Sora stared at Hyrule as the Gummi Ship flew away. He, Donald, and Goofy were in the cockpit of the vessel, the two adults talking amongst themselves as the teenager looked on. The brunette couldn't stop thinking about Link and his predicament, how the child in an adult's body didn't want to fight monsters or be a hero…and Sora pitied him. Sora had wanted to go out on adventures and see different worlds, but not under the circumstances he was in. He didn't want the Keyblade or to fight Heartless, he just wanted to be with Riku and Kairi, having fun and seeing what all the worlds had to offer! Sora hoped that Link could find some peace and that Princess Zelda's call was the right one.
"Alright, so where do we go next?" Donald asked, mostly to himself, as he readied the controls. "We spent a lot of time in Hyrule, so we've gotta get moving!"
That perked Sora up, who looked at the mage with a frown. "Well, we have to go back to Traverse Town. Dr. Orpheus needs to help whoever is trapped in this gem, remember?" As he spoke, he took the yellow object from his pocket. He could practically feel the heart stuck inside of it struggling against its prison. "We can't just leave him like this!" He was surprised Donald already seemed to forget they had to help their potential new ally.
"I agree! Remember, we got that warp thingamajig!" Goofy pointed out, gesturing to the control panel. "We can hop on over to Traverse Town and be back here in a jiff!"
"Oh yeah, that's right! We'll make the trip for that, but we can't stick around!" Donald exclaimed. He really felt like he was in charge of the entire adventure. Goofy was, well…he was Goofy and Sora was too young! To the mage, the responsibility clearly had to rest on his shoulders.
"You'll get us all killed if we let you use it." GLaDOS pointed out. "Put me in the control panel and I'll run it for you." While Donald grumbled angrily in response…he did as asked, putting the A.I. in like before.
After some beeps and boops, the Gummi Ship began to slow down, oddly enough. It then began to glow and rocketed forward, faster than ever before! This jolted the passengers as space around them began to vanish in a blank whiteness as the ship kept flying onward. Then, just as quickly as it began, it ended. The ship slowed down, everything around them came back into view, and the group was at Traverse Town! They all couldn't help but notice the world was bigger than before, more buildings and districts added on, with the stars around them seeming a bit less numerous…
Everyone chose not to acknowledge this.
Since the group knew where Dr. Orpheus' abode was, they simply had the Gummi Ship hovering above the area as they beamed down and visited the magical man. After some words of greeting, they had him awaken the new summon gem, while Dr. Orpheus was still very dramatic as he did it, he managed to use the spell without causing chaos around Traverse Town. The three decided it was best to first summon whoever was sealed in the gem on the ship and with any future summons from then on. It was a calm environment with no risk of being attacked by Heartless so whoever they summoned for the first time could ease into what was going on.
Quickly, the group also stopped by Nick Valentine and Columbo's detective service. Columbo was out, but Valentine was around, and the trio asked about Kairi and King Mickey, but there hadn't been any updates. Sora was tempted to ask if the synth had seen Riku lately, but he decided that his friend was able to handle himself. A part of him was still paranoid that the blonde man that the Oracle spoke of in Gielinor was talking about Dio, especially since he had seen himself that Dio was blonde. Another part of him argued that it was surely a coincidence and that Riku was smarter than to engage with someone as horrible as that vampire.
Sora couldn't help but think about the ever-increasing survivors that kept finding their way to Traverse Town. How many were in the world at this point? Hundreds? Thousands? And they were small slivers of entire worlds that had gone out leaving untold numbers that were simply gone…or whatever became of them when their worlds vanished. While this wasn't something he had asked for, this quest was still Sora's responsibility, and he felt the increasing burden with every star that went out. He could only hope there was some way to restore the lost worlds, but if there was, it was still a mystery to him, Donald, and Goofy…
Though the trio wanted to check in on Leon and the others, the group decided it was best to move on quickly and they went back up to the Gummi Ship.
"See, Donald? That trip didn't take so long! Even had time to check in on Valentine! It was easy as pie!" Goofy exclaimed as they warped back into their vessel's cockpit. "Speakin' of which, I could use a slice…" He had been so focused on getting back to Traverse Town, he didn't realize how hungry he was.
""Yeah, it wasn't that bad. Who knows if we'll find more of those gems, though. And I'm pretty hungry too…" Donald said, rubbing his grumbling stomach. "Sora, how about you summon that new person and let him eat with us?"
"Good idea! Let's do it where there's some more room." The brunette suggested, having no idea how large their new friend was going to be. Somehow, he just felt that the heart within the gem was a good one, that the person inside would be friendly! With that, the three took GLaDOs down to the main hold of the ship, the largest room available.
Sora got out the yellow gem and focused, raising his Keyblade skyward as he did so. Gathering his magic, a spark quickly shot off from the tip of the weapon. Then another. And another. A series of electric sparks danced from the point of the Keyblade, soon forming a ball of thunder which quickly struck the ground in front of him, causing a large flash! When this flash subsided, there was a young boy of about six years old with bright blonde hair, orange eyes, lines going down his face, and was wearing an odd black cloak with a large bow on it. With him appeared a red book with unusual symbols on either side of it.
