We are back to another chapter of SCP: Tides of Bonds! And in here, will be the appearance of a certain Heartless with some of its 'minions', so to speak. Let us see how the Straw Hats and their allies are able to handle them, especially the big guy. So, that being said, let us begin.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. I do not own Guthrie and I kind of own Allen.

*OPENING*

(Lala intro)
(Xion and Guthrie come down sliding panels one at a time, followed by Nami next to Xion and Ussop next to Guthrie. Nami shows the Log Pose to Xion, telling her where to go, while Usopp looks pompous while Guthrie shrugs his demeanor. Nami and Ussop are replaced by Zoro and Sanji respectively, and glare daggers at one another as Xion and Guthrie push them away from another. The two are replaced by Chopper and Robin respectively. Chopper dives into Xion's arms as she does a spin hug with him, while Guthrie observes the book Robin is reading with interest. The two are replaced by Allen and Chirithy, with Allen patting Xion's back, grinning at her as she blushes a bit, while Chirithy stands on a barrel, both he and Guthrie causing sparks to shoot at each other from their eyes. The two disappear, and Luffy appears between Xion and Guthrie, grabbing their shoulders and pulling them in as he grins. The two look at one another, and grin, as the background scene shifts to them being on the Going Merry, with the rest of the crew behind them.)

Hello, goodbye to repetition
We cannot be stop
Time to go around to our
Happy days, happy days
(The scene shifts to the sky, with the title of the story appearing)

Hello, goodbye, it cannot be stopped
Because there is desire
(Scene shifts to the Straw Hats on the ship, with Luffy Ussop fishing, Nami looking at the Log Pose, Zoro sleeping on the crow's nest, Xion helping Chopper with medicine while Chirithy watched, Robin reading her book, Allen practicing his dancing, and Sanji cooking with help from Guthrie.)

It's a journey that does not end
Keeps going, going!
(Xion steps back, wiping her forehead, then looking ahead to the endless sea beyond, wondering what lies ahead.)

You, are
Being shaken by your ragged feet
(Panning through a screenshot of Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe and Yokozuna, to the Galley-La crew, to the members of the Franky Family, with Franky in front of them, to the masked members of CP9.)

Still, still
No one has much of anything!
(Nico Robin turns and walks away to the tower in Eniss Lobby, with Jabra, Kumadori and Fukuro silhouetted above, followed by Spandam, then Xaldin and Saïx. This shifts to the angered faces of Guthrie, Luffy and Xion.)

I feel like I can fly
I can fly anywhere
Whenever I'm with you
(The trio run through the town of Eniss Lobby, striking numerous marines in their way, while the screen circles around the trio, ending with them standing in the middle of their Straw Hat crew (and Sniper King) on top of the building, facing Robin, Franky and CP9.)

No matter where we are
I feel like I am
Shivering everywhere
(The two Keyblade wielders thrust their Keyblades up at the villains, only to be interfered by the two Organization XIII members. They leap towards them, with Luffy and the rest of the Straw Hats following in pursuit. CP9, led by Saïx, Xaldin Leopard Lucci, leap at them, ready to clash.)

Together when I am with you
If you clench strongly
(Through all the battles of the Straw Hats, Second Gear Luffy starts fighting Leopard Lucci, with Xion fighting Saïx as hard as she could.)

No matter what happens
I'm moving forward
(Guthrie fights and parries off Xaldin, calling out to Robin with a free hand raised to her, as she stands there in the pitch black darkness.)

Together when I am with you
If you clench strongly
(Robin looks back at him, then closes her eyes as she recalls the memories of Ohara. A tear falls from her eyes, hitting a ground, which turns the darkness into the open sea and sky. More teardrops fall, forming white birds that represent each Straw Hat as they soar in the sky together.)

No, no
No matter where we are
I feel like I can fly
(The birds fly over the Going Merry, as it sails into the sun, with silhouettes of the Straw Hats smiling and grouped together as they prepared for their adventure.)

