Disclaimer: The name Selene is the name of the Moon Goddess who is the daughter of Zeus, according to Greek legends.
Author's note: Ven's gonna be a lot shorter here this time since, well, you get the idea. Sorry about that.
I only own the rights of Jason, Lyla, and Chancellor. The rest belong rightfully to Square Enix, Disney, Nintendo and Toei.
CHAPTER 20: Disney Town-Ventus.
Back with Ven...
After leaving Radiant Garden with a new somewhat adventure to continue handling the Unversed problem as well as exploring and making new friends, Ven decided to try out Disney Town for starters. It wasn't hard to find as the white castle with blue rooves slightly towering over the fun looking town matched to that on the picture of his Lifetime Pass. When he was allowed through, Ven ventured in and gazed around his new surroundings. From what he's seeing, a festival was going on, especially with the party decorations and balloons and fun activities that he'd never seen before.
He was just passed a post office mail house when suddenly...
(~Hero or Heel?-KH:BBS~)
"Tada!" A large humaniod black cat who's back is shown to Ven who froze in surprise. The cat in the meantime, began some speech heroically, "Wearin' the mask of peace and hope," he turns around, revealing his bright outfit, with a red cape and white mask, continuing, "...comes the fearless defender and hero of this town! It is me-Captain Justice!" Striking a pose as though he was some super hero.
"Huh? Umm..." Ven muttered, not certain how to react to his sort of greeting. There was something weird about this guy that just appeared out of nowhere and the way he was acting. What was with that?
'Captain Justice' noticed the boy and walked over towards him, saying offeringly, "Young fellow! Do my hero-senses detect that you got troubles? Just say the word, and Captain Justice will make all your problems disappear!"
"W-Who, me?" Ven pointed at himself, even more confused. He then shrugged and replied awkwardly, "I'm just trying to make some friends- Never mind, forget it."
"Don't be intimidated by my magnificence. Go on and spit it out." 'Captain Justice' told Ven, adding while accidently blurting something out without even realising it, "Then...remember to vote Captain J."
"Vote?" Ven tilted his head a little, getting more and more puzzled.
Flinching in realization, 'Captain Justice' quickly said, "Oh! Well, uh, forget that." before asking, "How can I help? That's the only reason I'm here."
Seeing how 'Captain Justice' wasn't gonna leave him alone just yet, Ven decided to think of something so that this weird guy can leave him alone a little. He then remembered the decorations and decided that he'd like to know what was going on here, so he requested, "I know! Tell me about your town. Everything's so festive. Is it always like this?"
"Huh? That's it-nothin' else?" 'Captain Justice' slumped a little in disappointment, not to mention one of the most easiest tasks that even a ten year old around here could answer. Deciding to explain, however, he answered, "Well, the festivities are on account of the Dream Festival-which is why I've made sure there's carnival stuff all over town."
"Really? Like what?" Ven asked, curious and interested.
"Ho ho, you gotta see it for yourself. Wouldn't be much of a dream if I just told ya." 'Captain Justice' advised with a shrug, and he was right about this part at least. Though little did Ven know, 'Captain Justice' had another thing in mind which was his real reason for his job around here in Disney Town. He also couldn't help but feel like that the kid in front of him reminded him of someone else he knew who took off somewhere recently.
Seeing the point and he did find himself wanting to explore and find out more himself, Ven nodded at the advise, "Right. Thanks."
Pleased with himself, 'Captain Justice' continued, "And kid, don't you go forgettin'...Captain Justice is the one who solved all your problems. That would be Justice with a J."
"Uh, sure. I got it, Captain Justice." Ven nodded.
"Aww, phooey! This stinks!" A very young voice cried out in irritation and disappointment from not too far away from the two. "Now we can't open the ice cream shop!"
When both Ven and 'Captain Justice' turned to the source of the voice, they found a female mouse in an elegant dress and tiara, and to Ven's surprise, she strongly resembled to a female version of Mickey, and with her were a trio of young ducklings that appeared to be triplets-one in a red hat and jumper, one in blue, and one in green. They were standing near a stage and with them was some kind of piano-looking machine, in which the ducklings looked on in disppointment at.
