Disclaimer: I don't own the original media that I got characters from for this story. Enjoy!
Nexus HWR 25.0 Disney Castle:
"I swear these are the coordinates," Sora hummed and looked around the hilly landscape he found himself in. He was atop one of the larger hills in the area to give himself a better view of everything around him. "No luck? Or is the King being clever?" A grin spread over Sora's face.
He closed his eyes. Sora took in a deep breath and then dug deep inside for his magic. The King's magic is as strong as Donald's, or at least Donald always said that. I can't see Donald being modest! Sora chuckled aloud and then twitched and turned his head. "That way?" He wondered and looked off to a lower elevated section of the green hilly plains. "Must be their camouflage. If I can feel them though, I worry about how hidden they really are from the Sith."
Sora jumped up in the air then double-jumped and kicked his legs back behind him. He glided across the air while staying low to the group and swerving around other small hills between him and where he felt the twinge of something in this direction. Is it really magic that I felt though? I know Riku can easily sense darkness. I can as well… but why would there be darkness where King Mickey is? It worries me more than I want to admit.
Then again, Sora did admit to himself. Me and Riku have enough darkness in us that I'd probably sense way more if one of us was over here. This is just someone having a bad day! Or maybe it's a powerful magician. I'm not sure, but assume the best, hope for even better!
Sora slowed down and dropped to the ground before reaching anything. He did not know if his destination was camouflaged or hidden underground, but he started to feel more doubt at the concerning idea that he was feeling darkness and not a strong magical presence from the vicinity. Thor said it had been a long time since he last saw the King. What if the Sith took this place already? Not good.
Sora drew his Keyblade. Can't be too careful. If this is a secret Sith base now, they'll at least have information on what happened to-
Sora was walking cautiously forward when his thoughts of a potential battle about to happen cut from his mind. He stepped through the invisible forcefield that made a giant dome over the castle that now stood before him. The castle had different towers all with pointed peaks made of bright blue material. The walls themselves were white, and the huge gateway in front of him was yellow with a beautiful symmetrical pattern on both doors. "Wow," Sora whispered in disbelief. "It's like, a perfect replica! Or…" Sora cocked his head to the side. "I wonder."
Sora let his Keyblade vanish and put both hands back behind his head in a more relaxed way. "You know, Luffy's ship did get teleported here too. Not to mention Simon and the others' Ganmen. Did you all send King Mickey's castle here with him?" Sora wondered with a glance up to the sky. He waited for a few seconds but heard no response. "Okay. Don't feel like you need to answer. I know you're listening though. Pretty rude, not gonna lie."
Sora laughed to himself then looked back down and at the walls of the castle in front of him. "Hello! Disney Castle! Is anyone home?" Sora cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled at the castle. No guards- oh wait. There! Sora spotted a platoon of broomsticks rush to the edge of the wall and all lean forward as if looking down at him. "Magic! Nice," Sora had already been relieved by the gorgeous state the castle was in, but he was happy to see magic that he recognized as well.
"Any humans? Or humanoids- no, that's not it," Sora scratched his chin. Don't want to offend anyone. "Anyone I can talk to?" He corrected his shouts to be more inclusive. "Mice and ducks and dogs included!" Sora added hopefully. He even puffed his chest out after that call. Come on, guys. I can't wait to see you!
Sora eagerly waited for them. He held a strong posture, and he grinned bigger imagining the look on Donald's face to see how big he was now. Sora flexed his arms a bit and glanced at his short sleeves, wondering if he should roll them up. CLUNK! He snapped his focus back to the gates in front of him. Sora put his hands down on his waist and struck a pose.
The gates opened outwards. Sora looked inside and saw eight suits of armor marching forward from the inner courtyard and then turning in towards each other while leaving a wide space between for someone to walk through. The suits of armor sounded empty from their clanking, and he knew it was just more magic moving them around. Please be someone here too, he begged, as he was starting to get worried that the place might be deserted. Then he saw the silhouette though. His expression lit up. Hope filled him and he ran a few steps forward, only to skid to a stop and stare in surprise at who those big round ears actually belonged to. "Your Majesty!" Sora exclaimed in surprise, then he smiled anyway even if it was not the royalty he had been searching for.
"Sora," the female mouse in a regal pink dress with a floral pattern on it greeted back. Queen Minnie put a hand to her chest that felt warm at the sight of Sora. "Oh how you've grown," Minnie said warmly to the boy who smiled even wider that she remarked on it.
He ran forward and glanced at the suits of armor that turned their helmets sharply towards him. Minnie waved a hand though that sparkled with yellow light, and her guards stood down. "Is all of this your magic, Queen Minnie?"
"Oh no. Well, much of it is, yes. The King keeps the castle cloaked to the world though. I am so surprised that you found this place. No one ever has before." Minnie's remarks explained to Sora why no guards had not been posted. He still felt confused about something though and Minnie could see that on his expression. "Unfortunately, if you are here to see the King…"
Sora's face started to fall before she could finish telling him. He sighed and tilted his head back in disappointment, but then he shook it around and smiled back at the Queen. "Well that's too bad. But I'm guessing you can help me out too, Your Grace. And I am happy to find you even if the King isn't here."
