Alright, it's the last chapter in the World That Never Was. I gotta tell you, I had a hard time getting through this chapter. Hope you like it.
On another note, I'd like to recommend a story. My buddy, ConfederateofZ has started a Kingdom Hearts story of his own: Kingdom Hearts: Universal War. Check it out, it's great!
Riku: "DarthKingdom does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, ConfederateofZ's story, or anything else. Just his plot and O.C.s. I like Nehrut by the way."
Thanks! I hope nobody considers him a Gary-Stu.
--
Chapter 23: Catching the Wind
The group of ten warriors ran back to the castle, meeting little resistance. They found something very interesting there.
Small tornadoes seemed to be sifting through the remains. Where they touched down, they did little damage, but stirred up the debri, tossing aside select portions, while leaving what was under perfectly intact.
The group reached the ruins just as Xaynew's creations found what he was looking for.
They had revealed a room that had been (somehow) mostly preserved.
Proof of Existance.
The Organization's cematary. Sora knew what they wanted, and he almost wished he didn't. Above the ruins, floating on his own personal tornado, Xaynew smiled wickedly. He noticed the group's arrival.
"I think that the spirits of Organization XIII would be an excellent present for my master, don't you?"
He summoned ten Paladins. With powerful swings of their axes, they removed the headstones from their bases. Ten portals of darkness opened, and they were gone.
Xaynew floated a little lower, to where he was almost level with them, and pulled out his weapon. The horrible similarities to Nehrut never ended. The blade was almost an exact copy of Nehrut's strange blade. But it was glowing a fierce scarlet, not a calm blue.
He brought it up to where it's tip was pointing directly at their faces. The thunder boomed louder, and the lightning flashed. His manic smile grew.
"Master Serndask will love it when I tell him how I crushed you all."
Barret's gun fired. Axel's chakrams flew. Yuffie's shuriken cut at him.
None of those attacks touched him, because something had intercepted them. What really bothered Sora, was what had done it.
The bullets, chakrams, and shuriken were suspended in midair. Behind Xaynew had appeared a creature.
It carried two large, foot-long daggers that were hooked slightly at the end. They were totally black, like it's skin. It was muscular, and vaguely reminded Sora of the Invisible Heartless he had fought at End of the World. But the head wasn't horned, but normal-shaped with a protruding brow. It had the Heartless symbol branded on it's forehead. It's back had an ugly ridge all the way down it. It also had no tail or wings. It's hands were stretched forward, maintaining the invisible force that held the projectiles in the air.
"Say hello to my Heartless counterpart." Xaynew said. He smirked widely at their shock. "The Telekinetik."
Instantly, the projectile weapons were thrown back at the group. They dodged out of the way, and they embedded themselves in the ground. Axel and Yuffie sprinted toward their fallen weapons, and ripped them from the ground.
As the group took up fighting positions, the Telekinetik lifted it's hands. Donald, Goofy, Yuffie, Barret and Axel flew backwards a full fifty feet They were surrounded by Heartless and Nobodies the second they landed. The remaining five ran to the edge of the pit, and jumped at the Bringer of Storms with their weapons held high.
The Telekinetik flew in front of them and grabbed them with it's 'mind'. They froze in midair and found themselves unable to move any farther. Xaynew shifted his tornado to where he hovered in front of them.
"I would very much like to take you alive." He told them. "Well, exept for you brother, I'd much prefer you die."
Sora could see Riku's head snap toward Nehrut. He, of course hadn't been present when he told them. Sora really hoped that he wouldn't hold this against him –Riku was the kind to hold grudges.
"Good to see you too, little bro." Nehrut said. "And you've made a friend too. It had to happen eventually... Now why does your boss want the Keybearers?"
Xaynew's reply was similar to Ruxik's. "As if I'll tell you?" He moved over slightly to where he was directly in front of Sora. "Surrender. If you do, then we will spare you." He said the word as if it was a curse.