Last time:

"TURN BAAAAAAACK!"

"... Oi. He said to turn back," Lulu informed everyone, as none of them, not even the Straw Hats, reacted to the shout.

"Is that right? What a relief," Tilestone replied, having some relaxing tea.

"Well, we'd better get ready to go home."

"Give us a second here. I'm still learning how to play this game you Blue Sea Dwellers play," Allen said, having a game of Poker with Chirithy, the Keyblade wielders and Nami, with Chopper, Chimney and Gonbe watching.

It took the very next second for them all to realize what Luffy, the guy who shouted those words, ordered out. "WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"But why?! We've come so far!" Nami exclaimed.

"What about Robin?! And what are we going to do about Usopp?!" Chopper questioned. As he kept questioning about what they should do, Zoro woke up, oblivious to the situation at hand.

"What the hell's he thinking?!" Paulie questioned.

Taking it upon herself as vice captain, Xion opened the window and quickly climbed out and up to the roof. "Hey, Luffy! What's the big idea, telling us all to go back?! I thought you wanted to save Robin! Why are we going back now?!"

"Yeah, yeah! Tell us why- waina!" Kiwi and Mozu demanded.

"NOOOOOO!" Luffy shouted, now confusing the group. "THE FROG FROM BEFORE... JUST JUMPED... ONTO THE TRACKS!"

"It's Yokozuna!" Chimney gasped in realization.

"Him again?" Kokoro casually asked.

"What the hell's up with that giant frog?!" the Franky Family demanded, apparently familiar with the amphibian as well.

"Turn back! Out of the way, frog!" Luffy shouted.

'COME!' Xion heard the frog challenge.

"We'll hit you!"

Somehow... someway... Rocketman clearly hit the sumo frog, but with whatever strength he had, the frog went and derailed the train off the tracks, and got on Rocketman's head. As such...

"FROG! Enough with the ribbits, you punk! Your stupid slap derailed us!" Luffy shouted, slapping the overgrown amphibian on the snout. "We were about to catch up to Sanji and the others! What gives?!"

'LIKE I CARE!' the frog loudly croaked, loud enough to blow Luffy's hair back and make his ears ring.

"Why, you little... I'll eat you! Come here!" Luffy shouted, as he got in a rumble with Yokozuna.

Back in the cart, everyone felt the force of the rumble going on up there.

"What the heck is going on out there?!" Paulie asked.

"That damn, overgrown frog, that's what," Xion answered, as she was helped back into the cart by Allen and Guthrie. Thankfully, when Yokozuna knocked the train off the tracks, and her off Rocketman, she called her Keyblade out in time and jabbed it to the side of the passenger cart, right by the window.

"You okay, Xion?" Allen asked her.

"Yeah. How's everyone else?"

One look at the back, though, and Xion felt the need to take back her question.

"W-We're fine... I think..." Kiwi answered.

"My... My back..." Lulu groaned, crushed between Tilestone and the wall.

Chopper, due to his small size, was getting crushed by the big shipwright.

"What a disaster! The King Bulls are gone!" Zambai announced, looking at the back from the window.

"What?! They're gone- waina?!" the female twins gasped.

"No. We're the ones who are gone," Paulie corrected.

"He's right. We got derailed off the tracks," Xion explained.

"That's even worse- waina!"

"What are we going to do?!" Chopper questioned.

"All we can do right now is get back on track somehow," Xion answered, taking out some Dream Eater cards. "Summo-" She stopped herself when she sensed something odd. She looked out the window and took a look around, only to see nothing out in the open sea.

"Is something wrong, Xion?" Chirithy asked.

"I... I don't know. Maybe," she answered. "In any case, Summon: Ryu Dragon, Komory Bat, Fin Fatale, Tatsu Steed, Peepsta Hoo!" Five of Xion's many Dream Eaters were summoned out.

"A dragon?!" The non-pirates gasped upon the sight of Wyvern.

