Kingdom Hearts: Pixar

by I_Am_The_Bookwyrm

Summary:

Sora has just learned he has the power to wield the powerful Keyblade, and must use it to defeat the evil Organization XIII, who plan to plunge the world into darkness. Featuring characters and worlds from every Pixar film, plus the CGI Disney films.

Notes:

Okay, a new series. Kinda out of my element too, since this is meant to be fairly serious. So, here’s a quick rundown of what to expect: characters and worlds from EVERY Pixar film to date (but I’ll keep Finding Dory spoilers to a minimum). I’ve also decided to include the CGI non-Pixar Disney films too (Chicken Little, Meet The Robinsons, Bolt, Tangled, Wreck It Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and maybe Moana). Just thought I’d mention that before I get any complaints about them. The reason I chose to include them is to basically be the equivalent of the non-world related Disney/Final Fantasy characters in the games, and because it’s my damn fanfic and I’ll do what I want. Also, since this is non-canon with the actual Kingdom Hearts series, I’ve taken a few creative liberties and changed some character’s backstories/motivations etc. (but I’ve kept them to a minimum). Well, I’ve rambled on enough. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Floating above the World That Never Was is a castle, called the Castle That Never Was. The world below is filled with Heartless, creatures made of the darkness in people’s hearts, while the castle above is inhabited by Nobodies, people who have lost their hearts to darkness. The hooded Nobodies of the castle (twelve in all) sat in the room Where Nothing Gathers, discussing the work they must do.
“Vexen, I believe you have made some progress?” stated Xemnas, the leader of the group.
“Indeed I have,” said Vexen, holding some papers. “As you all know, the prophecy states there are three heroes that will decide the fate of the darkness, either eradicating it, or plunging the world into it. We also know that one of the three has a Heart full of light, another full of dark, and the last will pull one towards the other…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know. We’ve got a memorised,” interrupted the long red-haired member, Axel. “Can you get to the point?”
“My point,” continued Vexen angrily. “Is that I have found one of them.”
“Excellent,” said Xemnas. “Which one have you found?”
“It’s hard to say at this point,” said Vexen. “But he possesses the thing that we need to unleash the darkness: The Keyblade.”
“What do we do then?” asked Xaldin. “If he’s the one of light, we cannot corrupt him.”
“But it does leave a two out of three chance that we can influence him,” said Luxord. “Even if he’s the light one, we can keep an eye on him until we find the other two, so the odds are still in our favour.”
“That sounds like a lot of work,” commented Demyx. “And if this child is the one of light, I ain’t facing him alone.”
“Aww, is wittle Demyx scared?” mocked Larxene. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here to hold your wittle hand.”
“Enough,” said Xemnas. “We shall go after the boy, determine which one he is, then reassess the situation. He will soon unite with the others, this we’ve known for an age. For now, he needs to be in one of the places we need to get to. Vexen and Luxord, you will determine where he is, and send him to one.”
“Should I go after him?” asked Luxord.
“Naturally,” said Xemnas. “Figure out which he is, and report back when it’s feasible. If he is the one of darkness, you may even bring him back here. But remember, do NOT kill him.”
“Like I was going to,” muttered Luxord.
“And how ‘bout the rest of us huh?” asked Xigbar. “We’ve been waiting for this almost as long as you have.”
“Patience Xigbar,” said Zexion. “There’s still two more to play with after Luxord’s done with this one.”
“You two treat this as a game,” said Marluxia, disappointment in his voice. “You know we can’t harm them. At least, not yet.”
“That’s hardly the plan,” said Lexaeus, glaring at the three of them.
“Settle down Lexy,” said Saix. “No-one here intends to harm the boy. Or the others, for that matter. We simply need to show them what power awaits them, then send the world into darkness.”
“Indeed,” said Xemnas. “I believe that concludes this meeting. Luxord, Vexen, you know your tasks.”
“Yes sir,” said the two of them as they warped out of the room.

Meanwhile, on the quiet Destiny Islands, a young boy is still examining the strange weapon that he somehow summoned.
“What is this thing?” Sora asked aloud. “I just held my hand out, and…” Suddenly, the weapon flashed and disappeared from the ground, only to reappear in his hand. “WHOA! How’d it do that?” Sora examined the thing more closely. In appearance, the thing looked like a large key, but it had quite a bit of weight to it, so anything unlucky enough to get hit by it wouldn’t be getting up in a hurry.
“I wonder where it…” started Sora, when his head started throbbing. He clutched his head, pain pulsing through him, the world spinning around as everything went black.
“See you soon, kiddo,” was the last thing he heard before passing out.

Chapter 2: Clawtooth Mountains

Summary:

Sora wakes up to find himself in a world inhabited mostly by dinosaurs as opposed to his island. What's happened to himself? Probably something to do with the end of the Prologue.

It felt like hours later when Sora regained consciousness. He seemed to be in a rocky canyon-like area. Nearby he could hear a river. “Where…am I?” Sora asked himself, sitting up and rubbing his head. “Last thing I remember is being on the island, then…” Sora glanced around. “Is anybody here?” he called, hoping for a reply.
“H-hello?” came a weak reply. The voice had come from the bottom of a nearby cliff. “Who’s there?”
“My name is Sora,” Sora called back, getting to his feet. “Do you know where we are?”
“No, I don’t,” replied the voice. “I just washed up here. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” said Sora, running to the cliff. “It sounds like you had an accident. Don’t worry, I’ll…help…” Sora had reached the edge of the cliff, and had looked down to see a bright green Apatosaurus staring back up at him, a look of horror appearing on his face when he saw Sora.
“NO! STAY BACK!” yelled the dinosaur, backing up towards the river.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” asked Sora, jumping down the cliff towards the creature. As he got closer, Sora noticed several large bruises on the dinosaur’s skin. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. What happened?”
The dinosaur still looked scared, but had stopped backing up. “My n-n-name is A-Arlo,” he stammered. “I was helping Momma with the harvest back at the farm, when I was attacked.”
“Attacked?” said Sora. “By what?”
“Some varmint,” said Arlo. “He was like you, but smaller. And he had a bunch of dark creatures with him.”
“Dark creatures?” questioned Sora.
“I don’t know what they were,” said Arlo. “All I know is that they attacked me, and I fell in the riv…OH NO!”
“What is it?” asked Sora, suddenly alarmed.
“H-h-h-he’s right th-th-th-there,” said Arlo, trying to hide.

Sora turned around to see a young boy at the top of the cliff. “What? Him?” asked Sora. “He doesn’t look dangerous.”
“He is though,” said Arlo, who was suddenly angry. “YOU’RE THE REASON MY POPPA’S DEAD!” Arlo charged at the cliff, attempting to climb. Unfortunately, as a four legged creature with no opposable thumbs, Arlo struggled to get off the ground.
Sora quickly climbed past him and reached the top of the cliff. “Hey there little fella,” said Sora, cautiously approaching the boy. The boy was panting like a dog, but as Sora approached him he began to growl. “Whoa, hey,” said Sora, jumping back.
“See, I told you,” said Arlo, climbing to the top of the cliff. “He’s a vicious killer.”
“Wait a sec,” said Sora, noticing that the kid didn’t seem to be growling at him, but at something behind him. Sora turned around, and saw what appeared to be dinosaur silhouettes coming out of nowhere.
“Oh no, he summoning those dark creatures again,” said Arlo, stumbling backwards and nearly falling back down the cliff.

The creatures had turned their attention to Sora, and were edging closer to him. “Stay back,” said Sora, holding his hands out, and backing away. “Please don’t…” Before Sora could finish, there was a flash of light, and the large key-weapon was back in his hands.
“What is that?” asked Arlo, but Sora didn’t pay him any attention.
‘I wonder’, Sora thought to himself, then swung at the nearest creature. The thing disappeared in a swirl of shadows. ‘Well, that’s useful,’ he thought. “Alright, who wants a piece of me?” yelled Sora, holding the key defensively in the middle of the monsters. Two of them jumped at Sora, but before they hit him, the kid dived at them, attacking them viciously.
“What’s he doing? Aren’t they on his side?” asked Arlo.
“Apparently not,” said Sora, swiping down a few more beasts. “Not complaining though.” Sora continued slashing and cutting down the demons until one remained, which the kid jumped on the back of, and swiftly pulled the head off of. As it disappeared, he changed from a vicious animal back to a dog like creature. “Are you sure he killed your father?” asked Sora. “He seems pretty friendly to me, plus he helped fight those things.”
“Well, kind of,” said Arlo. “He kept eating our crops, so Poppa set a trap for him and told me to kill him. But I couldn’t do it, so I set him free, then Poppa made me follow him. But while we were following him, there was a storm, and…and…” Arlo began to tear up, and seemed to be unable to continue.
“I get it,” said Sora. “Hey, maybe we should give him a name.”
“A name?” said Arlo. “Like what?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” said Sora. “Grubby?” The kid ignored him. “Cootie?” The kid continued to ignore him. “Squirt? Stinky? Flunky? Spike?”
“Spot?” suggested Arlo. The kid immediately perked up, and came over to Arlo as though he’d just been called.
“Spot it is then,” said Sora. “So, Arlo, you said you got washed down the river?”
“Yeah?” said Arlo.
“Well, I guess we better get going then,” said Sora, leading the way downriver. Arlo and Spot began to follow him. “I have no idea where I am or how to get home, but I can at least help you out. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find some answers along the way.”

Meanwhile, up on a nearby cliff…
“Boss, did you see that?” asked Downpour.
“Yeah, I did,” said the leader, Thunderclap. “That was a storm and a half. And what’s our motto, guys?”
“The storm provides,” said the rest of the pterodactyls.
“That’s right,” said Thunderclap. “So we should…”
“Leave the keyblade wielder to me,” came a voice from behind them. The winged dinosaurs all turned around to see a blond haired man in a long black coat behind them.
“Who’s this guy?” asked Coldfront.
“I don’t know, but he looks delicious,” said Frostbite, launching at him. The man simply raised his hand, and as Frostbite was about to strike, a giant playing card appeared and blocked him.
“Now that I’ve got your attention,” said Luxord. “The bigger boy is mine. Injure him if you must, but killing him is forbidden. The younger boy may also be of some use, but you can have the dinosaur.”
“Forget it,” said Thunderclap. “There’s some good eating on those two, and…”
“If it’s food you want, the Organization will provide more than you can eat,” said Luxord.
“Hmm…” Thunderclap pondered, before silently conferring with the other pterodactyls. After a few minutes, he turned back to Luxord. “Can you really provide that much food?”
“It will be arranged,” said Luxord.
“Well guys,” said Thunderclap. “It looks like the storm has provided.”
“I can provide a storm too,” said Luxord, disappearing into swirling shadows.

Meanwhile, Sora had made a lot of progress with Arlo and Spot.
“Does any of this look familiar to you?” asked Sora.
“No, nothing yet,” said Arlo. “Wait…hey, over there.” Sora turned to see a few dinosaurs off in the distance that looked like bigger versions of Arlo. “Maybe they know the way back. HEY!” Arlo charged off towards the dinosaurs, Sora and Spot right behind them. As they got closer though, the dinosaurs turned towards them, to reveal…
“Uh oh,” said Sora, stopping in his tracks. “Those are T-Rexes. ARLO, STOP!”
Arlo skidded to a halt, and immediately turned around and started running back towards Sora screaming. “HELP! HELP!”
“Don’t worry, I got this,” said Sora, brandishing his key again as the large dinosaurs got closer.
“NASH! RAMSEY! What are you doing?” yelled someone nearby. The two T-Rexes stopped where they were, and turned to face a third, much larger Tyrannosaurus. “You’re meant to be taking those longhorns south, not talking with strangers.”
“Hey, he called us,” said Nash. “We just wanted to see what he wanted.”
The big T-Rex turned his attention to Arlo and leaned in close. “Well boy? What do you want?” he asked.
“I-I-I…” stammered Arlo, unable to get any words out under such a fierce stare.
“Leave him alone. He’s just trying to find his way home,” said Sora, drawing the dinosaur’s attention.
“We’ve got no time to play babysitter boy,” growled Butch. “Either get out of our way, or we’ll eat you.”
“No, no, you won’t be doing that Butch,” came a voice from above them. Everyone looked up to see five pterodactyls swoop down, landing on the horns of the nearby longhorns. “See, we have dibs on the dinosaur, and our new friend has dibs on the kids.”
“Oh yeah? And who might that be?” asked Sora.
“That would be me,” said someone behind him. Sora turned to see a blond haired man in a black coat. Between his two hands, he flicked a pack of playing cards. “Organization XIII has been looking for you for a while, keyblade wielder.”
“Keyblade?” said Sora, looking at the key in his hand. “Is that what this thing is?”
“Come with me. We can teach you everything you need to know about its power,” said Luxord, a dark portal opening behind him. “And bring that kid with you. He may be of use to us too.”
“Of use how?” demanded Sora. “Tell me. Anything you have to say you can say in front of my friends.”
“Friends? You just met them. You know nothing about them,” scoffed Luxord.
“I know and trust them more than you,” said Sora, holding the keyblade defensively.

“Is that your decision?” inquired Luxord. “Fine.” Black spots appeared on the ground, and the dark creatures from before rose from them. “Heartless, take him alive.” The monsters charged at Sora, but before Sora had a chance to attack them, a yellow blur flew past him, slaying the Heartless in a single swing. “WHAT?!” yelled Luxord, before a look of horror crossed his face. “You…”
“What? Haven’t you seen a keyblade before?” asked the silver haired boy who had just slain the Heartless.
“Hmm, this is gonna be more of a challenge than I anticipated,” said Luxord, turning to the pterodactyls. “It looks like the storm will be needed to provide what we want. XALDIN!”
The wind around the group began to pick up, surrounding the group in a tornado. “I should have known you couldn’t do this by yourself Luxord,” said a man with black dreadlocks. “You’re lucky Xemnas ordered my involvement, or I wouldn’t even bother.”
“Oh, like you could fight two keyblade wielders at the same time,” said Luxord, turning to Thunderclap and his team. “Pterodactyls, ATTACK!”
The silver haired boy braced himself, and smacked one of the pterodactyls out of the air. “I’ll take these guys,” he said to Sora. “You go after blondie.”
“Who are you?” Sora asked him, but he’d already turned his attention to another dinosaur. Sora pushed his way through the wind as hard as he could, but before long one of the pterodactyls swooped at him. Sora jumped over it, turned in midair, and smacked it out of the air.
“WINDGUST!” yelled Thunderclap. “You’ll pay for that.” Thunderclap flew towards Sora, but was suddenly yanked out of the air by the massive jaws of Butch. Behind him, Nash and Ramsey were fighting alongside the silver haired boy to take down the other flying menaces.
“You get to those other humans. These rustlers are worrying the longhorns,” said Butch. Sora nodded and turned back towards where the Organization members had been. However, only Luxord was in sight at the moment, so Sora went to him.

“So, you’d challenge me boy? So be it,” said Luxord, five large playing cards appearing beside him, then moving in front of the gambler, making him disappear.
“I have no time for your games,” said Sora, slashing at a card, which disappeared. “Once I take care of you, I’m going after your friend, wherever he is.” Sora hacked and slashed at the remaining four cards until he hit the last one (an ace), causing Luxord to fall down. He immediately got back up and summoned more cards, when Sora noticed something.
‘That’s a Royal Flush’ he thought to himself. ‘That’s what he had last time. So, if he was behind the ace last time…’ Sora ran at the king and slashed through it. Luxord fell down, but immediately vanished behind another card. Sora tried the jack, to no avail. Turning around, he saw the queen, and attacked that. Luxord again fell on the ground, before disappearing behind another card. Sora tried the jack again, and got lucky when Luxord (now looking pretty beat up) appeared again, only to disappear again. Sora wasted no time, running straight at the ten and cutting through it, Luxord falling to the ground in extreme pain.
“No…this can’t be it…” said Luxord. “This…can’t…be…” Before he could say any more, Luxord fell to the ground, dissipating into shadows.

“Right, now where’s that other guy?” said Sora. “Hey, did the wind suddenly stop?”
“Indeed it did,” came a voice from above him. Sora looked up to see Xaldin holding an unconscious Spot. “Well, we didn’t get you like we planned, but this boy might be of almost equal use. I’ll be seeing you.” A dark portal appeared behind Xaldin, which he disappeared into.
“SPOT!” cried Arlo, running towards where the two had just vanished.
“He’s gone. The Organization have him now,” said the silver haired boy. “I guess I should be leaving now too.” A dark portal appeared behind him, which he began walking towards. “By the way, the name’s Riku.” The boy named Riku walked into the darkness, which closed up behind him.
“Sora, what are we gonna do?” sobbed Arlo. “They took Spot, and…”
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna get him back,” said Sora. “Somehow. Those guys in the black coats know something, and I’m guessing that Riku guy does too. But I have no idea how to…” Suddenly, there was a loud crash behind them, and what looked like a small red plane landed beside them. The domed cockpit opened up, and a kid with blond hair sticking up stepped out.

“Are you Sora?” asked the boy. “My name is Lewis, and Queen Elsa wants a word with you about your keyblade.”
“What? What do you know about the keyblade?” demanded Sora.
“We’ll explain everything we know, just come with me now,” said Lewis.
“My friends are coming too,” said Sora, indicating the dinosaurs behind him.
“No, no, no,” said Lewis. “First of all, they won’t fit into the time machine, and second, they need to stay in their own time.”
“Their own time? What do you mean? None of this makes any sense,” said Sora.
“Come with me. I swear, we’ll explain everything,” said Lewis, grabbing Sora’s arm.
“Hey kid,” said Butch, stepping forward. “It sounds like this kid’s on the up and up. But if he turns out to be in league with those guys that scared the longhorns…” Out of Butch’s chest came a bright light. The light landed in his hand, which he handed to Sora. “Take this. Wherever you are, I’ll come running.”
Sora hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Okay,” he said, turning to Lewis. “Take me to Queen Elsa.”
“Off we go,” said Lewis, leading Sora into the hover car. “Hold on tight.” Sora barely had time to buckle his seatbelt before Lewis hit a button that launched them speeding through the air, distorting everything around them.

Notes:

Yes, Butch just became a summon. And there’ll be more where that came from. Well, until next time…

Chapter 3: Radiant Garden

Summary:

Lewis takes Sora to Radiant Garden, where he learns the truth about his keyblade and the mysterious Organization XIII.

Sora hung on for dear life, when suddenly they slowed right down, almost to a stop. Sora looked out the window, and was stunned by the view. They were floating above a beautiful castle stood above a large town, bustling with activity. “Welcome to Radiant Garden,” said Lewis. “The place for those with nowhere else to go.”
“Nowhere else to go?” asked Sora. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” said Lewis, bringing them down in front of the castle. “The queen can tell you everything.” As they landed, they were approached by a guard. But the thing Sora found odd about this guard was its size, and species.
“Is this the guy?” asked the small rabbit. Lewis nodded, and before Sora could say or do anything, she was behind him, holding his arms behind his back as she handcuffed him. “Alright buster, don’t try anything funny.”
“Judy, is this really necessary?” asked Lewis. “He came here willingly. He’s probably not going to try anything.”
“You know as well as I do that he might be the dark one,” said Judy.
“Dark one?” said Sora. “I would never…”
“SILENCE!” yelled Judy. “I wouldn’t trust this one further than I can throw him. Now, we’re gonna go see the queen. One wrong move, and I’ll take you down myself.”

Sora lost count of how many stairways and lifts the group went up, but eventually they reached the top level. “Through here,” said Judy, pushing through two large doors. “Queen Elsa, may I present to you, Sora.”
“Judy, did you arrest him?” asked Elsa, rising from her throne at the other end of the room.
“Yes ma’am,” said Judy, saluting. “Just in case he’s the…”
“Uncuff him at once,” ordered Elsa. “Regardless of which one he is, he will be treated with the respect he deserves.”
“But, I…” said Judy, surprised by her queen’s coldness (her attitude, not…never mind), before sighing and unlocking Sora’s wrists.
“I’m sorry about that,” said the queen, approaching Sora. “She’s very protective of me, even though she knows I can handle myself. Watch.” The room got colder as Elsa caused a small blizzard in the middle of the room. The snow started to form a pair of legs, then a body, and a head. A couple of sticks, a carrot, and some rocks attached themselves to the snowman, making it look somewhat alive.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” said Sora, staring in awe.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” said Elsa, snapping her fingers. The snowman jumped, and started looking around.
“Hi everyone. I’m Olaf,” said the snowman.
“WHOA!” yelled Sora, falling backwards. “How did…”
“I’m a very powerful ice mage,” said Elsa. “But we’re not here to talk about me.”
“Ooh, are we here to talk about me?” asked Olaf. “It is my birthday, you know.”
“No, Olaf,” said Elsa. “We have to talk about Sora.”
“Is it his birthday too?” asked Olaf, hugging Sora. “That makes us twins, right?”

“Sora,” said Elsa, ignoring Olaf. “How much do you know about your keyblade?”
“Not much,” admitted Sora. “I sort of know how to summon it, and I know those guys in the black coats want me because of it, and you guys too…”
“That’s because the fate of the world rests in your hands,” said Elsa. “You, and two others like you.”
“Like that Riku guy I met?” asked Sora.
Elsa gasped. “You met another keyblade wielder?” she asked, concern in her voice.
“Yeah,” said Sora. “He showed up and helped me fight those Organization guys, then he used some kind of black portal and disappeared.”
“Black portal?” repeated Elsa. “He must be the dark one.”
“What?” asked Sora. “You mean he’s evil?”
“Not necessarily,” said Elsa. “A prophecy was foretold about the three of you:
When our world is on the brink
Three heroes will make the world swim or sink
Keyblades to the heroes of dark and light
And one in-between, whose choice ends the fight.”
“Oh cool, we’re singing now?” said Olaf. “Can we sing a song about building a snowman?”
“Judy, why don’t you show Olaf his room?” asked Elsa. Judy saluted her and guided the small snowman from the room.

“So what does it mean?” asked Sora.
“Light and dark have been at war for an eternity,” said Elsa. “Sometimes one overpowers the other, but never by enough to get rid of the other for good. This prophecy says that there are three keyblade wielders who will end this war. We believe the in-between one will sway one of the other two towards the opposite side, either eradicating the world of darkness, or engulfing the world in it.”
Sora looked up at the snow queen, anxiety on his face. “So, which one am I?” he asked, not sure what answer he wanted.
“Honestly, I was hoping you knew,” confessed Elsa. “From what you’ve said about this Riku character, there’s a reasonable chance he’s the dark one. So, you could be the light one, or…”
“In-between,” finished Sora. “But I’ve never tried to be evil for as long as I remember.”
“That’s good,” said Elsa. “Judging by your age, I’m guessing that’s about ten or eleven years?”
“Uhh…more like one,” said Sora. “I don’t know why, but I don’t remember anything from more than about a year ago.”
“A…year?” asked Elsa, a look of deep concern on her face.
“What’s wrong?” asked Sora, thinking there might be something she was hiding.
“Oh, it’s probably nothing,” said Elsa. “But still…Lewis? Could you have a word with Hiro, see if maybe…?”
“I was thinking the same thing,” said Lewis, running out of the room.
“What was that about?” demanded Sora.
“It’s just that, about a year ago, things happened,” said Elsa. “Horrible things. Points in history started…disappearing.”
“Disappearing?” asked Sora. “How? What happened?”
“It’s that Organization XIII,” said Judy, coming back into the room and jumping (literally) into the conversation. “You see, there are some key points in the world’s timeline called Fixed Points. These points can’t be changed under ANY circumstance. However, they can be destroyed, weakening the timeline. A year ago, the Organization sent a young boy with fierce power to some of these Points, collapsing them into nothing.”
“Fortunately, some people were able to escape these Points,” continued Elsa. “With the help of our other boy genius Hiro, that is. But soon, the boy began to realise what he was doing was wrong, and begged us for help. Unfortunately, his heart was almost completely engulfed in darkness, and the small amount of good in him was about to flicker out.”

“What…what happened to him?” asked Sora.
“Fortunately, a young witch helped him,” said Judy. “She removed as much of the darkness from his heart as possible. Unfortunately, the Organization found out about this, and tried to put a stop to it. Obviously, we did what we could to help the witch, but the Organization was just too powerful. However, before she died, she left that prophecy, so now we’ve been doing everything we can to track the three of you down.”
Sora was speechless for almost a full minute. “So, if these Fixed Points are gone,” he started. “Wouldn’t that alter history?”
“We thought so too,” said Elsa. “But from what we can tell, it’s more like those moments are blanked out. Like someone whited something out in a book. Something else can be written in its place, but underneath is still what was once written.”
“Okay, I think I get it,” said Sora. “So how many fixed points have been destroyed?”
“At least six,” said Elsa. “There might have been more though. Six of us were just lucky to escape. We are currently in Lewis’s time, since this is when that kid came to us for help, and it didn’t get destroyed. You’ve already met myself and Judy. I believe I’ve mentioned Hiro, so that’s three…”
“There’s also that kid Ace,” said Judy. “Oh, and Penny.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” said Elsa. “And there’s also…”
“ELSA!” came a cry. The three of them turned to see a girl with long (and I do mean LONG) blonde hair running into the room.

“Rapunzel, I know you’re my cousin, but do try and remember I’m still your queen,” said Elsa.
“I’m sorry,” said Rapunzel, stopping next to them. “But Hiro just found another Fixed Point, and the Organization already has a member there.”
“WHAT?!” demanded Elsa. “Rapunzel, tell Lewis to get the time machine ready. We need to…”
“I’ll go,” interrupted Sora.
“What?” said Elsa. “Are you sure?”
“You said it yourself,” said Sora. “The fate of the world hinges on me and the other keyblade wielders. I might be able to find them, and have them come to the side of light.” Sora stood up to leave. “Elsa, thank you for being honest with me.”
“Well, I know what happens all too well when you hide something,” said Elsa sadly. Sora thought maybe there was something she wasn’t saying, but didn’t say anything.
“Lewis said the time machine will be ready in ten minutes,” said Rapunzel. “In the meantime Sora, you may need this.” A glowing ball floated into Sora’s chest, disappearing with a flash. “There. You now have a magic ability called Curaga. If you or any ally you meet is in trouble, use that on them, and they’ll be back to fighting fit.”
“Good,” said Elsa. “In that case, we’ll have a quick lunch before Sora goes to fight.” Elsa clapped her hands twice. “Linguini? Lunch.”

