Me: We're up to Neverland
"Be careful." Aerith handed them an arm full of potions.
"Err…" Cid sweat dropped as he stared at Aerith. "Darlin', don't you think that's a bit too much of potions?"
The whole gang was outside the First District doors to see the trio off as they were about to depart for the next world (Cid had installed the navigation gummi pronto when they got back to Traverse Town).
"They may very well go up Maleficent again." Leon frowned, his arms folded. "If the King is directing you towards her with his navigation pieces, you can be sure you'll be facing her or somebody in league with her in the next world."
"Right." Sora nodded, pocketing two of the potions and giving the others to Donald to look after. "But don't worry. We'll stop her."
Leon nodded to Sora and with that, the trio went onto the gummi ship, ready for the battle ahead.
An hour later…
"Sora, to your left!" Donald squawked and Sora grimaced as her head was thrown forward a bit in her seat (though luckily she had her seatbelt on so she wasn't falling around the place).
"I'm on it!" Sora shouted, already moving the control stick and shooting the laser at the heartless ships following them. "What's going on anyway?! There is way too many for this to be normal!"
Goofy was having a hard time destroying the heartless ships on his side but he turned to Donald and Sora with a dawning expression on his face. "Gawrsh! What if Maleficent is onto us?"
…Of course! She's trying to keep us away from her!
"Let's –WHAA!" Sora yelped as the gummi ship shook with a loud explosion.
"Guys, heartless have infiltrated the ship!" Chip squeaked out.
That was the only warning Sora got before the heartless were upon her. Grunting out a thanks when Dale unbuckled her seatbelt to allow her access to fight, Sora brought her keyblade down and started taking out the heartless, one by one, as Donald continued to try and steer the ship.
"WHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKK!" Donald screamed as the gummi ship lights flickered off and Sora groaned as she was thrust into pitch black darkness, unable to see the heartless.
I guess…I have to rely on instinct..THERE!
Sora yelped, barely able to dodge one of the heartless's swords. Flipping backwards, Sora nearly lost her balance as the gummi ship started taking a deep dive and a loud alarm was heard through the area.
We can't lose! Not here!
"I need light…" Sora muttered as she heard Goofy yelp as a heartless (no doubt) attacked him. "Light…Fire…Of course! MUSHU-I SUMMON YOU!"
Mushu's loud vouce was cut off abruptly as Sora grabbed his snake like body and threw him away from the incoming heartless.
"SORA!" he shouted alarmed before fire erupted from his mouth. "Come on girl! Let's show them what's-AHHH!"
Mushu stopped speaking as one of the heartless positioned it's sword in front of his neck.
"MUSHU!" Sora yelped as she tried to blink back the haziness of her mind.
I'm pretty sure I was hit in the back of the head with a stray pipe from the gummi ship…
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKK!"
Donald's squawk was the only thing that alerted everyone to brace themselves. The gummi ship shuddered for a few heart-stopping seconds.
And then it stopped completely.
A loud bang caused the alarms to shriekd even louder but Sora was dazzled from the noise of the blast impacting the gummi ship.
We… can't… die… here!
But a heartless grabbed her hands, forcing them behind her back.
"Sora! Sora!" Mushu was yelling but luckily he had the sense to move out of the way of the heartless, darting up between the pipes so the heartless couldn't get him.
The last thing Sora saw before she was shoved into a dark portal (by the heartless) was Donald and Goofy being dragged by the heartless into another portal.
And then she came out the other side of the portal onto a ship.
"Riku?!" Sora's mouth dropped open as she saw her familiar silver-haired best friend standing at the end of the ship, his back to her.
"Ah Sora." He smirked (once again, his face was devoid of any warmth). "Nice to see you again."
This is no time for games!
"Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora glared at him. "Riku, I'm serious! You don't know what you're doing! The darkness is messing with your heart! And sooner or later, you're going to lose it to the heartless!"
Sora had been preparing her speech for a while, knowing Riku could be very stubborn when he wanted to be. As such, she needed to be twice as convincing as she normally would be.
