DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Treasure Planet, or Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. So you all know what that means for this chapter...
Chapter 30
Searching for Gentai
"One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it."
-Ansem's Report 8
Bedraggled and beaten, the three companions trudged off towards the castle where their other companions were awaiting their arrival. The encounter with the Huntsman had surely ended in a victory over Maleficent…but it had left a bitter taste in their mouth. Sora felt the side of his cheek and rubbed it as they walked. He had healed the cut that the Huntsman had made on his cheek but it left a slightly visible scar that stretched slightly across his face. Riku, however, was the most forlorn. He had traveled with Gentai for a year and now…this had happened.
It was near midnight that the trio arrived at the castle and was immediately taken in. Mickey noticed something was wrong the moment that they walked in, but didn't press the matter as they were too torn. And so he let them sleep that night. When they woke in the morning they felt slightly better, but not enough to cover up the bitter aftereffects of the day before. They were eating breakfast in the hall silently when Mickey finally approached them.
"I'm guessing the Huntsman is gone." Mickey said, only slightly cheerily for he knew something was quite off. The three friends solemnly nodded as Donald and Goofy entered the room, taking a cue from the king and not bursting out into their normally talkative states. "Where're Demora and Gentai?" Sora cleared his throat and put a hand on Kairi's shoulder as he watched her choke back tears. Therefore, it was Sora who had the courage to speak up first.
"Demora's dead, Your Majesty." Sora said with as much audacity as he could muster. Mickey stepped backward in shock. He had traveled with her for almost a week, had almost gotten to know her as a friend…and the thought of hearing that she was dead was just about too much to bear. The look on his face prompted Sora to explain all of the details. "She threw herself in front of Gentai to save his life from the Huntsman and paid the price with her own life…"
"But what about Gentai?!" Mickey asked urgently, fearing that the worst had befallen the youngest Keyblade wielder. But nobody said anything for a few minutes before Riku was the one spoke up.
"He's turned against us." Riku stated simply and a completely hushed silence filled the room. Mickey looked at his fellow Keyblade wielders and saw the looks of despair on all their faces. Then he came to a decision.
"Then we have to go after him!" Mickey proclaimed. All of the members in the room shot a glance at him, believing him to be mad or thinking that there was no way they could possibly track him. "Right now, Gentai's more of a threat than Maleficent and if we take the Gummi Ship and scan for darkness and light balances on all the worlds then we should be able to find him easy!" Mickey proclaimed and no one had the heart to argue with him.
Therefore, as soon as Sora, Riku and Kairi had finished their breakfasts, they gathered round the king of Disney Castle and he beamed them up to the Gummi Ship. Donald remarked on Sora's scar and Sora joked around with him briefly before leaving his friends to go with Mickey to the cockpit where he decided he would take over flying the ship in order to get his mind off of the recent tragedy. He smiled to himself as he sat in the captain's chair. That was what he would do…after his first visit to Neverland, after Radiant Garden and the Battle of Hollow Bastion, he would sit here and empty his head of all the dreadful thoughts filling it and become inexplicably cheery in a way that was not a lie to himself or anyone else.
As he sat in the chair he pulled up the star map and both he and the king examined it carefully. They debated for a few short minutes as to what place they should probably go first and they seemed to agree that heading back to Agradar was probably the best choice as Gentai would most likely go to the site of where he had lost nearly everything. So it was that soon after that they had taken off at last. Mickey pressed Sora for more details on the subject and Sora found himself actually happy to give them as it emptied his mind of thoughts about the past and allowed him to fill himself with happier feelings. In fact, he had become so happy from just letting his previous feelings run dry that he was at last able to relax on the Gummi Ship and lean back in his seat.
The lull didn't last for long. They had been traveling for only a short amount of time when something rocked the ship. Sora flung forward in his seat and started examining the ship and its engines. The door behind him slid open and Riku and Kairi ran in, Donald and Goofy trailing behind them only slightly. Donald was shifting a pack of cards back into his pockets and Sora knew that the four had been playing Hearts to get their minds off of the matter.
"What's going on?!" Donald squawked as Sora pressed up a button to bring up a wider viewing screen. Sora saw a great blue ship circling around them. It didn't look like any ship that Sora himself knew or had ever seen before. Even the symbol that was etched on its hull was strange and unfamiliar…though it seemed to be very similar to the Heartless emblem. Regardless of this strange fact and development, Sora knew they had no time to meander about and immediately brought the ship into evasive action.
