Authors Note: Moving right along. Here's the next one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing recognizable. Just Katy, Ryan, and Cassie.
"Cassie"
"Riku"
The first thing Katy realized when they entered the world was that all of the color had been drained away. The second thing she noticed was that they all looked like old cartoon characters.
"This is the most ridiculous thing that has ever happened to me." She muttered, noting that even her voice sounded weird.
"Look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" Goofy exclaimed.
Sure enough, there it was, sans pedestal…and sans castle for that matter.
"What's going on? Everything's in black and white!" Sora exclaimed, looking and his hands.
"Hey, this is kinda like…um…uh…" Donald searched for the right word.
"Déjà vu?" Goofy supplied.
"Yeah! That's it!"
"Really? Have you guys been here before?" (Heh, Steamboat Willie reference XD)
Before they could deduce if the talking animals were in fact re-living their pasts a large dog that looked rather familiar ran up to them.
"Hey, seen any bad guys around here?"
Oh, the irony.
The four exchanged glances before pointing at pre-Pete.
Needless to say, he was not amused.
"Why I oughta!" He put up his fists (paws?) as though he wanted a fight, then thought better of it and put them down. "Bah! I don't have time to waste on punks like you. So I guess I'll go easy on ya." And with that, he left in the direction of the pier.
"Well, there's our villain." Sora said
"That was easy." Katy added and the four of them followed their enemy to the pier.
When they found Pete, he was still rather miffed with them. And them chasing him wasn't doing anything to make him feel better.
"What's with you squirts? You got some kinda bone to pick with me?" Pete yelled.
"More than one." Sora retorted, crossing his arms.
"Them's fightin' words!" Pete exclaimed, one again taking a battle stance.
Then a steamboat whistle blew, distracting his attention. He tried to walk away again, but this time, they weren't having it.
"No way, dude. You're not getting off so easy this time."
Pre-Pete's battle skills were even worse than the normal Pete's…assuming they weren't the same guy. However both Pete's didn't like it when they lost.
"What's you punks' beef with me anyway?" He exclaimed, stomping his foot like a little girl who didn't get her pony for Christmas. "Who are you? You new around here?"
"Cut the act!" Sora exclaimed.
Oh, apparently he didn't think that Pre-Pete and Pete-Pete were different people. My bad. I overestimated his intelligence.
Pete, thinking he was going to be attacked again, jumped up, then fell to the ground clutching his head while the quartet looked on, now a bit confused.
"Y'know, somethin' doesn't seem quite right here." Goofy observed. "Are you sure you're Pete?"
Pre-Pete looked offended.
"Well, of COURSE I'm Pete. I'm the captain of the steamboat. So, stop botherin' me, see? Hit the road! I gotta go find the little runt that stole my boat!"
And with that, Pre-Pete crossed his arms and proceeded to pout. After deducing that he wasn't going to attack them again, (really, he didn't attack them in the first place) the quartet decided it was time to hold a conference.
"Gawrsh, maybe we made a mistake." Goofy whispered.
"I'm starting to think the same thing. He hasn't even called any Heartless." Sora agreed.
"Plus, this guy is even more of an idiot then the one we know, I don't think he'd even now what to do with the castle if he found some way to take over it." Katy added.
Deciding they should apologize, goofy tapped Pre-Pete on the shoulder.
"Sorry we attacked you like that Cap'n Pete."
Pete rounded on them, agitated.
"Oh, yeah? Well if you're really sorry, then go find my steamboat."
"Y-Yes sir!" Sora agreed.
With that, the four rushed back to Cornerstone hill. Pre-Pete was scary when he was angry.
"I thought for sure Pete was the bad guy." Sora sighed, running his fingers through his spiky hair in frustration.
"Aw, that would be too easy." Donald replied
Katy snorted
"Yeah, and since when have out lives veer been easy?"
"Good point" Sora said with a grimace.
"C'mon, fellas. Let's try to find that steamboat." Goofy reminded them.
