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Infini Knight Quest Ch 20

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Chapter 20 - Going Home

Radiant Garden

When Gwen woke up she felt pretty much like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Ship nuzzled her face and hopped around on the bed Gwen found herself laying on. A small group of people surrounded her bedside. Ben, Kevin, Kairi, Merlin and two other people Gwen didn't know. One of them reminded her of Venxik, but his hair and eyes were a different color and he had a scar on his face. The other was a pretty girl with braided brown hair, wearing a dress and boots.

"Ship!" the little Galvin mechamorph chirped.

Gwen hugged the creature.

"Hello Ship," she told it. "Did you miss me?"

"Ship!" it confirmed.

"Where has he been?" Gwen asked Ben.

"Riku had someone taking care of him," Ben explained.
"He and Sora went to pick him up while you were... resting."

Gwen remembered how they had arrived at Radiant Garden but she had been sobbing so badly, no amount of comforting could make her stop. She cried until she exhausted herself and fell asleep to escape the hurt. Now she felt ashamed.

"I'm sorry," she told them.

"Don't be," Ben said.

"Yeah. It wasn't your fault," Kevin insisted.

"I just wish I could have helped them," Gwen added. "All those hearts. I could feel every emotion from them. All the positive ones, negative ones and all their sadness."

"Kingdom Hearts is very powerful," Merlin agreed. "The last few were made from the hearts taken from slain Heartless."

"People who were turned into Heartless," Gwen grieved.

"There isn't anything more you can do for them, Gwen," Kairi said. "The rest is up to Sora."

Ben introduced his cousin to Aerith and Leon, natives to Radiant Garden.

"Do you need anything?" Aerith asked Gwen.

"I'm a little hungry," she admitted.

"How about some seas salt ice cream?" Ben offered.

"Yeah," Leo added. "Ben has only eaten three bars so far."

"The others are outside," Kevin said. "Come on."

He helped Gwen out of the bed. The girl reaching into one of her pockets to find a hair tie and put her auburn locks up into a ponytail. Ship bounced up into her arms before they went outside. One of the first people Gwen focused on was Venxik.

She recalled his promise to rejoin with Kevin and asked, "Isn't he supposed to be inside you?"

"He wanted to talk to you first," Kevin murmured.

The Nobody had put aside his black hooded coat revealing an outfit entirely made of black, gray and silver. He wore a grey military jacket over a tattered dark T-shirt, worn denim jeans with chains at the belt and a pair of laced up boots. The most intriguing thing about him had to be the cord around his neck holding a pad lock etched with an x.

Venxik and Cid were having a very heated argument.

"You tried to kill me!" Cid snapped.

"It wasn't my plan," he replied. "You think I liked working with those losers?"

"You've switched sides so many times, it's hard to figure which losers you're talkin' about!"

"I just wanted Wyndi back! That's all! I didn't care who I backstabbed!"

"Like me?"

"Guys! Time out!" Yuffie cut in.

The young ninja girl pointed at Gwen and the others who stood watching the exchange. The red haired teenager quickly greeted Sora, Riku, King Mickey, Donald and Goofy with hugs and hellos. Pluto bounded around her until she scratched him behind the ears and placed Ship on his back. The two pets quickly ran off to play tag.

Kevin and Ben escorted Gwen over to Venxik as Cid and Yuffie backed away. Venxik stared at Gwen for a moment before speaking.

"You know how bad we are at saying when were wrong," he began. "And worse at saying we're sorry."

"Even I know you were wrong," Kevin butted in.

"Don't act like you'd never do what's needed to get her back," Venxik retorted.

"Saving and kidnapping are two different things!"

"I think you two should stop arguing," Gwen said. "It's been hard dealing with just one of you."

"It's hard because he's in pain," a voice said from inside Gwen's body.

The translucent form of a blonde haired girl clothed in white stepped out from inside of Gwen. Her pale green eyes were as vibrant as her smile.

"Wyndi," Venxik uttered.

The Nobody's hands tried to touch hers, but they past right through Wyndi's since she no longer had her own physical form.

"You made a promise to come back," Wyndi said cheerfully.

"Yes. So you wouldn't be lost forever," Venxik nodded.
"As an Anodite, you wouldn't exist. You're worth being around even if it means giving up being this."

"And you made a promise too," Wyndi looked at Kevin.

"What promise?" Kevin asked.

"To always stay a team, even if you’re still hurting."

"Right after I beat Vilgax, remember?" Ben added.

Kevin recalled Ben insistence that even after the mistake he had made, they were still a team. Kevin had been reluctant to put his hand on top of Gwen's until she gave him such an annoyed look, he relented.

"I hate the way I look," Kevin said.

"That's the one thing we both agree about," Venxik replied.

"I believe you can be healed," Wyndi said.

"You tried," Kevin recalled. "You couldn't do it without nearly destroying yourself."

"The true form is there."

"That's why you have to rejoin with Kevin," Gwen said to Venxik. "It won't work with your piece missing."