Riku's eyebrows knitted together before he seemed to remember who had the advantage and he scoffed. "As if. My heart's too strong. But anyway… Shouldn't you be asking… About him?"
Riku moved aside to reveal…
"KAIRI!" Sora's heart nearly leapt in her throat and she had to physically restrain herself from moving forward. "You found him!"
"No help from you." Riku sneered.
"Riku…" Sora frowned again, trying to ignore the bubble of frustration that crept up within her.
She had to deal with this carefully and maturely… she had to choose her words with extreme caution.
"Of course, you've always been second rate so it's no surprise."
Sora snapped, hurt beyond words as she ran forward to attack Riku… no… the stranger in front of her. "This just proves it! You definitely aren't Riku! He would never say what you just did!"
Riku was about to say something when somebody took matters into their own hands.
"Not so fast, lass." A pirate with a red coat and fluffy feathered hat walked up to Sora, waving his hooked arm in front of her face. "You'd better watch where you go aboard my vessel."
Sora had to bite back the flinch as the heartless appeared behind her, restraining her once more.
She was completely at the mercy of Ri-…the stranger-who seemed intent on hating her and causing harm to everybody around him. "Riku! You have to stop! Using the heartless will only cause them to steal your heart!"
'Not a chance." Riku scoffed. "My heart is too strong."
That's not what happened to Ursula or Jafar or Clayton! I've seen it happen too many times! I can't… He can't lose his heart like Kairi… Kairi…
"Riku, we can save Kairi without hurting others!" Sora tried pleading with him but Riku only scoffed making her even more desperate to get him to snap out of whatever thought process he was in. "I promise you! I'll find a way to help Kairi without hurting anyone else!"
There was a tense silence and for a second, Sora dared to hope she got through to him but Riku merely scoffed again.
"Put her with the others." Riku commanded the heartless before she could speak. "Oh? And Sora…"
Sora dragged her eyes reluctantly off of Kairi's motionless form, turning to Riku who shot an icy smirk to her. "This is a new ability I picked up."
Sora's eyes widened as her shadow rose to reveal a perfect copy of her (down to the height and even every part of her spiked hair). Except for it's completely black appearance and glowing yellow eyes. It looked like a heartless version of her.
Riku was subtly threatening her.
Riku's chilling gaze was the last thing she saw before she was dragged below deck to presumably where they were keeping Donald and Goofy.
Sometime later…
"He was motionless…" Sora sighed, running a hand through her hair. "But he was definitely breathing… I suppose all we have to do now is talk to Kairi and see if he really has lost his heart… And stop Maleficent and find the king, of course!"
"Hyuk! That about sums it up!" Goofy laughed joyfully.
"Um…" the other boy in the cabin sweat dropped at them, (Peter Pan figured his green appearance would have made it extremely easy for them to notice him so why were they ignoring him?). "Aren't you guys going to try and escape?"
Sora, Donald and Goofy (who had been sitting on a floor in a circle) stared at him as one. "Of course."
"It's just…" Sora continued, waving her arms around. "We all need to know what's going on first. Plan first if you can so that way we're better prepared…"
Or that's what Leon said…and it does make sense so…
"Alright then." Sora got up quickly, pulling up Donald and Goofy with her. "We might as well make a move…."
Peter watched curiously, holding off his offer of support as the three individuals seemed to have everything worked out together.
Pointing her keyblade at the door, a beam shot out and with a click, the door opened.
"Riku really is affected by the darkness" Sora deadpanned. "He never used to be this stupid."
I'm sure he would've been told my keyblade can unlock anything so why would he put me in a locked room and be done with it? But then again, working with the darkness… He had to have been a little stupid…
Sora quickly shook her head, reminding herself of the goals.
Find and beat up Riku.
Find and beat up Red Coat.
Find and rescue Kairi.
Find (if possible) and beat up Maleficent.
Hopefully survive all these things.
...and maybe beat up Riku once more... for good measure and all.
"Mind if I tag along?" Peter smiled at them and Sora's mouth dropped open.
"Y-You're flying?!" she gasped and Peter nodded, looking curious.
"You can't?" he seemed genially surprised.
