Sora, Ruby, and their friends' descent came to an end when they landed, surprisingly, upon the deck of Geppetto's boat. They were back in Monstro's mouth, and it seemed to have less water in it than before. But that wasn't the main concern to the group.
"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" The aggrieved cries of the old woodcarver caught their attention, causing them to turn to see what had him so distraught. Atop one of the piles of flotsam and driftwood was Riku...holding an unconscious Pinocchio in his right arm like a limp sack. "Please, give me back my son!" Geppetto pleaded to the silver haired boy, who simply looked back down with disinterest. "Sorry, old man. I have some unfinished business with this puppet."
Ruby's eyes widened with horror, seeing Pinocchio's state. Faught with worry, Geppetto implored to Riku, "He's no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy!" But Riku wasn't moved by the old man's pleas. He merely answered in a tone of unsettling seriousness, "He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts. I'm not sure, but maybe he can hep someone who's lost theirs."
His words made Sora's eyes widen. He couldn't have meant..."Wait a minute. Are you talking about Kairi?" he asked urgently. Did Riku know what happened to Kairi? If that were the case then was that why Sora had yet to find her?
But instead of answering him, Riku simply retorted with an inquiry of sarcastic bitterness. "What do you care about her?" With that, he turned on his heels and walked off, carrying Pinocchio to the upper edge of the plank leading to another upper archway of Monstro's body.
"Riku! Hey! Get back here!" Sora shouted as he saw his friend vanish into the darkened corridor. He sprinted across the plank and right as he took the last step on the edge, leaped up after Riku. "Sora, wait!" Jaune called out as he ran toward Sora with everyone else. To their surprise, Sora suddenly gave a roll of his body in midair before snapping back up to get just the elevation he needed to reach the edge of the plank and continue running after Sora.
While everyone else was looking at each other with surprise at Sora's maneuver, Ruby had been silent. The painful memories that had been teasing the back of her mind ever since they met Pinocchio were coming back in force. Now...seeing him in such a state, his fate uncertain, she couldn't help thinking of that moment. The moment before her body was torn to pieces at the Vytal tournament...The shock and horror and unquenchable sadness she felt when the light and life left her eyes...
"My boy...my little Pinocchio..." Hearing the heartbreak in Geppetto's cries pushed Ruby to her limit. "No...No!...PENNY!" The name slipped out of her mouth without her even realizing it as she dashed forward, pushing her semblance to the limit to catch up with Sora and Riku.
Everyone's attention snapped to Ruby as she cried out that name. A name which wracked Pyrrha with guilt as she looked down, realizing now why Ruby seemed to be so troubled ever since they first met Pinocchio. A realization that everyone else, except for a confused Donald and Goofy who simply looked at each other, came to. Turning toward the crying Geppetto, Pyrrha lay a hand upon his shoulder, gently assuring him, "We promise, we'll bring him back. Everything will be okay." Sniffling sorrowfully, Geppetto gave her and the rest of the group a nod.
As the huntsmen and huntresses climbed onto the piles of driftwood and flotsam, helping those who couldn't perform nearly as athletic or acrobatic feats such as Jaune, Donald, and Goofy, they broke into a run to catch up with Sora and Ruby.
Deeper within, Sora was surprised when he suddenly saw a blur of rose petals dash past him. He immediately realized that it was Ruby even before she found herself stopping in her tracks the moment she found herself at intersecting passageways up ahead. "Ruby?" The frantic breathing she was exuding concerned him. He hadn't been around to hear her back when she dashed after him and Riku, but the instant he saw her zoom past him with even more reckless abandon than himself, he could tell that something was up. "Ruby? Are you-"
Before he could even ask her if she was alright, numerous Heartless suddenly materialized around them. Air Soldiers from the looks of them. "We don't have time for you!" Ruby exclaimed furiously as she brandished Crescent Rose and began slicing and dicing the Heartless with furious abandon. Sora followed suit, though he was having a bit more trouble fending them off with this Keyblade. The difference in experience between the two was showing itself once again, but such things were far from Sora's mind. They needed to clear these things out of their way.
It was then Sora remembered that summon gem that Leon gave them. Maybe whoever was within it could help here. After fending off the first Air Soldier, Sora reached into his pocket and pulled out the summon gem with his free hand, holding it to his chest. A light suddenly shone upon Sora's chest as he felt a surge of courage flow through him, and a name bravely rang out from his lips. "Simba!" Taking a hold of his Keyblade with both hands, Sora held it back before thrusting forward. The tip glowed with the color of the gem Leon gave him. A swinging chop then raising it, spheres of light swirled around him and went past his weapon's highest point before moving beside him. They gathered and from it emerged a silhouette. It looked like a fully grown lion that took one step forward and had color: A red mane and yellow fur coat, the same as its sclera and the orange-red irises within made it look as proud as it did powerful. The lion let out a mighty roar which shook the entire corridor.
"I think we should go down this way!...Okay, perhaps it would be better to try THIS way...Actually, I'd say they would be more likely to have gone down this way..." Back around the intersecting innards of Monstro however, Weiss's sense of direction caused the deliberating group to stop where they were, trying to figure out where their two youngest companions went. Fortunately, they didn't have to deliberate long as they soon heard the sound of a loud, proud roar. "AGH!" "WAK!" One which shocked Jaune and Donald who jumped at the unexpected noise..
