered in the castle library. On the walls were pictures of Mickey's ancestors.
"It means," Minnie said. "We'll just have to trust the king."
"Gawrsh," Goofy said. "I sure hope he's all right."
"Your Highness," Donald began. Minnie faced him. "Don't worry. We'll find the king and this key."
Minnie was almost brought to tears. "Thank you. Both of you."
Donald looked at his sweetheart. "Daisy can you take car of the-."
"Of course," Daisy responded, as if reading his thoughts. "You be careful now, both of you."
"Oh," Minnie remembered. "And to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you." She pointed to the table next to them.
Donald surveyed the table and blinked. He couldn't see anything.
"Over here," Donald saw a little figure jumping up and down on the table. It was a cricket that looked like it owned a night club.
"Cricket's the name," it said. "Jiminy Cricket at your service." Goofy couldn't believe his eyes.
"We hope for your safe return," Minnie said. "Please help the king."
Donald gave her a salute, which mentally told her that the job was considered done. Donald looked at Daisy and gave her a smile. She winked back. Donald looked over to see Goofy giving HIM a salute.
"You're coming too ya idiot," Donald grabbed Goofy and pulled him out of the library.
The duo made their way down to the garden and through the secret passageway in the sculpture of the castle. They began their trek down a long and winding staircase.
"Gawrsh Jiminy, your world disappeared too?!" Goofy asked. The cricket was on his head.
"It was terrible," Jiminy responded. "We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle."
"Goofy?" Donald said.
Goofy remembered. "Oh right I gotcha. You mean that while we're in other worlds we can't let on where we're from. We gotta protect the world border."
"You mean order," Donald corrected him.
"Oh right, world order," Goofy laughed.
Donald just sighed as said to himself, We're dead.
They reached the end of the staircase and walked down a long dark hallway.
"I guess we'll need new clothes when we get there, huh?" Goofy said. "You know, to help us blend in."
"A duck and a freakin' palooka," Donald said sarcastically. "Yeah we'll definitely fit in."
The three of them went through the door. Goofy and Donald knew what to expect, but Jiminy didn't and he gasped when he saw the amazing sight.
They were in some sort of hanger. He could tell that much. It looked like the inner workings of some clock. Giant mechanical gear inhabited the hanger. Jiminy looked up to see two, giant, gloved hands moving things around. Many sounds infested the hanger. Most of them were coming from smaller devices that Jiminy had never even seen before.
"What is this place?" he asked Donald.
"This is the Gummi Ship hanger," Donald responded.
"What is a Gummi Ship?" the cricket asked.
Donald pointed to the object in the middle of the room. The ship was yellow, red and orange. Its wings were white. The center of it was an orange square with a cockpit shone through glass. Attatched to it were two yellow cylinders that Jiminy guessed were the rocket boosters. Jutting out of the center was a rectangle on its edges. A pointed, red triangle was at the very tip. This was the Gummi Ship, used for intergalactic travel.
Donald and Goofy stepped down the stairs to a brick platform. Donald walked over to an intercom and spoke into it. It was a way to communicate with the mechanics.
"Hello up there, Donald Duck to launch crew," Donald said. "Anytime you're ready."
The message was relayed to the work station right above them. The mechanics that were up there were two little chipmunks. One of them was Chip, the other was Dale. Both of them looked alike.
"Dale they're ready," Chip explained. "Throw the switch."
Dale nodded and pulled a huge lever in front of him.
Goofy knew they had done something because gears started turning faster and steam began to come out of little spouts.
Chip and Dale looked out the workstation window to see what they did. The giant, gloved hands made their way over to Donald and Goofy. The hands opened up and grabbed both of them by their bottoms. Jiminy had to grab Goofy's leg just to hold on. The hands lowered all of them into the cockpit. The cockpit consisted of three chairs. Usually, it was Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. This time, their trio was down to two. In front of the chairs, there were two handles, curved at the bottom and connected to steer the ship. The buttons on this steering mechanism were for shooting lasers, missiles, and other things. The Gummi Ship was customized with gummis. Gummis were made from the material found from shooting stars. King Mickey had made the discovery after a long trip. They could be customized to fit and do anything.
