Hey everyone,
Well, last chapter I used Sora, though that made writing the difference between him and the movie him a little difficult, so I went for the term "younger me" and "Younger self"and whatnot. Though I'm really not all that fond of that, so this chapter is going to be in Sirius' POV. And unless I'm mistaken, I actually don't think I've done one of these movie chapters in his POV yet.
That's just wrong,

Venquine1990

Chapter 55
One Last World, Right?

31st of January 1996
The Viewing Room
Sirius' POV

My little girl mentions how there is only one more chapter left and tries to encourage us to keep going. Yet Riku has a grim look on his face. I look at the young lad in concern as so far the movie really hasn't been kind to him. I grimace as I'm sure that, if either Molly or Augusta was here to see these bits of the movie, Riku would be getting one rant after another. Yet anyone with eyes can see that the boy doesn't need others to feel guilty.
"Before we start, I need to give you guys a warning. I'm at my absolute – no, my second absolute worst in this world. Sora and I have a bit of a rough reunion and something he said made me think he had just stopped caring for Kairi and me all together. My reaction to that – I can't even begin to express how much I regret it." My little girl and I look at the boy in concern as he is almost whispering by this point.

My boy quickly goes to sit across his mate's lap and tucks his head underneath his mate's chin. My grimace turns into a grin of pride as my boy seems to let his inner Veela to come out in order to help his mate. And so a soft melodious sound seems to resonate from my boy's throat. He's not quite singing, he's not quite humming, yet the sound obviously helps Riku calm down and feel better. I grin widely at the two and think: "He's finding his Inner Veela Song."
Riku takes and releases a deep breath and softly thanks his mate. He then nods at my little girl and me and we give him a nod of pride back. And we all turn to the movie. We see Sora, Donald and Goofy return to the Gummi Ship and watch as they travel even further away from Traverse Town. Donald and Sora now work together to destroy all approaching Heartless Gummi ships.

Yet then suddenly the screen shows an image of Goofy and he says: "Uhm a big ship is catching up to us." The Gummi ship actually slows down just like it did with Monstro and just before the team reached the Atlantica world. And my eyes widen when a huge wooden ship with three tall masts and a skull with bones on the back flies past them. "Quit gawking! That's a pirate ship!" Donald tells his flying companions in anger and fright.
The ship seems to turn around as Donald says this and just before it heads back, Sora yells: "It's going to ram us! Hold on tight!" Jessica and I yelp in horror as we see this happen, yet thankfully enough the screen turns black just as the two vessels collide. Jessica asks her brother what happened with the ship and my son answers that the pirates stored it way below deck somewhere. That his team had a bit of trouble finding it in the end.

My little girl and I share a worried look at this and then return to the movie. Intriguingly enough the ship seems to have managed to fly back to its homeworld after hitting the Gummi ship as it floats on an ocean while another title card shows up in front of it. Neverland is seen in front of the ship with a red, yellow and purple beam of light bending around the word. We see Sora walking around the front of the deck. I fight the urge to bite my lip at the fact that he's alone.
"I didn't think you'd come, Sora." Riku's voice sounds from somewhere on the ship and Sora looks up and gasps. "Good to see you again." Riku says pleasantly, as if the two of them aren't on top of a dangerous pirate ship, but still back on their own islands. The older boy is standing near one of the masts as Sora asks: "Where are Donald and Goofy?"

I only need to blink and look to my right to know that this is what my son's mate meant. And the movie proves me right as Riku sounds pretty upset as he retorts: "Are they that important to you? More important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking … about her." And while I had slightly expected it, I still feel shocked to see Kairi leaning against the mast behind Riku as he steps away.
The girl has her head slightly tilted down and there is an empty look in her eyes that horrifies me. I quickly remind myself that the girl can't be without her soul as Dementors don't exist in that realm. Yet the sight of the girl looks eerily similar to the few prisoners who I saw become a victim to rogue Dementors over the years that I was in Azkaban. I angrily shake my head to push away these memories as Sora calls out Kairi's name.
And Riku's voice helps me focus back on the movie in front of me. "That's right. While you were off goofing around, I finally found her." The camera is positioned so that it shows Kairi and Riku from below on their right and while it mostly focuses on Riku first, it slowly pans over to focus on Kairi as Riku speaks. And this time I get a closer look in Kairi's eyes, which thankfully no longer look the way they did in the last shot.

