Chapter 12: All for one
Subaru and Julius both arrive to assist the knights to which Subaru did this event differently by constantly cheering the knights on while providing a good amount of assistance, wanting to give the knights a boost in confidence that on their own they can defeat the odds.
This made the knights view Subaru in a positive light as he was giving them their pride when it seemed like they were going to be killed like many other knights. Similar to the previous events, he was asked by Julius to go after Felix for him. Although Subaru was confident that he could go on his own, he knows that Marluxia will still appear in front of the group and that Elsa will be there to cause them trouble.
"Julius, I know that I can handle some heartless but I fear that there will be much more powerful opponents. I'm not as strong or as skilled as you, which is why I want to ask if you along with a few knights can join me in getting Felix and Crusch."
Julius pondered on this, seeing a more humble side of Natsuki Subaru while the boy himself disliked being humble with Julius but he knew that he needs this. Julius thought it over for a moment before asking a couple of his best knights to accompany him and Subaru to go get Felix, understanding and trusting Subaru's concerns.
'Yes! Things are going exactly as I planned. Now I got to figure out how to have Marluxia leave us alone and how to deal with Elsa.' Subaru thought to himself, having a feeling that now he has more knights alongside him, they might be able to have everyone survive. Similar to the previous events, they managed to get to Crusch's place earlier than the first time when he went on his own. As Subaru and his group waited there for a moment, Crusch and Felix both arrived with the same conversation ensuing.
Everything went the same until Marluxia arrived, which Subaru was prepared to change the events by speaking out instead of staying quiet. Marluxia asked the group if they knew where Sora with Subaru being the one to walk towards him before pulling out his keyblade. Marluxia was surprised by this, which did catch his attention.
"My name is Natsuki Subaru, Emilia's knight and the apprentice of Master Sora. I won't let you harm my master."
"Master Sora? Now this is quite the turn of events."
Marluxia pulled out his scythe and was preparing to attack until Crusch quickly summoned her sword slash ability known as One Blow, A Hundred Felled in hopes of killing him after seeing that he is a threat. Marluxia noticed this and quickly countered it by using his own version of Crusch's One Blow, A Hundred Felled attack. Subaru took this opportunity to quickly go for a sneak attack on Marluxia, seeing that his guard would be down yet all he ended up receiving was a kick in the gut. This attack sent him flying towards the group, causing all the knights to get themselves ready for a fight.
"That was quite the bold move, Natsuki Subaru. I wonder if Sora would even teach something like that."
"In the name of the Imperial Knights, stand down now!"
"Sorry but that boy will lead me to Sora, so the best way for you all to survive is to hand over Natsuki Subaru."
Julius looked at Marluxia with a serious facial expression, seeing that he needs to protect Subaru from the threat in front of them. He summoned his spirits before informing the others to take Subaru, Crusch, and Felix to catch up with the other knights. Subaru anticipated that this would happen, causing him to stand next to Julius with his keyblade in his hand, ready for a fight.
"We are not leaving you here to face Marluxia alone."
"I appreciate the concern but your safety is a priority along with getting Felix to the knights to heal the injured."
"True but together we can beat this person. I don't want something bad happening to you."
"That is nice of you to care, Natsuki Subaru but I'm unsure about this."
"Trust me, we are much stronger when we work together." Subaru knows that if Julius were to fight Marluxia on his own, they would be at a disadvantage when it came to helping Emilia and the others. Julius was surprised by what Subaru said, surprised by the kindness he is showing him.
He smiled before allowing Subaru and the others to assist him with Crusch stepping up next to both Julius and Subaru. The three got their weapons ready for combat, giving Marluxia an impression that he might have an interesting fight.
Before the fight started, Subaru quickly looked at the corner where he was killed by Elsa, knowing that she will appear there soon. Subaru asked Julius if he could check the alleyway there, having a feeling that she is waiting for the right moment to strike.
Julius at first was unsure about this but he did eventually trust the young boy's judgement. He sent one of his spirits to go check it out only for the spirit to detect a threat, causing Julius to ask Crusch and the other knights to take care of Marluxia while he deals with the new threat.
