I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Spongebob. Time to take a break from our absorbent friend and see how our Keyblade Wielder is doing.
Ch. 3: The Royal Treatment
It took Sora, Donald, and Goofy a while to land the new Gummi Ship, longer than they thought. Donald and Goofy knew how to fly the ship, but with the new Gummi Ship, there was new equipment and new controls that they didn't know how to work, so it took some time. Eventually, they managed to land in the underwater world. Before they left the ship, Donald casted a spell on them to transform the three into sea creatures. Once casted, they left the ship while being enveloped by the sea.
It was quite a rush to dive head first into the ocean, but Sora was used to it from swimming on Destiny Island. As his vision adjusted to the water, Sora could see his surroundings clearly. Sora was transformed into a merman with a blue tail, Donald was an octopus with blue tentacles, and Goofy was a turtle with a turquoise shell. Sora saw his friends swimming along and he chuckled at how Donald wasn't used to the water. Apparently the wizard didn't like getting his feathers wet.
Sora didn't mind having to swim; if anything, he enjoyed. Not only did it remind him of the adventures he had in Atlantis with Ariel, but it also reminded him of the days when he swam in the ocean with Riku and Kairi when they were kids. Plus, it reminded him that he wasn't on Destiny Island anymore. He was back with his two friends traveling to new worlds.
After exploring for a long time, Sora, Donald, and Goofy found something. It was a giant castle that appeared to be made of sand, but was as hard as metal.
"Gawrsh, I don't remember this being here the last time we visited Ariel." Said Goofy in awe.
Donald sighed at Goofy's ignorance and reminded him, "I told you, this isn't Atlantis."
"Either way, we should probably leave. I have feeling whoever lives here won't like us wandering around out here." Said Sora.
"Halt! Drop your weapons"
The three turned around to see several knights surrounding them with spears. Sora wasn't sure what was more shocking: that they managed to sneak up on them or that although they were fish, they acted like humans. The three decided to do what he said so that they didn't anger him.
"You are trespassing on the grounds of King Neptune's Palace uninvited." Stated the head guard.
"King Neptune?" Sora asked curiously.
"What be your business here? Robbing the palace of its treasures? Kidnapping? Attempted assassination? "
"Uh-"
"Silence! We shall take you to the high court where you will be punished."
"HEY!" squawked Donald. "You can't just-"
"Of course sir, we don't want any trouble." Interrupted Sora.
The three reluctantly obeyed and followed the guard into the castle. Even though Sora could have beaten the guards easily with Donald and Goofy, he didn't want to get them in trouble. Plus, he figured this would be a perfect opportunity to meet King Neptune, and see if he could reason with him to help them. As the guards opened the door, light flowed as Sora, Donald, and Goofy saw the high court.
Everyone there was either a guard or an anthropomorphic fish in medieval attire. The only exception was one merman sitting on a throne. The Merman appeared to be a teenager with long, orange hair, green skin, a blue tail, a brown vest with a blue crystal medallion, blue headband, and a belt with a pouch attached to it. Two fish blew on their trumpets, signaling the start of the trial. Sora couldn't help but think back to when he saved Alice from her trial and how this reminded him of it.
"Here are your prisoners, Prince Triton. They were found lurking on the outskirts of the castle." Said the guard.
Triton examined Sora, Goofy, and Donald and gave a glance at Sora's Keyblade. Even though he hadn't seen many people since he was freed from his cage, he was still weirded out by Donald and Goofy. He had never even seen creatures like them before, not that he liked seeing them.
"Alright, let's wrap this up quickly. So what were you doing outside my Dad's castle?" asked Triton, who looked bored.
"Well you see we were lost and we stumbled upon your castle." Said Goofy.
"Oh please, my Dad told me that's the oldest trick in the book. I mean what kind of merman doesn't know where my Dad lives?"
Sora tried to think of an explanation that didn't reveal who they were, but he was drawing a blank. Donald and Goofy were trying to do the same thing, but came up with nothing.
"Alright, look I've got a schedule to keep since my Dad is gone, so I'll make you a deal. Whose sword thing is that?" Triton asked as he pointed to the Keyblade. Donald and Goofy pointed to Sora.
"Alright, normally I'd throw you all in the dungeon for 30 years, but I'm in a good mood and since I like your sword, I'll only give you 10 years while your amigos get 30." Said Triton.
"What! No way! I'd never agree to that." Answered Sora.
"Hey, I'm gonna take it any way. You might as well cut your losses. Besides, you'll get out sooner than these weirdoes."