What he said next made Sora hate him just as much as Nehrut did. "If you don't, we'll destroy everything and everyone you hold dear. Until you'll beg for the death that you have evaded for so long." His eyes flickered to his friends one at a time. "The mouse king... The dark friend of yours... Definitely the Princess."
He started thrashing around in his invisible grip, and it was all he could do to keep from switching into Anti Form and tearing the Nobody's eyes out Heartless style.
"Touched a nerve, have I?" He laughed. "The Princess goes first, then." He raised his blade to Kairi's throat. Her eyes widened in terror. "Will you surrender, or not?"
Sora looked him in the eyes. He couldn't let him hurt Kairi.
I can't lose her. Not again.
There was only one thing he could say.
"I'll co-"
Suddenly Xaynew and the Telekenetik were thrown backwards by some force. The five of them fell to the ground, but landed on their feet. Sora found Kairi and wrapped his arms around her immediately.
Dimly he heard Mickey exclaim, "Nehrut! Why didn't you do that sooner?"
"Sorry!"
There was a crackle of lightning, and Riku was forced to jump in front of Sora and Kairi (who were still embracing) and put up a dark shield. They broke apart, and he looked at them, annoyed.
"Is this the moment?" He said, as he drew Way to the Dawn.
"Oh, battle! Battle, right!" Sora said, summoning Oblivion. Destiny's Light appeared in Kairi's hand.
Xaynew snarled at them, and threw up his hands. A huge tornado formed all around them, enclosing the huge pit. All around them, the debri of the castle was flying around in the gale.
Sora was extremely surprised that his body wasn't doing the same. He was simply standing where he had been, as was everyone else.
He turned to Nehrut, who's face was screwed up in concentration. He realized that he was somehow keeping them anchored in place with telekenesis. He hoped that he'd still be able to defend himself.
Xaynew screamed "Prepare to die!" He and the Telekinetik rocketed toward them.
When they reached them, everything became a flurry of arms, legs, blades, fire, and lightning. Eventually, the fight was split in two.
Sora swung at Xaynew's head. He blocked the attack and lept out of the way from his next strike –right toward Mickey who lept at him with his blade flashing. He met his barrage of attacks and pushed him back. Sora ran at his back with Riku right behind him.
He saw them, and pushed the King away with a burst of air. He ran at Riku, and his blade collided with his in a flash of sparks. They exchanged blows at high speed, moving almost as fast as the lightning all around them.
Sora and Mickey were back in the fray soon, and Xaynew was forced take to the air to get away from the Keyblades. He covered his blade with lightning, and threw the blade at the ground. Electricity burst from it and flew in all directions. The other three had to dive out of the way.
Meanwhile, Nehrut and Kairi were taking on the Telekinetik. She brought her blade down toward it's head, but the blade was intercepted by it's daggers. Using the hook on the end of one, it moved the Keyblade away from it's body. It pulled back the other one to deliver the killing blow against the girl.
But Nehrut's blade was there to stop it. He lundged forward to spear it through the chest, but it released the Keyblade to block it with the other dagger. It floated into the air, and sent a psychic blast at the two, shoving them away.
"It shouldn't be able to do that." Nehrut said. "Heartless don't have minds."
"Remember that we're dealing with creepy magical forces of darkness here." Kairi said. "At this point Xehanort himself could fall out of the sky and I wouldn't bat an eyelash."
"Good point."
Nehrut sent a blast of his own at the Heartless. It was sent high into the air, with no control of it's movements.
"THAT's how you're supposed to do it, wannabee!" He then took to the air himself, flying at it with sword outstretched. A ferocious midair duel raged between the psychics.
Kairi decided that she'd probably be better off fighting with the rest of the group. She ran toward Xaynew's back.
At the last second, he spun and blocked the strike. He constantly had to devide his attention between Sora, Riku, Mickey, and now Kairi. He would use brief whirlwinds to separate them. This way he could fight them one at a time, rather than all at once.
But he was tiring. He had exhausted a great amount of energy, and he was facing four Keybearers at once. If anything happened to his Heartless, he'd be in even worse trouble. It was time for his trump card.
