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Chapter 8 – Mechanics of the Heart

Kevin stumbled out of the corridor of darkness, panting hard to draw in air in his lungs. He fell to his hands and knees trying to catch his breath. It felt like his chest had been ripped open from the level of discomfort he experienced. He grasped his chest as he struggled to stand up.

He recognized he had returned to the old Plumbers' base close to the main highway into Bellwood. The last time he had been there helping battle an evil Plumbers' kid named Darkstar. The final fight had damaged the building badly, leaving the windows blown out and large craters in the concrete floor. However, someone had come in and repaired the place as well as redecorated. Dark blue tapestries with huge Heartless logos hung at all the windows and above the platform at the end of the room. A row of Armored Knights stood guard at each of the curtains. Other Heartless also mingled about as if waiting to be given orders by their masters.

Sitting at the far end of the room was Driscoll. He wore his silvery armor and looked far too bright for his darker surroundings. He sat on an ornate throne with a back rest shaped like a Heartless logo.

Charmcaster picked up the strongbox Kevin had been carrying and strode over to Driscoll. She handed the strongbox to him before pulling back her hood and grinned with fiendish triumph. The Forever King inserted several extra pages inside the strongbox before closing the lid.

"What was the result?" he whispered.

"The information only reinforced the friendship Ben and Gwen have with the Keyblade Knights," she responded, "however it did benefit me in other ways."

Driscoll saw Kevin kneeling on the ground.

"Mr. Levin," Driscoll addressed Kevin. "How nice of you to join us. And how kind of you to show me some respect."

"I thought you said I'd feel better," Kevin complained to Charmcaster as he got off his knees. "I felt the pain in my chest!"

"You are a child of darkness, Kevin! If you wish the pain to truly cease, you must stay away from her light. Understand?" she warned in anger.

Kevin grunted. A Shadow Heartless crawled across the floor and brushed up against him like a cat curling up to someone it liked. Kevin growled and swatted the Heartless away. The creature fled from him. He then noticed Pete standing only a few feet away from him.

"Well, well, lookie at what the darkness finally dragged in," Pete teased him. "You really outta show respect to your fellow Heartless."

"You'd look a lot less uglier with a cone tied around your neck," Kevin said with a devilish smile.

"Hey! Watch what you sayin' bub!" Peter warned. Then he added, "Ummm, what exactly does that mean?"

Kevin opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly forgot the meaning of the joke himself.

"Really Kevin is that anyway to treat a new college?" Driscoll questioned.

"That tub of lard's not my friend," Kevin replied.

"At least you should try to get along since we are now on the same side. You really fit in with our little clique, as you would call it."

"Whoo whee!" Pete exclaimed taking a good look at Kevin's infected left arm. "I'm never seen anythin' like that before. When someone turns into a Heartless, they're history. But you've only got part of a Heartless. Interestin' trick."

"You want to see what else I can do with my powers, mutt face?" Kevin threatened him.

"Now gentlemen, this isn't time to be squabbling. We have plans to finish executing."

"The typical ruling the world plans?" Kevin guessed.

"Ruling a power above all worlds, Mr. Levin. Long ago, when I began setting my goals, I was much like yourself."

"Really? Endarken me to what we have in common."

"I was a dealer in alien technology much like yourself, Mr. Levin. I stole weapons from the criminals I was supposed to arrest." Driscoll paused as if he wanted Kevin to dwell on that fact for a moment. "But, when I was caught stealing and thrown out of the Plumbers, I used my knowledge to gain entry into the Forever Knights. You've brokered deals with them yourself. Their obsession to fight and destroy this dragon was contrary to my goals, yet I was kind enough to tell them about the Knights of the Keys, the only power that could face down Plumbers' technology."

"And kill Plumbers," Kevin added with distain.

"You're smart to have seen the truth. The Knights of the Keys try to appear like they're good and full of light, but they're not. You've seen it for yourself."

"Riku," Kevin snarled and clinched his fists thinking about how much he hated him.

"So now it falls to us to finish the job." Driscoll got up and stepped over to a large car sized object covered with a tarp. He pulled the cloth aside, revealing a large piece of alien machinery. "And so we use this."

"Sweet!" Kevin grinned. "A Mark One Null Void Projector. We'll put those Keyblade Knights where they really belong."

"Exactly, although it needs a little tune up. The vortex it puts out doesn't yield quite the amount of suction needed to ensure the demise of the Keyblade Knights."

