Xehanort: Greeting readers and writers of this fine website. If you are wondering where the author is today, I can honestly say that I do not know, as there was no one here when I arrived.
AN: YOU NEED TO GET YOUR EYES CHECKED THEN! I'M OVER HERE!
Sora: What'd you do to lyokoMARVELanime, Xehanort?! And where is he anyway? [starts looking around for the source of the voice]
AN: HERE! LOOK ON THE TABLE!
[everyone turns and sees a crystal ball with author's head in it]
Terra: lyokoMARVEL, are you alright? [picks up the ball]
AN: Do I LOOK alright to you?! I'M NOTHING BUT A HEAD IN A BALL! WHAT DO YOU THINK?!
Aqua: How did this happen?
AN: Let's just say, I need a new Deadpool security system and leave it at that.
Xemnas: There seems to be a note here as well. [picks up and reads note] To discover any secret you wish for from the author, simply think of what you want to know and wave your hand over the ball.
AN: HAH! Good luck with that!
Ansem, Seeker of Darkness: I say we try it anyway. I'm curious to learn of a few things that will happen in later chapters.
AN: No, no wait! I'll tell you if you let me out!
All villains: Really?
AN: Yes, come closer. [villains do as asked] There's a big event that happens to certain characters at the place you all know as [blows a raspberry]
Xemnas: BAH! Okay, Imma doing this. Let us see the deepest secrets of your mind.[waves hand over orb and causes a large pizza to appear over AN's head] Three meat pizzas?
AN: What? lyokoMARVELanime is hungry.
Xehanort: Let me. I'll show you how it's done. [waves hand and image of Sora, Kairi, and all the other heroes of Kingdom Hearts are seen hitting him over and over again with their Keyblades] What is this?!
AN: Your destiny, oh dark one.
Sephiroth: Hmph. Pitiful fools. Allow me to demonstrate. [waves hand and image of Cloud giving him a spanking while he cries like a baby appears] WHAT THE HELL?!
AN: Need I repeat the words from earlier. Now if you guys are done, I'd like to get back to normal now.
Riku: I don't know, I kinda like you this way. Maybe I'll be able to make you give me a bigger role in the story.
AN: OH, YOU WANT A PIECE OF LYOKOMARVELANIME!...just as soon as I find my other pieces, but when that happens...[image appears in orb of everyone of the villains getting hounded by numerous gags, and Riku getting the worst of it]
Riku: We'll start working right away, and I'll be happy to lead the efforts.
AN: One more thing, somebody do the disclaimer so that chapter can start!
Sora: I've got it covered.
lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from the Kingdom Hearts franchise or any other franchise mentioned in this story.
Chapter XII
The heroes defending Yen Sid's tower had honestly thought that after getting the three Keybearers of the past back together again, it would be the end of the problems that they were facing, and as such, they did not realize just how wrong they were in that assumption until something else happened that could likely prove to be just as dangerous. Shortly after Sora and Kairi had reported that their exploits in Disney Town were a success, something happened to one of their strongest soldiers on the battlefield that caused him to start lashing out and attacking their other allies. It may have lasted for a short period before he was back to fighting against the forces of darkness, but when it happened a second and third time, they all knew that something was very wrong. Thankfully, Aladdin and Mulan were quick to react and keep their ally busy long enough for Jack Sparrow to capture the changing warrior before bringing him to the tower where he now was, contained inside an indestructible glass containment unit that Master Yen Sid had on hand.
Now all they could do was look on in worry and concern as their small, blue friend went from sad and kind to raging and monstrous every other minute. "I just don't get it," Roxas huffed in annoyance. "What the hell is wrong with him that's causing him to act like this?"
"Roxas, language," Naminé scolded from where she was standing over Sora and Kairi as she kept the spell keeping the two in the past going.
"Really not the time for that Naminé," Roxas retorted. "Besides, it's a legitimate question."
"One that I fear we all know the answer to," Yen Sid stated.
"You think that something's happened in the past that's causing him to act like this," Mickey asked.
"Yes," Yen Sid replied. "As you all may or may not know, when our small friend here first came into being, he was meant to be a terrible force for destruction, but something happened along the way that turned him into the kindhearted and courageous soul that we all know today. One thing that happened was that he came into contact with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, but as for the more profound thing that happened later on, I cannot say what it was. I believe that the second thing is what Xehanort and his allies from the timeline that should have been are somehow attempting to prevent that from happening, and we all know what we must do in response to such a threat."
Everyone nodded in agreement with the wizened sorcerer, but Roxas had an apprehensive look on his face that said otherwise, and he did not hesitated for a minute to voice his concerns. "What if that's what they want," the blonde said, getting confused looks from everyone, prompting him to explain what he meant. "They obviously already know that Sora and Kairi are getting information about anything that changes in the future, and that they'll move to prevent that from happening however they can, so what if they're expecting them to go and help, only to spring a trap on them that could destroy any chance we have of making this whole thing work?"
"Roxas has a point," Goofy agreed. "I mean, Xehanort isn't exactly one to try a move he already knows won't work unless he has another reason, right?"
"Well what else can we do," Donald quaked in question. "We can't just leave him like this until we finally lose him to darkness."
"And we won't," Mickey stated. "Even if it is a trap, we should never hesitate to help our friends out. Sora and Kairi never have before, and that's been all the encouragement that many of us have ever needed to do the same, so why stop doing so now?"
Everyone had to nod in agreement, and thus Naminé was allowed to inform the two time travelers of what had just transpired, sparing one last worried glance in the direction of their friend, Stitch before she did.
Sora and Kairi were currently sitting on a small bench in the Town Square of Disney Town as they waited for their three friends from the past to finish what they were currently doing. When the topic came up, they were honestly not surprised that it did, and neither of them were going to argue given how insistent the three were on getting one important matter dealt with, or rather, how two of the three were on getting it done. Kairi could still remember full well what had happened leading up to where they were now. They had just left Sound Hill so that they could prepare to continue on their journey, when Ventus had suddenly stopped them to bring the matter up…
When Ven had stopped in the middle of the path, everyone's attention was immediately redirected to the blonde. "What's wrong Ven," Sora asked. "We should probably get moving again as quickly as possible before something else happens."
"I know, but there's something really important we've got to take care of first," Ven stated as he threw a small look towards his older brother figure. "Terra, I think you know what I'm talking about."
Terra was naturally a bit confused by Ven's meaning before a look of realization dawned on his face and he gave a knowing smirk to the blonde as they both turned to look at the female member of their trio. Aqua was naturally a bit nervous when she saw the mischievous looks that her friends were giving her, but she could not stop herself from asking the all important question that one would always ask in such situations. "What?"
"Now Aqua, there's really no easy way to say this, but we want you to keep in mind that when we do say it, we're telling you as your friends, and that we'd only tell you if it was for your own good," Terra began, immediately making the blunette even more nervous when he did.
"Aqua…you NEED to get a haircut, NOW," Ventus finally stated, emphatically as he jabbed a finger in the direction of Aqua's still long hair. "I don't care what you say to the contrary, it needs to be done. Not only is the long hair a bad look for you, but if you keep it at that length it's just going to get in the way when we're fighting."
