Author's Note: Well, time for another chapter. At this point I may just focus on writing the story and not so much on drawing. Hopefully I can describe the Forgotten clearly enough for you to paint a mental picture. It's not so much that I do not enjoy drawing anymore, its just I haven't got the motivation. I just have enough motivation to keep this story going.
Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon this.
As usual all characters and themes belong to their rightful owners.
Now time to see how this turns out for our heroes.
UPDATE: For those that have already read this chapter and may got a notice this was updated, I apologize. I thought I need to say this after getting an anonymous review that was full of suggested worlds from movies, manga, and cartoons not associated with Kingdom Hearts that nearly took up a page. As some of you may have surmised there will be world hopping. There will be no new Disney worlds; only what was used in previous Kingdom Hearts games. I already have determined which worlds to use. Also please keep reviews concise and to the point. I don't mind if the review may take half of a reviews page as long as it pertains to your thoughts on the story.
CHAPTER 4: TIME TO HIT THE ROAD
The magenta sky warmly greets Radiant Garden's residential district below. Several groups of people walking down the streets. Traveling through the streets is Sora and his traveling companions. "Gosh, looks like we made it," Goofy says enthusiastically.
Sora responds, "Yeah, now all we have to do is to wait."
Donald pipes up, "We better tell Leon what's going on."
"Good idea," came the Keyblade Master's reply as he thinks back to the discussion in their previous destination.
*MAGICAL MYSTERY*
"The King was here?!" Donald quacked. He, Sora, and Goofy stand in front of Yen Sid's desk within the latter's tower; with the knowledgeable wizard sitting behind it.
"Correct," Yen Sid confirms. "He managed to escape from our new enemy. He has told me all that he knows about them before leaving once again."
Sora places his hands behind his head, "So what are we up against this time?"
Yen Sid waves his hand, creates projections of three Amnesia. The master explains, "The foes you faced are known as Forgotten. They are creatures crafted from forgotten memories. What you see before you is the most common version of Forgotten. But you as may have surmised from your experience at the castle, that there are more variety of them. Some even possess frightening strength and power. What happens when they are defeated, we do not know. But if there is one thing that you must be aware of; the Forgotten can seal and even alter the memories of their victims. Do not underestimate them."
Goofy is the first to respond, "Gosh, that does sound bad."
Sora looks at these Forgotten. "There's more to it, isn't there?" The Keyblade Master turns to Yen Sid, "If these Forgotten are created by lost memories, then those memories belong to actual people right. And if I have to guess, they're probably memories that belong to the ones creating them, right?"
The old wizard nods, before waving his right hand. A new projection appears from magical dust behind the Forgotten. This one is a figure in a white cloak and a mask with the Forgotten emblem.
"The Forgotten are the creations of the being in front of you. What you see before you is known as an Abandoned. These Abandoned were being observed by Oswald for some time and cumulated his findings into a report. As far as we know, we do not know who they are and where they came from. But as Mickey had learned from Oswald, these Abandoned have no memories to claim of their own. Their attempts to awaken them has led to the birth of the Forgotten. And now they seek to rewrite all that we know, placing themselves in lives they never had. By using the Forgotten, they can slowly alter the history in people's hearts as they wish to become known in the false narratives they would spread throughout the worlds." The projections disappear moments later.
"Then what are we waiting for?!" Donald says excitedly. "We need to stop them and help everyone that's lost their memory."
"Wait a moment," Yen Sid interjects with a raised hand. "Although it is imperative that they must be stopped, we currently do not have the means to enter the worlds they have already claimed. Once they have conquered a world, they seal it within a barrier that not even the Gummi Ship can go through. Your only chance is to go to a world that has yet fallen to them. Wait for them to come. And once that world has been taken, you should be able to travel to the worlds already ensnared by the special pathways that links these worlds together."
"So we just have to wait?" the captain of the knights asked.
"Perhaps you don't have to wait for long. I have been tracking the enemy's advances towards the worlds. One world now in danger is none other than Radiant Garden. If you leave now, you may make it before it is sealed away."
"Got it." Sora nods.
Sora gazes ahead, focusing back on the present as the three continue to walk. Sora stops, causing Donald and Goofy to stop behind him. "We don't have much time. We better get to the Committee Headquarters on the double." Sora sprints ahead with the other two chasing after him. They eventually reached their destination, a 3-story building with a sign above the main doors spelled "RGC".
Inside the building, Yuffie and Aerith, members of the Radiant Garden Committee are currently chatting at a table. On the far wall away from the door is a large computer, where Cid, the committee's computer genius and Gummi Ship engineer is clicking away on the keyboard. Leaning against the nearby wall with his arms folded is the head of the committee, Leon. The sound of the front door catches his and the other occupants' attention. Smirks and gentle smiles are shown to the traveling trio.
Aerith is the first to respond, "Sora. Donald. Goofy."
"Hey guys," Sora smiles with a raised hand, "how's it going?"
Cid smirks with a thumb swipe under the nose, "Not much has changed since you came back. The city's restoration is still progressing smoothly."
"So what's the occasion?" Leon says with a slight smile before it turns into a smirk. "Here for a rematch?"
"Hey, that was a lucky shot, and you know it," Sora responds with two waves of his pointing figure at the committee leader, while maintaining a smirk of his own. The Keyblade master places his hands behind his head, "Besides, I was holding back."
Leon shrugs, his smirk still evident, "Well then next time, don't." The older warrior lowers his arms, "There's no way I'm going to let you get the best of me."
"Looking forward to it," the younger man replies.
"Heh. Alright," the man responds, switching to a neutral expression. "Now let's get down to business. Considering that you're with Donald and Goofy, I'm going to guess there's some kind of trouble."
Sora nods with a serious look, "Yeah, we got a new problem; the Forgotten."
"Forgotten?" Yuffie asks with a tilting head.
Goofy explains the issue, "Well, you see there's this group that's trying to connect the worlds together. They're the Abandoned. They are able to spawn monsters that represent their forgotten memories. We call those Forgotten."
Yuffie sets her knuckles on her hips, "Let me guess, they're going to come here eventually."
Sora nods, "Yeah, we need to let you guys know ahead. See, if we want to get to the worlds they've already conquered, we need to use their pathways."
"I see," Leon states with closed eyes. "Based on the reports we received they may actually be here. So by the time they settled in and link our world with the others they already claimed, you can travel to those worlds."
"Right, so you need to warn everyone about what's going to happen. It's only a matter of time before they take over. We can stop them before they can close off this world."
"But you could lose your only chance of getting to other worlds." The committee leader mulls on the issue for a few seconds. "I understand." He turns to the two women, "Yuffie, Aerith, spread the word. We got uninvited guests. Make sure everyone is safe. Also let the other members know that not to make a move until they close us off. That is when we'll strike back."
"You got it," Yuffie agrees; snapping her fingers with a swinging arm. She faces her partner, "Ready, Aerith?
Aerith nods before following Yuffie out the front door. The trio looks at them leaving before turning back to Leon, folding his arms once again. "You better check in with Ansem. Let him know what's happening."
"Right," Sora nods in confirmation before he and his companions head out.
The Dark Depths
On top of a blue plateau, the Holy Quintet lie motionless. Madoka slowly stirs; her vision hazy before slowly becoming clear. Before she can get a good look on her surroundings, ten feet in front of her lies the former time traveler. "Homura!" She yells out. She quickly turns to left, finding the bluenette, "Sayaka!" She takes a look behind her, finding Kyoko and Mami, "Kyoko! Mami!" Madoka looks back to Homura. She quickly gets up; sprinting to the time user. She drops to her knees after reaching her, shaking her lightly, "Homura, please wake up…"
"Madoka," Homura croaks as she slowly comes around. The pinkette sighs in relief.
