Oh geez, welcome to longest chapter of Keys yet everyone! Seriously, 18,000 plus words... Haven't written a chapter this long for anything in... quite some time. And yet... i LOVE this chapter, seriously its a TON of fun and some sorta really important plot stuff goes down in it so I really hope you enjoy it! Which is why I'm not gonna keep you from it any longer. Enjoy!
Chapter 15: Adventure Is Out There
I've mapped out our journey
We're up here to stay
A sunset is our home
A moonbeam we will own
My spirit of adventure is you!
To say that Sora, Donald, Goofy, Carl, and Russell are all exhausted would be an understatement.
The group only now starts to come off of the dangerous adrenaline their perilous chase against Muntz' dogs had filled them with, a chase that had not nearly cost them Kevin, but their very lives several times over. They'd only barely managed to escape the canyon thanks to Dug's well-timed and courageous help in tripping his fellow dogs up all for the sake of aiding his new group of friends. But even still, that hadn't been enough to ward the dangerous canines off completely, not until they'd lost them across a risky leap of faith over a deep ravine. Several bumps, bruises, and popped balloons later and everyone's mostly alright, if not much worse for wear. Everyone, that is, save for Kevin.
In the brutal landing on the far side of the cliff, the bird's lanky leg had been badly injured, to the point that even Russell patching the injury up accompanied by a generous healing spell from Donald hadn't been enough to get her up and walking properly. For now, Kevin rests upon her former perch up on the house, safe and secure as the group more or less escorts her back to her mist-covered rocky home. Surprisingly enough, this time, Carl had agreed to Sora and Russell's shared insistence on helping the wounded bird get back to her babies. The only condition he had was that they hurry, given the untold number of balloons the house had lost in the frantic chase. With only a few hundred left to spare, the house will only remain airborne for so much longer, leaving them without much time to get to the falls, especially as sidetracked as Muntz has already caused them to be. And yet… for as much as he doesn't want to, Carl knows in his heart that they have to help Kevin out first.
So that's exactly what they've set out to do.
Night's fallen by the time they make it completely out of the range of the dogs and back into the jungle. Even so, everyone's still on edge as they briskly head towards the rocky maze Kevin calls home, keeping any eye out for any canines that could still possibly be in a stealthy pursuit after them.
"See anything?" Sora asks Dug as he scouts out the path ahead for any such prying eyes.
"No, my pack is not following us!" Dug runs back to the group, his tail wagging excitedly. "Boy, they are dumb."
"That, or we're just lucky…" Donald deadpans tiredly.
"This is crazy," Carl huffs, still pulling the house along after him as they continue along. "I finally meet my childhood hero and he's trying to kill us! What a joke…"
"Hey, I know a joke!" Dug pipes up. "A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead. Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead."
The others all exchange a brief glance of confusion at the dog's odd, unintentionally dark bout of humor. Even so, Sora makes a different attempt at lifting the group's otherwise frayed nerves instead. "Well, look on the bright side. At least we haven't bumped into Demyx or any more Nobodies for a while."
"Don't jinx it," Donald warns.
"But we haven't really found any clues about that Key either, come to think of it…" Goofy notes with a frown.
"Eh, I'm sure we'll figure out how to find it sooner or later," Sora assures, trying his best to remain positive. "Right now, we need to focus on getting Kevin back to her babies."
"Do you think we're getting close, Mr. Fredrickson?" Russell asks, casting a worried glance back up at the bird resting on the roof above them.
"I hope we are," Carl sighs, fretfully looking towards the house himself. "The only good thing about the house being this low is that the trees are keeping it from sticking out like a sore thumb. Or in our case, an attack dog magnet."
A beat of silence passes between the others at this, giving them a chance to remember just how tenuous their momentary peace really is. Especially since Muntz' dogs or lurking Nobodies alike could easily beset them at literally any moment.
"You guys know what?" Russell speaks up, seemingly going off on another tangent altogether. "The wilderness… isn't quite what I expected."
"Pffft, oh really," Carl can't hold back a small snort of a laugh at this. "How so?"
"It's kinda… wild," the Wilderness Explorer smiles slightly. "I mean, it's not how they made it sound in my book. Or how my dad talked about it either. He made it sound so easy. He's really good at camping and how to make fire from rocks and stuff. He used to come to all my sweatlodge meetings, and afterwards, we'd go get ice cream! I always get chocolate and he gets peanut-brickle. Then we'd sit on this one curb right outside and I count all the blue cars and he counts all the red ones and whoever gets the most wins… I like that curb." Russell pauses, earnestly glancing up at the trio as they listened intently to his innocent anecdote. Even Carl seems to be offering the boy his apt attention, though he says nothing as he capped it off. "It might sound boring… but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most…"
"I… think I know what you mean," Sora speaks up with a small smile before diving into a fond memory of his own. "Back on the isla—I-I mean, where I'm from, there's this tree that overlooks the ocean. Me and my friends, Riku and Kairi, used to hang out there and watch the sunset and talk about all sorts of things for hours." He can't help but let out a small, warm chuckle at this, recalling so many of those sun-soaked, simple conversations, none of which were really about anything that important or significant, but all of them still very dear and precious to his heart all the same. And yet, even as he thinks of those treasured moments and how much they matter to him, his smile soon fades altogether as he considers the present compared to what they'd left behind in the past. As he yearns for the far-off day when the three of them might be able to return to the shores they'd all once called home, to bask in the warmth of the golden sunset and laugh and talk and dream without any of the danger they'd grown so used to hanging over their heads anymore. "It's… been awhile since we've done that… But… if everything works out, then it won't be long before we'll all be home together again, just like we were before…"
Upon hearing their young companion's wistful hopes, both Donald and Goofy offer him shared supportive smiles, while Russell gives him a much brighter one, clearly charmed by his tale. Carl, on the other hand, is much more somber as he looks between both boys before letting his gaze slowly drift back to his house still slowly trailing along behind him. "The boring stuff, huh…?" he mutters, so thoughtfully and quietly that none of the others can hear him. Still, he doesn't have much of a chance to dwell on such thoughts before a pitchy chorus of baby birds calls echoes through the jungle once more.
"Look! There it is!" Russell excitedly points towards the vast expanse of rocks just ahead.
"All right! We made it!" Sora cheers, equally elated as he runs on ahead, Donald and Goofy not too far behind. Russell attempts to follow, only for his tether to the house to hold him back, at least until Carl laughingly releases him from it. Likewise, Dug runs to join the group, leaping happily alongside them as Kevin calls to her babies, clearly glad to be so close to them once again. Still, the others make sure to help her get down from the roof as carefully as possible, minding her injured leg all the while. As soon as she's on the ground, however, it's as though that injury hardly even matters; reenergized and invigorated, Kevin limps forward as fast as she can, electing shared, warm laughs from all the others as they gladly watch her make her final approach home.
"Look at that bird go!" Carl chuckles, shaking his head incredulously. "Wait up, you overgrown chicken!"
"That's it! Go, Kevin!" Russell encourages cheerfully. "Go find your babies!"
And Kevin is well on her way to doing just that too. At least until everything goes wrong at the exact wrong time.
The bird is just shy of the entrance to her maze-like home when a bright, blinding spotlight suddenly falls upon the group from above. The winds pick up drastically as none other than the Spirit of Adventure, now massive and intimidating as it hovers overhead, draws in low for a landing.
"No!" Donald and Goofy cry in startled unison over this horrifying turn of events.
"Run, Kevin!" Russell warns, distraught. Though the bird tries her best to do so, she isn't able to get very far before a net shoots out from the side of Muntz' dirigible. Its aim is true as it strikes Kevin hard, dragging her to the ground and keeping her pinned there, helplessly trapped as she cries desperately for the babies she's now powerless to get to.
"We gotta help her!" Sora exclaims, his Keyblade flashing into his hand as the others nod their unanimous agreement. "C'mon!"
The group is more than prepared to do whatever they can to help free Kevin from her binds, but just as they run forward to do so, their attempt is quickly halted by the arrival of a massive horde of Nobodies. The creatures swam into existence, creating a barricading line separating the others from the bird, much to their distressed annoyance.
"Hey!" Donald squawks in heated frustration, not hesitating to cast a wide-scale thunder at the Nobodies. "Get out of our way!"
"Yeah!" Sora agrees, striking one of the creatures down with rapid force. "We don't have time for this!"
"Aw, come on, sure ya do!" the trio's attention diverted away from the Nobodies, instead towards the dark corridor opening up behind them. Demyx smirks confidently as he steps out of it, greeting the trio with a wry, playful wave. "I mean, it's not like you guys haven't been sidetracked several times over already, so what's one more distraction, huh? Plus, I whipped up this group 'specially for you guys. You wouldn't want them to go to waste, would you?"
"You better believe we would," Sora retorts coldly, glaring Demyx down fiercely. "Get out of here! And take these Nobodies with you!"
"Ah, no can do," Demyx shrugs casually, wagging his finger. "See, I'm smack-dab in the middle of a little tactic I like to call… stalling."
The trio pauses for a bit, admittedly caught off guard by this, that is, until Sora happens to glance right past their foe to catch a very reassuring sight indeed. "Oh yeah?" he grins knowingly. "So are we."
"Wha—Hey!" Demyx shouts, spinning around to find Carl, Russell and Dug sneaking past him to make it to Kevin's side. He makes a move to stop them, though doesn't get very far before a well-timed shield toss from Goofy strikes him clean upside the head. "Ow! HEY!" he snaps, turning back to the laughing trio before him.
At the same time, Carl and Russell run up to Kevin, determined to do whatever they can to set her free and get her out of harm's way. However, they hardly have a chance to before the adventurer himself decides to get involved.
"Get away from my bird!" Muntz shouts viciously from the gangplank of his airship, a sizable pack of dogs accompanying him.
"Hey! It's about time you showed up!" Demyx huffs, annoyed. "I could use some backup from those nutso mutts of yours!"
Despite this plea, Muntz all but ignores his new apparent partner in crime. Instead, he sends a burning glare towards Carl in particular, a torch in his hand as he walks, not towards him, Russell, and Kevin, not towards Sora, Donald, and Goofy, not even to Demyx and his Nobodies. Instead, he heads towards the house. And as soon as he reaches it, he keeps his sights set on Carl, even as he throws his torch down hard at the ground just below it. Carl watches, dumbfounded and horrified as a fire sparks up instantly, flames easily building until they reach into his home, now hovering a few short feet above the ground. The burning heat is more than enough to cause immediate damage, scorching the structure's foundation and popping more than a few balloons keeping it afloat. And at that moment Carl realizes that those flames could not only ground his journey, but destroy it entirely, along with the only piece he has left of her, a piece that, regardless of anything or anyone else, he refuses to let go.
"No!" he shouts, rushing towards his house and leaving Russell all alone in trying to free Kevin. The boy gasps, alarmed, as Muntz' pack of dogs dart at him full speed, but even still, he takes up as firm a stance as possible to protect Kevin from their reach. An attempt that outright fails as the dogs easily overwhelm him, knocking him down and latching onto the net binding Kevin with hardly any effort at all.
