//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Friends and Enemies // Story: Kingdom Hearts: Friendship's Turmoil // by Superdale33 //------------------------------// Kingdom Hearts: Friendship’s Turmoil Chapter 4: Friends and Enemies A Corridor of Darkness appeared in the front lawn of the school directly in front of the statue. A man, clad in a black coat with a hood up, stepped through, facing the statue’s high foundation where a solid, concrete wall was. He could feel a small amount of magic seeping through it; the magic of friendship. Though the world held its own magic of friendship somewhere, there was no denying that a small part of the magic was coming through this wall. He wanted that magic to be destroyed. However, for the time being, he needed it, as ironic as it sounded. A plan that his master had crafted was brilliant, but without this magic, it would not be able to come into play. He despised the magic of friendship as any of his comrades would agree, but he liked the idea that it would work in their favor. Without further ado, he threw his arms to his sides as he focused on the wall, since the extra push he needed was right where he stood. In a few seconds, sparks began to fly between his hands and the wall. The sparks began to increase rapidly until there was a constant stream of electricity. He could feel the pressure building, with the magic all around him, and without a thought of what would happen, he clapped his hands together, causing the sparks to sink into his hands, creating a small shockwave that made his coat flow back as if a large gust of wind had swept by him. As the burst died down, he waited a few moments before opening his hands. There sat a rough, purple crystal, that had an eerie glow to it. Smirking under his hood, the figure tossed the crystal to himself, snatching it out of the air. His master would most certainly be pleased. *** School was a lot harder than Sora remembered. Back when he was still attending, before his adventures truly began, he wasn’t terrible in school, and was able to keep up good grades. But in Canterlot High, he was completely lost. All he could do, besides listening to the teacher’s lesson, was sit there and act like he understood what was going on. When the bell finally rang for the end of class, Sora gave a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair to relax. One thing he had also forgotten about was school supplies, but he figured he would be long gone before he would actually need them, same went for learning his subjects. As Sora pushed himself up, he saw Rainbow approach him from the corner of his eye, and he turned to face her. “That class was boring,” she commented as she stretched her arms, “Are the classes back at your old school more exciting?” Sora looked at the ceiling as he tried to remember back, “I don’t think so.” “Heh. Well, see ya,” she said, stepping past him towards the door. “I gotta get to practice.” “Practice?” Sora asked, following her out of the room and into the hallway, “For what?” “Soccer!” Rainbow said, with a swift kick to the open air for emphasis, “I’m the captain, so I have the team practice every chance we get.” Sora thought back to the last time he had seen the sport, but couldn’t recall a moment. He was familiar with soccer, but he hadn’t watched a game himself. “Mind if I tag along?” he asked, causing Rainbow to turn to him with a smirk. “Sure, why not?” she laughed, “Pinkie Pie will probably be there, too, so you can meet her while you’re there.” “Who’s Pinkie Pie?” Sora asked as the two walked side by side, heading for the back exit of the school. “She’s a friend of mine,” Rainbow explained, “But, uh, she can be a bit… random.” “I can’t wait to meet her then,” Sora chuckled, and Rainbow rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll meet you at the field,” Rainbow said, stopping in her tracks as Sora looked back at her. “I have to change into my uniform.” “Okay, I’ll see you there,” Sora said with a wave, and he ran down the hall, quickly passing by students. Though he was new to the school, he didn’t have a hard time finding the exit, and the next thing he knew, he was standing outside, looking over to the soccer field. There were already a few students warming up before practice started, stretching and kicking the ball between each other. In the bleachers, Sora could see another student sitting there looking a bit over enthusiastic, what with her yellow foam finger and small, blue flag. Even from this distance, Sora could clearly see that she was pink, prominently so, and assumed that she must have been Pinkie Pie. Walking around the field to avoid interfering, Sora approached the bleachers, and when he did, Pinkie suddenly noticed him, jumping up from her seat. “Oh!” she