Author's Note: Chapter Nine is officially up and running! I don't have much to say except enjoy. Honestly this is my favorite chapter that I've written so far. Hopefully you'll see why!

Ren: Don't forget the pictures.

Me: Right! Thanks, Ren. I should have some pictures of the trio's weapons up sometime in the future. I'm working on different projects at the moment, so it will be a while. But nonetheless, they will be put up on my deviantART account. So just keep an eye out.

Disclaimer:I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any Final Fantasy characters that show up in this fic. I only own the OC's Apolla, Ren, and Zephyr.

Zephyr: Wow, I got demoted.

Apolla, Ren, and I: Shut up, Zephyr!

Chapter Nine: Villains of a Sort/Palumpolum

"So, the King and his lackeys have joined the Keyblade Bearers' brats," Xehanort mused.

"It seems that way," Maleficent said. "The pyromaniac has joined them as well."

Xehanort smiled. "Axel. What you see in those brats is beyond me." He thought about it for a moment, which caused him to smile even more. I see, he thought. Sora's brats remind you of them.

"What's our plan, then?" a tall, white-haired, black robed man asked.

"Our plan, Judge Frollo, is simple. Get ahold of those brats before they find the Keyholes, and the Princesses."

"Then Kingdom Hearts is ours," a green-skinned, half octopus woman added.

"Correct," Maleficent said. "And with Kingdom Hearts, we will have control of all worlds."

Another stepped out of the shadows to join the group in their conversation. The pirate was clad in black, with black hair and a black, greying beard. "And you will keep your end of the bargain? Our own worlds will belong to us as our own domain?"

"Of course, Blackbeard," Xehanort reassured. "But our main goal must be achieved first for that to happen."

"Of course. The Princesses."

"They will begin to fall into our hands, one by one. We are well on our way."

Maleficent grinned, one of those grins that was under the category of malevolent and mischievous. "Speaking of which, we only have six more to go."

"No! Leave Kairi alone!" someone demanded.

Everyone in the room had forgotten about their "guests." It was only when Sora spoke up to defend Kairi that they remembered.

Blackbeard walked up to the five captives, stopping in front of Sora. "You care for her, fancy her even."

"Duh. She's my wife, you moron!"

"Almost forgot that you were here," the evil fairy jeered.

"Cut the act, Maleficent," Riku said. "You won't succeed."

"Donald, Goofy, and the King will stop you! So will our kids!"

Xehanort merely smiled at Sora's attempt to be brave for his friends. For his family.

Is he…laughing at me? Sora wondered.

Xehanort shook his head. "No, I do not think so."

xxx

Apolla, Zephyr, Ren, Axel, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey disembarked from the Gummi Ship. They had landed on Palumpolum with much success, and were now in a location known as Palumpolum Port.

"Whoa!" Zephyr exclaimed.

"It's beautiful!" Apolla cried.

"This sure is something," Axel commented.

Everyone took in the sites of Palumpolum, from the harbor around them to the city ahead of them. It was interesting to them, especially the young trio, for the city was built on the side of a cliff, and then the flat part of the cliff. There were a few buildings along the harbor that they assumed housed incoming boats.

"Where do ya suppose all the shops are?" Goofy wondered.

"Most likely in town," Ren said. "There may be one or two along this road, but I don't think they'd put any major shops here in the harbor."

They continued down the road, following it from the harbor and up the side of the cliff, where it led them into town. There were buildings surrounding the center of the city, some with cylindrical screens to project advertisements. It was nothing like the group had ever seen, even those with experience in traveling to different worlds. The party continued through, in constant awe, stumbling upon different kinds of shops.

"Looks like this is exactly where we need to be," Apolla pointed out.

"Well, we better get shopping then," Mickey said.

And so they did. They went to an Items shop and bought as many Potions, Hi-Potions, Ethers, Hi-Ethers, and anything else they believed would help them on their journey. They checked out the Accessories shop and then a small weapons shop so that Apolla, Zephyr, and Ren could pick out their backup weapons.

The kids perused through the shop's inventory. They looked at just about anything they could get their hands on—swords, staves, clubs—anything they took a fancy to. Ren and Zephyr had found their choice weapons in a matter of minutes. Ren chose one that switched between a sword and a bow (with arrows included) and Zephyr chose a triple blade sword, two blades set 3 inches apart with another set on top, with a big enough that it could also serve as a shield.

This will block attacks easily, he thought.

Apolla was taking a little longer. She couldn't seem to find one that really fit her. She was having a pretty tough time finding a weapon, and Zephyr hurrying her after making his purchase wasn't helping her.

"Come on, 'Polla," he urged her. "Hurry up!"

Apolla took the opportunity to shoot a glare at her brother. "Don't test me, Zephyr!"

He didn't.

