The Darkness Within
Chapter 9: Fall of the Phony King
Leon paced the floor of a normal hotel room, arms crossed and eyes focused on the blue carpet below him, thinking about the new news. He stopped to look up at Sora, who was sitting on the bed squirming a little under his gaze, then let out a heavy, frustrated sigh before he continued to pace. This had been going on for a good ten minutes since they arrived at the hotel room. Yuffie watched, trying to wait patiently for Leon to say something, while taping her foot; that's around the time that he stopped as if deciding on something.
"Are you sure you don't remember anything about the Keyblade?" Sora shook his head, "Not even the word reminds you of anything?" Sora shook his head again.
"Great," Leon groaned as he turned to walk away, "The Keyblade Master can't even remember what he's the master of." Sora frowned sadly before he glanced down at his feet, slightly ashamed of himself.
"It's okay Sora," Yuffie said as she laid her hand on his shoulder, "It's not your fault you forgot. It could have been something in that world."
"Then why didn't we get amnesia?" Donald asked, who was sitting at the far side of the room on a small couch with Goofy leaning on the armrest.
"Maybe... maybe it was... psychological," Yuffie said, having trouble remembering the word, "What if Sora was just hiding his true feelings about how he felt? Then in an after affect he just temporarily lost his memory while trying to push the horrible ones out of his head."
"Is that even possible?" Leon asked.
"It was only a thought," Yuffie huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest, puffing her cheeks out in anger.
"If that was true then we wouldn't be able to find out anyway until Sora fully restored his memory," Donald stated, "He can hardly remember anything now. I doubt he'll remember what he thought about everything that happened."
"True," Yuffie sighed. Sora's frown deepened as he looked over at Leon. He's back was turned to everyone in the room as he leaned against the wall, but something else drew the boy's attention. Sora gasped as he stared at the lion head sewn into the back of Leon's jacket.
"That lion!" Sora gasped again, "I remember it!"
"What?!" Everyone shouted.
---------------Flash Back (Sora's POV)---------------------
"You did good," Leon said with a smile as he seamed to limp toward me. I smiled back as I rose from the grown, almost not making it. I had taken quite a beating it seemed.
"Yeah well, you weren't that easy to beat," I laughed, looking at another man, with wild blond hair and piercing blue eyes, that almost seemed to glow, who had just stood from the ground, "I'd be pretty worried if you said you'd been taking it easy on me."
"I want you to have this," Leon said as he reached out to me with a closed hand, "Think of it as a token for the last time you beat me." I smiled as I stretched my open hand out to his. He dropped an object in my hand, and when I took a closer inspection of it, it was a lion head key chain.
"Oh wow!" I exclaimed, "It's a chain for my Keyblade!"
"It's the Lionheart," The blond man explained, "Clip it on. Let's see how it looks."
"Okay!" I lifted up my Keyblade, stumbling a bit since I was using it to prop myself up, and unclipped the current chain, and replaced it with the new one. In a bright silvery light my Keyblade changed into the Lionheart, a magnificent and powerful looking Keyblade. I could only smile.
'My... Keyblade?'
---------------------------
"The Lionheart..."
"That's the chain for your Keyblade I gave to you after you defeated me in the Hates cup," Leon said, now giving Sora his full attention, "You remembered?"
"It was your jacket," Sora said with a smile, "There was another guy with you. He had spiky blond hair, this mahogany colored cape, and some kind of golden claw on his left hand-"
"Cloud?" Yuffie questioned.
"That's right, you had to fight both of us to advance," Leon stated, "The Keyblade, do you remember it now?" Sora stared down at the floor as his mind suddenly surged, flashing pictures of each and every Keyblade he had. Eventually his mind stopped at one scene that didn't seem to just blink by in a flash.
-------------------------------
I was standing in a dark puddle of ooze as a storm raged around me and another person, stuck in the supstance as well. I looked up at him, but all I could see of him was his black-gloved hand, reaching out at me, and silver hair. I tried to see his face but the black fumes that rose out to the ooze covered it and twisted around his body. I reached out for him, but the ooze wouldn't let me reaching him, and he was devourer by the darkness. Now left alone I struggled to get out, but the darkness took me as well.
It was dark; I could see nothing but the dreary color of black no matter where I looked. I began to worry, maybe I was even frightened, that I had gone blind, or would never see the light of day again. It was then that a flash of light sparked from the darkness, clouding my vision and taking over the darkness, consuming me; I covered my eyes to shield them.