exclaimed, hopping down the bleachers cheerily until she landed in front of Sora. He didn’t know what to think of her yet, but she was quite whimsical to say the least. Pinkie’s skin was pale pink, and her pink hair was large and frizzy. She had on a white and blue shirt with a pink heart on it. The pink skirt she wore had three balloons on one side. “Are you the new transfer student named Sora?” she asked, leaning in excitedly, giving him a large smile. “Yeah,” Sora answered with a smile of his own, before tilting his head at her, “How did you know that?” “I know a lot of things,” she whispered to him as she glanced around her, though he didn’t know why. She then brightened up as she said, “That, and Rarity texted me about you.” “So you’re friends with Rarity?” Sora asked. “Yep!” Pinkie said, then started counting her fingers as she said, “And Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle.” Sora laughed, honestly not expecting Pinkie to be this nice to be around, and also that she was friends with almost everyone he had met so far. “You’re friends with Fluttershy, too?” Pinkie nodded, before a thought crossed her mind and she saddened a bit. “Not all the time though,” she admitted, looking ashamed of the prospect itself. Seeing her mood switch so abruptly made Sora himself feel bad, as if whatever she felt reflected how everyone else around her felt. Frowning, he asked, “What do you mean?” “That meanie Sunset Shimmer tried to break us apart,” she explained, a moment of anger breaking out on her face before turning back to sorrow. “If it wasn’t for Twilight, I don’t think we would never ever be friends again.” That made Sora think for a minute. Why did Sunset try to break them apart to begin with? It didn’t make sense for him, but he figured he could think more on it later, as Pinkie wasn’t faring so well. She looked very upset with herself that she had, for a short time, not been friends with Fluttershy. Why Pinkie would suddenly be so sad about it confused him, but it must have just been something that she hadn’t truly dealt with. “Hey, don’t be sad,” Sora said in an effort to cheer her up, and Pinkie looked at him. “My friend Riku, and I weren’t friends for a while too.” “Really?” she asked, a smile growing back on her face. “Yeah,” Sora said, taking a seat on the bleachers, and Pinkie followed suit, “He did something bad, but he made up for it. And as long as we’re friends now, it doesn’t matter what he did. The same goes for you and Fluttershy.” “That’s super!” Pinkie said, instantly erupting into happiness, “You must have some great friends! Just like me!” Sora was baffled that she had changed her mood on a dime like she had earlier, but remembered that Rainbow had said she was random. “You know it, Pinkie,” Sora said with a nod. “Where’s your friend now?” she asked curiously, smiling at him innocently. That time, Sora hesitated, scratching the back of his head as he looked away. Noticing this, Pinkie frowned a bit with a puzzled expression. “I don’t really know,” Sora answered, “I’m looking for him right now actually.” He then perked back up as he turned to her, “You wouldn’t happen to have seen him around, would you?” Pinkie shook her head, “Sorry, I haven’t a clue where he is.” Sighing, Sora looked at her with a grin, grunting to himself, “No worries, I’ll find him eventually.” “That’s the spirit!” Pinkie cheered, throwing her arms to the air as the school doors opened. Rainbow Dash walked through them with her yellow and blue uniform on, looking very confident. Seeing her, Pinkie jumped up from her seat with newfound excitement, pointing a finger over to Rainbow. “Oh! There’s Rainbow! We gotta watch her now!” “Yeah,” Sora agreed, nodding for emphasis as he also stood up, climbing the bleachers with Pinkie to where she was originally seated. Though he had a mission to do, he thought he would have time to watch at least one soccer practice session. *** The library at Canterlot High was large, holding a vast amount of books for anybody to access. The internet was also available to them, allowing the students to find whatever they needed if the library couldn’t provide it. Unfortunately for Twilight Sparkle, it might come down to that. As she sat at one of the desks on the lower level, reading through another book about astronomy, she hoped that she wouldn’t have to use the computers. She never liked the internet, as it wasn’t as reliable as a good, old-fashioned book. Closing the book she was holding, Twilight sighed, placing the book down on a large pile of other books, while reaching to a smaller pile for another one to look through. Her project was due in a few days, and she had nothing to show for it. She figured it would be easy to find something on what laid beyond