A/N: Trouble is brewing for our heros, can they make it threw Neverland. Alive?

blahDriger to Rei

/blah/ Rei to Driger

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, save for the Darkheart Keyblade. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.

Chapter 13

Traverse Town was in shambles. Since Sora and his friends departure a month ago, more Heartless were pouring in. Despite the fact that Traverse Town's keyhole had been sealed. Plus, the beybladers had been worried since Merlin showed them the events in Agrabah. And that had been two weeks ago.

Just where were they now?

And were they okay?

The gang left Halloween Town behind about two days ago, and were traveling through the interdimensional space, looking for the next world. Ranma's eyes widen as he saw something big heading their way. "A big ship is catching up to us." He said uneasily. "Quit gawking!" Yami snapped, peevishly. "It's a pirate ship!"

Pirate ship?!

"Uh-oh!" Tyson cried. "It's gonna ram right into us!" Max yelled fearfully. Sora grabbed the controls, trying to prevent a major crash from happening. "Hang on!" He yelled as their Gummi Ship went flying for the pirate ship.

Defiantly not good.

Sora groaned as he eventually came too. Standing up, the Keybearer realized he was once again, on Captain Hook's ship. /I'm in so much trouble./ He muttered to Driger who was curious by what his master and friend meant.

"Hello Sora." Said a frosty voice.

Sora stiffened, hearing the familiar rich voice. He slowly turned and the color drained from his face. Grinning evilly at him, was someone he thought he would never see again.

Riku.

Riku's eyes glowed dangerously at him. Sora was uneasy. Since when did his eyes glow red like that? And how on earth did his body even get here? Especially since Riku's heart was pulsing inside his own heart. "Remember this person?" Riku sneered as he raised his hand. Sora paled when his own Shadow appeared in front of him. Its yellow eyes glittering brightly.

Sora looked up and his bluish white eyes spotted the one person he had been searching for. Sitting next to Riku, on the ground, with glazed eyes, was Kairi. "Kairi!" Sora called, pain easily heard in his voice.

"Not so fast. No shenanigans aboard my vessel, boy." Captain Hook growled before a hatch was opened right underneath Sora's feet, and he fell through with a surprised yell. "Make sure he doesn't leave that area." Riku hissed before picking Kairi up and leaving a certain pirate captain to fume.

"I did it. I finally found her."

Ranma was pleased to hear that Sora sounded much happier than he had been for the entire time they had been on this journey. Which, by the way, lasted for two months. Strange, when it took Sora four years to reach Neverland.

"Then let's go to her." The pig-tailed martial artist said eagerly. "Sounds great." Said Yami. "Only one problem." He continued dryly. Sora frowned. "What?" He asked. "How about getting off of me?" Yami grumbled. Sora turned red as he realized that they were all sitting on top of a disgruntled Yami.

"Heh, heh. Sorry." Sora said, sheepishly.

"Ahem! How ya doing there?" Came a soft boyish voice. Sora looked over and blinked. There was someone else in here? "Looking for a way out?" Out of the shadows came a young boy with messy auburn hair and soft brown eyes. He wore a simple green leotard and brown cloth boots. He also had a small dagger tied to his belt. Ranma frowned. "Who are you?" He asked warily. The boy smiled, and Tyson was stunned to see that the boy had pointed ears like an elf! "I'm the answer to your prayers!"

Silence.

The boy frowned. "Okay, then. Fine. Have it your way." Sora held up his hand, preventing the boy from leaving them behind. "But," he began. "you're stuck in here too, aren't you?" He asked curiously. The boy crossed his arms. "Nope. I'm just waiting for someone." Sora tilted his head, imitating a curious looking cat. "Who?" He questioned.

Suddenly, a ball of glittering golden light dove in through a crack in the only doorway and went over to the boy and began tittering at him. The boy smiled in relief. "Tinker Bell, what took you so long?" She tittered wildly. His smile grew. "Great job. So you found Wendy?" More tittering and he frowned. "Hold on. There was another girl there, too?"

Kairi, Sora thought wistfully.

The boy's eyes narrowed. "Are you crazy? I'm not gonna leave Wendy there!" He scolded. Tyson laughed. "Aha. She must be pretty jealous then." He laughed out loud. Tinker Bell turned and slapped him across the face. Max giggle at the two fighting.