"You really think so?" Venxik asked.

"I know so."

Venxik glared at Kevin, "I hope you don't keep acting like a wuss."

"I'm not a wuss!" Kevin replied. "When it comes down to it, I'll do what I have to do to save my friends."

"I have no choice but to believe you."

Venxik put out his hand as if offering to shake Kevin's as a final agreement. Kevin reacted by taking the Nobody's hand. As he did, Venxik began to glow with a halo of golden light. The Nobody's form evaporated into Kevin. He looked down at himself a moment, closed his eyes to concentrate and opened them again only to see himself remaining his mutated form. He sighed with despair and gazed at Wyndi.

"I guess it was too much to believe that would have been enough," Kevin said.

"It will come Kevin," Wyndi insisted. "You're friends will help you."

The white clad Nobody smiled one last time before turning to Gwen and nodding. Wyndi closed her eyes, dissolved into golden light and rejoined with Gwen.

"That is so freaky," Ben declared. He got some odd looks from his friends. Ben insisted, "Well it is!"

"Looks like I'm still going to need my I.D. Mask," grumbled Kevin. "Which Venxik busted."

"You mean this thing?" Cid asked.

Cid held out Kevin's I.D. Mask. Kevin took it in his hands, examining the workmanship. It looked as if it had never been broken in half.

"You fixed it?" Kevin couldn't believe it.

"Kairi asked me. All it took was a little technology and science," Cid declared.

"And some magic," Merlin added.

"A bit of magic," Cid corrected.

Cid and Merlin began to argue, making Yuffie roll her eyes.

"And they’re at it again."

Kevin put the I.D. Mask to his face. Immediately the illusion of his human form over wrote the mutated version.

"That looks better," he said.

"But you don't need it," Gwen replied.

She hugged him around his waist, staring up into his eyes. Donald waddled up to them, presenting them with a small freezer box.

"This is from my uncle," the magician said.

Inside were three dozen bars of sea salt ice cream popsicles. Ben insisted on sharing even though Donald could easily get more for the others. Everyone who wanted one took one, leaving the rest for Ben's team to take home.

"I definitely have to get this made into a smoothie," Ben told Sora as he gobbled his down.

"Will we ever see each other again?" Gwen asked.

"I think so," Sora said.

"What about a Kingdom Hearts?" Gwen still sounded so mournful about all the lost hearts.

"I told Xenahort I believed Kingdom Hearts is light. I still do. His forces try to create it for use by darkness but it can't truly exist without light."

"Which is why they took you," Riku said. "Your heart and power is light."

"Gwen," Sora continued. "I made you a promise I'll fix everything. I'll do it for you."

"And he'll have us to help," King Mickey agreed.

Sora held his hand out to Gwen. His fist remained closed, but his pinkie finger was extended. The red-headed teenager understood. She reached out her hand in the same way, curling her small finger around his and shook.

"Pinkie swears?" Kevin noted.

"It's how he does it," Kairi grinned.

Before Sora and Gwen could break the connection, Ben put his hand on top of theirs. Kevin, Riku and Kairi did the same. Mickey, Donald and Goofy joined in.

Their nine hearts had made a pact no distance between them could undo or any darkness could break.

Friends forever.

Epilogue

"Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it."

Gwen Tennyson's House

Gwen never thought she'd go back down this old path again.

Ever since Charmcaster had returned to steal Kevin from her as revenge, Gwen had started to use spells once more, realizing they juiced up her mana powers. It seemed only proper that she'd take this full circle and return to her previous roll of hero from five years ago.

After all, where she was going, she needed all the luck she could get.

The black suit, purple boots and gloves were easy to buy at the mall. She also had an old trench coat stored in the back of her closet. As she rummaged through her clothes for the coat, she also took out an old cardboard box of mementos from her summer trip with her cousin Ben and Grandpa Max.

Resting on top, wrapped in old tissue paper, sat a familiar cat mask she had bought in New Orleans. The mask had been part of her brief stint as her alter ego, Lucky Girl. Gwen thought the mask would always be a part of her past, much the same way Ben had put the Omnitrix away, never intending to use it again.

Now she needed it.

If only Riku hadn't given Hex back the Archamada Book of Spells, she thought. Now I have to go though the trouble of stealing it.

Stealing made Gwen uneasy. However, she needed it. She and Kevin hadn't been the same since they had returned from Sora's dimension. His hurt seemed to have grown worse. She only exacerbated it with becoming even more obsessed with finding him a cure. It made them grow apart and made it look like she did care if he looked like some ugly monster.

Wyndi said he'd be healed, she reminded herself. I can't give up trying. I'm going to fix this, even if it means breaking rules.

Gwen dressed in the costume, putting the trench coat on over the outfit. She slipped the mask into a backpack she hoped would soon contain the magic book she needed.

As she opened the window to her room to sneak out, she suddenly thought of Sora and his promise.

"We all have our part to do in fixing things Sora," Gwen whispered. "Wish me luck."