The boy stood up, being about as tall as Donald, blinking in confusion. He looked over to the three staring at him, then glanced at his book, which he snatched up and hid behind him. "Hey! Who are you three?! What am I doing here?!" The boy asked, apparently not having awareness of what happened outside of his gem until his first summon.
"Hey now, no need to be skittish! We're friends, alright?" Goofy declared, giving the blonde child a small wave. "My name's Goofy, and this is Donald and Sora." He introduced, gesturing to his two companions in turn. "What's your name…?"
Goofy's kind demeanor and gentle tone worked wonders, as the boy quickly lightened up, but still kept his book hidden. "My name is Gash! Gash Bell!" He looked around, seeming to expect someone or something to be there in the room. When he didn't see it, he looked back at the trio. "Where's Kiyomaro? Isn't he here?!"
Sora quickly realized that Kiyomaro was a friend of some kind to Gash, and the brunette shook his head in response. "It's just us. Don't you remember what happened before you were in the gem? What happened to your world?"
Gash paused, thinking things over before he made a startled noise. "Ahhh! That's right! Those monsters appeared! Did they hurt Kiyomaro?! We have to go save him! Where is he?!" He frantically demanded, running around the room as if it was going to solve anything.
"Hey! Calm down! He's probably fine!" Donald exclaimed, annoyed. He had no idea if Kiyomaro was really okay, but he wanted to settle the kid down. "Your world is gone now, but Kiyomaro is probably okay if you made it out!"
This made Gash halt in his tracks, not seeming all too happy with what Donald said. "That's right…the world, it just vanished, and I saw Kiyomaro go flying…"
"There's a place called Traverse Town where people who's worlds vanished end up." Sora explained. "It's those monsters, the Heartless, that are doing this. Kiyomaro may have ended up there, or in some other world. We're on a ship, going to different worlds to stop the Heartless, and we could use your help."
"Well, we should go to that town and look for Kiyomaro!" Gash insisted frantically. "We work best together, he's my partner!"
Donald crossed his arms, confused. "Partner? Partner for what?"
Gash paused, as if deciding if it was okay to even answer that question. But he apparently decided it was okay. "He's my human partner, and I'm a Demon. We have to go against other Demons to decide who will run the world for another hundred years! I wonder if the Demon World is okay too…"
Goofy looked Gash over, humming in thought. "Ya don't look like a demon. Ya look like a regular kid to me!" The lines on his face were kind of odd, but aside from that…
With an impish grin, Gash dropped his book as he bent forward a bit and parted his hair. Barely visible were two tiny horns protruding from his scalp. "Oh yeah? How about these?"
Donald and Goofy were a bit surprised, but after everything they had seen on their journey, two small horns weren't too shocking. As this happened, Sora picked up the book out of curiosity and opened it. "What's with this book? It appeared with you…"
"Ah! Hey! Give that back!" Gash said, trying to reach up to snatch it back, but he was just too short. "Us Demons need the books to do magic, and if they get burned, we're out of the competition! Only Kiyomaro can read it anyway…!"
As Gash spoke, Sora opened the book to the first page and frowned. The text on the pages weren't like anything the brunette had seen, and yet…! "What? I can read these. This one here says 'Zakeru' right?"
The second Sora uttered the word, Gash's eyes went blank as his mouth snapped open. Without warning, a bolt of lightning erupted from his mouth, Sora was just barely able to duck under it as the attack hit the far wall, scorching it badly. Once the spell was done, Gash's eyes returned to normal, and he was just as startled as everyone else! "Wh…What…?! You shouldn't be able to do that!"
"Sora, are ya alright?!" Goofy exclaimed, having been so surprised by what happened that he hadn't been able to even move to help his friend.
Getting his composure back, Sora stood up straight, looking at the scorch mark and then back at Gash. "I don't know…but the words here, I can understand them! Maybe it's because I summoned you…?" Was it the Keyblade's doing somehow? That was the only explanation he could even think of.
"If you can read it, what about Kiyomaro?!" Gash exclaimed, more worried than apologetic about the attack. "We have to go find him!"
"Ya know, I think this might mean somethin'." Goofy butted in. "That there Keyblade can do a lot…maybe it's what's lettin' this happen." He went on, thinking the same way as Sora. "I think this means she gotta be workin' together! Your friend might be in Traverse Town or somewhere else…but we're workin' to get the worlds all back together." Kairi wasn't in Traverse Town, after all, so it was possible Kiyomaro wasn't either, if he was okay at all…
Donald butted in. "We just don't have time! Your partner could be anywhere! It'll be faster if you help us. We'll restore the worlds and you can meet up with your friend again!" How they'd restore the worlds, if it was even possible, was up in the air. But Gash didn't need to know that…
Gash was clearly conflicted, even as Sora handed his book back to him. After about a minute, he put on a very serious, determined face. "Okay. I'll do it! I'll help fight against those Heartless guys! Just…if we're going to fight together, when you use my spells, I have to face where I'm doing them, and I sort of black out when I do it…"
Sora grinned, reaching out a hand that Gash took in a handshake. "Glad you'll help us out!" He declared. "We'll learn how to fight together just fine! Now let's get something to eat, huh?"
