Chapter 25: unexpected detour
I do not own kingdom hearts or the properties shown in this fanfic. They belong to the respective owners and the original story is based on the works of Darius Almighty. Kingdom hearts and trials of the keyblade is owned by square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please support the official release.
Right. Now we introduce maleficent's minions are new and old in this fanfic! The beagle boys Merlock syndrome the evil queen will play a part of this but we introduce a new minion in her group! He's an old enemy from the same dreamworks universe as shrek. Wanna find out who he is? Read and then you'll know!
With that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
"So much for Fairy Godmother," Maleficent said, impatiently. She had witnessed all that happened to her former potions supplier via a large mirror that hung in her dark room. Yet another defeat courtesy of Sora and his band of Keybladers. "She had such potential. But her lust for power led to her demise." Maleficent's two servants, Pete and Gantu, stood behind her, with Gantu humming a tune after listening to the donkey, dragon and cat sing. Turning around, the mirror suddenly formed a ghastly face on its glass. "I trust you all won't be as foolish?"
"Don't worry about me," said the bearded dog-man in the purple hooded robes. A green talisman that glowed with power hung from his neck. "I've been around the block a few times. You don't live for hundreds of years without learning a trick or two."
"The boy is quite strong...," the snow leopard with gray fur said, in a foreign accent. "But in the end, that's all he is, a boy. Nothing but a nuisance. The Keyblade must not be very picky on its wielder."
"Just wait till I get my hands on him!" exclaimed the jumpsuit-wearing man with the bushy red hair. A large S was on his suit. "He'll be another hero on my growing list of jerks that I don't like! Right now he's number two!"
"Just leave it to my boys," the dog-woman declared. Behind her stood seven dog-men that had placard numbers sewed to their shirts. "If it's worth something, we'll get it! One way or another." Her sons rubbed their hands together, greedily.
"The Keyblader is a threat, that's true," said the beautiful woman wearing the pointed crown. "But our main focus are the fairest of them all."
"Quite right," Maleficent agreed. A light suddenly lit revealing the unconscious woman: Cinderella. "We are already at a disadvantage. The Horned King is one step ahead of us. Maybe if I had more capable servants..." Pete and Gantu swallowed nervously.
"Well, we got the babe with the glass slippers pretty easily, didn't we?" Pete said, grinning weakly.
"You waited outside her house for three hours then threw a sack over her head," the dog-man said, dryly. Pete winced as if in pain.
"But it doesn't matter." Maleficent continued. "One way or another Kingdom Hearts will be mine. And then the world, all the worlds, will fall before my wrath!" She turned back to the mirror with the face. "Mirror, mirror from the dark, show me the Princesses of Heart."
"Of course, milady," the mirror replied. The face flickered and swirled as an image began to form on the glass surface. Maleficent smiled devilishly as the form of the auburn-haired girl in pink took shape. All in good time...
KHKHKHKH
"Ow, my head...," Sora moaned.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Kairi gagged.
"The room is spinning," Beast groaned.
"Welcome to my world, mates!" Jack said smiling.
After they said their goodbyes, and the very tearful goodbye between Mushu and Donkey, the Keybladers were once again on their shuttle and heading back to the Shera, with Far, Far Away now far, far behind them. Unfortunately, the effects of last night's party were beginning to take their toll on the unfortunate Keybladers. They were all wondering why the waiters served only one very familiar drink.
"I can't believe you talked the caterers into serving nothing but rum," sonic said to Jack, with a gagging sound that suggested he may be about to throw up. He'd had quite a few drinks that night.
"I merely made a few colourful suggestions," Jack slurred. "And, you know, spiked the water supply," he said under his breath. "Besides, it all worked out for the best. Some people really loosen up when they're a little tipsy." He winked at Mulan who blushed and looked away. The Shera was now coming into view, like a large dragon floating overhead. As Sora flew towards it, the view screen on the dash board suddenly turned on to Wade's smiling face.
"Hey, guys!" he said cheerfully.
