W.I.T.C.H. Fan Fiction / Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ The Keyblade Warriors ❯ Installment 2 ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: SPD Gold Ranger 
The second half of the story. W.I.T.C.H. continues fighting the Organization, while the Ancient Guardians fend off the Chasers, and a mysterious youth joins the adventure...
Non Anime: W.I.T.C.H. Fan Fiction / Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.19.2006 | Updated On: 02.28.2007 | Pages: 47 | Words: 38.0K | Visits: 510 | Status: Completed
The second half of the story. W.I.T.C.H. continues fighting the Organization, while the Ancient Guardians fend off the Chasers, and a mysterious youth joins the adventure...
Non Anime: W.I.T.C.H. Fan Fiction / Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Mystery / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.19.2006 | Updated On: 02.28.2007 | Pages: 47 | Words: 38.0K | Visits: 510 | Status: Completed
While Elyon and Sakura went at it, and while the others were fighting Phobos, a door appeared in the Underworld Entrance.
After a short time, the door opened, and Cornelia, Hay Lin, and Goofy came out of the door, the blonde Guardian holding the world card she'd just used. Suddenly, Cornelia felt odd, and clutched her chest.
“What's wrong, Corny?” Hay Lin asked.
“Something about this place... it's sapping my strength...” Cornelia said with all the effort she could muster.
Goofy instantly recognized the effects that the Underworld's curse held. Out of instinct, Goofy let his hand rest on Cornelia's shoulder and channeled the power of the Olympus Stone he'd gathered not too long ago and gave some of the energy to Cornelia. The blonde got to her feet, feeling good as new.
“Thanks, Goofy,” Cornelia said to Goofy.
“Well, well, isn't that touching as all hell?” a mysterious voice rang out.
All three of them spun in their spots. Axel, the `Flurry of Dancing Flames', was standing there, his chakram firmly grasped in his hands.
“Axel. What do YOU want down here?” Cornelia shouted, brandishing Seismic Star.
“This doesn't seem like a place that's suited to your element,” Hay Lin noted, materializing Sword of the Storm.
“This is the freaking Underworld,” Axel shot back. “Of course it's my element. Just ask Hades.”
“Um... did you hit your head on a tree, Axel?” Hay Lin admonished. “Hades is gone. Sora and company knocked him into the River Styx!”
“I may be a Nobody, but I'm not an idiot,” Axel continued. “I know that Hades is gone.”
“Then that means you know we're about to kick your butt,” Cornelia exclaimed, searching through her deck, eventually picking out a 9-value Seismic Star, an 8-value Lady Luck, and a 7-value Magnet spell card. Combining the three formed her Seismic Star keyblade. As Axel began charging, Cornelia threw her now-spinning keyblade straight for Axel. Axel quickly dodged the spinning blade...
...just as Cornelia had planned.
Before Axel knew what had hit him, the Seismic Star came spinning back, crashing into Axel's back and knocking him into the air. The keyblade that seemed to have a mind of its own quickly came back for more, knocking Axel around like a rag doll. Every time the spinning blade got close enough to Axel, he seemed to be drawn towards it.
Taking her chance, Cornelia whipped a Goofy card from her deck. This one was glowing bright gold.
“All right! Let's really get this party started!” Cornelia shouted, holding the limit card over her head.
After the bright flash from the card, Goofy and Cornelia were standing together, throwing their spinning weapons for the still skyward Axel.
After a few attacks, Goofy and Cornelia pointed their weapons for Axel, the energy being emitted drawing the Flurry of Dancing Flames closer to them.
After a while of this, Cornelia held Goofy in her arms like a rocket, Goofy's Genji Shield held out proudly. With that, before Axel could recover, Cornelia launched Goofy, who promptly began zipping around the battlefield like a maniac. Every couple seconds, the flying Goofy slammed into Axel, causing considerable damage.
Once the assault was over, Axel dropped to the ground, clutching his chakram.
“You're... you're good,” Axel said before attempting to disappear via a column of darkness.
“Oh, no you don't!” Cornelia shouted, throwing her keyblade for the disappearing Axel. Seismic Star almost instantly pierced through Axel, causing him to drop his chakram, which quickly disappeared.
As Axel disappeared into the darkness, Cornelia went to pick up the card that he'd left behind. It was a new attack card. Focusing on the new card, a new keyblade appeared in her hand. It was composed of wings, as you could probably tell. The handle was made of two pairs of wings, one pair that folded out, and another pair that folded downwards. The blade seemed to be a shining light and dark-sided angel wing. A puffy cloud was dangling from the keychain. The words Sonic Wing ran through Cornelia's head.
“And that's that,” Cornelia said, twirling Sonic Wing in her hands.
“We've already defeated close to half of the Organization by now. I have this uneasy feeling in my head these guys won't be taking any more prisoners,” Hay Lin wondered, leaning on Sword of the Storm.
“People like him usually don't,” another mysterious voice said.
Hay Lin was the first to notice the source of the voice - a man of about 30 or so, draped in familiar-looking red robes and carrying a long, VERY sharp sword.
“You... you're Auron, aren't you?”
Auron just smiled.
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CLANG!
Phobos' long sword clashed with Nick's golden-hued Oathkeeper and Spellbinder keyblades as the two battled it out. Everyone else was using their best sleights and attacks, but nothing seemed to do any damage to the evil prince.
“Oh, come on,” Phobos exclaimed. “You could at least make it a challenge!”
With that, Phobos let his sword disappear, and materialized Oblivion and the old version of Oathkeeper, both blades channeling massive amounts of dark energy.
“What the?” Valor Form Sora shouted, holding Sleeping Lion and Decisive Pumpkin in a battle stance. “Phobos isn't a chosen one!”
“Wait a minute,” Breezy Form Nick replied. “Remember that Phobos has the ability to use any of the weapons that a fallen Organization member's used. Those keyblades belonged to Roxas. He must have fallen... but to who?”
Nick didn't really need to ask himself that. He knew that Elyon had just taken care of Roxas.
Just don't lose to Sakura, okay, Elyon? Nick thought to himself.
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Speaking of which, Elyon had just barely blocked a strike from Sakura's Dark Crystal keyblade, countering with Diamond Dust when she could. Sakura was evidently pissed off at the fact that Elyon had just destroyed Roxas.
“You little bitch!” Sakura shouted, tears flying in a fit of rage.
“Look who's talking,” Elyon replied. Holding Diamond Dust into the air, Elyon began calling upon her powers as the Light of Meridian.
“Take this!” Elyon shouted, performing a powerful dual strike attack that considerably damaged Sakura and sent her flying across the room.
At the last second, Sakura pushed her feet down on the wall ahead of her, and sprung off of it, using her terminal velocity to aim an attack straight for the Light of Meridian.
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“They just keep coming!” Cornelia shouted, flailing about to shake off a horde of Shadow and Soldier Heartless, along with the occasional Large Body.
Hay Lin, evidently, was smiling. She looked over to Auron, who was literally plowing through masses of the creatures of darkness with his massive sword.
Hay Lin began sifting through her deck until she found a limit card with Auron's picture on it.
“Then how about we even the playing field a little?” Hay Lin asked, holding the card into the air.
A short time later, Auron was beside Hay Lin, sword held out.
“Know your place,” Auron commanded. Suddenly, he and Hay Lin swung their keyblades in a circular motion, dispatching even more Heartless.
Auron went on the attack first, swinging his Hunter's Sword in a wide attack that seemed to pierce right through the lone Large Body's frontal defense.
Hay Lin stepped up herself, spinning into the air and diving down keyblade first. When Sword of the Storm hit the ground, a powerful energy field expanded from the air Guardian.
Hay Lin and Auron continued to alternate their attacks for a while, until Auron shouted, “Your pain shall be twofold!”
Hay Lin quickly joined her keyblade with Auron's sword, and together, the two began spinning their weapons together until it generated a powerful whirlwind that blew away the rest of the Heartless.
“All right!” Hay Lin exclaimed, twirling Sword of the Storm in her hands.
“Go now. Find your friends,” Auron said before mysteriously disappearing.
“He's right! There's a door up ahead!” Cornelia shouted, pointing towards a door.
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Elyon quickly did a flip kick that surprised Sakura and knocked her to the floor. Swinging Diamond Dust, the Light of Meridian stood in a fighting stance.
“Oh, please. For someone who's MY Nobody, is that the best you've got?” Elyon challenged.
“All right! I've had enough of you! This is for Roxas!” Sakura shouted, swinging Dark Crystal and charging once more.
Focusing on the Crown of Light, Elyon quickly teleported just as Sakura struck. “What the...?”
That was all the time Elyon needed to deliver the finishing blow, causing Sakura to drop the Dark Crystal keyblade.
“Why?” Sakura asked as she began to fade away. “Why are you so selfless?”
“I'm not selfless,” Elyon replied. “I defeated you so you could be with Roxas. I may have been a Heartless once, but I do have a heart.”
“I... I see,” Sakura stated. “I guess maybe that's why I have these emotions, unlike the other Nobodies. You're probably the purest of heart that I've ever seen.”
“Thanks,” Elyon replied.
“Just so you know, Roxas and I were actually spies sent by Xehanort to find out their secrets,” Sakura explained. “We're lucky we got away from him before he found out the crown we gave him was a fake.”
“I never would have thought it of a Nobody,” Elyon noted.
“Take care, Light of Meridian,” Sakura said before fading back into the darkness. Once Sakura had disappeared, Elyon looked out of her window, seeing the high-rise towers of Castle Oblivion in the distance.
Guys, I hope you're doing all right over there, Elyon thought.
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Sora quickly cast a Magnet spell, hoping to draw Phobos' weapons towards him, but to no avail.
“Don't you see? With these weapons, I'm stronger than all of you put together!” Phobos shouted, rapidly attacking with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Marluxia's scythe and Phobos' longsword attacked all by themselves, as if they had a mind of their own.
“You know, as much as it sickens me to admit it, he may be right,” Irma said, quickly dodging an attack from Oblivion.
“If the others don't get here soon, we could be in big trouble!” Nick shouted, using his golden-hued Oathkeeper to block an attack from Marluxia's scythe.
No sooner had Nick said that, than Cornelia's Sonic Wing keyblade came spinning into the battlefield, catching Phobos off guard and knocking the evil prince to the ground.
“Now what were you saying, Phobos?” Hay Lin challenged as she, Cornelia, and Goofy joined the others.
“We've already defeated half of your Organization flunkies, Phobos,” Nick shouted. “It won't be long before you're next!”
As Phobos scanned his situation, he realized that he was up against seven Keyblade bearers, along with Donald and Goofy. Finally, Phobos realized that he may have just bitten off a bit more than he can chew.
“I'll be back,” Phobos admonished. “And next time, you won't be so lucky.”
With that, he vanished, leaving only three silver, glowing cards in his place.
Nick took a good look at the world cards; the first one had a picture of a dock that looked like it belonged in the pirate ages. The second card was decorated with an Arabian palace on the top and a mysterious-looking lion head on the bottom. The final card showed what looked like a Halloween-style town square.
“Okay. Let's divide into groups. Sora, Irma, you and I will take this one,” Nick said, holding up the Port Royal card.
“Will, Cornelia, you two take the palace,” Nick continued, handing Will the Agrabah card.
“Taranee and Hay Lin, you guys see if someone from the square can help us,” Nick finished, giving Taranee the Halloween Town card.
Each group took their respective world cards and headed to the doors at the top of the stairs. Using the world cards, each door opened for the keyblade bearers.
However, just before everyone could head into their chosen door, a menacing, sphere-shaped Heartless blocked their path. Sora recognized it instantly as the Shadow Stalker.
“Go! I'll hold him off!” Nick shouted, brandishing the Oathkeeper.
Everyone nodded, and headed into their world doors while Nick did battle with the Shadow Stalker.
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Meanwhile, back in Meridian, Elyon was sitting on her bed, pondering what Sakura had said to her.
Just as she was about to contemplate it a little more, who else but Phobos should appear, still wielding Roxas' Oathkeeper and Oblivion.
“Hey. Still up to your no-good tricks, I presume,” Elyon challenged, brandishing Diamond Dust.
“As always, I want the crown, dear sister,” Phobos retorted, wielding his weapons.
“And, as always, you're not getting it!” Elyon shouted, charging forward.
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Near the top floors of Castle Oblivion, what remains of Organization XIII is plotting something.
“We need those keyblades,” Xigbar said.