She turns her attention to the magical swordswoman who is also coming to her senses. "Sayaka!" Madoka shouts with less urgency.
"You don't have to be so loud, I heard you the first time," the bluenette replies as she gets to her knees. Mami and Kyoko also show signs of waking up.
The blonde looks around with eyes filled with confusion. "Does anyone one know where we are?"
The red head responds, "Well, I can tell you one thing. We're definitely not at Mitakahira." Kyoko takes in her surroundings, "And unless anyone here seen landscape this blue before, I'd say we're completely lost."
Madoka, Homura, and Sayaka walks towards the other two. "What do you think happened to us?" the pinkette asks as she and the time user stops; Sayaka continues towards the cliff.
"If I had to take a guess," Homura says with a hand under her chin and another hand cupping the elbow below the first, "we went through some type of wormhole that person created. It almost felt like we went through time, but I doubt that's the case."
"And again," Kyoko says with a slightly ticking eye, "Does anyone know where we are?!"
"Guys!" Sayaka calls out getting their attention. The bluenette waves her hand at them before turning to the cliff. "You might want to see this!"
The others did as suggested. As they arrived, what awaited below caused Madoka to gasp as Mami covers her mouth with both hands. "Well," Kyoko says with wide eyes, "that's quite a demolition job if I've ever seen one." Below them in the distance is what appeared to be an empty moat surrounding the remains of a collapsed castle. Among the wreckage is all sorts of gears and pipes with several spires poking out at the outer portions of the wreckage.
Among the wreckage, Homura notices a large sigil that's faintly familiar. It was heart-shaped and has an 'X' on it. "Has anyone seen that emblem before?"
"Kind of…" Sayaka says as she scratches her head, "But I can't exactly picture where I've seen it before."
The girls continue to stare at the remains for a minute. Mami looks up towards the others, "Shouldn't we look and see if anyone's around?"
"Where," Kyoko's voice dripping with annoyance. "Unless you haven't noticed we're in the middle of nowhere," making a point with her hands extended to the side.
"Turn around," Homura said flatly. Kyoko blinks her eyes before turning to her right. After turning her head to the side, she can see what the black-haired girl is referring to. In the distance is a castle with a slight magenta hue reflecting the twilit sky; surrounded by walls and pillars.
"Are you kidding me?" Kyoko exasperation evident in her voice. "It would take us a whole day to get over there.
"I doubt it's that far," Sayaka states with a neutral expression. "Probably a few hours at the most if you ask me."
"Come on, everyone," Madoka gives an encouraging smile. "We just have to be positive. Who knows, we might run into someone out here."
"Yeah, and rob us blind when we least expect it," Kyoko rebukes.
"Madoka has the right attitude though," Mami states with her own gentle smile. She points to the narrow passage on the cliffside behind them. "We just have to hope that things get better for us. As soon as we settle down, we can think on our next move."
The bluenette places her hands behind her head, "Sounds like a good plan as any."
"Agreed," Homura nods. Kyoko looks at the others before shrugging. Madoka nods in response and leads the girls towards the only path before them.
Sora and his friends arrive at the Postern, a section around the castle that leads to its basement. The sky slowly turns white before flashing; prompting the three to stop and look up. Sora looks back to his companions. "Looks like they finally linked this world up. We need to get to Ansem fast." His friends nod in agreement before continuing on and into the basement entrance.
After the trio entered the castle, the sky lit up once more; this time by a white portal. Gliding out of the gate is Roxas and Charlotte. The gate closes before the two softly land.
The two take in their surroundings. Roxas stops after seeing the area, "So this is where that path branched off to."
Charlotte turns around to get a better sense of the environment. "Where are we?"
"Looks like we're in Radiant Garden," the Keyblade Master replies before the Magical Girl looks at him. The young man turns to her, "Come on, I know some people who'll help us."
Roxas heads towards the path leading back to the city. He didn't get far as several Amnesia block their path. Roxas summons his Keyblade and takes his stance, "Of course we run into these guys first."
Roxas quickly dispatches the foes in front of him before several more appear. Charlotte fires a flurry of bubbles at the new group before the Keyblade Master finishes them off. More Amnesia, along with several Sheltered surround the two. Between Roxas's swordsmanship and Charlotte's magic, one Amnesia remains after a minute before Roxas destroys it with a Fire spell.
Three more Sheltered appear in the direction of their chosen path back to town. The Magical Girl fires more bubbles, but the enemies' shields mitigate the damage. Roxas prepares himself to charge in before lightning strikes on the remaining Forgotten. Roxas jaw drops before turning to the white-haired girl, who shrugs in confusion.
"It's been a while Roxas," a female voice states; one Roxas recognizes.
The young man turns to the voice. In front of him is Xion. Roxas calls out her name. "I'm glad you're here."
Xion nods before turning to the Magical Girl. "Who's this with you?" she inquires.
Roxas introduces Charlotte to Xion and vice versa. After the two greet each other, he turns to the female Keyblade Wielder, "So, how long has these things been here?
Xion places a hand on her hip. "They first appeared a few days ago on the outskirts. But after that big flash in the sky just recently, those things had been swarming all over the place. I came here because I heard from Aerith and Yuffie that Sora was around the area."
Roxas eyes shoot open, "Wait, Sora's here?!"
Xion nods in response. "Yeah, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are on their way to warn Ansem about the Forgotten."
"Ansem, huh?" the blonde looks up to the castle. He wears a contempt smile, "Guess we just missed him." He turns back to his friend, "I think Sora has this place under control. How about we head to the Restoration HQ for now?"
"How come?
"I know this isn't the right time, but…" Roxas trails off; turning halfway towards Charlotte. "Charlotte's currently suffering from amnesia."
Xion gasps slightly. She looks at the white-haired girl, "Really?"
Charlotte nods, "And from what I'm told, I am from a different world. So he's helping me find which world I belong to."
Roxas nods, "We got here accidentally after using one of their gates. But since we're here now, might as well make the most of this opportunity. So, I'm hoping if someone at HQ knows which world she's from."
Xion brings a hand to her chin, "I see. We'll have to beat our way through those Forgotten, though."
"Let me guess, Aerith and Yuffie told you about them?"
"Only briefly, we can perhaps learn more once we reach HQ."
Roxas sports a grin, "Well those things better stay out of our way. Right, Charlotte?"
Charlotte nods, "R-Right!"
"All right, let's go girls," says the male before leading the two back towards the city.
The Holy Quintet walk through the Great Ravine. The castle in the horizon is still quite a distance away. Homura and Kyoko are now leading the way with Sayaka and Mami behind them respectively as Madoka walks between the latter pair. After reaching the middle of the ravine a shadow eclipses them. Kyoko looks back, finding a giant flying Forgotten gliding towards them. "Get down!" she exclaims, diving into the ground. Sayaka looks behind, seeing the threat coming at them. Before she can fully turn around, she gets pushed forward to the ground. The Forgotten flies just a few feet above them before flying away towards the castle. Kyoko looks around, "Everyone, all right?"
"I'm fine," Homura states as she pushes herself up.
"Same here," Sayaka sounds off as she gets up.
Not hearing any others, Homura turns around. She immediately gasps, Mami or Madoka are no longer among. "Where's Madoka!?" she frantically asks.
"My fault…" Sayaka says with a guilty tone. She turns to the others, "That thing would've grabbed me if Madoka didn't push me down. So it picked her up instead along with Mami."
"Then what the heck are we standing around for!?" Kyoko exclaims. "We got to save them before who knows what would happen!" She charges towards the direction the Forgotten flew with Sayaka and Homura behind her.
The three Magical Girls ran through the Crystal Fissure. Just as they leave the cave, more Forgotten appear. Before the girls make a move against them, a man with blond, spiky hair seemingly appears in an explosion of power, eliminating their foes. His large, bandaged sword thrust into the ground with his back towards the three.
