DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Sky High at all in this chapter.
Chapter 33
Flying High
"And don't dare to fail me again!"
-Maleficent
Night on the streets of Maxville was silent, more silent almost, than death itself. Whether this was because people could sleep silently due to the efforts of the Commander and Jetstream or because of the pallid faced sorceress walking her way down a particular street remained to be seen. All that could be known was that this sorceress oozed with an icy fury that could have frozen any area of the block had she not kept her wrath in check. She herself, felt it was useless to appearing so far away from the house where Royal Pain resided just so that no suspicion could be thrown onto whoever's house it was. Regardless of this, she had to respect their decision, though it did not make any sense to her…anything that could help her come closer to controlling the worlds, was welcome indeed.
But tonight was a very different matter. Tonight her darkness-filled heart was actually troubled. In all the long years of her struggle with the Keyblade Master; after all of their skirmishes and trivialities and even their temporary alliances, never before had her heart been filled with fear save for once before…and now. Therefore, it was quite a good thing to her that the sky seemed to darken and the lights winked out as she walked by them all, so that her dark cloak was concealed in the darkness. Anybody who walked their way onto the street that night would be absolutely blinded and unable to see until she at last passed.
At last, Maleficent reached the house she had been seeking. She walked up the cobblestone steps of the walkway, such a provincial and welcoming thing for such a most surely unwelcome guest on their world. Her pale hand reached out and rapped lightly on the door. Soon it opened up and the face of a jester dressed in what seemed to be pale pajamas appeared. The makeup on his face disgusted the mistress of all evil but she was here for a purpose.
"Someone dressed up a little early for Halloween?!" The man said before letting off a high pitched and cackling laugh. Maleficent's hand shot forward and grabbed the man by the throat. He squealed a bit. "Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!" Maleficent released her grasp and immediately the man ushered the sorceress inside the home. At long last, the lights outside went back on as her darkness receded. The jester led Maleficent down a hallway and to a secret door that opened and admitted the both of them inside. There was a figure sitting in a high-backed chair observing something on a computer screen that looked to be some kind of underground sanctum.
"Looking at the Stronghold's again, eh?" the jester said with his annoyingly high cackle. "That robot eye is almost as big as his ego!"
"Silence!" said the figure in the chair. "We need only wait before revenge is ours…we just need the proper item…" The figure seemed to be controlling what was being watched on the screen for the camera moved around and it stuck on an object.
"King Kamayamayhem's Surfboard?" the jester asked doubtfully and Maleficent was almost ashamed to be in such company.
"Dang this joystick!" the figure yelled and jostled the joystick they were holding around until it fixed itself on a slightly strange looking laser gun.
"Ah…the pacifier…good plan." the jester said and Maleficent snickered.
"I should certainly hope that it works Pain." Maleficent said, in as threatening a voice as she could muster. The figure in the chair suddenly swiveled around to reveal the chrome-plated figure of Royal Pain. Their whole entire face was covered, as was standard when they were in their secret lair.
"Maleficent!" Royal Pain said in surprise and Maleficent raised an eyebrow in Royal Pain's direction. "What are you doing here?"
"I come to bring you news…and I believe it needed to be delivered personally." Maleficent said with a sneer. Royal Pain could tell instantly that she was not happy and so intended to listen intently. "The Huntsman has fallen…near a week ago."
"But…why come now? If it's been a week why have you only gotten around to telling me now?" Royal Pain said indignantly as though they believed Maleficent did not think them important enough to tell at the time of the event's occurrence.
"I have had more important affairs and matters to attend to. Even just now, the Horned King is being informed by Pete." Maleficent said with a near flaming fury and Royal Pain would have cringed, had they allowed themselves to show weakness.
"What affairs? What could possibly be going on that would delay you telling us such a vital piece of information?" Royal Pain was genuinely confused at this notion and, thankfully for them, Maleficent saw fit to clear up the matter.
"The boy Gentai has turned on his friends…but I assure you he has not and I don't believe ever will ally himself with us. he is starting to cause more trouble than even I have foreseen and I have been mired in circumstances which are unavoidable in this situation." Maleficent seemed to be pulsing with anger as Royal Pain looked closer at her. "My plan to break him and all the worlds backfired and so we must take action…are your plans fit for accelerating?"
"I can have the plans finished by the end of this week if that's what you want." Royal Pain, hoping that the speed they were working at would be acceptable enough to the near-glowering form of the evil sorceress. Maleficent nodded in satisfaction. "And what of the Keyblade Master? From how I take it, he took down Morgana almost single handedly…and he always seems to show up when people like us are about to succeed." Maleficent chuckled slightly.
"If Sora and his pestilential friends should arrive…crush them, string them along, I care not, just get them out of the way somehow!" Maleficent ordered. Royal Pain was even more confused by this remark.
"But I thought that you wanted revenge on Sora for destroying you eight years ago?" Royal Pain and Maleficent's lips curved into a smile that almost scared the armor off of Royal Pain and the creepy jester costume out of Stitches, their sidekick.
"Oh, I shall…if you defeat him…then he shall gnash in the Underworld as I destroy all his loved ones. Until then, make sure you utilize the Heartless to your advantage…but hurry up, and don't give me another situation like the Huntsman!" Maleficent then cackled loudly before disappearing in a rush of green flames that nearly scorched the room in which Royal Pain and Stitches were sitting in. Royal Pain groaned in frustration.
