Fight for the Black Pearl
Sora smashed a Fish-Man with the Fenrir Keychain. It was his sixty eighth. There seemed to be no end to the mutated monsters that they were facing. They had long ago killed all the Heartless and soldiers that had been on the ship.
"How're you doing, Jack?" Sora called. Jack swung Excalibur into the head of another Fish-Man that was climbing up the deck. "Oh, just fine actually" he said.
Goofy batted the enemies aside with his shield. "There's too many of 'em!" he called. "We can't hold out much longer!"
"I know!" Kairi called across. She was given wide berth by the pirates. "Angel's Embrace!" Kairi screamed. She descended on a group that was had cornered some of Jack's crew against a wall. The green explosion from Kairi's attack sent heads, arms and legs flying. Riku smiled as he attacked his own group of enemies, fighting alongside Donald. From what he had heard, it was this attack that had put an end to Demyx, the Organization member in Twilight Town. Donald cast a fire spell, the ring of flame consuming any that got too close to the pair. "Riku behind you!" he yelled.
Riku turned, but it was too late. Something large and heavy smashed him in the head. He turned; blinking stars out of his eyes to see what he thought was another Fish-Man step onto the Black Pearl's deck. But this was a Fish-Man among Fish-Men. Long and slimy tentacles waved around this individual's face as if in place of a beard. One hand was a large crab claw, and that was what had hit him over the head.
"Why you---!" Riku yelled swinging Way To Dawn---when the Fish-Man whirled around with amazing speed and stabbed him through the chest with his sword. "Wha---?" was all Riku had a chance to say.
The man knelt before him. "Riku, Son of Walker" he said, and Riku, choking on his own blood had a moment to wonder how this man, no this thing knew his name. "Riku, Son of Walker" he said. "Do you fear death?"
Suddenly Riku was filled with horror as a dozen Destiny Island fairytales came rushing into his head. This was Davy Jones himself and if he answered yes, he could be trapped on the Flying Dutchman, for who knows how long.
"Aaagh!" Riku said and hurled himself off the deck with the last of his strength, falling into the whirlpool.
"I take that as a no" said Jones as he kicked the shocked Donald out of the way.
"Damn it!" said Sora as he and Jack fought back to back. There were just too many enemies and they were both running out of energy to fight them all. Suddenly, Jack stiffened.
"I'm afraid this is where I exit stage right" he said.
"What are" Sora said, waving the Keyblade to keep the dark horde back, "you talking about?"
"He's what I'm talking about" said Jack, who was already climbing into the rigging. Sora looked and saw that the Fish-Men were beginning to clear out of the way. Someone was coming. Someone who commanded fear in these monsters.
A Fish-Man smashed Sora in the back with a large piece of wood. "Agh!" cried the Keyblade Master. He smashed the monster into the wall with Fenrir, but it was a loosing battle. More were already pouring over the sides of the deck. Suddenly, the ship began to tilt even more to the side as it sank closer and closer to the center of the whirlpool. More men were hurled off, screaming over the side.
"Kairi!" Sora yelled, suddenly afraid for his friend.
"She's right over here, lad, if you'll care to look" said a voice near a group of Fish-Men. Standing with an bloody and unconscious Kairi in one crab claw hand was a tall Fish-Man wearing a long coat. He was covered with barnacles and other sea plants. The smell of rotting flesh and things buried long under the water drifted off him, more than any of the others. But Sora saw none of those things. He had eyes only for Kairi.
"Let her go!" Sora yelled. He ran to where Davy Jones and his crew were gathered.
"I think, brat, that she'll make a nice addition to my crew. Perhaps a lookout. She doesn't seem to be made of much. She fell easily, but fear not. We'll cure her of that!" he laughed.
"Give. Her. Back. Now." Sora breathed.
"And what will you do for me, if I do?" Jones asked.
"Give her back now!!" Sora charged at him, swinging Fenrir. All of his blows were expertly parried by the undersea captain. "Fine then! How about this!" Sora yelled, he fired a blizzard ball.
Davy Jones jumped over it, and came down on Sora, driving his crablike peg leg into Sora's chest. All while holding Kairi.
"Ahhhhhh!" Sora yelled and continued to attack wildly. Suddenly, a weird and totally unconnected thought popped into Sora's head. I wish Tine was here he thought. If she were here, then she could help beat off this excuse for a coral reef. What he didn't know was that Riku himself was having these same thoughts right now as he plunged into the depths of the maelstrom. Then all of Sora's thoughts of Tine stopped as Davy Jones' sword pierced his side, coming all the way through. Sora felt the warm blood trickling from his injury, but he didn't even feel pain. He was focused entirely on Kairi.
"Are you tired yet, Keyblade Master?" Jones asked, and kicked Sora in the face. He stumbled back, barely managing to block a swing at his throat.
"I'm never tired!" Sora said, and returned the swing with one of his own. Jones jumped over him. As the captain of the damned landed behind Sora, Sora swung at his back. Jones blocked once again. Then he swept his peg leg out and knocked Sora's legs out from under him.
