Looming Darkness: Daybreak Chapter 15: Project Kronos, a kingdom hearts fanfic

Hi Everybody,

I don't have much to say since it's two in the morning where I live and I'm exhausted.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed last time!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Disney, Pixar, or a Ferrari.

Enjoy!

Chapter Fifteen: Project Kronos

Wednesday, June 2nd 4794 P.C.

Riku hummed softly to himself as he rolled a barrel labeled FUEL to the pile he had already made in the aircraft hangar. So far, Mr. Incredible's plan was going well. Riku had managed to break into Syndrome's base of operations without incident by wearing the uniform worn by one of the villain's lackeys. Riku glanced down at the uniform and grimaced. In his opinion, it was a fashion crime to wear a set of full-body gray spandex under a light gray vest. The black boots and gloves didn't look any better.

He let out a grunt of exertion as he hoisted the barrel of fuel up and onto the pile of twenty or so identical barrels. He removed the black visor and earpiece that covered the front half of his face and tossed it onto the pile. He ripped off the remainder of the stolen uniform and added it as well, mentally reminding himself to never wear something that hideous ever again.

Several hours earlier:

"I'm going to break into Syndrome's base and find out just what he's planning to do with the Omnidroid," Mr. Incredible said as he sketched an attack plan in the dirt. Riku stood behind him staring over the older man's shoulder. "I'll need you to create a distraction for me."

"Sounds good," Riku muttered. "Where do you think the best place to do that would be?"

"Anywhere with a lot of open space and easy access to the jungle," Mr. Incredible said. "That way, if things go wrong, you can make a quick escape." Riku nodded in agreement.

"Makes sense," he said as the Super got back to his feet. "Out of curiosity, why do you need my help?" Mr. Incredible froze up. "No offense, but judging from what Syndrome said you work alone. So, why do you need me?" Mr. Incredible turned to face him.

"To tell you the truth, kid, I would rather do this alone," he said, his mouth drawing into a thin line. "But Syndrome thinks I'm dead. So I need to make sure that the guards are all distracted by something or in this case, someone." Riku stared at him for a moment before nodding in understanding.

"Okay then," he said.

"No offense, it's just how I've always done things. You know?" The Super said. Riku couldn't help but remember how he used to rely on only himself. Even when he, Sora and Kairi were working on the raft. Even when he tried to save Kairi after the Islands were lost to Darkness.

"I know," Riku replied as he turned to leave. "I know all too well."

"Good luck, kid," Mr. Incredible said. Riku glanced back at him.

"You too, Mr. Incredible."

Finding the aircraft hangar had been easy. All Riku had had to do was follow a trio of one-man crafts, each outfitted with a pair of large rotor blades and a mounted machine-gun turret, back to the aircraft hangar, which provided plenty of open space as well as a fifty foot drop into the jungle below.

There were only a couple of guards in the hangar at the moment, both of whom had finally taken notice of Riku's presence. They shouted at him to put his hands in the air as they advanced on him, guns raised. Riku smirked. If Mr. Incredible wanted a distraction, he was going to get a damn good one. He complied with the guards' orders and raised his hands above his head as he backed away from the pile of fuel barrels.

"What do you think you're doing here, kid?" One of them demanded as he spun Riku around to face them. Riku grinned mischievously at him.

"This," he replied cheerfully. A brilliantly white light flared up from his finger tips. The guards stumbled back with cries of shock as they were blinded even through their visors. Riku spun back to face the barrels of fuel while the guards attempted to recover and line him up in the sights of their rifles. A small orb of Darkness formed in his palm. He wound his arm dramatically, and hurled the darkness towards the barrels of fuel.

"Okay, that's it!" One of the guards shouted as his vision cleared enough for him to see Riku's silhouette through the spots in his vision. Riku's grin became more pronounced as he waved at the guard and leapt behind one of the one-man crafts.

"Fire in the hole!" He shouted.

Mr. Incredible peered over the cliff's edge, watching as one of the orb shaped railcars approached along the cliff's edge below him. Silently, he pulled himself over the edge and leapt down towards the rail, grabbing onto a thick tree branch that jutted out from the cliff face to slow his descent before landing perfectly on top of the railcar. The two guards inside looked up at the massive dent in the railcar's roof in surprise before glancing at each other.

Mr. Incredible reached inside the rail-car's open side, grabbed one of the guards and hurled him out into the jungle below. The other guard scrambled to remove his gun from his holster, but to no avail. Mr. Incredible swung himself into the rail-car and with a powerful kick, knocked the other guard into the ocean. It was difficult squeezing his massive bulk into the small transport but he managed. He slammed the palm of his hand up against the dent he had made in the roof, effortlessly forcing the metal back into place.

The rail-car continued its near-silent movement across the island for several minutes before a large structure built into the side of the volcano came into view. Mr. Incredible stared out of the viewport at the golden glow from the many windows on the building before glancing further down the track he was on. Up ahead of him were a large gate and a pair of guards, both of whom seemed to be alert and ready to act at a moment's notice.

Mr. Incredible's mind raced as he tried to quickly come up with a way to get past the guards. Clearly Riku hadn't caused his distraction yet, or if he did, it wasn't big enough to draw all of the guards away from their posts. Then an idea came to him. He slid out of the rail-car and planted his feet on the ground on either side of the track. He took a deep breath and tore the transport off of the track, leaving only a small amount of metal and wiring still attached to the track.

The two guards watched as the tiny bit of metal slid to a halt a few feet in front of them before sharing a confused glance. They had been expecting the patrol unit to be returning from their circuit. A loud grunt echoed from somewhere in the darkness, beyond their view. Both guards raised their weapons and lowered them almost immediately. The patrol units' rail-car had arrived, and it was flying right at them from thirty feet in the air. The guards barely were able to make a sound before the rail-car knocked them both to the side and crushed the gate. Mr. Incredible ran as quickly as he could past the ruined gate and into the darkness of the jungle beyond.

After a few more minutes of running silently through the foliage that grew along the tracks, he found himself at the base of the structure he had seen from the tracks. The building itself was oval shaped. Several large doors were spaced out along the base with a pair of guards stationed at each. The second level appeared to be a walkway lined with a multitude of half-circle open air windows. A single guard paced back and forth in a routine fashion. Mr. Incredible frowned. So far, it didn't look like Riku still hadn't caused a distraction.

Guess that means I'm doing this the old fashioned way. He said to himself. He glanced around his feet, looking for something to throw and spotted a coconut-sized rock. He snatched it up and bounced it in his hand a couple of times to test its weight. Satisfied, he ducked out from his cover long enough to hurl the stone through the air and into the skull of the guard up on the second level. The guard collapsed and fell through one of the windows to the ground below with a loud crash. All of the guards within earshot rushed over to their fallen comrade.

Mr. Incredible smirked and ran from his hiding spot to the nearest door. He rapped his knuckles gently against the metallic surface in an attempt to figure out how thick the door was and how much force he might have to apply to open it. There was a moment of calm silence as he drew back his fist and prepared to force his way through. Three consecutive explosions tore through the quiet from somewhere in the distance. Copious amounts of jet black smoke rose into the sky from somewhere beyond the hills directly behind the building Mr. Incredible was breaking into, accompanied by a faint, reddish-orange glow.

"Explosions detected in Hangar Three. All available personnel please respond immediately," a calm, female voice said over a hidden PA system. Mr. Incredible smirked. Talk about a distraction. His eyes widened in surprise as the door he was leaning against rose upwards on hidden hinges. A pair of oval shaped hovercraft emerged from inside the building, each carrying fifteen or so armed men.

Mr. Incredible slid through the gap between the door and the ceiling, dropping down behind the two crafts and into a large, circular room lined with a multitude of tunnels just large enough for one of the rail-cars to fit through. He paused long enough to pick a tunnel at random and took off running down the long, unlit passage.