With that, the group went into the kitchen to have a miniature feast. Gash, shockingly, had a massive appetite. Apparently, his favorite food was yellowtail fish, which he pulled from the magical pantry whole…along with about half a dozen others, which he ate raw. And remarkably fast!
The quartet talked heartily, swapping some tales of their adventures. Gash was awed by some of the things they talked about, enthusiastically urging them to tell him more. Likewise, Gash told of some of the other Demons he and Kiyomaro had faced against such as one that can control plants and an especially powerful one that utilized gravity. But he had also made friends such as Tio, who liked to strangle Gash a lot, and Umagon, a horse that no one could really understand. Those were pretty unusual to the other three, but they took the stories in stride. At one point, Sora tried to summon Woomy so she could meet Gash, but wasn't able to, strangely enough. Being a magical expert, Donald surmised Sora could only have one summon active at once given the current strength of his magic.
Eventually, Gash started to slow down, and his movement became sluggish. "I'm feeling real tired all of a sudden…" He complained, yawning loudly and looking like he was about to pass out.
"Oh, we forgot to mention that, sorry." Sora said with a slight frown. "You can only be out for a bit, then you have to go back in your gem. But when we need you, we'll take you back out!" He felt bad having to break the news to Gash, wishing that him and Woomy could just remain outside of their gems permanently.
Gash didn't seem to be paying much attention, resting his head in his arms as he closed his eyes. "Oh, alright…" He said flippantly before simply falling asleep. A few moments later, he was enveloped in light and vanished, going back into his gem along with his book.
"I kinda feel bad for him." Sora declared, understanding Gash's plight of being separated from a dear friend. "I also kind of wish we knew about his spells more…" He mused, not having had time to see the others spells or try them out…
"Not in this ship! That first one was dangerous enough!" Donald exclaimed, also feeling bad for Gash, but he decided to keep that to himself. "Now let's get going!"
With that, the journey went on! Donald and Goofy went up to the cockpit, Sora opting to go to his room and rest. With GLaDOS' help, the ship warped back to Hyrule before Donald steered the vessel onward to the next world. For Sora, the trip was rather short, as he slept through the entire thing. Normally he would have reflected more on how the situation was, but he had just been so tired! In any case, he was awoke feeling rested as it took a good eight hours before the Gummi Ship came across another world. With the stars going out continuously, the trip between worlds would only grow longer…
After being called to the cockpit by Donald, Sora made his ascent as the next world came more properly into view. It looked fairly normal, nothing especially notable about it, the world being more ocean than land, but having numerous landmasses. The Gummi Ship approached an island that was separated from a lot of the other parts of the world with GLaDOS speaking up.
"That island there…I'm picking up the same energy as a Keyhole. You'll find one there for sure." The A.I. announced.
"Great, so you'll send us there, right? Kairi might be there too…and your King." Sora said, adding on the last bit as he glanced at Donald and Goofy. As much as he wanted to help his new friends, his main concern was Kairi. It was probably really foolish to just assume she could be there, but he had to keep hoping…
"Of course I will, Clown Shoes." GLaDOS said, a roll of the eyes present in her voice. "There is some…I can't believe I keep having to say this…magic interfering, but I can get you pretty close from here."
Donald nodded, pointing at the island. "Alright, then let's go! We gotta get searching!" The mage declared, just wanting to order GLaDOS around a bit.
"It looks mighty peaceful from here, I hope it's in better shape than Hyrule…" Goofy mused, remembering how pleasant that world looked from above. With that, GLaDOS warped herself and the others down to the new world.
The area they arrived in was as peaceful as it looked, residing in a closed off area surrounded by natural rockfaces. Behind them was a comfortable looking single-story blue house and in front of them was a tall but narrow mountain with a spiraled footpath leading to its top. Something that really stood out, however, was a structure attached to the mountain via bridge. It was a large castle of sorts shaped like a witch's head! A long pointed chin, a crooked nose, even missing teeth in the open mouth of the structure and it had ominous green, glowing eyes! The stone witch's hat even resembled that of a castle's tower!
"Well that's not exactly welcoming…" Donald said as he looked at the freaky witch-shaped castle. "I can feel darkness coming out of there from over here!"
Indeed, though it wasn't nearly as strong as in Hyrule, the familiar feeling of oppressing darkness lingered in the air. It was clearly emanating from the disturbing looking castle, its green eyes seeming to stare right at the group despite the distance.
"Funny you should mention that place. The Keyhole's signal is coming right from it." GLaDOS said, almost seeming happy to share the bad news. "Isn't that just great, loudmouth?"
"Oh, be quiet!" The mage snapped, shoving the A.I. into his pocket. "At least we know where to go right away."