It amazes me that he's always the one who's on task.
Sora and Donald both began to speak at the same time, it came out as some variation of 'I guess we've got/did a door to find say we would.'
Katy stared at them blankly.
"English, please? Or include subtitles when you speak."
"We have to find that door!" Donald exclaimed.
"Oh yeah." Sora said, grinning sheepishly.
"I don't see any doors." Donald stated, crossing his arms (wings?) with a huff.
"Great observational skills, Sherlock." Katy retorted.
"Huh? What's this?" Sora asked gesturing to a floating window with a tassel next to it that had NOT been there originally.
"I really don't like this place." Katy muttered as Donald pulled the tassel.
A scene started. There were four doors that were letting Heartless leave through them. In the background another door that looked suspiciously like the one they came through started to shake, and the four of them fell out of it.
"Look! There's the Cornerstone of light!" Goofy exclaimed.
Sure enough, there it was, sans pedestal…and sans castle for that matter.
"What's going on? Everything's in black and white!" Sora exclaimed, looking and his hands.
"Hey, this is kinda like…um…uh…" Donald searched for the right word.
"Déjà vu?" Goofy supplied.
"Yeah! That's it!"
"Really? Have you guys been here before?"
Then the scene ended.
"Whoa, okay, WHO was video taping us because that, my friends, was creepy.
"Heartless goin' out…" Goofy started
"…And us, coming in!" Donald exclaimed. He went back over to the tassel and pulled it again. This time, four doors, the same four doors that were in the scene, appeared behind them.
"Okay, let's get rid of those Heartless!" Sora said, drawing the Keyblade and heading towards the first door.
"Then what'll we do?" Goofy called after him.
"We'll worry about that later!" Sora shouted back, already opening the first one.
"Always the planner." Katy said with an eye roll, jogging after him, the talking animals close behind.
Through the first door was a construction sight. The sound of hammers and chainsaws filled the air.
"What are they building?" Sora wondered aloud.
No one had time to answer him before a hammer shaped Heartless appeared. Before anyone had time to draw their weapons, a very familiar mouse swung in on a cable and sent it flying.
"The King!" Donald exclaimed.
"Gee, he seems kinda different somehow." Goofy muttered.
"You think?" Katy replied, bemused as she watched the mouse wave to them from the top of the structure's skeleton.
And he wasn't the only one up there…
"Heartless! I knew it!" Sora exclaimed.
They managed to take care of the Hammer-frames and Minute bombs without taking the entire structure down with them. Katy thought it was a great personal achievement since she usually crashed and burned when heights were involved.
The King, if it was really him, shook Sora's hand and waved to the rest of them before taking off.
"Hey, look!"
They turned to where goofy was pointing to see another magical floating screen. Donald pulled the tassel and another scene started.
Maleficent was standing with her back to them. She didn't seem too happy.
"You absolute idiot! You've managed to fail at everything! And what's more, you foolishly thought you could take my place while I was away. Well, as of now you're finished. Mark my words, there will be no place for you. When our time comes!"
She walked away, throwing a "useless imbecile" over her shoulder as she went.
When she was gone, a familiar voice stuttered out,
"But-but…but, I" before the curtain closed.
The four of them stared at the screen blankly.
"What-?" Sora managed to get out, exasperated.
"Somebody sure was angry!" Goofy observed, referring to Maleficent.
"I don't understand." Donald piped up.
"That makes four of us." Katy retorted.
"Let's just try to clear the Heartless first. This place is okay, but we've got three more spots to check." Sora sighed. All of the logic started getting to him.
