"We're doomed. We're dead," Leon groaned and massaged his temples as if everything that just transpired had taken years off of his life.
"Don't say that," Yuffie moaned in response. "Seriously, you're acting even more emo than usual."
Cody and company left just moments before. The Traverse Town trio had taken the moment of peace to sit down and relax in the small cafe situated in the city plaza. This was supposed to be their big gameplan meeting now that the true battle up ahead was finally taking its course. Instead, it had turned into another round of Cody dunks.
"I'm not sure if you saw how he performed back there," Leon continued. "Or at the hotel. Or against me. Or, heck, that giant citywide Heartless rampage earlier was probably his fault too. But both his strength and conduct will sooner get him killed than do anything to help us."
"I mean, he did pull himself together in the end. That's gotta be something."
"He was motivated by that stupid promise of grandeur you were tossing on him," Leon barked. "He's doing this for all the wrong reasons. How did someone like him end up with the Keyblade in the first place? What a dipshit."
As Leon continued to assess Cody on and on, Yuffie's light defenses on him quickly drifted away as even she had the same bitter skepticism her older friend did the moment she laid eyes on poor Cody. That left Aerith, the one who barely even talked to him, to jump in to defend his honor.
"Hey, if it chose him, it must have done it for a good reason."
"Oh come on Aeri, you don't have to sugarcoat it. It's not like he can hear us. Who knows how far away he is by now."
Aerith giggled sweetly. That was true. There was no reason for her to be nice to someone who wasn't here, but it's what she truly believed.
"No but," she started. "Isn't the Keyblade tied to the heart? That's how it judges who gets to take it?"
"Yeah, and it clearly chose wrong," Leon grumbled.
"Listen, Leon. What if the Keyblade saw something in him that no one else can see? Some untapped potential hidden deep inside him that it knows there's something more to guys saw him during the battle. He literally turned the tables as soon as he joined in."
"Girl, that was a fluke and you know it," Yuffie said.
"...Still...
"I know for sure he's going to turn into something great."
oOo
This was insane.
Just yesterday, all he knew in life existed only in the confines of the one world he grew up on. And now he was traversing on a spaceship beyond any stars he could have ever hoped to see in the skies back at home. Beyond the lone galaxy he learned about in class. It was a breathtaking sight.
"Pay attention!"
Or at least it would have been if he didn't have to listen to Alakazam lecture on and on and on.
While Loudred piloted the ship, Alakazam was doing all that he could to teach fighting basics to Cody. The kid had managed to learn how to summon the Keyblade in and out of hammer space, but as for actual combat skills…
Alakazam wasn't much of a weapons based Pokemon himself, so he resorted to using his telekinesis to control a small army of spoons to face off against Cody in the most milquetoast training session possible. And yet Cody still stood there looking all beaten up because he couldn't even fend off well against a bunch of kitchen utensils.
"How are you this bad? I don't get it."
"No offense, but you just keep swinging those things at random," Cody grumbled. He'd barely spent any time with the psychic type, yet he already knew him well enough to know they were not going to get along. "It's one thing to train me in combat. It's another to just toss spoons straight into my face."
"A real battle is going to be random and in your face," Alakazam twitched. "Do you have a problem with my teaching methods?"
"You said you helped with paperwork in your world, right? Why am I even training under you? I'm not gonna learn anything. It's better if I just charge right into battle."
"Assuming you don't wait until fifteen minutes after the battle's already started to charge in."
The air grew cold. Tension quickly built up between the two. Even Loudred who was at the very front of the ship could feel it. He was about to happily interrupt them with a cheerful non sequitur like he normally would, but their fourth companion, Mokona, beat him to it.
"Hey, hey, I wanna play next," Mokona whined as he bounced between Cody and Alakazam.
"We're not playing," Alakazam sighed. "This is fighting practice."
"Oooh I can do that!"
"Sure you can," Cody lightly laughed in response as he gently patted the rabbit-esque creature's head.