their world, but ended up at more dead ends than she would like to admit. Hadn’t anyone else done research about the worlds above besides star constellations? As she flipped through the book, beginning to grow bored of reading for the first time in her life, Twilight’s mind began to wander to other things that have happened over the last few weeks. She had transferred from her old school after a recommendation from her sister-in-law, Cadence. Over time in the school, she heard many things that had happened before she arrived. Some rather bizarre things, like how she had showed up this girl named ‘Sunset Shimmer’ at the school dance. She had never been to this school in her life, and had no recollection of ever standing up to another girl before. Twilight was even nearly assaulted by five specific girls when they saw her, calling her ‘pony princess’ and such. When Twilight explained that she had no idea what they were talking about, they instantly took back what they said and became friends with her. It was all really peculiar. She was brought back to reality when she heard a strange, unearthly noise behind her, one she couldn’t describe in the slightest. When she turned around in her seat to see what it was, she found nothing as the noise was instantly cut off. “Hello?” she called out nervously, glancing around. Whoever or whatever had made that noise was gone, but she was becoming uneasy and paranoid. Was someone watching her? As she turned back to her book, she heard the same noise again, and when she whipped around, she only saw something silver hide behind the computer center. “I know you’re there,” she said as bravely as she could, standing from her chair. Nothing responded, making her play with her hands nervously. She heard a small bark from her backpack laying on the ground, and when she looked down, she saw her faithful dog, Spike. He was sticking out of her backpack while glaring at where she thought she saw someone, giving a low growl. “I know, Spike,” she said, crouching down and petting her dog on the head. “I don’t think we’re alone either.” She gave the room one last sweep before turning back to her books. Maybe she could stop her studying and pick up later, when she wasn’t being involuntarily watched. She heard the strange noise yet again, but this time, when she turned to see if she could catch whatever was making it, she came face to face with a scary being in a silver suit. Yelping in shock, Twilight jumped back, bumping into the table, sending a few of the books tumbling to the floor. The thing in front of her was nothing she had seen before, as it stood there, moving around like it was made of rubber in the middle of a dance. Its hands were nothing but long spear-like appendages, and it’s legs were no different. It’s head was like an open mouth with a zipper along the edge. The last thing she noticed was the strange symbol on the top of its head. Spike was barking madly at the thing in front of her, but it was unfazed by him as it kept staring, even though it had no eyes. She didn’t know what to do: run, communicate, or just wait until it left. Unfortunately, it took the choice out of her hands as it charged towards her head first. Twilight ducked just in time as the thing flew over her head and slammed into the bookcase, falling to the ground as books cascaded on top of it. Breathing heavily, Twilight snatched her backpack, with Spike still barking at what had attacked her, and bolted for the exit, slinging her backpack on. Twilight risked a glance back, and saw that the thing had already recovered, stretching its legs in a strange walk. Facing towards the double doors that led out of the library, she was shocked to see two more of the beings blocking her path. Veering off course, she headed to another part of the library, thinking of any other exit she could go through. It was at that moment that a large thing that resembled the previous monsters, landed in front of her. It was much more different, with arms and legs that were huge. It even had its own weapon - a big, T-shaped claymore with a long, black handle - resting on its shoulders. As quickly as it appeared it swung its weapon back to prepare to swing down on her. Thankfully, Twilight saw it and dived to the side with a cry just as it landed, creating a small crater. On the ground, Twilight hastily picked herself up, backing away from the brute cautiously. However, when she twirled around to run, she saw that two more of the brutes were in the way. In fact, when she looked in all directions, she could see that she was completely surrounded by them. Scared beyond belief, she looked desperately for a way to escape, but found none. “W-What do you want?” she asked, hoping to at least know why these things wanted her gone. The