Fait was surprised that her new mission led her to a very familiar world. This cosmic shard had to either have a high monetary value or be highly unusual for it to end up in this kind of place. It was the only world she knew of where Pete was its grand ruler, and it was one world that you would never invite an innocent person (or a hero) to if he or she discovered it. Unfortunately, in searching for Master Yen Sid's cosmic shard, she had to bring Sora, Donald, and Goofy to Urban Deuces. This world was the equivalent of a red light district from the 1930s. It was a world full of grime if you weren't a villain at one point or another. At Urban Deuces, there were bustling night clubs, noisy casinos, high-energy swing bands, and plenty of things to do if you just wanted to feel like the master of your own fate. Deucara, the world's busiest nightclub, was the home to some quality moonshine and the most dangerous gambling rings. However, Pete learned to love more than just the city life and high rollers' events. He genuinely enjoyed luxury in different areas. There were beaches, forests, and mountains on this world. You could go anywhere and experience a level of quality you wouldn't typically get anywhere else.
Fait remembered discovering this world with Pete about three to four years ago. She was around 13 or 14 when Maleficent sent her and Pete on a mission to explore a few new worlds. It was going to be one of Fait's last ones for the dark mistress until she was called again. The assignment was simple: find at least two empty or unprotected worlds not yet touched by Master Xehanort and have them turned over to Maleficent as part of a group of host worlds. This way, Maleficent would have no need to compete over conquering any territories if she didn't want to. She would continue to work for Master Xehanort until he proved to be useless. In exchange, Fait could live peacefully for a short time and only needed to train to stay refined as a warrior in the Realm of Darkness or wherever Maleficent requested. While Fait found it suspicious for the mistress to show a high amount of trust and kindness in the same day, she loved exploring the new, uninhabited worlds and teaching Pete what she learned about camping. Her old uncle seemed to enjoy bullying other folks into serving him like a king, but she always made sure to sneak the unlucky workers of his fine resorts some provisions and break times.
Urban Deuces actually wasn't inhabited by anyone other than the animals at the time. It was a pretty clean planet. The natural beaches, mountains, and forests were definitely there, but, obviously, after Pete ruled it, it lost a little of its natural flair. It didn't take much to make the world his own since no one opposed him; however, Fait felt uncomfortable with the amount of destruction Pete was dealing to the poor planet. Once Fait learned how to vacation with her family and friends, she pushed Pete to appreciate the world's natural state and instead make those areas into vacation spots. So, Pete did as suggested and made some parts of the world into luxury resorts. If Pete wasn't a villain, he would have been a successful architect and hotelier. She loved going to Pete's resorts for vacation time and didn't mind the kids enjoying their time there. This time, however, she would be taking a different group of kids to Urban Deuces. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked around to see this new world embellished with eclectic and retro decorum littered about and noticed that Fait was proceeding ahead of them to the forest. They hustled to keep up with the blonde girl's elegant strides, but Sora couldn't help but want to explore the world. It was different. It almost looked a little like the Leaky Bottle Hall in Philharmonie Ville but... dirtier. Some of the citizens looked like they came from Disney Castle but not quite. Actually, some of them looked like Julius from the dream Traverse Town. Size and all!
"Hey, Sora!" Goofy called, furrowing his eyebrows at the sight of the bullying happening across the street from him. "We need to stick close to Fait. This world ain't quite right."
Sora furrowed his brow, too, and picked up his pace to a slight run to catch up. He then said, "Right. I guess you can feel it, too. Darkness looming over us."
"This place has got Pete's name all over it!" Donald complained, angry at the sight of a runaway car plowing through civilians. "You'd better be careful, Sora."
