Riku leaned against one of the masts on Hook's ship. Kairi's unconscious form laid next to him. "Do you think…do you think Kairi will be okay?"
"What do I care?" Hook grumbled, peering out into the sea.
"Yeah…" He stuffed his chin into his hand. "Maleficent said she'd be fine. Why would she lie to me?"
The pirate chuckled. "There're a lot of reasons, boy."
Riku's head shot up, and he glared. "Like what?"
Hook slapped himself in the head. "Oh, no…Maleficent's going to kill me…"
"What do you know that I don't?" Riku demanded.
The roar of an engine stopped Riku in his advance toward Hook. "What do you know? It's the Keyblade Master, the king's lackeys, and the girl."
"Emma?" Riku was convulsed by a shudder as he remembered the events in Monstro. "Well, that's just great."
Sora and Co. appeared on the ship's deck. Riku surveyed Dia and Jake. "Who are those two?"
"The girl must have brought them," Hook hypothesized, tapping Jake's baseball cap with his hook.
"Riku!" Sora cried happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving Kairi, of course," Riku snapped. "I found her. I bet that's more than you can say," he announced, gesturing to the redhead on the deck. Sora looked hurt. "You should've sided with the darkness, Sora. You could've learned some tricks…like this." He waved his hand, and Sora's shadow leapt off of the deck's floor. Donald, Goofy, Jake, and Dia fell into the hold. Riku started to leave, but he saw Emma standing a few feet away. "Why are you still here?"
"I moved to the side, so I didn't fall through the trapdoor and into the hold."
Riku groaned. "That's right." He glanced quickly at Sora, who was fighting his shadow, then back at Emma. "Why aren't you hitting me yet?" he asked warily of her.
Emma scratched her head. "Because last time I saw you, you were trying to kill me. You're not trying to kill me now. And if you don't mind me asking my own question, why are you so obsessed with trying to save Kairi?"
"Is that a serious question? You know why I want to save Kairi!"
She nodded. "Yeah, but in the real game, you let Sora get Kairi."
Riku clenched his fists. "Ansem, Maleficent, Jafar, Oogie Boogie, Ursula, Hook…we all wanted to change the game. You and your friends want to change it, too. The others wanted to control the universe through darkness…but I just want Kairi. Sora doesn't deserve her!"
"Has anyone told you that you're a selfish jerk?"
"Has anyone told you that you need to keep your pointy nose out of other people's business?"
Emma self-consciously felt her nose before continuing, "Sora does deserve Kairi. You don't." She stepped forward, striding toward Riku until she was a few inches away. "You're right. I DO want to change the game. But there are also some things that need to stay intact. That includes Sora and Kairi staying together. So butt out, you bratty…" She shoved Riku, and he stumbled back a bit. "…whiny…" She shoved him again, and he stumbled again. "…good-for-nothing BRAT!" she hollered in his face, giving him one last shove, this one nearly causing him to topple off of the deck and into the sea.
Once he regained his balance, Riku demanded, "What are you doing?"
"Something I should have done a while ago. I just didn't have the strength. Yeah, I almost killed you with a knife, you little sissy, but I don't mean that kind of strength. I mean strength in my heart. My heart used to bar everyone out, and seclude me from everyone else. Now, I get strength from my friends. I have Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I have Dia and Jake. Who do you have, Riku?"
"I…er…" Riku's voice trailed off, and he focused on the floorboards.
Emma snorted. "That's what I thought."
After destroying his shadow, Sora ran over, and stood by Emma's side. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Riku. I wanted to find you and Kairi so badly, but now that I have…I'm a little sad. You hate me, and Kairi lost her heart. It's the darkness's fault…I've lost both of you to it."
Riku crossed his arms. "The darkness isn't evil, just powerful. More powerful than you'll ever be."
"Would you shut up, already?" Emma teleported her metal pole into her hand and swiped at Riku's legs; he fell down immediately. "Hey, that was cool!" Sora glared at her. "Ahem. Anyway, the darkness IS evil. Ansem and Maleficent aren't really helping you. They just need Kairi because she's a Princess of Heart. And she's going to use you as Ansem's host, later." Riku's eyes widened. "They're completely evil, Riku. And we don't want you to become evil. Would you come with us?"