A dorky looking man in a chef’s outfit stumbled into the room, carrying a bunch of trays. He dropped them in front of those present perfectly, though from his pose it was clear this was an accident. “Lunch is served,” said Linguini, standing up again.
“Are you okay Linguini?” asked Judy. “You seem distracted.”
“Oh, me?” said Linguini. “It’s nothing. It’s just that tonight at the restaurant, there’s this really mean critic named Anton Ego who’s gonna review us, and if we don’t get a good review…” Linguini didn’t finish, but it was clear what he meant.
“That sounds bad,” said Sora. “What do you know about this guy? Maybe you can appeal to him with something unexpected.”
Linguini thought for a moment. “Well, I know he grew up in a poor farming community,” said Linguini. “Wait…no, that’s crazy.”
“What is it?” asked Rapunzel.
“Well, there’s this dish called ratatouille,” said Linguini, who seemed to be suppressing a giggle at this. “But it’s a peasant dish. There’s no way…”
“You should try it,” said Sora. “You’re a very good cook. I’m sure he’d love a taste of his childhood, prepared by such a talented chef.”
“Well, that’s very kind of you to say,” said Linguini. “But you see, I…” Suddenly, Linguini seemed to twitch. “I…need to stock up on ingredients. Yeah, could you help out with that?”
“Absolutely,” said Sora. “Wait, I have to go on a mission soon…”
“Actually Sora, you’ll be travelling in a time machine,” said Elsa. “You’ll be back here minutes after you leave, even if you spend days out there.”
“Really?” asked Sora. “Well Linguini, if you don’t mind waiting…”
“I’ll be here,” said Linguini. “I’ll go get you a list of ingredients.” Linguini quickly dashed out of the room as Lewis came back in.
“Your majesties,” said Lewis, bowing deeply. “We’re ready to go.”
“Alright, let’s do this,” said Sora, jumping to his feet.

Notes:

Yeah, I know Sora’s jumping ahead with his magic VERY quickly, but if I didn’t this fanfic would probably end up being three times longer than I want it to be. Sorry this chapter was mostly explanations, I just wanted to get it all out of the way early so we can get back to Disney’s best acquisition. Until next time…

Chapter 4: Castle DonBroch

Summary:

Sora arrives in the past and meets a red haired princess named Kairi...oh, wait, I mean Merida.

“What do you mean Luxord’s dead?” demanded Xemnas, staring down at Xaldin.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” replied Xaldin. “The keyblade wielder was too strong for him, and he was killed. However, his sacrifice was not in vain, as I did manage to capture that child.”
“Yes, the child will be of much use to us,” admitted Xemnas, looking at Spot floating in stasis. “But now our Organization is down two members. Luxord, and that kid…”
“Yeah, a real shame about that,” came a voice from behind the two of them. Xemnas and Xaldin turned around and found Axel entering from a dark portal.
“What is it, Axel?” asked Xemnas, squinting his eyes at the red-haired nobody. “Clearly you have something in mind, and I’m not sure it’s in the Organization’s best interests.”
“Xemnas, I’m hurt,” said Axel in a mocking tone. “I get the feeling you don’t trust me.”
“We know you helped the kid escape in the first place,” said Xaldin, stepping towards Axel threateningly.
“Really? And yet, you can’t provide a single bit of proof of this,” said Axel. “If you could, you would have killed me already. Or am I too valuable to the Organization to get rid of?”
“What do you want Axel?” sighed Xemnas, knowing he’d never get anywhere with Axel otherwise.
“Vexen sent me,” said Axel. “He’s identified another Fixed Point, and believes there’s another child there we can take. He’s also detected a power similar to that of a keyblade.”
“Oh really?” said Xemnas, stroking his chin. “Is it the silver haired one that fought against Luxord and Xaldin?”
“Hard to say,” said Axel. “Sir, if it’s alright by you, I volunteer to go and investigate.”
“Forget it,” snapped Xaldin. “We hardly trust you as it is. What makes you think we’d…”
“Xaldin,” cautioned Xemnas. “Axel, what is your interest in this mission?”
“You need my loyalty, right?” asked Axel. “What better way to show it than by capturing another child, and maybe a keyblade wielder.”
“You’re not seriously considering…” started Xaldin, but Xemnas silenced him.
“Very well Axel. You may go,” said Xemnas.
“Thank you, boss,” said Axel, bowing low. A dark portal appeared behind him, and Axel disappeared through it before it closed.
Xemnas turned to Xaldin. “Have someone follow him,” said Xemnas. “But tell them not to interfere. Just observe.”
“Got it,” said Xaldin, opening a dark portal of his own.

Meanwhile, in Radiant Gardens…
“Okay Sora, ready to go?” asked Lewis, getting into the time machine.
“WAIT!” yelled a black haired boy running out of the castle. “I’ve got something for Sora.”
“Ah, Sora, this is Hiro,” said Elsa, indicating the new arrival.
“Hey there Hiro,” said Sora, shaking the boy’s hand. “So, what you got for me?”
“It’s a new technique for you,” said Hiro, holding a glowing ball. “It’s called Scan. If you’re fighting a particularly tough enemy, this ability will show you how much strength they’ve got left.” The ball floated up across to Sora, disappearing into his chest.
“Hey, thanks man,” said Sora. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to use it. Well, I’d best be on my way.”
“See you soon Sora,” said Linguini. “Remember, we have plenty of basil, but the other stuff on that list we need.”
“Got it,” said Sora, stepping into the time machine. “See you guys soon.”

The doors to the time machine closed, and started lifting off. “Okay, our destination is a place called Castle DonBroch,” said Lewis. “We won’t be able to land in the castle itself, but I’ll get us close, then you can find someone who might have seen something suspicious.”
“Okay,” said Sora, right as the time machine started flying at an extreme speed. Sora hung on tight, but only a few seconds later they came out above a beautiful landscape. “There’s the castle,” said Sora, pointing to a nearby hill. “Hey, what’s that?” Just below them, there seemed to be a pile of stones in a circular pattern.
“I don’t know, but I’ll try and set us down close,” said Lewis, landing in the trees nearby. “Okay, see you soon Sora.”
“Thanks Lewis,” said Sora, running out of the thicket onto a path. Just as he emerged though, he was nearly knocked over by a horse. “Whoa,” cried Sora, falling over. “Hey, come back.” Sora ran after the rider, who was heading towards the circle of stones they’d seen from the air.
When Sora emerged into the ring, he saw the horse and its rider: a young girl with frizzy red haired going everywhere. Over her shoulder she had a bow with a quiver of arrows. “Sorreh ‘bout that,” she said in a thick accent. “Didn’ see yeh until I knocked yeh down.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Sora. “My name’s Sora. What’s yours?”
“Relleh? Yeh don’ know meh?” asked the girl, a little surprised. “I’m Merida. Yeh know, the princess?”
“You’re a princess?” asked Sora, surprised. “Shouldn’t you have, like, guards or something?”
“Not when yeh run out from the castle withou’ telling anyone,” said Merida.
“Oh, okay,” said Sora. “What happened?”
“It’s me mum,” said Merida. “She’s bin running mah life since I was born, and now she expects meh to get married, without even asking what I want.”
“That’s horrible,” said Sora. “So you ran away?”
“Aye,” said Merida. “That’s when I met a witch. She gave meh something tah change meh fate, so I’m heading back home tah try it.” Merida climbed onto her horse’s back and turned him in the direction of the castle, when suddenly the horse reared and threw her off. “ANGUS! What’s gotten into yeh?” demanded Merida, when she saw them: shadowy creatures shaped like bears.

“Heartless,” said Sora running forward and drawing his keyblade. “Stand back princess. I’ve got these.” As Sora said this, an arrow flew past his face and impaled three Heartless against a tree.
“Yeh were saying, laddie?” said Merida, already grabbing another arrow.
Sora began slashing down the Heartless, while Merida fired arrow after arrow, always keeping a good distance between herself and the Heartless. Soon, they were all gone, and behind them they heard someone clapping. “Very good,” came a voice dripping in sarcasm. Sora and Merida turned to see a man in a long black coat with spiky red hair.
“You’re with Organization XIII, aren’t you?” said Sora, gearing up for a fight.
“Cutting right to the chase, hey kid?” asked the man. “Name’s Axel. Got it memorised?”
“I take it ‘e ain’t a friend of yehs?” said Merida, grabbing another arrow.
“Hey, I might be,” said Axel. “The kid here just assumed I’m bad because a few of my friends attacked him.” Axel seemed to look behind them for a moment, then smiled. “Of course, he’s right, but still…” Two red chakrams appeared in his hands, and he got into a battle stance. Suddenly, Axel fell over, and behind him, a new figure appeared.
“Are you two okay?” asked an auburn haired girl, holding a very familiar looking weapon.
“Is that a…a…” started Sora.
“Keyblade? Yes,” said the girl, jumping over Axel. “I’m Kairi. Wait…do you have one too?”
“Guys, can we talk about this when he’s gone?” asked Merida, as Axel got back up.
“Great, another keyblade wielder,” said Axel. “Well, I’m outta here.” A small inferno sprouted up, covering the circle in smoke. When it cleared, Axel was nowhere to be seen.
“I wonder where he went?” asked Sora. “I guess we’ll have to deal with him later. Come on princess, we gotta get you to the castle.”
From within the trees, Axel watched this exchange. Without turning, he spoke. “Xaldin sent you, didn’t he Saix?”
“Good thing, too,” said Saix. “Seeing as I’ve just caught you leaving your job unfinished.”
“Really? You think they expect me to beat two keyblade wielders at the same time?” asked Axel. “Look at what happened last time. No, I think I’m gonna need some back up, and I’m guessing you’re not here to do that. Luckily, I did my research on this place before I came.” Axel opened a dark portal and made towards it.
“Axel, I don’t want to believe you would turn against the Organization,” said Saix. “But if you don’t give us a good reason to trust you, I will be the one to kill you.” Saix heard Axel chuckle, but he didn’t look back before he disappeared.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, Merida, Sora, and Kairi had snuck into the castle kitchen. Above them, they could hear someone singing about killing a bear.
“Okay, I need tah get this tah meh mum,” said Merida, opening a little bundle she’d been carrying to reveal a cake. “Once she eats this, she’ll change her mind about the marriage.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kairi. “It just seems like an odd thing for a witch to give you.”
“Shh, someone’s coming,” said Merida, pushing Sora and Kairi into a pantry and closing it.
“Hey, a friend of mine is looking for marjoram,” said Sora, pocketing it.
“Don’t steal their stuff,” snapped Kairi, but not stopping him. Just then they heard the door to the kitchen open.
“Merida, there yeh are,” said a brown haired woman coming into view. “We were gettin’ worried aboot yeh. We didn know where yeh’d gone. But, yeh’re back noo, and yer father’s pacified the lords for noo. Oh, what’s this?”
“Oh this?” said Merida. “It’s a peace offering. For…being difficult. Here, have it. And afterwards maybe yeh’ll feel different aboot the marriage?”
“I don’ think so young lady,” said the queen, but accepting the offering nonetheless. She picked up the fork and took a bite of the cake. Almost immediately, the queen gagged. “What…was in that cake?” she gasped, collapsing onto the floor.
“Mother?” cried Merida, kneeling beside her. Suddenly, the queen’s body started to convulse, and grew bigger, hairier, until…
“BEAR!” yelled Sora, drawing his keyblade.
“Sora, wait,” said Kairi, holding him back. “Look.” The bear/queen was standing up again as if nothing had happened. “I think the queen hasn’t realised what happened.”
The queen looked around for a moment, then down at Merida, who was cowering next to a table. The queen let out a roar, then covered her mouth, as if she didn’t mean it. That’s when she seemed to notice her hands, and fell backwards in shock, falling into a rack of pots and pans.
“I didn’t tell the witch tah do this,” said Merida. “I just wanted tah change meh fate, not change yeh into a bear.”
“Hmm…” pondered Kairi. “Did the witch say anything about a reversal spell? There should have been something like that, right?”
“She did,” said Merida. “But I ha’e no idea what it means. ’Fate be changed, look inside, mend the bond torn by pride.’” Merida thought for a moment, then her face brightened up. “I go’ it! There’s a tapestry upstairs that I accidentally ripped. Maybe if I fix that…”
“Got it,” said Kairi. “I’ll go…” Kairi stopped short when she saw the king in the doorway, staring in horror at the queen, and her torn dress in front of her.
“Elinor?” said King Fergus, drawing his sword. “ELINOR! The bear ate meh queen.” Behind him, the group saw several of the lords and their men grabbing their weapons
“Father, no!” cried Merida.
“Get her out of here,” said Kairi, summoning her keyblade. “I’ll hold them back as long as possible, then grab the tapestry.”
“Merida, come on,” said Sora, guiding the queen and princess out the kitchen door as the first clash of weapons was heard.

The three of them fled from the castle for about half an hour, when the sounds of barking dogs began to grow louder. “They’re coming noo,” said Merida, leading the way through the darkness. “Maybe if we can find the witch’s house, we can reverse the spell withoot the tapestry. Ah-HA!” The three had arrived in the circle of stones where they first met. “Perfect. Now, we just need tah…”
“I’m afraid that won’t be happening,” came a familiar cocky voice. The three of them turned to see Axel striding into the clearing. “Princess, my Organization has some big plans for you. You too, Keyblade wielder. As for the bear, I don’t really care.”
“Oh yeah? Make us,” said Sora, grabbing his keyblade. Merida aimed an arrow, and the queen simply stood on her hind legs with her front paws out. At seven feet tall, she was plenty intimidating.
“Ooh, tough crowd,” said Axel. “Good thing I brought a friend.” From behind Axel, a dark form approached, revealing itself to be a huge black bear, scars all over its body, and huge tufts of hair missing, and looking all the more terrifying because of it.
“Mor…Mor’du,” stammered Merida, changing her target as the bear charged. The arrow struck the bear in the face, but he didn’t seem to notice.
Sora focused on Mor’du, and saw a green bar above the bear’s head. ‘This must be that Scan ability Hiro gave me’, thought Sora. ‘Well, better help Merida’. Sora ran towards the princess, but Axel got in his way.
“Going somewhere?” asked the red haired Nobody. “Didn’t think so. You can come peacefully, or I can drag you to the Organization. The choice is…” Before Axel could continue, he was pushed over by Queen Elinor. The queen stood above Axel and roared into his face. “Sheesh, ever heard of a breath mint?” asked Axel.
“Your majesty, help your daughter,” said Sora, indicating Merida struggling to keep out of Mor’du’s path. “I’ll handle this guy.” The queen looked over to see her daughter trying to avoid the claws of the bear, and immediately ran at him.
“Brave ‘til the end, I see,” said Axel, a chakram in each hand. “Well, I offered a peaceful solution, and you refused. Too bad kid.” Flames shot up around the clearing, surrounding it in a ring of fire. Sora charged straight at the Nobody, who threw one of his chakrams at Sora. Sora jumped over it and knocked Axel aside.

“MERIDA!” came a yell, and King Fergus came into view. He jumped over some of the lower flames, and stared in shock as his wife fought against Mor’du. “YOU!” he growled, charging at the fearsome bear. Mor’du looked up just in time to get punched in the face by the king. “That’s for meh leg,” said the king, punching the bear again. “That’s for meh daughter.” Punch. “That’s for meh wife.” Punch. “And that’s because I felt like it.” Mor’du shook the last punch off, and swatted the king down.
“Your Majesty!” yelled Sora, blocking another attack from Axel. Sora focused on the redhead, and saw that he still had three quarters of his strength left.
“Need a hand?” someone asked, and suddenly Kairi was back flipping over the fire and knocking down Axel. On her back was the tapestry, which she threw on the ground nearby. “Come on Sora, let’s finish this.”
“Oh no, I know what happened to Luxord,” said Axel, summoning a dark portal. “Say what you want, but I’m not suicidal. I’ll be seeing you kids.” Axel walked into the portal, and disappeared.

“Yeah, you better run,” said Sora, before turning his attention to the royals. Mor’du was preparing to charge at Merida, who was backed up against a stone. The bear made his move, and almost as quickly Merida dived out of the way. Mor’du crashed into the stone, causing it to crumble, crushing the bear beneath it. Sora ran to check if any of them were hurt, then remembered what Rapunzel gave him. “Curaga.” A blue flash lit the group up, and soon everyone was back on their feet.
“Oh no, the tapestry,” gasped Merida, grabbing a needle and thread off Kairi. “So, who was that guy anyway?”
“He’s a part of an evil Organization,” said Sora. “We don’t know exactly what they’re planning, but it involves plunging the world into darkness. Somehow, that involves taking you, just like they took Spot.”
“That ain’t good,” said Merida, fixing the tapestry and throwing it over her mother. “But if they want meh, they’ll have to try harder than that.” The queen began to glow, and soon returned to normal. Except…
“Fergus, I’m naked. Naked as a wee baby,” said the queen, hugging the tapestry closer around her.
“Oh, well, err…” said Sora, blushing and looking away. “I…better be going then.” Sora turned and headed towards the spot where Lewis had left him.
“Wait Sora,” called Kairi. “Can I come with you? You seem to know a bit more about this whole keyblade deal.”
“Sure, come along,” said Sora, leading the way into the forest. “Just be careful of Judy. She might get a little…excited.”

Chapter 5: Nomanisan Island

Summary:

Sora and Kairi find themselves on Nomanisan Island in search of Riku, where they come across some other heroes in search of a dangerous criminal.

Notes:

Sorry this chapter took so long. I just really love this movie, and wanted to make it as awesome as possible. And that could be a recurring problem for this fanfic: Pixar have made so many of my favourite movies, that I want to honour them as best as possible. I had to cut a whole bunch of stuff to keep it from being too long. One day, I might consider doing a Final Mix version of this fanfic, where I put in a LOT more detail, but that’ll be a long way away. Well, anyway, here’s the new chapter.

“I don’t understand why you’re letting him live,” snapped Xigbar. “You heard what Saix said. As soon as the girl turned up, he ran. He’s a coward, and useless to us.”
“Settle down Xigbar,” said Xemnas calmly. “Yes, he fled, but after what happened to Luxord I don’t blame him. I can’t afford to lose too many more members. By the sounds of it, this princess would have been too much trouble for any of us to capture, so leaving her in favour of a strategic retreat was probably the best option available.”
“Still, he did help the kid get away,” said Xigbar. “We can’t ignore that.”
“We suspect he did, we don’t know for sure,” said Xemnas. “And remember what Axel did to that witch. Until I’m more convinced that he was behind it, I choose to believe his innocence. If, however, he is guilty…”
“I get to tear him apart,” said Xigbar, rubbing his hands together.
“You may have to fight Saix to have the privilege,” said Xemnas. “But yes, you may. Now, Vexen has news on a new Fixed Point, one he has great interest in. I wish to speak to him about it.”

“…and that’s all I know,” said Kairi. “Now, can you please uncuff me?”
“Judy, if you would,” said Elsa. The rabbit sighed, and took the handcuffs off the girl. “Now, how long ago did you say your memory goes back?”
“About a year,” said Kairi. “But I must be older than that, right? I must be at least fourteen, and I feel like I must have existed beforehand, but…”
“It’s okay,” assured Hiro. “But it is curious, since Sora’s memory only goes back a year as well. Do you think maybe this Riku kid…?”
“It’s a strong possibility,” said Elsa. “Unfortunately, we don’t know where he is.”
“I might,” said Lewis, looking up from a screen. “I’m picking up a signal similar to Sora’s in the time stream, and it’s at a Fixed Point too.”
“Should we go after him?” asked Judy. “I mean, we know he might be the dark one…”
“But we don’t know that he’s evil,” said Hiro. “I say we ask Sora and Kairi to check it out.” Suddenly, Hiro remembered who was in the room with them. “Err, that is Kairi, if you want…”
“Of course,” said Kairi eagerly. “I’ll go get Sora.” Kairi jumped out of her chair and ran out of the lab.

“Hiro, is it me, or are you blushing?” teased Judy.
“What? No, I…” stammered Hiro.
“Judy, settle,” scolded Elsa. “We both know he’s actually crushing on Penny.”
“That’s not…” started Hiro, as the lab door opened.
“’Sup nerds?” asked Penny, walking in and slumping down on the couch. “Anything new?”
“We may have a lead on the other keyblade wielder,” said Lewis. “I’ve gotta get the time machine ready. I’ll leave you two lovebirds to get comfy.” Lewis ran out of the room laughing before Hiro could get up.
“Shut up,” yelled Hiro after him, but looked extremely relieved when he saw Penny was absorbed in a book and listening to her iPod, not paying the two of them any attention.
“Well, as fun as teasing Hiro is, I really should see Sora and Kairi off,” said Elsa. “I have something for them. Judy, if you wouldn’t mind finding Ace, the two boys staying behind can monitor the time stream.” A glowing ball appeared in the queen’s hand, which disappeared just as fast.

“Okay guys, from what we’ve found out about this Nomanisan Island, it’s a heavily fortified science facility,” said Lewis. “As a result, I may have to drop you guys from the air and get out of there.”
“It shouldn’t be too bad,” said Sora, preparing himself for when they emerged from the time stream. “With Elsa’s new gift, we should be fine.”
“We’re re-entering the time stream…NOW!” yelled Lewis as they emerged above an island with a couple of volcanoes on it. The three of them got to admire the view for about three seconds, then the time machine started beeping. “Okay, they have missiles,” said Lewis. “Put on your parachutes and bail. I’ll return to the present. While you’re down there, either disable the weapons system or get somewhere else so I can pick you up.”
“You got it,” said Kairi, putting on her parachute. “Hey Sora, race you down.” Before Sora could respond, Kairi jumped out of the time machine.
“Hey, no fair, you got a head start,” said Sora, following her.
“They’re the ones that are meant to save the world,” muttered Lewis, setting the time machine up to return to the present.

Below him, Sora had caught up to Kairi, and the two of them were hurtling towards the island. Suddenly, the missiles raced past them towards where Lewis was. Sora looked up to see the time machine vanish, right as the missiles collided with each other, causing them to detonate.
The force of the blast sent the two keyblade wielders flying away from each other, Sora towards the north end, Kairi to the south. Sora tried to force himself back towards Kairi, but noticed the ground was getting too close. Sighing, he pulled his chute, and soon landed among the trees. Sora took off his parachute, and turned towards where Kairi was about to land. Before he could move though, ice shot out from the trees and froze him where he stood.
“Gotcha kid,” said a man wearing a skin-tight blue and white costume. “Who sent you?”
“Hey, take it easy Lu…err, Frozone,” said another man, much bigger (in more ways than one) and wearing a skin-tight red costume. “I doubt Syndrome would have sent a kid to capture us.”
“Syndrome?” asked Sora. “Who’s that? Is he with Organization XIII?”
“Who are they?” asked Frozone suspiciously. “Is there more than one villain at work here?” Frozone looked like he was about to attack, when a loud buzzing started coming from the trees. “Whatever’s going on, it can wait. We’ve got company.”
“Heh, just like old times, hey buddy?” said the big guy, preparing for a fight.
“Hey, I can fight too,” said Sora, summoning his keyblade.
“Whoa, where’d that come from?” asked Frozone, jumping back.
“Kid, best to leave this to the professionals,” said the big guy. “We heroes did this for a living.” As he finished speaking, five flying drones burst into the clearing. “Hang tight. This won’t take long.” The big guy immediately jumped up and grabbed a low flying drone and threw it into a tree, while Frozone froze another’s engine.
“I can help!” growled Sora, pointing his keyblade upwards. A burst of fire shot out of the end, melting the ice and setting Sora free. Sora looked confused for a moment, then jumped onto one of the drones. The pilot tried to punch Sora, but he dodged to the left. The drone swung dangerously as the pilot took another swing at Sora, only to crash into one of the other drones. Realising what had happened, the pilot tried to correct what happened, but only ended up swinging into the last drone as Sora jumped off, landing near the two heroes.
“Hey, you aren’t half bad kid,” said the big guy. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Sora,” said Sora. “Me and my friend Kairi were coming here to find someone, but we got separated.”
“Well, I’m Mr. Incredible,” said the big guy. “And this is my buddy Frozone. We’re superheroes here to investigate the disappearances of a bunch of other heroes.”
“If you want to tag along, you’re welcome to,” said Frozone. “We might even find your friend while we’re going. Just try not to drag us down kiddo.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll have a hard time keeping up with me old man,” said Sora, dashing off before Frozone could retaliate.
“I like this kid,” Mr. Incredible whispered to Frozone cheekily before following Sora’s lead.

Meanwhile, Kairi had landed on the beach on the south side of the island. “Great, now I have no idea if I beat Sora down or not,” she said, getting off the beach. “Guess I should head towards that building in the middle of the island. It’s as good a place as any to start looking for him.” Kairi started making her way through the trees, when suddenly there was a kid about ten years old in front of her.
“Eww, it’s another girl,” said the kid, suddenly vanishing.
“Dash, don’t be rude,” said a girl’s voice, but Kairi couldn’t see from where.
“Who… said...” started Kairi, confused.
“Oh, sorry,” said the voice, and a dark haired girl about Kairi’s age appeared from nowhere. “Hi, I’m Violet, and this is my annoying little brother Dash.”
“Violet, remember what mum said about our identities?” said Dash. “Why are you telling the first person we come across who we are?”
“Dash, she fell from an explosion in the sky,” said Violet. “I’m pretty sure she’s not one of them.”
“That’s right,” said Kairi. “My name’s Kairi. Me and my friend Sora came here looking for someone, but we got separated in that explosion…hey, what was that?”
Violet and Dash noticed it too. Twigs snapping, leaves crunching, bushes moving. “Someone’s coming,” whispered Violet, turning invisible. Dash ran away into the foliage, leaving Kairi alone when half a dozen troops emerged in the clearing, guns drawn.
“Alright kid, hands where we can see them,” said one of the men. Kairi did as he asked, raising her hands. “And where are your friends? We heard you talking to someone, and we won’t stop until…” Suddenly, the man doubled over, as if someone had just punched him in the stomach, then fell forward as if elbowed in the back of the head. Kairi used the sudden distraction to draw her keyblade, knocking one guard out with it and kicking another over.
“Say good night, girlie,” said a man as a gun barrel was pressed against Kairi’s head. Almost as quickly though, he was bowled over by Dash charging into the clearing.
Kairi turned to face the other soldiers, only to see them being beaten by an invisible opponent. As the last one slumped to the ground, Violet became visible again. “Let’s go,” she said, waving for them to follow. “I reckon we’ll have a better chance finding your friend in the facility.” The trio ran through the trees for a few minutes until they were sure they were no longer anywhere near the guards. “So, what is that weapon you’ve got?”
“This is a keyblade,” said Kairi, holding it out for them.
“Can I have a look?” asked Dash.
“Sure,” said Kairi, handing it to him. Dash took the keyblade, but almost immediately it disappeared back into Kairi’s hand. “Of course, the keyblade chooses its owner, and won’t let anyone else touch it.”
“You mean like Mjolnir in Thor?” asked Dash eagerly.
“Ignore him, he reads too many comics,” said Violet, earning a glare from Dash. “So, this Sora guy. Is he cute?”
“Wha…I…” stammered Kairi, blushing a little.
“That means you like him,” teased Violet.
“I hardly know him,” said Kairi defensively. “Besides, I’m sure there’s some guy you like I can tease you about.”
“Yeah, how are things with Tony?” mocked Dash.
“Hey, shut up you little dweeb,” snapped Violet, putting up a force field in front of Dash that he walked right into.
“HEY!” yelled Dash, rubbing his nose. Kairi and Violet stopped for a moment, then started laughing. “What’s so funny?” he demanded.
“It’s a girl thing,” said Kairi, turning back to Violet. “So, what music do you like? The Beatles are pretty cool.”
“Are you kidding? Ringo is so cute,” said Violet.
“Oh no,” Dash said to himself as the two girls chatted. “They’re talking about…GIRL STUFF!”