The trio took careful steps in exploring the world, but, ultimately, they stayed fairly close to Fait. She already knew Urban Deuces like the back of her hand, though. If she sensed Sora entering a place he shouldn't, she prepared a barrier to block him off from the area and she took the liberty of stopping to wait for him to find her again or simply trail behind her. Goofy, however, was not kidding about staying close to Fait. He was on her tail and was uncomfortable with the gangsters lingering about, but Goofy didn't know Fait also knew these gangsters and they dared not challenge her. Only a newly-appointed gangster who didn't know Fait would ever start a fight and that was rare. She wasn't interested in them anyway. She was interested in the parade going toward the forest area and the bouncing luxury apartments.
The parade was largely a show of fancy cars and anthropomorphic women. Fait typically is the only human to traverse through Urban Deuces hence why most people recognize her, but lingering eyes were watching Sora and company. Sora was another human but Donald and Goofy were innocent bystanders from the looks of them. Donald didn't use any magic to make them blend into the crowd. Fait was slightly worried about that since that would make stealing items from Sora and company very annoying but very easy. She would have to keep an eye on them. The trail of luxury cars and the blending of different music attracted her attention again. That usually meant a party was here and Pete might also be a participant in said party. May as well check on her old uncle. As she led the way to the forest border, she couldn't help but admire the world's romantic glow from the sun setting among the trees. The glow gave off a soft hue and the wind blowing through the tree leaves calmed her a great deal.
At the forest border lounged a small group of bandits in striped sweaters and cropped hats. A Doberman, squid, weasel, and a salamander seemed to be enjoying the scenery just as Fait was as they whistled a snappy jazz tune. Fait walked over to them, knowing this particular group of thieves, and watched them busy themselves with their weapons or gold coins they managed to somehow steal. The squid creature was sharpening his knives until his leader looked up to the familiar comrade and smirked. Donald and Goofy were tiptoeing behind Fait, not liking the idea of talking to strange men with sharp weapons. Sora, while not as frightened by the bandits as his party members, was cautious of trusting anyone who knew Pete. Fait, he hoped, might've been a little different.
"Well, if it isn't the boss's favorite relative," the Doberman creature greeted, putting his knife away. He had the end of a bone in his teeth and a badge with a clock in the middle pinned to his right breast. He also wasn't wearing any pants. He then asked, "How you doin', girlie?"
Fait smirked in return and said, "Hey, Swindle. I saw a parade in town. Know anything?"
"I might," Swindle the Doberman shrewdly replied, tilting his head up then to the side. "I'll trade some information for you for a rare item. You got a pretty good eye for that."
"Who's he?" Sora asked quietly with some concern in his voice.
"A friend of mine," Fait answered, giving Sora a reassuring and sweet smile before reaching into her pocket. She had quite a few rare items of monetary value that could be traded. It wouldn't really cost her anything to give something up. Satisfied with a treasure she found, she tossed the rare item to Swindle and watched him evaluate it. She then said, "That should be good quality. Gives explosives a bit more oomph."
"Camo!" Swindle barked, making the salamander creature turn. "Measure it up. The boss was sprucin' up a couple of his digs for tonight. Some cats from high places came in town earlier lookin' for Deucara. Big time guests dressed up in suits and ties. Maybe one or two of 'em lost a bit o' luggage along the way. I ain't seen an entourage marching through here like this in a while. Figured it's something big."
"Whoa!" Camo the Salamander exclaimed, impressed by Fait's offering. "Our girl just traded quarter mil worth a gemstone!"
"Sure you don't wanna come back to the group?" Swindle asked, humming with approval. "We could use that eye of yours."
"I'm retired from the game. You know that," Fait responded, winking at them. She then stepped to the side so she could nod at Sora and company. Sora straightened up his posture then exchanged glances between Fait and Swindle the Doberman. Fait lightly chuckled at him then continued, "I do have a favor, though. See these guys?"
"Blue eyes and the king's men?" Swindle questioned, nodding to Sora and company.
"They'll need some bodyguards while they're here. That item should be good pay," Fait said, nodding to the gemstone. "I have to get something from here to prove my worth to them."