"We'd really appreciate it," Sora added.
Emma grinned, and extended her hand. "What do you say?"
"And you won't try to kill me again?" Riku clarified.
"I promise I won't," Emma chuckled.
Riku hesitantly clutched Emma's hand, and she pulled him back to his feet. "Okay. I'll trust you for now. Let's see how the others are doing."
… … …
Peter Pan, Donald, Goofy, Jake, and Dia were sitting, or in Peter Pan's case, floating, in a circle. There was a deck of cards in the middle. "Got any ones?" Jake asked.
"It's aces. Go fish," Peter Pan told him.
Donald sighed. "This is boring."
Sora, Emma, and Riku dropped down. "Hey, guys!" Sora greeted.
Dia stood up. "Sora! Emma! Oh, and look what the cat dragged in."
Riku sighed. "They forced me to stay with you guys as an ally. For now."
"Gawrsh, how'd you do that?"
Sora laughed. "Emma promised not to kill him."
Jake cocked his head to one side. "Why would Emma want to kill him?"
"I already tried to in Monstro…I got pretty close, too."
Dia started laughing hysterically. "Honestly? Way to go, Emma! That should've shown Captain Bishounen here! Never mess with a chick! Especially if she's got a metal pole!"
"Yeah! And Emma was really weak then!" Donald told her. "If someone as weak as her almost killed Riku, that would make Riku a super-weak pansy!"
Riku made for the hold's door. "I really don't see why I bother…"
Emma grabbed Riku's wrist. "I'm sorry, Riku, we were just playing around. Please don't go! You'll get in loads of trouble!"
"Why do you care?"
She limply dropped his hand, and her voice lowered. "I want the game to have a happy ending," she explained. "I want to find a way to stop you and Mickey from getting locked behind Kingdom Hearts. You'd be able to go home, with Sora and Kairi. Don't you want that?"
"Yeah. A whole lot."
"Then stay with us, okay?" She dragged him over to the others. "Are you guys ready to kick butt?"
"YEAH!" her allies cheered.
"Sure, why not," Peter Pan said indifferently.
They shoved open the door, and ran out with their weapons waving around. "Hey, when can we fly?" Sora asked Peter Pan.
"I tried getting your friends to fly while you were on the deck, but it backfired."
"Oh, well. I'll go ask Emma."
"Why would she know?"
Sora looked nervous. "Nevermind!" he squeaked. He ran further ahead.
Riku was trudging along behind his allies. Dia chuckled. "That kid makes goths and emos look happier than the Wiggles," she told Emma.
"I'm gonna go talk to him."
"Fine, but come back here if he starts cutting himself. Trust me, you don't wanna see that."
"Quit joking around." Emma walked over to Riku. "Are you okay?"
Riku glanced up at her. "Whatever."
Emma flicked his head. "Listen, you don't have to stay with us for very long. We have to lock Neverland, then we're going to Guadosalam, then to Hollow Bastion, and maybe to Macalania, then we kick Ansem's butt, and you can go home.
"Where's Guadosalam? And Macalania?"
"Were you the one who put the Decaclaw Heartless in Luca?" Riku nodded dolefully. "Well, those towns are also in Spira. Guadosalam isn't too far from Luca, and Macalania's also pretty close."
Riku shrugged. "We'd better get going, then."
"Lighten up! No frowns," Emma instructed. "No sad faces. Just like Donald said!" She ran in front of him, blocking his way. "You're not going anywhere until you smile."
"No."
"Smile!" Riku threw his arms up, then gave her a strained, cheesy grin. Emma clutched her stomach as she was overtaken by uncontrollable laughter. "You look so stupid! Even weirder than when Sora did it!"
Riku lost the cheesy grin, but he was smiling normally now. "C'mon, I can't be that bad!"
Emma shook her head. "No, you're not that bad. You're ten times worse!"
