San Fransokyo Part 4
The sounds of breathing and light snoring came from within Hiro's garage, the sun slowly beginning to rise and light up San Fransokyo. Sora squinted his eyes open as his internal alarm clock kicked in from his time as an honorary Apple, groaning slightly as he sat up from his spot on the floor. Stretching his arms, he sighed, running his hands through his hair as he looked around the garage. Glancing at his friends still fast asleep, he did a double-take when he noticed Sandbar was missing.
"Sandbar?" he uttered. Standing up, he found no sign of the earth pony teen in the garage. "Where'd he go?"
Jiminy hopped out of Sora's pocket climbed up his shoulder, letting out a yawn as he stretched. "Perhaps he's using the restroom?" the cricket pondered.
While hoping that was the case, Sora had also noticed Baymax's charging station was lacking the medical robot it was meant to recharge. "Then where did Baymax go to?" Sora mumbled. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the Gummi Phone and turned on the small light, keeping it away from the others faces as he shone it around the garage. If Baymax was up and about, it wouldn't be that hard to hear his balloon-like frame to make squeaking noises as he shuffled around. Aiming the light to the garage door, he noticed a small puddle of water beginning to seep underneath the door. "Water? There wasn't any sign of rain last night."
Navigating his way around the other sleeping bodies on the floor, Sora reached the side door, not wanting to wake everyone else up by opening the garage door. Opening the door, he gasped, finding Baymax standing outside, his body glowing and steaming while the lower half of his body was encased in slowly melted ice. Baymax looked over to him, barely phased as the semi-emotionless robot he was.
"I require some assistance to break free from this ice," Baymax said.
"What the heck happened to you!?" Sora exclaimed, his shout startling everyone else inside.
"W-What happened!?" Rainbow yelled. "Who's attacking!?"
"Ugh. What...?" Once Hiro had woken up a little more, Sora helped free Baymax from his half-melted prison by shattering the remaining ice with his Keyblade. Noticing Baymax had his internal temperature raised and was slowly drying his body off, Hiro was confused seeing the robot had been outside rather than recharging his battery. "Baymax, what were you doing outside?"
"Sandbar was not sleeping like all of you," Baymax stated. "From his psychological state, he was having a mild case of insomnia with his own personal issues around his own strengths and weaknesses."
"Insomnia?" Twilight questioned.
"I knew something was eating him," Sora uttered. "So where is Sandbar? I assume you followed him and wound up outside...with you being nearly turned into a popsicle."
"As I was talking with Sandbar to understand the root of his insecurities and resolve his inner conflicts, there was someone who had been listening to our conversation across the street," Baymax added. "I was unable to identify who attacked, but they were similar to Sandbar, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash as an equine form."
Shocked by the ambusher's description, Baymax replayed what he was able to record through his eyes on his chest. Watching the scene unfold, Sandbar tried to attack the Equestrian newcomer in the Organization, but she redirected his Thunder spell without issue. Sora grimaced, recognizing the mare's voice and snide verbal bullying.
"Another one in a black coat like that Dark Riku guy," Fred mumbled.
"Yeah. One I unfortunately ran into a while ago," Sora said. "Definitely far more dangerous than anyone else in the Organization. And I took the full brunt of her magical prowess, too."
"So Sandbar's gone off to help a couple kids this one kidnapped by himself," Go Go said. "The sun's almost fully up. He's definitely walking into an ambush."
"We've got to go after him before she does something horrible," Sora grunted. "Come on, guys!"
"Right!" Sora rushed out with Donald, Goofy, Twilight, and Rainbow filing out after him, racing off to the city to save Sandbar before he got seriously hurt or worse.
As Baymax watched, he turned his head to his armor, then waddled over to it. "Baymax, what are you doing?" Hiro asked.
"Sandbar has been my patient since we met him on the Golden Gate Bridge," Baymax said. "He is not yet satisfied with his care." Stepping onto his station and turning around, he got himself suited up, ready to assist their otherworldly allies. "I believe this threat is far more dangerous than what we've faced so far. I will offer my aid to Keyblade Hero 6."
"After seeing what that evil pony did redirecting Sandbar's magic, I think it is safer if the rest of us stay put," Honey Lemon suggested.
"That is a plan I can get behind," Wasabi agreed.
Hiro didn't want to sit back and watch of either of his new friends do all the work after all they've done to prepare for this new threat. Despite his stubbornness, after what happened with the Darkubes, if this pony was as dangerous as Sora claimed, he didn't want to lose his friends or anyone else in San Fransokyo. He looked at Baymax, giving the robot a nod, then opened the garage door for him.
"Be careful, Baymax," Hiro said.
Baymax slowly stepped out, activating his wings and thrusters as he was outside, then shot off into the air to catch up to the others.
Panting heavily, Sandbar reached the city, but with daylight slowly rising over the land, he was running out of time. He wasn't going to let Mako and Sakura get hurt, no matter what happened. Pouring as much energy in his legs as he could, Sandbar sprinted down the streets, reaching the tallest skyscraper in the city and quickly sprinted up the wall. He reached the top, wheezing as he caught his breath, only for it to catch in his throat when he found the mare standing behind Mako and Sakura, both of them bound in ropes and gagged, terrified out of their minds.
"Well, looks like you made it right on time," she said, giving Sandbar a mocking applause.
"Y-You...guys...are sick...and twisted," Sandbar grumbled, slowly catching his breath. Summoning his Keyblade, regardless of how tough this pony was, he was going to fight her to protect the two siblings. "Now, let them go. I made it before the sunrise."
"Hmmmm...Why would I do that?" she questioned.
"What!?" Sandbar exclaimed. "You said if I-!"
"Yeah, I know I make promises, but why bother upholding them if it means I get to watch you squirm?" She grinned sadistically, grabbing Mako and Sakura and pulled them over to the edge of the roof.
"Don't you dare do it!" Sandbar yelled, taking aim at the mare to blast her with a spell, but she quickly held them up in front of her like a shield.
Hesitating, Sandbar growled while she laughed with sick, twisted glee. "Go ahead and try it. Don't wanna hurt the innocent kids in the crossfire."
"Y-You're such a coward! All of you!" Sandbar yelled. "You stupid Organization guys attack my friends and try to take them away, and now you're messing with me! Don't you already have enough in your group!?"
"Please. We didn't need you or your 'friends' in the first place," the mare said with a scoff. Stopping right by the edge, she let go of Mako and Sakura, making sure they had a good view of the city from very close, scaring them further. Walking around them, she began to approach Sandbar, her sadistic glee suddenly turning serious. "And me? 'Coward'? Don't make me laugh. My only target is Sora, but I've already given him a taste of what I'm gonna give him when the real war begins."
"...Then why are you after me?" Sandbar questioned, unsure what this mare's vendetta was against Sora. "How do you know Master Sora?"
She blew a raspberry and laughed at the question. "'Master'? He's no master. Just a dimwitted punk who got lucky to be put on such a pedestal among weak-minded wielders like you. No official training, not even chosen by another wielder to be an apprentice, yet he was chosen and lucked out saving the thousands of worlds in this universe to be called a 'master'. He's still weak." Lifting a hoof, an aura of darkness flowed around her limb, shocking Sandbar with how powerful her darkness was. "I'll show him what true strength really is. To all of you."
Sandbar wasn't going to let this villainous mare scare him, but who she is only brought up more questions to her identity. If she'd known Sora for a long while, it couldn't have been much longer than a few years since he first arrived in Equestria. Past her, Mako and Sakura looked to the stallion, pleading him to rescue them.
"Well, you're looking in the wrong direction for that," Sandbar said. "That darkness is going to consume you sooner or later."
"...Not if you can control it," she said with a smirk, dismissing the dark aura as she lowered her hoof. "I got a little more time to play with you until he's all ready. How about this for their freedom? You try to land a hit on me, and I'll be out of your mane."
"Why should I even trust you after you broke your promise earlier?" Sandbar questioned skeptically.
"Heh. Do you WANT to start trusting me?" she retorted. "Now, stop standing there like an idiot and prove you want to be a hero like your idol."
Sandbar growled, but he wasn't going to let her taunting get to him. Keeping his calm, he crouched low, watching her standing idly, not even trying to prepare herself if she slips up. Sandbar shot forward, running toward her with a yell and swung. She grinned, weaving away from Sandbar's Keyblade, missing her by mere inches, then slapped the teen's face, making him stumble back in surprise.
"Ah! Hey!" Sandbar exclaimed.
"I didn't say I couldn't whack you for missing," she snickered.