The boy was pleading now. "Come on Tink! Open the door!" He pleaded. "Ahem." Said Sora. The boy turned and frowned before finally giving his name. "I'm Peter Pan." Sora gave a thin smile and held out his hand. "And I'm Sora." Peter scowled. "Okay. We're in this together, but, only until we find Wendy."

Up in Captain Hook's main cabin, the now possessed Riku stood over the sleeping Kairi. "Hn. The Keybearer will be arriving soon." He murmured and caressed Kairi's cheek gently. Somehow, unknown to Maleficent's knowledge, Riku still maintained some distant memories. However, those memories were of when Riku was possessed by the Heartless.

Sora was in big trouble.

Sora knew he had to tell everyone about Riku's resurrection. So he told them after they left the small room. "I thought you said Riku was swallowed by the Heartless?" Kevin asked in confusion. He didn't even see the pain in the older teen's eyes. "What I didn't say was that Riku's heart merged with mine. After that, Riku's, Donald and Goofy's bodies vanished. I don't know how Maleficent did it. But, she'll pay for it." Sora said icily.

Peter Pan was floating in the air, golden dust swirling around him. This caught the attention of Ranma, and he asked the question that had been on everyone's minds. "So, uh," he began nervously.

"How come you can fly?" Peter chuckled merrily. "Anyone can fly. You wanna try?" He asked lightly. The others nodded eagerly. A second later, Tink flew up to Peter tittering in that language that only Peter could understand. Peter frowned unhappily. "Aw, haven't you cooled off yet, Tink?" He whined. Tinker Bell merely pouted.

"Just a little bit of pixie dust." Tink flew all around the Beybladers, Ranma, Yami and Sora. She seemed to like Sora and hovered around his shoulders, tittering. Peter smiled. "There. Now you can fly." Tyson tried, only to fall flat on his face. Tinker Bell giggled and pointed at him, as if laughing at the poor dragon blader.

"Um, there's probably one other thing I should mention." Sora said suddenly. Lee glanced his way and was curious to what his friend meant. "What?" He asked gently. Sora sighed. "Riku somehow summoned an Anti-version of me." He mumbled, turning red.

Uh-oh.

Ranma opened a door and they climbed inside. It was completely empty. Tinker Bell tittered around Peter, making the boy frown. "What is it Tink?" He asked. Then a musical female voice spoke up from above them. "Peter? Peter Pan?"

Huh?

Sora looked up to see two graters. One had a hole in it, the other did not. But he saw a young girl, about Peter's age, peeking through the intact grater. Her large blue eyes were wide with fear. "Wendy!" Peter yelped gleefully. "Please hurry! The pirates are coming!" Wendy said fearfully. "What?! I'll be right up there! Just hold on!" Peter promised. Sora hesitated before speaking up. "Wendy?" She blinked at the sight of the worried Keybearer. "Yes?" Sora took a deep breath and asked; "Is there another girl in there, with you?" He asked hopefully. Wendy's eyes widen in realization.

"Oh, why, yes." She looked over to see a seemingly sleeping Kairi resting in one corner. "But she seems to be sleeping. She hasn't budged an inch." She told the young warrior. Sora reached up a hand, as if trying to grab Kairi's hand. "Kairi..." He called softly. Her hand twitched and he got a hopeful look. Suddenly, Wendy cried out in fear, and everything seemed to turn dark in the room above them.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled, in anguish. "Wendy!" Peter yelled, worried for the girl he was beginning to like. "Hey, let's get up there!" Peter said, urgently. Sora looked up to the hole in the other grating and jumped up, and landed in a cabin. The others, knowing of his determination to reach Kairi, followed him. Peter Pan only followed because he wanted to get Wendy to safety.

"Hey, it's a green trinity mark." Max commented, seeing the symbol in front of the double bunk bead. Sora grew thoughtful. "If I remember correctly, the green trinity mark is the ladder one." He mused. "Meaning...?" Bryan asked. "Meaning that Ranma, Yami and I will have to form a ladder." Sora explained simply.

Oh...

"Huh?"

Sora sighed. "Just watch." He snapped. Since Sora was the tallest, he leaned down, and waited for Ranma to climb on. The martial artist caught on, and climbed onto Sora's broad shoulders. And Yami did the same to Ranma. Slowly, they stood up, and Yami yanked down a ladder that had been strapped to the ceiling. And quickly jumped apart. "That's a very useful talent." Peter mused.