“Don't be stupid, you snipe-happy freak,” Larxene shot back. “They're just too powerful. In case you didn't notice, they've already defeated over half of our ranks. And remember what happened last time? That Sora kid overpowered all of us that were here.”
“The lightning girl is right,” Saïx noted. “For once...”
“I'm not playing around anymore,” Larxene exclaimed, a door appearing nearby. “This time, I'm taking care of that kid myself.”
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Nick finally delivered the finishing blow to the Shadow Stalker, but instead of fading away, like the other Heartless, the rotund, sphere-like Heartless covered itself in a cocoon of darkness.
Before Nick could react, the Shadow Stalker burst out of its prison, having transformed into the menacing Dark Thorn. Nick quickly readied his Oathkeeper and Fatal Crest keyblades.
All of a sudden, the Dark Thorn bucked forward and screamed in agony, and Nick could see why: three sharp knives were protruding through the spot where its heart should be.
As the Dark Thorn fell to the ground and faded away, its heart disappearing in a swirl of darkness, Nick could clearly see who had just killed the Dark Thorn: it was Larxene, the “Savage Nymph”.
“Well, well,” Nick said, switching Fatal Crest with Lady Luck. “If it isn't the thunder chick.”
“Believe it or not, I don't have time to play around with the likes of you,” Larxene shot back, heading for the Port Royal door.
“You're not touching them, you little non-existent freak! Your fight's with me!” Nick shouted, blocking Larxene's way.
“Okay, then. You want to dance? Let's dance!” Larxene exclaimed, throwing her kunais straight for Nick. To her surprise, Nick easily batted them away with Oathkeeper.
While Larxene tried to recover her weapons, Nick quickly ran up and planted his foot square in Larxene's chest, causing her to stumble back. Nick continued the offensive by slamming Oathkeeper into her back, and Lady Luck into her side.
When Larxene was able to catch her breath, she sarcastically said, “What kind of kid attacks a lady?”
“You're right. I don't hit ladies. But that doesn't count if the lady in question isn't even supposed to exist!” Nick replied, charging forward.
This time, however, Larxene was expecting the strike, and flicked her kunais forward, shooting a bolt of lightning for the thunder Guardian.
To Larxene's evident surprise, Nick easily absorbed the bolt of energy, using its energies to supercharge the Oathkeeper.
“What the...?” Larxene asked, staggering back.
“How quickly you forget,” Nick stated. “Thunder and lightning is my element, too!”
Before Larxene could get her weapons around in time, Nick quickly struck with the supercharged Oathkeeper. It proved to be enough, the attack tearing right through Larxene.
“I... I thought I had you...” Larxene said before fading back into darkness. Once she was gone, a new keyblade was lying on the floor where Larxene was. It seemed to reflect Nick and Larxene's very elements, completely decorated with bolts of electricity. The word Thunder Striker ran through Nick's head.
“Okay, now that THAT'S over with, I'd better get back to the others,” Nick said, heading for the Port Royal door.
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A fourteen-year-old girl was soundly sleeping in her bedroom back in Heatherfield.
However, she has been plagued by unusual dreams...
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Nick looked up at the evil-darkened skies of Heatherfield.
“The Dark Keyblade has been released...”
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“Oh, Nick... I never knew...”
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“The Heart!” Will exclaimed.
“Water!” Irma shouted.
“Fire!” Taranee continued.
“Earth!” Cornelia added.
“Air!” Hay Lin exclaimed.
“Thunder!” Nick finished.
“Guardians, Unite!” they all shouted, covering the room in a cocoon of light energy. Once the light cleared, all 6 of them were in their Guardian getups.
“Girls,” Nick said, twirling Oathkeeper in his hands, “let's do what we came here to do.”
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“Well, well, looks like we weren't the only ones invited to the party,” Nick said sarcastically, the Oathkeeper glowing.
“Enough of your nonsense,” the Medusa-haired guy retorted. “Knights of Vengeance, ATTACK!”
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“What's wrong with her?” Will asked.
“Hey. She's made of freaking lava,” Nick replied. “Pretty obvious, huh?”
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“I take it you're Nerissa?” Will asked.
“Correct, my foolish Guardian,” Nerissa retorted, calling forth the Knights.
“You...” Nick said angrily, slowly regaining his composure. “You! You're the reason Cassidy is dead!”
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“You... you mean you don't remember?” Thomas Lair, Irma's father, replied. “Four months ago... you disappeared, and then, all we saw... was the darkness...”
Nick suddenly stepped up. “Something's way wrong here, everybody. Our world's changed. Four months ago was when Will first moved to Heatherfield, and we became... you-know-who. It's like the Guardians never existed!”
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“Power of the Dark Keyblade, you unlocked this woman's heart, now return it to her!”
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“You know, we're getting really tired of you freaks patrolling our home thinking that you can do whatever the hell you want. Well, not on my watch!” Nick shouted, charging for Shagon, who stood up, brandishing a pair of REALLY long swords.
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“I-I... I don't understand it...” Shagon said weakly. “I cannot be defeated by hate!” A bright light began to envelop Shagon.
“I wasn't attacking out of anger,” Nick said. “I was striking with the light.”
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“Cassidy? Cassidy, can you hear me?”
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“Cassidy... I love you...”
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The young girl shot out of her bed, drenched in cold sweat.
“I'm dreaming...” the redheaded girl said to herself. She sat up and looked out the window at the early morning Heatherfield skies.
“But which parts were the dream?”
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Nick, Sora, and Irma soon came out of the door to Port Royal. Irma was in awe, much like Sora was when he first came here.
“Wow!” Irma exclaimed. “I've never seen this many pirate ships before!”
“Trust me, you get used to it,” Sora replied, wondering if CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow was still around.
No sooner had that thought run through his head than Jack Sparrow himself appeared, swordfighting with someone that looked suspiciously familiar.
“Oh, crud! That's Saïx!” Nick shouted, instantly recognizing the claymore the Luna Diviner fought with.
“Sora! New kids! A little help to a pirate here?” Jack asked.
“Coming right up, captain!” Irma exclaimed, running up to Captain Jack, Mysterious Abyss materializing in her hand.
“Is that the best you can do?” Saïx challenged, viciously swinging his claymore. Nick simply waved the Oathkeeper in a “bring it” motion.
“Dark Magic Strike!” Saïx shouted, channeling dark energy through his claymore and slashing furiously for the bearer of the Oathkeeper. Nick easily dodged it and smacked the blast back towards Saïx with Oathkeeper, stunning the Luna Diviner for a few precious seconds.
Jack pointed to a chest in front of him. Out of instinct, Irma tapped the chest with Mysterious Abyss. The trap chest quickly opened, and out came a vortex of light that ensnared Saïx and left him floating helplessly around the column of light.
Jack quickly performed a powerful uppercut with his Skill and Crossbones sword, and after that, Irma attacked in style, flipping in the air while attacking with Mysterious Abyss.
After a while of alternating their attacks, Irma began struggling to close the trap chest.
“Right you are,” Jack retorted, tossing a bomb of his own creation into the chest just before Irma got it all the way closed. The chest thusly exploded, knocking Saïx far back.
However, the Luna Diviner was on his feet again, angrily swinging his weapon.
Nick was barely able to dodge this time, performing a somersault over Saïx and attacking with Oathkeeper. However, Saïx blocked it, readying his weapon again.
“Don't you see? You can't beat me with that kind of power!” Saïx shouted, smiling like a maniac.
“I hate to admit it, but he's right,” Sora replied, blocking another attack.
Suddenly, Nick could feel his Drive orb pulsing. He took it out and noticed that it was glowing a bright silver. Nick looked to his friends; they were all enveloped in the same light.
“Looks like the boat's in our dock now. Savvy?” Jack said.
“Couldn't have said it better myself!” Nick shouted, throwing his arms out as Sora, Irma, and Jack Sparrow disappeared from sight.
When the light from the transformation cleared, Nick had undergone a radical change. His clothes were now complete, lustrous silver; his body was wrapped in a soft white glow, and FOUR keyblades were floating behind his back in an X pattern. They were, in order, Oathkeeper, Oblivion, Fatal Crest, and a new keyblade that bears a striking resemblance to Sora's old Ultima Weapon, only that the Crown of Light was dangling from the keychain. The words Light of Meridian ran through Nick's head.
Ultima Form Nick simply smiled.
Saïx stumbled back upon getting a good look at the awesome power that stood before him.
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Back at the girl's house, she was having another dream about him...
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Suddenly, a large gust of air shot forward and knocked Xaldin away from the transmitter. He looked around for his attacker, eventually revealing it to be a girl of about 12 with long black pigtails and in some skimpy costume with translucent wings.
“Hey, if you want to be on radio, just ask the Board of Directors!” Hay Lin shouted, as all of the Guardians flew up to meet the waiting eyes of Xaldin.
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“Spiking Strike!” Xaldin shouted, his lances spinning around him like a merry-go-round. He began twirling until he was blurred, his lances going crazy in the process. Suddenly, a green flash appeared on Xaldin's spinning form. Nick was probably the only one who noticed it, holding out his hand. His palm flashed the same shade of green. Feeling confident, Nick leaped very high into the air, using his new temporary power to aim an attack straight for Xaldin. Before the Whirlwind Lancer knew what hit him, Nick had dropped at high speeds from the sky above him and driven Oathkeeper into Xaldin's chest, stopping the Whirlwind Lancer's attack and knocking him far back.
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“What is he doing?” Irma asked. As if on cue, the lance dragon shot a gigantic whirlwind from its mouth, aiming straight for the trio.
“Oh, hell! SCATTER!” Nick shouted, but there was nowhere to run.
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“Two keyblades? That isn't possible! It's just crazy!” Xaldin shouted, rubbing the spot on his face where he'd been attacked.
“Hey, people do crazy things when they're in love,” Nick replied before he struck again, this time with BOTH of his Keyblades.
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“I'm not letting you take Irma's heart, you non-existent freak!” Nick shouted, and with that, the Oathkeeper shot a bright beam of light from its tip that pierced straight through Xaldin. After a while, Xaldin's body began to break up, being slowly consumed by the darkness that he wielded. He let out one last scream before disappearing completely.
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“Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?” Nick shouted.
“Nick...” Irma replied with a mock chiding tone. “You don't want to provoke them, do you?” She giggled a bit.
“I guess not,” Nick replied, looking upwards.
`I'm serious, though. These Organization XIII freaks don't know who they're messing with...'
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The girl woke up again, looking at her left hand, which was oddly clenched.
“Right... a keyblade...” she said to herself.
“Who is this boy? Why am I dreaming about him?” the girl asked herself.
“Guess I'd better do a little investigating...”
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Saïx couldn't believe his own eyes that he was getting his non-existent behind trounced by one measly Keyblade Bearer.
Nick had no qualms about it, continuously pounding Saïx with powerful attacks. What was interesting was that Nick was only moving his hands as he attacked. The telekinetically controlled keyblades seemed to react to Nick's movements and thought, acting as if they had a mind of their own.
After a while of this, Nick started teleporting at unbelievable speeds, knocking the now-helpless Saïx around like a rag doll. Nick's powered-up keyblades rapidly and mercilessly attacked Saïx while Nick was teleporting, causing even further damage.
Once Nick landed, Saïx was very beat up. Nick simply smiled - he didn't need to speak anything to express the fact that Saïx was done for. In an instant, Nick charged forward, moving so fast that he literally disappeared before he reached Saïx.
As the Luna Diviner looked around for Nick, said boy appeared right in front of him, swinging his right hand as if to perform an uppercut. Oathkeeper and Oblivion reacted to Nick's movement, uppercutting Saïx into the air. Nick then performed a sweeping hook with his left hand, and Fatal Crest and Light of Meridian spun around Nick, similar to Sora's Aerial Sweep technique.
Finishing the attack, Ultima Form Nick began somersaulting around in the air, his keyblades circling around him and damaging Saïx even further. Then, Nick flipped over so that he was aiming right at the middle of Saïx. Making his move, Nick thrust both of his hands towards Saïx's chest. All four keyblades reacted accordingly, driving themselves real hard into Saïx, eventually tearing through him.
“I... no... Kingdom Hearts...” was all Saïx said before disappearing.
Ultima Form Nick smiled once again before reverting and splitting into Nick, Sora, Irma, and Jack.
“Wow. That was AWESOME!” Irma exclaimed.
“You're telling me? With that form, I didn't even have to try! I just up and kicked his butt!” Nick replied.