Aggravated, Sandbar charged her again and swung wildly. The mare leapt back, ducking, weaving, and hopping away from the stallion's pursuit, dodging each strike with ease. Anytime Sandbar thought he would have landed a painful blow, it would miss, and he was rewarded by either a teasing smack, get tripped up, or getting flipped on his back. Growing frustrated, he tried to add magic to try to slip her up, but she either avoided them without being phased or redirected the spells, some of them startling Mako and Sakura when they were aimed closely at them. Sandbar grew more frustrated, knowing she was doing this on purpose, but her tactics were slowly waning his patience.
Entering San Fransokyo, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Rainbow, and Twilight headed to where Baymax overheard Sandbar and the Organization XIII pony were meant to meet up at. Sora, Rainbow, and Twilight had put their visors back on so they could stay in contact with Hiro, all of them wishing Sandbar's was fixed or replaced after Dark Riku broke it. Baymax caught up with them, his sensors locking onto Sandbar's location through his vitals after healing him up.
"Twilight, Rainbow, go ahead of us and get Sandbar out of-!" Before Sora could finish his command, the group were blindsided by Darkubes ramming into them from a passing alley. They quickly recovered, startled by the return of the Darkubes they thought they destroyed last night. "They're back!?"
"Come on, I thought we were done with these things!" Rainbow groaned in annoyance.
"He must have had a surplus of extra microbots to bring them back!" Hiro said over the mares' and Sora's visors. Just before they could destroy them, the Darkubes began to head toward the tallest building. "There's more clusters of them...and they're...converging around the skyscraper Sandbar's at?"
Up ahead, the group could see hundreds of thousands of Darkubes flying toward the skyscraper, barring off any passage as they built an indestructible wall around the sidewalk surrounding the building. "Of course it was going to be a trap," Twilight growled. "But if these Darkubes are this close, then Dark Riku is, too."
"You don't have to look too far, princess." Above them, sitting on the edge of a nearby building was Dark Riku, and behind him was the same heart-shaped cluster they defeated earlier. The Darkubes slowly hovered down to the ground, shifting and pulsing on occasion with its core floating in the center. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Twilight, Rainbow, and Baymax were ready to fight it, but out of nowhere, Dark Riku dropped down, kicked off the side of the building, and slashed through the core with his Soul Eater sword. The Darkube cluster suddenly fell apart, confusing the heroes as they gawked at Dark Riku destroying them instead. He pulled out the stolen chip, which began to exude a dark aura around it. "Almost there."
"...What?" Rainbow uttered.
"Uhh, weren't we supposed to fight it?" Goofy questioned.
"No need," Dark Riku said, kicking away a couple dead microbots away from the pile behind him. "These worthless cubes gathered all the data we were looking for. The terror of being attacked without warning, the despair of having no place to run, the longing for vengeance."
"You've lost your mind!" Donald quacked.
Dark Riku ignored the mage, but what his intentions were when gathering data for that chip made the wheels in Twilight's head spin. "You were...gathering emotional data to simulate those in a real heart?"
"And the bookworm manages to figure it out without me trying to be subtle," Dark Riku said. "I don't think I need to ask whose heart this was meant to try to replicate."
"If it involved trying to use me, there's no need to give you your rhetorical answer," Sora said.
"Precisely." Raising his left hand, Dark Riku summoned a void above him. A gravitational pull sucked up the microbot pile, unnerving the group. "Now, the vessel to test this newly created 'heart'. And I did promise to return this chip where I found it."
Slowly floating out from the void, the Darkubes had reformed into a sphere, sparking with red energy as they shifted around something inside it. While trying to gauge what was inside, Hiro let out a startled gasp when he saw a familiar arm sticking out from the side before it was sucked in by the Darkubes.
"No...Baymax?" he uttered, shocking the Key Bearers.
"Baymax!?" Rainbow exclaimed, looking at the Baymax standing among them, then back at the Darkubes.
"So he really did bring the first one back," Sora uttered. The Darkubes touched down as they faded away, revealing the transformed version of Baymax Dark Riku had "upgraded". Similar to the armor Baymax wore, but in a dark purple color with spiked pauldrons, and the right hand was coated in smaller Darkubes in a giant fist. "...And he's going to make us fight him."
"There is one piece that is missing, however," Dark Riku stated, letting the chip float from his hand to the automatically opening access port on Dark Baymax's chest. The chip slid into one of the slots, prompting the port to close back up, activating the long-since deactivated robot, the visor glowing a bright, menacing red. "Sadness. Loss. And only you can make it completely whole, Sora, as you destroy your friend's creation right before his very eyes."
Dark Riku disappeared through another dark portal, the shock of what he did to the original Baymax even making Twilight pause, forgetting him and focusing on the Dark Baymax flaring out a pair of dark, tattered wings and activating its thrusters. "Oh no," Baymax said, voicing all of their concerns.
Sora grit his teeth, given yet another choice in saving or destroying someone to protect everyone. "Not gonna happen," he uttered. "Hiro, don't worry. We'll find a way to get the first Baymax back to the way he was."
"Is it possible to try to get the chip out of his access port?" Hiro theorized.
Dark Baymax's hand soon morphed into a sharp claw, then sped forward, heading straight for Sora. Everyone scattered, diving out of the way while Baymax took to the air.
"Unless we want to get cleaved into pieces, I don't think that's gonna work!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"I'll figure something out," Sora promised. "We'll take this in the air. Baymax!"
"On my way, Sora," Baymax called out, dropping down as Dark Baymax was now going after him.
Sora sprinted down the street as Baymax flew beside him, giving him the chance to hop onto his back. "Baymax and I will take care of the original! You guys get Sandbar!"
Baymax took to the sky with Dark Baymax chasing after the duo around the city. "Not without me, you're not!" Rainbow shouted, zipping off to join Sora in stopping Dark Baymax.
Twilight sighed and faced the skyscraper. "I think we can handle that. Let's go, Donald, Goofy!" Donald and Goofy both nodded, only to be barricaded by Dark Riku reappearing. Growling, the trio readied themselves with their weapons. "I'm sick and tired of staring at your face every time you decide to pop in and fight or run away! Make a choice or I'll make it for you!"
"You wanted a fight, right, princess?" Dark Riku questioned. While he summoned Soul Eater, he snapped his other fingers, summoning Heartless and sent them scattering around the city. "My friend's busy dealing with your ward up there. I don't want you interfering."
"We'll go after the Heartless!" Donald said.
"Good luck, Twilight!" Goofy added, the mage and guard captain splitting up to take care of the Heartless intending to go after the citizens of San Fransokyo.
"Won't need it," Twilight muttered under her breath. Activating her H-Link with Laughter, both her Keyblades bounced at her sides in midair, eager to attack or cast while she glowered at Dark Riku, who reared his blade back with his left arm held forward with his palm facing upward. "Let's party, you faker."
Exhausted, Sandbar panted heavily as he laid on his back, flipped over once again by the kidnapping mare. He'd been trying for the last twenty minutes to hit her, but she was far too agile, and he'd been given a few rough bruises as a reward for his many failed attempts.
"Stop laying down on the job and try to hit me~!" she mocked. Sandbar couldn't even get mad, all his energy earlier from his frustration gone as his despair began to sink in. She sighed heavily and walked over to him. "This is just sad. All your bravado was nothing by false promises, huh? I was 'trying' to help you figure out what you're capable of like your other friends you whined about to those two kids, but I guess you're just someone who's meant to exist in the background."
"...How...How long...were you spying on me for?" Sandbar mumbled.
"Long enough while waiting for this experiment to be tested. Not like it was gonna work out with a full team ready and waiting." As she got closer, Sandbar made a last-ditch effort to strike her. Calling his Keyblade in his hoof, he tried to smack her leg, but she kicked his hoof, knocking Lazy Turtle away, and was met with a harsh stomp to his limb, making him grimace. She chuckled and shook her head, amused by the attempted element of surprise. "How cute. You really thought I'd let my guard down that easily. Big mistake."
She grasped his leg, flinging him toward Mako and Sakura. Mako didn't want Sandbar to give up, even after the humiliation he was given by the villainous pony in black. As he was flung, his saddlebags opened slightly with the colt's armor pauldron slipping out. Sandbar struggled to get on his hooves, crawling over to his enchanted armor piece.
"Y-You'll...be the one...who's mistaken soon," he uttered, snatching his armor and putting it on his shoulder.
