DISCLAIMER: This is an unofficial, fanmade story. Kingdom Hearts is a property of Square Enix, the Walt Disney Company, and Tetsuya Nomura.
Additionally, while this story can fully be understood as its standalone installment even from people who aren't experts on the plot of the series, this chapter does contain spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III's ending. So if you want to experience the series' story on your own, I recommend you read this once you finish the games. (in technical matters, this takes place in an alternate universe right after the events of Kingdom Hearts III)
For many generations, there has been a legend about a hero. A hero with the ability to purge the dominating darkness and bring balance to the world of Isignia, with the help of a magic weapon known as the Keyblade.
And then, it became reality. The hero of the legend, named Sora, was able to save world from darkness multiple times, but on his final adventure, he had to sacrifice his life in order to save his loved ones. A year after his disappearance, many worlds heard of his story one way or the other, even places and people that the Keyblade Wielder was never able to reach.
Among these was a malicious witch named Mizrabel, who took advantage of his disappearance and took control of almost all of Isignia. Now, with him gone, and his friends' state being unknown, the chances of her rule being taken down are next to none. Despite all of this, there still are individuals who dream of someone who can take matters into their own hands and save everyone from the looming darkness.
Tonitrus Voltes is one of them.
This afternoon started as usual for him, letting go of the emotionless façade he put during the cold and serious environment of Toontown High, and running his way home. He was wearing an orange sweatshirt that on top of fitting with his medium length dark blonde hair, it also sort of felt like a cape while running, alongside some blue jeans and black combat boots. After he got home and changed his clothes into a blue t-shirt and black shorts, he checked what time it was, so he could prepare his stuff, as the following day was one he's awaited for a very long time.
Tonitrus had always been a lonely boy, as his energetic behavior never got along with his schoolmates, who thought exclusively about studies, so he decided to focus on his passion for agility, and after a discovery made while at the phone with his mother, he decided to sign up for the Aero-Motion Tournament, a long athletic race inspired by the legendary wielder, and how he made his way through the trickiest of lands with style.
"I've waited for so long for this before I even knew about this, this is going to be my time to shine!" he said in an enthusiastic manner, followed by a less positive:
"And maybe someone will actually start to notice me."
He then looked at the sky from his bedroom's window, to try and clear his thoughts. An orange twilight, with very small lines of clouds. It was a very soothing view. This scenery, however, was interrupted when Tonitrus saw a mysterious caped person on top of one of his neighboring homes, which vanished after a blink, which he shrugged off afterwards, thinking it was just an after image of the sun about to set.
The night before the competition was quite relaxing for the boy's standards, he wanted all the extra sleep he could, so he could be ready. While he did eventually have a nice rest, that shadow on the roof was only the first of many special occurrences that were going to happen.
In his dream, Tonitrus found himself with his outside clothes in a black void standing on a stained glass platform that portrayed a picture, perplexing the boy.
"Where am I? Actually, what even is this place?", he said in a perplexed manner. Then he saw what was portrayed on the platform, which multiplied his confusion tenfold. At the lower half, there was a precise portrayal of the blonde boy, and above that was a group of circular portraits depicting various individuals. He tried processing this information for a minute, but when he was about to burst, he started hearing a calm feminine voice:
"Welcome, disciple of the sacred weapon. You have been invoked to the Station of Awakening. The heart of the more passionate of individuals.".
"So this is my heart, well, at least that's one of my many questions answered..." he said to himself.
The other voice continued: "Darkness has once again broken the balance of everything, and it is only a matter of time before it reaches us. Do you carry enough light to be able to dispose of it?".
Tonitrus picked up some courage and responded: "I have the strength in my heart as the one you're seeking, so please, o Angelic-voice-that-s-haunting-my-dream, throw down the glove let me prove my might!".
The voice from above manifested as a droplet of black liquid, falling into the glass platform, and while Tonitrus was getting close to it, they eventually responded:
"Very well. Will you prove to achieve the same greatness as the other heroes before you? Do not cower, use all of your heart and all of your light!".
Right after, the black goo transformed into a gigantic humanoid, with a hole where their heart is supposed to be. As Tonitrus' eyes widened, his arm started shaking. He saw some sparks near him, and an instant later, he found himself holding a yellow key the size of a sword.
"Wow... What in the world is this thing I'm holding?", asked the blonde boy, amazed and curious.
"That, disciple of the light, is the Keyblade, the purger of the dark. But now I've said all I had to say, now show me your light!", said the fiend, who mostly maintained the voice from before, except with a distorted after effect. They dropped a punch that shook the platform, but it gave Tonitrus the perfect opportunity to get enough height to jump on their arm, and was going to hurt the fiend in the head, before they picked him with the other arm and then threw him into the void. Luckily, he just barely hanged on the platform to get back. The fiend then summoned a bunch of mini creatures to try and stop him, but suddenly, Tonitrus' body gets charged with some sort of electricity, which let him attack in a zig zag pattern through each and every one of them, and his last rebound was right on the giant beast's head, which was pierced in the progress. Before they completely vanished, they said:
"You have surpassed my trial. You might be the first hope in a long, long time. May your heart... Be your... Guiding... Key...".