Pluto jumped from the platform into the ship. He wanted to come to. The platform the ship was on began to rise and turn to a darkened runway that was only visible by the lights that were on it. Donald got into the front seat while Goofy, Jiminy, and Pluto got in the others. Donald looked out the window to see Daisy. He gave her a wink and started up the rocket boosters. Jiminy almost fell over from the rumble. Right when Donald knew it was ready he yelled,"Blast off."
Right in the runway appeared a red arrow pointing down. Donald knew what it meant when the ship began to fall. It fell down a duct that was just big enough for it to get through. Donald and Goofy were pinned to the top of the window, until the ship fell through all the way. The ship turned itself and Donald took control again. Everyone looked out their windows and saw space. It was blue, green, and purple all mixed into one moving, never ending curtain. Donald grabbed the steering wheel, pushed it forward, and the rockets blasted them away to an unknown planet. Donald and Goofy were just a regular wizard and knight looking for someone with a key. Little did they know that they would play a pinnacle role in the greatest battle the worlds had ever seen.
Night had fallen over Destiny Islands. The stars were out and it was a majestic blue. Sora looked up at these stars. He knew he was leaving tomorrow. He couldn't wait. Sora was a traveler at heart. He could never stay in one place at a time. Destiny Islands was his home, but he wanted to learn what was out there. He looked at his room. It was similar to Alex's. Small and messy. He looked up on his dresser to see a small model boat. In it were a boy and a girl. It reminded him of Kairi. He still remembered that day that he drew that paopu fruit into the drawing at the cave. He meant it too.
Sora turned around and saw something he didn't expect. A storm. The lightning began to crash over the smaller island. The sky was no longer blue, it was pure black. Sora might have thought this was strange, but his only thought was," Oh no, the raft!"
Ten minutes later Sora's mom called him down for dinner.
"Sora dinner's ready come on down," she said. "Sora?"
She came up to his room and opened the door. No one was there and the window was open.
Zangan had woken from his sleep for a cup of tea. He decided to drink it outside. He sat on his porch and drank. When he finished he was about to go inside. He saw the lightning. The sky was looking really weird too.
"This is strange," he said. "It usually never storms here."
He didn't want to get struck so he went inside again. He was about to go to bed when he heard something in his living room. A crash. He looked over to see a lamp had fallen.
"Who's there?" Zangan said.
He made his way over to his sword and picked it up.
"Whoever you are I must warn you that I am armed," he said.
He walked up and down the hallways of his house before finally entering the dojo. He heard the thunder outside and it shone light whenever it struck. Zangan held his sword in front of him. He heard something behind him. He turned, sword swinging. He hit something and it squealed. Zangan leaped in surprise. He didn't see what he hit. All he saw were two yellow eyes in the darkness. He stabbed the creature and went to his door. Two more attacked him, but he sliced them into pieces. He ran outside. The storm was growing worse.
"Zangan,Zangan," He turned around and saw Alex.
"Alex what is going on?" he asked.
"Those creatures won't leave me alone!" Alex screamed.
"Alex come inside," Zangan said. "I will protect you."
Alex nodded and followed Zangan inside.
"Are you all right?" Alex asked.
"Oh I'm fine," Zangan said. "What do you mean the creatures won't leave you alone?"
"I've seen them before," Alex squealed.
"You mean where you came from?"
"Yeah"
"Well don't worry," Zangan said. "These things won't hurt you. I'll make sure of that."
He turned around and saw more creatures. He raised his blade for battle.
Suddenly, he felt a slight pressure at his chest. He looked down to see what it was. It was a sword. A sword going through him! He started to feel faint. There was a lot of blood. He took a step forward and turned around to see what had hit him. All he saw was Alex.
