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.17 Solution
The five of us had searched through the entirety of the Deep Jungle, and we still had not found Clayton and the trapped gorillas. The only place left to search was the Cliff, and that was precisely where we went. They were indeed there, and all of the gorillas were surrounded by Heartless. I saw Clayton walk forward and aim at one, pulling back the trigger and- "No!" Sora yelled, and Clayton stopped to look back at him. "Clayton?" he asked, and Tarzan replied "Not Clayton! *&&X%! Not Clayton!" Clayton looked at us blankly, and suddenly the Heartless rushed forward while he aimed.
"Hey!" I said, just barely managing to dodge a blast from his rifle. Sora swung at a Powerwild and cut in clean in two, while Goofy knocked one out with a blow from his shield. Donald cast Blizzard and froze another, and Tarzan stabbed his spear into the block of ice. He swung in a circle over his head until the ice block slid back to the tip of his spear, and he threw the frozen heartless at Clayton. He frowned and fired his gun, shattering the ice but destroying the Heartless in the process. More Heartless appeared to replace the ones we had killed, and I glared at Clayton after he almost shot Donald, actually creating a rip in the side of his hat from the proximity of the bullet.
Donald slowly raised a hand up to his hand, when he felt the hole an actual burst of smoke blew from his ears with a train whistle. "Oh yeah?!" he yelled, and he began casting spells in a rapid barrage like a machine gun. Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, and then the whole thing all over again. Even though they had no real intelligence, the Heartless had good enough instincts to start running away from Donald while he was on a rampage. Every one that came close was either frozen or burnt into a pile of ashes, and even Clayton realized that he had to do something before he was hit. But when he aimed and was about to fire, I called "Zero Gravity!" and send a pulse of gravity-cancelling energy outwards.
Clayton shouted in surprise as he rode into the air and his shot missed, and both Sora and Tarzan took the chance to bring their weapons sown on his back. Clayton fell back down to the ground and jumped back, his back against the cliff. "Nowhere to run!" I said gloatingly. He didn't say anything, and suddenly the ground shook. The cliff that he was standing in front of burst apart, although why I couldn't see. Tarzan rushed forward but was immediately punched back, and I heard a sound that reminded me of a reptile. Then Clayton rose into the air, and I realized that he was on top of an invisible Heartless. The exit behind us shined with a barrier, and now there was no way out unless we defeated them.
The Heartless Clayton was on rushed forward, and I dodged to avoid what of its outline that I could see. Donald had calmed down enough to begin casting at a less wild pace. Goofy spun around in a circle on one foot, and hit the invisible Heartless straight in the face, and I could see it swing forward and punch him in the stomach. Clayton tried to volley a shot while he was down, but Goofy raised his shield just in time and the bullet bounced off. Sora jumped and hit Clayton with Kingdom Key in the side hard enough to knock him off, and the Heatless spun around to hit Sora with what I thought was a large tail. "A tail, huh?" I said, before running forward. "Deep Freeze!" I called, and aimed the spell at the tail
The air around the tail swiftly condensed and froze, becoming a block of solid ice that anchored the Heartless to the ground. It shouted and tried to move its tail, but I cast Blizzaga and made the ice block only larger and heavier. Tarzan climbed high onto the cliff and jumped down, falling straight through the air and landing right on the Heartless behind Clayton. He swung his leg around and kicked Clayton in the stomach, and he gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of him. The Heartless flailed around to try and knock Tarzan off, but I hit it where its head should be and it faltered enough for Tarzan to swing his spear and whack Clayton down.
Now that they were off Sora, Donald and I took the chance to attack the Heartless with magic. We all charged our energy for a few seconds before casting three separate Thunder spells at the same time, and the Heartless screeched from the voltage. Its camouflage faded away, revealing itself to indeed be a chameleon, but six feet tall when crouched over, and its skin was the pattern of forest camo. A Stealth Sneak. "Should have known!" I said, and cast Thundaga Shot. The ball of pure lightning hit it and exploded with enough energy to light a house for a full minute, and the beast's eyes rolled into the back of its head. Or that could have been natural; I couldn't tell. Goofy helped daze it further by hitting his shield against its head, and it fell over, temporarily stunned.
Seeing that his backup was down, Clayton climbed onto a ledge high above and fired down on us, only stopping when he needed to reload. Sora attempted to climb but had to let go, barely avoiding being shot in the hand. I looked from him to the others, all of whom were both trying to hit Clayton and avoiding being, and then to the unconscious Stealth Sneak. Suddenly an idea for victory shot into my head, and I called "Everyone, duck!" before I channeled my Magic and used Wind Raid. My Stormfell flew through the air and hit Clayton in the stomach, actually rising him into the air and way from the cliff before flying over at Sora and the others. "Add your weapons in! Just throw them!" I said.
They nodded and Donald fired a shard if ice, while Goofy threw his shield like a disc, Tarzan volleyed his spear and Sora tossed his Kingdom Key. All of the weapons followed the same current of wind as mine, and they all knocked into Clayton again and sent him crashing into the Stealth Sneak, which had just regained consciousness. They were both still for a long moment, until I walked forward, picked up my Keyblade, and without a word drove the point of it into the Stealth Sneak's side. Clayton stood and glared at us, when the Heartless stood behind him, energy crackling around it as its camouflage flickered on and off. It made one more noise before it fell forward, and Clayton cried out as it fell on and crushed him.