I sigh in relief at this sight and continue watching. Sora tries to run for his friends, but gets stopped by a hook that seems attached to someone's arm. "Not so fast. No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy." The one to reprimand Sora is a pirate with a dark red hat and red suit, black hair and a black moustache. There is also a smaller man with a white and blue striped suit standing on Sora's right and two pirate Heartless on Sora's left.
"Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?" Sora asks Riku. At the same time my son's mate pulls my boy closer against his form as Sora's fear and concern are very clearly heard in the boy's voice. Yet the Riku in the movie seems oblivious to this as he calmly, confidently answers: "The Heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear." My boy's mate shakes his head at his younger self's words and it seems that Sora agrees with him on this.
"You're stupid. Sooner or later they'll swallow your heart." He argues. My son himself winces and grimaces, but his mate mumbles that they can discuss it later. My son nods and Riku argues against Sora's words. "Not a chance. My heart's too strong." And to the older lad's shock, my son seems to actually agree. While still tucked underneath his mate's chin, my son nods. Sora calls out to Riku and his concern is again clear to hear.

"I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance." Riku says as he stretches his hand out to Sora. My eyes widen and Jessica gasps in shock as a second Sora, one made entirely out of shadows appears in front of Sora himself. The shadow floats slightly above the ground in front of Sora, who looks deeply shocked and has even taken a step back. But this last thing seems to be a mistake as Riku says:
"You can go see your friends now." And a hatch that Sora was standing on opens. My son falls through and the hatch closes again. Riku then turns to the pirate captain and says: "Let's get under way, already. And keep Sora away from Kairi until we're ready to land." This confuses me and I wonder if the ship floating in the water was just meant as a temporary stop or something. The pirate king seems to take offense to Riku's tone as he harumphs and snaps at the other guy:
"That scurvy brat thinks he can order me around!" To which the smaller man with the red hat asks him: "What shall we do, Captain Hook?" I snort as I find the name both fitting and amusing and Hook retorts: "Nothing! The hold is crawling with Heartless. Let them keep an eye on the brats." I growl softly at the insult against my son. Then the other man speaks up and his words reignite some of my earlier concerns.

"But Captain, you-know-who is also down -" Yet while I try to remind myself that they must be talking about someone else, perhaps even someone who can help Sora, Hook interrupts the lad. He even seems terrified of something as he says: "Shh … Did you hear that, Smee? Oh, that dreadful sound!" I look confused at the words and Smee answers negative with No, Captain. Yet his captain seems truly terrified as he grabs Smee and shakes him.
"Are you quite sure? Did I imagine it? Oh, my poor nerves…" And while Hook lets go of Smee and shakes his head in fright and fatigue, the camera again fades to black. Then Jessica speaks up and says: "On one hand I can sympathize with Hook. I mean, Pan did cut of his hand and feed it to a crocodile, just for fun. On the other, he stays a first-class bastard of a pirate." And even my eldest son seems shocked to hear this.

Jessica sees her brother's shock and nods as she asks: "Yeah, you didn't know that? Peter Pan once cut off Hook's hand with his short sword and fed it to a crocodile. Since then the beast has been hunting Hook down in the hopes of gulping down the rest of him. And of course Hook wants revenge, but – considering that his ship can apparently fly in outer space, I really don't get why he doesn't just leave Neverland and Pan behind. I'd do that if I could."

I definitely agree with my little girl and the movie continues. "You don't say?" Goofy asks someone and that someone is Sora, who answers: "Yeah, it was definitely Kairi. I've finally found her." My boy's mate sends my boy an unimpressed grin at hearing this and my son cheekily grins back at him. "All right! Then let's go up and talk to her!" Sora agrees on this with a Yeah and then Donald speaks up and says: "Sounds great. Okay, but first … how about getting off!"
And only then the movie shows that the three of them are actually lying on a pile on top of each other, Goofy on top of Donald and Sora on top of Goofy. I gawk at the scene while my kids laugh loudly at the sight. The movie shows Sora saying Oh, sorry and then camera turns dark and returns to show Sora gazing through a hole in a door when someone clears their throat. "Ahem!" Sora, Donald and Goofy turn to the sound.

"How ya doin' there? Looking for a way out?" And a slightly taller boy with red hair, who wears a green cap with a red feather on top and who seems to be wearing a green shirt and pair of pants jumps and flips over a pair of barrels standing in the small room the four of them are in. "Who are you?" Goofy asks and the boy answers: "I'm the answer to your prayers." To which Jessica mutters that this was why she never liked his movie.
My two boys snort as they hear her and Donald taps his foot to show that he doesn't believe the other kid. "Okay then. Fine. Have it your way." The boy says and while he obviously tries to sound aloof, I can hear in his voice that he's not happy with Sora, Donald and Goofy not believing him. "But you're stuck in here too, aren't you?" Sora asks and this seems to offend the kid even more as he huffs and retorts: "No. I'm just waiting for someone."

