Disclaimer: Honest, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just this story, people, that's all…(And I wish I could say Roxas was mine too…)
Chain of Hearts, Chapter 11:
Alternate Twilight Town
By Nagori Kirashi
Sora had just turned their sleek Gummi Ship in the direction of their next intended stop when suddenly Pence was heard yelling his name on the video cam.
"Sora, Sora!" Pence yelled, and when Sora looked down at the screen, he was horrified at what he saw.
Olette was cowered in the corner of the Usual Spot while Pence shook the TV cam to get their attention. Outside, sounds of countless, whisper-like feet could be heard, along with the clanking of swords growing closer. Pence continued to yell, "What's going on?! You gotta help us, man!"
Just as he said this, a black orb appeared in the middle of their so-called safe haven, raising its swords at them. Sora yelled Pence's name just as his friend ducked from view to avoid the attack of one of the intruder's swords.
Instead it hit the TV screen, and the connection was lost.
"I'll hold them off," Riku said, unbuckling and almost instantly diving into a blackened portal that he had created in front of his seat. The portal disappeared behind him.
"Are we gonna go help them, then?" Goofy asked Sora.
"Of course we are!!" Hayner yelled, sitting forward with huge eyes in his seat. His hand was held over the top of his knife sheath as if ready to do just as Riku had done and jump straight into action any second.
"We can't help them,"
Donald protested. "You heard Leon; we gotta stop the
Organization!"
"The Organization can just wait," Sora said
darkly, then grabbed a speaker set and pressed the number that
connected them to the Radiant Garden.
"Hey, you called?" said a voice distorted by static. Even so, Sora could still tell it was Yuffie.
"Change of plans," Sora said into the small headset. "We're heading to Twilight Town."
And with this, the ship swerved around and made a sharp turn as they changed its course.
-,-,-
Pence had just ducked when he heard the sound of something electronic being smashed.
'Oh no, I'm sorry, Sora,' he thought as he crawled over to his friend Olette to protect her. She was huddled up in the corner behind something, and the strange creature had his eye on her next. All he could think to do was grab the steel pipe Hayner kept beneath their tattered sofa and hold it up as two sharp swords made contact with it. The steel clashed loudly, and the strong vibration it sent through both ends was enough to cause Pence's hands to grow numb and force him to drop his only weapon.
Just then he saw another cloud of darkness appearing, similar to the one he had just seen before the awkward white being had come to them out of nowhere. The person who leapt from it was quite the opposite of their first intruder, however, and it seemed the devastating creature that had ruined Pence's computer was gone before the person's feet had touched the ground.
"Who are you…?" Pence asked. He could think of nothing else to say.
Turning, the tall figure with pale grey hair said to them with a small smile, "Nobody, just your rescuer." Then the world seemed to grow darker as more of the strange creatures appeared, and Riku began to unleash his own dark powers against them.
Pence and Olette remained low, waiting for the worst.
-,-,-
"What's going on?" Cloud asked as he walked into Merlin's shelter. Leon, Yuffie, and Tifa were all arguing persistently over eachother as the tallest of them, Leon, paced back and forth. Aerith walked past Cloud and left the building altogether as he stood in the doorway. Cid was typing like never before on his computer, and he must have bit his straw in half by the way his jaw was still clenched and a jagged-ended chewing stick lay inbetween the keys on his keyboard.
"Sora changed 'is routes," Cid said. "He's goin' ta Twilight Town first now. Lil' bugger just called in an' told us."
"That's not all," Leon said, no longer pacing. "Cid has to hack into his Gummi Ship and hook up his computer with Sora's communication system. According to Sora, their…'Headquarters' in Twilight Town is under attack."
"I thought we decided that place isn't even real," Cloud said, rubbing his forehead as he walked over towards his favorite wall. "The place that kid Hayner is from, right?"
"Yeah," Leon said, now ignoring the argument still going on. Yuffie and Tifa didn't even seem to notice they had lost a voice in their debate.
