nightelf37: I know. I didn't bother to put an 'alternative scene' for the Gummi Ship Time scene.
Fiorina: I was wondering why?
nightelf37: Out of ideas.
Fiorina: I see.
nightelf37: Well, anyway, here's the next chapter. And Fiorina, have this.
Fiorina: Sure.
She went out of the room, then a poof was heard again.
nightelf37: Running out of these gifts. Better think of something better.
Chapter 40: The Pooh Book
As we walked down the streets (and surrendering our synthesizable items to the Moogle shopkeeper), Sora asked, "I wonder what's up."
When we reached the HBRCHQ, we saw Soldier Heartless heading out of it and vanish.
"C'mon!", said Sora as we entered the room to see Merlin and… a man in his forties with a blue leather suit adorned with a silver zipper (like the ones the Organization have) and four 'strips' of denim buttoned in place. His collar was quite tight and underneath his suit were leather shoes and grey pants.
As he was cleaning up with a broom alongside Merlin, I said to him, "You must be Reeve, right?"
"He is.", Merlin agreed. "Took your time, did you?"
"Oh, was it you who summoned us, Merlin?", concluded Goofy.
"Yes, yes… But it seems I used too much power in doing so, and those infernal Heartless… and pity Reeve has no combat abilities."
"So, what's up?", I asked the wizard.
"Well, I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District."
As he said that, book appeared in Merlin's hand and he handed it to Donald.
"Pooh's storybook!", gasped Sora.
"That's right. I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora—that's why I summoned you. And when I did, I was attacked by the Heartless. Of course, I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but then I began to fear the book would be damaged, so I… Oh! Now, just a moment. Leon and the others need to hear this too. I-I'd better go find them. Be back in a jiffy."
As Merlin vanished in a puff of smoke, Sora said, "I wonder how Pooh's doing."
"Wanna find out?", asked Donald.
"Yeah!"
As Donald opened the book and held it up, Reeve reminded him, "Wait right there. Didn't Merlin imply to wait for him?"
"Yeah.", agreed Ilsa. "Who knows what might happen while you're gone."
"Cover for me, okay?", said Sora, ignoring our warnings. "Besides, I don't think any small number of Heartless could get past the nine of you, right?"
"True.", said Vitri. "But-"
"Come on, please?", Sora pleaded.
"No way! You are to stay here until Merlin returns!"
"Come on, please?" Sora was being persistent, placing his palms together and miving his hips about in an unnerving way. Meanwhile, Donald was holding up the book already.
"I've said it already and I'll say it again.", Vitri shouted, closing his eyes. "Wait for the others!"
When he opened his eyes, Sora was gone and we saw him in the book already.
"Sheesh!", said Vitri. "I was already having a good time."
"He likes arguing.", Pollonaire told Reeve.
"Wonder if he'll be alright.", wondered Gregorio.
"He'll be.", Goofy assured us. "He's done that numerous times."
"Okay.", I said. Then I turned towards Reeve and asked, "How did you get here? I already know the stories by Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith, but not of yours. That counts the kids, and the two SOLDIERs."
"Oh that. You see… In our world, the Heartless numbers have skyrocketed. In the midst of the invasion, we were either fighting, or escaping. Yuffie and Cid were among the fighters, since the world I am from is where they are from, too. As for the five of us, we were running for our lives, separately, and our paths converged at an old church. As the Heartless were after us, we entered it."
"As the SOLDIERS prepared to defend us 'til the last breath, the kids and I were fixing up two wagons that were in there. Since I was an 'Inspire', one who can breathe life into inanimate objects, I used my ability on one of them, which was metallic. It awoke, and opened a portal at the lake inside."
"Just as we were all about to jump in, more Heartless appeared all around the place, but before they could attack us, a mythical entity appeared before us, addressing herself as Minerva, and obliterated them. She then told us to go immediately. As we all did so, bringing the wagons with us, as they held our supplies, the Heartless were closing in on her. At the last moment, Kunsel rescued her and we all lost consciousness."
"I can't remember much other than that. You should ask Kunsel for the rest."
"Okay.", I answered. Just then, an alarm on the computer blared loudly.
"Heartless are approaching the base!", reported Reeve. "You guys better get out there. I'm calling in Kunsel, who is closest in the area."
"On it!", we saluted as we went out. Before that, I took the Pooh Book with me as I left the HQ.
Meanwhile, in the book, just after Sora went in, he was on his way to Pooh's house when he encountered a young boy with brown hair, a yellow collared shirt, cyan shorts, white socks up to just below the knee, and black shoes. With him was a six-year-old redhead wearing a yellow shirt, a periwinkle 'undershirt'-like clothing over it, jeans catered to her size, and red-and-white sneakers.
"Hello there.", Sora greeted. "You;re here to see Pooh too?"
"Yes.", said the boy. "I'm Christopher Robin and this is my friend, Darby."
As he referred to the girl in his last sentence, she greeted Sora, then said, "You know Pooh?"
"Uh-huh. You two as well?"
"Yup.", agreed Darby. "We've known him for years. Although, Christopher met him first."