"Damn you!" Sora cried as he went down. He tried to block the following downward slash, but it got him across the stomach---ironically across the line of his old scar from Tine.
"Guhhhh" Sora gurgled as blood poured from his mouth. He struggled to get up. I've been losing a lot lately he thought.
"Now that's a nasty wound" said Jones, laughing. "I'll bet you can't fight anymore" he said. He dodged as Sora swung at his head. The Fenrir missed, but the heavy Keyblade smashed the wooded wall where the Ferryman of the Dead's head had been a minute ago.
"Sorry, Captain Asshole" said Sora. "But this fight's far from over. I'm not stopping until you give up Kairi."
"Then burn in Hell!" Jones roared and stabbed at Sora again. Sora ducked under him and stabbed with Fenrir at his chest. The Keyblade smashed right through Jones's chest, sending him staggering back with a stream of curses. He dropped Kairi to the wet, rubble and blood scattered deck. Then he laughed.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that I'm a rather heartless wretch?" he said, and ran Sora through the chest with his blade.
"No---freakin'---way---" Sora gasped as he felt it puncture his heart. The muscle spasmed and stopped as the metal entered it. The Keyblade Master fell to the floor with a thud. Davy Jones picked up Kairi and carried her away, kicking Sora's limp body out of his path.
"No! Sora!" Elizabeth called. She watched Sora fall in a pool of blood to the ground. She hacked her way to the fallen Keyblade Master. Davy Jones had taken Kairi and departed for another part of the ship---most likely to find the wayward Jack Sparrow. Elizabeth silently cursed Jack under her breath. He had caused this whole mess.
"Elizabeth! Is that you?" asked Will as he cut off the head of another Fish-Man. "What are you---is that Sora?" he asked, confused.
"Yes, hurry we have to help him!" she said.
Will picked Sora's head up off the ground. "Here Sora" he said. "Drink this" he tried to get some rum down Sora's throat, but the Keyblade Master threw it back up, along with a rather large amount of blood.
"What do we do?" Elizabeth asked. She couldn't stand to watch Sora die here. He had stayed back to help them out of the mess Jack had caused and now he was going to die because of it. Suddenly, her dark thoughts were interrupted by a small voice.
"Don't worry, ma'am" it said. Elizabeth Swann, now King of Pirates turned to see a small mouse-like creature elegantly dressed standing near Sora. He held a similar weapon to what she had seen of the original form of Sora's Keyblade. Before she could say anything, the mouse stood in front of Sora and chanted "Light, give me power!" a cage-like aura of white light began to surround the mouse. "I need you and him to guard me while I do this" he said. "It's important!"
Will and Elizabeth quickly did as they were told.
"You've gotta wake up Sora" King Mickey said and a ball of golden light flew into Sora, healing his wounds. The Keyblade Master sat up.
"Huh…wha…where…Kairi!" he yelled as he remembered. "Thanks, Your Majesty!" Sora called. Then he ran through the wind and rain to face his enemy again.
"Jack Sparrow!" called Davy Jones, seeing the pirate about to descend into the lower reaches of the ship.
"And you're going to fight me carrying a girl on your shoulder?" Jack asked. In answer Jones attacked him. Jack and Davy Jones raged and slashed at one another in a fight for dominance.
"I've got to stop him" said Will.
"I've got to get Kairi!" said Sora.
"I have to rescue my father" Will answered and both of them took off to where Jack and Jones were fighting. Suddenly Sora heard a sound. Ba-bump Ba-bump Ba-bump. It seemed to come from somewhere. Then Sora realized where it was coming from. It was coming from a small chest that Davy Jones was carrying. It was for this chest that the sound emanated. The heart Sora thought, remembering the old stories. It's his heart! If I destroy it…then I've got him! he signaled to Will, who nodded that he understood. Sora and Will ran at the fighting pair.
Jack managed to get under Davy Jones' guard and slash at his face. In answer Jones raised Kairi, so that she took the slash across the back.
"What the hell!" Kairi shouted in anger and pain, waking up at last.
"Oops, sorry about that" said Jack as he dodged another blow.
"The bastard!" Sora said through gritted teeth. "He's using Kairi as a fucking shield!"
Will slashed Jones in the back with his sword. In surprise the Lord of the Deep whirled around, leaving himself open. Sora snatched Kairi from his grasp, both of them rolling onto the deck.
"Kairi! You're hurt!" Sora said.
Kairi struggled to her feet. "Not hurt enough to stop fighting!" she said and plunged into another army of Fish-Men.
"Damn you, Jack Sparrow!" he snarled as Jack took advantage of the distractions to snatch the chest. Working feverishly he opened it.
"Jack! Destroy it!" Sora yelled as he and Will clashed swords with the raging Davy Jones.