Cloud raises his weapon out of the ground before putting it on his back with closed eyes. He opens them, turning to the Magical Girls. "Who are you three?" His tone puts the girls on alert. Silence and tension fill the air. The man breaks the silence, "Better question where are you from?"
"Mitakahira City," Kyoko responds.
"Never heard of it," the man responds casually. The girls didn't like the sound of the man's answer. "Considering you're all the way out here, you either got dumped here or you crash landed." The man tightens his grip on his weapon, "Or perhaps you're the ones leading these creatures?"
"Wait-Wait!" Sayaka waves her arms in defense frantically, "that's not us. We got sent here by that masked freak. Not only that, a huge Forgotten just took two of our friends away."
Cloud asks as he looks towards the direction of the castle, "You mean the one that flew towards the city?"
Homura does not wish to waste anymore time. "We are in a hurry. So we would appreciate it if you let us through."
The man turns his head back and stares at them for a bit. "No can do."
Kyoko's patience runs thin, "And why's that?"
"There's plenty more of those things," he states, pointing behind him with his thumb. "If you want to get into the city…" the man trails off. He turns around and walks away. "Then stick close and follow me,"
"Hey!" Sayaka yells at him causing him to stop and look back. She calls forth her cutlass. "Just so you know. We know how to fight!" On cue, the other two also summons their weapons.
Cloud stares at them before facing forward and continues onward.
"Are you listening?!" Kyoko yells at him.
"I thought you three are in a hurry," Cloud states casually; not losing his answer leaves the red-head and blunette speechless. Homura walks forward with a determined and Sayaka watch her in confusion before turning to each two nod to each other before following the black haired girl and their new guide.
Mami stirs for a few seconds before opening her eyes. Hey eyes suddenly widen in shock. She is being carried high above the blue landscape. She looks around and gasps at the sight of Madoka unconscious and is in a talon of the monster carrying them high in the air. She looks up and all she can see is the Forgotten's body and the bird-like mask hovering near the top of its body. Luckily, her arms are free from the talon gripping onto her. She looks towards the horizon and can see the castle and the city surrounding she was heading towards with the others getting closer. Her eyes narrow as tries to formulate a plan to escape.
An idea comes to her and decides to take it. She summons a musket into her free hands. Mami angles it towards the Forgotten above. The Magical Girl fires, causing the Forgotten to jerk around, screeching from the blast. She fires again, and the Forgotten drops her out of reflex. The blonde turns in the air, aims her weapon properly and fires several more shots at it. The Forgotten shields itself with its wings, which are four limber, cylindrical limbs on each side with red holes on each tip. The holes glow red before spreading its wings out. Towards the end of the motion, red laser projectiles shoot out in different directions before homing on the free-falling magical girl. Mami uses her initial magic to summon ribbons to intercept each shot. She intercepts the last projectile in time, but the blast pushes her towards the ground tumbling.
After managing to correct herself, Mami sees the Forgotten flying over her. She looks around the space around her. Madoka is nowhere in sight, which only mean that the Forgotten still has her. She turns to face the ground, finding herself that she is falling towards the walled city. She narrows her eyes, focusing on her descent for a safe landing into the city below.
Charlotte fires a multitude of magical bubbles with a sound of her trumpet. The Forgotten in their path flinch from impact; eliminating a few. Xion yells out as she dispatches the memory snatching fiends one by one with the Keyblade, Oblivion, within a residential district. Two Sheltered avoid a vertical slash from her. Unfortunately for the monsters they get zapped from a bolt of lightning; disappearing instantaneously. Roxas has his Keyblade pointed to the sky. He slowly swings his weapon as a frosty mist envelops the tip. He points it forward before firing a shard of ice. His spell eliminates two of three Amnesia in a line. Xion follows up with a fire spell, destroying it. The three fighters take in their surroundings, and confirm there are no more enemies.
Charlotte turns her attention to the Keyblade Wielders. "How are you able to use different types of magic?" she inquires.
The former Organization members turns to her direction. Xion responds, "Well its not that difficult, anyone can use them."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Roxas smiles. He rests his Keyblade on the shoulder of his wielding arm, "although depending on one's style and natural affinity, some spell types are stronger and they may utilize them in ways no one thought of before. But like Xion said, anyone can learn a bunch of simple spells. If you want, we can teach you whenever we get the chance."
Charlotte nods with a small smile, "Please do. Though I don't think now is the time."
"Agreed," Xion claims before a thought occurs and placing a finger on her chin, "Although we can always pick up a few basic Command Cards from one of the Moogle shops around here." She looks up towards a sign on a nearby building, "But that can wait, we reached our initial destination." The other two follow her gaze; seeing the sign of the Restoration Committee building.
Sora, Donald, Goofy wander onto one of the lower balconies of the castle. Despite the changes and adjustments over the years the upper levels of the castle, the layout was still similar back to when Maleficient used the place as her base of operations on the trio's first journey.
Before they can take a lift to reach the higher floors, they are ambushed by a new type of Forgotten, Scatterbrain. They have a spherical body much like the Sheltered variety, but instead of shields, they each have four daggers hovering around instead, along with two additional daggers hovering above them like horns.
Sora summons his Keyblade and charges in. The Keyblade Master attacks the lead unit, eliminating it after three strikes and a finishing slash. Another charges in with its daggers spinning around. The young man jumps above it and destroys it with Blizzara. After landing he jumps back away from them. Goofy throws his shield, ricocheting off the other three before coming back to him. Donald, casts Thundara, destroying two and damaging the third. Sora closes in. The Forgotten cocks its weapons and shaking violently. Sora notices the movements and skids to a stop before raising his weapon in defense. At that precise moment, all the daggers are flying around erratically. After being knocked back from the force of the strike, Sora fires a Fira spell.
Another wave of Forgotten appear, consisting of four Sheltered at the party's front, four Scatterbrain from behind and two Amnesia each covering their left and right flanks. After a minute, thanks to the trio's knowledge of enemy's patterns, they dwindled their numbers to two remaining Scatterbrain left. Goofy, at Sora's right, tosses his shield once more and destroys one of them. Donald, at Sora's left, fires a Fira spell and eliminates that one.
As the party relaxes slightly from the battle, a giant-winged Forgotten comes around the castle exterior from behind and dives towards them. Goofy notices the monster. "Hit the deck!" he yells out as he dives onto the floor. Sora also drops to the ground as the monster flies inches above them before flying away.
Goofy, still on his stomach, looks up, "Is everyone all right?"
"I'm fine," the Keyblade Master responds, "What about you Donald?" he turns to the duck. Problem is, there is no magician.
"Uh, where'd he go?" Goofy asks.
Sora looks up, "I may have a good guess."
The two get up as they can barely hear Donald quacking erratically before shouting, "Put me down, you big palooka!" as the monster ascends.
"It's taking him higher into the castle!" the knight captain exclaims, pointing to the top of the structure.
"We need to hurry or we'll have one amnesiac duck on our hands!" Sora sprints forward with Goofy following with his weapon ready as he stands in the Ravine Trail where he once fought with Leon back to back. In front of him is a group of Amnesia closing in. The Buster Swordsman tightens his grip before using a single Sonic Blade; eliminating the horde. Another group of Amnesia charge at the front. Cloud's eyes narrow, before returning to his initial stance. At that moment a blue blur went past him. Sayaka strikes down the enemies one by one. The Forgotten in the back of the group attack, prompting her to jump back. On cue, Kyoko appears above them in a flash before skewering one of them and eliminate the rest from the shockwave of her Jump. More Amnesia, along with several Scatterbrain appear behind her. Before they can even get close Homura appears right in front of the red-head and the Forgotten disappear in defeat after being pelted by laser arrows from all directions.
