- Chapter 10 -
A Dark Reunion
Author's Note:
In response to PrismRain13 and MysteryGirl7Freak's reviews, Zephyr is intended to be the lone wolf/mysterious ally type. But just because he's not joining the group now doesn't mean he won't eventually. ;)
To answer my reviewer Ckbrothers, I've really only read about Kingdom Hearts χ myself; it's, as of this chapter, a Japan-exclusive.
Also, I would like to thank didsomeonesayventus for his critique.
Soundtrack for this chapter:
* Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX: Destiny's Force - www. youtube watch?v = T_6pR65BEQU
Twilight Town, Back Alley
"Hold it!" West yelled suddenly as the group hurried towards the Sandlot, where the bang had come from. The others screeched to a halt.
"What's up?" Nixe asked, practically running in place.
"First, I gotta get rid of this stupid coat." With that, West ripped off the coat to reveal new clothing that was better suited for combat. She was wearing a green short-sleeved hoodie with black lining and black pull strings that exposed a portion of her midriff. The yellow bandana which she once wore around her neck was now tied around her left wrist, and she wore a baggy elbow-length glove on her right hand, the glove being predominantly white while the fingers and a band close to the elbow were black. Around her neck was a black necklace with a small black rock. Her tan pants reached just above her knees and had a bow tied at the hems of each pant leg, a brown pouch was buckled on her right hip, and she wore brown zippered hiking boots with green lining.
"Seriously?" Zephyr said flatly. "Innocent lives are at stake, and you make us all stop so you can take off your coat?" West let out a sheepish laugh and scratched the back of her head.
"I admit it was kinda silly," she replied, and the gang continued to the Sandlot.
Twilight Town, Sandlot
As soon as the group of sixteen reached the Sandlot, they saw the source of the trouble. It was none other than Maleficent, Pete, and Mortimer, the first of whom fired a lightning bolt from her staff at a nearby building while the other two were terrorizing civilians.
"Maleficent!" Sora yelled, brandishing his Keyblade as the others drew their weapons as well. Maleficent turned to them and gave the group a false smile, with Pete and Mortimer flanking her on either side.
"Ah, Sora," she said, before turning to Riku. "And Riku, too. It has been a long time, hasn't it?" Riku scoffed.
"I'd say it's nice to see you again," Riku said, "but it's not." Maleficent just gave a small chuckle before looking at West.
"Well, well," she said. "So I was correct. You are alive." West scowled as she brandished her knife at the dark witch.
"It's payback time for torturing me at Hollow Bastion," the perky thief spat through her teeth. Maleficent's face darkened.
"And I still need to punish you for spitting in my face." the witch replied. Riku rolled his eyes.
"It's been two years, and you're still irked about that?" he said flatly. "By Kingdom Hearts, you're petty."
Maleficent glared at her former lackey. "Did you forget who you're talking to, boy?!" she demanded. "I am the Mistress of All Evil!"
Sï'Lea laughed and looked Maleficent right in the eye. "No, you're just a pathetic excuse for her." she said.
Maleficent let out an inhuman scream and aimed her staff right at Sï'Lea, the tip glowing blue with electricity.
"Thunder's might and lightning strike!" she yelled, and a bolt of lightning projected out from her staff and at Sï'Lea, who just rolled her eyes and summoned her shield. The lightning bolt struck Sï'Lea's shield and bounced right back at Maleficent, who was hit right in the chest by the bolt and sent flying back into the building before her, whereas Sï'Lea was sent sliding back about a foot. She examined her shield, and saw a small scorch mark on it.
"Okay," Sï'Lea said flatly as she dismissed the shield. "Maybe I was a tad mistaken." Maleficent glared at Sï'Lea and the others with nothing but absolute hatred as she stood, her fist clenched so tight that her nails drew blood from her palm.
"I will not stand for this," she snarled. "Now you will face the powers of Hell!"
With that, she slammed her staff into the ground, and a massive corridor of darkness opened up in the dead center of the Sandlot. What stepped out was a massive Heartless that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had only seen once before, and hoped they would never see again.
It was a six-armed beast that boasted a brown and black segmented body and a golden cobra-like head. It wore a white sleeve trimmed in gold on each arm, a white tunic with puffy gold sleeves over its oddly-shaped upper torso, and white, gold-and-turquoise trimmed pants on its lower body; around its waist was a bright turquoise sash, decorated with bright orange tassels and a gold apron bearing the Heartless Emblem. Its feet appeared to be clad in gold and brown shoes at first glance, but the toes were curled into fierce hooks that pointed down towards the ground. Each arm ended in three sharp segmented talons. In two of its hands, it wielded twin khopeshes (1).