They climbed up. Sora went first, then Ranma, then Yami, followed by Bryan, then the Bladebreakers, and lastly was the White Tigers. Peter Pan simply flew upwards.

Sora's eyes widen as Riku picked up Kairi and headed for the door that would lead to the main deck. He held out his hand, as if to stop the teen. "Riku, stop!" He cried. Cold, blood red eyes glared at him. Sora gasped as Anti-Sora appeared, gripping a pure black version of the Kingdom Keyblade.

Not good.

"Wind!" Sora yelled, casting his Aeroga spell just in time. The anti-Keyblade slammed into it, and bounced off. "You never told us that he would have your moves!" Kai yelled angrily, as Anti-Sora used a darker version of Strike Raid. The Bladebreakers cried out in pain as they were slowly beaten to a pulp.

Bluish white eyes narrowed angrily as he took in the bloodied and unconscious forms of the Bladebreakers. Rage settled on his face as he glared at his double. "You'll pay for this!" He roared.

"Ku, ku, ku..." It chuckled and separated into three Anti-Sora's! "This is defiantly not good!" Ranma said grimily. Yami thought of one way to erase Anti-Sora. And hopefully, forever! Yami took out a green magic card and held it up. "Dark Hole!" He yelled. The black hole opened in the cabin, and sucked in the stunned Anti-Sora. It gave a withering look to Yami before its yellow eyes locked onto Sora's bluish white ones and grinned, revealing its fangs and mouthed to him:

"Soon."

Sora shivered. He prayed that history would not repeat itself. Sora removed a bunch of elixirs from his bag and summoned his healing magic. "Heal." He whispered. Bells rang as soft petals fluttered around the unconscious Bladebreakers. Slowly, their wounds healed. But not by much. As soon as their eyes opened, Sora thrusted his batch of potions to his friends. "Drink them." He ordered. Not wanting to anger him, they did as they were told.

Peter Pan picked up a sleeping Wendy, who had been left on the soft bed in the cabin. "Wendy..." The boy whispered, cradling her princess style. "Come on, Tink, not now!" He said quietly "Well, this is as far as I go. I have to help Wendy." And with that being said, Peter Pan flew off, with Wendy in his arms.

Sora sighed and pushed the door that would grant them access to the main deck and went through, with everyone following him of course. Outside, they were stopped by Heartless. Heartless that looked an awful lot like the Bandits of Agrabah. Instead of blue skin, these had black skin, same glowing yellow eyes, and were dressed in brown silk pirate garments. They were also waving around curved blades.

In front of them, and behind the Pirate Heartless, was Captain Hook. And he was grinning nastily at them. "You won't be going to Hollow Bastion."

Hollow Bastion?

This caught the others, minus Sora, attention. Obviously, whatever the generals were planning, would take place in this Hollow Bastion. Sora simply glared at the captain with utter loathing in his eyes.

"Unless you intend to leave your little pixie friend behind." With that said, he held up a lantern with a trapped Tinker Bell inside. She looked miserable. "Hand over the Keyblade and I'll spare your lives." The Pirate Heartless merely waved their swords as they seemed to dance about. "Be glad I'm merciful, unlike the Heartless."

The others shivered. "Don't do it Sora!" Tyson cried. Sora's eyes remained shadowed by his dark brown bangs. "So, which will it be? The keyblade, or your friends?" Then Ultima vanished in a swirl of white light, returning once more to Sora's heart. Captain Hook's grin grew even nastier as the Pirate Heartless forced Sora onto the plank. His grin faded as he heard a ticking in the distance. "It's him!" He moaned.

Him? Him who?

"The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He's after me other hand! I can't stay here!" Down below, a certain crocodile had swam up to the ship and saw Sora standing on the plank and opened its huge jaws up. "Go away!" Captain Hook cried, fearfully. "Oh, I can't stand the sight of him! Smee, you take care of them!" He ordered, and raced back into his cabin.

"Fly, Sora!" Sora thought he heard Peter Pan's voice. "Just believe, and you can do it!" Sora closed his eyes and stretched out his hands. "Believe..." He whispered, and only Lee and Mariah heard him, because of their sensitive hearing.

And then, Sora jumped!

