Paradise Falls – Part 3

Yes, I know I haven't written in a while, but I got no reviews for my last chapter so I didn't feel very inspired to continue. Still, I'm here now. You have no idea how hard it is to write a story while watching the film at the same time. Dear God. Well, we've almost covered all of the worlds now, so we should get into the main bosses soon. Stay tuned.

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

I slowly come to.

Sounds arrive first – I can hear the roars of the engines churning away beneath me in their struggle to maintain flight. It deafens me momentarily after my hours of silence. My sight eventually starts to return, but only in blobs of colour. I'm still out of it.

Hang on a minute.

I try to jump to my feet, but my body won't obey yet. The blobs become bars, and the colours become a lush carpet stretching across the prairies of the floor. Those freaking dogs shoved me in a cell! No prison can hold Sonic the Hedgehog! Now if I could just get up I'd show those bars who's the boss! Pity my legs are still made of jelly. Sensation is slowly returning to my extremities – I should be up in a few minutes.

I roll my head to the side, catching the light from the window on my fur and sending shards of blue across the floor. I wonder if Donald and Goofy are looking at the same sky? I doubt they're here, though it would be mighty helpful if they were. Well, you know what they say: you wait forever, and then two come along at once.

I focus my eyes on a shape in the distance. Not sure what it is yet, only that it's colourful. The clouds part to let the thingamabob through and I see it for real. It's the house! I promise I'll never tease and old person again if he gets me off this thing. I've had enough bad experiences with flying machines housing my enemies, thank you.

The airship suddenly lurches to one side. We must be turning. I bet Muntz has realised Fredrickson's on his tail, though I doubt he could miss a ship as big as this one just by turning a corner. I slide along the floor and hit the bars of the cage. The spikes of pain are enough to snap me out of my stupor. I gnaw hungrily on the ropes around my ankles and break them off. Now for a bit of a stretch... and I'm good to go!

I glance out the window; Fredrickson's disappeared. Here's hoping Muntz can't see him either. I summon the Kingdom Key D and slice the lock off the door. It swings open silently on its well oiled hinges, so hopefully no one heard that. The door has a dog flap set into it, which is just big enough for me to fit through. Convenient, I think so.

After checking for any canines, I sneak down the hall at a fair speed. I need to find Kevin and make sure she's OK. She's probably locked up somewhere like I was, only with more protection. She's worth more than I am. I swing my Keyblade at a few dogs that get in my way, knocking them out instantly. The less people that know I'm running around the better, though stealth has never been my forte.

I hear screaming from down the hall, and I pick up my pace. I arrive in the hangar just in time to see three planes take off down the ramp and into the air. That can't mean anything good for the house. I look around for something that could help, and catch sight of a spare plane. Just my luck. I would've rather had a bazooka, but I'll make do.

I hop in, relieved to find that they've been built especially for the dogs to fly. Technically I'm a cat, but that's good enough. It's steered by twisting panels where the pedals would be on a normal plane, and I take it the rubber bone is for firing. Back right leg is accelerate, and back left leg is brake. Good thing I can fly the Tornado, or I'd be sunk.

I ease the plane out of its dock and down the ramp. I lean back just before I reach the end and it levels off. Wow: never thought I'd be flying a plane like this. I catch sight of the other planes shooting the balloons on the house, and at a screaming lump hanging down from the bottom. 10 points if you hit the kid, and all that.

Luckily the planes miss and soar straight past Russell. I give chase, winking at Russell on the way past. I don't know if he could see it was me, but if he did then he knows all hope is not lost! I charge the planes head first, catching one by surprise. I call his bluff and we race towards each other at lightning speeds. He chickens out and nose dives down to avoid a collision, giving me an opportunity to shoot him down from behind. The dog ejects just in time and floats slowly down through the cloud layer. That's a long way to travel by parachute.

One down: two to go.

The airship suddenly starts to rock to the side. The driver must be drunk. Or maybe one of the dogs. Same driving skill, really. I snap my attention away from the fiasco no doubt taking place over there and focus on the dogs. They've caught on to me, and barrel roll out of the way of my fire. What am I even shooting? Kibbles?!

I nose dive to avoid the fire from one of the planes, and the stray ammunition collides with the balloons, bursting some of them. The house dips dangerously in the air. I gulp and try to steer the fight away from the house, and Russell. Someone old and wrinkly shouts from the side of the ship. Fredrickson and Kevin are stupidly trying to climb up a vertical wall, with Muntz hot on their tails. It's never easy, is it?

While Russell pulls himself up the cord with renewed vigour, I focus on the planes. I clip the wings of one and it veers around dangerously before colliding with the side of the ship. The whole thing leans to the side, luckily allowing an easier climb for Kevin and Fredrickson. The last plane flies head first at me, like I did to the first one I took down. We charge at each other: he'll probably pull up at the last minute.

But he doesn't.

Both planes smash together in a massive fireball. I chuck myself out at the last minute, cursing myself for not grabbing a parachute. I land on the side of the blimp, digging my claws into the plastic shell. I scrape down the side before eventually coming to a stop. I growl to myself and force myself up the cliff, like Russell did with the cord. Hanging several thousand feet in the air can really give you some determination.

