Chapter XXXVIII- Neverland (Part 2)
Riku sighed looking up at the night sky. He saw the moon shining brightly above the city. He reached his hand out and pretended to grab it in his hand. He put his closed fist to his chest.
Ever since he had that talk with Koga and Sora in Monstro he's had this strange feeling in his Heart. Maleficent said that lingering in darkness for so long would result in such things and to let go of such guilt.
What guilt?
He had what he wanted, the ability to see the worlds and be free from his everyday life. But there was something missing, something not even that new pet of his can't give him, something that his ex-friends have.
Companions.
He gritted his teeth in anger thinking about them. Ever since they left the island they have been doing nothing but looking down on him like he's the bad guy. This isn't their story it's his and they better get the memo or else it's gonna blow up in their faces real soon.
He turned to Kairi laying against the stone wall of the tower he landed on. She was still in her sleep like state it seemed.
"I swear I'm going to get your Heart back, whatever it takes."
He noticed someone flying towards the tower and he quickly took Kairi and left in a dark portal before he was spotted.
After Peter Pan left with Wendy the group continued on to try and find Riku and Kairi. They searched all over the interior but found nothing eventually making their way to the deck, feeling the salty breeze of the ocean on their faces and the threatening swords of the Pirate Heartless. The group readied their weapons to fight but they then noticed Captain Hook giving a prideful smirk next to Smee who was holding a brightly lit lantern.
"Quite a codfish, that Riku. Running off with that girl without even saying goodbye." Hook said. "But on the bright side, Pan left along with that Wendy brat and I'm once again in charge of me own ship."
"Run off where? Tell me, where did he take Kairi?" Sora said angrily gripping his Keyblade tightly.
"To the ruins of Hollow Bastion." Hook declared. "The lair of Maleficent and her dwindling organization members. We were on their way there was a matter of fact but Riku decided to go overboard and leave you brats behind to deal with me."
"Well either way, Hollow Bastion is our next destination." Koga said pulling his Keyblade. "So get out of our way or else..."
"Oh, I wouldn't do that lads." He gestured to the lantern and they discovered that inside was none other than Tinker Bell. "Unless you intend to leave your little pixie behind?"
The captain chuckled seeing them lower their weapons in compliance.
"Now how about a deal, you surrender the Keyblade and I'll let her go free. Or else it's the plank for the lot of ye." He gestured to a long plank of wood handing over the edge of the ship, prepared for them.
"I'm sorry Tink but we can't." Koga said looking apologetic at the pixie angrily banging against the glass.
Suddenly there was a ticking noise like a clock coming from overboard. Hook paled and his legs started shaking. He looked over the deck to see a green crocodile with it's green head leering at the captain.
"It's him! The blasted croc that took my hand!" He runs to Smee with wide eyes. "Smee, he's after me other hand! I can't stay here! You take care of them Smee, I-I have to go do important work in my cabin where it's safe!" He said before fleeing in an amusing manner.
"Aye-aye captain!" Smee salutes to his captain. He turns to the others. "Alright, so who will go first?" He was hardly intimidating at all, but with the trapped pixie in his hands they don't dare try anything.
"I will." Koga said. The Heartless nudged him forward towards the plank.
"Koga!" Sora exclaimed, but he noticed Koga had a glint in his eye. He was on to something. The starry eyed youth stood at the edge of the plank, where a hungry crocodile was waiting for it's impending meal. He closed his eyes and thought of something. A distant memory that made Koga smiled to himself.
"This better work..." He sighed. He hopped off the plank while Sora Donald and Goofy cried out to him in fear. He almost landed in the crocodile's mouth before his body rose into the air. Everyone watched mouth agape at the boy who was now flying. He had golden sparkles coming off of him, the pixie dust Tinkerbell put on them.
Koga looked down at himself with a look of shocked joy. He turned to his friends with a wide grin.
"I'M FLYING, I'M ACTUALLY FLYING!" The others grinned with him floating in the air with him unknowingly until they looked down.
"Took you guys long enough to figure it out."
Smee took a second to notice that Tinkerbell's lantern prison is no longer in his hands. He turns to the side and saw Peter Pan let Tink out as she flew away in relief. Koga flew by his side surprised.
"Peter, you came back."
"Of course I did. You didn't think I'd leave you behind, did you?"
"... you came back for Tink didn't you?" Sora narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, but I also owed you for helping me find Wendy."
"Well how about helping us put a stop to the pirates?" Sora asked eyeing the nervously sweating Smee who was hiding behind the Heartless.
"Count me in, they're all going down!" All five of them readied their weapons as they charged.
Hook was laying his head on his desk trying to calm his nerves when he heard knocking on his door.
"Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?"
"Aye, Captain. They walked the plank, every last one of them."