Good luck kid. Sorry for using you like this.

The Way to Dawn shone sinisterly as Riku struck down the first wave of guards to arrive. Riku let out a sigh. This was going to be easier than he expected. He grimaced around at the smashed and burning remains of the aircraft that had once filled the hangar.

"Maybe I overdid it with the explosions," he commented. Nonetheless, he had a strange feeling of pride swelling in his chest. Mr. Incredible had wanted a distraction, and judging by that PA announcement, he had received a damn good one. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of running feet and guards shouting to one another. Riku smirked and spun the Way to Dawn in a wide arc before falling into his signature fighting stance.

A dozen guards burst into the hangar, shouting angrily. Their eyes fixated themselves on the silver-haired teen standing amidst the flaming wreckage that filled the hangar. In unison they raised their guns and unleashed a barrage of bullets. A transparent barrier formed between Riku and the guards, harmlessly intercepting the projectiles. The guards all stared, open mouthed, in shock as the bullets clattered to the ground feet from their target.

"My turn," Riku said smugly. He seemed to vanish into midair, only to reappear behind the guards. The flat side of his Keyblade floored three of them with a single strike before any of them could react. Another guard spun, his fist lashing out towards the side of Riku's head.

The teen easily side-stepped the sloppy attack and swept the man's legs out from underneath him with a stroke of his blade. Two other guards were sent flying by orbs of orange light while the others were quickly felled by a few simple swings of the Way to Dawn.

"I'm guessing you guys weren't hired because you can hold your own in a fight," Riku commented as the last guard fell. He glanced around the hangar, looking for more guards to fight. "Is that it? No more guards?" As if on cue, all of the doors leading into the hangar burst open and nearly a hundred guards flooded the hangar. They quickly surrounded Riku, carefully aiming their weapons at his chest.

"Stop right there!" One of the guards shouted. "Or we'll shoot ourselves!" Riku raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm not really comfortable with how you said that," one of the other guards said. The first guard to speak looked up at him.

"You're the one who said we needed more humor in the workplace, chuckles."

"I agree, we do," the second guard said. "But if you think that was funny, you need to rediscover humor." Riku rolled his eyes impatiently and quickly began beating his way through the crowd of guards.

"Stop him!" One of the other guards shouted. Half a dozen guards raised their weapons. "But don't shoot! You might hit someone else!" Several of the guards hesitated before tossing their weapons aside and rushing at Riku with their fists raised. Riku sighed.

Morons. Riku closed his eyes and concentrated. He immediately felt his other senses heighten. He could hear each breath taken by the guards. He could feel the ground shake slightly with each footfall. A grin spread across his face. He could fight better this way.

He leapt up into the air as three guards collided beneath him. The edge of his Keyblade began to glow with a bright white light as Riku plummeted back to the ground. Riku twisted in midair, angling his body so that the tip of the Way to Dawn was pointing straight down towards the ground.

As the Way to Dawn struck the ground, a ring shaped burst of light radiated from Riku's body, bowling over around half of the guards who had moved closer in an attempt to overwhelm him. Riku smirked as he drew back his blade and threw it through the air towards a guard who was attempting to flee. The Way to Dawn struck the man square in the center of his back with a sickening crunch. The man collapsed onto his front with a cry of pain as the Keyblade continued to spin through the air, striking down several more guards before snapping back into Riku's hand.

It took him almost no time to completely decimate the rest of the guards that had gathered to stop him. He finally collapsed onto his, panting for breath. This day, and world for that matter, had taken a lot out of him. It felt like he had been fighting nonstop for several hours. He just wanted a few minutes to rest.

"There he is! Get him!" Another guard shouted in from somewhere nearby. Riku frowned. It didn't look like he'd be getting that rest anytime soon. He sat up and saw dozens of additional guards making their way into the hangar.

"Wow," he groaned. "They breed you morons like rabbits, don't they?" He really didn't feel up to fighting all of these guards and to make matters worse, his stomach was growling. That would seriously affect his ability to concentrate on fighting.

Great, I'm turning into Sora. He grumbled to himself as he got back to his feet. Only he would think about food when surrounded by enemies. He glanced around at the guards once again, weighing his odds.

"Ah, to hell with it," he said. He really didn't want to have to keep fighting. Besides, surely Mr. Incredible had made it in by now. "Exit stage left!" He rolled backwards, away from the approaching guards and towards the hangars edge. The guards halted in their advance and watched in stunned amazement as their target willingly ran to the end of the hangar and jumped down into the jungle below.

Riku's body went through the brief moment of gut-wrenching terror that usually came hand in hand with plummeting towards the hard earth with no parachute or means to slowing the fall. He watched as the tree tops drew nearer, carefully timing himself. Small lights began to glow at his finger tips.

He stretched out his arms and grabbed onto the first branch he passed. The lights on his finger tips quickly expanded, becoming tiny ropes of light that wound their way around the branch in a split second before becoming solid. Riku grimaced as he fall came to an instantaneous stop. The tree's trunk bent slightly from the force of stopping the teen and bounced back into place. Riku grinned, silently thanking whatever deity may be listening that his plan had worked before releasing is hold on the tree and dropping the remaining thirty or so feet to the jungle floor below. He glanced up at the smoke and flames still emerging from the aircraft hangar with a smirk.

Good luck Mr. Incredible. I hope that distraction was good enough for you.

Mr. Incredible peered carefully opened a pair of heavy stone doors and peered inside. He had a brief flash back to when he had had dinner in this same room after he had beaten the previous model of the Omnidroid. One wall was nothing but glass while the other was a large viewport staring straight into a 'waterfall' of magma. Two massive Easter Island heads decorated the room on either side of the viewport.

Positive that the coast was clear, he slid inside the room and carefully closed the door behind him. He stared at the flowing magma, recalling that there was a walkway concealed in the center of the viewport. He glanced around at his surroundings, trying to spot a switch or lever that would activate the mechanism that parted the molten rock and revealed the walkway. To his displeasure, there was no switch or lever anywhere nearby. He glanced over at one of the large, stone heads.

Okay then, time for Plan B. Mr. Incredible ran over to the stone head and with a muffled grunt, lifted it up and over his head, effectively providing himself with cover. He carried it over to the viewport and lined himself up with where he had seen the walkway before. He took several quick breaths to steady himself and charged at the flowing magma.

There was a loud click followed by a low his as the hidden mechanisms parted the magma, revealing the walkway. Through the dark glow of the passage, Mr. Incredible could see the faint outline of a person walking towards him. Panicking, he stumbled back and away from the walkway, quickly moving back to where the stone head used to rest and placing it back down.

A woman with platinum-blonde hair emerged from the walkway, perusing a stack of papers with a bored expression. Mr. Incredible slipped behind the stone head, effectively hiding the bulk of his upper body. The woman glanced around at the room before turning to leave. Mr. Incredible took his chance and darted into the narrow passage. He made it about halfway across the grooved metal walkway before the walls of magma on either side of him began to close in.

He leapt from the walkway into a darkened room a split second before the magma would've closed on him. A large metal door slammed shut behind him, sealing off the magma. He breathed a sigh of relief and glanced around, attempting to discern any shapes in the endless darkness. A series of lights flickered into existence, illuminating a pathway that led to a single desk and chair.

Cautiously, Mr. Incredible strode up to the desk and sat down. A keyboard and several unlabeled buttons and knobs covered the surface of the desk. He glanced down at the keyboard and pressed the space bar.

Several feet in front of him, a massive computer screen came to life, displaying a pale blue background with a white stripe running through the middle that displayed the text 'PASSWORD'.

Mr. Incredible's brow furrowed. What could the password possible be? In his mind's eye, he remembered coming across the bones of the former Super, Gazerbeam, and the word he had burnt into the cave walls with his laser vision sometime before his death. Mr. Incredible cracked his knuckles and quickly typed in 'KRONOS'.

