Heart of a Pirate
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or Kingdom Hearts. They belong to Eiichiro Oda and Square Enix respectively.
Last time on Heart of a Pirate:
"But what if they manage to beat that thing?" asked Buggy.
"Then our job will still be easier than before! No doubt they will be tired out or injured from fighting that thing, while we're fresh and ready to go!" Mr. 3 answered.
"I like the way you think!" Buggy grinned with a thumbs-up. "Alright then, let's see what this big guy can do!"
With that, the two Impel Down escapees watched with great interest as the Keyblade group charged forward to attack. The Heartless readied its clubs, and the battle was on.
Chapter 14: Usopp in Wonderland (Part 6)
Title Page: Zoro stands across from Hercules and Phil with his arms crossed and a speech bubble stemming from him that depicts a cartoony version of himself looking every which way with his hand over his eyes in a searching pose, with a cartoony version of the Going Merry across from him with all of the faces of the Straw Hats in an arc over it. Hercules is slightly hunched over with a disappointed expression, while Phil has his arms crossed and eyes closed while smiling and nodding.
Subtitle: "No thanks, I need to find my crew."
0o0o0o0o0o0o—Wonderland, Bizarre Room—o0o0o0o0o0o0
Sora, Luffy, Donald, and Goofy charged forward as one, while Usopp hung back and readied his slingshot with a Lead Star aimed at the giant Heartless. Said Heartless wound up one of its clubs and swung it, sending a large fireball flying in Sora's direction. "Whoa!" the Keybearer yelped as he dove and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile.
The Heartless then swung its other club, this time sending a fireball in Luffy's direction. The pirate captain let out a startled yelp of his own before jumping to avoid it.
Donald and Goofy, however, continued their charge undeterred, with Donald charging a Blizzard spell into his staff and Goofy sliding his shield off his arm to grip it by one of its straps as they ran.
"Blizzard!" the Court Magician yelled as the spell flew out of his staff towards the creature of darkness. However, the Heartless expertly bent its body out of the way of the flying magic, now bent backwards at a nearly 90 degree angle as if doing the limbo. But that was what the two Disney Castle soldiers were hoping for as Goofy reared his arm back and flung his shield forward like a discus, hoping to catch it off balance. But the Heartless was prepared for that too as it planted a hand on the ground over its head and, with a strong push of its legs, backflipped out of the way of the flying metal saucer.
Usopp then seized his chance. "Hissatsu: Namari Boshi!" he shouted as he launched the metal ball from his slingshot at top speed towards the creature of darkness, still in the middle of its backflip. But at the last second, it used its free arm to maneuver its club in front of itself and block the shot, sending it ricocheting away harmlessly.
Once the Heartless completed its rotation and landed on its feet, it began rapidly twirling the clubs in its fingers, sending several small balls of flame into the air. Said fireballs quickly came raining down, forcing the group to scatter as they jumped every which way to avoid getting burned, though Usopp was relatively safe due to being under the table.
As Luffy jumped backward to avoid a fireball, he reared his fist back. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" he shouted as he fired a stretching punch at the Heartless. Said Heartless, however, bent its legs like springs and launched itself high up into the air, narrowly avoiding the blow.
But the creature of darkness wasn't finished; as it reached the apex of its jump, it began rapidly rotating one of its arms like a windmill, the club it held glowing brighter and brighter with each rotation. Usopp noticed and shouted a warning to everyone as they continued to dodge the rain of fire. "Watch out, guys! Above you! It's about to attack again! And it's gonna be a big one!"
Hearing this, Sora looked up and saw the Heartless falling back down, its club now glowing like the sun. He let out a yelp before holding the Keyblade in front of himself and bracing himself, the others doing similar as they saw what was happening. Barely a second later, the creature of darkness hit the ground and slammed its weapon onto the floor in the center of the group.
KABLAM!
Like a bomb going off, a large blast of magical fire exploded from the club, sending everyone flying several feet outward in all directions.
Buggy let out a whistle, impressed by just how powerful this creature was. "Wow, you weren't kidding, Three! It really was a good idea to stay off to the side! At this rate, we won't have to do anything at all!" he laughed.
"Mister 3," the Candleman corrected through gritted teeth, but composed himself once again. "And don't let your guard down yet; whoever wins this, we still have to fight and defeat. The others we can take or leave, but Straw Hat is still a threat, no matter how he comes out of this," he continued.
"Yeah, yeah," Buggy replied with a dismissive wave as he turned his attention back to the fight.
Usopp groaned as he picked himself up off the ground, having been knocked into one of the legs of the table before falling to the ground; this thing was WAY more powerful than any of the Heartless he'd seen up to now. And agile too; it had been fast enough to not only dodge a strike from Luffy, but hit back even harder. What could they do against something like this?!
Sora pushed himself off the ground, gritting his teeth against the bumps and bruises he'd sustained from being sent flying and rolling across the floor, while Donald and Goofy pushed themselves to their feet, a bit dizzy from the rolling and bouncing across the floor. Goofy's shield had thankfully held up against the blast, while Donald had cast a quick Aero spell on himself to protect against the worst of it. But even with those protections, they were still left with their fair share of bruises. If they were going to defeat this thing, they'd need to really step up.
Luffy immediately jumped back to his feet and began running towards the Heartless, his own arm windmilling in preparation for an attack. Seeing this, the Heartless crossed its clubs in front of itself to block it. However, the arm was a bluff as Luffy then reared his foot back.
"Gomu Gomu no Stamp!" he shouted as he stretched his foot forward towards the creature of darkness' legs. But the Heartless was too fast as it sprang off the ground, twisting and somersaulting in an arc over Luffy's head before landing behind him. Just as the pirate captain turned his head and body towards the tricky enemy, it uncrossed its clubs in a wide double swing, both clubs hitting Luffy squarely in the chest and legs and sending him flying once again.
It isn't just big and strong, it's fast too! Sora thought to himself as he observed what had just transpired. They would need to strategize to take this thing out! If it's anything like the rest of the Heartless, it's going to mostly come after me… He could use that; become live bait for the Heartless so that the others could band together and land a blow or two. It looked like he wouldn't have to wait long either, as he could see Donald and Goofy charging the Heartless with their respective weapons raised, and Usopp was digging around in his bag for something to fire from his slingshot. With that thought in mind, he reaffirmed his grip on the Keyblade and charged forward.
Up on the stove, upon seeing what Usopp was up to, the gears began to turn in Buggy's head. "I wonder…" he thought aloud as he raised his arms and split his hands off from them.
"Buggy…" said Mr. 3 upon seeing what he was doing. "What happened to staying out of the fight?"
"Who says we can't have a little fun with it?" the clown pirate replied with an evil grin, waggling his fingers. "Besides, I still owe the long-nose for that little comment of his!"
Mr. 3 opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again; he, too, had a bone to pick with said sniper, thus he was curious to see what his new companion would do to mess with him. And besides, anything they could do to throw a wrench into the efforts of Straw Hat Luffy and his little entourage that didn't get the creature's attention onto them would be highly advantageous. "Very well," he finally said with a grin of his own. "Just make sure not to get hurt doing so; we'll still need to fight at some point."
"Hey, this ain't my first rodeo!" Buggy chuckled as he sent his hands flying towards Usopp.
Back on the ground, the Heartless was proving to be a very slippery opponent; no matter how many blows or projectiles the group threw at it, they just couldn't seem to land anything more than a glancing hit. It would always find a way to bend, jump, or twist out of the way of any attack, and on occasion would throw its own attack at them as a counter. While no one was seriously hurt yet, they were beginning to wonder how they were going to take it down before everyone fell over of exhaustion.
Meanwhile, Usopp watched carefully as the Heartless twisted and weaved, looking for a pattern he could exploit in order to launch a projectile that would actually meet its target. If he could get in a good hit, it was possible that it would create an opening for the rest of the group to move in and do some real damage. Since his Usopp Noise and Egg Star tricks didn't seem to work on any of the Heartless up to now, he doubted his Pepper Star or Tabasco Star would help, and he didn't want to risk the others getting hurt with a Smoke Star.
But perhaps a Gunpowder Star would do the job. With that in mind, he loaded one into his slingshot and aimed it at the Heartless, waiting for an opportunity.
Upon seeing the Heartless bending backward out of the way of a thrown shield from Goofy, the sniper saw his chance. "Hissatsu: Kayaku Boshi!" he shouted as he loosed the projectile.
But just before doing so, something pushed his hand holding the slingshot itself to the side, causing his shot to go wild. It just barely missed Sora, who was running forward to try to land a hit on the creature of darkness, and exploded against the wall. Usopp yelped and jumped a bit at how close he came to hurting his new friend, but Sora seemed to be too focused on the Heartless to notice. He then looked around, trying to find the thing that had thrown off his aim, but saw nothing in the immediate vicinity.
"GYAAAAHAHAHAHA! It worked! That idiot didn't know what hit him!" Buggy laughed.
"Keep your voice down, you fool!" Mr. 3 hissed. "If he hears you, he'll figure out your plan and it'll make things more difficult!"