Felling safe to look, I opened my eyes to find that I was standing in the sand. The clouded night sky was above me as the wind fiercely whipped around, like it was trying to knock me down. Something was different. I knew it. I looked down and in my hand and there was this giant key. I watched in amazement as the light faded from around the strange object.
"Keyblade..." I heard a voice said. I looked around, but could see nobody.
"What?" I questioned the voice.
"Keyblade..." The voice echoed, seeming to get softer.
"Keyblade?" I repeated while looking down at this new weapon I held in my hand. But where did it come from?
--------------------------
"I remember it..." Sora whispered before his head snapped up to look at Leon, "I remember it!" A wide grin formed on the boy's face as he began to jump up and down with excitement, hooting and shouting with glee.
"I remembered the Keyblade!" Sora began to chant in a singsong voice as he ran over to Donald and Goofy, grabbing just one of their hands as he swung their arms along with him as he bounced around. Goofy chuckled with a "huck" while Donald just glared at the boy. Sure Donald was happy for him, but did he have to try and rip his arm off in the process.
"The real question is, can you summon it?" Leon asked, ruining Sora's happy moment.
"Summon it?" Sora question as he turned to face the man.
"Well, if you know now what it looks like, and what it is, the least you could do is summon it," Leon said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "What good is the Keyblade going to do you if you can only remember it?"
"How do I summon it?"
"Just reach inside yourself," Yuffie said as Sora gave her a questioning look, "Well you don't see it attached to your belt now do ya?" Sora knew it wasn't there, but oddly enough he found himself glancing down at his hips just to check.
"Just try and see what happens," Leon said.
"Relax and think of nothing but the Keyblade," Yuffie added, "Call to it, it'll come. You're its master after all." Sora took in a deep breath before he closed his eyes and relaxed, doing just as Yuffie said. He thought of nothing but the Keyblade as he stood in silence.
'Keyblade...' Sora's mind called out. There was a tingling sensation in his fingertips as he continued to call to it; then it happened. The sensation in his fingers ended when they came in contact with metal. Sora's eyes shot open and looked down at his hand, and there it was, the Keyblade.
"You did it!" Yuffie shouted and she hopped off the bed, and ran to give Sora a big bear hug, practically squeezing the life out of him.
"Yeah... I did it," Sora breathed after Yuffie had released him. His blue eyes fell to the strange weapon in his hand as if pulled into a trance by it. Having it there in his hand felt so right, and he knew that he had handled it before, but it felt like he was holding it for the very first time again. It was just like his flashback, except now he could hold it in his hand, swing it about, and battle with it once again, but the best part about it was that it wasn't a memory any more, but what about the boy.
Sora's eyes softened as he continued to stare at his weapon. 'What about that strange boy with the silver hair? Why where we getting pulled into the darkness? Was he a friend? I remember I was reaching out to him, but I could have just been trying to help.' Sora frowned as even more questions popped into his head, and it took him a while to realize everyone in the room was giving him a questioning look.
"What?" Sora questioned as he glanced at them all.
"Nothing Sora," Donald sighed, thinking the boy was just spacing out again, like he did a lot now a days.
"No!" Neron yelled as he fought against the heartless's grip on him. He watched as several of them stared hungrily at the Keyhole as they slowly advanced on it, "Get away from that!" Neron continued to shout either pleas for the heartless to leave it alone, or random insults that rolled off his tongue, most not fit to say.
Neron had had enough of the heartless and started to squirm in their grasp, only succeeding in the heartless chousing to hold a tighter grip on him. The claws of the heartless were now digging into his arms and legs, trying to get him to stay in one place, and soon something else seemed more appetizing to the heartless than the world's heart, and that was Neron's heart.
His will to over come the heartless and fight for his freedom seemed to make his heart shine with power, attracting the heartless. Every heartless in the room then pounced on the boy, knocking him to the floor and pilling on him to where he was having trouble breathing. The heartless made one mistake in doing this though, they released Max.
"Hang on Neron, I have a magic spell that'll save you," Max said, holding out his wand. "Wind!" A small breeze suddenly picked up in the room before the heartless went flying off of Neron in all directions by a strong wind current, slamming them into the wall or the floor, even the ceiling. Neron gasped for air as he lay on the floor, his clothes in a tattered mess. He was bleeding from many small scratch marks covering his body, along with several deep gashes around his chest. This however wasn't going to stop him. The Keyhole was still in danger.
