Chapter 58: the sparrow flies the coop
I do not own kingdom hearts or the properties shown in this fanfic. They belong to the respective owners and the original story is based on the works of Darius Almighty. Kingdom hearts and trials of the keyblade is owned by square Enix, Disney, and Tetsuya Nomura. Please support the official release.
Right. Now time to end sora's visions about the jedi! I hope he gets new visions involving star wars a new hope if the original and the remake respond.
With that out of the way, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
When Sora came to he found he wasn't in the Citadel of Heart anymore. He wasn't even sure if he was on Radiant Garden. He was standing on a landing platform surrounded by buildings that reached through the clouds; hovercars zipped between them. As confusing as this was, Sora couldn't help but feel he'd seen this place before. "Where am I?" he whispered. "Ellone? Are you there? What's happening? Any-"
Suddenly, from the air, a spaceship began its decent to the platform on which Sora stood. As soon as it touched down, the cockpit opened up and out emerged-
Anakin Skywalker.
"You!" Sora gasped in disbelief. His father leapt from his ship and walked straight for him. "I don't believe it! It's really you! You don't know me, or maybe you do, but I'm Sora, your son! There's so much-" Anakin passed through him as if a ghost. Sora staggered back in surprise, looking back to see Anakin walking on like nothing had happened at all.
That's when Sora realized that Anakin wasn't the ghost, he was the ghost. This must be the full extent of Ellone's powers. She had sent his very consciousness back in time, to witness first hand what had happened in the past. It pained Sora that he couldn't speak to his father but, if nothing else, he would at least find out what had happened to him. With a firm resolve, Sora took after him Anakin.
After a lengthy stair climb Anakin, with Sora following, arrived at the top of the tower, to the office of the Supreme Chancellor, and into a very shocking situation.
There was Jedi Master Mace Windu, an activated purple lightsabre in his hands, held at the throat at the cowering Chancellor Palpatine. It was a perturbing sight indeed. "you are under arrest my lord." Said mace coldly.
"You see Anakin!" the Chancellor gasped seeing anakin upon his arrival. "It's just as I told you! The Jedi really are taking over!"
"The oppression of the sith will never return!" Mace Windu growled, leveling his weapon to the old man's face. "Your plot to regain control of the republic is over. You have lost!"
Palpatine's eyes flared with anger, with an almost yellow tinge to them.
"No, no!" he hissed, raising his hands. "no, no YOU WILL DIE!" Lightning burst from the Chancellor's fingertips much to Mace and Anakin's surprise, Mace having barely enough time to block the lightning with his lightsabre. The attack bounced off the blade right back at Palpatine, but still he kept the attack going. Sora watched in amazement, thinking that he had seen this somewhere before...
"He is a traitor, Anakin!"
"he's the traitor!" protested mace.
"I have the power to save the one you love!" Palpatine pleaded. The lightning deflected back at him was beginning to burn the skin on his face, melting it into a twisted deformity. "You must choose!"
"Don't listen to him, Anakin!" Mace Windu growled.
"don't let him kill me…I can't hold on any longer…I can't…I'm weak…I'm too weak…" and, with a shout, cut through the lightning attack. The Chancellor fell back, utterly spent. His own powers had horribly burned his face, the skin now hanging disgustingly off of his face. "Help me! I can't hold on any longer!"
"I am going to end this once and for all!"
"You can't," Anakin gasped. "He must stand trial."
"He has too much control of the senate and the courts! If we don't kill him he'll take countless lives. He's too dangerous to be left alive." Growled mace.
"Ooohhh…Ooohhh…I'm too weak…don't kill me…please…" said the weak chancellor.
"It's not worth it. This isn't the Jedi way. He must live!"
"Please don't let him kill me…please don't…" begged the weak chancellor.
"I need him!"
But Mace Windu raised the lightsabre, and brought it down for the final stroke.
"Please don't!"
"NOOO!" In a flash, Anakin's lightsabre cut through Mace's wrist, severing the hand that held the purple lightsabre. Sora gasped in horror. What just happened? Mace cried out, clutching his arm and staring at the stump in bewilderment. It was all the time Palpatine needed.
"DIE!" he screamed. "FEEL UNLIMITED POWER!" Fully recovered, his mask of weakness a lie, lightning blasting from his fingertips once more, hitting the Jedi Master head on. Pure, dark energy coursed freely through Windu's body, until the power sent him crashing through the large window and into the night sky, plummeting until he was out of sight.