The area around him got brighter and brighter, and before Tonitrus knew it, he was woken up by the sound of his PK alarm clock. After getting out of the bed, he broke out of his cereal routine and made something his mom made in special occasions. That consisted toast with a sunny side up egg and sprinkles of basil alongside a cup of coffee with milk. The earlier ended up a little overcooked but he was already happy with how it tasted. The instant he finished eating, he changed his clothes and was ready to venture Toontown for the first time to do something that wasn't for academic purposes. The streets close to the school were still lifeless, given class had already begun, but the theater district was much more lively. Many more cars, much more people walking, and technically, more mess, but he felt like the travel to his destination was an experience of its own!
Sadly, those thoughts stopped when he went face first into a girl, having the two fall together.
"Ow!" muttered the young woman, while she picked back the hat she was wearing. She had long turquoise hair with light blue highlights, a dress similar to that of a female school uniform, short black gloves, and some thigh socks and some green sneakers, on top of the hat she just picked up.
"Oh... I'm so sorry, I was in a hurry, I didn't mean to-" said Tonitrus, before she interrupted him:
"Oh, don't you worry, I too was a bit distracted looking at my phone. You too were headed to the Sky Stadium by any chance? I was asking, given your outfit.", answered the turquoise girl in a kind tone.
"Oh, uuhh... Yeah! Good thing you just reminded me of the name, otherwise I probably would have gotten lost!", answered the blonde boy.
"Oh well, if you need some company, I don't mind. Oh, by the way, feel free to call me Gaia.", she said, feeling annoyed for a hot second, and the two went their way to the stadium.
"So, you too are going to compete in the Aero-Motion tournament?" asked Tonitrus, which caught her off guard.
"Well... Not really. Just know I am involved in something else related to it", she replied.
"Oh, I see. You're more of a brain than a brawn! That's very useful, coming from one falls more on the latter!", he said while smiling.
"Don't deprecate yourself like that! You'll just have to wait and see. For all I know, you could be the MVP to everyone's surprise!" she said, while blushing.
After a few minutes of walking, they made it to the Sky Stadium, and the two separated, wishing each other good luck. Gaia reached a group of other girls, while Tonitrus was followed by a guide to the dressing room, where he was given the outfit he would be wearing for the race.
All the contestants were given t-shirts of different colors to have them stand out, and the blonde boy was given an orange one. Everything else was on par with the others, black elastic pants, and two special kinds of gear, as in black gloves and shoes with a glowing circle in each to allow the wearer to both ride into surfaces and perform high jumps.
Tonitrus was amazed by all this tech, and even more by the fact that he would be competing with it. His joy really stood out on his rivals, and he was approached by a muscular man who had no hair outside of a blonde ponytail, who seemed familiar to him.
"I see you're a newcomer to these events. I too am really impressed by this technology, but it takes a lot of skill to be used optimally.", said the bald man.
"Wait, I think I recognize you..." muttered Tonitrus, before it clicked:
"Oh! You must be Yang! My mother talked a lot about you. She also stated you may have known her in the past. Does the name Pluvia Voltes ring any bell?" he then asked, which left Yang confused.
"Even if i knew about her, you have to prove yourself around here. I don't know where you're from, but nepotism is not in our vocabular!" he said, before getting out of the dressing room and getting to the starting point, with Tonitrus following shortly after.
Once the contestants get there, they are are greeted by a rising platform that contains a dozen of idols, who are also going to commentate the event.
"Welcome, everyone! The moment you've awaited for so long has finally arrived! This is Krile Mayer Baldesion of the Galuf Bards and this is the 2nd edition of the Aero-Motion tournament!", said the leader of the group, followed by the cheers of the crowd.
While Krile was talking, Tonitrus recognized Gaia in the group of idols, who felt a little embarrassed, but still tried to look at him with a smile.
"Some old challenges, many new... I can't even imagine who's gonna win this! Well, only one way to find out! Let's start the countdown.", concluded the leader.
Right before the beginning of the race, Yang quietly says to Tonitrus "Good luck, kid", which the blonde boy responded with a smile.
Once all of the idols screamed "Go!" at once, all the racers launched at very high speed, with Tonitrus falling a bit behind. The track was consisted of one lap with many complex segments, like steep jumps, zones to climb, and many tough curves. Luckily, many objects were placed that allowed a smarter player to keep up, like a pole at a hairpin that can be used to spin at the corner, or a special pad in a wall that allows them to ride on the wall with a hand. Yang avoided these, while Tonitrus made full use of them once he saw them from a moderate distance.