At the facility, Mr. Incredible, Frozone, and Sora were watching for a way in. Unfortunately, there were too many guards.
“Hey, onions,” said Sora, grabbing a few. “Linguini needs these.”
“Really? You’re gardening while we’re on a dangerous mission?” scolded Frozone, turning away with a sigh. “Any ideas on how we’re gonna get in?”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Mr. Incredible, picking up a rock. He threw it, and the rock struck a guard on the second floor, knocking him out before he hit the ground.
Several of the guards near a door ran to see what was going on, and the team took that opportunity to sneak into the base. Mr. Incredible managed to lift the heavy door up, then Frozone held it up with an ice beam. As the three of them snuck in, Sora cast a fire spell, which melted the ice, and the door closed. “So, where’d you learn that?” asked Frozone as they ran down a dark corridor.
“I don’t know,” said Sora. “Before this, all I knew was curing and summoning magic. Maybe I’m getting stronger at magic.”
“Well, as long as you can keep doing it when we need it,” said Mr. Incredible. “Because I’m pretty sure…” Suddenly, the lights came on, and at the end of the hallway stood a man with red hair in a black costume with an S on it.
“Wh-h-hoa, what have I here?” said the man. “Is that…Frozone? You know, I was so looking forward to defeating you, but then I found your buddy here. Mr. Incredible. Man, you were like my idol man, before you told me I couldn’t be a superhero.”
“Buddy?” said Mr. Incredible. “Is that you?”
“It’s not Buddy anymore,” snapped the man. “It’s Syndrome. And I have something special in mind for you two.” Syndrome then turned his attention to Sora. “As for the kid, I’ve promised him to these guys.” A door at the end of the hallway opened, and two men in black coats came in. One had long blond hair; the other had blue hair that covered half his face.
“Organization XIII,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade and getting ready to attack.
“Good, you don’t care if we hurt them then,” said Mr. Incredible. “Though I think I’ll have dibs on Bu…err, ‘Syndrome’.”
“I’ll take the blond,” said Frozone. “You okay with the little guy, Sora?”
“We have names you know,” said the blue haired one. “Not that it’ll matter. Syndrome, if you would.”
“Right,” said Syndrome, pushing a button on his wrist. The roof between the bad guys and good guys opened up, and a large metal ball landed between them. The metal ball suddenly grew several pairs of legs, and smacked the trio hard enough to knock them back outside. “Meet the Omnidroid v.10.”

“You two, take down Syndrome and the guys in black,” said Mr. Incredible. “I’ll try and distract the…” Before he could finish, Syndrome flew into him and lifted him off the ground.
“Oh no, you said you could handle me,” said Syndrome. “Now prove it.” Syndrome threw Mr. Incredible onto the ground, right in front of the Omnidroid. The Omnidroid raised its leg to crush him, but the hero rolled out of the way, only to get caught in Syndrome’s zero point energy beam. “Oh, this is gonna be fun,” he taunted as the Omnidroid grabbed Mr. Incredible and threw him into the air.
“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” yelled a woman, and suddenly Syndrome was punched by someone from across the clearing. Sora followed the arm back to a middle aged woman carrying a baby emerging from the trees, which were about forty feet away. “Looks like you boys may need some help,” said the woman, who was wearing a similar suit to Mr. Incredible.
“No way,” said Syndrome. “Is that…Elastigirl? And she has a kid? Oh wow, Mr. Incredible, you’ve been busy.”
“Vexen, that baby…” the blue haired Organization member said.
“Yes, I know Zexion,” said the blond one.
“Oh no. You’re not taking another kid,” said Sora, running towards the Organization members.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” said a familiar voice. Sora turned to see Riku holding the baby in one arm and his keyblade in the other. “Anyone comes near me, I take them down.”
“RIKU!” called Sora excitedly. Maybe he could convince him to come back with him, and…
“Kid, focus. We have bigger issues than your reunion,” said Frozone, making an ice path to slide along.
“You want a fight? Here,” said Vexen, raising his arms. Several dark portals appeared on the ground below him, and the Heartless began pouring out of them.
“O…kay,” said Frozone. “Kid, I’ll take these things. You take out those cult guys.”
“We’re not a cult,” snapped Zexion.
“Right, the guys wearing long black coats aren’t in a cult,” mocked Frozone, freezing half the Heartless with very little effort.
“Let’s do this,” said Sora, swinging his keyblade at Zexion. Zexion ducked under it, and Vexen brought up his shield to block the blow. The most noticeable thing about though shield though…

“Hey, an ice shield,” said Frozone, the last of the Heartless encased in ice. “I was right to pick you as my opponent. Can’t have more than one ice user running around, can we?” Frozone jumped up about the scientist, and started firing icicles at him.
“I guess you’re right,” said Vexen, blocking Frozone’s attack. “I should be the only one.” Vexen threw his shield at Frozone, catching him off-guard. As Frozone fell to the ground, Vexen called for his shield, which came back and hit Frozone before he hit the ground.
“You’ll never beat me,” said Zexion, a book in one hand. Beside him appeared several copies of himself. “I am a master of illusions.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to beat each of you until I hit the real one,” said Sora, aiming for one of the middle ones. The copy vanished as Sora struck it, and the ones on the ends began to flank him. Sora kept striking at the copies, but they kept disappearing, and they were circling him quicker and quicker, until…
“SORA!” came a cry, and suddenly Kairi had dived into the fight, knocking down the illusions surrounding him.
“Kairi! Thanks,” said Sora. “But where’s that Zexion guy gone?”
“He must have slipped away while you were being surrounded,” said Kairi. “They were going pretty fast, you probably wouldn’t have noticed one leaving.”
“Sora, who are you talking to?” asked someone behind him. Sora turned around, only to see…
“Kairi?” asked Sora, as Kairi arrived with Violet and (a VERY relieved looking) Dash. “But…you were just…” Sora turned back, only to see Zexion knocking down Riku while Vexen grabbed Jack-Jack.
“I told you I’m a master of illusion,” called Zexion.
“And now, we have…” said Vexen, as he yelled in shock. Jack-Jack had suddenly caught on fire, and was crawling around Vexen’s neck, leaving horrible burn marks wherever he went. Vexen desperately tried to throw Jack-Jack off, but Jack-Jack had suddenly morphed himself into some kind of demon, tearing at Vexen’s eyes. “GET THIS KID OFF ME!” he screamed in agony.
“Don’t worry Jack-Jack,” said Elastigirl, carefully lifting Jack-Jack off of him. Except…
“JACK-JACK!” screamed Elastigirl, still fighting Sydrome and the Omnidroid, but her outcry wasn’t heard, as Zexion opened a dark portal and walked through. Elastigirl stretched her hand across the clearing, but the portal closed before she could reach him. “NOOO!”
“Good work Zexion,” said Vexen, standing up, blood coming from his eyes. “But now, I must…”
“YOU BE QUIET!” yelled Sora. “FIRAGA!” A burst of flames erupted around Vexen, burning him worse than he already was. Riku took that moment to sweep his keyblade under Vexen’s legs, knocking him over, while Kairi jumped into the air, and pointed her keyblade straight at Vexen’s heart. Her aim was true, and the scientist gasped in shock, vanishing before their eyes.

“Great work guys. Now, what do we do about that?” asked Riku, nodding at the Omnidroid.
“Sora? Should we use Elsa’s gift?” asked Kairi. Sora nodded in agreement, and they put their keyblades together. “MARSHMALLOW! We need you!” A white light shot out of their weapons, and before them stood a large snowman with icicle fingers. Unfortunately…
“Do you really think that tiny thing will be enough to beat my Omnidroid?” scoffed Syndrome. “My Omnidroid, one of the most sophisticated pieces of artificial intelligence ever created? Forget it. Hey Omnidroid, crush them.” The Omnidroid lifted up its foot as though to stomp on them, then swung around and smacked Syndrome into a wall.
“Guess it realised it didn’t have to listen to him,” said Frozone. “Now, how’s about I help you with your snowman?” Frozone began adding ice to Marshmallow, making him grow bigger. The Omnidroid, seeing the (literally) growing threat, made to attack Frozone.
“Oh no you don’t,” said Violet, jumping in front of Frozone and calling up a forcefield. “Dash? We need a sandstorm.”
“On it,” said Dash, sprinting around and around the Omnidroid. Dust clouds hid the heroes from the robot, which activated its heat sensors.
“Okay guys, it’s looking for heat signatures,” called Mr. Incredible. “Which means our icy friend there is invisible to it. Everyone, spread out and hit this thing with everything you’ve got.” Mr. Incredible immediately grabbed one of its arms and attempted to remove it. Sora set fires around it, which the droid’s heat sensors confused for people. Riku had gotten underneath it and was attempting to hack through its armour with his keyblade. Kairi was engaging with two legs at once, before running under it while it was attacking to unbalance it. Elastigirl was mostly bouncing the Omnidroid’s attacks back at it, severely denting it.
“Alright, that should just about do it,” called Frozone. “You’re up, big guy.” The sandstorm began to subside, and from out of the haze rose Marshmallow, now fifty feet tall and wearing thick ice armour. Marshmallow let out a roar, and engaged the now dented Omnidroid. The Omnidroid tried to punch through Marshmallow’s armour, but barely managed to dent it as the giant snowman ripped two of its legs off.
“I think I have an idea,” said Mr. Incredible, grabbing one of the detached legs and holding it like a javelin. “Marshmallow, hold it still.” Marshmallow just grunted in response, but seemed to understand. Mr. Incredible aimed the leg, and threw it straight through the middle of the robot’s body. The leg came out the other side, holding what looked like the robot’s core. The Omnidroid sparked a couple of times, then collapsed.

“You did it dad,” said Dash, running up to his father and hugging him.
“But what about Jack-Jack?” asked Elastigirl.
“We’ll get him back,” said Sora. “Me, Kairi, and Riku are the keyblade wielders, and we’re destined to defeat those Organization guys before they can plunge the world into darkness. Together, nothing can stop us.”
“He’s right,” said Riku. “Maybe I’ll see you two when we find them again.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t you coming with us?” asked Kairi.
“Nah,” said Riku, a dark portal appearing behind him. “I’m more of a ‘work-alone’ guy. Besides, can’t have you guys slowing me down.”
“I’m coming with you,” said Elastigirl. “They have my baby. I can’t just…”
“You can’t,” said Riku. “You have to stay in your own time. Otherwise your absence could destroy the time stream.” Without another word, Riku turned and disappeared through the portal. As the portal closed, Lewis’s time machine appeared above the trees.
“Well, looks like our ride’s here,” said Sora. “I promise, we’ll save Jack-Jack and bring him back soon.”
“You promise to come visit?” Violet asked Kairi.
“Of course,” said Kairi with a smile.
“NOOO! Please, don’t,” begged Dash, getting a laugh out of everyone as the two keyblade wielders boarded the time machine.

Chapter 6: Andy’s Room

Summary:

Sora and Kairi end up in a kid's bedroom, and need to team up with his toys to battle two of the Organization members.

“So he left, just like that?” Elsa asked the two keyblade wielders.
“That’s right,” said Sora. “He said he prefers to work alone. But if he won’t work with us…”
“It’s fine,” said Elsa dismissively. “I wish he’d come to us, but we can’t force him. If we do, he may take it as a threat and join with the Organization. What’s of more interest he how you learned to use fire magic.”
“It might have to do with being a keyblade wielder,” said Kairi. “I mean, if we’re meant to save or destroy the world because of our power, maybe we gain these abilities naturally.”
“An interesting hypothesis,” said Hiro. “Can you use fire magic Kairi?”
“Well...I haven’t tried yet, so maybe,” said Kairi, standing up and pointing her keyblade at the roof. She then tried swinging it randomly, but nothing happened. “I…err…I don’t think I can,” she admitted, sitting down.
“We’ll need to investigate this further,” said Lewis. “In the meantime, we better go check out this new Fixed Point, since the Organization have taken an interest in it. It’s kind of odd though.”
“How so?” asked Sora.
“Well, the place is some kid’s bedroom,” said Lewis. “But I don’t think the kid himself is really part of the Point. It’s kinda hard to explain.”
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” said Kairi, leading the way out of the room.

“What do you expect to accomplish here?” Lexaeus demanded. “We can’t harm this child, and it would be impractical to use him. What is your plan?”
“The plan isn’t to capture this child,” said Saix. “Rather, to lure out the keyblade wielders, and capture one of them. They realise we’re in an odd Point, and they’re on their way to stop us, thinking we’re up to something.”
“Saix, do you not remember what happened to Luxord? And now Vexen…” said Lexaeus, when his ears perked up. “What’s that sound?”
Saix listened for a moment to hear what his teammate was talking about. “A child’s laughter,” said Saix. “But it’s odd. It’s cold. Evil. Come on, I’m curious.”
“But Saix,” said Lexaeus, pointing up. “They’re here.” Above the two of them, Lewis’s time machine had just come out of the time stream and was flying towards an open window.
“They can wait,” said Saix. “I may have some new ideas for our plan.”

“Here we are,” said Lewis, landing inside the house on a large desk. “I better get this thing hidden. Shouldn’t be too hard, since everything’s so big.”
“Yeah, this is weird,” said Kairi. “Has the world ever been inhabited by giants?”
“I don’t think...” started Lewis, when the three of them heard some voices. “I better go. I’ll look for a hiding spot out the front of the house. Find out what you can, I’ll see you guys soon.” Lewis jumped back into the time machine, and flew out the open window as a man in a cowboy outfit climbed onto the desk. Except this man looked odd, like he was made of plastic.
“Howdy,” said the cowboy. “My name is Woody, and this is Andy's room.”
“Whoa, this Andy guy must be like a hundred feet tall,” said Sora.
“What? No, he’s your average four foot eight year old,” said Woody. “And you’re his new toys.”
“Toys?” questioned Kairi. “We’re not…”

“Woody? You okay up here?” came another voice, and suddenly they were joined by a man in what looked like a futuristic spacesuit.
“I think we’re fine Buzz,” said Woody. “So, who are you guys?”
“Oh, I’m Sora, and this is my friend Kairi,” said Sora. “So, this Andy…”
“Oh, he’s our kid,” said Woody. “You’ll like him. He really cares about all his toys.”
“Really? How many of you are they?” asked Kairi.
“Well, there are lots of us,” said Woody. “Rex, Hamm, Slinky, Bo Peep, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and their three alien kids, and…”
“YEE-HAW!” came a cry, and suddenly a cowgirl came riding in on a horse, pulling up just in front of the group. The cowgirl leapt off the horse, back flipped over Sora and Kairi, and landed perfectly on her feet, taking a bow and sweeping her hat in front of her.
“…Bullseye and Jessie,” finished Woody.
“So, who we got here?” asked Jessie, inspecting the new arrivals. “Do you think Andy’s gonna play with these guys more than us?”
“ENOUGH!” yelled Kairi. “Listen, we’re not toys. We’re people, and we’re trying to stop a group of dangerous criminals.”
“Oh, I remember this,” said Buzz. “New toys, believing they’re the real thing. Guess we should break the harsh truth.”
“But that is true,” said Sora.
“Look, it might be hard to hear, but…” said Woody, taking Sora’s hand, then suddenly letting go. “What the…”
“What’s wrong Woody?” asked Buzz.
“His hand…” started Woody. “It feels like flesh. Like Andy…They ARE humans.”
“What? How?” asked Jessie. “What’s going on?”
“It’s kind of a long story,” said Sora. “You see…”

“There they are,” said Saix, pointing out the group through the window. “They’re the ones we want.”
“You can have them. I want to cowboy, the cowgirl, and the horse,” said the old man beside him.
“Now Prospector, y’all know our boy will wanna play with them before you get him to the chicken man,” said the stuffed bear beside him.
“That’s why we take the spaceman too, Lotso,” said the Prospector. “Use him as a distraction, then we get rid of my ‘friends’.”
“It’s not gonna be easy, taking the two keyblade wielders AND four toys,” said Lexaeus.
“Why take all of them? We just need one, then the rest will come to save them, like the heroes they are,” said Saix. “Now gentlemen, do we have a deal?”
“I do believe we do,” said Lotso, shaking Saix’s hand. “I swear it on my strawberry scent.”

“…and now we’re here, trying to find out what the Organization is up to,” finished Sora. By this time, Woody had called a meeting, and all of Andy’s toys had gathered around Sora to hear his story. “So, has anyone seen anything or anyone suspicious around here?”
“So, these Organization guys,” said Mr. Potato Head. “What do they look like?”
“Well, they all wear these long black coats,” said Kairi. “And they move around through these dark portals…”
“Oh, you mean kinda like those guys,” said Hamm, nodding to a dark portal opening up, with two men in black coats stepping out, followed by an old man and a teddy bear.
“Exactly like them,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade. “Back up guys, we’ll handle this.”
“Not so fast kiddo,” said Buzz. “I may be a toy, but I still remember my combat training.”
“Now how’s that for a greeting. Is this how you treat all your guests?” asked Lotso. “We’re just here to deliver an ultimatum.”
“Oh really? And what might that be?” asked Woody sarcastically.
“You, Jessie, Bullseye, Buzz, and those new kids come willingly, or our friends here get to ‘play’ with Andy,” said Stinky Pete.
“You are NOT touching Andy,” said Woody, standing with Sora, Kairi, and Buzz. “Just because your owner doesn’t love you…”
“Love? Kids don’t love us,” spat Lotso. “What do they do when you’re broken? Throw you away, that’s what. Now, Sid’s a good kid. He takes away the pain of being thrown away…”
“Yeah, by destroying perfectly good toys,” said Jessie. “We are NOT coming with you, and that’s final.”
“Jessie, think about this,” soothed Stinky Pete. “Me, you, Woody, and Bullseye could live in a Japanese toy museum, never getting broken or thrown away, living forever. Wouldn’t you like that?”
“No way,” said Jessie. “Spending an eternity stuck behind glass? Some life.”
“Have it your way,” said Saix, raising his Claymore. “Don’t kill, just capture.”

“Let’s go,” said Sora, leading the charge straight at Saix. Saix swung at Sora’s head, which he ducked under and blasted Saix with a Fire spell. Kairi ran straight at the goliath known as Lexaeus, easily dodging his slow but massively powerful swings. Buzz chose to fight Lotso, while Woody and Jessie were tag-teaming Stinky Pete.
Lotso grabbed Buzz in a hug, and started dragging him towards the still open dark portal, but Buzz managed to flip the bear over his shoulder before rolling away. “Get back here, Lightyear,” he snarled, jumping at him. Buzz jumped straight up, and landed square on top of the bear.
Stinky Pete was keeping Woody and Jessie at bay by threatening them with his pick, but the two of them were circling him to approach from different angles. Stinky Pete made a lunge at Jessie, when Woody jumped onto his back. The prospector, anticipating this, used his elbow to send the cowboy doll flying across the room, right next to the…
“Gentlemen, now,” called Stinky Pete, running back towards the dark portal. Lotso quickly threw Buzz off of him, and made a beeline straight after him. Just as Woody had gotten up, Lotso flung him over his shoulder and carried him out of sight.
“Well, it’s been fun, but we gotta go,” said Saix. “Lexaeus?” Lexaeus lifted his enormous weapon and struck the ground, knocking all the heroes off their feet. Sora got back up just in time to see the two of them vanish through the portal.
“NO…” yelled Sora, trying to follow them, but the portal disappeared, leaving them awestruck at what just happened.
“Guys, we gotta save Woody,” said Jessie, getting up.
“Yeah, but how? We don’t know where they’ve gone,” said Kairi.
“Yes, we do,” said Buzz, sounding oddly grim. “They’re next door.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Sora.
“You don’t understand,” said Mr. Potato Head. “Sid lives there.”
“He tortures toys, just for fun,” said Rex.
“Then we gotta go NOW!” said Sora, heading towards the window.
“But Sora,” called Jessie, grabbing his arm. “If you go into Sid’s house, you won’t be coming out.”
“He ain’t just gonna let you waltz on in there and take a toy he wants to break,” said Slinky.
“He’s not going in there alone,” said Buzz. “Woody’s risked his life for me before. I couldn’t call myself his friend if I wasn’t willing to do the same.”
“I’m coming too,” said Jessie.
“And me,” said Slinky.
“And me,” said Rex.
“And me,” said Hamm.
“Alright, alright, I’m in too,” said Mr. Potato Head.
“I’ll go get your angry eyes,” said Mrs. Potato Head, heading back to the toy box.
“Okay then, let’s go,” said Kairi, leading the pack.

“First, allow me to show you something,” said Buzz, extending his wings. “This is a technique called ‘Falling with Style’.” Buzz jumped out the window, but instead of falling straight down, smoothly glided down to the ground. “Now you try.” Sora and Kairi shrugged, then followed suit. To their surprise, they managed to glide fairly well, though a bit wobbly. “Very good.”
“Hey, I wanna try,” said Rex, charging through the rest of the toys to the window. Unfortunately, all he succeeded in doing was knocking the other toys out the window, except Jessie, who slid down a nearby drainpipe. As the others caught up, Sora started looking for a way through to Sid’s.
“We might be able to push through the fence here,” said Sora, trying to knock down a part of the fence that looked like it would give way. “It…won’t…budge.”
“What are we gonna do Buzz?” asked Rex.
“Use your head,” said Buzz.

“BUT I DON’T WANNA USE MY HEAD!” screamed Rex as Sora, Kairi, Buzz, and Jessie started running at the fence, using Rex as a battering ram. They hit the fence, charging straight through and landing in a pile in Sid’s yard.
“Hey, bell peppers,” said Sora, grabbing a few plants from the garden they’d landed in.
“Well, looky what we got here,” said Lotso, approaching the group with Stinky Pete. “I think we got us some wannabe heroes.”
“Where’s Woody?” demanded Jessie.
“Guys?” came Woody’s voice from above them, on a barbeque. “Get away from here guys. It’s a trap.”
“What are you…” started Buzz, as Lexaeus came up behind him and knocked him off his feet.
“So glad you could join us,” said Saix, calmly walking up to Sora and Kairi. “Now, you two can come with me and my friend, or we can take your friends here apart in front of you.”
“Oh yeah? I’d like you see you try,” spat Jessie.
“Very well,” said Saix. “Lexaeus?” Lexaeus pulled at Buzz’s arm, and soon removed it completely. Gasps of shock rang out among the group, amid Buzz’s yells of pain. “Now, will you come willingly?”
“Don’t do it,” called Woody. “Do you really think they’ll leave everyone alone if you do?”
“Quiet you,” said Saix, sending a fireball up to the barbeque. Woody yelled in shock as the flames leapt up around him. “Do we have a deal?”
“Never,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade. “I’m going to beat you, and I’m going to save my friends.”
“Friends?” laughed Saix. “Your ‘friends’ are nothing but plastic and cotton. They don’t even have hearts.”
“Maybe not,” said Kairi, calling forth her keyblade. “But they’re more human than you’ll ever be.”

Saix glared at the two of them. “I see you’ve made your choice,” said the Nobody. “So I guess you’ll have to come with me by force. Good thing it’s night.”
“W-why’s that?” asked Rex, backing up.
“Because I draw my power from the moon,” said Saix, his body beginning to change. “And even better, it’s a full moon, so my power is at its peak.” Saix’s eyes began to glow yellow, then he howled up at the sky before turning his attention to Sora, snarling.
“That’s not good,” said Sora. “Jessie, get Woody. Kairi, you save Buzz from the big guy. Everyone else, take down those two guys.” Sora had just barely managed to finish giving his commands when he had to dive out of the way of an attack by Saix. Luckily for Sora he missed, because the spot where he had been was now a deep hole. “This isn’t gonna be easy,” he muttered, getting bowled over by the feral Nobody.

Up on the barbeque, Jessie had just climbed onto a nearby table to see Woody tied up in the middle of the flames. As luck would have it, the fire hadn’t reached him yet, but it didn’t look like he would have much time. “Hang in there cowboy,” said Jessie, taking a run-up and jumping over the flames with a yodel.
“Jessie, forget about me. Get yourself and everyone else out of here,” said Woody, struggling against his restraints.
“No way,” said Jessie, easily untying the ropes. “You’re coming with us, back to Andy’s room.”
“Oh yeah? And how do you intend…” started Woody, as Jessie grabbed him and jumped over the flames. As she cleared the edge of the barbeque, she realised she was heading straight for the back of Stinky Pete’s head. She stuck out her leg and kicked him down, landing on top of him. Jessie threw Woody away and proceeded to pin the prospector, with the help of Mr. Potato Head and Rex. Luckily for Jessie, Woody ended up landing on top of Lotso, so he pinned him with Hamm and Slinky’s help.