"…If that's really all that's wrong," Cloud began, straightening himself and glancing towards the door leading towards a whole town where he could hide from their relentless arguing, "Then…"
"No, I wish it were, though," Leon said, rubbing his own forehead with both hands, then finally turning to the two girls. "Hey, shut up. You're giving me a migraine."
Both Tifa and Yuffie cut their sentences short, releasing their breath as a sigh after holding it as the words that were the equivalent of Leon yelling sunk over them. The silence was brief, however, and suddenly both were at it again.
Leon sighed heavily.
Cloud noticed Kairi's name thrown into the girls' conversation, and just as he was about to ask, Aerith walked in. The quiet girl went over to Tifa and Yuffie to tell them something but when she did Aerith was forced to back away suddenly as the two girls closed in on her instead.
"Hey, stop it!" Cloud yelled angrily, holding one arm out to his side and stepping inbetween Aerith and the other two. "What'd she ever do to you?"
They had no reply for him and sunk into permanent silence this time. Blonde bangs swayed across Cloud Strife's forehead as his infuriated gaze shifted from Yuffie to Tifa and finally to Leon. He was waiting for an explanation, and at last Leon spoke.
"They took Kairi."
-,-,-
When Sora and the others got off of the ship, Hayner was the first of them to take a step backwards and look at Sora strangely. The fact that there were no Samurai in sight didn't faze him nearly as much as the growing feeling inside.
"This isn't right," he told them uneasily. To him, everything around him looked made-up; there was no place, no world, that was more familiar, yet somehow Hayner felt like a total foreigner.
Sora was silent for a moment as he stared back at Hayner, then finally he just motioned and said, "C'mon, let's just get to the Usual Spot."
So, feeling as if he were in a dream, Hayner followed them until at last they got to the place he felt was like home. He was constantly shifting and looking behind himself as if afraid there were someone stalking him.
When they got to the Usual Spot, however, Hayner skid to a stop just outside of it, then said, "Sora, don't make me go in there. This doesn't feel right."
Again Sora was quiet, now just gazing at Hayner as if unsure what to think.
At last Sora said, "Alright, you can wait out here with these guys." Donald and Goofy looked reluctant to listen, but they did.
"Two minutes, Sora," Donald warned impatiently. "This is no time to just make us stand around and do nothing, you know."
"I know," Sora replied with a drifty voice. Then he walked in.
When he entered the cozy open-shelter, he realized exactly why Hayner had felt the way he did.
He was standing in the presence of Pence, Olette, and Hayner…
The real ones.
Sora lost his breath for a moment. Suddenly nothing felt real to him, either. It was all a dream.
"Hey, Sora!" Hayner said out of them first, jumping up excitedly. "We haven't seen you forever—where've you been, man?"
Sora looked the opposite of happy as he stared back. Memories that he had stored away deep inside of himself flowed back, and the last month sorted itself out like a puzzle given to a person who just had their blindfold removed.
Sora remembered long ago when he had been standing outside the mansion with Pence, Hayner, and Olette. They had been talking about an Alternate Twilight Town. He looked down at his hand as he remembered comparing his money bag to the one that Olette herself had made. Somehow they were duplicates of eachother.
'This must be from the Alternate Twilight Town,' Olette had told him. The Struggle Tournament Trophy had been another piece of evidence that proved there was more than one town by this name.
Walking into the mansion in a large group that included Donald and Goofy as well, they had eventually found a room that led to a secret sort of basement. Inside, Pence had been able to unlock a mechanism that transported Sora, Donald, and Goofy into what Sora had called "Roxas' Twilight Town."
Sora remembered what he had called it. Was that why they had ended up in the other place instead? This was the first time that Roxas hadn't been the one leading them to Twilight Town; maybe his connection to the ones in his own Twilight Town had been enough to draw him back there time and time again.
Roxas hadn't even met the three people they were standing in front of. Not in person, anyway.
