ToL: Chapter 4
It was now 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon in the little town of Peach Creek. We could see the three Eds out in the parking lot of their neighborhood with the girls watching them not too far away. Everyone else was inside Eddy's house, still discussing the situation with the others over the gummi phone.
"Come on, Eddy!" Ed begged Eddy as he tugged on his arm a little, "I wanna see the key sword thingy again!"
"Again?" Eddy questioned him, "I've already shown it to you like three times now!"
"Well, maybe you should start practicing with it," Double D stated with a small chuckle, "That might be a good idea."
"Geez, who do you think you are now, my dad?" Eddy stated with a grumble before making a sigh of defeat.
Eddy summoned out his Starlight Keyblade once again, the blade of the silver Keyblade with the blue handle shined very brightly in the sun.
"Oooo!" Ed was in awe at the sight of the blade. A thought crossed his mind, "Do you think I could hold it for a second?"
Double D widened his eyes, "Ed, I don't think that's a—"
"My turn to spin the key!" Ed cheered before grabbing Eddy's Keyblade on its handle, with it still in Eddy's right hand.
"What the — Hey!" Eddy yelped.
Ed started to spin the Keyblade like a baton on its handle before posing with it, letting the blade rest on his right shoulder, "Ta da baa naaaa!" He sang a small jingle out of tune with a big smile on his face, "You just got owned, for victory! Yeah! ~"
"Ed, please don't do that!" Double D gasped as he took Eddy's Keyblade out of Ed's right hand by its handle, "You might hurt someone by accident!"
Ed made a pouty face, "Aww…"
Double D handed the Keyblade back to Eddy, "I swear, you two will be the death of me," he stated.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say!" Eddy replied as he took his Keyblade back from Double D, glancing back at it in his hand as he did, "You're right though, I should try and practice using it, maybe try out one of those crazy magic spells the others did!"
Meanwhile, Ebony, Shayla, and Katrina watched the three Eds from the sidewalk.
"You know, you never did tell us the reason you knew the name of the girl Riku's friend found," Ebony stated as she turned to Katrina, "Even Eddy blurted out the same name. What's up with that?"
Katrina widened her eyes at the question, "Umm, w-well…" she started to say, "We're not exactly sure, but…"
Shayla could hear footsteps behind them, "Oh, looks like the others have finished talking over that gummi phone device."
"Hey there," Adam stated to the girls as he noticed the three Eds in the middle of the parking lot, "What are they doing?"
"It looks like Eddy started to practice a little with his Keyblade," Katrina replied.
"I can see that," Mickey stated, "With the right training, he could be very skilled at using it."
"Maybe we can help out with that, Your Majesty," Kairi stated with a smile.
Mickey nodded his head in agreement, "That's a great idea!"
"Well, while you two help him out, I need to take Shayla back to her house for a moment so she can pick up some things," Adam stated as he turned to Riku, "Do you mind joining us? We might need your help if any Heartless show up."
"Of course," Riku replied with a nod of his head.
"Be careful out there, okay?" Olivia stated to Adam.
Adam made a smile and gave her a thumbs up, "We will be just fine, don't worry!"
"I'll go as well," Ebony stated to Adam, "I wanna check in on my parents in person; since Shayla and I live next to each other."
Shayla glanced back at the three Eds before she, Ebony and Katrina decided to approach them, "Hey guys, Ebony and I need to go home for a moment and Adam is going to drive us there," Shayla stated to them, "I thought you should know."
"Oh, right…" Double D muttered aloud before asking, "Would you like for any of us to—"
"Oh, oh! I wanna go!" Ed interjected with a smile, "It's cool to see new places!"
"Hmm… Sure! I don't see why not!" Ebony replied with her own smile.
"Yay!" Ed cheered a little, "Road trip time!"
"Ed, they really don't live THAT far away," Eddy sighed with annoyance.
"… Well, umm…" Double D started to say to Shayla, "Do you need me to come along as well?"
