Kingdom Hearts: an EEnE Story Ch 23

Legal Notes: I DO NOT own Ed, Edd n Eddy or Kingdom Hearts, or any other references. The Ed boys and the cul-de-sac children are owned by Danny Antonucci and AKA Cartoons, and the world, weapons, currency and characters of the Kingdom Hearts universe are owned by Square Enix, while everything else is copyrighted by their respective creators. Any original content is credited by me, Cory of PRIVATE Corp, or any guest creator.

=====

Chapter Twenty-Three – One Annoying Zip-fly

OOO

Now finally back outside of the castle of Hollow Bastion, the Eds are walking out towards the moving rocks to head back to their Gummi ship. They are walking the bridge out to the archway, each of the Eds relieved that they are not fighting any more Heartless on their way, and the boys decide to turn back to look at the majestic castle one more time. From what they are seeing, the X.A.N.A. symbol has mysteriously disappeared and from underneath the brass Heartless emblem hangs proudly out in front.

"You know, I think I like seeing the Heartless emblem there instead," said Double D.

"I wonder why that's there in the first place," pondered the small Ed.

"That's for another story Eddy," replied Ed.

"Man, and it wouldn't hurt for one of us to go back and take the place over," said Eddy. "Think about it: Father isn't here anymore plus we got rid of everyone that works for him, freed the Pure Hearted and defeat that Behemoth! We can rule this place and bring it back to life, which means that I will have followers and they will worship me as I rule over all of those saps with an iron fist!"

"Eddy, you're getting power hungry again," the smart Ed muttered.

"And isn't the castle going to blow up because we defeated the Behemoth?" Ed pointed out. "We can't go back there! I don't want to blow up with Sarah watching me!"

"And speaking of, what are we going to do with the twerps and cuckoo-brains once we dropped them off in Traverse Town?" asked the greedy Ed. "It's not like we're going to do much with them now that we don't have a way home."

"First and foremost, we need to do some research about this power the Pure Hearted have and see if it's true if they can bring back fallen worlds," said Ed's hat. "Once then, we shall follow the instructions to the process and combine their powers, along with the Keyblade's, to create enough mana to hopefully bring back your world."

"That definitely sounds like a good start," said Double D. "But what are we going to do with Jib? It appears that he is our top priority since he is on his way to get to Kingdom Hearts."

"True, but the man is going up against some tough obstacles in the Realm of Darkness," said Normadomus. "Whether or not he is an Unversed, some of the Heartless lying in that realm can exceed even a Keyblade Master's power."

"So… if we were to go into this realm, we're screwed beyond belief, aren't we?" asked Eddy, sounding not so happy about the inevitable response.

"Pretty much."

The small Ed lets out a groan as the Eds continue on to their ship. Eddy begins to feel something suspicious in the air and checks around him to see whatever is following them, but his eyes see nothing. Shrugging it off, the boy trails right behind his friends as Double D begins to feel the same feeling as Eddy and spots a white blur heading right towards the Ed. "Eddy, look out!" he shouted.

Before he can react, there is a sharp kick to the greedy Ed's face and Eddy is sent flying. The other two Eds notice who sent the small Ed flying, turning around to find the Nobody Zip-fly standing right behind them with one of his hands as a katana. The Nobody flashes a smile as he swiftly strikes the other two boys down, preventing them from drawing their weapons, and he sent the Eds flying across the ground in the same direction as Eddy. With all three Eds flying in the air, Zip-fly disappears from the bridge to head to the landing spot.

When the three Eds got close to the landing zone, Zip-fly prepares himself for the fight by getting his katana hands ready to strike. Eddy notices that the masked boy is going to slash at them, so he grabs his shield and blocks the two swords. However, Zip-fly takes his feet and smacks into the shield, causing Eddy to fly back and crash into his friends as they land on the ground. The Eds got themselves back up on their feet, groaning from crashing into each other, and they turn towards their latest adversary.

"My, oh I have been waiting for the day to finally face you three once again in battle and defeat you for all of what you done," said Zip-fly.

"Zip-fly…" growled Eddy.

"Uh, excuse me but why are fighting us?" asked Double D. "Aren't you now free from your binds of Father and Mark, meaning you are free to do whatever you want?"

"Uh… I should think over what you have just said there," said Normadomus.

"He is right there," the Nobody replied. "Now that I am free, I am free to do whatever I please, even if it means getting rid of you and taking over your mission to go to Kingdom Hearts."

"Nice going Double D," muttered the small Ed.

"But why should you fight us? We haven't done anything to provoke you to fighting us and also the path to Kingdom Hearts is destroyed. There is no other way for you to get into the Realm of Darkness without using the Pure Hearted or my Keyblade."

"Yes, but can't you see that I have my mission in mind? You may have freed the Pure Hearted from their prisons, but they are still on this world and I can prevent them from leaving this world," said Zip-fly. "Plus if I can defeat you and get the Keyblade, I will use the power of the Pure Hearted to unlock another path to the Realm of Darkness and challenge the man that brought me into this existence for the grand prize!"

"Is this all for Jib?" asked Ed. "But I want to see what he looks like under that shadow disguise!"

