The World Of Destiny Island

A/N: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square-Enix blah, blah blah...

Pride is by and copyright U2, from their album The Best of 1980-1990.

Pride

"Fine. Whatever. You need hard evidence… I go by faith."
"OK. I'm a realist… you're an idiot. I get it."
–The Dreamland Chronicles

It was far too early in the morning to get any light; she didn't hear a sound. She woke because of a dream, but she couldn't remember it.

Probably another gory dream, she thought as she rolled out of bed. Time for a trip to the little dwarf's room…

The hotel carpet felt prickly under her bare feet, it had been shampooed to a stiff, spiky torture mat. Even out here it was silent as death, and that gave her the heebie geebies.

What had that dream been about anyway? Her nightclothes were damp with sweat, and she had a tight, nervy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She looked around to make sure no one would catch her digging around in the ice machine with her bare hands.

When she got back to the room she saw Frega speaking into his cell phone in hushed tones. He seemed surprised to see her and he got off the phone as quickly as whomever was on the other end would allow. Something about the way Frega acted gave her the idea that the person was important.

"Who were you talking to?" Kairi sat on the edge of the hotel bed and squinted at the clock.

"My boss."

"At three in the morning?"

"With power comes responsibility," he yawned.

"With great power comes great responsibility," she corrected.

"Ah, you kids and your love of unnecessary hyperbole."

She didn't know what to say to that one.

"Why are you up?" he asked.

"I had a bad dream," she looked up at the ceiling and let the patterns in the paint and shadows form. What sort of people did Master Frega answer to? Were they more powerful than he was? Did they know he staged a kidnapping? Did they condoned this kind of thing? Did they order it?

"You're not the only one with that problem. In the last twenty minutes I'd say, oh, half the people in the city just turned their lights on." He stood in front of the window, his expression unreadable. "What do you think about dreams, Kairi?"

"What happened to 'Girl Friday?'" His ears perked up and he shook himself out of his reverie.

"You're right. A breakdown in the master/apprentice relationship would be a hindrance to our work. Forgive me."

"Are you feeling alright? You just apologized to me."

Frega shook himself like a dog and put on an expression of seething annoyance.

"Alright, you little brat, enough of your insolence. Just answer the question." his tone regained the terminally pissed quality that she'd come to know and tolerate. "Dreams!" he snapped. "What do you think of them?"

"They're fake!" she answered quickly.

"No, no, no," he shook his head and sighed. "Be more specific and exacting with your definitions."

"Oh-kay… they're… memories…" she took a breath and tried to recall if it would better to use the word 'mind' or 'brain' for this definition. The lump above her right ear reminded her that the two terms were not interchangeable. "The… brain kicks out images and sounds into a linear sequence of events that we, uh, relive during our sleep-cycle." She waited for judgment.

"That's all? How literal." He slumped in the chair at the desk.

"Well, some people believe the images are more than that, some believe they're prophetic," she added nervously and watched him.

"Right," he shut his eyes and smiled. "Good, which leads us to our next lesson because…?"

"Everyone's having nightmares? Apparently?" she guessed and flinched preemptively.

"Correct." He turned back to the window and stared out at the city lights. She waited patiently for him to continue.

"… Is that it?" the question startled him. "Are you sure you're doing alright? You've been acting a little weird since we got out of the hospital."

"Thanks, so have you. My boss called to inform me that he also had a bad dream."

It sounded like he and his boss were a little too close. She grimaced and didn't respond.

"Which is odd," Frega continued, "considering the man doesn't sleep much these days."

"Well that's not healthy."

"He has a lot of enemies."

"Kidnaps a lot of young girls, does he?"

Frega glared at her.

By the time she finished writing 'I will not make wise-ass comments about Mr. Golbez' twenty-five hundred times in Elvish it was already time for lunch and her writing hand was a little claw. She locked up the room and headed for the hotel restaurant to turn in the sheets to her Master. He'd already started eating, plates of runny eggs and some unrecognizable roasted animal lay around him.

"Very nice ligatures. Are we still feeling snotty?"

Kairi whined in reply.

"Good, sit down. You know, while you were working I was thinking: she's right. He is a kidnapper! I suppose under different circumstances I'd owe you an apology."