“Excuse me, savvy. But whose sword is this?” Jack asked, pointing to a mysterious weapon on the ground where Saïx once stood.
Nick looked at the new keyblade as he picked it up. The handle and blade strongly resembled a blue and white version of Metal Chocobo. The handle, however, was decorated with the symbol of the Water Guardian. The tip, instead of a key lock, had a shiny, crystalline snowflake. The words Cassidy's Star ran through Nick's head.
“Cassidy...” Nick said, tears welling up in his eyes. Irma walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him from behind.
“You miss her, don't you?” Irma replied softly.
“I never knew how much I did...” Nick replied.
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The redheaded girl began flipping through her school yearbook, trying to find a picture of the kid she had been dreaming about. When she looked at a certain picture of a sophomore that strongly resembled Nick, the girl clutched her head in pain as more memories came to her.
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“What's happening to Nerissa, Your Majesty?” Cassidy asked the Oracle.
“I fear she may be corrupted by the infinite power of the Heart of Candracar. That is why I am entrusting it to you. It is the only way to save her,” the Oracle explained.
“Thank you, Oracle,” Cassidy said as she received the crystal pendant. “I won't let you down.”
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“Give me the Heart, water girl!” Nerissa exclaimed, beckoning to Cassidy and the Heart.
“No.”
Suddenly, Nerissa held her hand out to the distraught Water Guardian. Cassidy's eyes widened as Nerissa hit her with a powerful blast of electricity that knocked her off of the cliff they had been fighting on for a while.
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Up in Irma's room, Nick and Irma were sitting close to each other on the bed.
“Nick, I know there's something you've been trying to tell me these past few weeks,” Irma said. “You can tell me.”
“I wish I could, Irma,” Nick replied. “But every time I try, something bad has to happen! Especially now that we know Organization XIII is on the loose...”
“It's okay, Nick. You can do what you want,” Irma replied. Nick took note that Irma wasn't acting at all like her usual self. She seemed a little more... what was the word he was looking for?
Romantic.
Suddenly, Nick found himself moving a little closer to Irma, who appeared to be doing the same.
As they drew closer and closer, Nick could feel his heart beating in his chest.
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“You! Where is the Queen?” Nick exclaimed, brandishing Oathkeeper and Fatal Crest.
“Her Majesty is my prisoner, and I will only release her if you can survive my games,” the mysterious man said.
“I don't have time for your damn riddles!” Nick exclaimed, getting ready to charge for the Organization member, but was quickly surrounded by a series of the man's gigantic cards. When he could see straight again, the entire palace - and his friends - were gone, and he was standing in a realm of complete nothingness with the mysterious man being the only other person around.
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“A joker, are you?” Luxord replied, holding up two more cards and flinging them towards Nick. He cut both down with Oathkeeper, and suddenly noticed that for each card he cut down, Luxord's hourglass seemed to empty a little faster, which Luxord didn't seem to notice. This gave Nick a devilishly clever idea. He got to his feet and began taunting Luxord.
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After a while of this, Nick shouted “ENOUGH!” and began spinning rapidly, the Oathkeeper releasing a whirlwind energy slash that destroyed the majority of the cards that littered the floor. More cards materialized out of nowhere, but Nick, who was now showing no mercy, quickly cut them down.
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Nick and Cassidy turned the next corner, eventually coming upon Fadden Hills Junior High.
“I'm a little scared, Nick,” Cassidy said to her best friend. “This isn't like grade school.”
“Hey, don't worry, Cassidy,” Nick reassured her. “I'll be there. Besides, I'm sure you'll like it after a little while.”
“Maybe you're right,” Cassidy replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
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The girl released her head as the memories settled in her head.
“Cassidy... is that my name?” the girl asked herself.
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Meanwhile, as Cassidy began wracking her brain for some answers, more memories came streaming back to her...
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“Let me go, you non-existent freak!” Nick exclaimed, struggling to break free of his bindings, but to no avail.
After a few seconds, it looked straight at Nick, drawing back its gigantic arm to punch the boy.
Nick, however, was able to react, jumping over the punch as best he could and striking the Twilight Thorn straight in the head, knocking it far back.
However, it soon came back for more, grabbing the boy and tossing him into the air. Nick quickly reacted by once again aiming a powerful attack for the head, which seemed to be its only vulnerable point.
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“That's not why we're in big trouble,” Will responded. “I just found out from Elyon that Nerissa sent the Twilight Thorn to distract us! Nerissa's launching a massive attack on the palace!”
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“What about you, Nick?” Irma asked.
“I'm off to Meridian Plains,” Nick replied. “Nerissa and I have a little score to settle.”
With that, everyone set off to contain the threat that was planning to tear Meridian apart.
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“I've had enough of this!” Nick shouted. “I'm ending this right here, right now!”
With a mighty battle cry, Nick raised Oathkeeper and charged for the massive army.
Nerissa raised her hand, which began glowing with an eerie light. The rock face that was holding back the Heart Stealers quickly disappeared. “Heart Stealers, CHARGE!” Nerissa shouted, and with that, the massive army began trudging forward.
As Nick inched ever closer to the army, he began thinking.
He wasn't really sure if he could beat all of these creatures by himself. But, he told himself, if he believed he could, he could do it.
At least, that's what he had to believe...
...if he was going to save the world.
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`I promised Cassidy. I promised my friends! I'm not letting these freaks take over this world!' Nick thought as he began the attack, swinging the Oathkeeper and cutting down at least 15 Summer Knights.
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“Nick?” Cassidy said to Nick.
“Yeah?” the boy replied.
“I'm kinda nervous about this trip,” Cassidy replied. “Especially with the rumors of those people mysteriously disappearing on the mountains...”
Nick walked up to Cassidy. “Don't worry, Cassidy. They're just rumors. We don't know if they're true or not.”
“I'm still kinda scared,” Cassidy replied.
Suddenly, Nick knew what he had to do.
“Cassidy, you don't have to worry. If there are stalkers on the mountain, I'll protect you.”
“Really?” Cassidy's face became less tense.
“No matter what,” Nick replied.
“Promise?”
Cassidy held out her hand, which Nick promptly clasped.
“It's a promise, Cassidy.”
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As Nick's vision slowly turned black, he began remembering the promises he'd made.
`I'll protect you. It's a promise, Cassidy!'
`Don't ever forget, Nick... wherever you go... I'm always with you.'
Cassidy... Irma... all of his friends were depending on him.
He'd made a very important promise... he wasn't about to break it!
`That's right! I made a promise to Cassidy! To Irma... My heart belongs to Irma, NOT THESE FREAKS!' Nick thought as the Oathkeeper began glowing with a brilliant gold light. Feeling his energy returning to him, he leaped and performed a powerful spin attack that destroyed dozens of Heart Stealers. Many of the Summer Knights aimed their powerful attacks for Nick, but quickly met a merciless end at the hands of Nick's Oathkeeper. And at last, the army seemed to be drawing to a close.
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“Warriors of the keyblade,” Xemnas asked. “Why do you hate the darkness?”
“Aw, we don't hate it,” Irma replied. “It's just kinda...” Irma began thinking of a good word to use. “...scary. But the world's made of light AND dark. They're sort of like brothers. One can't exist without the other, because darkness is always half of everything.”
Irma slung Mysterious Abyss on her shoulder. “Kinda makes you wonder why we ARE scared of the dark...”
“Then allow me another question,” Xemnas continued. “You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark, never given a choice?”
“That's simple,” Nick replied. “It's because you mess up our worlds.”
“That may be. However, what other choice might we have had?” Xemnas explained.
“Oh, just give it a rest!” Sora shouted, angrily swinging the Kingdom Key. “You're Nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not sad about anything!”
Xemnas laughed. “Very good. You don't miss a thing. I cannot feel... sorrow. No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think... what you do... or how you exist.”
“Oh, don't you give me that!” Nick shouted, charging for Xemnas.
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Nick found Cassidy holding a mysterious, key-like weapon nearby.
“Cassidy! Oh, thank god I found you!” Nick said, but stopped short when he noticed that Cassidy's eyes, normally a bright sapphire, were glowing a fierce red, reacting to the weird weapon she was holding.
Suddenly, Cassidy lunged for Nick, swinging the mysterious weapon at the hapless boy.
As Nick held his hands up to block the attack as best he could, a bright flash covered the area, and when it cleared, Nick was holding a weapon similar to Cassidy's in weapon type, although it looked completely different from Cassidy's weapon.
As he studied the weapon that was holding Cassidy back, the word Oathkeeper ran through his head.
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“You guys are the best friends I could have EVER asked for,” Nick said. “This last battle is for all of us.”
Nick turned to his lover. “You ready?”
Irma nodded, materializing Mysterious Abyss. “As I'll ever be.”
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Nick swung the mysterious Oathkeeper as if he'd had it all of his life, trading blow after blow with the possessed Cassidy, who was angrily wielding the Dark Keyblade, as she'd called it.
Just barely blocking a jumping lunge from Cassidy, Nick retaliated with a 360 spin attack. He'd never been this agile before!
“Cassidy! You have to snap out of it!” Nick shouted, hoping to pierce through the power of the Dark Keyblade and get his friend back.
The redhead didn't respond, completely consumed by the darkness.
`Guess I have no other choice,' Nick thought, raising the Oathkeeper above his head. The mystical blade began glowing with otherworldly power.
Just as Cassidy charged, Nick whispered, “I love you, Cassidy...”
Just then, Nick brought the glowing Oathkeeper down hard, felling the possessed Cassidy with one final strike. The force of the attack proved to be too much for the redhead to handle. She soon disappeared in a shower of strawberry red sparks. The only thing left of her was a small crystal pendant.
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“Cassidy,” Nick says. “I won't forget you. So don't forget... no matter where you go, I'm always with you.”
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Cassidy finally snapped out of her vision, suddenly transforming into her old Guardian getup.
“Of course... I made a promise to Nick...”
The newly revived Cassidy looked out of her window towards the city limits, where Castle Oblivion could faintly be seen towering over the buildings of Heatherfield.
“I guess it's time to fulfill this promise...”
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Phobos and Elyon were still trading blow after blow at the Royal Palace, neither one seeming to give way to any attack.
Phobos had been pretty sneaky, using the elemental powers of the fallen Organization members in their battle, but Elyon had easily countered them, lashing out with her Diamond Dust keyblade whenever she had the chance.
“I have to admit, dear brother, you're getting better,” Elyon noted. “But that still doesn't mean you're going to win!”
“Oh, we shall see who is the victor now!” Phobos shouted, channeling his dark energy into Oathkeeper and Oblivion.
“Dark Magic Strike!” Phobos shouted, lashing out with a dark magic attack.
Elyon easily countered it, performing a backflip over Phobos.
“That's it! I've had enough of you!” Phobos shouted, his hands now glowing a multitude of colors.
“Thirteenth Order Final Strike!” the evil prince shouted, channeling all of the elemental powers he'd collected from Organization XIII and firing it in the form of a massive, multi-colored energy ball.
“What the...?” Elyon shouted.
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Meanwhile, Will, Cornelia, and Donald had exited into Agrabah.
“Wow, this place practically screams `Arabian Nights washout',” Will noted, cautiously holding the Heart of Candracar keyblade behind her back.
“It's a lot dustier than I thought it was,” Cornelia replied, brushing a strand of loose hair away from her face.
All of a sudden, a rotund, very-Arabian-dressed Heartless materialized in front of the trio.
Donald recognized it instantly as a Fat Bandit. Wasting no time, Donald quickly cast a Blizzara spell that knocked the Fat Bandit back.
Taking her chance, Cornelia sifted through her deck and picked out a limit card with Donald's face on it.
“All right, let's get serious!” Cornelia shouted, holding the card into the air.
When the light cleared, Donald was sitting on top of Cornelia's head, holding his Shaman's Relic staff into the air. What was interesting was that Cornelia didn't seem to mind where Donald was sitting.
Almost instantly, Donald began chanting an ancient spell. Within a few seconds, multiple rockets appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, all aimed for the Fat Bandit.
Donald then thrust his staff towards the Fat Bandit, and all of the rockets that had appeared began flying towards his target, rapidly crashing into the Fat Bandit until it disappeared in a shower of red and orange sparks.
Once Donald had reached solid ground, however, a mighty gust of wind blew the trio backwards.
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As Cassidy neared Castle Oblivion, a towering figure suddenly appeared in front of her. This new enemy seemed to be a cross between Darkside and the Twilight Thorn. It had the pure Heartless body of Darkside, but the head and long tentacle-ish arms of the Twilight Thorn.
