Chapter 14: Atlantica and Order
It was quiet in the ship as our heroes continued their travels. Sora was still uneasy from Riku's change as he sat in one of the chairs and stared out the window.
"He's taking this pretty hard huh?" Shea said.
"Him and Riku grew up together. They're practically brothers." Bobby sighed as he sat at the computer.
"What'd you think might have made Riku this way?" Goofy asked.
Shea and Donald only shrugged their shoulders. Soon the computer beeped as they arrived at the next world.
'Atlantica huh? Hopefully the Heartless aren't causing trouble here like the Unversed were.' Bobby thought.
"Okay guys prepare for landing!" Donald announced.
Sora looked at their next destination his eyes went wide seeing how the world was all water.
"Land where, in the sea? We'll drown!" He told Donald.
"Yeah it's not like we can grow gills and fins!" Shea added.
"With my magic we can!" Donald said.
We are then cut to the ocean as the five were all transformed. Donald had became half-octopus, Goofy a turtle, Sora part dolphin, and Shea and Bobby both became mermen with their tails being tan and blue. Bobby's Wayfinder was still around his neck.
"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed as he tried to adjust to his new body. "This is really weird!"
"You're telling me." Shea and Donald said as they were floating upside down.
The four could see that Bobby was having no trouble swimming around.
"Look at mister expert over there with his fancy swimming!" Shea said in a jealous tone.
"It's because I came here on my first journey Shea. Don't get mad at me for it." Bobby told him.
Shea only huffed when they heard voices in the distance.
"Ariel slow down!"
"We can't keep up with you like that!"
"I recognize those voices a mile away." Bobby said, with arms crossed.
The voices revealed to be a flounder (who happens to be named Flounder), a sea crab, and a red-haired mermaid swimming towards them. The mermaid saw Bobby as he waved to her and she swam to him.
"Oh Bobby, it's great to see you again!" Ariel said with relief.
"Same here but I can only guess there's problems here?" Bobby asked.
"There are creatures terrorizing the sea!" Sebastian the crab exclaimed. "They're worse than the monsters from before!"
"Hey Bobby, do you know those guys?" Flounder asked, eyeing the heroes.
"Yep. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shea." Bobby replied. "They're new here and need to learn how to swim like an Atlantian."
"I can arrange that!" Sebastian proudly said as he swam to the four and began to teach them the basics. During this, Bobby and Ariel caught up from the last time Bobby was in Atlantica.
"I hope you find your friends. I'm sure they're safe somewhere." Ariel told him.
"Me too. As luck would have it, Sora's searching for his friends too, though one of them isn't acting like himself nowadays." Bobby replied. "With the Heartless here, is your father keeping everyone safe?"
"He is. Daddy's gotten everyone to stay in their homes and told me to stay in the palace...which I didn't do."
"You know your dad gets worried about you going off on your own."
"I know. But I just can't help it! I'm always in an adventurous mood!"
"Good job all of you!" Sebastian said once the gang's lessons were over. "Now we can move on to self defense!"
"Sebastian!" Ariel called as she saw jellyfish like Heartless swim towards them.
"Knew it." Bobby said as he summoned his Keyblade.
"We'll handle them!" Sora also said as he and the others drew their weapons.
"Go to the palace! We'll meet with you there!" Bobby told Ariel as she, Flounder, and Sebastian swam away.
The Sea Neons rushed at the heroes as Bobby casted Aero. Goofy began to spun around and hit the Heartless with his shield on his shell. Sora swam quickly and used his Keyblade to cut them all down as they were gone in a flash.
"That wasn't hard." Sora said as he held his Keyblade over his shoulder.
"Glad to know you can handle underwater fighting. Now we have to make our way to the palace!" Bobby said as he started to swim away.
"What palace?" Shea asked Bobby.
"Just follow me and I'll take you there!" He answered as he was far from the others.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Donald exclaimed as they swam after Bobby.
The four manage to catch up to Bobby in the Undersea Valley, and continued onward from there.
"So how are you guys adjusting to swimming here?" Bobby asked the gang as they finally made their way to the Undersea Courtyard.
"We're getting used to it." Sora replied.
"That's good. Now I will have to let you know that King Triton can be a strict person but he's a pretty nice guy. Just don't say anything about the Keyhole to him." Bobby advised.
"Why?" Shea asked.
"I don't want him getting more worried than he already is with the Heartless swarming around Atlantica."
"Makes sense." Sora said.
The five continued onward and finally reached Triton's Palace, where he sat at his throne and had his six daughters, Aquata, Alana, Attina, Adella, Arista, and Andrina with him.
"Daddy look! It's the boy from before." Andrina said.