"It's always been a dream of mine." Sora admitted sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. "Well, Kairi too but-"
"Here, all you got to do is believe!" Peter Pan said, tugging at her hand and pulling her off the ground a few inches.
"WAIT!" Donald shouted, quickly tugging Sora back to the ground (she was a little bit put out because she had been enjoying that). "First, we have to get off this ship! Maybe afterwards but for now, we've got to get to Kairi!"
Sora nodded, eyes narrowing as the four of them turned to the door.
We're coming, Kairi.
The ship was infested with heartless. There was no other words for it.
They were powerful, many being even stronger than sword-wielding heartless from Agrabah. These also wielded swords but looked more like pirates than anything else. Some long distance heartless kept throwing spells to attack the party or heal the heartless so it was even harder to fight. The potions were being used up quicker than Sora would've liked but she was rather thankful Peter Pan was with them as he was proving to be a powerful ally.
His pixie, Tinkerbell, zoomed around the area throwing dust in the heartless's eyes or simply distracting them while Sora cut through them.
"This way!" Peter Pan waved them through a door, leading into a small cabin area.
"There's nobody inside…" Sora murmured in disappointment as Donald and Goofy quickly searched the area for anything.
"Gwarsh!" Goofy quickly held up a paper. "Another report from Ansem!"
Sora smiled weakly.
But I'd rather see Kairi right now…
"Peter? Peter Pan?" a girl's voice from somewhere above them caused Sora to look in the corner of the room.
There was a hole that had been patched up with metal bars. While they could see that small part of the room above them, Sora had a feeling they wouldn't be able to get there through the bars.
"Wendy!" Peter shouted, grinning through the grate on the floor above them they could a girl in a blue dress. "Don't worry, we're coming for you!"
Now, if only Kairi… Wait, he might be there!
Sora had just seen near the corner of the bars somebody else. She couldn't see that well because of the angle but she could make out a familiar arm with a bracelet on it.
Somebody else is up there with her…And… I think I know who it is…
"Umm… Wendy, is there a boy there with you?"
There was a silence as Sora's friends shot her a sympathetic look and Sora almost wept with relief when Wendy confirmed it (of course she wouldn't really cry because she never cried but still).
"Kairi?!" Sora shouted, her voice a desperate plea as Wendy explained the boy hadn't moved or reacted at all.
So he really has lost his…
Kairi's fingertips twitched at Sora's voice and she beamed.
This is great! He can obviously react to my voice even if he's lost his heart! He's not completely gone! I'll get him back to normal with my own strength!
"Please hurry though!" Wendy said quickly. "The pirates are coming!"
Sora panicked slightly as the four of them heard a door open above them.
"Wak…" Donald frowned before they all jumped as Wendy screamed.
"WENDY!" Peter shouted and Sora knew instantly that Kairi was being taken away too.
No! I can't let him be taken again! Not now that I've found him!
Sora bashed her brain for any plan at all. It wasn't meant to be this hard. She, Donald and Goofy had expected they'd run into Kairi or Riku eventually. However, they hadn't anticipated being blocked off by metal bars. Sora wished the bars weren't there-
She stopped as shuffling continued upstairs and Peter continued to shout, arms whacking the metal bars as he continued to stay in the air.
A wish… Genie… Of course!
Grabbing the lamp that had been attached to her side, Sora rubbed it quickly and was not disappointed when her blue friend's obnoxiously funny voice entered their cabin room.
"Gawrsh Genie! It's nice ta' see you again, hyuk!" Goofy waved happily.
"Too true!" Genie laughed. "Sora, in need of my assistance, right?"
Sora nodded, quickly pointing at the metal bars. "We need those gone or destroyed so we can get through!"
"Righto!" Genie clicked his hands and the metal bars disappeared. "I'll just hang around encase you need any more help."
Sora nodded, quickly following Peter (who shot her a grateful smile) through the whole.
"Wak, wait for us!" Donald complained, being the shortest of the lot.
"You know, you just need to ask." Genie remarked as he casually picked up Donald and went through the hole, placing the duck on the upper level.
"They went out this door!" Peter said quickly. "Let's go!"
