Chapter 12

Bringing the Band Back Together

Sora hovered the Gummi Ship over the parking area and lowered it to the landing platform. However, it was turbulent going down, much to the discomfort of the passengers. He was too close to the ground when he released the landing stands, and the ship buckled as they tried to push it back up and hold it steady. He cut the power to the engines and put the ship into park. Riku, Kairi and Mickey groaned as they unbuckled their seatbelts, and Donald was on the verge of losing his temper. Goofy was briefly stunned, but he regained his composure. When Sora stood up and saw the looks of displeasure on his friends, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sora, you can fly this thing incredibly well. How can you not land this?" Riku asked, annoyed.

"I never really landed on the ground before," Sora explained, embarrassed. "Whenever I had to park, I just stopped the ship right in orbit and we beamed down. To be honest, I only realized that I didn't know how to land until I was already doing it." He hit a button that opened the hatch, and they stepped out of the ship and into the open air.

"I'm going to have to show you one of these days," Mickey said. He inspected the landing stands. "But no harm done." He looked past the Gummi Ship and saw another craft made of blue and green blocks with purple and blue edges. The ship had two sonar detectors with purple stands on either side of the cockpit in the back and had a cylindrical gray cannon on either side. Mickey admired the Gummi Ship that Cid had built. Unlike the Kingdom model that he had built along with Chip and Dale, Cid's ship was designed to seat over a dozen passengers. Over the years, Cid had learned more about Gummi blocks than Mickey ever had, and he had upgraded it greatly over the years. It had carried Cid, Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith out of Radiant Garden eleven years ago and all the way to Traverse Town, and more than a year ago brought them back.

Riku and Kairi stared perplexedly at a ship that was shaped like a giant Moogle. Their attention was drawn away when a holographic disc appeared briefly next to them, followed by one behind Mickey and three near Donald and Goofy. They looked around warily. "What was that?" Riku asked, on edge.

Sora looked at them in confusion, at first thinking that they were referring to the Moogle ship, until a disc appeared three feet from Kairi, causing her to jump a little. "Don't worry. That was just the town's security system. Cid built it; he calls it 'CLAYMORE'," he explained. "I guess it was just curious, since it didn't recognize you. It won't hurt you, but it will help fight the Heartless."

This set them at ease. When another disc appeared, Kairi knelt down and waved hello.

"C'mon! Let's meet up with Leon and the others," Mickey called. The group walked up several flights of steps scaling the nearby wall. At the top, they stepped onto a landing which led into the marketplace.

When the shopkeepers took notice of their arrival, they all waved cheerfully in greeting. A trio of ducks wearing a shirt and hat of a different color between each of them, red, blue and green, called out "Hey, Unca Donald!" from their shopping stalls, and Donald went to go talk to his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie. After that, he went over to the ice cream shop to say hi to Scrooge McDuck, who was his uncle.

"Well, you're pretty popular around here," Riku commented.

"They did save this world on three occasions, remember?" Kairi pointed out. "And they were probably regular customers, right, Sora?" Sora nodded. "So they're bound to get some recognition."

They saw three figures coming up the stairs that led to the borough. When they came into view, Sora, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy recognized them. Due to not knowing them that well, Kairi had to think hard before remembering them. Riku, on the other hand, didn't know them at all.

"Hey, Sora!" Yuffie waved cheerfully. She stopped and noticed that he was accompanied by not just Donald and Goofy, but three others. "And you brought company. Kairi, this is a pleasant surprise. Glad you could join us."

"The pleasure's all mine," Kairi returned the greeting.

Riku and Leon sized each other up. "I don't believe we've met. You must be Riku." Riku nodded. "Call me Leon."

"Nice to meet you," Riku said, shaking hands with Leon. He looked at the women beside him. "And you must be Yuffie and Aerith," he guessed.

Leon noticed Mickey and bowed respectfully. "It is good to see you again, your Majesty, King Mickey."