As if to prove Cody's obvious sarcasm wrong, Mokona immediately changed tone. Suddenly, his eyes were wide open, revealing an almost uncanny pair of eyes that did not match the cute exterior of his body. He widened his jaw and contorted his face into a nightmarish expression. The red jewel that lay on his forehead glowed a bright crimson.
Cody had a feeling he knew what was coming and he wasn't going to like it.
Mokona began to rapidly maul against Cody while also shooting red bursts of magic out of his gem. Alakazam couldn't help but smirk as Cody fell on to the floor screaming as he tried his best to get the furball off of him. Mokona probably wouldn't kill him. He'll be fine.
Probably.
Alakazam marched over to Loudred as Cody continued squealing helplessly in the background. "Are we near anywhere yet?"
"As a matter of fact, we're arriving somewhere right now!"
"That's good." Alakazam's eyes squinted as he glanced at Loudred and then at himself. "Hey, you know how Traverse Town was mostly full of humans?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, that place was like a hub world, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well...odds are, aren't we going to stick out like a sore thumb?"
"What's the issue?"
He couldn't be serious. "We can't just waltz into any world like this. These people can't know there are other worlds out there. We need to keep a sense of order!"
"And?"
"YOU AND I ARE GOING TO BREAK THAT ORDER AS SOON AS SOMEONE LAYS AN EYE ON US!"
"Oh, I can fix that," Mokona stated as he effortlessly switched back to his normal adorable self like it was nothing. He bounced off of Cody who writhed in pain and trauma on the ship floor. "My master gave me magic that can change our bodies to fit whatever world we land on."
"See? Nothing to worry about!" Loudred laughed as he flashed Alakazam a thumbs up.
"I suppose…" Alakazam stared down at Cody. He wasn't sure if the pained expression the teen had was from actual pain or just sheer embarrassment over what he just suffered.
"Get up. We're heading to our first world. Remember, if the inhabitants haven't already figured it out themselves, don't reveal to them anything about other worlds or why the Heartless are here. Or else."
He was like a stern father hammering down points he knew his bumbling son was destined to fumble. As Cody slowly recovered from his paralyzed stance, he couldn't help but make mocking faces behind Alakazam's back as the Pokemon made his leave.
"I'm not that stupid," he grumbled.
oOo
MYSTERY TREASURE DUNGEON
oOo
THUD!
"Oooh, just like last time! How nostalgic."
"Why am I on the bottom again?..."
"Why is Loudred second to the top?!"
"Hahaha, sorry guys. Guess I'm still getting used to the whole piloting thing."
"Oh shut up! I'm piloting next time."
"Haha, you know you can't do that."
"Guys, seriously, I'm being crushed down here..."
"Mokona, stop jumping!"
"Hey, the kid's just having fun. Let him be."
"Whee!"
"Please...I'm begging you...I will die."
The group landed in their first world much like how they all first met; crushed together in an uncomfortable pile. Cody couldn't believe his luck that he was once again pushed to the very bottom. Something felt very different however. He felt so much more pain and pressure from his companions' added weight. He knew he was a weakling, but he couldn't have possibly gotten even worse in between his landing here and his time in Traverse Town.
Cody glanced upwards. They seemed to have fallen through an open skyline of a large and spacious cavern. Unfortunately, the roof of the cave was at the height of a skyscraper and the skyline didn't seem all that bigger than a slightly larger than average door. In fact, it was a miracle that they came out of their landing relatively unscathed. Him especially.
"Hey," he said as he turned to face the others. "Any of you guys happen to have a compass or something with…"
...Why were Alakazam and Loudred staring?
"Is something on my face? Did that fall give me a cut? Oh no, do I look like Leon now?"
"No, no you look fine," Alakazam replied, barely holding back his laughter.
"In fact, you look adorable!" Loudred added.
...Huh?
…
Why did they look bigger than usual? He was short for his age, but he clearly remembered those two not being all that different in height from him.
Cody noticed a small puddle nearby from water that dripped down slowly from a cluster of sturdy stalagmites. When he got up to walk over to it however, he felt an unyielding level of unsteadiness. Strange. Despite his difficulty balancing himself, he didn't feel very dizzy. He didn't even hit his head on his way down.