Sora asks who and then suddenly a globe of bright yellow light flies around him before flying over to the arrogant kid. And while I really don't like it, I can actually see a younger James and my own teenage self in the kid, who speaks to the bulb of light and asks: "Tinker Bell, what took you so long?" And the light clears up to show a small fairy with transparent wings and a small green dress that barely covers her hips. The fairy seems unable to talk as nothing but little bells are heard. Yet the kid still seems able to understand her.
"Great job. So you found Wendy?" More bell sounds yet the meaning behind them startles the boy and he asks: "Hold on. There was another girl there, too?" Instantly Sora seems very attentive. The fairy seems to say something more and the boy seems to take serious offense to her words as he argues: "Are you crazy? There's no way I'm gonna leave Wendy there!" And while the lad reminded me of my teenage years, I definitely agree with him.

"Aha. She must be pretty jealous." Donald exclaims and laughs. Obviously the fairy takes offense to this and kicks him in the beak as he laughs. Then the fairy flies out of the hole that is in the top of the door and the boy yells after her: "Come on, Tink! Open up the door!" But the fairy is already gone. This time Sora is the one to clear his throat and the movie shows him already with his Keyblade in hand and standing confidently.
The lad obviously doesn't like being dependent on my son instead of it being the other way around as he huffs and finally introduces himself. "I'm Peter Pan." And while he does stretch out his hand, he pulls it back as soon as Sora replies: "I'm Sora." And even before Sora can finish his introduction Peter talks over him. "Okay, we're in this together, but only 'til we find Wendy." And the arrogant way he puts his hands in his hips annoys me.

"Yeah, he's like that all the time in his movie. I only watched it once when I was nine and I really didn't like it. Both he and Hook just reminded me of Dudley and of Vernon. I couldn't stand it, even though he did, somewhat, redeem himself at the end of the movie. He was just a selfish spoiled brat for the majority of it." Jessica mutters as she leans back in her seat with her arms crossed and the same unimpressed look on her face as before.
The others shake their heads and then my boy's mate smirks at his mate as he asks about Sora telling Goofy that he had been the one to find Kairi. My boy sighs and mutters: "Okay, so sometimes I say things without really thinking them through, like when I called you stupid over you thinking you could control the Heartless. You, on the other hand, Riku. You were definitely right when you said that your heart is strong."

The young man who I already consider my son-in-law – or by bond, I guess – smiles at his mate before we watch Sora use the Keyblade to open the door. Yet just like Hook said, they get attacked by Heartless as soon as they leave the room. What worries me is that the Shadow version of my son is amongst the Heartless group, yet thankfully the group of friends and Peter is stronger than the group of Heartless that attacks them.
However just when Sora is about to destroy his Shadow Double, the Shadow fades into the floor and flees. Sora is clearly annoyed by this, yet he, his friends and Peter simply traverse through the rest of the ship hold. Only then I suddenly notice that Peter is actually floating slightly above the ground and that he flies and dive bombs the Heartless. The sight of this – of someone flying without a broom – astounds me deeply.

Sora, Donald, Goofy and Peter climb up a ladder, pass through a few doors and enter a few rooms that end up being dead ends before they find one with a trap door in the floor. The trapdoor leads them to the cargo hold at what I can only assume is the bottom of the ship and they traverse through it from the back of the ship to the front. All the while they fight off even more Heartless, yet thankfully Peter seems loaded with healing items and he constantly shares them with Sora, Donald or Goofy if any of them get low on health.
The group reach the same floor they were on earlier, but then on the front of the ship and here Goofy seems to finally decide to address the dragon in the pen as he asks: "So, uh, how come you can fly?" The dog-like creature had been walking in the back of the group and everyone stops and turns around when he asks his question. Peter answers: "Anyone can fly. You wanna try?" The simple, aloof answer has me raise an eyebrow.

Peter whistles and the little fairy from before flies over. Again bells are heard ringing as she seems to say something and Peter groans: "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" The Fairy turns her back on Peter, yet he uses this to grab her by the wing and he flies until he floats above Sora, Donald and Goofy. The movie doesn't show what he does, but the dust, sparkles and bits of light that fell from the fairy cover the three friends as he says:
"Just a little bit of Pixie Dust. There. Now you can fly." Jess rolls her eyes and growls: "The recipe for flying isn't just Pixie Dust. Unless the movie had it wrong, you also need to trust in the fact that you can fly and have faith in fairies and stuff like that. He's withholding important information." And Donald proves this as he jumps and even flaps his wing-like arms, yet lands flat on his face after a few fruitless tries of this.