'But…friendship?' Sora thought to himself, confused. 'That other Twilight Town isn't real; how could they have friendship if they're not…? They don't even have hearts, do they?' This key similarity didn't strike Sora right away, nor did he have time for it to come back to him. He felt a hand rest gently on his shoulder.
It was the Hayner he knew, the one he had been fighting with side by side for what felt like almost a year. Sora wondered how he could even ask himself whether his Hayner was real. He had been with Sora for the last month, hadn't he? It wasn't like this was Castle Oblivion, was it?
"How—?" Pence began, standing as he noticed the other Hayner glancing wearily from behind Sora. There were a few differences, they could see; for one, the Hayner standing behind Sora had many more cuts and bruises, and he also had a weapon strapped to his side that they could tell was special just from the handle and the sheath he kept it in.
"…You're from the alternate Twilight Town, aren't you?" The real Hayner spoke softly. He went slowly over to his twin, both staring at eachother with a similar curiosity.
Finally the "alternate" Hayner stepped out from behind Sora, and both held out their hands and placed them against eachother in front of themselves.
"It's like having a mirror," the real Hayner said quietly, turning to Sora. It did look as if it were so, despite these small differences.
Alternate-Hayner lowered his own hands, then asked his twin sadly, "Does this mean I'm not real…?"
The real Hayner was silent for a moment, holding his chin in thought, then turned and, punching his twin's shoulder, he said with a grin, "Not with an attitude like that!"
After a moment the Hayner that Roxas had known also began to lighten up, and he said, "Oh yeah?"
The true Hayner received a hit in the shoulder in return for the one he had given, and both laughed.
"I can't believe this," Olette said, watching the two as she slowly came a bit closer. "This has got to be the strangest thing since…the last time Sora came here!"
"Yeah, I think you have a point there," Pence said with a smile. It was awkward watching the two Hayners together, yet at the same time it was fascinating.
Finally the real Hayner stopped, and turning to his copy, he said, "Here, you want proof that you're real?"
"Okay," Roxas' Hayner said, drawing in his breath slightly as if holding it. "Bring it."
"'Kay, if you're really my copy," Hayner began, "then you're just like me, right?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay, so do this." Hayner placed a hand over his heart so he could feel it beating. Silence filled the room as the "alternate" Hayner did the same.
"Don't you feel it?" the original Hayner asked his twin after a moment.
"…Yeah," the other Hayner said, a huge smile spreading across his slightly bruised face. His chest lifted slightly as if he had regained much of his confidence, and suddenly they really were a reflection of one another.
"As long as you can still feel that," the actual Hayner continued, "then you're still real. Just as much as I am, trust me. You're here, aren't you?"
"…Yeah!" Suddenly the fighter was back to his almost childish self as he grinned back. Sora was thankful that they had the small differences they did, or he would have been left clueless by then as to which one was which. Both were so alike. 'Obviously,' Sora reminded himself.
"Hey," Donald said, and suddenly Sora realized that both he and Goofy had been standing present behind Sora the entire time, watching the scene unfold. Neither, it seemed, had wanted to listen to Sora when he said to wait outside, and Sora was actually thankful for that for once. There was no way to repeat what they had just seen. "We have another Twilight Town to save; we gotta go now!"
"You're leaving already?" Hayner asked his replica sadly, and as he did, Pence and Olette joined them.
"Sorry," Sora said, somewhat embarrassed. "Um, I know I'll be back, anyway."
"Will you, then?" Hayner asked the foreign replica from the alternate town. "Please say you will, 'kay?"
"Every day," Roxas' Hayner replied confidently, then added almost casually, "after I'm done savin' a few worlds, anyway."
"Aw, you wish," the other one joked, elbowing him lightly with a grin on his face.
"If you guys need any help, we'll be here, alright?" Pence said for his two friends.
"We'll keep that in mind," Sora said, then turned with a smile.
"Later, then?" asked Hayner as his twin walked off. They really were like twins now, it seemed.
