CHAPTER VI
BREAKING FREE
"They're gaining on us. Can't this thing go any faster?" Riku demanded of Cloud.
"Maybe you wanna get off and walk? We're almost at the bailey anyway. After we get through there, we can rest at Merlin's house," Cloud retorted. "Besides...how close can they possibly..." but Cloud clenched his teeth as he turned around and saw how close the army of heartless, led by the Unsmiling Man, had gotten. Riku could reach behind him and almost touch them.
"What? How did they get so close? That's impossible! Fenrir is way faster than that!"
Riku frowned. "Looks like you need a tune up."
Merlin shook excitedly. "That's the bailey! We're almost there! Oh, there's Yuffie! Splendid! Who is that girl she's with?"
Riku swallowed hard. "Kairi. I knew they'd follow me."
As Cloud, Merlin, Tink and Riku stopped in the center of the bailey, they realized why Yuffie and Kairi were standing with their backs to them and not turning around...Pete was on the opposite side of the bailey, blocking their way back to town.
"Kairi...I'm glad you're safe..."
"I'm safe? Yeah, you were the one that was kidnapped, forget? I'm just glad that YOU'RE safe, Riku," Kairi said as she hugged him so hard he almost fell down.
"Where's Sora?"
"He went chasing after Leon with Cid," Kairi said, and noticing the confused look on Riku's face, she added "I'll explain that later."
Suddenly, the green heartless from before zipped back into the bailey, almost knocking Pete off his feet. Pete may have been a leader of the heartless clan...but he was still a clumsy, stupid oaf.
"Ah! Eddy! You're safe!" Merlin cried, as the green heartless flew around his head, almost lovingly.
"Eddy? You named a heartless?" Kairi and Riku yelled.
"I'll explain later. We've got company, friends."
As he spoke, Sora and Cid came running like two dogs with their tails between their legs.
"What's the matter boys? Couldn't handle little old Leon without me?" Cloud taunted them.
"Oh no, it ain't Leon that was givin' us trouble. It was the hundreds of computer generated heartless that he created with Ansem's computer that made us fear for our lives...go figure."
"RIKU! You're okay!" Sora ran to his best friend and they shook hands...leading into a giant hug.
"Thanks for coming after me, Sora."
"Aww...what a touching moment. Ya know, it's gonna make me kinda sad to see all of ya turn into heartless...on second thought, nah. It ain't," Pete laughed again, as a group of neo-shadows spawned behind him. At that moment, the army, led by the Unsmiling Man showed up at the entrance to the bailey on the left, and the computer heartless led by Leon showed up on the right.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, Merlin, Tinkerbell, Cloud, Yuffie and Cid stood in a circle, all weapons out facing the threats coming from all sides. In a flash, with no prior planning, the heroes separated and engaged the heartless on all sides. Riku and Sora bounded up the hill toward Pete and the neo-shadows, slicing and stomping the shadows like cockroaches, while Riku beat Pete into a corner.
As Pete's cries echoed in the bailey, Cloud and Merlin dashed toward Leon and the computer heartless. Cloud and Leon's swords clashed in an epic sound, while Merlin used thundaga on the heartless around them.
While the computer heartless were decimated, Kairi, Yuffie and Cid ran toward the Unsmiling man. Cid spun his spear around him, taking out a good number of the heartless, while Yuffie and Kairi engaged the Unsmiling Man, who was wielding two weapons that looked like sais - daggers with lasers coming from the sides. Quite impressive, thought Yuffie.
Meanwhile, Tink and Eddy were flying from scene to scene, healing whoever needed healing the most...it was hard, but they tried to conserve their energy as much as possible. Eventually, Cid yelled out "Got the last one!" as he did a front flip and smashed the final heartless on his side into oblivion. Sora echoed "me too!" as his keyblade soared across the bailey like a boomerang, taking out the final neo-shadow. Merlin smiled as he said "been done for a while, sonny."