Shayla blinked at him before nodding her head, "Yeah, you can come with us."
"As nice it is to leave, I think I'll stay here," Katrina stated, "I want to see Eddy train with the others."
Eddy made a face of confusion, "Wait, huh? What do you mean 'train'?"
"The king and Kairi both said they can help you out," Katrina replied, "I assume they'll start the training before it gets dark."
"Oh, that's just great," Eddy stated with a groan, "And here I thought I was done with learning when the school closed down for this month," He perked up his head, "Oh well, at least this is better than reading a boring old textbook!"
"Hey!" Adam called out to the six teens, "We need to leave soon!"
"We're coming!" Shayla replied as she, Ebony, Double D, and Ed walked over to where Adam and Riku were standing, next to Adam's car. They soon got into the car and proceeded to drive off.
Meanwhile, back in Twilight Town, we could see Xion and Olette walking/dragging Iris toward the clothing shops, "You're going to need a change of clothes!" They both said to her.
Iris walked alongside the two girls nervously, 'Everything here is so different and lively,' she thought to herself, 'I remember seeing mother and father all my life, as well as their four friends… It was only the seven of us for so long.'
"Here we are!" Olette stated as they stopped in front of a store located near a very fancy-looking restaurant, "I'm sure we can find something for you here!"
"O-Okay?" Iris stuttered a little as she was dragged into the store.
About ten minutes passed before the three girls exited the store, this time with Iris wearing completely different clothes on her. She was now wearing a dark blue sleeveless vest over a pink and white T-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and navy blue and white tennis shoes. She had also pulled back her long, pale blue hair into twin tails and had a pink heart hairpin on the left side of her hair, replacing the flower that was there before. She kept the flower in her pocket; she felt like she could not part with it right now, at least until it started to wilt away over time. Her father gave it to her.
"Aww, you look great!" Olette cheered to Iris.
"How do you feel now?" Xion asked.
"I, umm… It feels a little weird," Iris stated as she examined herself and her new clothes, "But I think I can get used to it."
"Oh! Bless me bagpipes!" a voice with a thick accent called out to the three girls as they saw someone approach them from the restaurant next to them. It was an old duck wearing a blue business jacket and a black top hat, "If it isn't Olette and Xion! What brings you two lasses here today?" He asked them with a smile.
"Oh, hello Mr. McDuck! We were buying some clothes for our new friend here!" Olette stated, gesturing to Iris, "This is Iris, and she just arrived in town."
"I see!" The older duck stated, "Well if any of you need anything to eat, feel free to drop by. You're always welcome to both help and eat!"
"We might do that later around dinner time," Xion replied with a giggle, "Right now we need to go back and see the others."
McDuck nodded his head, "Of course, of course! Go have fun with the others, lassies!"
He then started to walk back to his restaurant, leaving behind the three girls to check on his business.
"Let's go hang out at the bell tower," Olette stated, "I'm sure the others are there already."
The three girls started to walk towards the bell tower that was on top of the hill. As they were walking, Iris noticed a child dressed in blue wearing a big steeple hat walk past them.
"… This place is really unusual," Iris stated.
"Oh yeah, didn't you say you grew up on an island?" Xion started to ask Iris, "What was that like for you?"
Iris widened her eyes at the question, "Umm, well… I-I'll tell you later."
"That's fair," Xion replied with a smile, "You can tell us whenever you want."
Back in Peach Creek, we could see the car that Adam was driving, with the five teens as the passengers. As they were getting closer to their destination, Double D could sense Shayla's unease about visiting her house, fearing that her dad was there; sadly, there was not much he could do for her. They soon saw her house up ahead, only to notice something off; a shabby-looking truck was parked in front of the house, and Shayla's front door was wide open.
Everyone widened their eyes as they got out of the car, "H-He's probably looking for me and my mom!" Shayla stuttered out.
Ebony then turned to her house to her left before she ran off to it in a panic, "I'm gonna go check on my mom and dad! He could have hurt them!"
