Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.16 To the Rescue
The Heartless that had mysteriously appeared in the jungle had surrounded four more gorillas, and we had to fight all four packs to make they were safe. "… and that!" I finished, slicing a Bouncywild across the chest and dodging the banana it threw at me. It was then that we heard a shotgun blast, and all five of us looked at the pathway to the right. "That was Clayton's gun! Let's go!" Sora called. We all agreed, and ran in that direction. It was strange, in the heat of battle Sora and Donald completely forgot about the fact that they were angry with each other. I smiled; it reminded me of how my friends and I used to be. We ran into a patch of open area, and I gasped when I saw what was on the rock in the center.
It was Clayton's pipe. We all walked towards it slowly, and Goofy said "That belonged to Clayton, didn't it? What's it doing out here?" "I don't know. Do you think he may have left it here?" I suggested. Before he could answer my question there was a feral roar and the bamboo shook, and Sabor jumped out of them in front of us. Sighing- we didn't have the time for this- I summoned Stormfall and charged forward just as he pounced. Sabor grabbed my Keyblade within its teeth and tugged, and I smiled. Charging a Thunder spell through it and sent a live current through its teeth and into the rest of its body.
It shrieked and jumped back, rubbing a paw against its lips before glaring at me. "Hey, I'm in this fight too!" Donald said, casting Fire. The ball of flame flew forward and Sabor moved out of the way, and it exploded against the rock. Goofy ran forward and picked up a huge branch that was lying on the ground before swinging it around and clubbing the tiger in the side. It growled and caught the branch in its mouth like my Keyblade, only this time it snapped the weapon in half. Goofy looked at the stump left in his hand before shouting as Sabor tried claw at him. Claws struck sparks off the face of his shield. Sora jumped up and flipped down, trying to catch the beast from overhead.
It dodged, and pounced back, scratching Sora along his leg. "Ow!" he said, falling to one knee. Sabor looked like it was about to attack again, but then I jumped in front of Sora. "Nice try! Dark Haze!" I called, and cloaked myself in darkness before shooting forward. The move was too quick for the tiger to dodge, and I rammed my shoulder into it like a major-league sports player. It fell back and I stopped, looking to see if I had given it the doom effect the move possibly could. Sadly there was no counter above its head, but from the way the beast glared at me I knew that the move itself hurt. It jumped back and disappeared in the bamboo, and I could hear the rustling of leaves as it dashed in another direction.
I stood in place and tried to track its movements, but then I heard Donald shout and I turned to see that Sabor had gotten behind me and pounced on him. "Donald!" Sora called, and fired a series of Blizzard spells machine gun-style. They flew forward and Sabor got off of Donald and out of the way, but Sora kept firing and it had to keep running. Donald looked at me and I knew that he saw it too: Sora had just saved him. "Would you just stay still?" Sora said, turning in a circle and re-aiming at Sabor. By now the surrounding tress all had patches of ice and frost on them, and when the tiger tried to jump into a group of them they snapped and fell down straight on it. It roared and struggled underneath the weight, and I smiled.
"Not so fun being the one pinned, huh?" I taunted. It growled and kept trying to move, but it was futile. The frozen bamboo weighed just too much. I walked forward, confident in our victory, when suddenly it roared and sprang up, sending the trees away and clawing at me. I shouted and blocked with Stormfell, backing away when the sparks stung my face. "Hold on, Dexal. I got ya!" Goofy said, and he placed his shield against the ground before sliding on top of it like a snowboard. Goofy turned so that his elbow was pointing outwards, and jumped up at the last moment. Whether it was intentional or not, Goofy had also jumped so that the sun was at his back, and when Sabor looked up at him its eyelids shrank as it was blinded.
Goofy smiled and fell down; delivering a flying elbow that hit the tiger in the ribcage. There was a loud crack and it leaped back, wincing. "Good job, Goofy; I think you broke a rib! Maybe two!" I said, casting Aeroga. A gale of win blasted out and literally swept Sabor off its feet, tossing it around in a circle before throwing it back down. It tottered from side to side, dazed, and Sora tried to cast magic but failed. "Oh man, I used up my magic!" he said. "I warned you!" I told him, rolling out of the way when Sabor pounced at me again. "It's alright; I have an idea! Can you get blind him again?" he asked me. "Oh, I could do that easily!' I said, and I performed a trick that Aqua had taught. The move mixed a Vanish and Thundaga Shot spell together, and I did just that before shooting the sphere of energy at the ground.
The lightning vanished for a second before it hit the ground, and when it did I covered my eyes as a flash of bright light was created. It lasted for a few seconds before fading away, and when I removed my arm I saw that Sabor, Donald, Goofy and Sora were all blinded. Nevertheless, Sora ran for the rock in the center of the area and climbed on, leaping off and flipping through the air towards Sabor. It looked up at him and tried to dodge, but the light had seared the afterimages into its retina to the point that it didn't realize that it was moving right into Sora's path. "This is it!" he called, and swung down. His Kingdom Key slashed across the beasts back in a long cut that went the length of its spine.