"Wha-?!'
"Sorry about that Zangy," Alex said. "But you were right about one thing. Those things won't hurt me. I mean after all-"
He brought his face to Zangan's and smiled.
"I am one of them!" His eyes turned yellow and he smiled maniacally. He dragged Zangan to the ground and proceeded to feed on his prey.
The real Alex was asleep in his bed. He was woken by the thunder.
"Why does there have to be a storm tonight?" Alex complained.
He put his shoes on and went outside. He looked to the sky, expecting to see your average run-of-the-mill storm. That wasn't what he saw. The sky was pitch black. Alex recognized it from that night. He immediately began to shake. The mysterious man's words rang in his head.
"This world has been connected...Tied to the darkness."
"Dammit," Alex cursed. "Why didn't I pay more attention to that?"
The lightning cracked in the sky. The sky looked like an ocean wave. Alex couldn't believe what he saw next. Large, dark tendrils jumped out of the sky. The tendrils hovered for a moment and then they connected with the ground. One landed right by Alex. He went over to see what happened. A hole had formed. Alex hesitantly looked over. He was rewarded with a Shadow jumping at him. Alex screamed and dodged. He kicked the Shadow and started to run.
I need to warn everybody, he thought.
He began to scream at the top of his lungs, banging on people's doors. People came outside to see what was going on. They saw the sky and more tendrils. They saw the creatures pop out of the ground. All of Destiny Islands began to scream. People were running back and forth, trying to get away and find their loved ones. Alex fought through the crowd. He eventually found someone familiar.
"Tidus, have you seen Sora, Riku, or Kairi?"
"Oh I'm fine thanks for asking," he responded, but realized that it wasn't a good one. "Yeah, I saw Sora taking off to the island about ten minutes ago. I've been to Kairi and Riku's house, but they aren't there. My guess is that they're on the island too."
"Dammit," Alex cursed. "I'll go look for them. You and the others get to safety."
"Good luck man," Tidus said and ran off.
Tidus found Wakka and Selphie.
"What the hell is going on?" Selphie said.
"That's what it is Selphie," Wakka answered. "Hell. It's come for us."
"Don't be ridiculous," Tidus said. "This isn't hell."
"What is it then?" Wakka asked. "I'm waiting for an answer, ya?"
Tidus didn't have one. He heard someone call his name.
"Alex I thought you went to go get the other three," he said.
"I just wanted to make sure that you're all right." Alex responded.
"You came for me?!" Selphie squealed, but Alex didn't respond.
"Dude forget about those guys and come with us," Wakka said.
"I can't. I need to look for them. See ya later," Alex turned around, but someone stopped him. It was Selphie.
"Wait. This is something to remember me by," she pulled him closer and kissed him. The other guys couldn't believe she was doing this. Selphie pulled away.
"And this is something to remember me by," Alex said and thrust his arm straight through her. Selphie didn't have any time to scream.
"What the hell?!" Tidus screamed.
"This isn't real! This is just a dream!" Wakka yelled.
"You wish," Alex smiled and lept at his next victims.
Alex made his way to the beach, killing any Shadow that got in his way. He got his boat ready and cast off. He rowed with all his might. He took one last look at his home for two years. Tears streamed down his face. However, sadness was soon replaced with hate. Utter hate for the creatures that continued to ruin his life. He was going to save his friends no matter what. As he was getting close to the island, he saw something appear in the sky. It was a black-blue orb. The very middle of it seemed to be pink smoke. Lightning flashed around it. Alex didn't know what that was, but there was no way in hell that it could be good.
He leapt off his boat, not caring what happened to it and looked at the dock. Three boats were there. He recognized them as Sora's, Riku's, and Kairi's. At least he knew they were here. He leapt off the dock onto the beach. As soon as he touched the ground the Shadows came. Alex had no weapon to fight them with. He kicked ones on the ground and if they jumped he punched them.