"Oh don't worry about that, I'll make sure to keep you alive. It's just the Keyblade I'm seeking, but we'll see how this little fight will turn out."

"Man, I am getting tired of all this fighting," whined Eddy. "When are we going to get a chapter of relaxation and not worry about chasing Jib?"

"When we are done with this fight," answered Double D with the small Ed groaning in response.

"If this is how things are going to be, let's get this over with as fast as we can," said the greedy Ed. "I am getting sick of fighting everything that moves and I could use a break."

"Now not to sound cheesy, but I can give you one," said the Nobody, preparing a katana. "The only question is would you risk your life for this break?"

"Well, at least he's being different here," said Ed's hat. "Avoiding a common line by rephrasing it as a question does put him on a path to those who are more…"

Before the wizard can finish, the Nobody is up close in front of the Eds, katanas behind him ready to swing. Eddy and Double D catch the two blades, reacting fast enough, as Zip-fly steps back to prepare another attack. The two defending Eds are struggling to keep up with the blinding speeds of this Nobody, as they remember that their first fight was easier than now, and they can see that Zip-fly is not holding back this time. Once the boy in white is done, he allows the Eds to catch their breath before returning back to the fight.

Double D takes Joker's Wild and starts using his magic on Zip-fly, hoping that he can get an advantage by not fighting up close and personal. However the Nobody is moving too fast for the Ed, meaning his Fire and Blizzard spells are useless, and his Thunder proving to be effective to a certain extent. Double D is holding out on using Light, but he is thinking about using his Magic Spire and Distraction Limit Breaks for this fight, since he does not want to waste mana on his powerful spell.

Ed is having a better time with his magic, since his moves are more direct and take less time to complete, and his hat's Blizzard spells can hit the Nobody within a certain range. However, Zip-fly dodges all of the magic spells thrown at him, moving at blinding speeds, and he beats Ed's staff and hat off of him to prevent him from using his magic. The tall Ed grabs the end of his staff and swings it towards the Nobody, but Zip-fly dodges the incoming attack and Ed hits the small Ed instead.

Eddy is struggling in keeping up with the Nobody. So far the Ed can only use his shield to defend against Zip-fly's katanas, but using it to attack has failed him thanks to the speed of the masked boy. Eddy even tries to use his yo-yo to lasso in on the Nobody, trying to catch him and allow the others to strike, but even this tactic is proving ineffective. Zip-fly is showing that he is a real challenge for the Eds after all three use most of everything they have on this Nobody.

"Geez, this guy is tough," Eddy complained. "Not only is he strong, but he can't stand still for one second!"

"If only if there is a spell that can freeze time so we can defeat this Nobody," said Ed, looking up at his hat.

"Hey, I wish I knew Stop, but that move is hard to pull off and difficult maintain," the wizard hat replied.

"So that plan's out, leaving us with some unknown plan to get rid of this freak," said the small Ed.

"Well eventually we are going to break through his defenses and land some hits in," said Double D, raising his Keyblade. "If I were to duel it out, he will let his guard down and leave an opening for me."

"And what about us?" asked Eddy.

"If all goes according to plan, I should be able to stun him, which should leave him open for you to attack," the smart Ed explained.

"Are you willing to take that risk?" the Nobody questioned, getting up in Double D's face.

Zip-fly prepares to swing and Double D quickly reacts by raising his Keyblade up to defend and block the two katana blades. The white boy takes his hands and starts flailing away at the smart Ed, quickly using every sword move as Double D counters each move. Now noticing a moment to strike, Eddy prepares his shield and tosses right at the Nobody, the weapon's razor sides ready to cut through. Zip-fly notices the shield coming and he jumps up to dodge and send the shield right back to the Ed. The tall Ed follows this by using Thundara, causing the Nobody to flip back and allowing the lightning to strike down Double D.

Zip-fly lands gracefully on a rock, watching the Eds scramble to catch up with the Nobody. With a zipper smile growing on his face, Zip-fly prepares himself as the Eds try to get to the rock the Nobody is at. "Well, this is getting interesting," he said. "Not only have I gotten myself free from Father's bonds, I am now fighting the same boys I have beaten senseless back on their home world."

"Hey, we weren't beaten by you!" barked Eddy.

Zip-fly jumps down from the rock to dodge Eddy's shield, allowing the shield to fly through the air as the white boy lands behind the rock. However the shield begins to dive down towards the Nobody and Zip-fly jumps out of the way of that, making the weapon stick into the ground. Just as Money Maker is sticking out, the rock comes crashing down as Eddy and Double D are carrying their heavy friend like a battering ram, smashing through the thick rock and sending rocky shards all around.

With these smaller pieces of rock, Double D takes his Keyblade and starts batting the shards at the Nobody, prompting him to use his katana hands or dodge the shards. Eddy grabs onto his tall friend and drags him through the shard shower as he gives Ed one good toss at the Nobody. Zip-fly fails to stop the incoming Ed, taking the damaging blow from the boy's thick skull, as the two of them sail back. Zip-fly pushes against Ed and knocks the boy into the ground, only to find Normadomus sitting on Ed's back and ready with a Blizzara.