Kairi bit the inside of her cheek.

The dwarf waitress left a menu for her without looking directly at the two of them. A lot of the other patrons got up to leave without finishing their meals. Frega ignored all of this and the dirty looks the restaurant's managers sent their way. Kairi hoped that the cuteness didn't drive the dwarves to commit violence and wished she hadn't left her hat back in the room.

"Even you must've heard the story," he said suddenly.

"What story?"

"His story. The story."

She looked at him blankly.

"Nevermind," he muttered. "It is ridiculous. Anyway, what were we talking about?"

"You were talking about dreams."

"Dreams. Of course! Very important to magical folk like you and me– eggs and toast! And step on it!" he screamed at the waitress before she could open her mouth and ask them to leave. The dwarf woman, too rattled to argue, hurried off to fulfill the order.

"Thanks. Now they're going to spit in my food," Kairi said.

"Even if they do, you've had worse– and why do you keep looking out the window?"

"Was I?"

"You haven't stopped since we got out of the hospital. What are you looking for?"

"I dunno," she shrugged, unable to explain.

"You 'dunno?'" he sneered. "What? Are you hoping to get rescued? Do you think your little phone call will bring anybody?"

"No," she was surprised he knew about that already; sure, there probably was a way to trace where the money went but things like that took time, right? "I just wanted Mom to know I wasn't in danger. She doesn't have anybody else, you know."

"Life's hard, then you die," he said. The jerk.

The warm water of the shower washed the tension out of her body. The shortest interactions with her Master made her shoulders tight. Yet even in the calming shower she couldn't shake the feeling that something dark was close by.

The gloom.

The heavy presence had stayed with her since her escape down the tunnel, a black cloud that settled over her day-to-day activities. It made being alone nerve-wracking at first, but after a day or two she got used to the tension in the air and refused to dwell on it. Whatever unpleasant thing was out there couldn't be a match for the much more unpleasant Master Frega.

Anyway, she had the feeling that it couldn't find her.

She got out of the shower felt the immediate buildup of energy. It felt so palpable she would almost swear her Master was casting Lightning in the next room. She hurried into her clothes, threw on her coat and flung open the bathroom door.

Frega looked up from his day planner. Every hair on his head stuck out, and his tail was twitching already.

"We can't stay here!"

"You're... right," he said, it was almost a question. He sniffed the air, the little ears went up and forward. "You can feel that?" he arched an eyebrow.

"Ugh! It's horrible!" The hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood up.

"There's hope for you yet! Get our things packed, we're leaving."

"What is it?" She tried to the rub the goose bumps from her arms. Now her ears were ringing.

"You don't want to know."

"Yes I do, that's kinda why I asked."

"Keep talking back to me and I'll leave you here to find out!"

They bolted from the hotel and ran across town. Kairi didn't know what drove her Master, but she was getting plenty of motivation from fear alone. He dragged her up the steps of a two-story building, built to look like a giant alpine cottage. The windows were dark, but she could see a long succession of thick poles behind the building, a thick cable strung along them.

Frega slammed his staff against the heavy door of Deedle's Station until a sleepy-eyed dwarf stuck his head out the second-floor window to swear at them. A couple of gold coins bounced off his forehead and landed at his feet before he got a chance to even warm up his first verbal assault.

"Fan-frellin'-tastic," he stooped to pick the coins off the floor. "An elf and a– ewww!"

"Open up!" Frega screeched, "We want to go to Elfheim!"

"Elfheim? No way! I'm not driving all the way to the North Pole with you two!" The dwarf spat.

"I'm warning you, I am a wizard!" Frega growled.

"And he's short-tempered, too!" Kairi called in an attempt to help.

"Aw, gimme a break!" the dwarf shouted. Frega threw a candy bar at his head.

"My eye!" the dwarf screamed and swore.

"Why'd you do that?" Kairi asked her Master.

"Open up! Open up! The fair's been paid!" Frega continued to knock on the wooden doors with his staff. Dwarves on the street were beginning to stop and stare.

"Here's your damn fair, you bastard!" A couple of coins bounced off the steps between Kairi and Frega.

