Chapter 41: future in flux
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 into the future of Disney castle! grown up denzel and marlene voiced by josh Keaton and cherami leigh in this fic!
With that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Sora slowly opened his eyes, feeling really out of sorts. He realized he was laying on his back since what he was looking at was the sky, a bleak and polluted sky, through dead tree branches. Sora sat up. He was in a forest full of withered old trees, not a single leaf on them. The air was stale and rank and he had to resist gagging from the stench.
"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. Then he realized, he was alone. "Kairi? Kairi, are you here? Kairi?" The only ones to hear him were the trees. Kairi was gone, but where was he? He then noticed that his Chronosphere was still in his hand, only the lights inside it were no longer blinking like normal. He tapped it a few times to no avail; the thing was busted.
"Perfect," Sora sighed, tossing it over his shoulder. Wherever he was, he was stuck here without a Chronosphere. Ma Beagle had the last laugh after all. "Might as well see where I am." He could see a path and made off in its direction, anxious to find out what dimension he had fallen into.
This place wasn't exactly pleasant, Sora thought as he walked through the dark and dead forest. There was no sign of life anywhere; not even grass grew. No sun shone through the clouds of pollution above. And it was deathly quiet. "Maybe Kairi's here too," he muttered softly. "If her Chronosphere works then we can both get out of here." And the sooner the better. This place gave him the creeps. It was like nothing was alive, and it reeked with darkness. There was an end to the path he was walking down so he broke into a run to get there faster. He broke out of the forest and found himself on a high cliff overlooking a valley wherein a large castle stood. Sora gasped in shock. He knew that castle anywhere.
"Disney...Castle?!" Disney Castle, or what was once Disney Castle, faced the horizon at the cliff's bottom. The white walls were now a dull gray with spikes running along the parapets, the blue towers pointed and black. The drawbridge depicted a mural of a terrible roaring beast and the moat was filled with dirty water. But somehow, Sora knew that was Disney Castle, and the ruined town it stood before was King Mickey's kingdom.
"W-what is this!?" Sora stammered, stumbling backwards. "Where the hell am I!?" There was a noise behind him. Before he could turn around and summon the Keyblade, an electric current shot into him, causing him to cry out in pain. He soon slumped to the ground, unmoving, smoke billowing from his body. His assailants approached, three in all.
"It can't be...," whispered the only female of the group. "It's him."
"It's really him," said a young man in awe. "He's back."
"I know that face," murmured the shortest member of the three, not even coming up to the others waists. "But only in stories. Is this really him?"
"You bet it is! I don't believe it! He's here!" exclaimed the man.
"We must report back to base," stated the shortest. "We're too vulnerable here, out in the open. Quickly, before we are discovered."
"Right. Let's load him up," the male said. He and the short figure moved and picked Sora up between the two of them and carried him away, while the girl stared at Sora's face in wonder.
"I never thought I'd see his face again," she said softly.
KHKHKHKH
Red-eyed Heartless and skeleton soldiers rushed into Disney Castle by the hundreds, bloodlust coursing through their bodies. They had already broken through the drawbridge at the main gate with nothing to stop them as they swarmed inside. They broke into the corridors roaring with hunger, and struck down anything that got in their way. Normally the Cornerstone of Light would deal with Heartless in the castle instantly, vaporizing them into nothing. But these were Omega Heartless; creatures of the darkness enhanced by evil magic and sorceries. The Cornerstone would have no effect on them or the skeletons. Thus they rampaged through the castle unhindered. Walking brooms ran for their bristlely lives as the creatures made a mess that they weren't about to clean up.
"Find the Princess of Heart!" Azul hollered in their ranks. "Bring her alive! Kill everything else your path!" Eager for a killing, his army stampeded onward.
"Go! Go! Go!" Barret fired off round after round from his machine gun hand to cover everyone's escape. Skeletons were taken down, Omega Heartless were blown to pieces, but they still kept coming. They were like an endless tide of evil. "I can't keep this up forever! There's no such thing as infinite ammo! Get his majesty out of here!" While Barret fended them off, it gave time for Leon and Aerith to roll the bed resting King Mickey out of his room and away from the danger. Still unconscious, the king could not help them.
po leaped over Barret and set to work in exterminating the invaders. "This will teach you guys to mess with me! The number one Keyblading dragon warrior! I'm bad, I'm rad and I'm taking names!" The panda's boasting stopped when a strange woman dressed in crimson flipped over the Heartless with a cruel smirk. Rosso drew her double scythed rifle and opened fire. She was so fast and ruthless that po hardly had time to retreat back to the others as the last of his creations were gone.
"Go! Kill them all!" Rosso commanded extending her arm. The Omega Heartless and skeleton soldiers rushed past her and the attack continued, po and Barret having no choice but to run.
In another part of the castle, Beast pounded with his Keyblade and Adelbert cut with Lula at tentacles of shadow that lashed out at them. They were thick and black and many, moving like the appendages of an octopus and regrowing every time they cut one, sprouting out from the shadowy aura of Nero the Sable. He just stood there with his arms crossed and let his darkness do the work, barely even batting an eyelash of effort.
