Sapphire frowned, now sitting in the seat next to Niko. "Where exactly is it that we're going?" she asked suspiciously. She already didn't like most of what was going on, so if Niko knew right off the bat she wouldn't enjoy this world, then it must be bad.
As they landed Niko looked around and saw the place was in black and white and cartoony. Niko looked at Sapphire and notices she was wearing what she normally wore but it was more cartoonish. Looking himself he noticed he was wearing his usual clothes but with one additional piece, huge puffy gloves.
"Well this is weird," Niko said sighing. "We are in a 1950s cartoon."
Looking at Saph and Sarabi, he jumped in shock. Saph turned into a mini angel and Sarabi turned into a devil with a bowtie.
"What's going on?" Saph asked.
"Nothing," Niko replied. "Just feeling a little weird."
"Well I'll be," Jiminy said. "We're in Timeless River. It's before Disney Castle was built!"
Sapphire looked down at her clothing, noticing how vibrant it looked compared to what she normally wore, and how silly and cartoon-like her clothing had become.
Niko was right: she hated it.
She looked a Jiminy and narrowed her eyes. None of what he said meant anything to her. "So, why are we here?" she asked, eyes roaming around, noting the changes in Sarabi, Saph, and Niko. She groaned.
"Two of the other five Insurgents are here," Niko said. "Unless you wanna go home without them."
Just then, two cartoony individuals appeared. They looked familiar and it didn't take long to realize who they were.
"Sapphire?" It was a familiar voice, and one that Sapphire found comfort in. The tough woman was hard to recognize in a cartoony pilot costume, but she came to the realization rather quickly, and same went for the guy in gray. It was Four Seven Niner, or as she had been going by more recently, Charlotte, the best pilot the Insurgents had ever had, and Sapphire's first girl friend, and Alexandrite, or rather Alex, an Insurgent who took his job very seriously but still could joke around.
"You guys are safe," Sapphire breathed, running up to them and throwing her arms around their necks. They returned the hug firmly.
"We weren't sure if we'd see anyone else," Alex murmured into Sapphire's shoulder.
"We've been all over this goofy area, and it seems like there's not a way out," Charlotte chimed in.Niko was busy fighting off heartless whilst they caught up. Once the Heartless were gone a door appeared and Niko opened it.
"Hey guys!" Niko shouted. "I found a way out! Through this door!"
Jiminy look at the door and sighed. He knew what they had to do.
"Well," Jiminy said. "In order to get out, we'll have to traverse through time. Each of the stages of animation."
"So," Niko replied. "This is the monochrome era. This door leads to the basic color era?"
"Correct," Jiminy replied. "We need to get through that era then the full color era, then the CGI era."
Sapphire looked over at Niko once he shouted about the door, Alex and Charlotte doing the same a moment later. Alex was open to the strange concept that was described, because, sure, why the hell not? Sapphire had grown indifferent toward in, but Charlotte was just as much of a hard ass as Sapphire had been.
"Excuse me?" she asked, looking toward Sapphire for some sort of explanation, but she just shook her head.
"Just go with it," she muttered before heading through the door. A grumbling Charlotte and a curious Alex followed.
Niko walked through the door and sighed heavily. He knew this was going to be difficult. He never quite got along with the Insurgents, and it likely wouldn't change, but if they were going to get out of here, he'd have to learn to work together.
"Okay so we're out of the black and white era," Niko said looking at himself. "Now we're in the limited color era...otherwise known as the Disney Dark ages."
Niko began to walk around explaining what he knew about this particular era. Granted, Möbius exists over 1000 years after humans went extinct, with a few survivors. Niko loved this particular history, making him very excited to relay his knowledge.
Alex listened to what Niko had to say, intent on learning and understanding. If he was going to be stuck here for awhile, he might as well make himself familiar with it. "How come there are so many phases?" Alex asked with real confusion. This wasn't something he had ever heard about or learned before, and he was eager to learn more.
Charlotte, on the other stand, murmured comments under her breath to Sapphire as they observed their new surroundings, not caring the slightest about anything other than getting out of this place.
"Well I'm glad you asked!" Niko said, pulling out a guitar. They were in the technicolor era, which was full of bad Disney movies with decent songs. Niko explained the era to everyone, while strumming the guitar.
Alex had never really had time to invest in music due to the harsh training that came with being and Insurgent, so Niko playing the guitar was something that interested him, as did the talk of music. He nodded at Niko's words, gaining information as they went along. Charlotte remained scowling, and Sapphire mainly kept her eyes out for possible threats in this strange new area.
"I didn't know something like this could exist," Alex mumbled under his breath, gazing around.
Niko saw the next door and before they could get there, a group of Heartless appeared. Niko summoned his Keyblade and changed into his Valor Drive Form.
"Sapphire get to the door," Niko shouted. "I'll deal with these guys!'
Sapphire spotted the door and nodded. "Right!" With a quick gesture to Alex and Charlotte, the three rushed to the door, Sapphire having her Keyblade in hand. Alex and Charlotte hurried through the doorway, but Sapphire hung back to make sure Niko made it, too.
