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Chapter 9 – Hand in Hand in Hand

"I've never seen Heartless like these before," Sora stated as he gripped Kingdom Key in both his hands.

"They look like Charmcaster's clay creatures," Ben said. "She's still making new Heartless."

"And there was only one other person who could create Heartless," Riku started to say.

Riku's words were interrupted as Gwen threw up a barrier of energy between them and the Clay Beasts. The monsters battered against the shield trying to break it down. The Shadow Heartless acted bolder then they ever did before. The creatures slipped under Gwen's shield to attack them. The Keyblade Knights quickly started slaying the swarm of Shadow Heartless.

A Neoshadow emerged from the ground beside Kevin. The creature that was once acting like an ally now was drawn to him by the darker desire to take his heart. But, before it could leap on Kevin, Ben stood in front of the Heartless. He had left Connor's sword in the hummer and his desire to use the Omnitrix was still swayed by his fear of running out of power. In spite of how Kevin had mistreated him only minutes before, Ben wouldn't not allow the creature to inflict any further pain on the teenager's damaged heart.

"Leave him alone!" Ben shouted.

The teenager karate kicked the Neoshadow in the abdomen before punching it in the face. The creature reared back and tried to swipe its claws at Ben's chest. The teen head-butted the Neoshadow causing it to evaporate.

"Kevin makes that move look easy," Ben complained as he rubbed his forehead.

When Ben turned to look at Kevin, he could see whips of dark smoke enveloping him. Kevin called out for Gwen, blinded by the darkness. His cries of pain felt like the stab of a knife to Gwen's own heart.

"Hold on, Kevin! I'm coming!" Gwen said as she ran to him.

The Clay Beasts finally broke through her shield. Each of the Keyblade wielders took on one of the new breed of Heartless. Sora battered his beast with blasts of fire magic until it cracked into pieces. Riku used his dark aura in the same fashion, getting an identical result. Kairi hammered her attacker on the head until it shattered into several pieces. When each Clay Beast shattered, the Possessor Heartless inside it floated out. With a single additional swipe of their Keyblades, the teenagers finished the monsters off.

They turned towards Kevin's direction as he continued to shout. Gwen kneeled beside him and put her arms around his chest to hug him.

"Kevin, I'm here! Don't be afraid!" Gwen told him.

"I can't - can't feel my chest!" he yelled. "I can't see! It's - so dark!"

"I won't let your heart go, Kevin!"

Gwen casted a glow of magenta energy over them as Kevin screamed in agony. Ben, Sora, Riku and Kairi had to shield their eyes as Gwen turned up the light's intensity. When the light faded, they could see Kevin lying face down on the ground. Gwen rolled him over and rested his head on her lap. She held his hand in hers as she attempted to console him.

"She stopped it," Sora said in amazement. "He was turning into a Heartless and she stopped it!"

"But he's not cured," Riku noted still seeing Kevin's black Heartless arm.

"Still, with that type of power, think of what she could do."

"Yeah. And Charmcaster and Driscoll know it."

"Gwen," Kevin whispered.

"I'm right here, Kevin," she said smiling to keep her eyes from becoming tearful. "See? You're safe now."

"No, I'm not."

Kevin slowly opened his eyes. They were completely golden yellow in color like when Gwen's eyes would glow magenta when trying to pick up a mana trail. When he heard everyone gasp and saw Gwen's terrified expression, he kept his eyes closed.

"Oh Kevin! I'm sorry!" Gwen started to say. "I should have been here sooner."

"It's not your fault. Where's Ben?" he asked. "Is he okay? I gotta talk to him."

Ben kneeled beside Gwen. His cousin looked even more distressed then when she had first seen Kevin after Charmcaster had enslaved him. She held his hand close to her heart as Ben talked to him.

"I'm right here, Kevin," Ben said.

"I have something important to say to you and you'd better listen," he warned.

"What?" he asked leaning closer.

"I got something in my eyes!"

"Umm - uh," Ben stammered. He thought Kevin was going to apologize for what had happened earlier. Ben put it aside and said, "We kind of saw that Kevin."

