Chapter 4

Useless. Xion had searched on into the night through the town library's extensive collection, and the only thing she found was this article buried within the text of a slightly questionable logbook of monsters. She looked around at the mountains of books she had gathered and banged her head on the oak wood desk. "How does this help me at all?" Xion thought as she looked at the clock. It had been 10 hours since she began her search. And now, sitting all alone in the candlelight, this was all she had. She looked at the entry again.

Rakks

Little is known of these creatures, since there are no recorded sightings of them. They feed on both humans and animals alike, and are considered extremely dangerous. They have not made an attack in 300 years and are thought to be extinct.

-Eibon

Eibon. Who was that? Xion tore the entry from the book and stood up. She put her black cloak on and gathered her things into her leather satchel and began to leave when she heard something that sounded like purr. She turned around to find a purple cat with a large black hat on sitting on the desk staring at her. "How did you get in here?" Xion asked.

"I climbed through that window" the cat replied and nodded toward a partially open skylight.

"Um…" Xion closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them the cat was gone and the skylight was closed. "I think I should get more sleep…" Then she turned and left the library, locking the door behind her.

As she walked home she thought. She thought about Eibon. About what a Rakk might look like. About how she was going to solve all this town's problems. She stared at the cobblestone road and kept thinking, growing more worried and more scared with every thought. She looked up at the moon and started to tear up. Why her? Why was this her burden?

Splash…

Xion looked down to see what she had stepped in. Blood. A crimson puddle lay under her feet. A drop fell on her back… She looked up and screamed.

There was the Inspector. He was lying backwards out of a second-story window. He was bent over the windowsill in such an unnatural way… And he had no face. A gaping, bleeding hole instead occupied his head.

Xion panicked. "He's still bleeding…This was recent…" she thought. She looked around nervously, heart pounding. "If you're here… Show yourself!" Xion shouted as she transformed her arm into the Keyblade. "I'm not scared of you! I know what you are..." There was a shuffling sound around her…"Rakk!"

An unearthly shriek filled the midnight air. A large winged beast flew down from the rooftop and swooped towards her. Not expecting an air assault, Xion barely had time to block the creature before she was knocked off of her feet. The beast flew high to where Xion could barely see it, then it swooped straight down at her, opening its fanged mouth and screeching at her. Xion held up her sword-arm and the monster bit down on it and pulled her upwards into the sky.

"Well this isn't good." She examined as the Rakk took her higher. She strained against its pressing jaws to no avail. Then the creature stopped and they seemed to hang in the sky for a moment before falling back towards the earth at breakneck speed.

As Xion was brutally slammed down onto the street, she felt her back crack in ways it shouldn't. The impact tore her arm from the monster's mouth and the Rakk, seeing she was weak, flew up again to make the final kill.

"I'm going to die…" Xion thought with some degree of relief. She changed her arm back and just laid there. There would be no more monsters… no more town in peril… "But this town needs me. The Inspector needed me. I won't give up on these people!" She closed her eyes and focused.

Just as the Rakk was upon her, she flashed into a complete Keyblade. The flash stunned the Rakk and caused it to veer off-course and crash into the ground. Xion transformed back in an instant and jumped up. Her arm became a blade as she came down on the creature, piercing its chest. The winged terror cried out as thick green blood splattered everywhere, covering Xion. "This town!" She raised her blade-arm up above the beasts head as it frantically shrieked and squirmed. "Is protected!" Xion yelled as she decapitated the miserable creature.

Xion then felt a pain her back. "Shit…" She blacked out and fell into the remains of the monster. It was morning before Benjamin, the barber, walked outside and saw the scene. He alerted the Twilight Town authorities immediately and Xion was put in a hospital, where she would sleep for many days.

Hiro stood in front of a beat up house in the slums of the city. It was a brisk morning and the sun had just come up, trying to chase the mist away, though it diligently fought to stay. Hiro walked up to the large wooden door and knocked several times with no answer. He reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it. To his surprise the doorknob turned and clicked with each full turn. But the big red door didn't budge. He tried turning it the other way and received the same result.

"Well that's fantastic…" Hiro thought. He looked around and decided to try and find another way in. he walked around the perimeter of the house to find nothing. Not a backdoor. Not even a window. The whole house seemed to be a dark brown prison with a fake door. He sighed and leaned against the house. He felt something jab his back and turned around to find a golden key in a keyhole. "That's strange... why put a keyhole in a wall?" he thought.

He turned the key and a section of the wall two feet away slip down to reveal a dark stairwell leading downwards. "So that's why." He concluded. Hiro pulled the key out and started to walk down the stairs. "Alright Mr. Steampunk Alchemist here I come."

As a couple sat down to dinner outside of "Baldory's", they saw a portal open up across the street. Now this was common here, Traverse Town being a kind of safe haven for refugees. But a very peculiar man walked out. He wore a white button up shirt with a red jacket that complemented his red hair. The couple looked away from him and resumed their conversation.

The man smiled and pulled out a chainsaw.