"It can't be," Donald said shakily.
"Kurt Zisa!" Sora exclaimed. "I thought there was only one of them!"
The others of the group looked at them, having never heard of Kurt Zisa before. "Uh, do you mind filling us in?" Riku asked.
"Kurt Zisa was a super-powerful Heartless that was unleashed when the Final Keyhole was opened," Sora explained. "Donald, Goofy, Aladdin, and I destroyed it in Agrabah. But we thought that it was one of a kind."
"Well, you thought wrong, boy," Maleficent sneered. "Now, I've been waiting a long time for this, Sora. Prepare to meet your doom!"
*With that, she snapped her fingers, and Kurt Zisa twirled its blades, creating an immense gust of wind that blew Hayner, Pence, and Olette away just as a glowing translucent barrier formed around the Heartless and Sora's group, leaving the Twilight kids to watch helplessly. Maleficent, Pete, and Mortimer also remained outside the barrier, and watched with sadistic glee as Kurt Zisa let out a powerful roar that seemed to shake the very air.
Twirling its blades with incredible speed, Kurt Zisa charged at the group, who dove off in several different directions. Zephyr quickly flicked his ice sword, Frozen Wind, at Kurt Zisa, shooting an orb of ice at the creature and freezing its head. The Heartless whirled its head around, trying to break the ice.
Sï'Lea immediately sprang into action; jumping into the air, she pointed her Keyblade directly at Kurt Zisa and cast a Laser Spin spell; two green orbs of light appeared before her, moving in a circular clockwise pattern as they fired green lasers at Kurt Zisa. Most of them hit their mark, but didn't seem to cause much damage. With a muffled roar, Kurt Zisa slammed its snaky head against the ground, shattering the ice.
Letting out a loud hiss, Kurt Zisa raised its two uppermost arms, and two orbs of dark energy appeared in its palms. The entire group flinched briefly, as if hit by an invisible force. Shaking it off, Lea held out his free hand.
"Burn, baby!" he yelled as he attempted to cast a Firaga spell. The key word in this context being "attempted"; all that erupted from his palm was a small spark and a puff of smoke.
"What the?" Lea said, confused as he looked at his hand. Sora let out a sheepish laugh as he scratched the back of his head.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot," he said. "He just cast a Silence spell on us. We won't be able to use magic spells or summons until we take out those dark orbs in his hands."
A loud smack echoed through the Sandlot as Nixe's hand collided with her forehead. "You could've told us that sooner, y'know!"
"Hey, it's been two years, and we all thought that this Heartless was one of a kind!" Donald said defensively.
West and Hikari dashed at Kurt Zisa, weapons at the ready. While Hikari was attacking the orbs in its hands, West jumped onto its back and started to climb it, headed for its head. With one mighty slash, Hikari successfully destroyed the orb in its left hand just as West reached the Heartless' head. Holding on to its head with one hand, West let out a loud yell as she stabbed Kurt Zisa right in the eye, black fog spraying out on contact.
Kurt Zisa screeched in agony and whipped its head around, West holding on for dear life. Eventually, she was sent flying off and into Riku, the force knocking the two a few feet away just as Goofy joined Hikari in attacking the other orb; punching upwards with his shield just as Hikari slashed upwards with a darkness-coated Twilight Blade, destroying the orb and ending the Silence spell. Kurt Zisa slumped to the ground, dazed.
Donald seized the opportunity to cast a Firaga spell, which hit Kurt Zisa right in the face just as Max rode in on his skateboard, performing a backflip and uppercutting the beast with the board's wheels at the same time (2).
Kairi and Nixe looked at one another and nodded, both having the same idea. Holding their Keyblades out, Kairi cast a Blizzaga spell just as Nixe cast a Firaga spell, the two spells swirling around one another as they sailed through the air at Kurt Zisa and impacted, burning and freezing the Heartless simultaneously. Mickey then fired a beam of light out of one hand, damaging the Heartless further just as Zephyr threw Tiger at Kurt Zisa, the little Chirithy suddenly doubling in size and sprouting large claws as it slashed at the Heartless' face before springing off, shrinking back down to normal size.
Kurt Zisa let out another loud scream as it slumped to the ground, on its last legs. Sora and Riku looked at one another; it was time to end it.
Jumping into the air, back-to-back, Sora and Riku held their respective Keyblades up high, their weapons becoming sheathed in light as they both initiated the Bladecharge technique. As soon as that was done, the two boys became a cyclone of blades, whirling around as they hacked and slashed through Kurt Zisa's body. With one final cry, Sora and Riku slashed down vertically through Kurt Zisa, creating a massive burst of light (3).