"Wow!"
"Huh?" Sora asked in confusion at her exclamation.
Minnie shook her head but then smiled proudly at the teenager. "You have grown not just in size, Sora. That was very polite of you. You have matured so much."
"Aww, thanks Queen Minnie- wait. Does that mean, you think I wasn't mature back last time we met?!" Sora's shock was mostly feigned, and Minnie put a hand in front of her mouth and giggled at the silly boy's antics.
Sora smiled to see Minnie giggling like that. The King is alright then. He might not be around but he's okay at least. "So where is the King?" Sora wondered while walking up to Minnie's side and stepping through the gates with her. The guards stomped their feet then turned in tune with each other. They marched back after the pair, and the gates started to close behind them. The inner gate at the other side of the courtyard opened up automatically for the two who walked through with Sora asking, "Will he be back soon?"
"I am afraid not, Sora. You see, like you are- I'm sure, the King is searching for the Keyhole. It has been a long time since he was last here," Minnie told the boy who she led into her castle. She walked to a staircase with him that he followed her to and then upstairs to a long hallway with a red carpet going down it and decorations on either wall. "The King is very busy. Too busy, it seems, to check in every once in a while."
Sora squinted his eyes with a small smile and scratched the back of his head while glancing away awkwardly. "Ahh, yes. It can get distracting, this search and all." Minnie looked back at him and Sora continued quickly before she could say something else he'd feel awkward about, "Can you contact him though? I already know where the Keyhole is."
"You do?" Minnie asked in surprise and spun to the boy in the hallway.
"Yeah! If I can call him, we could go there together. It's actually in a really dangerous place that I need help, with… What?" Sora wondered when he saw the worried look spread across the Queen's face.
"I have not seen my husband in a long time, but he has sent people here to safety. The underground section of the castle has a refugee settlement in it full of people who the King has saved." Sora smiled at Mickey's actions, but he scrunched his face up in confusion as to why Minnie looked to be saying this as a bad thing. She explained, "The most recent group who arrived at our recovery site- where I send out a party to gather the refugees to bring here, as having them come directly is a security risk- arrived with a sealed letter from the King. He informed me that he was close. That he had discovered clues leading him in the right direction. Is he in danger, Sora?"
"He really found it on his own?" Sora whispered in amazement while shaking his head in disbelief. I needed Castiel to find it for me. It's like I was cheating. King Mickey's really amazing. "Don't worry, Queen Minnie," Sora assured the mouse woman holding her hands together in front of her dress in concern while looking up into the tall boy's eyes. "I wanted the King's help because if anyone can handle this, it'll be him."
Sora's words did not reassure the Queen very much. He saw that and wanted to get her mind off it, "So this castle! Is it the same one from your world or did you make it here?"
Minnie saw what Sora was trying to do and smiled again herself as she was reminded by how mature he had gotten. She clapped her hands together and returned to a cheerful personality herself while leading Sora down the hall towards her office. "It is the same one, however there have been many additions to the castle since our arrival. We have built many new sections that you have never seen before. So, will you accompany me on a tour? I have much I believe you should know, and something very important that I need to show you."
"In that case," Sora crouched down and put an elbow out for Minnie to lock her arm with for the tour. She laughed again and thanked him for the gesture but waved him off, as the height difference would make that too difficult for him to keep up. He scratched the back of his head admitting she was right on that one and just stood back up straight himself before following her into her office.
"Behind the fireplace," Queen Minnie started. She walked over to her desk and tilted a decorative statue on it backwards. The fireplace slid backwards then behind one of her many bookshelves. A light turned on in the cubby behind it, showing Sora that Minnie had a secret elevator in the office. "This will take us to my lower office in between the castle's bottom floors and the refugee camp."
"Whoaa," Sora stepped into the elevator and waited for Minnie to wave her hand to use some magic. She just reached out though and tapped a button on the wall. Sora sweatdropped then chuckled again as he wondered why he assumed even this would be using magic.
Ding!
The elevator opened back up and Sora and Minnie stepped out into an office like the one upstairs. On the shelves were fewer books though and more binders and file cabinets. The room looked less homey than the den above and more professional. Minnie grabbed a white lab coat off a hook just outside of the elevator that she slid her arms into. Sora rose his eyebrows, but then he pulled out his Keyblade and waved it, adorning himself in a lab coat and a pair of glasses with lenses that had no prescription and were just for show.
"We will walk through the lab on our way to the hangar," Minnie told the boy who she walked out of the office with. Sora glanced to his left and saw lots of signs hanging off the ceiling and posted on the walls pointing out directions for the camp's residents. He wanted to go talk to some of those people about their experiences with the King so far on Nexus, but he refocused the other way where Minnie was leading him. I wonder what's so important that she needs to show me? It could be something huge! Maybe it'll help me beat Meruem! Or save Kairi! Or seal the Keyhole! That would be cool.
