Before I start I would like to make a correction. During the review portion I incorrectly identified one of the people as Shire Fox, when in actuality his name is Shire Folk. Sorry!
Okay, this is Chapter 9, and I am really interested to see the feedback from this chapter, figuring I'm either getting flamed or not, so I will be interested to see. So far this story has received nothing but positive reviews, so I'm hoping to keep it that way.
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Revelations
"How could you betray us Sora?!" Mickey screamed.
Sora said nothing, just merely continued his grinning ways. Maleficent and Ankoku were snickering the entire time, and Pete was laughing his head off. The other figure didn't even move, but Mickey didn't notice any of this, as his eyes were fixated on Sora. Mickey was growing impatient, and sick of the grin on Sora's face.
"ANSWER ME!!!" Mickey roared, which was very uncharacteristic of him.
This caused Ankoku and Maleficent to break out into a full on laughter. Mickey seemed to get even madder at these events. Finally Ankoku cleared his throat, which caused the other two to slowly stop laughing, although it took a smack from Maleficent to finally shut Pete up.
"Okay, I think that Sora here has outlived his usefulness!" Ankoku exclaimed and snapped his fingers.
Just like that, Sora vanished in a puff of smoke! Mickey looked dumbfounded, and the trio went right back to laughing. Mickey was able to shake off the shock and form cognitive sentences again.
"What's going on?" Mickey demanded to know.
Ankoku was able to contain his laughter first, and was able to respond.
"I guess I should start by telling you who I am." Ankoku said.
"I got that your name was Ankoku." Mickey fired back.
"Yes that was the name that I chose for myself all those years ago." He began.
"Thanks to some renegade scientists; I became this horrible abomination. However in the process of becoming what I am today, they also infused me with pure darkness; granting me powers beyond my wildest dreams! I can create anything and manipulate any form of darkness!" He exclaimed, his eyes flashing wildly.
"So…that Sora was…" Mickey said; slowly coming to the conclusion.
"Correct! A duplicate made from pure darkness! I can't tell you the numerous hours of hard work it took to get it just right! Fortunately, this old castle contained plenty of information on Sora to help it along; with the exception of Sora's voice…" Ankoku stated.
"Which explains why he couldn't talk…" Mickey said; forming his own conclusion.
"Exactly!" Ankoku said.
"I can't believe that I didn't trust him…" Mickey said sadly.
"Aw…don't feel too bad there Mickey! It was brilliant! Everyone was fooled! Well uh…except that one chick Sora is always with…" Pete said.
Maleficent shot him a glare, which caused Pete to cower. Ankoku merely shook his head. Mickey smirked at this.
"Kairi saw right through your clone didn't she?" He said with a small grin.
Ankoku waved it off.
"Yes she did, but that's hardly here nor there, especially in the condition that she is presently in." Ankoku said.
Mickey glared at him.
"So you created that Sora duplicate, in order to frame him…but why?" Mickey asked.
"Because we needed a distraction." Ankoku stated.
"And to get the Keyblade Master out of our way!" Maleficent added.
"The first part of the plan consisted of making the Sora duplicate. Once that was finished we needed to make sure he was spotted with us! That's where your spies came in!" Maleficent stated.
"So…the Sora that my spies saw was the duplicate Sora…which led my initial doubt…"Mickey stated.
"And everything else, just seemed to fall into place." Ankoku said.
"Thanks to our own spy here," Maleficent began, pointing to the hooded figure; "we were able to find out that Sora would go off on long excursions on his own for training, sometimes for days! So it was entirely plausible for Sora to be associating with us!" She finished.
"Then it was up to using my dark powers to affect Sora's mood." Ankoku began.
"Now, the problem arose once I discovered that Sora had no darkness in his heart, so I had to use alternate methods to get into his mind, which were eventually accomplished." Ankoku added.
"This new change in Sora, prompted the suspicion of those closest to him, but it was still very hard to convince the Princess and Riku." Maleficent stated.
"Not surprising." Mickey said.
"So that is where the mission came in!" Ankoku said.
Mickey's eyes grew wide with shock. Ankoku grinned.
"Yes, the information on that old computer was all but useless." Maleficent said.
"Thanks to Maleficent's wonderful heartless, we were able to supply that old abandoned fortress with enough heartless to catch your attention." Ankoku explained.
"The next step was releasing the Sora duplicate into the castle, with but one objective: taking out the princess of heart!" Maleficent sneered.
"You monster!" Mickey growled.
"I do apologize for your wounds King Mickey; you were not expected to confront the duplicate. But at least you weren't killed!" Maleficent smirked.
Mickey didn't find it amusing.
