Hey, guys! I present to you a brand new Kingdom Hearts story - which I just had to write when I came up with this idea! :P
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Square Enix.
It was a beautiful afternoon on Destiny Islands - and a very exciting one, too. Sora, Riku and Roxas were going to have a shopping cart race. It was something they had never done before, and although it was probably a very stupid thing to do with an accident waiting to happen, they thought it would be very cool.
The boys were stood at the top of a very, very steep hill with a path running down it, serving as their race track. They each had a shopping cart which they'd pinched from the local grocery store. They gazed down with smug smirks towards the bottom of the hill. All three of them were full of confidence that they would beat their opponents. Hanging above them from a pair of lampposts (which were standing beside the path, one on each) was a big white banner which had 'START' badly painted upon it in red.
As Riku turned away from the long track they were about to roll down, he saw in surprise that Roxas had positioned his cart in between his and Sora's - back-first. "Why've you got your cart the wrong way round, Roxas?" he asked.
"Safety measures," Roxas explained. "I'm gonna make sure I stay in my cart all the way down."
"How?" Sora questioned curiously.
Striding up alongside his cart, Roxas pulled open the seat that had been installed for little infants - before clambering up his unpowered vehicle to seat himself in. "By riding in the most secure safety seat in the world."
Sora and Riku couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"Oh, are you serious?" Sora guffawed, his eyes wide and filled with amusement.
Roxas nodded. "There's no way I can fall out of this."
"Oh, you little baby," Riku sneered.
"Hey!" Roxas snapped, taking offence at Riku's moment and glaring angrily at the silver-haired boy. "Who d'you think you're calling a little baby?"
"Uhh ... you!"
"Well I'm no little baby! I'm a professional shopping cart racer who's gonna leave the pair of you crying as I cross the finish line first!"
Sora and Riku just silently gave a disbelieving shake of their heads. They turned to gaze down towards the bottom of the hill. Both of them felt certain they would be the first one to cross the finish line - as well as that Roxas wouldn't be able to leave his seat when it was over.
Near where a badly-painted 'finish' banner was hanging over the race track from two more lampposts, Kairi, Naminé and Xion were standing together. The boys had allowed them to do some cheerleading for their race. The three girls each had a pair of colourful pom poms. They were happily waving them around, swinging their arms together in a pattern, but were not really making a lot of noise.
Xion knew their cheerleading skills was not very professional. "Shouldn't we have some sort of chant? I mean, most proper cheerleaders have a chant to show their support."
"Yeah, but I can't really think of a suitable one," Kairi answered. "I bet no professional cheerleaders has ever done any for a shopping cart race."
"Which of the boys are we supposed to be cheering for, anyway?" Naminé asked. "Is it Roxas?"
"I dunno." Kairi put down her pom poms. "I think it's supposed to be Sora."
"Actually, we're not supposed be cheering for any one of them in particular," Xion corrected them. "They only let us cheerlead for them because we complained when they wouldn't let us take part in the race - and they thought it would make it look even more cool."
"Oh yeah." Naminé nodded, remembering. "Well I guess we'd better start the race then."
With all the pom poms now lying on the ground, the girls turned around to face where three megaphones were resting on the grass. They belonged to Kairi's adoptive father - the Mayor - but had been taken from him when his back had been turned. The girls approached them to pick up one each, then they spun towards the hill, peering up to where the boys were waiting with the carts at the top.
"Get ready!" Kairi bellowed into her megaphone, her voice echoing around the park.
Knowing the race was seconds away from beginning, the boys tensed up their bodies in readiness. Sora leapt into his cart and clutched the lamppost that towered above him on his left, preparing to use it to launch his set of wheels into motion. As Riku did the same with the lamppost standing on his right, Roxas gripped his hands tightly around his cart's handrail, still held securely in his seat. His eyes were fixed to the finish line far below them. He could already seeing himself whizzing through it first, leaving behind his two opponents to sit beside their crashed carts with tears steaming down their face from their injuries.
"I'm gonna win!" Sora told himself. "I'm gonna win!"
"Little baby," Riku jeered immaturely at Roxas.