"And the Crocodile?"
"Why he's all full from eating those kids that he went on home, you can come out now."
Captain Hook gave a content sigh and stepped out the door with confidence. He noticed that the deck was empty of the Heartless or his first mate.
"Mr. Smee, show yourself man!"
"Mmmpf mmm mmm!"
Hook twisted his mustache inquisitively as he heard the nearby barrel yell at him. He peered into the barrel and saw Smee inside with his hat stuck in his mouth.
"Smee, what in blazes are you doing in the gunpowder barrel?" He said tearing off the hat with his hook.
"Capt, behind you!"
"Wh-" Suddenly he felt a sharp poke on the left side of his poop deck. (Stop giggling) He jumped up three feet in the air and yelped. Whipping around he saw those pesky brats with none other than Peter Pan. And what's worse, now they were all floating in the air just like his nemesis.
"P-Peter Pa- BLAST YOU!" He roared, his face turning as red as his coat as his confusion quickly turned to rage.
"Sorry Hook, but the tables have turned." Sora said with a playful smirk.
"Ready to make a splash, you codfish?" Peter laughed. "Now it's your turn to walk the plank!"
"Grr, you've made a fool of me for the last time, Pan! I'll skewer the lot of you! Heartless come out!" Hook pulled out a whistle and blew a high pitch sound. Suddenly a group of Battleship Heartless appeared from both sides of the ship, along with winged pirate Heartless.
Air Pirate
"Me, Donald, and Goofy got the Heartless. You and Peter focus on Hook." Koga said to his brother before the trio flew into the air and took on the smaller enemies.
Hook growled before getting his rapier out. "Prepare to meet your doom!"
Peter lunged for Hook who sidestepped and swung his blade at the boy who quickly flew out of the arc. Sora ran up and swung his Keyblade only for it to get caught by Hook's hook who spun his blade around until the boy lost his grip and was disarmed. Peter flew back and did a quick swipe with his leg, making Hook fall on his back.
Koga ducked under a cannon shot from a Battleship before avoiding a nasty punch from the Air Pirate. He used a gravity spell on it and it threw the Heartless into the ocean, leaving the crocodile to devour it. Goofy dived and spun around like a top, hitting his shield into the side of the ship Heartless multiple times. Donald lit the mast of the ship on fire as it lost altitude getting dangerously close to the water. The other Battleship backed it's comrade by ramming itself into Donald.
Sora had to admit that Hook was a much better swordsman than he took him credit for. He keeps parrying all his swings no matter how fast he is.
Hook jumped back from the duo and threw a present with a bow-tie at them. Peter's eyes widened. "Look out!" He pushed Sora away as the present exploded. The force knocking them back, and Smee who was still in the barrel fell into a nearby lifeboat that then fell into the water.
"Strike!" Sora said as he raised his Keyblade up and fired a lightning spell at Hook. The lightning focused on his hook as it seemed to absorb the electricity. "What?"
"When you end up in as many thunderstorms as me boy you make sure your hook becomes lightning proof." The captain said. Suddenly a very battered Battleship crashed right into Hook before vanishing.
"Sorry!" Koga said as he blocked the punched from the Air Pirates.
Comical steam puffed from Hook's ears as he started throwing a temper tantrum. "I'll make you all walk the plank!" He angrily swung both his sword and hook around chasing after the boys. Peter smirked, easily avoiding the swings as he led hook towards the mast. With a mighty swing he rammed his hook into the wooden mast getting it stuck. He pulled and it wouldn't budge. He used his sword to chop the wood around it as he pulled. He finally pulled free but stumbled back hard towards the edge of the plank. He struggled to regain his balance but then Peter gave him a little nudge.
Hook screamed as he fell into the water. Koga and the others finished off the Heartless before turning to watched the sputtering captain.
The captain spit out some water and was about to say something to Pan but then his heart dropped as he heard the familiar ticking sound. He turned his head and saw the crocodile smiling at him.
"SMEE!" Hook screamed as the croc lunged at him while he tried his best to avoid it's snapping jaw.
Smee, who was on the lifeboat the entire time, quickly got to rowing as soon as he heard his captain call out for him.
"D-don't go away captain! Stay right there now sir. I'll save ya sir."
Hook was on top of the croc's snout, arms and legs wrapped around it's mouth trying to keep it closed. It smirked evilly at the pirate as they swam past Smee's lifeboat.
"Smee, save me!" Hook yelled as he jumped on the croc's back and tried to jump into the lifeboat, only to dive headfirst into the lightning quick crocodile. Honestly, Koga started to struggle hiding his laughter watching this slapstick going on.
"Give him back!" Smee yelled as he pulled his oar back to smack the croc. Suddenly Hook jumped out of the croc's mouth.