"That's it!" Emma started running for dear life as Riku pointed the Soul Eater at her and chased after her, both laughing happily as they caught up with their allies.
… … …
"Wendy?" Peter Pan called. He and the others were standing in a small room, peering through a hole in some wire above a shelf. "Wendy, are you there?"
"Peter?" Wendy crawled over to the hole.
"Aaaaand, cue the sappy part," Dia murmured. "What's up, Riku?"
Riku was gazing sadly at Peter Pan and Wendy. "That's how Sora and Kairi are gonna be, huh?"
Emma placed her hand sympathetically on Riku's shoulder. "Pretty much…but don't feel bad! In the real world, there are millions of fanfictions where you date Kairi." Riku cracked a small smile. "Then again, there are even more stories where you date Sora," she added.
Sora whirled around. "What?" Sora whined.
"You can't be serious!" Riku yelled.
"I don't wanna be in a yaoi story!"
"Too bad, you're in at least 200 of them," Dia informed the two boys.
Sora gagged, then looked up at Wendy. "Hey, is there another girl with you?"
"Why, yes!"
"Red hair, blue eyes, white tank top, purple skirt?"
"Yes, she's right here!"
Sora had an expression of pure happiness. "It's Kairi! Kairi, can you hear me?" He clambered onto the shelf and held out his hand. "It's me, Sora!" Kairi's fingers twitched slightly at the mention of Sora's name.
"Oh! Let go of me!" Wendy's startled voice snapped Sora back to attention. She and Kairi were being dragged away. "Hey!"
"Kairi! Bring Kairi back!" Sora cried frantically. He pulled himself up through the net, and onto the floor above. "We've got to save her!"
"Calm down, Sora!" Jake called and he and the others followed him up.
… … …
"Myeh, why'd Peter Pan have to leave?" Jake complained. "He was supposed to teach us to fly!"
Emma patted his head. "Don't worry, he'll come back later. Right now, we should go fight Antisora." She stepped onto the save point to regain her HP and MP. The others followed suit, pushing and shoving to get at least one foot into the green flames.
After more pushing, shoving, and yelling, they climbed up the ladder. It was decided that Sora should go up first; he thought it was because he was the leader, but the real reason was that nobody wanted to get a face-full of Antisora when they unlatched the door. "Whoa!" He slipped on one of the rungs, and fell onto his allies.
Riku rubbed his head, which Sora had kicked. "Why do we have to have such a big group?"
The others grumbled and nodded, then filed up the ladder again. This time, they all made it to Hook's room, and were prepared to fight. They let out a simultaneous cheer, and ran at the newly-appeared Antisora, slashing at him, whacking him, and slinging spells. Emma materialized the metal pole, and twirled it like a baton. It hit Antisora in the face five times. "Whoo!" Jake, Goofy, and Dia clobbered Antisora with the Titan Shield and Grand Mallet, Donald cast several spells, and Emma threw Crystal Shurikens. The flurry of attacks caused the boss to fall down, allowing Sora to stab him in the face, and he disappeared.
"We won! We won!" Jake waved his arms around.
"And there's the deck door!" Dia exclaimed. She, Jake, and Emma pranced around, cheering and jumping around.
Riku laughed. "What's up with you three?"
Emma stopped dancing for a moment. "We get to fly! We get to fly really soon!"
While the others didn't look nearly as insanely excited, they shared a look of happiness. "Let's go, then!" The seven shoved open the door, only to be tossed onto the deck the second they emerged. Several Heartless, Air Pirates to be exact, surrounded them, accompanied by Hook. "What? How did they know we were coming?"
Hook smirked. "You were screaming at the top of your lungs. It wasn't that hard to tell."
The pirate bent down. "Well, well, Keyblade Master! You seemed to have charmed the rat back onto your side. No matter; give me the Keyblade!"
"No way!"
"Ah, but if you don't, I have no choice but to make you walk the plank," Hook told him, pointing his hook at a wooden board.
Sora winced. "Is there another choice?"
"Afraid not. So, I supposed you're going to hand it over?"
"Never!"