"Find the rest of the Franky Family and a set of train tracks," Xion ordered her Dream Eaters. At her command, they all scattered about. "Okay... Now to deal with that frog."

"You need any help?" Allen asked.

"Luffy's technically handling him, but that amphibian is anything but normal. The rest of you stay here. Zoro, you're-" Xion cut herself off when she noticed one thing about the green-haired swordsman. One thing she could not believe. Everyone else looked the same direction she was and had the exact same expression on their faces.

"Hang on... You're serious?" Guthrie asked, for Zoro... was sleeping.

"A... A miracle..." they all spoke in shock.

"How the hell can he be asleep at a time like this?!" Chirithy demanded.

Not bothering to even wake the damn swordsman up, Xion turned to Guthrie and said, "Guthrie, you're in charge here." Without another word, the vice captain climbed out and rejoined her captain up on the train's roof to meet the troublemaker who was delaying their mission.

"Luffy! You need any help?!" she asked.

"Ah, Xion! Prepare a some big fire! We're cooking this frog!" Luffy ordered.

"Not sure if that's a good idea in this storm, especially in a train!" she rejected.

"Hey, Yokozuna! Get your butt over here!" came Kokoro's voice.

At her voice, the big frog ceased his fight with Luffy and looked to the engine room, where the old lady was steering the train.

'Ko-...! KOKORO!' the frog croaked, taking a big leap over Luffy and landing right in front of Xion. The impact from his heavy landing caused the girl to slip and grab on to the rail. 'I'm glad you're safe!'

"What do you mean 'I'm glad you're safe'?" Kokoro asked, much to Xion's surprise that she understood the amphibian. "Good grief. I'm not the one who was kidnapped. Don't jump to conclusions. Now help that girl up, before she drops into the ocean."

'Huh?' Yokozuna turned to Xion and reluctantly held out a hand to her. 'Sorry, I guess...'

Though she was unsure about trusting the frog after what he did, intentionally or not, she accepted the assistance. "Thanks."

Kokoro opened the door to the engine room and stared at her acquaintance face-to-face. "What in the world have you been doing to yourself!? You're covered in scars," she stated to him. "Jeez... Ever since the incident eight years ago, you've tried time and time again to take down the Sea Train. Why? So you can become stronger, right? So that you'd never lose those who were important to you again. So you could protect them."

'... Yeah...' Xion heard him admit.

"Now's the time to show that strength!"

Yokozuna's eyes widened slightly in confusion. 'Huh?'

"Your dear friend Franky was taken away, just like Tom-san! We're on our way to him at this very moment! Will you come with us?"

Hearing that his friend was in danger was more than enough motivation for Yokozuna to join them. 'OF COURSE I WILL!' he croaked.

"Straw Hat! We've got a new friend!" Kokoro informed.

"Yeah! I got it!" Luffy answered with a small laugh. "Nice going, Monster Granny! Or is it Frog Granny? Which one are you?"

"Who knows? Call me whatever you want," Kokoro answered, walking back into the engine room.

As she walked back in, the feeling Xion had been feeling during the ride suddenly grew strong, as she turned to the source. "Okay, I know for sure I'm not imagining it anymore!" she shouted out loud.

"Hm? What's wrong, Xion?" Luffy asked.

"Something's coming this way!" At her words, everyone in the cart looked at the direction she was looking.

Guthrie brought the telescope to his eye and couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Are you kidding me?!" he gasped out.

"What's wrong, Guthrie?" Allen asked. Rather than answering, Guthrie passed the scope to his dancing friend, who looked through it and also couldn't believe what was flying their way.

It was a big bird made of wood and mechanics, one that looked quite like a vulture. The wings had cannons embedded in them as joints, and a trio of anchors dangling on its neck, and wing joints. Around it were small, flying bird-like mechanics.

"Is that a bird?" Zambai asked, unfamiliar with the thing flying towards them.