"I promise," the alternate Hayner vowed, then ran to catch up with Sora. Without realizing it, both smiled at the same time.
-,-,-
Naminé looked down at her drawing and realized she was drawing a picture of her and her friends all sitting at a picnic. Each of them looked content as they munched on their own sandwitches.
Embarrassed that she was letting herself be influenced by the pain growing in her stomach, she crumpled it up and threw it lightly to the other side of the room towards the corner. It rolled to a stop next to a browned apple core that had been picked clean. As if to show her own tidy nature, it was set upright, perfectly centered in its corner as it waited for someone to clean it up.
Naminé sighed and stared at it somewhat in disgust. She didn't mind sketches lying around, but to her, this was just uncalled for.
"They could at least come and get that," she sighed aloud. "Ugh, I hate to think of what it looks like wherever they are…it's got to be a total disaster. Maybe Roxas was right that I'm better off here."
Just as she said this, a figure began to appear on the other side of the room. Naminé stood from her chair, glaring at the growing shadow as if about to go retrieve the apple core and throw it in their direction.
When Marluxia's features were fully formed, he noticed her look.
"Tsk, tsk," he said to her casually. "Still mad at me from before, I presume? Or are you just throwing a hissy-fit because you can't be with your special nobody?"
"He's still someone to me," Naminé said defensively, rather than reply directly to the question. Her eyebrows closed in on eachother angrily as she motioned one foot forward. At the same time she took a small step backwards with her other foot as if to prove her hesitancy.
"Very well…By the way, speaking of your 'special nobody', he asked me to bring you this," Marluxia said, then threw another apple to her. Naminé caught it with both hands in front of her, and her face reddened slightly when she noticed a bite was taken out of it.
Marluxia grinned crudely and turned his back to her.
Furious, Naminé took another step backwards, aimed, and threw the apple at him with all her might. To her dismay and somewhat relief, he disappeared before it hit him. Instead, it bounced off the wall, cracked partly in half, and wobbled across the floor towards her. Resisting the urge to go over and stomp on it, she sat back in her chair and picked up her sketchbook once more.
The pencil made it no farther than touching the paper as she continued to stare at the wounded apple several feet away.
Finally, as anger and lost hope shook her quietly, Naminé reached over and took it.
-,-,-
"That was weird," Hayner declared as they stepped into the room that would transport them to his own town. "…Did I mention that already?"
"Only about fifty times," Donald said, rolling his eyes.
"Gawrsh, though," Goofy said, nudging Donald and Sora. "I mean, did either of you expect that?"
"Nope," Sora said with a smile. "And I sure didn't think it would turn out that way, either."
"Say, what is this?" Hayner said, going over to a large beam that was aiming towards the floor.
"Touch it, I dare you," Sora challenged him.
He laughed when Hayner reached out at first, then pulled his hand away distrustfully and said to Sora; "No way, it's gonna shock me, I just know it."
"You wuss," Sora said, then pushed Hayner directly into the beam. Hayner was instantly transported into what looked like the same room at first, then noticed a computer that had been working seconds ago what was now smashed to bits.
"Sora?" he asked worriedly, turning. "Donald? Goofy?"
The remaining three friends appeared soon after, and they were laughing.
"That was not funny," a miffed Hayner said, pushing Sora slightly. "But this does feel right, I guess…I still don't like the feeling this place gives me. Let's get out of here."
Just then Sora stopped in mid-step and looked around. Another bad feeling was growing inside of him, and the Keyblade appeared in his hand. He said to them quietly, "Brace yourselves. They're going to be everywhere."
"Uh, what there's gonna be everywhere?" Goofy asked, holding up his shield as they slowly approached the exit leading to the inside of the mansion.
"…Roxas' Samurai," Sora replied quietly.