Sora recoiled in absolute horror. He didn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. Anakin Skywalker, his father, had killed. Not in justice, or in the pursuit of good. But in righteous retaliation. "What have I done?" Anakin whispered, falling to his knees and dropping his weapon.
"You have fulfilled your destiny, Anakin." Anakin didn't notice it, neither did Sora, but suddenly Palpatine was standing right before him. His face, now deformed beyond recognition, stirred some feeling of familiarity within Sora.
"Learn the dark side of the Force," Palpatine whispered, his voice now a hoarse mockery of his once gentle speech. "Become my apprentice."
Anakin, still shaking, bowed his head. "I-I will do whatever you ask," he whispered.
Palpatine sneered. "Good. Now henceforth you shall be known as darth…vader."
Upon hearing this sora blanched. Anakin skywalker is darth vader? He's darth vader?
"Yes my master. I pledge myself to your teachings. Just help me save Padmé." He choked back a sob. "I can't live without her!"
Palpatine sneered once again. "Good. Now go to the jedi temple. Wipe out all the jedi. Every single one of them. And once you're done, go to the mustafar system. Wipe out nute gunray and the other separatist leaders. Once more, the sith will rule the galaxy and then…we shall have…peace." He ends the last word wickedly.
And that was when it hit Sora. That face. That voice. That sneer. The Palpatine of today, was actually the dark being that Sora would come to know in the future: Darth Sidious, The Emperor.
Suddenly, the scene began to change before Sora's very eyes. Palpatine's office seemed to melt away, as well as its two occupants, reshaping into an entirely new location. Sora now stood at the top of a tall staircase, before a large and prestigious building. It was a temple of sorts, with finely crafted architecture and towers that reached high above. This was the Jedi Temple. Within these walls future Jedi Knights were trained to be the upholders of peace and light in the universe.
Just as Sora wondered what he was doing here, he heard it. The sound of many, many marching footsteps.
Anakin Skywalker, draped in a dark hood that cast a terrifying shadow across his face, was leading a marching army. They were white armoured soldiers, each and every one of them masked behind helmets, armed with blaster rifles. And there were thousands of them.
Thousands.
As thy marched up the stairs to the Jedi Temple it was only too clear to Sora what was about to happen. "No! Stop!" he pleaded. Anakin reached the top of the steps, anger the only countenance he carried. "You can't do this! Stop!" Anakin merely phased through him as Sora tried to interfere, the soldiers as well, but still Sora tried to stop them. But he couldn't do anything, because it had already happened. And now it was about to happen again.
The battle began as soon as they entered the temple. But as Sora came to witness, it was no battle.
It was a massacre.
The Jedi were totally and completely caught off guard. Never in their wildest imaginations had they thought their own troops would turn against them, or that one of their own would be leading them. The soldiers held no ill will towards the Jedi, they were simply following the orders of their new Emperor. The once beautiful Jedi Temple was turned into a battleground. Valiantly, the Jedi fought back, but the soldiers were too many, too well armed, and their leader, too deadly.
One trooper in particular wasted no time in making sure none of the Jedi survived, blasting with his pistol with exceptional precision. Suddenly, a Jedi he hadn't seen leapt at him from nowhere and cut his laser pistol in half, narrowly avoiding a second attack, though unable to dodge the kick to his chest. The Jedi then raised his lightsabre for a finishing blow, but the trooper suddenly grasped the frame of a lightsabre hilt, quickly activating its blue flame and using it to block the incoming green one. He pushed back with his newfound weapon, drew another pistol from his belt, and fired a shot right through the Jedi's kneecap. The Jedi screamed and collapsed to his knees, dropping his weapon, completely helpless when the trooper leapt at him and severed his head from his body.
The trooper stared down at his handiwork, then at the lightsabre in his hands.
Commander Darius decided then that he could make use of such a weapon.
Anakin Skywalker was an unstoppable fury, no Jedi could stop him. He was beyond their level, no longer held back by principles and honor; a ruthless killing machine. No one was spared...men, women...
Children.
Everyone.
How Sora wished this vision, this nightmare would end. But he was forced to watch it. All the death, the murder. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Anakin Skywalker was supposed to be a hero, his father was supposed to be a good guy, just like he was. All his life he had wondered who his father was, what kind of person he had been. He was unprepared for this. Anakin Skywalker had turned to the darkness.
Just when Sora thought he couldn't take any more of the senseless slaughter the scene began to change again. This time, he was taken to a world of fire, where everywhere he looked geysers of molten lava spewed from the planet's surface. He had been taken to some kind of mining facility that was safe from the extreme heat, looking out over the entire flame spitting landscape.
