Welcome to Port Royal
The Gummi ships flew through the cosmos. "Everything ready?" Goofy asked. "We're gonna be at Port Royal soon."
"They haven't been in contact with the King for a while" said Donald.
"Wait! You're telling me that Disney Castle is establishing relationships with other worlds?!" Sora cried. "But you kept saying that it was supposed to be a secret!"
"Well," said Goofy. "It was. But after all that's happened, the people of the worlds know about each other. The King wants to get people to know more about each other."
"I guess that is a good plan. Like what he did for Radiant Garden?"
"Yeah! Like that" said Donald. "But Port Royal doesn't respond. So we're there to see if there's something wrong. Maybe they're under attack from Heartless."
"They might be" said Sora. "I wonder if Jack's okay. We could talk to him about the problem."
Guided by Sora, the Gummi ship continued to proceed toward the world of pirates and ships. What they didn't know was that the world would soon be free of pirates forever. Lord Cutler Beckett looked out the window from his study in the manor house of Port Royal. He had a direct view of the main square. It was a gratifying feeling, knowing that the pirates of the world were going to be wiped out very, very soon. With Davy Jones under his control, the pirates were barely surviving now. With the addition of Roman Numeral Thirteen, they would be crushed absolutely. The public hangings in the square were presided over by a legion of soldiers, and Armored Knight Heartless. The Heartless were actually more reliable than human soldiers. They didn't waste time talking to one another, they didn't complain of a job was too brutal. They merely followed their orders mindlessly and without thought. In fact, if Beckett could have, he would have replaced the soldiers with the Heartless. But, Maleficent had warned him not to rely too much on the power of darkness. If one did, the Heartless could very well have a new member of their race. He smiled. It didn't matter. He had already assured her that he knew perfectly the power of the Heartless. But, Lord Beckett thought, not all the news had been good. He had gotten a letter from Maleficent by way of her pet raven Diablo, telling him of Organization XIII's return. It seemed that the hunt was on for Thirteen, and why the experiment that was calling itself Tine had suddenly become the most important object in the cosmos he didn't know. All he did know was that he was going to get his hands on it. He stood up and walked over to the window. Then his eyes widened. What was this? Some kind of red and yellow ship was landing on the eastern wall. He could see soldiers running toward it, and shouting. Then, a familiar black and yellow clothed figure emerged from the cockpit. Beckett gritted his teeth. He had never seen the Keyblade Master in person, but he had heard of the boy's many annoying stunts that had cost the members of the Alliance bitterly. He had killed many of them. That would not happen to him. "Mercer" he called. The door to the room opened. A hard faced man in a brown coat and three cornered hat stood there.
"What is it, sir?" he asked.
Beckett walked over to his henchman. "Tell the soldiers to shoot the boy who comes out of that ship on the wall. Kill anyone who comes out after him. There is to be no mercy. Mingle the Heartless in with the soldiers as well. Is that clear?"
"It is" Mercer said.
"Excellent" Beckett said. He returned to watching the windows. "Nothing personal, Keyblade Master" he said softly. "It's just good business."
"Hey! We're here!" Sora cried as he leaped out of the ship. The air was warm and fragrant and the early morning sun was coming up over the horizon. "Let's go to town and see if Will and Elizabeth are---" Sora had been walking around the wall and looking down as he did so. What he saw horrified him. A large crowd of people were gathered before a gallows. The crowd was so huge that Sora could see it went back to town. The people were lining up one after another. Soldiers stood guard over the prisoners. Worse, Heartless, Armored Knights were milling around, making sure people didn't escape. Men, women, and children were all going up to get killed. Even as Sora watched, bodies slumped lifelessly through the trapdoor.
"What's goin' on?" Goofy said in horror. Donald squawked in surprise.
"Heartless! Attacking people?"
"We've gotta stop them!" Goofy said. He pulled out his shield and ran down the steps.
"Right with ya!" Sora said and ran after his two friends. His stomach was a coil of knots. What could have caused this? How could Port Royal have come to this? He didn't know that much about the town, admitted, he had been too busy chasing Captain Barbossa to really ask what everyday life in Port Royal was like, but he didn't think that Heartless and mass executions were a part of it.