"Oh crap, you're right!" Buggy yelped, quickly covering his mouth with his forearm. Luckily for Buggy, the sniper didn't seem to have heard him, but unnoticed by either Impel Down escapee, one of Goofy's ears perked up in their direction just then.
Shaking off the oddness of what just happened, Usopp focused his attention back on the current fight. "I think it's time I gave this thing a test run!" he declared as he pulled out a long chain of shuriken and loaded the end into the sling.
Ever since leaving Alabasta, the sniper had been working on a new kind of sling weapon that would launch several projectiles at once. It hadn't even been close to finished during their Sky Island adventures, but during their descent from the clouds and the rest of their day at Destiny Islands, he'd spent some more time working on them, and now felt confident that he'd gotten it into a functional form. Now he just needed to give it a field test!
"Alright, here we go!" Usopp declared as he loaded the line of shuriken into his slingshot and took careful aim. "Sora! Donald! Goofy! Get back!" The trio obeyed, moving as one away from the Heartless. "Hissatsu: Shuriken Ryuuseigun!" The sniper was just about to launch his projectiles…
…but before he could do so, something hit the back of his knee, causing him to lose balance and his aim to go wild once more. He ended up shooting the shuriken straight up; whichever ones didn't embed themselves in the underside of the table came raining back down on everyone like the fireballs from earlier. Everyone in the group was forced to either dodge or block every which way to avoid being hit, while the Heartless twirled its clubs above its head to intercept the bladed projectiles.
"Hey! Long nose! You're supposed to shoot there!" Donald shouted as he danced every which way to avoid the projectiles, gesturing towards the Heartless.
"I'm sorry! I don't know what happened!" Usopp cried.
"It weren't his fault, Donald!" Goofy said from under his shield, before pointing in Buggy and Mr. 3's direction. "That clown guy hit him while he was aiming!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Buggy said, arms behind his back as he looked to the side and whistled innocently.
Usopp looked every which way to find what hit him, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Unseen by the group, a pair of white-gloved hands hovered behind the table support, palms rubbing together as they waited for an opportunity to act once more.
"Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!"
Said hands then found themselves getting pummeled from another direction. "Ah! Ow! My hands! What's happening?!" Buggy cried, feeling every hit. He then saw Luffy running in from where he'd been sent flying, hurling several punches at once towards his disembodied limbs. He quickly flew his hands to the other side of the table support to hide from Luffy's stretching punches; unfortunately for him, this now left them in plain sight of Usopp.
"Thanks, Luffy!" said the sniper with a smile as he readied his slingshot once more. "We can take these things from both sides now!"
"No problem, Usopp!" Luffy grinned. "Let's – WAGH!"
A fireball came flying in from the side and struck Luffy, knocking him to the side. "AAAAHHH! HOTHOTHOTHOTHOT!" he screamed as he rapidly swatted at the fire on his clothing. Once it was out, he angrily turned towards the giant Heartless not too far from his position. "Bastard! I'll get you for that!" he yelled as he charged it once more.
"Wait! Don't leave me alone with these things!" Usopp cried while reaching out for Luffy, right before receiving a smack to the back of the head. Turning around, he came face-to-face, so to speak, with one of Buggy's hands, which promptly flicked his forehead hard. With a yelp, Usopp grabbed his forehead while swatting around with his other hand, but the disembodied hands of the clown pirate continued dancing out of reach.
"Alright, that's it!" Usopp yelled as he pulled out several Lead Stars and loaded one into his slingshot. "Hissatsu: Namari Boshi!" He proceeded to shoot one Star after another at Buggy's hands in rapid succession. But while his aim was accurate, the hands were just too fast, causing every single shot to miss.
At one point, the sniper pulled out something that didn't quite feel like a Lead Star, but in his rush to try and hit Buggy's hands, he loaded and launched it anyway. Like the Lead Stars, it missed, but hit the chair leg in its path. Upon doing so, a chunk of ice the size of the Going Merry's head sprouted from the point of impact.
This caught Usopp's attention; was that one of the Frost Shards? Was that what happened if it hit too hard against something? It would explain why Donald was so frantic about Luffy holding a Blaze Shard earlier…
Before he could get too deep in thought, one of Buggy's hands came flying in and gave his face a few rapid slaps. "Pay attention, long-nose! You'll never get me while you're spacing out!" Buggy taunted from his position on the stove. Said sniper began waving his hand in front of his face to grab the hand, but it flew out of reach before he could. He then looked angrily at the red-nosed pirate, but upon seeing the stove once more, an idea came to him.
"Usopp Spell!" the sniper shouted. "Your hand is pressed against a red-hot stove!" He then winced, but kept his composure.
Buggy's hands stopped moving for a moment, one's fingers curling in while the other cradled it around the wrist area. "Yeek! That hurts just thinking about it!" Buggy squealed with gritted teeth.
"Ack! It really does hurt to think about!" cried Luffy, also cradling his twitching hand.
"Geez, Usopp! Why'd you have to give us that mental image?!" cried Sora, cringing.
"Ditto!" agreed Goofy.
BOOM!
With the three of them momentarily frozen, the Heartless smashed its club into the floor in the middle of the group, releasing another explosion of fire and knocking them to the ground. Donald managed to avoid the worst of it by throwing up an Aero shield just in time.
"I'm surrounded by idiots," the Court Magician grumbled with his hand on his forehead.
With Buggy's hands frozen for the moment, Usopp loaded another projectile into his slingshot and took aim. "Hissatsu: Kaen Boshi!" he called out as he fired a yellow pellet at the clown pirate's hands, which promptly ignited on contact and burst out into a large fireball, setting said hands on fire.
"AAAHHH! MY HANDS ARE BURNING! PUT 'EM OUT! PUT 'EM OUT!" Buggy screamed as his hands began frantically slapping at each other.
"Hissatsu: Kayaku Boshi!" Usopp shouted as he launched another projectile, this time aimed directly at Buggy. Upon seeing this, Buggy's eyes popped out of his head as he raised his arms to defend himself. But before it could make contact, one of Mr. 3's armored fists shot in front of the clown pirate to block it. The Gunpowder Star exploded on contact, but beyond a slight bit of melting, the armor was undamaged.
"Not today, I'm afraid, long-nose," Mr. 3 smirked. "Such childish tricks will never work on me."
"Whew! Thanks, Three, that was close!" Buggy breathed, wiping his brow with his arm.
"That's MISTER - ! Oh, forget it, why do I even bother?"
Usopp cursed in frustration at his failed maneuver, but before he could do anything else, one of Buggy's hands, the gloves now in scorched tatters, flew in towards his face, index finger and middle finger extended to try and poke him in the eyes. However, the sniper acted quickly and raised his hand sideways in front of his face, causing Buggy's hand to hit at the joint, thereby stopping the fingers short of Usopp's eyes.
"Ha! Nice try!" Usopp grinned, looking smug. "Luffy tries stuff like that all the time when we fi-OW!" Before he could finish, the fingers popped off at the joint and shot straight into Usopp's eyes.
"GYAHAHAHA! Forgot I could do THAT, didn't you?!" laughed Buggy.
"My eyes!" Usopp cried, holding his face. "Why, I oughta… OOF!"
While Usopp had his hands over his eyes, the other hand flew in and punched him in the stomach, causing him to grab his abdomen instead. With his face exposed once more, the poking hand began smacking him repeatedly once again. Fed up, Usopp began flailing his arms about to swat the offending appendages away, which then retreated to a safe distance, but not without both of them flipping the sniper the bird as they did so.
After dodging another blow from the giant Heartless, Sora looked on in frustration at Usopp being thwarted again by Buggy, who at the moment was, quite literally, laughing his head off. Why does that guy have it out for Usopp so bad anyway? he wondered to himself. All he did was accidentally insult his nose…
A light bulb suddenly appeared over Sora's head. Wait… THAT'S IT! He looked towards the Heartless, which was currently busy battling it out with Luffy, Goofy, and Donald, then towards his Keyblade, then towards Buggy. It's risky, but if it works…! He decided to try it.
"Hey guys! Stop attacking for a second! I have an idea!" Sora called to the others, who looked confused, but complied. He then wound up and flung the Keyblade as hard as he could at the Heartless' head. Said Heartless saw the attack at the last second and moved to dodge, but the weapon of light managed to land a glancing blow, causing it to hiss. It then turned completely around to face Sora, raising its clubs.
OK, its attention is on me, Sora thought as he moved to run. He then looked towards Usopp and the two enemy pirates. Now for the next part…!
"Awww, what's the matter, armadillo man? Can't do one little thing that might actually help?" Buggy taunted with an expression of mock sympathy. Usopp could only let out a frustrated growl in response.
"Hey, BIG NOSE! Over here!"
Buggy stopped laughing, his face contorting from mirth to anger in a split second as he slowly turned towards the source of the insult.
Sora.
"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Sora taunted as he sprinted across the room, the Heartless following and swinging at the Keybearer with its clubs as it went. "Your nose is so big and red, I could use it as a hot air balloon!"
An angry vein popped out on Buggy's forehead. "…You wanna say that again, you little punk?" he growled.
"What happened to your nose, anyway? Did you get hit in the face with a lollipop and you could never get it off?" Sora continued, a cat-eating grin on his face as he dodged another strike.
