A/N: As a twist for the next chapter, I've added a Final Fantasy Character. I was going to do an idea with the summons but I realized that the idea was already taken. The only clue I'll give about this person is that he had some of an importance in Final Fantasy X and he was one of the people you ran into a lot. Expect a long chapter here. Anyways, enjoy.
Chapter XXV: A Hassle in the Castle Part I
Back outside of the book, Mumbo Jumbo and Luigi were in the mists of playing poker. Wiseman returned into the room with a sigh.
"Ugh." He groaned. "I can't find that stupid key anywhere. " Sighing he walked up to Luigi. "Luigi..."
"Wait a second!" Luigi interrupted. "I'm just about to win!" He then looked in front of him. "Boy, I sure am glad that extra job at being a card dealer payed off."
Luigi could see his pot of gold coins he has been wagering. It was very big and almost the size of the ceiling while Mumbo's wasn't very big at all. Mumbo was sweating nervously as he looked at his hand. Gaining a confident look, he shoved his gold coins onto the middle of the table.
"Mumbo go all in!" Mumbo said, shoving his money into the middle.
"Then I'll go in as well." Luigi said, doing the same thing. He then sat back. "Okay, let's see those babies."
Mumbo laughed as he slammed his cards onto the table, revealing a full house. "Har! Har! Har! Mumbo have good hand this time. A full house!"
"That was a good show. I especially liked the guy who did the impressions." Luigi commented on something off topic. "But there was too many hugs and lessons to be learned." He then noticed everyone looking at him funny. "Oh, right! A full house, sorry. So, you think you got me beat? Check this out!"
He then slammed a royal flush onto the table. Mumbo Jumbo gasped in surprise and slammed his fists onto the table.
"That impossible!" Mumbo exclaimed. "That twelfth time in row! Plumber cheated!"
"What?" Luigi gasped, appalled at what he just heard. "For your information I never cheat! I just believe in the heart of the cards!" As he stood up, extra cards from his sleeves fell out and he noticed Wiseman giving him a dirty look.
"Heart of the cards?" Wiseman asked, raising his eyebrow. "More like cards in the sleeve."
Mumbo then got angry and took out his magic stick. Luigi backed up nervously and chuckled.
"Uh...hey...um...can't you take a joke?" Luigi gulped.
"Mumbo turn plumber into toad!" Mumbo shouted at Luigi.
"Wah!" Luigi screamed as he ran away from Mumbo.
Mumbo fired his beam at Luigi, which hit him and engulfed him into light. As it dimmed, Luigi was now a small green toad wearing only his hat.
"Har! Har! Har!" Mumbo laughed. "Joke on plumber now!"
"Change me back!" Luigi cried. He then noticed a fly. It was flying around the room and he was keeping his eyes on it. He jumped onto a book shelve and stuck his tongue out and ate it. "No! I don't want to eat flies! I want pasta! I'm sorry!" He then started crying. "Please!" He then stopped and saw another one and ate it.
"Mumbo, you've had your fun, so change him back." Mumbo instructed.
Mumbo nodded and changed Luigi back into his human state. He was on top of the book shelf and he fell off it and landed on his head.
"Ow!" Luigi cried in pain. He then stood up and rubbed his head. "Mama-mia! I guess I learned my lesson for today."
"Want a hug?" Mumbo joked.
"No!" Luigi cried.
Just then, a flash of light brightened the entire room and the three gasped. As they turned around, they could see the book was open. They then saw Sora and Yoshi come out of the book and landed on the ground.
"Sora! Yoshi!" Wiseman exclaimed.
Luigi ran up to his two friends and greeted them.
"Hey, are you two okay?" Luigi asked. "I've been worried sick."
"Yeah, we're okay." groaned Sora, as he stood up. "That book was Yoshi's world."
"Are you serious?" Luigi asked in shock.
"Yep!" Yoshi nodded. "But in the end, Yoshi rather stay with Luigi and Sora."
"Well, of course you would, kid." Luigi scoffed. "My brother and I took care of you after all." He then noticed Sora who was still a bit emotional after his reunion with Yoshi. "Are you okay kid? Were you crying?" Sora nodded shyly and Luigi just chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Sora asked, insulted.
"Nothing." Luigi said. "I just noticed that you've really grown attached to Yoshi over these past few weeks."
Sora picked up Yoshi and chuckled. "Sure have. If it wasn't for Yoshi, I don't know what I would have done. He's giving me confidence as well as you."
"For real?" Luigi asked with widened eyes.
"Of course." Sora smiled. "You guys have been great for these past few weeks. You've been there for me through the good times and bad. At first, I thought we were just together to find my friends and your brother but, as time went on, I've learned that you were more then just my accompanies."
"Aw, kid." Luigi blushed. "Putting aside your nagging, whining, being stubborn, confusion, miss guidance.."
"Luigi!" snapped Sora.
"Only joking." Luigi laughed. "Seriously, you've become one of my best friends. You've made my adventure so much fun. I haven't had this much of an adventure ever since my brother and I saved Beanbean Kingdom."
"Beanbean Kingdom?" Sora asked, raising his eyebrow in quirk. "What the heck is that? I bet it gets smelly down there, huh?"
"No kid!" Luigi snapped. "Please don't go there."
"Right, only kidding." Sora chuckled. "By the way, that world we in were told us something about you."
"About me?" a curious Luigi asked.
"Yeah, that some things never change." Yoshi giggled.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Luigi asked with anger.
"Hey, that's my line!" Sora chuckled. "But it was nothing." He then turned his attention to Wiseman. "Hey, while we were in there, we found another summon gem."
"Here." Mumbo offered. "Mumbo take look."
Sora handed the summon gem to Mumbo who looked. He then nodded and placed it on the floor.
"Who in there?" Yoshi asked.
"This summon called The Fire of the Emblem." Mumbo explained. "Stand back and prepare to receive power!"
He then fired his staff at the summon gem, releasing the energy with in it. Sora picked up the summon gem and noticed it glowing red like fire.
"Wow!" an amazed Sora said. "It's beautiful. Let's find out who's inside this thing."