"It's not so much this guy is attacking us," Beast snarled in-between. "It's that he doesn't even seem to be trying!"
"Orthodox fighting style isn't getting us anywhere!" Adelbert shouted. "We need some unorthodox!"
"Hello?" Lula suddenly said. "Magic sword here!"
"Oh right." Lula's blade glowed bright blue, almost like a lightsabre, and started slicing all over again. The tentacles seemed to shrink away from the sword's light and when they were cut by it they did not grow back. Though Nero didn't seem to find this distressing. "What's the matter you pasty-face psycho? Scared out of your wits?" Nero gave them what seemed like an amused look before raising a single finger to point off to the right. Beast, Adelbert and Lula blinked and looked to the right as well.
Standing at the end of a conjoined hallway was Azul, hefting a monstrously huge gun that could have come from a tank. With a smirk, he cocked his weapon and fired, the shockwave shattering windows.
"Down!" Beast yelled. He and Adelbert dropped to the floor just as a rocket sailed over their heads, continued down the hallway, and exploded upon impact with the end wall. Azul chuckled and loaded up again. "No you don't, blue boy!" Beast threw his Keyblade with all his might at Azul and the man's yellow eyes widened, jumping out of the way before the Keyblade collided and destroyed the wall behind him. Beast's Keyblade reappeared in his paw and he turned back to deal with Nero, only to find that he was now backed up by a number Omega Heartless and skeletons, still not having moved an inch.
"I think we should leave now," Lula said.
"Good idea," Beast agreed.
"And how!" Adelbert gasped and they all took off. The invasion continued.
KHKHKHKH
Anakin Skywalker and Padmé stood beside each other on the back of a hovering cart tied to a lumbering beast of burden while odd man-sized bug aliens tended to them. Both of their hands were bound tightly as they awaited their fate at the hands of the savages.
"Please Don't be afraid," Anakin whispered to the beautiful woman beside him. Padmé turned to him, looking at him without fear, the same fearlessness he had fallen for.
"I'm not afraid to die," she replied softly, then looked away. "I've been dying a bit each day since you came back to my life." Anakin looked at her askance, his Jedi training not preparing him at all for that.
"What are you talking about?" When Padmé looked at him again, he saw something in her eyes, something he hadn't seen before but always wished he did. Her next three words set his heart ablaze.
"I love you."
Anakin scowled. Did she live to toy with him? "You love me?" he repeated. "but I thought we decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie. That it will destroy our lives…" Padmé smiled sadly.
"I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway." Anakin inwardly smirked. "My love for you is a puzzle, Annie, for which I have no solution whatsoever. And now I can't control it...but I don't care." She leaned in slightly, and Anakin instinctively leaned for her. "I truly..." She leaned closer. "...deeply love you. and before I die I just want you to know…" "save it." Said Anakin knowing the feeling. "I understand. I too have no desire to be cured from this love either. But long or short I vow to spend it for the rest of my life with you." They both made towards each other. With their wrists tied, it was difficult, but by straining, it was just possible for their lips to meet. They kissed just as the cart driver cracked its whip and started them off...
KHKHKHKH
Their execution didn't go as planned though, most things that involved Anakin never did. Which is why he and Padmé found themselves standing in the center of a huge coliseum with a large group of other Jedi. There were at least twenty of them, including Anakin's master, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the great Jedi master, Mace Windu. This group of Jedi alone was a formidable force to be dealt with, but compared to the massive army of robots armed with laser rifles surrounding them, they were just a candle in the wind. Every Jedi had their lightsabres ready, but the droids held their fire.
"Master Windu!" On an raised platform overlooking the coliseum stood a man. His hair and beard were grey and his face was lined with age, though still he looked strong and confident. He stared down at the Jedi, flanked by two bodyguard droids. "You have all fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the history archives of the Jedi Order. Now it is finished. Surrender - and your lives will be sparred."
Mace Windu scowled, defiant in the face of adversity. "We will not be hostages for you to barter with, Dooku." Count Dooku, the Jedi turned Sith Lord, sighed regrettably.
"Then, I'm sorry, old friend. You will have to be destroyed." The battle droids surrounding them cocked their weapons and Jedi steeled themselves. Anakin kept Padmé close to him and raised his glowing green blade. He didn't know how they were going get out of this one. All exits were blocked with armed droids. The only way out was-
"Look!" Padmé suddenly cried, pointing to the sky. Jedi and droid followed her. Large ships descended from the sky, loaded with weapons. They were like carrier craft and what they were carrying was surprising. Soldiers in white armour armed with blaster rifles rode in the exposed cargo hold and immediately opened fire on the droids, tearing them apart. And, watching calmly from the lead ship, was a small green Jedi master.