monsters did not respond, or even move. They only stood and silently watched her, making Twilight even more frightened. “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” Without an answer, one of the brutes brought its weapon to the side to attack her. Seeing it, Twilight shut her eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable, but instead heard a metallic clank as if it was blocked. Looking over, Twilight saw another weird sight: a boy, with spiky, golden blonde hair, wearing a black coat. In his each of his hands were two giant, key-like swords. One was white, having a flower-like design, and other other was black, going for a gothic look. The boy looked over to her, and flashed her a smile. Who was this guy? *** One moment, Roxas couldn’t feel a thing, then the next, he could feel himself materializing, just coming into existence. It was an odd feeling, like every nerve in his body suddenly came alive, piece by piece. He knew he was hovering in the air - his body facing away from the floor - for the time that he could remember. But once he was entirely in existence, he fell to the ground, causing his eyes to shoot open in surprise. Landing painfully on his head, Roxas groaned as he sat up from his position, rubbing the back of his head. “Where… am I?” he asked himself, examining his surroundings. It appeared to be a library of some sorts, with the walls covered with shelves of books. The ceiling above had a glass dome, and based off the railing not to far away, he must have been on a higher floor. “How did I get here?” he asked, standing up as he looked himself over. He was wearing his old Organization coat, but that hardly mattered when a thought struck him. “Wait a minute,” he said excitedly, his face lighting up as he patted himself down, “I’m back! Ha! Wait ‘till Axel see’s this!” With a smile on him he looked at his hands. “I wonder if I can…” he muttered, sticking out his hands, summoning the weapons he had grown to know. In a flash of light, his two keyblades, Oblivion and Oathkeeper, each appeared in his hands. “Well, I still have these,” he said to himself, dismissing the two keyblades as confusion crossed his face. He rubbed his chin as he said, “But how am I here? Shouldn’t I be with Sora?” Speaking of him, Roxas realized that Sora was nowhere in sight, as he looked around the area with more intention. From his time within Sora, Roxas couldn’t really tell what Sora did or where he went. Rather, he could feel something within him when Sora was around certain people or places. Like knowing someone is in another room, but unable to actually go inside the room. He remembered many beings drenched in Darkness at one point, which he assumed was Xemnas, though he hadn’t a clue why there was so many. He also remembered being in a world where Light was quite abundant. Maybe Sora being in this world somehow made him come into existence? Shaking out these thoughts, Roxas knew he could figure out how he came back when he found Sora. Before Roxas could decide where to start his search, he heard a cry from a girl, coming from the floor below. Running over to the railing, he was met with both a familiar and unfamiliar sight. Nobodies had surrounded a girl, who was dreadfully afraid as she glanced around. Her skin was light purple and her hair was plum purple with pink streaks. She had on a light blue shirt and a purple skirt with a starburst emblem. The girl was talking with them, but all Roxas could focus on was the Nobodies themselves. It was just Berserkers and Dusks, nothing too major, but he thought Sora had taken down Xemnas a year ago. Who was ordering these Nobodies around? And why were they ganging up on this girl? He suddenly saw one of the Berserkers pull back its claymore, preparing to strike the innocent girl. Instinct kicking in, Roxas narrowed his eyes as he jumped over the railing, summoning his keyblades as he landed between the girl and the attacking Nobody. He had made it just in time, blocking the attack with one of his keyblades just as he landed. Already, his mind was wondering if he still had his fighting abilities, planning on how to approach this battle. Then, he briefly remembered why he was doing this in the first place, and glanced behind him to the girl, who was staring at him with both confusion and wonder. He gave her a reassuring smile, one that he hoped would tell her that he would help her, before turning back to the Nobodies with a determined expression. It was time to get to work. Roxas pushed back on the claymore that he had blocked, causing the Berserker to stumble back slightly. With the opening, Roxas spun on the spot, allowing his keyblades to pass through the Nobody effortlessly. With the Nobody bursting into gray matter, returning to the