Then he saw Anakin. He swept across a bridge leading into the complex. He wore his dark hooded cloak, and underneath it he looked truly terrifying, a man who had thrown everything away in the pursuit of knowledge and power. Seeing him like this made Sora sick to his stomach. Nevertheless, he followed him.
Anakin strode calmly to the heart of the complex, to the control room from which the entire facility was run. There were many aliens inside, creatures dressed in exquisite clothes, pouring over plans for something or another. They were guarded by robots armed with blaster rifles; battle droids. As soon as Anakin entered the room, one of the aliens, a green skinned snake-eyed, amphibian faced creature, raised his head to greet him.
"Ah, welcome lord vader!" he greeted in a friendly manner, the other aliens coming to attention as well. "We've been expecting you. Lord Sidious informed us of your arrival. He says that you'll give our just rewards."
Anakin, stone-faced, said nothing. He raised his hand, and suddenly, all the doors in the door slid shut, sealing off all exits, much to the confusion, and discomfort of the aliens, all of them turning to Anakin for an explanation. His answer came in the form of his lightsabre lighting to life.
He then preceded to give them their 'just rewards'.
Once again, Sora was forced to watch the horror Anakin inflicted on his victims. The guards scrambled with their blasters, security teams rushing to stop the intruder. None of it mattered. Anakin was truly unstoppable.
"No! Please! No!"
Anakin ran his sabre through his gut.
"NO! NOOOO!"
Anakin decapitated the creature.
All that was left in the wake of Anakin's carnage was himself, and the terrified Viceroy Gunray. "W-Why!?" he whimpered, trembling as Anakin stalked towards him. "T-The war is over! Lord Sidious promised us peace! He said he would! W-we only wanted-"
SLASH
Sora winced and hid his eyes as the alien's bloodcurdling shriek was silenced. And that was the end of it. Not a single person in the control room was left standing except Anakin himself, and all it had taken was a matter of minutes. Bodies lay everywhere, many in pieces. Anakin had been standing motionless with his back to Sora, when he suddenly turned around. Sora recoiled in horror. Anakin Skywalker's eyes had taken on an orange, almost inhuman colour. His descent into darkness was now complete.
He walked over to a control panel, stepping over the corpses of his victims, and input commands into the computer. Soon enough, a holographic image appeared, collecting itself in the form of Darth Sidious.
"The Separatists are taken care of, my master," Anakin reported in a voice without a tinge of remorse. The hologram smiled decrepitly.
"Then it is finished," the Emperor said in his raspy voice. "you have restored peace and justice to the galaxy. You have done well, lord vader."
"Thank you my master."
"Send a message to the ships of the trade federation. Tell them the separatist leaders have been wiped out. Grievous and dooku have been destroyed. All droid units must down immediately." Announced the emperor.
"very good my lord." Anakin Skywalker nodded slowly and the Emperor switched off. Sora felt sick, not knowing how much more he could take. But if his father had followed Emperor Sidious, where was he now?
A sudden beeping caught his attention. It alerted Anakin as well. The control panel was beeping a warning. There was a ship approaching the facility. Anakin studied the control panel, and his eyes widened. Suddenly, he bolted out the room, leaving Sora no choice but to follow.
Sora soon found them both outside again where Anakin had landed his own ship on the landing platform. Now, it was a sleek metal ship that touched down from above, Anakin removing his hood as the landing gear safely touched down. Then the ramp lowered, and both Anakin and Sora were shocked at who came out.
"I saw your ship!" Anakin gasped.
"Mom!" Sora gasped. There was his mother, and she was big as a house! Several months pregnant at least. Was that...him?
Padmé sobbed, rushing to meet him in a tender embrace. Anakin held her close, and for a second Sora even forgot all the horrible things he had done. For a second. "Oh Anakin, thank goodness you're alright!"
"Of course I'm alright. Why wouldn't I be?" he whispered soothingly. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was so worried about you," she admitted softly. "Obi-wan told me...terrible things."
"What things?"
He said you've turned to the dark side. That you had led the attack on the Jedi Temple." She seemed to choke up as she said this. "That you killed children!"
Anakin scowled. "Obi-wan is trying to turn you against me."
This was clearly not what Sora's mother had wanted to hear. Sora could see she wanted him to deny these claims, tell her everything Obi-Wan told her was a lie. But he didn't.
"but He cares about us!"
"Us?" Padmé bit her lip.
