Chapter XXXXVII

The mad mage.

A/N: I'm back! Finished all my exams, and now I'm ready for another chapter. Thanks to all my reviewers, Shadow of Malice, AsoenixKristian, Bearybeary, Ulticrossregar2489, and Believerofdawn. Thanks to morbid333 for beta reading this. The answer to my trivia question was One who knows noting, can understand nothing. It was a quote from Ansem/Xehanort's heartless. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney. All characters belong to their respective owners. OCs and plot belong to me. Enjoy!


Consciousness returned to him as his eyelids flickered. Slowly, they opened.

'You're awake?' Will turned at the voice of his fianc. He looked over to her as she slowly bent down next to him. 'Are you alright? How's your head?'

'I'm fine.' Will quickly answered as he placed a hand on said appendage. 'What happened to the chest?'

'Norrington took it to draw them off.' Elizabeth answered.

Will looked around, taking in the familiar sights of the Black Pearl. The crew ran about frantically, at which Will frowned. 'What's happening?'

Elizabeth stood and took a few steps to the railing. Will stood and followed. Surly she was going somewhere with-

He froze. There was another ship, and it was closing in on them. The Flying Dutchmen. 'Where's Jack?' Elizabeth turned and pointed to the Wheel, where Will spotted the pirate captain. More importantly though was how strangely calm he was. His jar of dirt rested on the rail above the Pearl's wooden deck. He rushed forwards, weaving between the crew until he reached the stairs. Jack!' He called as he ascended, passing by a barrel of gunpowder.

The captain turned to him, 'ah, you're up lad.'

'My father is on that ship.' Will began, ignoring the man's comment. 'If we can outrun her, we can take her. We should stand and fight.'

'Why fight when you can negotiate?' Jack responded. 'All one needs is the proper leverage.' He patted his jar of dirt as a sly grin claimed the ship s captain.

The ship suddenly jolted, causing the jar to shift and crash to the deck below. It smashed, and the dirt scattered. Jack looked dawn and his grin vanished. He quickly jumped over the rail and landed on the deck. He dropped to his knees and began shifting his hands through the dirt. The smashed glass cut his hands, but he didn't react. 'Where is it? Where is the thump-thump?' The heart wasn't there. Why wasn't the heart there? That must mean that&

'Not with the chest.' Norrington concluded. He quickly jumped to the other dingy and took the chest in his hands.

'You're mad!' Elizabeth shrieked

'Don't wait for me,' Norrington said as he jumped to the sand.

Jack quickly stopped his search. Norrington must have had Jones' heart.

'Musta hit a reef!' one of the crew stated, referring to the jolt only moments ago

'No, it's not a reef!' Will quickly called as he descended the stairs. He looked around. Many of the crew were looking down the side of the ship. 'Get away from the rail!'

The main quarters hatch opened, and Sora quickly emerged. His comrades followed slowly.

'What's going on. What was that bump?' The brunet asked

'It's the Kraken!' Will quickly answered as he turned to face the newcomers.

'Kraken? That's Jones' pet right.' Sora questioned, 'We could probably take it, if we had to fight it, that is.'

'Do not be so sure of yourself,' Sam warned. 'Needless arrogance has brought many to a premature death.'

'I'm not gonna underestimate it. We won't hold back.'

'I'm not so sure,' Will replied. 'This thing has destroyed entire ships in a matter of seconds.'

The pearl violently shook, causing many of the crew to fall. These sudden jolts could only mean one thing.

'It has the ship!' Will called

'Load guns! Defend the mast!' Mr. Gibbs voice called out. The crew jumped to their feet and rushed to their stations.

'Do you know where it's gonna attack?' Riku asked as he pushed through the crew and took his place by the railing.

'It'll attack to starboard,' Will explained, 'I've seen it before!'

'We know that it's coming, and where it's gonna attack,' Sora began as he looked amongst his friends, 'That sounds pretty good to me.'

'We may have the advantage,' Will replied, 'but that does not give us the victory.'

'No, but it helps,' Kairi replied.

Donald nodded in agreement, 'Let's send that sea monster crying home!'