"If they don't think you're worthy now, they're morons. But, I owe you one from that last fencing job," Swindle said with a silent nod. "We'll meet you at Deucara. Call me for a grand finale. You know how."
Fait smiled, nodded, and then waved a finger at Sora and company to follow her again. With Swindle and his team assigned to watch over Sora, Donald, and Goofy, she felt a bit better about leaving them behind to get the cosmic shard. Deucara was no place for them. Neither was Urban Deuces. Sora was curious, however, and wanted to know about this job Fait did for that sleazy group of bandits. They trusted her without question so she must've been very helpful to them.
"Hey, Fait, what was that about a fencing job?" Sora asked, trying to look into Fait's eyes. "What did that guy mean?"
"Don't worry yourself about it," Fait answered, not bothering to look at Sora.
That job was done before she was even given the title of keyblade master. Sora couldn't help it, though. He started to worry. The whole purpose of Fait having this kind of Mark of Mastery exam was to not use the power of darkness. If she got mixed up with the wrong crowd again, she might slip up and fail her test. Abruptly, Sora's gummiphone began to ring. He stopped walking to answer it and saw Riku and King Mickey appear on the screen. Happy to see familiar faces, Sora was instantly cheered up.
"Hey, Riku! Hey, King Mickey!" Sora greeted with a big smile. Fait was concerned at this. King Mickey would get ambushed in this world. She remained attentive as Sora spoke, "What's going on?"
"Hi, Sora!" Mickey replied. "We were checking up on ya. Didja find the cosmic shard's location?"
"Yeah," Sora replied, letting his friends surround him. "It's in this weird place with a bunch of bad guys. They're pretty calm right now because Fait's here but I'm thinking we'd be in some trouble if we had come alone. Quick question: what does fencing mean? It's not sword fighting, right?"
"If it involves bad guys then I'm afraid not," Mickey said with a hum of concern. "Fencing is a crime. It's when you resell a stolen good for money."
"Oh," Sora said, dropping his head. So Fait stole rare items to sell them for money. That's why Swindle trusted her so much. Fait knew how to find valuable and rare items. Shaking his head, Sora smiled and said, "Well, anyway, we found out where it is. Y'know, other than the fact that darkness took over this world, there's still some beauty left to it. I guess we do have someone to thank for that."
"And Pete's here, too!" Donald exclaimed, not letting anyone forget who their enemies were.
"Pete? That's not good," Mickey said. "Should we come down as backup?"
"No," Fait replied, taking the phone from Sora's hands. "You'd be ambushed on the spot, your majesty. This world is ruled by darkness for a reason. You'd be entering enemy territory. You can send whoever you want in your place but it can only be one person. I have some bodyguards watching over Sora now. They'll be able to escort him to wherever he needs to go."
"Mind if I butt in?" Riku asked, taking the phone from King Mickey. Of course, he didn't snatch the phone out of Mickey's hand or anything. He merely got close to the king and was offered the phone to take over the call. He then continued, "What kind of place is this exactly? Ruled by darkness, how?"
"I say ruled by darkness because Pete conquered it," Fait answered. "This world was built around what he wanted, liked, or desired it to be. His citizens aren't necessarily fond of the king and they were hired strictly to cause him harm if he ever came here. Same goes for any citizen of Disney Castle or Disney Town. The only reason why Donald and Goofy aren't being mugged right now is because I'm here, but I won't be able to protect them long if I have to retrieve this cosmic shard. Even the bodyguards I hired can't guarantee their safety. Decide carefully on who you want to send."
Before Riku could ask any more questions, Fait returned the phone to Sora and proceeded to leave him to talk in private. She had her mission from Master Yen Sid. She would focus on that. It was going to be the only way she could push down the nervousness that was suddenly creeping on her. What was she so nervous about, though? That was the part that didn't make any sense. It had to be something related to King Mickey. Maybe that's why. She just didn't want to see King Mickey get hurt because... No, she couldn't risk caring about any of the guardians of light. Shaking her head lightly, Fait followed the sounds of music and cheering on her way to the illustrious nightclub, Deucara.