The blonde swordsman, places his weapon on his back, "Not bad," he comments. It took them longer than he anticipated due to wave after wave of Forgotten on their trek to the city.
"See, told you we can fight!" Sayaka exclaims proudly, with a hand on her hip.
"Don't get cocky," the lone male states, irking the bluenette. "These are only small fry. It's the bigger ones that will truly test you." He walks forward.
"I already know that!" Sayaka huffs before following him. The other two follow alongside Sayaka just as she passes by them. "Sheesh, this guy needs to lighten up."
"But he has the right mindset," Homura counters. "Besides, I understand the feeling. After countless battles, it can truly wear you down."
"That's because you kept jumping through time," Kyoko pipes up, her hands behind her head. "Though I'm surprised you're still here with us following him. I'd thought you would use your magic to jump ahead and get to Madoka."
"I initially thought of that," Homura admits. "I am gravely worried about Madoka, but I know she can handle herself." A small smile appears, "Besides wasting my magic even before I would arrive could kill me. And knowing her she would berate me on how I wasted my magic and abandoning you two in the process."
"Glad you are taking things slow," Sayaka says with a smile. Concern takes hold however as she looks at their guide, "Though I wish he would move faster so we can keep on going." The bluenette raises her voice, "Hey! So how far do we have to go?"
"Just around that next corner," he states as the trail hits a canyon wall before going left. A bright flash emanates from the unseen trail for a few seconds, causing them to stop.
"What was that?!" Kyoko shouts in alarm.
"Nothing to worry about," Cloud says casually. "Looks like we just missed this skirmish."
Five minutes earlier
Tifa roars before slamming a fist into an Amnesia, smacking into another before both disappear on the cliffside. More Forgotten travel through the newly refurbished gateway. The brunette martial artist keeps knocking down each enemy one by one before squaring her stance with a fist cocked and a white aura erupting from her. "Final Heaven!" she cries out before throwing her fist, unleashing a whirlwind of light straight ahead; eliminating the enemies coming from the gate.
Three Forgotten appear above the martial artist. Three arrows fly through the air before homing onto the enemies. The archer has pink hair, tied into a ponytail on her left side. Her bow is made of metal with a sheen of steel blue. Her outfit consists of a white top covered by pink cross straps below her chest, held together by a gold shield symbol, part of her pink and white skirt. She has pink leg warmers trimmed with gold on the top and black cuffs at the bottom and a golden flame design on the bottom. She sports purple ankle boots, gray gloves with golden accents on the backs and two golden arm bands, one for each arm.
She charges into the fray, her bow mechanically transforms into a sword, which she uses to slash at the enemies appearing in front of her. A squadron of twenty Scatterbrain appear before the archer. She jumps back in several backflips before enchanting a drawn arrow; shifting her weapon back to its bow form. She points it at the sky above the horde before letting it go. The arrow flies and explodes fifty feet above them. With a sweep of her arm, dozens of arrows storm upon the enemies; which have no chance of survival.
An Amnesia jumps from the cliff above the battleground and dives at her. Just at the midway point, another Amnesia crashes into it before they both crash onto the cliffside. The sound of the collision catches the young woman's attention before turning to Tifa, who has her leg stretched out in the air before bringing it down. "Thanks,"
"Don't thank me yet, Serah," the martial responds as she turns to the front, where another wave of Forgotten are pouring in through the gate. The two ready themselves for the onslaught.
"I got this," a female voice yells out behind them. Kairi jumps above the other two, her Keyblade already cloaked with the Bladecharge technique, and charges in after landing. She dances around with her weapon as she tears through the enemy numbers. She raises her weapon high before spinning it, creating a vacuum of light drawing the enemies towards her. The Forgotten caught are easily destroyed, leaving the ones at the gate. The Princess of Heart let out a battle cry as she brings the light-fused weapon upon them; creating a flash of light. As the light dissipates from her weapon there are no more signs of enemy reinforcements.
The Keyblade wielder breathes a sigh of relief before wiping her forehead with the back of her free hand. "Good one, Kairi," Serah says as she walks up to the red-head along with the brunette martial-artist.
"Yeah, you would certainly give the other two a run for their money," Tifa states with a hand on her hip.
"Well, I don't want to be left by either of them again," Kairi says with a cheeky smile. Her smile morphs into a modest one. "Still though, I wouldn't bet on me against either of those two just yet."
"Don't sell yourself short, I mean you took on all sorts of challenges for the past five years"
"She has a point," a male voice came from behind Kairi. The three turn in that direction to find Cloud, gripping on the weapon on his back, outside the gate. "I assume that you were the cause of that lightshow, Kairi."
"Wait, Kairi!" a young voice calls from behind the man. To the Princess of Heart's surprise, three familiar girls rush into her view.
"Sayaka! Kyoko! Homura!" she responds with wide eyes before rushing to them.
"You know these three?" Cloud asks; taking a few steps back towards the cliff to his right.
"Yeah," she says just as she meets the Magical Girls. "How did you get here?"
"That's a bit of a long story," Kyoko states rubbing the back of her neck.
Kairi notices something, or rather someone from the three, "Where's Mami? And Madoka!?"
"A giant Forgotten caught us off guard," Homura explains. "It managed to take away both of them and was heading to that castle," the black-haired girl points to Ansem's castle.
Serah tilts her head with a finger on her lower cheek, "Didn't Yuffie say that Sora was heading there earlier?"
Kairi nods, "Yeah, Xion went over there. I was about to do the same but the Forgotten kept pouring in from this direction. By the way", she turns towards the Magical Girls, "Any particular reason why you are all in your café uniforms?"
"It's a long story," Sayaka starts with a tired smile, "but the short version, we're real, live Magical Girls again."
"What!?" Kairi yells in complete shock. Not only was that impossible but she couldn't see why they would do it again due to a certain cost.
Homura clarifies, "Don't worry, we still have our souls." She presents her purple egg-shaped gem, "These are Force Gems, we were given to them by a rabbit named Oswald."
Kairi blinks a few times, "Oswald?"
"You know him?" Kyoko asks.
Kairi looks up, "Not personally, Queen Minnie mentioned him once or twice." She looks back to the girls in front of her, "But that's not important right now. We need to save Madoka and Mami, right?"
Sayaka nods, "Yeah, we better hurry before anything happens."
"Then get going already," Tifa pipes up.
"We'll hold the fort here," Serah responds with a hand on her chest.
"Just be careful," Cloud states. Kairi and the Magical Girls nod before running towards the castle.
Inside a hallow tower with torn and broken walls, allowing the sunlight from outside to slightly brighten the dim room. At the center of the room, Madoka lays down on her stomach unconscious. The Magical Girl groans, slowly stirring from her previous state. Slowly, she manages to push herself up to her knees. "Where… am I?" she wonders aloud; taking in the decrepit room around her.
Before she can push herself up further, she hears someone yelling in an unusual, quacky tone, "Let me go! Let me go! If you don't I'll… Wahahahahahahahahahaa!" Moments later something fell through the open canopy and hitting the floor with a big quack. Madoka rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. But there was no doubt to what's in front of her, a large duck wearing a blue beanie and garbs. To the pinkette's surprise, the duck-like being managed to get up.
After shaking his head, Donald Duck glares at the sky. "What's the big idea dropping me down here!?" Madoka takes a few steps towards him, catching the duck's attention with a quack. "Who are you?"
"I'm Madoka. Did you just fall from the sky?" she asks as she looks towards the sky.
"Well, I did get dropped by that flying Forgotten."
"Forgotten?!"
"You know about them?"
"Yeah, me and my friends were fighting them. But then we got sent somewhere else. After that…" she brings a hand to her head as she concentrates on her memory, "I remember Kyoko warning us about something. I think I turned around and… I think I got attacked by a giant…bird-like thing?"
