karyu128

Chapter 9: welcome to the jungle "How did we get in this mess?" Asuna asked Kirito. "Are you asking how we wound up traveling through deep space fighting heartless every day? Or how we crashed in a jungle in the middle of who knows where?" it all started while we traveling to the next world on our journey. Sora was arguing with Donald about piloting the gummi ship. Sora being Sora, messes with the ship's guidance system and and causes the ship to go out of control. The chipmunks initiated an emergency teleport and we were all sent to separate parts of this deep jungle. "Oh ha ha." Replied Asuna. We soon came across a camp in a thicket of bamboo. It seems that whoever made camp here had only recently arrived as there were a large number of unopened crates and brief cases. We entered a large yellow tent we found not only Sora, Donald, and Goofy; but also three natives of this world. The first was a muscular man with long brown dreadlocks wearing only a loin cloth and carrying a spear. Sora introduced him as Tarzan. He didn't really talk much, but he didn't seem hostile or barbaric aside from his appearance. The other two were known as Jane and Clayton. Jane was hear on an expedition to study gorillas with her father while Clayton was a hired gun. Although Clayton was more interested in hunting gorillas than studying them. Clayton soon left to "patrol" and Jane welcomed us to their camp. Jane explained that Tarzan was raised in the jungle by the gorillas and that he was interested in where Jane came from since he had never seen humans other than himself until they arrived. Jane thought that if she told him about human society than Tarzan would be willing to share the location of the gorillas. She asked us to find slides for a projector they had brought with them to show him. We were happy to oblige her. As we scoured the camp we found not only slides, but recipes for brewing potions and ethers. Asuna made sure to copy the formulas so we could make them ourselves. When we returned to the tent Jane started up the slideshow. The first picture showed a western styled castle. Sora stared at the castle feeling as if he had seen it before. It was strange because he had never left the island before. The rest of it was rather uninteresting, but Tarzan seemed fascinated by it. "Well, Tarzan?" Jane asked. "Where are my friends, Riku and Kairi?" sora asked. Kirito wasn't aware that Sora thought they were place seemed devoid of heartless, but there were still a lot of dangerous animals in the jungle. If they were then there was no telling what might have happened to them. When Tarzan shook his head we could tell he hadn't seen them. "Then that just leaves one place." Clayton said upon his return. "Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours. I'd wager they're with the gorillas. But Tarzan refuses to take us to them." His theory was farfetched at best, but it was their only lead at the moment. "Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn't hide- -" Jane tried to defend Tarzan, but was interrupted. "Then take us there! Take us to the gorillas. Go-ril-las." Clayton said as if he was speaking to a foreigner that didn't understand him. Tarzan looked at Sora contemplating whether he should reveal the gorilla's location or not. He decided to help sora as he had promised to do so earlier. "Tarzan go see Kerchack." "Kerchack?" Jane questioned. "He must be the leader. Perfect. I'll go along as an escort. After all the jungle is a dangerous place." He said with a sly grin. After an hour of climbing trees and swinging on vines over a hundred feet from the ground we finally found the gorillas. Tarzan wanted to take a more scenic route in the hopes of losing Clayton along the way. It seemed to work as we hadn't seen him in a while. The leader of the apes was a large silver back gorilla. Tarzan pleaded with Kerchack asking them to aid us. However the gorilla seemed distracted by something and left before giving Tarzan an answer. Sora believed he was heading towards a tree house he had crashed into before. After more tree climbing we found a large two story tree house it was large enough to be considered an actual house, but it was old and had fallen into disrepair. "This place Tarzan's home." Tarzan said. "What happened here?" Asuna asked. This place looked like there was a lot of effort put into it. There was no way the owners just left. "Tarzan's parents… killed by sabor. Kala found me as an infant. And raised me as her own." Tarzan said. From the way he spoke it sounded like he didn't want to talk about it. Not that anyone could blame him. We saw Clayton was there as well, pointing his rifle at a gorilla ready to mount it on his wall. Donald intervened by letting loose his usual angry scream at Clayton causing him to miss his target. The hunter made up a lousy excuse about aiming at a snake and how he was heroically saving the gorilla's life, but nobody believed him. When we returned to the camp and explained what happened with Jane she was livid. "How could you do such a thing!" "Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla." The researcher wouldn't take anymore of Clayton's excuses and forbade him from going near the Gorillas again. Seeing no way to escape his current predicament the hunter angrily left the tent. It was less than a minute before we heard the sound of Clayton's rifle being fired when we went to investigate it. We entered the bamboo thicket where Donald and goofy had landed upon our arrival to this world and found a tobacco pipe belonging to Mr. Clayton, but nothing else. We heard a rustling in the bushes and soon a leopard pounced to attack us. "Sabor!" Tarzan exclaimed. Seeing the leopard that had killed Tarzan's parents was now aiming to kill us we were left with no choice but to battle for our survival. Seeing it was outnumbered, the leopard used the surrounding foliage to its advantage and used hit and run attacks whenever it felt threatened. When it was out in the open again we surrounded the big cat preventing its escape. Tarzan brandished his hand made spear and dealt the killing blow to the big cat. Satisfied with his kill, Tarzan took a fang from the beast and offered it to us. "But that's the thing that killed your parents. Why would you give it to us?" Sora asked confused. "Tarzan hate Sabor. Sabor gone now. Tarzan give reminder of Sabor to friends, so that Tarzan is not lost to hate." He was asking us to share the load with him. Tarzan had only known them for so long, but he had grown to trust us enough to share his struggles with us. "Okay. We'll help you carry this burden." Kirito said. Asuna what Kirito meant when he said that. He knew what it was like bearing other people's negative feelings. He proved it when he made himself the focus of resentment towards the beta testers in SAO so that he'd be the only one targeted. He always tries to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders. The best thing Asuna thought she could do was be there to support him. Tarzan handed the white fang to kirito and he stuffed it in his pocket. We returned to the camp and gound several monkey like heartless making a mess of the place. Their movements were hard to predict as the orange and yellow ones jumped around scratching wildly at whoever was near, while the pink ones with bows carried sling shots to shoot at us and oddly enough banana peels to make us trip. After dispatching the heartless we went back to the tent to see if Jane was okay, but she was missing. Tarzan suspected they had taken her to the tree tops and we followed him. Tarzan's hunch proved reliable and we found Jane and a gorilla were trapped in a cage of vines. There was a large black fruit and Tarzan told us to destroy it if we were to save them. When we smashed the fruit to bits the vines imprisoning Jane had receded. To our surprise Jane told us that Clayton was leading the heartless on a one man hunt for the gorillas . We hightailed it back to the bamboo thicket and saw Clayton was indeed leading a pack of heartless and had gorillas trapped between himself and a cliff. Sora distracted Clayton by telling him to stop and gave the gorillas enough time to escape. His prey gone, Clayton turned his attention to us. "Clayton?" sora said confused as to how he had suddenly gained control over the heartless. "Not Clayton!" Tarzan said. He then said something in gorilla that we couldn't understand. "*&&x%!" "Not Clayton!" soon the battle began with us fighting off the heartless while avoiding Clayton's gunfire. Clayton leapt from vantage point to vantage point shooting at us whenever he could. However his anger made him a terrible shot and we soon defeated him. But that wasn't the end of it as the cliff behind him was blown to smithereens by an unknown force. Clayton was then floating in the air as if carried by an invisible mount. Tarzan tried to attack Clayton, but was knocked back by an invisible arm. The real fight had just begun. We attacked Clayton's invisible mount until it revealed itself as a huge chameleon. With its cover blown the creature bucked Clayton off its back and onto another platform and he supported it with covering fire. We copied their change in tactics by splitting into two groups of three. Sora, Donald, and Goofy took on the Heartless while Kirito, Asuna, and Tarzan went after Clayton. Clayton wasn't tough to beat without his mount, but the Chameleon proved to be a different story as it fired beams of light from its eyes that chased after us. And when we got to close it let loose a blast of razor sharp wind from its mouth. It let loose a loud cry and Tarzan took the moment to leap into the air and thrust his spear straight down its gullet. The spear pierced the creature's stomach and stabbed into the ground affectively pinning it. The chameleon's eyes spun around wildly as its body faded and the heart it captured was released and Clayton's own body disappeared with it. Sensing the danger had passed the gorillas returned to the thicket and looked at their saviors. The silver back gorilla Kerchack, approached Sora believing the boy could be trusted. He grabbed Sora by the arm and then tossed him high into the air so that he would land on top of the cliff near the waterfalls. The gorilla looked ready to do the same to us. "Um no, no, we're good, we'll climb." Kirito said, but the gorilla grabbed him anyway. "We'll CLIIIIIIMMMMB!" Kirito screamed as he too was thrown into the air. He landed on the cliff with a hard thud. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." Kirito said as he was about to get up. However he was soon on the ground again as Asuna was thrown and she landed on top of him and he screamed in pain when she did. "Are you okay" Asuna asked? "I think my back is broken." Kirito replied. "Are you saying I'm heavy?" Asuna said in a teasing tone. "Could you please get off already?!" Kirito asked. "Fine." Asuna replied and left her position atop Kirito. They had entered a cave that led directly behind the waterfalls. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous as they made their way across the series of vines and rock formations. At the top of the hidden cavern they found an entrance that led to a chamber deeper inside. The small cave was covered in moss and was home to a large number of blue butterflies. The insects departed from their position on the tree to reveal a keyhole like the one we found in wonderland. Knowing what to do this time, Sora used his keyblade and once again discharged another beam of light towards it. In similar fashion there was a locking sound followed by another nav gummi. "Sorry about what I said." Sora apologized to Donald. "I'm sorry too." Donald replied. Goofy laughed and placed both hands on the two. "All for one huh?" when Sora and Donald settled their argument a gorilla entered the cave and cozied up to Donald. "I think someone has a new admirer." Jane joked. Soon everyone was laughing at Donald as he shook his hands frantically. "No, no, no! Daisy would kill me!" his pleas went on unheard as they all continued to laugh at his expense.