He was about to smack it, but the mare quickly zipped in front of him, jabbing him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he crumbled to the ground. "You and your little friends were in way over your heads when you signed up for this gig. But just like your 'master', you only got this far by being lucky." While Sandbar tried to get his breath back, his ears twitched hearing the sound of laser fire and whooshing from something swiftly flying around the city. The mare glanced over to the sound as well, grinning as she spotted both Baymaxes soaring around, Sora on the second version's back firing beams of light at the corrupted original, and Rainbow Dash zipping around with her blinding speed trying to clash with Dark Baymax. "And it looks like your time's up. Too bad."
"H-Huh?" She grabbed his mane, dragging him over toward Mako and Sakura, then flung him close to the edge of the building. Nearly slipping over, Sandbar tried to get back up, watching the aerial battle between both Baymaxes. "I-Is that...the other Baymax?"
The mare pulled out the strands of rope covering both kids' mouths, then grasped the backs of their bindings and lifted them up. "H-Hey! What are you doing to us!?" Mako exclaimed while his sister whimpered.
"Relax. I'm just gonna give you two an all-expenses paid trip to the earth. It's a real doozy of a fall," she hinted with sadistic glee. The Darkubes that sealed off any access to the skyscraper dropped their barrier. "But let's see if your pony hero can manage to save you, however, he might only be able to save one of you. Let's test his luck while he's still breathing!" With a harsh thrust and a gust of Aero magic from her hooves, she sent both Sakura and Mako sailing off the building, separating them far enough to where only one of them could be rescued in time. Sandbar gasped, only to yell as he felt his mane getting yanked again, hoisted back up on his hooves. "Choose wisely."
She got behind him, then bucked him hard, leaving him falling at the same height as Mako and Sakura screamed. Sandbar flailed about, hearing the mare cackle as she watched them plummet to the city streets below. Hearing the screams of the two children, Sora, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight glanced over in the middle of their battles, staring in shock at the three falling bodies.
"Oh no!" Leaving Baymax to handle Dark Baymax, Sora leapt off of the second version, summoning Crystal Ultima in place of his Kingdom Key, and Formchanged into his Ray of Hope form. He flew off to save them, but the Darkubes that blocked off the skyscraper came rushing at him faster than he could blink. Catching him in a sphere, Sora grunted, pounding his fists and feet against the microbots, but even with his Ray of Hope's strength, they were impervious, leaving him only a sizable view of Sandbar and two innocent kids falling to their deaths. "Damn it! Rainbow, I can't break free!"
"I got them!" Rainbow flapped her wings, zipping off in a rainbow blur.
She hurried to save Sakura first, but before she could close enough, she was suddenly blindsided by the Equestrian member of the Organization. Diving into the pegasus's side, she sent Rainbow crashing into the nearest building, stunning her.
"Stopga," the mare said, freezing Rainbow Dash in place as she tried to push back the assailant. "No interfering. This is his task alone. Just sit back and watch...Well, the ending, at the very least."
Even though Rainbow was frozen in time, her AR visor was still active, feeding back what the mare said to Sora, Twilight, and Big Hero 6 back at the garage. "Rainbow!" Twilight called out. Telekinetically shoving Dark Riku away from her, she took to the air to try to help Sandbar, Mako, and Sakura. Dropping her line of sight on Dark Riku was a mistake as he warped up to the nearest building, then bounded off the edge and landed on her back. "AH! Why, you-!?"
Tightly gripping her horn, Dark Riku forcefully shoved Twilight's head down, her flailing body falling into a nosedive. "Don't start what you can't finish!" he advised. As they were reaching the ground, Twilight still struggling to gain control while she telekinetically swung her Keyblades over her back to knock the evil double off of her. But with his hand firmly gripping and constricting her magic flow to her horn, her attempts failed. He finally let go, only to leap up and slam his feet down hard on her back, sending her crashing the rest of the way to the street. As she grunted and tumbled across the pavement, Dark Riku slammed down on her back once she came to a stop, pinning her wings to her side and against the ground. "I thought you wanted to kill me, remember? Or did you want to watch the show before I take your heart as my prize?"
Twilight struggled to break free, feeling Dark Riku flick her horn to dispel her telekinetic hold on her Keyblades. With Baymax struggling to beat back Dark Baymax, Sora trapped inside a sphere a microbots, Rainbow temporarily frozen in time, and Twilight pinned down by Dark Riku, there was nothing that could save Sandbar or the two siblings.
Time around Sandbar slowed to a painful crawl, glancing over to Mako and Sakura, unable to decide who to rescue, even if he had to use himself as a cushion for either of them for the painful crash landing. He was going to fail them, fail everyone. His mentors were busy trying to stop Dark Baymax. He couldn't protect them.
Sandbar panted as he sprinted up the side of the cliff of one of Yakyakistan's mountains. Even with the more frigid air of the region, his lungs burned, but he refused to stop until he reached the top. Below, Yona watched him with awe until he reached the edge, climbing himself up and catching his breath.
"Wow, Sandbar! That was amazing!" the yak cheered.
Sandbar looked down, grinning bashfully. "Well, I figured we were gonna train with this or Flowmotion sooner or later!" he called out. "Why don't you give it a try, Yona!?"
Yona's smile drooped as she stared at the steep angle of the cliff. With her large size and stumpier legs, she didn't feel like she was able to do so or keep her balance. From her ascent climbing the mountains in Arendelle, those angles felt impossible for her to try, even if the walls were close to ninety degrees.
"Uhh, maybe Yona find hill to reach Sandbar!" she said.
"Come on, Yona! I believe in you!" Sandbar praised, showing his confidence in his girlfriend.
Gulping nervously, she didn't want to leave Sandbar disappointed. Taking a deep breath, she backed up to give herself a running start, snorting as she glared at the cliff, then began to sprint forward. Picking up enough speed, she jumped, shifting her body upward, and the moment her hooves hit the cliffside, she continued running. Sandbar cheered her on, advising her to keep moving and focus on climbing up. Yona was surprised she could do it, but kept going with more confidence in herself. The angle grew a bit steeper, making it harder for her to keep climbing, but she refused to give up.
"Yona...almost...there!" With a mighty leap, Yona yelled, reaching her forelegs out as she flopped them onto the edge. Panting, she was shocked she was able to do it as she beamed. "Y-Yona did it!" Her celebration was short-lived as she began to slip. She scrambled to try to push herself up, but her hind legs dangled and couldn't reach the rocky surface just a few inches short of the cliff's edge. "WAH! Yona slipping!"
Sandbar noticed, diving forward and grabbed one of her hooves before she fell back down. "I-I gotcha, Yona!" he grunted. He felt himself slipping, slowly being pulled closer over the edge while struggling to hold the yak. Thinking quickly, he summoned Lazy Turtle with his tail, wrapping it tightly around the hilt and buried it into the earth, anchoring him. He poured all his strength into pulling Yona up. Yona whimpered, regretting glancing down to see how high up she was from where the ground was. "D-Don't look down! Focus on me, Yona!"
"Y-Yona trying!" she said.
Sandbar grunted as he felt himself slide forward, making Yona panic more, but he refused to let go. "I'll...rescue you...no matter what happens," he promised.
As he dug his back hooves firmly against the earth, Sandbar wasn't aware of his sea turtle cutie mark suddenly glowing with the promise he gave Yona. Using his earth pony strength and his training with his girlfriend to increase his strength further, he gripped her hooves tightly and began to pull, straining his muscles to their limit. Slowly, but surely, Sandbar made progress, hoisting Yona back up on the cliff's edge while pulling himself back toward his anchored Keyblade. With one valiant whinny, Sandbar gave one more powerful tug, nearly throwing Yona up in the air as they were both sent flying toward the more spacious ground behind him. They both yelped, plopping into the snow, Sandbar on his back while Yona nearly crushed him under her weight as the snow around them scattered.
Sandbar uttered a groan as Yona shifted slightly, the couple gazing at each other in silence for a moment. Noticing her almost laying on top of him, Yona giggled sheepishly, rolling off of him to let him breath.
"Yona...still need to work on climbing," she mumbled.
"It was...a good effort," Sandbar said. He sat up, rubbing the muscles in his forelegs. "You ok, Yona?"
"Mhmm," Yona uttered with a nod. "Sandbar always surprise Yona."
"I think I surprised myself, but it's not really that special," Sandbar said. "Nothing like you or the others can."
"What Sandbar mean?" Yona asked.