I reach the top and collapse in an exhausted blue heap in time to see Fredrickson and Kevin crest the top of the ship. He's probably gonna need a hip replacement after all of this. Dug jumps out of a vent, and Russell dips in towards the ship on the house. Everyone makes a mad dash towards the house; Fredrickson pushes the injured Kevin onto the porch first so she's safe. Dug and Fredrickson climb on next, but I'm too tired to make the journey fast enough. I'm gonna get left behind.

A gunshot rings out and a ton of balloons are snapped free of the house. The whole thing crashes to the top of the ship with a noise that sounds like breaking glass. Actually, half the windows look broken anyway. What on Earth was Fredrickson up to before he got here?! The house begins to slide down the side of the airship, while Fredrickson is thrown out and lands hard on his back. I feel his pain.

Muntz with a shotgun stalks towards the downed man with surprising speed while the house sinks further and further out of reach. In an attempt to buy Fredrickson some time I attach myself to Muntz's ankle with my teeth. He screeches and shakes his leg around, but I don't give in. He eventually smacks me over the head with the butt of his gun, and raises it to shoot me straight through the head. I smirk as much as my jowls will allow and burst out of reach before the bullet can even hit the ground where I was a few moments ago.

I use my speed to catch up with the house – the cord that Russell was hanging onto before is still trailing across the plastic. I summon the Kingdom Key D and shove it into the roof of the ship, wrapping the cord around it and pulling hard. The house suddenly stops moving: I jammed that Keyblade in pretty far, and I doubt it's gonna come loose any time soon. It gives Fredrickson enough time to catch up with me, and we pull together.

The house, slowed in its getaway, sinks to the wing, which is thankfully a lot flatter. It still edges towards the precipice, spurred on my it's momentum until it teeters dangerously over thin air. Russell makes to get off the house, but a shot from the gun is enough to make all three passengers retreat back inside. Muntz walks straight past us, not paying us much attention. We're too busy trying to hold the house up to be much of a problem to him.

It's the people inside that have his bird.

Fredrickson yells: "Russell! Hang on, I'm coming!" to the frightened boy inside, who has slammed the door in Muntz's face and is now taking shelter in the living room. We can see him, Dug and Kevin through the window, partly obscured by the cords that keep the balloons attached. Fredrickson reaches into his pocket and holds a bar of chocolate above his head like a trophy, just in time for Muntz getting into the house. Kevin charges straight through the window to claim her prize, knocking the gun out of Muntz's hand. The three of them land safely on the wind of the plane as the house drifts away, while Muntz tries to follow.

His foot gets caught on the strings.

He hangs in mid air for a moment, and I fear that he'll somehow make it back to the plane, but he doesn't. His suspension turns into a swan dive as he falls screaming through the clouds. At least this way we won't have to see the mess when he hits the ground. For now we all collapse to the floor, panting with exhaustion. Today really isn't my day.

I dismiss the Kingdom Key D, which is still buried in the side of the wing. While Russell, Kevin, Dug and I all clamber over each other for hugs, Fredrickson watches his house drift away. It's sad to see it go after all we've done it get it to the falls. We never even got there.

"Sorry about you house, Mr. Fredrickson," Russell says softly, having untangled himself from the happy animals.

"You know," Fredrickson replies. "It's just a house."

We're clearly of the same opinion, for once. Why do you think I don't have one? Tails' house is fine for me. Speaking of which, I wonder how he's doing. I reckon I'll find out soon, as we take control of the airship and finally get Kevin home. She has three chicks, all of which are the brightest little bundles of fluff I've ever seen. If only they'd stop nipping people, they'd be model children.

I smile and sneak off while they aren't paying attention. Saying goodbye was never my thing, and those two humans aren't gonna be staying in this place for long. I wonder how big this world is? Considering their appearances and equipment, they're not from this jungle. It must stretch on as big as mine, in which case they'll be going home. I wish them luck, if I could speak enough to tell them that.

Once I'm a good enough distance from the group I stop for a rest. All this running around has made me really tired. My ears prick up at the sound of a waterfall. I jump to my feet and leg it in the direction. Could it really be...?

It is.

Paradise falls looms above my head, cascading down with a crushing force. The water droplets make a faint rainbow across the pool below. If I look up I can almost see a house resting on the rocks above, but when I blink it's gone. My heart flutters at the sight, and I know that this is where I needed to be all along.

The strength of the waterfall makes my back tingle. I pull out the Chaos Emerald and rest it on the ground, seeing as I have no hands to hold it with. A light grows from within its depths, filling out and blossoming until the whole gem glows with green light. Somehow being here must have regenerated the emerald. I glance up at the waterfall and I vaguely see a keyhole shape behind the water.

It must be this world's keyhole – it restored the emerald. I wonder why it hasn't fully revealed itself to me? This mustn't be the right time. After all, I haven't seen any Heartless around. I shrug and take the Chaos Emerald in my hands and focus on Donald and Goofy. They could've gone anywhere, so if I think of the Pride Lands I'll be taken there and might miss them. The warmth of the Chaos Energy washes over me lovingly, and I leave this world behind.