The echo of the roar resounded down into the intersecting passage that their companions arrived in trying to find where the two of them went. "Hey, did ya hear that?" Goofy said, looking down the corridor the roar came from with Donald who recovered from their surprise. "They must be that way! Let's go!" he exclaimed, running forward with Goofy, followed by the huntsmen and huntresses with all due speed.
The Heartless were left stunned by the roar of the lion, Simba. Ruby and Sora looked upon the regal feline with awe as he turned to them with a smile on his face. "Simba, please help us defeat these Heartless! We need to get past them to find our friends!" Sora beseeched the regal lion. Simba looked at Sora, then at the Heartless, recognizing them with a furious snarl. The very same things that destroyed his world. He stood at Sora's side, growling vengefully at the beasts. And in that instant, Sora saw a shimmer of light surround his Keyblade as he looked back at Simba. With a firm nod, he heaved his Keyblade back, calling out, "Give me strength!"
The light around his Keyblade grew in radiance and several orange twinkling lights began to surround Simba as he spread his legs apart, standing firmly. Sora felt a surge of courage flow through him as the light grew in propensity and then, Sora slashed his Keyblade in an upward jumping slash as Simba let out an even more mighty and powerful roar. The Heartless all suddenly lurched seemingly from the force of Simba's voice. The sheer power of the roar seemed to tear them apart from the inside as they all suddenly burst right then and there, clearing the area in an instant.
The rest of the party arrived just in time to see the incredible display. Shock and awe spread through them as the Heartless were destroyed by the force of this lion's roar, empowered by Sora's Keyblade. The strength of Simba's heart that allowed him to survive his world's destruction, and the bond that formed between himself and the wielder of the Keyblade who summoned him. It was a force to be reckoned with. "Wooow..." Even Donald couldn't help expressing awe at the display of power Simba unleashed. With that, Simba turned to Sora and his friends with another smile. His body suddenly started to become transparent, indicating that his heart had to return to the summon gem. While Sora wished he Simba could have stayed, he smiled and gave a nod as the lion faded away. "Thank you, Simba...See you around." he said, placing his hand upon his heart. And with that, the regal lion disappeared in a stream of light flowing back into the summon gem.
With that encounter dealt with, Weiss stormed up to the pair with a look of utmost frustration. "What were the two of you thinking, running off so recklessly like that?!" Blake, Yang, and Team JNPR cringed when they saw Weiss already jumping to the lecturing. "Look, I know you're both worried about Riku and Pinocchio, but you can't just-"
"We don't have time for a lecture, Weiss! We need to hurry before..." Ruby couldn't bear to finish that sentence, let alone the thought of what could happen. She was far too shaken by the memories that wouldn't stop flowing back like a tidal wave. Pyrrha knew the thoughts that were plaguing Ruby and stepped forward. "Let's think about that later. For now, we need to get Pinocchio back from Riku. Now let's keep going, alright?" The tension of the situation was still mounting, but at least the prodigy huntress managed to get everyone in agreement. "Yeah, Pyrrha's right. Let's keep going, guys." Sora said, leading the way along with Ruby.
The team climbed higher within Monstro's body until reaching a hole in what would be a ceiling. One by one, they leapt up into it, though a beleaguered Jaune lagged behind as he sighed along with Donald and Goofy. "Guys, come on! I can't jump like the rest of you ca-AAAN!?"
The moment he jumped as well, Jaune's word rang out longer and sharper than he expected as he suddenly performed a much larger, higher leap than he'd ever done before. Almost as much as the the others, in fact. He was so used to physically lagging behind, but this sudden leap was...he definitely didn't remember being able to do that before now. He was so stunned that he needed to process how he leaped at least ten feet and landed perfectly onto a platform. "Whoa... how did I do that?"
Donald and Goofy let out their own surprised yells as they jumped just as high as him, each landing with various degrees of wobbling. "Wak! We're jumping so high!" Donald exclaimed as he steadied himself while Goofy wobbled about on one foot. "This way!" Sora exclaimed, leading the way down another corridor as Jaune, Donald, and Goofy lagged behind, trying to process what happened.
"Okay, correction. How did WE do that?" Jaune corrected himself. Finally steadying himself, Goofy gave a scratch of his head and wondered, "Hmmm...Ya think it's somethn' that happened cause of Sora? Like...he did it and now we can, too?" His statement drew a confused look from the other two. "How does that work?" Donald asked skeptically.
"Well, I got to thinkin'. The Keyblade chooses a heart that's strong, ya know? Ah don't know why but...I get the feeling Sora is affecting the rest of us, because of it. Ever since I met him and saw how upbeat or optimistic he is, I always get all warm and fuzzy inside." Despite rather silly way of phrasing it, Goofy's words made Jaune couldn't help feel like Goofy was onto something. It wasn't just confidence he felt whenever he and Sora spoke or fought together. There was always something else within him stirring. Like a strength he didn't know he had. "You know...you might be on to something, Goofy." Jaune's sentiment was one Donald couldn't help nodding at. Something that didn't happen often when it came to Goofy's ideas.
"Hey! Hurry up, slowpokes!' Nora yelled from the top of the passageway the rest had jumped do before jumping into the hole last. Her yell prompted Donald, Goofy and Jaune to snap out of their conversation, calling out, "Coming!" before leaping up after the rest of the group.