Grunting, Neron stood up slowly, finding the strong wind currents blowing around his body helpful in the process. The Keyblades appeared in his hands as he neared the Keyhole, leaving Max to fight off the rising heartless as Neron sealed the Keyhole. A soft click echoed through the room, catching the heartless's attention, they had lost all hope of ever getting this worlds heart. This seemed to anger them as they started another ruthless attack. The battle waged for a few minutes until every heartless in that room was defeated. Now was the perfect time for the two to rest.
"You did good," Max said as he handed Neron a potion, the winds around his body subsiding. It was then that Neron realized the wind was the only thing keeping him up as he fell to the stone floor with a thud. The boy smiled weakly up at Max before he quickly gulped down the green liquid, happy to rid his body of the pain.
"You did good too, Max," Neron finally said, "That was a cool spell. How come you didn't use it before?"
"Truthfully I didn't really know how to do it, I had only seen it done once." Neron's eyes widened as he looked over at Max.
"You mean you were just testing it on me?" Neron asked, "And what would have happened if it didn't work? Did you ever think of that? My life was one the line for crying out loud!" Max could only smile.
"But it worked," Max said with a wide grin, "And on my first try too, man talk about luck. I wonder if I could use all the other spells as well?"
"Well, next time I'm not going to be your test dummy," Neron said, "Use it on Jetta, she's a pain in the neck anyway." Max simply shook his head.
"Look at you, talking tough while she isn't around to pummel you for that comment." Max could only laugh at the dirty look Neron gave him.
"They're gaining on us!"
"I know that Riku!" Jetta spat as she ran ahead of Riku up a spiral staircase that seemed to go on forever.
"Do you even know where you're going?"
"Up." Riku growled at Jetta from behind.
He knew she was trying to get up as high as she could to reach the roof, but what if they ended up in a high tower with no escape. If that happed then they'd have to fight off the swarm of heartless that were on their heels. Jetta let out a small happy shout when she finally reached a door. Riku, being the impatient one while the heartless were after them, shoved her in the room and slammed the door behind him before locking it with a plank of wood.
"This isn't what I expected." Riku turned around to find they had wound up in a small room in the tower.
"This is exactly what I didn't want to happen," Riku sighed just as the heartless reached the door and started to claw and pound their way in.
"But...uh..." Jetta made small whimpering noses as she paced the small room, "I hope we're not too far away." Jetta let out a worried moan as she ran to the window to see exactly how far they were from Robin. She gasped when she looked down to find the fox just below.
"How are we going to get down there?" Riku asked after he peered over Jetta's shoulder to see what she was making a fuss over.
"We'll jump," Jetta said as she started to climb out the window.
"Are you nuts!" Riku shouted as he pulled her back in, "We must be around three to four stories above the roof!" Jetta lowered her head and shook it shamefully at Riku.
"You underestimate me, Riku."
"How so?"
"Just trust me, I'll get us down there," Jetta said before she climbed out the window again. She perched there; holding onto the window seal, for a moment before she turned to look over her shoulder at Riku, "Hop on."
"No way!"
"It's the only way besides having to go through the heartless."
"No thank you," Riku said while shaking his head, "I'll gladly take my chances with the heartless."
"Fine, you fight off the heartless and take the long way," Jetta spat, "Good luck." Jetta then let go of the window seal and started to drop fast.
"Jetta, no!" Riku shouted as he reached out the window and caught her by the back of her dress.
"Let me go, Riku!"
"Are you crazy?" Riku shouted, his grip on the window seal loosening.
"I know what I'm doing!"
"Yeah, like I'm going to believe that," Riku spat, "Now hold still so I can pull you back up."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Let me go!"
"No!" There was a loud crash, making Riku jump and lose his grip just a little more, as the door to the room was knocked off its hinges, letting the swarm of heartless enter.
"Riku trust me," Jetta said softly, "I know what I'm doing." Riku hesitated for a moment, debating on what was the best chose, but Jetta had more to say.
"What happened to you Riku?" She asked, "You looked so daring when we first met. I mean for crying out loud you jumped off a building. This isn't even a quarter of that kind of height."
"I know, and that was a very stupid thing to do."
"But you made it, didn't you?" Riku looked down at her a moment longer before he came to the conclusion that he didn't want to fight off that many heartless alone, so he let go.