"Not so loud," Sora moaned. Wade tilted his head in confusion.
"Wild party?" Everyone nodded. "We were wondering what was taking so long! Hurry back!" With one last smile he switched off.
"So, Sora," Kairi said to the pilot. "What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" It then struck Sora that he still hadn't old her about his dreams.
"Yeah, Sora, what's so important?" Mushu pressed. "That's all you could talk about down in the forest."
"Are you confessing your love?" Jack asked. Everyone's ears perked up after he said that. They leaned in closer to hear what Sora was going to say.
"Cut it out!" Sora hissed. He then calmed down and sighed. "Though I suppose it is better that you're all here. This concerns all of us."
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.
Sora closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Lately, I've been having dreams about..." When he opened his eyes, his words caught in his throat. "...that!" Now standing on the nose of the Gummi ship was a figure clad in dark steel armour with a black cape flowing behind him. A Chaser. But it was not the same Chaser that Sora had encountered. This one was shorter and skinnier but the armour they wore was the same. Sora shook when he saw the Chaser on the ship. Does this mean there were more of them?
"Howdy, ya'll!" The Chaser shouted with a loud and boisterous southern accent. The voice told Sora that it was a man. "Looks like I hit the Keyblade mother-load! It must be my lucky day!"
"Who the heck is that!?" sonic exclaimed. Sora didn't have time to answer as the Chaser raised his hand. A Keyblade shaped like an axe appeared in a flash of darkness.
"A Keyblade!?" Kairi shouted. With maniacal laughter, the Chaser raised the Keyblade above his head and slammed it into the hull of the Gummi ship, chopping a hole right through it. The ship swerved off course, flying past the Shera and spinning out of control.
"Guys? Guys!?" Wade called through the communication link on the Shera. All he could hear from the other end was the panicked screams of the Keybladers.
"What's going on!?" Leon shouted, coming up behind Wade. "Where are they!?"
"Leon!" Aerith called, pointing out the window. Leon ran to the window and looked where she was pointing. As soon as he arrived the Gummi shuttle careened by the window with a man standing atop it, hacking away with some kind of weapon.
"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" the voice of Mushu rang through the communicator. "I don't wanna die! I'm against dying! Dying is not on my to-do list!"
"We're not gonna die!" Everyone else in the shuttle hollered.
"Don't feed me false hope!" The communications were suddenly cut off as the Gummi ship flew farther and farther away, leaving the Shera behind.
"Cid! Follow them!" Leon ordered.
"Already on it!" the Shera's pilot replied, punching the gas and launching the ship after the wayward Keybladers.
Back with the shuttle, the Chaser cackled as he continued hacking away with his Keyblade, turning the hull into scrap metal. The man was obviously insane. That much the Keybladers could see. He then noticed the Shera coming up behind them and catching up quickly. "Looks like that wild beast needs taming! Come and get em, boys!" Suddenly several white portals appeared around the ship. Several white wispy figures emerged and latched onto the hull with snake-like motions. Strange but familiar emblems were etched into their empty hollow heads.
"Nobodies!?" Sora shouted. The sleek white Dusk's clung to the Gummi shuttle, eager to the bidding's of their master, which apparently was the Chaser.
"Take em down a few pegs!" the Chaser ordered. The Dusk's leapt off the Gummi shuttle and headed in the path of the pursuing Shera. Like bugs on a windshield, they hit the cockpit head-on. With the sheer number of Nobodies, the cockpit was soon completely covered with white bodies.
"I can't see!" Cid yelled. Jerking the steering wheel, he broke off the chase to clean off his ship as the Gummi shuttle flew farther and farther away from their help.
Seeing the Shera being left behind them, the Chaser laughed again. "Hehehehe! Remember the name that did you guy's in! It's Charon! YEEEHAAAA!" He resumed smashing the ship with his axe-like Keyblade. Inside the cockpit, everything was going haywire. The controls started sparking and exploding, Sora barely had any control over the steering.
"Do something, Sora!" Jack shouted. "I have a wife and kids...somewhere!"