Niko looked to Sapphire and ran to her grabbing her hands and dives into the door. Unfortunately, a small problem was discovered...they were in the air. Gravity took over as everyone careened to the earth. Niko looked around and chuckled.
"We're in the CGI era," Niko shouted out. "When it was first being implemented by Disney in 1995! It was low quality and thirty frames per second. Really shitty stuff! Hang on everyone!"
Niko summoned a giant rope and a cloth and quickly created a parachute. Pulling everyone close to him, the parachute slowly brings everyone to the ground safely.
"Is everyone okay?" Niko asked.
As they began falling to the ground, Sapphire made a noise of surprise. This was something straight out of a cartoon... And from what Niko was saying, that's exactly what they were in.
Alex did not enjoy the sensation of falling, and was grateful when he was pulled near the parachute. Charlotte on the other hand, loved the thrill due to being a pilot that had to pull off quite a few tricks. She was disappointed when the free fall stopped.
Alex looked green when finally back on the ground. Charlotte and Sapphire seemed one though. "We're good," Alex muttered, trying to keep it together.
Niko took stock of their surroundings and sighs heavily. He didn't see the door but it didn't stop him from sensing it. Niko hopped into a tree and looked out and saw the door in the distance!
"Alright, everyone," Niko shouted out. "The next door is ahead and we better got there before--"
He could not finish as he heard wolves howling and running in their direction. Niko hopped down from the tree and ushered everyone in the direction of the door.
"Let's get going..." Niko said nervously.
The nervousness in Niko's voice caught Sapphire off guard. That was a rare tone for him to have when it came to fighting off adversaries. What was so different about the wolves? Alex and Charlotte headed in the direction that they were ushered, but Sapphire hung back a little, drawing her Keyblade.
"We can fight them off," she told Niko, keeping her eyes trained on the wolves as she took careful steps backwards.
Niko looked at the wolves and baked away. Niko was afraid of wolves after getting mauled by one. On top of that, he had to kill one afterwards.
Sapphire's eyes were flooded with worry. She needed to get Niko out of there. She didn't understand what was so wrong, but all she knew was that he looked terrified and that she needed to get him away. She rested a hand on his shoulder and shoved him gently in the direction of the door.
"Go. I'll take care of them." Her tone said that she would not take no for an answer.
Niko nodded and looked to to the others, he nodded and took off for the door. He didn't want Sapphire to do it alone, but she was adamant so he complied
"Niko?" Saph asked. "Why aren't you helping Sapphire?"
"You don't know?" Sarabi replied for Niko. "Niko is afraid of wolves."
"Niko," Saph said sadly. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I was afraid to say anything," Niko replied. "If admitted I had a fear as pointless as a fear of wolves, Sapphire would likely laugh."
"You're lucky she can handle herself," Sarabi said. "But you're going to have to get over it eventually."
"I know," Niko said.
Niko looked back and sighed heavily. He knew he was going to have to get over it and it might as well be now. Summoning his Keyblade he noticed he began to glow green. After the glow subsided, Niko noticed that his clothes were now green. Looking at his clothes he nodded and ran to Sapphire.
Sapphire began to slash at the wolves that came close to her, the Keyblade slicing open their bodies and leaving them limp and dead. She maneuvered carefully as to not be caught in the claws or jaws of these creatures. She would have been able to handle herself fine, and she thought of this as she noted Niko's return out of the corner of her eye. If he was afraid, she did not want him to be there.
"I told you to go!" she shouted before being caught off guard by a wolf. It snapped its jaws at her leg, but she managed to draw it away quickly enough, the sharp teeth of the beast managing only to cut open the material of her pants and skim her skin, small droplets of blood blossoming. She scowled at the small injury before bringing her Keyblade down into the back of the wolf.
"I can't leave you here!" Niko responded after kicking some wolves away.
Sapphire turned her attention back to Niko, her blue eyes dark and set. She didn't want him to get hurt, and she didn't want him to be fighting if he was afraid.
"Yes, you can!" she responded, continuing her onslaught of the wolves. "I'll catch up with you guys."
Niko shook his head and sighed. He knew what she was doing, and he didn't want to let her. He knew if was hurt here, it would be his fault for being such a pansy. His clothes began to glow green as a giant dragon-like monster appeared.
"I have heard your cries." a voice rang you. "I shall assist thee in battle. All you must do is call my name."
"Ifrit!" Niko shouted as the dragon appeared and grabbed the wolves. He then proceeded to eat them which made Niko feel a lot healthier somehow.
"Delicious." Ifrit said licking his lips. "Is there any more?"
"I don't think so." Niko replied rather frightened. "Let's get out of here."
"Okay," Ifrit said smiling. He turned his attention to Sapphire and smiled. "You must be Sapphire. Now worried ma'am, I ain't gonna eat ya."
Sapphire looked up as the great dragon appeared and took care of all of her adversaries. She took a few steps make to marvel at the creature before being snapped out of her daze by its words.
"Right, yeah. I would hope not," she told him before nodding her head slightly.