"Oh, so you need a mechanic?" Kevin caught on. "Sure thing, but there is an issue of my car. Tennyson kind of wrecked it. I need a lot of replacement parts."

"Shrewd as ever, Mr. Levin," Driscoll chuckled. "I'll consider it a deal. I have a nice stash of alien tech at your disposal. We need that Null Void Projector fully functioning by the end of this hour."

"You got it," Kevin agreed.

***

Ben became the unofficial leader of the new team of five. They followed up Kairi's guess that the Forever Knights might have abandoned the vehicle Kevin had damaged helping her escape and she turned out to be correct. The group stared at the damaged hummer. It looked as if the Forever Knights had hastily removed any equipment they needed from the inside since all the remaining car doors hung open.

"Now I really wish Kevin was here," Ben lamented. "We could use his mechanical skills."

"We'll manage somehow, Ben," Sora said trying to sound a little cheerful.

"Gwen, can you use your powers to seal the door back on?" Ben asked her.

"I'm sure I can," his cousin replied.

"Then all I need is to break open the ignition box and try to start the car."

"You know how to hot wire a car?" Gwen looked at him suspiciously.

"You remember that day we were up at the lake and Kevin lost his car keys? I watched what he did. He thought it would be good to learn in an emergency."

"He taught you how to steal a car!" she exclaimed.

"Gwen, I wouldn't do that," Ben replied a bit angry.

Gwen paused, realizing she was letting her emotions over losing Kevin affect how she was treating her cousin.

"I'm sorry, Ben," she apologized. "You're right. You're not a thief."

"We'll find Kevin, Gwen," Kairi assured her. "Try not to worry so much."

"I can't help it. I feel like he's prisoner," Gwen lamented. "I keep reaching out for him using my powers, but I can't sense him."

"A prisoner," Sora recalled looking at Ben. "Kevin said you put him in a jail called the Null Void. He wasn't always your friend."

"Yeah. We first met Kevin five years ago when we were on vacation in a city called New York," Ben explained. "He was a homeless street kid who used his powers to bully other people and steal things. He only wanted to be my friend so I could help him."

"Kevin is an orphan?" Kairi asked Ben.

"Kevin's mother is alive," Gwen  said correcting her assumption. "He doesn't remember real father. Everything he learned about his dad came from his mother, including learning that his father was a Plumber. It was his dream to be like his father."

"But, if he wanted to be a Plumber, why did he end up on the streets as a thief?"

Gwen bit her lip before continuing.

"When Kevin got older he started getting his powers. Kevin's stepfather thought he was dangerous and called him a freak. They fought so much, Kevin decided to run away from home."

"That's terrible!" Sora exclaimed.

"That's pretty deep," Ben said.

"You didn't know that?" Riku asked looking at Ben.

"Gwen likely knows things about Kevin that I don't," Ben admitted.

"Please don't say anything," Gwen pleaded. "It's so hard to get him to talk about his past. He always said we'd never trust him if we knew everything about him."

"We won't say anything Gwen. We promise," Riku said.

"Ben?" Sora remembered. "Did you say that Kevin needs a key to start his car?"

"Yeah," Ben said.

"I wonder," Sora took out Kingdom Key, "can a key that opens any lock, start any vehicle?"

***

In the meantime, Kevin was having quick success at making the minor repairs to the old Null Void projector in spite of his handicap. He dropped a spanner he was using for the fourth time. He looked at his left hand in a mixture of disgust and fascination. He couldn't feel it, but with his new dark powers, he had better control of it. Still, trying to get it to work along side his human hand for the task had been more difficult than he wanted.

"How am I ever going to manage with this thing?" he thought.

Suddenly, a Neoshadow appeared, picked up the spanner and held it out to Kevin.

"Thanks, Blackie," he said taking the tool. Kevin replaced the panel covering the Null Void projector's circuit boards and wiring before picking up a remote control device Driscoll wanted inter graded to start the machine.

Driscoll, Charmcaster, and Pete were in some kind of discussion.

"She is too full of light to make a good Heartless," Charmcaster stated.

"Yeah!" Pete said. "That girl's too dangerous. The Heartless don't like her. Those light powers of hers are nothin' but trouble."

Driscoll nodded and slashed his hand across the air in front of his throat to signal them to keep quiet before gesturing towards Kevin.

"How did it go, Mr. Levin?" Driscoll asked.