"Very well." Hook snapped, and walked into his cabin, snickering.
Two Air Pirates grabbed Sora's arms, and dragged him to the plank. Think happy thoughts…think happy thoughts… Sora closed his eyes, and jumped off.
"SORA!" Jake yelled. Emma held him back. "Is Sora okay?"
Emma nodded. "He's fine. Look!" Sora rose up from the side of the ship, looking shaken but thankful. "We can fly now!"
Jake stood up. "Yay!" He jumped into the air, then fell back down. "Ow...I forgot! We need pixie dust, right?"
"Right!" Peter Pan flew down, shaking an irritated Tinker Bell onto Emma, Jake, Dia, Goofy, Donald, and Riku. "Now, all you need to do is think happy thoughts!"
Happy thoughts…let's see…oh! A light bulb turned on inside of Emma's head. The others seemed to have the same reaction, because everyone except Riku shouted in unison, "FLYING!" After a few seconds of thinking, Riku also took off.
"WHOOOOO-HOOOOO!" Emma flew in circles, laughing. She flew over to Riku, who looked very red. "Man, what's wrong with you? First you're maniacal, then you're happy, then you're depressed, then you're happy, now you're all flushed! Are you schizophrenic or something?" Riku shook his head. "If you don't mind me asking, what was your happy thought? It wasn't flying, was it?" He shook his head again. Emma playfully jabbed him with her elbow. "Was it Kairi? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
"You," Riku replied flatly.
Emma raised an eyebrow. "Huh?" Instead of answering, Riku flew off. Stupid…he's just trying to mess with me. Right…?
After all of the Heartless were cleared away, the group landed back on the deck, by Hook's door. "How do we get Hook back out?" Donald wondered. "It's not like we can just yell, 'Hey, it's your enemies! Wanna come out and get killed?' What do we do?"
Peter Pan grinned. "We do this." He rapped on the door, and pinched his nose. "Captain? The children have been taken care of," he announced, speaking in Smee's voice.
"They have? Wonderful!" Hook cried, opening the door. His eyes widened. "You!" He hurriedly pulled out a rapier. "I suppose I'll have to fight you!"
The group drew their weapons. "You bet you'll have to, you old codfish!" Peter Pan agreed. Emma flew high up into the air, and landed on the top of the mast. "Hey, what's she doing?"
"Just fight!" Emma ordered. She examined her necklace. Great! The red one is glowing! She held onto it as the sky filled with an ominous red mist. "PYROMANIAC!" the girl hollered.
Sora looked up. "Emma's using one of her cool attacks!"
Hook re-sheathed his rapier, then shimmied up the mast. "Don't think that you can escape me that easily, you whelp!"
Emma peered down at him with red eyes. "Yeah, good luck getting up here, old man." She licked her newly-sprouted fangs, then flexed her fingers. Her pale fingernails rapidly changed into long, black claws. She tapped the mast, and it was set on fire.
"SMEEEEEEEEEE!" Hook screamed, climbing back down. The fire was faster, though, and set his hat on fire. Once he was back on the deck, he tried to stamp out the fire.
"Pffffft. You can't douse a magic fire with your shoes," Emma scoffed, and floated down. "It'll only set the rest of you on fire."
By the time Emma was done speaking, the fire had worked its way up to the knees of his pants. "EEK!"
Dia punched the air. "Burn, baby, burn!"
"Go, Emma!" Jake cheered.
Hook was flailing around, and he was nervously fanning his pants. "Decrepit fop," Emma muttered, then waved her hand. The fire disappeared. Giving him a toothy grin, Emma walked forward, while Hook stepped backwards. Once he was against the rim, Emma whispered, "Boo."
"EEK!" Hook shrieked again, and fell into the sea. He treaded water, and spit a little out. "All right, all right, you win. And you can get rid of that clock, it doesn't scare me."
The group exchanged glances. "We don't have a clock!" Goofy called down.
"What?" Hook turned around slowly to face the crocodile. Shrieking girlishly again, he swam off.
Sora chuckled. "I bet 1000 munny that he gets eaten."