Mickey shrugged casually, indicating that he didn't need to be so formal. "Gosh, Leon. It's good to see you all again, too."

"We were actually coming to see you," Sora said. "We're sort of looking into a situation involving Maleficent and Pete."

"That is convenient," Aerith said curiously. "We had just figured out that Maleficent had gained control over the Heartless again, and was rebuilding her army."

"Makes sense," Mickey muttered. "If she's getting the power to try something, now would be a good time to give her something to try…"

"What do you mean?" Yuffie asked.

"Let's go to Merlin's House," Leon interrupted. "We can talk about it with the others."

"Okay," Sora agreed, and the six visitors followed Leon, Yuffie and Aerith out of the marketplace.

When they entered the borough, they found themselves surrounded by a half of a dozen Soldiers, three Red Nocturnes, three Blue Rhapsodies, and two Armored Knights. Sora, Riku and Mickey summoned their Keyblades, Donald and Goofy summoned their respective weapons, and Leon and Yuffie pulled out their respective weapons. It was a few seconds before Kairi realized that she did not have anything with which to defend herself.

"Uh, I would've thought I would get something to fight with before we got into danger," she commented fearfully.

Donald thought for a moment, then summoned one of his spare staffs, one with the head of a hammer on the end, and held it out for her. "Take this!" he ordered.

Kairi complied and examined the Hammer Staff for a moment. The shaft was made of bronze and had an orange and silver tip with a yellow zig-zag near the top, beneath the head. The head was red with the print of a yellow star inside of an orange circle on both sides. A yellow diamond was attached to the very top of the hammer. She waved it around, testing its balance, and smiled.

The fight began. Mickey and Yuffie targeted the aerial Heartless with their weapons, and Donald did the same with his magic, casting Fire at the Blue Rhapsodies and Blizzard at the Red Nocturnes. Riku and Leon took on an Armored Knight each, and Sora, Goofy and Kairi fought the Soldiers. Kairi gained a feel for the hammer by hitting a Soldier in the face, helmet and chest with it. She dodged as a Soldier threw itself at her with a spinning dropkick, but Sora caught up with it by performing a similar attack, closing out by bringing his Keyblade down upon its head. The Heartless were defeated within a minute.

Leon looked at the arrivals in admiration. "Three months relaxing, and you still haven't lost your edge," he complimented.

"Glad to see you machines have been keeping yourselves well-oiled," Yuffie cheered. "Good to finally see you all working together!"

Sora crossed his Keyblade behind his head and grinned. Riku smirked and put his hand on his hip. Kairi smiled and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face.

"Well, come on," Leon said. "Merlin's House is right here."

Cid and Shera turned to greet Sora, Donald and Goofy when they came in with Leon, Yuffie and Aerith, and were surprised to see that they were not alone. "Well, we got a full house in here," Cid said. "Shera, fix 'em some tea, will you?"

Shera already had some tea prepared. She set out six cups, filled them from a teapot, and brought the cups on a tray over to the visitors. Each of the guests took a cup.

"Thanks," Sora told her, then paused as he realized that he did not recognize her. "Um, have we met?"

"My apologies. Where are my manners?" Shera shook her head in mild embarrassment. "My name is Shera. I'm Cid's assistant, and fiancée."

"Mazel tov," Donald congratulated, slurping some of his tea.

"Thank you. Cid and Leon told me about you," Shera added.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sora told her sincerely. "I guess you didn't quite make it out with the others, which would be why you weren't in Traverse Town with the others…" he trailed off when he saw her face fall as he brought up the attack on Radiant Garden. "Sorry. That must have been horrible."

"It's all right. I honestly don't remember much of what happened after… the incident. I woke up three months ago in Aerith's clinic. She said that I was found at the path to the castle."

"Gawrsh, that must've been after all the hearts were released from that Kingdom Hearts Xemnas was trying to build," Goofy theorized.

"Glad to see its destruction led to some people coming back," Riku responded, relieved.

