Chapter Ten
"Now all we have to do is find Zack" said Riku.
"But where can he be?" asked Donald.
"I don't know, but we can't just leave without him" replied Riku.
"Welp, we should start looking then" said Goofy.
"But he can be anywhere" said Donald.
"Yeah, and I don't think we should split up just in case we get attacked by another giant Heartless" said Riku. Riku, Donald, and Goofy stood for a minute and thought out what to do.
"I've got an idea" said Riku.
"What is it?" asked Goofy.
"We're going to have to go back to Shinra first" replied Riku. Riku raced back to Shinra and up to Director Lazard's office.
"Director! I need a member of SOILDER!" demanded Riku.
"What is going on?" asked Lazard. Riku explained everything that happened and when he was finished, Lazard pressed the intercom.
"Angeal, report to my office ASAP" said Lazard. Soon, a tall man walked into Lazard's office.
"Angeal, I need you to go with Riku here to help him find Zack" explained Lazard.
"Yes sir" said Angeal. Angeal turned around.
"Come on" he told Riku. Riku followed him out the door. They soon met back up with Donald and Goofy outside Shinra.
"We're going to split into two teams of two, one team takes East and the other West" explained Riku. Riku and Angeal took to the West and Donald and Goofy took to the East. Not soon after they had separated, Riku and Angeal came up on a group of strong looking Heartless. Riku and Angeal hid behind a nearby rock.
"Well, should we engage, or let them pass?" asked Angeal.
"Huh?" asked Riku.
"If you're going to be in SOLDIER, you have to learn when to fight and when to standby" explained Angeal.
"Oh, umm, let them pass" said Riku.
"Good choice, unnecessary combat will just attract attention" said Angeal. By then, the Heartless had moved on.
"Come on, let's keep moving" said Angeal. Riku followed him.
"So uh, do you know Zack or something, 'cause Lazard seemed to automatically pick you to come?" asked Riku.
"He's my student" replied Angeal.
"So you and him have sort of a special bond, huh?" asked Riku.
"You could say that" said Angeal. They both stopped as they noticed Zack's sword on the ground a few feet in front of them. Angeal picked it up.
"He can't be too far" said Angeal.
"Then let's keep going" said Riku.
Meanwhile…
"So uh, what do we do if we find something?" asked Goofy.
"Then we go and find Riku and Angeal" replied Donald.
"But we haven't found anything" said Goofy. Donald and Goofy slumped with a deep sigh.
"Huh? What's that?" asked Donald as he noticed something sticking out of the ground.
"Gawrsh, let's go see" said Goofy. As they got closer, it looked like a piece of armor…
Back to Riku and Angeal…
"I wonder how Donald and Goofy are doing" said Riku.
"They most likely haven't found anything, otherwise we would have heard from them" replied Angeal. They had just walked into a canyon maze when they heard someone fighting.
"Zack?" said Riku.
"Let's go find out" said Angeal. It was Zack. He was fighting hand-to-hand with several Heartless.
"Hey guys, could use some help" said Zack. Riku tossed him his sword.
"Don't worry, Zack, me and Angeal have your back" said Riku. The Heartless were quickly vanquished.
"So what happened to you?" asked Riku.
"After we fought off that Heartless, I woke up in the middle of nowhere and just started walking" replied Zack. Zack noticed the Shinra device sticking out of Riku's pocket.
"I see you got the goods" said Zack.
"Yeah, so mission accomplished, right?" asked Riku.
"Right" replied Zack.
"Come on, let's go find your friends" said Angeal. Riku, Zack, and Angeal went back the way they came. They met Donald and Goofy halfway.
"Hey guys, we found this in the sand" said Goofy nodding towards the hunk of metal he was carrying on his back.
"I'll take that back to Shinra" said Angeal suddenly.
"What's wrong, Angeal?" asked Zack.
"Nothing, I'll see you back at Shinra" replied Angeal as he took the armor and walked off.
"Hm, oh well" said Riku.
"Let's head back"
"Right" said Zack. It was not long before they were all finally back at Shinra. They walked into Lazard's office. Riku took out the device and placed it on Lazard's desk. Lazard looked at the device, then at Riku and nodded his head.
"Congratulations, Riku 3rd class SOLDIER"