Crusch nodded at Julius before quickly with Subaru and the knights charged at Marluxia, beginning their fight. Julius went towards the alleyway and waited until he was able to sense something heading towards his direction, quickly getting him to put his guard up. He deflected the attack before pointing his sword at his opponent, seeing that it was the Bowel Hunter herself.
"Bowel Hunter, why are you here? Shouldn't you be in your chains?"
"My My, if isn't the knight, Julius Juukulius. What brings you here?"
"Answer my question first, why are you free and roaming around?"
"My, what aggressive attitude. If you beat me in combat, then maybe I'll talk." Elsa finished her sentence in a malicious tone of voice before charging at the knight. Julius had anticipated this and quickly was able to deflect off the attack, not impressed by how the Bowel Hunter is overconfident.
Elsa looked at Julius with interest before pulling out her second knife, attempting to cut his bowel area. The knight anticipated this and quickly dodged the attack before going on the offensive, forcing Elsa to go on the defensive.
Subaru and Crusch both charged at Marluxia first with the other knights covering the two. Subaru went on the offensive first only for his attack to easily be brushed to the side before Crusch went for her attack which forced Marluxia to step back quickly in order to dodge it.
Marluxia looked at Crusch and was intrigued on whether or not she is able to keep up to his new power, causing him to use his scythe in an attempt to hurt Crusch, only for his attack to be blocked by one of the knights alongside Subaru.
Marluxia looked at Subaru with some interest, knowing that the keyblade wielder is weak yet somehow his heart is strong enough to keep going despite a darkness lingering. He continued to go on the offensive towards the group, intrigued that Crusch and Subaru were managing on their own yet he started to get bored since he wasn't going all out.
He quickly grabbed Crusch's hand and threw her towards the group of knights, causing them to all fall to the ground. Subaru took this opportunity to attack Marluxia when he left himself open. As Subaru hit Marluxia, he felt the attack yet he didn't seem fazed by this which caused Subaru to feel that they were all in trouble.
"Natsuki Subaru, how did someone as weak as you gain the power of the Keyblade?"
"Don't know but I won't give up."
"Is that so?" Marluxia smiled at hearing this, noticing Subaru's heart is strong yet he was disappointed that he was extremely weak. He took his scythe and was just about to slice off Subaru's head only for Subaru to cast Reflect, managing to barely deflect off the attack. Marluxia noticed this and quickly jumped back, surprised that even though Subaru's attack strength is weak, his magic was a bit strong enough to handle his attack.
Before he could say or do something, he noticed that Crusch summoned another One Blow at Marluxia. Instead of blocking the attack, he took the hit and didn't seem fazed by it in the slightest. Crusch along with the other knights were all surprised by this, feeling despair until Subaru looked at Marluxia and prepared to fight him by himself. Crusch looked at Marluxia and quickly began to say,
"What the hell are you?! Are you with the witch cult?! Are you a sin archbishop?!"
"Witch Cult? Sin archbishop? I don't know what you are talking about but I don't care. What I do care about is finding Sora."
"As long as I stand, I won't let you hurt Master Sora."
"Ha! You? You are weak! If anything, you are just an annoyance at this point."
Marluxia was ready to attack Subaru again yet he was a bit surprised that Crusch and the knights got up again when moments ago they were all afraid of him. He asked them why they continue to fight when he is much stronger than them. One of the knights looked at Subaru before looking at Marluxia to respond with,
"Although we are weak, together we create a stronger sword. You will not be humiliating the strength of the Imperial knights!"
Marluxia looked at the knight along with Natsuki Subaru with Marluxia surprised that a weakling was able to gather others to stand by his side while Subaru was surprised that the knight that wanted to kill him in the previous loop is now fighting side by side with him.
He smiled and quickly led the group to charge at Marluxia, annoying him due to the fact that this is leading him nowhere in finding Sora. He uses wind to push everyone away before creating a corridor of darkness. Before he left, he started to speak in a disappointed tone,
"I'm not looking to kill anyone at this moment, my only focus is Sora. Staying here would just be a waste of time but should our paths meet again, I won't let you all survive."