"Trouble?" 'Captain Justice' questioned, before zipping away towards them, hollaring 'heroically', "Rescue is on the way!" (~End Hero or Heel?~)
As Ven watched 'Captain Justice' leave without a word, the teen thought about what he learned so far. A festival, huh? Maybe he can make some new friends here. He gazed up ahead to the group and couldn't help but feel like maybe he should help out. Feeling like he wanted to anyway, Ven shrugged and made his way towards where the funny looking machine was. As he got closer, it looked like a chair with two piano keys on both sides and a cannon aimed at the stage. He noticed some colourful blots of what appeared to be ice cream on the ground and little bit on the stage. Was this some sort of ice cream machine?
When Ven arrived, the group took notice but it was 'Captain Justice' who spoke first, as he said, "Well, if it ain't the last kid Captain Justice saved. 'Fraid you'll have to get in line. I'm working on another catastrophe here for these fellas-Huey,"
The Duckling in red turned at attention of his name, obviously Huey.
"Dewey," The Duckling in blue did the same, being Dewey.
"And Louie." The third one in green, being Louie, did the same as his brothers, as 'Captain Justice' concluded to Ven, "My good friends."
Despite these words, the triplets all held sudden skeptical looks at 'Captain Justice' while sharing a glance that translated, 'What is he on about now?' which Ven took notice and suddenly couldn't help but feel that 'Captain Justice' wasn't really who he said he was. This suspicion sort of increased by these looks.
"Now, I'd hardly call it a catastrophe." The female mouse told 'Captain Justice', and she was right.
"Yeah, all we were tryin' to do was make our own special recipe ice cream." Huey added while pointing at the machine with his thumb, and at the sound of his voice, Ven realised that Huey was the one who grumbled about not being able to open the ice cream shop earlier.
Dewey nodded in agreement, adding, "And we had a little trouble."
"Come on, it's not really that big a deal." Louie shrugged.
'Captain Justice' shook his head, pointing out, "I'm 100% positive you're the victims of sabotage!"
"Not even close! Quit makin' stuff up." Dewey told him in growing annoyance.
"It's just the ice cream machine." Louie added while placing a hand onto the said machine, tapping it to prove this.
Huey then explained to both Ven and 'Captain Justice', "Unca Scrooge left it for us...but we can't figure out how it works 'cause it's so complicated." and he was right. The chair was backwards while the cannon was aimed at the stage. How could anyone make ice cream if they can't even see what they're doing?
The trio all sighed in disappointment and turned to the female mouse who is obviously Queen Minnie, as Dewey apologised to her, "Aw, we're sorry, Queen Minnie. We wanted you to be the first to try our special recipe ice cream."
"Oh boys, it was very sweet of you to think of me." Minnie said, touched by the children's kindness. While the boys were playful and a handful at times, they were still kind and caring and even had done several right things in certain adventures in the past.
"We tried." Louie shrugged in disappointment.
Ven felt sorry for the trio. He thought it was very nice of them to try and do something for Queen Minnie who seemed very nice, just like Mickey. He then couldn't help but wonder if Mickey was related to Minnie, or maybe even in a relationship? Maybe even married? If those were the case, then this might be the world where Mickey had come from. Same with Scrooge, he realised, considering how these boys were his nephews as Ven remembered saving him back in Radiant Garden.
"Say no more." 'Captain Justice' spoke up, approaching the ice cream machine, declaring boldly, "Leave it to me-one bowl of ice cream comin' right up!"
None of them liked this idea, as Dewey told him angrily, "You're just gonna make a mess. Leave it alone, Pete!"
'Pete?' Ven thought, more puzzled.
"That's Captain Justice!" 'Captain Justice', now fully identified as Pete, yelled back which startled the trio who jumped in slight fright.
5 minutes later...
Huey was right. It was complicated and now the stage was covered in multiple slopped scoops of ice cream and even on the back wall. Even Pete was already frustrated with it as he gave up and leaped out of the chair which was too small for him, given his size.
"Oooh!" Pete groaned, glaring angrily at the stupid piece of junk. "This machine is busted. It just needs a good poundin'..." and begins to pound at it, much to the dismay of everyone else.
"It does not!" Minnie scolded, placing her hands on her hips.
Ven winced at the sight, before deciding that he should step in before 'Captain Justice'-though in retrospect, more like 'Captain Disaster'-caused any more damage. So he stepped up and offered, "Hey, do you think I could give it a shot?"
This at least stopped Pete from bashing the machine as the large cat shook his head, "No, if Captain Justice can't fix it, there ain't nothin' you can do, kid."
"Maybe not, but there's no harm in trying." Ven pointed out.