"Oh, that witch has no appreciation for all the work I've put into technology here!!" Royal Pain yelled and Stitches began to rub their arm comfortably.
"Hey, maybe we should build her a fireproof robe?!!" Stitches cackled out before Royal Pain's armored hand reached out and grabbed Stitches by the throat. "Uncle. Uncle. Uncle."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The nicely manicured lawn outside of Sky High that was decorated wonderfully was silent and empty thanks to all the paranormal students who were currently participating in the higher institution of learning known as high school. But it wasn't to remain that way for very long. A bright light came out of nowhere in the midst of all the bright yellow buses so it blended in slightly. The shape of a keyhole appeared amidst all those buses and three people stepped out of it: a boy with spiky brown hair, a girl with reddish hair, and a boy with long silver hair.
Sora gave a brief and confused look at the buses around them but after only a few seconds, opted to move out into a more open area. Riku and Kairi both followed him like obedient puppies though even Sora didn't exactly know where to go. Once they had cleared the long line of buses and stepped into the open and empty lawn, Sora stopped and turned back to Riku.
"So…uh…where are we exactly?" Sora asked his best friend who shrugged his shoulder kind of halfheartedly.
"Like I would know…when I came here last time, it was at night and Royal pain had their Heartless on watch. We had just enough time to fight them off and find the Keyhole…which happened to be on that sign board right over there…not much chance to explore though." Riku answered simply, though Sora wasn't particularly satisfied with the answer, crossing his arms and glaring at him. While the boys were having their slightly silent feud, Kairi decided to take a look on the board that Riku had indicated earlier.
"Sky High…" Kairi said thoughtfully and it managed to pull the two oblivious boys out of their argument in order to stare at her with something akin to their usual confusion.
"What did you say, Kairi?" Sora asked, thinking he had heard the word "high" but not exactly certain of it. Kairi looked at them with raised eyebrows and then pointed to the sign. Both of the boys took a moment to look at it before looking back at each other and sharing a similar reaction. "Oh no…"
"High school! High school!" Riku groaned out, not even wanting to think about going back to school after he had graduated, what was it now, five years ago. None of them went to the only college on their island after graduating from Destiny High, their own small local high school that only had kids that lived on their islands. Riku's memories were bad enough of that place when he returned for his junior year. He had skipped his sophomore year and Sora had been lucky enough to have missed his freshman year. Of the three of them, Kairi had the most education in school.
Either way, they were adults now, and none of them wanted to go back to school in the first place. Each and every one of them had bad memories of that higher institution of learning. Riku, who had been surrounded by fangirls ever since he got back, had been through so many dates in his junior and senior years of high school it would almost want him to puke…not to mention, Selphie constantly hitting on him was a great annoyance. Of course, Sora had just as bad memories. After finally getting used to high school in his first year he decided to branch out as Junior Year and started a business with Riku known as Keyblade Masters, Inc. which amounted to them saving cats in trees and then later foiling a plot to attack the islands. That was also the time that Kairi had broken up with him for the timespace of two weeks before and during prom, a bad memory for them both. That was not to forget that Kairi also had the memories of dealing with Selphie's hyperactive self on her own during their freshmen year. That led them to only one thought…
"Well…maybe the school will have nothing to do with our mission, right?" Riku asked hopefully but Sora shook his head, shooting down that idea in an instant.
"No…usually whenever we'd land in the Gummi Ship, we'd meet wherever the action was starting to go down and I would seriously doubt it would change with the Keyblade…the thing has, like, a mind of its own." Sora said with a very worried look on his face. Kairi then cleared her throat to voice her own thoughts.
"Uh…guys, in case you haven't noticed, we're a little too old to pass for high schoolers and a little too young to pass for teachers." Kairi said, stating the fairly obvious. Sora scratched his chin but Riku chuckled a bit.
"We could stand for over-mature seniors…" Riku said thoughtfully and Sora and Kairi both brightened up at the idea but Riku gave them a near-glare that shot them down. "But I am not being in the same year as you pipsqueaks…or even close…and I call senior year."
"Excuse me!" Sora said, putting his hands on his hips but leaving his right arm nearly detached so that he could summon his Keyblade in an instant. "What do you want us to be: freshman?"
"Well…since you did miss your freshman year…I feel that it is only fair that you become a freshman if only for a little bit." Riku said with a shrug of his shoulders. Sora grumbled a little bit, but couldn't find his way out of the argument, and Riku knew that Kairi would go along with it just to be with Sora. Thus Sora quickly summoned his Keyblade and cast an aging spell that he had been working on for a few years. Riku refused to allow the magic anywhere near him, but when Sora threatened to singe off certain parts he submitted to it and allowed his hair to be shortened slightly and the slight beard he had been growing shaved off. Sora himself had to get rid of the stubble on his chin but he was such a boyish person that there was no problem with the rest of his features. Meanwhile, Kairi would have considered this all a carnal sin if it wasn't necessary and so allowed herself to have her hair shrunk a bit and she grew just a fraction shorter.
"Now all we have to do is say that we're really mature for our age…but my aging spell only works so well." Sora rubbed the back of his head as he said all of this. "I mean, Merlin didn't teach me the finer aspects of casting the spell. If we need to spend more than one day here we'll need to recast it each day."