Sora landed on the ground and Sabor made a weak growl before falling on its side, and I sighed as I dismissed my Keyblade. "Well, I think that ends our having to save the gorillas. Let's head back," I said. "What about Clayton?" Donald asked. I looked at the pipe, which was still on the rock, and sighed. "Maybe he made it back," I suggested, but even I could hear that from my tone I didn't give it much hope. We walked back and expected to see Jane in the tent, so you can imagine our surprise when she wasn't there. "Hey, where's Jane?" Sora thought aloud. Tarzan walked forward, and Goofy asked "What's wrong?" "Something coming. Jane, danger. Jane near… near tree house," he said. "Sounds like trouble. Let's go!" Donald exclaimed.
We ran for the tree house, and when we were climbing the trees to make it up I stopped. Above us I could feel the hearts of Jane and one of the gorillas… and the Heartless! "They're up ahead! And in trouble!" I said. We doubled our speed and made it up, and I saw Jane and Terk holding each other on a ledge above the ground. Strangely enough though, there were roots wrapped around their ankles, and a large black fruit was hanging from one of the trees. "Tarzan!" she called, and when she tried to move the roots tightened. The fruit was holding her in place. Then a total of a dozen Powerwilds appeared, and I summoned back my Keyblade. "We have to destroy that fruit! Go!" I said.
The others nodded and they each took a trio of Heartless to themselves, while I jumped up and slashed at the fruit. Despite the strength I put behind the blow it hardly made a scratch, and I frowned. "What the-?" I said, before having to dart back as one of the Heartless jumped at me. I grunted; I was starting to get annoyed by these things. "You want a fight? You got it!" I yelled, and casting Ice Barrage. Several pillars of ice burst out of the ground and impaled the Heartless, while the surrounding ground quickly developed sheen of frost. That left one Heartless down, but almost immediately another appeared to replace it. "Oh, come on!" I complained, beating it back before I cast Triple Firaga at the fruit.
The spell should have caught it aflame, but that didn't happen at all. Tarzan jumped into it and stabbed with his spear, but the skin was almost as hard as rock. "Won't… go in!" he said through gritted teeth, and pulled it out to knock away a Powerwild that had jumped at him. "Help!" Jane said, and I looked to see that another one was slowly approaching her. "Jane!" I called, and used Zantetsuken. The monster managed to make it a few more steps before I shot forward with blinding speed, cutting the beast in half. "Are you alright?" I asked. She and Terk both nodded, and I sighed in relief. "Just stay put. We'll get you out of here," I assured her before turning back to the fruit.
A Keyblade attack, magic, and a spear didn't work. Goofy and Donald's weapons couldn't really cut either. What else was there? Then Donald dodged a Heartless and whacked with his staff like a club, and I remembered the simplest rule in fighting. When everything else fails, start swinging. With that in mind I ran up to the fruit and raised Stormfell over my head, swinging down hard enough to crack four wooden boards in half. The part I hit actually caved in slightly and I grinned. Again and again I kept smashing, using my Keyblade as I club. Another Powerwild must have sensed that I was making progress, and swiped at me with its claws. I shouted; the scratches stung furiously, and I shudder to think of what was under the monster's claws.
I fell back to the ground and grasped my arm, muttering a quick Cure spell. The arm glowed with a slight green light, and the scratches healed instantly. Then I looked around and realized that I had more important things to worry about. While I was focused on destroying the fruit the number of Heartless present had more than doubled, and the others were barely keeping up. Even Donald had exhausted his magic and now swung at any that came close, while Goofy blocked any attacks with his shield. Tarzan stabbed one Powerwild with his spear before kicking another, and Sora managed to recharge his magic enough to freeze one of the ones targeting him.
"There's just too many! Is there anything that you can do, Dexal?" Sora asked. I started to shake my head, but then a light bulb went off in my head. "There is one spell I know that could destroy them all in one hit, but it's dangerous," I said. "Dangerous?" Tarzan asked. I nodded. "The spell would certainly get rid of them, but I could also set this whole section of the forest on fire in the process," I warned. A few more Heartless appeared, and we were surrounded. "There's no choice. Do it!" Sora said. I sighed. "Alright, just do me one thing. Get on the ground… NOW!" I yelled, before pointing my Keyblade forward. They did as I said just as a ball of fire shot out of the end and I called "Mega Flare!"
The ball exploded in a blast of flame that filled the entire area we were located at in less than a single second. Waves of pure energy blasted out and sent the Heartless flying until they slammed against the wall and burst into shadows, countless hearts rising into the air. The part of the fruit that I had been hitting caught fire, the tough skin worn away enough for the fire to punch through. The flames burnt out except for a few patches of them here and there, and I got rid of those with a quick combo of Tornado and Blizzaga. That was, except for the fruit, which fell from the tree and burnt against the ground. In a matter of seconds it was burnt out, and the roots trapping Terk and Jane sank back into the ground.
Sora and the others stood and wiped soot from their shoulders, and Donald asked "What kind of spell was that?" "Mega Flare, one of the most powerful Fire-type spells invented," I said, when suddenly my knees buckled, and only Goofy catching me kept me from falling. "And one of the most exhausting," I added. "You gonna make it?" Goofy asked. I nodded and stood, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. Let's go," I said. We checked to make sure that Jane and Terk were okay, and I asked "Do you know how you got here?" She shook her head. "Clayton came to the tent, and… That's the last thing I remember," she said. "Clayton?" Sora asked. "Gorillas trapped. Terk ran," Tarzan said. "We must help the gorillas," Jane said. That was all agreed on, and so we left the area to search for Clayton and the gorillas.
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Well, most of the gorillas have been saved. Now they just have to defeat Clayton (easy, right?) and another world is down!
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)