It is official. Until I finish this book, this story, I will not be updating any of my other stories. Which sucks, but at the same time good. Why? I may have a slight writer's block for the other stories. ... Don't judge me.
Other than that! Here, a certain someone is finally going to make a comeback! We will see an old friend! We will see a new form! I don't know how any of you will feel about that last one and I kind of don't care! And I said 'kind of' so I may care a little bit! ... Again, don't judge me!
Now enough jibber-jabber! Let us begin!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. I do not own Guthrie and Allen. Well, actually I kind of do own him.
*OPENING*
Let's fly to the sky
(The sun rises as Merry sails across the ocean)
There's not a single cloud in the sky
(All the current Straw Hats watched the sun rises, Luffy on the figurehead)
Let's fly to the sky. (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The camera faces the sky as the title appears on the screen)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Camera faces back to the Going Merry as everyone went on with their peaceful business)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Xion looked up and saw Marines ahead of them and warned everyone)
OH! OH! under the sun
(They all prepared themselves for battle. Marines fired cannon balls at them)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Luffy, Zoro and Sanji sent the cannons back at them. Usopp fired a cannon of their own with Xion, in her Wisdom Form, unleashed Triple Firaga at them, followed by a Thundaga, clearing their path)
Everyday is plain!
Real talent makes the world go round
(Going Merry sailed through the smoke. Everyone looked content as they enjoyed the sea breeze)
Deceit won't work anymore.
(Scene changed to Jaya in Mock Town, as camera faced each of the Blackbeard Pirates.)
Mayday, the red light is stopping you too
(Scene changed to Cricket's home, showing Cricket with Masira and Shojo side by side.)
Lend me an ear! And I'm gonna stick on my RAP! Wussup!
(Guthrie fights against some pirates and Heartless. One tried to sneak up on him and Chirithy knocked it away.)
"From tomorrow on I'll get serious!"- seriously cut it out with excuses like that
(Allen danced as he dodged the attacks of the pirates and attacked them at the same time)
Increase your money with your dream! Time is money like NASDAQ!
(The Straw Hats looked at Cricket's gold and searched for the South Bird)
When will you do it boy? It's now or never man! This is the moment, right?
(The crew then arrived at the Knock Up Stream and went to the skies.)
Everybody put ya hands in the air and clap ya hands like this like that
Clap ya hands everybody! Everybody just clap ya hands!
(Scenes quickly changed to different scenes. Xion and Guthrie crossed blades, Luffy's one-hit KO on Bellamy, the group trying to catch the South Bird, then finally their first encounter with the Shandia Warriors)
Let's fly to the sky (It's time to fly around) Catch the perfect breeze for you
(The Straw Hat Pirates arrived on Skypiea and were approached by the White Berets and fought them)
Paint the sky with (Let's go to the wonder world) imagination that no one's ever seen
(Scene changed to the group in the Upper Yard fighting against Heartless, Shandians and Priests)
OH! OH! Even if it's too dazzling (Come on)
(Scene changed to Xion fighting against Larxene)
OH! OH! under the sun
(Changed to Guthrie and Allen teaming up against the Nobodies)
OH! OH! If it's you, you can make it! Throw away your pride and FLY!
(Changed to Luffy battling Eneru. In a flash of light, opening ends with all of Straw Hats on Merry, facing the camera)
Last time:
"Stop worrying about every little thing. Follow what your heart tells you. Don't think on it; act on it. Do what you always do. Don't shoulder all your burdens and pain or let other people's words affect you! Be your own person! That's how she used to act when we were doing her missions together," Allen said.
"Do you really think words like that will help her? A message from a Shandian fool would help turn this around? It changes nothing! And I will prove it to you! Mega Volt!" Larxene tossed Foudre to the ground in front of Xion, creating a large barrage of lightning to attack her.
"How is it..." came Xion's voice, to the blonde's shock and the pirates surprise. "Even though it's just a message from my idiot captain's mouth... how is it possible that his words can affect me so greatly?" The smoke cleared, and they can see that Xion summoned out a pair of Dream Eaters, Idaten and Lightning. The giraffe Dream Eater conjured up a barrier of some sort while the latter was surrounded by electricity himself. "Thank you, Allen. You've given me the strength I need!" Xion stood, healing herself once more with her magic. "Sorry about that Larxene. How about we actually start the real fight?"
Hearing that claim irked the organization member while the Straw Hat Pirates had huge smiles on their faces, knowing that this time, Xion will actually go all out.
'About damn time,' the voice in her head said.
'Sorry, Voice. But now... time to get serious.'
At her claim, Larxene didn't know if she should laugh or get even more annoyed than before. "'The real fight'? Just what difference would it make from this battle and the previous?!" she demanded. "Blade Storm!" Larxene tossed her blades down around Xion. Each knife fired a lightning beam spreading about the area as if searching for their targets.
"Idaten! Lightning!" Xion called. Both Dream Eaters nodded, understanding what their master was thinking. Both got on either side of her and conjured up their respective barriers. While Lightning was absorbing the electrical beams, Idaten was blocking the beams that made contact with him. As Xion saw an opening, she rushed away from her Dream Eaters and over to Larxene.
"Still trying to take me head on?! You haven't learned a thing!" the blonde claimed, teleporting herself away. But that didn't stop the Keyblade wielder from stopping.