"Well, I haven't been to another world yet, and while you guys all went, you were able to pull off something incredible that turned the tide against a powerful foe," Sandbar explained. "When you charge, you create an aura that bounces smaller Heartless off of you. And you can even shift the earth beneath you with just a single step. Gallus has a powerful healing spell, Ocellus can perfectly copy either of us, Smolder can use her dragon breath with different elements like our magic spells, and Silverstream not only discovered a hidden spell that wielders' haven't used in centuries, but she's also able to conjure spells with the weather or the elements around her with this geomancy stuff. I've been working hard to discover something, but I haven't had much luck yet."
Yona tilted her head, still confused by Sandbar's plight. "...Sandbar already special enough," Yona said, her response baffling the stallion. "Maybe Yona and other friends find new ways to fight, but that not mean Sandbar not as special as friends."
"Huh?" Sandbar wanted to protest, but Yona cut him off, pushing the stallion back on his back while she stood over him.
"Sandbar stronger than Yona ever could be. And smarter," Yona said. "Sandbar not treat Yona or friends different when we first go to friendship school. Sandbar help friends when Chancellor Neighsay shut school down because of us and we ran away from home to stay friends. When we need help with studies, Sandbar tutors all of us without second thought. Without Sandbar, Yona not ever make such good friends." She cupped his face in her hooves before planting her lips against his. Sandbar was caught by surprise from the deeply passionate kiss, barely given any time to react when she removed her lips from his and nuzzled him. "...Yona not be with Sandbar..."
Sandbar didn't feel like his impact among the others was that important. He'd just been there to learn the lessons of friendship, and if it meant meeting new friends, especially those from other kingdoms, he was going to make the most of it. There were some ups and downs between them all, but he wouldn't trade them for anything. Especially Yona. She may have felt unintelligent, which he reminded her she definitely wasn't, and she grew up in a way her culture showed her to avoid losing that stubborn yak pride. Sadly, he didn't feel like he contributed much. Their tests given to them by Master Eraqus and Hydaelyn left him as the last one the others searched for, led away from his friends who needed him while he was dragged along by illusions of Sora and Riku. He took the broken pieces of the former Tree of Harmony and tried to replace it with a live sapling without the others' consent. He still felt guilty for betraying his friends when Neighsay took over the school and forced him and the rest of the Young Six to be bound in chains, even if it was the only way he could search for help to not only free them, but also stop Cozy Glow when they discovered it was her who had been stealing all of Equestria's magic.
Sandbar didn't want to imagine where he'd be without his friends, or without Yona. He was fascinated by the yaks and their heritage, and Yona was a delight as he got to know her more and more. That friendship blossomed into infatuation, which led up to him asking her out to the Fetlock Fete. As strange as it was to see Yona as a pony over her misconstruing how the dance was supposed to go, he liked Yona for the yak she was, not the pony she pretended to be. After Yona's venture through Arendelle and the psychological and emotional torment Larxene inflicted on her over her wits, he wasn't going to let her feel that insecure about her knowledge, or lack thereof, and pick her up if she's fallen.
Smiling, Sandbar nuzzled his yak girlfriend. "That may be true, but I still don't think that makes me stand out," he said. "I just like to help and keep everypony I love safe. That's how I am, I guess."
Yona giggled, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Sandbar never forget," she said.
"As Master Lea says, 'Got it memorized'," Sandbar said, mimicking the wielder's signature gesture. The couple laughed, Yona leaning forward to share another kiss with Sandbar, but the stallion began to shiver, feeling the cold snow on his back and a chilly breeze brush past them. "T-Think we can head back and warm up? I think I had enough fun exploring for today."
"It not bad out," Yona said, only to remember she's got much thicker fur than Sandbar, and he only wore a snow beanie and a scarf. "Oh. Right. Yona used to Yakyakistan cold."
"I don't think I will," Sandbar chuckled. Yona moved off of Sandbar and helped him back on his hooves. As the couple walked down the mountain, he sidled up to Yona, already feeling warmer with her thick fur rubbing against his. "Ahh. Yaks best at staying warm."
Yona just giggled, letting Sandbar snuggle up to her for warmth and plan to do some more later in the evening before bed.
Sandbar snapped back to reality after he was about to give up. He didn't know what he was thinking. Mako and Sakura needed his help, and he wasn't going to let them down, even if it was impossible. Steeling his resolve, promising to save both of them, his cutie mark began to glow brightly.
"I can't...fail them," he uttered. Feeling something welling up within him, he didn't pay it much mind, focusing on wanting to rescue both children from the deadly fall. "Gotta...give it my all...and save them!"
With a grunt, he slapped his pauldron, making the armor light up as well as his cutie mark. Sandbar's body was soon enveloped in light, followed by a surge of water that surrounded him in a giant sphere. The water swirled rapidly, then suddenly unleashed two spiraling masses, each one soaring off toward Mako and Sakura. Floating beneath the two children, they stopped spinning, revealing themselves to be giant aquatic shells, and popping out of the holes were four sets of flippers and a turtle head. Landing safely on their shells, Mako and Sakura gawked at their saving grace as they were safely hovered down to the ground.
"Whoa. This is...awesome," Mako uttered. The enchanted sea turtles landed, sliding both Mako and Sakura off their shells and tore off the ropes binding them. Mako quickly ran over to his sister to make sure he was ok, then looked back at the sea turtles retracting back in their shells and spun back to Sandbar in his slowly descending sphere. Other onlookers who were witnessing the conflict gathered and watched in awe, the sea turtles sinking back into the sphere, landing on the ground before releasing an explosive flash and scattered water droplets. Sandbar stood where it landed, suited up in his Keyblade armor, but it looked far different than it was originally. The armor was mixed between how he created his and the similar sort of style Big Hero 6 dawns. Fully solid in turquoise and light green, his cutie mark was etched on the flank of his armor with an additional sea turtle on the chest, each turtle wavering on his armor much like the surface of the ocean. His head lacked a helmet to protect his face, but the armor did wrap up most of it, only leaving his face exposed. "...Sandbar?"
Opening his eyes, Sandbar looked over himself, stunned by the new design of his armor. Despite looking more sturdy and solid, it was highly flexible. Holding out his hoof, he summoned his Keyblade, but along with his blade, a large shield appeared and hovered beside him. Surprised, he looked at the new shield, matching the same kind of thick, rounded shape of a real sea turtle's. While awed by his new armor and additional shield, he looked at Mako and Sakura, relieved to see they were unharmed and were intrigued by his armor like the rest of the citizens who gathered.
"...You two ok?" he asked. Mako dumbly nodded his head, completely blown away.
While Rainbow Dash was still frozen in time, Sora and Twilight gawked at Sandbar's new armor from their trapped positions. Dark Riku only hummed curiously, but the mare who threw Sandbar, Mako, and Sakura only snarled at the stallion teen's new upgrade and his accidental heroics.
"You have got to be kidding me," she grumbled. Leaving Rainbow Dash where she stood, the mare warped to the ground and stood before Sandbar, her appearance startling the other people. "What the hell happened!? What did you do!?"
Sandbar leered at the mare. "Seems like I discovered something about myself I had known all this time, but never realized just how important it truly was as my strength," he said. "I should thank you for this, but not for endangering the lives of two innocent kids."
Taking offense to the backhanded compliment, the cloaked mare growled, raising one of her hooves above her. "As your enemy, I'm supposed to make your life difficult or end it, not help you! How about a nice helping of this!?" A massive fireball suddenly formed over her hoof, burning intensely as it grew bigger and bigger. "If two kids weren't enough, how about the entire population of this city!? Can you protect them all from THIS!?"
The people behind Sandbar panicked at the size of the fireball. Sandbar stood his ground, watching the mare yell and throw the fireball at them. They all braced for the explosion of deadly fire, but Sandbar commanded his new shield to hover in front of him. He grasped the back with his hoof, activating a powerful barrier that caused the shield to spray out a torrent of water from the sides, which began to expand and wrap around Sandbar in a wide arc, shielding the gathered crowd behind him. The fireball made impact and exploded into a deadly inferno of flames and smoke, but the barrier held, protecting Sandbar and everyone while the blast only scorched the street where he stood. The mare chuckled, but as the smoke cleared, her triumph turned to disgruntled dismay, witnessing the shield still standing strong and Sandbar glowering at her through the veil of water over his shield.
Removing the protective force field, the water disappeared in a splash of droplets. "I'm not letting you harm anyone else," Sandbar said. Leaving his shield to float at his side while he grasped his Keyblade, he crouched in his stance with more confidence in his skills. "As long as I still stand, as long as I can still fight to protect everyone, I will not let monsters like you continue to have your way. You want to hurt them, my friends, those I care about, then you're gonna have to try harder to breach past my shield!"