"Shake him off!" Beast yelled. Sora gripped the steering wheel and spun it rapidly. The ship then did a series of complicated twists and nauseating barrel rolls so that the Chaser, named Charon, was forced to grip the ship's hull with his steel fingers lest he be thrown into the void of space.
"Whoa! This reminds me of my bull riding days!" Charon cackled. "I live for this!" Caught up in his fun, Charon didn't notice the piece of the ship he was holding onto begin to tear off. "Yehahaha! Wha?" The piece broke off and Charon flew right by the cockpit and was sent flying into the blackness of space, still laughing.
Unfortunately, he had succeeded in ripping their ship into shreds. Try as Sora might he could not stop the ship from crashing. Not far in front of them was a planet that seemed to be covered in dirt. It approached faster and faster as they plummeted towards it. More pieces of their ship tore off as they entered the planet's atmosphere.
"We're all gonna die!" Mushu wailed. "I never learned to play the violin! What about my IBM stock!? Tell Laura I love her!" No one bothered asking who Laura was, because they were approaching the planet's surface at quite an alarming rate.
"Hang on!" Sora shouted. He pulled the steering wheel up to avoid a nose dive crash in the desert landscape. The ship jerked up just before it could smash into the earth but crashed into the planet nonetheless. They skidded a few feet before finally coming to a stop. Everyone crawled out of what remained of the cockpit.
"You think your head hurt before?" Jack groaned as he stumbled out of the wreckage. Everyone climbed off the ship and onto solid ground. The crash site wasn't exactly the most scenic of places. A wide open desert spread out all around them. A few craggy hills were the only other feature on this bleak landscape. The searing sun beat mercilessly down upon them.
"Okay," sonic growled as he hopped out the crash. "Would someone mind telling me what the hell just happened!? Who was that nut!?"
"That's what I want to know!" Beast hollered. "He nearly killed us! He was completely insane!"
"Not only that," Kairi said, looking into the eyes of all the Keybladers. "Did anyone else notice what he attacked us with?" The looks on their faces told her that they did.
"A Keyblade," Mulan stated grimly, voicing everyone's thoughts. "He had a Keyblade."
"Yeah, what's up with that!?" Mushu exclaimed.
"I thought we had some kind of exclusive club going on here," Jack drawled. "Now every old bitty in the universe has one? Well, I got one before they were cool."
"But who was he?" Kairi asked, more to herself then the others.
"A Chaser." Everyone turned their attention to Sora, who stood off a few feet away from the group, staring at the horizon. "He was a Chaser." He turned to look at all of them, so they could all see his serious face. "And he wanted our Keyblades."
"What?" Beast said, or more like growled. sonic walked up to Sora and glowered at him.
"What do you know?" he asked horrified. Sora was forced to look away, unable to look at the half-demon's eyes.
"Sora?" Kairi said worriedly. Everyone waited for an explanation from the young Keyblader. Taking a deep breath, Sora proceeded to explain.
Everything.
KHKHKHKH
"So let me get this straight!" Jack Sparrow said anxiously. "You're telling me that some crazy guys dressed in armour are hopping all over the worlds to kill us!? Just because we have these!?" He summoned his Keyblade in his shaking hand. Sora, who stood before them all, nodded.
"And the only way to separate a Keyblade from its owner...is to get rid of the owner." Everyone either gasped or frowned at this statement. For a moment, no one spoke, until Mulan asked the question everyone was thinking.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" she asked.
"Yeah! If I'd had known that, I'd never have come on this trip of doom!" Jack exclaimed.
"What were you thinking!?" Beast growled. Sora bowed his head dejectedly.
"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I didn't want anyone to worry. We have enough problems as it is. I didn't want anyone to get hurt."
"A little late for that," Mushu scoffed, eyeing their ruined ship.
"This was my problem," Sora continued. "I didn't want any of you to get involved!"