Sora felt a bit of relief at that. Rather than scouring an entire kingdom, they only had to look inside one building. "I doubt it's going to be so easy. The witch living there has to be the source of all this darkness in the air." At least they knew what she looked like, no way the castle was modeled so specifically if its owner didn't look that way…though it was still very odd.
"No! No, no…!" A voice suddenly called out. As the trio looked to see its source, they spotted a bipedal, human-sized mole man running around the corner and into view. Or rather, he was waddling at a somewhat decent pace. The mole man had a red and orange vest on and glasses so thick they were more like goggles than anything.
Behind the mole man was a group of Heartless giving chase! About ten Shadows, a few Soldiers, and a yellow version of the Red Nocturne, the Yellow Opera Heartless, which were casting weak Thunder spells that the mole was barely able to outpace.
"Come on, fellers! We gotta help!" Goofy declared right away, charging past the mole man and bowling over the Shadow Heartless with ease, Sora and Donald joining in as they summoned their weapons. Thankfully, the Heartless were rather weak ones, though the Yellow Operas gave the trio a few good zaps before being taken down, Dr. Orpheus' magic preventing serious harm from the Thunder spells. Goofy mainly took down the Shadows and Soldiers with shield batches while Sora and Donald picked off the floating Yellow Operas with Fire and Blizzard spells.
As the last of the Heartless was slain, the trio turned to see the mole man was nowhere to be seen! However, after a moment, his head burst out of some loose soil that the three hadn't noticed. "They're gone…? Oh, thank goodness!" He declared, coming out fully from the ground and shaking some dirt off of his fur. "Those creatures have been appearing all over lately, last time I make the mistake of wandering from some loose soil…"
"It's just good you're okay. I'm Sora, by the way, and this is Donald and Goofy." The brunette gestured to his companions in kind. "Also, where are we? We're not exactly from around here…"
"Oh, I'm Bottles, good to meet you all!" The mole declared, looking around in nervousness, clearly expecting more Heartless to appear. "And you're at Spiral Mountain, but this isn't exactly a good time to visit. That horrid witch, Gruntilda, has been summoning those nasty monsters to cause havoc! She even kidnapped the little sister of some friends of mine…"
Donald pointed to the castle in the shape of a witch's head. "I take it that's her home? Who the heck lives in a castle shaped like their head?" Granted, King Mickey had his emblem shaped like his head, but at least Disney Castle wasn't in that shape!
Bottles huffed, burying his body half into the ground, like he was ready to flee at any moment. "Gruntilda's a piece of work and ugly to boot! She's been a thorn in our side for years, but she went too far this time! Like I said, she kidnapped an innocent girl, and now her brother is trying to help…"
Sora nodded, brandishing his Keyblade. "We'll help! It's sort of our job to take down those monsters anyway, they're called Heartless. By the way…has anyone else come through here? A girl with red hair and blue eyes? Her name's Kairi…"
"And also King Mickey might've been here!" Goofy added on hopefully. "He's pretty short and has big ol' round ears!"
The mole shook his head. "Afraid not. Aside from you three, it's just been those monsters. But if you're sure you want to help, Banjo and that loudmouth on his back will be glad to see you."
Banjo? What kind of name was that? About as normal as 'Bottles' Sora supposed. In any case, he was disappointed to hear Kairi hadn't been in the area, and Spiral Mountain didn't seem too populated, so if Bottles hadn't seen her, Sora was out of luck! Honestly, the news that Kairi wasn't in this world either was eating away at the teen. Or more accurately, it was the continued bad news about her whereabouts that had been gnawing at him ever since they first got separated. She wasn't in Traverse Town, she wasn't in any world they visited…so where was she? Was she trapped in one of those gems? What if she was on another world that got swallowed by the darkness? What then?
Sora had to try and remain positive, and he knew that! As hard as it was, of course. The numbness that came with the disappointment was hard to ignore, though. "Thanks anyway. Well, we'll be going. You sure you'll be okay?" The brunette asked. It didn't seem like Bottles had any means of actually defending himself, though he also didn't seem too worried.
"Oh, don't worry about me. I can dig a lot faster than I can run. Those Heartless things can't catch me underground!" Bottles declared with surprising boastfulness given his usual soft nature. "By the way…I help give moves out. It's sort of my specialty. I'll try and think of something for you guys for helping me out." Without waiting for a response, the mole man burrowed entirely underground and the sound of digging signaled his further departure.
"Wait! What do you mean you give out moves?!" Donald called…but Bottles apparently didn't hear and didn't come back to explain.
Goofy scratched the side of his head. "Maybe he's some sorta trainer or somethin'. Like he can figure out stuff for us to do with our weapons!"
