(I couldn't come up with a badass name using Lionheart so whatever)

 

The endless night forever coated the world of Traverse Town like small blanket, taking in refuge those who suffered the fate of having their worlds lost. That was all there was in Traverse Town: victims of the cruel creatures known as the Heartless. Luckily such occurances was rare, although recently more and more worlds have been lost; causing the population to surge drastically. Local officials feared that there would be no more room for any more people.

A young boy by the name of Pidge- a false identity for a persona named Katie sat on a small box on the roof to the orphanage she was apart of. Every single night the girl snuck out to take close watch on the stars. She always knew there was other worlds out there- and still do. She believes there's trillions of them out there, going against the teachings of the orphanage that there was only a few.

"Darkness... It's Darkness...! What are these things...?! Matt! Father! Where are you?!"

The girl jolted awake, almost knocking down her telescope onto the ground. She has barely gotten any sleep due to her 'work' but it was well worth it. She took a close look at the constellations, marking down any different patters in her log.

"This area is different... Another star went out. That's the fifth one this week. By tomorrow we're going fo have a least five new people with how things are going..." She uttered to herself, nibbling at her pen.

 

Meanwhile, a small grunt was heard as a young teen awoke from the top bunk of his bunk bed. The teen- a young man named Keith wasn't really a heavy sleeper. Move a piece of paper in the room and he'll notice it. It was no wonder then that he noticed Pidge missing from the top bunk of the bed across the room.

Keith wipped his hand on his face tiredly and picked up his pillow to whack it at Lance's face down below. Harsh yes, but Lance could sleep through a fire.

"Lance." Keith uttered, smacking Lance again with the pillow. "Lance. Where's Pidge?" Honestly that was a stupid question, but oh well. Waking up Lance in the middle of the night was fun. The only thing bad about it was hearing the male complain.

(I didn't really know what sleeping arrangements you wanted but bunk beds are always fun)

Keith proceeded to pick up the munny and place it into the pouch, rolling his eyes at Lance's overdraumatic reaction.

"Lance, it's just a piggy bank. We would've been here all night trying to fish out the coins. Besides; I bet you weren't even going to bring this thing with you." As they were leaving, Keith was going to actually write the same exact thing Lance did. Upon seeing Lance writing it, Keith huffed and wrote the exact same thing on the opposite side of the room although bigger and in red.

Pidge shook her head at Lance's silliness, quick to leave the room. Pidge just wanted to get out of there already.

Once they got to the tunnel, Pidge couldn't help but widen her eyes upon seeing the Gummi ship. It was real... It was right in front of her. She was going to reach this wretched town and find what's out there. She hopped in immediatly, Keith climbing in as well. Before he went in, he looked to Leon.

"Thanks. You know... You should think about getting more kids out of the orphanage and just talking to them. They all look up to you and the rest of the guys... The least you could do is give them a chance." He uttered, slipping inside the ship. It wasn't uncommon for children to just be forgotten in the orphonage. Ontop of that, the children were just miserable in the poor conditions and the corrupted adults that took control of it.

Once Keith climbed in, he took a seat along with the rest of his roommates. They seemed to all be settled, but there was something bugging Keith.

"So..." He began. "... Where is it?"

Leon pursed his lips. "I'll think about it...We've been worried with keeping these Heartless at bay. I didn't think the kids looked up to us that much. I'll definitely look out for them." Leon said, smiling at Keith as the door of the Gummi Ship closed. Shiro began to type the coordinates he remembered on the monitor.

"The world shouldn't be too far from this one, actually." Shiro explained as he grabbed the controls of the Gummi Ship. Leon stepped back from the outside as the ship began to move foward towards the entrance.

 

Hunk leaned closer. "So, um, are you sure that the coordinates are correct?" Hunk asked, playing with his fingers nervously.

 

Shiro blinked a few times, biting his bottom lip. "I...I actually don't know. I'm just going on what I remember from my capture." Shiro admitted. The coordinates were the one thing that stuck, the rest blurs flashes that would come to him from time to time. He applied pressure against the controls, the ship speeding up.

 

"Um, hey, Shiro, my dude, where are the seat belts?!" Lance asked, panic rising as his body was pressed against the seat by the rising speed.

 

"I don't think we have one." Shiro smiled. "Hold on tight boys." With that, Shiro pushed the controls roughly, the ship speeding up, the speed rising at every passing second. "Primary thrusters, on." Shiro announced, presismg a buton as the thrusters were turned on, flames bursting out as it pushed the ship out of the tunnel and down the train rail. Meanwhile Lance and Hunk were screaming, gripping onto their seats for dear life as they watched the ship dash towards the end of the train rail, where a brick wall of a building stood.

"THE WALL!!!" Hunk yelled, covering his eyes.

 

"Secondary thrusters, on." Shiro announced, as cool as ice as he pressed another button and pulled back on the controls. With that the second thrusters came to light, and the Gummi Ship flew upwards into the sky. Lance was close to passing out, Hunk close to puking what remained of his dinner. The ship flew upwards, the town below them slowly becoming smaller ad smaller. Soon, they broke through the boundary of the world, and dove into space, endless stars sparkling in the horizon. Though there used to be more of them. Much, much more. "See the world below?" Shiro asked. Lance opened one eye, gasping as he watched Traverse Town through the nearest window. It looked so...small...so far away.

 

"Wow..." Lance gasped.

"Let's hope I'm right." Shiro murmured, driving the ship away to the coordinates, Traverse Town slowly becoming smaller.

Keith's eyes widened. He looked to Shiro as if he was absolutely insane.