KHKHKHKH
It had come down to this confrontation. Many Jedi had fallen in the coliseum and right now an epic battle was being waged on the desert plains of the ringed world. Battle droids engaged the white armoured troopers by the thousands with lasers flinging on both sides. It could only be the beginning of a long standing war. Ships blazed through the air dropping their payloads on the troops below, armoured walking tanks unloaded merciless devastation, and lightsabers sang in Jedi hands. But now it came to a master and his student to bring down the source of all the pain.
Blue and green light struck against red, the colours of life to one of death. Anakin Skywalker and his master Obi-wan Kenobi stood together as they fought against the tyrannical leader of the battle droid confederacy, Count Dooku. One would have thought it wasn't a fair fight, two skilled young Jedi against a frail old man. But Dooku was what he was, a Sith Lord once Jedi Master, and far more powerful than either of them. He moved so gracefully despite his age but it was just that that gave him an edge against the two. Much more experienced in the ways of the Force, Dooku was winning.
"You're going to pay for all the Jedi you killed today!" Anakin growled as he struck against Dooku., eyes blazing.
"Right we move in together slowly." Obi-wan whispered to anakin. "you take him on the right-"
"no! I'm taking him now!" snarled the padawan as charges in recklessly.
"No Anakin no!"
But he didn't listen but his curiosity got the best of him when dooku uses force lightning to take him down.
"You should listen to your master!" Dooku laughed. "As you can see my jedi powers are far beyond yours."
"oh I don't think so." Said obi-wan as he begins to fight.
But dooku shoots another blast of force lightning but obi-wan blocks his attack with his light saber.
Suddenly he moved much faster than before and skinned Obi-wan's saber arm, then did the same to his leg. Anakin's teacher cried out in pain, and when lightning fired from Dooku's fingertips he flew backwards into a wall. "Grand master kenobi yoda holds you such high esteem. Let me put you of your misery." Dooku only had one target now and he pounced on him quickly with a series of quick strikes that Anakin was barely able to keep up with. He hated to admit it, but Dooku was at a much higher level than him.
"Brave of you boy but foolish. I would've thought you'd have learned your lesson." Said dooku seeing him back hungry for more.
"let's just say I'm a slow learner." Replied Anakin smugly.
"You have unusual powers young padawan. But not enough to save you this time." Praised the count.
"don't bet on it." Said Anakin in an icy tone.
"Anakin!" Obi-wan called and he tossed him his lightsaber. Anakin caught it and ignited its blue blade. With green in one hand and blue in the other, Anakin charged. Now the young Jedi kept Dooku on his feet instead of the other way around. With two blades Anakin was much fiercer an opponent. He would hit with one saber then twist around with the other before bringing the first into the Sith Lord's side.
But Dooku was still better.
He parried each of Anakin's attacks no matter how many or how fast they were, never once losing his composure. It was now Anakin being pushed back again, his blue and green blades overtaken by red. Now Anakin was growing worried and Dooku was smiling. Another strike and Anakin blocked, then Dooku's saber twisted before the boy could react.
SLICE
Anakin heard his arm hit the ground after being cut clean off. All he could do was cry out and look into Dooku's evilly grinning face.
Blackness.
KHKHKHKH
Sora's eyes fluttered open and he found himself waking up to a pounding headache. Getting knocked out was not fun. Why did trouble always seem to find him? Oh, right. Key bearer. At least whatever he was laying on was soft. "Hey, he's awake!" he heard someone say. His vision began to clear and he saw who sat before him. It was a young man, maybe in his early twenties, with bushy red hair and wearing a tattered brown cloak. Sora noted that he had a large sword strapped to his back.
"Cloud?" Sora muttered, rubbing his eyes. That sword looked like his friend's buster sword. The young man snickered, seemingly excited about something.
"Sorry. You're way off," he laughed.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Sora blinked. Craning his neck backwards Sora met the eyes of a beautiful woman smiling sweetly down at him. He then noticed on what part of her body his head was resting.
"Wahhh!" Sora jumped back, his face as red as a tomato, away from the woman. She was clothed in a grey dress that touched down to her ankles and her long brown hair was done up in ponytail with a pink ribbon, with a wooden staff laying to her side. As much as Sora wanted to get away he saw that he was aboard a wooden cart pulled by a mule through the frightening dead forest; he crawled over to the side of the cart.
"I don't bite, Sora," the girl giggled.
"Yeah, she only does that when she's mad," the man said slyly. The girl playfully smacked him in the arm.
Sora, meanwhile, was stupefied. "Where am I? How did I get here? Wait a minute..." His expression became angry. "You're the guys who knocked me out! What do you want with me?! Who are you?! And how do you know my name!?"
"We merely mistook you for an enemy." Sora stopped at the new voice that hadn't come from the two people before him. "Behind you." Sora turned around, coming face to face with...
"Rufus?!" Sora exclaimed. The naked mole-rat that he knew so well was standing before him, except Rufus looked a lot buffer then when he last saw him. This Rufus was standing on his hind legs and wearing blue high-tech armour on his chest. He also looked very stern. "Rufus, is that you?" Sora stammered.