As they made there way to the next area, Katy lagged behind the group, lost in thought. She couldn't understand why the gods couldn't throw some good luck their way and have Maleficent stay dead. Katy, in truth, had forgiven Riku a long time ago for everything he did. All of the blame had to fall on the evil witch. Manipulating people when they were at their most vulnerable was low, really low, and Riku couldn't really be blamed for his weakness. And of course, on the subject of Riku, not came Cassie, who experienced the same pain she once had whenever in the presence of the old hag. Honestly, she didn't know how to help her. She had a pretty good idea of why Maleficent could no longer hurt her, but she couldn't be sure, and she didn't know if it would be different for her friend. The only thing she was pissed of at Riku about was Cassie. If he hadn't been so pig-headed, Cassie could have been living a relatively carefree life right now. But no, she had to get sucked into all of this craziness too. They should have T-shirts made up, because this was becoming a club. She was jerked out of her thoughts by fingers being snapped in her face.
"Anyone home?" Sora teased.
She smiled softly, batting his hands out of the way.
"Yeah, I'm here. C'mon, let's go."
"You alright?" He asked, brow furrowing.
"Spectacular. Let's get moving. I don't like this place. The lack of color is depressing."
Sora nodded, knowing when to leave well enough alone and followed her to the next area.
"Okay, who slipped me some of that stuff from Wonderland?" Katy demanded.
"The town shrunk!" Sora exclaimed.
"Or maybe like Katy said, we just got bigger." Goofy wondered
"Hey, Look at the toy cannons!" Sora laughed, walking carefully over to them.
"How old are you again?" Katy snickered, boys and their miniature weapons. Sigh.
Their attention was captured by the could-be-King again. He was gesturing frantically at them.
"What's he saying?" Sora asked
"I don't know. I don't speak…that. " Katy replied.
Then they "toys" came to life and started attacking them.
"Oh, man. They're Heartless!" Sora groaned.
After killing more Hammer-Frames and Aeroplanes, they managed to save the little town from utter destruction. Once again, the maybe-King shook Sora's hand and waved at them before running off. And once again, again, there was a floating window thing with a scene waiting for them.
It was a continuation from the last scene. Maleficent was gone and the familiar voice was moping to itself.
"Aw, for cryin' out loud…she didn't have to go and say that. Okay, I might've messed up every now and then, but I'm a lot more things than useless. Why when I was startin' out. Oh…I miss those good 'ol days…what I wouldn't give to go back in time. What I wouldn't give…
There was a flash of light and a familiar door appeared behind the sobbing voice.
The person went forward and opened the door.
"Hey! I think that's my—
And then the scene ended.
"A door?" Sora said
"Once again, your observational skills astound me." Katy deadpanned, shaking her head.
"That's the door Merlin magic'd up!" Goofy exclaimed
"So it should come straight here, right?" Sora figured
"Sure, I think."
"Let's check it out!"
"This is getting really old!" Katy groaned as they went through the next floating door.
After a round of saving people from bunnies, flames, and speeding tickets they sought out the floating screen and watched the next part of the scene.
Maleficent was standing in front of the door from the last scene, which had been left open.
"Fascinating. This appears to be a portal to the past."
"Yeah! It was the strangest thing." The familiar voice replied.
"Stop gawking!" Maleficent yelled, "And start thinking of a way to use this to our advantage."
"Okay"
"Now" the witch continued. "Perhaps I could give you one more chance to redeem yourself."
"Oh, thank you, thank you! You can count on me…! So what do I do?"
"Patience, my dear…what have we here? Well if it isn't the Cornerstone of Light…Mmm… Now we can take the castle from those fools—but we'll have to proceed with the utmost of care."
And on that promising note, the scene ended.
"Maleficent!" Donald exclaimed
"I really hate that woman." Katy retorted
"She must have known all along!" Sora reasoned
"Let's see…if that door's connected to the past…" Goofy started.
"No, no, no! It comes here!" Donald interrupted
"This is the past, duckling!" Katy snapped
"Wow. If we're in the past…" Sora began, catching on
"…we can change the future!" Donald finished his thought
"Hold on, fellas! Remember what Merlin said? He's got faith in us. And we have to resist temptation no matter what!" Goofy said, firmly.
"Yeah, no making yourself king." Katy told Donald sternly
"Aw, I was only joking." Donald replied sheepishly.