Chirithy took the telescope from Allen's hand and let out a shriek when he got a good close-up view of what was coming their way. "That's no bird! It's a Raging Vulture Heartless with a swarm of Vaporfly!"

While the shipwrights and dismantlers didn't know what a Heartless were, the pirates did.

"Did he say 'Heartless'?!" Nami gasped.

"Damn it! At a time like this?!" Guthrie growled.

"Hang on, what are those things?" Paulie asked.

"Let's just say those guys are monsters that are huge pains in the necks! But why is one of those things here?!"

"Best guess is those CP9 guys. They must've summoned it or something in case if we save Robin!"

As if to prove his point, the Raging Vulture shot out a pair of blasts from its cannons at Rocketman and just missed the speedy Sea Train. However, the impact from the attack hitting the waves was enough to rock the derailed vehicle around some, with the passengers falling to the floor. Xion and Luffy were the pair unfortunate enough to fall off the roof again. Thankfully, Yokozuna managed to grab Xion, who was grabbed by Luffy's stretchy arm, and thus saved the pair of pirates.

"Thanks for the save!" Xion thanked.

'No problem!' the frog answered.

"What the hell is his problem?!" Luffy questioned, as Yokozuna pulled him and Xion back on the train.

"This isn't good. Even if Rocketman is a crazy fast train, if he gets hit directly by any more of those, we'll sink!" Kokoro warned.

"Huh?! Then we won't get to Robin!"

"Forget about getting to Robin; we won't live if those blasts destroy the train!" Nami added.

"Then we'll have to take the Heartless out before it does us!" Xion exclaimed.

"How do you suggest we do that?!" Paulie asked. "We can't walk on air!"

"No. But I still have a Dream Eater who can fly me there." As Xion said this, she took out another Dream Eater card. "Summon: Pegaslick!" Out of its card was Pegasus, whose appearance astonished the shipwrights and dismantlers.

"A pegasus?!" they gasped.

Xion got on its back. "You guys protect the train! Leave the big guy to me! Go, Pegasus!" At her order, the Pegaslick flew towards the Raging Vulture.

As she left, Lulu turned to the rest of the Straw Hats. "That girl will be okay, right?" he asked.

"Of course she will!" Zambai answered for them. "She's Starlight Blade Xion! She bested us Franky Family with little assistance! That bird's got nothing on her!"

"Yeah, if it's alone, maybe! Look!" Chirithy retorted.

The group looked back at Xion and Pegaslick and saw that they were suddenly getting attacked by some of the Vaporfly Heartless. The swarm were blasting them with what seemed like energy bullets or torpedoes, causing the female Keyblade wielder and her Dream Eater to aerial dodge them, as well as forcing the pair away from their target, who was steadily flying closer to Rocketman.

"Xion-nee can't do this by herself! She needs help!" Chopper exclaimed.

"I can use the Milky Dial and skate over there, but the clouds won't even last a second in this sea. And even then, I don't have my skates," Allen said.

Chirithy turned to Yokozuna. "Can't you hop up there?!" he asked.

'My jump can't reach that!' the frog reasoned.

"He said his jump can't reach that high!" Chopper translated.

A Vaporfly flew by and launched a torpedo straight at Rocketman. Guthrie managed to react in time with a Spark Blast, destroying the torpedo. "We have to protect the train and trust her!" He then proceeded to climb out the cart to fight better.

Luffy stayed silent as he looked at the Raging Vulture. Or rather, the many Vaporflies around it, as the swarm of smaller Heartless flew closer to the Rocketman, with his friends doing their best to fight them off with long-range attacks. A smirk formed on his face. "I got an idea~" he said.

Nami heard those four words and turned to him. "What idea?" she asked. Luffy didn't answer, as he stretched out his arm to one of the Heartless. "Luffy?!"