"Really?", said Sora.
"Why don't we meet Pooh together?", suggested Chris.
"Sure."
The three of them then went to Pooh Bear's House, and saw Pooh sitting on a log.
As Pooh noticed their entrance, Chris greeted, "Hey, Pooh Bear! How you doing? Finding enough honey lately?"
"Oh, yes.", Pooh replied. "In fact, I was just about to do my stoutness exercises. Would you like to join me?"
"Sure, We're game!", agreed Darby.
However, as Pooh hopped off the log, everything except Sora 'froze'.
"Huh?"
Sora then tried to touch Pooh, but suddenly, he was thrown back out of the Hundred Acre Wood.
We were fighting the Heartless valiantly. Just then, a flash came from my bag. A second later, I stumbled forward on my face and when I looked behind me, there was Sora and most of the items that were in my bag; my Materia Chest, Tracker, Power Scooter, Keyblade Laser (back at KHR:Re:CoM), Delta Device, Training Scanner (back at KHR1), Copier (back at KHR:Re:CoM), Mini-Replicator (back at the start of KHR:Re:CoM), Cellphone, Keychain Maker, and the Pooh Book.
"Sora!", I called. "Help me pick up everything and put it in my bag!"
As he did so, I was just about to return the Pooh Book when three Soldier Heartless appeared in front of me and swiped the book from my hands.
"What the #?!&!", I swore, the last one being hidden by a telephone ring as the Soldiers were running away.
"Give that back!", said Gregorio, who noticed the book being taken away. As he ran towards Sora and stood next to him, Sora said, "Let's do it!"
The two of them charged, Keyblade and javelin together, like a meteor (they were even surrounded by a transparent illusion of one) and pummeled through the Heartless. Then, they finished by pointing their weapons in the air for a flurry of magical arrows to appear and finish off the Soldiers.
-A/N: Meteor Strike; Sora's Limit Break with Gregorio-
The Pooh Book lay on the ground, with its cover scratched. As Sora picked it up, he wondered if it's okay.
"Gawrsh, maybe ya better go back and make sure Pooh's all right.", suggested Goofy.
"But what about Merlin?", I asked.
"Well, I guess we could explain…", said Donald.
"Great!"
Donald then took the book and held it open again. As Sora reentered, Kunsel and Merlin arrived in a puff of smoke. Donald quickly closed the book as he and Goofy explained to Merlin.
Meanwhile, I asked Kunsel about the story Reeve had left off.
"Well, you see… Like Reeve had said, during the Heartless attack on out world, we were escaping and ended up in the old church. Of course you also heard the part where Minerva covered our escape, right?"
"Yes.", I answered.
"At the last moment, I took her with us and did it quite gruffly even if she was the Goddess of our world, as I realized later. Speaking of later, after we regained consciousness, we ended up at a library. As I woke up the others, Minerva included, the metal wagon, who called himself Shinra, aimed his face at a certain book on one of the shelves, which happened to be adjacent to a wall.
"As he ordered us to move there, we all did so. He then told me to pull one of the books out and replace it in reverse. As I did so, instead of a revolving shelf, like you would've expected, we were teleported to a plain white room. There, we took refuge, with me and Luxiere going out for supplies. At this time, Minerva's clothes changed to what she is wearing now."
"Ooh. How did Irvine find you?", I asked.
"As he said, he was looking for—"
"I know what he was looking for.", I interrupted.
"Well, during his search, he found a book called Another Side. That happened to be the book I flipped to enter our refuge. It also happened that Luxiere and I were about to get going when the sniper turned it around for us. Next thing we knew, we were on top of him. I explained our predicament to him and soon, we were all out and followed the sniper to the renovated Hollow Bastion village."
"And…"
"Well, Irvine's told you that already, right?"
"Oh."
Meanwhile, Sora returned to the Hundred Acre Wood, and after he introduced himself to Chris and Darby (again), they went to Pooh's couse (once more).
As Pooh is sat on the log, Darby greeted him.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Pooh.", said Sora.
"And I'm glad you came to visit.", he replied "But you see, I was just about to begin my stoutness exercises. Perhaps we could visit a bit later…Somebody-I-Don't-Know."
"Oh…sure."
Pooh then hopped off the log and began to exercise, touching his toes and stretching his legs.
"So…how's Piglet these days?", asked Chris.
"I don't think I know anyone by that name. Or of you three.", he answered. "Now where was I? Oh, yes. My stoutness exercises."
"Pooh? Hey! Pooh?"
Chris called out for his attention but the bear ignored them and said nothing.
"Something very weird is happening here.", muttered Sora.
"I agree.", said Darby. "Why did he even forget Christopher Robin? He's been his friend for years—"
"—And yet he now treats me like a new guy.", Chris finished.
"Maybe I'd better go back and ask Merlin about this.", said Sora.
"Merlin?"
"Nothing. Gotta go now."
As Sora left the book, which now stood on a desk, Merlin scolded, "Couldn't be bothered to wait up for an old wizard, eh?"
We were back at the HQ. And Reeve had already registered Vitri and Ilsa as members of the HBRC.