And naturally, because of the way he insulted her earlier, the fairy flies close to his face and laughs with a hand holding her stomach. Yet then the screen turns to black while showing Donald tapping a finger on deck. And when it returns, it shows Riku and Hook in what I can only assume are Hook's Captain's quarters. The two are in the middle of a conversation and Hook exclaims: "What? So Wendy's not one of the chosen ones?"
Instantly the last two words leave a bad taste in my mouth and I don't need to look to my side to know that the same goes for my little girl. Riku explains and says: "There are seven, supposedly, and Maleficent says she's not one of them. Hoist anchor as soon as possible. Leave all the dead weight behind, including her." Yet while the young man has his back turned to Hook, I still feel shocked at how callous he sounds.
Hook makes me wonder if he has any emotion other than anger and annoyance inside of him as he asks: "After the trouble of capturing her? And why those seven? What is Maleficent planning anyway?" At this I can't help but ask my boy: "Why did he think you would know that? Hadn't he been working with her for longer than you?" My son's mate shrugs and Riku proves the same as he curtly answers:

"Who knows? As long as it means getting Kairi's heart back, I couldn't care less." These words cause me to feel a strong sense of relief and I think: "So that's what's going on here. Riku is just emulating his father and grandmother. The Longbottom trait that, if you put your mind to a goal, you sometimes actually lose sight of other things that are usually important to you. Riku is so obsessed with impressing Sora by saving Kairi, he's becoming blind to the fact that he's trying it in ways that, in his heart, he knows Sora can't accept."
I remember Frank almost doing the same thing for his First Year exam as he was desperate to prove himself a worthy student and Heir to the Longbottom Line and I remember him telling me about how Augusta made a similar mistake when she started to prepare for her first meeting with the Wizengamot as the new Lady of House Longbottom. Silently to myself, I decide to tell Riku about these tales once the movie finishes this part.

Hook huffs and argues: "You're wasting your time! The Heartless have devoured that girl's heart. I'll stake me other hand it's lost forever." At this, because I met Kairi only recently, I hold back a snort and mutter that we shouldn't take Kairi to Neverland anytime soon. Yet Jessica rolls her eyes and says: "Hook's a pirate. He might have some honor, but he'll never admit to this statement." I can see that and just watch the movie.
"I will find it no matter what." Riku argues vehemently and I grin at his older counterpart which is seating a few seats away. The slightly older teen grins back ruefully and the camera sets itself so that it shows part of Riku's face and most of his left arm, with Hook standing behind the boy as a voice sounds and says Uh, Captain … Hook turns and moves over to the wall on his right where a metal pipe shoots out from the floor.

"What?" He asks and the voice of Smee answers: "The prisoners have escaped. What's more, Peter Pan is with them." I growl and mutter that it must have been the shadow Sora that reported this to Smee. Hook is also annoyed for different reasons as he growls: "Blast that Peter Pan! All right, then! Bring the hostage to me cabin, Smee. Hop to it!" And again the camera fades to black before it returns, this time showing the gang once more.
The group are standing in a large room with a nice stone grate and of which the ceiling on the back – or perhaps far sides – of the ship is made of a firm rope net instead of wooden boards. There is also a treasure chest to the left of the grate and Tink seems to have spotted something through the net as Peter asks her: "What is it, Tink?" The others turn to her and then the camera focuses on the room above the netting.

This room is a cabin with room for four hammocks, though only a young teenage girl with brown hair and a long blue dress seems to be in the room. The young girl looks deeply depressed until she apparently hears Peter's voice coming from the netting and asks: "Peter? Peter Pan?" She rushes over to the netting on the floor and Peter exclaims her name. Wendy crouches down on top of the netting and she starts to beg:
"Please hurry! The pirates are coming!" Peter seems shocked that the girl might be in danger and declares: "What?" I'll be right up there! Just hold on!" Yet then Sora speaks up and calls the girl's name. And when Wendy responds with a questioning Yes, Sora asks her: "Is there another girl in there with you?" The camera had been facing down through the netting, but it moves up as Wendy looks up and shows Kairi as Wendy says:
"Oh, why, yes. But she seems to be asleep. She hasn't budged an inch." The camera focuses fully on Kairi, whose eyes are open but vacant and who seems to be breathing deeply enough I can understand why Wendy would confuse her for being asleep. Sora calls out her name, once in question and once in an attempt to call her out. The girl moves her hand just enough it's visible through the netting and Sora raises up his own to her.

Wendy rushes for a huge closet which I can only assume she is using to barricade the door to her room. And as she tries to use her weight to keep the closet in place, the camera focuses on three points one at a time. Once on Sora's face as he looks desperate for a response, once from behind Sora and up through the netting and once on Kairi's hand, of which two fingers twitch for only a moment. But this moment is enough to make Sora smile.
Yet Wendy's barricade proves futile as a loud bang is heard and Kairi is shown to be pulled away through the netting. Wendy also lets out a scream of fright and instantly Peter declares: "Wendy! Hey, let's get up there!" Sora heads for the treasure chest and opens it, which contains another part for their Gummi Ship. After a bit of searching and a few tries, Sora, Donald, Goofy and Peter manage to find a hole in the netting on the other side of the room.

