- Chapter 14 -

The Raven

Author's Note:

I recently read on the Internet that Leonard Nimoy passed away on February 27. RIP, Nimoy; you truly did "live long and prosper." All the same, who could they possibly get to replace him as Master Xehanort?

Well, enough about that. Let's get this show on the road.

BTW, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but Zephyr and his sister's names are supposed to be a reference to the game Resonance of Fate; two of the main characters are named Zephyr and Leanne.

Also, just to let you know, Maleficent's raven here is a composite of Diablo from Sleeping Beauty and Diaval from the live action Maleficent movie. He's still named Diablo, but he'll be able to shapeshift and fight like Diaval. And I'm adding in some new forms, to add that extra little bit of badass most Disney characters get in the Kingdom Hearts series.

Soundtrack for this chapter:

* Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX- Squirming Evil: www. youtube watch?v = rd-ALviCIh0

Radiant Garden, Castle

The group was about to move on when Hikari suddenly stopped in her traps. The others turned to her.

"Hikari, what's up?" West asked curiously.

"Something's... not right," Hikari replied, looking nervously up to the rafters. "Did you ever have the feeling you're being watched?"

Sora instantly realized something was up. While Hikari's instincts weren't as fine-tuned as her father's, they were still quite impressive.

He looked up to the rafters and gasped at the sight of a raven. Black feathers, yellow beak and claws, the purple bags under its eyes...

"Look!" he yelled, pointing up. The others did so, and quickly spotted the bird.

"It's Maleficent's raven!" Riku shouted. The raven let out a squawk, and promptly descended from the rafters, swooping over the group's heads. Kyra snarled and snatched up her bow, along with a strange, metallic arrow.

"You're not getting away, you winged rat!" she yelled as she let the arrow fly. The raven started to fly towards the door, but without warning, Kyra's arrow split into a mesh net that ensnared the raven, pinning it to the ground.

West looked at Kyra, surprised. "That's new," she said. Cid smiled at that.

"I gave her arsenal a couple upgrades," he said. "Plain wooden arrows are old-school."

"The results have been good so far. Can't complain," said Kyra.

"Uh, guys?" Max said suddenly, his voice somewhat fearful.

Goofy turned to his son. "What's wrong, Maxie?" he asked, only to freeze up as he saw what Max did.

The others turned, and recoiled at the sight of the raven, which was expanding and changing shape, breaking the ropes of the net.

"Oh..." West began.

"...crap." Kyra finished.

The transformation took only a few seconds, enough time for the raven to take on the form of a human man around Sï'Lea's age, with black hair that was slicked back and skin that was even paler than Hikari's. He was dressed in a black coat over a long-sleeved V-necked black shirt, along with black pants and boots. His most prominent features, however, were the visible scars on his chest and face.

"Didn't see that coming," Leon said simply as he drew his gunblade, the others drawing their own weapons.

"Who... what are you?" Sï'Lea demanded, looking at the raven-man.

"I am Diablo," said the man, bowing. "The one who will destroy you."

Riku and Kyra exchanged glances. They knew quite a bit about Maleficent, but never knew her raven was capable of such feats.

Sora just gave Diablo a cool glare, Keyblade at the ready. "Not gonna happen, bird-brain."

"Do not assume me to be the same as those buffoons, Pete and Mortimer," Diablo said simply.

*He raised his left arm, and it was suddenly surrounded in a burst of green fire. When the fire died down, Diablo's arm had transformed into a muscular, three-digit dragon claw with black scales, as well as a spread of black feathers. He swung the claw with blinding speed at Leon, who just barely leaned back in time to avoid being decapitated.

Tifa charged in with a cry, jumping into the air and extending her leg in a kick that slammed into Diablo's face with the force of a pile driver. Diablo was sent sailing across the room and slammed against the wall right next to the door back first.

Diablo sprang to his feet and grabbed the doorknob, ripping the door clean off of its hinges with his dragon claw. Tossing the door aside, he ran out into the hall.

Sora and Riku began to run after him, but without warning, numerous Shadows, Neoshadows, and Soldiers manifested around the group, causing the two boys to stop in their tracks.

"Sora! Riku!"

The two turned at the sound of Kairi's voice as she dispatched a Shadow with her Keyblade.

"You guys get Diablo!" she yelled. "We'll handle things here!"

The boys hesitated, then nodded as they ran out the door and exited the castle, seeing Aeleus and Dilan laying on the ground, exhausted and wounded. Sora knelt down by Aeleus.

"Which way did he go?" he asked, knowing right off the bat that Diablo had attacked them. Aeleus pointed to the castle steps.

"He's headed for the outer gardens," he said, his voice pained.

"Don't worry," said Riku. "We'll take care of him."

"Here," Dilan said, handing Riku a map. "This is a map of the town. Use it to know where to go."

With that, the two dashed down the steps of the castle.

Radiant Garden, Outer Gardens

Sora and Riku ran through the tunnels that, according to the map, led to the outer gardens, exiting in a wide-open space filled with colorful flowers, and a crystal-clear fountain in the middle. Their Keyblades were drawn, and they were ready to fight at a moment's notice.

Almost as soon as they entered, Diablo landed on the ground from out of the sky, a pair of large black dragon wings, again with black raven feathers, on his back. In a burst of green flame, the wings retracted into his back.

"You two have caused all manner of trouble for my mistress," he said, morphing both of his arms into dragon claws. "Prepare for your last stand."

With that, he charged at the boys, slashing and swiping at them like an enraged bear. Riku ducked under one swipe, and punched Diablo in the back with his free hand (1). Diablo snarled and backhanded Riku, sending him flying a few feet away as he turned his attention to Sora.