Two more veins popped out on Buggy's head. "I'm warning you, brat, you're treading into VERY dangerous territory here," he ground out.
"Buggy," Mr. 3 spoke up in a warning tone. "He's playing with your head, getting under your skin; he WANTS you to attack him. Don't fall for it!" But Buggy didn't seem to hear him as he ground his teeth in rage.
And one more. "I bet if you got hit by lightning, your nose would light up like a Christmas tree! Rudolph the Reindeer would probably mistake you for a long-lost relative!"
"THAT'S IT! YOU'RE DEAD!" Buggy screamed. Returning his hands to his body, he pulled out every knife he could hold, popped his body off at the ankles and flew at top speed towards the Keybearer, fully intending to skewer him all over!
This caught Sora slightly off-guard. He can FLY?! he thought in a bit of shock, before shaking it off; it didn't change the plan at all. He then tensed, now caught between the giant Heartless and the angry convict, both of which wanted his head. I need to time this just right, he thought, looking behind himself, then towards Buggy, still running as he did so, but slowing down as the Splitting Man got closer. NOW!
Once he was in the exact spot he needed, the spiky-haired boy dove and rolled to the side… just in time for one of the Heartless' clubs to come barreling in towards Buggy like a huge baseball bat. Time seemed to slow down as the red-nosed pirate's face morphed from red-hot anger to an 'oh shit!' expression before the inevitable happened.
BLAM!
"WAAAAARRRGGGHHH!"
With a powerful impact and an explosion of magical fire, the clown pirate was sent flying across the room, leaving a trail of smoke in the process.
"Nice one, Sora!" Goofy called out with a thumbs-up.
"HAHAHAHAHA! That was great!" Luffy laughed.
"Yeah! You really got him! Hahaha!" Usopp laughed along with Luffy.
Donald said nothing, too doubled over with laughter himself to form any words.
"Thanks, guys," Sora replied with a grin as he summoned the Keyblade back to his hand. He then noticed the Heartless winding back up for another attack, prompting him to start running once more. "But we still need to deal with this thing!"
"That damn fool," Mr. 3 grumbled as he looked over to where Buggy landed, the clown pirate now sprawled on his back with his eyes spinning and his clothing smoldering slightly. "Allowing himself to fall for such childish taunts…" He then regarded Straw Hat's group; what could he do without putting himself in the line of fire?
"Gomu Gomu no Muchi!" Luffy shouted as he reared back his leg and stretched it out in a wide arc, intending to trip up the giant Heartless.
"Candle Pillar!"
A tall, cylindrical pillar of wax formed out of the ground in the path of Luffy's attack, causing his leg to wrap around it in a spiral. Before he could react, his leg retracted, causing him to fly around in a circle before reaching his foot, at which point he shot straight towards the Heartless. The creature of darkness, however, was ready for him as it brought one of its clubs up and over its head in an arc and pounded the rubberman straight downward into the floor, cratering the tiles as it did so.
"We need to deal with that guy quick!" Donald called out, pointing to Mr .3. "Sora! Long Nose! Keep that Heartless busy! Goofy, get ready!" All three of them gave shouts of confirmation. He then aimed his staff at the Candleman. "Fire!"
The magical ball of flame shot straight towards the former Baroque Works agent, but he was more than prepared.
"Candle Wall!"
He then fired a jet of wax out of a hole he formed in the boxing glove of his armor, and in less than a second, said wax formed into a small barrier against the spell. Said spell then connected with the wall; a small explosion erupted from the impact, and once cleared, revealed a tabletop-sized hole melted through it.
"Not bad," Mr. 3 mused while looking at the hole, then turning back to Donald with a smirk. "But it will take more than that to take me down!"
"That's what I thought!" Donald responded while running to the side, moving to an angle where the wall of wax did not protect the Candleman. "Fire!"
"Candle Wall!"
Once again, Donald's spell collided with Mr. 3's wax, producing the same result.
"Did you really think that would work?" Mr. 3 smarmed from the hole in his new wall. "It's one of the most obvious things you could do! You'll never get me that way!"
"Fire!"
"Candle Wall!"
Mr. 3 raised another wall in front of the second wall, but this time, the Court Magician's spell hit the first wall, melting it almost completely.
"You missed, duckling!" Mr. 3 taunted. "Not that it matters! I can do this all day!"
"Did I really miss, though?" Donald retorted with an evil grin, causing the Candleman's own smirk to slip off his face. What was this duck up to?
He soon got his answer as the sound of metal clanging resounded to his side. Turning his head, he had no time to react as a flying metal disc came rocketing towards him at high speed.
BWANG
Goofy's shield connected squarely with the former Baroque Works agent's face, having ricocheted off the wall behind him; while Donald had been keeping the Candleman busy, the Knight Captain had taken careful aim from the side and thrown said shield in an attempt to knock him off his perch. Dazed, Mr. 3 stumbled backwards towards the edge of the stove, knocking Buggy's feet off in the process, until he was teetering on the edge of it with one foot. He desperately windmilled his arms to try and keep his balance, but in the end, gravity won out, and he fell to the floor with a crash.
As this was happening, Buggy sat up with a groan, rubbing his face and patting out the smoking parts of his prison uniform. That Heartless thing really packed a wallop; he'd have to be a lot more careful from now on. He then looked over towards the stove and saw Mr. 3 sprawled on the ground. Something in the back of his mind told him he should probably re-attach his feet, so he levitated himself off the ground and flew over to the chimney, hiding behind it and waiting for an opportunity to get back to said feet while no one was looking.
At the same time, Luffy pulled his head out of the crater he was currently in, shaking his head to clear off the dust and debris. "I'm gonna get that wax bastard, I swear…" he muttered under his breath as he looked around.
He then spotted said Candleman on the floor in front of the stove, flat on his back. However, the big Heartless was standing between him and the former Baroque Works agent. But he wasn't about to let that stop him!
"Alright! Time to make you pay for attacking my friends!" Luffy called out as he came running in, his arms stretched out behind himself as he intended to knock the creature of darkness out of the way before reaching Mr. 3. "Take this! Gomu Gomu No Bazooka!" His hands flew forward at incredible speed and force towards the Heartless' legs.
But the monster slid its foot to the side, and with a push from its other foot, expertly pivoted its body like a ballet dancer out of the way of Luffy's attack, causing it to hit nothing but air. And before Luffy could recover his balance, the Heartless continued its rotation, swinging its club in sync with its movement, and slammed the weapon square into the rubberman's back, lifting him off the ground in the process.
"LUFFY!" Sora, Usopp, and Goofy cried.
"WAAAAAAAAaaaaaaggghh!" Luffy screamed as he sailed through the air, flipping end over end in a long, high arc... straight towards the big yellow vase in the corner of the room. He landed in said vase with a splash, a large amount of water spilling out over the edges of the vessel.
"Oh no!" cried Sora, looking panicked. "That thing's full of water! Luffy's gonna drown!"
The Keybearer quickly moved to run towards the vase, but before he could get anywhere close to it, the Heartless bent its two-part legs and sprang into the air, twisting itself around and landing right in front of the spiky-haired boy, blocking his path. Sora's eyes widened in alarm before it raised one of its clubs and brought it down to bludgeon him.
In Sora's mind's eye, for a brief moment, he saw an image of the big armored Heartless he'd fought in Traverse Town superimposed over his current foe, with the big club morphing into one of its boots coming down on him. Knowing what was about to happen, he reflexively dove to the side before it could connect, avoiding it by a narrow margin. However, the resulting explosion of magical fire sent him rolling through the air before hitting the floor and skipping across for a short distance.
"How the heck are we supposed to save Luffy with that thing in the way?!" Sora cried as he moved to pick himself up off the ground.
"Don't worry, guys! I'll get him out!" Usopp declared as he pulled some kind of belt out of his bag and wrapped it around his waist. He then turned to the vase and placed both hands around the middle of the belt. "Usopp AAAAaaaAAAAAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAAAHHHHHH!" he shouted as a grappling hook burst out of it and flew towards the top of the vase, a long piece of rope trailing behind it.
He actually calls it that? Everyone present thought to themselves with a sweatdrop.
Usopp's aim was true as the hook successfully latched onto the brim of the ceramic vessel. The sniper gave it a couple of experimental tugs before turning to the others. "Quick, guys! Get over here and help me pull!"
"I don't think so!" Buggy shouted as he sent one of his hands flying towards Usopp, four of his knives clutched between his fingers. The sniper yelped with fright as he jumped back, just barely avoiding the blades. But in so doing, said knives cleaved through the rope, severing its connection to Usopp's belt. Due to the sudden slack, the rope swung down to the ground, falling far out of the sniper's reach.
"Oh no!" Usopp cried, comical tears flying from the corners of his eyes as he reached his hand out in vain for the rope. He then looked at Buggy. "I forgot you were still here!" He then began running for the rope. "Quick, guys, let's get it before…!"
"You're going to get what now?" came Mr. 3's voice, accompanied by the sound of loud, rapid stomping. Usopp stopped short with a frightened squeak as the Candleman ran over and put himself between the sniper and the rope. "You think we're just going to sit by and let you save your captain?" Ordinarily, Mr. 3 and Buggy would have stepped back out of the fight and hid, but the chance to take Straw Hat out for good was too perfect to pass up!
