Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Anime Hearts ❯ Chapter 5: Of Swords and Heartless ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Before we begin, I'd like to point out that this fic does not completely follow the Kingdom Hearts script like other parodies do. (But all the ones I've seen are pretty good.)

Reviews:

Winged Knight- Uh, thanks.

Chapter 5: Of Swords and Heartless

Kaneda stared out the window, his eyes scanning the land beneath him.

“Something the matter?”

He turned to see Morty looking at him.

“No. It's nothing.”

“Head's up!” Ed shouted from his place over at the control panel. “Were' going to hit a World Barrier in a few seconds!”

The other boy's eyes widened. In Anime City, Gene told Kaneda about the World Barriers that kept beings of one world from going into another. Of course, ever since the Heartless appeared, the World Barriers had been lowered, but some parts of them were still up.

As the ship hit the invisible wall, it shook wildly, and they all fell over. As they did, Kaneda felt a strange tingling sensation…

“Wow. Nice duds.”

Kaneda looked down at himself and gasped. He was now wearing an old-fashioned Japanese outfit, consisting of a white top and orange `hakama' pants. Ed and Morty were dressed similarly, but Al looked like he usually did.

“W-what is this?” asked Ed in confusion, looking at his new red shirt and black hakamas.

“This must be the Shape Alterer (1) the Pharaoh told me about.” Morty mused.

“Care to share with us?” asked Ed.

“Well,” the shorter boy began, “Long ago, people believed that the separate worlds were once a single world that was somehow split up. The barriers that keep the world separate can sometimes alter a person's body or attire to fit that of the worlds. It's pretty complicated, really.”

“Oh.” Kaneda turned to look out the window again. “Hey do you think you're Pharaoh and my friends could be down there?” he asked, his voice rising with hope.

“In a place like that?” said Ed, dismissively waving a hand. “No way!”

“Well, we gotta try!” Kaneda ran over to the controls and began pushing buttons.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

Suddenly, the ship lurched forward.

“Were' gonna crash!” shouted Al.

“Everyone hang on!” Kaneda screamed.

The huge ship began to plummet towards a forest that was close to a small town.

“This is all your fault, you know!”

“OH SHUT UP!”

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World Name: Old Tokyo

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When Kaneda came to, the first thing he was aware of was a splitting headache.

“Ow…my head…” He sat up and looked around. “Ed? Al? Morty? Where are you? Oh great, just great…” Suddenly, his attention was distracted by the sound of footsteps. “Huh?! Who's there?!”

From behind a tree came a man dressed in a dirty yellow top with matching pants.

“Well, well well,” he said cruelly. “What do we have here? A little boy separated from his mama?”

This infuriated Kaneda, who shouted back, “Whaddaya mean?”

The man just smirked and pulled out a sword. “I'm gonna enjoy this…” he rushed at Kaneda, but was stopped by another sword. Kaneda looked up and saw a man with bright red hair in a ponytail standing in front of him, with a sakabato (2) out in front of him. He wore a pink/magenta top, white pants, two-toed socks, and sandals.

“You should not be hurting children,” the man said in a loud and clear voice. “In fact, I think you should be leaving now.”

The other man smirked. “What? Are you and that pig-sticker of yours going to make me? That thing couldn't cut a piece of paper!”

But his opponent only smiled, saying, “You should not judge this sword. It is more powerful than you think it is.”

The first man sneered, and shouted, “Well, let's just see how powerful it IS!” And with that, he ran at the other man, who disarmed his attacker with one swift movement.

Wow! Kaneda thought in amazement, this guy's really good!

“Now GO!” With that single word, the first man took off as fast as he could. Kaneda stared after him.

“Need a hand?”

The boy looked up into the face of his rescuer, who had piercing violet eyes, and, curiously enough, a cross-shaped scar on his cheek.

“No, I'm fine.” Crossly, the boy pushed himself to his feet.

“Very well then, Mr.….?”

“Kaneda. Shotaro Kaneda.”

“Okay. So, Shotaro…”

“Please, just call me Kaneda.”

“Alright. So, Kaneda, what are you doing out here? It's not safe. Doesn't your mother know you're out here?”