"SME-" Hook was bonked on the head by the oar as he fell back into the croc's mouth. Sora was joining his brother in on the laughter. The latter was tearing up by how hard he was laughing.
The impact of Hook hitting the end of the croc made it spit him out. Hook wasted no time as he moved so fast he was practically running on water as the crocodile chased after him.
"Captain!" Smee desperately called as he rowed after the two. The three of them disappearing into the horizon.
With that the group gathered together back on the deck. Peter looked at the gasping twins with concern.
"Are they okay?" Peter asked.
"Yeah, haha, just give them a minute." Goofy said.
"Oh my gosh..." Sora wheezed. "No more, I can't take anymore."
"I can't wait to tell Kairi all about that."
"And that we actually flew."
"Yeah, you think she'll believe us?"
"Probably not." Sora shrugged. Between turning into mermen, fighting the god of the underworld, outrunning card soldiers, and many other things this was turning into quite a story for anyone to believe.
"You can bring her to Neverland sometime then she can try it out herself." Peter said.
"But Kairi didn't wake up." Goofy said sadly. "What if she really did lose her..."
Sora shook his head. "No, there's still hope, we just gotta keep believing and we can do anything."
Before anything else can be said Tinker Bell flew in twinkling urgently. Peter listened to his close friend.
"What Tink? There's something going on at the Clock Tower?"
"Clock tower, I don't see a clock tower." Goofy said.
"That's because it's in London, Wendy's home. C'mon I'll show you."
Riku panted as he was on his knees in front of a very disapproving Maleficent. He felt so sick and exhausted that he almost puked on the witch.
"It was reckless to bring her here without at least using a vessel. Were we any more farther away we would have lost the two of you permanently." Riku scowled but did not look at her. "Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart."
"I..." The silver haired teen took a gulp for air. "I had no choice, Sora and Koga were closing in on me I had to escape."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to dispose of them? Surely you will win if you clashed, correct?"
"Of course!" Riku shouted with pride before biting his lip. "It's just that..."
Suddenly there was a loud roar that echoed across the entire castle. Riku jumped up and reflexively looked around for the source. Maleficent didn't looked intimidated, just annoyed.
"What was that?" He asked.
"A castaway." She replied. "A creature who held captive one of my princesses. It seems when I took her from him and destroyed his world, his heart did not perish and he has followed her to this place."
"How is that possible?" Riku asked.
"An interesting question, but one that does not concern me." She turned to Riku. "Fear not, no harm will come to you. He is no match for your power."
"My power?" Riku asked inquisitively.
"Yes, the untapped power that lies sleeping within you, hidden away for a long time." The tip of her staff glowed as Riku is enveloped in green flames. "Luckily I have power over sleep. And I can awaken what's inside you, then you will be free to be who you truly are..."
The group followed Peter as they all flew out away from the island and towards the place Tink wanted to show them. They got further and further away from the island until it look like little more than a star. Soon they saw themselves float down towards a bustling city at night. There was a large clock tower in the heart of the city.
They landed on a ledge right above the face of the clock. There was Wendy patiently waiting for them.
"Welcome to London boys." She said politely. "Did you find your friend Kairi?"
"No, she got away."
Wendy frowned. "Oh, well don't worry, I'm sure you will find her just don't give up."
"Thanks." The twins nodded.
"Huh, that's funny." Peter said circling the clock. "One of these is not in the right time."
They flew around with Peter and saw that one of the faces was 15 minutes before midnight. With Goofy and Koga's pulling they quickly fixed it. Then near the 3 the Keyhole appeared. Sora didn't think twice before he summoned his Keyblade and locked it.
"What was that?" Peter asked confused by what he saw.
"It means it time for us to get going." Donald said.
"Oh, well I guess I gotta get back to my lost boys as well." The flying boy replied.
"Peter, are you really going back to Neverland?" Wendy asked disappointed.
"Afraid so. But we can see each other any time." He reassured her taking her hand. "As long as you don't forget about Neverland that is." They smiled at each other. Tink twinkled angrily but ignored them. She handed Koga something, a small gem that sparkled like pixie dust.
"A summon gem?" Koga said surprised.
"It's a gift from Tink." Peter said. "Use it anytime to bring Tink over and she'll give you a good amount of pixie dust when you need it."
"Wow, thank you Tinker Bell." The boy said to the pixie. She smiled and booped him on the nose.
"Aw, looks like she's starting to take a liking to you. Hope she doesn't get jealous of you and Kairi." Sora teased.
"Yeah... wait WHAT!"
And so Neverland is now finished.
I gotta say, I absolutely loved writing the slapstick with Hook, it makes me laugh just as much as it did Koga and Sora.
Hope your're excited for the next chapters as I am because this is when things get much more serious.
HAVE FUN!