His arms immediately flew around Jetta's neck just as she locked her arms around his legs, as they quickly desended to the roof. Riku shut his eyes moments before impact, but right when he did they began to slow down. The sudden lose in speed made Riku's eyes reopen as he watched Jetta work her magic. The flames blasting from her feet slowly died down as she landed, slightly awkward since Riku's extra weight was throwing her off.
"I told you I knew what I was doing," Jetta said smugly as she dropped Riku's legs so he could get off of her back.
"I'm sorry I doubted you," Riku said as he looked down at the soot covered area around them, most of it was ashes from the heartless that she had roasted while landing.
"Oo de lally!" Robin shouted after he had killed the three remaining heartless, "I didn't know you could do that!"
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Jetta said with a grin.
"A fine performance." Prince John clapped as he stepped onto the roof from a door at the far end, still in his pajamas, "I wasn't expecting the little interference though, but that's alright. Now I can kill the notorious Robin Hood along with two of his accomplices. What a splendid night this is!" The Prince laughed deeply, still advancing on the three, just as Neron and Max appeared in the same doorway he had come from.
"Sorry Prince John, but that's not going to happen," Neron said from behind, Max at his side.
"Do you really think you have a chance of defeating all five of us alone?" Max asked.
"Just give up."
"Never!" Prince John cried, "I am the rightful ruler, and what I say goes. You can't stop me, I rule over you all!" The Prince clenched his fists as he glared hatefully at Robin. For a split second his eyes flashed a dangerous yellow, causing Jetta to gasp.
"Riku, did you see that?" Jetta whispered.
"Yeah, it looks like it's to late for our dear prince," He growled.
"What do you mean?"
"The heartless already have him," Riku answered as he pulled out his sword.
"You're not the ruler Prince John!" Robin spat, "King Richard is, and you know it. Long live King Richard!" This caused the Prince to growl angrily at Robin.
"At least I'll never leave my thrown to go off on a fake quest," the Prince chuckled in amusement at the surprised expression on Robin's face.
"...You sent him off on that mission, didn't you?" Robin asked, "Just so you could get your greedy little paws on all the munny in this land. You don't even deserve to be called a prince you rotten scoundrel!" Prince John simply smirked at Robin Hood.
"Yes, it's such a wonderful plan don't you think?"
"It's a wicked plan, yes, but what would your dear mother think of this." Robin smirked as he watched the Prince's features soften. The fox knew he had hit the weak spot, but what he didn't know was the consequences for doing that.
"Mother..." The Prince muttered as he turned his gaze to the fox, "Mother!" The Prince let out an agonizing roar to the sky, something that Robin wasn't expecting him to do. He thought he was just going to drop down and start sucking his thumb, but he did nothing of the sort.
"I'll kill you Robin Hood!" the Prince shouted as he shifted his yellow glowing eyes to the fox, taking a few steps forward. Robin, Jetta, and Riku took hesitating steps back as they watched a cloud of dark smoke circle around his body, flaring and swirling like the anger that grew inside of him.
"What going on?" Neron gasped as he watched the smoke completely engulf the Prince. Even Neron and Max began to back away from the Prince, and he wasn't even advancing on them; they were just that frightening at the time.
A roar from the Prince came form the clouded smoke, just as two enormous black paws ripped through the smoke. As the smoke parted the five saw that the Prince was changing into something new, something terrible. His fur had changed from a golden yellow to a midnight black, a long wavy mane had sprouted from his head, and as all this was happening he grew in size. The pajamas he was warring tore from his body as he grew until he was half the size of the roof, limiting the group's area to dodge his attacks. He let out another mighty roar that shook the ground and as he roared a light appeared on his forehead. When the light diminished he was left with the heartless symbol printed in plain sight.
"Just what we needed," Neron growled, "Another huge monster to fight."
"Oh quit complaining, Neron," Jetta grumbled before her hands and feet incased themselves in flames, "Let's just get this over with."
"I'm with you on that," Riku said as he readied his sword and charged up to the lion with Jetta at his side, Robin bringing up the rear. On the other side of the lion Prince, Neron summoned his Keyblades, while Max backed away and began his assault with the typical fireball.