"You have no idea how much I despise you, boy," he said, calm but cold as he advanced on Sora, who returned his glare. "You slew my mistress, destroyed her plans, reduced her to the status of a bum."

"Well, I don't like to brag," Sora deadpanned. Diablo scowled at that.

"Kingdom Hearts will be OURS!" he screamed as he charged at Sora.

"Not gonna happen!" Sora shouted, pointing his Keyblade at Diablo and casting a Firaga spell; Diablo was forced to break off his attack to avoid it. He didn't even have time to recover before Riku snuck up behind him and hit him in the back with Way to the Dawn, sending Diablo flying to Sora, who hit the metamorphic raven back to Riku. The cycle continued for a few more minutes, with Riku and Sora batting Diablo back and forth like a ping-pong ball. Finally, Sora finished with a jumping strike that smashed across Diablo's face; Riku couldn't help but wince as he heard Diablo's nose break.

Diablo hit the ground rolling before he managed to stop and get back to his feet, one hand over his bloody, crooked nose as he pulsed with rage, an aura of darkness surrounding him. With one hand, he popped his nose back into place, and let out a sharp exhale, a wisp of green fire shooting out of his mouth briefly before he opened his mouth wide and let loose with an entire stream of the green flames, charring the spot where Sora and Riku were standing mere seconds before.

"Fire?" Sora yelled, shocked. "He breathes fire?!"

"He sprouted dragon claws and wings. It's not that surprising." Riku said simply.

Before the boys could say anything else, Diablo charged in with lightning speed, slamming his reptilian fist into the left side of Riku's rib cage and sending him flying into the stone wall behind him, knocking him out cold.

"Riku!" Sora shouted, before turning to Diablo with an angry glare that could kill small animals. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"We shall see," Diablo replied, before charging in and punching Sora in the gut, knocking the wind out of the young Keybearer before kicking him a good five feet backwards. Just as Sora got his bearings, Diablo charged in again and aimed his punch downwards, the fist carving through the ground and up into Sora's chest. The force lifted Sora bodily into the air, but he didn't get far before Diablo grabbed him by the ankle and spun him around (2) before tossing him aside, sending Sora slamming into the ground and careening through it, his body carving a gash through the flowers before skidding to a stop.

Battered and bruised, Sora got to his feet with an effort, one hand going to his side.

"Ouch," he said, his voice raspy. Diablo gave him a malevolent smirk.

"I warned you not to take me lightly, boy," he said.

"Duly noted," came the voice of Riku, just as a Dark Firaga slammed into Diablo's back.

Diablo let out an angry growl before whirling to face Riku. "You pest!"

"If you're gonna put me down, next time make sure I stay down." Riku said simply.

Diablo tensed, but before he could attack, Riku was suddenly coated in an aura of darkness. He shouted, "Behold the power of darkness!" and dove into a dark portal that manifested behind him. Suddenly, Riku zipped out of numerous other portals that formed around Diablo, attacking the morphed bird from all directions repeatedly before finally hovering above him, his Keyblade glowing with darkness. "You're done!" he shouted as he dove down and plunged the Keyblade into the earth, sending pillars of dark flame shooting out from the ground radially, hitting Diablo and heavily injuring him (3).

"Is that all you got?" Riku asked as he pulled his Keyblade out of the ground and stared down Diablo, who was clutching his chest and breathing heavily.

Sora took his place next to Riku, Keyblade in hand. Diablo glared at them.

"This changes nothing," he growled. "I'm still strong enough to kill you two."

"Then how about the rest of us?!" came Sï'Lea's voice. They all turned to see both Sora and Leon's respective groups charging in, weapons at the ready.

Faced with all of that opposition, Diablo quickly decided to cut his losses; he was definitely no match for them with his injuries from Riku's attack, and he wasn't even sure he could take all of them at full strength. He waved a hand, and summoned a corridor of darkness, limping over to it.*

As soon as he reached it, Diablo looked at Riku and shook his head. "You really shouldn't have betrayed us, Riku."

"I've said it before, I'll say it again," Riku shot back. "I walk the road to dawn!"

Diablo scoffed as he entered the corridor, which sealed up behind him.

"Riku!"

Before Riku could react, West flew at him, catching him in a tight hug that nearly knocked him off of his feet. "Are you okay?"

"Relax," Riku said, returning the hug with a smile of assurance. "I'm fine."

The two stood there for a few minutes, their arms around each other, until Nixe tapped Riku on the shoulder.

"I hate to interrupt your moment," she said. "but I think we should get to the infirmary."

"Why?" Riku asked, reluctantly pulling away. "Is anyone hurt?"

Nixe looked at him blankly. "Um, yeah. Sora's passed out on the ground."

Riku turned and saw that Sora was indeed sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

"Sora!" Kairi shouted as she and Riku both dashed over to him. They were relieved to see he was breathing.

"He's pretty beat up," said Kairi. "But I think he's mostly just exhausted."

Riku carefully lifted Sora up and slung him over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, with the group dashing back to the castle.

Author's Note:

(1): For better visualization, think like the cutscene in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days when Riku dodges Xion's attack and punches her in the back.

(2): For better visualization, think like the Bowser boss fights in Super Mario 64 when you grab Bowser by the tail and toss him.

(3): Riku's Limit Break: Dark Aura. I just think it works better as a Limit Break than his one from Days.

Don't worry, my loyal readers. Sora's gonna be fine.

I did what I did with Diablo for one very simple reason: to give Maleficent at least one henchman who's actually competent. Let's face it, Pete and Mortimer are a joke; without Maleficent and the Heartless to back them up, those two goofs aren't a threat to anyone.

As for Kyra having Green Arrow-style trick arrows, I talked it over with MysteryGirl7Freak, and she approves. We'll see more as the fic goes on.

Please R&R. Until next time!