Redemption

by ninja writer 17

Jim has found his way to the Land of Departure! But can he move on and accept these new Keyblade wielders as his friends? Or will his past be too much and overcome him?

16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Disney Town

(A/N: Here's the next chapter for you guys! Thanks so much for all your support, it really means a lot to me. I was kinda concerned this chapter might be too short, since it's technically an optional level of the game. But I was happy to see that it was about standard for this series.)

James and Aqua had decided to head to Disney Town, thinking they might run into Terra and Ventus since they were all given passports. And as they walked down the street, they suddenly heard someone land behind them, "Tada!" The obese man said dramatically. He was dressed up in a strange outfit that resembled a child's superhero costume, "Wearin' the mask of peace and hope…" He spins around to face Aqua and James, "comes the fearless defender and hero of this town! It is me-Captain Justice!" He declares, striking a variety of ridiculous poses as he does so.

Aqua tilts her head, completely baffled, "Huh?"

James shakes his head, "What in the world is this guy on about?" He mutters to himself. The two of them turn away from Captain Justice and resume their path.

Captain Justice stomps his foot, "Wha-Now listen, you, pip-squeaks. I'm Captain Justice! Who are you to walk away whenst a bona fid hero is offerin' his help?"

James looks back at him, "Uh… we appreciate the offer, Captain. But I'm afraid we're not in need of any help." He tells him politely.

Just then, someone in the distance shouted out, "Somebody, come quick!" A horse Anthromorph stumbled in with panted breaths.

Captain Justice, Aqua and James hurried to the man, "What's that? Trouble?" Captain Justice says, "Captain Justice to the rescue!"

The man looks up at Captain Justice and then immediately looks back down in disappointment, "You? Well, now that's a shame…" He says before looking back up, "Or is it? Maybe this job's perfect for you, Mr. Hero."

Captain Justice leaned forward, "What!? Name your catastrophe!"

Aqua leans over to James, "Should we be worried about this guy?" She whispers.

James shrugs, "Can't say for sure. But we should probably help out too, just in case." She nods in agreement.

The horse man stood up, "Those annoyin' monsters have turned up again over in Fruitball Plaza. They're all yours now, Captain J."

James and Aqua glanced at each other and instantly knew the monsters were the Unversed.

Captain Justice's eyes widen, "Monsters!? Well… too bad. Not on the list." He says.

James shoots his head in Captain Justice's direction, "What?!" He says in disbelief, "I thought you were the 'fearless defender and hero of this town' or whatever. True heroes don't get to pick."

Captain Justice turns to him, "But I wouldn't stand a chance of survivin'-." He cuts himself off, "er, of fittin' em into my schedule." He corrects.

"Gosh," the horse man said, "I thought you said you were Captain Justice. You can't leave those menacing things runnin' loose. They're ruining Fruitball!"

But Captain Justice ignores him, "Huh? Hark, do you hear that?" He says, "Somebody's callin' for Captain Justice's help! Do not fear! I am on my way!" He then dashes off to who-knows-where.

Aqua turns to the horse man, "We're anything but heroes, but maybe we could help, if you want." She offers.

The horse man smiles, "Would you? Oh, that'd be just jim-dandy!" He says happily, "Someone needs to trounce those fiends at Fruitball… and keep 'em away from the plaza."

Aqua nods, "We'll try."

James smirks, "Don't worry. We'll handle those monsters."

When the two of them volunteered to beat the Unversed, they didn't realize they'd have to beat them at a game called Fruitball. Luckily, the horse man was kind enough to explain the rules of Fruitball. It was essentially soccer, with various types of fruits acting as the ball. The two of them stood in the arena with their Keyblades drawn.

James steps back, "I'll focus on defending our goal, so you can score without worry." He tells her.

Aqua smiles, "Thanks Jim! Now let's play ball!"

The match was very chaotic. The different fruits bounced around wildly with no real way to control where they went. James managed to block almost any fruit that tried to score a goal, while Aqua kept launching fruit towards the Unversed goal. The match was in a bit of dead heat for the majority of the time, but after the second half, Aqua and James seemed to have found a rhythm that worked well and they pulled ahead by several points, with the Unversed struggling to keep up, despite the close call with a few lucky scores for the Unversed.

