Xehanort

Story
John, Paine and Rikku enter the Cave of Remembrance. They travel down, Rikku fluttering down excitingly.

Rikku: We’re here, we’re here, we’re here!

Paine: Rikku, relax. You’re exhausting to watch. You know what happened last time.

John: What happened last time?

Paine: Heartless. Big, powerful ones. (Yuna then appears.)

Yuna: (Panting) Made it. Whew! I almost thought I wouldn’t make it to join you.

John: You got Kairi to the castle?

Yuna: Safe and sound. As safe and sound as you guys can be, anyway.

John: Good. Now, the cave.

The group enters the next level of the cave, a deep hole. John drops down, and sees there was no other way out.

John: Is this where you guys got stopped last time? Guys? (John looks around, the Gullwings gone.) Oh, man.

A lizard like Heartless with large front paws appears hanging on the wall, upside down. Its tail resembles a lantern. Illuminator hisses, as the lantern sucks in the light, darkness completely enveloping the room. Nothing is visible.

John: Darkness. Of course. (A green flash of light comes from John’s mana hand. He sees the room cluttered with Novashadows, larger Neoshadows with a dark brown coloring, all of them ready to pounce.) Completely invisible in the dark. An interesting challenge to say the least.

The light from the mana is sucked away, as the Novashadows charge. John summons Rustic, slicing through several Heartless, the room lit with released hearts. Rustic shimmers with each swing, reflecting the light from the hearts. John stomps the ground, earth spikes shooting up all throughout the room, the room lit brightly. John spots Illuminator on the wall, as John fires mana disks at it. The mana is absorbed into Illuminator’s tail, as the darkness returns.

John spins, slicing through Heartless with Rustic, as a wind blade sweeps more away. John encircles himself with fire, illuminating his path, Novashadows skittishly try to approach. They dive into the shadows of the ground, and come back to surface inside the circle. John slices through the Heartless as they take a solid form. John thrusts his arms to the side, the wind carrying the fire and blazing through the Heartless. Illuminator climbs up the wall to dodge, absorbing the light given off by the fire. As darkness returns, more Novashadows form. John glows, as he transforms.

Shadow Lance: Let’s see how you handle this.

Shadow Lance curls his body in, glowing with chaos mana. He releases a chaos blast, the chaos mana tearing through the Heartless. Illuminator is hit, knocked down from the wall. It tries to scurry away, as it’s hit by a chaos spear, destroying it and releasing its heart. The light of the room returns, as another passage way opens. Shadow Lance reverts.

Rikku: He did it! (John looks up, as the Gullwings flutter down.)

John: Lot of good you guys were. You didn’t even help me.

Paine: This is the reason we recruited you.

Yuna: We are so terribly sorry for leaving you.

John: Eh, I’m used to it. (The Gullwings fly to the new exit made, as John follows.) End Scene

John and the Gullwings make it to the end of the cave, John stopping in front of a sign saying “Garden of Assemblage.” The Gullwings search the room, which was empty besides some small trees.

Yuna: Hardly a garden.

Paine: There has to be something here. There wouldn’t be all those Heartless for nothing.

Rikku examines the cave wall, and presses a section in. A hole opens in the ground, as a terminal comes out.

Rikku: Eep! (She fires lightning magic at it, causing it to spark and malfunction.) Oh no!

Paine: Idiot! It could’ve revealed where the treasure is.

Yuna: John, you think you can fix it?

John: (Sighs) Yeah. But I don’t think it’s a good idea. At all. (John transforms.)

Jury Rigg: FIX FIX FIX FIX FIX! (Jury Rigg dashes forward, fixing the terminal in a few moments, activating it.) All fixed! (The terminal fires a laser, which hits the ground, it forming upward.) Not good!

The laser forms into an old man, wearing a black and white coat and white gloves. He has a silver goatee. His head is bald, his skin is a darker color. He opens his eyes, revealing amber-orange eyes, and a deranged look. Jury Rigg reverts.

Old Man: Ah! What a sleep. I assume this means that this world is not encompassed in darkness as I had originally hoped.

John: What are you? (The old man turns, seeing John and the Gullwings for the first time.)

Old Man: Ah, you must be the simpleton that activated my storage console. I, am Master Xehanort.