The screen display shifted and a menu appeared displaying four options, 'ISLAND OPERATIONS' 'FINANCES' 'OMNIDROID METATRAINING' and 'SUPERS'. A grin broke across Mr. Incredible's face. He scrolled down the menu and selected the 'Supers' option.

The screen was split into two parts, one half labeled 'OPPONENT', the other half labeled 'PROTOTYPE'. Under the 'OPPONENT' side, a picture of a Super named Universal Man was displayed along with a description of his powers. Under the 'PROTOTYPE' side was a picture of the Omnidroid Version One. A red bar appeared across the picture of Universal Man, displaying the text 'TERMINATED'. Mr. Incredible's eyes widened in shock.

Three more pictures of Supers were displayed, one after another, all terminated by the Omnidroid Version One. When the photo of a Super named Macroburst appeared, the red bar and text appeared over the Omnidroid Version One's picture. The Version One was replaced by a picture of Version Two, which had apparently killed Macroburst and gone on to kill several more.

Mr. Incredible got to his feet, stunned. Every time a Super defeated an Omnidroid, the next version came back and killed even more supers. He recognized nearly all of these names. He had helped many of them out back in their prime. He was too stunned to speak.

A thought occurred to him. One that terrified him more than the idea that Syndrome was responsible for the deaths of so many supers. What if Syndrome knew about his wife? Mr. Incredible practically threw himself at the keyboard as he typed in the name 'Elastigirl'. A picture of his wife in her supersuit appeared along with a detailed description of her powers and a warning that she was a high threat. Her location flashed up as 'UNKNOWN'.

He collapsed back down into the chair with a sigh of relief. They didn't know where his wife was, so at least she was safe. Then another thought occurred to him. What about Lucius, his best friend and former Super? He leaned back over the keyboard and typed in the name 'Frozone'. His eyes widened in fear as Frozone's location appeared as 'KNOWN'.

Out of curiosity, he typed in his own name and saw a picture of himself from the old days and the highest threat rating out of all the Supers Syndrome had killed. A red bar flashed across his picture. 'TERMINATED'. Next to his picture was an image of the Omnidroid Version Nine.

Mr. Incredible's picture was replaced by one of the boy he had used to cause a distraction, Riku. The picture was one of the boy using a bizarrely shaped weapon as he slashed his way through the Ninth Version of the Omnidroid. Riku's threat level was equal to Mr. Incredible's. The red terminated bar appeared across the Omnidroid Version Nine's picture.

The screen changed again, displaying only the blue prints for the Omnidroid Version Ten, which was labeled as the final design, and the phrase 'PROJECT KRONOS'. Continuing to act on its own, the screen went on to display the different phases of Project Kronos.

Phase One depicted a diagram of the Omnidroid being loaded into a rocket. Phase Two displayed an animation of the rocket leaving Nomanisan Island and flying towards a city. Phase Three displayed computer animated footage of the Omnidroid destroying the city. The footage was replaced with a countdown timer. There were only eight hours, ten minutes and counting until launch. Mr. Incredible got to his feet. Even though he still felt stunned by everything he had just seen, he knew he had to stop Syndrome at all cost. He turned to run back down the walkway.

The 'I' logo on his chest began beeping and flashing. He paused and glanced down at it in confusion. The room was suddenly filled with a bright white light. Several rows of concealed cannons, opened up on the walls. Mr. Incredible stared around in shock.

"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder alert," a monotone female voice began repeating. One of the cannons shot at Mr. Incredible. A grey, metallic orb struck him in his shoulder and stuck in place. Confused, Mr. Incredible grabbed it with his hand and wrenched it off of his shoulder, only to find that it now was stuck to his hand. He could feel the weight of the orb growing heavier as the orb seemed to expand and grow.

What is this stuff?

The other cannons began firing as well, all of them shooting the same, strange substance. He ran as fast as he could towards the exit. The orbs fired by the cannons pelted him repeatedly, sticking to him and weighing him down as their weight began to increase. He was feet from the door when the weight became too much for him. The orbs that had struck him continued to expand and meld together. He struggled to break free but to no avail. He couldn't move. The last thing he saw as the strange substance covered his body from head to toe was the legs of the platinum-blonde haired woman as she strode into view.

Thursday, June 3rd 4794 P.C.

Radiant Garden

Monarchist Party Offices

Adrian Canstella slammed his head against his desk. For the past few months, ever since Radiant Garden had reestablished a government, he had been trying to get the Monarchist Party into power. To his immense displeasure, the Monarchists were often ignored whenever the senate gathered. Most of his time was spent researching birth records and family trees, trying to find someone in the city who was somehow related to the Crown. Even more irritating was that all records regarding the royal family came to a sudden stop several generations before their last king, Ansem the Wise had been born, resulting in several blank sections and numerous possibilities for potential heirs.

He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. If they could just find someone with the Crown's blood running through their veins, they would stand a chance in the elections coming up in November. The Monarchist party could have the power; all they needed was a lead and an heir young and naïve to the laws of Radiant Garden. He let out a groan. This was all so frustrating.

A faint knock came from his door. He sat up straighter and looked around. A young woman, dressed in the black and green uniform worn by the Radiant Garden Postal Service stood in the doorway. Her hat was pulled low, hiding her face from him.

"What is it?" Adrian asked. In response, the woman held up a small package.

"Delivery," she said simply. Adrian gestured for her to set it on his desk. She complied, setting the package down gently and produced a clipboard seemingly from nowhere. "Sign here, please." She circled a line at the bottom of the page on the clipboard. Adrian took the board and pen from her and quickly scrawled his signature. The woman took back the clipboard and backed out of the room with a tip of her hat.

Adrian snatched up his pocketknife from one of his many desk drawers and opened the package. A letter covered the other content inside the box. He pulled it out and quickly perused the message written to him. His jaw dropped and a grin broke out across his face. Maybe Destiny herself was finally looking out for him.

Outside, Keila shed the illusion she had wrapped around herself. A satisfied smirk playing across her face. Her Master's plans and Maleficent's plan were both starting to take root.

Nomanisan Island

Riku slammed the flat of his palm against a nearby tree trunk, gasping for breath. He spared the sky a quick glance, briefly enjoying the sunset. He let out a low groan. Ever since the night before, he had been running all over the island, spending the entire day avoiding guards that almost always seemed to know where he was and fighting off what seemed to be an endless amount of Heartless.

As if sensing his thoughts, a swarm of Neoshadows emerged from the ground and surrounded him. Darting back and forth as they prepared to attack. Riku wasn't keen on the idea of letting them have the first strike. The Way to Dawn appeared in his hand with a flash of light. Moving as quickly as his body was able, Riku sliced his way through the Heartless, leaving himself surrounded with a faint black mist in their wake.

He continued on, aimlessly running through the trees in an attempt to throw off any guards he knew would be in pursuit. He glanced up at the sun's position in the sky again. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he had helped Mr. Incredible break into Syndrome's island base and he had yet to hear from the Super at all. That left him feeling slightly worried. If he had to guess, he would say that the Super was captured. There had to be some way for him to get an answer. He paused for a moment, glancing around at his surroundings before spotting a set of tracks for the railcars.

Riku couldn't help but grin. What better way to get answers than to sneak back into your enemy's stronghold?

The platinum-blonde haired woman quickly pressed several buttons set into her desk as Syndrome strode into the holding room. The large, elliptically shaped containment unit split in two, both halves moving apart from one another to reveal the oval shaped center where Mr. Incredible was supported by zero-point energy, rendering his super-strength useless. His hands and feet connected to metal conductors, amplifying the binding effects.