The Nobody prepares his hands to cut the hat into string, but the wizard jumps out of the way and blasts his spell, sending the chilled wind at the masked boy. Zip-fly begins to feel his body slowing down, but he breaks the shards forming on his body as he kicks Ed back over to his friend. The tall tumbles for a bit and the other Eds defend themselves from the incoming Zip-fly, blocking his blinding attack of katana swipes, as Double D casts Fire and got the Nobody back a few feet.

"OK, so Zip-fly can take Ed to the stomach and still fight," said Eddy. "How is that even possible? No one could even stand if they were hit by Ed, and we have proof of that."

"True, but we aren't exactly dealing with a normal human being here," Double D noted. "It may appear that Zip-fly could be hollow and can take all the damage he wants, without having anything internal damage to worry about."

"But I find that to be a little off considering that idea," said Normadomus, "but then I have seen some weird things in my time."

"Same here," added Ed.

Eddy grabs his shield and tosses it towards at Zip-fly, trying to get some more damage down. The masked boy takes his hands and blocks the shield from getting close, noticing one corner is very close to his face. Zip-fly does not notices Eddy and the others sailing towards the Nobody, thanks to the rings that are on Eddy's fingers. With the force of three Eds collapsing onto the shield, the metal scrap across the mask of Zip-fly's as Double D's Keyblade latches onto a zipper and unzips Zip-fly's head.

The head of the Nobody falls down to the ground, deflated of its air and the Eds land on the ground to notice the body is standing motionless. With a smile on their faces, the boys begin to celebrate when they notice Zip-fly's body moving and heading straight towards the Eds. Double D got his Keyblade ready to defend and stops the flurry of katana swipes, stopping the headless Zip-fly in his tracks. Normadomus prepares a Gravity spell and propels the body back from the terrified boys.

"But… But… How is that even possible?" stated the smart Ed. "Without a brain, he should collapse to the ground thanks to lack of control!"

"Now, now, isn't it clear to you that I'm not your average Nobody," the headless body responded, walking over to the deflated head and picking it up. "Of course a Nobody does have his other organs instead of his heart, but I was made to come apart and sewn back together. It would be impossible to take me down without figuring out a good strategy to do so."

The Nobody got his head near his body and the zipper automatically seals itself shut, inflating the head as the masked boy smiles evilly. "No way, the Nobody's a zombie!" stated Ed excitedly.

"Ed you dolt!" blurted Eddy, smacking the tall boy in the back of the head. "The freak's not a zombie! He's an unstoppable force that can somehow reattach his body parts and continue on fighting."

"That's… pretty much what a zombie is," said Normadomus, "except this one is more of the improbably fast variety."

"OK, this is getting me thinking," said the smart Ed. "Now that we know Zip-fly can come undone thanks to those zippers on his body, it has gave me an idea on how we can defeat him."

"You got something?" questioned the greedy Ed. "Well what is it Sock-head?"

"Well, we just have to dissemble him. Note that there are zippers on his shoulders, ankles, wrists, knees, waist and, dare I say, crotch, we can use those points to our advantage and bring Zip-fly down!"

"Say, that's not a bad idea. Man, this guy is a walking target now," stated Eddy. "If we known about this sooner, we could have won this fight sooner than expected!"

"Let's chop the alien's limb off!" stated Ed, holding his staff up. "It's just like that one commercial I saw for a game."

"Heh, are you willing to try that silly plan?" Zip-fly smirked. "Sure you have figured out that I can detach any part of my body, but you need to be faster than me if you want to go with that plan."

Zip-fly takes one of his hands and transforms it into something different this time, turning his not into a katana but into the shape of Kingdom Key. The Eds are quite surprise by this transformation and so is the Nobody, but it is hard to tell thanks to his mask. Transforming his other hand into the shape as his Keyblade hand, Zip-fly prepares himself to strike the Eds. The boys notice some other changes to the Nobody as well, noticing that the masked boy's jacket is getting a bit longer and some of the zippers are moving as well.

"Hang on, since when he can turn his hands into Keyblades?" asked the small Ed.

"I think that's the less of our worries," said Double D. "Our only concern is that Zip-fly has gained a new ability and possibly upgraded his body. This could spell disaster Eddy!"

Ed, on the other hand, is already charging at the Nobody with his staff spinning and charging with electricity. Zip-fly smiles wickedly as he takes his new hands and carves a circle in the ground, creating a protective barrier to protect him from the incoming Thundara attack. Ed shifts to using Terra, raising the ground inside of the barrier and launching the Nobody up into the air. The masked boy gives one full somersault before landing a Keyblade onto the Ed's staff. With a strong force emitting from the clash, the tall boy is being push back as Zip-fly continues to use his hands.

Eddy comes in with his shield locked onto the masked boy, but Zip-fly jumps up and lands on the boomeranging shield, launching himself right at the Ed. Eddy tries to stop the attack but he receives the Keyblade's cold hard shaft straight in the face. The force blows the small Ed away as the Nobody jumps off of the shield and lands right next to the smart Ed. With Keyblades ready to fight, the two Keybladers begin to duel, leaving the other two Eds to wonder what they are going to do next.