"So why just Kairi? Why not Riku?" Mickey asked.
"It's quite simple really…Kairi is a princess of heart; and therefore she can't be controlled by the darkness. However, Riku still has some darkness in him, thus he becomes useful." Maleficent began.
"Believe me, I wish she could be! How great would it be to see Kairi hunting down Sora?" Ankoku said with a sinister smile.
"But Riku doesn't belong in darkness anymore!" Mickey said.
"True! Riku has done much to dispel most of the darkness out of him; however there are still small amounts left." Ankoku pointed out.
"Namely me!" Maleficent said with a smile.
"As long as I exist, there will always be darkness in Riku; I guess you could say that I left my mark on the lad." She said with a smile.
"But…Riku banished his memories of you in Castle Oblivion!" Mickey stated.
Maleficent laughed at this.
"It will take far more than that to get fully rid of me!" She boasted.
Ankoku nodded.
"While there is not enough to fully turn Riku to the darkness, there is still enough darkness Riku's heart for me to manipulate his thoughts. I can skewer his thoughts, slowly twisting them and making him into a blood thirsty killer, whose lust can only be satisfied by ending the life of Sora. Of course once he's done that, then there will be no more need of him and with the Keyblade Master dead, Riku will be easy to take care of." Ankoku said.
Mickey seemed horrified.
"I must say, we anticipated this going a lot longer; but those shackles that Riku attached to Sora, preventing him from using the Keyblade, are going make things much quicker. I tell you those shackles are genius! I liked them so much that I insisted that you were to be given your own pair!" Ankoku grinned.
Mickey looked at his shackles and remained quiet.
"Of course the mission had ulterior motives than just dealing with those three." Maleficent smiled.
"With you taking both of your lackeys along with you on this mission, it left Disney Castle wide open for us to take!" She said gleefully.
"But…the Cornerstone…" Mickey started.
Ankoku laughed and dug in his pocket. He pulled out a black, smooth, stone shaped like an oval. The stone was mounted on a silver base, which curled around the stone forming two overlapping ends. Mickey's eyes grew wide with horror as he gazed upon the object.
"The amulet…how did you get it?" Mickey said, stunned.
"It took months but we were finally able to track it down. I trust by your reaction that you know what this does too." Ankoku stated.
Mickey nodded.
"It neutralizes the Cornerstone of Light." Mickey said.
"Yes, that is correct; but it has another important use, as it serves as a key of sorts…" Ankoku said with a slow smile.
Mickey's eyes grew wide with fear.
"You can't be serious!" He cried.
Ankoku and Maleficent laughed.
"One way or another your majesty…this world will be covered in darkness…and I will reign as the Queen of all Darkness!!" Maleficent exclaimed.
"You don't need to do this! Have some compassion!" Mickey cried out.
"Oh you mean like when the worlds showed the same compassion to me when they turned me into this?" Ankoku said with his eyes growing distant.
He drew closer to the cage.
"Mark my words King Mickey…I won't rest until every other living being feels the pain that I have had to endure!" He said coldly.
He then stood up and placed the amulet back in his pocket. Maleficent glanced over at Pete.
"Load the remaining prisoners in the gummi ship and prepare to head back to Disney Castle." Maleficent instructed.
Pete nodded, and they all began to walk off. Ankoku stopped and slapped his head again.
"I almost forgot! I had a little gift for you!" He exclaimed.
"Bring her in!" He called down the hall.
Mickey heard the door open and saw two Soldier heartless bring in an unconscious figure. Mickey's eyes grew wide as he saw who it was.
"MINNIE!" Mickey cried out.
Maleficent held out her staff, and the bars disappeared. The heartless chucked Minnie inside and Maleficent closed the cell back up. Mickey raced over to his wife, only to find that she wasn't moving, and her clothes were ripped. He checked for a pulse, and was relieved to find one. He glared at the foursome.
"You fiends!!" He screamed.
Ankoku grabbed his heart and feigned that he was hurt.
"I give you this gift and you scream at me? I'm hurt!" He said, before breaking out into laughter.
"Well your majesty, it's been fun; but we have some matters to attend to!" Ankoku said.
They walked out of the room, but Pete stayed behind. He stuck his tongue out at the captive King, while doing a little dance.
"PETE!!!" Maleficent roared.
Pete's ears drooped as he quickly ran off to join Maleficent. Mickey watched them leave, and then turned back to tend to his wife. He cradled her in his arms, and stared off into space.
"This is not good…not good at all…" He trailed off.