The five swam up to Triton and his daughters and Bobby bowed to Triton.
"Hello again Your Majesty." He said to him.
Sora, Shea, Donald, and Goofy eyed at the ruler of the sea in wonder. He had long white hair with a white beard and moustache. A golden crown sat on the top of his head as he held his golden trident in his hand.
"Tell me. What brings you back to Atlantica Bobby Murasama?" King Triton asked, then turning to the four. "And who are they?"
"They are my friends sir. Sora, Shea, Donald, and Goofy. You see, I'm helping Donald and Goofy search for their king and I'm helping Sora find his friends. I've also heard that there are creatures attacking the ocean.
"Yeah! Those things are scary!" Alana told him.
"But luckily we're safe here in the palace and the guards Father sends to fight them off are helping." Attina added.
"By the way, do you know where Ariel is?" Arista asked.
"We did see her a little bit ago, while we were fighting off the monsters." Sora replied.
"I told her to go to the palace, but I don't see her anywhere." Bobby said.
"Well where ever she is I want her brought back. I can't afford for her to be harmed." Triton worriedly said.
"Don't worry sir, we'll bring her back!" Sora told him.
"You will?" Aquata said.
"Yep! And we can go find the Keyhole too." Shea said as Triton and his daughters gasped, Sora and Donald facepalmed, and Bobby gave Shea a look like he was ready to kill him. "Oops. I probably shouldn't have said that."
"Daddy, what did he mean by 'Keyhole'?" Adella asked.
"There's no such thing!" Triton exclaimed. "It doesn't exist!"
Bobby knew Triton was lying but didn't say anything to avoid further disturbance.
"(clears throat) Excuse Shea King Triton, he says some things that don't make sense. We're gonna go ahead and find Ariel and bring her here. But let us know if those monsters get too much for you." Bobby said.
"Hey I was telling the-" Shea was saying but his mouth was covered by Bobby's hand.
"Shut up Shea! I don't want Triton getting worried about the Keyhole!" Bobby whispered. "Don't say ANYTHING else that's gonna upset him even more. GOT IT?"
Shea nodded yes as Bobby took his hand off his mouth. Bobby bowed his head to Triton and the five swam out of the palace.
"Is there really no such thing as a 'Keyhole' Father?" Attina asked.
Triton didn't say anything but stared in the direction that Bobby and his group left and them lowered his head and sighed, then looked back.
=Undersea Gorge=
The five started their search for Ariel as the trio began to look around and call out her name while Bobby and Shea talked.
"Look I'm sorry I let it slip out!" Shea told Bobby, who was staring at him sterly with arms crossed.
"It's slip ups like that that can mess with the Order of the Worlds! Didn't your dad tell you about this?" Bobby scolded him.
"Yeah but you know I have a one track mind! It goes in one ear and out the other!" Shea said as he scratched the back of his head.
"(sighs) That is true. Well try not to let it happen again okay? Hey Sora! You guys find her yet?"
But there was no answer.
"Yo Sora! Where'd you go?" Shea called out.
The two began to look around for the trio until Bobby managed to see them along with Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian.
"Where'd you guys go?" Bobby asked.
"Sorry. I was showing them all of the things Flounder and I collected in my grotto." Ariel told him. "Do you guys wanna see?"
"Sure!" Shea replied.
"Don't see the harm in that. But you have to go to the palace afterwards, your dad said so." Bobby said.
"Alright."
Ariel led the five into her grotto once they moved the large boulder that guarded it. But when they got in, they found everything ruined. Ariel's treasures were scattered about. They also saw King Triton in the middle of the room, still holding his trident.
"Daddy...how could you?" Ariel sadly said.
She quickly swam away with Flounder following her.
"I left the palace to help find Ariel. I knew she would come here. I didn't mind her collecting these things as long as they made her happy. I saw one of those monsters come in here but I was too late to stop it." Tritan explained to Bobby.
He then turned to Sora.
"You happen to wield the Keyblade like Bobby, don't you?"
"Uh yeah.." Sora said as he held his Kingdom Key.
"I hope he told you about the rules of the worlds."
"Of course I told him Your Majesty." Bobby butted in. "You know about the Keyhole, don't you? That's why you told your daughters different. I can understand your concern for their safety but you can't just hide it!"
"I had to to keep them safe. I can't afford to lose them like I lost my wife." Triton told him as tears ran down his cheeks.
"Garwsh.." Goofy said.
"Believe me King Triton, I didn't come here with my friends to cause trouble! I'm here to STOP it. I can understand if you have doubts about me but don't let that get in the way of protecting your world!" Sora exclaimed.
"Whoa." Shea said in surprise.