"You sir, truly are 'Mr. Incredible'," Syndrome said as he neared the Super. From the tone of his voice, Syndrome sounded more impressed that the Mr. Incredible was still alive than anything else. "You know, I was right to idolize you. I always knew you were tough, but tricking the probe by hiding under the bones of another Super? Oh man! I'm still geeking out about it!" Mr. Incredible glared down at Syndrome from his 'cell'. Syndrome let out a sigh and his fanboy-ish demeanor fell away in an instant.

"And then you just had to go and ruin the ride," he said, his disappointment prominent in his tone. "I mean, Mr. Incredible calling for help? 'Help me, help me!'" He mocked in a high pitched voice. A look of confusion crossed Mr. Incredible's face. He didn't remember calling anyone for help.

"Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame! All right, who did you contact?" Syndrome demanded angrily. Mr. Incredible's confused look became more pronounced.

"Contact? What are you talking about?" He definitely didn't remember contacting anyone. Syndrome's expression made it clear that he didn't believe the Super. Syndrome snapped his finger and a guard turned a knob on a nearby control panel. Electricity coursed through the holding cell and into Mr. Incredible's body. The Super let out a drawn out groan of pain.

"I am referring to last night at twenty-three oh seven hours while you were snooping around," Syndrome said calmly. "You sent out a homing signal." His tone was accusatory; He clearly didn't plan on believing the super one bit.

"I didn't know about the homing device," Mr. Incredible panted as the electricity faded. Syndrome snapped his fingers again and the guard turned the knob up higher. An even more intense burst of electricity coursed through the Super's body. Mr. Incredible let out a cry of pain.

Riku grunted as he forced himself to slide through the ventilation shafts of Syndrome's base. Getting back inside had been easy, especially after he had discovered a maintenance tunnel that served as a decent back door in his opinion.

Why do they make these things so tight? Riku asked himself as he squeezed around a corner. Why can't they be big and spacious like the ones you see in movies? He squeezed around another corner and found himself staring at a slotted grate. He stifled a groan in case there were guards nearby. Another dead end. He was starting to regret crawling through the vents. He started to retrace his path backwards.

"Lame, lame, lame, lame, lame!" Riku froze as he heard Syndrome's angry voice. "All right, who did you contact?" Riku crawled as quickly as he could up to the grate and peered through. Several yards below him, he could see Syndrome yelling at a captured Mr. Incredible.

"Contact?" Mr. Incredible seemed confused. "What are you talking about?" Syndrome snapped his fingers and a nearby guard did something to a control panel hidden from Riku's view. A split second later, electricity coursed through the machine holding Mr. Incredible in place. Mr. Incredible let out a groan of pain.

"I am referring to last night at twenty-three oh seven hours while you were snooping around," Syndrome said, his voice taking on a calm and collected tone for a moment. "You sent out a homing signal."

"I didn't know about the homing device," Mr. Incredible panted. Syndrome snapped his fingers again and Mr. Incredible let out a howl of pain as a higher concentration of electricity, enough to make sparks dance across his skin, coursed through him. Riku began scanning the vent he was in, trying to find a way to bust out of it and come to the Super's rescue. To his dismay, the grate was welded to the vent and there were thick walls surrounding him on all other sides, forcing him to be a passive observer.

"And now a government plane is requesting permission to land here," Syndrome said angrily. "Who did you contact?"

"I didn't send for a plane," Mr. Incredible said weakly. Syndrome rolled his eyes.

"Play the transmission," He said to a woman with platinum-blonde hair. The woman complied, pressing a button on her keyboard. A recording of a woman's voice crackled to life over a hidden loudspeaker.

"India Golf niner-niner, checking in. VFR on top. Over." Mr. Incredible's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and fear.

"Helen," he whispered. Syndrome grinned.

"So you do know these people," he said. He chuckled. "Well then, I'll send them a little greeting." He flicked a small glass box off of a bright red button and pressed down on it gently. Riku and Mr. Incredible both gasped, simultaneously realizing what the button did. Syndrome's chuckle became more pronounced. Silent apprehension filled the room for a couple of minutes before the woman's voice from the recording spoke up on the radio, sounding panicked.

"India Golf niner-niner transmitting in the blind guard. Disengage. Repeat, disengage." There was the sound of her panicked breathing, barely audible over the sounds of the plane's engines roaring at what sounded to Riku like they were pushing their maximum ability. "Disengage. Repeat, disengage. Friendlies-" The rest of her words were drowned out by Mr. Incredible's desperate shouting.

"No! Call off the missiles. I'll do anything!" He pleaded. Syndrome turned to grin evilly at him.

"Too late," he said as his smile vanished. "Fifteen years too late."

"Friendlies at two-zero miles south-southwest of your position," the woman's voice was saying. Angels ten. Track east. Disengage!" Her tone was becoming increasingly desperate. "Disengage! Repeat, disengage! Mayday! Mayday! India Golf niner-niner is buddy-spiked. Abort. Abort! There are children aboard! Say again, there are children aboard!" The platinum-blonde woman's eyes widened in shock as she turned to stare, dumbfounded, at Mr. Incredible. Riku's mouth dropped in horror. Mr. Incredible's face blanched.

"NO!" He cried out, desperately struggling against his restraints.

"Abort, abort, abort!" The woman's voice was becoming hysterical. Mr. Incredible stared down at Syndrome in shock. "Abort, abort, abort!" There was a split second where an explosion could be heard, then static.

"We have a confirmed hit," the blonde woman said. Her voice shook as though it pained her to admit it. "Target was destroyed." Mr. Incredible's face fell, sadly. Riku stared on from his viewpoint, too shocked to move. Syndrome turned to face Mr. Incredible.

"Ah, you'll get over it," he said uncaring. "I seem to recall you prefer to 'work alone'." He began to laugh evilly. Mr. Incredible raised his head, his eyes filled with anger. His muscles rippled and bulged as Syndrome turned away from him. The blonde haired woman seemed to notice this as well. Mr. Incredible, living up to his name, lunged forward, determined to crush Syndrome in his powerful arms. The woman leapt in between the two men, shoving Syndrome to the ground and out of harm's way, only to be grabbed instead.

"Release me!" Mr. Incredible demanded. "Now!" Syndrome got to his feet and stared down his former idol coldly.

"Or what?" He challenged the Super.

"I'll crush her," Mr. Incredible growled. The woman stared up at Mr. Incredible with terrified eyes. Syndrome seemed taken slightly aback.

"That seems a little dark for you," he said as he shrugged. "Well, go ahead." A look of disbelief crossed the woman's face.

"It'll be easy," Mr. Incredible warned, his grip on the woman tightening slightly. "Like breaking a toothpick." Syndrome let out a short laugh.

"Show me," he said with a smirk. Mr. Incredible's glare intensified and for a brief moment, he started to tighten his grip. Then his face fell, defeated. He released his grip on the woman, who fell to the ground, gasping for the breath that had been squeezed out of her. Mr. Incredible hung his head shamefully. Riku let out a sigh. He hadn't even realized he had been holding his breath.

I knew you couldn't do it," Syndrome said, disappointed. "Even when you have nothing to lose. You're weak." He turned on his heel and began to make his way out of the room. "And I've outgrown you." The woman followed him hesitantly, pausing only long enough to glance back at Mr. Incredible as the Super's shoulders heaved with his sobs. Riku watched for a few moments longer before backing out of the dead end. Now that he had an idea on where Mr. Incredible was held, he could break him out.

He turned around at the nearest intersection of vents, intending to head deeper into the structure and find an exit from the vents. His path, however, was blocked by a single, dark blue Heartless. He could only see two things about the Heartless, it had three heads, and it was too big to fit in the ventilation system. A loud groaning of metal bending in ways it shouldn't echoed throughout the vents for a brief moment as Riku stared at the Heartless and six yellow eyes stared back. Then the vents collapsed.