Marluxia left, to which Subaru was happy to see that nobody had died yet he knew that the next opponent to deal with was Elsa. Julius and Elsa's fight was intense with the two constantly countering each other's attacks. Due to this, Subaru got his Keyblade ready to fight and jumped in to assist Julius in pushing back Elsa.
He quickly used Fire to push Elsa back for the briefest of moments, allowing Julius to land a hit on the Bowel hunter's arm. She jumped back and was annoyed that Subaru interrupted their fight, causing her to want to go after the young boy yet heartless appeared just like the other loops.
"My My, seems like my time here is up. I will kill you all someday but for now, take care."
"Wait Elsa! Who set your chains free?"
"Don't know, just an old man who gave me the chance to look for Sora but since the heartless will be around, I will encounter Sora another day."
Elsa continued to leave as she answered Subaru's question, feeling that it would make things interesting. As Elsa left, Julius and the others focused their attention on the heartless with Subaru providing support to them, not wanting to show off to the knights and ruin the trust he had gained with them. As the group were easily taking down the heartless, Subaru was thinking about the turn of events going on,
'Okay so we managed to get Marluxia to back off but I just think it is pure luck that he chose to leave them be alive. As for Elsa, I'm glad that Julius was able to handle that crazy bitch but now we just have to assist Emilia and the others in dealing with the other black coat people.'
Subaru and the group managed to take down all of the heartless before Julius told the group that they should make their way with the others, knowing that the other knights are at a disadvantage. Subaru agreed with this yet began to think about Wilhelm since he doesn't know where he is at the moment. He gave a thought about it for a moment before brushing it aside, seeing that the old man can handle himself.
While Subaru and his group continued to run on their way, Sora and Rem both continued to go deeper into the city with the two handling tougher enemies such as the Invisible, Defender, and Fat bandit type heartless. As they continue to go through more and more places where the heartless are attacking, the pair would eventually be trapped by a barrier that is keeping them locked.
"Sora-kun, what is going on?"
"I think we are going to have to deal with the heartless boss before we could continue."
Sora and Rem both kept their guard up until Sora noticed a familiar set of armor pieces falling from the sky to land in front of the duo. The body parts stood lifeless for a few seconds before building itself as the Guard Armor Sora faced back in Traverse Town where he first fought alongside Donald Duck and Goofy. Sora smiled for a brief moment since he recalled his first ever fight alongside his two friends before returning his focus to the enemy in front of them. The heartless didn't move for a moment before its color turned to gold, indicating to Sora that it is a much tougher version of Guard Armor.
Sora charged in with Rem, both confident in their abilities yet the guard armor quickly divided itself into three groups. The two hands went off to attack Rem while the two feet went to attack Sora, forcing the two to split up to handle their separate opponents. Rem threw her flail directly at one of the hands yet it dodged while the other one hit her side, sending her flying towards the barrier.
Sora noticed this and quickly used Cure on her before returning his focus on the feet, seeing that they are charging at him fast. He was able to deflect off one of the attacks with ease before going on the offensive, managing to easily take care of the second foot. Sora's attack was strong enough to destroy the armor piece, causing Guard Armor to charge itself towards the Keyblade wielder.
Sora noticed this and was able to block it's attack and push the giant armored heartless back into a corner, allowing him with Kingdom Key in hand to slay the heartless in one powerful strike. At the same time Rem had figured out how the two armor hands worked, allowing her to be patient until she threw her flail just at the right moment and the right amount of strength to easily destroy both if its hands.
"This heartless was annoying but didn't stand a chance against us, Sora-kun."
"You are right Rem, though it was the very first heartless I faced alongside Donald and Goofy."
"Huh? Really?"
Sora began to explain his journey in Traverse Town, how it was the first new world he was ever in after he was swallowed by the darkness. He then described how he met Donald and Goofy to her, getting her even more interested in the stories he has about the journeys he has been through. Before long the barrier had shown up again only to break, giving the indication that they can continue on their path but not before long, Sora heard a familiar voice.
"Well if it isn't the 'Hero' with some maid by his side. Quite the interesting partner you got there, 'Hero'."
"Larxene…!" Sora and Rem both turned with the Keyblade Wielder being on his guard, not trusting her whatsoever. Rem looked at Larxene and immediately didn't like her presence, having heard her mocking her hero. Larxene smiled evilly for a moment before continuing to speak,
"You have a lot of nerve after what you did to me!"