"Why!?" Beast snarled, walking up to him. "Why is this only your problem!? You put everyone in danger by not telling us! You said they hunt Keyblades! In case you haven't noticed, Sora, we all have Keyblades! What reason could you possibly have to classify this as your problem!?"
Sora frowned miserably. "It was a Chaser that attacked Donald and Goofy." Beast's angered expression softened considerably. Everyone else who knew of Sora's lost friends eyes widened.
"You mean that lunatic beat King Mickey?" Kairi whispered. Sora shook his head.
"No. That was another Chaser. I met that one in Port Royal. If hadn't been for Jack..."
"Wait a minute!" Jack interrupted. "That was what I shot with a cannon!? Not only does he want my key, but now he has a grudge! Well I don't want this!" He summoned his Keyblade and chucked it as far as he could...only to have it reappear in is hand. "Oh, bugger."
"Look," Sora began, not meeting anybody's eyes. "I know I screwed up. I mean really screwed up."
"Ah, quit your whining," Kairi drawled. Sora looked at her surprised.
"We're not gonna leave you, Sora," Beast said, smiling slightly.
"These guys took your friends. It's understandable to want to beat them yourself," sonic smirked.
"But we're here to help you," said Mulan. "Just as you helped us so many times before."
"Yeah, you're stuck with us," Mushu said, grinning. "We're like the weirdest family ever."
Everyone turned to hear Jack Sparrow's comment only to see him repeatedly throwing his Keyblade away every time it reappeared. Finally he stopped for a breath and noticed their annoyed stares. "Alright! Alright! I'm in too! Yay teamwork!" he replied with forced enthusiasm.
Kairi turned back to Sora. "You're not alone, Sora. We're Keybladers, united!"
Sora stood speechless, mouth open agape. It was then he realized that he was incredibly stupid not to trust them. As he looked at all their smiling faces, he knew that there was nothing to worry about. "Alright," he said finally. "First thing we should do is get back to the Shera. Leon and the others need to hear this too."
"Not to worry, mate!" Jack Sparrow assured, waltzing over to their Gummi ship. "I break a lot of things in my line of work. It sometimes requires me to put them back together. A little bit of elbow-grease and this thing should be up and running in no time!" He gently patted the ship. As soon as he did the ship collapsed into a pile of rubble. Jack winced. "Well...uh...my work here is done!" Everyone glared at him.
KHKHKHKH
Meanwhile, back with the Shera, the last of the Nobodies had finally been cleaned off thanks to Cid's super windshield wipers. As the last Dusk was flung off the cockpit and shot into space, the Keybladers and their shuttle were already long gone. Where they went, nobody knew.
Leon walked up behind Wade, who had been trying to contact the ship for quite some time now but had no luck so far. "Anything?", he asked the struggling teen.
Wade shook his head. "Nothing. I can't get a signal anywhere. They're either too far out of range or..." He didn't even need to finish his sentence to make everyone on board worry.
"Keep trying," Leon ordered. Wade nodded and turned back to the terminal.
"They're gonna be okay, right daddy?" Marlene worriedly asked Barret.
The large man smiled down at his daughter and patted her head with his real hand. "Of course they'll be okay, sweetheart. No need to worry. They'll be back before you know it." Marlene smiled.
"That's good! I want to hear more of Uncle Jack's stories!" Barret raised an eyebrow at the 'uncle'. He wasn't so sure he wanted his daughter to look up to that man.
"But who was that guy who attacked them?" Quistis asked. "How could he survive out in space?"
"And those Nobodies!" Yuffie spat, spinning in her seat like a five-year old. "I thought we said goodbye to those jerks when Sora and the others beat the Organization! Now they're back?"
"Lots of unanswered questions," Adelbert muttered, swinging Lula around like he didn't have a care in the world. "Maybe those guys could shed some light on this if they get back."
"There is no if," Leon said to the large knight. "They're coming back. They have too. They're our only chance at getting our home back."
Aerith stood by the window looking blankly outside. The same place she stood when she spotted the shuttle being attacked by the mysterious man. As soon as she saw that armoured figure, a dreadful feeling coursed through her very soul. As if she had seen him before at another time in another place. Aerith couldn't explain it, but somehow she knew that Sora and the others were in grave danger.