"Don't call my friends weirdoes!" exclaimed Sora. "You may be the prince, but that doesn't give you the right to call insult them."
"Uh, yeah it kinda does." Said Triton.
"No it doesn't. These guys are not weirdoes. There the best friends I guy could have and they always have my back. So prince or not, I'm not going to let you throw my friends in a dungeon or take my Keyblade."
Everyone in the court room was in shock at Sora's outburst, except for one girl who watched secretly as he gasped at the sound of the word "Keyblade". Donald and Goofy felt touched about how Sora defended them as Sora kept a straight face at Triton.
Triton frowned and grabbed Sora's Keyblade and finally said, "Remember when I said I was in a good mood? Well now I'm not! GUARDS! Seize them and throw them in the dungeon."
On cue, several guards in armor ran into the room and pointed their spears at the three. However, Sora surprised everyone when he made the Keyblade disappear from Triton's hands and appear in his own. As the guards advanced Sora attacked and managed to instantly defeat 2 guards instantly. As three more guards attacked Sora, Donald grabbed his staff and casted some Blizzard and Fire spells on the advancing guards while Goofy started to ram into the other ones.
Triton was getting mad as he watched the guards fall before him. Sora blocked an attack from one of the guards and cast Lightning on a guard that was about to sneak up on Donald. Before Donald could thank him, he cast Fira at a guard behind Sora.
"Goofy!" called Sora.
The turtle floated over to him and whispered a plan into Goofy's ear. Goofy nodded in approval as Sora casted Aerora on Goofy, surrounding him in shield of air that decreased his damage intake. Goofy tucked into his shell and Sora whacked him across the room so that he would go bouncing off the walls. Goofy bounced like a rubber superball as he bounced off advancing guards with shields, leaving them dazed and vulnerable for Sora to attack.
As the guards decreased in number, the three began to feel victorious, like nothing could stop them
ZZZZZAAP!
Donald fell as Triton zapped him from behind. Donald groaned as he struggled to remain conscious.
"Alright man, it's time to end this." Triton said as he zapped Goofy as well.
"Guys!" shouted Sora. He faced Triton and tried to deflect Triton's blast of energy, but failed and fell to the ground. Sora tried to stay awake but was having a hard time as pain surged throughout his body.
"Game over man." Said Triton as he prepared to fire another shot.
"That's enough!"
Triton stopped as a mermaid swam into the room. Sora could barely see her because he was about to pass out. All he could see was a blur of green and blue.
"Now how did that spell go again?" he heard her say. "Kira, Lurago, Nirvana, ah wait Curaga!"
Instantly, Sora, Donald, and Goofy felt themselves get better as the pain disappeared slowly. The mermaid casted the spell repeatedly until the three could get back up. As his vision cleared, Sora could clearly see the mermaid.
Like Triton, she had green skin, blue hair, a light-green tail, glasses, a pink top with a heart on it, and was wearing a golden bracelet. She looked like she was Triton's age but had a very caring look upon her face.
"Mindy! What are you doing, man!" Triton asked furiously.
"What am I doing? What are you doing? You're hurting innocent people." She responded.
"Hey Dad left me in charge while he was gone, so I run this place however I want, man."
"He left us both in charge. You're just taking advantage of Dad's kindness."
"I am not. Besides, you're not doing anything."
"That's because all you think a ruler should do is punish people."
"That's what Dad taught me when I was young." Said Triton
"Well Dad changed since you've been gone." Said Mindy.
"ENOUGH!"
Everyone turned to face the entrance to the room. Floating there was a tall merman with a red crown covering his bald head, an orange beard, green skin and tail, a giant golden trident, and a big red, fancy coat.
"Oh uh hey Pops." Greeted Triton
"Hi Daddy." Said Mindy.
"Hello sweetie." He said sweetly before changing to a more serious tone. "Now what are two arguing about this time?"
"Triton was recklessly punishing innocent people again." Said Mindy.
"But he was punishing them right?" King Neptune asked.
"Daddy." She said seriously.
"Alright alright. Triton, nice job but next time tone it down a bit." Said the King, feeling a little bit of pride in his son for punishing people.
"Hey, they needed to be punished. They were lurking around the castle." Said Triton.
"Heh heh, oh son. You need to learn not to go overboard like that." Chuckled King Neptune.
"Wow, you've gotten soft, Baldy. The Dad I knew would have thrown these guys in the dungeon before knowing that the kid had a Keyblade."
King Neptune went dead serious at the sound of that. "Soft? Keyblade! BALDY!" King Neptune finally noticed that Sora held a Keyblade. Sora tried to hide, remembering that he was supposed to keep the Keyblade a secret.