Once he got the hang of things, he had a massive comeback, but right as he was catching up with Yang, the sky turned dark, and a feminine scream was heard. The blonde boy immediately stopped running and looked at where he heard the scream from, and to his shock, saw Gaia getting wounded by a black creature resembling a knight.
Tonitrus could not ignore this sight and left the track to reach her even if it could mean getting disqualified from the race he had been waiting for so long. He didn't care about winning a trophy or a coupon for Mr. Goofy's restaurant, finding a friend like her was something he thought would never happen to him, and he wouldn't want to lose it soon after.
So it was all the more devastating when he saw her collapse on the ground, badly injured.
"GAIAAAA!" he screamed in a mix of shock and despair, before he saw a horde of monsters, which included the knight that dared to attack the turquoise girl. When a tear of Tonitrus hit the floor, the same light he saw around his arm in his dream, but this time it also caused a very strong wind that surrounded the whole stadium.
"How dare you... NOBODY... HURTS... MY FRIENDS!!" he shouted, and afterwards, a blade manifested in his arms. It wasn't the same one as he had before, as this one looked less like a key and more like an actual blade, with many more jagged lines, but it also felt more powerful. With that, he rushed out of the stadium and hunted the monsters down. The first one to go was the knight creature, out of revenge, who went down with one slash at full speed, but before he could advance, he was approached by an anthropomorphic duck with a superhero costume, who couldn't believe what this young boy was handling. He felt like a legend was born anew.
"You have released a great power in you. But it's best I take care of this. These Heartlesses are made of all shapes, not just the one you just took down.", said the duck with a very manly voice He was slightly concerned about the boy, but he responded without fear:
"PK, I'm honored to see you stand up in this situation, but I too can take care of this. Please, let me avenge those who have fallen.".
He did find a use for all the formal language he was taught by his teachers, given that PK has always been defending the town ever since Mizrabel rose into power, and idolised him ever since he first step a foot inside of Toontown.
The superhero obliged, and the two took care of the remaining Heartlesses. The swordsman was doing better than what the veteran hero expected, but there still were some holes in his skills, occasionally missing some attacks and sometimes not being able to dodge enemy attacks.
Meanwhile, the masked duck was mostly a ranged fighter with his gun, though he also used a grappling hook a couple of times to jump into enemies and kick them, and also change his gun from damage to heal mode, just to support the rookie a bit.
The duo was able to take care of the horde of monsters, but before they could celebrate, they were met by a mysterious woman.
Tonitrus recognized the cape... It was the same figure he saw the day prior! She also had a white mask that completely hid her face, only showing some very obscured eyes, her hair was mostly hidden by the hood included with the cape, only letting out a small ponytail of a very dark shade of red, and a long purple dress that was barely visible through the cape, as well as some black elbow gloves.
"Oh, what is it that I see? The mighty PK finally gets a sidekick? I'll be shocked, that explains why the Overwritten I sent went down that easily this time...", she said, in a playful tone.
"He was just moving with the flow. What brought you here today, Lilium?", asked PK, to which she replied:
"Does it look obvious enough? I'm tired of flies like you getting in the way of Mizrabel's plan", while she magically spawned her blade, in a similar fashion to how Tonitrus did.
"The light you seek is gone, now join the darkness with me!" she said, as she prepared an attack for the masked duck. Tonitrus, not wanting to see another person close to him get taken down, takes his blade and barely guards the attack, getting injured in the process. Lilium was immobilized by the sidekick of all people having a power she herself feared.
"... Another Keyblade Wielder?", she said before she got her composure back, "Fine, I'll let you be for now, but the next time we meet, your story will end on a sour note.".
And with that, she left through a black portal she created. PK then casted a cure on the physically and mentally exhausted Tonitrus, who thanked him.
"You did much better than I expected. In fact, you remind me so much of someone I've had a fight with in the past... It was a good time. Anyway, I advise you to go to your loved ones now, I am sure they are worried about you.", said the veteran hero to the blonde boy, who nodded and went back to the stadium.
From the other side of the street, a grey haired boy looked at him, and he said with a smile: "Another key... The light can be saved after all...".
And that's chapter 1 done! I've had the idea for this story for a very long time, but due to a multitude of reasons only now I was able to start writing, but at least I'm very happy I was able to start this project after 3 years in limbo. I also sprinkled a couple of references to Final Fantasy here and there, and even the Mickey Mouse comics (if anyone is wondering or didn't read them, yes, PK is indeed Donald, a shocker that he heals now, I know).
I'll start working on the next chapter soon enough, if you have any questions you can always find my Twitter in my profile description. Until then, I'll catch you later!