Both Riku and the Heartless were sent sprawling out into a long, dull-gray colored hallway. A pair of guards who had been on patrol gave a start and took several steps back, lowering their weapons to aim at the Heartless. Riku quickly realized that they figured the Heartless was more of a threat. Riku looked back at the Heartless as it recovered and stood up.

It was bi-pedal, but had four arms and a pair of long tails, both ending in metallic looking spikes that were flicking themselves back and forth in wide, sweeping movements anticipating a fight. Two of the Heartless' heads turned to face the two guards while the third stared at Riku. Riku shivered. Each head was attached to a long neck that flexed back and forth, writhing like a nest of serpents. The Heartless Emblem was visible on the Heartless' back, just below where the three necks met the upper shoulders

The two guards let out cries of terror and began firing their weapons at the Heartless. The Heartless charged at the two men, briefly becoming a blur. The men's shots went wide as the Heartless struck. There was no physical impact. One moment the men were there. The next they had vanished into darkness, leaving only a pair of Soldier Heartless behind. The Soldiers summoned up a Dark Corridor and vanished. The three heads of the dark blue Heartless turned to face Riku, only to be met by the Way to Dawn's edge. Two of the heads twisted out of the way, the far left head however, wasn't as lucky. The Keyblade cut through the Heartless flesh as the head flew through the air. There was no blood, just a trail of misty Darkness as the head faded back into the Darkness that had given it form.

All four of the Heartless' arms lashed out and took hold of Riku. With a roar, the Heartless lifted him over its head and threw him down the length of the hall. Riku spun head over heels for a few minutes and managed to carefully place his feet beneath him in time for him to land up right. His muscles tensed and he sprang towards the Heartless. A large orb of swirling Light and Darkness, burst from the Way to Dawn's tip and hurtled into the Heartless, sending it flying through several walls. Riku continued to chase after it, leaping over the holes his attack had forced the Heartless to make in the walls.

The Heartless' tails lashed out from somewhere in the dust filling the last room and swept Riku's legs out from underneath him. Riku gave a grunt as he hit the ground and quickly rolled back up onto his feet. The two remaining heads lashed out at him, snapping their razor sharp teeth. Riku dodged the heads with absurd ease, twisting his way past the writhing necks to strike the Heartless in the center of its chest. The Heartless stumbled back from the force of the blow and crashed through a window, plummeting thirty feet to the ground below.

Riku ran up to the window and peered down at the Heartless as it got back to its feet. The Heartless stared up at him and let out a roar before creating a Dark Corridor and vanishing. Riku breathed a sigh of disappointment. He had been hoping to finish the fight. The Way to Dawn vanished into thin air as he turned to leave the room.

"This way!" A guard shouted from somewhere nearby. "The kid that set off those explosions in Hangar Three was spotted down here!" Riku let out a groan.

"Don't these guys ever give up?" He muttered to himself. He glanced around for a quick escape and realized his only option was the window. "And why is it I have to jump down from high places all the time in this world?" A trio of guards burst into the room behind him.

"Freeze!" One of them shouted. "Hands where I can see 'em!" Riku smirked at them and waved once to his would be captors before leaping backwards out of the window. Rather than plummeting to the ground again, Riku angled himself so that he was able to grab hold of one of the lowest tree branches on the nearest tree to the building, slowing his descent enough to allow himself to drop the last fifteen feet with no harm. He waved back up at the window where the guards were stunned by his acrobatics.

"See you guys later!" He shouted in a mocking tone before taking off at a run into the heart of the jungle. Humming tunelessly, Riku quickly traversed his way through the jungle with no particular path in mind. All he wanted to do was find a place to rest up where the guards wouldn't find him.

He lost track of how long he ran for, all that he knew was that it was very late at night by the time he found himself standing on one of the island's many beaches. It almost reminded him of home, except back home he didn't have an Island full of guards trying to catch him or kill him.

He allowed himself to collapse against one of the small boulders that dotted the beach. Staring out on the moonlit water, Riku couldn't help but remember the time he and Sora spent in the Realm of Darkness. It had only been a few weeks but already that seemed like ages ago. Riku closed his eyes and allowed himself to close his eyes in an attempt to sleep.

The sound of loud coughing and gasping for breath however ruined any chance he had at that. Opening his eyes, he glanced around at the beach and noticed three people emerging from the water. He wasn't sure if his tired eyes were playing tricks on him, but from this distance, Riku could've sworn that all three were wearing outfits identical to the one Mr. Incredible wore. Riku's eyes widened and his exhaustion seemed to melt away.

They must be from that plane Syndrome destroyed. He realized. They're survivors! He got to his feet and started jogging towards the trio, waving to them.

"Hey!" He called out, completely forgetting that he was on an island with people who wanted him dead in his excitement. "Are you guys okay?" The eldest of the three, a woman in her mid to late thirties by the look of her, quickly got to her feet and glared at Riku. "Are you guys the survivors of the plane crash?" The woman's fist shot out towards him. Like elastic, her arm stretched itself, quickly closing the distance between her and Riku. The Keyblade Wielder was too stunned to move as the woman's fist collided with the side of his head and knocked him into a state of unconsciousness.

Friday, June 4th 4794 P.C.

Nomanisan Island

One Hour until Dawn

Riku's eyes slowly opened. Instead of staring up at the night sky like he had been expecting to, he was staring at the stalactites of a cave ceiling, illuminate from the faint orange glow of a small fire somewhere nearby. He tried to sit up and found that his hands and feet had been bound with makeshift ropes crafted from the local fauna. He turned his head from side to side, looking for the source of the nearby fire. The three people he had seen emerge from the ocean were seated around the crackling flames.

His assumptions about their attire were correct. All three wore the exact same red and black outfit with the 'I' logo in the center of the chest that Mr. Incredible had been wearing. The woman who had knocked him out was staring at the other two with a serious expression.

"I think your father is in trouble," she said. Riku's eyes widened. This woman had been the pilot of the plane. Suddenly, everything made sense to Riku. Mr. Incredible's reactions when he heard the plane was destroyed, the matching outfits. It was a whole family of Supers.

"If you haven't noticed, Mom," said one of the others, "We're not doing so hot either." Riku glanced at her. She was in her early teens, definitely four years younger than him, if not more. The older woman stood up.

"I'm going to look for him," she announced as she turned to leave the cave. "And that means you are in charge until I get back, Violet."

"What?" The third person said incredulously. Riku's eyes traveled over to him. A blonde boy, probably no older than ten by Riku's guess.

"You heard her," the girl, Violet said smugly. Riku tilted his head to stare up at the woman.

"You're Helen, aren't you?" Riku said quietly. The three Supers all leapt back away from him in surprise. The woman glared down at him.

"How do you know?" She demanded, her hands balling into fists.

"Your husband," Riku replied. "Mr. Incredible." The family of Supers all exchanged glances. "He heard your plane get destroyed over the radio. He thinks you're all dead." The family exchanged sad looks with each other. Helen's face fell slightly before hardening back into a glare.

"How do I know you aren't one of the people causing trouble for my husband?" She demanded. Riku smirked.

"Because those guys want me dead," he said simply. "I kind of destroyed a robot prototype thing of theirs and blew up one of their aircraft hangars." He grinned sheepishly.

"Do you know where my husband is?" Helen asked, her tone a little more gentle than before. Riku nodded.

"They caught him. I don't know how they did, but now he's being held inside their base," he explained. "If you cut these ropes I can show you a quick way to get there." Helen considered this for a moment.

"Tell you what," she said. "I'll let you go after you show me the way." Riku nodded in understanding.