Sora and the others had barely reached the end of the wall, when a man yelled out to them. They stopped and looked. It was a man in a brown coat and a three cornered hat. Behind him were a multitude of soldiers and Armored Knights.
"Keyblade Master!" he shouted. "In the name of the Crown, stop immediately!"
"What is this?" Sora asked. "Stop hanging those people, now!"
"I am afraid that is impossible" the man said, stepping toward them. "Lord Beckett's orders are that all who are pirates, or suspected of associating with pirate activities are to be hung from the neck until dead."
"That's horrible!" said Donald. "Stop it now!"
"Yeah! Jack's a friend of ours, and he's a pirate!" said Goofy.
The man smiled. "Ah, so you admit to being party to pirate affairs. You heard him men! Seize and kill them! Bring the boy's head to Lord Beckett!"
"Looks like we're in trouble again" said Sora. He hefted the Kingdom Key in front of him. "Get ready guys."
"Thunder!" Donald cried. A bolt of lightning struck the man in the brown coat head on. When it cleared, he brushed off his singed coat.
"Wha---?" Donald cried.
"Oh, did I mention I was immune to magic?" the man said.
"I have a better idea, guys" Sora said.
"What's that?" asked Goofy.
"Run!!" Sora yelled. The three of them took off down the walls.
"After them!" the man in the brown coat roared. They could hear shouts and clanking armor as the Heartless and soldiers took off after them. A musket ball whistled past Sora's head, making a round hole in the wall near him. More soon followed.
"Wait!" Donald called. The duck stood, panting and faced the soldiers. "We have to fight. They'll catch us anyway!" he ran forward into the mass of enemies.
"Oh, brother" Sora said. "I guess he's right. Come on, Goofy!"
Sora and Goofy followed Donald into the soldiers. Sora struck out with the Keyblade, he smashed it into a soldier's head, feeling the man's neck break as the body slumped to the ground. Feeling sick, Sora dodged an Armored Knight's swing. Gathering his light aura, Sora shouted, "Rising Sun!" and flew into the air, smashing humans and Heartless alike. A soldier was going to shoot Sora in the back when Goofy slammed him with his shield. "Flare!" Donald yelled and several soldiers vanished in an orange explosion. A smell of burning flesh filled the area. Several went down as Goofy spun around, whacking around with his shield. Soon most of the enemies had been cleared away.
"We won!" Sora said.
"Not yet!" Donald cried. "Look!"
Sora and Goofy looked into the square and saw that the hangings were happening as if nothing had happened. No one seemed to have even noticed their presence. "Come on!" Goofy said. "We gotta stop the executions!" he started to reach the final stairs---when a large blast of energy slammed into the stone, sending chips of rubble everywhere.
"I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to interfere with what the law decrees is acceptable punishment for their sort" said a cold voice behind Sora. The Keyblade Master whirled around. Behind him, surrounded by Heartless was a man dressed in black. A three cornered hat covered a powdered white wig. His voice was cold and commanding.
"Who are you?" Sora demanded. "Are you the one who's responsible for this?"
The man smiled. If a snake could smile, it seemed that its expression would be the one this man wore right now. "I am Lord Cutler Beckett, Chairman of the East India Trading Company, Keyblade Master Sora. And yes, I am responsible for the executions of pirate sympathizers within this fair town."
"Well, stop it!" Sora said. "You can't just kill anyone who you think is a pirate! Some of them are innocent!"
Beckett waved a dismissive hand. "Whether they are pirates or not is irrelevant to me right now. The more pressing matter is the fact that the Keyblade Master has entered what I consider my territory. I cannot allow that."
"How do you know me?" Sora asked. "Are you…" his voice trailed off. "You're with Maleficent!" Sora accused angrily.
"Perhaps I am" Beckett said, walking a little closer to Sora, Donald and Goofy. "All I will say to you is that you made a fatal mistake by choosing to land in Port Royal." He drew a gun from his coat. "Goodbye Keyblade Master" he said. He fired a shot at Sora.
Sora dodged it, and flung himself at the Chairman. "You'll pay for this!" he yelled. His Keyblade swung down---and was stopped by a field of dark energy that Beckett had generated around himself.
"You are a fool, boy" he said, smirking. "You are a prime example of someone who is rash and does not think, or plan out their actions. I'm surprised that you survived your encounter with Roman Numeral Thirteen." He shook his head. "It must have been pure luck."