”I don't have a mother,” Kaneda said firmly. “She died when I was little.” (3)

“I'm very sorry…”

“Well, don't be. The last thing I need is someone feeling sorry for me.”

The man blinked. He certainly has an attitude, that he does.

Kaneda looked up. “Hey, I'm looking for my friends, have you seen them? One's a short kid with gold hair, and the other's in a big suit of armor.”

The man shook his head. “No I haven't, I'm sorry.” Kaneda frowned.

“Great…”

All of a sudden, the tree braches began to rustle. “It's not safe here,” the man said. “We need to find a safe place.” As the two of them ran off, the man said, “By the way, my name is Kenshin Himura.”

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After about a half-hour of walking, they reached a small city.

“Welcome to the city of Tokyo,” Kenshin announced. Kaneda looked around.

Hmm…if I remember history class correctly…wasn't that the name of Tokyo before they changed it? But originally it was called Edo... could this world be located somewhere in the past…? Aahh…I'm getting a headache…

“Here we are,” Kenshin said, snapping Kaneda out of his thoughts, “The Kamiya Dojo.” In front of them lay an old-fashioned building surrounded by a wall.

Kaneda followed his rescuer through the gateway, and a voice shouted, “Kenshin! You're back!”

“Oro?!”

A woman in a purplish kimono with dark hair in a ponytail jumped out of nowhere and hugged Kenshin tightly. “I was so worried!”

“Yes, I'm fine, Miss Kaoru,” Kenshin said, disentangling himself from the woman's arms, “But we need to look after this young man here.”

The woman looked at Kaneda and said, “Oh. So you're traveling just like the other three?” Kaneda blinked.

“Other…three?” The woman nodded.

“Yep. They're over there if you…” she never got a chance to finish her statement, as Kaneda ran past her.

“Wow. Excitable kid, isn't he?”

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After a quick reunion with his friends, Kaneda and the others took the time to eat, as well as make a few introductions. Also living at the dojo was the young swordsman Yahiko Miyojin, the fighter Sanosuke Sagara, and two young children, Ayame and Suzume, who, at the moment, were playing with the small Digimon.

“Are you sure you're not weirded out by that?” Morty asked as he watched them play.

“Yeah.” Sano answered, “We found two similar creatures like them a few days ago.” He pointed out two small blobs, one green, one brown, and they each had a certain amount of stubby horns on their heads. “They say their names are Gummymon and Chocomon,” he continued, but I've never seen anything like them.”

“So Kaneda,” Kaoru began, “Where are you and your friends from?”

The quartet nearly choked on their food. (Ok, trio, since Al couldn't eat)

“W-what?” Morty stammered.

“You guys aren't from around here, are you?”

”Well, we're travelers,” Ed said nervously.

“Yeah, and were looking for some people. One has dark hair and a short temper, and another also has dark hair and a sweet disposition.” (4)

The woman shook her head. “I'm sorry, but I haven't seen them anywhere…”

“Maybe I could be of some assistance.”

They all looked up to see a tall, muscular man with a beard walking through the gate. Kaoru stiffened immediately.

“You! What are you doing here?!”

“Relax, Miss Kamiya,” the man (named Gohei Hiruma) said calmly, “I am only here to talk. The recent invasion of dark beings has been quite troubling, hasn't it?”

“Yes, it has.” replied Kenshin.

”Well, with all of these beings around, I was wondering why. But I think I know now.” He pointed at Kaneda, Ed, Al, and Morty, and shouted, “Because of them, the evil forces are attacking Tokyo!”

“WHAT?! No way!” Kaneda shouted.

“That's bull-“

Before Ed could finish his remark, Kenshin stood up and said, “I understand what you mean, Mr. Hiruma, but I strongly doubt that a group of children could have anything to do with these attacks.” The other man grimaced.

“Fine, but just keep in mind what I said. Good day.”

And with that, he left.

“You know, he does have a point,” Kaoru pointed out. “Maybe they do have something to do with these creatures.”

“Are you crazy?!” Yahiko exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

“Hey! I'm only trying to come up with something here!”

