Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Anime Hearts ❯ Chapter 8: Enter the Spirit Realm ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

AN: Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait. I kinda lost interest in continuing, not to mention I had some trouble with my computer. Thanks for being so patient with me.

Okay, here we go!

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Chapter 7: Enter the Spirit Realm

After beating the Krillin Cup (1) and getting the spell Gravity Blast, the group was taking a break as they crossed the universe. Kaneda was fast asleep in the captain's chair, while the others were relaxing. Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently, and Kaneda ended up falling out of his seat.

“What the Hell?! Who's messing with the buttons?!”

Yoh raised his hands in protest. “Wasn't me…”

“Look there!” Al shouted, pointing. They all looked up and saw a huge void surrounded by… a beaded necklace?

Amidamaru peered at the strange portal. “I don't like this one bit…”

“Hey! It's pulling us in!” Morty exclaimed.

“Everyone hang on!”

“WOOOOAAAAH!!!”

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FLASHBACK

“Tetsuo! Tetsuo! I saw a monster in the old garage!”

“Come on Kaneda! I think you watch way too many cartoons!”

“I'm telling the truth! Come on, I'll show ya!”

---

Five minutes later, the two boys crouched behind a wall.

“Okay on the count of three… THREE!”

The two of them ran inside…only to find nothing there.

“See Kaneda? What did I tell ya? There's nothing here but some junk and a door…” The boy did a double-take.

“A door? Since when has that been there?” The first boy questioned.

“I dunno.”

There was silence for a moment before the second boy spoke up again. “Hey Kaneda…” His companion looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“When we grow up…let's not stick around this boring place. Let's go on adventures and stuff!”

His friend nodded. “Yeah, let's do that.” The boy looked up at the ceiling, before turning to face the other boy again. “Hey, do you know that new girl at the orphanage…?”

END FLASHBACK

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World Name: Soul Realm

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“Kaneda… Kaneda… Wake up!”

”Uh… what…?”

The teenager opened his eyes to see the other standing over him. He glanced around, and saw that they were in a white void in which various objects floated in midair.

“Where are we?”

“I dunno,” Ed commented, “But it looks like this place has everything but the kitchen sink!”

Right on cue, a white porcelain sink floated past them. (2)

“Uh… never mind.”

Morty looked around. “Hey, has anyone seen Yoh anywhere?”

“No… I don't think so…”

“Wait a minute!”

They all looked up and saw a familiar boy making his way across the blank landscape, something clutched tightly in his hands.

“Hey wait!”

When the person did not stop, or even look back at them, the group sighed and followed him into the strange new dimension.

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Meanwhile…

A ragtag bunch of people and spirits huddled around a measly fire in an attempt to keep warm. A teenage girl sighed as she adjusted the red bandanna resting on her dirty blond hair.

“Yoh's been gone for a long time,” she muttered. “I wonder what's keeping him.”

“Well, you know Yoh,” a man in a white suit with a pompadour hairstyle spoke up, “He has a tendency to slack off an awful lot.”

“Not to mention his habit of sleeping on the job.” added the specter of the lizard-like being that was sitting next to him.

“Now come on,” said a boy with spiky pale blue hair and a snowboard attached to his back. “We have to have faith that he'll come back.” The tiny sprite sitting on his shoulder nodded slowly.

“I hope he doesn't take too long.” sighed the girl sitting beside him.

“Hey relax!” piped up a dark-skinned boy with an afro. “I bet he'll be here any minute.” The ethereal jaguar near the boy growled in agreement.

“Hmph. How can you be so naive?” A boy with purple hair in a spike and cold golden eyes snapped. “Do you honestly expect Yoh to come back?”

“He does make some sense.” said a large figure in old-fashioned-looking gold and purple armor.

“Well, we'll just have to wait and see.” A girl said softly, pushing some of her dark green hair out of her eyes.

“Lady Jun has a point.” Commented a figure in a Chinese martial arts outfit as he casually leaned against a wall.

“I'm just glad we all made it out of our world in one piece.” Sighed a pale man all dressed in white. “Aren't you, my dear Eliza?” The spirit of a young woman in a pink nurses' outfit smiled back at him.

