Well, it's not my most exciting chapter by a long shot, but I promise that things kick up again soon. Stitch?

Stitch: "*$)%^^&(%( ^%&)_%&^% %&)&! peanut butter."

…What?

Lilo: "He say DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else."

Chapter 68: Hostage Situation

What was left of the group met up back at Lilo's home about thirty minutes later. The rain was still coming down hard, and there were gale force winds, which meant that Xaynew hadn't left yet.

After drying off, Pleakley explained the situation.

Gantu had called him on Jumba's 'appropriated' cell phone. He had apparently become very powerful, and had defeated the other three in combat.

At this point, Axel made a sound of annoyance. "He played real dirty. He pretended to be down and then sucker-punched us."

Bariss looked uncomfortable.

Gantu had then requested a trade. He and his 'colleagues' would trade Jumba and the King for Experiment 221, and two other Keybearers. He told them to meet them in three hours near an old lighthouse on the beach. They would make the trade there, and then go their separate ways.

Otherwise Jumba would die, and Mickey would be taken to the Brotherhood base.

They sat there in contemplative silence for a few minutes, trying to find a way to get all of them back without losing anyone. Even Sparky (now sitting on the couch in his sealed container) was quiet.

Eventually, Sora asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "So how do we do this?"

"There's got to be some way we can get them back without losing our top players." Nehrut was thinking. "How exactly does Gantu restrain prisoners? If there's a wide enough window of opportunity, our guys might be able to escape."

"Well, typically, restraint units and holding cells." Pleakley answered. "Gantu's ship used to belong to the Federation, and it came equipped with some of the best security they had."

"Is that it?" Riku asked. "Oh, this'll be easy."

"But then you'll still be stuck in a ship." Axel said. "You'd still need to get off somehow."

The front door opened.

Immediately, the room's occupants leapt to their feet. Weapons were in hand right away, and pointed at the figure standing in the doorway.

A large black man stood there, hands at his sides. His eyes were covered by a pair of dark sunglasses (despite the unfortunate weather), and rain slid down his shaved head. He was garbed in a plain black suit over a white shirt, with black tie. Sora was reminded of the stereotypical 'Men in Black', plus two gold earrings.

His mouth was a thin line across his face. And he looked at the Keyblade in Sora's hand with a quirked eyebrow. He raised a hand, and lowered his sunglasses slightly to reveal his dark eyes. He looked Sora straight in the face.

"You can put that away, son." He said in a low voice. "I'm not going to attack you."

"Cobra Bubbles!" Lilo exclaimed. She walked up to the man, and he held out his hand.

"It's good to see you again, Lilo."

"Bubbles?" Axel muttered into Riku's ear. The both of them chuckled quietly. But then Bubbles shot a glare at them, and it was enough to make them stop right away. Behind their backs, Stitch giggled.

"Who are you?" Sora asked him.

"I am a former agent of the CIA, and I'm also the man who's going to help you get your friends back."

Five hours passed, and the storm had lightened somewhat. The rain had stopped, at least, and it was night.

Hovering above the water near a section of beach on a cliff (by a long-abandoned lighthouse) was an immense, strangely designed ship. The main body was a squashed ball shape, which spun vertically, as if it were a wheel. Connected to it were two engines, and in the back was a large tail fin.

Standing in front of it were six people. The now Heartless Gantu dwarfed Xaynew and Saix, and Hamsterviel looked like a cotton ball in comparison. Jumba and Mickey were standing in front of them, hands behind their backs, and bound in restraints. Mickey had a mark on his forehead in green ink that Axel would have recognized. This was to keep him from using his magic or summoning a Keyblade.

They were waiting.

Soon, a black car pulled up not far from the lighthouse.

From the driver's seat came Cobra Bubbles. Pleakley walked out from the front passenger's side. From the back seat came Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy. The latter two were holding the container with Sparky inside between them.

They walked calmly forward.

"Well, you are finally here!" Hamsterviel walked forward, looking horribly smug with his smirk, and his fists on his hips.

"So you decided to keep the original Keybearer, huh?" Xaynew said. He looked around, checking down the street, by the lighthouse, and even the sky. "Where's the rest of your little gang?"

"They stayed behind." Kairi answered, then she smiled, "I love what you've done with your face."

Due to his last duel with his former brother, Xaynew was now sporting a long, vertical scar on the left side of his face that stretched down from being even with his eye, all the way to his chin. He scowled at her.

"Yes, doubtless they didn't want to see this." Hamsterviel said, ignoring Kairi's comment on Xaynew's appearance. "Now, as for our deal?"

"A deal's a deal." Bubbles said. He took Sparky's pod from Donald and Goofy, and handed it to Saix. He took it, and tucked it under one arm. Sparky growled at him from inside the container.

Xaynew pushed Jumba and Mickey in the backs, and they walked forward. Kairi and Riku walked forward, as well. All was silent as Mickey and Jumba stood by agent Bubbles, and Riku and Kairi stared down the others.

Xaynew reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a tiny container. It was a small, round container with a greenish fluid inside. He dipped his finger inside, and quickly put the power-blocking mark on Riku and Kairi's foreheads.