“Saix, our assistants have been disabled,” called Lexaeus, struggling to keep Kairi at bay. Unfortunately, if Saix heard him, he made no indication of it, continuing to try and claw Sora with his bare hands.
‘How am I supposed to stop him?’ thought Sora, just as Saix knocked his keyblade away. Sora gasped in shock and rolled away, looking for a weapon. His eyes fell on some kind of white stick, which he grabbed on instinct. However…
“Oh man, that’s disgusting,” said Hamm, as Sora started using Buzz’s arm as a sword to keep Saix back.
“Don’t try anything, or I’ll…I’ll…” started Sora, unsure how to continue. Suddenly, a bright red light shot out of the end of the arm. The light struck Saix in the eyes, causing him to scream in agony. Sora was confused by what happened, but immediately tried the same thing. The red laser light continued to burn the feral Saix, who could hardly get off the ground.
“SAIX!” yelled Lexaeus, knocking Kairi over with the back of his hand, and running to his fallen comrade. “Come, we’re not losing you now.” Still running, Lexaeus opened to dark portal and dived through it.

“What’s going on out here?” yelled a voice from inside, and suddenly a teenager wearing a black shirt with a skull on it appeared. He took one look at the chaos, and his face became one of shock and fear. “They’re…they’re alive?” he stammered, picking up Stinky Pete and Lotso. “You’re alive?!”
“Ah, well, you see…” started Lotso, but at this Sid freaked out, throwing the two toys away…onto the lit barbeque. Andy’s toys didn’t look back as they escaped back through the fence hole, Pete and Lotso’s screams fading away behind them.

“Guys, that was amazing,” said Woody. “But Sora, how exactly did you manage to make Buzz’s laser hurt that guy? It’s normally just a little light bulb that blinks.”
“I don’t know,” admitted Sora, giving Buzz his arm back. “I think my magic’s getting stronger. Maybe I just influenced it in some way to make it work.”
“I wonder if it was permanent,” said Buzz, firing his laser at the back fence. A red light blinked against it, but nothing happened. “Well, I guess that’s okay. We don’t want Andy accidentally burning the house down.”
“I wonder…” started Sora, summoning his keyblade and pointing it at the same spot on the fence. A small explosion suddenly burst up where he was pointing. “WHOA!”
“Wow, that’s…great,” said Kairi, uneasiness in her voice. “Maybe…we should go.”
“Yeah, we need to tell Queen Elsa about this,” said Sora. “Come on, let’s go find Lewis.”
“Come back soon guys,” called Rex, waving the two teens good bye as they headed towards the front of the house.

Notes:

Sora and Kairi don’t learn Glide in this fanfic, they learns Falling with Style. Now, Sora has something to say:
*ahem* “Happy birthday to he
You’re a quarter century
You’ve accomplished nothing
Except non-profit writing
*WHAP!*

Chapter 7: Great Barrier Reef

Summary:

The Organization appear off Australia's east coast, so Sora and Kairi go to investigate.

Notes:

Here you go, sandra+benson. The Finding Nemo/Dory chapter. More Nemo though, I wanted to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen Finding Dory. That said, a certain someone from Finding Dory does appear…later. Well, hope this lived up to your expectations.

“Axel,” said Xemnas to the red-haired assassin. “Care to explain your actions?”
“Why, whatever do you mean?” asked Axel mockingly.
“We know you went to that last Fixed Point,” said Xaldin. “But why?”
“Oh, that,” said Axel, as though he just remembered something. “Well, we need to split those two keyblade wielders up, right? That’s what I’m doing.”
“By giving one of them extra power?” demanded Xigbar. “Wouldn’t that make him MORE dangerous to us?”
“Hey, when the two of them leave each other, you’ll be thanking me,” said Axel.
“I’ve heard enough,” said Xaldin. “I say we kill him now.”
“Wait,” said Xemnas. “What are you planning, Axel?”
Axel grinned wickedly, before explaining his plans…

“I don’t understand,” sighed Kairi. “Why is Sora gaining such powerful new moves, and I’m stuck here playing catch-up? I’m pretty sure I’ve had my keyblade longer than him.”
“Try not to let it get to you,” said Penny, trying to reassure her friend. “Maybe you’ll learn new moves that he won’t, and it’ll all balance out.”
“Maybe…” started Kairi, as the door opened, revealing a small chicken standing there.
“Kairi, Penny,” said Ace. “We have a…erm, situation.”
“What? Like a new Fixed Point to go to?” asked Kairi.
“Umm…not quite,” said Ace. “Come on, she’s in the main computer room.”
Kairi and Penny followed Ace through the corridors until they reached the computer room. When they entered, they saw Queen Elsa, Sora, Lewis, Hiro, and another lady, much shorter than the rest of them.
“Ah, you must be the other one,” said the woman. “A bit young, but I can work with it.”
“Umm…who is…” started Kairi.
“I am Edna Mode, but you call me E honey,” said the woman. “Now, do you two honestly believe you’re properly attired to be saving the world? Bah, pathetic.”
“She just showed up out of nowhere,” said Lewis. “I have no idea…”
“Dahling, when you’ve worked around superheroes your whole life, you learn a thing or two about time travel,” said Edna.
“Superheroes?” asked Sora. “Oh, you mean like Mr. Incredible and Frozone?”
“Yeah, yeah, they’re just clients to me,” said Edna. “But this, this could be my greatest project yet.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we need new clothes,” said Elsa.
“First thing, dahling, lose the cape,” said Edna, pointing to Elsa’s cloak.
“Excuse me?” demanded Elsa. “I am a queen, and will wear whatever I…”
“Dahling, if you’re a queen, I’m a goddess,” said Edna. “Now, cape off.” Elsa gaped at her, as though she couldn’t be more offended (which she probably couldn’t). Before she could say anything, one of the computers started beeping.
“Guys,” said Hiro, checking what was happening. “Organization members in a Fixed Point.”
“Where are they?” asked Sora.
“They are…in the ocean?” said Hiro, somewhat confused. “Yep, the ocean, just off the coast of Australia.”
“You mean…on an island or something?” asked Kairi.
“Nope, under the sea,” said Hiro. “We probably have some scuba suits somewhere…”
“You’re kidding, right?” asked Edna, though making it clear that she didn’t want an answer. “You give me ten minutes, I’ll make something better.”

“I don’t like this,” said Sora, talking about what Edna had put him and Kairi in.
“Dahling, when you’re battling the villains and not needing to come up for air, you’ll thank me,” said Edna.
“We’re here,” said Lewis, lowering the time machine down to the water.
“Excellent,” said Edna, picking up Sora and Kairi. “Well, have fun dahlings. Let me know how these forms work out for you.” Without another word, she threw the two keyblade-swordfish (keybladefish? Keyfish? Whatever) into the ocean.
“I knew I didn’t like this,” said Sora.
“Hey, on the plus side, you get to see me naked,” said Kairi flirtingly.
“Well, i…erm,” stammered Sora, unsure how to reply to that.
Kairi giggled at Sora’s embarrassment. “Come on Sora, let’s go see what’s going on,” she called, swimming down towards the reef.
“Hey, wait up,” said Sora, swimming after her. As they reached the bottom of the ocean, the two stopped to gaze at the beauty of the reef, surrounded by hundreds, maybe thousands of fish. Above them, Sora heard something odd. “Is that…a motor?” he asked, just as a boat passed by. “Wow, this place is incredible.” Sora continued to marvel at the view until he heard someone yelling.

“HAS ANYBODY SEEN A BOAT!? PLEASE! A WHITE BOAT! THEY TOOK MY SON! MY SON! HELP ME, PLEASE!” yelled a clown fish, swimming frantically through the crowds of fish towards them.
“LOOK OUT!” yelled Kairi as the clown fish swam straight into her. Luckily, because of her size, she hardly budged, but she did accidentally knock a blue tang.
“Hey, watch it,” said the blue tang.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m trying to find a boat. They took my son,” said the frantic clown fish.
“A boat? Hey, I’ve seen one of those,” said the blue tang.
“You have? Where?” asked the clown fish, a hint of relief in his voice.
“Come on, follow me,” said the blue tang, swimming away quickly.
“Oh, thankyou thankyou thankyou,” said the clown fish, chasing after the other fish.
“You think it’s the Organization?” asked Sora.
“I dunno,” said Kairi. “It sounds like someone just went fishing and caught his son. Still, it’s the best lead we have, so…” Without another word, Kairi swam after the two, Sora in tow.
The blue tang swam quickly for about thirty seconds, before slowing down and glancing over her shoulder. She picked up the pace again, and started swimming in strange circles. “Wow, this fish must have a really good memory to know the boat swam in such weird directions,” said Sora.
“Something’s odd,” said Kairi. “Like…”
“Will you QUIT IT?!” snapped the blue tang, turning on the clown fish all of a sudden. “Trying to swim here.”
“What? But…you were showing me where the boat went,” said the clown fish.
“A boat? Hey, I saw one of them,” said the blue tang. “Follow me…”
“Wait, wait, wait,” said the clown fish. “You already said that.”
“Oh, did I?” asked the blue tang. “I’m sorry. I suffer from short term memory loss.”
“What?” said the clown fish. “You mean…great, now how am I supposed to find my son?”
“Hey, maybe we can help,” said Sora, swimming up to them. “My name’s Sora, and this is my friend Kairi.”
“I’m Marlin,” said the clown fish. “And there’s probably not much point asking little miss forgetful her name…”
“Dory,” said the blue tang.
“…and there’s not much point trying to help, since there’s no way I’m finding that boat,” said Marlin, turning around to swim home, only to run into a giant shark.
“’ello fishies, my name is Bruce,” said the shark. “And have I got something fun in store for you.” Sora, Kairi, and Marlin started at the shark in fear, while Dory looked kind of excited.

“Wha…where am I?” asked Nemo, swimming around in this strange new environment. He swam straight ahead, only to bump his head on some kind of invisible wall.
“You’re in a tank, kid,” said a voice above him. Nemo looked up to see a pink starfish just above him. “You know, like the one at the pet store?”
“Pet…store?” asked Nemo, unsure what she was talking about.
“He’s not from a pet store,” said a Moorish Idol, swimming up to Nemo. “You’re from the ocean, aren’t ya kid?”
“The ocean?!” asked a royal gramma fish. “He hasn’t been properly decontaminated. Jacques?”
“Oui?” responded a cleaner shrimp (apparently Jacques), who immediately started cleaning Nemo.
As Jacques finished, Nemo looked out of the tank into the room beyond. “Hey, who’s that?” asked Nemo.
“Oh, that’s just Phil, the dentist,” said a pufferfish.
“No, the person wearing black,” said Nemo.
“That’s just his patient,” said a damselfish.
Nemo looked out at the man. Was it his imagination, or was the man staring right at him?

“Alright, let’s bring this meeting of Fish-Friendly Sharks to order,” said Bruce. “Now, what have we learned from last week?”
“That fish are friends, not food,” said Anchor and Chum, a hammerhead shark and mako shark respectively.
“Right,” said Bruce. “So, last week I told everyone to bring a fish friend. I’ve got four, so if anyone’s forgotten…”
“Err, I might have,” said Chum innocently, trying to hide a fish skeleton in his teeth.
“It’s okay, take one of mine,” said Bruce, pushing Marlin over to him.
“No, thanks, I’m okay…” started Marlin as he trailed off. “Hey, is that a mask?”
“Oh, that,” said Anchor. “Some diver just dropped it here on their way past.”
“One of the divers who took my son was wearing a mask like that,” said Marlin. “Maybe there’s a clue on it?”
“Ooh, I’ll check,” said Dory, swimming to the mask. Unfortunately, she scraped past Sora’s key/sword thing, cutting herself. “Ow, that’s sharp.”
“You okay there Dor…Dor…” started Bruce, as he got a whiff of Dory’s blood. “Here,fishy, fishy, fishy.”
“Oh no, BRUCE, REMEMBER THE PROGRAM!” yelled Anchor, trying to restrain him with Chum.
“Come on, just one bite,” said Bruce, struggling to get away.
“Marlin, Dory, get the mask and get away,” said Kairi, getting between the two small fish and Bruce. “We’ll handle him.”
“Great, you can be the appetiser,” said Bruce, breaking free of the smaller sharks.
“Try it,” said Sora, swiping at Bruce with his sword. He caught Bruce on the nose, but the large shark managed to nip at Sora’s fin, spilling more blood and putting Bruce into more of a frenzy.
“Leave him alone,” said Kairi, swimming at Bruce from the side. Unfortunately, Bruce chose that moment to charge at Sora, causing Kairi to miss.
Sora, not knowing what else to do, rolled out of the way. ‘Hey, that move was kind of cool,’ thought Sora. ‘I’ll call it the Dodge Roll’.
“Guys, we got the mask,” said Dory. “It says ‘P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney’, whatever that means.”
“That’s good,” said Sora. “Now we just need to get away.”
“Hey, does anyone know what these round things that have danger written on them do?” asked Dory, who was examining a floating mine.
“Well, that solves that,” said Sora, turning to Kairi. “Get those two out of here.” As Kairi swam away, Sora turned to face Bruce. “Hey Brucie, want some fish?”
“GIMME!” yelled the shark, swimming straight at Sora. Sora waited until the last moment, then swam straight up and out of the way. Bruce rammed into the mine, only realising at the last moment his mistake.
Sora swam after Kairi, Marlin, and Dory, just as the four of them were caught in the explosion of the mine…

“We have a patient,” called Peach, bringing the tank gang to attention.
“What’s he going to be giving this one?” asked Deb.
“Nice looking young blonde girl like that? Probably eats too much candy. I’m guessing a filling,” said Bloat.
Nemo peered out at the girl in the dentist’s chair, and immediately noticed something odd. “Hey, is it normal for two different people to wearing exactly the same thing?” asked Nemo.
“Well, people do tend to make their clothes on mass,” said Gurgle.
“But usually men and women wear different things,” said Gill. “We’ve had a man and a woman wearing those long black coats.”
“New fashion?” suggested Jacques.
“No, something’s up,” said Gill. “And I don’t like the way she’s eyeing Nemo. Kid, what would you say if I got you back to the ocean?”
“That would be great,” said Nemo. “But…I’m a long way from my dad…”
“Kid, you might want to take your chances in the ocean rather than with those two,” said Gill. “Now, where’s Nigel when you need him?” As if on cue, a pelican crashed into the window. The stunned bird slid down onto an awning, before lifting himself up and opening the window.
“G’day,” Nigel said to the fish. “How ya goin’?”
“Nigel, we have a Code Red,” said Gill. “Can you get little Nemo out of here?”
“No problem mate,” said Nigel. “May I ask why?”
“That girl’s been eyeing him suspiciously,” said Gill.
“It’s not Darla, is it?” asked Nigel.
“Who’s Darla?” asked Nemo.
“Dentist’s niece. It’s a long story,” said Nigel, shaking his head and looking down. “Poor Chuckles. Anyway, get in my mouth.”
Nemo gave Nigel a look of shock and confusion. “Umm…what?”
“Trust me,” said Nigel. “I’ll drop you in the harbour, then you just have to get as far away from here as possible.” Nemo still looked concerned, but he still swam up to meet the pelican, and jumped into Nigel’s mouth. “Awright, hang on kid,” Nigel mumbled as he turned around and flew to the sea.

Sora slowly opened his eyes. “What…happened?” he asked, then noticed he was moving fairly fast. “Where are we going?”
“Alright dude, you made it,” came a voice next to Sora’s head. Sora turned around to see a turtle swimming next to him. “That was pretty gnarly, taking on those sharks like that.”
“Sharks?” said Sora, then he remembered. “Oh, my friends…”
“Don’t worry dude, they’re fine,” said the turtle. “That girl swordfish you’re with, she dragged you in here.”
“And where is here?” asked Sora.
“The East Australia Current, man,” said the turtle. “Fastest way to Sydney, ya know?”
“Sydney?” said Sora. “Oh, right, Nemo’s there.”
“That’s why we’re taking you,” said the turtle. “I’m Crush, by the way.”
“Sora,” said Sora, trying to shake Crush’s fin with his with no luck.
“Sora, you’re okay,” said Kairi, swimming up to him. “Hey, in that place with the sharks, I found some fennel. That was one of the things Linguini needed, right?”
“Err…yeah,” said Sora, taking the can. “But should we really be giving him something that’s been sitting underwater for who knows how long?”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” said Kairi. “Hey Crush, are we nearly there?”
“Oh yeah, your exit’s coming up soon,” said Crush. “You better go find your little dudes.”
“We’re right here,” said Dory, dragging Marlin with her. “Where was here again?”
“Okay, Squirt’s gonna explain the exit procedure, so grab your exit buddy,” said Crush, dipping his head to reveal a much smaller turtle.
“Good afternoon,” said Squirt. “We're gonna have a great jump today! Okay, crank a hard cutback as you hit the wall! There's a screaming bottom turn, so watch out! Remember: rip it, roll it and punch it!”
The four fish stared at him in confusion. “Umm…what?” asked Sora.
“Alright, off you go,” said Crush, pushing them down a swirling vortex in the water. The group screamed in terror, but soon the rapid pull of the water was over.

“That was so cool,” said Dory. “I mean, I don’t remember what it was, but it was cool.”
“Come on, we have to get to Nemo,” said Marlin, swimming towards a nearby harbour. The rest of the group followed close behind. They swam for about a minute, then something dropped into the ocean in front of them.
“Hey, what’s that?” asked Dory, swimming straight at whatever it was in front of them. “Hey, it’s a kid.”
“Excuse me, but you wouldn’t have happened to see my father anywhere?” asked Nemo.
“Father…father…Nope, don’t think I’ve seen any fathers around here,” said Dory.
“Nemo? Is that you?” said Marlin, swimming up to him. “NEMO!”
“DAD!” yelled Nemo, swimming up and giving his dad a hug.
“Nemo,” said Marlin. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Aww, how touching,” came a female voice. “It’s too bad though, he needs to come with us.” The group of fish turned around to see two people in black coats in an air bubble; one a man, one a woman. The man held a sitar and appeared to be focused on keeping the air bubble around the two. The woman held a bunch of throwing knives between her fingers.
“He’s not going anywhere,” said Marlin. “I just got him back. I don’t care how much bigger than me you are, you’re NOT taking him away from me without a fight.”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping for that,” said Larxene. “You know what conducts well in salt water? Electricity.” Bolts of lightning shot out of her hands, zapping the group.
“Marlin…get out of here…” wheezed Sora. “We’ll handle…these guys.”
“Oh, you’re so noble,” said Larxene. “Too bad, really…”
“Larxene, just grab the fish,” Demyx grunted.
“Alright, fine,” said Larxene, snatching up Nemo in a single swipe. “Spoil sport.”
“OH NO YOU DON’T!” yelled Marlin, charging at Larxene. Larxene sighed as she sent another bolt of lightning at Marlin, who pushed through his obvious pain and into the air bubble. Unfortunately, his aim was off, and he hit Demyx instead.
“OWW! Hey, watch it,” said Demyx, smacking Marlin back into the ocean. But not before Kairi saw something.
“Sora, their air bubble,” said Kairi. “It faltered when Marlin hit that guy.”
“And it seemed to hurt him more than it should have,” said Sora. “Maybe that guy controls water, like his friend controls electricity. Which means…” Sora swam straight at the male Organization member.
“Again?” said Larxene, sighing with resignation. “They just don’t learn.” Larxene sent a bolt of electricity at Sora, who swam straight for Demyx. Demyx watched in amusement, then his eyes widened as he realised what was happening.
“Larxene, STOP!” yelled Demyx, but it was too late. Sora burst through the air bubble, and impaled Demyx on his sword. The electricity Larxene was firing at Sora flowed down Sora’s sword and into Demyx, frying the watery musician. Larxene suddenly realised her mistake and stopped her attack, but by that point it was too late. Demyx gave a moan of pain, then vanished.
The air bubble collapsed, but Larxene was quick, opening a dark portal behind her and swimming straight for it.

“NO! NEMO!” yelled Marlin, swimming towards the portal.
“Marlin, stop,” said Kairi, stopping the distraught father before the portal closed. “Where she’s going, you won’t survive. There’s nowhere near enough water for a fish like you.”
“But…Nemo…” started Marlin.
“We’ll get him back,” said Sora. “We’re not normally fish. We’re people, and we’ll defeat the Organization before they can finish whatever they’re planning.”
Marlin stared at him in confusion. “You’re…human? How?” he asked. “You know what? Forget it. If you can get my son back…”
“We will,” said Sora. “Right Kairi?”
“Yeah…” said Kairi. “But Sora…”
“What’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“You’re getting so powerful,” said Kairi. “I feel like I’m getting left behind. I want to be as strong as you, but any time we have a chance to train is taken up by missions.”
“What are you saying?” asked Sora, already guessing the answer.
“I’m sorry Sora,” said Kairi. “But I’m gonna go off on my own for a little while.”
“Ooh, I have something for you,” said Dory, as a glowing light appeared in her fin. “This guy’s a septopus who can hide you in plain sight if you need it. I think I knew him once, but I don’t remember.”
“Thank you,” said Kairi, taking the ball. “Tell Elsa I’m sorry.” Kairi held up the glowing ball, then vanished before their eyes.
“Kairi…” started Sora, just as something crashed down to the water above them. Sora looked up to see the door of the time machine opening.
“Dahling, we’re going home now,” said Edna, reaching down from the time machine to pick up Sora. “Where’s the girl?”
“She’s gone,” said Sora sadly.
“Hey now, don’t be like that,” said Edna. “Come on in and tell E all about it.”

Chapter 8: Paradise Falls

Summary:

Sora and Rapunzel travel to the Amazon to investigate the appearance of Riku in a new Fixed Point.

“So Kairi left, just like that?” asked Elsa.
“Yeah,” said Sora with a sigh.
“Bah, forget about her,” said Edna. “If she thinks she can survive on her lonesome with those villains out to get her, then let her.”
“That’s my main concern about this,” said Elsa. “But the fact that we haven’t seen or heard from the Organization since her departure makes me think maybe she’s okay.”
“Speaking of which, we haven’t had much luck tracking Riku,” said Judy. “What could that kid be up to?”
“You might have spoken too soon,” said Hiro, looking up from his computer. “I think I found him.”
“Riku?” said Sora, coming up to join the boy genius. Sora studied the screen for a few minutes, but couldn’t make heads or tails of what it said. “Err…are you sure?”
“Don’t worry, I know he’s found him,” said Ace, double checking Hiro’s work. “He’s in a part of the Venezuelan jungle called Paradise Falls. It’s another Fixed Point.”
“And the Organization?” asked Elsa.
“Not there yet, but more than likely on their way,” said Hiro.
“I guess we just have to beat them there,” said Sora.
“Oh no. You are NOT going in there alone,” said Elsa. “I’m coming with you.”
“Honey, what did I tell you about that cape?” demanded Edna. “Remove it, or I’ll personally drag you back from the jungle.”
“Why you…” started Elsa.
“I agree that you shouldn’t go,” said Lewis. Elsa gaped at him as he quickly continued. “Not because of the cape, but because you’re our leader. You’re too important. Without you, we’ll be lost. The rest of us are expendable.”
Elsa considered this for a moment. “Okay,” said the ice queen. “Judy, if you could…”
“I’ll go,” came a voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Rapunzel entering the room, Olaf trying to pull her back by her hair (which was still halfway down the corridor).

“Sorry your majesty, she escaped her room wanting to go on an adventure,” said Olaf. “Or was she meant to be watching me?”
“Rapunzel, are you sure you want to do this?” asked Elsa. “I mean, this isn’t just a vacation to a new and exotic place. The Organization isn’t going to go easy on you.”
“I don’t care,” said Rapunzel. “I’ve been trapped in here forever. I want to go out and do something, help you guys somehow.”
“But if you got into a fight…” started Ace, when Rapunzel whipped her hair at him. Her hair wrapped itself around the chicken, and she proceeded to throw him out of the room and down the corridor.
“Well, I think she’s fine,” said Edna. “Foureyes. Time machine. Now.”
“You’re a foureyes too,” muttered Lewis as he left to prepare the time machine.
“I heard that,” said Edna. “Just because I don’t have powers doesn’t mean I can’t kick your butt from here to next Tuesday.” Lewis looked panicked, and ran off quickly.
“I guess it’s settled then,” said Elsa, walking over to Sora. “I’ve got a new spell for you,” she whispered. “If you or Rapunzel get in trouble, use it.” Sora nodded, accepting the glowing orb in Elsa’s hand.

“Wow, we’re here,” said Rapunzel, nose pressed against the glass. “Look at all the trees. It’s so beautiful.”
“Okay, Riku’s here somewhere, but…” started Lewis, who started looking up at something in the distance. “What the heck is that?”
Sora looked out at what Lewis was staring at. “I’d say it looks like a whole bunch of balloons,” said Sora. “But here? In the Amazon?”
“Hey, it’s moving,” said Rapunzel, pointing at the slowly shifting balloons. “Isn’t it great? The locals are having a parade.”
“Does she know much about the Amazon?” whispered Sora to Lewis.
“She spent eighteen years trapped in a tower, isolated from the rest of the world,” replied Lewis just as quiet. “I’d be surprised if she’d even heard of the Amazon before this.”
“Let’s see what they’re celebrating. Come on, let’s go,” said Rapunzel, almost jumping out of her seat.
“I guess we can do that,” said Sora. “I mean, Riku probably saw it too and has gone to investigate it.”
Lewis lowered the time machine to the ground, and almost immediately Rapunzel jumped out and started running in the direction of the balloons. “Rapunzel, WAIT!” yelled Lewis.
“I’ll get her,” said Sora. “We’ll be back soon.” And with that, Sora started running after Rapunzel. Sora ran after her for about a minute, before finding some garlic for Linguini. He continued after Rapunzel, but by now had lost track of her.
“Rapunzel?” called Sora. He was answered by a scream, and what sounded like an old man yelling. “Is that her?” asked Sora, running towards whatever was making the noise. Sora burst into a clearing, and found Rapunzel with an old man and a young boy. The two strangers were attached to a house that was being lifted by the huge number of balloons they’d seen. But Sora’s attention was on what surrounded the group. “Heartless,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade.
“You darn shadows!” yelled the old man, swinging his walker. “Stay away from my house.” The man whacked one Heartless in the head, stunning it for a moment. After a moment, the Heartless made another charge at the old man, who stumbled back out of the way.
“Look out,” called Rapunzel, whipping her hair at the Heartless. The hair-whip wrapped itself around the Heartless, which she then threw backwards into a tree, killing it.
“Who…are you?” asked the boy.
“The ones who are going to stop these things,” said Sora, taking down another three Heartless. “Stay back. These things are dangerous.” With that, Sora ran straight at a much larger Heartless, preparing to take it down.