“I don't have time for you!” Cassidy shouted, materializing a new keyblade that looked almost exactly like the Cassidy's Star keyblade, only that the colors were inverted (think red, white, and pink instead of blue and silver). The words Water Spirit can be heard as Cassidy charged for the massive monster.
The monster held its hand out, gathering massive amounts of dark energy. Cassidy was over there in time, slamming Water Spirit into the creature's hand.
This caused the monster to scream in agony, clutching its wounded hand. Taking her chance, Cassidy hopped onto the creature's hand, using her terminal velocity to aim a final attack straight for its head.
Cassidy's attack made its mark, piercing through the beast's head and causing it to disappear rather quickly.
“I made a promise to Nick. And I'm not going to be stopped by the likes of you,” Cassidy stated as she continued her trek towards Castle Oblivion.
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Meanwhile, near Mount Thanos, a Chaser can be seen fighting Halinor and Kadma, Ancient Guardians of Fire and Earth.
“You'd do good to stay out of our way,” the Chaser shouted, swinging his monstrous keyblade. The words Key of Revenge ran through the ancient Guardians' heads.
“That's why we're here, Chaser. You are not destroying this world again like you did before!” Halinor shouted, swinging her own keyblade, Fire Spirit.
Kadma continued the attack, performing a rapid 360 spin with Earth Spirit. The attack proved to be effective, knocking the Chaser far back.
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Xaldin, the “Whirlwind Lancer”, stood before Will, Cornelia, and Donald, swinging his six lances.
“I thought I'd find you here,” Xaldin said.
“And just what is THAT supposed to mean?”
All four of them began searching for the source of the new voice. Will was the first to notice an Arabian man of about 23 or so who was wielding a curved sword.
Out of pure instinct, Will looked into her deck and found a limit card with a picture of the new guy.
“Enough said, let's do this!” Will shouted, holding the limit card into the air.
All of a sudden, Aladdin rushed for Xaldin and attacked so rapidly, the attack didn't do its damage until about five seconds later.
“I'm back,” Aladdin said, standing next to Will.
As Aladdin's attack did its job, both Aladdin and Will began rushing towards Xaldin at high speeds, their respective weapons aimed for the Whirlwind Lancer.
“All right, time for a little teamwork,” Aladdin shouted as he and Will propelled themselves off of each other and rapidly attacked, giving even the speedy Xaldin no time to block the attack.
Once Xaldin was back on his feet, he aimed all six of his lances for the trio of Will, Cornelia, and Donald, spinning like a maniac all the while.
Cornelia was on Xaldin in a flash, pounding the Whirlwind Lancer with a Strike Raid sleight. After the assault was over, Xaldin quickly moved into a Dark Magic Strike, charging his lances with dark magic.
Will and Cornelia hopped out of the way just in the nick of time, and quickly proceeded to beat the stuffing out of the Whirlwind Lancer with a Sonic Blade and Ars Arcanum sleight, respectively.
“ENOUGH! Will, Cornelia, Donald! Beware the winds of despair!” Xaldin exclaimed after enough punishment, hopping on his lance dragon and riding out of sight.
“Not again...” Will exclaimed.
Just as the lance dragon popped back up, charging up its destructive whirlwind attack, Will took her chance.
“NOW!” Will shouted, throwing her Heart of Candracar keyblade straight for Xaldin.
The Whirlwind Lancer couldn't react in time, and thus the rocketing keyblade tore straight through him. As he faded away, Will noticed that Xaldin had dropped a mysterious new keyblade. Will studied the keyblade, which had at least thirteen very thin blades protruding into what appeared to be a moon crest on the tip. The handle was black and silver with spikes adorning it, similar to Jungle King. The words Thirteenth Order ran through Will's head.
“Only three more left...” Will said to herself.
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As Elyon lay there, completely unconscious, Phobos immediately went for the crown.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” a mysterious voice boomed.
“The Crown of Light is none of your business, Xehanort,” Phobos replied. “The crown belongs to me!”
“You'd do good not to interfere with my plans, Phobos. I want to rule this world unopposed, as I should have years ago. And that means unopposed, even if I have to take you out of the picture.”
“I am the only one who deserves the Crown of Light,” Phobos retorted.
“Well, then, I guess I have no other choice,” Xehanort said, brandishing a mysterious sword. Phobos himself brandished Marluxia's scythe.
“Shall we?” Xehanort challenged.
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Nick and Irma stepped out of the door and into a mysterious canyon that overlooked a massive castle.
“Is this Hollow Bastion?” Irma asked.
“I think it's called Radiant Garden now,” Nick noted. Suddenly, he caught sight of someone standing at the edge of the canyon.
“Who's that?” Irma asked.
As Nick studied the figure, he took note of some of his more peculiar features: long silver hair, a sword that was about two keyblades in length, and a single, black angel wing.
“Is that...?” Irma asked softly.
“It is, Irma. That's Sephiroth. Just like Sora told us,” Nick replied, slowly and cautiously walking up to the One Winged Angel.
Sephiroth didn't seem to notice the two. Suddenly, he spoke up.
“What is Cloud doing?”
Nick looked back at Irma. “Beats me.”
“By the way, you two...”
Sephiroth drew his sword and pointed it towards the two lovers. “Who are you?”
Nick and Irma leapt back and materialized their keyblades. “I'm not sure we should tell you,” Irma replied, cautiously holding Mysterious Abyss.
Sephiroth took a good look at the blades these two teenagers were holding. “Well. That's an... interesting sword you're carrying,” he said, making a direct reference to the weapons Nick and Irma were wielding.
“It's the Keyblade!” Irma shot back.
“I see... so that's a keyblade,” Sephiroth replied. “And I suppose you must be its chosen wielders.”
“So what if we are?” Nick asked.
Sephiroth held his sword in a battle stance. “I wonder if it won't change its mind... once I defeat you.”
Nick and Irma shifted into battle stances themselves.
“Show me your strength,” Sephiroth challenged.
“This could very well be our toughest fight yet. You ready, sweetie?” Nick asked his lover.
“As I'll ever be,” Irma replied.
“That's enough,” Sephiroth said, ready to attack.
He came so fast that Nick and Irma barely had any time to react. Nick and Irma got their weapons up just in time to block the incoming attack.
“Whoa! He's fast!” Irma exclaimed, turning towards Sephiroth.
“Come on, now's our chance!” Nick replied, holding Oathkeeper and Thunder Striker out and charging for Sephiroth.
Just before Nick could strike, Sephiroth disappeared in a swirl of feathers. Nick looked around for the One Winged Angel to no avail. Until...
“Nick! Look out!” Irma shouted, but too late.
Sephiroth reappeared in front of Nick and knocked him into the air with his super-long sword before disappearing again.
Nick was ready this time, making a quick aerial recovery and using the power of his keyblades to target Sephiroth as he came out of his teleport.
Taking his chance, Nick began attacking rapidly, giving Sephiroth no time to counter. Nick finished the assault with a spectacular Cross Attack that sent Sephiroth flying across the arena.
Nick quickly landed and prepared for Sephiroth's next attack.
“Know your place,” Sephiroth shouted.
Out of nowhere, a bunch of blue orbs appeared and directed themselves towards the lovers. Reacting fast, Nick batted some of the orbs away with his keyblades, and Irma used her water magic to douse some of the other orbs.
Sephiroth disappeared again, this time reappearing high in the air. He was glowing an eerie shade of pink and purple. Suddenly, Irma covered her chest with her hand. “I feel kinda funny,” Irma said softly.
“Descend now,” Sephiroth chanted. “Heartless Angel...”
Irma clutched her heart area, seemingly in pain.
Nick suddenly recognized that attack, racing towards Sephiroth like mad. “Oh, no you don't!”
As Sephiroth prepared to take Irma's heart, Nick leaped up and smacked Sephiroth in the face with the broad side of Oathkeeper, interrupting the Heartless Angel attack just in time.
As Sephiroth dropped to the ground, Nick landed as well, charging forward, intent on showing no more mercy to the One Winged Angel.
Sephiroth held up his hand. “Perish now,” he shouted, and many columns of fire rose up around him. Nick quickly scooted to a halt and quickly turned to run in the opposite direction. However, it seemed that the pillars of flame were drawing him towards Sephiroth.
Thinking fast, Nick slammed both of his keyblades on the ground, propelling himself high enough to escape the pillars of fire.
Aiming another attack for Sephiroth, when Nick came down, he slammed both of his keyblades on the ground again, but this time, the impact was so strong that it created a spherical energy field that stunned Sephiroth.
Taking advantage of the lull, Nick raced over to Irma, who wasn't feeling too good.
“Are you all right, sweetie?” Nick asked.
“Something about that Heartless Angel attack... I think he's trying to take my heart...” Irma weakly replied.
“Why would he do that?” Nick asked.
“I think... he's toying with me...”
“I never toy with my opponents,” Sephiroth said, appearing directly in front of Irma and swinging his sword. Irma barely got Mysterious Abyss around in time. “I never show mercy.”
“That's good to know,” Nick replied, switching Thunder Striker with Cassidy's Star. Taking his chance, Nick began attacking rapidly.
But Sephiroth had disappeared yet again, appearing high above the cliff, far away from the duo.
“The time has come for your demise,” Sephiroth shouted, launching numerous fireballs for the bearers of the key.
“Oh, crud! MOVE!” Nick shouted, taking Irma's hand and running around the arena, trying to avoid the fireballs.
Once the fireballs had subsided, Nick looked around for Sephiroth, who had disappeared yet again.
“Why does this guy love to teleport?” Nick asked himself.
Suddenly, Irma dropped to her knees, clutching her heart area.
“Irma!” Nick shouted, looking around wildly for the One Winged Angel, but too late - Irma's heart had just come out, glowing a radiant blue.
“The Heartless Angel never shows mercy on the unworthy,” Sephiroth explained, reaching for Irma's glowing heart...
...but that was as far as he got before Nick let out a mighty battle cry and struck Sephiroth with both Oathkeeper and Cassidy's Star.
Sephiroth tried to parry, but Nick was too fast, attacking rapidly and giving Sephiroth no time to counterattack.
“How DARE you steal my girlfriend's heart!” Nick shouted, using his keyblades to knock Sephiroth all across the arena like a rag doll.
Showing no more mercy, Nick propelled himself high into the air, attacking Sephiroth on the way.
Once he'd leapt high enough, Nick made his move, bringing both of his keyblades crashing down hard.
After a few seconds, Sephiroth began slowly fading away. However, he had an evil smirk on his face.
“Defeating me is meaningless. The bearers of the keyblade should know that more than anyone. No matter how many times I fall, the darkness keeps calling me back,” Sephiroth explained.
Nick, however, simply twirled the Oathkeeper and pointed it towards Sephiroth.
“Then how about I send you to a place where the darkness can't reach you?” Nick shouted, and with that, a bright beam of light shot from the Oathkeeper, piercing through Sephiroth.
As the One Winged Angel disappeared, Nick looked towards Irma, who was laying, unconscious, on the ground. Holding her glowing heart, Nick walked up to Irma and let her heart sink back into her body.
Slowly, Irma opened her pure sapphire eyes and looked straight at Nick. “Did I miss something?” she said softly.
Nick simply opted to embrace his lover, who gladly returned it.
“Did we beat him?” Irma asked. Nick nodded.
Suddenly, a telepathic voice shot through Nick's head.
Nick! Can you hear me? It's Cassidy! I know you might not think it's possible that I'm alive, but you should come to Twilight Town! I'll explain everything there!
Nick's eyes shot wide open. “Cassidy?” he stated.
“Who?” Irma replied.
“Cassidy! My old friend! I think she's trying to contact me! We'd better head out!” Nick exclaimed, hopping to his feet and pulling the Twilight Town world card from his deck. Holding it into the air, a door to Twilight Town appeared.
“Let's go!” Nick exclaimed.
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Meanwhile, while all of this was transpiring, Taranee, Hay Lin, and Goofy had quickly arrived in Halloween Town, once again taking in the sights of the town.
“Wow! This place looks all Christmas-y!” Hay Lin quickly noted.
“Is Jack still thinking about Christmas?” Goofy wondered.
“Wait...” Hay Lin stated, thinking for a few moments. “Wait... This place looks... kinda familiar. I think I remember watching this cool movie when I was about four years old. It's been a while, but I think it was about a skeleton-type guy who wanted a touch of Christmas in his Halloween-style town. Could this be it?”