"Sounds like the same palooka that dropped me in here." The duck turns to the open wall. "Well I'm not sticking around for that thing to come back. We better get out of here." The pinkette nods and notices the debris below the broken wall. "I think we can get out through there."
After getting closer, they find that it appears impossible to climb it from the base and the first manageable platform is at least ten feet above them. "Looks like I have to try that new spell I've been developing," says Donald.
"Spell, as in magic?" The Magical Girl asks as she turns to the duck.
"That's right now stand back and watch," the duck exclaims proudly. Donald takes out his staff. After whirling it in the air a few times, he points it at the sky. "Fly!" he yells out. A bright orb surrounds the duck and to Madoka's astonishment. The orb slowly rises into the air. After five seconds, the orb lands on the first 'step' of their exit route. The duck turns around, "Now it's your-" the duck stops as a small shadow flies over him.
Stepping on a higher platform of the debris is the Magical Girl. Donalds turns towards her as she turns to the castle magician with a gentle smile, "Thanks for the offer, but I can manage on my own. Besides that looks like it took a lot of magic so I don't want you ended up wasting it." Madoka looks up and jumps towards the exit.
Donald Duck can only stare before his eyes narrow into a small glare. "Hey! Wait for me!" the duck shouts.
Mami walks into the Fountain Court amazed of the sight to her. She quickly reminds herself that she needs to find the others. Three Amnesia appear right in front of her. She jumps above them; firing three muskets at point blank fatally.
Three more of the Forgotten appear in front of her. Mami takes a ready stance. Before she can move, a fireball from behind the monsters explodes on contact; destroying them. When the flames die out, she finds a tall man carrying a large sword with a gun handle behind him with one hand. The leader of the Radiant Garden speaks out, "You alright?"
The young woman nods before walking up to him, "Yes, thank you for your concern." She smiles after stopping a few feet away. "My name is Mami."
"Leon," the man introduces himself. "That was quite a trick you pulled. You're definitely no stranger to combat. So where are you from?"
"Um, well…" she trails off looking to the side.
Leon finishes it for her, "You're not from this world, are you?" She looks back at him, slightly astonished. "It's really not all that uncommon, this is one of the few worlds that tend to get a lot of outsiders.
"I see."
"So what brings you here?"
"Me and my friends, we were fighting those things in our world. But then their master appeared and apparently sent us to this world."
Before Leon can respond, his communicator lights up. He presses a button on the device. "What is it?"
"Bad news, that's what!" Cid's voice exclaims from the device. "Two more big ones just popped out of nowhere!"
"Where are they?"
"One of them is around Ansem's Castle. Got word from Tifa that Kairi and some Magical Girls are heading in that direction."
"Kairi?" Mami asks instinctively.
Leon looks in her direction for a second. "And the other one?"
The mechanic on the other side of the call answers, "It's near the reactor station on the north side of town. Roxas, Xion, and some other Magical Girl just left to take that out."
"I'm pretty close to there. I'll keep it busy before the others arrive." He looks towards the blonde, "Get word to Kairi that I've found someone named Mami."
"All right. Just don't get too reckless against that Forgotten. We still need ya here to keep on improving the town!"
"Roger that," he says as he looks away from the Magical Girl before turning off
Leon turns to Mami, "Well, sounds like your friends are heading to the castle. I can point you in the general-"
"Let me go with you," Mami interrupts with determined eyes.
Leon meets her gaze. "Are you sure?"
Mami nods, "I know that as long as Kairi is with the others. That puts my mind at ease." She smiles to the Committee leader. "Besides, I can't just let you go off and fight that thing alone."
Leon smirks. "All right then. There's a shortcut to the reactor plaza through the nearby aqueducts. Stick close." Mami nods before following the older figure.
Sora and Goofy are running on top the highest balcony of the castle. He cannot help but worry. While taking the last lift he received a call on his Gummi phone. The call came from Kairi. She was telling him that she was on her way to the castle. Unfortunately, she cut off the call mentioning that the enemy was upon her and several others. Sora knows that she can handle herself and that she is not alone as she is fighting alongside someone else; probably someone from the Restoration Committee. But right now he needs to find the magician of the traveling trio. Donald's voice echoes, "Hurry up! It's right behind us!" Sora snaps his attention back to the here and now.
*MAJESTIC WINGS*
Soon enough, Donald comes running around the corner alongside a teenage girl with pink hair. Behind the two is the giant, flying Forgotten that took them. The War Hawk has no head, the Forgotten emblem just below where the neck should be. Instead it has a floating mask with a hawk-like design with a silver-gray color like much of its body. Its wings consist of four tube-like structures on each side, at the mid-point the tubes become slightly bigger with a blue tint and the tips end with red holes on each of the flexible limbs. Its large talons are in proportion to its main body and ready to capture its captives once again. Sora focuses on the enemy and stops with Keyblade in hand, ready to strike. He seemingly teleports to the enemy in a blur before swinging his Keyblade; knocking down the Forgotten on its mask. Disoriented, the War Hawk is sent towards the bottom of the castle.
The Keyblade Master lands next to Donald and the girl, who he now recognizes with a surprised face, "Madoka?"
"Sora?" The pinkette responds with wide eyes.
"How'd you get here?"
"Well-"
"Heads up!" Goofy yells out; interrupting Madoka. She, Sora, and Donald turn towards the horizon, where several lasers curved in the air. The three separate in time before the lasers hit where they were.
Spiraling into the air is the War Hawk. It spreads its wings after stopping. Flapping its wings, the Forgotten stares down at the newly formed party.
"Leave this to us!" Sora says as he summons his Keyblade.
Madoka raises her right arm, and summoning her bow, Majestic Heart. Sora turns to the Magical Girl. She looks at him before smiling. Sora smiles back with a nod before they turn their attention to the monster. Donald and Goofy called forth their weapons as they focus on the giant Forgotten.
The War Hawk bends its wings in front of itself; its cannon-like wingtips glowing red. At the moment it fully extends its wings, the lasers shoot out. Donald and Madoka jump back to avoid the lasers at them as the other two used their respective weapons to block them. It slowly flies towards the castle before hovering above the balcony. After landing, it walks towards them. Sora runs towards it. The Keyblade Master jumps, ready to strike. The Forgotten responds with a swing of its right wing, parrying Sora's attack. It swings its other wing, but Sora was pushed back enough for the attack to not hit.
Madoka fires several magical arrows at the monster. The arrows strike the main body, but the monster did not seem to register them. Again, it walks forward. Sora charges in again and delivers a combo on the body, but again it did not register the damage it had received. It stomps on the ground several times, pushing Sora away. Donald casts several fireballs, but the Forgotten flails its wings in front of it, negating the attack. Goofy rushes in before striking the primary body. The War Hawk flaps its wings hard, creating a current that pushed the knight onto the floor as it ascends back into the air. It flies around before stopping in the middle of the sky.
Kairi, Sayaka, Homura, and Kyoko are hastily climbing the stairs to the castle's gates. The Keyblade Wielder has her Gummi Phone next to her ear. "All right, thanks!" Kairi turns off the phone. "Mami's fine. But it seems Madoka's at the top of the castle." They reach the top of the stairs and find two prone figures, one on each side of the stairs. Kairi recognizes them, "Dilan? Aeleus?"
Sayaka points towards the castle, "Up there!"
Clinging to the wall is a giant silver spider-like Forgotten. The Webmaster has an insect-shaped mask with bug-like eyes in place of its head. The mask is in between two fang-like protrusions from its main body. Its's main body is composed of an oval-shaped segment in front and a much larger segment in the back. Like normal spiders, it runs on eight legs. Each leg is tube-shaped which sharply bends at the joints and ends with tube-like cannons with a hint of a yellow tint. The Forgotten Emblem is visible on the top on the first segment. The Forgotten's mask shakes a little before jumping off the wall and landing a short distance away from the young women.