Then, Experiment 625 walked out of the ship with two sets of special restraining units in one hand, and of course, a sandwich in the other. Gantu roughly turned the two Keybearers around, and fastened them on their wrists.

And all throughout this, they didn't make a noise.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Hamsterviel said smugly, and turned around. 625 and Gantu followed him soon after, walking Riku and Kairi in front of them. Xaynew and Saix stayed for a moment. The younger Nobody was smirking horribly.

"Finally." They walked into the ship.

Bubbles raised a hand to the tiny earpiece he was wearing as the hatchway closed. "Are you all getting this?"

Several miles away, Jumba's ship was hovering just a little above the ground. Inside, there were three people: Stitch, Axel, and Lilo.

Stitch was at the pilot's seat, and Axel sat next to him, acting as copilot. Behind them, Lilo was strapped firmly in place to her seat. This would be a dangerous mission, but no one had been able to keep her from coming along (by any means).

Axel was a bit annoyed that he had gotten stuck as the one 'babysitting', but they had all voted for him.

At Cobra Bubbles's query over the ship's speakers, Stitch pressed a button on the console in front of him. "Ih." Was his response.

"Stand by until they take off."

In space, still several miles away from where Hamsterviel's ship would pass, sat the Unity. Like the other ship, there were only three on board. Sora was at the pilot's seat, Nehrut at the weapons station, and Yuffie at the RADAR station.

Sora was staring straight ahead out the window at the bright world below. But he wasn't really looking at it, so much as through it. The two most important people in his life were now prisoners of some maniacs on board a hostile ship.

He had offered to give himself over instead, but they would have none of it.

"You're a better pilot than either of us, Sora." Kairi said, hands on her hips. "So you aren't coming."

"Are you sure-?"

"Yes!"

"Do you realize that this sounds a lot like it did before we left home?" Riku said.

"I'm just worried, okay?" Sora said, arms held in a placating gesture, palms up. "I can't help it."

Kairi leaned forward, and kissed him softly. Then, she pulled him to her, and embraced him tightly.

"We'll be fine Sora." She whispered in his ear.

He could feel her. She was alright, so Hamsterviel or Xaynew hadn't hurt her. Then he heard Cobra Bubbles over the speakers. "Are you all getting this?"

Yuffie leaned over at her console. "Loud and clear, Bubbly."

"Bubbles." He didn't sound very amused.

"Because that's such an improvement." She answered, grinning.

"Just be ready." And his link went dead.

"Real beam of sunshine, isn't he?"

"In his line of work, what can you expect?" Nehrut said, messing with a few controls at his console. "Cloaking device activated."

The windows in front of them shimmered for a second, and it was as if a ripple effect was happening to them.

If they had been outside the ship (provided the airless vacuum didn't kill them, of course), they would have seen it briefly shimmer, and then after about three seconds, turn completely invisible.

Half a world over, yet another massive ship was waiting, and received Cobra Bubbles's message.

It was a large, blimp-shaped vessel. But as opposed to the nose pointing forward, it pointed straight up. The hull was painted yellow, with occasional orange stripes on the sides. The front nose was painted red, and a large communications antenna protruded from it. Three engines were on the back. Red lettering on the hull marked it as a flagship of the United Galactic Federation.

On the bridge the crew was waiting in anticipation. They were a diverse collection of species. The ship's commander stood in the center of the room, in front of a specially made podium.

The commander was actually the Grand Councilwoman of the United Galactic Federation. She was a tall woman, with blue-green skin and an elongated head. Her eyes were totally black, with light blue irises. Her bare feet were hoof-like, and three toed. Her three-fingered hands clutched the podium tightly.

Then Bubbles's message came through.

"The coordinates are punched in." The Grand Councilwoman answered. "We'll arrive on your signal."

Gantu roughly shoved Kairi and Riku into two tiny cells four feet wide on both sides, and about five feet high. There was barely enough room to sit, let alone stand. It was impossible to get comfortable, especially when one's arms were still cuffed. Not to mention that the mark on their foreheads was giving them a splitting headache.

Looking out through the plexiglass door, Kairi couldn't see anything worth watching except Experiment 625. He was idly munching on a grilled cheese sandwich, and looking a bit bored. If that was the only security that Gantu had stationed here, then they didn't have too much to worry about.

"Riku?" Kairi whispered, hoping to convey a message without 625 hearing.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Why didn't Xaynew just take us to the Brotherhood's base with a corridor of Darkness?"

"Could be that Hamster-wheel just wants them to escort him off-world before they leave."

"You're right, kiddo." Apparently 625 had heard them. "Soon as this bucket hits warp space, those two creeps are outta here."

"Why are you here anyway, 625?" Riku asked, curiously.

"Eh." He shrugged, turning around to look at them. "I've got nothing else to do... So, want a sandwich?"

In case you're wondering why Xaynew traded one of the Keybearers, it's because the Brotherhood needs two. He knew the others wouldn't want to let Jumba die, so he knew they'd give up two Keybearers in exchange for him and the one he already had. So, it works out great for him.

I got to write another space battle next! It's way, way better than this chapter. Plus, I introduce the next Summon. Until then!

Drop a review!