After much struggle, Cody finally made his way to the puddle.
Rather than his usual dumb babyface,he saw the head of a brown fox-like creature.
…
He screamed.
"Like my work?"
Cody jumped. The voice, face, and glowing red forehead gem were clearly Mokona's, but his body had been morphed into a crowned egg. He was utterly mortified to realize the two of them were now easily comparable in size.
"An Eevee and Togepi," Loudred chuckled as he marched right over. "Pretty fitting!"
"What a weird coincidence," Alakazam said, still sounding like he was repressing a laughing fit that could start at any second. "I would've thought we'd be more likely to land in a human world, but I guess there are other worlds with Pokemon too."
"Why are you brushing this off like it's nothing?!" Cody cried. The two were now giants compared to him and he was not having this. "Mokona, please turn me into something cooler!"
Cody tried to stand upwards again, but the overwhelming imbalance caused him to immediately fall flat onto the ground.
"Yeah, you're gonna have to go on all fours," Alakazam informed him. "I'm impressed you managed to walk that far on two feet to begin with."
This couldn't be happening.
A small pile of rocks gently tumbled over. Everyone jumped and carefully looked over their surroundings. Heartless could be anywhere and everywhere. Were they in this world too? Seconds passed by with no further movement, and Loudred decided that he would have to volunteer himself to investigate or else they'd be stuck standing there frozen for who knows how long.
Loudred crept over to the fallen rock pile and slowly peered behind the mess. He expected a Heartless to jump into his face at any second. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a lone Cubone.
"Guys, it's okay! It's just another Pokemon!" He called back before turning his attention back to the small creature. "Hey there! Do you live here? Could you tell us where the exit is?"
No response.
"Oh, sorry, we were making a ton of noise earlier and must've scared you, right? Don't worry. We're good guys!"
Still no response.
He was at a loss. Maybe the Cubone was waiting for a proper greeting?
Loudred held out his hand. "Where are my manners? My name is-"
The Cubone jumped towards him mid sentence and struck him with the bone it held. Normally, Cubones walked around with diminutive bones that were no larger than the frail Pokemon themselves. This one however held one that was akin to a scythe, all rough and jagged in texture and bent like a claw.
Loudred was sent flying towards the others. Alakazam was ready to tell off the much smaller Pokemon, but was startled to see how unusually black in shade the Cubone was. Its body fidgeted in an erratic manner and its eyes glowed a bright shade of gold not unlike those of the Heartless.
They all collectively gulped. This wasn't an ordinary Pokemon.
As if they were waiting for the Cubone to make its first move, several waves of Pokemon jumped from the higher freights of the cave and into the fray, all appearing to have the same level of Heartless corruption as the Cubone.
This was not good.
If they struggled with fending off against normal Heartless, they were even worse off here. Alakazam and Loudred were technically the most at home with this crowd, but their lack of previous fighting experience stacked themselves negatively against the monsters who were seemingly bred to kill. Mokona meanwhile struggled to reacclimate himself to the powers his new body both lacked and gained. Then there was Cody who was in a frantic state. He already struggled to fight in his regular form, but now he had to learn how to use the Keyblade on all fours on the fly.
How am I even supposed to hold this thing? Cody griped in his head as he attempted to wield the blade from his mouth with limited success.
Suddenly, several large bursts of noise erupted from the center of the room. Loudred released a flurry of Uproars, causing all the enemy Pokemon to flounder around in paralyzed shock over the intense vibrations. Loudred's companions didn't fare all that better from his charade, but if there was a time to run, it was now.
They hastened through the cave's corridors, desperately looking for an exit only to be greeted by Heartless crazed Pokemon, and eventually pure Heartless themselves, at every corner.
"Why are they all trying to kill us?!" Cody screamed.
"I'm too young to die!" Mokona chimed in, though probably not as sincere with his distress as the others.
…!
The quartet could hear murmurs of a conversation nearby. There was somebody here. Somebody who wasn't a Heartless. Somebody to help them find a way out!
In the near distance, three Pokemon held a tense conversation. A young Pichu looked to be on the verge of tears while the two who accompanied her, a Treecko and a Chimchar, tried their best to look away from her, as if they could feel the shame just from seeing her crying face.
"I promise, I didn't do anything," Pichu sniffed. "You have to believe me."
Chimchar gulped. "We believe you. It's just that…"
"This is our mission for the day," Treecko finished glumly.
Pichu turned into a sobbing mess. The two slightly older Pokemon could barely contain their guilt. It was like arresting a child who ran up to them for help.
"Look," Treecko crouched down and patted the small mouse's head. "When we get back, Chimchar and I are going to sort things out. We're not going to let anything bad happen to you."
Pichu's eyes dried up ever so slightly as she looked up at the two expectantly. "Really?"
"Promise," Chimchar smiled.
Treecko and Chimchar held out a pair of intricate badges. In any other world, this would have been a bizarre gesture, but in this one, this was their way home. The trio soon faded into a bright white…
"Wait!" Cody cried out from a distance. They were just far enough away that they weren't sure if the three could even register their pleas for help. "Take us with you!"
"Loudred, now is the time to open up your big mouth!"
"H-hey! Don't leave yet!"
It was too late. In a quick flash of light, the three were gone.
The group of four halted to a stop. That was their ticket out of here and now they were gone.
Silently, they all slowly turned back around. They knew all the several dozens of Heartless they fled from would be waiting for them, but if they wanted to get out of here, there was no other option.
This was going to be a long day.
oOo
The sun had already set by the time the four finally made their way out of the cavern and into the closest town. Their fur and skin were all ruffled and bruised and their movement was sloppy and labored. After so much bickering amongst themselves during their seemingly endless string of battles, their faces all showed the same message; We're tired and hungry, so let's hurry up and find food and an inn so we can finally rest and forget all of that ever happened.
Their uncomely hygiene and stances made them the talk of the town as they made their way searching for the cheapest grub possible. It even managed to land them plenty of pity discounts, but even then they struggled to stock up on full and filling meals that would last them for the night.
Cody eyed what appeared to be a shop's leftover boxed lunches from earlier that day. His stomach growled ferociously at the sight. Alakazam, Loudred, and Mokona had decided to make do with whatever tiny berries they could manage to gather, but after all the brawling they'd been through, that obviously wasn't going to do much.
"You want those?" A voice spoke.
"You look hungry." Another.
Cody looked up. Manning the stall was an Azumarill and Azurill sibling duo.
"Uhh, yes, but," he looked away awkwardly. He already saw the prices. They were much more than any one of them could afford at the moment. "We're kind of flat broke, so I think I'm good."
"That's fine," Azumarill smiled. "You can just take them."
Cody's eyes widened. "R-really?"
"Yeah," Azurill happily chirped, bouncing up and down on her sphere-like tail.
"B-but, these are so pricey…"
"You and your friends are new in Treasure Town, right?" Azumarill continued. "Think of them as welcoming gifts."
"That and the day's almost over anyway," Azurill sheepishly added. "If we don't get rid of them now, we'd have to throw them out anyway."
There was no room for hesitation. Cody quickly grabbed as many boxes as he could carry. The weight was so beyond his meek body, he toppled around in place. He called out to his friends to carry them in his stead. They were going to feast tonight.
"Oh right," Cody turned back to the duo. "Do you guys know a place we can stay for the night? Uh, preferably on the….less than cheap side."
"You guys are an exploration team, right?" Azurill jumped.
A...what?
Well, they explore worlds. That counted, right?
"There's a guild HQ near the edge of town. Giant Wigglytuff shape. Can't miss it. As long as you let them know you're fellow explorers, they'll let you stay as long as you need."
"For free?"
"Yup!"
That's all that he needed to hear.
Cody thanked the siblings graciously before rushing away. He had no clue what the heck a "Wigglytuff" was, but he was going to let Alakazam and Loudred handle that. All that mattered to him was that all the food he was going to shovel into his mouth tonight.
"Hey," Azumarill called out as Cody ran off further into the distance. "If you happen to run into a Treecko and Chimchar while you're there, tell them we said 'thanks' for the other day!"
oOo
"So, that's a Wigglytuff?" Cody gawked at the tacky building decor. It was modeled directly after said "Wigglytuff" to the point that it more closely resembled a fun house meant for young children at an amusement park rather than a headquarters of any kind.
"So pink," Mokona cooed.
"If you think this looks nuts," Loudred began with his signature laugh. "You should see some of the buildings back in our world."
"You said this was an 'Exploration Team' guild?" Alakazam questioned.
Cody nodded. "We are on a journey, so I figured we could flub our way in if anything."
Alakazam grumbled as he shook his head in disapproval, earning a crestfallen look from Cody. "They're probably going to look for identification that we do not have. This is an awful idea."
"Oh come on, lighten up," Loudred said as he loudly smacked Alakazam's back, causing the poor dude to keel over in pain. "We can't call it a bad idea yet if we haven't even walked in yet."
Mokona was the first to bounce on over towards the entrance with Loudred following not long after. This gave time for Cody and Alakazam to briefly stand alone with one another. A similar sense of begrudgement and unease from the pair's failed combat training filled the air between them. They barely knew each other and they were already quite sick of one another. After exchanging some quick glares, the two continued on their way.
As it turned out, even if the guild was supposed to check for official identification, that was not going to be enforced today. Right beyond the entranceway of the building and in the center of the main lobby, a commotion brewed and nearly every inhabitant in the building was in attendance. As Cody and the group sauntered in, Alakazam took this as a relief and ordered the others to sneak by as quickly and undetectably as possible. Cody however couldn't help himself and purposely tiptoed around just to check out the situation.
Right at the center of the crowd was a large weighty cat that gave off the essence of an uppity attitude just from sight alone. And to Cody's surprise, opposed to her were the same three Pokemon he and the others had witnessed leaving the cavern earlier that day; Treecko, Chimchar, and Pichu.
"I am telling you two, that little demon is a felon! If you do not allow her to be arrested, then-"
"Look, Purugly," Treecko sighed in exasperation. "Stop repeating the same things over and over again. Do you even have proof?"
"You dare cut me off?! Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, you're the duchess of the town north of Treasure Town, one of PokeZine's 'Top 10 Least Attractive Creatures', and an overall pain in the butt," Chimchar whispered in a bored fashion, gaining giggles from a previously teary eyed Pichu.
"What are you giggling at, you little monster?!" Purugly barked at Pichu and caused her to burst right back into tears. Chimchar instinctively jumped in defensively in front of Pichu while Treecko readied himself for another round of angry retorts.
Yikes, Cody grimaced at the scene. Don't wanna get involved in whatever this is. He started to hurry along, but as quickly as his decision to leave came, he stopped to a halt as he overheard the next bits of the clash.
A large pink puffball, Wigglytuff, and a parrot like Pokemon, Chatot, interjected themselves between the four in hopes of preventing a much more violent outcome. "Please, settle down," Wigglytuff said. "I'm sure we can probably smooth this all out."
"Wait, are you two actually taking her seriously?" Treecko said, aghast.
"If you could please provide us with the context behind your accusations, we will do our best to sort everything out," Chatot explained to Purugly.
"That thing," Purugly sneered at Pichu who understandably whimpered behind Chimchar in response. "Tried to tear my heart straight out of me!"
Cody gasped.
Tearing out her heart.
Like...a Heartless?
"You really think this kid tried to do that to you?" Treecko aggressively rolled his eyes. "Just look at her! You're over four times her size."
"Just say you hate kids or something," Chimchar added in annoyance.
Purugly breathed out and seemingly attempted to regain any ounce of composure so she could properly recount her accusation. "While I was taking a peaceful stroll through the Glistening Caverns yesterday, I ran into this demonic Pichu who just ran up to me and tried clawing away at my chest. She was clearly trying to mutilate me! And when I ran out of there, she had the nerve to run away screaming when I spotted her again."
Cody knew what was up. In fact, the others did too. They'd just spent an entire day fending off endless hordes of Heartless taking the form of common Pokemon. What that so-called Pichu tried to do to Purugly was make her one of their own. Of course, they couldn't just say all of this out loud.
Or could they?
"That was a Heartless."
Alakazam froze. He did it. The boy actually did it. He turned around. It was far too late to deflect. An entire building's worth of Pokemon were all gathered there and now an entire building's worth of Pokemon stared straight at Cody, expecting answers.
Wigglytuff was the first to break the stunned silence. "Excuse me, could you repeat that? What attacked Purugly?"
Alakazam looked over at Cody. His face was just as stunned as the ones on the very Pokemon he had addressed, as if it just hit him how horrible an idea this all was. There's still time to save this mess, he thought. Alakazam had begun to trudge over to him only to stop when the temporary Eevee just had to open his dumb mouth again.
"The-the thing that attacked her was a Heartless. Because, like," he stammered. "She said it was going for her heart, right? Well, Heartless are all about corrupting hearts and...stuff."
Stares.
Oh God, they must think I'm crazy, Cody thought. It was then that it really sank in what he'd done. He had broken the biggest and most obvious rule for this whole adventure. And to think, literally right before they landed, Alakazam had…
Cody turned his head to see a reddened Alakazam glaring furiously at him.
Any panic or guilt he had was now replaced with the sheer spiteful thrill he got from making his naggy teammate look that angry.
Let's push his buttons further.
"Okay, so," Cody returned to his explanation. "They're these creatures that are mostly all pitch black, and they usually have bright yellow eyes. Though in this case, it seems it took a form of a Pichu specifically to help blend into this world. Earlier today, I fought against a ton of these fakers."
"Yeah, we were there too," Loudred butted in alongside Mokona who enthusiastically bounced on his head. "We can vouch for him."
Alakazam was in a mood beyond furious at this point which only fueled Cody's confidence further.
"They go around feeding on the darkness hidden in hearts so they can just keep spreading and spreading."
Purugly ruffled her nose. "Excuse me? What are you implying here?"
"That that Heartless thing could tell you're an awful excuse for a Pokemon and that's why that thing attacked you in the first place," Treecko stated in a smug manner.
"Yeah," Chinchar added with a cheeky grin. "You could say you yourself are more to blame than Pichu here."
"Silence," Purugly screeched. "This is all nonsense! None of this is proof. You're just pulling excuses out of nowhere for the sake of defending this delinquent."
"Then how about we get you that proof?" Chatot barged in as he flew right in front of Purugly's line of sight. "We'll have Pichu under house arrest here while our two teams here go and search for this Heartless that attacked you."
"Rather presumptuous of you to already decide that this Heartless thing is real," Purugly huffed. "Very well. I suppose I will allow it. But if your lot don't have anything to show me by this time tomorrow, I'll have it that your precious guild members will be arrested as well for aiding and abetting a criminal."
Chimchar choked at the proposal. "Now wait just a-"
"Deal."
It was a circumstance even Chatot and Wigglytuff were ready to reject on their behalf on the spot, but Treecko, who was now mere inches away from Pururgly's face in a brutal staredown, seemed more than willing to show off the old cat in her own game.
It looked like everything was set.
The crowd slowly but surely dispersed. Purugly was now out the door and the main hall was now occupied only by the exploration team duo, Pichu, and the Keyblade Gang.
Pichu timidly approached Cody "U-um, thank you for helping me out."
"Yeah," Chimchar smiled. "Who knows how all that would've turned out if you didn't butt in. I swear, I thought Treecko was going to sic a Quick Attack on her. That would've killed off our case for sure."
"Shut up," Treecko sighed before holding out his hand to Cody. "Name's Treecko and this is my partner, Chimchar."
"Uh, hey," Cody awkwardly lifted his paw to Treecko. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to this body. "I'm Cody."
His companions followed suit.
"Loudred!"
"Mokona!"
"Alakazam," he forced out a greeting like it was an obligation he couldn't break out of. None of this was going as planned. He could care less about what was going on in this, or heck, any world. He wasn't supposed to care anyway, it was the rules. He just wanted to find his king.
"Thank you so much!"
Alakazam looked down. Pichu had gone around the group showing her appreciation individually. She had the sweetest smile like she was greeting heroes who just saved her from a death sentence. Alakazam knew he wasn't supposed to care, but truth is, this innocent kid was making it really hard not to.
"Excuse me," Chatot flew back into the main hall. "You four need a room for the night, correct? Follow me. Best to head off to bed now so you can get up bright and early tomorrow morning for your mission."
"Right," Cody nodded.
As the group made their exit, Cody tried to flash a thumbs up to Pichu, but found he had no clue how to imitate the gesture with mere paws. While Treecko and Chimchar raised their eyebrows in confusion, Pichu merely giggled, assuming he was waving, and wished everyone a good night. She really was a nice kid. He was glad he'd be able to keep her spirit up.
...Now there was the concern of Alakazam…
oOo
When the group arrived in their temporary abode, they immediately started to devour the small tower of box lunches they brought with them. The dinner was lively yet dead silent. Even Loudred and Mokona, the two who would most certainly find fun in a feast with friends, were hesitant to make a peep. They knew what was coming and they knew any accidental irritation could make things worse. By the time all the bento boxes were cleared, there was no more obstacle to shield away the big elephant in the room.
"What were you thinking?!" Alakazam screamed. "You think you're so high and mighty playing 'Hero' all because you have the Keyblade. You can't even fight properly!"
"Hey, what do you want from me?" Cody mouthed back. "You just wanted me to stand there? She looked like she needed help and I-"
"Like I said; playing 'Hero' thinking you're all that. I saw you looking at me back there. You were doing all that just to spite me!"
Well, he wasn't lying.
"And you have absolutely no grounds to stand on. I literally told you before we left that we have to keep everything on the downlow, and you go blabbering off anyway!"
"Hey, Al…" Even with his naturally loud tone, Loudred was having a hard time taking Alakazam's attention away from Cody.
"So you would've preferred if we just let a kid go to jail then? Huh?!"
"No, but you know what? We can't solve everything bad that happens in every world and we especially can't help them in worlds we don't belong in."
"Al-"
"So you'd rather we don't help out at all? You trying to get the Heartless to come for you or something?"
"Excuse me?!"
"Hey, guys-"
"Like you think they wouldn't be gathering to you with your cocky little attitude! You think that Keyblade of yours is going to save you?"
"I do actually! Pretty sure this Keyblade and wanting to save a kid is going to do a hell of a lot more for me than your selfish advising ass!"
"Hey now, isn't that a bit-"
"Selfish?! Do you even know why we're here right now? We're supposed to be finding the King and this is going to waste up any time we could be using looking for him. He could be in worse trouble than some kid getting thrown in jail for all we know!"
"Just some kid?!"
Before things could get any more dire, Loudred burst out the largest Uproar he could muster that could possibly stay within the confines of the room. Cody and Alakazam who looked like they were ready to get into a fistfight at any second now desperately clutched their ears in agony.
"Listen," he cleared his throat. "I understand you're both frustrated at each other, but..."
Loudred gestured over to Mokona who snored soundly on one of the room's four nested beds, the most blissful smile on his face.
"How did he sleep through all that?" Cody gaped.
The three all looked at each other. Loudred was right. No matter whatever beef they had going on, it was still time for bed. And after today, they could all really need a good night's rest now. Despite that, Alakazam took one last snipe before putting everything to rest.
"First thing tomorrow, we're leaving to search for the King. Got it?"
Cody made no response aside from a snide eyeroll, but both of them were clearly too tired to restart their rage. After all the craziness that occurred that day, as soon the three hit the hay, they were knocked out flat and cold.
And in Alakazam's dreams, he laid there reminiscing on the hopeful face young Pichu had given him. His mind was already adrift, yet he could still feel himself wondering; how much of what he said did he really mean?