With the group of fighters on top of the passenger cart, Paulie ceased his rope attacks for a brief moment when he saw a familiar stretchy limb shot out towards one of the Vaporfly and grabbed it. "Huh? Straw Hat?" He turned to the source and saw, to his surprise, the pirate shot himself towards the very Heartless he grabbed and got on it. The force from his launch caused the Vaporfly to spin wildly, until it managed to recover itself.

The one act alone brought the rest of the fighters' attention to him. "What the-?! Luffy! What are you doing?!" Guthrie asked.

"I'm going to help Xion! Good luck, guys!" Without another word, Luffy steered his Vaporfly over to the vice-captain.

Meanwhile, everyone else just stood dumbfounded by the alternative way of getting to the Heartless. "Well, that's another way of doing things," Zambai said.

'You can say that again'

With Xion, the girl and Pegasus were avoiding as much of the Vaporflies' energy bullets as they could. With the amount of Heartless surrounding them, it was practically impossible. And it didn't help that those guys were quite speedy and coordinated, as well as having torpedoes to fire and could shoot themselves towards the pair. Xion could only hang on to Pegasus as the Dream Eater tried to fly away from the shots.

"Damn it! I'm not seeing any kind of opening here!" she exclaimed. Looking to the Raging Vulture, she gritted her teeth as she saw the boss Heartless attack Rocketman, which was being defended by the rest of the Straw Hats on board and the shipwrights/dismantlers. "We have to get past these guys somehow..."

"XIIIIOOOOOOOOOOON!" came a shout.

Xion turned and was quite baffled to see a certain idiot on a Heartless, making his way towards her.

"Luffy?!" she gasped.

"You damn bastards! Leave Xion alone!" Once Luffy was close enough, he leapt off the Vaporfly he was riding. "Gomu Gomu no Gattling!" The guy then unleashed a barrage of punches at the swarm of small Heartless, easily obliterating them all.

Xion widened her eyes at how easily the Heartless were taken down. "Those things were actually that weak?! Even though their attacks are actually that strong!" Before she could process the thought even further, Luffy grabbed onto the girl by the shirt and shot himself to her and Pegasus, landing on the latter's back behind the former.

"Okay! I took down the ones that were after you, Xion! Now let's go beat up that big bird!" he ordered.

"Aye-aye, captain!" the vice captain obliged, steering Pegasus over to the Raging Vulture and its remaining Vaporflies. "Full speed ahead, Pegasus!"

With a neigh, the Pegaslick picked up the speed and flew over to the Heartless. However, as they closed in on the Raging Vulture, more Vaporflies were summoned and shot themselves towards the pair. Xion reacted fast enough to steer her Pegaslick in a barrel roll, avoiding the newly summoned Heartless.

"Whoa?! What the heck?!" Luffy gasped, as the flying mount righted itself.

"Guess that big Heartless is summoning the small ones," Xion said. "Purposely or not, I don't know. But if we take it out first, the rest should follow after."

"All right! Then take us to it, Xion, horse!" At his order, Xion gave her Pegaslick a nudge, prompting it to soar on to the Raging Vulture once more.

More Vaporflies were summoned upon its approach, and like before, Xion made her Dream Eater barrel roll away from them, successfully avoiding the Heartless once more. Once they were successfully close enough, Luffy grabbed Xion around the waist and stretched his other arm at one of the spikes on the Heartless's back. He yanked themselves off Pegasus and onto the Heartless.

"Pegasus! Get those smaller Heartless off our tails!" Xion ordered.

Upon her command, the Pegaslick brought his focus on the Vaporflies.

"Let's go, Xion!" Luffy ordered, tossing her to the next spike in front of them.

Xion grabbed onto the spike. Once she got a good hold on the thing, she grabbed Luffy's arm and tossed the rubberman to the spike in front of her. One he got a good grip on that spike, Luffy tossed Xion to the final spike in front of him. Just as she grabbed hold of it, as if sensing the pirate just within reach of attacking it, the Heartless turned its head completely 180 and screeched at her face.

