A plethora of new characters await you in this chapter! I had to use a FF VII world, because it is the most iconic story of the whole franchise, and its cast is a huge part of Kingdom Hearts… So coming up with which version of the story I'd base if off of was fun!
Tifa: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, Disney, or anything else he will use later. If he did, why would he just be writing fan-fiction? Wouldn't he have a staff of people working on putting his ideas on a disc or something?"
Hope that clears up any confusion. I don't own anything! …Yet we still need to do disclaimers. Really, who's going to buy that we're taking credit for an entire video game franchise? …Moving on!
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Chapter 121: Warriors of Midgar
Axel inhaled deeply. "Ah, the beautiful smell of decay and desperate living! Midgar, how I have missed you!"
The group had set foot in a massive city just moments ago. It had a feeling of slightly faded glory. Civilized life still thrived here, though it was amongst the wreckage of buildings that suggested that the city had fallen victim to a massive catastrophe. Efforts to rebuild could be seen in the form of cranes and other similar construction equipment hard at work on the greatest of the buildings.
It had a similar air to Radiant Garden when Sora, Donald, and Goofy had first learned of the restoration efforts, though it seemed that the people of Midgar weren't quite as advanced as the people of Radiant Garden when it came to technology.
"So this is Midgar?" Riku repeated, gazing across the starry cityscape. Despite the apparently late hour, there were still a few people roaming the streets.
"In all its slightly dirty glory." Axel confirmed, with a nostalgic grin. "Man, I figured the place would never recover after all the crap Sephiroth put it through."
"Sephiroth!" Sora exclaimed, looking directly at Axel. "He was here?"
"Oh, yeah I forgot to mention... This was his home world."
"Wait..." Sora thought for a moment. "That means that this is Cloud and Tifa's world!"
"Wonder where we can find them?" Yuffie wondered aloud. "I've never been here, but Tifa told me once that she owned a bar called uh... what was it... 7th Heaven."
"Ah, yeah. I remember that place." Axel said. "They had nice-" He stopped.
"Ale?" Riku finished with a smirk.
"Shut up."
"I don't suppose you could lead us there, then. Could you?" Sora asked.
"I might be able to. Provided it's still standing, and I can remember the area correctly. I was only ever there about twice."
"Lead the way then, Axel." Mickey said.
For once, Axel was on point. The party of ten walked down the street they had landed in, and out into the open city air. Most of the inhabitants out on the streets didn't pay them much attention, and went about their business.
Down the street, Sora saw a young girl walking merrily down the sidewalk, humming a little song under her breath. It struck him as unusual that a small girl who couldn't have been older than six was out alone at night. She was just a few feet tall, with brown hair and eyes. She had a pink bow on the back of her head.
Yuffie looked at this girl curiously for a moment, and in a second, the girl noticed her, and returned the look. All of them stopped for a few seconds while the two very different girls stared at each other.
"Yuffie?" Riku asked at last. "Is everything alright?"
The ninja didn't reply right away. Then suddenly, her face broke out into a wide, comprehending smile. "Marlene!" She squealed.
The little girl seemed to come to her senses at the same time she did, and she beamed. She ran toward her, exclaiming, "Auntie Yuffie!"
Yuffie met her halfway, and scooped her up into a tight hug. The girl squeezed her arms around Yuffie's shoulders, giggling. After a moment, the ninja set her down, looking her over closely.
"It's been so long! You're such a big girl, now!"
"I'm six years old now!" Marlene stated with gleeful pride.
"Wow, really!" Yuffie hugged her again.
"I think they know each other." Sora stated jokingly. The rest of the group walked forward to join the two of them.
"Guys, this is Marlene." Yuffie introduced. "She's Barret's daughter."
"Really?" Sora disregarded the slight surprise he got from discovering that Barret Wallace was also a native of Midgar. He bent down to get a closer look at Marlene. She didn't look anything like the large man that Sora had met those months ago (it seemed a very, very long time ago, now). He assumed that she was adopted. "Hey, Marlene. I'm Sora."
"My dad told me about you!" She said, grinning at Sora. "He says you're really cool!"
"He did?" Sora smiled.
He and Yuffie introduced the others. Sora laughed when Yuffie introduced Riku as Marlene's 'Uncle Riku.' He blushed bright red, and Yuffie grinned at him, taking his hand.
"Marlene, what are you doing out here so late?" Bariss asked gently.
"I saw a bright light coming down, so I went to see what it was."
"Gawrsh, that was us." Goofy said. They usually forgot that a beam of light was occasionally visible when they teleported people down from the Unity to a world's surface.
"Is Barret nearby?" Yuffie asked Marlene.
"Yeah! He's at the 7th Heaven with Auntie Tifa and Za-"
She was cut short by her own cry of terror. Twisting around, all of them saw Heartless pouring down the moonlight street directly toward them. People were fleeing from the mob, practically shoving others out of the way in their frantic haste.