"That's where you're wrong," she retorted. "Stun... Impact!" Slamming her Keyblade onto the floor, a powerful shockwave was released, hitting Larxene the moment she reappeared and stunned her. In doing so, however, because of how powerful the attack was, Xion felt the recoil damage in her arms, causing her to grit her teeth to endure the pain.
"What?!" the blonde gasped in shock at the attack.
"Like I said. The real fight... starts now! You like to play with lighting that much? Here's your share! Thunder Edge!" With her Keyblade cloaked in lightning, she jumped and bashed Larxene hard, knocking her down. "And... Thunder Dash!" Cloaking herself in electricity, Xion unleashed a charging attack, slamming her Keyblade into the Organization member's midsection, causing her to cough out some blood and knocking her into the rails, rendering her unconscious.
It was silent, as the pirates saw Larxene not at all moving from her spot. A smile formed on Luffy's face as he cheered, "All right! You beat her!"
Both Idaten and Lightning joined Xion, as the latter casted a spell to heal her arms. The female ravenette petted its head in thanks.
However, the cheer was short-lived, as Nami had realized something. "Wait a second. Eneru is beaten. And so is Larxene. So why is the ark still flying?!" True to her words, although the two lightning users were defeated, the ship was still rising up into the air.
Next they knew, to their surprise, especially Nami's, Eneru started getting back up.
"He's... getting up?" she gasped.
"F-... Fools..." he breathed, as blood dripped out of his mouth. "T-This... Once I am rid of you, I will be supreme. Once again, all shall fear me, worship me, and revere me! It shall be my world! The likes of you cannot hope to defeat me! For one such as me, nothing is impossible! I AM THE ALMIGHTY GOD!"
"Try saying that when you don't look like you lost a battle," Xion said. "You claim to be God, but look at yourself! The way you are now, the way you speak as if you already won is embarrassing! Just give up!"
"Took the words right out of my mouth," came Larxene's voice. The pirates were all shocked to hear her so casually, as they looked and saw her get up normally, as though she didn't get hit from all those attacks Xion dealt. Wiping the blood from her mouth, she then said, "I have to admit, those attacks would've hurt... if they weren't coated in lightning."
"What do you mean?!" Nami asked.
"You think I just produce lightning magic? It's more than that. I don't know about Eneru, but lightning doesn't affect me. Nor will it ever. All it does is give me some boost. Would you like to see?" She suddenly surrounded herself in electricity and charged at Xion with the speed of lightning.
Xion quickly brought up her Keyblade and blocked the strike, but was pushed to the other side of the ship. This sudden boost in power and speed left the pirates speechless.
"Ow... What was that just now...?" the vice captain questioned, as her Dream Eaters rushed to her in worry.
"Like I said. Lightning gives me some boost. And you know, Xion, I was going to drag you back to the Organization. But now... You're at the point of no return. I'm sure they won't mind me killing you." Hearing that surprised them, especially the target in question.
"Hang on a second! I thought you wanted me alive!"
"Hmm... Well, I wouldn't say 'alive'. After all, my orders were to just find you, and bring you back. No mention of whether you should be alive when I do. Earlier was so I don't get any of your puppet blood on my knives. However, seeing that you'd rather die... How can I ever ignore that~?" Larxene questioned, licking her lips as she did.
Xion could tell how serious she was and took notice of her surroundings. She knew that if she were to fight on the ark, Nami and Luffy will be caught in the line of fire. And it may not just be from Larxene. That said...
A smirk formed on her face. "So in any case... Your target is and will forever be me, correct? No one else?"
"Heh. Like I have time for to deal with weak losers. Eneru can handle them," the blonde confirmed.
"I see... In that case..." Next she knew, she jumped off the ship. "Catch me if you can!"
Everyone was dumbfounded that she had done that, especially considering how high they were, as Idaten and Lightning followed after their master.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Nami and Luffy shouted, jaws drop and eyes wide.
"HEY! Who said you can just leave?!" Larxene demanded, teleporting away.
'WHY THE HELL DID I EVER COME UP WITH THIS IDEA?!' Xion questioned herself, as she saw herself getting closer to the ground and, possibly, her death. Seeing this, she thought back to when she, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp entered the Ordeal of Balls. 'Luffy's stupidity is extremely contagious!'
'HEY! Do something or you'll die, idiot!' Voice shouted.
'Shut up! Unless if I can fly then-!' She stopped herself as she looked to Desert Nakama in her hand, specifically the vortex blade. 'Wait. Fly...' An idea came to her. 'That's it!'
Pointing her Keyblade to the ground, she began to cast a magic. "Aeroga!" The blade suddenly became a sudden burst of wind, as Xion felt her fall slowing down, until she was hovering a few feet above ground. As the spell died down, the vice-captain landed safely on the ground.
"Whew... That was a close one," she said to herself.
'THAT'S MY LINE!' She flinched as she heard her teacher's words echoed loudly in her head. 'What the hell were you thinking?! Are you trying to die?! It's one thing to experience that fall when you were searching for your friends, but to do it yourself?! What would happen if you fell off of Skypiea for good?!'
"Okay! I'm sorry!" Xion shouted out loud.
"I don't know who you're talking to... But you shouldn't let your guard down!" Larxene appeared out of nowhere to strike Xion from behind. The latter managed to conjured up a Reflect spell to block the attack and forced her back. "Oh? So you finally decided to get serious yourself?"