"Gawrsh…I wonder who's attackin' us…" Goofy sighed out, trying to fathom what this strange ship was doing. Sora jerked the controls on the ship slightly.
"We have no time for that!" Sora yelled and he jerked the ship harder than before, sending the four companions standing on the ship tumbling over. Suddenly another alarm blared with its klaxon-like sound. Mickey punched a button and another viewing screen came up, slightly smaller than the one Sora was looking at.
"We've got another ship coming at us!" Mickey said quickly and Sora chanced a look at the viewing screen. The ship that was swooping seemed almost odd in this space. Most of the ships he had seen in space were either Heartless ships or Gummi Ships…but none of them looked like the ship that was approaching save for Captain Hook's.
But Sora knew that this one wasn't Captain Hook's for it seemed much too majestic. The hull was made of wood and was truly a thing of beauty. There were cannons attached onto the sides of it but they looked to be much different from the weapon Gummis that Sora was so used to using. Those weapons were currently being deployed and were firing upon, not their ship, but the ship that was attacking. The strangest part about the ship was the fact that it had sails that seemed to shine with a golden sun despite the fact that there was no sun shining on them. Even the deck almost looked as if it was bathed in golden sunlight. As the ship passed by and began to engage in combat with the unidentified ship Sora took a scrutinizing glance at letters painted on the side: R.L.S. Legacy.
Almost at once, the two ships began exchanging broadsides with one another and it took Sora a small amount of time before he realized that their ship was caught in the crossfire. As the fire between the two ships began flaring back and forth Sora took on more evasive maneuvers. However, as soon as Sora began said maneuvers the ship that had started attacking them seemed to intensify its assault and fired even quicker than before. This prompted the Legacy (or so Sora assumed it was called) to return fire with a more intense rate. Sora swooped and served the ship through the oncoming fire and he could almost feel the tense air felt in his companions standing behind him.
Then he felt another shudder and something seemed to go wrong with the ship. Sora snapped a look to Mickey and his face asked the question that did not come out of his mouth. Mickey toggled a few controls and turned quickly to Sora with a grim look on his face.
"The engine's been shot, Sora. She won't hold much longer." Mickey said and Sora inwardly cursed. There had to be some way to save themselves this time. Unlike last time, his readings read no world in the immediate vicinity. So he came to a quick decision.
"We need to land on that ship. If the readings are as bad as you say then this ship could explode at any moment and we need to get out of this fire." Sora said in a commanding voice that implied he was not to be trifled with, his gaze indicating that they were to land on the Legacy.
"Sora, are you sure?" Kairi asked with uncertainty causing her voice to waver. "I mean, how do we know that ship isn't an enemy? How do we know we'll be able to breathe?"
"Don't worry about that." Riku said calmly. "I sensed an aura around the ship that should allow us to breathe…it's like Hook's ship."
"But how do we know they weren't the ones that hit us?" Kairi cried out. Sora snapped his fiancée a look that almost made her scared, but she knew it was only because of the current situation.
"Personally, I would rather land on a ship that tried to save our butts rather than one that instigated a battle with us." Sora said as he twisted the ship around and aimed it towards the Legacy. "It's either that…or we die." He pushed the thrusters forward, causing them to go to maximum capacity and speed. As they got ever closer to the ship, Sora let his idea be known. "As soon as this ship lands on that deck, we jump off and knock it away from the ship so it doesn't hurt whoever may be on board."
They all nodded in agreement with Sora's statement and saw that they were within mere feet of the ship's deck. There was a shuddering explosion behind them and signals on the dashboard indicated that their enemy from before was at last vanquished…but the explosion that had ensued crippled their ship even further making the Gummi Ship a potential death trap. Sora pushed the thrusters forward even more, hoping that the ship would not give out and within thirty seconds the ship landed on the deck. Immediately, Sora disengaged the hatch to the ship and Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy jumped out right away. Sora and Mickey quickly unbuckled and followed suit.
As soon as their feet landed, the Keyblade wielders summoned their weapons and Donald took out his staff. Those who knew enough magic raised their Keyblades into the air and cast a float spell on the now damaged-beyond-all-repair Gummi Ship, and with all of their strength, flung it away from the Legacy. When it seemed to be about fifty meters away, the ship at last exploded and Sora was glad that they had gotten out safely…even if it meant losing a ship. He finally exhaled and took a look around.