Back in Neverland:
Sora was tossing and turning in the makeshift bed that Peter had set up for him. He couldn't go to sleep for long because every time he tried to go back to sleep he was greeted with the same haunting dream of Kairi's demise. He woke up for the fifth time that night in cold sweat. He looked around panting, while wiping some of the sweat off his body. He sighed and walked out of the tree house that he was staying in. He stood out on the rickety balcony and looked up at the sky. It was a calm clear night, and the stars lit up the night sky. He thought about all that happened; and looked down at the huts below. He started to think about Kairi, and all the times that he wished he told her how he truly felt about her. He looked up at the night sky and found a star.
"Kairi…I don't know if you can hear; but…I…" Sora started before a loud yell pierced the peaceful night air.
Sora looked down at the ground and saw several huts being attacked.
"WAKE UP EVERYONE WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!" Sora yelled aloud.
Riku was looking for Sora, and upon hearing Sora's cry immediately headed towards the tree house. Peter emerged from his hut with his dagger in tow. A faint yellow light buzzed around his head. Peter recognized the glowing entity as his fairy friend Tinkerbell.
"Tink I need you to find Sora and make sure he's okay!" Peter stated.
Tinkerbell raced off, and Peter launched into an assault, attacking the intruders. He was able to knock one of them to the ground, and was shocked to find out that the intruders were his own Lost Boys! This was a problem; as he was going to have some major difficulties trying to figure out which one is on his side, and which one wasn't. He raced off to find Sora before it was too late. Riku was in the process of climbing the ladder that led to Sora's tree house. Sora didn't notice this as he was on the other side of the balcony watching the battles down below. Someone had lit one of the huts ablaze, and Sora was horrified; watching former friends, fight like they were sworn enemies. Riku made it to the top and quickly spotted Sora with his back turned. He slowly crept up to him with his Keyblade ready. Tinkerbell was flying around and spotted the scene. She raced down and quickly landed a swift kick to Riku's right eye. Riku screamed out in pain which caused Sora to turn around and see him. Fear grew in Sora's eyes, as he looked for a way out of there. Tinkerbell flew down and quickly doused Sora with some pixie dust. Roxas spoke to Sora telepathically.
"Sora! Think happy thoughts!" He urged.
Sora tried, but he couldn't think of anything happy.
"I can't Roxas!" Sora said fearfully.
Riku was by now no longer blinded and walked menacingly towards Sora. Sora was too frightened to get out of the way. Riku raised his Keyblade, ready to bring it down on Sora, before he let out a bloodcurdling scream. Sora looked and saw why. Peter Pan had sunk his dagger right into Riku's left shoulder. Riku's eyes burned with rage, as he clutched his shoulder. Peter withdrew his dagger, and engaged Riku in combat. Sora watched frightened, as Roxas tried to talk some sense into him, but was having no effect. Rufio was watching the whole scene from below and began making his way over towards the tree house as well. He began climbing the ladder, which went unaware by the two combatants and Sora. Rufio made his way to the top and saw Peter with his back turned. Rufio crept up closer to Peter and was poised to strike, when suddenly a loud explosion rocked the tree house. Peter's dagger flew from his hand, and Riku almost fell over. Sora however, did fall off the balcony and was plunging towards the ground. Peter saw this and quickly swooped down and saved Sora. He looked around and saw several huts ablaze, and he saw the cause of the explosion; pirates. Captain Hook's pirates were launching an all out assault on the village. Peter looked for his trusty dagger but couldn't locate it. He looked at Sora, with a grim expression.
"We gotta get you out of here!" He said flying off.
Riku watched this and attempted to follow but he ran into one of Hook's pirates. He quickly dispatched the pirate, and continued to chase after Sora, only to run into the leader of the pirates himself; Captain Hook. Hook was rather surprised to see Riku there.
"Well, we meet again; boy!" Hook said with surprise.
"Out of my way Hook, I have other matters to attend to." Riku stated.
Captain Hook seemed a little put off by that statement.
"Do you know who you are talking too? I am Captain James Hook!" He said with force.
Riku ignored him and tried to push past him, but Hook shoved him back.
"Listen here boy! You don't have Maleficent backing you anymore, so I suggest you remember your place!" Hook sneered.
Riku quickly gave Hook a shoulder tackle, knocking the pirate captain on to his backside. Hook tried to draw his sword but Riku had already drawn his Keyblade and was holding it a few inches from Hook's neck. Hook looked up fearfully at Riku, who stared right back at Hook with an emotionless expression. He called back his Keyblade, and walked off after Sora. Hook sneered after him.
"Smee!" Hook cried out!
Captain Hook's boatswain raced up to his Captain.
"Yes sir Cap'n Hook sir!" He said.
"Help me up!" Hook cried.