Minnie led Sora to a tall set of double doors that he pushed open for them then held for Minnie to walk through. A lanky scientist in a similar lab coat as the ones Minnie and Sora wore was rushing across the floor from one station to another in the huge laboratory they entered. "Your Grace! And… a strange spiky-haired boy." Doctor Doofenshmirtz tilted his head to the side and looked at the teenager oddly before shrugging his shoulders and continuing on with his work. "The Super Ultraviolet Growthenator Advanced Ray is almost complete! With it done, we will be able to grow five times as much produce for the kingdom. Mwhahahaha!"
"Sugar?" Sora wondered after spelling out the strange name of the device in his head.
"'Sugar?' SUGAR?! Oh, sugar," Doofenshmirtz scratched his chin and hummed in realization as to why Sora said it. Sora looked at him in surprise that the doctor had apparently picked the name without the acronym in mind, and he laughed at the coincidence of it. "Did you do that on purpose?" The doctor asked while spinning to another scientist standing behind a different lab table.
Barb Diffy leaned back from the lit bunsen burner and shook her head. "I had no idea," she replied, and Doofenshmirtz hummed suspiciously while eyeing the woman who shrugged back at him. After Dr. Doofenshmirtz shrugged himself though and looked back at his own equipment, Barb flashed a quick grin in Minnie's direction that made the Queen giggle to herself again and Sora to hide his own smirk.
"Magic cannot solve all of the problems we have here," Minnie explained to her guest she was touring around the castle's underground. She showed off some of the equipment and machinery for conducting science experiments. Sora hummed thoughtfully while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose like he imagined a scientist would. I wish I had a clipboard, he thought while Minnie explained the nuclear power station to him.
The doors to the underground lab pushed open. Sora looked back to them to see a couple of teenage girls not wearing lab coats heading into the laboratory. They looked around his age, and both looked surprised to see him when they were walking down the middle of the lab through the open aisle. "Keely. Did you bring lunch for the boys?" Barb Diffy asked with a smile, pushing up her goggles from her eyes as she spotted her son's girlfriend.
One of the girls, the blonde, turned back towards Barb and nodded her head. She lifted up the paper bag she had walked in with, "Yep. Those genius idiots will miss every meal if we don't look out for them."
"Tell me about it," the orange-haired girl next to Keely muttered in agreement, shaking her head in disapproval. "I keep telling them I'm not their mom. Making us worry about them. Stupid, murmur, mutter, blah blah…" Her voice got more frustrated as she started grumbling under her breath incomprehensibly to the others. The thin girl in a white skirt and red tank top glanced back towards Minnie and Sora, "Your Majesty," Candace curtsied to the mouse lady. Then she lifted her head back up and wondered, "Who's this?"
"I'm Professor Sora. Nice to meet you," Sora lifted a hand to push his glasses up his nose again, nodding in an oh-so-serious manner at the girl with a long neck who nodded slowly back.
She narrowed her eyes back at him and wondered after a second, "What are you a professor of, exactly?"
Keely also stared towards the spiky-haired "professor" suspiciously. Sora shifted his gaze to the side and thought quickly. What do I know?! "Archaeology," Sora responded. Robin! Please let me know enough to keep faking this!
"I didn't know archaeologists needed lab coats," Keely started.
"Well, some bring fossils back to life," Sora informed the girl who stared back at him in surprise at that response. She looked back at her shocked friend then to Sora again who nodded confidently in what he just said.
Thanks, Ash. Owe you one this time! Sora thought of his good friend who had told him all about that crazy technology on his own world that could bring ancient Pokémon back to life. "That's not what I'm doing here though," Sora continued quickly before they could ask him to prove it.
"What I really needed to show you, Sora, is actually in the hangar ahead," Minnie told the boy next to her. "It's still under construction. But you will understand when you see it why I have brought you here."
Sora rose his eyebrows but then nodded back at Minnie and walked into the middle of the floor again to follow her to the other side of the room. The far wall from the double doors curved and led to a steel door with a wheel on it. Sora jogged ahead of the teenage girls eyeing him and wondering his reason for being here after hearing what Minnie had to say. He ran to the door and spun the wheel before pulling it open and holding an arm out for the girls to go first. "After you," Sora ushered them in.
"Uh, thanks," the orange-haired girl replied, losing a bit of her suspicious attitude and just nodding at him gratefully for holding the door for them.
The teenage girls headed in first followed by Minnie who stopped just inside the doorway. Sora walked in behind her and started to close the door, but he froze. He stood at the top of a flight of steps leading down to circular platforms connected by metal catwalks with railings on them. The room did not appear to have a floor as there was darkness down below the tall circular pillars that the platforms were on top of. Down several flights and on the lowest of the platforms that was also the widest, Sora saw what Minnie was talking about. He stared with eyes massive down at the blocky creation hovering above that lowest platform.
