KINGDOM HEARTS III: Final Mix
Disclaimer: I do not own the story or characters featured in this story. They are the sole creation of the Walt Disney Co., PIXAR, Marvel Comics, Tetsuya Nomura, and Square Enix. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.
WARNING! Contains story spoilers for Kingdom Hearts III, so read with caution if you haven't played the game yet.
Chapter 18: An Unexpected Reunion & Prince to the Rescue
In the castle dungeons, Riku, Mickey and Aqua sat silently against the walls, wrecked with feelings of paranoia over what was to become of not only themselves, but Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother and Jaq as well. Speaking of, by the time the trio was thrown behind bars, Jaq had already disappeared.
"I can't believe it's come to this," Mickey lamented as Riku tried to summon the Keyblade, but some bizarre reason, the dungeon seemed to have an enchantment placed on it to prevent the heroes from summoning their blades and be able to free themselves. "At last Jaq got out of things okay."
"Yeah," Aqua replied. If there's anyone who won't give up on her and her happiness, it's him."
"Enjoying your accommodations?" the voice of Young Xehanort remarked as he appeared outside the jail bars.
"Why are you doing all of this? Just what does Cinderella mean to you anyway?" Riku demanded.
"Oh, I'm certain you already known the answer to that. When Sora opened the Final Keyhole for Ansem, the princesses, save for one, lost their power. Now, if Cinderella's hopes are to be broken, perhaps the darkness of despair in her heart will make her a suitable vessel..."
"Like we're ever going to let that happen; we'll stop you!" Mickey told the Nort.
"And how do you plan to do that from in this cell? You'd need a miracle to help you escape. Now, I'll just leave you two and your phantom friend to rot here. Farewell, pitiful master," Xehanort taunted as he disappeared into the shadows, leaving the others to their thoughts.
"Aqua," Riku spoke up as he turned towards the Keyblade master, "About why we're here..."
"You don't need to go on, Riku. I already knew I'm not the real Aqua," she answered. "But if we find a way out of this, I'm sure that the real me will remember this adventure, deep in her heart." After saying this, the group heard a clanging and thumping noise coming from down the stairs, before they saw Jaq squeeze through the bars and climb up into Riku's hands, panting in exhaustion.
"Ah, whew, Riku... I'm glad you're still okay," the mouse told his new friend.
"Jaq, what happened to Cinderella?" the Key wielder asked.
"Evil stepmother banished her, and Cinderelly's gonna be sent off to sea far away!"
"We gotta save her then!" Mickey piped up.
"Already ahead of you, zuk-zuk!" Jaq continued, before he darted into Riku's pocket and the Prince came in front of their cell with the key.
"You're friends of Cinderelly, right?" he asked.
"Cinderella," Aqua corrected. "And yes. What are you doing here?"
"Would you believe me if I told you a talking mouse sent me?" the Prince replied. "Anyway, we need to work together if we're going to stop Cinderella from being exiled."
"Son! Where have you gone off to?" the King was heard shouting from upstairs.
"What's he going on about?" Riku asked the Prince.
"Let's just say when I broke the news, he was less than pleased. We don't have a lot of time, we have to go!" he answered as he unlocked the cell and escorted the three out of the dungeon and over to the castle entrance, where Riku and his friends could finally resummon their Keyblades.
"Son!" the King called out as he saw his son climb onto his horse.
"Your Majesty," the Grand Duke wheezed as he managed to catch up to the sprinting regal. "Mind your blood pressure!"
"What's the matter, Dad? Don't you trust me?"
"Of course I trust you! It's the talking mouse I have trouble believing," he replied as he took notice of King Mickey. "You there, are you the one who talked with my son? Just what exactly have you been telling him?"
"Uh, squeak?" Mickey answered, trying to feign ignorance on the matter.
"Enough of this nonsense, my boy," the King remarked. "The wedding awaits for tonight!"
"Run!" Aqua shouted, as everyone except the King and Duke made a mad dash for the gate.
"Quickly, shut the gates!" the King ordered, which only made the group run faster to bypass it, making it through before it shut. As he walked towards the gate, his expression softened.
"Your Majesty, should I send out the calvary to bring him back?" the Duke asked.
"No," the King remarked calmly. "Just let him go."
"But sire! Just why are you letting him leave?"
"It's a sign of love, you see," the King answered the Duke, as Lady Tremaine watched the escape unfold from afar.
Back at Galaxy Toys, Sora and the rest of the toys had made their way through the air vents and entered the section for Babies and Toddlers toys.
"Say, Sarge, you said one of your men noticed a set of toys that made music, right?" Goofy asked.
"Affirmative, private Goofy!" Sarge answered.
"No problem, we just need to find toys that make music," Sora decided.
"Y'know, Buzz, I think these guys really can help us out," Woody told his fellow toy.
"Well, you wouldn't have trusted them otherwise. And I know that your trust is a hard-earned reward." Buzz replied. "Anyway, I'm willing to let them stick around for a little while longer, if it means getting Andy and our friends back."
"Agreed, Buzz," Woody said with a smile as the group set out. "Sora, check out that display over there. It looks like a musical band set." Woody pointed out to Sora.