Finally seeing the parade stopping up to Deucara, Fait was able to confirm Swindle's words and deduce that a major function was being held at the bustling nightclub. Villains from different worlds were coming to join in on the "fun". The only problem was she couldn't tell what the party was for. Pete wouldn't hold a party in the middle of Maleficent's mission roster. She needed a definitive clue so she could prepare herself to sneak inside practically undetected. Crawling through bushes and staying low to the ground, Fait stealthily crept to a corner of the forest where she could see the entryway to the nightclub. It was so boisterous even the building was bouncing from the music! When she saw a banner hanging from the door's upper frame with the words "Bachelor Party" in old school font styling printed on it, Fait immediately understood why there was a big parade entering Deucara.
"Ah," Fait said, smiling with actual excitement in her voice. "It's Pete's bad boy bachelor party! I forgot that was coming up."
"Bad boy bachelor party?" Donald questioned in a lowered voice.
Fait was so focused on getting a closer look at the parade that she had forgotten she came with Sora and company. They were a little more free to explore the forest since Swindle and the boys were protecting them from afar. Sora's natural curiosity of Urban Deuces probably delayed their arrival time, especially since Riku and Mickey called them. She supposed they decided on who would come in King Mickey's place as a backup in case they had to fight Uncle Pete. Little did they know, Fait wasn't going to let just anyone hurt Pete. While their relationship wasn't perfect, she was practically raised by Pete whenever Maleficent was gone and they often explored worlds together. She would simply have to think of a peaceful way to get to Pete before the guardians of light decided to pummel him.
Donald sat next to Fait to see the parade entering the club and asked, "What's that even mean?"
Fait turned to the group and replied, "Basically, it's his birthday party. He hosts one every year but they're always in different places. Usually worlds that are completely conquered by Maleficent. But I think you guys took the worlds back when you defeated her those years ago. Passed couple of years he's had 'em here."
Sora grinned victoriously at this fact and said toothily, "Saving the realm of light is kinda our thing."
Goofy then chimed in with a large smile and said, "Yup! We can't just sit back and let darkness destroy everything, y'know."
Fait scoffed at their remarks and responded with a lazy wave of her hand, "He said so bluntly in front of a villain."
Goofy had forgotten that Fait was Maleficent's apprentice in the all the time Fait spent training under Master Yen Sid. When he realized how insensitive his words must have sounded, he covered his snout and whispered, "Oops! We forgot you were with Maleficent."
Fait chuckled at Goofy, feeling that of all the guardians she could appreciate him as a friend, and caressed Goofy's cheek while saying, "No worries. My status is pending until this exam is over. The keyblade will guide me to my destiny like it did for all of you, right?"
Sora frowned with a worried expression and responded in a whispering tone, "Right."
Sora really hoped that Fait would return to the light where she truly belonged. The keyblade wouldn't have just chosen her if it didn't think she was an appropriate wielder or even an appropriate master. But what could he do to make her see that? She was otherwise friendly when she didn't have to do Maleficent's bidding, so she wasn't devoid of emotion or life experience. It was just that trauma of failure that was keeping her bound to darkness. Hopefully, the person who Sora believes in his heart can help her will also stop being so stubborn and see the good in her. Maybe there was a way to get that clever idiot to admit to himself that he could relate to Fait in more ways than one.
Shaking his head violently, Sora refocused his energy on the mission and asked, "So how do we get in?"
"You don't," Fait said, laughing and mussing up Sora's hair. She then turned back around and pushed a branch to the side to analyze the area a little more closely. Anticipation was finally bubbling up within her. Fait's entire body filled with excitement as she grinned at her plan. She then said, "We're only here to get the Cosmos Shard. Uncle Pete'll be busy enough for me to get it with his blowout bash. After that, we're outta here."