Triton stayed silent for a bit after hearing Sora's words. He let out a sigh and gave them a smile, which made the heroes smile too.
"I'll help you find the Keyhole but I have to back to my daughters and make sure they're safe, and find Ariel as well. Thank you all for saving her. She reminds me too much of my lovely Athena." Triton lastly said as he swam out of the grotto with Sebastian.
"Man Sora, never seen you act like that before." Bobby said to him.
"I'm sorry. But I couldn't let him think we were bad people." Sora replied. "But at least he's willing to help us find the Keyhole."
"Let's get back to the palace." Donald told the gang as they swam out of the grotto and made their way back into the courtyard.
Once there, they saw Triton's daughters swimming frantically out of the palace screaming.
"Girls! What's wrong? What happened?" Bobby asked.
"It's that evil sea witch! She's got Father's trident and plans on hurting him and Ariel!" Attina told him.
"Ursula never gives up does she? Even after she gets exiled from the palace?" Bobby said to himself as he clentched his fists. "Guys, let's hurry!"
The four followed Bobby into the palace with the sisters following behind. Once inside, they saw that the evil sea witch Ursula indeed had the trident and Ariel was by her father's side, who seemed injured.
"Stop right there Ursula!" Bobby demanded as he and the others arrived in time.
"Hmph. Sorry but I don't have time to play with kiddies like you." Ursula sinisterly laughed as she disappeared in dark smoke.
The others swam up to Triton and Ariel to check on Triton.
"Are you okay?" Sora asked.
"It's..nothing." Triton replied as he held his chest. "She only hit me with my trident."
"Oh Daddy I'm so sorry! I should have never trusted her!" Ariel said as she started to cry.
"It's okay sweetheart."
"We have to get the trident back!" Bobby told Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they started to swim off.
"Wait!" Ariel said, stopping them. "Please let me go with you, I need to set things right. I have to stop Ursula!"
Sora nodded as he, Donald, Goofy, Bobby, and Ariel began to swim away.
"Let's go Shea!" Bobby called for him, but got annoyed when he saw that he was hitting on Triton's daughters.
"Are you sure you can get Daddy's trident back?" Adrina asked.
"I sure can! Just let me handle the hag and I can get it back." Shea modestly said as he flexed his arms.
"Ooo Shea, you're so strong!" Aquata admired.
"And handsome!" said the rest of the sisters.
"Oh please you're too kind-GAH!" Shea blurted out as Bobby grabbed his arm, pulling him away.
"We're here to stop the Heartless and find the Keyhole, NOT flirt with Triton's daughters!" Bobby told him as a vein appeared on his head.
"Alright alright!" Shea said as Bobby let go of his arm and our heroes followed Ariel out of the palace.
The gang had followed Ariel all the way to an area where a sunken ship layed on the ocean floor. Ariel showed them a boulder with an image of a skeletal fish.
"I've heard that Ursula's lair is somewhere beyond this rock." Ariel said.
"But how do we move it?" Sora pondered.
"Leave that to me." Bobby said as he drew his Bonding Friendship.
Holding his Keyblade, Bobby swung it with great velocity at the boulder. But nothing happened.
"What did that do?" Shea asked as the rock suddenly broke to pieces. "Oh."
A pathway was revealed once the boulder was gone.
"Looks like we can go through now." Goofy told everyone.
"Then let's go." Ariel added as the gang swam down the pathway which led them to a large open area where they saw a skeleton of a giant sea snake.
"That must be where Ursula's hiding." Bobby said as they continued on.
Suddenly Ursula appeared before them in black smoke.
"I knew you would come for the trident." Ursula angerly said as she glared at the heroes.
"Give us back the trident now Ursula or else!" Sora demanded.
"You pathetic fools, I rule the sea noW!" Ursula exclaimed, raising the trident as it flashed.
She then began to grow to emmense size.
"Eep." Shea said in fear.
"The sea and all its spoils BOW TO MY POWER!" Giant Ursula boomed as the heroes prepared for battle.
Ursula swung her trident at the gang but they were able to dodge it as Donald and Bobby both casted Thundara to stun her. Ariel and Goofy then charged at Ursula like a firing torpedo and hit her face. Shea and Sora took the chance to swing their Keyblades and managed to strike at her stomach.
"NOW I'M ANGRY! TIME TO TEACH YOU SOME RESPECT!" Ursula roared as she raised the trident once more and a thunderstorm rained down upon our heroes.
They tried to dodge it but with no luck as they were all hit by the thunder. Caught off guard, they were soon entangled by Ursula's tentacles.
"Damn it! I can't break free!" Sora exclaimed as he and the others tried to break free.
But the more they struggled, the tighter the squeeze Ursula gave them as she laughed manically.