"He knows," she confessed, idly placing a hand on her belly. A dark look overcame Anakin' features, the same look Sora had seen when he killed helpless victims. "He wants to help us."
"Is he going to protect you? he cannot help us. I know he can't. he's not strong enough." Hissed anakin evilly.
"But Anakin. All I want is your love."
"Love won't save you, Padmé," he whispered. "Only my new powers can do that."
"But At what costs? You're a good person Anakin! Don't do this!"
"I won't lose you the same way I've lost my mother." Remembered anakin of what transpired on Tatooine. "I've become more powerful than any jedi has ever dreamed of. And I've done it for you. to protect you."
"come away with me! Help me raise our child! Leave everything else behind while we still can!"
"Don't you see?" Anakin laughed. "We don't have to run away anymore. No one can stop us from being together. I have brought peace to the Republic! I'm more powerful than the chancellor; maybe I can overthrow him! Together, you and i could rule the galaxy! make things we want them to be. Peace and order, we can have it all!"
Anakin didn't realize just how insane he sounded. Sora did, and Padmé was coming to grips with it as well. "I don't believe what I'm hearing," she whispered in horror, taking a few steps back.
Anakin scowled at her words. "Obi-Wan was right. You have changed."
"I don't wanna hear any more of obi-wan," he growled angrily. "all I know that he and The Jedi turned against me, they all did. So don't you…don't you turn against me too!" Tears began to flood Padmé's eyes.
"I don't know who you are anymore," she sobbed. "I've never stop loving you but You're going down a path I can't follow. Anakin, you're breaking my heart."
"Because of Obi-Wan?" Anakin growled scornfully.
"Because of what you've done! What you plan to do!" Sora's heart ached at the scene before him, but something, or someone, managed to draw his eye. A man stood in the doorway of the ship Padmé had come in, dressed in the traditional Jedi robes, scowling down the couple. It wasn't long before Anakin also noticed the presence of his friend and mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. "Just stop! Stop now! Come back! I love you!"
"LIAR!" Anakin screamed. "You're with him!" Padmé swivelled round and, to her genuine shock, saw Obi-Wan standing there. It was clear to Sora that she had truly not known he was onboard. Anakin didn't see it, blinded by rage, a threat to all those around him. "You brought him here to kill me!"
"No anakin I swear i…"
But his right arm shot up. Padmé hands went to her throat, as she suddenly started choking and coughing.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Sora shouted. He ran to Anakin, attempting to body check him, only to phase through his body and fall to the ground. He growled in frustration, and then ran to his mother, trying to reach out to her, but his hands went through. He was just as helpless as she was. "Let her go!"
"Let, her go, Anakin," Obi-Wan ordered as he came down the ramp.
"LET HER GO!" Sora screamed, his own voice mingling with that of Obi-Wan's. Finally, Anakin's arm dropped, and Padmé drew a sharp intake of air. She collapsed to the floor, and was still. "Mom!" Sora gasped dropping down to check her.
Anakin stared horrified at his shaking arm, as if it alone was responsible for what had just happened, then turned to the sorrowful gaze of his master. "You've turned her against me!"
Obi-Wan sadly shook his head. "You have done that yourself." Both simultaneously removed their respective cloak and robes. Sora was barely paying attention anymore. All that mattered to him was the state of his mother. He tried to touch her sleeping face, but each time his fingers passed through her, causing him to slam his fist to the ground in frustration.
"You will not take her from me!" Anakin shouted again.
"Your anger and lust for power have already done that." Obi-Wan kneeled to check on Padmé, opposite to Sora where he kneeled on her other side. "You have allowed this dark lord to twist your mind until now…until now you've become the very thing you sworn to destroy." The Jedi saw that Padmé was in no physical danger, much to Sora's relief. When Obi-Wan stood up again, Sora wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he looked right at him.
"Don't begin to lecture me, Obi-Wan. I've seen through the lies of the Jedi," Anakin spat, staring out at the planet's lava oceans. "I don't fear the dark side as you do, I embrace it. I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new Empire!"
"Your new Empire?"
Anakin's face darkened. "Don't force me to kill you."
"Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic," Obi-Wan stressed. "To democracy!"
"If you're not with me," Anakin growled. "Then you're my enemy."
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." He drew the metal cylinder that became his blue lightsabre. Sora tore himself from his mother, as he could only imagine what was about to happen. "I will do what I must."
"You will try." Anakin then back flipped, drew his sabre in mid-air and clashed with his former master. The duel of fates was on.
