LOST WORLDS
Chapter 5: Bio-Electronic Navigation
Written by: Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI
Rating: G (K)
Summary: After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.
Disclaimer: We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.
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"Certainly some odd plants here..." Sora commented as they trekked through the jungle. Their search had been relatively quiet so far, but somehow that just seemed to unnerve Sora more.
"You're telling me. Wait..." Jim held out his hand. "Did you hear something?" He looked back to find the Keyblade already in Sora's hand and Goofy pulling out his shield. Sora looked ahead to some moving shrubbery.
"What is it?"
A lowly Shadow slid from underneath the bush and rose from the ground.
"There's more," Sora breathed.
"What?!" Jim looked at Sora, drawing his own sword. "Are you kidding me?! How do you know?"
"The Keybl—" He never got to finish his sentence as the foliage shook. "Watch out!"
The plants shook with Heartless, and they began to pour out into the clearing. Jim ducked just as a Soldier Heartless leapt from behind some pod-like plants, the first of several more that tried to surprise them.
It wasn't long before the Heartless streamed over the jungle floor, all focused on the three. An Air Pirate swooped down to deliver a punch, but Sora rolled out of the way. He deflected the scratching claws of a Neoshadow, and ran back and forth to avoid being bombed by the Cannon Guns. He kept reminding himself not to actually kill the Heartless, but just to defend himself against them.
But defense just wasn't good enough...if they didn't defeat all of these Heartless, they'd never get out alive.
Sora gritted his teeth in frustration. He in no way wanted to provide more hearts for the Organization. They were causing so much turmoil, hurting so many people and turning them into Heartless for their own schemes...
Like the one who said they had Kairi.
But how could he and his friends help anyone if they died here?
"Goofy! I'm gonna drive!" he growled, turning to his two friends.
However, Goofy looked exhausted. He wheezed back a simple, "Okay, Sora." Jim, on the other hand, gave him a bizarre look.
Sora was too desperate to care. He grabbed a recovery orb from one of his pouches and reached a hand out to draw in power from Goofy, hoping that just a few moments in Valor Form would be enough to deal with this lot.
But he felt nothing.
Instead of the normal surge of strength from a drive, something thick and cold crept into his clothes. It spread down his shirt, jacket and pants like lightning ink, but didn't stop there. It spread onto his skin, his face, his hair, everywhere—
In half an instant, all sound and feeling died away. Sora forgot about Jim and Goofy, the world, and even the Keyblade that vanished from his hands. But he did remember one thing...
Enemy...kill!
He raced towards the gang of Heartless at a terrific speed, almost on all fours. A lowly Shadow crumbled into smoke as he raked his fingers through its form. Then another. And another. He then jumped into the thick of them, where the larger armored and magical Heartless crowded together.
The Heartless moved to attack, but never even got the chance to raise their weapons. Sora slammed his fists into them again and again, sending tendrils of darkness streaking with his motions. As soon as one Heartless dissolved into nothing he spun to another to begin again, his attacks flying faster than anything he'd been able to accomplish in a different form.
As if sensing they could be next, the Heartless began to back away as Sora crushed his way through their ranks. For Sora, there was no feeling or sense of placement, just the thrill of unbridled power as darkness channeled through his hands and slammed into his stunned foes. And throughout his blind rage, the mantra continued in his head:
Enemy kill enemy kill enemy kill enemy kill kill kill killkillkillkill!
In what could have been seconds, minutes or hours, the Heartless hordes were completely obliterated. Those that didn't get pummeled into oblivion retreated back into darkness. The jungle fell abruptly silent, leaving Sora in the middle of an empty battleground...and with no enemies left.
Sora spun around, twitching, to where Donald and Jim had watched the entire fight in shocked silence. He just stared back at them with unblinking, yellow eyes; occasionally shifting and twitching as if incapable of staying still.
He took a step toward them, and the knight and cabin boy instinctively raised their weapons. Goofy leaned over to Jim and whispered, "Y-you don't think he'd...hurt us, do ya?"
"How would I know?! We fight these things and then he turns into one of them?!" Morph turned a shade of yellow and dove down the back of Jim's shirt.
Sora couldn't hear their voices anyway. Everything in his vision seemed fuzzy and steeped in deep shadow, and he wasn't sure what to make of these two figures that seemed brighter than everything else.
Kill...enemy...friend?
All of a sudden, the mantra died away and the darkness vanished from his veins. The black in his clothes and skin slithered off in tendrils, leaving behind his normal self. He stood rooted to the spot for a moment, dazed as his senses came spinning back to him.
"Sora!" Goofy cried.
Sora wobbled and collapsed onto his knees, sucking in air as if he'd barely escaped drowning. The Keyblade returned to his right hand with a twinkle of lights. Jim and Goofy immediately rushed to his side.
"Are you okay?" Jim asked. He still looked nervous about approaching Sora.