Among the Heartless were Shadows and Neoshadows. Soldiers, Minute Bombs, Morning Stars, and Large Bodies accompanied them on the ground. Hovering just over them were Invisibles, Surveillance Robots, and Bookmasters.
All my favorites.
"Marlene, run." He ordered quietly, summoning the Keyblade as all of his allies brandished their own weapons. "Get back to the bar, tell Tifa and your dad what's wrong, and stay there. We'll make sure they don't chase you."
Without waiting for a response, he ran forward, and the others followed suit.
The Surveillance Robots opened fire on them immediately. Narrow red laser bolts streaked through the air toward them. Sora merely raised his blade to catch the shots that otherwise would have hit him head on. He thrust his other hand forward, sending a large bolt of lightning into the horde of Heartless, frying several of them.
He waded into them, Oblivion slicing all around him, cutting into Heartless with every swing. With only his first swing, he had sliced apart five of the lesser Heartless. He leapt into the air, slicing through a Surveillance Robot, and landing on the shoulders of a Large Body.
Before he could bring his blade to bear against it, Kairi had fired a beam of Light directly into its face. Sora fell lightly off of its fading body, and parried a strike from an Invisible as he landed. Kairi was suddenly there, and carving a long gash into the Heartless' chest.
She ducked under the fiery blast of a Bookmaster, and leapt up toward it. She sliced her blade through the spine of its giant tome, leaving the Heartless hiding behind it defenseless. With a quick flick of her blade, she beheaded it.
Mickey leapt past her, his blade a golden blur. He smacked away a Minute Bomb that was two seconds from detonating, throwing it into the center of a group of Neoshadows. When it exploded, it took them all out. An Invisible dove at Mickey's head, stabbing at his face. The King slipped to the side, knocking its blade upward, and out of its grasp.
He drove his Keyblade into its body, and withdrew it in time to leap away from a Large Body's descending fist. He fired a small ball of Light from the tip of his blade, which struck its stomach, and knocked it rolling backwards. It squashed a pair of Shadows, and rolled right on toward Goofy.
The knight saw it coming, and smashed his shield into it with all the strength he had. The large Heartless flew into the air, and directly toward Nehrut. The telepath also saw it coming, and grabbed it in a mental hold. He threw it into a second Large Body with enough force to destroy both of them.
Nehrut sliced a leaping Neoshadow in half, and erected a mental shield to catch the laser bolts of a Surveillance Robot. He leapt up toward it when it ceased fire, and cut it in half. When he landed, a Soldier slashed its claws at his throat, and he was forced to duck out of the way. As he came to his feet, he plunged his sword into its chest, up to the hilt.
A Morning Star threw itself into the air nearby, intent on smashing Axel with its bulk. The former Nobody threw both chakrams up at it, knocking it off-course just slightly, and causing it to crash unceremoniously to the ground next to him. He hosed the creature with fire until it vanished, and then called his weapons back to him.
He sidestepped an Invisible's lunge at him, and sliced into its back as it passed him by. A Minute Bomb scrambled towards him on its little legs, intent on exploding, and taking Axel with it. He blasted it with a fireball before it got within five feet of him.
A Large Body appeared behind him, and was about to smash him into the ground, when a Blizzaga spell impacted with the side of its head. Axel waved a casual thanks to Donald, and threw one of his chakrams into its partially-frozen face.
Bariss rushed through the space where it had been moments before. Her sai flashed, slashing open the throats of two Neoshadows at once. A Shadow leapt at her, but she ducked under it easily, smashing it into the ground with her shield. She slipped her sai back onto her belt, and switched to the whip.
She lashed it out toward a Bookmaster, catching it in the face with the very tip of her weapon. Two Invisibles that had been hovering near it swooped down to cut her apart. Bariss ran to meet them, flourishing Rose Thorn, and wrapping it around the throat of the first one. She flexed the whip, and brought it to the ground.
She jerked it toward her, and sliced its forehead with the edge of her shield. The other nearly lodged its blade into her skull, when a shuriken passed directly over her to hit it in the chest.
Yuffie leapt over Bariss to retrieve it, waving off her hurried thanks. The ninja teleported into the air amidst a few Surveillance Robots. She held four kunai in each of her hands, and threw them out in all directions. Seven of them struck the flying Heartless, with only one continuing on through the fight to harmlessly hit the side of a building.
Yuffie landed on the ground, and immediately leapt away from the blasts of a surviving Surveillance Robot. She pulled out her shuriken again, and threw it at it. It cut completely through it, and struck the back of a Large Body Riku had been fighting.
"Thanks!" He shouted. He summoned the Guardian behind him, and rushed toward a trio of Large Bodies converging on his ninja girlfriend. He slashed his way through the more dangerous Heartless, and allowing his massive protector to smash Shadows and Neoshadows into the ground as he went.