"Girl Friday, zap that guy!" Frega ordered.

"What? But–"

"Do it now!" he raised his fist in a threatening manner.

"I can't, it's wrong!"

"If we stay here too long..."

The air turned to lead and the shadows grew longer, it was getting hard to see the people around them. How could everyone not notice it?

"Please open the door!" Kairi begged. Frega slapped her across the back of the head. "I'm really sorry, sir," she said to the dwarf and lifted her palms up.

"W-what are you doing?" the dwarf asked nervously.

"You've been warned!" Frega said. "My apprentice as lousy aim and worse control, I hope you're insured!"

"Look, okay, you win. Just don't hurt me!" the dwarf disappeared from the window to let them in. Kairi stopped the incantation and let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Don't ever hesitate again," Frega muttered. The dwarf unlocked the door and stood aside to let them entire, he held his hand to his eye and Kairi felt a little guilty about that though she didn't know why.

The inside of the station shined, every surface polished to mirror-finish. Their footsteps echoed on the granite tile. Frega marched directly to the barred ticket window and slapped down his coins.

"Two tickets, immediate departure, for Elfheim," he glowered at the dwarf. "Now."

"You can't even muster up a 'please?'" the dwarf had the guts to ask.

"Girl Friday," Frega said. Kairi lifted her hands again.

"Nevermind!" he squeaked. "Elfheim! Right away!"

"Sus! Sus?" He walked into the dark house, fearing that he'd led trouble back to his charge when she didn't answer right away. She peeked out of the kitchen and put her finger to her lips. She padded across the living room.

"We have a situation," she whispered.

"Did the Mayor come back?"

"No, but her boyfriend's here." He was taken aback.

"Boyfriend? She doesn't have a boyfriend."

"She made me promise not to tell anybody– although, knowing she's got a sleazy little secret–" Sus snickered.

"Sus?"

"Right. Anyway, I think he wants to kick your ass," Sus glanced over her shoulder. "I think he could do it too. Maybe you should run!"

"She wouldn't... ah, of course," he stepped past Sus and went into the kitchen.

A man in a long, brown jacket sat at the kitchen table with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a katana sword in front of him. He didn't look like anyone familiar, except for the fierce glare. The dog looked up at Baralai and thumped his tail against the floor.

"Better late than never, I guess," Baralai said quietly. "What happened to the mask?"

Shadow finished his drink and otherwise ignored him.

"Where's the Mayor?"

"On her way out of the city."

"I see. By herself?"

The ninja stood up, without his black clothes and mask he looked like a middle-aged transient. There was some gray in that brown hair and his skin looked a little worn from the sun. He looked older than he seemed in the disguise.

"I came here to tell you that you've become a liability. She says your help is no longer required."

"One little temper-tantrum and that's it?" He slammed his fist into the table. Shadow didn't flinch, he acted like a man operating in another world that only he could see. "Did she decide this by herself?"

"I did advise against waiting on you. Nothing personal, but there's a job to do. So you're free. You can stay behind and fuck around in this city all you want."

Baralai pulled out his gun and aimed right between Shadow's eyes. They narrowed.

"You?" Shadow whispered "Will you murder me?" His face still formed no expression or gave clue to the man's emotions, it was like threatening a robot and it was creepy.

"Take me to the Mayor, or summon her here."

"No."

"No? You can't say no!" He shoved the gun up to the man's forehead.

Sus shrieked suddenly. The gun went off, but Shadow had already hit the floor, sword drawn, waiting for an attack. He was too fast to be real.

"I can't believe you brought a gun into my house!" Sus stomped into the kitchen. The dog growled and the fur on it's neck bristled.

"Shut up, Sus!" Baralai warned.

"No! You know how I feel about this!" In an uncharacteristic display of conviction and determination she grabbed the weapon and threw it into the trash where it fired again. Everyone jumped, Shadow grabbed the dog's collar as it lunged and Sus shrieked.

No one said anything as they watched a wisp of smoke curl up above the receptacle and then a little flame sprang up. Sus hurried to the sink, grabbed the basin of water with all the dirty dishes soaking in it and before Baralai could stop her she threw the whole thing into the trash.