Chapter 8 gods and monsters The world we arrived in looked like an ancient Greek pantheon. There were giant gold statues depicting warriors with their swords crossed over the entrance to an arena. The large wooden doors had lightning bolts carved into them in reverence to the thunder god Zeus. Kirito liked this world. It was clearly a place where strong warriors gathered and he was eager to test his own might against them. As they entered the coliseum they saw a short chubby satyr propping up a sign. "Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me. I gotta spruce this place up for the games." He said while not looking to see who had arrived. The pedestal he was referring to looked more like a building block than a pedestal and since it was solid stone it was probably at least a ton. Of course that didn't stop Sora from trying to move it any way. It didn't move an inch and he told the satyr it was way too heavy. "What? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little- -" he cut himself off when he turned around and saw us "Oh. Wrong guy. What're you doing here?" he hopped off the actual pedestal he was standing on before and walked towards us. "This here's the world famous coliseum- - heroes only! And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along pipsqueaks." Sora looked at the satyr indignantly as he didn't like being talked down to like he was a little kid. "Look it's like this. Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the coliseum." Kirito didn't like how the chubby satyr wrote them off so easily. They had already fought their share of monsters and it wasn't easy getting here. "You got heroes standing right in front of you." Donald said. "Yup. He's a real hero chosen by the keyblade!" goofy said while placing his gloved hands on Sora's shoulders. "And we're heroes too!" Donald said while pointing at himself. The short, chubby, red haired satyr's eyes widened in disbelief and amusement. "Hero? That runt?" he laughed and guffawed at us. "What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora said "Yeah you tell him Sora!" Asuna cheered. "Hey if you can't even move this." He began pushing at the cubed rock fairing no better than Sora. "you can't call yourself…" he said while turning around pushing with his back and tiny goat legs as Sora crossed his arms unimpressed. "A hero!" he soon fell to the ground winded from his efforts. "Okay, so it takes more than brawn. Well, well, let's see what you can do." 'Finally!' Kirito thought. Soon the satyr who introduced himself as Phil showed us an obstacle course. The objective was to destroy all of the barrels within the time limit. Needless to say we each made short work of it. "You know, you ain't bad kid." Phil said as we returned to the lobby. "Looks like we're headed for the games." Sora said with his large toothy grin. "Afraid not." Phil said placing his hands on his hips. "HUH?!" was the collective response. Phil held up two of his fingers. "Two words: You guys ain't heroes!" "You're wrong!" Sora said "Yeah that's four words." Kirito said. Asuna just stared at her boyfriend's attempt at humor. While accurate the joke was kind of flat. We left the coliseum lobby ready to leave this world when we were approached by a man with a black toga held up by a skull shaped pin. He had blue skin, a rather long chin, and oh yeah his head was on FIRE! "Rather a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" "Who the hell are you?!" Asuna exclaimed. "Language young lady. A little girl like you oughta speak properly. Especially in the presence of HADES, LORD OF THE DEAD!" he raised his hand skyward and pillars of flame rose from the surrounding cisterns. The display was intimidating if he wanted to he could incinerate us on the spot! The flames soon disappeared at the snap of his fingers. "But hey I'm a nice guy. I come bearing a gift with no strings attached." In a flash of blue flames he produced a slip of paper and presented it to us. It was decorated with the coliseums cloud and thunder motif and we saw that it was a pass for us to enter the games. "It's all yours. Good luck, kiddies. I'm pulling for ya." He then disappeared in a plume of smoke. Kirito knew this was a trap. This guy had godlike powers and all he wanted from us was to fight in the games? If we refused we would likely be burned to cinders. With no other options we returned to the coliseum lobby. We gave the pass to Phil and we were soon in the preliminaries. In the first round and the ones after that we fought more of the heartless. There were heartless we hadn't encountered before like little wizard like heartless that were different colors and let loose different magic depending on said color. And there was a large blob of a heartless that was impossible to attack from the front, but was weak to attacks from behind. We were given a momentary reprieve and Phil came over to coach us when we saw a man with spiky blonde air dressed in black with a tattered red cape swaying as he walked. From his muscles and the way he carried himself he looked very strong. "He looks tough." Sora said. "Yeah. We're probably gonna have to fight him sooner or later." Asuna replied. We soon worked our way up the bracket and while we were celebrating our victories thus far, Hades was giving his own special pep talk to said blonde man. "Those little punks are your next opponents okay? Now don't blow it, just take'em out." Cloud looked at the kids skeptically "the great god of the underworld is afraid of some kids? Sorry but my contract says- -" "I know! You think I don't know? I wrote the contract!" hades said perturbed. "I know it says you're only required to kill Hercules in this tournament." He pointed at them to illustrate his next point "But you've gotta fight those kids to get to him. Come on." "Hey it's like that old goat says. Rule 11 it's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" cloud headed to the arena wanting this sordid deal with the devil to be over with. "Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home." Hades said when Cloud was out of earshot. "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…" the finals began and as Asuna predicted it was between us and Cloud. He carried a sword that was roughly as large as his own body. The oversized single edged blade was covered in bandages and he was holding it with two hands and a broad stance to support its weight. Despite that he was able to leap high into the air and came down towards us. Everyone dodged out of the way as he came down. He wasn't down for long as seconds later he had pulled his blade from the stone floor and charged at Kirito with a thrusting attack. He tried to block it with his twin swords, but clouds momentum knocked him to the ground. Asuna ran to cover kirito by assaulting cloud with her own speedy attacks. Donald cast a healing spell on kirito and he soon got back to his feet. 'This guy really is strong. His attacks would give people like Strea and Genisis a run for their money.' Sora soon switched places with Asuna and began his own assault against Cloud. Soon a pattern began with Sora, Kirito, and Asuna switching out after each of their assaults with Goofy covering us with his shield and Donald using his magic to heal us and occasionally striking cloud with thunder magic. Cloud crouched on one knee his sword on the ground defeated by the team of five. He stood up and was about to leave the arena accepting his loss when he was crushed under the heel of an enormous thee head hound with razor sharp fangs and beady red eyes. Hades watched as his guard dog was set loose to take care of cloud and his targets. "Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen." Believing his prey would soon be sent to the underworld hades walked into the darkness of the pit Cerberus was released from. Just when the heroes believed they would be devoured a man stepped in holding off Cerberus with nothing but his bare hands. Philoctetes recognized the man and called out to them "Herc!" Hercules was struggling to hold back the beast and told Phil to get us out of there. We were soon evacuated back to the coliseum lobby. "Whew, that was close! That was Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld. Herc can take care of him. But then again maybe not." We couldn't just leave Herc and Cloud to die at the hands of that monster. Asuna gave each of us a red ring that we had bought at the accessory shop. We slipped them on our fingers and immediately felt the ring's protective charm take effect. "Hey what's with the fancy rings? And where are you going?" "We're going to help Herc and Cloud." Kirito casually replied. "Are you guys crazy?! There's no way you can beat Cerberus!" Phil remarked. "You can decide if we're hero material or not." Sora said "either way we can't just leave people to die. That's not what heroes do." Asuna said Phil conceded "alright you win. But be careful ya hear!" When we entered the arena we saw Hercules was carrying cloud, but he was backed into a corner by Cerberus. The dog was about to attack when it turned its three heads to see we had entered the arena ready to fight. The hell hound turned its attention to more fresh prey and gave Hercules a chance to escape with cloud in tow. Phil held the door open as they retreated and shouted "kids, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!" despite his counting problem we took his words to heart and moved in on the three headed goliath. Cerberus acted like we little more than fleas and shot fire balls that homed in on each of us. Those rings came in handy as their magic mitigated the damage and we weren't severely burned. Seeing its first attack fail the guard dog lowered its three heads to devour us. We waited after each head's attack to make our own on the beast. With its weakness found the dog soon reared back its three heads and released a torrent of dark energy into the earth. The darkness sprouted from the ground and chased after each of us as we were forced to run away while Cerberus let loose more fire balls to attack us when the darkness missed its mark. However the hell hound had a short temper and tried to eat us again providing another opening. Asuna stabbed her rapier into the right head's snout, Kirito slashed at the left head's muzzle and Sora dealt the finishing blow to the middle head knocking the beast unconscious. With Cerberus defeated we returned to the lobby to rest. After we recovered we stood before Phil and Hercules as Phil read from aloud a scroll. "Thus I do hereby dub thee junior heroes. And confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further- -" "hey what do you mean "junior heroes"?" Donald said angrily 'Donald's right. After defeating a giant three headed hell hound I wanted a gods damned parade damnit!" Kirito thought seething. "You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero." Phil said. "So what does it take?" goofy asked. "Well that's just something you'll have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did." Hercules told us. Sora took their criticisms in stride "no problem. We'll start by proving ourselves in the games." Kirito looked at Sora and how calm he was after everything they just went through. He was touched by Sora's humility and resolved to follow the boy's example. They left the lobby ready to head back to their ship when they saw cloud sitting on the door step to the world's exit. Asuna approached him and asked if he was alright. "yeah." He replied. "So why did you go along with hades anyway?" Sora asked. "I'm looking for someone. Hades promised to help." As he stood up he told us he tried to exploit the power of darkness and how it backfired. "I fell into darkness, and I couldn't find the light." Kirito felt a connection to cloud. After the death of his friends in the moonlit cats he felt lost as well. Cloud hadn't found friends like Kirito had yet. But he felt that maybe he was just looking in the wrong place. "You'll find them. I'm searching to." Sora said referring to his friends Riku and Kairi. "For your light?" Cloud asked. Sora nodded in the affirmative. Cloud walked towards to the coliseum and handed something to Sora as he did. "Don't lose sight of it." as he proceeded to the Arena Kirito asked if they could have a rematch. "How about it? Fair and square, no dark powers involved." "I think I'll pass." Cloud said nonchalantly as Kirito was standing rejected. "Come on Kirito!" Asuna said as she practically dragged Kirito to the ship. As they left the sun soon set on the coliseum as Hades was standing outside holding a figurine of Hercules. "He's kind. He's always there for you, and he's handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy! He said as his skin turned red and he released another pillar of flames. He soon calmed down and rethought his strategy. "Wait a minute. What are you doing relax. All the pieces are in place. Here's what you do. Let Hercules train the kids. In the next games, I'll take care of all of them." He said as he tightened his fist. He felt a dark familiar presence behind him he didn't need to turn around to know it was that witch maleficent with her pale green skin and black horns. "Who invited you to the party? Stay out of this. This is my show." His tone implied he wanted no arguments. "As you wish. Fight to your heart's content." Maleficent walked away her heels and staff clacking against the ground as she left."

