Chapter 22...
Golly What A Day
The Gummi Ship was making its way through the eternal vastness of space. It was considerably slower due to the parts Joyex loaned out, but still making its way well enough. Slower, but still stable and steady...
It also meant their living quarters had to be compacted into one place.
WHAP!
"OW!" Sakuzy yelped, being woken up in what he ASSUMED was early in the morning. He massaged his jaw as he looked at Lucy, who was thrashing her arms around, in a manner similar to her sword-fighting. Her brows were furrowed and she was muttering something incoherent, but intense. "Sleep-fighting...must be losing..."
He staggered out of the bedroom, thinking that he might be able to salvage some milk from the fridge. As he made his way to the kitchen, though, something flashed in his peripheral vision. Just a small wink of pale, blue light. It wasn't much, but made him do a double take. It seemed to come from the cockpit. He wondered if that was something like an autopilot function or was it...?
BLLZZZZZRRRRRRRTTTT!
Sakuzy yelled as the ship suddenly gave a violent buck. Everything then darkened as it tipped, falling down. He screamed as the recently-reassembled Gummi Ship spiraled and crashed into the nearest world...
POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH
Sakuzy wasn't sure what happened after that. Just that he suddenly came to when Yozora shouted, "WHY DO I KEEP CRASHING INTO PLACES?!"
He suddenly came to as he felt the weight of what felt like everyone else on top of him. They struggled to pull themselves free as each of them struggled to get to their feet..
"I don't know...maybe it's a curse? Or maybe we're just that unlucky." Lucy suggested, trying to regain her bearings.
"Beck, what'd you do?!" Joyex growled.
"I crashed ONE TIME," Becca snapped.
"That's one time more than ANYONE ELSE HERE," Joyex countered.
"It...it wasn't Becca," Sakuzy said, shaking the cobwebs from his head. "I think that we were hit by something..."
"Or someONE," Becca added, the two sharing a look. If the last two worlds were any indication...
"Then we gotta get going as soon as possible," Joyex grunted as he struggled to the control panel. After pushing a few buttons, his face fell. He slammed on it before reporting, "Well, whatever hit us sapped our power."
"Any way to fix it?" Sakuzy asked.
"Wait for it to reboot," Joyex answered with an annoyed tone.
"I'm never getting back to Traverse Town, am I?" Yozora asked, forlornly.
"Well...how about we go and check out where we landed?" Lucy suggested. "Better than just staying here, right?"
"Guess so..." Yozora murmured.
"And staying in one spot's probably not a good idea," Sakzuy nodded.
"Plus, if there's anything out there, we'll be ready," Becca agreed.
"Just remember to lock the doors. Don't want anything getting in while we're gone," Joyex sighed.
Sakuzy made his way to the door and, with some short heaves, he opened it. Though he thought he heard Joyex say in a quiet voice...
"Sorry, big guy..."
He paid it no heed as he stepped out, finding the place they crashed to be a temperate, wooded area. Not as thick or warm as KuzKingdom. In fact, it seemed quite the pleasant place to be.
"Okay, this is new," Becca commented.
It took Sakuzy a solid moment before he realized what his fellow Keywielder meant. The second they stepped out, they changed. Now, instead of plainly human, they were an odd collection of anthropomorphic animals. Sakuzy was now a fox, Joyex a wolf, Becca had become a cat, Lucy was a rabbit, and Yozora was a lion with a short mane. Sakuzy looked at his new, fluffy tail while Lucy tugged at one of her now long ears.
"What the heck...?" Sakuzy asked.
"Guess the camo function on the ship still works," Joyex shrugged, looking fairly nonchalant despite the species change, "Sometimes, the world's different from others, so the Gummi Ship's got a special function that helps you blend in."
"This the world...order, right?" Yozora asked.
"I guess," Lucy nodded, unknowingly making one of her ears twitch and her little pink nose wiggle cutely.
"ROBBED! I'VE BEEN ROBBED! GET THOSE THIEVES!"
At that sudden shouting, their attention went to a different trail in the forest. Other wolves were pursuing a trio, firing arrows into their midst. The three in question were a fox clad in Lincoln green and sporting a cap with a red feather, a large brown bear, and a monkey with pale yellow fur. They nimbly evaded the volley, focused entirely on escaping until they made it by swinging into the trees. The wolves looked around, trying to locate their quarry. When they didn't have any luck, they retreated.