"G-g-get out of the w-way!" Usopp stammered as he reached into his bag.
"Candle Jacket!"
Before the long-nose could pull anything out, Mr. 3 fired a jet of wax out of a hole he formed in the boxing glove of his armor, knocking the sniper onto his back. Said wax splashed all over Usopp and solidified instantly, trapping him in place. "No, I don't think I will," the Candleman continued with a smirk as he came stomping over, causing the sniper to sweat profusely. "I'd much rather take you out here and now!" He then raised his arm in preparation to swing downward.
"Stop!"
The Candleman froze in place, not moving a muscle. Usopp stared for a moment before looking over to the source of the voice; there stood Donald with his staff raised, having cast a spell to freeze Mr. 3 in time. Donald then pointed his staff towards Usopp. "Fire!" A fireball flew from the tip and connected with the wax trapping Usopp, bursting outward and melting the white substance immediately.
"AAAHHH! HOT HOT HOT!" Usopp yelped, rolling around and slapping himself all over to put out the flames.
"Quick! Move before the spell wears off!" the Court Magician urged.
Usopp complied and rolled to the side just before Mr. 3 unfroze and smashed his armored fist into the ground formerly occupied by the sniper. Usopp then ran past him towards the rope, getting out of his line of sight just in time for the Candleman to notice he was gone and wonder where he went.
The clock was ticking; Luffy couldn't stay in the water forever! They had, at best, only 30 seconds left for him to hold his breath! After that… Usopp didn't even want to think about it! He charged forward, reaching towards the rope…
…only for Buggy to slide into his path, arms raised with knives between his fingers. Usopp skidded to a halt, a bit of panic setting in as the rope was once more just out of reach.
"No way am I letting you do what you want!" the clown pirate declared. "Bara Bara-!"
"Thunder!"
Donald's voice rang out once more as several bolts of electricity came flying downward over Buggy's head. The knives served as perfect lightning rods as the majority of the bolts flew straight towards the metal weapons and struck, shocking the red-nosed pirate all over.
"YAAAAAAARRRRGGHH!" he screamed as his body spasmed all over and his skeleton became visible on and off. Once the spell finished, he collapsed onto his back as his weapons dropped from his fingers, eyes spinning and his body and clothing smoking slightly.
"Thanks again!" Usopp said over his shoulder with a grin and a thumbs-up before stepping around the clown pirate and making a dash for the rope once more. It was barely a meter away now; the sniper reached out a hand, the rope just within reach…!
BAM
One of the big Heartless' flaming clubs came swinging in from the side and slammed into Usopp's side mere milliseconds before he could get a hold of it.
"ARGH!" the sniper yelled in pain and frustration as he went flying to the side, bouncing and rolling across the ground before coming to a stop. He gingerly held his side, breathing heavily from the pain, before looking over to the rope. He was now several meters away from it, and the big Heartless was standing right next to the end, making it all but impossible to grab in his position. What could he do?! Luffy was about to drown! His best friend was going to die and he was powerless to do anything about it!
"I got it!"
Usopp looked again and saw Goofy standing there, triumphantly holding the end of the rope in one hand. A relieved smile broke out on Usopp's face; Luffy was saved!
"Goofy, look out!" Donald shouted from the side.
At this, Goofy looked up and saw the giant Heartless winding up to swing its other club to bludgeon the Knight Captain. "Whoa!" he exclaimed. With no time to dodge, Goofy instead raised his shield and braced himself as the club came swooping in and struck true, sending him sailing through the air.
"GOOFY!" Usopp, Donald, and Sora cried simultaneously.
"AAAAAH-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!"
As it just so happened, Goofy had managed to keep a grip on the rope as he rocketed over Usopp's head; thus, the slack in the cord immediately tightened and yanked at the brim of the vase once it fully snapped tight. Goofy fell to the ground, eyes spinning and stars around his head, but still held on tight to the rope.
The sudden yank on the rope caused the vase to tip, but not quite enough to fall over. Ignoring the pain in his side, Usopp got up, ran over and grabbed onto the rope himself, pulling for all he was worth to keep it from falling back into position.
It was working; the vase was beginning to fall! Just a little more force and it would tip over completely!
"Oh no, you don't!" came Mr. 3's shout as he came stomping over, fists raised. Usopp's eyes went wide; no! They were so close! It was now or never! If he stopped them now, it was all over!
"Get away from them!"
The shout from the side caused the Candleman to look in its direction just in time to see Sora running in and slamming his shoulder into his chest, causing the former Baroque Works agent to collapse onto his back.
"Damn you, you meddling little…!" Mr. 3 growled, only to get a faceful of enchanted metal as Sora stood up on his armor and whacked him across the face with his Keyblade.
"That's enough out of you!" the Keybearer snapped. He then turned back to Usopp and Goofy. "Quick, guys! Do it!"
Usopp nodded with a determined look on his face and redoubled his efforts in pulling on the rope. He then felt a further tug on the rope; looking behind himself, he saw Goofy back on his feet, a big grin on his face as he pulled on the rope as well. Usopp smiled with gratitude before focusing back on his own efforts.
"AAARGH!"
The two rope-pullers looked over to see Sora get knocked off of Mr. 3's bulky armored body by a punch thrown by said Candleman, who was now getting back to his feet. "I won't let you…!"
SMASH
Before he could even see it coming, the giant Heartless had come up from behind and swung its fiery club in from the side, plowing squarely into Mr. 3 and sending him flying a fair distance away. He couldn't even scream in surprise or pain as the blow had knocked the wind right out of him, and due to the flames, a good portion of his armor had shattered, falling off in chunks as he sailed through the air.
With Mr. 3 now out of the way, the Heartless turned its attention towards Usopp and Goofy, with both pairs of eyes bugging out in terror as it raised its other club in preparation for another mighty blow.
In desperation, Usopp shot one hand into his bag, grabbed a random dial, and held it up as the creature of darkness swung downward. Please be the right one…! He silently begged, pinching his eyes shut as the club made contact.
He felt nothing. Gingerly opening an eye, he saw said club in direct contact with the shell he held in his palm, but no impact registered. The fire coating the club hadn't even dispersed. The Heartless cocked its head, clearly confused by what had just happened.
"It was an Impact Dial… thank god…" Usopp breathed. At that moment, though, he realized something: Even though he had stopped the attack, the fire was still there… and was burning his bare hand. "ACK! HOT HOT HOT!" he shrieked as he yanked his hand away from the club, shaking and blowing on it, but still keeping a grip on the Impact Dial.
"Blizzard!"
The Heartless hissed and stumbled forward as a crystal of magical ice burst out of its back. Turning around, it now faced Donald, staff raised and breathing heavily; evidently that spell, along with all the other magic he had been casting, had taken a lot out of him. The creature of darkness began stomping towards him, twirling its clubs in preparation for a powerful double attack on the Court Magician.
Seeing this, Usopp put the dial away and turned to Goofy, shouting "Quick, we need to do it now!" The Knight Captain nodded, and with one last mighty pull from the two of them, the vase tipped over fully.
The yellow vessel fell to the ground with a crash felt throughout the room, shattering into large pieces and releasing the load of water contained within it. A large wave of the clear liquid washed over all present, knocking them off their feet. Even the Heartless couldn't keep its balance as the water came rushing into its legs, knocking them out from under it and sending it falling to the ground.
Silence reigned for a moment, everyone still recovering from the shock. Luffy was first to break it.
"PWAH! Brbrbrbrbr! Hooooo!" the rubberman gasped, sitting up and shaking the water out of his hair and face. He then grinned. "That was a close one! I almost drowned there! Hahahahaha!"
"Luffy! You're okay!" said Sora as he sat up and turned to face the pirate captain, relieved to see his new friend alive and well.
"Good to see ya, pal!" Goofy said cheerfully.
"You're alive! Thank god!" Usopp cried. "For a second, I thought we'd be too late!"
"Eh? So you guys got me out of there?" Luffy asked, before grinning. "Thanks so much!"
Donald said nothing, instead opting to gulp down an Ether to restore the magic power he had expended throughout the fight.
Buggy quickly sat up, shaking his head to clear his eyes and hair of all the water. The big wave hadn't just knocked everyone else over, it had also snapped him out of his lightning-induced daze. "Geez, what happened?" he groaned, holding his head as he looked left and right.
Finally regaining his breath, Mr. 3 sat up, holding his side where the giant Heartless' blow had connected. He ground his teeth; that little brat with the key had stopped him from exacting his revenge! And had blatantly disrespected him by hitting him in the face! He, along with the long-nose, was now on Mr. 3's list of people on whom he wanted revenge!
But before anyone could make another move, the giant Heartless rose to its feet, shaking itself to get rid of the excess water all over its body, then raising its clubs. Said clubs then burst into flame once more, a cloud of steam bursting out of them in the process.
"Oh boy… here we go again…" groaned Usopp.
The Cheshire Cat gave an impressed whistle as he sat atop one of the armrests of one of the nearby armchairs, observing the battle as it unfolded. "I must say, this is quite the eventful scuffle," he said to no one in particular.