"Negative. I am not the Rufus you know, Sora, wielder of the Keyblade." Sora gawked. Rufus was talking to him, in full sentences, with a deep powerful voice. 'Rufus' clapped a paw to his large chest. "I am Rufus 3000; three-thousandth of the great Rufus Prime." He removed his paw and pointed it at Sora. "And you are Sora, the chosen one: great warrior of the Light. It truly is an honour to meet you." Now throughly blown out of his mind, Sora turned to the other two, who were trying their hardest not to laugh.
"Who...are you people?"
"Sora! You don't recognize us? I'm hurt!" the male said with fake sniffling. "I thought we were friends! Thick and thin and all that junk!"
"Think carefully, Sora," the girl chided, smiling gently. "It'll come to you. Who do we remind you of?" Sora, really wanting to figure this out, peered at them. They did seem familiar. The girl was kind but also seemed like a strong and caring person. The man was carefree and easy going, his fiery red hair complementing his personality. Where had he seen that combination before? Then it hit him like lightning.
"Marlene?" he whispered. The woman smiled brightly and nodded quickly. Sora turned to the other one. "Denzel?"
"Bout time!" Denzel exclaimed rubbing his head. "Man, I thought it was obvious! I mean, come on! How could you not recognize this pretty face?" He grinned broadly to amplify his prettiness. Yup, Denzel all over.
"Denzel, we both know I was the pretty one of the two of us," Marlene giggled. And that was definitely Marlene. And he had rested against her... Sora grimaced. He would never look at Marlene the same way again.
"But, how, I...," Sora stammered.
"This is no time to kid around," Rufus 3000 stated, pushing past Sora to face the two former troublemakers. "Unless you two haven't noticed we have a situation on our hands!"
"Oh, we were just reminiscing," Marlene sighed.
"Yeah, lay off," Denzel huffed.
"I will most certainly not lay off! You don't seem to understand that this is a revelation! We must quickly report back to base with our report! If only this mule would go faster." The mule called out like it knew he was talking about it.
"Unreal," Sora muttered, momentarily ignoring the three as they argued. "Marlene and Denzel grown up, Rufus gone all iron man; this is one crazy dimension! Wait till I tell Kairi about this!" The two arguing friends and mole-rat froze when they heard what he said. "Of course, I guess I'll have to find her first. Wait, does this mean that there are different versions of us here? How do I look as a grownup? Rugged? Handsome? A millionaire? Any one of those categories would be great!"
"Sora...," Denzel said softly for once. "This isn't another dimension." Sora raised an eyebrow.
"Well, then what is this place?"
"This is the future," Marlene explained. Sora's eyes widened. The future? "And Sora..." She looked away, barely able to choke out the last few words. "Kairi's gone." Sora felt his insides shatter into a million pieces. He literally forgot how to breathe. Those two words were enough to send him into complete shock.
"W-what?" he managed to get out. Denzel and Marlene couldn't meet his eyes. Rufus 3000 looked indifferent. "How? W-why?"
"It's been ten years since we last saw you," Denzel whispered, looking through the dark trees that they passed. "And things haven't exactly been going well."
"What happened?" Sora looked at the trees as well and remembered the dark version of Disney Castle.
"The Horned King," Rufus 3000 growled. "He happened. All over. There's nothing left in the universe that he hasn't conquered or destroyed. For ten years he's ravaged the worlds with darkness and despair."
"You mean...he won?"
"He won," Denzel answered. "We lost. And losing sure had its price to pay. You know that castle you saw back there? That really evil looking one?" Sora slowly nodded. "That was Disney Castle, with a Horned King makeover."
"It'd be best if we explain the rest when we get back to base," Marlene said, smiling ever so slightly.
"But, I still can't believe it," Sora muttered running a hand through his hair. "Nothing could stop him? What about Maleficent? What about the Empire?" Their cart reached the top of a hill after a long drive, and what awaited Sora on the other side answered his unanswered questions.
"What do you think?" Denzel smirked, looking off into the massive ruins of the Super Star Destroyer Executor; what was left of it anyway. Its monumental body was plowed into the forest grounds, having crashed long ago. Pieces of it were scattered across the land, some pieces completely obliterated, the damage to hull excessive. The great flagship of the Imperial Navy would never fly again, this world its final resting place. A great battle must have taken place here, because there were also the remains of Tie Fighters around.
"This is just too much," Sora whispered. A rifle cock alerted him. It came from the surrounding trees, emerging from their cover silent as ghosts. Stormtroopers. An entire squad of them, armed with blaster rifles as always. Sora tensed as they approached their cart, about to whip out the Keyblade to their aid, but Marlene laid a hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay," she chided. The Stormtroopers came on all sides of them but Denzel, Marlene and Rufus 3000 didn't seem to mind them at all. The troopers didn't seem too threatening, either; to them at least. Sora also took note of their armour, normally spotless white, now quite tarnished.
