Heartless Imperfection

Chapter XXI

"Can't give up now, Sora, you lazy bum," She said, walking him toward the light. His arm was over her shoulder, and his feet were dragging, though he tried to walk. "You're almost done. Then… after it's all over… I can tell you…"

His eyes opened. Feet shuffled over the floor. He was being carried, arched over a shoulder and looking at the ground. "Hey, put me down!"

Goofy started to cry, "I can almost hear his voice…"

Donald turned around, "He's on your shoulder, you big galoot! Put him down! He's alive!"

Goofy's eyes widened, and he bent down to put the little human down. "Gawrsh, sorry, Sora! Where'd you go? I thought we lost you!" He threw his arms around Sora and gave him a big hug. Donald stood idle, rubbing his beak.

"I can't really explain it, I was still here, with you guys, I could feel it, but…" The boy stroked his unkempt, brown hair. He sat down in thought, putting a gloved hand to his chin. "What happened between when I nearly died and now?"

Goofy looked to Donald for some support, Donald let out a sigh, "We met this kid named Zen… I don't remember how to pronounce the rest of his name, but he was able to wield the keyblade."

Sora summoned the keyblade to him, without a problem. "This one?"

Donald nodded, "We left Midgar, fighting Shin-Ra soldiers along that long stretch of highway, and took haven in a town not too far away from it. We then read the packet that was left behind by a Doctor And Scientist called Namse. He's related to Ansem, they're cousins, I think. We met up with Cid, fought Riku on the Highwind,"

Sora interjected, "Riku? What was Riku doing?"

Donald looked to Goofy, and back to Sora, "He fought with Zen, and teleported away with Namse. He called Zen Sora, though I don't know why." The duck rubbed his beak once more, "We went on, witnessing these creatures called Weapons, almost being hit by one, and tracked Sephiroth to a Golden gambling arena. We fought Heartless in a concrete amphitheater until Sephiroth and Jenova arrived. Cloud tried to fight, but Sephiroth stopped him each time." A look of disdain filled his eyes. "Sephiroth did something to Zen, and you, saying Zen was a creation of his mother's, Jenova. It still doesn't make sense to me. Why would Jenova create Zen? How would Jenova create fake memories in a boy that really hasn't experienced any? Why?"

He let out a set of frustrated quacks before he went on, "Riku appeared, and beat the Turks to the ground, then he proceeded to defeat Jenova, but it was too late. Before he could finish her, she glowed green and the world began to shake. Namse ordered us to go into this portal, and here we are."

Goofy looked around, "But where are the others?"

They ended up on a small plain of cushion material with strange designs on it, with an oversized window at the end of it. Sora leant over the edge of the area they were standing on, and saw an even larger area of wood. "This looks like a giant… room." They looked toward the ceiling, mobiles hung and against the walls were shelves and dressers littered with… nothing. The wallpaper was a landscape of clouds on a sky blue background. A shuffle at the window sparked the trio's attention. A man, from what it seemed, looked right at them. He was their size, had a transparent helmet on, and a space suit equally strange. His neck and head were covered with a purple material, and his chin was something to boast about. He jumped onto the bed and pointed his arm at the group, "Who are you? Show me your identification!"

The trio stepped backward, Sora spoke, "Hey," He waved a hand in front of him, "We don't want to cause trouble."

He was clad in a gray space suit lined with a lime green all around his helmet. His hand was curled into a fist, the opposite one ready to tap a big red button titled "LASER" on his bicep. There was a blue insignia on the strange man's chest, a globe with wings and a rocket aiming northward atop it. To the right of that was the lettering, "LIGHTYEAR", above a big red button. Three oval-shaped buttons lined the opposite side of the chest area. The man's eyebrow arched, "Were you sent as backup? From Star Command?"

Donald nodded, "Yes, Star Command sent us, we're not to be shot at with lasers!"

The spaceman put his laser-arm down and moved toward the group. "I'm sorry, comrades, but you didn't have Star Command equipment on! My name, as you should know, is Buzz Lightyear. Come on," He stopped suddenly, a large booming came from the door, which was ajar. "Let's move! He's coming!"

Goofy scratched his head, "Uh, who's coming?"

"Is his name Sephiroth?" Sora was looking at the doorway, keyblade in hand.

Buzz gave him a strange look, "I've never heard of this 'Sephiroth', we have to run from the giant!" The spaceman dove out of the window, the others swiftly following. They followed him onto the roof of the house until reaching a gutter, where they proceeded to slide down a pipe connected to the house, leading downward. Deciding it was better to find the friends somewhere else in this world rather than face the wrath of a giant, they allowed Buzz to lead the way; "I'll explain things when we catch up with Zurg's convoy!"

Sora rolled his eyes, Of all the dark portals in the world, Namse sent us through one to this world.