"Wait-" Keith began, looking out of the glass and into the sky. "You're telling me you don't know if that's how to get there? What if it's the coordinates to whoever captured you?" Before Keith could continue, the rocket had captured off. He grunted and clawed at his seat, trying lot to fly out.

Katie yelled and held onto her chair for her life. She looked like a koala. When the violent vibrations of the thrusters rocked the ship, Katie closed her eyes tight.

"Are you sure you know how to fly?!" She asked, bracing herself for impact. Before she knew it, they were off in space. Once the ship stabilized, Katie let go of her hold and looked outside in awe.

"Wow..." She whispered, not even believing that Traverse Town was now just a tiny dot. While they were talking about where the world was located, Katie's Keyblade suddenly appeared in her hand. Her eyes widened.

"I didn't summon you..." She uttered. She went silent, an unspoken communication taking place between the two. Katie looked to Shiro.

"My... The Keyblade knows how to get there... It told me what to do."

Lance and Hunk looked over at the Keyblade in Pidge's hand.

 

"That thing is starting to freak me out man. It's like it has a life of its own." Hunk admitted, glancing over at the keyblade.

 

"I think it's pretty cool...though it's so not fair that Pidge gets to have it!" Lance admitted, resting back against his seat as his eyes were diverted back out the window. Shiro glanced back at Pidge and at the keyblade at hand.

 

"Then let's follow what the keyblade says then." Shiro said, turning back to paying attention to the space in front of him. They flew across space, endless stars in the horizon as they flew past them. Some of them seemed to shimmer brightly, while some looked dimmer than others, and some, simply seemed to be there one moment, before blacking out and disappearing within the darkness of the universe. After a while, they managed to reach the location, the ship beeping as it was right in front of it. Or so it told them, as in their eyes, they couldn't see a thing. Just emptiness of space.

 

"...this is it?" Lance asked, sounding rather disappointed.

 

"...that's what the coordinates say..." Shiro murmured, sounding disappointed himself. Maybe his coordinates were nothing at all? Maybe it was just his broken memory playing games with him? Suddenly something began to glow. More specifically, Pidge's Keyblade. It was glowing a faint golden shimmer, much to everyone's surprise.

 

"W-What are you doing, Pidge?" Hunk asked.

 

"I think the keyblade is doing that on its own." Shiro suggested. Sudenly, the shimmer intensified, and then, something just as bright began to appear in the empty space before them. As if out of nowhere, a mantle seemed to slowly scatter, disappearing to reveal a sunny world in front of them. It was large and beautiful, full of light, and its most outstanding feature, a castle of white and gold. Everyone's jaws seemed to drop.

 

"Holy...crap." Lance gasped, watching as the keyblade's shimmer slowly dimmed before turning back to its normal self. Shiro shook his head, quickly grabbing the controls.

 

"Well...I guess that's where the keyblade wants us to go." Shiro said, advancing forward to land on the world.

Pidge watched her Keyblade and couldn't help put point it infront of her once it started to glow. Her eyes widened at the ray of light that emitted from the weapon. When the castle was revealed, she looked down at her Keyblade.

"I think this thing is going home..." She said. She couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as she inspected a small detail on the hilt of the weapon. There was a bright green crystal on it, with dimmer crystals of other colors circling it. It had red, blue, yellow and black with green completing the circle at the top. Pidge could tell this was something strange, for the other colors weren't incorporated at all in the weapon. She traced her finger on it.

"What do you think we'll find there?" She asked Shiro.

Keith watched as the Keyblade opened a path. There was just so much energy emitting off of the beautiful blade... For it to open the path to the world, it made him wonder what could possibly await their arrival.

"How do we know that this thing isn't leading us into a trap?" Keith asked, eyes narrow. Sure the world might look pretty, but so did Traverse Town.

Shiro shrugged slightly at Pidge's question. "I honestly have no idea." Shiro admitted. "What I hope...is maybe an answer to all that has happened. To all of us."

Lance groaned at Keith. "Why do you always have to be so sour, Keith? Thinking of the worst every time?" Lance complained at his fellow roommate.

 

"Well," Hunk said. "Keith does have a point, what if this is a trap?! What if we get captured by whoever captured Shiro and everything?! What if we get swallowed by the darkness like everyone else?!"

 

"Well. I don't know if it's a trap." Shiro admitted. "But it is the only lead we have, and honestly, the only hope." Shiro said, driving the ship into the world. The moment they entered the sky slowly blended itself to the normal blue sky that one would see y world in any sunny day, the stars slowly fading away into the blue. Shiro landed the ship gently on the bottom of the stairs leading up to the castle. "Alright, we're here." Shiro said, turning off the ship as he opened the side door. They all stepped out, looking up at the castle that stood ever so grand. Hunk awed at the beauty of the world. He hadn't seen a world so pretty since...well, his home.

 

"Do you think someone lives here?" Lance asked. Shiro looked up at the castle. The entire world felt so warm. So inviting. Yet it also felt so empty. But it offered more hope than anything else he had experienced before.

 

"Let's find out." Shiro said, and with that, he walked up the stairs, Lance and Hunk and teh rest following along. Once they got to the top, Shiro walked over to the doors. He tried to push them open, but they were shut. "Locked. Go figure."

 

"How do you even lock a door this big?" Lance said, walking over and trying to push it open himself in various ways. Of course, it did no work. Hunk looked over at Pidge, tapping on his shoulder.

 

"Hey, Pidge. Why not try your sword?" Hunk asked.

 

"Pidge's sword?" Lance asked.

