Chapter 8: Gearing Up
"Alex, are you okay?!"
Alex opened his eyes to realize that he was back in the Third District, laying on the ground. He heard Sora and got up slowly, then he touched his face. No blood, no bruises, nothing. It was as if the duel between the twins had never happened.
"Jeez you gave me a scare," Sora ran over. "You fainted again."
Alex rubbed his head and gave a sheepish smile. "Maybe I'm more tired than I thought."
"The only sleep we seem to be getting around here is when we're knocked out," Sora exclaimed.
"I agree," Alex said.
"These guys have just been explaining that they were looking for me," Sora pointed to Donald and Goofy.
"Looking for you?" Alex made a face. "Why?"
"Apparently, the king of their world went missing and he left a letter saying that they needed to find someone with a key to their survival," Sora explained.
"Key? Oh, the Keyblade," Alex realized. The king of their world? Could it be..?
"They too have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."
Alex and Sora turned around to see Leon and Yuffie standing there.
"Thanks for the help guys," Alex said, sarcastically. "Way to be team players."
"We were kinda busy with the Heartless in the First District," Leon said. "It was probably better that you guys fought this one on your own. You need to rely on yourselves more than others."
"What does that mean?" Alex asked.
"I believe that Donald and Goofy can explain it to you," he said.
The two boys turned to the King's friends.
"We were wondering if you would come with us," Goofy said. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel."
"Vessel?" Alex wondered.
"Our ship," Donald quacked.
"You have a ship that can fly in space?" Alex started to smile.
Donald and Goofy nodded.
"Sweet!"
"What would we do?" Sora asked.
"The King told us to find the person with the key and stick with him," Donald said. "We were going to look for the King. There are a lot of worlds out there, so we have a lot of places to search. The Heartless are probably trying to invade these worlds and seeing that the Keyblade is a weapon that they fear, we could use your help."
Sora closed his eyes and looked at the ground. "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi?"
Alex realized that Sora was right. Riku and Kairi weren't on this world, but they could be on others.
"Of course," Donald smiled. Sora looked up and smiled.
Goofy leaned in to Donald and whispered, "Are you sure?"
"Who knows?" Donald shook his head. "But we need him to come with us to help us find the King."
Leon walked over to Sora and put his hand on his shoulder. "Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends."
Sora just looked at the ground and shook his head. "Yeah...I guess."
Donald saw that he needed a little encouragement and said, "But you can't come along looking like that, understand."
Sora looked up, confused.
"No frowning," Doanld made a face. "And no sad face, okay?"
Goofy leaned in. "Yeah you gotta look funny. Like us!"
Goofy started to laugh, but Donald pushed his face out of the way. "This boat runs on happy faces."
Sora chuckled to himself. He couldn't believe that they were asking him to be happy at a time like this. "Happy?"
Leon and Yuffie cross their arms, Alex stared at Sora, and Donald and Goofy braced themselves.
Sora looked to the ground and brought his face up with the weirdest grin anyone had ever seen. Everyon just stared at Sora and he realized that he must look like a dork.
"Hahahahaha! That's one funny face," Donald and Goofy laughed aloud.
Sora's mood had cheered up. "Okay why not, I'll go with you guys, but only on one condition."
"Name it," Donald was still trying to recover from laughing.
"Alex goes with us," Sora pointed to Alex, who had been starting to feel left out.
"Whaaaaat?!" Donald quacked.
Goofy calmed him down. "Donald, this could be the only way that we get him to come. The other kid isn't a bad fighter either. He could help us."
Alex walked over to Sora. "Are you sure that you want me? I'm not gonna be cramping your style right?"
Sora laughed. "Are you kidding me? It's like you said before. We are gonna send these monsters back to hell together!"
Alex smiled to himself. "You're right. Besides, you would make a fool of yourself without me there to guide you."
Sora gave Alex a fake frown, but couldn't keep it up.
Leon smiled. "Then its decided."
The four warriors realized that they hadn't properly introduced themselves.
"Donald Duck."
"Name's Goofy."
"I'm Sora."
"Alex Bane. Pleased to meet you."