"No! Stop!" Russell cries, trying his best to ward off the dogs, only to nearly be bitten several times over in the process. Dug tries his best to help him, though it's clear he was no match for the much fiercer canines he's struggling against either. "Help!"
"Russell! Dug!" Sora gasps, looking beyond Demyx and the Nobodies to see the distress the boy, the dog, and the bird are in. Not wasting a moment, he tries maneuvering around the opposing force, only for the Nobodies to counteract him by slipping around to block his path.
"Going somewhere?" Demyx asks, arms crossed as he sends Sora a triumphant smirk, knowing he has the trio cornered on all sides.
Upon being confronted by such an impassable obstacle, Sora lets out a frustrated shout, tearing his Keyblade through several of the Nobodies, only for just as many to reappear in their place. "Why are you doing this?!" he yells at the Organization member. "I thought you were after the Key!"
"Yeah, I am," Demyx nods. "Don't really care much about the bird, but that old geezer seems to." He nods over at Muntz as he swiftly returns to his airship. "And so do you three, otherwise you wouldn't be wasting your time with it, right? Well, the way I see it, since you found the first one of those Keys, then maybe taking a page—or should I say bird—out of your book so I can get the next one?"
"We're not wasting our time! You are!" Donald counters harshly.
"Kevin doesn't have anything to do with the Keys!" Goofy adds just as adamantly.
"That's right," Sora agrees. "So leave her and the others alone!"
"Oh, sorry but… it looks like you're a bit too late on that one," Demyx notes, nodding towards the Spirit of Adventure. Muntz' dogs have completely succeeded in dragging Kevin to the dirigible, ignoring her wailing cries of protest and feeble struggling all the while as they pull her along to the adventurer.
"Careful," Muntz urges his canines as they pull her into the ship. "We want her in good shape for my return."
"Let her go!" Russell cries, desperate to save the bird, though ultimately, he's too late. For as he tries to run towards the massive airship, it all too quickly roars to life, blowing him back as it slowly starts to rise into the air with the bird in tow. "Kevin!"
"Well, as fun as this was, looks like I'm late for my ride," Demyx grins to the trio as they watch this capture unfold in horrified disbelief. "Next time you fellas see me, I'll be heading back to the Organization with a fancy new Key in hand. Then we'll see who the dumbest member really is…"
With a sly chuckle, Demyx slips back into a dark corridor, though as expected, he leaves his vast crowd of Nobodies behind for the trio to deal with. As they engage the creatures in a hectic fight, all Russell can do is watch, heartbroken, as the Spirit of Adventure takes off, leaving Kevin not just in danger, but far out of their reach. At the same time, Carl finishes patting the flames converging upon his house out, salvaging the home before any critical damage could be done. Even still, he lets out an exhausted sigh as he collapses against the structure, knowing just how close of a call that had really been. And realizing exactly what had been lost in that harrowing encounter as Russell approaches him, tears in his eyes.
"Y-you gave away Kevin…" the boy whimpers sadly. "You just… gave her away."
Carl flinches at this, pressing up tighter against his house, though he doesn't turn to face Russell right away. Instead, he only barely casts a glance over at the trio as they finish taking care of the last few Nobodies, not that he really cares about that, or really any of the rest of what had just unfolded. Or at least, that's what he wants to keep trying to tell himself. "…This is none of my concern…" he mutters low, angrily before he quickly snaps with growing fury. "I didn't ask for any of this!"
"Master," Dug speaks up softly, comfortingly. "It's alright."
"I am not your master!" Carl shouts back, absolutely livid. "And if you hadn't shown up, none of this would have happened! Bad dog! Very bad dog!"
Upon such bitter chastising, Dug lets out a small, morose whimper, scampering off into the jungle with his tail between his legs and his head hung in shame. By now, Sora, Donald, and Goofy finally finish wiping out the threat the Nobodies pose, and have caught onto the intense conversation unfolding nearby. And needless to say, they're far from happy with what they're hearing.
"Hey!" Sora counters, marching over to the elderly man. "Carl, that's not fair. It's not Dug's fault that we lost Kevin!"
"Hmph, you're right," Carl retorts crossly. "If it's anyone's fault, it's yours. I thought you three were 'experts' when it came to getting rid of those weird monster things. So if you wanted to save the bird so badly, why didn't you?"
"It's not like we didn't try!" Donald argues.
"There were just so darn many of 'em…" Goofy frowns.
"They tried their best to help her," Russell speaks up, his sad expression turning angry as he looks to Carl once more. "But you didn't try to save Kevin at all!"
"Augh! Who even cares?!" Carl groans, beyond exasperated as he picks up the house's harness once more. "I'm done wasting my time with birds and dogs and weird creatures! Whether any of you assist me or not, I'm going to Paradise Falls even if it kills me!"
"But what about Kevin?" Sora asks, thoroughly disappointed by Carl's selfish behavior. "We can't just let Muntz take her, she's still hurt-"
"A-and her babies are all alone without her!" Russell adds, listening to the distant cries of said abandoned birds behind them. "We gotta get her back, please, Mr. Fredrickson, we-"
"Didn't you hear me before?" Carl glares back at the others as he begins to press on ahead. "I. Don't. CARE. I'm through putting my neck on the line for everyone else! If you wanna save the dumb bird so badly, then go on ahead. But count me out."
"O-oh yeah? Well… maybe we will go save her!" Sora exclaims, determined to right this wrong.
"Wha—but Sora," Donald counters, sending him a disapproving look. "What about the Key?"
Sora doesn't offer much of an answer, simply shaking his hand dismissively, knowing that the Key can afford to wait. But by all accounts, Kevin can't.
"Yeah!" Russell chimes in with newfound hope. "Let's go save Kevin!"
"Actually, Russell, you should go with Carl," Sora kneels down to the boy's level, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Things could get pretty dangerous. We don't want you to get hurt."
"Aw!" Russell frowns, disappointed. "But I wanna help Kevin!"
"I know you do," Sora nods empathetically. "And I bet Kevin knows that too. But Muntz and Demyx are bad guys, and it's our job to fight off the bad guys, not yours. Ok?"
Russell pouts at this, though ultimately he lets out a relenting sigh as he hesitantly complies. "O-ok… Promise you'll save her, Sora?"
"Of course," Sora nods with a confident, determined smile. "I promise."
Russell finally smiles, waving his farewell to the trio as he runs off to catch up with Carl, who'd already bitterly trudged on ahead with his low-bearing house in tow. The trio, on the other hand, goes off in the opposite direction, searching the darkened night sky for any signs of Muntz' dirigible floating amidst it. Though even as they do, it's clear from the very start that there's derision among them when it comes to Sora's rather hasty decision to start this search in the first place.
"Why did you promise him that?" Donald asks as soon as Russell is out of earshot. "Even if we do find that blimp, we don't have any way to get up onto it to rescue Kevin!"
"Then we'll figure something out," Sora assures, resolute. "But we have to help Kevin. It was sort of our fault that Muntz got away with her in the first place. If Carl was right about one thing, it's that."
"But what about the Key?" Goofy asks with a concerned frown. "We still don't know where we're supposed to find it, or how."
"Yeah!" Donald chimes in much more adamantly. "That's the whole reason why we came here in the first place and we aren't any closer to finding it than we were when we first got here! We need to focus on getting it before Demyx does first!"
"And we will," Sora sighs, annoyed with the constant reminder of their mission. As well as the constant reminder that he essentially has no idea how to carry said mission out, which by all accounts, only makes things worse than they already are. "After we save Kevin."
Even though Sora continues on ahead, neither Donald nor Goofy do the same, opting to stop and exchange an exasperated glance instead. "Why do you always have to do this?" the magician asks with a disgruntled groan.
"Do what?" Sora glances back at the pair.
"Meddle!" Donald snaps hotly. "Every time we go to a world, you always end up getting us off track from what we need to do by sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"
"It's called helping people," Sora counters sternly, fully turning to face his companions. "And why do you always have to have such a problem with it?"
"Because that's not what we're here to do!" Donald exclaims, stomping his foot down. "If we don't get those Keys before the Organization does, then there won't be any people left for you to help! Why can't you just see that already?!"
"Why can't you see that I know we need to find the Keys as fast as we can!?" Sora shoots back, his hands in tight fists at his sides. "I get that if we don't hurry, then we'll lose the rest of the Keys and Xehanort will win, ok?! I've been trying my best to find them, and I want to do whatever it takes to keep them out of the Organization's hands. But… I can't just leave a friend behind, no matter what world we're in or what else we need to do."
"Aw, Sora…" Goofy frowns, much more sympathetic and understanding than Donald currently is. "We know ya just wanna help. Heck, we wanna help Kevin, too, but… Donald's right. We don't know how to help her, and even if we did, we still gotta find that Key above all else. Sorry, Sora, but… sometimes ya just gotta learn to let go…"
For a moment, the most Sora can do is stare at both of his companions in crestfallen disbelief, anger and hurt filling in his expression. Rarely, if ever, have they stood between him and trying to assist any denizens of any of the worlds they've traveled to together. True, Donald usually complains about it, but in the end, usually Goofy is the one to convince him to let their young companion carry out whatever altruistic missions he happened to take upon himself. Yet now, neither one of them seem to care that one of their new friends is in danger; neither one of them are willing to let him save that friend, all for a sake of a Key that none of them even know how to find. And as that thought sinks in, the more it bothers him, a sense of angry betrayal eating away at him until it inevitably pushes him into action, however irrational and thoughtless that action might be. "Fine," he hisses between gritted teeth. "If you two won't do the right thing, then I will! I'm going to help Kevin whether you like it or not!"
"B-but Sora-" Goofy attempts to interject, only for Donald to fiercely interrupt him.
"Fine!" the magician shouts, shaking his fist Sora as he abruptly turns on his heel to leave. "If that's how you want to be, then go and see how far you won't get without us! And maybe while you're gone, we'll actually do what we're supposed to and find that Key!"
"Fine!" Sora yells over his shoulder, not sparing either the captain or the magician from an icy glare.
"Fine!" Donald calls just as bitterly as he crosses his arms, resolved to not follow Sora as he does his own separate way.
"Fine!"
"FINE!"
"Not fine…" Goofy mutters to himself. He shakes his head apprehensively as he watches their young companion go off on his own into the jungle, as well as whatever dangers might lie within its darkened depths.
Under the cover of night, the symphony of various natural noises that usually fill the jungle have quieted somewhat, though not by much. Sora hardly pays any of this any mind, however; instead, his mind is filled with far too many stewing, angry thoughts as he trudges through the shadows of the rainforest, entirely on his own.
On one hand, Sora does understand where his companions had been coming from; their mission to find the Keys is perhaps one of the most important tasks they've ever been entrusted with, one that they can't afford to set by the wayside for too long. But at the same time, Sora also knows he can't simply stand by and watch as innocents—people and animals alike—are put in danger because of their enemies, captured because of their mistakes, harmed because they did nothing to help them. Which is exactly why he is doing something about it, even if Donald and Goofy won't.
Yet at the same time, Sora can't help but feel the slightest bit guilty over how he'd not only snapped at them, but left them on such a harsh, bitter note. After all, they're a team, resolved to stick and stay together, no matter what obstacles or trials they face. As much as he's loathed to admit, he knows he'd acted rashly, perhaps even foolishly in walking away from them like that, especially when, with just a little patience and compromise, they easily could have worked out a better solution, just like they always manage to do.