"Sorry about that…", Sora apologized.
"How are things in there?", asked Merlin.
"Well… Pooh seems to have forgotten all about me. And not just me—all his other friends, too. Speaking of which, I met some new friends there. Two kids named Christopher Robin and Darby."
"Ooh. Nice. I was afraid of the fact that Pooh has forgotten…"
Merlin then walked over to the book and inspected it.
"I suspect it has something to do with those pages the Heartless stole. You'll have to collect the torn pages and repair the book to put things right. This book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon I'd found it, but perhaps we should keep it between us for now."
"We will!", we all said.
"Good, good… Now, the book isn't all that's cherished… This is for you, Sora."
"What is it?", he asked as he was given a baseball 'keychain' that had a silver lining.
"That is not a keychain, boy. Simply concentrate on it with all your heart, and you need only say the word to summon an ally who will help in times of need."
"Like Simba and Mushu did, the last time we were here?", Yoris asked.
"Precisely. Now go forth, with your friends by your side!"
"Thanks, Merlin.", said Sora. "We're worried about Pooh, so we'll be back once we've found those torn pages."
As we turned to leave, Merlin said, "Wait! I forgot something!"
As we returned to him, I was given a red Materia that had a Soldier, Air Soldier, and Lance Soldier Heartless, but when I looked closely, white replaced black, yellow replaced purple, and orange replaced blue.
"Call out Soldier Platoon and they will come help you."
"Thanks Merlin."
"Now good luck."
Gummi Ship Time: Late Gifts
"Sheesh!", I exclaimed. "I forgot to give something to Sora!"
"Yes?", he asked as I rummaged in my bag. I took out my Materia Chest, rummaged there, and pulled out the Keychains he got in his first adventure (from Kingdom Hearts I, Final Mix Included). I also got out two new Keychains. One of them looked like a ghost from Pac-Man. The other resembled a key with its 'circle' adorned inside it by a star and outside it were angel wings.
"Thanks, Rael.", he answered, accepting the whole set.
"Welcome. Where are we headed, anyway?"
"Olympus Coliseum."
"Don't give up yet, Kairi. I sense that the two strangers will be coming up soon."
Kairi and her conscience were dueling and Kairi seemed to be getting better.
"I'll have to admit, Kairi. You're getting better faster than I expected."
"Really? Thanks."
"Welcome. Now let's continue."
Kunsel Jung
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- (2007)
A SOLDIER who seems to know just about anything in Hollow Bastion. He escaped with Luxiere, Marlene, Denzel, Reeve, and Minerva into Hollow Bastion. After hiding in a secret room for months, Irvine accidentally found them and introduced them to the Restoration Committee.
Luxiere Moreau
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- (2007)
A SOLDIER like Kunsel. With him, he escaped with Marlene, Denzel, Reeve, and Minerva to Hollow Bastion. After taking refuge in a secret room for months, Irvine accidentally found them and introduced them to the Restoration Committee.
Minerva
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- (2007)
The proclaimed Goddess of the world Kunsel, Luxiere, Marlene, Denzel, and Reeve once resided. As she was covering their escape, just before she was overwhelmed, Kunsel took her with him.
After taking refuge in a secret room in Hollow Bastion, Irvine accidentally found them and introduced them to the Restoration Committee. Why she currently wears what she is wearing now is unknown to us, but I assume that it is to be simplistic.
Marlene Wallace
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
Adopted daughter of Barret, at least according to Luxiere. As she, Denzel, Reeve, Luxiere, Kunsel, and Minerva escaped their world, they ended up in Hollow Bastion. After staying in a secret room for months, Irvine accidentally found them and introduced them to the Restoration Committee. Since she and Denzel were too young, they were sent to Barret, who had decided to stay for a while. Speaking of which, where is he?
Denzel Ezalb
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2007)
Playmate of Marlene. As he, Marlene, Kunsel, Minerve, Luxiere, and Reeve escaped their world, they ended up in Hollow Bastion. After staying in a secret room for months, Irvine accidentally found them and introduced them to the Restoration Committee. Since he and Marlene were too young, they were sent to Barret, who had decided to stay for a while. But where is Barret?
Reeve Tuesti
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
A presumably important man back on his world and an 'Inspire'. With his ability, he brought to life a matal wagon which opened the portal leading to Hollow Bastion. Now as a member of the Restoration Committee, he serves as Cid's substitute when he has to go help Leon and the others.
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
A bear who lives in the Hundred Acre Wood. Known as "Pooh" for short. He loves to eat, and his very favorite thing to eat is honey.
Pooh likes to exercise every morning. He says it improves his appetite.
Christopher Robin
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
He claims to be a good friend of Pooh before Sora came in. Why didn't they meet when Sora completed the book for the first time, I wonder?
Darby
My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007)
A friend of Pooh and Christopher Robin. Why didn't Sora meet her when he completed the book for the first time?
-To contemplate (is that correct?) for this, I just might do a one-shot called "Escape from the Heartless: Case of Two SOLDIERS, Two Kids, and a President"-