"Wha…oh, no, that…that really won't be necessary," Aqua tried to insist, even though she knew it was likely a futile effort since Terra and Ventus were both already teaming up against her on the matter. That likelihood quickly became a fact when the two grabbed Aqua's arms and began dragging her off to the nearest hair salon that they could find, with the woman herself protesting against it the entire way there. The sight of the three like this was more than enough to drive both Kairi and Sora to laughter, which immediately drew the threes attention to them.
"Hey, what're you two laughing at," Terra demanded.
"Sorry, we can't help it," Sora shrugged through his chuckles.
"You three would make the weirdest siblings we've ever seen," Kairi told them as she and Sora broke out into laughter again.
The three were all engulfed in a sudden wave of déjà vu when the redhead told them that, and found they could not stop themselves from laughing along with the two, a fact that Aqua attempted to take advantage of so that she could sneak away long enough to summon her armor and get airborne before anyone noticed. Sadly, her efforts were all in vain, as she was quickly caught by Terra.
"Hey, where do you think you're going," Terra asked in a teasing tone as he caught Aqua by the arm once more.
"Nowhere, I've just got to use the little girl's room," Aqua tried to insist as she struggled to get out of Terra's grip.
"Well, you can use the one at the hair salon then, because you are going to get a haircut, missy," Ven said as he and Terra started guiding Aqua to said location once again.
"Yeah, besides, it wouldn't be right for a Keyblade Master to look like she's a shaggy dog," Terra added in further teasing, just to get a groan from Aqua and a laugh from Ven in response, eliciting further laughter from Sora and Kairi as they did.
Kairi still had a small case of the chuckles at the memory every time she thought about it, but Sora was definitely not complaining about hearing what he considered to be one of the most beautiful sounds in all the worlds. As the two sat there, Sora also found himself staring at Kairi as well, almost as though he were completely mesmerized by her very appearance when she was doing something as simple as just sitting next to him as they waited for their friends, and as he continued to stare, he found himself imagining running his fingers through Kairi's lovely, auburn hair, brushing her skin for just a minute, before finally leaning in to meet her lips with his own. The sound of Kairi's angelic voice calling out to him immediately snapped him out of his daydream, bringing him back to reality so that he could ask, "What's up, Kairi?"
Kairi could only giggle for a minute at Sora's most recent moment trip to fantasy land before she said, "I was just asking you if you wanted to go check out some of the other attractions here while we were waiting for the others."
"I don't know," Sora shrugged as he leaned back on the bench with his hands behind his head. "I wouldn't want them to worry if we suddenly went off on our own like that and make them think we ditched them or that something terrible happened. Besides, I'd honestly rather just sit here and relax for as long as I can."
"Sora, you lazy bum," Kairi chuckled, teasingly. "I should've figured you'd rather just go off and find somewhere to start snoozing."
"Hey, in my defense, we haven't really had much of a real chance to so much and stop so that we can catch our breath since this whole thing started," Sora immediately retorted. "I mean, gimme a break, Kairi. You can't honestly tell me that you're not a little tired."
"No not…not really," Kairi tried to say, but the fact that she had let out a small yawn part way through practically screamed otherwise. Sora was about to give a smart remark in response to Kairi's failed attempt at hiding how tired she really was, when a sudden weight on his shoulder caused him to turn and see that the Princess of Heart had fallen asleep and ended up using his shoulder as a pillow. Sora could not help but blush at the fact that Kairi was actually sleeping on him like that, but if he were being honest, he was not complaining both because he liked having Kairi next to him like this, and because he could feel himself beginning to fall asleep, until he allowed himself to do just that, with his own head resting atop of Kairi's and one of his arms subconsciously wrapping around her shoulders as he did.
About an hour later or so, Terra and Ven finally stepped out of the hair salon before they both looked back to see that Aqua was not following them. "Oh come on, already," Ven groaned. "We told you, you look great. Just get out here so we can show those two and the rest of the world already."
"No, nope, no way, not gonna happen," Aqua's voice insisted from where she was currently hiding behind the door.
"Well, you're gonna have to come out sometime, or did you forget that we've got an important mission to complete," Terra reminded the stubborn girl. He then turned away as Aqua tried to say something in retort, and soon had a smirk on his face when he spotted a very interesting sight not too far away from them. "Well would you look at that."
"What," Ven asked as he turned away from the door to see what Terra saw, and the minute he did, he too had a smirk on his face as well. "Well isn't that sweet?"
"What're you guys talking about? What's going on," Aqua asked.
"Come out here and see for yourself," Terra told Aqua.
"Nice try, but I'm not falling for that," Aqua immediately insisted.
"Suit yourself, but you don't know what you're missing," Ven shrugged as he assumed his usual relaxed pose.
At that point, Aqua finally relented and slowly walked out of the hair salon, revealing that her hair was now much shorter than it was before, stopping right at the tops of her shoulders, with her bangs mostly parted to the left, basically being what it once was when she and her two best friends had first started their original journey. Admittedly, Aqua was actually very happy to have her hair back to its original length, but she was a bit nervous about how other people would react to it. That nervousness immediately evaporated when she saw that Terra and Ven had spotted the sleeping forms of Sora and Kairi on a bench nearby, and that Kairi's head was resting on Sora's shoulder while the spiky haired boy's head was lying on top of Kairi's with his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Oh, they look so cute," Aqua cooed in delight. "And they say that they're not a couple."
"We really should wake them up," Ven said slowly.
"But it would be wrong to do that when they've probably not had a decent rest since this all started for them," Terra added just as slowly with a smirk.
"And it would be a real shame to disrupt such a sweet, lovely sight," Aqua finished, indicating that all three were enjoying themselves very much at the sleeping pair's expense. Before any of them could say anything else though, their smirks immediately shifted into looks of concern when they saw that Sora and Kairi were both becoming very restless in their sleep, indicating that they were both likely having a nightmare. This prompted the three to immediately hurry over to their younger friends so that they could try to wake the two up, but Sora and Kairi had both jumped awake by the time that they had gotten over there.
"Are you two okay," Terra asked.
"Not really," Sora replied. He then looked to Kairi and realized the position the two of them were in at the same moment she did, prompting them both to jump apart and start sputtering excuses to each other.
"Guys, you can flirt later. What happened," Ven asked as he snapped his fingers at the two.
Sora elected to ignore Ventus's comment and instead told everyone about what had just happened in the future and of everything that Naminé had told them while he and Kairi were sleeping, including how the whole thing was likely a trap that Xehanort was setting up for them. Upon hearing all this, Terra was the first to speak up and say, "If it is a trap, then we can't assume anything about who the target is. Not only that, but we still have to go anyways, especially if your friend is in trouble."
"But how could we know this Stitch person," Ven asked. "I think I'd remember meeting someone like that."
"How can you not remember meeting him," Kairi asked. "He's a small guy with big ears, blue fur, talks kind of funny, and has a thing for the ukulele. Doesn't any of that ring a bell?"
The trio of Keyblade Wielders of the current time paused for a minute to think before Aqua's eyes lit up for a minute as she said, "Sounds a bit like Experiment 626 to me."
"Yeah that's him! That's Stitch's old name," Sora exclaimed excitedly.
"Are you serious," the three former students of Eraqus exclaimed all at once.