Plumber's Base - Mount Rushmore

Grandpa Max still wondered why he had decided to come here to check on it.

The last time the traitor Plumber Driscoll had been here, he wanted a source of unlimited power to rule the Earth. The Forever King must have been so focused on one set of keys, he never thought of the other one.

But when Ben fully briefed him on everything involving the Keyblade Knights, he needed to come here.

He went to the storage facility for the Plumber's base and started opening different compartments in the rows of metal draws that resembled bank safety deposit boxes.

If only my memory were a little better, he thought. I'd remember which one had it.

Finally he opened the right compartment. Inside sat a weapon like no other in this side of reality.

The Keyblade should have disappeared along with its previous owner. Why it had remained behind, Max couldn't understand. The metal gray blade shaped to resemble a wrench had been a gift from Max's heart. Maybe she felt embarrassed keeping it so she left it behind. Max didn't blame her. It had been his fault. She had reminded him so much of Verdona. The idea of a fifty five year old man flirting with a woman who couldn't have been any older than eighteen even made him uneasy.

Still they had connected somehow. Much the same way she had connected to his granddaughter, Gwen.

Master Aqua, Keyblade wielder.

From what Kevin had told Max, something terrible had happened to her, leaving her trapped in darkness, not aging but also not free.

Max wished he could save her like she had saved Gwen all those years ago, but this task wasn't meant for a Plumber. It was the task for a Keyblade Master.

"Sora," Max said. "Be careful."

Forever Knight Castle - West Coast Division - eight months later

Factions.

Once Driscoll, The Forever King had sway over the entire North American Branch of the Forever Knights. Then ten-year-old Ben Tennyson defeated his attempt to take over the world using Sub Energy, a source of alien power more intense than all the Earth's nuclear reactors combined.

After that, the North American division began to fracture. Many went back to England to consult Patrick, who declared himself the true King. Driscoll thought he found a way to unite the broken group by following the advise of a colleague he used in his battle with Ben Tennyson named Charmcaster.

It turned out Driscoll also knew something about Keyblade Knights as well. The Plumbers had encountered them. His failed attempt to take one of their Keyblades had met with disaster. The attempt to capture Sora had been more catastrophic, causing the destruction of some of the Forever Knights. Driscoll ended up possessed by darkness and thrown into the Null Void. By some miracle, those knights still loyal to him preformed a successful rescue, but many other knights left for other factions run by Enoch, Urian and Cyrus, creating a four way spilt in the North American branch.

Now, he had been summoned by King Urian regarding some kind of unification pact.  He had little interest in any alliance of the five houses if he weren't put in charge.

As he suited up for the meeting, his squire approached him. It seemed another group of Knights who had been part of the British division were interested in joining his faction. Driscoll agreed to speak to them. They were quickly ushered inside.

What Driscoll found odd were the strange black robes they had on. The knights wore only red.

"May I ask your names?" Driscoll addressed them.

One of them stepped forward, removing his hood. His raven-colored hair tied back in a ponytail.

"I am Archer, King Driscoll," the knight replied. "These are my fellow knights, Adam, Norse, Oren and the Lady Diana."

"A woman?" Driscoll cocked his eyebrow.

Diana lowered her hood.

"I get that reaction a lot," she mused.

"Weren't you with King Patrick’s group?" Driscoll inquired. “Why haven’t you gone back to him?”

"We were more interested in conferring with you about the Heartless invasion in Bellwood."

"You were there?" Driscoll honestly couldn't remember every knight from that incident. Part of his memory still suffered from it.

"We were lost for a while in much a different way you were, sir," Adam said. "We suffered much harm."

"As did I. Sir Connor hasn't done well since either."

"So we've found out," Diana chuckled. "I guess King Urian felt sorry for that disgraceful man. I’d love to know how he lost his eye."

"We wish to be part of your faction, King Driscoll," Archer requested.

"Factions might not matter after tonight from what I have been told. But why me? I'm just as accountable for what occurred that night."

"Because we have common enemies."

"Don't we all?" Driscoll asked. "Ben Tennyson has been allowed to be a thorn to the Forever Knights for far too long."

"But," Diana smiled, "we meant Sora, Riku and Kairi."

Driscoll's eyes narrowed. "You know something I don't?"

"King Driscoll, we have more to tell you then you have ever known."

End
Yes. That's all for now.

I so wanted to make the ending longer but I just ran of ideas. I figured it was best to just end it like this.

BTW: Venxik's outfit is a reflection of Kevin in Omniverse. :D

I don't know when I'll do the Birth by Sleep stories. All I know is I got plenty of time since Dream Drop Distance has a pretty shocking ending.

Also to refresh your memory I'm linking to the short story that is supposed to take place in Ultimate Alien.

[link]

Thanks

Divine

Ben 10 is the property of Cartoon Network. Created by Man of Action.
Kingdom Hearts is the property of Disney. Created by Square Enix.
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KINGDOM HEARTS MIXED WITH BEN 10 HOLY SHIET!