The four of them formed a circle and put their hands in. It gave Alex a quick flashback to before his basketball games. The team would always pump themselves up and put their hands together. Alex hesitated to put his hand in, wondering if he wanted to do this. But he realized, that if he walked out on this, it would probably be the biggest mistake of his life. He was being offered the chance to fly in a star ship, explore new and exciting worlds, find his friends, and save some people while he was at it. However, he also remembered the other reason that he was coming. Something he couldn't tell anyone. Dark Alex had said that he was the one who killed his parents, but it wasn't his idea to kill them. That meant that there was someone else out there pulling the strings. Alex had to solve that mystery and figure out why Disney characters can come to life. There was too much he didn't know for him to stay out of the loop. He knew he had to do this. Alex put his hand in.
"All for one and one for all!"
The 3-D image of the four new friends shined green light in the darkened room that was practically devoid of light. The image was being shone on a circular, stone pedestal. That way everyone could see it. The figures in the darkness had just watched the battle between the giant Heartless armor and the warriors.
"That little squirt took down that Heartless. Who'd have thought it?" one of the figures roared in frustration. He couldn't believe that all four of them had survived.
"Ah, such is the power of the Keyblade. The child's strength is not his own," another figure explained. He didn't believe that the boy posed much of a threat.
"Why don't we turn him into a Heartless. A-HA-HA! That should settle things quick enough," another figure, a woman, spoke.
"And the brat's friends are the King's lackeys!" The air began to hiss as someone swung something in the air out of frustration. "Swoggle me eyes! They're all bilge rats by the look of them."
"You're no prize yourself!" a figure leaned his head back in laughter.
"Shut up you fool!" the figure swung his hook next to the figure's throat.
"ENOUGH!"
All of the figures turned to see their leader standing at the front of the pedestal. The green light from the hologram seemed to mold into her skin of the same color. Her thin fingers grasped her staff, which was a long brown pole with a dark-green orb at the top. The green light also showed a malevolent smile appear on her red lips. Her purple and black robes seemed to have a mind of their own, swaying in the wind every which way. The light barely made out the horns on her head that blended perfectly in the darkness.
"All of you have mentioned the boy with the Keyblade and the King's men. But what about the other boy?"
The other figures had uncomfortable looks on their faces.
"Why should he matter? He's obviously just a friend of the boy. He shouldn't pose any threat," one of the figures spoke. The others nodded their heads, agreeing.
"I agree. Why worry about some common street rat?" He spat out the words, emphasizing "rat".
The leader looked at them all. "It's true. This other boy seems to be of no importance."
The other figures considered the conversation over.
However, the leader wasn't finished. "But our eyes can often lie to us."
The figures started to wonder what the point was.
"It would seem that another battle took place."
"Another battle?! What do you mean, Maleficent?!"
Maleficent shook her head at the incompetence that was taking place. "After the defeat of the Heartless, this boy fainted. However, I felt a dark presence stir. It would seem the boy's consciousness was taken somewhere and was engaged in a mental battle. He could have died, but he triumphed over his opponent and was brought back. I don't know who the opponent was, but the aura of darkness was quite powerful."
The others were having a hard time believing what she was saying.
"If I were you," Maleficent said. "I would not be so quick to judge this boy. There is more to him then it appears. I would consider him to be as much a threat as the others. So don't underestimate him."
The figures nodded. Maleficent wasn't one to lie about something so important. She got back to the matter at hand.
"The Keyblade has chosen this boy. And fate has seen fit to include the others in his quest. The only question that remains is, will it be these fools who conquer the darkness? Or will the darkness devour their hearts?" Maleficent gave a smile that guaranteed their success. "Either way the boy could be quite useful."
Traverse Town had been born anew. People started coming out of their homes. Shops were reopened. No one had to live in fear of the creatures attacking any time soon. The group that had vanquished the darkness from the town was in the square of the First District. Leon had just finished introducing Alex and Sora to Aerith. Alex was very tempted to ask her if she would marry him.
Leon was giving advice before the group went their separate ways. "Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know for sure just how far the Heartless have spread."
Yuffie pointed to the accessory shop. "You should check out some of the shops here. They have really cool stuff that can help you out. I've told Cid to give you guys a discount."
"Thanks, but how are we gonna pay for it? We're kinda broke," Alex said.
Aerith presented the answer. "This is from all of us." She pulled out a one hundred dollar bill. "Spend it as you see fit."
Looks like money hasn't changed all that much, Alex thought as he was handed the cash.
The group exchanged handshakes and hugs. Alex's heart did extra leaps when he hugged Aerith, but sank when Aerith gave Sora a kiss on the cheek.
"Our prayers are with you Keyblade master," Aerith said. "I hope you find your friends."
"Thank you," Sora said. "I will find them."
"Good luck you guys!" Yuffie said.