"Ugh, what am I doing…?" he asks himself, letting out an exasperated sigh as he runs a hand through his hair. "I should go back…"
"Should you?"
"Huh?" Sora freezes, instantly glancing around for the source of this sudden, unknown voice, only to find not a single soul anywhere nearby. "Who-" He flinches again, this time in pain as he feels something suddenly latch around his ankle, lightly digging into his skin. Glancing down, he finds that it's nothing more than a thorny vine, growing out of the surrounding foliage as it coils loosely around his leg. Sora thinks little of it as he pulls himself out of the vine's grip with no trouble at all. However, what does concern him is when that strange, mysterious voice from before continues speaking, coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.
"Why should you go back? Isn't there something important you need to do?"
Sora's brow furrowed as he listened, realizing that this voice sounds all-too familiar, though he can't exactly pin down how. Even so, he tentatively decides to answer it, unsure of where this bizarre, rather unsettling conversation may lead. "Y-yeah, but… I should apologize to Donald and Goofy first, they-"
"Why? It's not like you even have anything to apologize for. You did nothing wrong!"
By now, Sora notices that the same thorny vine from before has somehow managed to latch onto his leg once again, though this time, he doesn't pull away from it. Instead, he remains still, staring down at it as it begins to slowly creep upwards, its thorns bearing ever deeper into his skin to the point they start to draw blood. And yet, even still, he still doesn't free himself from its grip, his mind drifting further and further away from what it's doing to him, and more towards something else entirely.
"Your friends, on the other hand, they're the ones who should apologize. They never listen, they never care, even when you're right and they're not."
"N-no…" Sora tries to reason, not noticing his voice growing softer, weaker. At the same time, the vines seem to multiply, more and more crawling out of the forest to curl up, not just around his legs anymore, but around his arms as well. And yet, the pain their thorns bring him is only secondary when compared to the newfound pain starting to well up in his heart at the fear that everything he's hearing could very well be true. That his friends really don't listen, that they really don't care about him after all. "That's not… t-they do listen, it's just-"
"It's just they don't trust you. They don't think you know what's best. They don't believe in you. With friends like those, why not just be… alone instead?"
He shakes his head, his breathing starting to grow tense and shallow as the vines pull hard against him. In seconds, they completely restrain him as they begin to converge across his chest, tightening viciously all the while. All the while poisoning him much like the growing doubts that the voice has already sown within his mind are rapidly starting to do. "N-no…" he tries again, his vision blurring as he struggles against the vines just the slightest bit, only for them to pull him down twice as hard in retaliation for his defiance. "I-"
"What's the matter? Are you afraid of being alone? Are you scared that all your friends are going to leave you behind? Is the great Hero of the Keyblade really about to let himself succumb to such pathetic fears?"
"No!" Sora shouts, a sudden burst of vicious fury, compelled by the voice, the vines, or something else altogether filling just about every last fiber of his being. The vines pull him taunt as their tips inch up his neck and towards his face, drawing in dangerously close to his eyes as they flash a sharp, warning yellow, one that seems to ignite the entire surrounding forest in its haunting, golden glow.
"Then PROVE it!"
"I-" he struggles to speak, his heart turning almost agonizingly cold as sheer, shadowy darkness creeps up his arms far faster than the vines had, as his fingertips start sharpening into long, deadly claws. Some small, still cognizant part of his mind is fully aware of what's going on, and yet is completely powerless to stop it as the choking vines and their relentless thorns all but cover him completely. And all too quickly, the anger in his voice turns to anguish in those last few, fleeting seconds before he's silenced completely. "I CAN'T!"
The echo of that final cry is all that remains as he forcefully transforms, the oppressive darkness blanketing him like a shroud as it twists and distorts him in every way imaginable. The vines finally released him, recoiling back into the jungle to leave his heart trapped in a different, much more terrible kind of prison altogether. His body collapses limply to the ground, a horrible, inhuman screech tearing from his throat as his eyes open wide, now only empty glowing golden voids as the shadows leech across his face, blanketing his features in darkness. His mouth splits open unnaturally wide, shining gold as well as razor sharp fangs rim it, a feral hiss pouring out of it as he lifts his head high. As his form continues to change, his knees lock into an unnatural angle, forcing him to hang in a low, unsteady stance, shadowy tendrils wisping over his entire body as his monstrous transformation finally comes to a close. And, as the one who had brought it upon him finally makes herself known.
"Now… you can…" Maleficent smirks triumphantly as she steps out of the shadows of the forest she'd been watching from. She takes immense satisfaction in knowing that both her thorns and the manipulative magic behind them had worked perfectly, for sure enough, as the last of the vines clear themselves away, she's able to get a better view of the prize both had won her. "Ah, so it is true," she grins down at Sora, looking over his now-shadowy, almost animalistic form as he mindlessly glances about, ready to attack. "Darkness really has taken a steady hold upon your heart, hasn't it, boy? And there I was, thinking that you were of little consequence to my plans. Oh, how very wrong I was…"
She lets out a small, sadistic chuckle, one that Sora reacts to harshly. Despite his now darkened instincts currently overriding any sense of awareness or identity, he still somehow recognizes Maleficent for the threat he usually knows her to be. Which is why he hunches over, clawed hands digging into the soil as his bright, golden eyes glare up at her, growling savagely at her all the while. Maleficent's steady smile disappears as she mulls over the boy-turned-monster before her, ready to lunge at her at a moment's notice. Though even so, his ferocious manner hardly phases her cold confidence.
"Still just as frustratingly rebellious as ever, I see…" she glowers as she calls upon her magical scepter, channeling her power through it. "No matter. With the right amount of power, any sniveling cretin is easy enough to subdue. Including a Heartless like you, child." At this, she raises her staff, bright green magic converging around its tip. And as that magic swells, soon enough it starts to spark within Sora's otherwise now-yellow, glowing eyes. However, that oppressive controlling power only just starts to take a hold of him before Sora abruptly snaps out of it, his violent instincts taking over as he finally makes the move to attack Maleficent herself.
She barely managed to block his sudden leap with her staff, genuinely surprised and perhaps even a bit alarmed when his claws tightly latched onto her scepter while he mindlessly gnaws on it in a haphazard attempt at breaking it. Maleficent reacts instantly and harshly to this, swiftly swinging her staff aside and brutally throwing Sora aside in the process. He hits the ground hard, though the crash hardly seems to register as he quickly picks himself back up on all fours, hissing ferally as he prepares to retaliate. Maleficent isn't about to give him that chance, however, as she erects a steady magical barrier around herself, watching in bitter disgust as Sora tries his best to wildly claw and ram his way through it. "Enough of this foolishness…" she sneers, raising her staff yet again as magic swirls around it. "I did not come all this way to play such mindless, childish games. I command you to obey!"
"Sora!"
Maleficent stops short of attempting to force her control over Sora again as this worried, unified call echoes through the surrounding jungle. "The king's fools…" she scowls, recognizing the captain and magician's voices as they shout for their missing young companion yet again.
By now, Sora's clearly heard them too, his wide-eyed attention perking towards the distant, yet still quite close direction his friends had called for him from. Maleficent takes pause as she notices this, glaring down at him looking into the forest, half expecting Donald and Goofy to emerge from it at any moment. "This won't do…" she mutters to herself, briefly turning back to Sora, who's all but ignoring her in favor of the out-of-sight pair by this point. "I'll never get anything accomplished with those two roaming about. I need more time…"
She takes a short moment to think this over, though ultimately, a new idea comes to her quite quickly, one that will hopefully get her exactly what she's after without anyone showing up to interfere. "This isn't over, boy…" she warns Sora as he finally snaps his frenzied gaze back over to her. "Mark my words that the next time we meet, the power you possess while in that darkened form you've taken on shall be mine to control! And once it is," she offers him one final, sinister smile just before she steps into a dark corridor to leave him alone. "Then what a delightful irony it will be to see the very boy who saved the worlds before brutally tear them all to pieces one at a time…"
Sora makes another attempt at attacking Maleficent as she leaves, leaping to the spot she'd been standing and clawing at it relentlessly even after she's gone. He does stop, however, as he realizes this, his piercingly glowing eyes scanning the nearby jungle for any other living things he can find, all in pursuit of one simple, all-important thing alone:
Heart… Need… heart…
"Sora!" Donald's call sounds through the nearby jungle once more.
"Where are ya!?" Goofy joins in, just as concerned.
Once again, Sora focuses his attention on this pair of voices, not recognizing the fact they're calling for him, but rather, what their arrival can give him instead.
Hearts… coming… must have… heart…
As Donald and Goofy draw in closer to his location, he can easily sense those hearts he so desperately craves. He lets out a low, unearthly moan as he reaches a clawed hand out towards the jungle before him, ready, eager to devour those hearts as his own. Until…
N-no… C-can't take hearts… Friends…
Slowly and shakily, he lowers his hand, though in the process, he manages to catch a glimpse of it, of the shadows covering it, the claws that his fingers had become, the monster he'd somehow turned into. A monster he has no choice but to stop, before it's too late.
S-stop…
No… Can't stop…
He lets out something akin to a tight, pained cry, conflict coursing through him as his instincts go to war with the reason and emotions they'd once buried. Reason and emotions that are now fighting their way back up to the surface from somewhere far below. He drops to his knees, clawed hands pressed against his head as both violently struggle against him, threatening to tear him apart entirely.
Can't stop…
N-need to stop…
Can't stop!
Please… stop…
WON'T stop!
MUST stop! WILL STOP!
And just like that, everything does stop.
As if something forcibly pulls it right out of him, the darkness that had overtaken Sora at long last releases him, forced back into the depths of his heart by his own force of will. Or rather, by the very real fear that he might, and very well could, hurt his friends. Weakened thanks to the energy the shadows had sapped away from him, he completely collapses to the ground, the multiple cuts Maleficent's vines have left him with still painfully present as he drifts in and out of consciousness. It's in that listless state that Donald and Goofy finally find him, and the moment they spot him lying alone and injured on the forest floor, neither of them hesitate to race to his side.
"Sora!" the pair cry in frightened unison, both of them fretfully checking over his numerous cuts. None of them seem very deep or serious, which makes his current poor condition all the more confusing. Even so, Donald is quick to cast a hefty healing spell to take care of them, as well as restore Sora's obviously lost energy, allowing him to fully regain his consciousness much sooner than he would otherwise.
Even so, he still slowly rises to sit up, assisted by Donald and Goofy on both sides and disoriented and bleary as he places a hand against his head in an attempt to clear it. "I-I… what… w-when did you guys get here?" he asks, absolutely lost as he looks between his companions.
"Just now," Goofy replies worriedly. "We were lookin' all over for ya!"
"What happened?" Donald asks firmly, but clearly concerned. "How did you get hurt like that anyway?"
"Hurt? I-I don't…" Sora shakes his head, glancing down at his hands and not remembering how they'd carried deadly claws mere moments ago. In fact, he doesn't have the faintest memory of anything that had just transpired at all. "I don't know…"
"Gawrsh, what do ya mean?" Goofy frowns.