"Yeah! And better you than him." Huey nodded enthusiastically, approaching the tall teen, handing him a piece of paper that was about as long as Ven, "Here ya go. These are the directions for the machine."
Nodding his thanks, Ven read through the instructions and noticed something odd. Gazing up back and forth, he then approached the machine and examined it carefully before seeing the problem. There was a little nob that had the chair part backwards. So, the young Keyblade wielder carefully adjusted it and then turned the chair with the piano keys around into the same direction as the ice cream cannon.
(~It's a Small World-KH:BBS~)
Huey, Dewey and Louie were quite surprised before quickly getting onto the stage with empty ice cream cones, the three of them and Ven picking out how to make the ice cream in rythme.
"Here we go!" Dewey declared.
In the rhythme and following the instructions, Ven played the notes with the piano keys and successfully sprouted out each ice cream scoops at the cones as Huey, Dewey and Louie caught them while clapping long with the music. It was one of the town's favorite songs. The more the group continued to do this, the higher the ice cream scoops towered which was creating such a very delicious looking ice cream in a bowl.
Minnie was very surprised and impressed on the way how such a young man could do this with ease, and for a split second, she pictured him being just like Mickey in personality. The boy was smart and kind and had actually managed to do this right, which at the same time, he seemed to be having fun. Huey, Dewey and Louie were having a great time themselves. At this point, she actually started humming along.
Pete on the other hand, was so shocked that his jaw comically hit the floor in disbelief at the sight. How could a fifteen year old kid have managed to this with ease on just his first visit? What was he-a Mickey Mouse wanna be?
Eventually the song ended, the ice cream was finished, and the four of them had successfully completed the task without even making a single mess. (~End It's a Small World~)
"Bracca-Roudy!" Huey exclaimed, amazed as were his brothers.
Ven chuckled happily. He actually had a great time and was glad to have done this without messing up.
(~Mickey Mouse March-KH:BBS~)
After the four gave Minnie the newly special made bowl of ice cream, the Queen enjoyed it so much she finished it and smiled, "Mmm, how yummy. What a wonderful treat! I don't think I've ever had such delicious ice cream."
She then gazed up at Ven, saying, "Thank you," before realising that she didn't know his name and felt bad about it. "Oh, oh dear."
"Oh! Ventus." Ven introduced himself, before adding kindly, "Just Ven is fine."
"Well, thank you, Ventus." Minnie replied.
"Way to go, Ven!" Huey cheered happily.
Louie and Dewey in the meantime were gazing at the machine and finally saw the problem they and their brother couldn't figure out earlier as the former said, "I see... We had to push this thingamajig the other way." realising how Ven had managed to fix the problem.
As Dewey gazed at it and how successful they and Ven were, had an invisible light bulb lit up in his head and snapped his fingers happily, saying, "Hey, I just got an idea! We could let our customers make up their own favorite flavors of ice cream!" and both Louie and Huey smiled happily at the great idea.
"Not with that machine!" Pete spoke up, jealous at what happened. When everyone turned to him, he continued while admitting slightly, "Well... The kid mighta got it to work this one time. But junk like that needs to get junked!"
"Don't you dare, Pete!" Minnie yelled while Huey, Dewey, Louie and Ven all quickly stood in front of both the Queen and the machine protectively to prevent Pete from getting anywhere near closer.
Seeing how he wasn't going to get near the machine, Pete decided to forget about it and waved it off, but said in slight warning, "Fine. But Captain Justice will return!" before dashing off while leaving behind a trail of dust, disappearing around the corner of town.
Once Pete was gone, Ven couldn't help but question at the others, "About "Captain Justice"-you said his name is Pete?"
"Yeah, he's the biggest troublemaker in town!" Huey answered, relieved that Pete was out of the picture for now.
"I bet he's just callin' himself Captain Justice 'cause he wants to win the Million Dreams Award." Dewey shrugged, and both Huey and Louie both nodded in firm agreement.
"What's the Million Dreams Award?" Ven asked, blinking.
"That's one of the Dream Festival events. Everyone votes for who they think is the town's most exemplary citizen." Minnie explained.
That's when Ven understood, remembering what Pete mentioned earlier. "I get it. So that's what he meant by "vote.""
"And if ya win the award, ya get a really cool prize!" Louie added, excitedly.
Minnie giggled, "Oh, it's just a small token, nothing elaborate. The event is supposed to help us appreciate how much we all look out for each other every day. That's the spirit of the award."
