Bug City – Part 2

Guess who! OK, let's wrap this mother up.

I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog or Kingdom Hearts, savvy? On with the story!

"Hopper's afraid of birds!"

Flik sounds like he's just had the most earth-shattering, history-changing, generally awesome revelation.

"Of course he is. He's a bug! Birds eat bugs!"

"Exactly! We can clear this whole thing up, and no one has to know anything! Just keep pretending your warriors! Except you three: you are warriors."

"Whoa! Flik, honey! We are not about to fight grasshoppers, OK?" complains Rosie.

"We'll fight them!" says Goofy with gusto.

"We don't have keys to hit them with."

"Don't worry! You'll be gone before the grasshoppers ever arrive! Except you three: you're our backup."

"Not another word!" says Manny, who is still seething about the 'false advertising' quip Flik made. "I don't know what you're concocting in that little ant brain of yours, but we'll have no part of it!"

Flik looks crushed. Looks like the backup will be the only plan. A group of kids rush in, getting everyone's autographs. My hand writing is really messy, and looks a bit dwarfed next to Gypsy's elegant curls, or Dim's footprint. The kids leave, more excited than ever. Manny doesn't look so reproachful anymore.

"Alright. We are going to build a bird. One that we can control from the inside, which will then be hoisted up above the anthill and hidden in the trees. Then, when Hopper and his gang show up, we launch the bird and frighten them all away! Any questions?"

"What's Plan B?"

"Sonic beats him up."

"Good enough for me."

"Right! Let's get to it!"

The plan is proposed to the council. They agree to it: they must be pretty desperate. Atta rallies the ants very impressively. She does have what it takes to be a great leader; she just doesn't see that yet. She also doesn't see the way that Flik looks at her.

Phase one of Project Bird-Brain, aptly named by Flik, goes underway immediately. A bird shape is cut out of a leaf, which Gypsy and I hold up in the sky against the sun so that it casts a bird-shape shadow on the ground. The ant on the ground place twigs around the shadow to use as a template for the mechanical bird. Dim strolls along with a huge twig that he places as the spine of the bird.

An acorn is split into two to create a beak. A shell is used as a megaphone for the voice. Rosie attaches everything together with her webbing. Leaves from the trees, all turned fiery colours by the breath of autumn, become the feathers of the bird.

In the end, it's not a bad bird!

Of course, when you're about two feet away from it and it's not moving, you can tell it's not real. However, for Hopper and the rest of the grasshoppers, it will be moving, and by the time it's two feet away from them, they'll be as good as gone. The whole thing is hoisted into the tree after the ants practise their flapping. The bird won't actually fly, per se: it'll swing from the rope it's suspended on. The flapping is only to make it look like its flying.

The rest of the night is spent partying!

Someone cracks open the dew supplies and everyone drinks all night. It has a strange flavour to it that I'm not fond of, but the ants love it, which is what matters. They did most of the work, after all. A giant conga line stretches on from what looks like miles from this level, but is probably only about ten feet long from my usual height. Dim catapults the children ants into a web spun by Rosie. Atta still doesn't look at ease.

"If you worry as much as you do, you'll get wrinkles. Just look at your mother!"

"No, no, I'm having a good time!"

"Really."

"Well..."

"Everything will be fine. I promise. We've got the bird as Plan A and us as Plan B."

"But, what if everything does go wrong? You're only little!"

"Doesn't matter. Just as long as I have something to fight for, I'll be undefeatable. It's when I start fighting for the sake of it that I'll begin to lose. Besides, I have Donald and Goofy with me! Three heads are better than one."

"I suppose."

Flik breaks away from the main group and waves me over.

"Just relax, OK? Enjoy the party! Everyone else is."

I leave her with those wise words of wisdom and join the other 'warrior bugs'.

"OK, you guys. When the party settles down, we all sneak out the back lane, and you're out of here forever."

The circus bugs exchange looks, which is surprising. It sounds like a fairly reasonable plan.

"Dim don't wanna go."

"Well, if Dim stays he's going to need me here: he's not fully house trained."

"I, uh... kinda promised the Blueberries that I'd teach them canasta."

"It seems that we've been booked for an extended engagement."