"Sora!" Mariah screamed. "No!" Ranma yelled. Suddenly, Sora was flying right over the ship. Golden pixie dust swirled around him, just like Peter Pan.

But how?

Sora smiled at Peter, who had flew up next to him. "Thanks." He said softly. Peter grinned. "Hey, don't mention it. You didn't think I was gonna leave you and Tink behind, did you?" He teased. Sora turned red and didn't say anything as Peter released Tink from her tiny cage. "Thank god, you're alright." Mariah said in relief. And hugged Sora tightly.

Peter held up a finger and shushed them. He quietly knocked on Captain Hook's door. "Is that you Smee?" Came the man's voice. "Did you finish them off?" Peter grinned and then pinched his nose, imitating Smee's voice perfectly. "Aye, Captain." Peter said. "They walked the plank. Every last one of them."

The door flew open and an eager Captain Hook rushed out. When he saw that he had been tricked, he whirled around and glared at Peter with pure hatred. "P-Peter Pa - Blast you!" He growled. Peter Pan snickered. "Ready to make a splash, you old codfish? Now it's your turn to walk the plank!" Sora leapt back as Captain Hook lunged for him with his sword. Sora started doing flips, to avoid being sliced to ribbons.

Sora summoned Ultima and the two clashed their swords together. "Give it up, boy!" Captain Hook hissed. Sora smirked. "Yeah right. Since when have you creeps known me to give up?" He mocked. Sora then whirled his body around, hoping to trick Captain Hook into taking a fake turn.

It worked.

Sora brought the sharp end of Ultima into Captain Hook's ribs as he moved his body in the wrong direction. Captain Hook yelped in pain and stumbled back. Through the Scan visor, Sora saw Captain Hook's dropping relatively fast.

The pirate captain fell to his knees, breathing heavily. One hand over his bleeding wound. He hadn't expected the boy to be so good with the Keyblade. Looks like he too, underestimated the teen and that had been his downfall. "What the hell did you do?" He growled. Sora smiled eerily.

It was as if the darkness in him was in control. "A little trick of mine that I picked up in the Bladebreakers world." He gestured to his glittering weapon and Captain Hook saw a shimmering blue powder on it. "What is it?" He asked, dumbly. Sora snickered. "That would be a selective type of poisoning from an asp. Asp's are serpents, and they happen to have deadly poison." Sora's smile grew. "And I suspect you'll be dead right about...now."

Captain Hook's eyes glazed over as he gurgled once, and slumped to the ground. The life fading from his eyes. And it seemed that Sora's eyes regained their normal sweet look, and lost the mad one. Sora leaned over one of the railings, his eyes glazed over in thought. "Um, since Kairi couldn't wake up, maybe she really did loose her - - " Tyson was cut off by Max's elbow. "Hush you!" He snapped, gesturing to Sora. "Sora..." Peter Pan whispered. He truly felt sorry for the lonely warrior.

"Hey, Sora." Called a low voice. Eight year old Sora looked up into nine year old Riku's eyes. "Hm?" Riku had an excited look on his face. "When we grow up, let's get off this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!" Sora smiled in agreement. "Sure. But, isn't there anything fun to do now?" He asked curiously.

"Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house?" Riku asked as they started to leave the Secret Cave. Sora nodded. "She arrived the night of the meteor shower!" Sora was surprised as the two left the cave behind.

The real Sora watched this from behind a boulder. His eyes narrowed when he saw the golden lined key hole in the door that had always been in the cave. I've never noticed that before he thought. A rustling caught his attention and he looked over to see a figure covered completely in shadows standing in front of the door.

Who could that be?

"Soon, this world will be completely eclipsed in darkness..."

Sora shook his head, trying to erase the sudden and strange memory from his mind. "We better find the keyhole so we can leave." He said quietly. Peter Pan's eyes lit up. "I think I may know where it is." He said suddenly.

Huh?

Peter Pan took them to a familiar city that the Bladebreakers recognized instantly. "It's London!" Max said in shock. They were floating high above the city, and in front of the famous Big Ben clock. Sora floated a little higher up and spotted Wendy. Peter Pan eagerly headed over to her. Wendy looked sad for some reason. "Peter Pan, are you really going back to Neverland?" She asked sadly. Peter Pan sighed and nodded. "Afraid so. But we can see each other any time. As long as you don't forget about Neverland that is." He whispered. Suddenly, Tinker Bell flew around him, tittering loudly. Peter bit his lips.