The screech was loud enough to make Xion and Luffy's ears hurt, but not enough to force either to release their grip. Once the screech was over, the vice captain made her move. "Go, Luffy!" She tossed her captain to the head, he who was more than prepared to deal the pain.

"Gomu Gomu no Stamp Gatling!" Luffy unleashed a barrage of kicks at the Heartless, knocking its head around some. The Raging Vulture reared its head back, avoiding the remaining kicks.

Xion had a bad feeling on the way it moved its head back and pulled Luffy back in. The pirate captain was taken aback by the sudden action, as he hung on to the spike. "What was that for, Xion?!" he asked.

"Shut up! Reflect!" Xion brought her hand up and called upon a barrier, as the Raging Vulture breathed out flames from its mouth at its enemies. Thankfully for the pirates, they were left unharmed by the fire.

"Whoa! That bird breathes fire?!" Luffy asked the second the flames and barrier were over.

"Save that awe for later because you're back in!" Xion told him, as she tossed the Devil Fruit user to the Raging Vulture's head once more.

"Wah! Gomu Gomu no Yari!" Planting his feet together, Luffy kicked them both together straight at the Heartless. The strike was strong enough to knock its head turning, with Luffy still flying past it. Xion pulled her captain back in again. As she did that, Luffy made use of the momentum to continue the assault. "And... Gomu Gomu no Kama!" Stretching out his free arm, he clotheslined the Raging Vulture's head, making a dent on its beak and forcing it to stop spinning.

It seemed the mechanical bird Heartless clearly didn't like the pair of attacks, the last one especially, as it breathed out more flames at the pirates. Flames in which Xion managed to block with her Reflect spell again. When the fire died down, rather than having her captain go at it again, Xion jumped at the Heartless herself this time and gave the mechanical Heartless a barrage of smacks to the head with Fire of Shandora. After landing some strikes in, like before, Xion saw the Heartless prepare for another dose of its fiery breath and conjured up her barrier.

"All right! If we keep this up-!" Luffy was cut off when the Heartless ceased its attack and looked ahead, performing a strong barrel roll and forcing the pirates off and making them free fall.

"Whoa! We're falling!" Luffy shouted.

Xion looked for Pegasus and saw that the Dream Eater was, unfortunately, quite far from them. And as much as she wanted to use Collision Magnet to bring herself and Luffy back on the big Heartless, the latter was has gone quite far from them for the spell to reach. As for the Vaporflies, though, Xion thought back to when Luffy flew on one and prepared to use her magic to bring herself to one, when her captain beat her to it.

"Gomu Gomu no Amidori!" The pirate captain stretched his arm out to one of the Vaporflies near them. Once he got a hold of it, he pulled it close to them and got on. "And Gomu Gomu no..." He pulled his arm back... the very arm that held Xion in it, to the girl's fear.

"Huh? Wait! What are you-?!"

"Lasso!" Next Xion knew, her captain tossed her to another Vaporfly near them, to her fright. It may be to use it as a ride like he did, but to be tossed so suddenly like so, no normal person would be calm enough to follow that up. Instead, she struck the Heartless head-first, and as it was one of the several Vaporflies that was weakened by battling Pegasus, it got knocked out.

"What are you doing, Xion?!" Luffy asked. "You're suppose to grab on! All right, then next one!"

Snapped out of her slightly dazed state, the vice captain looked to his way in shock. "Hang on! What do you mean-?!"

"Gomu Gomu no Lasso!" Not giving her the time to think or recover, Luffy tossed her to another Vaporfly once more. Like before, she got hit by the Heartless in a headbutt. Unlike before, the Heartless didn't disappear, as it instead shot back with bullets. As she was dazed from the sudden, unplanned attack, there was nothing Xion could do to block. Thankfully, Luffy pulled her back in... only to repeat the process on the poor girl. "Gomu Gomu no Lasso!"

As the boy tried to get his vice captain on one of the small Heartless, his comrades on Rocketman heard the constant scream from the unfortunate girl and looked up to see Xion be used as some kind of hammer to smack down the Vaporflies.

