Chap
Chap. 28
The Escape
"So what is it Ozai?" Jee demanded as he struggled against his chains. "What great thing is it that's gonna let you reshape the world?"
"All in due time." Ozai said. But as the former Fire Lord said those words, a pool of blackness suddenly appeared on the floor. As everyone's gaze turned towards it, the black first swept up, then vanished, revealing a Heartless that held in its claws…
"Kyla!" Sora yelled.
"What the…. Where am I? Where did you take me?" the young Waterbender demanded, as she broke from the Heartless' grasp and turned back to face it. But before she could do anything, a deep voice spoke, freezing her in place.
"It brought you here because I told it to." Ozai said, as Kyla slowly turned to face him. "I have need of you Kyla."
"Ozai." The girl whispered as she started to back away from him.
"You don't realize it yet Kyla, but you are essential to my plans." Ozai continued, as Kyla backed up all the way to the wall. "With your help, I will reshape the world, and create the one I always desired."
"You want… forget it!" Kyla yelled back. "I'll never help you! You took my mother away from me! My father! You'll have to kill me before I help you!"
But Ozai just smiled. "I don't need your cooperation for my plan to work Kyla. All I need is you in my possession. And I have that, don't I?"
"Let her go!" Donald squawked. "She's just a kid."
"Yes. But she will be much more." Ozai said, as he snapped his fingers. Two pillars of shadow appeared next to Kyla, which changed into two Heartless that grabbed the girl's arms.
"Take the young lady to another cell. I'd rather her have privacy for her stay." Ozai said. The creatures gave no reply, but simply stood there as the shadow reformed over them and their struggling charge, and then vanished, taking them with it.
"All is preceding as I desire." Ozai said. "Soon, all will be as it should've been."
"Zuko will never stand on this!" Jee yelled. "He and the others will come for you Ozai!"
"Yeah! You don't stand a chance." Sora added.
"Of course he will. I'm counting on it." Ozai said. "What better way for my world to emerge, then out of the ashes of the one Zuko made? And what better for it to burn, then with my son here to watch?"
With that, Ozai turned and headed for the door, slamming it shut behind him. The foursome looked at one another, their fear plastered on their faces.
"Do you think he means it?" Donald said.
"I don't know, but we can't take the chance he's right." Jee said. "Even if whatever plan he has for Kyla and the world is just some sort of twisted fantasy, she will bring Zuko and his forces here. And I do believe that he has something planned for them."
"I still wanna know why he would want Kyla in the first place." Sora said. "She's just a kid."
"Probably revenge." Jee said. "Or maybe he thinks that her lineage can help him with whatever twisted plan he's got. But it doesn't matter. We've got to think of a way to get out or signal the Fire Lord. Or else this world will go down the drain."
"Still no word from Jee and the others?" Jin asked, as she entered the war room, where Zuko, Kairi, Toph, Mai, Azula, and the Knights were going over the map of the Fire Nation for the umpteenth time.
"No." Zuko replied as the messenger left.
"I'm starting to worry." Kairi said. "Sora always took time to find the Keyholes, but this is taking too long. I hope they aren't lost."
"Jee's one of the most knowledgeable generals I have." Zuko said. "He knows the terrain like the back of his hand."
"Besides, Sora's a big boy." Bosque added. "Ah'm sure he can take careh of himself."
"Or maybe he's found the Keyhole." Aire suggested.
"I hope he has. 'Cause we're pretty much up shit creek here." Tierra said. "We've gone over dis map a billion times and we can't think up a single new spot."
"That doesn't mean we can afford to stop looking." Azula snapped. "My father cannot find the Keyhole before us."
"No duh. Ya got any other words of wisdom, Princess?" Tierra snapped back.
Azula's eyes narrowed and she started to say something, but then Luz snapped, "If either of you start an argument right now, I promise I will show you the color of your livers."
"She's right guys. Fighting won't help." Trueno said. "Maybe we should take a break, clear our heads. We have been in here a long time."
The Fire Princess and the Earth Knight stared each down a moment longer, and then nodded their agreement.
"See? That's just what we need." Trueno said. "We need to be ready for whatever comes next, and being tired won't help."
"We get the message True." Osc said lightly, as the bat headed for the door. But he had barely made it to the handle before it swung open and Riku, Ty Lee, Baku, and Roh ran inside.
"Guys! We've got a huge problem!" Ty Lee spat out.
"Well. Dat was a great break, wannit?" Tierra asked.
"What's happened?" Osc asked.
"Heartless invaded the palace. They attacked us in the library." Riku said.
"They got Kyla." Baku said.
"WHAT?!" Zuko yelled. "How in the hell…. My father hasn't been able to reach these shores in twenty years!"
"I'm pretty sure the Heartless aren't your father Zuko." Mai said.
"QUIET!!" Zuko snapped, whirling around to face Mai. "If you aren't gonna give me a plant to find my father and get my niece back, then don't say a word to me Mai!"
"Zuko!" Jin cried out, as Mai's eyes narrowed, the only reaction she gave.
The Fire Lord turned towards his wife, his face filled with anger. But as he looked at her disapproving gaze, his anger began to fade away, until he was calm again.
"I-I'm sorry Mai." Zuko said, as he shook his head. "I didn't mean that."
"Don't worry about it." Mai said.
"So what do we do?" Roh asked. "Do we go after Kyla or not?"