"Who'd want to change the future, anyway? So… what are we gonna do?" Sora asked
"Doors, bad guys…Gawrsh, my brain hurts!" Goofy exclaimed, scratching his head.
"You're not the only one. C'mon, lets go through the last door. There's nothing else to do right now." Katy said, trudging to the final floating door
The others followed after her, all in varying states of confusion.
Meanwhile back at Disney Castle, The Queen, Merlin, Cassie and Ryan were waiting anxiously for the quartet's return. Ryan had gone to "scout" the castle (he was still convinced that there was candy hidden somewhere. Worse than a five year old, I swear.), while Cassie opted to stay with Merlin and the Queen in the Hall of the Cornerstone. While they assured her they would be fine, she didn't want to risk anything by leaving to she stayed in her corner watching, as the thorns seemed to inch closer and closer to the glass sphere. Every now and again she'd feel a jolt or foreign emotion, which she knew belonged to Riku. It was kind of nice, actually, leaving the link open. For one, she didn't have a horrible headache anymore and knowing that he was there in her mind was kind of…comforting in a weird way. Another thing on her list of things she would never, ever tell Katy was that Riku's decision to give into the darkness had effected her as well. She could feel it every once in a while, calling out to her. Telling her to go to it, to join it, god, it sounded like something out of the Lord of the Rings, but it was true. Riku told her that even if she didn't embrace it fully (which he advised her NOT to do), she could still have some of the perks, like creating dark corridors and certain combat enhancements, but she refused. She didn't want to feed the darkness anymore than she had to. But times like right now, when she wasn't doing anything that put lives in danger; she could literally feel the dark and the light warring inside her. Not a fun feeling, but just something else she had to deal with.
"Is it really that bad?"
"You know, it's not polite to eavesdrop on someone else's thoughts."
"Kind of hard. You think really loud, you know?"
"Not funny."
"I wasn't joking. It's hard not to eavesdrop."
"Sorry. I'll work on that somewhere in between killing Heartless and having and repairing Hollow Bastion."
"You never answered my question. Is the feeling really that bad?"
"It feels like someone's playing tug of war with my heart. A very vigorous game of tug of war."
"I'm sorry."
"Again, I'm over it. And it wasn't really your fault anyway so stop with the pity party."
"I'm working on fixing the darkness problem. Just hang in there."
"Don't worry. I don't plan on converting any time soon."
"Good, 'cause this sucks."
Laughing to herself Cassie shook her head and checked her cellphone, which was now completely useless except for telling time. The other's had only been gone for a few hours, but it felt like much longer. She hoped they came back soon. She needed something to do to keep her mind busy.
"I can give you something to keep your mind busy."
"Why do feel like that was an innuendo?"
"Because it was."
"Pervert."
Back in Timeless River, our favorite foursome was currently trying to get the Cornerstone of light away from the normal Pete. Pre-Pete or good Pete or whatever the hell you want to call him had been kicked out (literally) of the waterway when trying to reclaim his steamboat from normal Pete who was using it to steal the Cornerstone. Getting it back required swinging over to the boat on a crane and slashing the hell out of the crate that the glass sphere was in. Basically, everyone was confused and tired, and more than ready to get back to the present where everything was in color and there was only one of everybody.
When they finally broke the damn cage, Pete managed to get out of the water an was headed for the door back to the present.
Following him all the way back to Cornerstone Hill, the quartet arrived just in time to see Good Pete and Bad Pete duking it out.
"No, this is just…we can't have both of them in the same room." Katy groaned
Good news is Good Pete decided to help them even though the beat him up before. Bad news, Bad Pete decided to run all over the freaking world while fighting them. When they finally beat him, everyone was even more exhausted than they were before, if possible.
"Serves you right!" Good Pete yelled to Bad Pete as he summoned the door that brought him here.
"Sora, the door!" Donald exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know." Sora replied, running to lock it.
"Hurry, so we can get out of here!" Katy wailed desperately. "I miss my purple hair."