Chapter 7: thinking of home. As the ship was drifting through deep space our heroes were sitting at the dinner table awaiting the meal Asuna was preparing. Normally all hands would be on deck incase the heartless attacked, but they were strangely absent. Seeing the opportunity Donald left the ship on auto pilot and goofy suggested we eat to pass the time. Sora and Kirito were waiting anxiously because it felt like they hadn't eaten in ages. Asuna soon presented each of us with a bento boxed lunch each containing chicken, rice, sushi, and assorted vegetables. We thanked Asuna for the food and began to chow down. "That sure was yummy Asuna." Said goofy. Donald patted his belly satisfied with the meal as well. "Yeah we never had anything this good back on destiny islands." Sora said. Asuna took a lot of pride in her cooking skills so hearing their praises made Asuna happy. Kirito was curious about the worlds Sora, Donald, and goofy hailed from. And he did promise to tell Sora about his and Asuna's world so now was as good a time as any. "What is your world like sora? You say it's an island." Kirito asked. Sora nodded "That's right. Me, Riku, and Kairi all grew up there. The big island is where we all lived and went to school. And there's this smaller island where we all played together." Sora smiled recalling his childhood home. "We had this little cave where we all drew pictures on the walls. We called it the secret place. And we always hung out at the paopou tree looking at the sunset." The place Sora had described sounded like a tropical paradise. Kirito and the others wished they could see it. "It sounds wonderful. Kirito we should take a vacation there one of these days. Just the two of us." Asuna said. I wanted to see the world sora grew up in as gave us another reason to save the worlds. "Yeah. We'll go there some time. Just you and me." "AHEM." Donald decided to interrupt the moment before it got to mushy. "Oh yeah what about you guys?" Sora asked referring to Donald and goofy. "You said you live in a castle?" "A-yup. The world we come from is called Disney castle. Donald and I serve under his majesty king mickey." Donald continued after goofy. "Goofy is the captain of the royal knights and I'm the king's magician." "HUH?!" Sora exclaimed. I had to admit I was surprised to. I didn't think Donald and Goofy of all people carried such high status. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover after all. "King Mickey wouldn't happen to be a mouse by any chance would he?" Asuna asked "yeah that's right. He's about the same height as Donald and he has two big round ears like this a-hyuck" goofy said as he gestured with his hand in an imitation of the king's appearance. "How'd you know king Mickey is a mouse? You haven't seen him have you?" Donald said while looking at us suspiciously. "We haven't Asuna asked because Leon gave us a letter of requisitions from him. These three little ducklings running the item shop told us about him and helped us with our gear." Kirito explained. Donald's suspicions were set aside at the mention of Leon and the boys. "Those three are my nephews. They didn't give you any trouble did they?" Asuna I shook our heads no. they were very helpful after all. "Phew that's a relief. Those boys have a tendency for mischief and pranks." "Well they were very well behaved I assure you." Asuna said. Donald dismissed what Asuna said and asked his own question. "Alright it's your turn now. What world do you two come from?" Sora was interested as well. He wanted to know about all kinds of worlds and he wanted to know where Kirito and Asuna learned to fight the way they did. And so Kirito and Asuna told them about their world. About how the country they lived in was a small part of a much bigger world. They told them about cities and skyscrapers hundreds of feet high and their advances in technology. Their eyes widened when they heard about sword art online and how the creator had killed thousands of people who were just looking to have a good time with friends and loved ones in his death game. And how we and our friends fought and lived in the virtual world. "Wow… but wait a minute how does learning to fight in a video game translate to fighting in the real world?" Sora asked. "I'm not sure myself, but Kirito thinks that because the nerve gear was connected to the player's central nervous system, our bodies retained the knowledge of our fighting styles." Asuna explained. "That's the gist of it." Kirito continued "But there are some things we can't do without aid from the system and some of our in game attacks would be downright impossible in the real world. If I had to guess I'd say you, me, and Asuna are all about the same level in terms of power." Asuna looked surprised at Kirito. For him to admit something like that so freely must've meant he thought highly of sora and his potential. "Do you really think so?" Sora asked expectantly. "Well I say that, but I bet you still can't beat me. Maybe if I used only one sword it would be fair." There's the level of competiveness she expected from him. "Oh yeah?" sora retorted. Well maybe we'll see who's stronger when we get to the next world." "Is that a challenge?" Kirito replied. "Yeah, bring it!" Sora exclaimed. "No fighting on the ship!" Asuna said. "Yes ma'am!" Sora and I hurriedly replied. After that sora, Donald and goofy went back to the pilot's cabin to check our progress leaving Kirito and Asuna alone. "This is nice. Even though we're lost far away from home we can still sit down and have dinner like regular people." Asuna said. "Even though two of them are a dog and a duck." I replied. She laughed at my silly joke. "Yeah. Who would believe us if we told them? Then again after seeing the world disappear I suppose anything is possible." "We could ask Yui to copy Jiminy's journal for us. If nothing else we could post it on the internet or show it to a publisher." "Hey that's a great idea!" Asuna said. "When we get back to our world let's take it to seven so she can publish it as a mmorpg. You did say you want to be a game creator after all." Kirito's eyes widened at Asuna's proposal. It was brilliant, their journey sounded like the perfect basis for a video game. With newfound vigor Kirito took Asuna in his arms and laughed as he lifted and spun around. He sat her back down and had a smile as big as Sora's. "Yeah let's do it. We'll save the world, find our friends, visit sora, Donald, and Goofy's worlds for a vacation, and then we'll make a new mmo for everyone to enjoy." With their new dream made they went back to join Sora and the others ready to see what awaited them.

Chapter 6: a familiar face. Since wonderland was a dead end we decided to board the gummi ship and head to the next world on our journey. Asuna was glad to be leaving the strange world while Kirito was pondering their next move. Alice was clearly no longer in wonderland, but did that mean she was lost to us? Donald hypothesized that she was taken to another world. If that was the case then perhaps not everyone from his world was trapped in the realm of darkness. Maybe they were transported to other worlds like he and Asuna were. With this in mind they returned to traverse town to rest and resupply for the next world. There was also the matter of the mysterious gummi block we had found. Maybe Leon and his gang knew what it did. We arrived back in the first district and proceeded to the accessory shop. After our encounter with the trickster Asuna said we should buy some items that could ward off fire attacks, but she really just wanted to shop. We entered the store bell ringing as the door opened and were surprised to see that instead of Cid behind the counter it was a large muscular man with dark skin. He was bald and had a small goatee on his chin. He was dressed in a green shirt and black pants. The man was looking at a clipboard with a list of items when he looked up to see who had entered. We immediately recognized him as Andrew Mills or Agil as we called him in games. "Kazuto? Asuna?" He was as surprised to see us as we were to see him. If Agil was here then maybe there was hope for everyone else as well. "Agil!" asuna exclaimed as she immediately tackle hugged him. "Friend of yours?" sora asked. "Yeah. Agil is a survivor of sword art online like Asuna and I." Sora just looked confused 'is that the name of their world?' he thought. Upon seeing the 14 year olds confusion Kirito realized he hadn't told Sora, Donald and Goofy about the three year old death game. "I'll tell you about it when we leave for the next world okay?" satisfied with his answer Sora watched the reunion unfold. It turns out that Cid had found Agil and his wife Cathy shortly after we had left on our journey. Had offered to let them stay at the accessory shop in exchange for work. Agil explained that running the store wasn't Cid's day job and that he was only running it because the original owner disappeared after an attack from the heartless. Cid was actually an engineer who specialized in building gummi ships. We told Agil about how we arrived in traverse town and how we were now exploring with Sora, Donald, and Goofy looking for a way home. "Man you guys are adventurous. I'd offer to come with ya, but I don't wanna leave Cathy again." "Hey it's cool. You have to protect her incase the heartless show up." "Ha ha! I'm more worried about what she'll do to them than what they'll do to her!" everybody had a good laugh after that. Sora was helping Asuna peruse the store, which mostly involved being her pack mule when Agil wanted to speak with me in private. "So this Sora kid, do ya think he can do it? Help us get home again I mean." He looked at Sora as he was handed bag after bag by Asuna. "He has a lot to learn, but he's got spunk. He'll rise to any challenge. I guarantee it." Agil was surprised at his praise. 'It wasn't every day the black swordsman gave someone his vote of confidence. Maybe this kid was special after all.' He looked at sora as he held all of Asuna's bags on his arms and flexed like he was super strong or something. 'Or maybe not…' Agil thought as a bead of sweat rolled down the back of his head. Kirito and his friends soon departed the accessory shop promising Agil they would return and keep him up to date on their progress. Their next objective was to find Cid and ask him about the gummi block they had found in wonderland. They wouldn't have to look far as he was standing adjacent to the second floor entrance of the place they were just at. "Well if it isn't Sora and the gang. What can old Cid do for ya?" "We were hoping you could tell us what this is." Sora showed Cid the unknown gummi we had obtained. Once he got a good look at it he looked at us like we lived under a rock…again. "You folks are travelin' the cosmos and ya don't know what nav gummi's do?" we all shook our heads no and waited for him to elaborate. "Well basically there are some worlds ya can't reach without nav gummis. If ya tried without one you're liable to get lost or crash into an asteroid field." We definitely didn't want that so we asked if he could install it for us. "I'd love to, but this particular gummi is part of a set ya see. Without its mate it won't do squat for ya." "Then how do we get to other worlds?!" sora asked. "Simmer down sora. You can still reach the worlds in this quadrant. And who knows? Chances are you'll find the other half of this here gummi when you're out and about. Now skedaddle you five in case ya ain't noticed I've got a business to run." And just like that we 'skedaddled' as the old timer put it. with our business in traverse town done we went back to the gummi ship ready to see the next world.