A green-haired boy sighed as he said, “I wonder how long we're gonna last out here…” The fairy beside him patted his shoulder sympathetically.

“Hey guys!”

Everyone looked up as a young ran into the area, shifting the object he was holding under one arm so he could wave to them.

“Yoh! Where on Earth have you been?!” the bandanna-wearing girl demanded.

The boy just shrugged. “Oh you know, around. Anyway, I got something that might help us get out of here!”

“What is it?”

“This!” Yoh held up a big green block, and announced, “It'll help us get out of here!”

“Hey! Wait up!”

They glanced over as Kaneda, Ed, Al and Morty ran in, breathing heavily.

“Man,” Kaneda gasped, “I really have to get out more!”

“And who are they?” asked the armor-wearing ghost, stepping forward. Startled, Kaneda and the Elric brothers jumped backwards, looking shocked.

“I see dead people…” (3)

Yoh looked at his other friends, put one head behind his head and said, “Yeah, well, I forgot to mention that I met some new friends on the way over here.”

“I guess we should introduce ourselves then,” said the bandanna girl. “I'm Anna Kyokama, Yoh's trainer and fiancée.”

“Fiancée?” Ed repeated, raising an eyebrow skeptically. “Aren't you two a little young for that kind of stuff?”

“It's a long story,” Yoh explained.

The man with the pomp stood up, and announced, “I am Rio of the Wooden Sword. This is my associate Tokageroh.”

The lizard-man waved. “Hello.”

The blue-haired boy was next, gently pulling one of the girls along beside him. “Hi, I'm Trey Racer. This is my partner, Corey,” here he pointed to the small figure on his shoulder, “and this is my sister, Pilika. The girl waved and smiled shyly.

Next up was the afro boy, jumping in and grinning widely. “And I'm Joco! I'm the funniest guy around these parts!”

“Oh please, you're as funny as a train wreck.” The purple-haired boy muttered, pushing him away. “I am Len Tao, of the Tao clan. Over here is my guardian spirit, Bason, my sister, Jun, and her partner, Pailong.” The green-haired girl raised a hand in greeting, and the two spirits bowed.

The pale man in white came forward. “And I am Johannes Faust VIII, and this is my dear Eliza.” The woman in the pink nurse outfit smiled.

The small green-haired boy was the last one to step forward. “H-hi there.” He said shyly. “My name's Lyserg Diethel, and this is my partner Chloe.” The fairy smiled at them cheerfully.

Kaneda nodded. “Okay then. My full name's Shotaro Kaneda, but,” he added, “you can just call me Kaneda, or else you'll regret it. The two with me are Edward Elric, and his little brother Alphonse.”

“Hi”

“Hello there.”

The teenager sat on a crate and put his feet up. “So how long you've been here?”

Pilika spoke up, almost silently. “We're not really sure. Time must pass differently here then in our world.”

“So you guys lost your world, huh?” Ed questioned. Anna nodded.

“Yeah. I was able to create this place as a temporary escape, but it won't last for much longer.” (4)

Yoh, half-listening to the conversation, looked up as a figure ran past…

“Anyway, if you could get here, then we might be able to get out. Yoh even found this green block thing.” Anna continued.

“A green block? You mean a Power Block, right?” Al asked.

“If that's what you call it, then yeah. Yoh, show it to them. Yoh?”

Everyone looked around and saw that he wasn't there. Anna slapped her forehead. “Oh for the love of… He must have wandered off.”

“Then we'll have to go find him!” Kaneda exclaimed, standing up. “Morty, you take the others back to the ship, if you can find it.”

“Now hold on!” Trey shouted, getting to his feet. “We're coming with you, right Chloe?” The fairy nodded.

“Same goes for me!” Rio added.

“And me!” piped up Joco. Everyone then looked at Len.

“Alright, alright, I'll go to and keep you out of trouble.” The boy sighed.

“Wait a minute, Kaneda.”

The teenager looked over at Lyserg. “What is it?”