“Look at him go,” said Xigbar, watching the battle from above the trees. “He’s certainly pretty tough.”
“I know. I had to fight him already,” snapped Xaldin.
“Whatever,” said Xigbar, waving his hand dismissively at Xaldin’s remark. “But hey, Axel was right about splitting the keyblade wielders up.”
“We’re assuming he doesn’t find the other one, who’s hiding here somewhere,” said Xaldin. “We need to find him first.”
“Relax, will you?” said Xigbar. “We know where he is. We just need to go there, get him, and go.”
“He won’t come willingly,” said Xaldin. “He knows me. He knows what we desire.”
“That’s why I’m here,” said Xigbar. “You need someone tough to take him down, and here I am. Now come on, the kid’s nearly killed those Heartless.” Xigbar jumped down the ground and started in the direction of a nearby cave. Xaldin sighed and soon followed.

“…and that’s the last of them,” said Sora, slaying the final Heartless. “So, who are you guys?”
“Oh, I’m Russell, and this is Mr. Fredricksen,” said the boy. “And we’re moving his house to Paradise Falls.”
“Move it kid,” said the old man, pushing in front of the kid to talk to Sora. “Call me Carl. And while I appreciate your help, we’re on a pretty tight schedule. The helium in those balloons won’t last forever.”
“It’s too bad we had to leave Kevin and Dug behind,” said Russell, just as a loud squawk sounded through the trees.
“Not far enough, apparently,” said Carl, shuffling past Sora and Rapunzel. “Come on kid. Thanks for your help.”
“Wait,” said Sora. “There might be more Heartless. Maybe we should protect you.”
“I don’t care, as long as you don’t get in the way,” said Carl, not slowing down. Sora looked at Rapunzel and shrugged, before following the old man. The squawking seemed to continue getting closer, but the group couldn’t see what was making it.

“He mustn’t know where we are,” said Carl. “Good.”
“I’ll leave him some chocolate,” said Russell, pulling a chocolate bar out of his bag.
“No, don’t do that,” said Carl, but it was too late. Russell had already broken a piece off and thrown it into the jungle. The squawking stopped for a moment, then something that sounded like running started coming towards them. Sora drew his keyblade just as a tall, colourful bird leapt over his head, scooping up Russell in its beak and throwing him onto its back.
“Wha…what is that?” asked Sora.
“It’s Kevin,” said Russell. “He’s my friend. Ellie said I could keep him.”
“Ellie?” asked Rapunzel.
“Yeah, it’s what Mr. Fredricksen calls his house,” said Russell. “She also said I can keep Dug.”
“That’s not it,” snapped Carl. “Ellie’s…none of your business.” Sora thought he saw a look of hurt flash across Carl’s face at the mention of Ellie. “And you’re not keeping the bird or the dog.”
“What dog?” asked Sora, as a golden retriever ran into the clearing.
“Bird. I found the bird,” said the dog, much to the surprise of Sora and Rapunzel. “You are now my prisoner, which means you have to come with me.” The dog suddenly looked up to see Sora and Rapunzel. “Oh, hello humans. I have just met you and I love you.”
“Is…that dog talking?” asked Sora.
“Aww, I love you too,” said Rapunzel, immediately hugging Dug. “And you wanted to get rid of this little guy?”
“Yeah, that’s two against one Mr. Fredricksen,” said Russell.
“The moving of my house isn’t a democracy,” said Carl, turning to continue down the path, only to be stopped by three dogs blocking the path.

“So, looks like we found the bird,” said the middle dog (a Doberman Pinscher). However, his voice box was high and squeaky.
“Yeah, and some people too,” said the one on the left (a Rottweiler). “You think they’re trying to protect it?”
“I say we take them to the boss and let him sort them out,” said the one of the right (a bulldog).
“The dogs…they’re talking,” said Sora, so stunned he didn’t even notice that they were being herded away.

The group was forced along a ravine, silent as they anticipated what might be waiting up ahead. As they walked, more dogs seemed to join their guard, until they came up to a large cave. “MASTER!” called the squeaky voiced Doberman. “We have it. We have the bird.”
From out of the cave, an old man (older even the Carl) emerged. “Good work Alpha,” said the old man. “After nearly seventy years, I’ll be able to return home. Here, let me fix that voice box for you.” The old man bent down and started tinkering with Alpha’s collar.
“Thank you master,” said Alpha, now with an extremely deep voice.
“I think I preferred the old voice,” said Russell.
“Now, what to do with you…” said the old man, facing the group.
“Wait a minute, I know you,” said Carl. “Are…are you Charles Muntz?”
“Why yes,” said Muntz. “Adventure is out there.”
“Oh, man. Me and my wife were your biggest fans back in the day,” said Carl.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” said Muntz. “Now, just hand over the bird, and you can be on your way.”
“NO! You can’t have Kevin,” said Russell, trying to stand between Muntz and Kevin.
“Kevin? Why would you name…” started Muntz, when some high pitched squawking sounded in the distance. Kevin replied with some squawking of his own. Except…
“Are those…babies?” asked Russell. “Is Kevin a girl?”
“What does it matter? Give me the bird,” demanded Muntz.

“SORA!” called a familiar voice. The group looked up to see Riku standing on top of a pile of rocks.
“Who’s that?” demanded Muntz. “It doesn’t matter. ATTACK!”
“RIKU!” called Sora, running towards the other boy.
Riku jumped down from the rocks into the middle of the pack, swinging of keyblade. Dogs began charging at him, only to be swatted aside with ease. “Sora, get everyone into the house,” said Riku. “I’ll keep these guys busy.”
“What about you?” asked Sora.
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” said Riku, knocking Beta and Gamma back.
Sora turned back to the house and started guiding everyone into the house. “Come on guys, get ready for lift-off,” said Sora. Just before they left the ground, Dug ran up to Sora.
“I want to come too, because I love you,” said Dug.
“As long as you don’t try to capture Kevin,” said Sora.
“For you Master, I will protect the bird, and the small mailman, and the one who smells like prunes, and the pretty girl,” said Dug, running inside, Sora right behind him.
“So, how do we get this thing moving?” asked Sora.
“We need to lighten the load,” said Carl. “Get rid of some of the furniture.” Sora and Russell nodded and started pushing tables and chairs out the doors.
“STOP THEM!” yelled Muntz, running towards the house.
“No, you stop,” said Sora, pointing his keyblade at Muntz. “BLIZZAGA!” A blast of ice shot out of the keyblade, freezing Muntz’s legs to the spot. At that moment, Carl and Russell pushed a cabinet out of the house, which lurched and began to rise. “RIKU!” called Sora.

Riku saw the house begin to take off, and ran straight for it. Alpha saw Riku leaving, and ran after him too. At what seemed like the last moment, Riku jumped, grabbing Sora’s outstretched hand. Alpha took that moment to jump too, sinking his teeth into Riku’s leg. “Get off, you mangy mutt,” growled Riku, kicking Alpha with his other leg until he let go.
Sora pulled Riku onto the porch, leaving Muntz and his dogs behind. “Are you okay Riku? Let me see your leg,” said Sora, pulling up Riku’s pant leg. Blood dripped out of the wound Alpha gave him. “Hold still, I know what to do. CURAGA!” There was a blinding flash, then all traces of the bite were gone.
“Thanks,” said Riku. “So, I suppose I should fill you in on what I’ve been up to.”
“Yeah,” said Sora. “I mean, if you want to.”
“Come on in, we need to talk,” said Riku, entering the house.

“AFTER ALL THE YEARS!” yelled Muntz, struggling against the ice. “Just to fail now.”
“Perhaps we can be of assistance,” said someone behind him. Muntz turned to see two men in black coats.
“Who are you?” asked Muntz.
“Call us…business associates,” said one of the men, sporting black dreadlocks. He raised a lance and smashed the ice that was trapping the old man.
“I don’t mind if you help me,” said Muntz. “But the bird is mine.”
“We’re not interested in the bird,” said the one with the eyepatch. “We want the kids. Now, I believe you have a blimp around here…”

“So, the Organization is after kids,” said Sora. “But why?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” said Riku. “But it has something to do with Kingdom Hearts.”
“Kingdom Hearts?” repeated Sora. “What’s that?”
“It’s said to be the heart of the world,” said Riku. “But there’s something needed to awaken it. The Nobodies of Organization XIII must know something, though they probably don’t understand it.”
“Nobodies?” asked Sora. “What does that mean?”
“They’re…kind of a Heartless,” said Riku. “They once had hearts, but no more. They don’t understand human emotion or reasoning anymore. They believe that by unlocking Kingdom Hearts, that will give them a heart again.”
“And will it?” asked Sora.
“Dunno,” said Riku. “No-one’s ever done it before, at least not on record. This is all based on ancient rumours and legends.”
“Like the one about us,” said Sora. “So there must be some level of truth to it.”
“Hold up,” said Carl, who’d been sitting in the corner of the room listening. “There must be something about the whole ‘kidnapping kids’ thing we don’t know, otherwise they wouldn’t need to resort to kidnapping in the first place.”
“Well, with the amount of power it must take to awaken Kingdom Hearts, I can only guess what would happen,” said Riku, his voice clear with what he meant.
“We’ll be rewarded for our services?” asked Russell hopefully. The others looked at him sadly, and realisation dawned on Russell’s face. “Oh…I don’t want that.”
“It won’t happen,” said Sora. “I won’t let it.”

“Hey guys, can you hear that?” asked Rapunzel. The group fell quiet, listening to the sound of some kind of motor.
“Hey, that sounds like my old master’s flying thing,” said Dug happily, before realising no-one else was celebrating this. “Oh, that’s bad, isn’t it?”
Sora and Riku looked out the window, and saw a large blimp flying towards the house. “Rapunzel, you stay here with Carl and Russell,” said Sora. “Me and Riku will try and get rid of that blimp.”
“Uh, Sora?” said Riku. “Is that who I think it is?” Sora looked where Riku was pointing and saw Xaldin with another Organization member standing on top of the blimp.
“Okay…” started Sora. “New plan: stop the Organization guys, no matter what.”
“Will do,” said Rapunzel, looking like she was itching for a fight.
“Are you sure about her?” asked Riku quietly.
“It’s her, or one of them,” replied Sora, indicating Carl, Russell, Dug, and Kevin.
“Okay, let’s go,” said Riku, opening the door and stepping onto the porch, Sora and Rapunzel in tow. The group watched as the blimp got steadily closer. “Get ready,” said Riku. “GO!” Riku took a run-up, then jumped from the porch onto the blimp. Sora followed, then Rapunzel last.

“You really think you can beat us?” asked Xigbar. “Man, this I gotta see.”
“Don’t underestimate them Xigbar,” said Xaldin. “These are the two that beat Luxord. They’re no joking matter.”
“Aww, you’re no fun Xaldy,” said Xigbar, pulling out two arrowguns. “Guess I better take them out then.” Xigbar fired at the three heroes, who easily dodged. The arrows sailed past the group and off the side of the blimp.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” said Sora.
“Why? I’ve got him,” said Xigbar, indicating Xaldin. Sora suddenly felt the wind pick up, and the arrows turned around. The group dodged again, only for the wind to change direction, sending the arrows back at them. Meanwhile, Xigbar had reloaded the arrowguns and was firing again.
“We need to take out Xaldin,” said Riku, dodging an arrow. “Then we can worry about all those arrows.”
“Wait, I’ve got an idea,” said Rapunzel, watching as an arrow came straight towards her. At the last possible moment, she got out of the way and let the arrow go straight through the blimp. The blimp lurched slightly, and lost a small bit of altitude. “Come on, if we put enough holes in it, it’ll fall down. Then the others can escape.”

“That’s what you think,” said someone behind them. The group turned to see Muntz holding a shotgun. He lifted it up, and shot some of the balloons of the house. The house started falling too. “The bird’s mine, no matter what,” declared Muntz.
“We won’t let you,” said Sora, plunging his keyblade into the blimp and started running, creating a larger hole. As the blimp started falling more, Sora heard another shot, and saw the house fall a bit more, until it crashed onto the top of the blimp.
“All of you, out of the house,” demanded Muntz, pointing the gun through a window. Carl, Russell, and Dug walked out the door, Dug growling at his former master. “Where’s the bird?” snarled Muntz. A squawk sounded above him, to reveal Kevin was on top of the house, pecking at some of the remaining balloons. “GET DOWN HERE BIRD!” Kevin seemed to understand this and jumped down, carrying several balloons with him. “Now, it’s time to…”
“SAVE THE BIRD!” yelled Dug, diving into Muntz’s legs. Muntz stumbled off-balance, as Kevin ran at him with the balloons, tangling Muntz in them.
“Wha…what?” gasped Muntz as the balloons carried him up a bit, then off the side of the blimp.

“Well…that happened,” said Xigbar. “I guess we better just get what we came for, eh Xaldin?” Xigbar motioned for Riku to come forward. “Either you come, or the kid does.”
“You’ll be keeping your hands off Russell,” said Carl, stumbling forward and hitting Xaldin with his walker. “You may be younger than me, but I…” Before he could continue, Xaldin smacked Carl aside with one of his lances.
“Pathetic,” said Xaldin. “Grab the kid.”
“No chance,” said Sora, standing between the Organization members and a terrified looking Russell. Riku and Rapunzel both stood beside him. Dug bounded in front of them, trying to look intimidating. Carl managed to get to his feet and joined them. Then finally, Kevin got right into Xaldin’s face and let out her loudest screech yet.
Xaldin looked unfazed by this, then turned to Xigbar. “Let’s go,” he said. “We can’t beat them without sustaining heavy damage ourselves.”
“Aww, no fun,” pouted Xigbar, opening a dark portal. “You wait, kiddo. Next time we won’t be so forgiving.” Xigbar entered the portal, Xaldin following, before it closed again.

“Great work guys,” said Carl. “Now, what do we do about this crashing blimp?” The group suddenly remembered that the blimp was crashing towards the ground.
“You guys need a hand?” asked a voice from above. Sora looked up to see Lewis flying in with the time machine. “Rapunzel, get in, then let down your hair.” Rapunzel didn’t argue, she just ran straight for the open door and jumped in. Sora grabbed her hair, picking up Dug on the way. Kevin managed to jump on top of the time machine, while Carl, Russell, and Riku each grabbed Rapunzel’s hair. The blimp soon hit the ground in a large explosion.
“My house…” started Carl, as a glow shot out of the flames.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” came a voice, and suddenly an elderly woman’s face appeared before them. Carl seemed speechless at what he was seeing. “Look at where we are Carl. You always said we would come to Paradise Falls, and you did it. I can rest easy knowing you did this out of love. But I can rest easier knowing I can go on one final adventure.” The ghostly face dissipated, and rushed towards Sora’s keyblade. The keyblade began to glow, and when it subsided revealed the weapon had changed. It looked sturdier, more powerful.
“Ellie…” started Carl, before shaking it off. “Boy, Ellie just gave herself to you to make your weapon stronger. You better not let her down.”
“I won’t, sir,” said Sora.
“Good,” said Carl. “Hey, could you set us down somewhere in the States? I think I have a new adventure of my own to embark on.”
“Really? What is it Mr. Fredricksen?” asked Russell.
“You ever wanted a real father, kiddo?” asked Carl. “One who’s actually around?” By the look on Russell’s face, he did.
“I better come back with you guys,” said Riku. “Together, we might be able to figure out what the Organization is up to.”
“Yeah, Queen Elsa would like that,” said Sora. “I just hope Judy doesn’t overreact again…”

Chapter 9: Riley’s Mind

Summary:

Upon hearing that the Organization and Kairi have been found, Sora and Riku end up inside the mind of an eleven year old girl.

“…and that’s all I know about the Organization,” finished Riku. “So, can you uncuff me now?”
“Judy,” said Elsa, obvious what she wanted. Judy sighed and uncuffed Riku. “So, they need children, right?”
“Yeah,” said Riku. “But they seem to be specific ones. They only appear in Fixed Points. They must have some bearing on the timestream, connect to it somehow.”
“What do we know about the Fixed Points?” asked Rapunzel. “Maybe there’s something in it that we’ve missed.”
“Well, we’re in the year 2007,” said Elsa. “But that last mission you went to 2009…”
“Muntz’s dogs were pretty hostile to anyone that wasn’t Muntz,” said Riku. “Well, Dug wasn’t…”
“Arlo was scared of Spot,” said Sora. “Mor’du attacked Merida. Marlin didn’t like humans. Could there be a war between humans and animals?”
“They were getting intelligent,” agreed Riku. “Perhaps animals eventually evolve to a point where they can fight back against humans who hate them…”
“NO! Animals wouldn’t hurt humans,” interrupted Linguini. Everyone looked at him, confused. “I mean, I don’t think they would. I…think I’ll go.” Linguini turned to go, fixing his hat as he went. Sora thought he saw a thin pink strip, like a rat’s tail, poking out from under his hat, but when he looked again it was gone.
“If I may interject?” said Ace. “There was a war between the humans and animals, though it was a long time before I was born.”
“And when were you born?” asked Riku.
“Me? I’m from the 29th century,” said Ace.
“And when did that war happen?” asked Sora.
“Near the end of the 21st century, a bit at the start of the 22nd,” said Judy. “Animals would have won, but the humans had machines to help them. However, they made too many, and the pollution made it impossible for them to live on Earth, so they left, and didn’t come back until the 29th century. Even then though, there weren’t that many.”
“Wait, the end of the 21st century?” asked Hiro. “I’m from the mid-21st century. We’re gonna destroy the planet soon?”
“That’s what happened,” said Ace. “Sorry buddy. I’m sure you wouldn’t have done anything like that, but that’s what happens.”
“I build robots and machines…” said Hiro. “I might have…”
“Don’t worry about it Hiro,” said Sora. “Maybe it wasn’t yours that did it. And hey, maybe you can make good robots that don’t cause problems.”
Hiro smiled at that. “You’re right,” said Hiro. “In fact, I’ve been working on a good robot. I’ll let you meet him when he’s finished.”
“Yak, yak, yak,” interrupted Edna. “We’re forgetting something much more important here. The boy hero has a new keyblade.”
“Yeah, I was wondering about that,” said Sora. “Do you think it’s any stronger than my last one?”
“We’ll find out soon,” said Lewis, looking up from his computer. “We’ve got a Fixed Point, though this one’s really weird.”
“Being a toy in some kid’s room weird?” asked Sora.
“No, weirder,” said Lewis. “It’s…inside someone’s head.”
“…what?” asked Sora and Riku in unison.
“I don’t get it either,” said Lewis. “But we better get going. Not only is the Organization there, but I think I found Kairi too.”
“Kairi?” asked Sora. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”

“Here we are,” said Lewis, floating above a vast labyrinth of shelves full of some kind of orbs. “I’m not sure what’s going on though, so…good luck.”
“We’ll do our best,” said Riku, jumping out of the time machine, Sora right behind him.
“So, where do we start?” asked Sora. Just as he asked, they two boys heard some screaming coming from just outside the maze.
“That sounds like as good a place as any,” said Riku, heading out to see what was happening. The two boys exited the maze to see two odd looking people lying on the ground. One was tall, thin, and seemed to be glowing yellow. The other was shorter, chubby, and blue. Scattered around them were a bunch of the orbs from the shelves.
“Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad,” said the blue one.
“You could say that,” said the yellow one, gathering up the orbs. “Or…we could think of it as a team building exercise. Or an adventure. Isn’t that great?”
“I guess…” said the blue one. “But those are Riley’s Core Memories. Without them, Riley can’t do anything. We need to get them back to Headquarters.”
“Hey, do you guys need help?” asked Sora, running up to the pair.
“Huh? Who are you?” asked the yellow one.
“I’m Sora, and this is Riku,” said Sora. “And we’re here to…”
“Help us get back to Headquarters,” finished Joy. “That’s perfect. I mean, I’ve never heard of a Sora or a Riku, but that must be your function, right Sadness?”
“I don’t know,” said Sadness. “I don’t remember them from the manuals. Maybe they’re some kind of disease or something.”
“What? No, we’re not a disease,” said Sora. “We’re here because there might be someone very evil around here.”
“So, you’re some kind of white-blood cell?” asked Joy. “Perfect. You can help us get back to Headquarters while you’re looking for the disease. Come on.” Joy then began running towards the entrance to the maze.
“But Joy, that’s long-term memory,” said Sadness. “We’ll never find our way out of there.”
“You read the manuals, right?” asked Joy. “You know your way through, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” said the blue one. “But…”
“No buts. Let’s go,” said Joy, disappearing around a corner.
“Is she always like this?” asked Riku, following her with the others.
“She is Riley’s happiness,” explained Sadness. “And we’re meant to be in Headquarters controlling Riley’s actions. Without us, she can only be angry, scared, or disgusted.”
“What about the Core Memories?” asked Sora.
“They’re the main components of Riley’s personality,” replied Sadness. “Without them, Riley has no personality.”
Riku thought about this for a moment. “I need to get up there,” he eventually said.
“What? How?” asked Sadness. “If you try to get over there, you could fall into the Memory Dump, and there’s no getting out of there.”
“But someone needs to guide her,” said Riku. “I’m going.” Riku turned back to the cliff, and ran onto a platform extending out from it. The platform had a large statue of two adults hugging a young girl in the middle of it. Coming off the end was a tube of some kind, linking up to the floating Headquarters.

“Good luck Riku,” said Sora, turning back to Joy and Sadness. Behind them, he noticed something odd. “Guys, there’s some weird pink thing over there.”
Joy looked over to where he was pointing. “Hey, I know him…” she said, before clicking her fingers. “That’s it, it’s Bing Bong.” Joy immediately ran over to him.
“Bing Bong?” asked Sora, following her.
“Riley’s imaginary friend,” said Sadness. “He’s part elephant, part cat, part cotton candy.”
“Bing Bong,” called Joy, catching up to the pink monster.
Bing Bong looked up to see the group approaching. “Oh, hey there,” said the strange creature. “Finally, someone who isn’t a weird shadowy thing.”
Sora stopped in his tracks. “Weird shadowy thing?” he asked. “There are Heartless here?”
“Is that what they’re called?” asked Bing Bong. “I didn’t know they had a name. I just went up to one and touched it, then it died.”
“It died…when you touched it?” asked Sora, confused.
“Yeah, like so,” said Bing Bong, walking past Sora. The group turned around to see a large group of Heartless behind them. Sora drew his keyblade, but before he could do anything Bing Bong patted one of the Heartless on the head, and it disappeared, like when Sora cut them down with his keyblade. “See? Easy.”
“Hey, I wanna try,” said Joy, running forward before Sora could stop her. She began tapping Heartless on the head, killing them.
“Are these things the disease you were looking for?” asked Sadness.
“Part of it,” said Sora, cutting down a Heartless. “But normally they’re tougher than this.”
“So they don’t normally die when someone touches them?” asked Sadness, touching one of the Heartless. The Heartless didn’t die; in fact it actually got bigger.
“No, but they don’t normally do that either,” said Sora, taking on the big Heartless.

Riku ran across the platform known as Family Island, and jumped onto the tube leading up from it to the Headquarters. Carefully, the silver-haired boy climbed along the tube, moving as fast as he could without falling. It seemed to take an age, but he reached the floating building. Before he could fall, Riku cut a hole in the wall and jumped through. Inside were three figures like Joy and Sadness, except one was solidly built and red, one was skinny and purple, and one was slender and green.
“Oh no, INTRUDER!” yelled the purple one, hiding behind the green one.
“Be quiet Fear,” said the green one. “So, who are you?”
“I’m Riku,” said Riku. “I just met your friends Joy and Sadness, and they think…”
“You saw them?” asked Fear. “Great, they must be on their way back then, right?”
“Well, they’re trying,” said Riku. “In the meantime, I was going to try and keep things in order up here.”
“You?!” demanded the red one. “What makes you think you can handle this?”
“Well, I just thought…” started Riku.
“You think you can just waltz in here and run the show?” the red guy snapped, his head looking like it was going to explode.
“Anger, calm down,” said the green one.
“I can’t calm down Disgust, I’m literally Anger,” said Anger. “Besides, those jerks in long-term have sent that stupid gum commercial up here three times today…” As he was speaking, a memory orb came into the room and started playing a really catchy jingle. Anger’s head suddenly exploded in fames (literally).
“Guys, I need to…” started Riku, when something caught his attention on a screen at the front of the room.
“Oh, it’s that girl we met the other day. What do we do?” asked Fear. The other two emotions looked up at the screen and wondered what to do about the auburn haired girl. Riku could only whisper a single word.
“Kairi…”

“…and that’s the last of them,” said Sora, finishing off the final Heartless. “But I still don’t understand how you two can kill them with a single touch.”
“And why I make them stronger,” moped Sadness.
“You still don’t understand, do you?” came a cocky voice Sora remembered well (and not just because he was asked to). Sora turned around to see Axel jump down from the top of the memory shelves.
“I take it this is the disease you’re after?” said Joy.
“Yep,” said Sora, guarding the others. “Stand back. He won’t go down with a touch.”
“Now that’s just rude,” smirked Axel. “And just when I was about to explain what feeds those Heartless.”
“And why would you want to help me?” asked Sora, not letting his guard down.
“Because why wouldn’t I want to help my little buddy Roxas?” asked Axel.
“Who?” asked Sora, confused. “I’m Sora, not Roxas.”
“Sure, whatever you say kid,” said Axel dismissively. “When you’re ready to accept my help, come find me. Just think what those two have that the other doesn’t, and you’ll have yourself a clue to what Kingdom Hearts is.” A dark portal opened behind Axel, which he disappeared through before Sora could question him further.
“What’s that even mean?” yelled Sora after him, then sighed in defeat.
“What does he mean by that?” asked Joy. “Is Riley in trouble?”
“I don’t know…” said Sora. “That guy is from an evil Organization that’s been kidnapping children…”
“Oh no, Riley’s only eleven,” gasped Sadness. “She’s gonna get kidnapped too.”
“But surely they can’t do that from inside her head,” said Sora. “Unless…you haven’t seen an auburn haired girl recently have you?”
“Oh, you mean Kairi?” asked Joy. “Yeah, Riley met her about a week ago.”
“Met? As in, Kairi was out there?” asked Sora.
“Is that bad?” asked Bing Bong.
“Very bad,” said Sora. “I need to get out there and help her.”
“Quickly, through Imagination Land,” said Bing Bong, running towards what looked like an amusement park. “Put the Core Memories in my bag. We can catch the Train of Thought straight to Headquarters.”

“What do we do? What do we do?” asked Fear. “Riley can’t feel happy without Joy, and Kairi’s bound to notice something’s up.”
“Well, one of us has to do something,” said Disgust.
“Okay…” started Fear. “You do it.” Fear stepped back and pushed Disgust in front of the control panel.
“What?” said Disgust, before sighing and pushing a random button.
“Oh, hi Kairi,” said Riley, sounding a bit snarky.
“What was that?” demanded Fear. “That wasn’t a happy greeting.”
“Maybe because I’m not Joy,” said Disgust. “Honestly, if you think it’s so easy, you do it.” Disgust stepped away from the console, waving Fear forward.
“Riley, are you okay?” asked Kairi, looking concerned. “You don’t seem yourself.”
Fear covered his eyes, and picked a random button. “I’m fine, I guess,” said Riley, sounding unsure.
“See? Not easy, is it?” said Disgust, smiling smugly.
“Okay, you two had your chance,” said Anger, stepping forward and cracking his knuckles. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” asked Kairi, putting an arm around her friend’s shoulder.
Riley slapped Kairi’s hand away. “I’m fine, okay?” snapped Riley.
Kairi stepped back in shock. “Riley, what’s gotten into you?” she asked. “Your mood is all over the place…” Suddenly Kairi’s face lit up, like she’d gotten an idea. “Oh, I think I know. Are you…becoming a woman?”
“No, that’s not it,” said Riku. “Wait, she isn’t, is she?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Disgust. Riku leaned in next to her and whispered something. “What? Eww. Nonononono. No. That hasn’t happened.”
“What did he…” started Fear.
“Don’t ask,” said Disgust. “Anger, give the kid the controls.”
“Why? I’m doing great, aren’t I?” said Anger. “She’s with her friend. Doesn’t that make her happy?”
“Yeah, when Joy’s at the controls,” said Disgust. “Move over. I have an idea.”

“There’s the train,” called Joy, running to the station. “Sora, what are you doing?”
“If this is Imagination Land…” Sora said to himself. “Does that mean I can imagine anything, and it’ll just…” Suddenly, an eggplant appeared in front of him.
“Of all the things you could have imagined, why that?” asked Bing Bong.
“It’s for a friend of mine,” said Sora, picking up the eggplant.
“Come on guys, the train’s leaving,” said Sadness, jumping onto the train after Joy as it started moving. Bing Bong and Sora ran after it, climbing on as the train picked up speed.
“Here we go,” said Sora, starting to relax, when he shot up again. “HEARTLESS!” Behind them, Heartless had started to appear, and were chasing the train.
“Don’t worry, the tracks of the Train of Thought disappear behind it,” said Bing Bong. “They’ll never catch up.” As he said this, there was a thud from the roof of the train. “Of course, if they get on top of the train, that could be a problem.”
Sora sprung to action immediately. “I’m going up there,” said Sora. “We need to get you to Headquarters.”
“I’m coming too,” said Joy.
“No you’re not,” said Sora sternly. “Riley needs you too much. Stay in the train, get back to Headquarters. Don’t argue.”
“What about me?” asked Bing Bong. “I can get rid of those things with a single touch. Plus, Riley’s so big now. I don’t think she needs an imaginary friend like me anymore.”
“Bing Bong…” started Joy.
“So long Joy,” said Bing Bong, flinging himself onto a ladder on the side of the train. “Take Riley to the moon for me, okay?” Without looking back, Bing Bong climbed on top of the train.
“Guess he’s coming with me,” said Sora. “Sadness, don’t let Joy out of your sight.” Sadness just saluted as Sora disappeared from the two emotion’s view. “Let’s do this,” he said, jumping into action as he saw the large Heartless with a bunch of smaller Heartless atop the train.

“Riley, I know you’re going through a tough time right now,” said Kairi. “You’ve just moved to a new city, you don’t know anyone, and now you’re having these mood swings. Believe me, I wasn’t much better when it happened to me.”
“That’s not what’s happening Kairi, I swear,” said Riley, blushing a little in embarrassment.
“Oh?” said Kairi, a hint of relief in her voice. “Then what’s bothering you? You’re not your usual cheerful self today.”
“I don’t know,” admitted Riley. “It’s like, I don’t know, my joy is gone, I guess. But I don’t really feel sad either. I don’t know, it’s weird.”
“I get it, you’re stressed,” said Kairi. “Look, you know you can talk to me about anything. If there’s anything I can do, you know I’ll keep a secret.”
“You better,” said Riley, giggling a little. “Remember how I first found you? On the beach, wearing nothing…”
“Hey, I told you, I’d been lost at sea for a while,” said Kairi, punching the younger girl in the arm before pulling her into a hug.
Up in Headquarters, Disgust, Anger, and Fear were watching as Riku managed to get Riley to show a bit of happiness. “How is he doing that?” demanded Anger.
“Because he hasn’t lost his Joy,” explained Disgust. “I took a gamble that maybe he could project some level of happiness until Joy got back.”
“Speaking of which, I think she’s nearly here,” said Fear, looking out the window. “It looks like she’s on the Train of Thought. Except…does anyone know what those shadowy creatures are?”
“Shadowy creatures?” said Riku, joining him at the window. Following Fear’s gaze, he saw Sora and Bing Bong fighting a large Heartless on top of the incoming train. “Oh no…” Riku quickly ran back to the controls to see Kairi looking alarmed.
“What is it?” Riley asked.
“Trouble,” said Kairi, pushing her friend behind her to face a man with blue hair wearing a long black robe.

“Take this, and this, and some of this,” said Bing Bong, grabbing the giant Heartless, which seemed to be hurting it. However, that didn’t stop it from grabbing Bing Bong around the neck and slamming him into the ground, before kicking him across the roof of the train. The smaller Heartless, seeing he was down, took the opportunity to attack the cat-elephant.
“BING BONG!” yelled Sora, blocking a blow from the large Heartless, before slicing off its arm. Sora ran to his wounded friend’s aid, clearing away Heartless as he went.
“Sora,” wheezed Bing Bong. “Will you…do everything to help Riley?”
“Of course,” said Sora.
“Good,” coughed Bing Bong. “Because I’m not giving up that easy.” As he spoke, a glowing ball floated out of him and into Sora’s hand. “Take it. Call me…if you need a hand.” Sora took the ball, and Bing Bong disappeared.
Sora wiped away a tear, then turned his attention back to the Heartless. “Joy! Sadness! Get ready to jump,” called Sora. The Heartless began to make his way towards the edge of the train, so Sora pointed his keyblade at him. “BLIZZAGA!” A powerful blast of ice froze the Heartless in place as Joy and Sadness jumped across to Headquarters. As the train went past, Sora walked up to the Heartless and shattered it with a swing from his keyblade.

“Back off Zexion,” said Kairi. “Riley, run.” Riley looked between her friend and the strange man she was facing. “DO IT!” This got Riley’s attention, and she began to run away. Zexion smirked, and summoned a bunch of Heartless to block her path. Riley screamed in fear and fell backwards, crawling back to Kairi.
“Don’t bother trying to save her,” said Zexion, opening a dark portal. “She’s coming with me.” Zexion clicked his fingers, and the Heartless grabbed Riley. Riley tried to fight against the monsters, but she was no match for the Heartless.
“Hang on Riley,” said Kairi, summoning her keyblade and swiping at the monsters. As she did, the monsters and Riley disappeared, like they were never there. “What the…” Kairi looked around, only to see Riley disappearing through the dark portal, carried by the Heartless. “NOOO!”
“I told you not to try and save her,” said Zexion. “And now, we have another…” Before he could finish that sentence, something red shot out of the portal and embedded itself in Zexion’s back. Zexion gasped in shock, but that was it. He was dead before he could hit the ground.
Kairi looked at the object that had struck the fatal blow to Zexion: a red Chakram. “Wait a sec…” she said, remembering where she’d seen one of them before. She looked up to see someone she didn’t expect grinning at her.

Inside Riley’s head, things had gotten a bit shaky. “What’s going on out there?” asked Sora, trying to hang on to the Train of Thought.
“Riley’s been captured,” came a voice above him. Sora looked up to see Lewis flying up to him in the time machine. “Quick, get in.”
“What about Riku?” asked Sora, holding out his hand for Lewis to take.
“There’s no time,” said Lewis, grabbing Sora’s hand and pulling him up. “This place is freezing up. They’re putting Riley into some kind of stasis. We have to go now.”
As the two boys left, Sora’s only thoughts were on the boy they were leaving behind. Where was Riku? And would he be okay?

Chapter 10: Radiator Springs

Summary:

The Organization has appeared in the car-dominated town of Radiator Springs, with a new ally that Sora wasn't expecting.

“I KNEW it,” yelled Xigbar, slamming his fist into a table. “Axel was always against us. Now we’ve lost Zexion…”
“Xigbar, settle,” said Xemnas.
“How can you be calm at a time like this?” demanded Xigbar. “We’re five men down…”
“There are seven of us left,” said Xemnas calmly. “Not to mention we have over half the children we need. What we need to do is…”
“Find one of the keyblade wielders and get them to side with you?” asked a voice from the door. “Yeah, yeah, heard it several times before.”
Xemnas and Xigbar looked up, and found a familiar silver-haired boy standing in the doorway. Riku stepped forward, carrying a battered figure in a black coat. He threw the Nobody on the floor, revealing it to be Xaldin.
“You?” said Xemnas, looking surprised. “What do you want?”
“Power,” said Riku. “Power over darkness. And you’re going to train me.”
“Or else what?” demanded Xigbar.
“Or else I keep doing this to your members,” said Riku, raising his keyblade and stabbing Xaldin through the chest. The master of wind gasped in pain, then vanished from sight.
Xemnas and Xigbar looked at each other, impressed. “Very well,” said Xemnas. “You shall be my student. But only if you can lead me to the other keyblade wielders.”
Riku seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Deal,” he said, a dark aura surrounding him.

“So, do you think we can trust what Axel told me?” asked Sora.
“I don’t know,” said Elsa. “Why would he want to help us?”
“I wonder…” started Hiro. “You said Joy and Bing Bong were killing the Heartless with almost no effort?”
“Yeah,” said Sora. “And Sadness made them stronger.”
“Hmm…do you think negative emotions are what power the Heartless?” asked Hiro. “Joy is the very incarnation of happiness, and Bing Bong was obviously made for Riley to have fun and be happy, whereas Sadness is the opposite of all that.”
“Happiness?” asked Elsa. “Just like…”
“Yes,” said Hiro. “The points when our times were destroyed were when we were at our darkest. Emotionally, at least.”
“That makes sense,” said Ace. “Heartless are creatures of darkness, so it makes sense that they get stronger around negativity.”
“Unfortunately, that doesn’t help us find and stop the Organization,” interrupted Edna. At that moment, one of the computers started beeping. “That, on the other hand, might.”
“Where is it this time?” asked Sora.
“It’s sometime in the future,” said Lewis, tapping away at the keyboard. “Between humans leaving and when they came back. Looks like the Organization is there, though I don’t know why.”
“Ah, another chance for me to show off my skills,” said Edna, rubbing her hands together in an almost evil way.
“Wha…what do you…” started Sora, backing away slowly before being grabbed Edna.

“This might be my crowning achievement,” said Edna as the time machine emerged from the timestream.
“This feels really weird,” said Sora, wheeling himself into view. “Why did I have to be a Mini Cooper?”
“Well, I’d make you a smart car, but…well, let’s just say one of those words doesn’t apply to you,” said Edna, polishing Sora’s hood.
“This is ridiculous. I’m not even old enough to drive,” said Sora. “And what do you mean one of those words doesn’t apply…”
“Well, you’ll have to learn to drive fast,” said Edna nonchalantly. “Now, your keyblade pops out of the hood, and I’ve given you hydraulics so you can jump around to fight if you have to. Bye-bye, good luck.” Edna opened the time machine door and pushed him out the door while they were still in the air.
“You better have packed a parachute Edna,” Sora yelled back at the disappearing time machine.
“Parachute, activated,” said an automated voice, and suddenly Sora’s descent was slowed.
“Oh…okay then,” said Sora, who had actually expected Edna to leave him to fall. A few minutes later, he landed in a desert next to a small road. Ahead of him there was a sign saying ‘Welcome to Radiator Springs’. “Well, I guess that’s as good a place as any to start looking,” said Sora, pulling onto the road carefully and driving towards what looked like a small town in the distance.

Unfortunately, Sora was still getting used to his new form, and swerved around a bit more than he meant to. He tried to stay straight, but kept swerving to the side. That’s when he heard the sirens.
“Alright mister, take it easy,” said a police car pulling up beside him. “You been drinking some of that funny oil?” The sheriff looked at Sora and narrowed his eyes. “How old are you boy?”
“Fourteen,” replied Sora honestly.
The sheriff sighed heavily. “These kids keep getting younger,” said the police car. “Well, come on kiddo. Better get you to the impound lot until you dry out.”
“Hey, leave the kid alone man,” said a minibus that drove up to them. “I was his age when I first tried organic fuel, and look how I turned out.”
“That’s exactly what I’m concerned about Fillmore,” said the sheriff. “He should…”
“Come on Sheriff, the kid probably just came to see the race, and some older car slipped him something,” said a lowrider, pulling up beside Fillmore.
“Yeah, Sheriff, you just let me and Ramone take care of him,” said a show car.
“Wha..what race is this?” asked Sora.
“Aww, the poor thing. So out of it he doesn’t even remember the race that’s on,” said the show car. “Surely you remember the Radiator Springs Grand Prix, right? That’s gotta be the reason you’re all the way out here.”
“Yeah, organised in part by our buddy Lightning McQueen,” said Ramone. “Speaking of which, here he is.” Sora looked up to see a red sports car drive up to the group.
“Guys, have you guys seen Mater around anywhere?” asked McQueen.
“Nope, can’t say I have,” said Fillmore. “How about you guys?” The other cars confirmed they hadn’t seen anything.
“What’s wrong? Is one of the racers missing?” asked Sora.
“Hey, who’s the kid?” asked McQueen.
“Oh, I’m Sora,” replied Sora.
“Hi Sora, I’m Lightning McQueen,” said McQueen. “I’m trying to find my friend Mater. He’s not one of the racers, though. He’s an old rusty tow truck, and my best friend. You haven’t seen him, have you?”
“No, but I can go look for him if you want,” said Sora. “That’s why I came here. There’s supposed to be some kind of trouble here. Maybe this is it.”
“Could you? That’d be great,” said McQueen. “He’s always got a front row seat at my races, but I can’t find him anywhere.”
“Now hold on there,” said Sheriff. “This kid is still intoxicated with something, and…”
“Actually, I’m here on a mission,” said Sora quickly. “And I’m still getting used to this new form.”
“Wow, a mission?” said Ramone. “You mean like a secret agent?”
“Don’t be silly Ramone,” said Flo. “Why would there be secret agents around here?”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, could you keep an eye out for Mater?” asked McQueen.
“Will do,” said Sora. “Where do you think he’d be?”
“Last I saw him was at the Wheel Well Motel. Just keep following the road to get there,” said McQueen, indicating the road through town. As he said it, there was a loud buzzing sound, followed by an announcement over a P. A. system.
“Attention racers. The Radiator Springs Grand Prix, brought to you by Allinol, is about to begin,” said the announcer. “Please be at the designated start area in five minutes.”
“Well, I’ve gotta go,” said McQueen. “Good luck finding Mater.”
“Thanks,” said Sora, driving away.

“He’s here, just as I thought he would,” said Lexaeus, watching Sora leave. He didn’t like his new form as a black Lexus, but he needed to blend in somehow.
“He’s not going to be a problem, is he?” asked the green land rover beside him.
“Probably not,” said Lexaeus. “As I mentioned, we intend to try out our new recruit. It just so happens that helping your cause is the best way to draw him out.”
The land rover frowned at this comment. “I’m not sure I appreciate being used like this, but I’ll take all the help I can get,” said Axlerod. “So, where is your friend?”
“Right here,” said a yellow Plymouth Barracuda, driving up from behind them.

“Hello? Anyone here?” called Sora as he exited the large restaurant on a cliffside. Inside he’d found a zucchini for Linguini, which he’d managed (with some difficulty) to get into his front seat. “Is there someone here by the name of Mater?”
“Did somebody call me?” said someone with a thick Southern accent, and suddenly an old, rusty tow truck appeared from around a corner. “Name’s Tow Mater. What can I do for ya? I should just mention, I’m in the middle of a date, so…”
“You’re on a date?” asked Sora. “Oh, sorry to interrupt. It’s just that your friend Lightning McQueen was worried about you, and…”
“Aww, shoot, his race is about to start,” said Mater. “Holley, we need to…”
“Mater, we don’t have time for the race,” said a magenta coloured Jaguar. “We have to…”
“Continue our date. I know, I know,” said Mater. “It’s just that it doesn’t feel like a real date with…”
“Is there a problem?” asked a blue Aston Martin, turning to face Holley. “Miss Shiftwell, we really need to find out what Professor Zündapp is up to.”
“But the race is on,” said Mater. “Come on, there’s a great place to watch it from over here.” Without waiting for a response, Mater drove off down the road.
“Come on, we need him,” said the Aston Martin, just as he noticed Sora. “Hey, who’s this?”
“I’m Sora. I was sent by Lightning McQueen to find Mater,” explained Sora. “So, who are you guys?”
“Well, I’m Holley Shiftwell, and this is my partner Finn McMissile,” said Holley. “And we’re here to…”
“Miss Shiftwell, we don’t know anything about this kid,” said Finn, covering Holley’s mouth before speaking in a low whisper. “He could be working with the enemy for all we know…”
“Hey, you guys haven’t seen any guys completely in black, have you?” asked Sora.
“Somebody in black?” asked Finn, suddenly perking up. “Holley, show him the picture.” Holley projected a picture against the side of the cliff, showing a small green car with a monocle next to a fancy looking black car. “The green one is definitely Professor Zündapp, but we can’t identify the black one. Do you know him?”
Sora stared at him for a moment. There was something familiar about him, and suddenly it clicked. “That’s Lexaeus,” said Sora. “He’s with Organization XIII, and very bad news.”
“A Lexus? Why would a Lexus be working with lemons?” asked Holley.
“I don’t know, but at least we have a name now,” said Finn. “Come on, we need to find out what they’re up to.” Finn started to drive off, when there was a loud bang from below them. “What was that?”
“It came from the direction of the race,” said Holley. “Maybe Mater saw something. Come on.” Holley quickly drove off down the road, Finn and Sora right behind her.

“Dad gum, that’s horrible,” said Mater as Holley, Finn, and Sora pulled up behind him.
“What happened?” asked Holley.
“One of the racer’s wheels blew out,” said Mater, just as another explosion sounded below them. “Dad gum, there goes another one.”
“In the same place?” asked Finn. “Is there something sharp on the track?”
“Nothing I can see,” said Mater as another car suddenly blew up and start skidding out of control. “What’s goin’ on down there?”
Sora started looking around, then spotted something. “Hey, that camera crew is filming the car there,” said Sora, just as the car he was talking about burned out. “It’s like they know the cars are going to explode at that point.”
“They don’t appear to be with any television company,” said Finn. “Come on, they must be with Professor Zündapp.” The group followed Finn towards the camera crew.

“They’re coming your way,” came a voice over a walkie-talkie. “Grem, Acer, be on your guard, and remember, leave the kid for the Plymouth.”
“Yes boss,” said Grem, focusing on another car.
“You really gonna trust the new kid?” asked Acer.
“Hey, we’ll have our hands full with the others,” said Grem. “This will make things much easier.”
“Heh, guess you’re right,” said Acer, firing up the weaponised camera.

“Stop right there,” said Finn, driving straight at the camera and knocking it over. “What is Professor Zündapp up to?”
“Who said we was here for Professor Z?” asked Acer, ramming into Finn’s side.
“Hey sweetie, how you going?” asked Grem, approaching Holley. He started to get close, then suddenly flew backwards and hung in the air.
“Sorry buddy, but that’s my girlfriend,” said Mater, pulling on his tow cable. Suddenly, the ground started to rumble, throwing off Mater’s balance and causing him to release Grem.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to hurt my allies,” said a black Lexus entering the room.
“Lexaeus,” said Sora, revealing his keyblade. “Stand back guys, he’s mine.”
“And you’re mine,” said a voice Sora wasn’t expecting to hear. Sora just barely managed to back away before a yellow Plymouth hit the ground where he’s been sitting.
“Ri…Riku?” asked Sora. “What are you doing? Have you joined the Organization?”
In response, Riku began to radiate with a dark aura. “You don’t understand Sora,” said Riku. “The power of darkness. It feels so good. There’s just nothing like it.”
“Stop it Riku,” snapped Sora. “If you give in to the darkness, I’ll have to fight you.”
Riku drew his keyblade. “Then fight me,” said Riku. “But just remember, you won’t beat me without the power of darkness.” Riku jumped up and swung his weapon at Sora, who blocked it but was forced back.
“Fine. You forced me to do this,” said Sora, swinging at Riku as hard as he could. Riku casually blocked the attack, and knocked Sora aside with a single easy swipe of his keyblade. Sora recovered quickly, charging at Riku, but was again knocked aside with ease.
“Face it Sora, you’re nothing compared to me,” said Riku. “Unless you let the darkness consume you, there’s no way you will win.”
“I will never surrender to the darkness,” said Sora, getting back up. “I’ll fight you to the very end if I have to…”
“Oh really?” said Riku, rolling up to Sora and pinning him against a wall. “Because your friends aren’t doing too good without you.”
Sora looked past Riku in horror to see Holley, Finn, and Mater trying to fight Lexaeus together, but even with three of them, including Holley and Finn loaded with weapons, Lexaeus was able to keep pushing them back towards the side of a cliff. “No…” said Sora, glaring at Riku. “NOOO!” he screamed more forcefully, knocking Riku aside.
“That’s more like it,” said Riku, preparing to strike Sora, just as Sora slammed into him head-on. Riku blinked in surprise, but recovered quickly and tried to fight back. However, nothing he did seemed to affect him, be it his keyblade, his magic, or even just ramming into him.
“Do what you want with me,” growled Sora, sparks flying off of him. “But you leave my friends out of it. THUNDAGA!” A burst of lightning shot out from Sora, zapping Riku and causing him to start smoking.
Lexaeus, who was about to finish off the other three cars, turned to see Riku smouldering, and Sora raising his keyblade to finish him off. “Oh no you don’t,” said Lexaeus, driving up and grabbing Riku before opening a dark portal and disappearing through it.

“Hey, what about us?” yelled Grem as the portal closed.
“Forget them, get back to the camera,” said someone with a German accent. The cars present turned to see a green Zündapp Janus wearing a monocle approaching. “We must have all those racers injured before…” Suddenly, Professor Zündapp flew up into the air and hung above the group.
“Ya know, I never got why those guys in the movies always talked about their plans when they think they’re winning,” said Mater, pulling his tow cable back.
“You’re too late anyway,” yelled Professor Zündapp, hanging from the tow cable which was slung over an outcrop of rock above them. “Even as we speak, my employer is convincing the world that all-natural fuels are harmful…”
“Your employer? You mean Sir Miles Axlerod?” asked Finn.
Professor Zündapp gasped. “How did you know?” demanded the professor.
“I didn’t. You just admitted it for me,” said Finn, revealing a tape player. “On tape, no less. Thanks to Mater for pointing out that Axlerod was once a lemon, just like his minions.”
“Aww, shoot, it was nothing,” said Mater modestly.
“The thing I’m most concerned about though is Sora,” said Holley, looking over at him. “He’s got this weird purple smoke coming off of him.”
“Sora? Are you okay?” asked Finn, cautiously rolling up to him. Sora turned to him suddenly, fury in his eyes, but as quickly as it had appeared it vanished, as did the dark aura, leaving an exhausted Sora on the ground. “Sora?! What happened?”
“I…I don’t know…” said Sora. “I just…lost control…and I let the darkness free.” Sora paused to take a few deep breaths. “So much power…so good…”
“Sora?” called a voice above him. The cars looked up to see the time machine lowering itself to them. “It’s time to go.”
“Who are you?” asked Finn.
“Let’s just say I’m a commanding officer of sorts,” said Lewis’s voice over the speaker system. A magnet began lowering itself to attach itself to Sora’s roof. “And we need to get Sora back to base for…repairs. And questioning.” The time machine started rising again, and soon disappeared from sight.

Chapter 11: The Axiom

Summary:

Sora and Ace board The Axiom to search for the Organization members, but there's a powerful presence among them. Who could it be?

“Sora, what happened back there?” asked Lewis, as Edna removed him from his car outfit.
“I…don’t know,” wheezed Sora, barely able to stand. “Riku was there, and so was Lexaeus, and they were hurting those guys, and I got so…so angry.”
“You unleashed the darkness within you,” said Lewis. “That’s why I was sent back to get you.”
“I guessed as much,” said Sora, regaining his feet as they exited the time machine. “But the darkness…it feels good to use it.”
“Sora?” said Lewis. “You’re not…”
“I don’t want it to,” added Sora quickly. “But it’s so…so powerful. I’ve never had that kind of energy.”
“And you won’t,” said Elsa, marching up to him. “How long have you known you had that darkness in you?”
“I don’t know,” answered Sora. “It just kinda…happened.”
“But why? How?” demanded Elsa. “We can’t afford to lose you to the darkness now. Not after…” Elsa seemed unable to continue speaking after this.
“After what?” asked Sora.
“Sorry Sora, we’ve all been through a lot,” said Judy. “Now, we have to decide what we’re gonna do with you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Sora. “I’m a keyblade wielder. You need me to defeat the Organization.”
“But if you’re going dark, you’re too much of a risk,” said Ace. “We shouldn’t…”
“No,” interrupted Elsa. “We still need him going out there.”
“But, Your Majesty…” started Hiro.
“The prophecy is very clear about this,” said Elsa. “Whatever happens, there will be three keyblade wielders at the end. Keeping Sora here will not stop him from getting into trouble, so we might as well let him go and hope for the best.”
“Gee, thanks Elsa,” said Sora.
“Let me be clear though,” said Elsa. “I’m not sure I trust you as much as I did. I know the darkness was probably inside you for a while, even if you weren’t aware of it, but I can’t trust that you won’t suddenly turn on us like Riku did.”
“Elsa, I promise you, I will never surrender to the darkness,” said Sora.
“I wish I could believe you,” said Elsa sadly. “Come on in, we need to talk.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Lexaeus, placing the unconscious Riku into a bed. “It was like he was possessed. Riku never stood a chance.”
“But now that he’s had a taste of the darkness, he will want more,” said Xemnas. “I’ve sat back and watched too long. I will confront him myself, see if maybe we can draw the girl out too.”
“And how will you do that?” asked Lexaeus. “He’s too good. He may be able to fight the darkness.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” said Xemnas. “It’s in his nature to serve the darkness. After all, he was once Roxas.”
Lexaeus flinched at this. “You’re sure?” he asked.
“I’m sure,” said Xemnas. “The witch Naminé was trying to take the darkness from him before we…intervened. When I tell him the truth about who he is, the darkness should take control.” Xemnas turned to leave the room. “Tell Marluxia and Saix to help you heal the boy. Me and Xigbar are going after the boy.”