The Keyblade master attempted to get to his feet, but was still trembling. "I...wha...what happened?"
"You tried to drive, remember?" Goofy said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Everything's all blurry..." Sora groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. Goofy helped him up as he stumbled.
"Okay, now that we finally have a moment to breathe," Jim began, "what on Proteus One were those things?!" He rubbed his neck where a Shadow had scratched him, looking mildly surprised when Morph emerged.
"They're called Heartless," Goofy replied.
"They're creatures that were once human, or...well, maybe alien, too, but that lost their hearts. They're born from the darkness in people's hearts."
Sheathing his sword, Jim looked uncertainly at Sora. "Really..." He still kept his hand tight on the scabbard. Morph provided a dramatization of the creation of the creatures as a little man's heart flew from his body.
"Yeah..." Sora looked off in the distance, narrowing his eyes to focus. "And by the looks of it there are a lot of them here. We'd better be careful if we don't want our hearts stolen."
"Guess I've heard stranger stories."
"Well, believe it, it's true." The Key-wielder held his head.
"Sora, take a load off," the knight suggested, motioning to a nearby rock.
As he took the offered seat, Jim crossed his arms. "Well, considering what just happened, I have to ask..."
In a single quick motion, Jim drew his sword on Sora. "Are you the reason we were attacked?!"
Goofy put his shield in front of his friend. "Not on your life!"
Sora waved his hands. "What?! No way!"
"Then WHAT just happened?" Jim asked suspiciously.
"I-I don't know!" Sora almost yelled. He looked at his own hands. "This has never happened before."
Jim lowered his sword, but kept it unsheathed. "Giant keys, mutiny, creatures attacking...funny, things get weird when YOU get here." He gestured with the blade.
"Chances are the Heartless have already been here," Goofy said. "Or else the Organization brought them..."
"Who?"
Sora continued to stare at his hands. "Another group. Bad guys. Long story."
"Fine. I'll settle for this, then: What WAS it you were trying to do?" Jim paced a little.
"Sora's clothes were given to him by three good fairies. Thanks to their magic, Sora can draw power from friends like Donald or me," Goofy said, pointing a thumb to himself. "Sora calls it 'driving.'"
"You got your clothes from fairies?" Jim looked to the little shape shifter, who molded himself into a miniature Sora donning pink frilly apparel.
Not noticing, Sora mused, "I've driven so many times before..."
"Really. And why do you call it driving, anyway?"
"It drives my body on." He made a fist, flexing his fingers. "It makes me stronger and faster. Just the feeling of the energy forces me on to do what I have to do. My friends drive me on..."
"Really. And you've never turned into a black thing with glowing eyes before?" Jim shook his head.
Sora looked right at him. "No way! Donald and Goofy and I have worked together doing that lots of times before! I mean, even recently, at..." He paused, remembering fighting Demyx. "...when fighting some of those bad guys. When we were together, we drove a lot." He shook his head. "How could the darkness get to me like that? How?!"
Jim squinted one eye. "Okay..." Finally sheathing his sword, he said, "Look, fine, you have a few...issues. But you did defeat those things, and you didn't hurt us, so I guess that means something."
"Means something," Morph parroted and cooed.
"Can you get up?" Jim asked.
Sora stood. "Yeah, I'm just—"
Odd noises and rustling behind them turned heads.
"Again?" Goofy pulled out his shield.
Jim put his finger to his lips, and approached, ready for whatever Heartless might come out of the odd, tubular plants.
When a strange mechanoid creature appeared instead, both it and Jim cried out before the former pounced him.
"Oh, this is fantastic!" the rusty robot shouted as he examined poor Jim, sticking mechanical fingers in his mouth. "Carbon-based life forms have finally come to the rescue!"
Sora's eyes widened when it ran for him. He tried backing up, managing only to trip over the rock he had been sitting on.
The android wasted no time in picking up and embracing Sora. "I just want to hug all of you and squeeze you and hold you close!"
"Hey! Uh--!" Sora struggled as the robot clung to him. "Could you cut it out?!"
"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry." The machine let go momentarily. "It's just...I-I-I've been marooned for, uh, well, quite a while now." He put his metal arm over Sora's shoulder and reached for Jim's shoulders. "Solitude's fine, I'm not really complaining here, but, uh, good heavens, after a hundred years..." He leaned over to Goofy. "YA GO A LITTLE NUTS!" The poor knight fell head over heels at the exclamation.
The machine laughed, brushing dirt off the two young men. "I'm sorry. I am. I am, um... my name's, uh..." He held his head, wracking his mechanoid memory chips.
"Okay," Sora mumbled, but looked on as Morph turned himself into a robot cuckoo clock.
"B.E.N.!" the robot shouted. "Of course, Bio-Electronic Navigator." When he fiddled with the compass on his chest it almost fell off.
"And you are?" He held out a hand to shake for Jim and Sora, and a foot for Goofy, who scratched his head.