"Geez Louise, is there something that will stop this guy?" questioned Eddy, grabbing onto his throbbing head. "I feel like we aren't getting anywhere unless we find a way through this guy's stinking defenses."

During Double D and Zip-fly's fight, the two Keybladers "Now, it has been a while since I last controlled someone under my will," the Nobody said, changing a Keyblade back into a hand. "Let's see if I still got it in me!"

The masked boy creates some static on his hand and uses his speed to get up in Double D's personal space once again. Taking the charged hand, Zip-fly latches the palm onto the Ed's face and starts the takeover process. Smiling wildly, Zip-fly waits for his mind-control to work, but he is suddenly launched back from not one of the Eds' spells, but from a source deep within the Ed. The masked boy skids back and checks his hand, noticing that there are burn marks from touching Double D's face.

"What the…? My technique failed?" the Nobody questioned, staring at his hand. "But that should have gotten through to his mind! How could it have…?"

Before he can finish, Zip-fly begins to notice something sinister wrapped around the smart Ed. Invisible to the Eds, a dark and ominous shadow lurks over the boy, taking on the form of a disfigured man with a fiery head and burning red eyes. Zip-fly begins to feel queasy as he continues to stare at the ominous shadow. "What… What is that thing?" he asked. "I have never seen such a hideous, most powerful thing in all of my life!"

"Uh, what are you talking about?" questioned Eddy. "One: how can you see without eyeholes, and two: there isn't anything else besides Double D. That's pretty insulting if you asked me."

Shaking his head from the sight of the shadow, Zip-fly focuses back on the battle before him and shifts towards Eddy to strike. Taking his other Keyblade hand, the Nobody lunges forward to strike, only to be intercepted by Eddy's shield. The small Ed takes his shield and tries to use the cutting edge of his weapon to get at the zippers on Zip-fly, but the Nobody is moving too fast for the Ed to get at a zipper. The masked boy takes a hand and grabs at the Ed's shirt, flinging him up in the air and jumping up to take a Keyblade and smacking the boy into the ground.

Ed rushes over to help his fallen friend, hoping to get him cured up. Zip-fly comes back down and reaches out to grab Normadomus by the tip, tossing him to the side to leave Ed to defend for himself. Spinning around, the Nobody lands his Keyblade hand on the tall boy's staff, as the masked boy prepares a katana hand and tries to strike at the Ed's stomach. The tall Ed jumps back and launches Shadara in hopes of doing some damage and maybe inflict the Darkness effect, but he fails to remember that Zip-fly does not have any eyes.

The wizard hat got his mouth open and uses Gravity to knock him back and flying towards the Nobody. While Zip-fly is busy dealing with Ed, Normadomus got himself into position and prepares his mouth for one of the Nobody's zippers. Launching over the shoulder, the wizard grabs onto the zipper and unzips Zip-fly's left arm off of his body. Now noticing this, Zip-fly tries to grab the hat but Ed slams his staff down on the Nobody's head and bats him away to prevent getting his deflated arm.

Wanting to get his arm back, Zip-fly turns his other hand back to normal and charges at the Ed, only to notice Eddy skidding across the battlefield and grabbing onto the arm. The Nobody lets out a growl and transforms his hand into a katana as he starts to pursue the sledding Eddy, who is speeding along the ground with an icy shield. Taking the deflated arm, the small Ed starts unzipping the other three zippers on the arm to break the arm down to only the hand. Tossing the other parts of the arm, Eddy grips onto the hand and tries to figure out how to transform the hand into a Keyblade.

However, the small Ed did not expect to toss the extra arm pieces at the Nobody and the arm begins to reattach to Zip-fly's body. Eddy eventually got the hand to transform into Kingdom Key and, with a smile on his face, takes his shield and heads back to face-off against the incoming Nobody. With two Keyblades ready to clash, the duelers close in and prepare their weapons in hopes of bringing one of them down. In a split second, the two Keybladers collide and Eddy is the victor of the clash, sending the shaft right at the waist of Zip-fly and cutting him from his legs.

With the legs continuing to run until deflating, the body of Zip-fly lands on the slippery ice and watches the small Ed skid off, as the boy taunts the chopped Nobody from far away. Zip-fly lets out a growl in anger as he uses his arms to push him along the ice and to get moving. Now up to speed, the Nobody watches the small Ed in anger as he prepares a katana, ready to cut the boy, when he notices Double D coming up. The two of them clash for a bit but Zip-fly continues to slide on the ice to catch up to Eddy in hopes of getting his hand back.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Ed walks up to where the deflated legs are and picks them up to see if he can wear them. The tall Ed notices that his friend is in danger, and he jumps onto the ice to slide over to where Eddy is, by using his stomach for better speed. Zip-fly finally catches up to the greedy Ed, where he starts to use his katana at the boy's feet to cause him to lose his footing on his shield, and the Ed loses his concentration as the Nobody's hand slips from his grasp and reattaches to its rightful owner.