-,-,-
"God, where're these things coming from?" Pence yelled, running next to Olette inside a transparent shield made from the powers of darkness that Riku was struggling to hold up consistently. Riku had his hands pressed to the outside of the shield, feeding its strength through his hands while he seemingly pushed the two along. He himself was unprotected from the torrents of creatures that leapt and bound across every street corner. It wasn't a swarming crowd yet, but it was enough to make it incredibly dangerous. Not a single civilian was on the street except for them, and Pence doubted they counted, thanks to their mysterious savior.
"Don't ask, keep running!" Riku yelled to them, wincing sharply as one of the swords of a nearby Samurai slashed his leg. "We have to find somewhere that's safe!"
They couldn't find anywhere, and at last, Riku used all his remaining magic to create a shield around Pence and Olette that would last, he hoped, for at least five minutes. They stopped as soon as Riku made the shield, no longer able to move now that he wasn't moving as well.
"Hold on," he told them calmly, right before Keyblade appeared in his hand. As the two helpless friends put their hands on the nearly-invisible wall of Riku's shield, he said, "I have to fight them off. We can't keep running."
"I hope he knows what he's doing," Pence said to Olette, and she nodded almost shyly in agreement.
Suddenly the Keyblader reeled around and leapt in the air, finding himself in a duel against one of the Samurai. The world seemed to grow more quiet as time slowed down just enough for him to study the sleek creature's movements and look for any sign of its next actions.
Just as he was about to unleash his self upon the intruder, Riku winced and found himself flung sideways ruthlessly when another of the agile Samurai decided to intercede and take advantage of the one-on-one combat. The Samurai he had been dueling with before he'd been knocked aside continued to land towards him, and he held Way to Dawn up with both hands, blocking the creature's sword from his own vulnerable body. Riku managed to leap up while spinning himself in a complicated circle that managed to knock the two problem Samurai away from him, plus a third that had been coming up from behind.
The Samurai, however, barely seemed phased, so confident by their own numbers.
Just then Riku looked over and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Sora run past him while holding his own Keyblade and forcing one Nobody to subside altogether. Hayner, Donald, and Goofy weren't far behind, and Riku used his weapon to push back the Samurai still trying to sever his head.
"Hold on, Olette," Hayner yelled over at his two friends, Pence and Olette. His knife gleamed black as he held it. "There's no way I'm letting them get to you!"
They worked together, Donald curing them when they were in critical danger, and Goofy also working hard as he shared his magic with his friends. The three teens each had their own fighting styles as well, with Sora still referring to his agility and reflexes while Riku fought beautifully. At one point Sora thought Hayner was literally comparable to a Berzerker when he took down a Samurai who dared to attack their friends' shield.
At last the area was cleared out, and Riku's shield faded at last. Other than a possible movement off in the distance now and then, they couldn't see any more of the limber creatures. The devastating sound of their swords wreaking havoc upon their town had also disappeared. It was as if every Samurai for blocks had heard the fight being waged and had come to join it, only to be defeated.
"C'mon," Riku said first, his breath heavy. "We've got to get back to the Usual Spot. We can talk there."
-,-,-
Riku took a deep breath as he contemplated all that Sora had told them about what had happened. Donald and Goofy were consulting eachother about something nearby on a couple of the makeshift chairs set up, though neither of their voices were lowered, suggesting to the others that it was nothing worth listening to. No sign of any more Samurai had been seen by the group as they had returned, though they still kept out a sharp ear for any attackers, should they decide to close in on the group once more.
"Wow, that is pretty weird," Pence agreed, an unusually clear picture of what the non-alternate Town must be like forming in his mind. He, Hayner, and Olette sat next to eachother nodding their heads to themselves, and Sora was reminded briefly of human bobble-heads. Donald and Goofy stopped long enough to turn.
"Is anyone going to say anything else?" Donald asked at last with irritation. They could hear the small pat as his webbed foot slapped the floor impatiently. "Those things are gonna come back if we just sit around here all day, not to mention we've got an Organization to deal with!"
"You're right, I know," Sora said, straightening his back with a sigh to make himself look more attentive. They were all still tired from fighting off the Samurai, but Donald did still have a point.