"Well. That should bring the City Guard," Shadow stood up and sheathed his sword. "You and your girlfriend should leave this house."

"No problem! We have friends in the Underground Mysidia Movement, they'll help us," Sus said confidently.

"Stay out of this," Baralai snapped. "As for you–"

"Goodbye," Shadow threw a smoke bomb on the kitchen floor.

"God dammit!" Baralai choked on the irritating cloud. Both dog and owner were gone.

"Thank god, " Sus said. "I thought he was gonna kill you."

"Really."

"Yeah! He had the sword out and everything! Mayor made him show me how fast he was once. He had these little throwing knives and he's crazy-fast! He was all 'woosh-woosh-woosh!'" she waved her hands through the air to try and demonstrate the speed of Shadow's attacks. She was so impressed and there was so much admiration in her voice that Baralai had a moment of jealousy.

"Nevermind, we have to find the Mayor. Are my bags packed?"

"Yes, I put everything back the way I found it."

"Good. I'm sorry about this, Sus, I don't think you're not coming back to this house."

"I understand, it was going to happen eventually," she became all business.

He climbed into the attic to retrieve his and Myrna's bags and then they left the house for good.

"You're going to the hospital!'" Sus said and she stomped her foot.

"Mind your own business, woman! I don't need a doctor!" Locke said proudly. The seizure had ended shortly after takeoff. It was a miraculous turnaround, the thief just stopped flailing and leapt to his feet (and then slipped on his own drool puddle and then leapt back to his feet again.)

"Yes. You. Do!" Sus punched him in the stomach and he doubled over.

Wakka, Chappu and Mog ignored them. The boy in the coffee table was much more interesting.

The arms and legs were spread wide as though he'd been tied down for a human sacrifice. He had a look of complete shock and surprise and with the layer of carbonite over the face it was almost hard to tell what the little boy looked like; but the clothes, the shoes, and the hair were unmistakable.

"It's like my dream finally came true," Chappu said. A radiant smile lit his face and a sparkle winked in his eye.

"Your dream was to win a boy frozen in carbonite?" Mog raised an eyebrow.

"Just this one," Chappu put his hands on the sheet of glass that lay above the carbonite block and cackled. The sound attracted Sus' attention, the blonde gasped when she realized that they were looking at a human body under the glass.

"What's this?" she asked.

"I call it 'Tidus on Ice.' This is going on display in my Den of Villainy," Chappu said.

"You're supremely weird." She leaned over the table to get a better look at Tidus, all eyes went to her top. "Poor little thing. Is he still alive?"

"Definitely, and well protected," Mog said.

"How did he get in there?" Wakka lifted the glass and tapped Tidus on the forehead.

"Why don't you just defrost him?"

"We need the instructions," Mog said, running a paw over the temperature control panel on the side of the slab. "And a translator, it looks like this thing was made in some obscure part of the galaxy, I've never seen letters like this. Good engineering, but not user friendly."

The deck suddenly dropped, everyone and everything hung in midair for a brief moment before crashing down. The impact shattered the glass tabletop.

"We're being chased, Captain!" Zidane yelled over the intercom. "And, uh, I accidentally hit the gravity controls in the cargo hold. Sorry."

"Everybody get somewhere safe!" Wakka ordered. "Sus, go make sure Lilo's okay."

"Can you blame me? It's right next to the intercom button," Zidane continued.

The boys pulled themselves up to the bridge to see a hail of warning shots crossing the viewscreen.

"Who's firing at us?" Wakka yelled.

"Like you don't know," Chappu said.

"They're not cops," Locke reasoned. "Bounty hunters! Probably found out about the warrant on all of you after we trashed their ship. They must've thought: 'Oh, what a lucky coincidence! We can make them pay and get a big fat reward too!'"

"Let's get some space between us and them, Zidane." Wakka sat down in the Captain's chair.

"We can lose them on the highway," Zidane said.

"Make it so."

He hadn't even thought about it, it just came out. Fortunately no one other than Chappu seemed to notice.

"Set a course for the following coordinates," Locke stuck his head up through the ladder and rattled off a set of numbers.

"And that takes us where?" Wakka asked.

"To Banon," Locke said. "He'll let us hide out in his garage, yo."