"I'm talking about other stuff in my eyes!" Kevin emphasized.

"Really?" Ben thought that Kevin being concerned about his reputation seemed a bit minor at this moment.

"Okay, forget I said that. That's not the most important thing I needed to tell you anyway," Kevin corrected himself.

"What is that?" Ben asked.

"Driscoll and Charmcaster want to turn you into a Heartless, too."

"Me?" he looked at Gwen not grasping the depth of its meaning.

"The Omnitrix," she reminded him.

"If you got turned into a Heartless, you would be unstoppable," Kevin said.

"Every one of those monsters you turn into would become Heartless, too," Riku affirmed.

"Aww man! I never thought of that!" Ben realized.

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," Sora insisted. "Many of my enemies on other worlds have tried to the do the same thing to my friends and failed."

"Well in my case, they're slowly succeeding," Kevin grimaced. He cried out again as another spasm of darkness attacked his body.

Gwen touched her hand to his chest.

"Easy, Kevin," she said using her light to soothe his affliction. "You can open your eyes. It's okay. I'm not scared."

Kevin opened his horrible looking eyes once again, but he still didn't look directly at anyone.

"Sora," the stricken teenager continued. "Driscoll's got a Null Void projector. He's going to use it to send you, Riku and Kairi to the Null Void if he gets the chance."

"I thought he wanted to send us to battle a dragon on another world, not put us in a prison," Sora said.

"It looks like Connor and his Forever Knights would have been duped. They might not have known the difference between one portal generator from another. Driscoll wants you out of the way for good."

"We're going to have to guard each others backs," Ben said.

"Thank you for telling us, Kevin," Kairi added. "It means there is still goodness in your heart."

"You're wrong, Kairi," Kevin corrected. "I tried to make a deal with Charmcaster, because I thought she could stop me from changing into a Heartless. I even fixed the projector for Driscoll to make sure it was powerful enough to pull you inside. I sold you all out to save myself. In the darkness of my heart, I hate all of you. I've buried this evil person inside me for so long, all I needed was someone to bring him out."

"Charmcaster came to you and she prodded the darkness in your heart," Riku said.

"When she first showed up at my garage, I told her I wasn't going to join up with her, but she wouldn't leave me alone. It had been going on since last night. Or was it the day before? I... can't remember some things anymore."

"He's losing his memory, too," Sora whispered to Ben. "It's what happens when you become a Heartless."

"I remembered enough," Kevin said indicating he had heard him, "to awaken that hate I had for Ben. I didn't care if he became a Heartless. I didn't care if Driscoll threw you in the Null Void. I wanted revenge. I wanted you to suffer like I did."

Kevin struggled to sit up. Gwen almost stopped him, but he waved her off, insisting on no longer resting on his back. She supported him as he looked at his left hand. Now the clawed hand had only three fingers and a thumb. Kevin almost seemed to smile.

"And now look at me, Ben," he added. "I'm turning into a monster just like the bad old days. What did I call myself again?"

"Kevin Eleven," Ben said sadly.

"I tried to steal your powers, right? And I got turned into a freak. I haven't learned anything. Maybe I deserve this."

"Kevin, don't say that," Gwen pleaded. "You changed your heart. You came back to us."

"I came to find you," he corrected looking at her. "They want to destroy you, Gwen. Your light is a threat to them. When I wouldn't agree to let them hurt you, they tried to kill me instead."

"So when I challenged you, I really did win. I got through to you."

"Yeah, but now it's too late. The darkness has gotten too strong."

"This is my fault," Ben suddenly said.

"What?" Kevin looked hard at Ben with those menacing yellow eyes. "How is this your fault?"

"You were right to be jealous at all the attention Gwen and I gave Sora. We're supposed to be a team. I'm supposed to be looking out for you and all we did is fight among ourselves when we weren't fighting the Heartless. If we hadn't been arguing so much, this wouldn't have happened to you."

Kevin gazed at Gwen, forgetting about how frightening he looked.