“Well forget you!” The boy ran off, past the gateway, and into the city.

“Yahiko!”

“Does stuff like this happen a lot?” Morty asked as he sweatdropped.

“Yeah, but you get pretty used to it after a while.” Sano answered.

Kaneda sighed. “Guess we'd better go after him, huh?”

“Apparently so,” agreed Ed.

As they got up, they heard Kenshin say, “Wait.” They looked at him. “Let me come with you. I know this place better than you do.”

Kaneda nodded. “Okay sure.”

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They left the Dojo and began walking through the streets of Tokyo. People stopped and stared at the group.

“What are they staring at?” asked Kaneda.

“I think they're looking at me.” Al commented.

“Well I wish they wouldn't!” grumbled Ed.

All of a sudden, Kenshin stopped.

“What is it?”

The man looked around. “Trouble.” Was all he said before he ran in one direction. The others followed him to the river, where Yahiko was sitting. Behind him, Gohei was sneaking up, holding a sword (5)…

”MR. HIRUMA!”

The shout startled both Yahiko and Gohei, who looked to see the group running towards him.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked Kenshin angrily.

“Oh, Mr. Himura!” I was just, um…”

”You were trying to hurt Yahihko, weren't you?” shouted Ed.

“Well, you see…”

“Mr. Hiruma, I suggest you go now, before you trey to hurt anyone else.” Kenshin's voice was like steel, and when Kaneda looked into his amethyst eyes, he saw that they were hard and cold. Inwardly he shuddered.

But as Gohei scrambled off, the moment passed, and his eyes became soft again. “Now then,” he said, “Shall we go?” The others silently nodded in agreement.

But before they could go, a very familiar man jumped in front of them, shouting, “AHA! Now I got ya!”

“Great, not this guy again.” Kaneda groaned.

“You know him?” asked Al.

“Yeah, but he was a weakling.”

“HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT!” the Bandit shouted angrily. “I'll get you this time…!”

He rushed at them, causing them to scatter.

“Tch. Pathetic.” Remarked Ed casually. He swung his spear at the man, and it stuck him on the forehead, effectively knocking him out. “That was a waste of time.”

“Let's get going,” suggested Al, “I don't want to be around when that guy wakes up…”

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Meanwhile, Gohei was walking around, grumbling to himself. “Stupid fools… I'm sick and tired of them… If only there was a way to take them out once and for all…”

All of a sudden, there was a rustling sound in a nearby bush. Gohei spun around, and gasped…

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Back at the Dojo, everyone was thinking about the attack.

“Somehow I'm not surprised,” commented Sano. “I mean he is pretty mad at Kenshin.”

”How come?” asked Morty.

“Well,” began Kaoru, “A while back, he was killing people mercilessly while claiming he was a student of the Kamiya Kashin style that we teach here. Kenshin was able to defeat him, and he was so humiliated he stopped killing.”

“Boy, he really knows how to hold a grudge,” said Al.

“Indeed,” Kenshin said, nodding. “But I don't think…”

Suddenly, they heard Kaoru shout, “What are those?!”

The group turned around and saw a group of about five to seven creatures loping towards them. They resembled black dogs, except twice as big, with blood red eyes and the Heartless crest on their foreheads.

“Stay back,” Kenshin warned, “This may get messy.”

The warriors rushed forward to engage the beasts in battle, blocking their attacks and trading blows.

“ELECTRO BOLT!” From Kaneda's fingertips came bolts of energy that struck one of the beasts (known as Shadow Wolves) on the forehead, and it let out a single howl before disappearing. “Cool!”

“Uh, I could use some help here!” exclaimed Al, as he blocked a Shadow Wolf's claws. Kenshin took care of it by slashing it in the back, and it vanished. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Ed, on the other hand, was having a good old time stabbing the beasts through the chest.

“Hah! Take that!”

Within minutes, most of the Shadow Wolves had been destroyed, and the few that remained ran off with their tails between their legs.

“Yeah! How do ya like that!? Booyah! Who's da man?!”

The others sweatdropped as they watched Kaneda whoop it up.