The Prince let out a terrible roar as he reared up into the air on his back paws, wobbling a bit in the air to hold his balance. Everyone stared up at the prince with wide eyes as he towered over them for several seconds before he came falling down, slamming his paws into the ground. Everybody fell instantly and watched as the prince curled his lip up in a smirk, proud of his mighty strength.
"Riku, I think we have a problem!" Jetta shouted over to the albino fox.
"Yeah, its black, has yellow eyes, and over twelve feet tall!" Riku spat.
"Besides that," Jetta growled as she shook her head, "Just look at the roof. It can barely hold this much weight, and if he keeps pounding on it it's going to cave in."
"Looks like we have to beat him before that happens then, don't we?"
"It'd be a wise decision," Robin stated, cutting into their conversation, but Robin wasn't the only one who cut into their conversation. The Prince paw came swiping at the three, causing them to flee in different directions.
At the other end of the roof, Max was still shooting off fire spells at the Prince, while Neron tried to get in closer for an attack, but it was a little hard with the prince's tail knocking him about whenever he tried to close in. Neron was now past frustrated, seeing as he hadn't been able to strike the Prince once, as he dismissed his Keyblades and ran strait for the Prince. He stopped right in the path of his tail, and when it came swinging in for a strike Neron grabbed hold of it. At the peak of the tail's swing, Neron let go and landed on the lion's back. Neron summoned up his Keyblades once again and started and all out attack on the back of the Prince's neck.
Seeing as the Prince was currently busy with Robin and Riku, Jetta took the time to drink an ether, since the landing she had made from the tower took a lot of her magic power. Once recharged Jetta ran back into the battle, running right under the Prince, and since Robin was his main goal, she went unnoticed. A smile crossed her lips as she raised both hands into the air and fired off an enormous flame from her hands. The Prince roared in pain as he reared up in the air to get away from the fire, also succeeding in knocking the nuisance from his back.
"Jetta!" Neron shouted after he hint the stone ground with a thump.
"Sorry Neron. I didn't know you were up there," Jetta apologized as she ran as fast as she could to get out of that area before he came slamming back down to the ground.
The Prince let out a growl as he landed back down on all four paws, creating a shock wave that knock everyone off their feet. More cracks formed in the roof as the lion's yellow eyes scanned the area for Jetta, his next victim. Once his yellow eyes reached Jetta a fireball struck him in his left eye. While the prince was hollering in pain Riku and Neron took the chance to attack. Both leapt in the air with their weapons drawn, and sliced each side of his face several times before landing back on the ground. The lion stopped his shouting and lashed out for a counter attack, swiping Neron with his paw.
"Wind!" Max cried. Wind currents picked up around Neron and stopped him in midair before he went crashing head first into a tower.
"Riku," Jetta called out as she ran up to him, "Something's wrong."
"What?"
"Prince John, he's not showing any sign of defeat."
"Well neither did that heartless in Skylight City."
"True, but our attack were slowing it down; weakening it little by little," Jetta stated, "Prince John isn't even slowing down."
"What are you trying to say?"
"What if he's a puppet?" Riku turned to look at Jetta, giving her a questioning look.
"Maybe," Riku said as he looked back at the Prince, watching him attack Robin while Neron and Max tried to strike him down with all of their might. He watched how the Prince didn't even flinch at their strikes, and he even noticed that the eye Jetta shot at was open and working like normal. "What do you suppose we do about it? If he is a puppet then he can't be beaten without destroying the heartless that's controlling him."
"The heartless can't be too far away," Jetta said as she started to look around.
"There!" Riku shouted, pointing to the top of a tower. The heartless he had pointed at jerked his head towards the two, as if knowing it had been spotted, and jumped to its feet.
"I've got it." Jetta fired off several fireballs at it, but the heartless dodged every one of them, leaving Jetta at only succeeding in catching the tower roof on fire. "Damn!"
She fired off several more at it as it crawled down the side of the tower head first, but missed those shots as well. Jetta growled as she ran for the tower, firing off several more blats, this time succeeding in knocking it off the tower, leaving it to plummet to the ground. A smile appeared on Jetta's face as she fired at it in midair, hitting it perfectly in between its yellow eyes. It cried out in pain before it blew up in a cloud of black smoke.
Prince John froze right before his mighty paw was about to hit Robin for a final blow, and everyone else just stared up at him in confusion. A blue colored heart floated through the air until it reached the Prince. It slowly sunk into the Prince black fur at the chest, emitting a bright light that changed the Prince back to his normal self. Robin let out a heavy sigh as he slumped down to the ground.