Sora vigorously tried to fix his hair back and demanded, "What? Why can't we go in?"
"You're not a bad boy, obviously," Fait scoffed, reaching into her pocket and slinking back into the brush. She handed Sora a silver stick and said, "Hold my lipstick."
With that, she took her TimeGuise out and flipped it like a coin with her thumb. Pete obviously had planned out his birthday bash before Fait even left the last one. There was already an outfit in her inventory. Disappearing within a gust of shadowy mist into the bushes, the TimeGuise wrapped Fait's body in a black ooze. Not used to Fait's device, Sora and crew watched as the shadowy mist blanketed the bushes and spanned outwards a good couple of feet before it stopped. The mist crawled back slightly until they saw Fait's body fully covered in black. She walked up to Sora, who was frozen in place and gulped visibly, and took the silver stick from him. She placed her thumb and index fingers on the top of the stick and twisted it to hear a click resonate throughout the surrounding area. Instantly, the mist shifted and became a black dress with a high slit on the right leg and a feather boa along the shoulders. Her eyeliner was a thick black wing along the lid and her eyeshadow was a vibrant red to yellow strip above the liner. Her lipstick - after quickly applying it and putting the stick in a small pocket on the side of her dress - was the same vibrant red as the eyeshadow color. Her Torch of Hope keychain was also seated above her bust linked to a silver spikes forcing you to follow them down to her chest. Her hair was beautifully curled into a wavy, classy look as it descended to reach between her shoulder blades and the middle of her back. Her shoes were high heeled and covered in feathers and a lace attachment. In short, she was dangerously gorgeous and all anyone could do was gape at her.
Goofy, Donald and Sora all shouted, "Huh?"
"What are you doing in this corner?" a familiar voice asked.
Sora, Donald and Goofy shouted again, "AH!"
It was Riku. He just scared the trio because they thought they had gotten caught by a guard or a thief. There were a lot of things Riku could confidently say he hated about this new world. For one, there were dozens of traps you could fall into and get robbed from. He only lucked out by not having all his items stolen because a group of bandits got it back for him. The other thing he hated was Fait's connections to said group of bandits because they were fairly effective at their job. All he came across were traps and not thieves. The next thing he could say he hated was pretty much how everyone wanted King Mickey dead. He saw bullseye targets with the king's emblem in the center. That was just plain rude! The next thing would probably be the fact that Sora and crew were even in this kind of place, but that was Master Yen Sid's possible doing because these mystical artefacts were his and they were scattered across the universe. The thing that Riku hates the most, however, was how gorgeous Fait looked in that dress. This was probably the one and the only time that Riku would allow himself to blush even remotely around said girl. While Donald and Sora didn't quite catch Riku's reaction since they were regaining their breath, Goofy spotted a light coloring on Riku's cheeks and hummed in curiosity.
Fait, not thinking about any of the boys with her, took notice to the guards at the front hearing Sora and company scream. Two of them were walking towards them to investigate the noise, making sure nothing interrupts the parade or the big party. She quickly snatched them back into the bushes to hide and pointed out to some trees they could hide behind until it was safe. When the guards shrugged after not seeing anyone and turned around, Fait let out a stifled breath and slunk down a bit to relax again. She thought that was it for sure. Cover blown, King Mickey's men caught, Sora and Riku in immediate danger? Horrible turnout! She would have to be more careful about the noise and the guards, so Fait stood straight up again and rethought her plan to get the Cosmos Shard out of Deucara's vault. Pete held his most unusual treasures in a large safe; usually, his treasures consisted of puzzles, which meant that the Cosmos Shard either resembled a puzzle or was of equal value to Pete's numerous and rare puzzle pieces. While she was thinking of her options, Riku walked up to her and folded his arms with silent fury and narrowed eyes. Goofy, seeing a familiar emotion emanating from the boy, was slow to walk up to him and Fait. He hummed with curiosity again, wondering if Riku knew his emotions were becoming more telling, and gained Donald's interest. Sora simply walked over to them, not particularly worried about Riku's behavior since Riku never really trusted Fait beforehand, but stopped once he noticed that Donald and Goofy were eyeing Riku with some wonder.