"… Oh! I'll go with you, Ebony!" Ed called out to Ebony as he then ran after her.
Riku was the one who could feel the presence of a dark force nearby, "Stay on your guard, I can tell that the Heartless are nearby," he warned everyone as he summoned his Keyblade.
"If that's the case, I'll look after Ebony and Ed," Adam stated before running off to Ebony's house.
Double D looked at Shayla next to him; she was trembling in fright from the situation. He attempted to reach out to her hand to try and comfort her until they heard shattering glass nearby. They could see that someone had jumped out of one of the bottom floor windows, the man had darkness radiating around him; it was Shayla's dad.
Shayla and Double D turned pale at the sight as Riku narrowed his eyes at the man, "It looks like the darkness in his heart has taken him over; he's a Heartless now," he glanced over to the two teens, "You two stay here, it's too dangerous to try and fight without a proper weapon or a Keyblade."
Author's Note: These two scenes happen around the same time as each other.
Ebony and Ed were rushing over to her house when she noticed her front door was wide open. When they approached the open door, they could see Ebony's mom and dad inside the living room; they had been cornered by a few Shadows and some Neo Shadows, preventing them from escaping their house.
"Mom! Dad!" Ebony yelped in horror.
Ebony's parents looked to see their daughter near the door, "Ebony! You gotta run away from here!" Ebony's mom yelled at her.
The Heartless in the room then turned towards Ebony, their antennas twitching a little at her presence; they sensed the special light she held within her. The Heartless then melted into the floor, disappearing from everyone's sight for a short moment.
"Huh?" Ed questioned aloud, "Where did they go?"
Adam soon arrived at the scene, just in time for him to notice the darkness forming underneath Ebony's feet. He widened his eyes before shouting to her, "Ebony, watch out!"
Ed was the one who heard Adam first, seeing why he was yelling to her, "EBONY!"
He then did something unexpected; he pushed Ebony out of the way of the darkness that was forming under her feet, accidentally standing in her place before the darkness sprouted upwards, consuming him. Everyone stood there in shock as the darkness continued to gush out of the spot, "ED!" Ebony screamed in horror at what was going on.
Suddenly, a bright flash of light came from the gushing darkness, blinding everyone near it. Once the light died down, they could see Ed standing there where the darkness used to be, he seemed to be okay when the darkness dissipated in the light. In his right hand, they could see a Keyblade that looked very similar to Eddy's in design, but the colors were different; the blade was a dark gray, almost black color, and the handle was a deep red color. The key part of the Keyblade also looked a lot bigger, as if it was shaped like an axe blade.
Ed blinked a little in confusion at what happened before noticing what he held in his right hand, "Oh cool! I got one too!" he stated with a wide, toothy smile, "How did that happen?"
Adam made a heated sigh as he came up to everyone, "Well then, it's always gotta be some sort of surprise with you all, isn't it? You need to stop giving me heart attacks!"
Ebony then turned to her parents and started to run over to them, hugging them as she did, "Mom! Dad!" she started to cry, "Are you okay?!"
"Yes dear, we're fine now," Ebony's dad stated before looking back to Ed, "Thank you for your help as well, young man. You saved us and our daughter."
"… Huh? I did?"
Ebony then came back over to Ed's side, giving him a hug that was like his trademarked Ed Hug, "Thank you so much again, Ed!" she said to him, hugging him even more tightly.
Ed stood there for a moment before a blush came onto his face. He did not know what he was feeling, but it felt warm and fuzzy; like Ebony's hug to him.
Everyone then heard a loud rumble of thunder near them towards Shayla's house.
"Uh oh, I have a bad feeling about that…" Adam stated before turning to Ebony's parents, "I'll go check on it, please stay here."
Riku turned back to Shayla's father, whose body was being warped by the darkness around him into something hideous. He had turned into a big, snake-like Heartless that looked like a cobra in appearance, his scaly body was now black, and his snake eyes were bright yellow. The body of the cobra had several big mouths on the sides of its body with visible teeth, each of them looked like they were breathing out dark fumes.