"Thank you for the aid." She still was certain she could've taken the wolves out on her own, but it was relieving that they were taken care of so quickly. Her eyes moved from Ifrit to Niko before looking back at the dragon, anger suddenly appearing in her blue eyes. "Now, if you don't mind, I need a word with my husband."
"Of course," Ifrit said as he disappeared. "Take your time."
Niko knew he was in some kind of trouble when he saw Sapphire gets this angry. His first thought was to run, but he was actually quite curious as to what she had to say.
"Sapphire," Niko began. "I was afraid of wolves...that's why I froze up. But seeing you in danger helped me get over it. I couldn't sit back and watch you get hurt. Even if you didn't get hurt, I still couldn't run away not knowing you were okay. I had to come back. You're upset, I know you are. I understand that. But I couldn't let you fight them alone while I ran like a wimp."
Sapphire threw her Keyblade onto her back before walking up to Niko, taking both of his hands in hers. "That's the thing, though, Niko: you were scared. I couldn't bare to let you stay and face them knowing you were terrified." Her voice and eyes softened, but they hardened once more a moment later. "And I told you to go, and you didn't. What if you had gotten hurt?" She shook her head and dropped his hands. "You have to trust me, hun."
"I'm sorry," Niko said sighing. "You're right. I guess I wasn't thinking. Let's get out of here."
Niko walked back to the others, who were safely at the door. Niko's clothes turned back to normal and he smiled. He was slowly gaining powers beyond his thoughts, but why him only? There had to be a reason.
Niko opened the final door and saw the completed Disney Castle and a final door.
"There it is!" Niko shouted. "We're in the final era that the doors led through; the Disney Renaissance. When Disney was starting to go bankrupt so they started making hit after hit. It was quite an era."
Before Niko could finish, a voice was heard.
"You made it!" The voice shouted. "Now, I see that you have some stowaways with you. I'm afraid I can't let you leave with them."
"We are leaving with these two," Niko shouted. "Whether you like it or not."
"Figures you would say that," the voice said. "You know what to do."
A group of Heartless appears and turn into a giant vortex of Heartless. Niko summoned his Keyblade and stood ready. He pointed at the door.
"Get through the door," Niko ordered. "I'll buy you guys time! Hurry!"
Sapphire did not instantly recognize the voice once they made it through the door, but she didn't not waste her time trying to place it. She gritted her teeth, glaring at the Heartless that obscured her view of the door. She pulled her pistols from her hips and handed one to Charlotte and one to Alex. They couldn't kill the Heartless, but they would sure as hell slow them down if they got in there way. She nodded at Niko's orders as she pulled her Keyblade from her back, leading Alex and Charlotte to the door, knocking down Heartless that rested in their way.
Niko rushed at the tower of Heartless and slashed at them. The tower began to crumble a little, but he was hit and the tower was restored. Niko swore under his breath but quickly got an idea. He ran towards the tower, his clothes now green, and jumped high into the air and dived inside it. The area went silent for a while until all that was heard was Niko shouting in pain when he unleashed a burst of ice, which caused the tower to explode into a flurry of snow. When he emerged from the snow, a frozen Pheonix floated behind him.
"Thank you, Leviathan." Niko said as his clothes returned to normal. He walked to everyone and opened the door. "Let's get the fuck out of this place."
Niko said no more as he walked through the door. He was sick of the world already and he wanted to go back to the Gummi Ship and crash.
The group of three had reached the door, but Sapphire halted them as she heard the scream of pain that she had heard far too many times in her life. Her eyes grew wide in worry, and she felt her chest tighten. The sound of his scream chilled her to the bone. Once he finally approached them, she reached a hand out to him, but he was already walking through the door. Charlotte and Alex exchanged a glance as Sapphire kept her eyes trained on her husband. A moment later, they followed him through the door.
"Are you okay?" Sapphire asked softly as she met him on the other side of the door.
Niko looked to Sapphire and shook his head grumbling. He had never acted like this before. It was almost as if Niko was...upset, angry even.
"I'm fine," Niko said as he sealed gthe door shut. The sealing of the door teleported everyone to the Gummi Ship and he put the ship on a course to Radiant Garden. When he had finished, Niko walked to the Captain's quarters and fell on the bed. So much had happened and time was starting to catch up with him. He was losing sleep going through the worlds and he needed that...but something else was wrong. However, what was it that was wrong?
Charlotte glared at Niko's attitude, and she opened her mouth to say something, but both Alex and Sapphire rested a hand on her shoulder to keep her from saying something. They were teleported onto the ship a moment later.
Sapphire watched with worried eyes as Niko set the course and vanished into the captain's quarters. Niko was rarely ever like this. It was hard to make him angry, and it was strange that this fantasy land of all places had gotten him like this. She thought about going to talk to him, but she decided she'd let him rest. They'd talk about it later.
The ship arrived at the Radiant Garden quickly. Sapphire walked them off the ship. "You'll find Garnet, Silver, and Gold here," she told Alex and Charlotte. They both hugged her before departing, promising to meet up soon.
