CHAPTER XXXVIII
A TRICK UP THE SLEEVE
"Hey! Dat's unfair…six on one!" Pete said, looking genuinely worried. "I ain't fightin' six of youse…"
Suddenly, the square became dark as the moonlight was eclipsed by the form of a giant black dragon…Maleficent was flying back over the square…keeping herself out of reach, but looming overhead, like a dark cloud…
"Well, I suppose that's good enough backup for me…" Pete said, rushing at Biggs and Wedge. He pounded the ground with his massive fists, sending a ripple of stone at the two thieves. It knocked them clear over the top of the gazebo and past it, near the other side of the square. They hadn't been expecting Pete to be so strong…neither had Sora…
"Donald! Help 'em out!" Sora said, doing a sliding dash underneath Pete's right arm. Donald ran toward Biggs and Wedge, casting curaga magic as fast as he could. Sora popped up behind Pete and launched into a lengthy combo, finally pummeling him toward Goofy as he let out a stifled whimper. Goofy jumped into the air and spiked his mako shield down at Pete, smashing him into the concrete.
Biggs and Wedge got to their feet as Pete rolled backwards into the gazebo, trying to defend himself.
"Um…Maleficent…I could use a little help…" he said, half-hoping she wouldn't hear him. But showing very clearly that she did hear him, the black dragon started spewing green flames into the square, causing Sora, Kairi, Goofy, Biggs, Wedge and Donald to back away from the gazebo where Pete stood. At that moment, a terrifying sight befell the heroes – a flash of green flame shot down at Biggs and Wedge's hut, completely engulfing it and reducing it to ashes in seconds flat.
Biggs and Wedge took a step toward the house, but it was too late…it was gone, and all they could see from the ashes were the chests and armoires, about to burn with the green flames…Biggs' eyes turned wide as he came to a realization.
"Save the weapons!" Biggs cried out, diving toward the flame with Wedge on his heels. If Donald hadn't cast a blizzara attack to give them a path through the flames, they could have caught on fire…they cared more about their belongings than their own safety…
Meanwhile, Maleficent had flown all the way back to the castle this time, no longer in sight of anyone, including Pete. He nervously looked around for any source of help, and when he realized none was coming, his rage grew as he leapt in the air, diving down at Sora.
He moved much quicker than he had before, as he launched a punching combo at Sora, knocking him backwards into Goofy. Kairi did a dizzying aerial flip and slashed at Pete's head, knocking him into one of the unburned tables around the gazebo, sending assorted pieces of jewelry flying.
In the burning house, Biggs ripped open the door to the largest armoire and started pulling out weapons – there were dozens of mallets, but he chose two huge ones, larger than the ones he normally used, with spike-tipped heads. He threw his old ones in the flame as he tucked his new hammers into his belt. Then he removed a long, silver staff with a four-pronged spear at the tip of it, and tossed it to Wedge. Wedge replaced his old, wooden spear with his new harpoon, and they left the armoire as it caught on fire.
"C'mon…c'mon…there's only two I need…" Biggs said, dodging flames and searching through treasure chests. When he found the smallest one with a bright yellow lock on it, he grabbed it and tossed it out of the house to Donald.
"Found it!" Wedge said, as he held up an even smaller one. It barely looked like a treasure chest at all – more like a tissue box – but it had a lock on it and it apparently carried something very valuable to Biggs and Wedge.
Donald's greed got the best of him once again, as he tried to open the larger of the two chests. Kairi, Goofy and Sora regrouped with Biggs, Wedge and Donald back by the gazebo, while Pete huffed and puffed in the corner, trying to regain his balance. He wasn't going down without a fight, that was for sure…
Donald, frustrated that he couldn't get the chest open, slammed it to the ground in disgust.
"No!" yelled Biggs. But the chest had splintered and opened, revealing the contents – five glowing orbs, colored red, blue, yellow, green and purple. They all looked exactly like the red orb that Scroop had used to summon Adonis back on Treasure Planet.
Pete had noticed the treasure chest from across the square, and as it cracked open to reveal the Materia, he smiled widely. "Ooh, that oughta come in handy!" he said, marching straight for them with his arms outstretched. Something was driving him to be stronger than he was a moment ago…Sora and Kairi slashed at him with their keyblades, but the most he did was wince. He never stopped moving toward Biggs and Wedge, each of them holding a few pieces of the Materia.
"Gimme it!" Pete said, not waiting for an answer. He knocked Wedge backwards as he grabbed a red and green Materia ball from Biggs' arms. The friends all ran to the opposite side of the gazebo, putting as much distance between them and Pete as possible. "Aw! What's that matter? Now dat I got some of dis Materia, you're actually afraid of me? I suppose that makes sense…da boss has told me some pretty interesting things about this stuff…"
Sora remembered what had happened to Scroop back on the R.L.S. Legacy. "You're not strong enough to use it, Pete."
But all Pete did was laugh at Sora's futile attempt to stop him as he put the red materia in his pocket and pushed the green one deep into his wrist. Just like Scroop, his arm glowed momentarily green, until it eventually stopped.
Sora felt a hand on his shoulder. Wedge was standing there, holding out a yellow materia in his right hand. "He's not strong enough to know how to use it…but you are. Here," he said, forcing the yellow materia into Sora's hands. Thinking back to Scroop and how he was obliterated by Adonis, he hesitated…but noticing Pete coming ever closer, he decided to give it a try…
As the yellow sphere dissolved into Sora's wrist, he felt a strange sensation…not a feeling of power, or strength…but a feeling of joy…like he could easily win this battle…he had no idea how, but it made him strangely confident… Assuming that this was the yellow orb's effect, he raised his keyblade up and stared Pete down.