"Oh, boy. She's getting steamed again." He glanced over to a bemused Sora. "Do me a favor, and look after her, will ya?" Sora blinked.

"What?"

Tinker Bell twittered around Sora, making him smile slightly at the pixie's affection. "One of the clocks is wrong. Do you mind fixing it?" Wendy asked to the bladers, martial artist, the wandering spirit and Sora. Sora nodded. "Sure." Said Gary.

Sora floated over to one of the clock faces and realized that one read a quarter to midnight while the others said midnight. Sora struck the big hand three times and floated back as the whole clock face lit up with soft white light. By the little hand, was a glowing keyhole. Sora pointed Ultima at it, and watched as the keyhole was locked. And a new gummi piece came out.

"Thanks for everything Peter." Mariah said warmly as they took the Rest Point that was above Wendy's head and disappeared back into the Gummi Ship.

Ready to continue on their adventure.

Back in the Gummi Ship, Sora was peering at the new gummi piece. "Well, we found the last gummi piece." Yami commented. "Let's head back to Traverse Town." Ranma suggested. Sora nodded in agreement. "Cid can install it on the ship once we get back." He mused and set course for the world.

Everyone was excited to see the group. "How's everything going with you guys?" Yuffie asked as they walked through the gates. Lee glanced towards Sora, who gave a curt nod, so the lion beyblader took that as his cue and told Yuffie of the recent events. When he was done, the female ninja was stunned. "Woah. And something tells me, the worst as yet to come." She commented. Sora winced. "I don't like it how you said that." He said dryly as he and the others left her behind to search for Cid. Hopefully, he would be behind the Accessory Shop.

And he was.

Cid was amused that they found the second gummi piece. "Looks like you found the other one. Let me see it." Sora handed it over to the pilot. "Okay, wait here. And I'll get it installed for you." He walked off, leaving them standing there, alone.

Sora frowned. "Come on Sora, cheer up." Said Max. Sora looked up with bitter bluish eyes. "How can you be so cheerful? The Heartless are wiping out everything." He grumbled. Ranma and Yami exchanged looks. "We know that if we stick together, we can do anything. You just have to believe in yourself." Said Yami. "Just believe..." Sora trailed off, his mind lost in a memory.

"I believe in you..."

Sora looked around. He was standing in a huge library. There were books of all kinds here. And sitting at a large table was a kindly looking old woman. She had her grey hair tied back into a bun and had warm dark blue eyes. Just like Kairi. And she wore a simple purple dress. "Where am I?" He wondered out loud as the woman began to recite an old story. One that Sora knew all to well.

It was about the Heartless.

Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of the light. Everyone loved the light. Then people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. And darkness was born in their hearts.

The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of the light survived ... in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It is the world we live in now.

But the true light sleeps deep within the darkness. that's why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the inner most darkness will open. And the true light will return.

So, listen child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away.

The old woman smiled gently. "Do you understand, Kairi?" Silence. And the old woman began to panic and look around frantically. "Kairi?!"

Kairi was gone.

"Huh?" Sora snapped out of his daydream. It was a daydream, right? "What's the matter?" Ranma asked worriedly. "Um, nothing." Sora lied. He then tuned everyone out. "Kairi...did you call me?" He whispered. He looked up to see Cid returning. "I installed that Navi-Gummi. But ya know?" He shook his head. "That place is crawling with Heartless. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Cid tossed them another gummi. "Take that with you as well." Turned out to be a Transform-G piece. Sora thanked him and they headed back towards the gates to re-enter the Gummi Ship. "What do you suppose Cid meant that place is crawling with Heartless?" Gary mused. "I know what he meant." Sora said softly. Ranma realized that Sora was shaking and he placed a gentle hand on Sora's shaking shoulder. In an attempt to calm him down. "What did he mean, Sora?" Yami asked gently, also realizing Sora's unease. "Hollow Bastion." Sora said quietly. His bluish white eyes shone with tears. Lee had never seen Sora cry before. Ever.

"We're going to Hollow Bastion."


Hm. Seems they're getting ready for their biggest battle yet. Facing off against Maleficent and finding out more of the connection between the now HeartlessRiku and the keymaster Sora.

Stay tuned.

P.S.

There are only two more chapters after this, and the story will be done.

For now...