"You can say that again!" came Jiminy's voice as he came hopping up onto the opposite armrest, having scuttled away from Goofy as the fight began in earnest.
"I must say, this is quite the eventful scuffle," the feline repeated.
"…thanks," Jiminy deadpanned. "So what exactly are you doing?"
"Observing," replied the Cat. "When any off-worlders appear with a key-shaped weapon, you can bet that the events to come will be most interesting."
"O-off-worlders?" Jiminy stammered, tugging his collar as he tried to maintain composure. "Wh-what are you talking about?"
"No need to pretend, I already know," the Cat grinned. "Your duties require you to deal with the shadows and banish them from this world and the others; it's only natural you would come to this one along the way."
Jiminy sighed; what didn't this cat know?
"So what exactly are you getting out of all of this?" the cricket asked. "Why do you keep popping up wherever we go?"
"All shall be revealed in time," the purple and pink feline replied. "I would prefer to explain to everyone at once. And besides, this battle is far too fascinating not to watch."
Jiminy looked at the cat for a moment, then sighed again as he turned his attention back to the fight, pulling out his journal as he did so. He was duty-bound to observe and make a record of the fight, so he pulled out a pencil and began scribbling furiously as the combatants rose to their feet once more.
The Heartless began spinning on one foot like a ballerina doing a pirouette, spinning faster and faster with each rotation. Everyone tensed, wondering what it was up to. They soon got their answer as the creature of darkness suddenly sprang upwards, still spinning like a top. As it reached the apex of its jump, it arced downwards into a headfirst dive, holding one of its clubs over its head in line with its body. It then landed, somehow balancing perfectly on the tip of the club while still spinning.
At that moment, fireballs began shooting out of the sides of the club in streams opposite each other, spiraling outward like a pinwheel. At the same time, the Heartless began twirling its other club in its hand, with more fireballs popping out and raining down from above. The fighters were forced to scatter and back off once more, putting as much distance as they could from the flaming assault.
A fair distance away, Mr. 3 got to his feet, one wax-coated hand on his side as he did so; his armor had absorbed most of the impact from that Heartless, but he could tell it had left a large bruise, and he'd need to fix the broken parts. He raised his other arm to pour wax onto the hole in the armor…
…but just then, he noticed that cursed boy with the spiky hair right in front of him, his back to him as he watched the creature of darkness carefully. Each fireball seemed to only travel a certain distance before fizzling out, and the boy stood just out of that range, waiting for an opening to charge in and attack.
The opportunity was too good to pass up! Forgetting the armor for the moment, he carefully crossed the distance between himself and the boy, trying to make as little noise as possible. However, it was difficult to do with such large and heavy wax boots on his feet, and within a few feet of him, the boy with the key appeared to hear him and perk up.
It was now or never; as the boy began to turn around, Mr. 3 reared back his fist and plowed it as hard as he could directly into his torso.
Saliva flew from Sora's mouth as his feet lifted off the ground and he flew backwards, bouncing once before sliding to a stop. Cradling his abdomen, Sora coughed a number of times, trying to get his winded lungs to inhale. But as he did so, the Candleman approached, fists raised. Sora raised the Keyblade to block whatever blow was coming, but it was promptly knocked out of his hands with an underhand blow. The Keybearer's eyes then widened as he found Mr. 3's other glove in his face, a wicked smile adorning the former Baroque Works agent's face.
"Time for you to pay for your disrespect, you little brat," he said as he prepared to spray wax out of the hole in his glove. "Prepare to die!"
"I'll save you, Sora! Hissatsu: Kaen Boshi!"
Mr. 3 stopped upon hearing the voice of that damned long-nose from the side. He turned in its direction and raised his wax-covered fist just in time to intercept the projectile, its contents bursting into a gray cloud that washed over him.
"Looks like that one was a dud, long-nose," Mr. 3 smirked. "You can't even keep tra… a-a-a-CHOO!"
"Sorry, but I AM a liar," Usopp smirked right back. "How do you like my Pepper Star?"
Mr. 3 cursed as he began sneezing uncontrollably and his eyes began burning and tearing up, his eyesight all but gone. "ACHOO! I'll – ACHOO! – get you for this, you little…!" Before he could finish, he felt a slight pressure on the part of his chest where his armor was broken. Looking down, the Candleman could barely make out the sight of the sniper right up close to him with a hand on his torso.
"We'll see about that," Usopp said with a confident grin. "But first… IMPACT!"
With a small push on the dial he had pressed against Mr. 3's body, a click sounded before a powerful shockwave blasted out, hitting the Candleman at point-blank range. Blood flew from the former Baroque Works agent's mouth as he went flying a short distance away, his eyes rolling back into his head as he lost consciousness completely before hitting the floor and skidding to a stop.
Sora gawked at what had just happened. "Holy cow…" he breathed. Since when could Usopp do that?!
Upon seeing his adversary out of commission, Usopp dropped to his knees, breathing heavily as he clutched his arm, the recoil having hit him equally hard in the opposite direction. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he got out through gritted teeth.
"Usopp! Are you okay?" Sora said, shaking off the shock and running to the sniper's side.
"My arm might be broken," Usopp replied. "But other than that, I'm A-okay!" He grinned and gave a thumbs-up with his uninjured hand.
There's no way you're okay like that… Sora thought with a sweatdrop. He then dug into his pocket and pulled out a healing potion. "You might want to drink this."
"What is it?" asked Usopp as he eyed the bottle. "Is that what you gave Luffy earlier?"
"Yup," Sora nodded. "It should help with your arm."
Usopp nodded as he took the bottle and drank from it. He then sighed with relief as it worked its magic.
"Oh man, that DOES feel better!" he said as he flexed and worked his arm experimentally. "Thanks!"
"Hey Sora!" came Luffy's voice from the side, drawing the two's attention. Just then, they saw a familiar blue-and-red object hurtling towards them, screaming as it flew. "Heads up!"
A few moments earlier…
On the other side of the room, Buggy winced as a fireball exploded against the table leg he hid behind. Once he felt safe enough, he peeked back out, watching for that damn duck that kept getting in his and Three's way when they tried to prevent Straw Hat from being rescued. He had proven to be the biggest pain in their asses overall in this fight, thus taking him out first would be the smartest move. Plus, he had no idea just how far his magic could go, and rather than give him a chance to use it, he decided it would be much wiser to try and ambush him.
Just then, he noticed said duck about 20 feet from his position, his back towards the pirate as he ducked and jumped around to avoid the Heartless' barrage. "Time to die, little ducky," Buggy said with a savage grin as he popped his body off of his feet and began floating towards him, since going on foot would more likely alert his foe to the sound of footsteps. Not to mention it would make avoiding the fireballs easier.
Unseen by Buggy, Goofy watched him from his perch on the chair just above where the clown pirate had been moments ago, having scrambled up the chair leg to use the seatback as shelter from the Heartless' assault. The Knight Captain's eyes narrowed as the blue-haired convict made a beeline for Donald.
"Ooooohhh no, ya don't, pal," he murmured with a mischievous grin as he turned his gaze to a certain pair of disembodied feet.
Buggy floated carefully towards the magic-wielding duck, knives at the ready. Said duck still had his back to him, still preoccupied with the big Heartless and looking for an opening to attack. It was the perfect opportunity; with a savage grin, he raised a hand, preparing to skewer him with a Chop Chop Cannon.
But just then, he felt an intense pain in his foot, like someone had stomped on it. He very nearly shouted in pain, but gritted his teeth and covered his mouth with his other hand to keep from alerting the duck; luckily for him, he showed no sign of noticing him. He then looked back towards his feet…
…but no one was there.
Only his feet stood where he left them.
Deciding to check later, Buggy turned his attention back towards his feathered foe, rearing back once more for his surprise attack. But before he could do anything, he felt something tickling his foot. He could feel laughter coming on, but he bit down on his arm to keep from making a sound. He then whipped his head around to look back.
Once again, only his feet stood there.
That's really getting on my nerves! the clown pirate thought, gnashing his teeth in frustration.
Unseen by the convict, Goofy stood behind a nearby table leg, a feather in one hand while his other hand covered his mouth to contain his laughter.
Turning back towards the magician, Buggy reared both hands back…
…only to feel his other foot getting stomped on, causing him to nearly shout in pain once more.
THAT'S IT! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Buggy mentally snarled as he whipped around and flew at top speed back towards his feet. As soon as he found who was doing that, he was going to dice them up good!
But right before he reached them, a familiar-looking shield swung out from behind the nearby table leg and bashed him straight in the face, making a sound like a crashing cymbal. Due to his momentum, Buggy's body swung forward underneath his head, doing a full somersault before flopping to the ground on his back. He lay there with a groan, his entire face red.
"Uggghhh… why do I keep getting hit in the face today?" he groaned.
"No wonder yer nose got so big and red!" Goofy chuckled as he jogged over to another part of the area under the table.
"WHO DID YOU SAY HAS A BIG RED NOSE?!" Buggy screamed, all pain forgotten as he popped back up into the air and flared his knives.
"You!" Goofy said with a smile.