This leads them to the hallway above the room they were just in and while it's again swarming with Heartless and the Shadow, the group makes quick work of them, Sora even getting a nice bit stronger in his defense and offence as he fights. Yet again, the Shadow manages to get away just as Sora is about to finish it off, but the group doesn't care for this and heads for the room that the girls were in. Yet the door has been locked.
Peter slams his hand on the door and shouts: "Wendy, are you in there?" The group tries another door and this one opens to another cabin, but then with a safe point as well as a green trinity on the floor. A ladder is also stuck against the ceiling and will obviously come loose with the help of the Trinity mark. Peter seems agitated to get to Wendy's room, so Sora, Donald and Goofy hurriedly perform the Green Trinity and release the ladder.

The group climbs the ladder and end up in Hook's cabin at the point next to the metal pipe that Hook used to communicate with Smee. Sora walks around the little side wall that separates this half from the door leading out and there he sees something. Something that makes him stretch out his arm and shout: "Riku, wait!" Riku is standing with his back to the door and with Kairi unconscious in his arms. Yet he also ignores Sora's call.
He steps back as a shadowy blob seeps out from underneath the door. The blob stops at the floor between the two boys and the Shadow appears from it once again. Instantly I realize something that deeply worries me. The Shadow has been using each time it encountered Sora to get stronger from their battles. Its health is now obviously much greater than it was in any of the previous times and the group have a hard time taking it down.

Peter seems to have run out of most of his healing items, yet he also seems to have amazing magic stamina as he just keeps on either casting the wind and healing spells on Sora, Donald and Goofy or dive bombing the shadow to attack it and regain his Magic Points. And during the fight, the shadow proves to both be just a mindless being and a skillful fighter. Sometimes it just walks around casually, other times it splits itself into multiple Shadows.
This latter trick makes it so that, a few times, Sora, Donald and Goofy attack a weak clone instead of the more powerful original, but the former also gives the group plenty of chances to either heal up or attack it and weaken it considerably. And finally, after almost several minutes of fighting, the battle seems to be over. The Shadow floats above a huge glob motionlessly. Yet as it sinks into the blob, this time I feel as if that will be the last time it does so.

And the fact that an item appears as the blob dissipates has me breathing a sigh of relief before Donald discerns it to be the Raven's Claw, an object that reduces Dark damage by 20% and raises one's Strength and Defense. My sense of relief increases as Sora equips this before they notice another trap door where the Shadow had vanished. The group explores the room and find a treasure chest with three more puppies inside.
Further exploration shows them that the front door is still locked, but they also find a trapdoor where the blob and Shadow Sora vanished. And after they open the hatch and descend another pair of stairs, they find themselves in the room of the two girls, with Wendy inside. The girl herself is out cold and Peter lands near her. He cradles her head in his hand and softly calls out her name. Yet when Tink flies in frantic circles near him, he snaps:

"Come on, Tink! Not now!" He even swipes at her and the little fairy flies off in obvious anger. "Well, this is as far as I can go. I've gotta help Wendy." Peter says as he gently lifts the unconscious girl into his arms. For a moment I think to myself that the guy can't mean what I think. Yet Peter proves that he does as he actually flies out of the room and leaves Sora, Donald and Goofy behind. I gape at the screen, yet Jessica seems unimpressed.
"Wish I could say that I didn't see that coming, but – while it's more noble than his reasoning in the movie, it's still exactly what I expected. A guy who will help when needed, but only if it can benefit himself as well. And once it has –." But then my son gently tells his sister not to judge Peter too quickly and to just wait and see. Hope blooms in my heart that the flying lad might return sometime later, yet Jessica remains stoic.

Sora, Donald and Goofy, while fighting off more and more Heartless, head back to the room with the Green Trinity and back into Hook's cabin. To my relief and as if to conclude my belief that the Shadow Sora is indeed defeated and gone, it doesn't show up in any of the hordes of Heartless that try – and fail – to keep the trio from leaving the Captain's cabin. Yet once they are back on the ship's deck, they are ambushed by Hook.
"Quite a codfish, that Riku - running off with that girl without even saying goodbye." The man has Smee with him, who seems to be holding a golden and glass-made candle holder, as well as a few Pirate Heartless. Instantly Sora questions the man and asks: "Run of where? Tell me, where did he go?" For some reason that worries me, Hook actually cordially answers him and says: "To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resides."