Well, this is quite the development. I'm not sure if Flik looks happy or shocked. A bit of both, maybe.

"And, you know you always have us here to help, too!" says Donald.

"We promised you, didn't we?"

Atta comes over, starting to enjoy the party. We leave her and Flik together for their little moment and go join the conga queue. We need to party as much as we can before the grasshoppers get here to ruin it all. We get there just in time, because a horn sounds from a tree. It's one of the signals! Everyone gets to their positions.

Which ends up being a waste of time.

A wagon driven by millipedes charges over the hill, almost landing on everyone. A flea seems to be steering them. I suppose I can't take anything for granted in this world. The circus bugs run and hide for some reason. The party's certainly died down now, so maybe they're leaving. The ants, on the other hand, get closer.

"Ladies and gentleman! I am the great P.T. Flea! I'm in need of you assistance... Forget it, let's just cut to the chase. Look, I've been going from anthill to anthill looking for a bunch of circus performers. Have you seen 'em?"

A couple of flies unroll a poster. A poster bearing the images of Francis, Slim, Manny, Gypsy, Dim, Tuck and Roll, Heimlich and Rosie. I can just imagine what's going through Flik's head right now. Actually, I can't, because this has never happened to me. Donald, Goofy and I decide to stay out of it, not really having any business in these affairs. Instead, we fly up onto a tree and watch the scene unfold from afar.

"I really think we should be doing something about this."

"Sonic, we can't meddle in the affairs of other worlds!"

"Then, what have we been doing so far?"

"The whole bird thing probably would've happened anyway. Just as long as we don't make too many changes, we'll be OK."

"Poor Atta. Poor Flik. They're the one's going to get blamed."

"Poor us, too. Gawrsh, I don't think the Queen will show us the Keyhole now."

"We have to get to it. We're going to help them, whether they like it or not."

"How are we gonna convince them?"

"I have no idea. It'll have to work out, somehow."

Whatever happens down there, it's not good. Flik and the circus bugs leave dejectedly. He's probably been exiled.

"This really isn't good."

"It's looking less and less likely that we'll get to the Keyhole."

"... Not if I can help it."

I throw myself off the branch, leaving Donald and Goofy behind. They're not the best smooth talkers, so I'll have to do it instead. I still need to convince the Queen to let us see the Keyhole. Besides, I've grown attached to these ants. I want them to come out of this mess with smiling faces.

I hover above the crowd, searching for the Queen's crown. When I find it, I land down next to her. She doesn't look very happy to see me, surprisingly enough.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, your highness?"

I few ants try to step in as her body guards, but she shoos them aside. We go for a walk to somewhere private.

"Are you going to try and convince me to let them all stay? Because it's not going to work."

"No. It's just..."

"You should leave too."

"Your majesty-"

"I won't hear any of it! We've decided to pretend none of this happened."

"And what about the grasshoppers?! What about when they get here?! Are you just going to pretend that they're not coming?!"

"Hold your tongue, child."

"Is that your answer? You're the Queen! It's too late to sweep everything under the rug. The grasshoppers will come and destroy you, and I don't think you want that. Not for the children. Not for the colony. Not for yourself. Your ancestors would be rolling in their graves if they heard you, condemning your whole family to their imminent dooms. You know that we're your only hope, but you're too stubborn to let us help you! You have more ants than is necessary to stand up to the grasshoppers, but you're too stuck in your ways to make use of that!"

She slaps me. I think I got carried away.

"Young miss! Never in all my days have I heard such things come out of the mouth of a woman! You disgrace me! You disgrace yourself! And yet... You're right."

"Your highness, I'm sorry that I flipped off, but Donald, Goofy and I really are warrior bugs. We're travelling around, helping people in need."

"Why would you do that? The world is such a big place for such small bugs."

"True, but it's our job. We help people because it's the right thing to do, not because we gain from it. Also, I'm not a girl."

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just... your colours... and your wings..."

"Now I know how Francis feels."

"My dear, I'm also sorry that I snapped at you. If your hearts command you to stay here and fight off the grasshoppers, then I am not one to interfere. However, I fear that the fighting may cause harm to come to my colony."

"More harm will come if nothing is done. You're just trying to protect them."