"I am reminded of who I truly am. And 'puppet' is not one of them!" Xion took into a battle position as she said that, with her two Dream Eaters landing next to her.
Hearing those words, Larxene would've laughed, but for some reason... she was getting angry. "And so you claim... Puppet!" Larxene disappeared once more with a spark of lightning.
Xion and her Dream Eaters got close to each other, back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots and observing their surroundings. The Dream Eaters sensed something from above and looked up with a cry. This prompted the girl to look as well and dodge rolled away from her spot, as did the creatures. Striking the ground where they once were was the lightning-cloaked Larxene. Her and two of her clones. All three of them rushed towards Xion, who used her boosted-Aeroga magic to distance herself from the blonde. Both Idaten and Lightning then individually fought against two Larxenes, distracting them both while the third charged at Xion once more. The two girls clashed their weapons against each other, both trying to push the other back.
"Fire... Surge!" Flames appeared around Xion, in which Larxene quickly jumped away in response. A response Xion had hoped for. "And Quick Blitz!" The Keyblade wielder followed it up with a heavy jumping attack, knocking her opponent onto the ground.
Larxene gritted her teeth and retaliated with her own magic. "Thundara!" A barrage of lightning rained down above Xion and struck her.
Xion let out a scream as she tried to endure the lightning like before. 'I can't keep going like this. I need back up!' she thought, reaching into her pocket and blindly taking out a pair of Dream Eater cards.
"S-Summon!" Two rays of light shot out of them and made their way to Larxene. Both took on their forms and tackled her away, ending the magic. The Dream Eaters summoned were Steed and Blaze. On her knees and panting, Xion thanked the two for the save and healed herself once more.
Larxene, on the other hand, merged back with her clones, thus ending Idaten and Lightning's battle with them.
"Giving up?" Xion asked.
A smirk formed on the blonde's face. "Far from it, puppet." Larxene disappeared. The group of five got together and watched over their surroundings, prepared to block the Organization member. What they weren't prepared for, however... what they least prepared for... was a sneak attack from behind.
Lying on her front, Xion gripped her shoulder. From it to down her back was a set of long and quite deep cuts, with another set of cuts horizontally across her back overlapping the bottom half of the longer cut. She looked behind her and saw her Dream Eaters also down and greatly weakened, as well as four Larxenes standing before them.
"Giving up now~?" came the voice of a Larxene that attacked her. Xion looked to the source and glared at her, knowing that the one before her was the real thing. "My. No need for those eyes. Of course, I don't mind clawing them out~" Bringing her bloody knives to her face, she licked one of the blades like a madman.
The vice-captain of the Straw Hats felt slight fear envelop her, wondering how she can get herself out of the situation, if she can even get out of this situation. She reached in her pocket for another Dream Eater card to call upon, but one of the clones tossed a knife and pinned her hand to the ground. "Aaahhh!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You didn't think I'll let you call upon one of those Dream Eaters of your's, do you?" the real Larxene questioned.
Hearing her call them 'Dream Eaters' made Xion look at her in shock. 'How does she know about Dream Eaters?!' she wondered.
Realizing herself what she let slip out, Larxene said, "Oh! I wasn't suppose to say that. Oh well, since it's been known now. Long story short; the Dream Eaters you have... You're not the only one with them~ They're the originals, sure. But I'm sure you know that they aren't the only ones in existence, correct?"
Xion thought back to when she fought against Haxel and Sarquiss. How they also had Dream Eaters like her, only more darker and evil than they should be.
"Our organization has some connections with people. Including one who helped created in the Dream Eaters. Only he added in a little something extra, as I'm sure you know. Why don't I show you proof of what I mean?" With a snap of her fingers, Xion's eyes widened in growing shock as she saw a Dream Eater appear next to Larxene.
Its appearance was quite similar to Lapin, only it didn't have a hat, it had curved ears, and instead of a cape, it had a green and purple scarf around its neck. Its color was light blue and white with purple to green ear tips, orange upper arms, purple lower legs, and red eyes.
"Meet my Dream Eater, Me Me Bunny," Larxene introduced. "What do you think? Cute, isn't it? But don't let its appearance fool you; it's even more deadly than it seems. Especially if you take a good look at the colors. While the more... cutesy ones you have are Spirits, there are also Nightmare Dream Eaters, the kind you fought against."
'Guthrie said something about that earlier,' Xion recalled, remembering how he called Fang and Sarquiss's Fin Fatale Nightmares.
"Of course, the Nightmares you met up with are nothing like mine. How to say this in simpler terms? The darker colored Nightmares are lesser Dream Eaters, while the lighter colored ones are far more superior than them. And I don't just mean in combat." Dismissing the Me Me Bunny, she grabbed Xion by the head. "Now then... I've wasted more than enough time talking. Time to bring you back."
"Like hell... I'll go anywhere with you..." Xion flicked her free wrist out, revealing a certain bracelet hidden in her sleeve. "Summon!"
Larxene let out a gasp in shock as bright, blinding light was shone. She and her clones all covered their eyes to prevent themselves from being blind. As soon as the light died down, they let down their arms. To all the Larxenes' shock, Xion and her Dream Eaters disappeared.
"Drat! Got away again!" the real one cursed, as she and her clones merged back into one. "Where did you go, you puppet?!"
Meanwhile, at a safe distance away from her, Xion saw there with her Dream Eaters lied down before her, as well as one other being.