Sora kept his eyes fixated on the battle, every so often turning back to check the condition of his mother. Blue flame connected with blue flame. They moved with each other, Anakin keeping on the attack and pushing Obi-Wan back into the mining facility. Sora noticed this, and as much as he wanted to stay with Padmé, he had to see what happened. He had to know how it all turned out. With one last look at his mother, wondering if he would ever see her again, he took off after the two combatants.
It was a fight unlike any Sora had ever seen. They were equals in almost every sense of the word. They were master and apprentice. They knew each other's moves and abilities; they were as close as brothers, more intimate than lovers. Through the halls, on the roof, over the rivers of lava, back to the control room where the bodies of the Separatists still littered the floor. No matter where they went they never let up the fight. Their swordsmanship, use of the Force and overall ferocity took apart the entire facility inside and out, and nearly the entire planet. It was a lengthy and epic duel; Sora followed them all the way outside. On a hovering platform that glided over the rivers of hot boiling lava where one false step would send them to a fiery demise, they just kept at it.
"I have failed you anakin." admitted obi-wan while laughing sadly. "Really I have."
"I've should've known the jedi are taking over!" hollered anakin.
"anakin come to your senses!" begged his master. "Chancellor palpatine is the true evil not us!"
"From my own point of view the jedi are the real evil!" growled anakin.
"Well you have lost!" obi-wan shot back at him.
"This is the end of you my master." He hissed.
Sora ran along the dirty banks of the river to keep up with them, watching as they showed no signs of stopping.
"It's over. Anakin!" Obi-Wan shouted. "I have the high ground!" Being an experienced fighter, Sora could tell he was right. From that position Obi-Wan could counter anything Anakin attempted. Sora may be lacking in the brains department but when it came to fighting, he knew his stuff.
Anakin, however, blinded by rage and arrogance, cared not for logic. "You have underestimated my power!" he snarled.
Obi-Wan shook his head pleadingly. "Don't try it," he warned. But Anakin was through with listening now. He gripped his lightsabre tightly, bared his teeth, and leapt high off the platform. For a split second, Sora actually thought he might do it, that he would land behind the Jedi and strike him down before he could mount any kind of defense.
A second too late.
Sora recoiled from Anakin's ear piercing scream, as his former master's sabre expertly cut off his left arm and both his legs. The remainder of him rolled back down the bank stopping just before the molten river, his appendages no more than stubs now. Ironically, only his metal arm remained.
"YOU WERE THE CHOSEN ONE!" cried obi-wan in utter sadness. "It was said you would destroy the sith not to join them! It was you who would bring balance to the force, not leave it to darkness!"
"I HATE YOU!" bellowed anakin crawling back to him with all his might just before the flames of lava reach him.
"But I loved you anakin." Said obi-wan in complete disgust. "You were like a brother to me. As much I want to save you I don't know how. Even it hurts like hell."
And just then anakin bursts into flames and starts screaming and obi-wan walks away seeing enough.
Sora fell to his knees in the ash. "Alright," he said aloud. "I've seen enough. I don't want to see him die. Ellone! Can you hear me? I said I-"
"You're majesty, this way!"
Sora rounded at the familiar voice, as the soldier who would become the future General Darius came running up the hill, along with another trooper. Behind them came none other the dark and terrible Emperor, Darth Sidious. Sora blanched. What were they doing here?
"There he is!" the Emperor cried, pointing past Sora, his yellow eyes landing on the disfigured form of Anakin Skywalker. "He's still alive! Get a medical capsule. Quickly!"
"Yes, sir, right away" Darius replied with a nod, taking off with the other soldier.
The scene changed for Sora once again. The world of fire faded away, and reshaped into a much different, darker place. It was a room almost pitch-black save for a few overhead lights, and there were ominous surgical instruments set up all around. In the center of this room was a table and laid out across it, Anakin Skywalker. He looked barely alive, hooked up to a respirator to keep him breathing, and his charred body must have been extremely painful to bear.
"What's going on?" Sora whispered. Suddenly, stepping out of the shadows, the Emperor appeared. He gave a curt nod to the robots attendants, and the work began.
Anakin's former arm and legs were being replaced with metal limbs, much like the one he already possessed. It was a long, hard and painful procedure. Each time the robot surgeons made an incision to his burned skin or connected a limb to his nerves Anakin clenched his teeth and held back his screams. He was given no anesthetics, kept awake through the whole horrible operation on the orders of the Emperor, to feed his rage, his anger, his power. Hours passed as they reconstructed the man's entire body.