"It's about time you all got back." The Stormtroopers parted to make way, giving room for none other than General Darius. He looked the same except his wearing old and worn amour, and his voice had roughened over the years. He marched up to the cart with his troops flanking him. "How long does it take to gather up food in this wasteland? I'd think even you could-" His helmet's eyes landed on Sora. "I don't believe it," he gasped. "Look who's come out of his hole."
"General Darius," Sora acknowledged, anger in his voice.
"General? Those days are long gone. I am flattered that you remember me, though. Where'd you dig up this relic?" he asked Rufus 3000.
"Hey! This relic happens to be the saviour of the universe, pal!" Denzel shouted.
"Yeah. He's done a real good job so far." Sora hung his head sorrowfully. "Sorry if I don't fall to my knees in gratitude. My hope died a long time ago."
"That's enough, Darius," Marlene scolded. Darius snorted and was silent.
"We're are taking him back to base," Rufus 3000 explained, keeping himself calm. "I trust that won't be a problem."
"No problem at all. We'll escort you."
"That won't be necessary."
"Yes it is," Darius replied fiercely. "Whether you like it or not, this concerns all of us. So what do you say we get a move on?" He started off down the path toward the ruins of the Executor. One of the Stormtroopers slapped the cart's mule to start the animal off again and together continued their journey.
They rode silently through the woods flanked by Stormtroopers, walking at pace with the mule drawn cart. Sora couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy being in the midst of the Imperials. Especially with Darius walking at the front and leading them. He kinda felt like he was their prisoner.
"If you don't mind me asking," Sora whispered to Marlene, Denzel and Rufus 3000. "Why are you guys all chummy with Darius and his Stormtroopers?"
"We're hardly chums," Denzel scoffed in a disapproving voice. "But desperate times call for desperate measures."
"And now the Empire's helping you?"
"There is no more Empire," Darius said from ahead, having heard everything. "Just like many others, it fell. When the Horned King rose to power there was nothing we could do to stop him. For all their technology, all their resources, we couldn't stand up to the unforgiving power he wielded. The Emperor himself was destroyed by the Horned King's hands. Not even Vader could stand up to him."
"With nowhere else to go, the remnants of the Galactic Empire turned to us," Rufus 3000 continued. "And together, we formed the resistance."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Marlene recited.
"Though being happy with it is something else all together," Darius said dryly.
They were now approaching the Super Star Destroyer wreck, the largest and most intact piece that held the ship's bridge, a memorial to the Empire's former glory. It was still huge if not impressive. Their party was coming to the end of the path, approaching a pair of steel doors in the Star Destroyer hull, guarded by two Stormtroopers. At Darius' nod they relaxed and typed onto the control panel at the door. The doors slid open, and the group headed inside the ruin.
"Whoa...," Sora gasped. Inside was huge! The entire place was one big circular room, like someone had scooped out a large space in the ship. The place was stocked up with computer terminals. Overhead, catwalks wound around the high ceiling, leading off to levels higher up in the complex. There were people everywhere too. Men and women dressed in draggy clothes made their way through, some working at the terminals or lugging things around. There were children running around and laughing, too. Stormtroopers were everywhere, along with...naked mole-rats? Like Rufus 3000 they were muscled and wearing armour, except theirs were orange, meaning Rufus 3000's blue armour made him some kind of high ranking officer. They were also soldiers, small but dependable, all decedents of Rufus.
"Welcome to the resistance!" Denzel announced, rather loudly. "The biggest, coolest resistance out there!" They hopped out of the cart and a naked mole-rat took the cart away for them. Then they started walking into the base, Darius and his Stormtroopers falling into step with them. Stormtroopers and naked mole-rats momentarily stopped their hard work to gawk at the new arrival that walked in with the ones who were supposed to be gathering food, mainly because they had only seen that face in pictures, along with the stories of what he had accomplished; stories that has passed on into legend. Now he was walking in their midst. One person in particular looked extremely shocked.
"Sora! I don't believe it!" Sora stopped walking when a giant dark skinned man approached him. He was massively built, wearing a blue muscle shirt and pants with a goatee on his chin. "I never thought I'd see you again! Especially from this angle!"
"W-Wade?!" Sora spluttered in disbelief, craning his neck a lot higher then he used too when looking at the kid genius. Once small and portly now looking like a bodybuilder. "You're a...giant!" Wade chuckled in good nature.
"Fighting an evil sorcerer for ten years will do that to a person," he explained. "Oh Sora!" Before Sora could react, he was swept into a rib crushing hug. "You haven't changed a bit! Literally! You look exactly the same!"
"Breathing...need to...," Sora whimpered as Wade nearly crushed him.
"Sorry. You know me. I get excited sometimes!" He thankfully set Sora back down though his bones were a little shaky.
"Never thought I'd see the day." An electric suped-up wheelchair rolled up to Sora, in it sitting a grey haired and frail looking Cid. The years had not been kind. "I figured you were dead in a ditch somewhere. Yet here you stand, same clueless look, same ugly hairdo, and your eyesore footwear. Other than all of that, it's good to see you, bud." His wrinkled face formed a smirk.