"Did I cut off too much oxygen to his brain?" Kevin asked her.

"No," Gwen added. "Even though Sora is a friend, you are more important to both of us. We should have trusted you. We're sorry."

"You're apologizing to me?" Kevin shook his head. "I looked you in the eyes and lied to you about something being wrong with me."

"We forgive you, Kevin. Please forgive us."

"I just tried to kill Ben!" Kevin yelled at her. The teen winced and hunched over, feeling the aching in his chest. He felt Ben and Gwen steadying him.

"No," Ben corrected him. "The old Kevin inside the darkness of your heart tried to kill me. The Kevin I know now is fighting it, because there is someone good still there."

"Good?" Kevin stared at Ben and looked like he wanted to laugh, but the pain made him grimace instead.

"Yes Kevin," Ben nodded. "There is good in you. You've only started discovering it."

"Kevin," Kairi spoke up, "deep inside you there is a light still in your heart. It's trying reach out to save you."

"A light in my heart?" Kevin sounded skeptical as he touched his chest with his malformed hand. "I did feel something before, but if it's still there, it's too late for it to do any good. You have to protect yourselves and forgot about me."

"No I won't! No matter what happened, I'm not going to lose you!" Gwen insisted.

She paused a moment, seemingly a little embarrassed at her sudden outburst.

"It's okay, Gwen," Kevin told her. "You're allowed to be selfish once in a while."

Gwen put her arms around his neck and hugged him. Her sorrow caused his wounded heart to ache even stronger.

"Don't cry, okay," Kevin warned her. "I'm feeling bad enough as it is. I though you could save me, but I think Pete was right. I'm too far gone to save."

"Maybe I can," Gwen pulled back to look in his eyes. "Maybe I have to try harder. Grandma Verdona could undo things with her powers. So can I."

"She was a pure Anodite. You're not," Kevin said.

"But I can do it. That's the power I need!"

"No Gwen! You ain't gonna save me from the darkness if I end up losing you to the light! Understand?"

Gwen nodded, but was still convinced something could be done.

"There has to be a cure," she said looking to Sora for help.

"There's never been a cure," Sora shook his head. "At least, not in the way you're thinking. Cure spells will work on Heartless. They even have Heartless that cast healing spells called Green Requiem, but they can't turn a Heartless back to a human. When Kairi used her spell, Kevin was healed but it didn't reverse what's happened to him."

"There is something else," Kairi added. "Sora and I are the only ones who have lost their hearts and were able to come back to life. When the darkness overtaking Destiny Islands first swept me away, Sora tried to grab me, but he was only able to rescue my heart. He had it safe inside his own heart and in order to free it, Sora had to unlock his heart using a dark Keyblade. Doing that turned him into Heartless."

"Then there is a way to fix this," Gwen pointed to Sora, "because you came back."

"It wasn't that easy," Sora told her as he recalled his experience. "I was forgetting things as I was falling into a dreamless sleep. But then I heard Kairi calling me and I found the strength to follow her voice. It brought me back."

"So let me get this straight," Kevin reviewed. "I've got to let myself become a Heartless and then hope I can be brought back to life?"

"Well..." Sora began to say.

"Great!" Kevin said in exaggeration. "Stick a Keyblade in me! I am so done!"

"I'm sorry, Kevin. If I could find another way to help you I would."

"Humph! You're a good kid Sora. You've done a better job trying to look out for your girlfriend then I've-." Kevin stopped himself, feeling awkward. "Just forget it."

Riku kneeled down across from him.

"Are you still scared?" Riku asked him.

"What? Me scared?" Kevin felt his pride swell up. But, when he looked into Riku's intense gaze, he murmured, "Yeah, I'm terrified. Make a note of that Ben. I've never admitted that to anybody. Maybe I'd be better off if I did go to sleep so I would forget all this. I'm just a screw up."

"I felt the same way," Riku told him, "I choose the darkness. I had my heart stolen by a Heartless creature calling himself Ansem. He used my body and left my heart trapped in the Realm of Darkness. It's a horrible place."