 

"Yeah. I mean, it's called a Keyblade, for one. It showed us the world, maybe it will open the door for us?" Hunk asked.

 

Shiro hummed. "Hunk has a very good point." He smiled at Pidge. "Give it a try."

 

"Don't knock it till you try it." Lance added.

Pidge's eyes widened as she saw the beautiful world around her. It was all just so beautiful... So radiant- Radiant... Such a world she disliked using. Such a word was all to familiar. She couldn't help it- this world was just stunning. It reminded her of her home. The bright sky, the fresh air, the beautiful architecture.

"Wow..." She said to herself. They were stopped at the door and all eyes were on her.

"What's my Keyblade going to do?" Pidge asked, almost frantically. "I barely know what this thing is!"

Suddenly, she went silent as the wind blowed through her hair. A silent exchange happened between Pidge and her Keyblade. Hidden whispers entree her ear. She closed her eyes.

"Got it." She said, to her Keyblade. She took a step forward towards the door and pointed her weapon straight at it. A ray of light came from fbe weapon and shot right through the door. The doors made a loud rumbling sound as it slowly began to open. Pidge's eyes widened.

"I...I did it."

Keith watched the scene unfold. Upon seeing the doors open he looked over to the key in Pidge's hands.

"Well it's a giant key... Maybe they unlock any lock."

Edited September 19, 20169 yr by Aqua7KH

Lance punched the air, smiling. "Alright! Way to go Pidge!" Lance cheered.

Shiro patted Pidge's shoulder. "Good job." Shiro said, looking forward. "Let's see what's inside." Shiro said, walking in along with the group. The place looked ancient, yet at the same time, as new as if it had been built only recently, its age only defined by the dust covering the place here and there. Three thrones, a staircase, and other corridors that led...heaven knows where.

"This place is huge." Hunk awed, simply amazed. The place was utterly so beautiful, and yet eerily quiet. "Where should we start? I don't think someone's lived here in ages." Hunk insisted.

"The keyblade opened this place up, so surely there must be something." Lance yawned, looking over to Pidge as it seemed that it still twinkled, almost pulling Pidge...somewhere.

"Then the keyblade we shall follow." Shiro said, shrugging slightly. And so they did, following Pidge as the keyblade seemed to take a life of its own, leading the group deep into the castle. They were led into what seemed to be a basement, down a spiral staircase. Once they got there, they were encountered by a mesmerizing sight. Inside these pods, shaped like flowers, ever so delicate and made out of what seemed to be glass, stood figures. Two of them in two different pods. The closer they got, they more they could distinguish. A middle aged man, and a stunning young woman.

"What the heck?" Lance gasped.

"...are they dead?!" Hunk asked, panic in his voice.

"They...seem to be asleep?" Shiro asked. Things were only getting stranger as they went on. Suddenly, from Pidge's keyblade, just as before, a ray of light emerged from the keyblade and hit the pod of the young girl. For a moment it seemed nothing had happened, when suddenly the pod's petals began to move, smoke of some kind escaping the pod as its petals opened up, surfacing the young woman outside of the pod. Just a few seconds after, she opened her eyes, gasping as she extended her hand forward.

"Father!" She screamed, only to tumble forward to almost fall. Lance was quick to react, dashing towards her and catching her in his arms before she could fall face first on the floor.

"Um..." Lance murmured, seeing as the young woman regained her footing, looking up at Lance with confused eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked.

Lance was quick to smooth his way in. "I'm Lance...and you're right here in my arms." Lance didn't last a second afterwards as the girl grabbed his arm, flipped him, and then forced him onto his knees.

"What are you doing in my castle?!"

Keith went forward, holding his hands up. As much as he loved the sight of Lance getting the shit kicked out of him, he still had to step in.

"We didn't break in, we, well... This 'Keyblade' led us in here." He claimed, looking over to Pidge who rubbed the back of her head.

Pidge stepped forward, showing her Keyblade to the newcomer. She didn't really know what was going on, so she hoped this person could be of help.

"It told me to come here." Pidge explained. "It had me open that thing for you." To show proof, Pidge pointed the Keyblade to the second pod. As the petals opened up, the male inside rather un gracefully awoken as his body slumped to fhe ground. He shot up a moment later, yawning and stretching.

"My, I have NOT received such a nap like that in over a decade! I hope I didn't miss- INTRUDERS!" He shouted, running over to 'protect' Allura. "Don't worry princess, I'll save you!"

The princess' eyes slowly softened as she was told what had happened, how they had arrived. As she saw the keybklade being used to release Coran from his slumber, he let go of Lance, dropping him onto the floor with a groan.

"The Keyblade." Allura murmured. Lance slowly sat up with the help of Hunk. The moment Coran seemed to want to put up a fight, Lance wasn't one to back down from it.

"Oh you wanna go? Bring it on, I won't be taken by surprise this time." Lance assured as he got in position. However Allura gently got a hand on Coran's shoulder, stopping the man.

"Coran, wait." Allura said. She then walked over to Pidge, taking a closer look at her keyblade. "It is real." Allura murmured. She frowned for a few moments. She knew this keyblade. She recognized it. But not its wielder. "How long have we been asleep?" She wondered.

"...princess, right?" Shiro finally spoke up, walking over to Allura. "We did not mean to intrude. As Pidge said, the keyblade led us here. I'm Shiro. This is Pidge, Lance, Hunk, and Keith." Shiro said, introducing each respectively.

"Not to be rude, but may I ask, what is going on? Why were you two in those pods in the first place? What IS this place?" Hunk asked. Allura paused.