Several people were down there around the red, blue, and yellow ship that floated over the platform. They looked to be working on it. A whole team surrounded and examined the large rocket ship with a domed roof and smooth wings. It had sharp edges and rockets on the wings, blasters sticking off the nose, and turbo jets in the back. "A Gummi ship," Sora whispered. He looked down at Minnie who nodded back at him with a serious look on her face already. She did not give an explanation, and Sora had not asked her a question either, but he continued to stare into her eyes for a few seconds after she confirmed what he was looking at.
Sora turned and stared back down at the ship again. His heart raced. This is what she needed to show me? What does that mean? I know what it means. It can't be though. The world is barricaded! Isn't it? Is this the real reason Thor sent me here? Sora took a deep breath but failed to calm himself with just that.
"Come, Sora. Meet the team building your ship," Minnie told him. She led the way down the steps after the girls who had gone on ahead and did not hear what the Queen just said.
"'My' ship?" Sora repeated softly. Minnie did not look back but did nod her head while they continued on. Sora was slower to walk down there as reality felt to crash on his head all at once. I'm not just another person trapped on this world. No one gets answers from the Gods. No one travels to different universes like we did. I forgot- I got busy, but I have another role to play in all this.
"Sora!"
Sora lifted his bowed head and lost the serious and thoughtful expression instantly. A pair of chipmunks jumped off the port-side wing of the Gummi ship, leaving behind three other chipmunks who scurried away and over to a pair of boys sitting on the stern of the ship and examining a panel they installed back there. "Chip! Dale!" Sora called back at the mechanics who ran up the steps and past Queen Minnie. They climbed up Sora's body and ended up on either of his shoulders with excited looks on their faces. "It's so good to see you guys."
"It's been so long…"
"Great seeing you too Sora…"
"How do you like our Gummi ship? It's much better than the old one-"
"So much better! Come take a look," Chip jumped off Sora's shoulder, and Dale hopped off the other to race his brother back over to the spacecraft.
"Are you stuu-uck, Phin-eas?" Alvin leaned over the edge of the panel that the orange-haired boy was reaching into. He sang the words and hummed a tune while reaching inside himself and playing with the wires.
Ferb reached over and picked up Alvin to get the chipmunk away from the wiring he suspected Alvin was about to mess up. "Sorry about him," Simon stepped forward and looked into the same panel as Phineas before scratching his chin thoughtfully. The taller chipmunk in a blue sweater vest with a white lab coat over it pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and hummed. "The flux capacitor's four-dimensional-array continues to desynchronize whenever we initiate the bonding protocol… hmmm hmm-Hmmm. Hmm- Theodore!" Simon exclaimed at his chubby shorter brother who was leaning back and forth behind him and humming the same tune that Alvin had started to sing a minute ago. It got in Simon's head and had him unintentionally humming along.
"What is that tune you guys keep humming?" Phineas Flynn wondered. He sat back up and pushed aside his concerns about the ship for now that he had been stumped on. He needed something else to focus on when he got caught on a frustrating problem like this. "I've never heard it before."
Ferb nodded and turned Alvin in his hand which got the leader of the trio of chipmunks to stop struggling and to grin back at him instead. "We were in a band back on our world," Alvin bragged. "With millions of fans worldwide! We're pretty famous."
"Really?" Phineas wondered at the brilliant chipmunk in blue who had been brought in on the project thanks to his crazy high intellect. Simon had only accepted if his brothers could be there with them, leading to Alvin and Theodore's presence on the project that neither understood very much about. "You're a musician too?" Phineas asked.
"Bass guitar, and the keyboard," Simon replied. He kept staring into the ship's inner workings for a moment but sighed and leaned back himself. "It has been a while though."
"I miss my drums," Theodore said sadly. His smile while he was humming fell, and he looked down at his feet. The chipmunk kicked his right foot aimlessly and sighed just as Simon did before him. "I liked making music a lot. But we don't have our instruments anymore."
Alvin's grin from boasting about their past in the music industry fell too. He got a confused look on his face as he saw Ferb turn towards his brother though with a knowing look. Phineas stood up himself and got a big grin on his face as he looked back to his taller green-haired brother. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today."
"Oh no," Candace just approached her brothers and froze where she stood after hearing Phineas. "No no no! Just eat your lunches and stay focused on your project… whatever this project is!" Candace waved at the ship on her side. She swung her arms up and down to remind them of the current project that should be keeping their attention.
"Oh Candace, don't worry!" Phineas countered her. "It'll just be a short distraction. Promise- Hey! Are those our lunches?" Phineas dropped down from the ship and ran over to Candace with Ferb right behind him. "Thanks, Candace!" Phineas told her, taking both their lunches and then handing the other off to Ferb who just nodded in appreciation back at the older girl.
"Hey, Phil? Oh- and Mr. Diffy," Keely greeted the men who slid out from below the hovering ship.