When Sora and Kairi both nodded excitedly in reply, Ventus's face immediately scrunched up in worry as he said, "Then we may have a bit of a problem. The last time I saw 626, he was blasting off to parts unknown after we escaped from this big fish guy who was trying to blast us even after we saved his ship from being blown apart by a massive Unversed."
"No problem," Kairi stated. "Master Yen Sid already found the world that Stitch ended up on, so all we need to do is get over there. It's actually so close to Deep Space that you would think that the two worlds were actually one in the same."
"Then let's get moving," Terra stated as he led the team to the edge of town where he had originally landed so that they could summon their armors and Keyblade Gliders and head off to their next destination.
As they made their way there, Kairi glanced over at Aqua and said, "By the way, love the new haircut. It's definitely much better this way now, and I'm not just saying that because now you really do look exactly how I remember you from when we first met."
"Thank you," Aqua smiled in reply as she ran a hand through her hair for a minute in a rare moment of shyness just as they reached the area where they would summon their armors and Keyblade Gliders.
The journey from Disney Town to the Keybearers' next destination was much shorter than any of them had expected, and they quickly found themselves on a world that reminded Sora and Kairi a great deal of the former's homeworld, mostly because it was obviously an island world like that of Destiny Islands. The sight of the large expanse of ocean before them on the sunny beach, the palm trees, and the sounds of the surf all served to give Sora a welcoming feeling that he could only most closely associate to his home, a feeling that Kairi also shared with her friend. The only difference between Destiny Islands and this world was that this world seemed to have a number of Tiki totems all around the beach and a lifeguard shack not too far away from where they stood.
"So what is this world," Terra asked the two Keyblade Wielders from the future after the group had found a way further inland.
"I think I read about this place once," Aqua suddenly said, cutting Sora and Kairi off before they could say anything. "It's called Luau Paradise if I remember right, and most people here are very welcoming and friendly to one and other, almost like how people are among family members."
"Yeah, that's right," Kairi replied happily, glad that she and Sora did not have to explain the details of the world they were currently on. "Now, we should hurry and find Stitch before anything hap-AAH!"
Everyone immediately jumped into a battle stance when they heard Kairi scream, but they relaxed just as quickly when they saw that Kairi was merely startled by a familiar, blue furred creature, which looked around the group with a sad expression before smiling when he saw three of the members who made up their group. "Ven…Terra…Ah-koo, wah," the small creature asked.
"Yeah, that's right 626. Glad you remember us," Aqua said happily as she knelt down to the blue alien experiment.
"Naga. Stitch," the little guy corrected.
"What," Terra asked.
"My…name…Stitch," the alien experiment explained. Terra, Ven, and Aqua nodded in understanding as Stitch turned to throw a curious glance at Sora and Kairi before asking, "F…Fr…Frens?"
"Yeah, that's right. We're friends too," Sora stated happily as he and Kairi walked up. "My name's Sora, and this is Kairi."
"Sor-rah…Kai-ree," Stitch then repeated slowly, eliciting a giggle from both of the girls in the group.
"What're you doing out here all alone, Stitch," Kairi then asked.
Stitch's face immediately turned down from his smile into a very sad expression before he softly said something in his usual, strange form of speech that none of them could understand without some form of help. Before any of them could think though, someone suddenly said, "Does not matter what Experiment 626 is doing out here. He will be going back where he belongs soon enough."
The six immediately spun around to see a large alien with four eyes and purple and tan colored skin approaching them with a ray gun like the ones that Sora and Kairi had often seen Stitch use, and the sight of this new arrival immediately brought looks of recognition to Terra and Aqua's faces as the former scowled and summoned his Keyblade. "What're you doing here, Jumba," Terra demanded.
"Ah, Boy Terra! Long time, no see," Jumba stated happily. "Love to stay and catch up, but Jumba has important matter to deal with at moment."
Jumba was about to move towards Stitch again, when the small blue alien leaped in front of his friends and said something similar to what he had previously said to the five Keybearers. Unlike the other five, Jumba was able to understand Stitch perfectly, but was still confused by the question enough for him to stop and ask a question of his own in reply. "Where's who?"
Stitch immediately pulled out a storybook that some of the group recognized as the Ugly Duckling before opening it to a certain page as he clarified, "Family."
"Oh, now I get it," Ven softly stated. "He's out here looking for his family and is sad because he doesn't know where they are."
"Oh," Jumba then said softly in understanding with the other four, before the scientist looked to his creation as he attempted to explain something to Stitch. "You…don't have one. You see, I created you in lab, and you are meant to be genius creation of destruction and terror. One I might add that has been deemed dangerous by others, who have asked me to bring you back so you can be melted down."
Stitch immediately backed up fearfully, until he found himself hiding behind an angry Sora's leg. "How can you say that," Sora demanded of the alien scientist. "Maybe you don't realize it, but Stitch does have a family."
"What Spikier Hair Boy talking about," Jumba asked.
"You said it yourself that you created him, so that means you're his family," Sora explained.
Jumba just fell back laughing at the notion that the Kingdom Key wielder had set forward as he said, "Ridiculous! If that even little true, then he has a vast number of siblings that were all sealed up into little balls long before I ever created him."
"Is it really that ridiculous," Terra asked as he lowered Ends of the Earth. "From what I saw after I defeated the experiment you used to attack me, you seem to care a great deal about all of your experiments, much like a father would."
"Pheh," Jumba scoffed. "I do not have time to debate such matters with you all. I must get 626 back soon, or Grand Council Woman will have my head. Now if you don't…Hey, hey! No! Come back here!"
The five Keybearers immediately turned around to see that Stitch had raced away the first chance he had, slipping just out of all of their grasps. Jumba then prepared to give chase when Terra jumped in front of him with his Keyblade ready. "I'm not going to let you go after him if you're going to try and hurt him," Terra half-shouted firmly. "So if you want him, you're going to have to get through me first!"
"You mean, us," Aqua corrected as she summoned Stormfall and took up a position alongside Terra. The two looked at each other and exchanged a nod between them before Aqua glanced at the younger members of their group and said, "Ven, you go after Stitch with Sora and Kairi. Make sure he's safe, and we'll meet up with you as soon as we can."
"Okay," Ventus nodded as he led the three away from the area.
"Watch yourself, Aqua," Terra warned. "I have no idea how the not-so-good doctor here fights, but I do know that if he pulls out a small ball and tries to drop it into some water, it'll call out one of his other experiments, and the one I faced the last time we met was no pushover."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to go down that easily, and besides, last time you were alone in that fight. This time, you've got backup right beside you," Aqua reminded her friend. Terra smiled in thanks for that, and the two immediately moved to engage Jumba in battle so that they could keep their friend safe.
"Where the heck is he going," Sora asked as the three continued racing after Stitch.
"No idea, but don't you guys think it's strange how we haven't encountered Xehanort, Ansem, or Xemnas yet," Ventus asked.
"A little, why," Kairi asked as they made a sharp turn onto a small, dirt road.
"Well considering what you said was happening in the future, I just kind of assumed we would have run into one of them by now," Ven explained.
"Try not to think about it too much," Sora told Ventus. "Time travel stuff in fiction can give you a headache as it is. Besides, maybe they're just lying in wait to make their move, and the fact that we seemed to have found Stitch first could be why Stitch was jumping back and forth between his good and bad selves in the future."