"This is Land of Departure. It is a place where keyblade wielders have come for generations in order to learn the ways of it." Allura explained, her eyes never leaving Pidge's keyblade. "The keyblade you wield. I recognize it. It's name is the Green Lion. But...the last I saw of it, it was in the hands of its Paladin." Allura gently passed her fingertips across Pidge's keyblade, her eyes softening as it appeared as if the blade were speaking to her, whispering secrets and murmurs. "...we have been asleep for a long time, haven't we?"

"Well," Shiro began. "We...none of us even knew what a keyblade was until Pidge was able to summon it. As far as we know, it's a weapon that has been missing for thousands of years, if not more."

"Thousands." Allura gasped. She sounded slightly sad. However she put up a brave face as she looked around the room. "If we are awake...then it means that the darkness has returned, hasn't it?"

Pidge couldn't help but frown upon hearing Allura's words. From what she could gather, it meant that Allura was waking up from a very long time of slumber... That meant the world around her must've been much different. With a swipe of her wrist, Pidge made the Keyblade dissapear.

Keith crossed his arms and spoke up. If Allura didn't know of what happened, then she was in for an unpleasant surprise.

"It's back alright... And it took all of our homes." Keith said. "These things we were told about, 'Heartless,' they're everywhere. As far as we know, this Keyblade is the only thing that can kill them."

Coran was taken aback by the new information he was now receiving. He was even ignoring Lance.

"No... It can't be... This is impossible..." He uttered silently, hands on his mouth.

Edited September 23, 20169 yr by Aqua7KH

Allura felt her heart ache. It meant that everyone they knew, everyone they had known, everyone they had cared for and love, were long gone, and they had slept through it all. "Father put us to sleep that day, didn't he? When the war started between the factions." Allura muttered. She felt devastated, but she was determined to stay strong, especially with the news that the Heartless were back. She made her hands fists, looking over at Coran. "We must not be wary. If what they speak is true, and the keyblades have been gone for so long...it has given the darkness time to recover and become stronger. We must not haste in pushing it back before it becomes even stronger." Allura assured.
"Excuse me, did you say war?" Lance asked.
"What war?" Hunk asked. All eyes were on the two now.
"Princess, Coran...may you explain?" Shiro asked, equally as confused. Allura nodded and cleared her throat.
"The Keyblade is a weapon of the heart. It chooses its wielder, if it sees them worthy. Long ago this was one of many places where Keyblade wielders could come and train to keep the darkness at bay. There were many keyblade wielders back then. Most of them served under different keyblade masters, becoming parts of different factions. However, a set of events began to happen. The masters of these factions thought that there was a traitor among them. Paranoia and fear consumed them. They feared that one of them would betray the rest. In a fit of desperation, each faction went to war against each other. My father feared the worse, and was determined to stop the war from taking place, joined by his own apprentices, those who we called the Paladins of the Keyblade. However...that is all I remember." Allura said as she frowned. "Coran and I were going to go with him and yet the last thing I remember is father using his magic to put me to sleep...and now I'm here." The group heard the story, and though it answered some questions, it also brought up more of them. "If the keyblade has been gone for so long, it must mean that the war had devastating results."
"Then what about Pidge's keyblade?" Lance asked, pointing over at Pidge.
"The keyblade chose Pidge. The fact that it chose Pidge, and brought all of you here must be more then coincidence." Allura insisted, turning to Coran. "I think, that destiny has brought us the new Paladins of the Keyblade." Allura said as she pointed at the group.
"...wait, us?!" Hunk asked.

Pidge looked down at her Keyblade in silence. So this weapon chose her... Cool. She always knew the universe was vast, but she could never imagine such a history and lore existing. Keyblade wielders going to war against each other... Darkness that consumed all. It just broke the barrier of reality.

"So wait, does that mean there's other keyblades?" Pidge asked. But then Allura announced what she believed of the Paladins and looked to her friends.

At first Pidge didn't know what to think, but after a moment the blade spoke to her again and it settled her heart.

"I think it agreed with you." Pidge said to Allura with a smile.

Keith couldn't help but look down in thought. There was so much more to the world than he could possibly ever imagine... To think that so much could be happening withoit him even knowing it was scary.

"Well, I'm in." Keith said, nodding to Allura. "Keyblade or not, I don't want to watch the darkness consume any more worlds."

Coran looked down and held his heart at his chest in silence. So it really was true. He refused to shed a tear- he had to be strong. He had to fight what took away his home and his people. He was all ready to fight until Allura announced her theory of who the Paladins are. He visibly shivered.

"Um, your highness? Are you sure? I mean..." He paused, whispering to Allura. "They don't really look like what a Paladin would be. Just look at those ears!"

"Wait, what? Us? Paladins? Keyblades? No there has to be a mistake." Lance insisted, looking around at the group as he crossed his arms. "We're students barely surviving. Not warriors."

 

"Then it just means that we will have to live up to the part." Shiro said as he nodded softly at Allura. "Count me in. If it means to stop this darkness, then let us do this." Shiro said. Lance pursed his lips. Hunk gently got a hand on his shoulder.

 

"What about home?" Hunk asked. Lance looked away for a moment before groaning. This is definitely not how he thought it would go, but then again, it was better than the Garrisson. He smiled, looking up at the group.

 

"I guess you can count me in. I mean, saving the universe and defeating the evil forces of darkness wasn't on my schedule, but I think I make time." Lance joked as he winked at Hunk. Hunk gently rubbed the back of his head.

 

"I guess we'll help with what we can." Hunk murmured. Allura sighed in relief. She looked up at Coran and nodded at his concern.

