Chapter Forty-Two
Riku groaned as he climbed up the many steps leading to the castle. Tobi had to stop, his shin beginning to throb angrily,
" Riku... how many more steps do these stupid stairs have!?"
Riku sighed, stopping to rest on one of the steps himself,
" I'm not sure...kid. It doesn't look like there's many left..."
He then sighed, clamping a hand on his ribs,
" If I wasn't...hurt so bad then climbing this mountain of a door step would be a h$#uvalot easier..."
Tobi snickered, wincing as the bullet in his side shifted,
" Yeah right! You're just loosing your touch and you know it, old man."
" You know, kid... if I could get up right now, I'd come down there and pound your skull into the pavement... but I won't."
" Like you could, anyway... geezer."
" You're walkin' a thin line there, kid, I'm warning you..."
" Hurry! I think they're coming in!!"
The shorter figure shouted, waddling hastily over to the doorway. The taller figure frowned, scratching his head,
" Do we really have to do this? I mean, they look pretty beat up and all...hyuck."
A loud knock on the door startled them both and the short one clamped a hand over his goofy partner's mouth,
" Shhhh! They'll hear you!"
" Oops, sorry...hmmm."
Riku winced again, pounding a few more times on the largely-oversized, blue doors,
" Hello? Is anybody in there?"
Again, nothing. This made the silver-haired man frown. He knew someone was in there... he could sense them.
Tobi groaned, shifting Kae in his arms,
" Maybe nobody's here, Riku. We should just go... Kae's gettin' kinda heavy."
Riku frowned, closing his eyes as a sharp pain snaked through him,
" No... somebody's here. I can feel it."
He pounded on the door again and yelled a bit louder, his lungs straining for the air to yell,
" Look, I know you're in there! You can't hide from me--"
" Oh, that's good. Threaten the poor people, Riku! That'll bring them out here!"
Riku ignored him and continued shouting,
" Look, we need a place to rest for awhile! I'm not saying that you have to let us live here forever, I'm only asking you for a few short hours and then we'll be out of your hair...or... fur...or... whatever you have on your body..."
Tobi snorted, shifting Kae again,
" Good one, Riku."
Riku was about to thwap the boy a good one, but the door urked suddenly, slowly creaking open to reveal a grand, dim-lit hall. Tobi blinked,
" You think it's okay to go in?"
Riku frowned, cautiously stepping inside and glancing around the hall,
" I suppose so... just keep on your guard, kid. I have a bad feeling about this..."
The short one hid behind a large suit of armour as their ''guests'' entered the room, his partner hiding inside one not too far away. He gasped, eyeing the group's ring leader,
" It's him again..."
The tall one gasped in response, his eye catching the second figure in the group,
" A Heartless!"
A tiny creature mounting the knight's shoulder shushed him,
" Hush now... we don't want to endanger the life of the gir-- Oh my gosh! That looks like Princess Kairi!"
Riku paused, glancing behind them with his staff ready in one hand, the bag of supplies in the other,
" D'you hear that, kid?"
Tobi frowned, shifting Kae in his arms again,
" Hear what--"
" AFTER THEM, MEN!!"
Tobi gasped and glanced behind him, a strange white creature running at him with an equally strange wand,
" Holy Crap!! A GHOST!"
Riku rolled his eyes, dropping the supplies as he readied for a fight,
" It's not a ghost, kid! Hurry and take her someplace safe! I'll handle him!"
Tobi frowned, quickly jumping out of the way,
" But, Riku!"
" Just GO!!"
Tobi nodded, quickly disappating into a cloud of blue smoke. He then reappeared behind Riku and ran down the hall as quickly as possible. Riku became distracted by this and watched the boy as he ran for safety, the horrible memory of Hikari's departure returning to his mind...
' " I love you, Riku..."'
' " Go, Hikari... GO!!"'
He winced as a suit of armour suddenly rammed him in the side and he grunted, staggering to the nearest wall. Quickly, he raised the staff to defend himself from both enemies, but paused, raising an eyebrow as the armour staggered around blindly and tripped on it's own two feet, hitting the floor with a loud,
" YOWWWLL!"
The helmet flew off and skidded down the hall, Riku carefully kneeling down to see the knight's face,
" Hey... don't I know you from somewhere?"
He then gasped and quickly raised up as a loud yell, or more like a loud quack, rang throughout the hall as his other attacker came hurtling at him. The short-statured figure tripped over his partner and both groaned, a third voice squeaking up from the pile,
" Why are you here!? What do you want, you heartless fiend!?"
Riku clenched his fists tightly and lowered his head, frowning,
" I...I'm sorry. I didn't know there was still resentment being held for the things I've done... I'll just go get Tobi and we'll leave. I'm sorry to..have bothered you all."
He then winced and tightly grabbed hold of his ribs as he slowly walked down the hall, calling out for the blue boy,
" Tobi! Tob--"
The voice then cried out again, a tiny figure coming to him from the pile,
" And why don't you leave Princess Kairi on your way out, huh? I'm sure Sora wouldn't be too happy to know that--"
Riku turned frowning deeply,
" Whoa, whoa, whoa, Squeaky! Princess Kairi? What're are you talking abou--"
The tiny one shook a pint-sized fist at him and squealed out again, punching Riku in the boot. The punch seemed to hurt it more than it did him,
" Oh, don't play dumb with us, Ansem! We know all about your plans for the Princess--"
Riku raised an eyebrow, shaking his head at the three of them as he knelt down to the tiny figure,
" You guys... I'm not Ansem--"
The tall figure glanced up at him, his short partner jumping up angrily,
" Then why does your Heartless toy have Kairi, you monster! Fire!!"