"Alex! Alex!"
He turned to see Sora running towards him.
"Sora what the hell are you doing here?!"
"I came to check on the raft and the next thing I know I'm being attacked by creatures from my dream!"
Alex blinked. "Your dream?"
"Two days ago I tried to tell you guys, but you wouldn't listen to me," Sora explained.
"Oh my God!" Alex whispered. It had happened to Sora too. "Sora! What happened in that dream?"
"This voice told me to pick a weapon, I fought some of these creatures, and an even bigger one, and I was always on these stained-glass platforms."
Alex couldn't believe his ears.
"Finally the voice told me that I would be the one who would open the door," Sora finished.
"What is it with this gaddamn door?!" Alex yelled in frustration. "Oh crap!"
The Shadows were back. The two of them ran into the seaside shack.
"How do you know about the door?" Sora asked.
"Because I had a dream just like yours," Alex said.
"What does this all mean?"
"I have no idea," Alex said. "The only thing I do know is that those creatures take hearts."
"Crap!
The Shadows had entered the shack. The two boys ran up the stairs to the rock platform.
"Look!" Sora pointed. Alex could see Riku on the plateau.
"Let's go!" Alex said.
The two of them raced down the bridge, dodging Shadows along the way. They eventually got to Riku.
"Where's Kairi?! I thought she was with you!" Sora said.
"The door has opened," Riku said, mysteriously.
"That's it!" Alex screamed. "I've had enough with this door. What does it mean.?"
"The door has opened guys," Riku turned to face them. "Now we can go to the outside worlds."
"What are you talking about?" Alex asked.
"We gotta find Kairi," Sora said.
"Kairi's coming with us," Riku said.
Sora and Alex opened their eyes in surprise.
"You sure?" Alex said. "Cause I don't see her anywhere."
Riku didn't appear to have heard him. "Once we step though, we might not be able to come back," he explained. "We may never see our parents again, but there's no turning back. This may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us. I'm not afraid of the darkness!" He screamed at the orb in the sky.
Riku reached out his hand. "Come with me Sora."
"Riku?" Sora was unsure about what to do.
Suddenly, a dark circle appeared underneath Riku. Dark tentacles reached out and grabbed him. He still remained the same, with his arm outstretched. Sora stepped back, but a dark circle appeared under him too. Tentacles began to grab him. He stretched out his arm to grab Riku's. He tried with all his heart, but he couldn't reach.
"Sora! Don't!" Alex screamed which popped Sora out of his spell. Sora fell back out of the circle. Alex was blinded by a great light. When it was gone, Riku was gone.
Sora stood up to find that he was holding something. It was a giant key. Sora stared at it. The hilt was gold and the cylinder was silver. The teeth of the key were in the shape of an upside-down crown. They would definitely cut anything they hit. Attached to the hilt was a keychain. It was the same insignia from his dream.
Alex looked at this weapon. All thoughts had left him, until he realized that he was holding something too. He was holding the sword from his dream. Golden hilt, straight white blade, and the same insignia.
"What the hell just happened?" Alex said.
Sora just shook his head. He felt some kind of power growing within him. He felt stronger then he had ever been. This felt good!
"Sora behind you!"
Sora turned around to see a Shadow leaping up at him. On instinct, Sora sliced the creature with his key.
"Hey that can kill these things," Alex said. He turned around and sliced one behind him. "This sword can too."
"Let's go!" Both of them said at the same time and began a rampage against the Shadows.
They leaped from the bridge onto the middle of the beach and began to fight. It started to rain.