“I found this a while back, and I think you should have it.” The boy said, handing him a keychain that looked like Amidamaru's shoulder pads. “It might come in handy.” (5)

Kaneda attached it to his Keyblade, and it took on the appearance of Yoh's weapon, complete with red armor at the ends.

“Alright, let's move out!”

The group made their way through the maze of junk, climbing up ledges and fighting off attacking Heartless. On the way, they found some barrels to climb up on to reach a high ledge.

“Doesn't this all seem a little contrived?” Rio questioned as they were climbing up.

“Oh come on,” said Joco. “It's not like all of this is a story written by a teenage fangirl based off some extremely popular video game!” (6) Kaneda, Ed and Al just looked at each other.

“Er…let's just keep going then.”

Amidamaru (who was traveling with them) nodded in agreement. “Indeed.”

After a while, they spotted Yoh standing by himself near a pile of junk.

“Hey! Come on Yoh! We have to go back!” shouted Kaneda.

“Yeah!” Al yelled. “The others are really worried sick!”

“Come on, this isn't time to be fooling around!”

“But Kaneda, I thought you liked games. Or are you too busy with your new friends to be playing?”

They all spun around to see…

“Tetsuo!” Kaneda gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Relax; I'm only here for the kid.”

“You know what I mean!” the teen snapped. “Did you find Kei yet?”

Tetsuo smirked. “Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Catch us, and I'll tell you what I know.”

And with that, he grabbed Yoh by the hand, and ran off. Kaneda tried to follow them.

“Tetsuo…! Dammit, he got away!” Turning to the others, he muttered, “Let's go.”

Meanwhile, somewhere else…

In another area, Myotismon frowned at Tetsuo. “Why were you talking to that boy? He deserted you for the Keyblade and his new friends after all.”

“Relax,” the teen answered. “I was just messing with him.”

“Very well then. But beware the darkness in your heart, for the Heartless prey on it.”

“Mind your own beeswax!” Tetsuo snapped

The Digimon smirked at him. “As you wish.” Then he stepped through a newly-formed portal and was gone.

With Kaneda and the others…

The heroes were pressing on, having located a torn sheet of paper and a grey seal-like creature named Bukamon. After putting them in a safe place, they continued onward, still fighting any Heartless that got in their way. Suddenly, they stopped, seeing Tetsuo standing by himself.

“Heh. It's about time you got here, Kaneda.”

“What's your problem?! Don't you realize what you're doing is wrong?!” Kaneda shouted at him.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

“What do you mean by that?!”

”You heard me. These days, all you care about is showing off that Keyblade of yours. Do you want to save Kei?”

”Well duh!”

Tetsuo said nothing, but walked away casually.

“Hey! We're not done here! Hey! Tetsuo!”

“What's that guy's problem?” Trey asked.

“Well, he was my friend,” Kaneda explained, “But he's been acting pretty weird lately…”

“I think we should stop talking, and keep moving!” Len interrupted.

---

Finally, they reached a large, open area, where they saw Yoh lying on the ground.

“Yoh!”

“Don't worry, we're coming for ya!”

“Wait!” Ed exclaimed, “It might be a…” suddenly, the ground started shaking. “…trap.”

Out from under Yoh shot up a bunch of vine-like things that formed a nasty-looking cage, known as the Disease Prison. They all stepped back as it waved its tendrils around wildly. Then out of nowhere, Tetsuo stepped up, holding his own sword.

“Hey pal,” Kaneda exclaimed, “You wanna do this?”

Tetsuo smirked at him. “You bet! Let's go!”

They all rushed at it, dodging tendrils, and lashing out at them.

“Vorpal Dance!” shouted Len, striking at any tendril that dared to come near him. (7)

Meanwhile, Trey waved his snowboard, and attacking tendrils froze solid, making it easy to smash them. Rio and Joco simply just attacked whenever they could. Al blocked using his shield, and Ed leapt in and out, jabbing at tendrils and casting magic. And in the center of it all, Kaneda and Tetsuo slashed away wildly, fighting back to back.

