Chapter 1: Vega Island and Peach Creek Castle, part 3
Back on Vega Island, Abby was double-checking her bags, making sure she had packed everything she needed for the trip.
"Let's see…swimsuit, bracelet making kit in my pack, plenty of clothes…am I forgetting anything?" Abby muttered to herself.
Suddenly, Abby stopped packing. She was sensing something. Something…not good. She ran to her window and flung open the curtain.
The sky above the island was pure black.
"Oh no!" Abby panicked. "We can't have a storm ruin the raft!"
Without thinking, Abby automatically opened her window, jumped onto the branch Galleria usually used to get in her room, gave a quick glance back to the window (and was satisfied when it slammed shut), and scrambled down the tree. She began to sprint toward the boat she used to get to the special island where the raft was being stored.
Meanwhile, Abby's older brother was still in the house, unaware that his little sister had even left.
"Abby, dinner's ready! Come on down!...Abby?"
When Abby finally got to the island, she got a surprise as she tied her boat to the dock.
'Mick's boat is here…and so is Gallerias!' Abby thought as she looked at the two other boats. 'They must have had the same idea as me.'
However, Abby had no idea where Mick and Galleria were on the island. But she had a little trick she could use to find out.
Abby closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and concentrated. She began to mentally search for other people's energy located on the island. After a few seconds…
'I got it!' Abby's eyes snapped open. 'Somebody's up on the cliff…but why do I only feel one person?'
Abby sprinted onto the path that led to the cliff, curious as to who was there. But unbeknownst to her, something…some things…were following her…
Finally, Abby made it to the cliff, and she could just make out who was there.
It was Galleria. She was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking out at the ocean. But Abby couldn't help but notice that Mick was nowhere to be seen.
"Galleria?" Abby asked, taking a couple steps forward. "Where's Mick? His boat's here…why isn't he with you?"
"The door…is opening…"
Suddenly, Abby became nervous. For some reason…Galleria's energy didn't feel…normal.
"What?" Abby asked.
Then, without warning, Galleria whirled around to face Abby.
"The door is open now!" Galleria proclaimed, a crazed look in her eye. "We can go to the outside world now, Abby! Aren't you excited?!"
Abby started. Now she really knew something was wrong. She had never seen Galleria act like this before.
"Wh-what?" Abby asked. "Galleria, what are you talking about?! Don't you know where Mick is? We need to go look for him…"
"Mick's coming with us!" Galleria interrupted. She suddenly began to walk toward Abby, her arm outstretched to her. "Once we go through, we can never come back. We may never see our families again…but there's no turning back! We can't let our fears stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness, Abby!"
At this point, Galleria was at arm's length from Abby, about to touch the frightened psychic. Abby panicked again.
"NO!" Abby shouted, thrusting her right arm out in front of her. Galleria's body jerked backward, while Abby stumbled, falling on her back.
When Abby sat up again, she became horrified. These…things were rising from the ground behind Galleria. They almost looked like living shadows.
Abby had no choice. She had to find Mick so they could get out of there.
Abby hopped up and began to run away from her friend, desperately doing a mental search to find Mick's energy reading. Suddenly, she got it.
'Yes!' Abby thought as she ran. Then, she realized where exactly Mick was. 'The…secret place? Why is he there?'
Abby was running so fast, she almost missed the entrance to the secret place. But as she entered, she was near hysterics.
"Mick!" she called out. "We have to get out of here, now! Something's happened to Galleria, and…"
Abby stopped. Mick was standing in front of the wall with the door shape etched into it, facing away from her.
"M-Mick?" Abby asked nervously.
Mick slowly turned around. Abby could immediately see that he wasn't in good shape.
"A…Abby…" Mick was able to choke out.
Suddenly, the door shape in the cave wall…burst open! A black wind filled the cave, thrusting Mick toward Abby.
"Mick!" Abby yelled, holding out her arms. But when Mick's body got close enough to hers…well, his body seemed to go right through her!
Abby blinked. Mick was suddenly nowhere to be seen. She looked behind her, but to no avail.
Her other friend was gone.
"M-Mick…? Galleria?" Abby quietly asked.
But she got no answer. Everything around her was pitch black.
'Wh-what's going on?' Abby thought. 'Mick's gone, and…Galleria…that couldn't have been Galleria! Those weren't Galleria's eyes…' Suddenly, the realization that both her friends were gone hit Abby. She wrapped her arms around her body and began to fight back tears in her eyes. 'What am I going to do?! I can't do this without them!!'
'Don't be afraid…'
Abby's eyes snapped back open again.
'That voice!' she thought. 'It was from my dream…'
That's when Abby realized something. Her hands felt…warm. She held them back out in front of her…and gasped.
Her hands were glowing! They were glowing a bright light! And…it looked like…something was actually forming in front of her…
'You possess the most powerful weapon in the world…'
"Double D, is this the ship we'll be taking?" asked Ed.
