8 more chapters left in the story, ladies and gentlemen. After that we switch gears to Ripple Effects.
Episode 24: Million Dreams Award:
Disney Town – Main Plaza
August 24, 2015
The roar of engines echoed across Disney Town as the Rumble Racing competition got under way. The annual Dream Festival had begun. With travel between the worlds more common now, this year promised to be the biggest turnout for the celebration yet. Crowds of visitors from almost every world in the Daybreak Coalition crammed into the stands around the racetrack as the first of the day's many events was about to begin.
In contrast to previous years, where the roster consisted entirely of Disney Town residents, the racers entered in this year's circuit consisted of a wide variety of contestants from throughout the known worlds. From up in the stands, Kairi cheered while trying not to spill her soda in Riku's lap next to her With the shrill scream of a starting whistle, Sora, Terra, Zed, Vanellope Von Schweetz, Goofy's son Max, and a tall, skinny rodent named Mortimer, who – if the booing of the crowd was any indication – was extremely unpopular here in Disney Town, took off like rockets along the racetrack.
After a long and competitive race, Zed emerged victorious. With the cart-racing tournament concluded, the crowds moved over to the Fruit Ball court. There were eight teams in the bracket: Sora and Riku, Max and PJ, Roxas and Lea, Kairi and Xion, Mara and Paige, Minnie and Diasy, Namine and Vanitas, and finally Terra and Aqua. The tournament went on for hours. With each round, the pool of competitors was cut in half. Until finally, the final round arrived. The match of Sora and Riku against Max and PJ would decide who would win the grand prize.
The competition was fierce. Both pairs worked in perfect concert, launching cartoonishly oversized fruits back and forth across the large field where the games were held. With teamwork honed from the past two years of combat, Riku and Sora soon emerged victorious. After everyone offered the two Keyblade Masters their congratulations, Terra, Aqua, and Ven headed over to the main plaza to grab some more ice cream.
"It's nice to come here when we don't have to worry about anything crazy happening out in the worlds," Terra commented as he and Aqua walked arm in arm through the streets of Disney Town with Ven a few feet ahead of them.
"Definetaly," Ven called back. "I feel a lot better now that we're actually doing something normal for once instead of fighting all the time." Aqua smiled at Ven's statement. She and Terra were both glad that their little brother (although they weren't related biologically, he was still their family) had cheered up since the support group meeting. His positive attitude had returned, and while they all still had issues from their manipulation by Xehanort, they were all healing. A little while later, the crowds gathered around the stage set up in the Main Plaza for the main attraction of the festival. The Million Dreams Award.
Everyone present, local and visitor alike, had voted and been voted for. Mickey and Minnie had been away from the party for the last two hours counting out the votes. Now throngs of people crammed into the small plaza outside the castle gates as the king and queen prepared to announce the winner.
"Who do you think will win?" Sora asked as he, Riku, and Kairi stood under the gazebo in the center of the plaza. It was the only place not filled to the brim with people, and while they waited, the three teens leaned against the railing and watched the sunset.
"I'd say either Max, Namine, or Xion," Riku commented. All three had been immensely popular with the crowds after the Fruit Ball game earlier that afternoon.
"I still want Kairi to win," Sora replied. "They really loved you out there today."
"You were pretty popular with the crowds yourself," the princess of Radiant Garden retorted teasingly. "You, Riku, Terra, Aqua, and Ven are probably the only people everyone here knows personally." After all three of them went on to jokingly discuss their own heroics while reminding each other of how far they'd all come. Eventually, Mickey and Minnie emerged from the stage as the crowds cheered enthusiastically.
"Hello everyone," Mickey called out to the audience. The cheering intensified, especially from the citizens of Disney Town, who were glad to have their king home to host the festivities.
"And thank you for waiting," Minnie added. "After counting all the votes and recounting them to make sure we didn't miss any, we're proud to announce that for the first time in thirteen years, we have a three-way tie for the winner of the Million Dreams Award!" The cheering broke out again as the crowds clamored for the monarchs to announce the winners.
"So without further ado," Mickey began before pausing dramatically. "Please give a round of applause for Sora, Riku, and Kairi!" The screams of the crowd were nearly deafening as the three friends just stood there in shock for a moment. They couldn't believe their ears. The three of them tied? Kairi burst out laughing, snapping Sora and Riku out of their stupors. Kairi smiled as she dragged her boyfriend to the stage while Riku followed behind them. When they got up on stage and shook hands with the king and queen (although the crowd went "aww…" when Mickey skipped the handshake and gave his friend Riku a congratulatory hug) before receiving the prizes that came with the award.
As they stared out at the cheering audience through the snowfall of confetti, Sora smiled happily as he realized how many people had voted enough for him, his girlfriend, and his best friend to tie. By the time they finally walked off the stage, their ears were ringing long after the cheering of the crowd died down. It felt good to be so well liked among the worlds. It felt good realizing just how many friends they all had.
I wanted to have the award presentation scene be a bit of a reflection/expansion of the one in Birth By Sleep. So from here to the end of this fic, it's mainly going to be fluff pieces. Once Regroup and Rebuild is finished, Ripple Effects will have a lot more eventfully chapters as far as world building goes.
Next chapter: a certain older couple finally ties the knot.