"You're not trying to hide anything from us again, are you?" Donald asks suspiciously.
"N-no, I'm not!" Sora counters truthfully. "I really don't know! I… think I got caught up in some thorns or something? Other than that…" He trails off, slowly realizing that there's only one other thing he can recall, one that chills his heart as hints of that striking, awful feeling begin to fill him once again: fear. Fear so deep and crippling that it had overwhelmed him completely, to the point that he can't even remember what had happened after it had. But what he does remember is where that fear had come from, the simple question that had struck him right at his core in all the worst ways.
"Are you afraid of being left alone?"
He is, as much as he doesn't want to admit it. For as long as he's been able to remember, he's always had his friends, be it Donald and Goofy or Riku and Kairi to stick by his side both in the good times and the bad. But the thought of having to make do without them, of having to stand against all of his countless foes completely alone shakes Sora in a way he can't even begin to describe. In truth, he isn't entirely sure why it even bothers him so much to begin with, but it does. Which makes the fact that he'd even so much as considered trying to go it alone out of sheer stubborn anger alone all the more ridiculous and outlandish. Which of course, is what pushes him to try and atone for it.
"I… I'm sorry!" Sora suddenly exclaims, abruptly changing the topic entirely. Donald and Goofy exchange a startled glance at this, especially as they take note of the morose distress starting to well up in their young companion's eyes.
"A-about what?" Goofy asks, confused.
"About earlier…" Sora sighs, glancing away in shame. "I was upset and I-I wasn't thinking and I just… I thought that saving Kevin was the right thing to do. I guess I just… didn't like the thought of her being left… alone…" He can't help but let out a small, almost bitter laugh at this, knowing that the very same thought applies to himself as well. "But… maybe I was wro-"
"You were right."
"Huh?" Sora looks to Donald, surprised and confused upon hearing this admission.
"We all know just how important finding the Keys is," the magician explains, surprisingly patiently. "But… helping our friends is important too. Which is why we decided-"
"That if you wanna help Kevin, then so do we!" Goofy chimes in with a bright smile.
Briefly, Sora looks between his companions in apt amazement at this change of tune, though ultimately, he ends up breaking into a small, wry smile in spite of it. "But… isn't that 'meddling'?"
"You better believe it is!" Donald exclaims.
"But if you wanna meddle, Sora," Goofy begins, and Donald is quick to join him in a reassuring unison.
"Then we wanna meddle with you!"
Sora is absolutely helpless to hold back a warm, comforted laugh at this, quickly jumping to his feet to pull both his companions into a tight, but more than welcome hug. "Alright," he says confidently, glad to not only be back on track, but back where he knows he belongs: with his friends. "Then let's meddle!"
It takes the trio most of the rest of the night to finally get out of the jungle. Yet even as the sun rises over Paradise Falls, they still haven't found any real signs of Muntz, Demyx, or Kevin alike. For all they know, the Spirit of Adventure could be long gone by now, far out of their reach regardless of its altitude. But even so, they refuse to give up their search so easily, knowing that there has to be a way to set things somehow. Even if the how part of the equation completely eludes them.
However, as they traverse the rocky landscapes of the mesas, they soon happen to notice that they're starting to draw closer to the majestic falls themselves. And as they press onward toward them, something else soon becomes apparent as well.
"Hey!" Goofy exclaims, spotting it first and immediately pointing it out. "Lookie, fellas! It's the house!"
Both Sora and Donald are quick to look towards the peak of Paradise Falls, where, sure enough, Carl's house stands perched exactly where he'd always wanted it to be. Even though it really isn't their primary mission, none of them can resist the urge to check up on Carl and Russell, despite how harshly their last encounter might have gone. So, that's exactly what they do, crossing the rocky expanse to make it to the house itself. Said house only barely hovers now, practically skimming the ground below it thanks to the sparse collection of balloons left to keep it afloat. It still bears the burn scars from the previous night, as well as the visible damage from the journey at large, and because of that, in many ways it looked hollow and cold and less like a home than it ever has before.
All the same, the trio carefully steps onto the weathered porch, curious to see if either Carl or Russell are inside. The interior of the house is filled with a solemn sort of silence, though the reason for that silence soon becomes clear as they peered into its den. Thanks to its long and perilous flight, the entire room is a mess, furniture and knick-knacks scattered across the floor, though two chairs had been carefully placed beside each other, and quite intentionally at that. And while one of those chairs stands empty, in the other sits Carl, an old scrapbook resting on his lap as he looks over it, tears on his eyes but a warm, happy smile on his face all the same.
"Carl?" Sora speaks up, aptly concerned upon seeing this.
"Oh!" Carl finally looks up from the scrapbook, his genuine smile staying on his face as he spots the trio standing in the doorway. "Sora, Donald, Goofy! Come in, come in! I have something I want to show you boys." Although they're quite surprised by Carl's stark change of attitude from the last time they'd seen him, the trio steps into the room, curious to see where such a change might have come from.
"Is everything ok?" Donald asks as they approach the elderly man.
"Heh, better than ok," Carl's smile widens as he holds the scrapbook out for the trio to see. "This was my wife's adventure book. Ever since we were tykes, she'd always dreamed of bringing this old house here, to Paradise Falls, to stay. And I gotta admit, it was a pretty contagious dream. Problem is…" His grin finally fades into a bittersweet expression. "She never got to live that dream. So… I decided to live it for her. It's why I flew the house all the way out here, as crazy as I knew it all was. I thought… it's what she would have wanted…"
He shakes his head, both regret and contentment sparking in his eyes as tears well up in them once more. He slowly leafs through the back half adventure book, showing the trio a myriad of photos of the happily married life he and his wife had shared. From birthdays, anniversaries, picnics, even the most quiet and mundane moments, all the ups and downs of their time together had been carefully, lovingly catalogued until it all culminates on the book's final page. A simple photo of the two of them, happily sitting together in that very living room, with the last note she'd left behind for him before her passing: "Thanks for the adventure—now go have a new one! Love, Ellie."
"I always thought I was never able to give Ellie the adventure she always wanted…" Carl sighs, placing a gentle hand over that message. "But… it turns out that she thought the life we had together, even as quiet and normal as it was, was the greatest adventure of all…" He lets out a warm chuckle as he picks up Russell's sash laid out on the chair next to him. "I guess you and Russell were right after all, Sora. The boring stuff-"
"Really is the stuff you remember the most," Sora finishes with an earnest smile, he, Donald, and Goofy alike all deeply moved by the elderly man's touching tale. "Um… speaking of which, where is Russell?"
"You… didn't see him outside?" Carl asks, suddenly concerned. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all shake their heads, prompting the elderly man out of his chair to check for the boy with the trio following not too far behind. "Russell?" he calls, glancing around the flat landscape, only to not catch a glimpse of the Wilderness Explorer anywhere.
"Russell!" Sora shouts again as he, Donald, and Goofy step off the porch. "You out here?!"
A sudden startled gasp from Donald catches the others' attention as he frantically points to the house's roof.. "Look! Up there!"
"Russell!" Carl exclaims, hurrying off the porch upon seeing exactly what the boy is up to. Russell had not only climbed up onto the roof, but had stolen several of the balloons tethered to it, tying enough of them to his pack to keep him afloat while using a leaf blower to propel himself upward.
"I'm gonna help Kevin!" he shouts down at Carl, angry and determined as he lifts off. "Even if you won'!"
"No!" Carl cries fearfully. "Russell, no!"
"Wait! Stop!" Sora calls as he, Donald, and Goofy make an attempt at running after him.
"It's too dangerous!" the magician likewise warns, though by now, Russell's already flown off out of earshot.
"Gawrsh, what do we do now…?" Goofy wonders fretfully.
"W-we gotta stop him, or he'll end up getting himself killed!" Carl exclaims, rushing back over to the house. "Come over here and help me get this house flying again!"
The trio doesn't argue, hurrying to help the elderly man as he tries his hardest to lift the house up off the ground even just the slightest bit. However, even all four of them working together isn't enough to get it to budge; the balloons have simply lost too much helium to keep such a heavy object flying.
"I-it's not working," Sora shakes his head breathlessly as they pause for a break. "How are we supposed to-"
He's abruptly cut off by a frustrated shout from Carl as he suddenly throws a chair right off the front porch. The furniture smashes down onto the rocky ground below, though as it does, the elderly man suddenly gets a timely idea. One that he only hopes will get them back up in the air again somehow. "Quick! Fellas, get inside, grab whatever you can, and toss it out of the house!"
"What?!" the trio asks in unified alarm at such an odd request.
"I know it sounds crazy, but trust me," Carl urges quickly. "If we can make the house lighter, maybe it'll fly again. Which means we gotta get rid of any deadweight that we can."
"But… your stuff…" Sora frowns apprehensively.
"It's just stuff," Carl counters, leading the way inside. "Now, come on!"
Knowing that they don't have any time to waste, the trio agrees, hurrying into the house to aid in the effort. They rush through the home, picking up stored boxes, scattered books, and even small furniture, before pitching all of it off the porch or out of windows. Still, that isn't enough to lift the house much at all. So instead, they think bigger. Together, they toss chairs, tables, dresses, even a TV. They can feel the house start to pick up a bit after they work together to throw the upstairs bed out, even still, something is holding it down. That is, until they give the refrigerator a hearty shove off the porch. For as soon as they do, sure enough, the house is drawn back up into the air yet again, much to the group's unified elation.
"We did it!" Sora exclaims excitedly as the house starts to fly away from the falls.
"Yahoo!" Goofy cheers, exchanging a high five with Donald over this victory.
"Good job, boys," Carl grins as he takes hold of the house's reins in the front room. "But we're not finished yet. Let's go save Russell. And Kevin."
The trio lets out another shared cheer at this, glad to know that Carl is on their side when it comes to helping all of their friends this time. However, he isn't the only one, for as they gain more altitude, their journey upwards is soon interrupted by, of all things, a knock on the door.
"Wha—who could that be when we're up this high?!" Donald asks, baffled, as he looks out the window to the endless clouds below them.
"Wait a minute… Russell?" Carl wonders, hurrying to answer the door in the hopes that the boy had changed his mind about his hasty rescue mission. However, who he does find on his porch instead is more than enough to make him just as relieved. "Dug!"
The trio quickly joins Carl at the door at this, all three of them more than happy to see that the dog is alright after the last time they'd seen him in the jungle. Even so, Dug still seems rather shy and ashamed, his ears drooping as he averts everyone's gazes. "I was hiding under your porch because I love you," he says sheepishly. "Can I stay?"
"Can you stay?" Carl grins. "Well, you're my dog, aren't you? And I'm your master!"
"You are my master?!" Dug instantly perks up at this, lunging forward as he happily licked Carl's face several times over. "Oh boy! Oh boy!"
The others all get a much-needed laugh over the dog's eager show of affection, each of them taking turns to give him pets and praise over his loyal return. However, the levity can only last for so long. After all, there's work to be done, and as they draw ever higher towards the Spirit of Adventure, they all know that work will be anything but easy flying.