"Jim."
"I'm Sora."
"The name's Goofy."
"Aww, I'm sure it is, but really? Your name can't be too silly. Well, pleasure to meet all of you!"
"Look, we're in a hurry—"
Sora stepped up. "We need someplace to hide from the pirates and Heartless—"
"Oh, don't start me on those guys!" he said dramatically. "The Heartless, creepy little guys. They just seem to stare like they don't know what to make of me..."
"I don't know what to make of him," Sora commented as he prattled on.
"Maybe they can't figure out if he has a heart." Goofy shrugged to Sora, who did the same. Jim slowly began to lead them off.
"And pirates! Even worse! I remember Captain Flint. He was so temperamental..." B.E.N. sat down where Sora had been.
"Who's that feller?" Goofy asked.
"Wait, FLINT? You KNEW Captain Flint?" Jim was suddenly intent on B.E.N., approaching him.
B.E.N. sat back. "I think he suffered from mood swings. I'm no therapist, and anyway, but I-- You let me know when I'm rambling, okay?"
"Hey, don't leave us out of the loop! Who's this guy?" Sora crossed his arms.
"No, this is it! It's Flint's treasure we're looking for." Jim was certainly perking up.
And that means..." Jim turned back to the android, smiling. "...You gotta know about it?"
"The-the treasure?" B.E.N. looked clueless.
"Yeah, Captain Flint's trove, the loot of a thousand worlds?" Jim's words were accompanied by Morph transforming himself into a treasure chest.
B.E.N. got up, shorting sounds coming from him. "It's--well, it's...it's all a little-- littlllle--llllittlllle fuzzy."
Jim looked a little disappointed, quite reasonably.
"Wait." He held out his tarnished hands. "I...I re-re-remember." B.E.N.'s eye screens scrambled a moment. "I do, I d--" He suddenly sparked, and the screens changed. "TREASURE! Tons of treasure buried in the centroid—CENtroiD—CenTROid of the mechanism!"
"Is he gonna blow up or something?" Sora commented. Jim shook his head and shrugged, looking just as confused.
B.E.N.'s compass popped in and out. "There was this huge door opening and closing...and opening and CLOsiNg...and Captain Flint wanted to make sure...nobody could ever get to his treasure...so l helped him..."
Sparks flew from the back of his head, and the robot looked pained as his top literally spun. "AAAAHHHH! DATA INACCESSIBLE! Reboot! ReBOOT! reBoOT! ReBoOt!"
"B.E.N...?" Sora grabbed B.E.N. by the shoulders.
"r3b00t!"
"B.E.N.!" Jim finally slapped him hard, obviously as unsettled as Sora and Goofy were.
He settled, asking, "And you are?"
"Wait! What about the treasure?!" Jim waved his hands.
"I wanna say...hmm, Larry, Sara and Goofy."
"Ah-hyuk! He got one of us right!"
"Easy for you to say," Sora snarled.
Jim kept trying. "You said...I guess the--the centroid of the mechanism, or—"
"Sorry. My—my—my memory isn't quite what it used to be. I've lost my mind," he laughed, giving everyone a crazed look. "I've LOST my mind! You guys find it?" He turned to Sora, starting to go through his pockets.
"Hey, stop that!" He pulled a hand out from his jacket. "How could we—"
"Uh, my missing piece?" He motioned to where wires were exposed in the back of his head. "My primary memory circuit?"
"Hey, sorry, but we really gotta find a hiding place," Sora said, still unsettled. "So, um, now it's time to say goodbye to..."
B.E.N. looked crestfallen, eye monitors displaying huge, pixilated pupils. "G-good-bye huh? I'm sorry that I'm so dysfunctional." He got down on his knees, transforming gears and cogs into little wheels. "So, uh, go ahead and...I do understand. I do. I...wish you guys luck...Bye-bye."
"Awww, poor feller..." Goofy commented.
Sora and Morph both gave a pleading look to Jim.
Jim sighed, agreeing. "Look, if you're gonna come along, you're gotta stop talking."
"HUZZAH!" Laughing, the machine sprung to his feet. "Oh, this is fantastic!" he cried, leaping into Jim's arms and pulling the other two over for a group hug. "Me and my posse out lookin' for a--"
Sora chuckled a little, but Jim gave B.E.N. a very cross look.
B.E.N. zipped his lips, whispering, "Being quiet." He hugged Jim's head.
"And you have to stop TOUCHING me."
He leapt from Jim's arms. "Touchin' and talkin'. My two big no-nos. And hey, say, listen, before we go out on our big 'search,' mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" he said, making the universal motions for anyone needing to use the bathroom. "Kind of urgent," he laughed nervously. He then hopped over to a dense tangle of vines and trees, and pulled away the foliage to reveal an odd outcropping and an even stranger dwelling of sorts.
Sora smiled. "Jim, I think we don't have a problem anymore!