Sora locked the door and there was a moment of nice, peaceful silence…until Good Pete ruined it.
"Would someone tell me what'd been going on? Who was that creep anyways?"
Katy groaned from her spot on the ground and buried her head in her knees
"Just shut UP!"
"Hello! That creep was you from the future!" Sora tried to exclaim, but Goofy covered his mouth before he could ruin everything and possibly explode the universe.
"Oh never mind! Good Pete huffed "Well, sorry I put you guys through all that trouble."
"Yeah, well just don't make a habit out of it." Donald deadpanned, causing the others to snicker.
To show his undying appreciation and love for them, Pete decided he's let them pilot his steamboat, so they were able to put the Cornerstone of light back in it's rightful spot.
"Fan-freaking-tastic. Can we go home now? Please?" Katy whined, tugging Sora in the direction of the door.
"Hey! As long as we're here—" Donald started.
He didn't get to finish before Sora and Goofy dragged him towards the door and threw him inside, Katy laughing like a maniac, behind them.
Back in the Hall of the Cornerstone, the thorns suddenly disappeared.
"By George! They've done it!" Merlin exclaimed.
"Did you expect anything less?" Cassie asked and the Hall went from Dark and gloomy to bright and happy.
The door started to shake and Donald flew out of it, followed by Sora, Goofy and Katy, who was still snickering.
"Welcome back!" Queen Minnie exclaimed. "Because of your bravery, the castle is safe and protected once again. Thank you so much for all you've done."
"Yes, huzzah!" Cassie added, laughing.
Katy grinned, whispering something to Sora before going off and joining her friend.
"Hey! Headache better?"
"Yep, much better. The breathing totally helped."
"You'd be surprised how much I'd forget to with my head splitting open like that."
Cassie giggled.
"C'mon, let's go find Ry. He's still on his quest for candy."
The two girls walked through the shiny halls pausing every once in a while to ask a guard if they'd seen a boy on a sugar mission.
"Hey, Katy, how did you do it? You know, not writhe in pain whenever someone mentions her in conversation?"
Katy sighed.
"I can't pinpoint exactly, but I think it was when I stopped being scared of her. I mean, yes. She's a fire-breathing dragon, quite literally, but, she had no power over me. She was dark, and I was light, and I was going to win. The end."
"I'm not scared of her. I'm scared of what she can do. To me, to you, to…" Cassie trailed off.
"Hey, Riku's not gonna make the same mistake twice. Even he's not that much of a bonehead…at least I hope. Me? I'll be fine don't worry about me. And your strong, Cass. Don't let her get to you. She's got nothing on you."
"Thanks Katy."
"No problem. That's what best friends are for. Sandbox love never dies."
"Isn't that a band?"
"Is it? I don't know."
The two girls continued wandering until they found Ryan, who had not succeeded in his quest for candy. The three friends walked back to the hangar, meeting Sora and the others who told them the Cornerstone had been the trigger for the next pathway. (Go Figure.) The quartet said their goodbye's to Cassie and Ryan, who were heading back to Hollow Bastion to continue helping with the reparations.
"If you head over there again, make sure to come find us." Ryan said, giving Katy a hug.
"I will, don't worry."
She clamored on the ship pulling Sora down to the seat next to her when he went to drive.
"Let's let Donald have a turn. Okay? You still have a bit to learn when it comes to piloting space vehicles."
Sora laughed, but nodded.
"Yeah, I guess you have a point."
"So did I miss anything important when I was looking for Ryan?"
Sora smirked.
"Well, Donald has a very special sweetheart back at the castle."
Katy laughed and Donald groaned.
"Really, now? Tell me more"
Needless to say, if ducks could blush, Donald would have been bright red the whole rest of the trip.
A/N: Sorry if this chapter was as boring for you to read as it was for me to write. I tried to keep things interesting, but Timeless River is a pretty boring world. I'll have more chapters up tomorrow! See ya then!