Sora used the power of the gem to send his two allies into it and it caused a flash. Seconds later, Sora noticed a young man with blue hair standing before him. His appearance was medieval as he wore a short blue robe with yellow lines going through the opening in the middle. He wore giant blue gloves that went up a little pass his elbows, dark blue pants, light blue boots, and a red cape. He also had a sword on his belt which was in its sheath.
"Where am I?" the man asked, looking around his new environment. "I was just about to slay Medeus, when these black creatures attacked me." He then noticed Sora. "You boy, are you responsible for this?"
"Um...well...you see..." Sora began.
"It was Mumbo who did it." Mumbo said proudly.
The man then grabbed Mumbo by the throat and took out his sword.
"You fool!" the man said angrily. "You dare do this to me? Destroying my home? Then you shall fall before the falchion!"
"Now wait a minute." Sora said, trying to stop the fight.
"Stay out of my way child!" the man shouted, swiping his sword at Sora.
Sora dodged the attack and quickly took out his keyblade and blocked another attack sent at him. The man quickly thrust at Sora who dodged it and clashed with him again. The man rapidly hit his sword as Sora rapidly blocked with his keyblade. The man swiped horizontally and Sora ducked under it and ran away. The man chased him to the edge of the room, where Sora ran on the wall and jumped over the man.
"Please!" Sora pleased. "Stop! We don't mean any harm!"
"Likely story!" the man shouted. He rapidly clashed with Sora again. The man noticed that Sora wasn't even trying to attack. "I don't get it. He's not even trying to fight back."
The man vertically slashed at Sora who jumped out of the way. He then threw his sword at him who barely missed it. The man made a run for his sword but, Sora quickly grabbed it but, the man rushed passed the keyblade master and grabbed his sword. He then charged up his sword with a lot of energy and struck hard at Sora. The hit sent Sora flying across the room and crashing into a wall.
"Oh, no!" Wiseman gasped. "I just had that wall redecorated!"
The man quickly went over to the hole and jumped outside to see Sora on the ground. He weakly got back up and got angry.
"Resistance is futile!" the man said. "You're persistence will not help you defeat an expert swordsmen."
Sora weakly stood up and brought the tip of his keyblade to his face.
"That's it!" Sora said. "I was trying to be nice and give you a warm welcome but, now I'm going to have to fight you!"
The man charged at Sora again but, Sora used Strike Raid and knocked the sword out of his hand. Sora then used Ragnarok and rapidly slashed the man and sent him flying back into the house, crashing into the round table. Wiseman began to pull his hair out in frustration.
"That table cost me two-hundred gold coins!" Wiseman shouted.
Sora ran back into the house to see the man on the broken in half table. The man weakly got up and sighed heavily. He then smiled and picked up his sword and put it away.
"Alright, that's enough." the man nodded. "You passed the test."
"Test?" Sora asked with suspicion. "You mean this was all a test?"
"Correct." the man responded. "When those dark creatures attacked me, I was lost in the darkness. A voice told me that I was given a second chance. But I would have a master who would call me to battle and masters are even powerful then their apprentice and you've proven..." Sora then laughed at the comment. "And what might my master find funny?"
"Listen, dude." Sora chuckled. "You've got it all wrong. Your world was destroyed by a group of creatures known as the heartless. However, your heart was somehow able to survive the attack and you were placed in a summon gem. Now, Mumbo over here revived you so that you could help me fight those creatures."
"Oh, I see." the man said. "Well, then I apologize for the inconvenience." Sora nodded and the man bowed. "I am Marth. Once the prince of a kingdom known as Aritia, until I was exiled."
"My name is Sora." Sora said, shaking the prince's hand. "You're a pretty good sword fighter. You'll defiantly be a good help."
"Thank you, Sora." Marth nodded. "I shall take my leave and return when I am needed." He then turned to Mumbo. "And sorry if I startled you."
Mumbo just laughed. "Har! Har! Har! Mumbo forgive!"
Marth disappeared into the summon gem and Sora's friends returned from it.
"Hey, guys." Sora greeted his friends. "You okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine." Luigi groaned. "It's too crowded in there though."
Yoshi looked around the room to see the house in mess. "What happened to place?"
"Let's just say the next summon really brought down the house." Sora joked.
Yoshi and Mumbo started laughing at the joke while Luigi frowned.
"He's not funny!" Luigi shouted at Yoshi and Mumbo. "I could do ten times better then this kid!"
"Okay, prove it." Sora smirked with confidence.
Luigi was about to say something when Wiseman walked over with an angry look.
"I have a joke." Wiseman said. "Knock, knock."
"Who there?" Yoshi asked.
"Dead!"
"Dead who?" Sora wondered.
"Dead meat!" Wiseman shouted at Sora. "Just look at what you've done to my house!"
"It wasn't my fault." Sora said innocently.
"I think your forgetting about the ceiling kid." Luigi pointed. "Was it not us that fell through earlier?"
"Shut up!" Sora snapped at Luigi, blushing. He then turned back to Wiseman. "Listen, we'll pay you back every cent non the less."
"Oh, you better." Wiseman responded with an attitude. "But for now, take this." He gave Sora another keychain. "This Spellbinder keychain will increase your magic power. Just a reward for all the practice with magic."
"Thanks, I'll be sure to use it." Sora smiled with appreciated.
"NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Wiseman screamed at the trio.
Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi quickly ran out the door and ran all the way back to Delfino Plaza. Upon arrival, the group stopped to catch their breath.
"Boy, he's ticked." Luigi said. "I tell you, if he actually tried, he could be as scary as Cid but still, no one can beat Cid when it comes to anger."
"Too true." Sora nodded in agreement. "Guys, we found two more of those navigation pieces, so we should go to the accessory shop to find Cid."
"But didn't Cid say he go back to real job?" Yoshi asked.
Sora gasped in realization. "Oh, yeah! I forgot! So, how are we going to find him?"
"This isn't a big place." Luigi said. "It shouldn't be so hard. Come on! Let's go before any heartless show up."
The trio began their search for Cid. On the way, the group noticed a small little post office right near them. As they looked in the window, they saw their friends from Shy Guy's Toybox.
"Hey!" Sora cried. "It's Goombario and his friends!"