He leapt up to the first Large Body, and cleanly sliced its head off before it was aware of his presence. The second, he destroyed with a blast of Dawn right to the face. The third was destroyed by a beam of Light that Kairi had fired after she had dealt with a pair of Soldiers.
The battle went on in that street for several minutes. Dozens of Heartless had fallen, but they showed no sign of stopping their attack. For every one that fell, it seemed that two or three came from nowhere to replace them.
Sora stood back-to-back with Kairi. She was breathing heavily, and he was sweating.
"How many more can there be?" She asked.
"Plenty. We just need to outlast them."
"Right now, that's looking a little tough."
"Well, we've been through a lot worse, right?"
She was about to respond, but stopped short when a familiar sound ripped through the night air. Sora heard it to, and looked to the nearest rooftop, from which the sounds of gunfire were issuing.
There stood none other than Barret Wallace. He wore a dark green combat vest, and thick, khaki pants. His metal arm had transformed into the gatling-gun like weapon that Sora had seen him using before, and he was emptying a hail of bullets into the Heartless below.
He waved casually down at them with his normal arm. "Welcome to AVALANCHE, kids!"
Before Sora could reply to him, or even shout a greeting, a Large Body slid on its belly toward him and Kairi. He raised his blade to bat it away, but somebody beat him to the creature.
What resembled a tattered, deep red cowl shot in front of them. There were gunshots, and the Heartless flinched repeatedly, until a bullet struck it directly in the eye.
The cowl vanished, and reformed into a human being a few feet away from Sora and Kairi. He was a tall, intimidating man. He had crimson eyes, pale skin, and long, wild black hair. The red band he wore around his head let his bangs hang in front of his face. He wore a tattered red cape buckled over his shoulders, and the lower part of his face. Underneath was a black, full-body suit. His left hand was covered by a golden claw, and his right held a three-barreled revolver.(1)
The newcomer nodded to Sora and Kairi, and then turned back to the action, firing away at the Heartless with his unusual gun. It fired off three bullets with every shot, which was more than enough to take care of most of the Heartless.
Suddenly, there was yet another warrior on the ground.
The man looked a little like Cloud, and for a while, Sora was convinced that he was.
His hair was in a similar style to Cloud's- long, slicked-back spikes- but it was jet black. He had dark blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin. He wore a dark blue sleeveless shirt and pants. He wore a large, thick, black leather belt. He had large, black metal shoulder pads on each shoulder, and black combat boots and gloves. The large broadsword he was fighting with looked similar to Cloud's (minus the bandages), and he fought in a similar manner.
He sliced right through an Invisible, and leapt over the head of a Large Body, beheading it in midair. "Hey, Vincent!" This man shouted with a grin. "Quit hogging all the Heartless, huh? The rest of the team wants to have some fun, too!"
The 'rest of the team' soon came into Sora's field of vision. Three very different beings rushed into the area.
The one in the lead, Sora recognized immediately. Tifa was exactly as he had remembered her. She had long black hair, fierce brown eyes, and still wore the black outfit and gloves.
Right behind her was a tall, bulky black man with a straight, stoic expression. He wore a jet black suit with a white-collared shirt. He had a shaven head, and a thin goatee. Dark shades covered his eyes, and he had silver loops running through his ear. His large fists were covered by black leather gloves.
The third was a lion-like creature with sleek red and orange fur. A thin brown mane ran partway down his back, stopping before his thin, flame-tipped tail. A thin scar ran across his right eye, while the intact one was yellow. Strips of his mane were adorned with beads, and one or two feathers. He had black tattoos and golden bands on his four legs, and his front-left shoulder blade was branded with the number 'XIII.'
Axel was the first one to notice them, and he grinned widely at the sight of the big man. "Rude, you dog! How've ya been!"
The man that Sora now knew as Rude rushed over to Axel's side, an odd half-smile on his face. He smashed a leaping Neoshadow with his fist. "Ale."
"It's Axel, now. But it's good to see you again, man."
"Let's catch up later, huh?" Tifa said, leaping, and driving her fist into the side of a Soldier's head. Enough force was packed into her blow that she smashed its head into the side of a building, and left a nice crater behind.
The animal creature rushed past her, and sank his teeth into the arm of a Large Body approaching Mickey. With amazing force, he yanked it to its tiny knees. Mickey leapt up, and beheaded it quickly.
The fight wound down fairly quickly after that, with the addition of a half-dozen fresh, and incredibly dangerous new warriors added to the mix. The Heartless went down like ducks in a shooting gallery. Less than ten minutes after Tifa, Barret and the others had arrived, the few remaining ones retreated from the street, vanishing quickly.
The weapons were holstered, dismissed, or transformed.