"Sora, if we spend more than one day here, I'm like to go insane…and we'll need somewhere to sleep." Riku said with a scowl on his face that Sora nevertheless ignored.
"Riku's got a point…we don't have a Gummi Ship, and we can't go disappearing in random bursts of light that will freak out more than a few people." Kairi said, agreeing with her best friend.
"All right, all right, I get it!" Sora yelled in defense of himself. "Look, we'll be fine, we'll make some friends like we always do, hopefully bunk with them and be on our merry way. I have the means of contacting the king so we should be good." He briefly brought a small computer console out of his pocket and showed it to the three of them before putting it back in. "Now then, if that's all, let's not waste time here and enter the school to start our search for Royal Pain."
The other two saw no more sense in arguing with Sora and instead opted to follow him forward, despite the fact that they knew he had no clue where he was going. Soon they entered in through a set of double doors to a brightly illuminated and slightly empty hallway that was filled with some students who were milling about on their break from classes. Sora put on one of his cheesiest grins and proceeded to walk down the hallway as though he knew every inch of where he was. However, their stride through the halls of Sky High did not last very long.
"Um, excuse me!" a female voice called out and the three Keyblade wielders stopped short. They turned in the direction of the voice to see a girl wearing a pink sweater with long, flowing brown hair striding toward them. "Hi, I don't think I've seen you here before." The three stared blankly at the girl and only one thought echoed in all their heads: Say something!
"Yeah…we're, um, what are we again, guys?" Sora asked, hoping that his friends could proffer some kind of answer, and Riku was able to pick up the slack.
"Sorry for my friend's ineptitude. We're transfers here to Sky High, just arrived today." Riku said with a gleaming smile so as to offset his thought of Crap, why didn't we think this through?
"Oh…" the girl said with a smile and she extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Gwen, Gwen Grayson, the student body president. I suppose you should just follow me then. I'll take you to the gym for Power Placement." Without another word, and no chance for them to ask what she was talking about, Gwen had set off down the hall. The three companions gave a look to each other and began to follow her as fast as they could. Sora had managed to catch up to her first.
"What's power placement, exactly?" Sora asked with a mixture of confusion and almost like one who just wanted clarification.
"Oh, Power Placement is where you show Coach Boomer your power and he judges whether you'll be a hero or a sidekick. I'm a hero, naturally." She flicked her hair with this statement and for some reason Sora couldn't help but feeling like he wanted to cringe. No more was said on the subject and very soon after this they had reached the gym. "I'll go and get Coach Boomer for Power Placement." With that, she left the trio standing in the gym of Sky High.
"She smells…" Riku said and Kairi gave him a stern look and a light slap on the arm.
"Riku, it's not nice to talk about people's body odor like that!" she snapped at him and he gave her a merely confused look.
"No…it's much fouler…like she has darkness in her…a deep one." Riku said with a scowl and Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, we can't do anything without real proof in a school environment…a smell just isn't good enough." Sora said when suddenly there was a whirring noise and the three looked to see a platform raising up into the air, a man with white shorts and a navy blue jacket and hat standing on top of the platform.
"Listen up." The man said and all three looked at him. He was holding a clipboard and looked down at them through a pair of sunglasses which he soon took off. "My name is Coach Boomer, you may know me as 'Sonic Boom'. You may not."
"Sorry…can't say I do!" Sora said with a grin and both Kairi and Riku laughed.
"Did I ask you, freshman?" Boomer said to him and Sora glared in the coach's direction. "All right, here's how Power Placement is going to work. You will stand up here and show me your power and tell me your name and I will determine whether you will be a hero or a sidekick." Once more, the three companions looked at each other, as though amused by the dichotomy presented to them. And yet, they seemed to be communicating with their eyes that they had to choose their own powers. But Boomer cut them off as he pointed at Riku. "You there, emo boy. Up front and center!"
"I resent that Coach Boomer." Riku said with a slight snarl. "And the name's Riku."
"All right, shut up and power up," Riku smirked and formed in his hand a nimbus of dark energy which he then shot at one of the pillars in the gym. It instantly went through it, leaving a great gaping hole. "Hero! Butterfly girl, you're next!" Kairi mouthed the words "butterfly girl" and wondering how they even possibly applied to her since she had nothing on her that seemed remotely like a butterfly. "So, what's your shtick?"
"Um…I'm Kairi and, uh…I use the power of my light to heal…though sometimes it can be used as a weapon…it all depends." Kairi said all this quickly and with a faint smile on her lips. Boomer smiled at her but then soon dropped it into a frown.
"Sidekick. Spiky, you're next." Sora also scowled at this mention as he stepped up onto the platform.
"Name's Sora." Sora said proudly and he quickly summoned the Keyblade into his hand and held it in front of him. Boomer looked the silver and gold Keyblade up and down.
"So…you can summon a giant, oversized house key…impressive." Sora smiled at the coach but soon his own smile dropped. "Not. Sidekick." And before Sora could protest he was pushing the three of them out the gym doors with their class schedules in hand, not letting them utter a single word.
"Who does he think he is?! Sidekick?! That's even worse than being a Junior Hero!" Sora yelled, wanting to vent his frustration with the coach by planning a truly evil notion of singeing his pants off with a fire spell.
"Oh relax, Sora, we're in it together and that's all that counts. Now come on, let's find our room and get to the task of hunting down Royal Pain." Kairi said and she began dragging Sora along down the hallway. Riku gave a smirk and called after them.