Luigi looked in the window and gasped. "You're right!"
The trio entered the store and looked to see Goombario reading a book, and Koops in the back putting letters away. It was a pretty small post office with a brown wooden desk and brown wooden mail slots.
"Goombario!" Sora called to his friend.
Goombario looked up to see the trio and cried. "Sora! Luigi! Yoshi!" He then ran up to them and hopped up and down excitedly. "I'm so glad to see you guys again."
"We're glad you're okay." Luigi smiled.
"Hey, Koops!" Goombario called to Koops. "Sora and his friends are here!"
Koops turned to see the trio and smiled. "Hey, fellas. I'm glad to see you three made it out of there alive and well. A very kind man by the name of Leon helped us and even helped us start our own post office. At the moment it's just me and Goombario here. Lady Bow went down to the beach to tan."
"Since when do ghosts get tans?" Sora asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine." Koops shrugged. "And as for Parakarry, he's out doing the mail again." He then looked in the mail slots and saw a letter. "Oh, no! Parakarry missed one!" He then took it out and looked at it. "Oh, this is an order form for Cid."
"Cid as in Cid Highwind?"
"The same one." Koops answered. "Are you guys going to see him? If you are then could you give this to him? Oh, and take this as well."
Koops handed Sora a keychain, the letter, and a special block.
"A Toad Express block?" a confused Sora asked.
"Yeah, Koops can actually make special designs for the Toad Express." Goombario explained. "Use this and you'll get more fuel and rocket power for the Toad Express. It's out of gratitude for your help."
"Thanks." Sora smiled. "So, where is Cid?"
"Go over to the end of the harbor." Koops instructed. "You'll find him there."
The trio said there good-byes and headed over to the harbor. Surprisingly, no heartless attacked them as they walked through the harbor. At the end of it, they saw a counter on the outside and sleeping behind it was Cid. His chair was leaned back against a wall and he had his feet on his desk.
"Cid?" Sora asked quietly. He then gently moved Cid back and forth. "Are you awake?"
Cid then woke up very quickly and screamed in Sora's face. "GO AWAY YOU NOISY NEIGHBOR KID, I DON'T WANT A SELF-HELP BOOK!"
Sora coward behind Luigi and shook in fear.
"Cid, it's only us." Luigi said calmly.
"Oh, sorry." Cid sighed. "I overslept again. I'm usually cranky when I don't get my regular sleep." Everyone else chuckles at the comment "I wonder how long I've been asleep for?" Sora came out from behind Luigi and walked to the counter. "Sora, do you have the time?"
"Sure gramps..." He then noticed Cid making a threatening stare at him. "I mean Cid. It's a quarter passed five."
"WHAT?" Cid exclaimed, grabbing Sora by the shirt collar. "I'VE BEEN ASLEEP FOR 18 HOURS!"
"Cid, calm down." Sora gulped. "Dang, you make Grumpy from Snow White look real, real bad."
"Sorry." Cid sighed. "Tough day."
"Um, before we cause Cid another panic attack, we came here because..."
"Let me guess." Cid interrupted. "You brought me more Toad Express pieces."
"How did Cid know?" Yoshi gasped in amazement.
"Because I'm psychic." Cid responded, jokingly. "But seriously, I'll get it installed for you. By the way, forgot to tell you what I do. I now make block pieces for any type of plane. This new invention allows me to add special features to any plane by simply placing a block."
"Interesting." Sora said. He then went through his pocket and pulled out the order form. "Oh, and we got this order form for you." He then handed it to Cid.
"Oh, yeah." Cid chuckled. "I was wondering when I would get this. I'm pretty popular you know. Take this as thanks." He then gave Sora a brown bag. "Here's a starter kit so you can remodel the Toad Express."
"Thanks." Yoshi said.
"Should take me an hour to install the navigation system." Cid said. "So why don't you fellas get something to eat and meet me back here in an hour?"
"Yoshi do." Yoshi nodded excitedly. He then ran off in a hurry.
"Well, now you did it Cid." Sora chuckled. "You had to say that word."
"What did I say?" Cid asked with a confused look.
"You said Yoshi's favorite word; eat!"
"Oh, I see." Cid chuckled. "Take care."
Sora and Luigi followed Yoshi to the restaurant they ate at last time. At the restaurant, the trio got their food pretty quickly and were eating away. However, only one of them was not eating and his name was Sora. Sora had a salmon with lemon sauce on it but, he was playing around with it. He mashed at it with his fork and made a depressed look. Luigi stopped eating and took notice of this.
"Hey, kid." Luigi said. "Don't you know it's rude to play with your food? If you don't like it, give it to Mr. Garbage Disposal over here."
"Yeah, Yoshi eat it all up." Yoshi said licking his lips. He then thought about what Luigi said and growled at him. "Hey!"
"It's a complement!" Luigi responded with a snap. He then looked back to see the depressed look on his face. "Oh, I see. You're upset again, aren't you?"
Yoshi jumped out of his and walked over to Sora and put his arm around him.
"Does Sora remember what Luigi said?" Yoshi said softly. "Sora can't be sad and can't frown."
"I know but, I'm looking at you two and you think that this isn't a big deal." Sora said upset. "You seem so cheerful. Aren't you guys worried about Mario at all? We haven't found him yet you know."
"Us?" Luigi asked. "No way."
Sora scoffed. "Some brother you are."
"You know that's not what I meant!" Luigi snapped. "Of course I miss my brother and I worry but, I have faith in him. He's defeated tons of monsters while Yoshi was still an egg and when you were still in diapers kid. No one can beat him and plus it doesn't hurt to have a little faith. It doesn't seem to stick into your brain through."
"Sorry, it's just..."
"Mario told Luigi and Yoshi to find the key wielder, and in the end Luigi and Yoshi found Sora." Yoshi said trying to cheer Sora up. "As long as Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi stick together it going to be okay."
"He's right kid." Luigi agreed. "As they say in the Lion King; a Hakuna Matata."
"Sora need to believe in self." Yoshi said with a smile.
"Believe?" Sora whispered to himself. "Is that all I need to do?"