"And they wouldn't believe me," Muntz scoffs harshly as he stands before his long sought-after prize, mesmerized by its magnificence. Kevin, on the other hand, is terrified, her eyes wide as they dart around the much too small cage she'd been securely locked in. "Just wait till they get a look at you…"
"Alright, geezer, I helped you get your precious bird," Demyx speaks up from his spot in the corner of the room, his arms crossed and his expression bored as he leans against the wall. "Now it's time to hold up your end of the bargain."
"Ah, that's right, now what was it you wanted again?" Muntz only briefly glances over his shoulder at his temporary "partner". "Information?"
"Eh, nothing too big," Demyx shrugs. "All I need to know is where a guy can find a certain special… Key around here and then I'll be out of your receding grey hair for good."
"Wait, you're looking for that strange Key too?" the adventurer asks incredulously. "Hmph, then you just wasted your time. I already told those… 'friends' of yours I haven't the faintest idea of where such a thing might be."
"Aw, what?!" Demyx exclaims, instantly disappointed. "You mean I did all this work for nothing!? You could have just told me you didn't know from the get-go, ya crazy old coot!"
"Yes, but then I might not have gotten my hands on what I was after…" Muntz smirks smugly, turning his attention back over to the bird before him.
"Ugh… this really is the worst mission ever…" Demyx groans with a heavy face palm. However, he doesn't get much of a chance to mull over his failure further before Alpha enters the room with urgent information for Muntz.
"Master, the small mailman has returned."
"What?" Muntz arcs an eyebrow at this, understanding what this means, even if he doesn't understand how it's possible. All the same, the adventurer follows his head dog down to the gangplank room, with Demyx curiously following not too far behind. And sure enough, there his dogs have captured Russell, tying the struggling boy to a chair to keep him restrained. To his credit, the Wilderness Explorer had tried his best to be discreet in infiltrating the Spirit of Adventure to rescue Kevin, only to be discovered and apprehended almost instantly, much to his own frustration.
"You…" Muntz glowers down at the young boy.
"Let me go!" Russell shouts, kicking against his tight restraints. "Where are you keeping Kevin!?"
"Where is your elderly friend?" the adventurer asks coldly.
"He's not my friend anymore…" the boy glares down bitterly.
"O-oh yeah? Well, where's Sora and his pals?" Demyx asks, trying his best to be intimidating as he leaned down towards Russell. "They better not have come here with you, cause if they have… then I'm out of here, there's no way I'm letting those three beat me again!"
"Well, they were supposed to be here, but…" Russell trails off with something of a disappointed frown, realizing that Sora hadn't exactly kept his promise to him like he'd hoped. At least as far as he knows.
"No matter," Muntz says dryly as he steps off to the side of the room. "If you're here, then those three and Fredrickson can't be far behind."
"Y-you'd better let me go!" Russell warns. "Or I'll unleash all my Wilderness Explorer training!"
Muntz simply sneers at this as he prepares to throw a switch that will take care of his pesky guest for good. However, he stops short upon glancing out of the nearest window to spot none other than an all too familiar flying house gliding straight towards his airship at an impressive speed. "Alpha!" he shouts urgently. "Fredrickson and his band of fools are coming back! Guard that bird. If you see the old man, you know what to do."
"Yes, master!" Alpha barks obediently, rushing off with a handful of his fellow dogs to secure the bird.
"Aw, man, they really are coming?" Demyx shakes his head in disbelief as he watches the flying house from the window. "How does this keep going from the worst mission ever to even more of the worst mission ever?! Wait…" He pauses for a moment to think, before realizing that perhaps there's a way to use such a harrowing situation to his advantage. "Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all…" Demyx grins to himself as he calls upon a dark corridor, hurrying into it so he can properly put his plan into action.
At the same time, Muntz also prepares to take his leave to attend to much more important matters, namely making sure that his bird remains his, no matter who tries to take it from him. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Russell shouts after him as he watches him leave. "I'm not finished with you!"
"Nice talking with you," Muntz says shortly, barely even regarding the boy outside of that as he presses a button on the wall on his way out. Russell is more than prepared to continue resiliently struggling against his bonds to confront the adventurer and rescue Kevin. That is, until he realizes exactly what that button had done. The boy gasps as he glances down to see the floor reclining underneath him, light from the outside flooding in as the ramp he's sitting on opens up to reveal the open, endless sky below. A sky that he'll certainly, dangerously plummet out of in just a few short seconds if nothing is done to free him from this perilous spot.
With its weight significantly reduced, it doesn't take long for the house to catch up to the Spirit of Adventure, even at its current high altitude. On the way up, the entire group prepares themselves for whatever inevitable skirmish might await them, including Carl, who's donned Russell's sash to hang his cane from; a makeshift weapon, to be sure, but a weapon all the same. Even so, the entire group alike resolves to not touch solid ground again until they have both Russell and Kevin safely back again.
"Ok," Sora begins, peering out the window towards the dirigible they're steadily approaching. "How do we get in?"
Carl pauses, looking over the ship for any possible exterior entrances as he steers the house in closer. However, it quickly becomes apparent that he won't have to find one as a very familiar, very frightened scream suddenly echoes through the open air.
"Russell!" the entire group in the house exclaims, alarmed as they spot the boy from afar. Russell, still tightly tied to the chair, is powerless to keep himself from sliding down the dirigible's ramp as it opens wider, inching closer to its edge and to a deadly fall with each passing second.
Acting quickly, Carl swings the house downward towards the ramp before joining Sora, Donald, and Goofy on the porch. Together, they toss the garden hose at the ramp's railing, managing to latch it and tether it to the blimp. And from there, Carl leaps into action first, using the hose as something of a zipline in conjunction with his cane to cross over to the ship, catching Russell's chair just as it slides off the ramp's edge.
The trio lets out a shared sigh of relief as they watch this, not hesitating to crank the hose in to bring the house closer to the blimp. As soon as they do, Carl carries Russell over to it, not bothering to untie him as he firmly sets him down in the home's front hall.
"You came back for Kevin!" Russell exclaims excitedly, more than happy for the timely save. "You guys all came!"
"Of course, we did," Sora grins down at the boy confidently. "I made you a promise, didn't I? We're gonna save her, no matter what."
"Yeah!" Russell cheered, wriggling in his seat. "Let's do it!"
"No, not you," Carl shakes his head firmly. "We'll go save Kevin. You stay here!"
"B-but I wanna help!"
"I don't want your help!" the elderly man argues. "I want you safe."
"And so do we," Sora readily agrees, refusing to see another one of their friends put in harm's way, especially as one as young and vulnerable as Russell. "In fact… Donald, Goofy, can you guys stay here and keep Russell and the house safe?"
"Ya bet we can!" Goofy nods vigorously.
"But only if you make sure to be careful in there!" Donald adds pointedly.
"I think we can manage that," Sora chuckles. At the same time, Carl grins, nodding his agreement while Dug eagerly wags his tail. And with that, they leap back over to the dirigible while Donald, Goofy, and Russell stay behind. Even if the latter among those three already begins to struggle against his still tied bonds as soon as the captain and magician have their backs turned.
At the same time, Sora, Carl, and Dug manage to slip up the ramp and into the airship itself. Fortunately, no dogs are on patrol in the immediate vicinity, but even so, the trio makes sure to stay on their guard as they begin working their way down the halls. Dug takes the lead, knowing the ship's layout well, and sure enough, he's the first one to point out the room Muntz had caged Kevin in. A room that, of course, is heavily guarded by the entire force of the adventurer's dogs.
To avoid being spotted, the group tucks away behind a wall just shy of the hallway leading up to said room to give themselves a much-needed moment to strategize. "How do we get past these dogs?" Carl whispers, carefully peering around the corner.
"Point!" Dug does just that, pointing towards a nearby grate in the wall. One that leads to the ship's ventilation system.
"You guys go," Sora urges the pair, grinning as he pulls his Gummiphone out of his pocket. "I've got an idea."
While they don't really know what Sora has in mind, Carl and Dug do as he said, taking to the shafts and sneaking their way past the room full of dogs in the process. At the same time, Sora remains pressed against the wall, fiddling with his phone for a bit until he gets it to do exactly what he wants it to do; namely, to play a ringtone that just so happens to sound very much like a loud, ringing doorbell.
"Is that the door?!" one of the dogs in the nearby room exclaims.
"Someone is at the door!" another dog barks excitedly, the others soon joining in on the instinctual mania as well.
"Who is at the door?!" "Answer the door, answer the door!" "DOOR!"
Sora can't help but chuckle slyly as he watches this, holding his phone close as he remains hiding, even as the dogs all rush past him in full, frantic force to greet whoever's at the "door". Just as soon as they cleared him, he quickly turns, hurrying into the now unsecured room where Kevin is at the same exact moment Carl and Dug emerge from the vents to arrive on top of her cage.
"Wha-how'd you clear all those dogs out?" Carl asks, impressed to see Sora down below.
"One word," he smirks as he holds his phone up. "Doorbell." As soon as he presents his phone, of course, Kevin instantly gets excited, letting out a bright cry as she tries to reach for it, even despite her current imprisonment. "Heh, good to see you too, Kevin," Sora laughs warmly. "You still can't have my phone though, sorry."
"Don't worry, girl," Carl calls down to the bird from above. "We'll get you outta here. Is it locked?"
"Yeah," Sora nods, noting the large lock on the cage in front of him. "But it's nothing I can't handle." Not skipping a beat, he summons his Keyblade, ready to use it to finally set Kevin free. That is, until Dug interrupts with a stark warning call.
"Wait!" the dog nods back towards the door, spotting another patrol of dogs approaching from afar. Naturally, Carl and Sora both panic, especially the latter as he realizes he'll easily be spotted first. Kevin seems to realize this too as she lets out a small, subtle coo to catch Sora's attention before hunkering down to sit in her cage and repeatedly nod behind her. It takes him a moment to figure out what she's trying to communicate, but when he does, he doesn't hesitate to take advantage of the surprisingly clever cover she's offering to him.
"Allow no one to be entering through these doors," Alpha instructs as he leads the newest pack of dogs into the room. "Guard well that bird, my minions."
As the dogs take up their post, Carl casts a brief worried glance down at Sora, who'd managed to successfully hide behind Kevin's cage just in time. But even if none of them have been spotted yet, that still doesn't mean they're anywhere close to being in the clear. "What do we do now, Dug?" Carl whispers, only to receive no response from his furry companion. Instead, Dug fully focuses on the end of his cane, happily chewing away at one of the tennis balls at its base. And as Carl sees this, it gives him exactly the idea he needs to get them out of this tight spot.
"Hey!" Carl shouts, emerging from his hiding spot as he taps the top of the cage with his cane. Of course, the entire collection of dogs spins around to face him, and likewise, Sora also peers out from behind Kevin, curious to see what the elderly man has in mind. Carl, on the other hand, simply grins as he takes the tennis ball off his cane and waves it around for all the dogs to see. "Who wants the ball?"
"Me!" The dogs instantly erupt into a noisy frenzy, every last one of them clamoring for the prize above them. "I do!" "I want the ball!"