"Forget it!"

"After all they've done for you?"

"If we're going anywhere, it should be the hospital!" Sus yelled through the intercom.

"Shut up, Sus!" Locke yelled back. One of the warning shots came a little too close and banked off the ship. Several system alarms went off.

"I'll send him a thank you note, but I'm not going near him or his gang!" Wakka said. He had the sneaking suspicion that this rebel group wanted their hands on this experimental Luna ship.

"Even a monkey would see that I'm– the Returners are all you've got! You need us!" Locke said.

Wakka's memory stirred.

"You know, even a monkey would see that I'm right!" Selphie told him.

"Well I'd like to see this mythical super-smart monkey you keep bringing up," he replied, "so until then, I'll do what I want!"

"Uh, guys? So where are we going" Zidane asked.

"Set a course for the nearest hospital," Wakka snapped. Another shot hit the ship and caused it to jolt. "After we get rid of these guys."

"Okey dokie, Chappu, I need directions," Zidane pulled out onto the ship highway and weaved across three traffic lanes while Chappu brought up the navigation system and did a fast search.

"Just wing them, I'd rather have them alive, naturally," Seifer said to Leon, who sat at the weapons controls. Leon couldn't help making faces at the guy behind his back.

The salvaged Shiva followed the Altoona as it gained speed and pulled away into the traffic. The experimental ship's engine kicked into high gear, shooting out of their range in a burst of light. Cid followed the Altoona out into the Trans-Galactic Highway. The little ship had an alarming ability to weave through the traffic dividers, it was a challenge to stay on their tail.

"The force is strong with this one," Cid muttered, neatly dropping the dangling ash from his cigarette on the dash.

"Aim all weapons on their secondary systems," Seifer ordered imperiously.

"And that would be where?'" Leon rolled his eyes.

"Who is this pilot?" Cid wondered.

"Good job," Wakka said to Zidane. "You're doing great! Stitch get away from there!" Stitch said something to him that Wakka didn't understand. The little creature stood in knee-deep in wiring and spare parts that he dragged from the engine room.

"Why don't you jump to warp speed?" Locke yelled. The treasure hunter held onto his chair with a white knuckle grip.

"Because it's not responding!" Zidane yelled back. There was a tremendous roar from outside the ship, the boys looked up expecting the hull to split.

"What was that?" Mog demanded over the intercom.

"Barrier," Stitch said, peering at one of the small navigation screens.

"Mog, what's going on with the warp drive?" Wakka inquired.

"It's gone."

"What? How?" The ship rocked again, and a friendly automated voice informed them that their shields and their secondary systems were history.

The Shiva made it around the damaged barrier partition as it floated free of its moorings with a little fancy move that only Cid could pull off.

"You know. Maybe we should try reasoning with them," Aerith gently suggested. No one listened to her. "Do you realize how many people are killed in high-speed chases every year?"

"Shit!" Cid yelled when the Altoona took a hard right and soared straight into oncoming traffic. Everyone screamed as the Shiva followed suit.

"Good work, sir, I like your nerve!" Seifer said to Cid.

"I lost control!" Zidane panicked.

"Zidane!" Wakka screeched, the sight of the ships speeding towards them and veering off suddenly was enough to make his hair stand… oh, right.

"Guys, I do believe that Stitch is driving now," Chappu said with feigned calmness. Stitch had a toy steering wheel on the floor in front of him; half the wiring beneath the systems panels were taped to it. "You know, I wish we thought about getting weapons for the ship when we had the chance."

Stitch laughed as he zipped past oncoming ships, barely missing two head-on collisions and snapping the antennae off several more.

"This better not cut into my pay," Zidane said to Chappu.

"Will you relax? It's all good," Chappu assured him.

"Captain?" Mog's voice crackled over the taxed intercom systems. "Everyone. Stitch and I are going to attempt an emergency hyperspace jump!"

"No!" Locke turned white.

"I thought we couldn't jump to warp?" Wakka asked.

"Hold on to your lunch!"

"No! Wait!" Locke screeched.

"Fine!" Wakka yelled over Locke's protests. "Do it!"

The little ship speeding the wrong way on the highway exploded.

To Be Continued