Finally, the tendrils disappeared into the `ground', leaving Yoh's body behind. Tetsuo kneeled by the motionless figure and pulled him up by the collar.

“Hey! Let him go!” Rio exclaimed, raising his sword.

“Sorry, I've got some unfinished business with this kid.” Tetsuo answered casually.

“You let him go this instant!” snapped Amidamaru.

Tetsuo didn't answer; he just looked down at Yoh. Then he said, “This is an unusual kid. But maybe he can help someone who's lost their heart.”

Kaneda spun around to face him. “Wait, are you talking about Kei?”

”What do you care?”

And with that, he lifted the body over his shoulder, and ran off.

“After him!”

The group continued onwards, fighting more Heartless, finding a few new Power Blocks, and locating a green leaf-tailed creature named Leafmon, who readily agreed to come with them.

“Why are we even bringing those things along?” Len complained. “We're not running a daycare center here!”

“Well,” Al explained, “We're kinda doing someone a favor.”

“Hmph. Well I think…”

“Hey! Look what I found!”

Everyone looked up as Joco held up a pale blue stone. “What do you think it is?”

Kaneda stared at the object, unable to take his eyes off it. “AquaJewel…”

”Huh? Did you say something?”

The teen broke his gaze to look at Ed. “N-no, it's nothing.”

“What's with you? You're kinda down in the dumps.” Joco put in. “Get it! `Cause we're in a junkyard-type place!”

WHAM! Len punched Joco in the nose with his Kwan Do. “Oh please, that wasn't even remotely funny!” (8)

“Ahem! We'd better keep moving!” Kaneda snapped.

“You don't seem very happy.” Al noted.

“So?!”

“Well, this Tetsuo guy has you all tied in a knot.” Tokageroh pointed out.

“Just come on!”

---

They all kept on running and fighting, and found a little blue being called DemiVeemon. Then they saw Tetsuo jumping into a portal.

“There he is! After him!”

One by one, they leapt after him into the portal.

“Okay Tetsuo!” Kaneda shouted, “Let him go, now!”

The other boy just glared at him. “A kid who lost his heart to the Heartless… maybe he can help Kei. How about it? Let's work together, and we can save her.”

He held out his hand, but Kaneda slapped it away. “I don't think so!”

“What? You'd fight me over a kid who lost his heart?”

“Well, heart or not, he still has a conscience!”

Tetsuo raised an eyebrow. “A conscience? What movies have you been watching?”

“You might not hear it,” Kaneda said boldly, “But I can. And it's telling me that this is wrong!”

“Hpmh. Fine then.”

At the same time, Yoh's friends crowded around him, looking nervous.

“Master Yoh!” Amidamaru begged. “Please wake up!”

”Yeah! Don't do this!”

Yoh's brown eyes slowly opened, and he muttered, “I don't know if I'm gonna make it guys…”

“Then why do you sound like you're fine?”

“Oh, yeah!”

Cue the group facefault.

All of a sudden, the Disease Prison dropped out of nowhere, startling the group, and allowing Tetsuo to escape.

“Dammit! Hey got away!” Kaneda hissed.

“Forget that! We have to take this guy down once and for all!” Ed shouted.

Yoh grabbed his sword (that Al had been holding for him), and shouted, “Amidamaru, let's go!”

The spirit nodded. “Right!”

“SPIRIT UNITY!” There was a burst of bright light, and when it cleared, Amidamaru was nowhere in sight, but that's not what's important. What's important is that Yoh now has the strength to take on the Disease Prison.

The boy ran at the being, yelling, “CELESTIAL SLASH!” A wave of red energy appeared out of nowhere, slicing a bunch of tendrils to ribbons.

“Eat this! Blazing Meteors!” A bunch of fireballs flew from the tip of Ed's lance, pummeling the Parasite Cage, and burning it severely.

“Ok, let's see what this new spell can do!” Kaneda shouted. “Gravity Blast!” A burst of dark energy slammed into the creature, and it let out a howl of pain, before suddenly scaling to the ceiling, and then it dropped, falling downwards towards them.

“SCATTER!”