"Cid!" Sora laughed. "You're looking older than usual!" A boxing glove sprang out of Cid's wheelchair and nailed Sora in the face. "Ow!"
"That's for the 'old' comment." The glove whacked Sora again. "That's for disappearing for ten years." The glove nailed him three once more. "And that's cause it's gotten funny," Cid snickered.
"Hey, leave some for me, Cid." High heels clacked against the floor as someone walked towards them. Sora recognized her immediately as Quistis, mainly because of the ever trusty whip at her waist. Now Quistis had an eyepatch on her left eye and her hair was shorter with grey streaks running through her blond locks, wearing her pink and tattered dress. "Frankly I'm tempted to start wailing on him right now. But I don't think we need to make our savior any less capable then he has been."
"Quistis I-"
"SORA!" Sora was knocked off his feet when a small blue ball of furry energy barreled into him at full speed, then proceeded to slobber all over his face with its big sticky tongue.
"Whoa! Stitch! Easy! I missed you, too!" Sora laughed as the former evil genetic experiment licked his face repeatedly. Stitch hadn't changed all, still the same fluffy blue creature of mischief he last saw. His big black eyes gleamed with happiness at the sight of his old friend.
"Megga missing you, Sora! Hehahaha!" Stitch giggled giddily.
"Your reunions are really quite touching," Darius said sourly as Sora got back to his feet with Stitch clinging to his back. "Maybe we can get down to business now?"
"Leave it to an Imperial to ruin the moment," Cid spat at the former general.
"Where's...everyone else?" Sora asked, though deep down he knew the answer. When everyone else was deathly silent he knew all the more. Even Stitch's ears drooped.
"Gone," Marlene whispered. "They're all gone. Leon, Aerith...Dad..." Tears accumulated in her eyes and Denzel, being the good friend he was, put an arm around her shoulder. Sora's heart broke at the scene.
"What happened?" Wade rubbed the back of his neck.
"Where to begin?" he sighed. "I guess it all started ten years ago, when that whole Beagle Boy dimension thing started."
"Boy, was that annoying!" Cid grumbled.
"On the day you left, the Horned King staged a daring attack on Disney Castle," Quistis continued. "An army of his strongest minions in one gathered force. They fell upon the castle like a tidal wave. I can still remember it, there were so many of them. We were quickly overwhelmed."
"Some of us managed to escape," Denzel said. "The others...weren't so lucky. Disney Castle fell that day. And with it, all our hopes." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Everything went wrong after that."
"That act alone was enough to severely tip the balance of power in the universe," Darius recalled. "With no one to oppose the Horned King, he quickly began to take over. World after world fell before him and his vile magic, massive destruction following in his wake. There was nothing anyone could do."
"The first one he went after was Maleficent," Wade went on. "He decided to end their rivalry once and for all. By then he had gathered enough strength and followers to the point she was no match against him. She was destroyed and so were all her plans. With her out of the picture, the Horned King now had complete control over all the Heartless. But he also gained something else."
"What?" Sora dared to ask.
"We didn't know it at the time," Cid grumbled. "But both Maleficent and the Horned King had been gathering the Princesses of Heart. And you know what that means. They both aimed to get Kingdom Hearts. When he took Maleficent out, he captured the rest of the Princesses she had been holding from him, and thus he had all he needed to complete his grand designs."
"Kingdom Hearts was his," Quistis growled. "And as a result, he became more powerful than a god. And as you know, Kairi was a Princess of Heart. She was kidnaped by him as well. And that was the last we saw of her." Sora eyes shimmered but he kept silent.
"But what about the Keybladers?" Sora asked. "Weren't they there to stop him?"
"There are no more Keyblades," Marlene answered.
"Maybe you remember a little group called the Chasers?" Denzel spat out the name. Sora couldn't help but remember those three armoured monsters. "Well, guess what? They did it. They got all the Keyblades in the universe. They hunted them down relentlessly and stole them from their wielders. po, Mulan, even Captain Jack Sparrow. They're gone. All of them." Sora couldn't take much more. All his friends, they were gone.
"And Riku?" Once again, everyone was silent.
"We never saw him again," Wade solemnly stated. Sora saw it coming, but it still hurt. Clenching his fist, he glared in Darius' direction.
"Don't look at me," Darius shrugged offhandedly. "That punk escaped from our custody a few days after we captured him. I don't know what happened to him." Sora raised an eyebrow. Riku escaped?
"Now the Chasers work for the Horned King," Quistis continued. "With all the Keyblades now theirs, they had nothing else to go on. So they answer to the Horned King now as his most powerful servants, scouring the universe in what ever way the please."
"We have survived asthe best we can," Rufus 3000 stated. "That alone makes difference. Even against odds such as these, we continue the good fight. It is as the great Rufus Prime would have wanted it."
Sora ran a hand through his hair, his legs barely able to keep him up after hearing all this. "This is all wrong. How could this have happened? This isn't how it's supposed to be!" It had barely been a day since he had seen his friends' happy smiling faces. Now it was like they had blown away with the wind.