"Close your eyes and try to find that one thing that is close to your heart." Luigi instructed. "Then, you'll understand that the most important thing you need to do is have a belief in yourself. Without it, you'll never find the confidence within. And without confidence you'll never defeat the heartless."
"I'll give it a try." Sora nodded slowly.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on the darkness of his eyelids. For a moment nothing happened but then, he heard a very familiar voice.
"I believe in you." called Kairi.
Sora felt as his soul has left his body and was being pulled through time and space. He was flying through an endless tunnel and at the end of it was light. He thought he could feel Kairi so he trusted where the light was taking him and it consumed him. Moments later, the light dimmed and he looked at his new area. He was in a strange library of some sort and it appeared with long windows sort of like a chapel. He noticed that the shelves were extremely high over his head, paretically skyscrapers to him.
"Where am I?" Sora thought.
The walls were colored green as continued to walk through the strange place. Although he's never seen it before it was somehow familiar to him. He then walked over to an area he saw a table with a lamp and stairs that curved going up. Sora also noticed an old woman sitting in a rocking chair. She had white hair which was in a bun, wore an apron and a blue shirt. He then saw a young girl with red hair, a white sleeveless shirt and a purple skirt running up to her.
"Grandma." the girl said with excitement. "I've done all my chores. Can you tell me the story now? I've been wanting to hear it for weeks."
The grandma laughed. "All right, child. Calm down! Now, I shall tell you a tale of light and darkness." The girl jumped into her lap and got close to her. "Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. It kept them safe from darkness and it brought good fortune. It was a happy time." She then made a glum look. "But then, people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves. It broke out in wars and many people got hurt. This was a result because their hearts gave birth to darkness."
"Darkness?" the girl gasped with fear in her eyes. "Why would people do that?"
"Greed and power my young child." the grandma responded, brushing her granddaughter's hair. "The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared."
"Grandma!" The girl cried, hugging her grandmother with fear and tears. "I don't want to disappear."
"It's okay little one." the grandma whispered softly. "Not all was lost because a small fragments of light survived...in the hearts of children."
The child looked up at her grandma with reassurance in her eyes and smiled. "Children like me?"
"Of course." the grandma smiled. "With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It's 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."
"Can I see the light?" the girl asked.
"Of course." the grandma replied. " You just need to look inside of your heart. But someday, a door to the innermost 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. Do you understand, Kairi?"
"Yes, grandma." Young Kairi nodded.
"Now, run along and play darling." Kairi's grandma said.
Young Kairi got up and started to run off. Sora saw her run towards him.
"Kairi!" He cried.
As she got close to him, he could see a bright flash before his eyes and could feel his soul returning to his body. He was again in darkness but, upon opening his eyes he could see Luigi and Yoshi looking at him funny. He the noticed that both of them have finished eating.
"Kid, when I said close your eyes I didn't mean fall asleep." Luigi groaned. "What the heck were you thinking?"
"Sorry." Sora said, rubbing his head sheepishly. "It's just...never mind. But I think I understood what you meant. I have to be strong and have faith."
"Good." Luigi smiled. "Now hurry up and eat before Yoshi decides to inhale your food."
"And Yoshi would too." Yoshi added with a giggled.
Sora quickly wolfed down his food and was done in two minutes. After paying the bill the trio headed back to the harbor where Cid was waiting for them.
"Hey, I said be here in an hour, not an hour and twenty minutes." Cid said upset. "What took you?"
"Somebody just had to catch forty winks before finishing his meal." Luigi said, giving Sora a dirty look.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" Sora angrily said at Luigi.
"No, because the sand man came out of nowhere and did it." Luigi said sarcastically. "Really, what kind of person would sleep during a meal?"
Sora just smirked. "At least I don't sleep with Mr. Snoo..."
"Ahh! Don't finish that sentence!" Luigi panicked.
"Right, well anyways, I finished so your good to go." Cid said, trying to stay on topic. "Just be careful, those heartless are up to no good and it's gotten worse. They've partially doubled."
"Thanks for the send off, gramps." Sora said with sarcasm.
Cid waved his fist at Sora and shouted. "IT'S CID! DON'T YOU GIVE ANY SARCASM AT ME OR I'LL KICK YOUR BEHINDS HERE TO THE END OF THE WORLD!"
The trio gulped nervously and backed away.
"Well, uh, look at time." Yoshi chuckled nervously. "It time for Yoshi's afternoon nap."
"Yeah, we have to go." Sora chuckled nervously. "See ya!"
The trio quickly left leaving Cid behind who just sighed. "I'm getting too old for this."
Just then, Mr. Resetti popped out and turned to Cid.
"Hey, Cid." the mole called to Cid. "Come on! It's time for our anger management class!"
"What? Already?" Cid gasped. He then looked at his watch. "Oh, dang it!"
"Hey, you've improved." Resetti chuckled. "At least you don't say the bad version anymore."
Meanwhile, Sora and his friends boarded the Toad Express where Toadsworth was waiting for them.
"Greetings Master Sora, Master Luigi, and Yoshi." Toadsworth said. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah." Sora nodded. "We may not know what's out there but, I'm strong enough for this journey! I'll be ready for anything!"
"That spirit!" Yoshi cheered.
"You tell like it is kid!" Luigi smiled.
Toadsworth chortled. "My, someone is in a good mood." He then turned to the cockpit. "Master Tails, we're ready."
"Roger!" Tails called from the cockpit.
Tails activated the engine and pressed a button causing a map of the worlds they visited to show up. On the screen he saw the current worlds they've visited and next to Station Square was an unknown world. Tails activated the warp drive and the Toad Express warped back to Station Square. Tails then activated the engines and moved forward.
Sora sat back in his seat and Yoshi jumped onto his lap and curled into a ball. Sora pet Yoshi's head and Yoshi fell asleep with a smile. Luigi looked at the two with a smile.
"Whatever happened in that world has brought Sora and Yoshi closer together." Luigi thought. "Their friendship has grown and I'm happy for the both of them. And I hope nothing tears our friendship apart."
The ship began to hit some rough areas on the way to the next world. This caused the Toad Express to shake a little bit.
"W-what's happening?"
"We're hitting some rough spots." Tails responded over the intercom. "Please remain seated until the plane comes to a complete stop. It will only be another five minutes before our next world so hang in there."