The heroes regrouped in the center of the bailey, Pete was rubbing his head, which now had a huge lump on it. The Unsmiling Man seemed stronger than ever, and Leon was trying to catch his breath.
Sora and Riku were panting, and Cid and Yuffie were leaning on each other, trying to stand up. Kairi's arm got bruised by the Unsmiling Man, but besides that she was fine. Merlin's beard was burning at one end...but he stepped out the fire and was left with a small burn mark.
Cloud returned to the center as well, but in a move very unlike him, he said "we need to retreat. It's no use. Even if we can get them weakened further, they'll just call for more heartless."
Merlin nodded, and pulled everyone close. "I've never attempted this with so many people before...but luckily, we're not going far. Hold tight, lads," and with a piercing whistle and a flash of light, the heroes were transported to Merlin's house.
Cid ran to his computer and immediately started pressing keys and slamming disks into every drive he could. He pulled a small laptop from a secret safe behind a poster in the wall, and connected a series of cables as everyone sat down wherever they could. Merlin stood up on his table and waved his wand. The doors and windows slammed shut with what looked like reflega magic, and they knew that they were safe in the house...for now.
"The city is under a massive assault," said Kairi, as she looked through the window. It was true. The heartless were not playing around anymore - crashing through buildings and heading for...
"The town square! Aerith, Hewie, Dewie and Louie! Scrooge! All the merchants! They don't stand a chance against the heartless!" Sora yelled.
"Which is why we've been hiding out in Merlin's hangar while you were out fighting heartless. Don't worry - we've been safe." Aerith came from a door Sora had never seen before, behind the chalkboard. She was followed by the three young ducks, Scrooge and the merchants.
"So, everyone's safe. Cramped, but safe."
"Yes, but we won't be for long," Merlin said, unsmiling. He pointed to the window and nobody saw anything but darkness. The town was completely destroyed, and now the heartless were pounding on Merlin's door.
"Cid, have you got all the computer information you can get from the database?"
"One better, old timer...I'm uploading EVERYTHING, so we can access Ansem's computer from my laptop. Let's jet outta here."
"How? We're surrounded by heartless." Riku pointed out.
"Not the gummi hangar. It's right through here. Merlin led everyone into his secret room, which held a huge gummi ship, shaped like a zeppelin.
"That'll fit all of us easy!" Sora said.
"Yes...but I had to sacrifice the weapon and some of the speed gummi's to make it so large. We need to know exactly where we're going before we set out."
But there wasn't time for that. Leon smashed through the door to Merlin's house with his army, Pete, and the Unsmiling Man behind him.
"No time! On the ship, at once!" Merlin cried, as everyone piled on, Cid led the ship up through the opening metal bay doors and out into space.
"There's one place in the universe that I know can't be taken over by heartless..." Sora mused.
"Yeah, Disney Castle! Of course! The Cornerstone of Light protects it! Unca Donald told us all about it!" yelled Dewey.
"Settin' a course for Disney Castle," Cid's voice echoed through the cabin over the intercom.
Riku, Sora and Merlin sat down with Tink and Eddy flying nearby. Yuffie and Kairi went to the sleeping cabin with the merchants and the ducks to get some rest, while Cloud prepared some food and drink for everyone else.
"So...you called this heartless Eddy?" Sora said as Eddy nudged him in the face with his hat, flying around like a spaz.
"Indeed. You've read the Ansem reports, I surmise? Well, they explain that heartless can be tested on...and while I certainly didn't want to cause as much trouble as Ansem's original study did, I did capture one heartless and manage to train him until he was a friend. Eddy is quite powerful, and though all he can cast is healing magic, he's very valuable in a fight.
"Eddy, nice to meet you. I'm Sora. This is Riku, and our friend that's asleep in the cabin is Kairi."
Eddy squealed and spun around Sora and Riku, signaling the start of an unconventional, but welcome, friendship.