Chapter 5 wonderland panic. After Asuna had calmed down from our encounter with the Cheshire cat we began our quest to clear Alice's innocence. Saying wonderland was like a maze would be an understatement. As we searched every nook and cranny were up the walls both figuratively and literally. As the Cheshire cat said the first three clues were easy to find, but the fourth seemed difficult as we were standing on a water faucet looking at the pink box separated from us by a 10 meter gap and a 50 foot drop. Surprisingly it was Goofy that found a solution by using his tornado attack to hover safely across like a human helicopter. In his own Goofy way he was actually pretty smart. As Goofy returned with the final clue the Cheshire cat appeared once again. Asuna hid behind me glaring it the grinning feline as if she were willing it to spontaneously combust. "Well, look what you've found. Nice going." Sora was beaming at the compliment and our achievement "Now we can save Alice." But the cat wasn't done with us yet, not by a long shot. "She may be innocent, but what about you?" "What do you mean?" Asuna asked the Cheshire cat. "I won't tell. But I'll give you something. I promised a reward and I'm a cat of my word." In a puff of smoke a glowing blue sphere appeared and it floated towards us. It split into three and entered Sora, Kirito, and Asuna. It filled them with arcane knowledge as they learned the power of ice. With his purpose seemingly fulfilled the Cheshire cat vanished once again. We proceeded back to the courtroom ready to make our case. Asuna, Sora, Donald, and Goofy were sitting at the jury stand while Kirito occupied the defendant stand Alice was in before. When the four pieces of evidence were lined up and offered to the queen she presented her own evidence and added it to ours. However the queen was impatient and forced us to choose only one. The boxes were shuffled so we didn't know which was which. The queen's evidence was surely unfavorable, but the odds were 4 out of 5 in our favor so he was confident Alice would be saved and that they wouldn't be losing their heads. He picked one at random hoping his choice was correct. When the box opened a soldier heartless appeared and then vanished. The queen gasped at the sight "What was that?" she exclaimed. "Your real attacker. Alice is innocent." The queen pondered the quandary she was in. just when we thought things were starting to go our way the worst case scenario occurred. "SILENCE! I'm the law around here. Article 29: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty!" Donald was hopping mad "that's crazy!" the queen ordered her card soldiers to capture us. The stands and hedges disappeared from the court room and a miniature tower with 2 wheels rose from the ground. A ten of spades turned the wheel to raise Alice's cage out of reach and close the curtain around it. This farce of a trial was now a brawl between us and a deck of 52. We formed a perimeter around the tower with Sora and I lowering Alice's cage while Asuna, Donald and goofy were fighting the card soldiers. Asuna seemed to take enjoyment in fighting off the queen's troops. Perhaps it was therapeutic after being subjected to this world's madness. A large group of the cards were charging at us lances poised to skewer our little group. Asuna decided to try out the new blizzard spell we had learned and froze the ground below the card soldier's feet. The platoon unable to stop careened into the tower knocking it over and smashing it to bits. With the mechanism destroyed the cage plummeted towards the ground, but when the curtain was pulled back it was revealed that Alice was no longer in the human sized bird cage. Naturally the queen of hearts was seething "Oh you miserable fools! I'll have all your heads!" everyone wanting to keep their heads decided to run away from the murderous monarch including her own men. We vacated to the lotus forest once again and we witnessed a large red flower shoot a boulder from its petals. And in typical fashion the Cheshire cat appeared on top of the boulder no doubt ready to impart another of his riddles on us. "Have you seen Alice?" Donald asked. "Alice, no. Shadows yes!" he wouldn't have said that unless they were connected somehow. Maybe the heartless were responsible for Alice's kidnapping. When I asked him I didn't get much of an answer. "This way, that way does it really matter? Left, right, up, down! All mixed up thanks to the shadows! Step deeper into the forest to the deserted garden. You might find shadows in the upside down room." And with that he vanished once again. With no other leads we headed to the garden he spoke of. The garden was decorated for a tea party but there were no guests. There was a portrait of an old man with a large top hat standing next to a hare in a red waist coat. Next to the painting was a wooden sign that read "merry unbirthday" not knowing what it was and not wanting to know we entered the house. True to its name the room was upside down when we looked up we saw that the bizzare room was now above us which meant we were literally upside down. The Cheshire cat was standing on the banister as he instructed us to light up the room. Sora hopped up to each of the lamps and used a fire spell we had learned back in traverse town to light them. We noticed a wall that had a latch on it and as we unlocked it a new exit was revealed. It was a short cut back to the courtroom so we booked it to the bizarre room again. The Cheshire cat was waiting for us on top of the table. "The shadows should be here soon. Are you prepared for the worst? If not too bad!" he pointed to the ceiling and we saw that a giant jester like heartless with multiple face on its cylindrical head. Its long paper thin arms were carrying juggling pins. The heartless might have been easy to defeat at our normal size, but in our miniaturized states it was hard to reach and we doubted it would give us time to drink from the growth elixir. Sora hopped on the table and used it as a vantage point for attacks the trickster was stunned and as it collapsed we began our assault. It was short lived as the trickster got up again and slammed the table back into the ground eliminating our advantage. The pins it carried were now lit on fire and it unleashed a torrent of flames towards us. Asuna used her ice magic once again to create a protective barrier around us. She was really good at using magic maybe even as good as Donald. When the heartless stopped its attack I used what was left of Asuna's barrier as a spring board for my own attack against the flaming jester. My forward momentum was enough to knock down the heartless again. Sora and the others held down the trickster by its limbs so it wouldn't get back up. With the heartless restrained I stabbed my blade in it and ran across its body dragging the sword along as I moved. When I reached the crown of its head I leaped off the trickster and it disappeared releasing another crystalline heart as it did. Our battle won we turned to the door knob as it awoke "what a racket. How's a door knob supposed to get any sleep?" it let loose a huge yawn and as we looked in its mouth we saw the glowing outline of a keyhole. Sora's keyblade glowed as stars gathered around it and as if it had a mind of its own pointed itself at the keyhole and fired a beam of light towards it. there was a clicking sound that sounded like a door being locked and the light faded away as the doorknob went back to sleep. A little green gummi blocked was dropped from the keyhole and Sora picked it up. According to goofy it wasn't like anything on our ship so we decided to hang on to it. The Cheshire cat appeared once again with his ever present grin "nice work. You're quite the heroes. If you're looking for Alice, she's not here. She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness." Despite all our efforts we had failed to protect Alice.