“I wouldn't count us out just yet,” a mysterious voice replied.
The trio quickly made a grab for their decks as they searched for the mysterious voice, which turned out to be Luxord, the “Gambler of Fate”.
“I'd rather we just skip the formalities and get on with this,” Luxord stated, throwing some of his namesake cards straight for the trio.
Taking her chance, Taranee performed a backflip over the rampaging cards and picking out three cards of her own: a 7-value Fire spell card, a 6-value Bond of Flame, and a 9-value Lionheart. Combining the three cards, Taranee brought out her Bond of Flame keyblade, which was glowing a bright ruby.
“So, you wanna fight fire with fire, huh?” Taranee asked before throwing her glowing keyblade straight for Luxord.
“Hey, don't leave me out of this!” Hay Lin shouted, picking out three of her own cards as well: a 6-value Aero spell card, a 9-value Sword of the Storm, and a 5-value Spellbinder.
“My turn!” Hay Lin shouted, throwing her Sword of the Storm keyblade for Luxord.
Bond of Flame began circling Luxord while consistently dealing Fire damage, while Sword of the Storm slammed into Luxord, flew a short ways away, and came back for another attack.
The two flying keyblades gave Luxord no time to react, constantly slamming into the Gambler of Fate.
“Enough games!” Luxord shouted, holding a weird-looking watch in his hand.
“Time, STOP!” Luxord commanded.
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Yan Lin quickly performed a slashing aerial attack with her Wind Spirit keyblade, which looked like a sapphire version of Hay Lin's Sword of the Storm keyblade.
The attack made its mark, cutting through Lara's armor and knocking the Chaser far back.
Halinor quickly made her move, uppercutting Lara into the air with Earth Spirit, giving Kadma ample time to charge forward, Fire Spirit raised.
Lara tried to protect herself with her corrupted blade, the Key of Destruction, but Kadma's power was too much. Fire Spirit quickly cleaved through Lara's weapon and Lara herself.
“You... will never win,” Lara said weakly as she faded back into the darkness. “The Chasers are unstoppable...”
Once Lara had completely disappeared, Halinor picked up Key of Destruction that Lara had left behind. The corrupted keyblade quickly transformed into a new keyblade, one that modeled itself after the winter season. The handle was decorated with snowflakes, the blade looked like a sapphire version of Oblivion, and the tip was a cool crystalline snowflake that brilliantly shined in the morning light of Mount Thanos. The words Crystal Magic ran through Halinor's head.
“I wonder if this was Lara's keyblade before she was corrupted by its power,” Halinor asked herself.
“The Guardians are going to need all the help they can against the Chasers,” a new voice said.
“Nerissa,” Kadma replied. “You're here.”
“Sorry I'm late,” Nerissa stated, “but I had to find a keyblade that I could use.”
The keyblade that Nerissa was holding consisted of a handle that resembled that of the Dark Keyblade, a long and thin silver sword, and a charm on the tip that looked incredibly similar to the Heart of Candracar. The words Heart Keeper ran through the Ancient Guardians' heads.
“That stupid darkness screwed up my life. I'm not letting the Chasers repeat what happened before,” Nerissa stated.
“We're just waiting for Cassidy,” Yan Lin replied.
“Isn't she going to help her old friend against that Organization XIII that I keep hearing about?” Kadma asked.
“The bearers of the keyblade may not need much more help,” Halinor interjected. “Only three members of the Organization are left.”
“I can't believe they've been tearing through those guys,” Nerissa wondered.
“Just like the water and thunder Guardians tore through you?” Yan Lin asked with a small giggle.
“Please don't remind me,” Nerissa replied.
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Hay Lin quickly hopped out of the way of Luxord's time-stopping attack. Quickly catching her flying keyblade, she aimed another attack for the Gambler of Fate, but was quickly met smack in the face by another card.
“Dark Magic Strike!” Luxord shouted, channeling dark energy into one of his cards and throwing it towards the off-balance Guardian of Wind. However, Hay Lin was able to dodge it just in time.
As she regained her composure, Hay Lin noticed a mysterious, glowing card hiding somewhere in her deck. She pulled it out, and noticed that it was another limit card. This one had Goofy's face on it.
“All right, let's see what we've got,” Hay Lin stated, holding the card into the air.
Before Luxord could react, he was being attacked by Goofy and Hay Lin, whose hands were joined as they spun around in a rapid-fire series of tornado attacks.
Just as the attack was about to end, Goofy, who was still spinning around, held out his Genji Shield proudly. Hay Lin noticed this, and began twirling around even faster, using her power of wind to create a sort of tornado that constantly slammed into Luxord.
“All right,” Luxord growled once he'd regained his composure. “I've had enough playing around!” The Gambler of Fate quickly readied another, much more powerful Dark Magic Strike.
Just before Luxord could strike again, he was knocked forward by a series of ice crystals. He quickly looked around for the source of this new attack.
Hay Lin was the first to notice a very tall, pinstripe-wearing skeleton with a cool-looking face standing nearby.
“Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, at your service!” Jack stated before heading over to Taranee and handing her a gold limit card with a picture of Jack himself on it.
“Okay, let's dance!” Taranee shouted, holding the card into the air. Soon enough, Jack began twirling Taranee around like a ballet dancer.
“Prepare to scream!” Jack exclaimed, twirling around much like Taranee was. They began slamming into Luxord, giving the Gambler of Fate no time to counterattack.
To add insult to injury, Jack leaped above the spinning Taranee and attacked with a silhouette of Halloween-themed energy bursts.
Taranee continued the attack by leaping above Jack once he'd finished his Downbeat attack and creating a sort of field of fire that did considerable damage to Luxord.
Jack and Taranee alternated the Downbeat and Synchronization attacks for a while, until Jack picked up Taranee and threw her into the air, a swarm of ghosts spinning around the duo. The Guardian of Fire did a few flips in midair before landing on solid ground, slamming her Bond of Flame keyblade into the ground. At the same time, Jack slammed his bony fist into the dirt. Both impacts created a powerful series of energy geysers.
As the Dance Call attack ended, they all looked at Luxord, who had taken enough damage; he was slowly fading away.
“You... you play the game quite well,” Luxord said before fading away. In his place was a new keyblade card. Hay Lin walked over and picked up the card. Almost in an instant, the card dissolved into a keyblade that seemed to be decorated in the spirit of Halloween. The handle was made of a pair of bat wings with Jack's face connecting them, the blade looked like an axe handle, and the tip was a very ominous-looking black bat. A scary pumpkin was dangling from the keychain. As Hay Lin studied her new weapon, the word Pumpkinhead ran through her head.
“Thanks for helping us out, Jack,” Hay Lin said to Jack.
“Glad I could be of service,” Jack replied, bowing.
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Meanwhile, Halinor, Kadma, Yan Lin, and Nerissa were fighting another Chaser. As they attacked, Nerissa got a good look at the corrupted weapon the Chaser was holding. The words Key of Promise ran through her head.
“I have had enough of you foolish Guardians!” the Chaser shouted, swinging his keyblade. Nerissa swung Heart Keeper, easily deflecting the blow.
“I hope Cassidy isn't messing around over in that in-between town!” Nerissa exclaimed.
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Speaking of which, Cassidy was walking around Market Street in Twilight Town, waiting for the imminent arrival of the boy she made her promise to.
“I never back down on a promise, Nick. I'll wait for you... no matter how long it takes...”
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Nick, Irma, and Sora stepped out of the door, arriving in a mysterious town bathed in the glow of a setting sun.
“So this is Twilight Town, huh?” Irma asked.
“Cassidy said we could find her here,” Nick replied. “We should split up and try to find her!”
That said, the trio split up in search of the past Guardian of Water.
Cassidy... hold on. I'm coming...
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Sora and Irma were checking out the Tram Common, hoping to catch a glimpse of Nick's former best friend.
As Sora looked around, he suddenly felt a strange energy nearby.
“What is it, Sora?” Irma asked.
Reacting quickly, Sora materialized the Star Seeker and swung it behind him, deflecting a powerful laser bullet fired by none other than Xigbar.
“Look! I don't have time for your rambling!” Sora exclaimed. “We're looking for someone!”
“Looking for someone, my—” Xigbar never got to finish, as he was quickly met smack in the face by a spinning Mysterious Abyss.
“You heard Sora! We're not in the mood for your games!” Irma shot back, calling Mysterious Abyss back to her hand.
“So you want to mess around, huh? All right then, let's see how you dance!” Xigbar shouted, joining his twin blasters together and shooting a barrage of laser bullets for Sora and Irma.
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The new Chaser quickly swung Key of Promise, but was caught off guard by Kadma, who had performed a somersault attack with Fire Spirit, thus giving Nerissa ample space to charge forward and slam Heart Keeper into the Chaser's chest, driving him far back.
“So, you want to play around, huh? All right. I've messed around with you long enough!” the Chaser shouted, holding his now-glowing keyblade into the air. Once he'd gathered enough energy, he slammed Key of Promise into the ground, creating a powerful energy shockwave.
“SCATTER!” Nerissa shouted, just barely diving away in time.
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Nick had opted to check out Market Street in search of Cassidy. He had been searching for about an hour, completely oblivious to the battle going on at the other end of the town.
Just as he was about to give up the search...
“I knew you'd be here.”
Nick recognized that voice anywhere. He quickly turned around, and saw her in all of her glory, Guardian getup and Water Spirit keyblade glowing proudly.
Unbeknownst to Nick, his Cassidy's Star keyblade materialized in his left hand. That proved that this was real.
“Cassidy...”
“You remembered, huh?” Cassidy joked.
“How could I forget you, of all people?” Nick replied, his eyes welling up with tears. “You were my best friend, Cassidy!”
“I really appreciate what you did for me back then, Nick. I don't know what the Dark Keyblade would have done if you hadn't stopped me,” Cassidy explained.
“Well, you won't have to worry about the Dark Keyblade anymore. It's ancient history now,” Nick replied.
All of a sudden, almost in an instant, Nick ran up and threw his arms around Cassidy.
“Oh, Cassidy...”
Cassidy happily returned the embrace, until...
“Well, well.”
Nick suddenly turned around and came face to face with Xemnas, who was in his black-and-white robes, holding a pair of laser swords in his hands.
“I really don't have time for you, Xemnas,” Nick stated. “We've still got some unfinished business with those Chasers!”
“It's too bad you won't live to see what they turn this world into,” Xemnas replied, as emotionless as ever.
Saying nothing else, Nick raised Cassidy's Star and charged for Xemnas.
As the leader of the Organization raised his laser swords, Nick, at the last second, jumped high into the air, giving Cassidy the leeway to charge and attack with Water Spirit, knocking Xemnas far back.
Nick, from his position in the air, saw his chance. Reacting quickly, he propelled himself towards a nearby building, and then kicked off of it, using his terminal velocity to aim a powerful attack straight for Xemnas.
As before, Xemnas had expected this move, performing a spinning attack with his laser swords.
This time, Nick wasn't caught off guard, instead somersaulting over the ruby blades and slamming Cassidy's Star into Xemnas' shoulder, knocking him off balance.
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Sora and Irma were dodging all over the street, trying to avoid the lasers that Xigbar was firing at them.
“Heads up!” Xigbar shouted, once more joining his blasters together and firing a massive laser bullet for Sora.
What Xigbar didn't expect was for Sora to teleport away just before the bullet could hit and kicking it back to Xigbar, causing considerable damage.
“That's it! I've officially had about enough of you!” Xigbar shouted, gathering massive amounts of energy.
“What's he doing?” Irma asked.
“I have this sickening feeling we're about to find out,” Sora replied, cautiously holding up Star Seeker.
After a few seconds, Xigbar teleported high into the air, taking advantage of his element.
“TAKE THIS!” Xigbar shouted as he began to spin like a maniac. While he was spinning, he pulled the trigger on his blasters, which sent a shower of lasers spiraling for Sora and Irma.
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Nick and Cassidy joined hands, their keyblades held proudly.
Before Xemnas could react, Nick and Cassidy thrust their keyblades towards Xemnas, and a stream of energy balls that looked suspiciously like Sora's Drive Recovery orb shot forth, considerably damaging Xemnas.
After that, the two circled Xemnas, their keyblades radiating with a magical energy. Soon enough, Xemnas was getting assaulted by rapid-fire water, energy, and thunder magic.
As the last spell faded out, Nick and Cassidy went on the offensive again, pummeling the Superior with a rapid series of attacks.