Standing around him were all manners of various aliens. One of them was a brutish thug with four arms while another one seemed to be a short spindly legged hag that seemed no more than a head. There was another, even larger alien who seemed to be getting off of one of the cannon posts who had a huge body and a teeny-tiny head. For a moment, Sora almost regretted his decision to land until he heard a friendly, if unknown, voice behind him.
"Spot on! I must say, that was some excellent flying!" said a voice with a British accent. "If I didn't know better, I would have said you were a graduate of the Interstellar Academy." Sora turned around and was surprised to see a feline female walking towards him…but acting very much like a human. Of course, he wasn't all that surprised when he saw a man who looked similar to Goofy walking behind her along with a very large man what seemed to be made of rock.
"Uhhh…" was all Sora could work out before Mickey was able to string together words.
"Hi there!" he said cheerily. "I'm King Mickey Mouse of Disney Castle and-" But he was cut off by a sudden wave of bows, the most elegant one being from the female in front of them.
"Your Majesty…" the feline said with dignity and respect. "I am Captain Amelia, captain of the star ship the R.L.S. Legacy. This is Mr. Arrow, my first mate, loyal dependable and hard-working to boot."
"You flatter me, captain." said the stone faced man behind the captain with a sense of both pride and embarrassment. Amelia waved her hand.
"Oh, tish-tosh, you know I don't mean a word of it." the captain said with a very humorous tone. She then pointed to the dog-man behind her. "This is Dr. Delbert Doppler, the financier of our voyage."
"How-how do you do?" Doppler said, holding out his hand clumsily as he emerged from his bow with the rest of the crew. All of them looked at him with a strange look and he seemed altogether flustered. However, Amelia seemed to be able to pick up on this awkwardness immediately.
"I figured you were part of the knights of Disney Castle, your ship did bear its emblem after all. After we saw you were getting attacked, we thought to do our best to help." Amelia said with what seemed to be a jest behind her voice though everyone there could sense the sincerity that was really there. "I never expected to find the king himself aboard. What brings you so far out here?"
"We're searching for a companion of ours." Mickey said hurriedly and the captain nodded. "But I guess we could ask what you're doing out here too?"
"Ah, yes, we're on a voyage, if you and your companions would join me in my cabin." She pointed her way up the steps that led to a different room of the ship. They all willingly obliged and she smiled at them. "Very well then, Mr. Silver!"
"Aye ma'am!" cried out a voice and Sora took a look to see a man emerging from below deck. He seemed to be a normal man until he looked closer and saw a strange mechanical eye in one of his eye sockets and that his right arm and leg were entirely made of a whirring gizmo instead of flesh and blood.
"See to it that young Mr. Hawkins is sent up to my cabin immediately." the captain ordered and Silver seemed to bow a bit more theatrically than expected. "Right this way, gentlemen." With that, she began to lead the group of six up to her cabin. Sora leaned in towards the king.
"Your Majesty, who are these people?" Sora asked him and the king looked at him with bright eyes.
"That's Captain Amelia, I've never met her before but she's one of the best field agents from the Interstellar Academy. They help to try and keep space clean and calm as well as sort out some inter-world conflicts." Mickey said and Sora nodded with this new information as they entered the captain's cabin, joined about a minute later with what seemed to be a seventeen year old boy. He had brown hair that was tied in a short little ponytail and a slightly stocky build. He word an earring on his left ear and had the look of someone who didn't really care to be doing what he currently was instructed to do.
"Ah, Mister Hawkins, there you are." the captain said and she closed her door with a snap. She walked over to a closet and took out a small golden sphere with many intricate markings on it.
"What's that?" Sora asked and the captain tossed the sphere to the boy who looked at her.
"Mr. Hawkins, if you'd please explain what the purpose of our voyage is, I'm sure that our guests would like to know." the captain said with a smile and the boy sighed. But he never told them what their voyage was for and so the captain picked up the slack.
"That orb there is a map to the world of Treasure Planet, however we are trusting very few members on this ship with knowledge of its existence. It is not to be mentioned unless in use…to anyone!" She had said this last part with such authority it almost caused them all to flinch. Then she quickly cleared her throat and took the sphere away from the boy and stowing it away in her cabinet. "Thank you, Mr. Hawkins."