He blasted into the air, and called Telekinetik back to him.
Above, the Heartless disengaged his daggers from Nehrut's blade. It blasted him away, and soared toward it's other. It stopped directly behind Xaynew and floated there, arms outstretched. For a moment, Sora was horribly reminded of 'Ansem' and his Guardian.
Nehrut landed next to them, just as Riku and Kairi shot fireballs at the pair.
Unfortunately, they met an invisible barrier surrounding the Heartless and Nobody. Xaynew smiled wickidly, and held his hands out over his head. The thunder was almost deafening by this point, and the lightning was so frequent it was nearly blinding.
Lightning bolts flew toward Xaynew's protective bubble as if it were a lightning rod. The bolts seemed to stick to it somehow. The electricity coursed around it, creating a web of crackling energy encasing Xaynew and Telekinetik.
"Well, I've got good news and I've got bad news, guys." Nehrut said.
"What's the bad news?" Riku asked.
"The bad news is that he'll gradually build up electrical power until he releases it all flying at us. We're going to die."
"And what's the good news?" Sora asked, since he couldn't find any.
"We're going to die quickly."
Kairi slapped him, leaving a large red welt. "We're not really going to die!" He said, rubbing the spot on his face. "Geeze!"
"Then do you have any real ideas?" Riku asked, smirking a little at the red mark.
"Let's just say you should hold on real tight to each other. I've got a plan."
Feeling pretty foolish, Sora wrapped his arms tight around Kairi and Riku. They did the same, and the King wrapped his arms very tightly around Riku's neck. They stood there for a long time, and Sora was beginning to feel really annoyed (not that he minded having his face in Kairi's hair).
"Why are we doing this?" Riku finally asked. His frustration was obvious. He wasn't the most affectionate person, and this wasn't something he'd normally do.
"Just get ready to fly."
"WHAT!?"
Xaynew chose that moment to launch his attack. Broad bolts of lightning flew from the bubble directly at them.
So Nehrut released their hold on the ground.
The wind of the tornado pulled them off the ground and over a dozen feet away before the bolts could strike them. They were pulled along by the gale, and whipped completely around to the other side of the arena.
Nehrut put another barrier around them, allowing them to move just a little through the air. Nehrut was free-floating in front of them with his sword held aloft. He turned to them while Xaynew was still wondering what had happened to them.
"Deal as much damage as you can." He called out over the howling wind. He then lifted their 'bubble' and tossed it at the backs of their enemies. The four inside summoned their Keyblades, and struck out with them the second they reached them.
Xaynew cried out in pain and shock when the Keyblades cut across his back. The Heartless was voiceless, but it was in obvious pain, all the same. The blades flashed, smacking against either one of them dozens of times.
Xaynew and Telekinetik had used up most of their energy on the finishing move that had failed.
They fell fifty feet, and crashed painfully against the ground. The second Xaynew hit the ground, the storm quieted. The giant tornado dissipated, the clouds grew less dark, the thunder went silent, and the lightning stopped.
Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Mickey were set lightly on the ground by Nehrut, who landed next to them. They walked toward the unconscious Nobody, very carefully. He started to stir, and looked upon them with dull hatred in his eyes.
Telekinetik appeared right above him. It swept down, and scooped him up into it's arms. A portal of Darkness opened behind it, and it floated backwards through it. As it closed, Xaynew muttered, "You were warned. We'll meet again."
The portal closed.
Sora walked up to Nehrut and gave him a pat on the back. "You were great, Nehrut."
He smiled at him. "Thanks."
"We wouldn't have survived that fight without you, Nehrut." Mickey said. "Thank you."
"Psychic powers..." Riku said contemplating, "Weird, but useful."
"You know, I get that a lot."
"And I'm sorry for slapping you." Kairi admitted.
"I don't usually get that." He said. "But hey, I deserved it. I think. But you guys did most of the actual fighting, so don't give me all the credit."