Chapter 4 down the rabbit hole. As we were sitting in the gummi ship more introductions were being made. Accompanying Donald and Goofy was a tiny little guy called Jiminy Cricket. He is very polite and said that he would be keeping track of our journey in his tiny little note book. Kirito pulled out his laptop to introduce Yui and Straea. Yui looked to be no older than ten and she wore a White dress, black garters to cover her legs, brown shoes, and a pink shawl on her shoulders. Straea looked about the same age as Asuna. She had short pale pink hair that was almost white and her red eyes were very striking. Her outfit was purple and had a gothic lollita theme to it. Straea was flirty to say the least but she was very mature. Overall the two psychiatrist AI's were polar opposites of one another. However they got along very well. On the ship's communicator there were two chipmunks named Chip and Dale they were the gummi ship's engineers. How chipmunks put together a spaceship I have a no idea, but Donald and goofy traveled here safely so the ship must be good. As we traveled the lanes between worlds we discovered the heartless had ships of their own but, they were no match for the high wind's fire power. We soon arrived at a new world we prepared to disembark. "Aw, I wish we could go with you guys. Exploring new worlds sounds super fun!" Straea said. I had to admit traveling through space and discovering new worlds was exciting. My hands were twitching and ready for action. Jiminy hopped on Sora's shoulder "Now I know seeing a new world sounds like a day at the amusement park. But there are rules ya have to follow. And the heartless are in every world that has darkness." This piqued our interest and Sora was the first to ask. "There are rules?" to which Jiminy responded "That's right. We can't go meddling in people's lives. And we can't tell folks that we're from another world. It upsets the balance of things." What he said made sense. The heartless invading was bad enough, but if someone with bad intentions came to another world and took over, it would be chaos. The ship was equipped with a teleportation apparatus and as it began to light up Yui was waving at us. "Good luck! And come back safe okay!" the light intensified and we were transported off the ship. When we rematerialized it was in a hole and we were falling while goofy was screaming "YAAA HOO HOO HOO HOOIE!" It was the strangest thing I had ever heard. I thought were all going to splatter on the ground, but as we neared it our descent slowed and we landed safely on our feet, although goofy fell flat on his face. It looked like we were in a building of some sort. The walls were pink and the decorations looked tacky. I looked up at the hole we had fallen from and noticed I couldn't see where it began. "How far did we fall?" Asuna asked. I shrugged "who knows but maybe next time we could teleport on the ground." Asuna laughed "yeah maybe next time we should take the stairs." Before goofy got up a white rabbit with a large pocket watch sped by. "Oh, my fur and whiskers! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I'm here, I should be there. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late! The queen, she'll have my head for sure!" We decided to follow the frantic rabbit as we had no idea how to navigate this weird place. We came across a door behind which was another door and another door… We entered a bizarre room and saw the white rabbit enter a door too small for us to enter it appeared to be the only way to progress. Asuna crouched to inspect it. "How are we supposed to fit through here? Can we shrink or something?" to our surprise the doorknob answered "Why yes that's exactly the solution." "WAH!" Asuna fell back on her bum. The doorknob yawned and said "Must you be so loud? You woke me up." Goofy waved at the door knob and wished it good morning. The door knob was sleepy and said good night. But we still had questions. "Do you know how we could shrink ourselves?" "Why don't you try the bottle over there." As soon as he said that a chair and table with two elixirs appeared in a puff of smoke. Asuna stood up and sat on the bed. "I don't think I can take much more of this." The bed magically flattened itself revealing an exit and Asuna fell on the hard floor again. "ooowwwww." I helped Asuna up from the floor and she hoped she'd be done with this world's hijinx. We each drank from the blue can and we shrank until we were small enough to fit through the door. We entered another room with tall green hedges and the walls were painted with mountain scenery and castles. There were card soldiers armed with axes and lances each colored and shaped to their respected red and black suit. The card soldiers parted and stood at attention before their ruler who was standing as judge over what appeared to be a trial over a little girl with blonde hair and a blue and white dress. The queen was rather portly and wore a crown on her head and a black and red dress with a high collar in the back. The white rabbit climbed a stair case to a podium next to the queen's stand carrying a bugle. He panted in exhaustion, but managed to play the horn to signal the start of the trial. "Court is now in session." The girl on the defendant stand gasped. "I'm on trial? But why?" the white rabbit bowed before the judge "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts presiding!" whatever was going on had to be serious if a Queen was involved. But what could this girl have done? In deep disciplinarian voice the queen spoke. "This girl is the culprit. There's no doubt about it. And the reason is… because I said so that's why! " she was charging a child of a crime with no evidence?! This queen was a dictator and far from regal or noble. "This is so unfair!" the girl exclaimed. "Well, have you anything to say in your defense?" "Of course! I've done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be queen, but I'm afraid that doesn't give you the right to be so… so mean!" The girl clearly didn't acknowledge the queen's authority. She may not have done anything, but speaking to the queen so plainly didn't help her defense. The queen was furious. "SILENCE! You dare defy me?" none of us liked where this was going. "Hey guys maybe we should help her out." "Uh yeah, but wouldn't that be muddling?" "Meddling!" "Oh, yeah. And that's against the rules." The queen had reached her verdict. "The court finds the defendant Guilty as charged! For the crimes of assault and attempted theft of my heart…" our eyes widened at the charges we knew that could only mean one thing. It was the heartless that attacked the queen, the girl was innocent. "Off with her head!" The cards turned, ready to strike the girl down. The girl pleaded for her life "no, no! Oh please!" we charged in obstructing the trial. "Hold it right there!" shouted Sora. The queen looked perturbed at being interrupted "Who are you? How dare you interfere with our court?!" I chose to spoke carefully as saying the wrong thing would likely mean she'd want our heads as well. "Excuse me. But we know who the real culprit is! She's not the one you're looking for." The queen scoffed and was tapping her hand on the stand. "Nonsense! Have you any proof?" the guards locked the girl in a cage. "Bring me proof of Alice's innocence! Fail and it's off with all your heads! Bring as much or as little evidence as you need." We had earned Alice a stay of execution, but we had to act quickly. There was no telling if the queen would keep her word or not. As we entered the lotus forest we came across a floating bouncy head that disappeared and reappeared in different spots eventually its body appeared to pick up its head and reattached itself. "Who are you?" Asuna shrieked at the striped pink cat. "Who indeed? Poor Alice. Soon to lose her head and, she's not guilty of a thing!" "Hey if you know who the culprit is, then tell us or the queen!" "The Cheshire cat has all the answers—but doesn't always tell. The answer, the culprit, the cat all lie in darkness." The Cheshire cat disappeared again "wait!" his disembodied voice echoed throughout the forest "they've all left the forest I won't say which exit. There are four pieces of evidence in total to find. Three are easy to find, but the fourth is tricky. Big reward if you find it." "Do you think we can trust him?" asked Asuna. The Cheshire cat appeared behind Asuna "to trust or not to trust I'll let you decide." A chill went down Asuna's spine and she screamed!

Chapter 3 fateful encounter In the first district of traverse town two strangers and a dog were walking aimlessly. One was short in stature and had the appearance of a duck wearing a blue outfit with numerous zippers. The other was tall and wore yellow cargo pants, a green turtle neck sweater and a black vest. While he looked like a dog he wasn't like the yellow canine following them. In order they were Donald duck, Goofy, and Pluto. They journeyed from their home world of Disney castle on a quest to find their king Mickey mouse and a person with a mysterious key. Mickey had left them a letter entrusting his court wizard Donald and the Captain of his royal knights Goofy to find Leon in the hopes of locating this key. But they were totally lost. As they searched Donald developed a grumpy expression. "Where's that key?" goofy on the other hand was more cheerful "hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon." As they passed an accessory shop Pluto wondered down an alley way separating from Donald and goofy. "Uh you know Donald, I betcha that uh…" Donald waved off what he said "Aw, what do you know ya big palooka?" "Uh what do I know? Hmm… come on Pluto!" he then followed Donald. However he failed to notice that Pluto hadn't followed them. Instead the dog stumbled upon a boy in the alley way. He had spiky brown hair and was wearing red overalls, yellow shoes, a black and white jacket with short sleeves and a chained necklace with a crown shaped pendant. The dog then proceeded to wake the boy from his slumber. When he awoke he noticed that he was not in his home world of destiny islands. He entered the accessory shop because it was the closest building and he wanted to find someone who could tell him where he was. "Hey there how can I… Aw, it's only a kid." The shop was run by a middle aged man with blonde hair and an average appearance. He looked more like a mechanic than a haberdasher. "I'm not a kid! And the name's Sora!" "Okay okay simmer down. So why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?" "No! Well, maybe. Where are we?" the man looked at Sora like he had been living under a rock. "Huh?" Sora tells Cid about the islands he and his friends grew up in and cid tells him the name of the world he's on now. "Traverse town… so gramps is this really another world?" "Don't call me that! The name's Cid. Anyway… Not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island." "Hmm… guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi." Sora left the accessory shop and went to explore his new surroundings. As soon as he entered the second district he saw a man collapse terrified as he lost his heart and his body faded away. Soon the heartless appeared and the boy fought them off with the key shaped sword he acquired on destiny islands. After failing to locate his friends in the second district he returned to the first district. "They'll come at you out of nowhere." Startled Sora turned around expecting an attack. "Who are you?" the stranger acted as if he hadn't said anything. "And they'll keep on coming at you as long as you continue to wield the keyblade." He said while pointing to the weapon in Sora's hand. He then pinched his brow in confusion. "But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?" "Hey what's that supposed to mean." "Never mind. Now, let's see that keyblade." He walked towards him arm outstretched in an unspoken demand to hand it over. Sora was ready to fight. "What? There's no way you're getting this!" Leon then grabbed his own weapon. A large sword with a gun shaped hilt, it had a keychain with a lion's head medallion at the bottom of the hilt. "Fine then. Have it your way." Leon started the battle by casting a fire spell that shot a ball of flames towards Sora. He dodged out of the way and charged towards Leon. Sora's attacks were fast and furious, but untrained. Leon was slow and deliberate waiting for openings where he would land powerful blows. But Sora's speed made those moments few and far between eventually Sora won their little duel and collapsed his energy spent. "Aw, you're slipping Leon!" he turned to see a girl in rather revealing attire. She wore a head band, green sports bra, a yellow scarf, netting that covered her arms up to her shoulders, orange gloves, khaki short shorts with a blue belt, stockings that went above her knees, and orange shoes. Kirito and Asuna were just behind her. He turned back to the boy who defeated him. "I went easy on him… looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse." Asuna spoke up. "Did you really have to attack him?" Kirito agreed with her. They hadn't known these people for very long and while he was thankful for giving them a place to stay, mugging kids in the middle of the street wasn't exactly building trust. Leon turned to them. "I know my methods look extreme, but the weapon he carries is key to defeating the heartless and protecting the worlds." Kirito looked at the keyblade and took it from the boy's hand. 'This is what's supposed to save everybody?' Leon spoke again, "hold on to that. If the keyblade is separated from its wielder the heartless won't chase after him." He walked towards Asuna and handed her an envelope with a mouse shaped seal on it. "Take that to the item shop and ask for whatever weapons and equipment you and your boyfriend need. It's a onetime thing though. After this you'll have to buy things with munny. Asuna blushed at being reminded of her relationship with Kirito in such a blunt manner. 'We haven't even told them about it yet. Was it obvious or was Leon just fishing?' his smirk told Asuna that her expression gave him the information he wanted. She grabbed the envelope in a huff and walked towards the item shop. "Come on Kirito. Let's leave Leon to carry this guy back to the inn." Not wanting to make her angry I did as she said. When we entered the item shop we saw that it was run by three little boys and they looked like ducks each wearing a different colored shirt and cap. These were the brothers Huey, Dewie, and Louie. "Well hey there. It's nice to see new customers in town. How can we help ya?" Asuna showed them the sealed envelope. "We were told you guys could help us out if we gave you this. We need weapons, armor, potions, and the like can you help us?" they looked surprised "Wak! That's the king's seal!" "How did you get this?" it was Kirito's turn to speak "A guy named Leon gave it to us. Are you saying Leon is a king?" he sure doesn't act like it. And why the mouse seal? "No, no, no that's king mickey's seal." "If ya got it from Leon then he must've gotten it from king mickey." That made sense. Because there was no way Leon of all people could be a King. "So can you help us get what we need?" Kirito asked. "Sure. This place has everything, just tell us what ya want and we'll get it for ya." after an hour of trying out different swords and perusing the all the stores items and clothes we finally looked ready for an adventure. Asuna was dressed in a white and red ensemble with a leather corset around her waist. The short white skirt and red pants allowing freedom of movement and white heeled boot as per her preference. Her weapon of choice the rapier was an elegant weapon with a long thin silver blade and gold jewel encrusted hilt. The rubies were smooth and shaped to look like the mouse sigil on the envelope. Kazuto was dressed in black. He wore a black shirt with a grey plate covering his chest. There were two belts holding up his black pants. And he wore a long black coat with a pauldron on his right shoulder the straps connecting to the plate on his chest. Black fingerless gloves on his hands and on his back were two long swords. The one on the right was an obsidian black color with a leather binding on the hilt a green jewel on the cross guard. The other sword was of a similar design but different in color the blade was silver and the cross guard was a gold color with a blue jewel. Their weapons were enchanted allowing them to be stored away in a pocket dimension and called upon at will. In a flash of light the swords disappeared. Satisfied with their new gear, Kirito and Asuna thanked the duck triplets. But before they left the item shop Kirito noticed something was missing. The keyblade had disappeared! Before they could search for it they heard screams coming from the town square. The missing key would have to wait. They hurried outside to see what the commotion was. They found Cid in front of the accessory shop and Kirito asked him. "Hey gramps what's going on?" "Don't call me that! My name is Cid!" he snapped. "And to answer your question the heartless are attackin' the third district. There's a group of them and I reckon they're waitin' for the boss to show." Kirito and Asuna knew that this was their chance to fight the heartless. Without a word they ran towards the third district. When they arrived they saw the boy from before in a dogpile with another duck and some humanoid dog. Kirito spotted the keyblade in Sora's hand. He must've been able to call it back somehow. "The key!" shouted Donald and Goofy. At that moment the heartless appeared shadows and soldiers surrounding them. We all drew our weapons and attacked. The shadows were tricky and flattened themselves to the ground to avoid damage, but they were open when they stood back up. Kirito blocked an attack with one sword and attacked with the other. With lightning speed asuna took out the shadows as they stood back up. Sora was taking a page from Leon's book and waited for the perfect moment to attack. Donald defeated multiple enemies with his thunder magic. And Goofy was somehow spinning fast enough to float in the air and hit the soldiers like a tornado with his shield. There was an eerie calm as we defeated the last heartless. And then from the sky fell pieces of what was a giant suit of armor. The pieces assembled themselves the armor giant stood headless until the last piece fell directly on the armor giant. The completed heartless unleashed a variety of attacks using its floating limbs. We focused our efforts on attacking the arms and legs hoping the torso would be defenseless without its limbs. However the Armored heartless was able to separate itself and attack us all at once. The torso thought to be defenseless was actually the most deadly as it copied goofy's tornado attack to cover a large area. It was a hard fight, but one by one we destroyed the limbs and everyone attacked the torso. Sora leaped in to the air and dealt the finishing blow cleaving the giant heartless in two. As its body faded a heart was released into the air. I noticed the soldier heartless released hearts when they were defeated as well. I wonder where they went. "So you guys were looking for me?" sora asked. Donald and goofy both nodded affirmatively. "That's right. They too have been seeking the keyblade." Leon said walking in to the third district with Yuffie in tow. 'WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!' were mine and Asuna's thoughts. "Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel." Sora then closed his eyes "I wonder if I can find Riku and Kairi…" Asuna and I felt for Sora. We lost our world and all our friends to. But we had each other and Yui and Straea. Sora was alone and since he was the only one that could use the keyblade, the fate of the world was on his shoulders. It was a lot of responsibility for a kid his age. "Sora, Kirito, Asuna. Go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends." Leon said. Of course we were going with them. We needed them as much as they needed us. "Yeah I guess." "But you can't come along looking like that. Understand?" Donald said wagging his finger at sora. "No frowning. No sad faces okay?" "Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us! A-hyuck" "this boat runs on happy faces." "Happy." Sora lowered his head for a moment and when he looked up he had a huge grin on his face showing of all his teeth. We all laughed so hard I was holding my sides while Asuna was rolling on the floor. "Now that's one funny face." Said Goofy. Sora seemed to cheer up "okay, why not? I'll go with you guys." Donald raised his hand "Donald duck." Goofy put his hand on top of Donald's "Name's Goofy." Asuna went after goofy. "Asuna Yuuki." Followed by me "Kazuto Kirigaya. But you can call me Kirito." Sora placed his hand on mine. "And I'm Sora. I'll go with you guys." "ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!"

Chapter 2. Traverse town. I woke up with a yawn and stretched as I did so. When I looked around I noticed that I was in a red room with an eastern design. Just where was I exactly? My eyes widened as I remembered what happened. I looked around for Asuna, but she was nowhere to be seen. I found my bag at the foot of the bed and was relieved to see that its contents were undamaged. "Oh you're awake." I turned to the voice and saw a woman in a pink dress. Her hair was tied back in a long pony tail with a ribbon at the base. There were so many questions I had to ask and I blurted them all out. "Who are you? Where am I? What happened to my home? Where is Asuna?!" She sat at a nearby table and began to pour something from a pot. It smelled like some kind of herbal tea. She offered me a seat at the other side of the table and I sat there. "My name is Aerith. Your friend is sleeping in the room next door." I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. I drank from the cup she poured and I felt revitalized. I guess I didn't know how tired I was until I felt my strength return. "As for where you are this is an inn in world called Traverse town." I had never heard of such a place before. I was about to ask where on earth this traverse town was when she continued her explanation. "Traverse town is a world that shelters people that lost their own worlds to darkness and the heartless that inhabit it." "Heartless? Are they some kind of monsters?" she nodded in affirmation. "The heartless are the darkness in people's hearts made real. They seek the hearts of people and the worlds we live in hoping to drag everything into darkness." What she said was a lot to take in but the pieces all fit together perfectly. The reports of strange creatures in the shadows and that thing that sucked in everything around it. "So if these heartless consume everything around them then why are Asuna and I still alive?" it was a logical question. If the heartless and this darkness devour everything in sight then how did we survive? Did that light have something to do with it? "Who knows? Maybe you were just lucky. Or maybe you have strong hearts." A man had entered the room he had brown hair that went passed his neck and a scar that ran diagonally across on his face. He was tall and looked like he had been in more than a few battles. "Leon" Aerith said. The now identified Leon leaned against the wall "either way your world is gone and there isn't anything you can do about it." I stood up suddenly and slammed my hands against the table. What he said angered me. "I'm not buying it! There has to be some way to get back there!" He continued to speak nonchalantly "And What Is a kid like you gonna do? You have no ship to explore the lanes between worlds and you don't have weapons to defend yourself. The heartless would defeat you in seconds." I didn't respond because I knew he was right. Asuna and I don't have swords in the real world to fight with. We were easy prey. And even if we did we knew next to nothing about fighting heartless. "Tell me something. Do you really believe it's possible that you'll find your world again? Is it worth fighting for a world lost to the realm of darkness?" the door of the red room was slammed open and on the other side stood Asuna. "Of course it is!" She said emphatically "we have friends and family members all waiting for us to come home again. And there's no doubt in my mind they would all say the same thing if they were in our place!" and just like that Asuna's words snapped me out of it again. She always knows exactly what to say to make me hope again. I looked at Leon with a smile on my face completely determined. "I think you have your answer Leon." He smiled as well glad to see the fire in our eyes "so I do."

Sword art online: Hollow Heart Chapter1: the world of swords swallowed by darkness. I was sitting at a local internet café browsing the web on my computer. doing my daily routine of looking at the latest news in gaming and listening to the local news on the television. My name is Kazuto Kirigaya, my friends call me Kirito. I'm a 17 year old boy living in japan in the year 2026. I live with my aunt, uncle, and my cousin Suguha. My parents died when I was little and I don't remember them. For a while I thought they were my parents and I still think of them that way and of Sugu as my little sister. I've always been fascinated with computers and when I was 12 I built one out of parts from a junkyard. The first thing I did was hack into Japan's national registry and locate my birth record. I was surprised to say the least. After that I distanced myself in the virtual world. In the year 2022 the nerve gear along with it's first and only title sword art online was released. It was the first ever full dive system. In layman's terms it was like you were inside a video game and sword art online was the first ever virtual reality massive multiplayer online role playing game or VRMMORPG. I was one of the games beta testers and I couldn't have been more excited when the game was released to the public. Little did I know of the nightmare awaiting the 10,000 players in SAO. The system and game creator Kayaba Akihiko turned what was supposed to be a gamer's dream come true into a death game. When someone died in the game the nerve gear would scramble the player's brain with microwaves and if someone tried to forcibly remove the helmet the same thing would happen. For two years everyone fought for their lives trying to escape that world of swords. Eventually my friends and I made our way to the 100th floor and defeated the game's final boss. In the end 6,000 players survived the SAO incident and I met the best friends I could have imagined. But that's enough of a history lesson. The reason I'm at a café is because I promised my girlfriend Asuna Yuuki that we would meet here for a date. She's another SAO survivor and former commander of a guild called the knights of the blood oath. Needless to say she's fearless when she wants to be. We were married in game and we wanted to continue our relationship in the real world as boyfriend and girlfriend. Just when I was about to wonder when she'd arrive there she was dressed in a yellow sweater, brown skirt and knee high boots. It reminded me of her casual clothes in SAO. "Hi Kirito, sorry I'm late I was looking for a hat to wear and I just couldn't find one." It's not like Asuna to be fashionably late, but I didn't think too much of it. "that's okay you look better without a hat anyway." It was true a small portion of her long amber colored hair was tied back in in her usual braid and the rest just flowed down her back. She smiled at the compliment "Hehe thanks. By the way have you heard what's on the news recently?" "I'm not sure what you mean. Are you talking about that recent murder on Kat Street?" "No, but that's horrible. He was just a kid like us after all. Anyway I'm talking about those reports of strange creatures lurking in alleyways. It sounds like some kind of scary story and it gives me the willies!" I forgot to mention Asuna is terrified of things like ghosts and horror stories. Our friends think it's fun to bring up a ghost story related to a quest we were doing. They're all made up though. At that moment a little girl with long black hair decided to make her presence known on my computer screen. "don't worry mama I'm sure daddy will keep you safe." This is Yui she used to be a mental health counseling program in sword art online. But when Kayaba trapped all the players in the game she and her fellow MHCP Straea were restricted from interacting with the players. Those two years of watching thousands of players die and not being able to do anything caused errors accrue in their programming and they both became a sentient artificial intelligence. When we first met Yui we thought she was a young player who had somehow wandered onto the 22nd floor. She had no memories at the time and when she called us mama and papa we just couldn't say no. I managed to store both Yui and Strea's data on my nerve gear's memory and then I transferred them over to the games me and our friends play. Asuna and I love them both very much and they're as much of a family to us as our real ones. "I don't know I'm not as strong here as I am in the virtual world. Hehe" I scratched the nape of my neck as I said it. Yui pouted and I started to worry I made her mad. "but I'll be sure to do my best!" then she smiled "now that's more like it!" I was played. Asuna began to laugh at our antics. "what's so funny?" I asked. "it's nothing." She then latched onto my right arm and we began to walk down the street having placed my laptop in my bag so we'd have no more interruptions. "I know your my knight in a black coat." I smiled and just enjoyed the moment. Night had fallen and we were walking back to my house when strong winds started to blow. It was strange because the weather predictions didn't call for gale force winds or storms. Asuna and I made our way into the house and I turned on the t.v. and changed channels to the weather station and a breaking news bulletin was broadcasting. "A strange storm is striking japan as we speak. From the reports we've received it is breaking records and is likely to be the single largest storm anyone has ever seen. Scientists say it has to do with a large sphere of some sort in the earth's atmosphere. We have a live video feed of it right now." Asuna and I were sitting on the couch watching the news intently. She looked scared and so was I. The screen then changed to show a dark red sphere of swirling energy I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. It was like something out of movie. I thought it was some kind of practical joke but this was a live feed with no special effects. "The sphere appears to be made of some type dark matter and is growing larger by the second! As it grows the storm intensifies and it draws everything into the vortex! It shows no signs of stopping and I fear not only for Japan but-"static, we had lost the signal and whatever hopes we had of this being some sick joke. "Kirito…" I looked at Asuna's frightened expression and with a face of grim determination I grabbed her hand. "We have to go down to the basement. It's the safest place in the house when dealing with storms." "What about Suguha? We should bring her with us." "She and my parents are out of town for a kendo tournament. It's just us along with Yui and Straea on my laptop." That seemed to calm her if only a little bit. She was still terrified though. "Okay." We were about to get off the couch when suddenly the house began groan and cracks appeared on the walls. The house was being torn from its foundation. We double timed it to the basement when the ceiling was torn away along with the roof. It was too late. The storm sucked us into the air and we were screaming, trying desperately to hold onto each other for dear life. As we swirled into the darkness I wondered is this it? After everything we went through the world just ends? It just wasn't right. There was so much more I wanted to do with Asuna, Yui, and all of our friends. I managed to grab hold of Asuna securing her in my arms. I didn't know what was going to happen to us, but I knew with absolute certainty that we didn't want to die yet! As we entered the darkness I struggled to remain conscious. just when I was beginning to lose hope we found a light within the darkness. It was warm, welcoming, and it drew us towards it. As I passed out I felt relieved, the light had saved us.

"Yes, those should work quite well. And that 'tall tale' just might hold more truth you think. the crystals we use in lightsabers are special because of their attunement to the force. And since we are also attuned to it, we can draw out or even influence certain characteristics of crystals. Who knows, maybe once you finish constructing your lightsaber, those crystals could turn Blue, purple, green, or even some obscure color like orange or black. and that's not even going into color shades." Eventually, the two of them reached a room lined with shelves and a work bench. each shelf contained a variety of parts and casings in different styles one might use for constructing a lightsaber. "It's not as much what you'd find at one of our temples, but I'm sure between this and the armory, you should be able to construct a worthwhile lightsaber. So, are you ready to get started?"

"I see." And so the two of them walked through thee halls until they reached a firing range which was adjacent to the armory. Kel then reached for his saber pistol and ignited the bright green blade. "There is a certain truth in that statement. There's a philosophy to the way we craft our lightsabers. Every lightsaber is unique. whether it's simply aesthetic." He then pressed a button turning the blade off, aimed the pistol at a target, and fired off a green bolt of laser fire hitting the target dead center. "Or in functionality." He then twirled the saber pistol in his hand like an actor in an old holovid before placing the weapon back in its holster. "We Jedi have a certain saying, "A lightsaber is a Jedi's life". To us the lightsaber is more than a simple tool. It is the culmination of the lessons we've learned and the struggles we've endured. It is our faithful companion in preserving our lives and the lives of the innocent. And it is the guiding light with which we shape the next generation. It is our past, present, and future." Once he had finished his demonstration, Kel gestured for Svata to follow him yet again. "Now, i believe you wish to construct your own lightsaber yes? do you have a Kyber Crystal?"

Kel watched on in silence as the grand master and the Jensaarai discussed the histories of each of their groups. For a moment it seemed like hostilities would ensue when defender mantis aggressively rose from his seat in response to one of Adenna's remarks, but defender sarlacc prevented any escalation. Soon after, Kel was beginning to feel out of place when he heard a ping from his comm. The Jensaarai apprentice had requested a tour. seeing this as a perfect opportunity, Kel excused himself from the gathering to acquaint himself with the new comer. When Kel arrived at the hangar he recieved a salute from the platform guards that Svata had spoken to. "As you were good sirs. I can handle things from here." and so the guards had returned to their posts leaving Kel and Svata to their own devices. "So, shall we be going then?"

Kel watched in curiosity as the leader of the group approached him and Kyrie. He removed his helemet revealing the green skin and red eyes of a duros. He introduced himself as Defender Sarlacc followed by his companions defender Mantis who had yet to remove his helmet; and the apprentice Svata who Kel had initially greeted. Defender Sarlacc then went on to express their pledge for peace and justice and their hope for solidarity against the growing darkness. They say first impressions are everything and while on the surface the Jensaarai looked menacing, their words were of great reassurance. The one called mantis then asked if there was a more formal area to discuss terms. "We have prepared the reception area for your arrival. However if some of you wish to inspect our facilities, then i would be happy to give you a tour. Now, if you would please follow me." Kel turned around and lead the small group towards the reception area. once they had arrived they were not only greeted by the wafting, mouth watering scents of food, but also the Grand Master herself. "I present to you the Grand Master of the Jedi order Grand Master Adenna."

As Kel descended the turbo lift he couldn't help but notice that the state of his attire had deteriorated. his Jedi garb had become tattered and frayed. and his armor had accumulated a small layer of dirt and grime. And judging by the reactions of passer by, he was likely starting to smell. So before he did anything else, he procured a fresh set of garments and went to use the refresher. The hot water washed away the sweat and dirt from his body and eliminated his body odor. With that out of the way he changed into his dark brown garb and tied his red sash around his waist. Then he began polishing his armor. Once he had polished the white duraplast to a glossy sheen he put on the armored boots, gauntlets, and chest piece. And finally he polished the alloy metal casing of his saber pistol to a shine. Now that he was in what he considered a presentable state, Kel went to the hangar to greet the Jensaarai. Kel had arrived at the designated landing spot just as the Jensaarai cruiser descended onto the landing platform. The Jensaarai representatives descended the boarding ramp. Their dark red armor and horned helmets reminded Kel of his recent encounter with the Sith in the maw. Kel fought to suppress the urge to reach for the saber pistol holstered at his waist. He knew that the group standing before him were not enemies, but that battle was still fresh in his mind and he had the bruises to prove it. He didn't want to start off on the wrong foot by appearing standoffish, so he decided a casual, but still respectful approach was in order. Kel gave the group a short bow before speaking. "Good tidings members of the Jensaarai. My name is Kel Koon and i bid you welcome to our rebel headquarters."

Kel stood observing the holo maps and other various digital displays with his hand cupped under what could be considered the chin of his antiox breathing mask. the bulk of intel, battle strategies, and resources was going to be a struggle to take in; but he would have to in order to live up to his new responsibilities as a knight. However, his train of thought was broken when a beep came from a nearby communications terminal. Kel answered the call and what came through was a message from a group called the Jensaarai. After listening to the transmission, their ship id codes came in. Kel's brow began to furrow. He wasn't familiar with the Jensaarai, But if their message indicated that they shared a common goal with the Jedi. And against the terrible might of the Sith, we would need all the help we can get. And so Kel sent them a reply. "This is Kel Koon, Knight of the Jedi order. You are clear to approach, and I will greet you in the docking bay." Once that was done, Kel went off to meet their new arrivals.

While Kel Dorin facial expressions were notoriously difficult to read, one look at Kel's could tell anyone of his surprise. Knight hood? He was really being promoted? His initial shock soon gave way to joy and excitement. The only thing that could have made this moment better was if his sibling apprentice Frond had been here to witness it. But alas, this conflict has affected everyone involved. Some more than others. He could only hope that his friend would get well soon if he hasn't already. Upon receiving approval from Grand master Adenna, She also asked how Kel planned to contribute to the order as a knight. "You know, that's a good question. When i first joined the Order, I wanted to be a seeker of sorts. I want to explore the galaxy and learn everything of the force that I can. But this war is causing so much destruction and strife that i can't just ignore it. So right now, the only thing i can do is devote myself to seeing that this war is ended. So until that day comes, I will fight to ensure the protection of the innocent and the survival of my brothers and sisters in the order as well as our comrades."