 

"I understand, Coran. But we don't have much of a choice. One of the keyblade have already chosen one of them, and from what they have described, we don't have time to waist in looking for anyone more suitable...if there is any anymore." Allura insisted. They had to simply trust that the keyblades had it right...and that they could figure out what had happened within the darkness to have made it so powerful over the thousand years of sleep.

 

"Ok, but how will we get our own keyblades? I mean, Pidge's keyblade showed up on its own." Hunk asked.

 

"Follow me." Allura asked, walking up from the basement. She made her way to the grand hall, her presence causing the castle to respond to her. She walked towards the throne, a computer type of technology showing up before it. She began to type on the board, a map quickly pulling up. It was a holographic map of the known universe...and the stars and worlds, those who remained, those who were swallowed by darkness, and those at the verge of falling apart. "Oh dear." Allura gasped in horror. In red were the worlds that had darkness, and that were still savable, worlds where the Heartless had yet to eat the heart of the worlds. In a blue sihluette, where a world used to reside, but was no more. There were many blank spaces. More than what Allura or Coran remembered from last time. Too many. "The worlds in Red are still savable, and need desperate help."

 

"Those are alot of worlds..." Lance hummed, looking up at the red hues in the map. Allura pressed a button, and in the middle of the hall pedestals rose from the ground. On them were four keychains, with one space of a keychain missing, presumably belonging to Pidge's keyblade.

 

"These keyblades used to be one, before being separated into five. They work together, and so must their paladins." Allura explained.

 

"How will we know which is ours?" Hunk asked, looking at Allura questioningly.

 

"You will know." She assured. She turned to Pidge, gesturing to her. "The wielders of the Green Lion Keyblade are the most creative and adventurous. They are able to create answers to problems among the battlefield and beyond. They are natural at improvising and creating techniques to save the team from danger. It specializes in electric magic." Allura spoke. Lance was the first to seem to become tranced by the keychains. He heard a voice. It was loud, yet ever so soft. Welcoming, yet strong. It spoke to him, asking him to come closer.  It was like a purr. It asked for him to open his heart. To welcome it, if he allowed it. He hadn't felt so safe yet exposed in such a long time. It felt...right. Lance expanded his arm, reaching towards the pedestal, listening carefully to the words it spoke to him. A name. What name?

 

"...Blue Lion." Lance gasped. From the pedestal, a keychain disappeared, and suddenly, a keyblade appeared in his hands, much to his own surprise. It was in the shape of a lion, just like Pidge's except it was blue, and instead of vines, its decorations followed that that reminded him of the blue sea from his home world, shades of blue striking out to match the blue of his own eyes.

 

"Lance, how did you-?" Hunk asked. Lance shrugged as he pulled the keyblade closer.

 

"It spoke." Lance said smiling. "It's very warm."

 

"The Blue Lion keyblade is the friendliest and most accepting. Its wielders are confident and insistent, which allows them to take on tougher and bigger opponents without worries to undertake them. This keyblade specializes in ice magic." Allura said cheerfully.
 

Pidge looked out onto all the worlds in shock. There were so many worlds out there- all of them suffering. To think all this was going on out there just sad.

"They're all so different." She said, looking at each world. "This one is underwater! This one is a huge city..."

As they came across the keychains, Pidge held her Keyblade close to her chest as her companions began to choose their own keyblades. Having Green Lion felt... Nice. Pidge didn't feel so alone.

Keith looked at the map. It was worse than he thought. So many worlds were lost into darkness and had no way of defending themselves.

"Halloween Town... Pride Rock... Port Royal?" Not only was there so many other worlds out there, they were all do diverse.

Keith approached the keychains and almost immediatly felt a strange phenomenon, a strange energy. He walked over to the red chain, putting his hand over it. He heard the voice, but it wouldn't summon; it simply just went to his hand.

"This thing is broken." Keith uttered, raising an eyebrow as he held the keychain in his hand. "Hello? I can hear you. You can summon now."

Pidgr looked to where her Keychain should've been.

"How come mine just... Came to me?" She asked. "It didn't wait for me to come here. It appeared when a heartless was going to take my heart."

Coran hummed in thought, stroking his stache. "Well, the bonds between the keyblades and their masters are very spiritual! Perhaps the Green Lion knew you were out there and came to you in a time of need."

Allura smiled over at Keith. "The Red Lion keyblade is a very temperamental one. It chooses wielders who's temper is equally as fiery as its own. It needs a wielder who relies more on instinct than skill. It specializes in Fire magic. You need to earn your keyblade's respect." Allura said, hoping that her words would prompt something either in him or the keyblade. Regardless of which generation, the wielders of the keyblade always had similar if not identical personalities and ways of being. Blue was friendly. Red was temperamental. Green was creative. Yellow was kind. Black was determined. Allura turned to Pidge. "Like Coran said. The keyblade itself is almost alive. It chooses its wielder. It must have known for a long time that you would be its new wielder. However, sensing you in danger must have prompt it to show up earlier than it expected for the sake of protecting you."

 

Hunk walked over to the yellow colored keychain. It gave off a warm and welcoming aura. He gently picked it up, feeling it in his hands. "This is...so weird." Hunk murmured.

 

"You just have to feel it! It's like, when you drink hot chocolate. It just warms you up on the inside and you allow it." Lance tried to explain it. Hunk blinked and nodded. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate. Allowing whatever the keyblade was to trust him. It didn't feel much of a change, but it was something. The keychain glowed, and just like that, it showed up in Hunk's hands. It was slightly bigger and heavier than the rest, adjusting to the shape and fighting style of its wielder, even as its appearance never really changed.

