A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome back to Re: Kingdom Hearts!

Last chapter… Sora lost Donald, Goofy and Penelope as well as his Keyblade to Riku…and Penelope didn't want to go with him but he kind of took her by force.

But in the process, Sora also got a new ally- Beast! And before they go into the castle, Sora's going to need to get his Keyblade back before he does anything.

But first…

Clara the Clear: This ones going to be fun to write. Especially because it starts with Penelope.

Silent Searcher: I know, right? He never says why he won't leave Penelope alone, but she wants to leave. Also, thank you.

I own nothing but Penelope.

Here's chapter 21!

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Chapter 21: The Keyblade's Return!

There was a specific thought in Penelope's mind as she was stuck with Riku again, with Donald and Goofy now with him since Riku took them and her as well as Sora's Keyblade away from Sora.

And he still wouldn't let go of her wrist. Because of it, she was starting to lose feeling in her wrist and her hand.

But to Penelope, that didn't matter. She decided that if she wanted him to let go, she was going to have to annoy the crap out of him.

"So…Riku." Penelope began.

Riku stopped in his tracks as they were getting to the castle and he looked at her. "Yeah Penelope? What is it?"

"Well, your hand is suffocating my hand." Riku looked down for a moment before looking at her.

"I am? It doesn't feel like it."

"Well, your grip is tight. Could you loosen it up a bit?" Penelope asked Riku. Donald and Goofy looked at each other.

"If I loosen my grip, you'll figure out how to slip out and go back to Sora." He told her. Penelope narrowed her eyes. "So that means I can't."

Penelope shook her head and smiled at him, saying very sweetly, "No, no. I insist. I promise I won't."

Riku only said, "I don't trust your word, but okay…" As soon as Riku released his grip, Penelope was about to go off…

That is until Riku took Penelope's other hand, and she stopped. "Dammit." She hissed.

"I knew you were going to try and run off. Don't even think about doing that again." Riku said rather sternly to Penelope.

Penelope bit her lip. She didn't try to leave in Neverland, but he got mad at her if she tried to leave now? Un-f***ing-believable.

"What would happen if I tried to leave in Neverland when I was stuck in that room with you?" Penelope asked Riku.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You really want to know?" He asked.

Penelope had a slight idea that she probably shouldn't ask. "Nevermind. If I left, it would've been worse."

"I'd lock the door so you would be unable to leave." Riku answered her.

Penelope didn't even ask about the alternative ways of escape in Neverland. This was going to be challenging.

"Hmm… So Riku, how's the weather been?" Penelope face palmed at the stupid question she just asked.

"Penelope, trying to annoy me isn't going to work. I'm not going to let you go." Riku told her, pretty much ruining her whole plan.

"So…when will you let me go?" She asked. She was surprised at how quiet Donald and Goofy were being.

"When I feel like it." Riku answered.

This was going to be much harder than Penelope thought.

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With Sora, he was having some issues fighting Heartless after managing to get up those floating platforms.

After he got up there through a platform shooting over and taking him there, he felt useless without his Keyblade. In fact, the Wooden Play sword barely did a thing, and the only thing effective to use was magic.

So, it was fortunate Sora had Beast for a partner at the moment. Considering that he was so weak at the moment, Beast was a powerful partner, but the bad thing is that because Sora didn't have his Keyblade, it was causing the Heartless to regenerate health.

When Sora went to the front door of the castle, it turned out the gates were shut (Oh gee. I wonder who just happened to do that.), and he had to go to the base level or something to just open up that front door.

Deciding to go over to the eastern area in order to find someway into opening the door, Sora found one of these orbs on a statue-like pedestal. Upon touching it, he and Beast went into the elevator and went down.

Upon going down into a different area of Hollow Bastion (where they were walking on the water, as you needed bubbles to go down), Sora and Beast stepped into one of the bubbles and went down into another area of Hollow Bastion, the waterway.

Sora didn't exactly like this silence between him and Beast (at the moment, it is kind of like a, "I'll do my thing and you do yours", situation at the moment, and it'd be helpful if Penelope were there, but she wasn't.

Upon finding a cracked wall, Beast was able to break it, and they were able to continue going. After a short amount of wandering, Sora found another bubble and used it to go to another area of the Waterway.

"Once I get my Keyblade back, I can save Kairi, and get Penelope back along with Donald and Goofy…If I get my Keyblade back." Sora thought to himself. "Just wait a little longer, Kairi, Penelope. I'm coming!"

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Meanwhile, in another room, there revealed to be girls in these weird looking things to hold them in place. Alice and Jasmine were two of them seen in this room.