John: What are you a master of? (Xehanort holds out his hand, as a Keyblade materializes. The keyblade is black and resembles demons.) A Keyblade?

Xehanort: I’m surprised that you know what it is. Keyblade warriors are almost extinct.

John: Then what happened to them?

Xehanort: You want to know? I’ll tell you. Long ago, Keyblade masters were the guardians of the worlds. Then, in the fight for the light, they clashed, their final battle place known as the Keyblade Graveyard. Very few keyblades chose people after that, until myself and Yen Sid.

John: You know Yen Sid?

Xehanort: And it appears you do as well. We became the new masters, and tried to restore the Keyblade order. We both took an apprentice. Yen Sid took on a little mouse, while my apprentice was powerful, with a strong darkness in his heart. Darkness and Light must be balanced, and Light has ruled for far too long. I have a dream, to create what is known as the X-blade.

John: Key? Isn’t that what it is already?

Xehanort: No. In some forms, it is pronounced “chi,” but its proper name is “key.” I knew that my apprentice, no matter how strong, would never be able to accomplish my goal. So, I removed his heart, and transferred mine to his, as my body was growing old.

Rikku: That’s nasty!

Xehanort: I became young again, and took the name Ansem, friend of the world. To insure my success, I stored away a part of my being inside the terminal, which would activate and revive me if my original persona would die. And now, (He points his Keyblade at John.) I need a new body. Yours will work nicely.

John: I don’t think so.

John transforms into Fasttrack, and dashes at Xehanort. He goes for a punch, but Xehanort blocks it with the flat of his blade, swinging it and striking Fasttrack hard, sending him flying. Fasttrack lands, and zooms in, circling Xehanort. Xehanort stands calmly, and swings his keyblade. Fasttrack ducks and goes to upper kick Xehanort, when he teleports away. Fasttrack stands up, looking back and forth.

Yuna: Where did he go? Did he leave?

Fasttrack: If he wants my body, not likely.

Xehanort reappears, as Fasttrack dashes at him. Xehanort swings his arm up, an earth wall forming in front of him. Fasttrack slows down, and motions his arms to the side, splitting the wall in half. Xehanort fires lightning from his left hand, as Fasttrack extends two fingers, absorbing the lightning. He motions it through his body, firing it back at Xehanort, who deflects it with his keyblade.

Xehanort: Strong, in body and ability. You will do nicely. (An ice cube hits his head, then a fireball and lightning bolt, none of them doing much damage.) What? (He looks up, and is surprised, as if seeing the Gullwings for the first time.)

Fasttrack: Guys! Run!

Rikku: Eep! (The Gullwings try to fly away, when Xehanort teleports in front of them, and captures them in a sphere of darkness.)

Fasttrack: No! (Fasttrack charges in, when a powerful lightning bolt shoots from the darkness, stopping him. Yuna, Rikku and Paine come out, covered in darkness.) What did you do to them?!

Xehanort: Just corrupted their hearts. Darkness is a force that has no equal.

Fasttrack gets ready to attack, when he is frozen by Shadow Yuna’s Blizzarga. He vibrates his body, breaking free, when he’s struck by a lightning bolt. He falls back, reverting. Shadow Paine shoots Firaga at John, who breaks the fire. The three then attack together, the collision of power causing an explosion. The Shadow Gullwings return to Xehanort’s side.

Xehanort: Well, if he couldn’t take that, perhaps he wasn’t the right vessel. Though he is very powerful. Come, let us reclaim this world in the name of darkness.

Xehanort starts walking off, the Shadow Gullwings following. Then, the room turns green, as time stops, all of them frozen. Clockwork walks out of the suspended dust cloud, coughing.

Clockwork: (Coughs) Well, that worked well. Hopefully they can still be saved.

Clockwork fires a time ray from his chest at the Gullwings, enveloping the three of them. The time powers take effect, and after a minute, they glow, reverted back to their normal selves, unfrozen.

Rikku: We’re free! Whee!

Yuna: You saved us again!

Clockwork: Yeah, but you guys need to get out of here!

Paine: Fine. There’s no treasure here anyway. Let’s move, girls. (The Gullwings teleport away.)

Clockwork: Now for, uh-oh. (Xehanort glows, as a clock appears above his head, which starts to tick. Xehanort is unfrozen, as he spins, striking Clockwork with the keyblade. Time is restored, as Clockwork grabs his shoulder, injured.) OW! (Clockwork reverts.)