Leon went over to the group and spoke in a serious voice. "Look out for each other and keep your spirits up. This journey will be hard. Both physically and mentally. You must help one another. The Heartless won't hesitate to take your heart, Sora. And once they've found out about the other three, they'll take your hearts too."
"Once again, thanks for the pep talk Leon," Alex smiled. "Oh and on the subject of Heartless, there are others out there, am I right?"
Leon was still talking serious. "You're right. There are more Heartless out there and not just the ones that you fought today. Heartless come in great varieties. Some can do magic, some are immensely strong, and some are bigger then you can imagine."
"Gawrsh," Goofy gulped. "These guys are pretty tough."
"How are we going to fight against all of that?!" Donald yelled.
Leon actually smiled. "Don't worry. Heartless do have a weakness."
"Which is?" Sora asked impatiently.
"The Heartless are hearts that are corrupted by darkness, correct? But they are still hearts. Every time someone kills a Heartless, a little piece of that heart of darkness is brought back to the light and then is absorbed into your body creating power. The more Heartless you destroy, the more power will build up. Once the power reaches its limit, it explodes. This invisible explosion in your body strengthens you in many ways. It will build up your strength, agility, stamina, reflexes, ability to do magic, and it can make your spells even more powerful. With this process, you'll be able to become stronger then you ever could. And with the right training, it opens you up to many new skills. Skills that you can mix with magic or the power in your body."
"I see. That's how you got to be so good at fighting," Alex realized.
"Yes. I've killed a lot of Heartless in my time," Leon said.
"So what happens when all that power goes kablooie?" Goofy asked.
"When it happens," Leon explained. "The process starts all over again."
"Wow," Alex smiled. "So we can just keep killing Heartless and power up as much as possible. I'd say that's a pretty big weakness. How much power can we get?"
"Depends on the size of the Heartless. The bigger, the better," Leon explained.
"How do we know when the explosion is going to happen?" Sora asked.
"Once the power builds up, it'll stay there until you unleash it," Leon said. "You have to concentrate really hard the first time. After that it just becomes second nature. I'd go so far to say that all of you might be ready now."
"Let's try it," Donald said with excitement.
The four of them closed their eyes and concentrated. Alex was going to do it the same way he searched for the power he gained from the dream. He called for the power to unleash itself. He almost reached out with his fingers. Alex started to feel a tugging sensation on his body. He used his mind to try to pull the power out. Alex gritted his teeth, realizing the explosion was happening.
"Holy crap!" Alex yelled. He thrust his arms outward and soaked the power in. He felt himself getting stronger. The power was in his legs, his arms, his chest, and his brain. It was surrounding him. Alex opened his eyes to find that it was over. The others started to open their eyes.
"Gawrsh," Goofy said. "That was uh, um, hey Donald what's the word?"
"Intense!" Donald quacked. "You idiot."
"Aw right," Goofy laughed. "That sure was intense."
"I do feel stronger," Sora exclaimed. "This is too cool."
"How do we know for sure?" Alex said.
"Try something," Leon said.
"Try doing magic. Like a Fire spell," Donald suggested.
"Um, okay," Alex took a few steps back and made sure that nobody was in the way. He thrust his sword to the night sky and yelled,"Fire!"
To Alex's surprise, flames surrounded his sword and shot forward to form a small fireball.
"Wow!" Alex said. In the back of his mind, he knew he could do it. He had already used it to defeat Dark Alex.
"Let me try it too!" Sora thrust the Keyblade in the air and was rewarded with the same results.
"Congratulations!" Leon said. "You can do magic now."
"Let me try," Goofy said.
"This is not going to end well," Donald shook his head.
Donald was right. Goofy tried to do a Fire spell, but all he managed to do was set his pants on fire, which Donald had to put out with a Blizzard spell.
"That's okay Goofy," Leon said. "Some people don't do magic. You can use the power in other ways."
"Why can you do Blizzard spells?" Sora complained.
"Because I've been trained," Donald smiled smugly.
"Well, that's about all I can tell you guys," Leon started to walk away. "Good luck."
They waved to Leon as he ventured back to the Second District.
"Well, let's go," Alex said, eager to see the ship.
"Not until we're ready," Donald said.
"We still need to get some stuff," Goofy said. "Don't we get a discount?"
"Right," Sora said. "Let's go see what the item shop has."