In the end, Aqua and James won the match with a final score of sixteen to fourteen. Aqua smiles as the Unversed dissipate, "That settles that."

James nods, "That was kinda fun! Wouldn't mind doing that again sometime."

The horse man looked at them in awe, "My, you sure taught those monsters a lesson." He tells them, "You're the real heroes in town, if you ask me."

Just then, a female Anthro mouse alongside a gold furred dog approached. The woman was wearing an elegant pink dress and looked up at the two who stopped the Unversed, "He's right, my dears. I couldn't agree more. Thank you so much." She says.

Aqua eyes her curiously, "Who are you?" She asks.

"I'm Minnie." The lady answers.

"And she's our queen." The horse man adds.

Both James and Aqua flinch and get down on one knee, "Oh, please excuse me, Your Majesty. Where are my manners? My name is Aqua." Aqua chides herself.

James bows his head, "And I am James, but most people call me Jim. We were happy to help."

Minnie approaches the two of them, "There's no need to be so formal. Just call me Minnie." She assures them. The two of them rise to their feet as Minnie looks away with a depressed sigh, "You see, I'm not sure I'm doing a very good job protecting my kingdom." She confesses.

The Horse man shakes his head, "Oh, don't say that, Queen Minnie." He assures her, "We all know how hard it's been since the King set off the way he did. Don't you trouble yourself. Why we wouldn't even think of putting on our yearly Dream Festival if we thought there was the slightest chance anything might go wrong."

Minnie turns to face him, "Oh, you're very kind, Horace." She says sweetly.

Horace turned away and folded his arms, "How 'bout that Pete, though? Captain Justice my hide! You can't count on him for anything."

Aqua blinks, "Wait… You're saying his real name is Pete?"

Horace nods, "Well, it sure as sugar isn't 'Justice.'"

James rubs his head, "If everyone knows who he is, then what's with the getup he was wearing?"

"Pete never does anythin' for anybody except Pete. That getup is just an act, to get folks to vote for him. He wants to win the Million Dreams Award and hog the prize." Horace explains.

Aqua tilts her head slightly, "Million Dreams Award? What is that?"

Minnie gestures the town around them, "It's part of our Dream Festival." She tells them, "We all vote for who we think the most admirable citizen is. But Pete seems to have the wrong idea. He thinks that dressing up as a hero and proclaiming that he is one will win him votes." Minnie looks to the ground, "What really makes someone a hero isn't what they wear or what they say-it's the things they do and how they treat everyone."

Horace walks up and takes Aqua's and James' hands, "Well, in my book, Aqua and James here are number one. You've got my heartfelt vote." He says.

James smiles, "Wow, uh… thanks a lot Horace." He says.

Aqua smiles as well, "Thanks, Horace. I promise I'll try not to let you down."

Horace nods, "See that you don't! My vote's very important." He says.

Minnie giggles, "Oh dear, he sounds serious."

James and Aqua share a laugh as he slings an arm around her shoulder, "Well if anyone can be depended on, it's my big sis!"

Aqua blushes and shoves James off, "Jim! Knock it off with that! It's embarrassing!" She complains, generating a laugh from everybody. Aqua groans, "Being popular is tough." She jokingly complains.

The award ceremony was about to begin, so Aqua and James chose to stick around and see who won the prize. The entire town was present, everyone muttering to each other about who they thought would win the Million Dreams Award.

Minnie walked onto the stage, "Hello, everyone, and thank you for waiting." She says with a smile, "Now, it's time to begin the main event of our Dream Festival-the Million Dreams Award presentation." The crowd looked on in anticipation, "Oh, how very exciting!" She says as she reads the winner, "This year we have multiple winners. The Million Dreams Award goes to…" she paused for effect, "Ventus, Aqua, James, and Terra. All four of you!"

As the audience applauded them, James and Aqua were shocked, not that they won-they didn't really care about the prize- but that Ventus and Terra had been here as well.