Sora had watched the whole thing not knowing what to think. Slowly, he took a few tentative steps forward. He kept walking until he was right at the foot of the operating table, giving him a head to toe view of what had been done.
Anakin's body, what had been left of it, was now incased in a full bodied black mechanical suit.
No.
The helmet came across Anakin's face.
It can't be.
A harsh breathing came from behind it.
It's impossible!
The operating table slowly became vertical, and Sora came face to face with his true father. It was so terrifying, so unreal, that Sora couldn't stand it, stumbling backwards away from it until he was right up against the wall. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the Emperor glide across the room and come before the thing that was created.
"Lord Vader," the Emperor whispered. "Can you hear me?"
Darth Vader stirred at his master's voice.
"yes my master" he called, but it was not the voice of Anakin Skywalker that said it. "Padmé? Where is padme? is she safe? Is she alright?" Underneath the Emperor's hood, a wicked smile formed.
"It seems Lord Vader in your anger, you killed her."
Vader gasped, his voice wavering. "I-I couldn't have!"
The room began to shake.
"She was alive!"
The shaking worsened.
"I FELT IT!"
Wall panels crumpled, robot surgeons were torn to pieces, medical equipment exploded, all of it caused by the pain, pain that burned hotter than the fire ever could have. The shackles holding his arms to the operating table were ripped out, and he struggled to walk under the weight of the armour that he would be forced to wear for countless years.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
KHKHKHKH
Suddenly it all vanished. Darth Vader, the Emperor, all of it. Sora was back in the Citadel of Heart, on his hands and knees, panting from both shock and exhaustion.
"I'm so sorry, Sora," Ellone whispered with a shaking voice. "When I learned it I didn't want you to find out. I wasn't sure how you'd react. You're a good person, Sora." Sora gave no response, just knelt on all fours. "Say something, please!"
Sora slowly stood back up, turned his back on her without a word and made his way to the door. As he made to leave he paused in the threshold.
"Thank you," he whispered, and with that, he was gone. It wasn't until he left that Ellone buried her face in her hands and cried.
The old version of sora hiding in the shadows saw the whole thing and shreds a single tear.
Like a zombie Sora made his way through the halls. Slowly and steadily, thoughts, emotions, and who knows what else going through his head. He thought about when he first knew of the one called Darth Vader. What he think of him then? Dark, merciless, powerful.
He somehow made it to his room, which was quite an achievement considering his state of mind. As soon as he caught sight of his bed Sora realized just how tired he was. How he wished he was sleeping right now, that this was all a bad dream that he would soon wake from. But that wasn't the case. This was reality. This was who he was. Who he was. Sora fell across his bed, laying on his back. At least rest would momentarily make him forget. That is unless more visions plagued his dreams. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The seconds ticked by, Sort's steady breathing the only sound in the room, a sign he was truly sleeping. Now was the time. It melted from the wall, its form becoming visible once again, eyes behind its helmet fixated entirely on the boy.
The Yautja hunter slowly approached the boy as its cloaking was deactivated, silent as a ninja in the night. This was it. Finally it would end. Weeks of patience and tracking had brought him to this moment. The moment where he would claim the head of its greatest prey. Glory and honour would be his.
Now he stood beside the bed, a predator staring down at the object of its hunt. Two jagged blades extended from his gauntlet, the only weapon in his arsenal he'd need. They were sharpened just for this, and lowered to Sora's throat for the terrible deed.
"..."
This was it. One strike and it would all be over. He could end this hunt here and then.
"..."
All he needed to do was land that precise blow to sever his trophy from its belonging.
So what was staying its hand?
For some reason, even as he stood there with his blades ready to strike, he couldn't bring himself to do it. The boy looked so helpless and vulnerable as slept there, not the warrior he had sworn to defeat. This boy had eluded him, tricked him, even fought him, all to survive. He himself had defied an empire to continue on the hunt.
And this is how it ended?
The Yautja held the weapon at Sora's throat for a moment longer, before retracting them back into his gauntlet, then turning round for the exit. He glanced back at his prey one last time, reactivated his cloaking, and then swept out of the room like he was never even there. No. Sora would live this night to fight another day. The hunt would continue. If this was to be the greatest hunt then it should only end in the greatest of battles. There was nowhere Sora could go where he wouldn't find him. When they next encountered one another it would be on his grounds, his terms, where only he would emerge as the victor.
And it would be glorious.
So caught up was he in his thoughts that he accidently bumped into someone on his way out.