"Then go get it!" Carl throws the ball hard down the hall, prompting all of the dogs to go after it to the point that they're practically tripping over each other to fetch it. They inevitably get stuck as they crowd against each other into the hallway, but one of them still manages to catch it all the same. Yet despite this, the dogs are quick to turn around to return to the task at hand, only to realize their mistake upon seeing both Carl and Sora proudly standing at the door they're supposed to be guarding.
"Nice catch!" Sora teases with a bright wave right before Carl slams the door shut on them all. And then, without any hesitation, they hurry back to Kevin's cage, wasting no time in unlocking it before letting her out so they can figure out a proper plan of escape. Though even as they do, what none of them realize is that escape won't come as easily as they hope.
As Donald and Goofy tend to the house's controls to ensure that it won't disconnect from the blimp, they largely leave Russell to his own devices. A mistake they all too quickly realize as he finally manages to break out of the rope keeping him tied to the chair. The only problem is that he just so happens to lurch onto the very edge of the porch in the process.
Russell lets out a startled cry as he suddenly tumbles back into a freefall, though miraculously he manages to catch onto the hanging garden hose in an attempt to save himself. The house jolts as it becomes detached from the dirigible, something that Donald and Goofy immediately feel from inside of it.
"What was that?!" the magician exclaims, looking out the window only to see the newfound distance between the house and the dirigible. "Oh no! Goofy, we've gotta-"
"Uh… Donald?" Goofy interjects much more calmly as he looks behind him. "Weren't you supposed to be watchin' Russell?"
"What? No, you were! Why?"
"C-cause he's gone!" the captain cries, frantically pointing to the hallway where the Wilderness Explorer no longer sits. The pair equally panics at this and rushes onto the porch, where it doesn't take them very long to spot Russell and the dire strait he's currently in as he precariously hangs several feet down from the house using just the hose alone.
"Russell!" Donald calls from above, frustrated and concerned. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I-I wanted to help Kevin!" Russell shouts back up, holding onto the hose for dear life.
"Gawrsh, sorta sounds like Sora, huh?" Goofy notes Donald, who simply groans in loud exasperation.
"Too much like Sora… Hold on tight!" Donald yells back down to Russell, grabbing a hold of the hose. "We'll pull you back up!"
Russell nods, ready to receive the aid they're offering him. However, that aid won't be so easily given for just as soon as they begin to crank him back up towards the house, another peril is added onto the very perilous situation they're already in.
"Alright, hold it steady…" Donald urges, both him and Goofy trying their best to be careful, lest Russell fall to his doom. Until…
"Look out!" the captain cries, suddenly letting go of the crank to take out his shield instead. The magician gasps, grasping the hose out of surprise, only to look over and see exactly what Goofy is shielding them from. A trio of small spitfire planes had emerged from the dirigible, each of them piloted by Muntz' dogs as they hone in on the house, firing off poison darts at it. Goofy's shield manages to catch a few of these, but it soon becomes apparent that they aren't what the dogs are aiming for. Rather, their target is the much too small and still quite dwindling supply of balloons keeping them up in the air to begin with.
Russell lets out a fearful cry, ducking down against the hose as several of the darts nearly hit him. However, he's the first to notice that the planes aren't the only thing they have to worry about. For unfortunately, they have backup in the form of a barrage of Nobodies, each of them flying high in their own twisted sort of aircraft as they soar around the house in rapid, violent succession. Their target is very obviously the pair on the porch as well as the boy hanging far below it as they fired off their energy-based projectiles, only barely missing their mark thanks to Goofy's shield.
"Really?!" Donald asks in apt annoyance over this double threat. "They have to attack us right now?!"
"You worry about pullin' Russell back up," Goofy says, holding his shield steady against the onslaught. "I'll hold 'em off!"
"Aye aye, captain!" the magician readily salutes, moving over to the crank to do just that. "Hold still down there, Russell! We'll have you back up here in no time!"
Russell flinches as one of the flying Nobodies suddenly zooms past him, just narrowly missing him by a hair of an inch. "Uh… could we maybe make it sooner than that?!"
As a battle begins to wage outside in the air, back inside the Spirit of Adventure, Sora, Carl, and Dug continue on their rescue mission, sneaking past several more hordes of dogs as they carefully guard Kevin all the while. It appears as though they've successfully evaded notice, for they're only one room away from making it back out to the ramp and out to the house and to safety once again. However, what they don't see as they creep into the trophy room is the lone figure standing in the shadows behind the door, even as he pulls one of the several swords off of a display on the wall. And yet, just as he raises this deadly blade to attack the unsuspecting group from behind, one among them does manage to catch onto the surprise assault at just the right moment.
Dug spins around, not hesitating to chomp down on his former master's leg with all his might. Muntz' pained cry instantly alerts Sora and Carl as they turn just in time to see the adventurer kick Dug out of the room entirely. Muntz turns back around to see that his foes aren't about to back down against him so easily. Sora's already summoned his Keyblade, holding it defensively as he stands to protect Kevin, Carl moving to do the same exact thing, despite his relative lack of a weapon.
"You're picking a fight you really shouldn't be, boy," Muntz warns, gripping his sword tightly as he glares viciously at the pair. "Same to you, Fredrickson. Both of you, stand down and hand over the bird. I'm taking it back dead or alive!"
"Not a chance!" Sora shoots back defiantly, fully ready to fight if he has to.
"Oh really?" The entire tension of the room is suddenly broken as a dark corridor forms on the far side of it. Demyx steps out, a smug, knowing grin on his face and his manner surprisingly calm, all things considered. "You wouldn't back off… even if a Key was on the line?"
"What…?" Sora asks, glancing over at the Organization member in apt confusion.
"Ugh, you're still here?" Muntz asks, rolling his eyes at his rather unwelcome partner. "Can't you see that I'm in the middle of something very important that you're interrupting?!"
"Oh, sorry to be rude, old-timer," Demyx remarks coolly. "I'll make this quick. Just wanted to drop by to say that I got what I came here for, so I guess I'll be on my way."
"Wait, what?!" Sora exclaims, absolutely baffled and equally dismayed upon hearing this. "No way. You got the Key?! B-but how?!"
"Oh, it's a loooong story, not worth the time to bog you down with all the details," Demyx grins, his hands held behind his back. "All you need to know is that I totally got it. And that I'm getting ready to haul it on back to the Organization with me, even as we speak."
"Not on my watch you're not!" Sora shouts, raising his Keyblade as he rushes for his foe largely without thinking. And in the process, inadvertently leaving both Carl and Kevin completely defenseless against Muntz.
From there, the room more or less erupts into chaos with two battles unfolding at the exact same time. While Sora more or less chases Demyx through the maze of collected fossils and artifacts, Muntz does the same for Carl, albeit at a much slower pace. While Carl initially only narrowly dodges the adventurer's fierce, vengeful swings, he soon begins fighting back with his cane; not exactly the best weapon he could be wielding at a time like this but still a weapon all the same. The brawls cause quite a bit of damage to the various trophies lining the room, though no one, not even Muntz, seems to care as the dangerous chases continue.
"Aw, what's the matter, Sora?" Demyx taunts as he hides out of reach behind a large skeleton. "Are ya mad that I managed to snag that Key before you and your buddies could?"
"I won't be after I take it back from you!" Sora counters harshly, casting a sizable fire spell to knock the fossil down entirely. Demyx flinches back in fear at this a bit, though as he glances at the window beside him, he quickly gets another idea.
"We'll just see about that," he grins, summoning a dark corridor behind him. "But for now… why don't we take this outside?" Just before he steps into his portal, Demyx points upward, clearly motioning to the top of the dirigible as he takes his leave through it. Sora immediately gets the hint, and though he suspects this could very well be a trap, he can't simply let Demyx get away so easily, especially not with one of the Keys apparently in hand.
"Hey!" Sora calls to Carl and Kevin as they happen to rush past him, still clearly on the run from Muntz. "I'm sorry, but… I've gotta go after Demyx. Will you guys be ok in here without me?"
"As ok as we can get, all things considered," Carl remarks with a wry smirk, somewhat short of breath amidst the struggle he's been putting up. "Go get that darn Key or whatever it is you're after, kid. I've got this covered."
"Right," Sora nods, glad to see that Carl can surprisingly enough hold his own so well, even despite his age. With this, Sora pries open the nearest window, spotting a rung ladder right beside it that leads all the way up the side of the airship. And hopefully, all the way to its top.
The elevated winds rush hard and fast outside of the dirigible, but Sora forces himself to pay them no mind as he manages to get his footing on the ladder. Briefly, he glances out at the open sky behind him, only to catch sight of the house, no longer attached to the airship as it instead floats freely. Even more alarming is the fact that it's under attack by Muntz' dogs and a pack of Nobodies alike, all of them trying to take it down. For a moment, Sora considers putting his current objective on hold to fend off these attackers, but he soon realizes he doesn't have to as he spots Donald and Goofy doing exactly that from its porch, having successfully pulled Russell back onto it. Assured that his friends can handle themselves, Sora continues upward, tirelessly climbing all the way until he reaches the very top of the dirigible, where, sure enough, Demyx casually awaits.
"There you are!" he goads, largely ignoring Sora's attempt to catch his lost breath from such an exhausting climb. "I thought you'd never get up here! But hey, for your trouble, here's a fun fact! I… don't actually have that Key I was talking about earlier."
"Y-you… what?!" Sora practically shouted, infuriated by this ridiculous deception and how he'd so easily fallen for it.
"Whoa, has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Roxas when you're angry?" Demyx asks, surprised, yet slightly nervous. "M-makes sense, I guess, but still, don't be mad!"
"You just made me climb all the way up here just to find out you don't even have the Key!" Sora exclaims hotly. "Of course, I'd be mad about that!"
"Aw, you're overreacting," Demyx waves his hand dismissively. "Besides, if all this works out, then at least one of us will be walking out of this world with that Key pretty soon. Though, just for the record, that's gonna be me."
"I've had enough of this!" Sora counters, calling upon his Keyblade out of sheer frustration. "What are you even talking about?!"
"Eh, might just be easier to show you instead," Demyx grins, his own weapon showing up in his hands. Dramatically, he strums a loud and powerful note on his sitar, one that opens up a vast portal of darkness in the open sky high above him. And out of that portal flies a massive Nobody, with a slender, almost elegant body colored in rich shades of bright blue. It's almost like a bird, keeping itself afloat with wide wings composed entirely of water as it lets out a high pitched, terrible screech. "Hope you like it," Demyx grins up at this creature with smug satisfaction. "Had it whipped up especially for you, so don't let it go to waste. I'll be rooting for ya!"
With an almost mocking wave, Demyx retreats through a dark corridor just as the monstrous Nobody comes to hover just above the dirigible. It howls once more, its wings wide as it gears itself up to attack Sora on the spot. Even so, he stands his ground, gripping the Kingdom Key tightly as he prepares for the battle ahead as the thought dawns on him that he essentially has no backup in it to speak of. As distracted as Donald and Goofy currently are with defending the house, they can't very well lend him much aid, and likewise Carl's still busy dealing with Muntz. And while normally Sora wouldn't have minded going alone against a mere Nobody such as this, he's all too painfully aware that he's still yet to fully regain his usual strength, even despite his tireless efforts to do so. And even beyond that, that lone, chilling question still hangs in the back of his mind, haunting him for reasons he can't even begin to explain, even at a decisive, dangerous moment such as this:
"Are you afraid of being alone?"