"The projector's all ready. You might want to test it on something large and heavy." Kevin glared at Pete with a ruthless grin. Maleficent's agent growled at him. Kevin then asked Charmcaster, "Is there anyway to reverse what's happened to my arm?"

"I'm sure I can come up with something to help after we've taken care of the Keyblade Knights and have Ben Tennyson on our side."

"Tennyson? You think you can bring him over to the darkness? That jerk thinks Sora is his best friend."

"As much as devices like the Null Void Projector are an asset," Driscoll said, "alien technology is nothing compared to having control of the Heartless. Think of what it will be like to have control of Ben Tennyson's Heartless?"

"What?"

Pete let out a loud guffaw that seemed to shake the building.

"For someone who acts like he's so smart, you're quite the idiot, Kevin," Pete mocked him. "Driscoll and Charmcaster told me all about the little doohickey Tennyson has on his wrist. If we turn him into a Heartless, we'd have control of ten different Heartless creatures."

"I always wanted the power of the Omnitrix," Charmcaster declared. "Pete has been nice enough to tell us the ultimate way to obtain it. An army of Heartless alien creatures is far better then those alien pea shooters you used to deal."

The witch put her hand under Kevin's chin and looked him in the eyes.

"And if you've truly submit to the darkness of your own heart Kevin, you'll be in on it. You can finally boss Ben Tennyson around and control the most powerful Heartless in the universe. Wouldn't you like that?"

Kevin smiled a little thinking about how much he had wanted to torment Ben. Now an opportunity came to not only destroy him, but also have power over him. His malicious thoughts were disrupted when Charmcaster brought up someone else.

"The only thing in our way is Princess Gwen."

"What about Gwen?" he remembered they had been talking about her.  "She can't be turned into a Heartless, can she?"

"We don't think so. Her power is adamant to everything we're attempting to do."

"So we're just going to have to dispose her," Driscoll stated.

"Throwin' her in the Realm of Darkness should knock her off," Pete figured. "She can't use her powers if there's nothin' livin' around."

"I'd prefer to drain the life out of her myself," Charmcaster smiled viciously as she thought about her. "I want that little witch to suffer for every day I spent locked up in jail."

They heard Kevin make a sound that resembled the growl of an animal mixed with a groan of an injured man. Driscoll glazed over at him and asked, "Having heart trouble, Mr. Levin?"

Kevin gritted his teeth and gave no reply.

"He just needs to be reminded that he made a agreement," Charmcaster said staring hard at him. "Isn't that right, Kevin?"

"Yeah," he nodded touching his chest as if feeling the cold creeping darkness still eating it away, but something very small burned there as well. A light seemed to shine in his mind before the sharp pain came over him again as he hunched over. He whispered, "Gwen, what have I done?"

"It seems I have to tune up your heart," Charmcaster said reaching her hand towards his chest.

"Don't touch me!" he warned leaping back from her reach.

"Why, Kevin? I thought you wanted my help? This is part of the deal."

"You said nothing about us killing Gwen."

"Who said you got to do it? I've got dibs!" Charmcaster chuckled.

"No!" Kevin snapped.

"Why Kevin, do you want to break our deal? Then you can simply turn into a lifeless monster. It's your choice."

Kevin shuddered as he stared at his left hand. In his mind he could see Gwen's sad eyes as she tested his heart's desire to harm her and had won. That tiny piece of his heart was fighting the fowling darkness trying to dampen it out.

"I did make a deal," he said, "because I was afraid. Now I see I made it with someone who's more of a Heartless than I could ever become."

"Come on, Kevin," Charmcaster rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "You're a thief and a liar. We're exactly like you. I simply reminded you of everything you ever wanted to do to Ben Tennyson in revenge for turning you into a freak. All that jealousy you had towards Sora only helped. And then there's Riku. He tried to kill you! You hate them! You made it so easy to be tempted by the darkness within your own heart."

"But I don't hate Gwen!" he gasped as the pain hit him again. "I've never hated her!"

"Never? I guess your good at lying to yourself too."

"No! I've never hated her and she never hated me!" Kevin winced at the broiling pain hit him again. "I'm such an idiot! I ran away from the person I needed to help me."

"You're an idiot to believe someone with Gwen's powers can save somebody from being turned into a Heartless," Pete laughed. "You're so far gone, nobody can save you!"

Charmcaster, Driscoll, and Kevin all glared at Pete. Only two of them could physically show their outrage.

"Oops," Pete covered his mouth.

"You lied to me!" Kevin yelled.