"I'll see you at lunch, sidekicks!" Riku called and Sora groaned loudly as Kairi led him down the hallway. Soon they had reached Room 249 that plaque that was outside reading "Mr. Boy". Sora knocked on the door before he pushed it open on a room filled with bright-eyed and bushy tailed students. An older man with graying hair was standing at the front of the class.
"Oh, you must be the transfers that Boomer told me about." said the man and Sora and Kairi both nodded. "Well, come in, my name is Mr. Boy and welcome to hero Support!" He had said it with such an enthusiasm that even Sora couldn't help but smile. "And what are your names?"
"I'm Sora and this is my…girlfriend Kairi. We're from very far away." Sora said and Mr. Boy nodded at this. He then instructed the two of them to sit in the only seats available in the classroom. Sora sat next to a boy wearing a red, white, and blue shirt with brown hair while Kairi sat next to a girl with red hair and a green shirt that seemed to be decorated with flowers.
"Hi, I'm Layla!" said the girl as Kairi sat next to her and Kairi shook her hand with a smile. Sora got the same warm welcome, but not from the person he was sitting next to, but rather many others surrounding him.
"I'm Ethan." said a boy in an orange sweater and glasses while extending his hand to him. Sora shook the hand with a smile before turning to the next person who introduced himself.
"I'm Zach." Sora shook his hand and then he decided to introduce himself to the boy next to him whose name he learned was Will Stronghold. Sora immediately decided that he liked Will just as Kairi had decided that she liked Layla and the girl Magenta she had also met. Ironically, like Sora and Kairi, Will and Layla had been friends for a very long time and both of them assumed that Will and Layla were dating but Will denied it, however Kairi could tell that Layla didn't want to.. However, before they could get into the flow of conversation, Mr. Boy started the class up once again.
Roughly fifty minutes and a good nap later (at least in Sora's case), the group of seven was heading off to the cafeteria for lunch. Sora, however, had already found something new to complain about within Sky High's school system.
"Homework?! We have to do this test by tomorrow?!" Sora groaned as they sat down at an empty table with lunch in hand (which to Sora looked like only a measly helpings).
"We can do it at my house tonight. The Commander is out saving the world and all…" Will said with a grin that Sora thought was a little bit false. Before he could answer though or say anything he felt a pair of hands cuff him on the shoulders.
"What's happening, sidekick?" Riku said with a snigger laced into his voice.
"You say that one more time, I'll smack your head off." Sora said as Riku sat next to him. Ethan almost fell off of his chair in shock.
"Whoa, a hero, sitting with us?" Ethan said in surprise and Riku just gave him a look. Sora decided to turn the conversation away from that.
"So, find out anything?" Sora asked Riku in a low whisper and Riku shrugged his shoulders. But, deciding that it would seem awkward to those on the outside he soon picked up his voice for another statement. "Yeah, I wasn't able to find us a place to stay for the night."
"Wh-why do you need a place to stay for the night?" Will asked of his seemingly newfound friend.
"Oh, right, as transfers, our parents just moved here and they've been having difficulty finding room for more than just two so they asked us to make new friends and…you know…" Riku and Kairi would have chuckled inside because Sora's story was turning out good, despite the fact that he was sweating bullets.
"Well, I could ask my mom and dad, since you're coming over for homework tonight and all that." Will said with a smile and Layla said a similar thing about asking her mom for Kairi, who refused to room with the two boys. Sora smiled at Will but then noticed someone sitting behind Will who was glaring at him with a passion. Sora leaned over to Zach.
"Hey, Zach, who's that kid over there?" Sora asked with a slight touch of concern in his voice.
"Oh, that's Warren Peace. Will's dad busted his dad." Zach said with an irrepressible shudder as he went back to eating his food and Sora could only decide that perhaps he needed to keep tabs on that kid.
A few hours later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi had experienced their first day at Sky High and were none the worse for the wear, but neither were they better. Admittedly, the Sidekick class had experienced a real treat when, in the middle of their Sidekick gym class, sparring had broken out among the two teens with Keyblades flashing back and forth. That left some reason to wonder why they were in sidekick class but still…Riku split off with them to hang with some members of the hero class in order to try and get a vibe on some more people. Will gave Riku his address as they all headed off to do work at Will's house. Unfortunately, it was only five minutes in when Kairi found Sora already asleep. She hit him over the head.
"What, I didn't steal Merlin's teacups I promise!" Sora yelled while snapping into an upright position. Kairi rolled her eyes as Sora regained his bearings. Will cleared his throat.
"Umm. OK, Number One: a radioactive zombie is charging at your hero. Do you hand him A) a silver tipped crossbow, B) a wooden spike, C)" But before Will could get onto C Zach had already cut across him.
"Yo, that's so weak, man. I'm already holding his crossbow. Why can't I shoot him myself?" Zach complained and Sora thumped on the back, wholeheartedly agreeing with him.
"Cause we're hero support." Ethan declared with a slight touch of sadness. "And if your hero asks for his crossbow, you hand it to him."
"Or her." Layla corrected sagely, though most of them brushed her off. Sora rolled his eyes this time…Donald and Goofy had never helped him unquestioningly before.
"Besides Zach, you can't kill a zombie, you can only re-kill him." Ethan replied and Sora snorted in amusement.
"Or her!" Layla corrected once more before a much more imposing figure came into the room.