"Can you at least undo my legs so I can walk?" He asked. Helen grabbed a sharp looking rock from nearby and quickly sawed her way through the bindings. Riku stretched his legs and hopped up to his feet and made his way towards the cave entrance. Helen started to follow, and then paused. She reached into a small bag she had brought with her and produced three sets of black eye masks. She slid one on over her eyes and gave the other two to her kids.

"Put these on," she said. "Your identity is your most valuable possession. Protect it. And if anything goes wrong, use your powers."

"But you said never to use-" Violet began.

"I know what I said!" Helen snapped. She sighed and knelt down next to her children. Riku watched with mild interest from the cave exit. "Remember the bad guys on those shows you used to watch on Saturday mornings?" Both kids smiled reminiscently.

"Well, these guys are not like those guys," Helen continued. The kids' smiles vanished. "They won't exercise restraint because you're children. They will kill you if they get the chance." Both kids seemed surprised to hear that. Violet looked less than confident. "Do not give them that chance."

"Mom?" Violet began.

"Vi, I'm counting on you."

"There's something I-"

"I'm counting on you. Be strong," Helen interrupted again with a tone of finality. She turned to her son. "Dash, if anything goes wrong, I want you to run as fast as you can."

"As fast as I can?" Dash said excitedly.

"As fast as you can," Helen said with a smile. "Stay hidden. Keep each other safe. I'll be back by morning." She got back to her feet and walked over to Riku. "Okay, show me how I can get to my husband." Riku nodded and led the way out of the cave, feeling slightly uncomfortable at having his hands tied behind his back.

"Mom!" Violet called, following Riku and Helen out of the cave. The pair stopped and turned around to look at her. "Mom, what happened on the plane… I'm sorry. I wanted to help. I mean, when you asked me to… I'm sorry." Helen shushed her.

"It isn't your fault," she whispered to her daughter. "It wasn't fair for me to suddenly ask so much of you. But things are different now. And doubt is a luxury we can't afford anymore, sweetie." She cupped Violet's downtrodden face in one hand. "You have more power than you realize. Don't think. And don't worry. If the time comes, you'll know what to do. It's in your blood."

On that notes, she turned back to Riku and nodded. The pair of them headed off into the jungle. Violet stared after them for a moment before slipping on her mask.

Syndrome smiled softly to himself as he stared down from his vantage point in the control room that overlooked the gleaming, white rocket that would carry out phase two of project Kronos. His chest swelled with pride and gleeful anticipation. In less than five hours, he would finally be a hero in the public's eye. Everything he ever wanted was within his grasp.

"He's not weak, you know."

Syndrome tuned at the sound of Mirage's voice. His platinum-blonde assistant sat in front of one of the many work stations, her gaze fixated on the paperwork in her hands.

"What?" It had been a couple of hours since she had said anything and now she had confused him. Her pen paused in midsentence on the paper.

"Valuing life is not weakness," she said. Syndrome's shoulders sagged. Now he understood.

"Oh, hey, hey," he said in a reassuring tone, slowly walking towards the back of her chair. "Look, if you're talking about what happened in the containment unit, I had everything under control." He chuckled nervously.

"And disregarding it is not strength," Mirage continued coldly. Finally turning in her seat to look at him. Syndrome placed a hand on her shoulder. She huffed and turned to glare straight in front of her at a steel plated wall.

"Look, I called his bluff, sweetheart, that's all," Syndrome said, still attempting to reassure her. He placed his hand on her chin and gently turned her head towards his, bringing their lips close together. "I knew he wouldn't have it in him to actually-" Mirage pushed him away and rose to her feet.

"Next time you gamble, bet your own life!" She said, angrily shoving her paperwork into his hands before storming out of the room, leaving the confused looking villain staring after her.

Riku and Helen crept through the jungle as quietly as they could, occasionally ducking under the lower shrubbery to conceal themselves from a group of patrolling aircraft. Riku sighed. He had hoped he had taken out the only air-capable vehicles during his distraction.

"What are we looking for again?" Helen whispered as she and Riku weaved in between the trees. Riku glanced around at their surroundings, a grin breaking across his face.

"That," he replied quietly. He pointed a finger up in the air in front of them. Helen's eyes glanced in the direction Riku indicated and spotted a set of railcar tracks supported high above the trees.

"Oh," she said, as though it should've been obvious. "And these will lead me to my husband?" Riku nodded.

"They should take you to the base," he said, still staring up at the rail. "He's being held in some weird containment thing. It makes his strength useless. Once you get inside the base, all you really have to do is find the security center. Or a map. They might have one of those maps with the little red YOU ARE HERE arrows on it. That'd be unusually convenient." Helen ignored Riku's rambling and glanced around at their surroundings.

"What are those things?" She said, a hint of confusion in her voice. Riku looked at her like she was insane.

"Those are the pillars that support the rail," he said sarcastically. "Without them, the rail wouldn't be able to stay up in the air. Helen gave him a look that shut him up in an instant.

"I meant those," she said, gesturing with her thumb at the dozen or so pairs of glowing yellow eyes emerging from the darkness. Riku's sarcastic demeanor vanished, quickly replaced by his more serious side. The Way to Dawn appeared in a flash of light in his hand. Helen gave a start at the sudden burst of light. "And what's that thing in your hand?" She asked.

"It's called a Keyblade," Riku said, raising said weapon so it was level with his head as he fell into his signature fighting stance. "It's the only weapon that can truly defeat the Heartless."

"And what are the Heartless?" Helen asked, glaring at the yellow eyes gleaming menacingly in the darkness.

"Those things," Riku said. The Darkness surrounding the eyes became solid as a dozen Neoshadows emerged. "Leave this to me." In a matter of seconds, Riku had completely annihilated the group of Heartless. Helen had her eyebrows raised. Riku grinned as he shouldered the Way to Dawn.

"Nice work, kid," Helen said. Riku shrugged.

"It's what I do," he said smugly. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of an approaching railcar. "Your ride's here." Helen glanced up at the lights from the approaching railcar in the distance. She glanced back down at Riku and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for helping me," she said. "And for helping my husband. He usually doesn't ask for anyone's help." Riku smirked. He had gotten that feeling about when he had been around Mr. Incredible. "Since he trusted you enough to ask for your help, I'm going to do the same." Riku raised an eyebrow at her. "Keep an eye on my kids for me, will you? From a distance. I don't know if they'd trust you or not. But still, it'd make me feel better and after seeing you take down those Heartless things, I think can trust you with that." Riku nodded at her.

"You got it," Riku said. Helen gave him a rushed thanks as the railcar drew near. Her arms stretched high above her head as she grasped onto the railcar and vanished into the distance. Riku quickly made his way back through the jungle and perched himself on a rocky ledge above the cave entrance where the Incredible children were hiding. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he owed it to Helen to make sure her kids were safe. He reasoned that it was the guilt of Mr. Incredible getting captured and not being able to rescue him.

He held the Way to Dawn out in front of him, admiring the gleaming of the metal in the moonlight for a moment before leaning against a rock and readying himself to make true on his promise. He sat in silence for nearly an hour, boredom slowly sinking in.

His boredom was short lived however. A deep rumbling roar was forming from inside the cave beneath him. Riku got to his feet. He could here Dash's voice, calling out for his sister from somewhere inside.

"What did you do?" Violet's voice shouted. Riku peered over the edge as the two children came racing out of the cave and darted off to the side. A thick column of flame erupted out of the cave a split second after they made it to safety. Riku turned to look at the volcano at the island's center as a second roar reached his ears. A rocket burst into the sky from within the bowels of the dormant volcano. Riku glanced back down at the charred earth around the cave's entrance. The kids had been hiding out in a tunnel for redirecting the smoke and fire from the rocket away from the main facility.

From his hiding place, he watched as the two kids, both shaken from their near-death experience stared up at the departing rocket. After a few moments, Violet grabbed her brother's arm and led him to the cover provided by the jungle trees. It was obvious to Riku that neither of them was particularly keen on hiding out in the tunnel again. Silent as a cat stalking its prey, Riku slipped into the jungle after them.