How much everyone look out for each other, huh? That made Ven think about himself, Terra and Aqua...though they didn't seem to be letting him look out for them. "Well, that sounds nice enough..."
"Pete just wants to get his grubby hands on the prize." Huey said, mentally groaning at the horrible vision of Pete being the winner.
"And he knows that nobody's gonna vote for him if he puts his own name on the ballot!" Dewey added.
"But nobody's fooled!" Louie pointed out with a smirk, knowing all full well that everyone can recongise Pete no matter what kind of stupid costume he would be wearing.
"Yeah!" Huey and Dewey both agreed in unison and they and Louie all laughed. (~End Mickey Mouse March~)
Ven smiled, but couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Wish somebody was lookin' out for me." thinking of how Master Eraqus, Terra and Aqua would always treat him like a child no matter how old he got. Sometimes it seemed unfair, especially since he was fifteen years old.
*Million Dreams Award Presentation-Ventus*
Later, the citizens of the town gather at the stadium in the Main Plaza, waiting for the festival to begin. After trying out other activities around the town while handling more Unversed problems, Ven decided to check this out himself before he would leave to continue his adventure.
Horace was standing next to him, wondering, "Who do you think's gonna win this year's Million Dreams Award?"
Nearby, Chip and Dale, the two engineers, were excited as well as the former said to his brother, "Boy oh boy! I hope it's the guys I voted for!"
"I voted for them, too!" Dale reminded his brother.
Huey, Dewey and Louie were having a conversation of their own about their own success earlier in the day, with Huey saying to his brothers happily and excitedly, "Now that we got so much business at the shop, maybe we'll be number one!"
"Wow, Unca Scrooge sure would be proud of us if we actually won!" Dewey thought excitedly.
Louie smiled, saying with a smile and thought, "Yeah, an' I bet Unca Donald would be pretty surprised, too."
"Hello, everyone, and thank you for waiting." Minnie's voice was heard as she and her maid in waiting, Daisy Duck in her lavender dress, walked up front on the stage, the queen continuing to the crowd before them, "Now, it's time to begin the main event of our Dream Festival-the Million Dreams Award presentation."
Behind the crowd in the gazebo, was Pete dressed in his Captain Justice outfit having his arms crossed, confident that he was the winner of the Million Dreams Award, grinning, "Heh! Just skip to the part where you say my name. This is a shoo-in!"
After reading the results, Minnie said happily, "Oh, how very exciting! This year we have multiple winners. The Million Dream Award goes to... Ventus, Aqua, Sailor Moon, Jason, Grovyle, and Terra. All six of you!"
While the crowd gazed at Ven, cheering happily and congratulating him and others that won the event, Ven himself was astonded while looking around, asking in shock, "When were Jason, Aqua, Sailor Moon, Grovyle and Terra here?", also mentally adding, 'And Mickey too?'
Pete on the other hand, shocked and dismayed, race out of the gazebo and up the stage, asking, "Whaddaya mean!?" and to everyone else's dismay, he jumped onto the stage, proclaiming, "There's gotta be a mistake. Everybody voted for Captain Justice. I made sure!" turning to the crowd, "Now, go on, tell her!"
To his frustration, no one said anything. Thinking, he muttered to himself, "Better try the other one..."
He walks off stage and changes costumes in a flash, now wearing a purple alterate outfit from his previous one, posing, "The rogue racer, Captain Dark!"
Unfortunately for Pete, Ven just folded his hands behind his head with an uneasy and awkward look while everyone else in the crowd turned around, disinterested at all and knowing that the votes were true, knowing how much of a troublemaker Pete really was, even with his lousy costumes.
"Pete, we counted the votes very carefully. Ventus, Jason, Aqua, Sailor Moon, Grovyle and Terra won." Minnie told him, before saying gently despite the troubles her husband's arch enemy had caused through out the years, "Oh, Pete, I think you tried to do something good, but you were doing it for the wrong reasons, and you went about it the wrong way. Still, a couple of citizens must have though you had goodness in you, because you actually got a few votes. They knew you were looking out for them."
Despite this, Pete was uninterested, only caring about the prize as he scoffed, "Big whoop! I don't need their lousy votes. Just cough up my prize!"
"Pete!" Minnie yelled, now angered for real. "They voted for you because they believe in you and care about you. How could you look down on that? I've tried to forgive a lot of things you've done, but this is too much. Now you've finally crossed the line." She finally had enough of Pete's meaness.
