Okay… Six days. Close enough, right? Anyway, who else is watching this year's E3 like a hawk?
Roxas: (Raises hand) "Modern Warfare 3, Assassin's Creed, and now an announcement for a new Sly Cooper? Heck YES!"
Excellence in gaming, yes sir.
Roxas: "DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else."
Chapter 97: Witch-Hunt
"So, we're in agreement." Mickey said, several minutes later. "We shadow Judge Frollo."
"I still think that this is a mistake..." Quasimodo interjected again. "Frollo isn't an evil man."
"But he is trying to imprison Esmeralda, and she doesn't deserve that just for standing up to him." Sora reminded.
"'Witchcraft', he says." Axel rolled his eyes. "He just wants an excuse to use excessive force."
"How did this guy get into office, anyway?" Kairi asked Quasimodo. "He's obviously biased, and last I checked, that wasn't the best quality in a judge."
But the hunchback seemed afraid to say anything negative about his master, and said nothing.
"He stinks of Darkness." Riku pointed out, wrinkling his nose as if Frollo's scent still lingered on him. "Even more so than yesterday, if that's even possible."
"Whatever the case, somebody has to get going before tall, dark, and creepy leaves with his thugs." Nehrut said, looking out the window again. "I think they're about to move."
"Where to?" Sora asked, knowing that he'd probably regret asking.
!
Frollo's first stop (nearly an hour later) was a place not far from Notre Dame. It was a small building similar in design to many others in Paris. The rough wooden sign, and the bread and pastries in the window advertised it as a local bakery. As of yet, it hadn't opened to the public for the day.
Riku, Yuffie, Nehrut, and Bariss were crouched down on the roof opposite of the bakery. Frollo, Phoebus, and a handful of soldiers had rushed directly here. The judge was now sitting astride his immense, black horse, rather than his carriage.
"A bakery?" Riku said.
"Something tells me he doesn't just have the munchies." Yuffie muttered, peering down at the soldiers with narrowed eyes. "They're up to something."
That was an understatement, as it turned out. They watched in horror, as two soldiers broke the door down, and rushed inside. The rest followed them. From inside came the sound of muffled exclamations, and then the sound of breaking objects.
Through the window, the four could see the soldiers toppling over barrels, and shelves filled with baked goods, and restraining the shocked, harmless-looking baker. One of them forced him outside, and threw him to the ground at the feet of Frollo's horse.
The soldiers checked every corner of the small building, before they found a trap door hidden underneath a throw rug. Pulling it open, they found a handful of frightened, brightly-dressed people.
They hurriedely bound them all in chains, and marched them outside to face Frollo. He sneered down at them all for a moment, before reaching into an inner pocket of his robes.
For one wild moment, Riku thought he was reaching for a concealed weapon, intending to execute them personally on some trumped-up charge. But instead, he withdrew a handful of silver coins.
"Ten pieces of silver for the gypsy Esmeralda." He said, jingling the coins in his hands temptingly.
Fortunately for Esmeralda, the gypsies' loyalty couldn't be bought with munny or silver. The only answer Frollo got from them came in the form of angry, defiant scowls and glares.
"Got to respect that." Nehrut muttered.
Frollo however, didn't share that viewpoint. Growling, he stuffed the coins back into his robes. He turned his horse sharply around, and started riding away.
"Lock them up!" He barked to his men. "The rest of you, with me!"
Most of the soldiers (Captain Phoebus among them) followed him both on foot and on horseback. Riku noticed a look of mingled shame and anger on Phoebus's face as he followed at Frollo's side.
The six soldiers they had left behind began escorting the prisoners toward the massive Palace of Justice, which could be seen in the distance.
"This is the part where we beat the pulp out of the thugs, and spring the prisoners, right?" Yuffie asked, already twirling her shuriken between her fingers.
"Wait for a moment, so Frollo won't notice." Bariss advised. "He's moving toward the King and the others now, they can handle whatever he does next."
"One step at a time." Nehrut agreed.