Helen slowly lowered her upper body into the security center. There were only two guards on duty. One was dozing and the other was watching a basketball game on his computer. She glanced around at the displays for a few seconds before her eyes found one showing power levels throughout the complex. One room in the cell block area had a massive spike of energy being consumed as compared to the others.

"Bob," she whispered, realizing that's where Riku had seen her husband in captivity. He quickly raised herself back into the ventilation system as the guard watching basketball turned to the other.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything."

High in orbit, the engines from the rocket separated, causing the nose and middle sections to fall back into the atmosphere. As dawn broke across the face of Metropolis, the rest of the rocket fell apart behind the cover provided by the few clouds in the sky, revealing a concealed, jet-black plane carrying the Omnidroid Version Ten towards the unsuspecting city.

Dash gave a wide yawn and opened his eyes. He glanced down at the sleeping from of his sister, whom he had been using as a pillow. With a cry of disgust, he leapt back and away from her. Yawning once more, the boy took a moment to stare around at the forest, taking in its exotic beauty.

"Identification, please." Dash gave a start at the sound of a robotic voice behind him. He glanced around and spotted a bright blue parrot watching him. A grin broke across his face and he ran over to his sister to shake her awake.

"Hey!" He said, roughly shaking the sleeping teen. "Hey, Violet! Come here, look! It talks!" Violet let out a groan and groggily sat up. In a tree high above, Riku peered down at the pair from over the edge of the thick branch he was using as a resting place.

"Voice key incorrect," the parrot said. Riku's brow furrowed in suspicion.

'Voice key'?

"'Voice key'?" Violet asked as she got to her feet, staring nervously at the bird.

"Voice key incorrect," the parrot repeated.

"Wait a second," Violet said. Her eyes narrowing as realization dawned on her. Riku leapt down from his perch as the parrot's eyes began glowing red and it started blaring an obnoxiously loud alarm. The two Super kids covered their ears.

"What do we do?" Dash asked. Riku landed next to them, causing them both to leap back in shock.

"Run!" Riku shouted at them. The Way to Dawn appearing in his hand. "We're about to have company!" In their haste to leave, both kids didn't bother to ask Riku about the magically appearing blade in his hand.

From a hidden hangar somewhere nearby, several circular shaped hovercrafts, each encircled by a razor sharp blade that spun around at a high velocity flew out into the jungle in search of the Super children and the Keyblade Master.

The door to the containment unit restraining Mr. Incredible opened. The Super barely moved, his head hanging low. Mirage stared in at him sadly for a moment before striding over to the guard station and pressing the release button. As the zero-point energy fields suspending deactivated, Mr. Incredible collapsed to his hands and knees. Mirage rushed to his side to help him up.

"There isn't much time," she said quickly, kneeling next to the Super. Mr. Incredible's hand lashed out and grabbed her by the throat.

"No," he said darkly, "there isn't. In fact, there's no time at all." Mirage struggled desperately against the Super's grip.

"Please…" she said breathlessly as she attempted to pry his fingers from her throat.

"Why are you here?" Mr. Incredible growled. "How can you possible bring me lower? What more can you take away from me?"

"Family… Survived the crash," Mirage gagged desperately. "They're here on the island!"

"They're alive?" Mr. Incredible said, his face lifting joyfully. He released the woman, and she collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. Mr. Incredible lifted her back up and pulled her into a grateful hug. Mirage almost hugged him back until she heard footsteps at the door. She looked around to see who the newcomer was and her eyes widened in a mixture of shock and fear. Mr. Incredible looked around to see his wife, dressed in the same style of super suit he was wearing, glaring at him and Mirage. He quickly released said woman from his embrace.

"Helen?" He said in an attempt to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Hello," Mirage said, taking a few steps towards Helen and extending her hand. "You must be Mrs. Incredib-" she was cut off as Helen's fist struck her across the jaw. Mr. Incredible's hand grabbed his wife's stretched wrist.

"She was helping me to escape," he explained in mild disbelief.

"No," Helen said angrily as she tried to pull her hand back to her. "That's what I was doing." Using her arm as a rope, Mr. Incredible pulled his wife over to him. "Let go of me! Let go, you lousy, lying, unfaithful creep!" Her words were cut off as Mr. Incredible crushed his lips to hers. For a brief moment, she practically melted into the kiss before regaining her composure and pulling away.

"How could I betray the perfect woman?" Mr. Incredible said softly, staring at his wife lovingly.

"Oh, you're referring to me now?" Helen said, still slightly breathless from the kiss.

"Where are the kids?" Mr. Incredible asked, noticing that his son and daughter were nowhere to be seen.

"I left them with that silver-haired kid who helped you break in here," Helen said. "I'm sure they're fine."

"They might have triggered the alert," Mirage said, gently massaging her jaw. "Security's been sent into the jungle. You better get going."

"Now our kids are in danger?" Helen asked angrily to no one in particular as she and her husband took off running from the room.

"If you suspected danger, why'd you bring them?" Mr. Incredible asked.

"I didn't bring them, they stowed away," Helen said. "And I don't think you're striking the proper tone here!"

Violet and Dash screeched to a halt in a jungle clearing as three of the hovercraft cut them off, their pilots leaping down to the ground and aiming their rifles behind them. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of gunfire and metal striking metal as Riku attempted to fend off the guards.

"Think they're Supers?" One guard asked the other two.

"Dash, remember what Mom said," Violet whispered through her teeth to her brother as they stared wide eyed at the guards and their guns.

"What?" Dash whispered back.

"Stop talking!" One of the other two guards said. Violet vanished into thin air. "What the-?"

"Dash, run!" Violet said from somewhere nearby, her entire body rendered invisible by her power.

"Oh yeah!" Dash became a blur as he took off running as fast as he could into the jungle.

"They're Supers!" The third guard shouted. He turned to the other two. "Get the boy!" The other two guards climbed back into their hovercrafts and took off after Dash, their blades easily slicing through trees and foliage. The remaining guard turned back around and raised his gun, looking for Violet.

"Show yourself!"

Riku brushed the dust off of his clothes as he walked away from the burning wreckage of the trio of hovercrafts that had tried to subdue him, whistling softly to himself. Way off in the distance, he could hear the sounds of gunfire growing steadily fainter. A faint thump echoed through the trees as an explosion went off. Riku grinned. He could only assume that the kids were putting up a fight. A pair of additional hovercraft emerged from the trees and into view on either side of Riku.

"You guys just don't give up, do you?" Riku said exasperatedly as the pair of hovercraft began to circle him.

"Put down your weapon and place your hands where we can see them!" One of the guards shouted at him. Riku sighed.

"So does that mean you guys are going force me to do this the hard way?" He asked smugly. "Alright then." A bright light formed along the Way to Dawn's edge. The two guards gave cries of shock. Riku vanished in a blur and almost instantly reappeared on the back of one of the hovercraft. The guard spun around as he felt the balance in his craft shift. Riku smirked and plunged the magic enhanced blade into the fuel chamber before leaping back as the craft exploded violently. The spinning blade snapped in half from the force of the explosion and went sailing into the other hovercraft. The guard barely had time to scream before he lost control of the craft and crashed into at thick tree, causing the hovercraft to explode. Riku winced slightly. He hadn't been expecting that. He kind of felt bad for the guards, until he remembered that they were trying to kill him. He turned on his heel and sprinted off in the direction he had seen Violet and Dash run off in.

Dash laughed excitedly. His legs were a blur as he ran as quickly as was possible for him. The water beneath his feet barely shifted with his weight. To him it was like running on concrete. A fine trail of mist flew behind him. He weaved his way in and out of the natural stone pillars that rose from the depths of the lagoon. Bullets missed him by inches as his pursuers attempted to take him down.