"Here you go Robin," Jetta said as she handed the fox a potion.
"Thank you kindly, lassie," Robin thanked with a smile before he swallowed the green liquid. Just as everyone was relaxed the entire castle started to shake.
"What's going on?" Neron shouted as he tried to keep his balance.
"The castle!" Robin cried, "It's falling apart!"
"What?" Max shouted as he began to panic, seeing as Jetta's attempt at killing the heartless had set the only tower with a door or fire.
"Hurry! We have to get out of here!" Robin shouted as he picked up the unconscious Prince from the ground.
"Where are we supposed to go?" Neron shouted, "Genius Jetta lit the only tower with a door on fire!" Jetta growled as she clenched and unclenched her fists, fighting the urge to knock Neron up side the head.
"We'll have to jump," Robin answered as he turned his gaze to the roof's edge.
"Not again," Riku whined, as he watched Robin leap off of the roof and into the mote that surrounded the castle.
"It's the only way," Jetta said as she grabbed Riku's wrist as she ran past him, pulling him off the roof with her. Neron sighed as both him and Max hopped of the roof as well, just in time. The five watched from the water below as the castle roof caved in, taking out most of the castle in its wake.
"Robin!" Little John called out as he ran towards them on the bank of the mote. Robin smiled at his friend as he waved back at him weakly, just glad that it was all over.
Church bells could be heard though out the land, signaling a calm, and a new, happy married couple. Maid Marian and Robin walked out of the church only to be bombarded by millions of flower petals of many colors. Everyone cheered, shouted, and whistled at the newlyweds as they walked up to their coach.
"You guys are the greatest!" Jetta shouted as she draped her arms on the shoulders of Riku and Neron. She grinned at them both, happy that they stayed an extra day and a half to let her participate in Robin's wedding.
"We know," Neron said smugly. Riku gave the two a small smile before he removed Jetta's arm from his shoulder.
"We need to get going," Riku started as he began to walk off, "Max is waiting for us in the Gummi ship."
"Right," Neron said, nodding his head at Riku as he started to follow him.
"Oh and before I forget... I call shotgun." Riku smirked back at the two to find both of them with their mouths slightly agape.
"No far!" Neron cried. Riku lightly laughed at him, not wanting to start an argument like he did with Jetta, and walked off.
"Wait! We can't go yet!" Jetta cried, "They haven't tossed the bouquet!"
"Then you come after they've done that," Riku said, waving her away before he disappeared into the forest. Neron was about to step into the forest as well, but a paw grabbed hold of his arm.
Neron turned around with a heavy sigh, thinking it was Jetta trying to get him to stay just a little longer, but was surprised to find a tall lion standing before him. The lion smiled down gently at him as he released the hold he had on the wolf's arm.
"King Richard?" Neron asked, guessing by the royal clothes and crown placed evenly on his head that is was certainly the King.
"Indeed," The king said, bowing his head slightly to Neron, "I thank you for your aid."
"It was nothing, really," Neron said, "Jetta was really the one who stopped your brother... not me."
"Aye, but it was you who saved my world." Neron stared at him in disbelief as the King took his paw and placed an item in it, "A gift from me to you, Keyblade Master."
"But... how did you-"
"Don't worry," the King said before he winked at the wolf, "Your secret is safe with me." With that said the King walked back to the celebration with a smile of his face.
"How did he know?" Neron asked himself as he opened his paw to find the King had given him a key chain with a red, metal feather attached to it. Neron couldn't help but wonder what this odd trinket was for as he walked back to the Gummi ship.
Prince John growled as he sat on a rock in, not royal clothes, a prisoner's outfit, black strips and all. Sir Hiss sat on the ground at his side with an equally disgusted look on his face. Along with the Prince and his green little friend, the Sheriff of Nottingham stood off to the side, propping himself up with a sledgehammer.
"It's okay your Highness, we'll get out, and that notorious Robin Hood will get what's coming to him," Sir Hiss said, trying to soothe the Prince's anger.
"Oh shut up Hiss!" Prince John spat, turning his back to the snake. The Sheriff could help but chuckle as he picked up his hammer and started to pound on the rock he was working on before he took his break.
"Hey! You two!" A buzzard shouted from above, "Get back to work!" The Prince shot the ugly bird a nasty look before he picked up his hammer and started to get back to work, along with Sir Hiss.