Suddenly Sora heard a horrid sound: the sound of a sword sinking into flesh and bone. He looked at Will and saw that Davy Jones' sword was sticking out of Will Turner's chest. "Nooooooo!" Sora yelled. He whacked Jones away from Will and knelt by him. "This can't be happening" he said. "Oh, King Mickey where are you?"
Jack's blade hesitated over the beating heart within the chest.
"Destroy the damn thing!" Sora yelled"Do it for Will!"
To Sora's horror, Jack began to bring the chest over to where they were. Was he mad?
"What are you---?" Sora began, but Jack elbowed him out of the way. He grasped Will's hand over the blade and stabbed down with it.
Then, time seemed to freeze. Something happened. All of a sudden Sora felt a surge of heart energy. Then Will was gone.
Davy Jones dropped his sword. He staggered over to the side of the ship. Suddenly the vessel gave another violent lean to the side and the undersea captain was thrown off into the whirlpool. Sora thought he heard him whisper "Calypso" before disappearing. Almost at once, the whirlpool began to clear up. The Flying Dutchman vanished once more beneath the waves.
As the sun came out, Sora gasped in horror. The horizon was filled with waiting East India Trading Company ships. At the head of them was a ship containing Lord Beckett.
Aboard the Endeavor, Lord Beckett was amazed that the Flying Dutchman had been balked by a bunch of pirates. Then, looking through a spyglass, he saw who was on board. "The Keyblade Master, of course" he said. "How else could those ruffians have won?" he gave a signal.
"I want the Endeavor to approach the Pearl" he said. "And sink her." He smiled again, thinking of how he was going to enjoy the Keyblade Master's death.
"Oh no" said Donald. He pointed at the Endeavor that was approaching on the horizon.
"We'll never be able to stand against that" said Kairi. "What do you think, Riku---where's Riku?" she asked.
Gibbs looked down. "I don't know how to tell you this, but your friend…he…well…he…"
Suddenly a splash of water rose out of the ocean near the Black Pearl. It was the Flying Dutchman…but at the same time, it wasn't the Flying Dutchman. It was better looking, still fierce but good. At its head was Will Turner!
"Your friend is right here!" Will called. Sure enough, Riku stood next to him on deck.
"Will!" cried Elizabeth. She seemed oblivious to the ship that was coming toward them, intending to blow them all to smithereens.
"Prepare the cannons!" Jack cried to the men. They hurried to prepare what few cannons were left.
"Prepare to fire" said Lord Beckett. The soldiers and Heartless on board hastened to follow their master's orders. Suddenly, he became aware that the Flying Dutchman was coming at them.
"What is this?" asked one of the soldiers.
At that moment cannon fire ripped through the Endeavor. It split wood and other ship's materials.
"Lord Beckett! Orders, sir! Please, orders!" asked the Admiral. "We neee---" he was cut off as the entire back of the ship was blown up by the combined power of the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman. This wasn't supposed to happen, Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company thought, seconds before the explosion claimed him. Perhaps if he had possessed Roman Numeral Thirteen---
Sora watched as Lord Beckett's ship was anhialated. He could see hearts drifting up as Heartless on deck were destroyed. The last thing he saw was Lord Beckett's shocked expression. Then the ship blew apart.
"And that's that" said Kairi.
"Yeah…I guess it is" said Goofy with a sad expression.
The Flying Dutchman was so close to the Black Pearl that Riku jumped across.
"Riku" said Sora. "Where were you? You had us all worried!"
"I fell off the ship" Riku said. "I thought I was going to drown down there. I shielded myself with dark power but I didn't know how long I could hold out."
"What about Will?" asked Sora. "Why is he alive? I mean…it's great and everything, but…how did it happen?"
"I thought you knew the stories of Davy Jones" said Jack, walking up next to them. Sora dismissed the Keyblade---just in case.
"The Dutchman has to have a captain. Whoever slays Davy Jones, but destroying the heart is obliged to become the new captain."
"So Will's…" Sora said.
Jack nodded.
Sora looked at Elizabeth and Will who were both talking. He watched them go travel away from the Pearl in a small boat.
"Good luck to them" said Kairi. "This whole thing is like something out of a book…I never thought I'd get involved in a pirate fight."
"Well, young lady, if you're ever looking for a pirate, remember Captain Jack Sp---"
"Okay, that's enough" said Sora. "We've gotta go now. Thanks for giving the Keyblade back Jack" Sora said, smiling when Jack grimaced.
"Well, it was nice while it lasted. I think I've got a knack for this Keyblade Master business."
"Don't get used to it" said Riku. "Come on guys. Let's get out of here."
When they were back in the Gummi ship, Sora looked around at the world map.
"Where are we going next?" Riku asked.
"You're going to Radiant Garden, and then after that to the Islands" said Sora.
"Where are you guys going?" asked Kairi.
"Where going to visit Hercules, and get stronger" said Goofy.
"Well, take care" said Riku. "We'll fly to Radiant Garden first and then you guys can have the ship."
"Okay" Sora said, and kissed the Keyblade. It felt good to be back on top again.