 

"The Yellow Lion Keyblade requires a wielder with a big heart and bigger sense of justice. Its wielder must be able to put the well being of others before itself, defending the team when needed the most. It specializes in Gravity magic." Allura explained. Finally it was Shiro's turn. He picked up the keychain, looking down on it with curiosity. Even as he held it with his mechanical hand, it felt warm. "Finally, the Black Lion Keyblade. It's wielder must be one who is willing to lead the rest of the pack through the good and the bad. It requires the most energy from its wielder, and specializes in Air magic." Allura watched the guys get used to their keyblades, as best as they could. Lance was already swinging his around like a toy. "With these, you should be able to save the worlds from the Darkness!"

Pidge rolled her eyes at Lance's description of the phenomenon, finding it rather silly.

"That's a weird way to put it." She said with a chuckle. She sesummoned her Keyblade and summoned it again. "I think I'm getting the hang of this! Is there anything else they can do?"

Coran grinned and stood proudly, ready to tell the Paladins all that there is to know about the keyblades. He was very proud of his knowledge.

"Well I'm glad you asked! A Keyblade's natural ability is to unlock any sort of lock. It's a very useful ability. Also your weapons can transform into a different form that is suitable for the Paladin. This includes another weapon and even a method of transportation although that is rather tricky... With your armor too you should be good to go for protecting the worlds from darkness!"

Pidge wasn't really listening, only taking the whole unlocking any lock part. It utterly facinated her.

"How could such a thing do that...? You my friend are going to come in handy." Pidge mused to her Keyblade with a chuckle.

Keith listened, although he wasn't really fond of how Coran was droning on and on in that weird voice of his. It was hard to take the guy seriously.

"Armor...?" He asked. He looked down at his keychain, still aggravated that it wasn't summoning yet. "What the hell do you want me to do Keyblade? Dance for you?"

Lance couldn't help but to laugh. It appeared that Keith's keyblade was not going to cooperate with him today. "Seems your keyblade really doesn't like you, Keith." Lance teased, spinning his own keyblade around. However he ended up swinging it the wrong way at one point, smacking himself with it hard on the leg. "Oof!" Hunk laughed, holding his own keyblade close.

"Mine isn't summoning either." Shiro said, looking down at the keychain as he moved it around in between his hands. Nothing. "Could it be because one of my arms isn't...natural?" Shiro asked, almost sounding scared.

"No that shouldn't be a problem." Allura assured as she looked around in a bit of worry. These kids would be the ones in charge of saving the worlds from the darkness...oh boy. "Right. I don't think it's wise for us to simply throw them over to the hands of the Heartless without at least a bit of experience with their keyblades." Allura insisted, turning to the monitor as she began to type something down. Suddenly from the floor rose what looked to be a mechanical sentinel. A robot of sorts. "This is a training robot, it should give you guys an opportunity to get used to your keyblade in battle for the moment being." Allura spoke. Hunk gulped.

"Um, I have a question?" Hunk asked, raising his hand slightly. "What are these...Heartless actually? How come they can only be defeated with these Keyblades?" Hunk asked. "What is our mission anyways? Are we just suppoose to fight them all?"

"Very important question." Allura said, though she slightly frowned afterwards. "Heartless are beings born out of the darkness from people's hearts. They vary in shape, size, and abilities, yet all are equally as dangerous. They crave after the light within the hearts of the people, and if one is not careful and is overwhelmed by heartless, they still steal your hearts and the light within them. The keyblade, as a weapon made out of the heart itself, is one of the only things that can fully kill a Heartless, and release the hearts that they have consumed." Allura explained, showing holograms of a few Heartless as examples. "Your mission would be to save the remaining worlds that have not been fully consumed by the darkness. Each world has a Keyhole, which holds the Heart of the world. That is what every Heartless searches for. Once they find it, they eat the light out of the world, and so, the world falls into darkness and it is unable to recover. Your missions as wielders of the keyblade would be to reach the savable worlds, find the Keyhole, and use your keyblades to lock it before the Heartless get to it. Once you lock it, the Heartless cannot get to it, and the world cannot fall into darkness, saving it from the demise the Heartless bring." Allura explained. The more she explained, the heavier the gravity of the situation seemed to fall on the shoulders of the wielders.

"I never thought...it was this complicated..." Shiro whispered in awe. He didn't have many memories from what had happened to him. Just flashes. The trauma itself had caused him to have amnesia, a way to cope, to block anymore traumatizing events that would otherwise scar him beyond recognition. He never would have guessed it was anything like this. No one would, honestly.

"...what about home?" Lance suddenly asked, taking a step forward. "What about Destiny Islands?! Are they still savable?!"

"I'm sure it is. But right now, our priorities include the worlds closest to us." Allura said, looking at Lance with pity. "Usually the training of a keyblade master takes years in the making, but we are short on time, so you will have to learn as you go. Right now, this automated gladiator will provide you with simulated practice to prepare you for your first mission." Allura said as she pressed a button, the gladiator coming to life as it prepared to attack the four keyblade wielders. "This should also prompt for your keyblades to show up...hopefully." Allura chuckled a bit.

"Oh no." Lance gasped as he took a step back. The gladiator looked ready to kill. Even if it didn't kill them...damn it was going to hurt.

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance's yap, although he couldn't snicker when the young man smacked himself with the Keyblade.

"Hey Lance," Keith began with a grin. "Do you believe in Karma?" Suddenly, the robot rose from the ground. Keith got into a defensive position, although he couldn't really do anything against a giant robot with a damn keychain.