"We could. If we knew where to look." Hierro said. "But we don't even know where Ozai's base is. It might be in any of the Four Nations."
"But we've got to do something!" Baku insisted.
"We will." Zuko said. Turning to the group, he said, "Riku, Azula, Tierra. I want you three to organize a search party. Go out and find Sora and the others. We're gonna need all the help we can. Osc and Trueno, I need you to send word to the other Nations. Tell them that we need to find Ozai's base."
"Right." The bat nodded.
"The rest of us will search the surrounding area. It's possible my father hid his base close by, thinking we wouldn't look for it so close to home."
"I'm coming too." Baku said.
"Me too." Roh said.
"Oh no you aren't." Azula said. "Baku, you aren't a fully trained warrior or Waterbender. I am not bringing along to possibly face Ozai and….."
"I don't care Mom!!" Baku yelled suddenly. Azula stepped back in surprise, as her son continued. "I had to watch that thing take Kyla to Ozai! I am not going to sit back and let my grandfather do God knows what to her! I already lost my father to this mess, I am not going to lose Kyla without at least trying! And if you try to stop me, I'll just sneak on again!"
Azula stared at her son a moment longer, then folded her arms across her chest and looked the boy dead in the eye.
"You have no idea how much you sound like your father right now." Azula said. "…..You're lucky I couldn't say no to him when he got like this."
"So he's going?" Roh asked.
"Yes son." Zuko said. "And I guess you are too. After Baku's argument, I can't deny you this chance to save your cousin."
"All right!' Roh said. "So….. where are we going?"
"Ehhh….awww…."
"Donald, if you're thinking, can you please do it quietly?" Sora asked.
"I'm not thinking!" Donald snapped. "My beak itches."
"Well, can't you deal with it quietly?" Jee said.
"I'm trying. But it's really annoying."
"Aw shucks Donald. I can get that for you." Goofy said, as he reached over and began to scratch the duck's bill.
"Ahhhhh, much better." Donald sighed.
"Glad ta help." Goofy said with a smile.
"Ah, Goofy…." Sora said.
"Yep?"
"Do you realize your hand is out of the chain?"
"Hmmm?" Goofy said, as he looked over his hand, which had indeed slipped out of the manacle.
"Well I'll be. I guess I'm skinny enough to slip out." Goofy said.
"Wha… you mean you didn't try before?" Jee asked in astonishment.
"Guess I didn't think of it." Goofy said, as he slipped his other hand out of it's manacle and got to work on his feet.
"He didn't…but…. He…. Oh whatever." Jee muttered.
"Goofy has that effect on some people." Sora said, as the tall dog slipped out of his chains.
"All right, who's next?" the Captain asked.
"No. You have to get out of here and warn the Fire Lord." Jee insisted. "One man can slip out of here easier then four."
"He's right Goofy." Sora said. "You've got the best shot to get outta here."
"Gawrsh fellas, I don't wanna leave you here." Goofy said.
"We'll be all right." Jee said. "But you've got to tell the Fire Lord where we are. It's the only way to stop Ozai."
Goofy stood a moment later, then nodded. Holding up his hand, he whispered a few words, as his shield appeared in a flash of light.
"I taught him that spell." Donald said proudly.
"Bye fellers." Goofy whispered, as he looked through the cell door and then carefully made his way outside.
"Do you think he'll make it?" Jee asked, as Goofy shut the door.
"Well, probably." Sora said.
"Probably?"
"Well, his name is Goofy…."
The Captain of the Guard slowly made his way up the hall, his shield held out in front of him. Goofy was taking no chances with his escape; he was even walking on tiptoes, which was a difficult task with feet like his.
"Now, which way's the exit?" he whispered aloud, as he glanced around a corner. But he quickly pulled his head back when he saw the Heartless there, working under the instruction of a human.
"No, no! We need to a shorter fuse, or this thing will never explode at the it to the palace!"
Puzzled, Goofy turned back around slightly and saw just what it was that the human meant. The Heartless were constructing a large, cylindrical metal object with fins on the side and what appeared to be a primitive engine. Though Goofy was nowhere near genius level intelligence, he knew that such a thing couldn't be good. And he knew that he would have to do something about it.
"Blasted creatures. Brainless as all out." The engineer grumbled as he began to fix the fuse himself. But he had barely bent over the device, when he heard something whistling through the air. A second later he felt something fly over his head and saw a puff of black smoke out of the corner of his eye. Whirling around, he saw Goofy's shield return to his hand, as the last of the Heartless faded into smoke.
"You…how did you get out?" the engineer yelled.
"I don't feel like telling ya." Goofy replied.
"Oh you will." The man sneered, as he shot a series of firebursts at the dog. But Goofy just stuck out his arms and began to spin around, turning into a living tornado as the engineer struggled to keep a bead on him. Finally, Goofy changed direction enough to spin right at the man, who leapt out of the way, but not before firing off a last pair of fireblasts. The first missed Goofy, but the second struck the fuse of the rocket, which instantly began to burn. This wouldn't have been a problem if Goofy's spinning feet hadn't hit a groove in the floor, throwing him off balance and onto the rocket. The engineer leapt to his feet, ready to pull Goofy off, but it was too late. The fuse had already burned enough to ignite the rocket's engine, and before Goofy or the engineer could react, the engine roared to life. There was an explosion of smoke, then a burst of flame and a shower of rubble, as the rocket shot forth, through the wall, and up into the sky, with Goofy hanging on for dear life.