Donald scoffed. "If that guy's a trainer, I'll eat my hat. You saw how he ran from the Heartless!" Not like it really mattered all that much…
"Anyway, we've got to find that Banjo guy and his friend. Helping them out should get us to the Keyhole faster." Sora pointed out. It was a shame it didn't seem like Kairi was in the area, but at least they could get another world secured from the Heartless…
Without further hesitation, the three went off towards Spiral Mountain, noting there wasn't much else of interest to see in the area. A moat surrounded the small mountain with a waterfall and a farming field in another direction…but aside from that one blue house, presumably Banjo's, there were no signs of other residents of the area. It really was a small, peaceful looking, isolated area from the rest of the larger island it was attached to. A shame such a nice place had an evil witch and the Heartless causing trouble!
At the top of the mountain, the three stopped at the bridge and faced the unusual castle before them, its mouth open like it was ready to devour them. "Hey, GLaDOS, can ya tell where the Keyhole is from here?" Goofy asked, glancing at Donald's pocket. He was glad they at least managed to narrow it down to a single building right away, unlike with Hyrule…
The mage pulled the A.I. out as she did some quick computing. "The radiating darkness is interfering with my sensors. It seems to be near or at the top. So glad I don't have to do any of the climbing myself."
Donald rolled his eyes and stuffed GLaDOS back in his pocket. Weapons at the ready, the three approached the castle, the bridge creaking with every footfall. The darkness that emanated from the lair was heavy, but a cakewalk in comparison to Ganondorf's own castle. As they entered, they all practically expected the mouth to snap shut on them…
The entrance room took them by surprise. Right in front of them on the wall was a massive portrait of a fat, ugly green witch in black clothes and a purple scarf. The massive chin, crooked nose, and just general ugliness was like the castle's shape. "Well, that's gotta be Gruntilda." Sora commented, wincing at the painting, she was just so ugly he couldn't help it! To the right was a tunnel leading to an oddly grassy area, and to the left a slope going further up.
"Guess we go left. GLaDOS said the Keyhole was near the top!" Goofy declared, the three going up the ramp to see an area with an opening further into the castle. The next room was massive, another painting of Gruntilda on the floor. In the room were two unusual creatures, monsters of some sort with red cloaks. As soon as they saw the three, they yelled out and rushed at them. Thankfully, they were easy to dispose of. A few whacks of Sora's Keyblade and a single Thunder spell from Donald knocked them out.
"No sign of that Banjo guy. I guess he's just really far up. We should've asked what he looked like." Donald murmured as the three went further into the castle and up another ramp.
For a while, things went by rather easily. They'd enter a large room, with some sort of structure or painting resembling Gruntilda, and a few branching ways to go, with the group always taking whatever way went upward. More of those cloaked creatures tried to impede them but had no luck of even getting a hit in. Heartless sometimes spawned, usually weaker ones like Shadows and Soldiers. Really, the whole situation wasn't much of a hassle!
"I think Bottles might have given that Gruntilda witch a bit too much credit." Goofy thought aloud. "This isn't anything like with Ganondorf!"
"Yeah, I'm starting to think that Banjo guy is already kicking her butt or something at this rate." Sora agreed as they entered another area after climbing some annoying platforms. Not that he wasn't grateful. The sooner they sealed the Keyhole, the sooner they could go to the next world and continue looking for Kairi and King Mickey!
Quickly, Sora was proven wrong. The next area had some sort of desert theming, a large urn in the middle of the room with a massive sarcophagus at the far wall. There were some Soldier Heartless about, but they weren't alone! The Heartless were already fighting someone, or rather, a duo!
The more prominent member of this duo was a top-heavy brown bear in yellow shorts and a blue backpack. As the Soldiers charged him, he dodged their swipes, reacting with some of his own, using his heavy bear paws and sharp claws to slice through the Heartless. However, a few Shadows melted from the floor behind him and were posed to strike. Before they could, a bird popped out of the backpack! A lanky one with red and yellow feathers with a bright yellow beak. The bird struck out at the Shadows, rapidly stabbing its beak forward to skewer the Heartless and take them out.
"Those things don't know when to quit!" The bird exclaimed, scoffing as the bear took out the last of the Heartless. "That old witch was a pain before, but those things are too much, Banjo!" Notably, the feathered fighter spoke in a feminine voice.
The bear, Banjo, let out a sigh of relief that the monsters were gone. "Aw, it's not too bad, Kazooie! We've taken them all out so far!"
Ah, so that was Banjo! And the female bird, Kazooie, must have been the supposed loudmouth that Bottles had mentioned. The two of them hadn't seen the other three yet, so Sora cleared his throat from a distance. "Uh…hey! Banjo? Kazooie?"
The bear and bird jumped a bit and swiftly turned to see the other three. Kazooie glared at the trio, very openly not trusting them at all. "Who the heck are you guys? That ugly witch sent you, huh?!"
"I think if they were gonna attack us, they'd have done it when our backs were turned." Banjo pointed out. "Never saw any enemies like them in the lair…"
"That's right! We're here to help! We ran into Bottles and helped him out, and he told us about you. Trying to save your sister, right?" Sora asked, glad that Banjo quickly began to diffuse the situation.