"Everything alright?" She turned when Kim and Ron came up behind her. "You don't look so good." Kim said. "You look like Ron after the Batman marathon on T.V."
"I would take offence to that if it weren't the undeniable truth," Ron replied.
Aerith smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine," she assured, before turning back to the window. "Just fine..."
KHKHKHKH
The Keybladers trudged through the harsh desert of the unknown world in search of civilization. It was not an easy journey. With the unbearable heat and barren landscape that stretched as far as the eye could see, they were not exactly making much progress.
"Boy, must be hot with all that fur," Jack said, looking at Beast while wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"Shut up," Beast growled. Everyone coped as best they could with the heat but who knows how long they could keep going like this.
Sora tried contacting the Shera on the Kimmunicator over and over again, but all he got was static on the screen.
"So you've met one of those guys before?" Kairi asked Sora as the marched. "How many are there?"
"So far I've only seen two," Sora answered. "The first one was the one...that attacked King Mickey." He couldn't bear to say Donald and Goofy's names. "I saw him in Port Royal. I've never seen any others up until now. Didn't know they even had names. But...how was Charon able to summon Nobodies? The only ones who could control them were Organization XIII."
"And they're all gone," Kairi said. "Aren't they?" Sora frowned.
"I don't know...," he said thoughtfully. "Things are getting way too complicated! The Empire, Maleficent, the Horned King, and Chasers that command Nobodies! And this time Donald and Goofy aren't here to help me!" Kairi frowned in sympathy.
"I know how much they mean to you, Sora," she said gently. "And we'll help you get them back. And then we'll help Riku too!" Sora smiled in response.
"Look! Over there!" Mulan called to them. Standing on her head was Mushu acting as a lookout.
"There's a town! Big town!" the guardian dragon announced. It was true. On the horizon was a cluster of buildings that made up a large town. Even from their vantage point they could make out people walking in the streets.
"Let's go, guys!" Sora said, running ahead. "Let's see if we can find some help there! Then we'll deal with the Chasers! Together." The other Keybladers smiled, glad that Sora was back to his happy trusting self again. They all ran after him towards the unknown city.
"It's not enough that I have the Lord of the Seas after me," Jack said sourly. "Now I have some crazy key-wielding psycho after me as well. It's a vicious cycle. What else is gonna come for Jack Sparrow's head?"
KHKHKHKH
Far behind the Keybladers were the remains of their Gummi ship shuttle. Not much remained save for the main body, but even that was a crumpled mess. A small lizard popped its head out from a hole in the ground, staring at the ship curiously. Scurrying over to the wreckage, it crawled up a piece and licked it to see if it was food, making a disgusted face when it found out it was not.
Something alerted the reptile. The presence made it jump off the ship and run like the dickens back into its hole. The reason for its alarm walked to the Gummi ship, each step careful and calm. The bright sun reflected off its strange metal helmet as it stalked away from its sleek ship that was parked not far off. Its clawed hand grazed the surface of the ripped apart Gummi ship hull, as if he knew what transpired to put it in this condition. A brief look around showed that there was no one left on board. That didn't stop the creature. It only spurred it on.
Kneeling down, he examined the sand around the ship. Foot prints, faint in the earth, were barely visible. Most people would have overlooked such tracks. Most people. The hunter tapped the side of his helmet. His vision switched to a kind of infrared sight but still didn't change much to the situation. He tapped his helmet again switching his sight to another view. This time, the footprints in the sand became completely visible. He could now see the direction the ship's survivors had taken.
The creature rose from its kneeling position and adjusted the cannon on its shoulder. It then set off down the trail, with a lust for the kill coursing through its body.
And that concludes another chapter. Be sure to write nice reviews, adapt the original story (Darius Almighty's work) on DeviantArt, turn it into a webcomic or post the story on TV tropes or follow and favorite it. And remember may your heart be your guiding key!