"Yes, and I think it's not me who is to protect them, but you."

"You know, Flik really was just trying to help. And the other bugs were going to stay here on Ant Island. They've grown... attached."

"You have too, I see. If you weren't then you wouldn't have confronted me in such a colourful manner!"

"Is there any way of forgiving them? I think the bird plan really will work."

"Unfortunately, they did deceive us, and have put us all in danger. The only way that they could be welcomed back into the colony would be if they prove themselves to us. If they do that, then they might earn their place here."

"Thank you for speaking to me, your majesty."

"Thank you for talking some sense into me, my boy."

I smile at her, and she smiles back. When I abandoned my role as prince to travel the world, nobody could understand why. In truth, I wouldn't want the burdens of everyone in my kingdom to bear down on me. Too stressful, and I'd be stuck in one place. The Queen here does a very good job. It's a pity Atta doesn't have her mother's confidence, or she'd be a good ruler too. The Queen flies off to do queen-ly stuff.

I'm not alone for long, however. Dot muscles her way through the shrubs, desperate to come talk to me. When she finally gets through, she throws herself into my arms.

"What're we gonna do, Sonic? The grasshoppers are coming and we've got no one left!"

"That's not true, Dot. You still have Donald, Goofy and I to help you."

"You three up against all those grasshoppers?"

"I've been outweighed more than that before. Maybe I'll tell you about my adventures some time. Right now, though, the colony is in trouble, and I have to prepare. I'm still not very good at flying."

"Well, maybe I can help you get some practise!"

"You can't even fly yourself."

"Well... I've got a plan. It's just..."

"You mother wouldn't like it."

"Yeah."

"Well, your mother didn't like the way I spoke to her, but she listened eventually. Why don't you try?"

"But, she said Flik and those other bugs had to earn their way back into the colony."

"Oh. It's about them, huh?"

"I really think that this bird could work, but we need Flik here! He's the one who thought it up! And, as much as you hate to admit it, you are just three small bugs, against a million grasshoppers. We could use all the help we can get."

"Let's hear your plan then."

She explains it to me. It's fraught with danger, especially for the kids, but she's adamant that it'll work, and I don't have the heart to turn her down. Besides, it's the best we can manage at the moment.

"If we leave now we can catch the wagon up!"

"But it's night-time. The whole colony will go ballistic if their princess goes missing!"

"I don't care. Now come on!"

I sigh and pick her up, taking flight into the sky. Donald and Goofy are gonna kill me for this. I reach the branch where they were before, but they're not there anymore. They must have gone to see how my audience with the Queen went. I just hope they'll understand, and help the colony if the grasshoppers show up before we get back.

We fly through the night as fast as my wings can carry me. The reason we need my flying abilities is because we're going to have to go over the Canyon. As fun as that sounds, it's our only chance.

"They all left on that wagon, right? So, that means they wouldn't have been able to get over the canyon! They'll have had to go around, which means that if we cross the canyon we can catch up to them."

"And because it's night-time, there are no birds around! Not a bad plan, Dot."

"I told you, Sonic!"

A thick fog settles on the ground, but it's reasonably clear over the canyon, so we don't fly into anything. The air is chilly and crisp with the oncoming of winter. We both cross our fingers that no birds come to eat us. I don't think I could out-fly or scare them away if they do.

Luckily, it's quite a mundane flight.

Once we cross the canyon the skies clear again. Ant Island remains cloudy, while the rest of the world comes into sharp focus again. The sun creeps over the horizon, casting everything is a warm orange glow. It would be pretty, if it wasn't the sure sign of the arrival of the grasshoppers. We don't see any, but that's probably because they're not stupid enough to fly over the canyon.

We eventually catch up to the wagon. They made quite good head way, considering it was only about an hour ago that they left. Dot yells at the wagon, getting their attention. Especially the attention of Flik. I drop Dot into his arms and land myself. I need the rest after all of that flying.

"Dot? Sonic? Why are you here? Did you... fly all this way?!"

"Hence the tiredness. Well, I've gotta fly all the way back, now! I need to make sure the grasshoppers don't ruin everything. Take, care, everyone."

And with that, I fly away again.