Kazooie rolled her eyes. "Oh, so Beetle Breath got in trouble again? We had to save his butt from those weird monsters once or twice. That mole's a real pain in my-"
"Okay, Kazooie!" Banjo interrupted. "We're trying to rescue my sister, Tooty. You already know our names, but what are yours?"
"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy." The brunette introduced. "It was pretty easy to get up this far, so why are you guys still so low in the castle? Did you just start trying to rescue Tooty?" That'd be some amazing timing!
"We opened all the doors up here ourselves! It wasn't easy, Key Boy!" Kazooie snapped. "Having to go to all those different areas and collect Jiggies is real annoying!"
Donald huff, shooting Kazooie a dirty look. "Not like we had any way of knowing that!" What an obnoxious bird she was! And why was she hanging out in a backpack anyway? That was so weird!
"Who asked you, Loudbeak?" Kazooie shot back, returning the dirty look in kind. "This hasn't exactly been a picnic for us, it's been a real pain in the tailfeathers!"
"Who are you calling Loudbeak?! You're the loud one around here!" Donald huffed, having half a mind to use some magic on the nasty red feathered bird! She wouldn't be so high and mighty if some of those feathers got burned off…
Goofy placed a hand on Donald's shoulder, like he knew that his friend was tempted to get violent. "Come on, Donald! We're here to help these two out, remember?"
Banjo sighed, looking back at his own companion. "Come on, Kazooie, they seem like they're nice! The more help we get, the sooner we'll find Tooty!"
"How about we back up a bit? What different areas are you talking about anyway?" Sora asked, recalling a couple of the branching paths in the castle. Was that what Kazooie meant? All he, Donald, and Goofy did was keep going upwards whenever possible, but that clearly wasn't what the bear and bird had to go through.
"Gruntilda's got all these portals to other parts of the world." Banjo explained, putting a hand over Kazooie's mouth to stop whatever rude thing she was about to say. "We collect Jiggies, and they help us move forward. They're like little puzzle pieces!"
That didn't make much sense to Sora, but different worlds meant different rules, after all. Was hardly the strangest thing he encountered on his journey so far. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. We'll help you get those Jiggies, then!" He didn't really get how puzzle pieces were needed to go through a castle, but he was sure he'd understand soon.
"Where do ya find 'em anyway? Just lying on the ground? In treasure chests?" Goofy asked, having the mental image of building a door out of jigsaw pieces and then opening it to proceed. As little sense as that made.
Banjo scratched the side of his head, seeming just as confused as Goofy is. "They're just kind of lying around most of the time. Sometimes if we beat a really strong enemy, they'll give us one to leave them alone. Doesn't happen like that too often, though."
"Okay, but where are we even going? There's really a magic portal around here?" Donald asked, looking around. The area was weird looking with the pot and sarcophagus, but no sign of some sort of magical portal.
Kazooie gestured behind her and Banjo with a wing. "Some sort of desert-y place. Gobi's Something-or-Other. Does it really matter?" The bird answered, an exaggerated annoyance to her tone as if she was just trying to annoy Donald for no particular reason.
"Gobi's Valley, Kazooie. Come on, I'll show you guys!" Banjo said, leading the group to another room nearby. It was a rather massive room with a great deal of sand instead of a proper floor. There was a wide walkway that led to a sandy platform with a large tree on it. On the tree was an empty doorway with 'Gobi's Valley' written on a plaque above it.
"Wait, that's the portal? Just a tree with an opening in it?" Sora asked, finding that harder to believe than almost anything he had encountered on his journey. When he thought of a magical portal, he expected something…well…magical. Flashy.
Banjo shrugged, clearly unbothered. "That's just how they are. We should be careful, though, the entrances are usually guarded by those weird monsters."
"Oh yeah, those are Heartless. They're after hearts, any they can get pretty dangerous." Sora explained. "It's sort of our job to take care of them, which I guess just means beating up that witch."
"Stealing hearts?! What the heck, that's creepy!" Kazooie bemoaned. "I thought there was something weird about those things. My Breegull instincts told me something was off…"
Banjo looked back at Kazooie. "You have Breegull instincts? Since when?" He sounded more surprised than anything.
"Nah. They did feel weird, though. Really unnatural and freaky." Kazooie said with what could only be described as a shrug despite her lack of real arms.
As though they were aware they were being talked about, a hoard of Heartless appeared in front of the group! Bandits and Fat Bandits blocked the path to Gobi's Valley, especially the latter Heartless which made the walkway inaccessible. Right away, every got tense and readied themselves as the Bandits charged forward, scimitars swinging wildly!
Kazooie was quick to act, shooting large blue eggs out of her mouth at the approaching creatures! Surprisingly, they managed to actually make the Heartless flinch, but weren't enough to actually defeat them. Banjo rushed forward, reaching into his backpack and grabbing Kazooie by the ankles. In a stunning display, he swung the Breegull forward and slammed her onto one of the Bandits, destroying it in one blow! This didn't seem to bother Kazooie much, shaking the impact off.