"I bet this next world will be intense." Sora assumed.
"Please, let's try to think positive." Luigi gulped.
"I was." Sora responded.
"I was hoping he wouldn't say that." Luigi said to himself.
About a few minutes later, the plane finally stopped and the group sighed with relief. Sora stood up and looked out the window. To his surprise there was nothing and he made a questioned look.
"Um, Tails?" Sora turned to the cockpit. "Are you sure there's a world here?"
"Affirmative." Tails responded. "It was so hard to find the right spot but, the warp pipe should drop you off there."
The trio began to make their way to the pipe when Toadsworth stopped them.
"Heed my warning." Toadsworth said with caution. "The name of this world is called Hallow Bastion. It appears that most of the heartless came from this place."
"Seriously?" Yoshi asked in shock.
"Awesome!" Sora cheered. "That mean that Kairi could be here." He then lowered his face with sorrow. "And if Kairi is there, then Riku must be there too."
"Sora, you've got to confront this kid." Luigi told Sora. "It's the only way to save him from the darkness."
"Yeah." Sora said with a very serious tone. "I'm going to. I've had it with what he's done."
"And Yoshi and Luigi help Sora." Yoshi nodded.
"Right." Sora smiled, giving Yoshi a thumbs.
Every time they disembarked to a world they would usually play around and smile. But the smiles have stopped this time. They knew that things were about to get harder and dangerous but they weren't afraid. Even Luigi had guts this time.
"Be careful you three." Toadsworth said with a worried look.
Sora bravely walked up to the pipe and took a deep breath. He then turned to his friends with his famous smile, thinking it's another day at the playground.
"Guys..." Sora began. "Let's go!"
The trio jumped down the pipe on the way to their next world.
World Name: Hallow Bastion
The trio arrived on the same small island that Riku was on. The same rising water that Riku saw earlier was all around them.
"Is that waterfall going up?" Luigi asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Aw, man." Sora said, observing the waterfall.. "My science teacher would never buy this."
"Yeah." Luigi agreed. "They say that what comes up must come down. But this is ridiculous!"
Yoshi pointed at something with fear. "Look!"
The two others turned to see a very dark and mysterious castle. The castle had glass windows like a church has and it was a bit red and orange. They could also see pipes warped around it with smoke coming out of it. In the middle was a giant heartless symbol. The trio also noticed the floating blue floating islands around the area. Sora look strangely at the place as if knew the place.
"This place, I somehow know it." Sora thought in surprise. "This is impossible! I've never even been off my island."
Luigi shook in fear as he looked at the castle. He could feel his heart beat rapidly and losing his breath. He slowly began to walk away but Sora noticed this.
"Uh-oh." gulped Luigi.
"Luigi, what are you doing?" Sora asked his cowardly friend. "Aren't we going in?"
"Kid, I have a phobia of going into dark and scary places." Luigi said, nervously putting his hand across his eyes.
"Luigi, you have a phobia of the guy on that cereal box." Sora pointed out in frustration.
"You lie!" Luigi shouted. "But seriously, after rescuing my brother from that haunted mansion, I had terrible nightmares about it."
"You told me that story but, there's one difference." Sora said. "We have your back here."
Sighing with relief, Luigi smiled. "You're right kid. As long as the three of us stick together, no one can beat us."
The trio began to walk forward when Sora stopped. He felt a warm feeling coming from his chest. It was nothing he had ever felt before.
"Guys." Sora said, stopping his friends. He then put his hand on his chest. "I feel a little warm right here."
"Hm, you must have heartburn." Luigi suggested. "Want me to run and get the Pepto?"
"No, I don't have heartburn." Sora disagreed.
"Aw, come on." Luigi said. "I have cherry."
"Luigi!" Sora snapped.
"Ooh, sorry." Luigi said quietly.
All of a sudden the trio heard someone shout a battle cry. Yoshi hugged Sora's leg and whimpered.
"Ooh, what that sound?" Yoshi whimpered.
"Sounds like a person." Luigi assumed. "Perhaps someone is fighting or in a lot of pain."
Sora could feel a strange force near by him. He recognized the feeling and knew what to expect.
"Riku." he whispered. He then turned to his group out loud. "Come on, guys! Let's rock and roll!"
The trio began to make their way up through the rising falls. They kept their eyes peeled for any heartless but to their relief, non showed up. On the way, Sora was able to find more Pikmin around and stored them away. As they reached the next floating island, they could see two figures standing at the top of a bigger island. This one had a small watering hole at edge of the north side from where the group stood. The first person they saw on the right was non other then Riku himself.
The one on the left was an anthropomorphic Kitsume fox. He wore a white vest with a matching green shirt and pants. He had a red turtle neck like thing around his neck, two white gloves that were similar to Sora's gloves, and had silver boots on. He also had a gun holster around his leg with a laser gun in it. In his hand, he held a staff with a pointed end. The fox was exhausted as sweat dropped down from his face and he held his staff with a tight grip. Riku however remained perfectly normal and calm.
"I don't get it." Riku said to the fox. "You didn't have any help from the heartless nor used a vessel. I heard you were an ace pilot. So tell me, how did you get here?"
Weakly standing up, the fox sighed and tried to speak. "I didn't need anything. I just needed to believe."
"Believe?" Riku scoffed. "What children's book have you been reading?"
"It's true!" the fox snapped. "When my world was destroyed by the darkness, they took everything from me. Especially, Krystal! Over this last year after making her a Starfox pilot I've developed a crush on her. Now, I've fallen in love with her and when I tried to pour my heart out, she was gone. I swore on my life I would not rest until I've found her. I followed her here and here I am. I know she's here! I can feel her from my nose to the tip of my tail. I'll fight with every breath in my body! I'd even go through a kid like you! So, hand her over, or else!"
"Or else what?" Riku smirked. "You're pathetic little stick is no match for me."
The fox was offended by the comment. "You brat! This was Krystal's staff! It's far more powerful then you know!"
"Then I dare you to take her back!" Riku challenged.
"Oh, I will!" the fox said, charging at Riku.