About two minutes later, Frollo was well out of the way, and the others leapt across rooftops, catching up to the prisoners and their escort quickly.
It was almost sadly easy to take care of the soldiers on duty.
Riku went first, running off of the roof, and propelling himself toward the guard at the back of the group. His fists enveloped in Dawn, he collided with his side, smashing him to the ground, and sending his weapon flying across the street.
Before his fellows fully realized what had happened, Nehrut had lifted two of them into the air telepathically. With one simple gesture, he tossed them down the street, until they eventually collided with a fruit stand, which promptly fell on top of them.
A fourth was yanked into the side of a building head-first. Bariss' skill with her whip hadn't diminished in the slightest, despite the fact that she'd been favoring her sai lately. She had successfully wrapped it around the man's throat, and pulled.
The fifth was met with two booted feet to his jaw, and was unconscious before he hit the ground. The sixth fell victim to two cleanly placed shuriken strikes.
This all transpired inside the time frame of five seconds, and not one gypsy prisoner had been touched.
"Yawn." Yuffie announced.
Riku summoned Way to Dawn, and tapped the chains binding the wrists of each of the gypsies. They fell away uselessly to the ground from the simple tap, clattering onto the ground.
"You guys need to get out of here, now." He said to them. "Get to the Court of Miracles, wherever it is, and warn the other gypsies to stay hidden. Frollo won't stop until he finds Esmeralda."
"And take these." Bariss added, handing them some of the felled guards' weapons. "if you run into trouble on the way."
"Thank you," One of the gypsies (a skinny man in violet) thanked them, shaking Riku's hand vigorously. "If there's anything we can ever do to help you, just call on us."
"We'll keep that in mind, now go!" Riku urged.
Carrying the guards' swords, they rushed toward the east. The four off-worlders watched them until they slipped into an alley, and disappeared.
"So, should we stalk Frollo again?" Yuffie asked.
A handful of Heartless materialized around them without warning.
"It can wait." Nehrut said, drawing Presul.
This particular group was composed of Shadows and Neoshadows (which was no great surprise). There were also Soldiers, Armored Knights, Large Bodies, and an unfamiliar species. The Jester Heartless were thin, and had a similar air to the Dancer Nobodies. They were very skinny, and bare-chested. They had puffy, bright red pants, and looked like they were wearing red masks that covered all but their glowing yellow eyes. They were carrying large, double-bladed axes that didn't seem to weigh much at all.
One of the Jesters leapt at Riku, spinning the axe around its body. The Keybearer rolled under it, swiping upward into its stomach as he did. He came out of his roll, and stabbed an Armored Knight before it brought its arm blade down on him.
Nehrut countered the attacks of two Jesters by leaping backwards. Their two attacks intercepted each other, and the clueless Heartless accidently cut each other down. Nehrut stabbed behind him, to catch a Soldier in the stomach. He lifted three Shadows into the air, and threw them into an advancing Large Body.
The Large Body was knocked backwards into the side of a building. Bariss leapt up at it, piercing its forehead with her sai. She flipped backwards off of it, landing behind a pair of Shadows that she dispatched with one swipe. Using the shield in her other hand, she blocked the axe swing of a Jester. From behind her protection, she threw the sai, hitting it between the eyes.
Yuffie ran low under a Large Body's flailing fist, and leapt straight up with her shuriken in hand. She went over it, and struck at its head, before she landed lightly on its other side. She rushed at two oncoming Soldiers, throwing her shuriken at them. It spun through them, taking off both of their heads. Another pair of Neoshadows were right behind them.
The ninja leapt straight up, and landed on their other side. Her shuriken came back to her, and she struck both of them down with it. As she did so, a blast of Dawn shot over her head, hitting a Jester in the upper chest before its axe could come down on her.
Riku parried a swift blow from a Jester, and its two follow-up attacks. They were fairly impressive in combat. Most Heartless could only get in one quick attack before a swordsman of Riku's caliber cut them down. But these were executing faster and more skillful combination attacks, suggesting a slightly higher degree of intelligence.