"Makes about as much sense as anything else we've dealt with since we met you guys," Ven shrugged in acceptance before he turned his gaze towards Stitch again and saw they were headed to a small, blue house that was raised up above the ground by a set of poles. Ventus was about to warn Stitch against going into someone else's house, but Stitch had already raced up the steps and into the house before any of them could say anything.
The three Keybearers just shrugged to one and other before they followed Stitch inside and found him with a little girl with long, black hair in a red dress with white leaf patterns. When the girl saw them, she immediately ducked behind Stitch in worry, thinking that the three were there to harm her, but quickly calmed down when Stitch said, "Naga afraid. Ven, Sor-rah, Kai-ree, friens."
Kairi smiled after hearing this and slowly stepped forward before kneeling down and saying, "It's okay. We're friends of Stitch's. You don't need to be scared. My name's Kairi, and that's Sora and Ventus."
The girl smiled a bit before stepping forward and saying, "Nice to meet you. I'm Lilo, but how do you know my dog?"
"You're dog," Ventus asked in confusion.
"I think she's talking about Stitch," Sora whispered to the blonde before he turned his attention back to Lilo. "It's a really long story."
Before anyone could say anything, they heard a loud bang, and Jumba burst into the room. "Surprise," Jumba called out. "Oh, and hiding behind your little friend won't work anymore. Didn't I tell you? We got fired today."
Sora, Ven, and Kairi immediately jumped into battle stances and summoned their Keyblades, getting a look of awe from Lilo when she did, as Sora said, "I thought Aqua and Terra were going to keep him busy."
"We tried to," Aqua called out as she and Terra raced through the door behind Jumba. "But he sicked one of his other experiments on us and used the distraction to get away."
Stitch immediately jumped over Sora's head and right onto Jumba, causing the large alien to start shooting his blaster in random directions in an attempt to get the small, blue experiment off of him. Kairi immediately spun around and grabbed Lilo so that she could get the little girl to safety while the other four immediately charged forward to attack as well. When Stitch saw his friends moving in, he immediately jumped up onto the ceiling just in time for Terra to let loose a powerful slash on Jumba that knocked the scientist off his feet. Aqua then followed up with a barrage of magic spheres from her Keyblade, while Sora and Ventus struck from around him with a series of quick and powerful slashes.
"Oh, do you all always have to get in the way," Jumba moaned in irritation before he grabbed some fallen plates to toss up at the ceiling in Stitch's direction, and at the four Keyblade Wielders, forcing them to raise their Keyblades into defensive positions. "Come now, getting melted down not so bad. I'll rebuild you eventually, better than before. I'll make you taller, and not as fluffy."
"But I like fluffy," Stitch protested as he dodged another plate which went through the ceiling along with the others. When Jumba finally ran out of plates, Stitch paused in the center of the ceiling before saying something in his strange language that clearly got Jumba a little riled up.
"Leave my mother out of this," the scientist shouted.
"You know, I have to admit, it's actually kind of funny hearing Stitch throw out insults like that," Aqua admitted with a small giggle.
"Hey, quick question: how is that ceiling not falling down when there's so many holes in it," Terra asked. The minute after he had, the ceiling did just that, and right on top of Stitch.
"You just had to ask," Ventus remarked to his older friend before Stitch suddenly popped out of the rubble with Jumba's gun in hand. When Stitch was about to fire the weapon though, Jumba quickly plugged it up with a carrot he had found nearby.
"You shouldn't play with guns," Jumba told Stitch.
"Oh, okay," Stitch immediately stated as he handed the weapon to Jumba.
"Thank you," Jumba replied until he realized that Stitch had handed it to him because it was about to explode from the fact Jumba had plugged it up when it was about to fire. "Oh, I just remembered! It's your birthday. Happy birthday," Jumba then quickly said as he tossed the gun back to Stitch and prepared to run until Stitch pulled on the back of his vest.
"Merry Christmas," Stitch said as he threw the gun back.
"It's not Christmas," Jumba protested as he did the same.
"Happy Hanukah!"
Sora, Terra, Aqua, and Ven could only stand where they were and stare at the two as the sudden game of Hot Potato continued, not moving until Ven finally said, "You know, if that gun's going to explode, then we should probably get out of here, right?"
The other three looked between themselves after hearing the blonde's comment before they immediately made a break for the exit, stopping only for a minute to make sure that Kairi and Lilo were both outside as they did, and they just barely made it behind some cover before the explosion finally came, and took the entire house with it as it did. As soon as the smoke cleared up enough, the group then raced forward to try and find Stitch among the wreckage, just as a black car was pulling up to the house. When the vehicle finally stopped, the driver stepped out to reveal himself as a tall, bald, dark skinned man in a black business suit and similarly colored sunglasses. The man looked around in pure shock before he finally spotted Lilo and ran over to her.
"Lilo, what happened here," the man asked.
"Aliens attacked my house saying they were after my dog and his friends," Lilo immediately cried out. "And Stitch was inside when the house blew up! We've gotta find him."
"Lilo, please get in the car while I look for your dog," the man said, only to stop when Ventus suddenly shouted out that he had found him. Lilo and the man immediately raced over, only to pause in surprise when they saw Stitch had an extra set of arms, a pair of antenna, and a set of spines on his back when they reached the group.
"You're…one of them," Lilo gasped in surprise.
When Stitch saw that Lilo was standing there, able to see his true self, he immediately hung his head down sadly and looked away just as the little girl's face turned to anger at the poor little alien. Seeing the distressed look on his friends face, Ven immediately jumped in and said, "Hey don't be mad at him. He obviously just wanted to keep you safe, but that guy from earlier just wouldn't leave him alone, so he had to hide who he was, both for that reason and so that you could learn to like him."
"Son, please step away," the taller man said as he moved to try and pull Ventus back, only for Aqua and Terra to jump into his path with their Keyblades out, ready to fight if they needed to.
"You so much as touch one hair on either one of my friends, and I'll make sure you regret it," Terra warned the man.
"That goes double for me," Aqua added, and the two were soon joined in that regard by Sora and Kairi as they also summoned their own Keyblades to their hands.
The man just looked at the five before he rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "And here I was hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with something too crazy, let alone five Keyblade Wielders."
"How do you know about the Keyblade," Kairi demanded.
"More to the point, just how many people do know about the thing," Sora asked in exasperation.
"My name's Cobra Bubbles," the man finally introduced himself. "I'm a former member of the CIA, and back in the day, I had a small encounter with a group of Keyblade Wielders by the names of Yen Sid, Eraqus, and Xehanort. They explained everything about that sort of the thing to me so long as I made sure to keep it secret."
"You knew Master Eraqus," Terra asked in surprise.
"You have bigger problems at the moment, you little brats," a new voice suddenly interrupted, and everyone quickly spun around to see a large, fish-like alien in a sleeveless black suit with red trimming suddenly fire a blaster in their direction. Everyone was quick to jump aside, but unfortunately, Lilo, Stitch, and Aqua were caught in the net that the alien had fired. "Well, it must be my lucky day. Experiment 626 and the little girl who nearly ruined my career in one fell swoop. I'll enjoy bringing all of you back for judgment on a platter," the alien said.