The fox attacked with his staff and Riku effortlessly blocked the attack with his sword. The fox rapidly slashed at Riku, who continued blocking the attack effortlessly.
"Is that all you got?" Riku smirked with confidence.
"I don't understand." the fox gasped in surprise. "I've had years of combat training, so how can a kid be beating me?"
"It's quality not quantity my friend." Riku explained. "Your going up against the darkness and here, the darkness is invincible."
The fox jumped back and fired his laser gun at Riku who deflected the attacks with his sword. Riku spun out of the way of another attack and hit one laser attack back at the fox. The beam knocked the staff out of the fox's hand. Riku gave a hard slash at the fox's right arm and he fell down and screamed in pain.
"Darn!" the fox cried.
"Now die!" Riku said, about to bring the Soul Eater down on the fox.
Just then, the keyblade knocked the Soul Eater out of Riku's hand and landed next to him. However, Riku remained unfazed by this action and walked over to pick up his sword. He then turned to see Sora running in front of the fox.
"Riku! Stop it!" Sora shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Well, hello, Sora." Riku said. "Glad you made it. Late again I see. Lazing off again?"
"Cut it out!" Sora snapped. "This is serious! Why are you doing this?"
"Heh, that's my question. " Riku responded. "Why are you doing this? Holding onto that keyblade. Don't you know it has changed you?"
"Me?" Sora asked, shocked. "As far as I'm concerned, you're the one that's changed. You'd never hurt anyone but, now you just hurt that fox."
"I guess it's true then." Riku said with a little smile. "Not only have we've been best friends but, we've been the best of rivals. We've pushed each other past our limits and in the end became stronger. Always competing, always fighting."
"But..." Sora began.
"But it ends here." Riku said, cutting Sora off. "There is no in between. The path cannot be taken by two keyblade masters."
"What do you mean by two?" Luigi asked suspiciously.
"That will be answered right now." Riku responded. "Now it's time for the keyblade to choose...me or you!"
Riku stuck his hand out in a position like he was waiting to grab something. Sora gasped as his keyblade appeared before him and began to pull away from him. He held on as tightly as he could, but the force was far too strong and it disappeared from him and reappeared in Riku's hand which shocked everyone to the core.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"It can't be!"
Riku gazed with aw at his new weapon. "Bowser, he was right! I truly am the one!" He then looked at Sora. "You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. You never did. Only the true keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world."
"This...this isn't right!" a completely stunned Sora shouted. "It choose me!"
"Wrong, Sora!" Riku disagreed. "I was the true master but however, when I was absorbed by the darkness back home, it couldn't except me just yet. So it needed a substitute until it was reunited with its true master."
"So I fought my way here with that keyblade for nothing?" Sora said with extreme anger.
"You were just the delivery boy." smirked Riku. "A task that took you more then thirty minutes to deliver."
"And every one thought I told horrible jokes." Luigi said to himself.
"So, I thank you for personally for giving it to me, errand boy." Riku said. "Your part is over now. If you still want to play hero, use this."
Riku then threw his toy wooden sword which landed right at Sora's feet. Sora just couldn't believe it. He lost the keyblade to Riku after all of the battles he has fought with it. All the times he risked his life with it. Sora was so angry and so annoyed he just didn't know what to do. He then realized a horror even worse then losing his keyblade. Something which was about to happen. Sora got on his hands and knees and slammed his fist into the ground.
"NOOOOO!" Sora screamed in rage.
Yoshi ran over to Sora and put his arms around the ex-keyblade master.
"It okay, Sora." Yoshi said with reassurance in his voice. "We find other way to stop heartless."
Luigi sadly looked down at Sora, understanding the real reason why he became even more upset. Luigi sighed sadly and approached Yoshi and put his hand on the dinosaur's shoulder.
"Yoshi." Luigi said softly. "There's something I need to tell you." The dinosaur turned to him with guilt in his eyes from Sora's lost. "We still need to remember our mission."
"To find Mario?" Yoshi asked.
"Yeah, but there's more." Luigi said sadly. "He said that we need to follow the one who wields the keyblade." He then gestured to Riku. "I'm sorry but..."
Yoshi understood. He was about to leave Sora forever and he didn't want to. Tears streamed down his face as he understood what was going to happen.
"No!" Yoshi cried. "It can't be! Yoshi understand that Luigi and Yoshi need to follow the key but, Yoshi don't want to leave Sora." He then started crying. "Yoshi no leave! Yoshi no leave!"
Luigi was shocked by the concept. "You'd choose him over Mario? How dare you do that! We've fed you, taken care of you, and this is the thanks we get? All yoshis are loyal but, apparently your not."
"I sorry but, Yoshi and Sora become best friends." Yoshi responded. "Yoshi miss Mario but, Sora kept Yoshi happy. Yoshi no leave Sora because..."
"Enough!" Luigi snapped. "Kid, we're going whether you like it or not!"
"But...but..."
"Listen, I can't do anything about it." Luigi sighed. "If we don't go, we might all be in grave danger. "
Finally complying, Yoshi put his head down and sighed. "Sorry, Luigi."
"It's okay kid." Luigi responded, petting Yoshi's head. "You just got shocked by this event, that's all. That's why you sort of went against Mario for a little bit. Come on, let's go."
Yoshi sadly followed Riku without saying one word. He didn't even turn around to say good-bye to Sora. Luigi began to walk away but he turned back to Sora. The spiked haired boy looked up at Luigi with tears streaming down from his blue eyes.
"Please!" Sora begged. "Just let me be!"
"Are you sure you don't need any..."
"I SAID GO!" Sora shouted
Luigi put his hands in his pocket and turned away. He looked over his shoulder to look at Sora one last time.
"Sora, I'm sorry." Luigi said, taking pity on the boy.
Luigi left in silence, leaving Sora and the injured fox behind. Sora was angry with himself for being such a fool. He thought that his adventure to other worlds would be so much fun, but in the end, it ended in sorrow and pain. He has lost everything. He can never go home, he lost the keyblade, his three friends Riku, Luigi, and Yoshi. And most importantly Kairi. His world came tumbling down on him and he didn't know if he could go on.