Once the attack was over, Nick and Cassidy touched their keyblades together, trapping Xemnas in an energy field that did successive and incredible damage.
As Xemnas dropped to the ground, clutching his wound, Nick nodded to Cassidy, who held Water Spirit out towards the wounded Xemnas. Nick did the same, their keyblades glowing brightly.
“This time, you're not coming back!” Nick shouted, and with that, both keyblades shot a beam of light right for and straight through Xemnas.
As Xemnas faded away, his last words were “So... it wasn't a fallacy...”
Once Xemnas had completely disappeared, Nick walked back to Cassidy, and all of a sudden, the old, white-and-silver version of Oathkeeper appeared in Nick's free hand.
“Here. You should have this one,” Nick said, handing Oathkeeper to Cassidy.
“But, Nick? Isn't that your keyblade?” Cassidy asked.
“Not anymore. Ever since we defeated Nerissa, I've got a new one,” Nick replied, switching Cassidy's star with his gold-hued version of Oathkeeper.
“Now THAT'S the Nick I remember,” Cassidy said, smiling brightly.
All of a sudden, before either of them could say anything, a series of laser bullets showered the immediate area.
“What the heck was that?” Cassidy asked.
“I don't know, but we'd better find out!” Nick shouted, holding Golden Oathkeeper into the air. “Guardians, unite!”
With that call, Nick transformed into his Guardian getup and flew towards the scene of the battle, Cassidy not too far behind.
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There seemed to be no end to this. Sora and Irma, the latter who was now mysteriously in her Guardian clothes, were dodging and diving all around to avoid the seemingly endless shower of laser bullets that Xigbar was firing.
“Is he ever going to stop?” Irma shouted, using her agility to dodge more lasers.
“If only we could get up there!” Sora shouted, comboing Reflect spells left and right. “Then we could give him what for!”
As if on cue, Xigbar suddenly stopped, lurching forward in pain, and Irma could clearly see why: two weapons were piercing straight through Xigbar's very essence. From the looks of it, Irma could see Nick's Oathkeeper and a new keyblade up there.
“I... I lost... No way...” were Xigbar's last words as he faded away.
“That's what you get for thinking you're unstoppable,” Cassidy shot back.
Before anyone could react, Twilight Town suddenly faded away, and everyone was back at the very top floor of Castle Oblivion.
“Did we do it?” Will asked.
“Yep. It's over,” Nick replied. “Organization XIII is no more.”
“But I can still feel their energy behind that door,” Hay Lin noted, pointing to a door that was open just ahead. “What if they try to come back?”
“That won't be happening if we seal that door,” Sora replied, holding his Kingdom Key out towards the open door. Everyone who had a keyblade did the same thing. Each mystical blade was surrounded by a swirl of stars. After a few seconds, many beams of light shot from the keyblades and straight into the open door, filling the room with a mass of color. Everyone could hear a lock clicking shut as the magical weapons did their job.
Once the door had disappeared, Nick slinged his keyblade on his back. “Now all that's left is to deal with the Chasers.”
“I hope Heatherfield's holding up all right,” Cornelia responded.
“Can we get out of this castle? Please?” Irma asked.
“I thought you'd never ask,” Nick replied, holding Golden Oathkeeper into the air. Within seconds, a bright sphere of energy covered Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Guardians, teleporting them out of Castle Oblivion.
Little did any of them know of what awaited them when they returned to Heatherfield...
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As Sora, Donald, Goofy, and W.I.T.C.H. walked down the road that led back to Heatherfield, Nick suddenly felt like something was wrong.
“Everything okay, Nick?” Cassidy asked.
“I don't really know,” Nick replied, twirling the Golden Oathkeeper in his hands. “I just have this feeling that something isn't right here.”
As if to answer Nick's statement, a group of Soldier Heartless appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
Nick was quickly on the offensive, swinging his Oathkeeper down in a fierce attack that instantly dispatched a few of them.
Irma and Cassidy followed Nick's lead, both firing large streams of water for the remaining Soldiers.
Once the Heartless were gone, Nick finally caught sight of Heatherfield...
...but it was in complete ruins!
“What the hell happened here?” Will exclaimed.
“Do you really need to ask?” Taranee replied, pointing to a couple of mysterious figures not too far away. The others instantly recognized the armored figure as one of the Chasers. But there was something VERY familiar about the girl that was duking it out with said Chaser...
Suddenly, it hit Nick like a ton of bricks.
“Nerissa!”
Saying nothing more, Nick materialized Cassidy's Star alongside Golden Oathkeeper and charged forward, completely ignoring the cries of his friends.
Nerissa herself, meanwhile, quickly performed a 360 with Heart Keeper and blocked the Chaser's attack.
“You stupid Chasers don't get it, do you?” Nerissa shouted as she went on the offensive. “We sealed you away before, and we WILL do it again!”
“I can see I'm not needed here,” the Chaser replied coldly. He suddenly disappeared via a column of darkness.
“Those stupid little...” Nerissa stated, but that was as far as she got before she heard an enraged battle cry from behind her. Relying on her instinct as the former keeper of the Heart, she barely dodged a strike from a mysterious keyblade...
...a keyblade that she recognized!
“You!” Nerissa exclaimed. “What's the big deal?”
“You know damn well what the deal is, Nerissa!” Nick shot back. “I don't know how you came back to life, but I'm going to make sure you're gone for GOOD this time!”
“What's your problem, kid? I'm innocent!” Nerissa exclaimed, holding up Heart Keeper in defense.
“My problem? MY PROBLEM? What do YOU THINK my problem is?” Nick exclaimed, quite visibly enraged. “You killed my best friend, you tried to destroy the world with the Dark Keyblade, and what's worse, you tried to kill my girlfriend! Do I have to say anything more?”
“If you'd just listen to me,” Nerissa replied, blocking Nick's raging attacks, “I can prove that the dark doesn't have a hold on me anymore!”
“I'd like to see you try!” Nick shouted, raising Oathkeeper high into the air, the blade glowing with otherworldly power.
“Nick! STOP!”
Irma's voice quickly rang out across the ruined streets of Heatherfield. Nick stopped and looked back at his girlfriend.
“Irma! Don't you remember what Nerissa did to you the last time we fought her?” Nick shouted. “She almost killed you!”
“I know that! But I don't sense any darkness in Nerissa's heart anymore!” Irma replied.
Out of instinct, Nick held the Oathkeeper towards Nerissa, as if to verify Irma's claim. After a few seconds, the Oathkeeper began glowing with a bright blue light. Nick sighed and let the Oathkeeper drop to his side.
“Told you. I'm with the good guys now. Me and the other ancient Guardians have been fighting the Chasers while you guys were stuck in Castle Oblivion.”
“What?” Nick replied, a little confused. “The other ancients are still alive, too?”
“How do you think I've been fighting those Chasers?” Nerissa replied with a little laugh. “I can't do EVERYTHING by myself.”
“Good point,” Nick replied.
Before anyone could say another word, a massive rumbling began shaking the city.
“What the...?” Hay Lin exclaimed.
“I really don't want to know what that is,” Will stated.
Suddenly, a massive Heartless dropped down into the city streets, causing more damage to the already ruined city.
“The Groundshaker!” Sora shouted, immediately recognizing the gigantic Heartless that had attacked the Pride Lands.
“You just HAD to say it, Will,” Irma replied.
“Will! Taranee! You two go with Sora and scan the city for any sign of the Chasers!” Nick shouted. “Cornelia, you and Hay Lin see if you can find the keyhole to this world! I don't know how they reopened it, but I'll bet that's how the Chasers did this!”
“What about us?” Irma asked.
“The rest of you come with me!” Nick exclaimed. “We need to find a way to lead that monster out of the city before it causes any more damage!”
“RIGHT!” everyone shouted. Nick quickly held Golden Oathkeeper into the air.
“Quintessence!” Will and Nerissa shouted.
“Water!” Irma and Cassidy shouted.
“Fire!” Taranee shouted.
“Earth!” Cornelia shouted.
“Air!” Hay Lin shouted.
“Thunder!” Nick shouted.
“GUARDIANS, UNITE!”
Once everyone was transformed, they split into their assigned teams and headed off.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- o-o-o-
On the outskirts of the city limits, Nick, Irma, Cassidy, and Nerissa had successfully led the Groundshaker away from Heatherfield. Now, the only problem left was how to destroy it...
“Wait. I see something!” Cassidy exclaimed, pointing to something on the back of the massive Heartless. It seemed to be a gigantic Shaman Heartless that was controlling the Groundshaker.
“That's it!” Cassidy exclaimed again. “If we can destroy that Shaman thingy, the Groundshaker should be easy pickings!”
“Got it!” Nick shouted, holding out Golden Oathkeeper and firing a massive thunderbolt for the Shaman, who to Nick's surprise easily absorbed the bolt.
“Damn! I forgot that those things are immune to magic,” Nick stated, flying as close to the Shaman as he could and quickly attacking with Thunder Striker.
Cassidy joined the attack herself, showering the Shaman and Groundshaker with energy bursts while Nerissa focused her energy until Heart Keeper was enveloped in a bright orange light. Once she was ready, Nerissa charged and performed a rapid series of attacks to the Shaman's headpiece.
Nick chuckled at how easily Nerissa had learned to use Ars Arcanum. Switching Thunder Striker with Light of Meridian and Golden Oathkeeper with Cassidy's Star, Nick landed on the back of the Groundshaker, holding both blades proudly.
“Girls, you may want to cover your eyes. This may be a little bright,” Nick explained as a mystic circle appeared below him. Nick twirled both keyblades in his hands before performing a spinning leap and driving the keyblades straight into the center of the mystic circle, and subsequently the back of the Groundshaker, causing the massive Heartless to scream in agony. As the circle of power began shining brightly, Nick turned both of his keyblades in their positions, which unlocked a mysterious barrier. Just then, a ball of energy appeared above Nick. Before the Groundshaker could recover, the energy ball shot innumerable beams of light all over the place.
Indeed, the light created by the Trinity Limit attack was so bright that it enveloped the entire city in a cocoon of light. Everyone present had to shield their eyes from the blinding light. Once the light had finally cleared away, there was absolutely no sign of the Shaman or the Groundshaker. The only thing remaining were two gigantic hearts, floating into the sky.
Cassidy and Nerissa gaped for a while; they were both incredibly surprised that an attack like that had just completely vaporized the mammoth Heartless.
Irma simply smiled, having seen the Trinity Limit in action before. The Guardian of Water knew first-hand what that attack was capable of.
All of a sudden, a mysterious keyhole appeared in the sky.
“Looks like they found it,” Irma noted.
“Then let's fix this mess once and for all!” Nick exclaimed, holding Cassidy's Star towards the keyhole. Irma, Cassidy, and Nerissa did the same with Mysterious Abyss, Water Spirit, and Heart Keeper, respectively. After a few seconds, all four of the mystical blades shot a beam of light straight into the keyhole. As the keyblades resealed the keyhole to Heatherfield, all of the ruins disappeared, eventually reforming the city to the way it was before the Chasers arrived, bright blue sky and everything.
“Okay, that's one less problem to deal with,” Nick noted. “Now we just have to stop that Chaser!”
“Did you call me?” a new voice shot back.
The four Guardians spun around, face-to-face with the new Chaser.
“I don't know how you reopened Heatherfield's keyhole, but we're going to make sure that you're gone for good this time!” Nick shouted, holding Cassidy's Star and Light of Meridian in a fighting stance.
The Chaser simply raised Key of Promise.
Suddenly, completely out of nowhere, a mysterious object slashed right through the Chaser, causing him to drop Key of Promise and clutch his wounded chest.
“You... you little...” the Chaser said as he began to fade away.
“Don't look at us!” Irma shot back.
That's when Irma got a good look at what had just cut through the Chaser: a very long sword.
That could only mean...
“Phobos!” Nick shouted.
“You guessed it,” Phobos replied, many of the Organization's weapons floating behind his back. “I really have to hand it to you for taking care of that ridiculous Organization XIII. I didn't think you could do it.”
“Spare me your tired philosophies, Phobos!” Nick shouted, holding his keyblades out. “I've had just about enough of you! I'm ending this right here, right now!”
At that moment, the remaining Guardians, along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, came to the scene, brandishing their respective weapons.
“Let's do this,” Nick challenged.
Nick stared down Phobos, clutching Golden Oathkeeper and Cassidy's Star.