Jack Sparrow stumbled when some kind of invisible force knocked into him, his drunken walk interrupted as a result. He looked around for the source, but soon lost interest. There was a more important task to be done after all. He was out of rum. Those lousy moochers at the party had nearly cleaned him out. Last time he would ever be generous in one of his drunken tirades. He had left his entire rum supply on the Shera, and was very fortunate that it had landed here. If he had to go through a night only half drunk then there'd be hell to pay! So here he was, stalking the halls of the Shera in need of his life force.
He opened the doors to the ship's cargo hold, which seemed the logical place to store his stash, vast amount that it was. There was a whole bunch of other stuff down here but who cared about that? Unfortunately, it was this whole bunch of other stuff that was giving him trouble finding where he kept his rum, and the darkness didn't help either. He could barely see his own hand in front of his face. Wait, if he could still see his hand that meant he was sobering up. He needed that rum fast! Luckily he spotted one of his many rum bottles nearby. Smiling cheerfully, he popped the cork and readied to down the entire thing. Sadly, it was dry as a bone.
"Why is the rum always gone?" Jack sighed dismally. How could this night get any worse?
"Time's up, Jack."
The empty bottle shattered at Jack's feet when he startled at the eerie voice that came from nowhere. There was a light in the dark cargo hold, glowing faintly a few feet away. Raising an eyebrow quizzically, Jack approached this light. Turned out it was coming from an oil lantern, and Jack could make out the faint outline of a man sitting beside it, as well as the sound of...dripping water? Jack raised an eyebrow and moved towards it, getting closer so that he could see the man's face more clearly.
"Bootstrap," Jack gasped in recognition. "Bill Turner." The face of Bootstrap Bill Turner was looking back at him, but it sure wasn't the same Bootstrap he remembered. His skin was pale as a ghost, and what looked like coral as well as barnacles, clams, anemones, all of it was growing all over his body. And he was dripping wet with water, which was odd since there wasn't a body of water for miles. Jack's mouth fell open in astonishment.
Bill Turner regarded Jack with sad eyes. "You look good, Jack," he whispered, more water spilling from his mouth.
Jack was still staring, but being Jack Sparrow, he got over it quickly. "So do...you?" He looked around him. "Is this a dream?"
"No."
"Thought not. If it were, there'd be rum." On cue, Bootstrap held up a bottle of rum for him. Jack took it cautiously. It's not like he wasn't inclined to taking rum from other people, it's just that he wasn't inclined to taking rum from people who were supposed to be dead. For ten years. On another world, no less. He drank it anyway, it was rum after all; it wasn't that bad, either.
"So, Jack," Bootstrap said, looking around them. "I see you've moved on to bigger and better things."
"Bigger? Maybe," Jack scoffed. "Better? That's debatable. Load of nasty, creepy, detestable stuff beyond the Caribbean. Believe it or not, you're not the worst I've seen. Well, you are in the top ten. No offense." Bootstrap Bill chuckled, though the sad look in his eyes remained. "But, once all this drama is well and done with and these mates walk off into the sunset with their happily ever after, I'll have the Black Pearl waiting for me back home. Did I tell you I got the Pearl back? Interesting story behind it. One with magical keys and talking ducks and dogs...and your son."
"William?" Bootstrap gasped. He looked even sadder now than he already did. "So he became a pirate after all."
"Not quite. Still holds on to those useless little things called morals, right and wrong, that sort of thing. He became a blacksmith or something stupid." Bootstrap nodded, seemingly more at ease. "But tell me, old boy. Family issues notwithstanding, to what do I owe the pleasure of your carbuncle?"
"He sent me, Jack," Bootstrap declared. "Davy Jones." Jack spit out his rum in surprise.
"Ah," Jack said, calmly wiping his beard. "That would explain some things. He shanghaied you into his service, eh?"
"I chose it. I'm sorry for the part I played in the mutiny against you, Jack. I tried to stop it, believe me I did." Idly he snatched a small crab that had crawled off him. "Everything went wrong after that." He tossed the crab into his mouth and chewed on it hungrily. Jack resisted the urge to gag. "I was strapped to a cannon, still under that Aztec pirate curse, and ended up at the bottom of the ocean. Imagine, the whole weight of the ocean crushing down on your body, without even the simple act of death to release you, to free you. How I wanted it to end, I would have paid anything for it to end. And paid I did."
"Of course you did," Jack muttered disappointingly, standing up to find the rest of the rum. "It's amazing what some men will do to forestall their final judgement."