John: (Holding his shoulder) That hurt way more than it should’ve.

Xehanort: Even in your human form, you can resist that damage. You will make a nice vessel.

Xehanort walks forward, pointing his keyblade at John, going to touch it to John’s heart. John summons Rustic, and knocks the key blade out of Xehanort’s hand, surprising him. John lunges at him, as Xehanort teleports away. Xehanort reappears, summoning his key blade again.

Xehanort: So that’s how you know so much. I must say, I was not expecting that.

John: You want my body? (John transforms)

Rumble Knuckles: Good luck with that.

Rumble Knuckles dashes in, and swings Rustic, the two key blades colliding at a stalemate. Xehanort’s face twinges, as Rumble Knuckles pushes down, winning the power struggle. Xehanort uses wind to push Rumble Knuckles away, who catches it in his dreadlocks, gliding through the air.

Rumble Knuckles: You may wield the elements, but I control them!

Rumble Knuckles flies down, and crashes into the ground Xehanort stood, destroying it. Xehanort reappears away from there, as Rumble Knuckles digs out of the ground, going to uppercut him. Xehanort hits him with a fireball, knocking him away. Rumble Knuckles charges in, as Xehanort releases fire and lightning at him. Rumble Knuckles deflects it, and goes for a thrust. Xehanort forms a dark energy sphere in his hand, and thrusts it forward, it expanding to envelop Rumble Knuckles. The darkness fades, and he is gone.

Xehanort: Resourceful little twerp. Where are you? (A bioelectric blast hits Xehanort in the face, causing him to cringe.) Ow!

Nanomech: Haha! In your face! Literally!

Nanomech flies around, blasting Xehanort some more as he tries to catch him. Xehanort eventually stops, and takes a deep breath, as a vortex of air forms around him, catching Nanomech and sending him skyward. Nanomech shifts to Malem, who crashes down, landing on Xehanort. Malem punches Xehanort several times, before darkness blasts him off, and Malem goes crashing through the terminal.

Xehanort: No! Now I won’t be able to create a genetic backup again.

Malem: (Getting up) Boo-hoo for you. (Malem fires a mana blast, which Xehanort deflects.)

Malem charges in, as Xehanort releases darkness from his keyblade, a darkness blade hitting Malem and tripping him, him crashing to the ground, reverting. John tries to get up, as Xehanort lifts him up by the throat.

Xehanort: After all this, you are only human. And I am far superior to you.

Xehanort thrusts his key blade into John’s chest, it releasing darkness, John screaming. Xehanort smiles evilly, when the darkness starts to wrap around John. He is completely enveloped, when Xehanort looks confused.

Xehanort: Something should’ve happened by now!

Darkside: Too bad. (Darkside opens his eyes, revealing the blue and green eye, startling Xehanort.) You can’t remove my heart while I’m a Heartless. (Darkside forms a dark energy fist, and punches Xehanort, the darkness tearing through him. Xehanort’s data body begins to break apart.)

Xehanort: This isn’t over. Not by a long shot. Soon, I’ll be back, at full power. Wait and see. (Xehanort disappears, as Darkside hits the ground, reverting and panting.)

John: And there ends Xehanort, one crazy old man.

Characters

 * John Spacewalker
 * Gullwings
 * Yuna
 * Rikku
 * Paine

Villains

 * Xehanort
 * Heartless
 * Illuminator
 * Novashadow
 * Shadow Yuna
 * Shadow Rikku
 * Shadow Paine

Aliens

 * Shadow Lance
 * Jury Rigg (first re-appearance)
 * Fasttrack
 * Clockwork
 * Rumble Knuckles
 * Nanomech
 * Malem
 * Darkside

Trivia

 * The Garden of Assemblage in the games is where one goes to fight data forms of the Organization members. This is mirrored by having a data version of Xehanort.
 * Xehanort is the main antagonist in Kingdom Hearts, and is the leading factor for the worlds being unbalanced here, posing as Ansem.
 * So far, John only seems to use Darkside as a last resort, when he is weakened.
 * This is similar to Limit Break from Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days.
 * With Jury Rigg debuting, Alien X is the only alien form not to debut.