"It makes the Null Void look like a kid's playground," Kevin said.

"You know?"

"I can see it. It's like half of me is here and rest is there. It's so dark."

"It makes you want to sleep and forget everything but, I had to overcome my fear of the darkness and learn how to balance its power. Don't be afraid," Riku put his hand on Kevin's shoulder, " and don't give up."

"If you really want to do me a favor," Kevin said, " then go kick Driscoll and Charmcaster's butts for me."

"That's what we have to do," Sora said. "If we stop them and get rid of all the Heartless, maybe Kevin can recover."

"Then quit wasting time and get going."

"Kevin's right," Gwen agreed. "Ben, take them and find Driscoll and Charmcaster. I'm going to stay with Kevin."

"Gwen, you can't. It's not safe," Kevin reminded her.

"Don't argue with me. I'm staying with you."

"But-."

"Her heart's decided, Kevin," Riku interrupted. "And she'd likely put up a fight if we tried to make her come with us. She won't leave you."

"I'm going to be your light, Kevin," Gwen declared. "I've kept you from being totally consumed by the darkness. I'll find a way to save you."

"Who will save you?" Kevin asked her. "To stop me from hurting Ben, you used you powers. Could you do that again if you had to? I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me. I believe in you."

"The Heartless came for me once already. They'll try again. You can't protect us both."

"I'll help," Kairi said. They all looked at her as she added, "You two helped me escape from the Forever Knights. I feel like I owe you something in return."

"Kairi, are you sure?" Sora said sounding uneasy.

"Sora, I'm glad you and Riku have been looking out for me, but I am a wielder of a Keyblade too. You keep saying I can do this. I want to help protect them."

"Okay," Sora agreed after a long pause. "If that's what your heart's decided."

"It will be alright," Kairi assured Sora. "We'll both be lights for Kevin. With no darkness in our hearts, the Heartless won't be able to defeat us."

"No darkness?" Ben scratched his head. "But I thought Sora said everyone had some darkness in their heart."

"Well yes," Sora corrected his statement, "but there are a few people with pure hearts like Kairi."

"Where I was born, I was a princess," she said. "And princesses have the purest hearts. Gwen heart is so full of light, darkness can't exist."

"Charmcaster called you Princess," Kevin reminded her.

"Please! I hate that nickname!" Gwen moaned.

Kevin noticed Ben looked extremely depressed.

"What's up with you, Tennyson?"

"I don't want to do this without the two of you," Ben confessed.

"What? Now Sora and Riku aren't good enough?"

"We made an promise," he recalled. "We're a trinity. That means we're more then a team or work partners. We've become friends, Kevin. Not in the best of category, but things wouldn't be the same without you around. I'll feel like something is missing. I don't feel like I can do this."

Kevin put his right hand on Ben's shoulder.

"Hey! You're Ben Tennyson. You can do anything," he said.

Ben and Gwen gasped. Kevin asked, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Ben replied softly.

Gwen took hold of Kevin's hand in hers and then rested Ben's hand on top.

"You can do this, Ben. You're not alone," Gwen said.

Kairi kneeled next to Ben and put her hand on top of his.

"She's right. As long as you keep Gwen and Kevin in your heart, they'll be with you. And so will I."

Sora and Riku bent down and put their hands on top of Kairi's.

"See, now we're two sets of trinities," Sora claimed. "That makes us twice as strong. We will win."

After another few moments Kevin said, "Enough with this group hug thing! Go find Driscoll and Charmcaster!"

"Yes sir!" Ben said making a small salute.

"Don't call me, sir. I'm not your grandpa," Kevin warned.

"Ben!" Gwen remembered. "The Plumbers' ID number 12906. We were with Grandpa Max when we heard it."

"Of course!" Ben recalled. "Now this makes sense."

"It does?" Kevin asked.

"Gwen will explain it to you."

"Watch yourself, Tennyson. They're after you."

Ben, Sora and Riku got up. Ben pointed up the road and stated, "It's just around the next bend. Let's go!"