"Gantu," Ventus identified angrily from where he had hidden himself. Before the blonde could do anything to the alien attacker, Terra pulled him back down into their hiding place as the alien captain stomped away with his catch in hand. They could only watch in horror as their friends' kidnapper disappeared from sight, until they saw Stitch had somehow managed to slip out and was starting to head back to them, only to stop and push a tall woman who looked a bit like Lilo aside just as what they assumed to be Gantu's ship suddenly shot over their heads.
Everyone could only stare at where Gantu's ship had disappeared to in despair, before the sound of something hitting the ground directed all attention to the woman who looked like an older version of Lilo just in time to see her grab a branch after she had thrown Stitch off of her. "What is going on here? Where's Lilo," the woman demanded of the little blue experiment.
Stitch shook his head a little to clear the cobwebs out, only to find himself tackled again by Jumba as the large alien snapped a set of cuffs onto both of Stitch's arms. "Haha! Got you now," Jumba stated proudly until he too was blasted away and forced to drop Stitch.
When Jumba started to stand up again, he immediately froze when he saw the tip of Terra's Keyblade in his face, and a very angry Terra shooting him an enraged glare. "Tell me where that guy took Aqua and the girl, NOW," Terra demanded as a dark aura began to manifest around him, causing the air to suddenly become much heavier.
"Terra, stop," Ven shouted. "If you let your anger control you like this the darkness will lash out at all of us!"
"I don't care," Terra immediately retorted. "I'm getting answers out of this guy no matter what it takes! If he hadn't have tried what he did, Aqua wouldn't be a prisoner right now!"
"Terra, calm down," Kairi said as she placed a hand on the larger man's arm. "Remember what you and your friends promised, and think about what Aqua would want you to do in this situation."
Terra spared a glance in Kairi's direction before he finally calmed down, allowing his dark aura to fade away while Sora stepped up to Jumba. "I can't really say how long I can control my friend here, so if you have anything useful that we can use to help us save those two, then you'd better speak up quickly," Sora warned Jumba, effectively dealing out the classic Good Cop-Bad Cop routine.
Jumba looked like he was trying to keep something from them before he finally sighed sadly and said, "I don't know. Gantu's ship was not headed for space. Could be anywhere by now, but you see, I'm only here for Experiment 626. Sorry."
Everyone's heads were immediately hung in sadness, and it escaped no one's notice that the woman was clearly related to Lilo had fallen to her knees as she cried, prompting both Bubbles and Kairi to walk over and try to comfort her. "Don't worry," Kairi said. "We'll do whatever we can to help Lilo. I promise."
"What can you do," the woman asked. "He said it himself, that thing could be anywhere with my little sister by now."
"Nani, please," Bubbles told the woman. "These people are trained professionals when it comes to saving lives. If they say they can do something, then they most likely can do it."
Nani did not seem convinced, especially given that Terra and Ventus still had somber looks on their faces as well. Sora honestly wanted to say something in order to cheer everyone up, but he found that he could not as he was almost just as worried about Aqua and Lilo as everyone else was. He knew that Terra and Ven were especially worried about Aqua, since she was their closest friend and they had just promised to do whatever they could to become the friends they once were again, and after finding out that Lilo was Nani's sister, he could honestly understand a little of how she was feeling as well, as it was a feeling that he and Kairi had experienced when they lost Riku to darkness.
Everyone had fallen into a somber silence as Nani continued to cry, a silence during which Stitch looked around at all the people around him before he finally walked over to Nani. "Ohana," Stitch said.
"What," Nani asked, getting everyone else's attention as well. "What did you say?"
Stitch cleared his throat a little before stating, "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."
Hearing Stitch say that brought a small smile to Nani's face along with everyone else's as Terra walked up and said, "Family also means one other thing. That you always stick together and never give up on each other no matter what happens. I know that to be a fact because my family never gave up on me even when I was on a dark path that didn't promise any redemption. So what do you say we go get our family back together?"
Stitch smiled brightly at Terra in response and likely would have clapped in agreement if his hands were not tied at the moment. When he remembered that, he immediately turned to Jumba and said something in his usual strange tongue to the large alien. "WHAT?! After all you put me through, you expect me to help you just like that? JUST LIKE THAT," Jumba demanded, sounding completely outraged as he grabbed Stitch.
"Ih," Stitch simply said.
"Fine," Jumba conceded.
"You sure changed your tune easily," Ven commented.
"He is…very persuasive," Jumba immediately defended. "So Jumba help you with rescue mission."
"You will? How," Sora asked.
"Just follow me, and quickly," Jumba stated as he immediately ran off down the street. Seeing as they had no other alternative, the group simply shrugged to one and other and chased after Jumba, hoping that the acclaimed evil genius was not trying to lead them on.
As she looked out at the passing clouds while trying to comfort the clearly worried and frightened Lilo, Aqua had to admit that she was very worried about what Gantu intended to do with them, especially after he found out that Stitch was no longer in the containment unit with them. It was no secret to the blunette that she was not one of Gantu's favorite people after their last encounter, but given all that had recently happened and what could likely have happened since they had last met, Aqua honestly had no idea what to expect. Given that little thought, it came as no surprise that Aqua had immediately told Stitch to go and get Terra and the others for help when the alien experiment was able to slip out, but Aqua did find it a little surprising that she mentioned Terra's name first instead of Ven's, or even Sora or Kairi's. She knew that they had agreed to try and be the friends they once were again, but she did not expect her to do something like that so soon afterwards.
Aqua could not think about such things right now though, as she needed to keep her focus on keeping Lilo calm until the others were able to catch up to them, hopefully before they left for Deep Space or worse. As she continued to do so, she noticed that Lilo was hugging a picture close to her in an attempt for the girl to calm herself down. When Aqua caught a glimpse of the image, she saw that it was one of Lilo and three other people who seemed to be related to the little girl together at the beach. Seeing the image, Aqua had to let out a small smile before she asked, "Who're they? The people in that picture your holding?"
"It's me and my family," Lilo explained sadly. "My parents died a few years ago though, and Nani's been trying to raise me ever since, but there's no hiding that we're a broken family now. Nani's always had a hard time dealing with me though, but she's always cared about me a great deal. Then one day, she took me to the pet shelter so that we could adopt one of the dogs, and that's when I met Stitch. I instantly liked him, especially when he came up and hugged me after saying hi. It wasn't easy having him around though, because he was always making a mess of things and acting like a very bad dog, so after Mister Bubbles met him, he told me that he wanted Stitch to become a model citizen. I thought I was doing okay for a while, but after Stitch nearly drowned and then suddenly lashed out in confusion, everything went downhill. I really thought I knew Stitch though, even though he was obviously sad, since I could hear him crying at night. Now I'm not sure."
Aqua gave the little girl a small, sad smile of her own, honestly feeling that she could understand where Lilo was coming from, and decided to let her know that. "You know, I lost someone who was like a father to me too," Aqua admitted as she thought back on all the good times she shared with Eraqus, Ven, and Terra. "And my two best friends and I were all like family to each other until some things happened that caused us to drift apart. I guess you could say that my family is broken as well. When I met Stitch though, I found out that he wanted to learn about friendship and was really trying to after he met my friend Terra. I get the feeling that your probably the first person he considers as something more than just a friend, and that's why he was so eager to protect you from Jumba and why he ran to you when he was in trouble, even though my friends and I were right there with him."
"You really think so," Lilo asked.