"I'M GONNA SKEWER YOU…!"
"By the way, catch!"
"Huh?" Buggy had little time to respond before a shuriken came flying his way.
Goofy now stood in the area where Usopp's Shuriken Meteor Swarm attack had failed, with several shuriken scattered on the floor for Goofy to use. His skill in shield throwing made using these weapons quite easy.
But Buggy wasn't the best target for these particular weapons. With a smirk, the clown pirate popped off his torso from his waist, causing the bladed projectile to sail harmlessly through.
"I thought you would have learned by now," Buggy gloated. "I'm a Splitting Man! Blade attacks have no effect on me! You might as well – HEY!"
The blue-haired convict now found himself on the receiving end of several shuriken being thrown at him, with several parts of himself splitting apart to avoid damage.
"What are you even doing?!" Buggy shouted, his head popping off his shoulders as he spoke. "You won't get anywhere doing that! You might as well be hitting thin air!"
At that, Goofy halted his attack, though his smile remained.
"So you've finally realized how pointless it is?" Buggy said smugly. "Guess you're not a total – "
WHACK!
Buggy's speech was interrupted by Donald jumping up behind him and smacking him in the head with his staff, sending it flying towards Goofy.
"ARGH! What the hell?!" Buggy's head yelled.
"Thanks, Donald!" the Knight Captain said as he wound back his shield arm and slammed it into the clown pirate's head as hard as he could.
"AAAAAARRRRGGGHH!" Buggy screamed as his head flew through the air.
Straight towards Luffy.
"Hey Luffy!" Goofy called out. "Incoming!"
"Huh?" Luffy momentarily paused in his jumping around to avoid the Heartless' fireballs and looked in the Knight Captain's direction. He then heard Buggy screaming and looked up to see his head soaring towards him. He grinned, knowing exactly what to do as he reached up and grabbed the flying head out of the air.
By the ponytail.
"Not the hair! NOT THE HAIR!" Buggy cried.
Too late; Luffy began twirling the clown pirate's head like a flail, the convict screaming the entire time.
"Hey Sora!" Luffy called out, getting the spiky-haired boy's attention before hurling the head in his direction. "Heads up!"
Usopp and Donald both groaned simultaneously.
"I got it!" Sora replied with a grin as he readied his Keyblade like a baseball player at bat.
"Oh no…!" Buggy cried as he got closer.
WHAM!
With a mighty swing, Sora slammed the Keyblade into Buggy's face, sending his head flying straight towards the Heartless.
Said Heartless had stopped its fire attack and now stood upright. It rocked back and forth dizzily for a moment before shaking its head and looking down as the clown pirate's head bounced and rolled on the ground right in front of it.
"Not again…" Buggy whimpered as the creature of darkness wound up and brought its club down on him. With a powerful smash, the ground cratered.
Upon lifting the club back up, Buggy's face was revealed; scorched, several teeth missing, and eyes rolled back into his head. He was now fully unconscious.
"YEAH! We got him!" Usopp cheered.
"HAHAHA! Nice one!" Luffy laughed.
"He won't be buggin' us anymore!" Goofy agreed with a chuckle.
"I hope he isn't dead…" Sora murmured, looking a bit worried.
"Now we just have this thing to deal with!" Donald declared as he turned his attention back to the Heartless, which had now begun moving its gaze back over the group, scattered as they were.
"That's right! Go, my men! Slay the beast! Give that thing the beating of a lifetime!" Usopp commanded with his finger pointed towards the creature of darkness… which would have looked more impressive if he hadn't been hiding behind one of the table legs the whole time.
"Gonna have to work on the 'giving commands' thing, man," Sora said with a sweatdrop before he and Goofy began running towards the Heartless.
Luffy wasted no time running towards the creature of darkness, his arm whirling as he moved. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" he shouted as he fired a stretching punch. The Heartless jumped up out of the way, somersaulting backwards as it did so. But instead of staying in place, it landed on its hands and sprung backwards onto its feet. It continued handspringing backwards all the way across the room until it landed at the foot of the stove.
The Heartless then leapt up onto the stove and sprang up to a pan hanging on the wall. Using its legs for leverage and placing one club into its other hand, the creature of darkness hooked its free hand behind the handle and pulled hard, sliding it off the hook and sending it falling down to the stove. It hit the flat surface with a loud CLANG and bounced back up into the air, just in time for the Heartless to come falling down and slam both of its clubs into the flat part, sending it flying towards the group.
Luffy, Sora, and Goofy, having all charged forward at once and converged on one spot, quickly skidded to a stop. However, it didn't save them from the pan soaring in and landing on top of them, trapping them inside.
But the Heartless wasn't finished as it landed next to the pan, reared back both arms and slammed both of its clubs into the side of the giant piece of cookware. A loud noise like a combination of crashing cymbals and a large gong rang out across the room.
Donald and Usopp, having refrained from charging, winced simultaneously. If the sound was that bad from a distance, what had it been like for the guys inside?!
The Heartless then grabbed the lip of the pan with one hand and hurled it upward, sending it flipping through the air in an arc straight towards the sniper and Court Magician. Not wanting to suffer the same fate, the two of them ran to the side, narrowly avoiding the metal projectile.
While this was happening, Luffy, Sora, and Goofy remained in place, each of them holding their ears and wobbling on their feet with their eyes spinning. With the loud noise having rung almost point-blank, it had rendered them dizzy with their ears ringing like crazy. Had they not been so dazed, they would have noticed the Heartless springing and bouncing away before backflipping and landing behind a large potted flower.
Jumping up, the Heartless swung its club into the stem of the flower, causing it and the pot to tip over onto its side. It then braced its back against the wall, planted both feet onto the side of the pot and shoved forward, sending the potted flower rolling towards the trio.
"Guys! Look out!" Usopp shouted, pointing towards the object about to roll over them. But his warning quite literally fell on deaf ears as none of Sora, Luffy, and Goofy made to move out of the way, resulting in them being bowled over by the giant piece of pottery.
"WHOA!"
"WAGH!"
"YIKES!"
The trio of Heartless fighters could do nothing as they were flattened against the flowerpot, rolling along with it before it hit the opposite wall with enough force to break it in half. Soil and shards of pottery scattered everywhere while Luffy, Goofy, and Sora flopped to the ground, all of them covered in dirt.
"Ooh, that's gotta hurt," said Usopp with a wince, before running over to help. Donald followed close behind.
"Uuuuggghh… what was that just now?" Luffy groaned.
"Anyone get the license number of that bus that just hit us?" said Goofy, holding his head while looking around and brushing off the dirt on his clothes.
"I'm gonna be feeling THAT tomorrow…" moaned Sora, clutching his head and back.
"Guys! Snap out of it!" said Donald in a raised voice. "The Heartless is moving again!"
True to the Court Magician's words, the Heartless had run over from where the flowerpot had come from and leaped up onto the backrest of the chair, balancing sideways perfectly. It then began windmilling its clubs like before, the clubs glowing brighter and brighter with each rotation. Everyone immediately went on guard; the explosion from the first attack like this was big enough with just one club. How big would it be with two at once?!
Goofy then got an idea.
"Hey Usopp!" the Knight Captain called out, getting the sniper's attention. "Try hittin' one of them there clubs with a Blaze Shard!"
"Are you crazy?!" Donald shouted. "You know how explosive they can be!"
"That's the idea, a-hyuck!" Goofy smiled back.
"No way! No stinking way!" Donald yelled, shaking his head furiously.
Usopp caught on to what Goofy was planning and grinned. "You got it!" he called back as he grabbed a Blaze Shard from his bag, loaded it into his slingshot, and took aim.
Donald blanched. "Wait! No! DON'T DO I-!"
Too late; Usopp shot the shard, sending it flying with the speed of a bullet, too fast for even the Heartless to react. Upon connecting with the club, the shard ignited, producing a powerful explosion. The burst of fire in turn caused the fire coating the club to ignite and explode, throwing the Heartless off balance and causing it to tip to one side. This new angle caused the other club to make contact with the backrest of the chair, prompting another explosion that sent it flipping into the air. The creature of darkness tumbled end over end in a high arc before bouncing off the higher part of the fireplace and hitting the ground on its back with a THUD.
"COOOOOLLLL!" Luffy exclaimed.
"See? What'd I tell you?" Goofy grinned at Donald.
"Alright, alright, it was a good idea after all," the Court Magician grumbled.
Donald then saw the Heartless beginning to move once more. Not wanting to give it a chance to attack again, he raised his staff as he ran over to it.
"Blizzard! Blizzard! Blizzard!"
Donald fired spell after spell at the creature of darkness, focusing mainly on its limbs. With each spell that connected, ice crystals were generated that froze each affected limb to the floor; if he could immobilize it, it would give a chance for everyone to run in and attack all at once. The remaining water on the floor was also helpful, enhancing the freezing process.
But it didn't seem to be enough; despite Donald's best efforts, the Heartless continued to break its arms and legs free soon after each ice crystal formed. No matter how fast Donald could freeze it, the Heartless was faster. It was only a matter of time before it was back on its feet, and he could feel himself getting more and more tired.