Leon decided to bring everyone back on topic. "So, you said that there was something going on with Maleficent. What do you know?" he asked.

Before anyone could answer, a puff of smoke burst on the other side of the room. The smoke cleared, revealing an old man with a grey moustache and a long grey beard that extended almost to the floor, who wore round glasses, a loose-fit blue robe, a tall blue stocking hat, and pointed shoes of the exact same color of blue. Merlin the wizard gave everyone a light wave in greeting. "Ah. You all got here sooner than I expected," he said.

Kairi was perplexed. "You knew we were coming?"

Riku was also confused. "Who's the old guy?" he asked bluntly. Donald and Goofy looked at him with shocked expressions, bewildered by his lack of respect.

Aside from a brief glare, Merlin ignored Riku's comment and chose to answer Kairi. "Yes, of course. We wizards have a knack for this sort of thing."

Sora decided to clear the air. "This is Merlin. He trained me in magic over the last two years, on the King's request," he explained. "Merlin, these are my friends, Riku and Kairi. But I'm sure you already knew that."

"Ah, yes. Of course. I'd forgotten that we had not met before today. It is a pleasure to meet you both."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "'Not met before today'? Why did you word it like that?" he asked.

"Oh, um, no reason. Nothing to concern yourselves with," he stammered to cover his tracks. "Now, ahem, what is it that brings you all here?"

Everyone turned to Mickey, waiting for him to explain.

"You see," he began, "we detected something going on in Maleficent's hideout, an unfamiliar dark aura. So, we did a scrying spell and saw Maleficent and Pete talking to a man we had never seen before. We didn't get to see his face. It seems as though they are working with him to gather some special objects across the worlds, and they are planning on putting the council back together."

"We were hoping to start by finding out more about these items that they're supposedly after, or at least get a hint on what they are. And, if possible, stop them before they get going, assuming that they don't already have everyone gathered for their alliance."

Leon put his hand to his chin, considering what they told him. "Unfortunately, the vale surrounding the fortress is still uncharted territory. We don't yet have anything that can carry anyone across the terrain, and any approach from the air would be seen easily, and Maleficent would probably shoot it down before we got any close."

"Even if we could get you guys there, there's still the possibility that they already put the council together," Yuffie added. "And going up against several powerful villains in one room would be suicide."

"I figured it would be too much to hope for to be able to preempt them," Mickey said resignedly. "But that doesn't mean we can't find out more about what they're after!"

"Now, I've been all over the place," Merlin began, "and I have heard bits and pieces of such a lore. But, sad to say, I do not know what they could be after. Whatever it is, it must be a very well-kept secret," Merlin said regretfully

"I'm sure that if anyone would have known anything about a special item on this world, and maybe others, Ansem would've," Cid answered. "He had to have recorded something."

"Which means we can find it on his computer!" Goofy finished.

Almost as if it was on cue, an alert siren blared, catching everyone off guard. Cid turned back to his computer and put in commands to see what was wrong.

"Confound that infernal contraption!" Merlin complained.

"Keep your beard on!" Cid shouted back. He opened a window and a video feed appeared. "Looks like someone tripped the security system in the castle and activated the intruder alert." Everyone gathered close to get a look at the video. Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy recognized the scenery depicted as the Great Crest of the castle that they once knew as Hollow Bastion. Front and center in the video were two figures; one was unknown to them but the other, of tremendous girth, was certainly someone they remembered.

"That's Pete!" Sora said. "And you're right, Yuffie. It looks like he and Maleficent have already brought their allies here."

"But it looks like it's just the two of them," Riku noted.

"Well, let's go pay them a visit," Leon said confidently. "Donald, Goofy, Kairi, you three wait for us here. Keep an eye out if anything happens in town. Kairi, there's a weapons' vault upstairs. Merlin will take you there, and you can pick whatever you think suits you best. Sora, Yuffie, King Mickey, Riku, let's go. We'll take the front door. We should be able to intercept them at the entrance hall."

With that, the five of them ran out the door.