"You know, Xion baby, when I said you can call me at any time, I wasn't thinking a life-and-death situation," Genie said. "But, luckily for you, good ole' Genie here is an escape artist~"
"I'm more grateful that I placed your card in a different pocket," the Keyblade wielder said. "That was a real close one... Curaga!" With her healing magic, Xion closed up the wounds. However, due to how heavy and how old the injuries were, it left scars on her back. Not only that, but even though her wound was healed up, that didn't mean she got her stamina back. Nor does the spell do anything to help her with the amount of blood she had lost.
"What are we going to do, Xion?" Genie asked in a whispered tone. "We can't keep hiding like this for long. Eventually, that blondie there will find us!"
"I know. I'm thinking," she answered, wishing she already had the answer.
'Larxene's fast and cunning,' she thought. 'I was able to be on par with her in close range combat, but who knows what would happen if she fuse with her Dream Eater? If what she said is true, I'll be screwed if I don't do something! Think, Xion! What would your crew do if they were in your shoes?!'
Almost immediately after she asked herself that, she regretted ever doing so. If it were Nami, Usopp and Chopper, they would run from Larxene, no doubt. Sanji, being the womanizer he was, would swoon all over her rather than fight her and die. Luffy and Robin? Both were Devil Fruit users; there was no way she could do what they would in this situation. Zoro would relentlessly fight back. Good method, but in her case, it would still get herself killed. Plus, she practically can only do one-sword-style. Speaking of one-sword, if it were Guthrie... What was she saying? She saw him get beaten by the woman! But what about Allen? Xion's eyes widened when she asked herself that and recalled Luffy's message.
"Stop worrying about every little thing. Follow what your heart tells you. Don't think on it; act on it. Don't shoulder all your burdens and pain."
She then thought back to her question of what the two strong Devil Fruit users of their crew would do if they were in her situation. Both would distance themselves from Larxene and attack in a long-range; Luffy with his stretchy limbs and Robin with her sprouting arms. Looking over to Genie, who had on a pair of binoculars and was on a look out for the blonde organization member, an idea came to her head.
"Genie. Your magic can do anything, right?"
*A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR LATER*
Larxene walked around the forest, searching for Xion. She knew the girl wasn't going to be easy to catch, given she had beaten two Organization members on her own, but she didn't think it'd be this difficult.
"The puppet must think she's so clever right now," she muttered.
A rustle was heard. She turned and saw Xion running from her, with her hood up. Her lips formed a smirk at the sight of the girl's attempt to run. "Naive." With that one word, she tossed her knives at the Keyblade wielder. They all hit, and the target fell on her front. Larxene walked over to the girl, feeling accomplished. As she walked closer, however, she felt something was off. Xion wasn't moving one bit. Even though she took a fatal blow to the back earlier, with the amount of time she had, it was enough for her to use her healing magic to recover. Not only that, but even if she was able to recover, does healing magic repair clothes?
'Why am I feeling uneasy about this?' Larxene wondered.
Looking down at the girl, Larxene removed the hood from her head. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw.
Turns out, it wasn't really Xion that she struck, but a wooden dummy of her wearing her clothes. "What?!" As soon as she gasped, she heard something above her. Looking up, she saw a shadow jumping from one tree to another. One toss of her Foudre, and she struck the figure. The moment it landed on the ground, she rushed to get a good look of the figure and saw that it was another wooden dummy, also wearing Xion's clothes. Next thing she knew, many Xion popped out from bushes and trees and all started to run from Larxene.
'What the hell?! Since when was she able to create a fake of herself?!' Larxene thought, splitting herself into many clones, all rushing after a group of the Keyblade wielder.
In truth, it wasn't completely Xion who had done this. Little ways away from Larxene, watching the one-sided fight through his binoculars, Genie was hiding in a tree, wearing camouflaging clothes.
"This is the Alpha Lion. Alpha Wolf, do you copy? Over," he spoke from a walkie talkie.
"Alpha Wolf here. Status report?" came a voice strangely similar to his own.
"Operation Thousand Decoy is a success!"
From a farther distance away from him, a group of Genie was making wooden dummies of Xion and her clothes. As soon as they were done dressing up the dolls, they spread what seemed like blue dust on the dummies and teleported them away to where Larxene was.
"Excellent news, Alpha Lion!" said a Genie that was not working on the dummies or the clothes. "Keep us up to date with the status!"
"Roger that, Alpha Wolf!" the spying Genie confirmed.
*FLASHBACK*
"Genie. Your magic can do anything, right? Xion asked.
"Huh? Well, yes. So long as it's not anything impossible like say... immortality, ultimate power, or the death of a person. I may be amazing, but even I have my limit with how my magic works," he answered.
"I don't need any of those. Those are cowardly wishes anyway. What I do need, though, is time. Can you stall her somehow?"
"No offense, Xion, but I don't think she's much of an entertainment kind of person," Genie told her.
"Not that kind of stalling. Larxene wants to send me back to the Organization, she can. But she has to find me first. Can your magic make things move on its own? Like say... a puppet moving without its master."
Genie caught on to what she was thinking and, with a snap of his fingers, summoned more of him, all in tailor clothes with one in camouflaging clothes. "So you mean something like this?" The tailoring group quickly made a fake of Xion and spread dust all over her. Not long after, the dummy did a little tap dancing.