"Stupid Robin Hood," the Prince mumbled as he slammed the hammer down on the rock in rage, "I'll get you for th-ahhhhh." The Prince started to scream and hop around after successfully dropping his hammer on top of his foot. The Sheriff smiled, suppressing his laughter, as he watched the Prince fall to the ground in pain.
"...Mother!" the Prince cried as he started to suck his thumb. Sir Hiss simply rolled his eyes at the lion before he continued at his new job.
The Gummi ship was blasting through space at full force heading towards the next destination with Riku up front and center this time. Curiosity danced in Riku's aqua-blue eyes as he glanced at all of the stars in the sky and floating debris of what he could guess were chunks of other worlds' barriers. As he looked on at all the passing things he felt this sudden urge to press his face against the glass to get a better look at it all, but wisely resisted the urge. Sure he had see this before, while using a Gummi ship to go to other world before Maleficent had given him his powers, but he was always driving so he never really got the time to admire it all. It was then that he realized the ship was oddly quiet, almost like an eerie silence, which was unusual with Neron and Jetta in the back seat.
"You two didn't kill each other back there, did you?" Riku asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"No..." Jetta sighed. She was currently sulking over not catching the bouquet, more downed about it than she should have been, and disappointed that Ziggy caught it instead of her. The worst part about it was that she was standing right next to her. Riku looked over towards Neron, seeing him fiddle with something in his hand, and in deep thought by the look on his face.
"What do you have there, Neron?" Riku asked, but the boy was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't hear the question.
"Hey clueless, you've been asked a question," Jetta spat as she slapped him up side the head.
"Hey!" Neron shouted as he knocked her hand away defensively, "What was that for? I wasn't bothering you!"
"Riku asked you a question stupid." Neron glared at her and wisely chose not to fight back with her, since he was in her arm's reach.
"What is that?" Riku asked as he pointed at the object Neron held in his hand.
"Good question," Neron said as he started to stare at it again, "King Richard gave it to me."
"What for?"
"Saving the world," Neron answered, "He knew I was the Keyblade Master."
"...Really?"
"Yeah..." Neron said as he rubbed his thumb across the red feather.
"Can I see it?" Neron looked up at Riku before he tossed him the key chain. His aqua-blue eyes scanned the item for a moment before he tossed it back at him.
"It's a chain for your Keyblade," Riku stated, "My friend Sora had them too. I remember seeing different types that he had with him at times."
"What do I do with it?"
"I guess you just clip it onto one of your Keyblades." Neron looked down at the key chain before he summoned up one of his Keyblades. He then replaced the feathered key chain with the star shaped one that was currently on his Keyblade.
Everyone but Max, since he was driving, watched as the Keyblade glowed in an odd, yet almost familiar, light as it transformed. The ivory color changed into a bright gold, and so did the shape; looking fiercer than the one he used have. The jagged key part curved towards the handle and had several sharp edges, and the tip turned into what looked like a hook, what the hook was for was another question.
"Kindthief," Neron muttered.
"What?" Jetta asked.
"Kindthief. It's written right here on the Keyblade," Neron pointed out, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's the name of the Keyblade," Riku stated, "Every different type of Keyblade has a name."
"Kindthief... I like it," Neron said as he swung it around, almost hitting Jetta in the process, "It feels stronger, or maybe it's just heavier. I don't know, but there's something very different about this one."
"Maybe it is stronger," Riku said, turning around just in time to see the new world.
"Get ready for our next adventure," Max said as he pulled in closer to the new for a landing, "Now remember-"
"No meddling," Jetta spat from behind, "We know!"
"Are you sure?" Neron asked, "You got us into a lot of things on the last world."
"I was helping!"
"Yeah... whatever," Neron spat as he rolled his eyes at the girl, "Just no baby sitting this time, okay." Jetta growled as she reached out and smacked Neron across the head before he had time to block. Neron looked over at her with death written in his eye, only receiving a sweet smile, almost evil looking, from Jetta.
Riku just shook his head absently at the two, not caring if they started an all out war in the back seat, just as long as they kept it between themselves. It was then, while Neron and Jetta argued, that Riku took the time to look at this new planet. The bottom half of the world was covered in a large city that turned into a forest around the edges of an ocean. At the very top of the world sat an island that rose high out of the water, looking somewhat like the jagged edges of a mountain peak. As Riku continued to stare at the island it seemed to frighten him with its dark gloomy appearance. Yes, this world looked interesting to the silver haired boy, that's for sure.