The moment he finished his defiant speech, the sides of his armor covering his head shot out his helmet in a flash of light, sealing it tightly and fully protecting his face. Even the design of the helmet changed, bearing a visor as big as his eyes, but the snout was curved in the shape of a sea turtle's beak. Irritated, the mare wanted nothing more than to blow up Sandbar for thinking he had the defense he had just gained to stop every single spell in her repertoire. Instead, she let out a frustrated huff, glancing over at Rainbow Dash as her Stopga spell finally wore off, freeing the pegasus as she quickly looked around her in confusion, then to the sphere of Darkubes surrounding Sora breaking apart after he managed to find a weak spot inside to free himself.
"...You're all so annoying," she grumbled. "You're not worth the hassle anymore."
Summoning a portal of darkness, she stepped back into it to escape. Spotting her fleeing, Rainbow Dash zipped down to stop her, but she was too late once it had faded away, landing on the ground with a thud.
"Darn it. How did she manage to outspeed me?" Rainbow grumbled. Ignoring her for now, Rainbow noticed Sandbar, surprised to see his armor got a major update from their initial suit up a couple days ago. "...Whoa. What happened to you, Sandbar?"
"I don't know, but...I definitely found what I could do for everypony as a Key Bearer," he said.
Sora flew down and landed before the ponies. "Impressive defense, Sandbar," he complimented, then looked around for any sign of the veiled pony in the Organization. "She's gone...She didn't hurt you, did she?"
"I'll live," Sandbar assured.
Above them, Baymax fell as he was hammer arm slammed by Dark Baymax. Sent falling down, Sora, Rainbow, and Sandbar looked up to find the robot dropping down toward them. Sora and Rainbow were about to catch Baymax, but Sandbar acted first, grabbing his shield, then gave it a swift throw. The spinning shield shot out torrents of water, surrounding the shield and causing it to grow and transform into a massive sea turtle. Flipping around, the enchanted reptile caught Baymax with its belly, then swiftly turned around as Dark Baymax dove down to finish his robot brother. The Darkube fist made contact with the thick shell, repelling it back and caused the corrupted medical robot to stagger back, nearly losing control of his flight.
"Whoa. A magic sea turtle?" Rainbow uttered in surprise.
The sea turtle floated back down, lowering Baymax to the ground, then popped its head and limbs inside, dispelling the water before the shield appeared beside Sandbar in a flash of light. "My probability of stopping the darker, older version of myself grew slimer fighting him solo," Baymax said. "A higher chance of success requires all of us to combat Dark Baymax."
"Then what are we waiting for!?" Rainbow asked. "Let's get back up there and whoop that robot's butt!"
"What about Headmare Twilight?" Sandbar asked.
He got his answer when they heard Dark Riku let out a yell after he was blasted by a powerful explosion. Around the corner, the evil counterpart flew over the street, quickly flipping onto his feet, his body singed slightly. He then leapt out of the way when a large Blizzaga spell in the form of a giant snowball rolled dangerously toward him, barely missing him as it exploded, scattering magic snow while the core of the snowball had expanded into a frozen mass meant to trap Dark Riku before it shattered and melted. Twilight swerved around the corner, skidding to a halt a few yards away from Dark Riku, her harmony and Laughter Keyblades comically pointing at him while shaking menacingly.
"Shouldn't have underestimated me, or how I'm able to control my Keyblades without magic with my Links," Twilight said. "And I'll be glad to follow your advice: finish what I planned on starting since the beginning."
Dark Riku huffed, looking over his shoulder where Sora, Rainbow, and Sandbar were. Donald and Goofy regrouped with the others after taking care of the Heartless he summoned to distract them. Outnumber, Dark Riku scoffed, giving Twilight another snarky grin.
"I'll take a rain check, princess," he said. "I'll let our 'experiment' deal with you. But I'll promise you this; the next time we meet will be the last."
Twilight wasn't going to let Dark Riku escape from her again. She charged at him, but was cut off by Dark Baymax recovering from its stunned recoil of Sandbar's powerful defensive shield, his fist slamming down into the pavement and barring her path. Twilight leapt back, avoiding the Darkube-shifting arm and kept her distance. Behind the corrupted bot, Twilight watched Dark Riku pass through a dark portal, escaping once again, but she will be ready for their final meeting.
Dark Baymax leered at the alicorn, rearing his arm back, but turned his head when the others ran up to him and the group surrounded him. The Darkubes around his right arm flexed, releasing a dark red electrical flash and formed Darkube mines. Thrusting his arms, he sent the mines flying around him, forcing everyone to dodge the groups of mines, some connected by a red laser that made them more dangerous. Twilight, Rainbow, and Donald zapped the mines with Thunder spells to blow them up, the explosions small, but dangerous if they hit any of the nearby buildings.
"If we don't stop Dark Baymax, he's gonna decimate the entire city!" Sora exclaimed.
Dark Baymax took to the air again, his microbot gauntlet shifting into drill and took aim at Sandbar. Firing a mass of Darkubes in the same drill form, Sandbar grasped his shield and swung it, deflecting the Darkube drill back at Dark Baymax. The robot avoided the reflected drill, but was met by getting smacked by the stallion teen's shield being tossed at his head. The slit of Dark Baymax's visor flashed red in response, suddenly speeding off toward Sandbar and rammed into him, carrying him off into the sky.
"Sandbar!" Quickly chasing after Dark Baymax, Sora, Twilight, Rainbow, and Baymax flew off, leaving Donald and Goofy behind as they watched.
Grunting, Sandbar tried to break out of Dark Baymax's powerful grip. Behind him, Sora caught up, swinging his arms and summoned the ethereal Keyblades to slash the robot out of the sky. Dark Baymax weaved around the incoming clusters of blades, swooping down and headed toward one of the skyscrapers. He held Sandbar out to ram and slide him against the side of the building, but the teen managed to break free, slamming his Keyblade into the side of the robot's head and fell. Flipping around, his hooves touched the wall and slid down, but he called his shield, giving it a toss and unleashing the sea turtle within. It swerved around and dove toward Sandbar as he jumped off the skyscraper, landing on the shell and commanded his magical mount to chase after Dark Baymax.
"Go, Sandbar!" Mako cheered from the ground along with the citizens of San Fransokyo as they flew over the crowd.
Sora, Twilight, Rainbow, and Baymax caught up with Sandbar, the wielders highly impressed by Sandbar's new versatile defensive prowess. Even from back in the garage, Big Hero 6 were amazed and watched Sandbar's new power.
"He's gotta run out of steam at some point!" Rainbow said.
"The other model of myself has a lithium ion battery," Baymax stated. "While he was shut down to conserve power, his battery output appears to be infinite with this new type of energy."
The wielders tried to shoot down Dark Baymax with spells and beams of light, hitting their mark or blasting down the Darkube mines he tossed behind him to throw them off. He turned around, transforming the microbot gauntlet into a laser cannon and aimed it at his foes. They saw the growing red lightning arcing inside Darkubes, which grew increasingly dangerous as the sparks shot out and struck the buildings around them.
"Oh no! Guys, Baymax is building up an insane amount of energy!" Hiro warned. "If he unleashes it, he could blast away half of San Fransokyo!"
"And I'm assuming with him aiming that at us, we're gonna get blasted to pieces along with everypony else in its trajectory!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Oh great. We need to combine our magic and try to block it!" Sora said.
"I've got this," Sandbar said, hovering in front of everyone as he grabbed his shield off the aquatic familiar he was riding. "Stay behind me!"
"Sandbar, are you sure you're able to stop it?" Twilight asked.
He looked back at his mentors, giving them a confident nod. "I can handle this," he assured. Facing Dark Baymax, the laser humming loudly as the energy was close to its maximum output, Sandbar held his shield out, unleashing a veil of defensive water that spread out wide, protecting several buildings hundreds of yards from where the teen was. Dark Baymax fired its beam spanning twice his size, striking Sandbar's shield dead center. He grunted as he was pushed back, pouring more of his power into the barrier, the water rushing madly like a raging rapid. He struggled to push back, refusing to back down and give up on everyone who was counting on him. "I...will not...fall...Push me down...as much as you want, but...as long as I'm still standing-" His shield began to glow, along with the sea turtles on his armor as he was absorbing the energy from the deadly laser. "-you won't hurt anyone I fight to protect!"