They all jumped out of the way as the Disease Prison landed with a dull thud, effectively knocking it out.

“Okay, now attack while it's stunned!”

The group rushed at it, slashing away until it suddenly came to and started attacking again. The process was repeated a few times before it was finally done for. The creature vanished in a cloud of sickly green smoke, leaving behind a small grayish stone, which Kaneda picked up.

“Did… we win?” Yoh asked, panting. Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently.

“What's happening!?”

“The world's shaking itself to pieces!” shouted Bason. “We have to leave now!”

“But Tetsuo…!”

“Forget him, and let's go!”

They all started running, dodging falling objects (that fell faster than usual) and leaping over pits. Just when it seemed like they were doomed, a familiar ship appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey guys!” Morty shouted, leaning out a window.

“Morty! Boy am I glad to see you!” Yoh exclaimed.

Anna leaned out the window and yelled, “Hey come on! This place is falling apart!”

“Don't have to tell me twice!” Kaneda shouted, climbing up a rope ladder. The others followed suit, and soon they were all in the cockpit, with Faust VIII at the controls.

“Everyone hang on!” He shouted, and they blasted off, avoiding the debris in their path. Finally, the opening was in sight.

“We're not gonna make it!” Lyserg yelled.

“Oh yes we are!” Ed exclaimed. He pulled a lever, and the ship's rear thrusters suddenly burst into life, giving them a boost that sent them through the opening just as everything exploded behind them. They all looked back at the black burn spot-like remains of the void.

“That was a close one!” Bason pointed out.

“No kidding!” Rio sighed.

Pailong blinked, noting Kaneda's sad expression. “Is something the matter?”

They boy looked at him, and sighed. “No…it's just… a guy I thought was my friend… well… I just don't know any more.”

”Hey, cheer up pal!” Joco beamed. “Thing's will get better!”

“Your cheerfulness is a real pain.” Len complained.

“Hey I think it's gonna rain!”

”Please cut that out now!”

”Hey man, don't have a cow!”

“Will you stop these stupid rhymes?!”

”Hey I don't do them all the time!”

”No more rhymes now, I mean it!”

”Anybody want a peanut?” (9)

“ARRGH!!!”

Everyone else laughed hysterically as Len chased Joco around the cockpit. Trey blinked, noticing a large red button.

“Hey, what does this button do?”

”NO TREY!”

The ship suddenly disappeared in a flash of light, but not before turning into a bunch of bananas, then a bowl of petunias, and finally a very surprised-looking sperm whale. (10)

Meanwhile, somewhere else…again…

Tetsuo stared longingly at Kei's almost lifeless form. Behind him, Myotismon stepped up, a smirk on his fanged lips.

“So… then Kei's like a doll now?” The boy questioned.

“Exactly.”

“Then her heart was…”

“Taken by the Heartless, it seems.”

Tetuso whirled around to face him. “Tell me! What can I do to help her?!” he pleaded. Myotismon's smirk just grew wider.

“There are seven pure-hearted maidens, known as the Princesses of Heart. If they are gathered together, then a door to the heart of all worlds will open, revealing untold wisdom. There you will surely find a way to recover her heart. But to do so, you must be able to control the Heartless.”

He raised a gloved hand, and a dark aura surrounded Tetsuo. The teen smiled evilly as he looked back at Kei.

“Soon Kei…soon.”

To be continued (hopefully)…

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1-Do'h! I totally forgot about that!

2- I just couldn't resist!

3- Couldn't resist that one either.

4- Don't bug me about this, I couldn't think of anything else.

5- Okay, I know it's a little early for him to be getting this, but I'm giving it to him now just for the heck of it, so no comments please.

6-Don't you just love it when the Fourth Wall is broken? (Or at least somewhat strained?)

7- I don't know many of their abilities, so please bear with me.

8- That joke was really lame; I just couldn't think of anything else.

9- That last part was taken from The Princess Bride, and it's one of my favorite lines in the movie, for obvious reasons.

10- Actually, this is another reference to A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I recently got to see the movie, and personally, I liked it. But that's just me.