But you won't be going there." The man takes the holder from Smee and this time the camera focuses on it. And Tink being stuck inside proves why Hook felt cordial enough to answer Sora as he threatens: "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind?" Instantly I hate the fact that my son doesn't know magic and that he seems too shocked to use the Keyblade for its natural purpose – to open up locks.
Instead Sora surrenders and dismisses the Keyblade. My eyes of my son's mate widen when he sees this and he whispers: "I – I had no idea this had happened." My boy cuddles with his mate to remind him of his presence. "Hand over the Keyblade and I'll spare your lives. Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the Heartless. So, which will it be? The Keyblade, or the plank?" Yet the man's gloating is instantly punished as seconds later he notices a green crocodile in the ocean.

Instantly the man seems overcome with fear and he yells: "It's him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here! Go away! Oh, I can't stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!" While he yells this the camera shows the crocodile from Hook's perspective and vice versa. It shows Hook handing the holder back to Smee and shows the man running for his cabin as he yells his orders.
And Smee taking care of them seems to result in Sora ending up standing on the edge of the plank with the crocodile's mouth wide open beneath the boy. The Heartless raise their swords at the boy and clearly threaten him not to try and walk anywhere but over the end. But just when the boy is only one step away from falling, Peter's voice is heard. "Fly, Sora! Just believe, and you can do it!" The sound of the voice startles my daughter.

"Well what do you know?" Jessica hums to herself and her brother grins at her knowingly. Sora, in the meantime, closes his eyes and takes the jump. Yet before he can end up in the crocodile's mouth, he flies away just like Peter. And as Sora floats just off to the side of the ship, Peter swoops past Smee and takes the candle holder from him. Smee looks shocked and startled for a moment before Sora and Peter land on the ship in front of him.
Peter lets Tink out of her prison as Sora thanks him. And the redhead's voice is full of genuine loyalty and disbelief as he asks: "Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I'd leave you and Tink behind, did you?" Jessica softly mumbles that she sure did as Smee flees the scene and other Heartless appear besides the few Pirate ones. Yet thanks to Sora now being able to fly like Peter, the group of four make quick work of the Heartless.
And just as Peter takes out the last of the Pirate Heartless and Sora casts the cure spell again, he seems to misspeak the word as he calls out Cura instead of Cure. Yet the spell still works and I realize that Sora must have learned an upgraded version of the spell. Quickly Donald and Goofy practice the spell themselves until they manage the same thing. At the same time I can't help but feel as if this could have been useful against Shadow Sora.

Peter guides the trio to the door of Hook's cabin and while Donald and Goofy hide behind a bunch of barrels, Sora and Peter take a stand on either side of the door. Peter knocks and laughs silently as Hook asks: "Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?" Peter pinches his nose closed with his fingers and his voice sounds just like the little guy with the red cap as he says: "Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them."
The door opens and Hook runs a few steps outside. He looks around madly while Peter sneaks up behind him. And while I might have found it funny back when I was young, I just raise an unimpressed eyebrow at how the young man stabs Hook in the rear with his dagger. Hook jumps up and screams in pain before he turns around and yells: "P-Peter Pa - - blast you!" I don't agree with this, but I don't agree with Peter's methods either.

"Ready to make a splash, you codfish? Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Peter challenges the pirate captain, while Sora stands next to him, ready for a fight. Yet instead of it being four against one, a battle ship Heartless appears to float besides the pirate ship. And every time Hook shouts the word Fire, several rockets and or cannon balls are launched from the other ship in an attempt to hit Sora, Donald, Goofy or Peter.
Hook himself is also a formidable foe as his sword proves to be razor sharp and he seems mostly focused on Sora and Peter. The man is also incredibly nimble and jumps all over the deck. Yet a few times he makes the wrong jump and almost jumps overboard. Yet somehow the man is capable of jumping out of the water and jumping high enough he lands back on the ship. All the while he shouts: "You'll not get me other hand!"

The whole battle takes a lot out of the group of heroes and Sora, Donald and Peter are often seen casting the Aero and Cura spell on each other. Sora also attempts to fly away from Hook from time to time, yet the man is obviously so used to Peter doing this, that he reacts with lightning-fast reflexes and strikes Sora even harder. The sight of this worries me, but Sora learns of an easy way to fight back by casting the Fire Spell.
Each time that either Sora or Donald cast this spell, Hook starts to run around with his cloths on fire and while he yells out in pain. A few times he hits Sora while running, yet the hit hardly damages my son at all. Finally the battle is over and Peter hits Hook so hard, the pirate flies all the way from one side of the ship to the other and beyond it. He flies even past the open jaws of the crocodile and lands in the water next to it.