“You know what went wrong last time, Phobos?” Nick stated. “We should have finished you off for good. We won't make that mistake again.”
“You may have defeated the Organization, but I now possess all of their powers! There is no way you can ever hope to defeat me!” Phobos shot back, holding Marluxia's scythe in his left hand, and three of Xaldin's lances in his right hand. Demyx's sitar, Axel's chakram, Roxas' Oathkeeper and Oblivion keyblades, Sakura's Dark Crystal keyblade, and Xaldin's remaining lances were floating behind him. Xigbar's twin blasters were floating by Phobos' hands.
“I don't care, Phobos. You know as well as I do that light will always conquer the darkness in the end!” Nick shouted, and with that, everyone charged.
(Yume kara samete mo
Kono te wo nobasu yo...)
Phobos went on the offensive first, swinging the lances and scythe together in a vicious attack. Nick and Cassidy propelled themselves over the attack, aiming their own attacks for Phobos.
Meanwhile, Sora had taken out his Drive orb and fused with Donald and Goofy to take on a new form that seemed suspiciously similar to Nick's Ultima Form. Two keyblades were floating behind Sora's back that looked almost identical. Sora instantly knew the first keyblade as his Ultima Weapon. The second keyblade, instead of a heart symbol on the tip, was emblazoned with a crown, and the Crown of Light was dangling from the keychain of the second keyblade. The words Heart of Meridian ran through Sora's head.
“Good idea, Sora!” Nick shouted, bringing out his own fusion orb. Concentrating fiercely, Nick clenched his eyes shut. All five of the Guardians began glowing their respective colors. Before Phobos could break up the “little party”, Nick threw his arms out, transforming into Ultima Form one more time. What was different from before was that SIX keyblades were floating behind Nick in a star pattern. They were, in order, Golden Oathkeeper, Heart of Candracar, Mysterious Abyss, Bond of Flame, Seismic Star, and Sword of the Storm.
Onaji tsuyosa de yobi au
Kokoro ni nareru no naraba
Nanninbun no kizu demo
Boku wa uketomerareru yo
“Okay, Phobos, let's do this!” Ultima Form Nick shouted, gliding towards Phobos, keyblades trailing behind him.
“Couldn't have said it better myself,” Phobos exclaimed, aiming Xigbar's blasters for the kids. Nick, however, was expecting the blast, and dodged around, avoiding the many laser blasts.
Final Form Sora took this as his chance, aiming both of his own weapons towards Phobos in a rapid spinning attack.
Unfortunately, Phobos noticed Sora, and knocked the boy to the ground with Marluxia's scythe.
Mou sukoshi datte ki ga surunda
Kono kabe ga kuzureru
Reimei
Taking advantage of the moment of distraction, Nick leaped towards the evil prince, but was quickly met by a series of attacks from Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Falling back, Nick motioned to Sora, who was back on his feet, and gave Sora room to move. The first bearer of the key charged forward, swinging both of his keyblades.
Yume kara samete mo mada minai yume no hou made
Bokura wa hitori de hashiri tsudukeru shika nainda
Korogari mayotte tsukuridasu boku no inryoku ga
Itsuka
Kimi he
“Okay! I've officially had enough of this! You're finished!” Phobos exclaimed, gathering massive amounts of energy. Soon, the evil prince began glowing an eerie shade of purple.
“What's he doing?” Final Form Sora asked.
Ultima Form Nick shook his head in a motion that clearly said “I don't know, and I don't want to find out.”
Nothing more said, both kids glided towards the charging Phobos, their weapons held out. It was at that second that Phobos threw his arms out, and thusly released the massive amounts of energy he'd collected in the form of a destructive orb of energy that quickly engulfed the landscape around him.
“What the...?” Sora exclaimed, both he and Nick performing Reflega spells, but to no avail. The destructive purple energy shattered the Reflega barriers as easily as a knife through butter, slamming into the two kids and knocking them out of their forms.
Sabishi sa ni nagasaretari
Uso wo uso de kakushitari
Nandomo machigaeta no ni
Mata “Saigo no koi” wo shite
Once everyone regained consciousness, Will quickly exclaimed “What happened?”
“I don't think it's good,” Hay Lin replied, rubbing her sore head.
“I warned you not to challenge my power,” Phobos retorted, brandishing his trademark longsword and charging for the fallen Guardians.
Nick quickly held up Golden Oathkeeper in defense, and just in time; Phobos' sword slammed into the gold blade, a sort of power struggle going on. The others watched intently.
“It's over, kid,” Phobos challenged. “Just give in and surrender to my infinite power!”
“Never, you freak! I'll never give in to the likes of you!” Nick shot back, pushing Phobos' sword back a ways with his own weapon.
Miakita hazu no tasogare ga
Konna ni kirei dato naita
Phobos began glowing that eerie shade of purple as he pushed the Golden Oathkeeper back quite fiercely, causing Nick to almost slip as he defended himself. After a while of this pressure, Nick actually saw a set of cracks appearing in his keyblade.
“That's not good...” Nick said to himself, trying his best to defend with his damaged keyblade, but it seemed to be slowly giving way to Phobos' powerful blade.
“Just accept it! You can't win!” Phobos shouted, applying even more pressure, finally cutting Nick's Oathkeeper in two and finishing up his attack.
Nick closed his eyes and waited for his impending demise. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop. Nick quickly opened his eyes. Phobos' blade was barely an inch from his face. Everything had frozen.
Nick looked towards his broken keyblade. Suddenly, the pieces of the Golden Oathkeeper began glowing with a brilliant light. Nick watched in amazement as his keyblade reformed itself.
“Remember, Nick. You can do it. I believe in you.”
Nick perked up upon hearing Cassidy's voice. Picking up his reformed Golden Oathkeeper, he said to himself, “All right, Phobos. It's time to teach you what happens when you mess with our world.”
Time started up again, and Nick somersaulted over Phobos just as the long sword crashed into the ground where Nick once was.
“WHAT?” Phobos shouted. The evil prince looked behind him and saw Nick holding the Golden Oathkeeper in a battle stance, the blade glowing with an incredible blend of gold, blue, and silver light.
“Miss me?” Nick replied, taking that instant to attack. Phobos tried in vain to unstick his sword, giving Nick the chance he needed. Focusing on his newfound power, Nick swung the keyblade in a vicious attack, the Oathkeeper leaving a trail of gold, blue, and silver light and stars behind as it moved like greased lightning. The supercharged blade made contact quite hard and knocked Phobos high into the air, sending him into a tailspin.
GOORU no tsumori de RISETTO BOTAN ni tobikonde
Bokura wa guruguru onaji basho wo mawatterunda
Ikioi makase de itsuka wa kinou no inryoku wo
Koeru
Kimi to
As Phobos fell to the ground from the force of Nick's last attack, he stared daggers at Phobos, the Golden Oathkeeper glowing brightly in his hands.
“Phobos, you just don't get it, do you?” Nick explained, the girls surrounding him. “You really thought you could win by harnessing the power of the darkness?”
“You don't understand!” Phobos exclaimed. “Darkness is true power!”
Cassidy's Star appeared in Nick's left hand as he continued. “That's what you say now, but you really know nothing about true power. I don't need some fancy-pants weapon or some supercharged abilities to have power - though they are factors.”
The girls began glowing their respective colors as Nick crossed the dual blades. “My friends are my power!”
A large, mystic circle appeared above them. Adorned on the circle were the symbols of the 5 ancient Guardians. All of a sudden, a beam of light shot from the tip of the Oathkeeper and struck the circle, making it grow to a gigantic size. Together, all six of the Guardians flew through the circle, and Nick's keyblades began glowing with incredible power. This would be good...
Boku wa kimi ni deau
“Will!”
“Irma!”
“Taranee!”
“Cornelia!”
“Hay Lin!”
“Power of W.I.T.C.H.!” the girls exclaimed.
“Spirits of the Ancient Guardians!!” Nick exclaimed, and the spirit forms of the last generation of Guardians, including the purified Nerissa, appeared behind each of their respective others as Nick aimed his Keyblades straight for Phobos, who backed up in fear.
“There's no escape for you, Phobos! Even the power of the dark can't help you now!” Nick shouted.
“Guardians, attack!” Nick exclaimed, and together, they all charged for Phobos, who held up his longsword in hopes of blocking the attack. To make sure that didn't work, they all called upon the 6 elements, the girls and spirits pouring every last ounce of their power into their Keyblades.
“Quintessence!” Will and Nerissa shouted.
“Water!” Irma and Cassidy shouted.
“Fire!” Taranee and Halinor shouted.
“Earth!” Cornelia and Kadma shouted.
“Air!” Hay Lin and young Yan Lin shouted.
“Thunder!” Nick shouted, completing the enchantment. Another mystic circle appeared in front of Nick, one that surrounded Phobos. Nick brought Oathkeeper back and sliced through the circle. Nick switched hands and did the same with Cassidy's Star, both attacks slamming into Phobos. Finally, Nick brought both of his keyblades back and began attacking super-fast with both of them, easily cutting through the evil prince. After a while of this, Nick brought them back again, and with a final battle cry, he slashed through the circle hard, delivering the final blow. Phobos stumbled backwards, clutching his wounded chest as the dark energy flowed freely from him, signifying his defeat.
“No... the... the light...” Phobos weakly said as the darkness overtook him.
“Sorry, Phobos. You're not getting it,” Nick replied. Together, all eleven of the Guardians (Presents and Ancients) snapped their fingers. “Checkmate!”
Yume kara samete mo Bokura wa yume wo noritsui de
Mada minu dareka ni korizu ni Kono te wo nobasunda
Tari nai kokoro to karada ga ai wo sagasu inryoku ga
Todoku
Kimi ni
With that, Phobos was subsequently consumed by a column of darkness, which quickly exploded in a flash of brilliant rainbow light.
“We did it!” Irma exclaimed.
“Phobos is history!” Will continued.
“We still have one more Chaser and Xehanort to attend to, everyone,” Nick replied, twirling Golden Oathkeeper in his hands. “Let's go put an end to this.”
(Yume kara samete mo
Kono te wo nobasu yo...)
Meanwhile, at a nearby house, an 8-year-old girl with familiar-looking blonde hair can be seen staring out the window at the former site of the battle with Phobos.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- o-o-o-
“Oh, god!” Cornelia exclaimed. “What about Lillian?”
“What about her?” Nick asked, twirling his keyblades around.
“Remember, she's the Heart of Earth! What if the Chasers found out about that?”
“That can't be good!” Nick replied. “We'd better find Lillian, STAT!”
With that said, the Guardians (Cassidy and Nerissa included) flew towards Cornelia's house. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had split to fix the mess caused by the Chasers.
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Sure enough, when the Guardians reached Cornelia's house, it was completely trashed, including large dents on the wall shaped like a giant keyblade.
“Oh, great, they're already here!” Nick shouted, scanning the mess for any sign of Lillian.
“Leave me alone, you stupid knight thingy!”
That caught everyone's attention. Nick was the first to spot Lillian backing away from the remaining Chaser. However, it was Cornelia who first spotted what Lillian was holding in her left hand.
“No... freaking... way. My SISTER has a keyblade, too?” Cornelia exclaimed.
Nick closely studied the keyblade that Lillian was swinging around. It seemed to have a magical motif to it, similar to Spellbinder. The handle appeared to be a picture of the Earth itself, the blade was shaped like Nerissa's old staff, and the tip was Cornelia's elemental symbol. A small cat that looked strangely similar to Napoleon was dangling from the keychain. The words Heart of Earth ran through everyone's heads.
“Give me the Heart of Earth, little girl, or else,” the Chaser said fiercely. Lillian, however, simply held up her mysterious new weapon in defense.
“If you're one of Nerissa's minions, you'll have to go away! My sister and her fairy friends will protect me!” Lillian shouted.
“Sorry, girl. But your sister isn't coming back,” the Chaser replied, raising his massive weapon, the Key of Retribution...
...but that was as far as he got before he was met smack in the face by two spinning keyblades - Golden Oathkeeper and Seismic Star, respectively.
This caused the Chaser to draw his attention away from Lillian.
“Well, well. We come back from a little road trip and look who we see,” Cornelia noted sarcastically.
“You'd better leave the girl alone if you know what's good for you,” Nick stated, holding up Golden Oathkeeper and Cassidy's Star in a fighting stance.
“Sis?” Lillian asked, awestruck.
“I'll explain later,” Cornelia replied.