"Absolutely," Aqua nodded. "If you ask me, for you and your sister, Stitch is kind of like what Sora and Kairi have become for me and my friends. Someone who you can count on to keep everyone together even if he doesn't seem like it. I don't even want to think about what would have happened to me and my friends if those two never came into our lives."
Lilo gave Aqua a small smile in thanks for what she said, but her smile quickly disappeared when she saw that Aqua had noticed something was wrong. Instead of going further into the sky like Aqua thought they would have been, they were instead beginning to descend to the ground. When the ship finally landed, Aqua wished that the containment unit was not mounted on the back of Gantu's ship because they could not tell what was going on from where they were aside from hearing the alien captain coming out of his ship. When Aqua finally did get an idea of what was going on, she honestly wished that she had not found out at all, as the theory she came up with came immediately after she heard a familiar voice that caused her to feel a sudden cold feeling run through her entire being.
"I trust you had no trouble," the voice of Xehanort asked the minute Gantu's footsteps had ceased.
"I did accidentally capture one of the indigenous life forms along with one of the ones you told me about, namely the girl who ruined my career when we last met, but the problem has been dealt with," Gantu reported. "I know that it's probably not my place to ask, but were you really sent by the Grand Council Woman to collect Experiment 626 and transport him into exile?"
"Yes of course," Xehanort replied reassuringly, though Aqua was able to easily pick up on the sinister tone that said otherwise underneath the reassurance. "But even if I was not, you can assure the Grand Council Woman that Experiment 626 will never trouble you or anyone ever again."
At that point, it all made sense to Aqua. The reason why Stitch was switching between his good self and his old, monstrous self was because she and the others had arrived before Xehanort had gotten his hands on the little alien, and Xehanort no doubt wanted to make Stitch into one of his soldiers because of the fact that the poor little guy had been created to be a force of great destruction and terror. Not that it mattered at that point, because as soon as they came to see if Stitch was in the pod to only find her and Lilo, it would likely be the end for all of them. Knowing this, Aqua immediately shifted herself forward to be in front of Lilo as she whispered, "Come on Stitch, hurry. Ven…Terra…Sora…Kairi…please get here soon!"
Sadly, Aqua's prayers were not answered before their two captors came around to see the contents of Gantu's capture. "What?! I don't understand. I was sure that containment unit would've held Experiment 626 with no trouble," Gantu protested. He then looked at Aqua accusingly and demanded, "You. You did something. Tell me what you did and where Experiment 626 is now!"
"Calm down, Captain Gantu," Xehanort stated. "It does not matter. If Experiment 626 cares for the little girl and for the woman you captured as much as you claim he does, then there's no doubt in my mind that he will come to us. Wouldn't you agree, my dear Aqua?"
When the old, traitorous Keyblade Master addressed her, Aqua's face quickly turned into a scowl as she leveled a dangerous glare at him as she snarled, "Xehanort…you freak! Haven't you already caused enough damage? Even after what you did to Ven…and Terra…and even Master Eraqus…it's still not enough for your sick ambitions?"
"Oh Aqua, it truly saddens me how little you understand," Xehanort said in very clear mock pity. "True, at one point in time you may have proved to be the greatest opposition to my plans, but after all this time, as you are now, you're barely any more of a threat than a small fly."
Aqua snarled at the man she once believed to be a respectable Keyblade Master before Gantu stepped forward and leveled his blaster towards her and Lilo, telling the two to not get any ideas of attempting to escape or anything else of the sort, which only led Aqua to wonder if it were even possible for her and Lilo to escape at the moment given their current circumstances. Everyone's thoughts on any matter were immediately halted when they heard someone shout out, "Lalapatooki!"
"What?! How many times do I have to say it? I'm just big-boned," Gantu shouted before he suddenly paused after realizing that none of the people he currently saw had spoken. "Wait a minute, who said that?"
"Why don't you try looking up, Fatso," another voice shouted, and Gantu did just that only to be slammed in the face by one of the wings on Ven's Keyblade Glider, which the blonde was currently atop without his armor, and Stitch hanging on his back, laughing at Gantu as they flew over them. Gantu was surprisingly quick to get to his feet again and start firing on them, only to miss every time, as Ven easily swerved away from every shot. "What's the matter, Tubby? Can't hit a target that's smaller than you," Ven mocked, getting another cackle from Stitch in response.
Gantu merely roared in anger at the blonde's taunting before he started shooting at Ven and Stitch even more, but this time with less precision than before. Xehanort was about to attack as well, but he was immediately cut off when a sudden pink energy arrow nearly shot his hand off. When he looked to the source, he immediately spotted Kairi racing through the sky with her Keyblade Glider's energy bow armed and firing on the disgraced Keyblade Master with everything she had and a precision that he had only seen from Aqua when she used the energy bow on her own Keyblade Glider. He then refocused his efforts to firing blasts of dark magic at the airborne Princess of Heart, as said girl quickly maneuvered around Xehanort's attacks and returned fire both with her energy bow and a few light spells as well.
As the two villains continued to attack the airborne heroes, they never noticed Sora and Terra sneaking around behind them towards the capsule that was holding the girls. The girls did notice, and they were both quick to start beaming with joy at the sight of the two as the boys made the final sprint towards them. Just as they were a few feet away from Aqua and Lilo though, Terra and Sora found themselves having to skid to a quick halt when a sphere of dark magic hit the ground directly in front of them, prompting them to immediately summon their Keyblades in response and then turn to see Xehanort had somehow managed to knock Kairi out of the air, much to Sora's horror, and noticed their approach soon after. "So that was your game," Xehanort chortled. "A distraction for you two to try and free your captive friends. I am curious as to how exactly you found us though."
"It wasn't too hard," Terra growled. "Jumba was able to track the energy trail from the engines of Gantu's ship from the one he came here in. From there, it was just a simple flight over on the Keyblade Gliders."
"I see," Xehanort chuckled. "Ah but Terra, I see you are under the impression that your current abilities with your powers of darkness is enough. It is sad to see that you do not realize that you would be unstoppable if you were to just give in to the darkness, and let it all into your heart."
"Save your breath," Sora shouted. "Terra isn't going to fall for your lies anymore!"
"That's right," Terra agreed. "I may be using powers of darkness, but what I do now, I do for friendship, because my friends are one of the most important things that matter to me."
Xehanort scowled a little at Sora and Terra's retorts while Aqua's eyes softened at hearing what Terra said, but the girl's look of happiness instantly morphed to one of horror when Xehanort blasted both of the two boys off their feet and away from her and Lilo. "Terra! Sora," Aqua shouted.
"Stitch," Lilo then cried out, not knowing that Stitch had heard her and immediately convinced Ventus to fly directly at Gantu and the others.
When Gantu saw the two flying at him, he immediately smirked at the fact that they were giving him such a perfect shot the closer they got, and even though Ven was able to easily evade his blasts from moving side to side, Gantu knew it was only a matter of time until they were close enough for him to not miss no matter what. "Say farewell, abomination," Gantu smirked.
"Stupid-Head," Stitch huffed softly before he tapped Ventus's leg. As soon as Ven felt Stitch's tap, he immediately braked as hard as he could while turning his Keyblade Glider around, and in the process, Stitch was flung forward, directly at Gantu at high speeds while shouting, "YEE-HAAAA!"