"Yes, like that! But without the dancing," she confirmed. "I need you to stall her, while I try to recover a little more and get myself ready. I'm counting on you, Genie!"
*END OF FLASHBACK*
"Now that I think about it, I don't think I asked her why she would need time at this moment," the spying Genie said. "Bah, whatever it is, I'm sure it can help her in her battle. And likewise, with the amount of clones we have over there, it'll take that girl forever to-" He trailed off as he saw Larxene's clothes formed back with the original. "Did she decide to give up?"
He asked too soon, for the blonde started to levitate and glow with lightning energy. Next thing he knew, she fired long columns of lightning spheres from her arms in a straight line, rotating clockwise as she did so. As she executed this devastating attack, lightning bolts rained down, striking down the Xions Larxene failed to hit with the spheres. And just like that, as she ended this powerful blow, all the copies were destroyed.
"Uh-oh..." Genie breathed out. In his walkie, he warned, "Mayday! Mayday! We have a crisis on our hands!"
"What's wrong? What's the status?!" asked the other Genie.
"Somehow the enemy had destroyed all the fakes at once! Operation Thousand Decoy became a failure! I repeat, Operation Thousand Decoy was a failure!"
Hearing this surprised the other Genies on the other line.
"What about Xion?!" a tailoring Genie asked.
"Someone has to go to her!" another tailor said.
"But what about that woman?!"
"Someone has to distract her!"
"But who can go?!"
"I don't know!"
"Guys! This is no time to be panicking!" Alpha Wolf Genie shouted. "Look! The best thing we can do now is-"
"Run and hide?" a tailor asked.
"Hide Xion?" asked another.
"Continue Operation Thousand Decoy?" and another.
Alpha Wolf couldn't believe the suggestions he was hearing. "NO! The best thing we can do now is-"
"Face me in a fight?"
"That's right! It's to-!" The leading Genie stopped his words as he realized that the voice that answered wasn't any of the Genies among them. The group turned and saw a half-amused Larxene looking at them.
"Who'd have thought this is the kind of help the puppet called upon?" she said.
Instantly, all the tailoring Genies poofed away from the area, leaving Alpha Wolf Genie behind.
"Traitors! How could you leave me?!" he questioned. As if realizing the answer, he then said, "Oh right. You guys are all me." Genie then felt a knife held to his throat and sweated, for Larxene was behind him and could just easily slit his throat.
"Now then... Where's the puppet?" she asked.
Genie paled, knowing that one wrong move, and he could die. Except... one little thing. "Not here!" He poofed away.
Larxene stood there, getting quite annoyed with how her prey was constantly slipping from her fingers. "PUPPET! Come out and fight! Don't tell me you're chickening out now! What happened to all that big talk earlier?!"
"Who's chickening out?" came Xion's voice.
Next thing Larxene knew, she heard something being shot and felt something hit her back. It was like a bullet, only it didn't pierce through her. Regardless, it still hurt her. She rushed behind a thick tree, hiding and waiting out what seemed like balls of light shoot at the plant she was hiding behind. She may not know what sort of magic this was, but she knew Xion was behind it.
As soon as there was a ceasefire, Larxene quickly fired a Lightning Bolt magic, planning on dragging the hidden pirate towards her. What she was dragging over, however, wasn't the girl, but a log.
'What?' As if it wasn't surprising enough, she heard shooting from a different direction and teleported several meters away away. From where she was, she saw more of those light energy balls being shot where she was and used another Lightning Bolt at the source. Like before, though, her magic struck and dragged over a log, increasing her surprise. How did Xion move from her spot so quickly?
More shooting was heard, and this time, Larxene teleported and summoned out a clone, using it as a decoy to draw Xion out. As she planned, she saw more energy balls being shot at the fake her and she dashed towards Xion's hiding place, Foudre ready to go for the kill.
"Aeroga!" With that one shout, Xion unleashed her powerful Aero magic, only it was more powerful than before. The magic became strong enough to blow Larxene away, causing her to land a distance away from the Keyblade wielder. As soon as she landed, she saw Xion in different clothes, in her Wisdom Form.
"You think this changes things?" Larxene questioned.
"Seemed to have changed plenty to me," Xion retorted. Holding up her Keyblade she shot out more of her magic bullets at Larxene, whom jumped away to avoid the shots and tossed each her knives at the Keyblade wielder. Xion glided through the woods, avoiding the knives, not ceasing her fire.
Watching her glide across, Larxene now realized how Xion was able to move so quickly and decided to take a different approach. "Blade Storm!" Tossing four of her Foudre to different locations, she had her lightnings try to stop the girl in her place. What came next, however, was unexpected.
"Reflectga!" Not at all ceasing her activity, Xion casted her barrier magic and deflected a lightning that was about to hit her. Larxene widened her eyes at this, knowing that spells, especially advanced spells, take time and concentration for them to be casted. And yet, Xion was able to cast it while moving and still trying to shoot her.
'I won't get anywhere just shooting out my magic. I'll waste it all at this rate and get completely exhausted,' she thought. The magic bullets Xion was shooting out? Those would be her raw magic. Through the Wisdom Form, as King Cobra had explained, she was able to gather her own magic power into her Keyblade and shoot them out like a gun with bullets. However, since the bullets were made from her magic, which she was also using to maintain the Wisdom Form, it was quite taxing. Luckily for her, she had plenty of training with Voice on her magic and has a lot of it stored in her. 'I have to get to a wide and open area, if I want to go all out. But where?' Xion used an Aero spell to leap into the air, avoiding more of Larxene's knives. As she was in the air, she saw the tall beanstalk from the ruins and had an idea.