Dark Baymax's laser began to run out of energy, draining the robot's own energy as it struggled to stay hovering in the air. The water barrier Sandbar created quickly rushed back inside his shield, which shined brilliantly, pulsing with absorbed energy from what it blocked. Rearing his shield back, Sandbar let out a roar, aiming his shield back at Dark Baymax, unleashing a powerful beam matching the corrupted robot's, but it was filled with light and was launched out at a much faster pace. Too stunned to avoid it, Dark Baymax was engulfed by the reflective power. Sora, Twilight, and Rainbow gawked at the massive beam, along with the rest of the city as the events of the attack were being recorded by the news. After unleashing all the stored up energy, Sandbar pulled his shield back, panting heavily, watching Dark Baymax hover slightly, his armor badly cracked and the Darkubes around his right gauntlet no longer existed.
Dark Baymax's visor dimmed, its thrusters failing as he shut down from the damage and fell to the ground. Baymax shot forward, catching his deactivated brother and lowered him safely to the city streets. Sora, Twilight, Rainbow, and Sandbar floated down after the robots, Sora dismissing his Ray of Hope form and Sandbar dropping as his magic seat turtle mount disappeared. The stallion stumbled and collapsed, panting heavily, his armor fading away and returning to its enchanted pauldron form.
"That was awesome, Sandbar!" Rainbow praised. "Looks like you got something pretty cool to show off to everyone back home!"
"I-I guess," Sandbar uttered. Shakily getting back on his hooves, the others focused on Dark Baymax, laying on the road with Baymax standing beside him, Donald and Goofy running over to the group after seeing where they landed. The robot's cracked armor sparked, barely moving or twitching. "...Did I...overdo it?"
"Safety mode kicks in if he's put under too much stress," Hiro said through Sora, Twilight, and Rainbow's AR visors. "He's in stasis."
"So he's just shut down," Sora said, relieving Sandbar.
"Sora, destroy the chip," Hiro begged, shocking his friends in the garage.
"Are...you sure, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked.
"We don't have to go that far," Wasabi said.
"Maybe there's some other way," Go Go suggested.
As Sora looked down at the unconscious robot, he knows that what makes a heart isn't what's physically placed inside. Nobodies like Roxas, Xion, and Axel had hearts without knowing it, and Baymax was a special kind of robot who learned and grew his own heart in the process.
"Hiro's right, guys," Sora said. "We need to destroy the chip, but that doesn't make who this Baymax is."
He approached Dark Baymax, tapping on the access port to open it, releasing the corrupted data chip in one of the slots. Taking it out, the armor around the Baymax began to shimmer an intense red light, scattering the Darkubes that made up the armor and returning freeing him. The original Baymax laid there, out of his armor and in his large and puffy latex state. Sora leered at the chip radiating darkness, Sandbar doing the same.
"But isn't that supposed to be Baymax's heart?" Twilight asked.
"No," Sandbar uttered as he placed a hoof over his chest. "Baymax is here."
Baymax 2.0 nodded in agreement, gazing down at his twin. Sora dropped the chip to the ground, watching it clatter, then stomped on it, destroying it and the negative data it gathered.
Returning to Hiro's garage, they brought back Baymax 1.0. Hiro was worried about his brother's original robot after the getting blasted by Sandbar's redirected power beam, but aside from being in stasis, there was no physical damage to him. Not even any from the impact in the void when they went in to rescue Callaghan's daughter. He immediately got to work fixing what might have been broken from the original Baymax as everyone watched with bated breath. Once Baymax was checked over and given a copy of Tadashi's medical chip, Hiro hesitated a bit, hoping his brother's robot would be back to normal.
"Ow?" Hiro said, activating Baymax the way he was meant to if someone verbally expressed pain.
Baymax 1.0's eyes opened, blinking a few times as he gazed at the group watching him, waiting anxiously. "Hello, I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion," he greeted, everyone aside from Baymax 2.0 growing excited as the original was back to normal.
Hiro ran up and hugged Baymax 1.0, happy to have his brother's robot back safe and sound. While the other cheered, Baymax 1.0 hugged the teen, followed by 2.0 joining in as a lost family member returned.
"Now they've got two Baymaxes," Sora said.
"Double the butt-kicking medic bots!" Fred said. "...Does that mean we change our name to Big Hero 7, or because there's two Baymaxes, we keep the 6, but one of them is a backup?"
"Fred, don't ruin the moment," Go Go chided.
Both Baymaxes let go of Hiro, Big Hero 6 chatting among each other as they wondered how their team will do protecting the city with a second Baymax. A small argument ensued when Rainbow questioned if they could take one of the Baymaxes as a member of their own team, only to be rightfully scolded by Twilight over taking a robot that meant a lot to Hiro and the repercussions of bringing an outsider like a robot to their world. Baymax 2.0 approached Sandbar, scanning him to make sure his injuries from his fight against the mysterious mare who lured him into a trap.
"It appears your new power had granted you a healing boost from your battle against the kidnapper," he stated. "Though you had taken damage, your armor sustained any physical injuries, but there is a mild case of exhaustion, which I highly recommend you get enough bed rest."
"Thanks, Baymax," Sandbar said.
"Also, riding on those sea turtles was sick," Baymax added.
"Heh. Yeah. It was," Sandbar agreed.
Baymax raised his hand and balled it in a fist, the teen getting the hint as he bumped his hoof against his fist. "Bah-la-la-la-la-la-la," they both said, Baymax lifting and wriggling his fingers while Sandbar shook his hoof around as he raised and pulled it back.
Hiro noticed and snickered, getting Sandbar's attention. "Yeah, I don't think Baymax is gonna get the explosion sound after the fist bump."
"...Wait, that was supposed to be...like 'boom' or 'pow'?" Sandbar asked. Despite learning this now, the stallion shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well. Already committed to it."
"Well, looks like our job here is done," Sora said, gathering everyone's attention. "Now that San Fransokyo's much safer, I think you guys can handle the small fry that'll pop up."
"Aww, man. It's like the ending of an epic crossover of heroes," Fred whined.
"We can always come back," Goofy assured.
"Right. We have a way of knowing if anymore Heartless appear around here," Twilight stated.
"And we'll be there in ten seconds flat if another huge one causes trouble!" Rainbow added.
"Maybe not that fast," Donald grumbled.
"Well, safe travels getting back to...where you guys are from," Wasabi said.
Sora, Donald, Goofy, Rainbow, Twilight, and Sandbar said their goodbyes, but as they were leaving, Baymax 2.0 waddled after them. "Uhh, Baymax?" Hiro called out. The wielders, mage, and knight looked back, noticing the giant marshmallow of a robot following them, mostly behind Sandbar. "Oh, right. I almost forgot. Since Sandbar got hurt a couple days ago on the Golden Gate Bridge, he's technically Baymax's patient."
"I will only deactivate if you are satisfied with your care," Baymax 2.0 stated. "Are you satisfied with your care, Sandbar?"
"Uhh, yes. I am satisfied with my care," Sandbar said.
Confirming Sandbar was fine, Baymax 2.0 nodded his head and waddled back, standing beside his twin as they both gave a simultaneous wave to the group. "Oh yeah. Almost forgot." Sora took off his visor, Twilight and Rainbow doing the same, almost forgetting they had those on after the chaos earlier in the city. "We should probably give these back to you, Hiro."
"Go ahead and keep them," Hiro assured. "I can always build more. You can keep them as souvenirs."
"Ha! Awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "I wonder if I can suggest making something like these for our Wonderbolts uniforms."
"You'd be adding more wind resistance with something like these," Twilight reminded the pegasus. "You want to be fast, you can't have anything bulky slowing you down."
Rainbow pouted, blowing a raspberry as she put her visor back on. "Killjoy," she grumbled.
"I wasn't able to fix Sandbar's," Hiro said, motioning to the stallion teen's AR device on the workbench. "That sucker punch really did a number on it, and I didn't have the parts to repair it."
Though Sandbar was a little disappointed, he dug into his saddlebags and pulled out his pauldron, looking back at Hiro with a grin. "It's fine. I think I've got something much better to show to my friends back home."
Keyblade Hero 6 left Hiro's garage, saying goodbye to their new companions and made the trek back to the Gummi Ship outside San Fransokyo.
Grumbling impatiently and angrily, the cloaked mare leaned against the wall back in their hideout. A portal soon appeared not a moment sooner as Dark Riku stepped through, rubbing his sore arm from the retaliating blow he took from Twilight.
"You didn't last long," she muttered.
"Our old experiment isn't gonna last," Dark Riku said. "Wasn't going to be useful anyway. We're all ready for what's to come."
The mare scoffed, walking alongside Dark Riku to tell the higher ups of their report. Luxord came around the corner, noticing the grumpy mare and the injured Riku copy.