"There's nothing you could have done, Sora," Marlene whispered gently.
"Yes there is!" Sora snapped. "I should have been there! I could have done something! You all needed me and I wasn't there! Riku, Kairi, they're all dead because of me! It's all my fault..." Stitch patted Sora's head as the boy visibly trembled. His friends couldn't say anything that could make him feel better. This was future, and they were stuck with it.
"There may be a way to send you back."
Sora's head and everyone else's snapped to the giant Wade who had a very thoughtful look on his face. "W-what?"
"What are you talking about?" Cid asked his apprentice mechanic.
"Sora! We may be able to send him back to the time before this all happened!"
"How?" Quistis asked.
"The door to the past!" Wade announced, smiling triumphantly. "It's still in Disney Castle!"
"Are you serious?" Sora gasped excitedly, all traces of sadness gone.
"What are you getting at?" Denzel asked skeptically.
"Denzel, don't you see?" Marlene asked catching on.
"With that door, we'd be able to send Sora back to when the Horned King attacked," Wade explained with growing enthusiasm. "With him there, we may stand a chance against them, and then none of this will have ever happened! Yes! It's perfect!"
"That's crazy," Darius stated in monotone. "That place has become an impregnable fortress. It's impossible to get in. We'd be killed on sight if we go anywhere near it. Besides, are we to trust all our fates to a mere boy?"
"Watch it, helmet-head, or you're out of the club," Cid retorted. Darius's face glowered. "But this all theoretical. Do you really think it'll work?"
"If there is any chance to stop that horned tyrant we must take it," Rufus 3000 declared with a pumped fist. "If not for us, than for everyone counting us." He gestured to the many refugees around them, their lives ruined by the twisted schemes of the darkness. "This may be our chance." No one said anything for a while. This was a difficult decision. On the one hand, this was possibly a suicide mission. On the other, it could be their only hope to save to the future. It required a great deal of thought.
"I'm game if you all are," said, surprisingly, Darius. "I want to stick it to that king more than anything. And if it means walking into the dragon's den, I say we go for it."
"I'll go all the way to help you, Sora!" Denzel declared.
"We can do it together!" Marlene exclaimed.
"Stitch gonna kick some butt!" Stitch growled, pulling out his blasters.
"Nothing to it but to do it," Wade grinned.
"My naked mole-rats will stand with you!" Rufus 3000 shouted. Sora grinned brightly and scrubbed the tears from his eyes.
"Thanks guys," he said sincerely.
"Now we gotta prepare for this," Quistis interrupted. "We're about to invade one of the most heavily guarded places in the galaxy. Better make sure we plan this out first."
"No worries!" Sora exclaimed, confidence replacing his somber attitude. "With you guys backing me up, nothing can get in our way!" He raised his arm to summon his Keyblade. "The Horned King didn't count on one thing. That there would be one more Keyblade to-"
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sora stood rigid with a bead of sweat trickling down his face, a side effect to having his arms restrained by Wade, staring down Denzel's sword, Darius and Stitch's blasters pointed out his head, Marlene's staff glowing with magic, Cid's wheelchair aiming some kind of taser at him, and every Stormtrooper and naked mole-rat in the place training their weapons in his direction. Sora resisted the urge to whimper.
"Do...not...summon... Keyblade," Wade said slowly and carefully, keeping his hold firmly on Sora. The boy gulped.
"W-why?"
"Think of the Keyblade as a dinner bell," Cid replied, finger inches from the button that would shock Sora with more than a thousand volts. "And guess who you're calling to dinner?"
"The Keyblade is like a beacon to the Chasers," Darius hissed, hands on the trigger. "Every time a Keyblade is summoned, they can sense it. No matter where they are in the universe, they can feel it in their bodies. It's how they chase them down."
"And with you being the only Keyblader left in the universe," Marlene whispered, lowering her staff. "They'll be here faster than you can blink." Everyone slowly lowered their weapons away from the grateful Sora, thankful for such a close call.
"So...no Keyblade," Wade instructed, releasing him. "The last thing we want is those three discovering where we are." Sora slowly nodded. That explains how the Chasers had been able to hunt him down before.
"But, how can I fight if I don't have my Keyblade?"
"Well...you could use this." Quistis approached, this time carrying a wooden case with her. It looked a little dusty so she must have kept it for awhile. "I think you know who this belongs to." She opened the case, revealing a weapon. Sora smiled sadly. It was Leon's Gunblade. It still looked the same, unfortunately masterless. Sora grasped the handle, and lifted it up.
"Let's go save the future!" he shouted, loud enough for the whole base to hear.
"Aw, I missed that upbeat heroism!" Wade gushed, pulling Sora into yet another bone crushing hug.
"Troopers!" Darius hollered to every Stormtrooper in the complex. "The time has come! Today we fight in earnest! For the future of the Empire!"
"Naked mole-rats! Prepare for battle! Hooshaw!" Rufus 3000 shouted.