"It's Jim." the boy said with a disgruntled look on his face. She seemed to ignore this comment. Mickey took a few moments after this to discuss with her the fact that they would remain aboard the ship and help them out.
"Now then, it will be kept under lock and key at all times. What are the rest of your names?" the captain said and all of them gave her their names. She nodded in satisfaction. "All of you, save for Your Majesty, shall further refer to me as 'captain' or 'ma'am', am I clear?"
"Transparently, " Riku said, and then, adding as an after thought. "ma'am."
"Excellent then, Master Goofy, Miss Kairi, if you will join my men in the Crows' Nest it would be most helpful I believe. Mister Riku, you will be at the ready with our laser cannons or on standby for whenever I may need you." She then looked lastly at Sora and Donald. "Mr. Arrow, please escort Masters Sora and Donald to the kitchen to meet our cook."
"The cook!!" Donald yelled out angrily. "But I wanna go on the cannons!" Sora nudged Donald playfully.
"Aww, come on Donald, it'll be fun! We get to go and cook things…I mean, we can use fire." Sora said and a begrudged Donald agreed. With that, the captain opened the door from her cabin and let all of the new crew members out. Mr. Arrow led Sora and Donald forward to the galley below deck, Jim following slightly behind them. As they reached the galley they heard a humming coming from below.
"Mr. Silver." came the gruff voice of Mr. Arrow and Sora saw, emerging from the shadow the same man of flesh and metal turn around to face them. Jim trudged up from behind them.
"Jimbo, there ya are!" the man, Silver, said with a hearty chuckle. "What can I do for ye, Mr. Arrow?"
"Captain says that these two are to join you in the kitchen." Arrow said with authority. Silver rubbed the back of his head.
"Far be it from this humble old cyborg to disrespect his captain, but I can hardly fit four of us in the kitchen." Silver said with a twinkle in his mechanical eye. Arrow rubbed his chin. Suddenly out of nowhere a pink glob came floating out of nowhere, flying around the two companions. Sora chuckled at it when it appeared to be just that, a pink glob with two eyes. "Ah, Morphy, there ya are."
"Morphy?" Sora asked with amusement. Silver chuckled at this and watched as the pink glob floated around and started annoying Donald.
"Well, his name is really Morph, but I call him Morphy, I rescued the little fella on Proteus 1."
"Never been there." Sora said with a shrug of his shoulders. Meanwhile, Donald was having trouble with Morph.
"Stop that, ya big palooka!" Suddenly Morph twisted into a bunch of different Donald heads.
"Big palooka!" the heads started yelling multiple times until Donald yelled so loudly Sora was sure that the whole ship had heard of him.
"Well…" Arrow said slowly. Suddenly the light on the ship began to fade and Sora could only figure it meant they were using a simulation of night aboard the ship. Mr. Arrow cleared his throat. "I'm afraid you're right Mr. Silver, I'll see to it that Master Donald be moved to another position, but Master Sora remains here." With that, Arrow and Donald left, but not before Donald threw a teasing look at Sora. Sora just stuck his tongue out at him before turning back to Silver.
"So…Sora is it?" Silver said, extending his arm that was made of metal. "Oh, don't be put off by this hunk of junk, it's not all that bad once you get used to it."
"Okay…I won't be." Sora said tentatively and he shook Silver's hand. Silver gave a chuckle before turning to Jim.
"Jimbo, why don't you introduce Sora here to Mr. Mop and Mrs. Bucket and have a grand old time with them." Silver said with more humor as Jim grumbled and led the way up onto the deck, grabbing a mop and a bucket full of water in the process.
"So Jim, why are you on this voyage?" Sora asked inquisitively, trying to get to know his fellow cabin boy better. Jim shrugged slightly as he handed Sora a mop.
"Doc says it's for a few character building months in space but, uh…" He leaned in towards Sora and told him in a whisper, "I was the one that found the map." Sora nodded knowingly and Jim actually cracked a smile at him. The two then set to work on mopping the floor. Sora knew that he could get it done in five seconds with magic but…if Jim needed some kind of character building, for whatever reason, then it was best that he do it on his own.
They had only been about an hour into swabbing the deck and already Sora was beginning to feel a small amount of sweat on his forehead. Jim looked even worse than he did…but what really annoyed Sora was Riku laughing at him from up above. Occasionally, Sora would get so irked that he'd fling water up at Riku and hit him in the face which would cause Riku to curse slightly. Sora leaned on his mop slightly and saw three of the members whispering amongst themselves and immediately, Sora got a bad vibe. He nudged Jim and pointed over at them.