"You two seemed to have had your fun," Luxord said. "But it seems your luck was pressed a bit too much."
"Ah, can it, you card-fondling nuisance," the mare grumbled, brushing past the gambler.
"What bit her in the rump?" Luxord questioned.
"She wasn't successful in killing off one of the new wielders," Dark Riku answered. "Instead, she inspired him to get stronger. The last new wielder was an earth pony colt, turqoise green hair, light green fur, and had sea turtles on his flanks."
Luxord hummed curiously, calling the full deck bearing the images of the Young Six in his hand, taking Sandbar's card and revealing it with a flick. "And now you'll all know who the new bearers are." Shifting the cards together, he slipped them under his sleeve, dismissing them. "But they aren't needed with who we have now. Are they?"
"No. Neither are Vexen or the lazy one," Dark Riku added.
"The benchwarmers have been kicked out?" Luxord asked curiously. The Riku double didn't answer as he walked by Luxord. He'd been doing some more reconnaissance and digging up more info on The Black Box, so he'd been out of the loop with what's happened the last few days. As Dark Riku rounded the corner, Xigbar came sleuthing around with a smug grin on his face as he approached the gambler. "Did Xehanort get rid of Demyx and Vexen? I thought he, Marluxia, Larxene, and myself had a much more integral role in his plans, including our importance many years in the past?"
"More like we don't give a damn about what happens to them," Xigbar said. "Even the old scientist. Although, Ansem, the Heartless, tried to get him to gather more data in that old mansion, but someone attacked him and let the good Ansem escape with a few brats."
"Ansem the Wise has escaped?" Luxord asked, astonished. "Did one of the other wielders liberate him?"
"No, but we figured out who was responsible," Xigbar said.
"Who? Vexen?" Luxord asked. Xigbar just shook his head. "...Demyx?" The second guess made the one-eyed sniper laugh, but again, he shook his head. "...Who, then?"
"Ansem had been attacked by lesser Nobodies, but they weren't Dusks," Xigbar hinted. Luxord's eyes widened, Xigbar noticing his shocked gaze as his smirk widened. "Yup. It was our final seed; Kaito."
"W-What?" Luxord questioned. "Why would he-?"
"He knows full well that if he tries anything stupid, we could just off him right then and there," Xigbar interrupted. "But, since he is one of Xehanort's precious seeds for his big plan, we can't do that. Hell, there hasn't been hide nor hair of Demyx or Vexen all week. Knowing his connection with the guilt-ridden Ansem the Wise, I'm sure Vexen was the one behind his escape, but he lacked the muscle to do so."
"And you suspect Kaito was coerced into assisting him to defy Xehanort?" Luxord asked.
"Well...he ain't talking," Xigbar said. "However, he'll be singing a different tune tonight." From his pocket, Xigbar pulled out one of Luxord's cards. Turning it around, Luxord froze as he was shown a copied image of Kaito as his original self with his family. Xigbar chuckled, flicking the card at Luxord, which he caught, grimacing nervously. "Relax, Luxord. You're not in any trouble for trying to give that Nobody his hopes up. He willingly followed when I threatened his former self's wife. He cares dearly for her and Sora, lingering memories and emotions from whatever heart he thinks he has."
"...You're not going to pull the same stunt on him to finally get him to comply, are you?" Luxord dared to ask.
"Oh...I'm not gonna do anything," Xigbar laughed, his response vague as Luxord dreaded to know what he had planned.
Sandbar let out a sigh as he walked back to the School of Friendship. He was in need of some sleep after staying up for a couple days straight and getting kicked around by everything in San Fransokyo. He wished he could say goodbye to Mako and Sakura, but he would return one day to see them again. Making his way to the halls of their dorm room, he heard heavy thuds of galloping hooves heading straight toward him.
"SANDBAR!" Turning around, Sandbar yelled as Yona charged into him, tackling the pony to the ground. He grunted, his saddlebags opening and spilling out some of his potions and his upgraded pauldron. Smolder, Gallus, Ocellus, and Silverstream soon arrived, watching the yak planting kisses all over Sandbar. "Yona miss Sandbar! How was world!?"
"Easy, Yona. Don't crush the poor guy," Gallus said.
While Sandbar didn't mind, he still couldn't bear the weight of his yak girlfriend pressing him into the ground. She did get off of him, excited to see him again.
"I missed you too, Yona," he said.
"Have fun beating up Heartless or Nobodies?" Smolder asked.
"H-Hopefully not Unversed," Ocellus mumbled.
"Did you explore an ocean or a forest or a mountain or a tiny-huge island!?" Silverstream asked.
"It was...quite a rollercoaster, I'll have to admit," Sandbar vaguely answered.
"A theme park world!?" Silverstream shrieked, whining miserably. "Awwww! Lucky!"
"Where in the world would there be a theme park world?" Smolder questioned. "I went to a massive world where I was a toy."
"It was actually a really big city," Sandbar said. Picking up his potions, he noticed his pauldron was missing, finding it scattered a few feet away from where Yona crush-hugged him. "I...also discovered something pretty cool I could do."
"Ooooh. What Sandbar learn?" Yona asked.
Sandbar put his pauldron on, showing it off to his friends. "Your...armor?" Gallus asked.
"Hey, it looks a little...different," Ocellus noticed.
"Yeah. I don't know how, but...I think it got a little upgrade." Raising his right hoof, his cutie marks began to glow, surprising the others. Smacking the armor piece, he was enveloped in a bright flash and was suited up sans his helmet. His friends and girlfriend gawked at how much different his Keyblade armor looked from the bolder colors to the sea turtles on his flanks and chest. Beside him, a shield in the design of a sea turtle's shell appeared beside him, hovering with some magical force. Without a need to summon his helmet, Sandbar grinned sheepishly as he saw the astonished looks on their faces. "And...a new shield."
"Whoa," Silverstream uttered. "That looks so much like a real sea turtle shell."
"And you have no clue how it just changed to look even cooler than what we made?" Smolder asked. "I thought what we made for our armor was what reflected what our hearts' light forged them to be."
"Well...It kinda happened when I hurried to save a couple kids who were held captive by somepony from the Organization," Sandbar said. Mentioning the Organization made the Young Six's jaws drop, targeted by someone from Organization just like they all had. "...I was severely outmatched...I ran into the mare that Master Sora was attacked by. She was too strong, she taunted me, and she threw both those kids off a skyscraper, then me, forcing me to choose to save one of them. I also felt...self-conscious while I was trying to find something I could do to make myself stand out among us."
"Oh no," Ocellus uttered, reminding her of her determination keeping Boo safe from Vanitas.
"'Stand out'? The hay does that mean?" Smolder questioned skeptically.
"Yeah. When were you ever self-conscious about yourself?" Gallus asked. "You're always the go-with-the-flow kind of pony. You never let something get you down or question who you are, unlike us."
"After hearing and seeing what you guys were able to do, I tried to discover something unique that I could do," Sandbar explained. He glanced at Yona, the yak frowning at him for thinking such negative thoughts about himself while he recalled their talk back in Yakyakistan. "My armor used to be just like our professors. I thought I made something cool and all me, but it was just like theirs. And while I was in San Fransokyo, so many times I thought I could handle myself in a fight, but I kept getting beat up and required first aid. There was even a dangerous Heartless that rampaged all over the city, and there was a family I tried to save. They almost got crushed by that Heartless, and if Professor Rainbow Dash didn't save them in time, I would never forgive myself when I couldn't save them and got held back by other Heartless that surrounded them earlier."
"That...doesn't sound like you at all," Silverstream said.
"Well, I kept second guessing myself," Sandbar grumbled. "Even after all our training, I felt like I was dragging you guys down and felt like I hadn't improved like you guys did...I still felt guilty for not doing anything to help you guys much when you felt down where you went to, and for ditching you guys when Neighsay took over the school when Cozy Glow was stealing away Equestria's magic." Glancing at his shield, he gripped it in his hoof. Yona's words back in Yakyakistan came back to him, how he made himself the mediator between the group, he tried to keep things calm when arguments got heated their first year of school, and though he pretended to leave his friends to avoid being tied in chains, he did it so he could find some help to free them. "...But I didn't give up on you guys. I was about to, but if I did, I would have failed to save those kids. I smacked by armor, and I gained more defensive abilities along with this shield." Tossing his shield up, water streamed out, creating flippers and a sea turtle head that poked out and floated above him. "I can make these appear, and ride them and fly around, too."
They stared at the sea turtle in awe as it just hovered in place. "That's amazing," Ocellus said. "It's almost like a...uhh...a 'familiar'?"