It seemed Sora had saved more time than she thought as they found Wendy still in the hallway struggling in a smaller pirate's hold.
"Come on, miss Wendy. We can't keep captain Hook waiting!" the pirate blubbered quickly, his red hat and too small striped top making him a very sore sight for the eyes.
"As if I'll let you take her, Smee!" Peter was fighting the small pirate instantly and the pirate was done quicker than Sora thought.
I guess some pirates aren't as good as I imagined them to be…
Sora rushed up to Wendy while Peter fought, making sure the girl was alright. Wendy was taller than Sora (probably older by a year or two) but it looked like she'd never been in a fight herself. Wendy was unconscious and Sora was thankful when Donald cast a small cure on her just to make sure the girl was alright.
"Alright." Peter Pan said finally as he carefully picked Wendy up before snapping at Tinkerbell. "Seriously, stop bothering me Tink! I'm trying to help Wendy!"
Sora frowned as Tinkerbell quickly zoomed off.
Was that tears in the pixie's eyes…?
"Hyuk, what're you gonna' do now?" Goofy asked Peter who was slowly rising in the air.
"This is as far as we go together, alright?" Peter asked them as he looked at Wendy worriedly. "I've got to get Wendy to safety."
Sora nodded, understanding completely that if Peter continued with them, Wendy would be in more danger. "That's okay. We can handle the rest from here."
Peter Pan smiled at them before flying out a window.
"Let's go!" Donald led the way down the hallway to where Kairi was taken too.
The three of them stopped as they ran into the room, the door banging open loud enough to alert whoever was in there. Captain Hook (Peter had explained that was what Red Coat was called) stopped speaking to Riku, glaring as he saw Sora and her party.
"Blast it! Well, whatever. Even if Peter's not a prince of heart, the Kairi boy is, right?" Captain Hook said. "Even if you wasted all my resources getting that Wendy girl here as bait, at least we've nearly got all the princes of heart."
With that, Captain Hook walked out the cabin and Riku, who was holding Kairi in his arms, turned to Sora and scowled.
But Sora was pale as everything finally, finally came together.
If Kairi was a prince of heart… And Maleficent was probably writing the recent Ansem reports… And one of those recent reports said that the writer (who was still most probably Maleficent) released a prince's heart…
I have chosen a boy. I don't know if he holds the princes' powers, but I will find out. He may lead me to the key bearer. I shall set him free and observe.
Those words echoed in Sora's head as the truth finally hit her.
Maleficent had caused Kairi to lose his heart (because who else was close to the keybearer which was Sora?)! And now Maleficent was using Riku!
"Riku! It's a trap!" Sora shouted quickly, words continuing to tumble out of her lips as Riku's eyes narrowed. "Have you heard of Ansem's reports?! Well, I read one of them and it was by Malefience! She's the one who caused Kairi to lose his heart!"
Riku frowned and his hold on Kairi tightened before a dark portal appeared behind him and he stepped inside.
A crushing weight seemed to envelop Sora and she ran forward to grab her best friend who was being tricked but she was suddenly just managing to duck out of the way of her shadow self's attack.
Riku disappeared along with the last wisps of black.
No…
"We'll take care of this Sora!" Donald was standing in front of her instantly, grinning weakly at her. "You go outside and see if Riku's still around!"
"Yep!" Goofy agreed. "He looked kinda' doubtful. Maybe you can convince him, huh?"
Sora beamed and nodded, not looking back as she ran out the cabin door and once again onto the deck of the ship. The cool air hit her face instantly, relaxing her somewhat as she immediately caught sight of Captain Hook.
She may be fighting alone physically but… she could feel in her heart that Donald, Goofy and even Kairi were with her, cheering her on.
She was not alone.
Me: And the plot thickens! I'm curious though. Did anybody actually read Ansem's reports? I was seriously surprised when I found out one of the princesses of Heart had their hearts released (ie. lost their heart). As Kairi was the only princess of Heart who lost a heart... OoO
Sora: It would have to be whoever wrote Ansem's report as the one who took Kairi's heart, right?
Me: Bingo! Leave a comment to make me fuzzy and happy!