Alex went with the first Shadow he saw and slashed it. He dodged a claw strike and stabbed the next. One Shadow leaped in the air, but Alex cut it in half. He swung his body around, the momentum adding to the damage of his attack. He sliced three Shadows in one strike. He lunged forward and stabbed another. He kicked its body into another Shadow. He slashed diagonally to get the next Shadow. A Shadow leaped at him, but Alex ducked, pivoted, and sliced it in midair. He would never had been able to do these things if he hadn't had training. He stomped a Shadow with an axe kick. He swung the blade upward which caught two Shadows and did a spin cut which caught another two. One Shadow cut him on the arm and it was rewarded with a decapitation. Alex hit the head with the blunt part of his sword and knocked it into a group of Shadows.
Sora was getting used to his new weapon, which he dubbed the "Keyblade". He found that the keyblade was even easier to control then a regular sword. Sora swiped a Shadow from the ground. He hit another one with the hilt. He dodged the claws of a Shadow and sliced it in the back. Sora stabbed one and kicked another. He thrust upward to catch an airborne one and slammed the keyblade on another. He saw two Shadows leap in the air. He stuck the keyblade in the ground, used it for balance, leaped in the air, and hit both Shadows with a split kick. Sora didn't have time to be amazed. He blocked the claws of a Shadow and punched it. He felt one on his leg and hit it with a back kick. He lowered himself and twirled the keyblade over his head. The blade sliced six Shadows in a couple twirls. He saw another group of Shadows appearing right in front of him. He stuck the keyblade in the ground again, swung himself back, and slid himself into the group of Shadows. He twirled the keyblade to get all of them and finished off the last one with a powerful kick.
Alex and Sora backed up until their backs met.
"Duck!"
Alex ducked and Sora sliced a Shadow over his head.
"Jump!"
Sora jumped and Alex stabbed his sword between Sora's legs to get a Shadow that was underneath him.
"Duck!"
Alex felt Sora roll over him and hit two Shadows with a double kick.
"Jump!"
Sora leaped and saw Alex mow through a bunch of Shadows.
The two fought in a tag-team effort for five minutes straight. Eventually, they destroyed all the Shadows. They stood there breathing heavily. Adrenaline was streaming through their bodies.
"You got some nice moves with that key," Alex said.
"You're not so bad yourself with that sword," Sora said.
They both looked at the sky. The dark orb was still there.
"What is that thing doing?" Sora wondered.
"I have no idea," Alex said. He turned to the ocean. "Jeeeeeeesuuuuuussssss!"
Sora heard Alex scream and turned.
The ocean had turned entirely black. The blue was no longer there. The water began to sprout yellow eyes everywhere. They covered the entire ocean. It was an ocean of Shadows.
"We are so screwed," Alex said.
"C'mon," Sora said. "Let's go to the secret place."
Alex nodded and the two of them raced from the beach to the crack in the rock. Alex heard the millions of Shadows begin to come after them. How would they fight against something like that? They couldn't.
Sora and Alex ducked to enter and ran as fast as they could through the tunnel. They eventually made it to the cavern. What they saw made them stop.
"Kairi!" Alex yelled in surprise.
Kairi turned to them. Her face was completely pale. Her expression was absolute stone. She looked like she had trouble walking.
"Alex," she slurred the words out. She began to walk over to them slowly. She reached out her arm to garb them. Alex had a brief flashback to Riku.
Suddenly, the door at the end of the cavern opened up. Dark smoke poured out of it and wind began to push Alex and Sora. Alex looked up to see Kairi's body flying toward him. He stretched out his arms to catch her. Just as their bodies made contact, Kairi's body disappeared. Alex looked up in surprise. The wind overtook them and Alex and Sora went flying back out of the cavern.