"Yeesh, that's really bad," Riku pointed out, "I guess this is what drugs can do to people in this world."
"Thank you for your wonderful observation, Mr. Comedian," Double D stated to Riku with sarcasm, rolling his eyes a little.
He could feel Shayla latching onto his left arm tightly in fright, "I-It'll be alright, Shayla," Double D started to say, trying to comfort her, "I won't let him hurt you or anyone here."
Riku began to run forward to the cobra Heartless with his Keyblade in hand. He jumped up towards the creature's face to slash it with his blade, only to see his blade bounce off the cobra-like it was nothing, "Damn, his skin is as tough as rocks!" Riku growled a little in annoyance.
The cobra Heartless hissed aloud, almost like he was laughing at Riku's attempts to hurt him. The cobra looked towards the two teens behind Riku; his body began radiating more darkness at the sight of his daughter, and his hatred towards her could be seen.
Before anyone could react, the cobra Heartless began to slither past Riku and toward the two teens at a lightning-fast pace. Riku widened his eyes, "Look out!" He tried to warn them.
Double D and Shayla widened their eyes as they could feel themselves being separated; the cobra Heartless had his body wrapped around both different parts of his long body.
"S-SHAYLA!" Double D yelled as he tried to reach out to her from where he was wrapped around the cobra.
The cobra Heartless made another hissing laugh before doing something unexpected; he lifted the long part of his body that he had Double D wrapped around towards the sky before tossing him aside like a rag doll. He yelped in shock at what was going on before realizing he had been flung into the air and was now falling to the ground a few feet away from everyone.
"DOUBLE D!" Shayla cried to him, trying to free herself from the cobra's tight wrap on her.
Suddenly, a bright light started to appear while Double D was in the air, with him out of sight and no longer falling. The light was floating there for a split second before it zoomed towards the cobra's face, slashing it at blinding speed with lightning. The cobra Heartless started to screech and writhe in pain from the attack and from the lightning that hit him.
While the creature was distracted, Shayla could feel the cobra's body starting to loosen her from his grip, but not before a strange black mist started to come from the many mouths on its body. Shayla tried her best to cover her mouth, just in case the mist was some sort of poison.
Riku then looked to see where the light that hit the cobra Heartless went to, only to see something that surprised him. He could see Double D where the light landed, he was kneeling over with his hands on the ground, out of breath from what happened. Gripped in his right hand was a Keyblade that also looked like Eddy's, but the blade's color was light yellow; almost golden, and the handle was dark green in color. His Keyblade's blade had a longer reach compared to others that Riku had seen, almost like it was more of a lance or spear.
"Let. Me. GO!" Shayla shouted as she finally squirmed her way out of the cobra's grip, falling a little to the ground with a small thud. She could feel herself starting to cough from breathing in the cobra's dark mist a moment ago.
Double D finally regained his composure, getting up from where he landed as he did. He looked over to Shayla to see that she was free from the cobra's grip, as well as covering her mouth, and coughing very loudly. He ran over to Shayla, kneeling to her to check her condition, de-summoning the Keyblade he had, "Shayla! A-Are you alright?!" Double D asked with worry, trying to prop her up into his arms.
Riku could tell that Shayla had breathed in some of the poison that the cobra Heartless let out, but he had to focus on defeating the cobra before helping her. He remembered the lightning attack from earlier dealt some good damage to the cobra, meaning that lightning is his weakness!
Before the cobra Heartless could recover from the other attack, Riku pointed his Keyblade upwards, "Thundaza!" he yelled aloud to the cobra Heartless. An extremely big and powerful bolt of lightning came down from the sky to hit the cobra Heartless. The cobra Heartless screeched in pain as he started to dissipate into nothingness, his heart flying off towards the sky and to Kingdom Hearts; there was nothing of him left behind.
"Good riddance," Riku sighed in exhaustion from the strong spell he cast.