It doesn't take me quite as long to fly back as it did to fly there, seeing as I'm carrying a lighter load. Unfortunately, when I get back, there's a serious grasshopper invasion. My first act is to get the children to safety. I land a little way away from where the grasshoppers are intimidating everyone, and usher them over. We don't get seen.

"If there anywhere safe you can stay while I take care of these guys?"

"Yeah! We'll go to the Blueberries' Secret Base!"

"Lead the way."

We dodge through the grass, eventually coming to a blade that looks unremarkable. Suspiciously unremarkable. One of the ants runs up the leaf and reveals a secret passageway into the stalk. We all slide inside just in time, barely avoiding the prying eyes of a couple of grasshoppers. The passage leads to an underground room, which is where we all shiver in the cold. I hate fog.

"So, when did this lot get here?"

"They just showed up a few minutes ago!"

"After the circus bugs and Flik left everyone started running around like crazy, gathering as much food as they could! Then Hopper showed up, and is making everyone collect all the food now, so that the grasshoppers can leave before the rain comes."

"But, we'll have nothing to eat, then! We'll all starve!"

"We're going to die..."

"No we're not. We've still got the bird. I wonder where Donald and Goofy are..."

"Oh, I know! They looked for you, gave up, and went into hiding when the grasshoppers showed up. I think they're heading towards the bird."

"That's our plan too. Right now the rest of the ants are busy, so we're gonna have to fly this contraptions ourselves! You all up for a little adventure?"

"Yeah!"

"Then let's move out!"

I stick my head out the 'door', making sure that there's no grasshoppers around, before we all leave. Weaving through the grass is only going to get us spotted, so we all climb up to the top of the plants. Except for me, who flies. We manage to skip being spotted by several grasshoppers this way, at the risk that one of us falls. By the time we reach the tree the fog has cleared, but its night. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire.

We start climbing the tree. The ants are better than I am, being natural climbers. I can't fly, because my colouration is too obvious. They'd all be on me in a flash. As we get higher up, I notice that the grasshoppers have assembled everyone.

"Does anyone know what they're doing?"

"I heard one of them say that they're going to squish the Queen!"

"They're going to make an example of her. We'd better hurry before it's too late."

"Unless a miracle happens, she's a goner."

A miracle does happen, as it were.

P. T. Flea's wagon comes over the hill, lights shining like stars, the whole troupe waving on top. Way to create a distraction, guys. They manage to convince the grasshoppers that they're travelling performers, which is more or less the truth anyway, and start performing for them, who sit back and enjoy it.

"You guys keep climbing, OK? If Donald and Goofy are there, then stick with them."

"What if they're not?"

"Well, the circus bugs are here, which must mean the Flik and Dot are too, and if I know anything about those two, they're not going to give up either. If Donald and Goofy aren't there, then they will be."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna do what I do best: be a hero!"

I fly down the back of the tree, away from the line of view of the grasshoppers. Now, I just need to wait for my chance to sneak her out. Unfortunately, Manny chooses her as part of his act, in which she's 'transformed', read swapped, with Gypsy. The crowd love it, until Hopper twigs that they're hiding the Queen from him. I almost step in to save them, when the bird finally comes loose and goes for the attack.

Or so the grasshoppers think, which is what is important.

The ants start running around, acting frightened to panic the grasshoppers more. It works a treat. People start covering themselves with berry juice to make it look like they're bleeding. I'd laugh hysterically, but it would ruin the mood of the moment. How I'd love to be in that bird myself!

Unfortunately, the bird catches on fire.

The kids inside must be scared out of their wits. Oh, where's Donald to put it out with magic when you need him? The bird spins out of control before finally crashing headfirst into the ground, collapsing in a bird pile. Luckily, all the ants climb out safely, along with Donald and Goofy, who we're probably helping fly the thing. I thought the bird sounded like it was quacking!

Hopper doesn't look amused.

"Whose idea was this?!" he yells, terrifying the ants.

"The bird was my idea!" proclaims Flik, leaping out of the burning bird. Hopper clicks his fingers and a possibly rabid grasshopper starts kicking the poor guy around.

"Where do you get the gall to do this to me?"

"You were... you were going to squish the Queen."