"That's... quite painful..." Lulu spoke in sympathy.

"Talk about brutal," Zambai stated.

'That's more painful than my training,' Yokozuna croaked.

"What the hell is that idiot doing to her?!" Chirithy questioned.

"I'm glad I'm not in her shoes..." Guthrie said, rubbing his head at the sight of the unintended headbutts.

"I don't know what footwear has to do with this, but yikes..." Allen said, flinching with each hit Xion was taking.

After a number of tosses and headbutts, and brain cells undoubtedly loss, Xion's Pegaslick, finally done with the Vaporflies it was fighting, swooped down and saved its wielder from the possibly never ending fate. As soon as it got her on its back, it let out a light glow via Regen, helping Xion recover her strength and heal.

"Ow... Thank you, Pegasus..." she thanked, feeling some freedom from her waist as Luffy unwrapped his arm around her.

"Oh! Good timing, horse!" Luffy exclaimed, flying close to the pair. "Okay! Now we can counterattack!"

Instead of agreeing with the guy, and for a good reason at that, Xion whacked her Keyblade on the guy's head, hard. "You dumbass! Why the hell did you throw me at those Heartless?! I could've died a number of ways because of you!"

"What are you talking about? I was trying to get you on one of those guys like how I'm on this thing."

That one stupid, very misleading reason earned him another whack to the head. "How about you do it in a way that doesn't involve getting me killed, goddammit! At least be considerate of how I feel in that situation!"

"Huh? But you were having fun, weren't you?" Luffy asked.

For such an idiotic question... Xion felt her rage grow, as a dark aura appeared around her, her bangs shadowing her eyes. "I will thoroughly kill you," she said, her eyes glowing dangerously red and her voice quite demonic.

Luffy flinched and cowered at the glare, quickly flying his Vaporfly away and towards the Raging Vulture.

"Get back here, you stupid rubberman!" Xion shouted, nudging Pegasus to pursue her captain.

As they flew, some more Vaporflies appeared and shot themselves towards Luffy, who managed to control his Vaporfly to aerial dodge them, thus having them deal with his vice captain.

"Out of the way! Triple Firaga!" She fired a trio of large fireballs at the group of Heartless, burning them all to crisp. More came and fired more of their energy shots and torpedoes at her. "That's really getting old. How about this? Aeroga!" Pointing Fire of Shandora at the swarm, she called upon a powerful gust of wind, strong enough to blow them all away. "Okay. Now go!" At her command, Pegasus continued its pursuit.

With Luffy, he finally caught up with Raging Vulture and got on its back again. Like before, the vulture Heartless sensed the boy behind it and turned its head to face him.

"Okay, you bird bastard! Here I go! Gomu Gomu no Stamp Gatling!" Luffy delivered a barrage of kicks like before, knocking the big Heartless senseless. In the midst of the kicks, he raised up one of the legs. "Gomu Gomu no Ono!" He brought the leg down in an axe kick and stuck it in the beak, leaving yet another dent on it. The Raging Vulture retaliated by breathing out more fire at Luffy. As he couldn't block that like Xion could, all he could do was let go before the flames hit.

"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath, looking around for another Vaporfly to ride on. It was then, though, he felt something grab him by the helm of his shirt. Looking up, it turns out Xion caught him.

"Pegasus, take us to that Heartless, stat!" At the Keyblade wielder's order, the Pegaslick continued on to the leader of the Heartless group.

"Oh, Xion! Thanks for the save!" he thanked.

"Luffy," Xion called, in a tone that sent chills in her captain's body. "I've an idea on how to stop that Heartless from breathing out its flames. You're playing a vital role in that. You know what that means?"

Luffy didn't know what 'vital' meant, but he knew for sure he wasn't going to like whatever plan she had.

Back with the Raging Vulture, with its Vaporfly minions distracting those protecting Rocketman, it prepared its cannons for another powerful attack.