Author's Note: And now, the two scenes converge.
Riku turned his attention back to Double D and Shayla, who continued to prop her in his arms as she continued to cough. He then ran over to them, "Esuna!" Riku yelled, pointing his Keyblade at Shayla to heal her from the poison she inhaled. The soft light green glow from the spell washed over Shayla, who now started to cough less and less, "There, she will feel better in a few minutes. Poison can take some time to go away," Riku stated to Double D, noticing how worried he looked.
"I-I see…" Double D muttered with a small sigh afterward.
"Well then, do you think you can explain to me how you suddenly have a Keyblade?" Riku started to ask, "I thought it was only your short friend who could wield one because of his past self."
"I'm not sure myself…" Double D started to say before a thought crossed his mind, widening his eyes as he did, "Wait a minute… Before we left my neighborhood, Ed grabbed Eddy's Keyblade and started playing with it like it was a toy. I grabbed it back from him before he could hurt anyone and then gave it back to Eddy. Is it possible that we inherited it that way?"
Riku thought about it for a short moment, "… More than likely, yeah. It looks like you two had the aptitude for summoning one, even if the way you got yours wasn't done by normal inheritance," he concluded, "I'll have to ask his majesty about this when we get back to your neighborhood."
"You guys!" Adam's voice called out from behind Riku as he, Ed, and Ebony came back to them, "Are you alright? We heard a very loud bang…" he then noticed the gigantic burnt mark from a lightning strike on Shayla's front yard, "And I assume whatever magic you used there was the source of the sound."
Ebony noticed the condition that Shayla was in, propped in Double D's arms, "Oh no!" she gasped as she rushed by her friend's side, shaking her a little by her shoulders, "Shayla! Don't you DARE go into the light, PLEASE!"
"… Ebony, I'm not dead, you dolt. Just a bit drained," Shayla replied to her with a tired groan, propping herself up to look at Ebony with a small glare, "How many times have I told you to not shake my shoulders like that?"
"… Oh, sorry."
Shayla started to get back up on her feet, thanks to Double D, with a small bit of wobbling before fixing her balance, "I, umm… I need to check on my house and then gather what I need."
"Understandable," Adam stated, glancing back at it, "Let's hope the only thing out of place is the broken window."
Shayla nodded her head before she started walking off to her house.
"A-And I need to talk to my parents," Ebony stated before she started to leave, "I'll be back in a minute!"
"Okay, bye-bye!" Ed waved to her.
Riku looked over at Double D, who continued to stand where he got up with Shayla, his eyes fixated on the ground where the cobra Heartless was defeated, "T-That thing… It used to be Shayla's dad, was it not?" he asked, "A-And now he's gone?"
"Yes," Riku replied.
Double D started to tremble a little, "I-I guess there was no chance of s-saving him. I wanted to call the police on him when I saw her front door was open, b-but then…"
Riku made a sigh to him, "Listen, I know it's tough, but not everyone can be saved," he glanced down at his right hand, "Not many can be saved like I was, sadly."
"Huh?"
"It's nothing," Riku stated before making a reassuring smile to everyone.
Adam went back over to his car to see if there was any damage to it, "Looks like my car wasn't attacked by anything. I'll be waiting in the driver's seat for you all when we need to leave."
Ed made a toothy smile, "Okay!"
Author's Note (August 15th, 2023): Well then, I feel like should explain a few things here.
I was planning to give Ed and Double D the weapon types their past selves used for this story, which is an axe and a lance. But I decided to change it for a few reasons. The first reason is that it would be hard for me to come up with a way for them to carry said weapons; it would be better for them to summon keyblades to save time. Another reason is that the Eds will be splitting up sometimes when they finally go out to find the others that Belindra took, meaning there's an A team, a B team, and a C team. Each of them needs to have a Keyblade wielder trainee, so that's my train of thought on that.
Anyway, I hope this doesn't make people discouraged from reading the rest of this story.