"Hey! I thought you wanted to kill me!" she shouted. "You don't seem to be doing a good job at that at all!"
That ticked Larxene off. "You damn puppet... You're asking for it now!" She summoned out her Me Me Bunny and did the one thing Xion feared she was able to do. "Fuse with me." Me Me Bunny became a ball of energy and fused with Larxene.
If her being cloaked in electricity earlier didn't seem frightening, it did now. Especially with this demonic aura surrounding Larxene, her antenna-like strands of hair growing much longer, that it reached the ground. Not only that, her eyes glowed dangerously red and her nails turned into claws and poked out of her gloves.
"You won't... get away this time!" Her antennae strands all stretched to some branches, as she slingshotted her towards Xion. The girl quickly used an Aeroga magic to move away from the blonde, narrowly avoiding her.
'Shit! She got more dangerous!' she thought. 'If I want this to work, I have to do it as fast as I can, in more ways than one!'
Recalling Desert Nakama, she placed both arms behind her and shouted, "Firaga and Aeroga!" With a mix of her strongest fire and wind magic, she was rocketed all the way to the beanstalk at high speed.
"You can't escape from me!" Larxene shouted, as she suddenly became lightning and shot towards Xion at lightning fast speed.
The Keyblade wielder didn't need to look behind her to know that Larxene was doing whatever she can to catch up to her at this point.
*MEANWHILE, WAYS AWAY FROM THEM*
"There..." Allen sighed, placing Wyper down on his back next to Ganfall and the Straw Hat pirates. He sighed in relief as he looked to Robin, Guthrie and Chirithy, who were looking up at the top of Giant Jack, where the large black cloud formed by the Ark Maxim was shadowing the ground.
"The sky is growing darker..." Robin pointed out. "He's going to begin the great destruction, soon. And then, he'll steal the golden bell, and take it up with him."
"We can only hope Luffy, Nami and Xion can stop him before it's too late," Chirithy hoped. "All we can do is help these guys recover in the meantime."
"Speaking of which..." Allen called out, getting their attention. "Would you mind casting that healing spell on these guys so they can recover faster?"
"Oh, yeah," Guthrie understood, walking back to where their four allies laid. He whipped out his Keyblade, pointed it at all four of them. "Heal!" With his spell, he managed to take care of the many wounds and electrical burns on their bodies.
"You think that'll work?" Robin asked him as she and Chirithy approached from behind.
"It'll reduce the pain they're in, but they are still unconscious," the Keyblade wielder answered. "We'll have to protect them until they start waking up."
Allen looked at Wyper, seeing some of his injuries gone, but his face blank as he laid there, unconscious. He still worried about his cousin, as well as blaming himself for him being in this condition. However, despite this, Guthrie's words rang into his ears once more.
"If you can't forgive what you have done, then own that guilt. Keep pushing forward. Redeem yourself a little bit at a time, and do what you can to protect the people you care for. Do what you can for the land you love. Whatever it takes, you can progress, and be stronger than the person you are now."
'Be stronger than the person I am, now,' Allen echoed in his thoughts. His fists curled as he looked determined. 'I may have failed in protecting Xion's friends and Wyper, but that doesn't mean I should throw in the towel. Right now, I have to protect these guys, whatever it takes.'
Minutes past as the Ark Maxim rose even higher. "So... mind cluing me in on where Eneru is heading?" Allen asked, eventually. "You guys said something before about a golden bell. I've heard about something like that in our Shandian folklore. Supposedly, it is considered 'the Fire of Shandora' that we've been looking for."
"It was suppose to be within Shandora, and most likely the centerpiece of it all," Guthrie explained. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on the stories we've heard, when Upper Yard was sent up here all the way from the Blue Sea, everyone supposedly heard the singing chimes of this land, right?"
"Yeah, that was part of the story," Allen answered. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was getting at. "Do you mean to tell me that was really the belfry ringing when it got sent up here?"
"Definitely. After Robin and I investigated the place, we deduced that if the belfry is not IN the city, it must be high above, at the top of Giant Jack."
"Right... Of course!" Allen looked high above at the top of Giant Jack. "We may have found our homeland, but we have yet to find the Fire of Shandora. No one has heard its tone in centuries. It only makes sense that it's somewhere beyond anyone's reach and beyond anyone's view! Damn that Eneru! How dare he try and go after it!"
"I suspect the ship is making its way to the grand belfry," Robin told the team. "I wonder what happened to Miss Navigator and our captain?"
"And that little girl, too," Chirithy added, including Aisa in the bunch to be concerned about. "Not to mention Xion is somewhere fighting that Organization member. I think I can feel the presence of her Dream Eaters somewhere nearby."
"Guys, wait a minute!" Guthrie silenced them, as he cupped a hand around his ear. "Do you guys hear that?" Everyone stopped and listened. Sure enough, they could hear a familiar battlecry, but for some reason, it was coming from down below them and it was getting louder and louder. Suddenly, a geyser of cloud shot into the air, and running up the spiraling vines of Giant Jack was... Luffy?! With Aisa and Pierre on his back, and for some reason, he had a large golden ball wrapped around his stretched wrist and arm. How and why they were down there in the first place, not to mention where the golden ball came from, the pirates and Allen didn't ask.