"Choonga naga!" Stitch yelled. Whatever that meant it sent everyone into enthusiastic cheers and sent everything in motion. Weapons were gathered and armed, armour was shined and hardened. The attack would soon begin.
KHKHKHKH
Meanwhile in an entirely different time line, things weren't looking so super, making the future look very bleak. Disney Castle was completely overrun with the Horned King's minions, their darkness overwhelming the purity of the light-bearing keep. The only thing the castle occupants could do was slow them down but even that was becoming difficult. Three were running back from momentarily stalling them, rushing back to the safety of the throne room, the last line of defense in the castle.
"Okay, slowing them down didn't go so well," Tifa muttered, her knuckles sore after shattering so many skeleton soldier skulls.
"It didn't go well at all!" sonic snapped irritably. "These guys are like cockroaches! They won't stay dead!" It was true. Omega Heartless were much stronger than normal Heartless. Each one was like a berserker. And the skeleton soldiers were a handful as well, never staying down when they were struck.
"We may need to think of something other than throwing ourselves at them," Tifa said sourly.
"Hurry up, Jack!" sonic shouted to the pirate lagging behind them. "I'd figure you'd be an expert in running away by now!"
"You know, it hurts when you say that," Jack mumbled. "It's completely true, but it hurts." The huge doors to the throne room were coming up fast. Tifa and sonic ran through the small entrance at its base with it slamming behind them. Jack came to a halt before it. "Oh, har de har! Very amusing, lads! The ole' lock the captain out of his quarters bit! Quite clever! Now time to let me in. ...hello?" His eyes were drawn to the end of the hallway, where a large group of Omega Heartless rounded the corner, all their red eyes landing on him. Jack eyes grew wide, knocking on the door a little louder now.
"Okay, the fun's over! Anytime you want to let me in that's great! Preferably now!" At the other end of the hallway emerged a battalion of skeletons, weapons rusty and sharp. Jack knocked more urgently. "Beasty? You there? Good time to help your ol' pal Jack out! panda-mate? Captain overboard here! Mulan, Love? Anybody!?" The Heartless at one end charged while the skeleton soldiers rushed down the other to leave Jack in the middle, his heart practically begging to be eaten. "So help me if you don't open this door I will come back and give you all such a haunting! If I go, the rum goes with me! AAAAAAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jack was yanked inside by a hairy hand just before the Omega Heartless and skeletons collided with each other where he had been standing.
On the door's other side, Beast snickered into his paw while Jack stood as rigid as a board beside him with eyes as wide as saucers, involuntarily shaking. He stopped though when he noticed Mulan glowering at him. "Oh come on! Let me have this!" Queen Minnie quickly ran to the door and raised her palm toward it. It enveloped itself in a protective barrier thanks to her magical abilities.
"That should hold them for awhile," she sighed gently.
"Yeah, but for how long?" Leon growled with growing anger. "Is there any word from the Shera yet?" he asked Barret, who was trying with growing frustration to contact the rest of their friends in orbit.
"Nothing!" the metal handed man answered, tapping the Kimmunicator but all he got was static. "They must be jamming us somehow! I can't get through to them! Urrrgggghhh! It's useless!"
Leon clenched his fist. "We're like rats in a trap. We're cut off from help and boxed in with no escape!" They were currently only a few of them. The Keybladers plus Leon, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Shelke and Adelbert. Everyone else was on board the airship completely unaware of their situation. And, of course, Sora was still missing in action. Merlin and Kairi along with Queen Minnie and Daisy Duck were down in the Cornerstone Room trying to find a way to get him back. Nothing so far.
"Man, talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time," Burger Beagle said, he and his brothers still tied up with their mother off to the side.
"Yeah, we were supposed to be the ones knocking heads!" Bankjob growled.
"At least we can leave it to people more capable than us," Babyface said nodding.
"You idiot, we'll be killed!" Bigtime shouted.
"Eh, I've lead a good life," Bugle shrugged. "Besides, when you're dead, people love your music more! Chicks dig that."
"Boys, you are not too old for me to spank you," Ma growled in warning. The Beagle Boys shut up after that.
"Why are they here?" Adelbert shouted, referring the monsters clawing outside the doors, snarling for a feast. "What would prompt them to attack Disney Castle so suddenly?"
"They want the Princess of Heart," Shelke's monotone voice answered, attracting interested looks. "It's the goal of the Horned King. The seven Princesses of Heart that are required to open the path to the Door. He is gathering them to enter Kingdom Hearts." She looked to the shifted throne where the staircase lead down to one such candidate. "It seems Kairi is the next."
"Well, you can tell your old friends that they came a long way for nothing," Mulan declared. "We're not letting them get Kairi. We're all standing with her!" There was loud commotion on through the big door, metal clashing on metal and angered cries. The base door swung open and po and Aerith both rushed inside and slammed the door behind them, sweat dripping down and eyes wide from many brushes with death.
"There's hundreds of them out there!" po yelled. "We're all gonna die!"
"That's probably the most logical thing he's said all day," Jack sighed.
Little did they know how much this day would affect the years to come...
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!