She turned back to keep looking when something caught her eye. In the very back of the store, Apolla had found a unique looking sword. At the hilt, she could make out a trigger just above the handle. The blade was at a decent length—not too long, but not too short either. She picked it up to get a closer look. Part of the sword was in the shape of the barrel part of a gun, with the blade set up as an attachment. The silver-blue colored blade was straight with a slight wave at the top. It was light weight, which meant that it could deal massive damage, when used right, and could pull off a string of strong, fast combos.

Apolla gave it a good swing or two, and, depending on how she swung it, it transformed into a gun.

Sweet! she thought. I love it! It's feels like it was almost…made for me.

She quickly decided that this was what she wanted, and practically ran to the counter and said, rather enthusiastically, "I want this one!"

"That's a pretty special weapon," the owner of the shop said. "A gunblade. I've only seen one other person with a weapon like that. You sure you want it?"

Apolla nodded. "Positive!"

"Alright, then. Because you're the first person I've seen come across it, I'll throw this in for free."

He pulled out a black holder with a belt from behind the counter, and said, "This should be big enough to carry that blade for you so you don't have to carry the thing yourself. I know weapons, no matter how light weight they seem, can get heavy and you'll get tired of holding it."

"So, it's like a holster? I mean, a sheath?"

"Well, kinda both if you think about it."

A huge smile grew on Apolla's face. "I'll take it."

With just enough munny, she paid for the gunblade—no—her gunblade, put it in its holder, and quickly joined the others outside.

"About time," Zephyr said.

"Well, aren't we impatient," Apolla muttered.

"Yes! You take FOREVER!"

"Whatever." Apolla buckled the belt around her waist underneath her vest and the three friends walked over to a small shop where the King and the others were waiting for them.

"So," Axel said. "What'd ya pick out?"

Ren pulled his sword out of the quiver of arrows strapped across his back. The broad blade was a black and silver color and the hilt was black and blue. There was a purple gem set in the middle of the hilt.

"Nice, but what's the quiver for?"

Ren pushed the purple gem, and the sword instantly transformed into a bow. The blade bent in half to form the main part of the bow and a string of light appeared, the same string that would allow him to shoot the arrows.

"Whoa."

"Mine's okay I guess," Zephyr said. "It doesn't transform, but it's perfect for me." He pulled out his triple blade sword, two of the blades a silver-purple color and the middle blade a gold color. The hilt was simpler than the blades, a brown color with black tape around the handle. Part of the hilt was enlarged so that it could serve as a shield.

"Heh, kind reminds me of one of the guys I used to work with."

"Who's that?" Ren asked.

"A big guy named Lexaeus. His axe-sword was bigger than that, and a lot heavier I bet."

"Ah." Zephyr put his sword in its shealth, which was also strapped to his back."

Axel, along with Ren, Zephyr, and the others looked at Apolla, waiting for her to show off her new weapon.

She put her hand behind her back, which instantly found the hilt, and quickly pulled out her gunblade. It unfolded into a sword quicker than one could say "Heartless."

Axel and Zephyr whistled. Ren smiled, and Donald, Goofy, and the King looked really happy for her. Maybe that was because of the look on her face.

"How come you got the good one?" her brother asked.

"I didn't really pick it," was her answer. "It kinda…chose me."

"Sweet. But, I think mine's better."

Before she could say anything, Apolla jumped upon hearing a woman scream.

"MONSTERS!" a man cried out. "In the Rivera!"

"Someone help us!" another called out.

The group looked to their right, and saw a crowd of people running towards them.

"Monsters?" Ren wondered. "Hmm."

"Heartless?" Apolla asked.

"Only one way to find out," Mickey said.

With that, everyone ran in the opposite direction of everyone else—in the direction of the Rivera.

xxx

When the group got there, which took them a while due to the amount of people they had to fight to get through, there were already a few people fighting off the monsters that had appeared all of a sudden.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy recognized two of them right off the bat.

"Cloud!" Donald exclaimed.

"Tifa!" Goofy called out.

Tifa was the first to greet them. "Hey guys! Here to help?"

"Guess we are now," Mickey said.

Apolla was right. There were Heartless here, and must have been what scared the citizens of Palumpolum. But there was an addition to the Heartless. White hooded creatures were attacking the fighters as well.

"Nobodies, too?" Axel asked, summoning his chakrams. "Can't believe this."

"Well, get used to it," Cloud managed to say as he swung his Buster Sword. "They've been appearing just as much as the Heartless have lately."

"They weren't there last time I was in Radiant Garden."

"Seems that they've been spreading. Tifa and I were in Beast's Castle when they showed up."

"You guys travel to different worlds, too?" Zephyr asked as pulled out his triple-blade and began causing the Heartless and Nobodies to disappear. He remembered fighting this particular Nobody in his dream, so he adapted quickly.

Cloud gave him a strange look, as if he was crazy.

Tifa was just as confused as he was. "Did you hit your head? Of course we do, and you of all people should know that, Sora." She grabbed a hold of a Shadow that was about to attack her and threw it into the ground.