Grinning widely, Zip-fly wiggles his fingers as he hears the sound of Ed coming close. The Nobody spins around and stares at the incoming magic boy as an evil plan begins to form in his head. Taking his hands Zip-fly prepares his spell that he tried to use on Double D, and successfully takes over the mind of Ed and got him to stop in his tracks. Eddy and Double D notice this spell and try to stop the Nobody, but Zip-fly takes his hands and swings katanas around to prevent the boys from getting anywhere close. The hypnotized Ed hands Zip-fly his legs back and the Nobody reattach his legs back onto his body, inflating them as the masked boy gives a firm kick to the heavy Ed's face and knocking him out of his spell.

"Ed, are you all right?" asked Double D, sounding very concern for his friend.

"Why do red velvet waffles need cream cheese icing?" the tall Ed questioned, going off in a random tangent.

"I don't know Ed, I've never tried red velvet waffles before," the smart Ed recalled.

"Well at least he's his usual self, even though it's hard to tell if he's normal or not," commented Eddy.

"So Ed boys, you have tried to dissembled me but to no avail," stated Zip-fly. "As you can see, I can reattach all of my body parts with no effort whatsoever, allowing me to get back on my feet, literally, and continue on with the fight. So then… how about we finish this fight once and for all?"

The Nobody has his hands in both a Keyblade and a katana, and in his sight are three targets that he can bring down. Creating another circle in the ground, the white boy disappears from view and reappears behind Double D, whacking the boy in the back with the Keyblade as the Nobody blocks Eddy's shield. The smart Ed enters the circle and is caught in the Nobody's trap, getting stuck in a protective barrier as Zip-fly launches up into the air. He prepares a leg to kick Double D, but Ed intervenes by grabbing his staff and blocks the incoming attack. Normadomus opens his mouth and launches a Gravitara spell, propelling the Nobody away from the Eds as the tall Ed uses Terra to free his friend.

Double D quickly pulls out the charm Princess Kendall gave to him back at the Platinum Kingdom and the Ed clutches onto the charm for his dear life. Zip-fly makes an attempt to strike Double D during his summon, but Normadomus uses an Aeroga spell to protect the smart Ed and blow the Nobody back. After buying the Ed some time, Double D dangles the charm in front of him, with the stone glowing brightly, and everyone waits to see what the medium Ed is summoning. Zip-fly recovers from his fall and makes another move, but he could feel his legs stuck into the ground, as Ed used a Terra spell to bind the masked boy to the ground.

During the summon, Double D is walking through a bamboo forest, with a slight fog covering the area. He could see a shadow in the distance, a person to be exact, and he could see that this person is being hold up by a pole. As the fog clears, the Ed could see that this is the person that he is summoning, and the person looks into Double D's eyes with a determined look. The two nod their hands in unison and the person jumps up into the air, grabbing onto the pole that he is using, and lands right behind the Ed, with both getting into a fighting position as the bamboo forest disappears and a shockwave is sent across the battlefield.

The person Double D summoned is a young man, very fit due to his time spent training, and very young to have gray hair. This newcomer appears to be a warrior of some sorts, as he wears loose clothes of all black, with a tunic covering most of his chest and leaving the left side of his body exposed, and pants to cover his short legs. In his the boy's hand is a slender purple staff that appears to be made out of bamboo, with one end having a shoot sticking out and red leaves decorating the end. An unusual beige hat covers his head and leaves a dark look for his eyes, but he appears to be friendly to all living things.

"Sweet, two charms on one world!" stated Eddy. "What's the special occasion?"

"Well I don't feel like we should waste these charms when we get to the end," said Double D. "Besides, I got a feeling this gentleman is going to help us in defeating Zip-fly."

"It appears that you have been in some trouble," said the summon. "Allow me, Lin Chung, to help you in this fight in any way possible."

"Heh, you think you're going to stop me with a summon?" questioned Zip-fly. "Prankster has a hard time defeating me with his summons so what makes you think he's going to stop me?"

"Sheesh, this guy is tough," mumbled Eddy.

"This person sure looks tough," said the warrior, adjusting his hat. "He is obviously someone to be working for High Roller, but I don't recall ever seeing him from where I come from."

"You never dealt with a Nobody before, have you?" asked the smart Ed with his summon returning a no. "Well this will be your first fight with one and I have to say he is tougher than he appears."

"I have dealt with plenty of adversaries from where I came," the boy named Lin Chung answered, spinning his staff, "so I should have something that will help you defeat this enemy."

The masked boy disappears from the Eds' sight and reappears in front of the newcomer, katanas ready to cut and slice. Lin Chung quickly reacts by countering with his staff and blocks every one of Zip-fly's attack, watching all of the swings with his sharp eyes. The Nobody backs away for a moment to figure out a plan in how to defeat this summon, when he hears the sound of Eddy and Ed charging up on the Nobody. Turning around for the moment, Lin Chung takes his staff and aims it at the Nobody, flicking the butt to allow shoots of bamboo to fly out.

The small bamboo hit the cutting blade of Zip-fly's katana, obviously not harming its intentional target, and the two Eds are beaten down by Zip-fly's Keyblade hand. Lin Chung and Double D come up from behind with their weapons in hand, but Zip-fly spins around and slashes right at the two, ineptly knocking them back instead of cutting them with his katana blade. Lin Chung lands gracefully and skids for a bit, while his summoner tumbles across the ground, and the young man spots the Nobody heading right at him.