'Ah-hyuck! We can win if we work together.' Goofy encouraged.

'The Kraken might be powerful,' Riku stated, 'but so are we. I'm sure it hasn't seen a Keyblade or magic before.'

Jack stood as he wiped his hands clean of the sand with the use of his pants, 'A little confident, aren't we?' He shrugged his shoulders. He'd never understand them.

Elizabeth watched from afar. They were so sure that they could win, even though the chances were against them. 'Do you really think we can win?'

'We've dealt with worse.' Sora clarified as he turned to face the Flying Dutchman. The ship had come to a complete stop. Were they that confident with their pet? Relm stopped forward to the railing.

'Look at those cocky bastards! Don't even think they need to chase us.' Relm quickly grinned as she raised her fist, and lifted her middle finger. 'Hey squid face! You see this, you bastard?'

Unknown to those aboard the Pearl, said Squid face was indeed watching with a spyglass. His grasp tightened and he growled. 'Pull the ship down, and rid the sea of this filth!'

Again, the Pearl shock violently. 'Run out the cannons and hold for my signal!' Will ordered. Jack's crew followed their instructions. They readied and loaded the ship's cannons.

As the cannons prepared, the group continued to observe the water. The usual calm nature of the ocean was trembling.

'It's coming.' Elizabeth solemnly observed.

'And we're ready for him.' Sora added.

'Don't worry,' Riku began, 'It's not going to surprise us.'

VRAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Relm's body tightened, and her eyes widened. She forcefully gripped the wooden railing. Her breathing sharpened as her body began to tremble.

'That laugh?' Sora questioned.

'Do you remember it?' Sam asked.

'Remember& '

'Cast off those lines!' Gibbs shouted. The four made it back to the ship; however, the natives would be on them in a matter of seconds. At least, that was what everyone thought until something horrifying and unexpected happened. A giant flame rose between the natives and the Black pearl. The flames proceeded to surround the natives, inevitably consuming them, leaving only the sound of the fire and the natives screams. That was until the sound of a disembodied demented laugh assaulted the eardrums of all who were present

VRAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

'The same laugh.' Sora concluded. 'Whoever it is, he was at the island.

'Kefka.' Shadow stated. It rolled off her tongue monotonously as he turned to his daughter. 'He almost killed her.'

'I can't breathe.' Relm fell down to her knees, and her breathing grew even more desperate, 'I can't breathe!'

'He, he, he. No surprises you say.' The water broke and parted, and a colourful figure jumped onto the Pearl, causing Interceptor to growl furiously. 'Surprise! It's your good friend Kefka who has come out to play!' [1]

Needless to say, the group wasn't amused. Sora looked him up and down. He wore extreme bright colours. He was a rainbow. All over, he wore red, blue, yellow, and white, all complimented with polka dots. His blond hair was pulled into a ponytail, and a white feather protruded from it. His dark purple lips opened and contorted in a sinister smirk. He wore three scarfs. Two around his neck, one blue and the other yellow, and a red scarf around his waist with black and white polka dots. His cape, that was a bloody red crimson on the outside, and yellow on the inside with red stripes at its base, blew behind him in the wind. He began to move towards them, drawing attention to his shoes as he pranced forward. They didn't even match colour. His right boot was white, where as his left was black.

Sora failed to hold back a chuckle, which soon escalated into full-fledged laughter, 'Just look at him. For a minute there, I thought he was going to be menacing.'

Kefka pouted. 'Well that's not very nice. You're hurting my feelings.' The pout soon vanished, replaced quickly by his previous smirk. He outstretched his arm, and opened his palm.

'Sora, duck!' Donald quickly squawked. Kefka's smirk stretched across the entirety of his face. An enormous blast of fire spawned at his hand, before being launched directly at Sora.

'Holy-' Sora fell to the deck just in time for the blast to miss him and slam straight into a barrel of gunpowder, igniting it. It exploded in a glorious fire.

'Crazy bastard!' Riku growled, 'This ship's made of wood. If you keep that up, then you'll kill us all!'

'Kill us all?' Kefka questioned. 'VRAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good idea.'