"I hate it when someone gives away the ending. You piece of dirt. No, I'm wrong. You're lower that dirt. You're an ant. Let this be a lesson to all you ants. Ideas are very dangerous things. You are mindless, soil-shoving losers put on this Earth to serve us!"

"You're wrong, Hopper," says I. "Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers."

Enter Sonic to save the day. Hopper looks even less amused, stalking towards me. I notice that one of his eyes is cloudy and blind.

"I've seen these ants do great things, and year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves and you. So who's the weaker species? Ants don't serve grasshoppers."

He's very close now. I can see the individual scales that make up his chitin, but I don't back down, and neither does he.

"Grasshoppers should serve ants."

That causes a reaction. All the ants gasp at the fact that a stranger is fighting for them. A stranger who they almost kicked out because they were different. I see the spark of war in their eyes, and I know that they're going to fight this time. They all link arms as a sign of their unity. The grasshoppers look ready to run. All except Hopper.

"I've heard of you. A bug called 'Pete' told me about your meddling kind. Well, Sora, if it's a war you want, it's a war you get."

He clicks his fingers. Several hundred Heartless materialise at his command. The ants stay strong, but I can see the fear in their eyes. Hopper turns to face them, instead of meeting my level gaze.

"First you don't collect the food. Then you try and frighten us off, and now you've gotten creatures from other worlds to help you? You broke the deal we had. We protected you from the Heartless, and you obeyed us. Well, guess what? You don't have our protection. Any. More."

He clicks his fingers again, and the Heartless strike. A wave of thunder bolts and the whirr of a shield slice through several of them, ceasing their attack. Donald and Goofy are beside me again.

"You're just like the rest, huh, Hopper? A coward."

I summon my Keyblade and go for him. The Heartless start swarming, distracting us long enough for the grasshoppers to run away. The Queen manages to get the frightened ants inside the anthill and block the door, keeping them in and us out.

"Looks like Plan B is underway."

"We're ready!"

With that we lunge.

The battle rages on. The Heartless surround us on all sides, outnumbering us two to one, but we don't give in. Not when so many hearts are on the line. The grasshoppers catch onto how fast we're dispatching their allies, and most of them flee, especially from Donald's magic. What they don't understand, they fear, which is fine by us. Only Hopper remains. He must think that he can take us on at once. Or maybe he's hoping that we'll die or at least be injured.

We clear the Heartless out when it starts to thunder. It's not Donald this time, either. We were so busy fighting that we hadn't realised that the skies had become thickly overcast, the clouds pregnant with rain. At this height, the drops of water will be about twice as big as us, if not more. It's a good thing all the ants are inside.

Flik sticks his head out of the anthill, calling us over to safety.

Hopper sees him.

He plummets faster than I could ever manage with these wings and pulls him straight out of the Earth. He climbs higher and higher, flying into the leaves where the rain can't hit him.

"Go inside, you two. Make sure no one else comes out!"

"Gawrsh, what about you, Sonic?"

"I'm going to rescue him and kill Hopper! No one takes my friends! No one!"

I leap into the sky myself, climbing much faster than I managed to do before. Anger drives me onwards. A few Heartless try to snatch me out of the air, but the Keyblades make short work of them. We dance through the bare branches, heading towards open sky, Hopper must be suicidal.

I lob the Kingdom Key D at Hopper, it being the only one I know will definitely come back to me. He drops Flik, stunned by the heavy impact. I swoop down and grab him, resting him on one of the branches.

"Don't ever try and save me again, Flik! You almost got killed!"

"I'll remember that next time, yes!"

I'm about to leave him so that I can see to Hopper, but he's too fast. I quickly grab Flik again and speed off. He says to go in the opposite direction of the anthill: 'I've got a plan' he says. Well, I know just how his last 'plan' worked out, but I do as I'm told. I dodge the rain, scared that one will catch me off guard and break my wing or something more permanent. Hopper does the same, I presume, but I can't see him. He's more agile than I am, so he's probably not having this much trouble. We get to where Flik told me to go, and I get an insight into what he wants to do. I drop him down behind a bush.

"Sonic? What are you doing?!"

"I know what you're trying to do, Flik, but you'll die!"

"And you won't?!"

"Exactly."