"Here we go again," Zephyr said.

"He's not Sora," Apolla explained as she swiped at a Soldier and a couple of Shadows. She switched over to its gun form and shot at a Nobody trying to attack her. It was suspended in the air upside down, as if it were walking on an invisible ceiling. "He's my brother. We're his kids."

"Oh," Tifa said. She round-house kicked a Soldier right into Cloud's attack.

"Sorry," Cloud said, cutting it in half before it disappeared. "You just look a lot like him."

"He's been getting that a lot lately."

"Would you concentrate on what's going on around you?" one of the other fighters asked. She was as tall as Tifa, with strawberry blonde hair that lay mainly on her left shoulder, blue eyes, and was wearing a white and tan vest, light brown zip-up turtle neck tank top, a brown leather skirt, knee high brown boots, a red cape, and a brown-red pouch that was belted to her leg and waist. She wore blue gloves with the fingers cut off halfway, a longer black glove on her left arm and small bands on her upper right arm. She, too, wielded a gunblade, very similar to that of Apolla's, and had a brown holder buckled to her waist, hidden by her vest.

"Sorry, Light," Tifa said, beating down two Soldiers.

"Give 'em a break, soldier," a dark skinned man with an afro said as he shot down three Nobodies.

"Fine, Sazh."

The group continued to fight off the Heartless and Nobodies until there were none left. They began to relax when the last one had disappeared, and people began to fill the Rivera once again.

"Well, than takes care of that," the man called Sazh said, putting his guns in their holsters.

Now that things had settled, the young trio was able to get a better look at him. Sazh wore a black tank top under a halfway buttoned up white shirt. He wore a green coat on top of that (which had a yellow patch on the left shoulder and a badge) with khaki pants that were tucked into his black boots, his gun holsters buckled to each one of his legs, and black biker-type gloves. He also had a nicely trimmed goatee. If the trio took a closer look, they would have seen a little yellow bird perched in his fluffy, brown afro.

"Name's Sazh. Sazh Katzroy. Pleasure to meet you," he said.

"I'm Mickey," the King said. Then pointing to each person in his party, he added, "This is Donald, Goofy, Axel, Apolla, Zephyr, and Ren."

"Nice to meet you three," Tifa said to the latter three.

"Same here," Apolla said, returning the welcome.

"I'm Tifa, and this is Cloud," she said, pointing a gloved thumb to her blonde, spiky haired companion.

"Nice to meet you," Ren said.

"Likewise," Cloud said.

"And this here is Lightning," Sazh pointed out.

"Hi," the three said together.

"You're a really good fighter," Zephyr said.

Lightning blushed a little. "Thank you. Same goes for you and your friends."

Apolla and Ren snickered at Zephyr. He ignored them.

"You guys came at a good time," Sazh informed them. "The Heartless have been showing up like crazy, and there's no tellin' when it will get worse."

"Glad we made it in time," Mickey said. "How long have the Heartless been here?"

"Always," Lightning replied. "But they only started as a few of them. And it was just the Shadow variety. Then a whole horde of them showed up, so Sazh and I have been at it, keeping them at bay."

"Wow," Apolla said. "Sounds like you've got your hands full."

"You're telling us," Sazh said. "We were hoping that maybe one of the Keyblade Masters would be here to take care of them, but no one's shown up. That is, until you came."

"So, and I'm just thinking out loud, that means that the Keyhole hasn't been sealed?" Axel wondered. "I'm just guessing since you said you were waiting for a Keyblade Master."

"You got that right," a voice said behind them.

Everyone turned and saw that a boy, probably no older than Zephyr and Apolla, had joined the group. He was holding a yellow and blue boomerang in his hand. He folded it up and put it in a holder attached to his belt, and walked closer to the group. He had short, grey-blonde spiky hair and green eyes. He wore a black and grey V-neck shirt with a yellow and orange opened over shirt on top, a turquoise bandana tied around his neck. He also wore grey capris, blue and white gloves, and tan shoes that were like Hightops.

"Hope," Lightning said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help," he said. "I ran into some Heartless and Nobodies on my way here. So the street back towards the base is clear."

"You guys have a base?" Zephyr asked.

Hope nodded. "Yeah. Technically it's my house, but it works."

"Sweet."

"What brings you here? Merlin said you'd be coming."

Donald and Goofy looked at each other, and then at Hope. "Merlin is here?"

"Yeah. He wants to see you. Says it's important."

"Then we better get over there," Mickey said.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Follow me."

Apolla, Zephyr, Ren, and Axel looked at each other, their faces all asking the same question: How does Hope know the King?

Noticing that the others were already running after Hope, the four of them quickly caught up so as not to fall behind. Not knowing the town very well, they didn't want to get lost.

Wonder what Merlin needs to tell us, Ren wondered. What is so important?

A/N: Now you see why this is my favorite chapter. Lightning and Hope are two of my favorite characters from FFXIII. So, reviews anyone?