Seething, the dirty blond-haired boy turned to Riku to scream what he thought of him - but when he noticed the sixteen-year old was clinging onto the lamppost beside him, his face fell. Immediately knowing it was Riku's way to get his unpowered cart into motion, he turned to Sora to find he was going to do the same. Both of his rivals had something nearby to help thrust themselves forward to roll down the hill - which he didn't have himself, being in between them.
"Uh, guys..." Roxas said worriedly. "I haven't got anything to push onto to get my cart moving. How am I gonna do that?"
Sora and Riku didn't care about that. All they cared about was winning the race.
"Three..." Xion yelled up to them through her megaphone.
"Two..." Naminé yelled.
"One..." Kairi yelled.
"GO!" the three girls shouted together.
With just one push on the lampposts beside them, Sora and Riku quickly hurled their carts forward. They began to rattle briskly down the steep slope - only just managing to roll out of the reach of Roxas's hands as he made a grab for them. He watched in disappointment from his cart's seat as his two opponents rolled away. They were racing jubilantly along the track, picking up speed with each second - and he was stuck at the start line with no way of getting himself moving.
Sora cheered as he felt the air bat away at his face. It told him he was going at a very fast speed. He was in too much excitement to listen to the commentary Kairi was passing about the race through her megaphone. He took a quick glance over his shoulder, his eyes lighting up when he saw that Riku was trailing behind him. He turned back happily towards the finish line, which was drawing closer and closer.
"I'm gonna win!" he cried, his exhilaration building up with his speed. "I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win! I'm the best shopping cart racer in the world!"
But his elation was short lived as Riku's cart drew up alongside him. The two boys were now neck-and-neck, and Sora found that a nasty sneer was being directed at him.
"Get away, Riku!" he roared. "This is my victory! I'm gonna win!"
"Nuh-uh!" Riku shook his head. "Only in your dreams will you beat me! I hope you have a nice view of me crossing the finish line first, slowpoke!"
Sora glared, annoyed by the insult and smugness being thrown at him. "No way! You're gonna have to see me cross the finish line before you, silver head!"
Horror flashed into Riku's widening blue eyes. He couldn't believe what he had just been called. Silver head? Silver head?! There was no way he was going to let Sora call him that and get away with it!
With the Darkness building in his heart, Riku got to his feet with a burning glare. He completely ignored how unsafe he was to be standing in his cart whilst it was flying down a hill at such a high speed. The only thing on his mind was taking revenge on Sora for calling him such a horrible insult.
"Riku?!" Sora exclaimed, gaping up at the sixteen-year old in alarm over his sudden change of behaviour. "What are you doing?!"
Riku didn't answer. Rage was blazing heatedly inside his eyes. There was a bright flash as his Keyblade appeared in his hand - then with a loud growl, he swung it around violently in an attempt to hit Sora.
Sora gasped - but luckily jumped to his feet and brought out his own Keyblade just in time. He hurled it against Riku to block off his attack, realizing that the pair of them were now going to be battling each other on their way to victory.
"What are they doing?!" Kairi hollered. Her face was white with tension as she watched the boys thrash their Keyblades against each other's.
"Looks like their fighting one another!" Naminé yelled, pointing out the blatant obvious.
The two boys proceeded to combatively attack one another with their weapons, their carts still carrying them even closer to the finish line.
Their little dual came to an end all too soon.
Drawing his Keyblade back after being blocked yet again by Sora, Riku held it over his shoulder. He quickly built up all his energy in his legs, using it to launch himself out of his cart and towards his opponent. A monstrous roar was let out from him as he flew towards Sora, preparing to strike him down with his weapon.
There was an enormous crash as the silver-haired boy collided with his brunette-haired rival. The girls watched in horror as the two carts fell to their sides whilst the boys bounced roughly along the path. They both cried out from their terrible landings, picking up some injuries on the way. They eventually rolled to a stop, but proceeded to wince loudly from their pain. Whist the Keyblades disappeared in a flash, the carts lay together on the spot they had tumbled to - which was right outside the finish line.