I fold my wings behind me and run off towards Hopper, a not so nice change. He lands in front of me. I play the scared butterfly.

"No, please! I can explain!"

"You think it's over? All your little stunt did was buy them time! I'll get more grasshoppers and be back next season, but you won't, Sora."

He grabs my neck, squeezing it tightly. Lights flash before my eyes.

"Any last words?"

"My... name... isn't... Sora."

I kick him hard in the nuts. If he thought his legs were strong, he's been put in his place! I get my breath back while he staggers around in agony.

"It's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

A twitter comes from above me. Hopper looks almost amused, ironically.

"What's this? Another one of Flik's bird tricks?"

"Yep."

"Are there a bunch of little girls inside?"

"You got it."

"Oh, I'm so scared!"

He should be. The real bird, the same one that tried to eat me and Dot a day ago, screams in his face. He pales and tries to run, but gets caught up in the rain. The bird seems to play with him before picking it up in its beak, flying over to the nest and feeding him to a bunch of hatchlings. I pick myself up.

It goes for me next.

I don't even quiver. The bird almost picks me up too, but stops short. It stares at me with its ebony eyes before flapping its wing to shoo me away. I do so gladly, but not before picking Flik up, who looks surprised.

"Why didn't it eat you?"

"Two reasons. One: it remembers that I'm the one that jabbed it in its eye. Two: I'm not from this world, and it must have known. It was afraid to eat me. People are always afraid of the things they don't understand."

The sky clears on the way back like some dramatic movie. I'm quite glad, actually, because I ache everywhere that can ache, and I can't imagine Flik feels much better. We fly slowly, exhausted yet triumphant. I hate grasshoppers. I love birds!

The anthill is in silence when we get back. The whole colony and the circus bugs and Donald and Goofy are outside in the sun, their heads bowed in quiet respect for Flik and I, who they think must have died in the rain. Atta and Dot look especially distraught: Atta for Flik and Dot for me. I can't see their tears from here, but there must be lots.

As I fly closer, my wings cast fluttering shadows on the ground. Atta is the first to notice and look up. I can't see her face, or hear her cry, but suddenly everyone present is staring at us. There's an awkward silence before everyone bursts into rapturous applause.

I do an almost crash landing when my wings give out. Everyone important bursts forward it make sure we're alright. We're both immediately confined to the medical ward yet again while the ants prepare something. Something big, by the sounds of it.

When Doctor Flora finally lets us leave, the ants have erected several podiums, each with a different noble ant on it. It looks like a graduation. Atta calls for the 'warrior bugs', meaning all of us foreigners.

"Ants, we are gathered here to witness the thanksgiving of these brave creatures. Your interventions saved countless lives and freed us all from tyranny's grasp. For this we thank you. You have all earned your right to stay here, if you wish."

They look happy. No more aimless travelling for them!

"Donald. Goofy. Sonic. You were perhaps the bravest of us all, fighting to protect us from the Heartless. You prevailed even through the stormy weather, and against our stormy judgements of you. You have also gained the right to stay here, if you wish."

The Queen's next, and calls me forward. This must be important.

"Sonic. We can't even begin to thank you enough: you single-handedly saved us all from Hopper, and you saved one of our own along with it. You fought through the rain and the fear and came out on top. I think I remember you asking me for something."

"The Keyhole?"

"Mm-hmm. I shall show you the Keyhole myself."

"Thank you, your majesty!"

"Now, we have just survived a terrible tragedy that could've ended in the loss of many lives. This calls for some celebration!"

The ants cheer and the third party I've been to goes underway. The ants sure like to party! The Queen takes Me, Donald, Goofy, Flik, Atta and Dot down into the anthill. This must be for the eyes of important people only. It shows just how much Flik has become accepted.

We reach the audience chamber after a few minutes of walking, catering for poor Flik who is the only one who can't fly. The chamber is filled with more bioluminescent mushrooms, and a dais formed from flowers stands above all. The Queen disappears behind the dais, searching for something.

"What lies beyond this room is our greatest secret, kept from even the other ants. As Queen, it is my duty to ensure that this room remains a secret; however I think I can make an exception for you four. Atta and Dot, someday it will fall up you to protect the Keyhole."