"You mean Ven and Terra were here?" Aqua asks.

James looks around, "Does anybody see them?"

Just then, Pete rushed up to the stage, "Whaddaya mean!?" He shouts, "There's gotta be a mistake. Everybody voted for Captain Justice. I made sure!" He turns the crowd, "Now go on, tell her!"

He was only met with boos from the crowd.

Pete groaned in frustration before having a realization, "Better try the other one…" He says before rushing off and immediately rushing back in a different costume, this one being black, "The rogue racer, Captain Dark!"

Another round of boos was heard.

Minnie glared at the intruder, "Pete, we counted the votes very carefully. Ventus, Aqua, James and Terra won." She states firmly, "Oh, Pete, I think you tried to do something good, but you were doing it for the wrong reasons, and you went about it the wrong way. Still, a couple of citizens must have thought you had goodness in you, because you actually got a few votes."

James' ear quirked at this, "Who the heck would vote for that mess of a man?" He wondered.

"They knew you were looking out for them." Minnie finishes.

Pete glares, "Big whoop! I don't need their lousy votes. Just cough up my prize!" He says, reaching for Minnie.

"Pete!" Minnie screams, halting his hand, "They voted for you because they believe in you and care about you." She chastises, "How could you look down on that? I've tried to forgive a lot of things you've done, but this is too much. Now you've finally crossed the line."

Pete's fists began shaking, "Like that matters to me. Besides, what are you gonna do about it?"

James leapt onto the stage and summoned Starlight, "Say the word, Minnie, and I'll knock this poser down a peg!" He says, entering his battle stance. Aqua doesn't join the fray, her attention is focused on trying to spot Terra or Ventus, but keeps listening on the situation in case she's needed.

Minnie shakes her head and walks past James, "Your chivalry is appreciated, dear, but I shall handle him another way." She glares at Pete, "I'm going to let you cool off for a while. Guards!"

Suddenly, Pete was surrounded by sentient broomsticks. They lifted Pete up into the air, "Hey! Let me go! Put me down! What!? You can't-no-hey, easy!" He shouts as they escort him away.

Minnie turns back to the crowd with a smile, "Now, shall we continue the ceremony?" She says, "Would the three remaining winners, Ventus, Aqua, and Terra, please come up and join James and I on the stage?" James smiled, hoping that this would be his chance to apologize to Terra and Ventus. Sadly, only Aqua came up to the stage to stand beside James.

Minnie frowns slightly, "Oh dear, it looks like our other two winners couldn't make it here to be with us today."

James and Aqua both become disheartened by this news, "We must have just missed them." Aqua mumbles.

James clenches his fist, "They're always just out of our reach…"

Minnie turns to Aqua and James, "Perhaps the two of you would accept the award on their behalf. After all, you've been so kind to so many here at the Dream Festival. So now, I hereby present the Million Dreams Award… as a token of how much you matter to us. Congratulations!"

The crowd begins to cheer as Aqua and James smile at them, "Thank you, everyone!" Aqua tells them.

James waves at them, "We're truly honored." He says.

Minnie approaches them with two identical ice cream cones, "And as an extra treat, we've created something special-an ice cream flavor just for you. Royalberry ice cream!" She says as she offers the cones to the two winners. They accept them gratefully and take a bite from their respective cones. The crowd watches with baited breath for their reactions, "What do you think?" Minnie asks.

Aqua's smile is beaming, "Delicious! You couldn't have picked a better flavor."

James nods, "Absolutely. It's the best ice cream I've ever tasted!"

Minnie giggles, "We're all very glad you're enjoying it."

Shortly afterwards, they said their goodbyes and made their way to the next World.

(A/N: That's it for this chapter! Sad to say, there will not be any more side-story chapters for this book, as we are now at the point where the plot starts escalating rapidly. We're nearing the conclusion, so be sure to stay tuned. And please, send me any suggestions for worlds you'd like to see come up in later books. I've gotten some interesting ideas from you guys in the past and would love to hear more of your thoughts. Until then, Read and Review!)