nothingness from whence it came, he turned his attention to the other nobodies around the girl. He was almost daring them to attack first. They did, expectedly, attack first, as two Dusks charged at him with their heads. He swung his keyblades horizontally outward, taking them out instantly. He then jumped up, twirling the keyblades until he wielded them underhanded, and sunk them through a Beserker. As the Nobody disappeared, another Berserker took advantage of the opening, and swung its claymore. Roxas was only able to swivel on the spot midair and bring his keyblades up to block in an ‘X’ formation. However, when the attack connected, the inertia from the claymore sent him flying back. He flew through the open double doors, exiting the library, and slammed into the hallway wall. Grunting in pain, he landed on the floor as the keyblades were knocked out of his hands, clattering to the ground. He pushed himself to his feet with a groan, nursing his stomach, and then heard sounds from both ends of the hallway. Looking to each side hastily, he saw four or five more Dusks and Berserkers coming from each side. “Oh, great,” Roxas muttered, summoning his keyblades again as he got ready to fight. “Why do I have to fight as soon as I’m back?” The Berserker from the library, who had ignored the girl, thankfully, was approaching Roxas through the doors. Surrounded on each side, Roxas decided to go through the weakest link and work from there. He leapt forward, swinging one of his keyblades upward at the Berserker, who had the foresight to block it. However, the attack was stronger than it thought and it knocked the Berserker off balance. With the opportunity, Roxas spun around and swung his other keyblade upward as well, destroying the Nobody. Quickly, Roxas dashed into the library to funnel out the Nobodies that were coming. He whipped around when he felt like he was far enough away, and already saw a few Dusks hovering his way. Thinking fast, Roxas threw each keyblade, and both of them destroyed many of the incoming Nobodies. Before he could retrieve his keyblades, a Berserker came charging towards him. With a smirk, Roxas easily jumped over the Berserker and landed just behind it. It was at that moment that his keyblades flew back at Roxas like boomerangs, and he caught them effortlessly, slashing through the berserker afterwards. Suddenly, Roxas was hit from behind, as one of the Dusks was able to sneak up on him. He quickly dispatched it with a quick spin-and-slash. Roxas could feel himself growing tired as he was breathing hard. He had only come to exist for a few minutes, and he was growing sloppy because of it. He needed time to recuperate, but the Nobodies weren’t going to give it to him. So, sucking it up, Roxas growled and went all out, running around the room and taking out each and every Nobody while dodging any attacks they dished out. The battle was incredibly fast, and Roxas was able to clear the room in a minute. After finishing off the last Nobody, Roxas stood still for a moment, his breathing intensifying. He was feeling quite woozy as the room was spinning, and without warning, he collapsed to the ground, his keyblades falling with him before disappearing in a white light. He might be exhausted, but at least he had saved a life. *** Twilight wasn’t sure what she saw. Every form of logic she had ever known was thrown out the window. First these monsters tried to take her out, then this boy came out of nowhere and destroyed them instead. And those weapons he was wielding, he was amazing with them. It was like the weapons were made for him. She simply stood in a stupor as she stared at boy as he finished off the last one. She wanted to say something to him, but was unsure on what exactly to say. Before she had the chance, the boy fell to the ground as his weapons disappeared. Though Twilight was curious as to how they did that, she had more important business to attend to. “Oh my gosh,” she whispered, covering her mouth in shock as she quickly made her way to his side. She placed her backpack to the ground as she knelt beside the boy, turning him over to lie on his back. He was still alive, but was very tired, though he did have a bit of strength left as he looked over to her. “Roxas,” he got out, putting a hand over his chest, his eyes droopy. “T-Twilight Sparkle,” she said hastily, in case Roxas fell asleep before she could tell him. “What a weird name…” he commented with a smile, as he drifted off to sleep. Despite the heroics of Roxas, Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes at his words. He said her name was weird, but his own name was just as strange. Spike, who had climbed out of her backpack, sat by Roxas’ head, watching him sleep with a tilt of his head. “We need to