"If you kids are all in here, who's out there saving the world?" the man with very muscular features and brown hair said to the room at large and Sora and Kairi could only guess that this was Will's dad, the "Commander" that they had heard so much about.
"Dad, why're you home so early?" Will asked with a certain sense of shock at his father's appearance.
"After I stopped the superdome from collapsing, I was watching the game and got to thinking that it's been a while since you and I tossed the old pigskin around. So I thought I'd hustle back home…but I see that you and Layla have already made some new friends." Steve Stronghold said and Ethan jumped up, stating what an honor it was to meet the Commander in person. "What's your name, what's your power?" And so they listed off their powers: Ethan could melt apparently, Zach could glow, Magenta shape-shifted into a guinea pig and Kairi stated that she could heal while Sora summoned…an oversized house key. Will's father seemed only partially satisfied however. "Great…great! Well, I make a mean tuna fish salad sandwich. Anybody want one?"
"Yeah I'm kind of-ow!" Sora had tried to respond but Kairi had soon hit him over the head. With that, Steve retreated to the kitchen with Will following shortly after them. Sora took the moment to rest while Will got a drink from the fridge before they returned to their homework. The peace didn't last long.
"WASHED OUT?!" Steve yelled and Sora jolted from his seat. "Boomer…Didn't make the big time so now he thinks he can pass judgment on some real heroes' kids. Oh it's a power trip, Will! Sonic Boom? Try gym teacher man!" Sora glanced at Kairi as both could tell that the confrontation was heating up.
"No Dad, it's not Coach Boomer. It's me. I don't have any powers." Will said and Sora at last understood why he had to introduce himself to Will in the first place: Will had not wanted to be in the sidekick class.
"But you always made it seem like…" Will's dad said and Will's next words almost made Sora feel his pain.
"Like I had super strength, like you? But I don't. And maybe I'll get my powers, maybe not." Will said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I don't care. Because the fact of the matter is, I'm proud to be a sidekick." Will's body came back into the room for a moment before it went into the kitchen once more. "Actually, I'm proud to be Hero Support." With that, Will fully came back into the room and sat down on the couch next to Layla. He smiled at them and the air in the room seemed tense, so Sora decided to break it.
"Uh…Will, could you remember to ask your dad about the…?" Sora said and Will smiled at him, acknowledging that he would while also thanking him for diffusing the tension. Then Will picked up his paper and pen to answer the next question which Ethan read off.
"Okay, your hero is running up a skyscraper and his villain is falling from the top of the skyscraper at the same velocity. At what angle should they be for the hero to successfully slam the villain against the side of the building?" Ethan said and the homework fest began. Around seven that night, everyone had finally finished their homework and had gone home and Kairi had left with Layla, giving Sora a kiss on the cheek before she left. Riku arrived soon after that. The Strongholds accepted them as part of the family and set them in the living room on the couches where they would get a comfy sleep. Sora felt he had only just dosed off to sleep when he heard a yell from the adjacent couch.
"No, I won't! NO!!" Sora and Riku sat bolt upright at the same exact moment. Sora looked at Riku and saw that he was sweating like he had never sweat before.
"Whoa…Riku, you okay?" Sora asked, concerned over what had just happened with his best friend. Riku attempted to wave him off but Sora could tell that something was wrong in his best friend's eyes. Riku decided to no longer hide it.
"I've been having dreams lately…of when Xehanort possessed me…they're becoming more frequent…the last one I had was a little over a week ago on The New World." Riku said, wiping his forehead from sweat. Sora looked at his friend. "It scares me Sora…what if-what if he's trying to take over again?" Sora looked thoughtful, pensive and Riku knew that he was truly thinking about his best friend's well-being. But a few minutes later he shook his head.
"No, Riku…that's not gonna happen. Even last time, Xehanort couldn't control you completely and it won't happen this time! You're Riku no matter what!" Sora declared and Riku smiled at his best friend…he could always count on Sora to cheer him up. After a quick round of arm wrestling for fun the two went back to bed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The next morning dawned bright and cheery as Will, Sora, and Riku walked to the bus stop where they met up with Layla and Kairi who actually happened to live just down the street. Of course, little was it known to the two residents of Maxville that in the early hours of the morning their guests had snuck out of the house in order for Sora to re-cast the aging spell on them as it was beginning to wear off. Regardless, they finally had a full meet with Ron Wilson, Bus Driver and found the guy to be quite likable. Thankfully, they were able to take the bus ride to review facts and make strategies.
"Okay…so we didn't get anywhere yesterday." Riku said with a slight scowl on his face and Sora shrugged his shoulders.
"Unless you count making new friends and asking Will's dad about Royal Pain because we were interested. Turns out Royal Pain has supposedly been 'dead' for years…Will's mom and dad were the ones that defeated them." Sora said in a slightly amused tone and Kairi looked vaguely surprised.
"Well…that's a start, but do we even have any suspects?" Kairi asked, hoping that her two male companions could use their brains and think of something.
"Well, there's that Warren Peace guy that I asked Zach about. He was glaring at Will the whole time." Sora said in a hushed whisper so that nobody but Riku and Kairi could hear.