Chopper, who knocked one of the Vaporflies away in his Heavy Point form, noticed the big Heartless preparing its attack. "Hey! Look out!" he shouted.

Upon his warning, the rest of the fighters looked up and were terrified at the sight of Raging Vulture's cannons lighting up.

"I can't stop that!" Guthrie said, regretting not having a medal that would allow him to block what was coming, or launch an attack that could reach the Heartless.

"How about an Impact Dial?!" Nami suggested.

"I don't think that counts as impact!" Allen denied.

Just as the Heartless was about to fire, a powerful blast struck its back, cancelling the energy in the cannons. It looked behind and saw Pegasus speeding towards it.

"Okay, Luffy. You got the plan, right?" Xion asked, standing on top of her Dream Eater. Luffy was about to respond, when the girl leapt off the Pegaslick. "Okay, Heartless! Take this!" She tossed Luffy right at the Raging Vulture, specifically the head.

The Heartless turned to the pair of pirates once more and prepared to unleash more flames when... "Gomu Gomu no Snap Trap!" Luffy wrapped his arms and legs around its beak, keeping it shut and preventing it from breaking out any more fire. "Xion, now!"

"In a heavy rain like this... Let's see you survive this! Thunder Surge!" Cloaking herself in electricity, Xion rushed right into the Raging Vulture. Due to the rain, the attack was stronger than usual, as the Heartless let out a muffled screech in pain. "Not yet! Thunder Blast!" She followed it up with a lightning spin attack. "Thunder Slam!" Followed by an electrifying smack to the head. "And Thundaga!" With a backflip off the Heartless, Xion finished off the combo by summoning a powerful wave of lightning bolts from the sky, which struck the Raging Vulture head on.

Pegasus caught its Keyblade wielder again. Xion righted herself on its back and jumped off it once more. "One more HIT!" She struck the Heartless right on the emblem on its chest. The final strike caused it to glow pink and implode. A crystalized heart emerged from its body before disappearing, as did the Heartless itself.

Landing on the Pegaslick once more, Xion let out a sigh in relief. "Glad that was dealt with."

As she said this, Luffy grabbed onto Pegasus's leg and got on its back. "Yes! We got it down!" he cheered. In response, however, Xion knocked the boy off her Dream Eater, to his surprise, and grabbed him by the leg.

Pegasus flew back to Rocketman, where Xion and Luffy's friends stood waiting for their return.

"All right! You both did it!" Zambai cheered.

"You beat the monster- waina!" Kiwi and Mozu exclaimed in joy.

As soon as her Dream Eater planted its hooves on the cart, Xion slammed her captain down, leaving him sprawled on the roof.

Luffy somewhat recovered from the slam and got back up to face his vice captain. "What was that for, Xion?!" he asked.

"What do you mean 'what was that for'?! That was for slamming me into those Heartless and nearly getting me killed, you rubber dumbass!" she retorted and answered.

"Like I said, I was trying to get you to ride on one of those like I was!" he reasoned.

"I don't care what your reason is! You do not just throw people into monsters that could potentially kill them! Heartless, especially! Don't go thinking anyone could have the same mental wavelength as you!"

"But you're my vice captain! You should know what I'm thinking!"

"That is not how that works!"

As the pair bickered on Luffy's lack of care for what he does with people, everyone else just stared at them.

"Oh yeah, he did do that to her," Paulie recalled.

"No one is ever going to be okay from that," Lulu stated.

Guthrie, meanwhile, was staring more at Xion. Rather, the way she was acting. 'Looks like that darkness in her doesn't grow from Luffy's antics,' he thought in relief. 'I don't want to imagine what would happen if it does appear at a time like this.'

"Kokoro-san! I see a suitable current! 8 o'clock!" Nami informed.

"Okay! We've fallen quite behind, haven't we? Time to make up for the lost time!" Kokoro said, steering Rocketman to the current the Straw Hat navigator spoke of.