Still, Riku sliced it in half at the waist, and stabbed through the remains to catch another one in the chest. He ducked under a pair of leaping Shadows, and blasted them the second they touched the ground again.
Trying to enjoy himself, Nehrut lifted a Large Body into the air telekinetically, and smashed it down onto a group of three smaller Heartless. This much weight was enough to crush them very quickly, and still keep the larger Heartless weakened, but alive.
He continued to bring the large Heartless crashing down into its smaller fellows, until he finally shot it down the street like an oversized bowling ball at a giant's lane.
It was done fairly quickly, with only Heartless, and small portions of the street and surrounding buildings suffering any sort of harm.
"Everybody alright?" Riku asked the group at large, keeping his Keyblade in hand in case there were any more surprises.
"Yeah, we're good." Yuffie answered. "Looks like the Brotherhood finally joined the party."
"One day late for the festival. How rude." Nehrut added. "Wonder who their agent is this time?"
"Frollo." Riku answered simply.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Yuffie agreed. "But he himself is probably a pushover, right? If we get to him, this'll probably all stop."
"He might not be as harmless as he appears, Yuffie." Bariss pointed out. "The powers of Darkness made Nessus, Gantu, Zira, and Morgana pretty tough, so I'm willing to bet Frollo will be very powerful now."
"But why would he still rely on his thugs to do his dirty work?"
"He's probably trying to maintain his image." Nehrut said. "I've dealt with people like Judge Frollo before. They like to give the impression that they're harmless so that people underestimate them. Plus, if he has a few dozen soldiers around him, he'll look like he needs protection. Then the soldiers become feared, too."
"There's more to it, I think." Riku said. "If he uses Darkness around people, they'll think he's made some kind of deal with the devil. And Frollo still wants to fool himself into thinking he's a man of God."
"Ugh." Yuffie said. "All this psychological stuff makes my head hurt. Let's just get back to work."
!
Another hour or so after Frollo and his men had left the bakery, they had stopped at the gates leading out of town, by the river. Sitting by the edge of the river was a small horse-drawn wagon, brightly colored with red, blue, and green. A white horse was harnessed to the front.
Mickey, Donald, and Goofy watched from on top of the walls, as Frollo's soldiers tossed off everything that had been on it (barrels, ornaments, and such), and threw it on the ground or into the river. A pair of them yanked the horse away from the wagon, and tied it to a nearby post.
Horrified, they watched as a group of soldiers pushed the wagon into the water. It rolled down, shaking a great deal, before finally hitting the water with a loud splash.
It sank slowly, and one by one, gasping, soaked gypsies swam to the surface. They had only moments to tread water and catch their breath, before the soldiers rushed into the water, and hauled them out one at a time.
They were placed in a straight line, dripping wet, and seething. One was a little girl no older than seven.
Frollo didn't care. He reached into his robes and pulled out several silver coins. He had raised his offer since the incident at the bakery. "Twenty pieces of silver for the gypsy Esmeralda!"
The response was the same. The gypsies didn't say a word, but glared at Frollo with similar expressions of hatred.
Frollo scowled, and gestured to the men that had them bound in chains. "Take them away!"
As the men did as instructed, Mickey noticed an odd expression on Captain Phoebus's face. He was scowling at the back of Frollo's head as though he were silently willing it to suddenly explode.
"What do we do, Your Majesty?" Goofy asked, perhaps a little louder than was necessary.
"Shhh..." Mickey whispered. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off here." He stood, and walked to the other side of the wall, where Frollo and the prisoners were heading. "Follow my lead."
He dropped down from the top of the wall, and walked calmly into Frollo's path, Donald and Goofy flanking him.
The judge pulled his horse to a sudden halt, gazing down at Mickey curiously. His expression turned to one of shock anger, when he recognized the three of them as beings who had helped in Esmeralda's escape.