Smee struggled but was eventually able to lift his captain. Hook looked after Riku with contempt. He turned back to Smee, and glared at him.
"Smee! How goes the attack?" Hook asked.
"Well Cap'n; the village seemed to be deserted! So we won I guess!" Smee said.
Hook was baffled. Little did he know that Rufio had seen the whole thing and quickly sounded off the evacuation alarm. While he was running, he almost tripped over something. He looked down, and was stunned to find Peter's dagger! He quickly scooped it up and raced off to join the rest of the Lost Boys. Still Hook was ready to call it a victory, but there was one thing missing.
"Bring me that blasted Peter Pan!" Hook screamed.
Half of the pirates raced off to find him, and Hook walked off as well, still smarting from the blow that Riku gave him.
"Blasted boy!" Hook said while grimacing.
The Lost Boys had meanwhile entered a clearing, and took a breather. Thud Butt plopped down, panting heavily. He looked around and noticed that someone was missing.
"Where's…Peter…?" He asked.
"Humph! That good for nothing, decided that he would rather help that adult, then help us!" Rufio said.
"What's the big idea attacking us Rufio!?" Twin 1 and Twin 2 said in unison.
"This place needs a new leader! Someone that will look out for the Lost Boys, and won't give into the temptations of adulthood like Peter did! I had to get Peter out of there, so that's why I attacked." Rufio stated.
"Your full of crap Rufio!" Tootles said.
"Besides, who could take Peter's place?" Curly asked.
"I humbly appoint myself!" Rufio stated.
This announcement was met with mixed reviews. Those who had supported Peter, were still a little uneasy about having the man that turned on them only a few hours ago becoming their new leader. The ones who sided with Rufio however, loved the idea.
"What makes you qualified to be our leader?" Tootles demanded to know.
"Because I have this!" Rufio said holding up Peter's dagger.
The Lost Boys were stunned. Rufio basked in the adulation that came with holding such a powerful item.
"I promise, that as your leader, we will never see another adult as long as I live! We will beat all Pirates, and live long!" Rufio screamed.
This was met with widespread approval, with the exception of Tootles, who walked off in defiance. Rufio was playing to the crowd, telling them all what he would do should a pirate come, and how Pan himself had bestowed his dagger upon him. Tootles shook his head.
"I'd rather grow up than have him as a leader!" He said.
Peter had meanwhile set down in front of the gummi ship with Sora. Sora set down and thanked Peter for his help and hospitality. Peter looked at him with a forlorn look.
"Where are you gonna go now?" He asked.
Sora shrugged.
"Wherever is closest I guess." He said.
Peter nodded. Tinkerbell glowed in front of Peter.
"Tink, I want you to go and find the Lost Boys, and make sure they are okay. I'm going to see if I can get some help from Wendy." Pan said.
Tinkerbell seemed to nod and fly off. Peter turned back to Sora.
"Well Sora, good luck with everything! Just remember that not everyone thinks your guilty!" Peter said with a smile.
Sora nodded and watched Peter fly off. Sora turned and went back into the ship, fired up the engines, and took off into the stratosphere. Roxas came out of Sora, and checked the map.
"Agrabah seems to be the next stop." Roxas stated.
Sora said nothing, merely set a course for Agrabah, and seemed to get lost in his thoughts. Roxas saw this and sighed.
"I gotta get him out of this…before it becomes too late!" Roxas thought to himself.
Back at Maleficent's Castle (Formerly Xemnas's Castle):
Ankoku and Maleficent boarded the black and red spiked gummi ship. Pete was already on board, setting a course for Disney Castle. Maleficent took a seat while Ankoku remained standing. Maleficent looked at him, a thin smile forming on her face.
"You should learn to show some patience." She stated.
Ankoku grinned.
"Sorry, I guess the excitement is getting to me a little." He responded.
Maleficent smiled, and the smile turned into a full on laughter. Ankoku looked ahead, still grinning.
"Soon, this world will be covered in darkness…and there isn't anyone to stop us!!" He stated, his eyes flashing and a sinister grin forming on his face.
"Pete! Are we ready to launch?" Maleficent snapped.
"All set Maleficent! Next stop; Disney Castle!" Pete laughed, as the gummi ship fired off into space.
End of Chapter 9
Okay, well that was chapter 9. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I hope that you understand that the Sora duplicate is not really a major focal point of this story, merely a cause for a bunch of effects. Some major things are going to be taking place in the next few chapters so I hope you all continue to read and enjoy! I'm hoping to get Chapter 10 and 11 and maybe 12 up by the end of next week, but I can't make any promises! Rest assured though that I will get one up! Later!