The father and son pair sat up together from their wheeled platform that they rolled out on together. They each reached up a forearm and synchronously wiped their foreheads of sweat while letting out sighs to show how tiring the work was. "I brought your lunches too," Keely told them.
Phil jumped up at the sight of his girlfriend. The boy from the 2100s who had traveled back 100 years on their world and met his girlfriend gave her a hug and kiss as thanks for dropping off the food. Lloyd waited patiently behind his son but cleared his throat after a few seconds and held his hand out, waiting on his bagged lunch that he was starving for already.
Phil stepped aside to let Keely hand his dad his lunch. He looked past her though and to the edge of the platform where a spiky-haired boy approached behind the Lead Engineers of the project. Those twin chipmunks leapt up on the ship and started calling back to "Sora" to check it out. "Hey Keely, who's that?" Phil wondered, as this boy had come in right behind Keely and Candace.
"Says his name is 'Professor Sora,'" Keely replied.
"A new set of hands for the ship?" Phil wondered. "That helps," he admitted after frowning for a moment, sighing as he turned back to their unfinished project.
"Is there something wrong with it?" Sora wondered while stepping up closer to the group who all turned to him now after hearing that question. "It looks great!" He added in a complimentary tone to the whole group of them.
Phineas and Ferb had opened their bagged lunches and were already eating the sandwiches Candace had brought for them. Phineas lowered his sandwich and swallowed hard before replying, "Thanks! But it's still far from being completed."
"The technology is like nothing we've seen before," Phil Diffy admitted too.
Simon sat on the edge of the ship and shook his head in similar discouragement. He looked up to his left towards the other two chipmunks who were not his brothers. "Chip and Dale know a lot, but we're struggling to get over some hurdles here. Are you here to help?" Simon wondered.
"Oh uh-" Sora began, then he looked down through his fake glasses at the lab coat he was wearing. "Uhh…"
Minnie shook her head and sighed at the hole Sora had gotten himself into. She waved a hand, and the magic Sora had cast on himself dispelled. His coat and glasses vanished, returning him to the black and red clothes that he always wore. Sora chuckled while scratching his head through his spiky hair. Minnie informed the group, "Sora will be the one who flies the Gummi ship, when the time comes."
"Whoa, really?" Phineas looked at the teenager in surprise to hear that. "I thought for sure that we were building it for King Mickey."
Ferb nodded quickly in agreement with that sentiment. It seemed most everyone there thought the same.
"I think His Majesty will be coming with me too," Sora responded to their looks. His response only led to even more questions that the group thought of, wondering where they would be "going" in the first place. Sora added, "I'm not sure I'll actually be the pilot, Queen Minnie."
"Really?" Minnie wondered. "Donald said you were the best pilot of the three of you."
"He did?!" Sora questioned in shock. He laughed at the thought of it then smiled softly that Donald would compliment him like that. It is true. I was so good at maneuvering through space. I'm an awesome pilot! "Where is he? And Goofy? Are they here?" Sora looked around as if waiting for the pair of them to jump out from wherever they were hiding.
He noticed Chip and Dale's heads bow on top of the Gummi ship when he asked though. Sora looked back to Minnie with a nervous look and saw her shake her head at him to let him know it was not the worst thing he could imagine. He felt some relief as her expression told him that Donald and Goofy were not dead.
Minnie let out a long exhale and then rubbed her forehead as she thought of how to tell Sora this gently. "I am sorry, Sora. Truthfully, construction of the Gummi ship should have finished by now. If we still had Donald and Goofy's help. They went on a journey to search for the necessary materials that Donald said we were missing…" Sora's head started pulling back with his eyes growing wider and shaking at the expressions he saw on the others' faces. Minnie finished to the stunned boy whose head was spinning, "…And they were captured by slavers."
"It was unfortunate, but power nullifiers were put on them," Minnie paused again. Her voice got softer, "And shock collars put on too, and so they cannot escape."
Sora was shocked. He could never imagine that Goofy and Donald had been captured, let alone turned into slaves. They've been enslaved this whole time? For how long?! That's not what's important right now. Sora's expression got much more serious. He focused and turned fully to Queen Minnie who he knelt down in front of on one knee to put his eye-line more at her own. "Where are they, Your Majesty? I will go free them."
Minnie shook her head back at Sora. He frowned at her, as she clearly had enough information on them that he believed she knew where they were. His heart clenched up when she told him, "It's impossible."
"I can find-"
"We already found them," Minnie countered Sora's retort. Sora frowned deeper still as he thought as much but did not understand how Minnie could say it was impossible then.
"Wherever they are," Sora started again. He stood up in front of Minnie in a less respectful way now and just said in a sterner and more frustrated voice down at her, "I'll save them. I- I can't believe King Mickey abandoned them-"
"Do not say that," Minnie scolded Sora harshly. She used a tone that made the entire platform tense up. Sora's eyes grew wide, but none of the others had ever heard Minnie sound that angry either. Sora winced after she snapped at him, and he knew she had a right to be angry with him for accusing the King of something so terrible. Sora did not immediately take it back either though, just breaking eye contact with the Queen and looking away in a frustrated way.