Nick made the first move, charging forward and rapidly attacking, eventually knocking the Chaser into the air. Nick began spinning in midair, eventually hitting the ground and knocking the Chaser out of the nearby window with a Stun Impact attack.
Wasting no time, Nick hopped through the hole made by the falling Chaser and landed easily on the ground outside, the other Guardians following. Cornelia was carrying her little sister, who was curiously looking at the Heart of Earth keyblade.
“I told you, you're wasting your time against my power,” the Chaser said in a mocking tone.
“Yeah, yeah. Why don't you tell it to someone who cares?” Nick shot back before backing up a bit and preparing for his special move.
The Chaser, however, would have none of it, and charged for Nick, swinging Key of Retribution.
Nick reacted quickly, leaping over the Chaser's attack and running up the side of a nearby building. When he was high enough, Nick propelled himself towards the Chaser, spinning like a maniac with both keyblades held forward. The attack made its mark, knocking the Chaser skyward and breaking his mask to reveal...
“Xehanort!” everyone shouted.
“Well. We meet at last, Guardians,” Xehanort sneered.
“I don't want to hear it! You've done enough damage to our world!” Nick shouted, aiming an attack straight for Xehanort. Nick was surprised to have his attack easily parried and him knocked about 30 feet back.
Nick did a sort of flip before hitting the ground, and landed safely on his feet, skidding a short ways before stopping. Nick quickly charged again, only to be met smack in the face by the Key of Retribution.
“Nick looks like he's in trouble!” Irma exclaimed, watching the fight go on.
“Isn't there anything we can do?” Will replied, taking a look at the battle - Nick was starting to tire, but Xehanort looked positively exhilarated as he fought.
“Maybe I can help,” Lillian noted, stepping forward.
“I filled her in on everything that's been going on,” Cornelia explained. “She knows who we are now, and she's promised not to tell anyone about our secret.”
“Does Nick need some help?” Lillian asked.
“He sure does! He's getting beaten pretty badly out there!” Irma exclaimed, worry starting to show in her voice.
“Okay, stand back,” Lillian stated, holding the Heart of Earth keyblade towards the exhausted Nick and focusing hard. The blade began glowing a bright orange, transferring its energy to Nick.
After the last attack, Nick fell back, balancing himself on Cassidy's Star, clearly exhausted. But, just before Xehanort could deliver the final blow, Nick was enveloped in a very bright orange energy, and leaped away just in time.
“What is this?” Xehanort shouted. “How could a keyblade bearer attain THIS MUCH POWER?”
“Hey, it helps if the heart of a world lets you borrow some of their power,” Nick replied before charging again. As he ran, electricity seemed to radiate from his feet with every step.
Xehanort quickly held up Key of Retribution in defense, but it was to no avail. The supercharged Nick swung Golden Oathkeeper and easily cleaved Xehanort's weapon in two. Nick then crouched and knocked Xehanort into the air with an Upper Slash, then continued the attack, rapidly slamming his keyblades into the helpless Xehanort. Orange electricity radiated from every spot that Xehanort was attacked.
Nick saw his chance, both of his keyblades glowing with an otherworldly power. He then swung both keyblades forward, leaving a pretty trail of rainbow colors behind them.
The attack struck home, severely wounding Xehanort and completely destroying his Chaser armor. The other Guardians applauded as Xehanort fell to the ground, clutching his wounded chest.
“You...you won't be so lucky next time...” Xehanort struggled to say, using the last of his Chaser power to open a portal into the darkness, in which he quickly escaped.
“I don't think so! You're not getting away this time!” Nick shouted, racing for the portal, but was suddenly stopped by a mysterious voice.
“Xehanort isn't going to be that easy, you know.”
Nick quickly spun around, and noticed three spirits standing there - that of Roxas, Sakura, and Naminé.
“Hey, guys,” Sakura said.
“Is something the matter?” Taranee asked.
“I know from personal experience that Xehanort won't be easy to take care of,” Sakura noted. “He may try to turn you against each other.”
“You have to stay away from his dark aura,” Roxas explained. “That's how he gets to you. He likes to mess with your head, making you think darkness is the only way.”
“He may try to open Kingdom Hearts and use its power,” Naminé continued. “Don't let him get anywhere near it.”
“Thanks for the advice, you guys,” Nick replied. “It's time to put an end to this once and for all.”
Nick turned to the other Guardians.
“Irma, Cassidy, you two come with me. We're putting an end to Xehanort's evil plans. The rest of you, go see if Sora and the others need any help,” Nick explained.
“Right!” everyone shouted.
Nick looked into the portal, flanked by his girlfriend and best friend.
“All right, Xehanort. You are going down.”
Together, the trio walked into the portal.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- o-o-o-
As Nick, Irma, and Cassidy faced down Xehanort, the evil leader of the former Chasers simply smirked evilly.
“You two honestly have no idea what you're up against,” Xehanort sneered. “I now have the powers of all of my fellow Chasers, as well as that of Organization XIII! You cannot HOPE to defeat me!”
“That's where you're wrong, Xehanort,” Irma replied, swinging Mysterious Abyss.
“We sealed you and the Chasers away before, and we will do it again!” Cassidy shouted, brandishing Water Spirit.
“We made a promise to all of our friends,” Nick continued, brandishing Oathkeeper and Light of Meridian. “To ourselves... to each other. As Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions, there is no way in hell that we're going to let you take over our world!”
“Hmph. Such bold words. Let's see if you have the power to back it up!” Xehanort shouted, brandishing Marluxia's scythe in his left hand and three of Xaldin's lances in his other hand. The remaining lances seemed to float around him.
“Oh, please,” Nick replied, brandishing the dual keyblades and charging for Xehanort.
The former apprentice of Ansem the Wise swung the scythe first, blocking Nick's Oathkeeper attack. However, Nick quickly took advantage of this moment and struck with Light of Meridian.
It was enough, as Xehanort stumbled back from the force of the attack.
As they fought it out, Nick suddenly began glowing with a mysterious new power. As Xehanort swung the Key of Retribution at Nick, the boy easily caught the massive weapon in his hands, and utilizing his newfound power, froze the Key of Retribution, then shattering it. Afterwards, Nick slammed Oathkeeper into Xehanort's shoulder.
“Oh, come on. I barely even felt that!” Xehanort challenged.
“Really, huh?” Nick shot back, holding Golden Oathkeeper into the air. “Then let's see how you like this! Spirits of the Ancient Guardians!!”
That familiar mystic circle appeared around Nick as he prepared for the show-stopping attack that had done away with Phobos.
Unfortunately, Xehanort had expected the attack, and shot a dark beam of energy that interrupted Nick's attack and sent him crashing into the transparent ground.
“You are so predictable. Take a look at this,” Xehanort explained, beckoning towards a mysterious door. Nick and Irma gasped in shock (Cassidy remained silent, ready to counterattack if Xehanort pulled something), but before they could voice what that door really was, Xehanort beat him to it.
“Behold, the endless abyss. Within it lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!” Xehanort declared. “Look as hard as you are able. You'll find not even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born... even yours.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Cassidy asked, but stopped quickly upon noticing a gigantic, menacing-looking battleship floating in front of them.
“DARKNESS CONQUERS ALL WORLDS!” Xehanort shouted, floating in front of his giant shadow guardian, and holding a staff made of twin Soul Eaters.
“Okay, I've officially had enough of this,” Nick stated, brandishing his keyblades and charging for Xehanort, Cassidy and Irma following not too far behind.
“Return to darkness!” Xehanort shouted, swinging his staff in a rapid spinning attack. Nick dodged around and made his move, using the power that Lillian had lent him to assault Xehanort with a supercharged Ars Arcanum attack.
“Is that the best your pitiful keyblade can do?” Xehanort mocked the keyblade bearers.
“Oh, I'm just getting started, freak,” Nick shot back, heading towards Xehanort again. But this time, before Xehanort could slap Nick around, the boy stuck out his keyblades and disappeared in a flash.
“Where did you go?” Xehanort exclaimed, scanning his surroundings for the boy.
Almost in an instant, Nick came zooming back, slamming Golden Oathkeeper and Cassidy's Star into Xehanort as he zipped past at supersonic speeds. Nick did this a few times before delivering the finishing blow, an attack that caused Xehanort to go into hibernation inside his weird guardian thing.
“Guys! The ship's head is acting up!” Cassidy exclaimed. Nick and Irma looked down; Cassidy wasn't kidding. The monster that made up the battleship's head was flailing about and biting everywhere.
Nick was the first one to react, spinning his keyblades and shouting “THUNDER!”
Irma raised Mysterious Abyss and shouted “WATER!”
Cassidy focused on the ship's head and shouted “QUINTESSENCE!”
Together, all three spells did significant damage, effectively destroying the head and revealing a sort of vein thing.
“What's that?” Irma asked.
“I'm not sticking around to find out!” Nick shouted, throwing Cassidy's Star straight for the vein. The spinning keyblade punctured the vein, causing it to explode and take most of the ship out with it. Only Xehanort (who had just emerged) and his guardian remained.
“Darkness... obey me now, darkness!” Xehanort shouted. “This is your end! WITNESS REAL POWER!!”
The background suddenly turned black. Before the trio could react, many, many laser bolts slammed into them from all sides. They tried to break out of this vicious pattern, but to no avail.
When the assault finally ended, the three were very bruised and battered. Xehanort laughed maniacally.
“Now does your weak heart understand?” Xehanort exclaimed. “Only darkness is real power!”
“Y-you... you're wrong...”
Nick slowly composed himself, as injured as he was...
“WHAT?” Xehanort shouted. “How can you still be alive after an attack like that?”
“Didn't you listen to what I was saying before?” Nick shot back, brandishing the Golden Oathkeeper. “It's just like I said to Phobos. You know NOTHING of true power. Power isn't just one thing, nor is it always darkness that leads to true power.”
Xehanort slowly backed away. Nick began glowing with a radiant silver light, which effectively healed his wounds.
“Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then...if they don't forget me...then our hearts will be one,” Nick declared.
A silver energy orb burst from Nick, brightening the dark realm. Xehanort screamed in agony at being so close to the light.
“My friends are my power!”
Cassidy and Irma stood by Nick as he prepared a final attack. Nick held up his keyblade and chanted “I call upon the bearers of the keyblade... lend me your power so that we may destroy this being of darkness!”
To everyone's amazement, as Nick held up the Golden Oathkeeper, the spirit forms of everyone who had been chosen as bearers of the keyblade appeared around him: Sora, Riku, Kairi, the Guardians (both current and ancient), the Chasers before they were corrupted, Matt, Martin, Nigel, Eric, Roxas, Sakura, Elyon, and even King Mickey all stood in spirit forms behind Nick.
“That... that's not possible!” Xehanort shouted, holding up his staff in defense.
“It's futile, Xehanort. Your reign of darkness is coming to an end!” Nick shouted.
“ATTACK!”
With that call, Nick and all of the spirits charged for Xehanort in a spectacular final attack. Every single bearer of the keyblade struck Xehanort more or less at the same time. The force of the final attack was too much for Xehanort, as his staff disappeared, and his guardian exploded in a bright flash. Once the attack was over, Xehanort just floated there, clutching his wounded self.
“It... it is futile. The keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness,” Xehanort declared, suddenly beckoning towards Kingdom Hearts with the last of his power.
“Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!”
Suddenly, a mass of darkness exploded from the door to Kingdom Hearts.
“Yes, supreme darkness!” Xehanort exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
Suddenly, Nick knew...
“You're wrong. I know now, without a doubt... Kingdom Hearts...”
The darkness stopped expanding.
“...is light!”
The dark mass of energy that was coming from Kingdom Hearts was quickly replaced by a mass of brilliant light that enveloped Xehanort.
“WHA... no... light... ugh... but why?”
With those last words, Xehanort was completely enveloped in the light, destroying the being of the dark.
Once Xehanort was gone, Nick focused the Golden Oathkeeper on the door to Kingdom Hearts. One second later, Nick had easily sealed the door, which quickly disappeared in a swirl of gold stars.
Once the door to Kingdom Hearts had disappeared, Nick looked back towards Cassidy and Irma. A new portal appeared behind the trio, one that led back home to Heatherfield.
“Well, it's over,” Nick stated.
“Let's go home,” Irma replied.
“I thought you'd never ask!” Cassidy exclaimed, flying through the open portal, Nick and Irma following close behind. Unbeknownst to the trio, a mysterious, disembodied voice states:
“A new day brings new adventure. But for now... rest easy, heroes.”