Sora quickly shakes his head to clear it of such thoughts, managing to skillfully deflect the Nobody's first aquatic blast in the process. It doesn't matter if he is alone in this fight, it's a fight he still needs to win all the same. Which is why he throws himself into it full force, evading another attack as he launches one of his own. Since the Nobody is out of his reach for any direct hits, he casts a steady blizzard spell at it in the hopes of freezing its watery wings solid to bring it down to his level. And sure enough, the tactic works, though only partially as one of its wings freezes up, leaving the creature's flight staggered and awkward as it struggles to maintain its elevation. Even so, Sora sees a perfect opportunity in this, especially as the frozen wing bears low towards him thanks to its newfound heavy weight. With his Keyblade at the ready, he rushes in, deftly hopping onto the solid wing and running up it towards the Nobody's body, ready to land a heavy direct hit squarely against its head. However, mere seconds before he can, the creature violently retaliates, lashing out with its unfrozen wing as it somehow turns its entire body over. In the process, not only does Sora find himself on the rather brunt end of a very strong slap of water, but as he falls sideways off of the Nobody's wing, he all-too quickly literally falls victim to something far worse.
Suddenly, the entire dirigible lurches to the side at the worst moment possible, shifting its otherwise nearly flat top entirely. And as a result, when Sora falls back down towards it, he finds that there's no real steady surface for him to land on. Instead, he hits the rounded side of the airship hard, his Keyblade knocked out of his hand by the impact before it ultimately disappears from sight. And as the airship finally rights itself once more, he quickly begins to slip, unable to find anything at all to grasp onto.
Which, of course, is how he ends up falling off of the airship entirely.
The most Sora can do is gasp, absolutely shocked as the wild winds end up prying him away from the dirigible, sending him plummeting away from it through the open air. The initial aftermath almost feels slow, breathless and chilling until the reality sets in that he's falling. He's falling, and with each passing second the Spirit of Adventure and the house and everything else rises further and further out of his reach as gravity steadily drags him down to the incredibly distant ground below, a ground that he can't even see thanks to the thick layer of clouds obscuring it from view. And naturally, as he draws closer and closer to that ground and the deadly impact he'll no doubt face with it, he can do nothing else but panic.
Briefly, he desperately looks around, trying to find something, anything that can at the very least forestall his fall and give him a moment to think, to figure out how to save himself before it's too late. And yet, as he begins to pass through the clouds themselves, he quickly, starkly, painfully realizes there's no way to save himself. And not just from this dire strait either. There's no stopping this, there's no stopping the Organization, no stopping Xehanort, no stopping himself. Indeed he's falling, but not just through the finite sky. He's falling into the lies he's told, the secrets he's been keeping, the shadows he's trying to struggle against, the darkness residing in his very own heart. And the absolute worst, most terrifying part of this endless, agonizing fall
Is that he's falling completely, entirely alone.
And yet… just as that horrific thought sinks in, and just as he gets his first glimpse at the vast landscape he's falling towards through the clouds, everything… stops. His fall freezes, the rushing winds silence, and the skies of blue above him and the sprawling green below him disappear. In their place, Sora finds himself surrounded by an otherworldly, undoubtedly familiar golden light. And amidst that light sounds a voice he's heard once before, presenting him with yet another cryptic question, just as it had the first time he'd heard it.
"Are you afraid?"
His breathing shudders as he realizes that whatever this unknown force is, it can somehow see right through him, looking straight into his heart and all of dread and fears harbored within it. Which is why he doesn't even try to lie to it. Instead, he offers it what he knows is the sheer, honest truth, however shameful that truth might be.
"Y-yes," he chokes, fighting back the frightened tears welling up in his eyes. "I am." Those tears are instantly driven away, however, as the world around him flashes radiantly, rewarding his honesty with the very prize he'd come to this world looking for in the first place.
When Sora's vision finally clears, he instantly realizes two things. The first, is that somehow, by some miracle or something else entirely, he isn't falling through the air anymore. Instead, he's rising. And as he glances up to his upheld hand, he's able to see exactly what is steadily, safely, propelling him upward.
"The Key!" he gasps, stunned as he takes in the sight of the glittering Keyblade held in his grasp. It bears the same sort of sacred radiance as the first Key he'd found, albeit with a bit of a different design and color, but even so, its untainted might is without question, especially as it guides him back up towards some form of solid ground.
At the same time, Donald and Goofy are still deeply embroiled in their struggle against the flying dogs and Nobodies alike, with the captain blocking their strikes while the magician retaliates with spell after spell. However, even as they do, Goofy happens to spot something—something that seems rather small from their current point of view—steadily falling from the far side of the dirigible. "Say…" the captain frowns, squinting to get a better view. "Isn't that-"
"Sora!" Donald shouts, aptly alarmed as he looks in that same direction. "H-He's falling! Goofy, hurry! We've gotta-"
"Wait…" Goofy stops him before he can rush back into the house. "He's not fallin'… In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say it almost looks like he's got-"
"The Key?!" the pair exclaims in baffled unison, watching with both amazement and pride as said Key carries Sora all the way back up to the Spirit of Adventure. However, as relieved as they are to see him land safely, they're quick to catch onto the fact that not all is well.
"Whoa…" Russell muses, aptly impressed by such a miraculous ascent. "I don't know how Sora did that, but it was so cool!"
"Russell!"
"Huh?" Russell blinks, looking back down to the side of the airship upon this call. There, Carl hurries up the side of the dirigible, trying his best to escort Kevin up towards the top, despite Muntz relentlessly pursuing them all the while. The elderly man briefly meets eyes with the boy before letting out a familiar string of wild animal noises that he immediately recognizes: the Wilderness Explorer call.
Understanding Carl's call for help, Russell nods firmly, determined to bring this frantic attack to an end once and for all. So far, he hasn't really been involved in the fray thanks to Donald and Goofy insisting he take refuge inside the house as soon as they pulled him back up to it. But now, he ignores their warnings, venturing onto the porch to let out a solid shout to the trio of biplanes that are all too quickly starting to close in. "Hey! Squirrel!"
"Huh?" Donald and Goofy look back to him, absolutely confused. That is until they saw exactly what this ploy accomplishes.
"Squirrel?!"
"Where's the squirrel?!" the dogs piloting the planes instantly lose their focus, frantically searching the skies for any sign of said 'squirrel'. To try and catch it, they dive their planes down, inevitably crashing them in the process and taking out the last of the flying Nobody ships in the process. And while the creatures don't make it, the dogs do, parachuting out of their planes as they share their disappointment over both their failed mission, and the squirrel they now know they'll never catch.
"I HATE squirrels!"
With the air assault finally ended, Donald, Goofy, and Russell rush back into the house, turning it towards the dirigible to provide some much-needed aid. At the same time, Sora manages to regather his bearings atop the airship, where the winged Nobody is still very much on the attack. By now, its wing has thawed out, and as Sora returns, it's clearly seeking vengeance against him for freezing it in the first place. However, this time, he's more than ready to face it.
With the newly claimed Key in hand, he rushes for the Nobody, leaping high for a direct assault. The Key's power gives him a proper boost, allowing him to make a precise, heavy strike that sends the monster reeling backwards, though Sora gives it no time to recover. While the Nobody tumbles backward, Sora fires off a potent flame spell, the Key seeming to amplify his magic several times over to wither down the creature's wings exponentially. As it begins to collapse towards the dirigible, light swells around the Key's tip, prompting Sora to aim it straight for the Nobody head on. And just before the creature can hit the ship full force, he unleashes this powerful attack, a blinding blast strong enough to send the now flightless Nobody careening over the edge of the ship. With its wings obliterated, all it can do is plummet straight through the clouds, wildly screeching all the while until it inevitably dissipates into the very nothingness it had been made from.
As Sora watches the monstrous Nobody finally disappear, he allows himself a much-needed sigh of relief, especially as he looks over the powerful Key in his possession. His excitement over miraculously claiming it, however, is soon interrupted by a familiar bark from down below. He hurries over to its source, peeking down to the dirigible's nearby wing to enough spot Dug happily reuniting with Carl and Kevin atop it. Fortunately, Muntz is nowhere to be found, and even better yet, the house draws in towards them, Russell perched on the porch as Donald and Goofy steer it towards them.
"Russell!" Carl grins, aptly relieved to see the boy is alright.
"Mr. Fredrickson!" Russell calls back with an excited wave.
"Donald! Goofy!" Sora happily shouts to his companions, leaping down onto the wing himself.
"Sora!" the pair returns, equally relieved as they rush out to the porch to meet him.
"You got the Key!" Goofy exclaims brightly.
"Yep! Sure did!" Sora smirks, brandishing the glimmering weapon. "And all it took was me nearly falling to my death. Who knew?"
"Don't make that a habit," Donald deadpans. "Please."
The entire group shares a warm laugh over this, though they're quick to get back to the task at hand as Carl and Sora work to hoist Kevin up onto the porch, minding her injuries all the while. With the bird safely aboard, the pair begins to climb up themselves… only to be sharply blocked by a thunderous boom instead.
Out of nowhere, a bullet blasts its way into several of the balloon strings, letting far too many of them loose for comfort. The house collapses down onto the wing as a result, Carl and Sora both knocked back by impact, allowing them to see exactly where that bullet had come from in the first place.
A wild, frenzied look rests on Muntz' face as he marches towards the group and the house, a long rifle in his hands as he prepares to do whatever he has to to take back his bird. While Sora readily rises to fend the adventurer off, Carl realizes they have another problem entirely on their hands. The house no longer has enough balloons to keep it afloat; not only that, but it's slipping off the edge of the wing, with Kevin, Russell, Dug, Donald, and Goofy all still inside.
"No!" Carl cries, instantly grabbing onto the hose to keep the house from falling. Unfortunately, his strength isn't enough to keep it steady as it begins to drag him along too. Sora immediately abandons his defensive position upon seeing this, instead taking up the hose as well and planting himself firmly as he helps Carl hold it tight. And while this leaves them both relatively defenseless from Muntz, it soon becomes apparent that neither of them are what he's after.
Instead, he marches toward the house, aiming his rifle right at it as he continues shooting, nicking its wooden surface as he takes aim for the group gathered inside. In an attempt at protecting them, Donald had shut the front door and locked it before Goofy gathered everyone behind his shield, though it's clear even that won't do them much good if Muntz actually makes it to the house to get a close shot. A fact that Carl and Sora both realize as they do everything they can to keep the house from falling.
"S-stop!" Carl practically begs. "Get away from them!"
"Leave them alone!" Sora demands much more fiercely, wishing he could actually stop this madman but knowing that he can't, lest the house and his friends be lost entirely.
Muntz acknowledges neither of them as he storms onto the porch, slamming the door repeatedly with the butt of his rifle in a wild attempt at opening it. The group inside tucks themselves away as far back in the corner of the living room as they can, but it's clear there will be no hiding from the adventurer's insane wrath. To make matters even worse, the amount of pressure being placed against the bolt holding the hose in place is all too quickly starting to bend it, threatening to rip free from the house entirely. Even so, Sora and Carl struggle to hold on, working against fear and fatigue in the hopes that their friends can somehow manage to make it out and escape Muntz in time. And, just as the adventurer finally kicks the door in, Carl happens to come up with an idea that will allow them to do just that.