Riku was getting annoyed that Fait was ignoring him and disrupted her train of thought by demanding to know, "That's your disguise for this world?"
"No," Fait replied, gently rubbing her chin with the silver finger jewelry on her index, middle, and ring fingers. She was still lost in thought, not looking at the boys. She then said, "It's a party dress Uncle Pete picked out for me."
That one answer changed Riku's entire mood from anger to something he thought he finally controlled after the fiasco with darkness in his childhood. He didn't want to name it because he made it his personal mission not to get too close to Maleficent's apprentice. Fait was darn-near dressed like Maleficent in the black dress but... NO! He wasn't going to say it! When he agreed to follow his heart like Sora, he didn't agree to let it control his entire being around this one girl. Fait hummed with an idea suddenly crossing her mind. She inspected a certain area of the forest and turned to Sora and company before waving a finger at them to follow her. She lifted up the skirt from the middle of the slit and tugged it back to run without getting the dress caught on bushes or vines. This just sent Riku to a fire pit as he stayed close to the group. When Fait reached a shady grove of trees, she caught a knife jammed into one of the trees overhead. That meant Swindle and the others were close to her and that she was free to start moving in. She peeked from behind the hedge closing off the forest of trees and noticed the parade somewhat dying down. Some of the guests must have started checking in. The swing band inside the club must have been having a blast because the guards and bouncers outside of Deucara were bopping their heads to the jazz tunes, too. Fait nodded her head a little, hearing the high-energy sounds of the trumpets and drums.
"Music's runnin' pretty good," Fait remarked, inspecting the area as she normally would on a stealth mission.
She took note to the number of guards, guests, and gifts going into Deucara. She saw Mr. Smee from Neverland waddle on in and Captain Hook. They were very dapper in their olden, French suits. The clock on Deucara's top floor was enhanced with magic so Pete's puzzle pieces were active if they still held power. That's when Fait caught the catering services restocking food items for the buffet table. Her plan would start there.
"We gotta find the cake," Fait said, shifting her gaze to distinguish guest limo or chaffeur from catering truck. "That's the only way you'll be able to get in. Pete always has a five to six-tier cake for his birthday. You find the truck, you can sneak through the back door to the kitchen."
Riku was not having any of that and demanded to know, "And where are you going?"
Now, Sora was catching on to the tone in Riku's voice and his actions. Donald wasn't really paying attention too hard to Riku because Fait was in the middle of planning something, but Goofy had been keeping his eye on Riku since the boy showed up. The captain of the knights instantly recognized the multitude of emotions coming from Riku and, while worry was chief among those emotions, jealousy was becoming stronger and stronger. Sora didn't really see the jealousy that Goofy was seeing, but he did see the worry hidden behind that annoyed and protective tone in his voice. This just made Sora's heart flutter and his eyes light up. While Riku himself might not know it or even understand what it means to be Sora-esque, Sora could see that his friend's heart was speaking out for him. He was finally wearing his heart on his sleeve! While a normal person would consider this a bad thing, the trio could see the purity behind Riku's mask of maturity. He was genuinely worried about Fait.
"The tower," Fait said plainly, crawling backwards with narrowed eyes and a quick nod to follow her again. She started walking with a slight brisk to the side of the nightclub where staff members were bringing in provisions for the guests. It looked like a lot of food was being served this year. She then said, "That's gotta be where Master Yen Sid's Cosmos Shard is. Either Uncle Pete found it or a guest did. As long as the party functions normally, I should be able to get in and get out like usual."
Riku laughed mockingly and then questioned, "So you're going in through the front door like that?"