Sayaka and Kyoko charge ahead, their weapons glow to their respective color schemes. The moment they strike and hit the monster's body, flames erupt from Kyoko's strike and multiple bubbles prop from Sayaka's slash. The Webmaster walks a few feet before striking out with its fangs. The two jump back, giving room for Homura to fire at the Forgotten with Kairi supporting with Triple Blizzaga. Their magical projectiles hit their mark. Unfortunately, it shrugs off their attacks easily.
The Webmaster walks towards the side, with the girls following it. The Forgotten jumps to turn around to face them. Kairi, alongside Sayaka and Kyoko attack the beast. Homura activates her magic and disappears. She reappears behind the monster, which became pelted from projectiles filled with lightning, fire, ice, and water alongside several lasers. The monster flinches from the onslaught as the close-range fighters keep on striking it before hunching down. Homura is ready to fire at the rear but notices a yellow light emanating from the Webmaster's feet. "Look out!" she warns. The others take notice and back off, but not before the Forgotten launches into the air due to the lasers it fired; creating a yellow, plasma wave. Homura uses her own magic again before running to the other side of the plaza. As she leaves her magic and time resumes, Kairi raises a small barrier just in time, but Kyoko and Sayaka gets knocked down from the wave. The Forgotten lands hard just behind Homura, who got distracted from the dissipating wave. The landing causes a shockwave that hits her and rolls towards the other prone girls. Kairi turns around casts Curaga. The spell originates over Homura and the effects were able to reach the other Magical Girls. They manage to get up in seconds as Kairi passes them before stopping. She brandishes her Keyblade and the others prepare themselves for the Webmaster's next move.
Leon and Mami arrive at the reactor station. To their surprise, the Forgotten is gigantic and simply sitting back against one of the walls. The Lazy Bum's face is covered by a gray mask with a bored expression. The rest of it body is mainly white, with the Forgotten emblem on its chest. It has pointed shoulders which are adorned with two protrusions each. Each protrusion is a black cylinder encased by a white sphere in the middle and ends with white cones. Yellow lines glow on the cylinders as electrical sparks between the protrusions on the shoulders. Its long arms have black joints and ends with gigantic balls with yellow rings. Its legs are laid out in front of it with several holes past the black knee joints and its feet consist of a single large spike as the toe.
Leon and Mami nod to each other before brandishing their weapons. The Lazy Bum looks at them for a few seconds before looking away. Leon conjures a fireball in one hand before letting it fly. At the same Mami, shoots with one musket before tossing it. Immediately she conjures two more; duel wielding them and fires at the same time. Their attacks cause explosions on the mask but the Forgotten does not flinch.
"Cover me!" Leon yells out as he charges in. Mami responds by conjuring ten muskets. Among them there are four muskets with different color schemes and symbols. After firing the normal six, she grabs hold of red-schemed musket with a flame emblem on the handle, shooting a Fire projectile. Next is the sky-blue version, which fires a Blizzard shard. Following up with a turquoise musket, it fires an orb of water. She finishes her assault with the yellow musket, firing a burst of Thunder. Her attacks again hit their mark at the face, but there is no visible damage to the Lazy Bum.
Leon in turn is already running atop its legs. He jumps towards its chest before swinging his sword. The rods on the Forgotten's shoulders gather electricity. Mami warns him of this. Leon catches sight of the charging rods. He jumps back after landing on it but the Lazy Bum unleashed an electrical charge throughout its body; forming a spherical barrier of electrical might. The leader of the Restoration Committee gets caught in the field and gets blasted to the wall next to the entrance that he and the Magical Girl used. Mami calls out to him but find that he is out cold.
She turns back to the Forgotten. The holes in the Forgotten's legs glow red before firing lasers into the sky before they arc towards. She jumps side to side and back, avoiding each laser. She jumps to avoid the last laser only for the Lazy Bum to fire another volley which comes straight at her in midair. Mami clenches her teeth at the incoming lasers. Suddenly a trumpet sounds off and a parade of bubbles went past her from behind and intercepts the enemy projectiles. Glittering, star-shaped projectiles also pass her from the same direction and impact the Forgotten's head as the Magical Girl touches the ground.
"Are you okay?" a male voice calls out to her. She turns around and finds three people.
Roxas, Xion, and Charlotte runs to her. The Keybalde Wielders pass her before stopping as the Magical Girl among them stops at the blonde's left.
"Are you a Magical Girl?" Mami asks in surprise as she notices the younger girl's attire and weapon.
Charlotte responds with a curious face, "Yeah, you too?"
"But how is that-"
"Hey, focus you two!" Roxas interrupts them, reminding them of the threat in front of them.
"That thing is ready for round two!" Xion shouts out as she faces the Magical Girls recompose themselves and the party of four ready to take on the Lazy Bum.
The War Hawk fires another volley of lasers at Sora and Madoka atop the highest balcony of the castle. Sora steps up and casts Waterza; streams of water sprout from a watery sphere at the tip of his Keyblade. The streams negate the lasers before combining into a larger sphere that lobs into the Forgotten. The watery explosion makes the monster flinch. Madoka immediately prepares a magical arrow. A small magic circle forms in front of her. After releasing the arrow, it immediately hits the circle; creating a storm of pink lights. The monster in the air gets pelted by the assault. After the rain of magical arrows stop the War Hawk launches itself higher into sky, with a flap of its wings.
It spins in the air before arcing towards the castle. It immediately dives to the balcony. It pulls up just in time and makes a beeline at the party of four. Donald and Goofy dive to the side just before the Forgotten passes by. Sora instead runs to the monster. Time seems to slow down as the War Hawk prepares to grab the Keyblade Master with its talons. The next moment, Sora jumps on top of the appendage instead; hanging on to the attached leg. Realizing that Sora is the one grabbing onto it instead of him, it performs a somersault to shake off the young man. Half-way through its aerial maneuver, he lets go and falls directly towards its mask, which stares at him. Again time seems to decelerate before Sora strikes the mask multiple times. With one last swing, he launches the Forgotten into the air. Sora lands with one hand on the ground and his wielding arm straight, the Keyblade extended out, aiming slightly towards the sky. The Forgotten impacts the floor haphazardly, leaving it in a dazed state. With a simple command from the Keyblade Master, everyone attacks. Donald summons a horde of lightning bolts. Goofy spins around with his shield extended, getting in as many hits as he possibly could. Madoka fires arrow after arrow in quick succession. Sora continues to bash the enemy with his weapon. After fives seconds of their assault the Forgotten snaps back into attention before taking off; pushing away the two close-combat fighters.
It returns to the airspace next to the castle. The War Hawk folds its arms. Everyone become alert of the incoming assault. The War Hawk spreads its wings, firing a multitude of lasers. Sora and Madoka jump in time while Donald and Goofy barely escape with shocked looks. The War Hawk fires another volley, which results in Sora and Goofy blocking the incoming shots as Donald barely escapes again and Madoka jumps back, flipping in the air before stopping. The Forgotten prepares one more assault. The Magical Girl jumps forwards with a twirl, telling the guys to stand behind her. She lands just as the monster fires. The original trio gather behind the pinkette, who places her free hand on top of her bow; eyes closed. The lasers arc before she snaps her eyes open and a barrier of light surrounds the party. The shield takes in the incoming projectiles as the Forgotten fires one more wave of lasers. Again the shield holds, cracking slightly. The Magical Girl gives a vindictive smirk. After extending her free hand, she snaps her fingers. The barrier shatters before converging into her free hand. She gathers the condensed light and forms it into an arrow as pulls back string of Majestic Heart. She releases the Reflectga Shot. The arrow hits its mark before the monster is surrounded by a hundred bursts of light. The War Hawk gives a shrill cry before falling to the ground; its body glowing before dispersing into the air.
Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and dismisses their weapons. Now that the threat is finally gone, Sora turns to the Magical Girl with a curious look. "So how did you get to this world Madoka?"
"Well…" Madoka starts off. For the next few minutes she explains how Oswald came to her world and gave Madoka and her friends the Force Gems to become Magical Girls again before moving onto how her world got invaded. She finishes up her explanation, "And that's how I got here."
"That certainly explains your powers. From what I heard from Kairi you should no longer have them."
The Magical Girl looks down with a hand on her chest, "We were hesitant at first. But if I can make a difference with this new power," Madoka smiles, "we may be able to protect everyone." She looks up to the Keyblade Master. "Besides, I don't want anyone to have their memories altered."
"Yeah," the Keyblade Master responds; rubbing the back of his head. "I know how it feels to have your memories altered."
Donald steps into the conversation, "So, you saw their leader?"
Madoka nods, "Yes, but we have no idea who she is." She folds her arms, "We couldn't see her face, no thanks to her mask."
"Hmm…" Goofy ponders, "And what happened to Oswald?"
The pinkette shakes her head, "I don't know. But he should be okay. She did say that Oswald defeated all of those giant Forgotten himself." Nothing is said afterwards.
The knight breaks the silence, "Question now is where do we go from here?"
"Well, I need to get back to my friends they must be worried."
"Good idea let's…huh?" Sora's attention is grabbed by a glow of light floating in the sky. Everyone else turns towards it. Sora's Keyblade appears in his hand, which he looks at it with a curious look.
Madoka looks back at Sora, "What's wrong?"
Goofy answers in his stead, "I think we just found our gateway to the next world."
Sora looks back at the light. After a few seconds, he smiles before turning to the pinkette, "Hey why don't you come with us?"
"Huh?" she turns to the Keyblade Master with surprised face.
"I know you're worried about your friends. But I have a feeling that we can meet up with them along the way. Besides, Kairi's here in this world helping everyone out, probably with the rest of your friends. So what do you say, want to come along?"
Madoka closes her eyes as she brings a clenched hand to her chest. After a few seconds she shares a bright smile. "Sure, why not?"
"That's the spirit!" Donald exclaims with excitement.
"Now that's settled," the Keyblade Master states before turning to the light. He points the Keyblade at it. "Time to hit the road." Light gathers at the weapon's tip before releasing a beam of light. On impact, the light creates a fissure in the sky with a Keyhole in the middle. The light bathes the party of four. Madoka giggles as she begins to float alongside the others. Sora flies to the gate followed by Madoka and his traveling companions. After going through the gate, it disappears.
Ten minutes earlier
The Webmaster unleashes another laser pulse as it launches. Kairi, Sayaka, Kyoko, and Homura jump out of harm's way. While in the air, Homura fires her arrowguns until the charge runs out. At the same time, Kairi unleashes Triple Firaga. The magical projectiles hit their mark before the Webmaster lands. Sayaka and Kyoko charge at the Forgotten. It turns around before firing a beam of light. The light traveled in an instant and attaches to Sayaka; binding her. Kyoko stops, turning to her partner with a shout. Kairi warns Kyoko with a shout; prompting the spear user to turn back to the monster. Unfortunately, she gets bound as well by the Forgotten. The large fangs on it glow before touching the threads of light, turning them instantly red. The trapped Magical Girls instantly feel their strength fading, grunting from the energy draining from them.
Homura instantly uses her power to stop time. She runs up to the frozen Keyblade Wielder. After touching her, Kairi can now move outside of time. Kairi turns to her with a nod and teleports between the two threads; standing right next to the Forgotten. Kairi strikes through one thread than the other. Seeing the task done, Homura lets go of Kairi before jumping back to the others. She dismisses her spell, and time resumes around her. The threads binding her friends dissipate, who are breathing heavily. Sayaka uses her magic to heal herself before raises her free hand to Kyoko and heals her with a Cure spell. Meantime, Kairi attacks the Forgotten which was unprepared of her sudden appearance next to it. After about ten seconds, the Webmaster binds Kairi. Again its fangs glow before touching the threads on Kairi. The Keyblade Master screams, as she is visibly shocked; the effects and pain are ten times worse in direct contact instead of the single thread between the Forgotten and its prey.
Kyoko suddenly appears in a flash above the Forgotten before immediately diving onto the Forgotten; stabbing it. The Forgotten reels back in pain; it attempts to shake off the red-head. The glowing threads dissipate before the Keyblade wielder suddenly disappears and appears yards away with Homura right next to her. Kairi looks up to her with gratitude and a nod. Sayaka is already in front and striking the Webmaster with two cutlasses. After the Keyblade wielder heals herself with Curaga, she fires blasts of wind as Homura unleashes a volley of laser arrows infused with Blizzard. The giant spider struggles in their attacks. It manages to throw off Kyoko, but she uses Jump once more; stabbing the monster from above; slamming it to the ground. Sayaka lets out a battle cry as she cuts into the Forgotten's mask.
"Get out of the way!" Homura shouts out as energy builds in both of her weapons; focusing the energy between the tips. She is in a kneeling position as Kairi has her Keyblade extended above the gunner's head. The Keyblade's tip shines with energy as well. Kyoko jumps high as Sayaka dashes away. Homura fires a large violet beam with Kairi's power twirling around it. Their attack pierces through the monster. The attack lasts for five seconds before the beam dissipates. The Webmaster struggles in its attempts to stand. Moments later, it slumps onto the pavement. The Forgotten gets covered in a white mist and disappears as the mist dissipates.
Minutes later, Dilan and Aeleus nod in thanks to Kairi for healing them before they head back towards the castle. Kairi reconvenes with the Magical Girls.
"Are they going to be all right?" Sayaka asks.
"Yeah, their memory is a little hazy, but its mostly intact. Guess we got here just in time before that Forgotten can do more damage."
"By the way," Kyoko pipes up. "do you think your friend found Madoka in the castle?" Before Kairi can take out her Gummi phone, Sayaka spots something in the sky.
"What's that?" the bluenette says pointing to the sky. The others look up to see what looks like a star next to the top of the castle. Kairi narrows her eyes to focus on the scene. She can barely make out four tiny figures moving towards the light. The light gives one final flash before disappearing.
"Did anyone get a good view at who was moving towards that light?" Kairi asks the others.
Homura speaks up, "I counted four moving towards it."
"Same here," Kairi affirms before sighing. She takes out her Gummi phone. After a few presses, nothing happens. Kairi puts away her phone, "Guess we missed them."
Homura snaps to Kairi, her hands clenching. "What to do you mean?"
"If I'm right, Sora just left building, literally." She says with a thumb pointing to the castle behind her. "Which means two of them have to be Donald and Goofy. And as for the last one, that had to be-"
"Madoka." Homura finishes up.
"So what happened to them?" Kyoko says with a slight frown.
"Don't know, except that they are no longer on this world."
"Great, now what?" Sayaka's question dripping with annoyance.
"Well," Kairi begins before her Keyblade pops out on its own accord. The Keyblade Wielder smiles, "Time for us to get going as well." She looks up, just in time for a Keyhole to appear in the sky above the stairs. The light from the Keyhole gathers the others attention. "Want to see what lies beyond?"
"What about Madoka and Mami?" Homura asks.
Kairi responds, "Madoka will be okay." Homura turns to the Keyblade wielder, who looks back. "Don't worry, she's in good hands. Sora won't let anything happen to her. As for Mami, there's a chance she's with Xion by now." Kairi's smile widens. "So how about it, ready for some adventures?"
The Magical Girls look at each other. Sayaka smirks as Kyoko wears a big grin, while Homura dons a gentle smile. Homura speaks up, "I guess we're in."