Some of the Bandits rushed the outsider trio, Sora and Goofy charging forward as Donald hung back to use his spells. The Fat Bandits used this strategy as well, staying where they were summoned and shooting out pillars of flame at the group. While Sora and Goofy clashed with the Bandits, Donald shot Blizzard spells at them, freezing them in place or destroying them outright. Banjo tried charging at one of the Fat Bandits, swiping at its stomach with one of his mighty paws…but it wasn't mighty enough. His attack bounced right off the belly, with the Fat Bandit responding by slamming one of its large fists on top of Banjo's head, knocking him right to the ground! Kazooie, back in the backpack, tried to retaliate with shooting eggs at the Fat Bandit, but the projectiles just shattered against it without doing any damage.
Sora leapt back and threw his Keyblade at the Fat Bandit that slammed Banjo down, the weapon spinning rapidly in a Strike Raid attack! The Keyblade slammed into its face, causing it to stagger. Goofy followed through this as he knocked a Bandit to the side, charging the off balanced Heartless and slamming his shield into its gut. While he was knocked backwards a bit, so was the Fat Bandit, causing it to fall into the sand. There was practically a sizzling sound, the sand far hotter than it appeared, and after a moment of struggle, the Fat Bandit vanished.
At this point, Banjo recovered from the attack and looked up at one of the other Fat Bandits with a determined glare. With surprising agility, Banjo leapt up and above the Fat Bandit, Kazooie emerging from his backpack. Shockingly, the two stopped right in midair, somehow putting their momentum to a sudden halt. The pair flipped so Kazooie was beak-down, the two then slamming down onto the Fat Bandit's head, the Breegull's beak piercing the Heartless and destroying it in one move! Sora couldn't help but observe this, wondering just how they managed to stop so suddenly.
Unfortunately, more of the Bandits and Fat Bandits appeared, as if Gruntilda was watching everything that happened and didn't want the group to go to Gobi's Valley! The five weren't deterred, however, and charged towards the creatures of darkness, determined to break through! The regular Bandits weren't too difficult to deal with, Sora and Goofy clashing with them and easily overpowering them while Donald supported with spells. Kazooie shot her eggs at the sword-wielding Heartless to get at them from a distance.
The Fat Bandits proved more troublesome in a group, starting to bulldoze their way forward in a sprint ones the Bandits were taken out. Being a wave of bulk, the larger Heartless were practically unstoppable as they rammed into the quintet, knocking them clear into the air as they slammed back down onto the floor. One of the Fat Bandits raised up a large fist and slammed down on Sora's chest and stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
Donald hopped up and let out a battle cry, raising his staff as a strong Thundara spell was released, the Heartless each getting zapped, and a few of them being destroyed from the dangerous magic. This allowed the others enough time to recover and stand, Sora even managing to get his breath back. The brunette unleashed a Blizzara spell, destroying another of the Fat Bandits as Goofy flung his shield at the head of another, taking it out. The last of the massive Heartless got taken out by Banjo and Kazooie once more utilizing that downward beak attack.
Thankfully, once the last of the Fat Bandits was taken care of, no other Heartless took their place. Wincing, Sora rubbed at his chest, a pulsing pain emanating it and his stomach. He didn't want to waste a Cure on a relatively minor injury like that, remembering how Donald told him how that type of magic took so long to charge back up again. "Man, that really stings…" The teen complained.
"You alright, Sora? I'm surprised you could get up after that!" Banjo asked, looking over Sora worryingly.
"I'll be okay. The three of us have got a bit of protection from a friend." Sora explained and being continuously thankful for Dr. Orpheus' barrier. Without it, he was sure that Fat Bandit would've snapped one of his ribs or something. Really, there were several times he probably would've died if it wasn't for that spell. He made a mental note to thank the necromancer about it the next time they saw each other…
Kazooie gestured to the portal with one wing and cleared her throat loudly. "Okay, that's nice and all, but can we get going?! More of those things are probably gonna show up!"
Donald scoffed. "Oh, quit bossing us around! Give us a second to catch our breath!" The mage was tempted to give the loudbeaked bird a good whack with his wand.
"Say, Banjo, how big are these places ya go to?" Goofy asked, mainly as a way to break up the fighting as the group slowly made their way to the portal. "Think it'll be tough to find enough Jiggies to move on?"
"They're not too big, just little slices of the world." Banjo replied after a moment of thought. "No idea why she has access to these places…maybe Gruntilda just likes to send monsters there or something."
"Is she really that bad? You lived right near her for a while, right?" Sora asked, having to wonder who moved into their own place first. He couldn't imagine building a house in the shadow of such a creepy castle in the shape of someone's head. A place like that just screamed trouble and probably was long before the Heartless started to crop up.
Banjo shook his head. "She didn't do that much, honestly! Some weird creatures popped up sometimes, but that was about it…" He scratched the side of his head, pondering. "Then a few days ago, those Heartless things showed up, really creepy stuff. If only Tooty stayed inside like I told her…"
Kazooie, in a surprisingly kind fashion, placed a wing on Banjo's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry, Banjo! We'll get her back safe!" She then seemed to remember it wasn't just the two of them and gave the other three a side-glance. "Even with these three bumbling along with us, I'm sure it won't be too painful."