'You madman!' Will growled.

Kefka simply chuckled as he jumped back onto the railing and prepared to form another Firaga spell. However, before he could call it, the Kraken bellow again shook the ship. The mad clown almost lost his footing, but quickly managed to recompose himself before turning to the ocean. 'Hey, knock that off! You do that again, and I'll boil you into octopus soup.

'Someone needs to stop that Kraken.' Sora whispered.

'I can do that.' Riku replied.

'As can we.' Will stated, 'Elizabeth and I won't be much help against that madman. At the very least, we can work on the cannons.'

If you are going, then take Relm with you,' Sam requested as he turned to the blonde girl, who was still on the ground.

'Alright,' Riku answered before turning to Donald and Goofy, 'what about you two?'

'Well, I think we oughta stop that Kraken thing before it pulls us under.' Goofy answered.

'Then let's go.'

Will, Elizabeth, Donald, and Goofy rushed to join the crew. Riku strode over to Relm.

'Come on, let's go.' Relm was a statue. She didn't move, nor did she acknowledge his existence. He took her arm in his hand and pulled her up onto her feet. She complied with his actions and put her feet out to prevent herself from falling.

'Do take care of her.' Sam said in a strangely soft voice.

'I'll do my best.' Riku replied as he followed the others.

Sora looked between the two, particularly Relm, and then Sam. 'Is there something going on between Relm and you?'

'I hardly consider this to be either the time or place for such a question!' Sam quickly answered.

'Alright,' Sora quickly summoned Heroes crest, 'you have to answer that when this is all over though.'

'I'll tell you what. If we are still alive, then I'll answer.' Sam responded as he called Outcast.

'Are our chances really that bad?'

'It would seem that way at first glance.'

Sora turned to Kairi, 'Are you sure you want to fight here? He might be more dangerous than the Kraken.'

'I know.' Kairi replied as she summoned Destinies place to hand, 'That's why I have to fight. I don't want anything to happen to you.'

'Well,' Jack began, 'I guess I'll just leave you to it then.' He turned and began to walk, but Sam shot out a chain from his back which wrapped around Jack's arm.

Where do you think you are going? At the very least, we can use you as a meat shield.

'I'm flattered, mate.' Jack replied in his own sarcastic way as he was pulled back and finally released.

'Are you old hags done yapping yet?' Kefka impatiently questioned, 'I want to play now!'

'We're ready when you are!' Sora replied.

'Oh goodie!' Kefka squeed. However, his face soon contorted into a sickly smirk as he jumped into the air and shot forward an icicle.

'Move!' Sora quickly called, and the six jumped out of the way as the icicle came at them. It sored towards the ground, but suddenly, it changed course. Sora wasn't expecting this as the attack sored his way. With little time to think, he followed his instincts, outstretched his blade, and summoned a blast of fire. The two magic attacks cancelled one another. Relief passed through him, but it was short lived as several thunderbolts surrounded him and closed in. Quickly, he summoned a reflect barrier around himself, protecting him just in time.

Shadow charged forward with great speed and slashed his blades at the clown, but the mage took to the air. Interceptor jumped in pursuit, however a gust of wind sent him back down to the ground with a loud yelp. Kefka landed back onto the deck of the Pearl only for Sora and Kairi to charge at both of his flanks. They slashed simultaneously, however Kefka again took to the air with an amused laugh. Sam saw his chance, and fired a blast of darkness. Seeing this, the clown seemingly caught it in his hands. The youngest of the keybearers had no time to react as his own blast was sent back at him. It struck the boy square on the chest, earning a pain filled grunt as Sam was pushed onto the ground. This amused Kefka, but not enough to distract him from the pirate approaching from the rear. He ducked as a sword passed by his head, and quickly evaded his attacker with a flip. Jack came at him, but a magic barrier quickly sent him to the ground.

Kefka eyed his targets with a malicious smile before sending thunderbolts in all directions. Sora and his friends quickly went on the defensive, ducking and rolling out of the way of the bolts. Shadow managed to throw a shuriken towards Kefka, but it did little good as one of the bolts struck the weapon.