"Huh, think we hit a more interesting world this time," Sakuzy remarked.
A target appears before being hit by three arrows, all of them landing a bullseye on top of each other. A banner then unfurls from their combined shafts, "Nottingham". With a sudden flourish of leaves, it vanished.
The five took a minute to try and get a feel for their surroundings. Just trees and a small pond not far away. A sign declared that they were in a place called Sherwood Forest. And right above it was a wanted poster, featuring the fox they had just seen, holding a bow. The poster read...
Reward: 10,000 Munny For the Capture of the Outlaw, Robin Hood
"Think we got a name for that guy we just saw," Sakuzy commented.
"Plus, if we turn him in, it could mean an easy pay day," Joyex added.
"I don't know," Becca murmured. "Something about this feels off...kind of like Camp Green Lake."
"We could catch up to him easy, though," Lucy said. "We could figure it out after."
"What do you think, Yoze?" Sakuzy asked.
"Huh?" Yozora asked.
"What do you think we should do here?" Sakuzy repeated. "You're here with us, so you should have a say in how we do things."
Yozora was quiet for a moment before saying, "I think..."
With a swirl of darkness, Heartless suddenly appeared. Soldiers with rattling helmets, Bizarre Archers with floppy caps and ready bows, and Large Bodies with tiny helmets. They looked ready to attack...
Yozora summoned his shovel as the others prepared their weapons, "I think we should deal with these things, first."
"Motion passes," Sakuzy nodded, keeping New Groove at the ready as Becca summoned Outlaw Shovel.
Using their new bodies was...a challenge, to say the least. None of them were used to tails, which kept getting in the way and snagging. But their reflexes seemed better. Lucy was much more nimble as she ducked and weaved around the Heartless while striking with her sword. Sakuzy and Becca were also more agile, bobbing and evading attacks before striking. New Groove changed in Sakuzy's hands, forming into Emperor's Beat. A few strikes were blocked before he slammed it on the ground, releasing a torrent of lights with a loud trumpeting.
"Hmm," Becca said as she slammed her Keyblade into a Bizarre Archer, feeling something rising in her. And it was coming straight from the Keyblade. She then felt it transform into a set of pistols. "Destiny's Kiss, baby!"
She pulled the trigger. Instead of a bullet, a red circle flew out and splatted right into a Soldier, spattering red coloring everywhere. She then continued firing, resulting in more red splats everywhere. And then she felt something change again. The pistols then flew together, reforming into a giant drill attached to a launcher that flew into Becca's hand.
"GOLD RUSH!" Becca shouted, shooting the drill, which flew right into the center of the red lipstick. A spurt of water erupted and began battering the other Heartless. She playfully pretended to blow smoke off the tip of her keyblade.
"Show-off," Sakuzy said, sharing a playful high-five with Becca.
Joyex and Yozora felt a new strength in their bodies, being bigger animals than the others. Joyex jumped over a Large Body to lash at its vulnerable back, then jumped up and around trees with acrobatic grace to strike it again. Yozora hurled his shovel through some Heartless, then warped to pick it up and smack them around with the flat side.
"These things used to be TOUGH, right?" Joyex asked.
"Used to be?" Yozora asked, sardonically, as he swapped out for a katana before dicing some Soldiers.
"Yeah, fair enough. GATHER!" Joyex smirked, snapping his fingers to gather some Bizarre Archers in the air. He then lunged into the air, making his whip stiffen, which he slammed into the Heartless, shredding them.
When the Heartless were all destroyed, the five panted, feeling that combination of exhaustion and excitement. Sakuzy shared a look with Yozora, the two sharing a smile.
"Never dull," Sakuzy grinned.
"I noticed," Yozora nodded.
"Ah, so you youngsters can handle yourselves. VERY good!"
The fox they had seen earlier hopped down from the tree. He landed right in front of the wanted poster, posing in the exact same way as the picture.
"ROBIN HOOD!" all five shouted in unison.
"In person," Robin Hood said, plucking off his hat and giving a sweeping bow.
"What's the plan, Kooz? 'Cuz that ten thousand Munny would be pretty good," Joyex murmured.
"I'm not sure-YAH!" Sakuzy yelped, a large set of hands yanking him into the trees. Before anyone could react, they were quickly pulled into the trees as well.
"Terribly sorry about that," Robin chuckled as he put his hat back on before hopping back into the treetops.