"Hey, fellas!" They heard someone shout. They turned to the sound and saw Goofy calling to them from back outside the pit. Behind him, Barret was lifting the uncouncious Pete over his shoulder. Yuffie, Donald, and Axel waved at them. "Come on! We're going back to the ship!"
The five smiled and ran over the debri of the castle toward their friends. "You guys mind if I tag along? Traveling alone gets pretty boring eventually."
"You're always welcome with us." Sora said.
They reached the others, and were instantly greeted by 'Gawrsh, that was great!', 'way to go guys!', 'Nice work, kid.' And similar praise just like that.
"So what do I do with this punk, Your Majesty?" Barret shrugged, hefting Pete farther onto his shoulder to keep a grip on him.
"There's a holding cell back on the ship, we'll put him there." He pressed the button on his glove and said, "Captain Sparrow! We're all finished down here. Beam us up."
Jack Sparrow's voice came over the little speaker on the wrist. "Good idea, mate. I'll get right on that first thing. As soon as I graduate from Gummi School!"
A look of pure horror crossed over the King's face. "Does anyone up there know how?"
"I'll check... That would be a no."
"You guys left the ship without any way back?" Nehrut said. He was clearly trying to hold back laughter.
The King sighed, thinking that he shouldn't have brought both Yuffie and Barret. "Okay here's what you do... You first have to adjust the power levels for the base transmittors to their optimum levels."
There was silence on the line until, "What?"
"Just get Genie to teleport us up there."
"Now that I can do."
The next thing they knew, they were wrapped up very tightly in huge blue arms. There was a puff of purple smoke, and they were back on the bridge of the Unity.
"Everybody, this is Nehrut." Sora said. "Don't bother telling him who you are, because apparently he's read all about us."
"Jack Sparrow." He said with a grin.
"Welcome aboard, lad!" Sparrow replied with a slightly fearful smile. "Good to see you again."
Sora's eyes flickered back and forth between the two.
"You two know each other?" Donald quacked.
"Oh yeah, Jack and I go way back." He walked up to Jack and did something pretty unexpected. He slapped him so hard that everyone's face hurt. "Scarlet says 'hi'."
"She's still sore then?"
"Yeah. And you really don't want to know what Gisselle said."
"Wait," Kairi said, "When did you two meet?"
"I stopped in Port Royal once and the guy tried to steal my sword."
Nehrut was introduced to Hayner, Pence, Olette, Hercules, Genie, and Kiara. Sora couldn't help but notice that he made friends with every one of them right away.
"He's fitting in just fine."
--
Yep. Nehrut knows Captain Jack, Xaynew works with his own Heartless, and the Organization might just make a comeback! Review please!
QueenofInsanity: You are forgiven for shadowing. And I was worried that someone would say "Gary-Stu". I'd really hate to see Nehrut go that way.
Krystal Lily Potter: Thanks! I really hate it when someone does that to an O.C. It just seems lazy.
JoBrosCupcakeSwirl: You mean Nehrut, right? Xaynew isn't psychic. Anyway, thank you. But was it the fact that Nehrut called him a 'brat' that tipped you off?
Shinku Ryuuga: I might have, but personally, I've never been able to synthasize either of the Ultima weapons myself, and just ran out of patience trying to. I do have an idea for a different sort of Ultima weapon, though. Nehrut's weapon is sort of a combination of Sephiroth's blade (shorter), a lightsaber, and the sword from that Samurai Jack cartoon (don't know where that came from). And I like long reviews!
Disneytiger: Oh, you'll see. You'll see... But are you psychic? Because I don't remember suggesting that the Organization would be back in the last chapter.
SamuraiJedi: Ain't it the truth? Running from the Organization is another good bonding exercise, I hear.
Garuto: Seriously? Well, thanks!
ConfederateofZ: I kind of wonder why you're up so late, but I look forward to seeing your character, and reading the rest of your story. But Pete won't have a really important part until much later. And thank you.
Noacception: I am very flattered! I just had a crappy day, and your review really brightened it up. I'm glad you enjoy the story.