"Come on you stupid thing! Work! Come out! I summon thee!" Keith said, swinging the charm around. He couldn't help but get distracted by the constellation hologram with the taken worlds on it.

"No offense princess, but I don't think we have time for this crap. More worlds are going out as we speak."

Pidge held her Keyblade out infront of her, rather unsure onto how to go about fighting. It wasn't that she was afraid to fight, more so the fact that she was fighting a damn robot.

"Uhhh..." She stammered, pointing the blade at the enemy hoping it would do at least /something./

Coran stroked his mustache at the sight, inwardly deadpanning. This was not going well... They were doomed.

As all this was happening, Coran looked to see yet another star blinking out.

"No!" He said, eyes wide. He hoped he would never have to see such a horrible sight.

Lance gripped his keyblade tightly. "Bring it on, tin can!" Lance yelled, charging towards the gladiator. The machine didn't seem to even consider Lance a match, quickly dodging Lance's hasty attack and spinning, before kicking Lance across the room and right into Keith. Hunk tried to attack from behind, landing a hit, though not very effective, as the Gladiator grabbed him by the arms and pushed him back, hitting Lance and Keith even when they tried to stand up. Shiro looked down at the keychain as it wouldn't activate and then back at Allura with wary eyes. Allura frowned as she looked up at the star disappearing on the map, and then at Coran. Her heart ached. They had so much to do, yet so little time.

 

"...Gladiator; shut down." Allura commanded, and just like that, the gladiator stopped on its tracks.

 

"...princess?" Shiro asked, a tone of worry in his voice.

 

"We don't have time to train you. We don't have time to wait. We don't have time to...ugh!" Allura began, feeling teh stress already coming to her. The universe was just in such a terrible state. How could they possibly recover from this?

 

"Princess, what shall we do, then?" Shiro asked, hearing groaning as Lance and Hunk got off Keith from where they had landed on him.

 

"We will have to send you to the nearest world, and hope that you will learn along the way." Allura said as she calculated. She pulled out a world. "You will visit this world first; Halloween Town." Allura said.

 

"Halloween Town?" Lance looked up. "Looks creepy...cool!"

 

"How will we get there?" Hunk asked.

 

"We can take the ship that we used to get here." Shiro suggested.

 

"Until we can get this castle online again, we won't be able to lift off. However the world is close enough for us to sent you into it through the teleportation tubes." Allura explained, five tubes showing up to a wall, glowing slightly blue. "By the time you return, you should be able to be familiar with your keyblades...and we should have the castle ready for take off." Allura sighed. Even after thousands of years asleep...she could feel this was going to leave a pain in her neck.

Keith instead of charging right away, he stood back and began to take observance of the gladiator. He had no weapon, so he would have to rely on on his other skills for now; hand to hand combat. This period didn't last long however, for Lance was thrown right into him with Hunk soon following. Keith groaned in pain on the floor, roughly pushing for Lance to get off.

"Lance get off of me!" Keith scolded.

Pidge didn't even attempt to go against the gladiator... She knew that just wasn't going to happen. Pidge watched as Lance and her other friends were absolutely creamed by the robot, with Keith going down before he even tried anything. She stepped out of the way as Hunk was thrown, watching as he crashed into Lance and Keith.

"...Welp, this is going to be challenging." She commented, looking to the princess. She brought up Halloween Town, which caused Pidge to shiver at the sight.

"W-Why is it covered in bats and pumpkins? I-Isn't there another world we can go to first...? That place looks like it's already over run by the heartless."

Keith got up with a huff, dusting himself off as he went to go see what the hell everyone was talking about. He raised an eyebrow, wondering why it was so... Strange.

"That place looks spooky... Looks like Lance will have to pack an extra pair of pants." Keith said with a blank stare.

Coran put his hands on his face as he looked at the world show up. He grimaced at the sight.

"Not that wretched Halloween Town! Their culture is just so unorthodox...! And that Jack Skellington... Have fun, Paladins!"

Lance looked at Keith almost offended. "Excuse you, Keith. My pants are plenty of comfortable." Lance hissed.

 

"Alright, everyone in the pods then." Shiro said, walking inside of his own pod. Once they were all inside the pods, the glass doors closed in front of them.

 

"You should be able to handle it. This place is not that bad, I assure you...hopefully you will survive. Good luck." Allura said, pressing a button. Lights covered the paladins, and just like that, they disappeared into beams of light, being transported from the castle to Halloween Town. Once they were gone, Allura finally let out a large sigh, resting her head in her hands. "If they don't step up to the plate we're screwed."

 

In Halloween Town, in the center plaza where the fountain ejected a questionable green liquid, the paladins landed around the fountain, the light dissappearing from them as they were left to their own devices in Halloween Town.

 

"Whoa...that felt trippy." Lance said, holding his head gently.

 

"Um...Lance." Hunk said, almost sounding scared.

 

"What?" Lance asked. That's when he felt something on his head...ears. They were ears. Dog ears, Wolf ears, whatever, they were EARS. "What the?!" Lance screamed, feeling on the ears, pulling on them before stopping once he realized it hurt. His clothing had changed too. His clothes were similar, changing into a black and gray color scheme, looking ripped around with patches and skull designs. His nails had sharpened like claws, he had canines sticking out...and a tail. Oh god. He had a tail. Brown and fluffy. Lance felt his tail, hyperventilating before looking down at his reflection in the fountain. He almost lost it. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!"

 

"You look like a werewolf!" Hunk yelled. Lance turned, his eyes widening.