After another spell launched at the creature of darkness' hand, he attempted another one…
…only for a small spritz of icy mist to burst from the tip of his staff.
"Shoot! Out of magic!" Donald groaned. He could drink another Ether, but that would give the Heartless enough time to break free and get to its feet! It was the one opportunity they had to well and truly pin this thing down, and it was about to slip away!
"Hissatsu: Koori Boshi!"
At that moment, an Ice Shard came flying over Donald's shoulder at high speed and connected with the Heartless' arm, generating an even bigger ice crystal than what any of Donald's spells were capable of. Looking back, he saw Usopp holding his slingshot, giving him a grin and a thumbs-up before reaching back into his bag and pulling out more Ice Shards, loading one into the sling and taking aim. Smiling and nodding, Donald proceeded to pull out an Ether and gulp it down while Usopp continued hitting the Heartless with more Shards, freezing it to the floor more securely than before. With his magic now replenished, the Court Magician proceeded to unleash even more ice magic, leaving the creature of darkness virtually helpless under the onslaught, though it certainly didn't stop trying.
"Hey Sora! Over here!" came Luffy's voice from further away.
Sora had been watching Donald and Usopp's attack from behind the group and had thus been oblivious to Luffy running over to a spot about twenty feet from the chair legs. Hearing him call out his name, he turned to see the pirate captain beckoning him with his arm. A bit confused as to what he could want, he jogged over to where Luffy was standing.
"What's up, Luffy?" he asked.
The rubberman said nothing, instead stretching his arms towards the chair legs on either side of Sora and leaning back, a toothy grin on his face.
It was then that Sora realized what was about to happen, causing his stomach to drop. "Wait… you're not doing what I think you're…?!" he asked with a panicked expression.
"It's your job to take that thing out, right?" Luffy responded, his grin never wavering. "So do it! Gomu Gomu no Pachinko!"
Sora barely had time to brace himself before the rubberman lifted his feet and allowed his arms to snap back to their original length, propelling the Keybearer forward like a human cannonball.
"WARN ME NEXT TIIIIIIIME!" Sora cried as he flew towards the Heartless.
"Whoops! Sorry!" Luffy called back, still grinning.
Time seemed to slow down for Sora as he flew closer and closer to the red and black creature of darkness. It now sat in a sitting-up position, still making an effort to wrench its limbs free of the ice freezing it to the floor.
With that in mind, he held the Keyblade in a forward horizontal position, bracing for impact, and with a mighty thrust, he stabbed the Keyblade right into the chest of the Heartless.
The Heartless stopped moving, its clubs rolling from its now-limp fingers. A circle of bright light surrounded the shaft of the Keyblade before a large glowing heart burst from the Heartless' chest, floating directly upward and disappearing into the ceiling. The bright light then spread all over the body of the creature of darkness, and with a brief flash, like a firework, its body splintered into glowing white fragments that hung in the air for a moment before fading away.
The Heartless was gone.
"Hooray! They did it!" Jiminy cheered, hopping up and down with glee.
"A truly remarkable battle," the Cat agreed.
Jiminy suddenly cut his cheering short as he turned his gaze elsewhere in the room, which caught the Cat's attention. The two then saw a circle of bright green fire forming around Mr. 3's unconscious body. The Candleman's body then slowly sank down into the floor, and once fully engulfed, the fire vanished.
The same happened next with Buggy's scattered body parts; his feet, the bits of his legs, arms, and torso, and his head. All of them disappeared, and the fire with them.
"What on earth was that?" Jiminy gasped, gawking from his position on the armchair.
"Who can say?" shrugged the Cheshire Cat. "Seems that something, or someone, wants them for something."
"But who?" the cricket wondered. "And where? And why?"
The Cat said nothing, instead turning his head back to the group and fading out once more.
Sora collapsed to one knee, breathing heavily. "Man, I'm beat," he remarked, wiping some sweat from his brow.
"I feel you there," said Usopp, his hands on his knees as he attempted to catch his breath.
"Me too," said Donald, gasping for breath.
"Way to go, fellas!" Goofy cheered.
"Yeah! That was awesome!" Luffy agreed.
"Thanks, guys," said Sora with a small smile.
The exchange was interrupted by the sound of someone yawning. "What a racket," came a familiar, sleepy-sounding voice. The group turned to see the doorknob from before smacking its mouth and looking at them with tired, indignant eyes. "How's a doorknob to get any sleep?"
"Sorry 'bout that!" Goofy replied good-naturedly.
Usopp jumped and yelped with fright before scrambling over and hiding behind Sora, causing the spiky-haired boy to look over his shoulder with a confused look. "Um, what are you doing?" he asked.
"Th-th-th-th-the d-d-doorknob is TALKING!" the sniper cried, pointing a shaking finger at said doorknob.
"Yeah! We met him already before finding you!" Luffy said with a laugh.
"How can you be so calm about this?! The talking animals, plants, and even CARDS were bad enough! Now we've got DOORKNOBS talking to us?!" he screamed.
"Hmph! And now I'm being insulted on top of everything," the doorknob grumbled. "If you stop making so much noise, I'll… forgiiiiiii-…" Its words were interrupted by another, bigger yawn.
This time, however, within its mouth, a bright white light began to shine, causing the group to lean in and look closer. Squinting, they could see it forming the shape of a keyhole.
At that moment, another bright light began shining around the tip of Sora's Keyblade, whereupon it began to move on its own in Sora's hand, much to his surprise, and pointed itself at the doorknob. A beam of light then shot from the Keyblade to the keyhole, causing it to shine even brighter. The sound of a lock turning resounded, at which point the light around both Keyblade and keyhole faded away. The doorknob then finished its yawn and fell back asleep.
"COOOOOOLLLL!" Luffy marveled.
"What was that?" asked Usopp, looking bewildered.
"I don't know," said Sora as he held up the Keyblade, equally bewildered. He then turned to Donald and Goofy. "Any idea what that was?"
He was met with a clueless shrug from both of them. "It sounded like somethin' closin', though," said Goofy with a hand on his chin.
"Maybe Leon and the others know something," said Donald. "Let's ask them when we get back to Traverse Town."
"Hey, check this out!" said Luffy, holding up an oval-shaped object that was colored teal green, gold, and blue. "It fell out of the doorknob's mouth just now!"
"Is that a gummi block?" wondered Goofy, poking at it with his finger. It seemed to have some springiness to it, answering his question. "This gummi sure ain't like the others. No, sir."
"Gummi block?" Usopp wondered aloud, confused. "What does candy have to do with anything?"
"Eh? It's a Mystery Candy?!" said Luffy excitedly. "Let's see how it tastes!" He then opened his mouth wide and raised the gummi towards it.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" shouted Donald as he ran over, jumped up and slapped the gummi block out of the pirate captain's hand. "We might need it for the ship! I'm not letting you anywhere near it!" He then picked up the gummi and shoved it into his bag.
"Aww! But I'm hungryyyy!" Luffy whined, his stomach growling and his tongue hanging out. "I haven't eaten since the restaurant!"
"You're thinking about FOOD right now?!" Donald snapped back.
"Actually…" piped up Sora, holding his own growling stomach. "Now that you mention it, I'm kinda hungry too." He only just now realized he hadn't had anything to eat since Destiny Islands, so he was feeling rather famished.
"Agreed," said Usopp, his own stomach growling.
As if on cue, Goofy's stomach began rumbling as well, prompting a chuckle from the Knight Captain. Donald then felt his own stomach growl, causing him to sigh.
"Okay, okay, we can all eat our fill when we get back to Traverse Town," Donald grumbled, keeping a tight grip on his bag. He then looked pointedly at Luffy. "But until then, NO EATING GUMMIS!"
"Splendid! You've defeated the shadow," came the voice of the Cheshire Cat from behind the group, surprising them yet again. All five of them turned to see said cat on top of the table. "And those two ruffians as well! I must say, you're quite the heroes!"
"Heroes?" Sora blinked, then smiled. "I kinda like the sound of that."
"Me too," grinned Goofy.
"Me too!" said Donald with a grin of his own.
"Don't need to tell me! I'm the great Captain Usopp!" the sniper declared with a grin.
"Eh, I'd rather be a pirate," said Luffy nonchalantly.
"Wait a second…" Usopp piped up, drawing everyone's attention. "Where are Mr. 3 and Buggy?"
That question immediately brought everyone back to earth.
"Hey, you're right! Where'd they go?" said Sora, looking every which way. "I could have sworn Mr. 3 was over there!" He pointed towards a spot on the other side of the table, which lay bare.
"And that Buggy feller was over there!" said Goofy, pointing to where the clown pirate's feet had been. "And there!" He then pointed to where the pieces of his body had been. "And there!" He then pointed to the crater where his head had been.
"Where could they have gone?!" cried Donald.
"They got swallowed up by some kind of green fire!" came Jiminy's voice from Goofy's shoulder. After the Heartless had disappeared, the cricket had chosen that moment to hop off the chair and make his way back to the group. "They completely disappeared!"
"Green fire? What the heck?" wondered Luffy, scratching his head.
"Indeed," the Cat confirmed. "I doubt they're even in this world anymore."
"Argh! We lost them!" Usopp growled, swinging a fist in frustration. "They could be anywhere!"
