Author's Note: Stupid glitch! How will I know how successful my story is if I can't tell that anyone new is reading it! Anywho, today's chapter is what I like to call a transitional chapter; a chapter used for the sole prupose of moving on to the next plot point of the story. It's kinda like a filler, because it is a filer! Yay big words! Lol, but regardless, enjoy as always and FREAKING REVIEW GOD DAMMIT!

Chapter 14: Up, Up, and Away

Vanessa hung on for dear life as she dangled over an endless precipice. She tried to call for help, but no one would heed her cries. Tears burned at her eyes; she could not hang on much longer. Suddenly, from the shadows appeared Zero. She walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down at Vanessa with indifference. She placed her foot gently against Vanessa's face.

"I can not live…" she said coldly. "…until you die." Using her foot, she pushed Vanessa into the dark abyss below.

Vanessa woke up screaming. Sora, Donald, and Goofy fell back in alarm. Vanessa bolted upright and frantically checked her surroundings.

"Where am I?" she demanded.

"We're at Leon's," Sora replied.

"What happened?" Vanessa asked.

"Ya just fainted out of the blue," replied Goofy. "Are you ok?" Vanessa sighed.

"I think," she said. "I'ven't been out too long have I?"

"Only a couple of hours," replied Donald. "You were pretty wounded, so Aerith fixed you up." Vanessa climbed out of the bed she was in and stretched.

"That was nice of her," she said. She turned to Sora. "So, what'd I miss? Nothing totally epic I hope?" Sora smugly put his hands behind his head.

"Well, I did take out an army of a thousand Heartless on my own," he bragged. Vanessa did a double take.

"Holy shit!" she cried. "Excuse my language, but god damn!" She turned to Donald. "Is he legit?" He folded his arms and rolled his eyes at Sora's pretentiousness.

"Uh-huh," said the duck mage grudgingly. Vanessa sighed.

"Man…" she complained. "…I always miss cool stuff like that… 1000? And you're still alive? Shoot, if I had known you were this good, I would've just stayed with Riku!"

"Do you know where he is now?" Sora asked. Vanessa shook her head.

"Your guess is as good as mine," she said. Suddenly, Aerith walked into the room.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, jumping slightly. "You're awake!"

"Yup, and good as gold too, thanks to you," said Vanessa. Aerith blushed slightly.

"You're welcome," she said. "Leon is in the front. He wants to speak with you Sora. You should come too Vanessa."

"Right!" said Sora. "Come on you guys." Sora, Vanessa, Donald, and Goofy moved to the front of the house to meet Leon. He glanced at Vanessa.

"So…" he said. "…you're awake." Vanessa grinned.

"Hey!" she greeted. "I never got a chance to officially meet you. I'm Vanessa."

"Nessa for short!" Goofy added, causing Vanessa to smile.

"What he said," she said.

"You wanted to see us?" asked Sora. Leon nodded.

"I wanted to thank you," he said. "The Heartless invasion seems to have been stopped for now."

"No problem!" said Sora. "So that means we're done here?"

"Looks like it," said Leon. "Good luck on the rest of your journey." Sora nodded.

"Thanks Leon," he said.

"Goodbye Sora, it was wonderful seeing you again," said Aerith. "And it was nice to meet you Vanessa." Vanessa curtseyed.

"The pleasure's all mine love!" she said in a peculiar accent. She waved. "Bye everyone!" She stepped outside with Sora once all goodbyes were exchanged. "Ok! So, what now?"

"There are other worlds that are in trouble besides this one," said Sora. "We have to help them too."

"Would you mind if I tagged along for a bit?" Vanessa asked. "I'm not exactly swimming in travel options here."

"Can she guys?" asked Sora. Donald and Goofy exchanged a glance before smiling. The two of them each grabbed one of Vanessa's hands and practically dragged her to their ship.

"Welcome to our Gummi Ship!" exclaimed Donald. Vanessa marveled at the interior of the curious vessel. She examined and poked at every gizmo and gadget in her line of sight.

"Kick ass!" she exclaimed as she finally took a seat. "You guys get to zip around the galaxy in this? This sure as hell beats the Corridor of Darkness by a long shot!" Suddenly, two small, brown chipmunks appeared at her feet.

"Hi!" greeted one.

"I'm Chip!" said the other.

"And I'm Dale!" said the first.

"Who are you?" the two said together.

"Chip, Dale, this is Vanessa," Sora introduced. "Vanessa, this is Chip and Dale, the ship's maintenance crew." Vanessa blinked.

"Well…" she said. "…I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Out of all the stuff I've been exposed to the past six months of my life, this is definitely not the weirdest." She smiled at the chipmunks. "Nice to meet you guys. You got an awesome vessel here!"

"Why thank you!" said Chip, or who Vanessa thought was Chip.

"Ok guys, buckle up!" said Sora. "Prepare for take off!" Vanessa excitedly strapped herself in.

"Sorry Riku…" she mumbled under breath. "…but Sora's got a freaking ride!"

"Ignition!" said Sora.