Dropping their megaphones, the girls sprinted over to where the boys had landed. They stood over the pair of hurt racers as they sat up, tightly clutching their grazed elbows and knees.
"Are you alright?" Kairi exclaimed in concern.
Sora's eyes were squeezed shut from the agony he was in - but as soon as he managed to open them, he locked them angrily onto Riku. "That was your fault, Riku! Why did you attack me with your Keyblade?!"
"Me?!" Riku spat. "It's all your fault, Sora! You're the one who called me a nasty name!" He turned to the girls, hoping to get some sympathy from them. "He called me 'silver head'! Can you believe it?! That's the nastiest thing anyone's ever all me!"
"Geez, it's only a race, guys," Xion muttered, rolling her eyes. "You didn't have to take it so seriously."
It was only then that Naminé realized they were one racer short. She peered around with puzzlement, realizing there was no sigh of the missing boy. "Um ... has anyone seen Roxas?"
Her question drove all the fury out of Sora's and Riku's faces. They gazed blankly at one another with Roxas in both of their thoughts. The craze of the battle they'd just been through had made them completely forget all about him. They were certain he was probably still stuck at the start line in his cart's seat.
They were quickly proven wrong, though, as the sound of wheels rolling down the hill reached their ears.
Xion peered up towards the slope - and gasped. "Here he comes!"
Everyone all turned to see Roxas rolling down the hill in his cart, having somehow managed to get himself moving from the start line. He was rolling right towards them, still in his seat and clutching tightly onto the handrail.
What they didn't realize, however, was that he was looking absolutely terrified. The cart was going much faster than he'd thought it would. He had no way of being able to stop himself - and being stuck inside the tiny seat, he had no way of escaping. This made his ride all the more frightening. He saw his friends gathered before him on his path, making him panic that he was going to hit them.
"Help!" Roxas screamed to them. "I can't stop!"
"Move it, guys!" Sora exploded urgently.
The girls all shrieked as they darted quickly off the path. Sora and Riku scrambled hurriedly to their feet, zipping away just before Roxas' cart ran over the spot where they'd been sitting. With its rider continuing to wail, it ploughed effortlessly through the other two carts which had left it behind at the top of the hill. With their wide eyes all following him, the friends watched as Roxas was carried speedily under the 'finish' banner and further down the path.
"Rats!" Riku groaned. "He's won the race now! I bet he's perfectly happy!"
Roxas was far from happy, as with his cart going faster instead of stopping, being the winner of the race was long gone from his mind. "Help! Guys! I can't stop!"
His cries brought bewilderment into the expressions of his friends. They realized now he couldn't stop. But as they watched him being carried further away from him, they knew there would hardly being any point in trying to chase after a cart they wouldn't be able to catch up with.
So the frightened Roxas was left in his runaway cart, which was starting to drift towards the right side of the path. His gazed up fearfully towards the direction he was speeding in - and his eyes widened in hope when he saw he was nearing a lamppost beside the track, which would be within his reach.
"A lamppost!" he cried delightedly. "Sora and Riku used one of them to get themselves going, but I'm gonna use one to get me to stop!"
Closer and closer he came to the lamppost. He stretched his arm out to grab it. The cart's wheels rattled rapidly along the concrete with no intention of stopping or slowing down. As it began to carry him past the lamppost, Roxas' hand caught onto the steel pole to end his ride - only to end up causing his cart to make a ninety-degree turn!
As the cart rolled away from the path, Roxas felt his hand being dragged forcefully off the lamppost. He found he was now being carried along the grass. The ground was a lot rougher here, but unable to slow his cart down. With his terror returning, he turned to peer out in the direction he was being taken in - and his jaw dropped when he saw he was heading towards a gushing river.
"Argh, no!" he blared, kicking his legs about wildly in an unsuccessful attempt to free himself from his seat. "Noooooooo!"
Reaching the end of the bank, the cart allowed its wheels to roll off the solid ground, taking its screaming rider down with it as it tumbled with a splash into the river.
Hope you enjoyed that. Sorry if it was a bit too daft for you. If it made you laugh, then I've done my job! XD