“Oh brother…”

“Somebody better stop him.” said Kaoru, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Ok. Hey, hey Kaneda!”

The boy turned to face Sanosuke. “Yeah?”

“I think you can stop now.”

“Oh, okay.”

Suddenly, a scream echoed out from the woods.

“What was that?!”

“It sounded like Gohei!”

“We should leave him, he's no good anyway.” Yahiko muttered bitterly.

“Still, we should see if he's alright.” said Kenshin.

Kaneda nodded. “Right.”

And with that, they ran off.

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“See anything?” Ed asked after a while.

“No,” Al answered. “How about you Kaneda?”

“Nope.”

“Well, keep your eyes peeled,” said Kenshin, “He must be somewhere around here…”

Just then, the very same bandit that attacked them before ran out, shouting, “Hold it right there!”

“Geeze,” commented Kaneda, sweatdropping, “Does this guy ever give up?”

“This time I'm ready for you!” the Bandit shouted, drawing his sword. Kenshin raised both hands.

“I'm sure we can talk this over…” but the bandit slashed at him, forcing Kenshin to jump out of the way. “…Or not.”

“Well, let' finish this guy once and for all!” shouted Kaneda, raising his weapon.

The four of them attacked the bandit, slashing and dodging blows. Eventually, the bandit was sent flying of into the distance.”

“I'll get youuuuu…”

“Heh. More likely you won't.” commented Ed.

“We'd better start looking for Mr. Hiruma.” Kenshin reminded them.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot.”

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As they traveled though the town, they found a small black blob with yellow eyes named Botamon fast asleep in a porch. After awakening the creature and telling it they were going to take it with them, they continued searching, and uncovered a glowing green block.

“What's that?” asked Kaneda.

“It's very strange, that it is.” Kenshin pointed out.

“Hold on,” Interrupted Ed, “I think I saw this back at Egypt Kingdom, right Al?”

The giant suit of armor nodded his head. “Yeah. I think they're called…Power Blocks or something like that.”

“Well, we'd better hold on to them, just in case.” Kaneda said.

After a while, they reached a wooden bridge that lead out of the city.

“I've had it!” exclaimed Ed. “We've been looking all night, and we haven't even found him!”

“Oh, really?”

They turned and saw Gohei smirking at them. There was something about his grin that gave them the shivers. Kenshin's eyes narrowed.

“Wait. Something doesn't seem right.” He muttered.

Gohei's smile grew larger. “I'd like you to meet my pet, the Black Cat!”

The air beside him began to ripple and waver, as the form of a monstrous black cat appeared. Its yellow eyes gleamed as it growled.

“W-what…”

“Now prepare to face your doom!”

The Black Cat turned invisible as it attacked the group, who had no idea where it was. Gohei took advantage of their situation to strike.

“Dammnit!” Ed swore loudly, “We can't beat them if we don't know where that oversized hairball is!”

Kenshin only closed his eyes, letting his thoughts flow through his mind…

“There!” he shouted, “Strike there!”

Kaneda swung the Keyblade, and felt it come in contact with something. Then the Black Cat reappeared, hissing loudly as crimson blood dripped from its shoulder.

“Okay, GO!”

They rushed at them, with Ed and Al striking the Black Cat at the same time, and Kaneda and Kenshin attacking Gohei simultaneously. The panther let out a shriek as Ed's spear found its way into its heart, and it vanished. Gohei collapsed to the ground.

“H-how could I lose?!” he sputtered, coughing up blood. “I had power…so much power…” he gave a final weak cough before he lay still, and his body disappeared too. The only thing left was a small, pink stone.

“What's this?” asked Al, scooping up the object.”

“I don't know,” answered Ed, “But we should probably take it with us.”

“Cone on,” said Kaneda, “We'd better go before someone sees us.”

One by one, they left, with the trampled grass being the only signs they were ever there, and the silent sky their only witness.

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Back at the dojo, Kaneda, Ed, Al, and Kenshin were explaining their story to the others.

“…So he's really gone then?” asked Kaoru, softly, her voice breaking the silence that had fallen after they had finished.

“Yes.” answered Kenshin. Yahiko scoffed.