"I can't afford for it to end here! I'm not about to give up!" Bobby exclaimed as he began to power up. "KAIO-KEN TIMES 20!"
Ursula's tentacle couldn't hold him once Bobby activated the Kaio-Ken x20. Once he was free, Bobby swam at super speed as he was able to use his Keyblade and hit all the tentacles, freeing the others.
"Whoa. Who knew it would work underwater?" Sora said.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Ursula exclaimed in shock.
"Ariel, Sora, you ready?" Bobby told her as he held out his hands.
"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.
"Trust me on this!"
"Right behind you buddy!" Sora told Bobby as he grabbed one of Bobby's hands as Ariel grabbed the other.
Bobby began to spin around with Sora and Ariel still holding on to his hands.
"GO!" Bobby yelled as he let go of Sora and Ariel as the two were now coming at Ursula at hyper speed.
"NO!" She roared as Ursula tried to block with the trident, but was knocked out of her hands once Sora managed to use his Keyblade to do it.
Sora and Ariel managed to stop themselves from colliding with Ursula as they saw the trident flying up near the surface. But it managed to point itself at the giant sea witch as it electrocuted her. Covered in ash, Ursula let out a small cough before she exploded and was gone for good.
"You did it!" Donald happily exclaimed.
"Nice one guys!" Shea cheered.
Sora, Bobby, and Ariel only smiled and giggled.
The party managed to make it back to the palace with the trident, where King Triton and his daughters were waiting.
"Daddy I'm so sorry." Ariel said sadly.
"It's alright Ariel. You took responsiblity and managed to get the trident back. I'm proud of you." Triton replied as he smiled.
"King Triton, do you know where the Keyhole is? All we wanted to do when we came here was to seal it." Sora asked.
"I think I may know exactly where it's at." Bobby answered with his arms crossed.
"I know as well. Follow me. I'll be right back girls." Triton announced as he held his trident and led the gang out of the palace.
=Ariel's Grotto=
"We're here." Triton told them.
"It's here?" Goofy asked.
Bobby and Triton nodded as Triton swam up to a small hole that was shaped just like the trident. The trident began to shine as Triton let go of it as it floated near the hole, pointed the same way the hole is. Soon the Keyhole appeared in a large bubble before them. Sora, Bobby, and Shea pointed their Keyblades and with it, locked the Keyhole.
"Hopefully those Heartless will no longer threaten my people again." Triton said.
"Same here Your Majesty." Bobby added.
"We have to get going now." Sora announced.
"Do you have to?" Ariel asked.
"Don't worry, we'll come and see you again!" Shea told her.
"Then we'll look forward to your return!" Sebastian happily said.
"Good luck to you all." Triton lastly said as the five waved goodbye and disappeared in a beam of light.
Soon they were all back to their normal forms and all but Bobby where exhasted.
"Man! Swimming around so much has worn me out!" Sora said as he sat down in the cockpit.
"Just set the ship on auto-pilot so you guys can rest up." Bobby told him as he began to do squats.
"Aren't you exhasted too?" Goofy asked.
"And now that I think about it. How come your cyber-arm didn't rust up underwater?" Shea pointed out.
"The material used for it has a special waterproof coating to it." Bobby responded.
Donald went over to the computer and activated the auto-pilot as the trio began to yawn and went to their rooms as well as Shea. Once they went were gone, Bobby walked over to the window and stared out it and began to remember the gang's previous encounter with Riku.
"If allying yourself with Malificent is what you've chosen Riku then the time we meet, you better prepare yourself." Bobby said to himself as he clentched his fists.
Inside an airship, Cloud Strife stares out its window and sees a large massive crater sitting below. He changed his appearance since the coliseum as he isn't wearing the red cape and gauntlet but has the Buster Sword upon his back, no longer bandaged.
"You ready Cloud?" asked a voice.
Cloud turns around and sees his friends standing together. Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace, Yuffie Kisaragi, Vincent Valentine, Red XIII (aka Nanaki), Cait Sith, and Cid Highwind.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Then what're we waiting for?" Barret said as he readied his arm gun.
"Maybe we should wait for Bobby to arrive." Cait Sith pointed out in a Scottish accent.
"He'll show." Red XIII told him.
"Bobby's never the one to abandon his friends." Vincent added.
"Well it'll be his fault if he misses a good ass kicking." Cid grinned as he smoke his cigarette.
"If he doesn't show I'm taking his materia!" Yuffie blurted out.
"Are you sure you're ready?" Tifa concernly asked.
Cloud nodded and turned back to the window.
"I promised Zack I'd follow his dreams, same with Bobby. Once we defeat Sephiroth, it'll all be over."
End of Atlantica and Order