"What do you mean? I defeated you."
"Yes you did, you and your two pathetic friends."
"Two? Wait what are-"
"It doesn't matter, I'm going to defeat you here and now!"
Larxene started to summon her eight throwing knives with electricity being created around her, showing that she is not just ready to fight Sora but she is also mad at him. Before the battle could commence, Rem quickly got herself ready for a fight and quickly said to Larxene,
"You will not be defeating Sora-kun! I will not allow it!"
"Sora-kun? What, you have a crush on this twerp?"
"Sora-kun saved me and now I'll get a chance to save him from one of his enemies."
"Ha! Okay... Have it your way. More pain for you means more fun for me!" Larxene charged at the two with great speed, causing Sora to quickly take her on by himself first head to head since he knows her attacks after having faced her in the Keyblade Graveyard. With the two clashing weapons, electricity started to shoot all around the area, forcing Rem to be on the defensive to avoid getting hit. As she jumped back a couple of feet, she saw a lightning bolt heading towards her position, forcing her to jump even farther back to evade the attack while Sora started going on the offensive on Larxene, both not holding back.
"You twerp! I won't let you get away after the humiliation I was put through, being beaten by a bunch of losers."
"What are you talking about?"
"Stop playing dumb!" Larxene filled with anger went on a barrage of attacks on Sora, forcing him to be on the defensive side. As he was able to deflect each attack with some ease, he quickly saw an opening to strike Larxene in the stomach. This hit sent her flying for a moment before she was able to land on her feet, visibly angry that somehow Sora still managed to get a hit.
"How is this possible? I should be much stronger in this world! I am stronger! You may look older than the last time we faced off in Castle Oblivion but you couldn't have gotten that much stronger!"
"Castle...oblivion?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Larxene shouted before creating a clone version of herself, confident that two of her would be enough to defeat the Keyblade Wielder. As the two Larxenes charge at Sora, Rem stepped in the middle and quickly started her fight with one of the Larxenes, forcing the other to focus her attention on Sora.
The Keyblade wielder deflected an attack before quickly taking the offensive side of the fight, showing Larxene that he is much stronger than he preserves him to be. Rem begins to also overwhelm Larxene once she summons her horn out, increasing her strength and her speed, allowing her to be on equal footing with Larxene in terms of speed.
The two counter each other's attacks for a moment until Rem manages to land a deadly blow at the Larxene she is facing, creating a hole in her stomach which causes her Larxene to disappear within seconds. Sora manages to overwhelm the Larxene he is facing by landing a couple of combos on her before using a finisher combo to send her flying a couple of feet away from him. She looked up at Sora and threw her eight throwing knives at the boy yet he deflected them with ease before seeing her starting to run away.
"Don't get the wrong idea kid! I will defeat you, mark my words I will!"
Larxene continues to run away from the scene, causing Sora to be annoyed by this since this is the fourth organization member he has runned into, making him worry if he will have to deal with Xehanort all over again. This thought worried him since he didn't want to see anybody be killed the way Kairi was. Rem noticed that Sora was disturbed and quickly went to kiss him on the cheek, which caught the Keyblade wielder off guard. He looked at Rem confused on what she did yet her smile somehow brought warm to Sora's heart unlike anything before.
"Sora-kun seemed bothered so I want you to know I'm here for you."
"Thank you Rem, I appreciate it."
Rem smiled as she saw Sora get back his bubbly energy before the two quickly followed Larxene, both of them knowing that she can't be left alone considering how much of a threat she is.
As Sora and Rem both chase after Larxene, Subaru and his crew arrive at the scene with Emilia and her group just arriving at the scene. 'So we arrived just before Emilia and Puck were fighting that guy. Okay, this is good.' Subaru thought to himself, seeing that they might just make it out of this events alive. Emilia, Reinhard, Felt, and Old Man Rom noticed Subaru and his group and reunited with Julius and his knights along with Subaru confused on why the knights aren't here yet. As they were all figuring that out, Emilia quickly inspected Subaru.
"Um...Emilia, what are you doing?"
"I'm making sure you aren't hurt...are you hurt?"
