CHAPTER L
BATTLE FOR THE WIND BUTTERFLY
The ants at the base of the tree shrieked in horror, though they remained seated, fearing the massive heartless. Atta looked down to the battle, as the Heartless Flik began to walk fiercely toward Sora and his friends…
Goofy reached back with his shield and tossed it at the creature's back, slashing two of its spikes off in one blow – the Heartless Flik bellowed in pain as its feelers thrashed wildly.
Riku and Sora jumped upward, aiming straight for the massive pincers on its head – they connected several times, but the loud clinking sound they heard as they slammed into the pincers told them that its face was invulnerable…
Kairi and Donald screamed "blizzaga!" and fired several large ice shards at more of its spikes…they depleted their magic as five more spikes came crashing to the ground near the beasts feet. It was too tall to reach the spikes on its back, even by jumping...they were far too tired to fly…
The Heartless Flik suddenly sucked its six legs into its body and curled up into a large ball, diving straight at Sora and Riku. Like a massive, spiked bowling ball, it slashed through them like a hot knife through butter, sending them all in different directions. As it neared the edge where the offering stone once was, it turned on a dime and came rocketing back at Goofy, Donald and Kairi, pummeling them as it rolled over their bodies…
The legs popped back out with a sickening slurp as the Heartless Flik stood back up, roaring in triumph…Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy and Kairi were spread out around the clearing, trying to get up… The Heartless Flik noticed the thousands of ants, just sitting near the tree…it began to walk determinedly toward them, malice in its giant eyes…
"We've got to protect the colony!" Sora yelled, but he knew it was futile…he cast as much curaga magic as he could on himself and Riku, trying to give them enough strength to catch the Heartless Flik before it trampled the colony…
"CHARGE!" echoed through the clearing as several figures shot out from the tall grass…the circus bugs had come back! Quickly circling around the behemoth, they each focused on the only part of its body they could reach – its legs.
As Francis slashed at one of its legs, the Heartless Flik raised it, recoiling in pain and steadying himself with his other five legs. In succession, Tuck and Roll did the same to a different leg, as the remaining legs thrashed wildly, trying to crush the circus bugs.
"It's not working!" called Manny, narrowly avoiding being squished.
"We've gotta work together!" screamed Rosie, backing away from a leg as it smashed into the ground near her. "On the count of three – one…two…THREE!"
In unison, Francis slashed a leg, Tuck and Roll pounced into one, Dim rammed another, Rosie and Gypsy whipped one, Manny and Slim pummeled one with rocks and Heimlich weakly slapped the final leg – the resulting recoil of all of the Heartless Flik's legs caused it to awkwardly fall to the ground, landing painfully on its stomach.
Riku, Kairi, Sora, Donald and Goofy had enough time by that point to take a few potions and they were back in the game…the circus bugs ran past them, cowering in the tall grass. They heard Francis' voice from the grass say, "okay, you guys can take it from here!"
In a flash, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Goofy were all atop the Heartless Flik, smashing spikes from its back faster than ever. The black feelers on top of its head whipped around, trying to remove the pests from its back…but as fast as they moved, the feelers were very easy to dodge, moving in very repetitive patterns…as Sora smashed off the final spike, the Heartless Flik screeched in agony.
The friends jumped from its back and stood face to face with the monster – its face began to swell and grow puffy, as Sora took this as an indication for weakness – sure enough, as he launched into a powerful set of combos on the pincers, they actually connected, eventually finishing off the Heartless Flik once and for all.
From the black sludge that formed as the creature fell, another giant, silver heart broke through, hovering above the clearing. Riku held out his Dawn of Kings, shooting a beam of white light into the heart, safely stashing it away in his heart harvester.
The tree erupted with cheering, as the ants all poured down into the clearing, congratulating Sora and the warrior bugs. Atta walked calmly up to Sora, extending the Wind Butterfly, as the ants of the colony grew deathly quiet.
"This relic has been passed from generation to generation, Sora…but since all of our ancestors have been enslaved by the grasshoppers, we find it fitting to pass it along to you – our savior," she said, handing the heavy statue to Sora. He looked to his friends and smiled, handing it off to Kairi.
"Thank you, Princess Atta. This artifact will be really helpful to us on our quest…" he thought for a moment as he stared at Atta's big, blue eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know where any other artifacts like this one would be, would you?"
She shook her head. "As far as I know, it's one of a kind…you're not planning to leave, are you?" she said, surprised. "We've all grown so attached to you and the warriors…"
Off on the other side of the clearing, hundreds of ants clamored around the circus bugs, shaking their hands and slapping them on the backs. They seemed to be loving the attention, and even if they were only circus bugs, they proved that they deserved to be called warriors…that was for sure. Sora waved fondly at the circus bugs as he turned back to Princess Atta.
"We've got to. But don't worry – we'll be back, with Flik safe and sound," Sora said, hugging Princess Atta before he walked away.
"Good luck, warriors! May the spirit of the Wind Butterfly watch over you all!" she cried out. "Wait…take these," she said, handing Sora two small keychains. She smiled and waved as Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy boarded their miniature gummi ship deep within the grass.
As they took off, breaking free from Ant Island's force field, they became human once more. The Wind Butterfly and the Barrett also grew in size, and everything was back to normal…
The Barrett's thrusters kicked in as they sped off in search of the next Artifact of Solace, hoping that they weren't too late…