The next thing anyone knew, they were all scrambling away as Gantu was met with a face full of Stitch. The large alien had immediately begun trying to throw Stitch off of him as best he could, not even watching his step as he did, and nearly crushing everyone around him as a result. In the confusion, Sora was able to get over to Kairi and pull her out of the way before Gantu's foot flattened her like a pancake, while Ven just flew down to help Terra to his feet and give his older friend an elixir so that Terra could recover the strength he lost after being forced to fight Xehanort with Sora. "You're vile, you're foul, and you're flawed," Gantu shouted as he finally managed to pry Stitch off of him and then tried to flatten him with his fist.
Sadly for Gantu, Stitch was able to lift Gantu's fist off of him with little effort and then said, "Also cute and FLUFFY!"
The next thing Gantu knew, he was being flung over the tiny alien's head and directly into his own ship, seriously damaging the vessel as a result, and landing Gantu a one-way trip to unconsciousness. Stitch then ran up to the containment unit that Lilo and Aqua were in, which had been knocked loose from Gantu's ship when he was thrown into it, just as Terra had done the same. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there in just a second," Terra said as he aimed his Keyblade towards the pod, but before Terra could do anything, Stitch just walked up, and smashed his head against the glass, shattering it in an instant. "Or you could just do that."
After Stitch had helped her out, Lilo immediately grabbed Stitch in a tight hug and kissed his nose, truly grateful for the fact that her newest best friend had come just like Aqua said, surprising Stitch in the process. Aqua was happy to see this, but her happiness at this was immediately overlapped when she saw Terra and Ven, which was why she could not stop herself from running up to the two of them and wrapping them both in a surprise hug of her own. Both of the two boys were surprised by this, but they had to smile and return the embrace all the same.
After she released the two boys from the hug, Aqua looked around for a minute before confirming that Xehanort had disappeared at some point in all the confusion, which naturally irritated her a bit, but her disappointment evaporated in an instant and became replaced by a look of mischievousness at the next thing she saw. "Looks like a certain knight in shining armor is enjoying the chance to hold his princess in his arms," Aqua commented aloud.
Aqua's comment brought everyone's attention towards Sora, and their expressions soon matched the blunette's when they saw that Sora was in fact still holding an unconscious Kairi bridal style. Sora would have said something in protest, but Kairi had started to wake up before he could. When Kairi looked up to see that Sora smiling down at her and that said boy was holding her in the way he was, she gained a brilliant smile the likes of which Sora had never seen on her face before. When she eventually realized that everyone was looking at them though, Kairi's face gained a brilliant blush as she quickly climbed out of Sora's arms while she and the boy both stuttered in embarrassment, much to everyone's amusement until Sora finally suggested they head back to Jumba's ship.
"Haha, everyone is okay! You see, is just like bald man said; they are trained professionals," Jumba chuckled to Nani when he saw the group approach. He then noticed that Stitch had grabbed hold of a small device while he was not paying attention, and was now trying to swallow it, immediately prompting him to grab his little creation and force Stitch to spit the device out as he said, "Hey! Get that out of your mouth!"
Everyone had a good laugh in response to that, but the mood soon changed when a group of guards suddenly jumped Stitch and placed him in handcuffs once again. The group then turned, and saw another alien that Aqua immediately recognized as the Grand Council Woman from before, who immediately commanded her officers to take Stitch to her ship. Lilo was about to protest against this, but Bubbles was quick to tell Lilo to wait a moment before doing anything. Sora however, was not going to follow that advice. "What do you think you're doing to him," Sora demanded before anyone could stop him.
"Please young man, this does not concern you," the Grand Council Woman warned Sora.
"The hell it doesn't," Terra interjected. "You're arresting our friend without any reason at all!"
"I beg to differ," the alien leader stated once more. "Experiment 626 is a danger to all civilized worlds, and as such he has been…"
"Stitch," said experiment interrupted.
"What," the Grand Council Woman asked.
"My name Stitch."
"Yes, Stitch then. Stitch is a…" the Grand Council Woman immediately paused in what she was saying again when she realized what just happened and turned back to the little blue experiment.
"Does Stitch have to go in the ship," Stitch asked.
"Yes."
"Can Stitch say goodbye?"
That question had thrown the Grand Council Woman for a short loop, but all the same, she was quick to reply, "Yes."
"Thank you," Stitch said as he walked over to Nani and Lilo, who were standing with Aqua, Ven, and Kairi, and were then joined by Sora and Terra.
"Who are you," the Grand Council Woman asked the two sisters.
In the end, it was actually Stitch who answered. "This is my family. I found it all on my own," Stitch explained. "It's little…and broken, but still good."
Everyone was very touched at what Stitch said, even Terra looked like he was about to start shedding a few tears of happiness after hearing Stitch say that, but when they started watching Stitch walking towards the ship again, they immediately felt sad at the fact that he had to leave the family he had found. Seeing this, Kairi immediately walked over to the Grand Council Woman and asked, "Your Excellency, does he really have to leave? Stitch has a family here, and it wouldn't be any fairer to them to lose him than it would be for Stitch to lose them."
The Grand Council Woman regarded Kairi for a minute before she finally sighed and told the redhead, "I honestly wish he could stay, but our rules are absolute. I cannot change what the council has already decided."
When she heard that, Aqua immediately perked up and quickly knelt down to Lilo as she whispered, "Didn't you say that you bought Stitch at a pet shelter?"
Lilo immediately began searching her pockets until she finally found a form that she had conveniently had on her, and she then ran over to the alien leader and called out to her, "A few days ago, I bought Stitch at the shelter, and I paid two dollars for him." She then handed the form to the Councilwoman as she continued, "See this stamp here? I own him, and if you take him, you're stealing."
The Grand Council Woman immediately looked over the form, and upon seeing that Lilo was correct, she gave a small smile, knowing that the little girl was correct. "Aliens are all about rules," Bubbles commented softly.
When the Grand Council Woman noticed Aqua, she had to comment, "You look familiar."
"My name is Aqua," the woman explained. "I helped stop Captain Gantu from trying to destroy Stitch and Doctor Jumba when some monsters found their way onto your ship and I offered my services in getting rid of the monsters so that you could apprehend them."
The Grand Council Woman nodded in remembrance of that before turning to talk with Bubbles and the sisters, releasing Stitch into their custody as she did, bringing joyful smiles to the Keybearers' faces as she did. While they were discussing the terms of Stitch's stay with Lilo and her family, Aqua noticed that Terra had reached for something in his pocket, and her eyes immediately widened when she saw what it was. "You…you actually still have it…even after everything that happened," Aqua whispered in complete astonishment at the sight of the brown Wayfinder she had made for him.
When Terra heard her question, he seemed a little surprised that she noticed him pulling it out, but his surprise quickly turned to a small smile as he replied, "Yeah. I could never get rid of it, or even bear to see it destroyed. After all, my friend gave it to me."
Aqua smiled happily at hearing this, even gaining a small blush as she did, before she pulled out her own Wayfinder for everyone to see as well. Seeing that his friends do so prompted Ventus to also pull out his green Wayfinder for them both to see as he said, "I've still got mine too."
"Looks like they really are good luck charms," Aqua said. "It's just like Kairi said to me when I first met her and Sora back home; the legend of the star-shaped charms is true. Since we never stopped carrying these charms, we were able to find a way back to each other again, even if it was a rough road."