The four of them walked up the steps to the item shop and entered. The shop was a small, two floor store. Right as Alex walked in there were stairs to the right leading to the main floor and the counter. A ceiling fan spun above to keep the place cool. Behind the counter were cabinets that must have been full of different potions and other items to help fight monsters. The most distinguishing thing about this place wasn't what was being sold. It was the people who were selling them.
Alex hadn't taken more than two steps into the place before he was almost stampeded by ducks yelling," Unca Donald!"
"Uncle?!" Sora raised an eyebrow.
There were three ducks. Each of them had a shirt and cap that was a different color. They wore red, green, and blue. They looked like miniaturized versions of Donald and Alex knew them in an instant.
"Boys introduce yourselves," Donald said. The ducks got on top of the counter and made weird poses.
"I'm Huey!" the duck in red grinned and pointed his thumbs towards himself.
"I'm Dewey!" the duck in blue did the splits and pointed to the ceiling.
"And I'm Louie!" the duck in green just waved to the guests.
"These are my nephews," Donald smiled.
"Your favorite nephews right?" Huey batted his eyes.
Donald realized that it wouldn't be a smart idea to insult the people he was going to buy stuff from. "You're just little buckets of sunshine!" he lied.
"Hey guys," Goofy waved. "You sure are keepin' this place nice and neat."
"Thanks Goofy," Dewey got behind the counter.
"I'm kinda having a hard time picturing you as an uncle," Sora said, but immediately wished he hadn't.
"Why would that be?" Donald got in his face.
Sora quickly shook his head. "No reason."
"So, what kind of items do you guys sell?" Alex said. He was still eager to see the ship.
"Everything," Louie said. "Potions, ethers, elixirs, anything.
Alex's mind was doing backflips trying to translate what the little duck just said
They're Harry Potter wannabes, Alex thought.
"What are those?" Sora asked.
"Potions are for healing," Huey held up a bottle with green fluid.
"Ethers are for replenishing the magic energy in your body," Dewey held up a bottle with blue liquid shining through the glass.
"Elixirs are for all of the above," Louie held up a bottle with golden liquid that shimmered.
"We'll take ten of each," Donald pulled out the cash.
"Cool. That'll be a hundred-and-twenty bucks," Huey smiled behind the cash register.
Donald's jaw hit the floor. "Whaaaaaat?!"
"Sorry Unca Donald," Louie shrugged. "No family discounts."
Donald looked like he was about to throw something, but decided not to.
"Okay then," Alex did his best to negotiate. "We'll take seven of each."
"That'll be eighty-five bucks," Heuy said.
"Deal," Alex said. He grabbed the money from a fuming Donald and paid the nephews. Each of them went to the cabinet and pulled out small bottles of the liquids. Donald cast enchantments on the bottles so they wouldn't break.
"Thanks guys," Goofy said to the ducklings.
"You're welcome!" All of them shouted at once. "See ya later Donald!"
Donald grumbled, still mad about the no discounts, and the four of them left the store.
"Uncle Scrooge trained them well," Donald muttered.
Alex pulled out one of the bottles from the bag that Goofy was holding. It was an elixir. The golden liquid glowed brightly and seemed like it had a mind of its own.
"Donald, dontcha think it's time we got to the ship?" Goofy suggested.
Alex popped out of his hypnosis with the elixir and sprinted over to Goofy.
"You mentioned the ship?" Alex smiled.
Donald and Goofy led the two boys to the entrance to Traverse Town. It was a huge set of double doors that led to the parking spot of the Gummi Ship.
"Are you ready?" Donald asked. He liked the looks on the boy's faces.
"Hell yes!" Alex yelled.
They opened the doors and went outside of Traverse Town. At first, Alex couldn't see anything. It was pitch black.
"Hey," Alex said. "What's the big idea?"
Suddenly, a spotlight shot its beam upward from the ground. Another shined to the side of it. More spotlights began to shine ahead of them. It was a way of showing the pathway to the Gummi Ship. Alex and Sora ran forward, excited for what they were going to see. Soon enough, the spotlights shined on the Gummi Ship and Alex could see that they were in some sort of tunnel that was used for parking. Alex and Sora stared in awe at the ship. The simple color of it, the cannons, the white wings, everything about it was enchanting.
"Wanna see the inside?" Goofy asked.
"Oh yeah!" Sora answered.
Donald ran to the back of the ship and pressed a button. The back of the ship started to come forward, morphing itself into a ramp. Alex could see light coming from the inside and ran to the back. Donald motioned with his hand for the boys to go in.
"Ladies first," Alex pointed to Sora.