He then heard someone whistling a song. Looking up and drying his tears, Sora noticed a man walking by. His hat was one of those hats you'd see on a bellhop, a blue button down jacket, orange pants that went down to the bottom of the lower legs, and sandals. He was also carrying a giant green backpack. The man took notice of Sora and jumped onto the islands until he reached the island he was on.
"Good day, young man." the man said with a British accent. "Looks like you could use a tissue."
"Yeah." Sora sniffled standing up.
"Well, that will be ten gold coins." the man said.
"What?" exclaimed Sora. "Ten gold coins for one..."
"I'm kidding." the man laughed, handing Sora a tissue. "Allow me to introduce 'me' self. I'm O'aka the XXIII. I travel to many worlds to sell you things that are a bargain."
"And I'm Sora." Sora said. He then sat down at the edge of the island still extremely depressed.
"Something troubling you, Sora?" O'aka said, sitting down. "You don't seem very thrilled." Sora sadly explained his story to O'aka. "Oh, so I see. Funny, I was once in your shoes. Not literally of course, me feet would be too small in there."
"Hey!" Sora cried offended.
O'aka laughed. "Only kidding. But when I first started out as a salesman not a lot of people would buy from me. Sometimes I would think to me self that I was a failure. But, I found away to go around the problem by coming up with an up to date service and making prices at a bargain. Now I make tons of sales with my plans. Finding a way to go around your problems and never quitting made a difference."
Sora understood what O'aka meant. He thought that he was a failure because he didn't have the keyblade. But in reality, he figured that if he could find another way to rescue Kairi without the keyblade it would make all the difference. He then could hear a voice in his head. It was a younger version of Kairi.
"Sora?" the little voice said. "Will you promise to protect me?"
"I promise." Young Sora said in big Sora's head.
Clenching his fist tightly, he stood up and cried. "I promised and I won't break it!"
O'aka jumped back and laughed. "That's the spirit lad! I knew you could find the strength within!"
"You're right!" Sora said, back to his old self again. "Even if the odds are against me I can still make a difference! I'll save you all! Riku, Luigi, Yoshi, and Kairi!"
"I'm glad to see ye are feeling better." O'aka smiled. "Sometimes it would cost you twenty gold coins for a sword. Thirty coins for an elixir. But for warming advice, priceless."
"Yeah." Sora nodded. "Really, thanks for the help, O'aka. If you didn't show me the light, I don't know what I would have done."
"Happy to be of service, Sora." O'aka said. "Now then, can I offer anything fore your friend? He looks a bit weak."
Sora turned to notice the fox was still on the ground from his earlier scuffle with Riku.
"Oh, no!" Sora exclaimed. "I guess I was so busy moping I forgot all about him." He then turned to O'aka. "Hey, do you have a potion?"
"For you I'll charge you one gold coin." O'aka said with a nod. Sora went through his pocket and pulled out one of two gold coins he had left. He handed it to O'aka who handed him the potion. "Nice doing business with you Sora. Well, time for me to hit the open road. Take care of ye self."
Sora said good-bye as the traveling salesman left. He quickly ran over to the fox and lifting his jaw, helped him swallow the potion. The fox weakly groaned and tried to get up quickly but, Sora helped the fox put all his weight on hin.
"Take it easy." Sora said. "You're really hurt."
"No." the fox said weakly. "I'm fine really." He then turned to look at Sora. "Why are you here? This isn't a playground kid."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Sora asked offend. "I just helped you and this is the thanks I get?"
"Right, sorry." the fox groaned standing up. He then slowly walked forward. "I'm here because those creeps have Krystal and I will fight for her."
"Special to you huh?" Sora figured.
"Yeah." the fox said. "I'm Fox McCloud, leader of a group of space pilots known as Starfox. A year ago there was a distress signal from the planet Sauria that needed to be answered. So, I was the one who answered it. After fighting through this world with this staff I got, I returned it to the most beautiful creature in the world. Of course I didn't have those strong feeling for her at the time but..." He then noticed Sora tapping his foot like Sonic the Hedgehog. "Um, sorry, couldn't stop ranting. I may not have Slippy, Falcon, or Peppy to help me but, I still have my inner strength and even if I'm on my own, I will keep fighting for her. I won't leave this place until she is safely with me."
Fox's speech helped gain Sora even more confidence knowing that he shouldn't quit. Picking up the wooden sword Riku left him, he walked over to Fox.
"Me too." Sora said. "I won't give up either. I'm here looking for someone very important to me. I may not have Yoshi or Luigi, and the keyblade but, I still have my heart."
"I overheard you dilemma...Sora, right?" Fox asked. Sora nodded to him. "You must be the kind of guy that never gives up. Looks like you and me have a lot in common kid." Fox then extend his hand. "I Fox McCloud am here by proud to make you Sora a junior member of the Starfox team for having such courage."
Sora shook his hand excitedly. "Cool! Even thought I don't know what that is, that's still pretty cool. I'm just glad I'm not in this alone."
"Yeah, it looks like you need help." Fox said. "Come, let us go then. My fighting skills will help greatly."
"Thanks, Fox." Sora smiled with hope.
The two left together knowing that they had each others backs. Sora and Fox continued to climb up the rising falls until they reached the highest part. There Sora noticed a switch and pressed it, causing a round, circular platform to appear. The two boarded the platform and at an incredibly fast speed arrived at the main entrance to Hallow Bastion. The two noticed miniature versions of the platform they were just on floating around the area. Sora also noticed a giant door in the middle of the area. Too excited to think, Sora ran straight for the door. He didn't realize that a shadow was about to pounce him.
"Kid, look out!" Fox cried.
Sora turned just to get wacked in the face by the heartless. Quickly getting to his feet, Sora used his sword to attack the creature but did almost no damage.
"Man, I wish I had the keyblade." Sora sighed in disappointment.
Fox twirled his staff around and knocked the shadow away. Three more then tried to attack but, he spun his staff around knocking them all back. Five more surrounded him and Fox rammed his staff into the ground causing an earthquake. He then helped Sora back up who feel back from the strike.
"You okay?" a concerned Fox asked.
"Yeah." Sora groaned. "You're really strong, Fox. If you weren't here I'd probably be heartless food."
