Chapter Text
Out in the Ocean Between, an unfamiliar duo flew a small ship among the stars. A female feline and her robotic friend were looking over a space map, which seemed to be malfunctioning.
“I told ya that going through that slipstream was gonna send us off course, but no, you don’t wanna listen to me.” The robot snarked at the feline as she rolled her eyes.
“Well, it was either that or lead Syntax right to Farcade. Personally, I think it was a good call.” She says, reclining in her seat as the robotic sphere manned the helm of the small ship. After a few seconds, an alarm started blaring, Red dots appeared on the map they were looking at and even through the window, they could see them surrounded by enemy ships.
“Shit, they found us. They followed us through the slipstream?!” The cat yelled, preparing to jump on the pilot’s chair to get them out of the situation, but they found themselves surrounded.
“Nah. This ain’t Syntax…Look.” The robotic sphere said, pointing towards one of the ships. They appeared to be unmanned and bore a strange symbol. Though, before they could get a further look, they were surrounded by a sea of lasers. Though they tried to navigate through the hailstorm, they were clipped and found themselves spinning out of control.
“We’re hit! Gotta…steer towards something or else we’re dead in the water.” The cat says, gritting her teeth as she fought with the controls, trying to gain control. As they fell through Space, a world popped into view. It seemed to be a dark city with an enormous castle looming above it. “Never seen a world like that before, but it’ll have to do for now.” She says, doing her best to aim the ship towards that city as her robotic partner attached itself to her body, the both of them bracing for impact.
–o0o–
The crash could have gone worse. No fire, no explosions but it did end with a ship wacking itself with a wrench for self-repairs. The cat stood up and stretched a bit.
“That could have been a lot worse. You alright back there, Kaboodle?” She asked, the robot on her back giving a smirk.
“My ass hurts but you know, I’ll live, Kit.” He says in response, getting a giggle out of the girl.
“You don’t have one of those, you know that right? Anyway, this place is unfamiliar territory, we might be able to see if there is a hero here that needs stopping. Not much else we can do while the ship repairs itself.” She says as she gets a look at her surroundings. Tall buildings surrounding them from all sides. Seems they were in a dead end street. Clouds rumbled with thunder above them, it looked to rain at any moment. There was a bit of a chill in the air and the unfamiliar feeling of being watched as they moved through the street into a more open area.
“For a city, this place sure is a ghost town. Where’s the people? Where’s the street rappers, where’s the action?” Kaboodle snarked. Almost as soon as the words left him, Kit stopped in her tracks.
“I think we found it.” She says, exchanging her hand for an arm cannon. In front of her, it seemed the shadows of the buildings around them turned into little creatures. Ebony bodies that blended into the dark city, only seen due to piercing yellow eyes. The moonlight beaming down on them illuminated them as they approached the duo.
“Aww, they’re kinda cute.” Kit says, looking at one of the creatures as it grew closer to her. She was just about to reach out to it before it reared back and swiped it’s claw at her, causing her to recoil backwards.
“Yeah, real cute… Shoot it already, Kit.” Kit grit her teeth, shooting a laser at the small creature. It hits dead on, the small creature seeming to evaporate into thin air, only to be replaced by two more of the same kind. Once again, she shot, hit and they evaporated, only to be replaced with more.
“They just keep coming…” She says, a bit worried about their current standing. The more they shot, the more appeared. Soon the two were surrounded on all sides. Crawling, writhing shadows creeping in closer by the second. Kit looked back at Kaboodle, who nodded. Right after, the two initiated a transformation, Kit now wearing Kaboodle as armor, her hands coming together to create a massive beam cannon, laying waste to all the creatures in a spectacular fashion.
“You think we got ‘em all?” Kit asked as they reverted back to their earlier state. Before Kaboodle could answer, the two were approached not by more shadow creatures, but a person, dressed in all black.
“Hey, were you the one sending those…things to attack us? What’s the deal?” Kaboodle mouthed off. The figure raised their hand to silence him.
“Those things, as you call them, are heartless. They’re mindless beings, drawn to the hearts of others.” The figure spoke. Their voice was cold and calculated, almost calming in a way. “You two, you’re not of this world, are you?”