Slowly, the clown's attack diminished and eventually subsided completely, leaving him surrounded. Sora and Sam were on his left, while the others were on his right. Interceptor growled, just waiting for the order to rip the psychotic clown's innards out.

Kefka eyed his enemies. Neither side seemed like they were going to attack. Perhaps they were trying to regain their breath. They would soon learn that flanks and position meant little to him He turned to Sora and Sam, and smiled. 'Run, run.'

'Run, run?' Sora questioned.

'Run, run. Or you will be well done!' Sora's eyes shot wide as Kefka launched a stream of fire from his hands, and it was coming straight at them. The two pushed their bodies away, narrowly escaping. Sora hit the deck, and quickly felt his backside. He sighed in relief that he hadn't been burnt.

The mad mage turned his attention to his other targets, and smiled. He took to the air once more, and began spinning. Shortly after, he began firing a spray of fireballs. They separated and done their best to evade the attacks. He came to a stop and landed. 'Gee wiz. I'm having ever so much fun!'

'My pleasure to regale you!' Jack growled as he looked about his baby. Flames had spread everywhere.

'I do not suppose you know any water magic?' Sam questioned Sora.

'Sorry, the closest thing I have is ice.' Sora responded. They needed to put the flames out. He turned to the newest ones, and began to spread the energy of a Blizzara, freezing the flames. Sam turned to the others and began to do the same. 'Jack,' Sora turned to the pirate, 'how about we get some payback?'

'My pleasure, lad.'

Sora turned to face Kefka and charged. He unleashed several quick slashes, and Kefka evaded them easily with a grin. Suddenly, it vanished as a blade cut his back. Jack was there, and now it was Sora's turn to grin. The two began to slash out at the clown, giving him no chance to recover, and eventually, they both brought their blades up at him, and sent him into the air. They both jumped after him, and linked hands as they pursued. The two began to spin in a cartwheel like motion, and as they closed in on him. They began to slash at him without remorse. They cut at his flesh like a saw. Kefka growled in utter fury. He couldn't get away. Soon, the two broke away, and took their blades in both hands, before plunging them into Kefka's abdomen. He screamed out as they came down to the deck. [2]

SLAM

They hit the wood hard, and pulled their blades free. Jack looked down on his, and frowned. His sword was clean, well, as clean as Jack Sparrow's sword could be. Where was the blood? He looked down at the man's mangled body that had been ripped apart, and looked on in fright at what he saw.

It began to disappear, fading away in a dark mist until it was gone completely.

An illusion?

'above!'

The two looked up, and there he was. Kefka was coming at them. 'Surprise!' The clown summoned a blast of magic energy, and lunged it forward. The two separated as the blast slammed into the deck. However, from it came a small sphere that lunged at Sora with amazing speed. It struck his body, but surprisingly enough he hardly felt anything.

At first, that was.

Suddenly, his strength began to leave him. His legs failed him, and he fell to his knee. A horrid siren began to sound as it claimed he ears. Everything went black as his sight vanished. What was happening? Alone, blind, Sora entered the darkness.


A/N: I originally planned on finishing this world here, but the chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated. Next chapter will be up pretty soon, maybe a few days. Trivia time! On KH2, what is Sora and Jack's limit called?

1. Kefka Palazzo-In his own world several years ago, Kefka acted as Emperor Gestahl's court mage, carrying out the monarch's orders. However, behind Gestahl's back, Kefka attacked various towns and drained the power of magical creatures known as Espers, which were meant for Imperial use. This gradual culmination in power led Kefka to overthrow Gestahl and take control of the Warring Triad, effectively becoming the God of Magic itself. Kefka is loud, short-tempered, maniacal, and destructive. He is known to have a strong sociopathic hatred of virtually everything in existence. His dark humour and jester-like appearance have earned him the nickname The Psycho Clown among his colleagues. Kefka's most defining characteristic is his laugh, a high-pitched whooping cackle. Kefka appeared in Final fantasy VI in 1994.

2. Yes, yes. I gave them a limit. Why not? Don't have a name for it though.