Minnie brushed her hands down her dress and regained a more regal attitude too. "Sorry, Sora," Minnie apologized for her own outburst, making Sora feel worse that he was not the first to apologize either. "Goofy and Donald are in the Capital," she explained to him. Sora met her gaze again and furled his lips as he thought about what she just said. "Close to the Ant King. In his Colosseum."
"The 'Colosseum,'" Sora repeated. At least they're in familiar territory. The consolation of knowing that Donald and Goofy were used to fighting in a Colosseum already did not make Sora feel much better. That was never against our will. We went there to take part in tournaments we wanted to join.
"They take part in every Battle Royale. They are used for entertainment for the Capital. We have seen them on televised broadcasts. So we know they are still alive," Minnie continued. "We were very scared because we had not heard word on them since a failed breakout attempt in the Capital some weeks ago. Many gladiators… perished in the failed escape." Sora's eyes grew huge again and shook in fear over the sound of that. She continued to him quickly, "But the odds for the gamblers came out yesterday, for the upcoming Battle Royale that just got moved up as well. To tomorrow. And they were on the roster."
Sora rose a hand to his forehead and ran it back through his hair. "That's…" Sora had no words for it. The others he just met felt bad for this person who sounded close to Donald and Goofy. Seeing his expression twisting like this though, they knew he was even closer to them than they initially thought.
"I feel sorrow for them too, Sora," Minnie began. "But the gladiators in the Colosseum do not kill each other. They are in the same circumstances and have an unwritten rule not to kill one another. At least, most of the time." She decided not to tell Sora what had happened to the last Battle Royale's victor, as she knew that would just upset the boy further.
"That's still horrible," Sora said. "They're still slaves. Forced to fight for the amusement of others." He lowered his hand from his hair and shook his head back and forth. "I don't like it. I refuse to allow it to go on any longer."
"Sora-" Minnie started.
"They're my best friends," Sora spoke back at her. He did not recoil this time after speaking sternly to the Queen whose eyes grew wide instead this time. She stared in astonishment back at Sora because of how serious he looked despite what she had told him. "I am going to free them."
"Wait!" Minnie exclaimed, suddenly panicked as she thought Sora was about to race off from the tone of his voice.
"You said it's tomorrow, right?" Sora asked, and his rushed tone confirmed to Minnie that he was ready to run away.
"He cannot be serious," Lloyd Diffy began.
"I think he is," Keely said. Beads of sweat dripped down both her and Phil's faces as they saw how serious this apparently insane teenager was.
"Whoa! Let's not be crazy now," Candace held her hands up towards the spiky-haired boy who turned her way. "What are you even talking about? No one can just walk into the Capital and free slaves from the King. That's ridiculous."
"Don't you think Mickey would have done that himself if it was possible?" Minnie questioned Sora. Her tone sounded hurt, and Sora looked back and frowned in a conflicted way.
"I know he would have," Sora assured her. She sounded to really think that Sora doubted her husband, and Sora shook his head back to tell her that she was wrong about that. "But I believe I can. Maybe the King really couldn't, but I'll do it. I'll save them!"
"Sora!" Minnie exclaimed at him. She rose her voice again, but it was not in anger. Her voice sounded desperate. "If you die, we're all lost," Minnie told the irrational and irresponsible teenager. The mechanics and engineers on the platform stared in shock towards the Queen for saying such a thing. Sora did not look surprised by what she said, only frustrated to hear it. "We need all of the Guardians of Light-"
"Your Majesty," Sora got back on his right knee and stared into Minnie's eyes. He gave her a look that told her he was serious about this and that nothing she said was going to change his mind. She felt so distressed at that expression, but she froze and her heart rate actually slowed down at the smile Sora gave her. It was an understanding smile of her fears but also a knowing one in what he himself was saying. "If I don't save Donald and Goofy, then I am no longer a Guardian. If I don't even try? I won't even be able to summon the Keyblade anymore."
Sora held his right hand out to the side and summoned the silver and gold Oathkeeper Keyblade. "Oooh," Phineas and Alvin both leaned in and stared closely at the shiny weapon that had appeared out of thin air. They both looked back at Sora too though along with everyone else in awe as the boy continued his speech.
"My heart would be too weak," Sora told the Queen. It's not like with Kairi. I have no reason not to go. "My friends are my power, Your Majesty. I cannot abandon them. I know it's dangerous. I have faced the King before. I looked into his eyes and knew that he was about to finish me," Sora paused and grinned in a confident way. "But I survived then. And I'll find a way to survive this time too. I know he won't be very happy to see me. I know I'll be going right into the heart of darkness. Where all my enemies reside."
Sora slashed his Keyblade and stood back up fully. He held the blade in front of his chest pointed straight up, and then he let it break apart into gold particles of light that showered down between him and the worried Queen. Minnie's expression was still scared, but she listened to what Sora said this time and understood Sora's reasoning. "If the worlds really need me, then they need the me who would risk his life for his friends. Donald and Goofy need my help. So I have to help them. In the end, that's all that really matters."
Minnie stayed quiet for a few moments. She bowed her head sadly, then rose it and looked into his eyes as she replied, "I can't stop you?" She said it in a knowing tone but still raised the inflection to see if there was any chance she could convince him otherwise. Sora smiled back at her and shook his head to tell her she could not. "Hahh," she sighed. "I worried about what would happen when I told you. I considered keeping it a secret, and maybe I should have."
"I'm glad you didn't. It sounds like you need them if you're going to make any more progress on the Gummi ship too," Sora added with a nod back at the ship. He froze for a second and then chuckled and scratched the back of his head as he saw all the looks of awe and amazement from people staring at him. "Thanks for all your work on it. Does it have the rocket boosters-"
"Yes sir!" Dale called down.
"And we've even found a nav-gummi," Chip added. "It was in one of the dungeons that Donald and Goofy searched! When it's time to go, it'll help us on the first leg of the journey!"
"'Us?'" Sora wondered in surprise. "You're going to leave Nexus too?"
"We don't think we'll be able to communicate with you through the atmospheric barrier," Chip replied.
"So we won't be able to help you from afar if we stayed behind on Nexus. You'll need us for maintenance!" Dale added cheerfully.
"This is really… a ship to leave the planet?" Candace asked after she managed to close her dropped jaw.
"Whoa," Keely just whispered in amazement of her own.
"Sora," Minnie began in a scolding tone. He looked back at her and saw the mouse lady shaking her head at him. "I hope you have been more tight-lipped about your role to others since you have gotten to Nexus." Minnie tapped a foot on the floor and looked at Sora skeptically when he nodded back and assured her that he had been very secretive up until now.
"Let's go back upstairs," Sora suggested to the Queen. "I have to leave right now if I'm to make it to the Capital in time to save them tomorrow. I'll figure out a plan on my way there."
Minnie shook her head at the boy for his haphazard way of thinking. She turned and led him back up the stairs, and Sora glanced over his shoulder to see everyone else following along too. "Uhh, hi there," Sora greeted the mechanic crew again as they walked just behind him on the steps.
"I wish you luck getting Donald and Goofy back, Sora," Ferb said. The young British kid did not say much, but he wished Sora luck and made the older teen smile back down at him and nod in an encouraging way.
"Thanks," Sora told him.
"Are you really going to be able to leave the world with that ship back there?" Candace asked too as they headed into the lab.
Mrs. Diffy and Dr. Doofenshmirtz spun to the group after hearing Candace's question. Queen Minnie turned and cast Sora a look for what he had done by being so careless with his conversation. He chuckled anxiously and scratched the back of his head in apology.
"I already figured that out," Phineas mentioned.
"It did seem like that was what we were doing," Simon agreed with a shrug of his furry shoulders while he stood on Phineas' left shoulder himself. Sora relaxed and grinned back at the Queen who sighed but accepted that it was difficult to hide such a thing from the brilliant minds they recruited.
Phil and his dad Lloyd both spun to their co-mechanics who had apparently figured out the ship's purpose already. "Didn't you guys?" Phineas wondered at the men from the 2100s.
"Oh, of course," Lloyd Diffy replied.
"Definitely," Phil said and nodded himself. Keely gave her boyfriend a skeptical look, and Phil avoided her gaze while whistling innocently to act like he was not lying.
The group packed into the elevator together and went back upstairs. Queen Minnie led Sora into the castle's courtyard. "Please do be careful, Sora," Minnie told the boy who was taller and stronger now by the looks of him, but was still just a boy to her. "I worry about you."
"I'll be okay, Your Majesty. And I promise," Sora started in a focused voice but still with a smile on his face. "I will come back with Donald and Goofy at my sides. I need their help too," he added, his voice getting softer at the end there. He lifted his gaze and looked to the north instead of the northeast for a second. Rather than facing towards the Capital, he imagined where he knew Castle Oblivion to be. Maybe with them back by my side, I can actually do it! Maybe…
Sora took in a deep breath. First, I need to save them. He pushed aside thoughts of what he was going to do after saving them. Sora imagined the face of the Ant King, but he did not falter. Because he also pictured the faces of his old friends he had not seen in so long. "Donald, Goofy," Sora said softly. He curled his fists at his sides and then lifted off the ground. His feet rose off the floor with sparkles of light shimmering off them. The young man with spiky brown hair rose up and continued hovering higher and higher. "I'm on my way."
"Good luck, Sora!" Phineas shouted.
"You can do it!" Alvin called out.
"Yeah!" Theodore agreed with his oldest brother.