"I can't believe we're going to see other worlds," Kyoko's eyes gleam with excitement.
"Looks like we'll have a bunch of stories to talk about when we get home!" Sayaka gives a small laugh.
Kairi nods and raises her Keyblade, a magical circle appears below the four young women. The Keyblade charges for a few seconds before shooting a beam at the Keyhole. The Keyhole reacts; giving off a brighter light and all four are drawn into it.
The Lazy Bum brings both arms up before slamming them towards the ground. Roxas jumps out of the way of the monster's right arm as Xion dodges the impact from its left. Roxas twirls his Keyblade several times before launching several orbs of light at the Forgotten. At the same time, Xion casts a Firaga with her free hand. After their projectiles hit, the Lazy Bum charges the prongs on its shoulders once more. Noticing this, the Keyblade Wielders run from the impending attack. Fully charged, in unleashes the electrical barrier. While the barrier is active, it starts firing lasers from its legs; which become electrically charged after passing through the shield.
Half of the volley of lasers head straight to Mami and Charlotte. The two jump in different directions before the electrical projectiles hit the ground; unleashing the electrical payload. Charlotte blows into her trumpet; unleashing a torrent of pale bubbles. The bubbles impact the shield to no effect. Another wave of electrical projectiles fire through the charged shield. Mami summons plenty of ribbons and surround herself and Charlotte into a barrier of her own. The projectiles not able to get through. After the last wave of lasers pass, the ribbons unravel; revealing the Magical Girls. Charlotte tries again and this time her bubbles hitting their mark on the Forgotten's face.
The Lazy Bum begins to charge once again but this time raises its two arms. The electricity flows from its shoulders and down the arms and into the spheres, where the golden rings embedded on them glow. The electricity gathers between the monster's arms; forging an orb of concentrated high voltage. Sparks fly out and towards the Keyblade Wielders and Magical Girls. Its targets jump, roll, and spin to dodge the wayward sparks.
Having enough of the dodging and jumping around, Roxas charges. He throws his Keyblade before getting hit from an orb of lightning. His weapon arcs before going into the electrical orb. With a thundering crash; the orb dissipates and the Forgotten stumbles from its broken attack. Charlotte raises a free hand before swinging it; and firing a Blizzard shard onto the monster. Her attacks freezing the silos on the Lazy Bum's legs. Mami prepares ten muskets, and to her surprise, Xion uses her unique copying ability and produce ten more muskets. Both the blonde and raven-haired raise their arms. They point at the monster with the palms facing forwards and all twenty muskets go off one after another. The Lazy Bum flinching from each shot.
Roxas charges in, jumping on the Forgotten's leg. He jumps once more with a flip and lands on its stomach before jumping once more. Roxas shouts as he slashes at the face multiple times. He kicks off the monster's face. The blonde Keyblade Wielder stops in midair; his hand pointed at the Forgotten as his Keyblade spins rapidly in front of him. Bursts of light and darkness fires forth. An explosion occurs on the Forgotten's face after the last of Roxas' shots hit it. After the smoke clears the Forgotten raises its arms in the air before they hit the ground with a thud and its face looking towards the ground. Its body is surrounded by white wisps before they overtake it and disappear along with the Lazy Bum.
Leon stirs before slowly getting up; using the wall behind as leverage. His groans catch the four's attention. Xion rushes over to the leader. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I've been worse than that thing can dish out."
"Are you sure?" Mami asks as she approaches followed by the other two fighters.
"Oh, don't mind him," a female voice speaks out. A woman with shoulder length black hair, wearing a blue sleeveless duster sweater over a black tank top and blue skirt walks through the entrance. She smiles before turning to the Committee Leader, "Still you do need to be more careful, Squall."
Squall scoffs with a smile, "Must you use my first name in front of others, Rinoa." Rinoa responds with a playful smile with tongue out.
"Why not, besides you know how much I care about you." She proceeds to put his arm over her shoulders as she supports him off the wall. She turns to the others with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets some medical attention."
Roxas nods, "All right. We'll leave him in your hands."
Rinoa nods before leading Leon out of the area. Roxas turns to Mami and introductions are made between the four of them. Mami makes the last of the introductions before turning to Charlotte, "By the way Charlotte, are those clothes part of your transformation?"
Charlotte turns to her, "Yes, I assume you're a Magical Girl too." The blonde nods in response. "So what is the source of your power?" the white-haired girl queries.
Mami reverts her transformation and her Force Gem appears in her hand. "My power comes from this Force Gem. A small rabbit named Oswald gave it to me."
"You too?!" Charlotte says with a surprise before reverting her transformation. She brings up her Force Gem into her hand; next to Mami's.
Xion leans forward towards the gems. "Aside from the colors, they practically look the same."
Mami looks at the two Force Gems before looking up to the white-haired girl, "How long have you had your Force Gem?"
Charlotte shakes her head as she brings her hand back, "I don't know. All I remember is that Oswald giving me this. I don't know why."
"Maybe it's to help you fight against the Forgotten?" Xion asks airily.
"Perhaps, but I can't remember exactly when or where he gave it to me. Mostly everything is still a blur."
Roxas puts a hand on her shoulder, "Just relax, your journey just started. All you need to is keep on going. You'll get your answers eventually." Charlotte gently nods with a small smile.
"So, what now?" Xion asks. On cue, a Keyhole shimmers in the sky above them.
Roxas turns to the others, "Guess this means our job here is done and time for us to be on our way." He looks to his fellow Keyblade Wielder, "So what are you going to do?"
"Going with you, of course!" Xion says with a defiant smirk. With a hand on her hip, she turns to Mami, "So Mami, want to come along? We could help you get home."
Mami puts a hand on chest "What about my friends?"
"You don't have to worry about that!" the voice of a certain ninja echoes. They turn to the top of an elevated platform in one of the corners of the area. Yuffie stands with hands on her hips before jumping down to ground level. "Just received word that Sora and Kairi left along with several others. Now that you got your path set up, time for us to clean out the rest of the trash," she finishes with a chest thump. "Just make sure you all come back and let us know how everything turned out."
Mami closes her eyes, lowering her arm. "In that case," she turns to the others with a smile, "what we waiting for?" The other three members of the party nod.
"Mind if I do the honors?" Xion asks.
"Go ahead," Roxas claims. Xion raises the Keyblade, Oblivion to the keyhole. Light gathers at the tip before firing a beam. The sky around the Keyhole shatters. The Keyblade Wielders and Magical Girls, bathed in the light, float in the air before they fly towards the gate, which disappears after they went through.
Oswald's Report 6
The Abandoned are sentient beings possessing both light and darkness. As I mentioned in my earlier reports, they were possibly reborn from Kingdom Hearts' power. Naturally, everyone, except for the Princesses of Heart, contains both a light and darkness. The Abandoned however are beaming with these two forces. However, it appears they cannot tap into either power. Is it possible that these forces are related to their amnesia? I doubt that is the case but perhaps this is a clue itself.
If I can help them tap into their hidden powers, they might regain their memories. However, this is not an easy task. Even if successful there can be repercussions. An example would be Ventus. When he was Master Xehanort's apprentice, the master split the poor boy's heart in two; creating two entities.
However, my goal is to separate the darkness from the light, without damaging the heart. This is an impossible task. If the only means to perform this action is to split their hearts into two, then I must find another way to recover their memories. Perhaps I could take them with me, and help them search for their original world, but I cannot take all of them with me. For now, I will continue investigating the ruins of this world.
Author's Note: I admit the chapter is a lot longer than expected. But now the stage is set.
Please let me know how my writing is.
Don't know when I'll get the next chapter up. Until next time.
Preview
Do I sense another question about?
What is your business here this time?
CARDS
This is no time for games, just open them already!
Thanks, enjoy the nap!
We shall not fail you!
Next Chapter
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN