Raid #13 [Plot]

He was at 2 strikes.

And that's all Mickey could think about. He was a keyblader. A chosen warrior to protect the worlds of Light from the Darkness. Now not only had he lost his own home but had lost his friends home. His head was forcibly held high in the gummi ship as he looked at where the next raid appeared to be. His head lead him to many places and to make many choices but now they felt like it was all for nothing. Had he lost his Light? Were the Villains and Heartless of Darkness just too powerful for him anymore? People use to look at his face, his smile, his simple approach and turn to immediate joy and happiness. What would they do now if they saw him?

The Gummi Ship stopped just on top of the traveling whale. Closing his eyes, with a depressing sigh, the mouse turned into a ball of light and traveled inside the beast. Upon entering he looked around the mouth of the beast. Looking at the entrance to the left of the ship he could see darkness spewing out in weak amounts. His keyblade emerged quickly in his hands. Jumping around like a grasshopper, Mickey quickly made his way around the boxes on top of the water and entered the spot. His mind raced on his thoughts. Was he too late? Had the Heartless already begun? Were others here? Had they lost? He quickly waved his head and ran faster.

He followed more and more where the darkness seemed to be more concentrated. Upon entering the throat, Mickey slowed his pace to walk. His eyes looked to see who the master villain was. His pupils grew bigger as he saw who his opponent was. It no other than Xehanort's Heartless, formally known as Ansem. Was Riku here before? Had Ansem finally taken over him? It couldn't be, Mickey thought. Riku said to himself that he controlled it. Then after the explosion from Ansem, the Wise's, laser he returned to his normal appearance. Why and how was this Heartless still in existence? Still breathing?

"Ansem!" Mickey yelled. Soon his mistake as the Search Ghost beams screamed their red color of a security breach. Mickey assumed his fighting position. The keyblade held horizontally behind his back. His left arm slightly covering his eyes. The attitude and perseverance in his body increased. He could doubt himself if he hoped to defeat this enemy. Ansem's power was behind belief before but he had never faced him before. He was too busy in the Realm of Darkness, but thanks to his pals, Donald and Goofy, Sora achieved victory against him. Sora was more powerful and Mickey but hopefully Mickey could obtain victory. He had to! No more friends worlds need to be taken by darkness.

NO MORE!!!

"So... The wielder of the Keyblade from the Realm of Darkness wishes to oppose me... King Mickey... It's been so long. Tell me... What does one such as yourself truly think he can against the forces of darkness?"

Mickey simply held his position as Ansem spoke. Ansem was smart enough to know why he was here and probably what his answer would be. They both possessed the power of darkness, in a sense, but Ansem was by far the stronger opponent in it. The Light in Mickey's heart would lead in him the right direction just as it always did. His grip on the keyblade strained and he began to blitz Ansem.

However, the mouse stopped to look up and see the Search Ghost begin their strike. Their eyes no longer flashing light in search of their victim. Looking up, Mickey only noticed two of them. They would appear to be easy work. As the long arms of one of Search Ghost reached out towards him, Mickey quickly blocked the attack. The other Search Ghost began it's close strike, and Mickey jumped up in the air flexibly. He landed on top of the Search Ghost and used it to reach the height of the other one. His keyblade slashed sideways and ended with a vertical slash downwards, releasing the heart of the Heartless.

Mickey landed softly and turned back to the previous Search Ghost, but instead turned to find two. Completely ignoring it Mickey blitzed them. Before they could even make a move, Mickey's keyblade released a strong blast of ice from his keyblade. Freezing the two Heartless, the deed was done as the King's keyblade slashed through the ice. He turned back to Ansem and pointed his keyblade towards him. A small ball of pure light gathered at the tip of his blade. "Pearl!" he exclaimed as the small ball flew towards the Seeker of Darkness.

Mickey watched Ansem's reaction to his attack. It appeared that he was simply toying with him. There was no reason to take it to a personal side but Ansem would discover Mickey's power soon enough. But he would have to be careful. Unlike Sora, Mickey was more tactful in his attacks but not as conserved as Riku. The King returned his defensive stance as soon as Ansem made a movement. Six disks began to make their approach towards him.

His first response was a step backwards. Followed quickly by a cast of Reflega. In an instant a Shield of Light surrounded the King. The image appeared to be him covered in a dome of glass. As the attack continued it hit the shield. Two successfully hit the shield before it exploded as a result taking out three move. Shockingly the third breached by and Mickey jumped out of the way just in time. After a brief second a tear revealed itself on his sleeve. He had miscalculated the attack. But it wouldn't happen again.

Pushing himself up, Mickey recovered quickly and ran towards Ansem. His keyblade held firmly behind him. Once coming close enough, Mickey jumped up with a repetition of front flips. He then held his keyblade out to attack but continued his flips. Through each rotation a memory of the worlds his previously defended appeared in his head. This battle was worth more than it would appear. He couldn't let Ansem win!

As Mickey jumped he noticed the appearance of the Guardian, but he couldn't let it stop him. Spinning down with his keyblade out everything was a chance now. The Guardian reached over to grab the keyblade but , thanks to Mickey's size, he just avoided the attack. Contact was made against Ansem but he still stood strong. It was only once slash but he had to take advantage of it. Ansem was a distant fighter, while Mickey was a close contact type. The King rushed in to attack Ansem but was shut back as his shield was pulled up. Mickey's body flew back some with strings of electricity trickling his body.

Pushing himself up again, Mickey eyed Ansem. He held his keyblade up strongly. With this staredown break thoughts brought Mickey back to how Ansem had returned. Riku was no longer apart of the darkness and broken from Ansem. Had that, in turn, literally released Ansem from Riku's body making him live again? It couldn't be. Heartless were only created when someone had their heart taken. As a result a nobody and heartless were born. He'd have know if Riku had lose his heart. He would have felt it through his. Even though they were separated Mickey could always feel how his friends were. That's how he knew they were in good shape or now. They were, however, more feelings than anything else. Had he missed something?

"How are you here?!" Mickey stated. "And what happened to Riku?" Emotions were spewing out of the king as he tried to peace together what could have happened. Ansem was one of the smartest beings he'd ever encountered and probably knew how to return no matter what. The thought that he manipulated Riku angered the Mouse. But not a pure anger but one fueled from the bond of friendship he made with the Dawn Keyblader. "Tell me!"

"I was beginning to wonder when you might ask that. For you see, that machine that Ansem the Wise had created expelled me from Riku's Body. However, it did not destroy me. For the machine did manage to serve its purpose in absorbing some of Kingdom Hearts. The hearts that were taken in by the machine were then absorbed by me, allowing me to regain my strength deep within the realm of darkness."

It was the machine all along. How could he not see this coming? The power of hearts could do many things. Instead of looking at the downside of it Mickey only noticed the good side. He couldn't blame himself because even he did not know everything. The main point was that even though Ansem had returned he would fall again. Light always prevailed over darkness. Through mythology time or current life, the story had repeatedly numerously. Even in the history of the different worlds it was all the same. Light was strong and would prevail.

"In the Realm of darkness, heartless gathered, and their hearts were taken by me, allowing me to slowly regain my strength. After all was completed, I filled the End of the World with more heartless then before. And to make matters worse, at least... for you... Traverse Town, as is soon to be this whale, is under my complete and total control. What was once a haven for those who had lost their homes is now a world filled with darkness and heartless. No doubt the citizens of Traverse Town are long gone, swallowed up by the heartless. Those poor, weak, and pathetic souls never stood a chance, and neither did that of the one who tried to stop me. I am not doing anything wrong. I am merely returning the worlds to the state in which the came from."

Mickey gasped when he heard about Traverse Town. It was another world full of friends taken away. Why was this happening? Since when did the Darkness become so powerful? It was just like before Sora and Riku were discovered. Was Ansem the main threat again? His belief of returning the worlds to their "pure" state was the motivation behind many of the Heartless attempts. But the Horsemen appeared to have more behind their motives. Too many things were happening in this time. He had his trust through his friends but were they enough. Was time calling for another keyblader? Each time darkness arised a keyblader appeared. Maybe not, but right now was the worse time to think of that.

"You still haven't learned Ansem," Mickey stated. "The worlds are created from both Light and Darkness. No side controls more than the other. I use to think Darkness was wrong just you think nothing comes Light. But I've learned that Light and Darkness are equal and are both good. You can't return the worlds the darkness because even through then they still contain Light. This is why Light always returns just as the Darkness." A sense of maturity had overcome Mickey through his years on the this subject. Everything was a turning cycle with Light and Darkness. Darkness always had it's strand of power but then Light usually overcame it. But that's also why Darkness usually returned. In each world, Light and Darkness both shared the days and nights. They were equal and humanity had to understand that. He knew Ansem would be oblivious to his explanation but he had to reason with him. There was always a chance that he would see through his ways. Heartless or not.

"You can't overturn the balance of powers," Mickey started again. "Or else you're doomed to repeat the failure you went through last time!"

Mickey dropped his head. Ansem did have the right impression and he obviously knew of what had happened to his home. That was never to happen but he was too slow to react and take advantage of the situation. The price that his mistake had paid was beyond any in the history of his home. But he would return and he would take out the Horsemen.

"You are correct, Ansem," Mickey stated. He rose his head back up quickly with his eyes returning to the determination they showed at the beginning of the battle. "But just as Sora told you, Light may be weak and sometimes even give in. As you saw you're haven of darkness was shielded by the very power you couldn't handle. Kingdom Hearts is shielded by Light! The balance between our elements will fight forever, but as long as my heart leads me to what's right and what's wrong I will always fight for what's right. And what you're doing to our worlds is wrong. Therefore, I will fight for what my heart believes in."

Mickey thanked Riku and Sora in his head. They had truly shown him how to believe in their heart rather than look at things as Light and Darkness. In total, Ansem and Mickey were correct in their thought process of the elements. But when things came down to it, it was whether what you were doing for Light or Darkness was right or wrong. Riku and Mickey could easily be placed evil just by using a tool of Darkness, but believing in their hearts they were guided to the right direction. Ansem on the other hand misused his power and therefore would have to be taken out. What he did before would not be repeated!

As Mickey finished his sentence, his keyblade slashed upward releasing a Thundaga spell. A large thunderbolt would come down where Ansem resided but could easily be avoided. It was only a diversion. Mickey blitzed straight forward towards Ansem again. His eyes tracking each movement of this Master of Heartless. When close enough, Mickey would mildly jump up and continue an onslaught of keyblade strokes to the torso of Ansem. There had to be a way to separate the Guardian and his master from each other.