Sora spun around in the air above them and gave a salute down to the group below. Chip and Dale saluted him back, and the other three chipmunks saw what they did and joined in as well. Sora looked off to the northeast and kicked the air behind him to blast himself off. "Wow," Phineas whispered while he watched Sora zip away through the sky. "That guy was really cool."
"Yeah," Phil just agreed softly after a second. His left hand opened up and he interlocked it with Keely's on his side. She smiled brightly while they both stared off through the empty sky where Sora had soared away. "He really was."
"I'm glad he's with us!" Alvin called out.
Candace nodded dumbly while finally closing her lowered jaw. Everything that boy had done since he showed up amazed her, but when he was lifting up into the air she spotted the ring on his finger and was even more stunned. Is he married? Too bad. Candace sighed but then smiled again and looked into the distance where Sora had disappeared off to. "I feel better actually, knowing someone like that is trying to save the worlds."
"Me too," Keely agreed with her best friend. She turned back to Phil and told him, "You better make sure his ship is good and ready before they set off… wherever they're going."
"Where are you going to go?" Simon wondered, looking over at Chip and Dale as he asked.
"Wherever Sora takes us," Dale replied like it was simple. The head chipmunk twins did not seem to know the exact destination, but with Sora in the lead, neither appeared to mind the unknown.
"He'll know the way," Chip said. "He always does."
Minnie chuckled to herself as she listened to the group of people behind her. That young adventurous boy I knew has become quite the young adventurous man. A man people believe in. Minnie smiled softly into the distance and brought her hands up to her chest. Who I believe in.
Minnie put her palms together and closed her eyes. The others looked to their Queen and saw her in what looked like a prayer stance. "Be safe, Sora," Minnie spoke aloud. "I will pray for your safe return… and your success."
A/N The Gummi Ship?! Leaving Nexus? Once again we're reminded of the battle to come, as the Seven Guardians, the Keyhole, the Darkness, all loom over Sora's head as the overarching reason for why Nexus exists in the first place. For Sora though, the most important thing is learning about Donald and Goofy who we first saw on Aebrith in a Battle Royale. They survived the failed breakout attempt and will be taking place in the Battle Royale, the one that the King called the "final" Battle Royale the last time he mentioned it. Sora is heading to the Capital to save his friends. King Mickey seems to have found the Keyhole himself. What will happen next in Sora's journey around Aebrith?! Find out... in a while, as chapter 25.1 is going to start the next arc. Last chance to guess which of our main characters this new arc will follow. Let me know what you think of the chapter and your guess for the next arc in a comment below. I'll add a list too so you can see where these new characters I introduced are from:
Kingdom Hearts: Minnie, Mickey, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Keyhole, Gummi Ship, Chip, Dale, Castle Oblivion, Oathkeeper Keyblade
Supernatural: Castiel
Phil of the Future: Phil, Lloyd, and Barb Diffy, Keely
Phineas and Ferb: Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Dr. Doofenshmirtz
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin, Simon, Theodore
DC Comics: Thor
Hunter x Hunter: Ant King Meruem
Espada-001 chapter 161 . Feb 12
Galen no! Break free from your oppressor! So sad to see him not break free.
It was cool getting to see Spyro making an appearance as well since the little purple dragon is a powerhouse. I'd say his legends incarnation is definitely his strongest variant but skylanders is still pretty good.
Finally Gray decides to go check in on Juvia! She needs some comfort right now.
Anyway while Anakin was being taunted and by the other Sith Lords and they brought up the topic of Darth Plagueis I couldn't help but think of the YouTube meme going around the past year or so with Anakin being an idiot with some massive and ridiculous thesis on Darth Plagueis. I was a little sad that wasn't brought up as a joke but oh well.
Spyro was one of the first games I remember ever playing, I think back on the original Play Station 1. Before Kingdom Hearts even lol. I only watched Skylanders recently though, maybe a year or two back, and I remember trying to find a spot to add them into my Nexus Plans sheet. I WISH I had done the Darth Plagueis thesis meme. You got me laughing as I realized that I could've thrown that in XD. Glad you like the Darth Jar Jar theory! I probs saw that same video and it convinced me. I will say I think I added a High School DxD character somewhere, but I'm not sure (if anyone can let me know I'd appreciate it). And yeah first Devil May Cry appearances this chapter. Lots of opportunities for Hell, but won't reveal it until next part if chapter 25 is going to be the Hell arc. You were right in remembering that Satan from South Park got thrown into the Pit, and Maou Sadao still being around. Nice recollection! Anyway! Thank you for the long review (that I truncated a bit)! We'll see if Galen can manage to break free again in the future, and if Gray can catch up to and help out Juvia. Soon, on Nexus! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Guest chapter 161 . Feb 12
ITS REAL! ITS REAL! THE TRUE DARK LORD OF EVIL OF NEXUS HAVE SHOWN ITS SELF GOD HELP US ALL
IT'S REAL! Darth JARJAR! XD
-'Til next time everyone