"Everyone!" he shouts to the group inside. "Hold onto Kevin! Don't let go of her!"
Naturally, everyone is confused at such a strange command, including Sora as he glances back at the elderly man in bewilderment. Still, Carl nods, confident in his plan, even as Muntz approaches the group, his sights and his rifle set on Kevin. Until…
"Kevin! Chocolate!"
At the very sight of the tantalizing chocolate bar Carl's holding up for her, Kevin lunges, taking Russell, Dug, Donald, and Goofy with her as she roughly shoves her way right past Muntz, knocking his weapon out of his hands. At the same time, everything else seems to happen at once: the hose's caddy snaps, entirely separating it from the house just as Kevin leaps through its front window in the hopes of latching onto the other end of the hose. Vengeful as ever, Muntz jumps after them, refusing to let his prize go so easily. Though as he does, a handful of stray balloon strings entangle themselves around his leg, pulling him back just as the house slips over the edge of the wing. The adventurer hangs for only a moment, his eyes growing wide as he realizes there are too few balloons to actually keep him afloat.
And just like that, he falls, much like the winged Nobody had before him, until he and his vicious, greedy intentions are lost to the vast sea of clouds below him.
In the breathless aftermath that follows, both Carl and Sora continue clinging onto their end of the hose, fearfully peering over the edge of the wing, where things are far too quiet for comfort. That is, until the other end of the hose swings out to reveal Carl's plan had miraculously worked after all.
"That was cool!" Russell cheers excitedly. "Let's do it again!"
"No! Let's not!" Donald fusses, clinging onto both Kevin and the hose for dear life.
Even so, the others all laugh, overwhelmed with relief for such a successful save. Carl and Sora don't waste any time in pulling the others back up to safety. "Oh, I am ready to not be up high," Dug remarks as he jumps back onto the wing.
"Tell me about it…" Donald grumbles tiredly, falling back onto the wing as Goofy and Sora let out a shared, amused chuckle.
The round of relieved celebrations is soon interrupted, however, by a most unwelcome arrival as a dark corridor opens on the far side of the wing. Demyx steps out of it, obliviously confident that his plan has succeeded, until he happens to spot the group in front of him. Just about everyone has nothing but contemptuous glares for him, and even Dug hunkers down and let out a low, threatening growl at him. Even so, Demyx takes pause, glancing around as he tries to catch up on just how much he'd missed in his retreat.
"Uh… where's the giant Nobody I sent up here?" he asks, confused.
"I beat it," Sora says, his expression and tone both absolutely deadpan.
"Oh," Demyx says stiffly before noticing the shimmering Key in Sora's hand. "Is… that the Key?"
"Yeah?"
"...Can I have it?"
"No!" Sora scoffs firmly.
"Aw, come on!" Demyx groaned pleadingly. "You can't honestly expect me to go back empty-handed! I'll be the biggest laughing stock of the Organization! N-not that I already am to begin with, 'cause I'm totally not!"
"Really?" Sora can't help but snicker at this, Donald and Goofy easily joining in. "'Cause ya could've fooled us."
"Yeah," Goofy chuckles. "You tryin' to get the Key before us was pretty funny."
"Especially just now when you came right out and asked for it!" Donald shakes his head. "Seriously, who does that?!"
"Hey, hey!" Demyx snaps, frustrated as the trio continues laughing. By now, even Carl and Russell have joined in, only serving to embarrass the Organization member even more. "You all better stop laughing it up, or I'll-ugh, you know what? Forget it." He groans, thoroughly exasperated. "I've already put in way too much work into this stupid mission as it is. And for what? A whole lotta nothing! Tch, how many times can I say it? This was, and always will be the Worst. Mission. EVER!" Without another word, Demyx lets out another long, irritated groan, his shoulders sagging as he returns through the dark corridor from whence he came, finally leaving this world behind for good.
"Ha! Good riddance, ya beatnik!" Carl calls after him as the trio exchange a triumphant round of high fives.
"Don't come back until you learn to be nicer!" Russell adds just as vigorously.
In wake of both Muntz and Demyx's respective defeats, the entire group rides high on uproarious levity. That is, until Carl happens to catch sight of his house. The building has already sunk quite a bit away from the dirigible, and steadily continues do to so with barely any balloons keeping it aloft anymore. He watches it quietly, almost solemnly as it silently drifts away, the place he'd spent so many happy years with Ellie, where so many of their most precious memories had lived, until it finally disappears into the clouds. Gone forever, but never forgotten.
"S-sorry about your house, Mr. Fredrickson," Russell speaks up, the others joining him as they look to Carl sympathetically.
And yet, the elderly man simply smiles, turning away from his now-gone home and towards his friends instead. "You know," he begins, throwing an arm around the boy beside him before grinning up to the trio warmly, deciding to let go of the past. After all, there's still so much adventure to be had in the future, just like his wife's final message to him proudly encouraged. And as far as he's concerned, that's an adventure he's not about to miss out on. "It's just a house."
With Muntz gone, his dogs are surprisingly eager to herald Carl as their new master, as well as Dug as their new alpha, a surprising, but welcome shift to say the least. It takes a little doing to figure out how the Spirit of Adventure pilots, but Carl figures it out enough to get the group back over to the stony labyrinth that Kevin calls home. And with nothing threatening her or her family any longer, the bird is more than happy to call her babies out of that labyrinth to properly meet her saviors.
"Aw, look at you!" Russell grins, holding one of the tiny chicks as another one playfully pecked at Carl's head. "You're so soft!"
"Oh man, Kairi will go nuts when I show her a picture of you guys!" Sora grins excitedly, pulling out the Gummiphone to take a photo. Of course, right before he can, Kevin once again plucked the device out of his hands, holding it high above his head just as she did before. "Aw, c'mon, Kevin! I only have one of those, you know." While the bird is more than prepared to take the phone back with her, she does hesitate, seeming to consider his plea for a moment before ultimately spitting it back at him one last time, once again hitting him hard against the head in the process. "Gee… thanks…" Sora deadpans, ignoring Donald and Goofy's amused laughter behind him.
Despite the fun that everyone's having, it all too soon comes to an end as Kevin calls to her babies from the labrynith's entrance, much to the shared disappointment of all the others. "Aw, I wish I could keep one!" Russell sighs wistfully.
"Wait a minute," Carl pauses, noticing that something is missing. "Where's my cane? I just had it…"
Suddenly, Kevin begins aggressively hacking, up until she inevitably ends up coughing up Carl's lost cane in its entirety, spitting on the ground in front of him as her babies do the same with the tennis balls they'd swallowed. "Eh, you know what?" the elderly man winces before smirking back over at the family of birds. "You can keep 'em. A little gift from me to you."
With these new "gifts", Kevin and her chicks take off, eager to finally get back home to be safely together again. The others all see them off with fond waves and words of farewell, watching them disappear into the mist until three of them realize it's finally time for them to part ways too.
"Well, we got the Key," Sora concludes, satisfied as he summons said Key once more.
"Which means it's time for us to go," Donald adds knowingly.
"What?" Russell frowns, alarmed upon hearing this. "You guys are leaving too? B-but… but why?"
"Let's just say," Sora begins, kneeling down to the boy's level. "We have some really important things we need to do."
"W-well then we can go with you!" Russell offers, nodding to himself, Carl, and Dug. "We can all go in our new blimp! It'll be an adventure!"
"Uh, w-well…" Sora frowns, unsure of what to say to explain.
"Russell," Carl interjects just in time, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I think you and I have had enough of an adventure for one lifetime. Besides, if we go with them, how will you ever get your, uh… what was it again? Assisting the Elderly badge?"
"Oh yeah!" Russell insistently perks up at this, pointing at his decorated sash. "It's the only one I'm missing! And now that I've assisted you, Mr. Frederickson, I can finally become a senior Wilderness Explorer!"
"Well, you definitely wouldn't wanna miss out on that," Sora remarks, offering the boy a proud smirk. "You've more than earned it after all."
"Now, you boys be careful out there," Carl encourages as they begin to head their separate ways. "No more falling off blimps, you hear? I'm talking to you, Sora!"
"Heh, no promises, but… I'll try," Sora grins, eliciting a pair of laughs from his companions. With a few more final well wishes exchanged between both groups (as well as several copious friendly licks from Dug), both groups finally part, with Carl, Russell, and Dug heading back to the Spirit of Adventure, ready to return to civilization once more.
At the same time, Sora, Donald, and Goofy set off back through the jungle to return to the Gummi Ship, ready to leave this world with their latest prize in hand. "Well, that's two Keys down-" Goofy begins.
"And still a bunch left to go…" Donald sighs, exasperated.
"Ah, we'll get 'em," Sora assures confidently. "We've already got a head start. Heck, I'd even say we're on a roll when it comes to finding these things!"
"But aren't you afraid of the Organization finding the others?" Goofy asks, a bit perplexed.
"Hm… maybe I was before," Sora admits, knowing that admitting such fears is what had landed him with this most recent Key in the first place. "But not anymore. We've got this. And as long as the three of us are on the case, then the Organization doesn't stand a chance!"
"Yeah!" Donald and Goofy both heartily agree, all three of them confident in their mission as they set off to wherever it might take them next.
However, what none of them see as they head off into the forest is the pair of figures watching them from atop a distant outcropping of rock, one of them awash in ill-intent all her own.
"Oh, Sora, how predictably naïve can you be?" Maleficent thumbs the claw and teeth marks the boy had left in her staff earlier with a smug, almost triumphant grin. "For all too soon, you'll see that pathetic Organization aren't the ones you should be fearing… and all too soon, you'll be exactly where you truly belong..."
"But, uh… I thought your plan with them vine thingies didn't work," Pete notes as he stands alongside her, remembering what she'd recounted to him just a while ago.
"It didn't need to," Maleficent remarks haughtily. "That was merely a test, one that mostly achieved its purpose. It would have worked even better however if not for the king's fools stepping in at the exact wrong moment."
"So… what's the plan now?" Pete asks curiously. "We gonna thwump ol' Dunder-Duck and Goof For Brains into next week or somethin'?"
"I have no time nor patience for either of them," Maleficent sneers. "It's the boy I'm after. And all of the rich, hidden, untapped darkness that heart of his contains." A cold, malicious grin spreads across her face as she continues to watch Sora and his companions from a distance, her twisted, treacherous plans for him solidifying inside her mind as she does. "And… I believe I know the perfect way to finally make that darkness my own…"
Ohohoh foreshadowing? What's our gal Maleficent up to? Guess you'll just have to wait and seeeeeee. Anyway I really did have a TON of fun working on this chapter, even if it did take my quite a while. All the same, I really hope ya liked it and everything I sprinkled into it. And thus ends the Up saga, and I gotta say I had a really great time with these characters and this world. Has me super excited for all of the other original worlds in this story! Though next time, I think we'll be taking a brief break to check in on Kairi and Lea and see how training's going! Until then, PLEASE don't forget to let me know what you thought in the REVIEWS! Until next time :)