"Aw, come on Kazooie, they're helping us, don't be so rude!" Banjo chastised, but clearly appreciated the kind words. It was a little surprising to Sora, Donald, and Goofy how Banjo seemed to be the only one Kazooie didn't act rude towards. Given she literally rode around in his backpack, it was clear the two were quite close.
As the quintet approached the portal, they began to feel a strange sensation in the air, a light warm breeze emanating from the opening, a taste of what lied upon the other side. The hair, and feathers, of the group stood on end, the magic stronger than it appeared.
There was no more need to say anything, and the five entered the hollowed out tree and off to wherever it'd take them.
High up in Gruntilda's Lair, near the top of the intimidating tower, was a laboratory of sorts. The room held two machines and a control panel of sorts connected to them. These machines had portholes in them, one of which revealed a terrified bear girl who resembled Banjo, only smaller and with blonde hair. Standing before these machines was Dio Brando, the lack of windows in the room ensuring his safety from the sun. With him was the ugly green witch that was part of his counsel, Gruntilda, or Grunty as she's also known. In front of her was a bubbling cauldron with a face, the green liquid inside showing a faint image of Sora and his group entering the tree. The diabolical woman cackled as she stared at the frightened captive. "Just have to wait for the machine to finish calibrating so there's no room for error! If all goes well, I'll be a beauty, and Tooty a true terror!"
Dio wasn't very amused, frowning as a green monstrosity in a lab coat entered the room, silently fiddling with the control panel. "If this girl was a Princess of Heart, I wouldn't mind this so much, but she's useless to us. Do you really have time to waste on this? You realize the Keyblade's Chosen is helping that bear you ramble on about." He gestured to the cauldron, having been watching the quintet fight their way to the portal. The blonde man wasn't impressed with the brat's fighting prowess, but he didn't feel the need to dirty his hands on the teen. If all his subordinates were to fail, of course, he'd have no choice but to step in himself…
Grunty scoffed and waved a hand. "My magic is enough to destroy that brat! I'll get my revenge for Ganondorf, and that is that!" She declared, shooting a nasty look at the creature in the lab coat. "Klungo, you'd better get this finished quick! If you don't, you'll get a beating from my broomstick!"
Klungo turned to the witch, nodding fervently. "Yesss my Missstresss! Klungo will work asss fassst asss he can!" As he said this, he pressed numerous buttons and turned a few knobs on the panel. His movements seemed almost random, but the machine was humming contently, so apparently, he was doing something right.
"Please, sir! You don't seem to approve of this! Please let me out, I just want to go home!" Tooty begged, her voice barely audible through the machine's window.
Dio ignored Tooty entirely, not even offering her a glance, instead turning back to Gruntilda. "Fine. I'll leave you to your devices. Just know if you don't stop those three, you won't be getting any of the spoils. And don't forget to find the Keyhole, it's somewhere in this castle, I can just feel it…"
"If blonde man wantsss it done ssso badly, he can do it himssself!" Klungo huffed, coming to his mistress' aid. However, all Dio had to do was shoot him a glare, and the green creature shuddered and huddled away.
"My plan is foolproof, don't you see? They'll wear themselves out by the time they reach me!" Grunty said with a harsh laugh. "My minions will scratch, stab, and bite! I'll just need one spell to end our fight!"
The vampire gave a tiny shrug. "Well, then, just you hope it works." Was all he said before he was enveloped in darkness and left the world behind.
Gruntilda shook her head, looking back into the pot, waving her hands as she focused her magic. "That blasted Dio, he has no faith at all! In one of my portals, I swear these wimps will fall!" The witch let out a delighted cackle as she continued to watch the pot, Klungo focusing on the machine as Tooty cowered in terror. "Then I'll find the Keyhole, quick as can be! That'll teach that Dio to underestimate me!"
"Oh, Banjo! Please hurry, I don't think I have much time left…" The smaller bear whimpered, covering her eyes as she tried to ignore the machine warming up.
A/N: After quite a while, a new world. I think anyone familiar with Banjo-Kazooie knew that Grunty was one of the members of the council given her speech pattern. And don't worry, it won't be like Hyrule where all the locations get one or multiple chapters to them. This trip will be quicker for sure, I already know how it'll be handled. This could be considered the equivalent to Atlantica, another accidental parallel I did where Ursula and Grunty are both fat witches that want to steal something abstract (a voice and beauty) from a female character.
As for Gash, I was thinking of calling him Zatch, as that's how his name was localized and anyone familiar with him would probably know him as that. Decided to keep it, and his status as a Demon, as they initially were. Mainly because the names were changed for censorship reasons from back when dubs were a lot more change-happy to censor things. And I admit, Sora's Keyblade allowing him to use the spells was something I felt I had to sort of force, otherwise Gash would either be unable to fight properly or would have Kiyomaro with him...but I just didn't really feel fond of the idea.