“HEY! YOU MOVED MY STUMP! I’M GONNA WRECK IT!” said the large 8-bit character on the video game console, who then climbed up the side of a building and started breaking things.
From the right side of the screen, another 8-bit character holding a hammer appeared. “I CAN FIX IT!” he said, jumping up the side of the building after the giant.
“Are you sure you don’t want to play Sora?” asked Penny, moving the joystick around expertly. “It’s so much fun.”
“I don’t feel like playing,” said Sora glumly. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me right now.”
“Suit yourself,” said Penny, her character fixing windows while carefully dodging bricks. “Hey Rapunzel, you up for a game of Hero’s Duty after this?”
“No way, you always beat me at that one,” said Rapunzel. “How about Sugar Rush?”
“Whatever,” said Penny, finishing the level she was in with great ease. “That Ralph guy must be super strong. I’d love to see what kind of damage he could do in a fight.”
“I can find out,” said Hiro, then backtracked a little. “Err, that is, if you want me to.”
“That’d be cool,” said Penny, starting the next level. “So, what are you guys planning now?”
“We’re still figuring that out,” said Lewis, staring at something incomprehensible (to most people) on the computer. “We don’t know when or where the Organization is going to show up next, and now that Sora is being affected by darkness…” He didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence, because at that moment an alarm went off. “Found them,” he said. “We need to get there.”
“Alright, I’ll get ready,” said Sora, getting up off the couch.
“No way,” said Hiro. “We can’t risk you…”
“Let him go,” said Elsa. “He’s a flight risk, but we need him out there.”
“But…Your Majesty,” started Hiro. “We can’t send him out there alone.”
“That’s where Ace comes in,” said Elsa.
“M…me?” asked Ace.
“Yes, you,” said Elsa. “We need one of our resident geniuses to follow and observe Sora more closely, since you guys are quick enough thinkers you might know how to snap him out of it. And since Lewis is the only one who can drive the time machine, and Hiro’s building that robot…”
“I’m expendable. I get it,” sighed Ace in resignation. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Ace, I didn’t mean it like…” started Elsa, but the small chicken had already left the room.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” said Sora.
“I hope you can,” said Elsa. “Here, I’ve got a new spell for you.” A glowing ball appeared in Elsa’s hand, and floated over to Sora. “It’s called Esuna. If you get sick in battle, use it.”
“Will do,” said Sora, heading towards the time machine.

“Okay boys, welcome to The Axiom,” said Lewis as they appeared in what appeared to be a docking station in a spaceship. “Be careful though. The reading I got from the Organization members here…it was huge. It’s like they’re more powerful than before.”
“I guess beating most of their members is making them desperate,” said Sora, jumping out of the time machine. “Come on Ace, we have to find the Organization.”
“Whatever,” said Ace, much less enthusiastically as he joined Sora.
“Come on buddy, what’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“It’s just…I know I’m not useful in this mission,” said Ace. “Look at me. I’m a chicken. And not just as in a coward. I know that if something happened to me, no-one would care.”
“That’s not true,” said Sora. “Everyone back at Radiant Garden cares about you. I know they’d be upset if something happened to you.”
“You say that,” said Ace. “But when it happens…”
“Ace, I swear…” started Sora, just as a small, broken down looking robot crashed into him.
The robot blinked its eyes at him and lifted its cube shaped body a little. “EV-E?” it asked.
“Uh…no,” said Sora. “I’m Sora. And who are you?”
The robot blinked its eyes, and seemed to be looking past Sora. “EV-E!” it said, rolling past Sora after some kind of stretcher with a white pod on it.
“Hey, wait up little guy,” said Sora, running after the robot.
“Wait Sora,” said Ace, running after him. “We’re supposed to be here looking for the Organization.”
“Well, we’re probably not going to find them in there,” said Sora. “We might as well help him out while we look.” The group entered a busy corridor with robots rushing everywhere. The little robot was desperately looking everywhere for the stretcher, but was too short to see anything. Sora looked around, then spotted it. “Hey, it’s over here,” he said, motioning for the little robot to follow him.
“EV-E!” cried the robot, following Sora through the busy corridor, making many of the robots whizzing back and forth swerve out of their way.
“Here we go,” said Sora, catching up to the stretcher, then helping Ace and the robot onto the back of it. The robot driving the stretcher didn’t seem to notice the extra passengers. “So little guy, I didn’t catch your name.” Sora then noticed the writing at the bottom of the robot’s body. “Is it…Wall-E?”
“WALL-E!” said the robot, indicating himself. He then rolled up to the white pod strapped down next to them. “EV-E”
“Okay…” said Sora, unsure what to say. “Is…is Eve a robot too?”
“I think it might be,” said Ace, indicating some slits on the pod that might fold out.
“Is you’re friend broken?” asked Sora.
WALL-E blinked at Sora, giving the impression of not knowing how to answer. “DI-REC-TIVE!” said WALL-E, as if that explained everything.
“Um…okay,” said Sora, realising communication with WALL-E was going to be difficult.

“Sora, check it out,” said Ace, looking around them. Sora saw what he was looking at: all around them were people in floating armchairs, and every single one of them was extremely overweight. In front of each of the people were several screens, and all around them were billboards advertising a company called Buy n Large.
“What is this place?” asked Sora, thoroughly confused.
“This must be when humans were still solely in space,” said Ace. “I heard stories about this, but I never thought I’d actually see it. After the war, the humans deemed the earth uninhabitable, and were loaded onto a ship called The Axiom. The Buy n Large Corporation were one of the main builders of the war machines that caused all the destruction, so they felt responsible for what happened. They decided to assist the evacuation of Earth by building one of the ships to do so.”
“But why is everyone so fat?” asked Sora.
“The Buy n Large Corporation were a massive company,” said Ace. “You name it, they made and sold it. It doesn’t surprise me that they’ve made literally everything mankind could possibly need so that they never have to leave the comfort of those chairs.”
Sora was speechless. Could mankind really get that lazy? He was pondering this question when the stretcher went into an elevator, sending the group up into a high tower in the middle of a kind of beach resort. “Where do you think we’re going?” Sora asked.
“I’m not sure, but probably nowhere good,” said Ace, just as the elevator stopped. “Quick, get down.” Ace pulled Sora down behind the stretcher, and the two slowly followed it into the room. A hole in the ceiling opened up, and what looked like a steering wheel with a red light appeared out of it. WALL-E seemed to shiver in fear, then rolled off the stretcher to join Sora and Ace.
The wheel lowered itself to the white pod, and opened up the front of it. It reached inside, and pulled out a plant growing inside an old boot. “GO-4,” it said. A small robot with red lights on top of it appeared and stopped next to the stretcher. “DESTROY THIS.” A blue beam shot out of the little robot, and carried the plant away from the wheel, before driving into a hole in the wall.
“Is that you AUTO?” came a voice, as an elevator lowered an overweight man wearing a captain’s uniform into the room. He looked at the stretcher, and his face lit up with glee. “Hey, one of the probe droids is back. That means it found plant life on Earth, right?”
“NO SIR,” said AUTO. “THIS EVE UNIT OBVIOUSLY MALFUNCTIONED, AND CAME BACK BY MISTAKE.”

“That’s a lie,” said Sora, stepping out from behind the stretcher. “You took the plant out of EVE and told that little robot to get rid of it.”
“What the? Who are you?” asked the captain. “And why aren’t you in your chair? And how are you standing by yourself? No-one’s ever done that before.”
“I’m Sora, and I think AUTO’s trying to hide something from you,” said Sora.
“Impossible,” said the captain. “AUTO’s just the ship’s autopilot. His job is to keep us going through space until it’s safe to return to Earth. The EVE units malfunctioning is relatively common.”
“But this one didn’t,” insisted Sora. “I saw it. There was a plant growing in a shoe, but then AUTO told another robot to get rid of it.”
“IMPOSSIBLE!” said AUTO.
The captain seemed to think for a moment. “AUTO, reactivate this EVE unit,” said the captain.
“BUT CAPTAIN…” started AUTO.
“That’s an order AUTO,” said the captain.
“AYE AYE CAPTAIN,” said AUTO, plugging something into the EVE unit. There was a short buzzing sound, and then the EVE unit rose off the table, blue lights appearing where its eyes were. Its arms floated separately from its body, and it seemed to recognise WALL-E instantly.
“EVE,” said the captain. “Did you find a plant when you were on Earth?”
EVE blinked, then checked her front storage compartment. “PLANT? PLANT!” she said in a panicked voice, frantically checking everywhere around her for the plant.
“CLEARLY SHE IS NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY,” said AUTO. “ALLOW ME TO SEND HER TO MAINTENANCE…”
“She’s not broken. She had a plant,” said Sora.
“INCONCLUSIVE!” said AUTO.
“Unless we can prove it,” said Sora. “Ace, can you fit through that gap after that other robot?”
“Can do Sora,” said Ace, running towards the hole in the wall.
“I’M SORRY. I CAN’T LET YOU DO THAT,” said AUTO, suddenly turning the ship so that Ace skidded across the floor.
“Oh no you don’t,” said Sora, grabbing the steering wheel and pulling at it to straighten it up. WALL-E and EVE came up to Sora and began to help him, but AUTO was much stronger than expected.
“STOP RESISTING,” said AUTO. “I’M DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR HUMANITY. AFTER EARTH WAS DESTROYED, IT WAS DEEMED UNLIVEABLE! I CANNOT ALLOW HUMANS TO DIE LIKE THAT!”
“That was seven hundred years ago,” said Sora, pulling back against AUTO as hard as he could. “Things are different now.”
“THINGS DON’T CHANGE,” said AUTO. “MY PROGRAMMING SAYS THAT EARTH IS RUINED, AND I WAS CREATED BY THE MOST BRILLIANT MINDS IN THE WORLD. THEREFORE…” Before AUTO could finish his sentence, there was a sharp tug, and the ship righted itself. Everyone turned to see the captain, struggling to stand properly, but doing everything he could to hold the ship steady. “IMPOSSIBLE!”
“Go kid, go,” strained the captain. Ace nodded, and ran through the small doorway after GO-4, just as the group lost control of the ship.
“CAPTAIN, I AM CONFINING YOU TO YOUR QUARTERS FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY,” said AUTO, as the captain’s longue chair floated up and strapped him down. “AS FOR THE REST OF YOU…”

“Kid, get out of here,” said the captain as he was dragged away. “That’s an order.”
“Yes sir,” said Sora, running towards the door to the elevator. “Come on you two.” WALL-E and EVE began to follow him.
“YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE,” said AUTO, locking the elevator door.
“Not that way I won’t,” said Sora, turning to the window. “FIRAGA!” A ball of fire melted one of the windows, which EVE flew out of. Sora picked up WALL-E and threw himself out after her. WALL-E looked down at the ground and began freaking out. “Don’t worry WALL-E, this is called Falling With Style.” As if on cue, their descent slowed right down, and they hit the ground gently. “There, that wasn’t so…”
“SOR-A,” said WALL-E, pointing up at the screens. Sora looked at what WALL-E was pointing at, and saw a picture of himself, WALL-E, and EVE with the word “DANGER!” in big red letters.
“Uh oh…” said Sora, as SECUR-T bots surrounded them. Sora brought out his keyblade, ready to fight.

Ace emerged from the tunnel in what appeared to be a dock full of escape pods. Ace ran through the pods looking either for GO-4 or a missing pod. “I hope I’m not too late,” said Ace, getting close to the end and still not seeing anything. Right at the end though, he saw GO-4 loading the plant onto an escape pod. “Not so fast.”
GO-4 turned to see Ace, then looked at a control panel that looked like it controlled the escape pod. GO-4 rolled towards it, but Ace was quicker, running the robot down and pushing it away from the machine. GO-4 made another attempt to get to the machine, but Ace grabbed GO-4 from behind. “Hmm, let’s see here,” said Ace, opening the machine’s control hatch. “What happens when I play with these?” The small robot squirmed, trying to get away from Ace, but it was useless.
After a few moments, GO-4 seemed to shut down, then rebooted. The robot wheeled itself into the escape pod, then used its anti-gravity beam to give Ace the plant back. “Thank you,” he said, grabbing the plant and heading over to the control panel. “And goodbye.” Ace pressed a few buttons, and the door to the escape pod closed, followed soon by the pod blasting off into space. “That takes care of that.”
“But what takes care of you?” asked someone right behind him. Ace shuddered as he turned around, and came face to face with Xigbar. “Hey there little chicken.”
“Err…hi,” stammered Ace, backing away a few steps, then running as fast as he could in search of an exit.
“Aww, don’t be like that,” said Xigbar, casually walking after the fleeing chicken.

“…and that’s the last of them,” said Sora, knocking down the last of the SECUR-T bots. He walked over to a nearby snack bar and grabbed a tomato for Linguini. “Quick, we’ve gotta find somewhere to…”
“You’re not leaving already, are you?” asked someone, as a dark portal opened up and a man with long silver hair wearing one of the Organization’s black coats walked out. Sora immediately got on his guard. “Oh, what’s with the serious tone?”
“You’re with the Organization, aren’t you?” asked Sora, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
“Relax, I just want to talk,” said Xemnas. “I’m sure you want to hear what I have to say, Roxas.”
“Who is Roxas?” demanded Sora. “My name is Sora.”
“You don’t remember, do you Roxas?” asked Xemnas. “That’s okay, I’ll explain everything.”
“Stop calling me Roxas,” snapped Sora.
“Why? That’s your name,” said Xemnas.
“What are you talking about?” asked Sora, unsure what was going on.
“You are Roxas,” said Xemnas. “At least you were, when you were one with the darkness. But then that witch Naminé tried to remove your darkness. Luckily we stopped her, but by then you were too far gone. We have been searching a long time for what was left of you Roxas. Why don’t you join us?”
“Why? So you can hurt more people?” asked Sora. “Why should I even believe you?”
“Don’t you wonder why you don’t remember anything from before a year ago? When Roxas ceased to be?” asked Xemnas. “That’s because you didn’t exist until then. And you weren’t meant to. You’re what the witch failed to create: a version of Roxas with no darkness.”
“Yeah, because you killed her,” said Sora, getting more and more agitated.
“She gave us no choice,” said Xemnas. “All we want is to regain our hearts. And with Kingdom Hearts, we can do that. But we need happiness to do that. Is it too much to ask for happiness?”
“But why from kids?” demanded Sora. He was starting to get nervous. This guy was remaining strangely calm, even though Sora kept yelling at him. He wasn’t like the other members of the Organization he’d met.
“Because kids are innocent. They don’t know true despair,” said Xemnas. “Yes, there are plenty of adults who would be perfect for…harvesting, but children have much more innocence, which makes their happiness more powerful. But we need seven to unlock Kingdom Hearts, and we only have five.”
“Five?” asked Sora. “But…you only have four right? Spot, Jack-Jack, Nemo, and Riley. Who’s the…”

“Got him boss,” said Xigbar, walking past Sora. In one hand was the beaten but still conscious Ace, in the other was the plant. “What should I do with this?”
“I don’t care,” said Xemnas. “I’m only interested in the child.” Xigbar shrugged and tossed the plant away, which was quickly caught by WALL-E. “Now Sora, will you join us? We will let your friend here go if we can have your word.”
“Don’t do dare, Sora,” wheezed Ace.
“Quiet kid,” said Xigbar, smacking him across the back of the head.
“Let him go,” said Sora, running at Xigbar. Before he could reach him though, Sora began floating above him. “Wha…what’s happens?”
“Ah, space,” said Xigbar, still standing on the ground. “My attribute. You can say goodbye to gravity kid.”
“Why you…” growled Sora, trying to push himself towards Xigbar, when he fell face first into the floor.
“Or not. I can make gravity a little stronger if I want,” said Xigbar. “Now, I can’t kill you. Not because I don’t want to, but because we need you. So, how about you join us, and you won’t have to put up with ten times normal gravity anymore. How’s that sound?”
“I…will…not…join…you…” grunted Sora, trying to pull himself to his feet.
“Suit yourself,” said Xigbar, strengthening his grip. Suddenly, there was smoke coming from his robe. Xigbar looked down to see WALL-E was using a blowtorch on his robe. “HEY! You knock that off,” he said, sending WALL-E flying across the room towards a machine with a plant symbol on it. Part of the machine came down and crushed part of WALL-E’s head
“WALL-E!” screamed EVE, firing madly at Xigbar. Xigbar tried to use his gravity powers on EVE, but she was too fast, keeping Xigbar from able to affect her. Or keep Sora down.
“Hey Xigbar,” said Sora. Xigbar turned to see Sora jump at him. “YOU’RE FINISHED!”
“No I’m not,” said Xigbar, bringing Sora down to the ground with his powers. However, Sora began to glow purple, and was back up and attacking within seconds. “What? That…that was fifteen times normal gravity. How did he…” Whatever Xigbar was about to say was cut off, as Sora sliced clean through him with his keyblade. “Impossible…” he said, dropping Ace to the floor. Ace was just getting to his feet when a dark portal appeared on the floor, swallowing him up.
“I guess I shall take my leave,” said Xemnas. “Roxas, think about what I said today. You’re in your element when you let the darkness take control.” Xemnas walked to the dark portal he created and disappeared through it.
“You get back here,” snapped Sora, but the portal closed before he could reach it. Sora’s rage lingered for a moment, then he realised what had happened. “ACE!” he cried. “No…” Sora looked around the room and saw EVE trying to get WALL-E out from under the machine crushing him. “Here, let me help,” said Sora, grabbing the plant from WALL-E and putting it in the machine. The machine beeped and it began to rise up, allowing Sora and EVE to pull WALL-E out. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“FIX WALL-E!” said EVE, indicating herself. “FIX WALL-E!”
“Good luck,” said Sora, just as he saw Lewis in the time machine turn up. And there was someone else with him…
“Sora, I’m sorry I have to do this,” said Judy, pulling out her handcuffs. “I’m putting you under house arrest until further notice, at the request of Queen Elsa.”

Notes:

I’m pretty sure that Xigbar’s attribute of Space isn’t supposed to be outer space, but I felt it fit better with the flow of the story.

Chapter 12: Ant Island

Summary:

To try and stop Sora falling into darkness, Elsa has him put in jail. But Axel isn't just going to let that happen.

Also, it's the Bug's Life chapter.

Notes:

Sorry, this took a lot longer to write than I thought it would. There were just so many things I wanted to put in it, including…actually, I let you read it. Enjoy.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this,” said Elsa, leading Sora into a cell below the castle. “But we have to keep you from submitting to the darkness completely. And now, Ace is…”
“I know,” said Sora glumly. “If there’s anything I could do to get him back, and I mean anything…”
“We just need you to learn to keep the darkness in check,” said Elsa. “In the meantime, we’ll need to keep you from any outside influences, so you’ll be kept down here…”
“Oh, the darkness isn’t that bad of a thing. I mean, look how I turned out,” said a cocky voice from the entry to the cellblock. Sora and Elsa turned in shock to see Axel leaning against the door.
“Sora, stand back,” said Elsa, marching forward. “This creep’s mine.”
“But Elsa…” started Sora, but Elsa knocked him into the cell with a powerful icy blast.
“Why did you come here?” demanded Elsa, firing large balls of ice at Axel. “And what happened to Judy? She was meant to be on guard…”
“The rabbit?” asked Axel, casually dodging Elsa’s attacks. “She’s fine. A little more crispy than before, but fine.”
“GET OUT OF MY CASTLE!” yelled Elsa, firing a powerful blast at Axel.
“Sorry Your Majesty, but I’m not leaving without him,” said Axel, sidestepping Elsa’s blast and indicating Sora. “Boss’s orders, you know.”
“I’m not going with you to Xemnas,” snarled Sora, wisps of dark purple aura starting to surround him.
“Xemnas? Oh, nonononono, you misunderstand me Roxas,” said Axel, still strolling towards him. “I meant MY boss.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Sora’s not going anywhere,” said Elsa, summoning several large snowmen like Marshmallow. “So get lost.”
“Hmm…nah,” said Axel, clicking his fingers. Flames shot out of the floor where the snowmen were standing, leaving behind large puddles of water in their place.
“GET! OUT! OF! HERE!” yelled Sora, purple aura completely engulfing him. Sora drew his keyblade and swung at Axel.
“SORA! STOP!” yelled someone, and before anyone could react, Kairi was standing between Sora and Axel, blocking Sora’s attack.
“Kairi?” said Sora, purple aura suddenly diminished.
“Kairi? Where did you come from? And why did Sora’s darkness disappear? And why are you helping Axel?” asked Elsa, thoroughly confused.
“It’s…kind of a long story,” said Kairi, putting her keyblade away.
“Trust me, I’m very curious,” said Elsa. “Come on, I’ll get everyone together and you can explain yourself.”

“So Kairi, where have you been this whole time?” asked Penny. The group was gathered in the main control room, most of them eyeing Axel with suspicion.
“Well, after Nemo was captured, I left to try and get stronger, since Sora is so powerful,” started Kairi. “I soon managed to get to dry land and out of my fish form, but it was kind of awkward, because…well…”
“Hey, there are no problems with my outfits,” snapped Edna. “Only problems with wearing things under them.”
“Anyway,” continued Kairi. “Luckily I met Riley, who gave me some clothes to borrow because someone didn’t think I’d need them.”
“Keep that snark up dahling. See where it gets you,” said Edna.
“After that, I began training in an abandoned warehouse, trying my hand at learning magic,” said Kairi. “But I couldn’t shake the feeling that Riley might be important somehow. Unfortunately, I was right, as I think you’re aware.”
“Of course they know. I told you they were there,” said Axel. A few people glared at him. “Jeez, tough crowd.”
“I tried to stop Zexion taking Riley, but he tricked me with his illusions,” said Kairi. “But then something weird happened: Axel killed Zexion.”
“WHAT?!” said everyone in the room, looking to Axel.
“Hey, a simple thank you is enough,” said Axel nonchalantly.
“But why did you kill him? He was your ally, wasn’t he?” asked Hiro.
“Was being the key word, kiddo,” said Axel, sitting down next to Kairi. “Ya see, once upon a time, I was best buddies with Roxas over there.”
“My name is Sora,” corrected Sora.
“Yeah, now it is,” said Axel. “But before that you were known as Roxas, a thirteen year old kid created by an evil scientist with the power to help us Nobodies regain our hearts.”
“What?” asked Sora. “I…I was created?”
“That’s right,” said Axel. “But in order to have a power like that, you’d need a bit of light in you. Mostly darkness, yes, but enough light to allow you to help us. Initially, we thought the best plan would be to destroy exact moments in time, but we soon learned that we needed some happy kids from those moments to help us get our hearts back.”
“Wait, I destroyed moments?” asked Sora. “What…what moments did I…?”
“Heh, isn’t it obvious?” asked Axel. “Your friends here? You destroyed their homes.” Sora gasped in shock. “What? Hadn’t you figured that out yet?”
“But…no…I couldn’t have. Could I?” stammered Sora. “Guys, I…”
“Don’t worry, I forgive you,” said Penny, giving Sora a hug.
“That’s because he didn’t destroy your moment,” said Rapunzel.
“That’s right,” said Axel. “He was about to, but he had a change of heart before he could do it, which is when he ran off to find Naminé.”
“But…you said that six of you had to flee here,” said Sora, turning to face Elsa. “If Penny isn’t one of you…”
“There’s someone I haven’t told you about,” admitted Elsa sadly. “And I didn’t want to. I had my suspicions that you were the one who destroyed our times, the one that Naminé tried to change. I was concerned seeing her again might upset you too much.”
“Who?” demanded Sora.
“Moana,” said Elsa. “Me and her, we were leading this group to hopefully find a way to stop the Organization. When you were being converted, we found out the Organization were on their way, so Moana decided to fight them, hoping to buy us some time. She told the rest of us to flee. They didn’t kill her, but she hasn’t woken up.”
“Will…will she ever?” asked Sora, visibly concerned.
“I don’t know,” admitted Elsa. “She’s so young, and now she’s…”

“Hey, don’t mean to break up this little pity party, but we do have more pressing matters at hand,” said Axel. “The Organization will stop at nothing to take all of us down, especially me. Do we have a plan?”
“Find them. Beat them,” said Edna. “It seems to have worked well so far.”
“Not against Xemnas,” said Axel matter-of-factly. “His attribute is Nothing…”
“That doesn’t sound so bad. He doesn’t have any special ability,” said Rapunzel.
“No, as in he controls what doesn’t exist,” said Axel. “And before you say anything, it means he can create anything out of nothing. You think the guys you’ve fought so far are tough? Xemnas puts them all to shame.”
“Then how are we supposed to beat him?” asked Kairi.
“No idea,” said Axel. “My best bet would be the keyblades. Those things only allow themselves to be used by those with light in them, so they’d be very effective against him. Beyond that, you’re on your own.”