"Check!" said Donald.

"Engines!" said Sora.

"Check!" exclaimed Chip and Dale. "All systems go!"

"Everything's in the green!" said Goofy.

"Ok, blasting off!" cried Sora. The ship rocketed into the sky. In less then ten seconds, they were soaring through space. Vanessa excitedly pressed her face against the window, taking in the sights.

"This may sound pretty freaking sad…" she said. "…but this is the most exciting thing I've ever experienced in my life!" Sora grinned.

"I remember thinking the same thing when I took my first trip," he said. Vanessa walked up to the cockpit and looked out the windshield. She squinted her eyes.

"Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing out several dots. Sora's eyes widened.

"Uh oh!" he cried. "Heartless!" Vanessa furrowed her brows.

"In space?" she inquired.

"Battle positions!" commanded Sora. A control stick appeared from the steering wheel.

"Ok, now that's awesome," she said. "It's official; this is the coolest thing ever." Suddenly, the ship jerked to the side, sending Vanessa flat on her stomach. She quickly rose to her feet.

"What the hell was that?" she cried.

"We're under attack!" cried Donald.

"By what?" Vanessa exclaimed.

"Heartless!" replied Goofy. Vanessa just shook it off and watched Sora blast the Heartless into another universe with as much amazement as a child watching an action movie. Sora noticed Vanessa watching and smiled at her.

"Wanna try?" he offered. Vanessa's eyes widened.

"M-Me?" she said. "Are you sure?"

"Come on, it's easy!" Sora assured her. "Come on, you know you want to!" Vanessa wasted no time replacing Sora in the driver's seat. "Ok, you steer with the handle, and shoot with these two buttons right here. Got it?"

"Got it," said Vanessa. She firmly grasped the controls and smiled viciously. "Aww yeah! All those wasted hours and quarters playing Galaga is finally gonna pay off! Look out bitches; you're messing with a top scorer right here!" Vanessa mashed on the fire button, blasting away at the Heartless relentlessly as if there were no tomorrow.

"Whoa! Look at her go!" exclaimed Donald.

"Wow Vanessa! You're pretty good!" said Sora. He smirked. "Think you can beat my top score?" Vanessa smirked as well.

"Sounds like a challenge!" she said. "I accept spiky boy!" She cracked her neck and her knuckles before retaking the controls. "Let's do this!" She concentrated hard as she systematically destroyed every Heartless in sight. The minutes ticked by. Her eyes twitched and burned and her wrists screamed with carpal tunnel, but Vanessa pressed on. Finally, the threat was over and she was done. Her "score" popped up on the screen and compared itself to Sora's. Vanessa jumped from her seat and whooped for joy.

"Booyah!" she cried victoriously. "Haha! Eat it key boy!" Sora scowled as he replaced Vanessa in his chair.

"You got lucky!" he said. Vanessa grinned.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game son!" she retorted. She leaned back in her seat. "So…where're we going again?" Goofy scratched his head.

"Where are we going Sora?" he inquired. Sora thought for a moment.

"Well…" he said. "…I guess we should check up on Mulan. Y'know, to make sure everything's ok."

"Mulan?" asked Vanessa. "Who's that?"

"She's a friend of ours from the Land of Dragons," explained Donald. Vanessa nodded.

"I see," she said. "Land of Dragons huh? Sounds sexy." Sora faltered.

"Huh?" he said. He folded his arms. "You're so…"

"God if you say weird!" Vanessa threatened playfully. "You have no idea how many people told me that!"

"Well, you are kinda strange," Goofy admitted.

"But not in a bad way!" Donald added.

"Right," said Sora. "You're weird in a good way!"

"So I'm told," said Vanessa. "But to be fair, I already knew I was weird. But like I always say, I am who I is."

"Well, who you are is alright with us," said Sora. Vanessa smiled.

"Thanks Sora, that's a very sweet thing to say," she said. Her stomach began to growl. She dug around in her pockets for a candy bar, but found that she ate them all. Instead, she pulled out a familiar object: the 'Winner' ice cream stick.

At that moment, she realized that all she had left of her friend was his coat that she wore, and all the junk that she inherited with it. She took the moment to empty the pockets of its contents. When she was finished, she pulled out an assortment of useless junk: two rubber bands, five paper clips, several candy wrappers, a smooth pebble, a sack of munny, a razor blade, a cat's-eye marble, a long piece of string, a small square mirror, and a seashell. She laid the items along a table. Sora noticed what she was doing and looked on curiously.

"You sure keep a lot of stuff with you," he commented. Vanessa smiled sadly.

"Yeah…" she said. "…it's all I have left."

"All you have left?" asked Donald. Vanessa sighed.

"Of him…" she said softly.

"Who?" asked Sora. Vanessa picked up the string and fumbled around with it.

"My friend," she replied. "He had a bad habit of picking up random crap from places." She laughed. "He would keep the most useless stuff!"

"What happened to him?" inquired Goofy. Vanessa frowned and slowly put the things back into her pockets.

"He disappeared," she revealed.