Instantly the water reptile starts to give chase and Hook is, amazingly enough, so scared of the creature that he manages to run on the ocean's surface. Left and right the pirate runs in an attempt to get the crocodile off his back, yet the water creature proves to be both fast and swift in its movement. It attempts to jump Hook a few times, but Hook's speed proves too fast for the beast and the two chase each other into the dark horizon.
After this the movie returns its focus back on Sora and the boy stares at his Keyblade as it glows with a strange new power. Sora decides silently for himself that he will test this new skill out later before he moves over to the railing of the ship on the floor of Hook's cabin. Peter, Donald and Goofy all stand behind him and watch the boy silently for a few minutes.
Goofy, who had actually managed to snatch another one of Ansem's reports out of Hook's pocket before the pirate captain landed in sea, speaks up and says: "Uh, Kairi couldn't wake up, so maybe she's really lost her -." But before he can finish that sentence, Donald angrily shushes him. Jessica snorts at this and says how Donald is usually the one to make comments without thinking about it, yet I still worry for the other young girl and Sora.

Peter calls Sora's name and the boy mumbles: "I still can't believe it. I really flew. Wait 'till I tell Kairi. I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not." At this I can't help but mutter that I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't just seen it. Yet Peter doesn't seem willing to let Sora mope as he says: "You can bring her to Neverland, sometime. Then she can try it herself." The camera focuses on Peter, Donald and Goofy as Sora says:
"If you believe, you can do anything, right? I'll find Kairi. I know I will. There's so much I want to tell her - about flying, the pirates, and everything else that's happened." I smile at my son, yet I also notice that his mate seems conflicted and upset about something. In the movie Tink flies past Sora and over to Peter and seems to tell him something as he asks: "What's that, Tink? What about the clock tower? You say there's something there?"

The camera turns dark and when it refocuses, my eyes widen as I see what looks like London by nighttime. I ask how this is possible and Jessica shrugs as she says: "Unless I'm mistaken, this world is centered around our capital or something, but then about a century ago. And to be honest, dad, it's not just this world. I'm sure that there will be other worlds that will have, to us, familiar landmarks in them." And she gets proven right.
The camera slowly tilts to the right and the Big Ben is shown on screen, its four faces lit up bright yellow against the night sky. Instantly I realize what clock tower Tink and Peter were talking about just as the movie zooms in on the tower and shows the group of four flying towards it from the distance. Wendy startles me as she is actually seated on the tower above the one of the four faces of the mighty clock.

Sora runs and flies around the Clock Tower and finds two chests. One which holds another piece for their Gummi Ship and another that holds another three puppies. Then, as the group takes a flight around the clock tower, they notice that one of the faces shows the wrong time. Instead of showing it to be exactly midnight, the clock shows the time to be a quarter to midnight. Sora flies over and hits the long hand a few times.
Each time he hits the long hand, the hand itself moves itself up to ten to twelve, five to twelve and, after the third hit, to midnight exactly. The whole face of the clock lights up with a flash that is visible even from a distance, but only for a moment. The camera zooms up from the bottom of the tower to the same face as before. And in between the Roman Numerals for 2 and 3, a small keyhole appears that Sora closes with his Keyblade.

Another Gummi piece falls from the clock tower's face and Donald quickly flies over to catch it before it falls off the top of the tower. While this happens, the camera closes in on itself with the shape of a Keyhole. Yet instead of showing teenage Sora again, the movie shows my son when he was still a kid and Riku calls out to him. The sight is also familiar as it seems as if this is the second half of the flashback we saw back with Monstro.
The camera focuses on young Riku from behind Sora's back and while there's no voice added to his words, the boy's whole body language shows his determination and his excitement as he says: "When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!" I raise my eyebrow at my son-by-bond and gently tell him I would have rather if he had waited a few more years with that plan.
The slightly older teen grimaces, but I just wink at him and joke that I'm just pulling his leg. The Longbottom Heir looks startled and then he shakes his head with a grin on his face while in the movie Sora and Riku leave the cave while Sora asks: "Sure. But isn't there anything fun to do now? Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house? She arrived on the night of the meteor shower!" But while Sora keeps walking, Riku turns around.

And on the door that is in the back of the cave, a large golden Keyhole is now visible, accompanied by two bows that look like the letter S and the letter S in mirror form and with two smaller bows lined beneath the Keyhole. Riku turns himself fully to study the Keyhole for a moment and yet again the screen fades to black. I turn to the young man in question and he tells me: "Sora called after me a moment later. I let it be."
I nod in relief yet my relief is short lived. When the camera refocuses it shows a bright stain-glass ceiling with light shining through the stained glass and I hear Riku panting in exertion. The movie shows the young man with an arm resting on his knee and panting in exhaustion before it shows more of the room he's in alongside Maleficent. "It was reckless to bring her here without at least using a vessel." The evil witch reprimands him.

"Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart." Riku regains his breath while she berates him, but before he can retort, a ferocious growl that reminds me of Remus on a full-moon night, rings through the room. Riku jumps up and turns around in shock, yet Maleficent seems uncaring and callously comments: "A castaway." Yet I notice that Jessica is grinning and she whispers that it's one who could tear Maleficent to shreds. Both Sora and Riku grin and nod in agreement to this.
"Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will. But fear not. No harm will come to you. he is no match for your power." Sora lovingly, yet also begrudgingly agrees to this, yet Riku seems confused and asks: "My power?" And Maleficent answers him. "Yes, the untapped power that lies within you. Now, child, it's time you awakened that power and realize your full potential." And as she says this, something happens.

An aura of pure green light flows across Riku's whole form. And while it seems to hurt the boy at first, he closes his eyes in gleeful acceptance as the camera again turns dark. Yet then Jessica grunts: "What a hypocrite. First she reprimands that he shouldn't use too much dark power, then she gives him more dark powers to use? What is even her deal?" And the slightly older version of the teen gives the strangest answer:
"I think, in her own way, she saw me as her apprentice, or perhaps someone to follow in her footsteps if something happened to her. I mean, yes, she trained me and had me sweat and bleed while working alongside Jafar and the others, but she also always provided me a room, three meals and – that statement of her just wanting me to be happy. Sometimes I wonder if – that really was true." We all stare at the young man and he says: "Don't get me wrong, she's a selfish dark witch, but – I just think she was warming up on me.
If anything, if she knew what Ansem had planned for me and what he did to me in the end – I don't know, I think she would have tried to at least fight him a little and work harder to get Kingdom Hearts for herself, so she could have enough power to stop him. Though at the same time I'm glad her greed overcame her in the end. I really wouldn't want to be in her debt." The others nod and I silently think: "In every woman rests a mother's heart."

The movie seems to return to Neverland/England and I see Peter float besides the clocktower as Wendy walks the small hallway that is set above the tower's four faces. "Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?" Wendy asks the young man and I wonder if there might be something more going on between the two. "Afraid so. But we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland, that is."
And the way that the two clasp hands at the end of the young man's sentence further proves that there are, at least, feelings of a growing crush going on between the two. This seems to weird out Jessica and when her brother asks her what's wrong, she says: "Unless I'm mistaken, Peter has already been in Neverland, unable to grow up and stuck in that body for a few centuries. He might look 16, but he's really about four or five-hundred years old."

My eyes widen and instantly I get why my daughter is weirded out by this scene. And Tink seems just as annoyed as my daughter is disgusted. Yet while Donald almost bursts out laughing again, he slaps his beak shout with his hands before the fairy can fully turn to him in anger. Tink flies a circle around Peter and then one around him and Wendy. Yet then she flies over and flies several circles around a confused looking Sora.
"Oh, boy. She's gettin' steamed again. Do me a favor. Look after her for me, will yah?" Tink flies up to Sora's face and twirls on her axis, while Sora lets out a confused what. Yet just like Jiminy the little fairy seems to have made up her mind and she dives into the hoodie. Jiminy makes a soft exclamation at this, but then laughs and tells the fairy to get comfortable. Sora looks behind him befuddled, but then he shrugs in acceptance.

Yet suddenly something flies out of Sora's hoodie and the young man almost stumbles off of the clock-tower in an attempt to catch it. His eyes widen when he sees that it's another keychain and he attached it to his Keyblade. The black metal shortens down and becomes made of reed instead of metal. The coloring also changes and becomes a mix of green, blue and white. The teeth at the end now look like reed pipes.
Sora, Donald and Goofy fly up to the small safe point that is on top of the hallway they were at and Sora wonders if they can still use it to get onto the Gummi Ship. To this Goofy says: "We should be. I'm pretty sure that the crash we had with the ship just knocked us off board. And it didn't feel as if the ship travelled far before it got to Neverland, so the Gummi ship should still be nearby." Sora nods and the group departs.

Nearing the end, right?
Eeeeeh, not quite. There's still the tournament that allows Sora to upgrade Cura to Curaga as well as the little scene that takes place in Traverse Town. Though I decided to make all of that a chapter of its own, even if it might end up being one of the shortest ones of this section of To Read and To View. Still, as much as I love these movie chapters, I'm kind of longing for the CR chapters. Those are easier and take less time.
What do I mean with that? I try to keep the movie as authentic and closely tied to the actual KH game as possible. Okay, so I stopped describing every last Heartless that appears in each world, but I doubt any of you really care about that. But when it comes to the spoken word and sometimes to the way the camera works, I still try to get that just right. Because of this I use Let's Plays, but sometimes I have to watch a scene of 3 minutes 17 times.
Kind of exhausting,

Venquine1990