Kit shook her head. She knew she had to be careful about spouting off information, less she cause a crash. “No, but…we’re here on a mission. Do you know of anyone that can be considered a hero?” She asked. The figure paused for a moment.
“Perhaps I do know of such a person. What would you want with them?” The figure spoke. Kit had a feeling go through her spine that things might turn early if she didn’t answer this question correctly.
“I…have to stop them from reaching their goal.” She says. The figure once again paused, as if thinking something over before raising a hand and outstretching it towards them. Kit’s ears twitched as she heard something behind her. A strange, dark portal seemed to materialize right behind her. As she stepped away from it, the figure closed the distance between them and threw her into it before entering it themselves, it soon vanishing from sight as if it were never there.
–o0o–
Once Kit opened her eyes again, she found herself in a completely white room, Around them stood chairs of varying heights. Some were empty but the ones that weren’t sat others with the same black cloak as the one that push them to the portal. There were at least six sat around them and with the one behind them, that made seven.
“Pardon the intrusion. It seems a stray cat has found our castle.” The one responsible for bringing them here spoke. The others seemed to murr to themselves.
“A stowaway from one of the other worlds perhaps?”
“Hmph. The Organization has no need for pets. Get rid of her.” Kit rolled her eyes.
“It’s not like I asked to be here, you know.” She snarked. A low laugh came from one of the seats.
“Oh, I like this one. She has a spine. Unlike someone I know.”
“O-Oh, come on! I haven’t even said anything this whole meeting, why am I catching strays?”
The figure in the middle raised it’s hand and everyone fell silent.
“Well, Well. It’s not quite like you to bring others to our most private chambers. There must be something particular about this one.” They mused. Kit looked towards the figure that conjured the portal and they gestured for her to step forward.
“Well, I’m here to stop the destruction of your world. And to do that, I have to stop the hero.” She claimed. There was silence for a moment before the hall erupted with laughter.
“Stop the hero, huh? That’s a pretty tall order. Perhaps you’d be better off trying to sprout wings and fly away.” One of the figures laughed. Kit felt just a bit self conscious before Kaboodle jumped off her back.
“Oi, why don’t you come down here and say that! Kit’s trying her best here, she doesn’t need some nobodies in cloaks laughin’ at her.” He yelled before Kit scooped him up.
“Sorry about him, he’s just-” She started to say before once again, the figure in the middle raised it’s hand.
“Your friend is not wrong. See, we also want to stop the hero…but only after they do something for us first. It seems our goals are more aligned than I thought. Tell me, Kit, how do you plan to stop the hero? Diversion? Destruction?” They asked. Kit’s ears flattened against her head. She hadn’t really thought of a method of stopping them. The silence rang out loud in the room for a while.
“I see. Then, perhaps a suggestion. Those beings you defeated before, the heartless…” The figure started, waving his hand and showing a mirage of one of the creatures. “The hero you seek carries a weapon called a Keyblade. When he slays heartless…” He explained, the heartless being slain by another mirage of a spiky headed child, a little heart floating up out of it. “He releases the heart trapped inside. This is our goal. To collect those hearts.” He finishes, the heart floating into his sleeve and all the mirages vanishing before her.
“So, you’re using them to collect these hearts for you? I get it…but why?”
“That is beyond your need to know. Though, once we have enough hearts, you may do whatever is in your power to stop him. Though, I suggest you get familiar with traversing the worlds…and to get familiar with the hero in question.” They nodded towards the figure behind her, which opened another portal for her.
“Why are you so eager to help us? Like, really? What’s your game here?” Kaboodle asked. Usually they had SOME pushback from Villains trying to rule the world or whatever.
“The more you push against something, the harder it will push back. Your attempts to stop him will only reinforce his will to fight. You learn about him, and we get more hearts. A mutual exchange.” Kit sighed and looked at the portal before looking back at the figures before running into that portal. The second she left, one of the figures stood up on their seat.
“What in blazes are you doing, giving information like that to some meddling cat?!” The figure in the middle lowered their hood, revealing a tan man with brown eyes and silver hair.
“It’s simple really. When you’re provided another chess piece, you’d be foolish not to use it. Call it a game of cat and mouse. Once we’re done with her, I trust you all to do your best in terms of pest control.”