The warrior got his staff up to defend himself against the fury of blades, blocking every one of Zip-fly's attacks. Double D recovers from his fall and got back up on his feet, all while watching the fight. He got his Keyblade ready and tries to use Fire in hopes of trapping the Nobody in the ring, but the masked boy dodges the attack. Lin Chung uses his staff to jump up and dodge the incoming flames, only to then jump up high to dodge one of Zip-fly's Keyblade swings.

Eddy got his shield on fire, thanks to Ed's magic, and he chunks the flaming shield at the Nobody. Zip-fly disappears to allow the shield to head right for Lin Chung, but the warrior takes his staff and bats it away from him, sending it right at Zip-fly but he fails to notice the shield coming. Now with his head burning with flames, Ed comes running up with his staff charging with electricity and zaps the Nobody with a powerful Thundara. Double D steps in and provides one good hit to the head, and he grabs the zipper to pull off Zip-fly's head once again.

The tall Ed grabs on the deflated head, forgetting that this head is still on fire, and he watches the summoned jump up into the air. Lin Chung takes his staff and flicks a few shoots down into Zip-fly. The headless body begins to freak out in pain from the pointy shoots, shivering and twitching in pain, as the Eds use everything they have to defeat their headless enemy. However, Zip-fly can still fight and he takes his hands to block all of their attacks, despite not having a head to control or see where the attacks are coming from.

The Nobody got his hands ready to strike, disappearing from the boys' sight as he reappears in front of Ed and beats the head from his hands. Zip-fly then takes the shoots Lin Chung shot at him and flings them out of his body, through a small hole in the Nobody's wrist zippers, allowing the shoots to hit the Ed boys. Lin Chung grabs a few of those shoots as the head reattaches to its body and inflates once again. "Man, I thought that is going to be over," the greedy Ed sighed.

"This isn't over!" the Nobody snapped. "I still have one trick left, and I'll make sure to eliminate you all!"

Zip-fly reaches around on his back to grab onto the circle zipper on his coat. He unzips the circle, allowing the cover to drop down to the ground and allow whatever is hidden inside to come out. As the Eds and Lin Chung wait, they begin to notice Zip-fly twitching and they can see that the Nobody is smiling widely. Two thin spikes shot out from the back of Zip-fly and begin to unfold, revealing a messy glop of large wings at least a yard long each, and a single flap brought the Nobody up into the air. Normadomus prepares to fire a Blizzaga spell and Ed with a Thundara spell, but Zip-fly takes a dive towards the Eds with katanas ready and swings at all three, only to miss by a Reflect.

Zip-fly got back up in the air and turns around to face the Eds again, switching his hands into Keyblades and he tries again. His speed is uncanny, moving faster than the Eds can read before, but they still manage to out-maneuver the flying Nobody with only a small margin of error. The masked boy is getting to his boiling point, as he once again makes an attempt to slice through the Eds in hopes to take them down.

"There's got to be something to take this guy down!" Eddy whines. "At least the other two had weaknesses. How come this guy doesn't?"

"I think I may know the answer," said Double D. "I recall way back when we first met Zip-fly on our world, and he was trying to defeat us the first time around."

"Yeah?"

"Well, as you may have known, the zippers of his can come unattached from his body, right?"

"Yeah?" echoed Eddy.

"So if the zippers are the key, then his direct weak point is..." Double D takes his Keyblade and aims it at Zip-fly's chest.

"His chest?" asked Eddy. "How are we supposed to hit that when he's crazy fast?"

"Allow me to try," offered Lin Chung, twirling his staff.

The young man pulls out a few bamboo shoots from his pocket and loads them into his staff, and he takes aim at the center of the X on Zip-fly's chest. He carefully gets his shot align and flicks a few shoots down the staff and out the other end, all aiming at the Nobody's chest. Zip-fly notices the bamboo shoots heading towards him and he deliberately slices through all of the shoots, all while taking a direct blow from a surprise Ed Thundara attack. The Nobody came out unscathed, but the wings are weakening, so his altitude begins to drop but he remains in the air.

"That's a nice strategy, but you have to come up with a better one," the Nobody stated. "As long as I can read your attacks from a distance, there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

"It's useless," Eddy mumbles. "We're giving everything we got and he's taking everything like it's nothing."

"There is still hope," Lin Chung said, tipping his hat down slightly.

He holds out his staff and got it to spin in the air, allowing the purple staff to hover before shooting the staff high into the air. Lin Chung jumps up into the air and grabs onto his spinning staff, causing him to spin along with his staff and allow gravity to send them back down to earth. Zip-fly wonders what the warrior is up to when he notices that the young man is now heading straight up at the flying Nobody. Taking his katanas to help with his defense, Lin Chung clashes with the Nobody and starts to drill through the blades.

Strangely and surprisingly, the attack is working for the warrior but it is a slow process. Zip-fly lets out a growl as he tries to break free from the trade, trying to prevent getting speared by Lin Chung's staff. Zip-fly uses his blinding speed to disappear from the block and reappear as he watches Lin Chung continue to fly up and loop around to head right back at the Nobody. The masked boy snarls as his hands transform into Keyblades and launches up at Lin Chung in hopes of knocking the warrior back down to earth and hopefully put an end to the summon.