"Oh, and if you're looking for Alice…" the Cat continued, causing the sniper to perk up. "She's not here either."
"What?!" Usopp yelped. "Where is she, then?!"
"She's gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness!" the Cat finished.
"Oh no…" said Sora, paling.
"No…!" Usopp choked, clamping his eyes shut and clenching a fist. "I couldn't protect her… some 'Great Captain Usopp' I am."
"Hey, don't be like that, Usopp! I'm sure she's okay somewhere out there!" Luffy said with a few friendly claps on the back.
"Indeed," the purple and pink feline confirmed. "While she has disappeared from this world, don't be so quick to assume she is lost forever."
"Well, that's a relief," Goofy said, wiping his forehead.
"Just whose side are you on, anyway?!" Donald grumped.
"Everything I do, I do to keep this world safe," the Cat replied. "How do you think all those little shortcuts to the different areas of this land came to be?"
"That was YOU?" gaped Sora.
"Correct," the Cat grinned. "The shadow you just defeated moved the smaller shadows around the world to try and catch you unawares, but my shortcuts prevented most of those encounters. It also seemed best to assist in collecting the evidence to free Alice, but alas, things rarely go according to plan…"
"Never mind that!" Donald interrupted in a huff. "What's the big idea tricking us into fighting that big Heartless just now?!"
"No trick," the Cat replied, unfazed by the Court Magician's temper. "Your encounter with it was all but inevitable; I simply forced it to appear in a manner that would keep it from blindsiding you."
"You could have told us about it sooner!" Donald complained.
"Eh, what can I say? I'm mad," the grinning feline shrugged.
"That doesn't make it better!"
"My apologies; are you saying you heroes could have easily perished in the fight?" the Cat said with a knowing tilt of the head.
"Wak?!" Donald squawked, looking affronted before puffing up his chest. "Aw, phooey! We can handle anything this world and any others throw at us!" he retorted.
"Well then, there you go," the Cat smirked. "Farewell!" And with that, he faded away once more.
"Welp, I guess that's that," said Jiminy. "We should get back to the gummi ship; we might be able to find Alice in another world."
"Sounds good," said Goofy.
"Before we do, we should get back to our normal sizes," Sora pointed out.
"Eh? You mean we're not our normal sizes right now?" asked Usopp, confused.
"Yeah, we shrank down to get into the rest of the world, a-hyuck!" Goofy chuckled.
Usopp looked bewildered, then shook his head. "Don't think about it, Usopp; it's just another quirk of this place. Just roll with it," he muttered to himself.
With that, the group got on top of the table and used the potion to return to their original sizes. Once done, they journeyed back through the hallway that had gotten them there to begin with until Donald found a spot they could warp back up to the Gummi Ship from. Within minutes, they were on their way back to Traverse Town.
0o0o0o0o0o0o—Hollow Bastion, Conference Room—o0o0o0o0o0o0
"So, our little Keybearer has slain another formidable Heartless," said Maleficent, peering at the hologram of Sora and his entourage. "His mastery of the Keyblade has grown in such a short time."
"The boy could be a problem," Jafar mused. "He found one of the keyholes."
"I wouldn't give the little bilge rat so much credit," scoffed Captain Hook. "If not for those other scallywags he tags along with, he would hardly manage at all!"
"We need not worry about the keyholes; it will take him ages to find the rest. Regardless, he is not to be underestimated," the Mistress of All Evil responded smoothly. "Overconfidence can be dangerous, as our new guests can attest." She then gestured towards the unconscious Mr. 3 and Buggy laying in a heap nearby.
"Oh, you intend to recruit them, do you?" asked Oogie Boogie.
"Correct. They have tangled with the straw hat boy before; with some training, they will be most helpful in our efforts against the Keybearer," said Maleficent.
"And what makes you think they'll work with us?" asked Hades. "Last I checked, pirates ain't exactly the 'work with others' type unless some treasure's in it for 'em." He then aimed a smug look at Captain Hook. "Ain't that right, Hooky Boy?"
"Go sit on a pike, you flame-headed wretch!" the pirate snapped back.
"Love you too, bubby," the god of the dead smirked as he casually lit up a cigar, incensing Hook even more.
"As the saying goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'," Maleficent replied, ignoring the exchange. "And we each have a common enemy in the Keybearer and his allies; it shan't be difficult to rally them to our side."
"And what about our other plan?" inquired Ursula. "The Princesses of Heart?"
Maleficent said nothing, instead looking to the side to see a young girl with a blue dress and blonde hair come stumbling out of the shadows, looking back and forth fearfully.
"They are falling into our hands," said Maleficent with a sinister smile. "One by one."
Author's Note: And with this, the Wonderland arc comes to a close. Farewell, Cheshire Cat, it's been fun…
Man, this chapter turned out to be a real monster; even longer than the Guard Armor chapter by the word count (almost 15000; with the exception of Chapter 3, the longest yet!). I hope it didn't feel all over the place; I wrote a lot of the biggest moments separately, then wrote the connective tissue later. I also hit some major writer's block upon reaching the second half of the battle, on top of my work hours going longer and longer during the week, the holiday season, my January vacation and my birthday just recently. In any case, I hope it was worth the wait.
And yes, folks, I have watched the live-action One Piece series on Netflix; while some story events feel rather sudden and not properly set up, the actors still sell the roles pretty well, and it's fun to see a different take on how certain story arcs play out, plus certain elements being added that weren't there before (ie. Buggy's captive audience). In food terms, it's a different flavor, but the underlying dish is still largely the same, so I'll definitely keep an eye on this one.
In addition, who here has read the manga up to Chapter 1102? Holy shit, that was a real hard-hitter; not since Marineford has this series generated feels this strong in me. Egghead has been shaping up to be my favorite arc of the New World saga so far (though Wano is still pretty high up there), and this chapter clinches it. Oda… you're a mad genius.
Big thanks to FictionReader98 and Zoneshifter_D for beta-reading this chapter!
Techniques used in this chapter:
Gomu Gomu no Pistol: No translation needed. Luffy throws a straight punch that stretches his arm out and hits an opponent from a distance away. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun: No translation needed. Luffy sends out a rapid-fire barrage of stretching punches, moving his arms so fast that it appears as though he has multiple arms. Each individual punch is not as powerful as the Pistol attack, but allows many more hits to land. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Stamp: No translation needed. Luffy fires a straight kick which stretches his leg out and hits an opponent from a distance away. Essentially the Pistol attack in kicking form. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Muchi: Translation: Gum Gum Whip. Luffy stretches out his leg out in a sweeping side kick that covers a very large area. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Bazooka: No translation needed. Luffy stretches his arms out behind him as he runs forward towards his opponent, then slams his hands into said opponent as his arms retract. Canon technique.
Gomu Gomu no Pachinko: Translation: Gum Gum Slingshot. Luffy uses his stretched-out arms and/or legs to propel something (or someone) forward like a human slingshot. Canon technique (anime-only).
Usopp AAAAaaaAAAAAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAAAAHHHHHH: No translation needed. Usopp fires a grappling hook on a rope from a special belt to hook onto whatever he can and swing on it. Canon technique.
Usopp Spell: No translation needed. Usopp describes a wince-inducing situation to unnerve anyone in earshot and leave them open for attack. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Namari Boshi: Translation: Sure Kill: Lead Star. Usopp uses his slingshot to fire a small metal ball bearing towards his target, achieving a similar effect to firing a bullet from a gun. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Shuriken Ryuuseigun: Translation: Sure Kill: Shuriken Meteor Swarm. Usopp fires a chain of several attached shuriken which, when fired, separate into a large spread of shuriken which cover a wider radius. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Kaen Boshi: Translation: Sure Kill: Flame Star. Usopp fires a pellet made up of flammable substances that ignite on contact, generating a sizeable fireball. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Kayaku Boshi: Translation: Sure Kill: Gunpowder Star. Usopp fires a highly explosive pellet filled with gunpowder that explodes on impact. Canon technique.
Hissatsu: Koori Boshi: Translation: Sure Kill: Ice Star. Usopp fires an Ice Shard or Lead Star infused with an Ice Shard that generates a large ice crystal on impact. Original technique.
Impact: No translation needed. Usopp uses an Impact Dial from Skypiea to absorb a powerful blow and releases it back out by striking the opponent. The downside is that the recoil from the released energy is roughly equal to the original blow. Canon technique.
Candle Wall: No translation needed. Mr. 3 generates a wax wall to defend against an attacking enemy. It is strong enough to withstand most blunt attacks, including many of Luffy's attacks. Canon technique.
Candle Jacket: No translation needed. Mr. 3 uses wax to pin opponents to the ground. Canon technique.
Candle Pillar: No translation needed. Similar to Candle Wall, Mr. 3 generates a pillar of wax upwards from the ground. Original technique.
Thanks to the efforts of Sora and his friends, the world of Wonderland is safe from the Heartless once more, but their journey is far from over. What awaits them back in Traverse Town? Will Luffy and Usopp be allowed to continue to travel with the group? And how can Sora grow stronger to combat the enemies to come? Stay tuned for the next exciting chapter of Heart of a Pirate!