Then Hayner flinched as he felt a soft finger tap his shoulder, and when he turned he smiled at Olette as she stared at him with soft green eyes.
"Is there any way I can help at all?" Olette asked him, and Hayner couldn't help but grin.
"I'm not sure what help you'd be," he said to her smugly. "I mean, you gotta be tough like us if you want to join the team."
Riku and Sora smirked at Hayner's confident remark, and to hide it, Sora covered his mouth and chin with one hand while resting his elbow in his other as he looked away. Riku managed to hide his laugher as a cough.
"Alright, then," Olette said, also now smiling. "So I'll just quit asking your teachers for your homework?"
"Oh," Hayner said quietly, hanging his head. Obviously school had slipped his mind. "Right."
Olette giggled, however, and Sora commented, "Hey, maybe with those Nobodies attacking there won't even be school."
"It's the weekend, you doofus, there's no school anyway." Pence laughed and threw something to Sora, a random gift that Sora recognized as a Thundara Anklet. Not even sure whether it was Saturday or Sunday, Sora could also only reply with no more than an "Oh," as he stuck the small gift into his pocket.
"The way is growing darker, I can feel it," they heard Riku say suddenly as he looked in what must have been the direction to the World That Never Was. The others could only guess. "We should be heading out soon."
"Aww," Olette complained, hugging Hayner's arm. "I don't want you guys to leave again." Sora felt a pang of sadness as he recognized a look in Olette's eyes similar to the parting look he'd received from Kairi that same day.
"We'll be back," Hayner promised. "Along with Roxas…and Naminé!"
"Speaking of Naminé, are you getting over her yet, then?" Pence asked Hayner teasingly with a nudge.
"What?!" Hayner declared, right before feeling a feminine hand slap one side of his face. All the others laughed at him and the glare he was getting from Olette. Hayner himself, though, was surprised deep down how little Naminé's name now meant to him, now that he was here with Olette.
There was no way he was letting himself get distracted by any short blonde girls from now on.
"Alright, enough messin' around. We gotta go, you heard Riku," Donald said, still the impatient one of the group.
"A-hyuck, c'mon, Donald," Goofy tried to persuade his shorter friend.
"Well, I'm ready too, but I can wait," Sora said, shrugging.
"If you're ready, then where's the Gummi Ship at?" Riku asked. Sora's eyes grew slightly wider as he remembered the last place he had stepped off of it; way back in their other Twilight Town. It had been parked outside of the train station, but it may as well have been in a different world. It practically was.
Being the more rational one of them, Riku realized after hearing Sora's story that this is where the Gummi Ship must've been. Then he thought of something.
"Hey, Sora, how about a bit of practice with the darkness?" Riku offered. "Seeing as you're going up against it and all."
"What're you talking about?" Sora asked suspiciously, then jumped when a black portal appeared. The adrenaline was already taking affect by the time he realized moments later that it was Riku who had created it. "What's that for?"
"I can open this thing for you," Riku said, "But I don't know where your Gummi Ship is. It's not that hard; so, d'you think you can lead us to it through here?"
Their brunette friend hesitated for a moment, staring at the black portal as if expecting it to suck him in. He remembered when Roxas had led them to Twilight Town through a similar portal, all thanks to Riku for using the darkness to open it. If Roxas knew how, then maybe Sora still remembered how, too, then…
"It's not that hard," Riku repeated. "Just go where your heart leads you, and imagine it clearly in your head. If you believe in yourself enough, you'll end up where you need to go. Trust me, it's simple."
"Is that all?" Sora said, turning. "Then no problem, let's go!" He still couldn't hide a nervous twitch on one eyebrow, even as he showed them his best confident smile.
"That's the spirit," Riku said, feeling like a proud tutor yet not showing it in any way as they hung closely to Sora and followed him through.