"So..." Sora said. "How've you been?"
It was such a casual comment that they all laughed.
"You're just the same as always, aren't you?" Tifa pulled Sora into a sisterly hug, and Barret gave him a hardy slap on the back. Sora got the impression that neither was fully aware of their own strength, as Tifa's hug took the wind out of him, and Barret's pat on the back buckled his knees.
"We hear you've got a Brotherhood problem." Axel said.
Only now did Tifa seem to register Axel's presence. "I had no idea when I saw your picture that I was looking at you, Ale."
"Axel." He corrected. "I find that that name gets much fewer laughs. Got it memorized?"
"What do you expect when you're named after a drink?" The Cloud-like man replied with a smirk. Then he turned to Sora. "So, the famous Master of the Keyblade." He extended his hand. "Zack Fair. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. That was some nice swordsmanship I saw over there."
"Hey, that's what a few years of SOLDIER training and travelling around the worlds does to you."
"Zack speaks for all of us." came a surprisingly soft voice. It was from the mouth of the lion-like creature. "Nanaki. Red XIII if you prefer. It's an honor."
"And this is Rude and Vincent." Tifa said, nodding toward Rude and the man in red. Both of them nodded wordlessly.
"We should leave." Vincent said, in a low, gravelly, unsettling voice. He began walking down the street. "The Heartless may be gone for now, but whoever commands them may decide to make an appearance soon."
"Right. We'll catch up at 7th Heaven. It's not far." Tifa followed Vincent, and each of them went after them.
"I owe you guys one." Barret said, clapping a hand on Sora and Yuffie's shoulders. "I tell Marlene to stay put, and what does she do? Ah well, thanks for keeping the Heartless off of her."
"It was no problem." Riku shrugged.
"She's grown so much!" Yuffie said. "She's just as cute as ever. Congrats, Barret, you haven't worn off on her."
The big man promptly shoved her away as she laughed.
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"Somehow, it never gets old."
On a high building not far from the very street where AVALANCHE and the off-worlders had fought off the Heartless, sat Sephiroth.
He had supremely enjoyed watching the fight. It had been difficult to resist the urge to swoop down and cut them all down before they were aware of him. But, he had endured it, and watched as the Heartless had been slaughtered.
He had special plans for this world, and he hadn't talked Serndask into giving him leave just so he could wipe them all out immediately. Patience was essential, and besides, not all of his targets were here yet. Not all of the players were at the board.
He silently stood to his full height, and took to the sky, extending his black wing. One kick from the rooftop, and he was soaring toward the center of the city. There stood the ruins of the massive building where he had battled against Cloud during the Planet's destruction. Now, the building was only a shell of its former self, and was no longer used for anything. There was talk of rebuilding it as a spaceport for travel to other worlds, but for now, it sat empty.
This suited Sephiroth just fine. He landed lightly on its roof, out of sight to anybody who might have been looking toward the building.
The One-Winged Angel gazed up at the full moon, and reached into a pouch strapped to his leg. He pulled out a marble-sized silver ball which pulsed with a faint inner light. He held it up to the moonlight for a moment, and then made a fist, crushing the ball. Bright silver light shone from between his fingers, and he then opened his hand.
He pressed it to his chest, gritting his teeth against the icy feeling this gave him. For a moment, his chest was shining with silver, and then a tendril of light burst from his chest. Two more accompanied it, and they each stopped ten feet away from Sephiroth.
They gradually took shape, taking on the form of humans kneeling on the ground. They gradually turned solid, and the glow faded from them. In a moment, there were three figures kneeling before him.
The farthest one to the right was slightly taller than the others, with green eyes. His silver hair was short, and spiked up near the back. He had sideburns on his face. He was heavily muscled, and wore an all black body suit and coat. He had thick shoulder pads on. On his left forearm was what appeared to be some kind of silver pilebunker weapon.
The one on the far left had longer silver hair that went past his shoulders. He also had green eyes, but he was much thinner than his 'brother.' He wore a similar coat to the other, zipped all the way up, and fully buckled shut. Strapped to the back of his belt was an unusually designed gun that could have possibly doubled as a sword.
The one in the middle was only slightly shorter than the other two. He had shoulder-length silver hair, and bright green eyes. He had the same black coat, though the top was unzipped slightly, and the collar went up a bit higher. Sheathed on his belt was a double-bladed katana.
"Loz. Yazoo. Kadaj." Sephiroth said, addressing each of them. They bowed their heads to him, smiling in anticipation.
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Soon it will all be over. Tomorrow, the Keyblade Master will be in my possession. And Cloud will be dead at last.
So who's seen Advent Children? If you haven't, and are a Final Fantasy fan, I highly recommend it.
1) To all you Vincent fans who have been asking about his possible inclusion in the story: Happy now? :P
Please review!