"No, I've never felt this much adrenaline since the Mabeast incident..."
Subaru smiled to show that he is alright, which Emilia took this as a sign that the young boy she had saved a month ago is somehow okay. Before anything else can be done, Julius asked Reinhard if he knows where the other knights are.
"Sorry Julius, I haven't seen any of our comrades here."
"That's strange, they should've headed this way. By the way, where is Miss Anastasia?"
"She left like all the other candidates." Felt chimed in the conversation, causing Julius to worry for Anastasia's safety. He quickly told the knights to follow him as they went on a search for Anastasia but before leaving, he turned towards Subaru and said to him,
"Thank you for your assistance, Natsuki Subaru. May our paths cross each other, Emilia's knight."
Subaru paused himself when he heard Julius say that he is Emilia's knight, something that he is unsure of yet he took pride in being called that. He nodded and wished his group good luck before watching them make their way towards an alleyway. As they went off, Felix and Crusch both told Emilia's group that they would look for the other knights to see what happened to them. Emilia agreed and quickly looked at Subaru to ask what he wanted to do, either join her and Reinhard's group or continue with Felix and Crusch. Before the boy could answer the question, they all heard someone say,
"Now isn't this interesting, two candidates competing to become the next ruler actually working together."
They all turned towards the voice to see two black coat people standing above a building with the one on the right side taking off his hood. Subaru immediately recognized him as the one fighting Emilia in the previous version of events, making him feel prideful that he managed to reach Emilia in time.
The two jumped from the building to reach the same floor level as them with the one on the left pulling out a keyblade. The tip of the Keyblade is modeled after a stopwatch, while the teeth are diamond-shaped spikes that are connected by a blue and black web structure. This caught Subaru's attention yet he thought to himself,
'That keyblade, it looks cool with it's blue design yet evil for sure.'
Subaru quickly stepped in front of Emilia alongside Puck, both eager to protect Emilia with Puck creating icicles while Subaru pulled out Starlight. This caught the interest of both coat people as they were not expecting someone from this world to have the power of the keyblade. The one with the eye patch pointed his arrowguns directly at Subaru while asking him,
"Where did you get the keyblade?"
"Don't know, it just chose me."
"Alright then, who are you?"
"I could ask you the same thing but since you asked first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Natsuki Subaru, Emilia's knight and Master Sora's apprentice."
"Master Sora? That foolish boy who abused the Power of Waking is your master, don't make me laugh."
The second person to speak took off his hood to reveal a young man with mildly tanned skin with pointed ears, golden eyes, and silver hair. Subaru was surprised to see a young man being on the side of evil, causing him to be wary of things. Puck looked at the two and asked the pair for their names.
"That's right, how else would you be able to address us. The name is Xigbar, this here is the old coot's younger self, Xehanort."
"Old coot?"
"Don't worry about it, Sora's apprentice. You won't live long to know what I mean by this."
"On the matter of things, we want the silver-haired girl. You have a choice to back off but if you don't, you'll regret it." Young Xehanrot spoke, showing slight aggressiveness and confidence that they will get Emilia. Subaru and Puck both asked what they wanted with Emilia to which both Xigbar and Young Xehanort stood silent. Crusch, not wanting to know, quickly sent an attack directed towards Young Xehanort only for the attack to do nothing similar to Marluxia. Young Xehanort turned his attention to Crusch and quickly charged at her, beginning the fight between the two sides.
Subaru, Emilia, and Puck all three teamed up to face Xigbar while Reinhard, Crusch, and Old Man Rom together went to deal with Young Xehanort. Felt wanted to join in on the fight yet both Reinhard and Old Man Rom asked her to stay back, both worried for her safety. She disliked this and was annoyed yet she listened, seeing that the two opponents are much stronger than her.
"Alright kiddo, let us see what Sora has taught you."
Author's note:
Considering that Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory will be coming out soon, I will have a break so I can analyze that story and see how I can have it connect to this story but for now I will continue the story. Two more chapters before this Arc of Kingdom Hearts: Saving life in Another world comes to an end. The next arc will be a fully focused Subaru arc. I hope you all continue enjoying the story, I do enjoy seeing your reviews.