"You!" he gestured quickly to a pair of guards. They walked forward cautiously, weapons at the ready. "You three are under arrest for aiding a fugitive from justice. Will you come quietly?"
"Well, Judge Frollo, I don't think you're in any position to arrest me for any charges." Mickey replied, meeting Frollo's hard gaze with a determined one of his own. "I am King Mickey Mouse; Royal monarch of Disney Castle, and I declare diplomatic immunity."
He half-smiled at the look of surprise that appeared on Frollo's face. But it left his face suddenly, when Frollo merely sneered at him.
"Do you think that we would grant you immunity after you've already committed a felony? And before our King even knew of your presence? You are truly naïve if you believe this, 'Your Majesty.'"
"You take that back!" Donald exclaimed angrily, summoning his staff, and leaping in front of his king with Goofy at his side.
But Mickey raised his hands for them to stop. "We'll come quietly, Judge Frollo. It's not my wish to cause a diplomatic incident."
"That's better." Frollo said with a smirk. "Captain, restrain them, and have them brought to the Palace of Justice with the rest of the vermin."
Donald and Goofy stared at Mickey with expressions of shock and mild betrayal as the soldiers bound them with iron chains, and sent them to march along with the gypsies, and their escort of twelve soldiers. He kept his eyes fixed on Frollo throughout the whole thing, until he and the others had disappeared from view behind a building.
They had marched for several minutes, before Mickey looked up at the soldier next to him. "So, pal... Got any kids?"
The soldier looked down at the diminutive king, confused. "Um... No."
"Too bad."
Mickey leapt up, and smashed his foot into a very uncomfortable part of the guard's anatomy. All of his breath left his body in a silent exclamation as his knees buckled.
In the same second that the soldier hit the ground, Mickey was airborne. He flipped over the head of another soldier, summoning Kingdom Crown, and breaking the chains on his wrists. He came down on top of a soldier, driving the blade into his chest.
When he touched down again, he pointed his Keyblade at Donald's chains, and the fell away. Donald summoned his staff, and shouted, "Firaga!"
Fire shot from the staff, hitting a soldier in the back as he ran toward Mickey. Mickey leapt over his motionless form, and over to Goofy. He tapped his chains, and freed him.
The knight immediately raised his shield to block a strike from a soldier (the first one that was actually able to attack). Donald unleashed another fireball from behind the shield, setting his chest alight.
The remaining eight soldiers only now understood what was going on, and shot toward the escapees. But they didn't last long.
Mickey extended his blade, and fired three quick blasts of Light the size of baseballs. They exploded against three different soldiers, sending them flying backwards.
Goofy threw his shield. It spun through the air, hitting the helmeted head of a soldier, sending him sprawling. The shield bounced off of his head (still spinning) and struck another one in the stomach, taking him out of commission.
And for the final two, Donald released a Thundaga spell from his staff. Lightning bolts flew into the body of the one in front, sending him into wild convulsions where he stood. Some of the bolts surged from his body and into his partner, dropping him in seconds.
The smoking body of the first one collapsed a moment later, dead before he hit the ground.
"Well, now that that's over..." Mickey walked over to the gypsies, who initially recoiled in fear they they would become his next victims. But when he merely tapped the chains on the wrists of the little girl, they let out a collective sigh of relief.
"You fellas need to get to safety before Frollo realizes you've escaped." Mickey said. "Go to the Court of Miracles, and stay there until things are safe again."
"We can't thank you enough." A middle-aged man thanked him. "If you ever need Sanctuary, seek us out."
"Don't mention it. Now get going!"
They ran immediately, disappearing into an alleyway in seconds. Their rescuers stayed behind, and were silent for a moment.
Finally, Goofy asked. "Uh, Your Majesty, I'm not sure I get it. Why did you try diplomatic immunity on Frollo?"
"I just thought it might be a quick way to settle things. But even if he didn't accept it, I knew we'd be able to escape. He doesn't know that chains will be ineffective. Now come on, let's get out of here before anyone spots us."
!
Back to the action! Hope that you liked this one!
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