Sora: ((Blushing)) I got glomped.
Riku: Shut up Sora! We know!
Sora: ((Pouts)) You're just jealous. ((Riku mumbles))
Author: So... I'm now finished with Sherwood Forest, and I'm quite pleased at how it turned out. Go me!
Sora: Wait... does this mean no more Lady Kluck? ((Pouts))
Author: Sorry Sora.
Sora: But I liked Lady Kluck. T-T
Author: There's always the movie. ((Sora smiles)) Man... this is my longest chapter so far. I didn't realize how long it was until I started checking it, LOL. But that's not a bad thing, right? ((Grins)) Well, since this world is over with it's now time to guess the next world to win another cookie. This world has nothing to do with Disney; in fact it's an Anime. It involves sprits, demons, and well a whole lot of ugly demons. Actually not all of them are ugly; some are just drop dead gorgeous. ((Drools))
Riku: Save some of that for me now. ((Gets hit by a pillow))
Author: Don't get coceited Riku, it's bad for you. ((Sighs)) Yeah, I let Riku live, why I'll never know.
Riku: It's my charm.
Author: ((Snorts)) Whatever. My mom's the one that saved you. ((Mumbles)) She took my hardback dictionary away and gave me this crummy flexible one. . What damage is this stupid thing supposed to do?
Sora: I think that's the reason why she gave it to you. ((Demon glares at Sora))
Author: Shut up Sora. ((Glares)) Now I'm back to square one with a useless, painless pillow. ((Whacks Riku with the pillow several times)) This is your entire fault! ((Mumbles)) Lets see, where was I before I got completely off subject?
Sora: You were telling the reviewers about the next world.
Author: Oh yeah! Thank you Sora. Like I said it's an Anime, but that's all I'm telling you. I think I should have given enough away in the world description. I just hope I didn't give away too much, though it probably did. ((Sighs)) I just want it to be challenging, since Rurouni Saiyan guessed the last one right off the bat last time, LOL, but not to challenging if ya know what I mean. Now, onto the notes! ((Shoos Riku out of the room))
Black-Rose72's note(for chapter 7): Yep it sucks that Sora can't remember anyone, but that's what happens when you have amnesia. Yes, I feel sorry for him too. I'm glad you're liking my story. Makes me so happy! Oh and while I'm thinking about it, please update on your story, the suspense is killing me. ((Passes out))
Inuyasha's apprentice's note: The pitchfork is all yours! ((Grins)) I don't know Inuyasha's apprentice, is there something going on between Riku and Jetta? ((Smiles)) And yes, you are most right. Authors shouldn't put ourselves down, it's a real bummer, and it lowers our confidence. Which I seem to lack in that department... Oh well. nn I'm glad you liked the last chapter. ((Smiles)) Sora's been bragging about you glomping him for the entire week. ((Whispers)) Myself I think Riku's jealous. ((Laughs)) Thanks for the review!
Rurouni Saiyan's note: I know I'm about to toot my own horn, but I do agree that the dictionary was a great idea... if only I got to use it. ((Mumbles)) That's okay, I know where mom hid it. ((Grins evilly)) I'm glad you are liking my story, and thanks for the 'barrowing to borrowing" thing. If it wasn't for you people spell checking my work I'd be a goner, LOL. Thanks!
MagRowan's note: Hello new reviewer! It's nice of you to join me. Bows head I'm glad you're liking my story. I'm so happy that I got another person to check my spelling. ((Bounces around the room)) I have the most trouble with the 'sound the same but mean different things' words. I hate those! Stupid words. ((Mumbles)) Don't worry, I'm getting into more Sora action. I just have to work up to it, that's all. I'm glad you think my plot is good. Took me forever to get it the way I wanted it to be. I think it was a good three or four months... somewhere around that time. Yep it took me a while. ((Nods head)) Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and the spell checking!
Author: Oh! Oh! Oh! Before I forget. Sora, Donald, and Goofy are going to a new world as well, so for a bonus cookie you can guess for them as well. ((Grins)) The world is a Disney one, it was in the last game, and it involves a legendary hero. Lets just see how many people can guess that one. ((Winks)) Hope to see ya in the next chapter.
Sora: Bye reviewers. ((Smiles at Inuyasha's apprentice))