Suddenly, all three froze and stared at them…well, it was more of a glare than a stare. Suddenly there was a rustling behind them and both Sora and Jim whipped around to be faced with a spidery looking fellow with a red head and bulbous yellow eyes.
"Cabin boys should learn to mind their own business…" the spider man said in a sinister tone. Jim smirked at him.
"Yeah, I will if you do." Jim said and the spider man seemed to have had a nerve snapped for he lashed out at Jim and held him against the mast. Sora immediately summoned his Keyblade.
"Clearly your hearing needs to be checked." the spider man said, sounding even more sinister than he had but moments before.
"Yeah, too bad my nose works just fine." Jim said with disgust and Sora could only imagine what Jim smelled at that current moment in time. The spider man snarled and Sora barked an order to let him go, brandishing his Keyblade. But before he could take a move a mechanical hand shot out in front of him and grabbed the spider man's arm.
"Now, now Mr. Scroop, we don't want to see what happens to your arm if I squeeze too hard." Silver said with a devilish smile on his face. Scroop grunted in pain as it seemed that Silver squeezed his arm and relaeased Jim. Suddenly, the booming voice of Mr. Arrow was heard over the crowd.
"What's going on here?!" Arrow demanded. "You know the rules! No brawling aboard this ship! Any further offenders will be confined to the brig!" All of the crew immediately snapped to and agreed with Arrow. Satisfied he walked away and the rest of the crew headed below into the galley. Silver took a moment to remonstrate both Jim and Sora before following after them. Jim just leaned on his mop and stared out into the stars. Sora just looked at him, but didn't say anything since he knew Jim just wanted to be left to his thoughts. After a few moments, Silver came above deck and walked over to them. Jim looked at him for a moment.
"You all right, Jimbo?" Silver asked and Jim nodded solemnly. He fidgeted around with the mop before he threw it down onto the deck.
"I…uh…thanks." Jim said tentatively and Silver waved it off until a thought seemed to come floating through his head.
"Didn't your pap ever teach ya to pick your fights more carefully?" Silver asked and Jim seemed to squirm a bit, all the while, remaining silent. Silver had a concerned look on his face before he turned to Sora. "Same with you…where'd you get that scar?" Sora shifted around uncomfortably. The feeling of the scar on his face was just something he would have to get used to, but it still sent a heat flash across his cheek. Silver looked at the both of them and wondered. "Your father's not the teaching sort?"
You can say that again… Sora thought to him. In his mind, he had never really had a father. True, he had wanted his father to come to his wedding…but that wasn't at all from an overwhelming joy to see his father by any means. It didn't matter, his father was dead. But he had just wanted his father to be there, to show him that his son, his only son, could amount to something grater than even he could be. Call it jealousy if you would, but it was more of zeal to surpass his father and show him up for being so terrible than anything. Jim however was the first one to speak up.
"No, he was more the taking off and never coming back sort." Jim said solemnly and Silver directed his gaze onto Sora, almost as if asking the same question.
"Same thing…only we learned a few years later that my father had died." Sora said, walking over to the rail that Silver was leaning on and leaning on it himself.
"Oh…sorry lads." Silver said and Jim just scoffed a little bit.
"Hey, no big deal, I'm doing just fine." Jim said defiantly and Sora was at last able to get a measure of James Pleiades Hawkins. Clearly, his father's abandonment had scarred Jim for life.
"Is that so?" Silver mused for a moment. "Well, since the captain has put you two in my charge, like it or not, I'll be pounding a few skills into those thick heads of yours to keep you two out of trouble."
"What?!" both Sora and Jim voiced simultaneously. Sora didn't need to learn any skills. He already knew all the skills that needed to be known for life…he was about to get married for God's sakes!
"From now on, I'm not letting you two out of me sight!" Silver proclaimed grandly.
"You can't do-" Jim began to protest immediately but Silver didn't care and he cut him off.
"You won't so much as eat, sleep, or scratch your bums without my say so!" Silver yelled and Jim managed to shoot him a purely loathing glance.
"Don't do me any favors!" Jim yelled out and Silver laughed.