"Like that matters to me." Pete said, not worried and unfazed by Minnie's anger. "Besides, what are you gonna do about it?" confident that now that Mickey wasn't around, he could get away with it.
Big mistake on Pete's part.
"Ha! I'm going to let you cool off for a while." Minnie told him, calling out, "Guards!"
When Pete looked over the stage, a horde of magical enchanted brooms marched and stomped over towards the stage, their body postures looking very angry despite not having any faces, as they encircle around the now worried Pete.
"W-wait, what?" He muttered. To Pete's shock, and with surprisingly good strength, the brooms close in around him and lift him off the ground as he tried to wriggle free, but couldn't, realising that he was arrested(again). You can never imagine how many times he's been arrested through out the years. This time, though, was much different.
"Hey! Let me go! Put me down! What!? No, you can't-no, no, no-hey, easy! Ow!" Pete whined as he continued to kick and scream while the enchanted Brooms carry him offstage and out of the plaza, with everyone else watching them disappear around the corner of town.
With Pete out of the, and good riddence for that, everyone returned to the cheerful mood as Minnie requested, back in her normal cheerful mood, "Now, shall we continue the ceremony? Would the six winners, Ventus, Jason, Aqua, Sailor Moon, Terra, and Grovyle, please come up and join me on the stage?"
Ven nodded and walked up the stage expectedly, looking around for Terra, Aqua, 'Sailor Moon', Grovyle, Jason and Mickey. Unfortunately, he was the only one up on the stage with Minnie and Daisy.
"Oh dear, it looks like our other five winners couldn't make it here to be with us today." Minnie sighed.
"They all already left." Ven sighed, disappointed and saddened. He missed out on his friends.
The Queen then gazed up at Ven, saying warmly, "Perhaps you would accept the award on their behalf. After all, you've been so kind to so many here at the Dream Festival. So now, I hereby present the Million Dreams Award...as a token of how much you matter to us. Congratulations!"
The crowd cheered once again, making Ven feel a little bit better, flattered as he replied, "Thanks."
"And as an extra treat, we've created something special-an ice cream flavor just for you." Minnie added, holding out a very delicious looking Ice Cream in a bowl that had a small crown with chocolate and vanilla, as she announced the ice cream's name, "Double Crunch ice cream!"
"Oh my, I wish I had my own ice cream flavor!" Horace thought as he gazed at the ice cream.
Ven kindly accepted the ice cream as Chip asked excitedly, "What's it taste like?"
"Go on, try it!" Dale encouraged.
Ven gazed at Minnie who nodded to go ahead. The young eleven year old inspected it, before taking a bite out of the ice cream while the crowd watches.
"What do you think?" Minnie asked.
To everyone's relief, Ven's eyes glittered as he exclaimed in amazement, "Wow! It's great!" as it was definately the best ice cream in his life. He had just discovered his new flavour ice cream.
Minnie laughed happily, "We're all very glad you're enjoying it." as the crowd cheered once again and Ven happily and politely finished off his ice cream, mentally promising himself to come back to one of the most fun worlds in the Realm of Light.
*Back in the main story*
(~Drops of Poison-KH:BBS~)
Meanwhile, in a greek-like town on the hills, Master Xehanort was discussing something with a younger man close to his mid twenties with silver long hair, long leather black coat, pants and boots. What the silver-haired man was hearing, he didn't seem to like it and just walked away, leaving behind a comment in a smooth tone of voice, "I am not interested in your so called "power"."
Once the silver-haired man was out of easvedrop, Xehanort grunted in disappointment, before turning to gaze at the open sea ahead of him, muttering to himself, "You may not be interested, but someday soon if my plan fails this year, you will return to the darkness where your heart truly belongs. Mark my words...Sephiroth."
(~End Drops of Poison~)
As Ven left town and onto the hill where he knew was a good location to leave the world behind for now, the teenage Keyblade wielder summoned his armor and glider before opening up a gate, gliding through as he thought about where his adventure would led him next.
'I wish I knew where the Unversed were coming from.' He thought to himself, as he rode through the Lanes Between, unaware of what was yet to come.
A/N: Finally, Serenity and Aqua are up next! I actually had more fun in writing Ven's visit to Disney Town than Grovyle's despite the lack of Unversed. That'll be made up in the next chapter, though. So, to those who are currently reading my other story "Kingdom Hearts: Crisis Core", you recongise the scene with Xehanort and Sephiroth? Hope you're liking this, fellow readers.