Fait heard a car's horn a little distance away and hid behind a tree for a moment to watch it pass. It was just a group of late arrivals from the looks of it. She breathed easy and snuck a little closer to the side of the club to get a better view of the catering going in. A truck filled with barrels of moonshine as cargo was backing up to the docking garage. There must've been some choice mixes in there for a truck to be fully stocked. Not seeing the cake truck yet made Fait worry a bit. The cake was never late or behind the moonshine. Her window of opportunity might have passed her by! That was no good! If she didn't see the gift wagon come in soon then she'd really have a problem because that would mean Sora and company would have to be disguised and hopefully convince the guards that they were bad guys. There'd be no way they'd buy that! Narrowing her eyes and slowly dipping down to the ground to hide behind some bushes, Fait kept an eye on the docking garage. She'd have about a 30-minute wait for more late arrivals to come through. By that point, it'd be her and possibly Maleficent, Shinnosuke, or Melvin arriving late to the party. With this in mind, she focused on getting to the cargo truck turning strip without getting caught by any guards.
However, Riku stood in front of her, tapping a finger on his bicep and said, "You didn't answer my question."
Fait's eyes softened for a sliver of a moment to analyze the boy. She, honestly, didn't hear him ask anything of importance but appreciated her new teacher's concern about her dress. The gown wasn't out of the ordinary for her at all. Maybe the slit bothered him because Riku was actually traditional or something. Maleficent was like that once. She used to get so mad at Pete when he gave Fait certain dresses when she was a little girl. Maleficent would make Fait wear those itchy stockings or leggings and longer skirts, but Fait always tore them up somehow. Once Maleficent taught her proper etiquette and found other teachers to do the same thing, Fait learned how to be more elegant as opposed to her regular dirty, rough, stinky self when she was a kid. Holding back a small laugh from the fond memory, Fait raised an eyebrow at the boy and tilted her head downward as though she were asking a question herself. Goofy could see that jealousy as clear as day, though. Riku wasn't just worried about the blonde beauty. He was jealous that other men were going to have the pleasure of looking at her in her gown.
Fait might have caught on to Riku's angered tone and irritable mood as being something more but instead she calmly said, "Sorry, Master Riku, I didn't hear your question."
This threw Riku off a bit and made him calm down. Fait rarely apologized for anything or even formally called someone by name and title. He wanted to snap back at her and was fully prepared for it, but he noticed from everyone's faces that he wasn't acting like himself. While Goofy wasn't giving him a concerned look like Sora and Donald, the others were just looking at him. The sad part was... he knew he was acting weird. He knew he wasn't his typical self since seeing Fait on Destiny Islands training on the Play Island. While he thought Fait was attractive in her meditation garb, this was entirely different. It was to a point where he could feel he was losing himself bit by bit but he didn't understand why.
He wasn't sure why she got under his skin when she teased him in some way. He wasn't sure why she held back her powers so much when she was clearly an adept fighter. He wasn't sure why he liked teaching her. He wasn't sure why her being dressed up made him angry. He wasn't sure why he wasn't trying to hide his feelings anymore. He just knew things were changing. Vulture wasn't really a bad guy. Vulture wasn't out to destroy the worlds just because, wasn't seeking more power for some ultimatum, wasn't seeking vengeance for any losses, and wasn't out for blood. Vulture was a beautiful, charming, down-to-earth, funny, flirty, adventurous, sweet, intelligent, and trouble-making girl. That's what bothered him. He shouldn't be getting so close to this pending villain (or pending hero). Maybe King Mickey was right. Maybe Fait needed to know what it was like to be a hero and let the keyblade reactivate itself on the path of light like before. Problem was... that gave Riku hope in his heart. He couldn't be hopeful for a person who might choose the darkness, especially when he fought so hard to return to the light, but the fluttering rhythm in his chest held the strongest desire to do just that. To hope that she turns over to the light so that... one day... he could...
"Crap!" Fait hissed, rushing to the bushes. "The cake truck is here! We have to stall it! Let's go!"