He shot a ball of flame at Riku's head and the silver-haired man gasped, quickly ducking in much pain.
The flame shot over his head and he heard a yelp behind him. Glancing back, he saw that Tobi had fallen back onto the floor, narrowly escaping the burst of fire that singed his crimson hair. Kae yelped, still asleep, however, and clung to the boy with in a deathgrip. Tobi comfortingly placed a hand on her back and pushed himself up, completely hysteric,
" WHAT THE He$# WAS THAT!?"
Riku smirked as the fire hit a torch and set of a domino effect with the torches nearby. A bright, orange light soon rushed down the hall, lighting every torch mounted in the dark corridor.
The group's attackers then gasped, suddenly revealed to be a strange looking dog and a loudmouth duck. The one so brave as to stand up to Riku was actually a tiny cricket, one that Riku recognized instantly,
" Hey... I remember you. You were with that puppet! What was it's name...?"
" His name is Pinocchio... and he's no longer a puppet for your information, he's a real boy, now."
The duck folded his arms and impatiently tapped it's foot on the white, marble floor,
" And you would be...?"
The dog scratched his head, chuckling as he patted his small partner on the back,
" Aw, shucks, Donald! Don't ya remember him? It's Riku! Hyuck!"
The two then gasped and exchanged glances, shouting in unison,
" RIKU!?"
Riku frowned, glancing back and forth between them as they suddenly turned and rushed him quickly,
" Whoa!!"
Next thing the man knew, he was staring at the ceiling, which was very high up and arched, he noted. Tobi raised a suspicious glare at the scene and gulped,
" Riku? Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
Riku winced, tightly grasping his ribs,
" No...?"
Donald quacked happily, jumping up and down on top of the pain-racked man,
" C'mon, Goofy! We have to hurry! We've got to get him back to Sora before anymore time--"
Riku then grabbed the duck by the ankle and threw him to the floor, wheezing painfully,
" Thank...God!"
Donald then grew angry and began leaping up and down, quacking in rage,
" Why you!! You're still the same!! I don't know what Sora sees in you, anyway!!"
Goofy raised an eyebrow, noting Riku's expression of pain,
" Um... are you all right?"
Riku nodded and quickly pushed himself off the floor,
" I'm fine... It's just--"
They all jumped as Tobi let out a painful cry, Riku immediately on the alert,
" What!? What is it? What happened!?"
He noted the blood running down the boy's shirt and clenched his fists. It was a bullet wound...
The boy instantly shook his head, knowing what the older man was thinking,
" It's not that..."
Riku frowned, raising an eyebrow as the boy whimpered,
" Then what--?"
" She kneed me...!"
Tobi sighed in relief as he laid down on a nice, comfortable bed, smiling at the fact that Kae still refused to let him go. So now, he lay in bed with Kae... of course, he wouldn't even think of trying anything with her, though! She'd simply take out a pistol and fire it straight into his chest if he even breathed on her wrong.
' She'll probably kill me just for lying next to her...'
Kae whimpered in her sleep, pulling herself closer to the boy. He smiled and blushed at this motion, gently sweeping her bangs from her eyes.
" Havin' fun, kid?"
He glanced up to see Riku in the doorway, smiling at him. Tobi snorted, rubbing her shoulders comfortingly,
" Hardly! Do you know how loud this girl snores!? It's like a friggin' air-raid siren in here!"
The boy then frowned, noticing that Riku was still breathing a bit funny,
" Riku? You all right?"
The silver-haired man nodded, wincing a bit as he leaned against the door frame,
" I'm fine... just a little sore."
" But... I thought that Donald--"
" No, Donald didn't heal him! He's too stubborn to let Donald heal him!"
The duck quacked, stomping up behind Riku. Riku groaned, sorely massaging his temples,
" Whoa! Lower the decibel there, Foghorn. You wanna wake the neighbours or somethin'?"
Donald let out an aggrivated squawk and raised his fists, irately bouncing up and down,
" WHY YOU!! I OUGHTA TEACH YOU SOME MANNERS!!"
Riku smirked, turning away from the duck with a laugh,
" And I oughta teach you how to speak right. Didn't anyone ever tell you to 'say it, not spray it'?"
He then marched on down the hall and entered another room, slamming the door behind him.
Donald raised a fist at that door and then sighed, entering Tobi's room. The boy was frowning,
" What's gotten you so riled up? He was just making a joke--"
" He was NOT making a joke! He was serious!"
This made Tobi laugh and he did so quietly as not to wake Kae,
" Serious? Serious about what?"
" Um... whatcha guys talkin' about? Hyuck!"
Donald turned to see Goofy standing behind him and sighed, folding his feathery arms,
" Nothing! Have you got Sora, yet?"
Tobi frowned as the canine shook his head,
" Not yet... it's like he just disappeared er somethin'..."
The boy then coughed, taking in a deep breath,
" Um... you guys? I think there's something you should know..."
The two animals turned to the boy with confused looks, both silent.
Tobi gulped, lowering his head as he squeezed Kae's shoulder,
" It's about the Keybearer..."