 

"You changed too!" Lance said as he pointed at Hunk. He had, truly. His ears had sharpened, his skin turned a greenish hue, his clothing exchanged for clothing made up of bandages. Just, bandages, that's all that covered Hunk, including his head, leaving onlu part of his nose, his eyes and mouth free for him to see, breathe and speak.

 

"Dude, you're a mummy!"

 

"A mummy?!" Hunk asked, looking at himself and the badnages that covered him. "What is this place?!"

 

"Um..." Shiro murmured, looking at the group. He changed too. His skin had stitches all over as it also changed to a gray tone. He had two bolts on each side of his neck, his clothing looking ripped and made up on the spot. His eyes were glowing yellow. No pupils. Just yellow.

 

"...dude he's Frankenstein!"

 

"Technically, Frankenstein's Monster."

 

"You know what I mean!"
 

Keith was continuing on even as he entered the pods. "They won't be comfortable when you piss yourself." He said snickering to himself. Before Lance could reply, they were transported to the world. What happened next... Was weird.

Pidge couldn't help but shiver as she looked around the place. It was not okay. None of this was natural. Pidge wasn't one to be fond of the horror genre... There was no point to it. She certainly wasn't fond of things jumping out at her.

"This place does NOT look fun... What the?!" She was shocked at what she saw infront of her. Shiro was Frankenstein, Hunk was a mummy and Lance was a werewolf. She looked down at her hands, finding dark gloves on them. She ran over to the fountain and looked at her reflection. She was dressed as some sort of evil doctor or mad scientist. A dark stained lab coat, oversized dark gloves and boots. Her short hair was darker and it was moved to the side to expose... Her brain. It was swelling and concealed beneath some sort of glass container. Pidge almost gagged.

"What is this?! Please let this just be a fake brain piece... Why am I dressed like this?! This is so... Gross!" She went silent as she heard a voice next to her.

"I don't like this either." Came an utter. There was Keith, stepping out of the shadows infront of everyone. He was wearing a black and red cloak. Underneath he wore black clothes and boots. He also wore white gloves which lengthened at the tips to form sharpened nails. Sprouting out of his back was small bat wings and his face was darkened underneath his bangs. His teeth lengthened to form sharp fangs. "Am I seriously a vampire..."

When Lance saw Keith as a Vampire, he couldn't help but to howl with laughter (pun 150% intended). "Oh my god KeITH!" Lance laughed, walking over to Keith and wrapping an arm around his shoulder as he held his stomach from laughing. "If you weren't the embodiment of emo then, you definitely are now." Lance laughed, before proceeding to tease Keith's bat wings. "Are they real?"

 

"Lance don't tease Keith. We ALL look weird." Shiro said, looking at his skin before shuddering. At least his prosthetic remained the same. But that wasn't much comfort either.

 

"Ok, we're all here, in this creepy, very odd looking place with that guillotine just standing there in the middle with the stupid fountain. What now?!" Hunk asked, looking around as they all got closer together as a group. The answer would come up before long. They jumped as the sudden shrill of a scream, Lance and Hunk both hugging Keith out of reflex as they looked around at the source of the scream. From one of the gates came in running...a two faced...person...thing. The Mayor, actually. Whatever it was, it was running away from something, and it only paused for a moment to look at them. For a second, its face turned to a happy one.

 

"I didn't know others were out!" Then, the Mayor's face just s quickly turned back to its sad and despaired face. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUTSIDE?!" He screamed.

 

"What's going on?!" Shiro asked, but he didn't get much of an answer as the Mayor looked back to where he had ran from and screamed again.

 

"RUN, RUN AWAY!" The Mayor screamed as he ran off past them. They all followed the gaze only to see a bunch of Heartless show up, chasing after the Mayor, but now taking a pause to go after them. The Heartless included ones that they had seen before, small and with big yellow eyes and antennas, along with new ones, that looked like floating rag dolls with long arms reaching out for them.

 

"W-Whoa!" Hunk stepped back, his keyblade appearing on his hand almost out of instinct. Lance summoned his, getting closer.

 

"Step back Keith, and watch how a professional does it!" He teased with a wink.

 

"Be careful you guys!" Shiro warned, all while trying to figure out; how the hell did he summon his?!

 

---

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI9YjHGuSOE

 

 

Pidge continued to inspect herself down to every last detail. After a few moments, it was actualy sorta growing on her. She placed her hands on her head, then pulled on her gloves.

"No joke... This actually isn't that bad. It feels like a pair of super comfy pajamas... Scary ones." She chuckled as she made a scary face into the fountain, laughing at the face she saw back. What she didn't expect however, was the fountain turning to look straight at her. Pidge's eyes widened and she shivered. "U-Uh guys!"

That's when everything else happened. A random guy came out of nowhere screaming. Soon after heartless appeared. The first thing Pidge did was summon her Keyblade. She held it infront of her, still not really fond of the sword like weapon.

"Am I the only one thinking it wasn't a good idea for Keith and Shiro to come since they literally have nothing to fight with?!" Pidge asked, throwing a heartless back with her Keyblade.

Keith narrowed his eyes, giving a venomous glare over to his annoying comrade. He ungraciously took Lance's arm off, fangs bared right at the wolf.

"I don't know about my wings, but I'm sure my fangs are real and I don't mind biting you." He hissed, fangs lengthening with his anger. This was interrupted however by the mayor and soon, the heartless.

Keith held his hand out with the keychain, hoping something would happen. Sadly not a single thing did and Keith still just had a small little keychain in his hand.

"Hey! Hey! I'm in danger Keyblade!" Keith called towards the chain, throwing a heartless back. He shook the chain. "Summon! Do something!"