"Mr. Levin," Driscoll reminded him. "We did say we are just like you."

"The darkness I put inside you is only making you worse, Kevin," Charmcaster laughed. "It's only a matter a time before I own you entirely."

Kevin growled and took a swing at the witch with his left arm. Charmcaster raised her hand and made a small gesture. Kevin froze in mid motion. His Heartless arm shook as he tried to regain control. She smiled wickedly before twirling her finger and twisting his arm behind his back. Kevin was pushed down onto his knees with his head almost touching the concrete floor. Charmcaster jammed the arm up as far as it could go, making him scream in agony. Driscoll leaned over Kevin and spoke.

"In a chess game Mr. Levin, there is a king, there is a queen and there are pawns. In the end the pawns are sacrificial."

"You were never an equal, Kevin," Charmcaster pronounced, "only my slave. And when you finally finish turning into whatever Heartless you become, I'm going to use you to attack Gwen. And I'm going to enjoy watching one of you get destroyed."

He growled as the rage in his darkened heart swelled. He used his right arm to absorb the concrete into his body, cutting off her control. Kevin leaped up and took a swing at Charmcaster. She floated off of the floor, staying out of arms length from Kevin's attempts to hit her with his fists. He then took a flying kick at her that threw her against one of the Armored Knights.

Kevin turned towards Pete. The buffoonish Heartless commander backed away.

"Now, now, Kevin," Pete said his ears drooping. "There's no need to get this upset."

He laid Pete out on the floor with one punch to his jaw. The goon remained sprawled on the floor seeing stars while the others dealt with Kevin.

Charmcaster blasted him in the back with a beam of the black energy. He tried to get up, but Driscoll grabbed him by the face. Kevin couldn't see or breathe. Driscoll started cracking the concrete coating Kevin's skull like a walnut shell. The teenager tried to absorb the metal from Driscoll's suit to coat his arms. The Forever King responded by punching Kevin a dozen times in the stomach and rib cage chipping the concrete covering away until his knees buckled. As Kevin hung limp in Driscoll's grasp, he slammed him on the floor. He pummeled the teenager for several long agonizing minutes before throwing him across the room. Kevin landed at the foot of the staircase leading outside.

Pete sat up to see Kevin staggering to his feet with only half of his protective shell still clinging to him.

"Charmcaster, see our guest out," Driscoll ordered.

The witch reached under her robe and removed a several black egg shaped objects and she tossed them on the floor. Three of her clay beasts grew out of the objects, but these were made of more then just brick. Their eyes were bright yellow and instead of purple markings, they bore bright red ones with Heartless logos on their backs.

Kevin stood his ground, ready to accept his fate instead of fleeing. However he felt something deep within him calling his name. He looked out the doorway, sensing a faint light crying out in his heart.

"Gwen," he whispered.

Kevin staggered up the staircase with Charmcaster's Clay Beasts and Shadow Heartless in pursuit.

"Go ahead Kevin! Run!" Charmcaster laughed. "You can't outrun the darkness in your own heart! You'll do what I want one way or another!"

"What a pity," Driscoll lamented. "He might have made a good addition to my team. All that potential wasted. Now he'll end up finding out what the fox feels when being chased down by the hounds."

"Your team?" Charmcaster replied. "It seems we have a bit of conflict over who is in charge of all this, Driscoll."

"Ummm, I thought you guys understood who's really in charge of all this," Pete began to say.

"Shut up!" Charmcaster hissed. "I'm the one who opened the way for you to get here. If Maleficent thinks she should be in charge, tell her to come see me."

"You act as if you're the one who found the old Plumbers' logs and the map. I came up with the scheme to rid ourselves of the Keyblade Master and his companions," Driscoll said.

"If I remember correctly Gwen said I was the one with the most potential, Driscoll. She was right."

She reached into her bag and blew a cloud of black smoke at Driscoll.

"What are you doing?" the Forever King asked.

"Did you forget, Driscoll? The most powerful chess piece isn't the king. It's the queen!"

Now it was Driscoll's turn to plunge into darkness. As she watched the Forever King become possessed by darkness instead of controlling it, her own eyes seemed to change as well. They turned from a soft violet to a stranger amber color. A great shadow started to grow behind her back.

Pete began to back away.

"You know what, Charmcaster?" he sniveled.  "I should go and give Maleficent a progress report on your success! Tootles!"

Pete ran as fast as he could out the door, chased by Charmcaster's crazed laughter.