"Luffy, down there! Stop! Stop!" Aisa cried out to Luffy, causing the rubber captain to see his crew, both the conscious and unconscious, standing below where Luffy was at.
"Robin! Guthrie!" Luffy shouted, seeing the two.
"Do I even need to ask the dozen questions that came to mind?!" Chirithy demanded, confused as heck by this.
All of a sudden, Luffy hoisted his two passengers on his back- "Look after these two for me!"- and threw them down to where the shocked team stood. However, due to his throw, the golden ball dropped off the vine, and started to carry him down due to the weight.
"Hey, careful with Aisa!" Allen demanded angrily as Robin used her Devil Fruit powers to catch her, while Chirithy was flattened by Pierre falling right on top of him.
"What the heck were you doing down below, Luffy?!" Guthrie demanded, while Aisa was in an absolute panic from witnessing Robin's powers. "And what's with that golden ball?!"
"Never mind that!" Luffy brushed off his questions. "Robin, the golden bell is at the top of this vine, right?! And Eneru is trying to get his hands on it, isn't he?!"
"That's right," she answered, ignoring Aisa's petrified screams. "If the grand belfry exists, then it will be there. But he's already-"
"Good!" Luffy cut Robin off, climbing himself back up to the vine with all his might.
"Luffy, wait!" Guthrie cried out, but he was either out of earshot or ignorant to his cry, as he started to run with all his might, carrying the golden ball behind him.
"Gone, just like that..." Robin muttered, as the male Keyblade wielder huffed a sigh.
"He's certainly persistent, that's for sure..." Guthrie muttered.
Chirithy suddenly popped up between the two in a puff of smoke, face first in the cloud as he grimaced, "Thanks for getting me out from under that dodo bird. And can someone shut that kid up?!"
"I'm on it," Allen stated, patting Aisa as she continued to looked shocked at Robin. "Aisa, take a couple of deep breaths, and calm down. Face it, her powers aren't the weirdest thing we've seen before." Aisa looked to him, and after a few deep breaths, finally calmed herself.
"So, young lady," Robin turned to Aisa, crouching down close to her level. "Have you seen Miss Navigator and Demon-san?"
"She means Nami and Xion," Guthrie corrected the archeologist.
"Yeah. Nami is on the ship," she answered, pointing up at the airship above them. "And Xion is fighting that other girl over-" She then paused as she looked up there, using her Mantra to sense the two girls. "Wait, I only hear three voices coming from the sky."
"Which ones?" Allen asked. "Is Xion one of them? Is she okay?!"
As if to get his answer, the team suddenly heard the motor-like sound of a dial, and turned to see none other than Nami riding her Waver, with Ussop and a char-boiled and unconscious Sanji riding with.
"Hello, Robin! Guthrie!" Ussop shouted as they drew closer.
"Miss Navigator, and Long-nose, and the cook, too," Robin noticed.
"You should really start thinking about calling them by their names," Guthrie suggested to her, as Aisa beamed with joy at the sight of Nami.
"You three are okay," Allen pointed out, then adding for Sanji. "Though, it looks like one of you looks like you were struck down by Eneru."
"Aisa!" Nami cried out, skidding to a halt. "Thank goodness! You alright?!" Aisa leapt into Nami's arms, happy to see here.
Ussop had Sanji over one shoulder as he suddenly noticed the casualties from the battle in the city. "Zoro! Chopper! Weird old guy! 'gulp' And a gurella!" he gasped placing Sanji down next to them. "Everyone's been taken down! If only I had been here!"
"Relax. I used a healing spell on them," Guthrie assured him. "I should do the same for you guys. They should recover eventually."
"Wait, where's Luffy?" Nami asked, looking about to see the missing member. "Wasn't he with you?"
"Luffy went up the vine to rescue you!" Aisa answered. "But since everyone's here besides that black-haired girl, Luffy will have to face Eneru all by himself!"
"We missed him, didn't we?!" Nami realized, worried for her captain.
"Great. He's going up the vine after Eneru, and Xion is still facing that other chick somewhere!" Allen growled. "What're we gonna do?!"
"Dammit, you guys!" Ussop grimaced. "They know we are running short on time! We gotta go, now!"
"But what about Upper Yard?! What about the people here?!" Allen demanded, glaring at Ussop. "Are you planning to abandon everything?!"
"It's not like any of us down here are qualified to stopping Eneru, and that Organization member is no joke, too," Chirithy exclaimed. "If you have any suggestions on how to stop him, I'm all ears!"
"Go on without me. I'll take the waver and find him," Nami told the team, looking up the vine. "Just try to get to the Merry somehow."
"No way! We ain't moving anywhere!" Guthrie retorted. "Not until you, Xion and Luffy come back! Just make sure those two are alright, okay?!"
Nami nodded in understanding and was about to start the waver when something caught her attention. She looked about the area, feeling something was off. "The winds... They've stopped," she muttered, looking about.
"That... isn't a good sign, is it?" Chirithy asked.
For a moment, no one moved. The wind certainly was no longer blowing a bit. That meant two things: One, the Going Merry wouldn't be able to move without wind; and two, something bad was definitely gonna happen. After a moment of dead silence, apart from the sound of thunder above them, lightning suddenly started raining down all over the place, burning the trees of the forest and damaging the cloud floor as well. Anything the lightning struck got seriously damaged by the plethora of large lightning bolts.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ussop demanded in fright.