"Oh, you can be sure of that, my lads. You can be sure of that." And so it began. But Sora couldn't help but admit that during the next week that they were on the ship, making their way toward Treasure Planet, it was one of the most fun weeks of his life. True, he was separated from most of his friends who were busy doing other things on the ship, but Silver was treating both him and Jim like any proper father would. Even though Sora knew that he was too old to have any man treat him like a father was supposed to, Silver was at least a model of one towards Jim. In some respect, it settled his own mind, and he knew that it even helped Jim begin to gain respect.
That wasn't to admit that the work didn't take a long time. Silver set them about doing tasks that took almost impossibly long to complete and while Sora used magic on the first few tasks, Silver immediately put a stop to that, believing that using magic wasn't helping them in anyway. Ironically though, for being a lazy bum, Sora found himself actually enjoying the work on the ship. They cleaned off what seemed to be space algae from the bottom of the ship as well as learning how to tie ropes in order to securely fasten longboats. In fact, he was learning more about ships here than he ever had in Port Royal, and he was in space! He and Jim washed the deck together quite a lot and those were usually the only times that Sora was willing to sneak some magic in. Quickly, they became fast friends and it almost seemed that Jim saw Sora as an older brother, which Sora welcomed greatly.
Of course, not all the work was fun, like washing dishes after a meal where they would often just keep piling up one after another and never stopping until very late at night (or what Sora presumed was night). Often, he and Jim would fall asleep shortly after the dishes were done. Of course, both of them noticed that whenever this would happen, Silver would often put a coat around them to keep them warm in the cold of space. One day however, Silver took the two of them out on a skiff for fun and allowed Jim to pilot it…and Sora had to admit that the kid was pretty skilled. They chased what seemed to be a shooting star and Sora forgot all of his worries during that time. True, he knew that they were searching after Gentai, and that they needed to find him, but wasn't some measure of peace and quiet owed them. After only an hour or two, however, the trio of Silver, Sora, and Jim returned back to ship and pulled the skiff in before sitting against the sides of it, Sora and Jim on one side, Silver on the other.
"Oh, Jimbo," Silver exclaimed as they began to rest. "If I could maneuver a skiff like that when I was your age…they'd be bowing in he streets when I walked by today."
"Yeah, man." Sora said with praise. "The first time I ever flew a Gummi Ship I crash-landed in the middle of Deep Jungle." He chuckled at the experience and Jim gave them both a warm smile.
"I don't know," he said lightly. "They weren't exactly singing my praises when I left home…But I'm gonna change all that." Silver gave him a look but Sora didn't, knowing exactly what Jim was planning to do.
"How so?"
"I, uh, got some plans…gonna make people see me a little different." Jim said with confidence but Silver adopted a look of concern on his face.
"Ooh…sometimes plans go astray." Silver stated. Sora nodded, knowing all too well. After all, that seemed to be the case as of let. Silver stretched his leg out a bit and tried to adjust the nut on his right leg. Morph came out and turned into a wrench. Silver smiled at him and tightened the nut.
"So, how did that happen Silver?" Sora asked, intrigued as to what could happen to a man to make him half machine. He chuckled a bit at Sora's question.
"You give up a few things chasing a dream." Silver said with a warm smile.
"Was it worth it?" Jim asked and Silver replied with a mere "I'm hopin' it is Jimbo, I most surely am." With that, silence fell on the trio in the long boat. Sora felt they had been sitting there for hours even though it had in reality only been five minutes when suddenly a large force impacted with the ship. The three were tossed out of the longboat and immediately been scrambling to the deck. Sora saw Kairi sliding down a rope and Riku taking his position on a cannon.
"Kairi, what's going on?" Sora yelled and Kairi shrugged.
"No one knows…well, except for Doctor Doppler, I was about to go and ask him." The couple ran up the steps to the top of the deck where Mickey, Amelia, and Doppler were standing.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Sora demanded. Doppler peered out of his glasses at an orange explosion appearing quite a bit away.
"Good heavens! The star Pelusa…she's gone supernova!" the doctor exclaimed and Sora, confused as he was, asked exactly what that meant. "That star's just been destroyed."
"But that's a world!" Sora yelled. "That was a world filled with people! Stars don't just explode or go out like lights!" he wanted to hit something, angry that a world had just suddenly exploded but he felt Kairi grab him from behind.
"Sora, calm down, yelling isn't going to help anyone!" Kairi said and in her arms, he managed to calm himself down a nod. He looked to the captain and the king.
"What do you need us to do, captain?" Sora asked with determination.