He, Double D, Courage, Jonny and Plank, Lady Nazz, and Lady Sarah were all standing in front of a massive spaceship that looked like it was assembled from different colored blocks.
"Yes, Ed," said Double D. "This is the Gummi Ship; capable of visiting any world with the greatest of ease. It's just a little something I assembled in my spare time…"
"Look, Plank!" said Jonny. "We get to go on a spaceship!"
Meanwhile, Courage was still in Ed's arms, babbling incoherently.
"Be careful…all of you," said Lady Nazz.
"You guys better not mess this up!" said Lady Sarah.
"Please, don't worry," said Double D. "Our only wish is to make things right again. Right, Ed?"
"What?" asked Ed.
Double D sighed. "Never mind," he said. "Just get on."
Ed ran onto the Gummi Ship with Courage, followed by Jonny and Plank. Double D walked in behind them.
"Bring the king back safely!" Lady Nazz called to the boys.
Ed and Double D made themselves comfortable in the pilots' seats inside the Gummi Ship, while Jonny, Plank, and Courage looked around.
Double D picked up a small walkie-talkie. "This is Double D to launch crew," he said into the device. "Double D to launch crew. We're ready when you are!"
The message reached two boys in the engine room of the Gummi Ship. One was a tall, lanky, foreign-looking boy with blue hair; his name was Rolf. The other was a smaller, gentle-looking boy with a large curly tuft of hair on his head; his name was Jimmy.
Rolf answered the message. "Roger that, Double D Ed boy," he said. "Rolf now advises you to hold on to your pants!" He turned to his co-worker. "Prepare transport to launch pad, young Jimmy!"
"Uh…yes, right away!" said Jimmy in his small voice. He ran over to a lever and pulled it. This caused a large crane to come out, pick up the Gummi Ship, and set it back down on a large launch pad.
"Here it comes!" said Double D. He pressed a button on the control pad. "BLAST OFF!"
And just like that, the Gummi Ship began to fly away from Peach Creek Castle.
Abby stared in awe at the object that had just appeared in her hand. It looked like a giant key, but it had a chain hanging off of it. On the end of the chain was a charm that looked like a jawbreaker.
"What?!" Abby asked out loud. "What is this…a key? A sword?"
'Keyblade…keyblade…the power within you…'
"Key…blade?" Abby repeated.
Suddenly, Abby felt another presence behind her. She turned around…and got quite a shock.
Behind her was a huge shadow thing. And it was surrounded by those littler living shadows.
Abby only saw one option: she began to run away.
As Abby ran, the shadows chased after her. Without warning, the giant shadow thrust down one of its claws; it missed hitting Abby directly, but it did send her flying.
'What can I do?!' Abby screamed in her head.
'Don't be afraid…'
Suddenly, Abby felt calm again. She landed on her feet, and automatically took a fighting stance.
"I guess I have no choice…" she muttered. "I have to fight!"
A smaller shadow lunged at Abby. She swung the Keyblade at it, and to her surprise, it sliced right through. With this newfound knowledge, Abby began working her way back to the huge shadow, slicing littler shadows left and right.
"That's right!" Abby said as she fought. "Don't mess with me! I've been sword-fighting with Galleria before!"
Before Abby knew it, she was back at the giant shadow's feet.
'Getting rid of these little guys isn't getting me anywhere!' Abby thought. 'I have to take out this big one!'
Suddenly, the giant shadow thrust its claw toward Abby again; she barely dodged it.
'Man, this guy is much more powerful than those little ones! There has to be a weak spot somewhere!'
Abby concentrated on the giant creature, searching for any sign of a weakness. She moved up the body, until…
'That's it! The face is wide open!'
Abby crouched down, concentrating all her power to her feet. Then, she sprang up, willing herself to go as high as she could. The next thing she knew, she was right in front of the shadow's face. She took the Keyblade and swung as hard as she could.
It was a direct hit.
The giant shadow reeled backward as Abby landed back on the ground.
"HA!" Abby said triumphantly. "You like that? There's plenty more where that…"
But before Abby could finish, she realized something. Everything around her was being blown away! The trees, the sand, the shadow things…all of it! And Abby could just make out what was sucking it all in: it looked like a giant, black sphere.
Abby immediately latched onto the closest object (a rock) and held on for dear life with her free hand (her other hand was still holding the Keyblade). Looking behind her, she saw more and more of the island being sucked in; even the giant shadow couldn't fight against the suction!
Then, the rock Abby was holding onto gave way. She began flying toward the black sphere, screaming the whole way.
"Uh…Double D?" Ed asked, squinting as he looked out the Gummi Ship's front window.
"Yes, Ed?" asked Double D.
"I think a star's going out."
"What?!" asked Double D. "Where?!"
"Right there!" said Ed, pointing to a spot on the window.
Double D looked. Sure enough, a star in front of them began to flicker, and then…it disappeared from sight.
"Oh dear…" said Double D. "This does not bode well…"
"Nope," said Ed. "It doesn't look good either!"
Double D sighed; he didn't have the heart to tell his friend that that was exactly what he said.