get him help, Spike,” Twilight said to him, causing Spike to bark in agreement, nudging Roxas with his nose. “I hope my family doesn’t mind if I take him home…” *** Sora had watched Rainbow play Soccer for the remainder of lunch, and was able to keep his stomach full thanks to Pinkie pulling a bunch of cupcakes from out of nowhere. When the bell rang, signaling the students that class would begin shortly, he stood up from his seat, feeling sore after sitting around for most of the day. “That was super-ific!” Pinkie cheered one last time, jumping to her feet as Rainbow and her other teammates headed inside. Before she left, though, she waved over to Sora and Pinkie, and Pinkie jumped up and down, returning the wave. “Rainbow Dash is so awesome!” “Yeah,” Sora agreed, climbing down the bleachers with Pinkie, “She’s pretty good.” “Pretty good?!” Pinkie scoffed playfully as they made it to the ground, “You mean super-mega-ultra-epicly good, right?” Sora laughed at her antics, and nodded, turning to her. “I wish Riku and Kairi could meet you guys,” he said, “We could all hang out together.” “I know who Riku is,” Pinkie stated, tapping a finger on her chin as she looked to the sky, “But who’s Kairi?” “She’s another friend of mine,” Sora explained as they entered the school as he put his hands behind his head., “She’s, uh, not in town right now.” “Maybe you can promise to bring them here sometime,” PInkie said as she put her hands behind her back. “Hey, I can do that,” Sora said with excitement, stopping in his tracks with Pinkie. “Do you Pinkie Promise?” she asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Sora blinked a bit before lifting up his right hand, sticking out his pinkie finger. “Yeah, okay,” he said, a smile forming, “Pinkie promise.” “Not that, silly,” Pinkie giggled, causing Sora to look at her funnily, putting his hand down. “It goes like this.” Clearing her throat dramatically, Pinkie said, “Cross my heart, hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye.” She even did the appropriate gestures, making Sora chuckle again. He was really liking Pinkie Pie. “That’s great, Pinkie,” he said with a nod slowly redoing what she had done. “Cross my heart… hope to fly…” His smile grew as he finished loudly, “Stick a cupcake in my eye!” “Now you’ve got it!” Pinkie exclaimed happily, “So you promise to show us your friends someday?” “Pinkie Promise!” Sora said, bumping a fist against his chest. *** The library was dead quiet after the battle with Roxas and the Nobodies, but many people would call that normal. However, that silence was broken when a Corridor of Darkness appeared, and yet another man in a black coat walked through. He looked around the room a minute before crossing his arms. “Oh dear,” he said with a very snide and stilted voice. “That did not go according to plan at all.” “We had no say in the matter,” said another voice, this one sounding younger and more uppity. The first figure looked over to the side and saw another man in a black coat, stepping out of the shadows. “Roxas was an unknown variable. Now that we know he has come back, it shall be easier to arrange another plan.” The first figure grunted in amusement, “I’m still surprised you were able to locate the origin of the magic of friendship.” “I have told you before,” the second figure snapped, agitated as he gave a wave of his hand. “That girl has the magic we seek, yes, but it is not complete. As if she is only part of something much grander.” “In any case,” the first figure said, turning away from the other, glancing around the room. “We need a new approach to our strategy, what with Sora, Xemnas, and now Roxas in the mix.” “What do you propose we do?” the second one asked, walking up to the first figure. “Before we try another attempt at taking the magic of friendship,” the first figure sighed, smirking under his hood, “We should see the full extent of our control over the Nobodies.” “My illusion can only go so far,” the second figure warned darkly, “Do not trifle with those beings when you are no longer one yourself.” “Yes, yes, so you keep telling me,” the first figure said with a bored tone, waving his hand dismissively, “Just whip something up for our… presentation tomorrow.” “Very well,” the second figure said, turning around. He lifted an arm in front of himself, and summoned a Corridor of Darkness. Before he could leave though, the first figure spoke up. “Oh, and don’t alert Xemnas to our presence,” he said without moving, “We don’t need the trouble.” “Of course,” the second figure agreed, walking through the portal. As it disappeared, the first figure gave a very creepy laugh, his body shaking because of it. He was going to enjoy a show and get what he wanted at once, and he was giddy with excitement.