"Yeah, maybe our army man is over there!" Sora answered. The group proceeded to walk over to the display, fighting through a new set of Heartless-possessed toys, specifically stuffed animals and rubber bouncing toys until they finally made it over.
"Musical Toads, huh?" Donald observed, while the others climbed up and observed the band figures. "How do these even turn on?"
"Is this it?" Sora asked as he approached a nearby record player, and started running along the surface of the record to get it to spin. Slowly, the band began to cue up, and play a bombastic song. Even so, it wasn't playing at its full capacity just yet.
"C'mon, Sora, you've used a record player that way before? Let me lend a hand," Woody asked as he joined in running along the record surface. "Look! It's already working!" True enough, the band was now playing at full force, but with one noticeable off-key member.
"Did that sound a bit off to you?" Buzz asked Donald and Goofy.
"Sora, one of those sounds a little funny. We oughta investigate!" Goofy called out.
"Okay, Woody, keep it going. There's something I need to check." Sora told Woody as he dug his hand deep into a tuba being played by a toy frog. "Almost got it," Sora mumbled as he loosened up whatever was in there and pulled out one of the Army men.
"Corporal!" Sarge called out as he rushed to his companion's aid. "You're a brave one, for holding out this long."
"So, you said you saw Hamm?" Goofy asked.
"Y-yes, but as I radioed in, a giant hand grabbed me and stuffed me in there," the soldier replied, pointing back to the tuba-playing frog, before tearing up. "Forgive me, Sarge, I was a fool to get captured... court-marshal me if you have to!"
"At ease, private. You did your duty, that's all anyone can ask for," Sarge answered to ease the soldier's nerves, turning his attention towards Sora, Donald and Goofy. "Our newest recruits will take over from hereon out, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir, crystal clear, sir!" the three replied with a salute.
"Good! I'm off to take this soldier to safer ground and regroup with the others. Godspeed, gentlemen." The Army men then started to make their leave as Woody was watching from his spot running on the record player.
"Hey! Whuh- what's going on over there?" Woody shouted.
"Woody, you can stop now! The rescue mission for that soldier is complete," Buzz told his friend, as Woody slowed down and then plopped onto the floor in exhaustion.
"Cure!" Donald cried out as he ran over and cast a healing aura around Woody.
"Whew, thanks for that, Donald. Now let's get back to finding Hamm," Woody told the duck gratefully as the heroes' search continued.
Back in Cinderella's world, the group raced over to the docks, only to find the ship had already set off.
"We're too late," Riku responded, starting to lose hope for the princess. The Prince however saw a building in the distance that they could jump off of onto the ship.
"Not yet, we aren't!" the Prince spoke as the heroes rode off on the Prince's horse while Aqua used her Keyblade armor to ride after at fast speed, eventually getting to an open balcony window that the horse ground to a halt at, sending everybody else flying in the air.
"This is crazy!" Riku shouted, flailing in the air, trying to keep altitude, until they landed on the ship's sail, using a dagger to break their falling speed and land on the deck safely. Once everybody in the group was on board, the Prince and Cinderella met eye to eye and shared an embrace.
"It is you! Somehow I knew it all along!" the Prince told Cinderella. "Now, there's one thing I want to ask you: will you marry me?"
"Of course," Cinderella replied with a smile as they two resumed their hug in each other's arms, as Riku and the others watched the scene unfold.
"I'm happy that things managed to work out," Riku told Mickey as the Prince and Cinderella both directed the ship back to shore and began their return to the castle along with the others.
Meanwhile once more at Galaxy Toys, Sora and the others found a lone dollhouse sitting on a windowsill across from the Musical Toads set. When they reached it, they found that it stuck shut.
"Together on three, we pull it open!" Buzz suggested as the five of them each got on a side and held on. "Now, one... two... pull!" The group yanked at the edges hard until it flew open, and knocked the team back, as Hamm sauntered out with two other toys: a felt and leather floppy horse and a cowgirl wearing a black and white spotted vest and a red hat.
"Bullseye, Jessie? Is that really you?" Buzz and Woody both asked.
"Woody! Buzz! Thank goodness you've come! I was starting to relive some mighty bad memories stuck in there." Jessie the cowgirl replied as she walked over to the two toys.
"Are you three alright?" Sora asked.
"Well, despite it being cramped, the accommodations were excellent," Hamm stated as Bullseye galloped close and Sora a friendly lick hello.
"You're welcome, you cute little horse," Sora told Bullseye as he nuzzled the horse's yarn mane. "There was nothing to it with my friends helpin- wait... Goofy, where's Donald?" Sora asked Goofy when the group heard a loud frightened quack as Donald raced out of the house and hid behind Sora.
"Donald, what happened?" Goofy asked.
"There's a huge giant outside the house!" the duck yelped as a doll twice the size of the other toys floated above them, with a Heartless emblem on the bunny ears that stuck on top of its head.
"Yippee, more friends to play with!" it squealed in a sickeningly sweet but threatening voice.
And that finishes this another chapter. I hope you enjoyed this little update, and please remember to leave a review! See you all next time, and may your heart be your guiding key.