Chapter XLVI: The Spirit of Adventure
"You came here in that?" spoke the figure in the shadows, looking up at the house. "In a house? A floating house?" he chuckled. "That's the darnedest I've ever seen. You're not after my bird, are ya? But if you need to borrow a cup of sugar, I'd be happy to oblige."
The dogs joined in the laughter as the man started to approach once again. Ushio gazed around, trying to get a handle on the situation.
"Well, this is all a misunderstanding. My dogs made a mistake." he said as he stepped into the light.
"Wait! Are you Charles Muntz?" Carl spoke up.
"Yeah, well, yes."
"THE Charles Muntz?"
"'Adventure is out there!'"
"It's really him!" Carl exclaimed. "That's Charles Muntz!"
"It is!" Russell joined in. "Who's Charles Muntz?"
"Yeah, who is that?" questioned Ushio.
"Him!" Carl walked up to him. "I'm Carl Fredricksen. My wife and I, we were your biggest fans."
"Oh, well. You're a man of good taste." Charles Muntz laughed. "Now you three must be tired. Hungry?"
"Uh huh." Russell nodded.
"Now, attention everybody!" Charles addresses the dogs. "These people are no longer intruders. They are our guests."
As Charles Muntz lead the way inside, Ushio and the others spotted a massive blimp parked inside. Walking along, the dogs took on a more pleasant tone.
"Go ahead and mood your airship next to mine." Charles called out.
Doing as directed, the three tied off their ropes to anchor the house. Once done, they looked ahead as the ramp lowered to access the blimp.
"We not actually going inside the Spirit of Adventure itself?" Carl said in disbelief.
"Oh, would you like to?" Charles asked from the ramp.
"Would I?" Carl laughed as he hurried. Following their lead, Ushio and Russell joined up with him.
As the trio boarded the airship, up above something was visible in one of the windows. Unnoticed by anyone, Iwa watched as they entered the blimp. Once on, the white haired boy turned, his plan uncertain.
—
Ushio followed song as Muntz showed off his collection he had with him. Carl hung on every word as Muntz explained.
"Diner is ready." Alpha spoke as Carl and Muntz continued talking.
"Oh dear, broken translator." Muntz said as he heard Alpha speak. Bending down, he fiddled with it.
"Thank you Master." Alpha spoke in a deeper voice.
"I think I liked his other voice." Russell stated.
"Now then, dinner is served. Right this way." Muntz said, leading them into the dinning hall.
Ushio followed as everyone sat at the table. The four had dogs present trays in front of them.
"Oh, my Ellie would have loved all this." Carl spoke. "You know, it's because of you that she had this dream to come down here and live by Paradise Falls."
"I'm honored and now you've made it." Muntz said.
"You sure were not a bother. I'd hate to impose." said Carl.
"No, no, it's a pleasure to have guests. A real delight." Muntz replied. "More often I get thieves come to steal what's rightfully mine."
Muntz grabbed a lantern and got up from the table. He wandered further back into the dimly lit room, revealing a wall full of papers and a giant bird skeleton.
"They called me a fraud. Those…" he trailed off. "But once I bring back this creature, my name will be cleared." He glanced at the bird skeleton. "Beautiful, isn't it? I've spent a lifetime tracking it. Sometimes years go by between sightings. I tried to smoke it out of that deathly labyrinth where it lives. You can't go in after it. Once in, there's no way out. Lost so many dogs…" He struck the floor with his cane. "And here they come, these bandits, and think the bird is theirs to take. But they soon find that this mountain is a very dangerous place."
"Hey, that looks like Kevin." Russel spoke up, noticing the skeleton.
"Kevin?" Muntz asked.
Ushio got a bad feeling at Muntz's question. Russell continued going on about Kevin. As he talked, Ushio's feeling got worse. Something just started to not sit right.
"It's gone now!" Carl spoke. Ushio leaned over and saw the concern having reached him too.
"You know Carl, these people who pass through here, they all tell pretty good stories." Muntz grew stern as he walked over to a collection of explorer hats and goggles. "A surveyor making a map." He started knocking them over. "A botanist cataloging plants. An old man taking his house to Paradise Falls. I mean, that's the best one yet. I can't wait to Here how it ends."
Knowing their severity of the situation, Ushio grew tense. Her muscles tightened up as she was prepared for the worst. Given all her experiences, of course this would happen. Looking at Carl, she noticed his eyes had gone to the window.
"Well, it's been a wonderful evening, but we'd better be going." Carl stated.
"Oh, you're not leaving." Muntz asked.
"We don't want to take advantage of your hospitality." Carl said, getting up. At this point, Ushio was all for joining in.
"Oh, you really must stay. I insist." Muntz pleaded in a sinister tone.
"Oh no, I think we don't." Ushio finally spoke up.
As she did, everyone could hear as Kevin let out a screech outside.
"Kevin?" Russell replied.
Muntz approached the window and looked outside. He spotted Kevin sat atop Carl's house, calling out.
"It's here." he spoke.
While Muntz was distracted, Ushio, Carl, and Russell took off. Running down the halls, they could barely make out the last words he spoke.
"Get them!"
Making their way outside, Carl and Russell untethered the house from its position while Ushio took up the rear. Fast on their trail, dogs poured out of the airship, chasing after them. However, Ushio spotted something different mixed in with them. Dark blue, dog like creatures with massive heads added to their numbers and seemed to be taking the lead. Early on, Ushio could make out that they appeared to be Heartless.
Trying to make their way out the front, a horse of dogs blocked the entrance. Knowing they couldn't escape that way, they paused.
"Master, over here!" the familiar voice of Dug called out.
Glancing in its direction, the trio spotted the dog next to another passageway. Sprinting as fast as they could, the group followed Dug on his escape plan. Heading towards the light, Dug ran above the group as they pushed on. As they attempted to pick up speed, Kevin throw Carl and Russell on her back and Ushio proved to be able to keep up. Balloons began popping as the cavern's roof scraped the top. Luckily for them, Dug was able to drop rocks behind them, impeding the path of the dogs.
Despite all this, the Rabid Dog Heartless were able to push forward all the same. Knowing what had to be done, Ushio lagged a bit behind as she began to fall in line with the Heartless. With them all around her, she summoned her Keyblade once more and started to attack as she continued running ahead. The Rabid Dogs disappeared as she struck them, but their number kept them a threat. They shot shockwaves as she had to maneuver smartly to avoid them. Taking the narrow, straight path, she watched as Carl and Russell jumped from rock to rock, the stony structures collapsing behind them. As the Rabid Dogs began to decrease in numbers, she reached the beginning of the end of the road. With the Heartless and other dogs closing in, the others used the floating house to leap across the gorge. Ushio was able to grab on at the last moment as the group made it across.
As they took a breath of air, Ushio was thankful they were safe for now. She looked to see Russell bandaging Kevin, apparently hurt during the chase.
"She's hurt real bad. Can't we help her get home?" Russell asked.
Carl took a moment to look at the bird before looking at the balloons above his house.
"All right, but we gotta hurry."