"Mindy? Could you please take the Keyblade Wielder and his associates out so that I may have a word with your brother?" he said through his grinding teeth.
Sensing that her father was going to practically explode, she quickly led Sora, Donald, and Goofy out of the room. Before she closed the door, the two started arguing.
"YOU ATTACKED A KEYBLADE WIELDER? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" yelled King Neptune.
Mindy quickly closed the door so that the four could barely hear the King and Prince. In an attempt to keep their minds off the muffled argument, Sora decided to say something.
"So, thanks for saving us back there?" Sora said, as he uncomfortably rubbed the back of his head.
"Oh, it's my pleasure. I just wish that I could have helped you. I'm not very good at bossing guards around. Plus, I wanted to see you use your Keyblade."
"Oh uh you've hear about the Keyblade?"
"I've been doing some research. Ever since my brother returned my Dad has been spending more time with him so I've kept myself busy by reading some of the royal parchments and books. I managed to read about the Keyblade and that Cure spell. Those things haven't been used in centuries." She explained.
"Oh." Said Sora.
There was awkward silence until Mindy decided to break it.
"You know, I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Mindy. You've already met my father King Neptune and my brother Triton. What are your names?"
Sora calmed a bit and casually replied, "I'm Sora. These are my friends, Donald and Goofy." The two waved at her. "Um, I hope this isn't .too personal, but what did you mean when you said "Ever since your brother returned"?"
Mindy's felt uneasy about the subject, not wanting to think about the event. "Well, it's kind of a long story."
"It's okay, we have lots of long stories ourselves." Said Goofy.
"It would be nice to know a little more about your brother so we don't accidentally say something offensive." Said Donald.
"Plus, it'd be a great way to pass the time." Joked Sora.
A small smile crept on Mindy's face as she said "Well alright. It started back when I was still a baby. When a brother was a kid, he was a much nicer person. He was fascinated by mortals, he wanted to help them, and was less violent back then. Of course, my father kept trying to change that about him. Finally, my Dad locked my brother in a cage for 10,000 years in an attempt to punish him and make him change his thinking. Not too long ago, someone freed him but as a result of being trapped for hundreds of years, he's well…. Different, as you can see."
"Wow? It sounds very harsh. Couldn't your Dad just accept him for who he is?" Sora said.
"Well my Dad didn't compromise back then. However, he did regret locking Triton up and I did manage to convince him to be more compassionate to other people. Anyway, since Triton's release, my Dad's been trying to reacquaint him into normal royal life; however it's tough Triton is now more violent than my Dad."
The door to the court room was opened as one of the servants, whose outfit was ruined said "The King would like to speak with you."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy nervously entered the room, seeing King Neptune and Triton sitting in thrones next to each other. Mindy joined them, sitting on the throne to the right of her father.
"Keyblade Wielder let me be the first to say how sorry I am for my son's behavior. I assure you, he will be punished." King Neptune said.
"Um thank you your majesty, but I don't think that will be necessary." Said Sora, trying to make Triton hate him less.
"No no, I insist, but let's not discuss my son's behavior, but more importantly why you have come to our world. Your presence here can't be just to visit my family."
Sora looked uneasily at his friends, and sighed as he knew what he had to do. He had to tell King Neptune what they were up to.
"The truth is, your majesty, we're are on a quest to prevent an evil sorceress from opening the seal to the Well of Darkness." Confessed Donald. " You see it's-"
"I know what it is." Said King Neptune, as he became gravely serious. His sudden change even surprised his children, who have nearly seen their father like this before. "In fact, my ancestor helped create the seal in the first place."
This surprised Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mindy, and even Triton. "Is this sorceress here? In our world?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't know." Said Sora sadly.
"Very well. From what has been passed down, it seems you need a Keyblade Wielder with a pure heart to close it."
"We need a lot actually, uh your majesty." Said Goofy.
For the first time, King Neptune cracked a smile at the hero. "Well then I might be able to help you."
Sora smiled when he heard him say that. Finally, they might be able to find their first Keyblade if Light Wielder or stop Maleficent from getting ahead of them.
"Yes, not only do I know a someone who can wield a Keyblade, this individual already has a Keyblade, and has been using one for some time now." Said King Neptune.
"Really?" Sora said eagerly.
"Oh yes, I believe his name is Spongebob Squarepants."
End of Ch. 3
Surprise! Spongebob is a Keyblade Wielder. But has he been using one for a while now? How is Spongebob doing after the trial? What is Plankton panning with Maleficent? Find out in Ch. 4: Depressed and Dangerous.