"Evasive action, Mr. Turnbuckle!" the captain roared and the person on the wheel immediately began turning the wheel to avoid the chunks of debris flying at them. Sora looked and saw that Riku was blowing apart pieces of the debris that almost hit them. "Fasten lifelines everyone! Secure the sails, Mr. Arrow!"
"Aye captain!" Mr. Arrow yelled and he turned towards the crew and bellowed: "Secure the sails, reef the down men!" Without a warning, Sora ran forward and grabbed onto the netting, pulling himself up to help Jim and Silver bring the sails back up. He summoned his Keyblade just in case he might need to use it, and he was glad he had. A wave hit the ship and nearly knocked Silver off but Sora, remembering his magic training flung his Keyblade forward like a whip and a strand of light emerged, stronger than even rope and pulled Silver back up. Another wave hit the ship and they all held fast to the mast. Then Doppler yelled something more frightening.
"It's devolving into a black hole!" Doppler yelled loudly. Mickey jumped up and looked to the captain.
"He's right captain, we have to do something!" Mickey yelled and the captain nodded. Suddenly another wave hit and Mr. Turnbuckle was thrown off the wheel. Amelia quickly took his place.
"Blast these waves, they're so deucedly erratic." the captain yelled as one last wave hit. Kairi flew against the console that Doppler was staring at. He jumped a bit and she picked herself up, rubbing the back of her head. Then she noticed that she didn't have any lifeline on her. Immediately she ran down to the deck and started fastening hers on. But Doppler had some new news.
"No Captain, they're not erratic at all! There'll be another one in precisely 47.2 seconds! Followed by the biggest magilla of them all!" The captain snapped her fingers as though she had an idea.
"Of course, brilliant, doctor! We'll ride that last magilla out of here!" the captain exclaimed before she started barking orders once more. "Release the sails Mr. Arrow, and I want no complaining if you want to get out of here alive! Master Sora, Mr. Hawkins, secure those lifelines!" The two friends nodded and dropped down onto the deck. Jim quickly pulled all of the lifeline taut before Sora used his magic to make sure they were really fastened.
"Lifelines secured, captain!" Jim yelled as the second-to-last wave hit. Sora was thrown to the floor but as he looked up, he saw something he never wished to see. Mr. Arrow was floating out in space, help fast to the ship only by the lifeline he was attached to. But then he saw a shape emerge from the shadow of the sails. Scroop came out of nowhere and snapped his pincers. He brought his hand near Arrow's lifeline.
"NO!!!!!" Sora cried, but his voice was lost amidst the noises and buffeting, for lack of a better word, wind. When next he looked, he saw that Arrow was gone as their ship was sucked deep into the black hole.
"Hold on to your lifelines gents, it's going to be a bumpy ride!" the captain yelled as they descended into the deepness of the black hole. Then there was a shudder and the final, powerful wave shot forward boosting them out of the destruction of the world and star. When at last they were safe, the entire crew began cheering save for Sora, who had tears streaming down his eyes. Silver and Jim dropped onto the deck. Doppler extricated himself from the ropes to look at the captain.
"Absolute-absol-absolutely amazing captain!" Doppler exclaimed.
"Oh, tish-tosh, your astronomical advice was most helpful." the captain said and Doppler started fumbling through his sentences. Sora would have found it funny, were it not for what he had just witnessed. Kairi and Riku made their way up to him while Donald and Goofy joined up with the king. They looked at him as he pounded the deck softly. The captain descended onto the deck. "Well, it seems I must congratulate you Mr. Silver, it seems your cabin boys did a bang up job with those lifelines." Jim and Silver nudged each other around before looking to Sora and noticing he wasn't at all happy. "All hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?" Silence issued forth. "Mr. Arrow?" Suddenly there was a hissing noise as Scroop came forward, carrying Arrow's hat in his oversized claws.
"I'm afraid Mr. Arrow has been lost. His lifeline was not secured."
Author's Note: And there it is! I actually enjoyed writing this chapter and next chapter will be even better. I hope you liked how I brought Treasure Planet in. Now, you see how I brought these characters forward emotionally. And no, killing Mr. Arrow was not my idea, it was in the movie so don't rip on me for that. I will indeed explain how Pelusa was destroyed later (more detail than the movie) so don't worry. On that finished point, see Lord Moldybutt, I told you I'd talk about Sora and his father. In any case, in the meantime, please review and Dare to Be Silly.