"Not cool," Sora said, but he went in anyway.
Sora entered a room that had multiple gears shifting and steaming. Mechanical wonders that Sora would never understand. Alex guessed that it was the engine room. He looked at the gauges that measured pressure and others that were on other tanks. He pushed Sora forward to a white ladder that led to the next floor. Alex climbed it wondering what he was going to see.
He was greeted with a much better sight. The Gummi Ship was bigger on the inside than it looked from the outside. He felt like he entered a five star hotel. Straight ahead was a hallway that undoubtedly led to the cockpit, but it branched off into several different rooms. Each of the rooms had a bed, cabinets for clothes, and their own bathrooms. Another room the hallway was a passage too, Alex didn't know what it was. It was dark and glowed from the faint light of computers. It also included many pod-shaped machines that were hooked up to the computers.
"Pick a room, any room," Donald said. "And welcome to the Gummi Ship."
Alex entered a room with a bed that had blue covers and white carpeting. He sat on the bed and instantly remembered that the only time he had slept in the past twenty-four hours was from being knocked out. He took a deep breath and lay on the bed, prepared to go to sleep.
Sora popped his head in. "C'mon sleepyhead, we're going to see the cockpit."
Alex made a mental note to scare Sora in his sleep and followed him into the hallway.
"What is that dark and scary room?" Alex asked Donald.
"Oh that. That is state of the art technology that was only entrusted to this ship."
"What kind of technology?"
"It's called VR training. Stands for virtual reality. You get in one of the VR pods and someone loads you in. Then, you fight opponents in a virtual world. This is the kind of training that Leon was talking about. It's great for getting stronger and testing out new moves without any threat of hurting yourself."
"Awesome," Alex was impressed. This ship seemed to have everything.
Alex followed the group up the ladder and entered the cockpit. It was a glass dome that separated them from space. Alex saw the three chairs and the control board. Donald was fiddling with the controls and Alex wondered how someone could tell apart all the different buttons, gauges, and levers.
"Don't touch anything," Donald warned.
"He means it," Goofy said. "One time I touched this button and, well..."
"Let's just say that the Gummi engineers haven't trusted Goofy ever since," Donald finished.
Alex was surprised that he didn't find the cockpit all that impressive, but he realized that he shouldn't be complaining.
"So, what are the cannons for?" Alex asked. "Do you get chased by Imperial Star Destroyers?"
Donald gave Alex a look that clearly stated he had no idea what he was talking about.
Enough with the movie references, Alex thought.
"The cannons are for the Heartless ships that bother us sometimes," Goofy explained.
Sora frowned. "Wait, they can invade space too?"
"Yep," Goofy nodded.
"Great," Alex said. "If we don't die by unneeded open-heart surgery, we'll die by being shot by the Death Star."
Alex was given more looks.
I thought I said enough with the movie references, Alex thought.
"Hey! Who are you?"
Alex looked around the cockpit, but couldn't see who had spoken.
"Down here!"
Alex followed the voice and gasped.
"Hello! Jiminy Cricket's the name."
Jiminy hopped onto one of the chairs. Alex was starting to wonder if he was going to faint again.
"What are you here for?" Sora asked.
"I'll be your chronicler for this journey," Jiminy explained. "I'll write down all the stuff that goes on in my journal. That way, we'll have evidence of what you guys do in case of, uh..."
Alex knew what the cricket wanted to say and it didn't make him feel any better.
Donald sat in the driver's seat and began to push buttons. He gripped the steering wheel and pulled a lever.
"Engines are good!" Donald was reading a gauge.
"Cannons are locked and loaded," Goofy said, checking another dial.
Alex and Sora raced to a seat, seeing as how Donald and Goofy were taking up the other two. Alex got there first and Sora wasn't looking forward to standing up on takeoff. The whole ship started to rumble and Alex gripped his seat. He could feel the Gummi turning slightly.
"Everybody hold on!" Donald yelled.
Donald pulled a lever which ignited the thrusters beneath the ship. Alex could feel the ship starting to pull forward. He said a quick prayer and closed his eyes.
"Let's get this show on the road!" Donald quacked.
He pushed the steering wheel forward which caused the ship to lurch. Alex gripped the seat even tighter. Goofy was shaking, even though he had done this before. Sora looked like he was about to throw up.
"Universe, here we come!"
The Gummi Ship blasted forward out of the tunnel and into space, leaving Traverse Town behind and whole new adventures ahead of it.