"Uh Double D, are we going to do something?" asked Ed.

"Yes Ed, we are going to do something," replied Double D. "We need to help Lin Chung in defeating Zip-fly and all of that lies within hitting that X on Zip-fly's chest and removing all of his zippers so he does not have a chance to fight back!"

"Well you better come up with something!" growled Eddy. "This fight has gone on for way too long and I want to get off of this world!"

"Patience Eddy, I just need to get myself up there and…" An idea strikes Double D hard in his mind and he quickly tells his friends about it. A grin appears on Eddy's face and he drops his shield down on the ground, preparing to go with what Double D has in mind, and he grabs onto Ed's and the smart Ed's hats as he got spinning on the shield. Once getting up to speed, the small Ed releases the medium Ed from his grasp, sending Double D high up into the air, and the smart Ed got his Keyblade glowing with Light as the boy starts spinning around in a circle.

Now a glowing ball of light, Double D heads straight for the two flying duelers in hopes of putting an end to the fight. The smart Ed's Keyblade touches down on the Nobody and smacks Zip-fly all the way down to the ground. Both Double D and Lin Chung break out of their moves as an Aeroga catches them and a recovering Zip-fly tries to get back up on his feet. Now with the opportunity, Lin Chung strikes at the center of the X with his staff, piercing the zipper and removing the staff to allow the air to seep out from the body.

The Nobody looks down at the growing wound as two of the Eds quickly unzip the arms from the body and drag them away. As the body begins to deflate, Zip-fly lets out a small laugh as his legs collapse on him. "Well, it has been a good run here in this universe," he started. "It's probably best that I return from whence I came and rejoin my fallen brother."

"What are you talking about?" asked Eddy. "Are you saying that you are glad you are dying and joining Blitzer in the afterlife?"

"No, I am going to be reuniting with Prankster in hopes of becoming our original form," the Nobody answered.

"But wasn't he dragged off by one of my summoning charms?" asked Double D, sounding cautious about mentioning the name of the summon. "There is that chance that he could be alive and possibly eating pumpkin pies."

"Yes, but I can sense that my brother is dead and he is waiting for me in the darkest part of where your journey will come to its end. I have been waiting for this moment and now the moment is here for all of us."

"Uh, isn't Blitzer your brother as well?" asked Ed.

"And what do you mean by 'where your journey will come to its end?'" questioned Lin Chung.

"Heh, that Unversed was just one of Jib's personal creations, made specifically to hunt down the Pure Hearted and Keyblades. He was created around the time we were brought here and we presumed he was our brother… all before our memories came back to us. And as for your journey, you will be heading down the same path Jib is walking, the same path that leads to Kingdom Hearts."

"OK, my head is hurting," groaned Eddy.

"An everlasting void where only the pureblood Heartless roam free, worlds stray from their paths and become consume in the darkness, and all you have been for will be put to the test to see if you are worthy of travelling any deeper to the center of the universe."

"The center of the universe?" echoed Double D.

"Wait… are you talking about the Everlasting Void," asked Normadomus, "the very void that is a permanent black hole where it is said to house fallen worlds, and the center of countless Heartless?"

"My, you are definitely smart, Normadomus," said Zip-fly. "Yes, the very Everlasting Void that is also said to lead to the center of the universe and quite possibly Kingdom Hearts."

"Hold on… there's no way that a black hole could have the same definition such as what you are describing," said Double D. "Sure there is that wormhole that connects two black holes together, but for one to go all of the way to the center of the universe?"

"Hey, since when does normal science work around here?" asked the small Ed. "Besides, we haven't gotten all of our answers and he dwindling away!"

"It's too bad that you aren't getting all of your answers," said Zip-fly, on the verge of collapsing. "I do want to tell you all of that I know, but I will save it for another time. But before I go, I want to ask you this: what is that shadow haunting the medium Ed?"

"Shadow?" questioned everyone, looking at Double D.

"Are you probably referring to Jib?" the smart Ed asked.

"No… this presence around you has a different aura than Jib's. What I'm sensing is clearly stronger than everyone I ever felt before. Is this… the one that is sealed away?"

"The one that is sealed away?" echoed everyone.

"Hundreds of years ago, before the creation of the Unversed, Heartless and Nobody, a powerful being came into the universe in hopes of taking it over. This being's mysterious arrival brought panic and fear to the worlds of the past, due to the being's invincible body. But the Grim Reaper used his powers to seal the being away in a black tree, sealing the being there to the end of time, and from there no one has ever dared to go near that tree again."

"A tree, you say," said Lin Chung, scratching his chin as he remembers a particular tale.

"I know of that legend," said Ed's hat. "That legend definitely dates back before the creation of the Heartless, but how did you know of that legend?"

"Who else? Jib, the Destroyer of Light, that's who."

"So… are you saying that this being who is sealed away is the one that created Jib?" questioned Double D, shaking at the knees now with the thought of the Man in Shadows haunting him.