One of the guards turned his hovercraft a little too sharply as Dash turned at a ninety-degree angle all of a sudden. The craft went spinning into the side of a rock arch, exploding as it crumpled into the rock. The other two guards ignored their fallen comrade and continued shooting at the boy. Dash spotted a small cave in a nearby cliff wall that had an opening barely large enough to fit one of the hovercrafts through it. Changing his course, he turned and vanished into the cave. One of his two remaining pursuers shot in after him while the other hesitated, looking around before deciding not to follow the Super child.

Dash quickly wound his way through the labyrinth of waterlogged tunnels, trying to find and exit and throw off his remaining pursuer at the same time. Despite the multitude of jagged rocks that jutted out from all sides of the cave at all angles, the guard had managed to keep pace with him. After a minute of running through the caves, he finally spotted an opening. Excitedly, he increased his speed until a hovercraft dropped down from above and began closing in on him. Dash quickly spun around, running back into the caves the way he had come only to find the other guard also closing in on him. His two means of escape were now blocked.

Dash looked back and forth in a panic trying to find an escape, unaware that he had stopped running. There was a brief moment when he was suspended on the water's surface before he sank. Above him, the two hovercrafts collided in a ball of fire and debris. Beneath the water, Dash pumped his fist above his head victoriously.

"I know you're there little Miss Disappear." The guard slowly turned around, his gun raised, ready to fire at anything that moved. Behind him, Violet picked up a thick, club shaped branch that lay on the jungle floor and hefted it. Swinging the branch as hard as she could, she struck the guard in the square of his back. The guard let out a cry of surprise and fell flat on his face. Violet became visible again, smiling smugly down at the guard, who lashed out at her legs and knocked her to the ground.

The pair of them scrambled to their feet. The guard scooped his gun back up and began firing after Violet, who turned invisible as she dived into the nearby creek. The guard ran to the water's edge and sprayed bullets in a wide area around where he had seen the splash of water Violet had created. The guard quickly traded the clip in his gun for a fresh one before kneeling down in the dirt and scooping up a handful of it.

"You can't hide from me," he growled as he tossed the dirt into the water and stood back up. The small cloud of dirt slowly spread out from where it had entered the water, parting as it touched the invisible girl. "There you are." He said, carefully aiming his gun.

"Hey!" A blur of red and black knocked him aside, throwing his aim off. The guard spun around, looking for the blur only to be knocked to the ground as Dash leapt onto his chest and began hitting the guard as hard as he could. "Don't touch my sister!" Violet took advantage of Dash's sudden distraction and climbed out of the river, quickly making her way to hide in the lower branches of a nearby tree.

The guard threw Dash off of him, stunning the boy as his head slammed against the ground. The guard stood up and lowered his gun to aim for Dash's head. Violet leapt from her cover, projecting a light-purple force field around her and Dash. The guard's bullets glanced off of the field and shredded the foliage off to the sides of the two Super children.

"How are you doing that?" Dash asked his sister in amazement.

"I don't know!" Violet replied, equally amazed as her younger brother was.

"Whatever you're doing, don't stop!" Dash told her. He began to run, causing the force field surrounding him and his sister to move with him like a hamster would move their ball. The guard chased after them for a few feet, firing his gun until the clip was empty.

"Damn," he growled. He pulled out his radio to call for back up. "This is Security Detail unit-" He was cut off as Riku burst from the nearby trees and knocked him unconscious with the flat side of his Keyblade.

"Out of my way," the silver-haired teen growled as he chased after the vanishing forms of the two Super children.

Dash kept his speed up as he and Violet blazed their way through the jungle. Another pair of hovercraft raced towards them. Dash smirked and increased their speed slightly. The hovercraft bounced off of the force field and exploded against the nearby trees while the siblings raced on, unperturbed.

Mr. and Mrs. Incredible paused as the sounds of a nearby explosion reached their ears. They glanced worriedly at each other. A mirrored look of confusion crossed both of their faces as the sounds of crunching leaves and branches came from somewhere nearby. Dash and Violet burst from the shrubbery, running their parents over with the force field and dragging them along.

"Mom! Dad! Hey!" Violet exclaimed excitedly. She deactivated the force field and the Super family fell all over each other as the momentum carried them several yards across the ground.

"Kids! You're all right!" Mr. and Mrs. Incredible said, relief prominent in their voices.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Mr. Incredible said as he pulled his family into a massive hug. Mrs. Incredible glanced around.

"Where's Riku?" She asked. Before the children could answer, a trio of hovercrafts shot of from the trees and began circling the family. With two swift punches, Mr. and Mrs. Incredible took down all three. A fourth one emerged, gunning for the two adults who rolled to the side, barely missing the spinning blade. Mr. Incredible snatched up a still intact hovercraft and spun it around like a discus, hurling it into the newest arrival and causing it to explode.

"Oh, I love you," Mr. and Mrs. Incredible said at the same time, gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. Five more hovercraft burst from the trees. The family of Supers readied themselves to fight them off but froze as all five suddenly exploded. They all shared confused glances until Riku emerged from the smoke and flames, casually whistling and twirling the Way to Dawn like it were nothing.

"Hope I didn't miss out on the party," he said with a grin. "Glad to see your wife busted you out Incredible." Mr. Incredible nodded at the Keyblade Master.

"Glad to see you're still alive," he said in reply. "Sorry for using you as a decoy." Riku shrugged it off.

"No big deal," he said, turning on his heel as another group of hovercraft sliced their way through the trees towards them. "But let's save the trivial matters for after the butt-kicking, shall we?" Bullets flew through the air, only to be deflected by Violet's force fields as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible took down the guards. The Way to Dawn shone sinisterly in the light cast by the flames as Riku struck down two more hovercraft.

He had turned his attention to a third when his entire body was suddenly encased in an electric-blue light. He couldn't move a muscle or even speak; only his eyes were capable of wandering. In the corners of his vision, he saw that the Incredibles had all been trapped in the same energy. Riku's stomach sank.

Zero-point energy. Fantastic.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hey!" Syndrome shouted as he floated down from somewhere above them. He did not seem happy about all of the chaos, which Riku found out of place for a super-villain. "Time out! What have we here?" He lifted the family, and Riku, up into the air, excitedly examining their outfits. "Matching uniforms? Oh, no."

His face fell into an expression of disbelief as his eyes fell upon Mrs. Incredible. "Elastigirl?" He chuckled in surprise at the very thought. "You married Elastigirl? Whoa!" He did a double take as he reexamined the kids. "And got busy! It's a whole family of Supers! Looks like I've hit the jackpot! Oh, this is just too good!" Around them, guards were aiming their guns at the Supers and Keyblade Master.

"And you," Syndrome growled at Riku. "You're just a pain in my side, you know that? Not only do you destroy the Omnidroid that beat Mr. Incredible, you blew up an entire aircraft hangar! Do you know how much all of the damage you alone caused is going to end up costing me? A lot! That's how much! And you just won't die either!" Riku rolled his eyes. "You make it very hard to fulfill Maleficent's request. Oh well, you'll just have the same fate as the Supers here I guess, seeing as how you were so willing to help them out."

Riku groaned. He only had one comforting thought go through his head. At least getting caught and imprisoned here can't be worse than that time I got lost in the Labyrinth for two weeks.

From her perch in the highest branches of the trees, Keila watched as Syndrome transported the four people with matching tights and the Keyblade Master towards the island's central complex. She grinned as she contemplated her orders. Kill Master Riku.

Oh, so much fun. She said to herself smugly.

Well, that's it for this time folks. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and welcomed.

I'm going to bed now. Goodnight everyone!

Aspicio, diluculo Infinitas Noctis .

Shadow Horizons