She pulls something and the whole dais slides to the side. I wonder where the ants got the technology to do that. We all descend down into the depths. There isn't any light down here, so Donald uses magic to illuminate the passage, and Goofy reflects it off his shield to show the bottom.

I'm not entirely prepared for what comes next.

This is nothing like the keyhole in Beast's Castle. The whole room is covered with cave drawings, showing bugs with Keyblades coming and sealing the Keyhole, and generally saving people. The Keyhole must just pop open every once in a while, if this many Keyblade Bearers were needed. An indentation surrounded by ivy is set high into the wall, but there isn't actually a Keyhole in it.

"It is said that the Keyhole shall reveal itself to the Keyblade Bearer when the time is right. And I think this is that time."

She's right, because the Keyhole shimmers into existence in the arch. Atta, Dot and Flik are mesmerised by its glow, which hardly has any effect on the rest of us. I suppose, being from different worlds, we're not affected in the same way. That's probably why the bird didn't want to eat me. I summon the Kingdom Key and point it at the Keyhole. It emits a ray of light into the Keyhole, sealing the world.

"You majesties, the Heartless won't bother you anymore. But, if they ever should start causing problems again, wish for us to come with all your hearts, and we'll surely hear you."

"Does this mean you're leaving?"

"It does."

"Gawrsh, sorry to leave you like this, but we have other worlds that need protecting too."

"I understand. You've been more of a help to us than we could ever tell you."

"That's OK. I think we understand too."

We climb back up to the surface where, surprise surprise, the circus bugs are saying goodbye. Pity. They just earned the right to stay and all.

"I want to thank all of you," says Atta with finality. "For giving us back our hope, our dignity, and our lives!"

"And to you, Princess Atta, you have given us so much. Please accept this gift."

Manny magic's up a rock from behind a leaf. The ants look confused.

"You know, I think this is the first direct use of magic that this world has seen, besides Donald. Maybe it'll spread, and they'll all become magic weavers."

"I doubt it, Sonic. They've got a good thing here as it is."

"Well, Flik. You really goofed up," says Rosie, tearing up. "Thanks."

"Yeah... You too," says Flik, also tearing up. Everyone stats applauding him; a much better reception than he got when we first met. The Queen laughs, slips Atta's crowd off her head, and places her own crown there instead. Atta laughs too and tossed her old crown to Dot who catches it on her head like a Frisbee.

P. T. Flea, obviously deciding that he's had enough of all this soppy stuff, drives the wagon on, taking with him some of the ants and one of the grasshoppers who's reformed and joined the circus business. Heimlich's chrysalis breaks open, and he becomes a butterfly. A very obese and flightless butterfly, but a butterfly none the less. His wings aren't as pretty as mine, though. No wonder people keep thinking I'm a girl.

Dot, Atta and I fly Flik up onto a root to wave goodbye to the leaving circus. The ants start firing grass shoots into the sky, creating something which resembles a fireworks display.

"You know, it'll be really quiet after you all leave."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the new management will keep everyone busy. Besides, you might see us again, if we ever need to come back!"

"What are you going to do now, Sonic?"

"We're gonna travel the worlds and seal up the Keyholes so that the Heartless don't devour them. Then, we're going to find the King of Disney Castle, who is also a Keyblade bearer and the true owner of the inverted Keyblade which I carry around, find Sora, who is the owner of the Kingdom Key, and then I don't know."

"Well, whatever will be will be, right?"

"You'll make a wise ruler, I'm sure."

She blushes and grasps Flik's hand in her own. I'm glad that they're finally together. Donald and Goofy fly up to our level too.

"C'mon, Sonic, we gotta go!"

"... Take care you guys."

"We should be saying that to you."

I give them all one last hug before flying off myself, to the applause of the ants. I could really make a habit out of saving other worlds like this.

"You know, Sonic. If you could use your Chaos Energy like magic, you'd have been able to heal yourself and Flik!"

"A-hyuk! You'd be able to fight better as well!"

"Yeah, but how am I gonna learn?"

"Yen Sid said Merlin could help. We should go back to Traverse Town and see him."

"Maybe some of my friends have showed up to."

"Gawrsh, I hope so."

"Me too."

Looks like we have our next destination.