Alex didn't know where he would land. He just hoped it didn't hurt. The wind turned his body around just in time for him to brace for impact. He fell on sand, so he figured he must be on the beach. What he saw corrected him. He was on a strip of land that was being dragged into the air by the dark orb. Scattered boat parts were on the sides. Vegetation was still in place. He looked down to see the dark ocean of Shadows beneath him. He looked over at the main island. It was in flames and completely overrun by the monsters. Alex gritted his teeth and screamed. He could barely hear himself over the roar of the wind. He felt Sora tap his shoulder. He looked at Sora, who was looking at something that wasn't him. Alex turned around and there standing right in front of them was the gigantic monster from both of their dreams. It looked exactly the same. Face surrounded by tendrils, giant claws, elongated heart in the middle. How did it get here? What was it doing? Why couldn't these things just leave him alone? Alex decided to stop questioning these things and deal with them. He suddenly blamed the monster for everything that was going wrong. That blame led to anger that Alex had never felt before. He looked at Sora. He nodded. The two boys pulled out their weapons, issuing a mental challenge to the monster. This was for Riku, for Kairi.
"Yippie ki yay!" Alex screamed and leaped at the monster, with Sora right behind him.
The monster immediately shot its fist out like lightning. The two boys dodged to both sides. The monster tried to crush Sora, but he rolled out of the way. Alex used the distraction to jump in the air and strike its hand. The monster turned to Alex and tried to slap him out of the way. Alex ducked the hand and cut its arm. Sora started to hack at its leg. The creature noticed this and kicked Sora. Sora almost fell off the edge, but the wind stopped him. Alex kept slashing away at the hand. The monster put his hand to the ground and swept up a wave of sand. The sand blasted Alex and he had to cover his face. He opened them just in time to see Sora pushing him out of the way of the monster's leg. Sora leaped at the monster's right hand and hit it three times in the air. The monster decided to change the game and thrust his hand into the ground. Alex knew what it was going to do.
Shadows began to pop out of the dark circle the monster was creating and attacked the two warriors. Alex used the wind to his advantage and just kicked the Shadows. They were nothing but little objects in a big storm. The wind sucked them up and dragged them to the orb. Sora slashed one, spun around to get another one, and finally stabbed the keyblade backward to his right to kill another Shadow. Alex took this opportunity to deliver some good hits to the hand. He killed any Shadows that were created near him. Alex tried to climb up on the hand, but the monster had learned its mistake. It brought its hand back up before Alex could even get on it. He cursed. This was going to be harder than he thought.
Sora tried a new tactic: climbing up its legs. Sora stabbed the keyblade into the monsters leg and used it to climb. The monster roared in pain. Sora had a tough time because of the wind. The monster eventually just kicked its leg out and Sora fell off. The wind carried Sora to a smaller strip of land that was above where Alex and the monster were. This strip of land was so small that it was actually moving in a circle around the big piece of land. Sora knew he could use this to his advantage. The monster began to kneel and Alex knew what came next. White beams started shooting out of the monster's heart shaped hole and this time they came even faster. Alex hid behind a tree to block the shots from hitting. He used the tree as cover and when he saw a beam he would get his sword ready and whack the beam away like a baseball. The beam directed itself back to the monster and it shot it in the head. The monster groaned.
Alex thought he was safe for awhile, until the monster whacked the tree away. The tree started flying in the wind. Alex dodged another fist and slashed it. The monster didn't seem to be affected by this. Alex thought he was done for. Sora saw that Alex was in trouble and made an insane decision. He called upon his new power. He saw the tree the monster had whacked out of its roots coming towards him. When the tree was close enough, Sora leaped from the land and landed on the tree. He stuck the keyblade into it so he wouldn't fall off. The tree made its way back to the monster. Sora got the keyblade out of the tree and jumped off. He landed on the monster's head and stabbed it. Alex looked up to see the monster roaring in pain. He smiled as Sora returned to the ground.
"How did you do that?" Alex yelled through the wind.
"I think the keyblade made me stronger," Sora yelled.
They didn't have any time to discuss because the monster wasn't done yet. The boys just narrowly dodged its foot from smashing them. The monster did something new. It slammed its whole arm into the ground. The boys didn't know what it was doing. The monster pulled something out of the ground. It was a dark orb. It was the mini version of the giant one sucking them up. The monster held it in its hand and the orb just exploded.