"I don't know…he didn't smell too dark to me in Mad Science. I'd be more worried about that Gwen girl that we met when we first got here. I'll try to figure out as much information as I can and I'll tell you at lunch." Riku said and that pretty much told Sora and Kairi that Riku had a bunch of classes with Gwen. Soon after this, the bus arrived at Sky High. All of the students got up and started getting off the bus until a hand came into the bus and ripped Ron's hat off his head. Sora, being one who had a zeal for justice, ran out of the bus, summoning his Keyblade as he did so.
"Hey! Who stole his hat?!" Sora cried and saw a rather lanky kid standing there yelling "Where's your hat, Ron?" while a much bigger white blur was spinning around like a pinball machine almost. "Give it back!" Sora demanded, holding his Keyblade out at them. The big blur stopped to reveal a rather burly male.
"All right, Speed, give him his hat back." the lanky boy said. The bigger boy, Speed, took off Ron's hat and threw it right into the mud. Then the two boys headed off into the school. Sora groaned and picked up the hat, cleaning it with a spell before handing it back to Ron. Then all of them headed into the building together. Sora hated bullies, always preying on the weak…well, while he was here he was going to make those two boys' lives as miserable as possible.
For the most part, the first half of the day was extremely boring as they sat through more of Mr. Boy's classes. He announced that they were going to be taking a day off on Friday in order to get ready for the Homecoming Dance. Sora and Kairi found this information new to them and Sora wasted no time in asking his fiancée to the dance and she readily agreed. Thankfully, lunch was soon upon them and they were sitting with their new friends again, waiting for Will and Riku to arrive. After a few minutes, Sora saw Will coming with his lunch tray. He waved his arms.
"Hey, we saved you a seat!" Sora cried and Ethan stood up saying that he had saved a pudding. However, moments after he said this, Speed came dashing by and swiped his pudding. Sora thought nothing of it, convinced he would deal with them later until Will tripped, his lunch splashing all over Warren Peace's table. Warren stood up instantly and began advancing on Will. Sora could sense a fight coming and he walked over to where they were as quick as he could.
"Sorry." Will said, somewhat feebly and Warren gave him a look that could kill cats.
"You will be." Warren said, his black hair draping across his face.
"Let's not do this." Will said in an attempt to get out of the situation.
"You think you can do whatever you want 'cause your name's Stronghold?" Warren said angrily, now only a few inches away from Will.
"I'm sorry that my dad put your dad in jail but…" Will began but everybody in the room could instantly tell it was the wrong thing to say for Warren picked Will up by the collar of his shirt.
"Nobody talks about my father!" Suddenly his hands lit up with a great flame and Will backed off from Warren as Warren's arms were lit with even more flame. Will's friends were all worried about him and Sora found it very hard to stick to that rule that he shouldn't meddle. Kairi however had other plans when she saw Mr. Boy.
"Mr. Boy, do something!" Kairi yelled and Mr. Boy nodded, throwing down his drink and running out of the room screaming for Principal Powers. Meanwhile, Will had garnered up a lunch tray for his defense but Warren threw a fireball at it and it melted. Warren then started tossing fireballs at his archenemy and Will noticed the fire alarm in the distance. Will went running for it but somehow tripped. Warren tossed more fireballs his way as Will managed to climb under a lunch table for defense. Warren climbed on top of the table to hurl more fire his way but stopped after a little bit.
"Where're your sidekicks, sidekick?!" Warren yelled and all of Sora, Kairi, Layla, Ethan, Zach, and Magenta came forward with Sora at the lead.
"Right here, hothead!" Sora proclaimed and Warren lit up even more, everybody backing away but Sora and Kairi.
"Leave them alone!" Will said, pushing up on the table. And suddenly the table was lifted up off the ground and the realization hit everybody in the room: Will Stronghold had super strength like his father at last. Will smiled and he tossed the table into the air, Warren crashing down to the floor. But Warren got up moments later and Will raised his fists. Warren came charging at Will and with a simple punch; Warren went crashing through the wall into another room.
"Think I can't take a hit!" Warren yelled as he emerged from the room and had his whole body begin to alight with flame. He ran forward and Will looked powerless in this situation. Sora summoned his Keyblade and ran forward.
"Water!!" he screamed and a trail of water issued forth, dousing Warren with a simple spell. When he was at last on the floor, cooling down a shadow was cast over them. Sora looked and saw a woman dressed in black and silver clothing standing there and he could only assume that it was the principal and they were in trouble. The principal beckoned all three of them with a simple finger and they followed, slightly crestfallen. She led them down a hallway and to a white room, motioning for them to enter. They obeyed.
"I didn't do anything though, he started it." Will protested but Warren rounded on him.
"Your dad started it, and now I'm gonna finish it." Warren seemed to attempt to light himself up but there was merely a clicking sound and nothing happened.
"Don't bother. The Detention Room neutralizes all super powers. Sit." the principal demanded and they had no choice but to obey. "Here at Sky High we do everything we can to teach you how to use your powers. But what you do with them, that's up to you. Living up to your father's reputation or trying to live it down, or even trying to prove yourself is a sad waste of talent. Your talent. Try to keep that in mind the next time you're about to do something stupid." With that the principal left the room, leaving all three of the boys sitting there.