With that, Kurt Zisa hoisted the white flag and fell to the ground with one final scream, its body decomposing into darkness as a large glowing heart was freed from its body and floated away, the barrier dissipating. Hayner, Pence, and Olette promptly dashed in to congratulate the others, while Maleficent glared at Sora with nothing but fury.*
"You insolent fools," she snarled. "You have crossed me for the last time." Sora just looked at her blankly.
"I fought that Heartless, before, Maleficent, and I beat it," he said flatly. "Next time, try something a little more original."
"You'll never win, Maleficent," Zephyr added. "The Book of Prophecies is beyond your reach, and it's gonna stay that way."
Maleficent glared at the boy. "We shall see," she said as she waved her staff and summoned a corridor of darkness. "Pete! Mortimer! We are leaving!"
With that, the dark witch made her way into the corridor, while her minions lingered back for a moment.
"This ain't over, Mick," Mortimer said to Mickey. "I'm gonna get you back, and help myself to that pretty Queen of yours, a-cha-cha." Donald and Goofy just glared dully at Mortimer, while Mickey refused to even dignify Mortimer's taunts with a response.
"We're gonna get you yet!" Pete added. West stuck her tongue out at the fat cat.
"Come back anytime!" she said. "We'll be more than happy to beat you again!"
Pete scowled, but said nothing as he entered the corridor, with Mortimer following suit.
"Well, that proves what I said before," Riku said. "With those two clowns, Maleficent's really scraping the bottom of the barrel."
Everyone cracked up laughing at that. As the laughing fit tapered off, Zephyr and Tiger stepped away.
"Hey, where are you guys going?" Sora asked. Zephyr turned his head to look at the spiky-haired boy.
"This is where we part ways for now, Sora," he said as he snapped his fingers, causing a corridor of darkness to appear before him. The others recoiled.
"Wait, you use the dark corridors?" Sï'Lea said. "Do you have any idea how stupid and reckless that is?" Zephyr raised a hand in dismissal.
"Your concern is touching, but unnecessary," he said, not unkindly, before grabbing the lapels on his coat. "My coat's design is derived from the same enchantments used on Organization XIII's black coats. It protects me from darkness." With that, he made his way to the corridor.
"Wait!" West called out. Zephyr stopped as West ran up to her and gave him a friendly smile. "You saved me, and brought me back to my friends. I can't thank you enough for that, Zephyr."
Zephyr smiled back. "Don't worry about it," he said. Tiger walked up to West and nuzzled her legs in a friendly manner. West giggled and patted his head.
"Okay, boy, sorry to cut this short, but we gotta go," Zephyr said to Tiger before turning to Sora and the others. "If you need a clue on where to go next, I suggest Radiant Garden. The Restoration Committee will be a big help."
Sora nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Zephyr said. "I'll see you again."
With that, he and Tiger entered the corridor, which sealed up behind them.
"So, I take it you guys gotta go now?" Hayner asked Sora, who nodded.
"We'll be back," he said. "Keep an eye out for anything suspicious." The trio nodded, and with that, the group, with the addition of West, made their way out of the Sandlot.
Sï'Lea lingered behind for a moment, thinking back to what they knew of what happened to Terra, Ven, and Aqua. At least they knew where Aqua was, but they still had no idea what happened to Ven's heart or where Aqua hid his body, while Terra had just vanished off of the map completely. Not to mention the fact that the Realm of Darkness was hardly the safest place.
Terra, Aqua, Ven... she thought to herself, placing a hand over her heart as she looked up at the sky.
I just hope you're safe.
Author's Note:
(1): An Egyptian sickle-sword that evolved from battle axes.
(2): For a better visualization of this attack, think along the lines of the scene in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in which EVA did much the same to Ocelot, but with her motorcycle.
(3): Inspired by Nightmare's End and Mirage Split, Sora and Riku's respective World That Never Was Reality Shifts in Kingdom Hearts 3D.
For those who don't know, Kurt Zisa was a bonus boss in the American and Final Mix versions of the original Kingdom Hearts; it was named after Kurt Zisa of Medford, New York, who won Square's "KINGDOM HEARTS: Name-In-Game" contest, which was held two months prior to the American release of Kingdom Hearts. I know he went down pretty easily, but hey, Sora and co. are two years older and two years stronger here.
Maleficent's line about paying West back seems perfectly in-character for her, in my opinion; this is the same woman who placed a death curse on a newborn baby just because she didn't get invited to said baby's birthday party.
Once again, parts of this chapter were inspired by PrismRain13's stories; in fact, she was part of the reason I was inspired to write this story to begin with.
And yes, I've noticed that the physical descriptions of the characters are a bit... big, but I just can't help myself.
Please R&R. Until next time!