"Yes it is, but no one knows who is lurking inside of that tree," said the Nobody. "All who knows who this being are dead or walking to Kingdom Hearts. If I were you, I better find the Everlasting Void and stop Jib before he gets to Kingdom Hearts."

With those final words, the body of Zip-fly collapses to the ground, completely deflated of air, and the body begins to fade away. The Eds and Lin Chung watch the Nobody fade away, staring at the purple ground before there are no traces left, and Eddy lets out an irritated growl. "Great, we are on the verge of completion and now we are more confused than ever!" he stated. "When are we going to get all of these answers and be done with this mess?"

"Will you just relax Eddy?" stated Double D. "Our first priority is to drop the others off in Traverse Town, gather some supplies, locate this Everlasting Void and then go into this place to find Jib, and then we can get all of the answers we have been seeking."

"… You said we're heading back to Traverse Town, right?" the small Ed asked, sounding calmer. "I can go for a new shield, especially after the abuse it has gone through. All of that spinning tore up the dollar and cent sign."

"And I want to get a new staff," said Ed. "This is kinda making me want to do some dark things."

"I wish that I can help you in whatever you are doing, but I have nothing that will help you at this point," said Lin Chung, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Well, what you did here is all we can ask of you to do," said Double D. "Thank you for your assistance here and, if by chance, we can visit you on your world wherever it may be."

"It would be an honor to have such a brave warrior and his friends to be fighting at my side, along with my team and for Big Green," the warrior said, bowing before the Ed.

Glowing in a bright light, the young man disappears before the Eds' eyes, leaving the boys alone and left to make the trek up to their Gummi ship. "Well, time to get going," said Eddy. "I really want to drop the twerps off before we get to fight Jib."

"Say kid, the Nobody mentioned something about a shadow haunting you," said Normadomus, with Ed walking right next to Double D. "Is it by chance that shadow dealing with what happened in your Awakening?"

"It could be, but I don't know," the smart Ed answered. "Unless I see this shadow for myself, it's hard to see what it is. I sure hope it isn't that Man in Shadows…"

***

The atmosphere is dark and full of shadows, as there are no signs of pure light in this dark land. Sounds of pureblood Heartless roam across the grounds, searching for something to eat as echoing footsteps walk across a path created for him. The man, the shadowy being known as Jib the Destroyer, passes by several smaller Heartless and the occasional guardians protecting a gate, only slowing the man as he progresses deeper into the darkness. When he reaches a clear opening, Jib feels the presence of another man behind him and looks down to notice his shadows are fading away.

"Whoever you are, you are not going to defeat me. I was created by the strongest being alive, and in no way are you stronger than my master."

"You are a fool Jib. You really believe that you are stronger than I? Obviously you have forgotten who your master looks like."

The shadow turns around and spies the man called the Man in Shadows standing right behind him, hands crossed his chest and shadows dancing around the man. "It has been a long time since your creation. I believed you have strayed away from your mission and seeking to obtain Kingdom Hearts for your own."

Jib takes a good long stare at the Man in Shadows, looking deep into the cold red eyes, and the shadow lets out a laugh. "Are you saying that I am your creation and I am falling down the path of self-indulgence? Look, I am loyal to my master and I will do anything to please him, even if it means killing people, destroying worlds and manipulating innocent lives into unlocking the path to Kingdom Hearts."

"Liar!" shouted the Man in Shadows, his entire being erupting in energy. "I have been watching you ever since your creation and I noticed you have been straying away from my intentions. You want to have Kingdom Hearts all to yourself, gaining all of that power so you can get enough power to overthrow me and become the absolute ruler of this universe!"

There is silence between the two beings. What the Man in Shadows is causing the Destroyer to think about all he has done in previous years, but instead he lets out a small chuckle before bursting out an evil laugh. "Oh you really think that is what I'm going for? Now I understand that you are upset because you are not going for Kingdom Hearts yourself, but who am I to stop you from achieving that? You can simply past by me and continue on; I'm a nice guy to allow you get the mythical kingdom."

A sharp blow to the throat pierces Jib, thanks to a shadow from the angry man. The Destroyer casually takes a hand and removes the shadow from his neck, crushing the shadow as the Man in Shadows continues to erupt energy. "You are a fool in believing I will continue on to collect Kingdom Hearts. I cannot move anywhere thanks to my prison and if I were to move, you will simply turn against me and stab me in the back. I will not fall for your tricks and I will show you the true power of your creature right here to prevent you from going on to Kingdom Hearts!"

"My creator is Aku, and I know you are not him. He is sealed away in a tree on a mysterious world, stranded there for all of eternity, and it was his goal of acquiring Kingdom Hearts so he can free himself and receive infinite power. You are a fraud and in no way connected to me or him. I must get back to my mission of getting to the final gate…"

The Destroyer of Light turns his back on the man who proclaimed to be his creator and starts to head down the path leading him to his destination. He can still feel the presence of the Man in Shadows behind him and Jib comes to a stop to say one final thing to the man. "And thank you from freeing me from these shadows. It has been a long time since I have last seen this body, and I do say… it has been a very long time indeed."

OOO

End of Act III