Yava continued to stir and groan throughout the process of Kel's treatment. Kel noticed that her fever seemed to be dissipating. Although her breathing was still shallow. it was slow, but the medicine seemed to be having a positive effect on her. Eventually, Yava's eyes fluttered and slowly began to open. "She's coming around." Kel quickly opened the door and called out to the other crew members. "Hey, She's waking up! Get her some water!" Soon enough one of the crew members, a Twi'lek male came and delivered a flask filled with precious clear liquid. Kel thanked the man, took the flask, and returned to Yava's bedside. Kel heard her curse under her breath before asking where they were. "Still in space. But we're closely approaching Nar Shaddaa. I've also called a medical transport. You'll be taken to a hospital for further treatment once we arrive. In the mean time, it's important for you to stay hydrated." Kel held out the flask towards Yava's lips. "It's water. don't worry, there's nothing in it."

R5 quickly rolled up Kel and sounded off a set of disgruntled beeps and trills. "Oh Come on R5, you act like you've never flown around black holes before." the droid then let loose another high pitched whine. as if to say 'that's not all and you know it!' "I know, I know. One of these days I'll take you to visit the droid spa. Will that make you happy?" R5 gave a satisfied beep before getting in line behind Kel. "You're a real drama queen ya know." Kel received a comm message from Master Sandy bidding him to join her in the grand master's office. Once Kel entered the room, he gave a bow in greeting to the grand master Adenna and Master Sandy respectively. "You wanted to see me Master?"

Before arriving on Nar Shadaa, Kel Sent a transmission asking that a medical transport be readied upon their arrival. Thankfully Yava had managed to survive her overdose for the duration of the voyage. Once they had arrived Yava had been loaded on to said transport and taken to a hospital. The remaining scavengers looked towards Kel with very mixed expressions ranging from curiosity to concern. One of them stepped forward and asked "So, You have our captain in your custody. What is to become of the rest of us?" a legitimate concern to be certain. Their time under the sith had left them shaken. and with Yava in her current Condition, the only other person they could turn to was Kel. "You have all been through a horrible ordeal. I can only imagine the despicable treatment you've received at the hands of the sith. It would be completely understandable for you to be wary of force sensitives like myself and the Jedi. I could preach to you all day long about the righteous cause of the jedi, but i know that to people like yourselves, actions speak louder than words. Once Yava is released from medical care, you will be free to do as you wish. But know this, traversing the maw is no easy feat. To do so while under the oppressive thumb of a Sith and survive means that you are all highly skilled. And i don't mean to brag, but i know people in the order. If you would like, I could speak to Master Sandy or even Grand Master Adenna. If you work with us we can offer security and safe harbors for you and your captain. You would no longer need to rely on shady jobs from questionable groups like the sith for employment. with the Jedi, you will have a safe and reliable source of revenue. But most important of all, you will have Freedom. The choice is yours." And with that, Kel Departed from the scavenger ship and went to head quarters to regroup with Sandy, Aiden, and his trusty astromech R5.

the scavenger ship was following closely behind master Tobias' ship. Kel stood by Yava's bedside watching over her as she slept. Her breathing was shallow and and she was running a high fever. In his hand was the last vial of medicine that Trushaun had given him. He hesitated in giving this to her on the vigilance. Now her condition was in critical state. they were too far from an inhabited world to seek treatment. So now Kel was presented with a dilemma. If he waited for them to arrive at Nar Shadaa, she would surely die. But if he gave her the medicine there was a chance he could save her, or that her body would reject it and die in the struggle. meaning that she would die by his hand. Before he did anything else he began meditating in order to prevent his mind from being plagued by fear and doubt. Once that was done he reminded himself of why he was here to begin with. The duty of a Jedi is to the preservation of life and the balance of the force. He came to the aid of these people to follow through on those beliefs. And so Kel placed the medipen on her arm, injected the medicine into her body and began the process of healing Yava by empowering her immune system to purge the harmful chemical substances in her body.

The healing process of one Kel Koon was going smoothly. That is until the shipping container he was trapped in started spinning and he was tossed around like a load of clothes in the dryer. Needless to say, Kel was not amused. Once the container (and kel's insides) had settled, he stood up with a groan and grumbled about setting a certain sith on fire as he made his way to the door. Kel ignited his light saber and began carving his way out. Eventually a slab of the door fell off and Kel shimmied through the hole. The first thing he noticed was that their mysterious enemy lay dead and unmasked on the floor. Immediately feeling relief that his master had once again triumphed over the practitioners of the dark side. However, it wasn't a complete victory. The ship's hull had been ruptured and master sandy was using the force create a barrier around the hangar doors. He also noticed that Yava was still passed out and dangerously close to the breach. Kel reached out through the force and drew her unconscious body into his arms. When Yava's communicator began beeping, Kel grabbed it and answered the call. "Yava? Yava?! Are you there? Are the Jedi gone yet? And what of lord Kern?" "Your scavenger friend here has overdosed on death sticks. And your sith master is dead. Now, if you want to get out of here alive, you will do what I say." "I'm listening." He said nervously. "Have your ship ready to depart by the time I arrive. This place is coming apart and we have to leave NOW." Kel ended the transmission and looked to Aidan. "Take R5 with you. You'll need all the help you can get." Then he looked towards his master. "Get going master. Don't worry about me. I'll be right behind you." And with that, Kel ran off to the scavenger's ship.

As gas and acid filled the room, Master Sandy used the force to create a shield protecting us from their effects. Knowing that this would have a toll on her, Kel deactivated his saber and began meditating so that he could supplement her with his own force energy. Once the trap's dispersion had ceased, Kel looked back at Yava who had collapsed possibly due to drug overdose. His hand briefly drifted to his first aid kit which contained medicine he had received from Trushaun on Ossus. If he acted now there was a chance he could save her, but with the drugs already in her system, her body could have an adverse reaction. 'Druk. why do people smoke these kriffing death sticks? for maker's sakes it's in the kriffing name!' Before Kel could examine her further however, his blood ran cold as what sounded like a beastial cry was let loose through the hangar bay. turning his attention to the source, he saw wreckage and debris being held aloft through the force by a masked figure clad in armor. Kel sensed the darkness from figure was feeding a fiery rage inside him. There was no room for doubt; the being before them was a Sith. Before Kel could ignite his saber once more, the figure psychokinetically threw the debris at us. Kel tried to throw up a shield similar to what his master had done, but his energy was drained from supporting master Sandy through the poisonous trap. an armature connected with Kel's torso and he was flung into a shipping container. His body collided with the wall and he fell to the cold metal bottom with his consciousness fading as the container door sealed itself. As he slowly began to awaken, Kel felt excruciating pain throughout his body. He attempted to sit up from his prone position, but immediately laid back down as pain flared in his chest and midsection. Thankfully his dominant arm maintained motor function so he would be able treat himself after assessing his injuries. Kel calmed his mind and through the force began to examine his body. His left shoulder had been dislocated, his sternum was cracked, a few cracked ribs, and there was inflammation around his tail bone. Reaching into his medical kit, Kel retrieved the vials given to him by Trushaun. remembering her instructions, he injected himself with the purple vial to numb the pain. The effect was nearly immediate. With his pain minimized, Kel was able to raise himself into a sitting position against the wall. Once that was done he began the process of relocating his left shoulder. he raised his left arm to the point where his left hand could almost reach his right shoulder, shifted his arm back as far as it could go, and began rotating his arm while in that position until he heard the pop of his shoulder sliding back into the socket. Once that was done, Kel injected himself with one of the clear vials and began to meditate and focus on healing his body.

Kel watched on silently as the exchange between the scavenger and his companions took place. From minute 1, he knew that this woman was hiding things from them. firstly because no scavenger would willingly come to the maw unless they knew something worth their trouble was here. Second, the only way someone would know about this particular ship would have been from another interested party. Which means that she's likely working for someone. Although from the sound of it, she was not doing so willingly. Which is why he chose not to say anything while Aidan and his master negotiated with said scavenger who had now identified herself as Yava. Eventually Master Sandy had seen fit to return the blaster Yava had pointed at us a moment ago. Upon his master's order, Kel drew his saber pistol from his belt and ignited the bright green blade. "R5, Follow Aidan. I'm certain you could be of assistance to him." The astromech trilled in response before rolling off to locate imperial knight. before mentally preparing himself for the coming battle, he turned to Yava. "We came here because we have a job to do. I'm sure you of all people can understand that much. As for you and your crew, we can help you get out of this mess. But only if you let us. This ship contains valuable knowledge that could tip the scales of the war. The Sith would abuse that knowledge to sow fear into people like you and the rest of the galaxy so that you will become their subservient pawns. If what you and your crew desire is freedom, TRUE freedom, then help yourselves by helping us."

Kel simply nodded at his master's praise. As the three of them walked through the boarding tunnel, Kel felt a dark presence distinct from the chaos of the maw. Aidan's warning went without saying. We were not alone on this ship. When the 3 jedi and R5 entered the landing bay they took a moment to discuss their plan. Aidan started off by asking where we would go first. "I think the we should start with the helm. If we can restore power to the bridge, we should be able to get a better idea of where to find what we're looking for."

As Kel gazed at the maw, Kel couldn't help but be reminded of his home world of Dorin. much like that dry dust bowl he once called home, their objective was precariously placed between a set of black holes. His astromech companion R5, sounded off a set of beeps and trills. "No R5, I think navigating this will be a tad trickier than the Dorin run." before beginning our approach master sandy instructed Kel to operate the shields to protect us from the maw's high levels of radiation. "Yes, master." Kel turned to his station and began operating the levers and dials of the shield generator "R5, divert power from non essential systems to the shields." the astromech then moved to a nearby terminal and began operating the ship's power grid via scomp link. several of the ship's lights turned off leaving only low power led lights for certain areas. "Whatever you're about to do, do it fast. our shields won't last forever."