***

Ben did his best to drive the damaged hummer onto the highway. Riku sat next to Ben in the front while Sora, Kairi and Gwen were in the back. Ben bumped and jarred the vehicle along the forest until they reached the small double lane road leading to the Plumbers' base.

"I think I should be driving," Riku suggested as they got jarred by Ben's driving.

"Riku, you can't drive," Sora told him.

"It can't be any worse than how Ben's doing."

"This car just a little big," Ben said.

"Well try to keep it steady," Gwen suggested. "I need to concentrate on keeping the door secure. And I don't want Sora to fall out."

"He is too valuable to lose when he possesses a key that can unlock anything," Ben remarked. "It saved us a lot of time."

"I'm glad it worked," Sora said. "I'm used to opening and closing locking doors, not starting a vehicle."

"Closing and locking doors is what will end what's going on here."

"And opening one will get you home," Gwen added. "I'm sure if we get the Archamada back, I can fix what's gone wrong."

"Even if you don't, we'll find another way home," Sora said. "I'm sure of it."

Suddenly the hummer jarred again as if it had hit something.

"Ben!" Gwen began to warn.

"Sorry! I ran over a Shadow Heartless," Ben told her. "The road is full of them."

The teens could see dozens of yellow-eyed creatures dotting the roadway. Ben spotted something wandering on the median. At first looked like a man sized Heartless, because its eyes glowed yellow, but when the light from the headlights shined brighter on it, he could see it was Kevin.

"Ben! Stop!" Riku shouted.

Ben slammed on the breaks. The hummer slid to a halt only a few feet from Kevin. The teenager lifted his good arm to block the light from his eyes. He wore his regular clothes again, but they were covered with dirt and appeared to have bruises on his face from a beating. There were a number of Heartless around him, but instead of following his commands, they were trying to tackle him to the ground.

"Kevin!" Gwen shrieked.

The teenagers all climbed out of the vehicle. The Keyblade Knights' weapons and Gwen's light powers incinerated most the creatures before they could smother him.

Kevin tried to take a step towards Gwen and collapsed into her arms. Gwen kneeled beside him as he slumped against her with his head resting just under her chin. She put her arms around Kevin's neck as he murmured incoherently.

"I'm here, Kevin," she whispered.

"You're going to be okay, Kevin," Ben said as he kneeled beside him.

Suddenly, Kevin's eyes snapped open. He leaned forward and latched his Heartless hand onto Ben's throat, trying to crush his windpipe. Ben could see a fiendish smile on Kevin's lips as the yellow light burned in his former friend's eyes as his struggled to breathe. Sora and Riku tried to pull Kevin off him, but he wouldn't budge. Sora pulled out Kingdom Key.

"Let him go, Kevin!" Sora demanded. "I'll use this!"

"Go ahead, Mister Sunshine!" Kevin growled.

Before Sora could strike him, Gwen shot of bolt of light energy into his chest. Kevin screamed, letting Ben go as he fell back onto the ground. Ben gasped for air as Gwen looked back and forth from her cousin to Kevin in shock. She leaned over the wounded teen, trying to rouse him.

"I'm sorry, Kevin! I'm so sorry!" Gwen pleaded. "Please wake up!"

Gwen heard Kairi say a word she failed to discern, since her focus was on Kevin's injuries. Then a green light similar to when Ben changed back and forth from his human form washed over Kevin's body. He moaned and opened his eyes. All the damage except his Heartless infected left arm had vanished and his eyes were brown once more. She gazed up at Kairi, who had her Keyblade pointing at Kevin's chest.

"What was that?" Gwen asked.

"Cure spell," Kairi said putting Destiny's Embrace away. "It drains all of the magic in the Keyblade, but he needed it."

Kevin sat up and pulled himself away from Gwen fearful he might do something to hurt her. He looked at Ben in shock, realizing what he had nearly done.

"Leave me alone! I'm not safe!" Kevin warned.

"We're here to help you, Kevin," Gwen insisted.

"No! I'm getting worse! I can feel the darkness growing! I want to hurt people! It's - ! Aurgh!" Kevin began to flailed his Heartless arm at her. Sora and Ben pulled Gwen away as Kevin dug the fingers of the hand into the asphalt, ripping long gashes in it.

The teens heard a snarling sound and turned to see the Clay Beast Heartless stalking towards them. Kevin cried out as his torment became unbearable. He shouted, "They've come for me! They want my heart!"