Suddenly, small, purple meteors began to rain down from the heavens and strike the floating landmasses. Alex and Sora ran from them and rolled to dodge. One exploded right next to Alex. Another exploded right behind Sora and knocked him off his feet.
"This is insane!" Alex yelled. He was so pumped with adrenaline that he jumped from one landmass to another. He yelled all the way. Sora rolled on the ground on instinct and unknowingly, dodged two meteors. He leaped back up jumped to the landmass opposite Alex. The monster noticed this and started to walk over to them. Alex ran to the very edge of his land. He dodged another meteor. The monster brought his fist down on Sora. Sora leaped over to Alex's land. The monster was slow to respond.
The monster made his way over to Alex's land. The boys quickly sprinted over to the monster's land, barely dodging the monster's fist crashing down on the land they had been on. Alex saw that the meteors had created cracks in the land. He immediately frowned. The cracks gave way and the land was ripped from under the two boys. They both screamed as they felt themselves being pulled to the orb.
Suddenly, something rammed into Sora and Alex and they thought they were back on land. They weren't. They were on the belly of the monster in the air! The monster tried to grab them, but Alex slashed at the hands. Sora drove the keyblade into the stomach of the beast. Alex felt something on his leg. He looked down to see a Shadow and more then one. Sora dodged the monster's hand and made his way to the head. Alex felt the wind pull him into the air and the Shadows along with it. Alex swung his sword like a maniac in the air, hitting the Shadows.
The wind started to tip the monster over and Sora found himself falling to the monster's feet. The direction he didn't want to go. He rammed the keyblade into the monster's flesh and dragged it down to its feet. The monster roared in agony. Sora just started slicing the feet. The monster grew tired and kicked its leg up into the air. Sora was thrown back into the air and whipped around like a rag doll. He caught a quick glimpse of Alex combating flying Shadows and felt gravity take over again. He fell back towards the monster. The monster was back on its belly and saw the boy coming. It thrust its hand into the air, hoping to punch the boy. Sora saw the punch coming. When it was about to hit him, Sora twisted his body, with the help of the wind, to the right. He dodged the fist. Sora whipped out the keyblade and stabbed it into the monster's arm. As he fell, the keyblade dragged in the monster's arm. Sora landed straight on the monster's face.
"Take this you freak!" Sora screamed and plunged the keyblade into the monster's eye. The monster roared over the wind and Alex had to shield his ears.
He was fighting airborne Shadows that had gone in the air with him. One landed on his face. Alex clawed at the Shadow and whacked it off. He slashed one that was right above him. Another cut him in the stomach and Alex punched it. His body was spinning in the air. He kicked off a Shadow and landed on a very small landmass. He grabbed it and used it like a boogie board. He slashed the Shadows that came near him and did his best to ride the wind. He could barely keep a good grip.
Sora rammed into Alex and both of them looked at the sky. The orb was right above them. The two boys screamed as they were thrust into the orb. Alex felt a great pulling sensation. He screamed, but he heard no sound. The pulling sensation grew greater and greater until Alex was completely knocked out. The orb disappeared and transported Alex and Sora to nowhere.
Dark Alex watched the entire show. He was impressed with Alex. He had obviously been training. He looked down at the body that lay before him. It was Kairi's body. He smiled.
"I think I'll send you to the right people," Dark Alex grinned.
He created a portal in front of him. Kairi's body flew through the portal and he closed it. Dark Alex looked at the sight all around him. The entire community of Destiny Islands had lost their hearts. There was nothing left, but empty houses. He had enjoyed this raid tremendously. All the dead bodies were just lying there. The rolling hills that were once grass were now bodies of people. Each one of them had expressions of horror on their face. Dark Alex had enjoyed every minute of killing them. These people just had a bad day.
"Alex, my dear old friend," Dark Alex whispered. "Your day is coming!"
Dark Alex laughed like a maniac and with a snap of his fingers disappeared, leaving an island of the dead that would stay silent forever.