“Well, you know what they say, good riddance to bad rubbish!”

“Yeah, I agree.” said Kaneda. Suddenly, the Keyblade began to glow brightly.

“What the-?”

“Hey, didn't this happen before?” Al asked his older brother. Ed nodded.

“Yeah… but why is it happening now…?”

Kaneda stood up and followed the tugging to one of the walls that surrounded the dojo. Instantly, the shape of a key hole appeared, and a beam of light shot out from the tip of the blade, and hit the hole and created a clicking noise. (6)

“Wow…what was that?” asked Yahiko. Kaneda shook his head.

“I don't know, really.”

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After spending the night at the Dojo, the group began heading out.

“Your ship crashed over by that forest,” Sano told them. “It's not that far from here.”

“Thanks.” Kaneda said, looking downcast. Kenshin smiled and raised his chin with one hand.

“If you ever feel lonely,” he said, “just remember that your friends will always be in your heart.” The boy smiled.

“My friends are in my heart? Yeah, I'll remember that.”

“Sounds kinda cheesy to me.”

“YAHIKO!”

The others sweatdropped as Kaoru and Yahiko started arguing.

“Oh boy…”

Kaneda felt a tugging on his pants leg, and looked down to see Ayame and Suzume staring up at him. He crouched down so he could see them eye-to eye.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Kaneda, we'd like to send Gummymon and Chocomon with you, so you won't be lonely.” Said Ayame, as she held up the green blob and smiled happily. The boy blinked.

“Really?”

“Yep!” added Suzume, “We want you to have them, `cause we don't want you to be alone.”

Kaneda smiled as he took the two Digimon from them.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, and before I forget,” said Kenshin, “I have something to give you.” He pulled out a keychain that resembled a tiny sword. “I call it the `Brave Warrior,” he continued, “And I believe you may need it.”

“Thank you.” Said Kaneda, as he took the object and stuck it in his pocket.

“Don't forget, you're always welcome at the Kamiya Dojo!” added Kaoru.

“Ok, I'll remember!”

“Bye!”

The foursome left to find the ship, which happened to be not so far off.

“So, what do you think that glowing hole was for?” asked Al.

“I dunno, but maybe Gene does. We'd better head back to Anime City.” Ed replied.

“Ok, but first…”

Kaneda removed the previous keychain and attached it to the Keyblade. The weapon glowed before it took on the shape of a Sakabatou with points on the end like a key's.

“Okay,” he said, “Now I'm ready.”

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Far away, in a dark realm, the shadowy beings watched Kaneda and company's latest adventure via crystal ball.

“What drew the Heartless to that world?” mused King. (The blond-haired guy)

“It was the samurai,” answered Myotismon. (The vampire) His lust for power lured them there, but in the end, it was too much for them.”

“Heh. Fool.” Dr. Eggman smirked. (The round guy)

“That man was no match for the Keyblade Master,” said King, “But the brat did find one of the Keyholes!”

“Don't worry,” Myotismon assured him, “He won't find the others. And besides, he does not know of our other plan.”

“You mean the Princesses?” asked Dr. Eggman. Myotismon nodded.

“Yes.” He waved his hand and the image of Kaneda and his friends changed to one of Chihiro.

“Speaking of which…”

He waved his hand once more and the image on the crystal ball changed to one of a certain dark-haired boy…

To be continued…

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(1)Yeah, I know it's a lame name, but I couldn't come up with anything else, so give me a break! And don't blame me for the confusing explanation. Scientific stuff really isn't my thing. -__-;

(2) That's a reverse-blade sword people. Don't you watch the show?

(3) I have no clue what happened to Kaneda's parents, so I'm just guessing.

(4) Okay, okay, so I'm making a few things up…

(5) If I remember the Anime correctly, Kenshin broke Gohei's hand so he could never wield a sword again. In this fic, that never happened, but he doesn't kill people anymore because Kenshin totally whipped his butt.

(6) I know, I know, in the game, the Keyhole was at the waterfall, but I didn't know of any place to put it in my fic. Beside, the Kamiya Dojo is a pretty good place for something like that, right?