If Sora had not been convinced that this vile man was involved with Maleficent's plans, he was now. "Blizzard!" Sora yelled. A ball of ice shot from the Keyblade and hit Beckett.
"Arrgh!" the Chairman staggered back, his face twisted in anger. "That was a very grave mistake, boy" he said in a dark and quiet voice.
Sora grinned. "Why? If you're planning to kill us anyway, would it matter if we just went quietly?"
"Come on Donald!" Goofy said and charged forward. "Let's get him!" Goofy slammed his shield into Lord Beckett's side. The man stumbled to the side of the wall. Donald's Holy spell sent the ruler of Port Royal flying in a cloud of white light. He slumped forward. Sora stood over him, Kingdom Key in hand.
Beckett raised his head. "What difference does it make if you went along quietly?" he asked. "You're right. I am going to kill you anyway. But going along quietly might have made your ends a little less painful! he snarled. Abruptly his body dissolved into a mass of dark energy. A horde of Shadows poured fourth from it.
"It was a trick!" Donald yelled.
"Of course it was a trick" the real Lord Beckett said from a far away rampart. "Did you think that I was going to challenge you personally? I wouldn't dirty my hands with such as you. Heartless, kill him." The Shadows ran forward for them. The first group was taken out by Donald's Thunderaga spell. Sora's swings took out more of them. Goofy smashed an Armored Knight aside with his shield and yelled "let's get out of here!"
"Yeah, there're too many of them!" Sora yelled. "I don't think we can win against all of them!" they ran back to the ship.
"Hurry up!" Donald called as they scrambled up into the Gummi ship. Sora managed to get the controls.
"Let's ride!" he called and the ship flew up over Port Royal in a flash of its rocket jets. "We have to tell the King about this, too" said Sora. Somehow I don't think this will add too many points to my talk to Maleficent theory said Sora. He suddenly remembered what Nexumair had said about Maleficent instructing Tine to lie about her freedom to lure them to her base. Suddenly, the ship lurched forward as a cannonball slammed into it. The ship began to weave dangerously in the sky, leaving a trail of black smoke behind it.
"We're hit!" Donald said. "Goofy! Shut off the back thrusters!"
"Why?" Sora said. "We have to get out of here! Without the back thrusters, we can't get into space. If we can't get into space, then we're finished!"
"We're leaking fuel!" Donald cried. "If we go into space and the fuel hits the fire from the thrusters---kaboom!"
Sora understood. "Then what do we do?" he asked. "If we can't get into space, what do we do?" the ship was floating helplessly in the air, a sitting target.
"Dive!" Donald cried. Several more cannonballs slammed into the side of the Gummi ship. The abused craft teetered to one side, one side a mass of twisted material. The light in the cabin began to turn red and an alarm began to blare.
"This is bad" Goofy said. "They're getting ready for some more!"
"That's it" said Sora. He swiveled his chair around. With a press of the controls he targeted the walls of Port Royal. Missiles streaked from the Gummi ship and slammed into the walls where they ignited the powder kegs that were used for the cannons. The entire eastern wall became a mass of fire and smoke. Even within the ship, Sora, Donald, and Goofy could hear the screams of the dying. Figures wrapped in sheets of flame staggered and stumbled around the walls.
"Don't look!" Goofy said, turning Sora's and his own face away from the windshield. Sora felt guilty. He had killed people. Well, there were the undead pirates, and that hunter guy back in the Deep Jungle, but that had all seemed distant. Here, he could see what he had caused, the terrible destruction. Suddenly, the Gummi ship gave a shuddering groan that sounded like a man breathing his last. The lights flared brightly for one second…and then the engine quit. It just stopped moving. They were suspended right over the open ocean.
"Oh…damn" was all Sora got to say before they plunged out of the sky and hit the ocean. At that distance it was like hitting concrete. The Gummi ship exploded into a million shards of splinters, energy, dispersed from the engine went crackling everywhere like lightning. The water flared up in a huge liquid wave.
On the ramparts of the wall, surrounded by wreckage, Lord Cutler Beckett watched the crash of the Gummi ship from a telescope. He sighed in satisfaction. "Nothing personal, Keyblade Master" he said. "Just good business."