"Frens…ohana," Stitch suddenly said as he walked up to the three and pulled out the Wayfinder that he himself had made. "Terra…Ven…Ah-koo, wah…Sor-rah…Kai-ree…frens. Frens, ohana?"
"Yeah, of course," Sora said happily. "Doesn't matter who someone is to you, because if they're really special to you, then they're always just as much your family as your real one is."
"Ih, frens ohana," Stitch cried out happily as he jumped up on Sora and immediately started licking Sora's face happily like a dog. Everyone immediately laughed, even Sora, mostly due to the fact that Stitch's licking was tickling him so much, and in that moment, they felt that nothing could go wrong. Sadly, nothing could last forever.
"How touching," a deep, cold voice suddenly interrupted, gaining everyone's attention as they spun around to see Ansem and Xemnas stepping out of the shadows. "It's a shame that we have to end such a moment," the Nobody of the two continued from what he said before.
"Oh spare us, Xemnas," Kairi retorted as she summoned Destiny's Embrace. "We all know that Nobodies like you don't have hearts to feel with."
"True, so I suppose that there's no point in wasting any more time," Ansem shrugged in conceit before his face gained a sinister smirk, frightening everyone as to what he meant by that statement. The five Keybearers were quick to tell Stitch and the others to leave the area, which they did though some more hesitantly than others, and then prepared to face the two dark sides of Xehanort that had come from the alternate future. Before any of the five could attack though, Sora and Kairi were immediately blasted away, and the remaining three found themselves completely paralyzed for some reason.
"What're you doing," Sora demanded as he tried to rise up to his feet.
"Ending all hopes you have of saving your precious future," Ansem gloated as he and Xemnas both raised their hands and began chanting as one.
"Powers of darkness and nothingness combine, tear through the forces and head our cry," the two said in unison as a strange, dark energy suddenly enveloped Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. As soon as the three were enveloped, they all immediately let out agonizing cries of pain, almost as though something were inflicting incredible harm on them all at once that they could not even begin to bear. Despite this, the two dark beings continued their chanting, "Now heed our desires and do as we bid, and cast these fools into a world they dread."
A minute later, the dark energy surrounding the three seemed to solidify, muffling their screams of pain just as Sora and Kairi were finally able to rise to their feet and begin to run to the threes aid. Sadly, it was too late, as the minute Sora and Kairi were close enough, the energy exploded in a blinding flash, forcing the two to shield their eyes, and when they opened them again, they found that Xemnas and Ansem were both gone, and so were Terra, Ventus, and Aqua.
"Ven…Terra…Aqua…come back you guys," Sora shouted in a sudden repeat of words that Donald had once shouted out when Sora had allowed himself to be consumed by darkness in order to free Kairi's heart, falling to his knees in despair as he did.
"Are they…are they really," Kairi started to ask, fearing the answer even though she was unable to finish the question. "No," Kairi suddenly said as she gained a determined look. "No they're not gone…they can't be…there's no way they're gone!"
Sora looked to the girl he loved so much in surprise before he gained a look of determination that matched hers and stood up once again as he said, "You're right. There's no way it's over. Not now, and not like this. They're out there somewhere, and we'll find them no matter what it takes."
"Sor-rah…Kai-ree," the two then heard Stitch's voice ask, prompting them to turn and see that the small alien had come back up to them at some point. "Frens gone?"
"No they just left for a little while," Kairi immediately replied. "They went off somewhere and forgot to tell us where, but we'll all come back and visit some day. Okay?"
"Ih," Stitch replied happily, and he then turned around to rejoin Lilo and her sister as they all headed home.
Kairi then looked over to Sora as she asked, "If they really aren't gone, then how do we even find out what happened to them? I don't remember Master Yen Sid saying anything about this happening, and if they do know the answer, then Naminé would've contacted us by now."
Sora nodded in agreement, as it was clear at this point that none of the knowledge about what had happened in the past before they began to change it could be completely relied on now, but still, that did not mean that Kairi was unable to give them an idea of what they could do. "We need to go see Master Yen Sid," Sora stated. "Not the one in the future, but the one in this time."
"What," Kairi exclaimed. "Sora, we can't do that! If we go see the Master Yen Sid of this time, then we'll seriously mess up the past, and who knows what will happen then?"
"Even if we never went to see him, I doubt we would be able to hide our being here from someone like Master Yen Sid for long, if at all," Sora reasoned. "Plus it may be our best shot at finding out what happened to Terra, Ven, and Aqua, in case our friends from our time can't find anything."
Kairi paused to think on what Sora said for a minute before she finally sighed in defeat and nodded in agreement. The two then summoned their armors and Keyblade Gliders, and immediately took off for the Mysterious Tower, hoping that the Master Yen Sid of this time period could help them, and that their friends were alright.
Riku: And there, you're back to normal. Better now, please don't kill me!
AN: [checks to make sure everything is back in order] Yes, much better now. One more thing, push that button please.
Riku: Why? You're going to kill me with it? PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!
AN: No, you're safe for now. It is for those other losers, aka Xehanort and his little buddies.
Riku: Oh, okay. [pushes the button, and Xehanort, Xemnas, and all other major male villains that have appeared in this story suddenly find themselves dressed as a random Disney Princess, much to their horror]
Villains: AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THE HORROR!
AN: Ah, okay, all better now. Now, onto more important business, before any of you freak out on me, no, Aqua, Terra, and Ven are not, I repeat, NOT dead! Their fate will be revealed in the next chapter, and you may or may not be surprised as to what happened to them.
One more thing, yes I included the world of Lilo & Stitch in this story, mostly because I like Stitch, he's funny, and I really wanted to incorporate that world into this story. I mean, we've already seen Stitch's world from before he met Lilo, so why not include the world that came after that meeting. The name of the world was really something I came up with at random, but I thought that it fit, and I did not want to waste time trying to think of better names.
One more thing, I just had to include that little flashback sequence of Ventus and Terra forcing Aqua to get a haircut from earlier, and yes, Aqua now looks exactly like she did in Birth By Sleep. I just thought it would be funny to have a moment like that.
One more thing, to all you Sokai fans, I hope you enjoyed the amount of said pairing in this chapter, because I honestly wanted to work as much as I could of that into the chapter, and into few chapters as well if I can, because again, one of my favorite pairings from Kingdom Hearts.
One more thing, time to move onto the preview!...
The fate of Aqua, Terra, and Ventus is revealed, and a daring mission must be put in place in order for the three to return to where they need to be. In order to do so though, many dangerous risks must be taken, a new force must be called upon to aid the three misplaced heroes, and Mickey will have to finally reveal the location of his past self so that the plan may be successful. Just what happened, where are the students of Eraqus, and how will they get back to where they need to be? The answers to these questions and more, next time.
One more thing, I know that doesn't say much, but if I said anymore, I'd be giving away too much information about the next chapter.
Xion: Somebody tell the guy to wrap it up, before he comes up with three more things! [AN hits a button and Xion finds herself catapulted into a massive mud pie] EEEWWWW! THAT'S NOT ANY FUNNIER THAN THE TRAP DOOR THING!
AN: Again, it is to me. One more thing...
Please read and review, and see ya real soon!