"All right, look. Whatever happened with our dads, it has nothing to do with us. What do you say?" Will said, extending a hand to Warren but Warren merely threatened to roast him alive if he crossed him again and Sora figured that he didn't want to be doing that anytime soon.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night had actually been a rather happy affair in the Stronghold house despite the fact that Will and Warren had together nearly destroyed half the cafeteria. Still, Will had his powers and his dad was more than happy. Sora was even bursting with happiness as he saw this and it brought to mind, of course, the thought of children again. It kept rearing its ugly head the more and more he tried to avoid it. And yet, here was Will's dad, so proud of his son and finding such joy in it. And yet, his dad put his life on the line everyday in order to keep his son safe so why couldn't Sora?
That was why, the next day he would resolve to tell Kairi something but unfortunately he didn't have time as everybody was swarming around him, both on the buss and in class.
"Dude, you made sidekick history!" Zach said, giving Will a high five.
"I don't know about that." Will said modestly.
"No, seriously." Ethan said to his friend. "From now on, people mess with us at their own peril."
"You're breaking down barriers Will. Proving we're not just heroes and sidekicks." Layla said with happiness before Mr. Boy came in and ordered them all to take their seats. However, it wasn't very long after this that Mr. Boy told Will that he had a new class schedule and Will left, slightly sad that he was leaving his friends. When lunch finally rolled around Sora was actually almost hopping up and down in anticipation to see how hero class was from a freshman. When they got to lunch however they found that Will was sitting with Gwen Grayson and her friends, namely a black girl named Penny, did not want any sidekicks to sit there. So they were all forced to eat lunch without Will. Soon after this, however, Riku at last arrived.
"So, did you find out anything?" Sora asked and Riku cocked his head to the hallway, indicating that they should talk there. Sora and Kairi followed him out.
"I don't know how close we are to finding Royal Pain but I found out stuff about Gwen. Apparently she's a technopath, she can control technology with her mind…oh, and she told me that apparently she's going to be Will's private science tutor…whatever that means." Riku said with no extraordinary amount of disdain.
"What? You think she might be trying to get close to Will?" Kairi asked Riku and he merely shrugged his shoulders. Sora put a finger on his chin in order to think about this.
"Hmm…if she is, we might want to keep a close eye on her." Sora said but before the conversation could continue any further there seemed to be a commotion coming from around the corner in the hallway. The trio rushed over to find Will forcing Lash (the lanky boy, as Sora learned he was called) and Speed to let Ethan and Zach out of lockers.
"Not so tough when my boy's around are you?" Zach said defiantly as he came out of the locker.
"You think you're so big and bad, huh, Stronghold?" Lash said with a sneering tone.
"Please. Will will totally take you!" Ethan proclaimed and Sora could tell that Will was getting flustered.
"You saw what happened to Warren? You want a piece of that?" Zach said, exacerbating the situation.
"Watch it Stronghold. That big mouth is gonna get you in trouble…so why don't we just settle this in P.E.?" Speed said proudly.
"You're on. If Will beats you in Save the Citizen, you lay off the sidekicks for the rest of the year!" Ethan challenged.
"You got yourself a deal." Lash said and he and Speed left the scene, leaving a very flustered Will.
"Guys, are you crazy?! No freshman ever won Save the Citizen and those guys are undefeated." Will cried out, frustrated with what his friends had just done.
"And you barely know how to use your powers." Layla said before she realized that she had said entirely the wrong thing. "Sorry, not helping." Will just groaned and stalked off. Little did Sora know that they had only ten minutes to go and the gym was packed tight for Save the Citizen Sadly the first match ended badly for the heroes (as Lash and Speed were villains).
"Ramirez, Hamilton, your citizen has just been mulched!" Boomer announced to the crowd. "Villains win. Next round. Speed, Lash, you wanna be heroes or villains?"
"Villains." Speed replied and it truly made it seem like that was the most obvious.
"Ooh, there's a surprise…who do you want to face?" Boomer asked and Sora could immediately tell what was coming their way.
"We'll take little Stronghold and…uh…Peace." Speed announced and both Will and Warren stepped down onto the playing field, adorning what seemed to be battle armor. Boomer quickly explained the rules of the game: the heroes had three minutes to save the citizen and defeat the villains…if they didn't, they lost. Clearly, the villains had the advantage and so Sora knew it wouldn't end well when Boomer yelled out "Battle!"
Lash immediately stretched his arms across by grabbing onto two poles. Speed used his arms like a bungee cord and shot forward like a pinball machine, knocking both Will and Warren over. Warren got up and Lash immediately went on the offensive, wrapping his arms around Warren to prevent him from doing anything. But Warren lit himself up and burned off Lash as his fingers began to blister. Meanwhile, Will was getting the crap beaten out of him by Speed as Speed kept rushing by and knocking him over. At the same time, Warren was beginning to toss fireballs at Lash, who was avoiding them. Thankfully, Sora saw that Will had figured something out. He jumped into the air and punched the ground, sending a shockwave through the air that tripped up Speed and threw Lash off balance. Will quickly picked Lash up and tied him to a pole in the area.
However, it was at this moment that Speed started running in very quick circles around Warren, cutting off his oxygen supply and depleting the flame. By now there were only ten seconds on the clock and so Will made a decision. He ran up to Speed and grabbed him before letting him run loose, straight into Lash. Will then picked Warren up and threw him at the citizen which he grabbed and landed at the other side, unscathed. The crowd cheered wildly as the heroes had won and Boomer sent Lash and Speed off to the showers. But he quickly quieted them down.