"But we see this for first time," Yona stated, confused by Ocellus's meaning.
"No. Familiars are like spirits that assist whoever summons them," Ocellus explained. "From all the new books involving the Keyblade in The Land of Departure's library, wielders in the past used to have something similar called Dream Eaters. Only Dream Eaters were real and physical while this sea turtle's constructed from Sandbar's own magic, like a summoning."
"And back in Seaquestia, sea turtles are a symbol of protection, wisdom, endurance, and luck," Silverstream added. "That suits you perfectly, Sandbar."
"Really?" Sandbar asked.
"I'd say you're lucky to have bumped into us 'creatures' and became close friends," Gallus said.
"You know a lot about friendship stuff than all of us combined," Smolder added.
"Sandbar tough like yak," Yona said, reminding him how tough and stubborn he had been when they trained together and what she told him during winter break.
"And your test under the school made you stand up to those illusions of Master Sora and Master Riku and care about our safety than staying with them to fight the Heartless," Ocellus added. Sandbar gazed at his sea turtle familiar, then to his flanks with the gentle tide reflection of the reptile on his armor's flanks. "If you don't mind me asking, but...when ponies get their cutie marks, how did you get yours?"
Sandbar looked back at his friends, looking back to the day he got his cutie mark. "Well...when I was younger, my parents took me to the beach for a day of fun. This was before my little sister was born. I spent most of the day swimming in the ocean or building sandcastles. I looked around for seashells for a castle I was building, and I stumbled on a sea turtle nest with some eggs inside. They began to hatch, breaking out of the shells, peeking their heads out and squirming their flippers around."
"Awwww!" Silverstream gushed.
"They started to crawl out of their home and made their way to the water. I learned in school that baby sea turtles had a few predators that would snatch them up for a snack, and I didn't want that to happen to them. So I grabbed a big leaf nearby, being careful not to touch them and shielded them from whatever came for them." Sandbar rubbed his head, grimacing slightly. "A seagull really wanted to eat them and kept pecking my head, but I shooed it off. I got all those baby sea turtles safely to the sea and watched them swim away. I felt so proud of myself for helping them. When I went back to my parents, I didn't even know I got my cutie mark during all that, and I was so excited when they pointed it out and I told them what I was doing when it must have appeared."
"If keeping others safe over your own is your talent, then that's definitely your unique skill as a Key Bearer," Gallus said.
The moment of clarity made Sandbar grin sheepishly. He'd had a special talent all this time, and he wasn't even aware of it until now. Dismissing his new armor, his sea turtle familiar and shell shield disappeared along with it.
"I guess I was putting myself down for no reason, huh?" Sandbar uttered.
Yona approached him, gently bonking him on the head. "Yes. Yes Sandbar was," she said.
"We're all friends till the end, no matter if we're strong, weak, or not have anything cool or flashy to show off," Silverstream said.
The Young Six all agreed with a laugh, coming together for a massive group hug. "We'd still like you even if you just a plain, boring pony, Sandbar," Smolder added. Not hearing a response from the stallion, they pulled back, finding Sandbar passed out leaning up against Yona. "Heh. Now he's experienced the exhaustion after his first run through another world."
"Yona take Sandbar to room to rest," Yona said.
Lowering herself, Yona used a hoof to heft Sandbar up with her strength, catching him on her back. The exhausted teen snuggled into the yak's thick fur as he was carried off to his and Gallus's bedroom to sleep.
"Think we're all ready to face the Organization?" Smolder asked.
"Let's not get that carried away," Ocellus said. "I don't think we'll be ready for quite a while."
"Yeah. We could barely do anything to those Organization guys," Gallus said. "We're way out of their league."
"Then when Sandbar's back up and rested, we train even harder!" Silverstream cheered.
"Yeah!" The four friends bumped their respective fists and hoof together, Ocellus wincing slightly as she shook her hoof.
With the winter holidays coming to an end, Manami was disappointed that she had to go back home. Sitting in a seat in Sora's Gummi Ship, they arrived back at Destiny Islands as night fell.
"I guess I can't ask to stay just a little bit longer, can I?" Manami asked.
"Sorry, mom. Maybe once this is all over, you can come and live in Equestria," he offered.
"Pth. Not gonna lose the house just to stay and live among ponies." Landing in the woods outside of town, Manami sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, holding onto a small food container with some of the leftover pudding they had at the castle. "It's a shame Kaito missed out on such a wacky Hearth's Warming this year. Thank goodness there was so much of that holiday pudding."
"Let's hope no one messes with the recipe and makes it go out of control again," Sora laughed. "Need an escort back home?"
"Sora, I am perfectly capable of getting back home in our own world," Manami scoffed. "When has there ever been a Heartless attacking the town?" Sora glanced over his shoulder, giving his mother a deadpanned stare. Wincing, almost forgetting there had been Heartless attacks in their world; two specific ones that changed her son's life, for better or worse. "...Well, at least there weren't any that appeared in town?"
"Don't tempt fate, mom," Sora groaned.
"Sorry," she apologized.
Sora got up from his seat and walked over to Manami, giving her a tight embrace. "You know I worry about you. I just want to make sure you'll be ok without me."
Manami snickered, hugging her baby back. "That's supposed to be my line, mister," she playfully scolded. Giving Sora a peck on the cheek, she let go of him. "Just let me know whenever you and Kairi do plan on getting me a grandkid. I'm gonna spoil them to death the moment I'm given the offer to babysit."
Sora just sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. I will...I still can't believe I didn't realize that riddle sooner."
"I'm hoping your baby will inherit Kairi's brains, but keep your eyes and cute chubby cheeks," Manami teased, giving her son's cheek a light pinch, making him grumble in protest.
"Gee, thanks, mom," Sora huffed.
She giggled, the two saying their goodbyes until next time as she stepped off the Gummi Ship. She watched it fly off after lifting the docking ramp, unable to wait for her next visit. Letting out a sigh, Manami turned and left the forest, returning back to the suburban life in the tropical town. She didn't mind either world to stay in, though she always felt the ocean waves in Destiny Islands always beckoned her back home. Taking a detour from her home, she stepped onto the beach looking over the island in the distance. It felt like a lifetime ago where she and her husband spent their days together there, and where Sora, Riku, and Kairi hung out day in and day out when they were just kids.
Behind her, a portal of darkness appeared, startling her as she turned around. Stepping out, she recognized the familiar build under the coat and the strong scent of the ocean on him, though his hood concealed his face as his head seemed to hang low.
"Oh. Kaito," she breathed out a huge sigh of relief, giving him an annoyed glower. "You scared the heck out of me. These scary portals you travel through are just the worst." Kaito said nothing, not even defending himself or explaining how he can't help it if he pops in through them when she's around. Letting out a sigh, she let it slide and approached him. "Well, because you were so busy trying to get stronger, you missed quite a winter holiday mess. There was a huge winterzilla that broke into the castle, but it was more like a big and cuddly chinchilla monster, and the castle was almost flooded by magical pudding. Luckily, we saved you some leftovers. Your taste buds are going to melt when you try some of this."
Manami giggled, holding the container out to Kaito. He stared at the pudding, then lifted his head to gaze into Manami's eyes. Not hearing a response from him, she started to get a little worried.
"...Manami..." he uttered.
"You ok?" she asked. He turned his head, his fists balling up. "What's the matter? Have you bothered to eat anything while you were going off training by yourself?" Grabbing his wrist, the Nobody flinched at her touch, opening his hand and made him hold onto the container filled with pudding. "Here. Eat some of this." She moved her hands away as Kaito glanced down at the pudding. Lifting his head back up to her, he unceremoniously tossed the container aside, popping the top and spilling the holiday pudding across the sand. Shocked by his reaction, Manami gawked at Kaito, but before she could berate him, he summoned his cutlass in his right hand, held it up, and began aiming it at her. Backing away, confused and starting to get scared, she heard his Swashbucklers warp in, barricading her from escaping from all sides. Though they weren't aggressive, their heads hung low, as if they didn't want to do this, but were left with no choice. "W-What is going on here? I-If this is a joke...this isn't funny."
"...I'm sorry, Manami..." Behind Manami, the Swashbuckler she called Sinbad came up to her, giving her an apologetic shake of her head and gave her a black coat similar to the one Kaito was wearing. Staring at the coat, she glanced back over to Kaito, watching him grab the hood of his coat with his other hand and pulling it down. When she saw his face, the Nobody had tears streaming down his face, but what startled her was the color of his eyes; no longer blue, they were a golden yellow. "...I had no choice..."