Maleficent, who was in the room, walked closer to this big, purple orb that seemed rather suspicious? However, it turned out to not be an orb, but this Mike and Ike candy-shaped thing that held Kairi inside, darkness pulsing around her comatose, heart-less body.

Walking up the stairs, past Kairi, she went into another room, before saying, "O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!"

The hearts of six of the maidens began to glow, and shot up pink beams above Kairi and that purple Mike and Ike candy looking thing, and then pink sparkles pointed to the Heartless-emblem shaped door before the sparkles turned into a golden light.

With Sora and Beast, who were able to come in now, saw a room with a staircase when they entered, and Beast, speaking a word to Sora after the long silence, said, "Be on your guard. They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?"

When Sora walked up closer, Beast suddenly gasped and turned round, asking, "Belle?"

From the way they entered, Beast saw a maiden (who looked exactly like one of the ones trapped), in a golden yellow dress and brown hair. However, darkness pulsed around her and she turned into a Heartless, fooling Beast.

Beast began growling, shaken up before he roared and Sora turned around and he jumped at the Heartless but the door closed behind Beast.

"Sora!" Penelope said happily. Sora turned around and he saw Donald, Goofy, Penelope, and of course, Riku.

"Quit while you can." Riku told Sora in a rather dark tone.

"No, not without Kairi." Riku went into a different costume, that looked weird, and Penelope saw the skirt-like thing. "The darkness will destroy you."

Yep. Definitely time to ruin this conversation. "Ooh. Nice skirt Riku. Where'd you get it?" Penelope asked.

Riku sighed before looking at Penelope.

"Not now, Penelope. Will you go up to the top of the staircase for me?"

"I can't take you seriously in that skirt of yours." She answered, being a jerk.

Riku glared at Penelope, who crossed her arms and glared back, before finally saying, "Fine. I don't know why you want me to though."

They continued their conversation as Penelope went up the staircase.

"You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't touch my heart." Sora put his hand on his heart. "My heart will stay with my friends. It will never die."

"Really… Well, we'll just see about that!" Riku shot a beam of darkness at Sora.

Penelope's heart acted up as she was getting to the top, and she clearly saw him fire that.

"Sora!" Then Penelope hit her head on an invisible barrier, and she was mad, but now scared, since Sora had nothing to defend himself with…until…

Goofy went in front of Sora and defended him with his shield. "Sora ain't gonna go anywhere!"

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asked.

"Not on your life!" Goofy answered. Penelope fist pumped upon hearing that answer. Goofy turned to look at Sora.

"But I'm not gonna betray Sora, cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together!" Goofy waved bye to Donald.

"See ya later, Donald, and you too, Penelope! Could you tell the king I'm really sorry?"

"HEY! I was taken by force! I intended to stay with Sora!" Penelope shouted at Goofy.

"Hold on, Goofy. We'll tell him together." Donald ran over and looked up at Sora.

"Well, ya know, all for one and one for all." Donald said to Sora.

They looked at Penelope, and she said, "I can't come over there! You're about to have a boss battle!"

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora." Sora was looking at the ground. "Thanks a lot…Donald, Goofy."

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku asked Sora, causing him to look up.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My heart." Penelope thought of the logic for a moment, but then her head began to hurt.

"Hmph. Your heart?" Riku asked. "What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"You're being a hypocrite!" Penelope told Riku, who simply stared at her. "Quit being cocky and listen to his reasoning before I pull out my logic and the charts."

"Although my heart may be weak," Sora began, "It's not alone. It's grown with each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine."

"And if they think of me now and then, if they don't forget me, then our hearts will be one." Sora then stuck a pose and took out his wooden play sword. "I don't need a weapon. My friends are my power!"

Getting in his fighting stance with the Wooden Play sword and the Kingdom Key in Riku's hands, Riku's face was brought into shock when the Kingdom Key vanished out of Riku's hands and went into Sora's.

Penelope squealed. "YEAH! Kick his ass, Sora!" Penelope shouted before mumbling, "While I figure out how to get out of this barrier…"

And then Sora and Riku's battle began.

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A/N: I apologize if this were a relatively boring chapter. If you didn't know, I was actually trying to resist from writing this chapter the night before since I wrote and posted three chapters yesterday and I felt like I needed a break.

Also, before I'm told that Kairi's prison thingy is more of an oval shape, I compared it to the shape of a Mike and Ike and decided that would be a good shape to call it.

Also, YAY! Sora has his Keyblade back!

And he made that speech deal. And that battle is about to go down, and Penelope can't help…so you see why that whole deal with her having to go up the stairs happened.

So…SORA VS. RIKU. WHO WILL WIN?

Like usual, review if you'd like, and please don't flame. Instead, tell me what I can fix so I can improve as a writer.

I will see you all in the 22nd chapter!

Ciao!