"Looks like Eneru is starting the next phase of destroying this land," Allen growled. "This just cannot be good!"
"And it's only getting worse. Look!" Chirithy exclaimed, pointing towards one side of where the team stood. Coming out of the darkness came numerous Heartless, all of which were like the ones they fought before, except there were now much more lightning-element Heartless approaching.
"Heartless?! Now?!" Guthrie demanded as Ussop panicked.
Just then, Aisa screamed, and everyone turned to see her run back to the team as more of the slithery Dusks suddenly appeared on the other side of them, ready to strike them down, as well.
"More of those things?!" Allen demanded, kicking one that got too close.
"We're surrounded!" Ussop bawled as they found themselves in a pincer attack between the Heartless and Nobodies.
Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning struck down close to the team, causing Ussop, Chirithy and Aisa to go flying, while everyone else endured. Guthrie caught Chopper as he was flung into his arms.
"Man, those lightning bolts are huge!" Ussop exclaimed as soon as he recovered. "As if dealing with these things weren't enough, we have to avoid getting struck down by those!"
"This just isn't our day..." Guthrie grimaced, but heard a moan as he looked down. Chopper was waking up.
"What... what happened?" he squeaked, his eyes fluttering to stay open.
"Thank goodness. Looks like the healing spell worked," the Keyblade wielder sighed in relief.
"Guthrie!" Chirithy cried, getting his attention back to what was approaching from all around them.
The facts were that they were trapped. They had Heartless coming from one end, Dusks on the other, massive bolts raining down from the sky, and two of their comrades were away, still trying to beat their individual opponents.
Guthrie's breathing was shallow for only a moment, but then he calmed down. This was not the time to panic. He had too many people he needed to protect. He was sent here to be a guardian with his Keyblade, and even though his priority was Xion, he had to protect the crew. They were Xion's friends, after all, so it wasn't so different than protecting her.
He put Chopper down at his feet and stood up, drawing out his Keyblade. "Nami, I know I have said a lot of bad things about you before, but this time, I am counting on you to get Luffy," he told the navigator, surprising her. "While you're at it, if she's up there, make sure Xion is safe. We can't have her being taken down while all this is happening."
"Right. I'll do that!" Nami understood, surprised at his request. "You guys try to get out of here!"
"There's no escaping this, Nami," he answered, walking towards the oncoming Heartless. "These creatures of darkness and being of no emotion won't let us leave. So now..." He got into a fighter's stance as he growled. "I'll show them the mistake they made for trying to stop the pirate crew of Xion and Luffy! Everyone, let's give these things hell!"
Everyone was very surprised at Guthrie's declaration to fight. Robin had only seen something close to this when he fought Yama in the forest. He was so serious, that he seemed to emanate an aura of determination that spread to the others.
Suddenly, Allen noticed both Zoro and Wyper wake up, rising to their feet. Ganfall soon woke, as well.
"Wyper!" Allen gasped, seeing his cousin stand and look to the sky.
"Swordsman!" Robin noticed.
"Weird old guy!" Ussop called to Ganfall. "Thank goodness you're okay! Can you walk?!" The former god didn't answer to this.
"We can't just stand around here and do nothing..." Zoro grimaced, panting as he stood there, seeing the Dusks approaching. "We gotta take care of these things... before they cause more trouble for all of us."
"Agreed," Robin understood, crossing her arms, readying herself. "We'll fight our way out of here!"
"Nami, get going!" Guthrie repeated to the navigator.
"Okay. Stay alive, all of you!" she shouted. And with that, she drove the waver up the vine, after Luffy.
Ussop was scared as he noticed the oncoming Heartless and Dusks around them, along with Chopper.
"Steal your courage!" Guthrie called out. "We have to fight to survive! And to do that, we need to work together!"
The long-nosed sniper looked to him, whimpering, but he pulled out his slingshot and answered, "Guess we don't have a choice, do we? Let's give them hell!"
"Is Xion-nee okay?!" Chopper questioned, looking about. "I don't see her here!"
"She's got her own fight to take care of," Allen answered, turning away from Wyper and readying himself for battle. "We got our own to handle! Make sure you fight your hardest, Chopper!"
"O-Okay!" the reindeer answered, just as hesitant as Ussop.
"Heal!" Guthrie roared, healing the team with his Keyblade. Any remaining injuries they had on them started to recover, giving them more mobility and strength. "Let's show God and the Organization who they are dealing with!" he roared.
With that, they took off at both directions to fight their enemies. Guthrie, Ussop and Chopper went after the Heartless, while Allen, Robin and Zoro challenged the Dusks. Pierre and Sanji were still unconscious. Chirithy stuck close to Aisa and Ganfall, the Shandian girl looking at Wyper as he watched lightning fall onto his land, destroying anything it struck.
Up above, Nami raced along the vine, while Luffy was far ahead, only thinking about taking out Eneru before he gets his hands on the golden bell.
Heading over to the beanstalk, Xion was now trying to avoid all the lightning that was raining down from above, while Larxene gladly welcomed the strikes, getting more and more powerful and shooting herself towards Xion at a faster rate than before. Eneru was cackling as he watched his work destroying the land.