Both bodies shined and a large heart rose into the air before disappearing. All was silent for a few moments until the gorillas, which had been hiding since the beginning of the battle, walked forward, and Kerchak approached us. I was cautious but knew not to do anything, and Kerchak grabbed the front of my shirt before throwing me up into the air which unreal strength. "Hey! Where I am gooiiiiiinnnggg!" I called, rising up until I was nearly level with the clouds before falling down. I landed in an area beyond the hole that the Heartless had burst open, and my impact was softened by patch of leaves. Kerchak did the same with Sora, Donald and Goofy, and Tarzan climbed up.
"Thank you, Kerchak," he said, before coming up stand with us. This area was dominated by a huge waterfall, and around it was lush greenery and plant-life. "Tarzan, home," Tarzan said, and we walked forward. Behind the waterfall was a huge cavern of ledges that led all the way to the top, and once we reached there we went through one final opening. Within was a dark cave illuminated a soft yet bright blue light, and the source of them seemed to be a cluster of butterflies gathered around a shape a couldn't determine. "*&&X%," Tarzan said. "So this is your home? But that means…" Sora said, before stopping. "Huh?" Goofy asked, and I noticed it too. "The waterfalls… they're echoing all the way down here," Jane said in awe.
"*&&X%. Friends there. See friends," Tarzan said. "Oh, now I've got it. *&&X% mean hearts heart. Friends in our hearts," Jane stated. Tarzan glanced at her and slowly said "Heart…" "Oh, so that's it meant," Sora said, disappointed. "Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends," Tarzan said to Sora. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Donald. "Sorry about what I said before," he said, and Donald replied "I'm sorry too." "Finally, some sense comes into your thick skulls," I said, smiling. Goofy put his arm over all of our shoulders and said "Yeah, all for one, huh?" I nodded. "And one for all," I said. The light from the butterflies suddenly glowed brighter, and they flew away to reveal the shape they had been covering. The Keyhole.
Without even asking Sora pointed his Keyblade at the Keyhole, and stars gathered around the tip before firing a single beam of light. There was a loud click, and the Keyhole faded away after popping a gummi out. "A gummi!" Donald said. "But it's sure not the king's," Goofy said sadly. Terk walked forward and rubbed its head against Donald's side. "I think someone has a new admirer," Jane said. Donald looked at her and then at Terk, and his eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. "No, no, no, no! Daisy would kill me!" he said panicky. All of us, even Terk and Tarzan, laughed at that.
Meanwhile, in another world far away, all the shadowy figures with the exception of Hades sat around the table, surprised by this latest development. "What drew the Heartless to that world?" one man asked. The green-skinned woman with horns smiled and replied "The hunter lured them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait. But it seems the bait was too tasty for his own good." Another individual laughed. "Yeah, he got chomped instead!" The man stepped forward, revealing himself to be tall and thin and a goatee, and he wore the red and black outfit of an Arabian vizier. In his right hand was a staff with the head of snake. "A weak-hearted fool like him stood no chance against the Heartless. But the boy and Dexal are a problem. They found one of the Keyholes."
"Fear not. It will take him ages to find the rest. Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan," she pointed out. The other woman present smiled evilly. "Yes, the princesses," she said. "They are falling into our hands, one by one. Speaking of which…" the green-skinned woman said triumphantly, looking back at the frightened figure of Alice. Back with us, we had left the Waterfall Cavern and made our way back to the camp, and now stood inside the tent. "Well, we better get going," I said. "Where is your ship, anyway?" Jane asked curiously. "Well, uh… Not too far," Sora said nervously. "Sora, Tarzan, friends," Tarzan said, and he handed him something.
My eyes widened. "A Keychain!" I said. "A what-what?" Sora asked. "A Keychain. It goes on the end of your Keyblade, and can change the appearance and attributes of the blade itself. Go on, try it!" I explained. Sora looked unsure but nodded, and he replaced the Kingdom Key with the new Keychain, which automatically caused it to shine and changed to the Jungle King. "Whoa!" Sora said in awe. I smiled; getting a new Keyblade was always a great experience. It had only happened to me once, but even then the rush of power was great. We made our final farewells to Jane and Tarzan, and left the Deep Jungle for the Gummi Ship. Once we were strapped in Sora held up the gummi.
"The gummi that came out of the glowing hole… It's not like the others. Wonder what it's used for," he said. "I don't know," Donald replied. "Maybe Leon will know," I suggested. "Hmm… He might. Back to Traverse Town, then?" Donald asked. "I wanna be pilot!" Sora told him. "Hey, stop it!" he said. "Oh, come on! I'm the Keyblade master," Sora protested. "I don't care who you are! No!" Donald stated firmly. I groaned and face-palmed myself, and Goofy said "Here we go again…"
xxx
Deep Jungle has been completed, and once the group arrives in Traverse Town they will have a nice little reunion!
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