Hayner hung behind with Olette in the meantime. Their departing was nowhere near as sweet as Sora and Kairi's, thanks to Hayner's blatant attitude, but to Olette it was still well-appreciated.
"Hey, I'll see you in a few, 'kay," Hayner said, tilting his head at the semi-long haired girl before him. "And don't go getting into trouble while I'm not here, got it?"
"I won't," Olette promised with a laugh. "I'll be thinking of you, Hayner."
"Hey, thanks," Hayner said, and Olette replied cheerfully, "Don't mention it."
There was an awkward silence as Hayner turned away with an embarrassed look on his face and Olette continued to look at him expectantly. Noticing the look on his face that was quite out-of-character for her competent friend, she was just about to ask what was wrong when Hayner suddenly leaned over and gave her a quick kiss before looking away again. Both blushed as another moment of startled silence followed.
"So…I'll…" Hayner held his hands in his pocket and traced a shape on the ground with his shoe, unable to meet her eyes. "See you soon?"
"Yeah…" Olette replied somewhat breathlessly. She was quiet, and a cute smile played her lips.
"Okay, er…Hey, guys, wait up!" Hayner turned suddenly as he was nearly the last to run into the portal. If Riku had been right when he'd told Sora how to use the dark vortex, then Hayner didn't need to be with the others to find his way to the Gummi Ship; he was usually good enough at expecting things to be where he believed them to be if he felt like it, so that was no problem for him. But afraid it would disappear before he got to it, he wasted barely any more time in running over to it.
Just before stepping through, however, he stopped and gave Olette what he hoped to be his nicest smile. Hayner was delighted when he got a smile from Olette in return. Pence shook his head and waved goodbye, and Hayner was still waving as he disappeared through the portal.
At last Hayner, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and last but not least Sora were all seating themselves in the Gummi Ship, and Sora was just flipping on the power-grid that would, he hoped, communicate him to the Radiant Garden. If he knew Cid at all, the persistent Gummi expert would have somehow hooked up his own computer to their Gummi Ship by now after hearing what had happened.
Not to Sora's surprise, Cid's face lit up on the screen, but it was not to Sora's relief either when he noticed the look on the blonde adult's face.
"Sora, ya there yet?!" Cid asked, looking through the screen almost desperately at the Gummi Ship captain. "We got som' bad news down 'ere, I think ya oughta' be hearin' some of it. Yeh know yer' girlfriend, Kairi?"
"She's not my…yeah?" Sora said, changing his sentence. There was no use in hiding it, nor was this the time to anyway. Something was up. "What's wrong with Kairi? Is she okay?"
"Them Organization people came an' took 'er!" Cid looked like he were about to shake his own screen. "An' I'm stuck with a whole group a' people who're flippin' out about it, so yeh' better hurry up n' save 'er ass!!"
Riku, Hayner, Donald, and Goofy all looked at eachother when they noticed the extra sounds being picked up and processed through the ship's speakers; the voices of Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud, and Tifa could all be heard arguing loudly. When they listened closely, they could make out some of the details of what had happened; they learned that it had been when Yuffie was with her outside, and the person who'd attacked her had been carrying a shield as a weapon.
Suddenly Cid disappeared from the screen as Leon shoved him out of view. "Sora, just get to the World That Never Was. Go before they take any more advantages over you."
Yuffie could be seen behind him as she added, "Yeah, and who knows what they're doing to her! You better hurry up!"
"I'm already on it," Sora said deeply, his head lowered in concentration as he stared out the window in front of him. All the passengers, excluding Sora, were suddenly deafened by the sound of the engine being fired up as Sora forced it into acceleration before it had a chance to warm up. Cid's voice could only be heard by his fellow citizens in the Radiant Garden as he yelled for Sora to go easy on his Gummi Ship, yet those aboard the fierce machine were unable to hear much at all.
"I'm coming, Kairi," Sora whispered in a voice too low for the others to hear, even if it weren't for the beast-like roar of his vessel. "Just hold on."
-,-,-,-