"All right, Stronghold, Peace, who do you want to face next?" Boomer said, but Warren merely took off his armor and walked away, indicating that he didn't want to play anymore. Boomer shrugged his shoulders. "All right, Stronghold, choose your partner."
"Sora." Will said, pointing at the spiky chestnut haired boy. Sora got up with a grin and Boomer merely rubbed his eyes.
"Stronghold, you know that's a sidekick, right?" Boomer said and Will just shrugged his shoulders. "All right, who'll be your villains since I know you're going to play heroes."
"Riku and Kairi." Will said and so, both Riku and Kairi made their way into the arena. Boomer then gave the same instructions to the teams, though he was utterly confused as to why it was hero-sidekick teams facing each other rather than hero-hero teams. Then there was the cry of "Battle!" and all hell broke loose.
Sora immediately summoned his Keyblade as Riku began launching a dark barrage of shots at him. Sora quickly erected a reflect shield as the dark shots peppered him. When Riku at last stopped, Sora rushed forward with a quick run and tripped Riku up, but Riku didn't waste a moment and he immediately got up. He began firing shots of darkness at Sora who was now running along the walls at an extremely fast speed. Meanwhile, Will was having trouble with Kairi who was using her light to fire shots of light at him which he could only narrowly avoid seeing as when one disappeared, a new one appeared. Sora ran past Will in a blur and Will had to narrowly avoid the shot of darkness coming his way.
"What is it, Sora? Too scared of me, sidekick?" Riku announced, clearly giving a mocking tone to the word "sidekick". Sora just let out a ringing laughter and jumped from the wall down at Riku. Riku barely avoided the swipe that Sora made at him. Riku fired off another shot but Sora rolled out of the way of it. He snapped a look to Will and seemed to communicate something with his eyes. Will then jumped into the air to perform a repeat move. But Riku saw what was coming. "Kairi, jump!" Kairi nodded and jumped into the air as did Riku.
However, Sora also jumped into the air at the same time and threw himself at Riku. Riku felt himself being tackled by the weight of Sora as they crashed down onto the ground. He also felt Sora's weight leave him shortly after they landed and he groaned from the slight pain that the tackle had caused him. When he looked up, he saw Sora running towards the citizen with a minute left on the clock. He fired off a warning shot of darkness and Sora jumped back. Then it was his turn to be tackled as Kairi forced him to the ground in order to hold him there. She gave him a coy smile and he smiled right back before he started tickling her sides. She started laughing uncontrollably and Sora managed to push her off. But now, Riku was coming at him. He stuck the tip if his Keyblade to the ground.
"Gaia!" Sora yelled and a circle of rocks surrounded Riku, preventing him from going any further. "Will, distract Kairi!" Will nodded at him and ran at Kairi who had just regained her composure. Sora then focused his mind both on maintaining his earth spell while also focusing on his next spell. "Sever!" The robe holding the citizen was cut and Sora knew he had to work fast. "Magnet!" The citizen was drawn to him quickly and landed in his now outstretched arms. The crowd was whipped up into frenzy at the fact that the heroes had once again won. Sora at last released his earth spell and nearly dropped to the ground from slight fatigue. He walked over to Riku however and shook his hand as Kairi came over to heal the both of them. It was at this moment that scores of people and students came onto the floor, Gwen at the head of them, to crowd around Will. But the Keyblade wielders had other things on their minds.
"Well, that was productive…" Riku said sarcastically and they all nodded knowingly. "We've been here two and a half days and we're no closer to finding Royal pain than we were when we got here."
"What we need is help." Sora said with a wave of his hand. "But there's no one we can trust becausealmost anybody could be Royal Pain…even one of the teachers, and we don't have an in."
"Oh, I think we can get someone older to help us out with that." Kairi said with a smile. Sora and Riku looked confusedly at her for a moment before it at last hit them. They looked at each other.
"Oh no…you wouldn't Kairi…" Sora said, not wanting to hear the words she was speaking. The crowd was at last leaving the gym, leaving the three of them alone.
"Fine! Let's just return to the king and say 'I'm sorry, Your Majesty, we failed to find and defeat Royal Pain because certain Keyblade wielders are too stubborn to accept help when it's given to them.' Do you want to do that?" Kairi snapped at them and they both looked down at their shoes.
"We don't need his help…" Riku mumbled and Kairi just looked defiantly at the both of them.
"Well, I think we do, even if you don't." Kairi said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Fine…" Sora said in a very defeated voice. "Go ahead, bring him here…but we'll need a good cover story for him too."
"Oh, don't worry, I've already got an idea. I'll find you guys when we get back here." Kairi said while summoning her Keyblade. She held it out in front of her and opened the portal. She stepped into it and in a flash of light she was gone. Sora and Riku merely stood there for a moment.
"Your fiancée's devious…" Riku said and Sora nodded, accepting the truth, whether he liked it or not.
Author's Note: Whoo…finally finished that chapter. It took a long time to write and was very difficult to do, so I hope it turned out well. I hope you enjoyed all the little things I put in there like Sora being sidekick, Maleficent meeting with Royal Pain, and the hopefully good action in the Save the Citizen portion. Next chapter we'll finish up this portion and I'm sure you can all guess exactly what Kairi is up to. Anyway, let me know what you think in a review and a thanks to Captain A for reviewing and Kingdom hearts birth by sleep for favoriting this story, and always remember, Dare to Be Silly.
P.S. Check out my new poll that I would really like input on.