"You made a deal with him too, Jack," Bootstrap growled, grabbing Jack by the arm, all traces of friendliness gone. "He raised the Black Pearl from the depths so that you may be captain for thirteen years. Those years have been spent. The same terms that apply to me apply to you as well: one soul, one hundred years aboard his ship."
"Yes, but the Flying Dutchman already has a captain, so I really can't-"
"Then it's the Locker for you!"
"B-But technically-"
"Jack," Bootstrap interrupted, shaking his head sadly. "You can't talk your way out of this one. Jones will find you. His terrible leviathan will drag the Pearl back to the depths. And you will have to serve on his ship for one hundred years, that is if you're not lucky enough to be swallowed as well!"
"B-B-But he can't!" Jack stammered. "I mean, he's there! I'm here! There's no way he can get to me!" Jack swallowed nervously. "Is there?" The face of Bootstrap Bill Turner, or what was once Bootstrap Bill Turner, was now filled with nothing but pity.
"I found ya, Jack," he whispered to Jack's dread. "You can be sure he will too." He grabbed Jack's hand and slapped something into his palm, then started to walk off, grabbing his lantern on the way. "He comes now, drawn with ravenous hunger to the man that bears the Black Spot." Jack opened the hand that had been slapped, and his eyes popped open in absolute fear. It was like a sickening scab spreading over the length of his palm, blackening and festering like an open wound, the one thing that all sailors feared. The Black Spot. Jack looked up to Bootstrap Bill, but he was gone, disappearing into the darkness leaving watery footsteps in his wake. Jack blinked in horror.
It was time to go.
It was time to go now!
It had always been his intention to ditch this hero train since the day he joined, to wait it out until this whole Davy Jones debt blew over, but it looks like Jones wasn't about to let that happen. He needed to get back, back to his world, the only place where the solution to his problem could be found.
He was about to leave the Shera, when an disheartening thought struck him. How was he supposed to find his way back to his world? His piloting skills were suburb, but his navigational skills were lacking. He summoned his Keyblade and grabbed the his famous black compass that hung at the keychain, flipped it open, and watched the dial spin round and round, never staying in one place.
"Well, that's even less than unhelpful," Jack muttered sourly. What he needed was a map. One that would lead him from here to his world. But where was he going to find...
Jack golden teeth sparkled as he grinned.
After a brief walk through the ship Jack found himself outside the door of a certain person's room, which he opened and peeked inside. Asleep in a chair and snoring like a hacksaw on wood was Cid. And clutched in one of his hands was a golden sphere. Captain Flint's map of the universe. Jack had seen how it worked, and it may not lead to Treasure Planet anymore, but it would certainly help him get home.
Jack tiptoed up to the sleeping man and eyed the prize in his hand. He had to do this quickly, not only to keep from waking Cid, but who knows when he would be coming after him?
Carefully, Jack took hold of the sphere, slowly lifting it from his grasp, when Cid started stirring in his sleep. Jack quickly let go of the sphere, and Cid slept peacefully once again. Jack frowned irritably. Fortunately, he had a solution to every problem, and he pulled a zucchini from his pocket. Where he had gotten a zucchini we may never know. Once again he reached down for the map, bumped it out of Cid's hand and quickly replaced it with the zucchini. Cid mumbled tiredly and cuddled the vegetable like a teddy bear, a silly smile on his face. Jack was already out the door before he could see it.
As he left the Shera and entered the hanger Jack immediately caught sight of a waiting gummi ship. He jumped into this one and set to work starting it off. His careful observance of Sora when he flew these things paid off as the ship roared to life. It hovered off the ground and Jack was able to fly out of the hanger and into the open sky, soaring higher and above the city.
Soon the ship left Radiant Garden's atmosphere all together and entered the vastness of outer space. The Rebel Alliance Fleet soon came into view, a large mass of different ships keeping a constant vigil for the planet's enemies. Jack ignored them all and kept on flying.
"Alright, Jack," he said to himself. "You're about to go back to the very place you wanted to get away from." He took out the gold sphere, pressed a button and the entire cockpit was filled with green holographic projections of planets and stars. A small red light showed where he was, and when he spotted Port Royal, he smiled his wry smile. "Not enough rum in the world for this one." He hit another button, and the ship warped out of the sight.
Captain Jack Sparrow was heading straight for the dragon's den.
And that concludes another chapter. Be sure to write nice reviews, adapt the original story (Darius Almighty's work) on DeviantArt, turn it into a webcomic or post the story on TV tropes or follow and favorite it. And remember may your heart be your guiding key!