"Aw, stop it, I'm touched." Fox said jokingly. He then noticed a door. "That door has to lead us inside. Come on!"
"I have a feeling that this is all too easy." Sora pondered to himself.
The two arrived at the door with no sign of heartless. Fox looked up at the giant door with a determined look.
"Krystal has to be in here." Fox said. "There's no other way." He began pushing on the door but, sadly had no luck on opening the door. "Stupid door! I knew there was going to be some catch here!"
"What did you expect?" Sora asked sarcastically. "Yeah, they'll open the door and welcome us with open arms and then they'll invite us in for cake and coffee."
"You didn't need to get that sarcastic on me." Fox groaned.
"Sorry." Sora apologized. "Try being on a plane with a sarcastic plumber." He then crossed his arms and looked back up. "Riku knows we're coming and I bet he has a plan set up."
"But it's a risk I'm willing to take." Fox cried with bravery in his eyes. He then pressed a button on a watch he had and a screen showed up. It then showed a entire map of Hallow Bastion.
"Whoa!" Sora gasped in surprise. "Cool!"
"Greeting, Fox." a robotic voice said. "Need my assistance?"
"Yeah, Rob." Fox responded. "Thank goodness your memory was backed up to this watch. Anyways, I need you to find the lock combination and unlock this door."
"I will comply." Rob responded. A yellow light began scanning the door for a few seconds and then it stopped. "This for has a very strange decoding, the door cannot be unlocked."
"Shoot!"
"However, I was able to detect the device that can unlock the door." Rob said. A map then showed up showing the entire castle. A yellow section was highlighted at the basement area. "It is located in the basement area."
"Right, thanks, Rob." Fox said, powering down his watch. "We have to take a bit of a detour. There is a way to unlock this door. We need to head to the basement."
Sora nodded and the two left for the basement. As they past through a short metal gate more heartless ambushed them. Two heartless attacked Sora but, he dodged the attack and Fox came in with a laser gun and knocked them aside. He then grabbed his staff and shot a fire like magic spell at them, obliterating them into pieces. The duo made there way down by using another strange platform. They then arrived at another rising falls. Giant dark ball heartless attacked them as they arrived. Fox grabbed two of them and placed it edge on top of their heads. A third tried to attack but he kicked the staff, knocking the third one away.
Fox then jumped over one and slammed it to the ground. Sora still had his magic which he fired at the heartless, destroying them instantly. Fox spun his staff around knocking all of the heartless away. He then noticed a giant floating bubble. Using his watch, he scanned it to find out it was a way into the basement. Fox gestured Sora to move and he followed Fox into the bubble which slowly floated under the water and resurfaced in the castle. Sora and Fox both jumped out and looked around. The room had grey and black checkers on the floor and the walls were gray as well. Sora noticed the use of candles around the room to light the way.
"That was odd." Sora said with a confused look.
The two continued their way through the castle until they reached a dead end. Fox scanned the walls until he discovered that one of the walls was made with a weaker substance. Powering up his staff, he fired a fire spell at it first, burning the hole.
"Kid, do you have an ice spell?" Fox asked Sora.
"Yeah." Sora nodded.
"Use it on that hole."
Sora fired his Blizzard spell at it cooling the spot down. Fox fired his fire again while Sora did an ice spell. The two continued doing this until a hole finally appeared before them. The duo jumped through the hole reaching the other side. They continued to make a run through the hallway as fast as they could.
"How much closer?" Sora panted.
"Rob!" Fox called to his watch. "Are we there yet?"
"According to my calculation you need to go west down this next hallway." Rob explained. "A bubble should take you to the location."
"Okay, thanks, Rob." Fox nodded.
Sora and Fox took a left down the hallway and saw another bubble. They jumped in it and got transported to another room. The two looked above to see a ledge. Using another platform the two arrived up and saw a lever.
"Is that it?" Sora asked.
Fox scanned the lever and nodded. "Yep, we found it."
"Good." Sora smiled. "Now, let's unlock this door."
Before they could move, a heartless appeared before them. This one was big, blue and held a giant shield with a face on it. The two glanced at each other and nodded, knowing they had work to do. Sora attacked the shield but it knocked him back. Fox threw his staff at the shield which hit blue edge part. He then jumped on the staff and jumped over the heartless and kicked it.
"You got to attack his back." Fox instructed.
Sora tried again and jumped over the defender and slashed the back. Sadly, he remembered that his sword did little damage. The armor then knocked him back into Fox. Fox got up and was ready to attack but the defender quickly punched him back down and fired an energy ball at him. Sora quickly cast his updated aero spell which deflected the attack and knocked the shield. Fox then put the bottom of his staff on the ground and defying gravity put his body side ways on it and rapidly rotated around it and kicked the armor.
"Yeah!" Sora cheered.
Fox jumped off and let Sora jump onto his arms and jumped off. Fox threw his staff to Sora who brought it up all the way to his head and brought it down with a hard strike, cutting the heartless in half. Sora handed the staff to Fox who was impressed.
"You've got great talent." Fox said. "I bet you'd be really good if you had that keyblade."
Sora blushed at the comment. "Thanks."
Fox walked over and pulled the lever up. Above the lever was machinery that began turning and screeching. Fox looked at his watch and called up Rob.
"Rob, this was it, right?"
"Confirmed." Rob said. "This has unlocked the door."
"Then let's go!" Sora said impatiently.
"Right!"
Fox and Sora made their way back towards the entrance as fast as they could. More heartless appeared as they ran back. Fox slashed through a swarm with his staff as Sora used magic spells. The two finally arrived back at the water fall and avoided the heartless as fast as they could. They quickly got onto the floating platform and arrived back at the top. The two quickly ran to the door while knocking heartless aside. Fox used an earthquake to knock a majority of them away while Sora used his updated gravity spell to knock them down.
The two finally arrived at the big door and pushed it open. As it slowly crept open, Sora took a deep breath and clenched his fist. He was ready to face the biggest challenge as he was about to enter the heart of Hallow Bastion. Although he was a bit nervous, he was comfortable to know Fox had his back. The two nodded to each other and entered the room, knowing their loved ones were in there and were praying for their rescue.
To Be Continued...