At that moment, the computer sounded an alarm. “That Organization,” said Hiro, running to the screen. “Come on, we have to check this out. And just in time too, I just finished my robot.” Hiro went to a corner and carried a red box over to them. “Ouch.” The red box suddenly began unfolding, revealing a white balloon-like humanoid.
“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,” said the balloon. “Hiro has asked me to accompany you on your journey and offer my assistance whenever possible.” A shiny orb appeared in Baymax’s hand. “Here, please take this, and call me if you are ever injured.”
“Thank you Baymax,” said Sora, taking the orb. “Kairi, Axel, are you coming?”
“Who said you were even going?” asked Judy, grabbing Sora’s wrist. “You can’t control your darkness yet. I can’t let you…”
“He doesn’t have to,” said Kairi. “I am the pure light hero. No darkness can exist unless I allow it.”
“Wait, how do you…?” started Judy before being interrupted by Elsa.
“Let him go,” ordered Elsa. “Kairi, can you really keep him from going to the darkness?”
“Of course,” said Kairi.
“Then get going,” said Elsa, before turning to Axel. “I’m not sure that I trust you…”
“Your Majesty, I wouldn’t trust me either,” said Axel. “But trust me…oh wait, you can’t. Well, guess you’ll be hoping for the best then.” Axel followed the group going on the mission out to the time machine.
“Please tell me this isn’t going to end as badly as I think it will,” sighed Elsa.

“Here we are at Ant Island,” said Lewis as they exited the time stream.
“Whoa, look at the size of that tree,” said Sora. “And the grass too. This place hasn’t been touched in years.”
“Actually, it’s all normal sized,” said Lewis. “We’re just small.”
“You mean like when we went to that kid’s room?” asked Sora.
“Like that, except we’re even smaller than then,” said Lewis.
“How small?” asked Kairi, eyes narrowing.
“We…might only be the size of ants now,” said Lewis. “Okay, gotta go. Good luck.” The door to the time machine opened, and Lewis turned the vehicle on its side so that Sora, Kairi, and Axel fell out.
“Darn it Lewis,” said Kairi, landing with a roll when she hit the ground.
“Hey, hopefully the Organization members are also only this size,” said Sora.
“Flik? Is that you?” asked someone, and the group turned to see a purple ant come through the grass. “Oh, you’re not…what are you?”
“Well, uh, we’re…” started Sora, unsure how to answer.
“We’re humans,” answered Axel.
“Axel, what are you…” whispered Kairi angrily.
“Humans, huh? Never heard of a bug called humans,” said the ant. “Well, gotta go find Flik. He’s been acting strange recently.”
“Strange how?” asked Sora suspiciously.
“I don’t know, but it’s like he’s hiding something,” said the ant. “Hey, if you see him or the warrior bugs, could you tell him that Princess Atta is looking for him?”
“Can do,” said Kairi. “Come on guys, let’s go.” Kairi led the way out of the clearing, disappearing through the grass.
“Guess that’s where we’re going then,” said Axel, following her. Sora shrugged and followed the two of them.

“How long have we been travelling?” asked Sora about half an hour later.
“We’ve travelled about twelve feet from where we started,” said Kairi.
“WHAT?! It feels like miles,” moaned Sora.
“That’s because we’re tiny, genius,” retorted Axel. Suddenly his ears perked up. “Hey, did you hear that?”
Sora and Kairi listened carefully. “Hey, yeah,” said Sora. “It sounds like a girl’s in trouble. Come on guys.” Sora ran through the grass and soon appeared on the edge of a cliff. In the ravine in front of him was a small purple ant trying to fly, but struggling a lot, and was cautiously watching a nearby bird that was coming towards her.
“Oh no, DOT!” cried someone nearby, and Sora turned to see a blue ant watching the commotion. “Guys, please help her.”
“Forget it Flik. We don’t want to end up a bird snack,” said a stick insect next to him.
“I’m too thick and juicy. It would love to get me,” said a caterpillar with a thick German accent.
“Guys, she’s just a child,” said a black widow spider next to them.
“Do you guys need a hand?” asked Sora, approaching the group.
“Yes, please. Help us, PLEASE!” begged Flik.
“What do you mean ‘us’?” asked a ladybug.
“Come on Francis, we have to do something,” said the spider. “Dim, you think you can help out?” A rhinoceros beetle laughed nervously as the spider and Flik climbed aboard.
“I’ll help too,” said Sora, exiting his hiding place amongst the grass.
“Sora, wait,” called Kairi as Sora jumped off the ledge. He then proceeded to make use of his Falling with Style by not falling straight to the ground.
“THUNDAGA!” yelled Sora, drawing his keyblade and shooting a large lightning bolt at the bird. As the bolt struck its target, the bird changed its focus and flew straight at Sora. “Uh…what do I do now?”
“AEROGA!” yelled Kairi, flying up beside him. The bird opened its beak to swallow the two of them, but a powerful blast of wind stopped the bird in its tracks. The bird recovered, and attempted to attack again, but couldn’t get through the barrier.
“Hey, this is great,” said Sora. “If the bird can’t get us, the others should be safe right?”
“Exactly,” said Kairi. “Unfortunately, I can’t hold this shield forever, so you’ll have to get ready to attack when it falls.”
“Sure thing,” said Sora. “When’s it going to…?” At that moment, Kairi’s wind shield fell. The bird, realising what had just happened, flew at them again.
“FIRAGA!” yelled someone, and Sora and Kairi turned to see Axel throwing a fireball straight at the bird before landing on its back. “Get to safety, I’ll handle the bird.”
“Gotcha,” said Sora, grabbing Kairi’s hand and pulling her back towards the cliff. “Hey look, Flik and the others saved Dot.” Above them, Flik had pulled Dot aboard the flying rhinoceros beetle. Unfortunately, Sora pointing caught the bird’s attention, and it turned its attention to the rescue party.
“Hey birdbrain, they’re not your snacks,” said Axel, hitting the bird with another fireball. The bird squawked angrily, before turning upside down and throwing Axel off. Axel grabbed onto the back of the bird’s neck for a moment before falling off, seeming to take a few of the bird’s feathers in the process.
“Oh Mr. Birdy,” yelled someone from the ground, and the bird turned its attention to Heimlich, who was being held up by Slim. “Nice and juicy bug for you.” The bird dropped down to the ground and began to move towards him, when a brightly coloured moth (Gypsy) flew in front of it, stunning it with her wings. The bird, realising it wasn’t getting near the fat caterpillar, changed course and went back to chasing Flik and the others.
“Hey, back off,” said Francis, flying in front of the bird in an attempt to distract it. Unfortunately, the bird was so focused in its target it completely disregarded him, knocking him to the ground.
“BLIZZAGA!” yelled Sora, pointing his keyblade at the bird. A large snowstorm shot out at the bird, distracting it for a few seconds while the rhinoceros beetle flew into a thorny bush. The bird tried to follow, but couldn’t get a grip on the thorns. “Good, they’re safe.”
“Now for us,” said Kairi. “Hank, we need you.” A white glow appeared before them, and when it faded a red octopus sat before them. Sora quickly noticed it was missing a leg.
“Let me guess, you need to be hidden?” asked Hank.
“Please and thank you,” said Kairi. Hank sighed, and spit some ink at them. Before Sora’s eyes, Kairi vanished. “Sora, you head back up and talk to Flik. I’ll get the other bugs and Axel to safety.”
“Gotcha,” said Sora, climbing up the cliff side. When he reached the top, he worked his way through the bushes until he found Flik and the others.

“Hey, thanks for that,” said Flik. “I’m Flik, by the way. And you are…”
“I’m Sora,” said Sora. “And me and my friends were sent here by Princess Atta. She said you’d been acting strangely.”
“Strange? I’m not strange, you are,” said Flik, almost too quickly. Sora folded his arms and waited a moment. “Okay, I have a confession to make,” said Flik. “But you can NOT tell Princess Atta. You see, I told her these bugs are fierce warriors, but they’re actually circus bugs.”
“Why would you tell her that?” asked Sora.
“I didn’t mean to,” said Flik. “You see, we need some tough bugs to help fight off these grasshoppers, and I found these guys, and they looked really tough, then I found out they’re not warriors, and now everything’s a huge mess.”
“Hey, not everything’s a huge mess,” said Rosie the spider. “Your bird idea might just work.”
“Bird idea?” asked Sora.
“Yeah, Flik got us to build a bird to scare Hopper and his gang away,” said Rosie.
“That’s assuming nothing comes up to reveal that I failed to find any real warriors,” said Flik.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Sora. “I reckon me, Kairi, and Axel can handle Hopper and his gang.”
“Pfft, yeah, the three of you against about thirty of them,” said Flik.
“Well, how many ants are in your colony?” asked Sora.
“About three thousand,” said Flik. “Hey, wait a minute…”
“Sora,” called Kairi, returning with the other bugs and Axel. “So, what’s happening?”
“Well, we may have a fight soon,” said Sora.
“I’ll say,” said Axel. “Look at this.” In his hand was a charred rose thorn. “That bird wasn’t going after Dot intentionally. That bird was being controlled by Marluxia.”
“What? A master of flowers? Pfft, bring him on,” said Sora.
“Laugh if you want,” said Axel. “I’d just like to remind you that we are surrounded by plants, and we are the size of bugs.”
“Oh, right,” said Sora.
“So, who else are we fighting?” asked Kairi, leading the group back towards the ant colony.

“I still don’t know why you had to announce your presence to them,” said Lexaeus, watching Axel retreat with the others into the grass.
“Because they only expect me right now,” said Marluxia, sitting back in a tree. “Plus we have our own little army to help us.”
“Hey, I am not ‘your’ anything,” said a large grasshopper with a blind eye. “We’re assocites at best.”
“Of course, of course,” said Marluxia calmly. “Remember, we want the humans and the young princess. They are not to be killed. At least, not by you. Xemnas is going to want some words with the one in black. Sharp, painful words.”
“Fine, whatever,” said Hopper. “But you can’t touch the queen or older princess. They’re ours.”
“Absolutely Hopper,” said Marluxia.
“Err, Hopper?” said Molt. “Some of the guys were a little…concerned about the…err, dress code, for the fight against the ants.”
“What’s wrong with it?” asked Hopper, tying a flower to one of his arms.
“It’s just…you know, flowers?” said Molt.
“Who’s got the problem?” asked Hopper, walking towards the group of grasshoppers. “Is it you two? It’s you two, isn’t it? What were your names again?”
“I…I’m Loco,” said one of the grasshoppers. “And this is…”
“I don’t care,” said Hopper, turning back to the Organization members. “Well Marluxia, it seems someone isn’t convinced about your power. If you wouldn’t mind…” Marluxia flicked his wrist without a word, and Hopper began to glow purple. Loco gulped as Hopper jumped a long way into the air, landing very hard on his friend’s back. Before Loco could leave, Hopper struck out his fist, sending him flying out of sight. “Anyone else have some concerns?” Every other grasshopper shook their heads. “Then put on your flowers AND GET MOVING!”

“Thank you all for coming to the feast,” said Princess Atta. “We are gathered here today to honour the warrior bugs that will help us finally rid us of the tyranny of the grasshoppers, and Flik, for finding these brave warriors and engineering the bird that will surely get rid of them.” At this, Flik smiled and waved nervously to the sound of applause. “I’d also like to thank Sora, Kairi, and Axel, for coming, and helping save my sister Dot from the bird.” Again the crowd cheered. “As we know, the grasshoppers are due to return when the final leaf falls, which means they could be here any time now, so we need to…”
“Your Highness…” said Dr. Flora, running up to the princess. “There’s something coming.”
“The grasshoppers,” gasped the princess. “Places people. This is not a drill.”
“It’s not the grasshoppers,” said the doctor. “It’s…” Before she could finish, a couple of cookie boxes on wheels pulled by a pair of millipedes rolled into the clearing.
“Uh oh,” whispered Francis.
“What’s wrong?” asked Kairi.
“That’s P. T. Flea’s circus van,” said Slim. “He’ll ruin everything.”
“That’s not good,” said Sora. “Hey Heimlich, can I take this bay leaf?”
“Sora!” snapped Kairi. “This is serious. Flik’s about to get kicked out of his colony.”
“I know, but Linguini needs some of this,” said Sora. “I’ve almost got everything for him.”
“Hello ants,” said P. T. Flea, bouncing into view atop his van. “I’m looking for my star performers. I need them back for my new act, so I can become rich, Rich, RICH!” P. T. Flea coughed, then continued. “So, uh, have you guys seen these guys?” The ringmaster unrolled a piece of paper with the pictures of each of the circus bugs on it. Flik was sweating nervously, as the circus bugs began to sneak away from the proceedings.
“Flik? What is going on?” demanded Princess Atta.
“Err…uh…well…you see…” started Flik.
“Hey, there they are,” cried P. T. Flea, pointing a spotlight atop his van at the circus bugs.
“Flik, is this true?” demanded Princess Atta. “Are they really circus bugs?”
“Uhh…they can be warrior bugs too?” said Flik hopefully.
“Warrior bugs? Are you kidding? These guys couldn’t beat a fly,” said P. T. Flea.
“You lied to us Flik,” said Princess Atta. “You lied to the whole colony. I don’t think you should stay.”
“But Princess Atta…” begged Flik, but Atta had already turned away from him.
“What about you three? Did you know about this?” asked Atta. Sora’s nervous grin was all the answer she needed. “Then get out of here. All of you. I never want to see any of you again.”
Sora was about to object, but Kairi just shook her head and guided him over to the circus van. “Jeez, tough crowd,” said P. T. Flea. “Oh well. Let’s go.” The rest of the group entered the van, and began rolling away.

“So, we’re really just gonna let this stop us?” asked Axel after they’d been travelling for a while.
“Well, what else can we do?” asked Kairi.
“We should be there,” said Axel. “Marluxia would probably have teamed up with those grasshoppers everyone’s worried about, and they’ll be heading straight for the colony.”
“How would you know?” asked Sora.
“Well, there’s that, for one thing,” said Axel, pointing up at the sky. Sora looked for himself, and saw the army of grasshoppers flying towards the colony.
“We have to go back,” said Sora. “Who’s with me?”
“Why bother?” asked Flik. “Princess Atta hates me. She’ll never let me back.”
“What if your bird works?” asked Kairi. “She’d have to let you back in if you saved the colony.”
“But how are we supposed to get back in time?” asked Flik.
“Leave that to me,” said Rosie, climbing out of the van. About ten seconds later they heard P. T. Flea scream, and about five seconds later she reappeared, carrying the ringmaster in a thick spider web. “Okay, let’s get going.”

“It’s not that hard of a question, Your Majesties,” said Marluxia. “Where are the keyblade wielders?”
“And I keep telling you, I don’t know,” snapped Atta, struggling against Lexaeus’s grip. “I banished them. They could be anywhere by now.”
Marluxia sighed. “I didn’t want to have to do this,” he said. “Bring out Thumper and the young princess.”
“NO!” yelled Atta and her mother, trying to free themselves from Lexaeus and Hopper. One of the grasshoppers dropped Dot on the ground in front of them, as two others led a feral grasshopper into the clearing.
“She’s just a child. Please leave her out of this,” begged the queen. “Take me instead.”
“A tempting offer,” said Hopper. “But no. This will be more fun.” Thumper drew himself up to his full height, towering over Dot who was trying to back away.
Thumper roared at Dot, and lifted one foot to crush her. As he began to bring it down, something flew in and blocked his foot. Thumper looked down to see Dim holding his foot up, with Dot fleeing from the fight. Dim roared, the caught him on his tusk, swung him around, and threw him out of the clearing.
“What?” demanded Hopper, then turned to face his minions. “Well? Attack!” The grasshoppers all began to converge on Dim, when a pair of brightly coloured wings appeared between them and him.
“CHARGE!” yelled Manny, leading the circus bugs into the clearing.

“Are you sure those guys will be fine without us?” asked Sora, as he, Flik, Kairi, and Axel climbed into a hollow in a tree where the fake bird was hiding.
“They only have to stall them for a few minutes,” said Flik, helping the group into the bird. “Once we get flying, they won’t have to do much.” Flik ran up to the back of the hollow, and pushed a rock down a slope. The rock began rolling towards a stick that was holding up the bird, and Flik just barely made it into the bird in time. “Here we go guys.” The bird began to move towards the opening of the hollow, before falling straight down at the ground.

“This is the end, Your Majesty,” said Hopper, raising his foot the crush the queen. Before he could react, there was a loud screeching sound. Hopper turned to see, to his alarm, a large bird flying straight at him. “B-b-b-b-BIRD!” he screamed, throwing himself at the ground. The other grasshoppers saw what he was screaming about, and threw themselves at the ground.
“Why’s that bird out at night?” asked Lexaeus, watching with interest.
“Hmm…” pondered Marluxia, before drawing his scythe. As the bird made another pass, he jumped up, and sliced the bird’s head clean off. Inside the bird sat Sora, Kairi, Axel, and Flik. “As I thought. Now, let’s get you out of there, shall we?” Marluxia waved his hands a little, and the leaves that covered the outside of the bird fell away. The group inside the bird fell to the ground. “So Axel, you dare show your face again after what you did to Zexion?”
“Nice to see you too Marluxia,” said Axel, dusting himself off. “How’s the Organization?”
“Joke if you want, the Organization is just two children away from completing its goal,” said Marluxia. “One once we take the young princess here.”
“That’s not gonna happen,” said Sora, pulling out his keyblade. “You’ll have to go through me first.”
“Suit yourself,” said Marluxia, waving his hands. Several blades of grass shot out at Sora, tying him up. “Now, where was…”
“FIRAGA!” yelled Sora, and a burst of flames soon freed him. “You were about to fight me, that’s where you were.”
Marluxia sighed. “Fine,” he said. “Hopper, would you mind?”
“Gladly,” said Hopper, dark purple aura surrounding him. Around him, all the other grasshoppers began to glow purple too.
“Oh, that’s not good,” said Axel. “Wait, does that mean…” Axel quickly scanned the grasshoppers, and noticed each of them wearing a flower. “As I thought. Sora, go for the flowers. Marluxia’s giving the grasshoppers energy through them.” Axel drew his chakrams, and ran at Marluxia.
“Where are you going?” demanded Sora.
“While all his energy’s in the grasshoppers, might as well take him down too,” Axel called over his shoulder.
“Of course,” said Kairi. “Hey Sora, I bet I can take down more grasshoppers than you.”
“Bring it on,” said Sora, running into battle with her.

“Come on guys. We need to help them,” said Flik, waving to the ants to help out.
“But Flik, there must be thirty grasshoppers there,” said Princess Atta.
“And how many of us are there?” asked Flik.
“About three thousand,” said Princess Atta. “But what does that have to do with…” Suddenly, Princess Atta’s face lit up. “Oh, I see.” The princess turned to face the rest of the colony. “Come on guys, we outnumber them a hundred to one. Between us, we can defeat the grasshoppers once and for all.” The ants cheered at the speech, and advanced onto the battlefield.
“Oh, you think some pretty words are gonna be enough to stop me?” demanded Hopper, pushing Flik to the ground. “Well, let me tell you something…” Before he could finish, several ants grabbed him and tried to pull him to the ground. “What the? Get off me.” Hopper threw the ants holding him off, only for more to grab him. It seemed every time he got rid of one ant, two would come in their place.
“So this is the source of your power, huh?” said Flik, grabbing his flower. “Let’s see how well you do without it.” Flik threw it to the ground and crushed it. The purple aura surrounding Hopper vanished.
“NOOO!” screamed Hopper, as more and more ants advanced on him.

“I won’t let you win, Axel,” said Marluxia, ducking his chakram again and swinging his scythe at Axel’s neck.
“Please, who said anything about winning?” asked Axel. “I just want to weaken you for Sora to finish you.” Axel shot a fireball at Marluxia, which caught him right in the chest. “Though, if I do beat you myself…” Axel held a hand out, and the ground below Marluxia began to glow white hot.
“NO!” yelled Lexaeus, throwing Marluxia out of the circle just as it erupted into flames. Unfortunately, Lexaeus was caught in the explosion, and when the flames vanished, so did he.
“Huh, didn’t see that coming,” said Axel. “Well, your turn.”
“Not yet,” said Marluxia, opening a dark portal. “Until we meet again.” Marluxia fell through the portal, and closed it behind him.”
“Damn, guess we’ll have to take of him later,” said Axel.
“It’s okay Axel,” said Sora, running up to him. “You got rid of Lexaeus. That’s one less of them to worry about.”
“I guess,” said Axel. “Still, I feel like he wasn’t as bad as he’d have you believe. I mean, he did sacrifice himself for Marluxia.”
“He was just sacrificing himself for a friend,” said Sora. “Isn’t that what everyone would do?”
“Not us,” said Axel. “We Nobodies have no feelings, no emotional attachments to anyone or anything. Not unless we try to feel.”
“Then why are you helping us?” asked Sora.
“Let’s get back to base. I’ll explain everything there,” said Axel, just as Lewis appeared with the time machine.

Notes:

I told you I’d try and get Moana into this.

Chapter 13: Monsters Incorporated

Summary:

Axel tells the heroes about a possible target for the Organization, and takes them to the distant future where the world is inhabited by monsters.

“So, what you’re saying is, Hearts are like our soul,” said Sora. “And they control how we feel?”
“It’s more like a conscious,” said Axel. “But yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re helping us over them though,” said Elsa.
“Because Roxas was different from the rest of them,” said Axel. “He was…I don’t know, but he had feelings. He felt things, even though he had no Heart. Honestly, if he didn’t go to Naminé for help, Xemnas probably would have killed him anyway.”
“So, what do we do now?” asked Kairi.
“What we’ve been doing,” said Axel. “Protect the children. And fortunately, I have an idea where they might appear next.”
“Really? How?” asked Sora.
“Remember that place we first met?” asked Axel. “In that time, there lives a witch. This witch is a powerful one. But, like anyone, she was once a child. And she will probably be one of the children they take.”
“Great, we just have to head back about eighty years before…” started Sora.
“Wrong,” said Axel. “She’s from a distant future to that point, but travels through time to find a certain event, and that’s the event we need to get to.”
“I take it that’s a Fixed Point,” said Hiro. “So, when is it?”
“Well, technically it’s two points,” said Axel. “I can’t tell you when the earlier one is, since the witch covered her younger self’s life very well. But she never found the later one, in the year 4510.”
“WHAT?!” yelled Lewis. “There’s no way you found a point that far in the…”
“Actually, he’s right,” said Hiro, checking the computer. “It seems to be happening at a place called ‘Monsters Inc.’”
“So, we go there, stop the Organization before they do anything, and get the kid back to the other time?” asked Sora.
“That’s the plan,” said Axel.
“I’ll fire up the time machine,” said Lewis.
“No need,” said Axel, holding up his hand. A dark portal opened up in front of him. “You forgot I could do that, didn’t you?”
“Wait a minute,” said Edna. “A place called Monsters Inc. probably requires you to dress the part.”
“Oh, too bad we’re fresh out of material to make costumes with,” said Elsa. “Come on, off you go.”
“We are not out of materials, you’re just not creative,” said Edna, eyeing some of the furniture.

“You owe us some new couches,” said Elsa, indicating the (now ruined) furniture.
“Quiet dahling, they look good,” said Edna, admiring her own work.
“This is really itchy,” said Kairi.
“And I’m really hot in this thing,” said Sora.
“I think there’s about five bucks of spare change from the back of the couch in here,” said Axel.
“See? Perfect. Now, get going,” said Edna.
Sora sighed in defeat. “Well, we can always take these things off when we get there,” he said. “Axel?”
“Here we go,” he said, reopening his portal. “We’ll see you soon.” Sora, Kairi, and Axel stepped through the portal, and soon found themselves in a large city. Except, everywhere they looked, they saw a monster. There didn’t even seem to be a conforming rule for what they looked like either: some were big, some were small. Some had scales, some were hairy, and some were slimy. They even had different numbers of each individual body part.
“Wow, I guess Edna made the right call then,” said Sora, who currently looked like a furry blue dragon without wings.
“Still, did she have to make me look like an albino snow leopard?” asked Kairi, who was wearing costume covered in white fur that made her look like an albino snow leopard.
“At least you guys got proper hands,” said Axel, who appeared to be a red tentacled creature of some kind. “How am I supposed to fight like this?”
“Guys, look at this,” said Kairi, pointing out a TV screen, reporting some big news story. The picture showed a two year old girl in running around in some kind of restaurant. The captions said that a human child had infiltrated the monster world, and that a state of emergency had been called. A large monster with six crab-like legs was being interviewed about the incident.
“So humans aren’t welcome here,” said Axel. “Our target might in danger.”
“Target? You mean the girl?” asked Sora.
“Yep, she’s the one,” said Axel. “They’ll want to find her as quickly as possible.”
“Not if we find her first,” said Kairi. “Where do we start?”
“In the only place where humans get can here,” said Axel, pointing to a large factory at the end of the street. “Monsters Inc. We start there, find clues, and meet back in the lobby an hour from now.”
“Alright,” said Sora, leading the way into the factory. “I mean, how hard can it…” As they entered the building, they found hundreds of monsters in yellow full body suits with the words Child Detection Agency on them. “Oh…that hard.”
“Don’t worry, if you keep your costume on, you should be fine,” said Axel. “Now, split up and look for clues.” The three of them chose separate corridors, and began their search.

“Now, if I were a kid, where would I go?” Axel murmured aloud. “I’d probably want to go exploring in every nook and cranny, and play with everything I find…” Just then, Axel was passing a short, darkish corridor, at the end of which was a wall covered in tools. “Just like this,” he said, walking down the hallway. “Unfortunately, no kid, so…” As Axel was leaving, he accidentally knocked a pair of tongs hanging on the wall, which opened a secret door. “Oh? What’s this?” Axel entered the secret corridor, keeping as quiet as possible.
The passage seemed to lead to some kind of boiler room. Axel continued until he heard a couple of monsters talking. Peaking around the corner, Axel saw a purple reptilian monster, and a short three-eyed red monster. “Well? Where is it?” demanded the purple monster.
“I…I don’t know sir,” said the red monster. “But I do have a theory.”
The purple monster glared at him. “I’m listening Fungus,” said the monster.
“Well, Randall, I was thinking, what if the kid’s back in the factory?” suggested Fungus. “Think about it: the kid probably couldn’t have found its own way out, so it needed help. And who’d want to be known for letting a human child into the monster world? So what if whoever took it out of the factory came back to returning it to the human world?”
Randall squinted at Fungus. “Maybe,” he said. “I’m going to go look. You work on the Scream Extractor. Make sure it’s ready before the boss comes back.”
“Right Randall,” said Fungus, as Randall (literally) disappeared. Axel pushed himself as far into an alcove as he could, until he heard the sound of reptilian feet go past and open the secret door.
‘Fascinating’, thought Axel. ‘Sora and Kairi are gonna want to hear about this’.

‘How am I supposed to find a clue about a kid in this place?’ thought Kairi as she wandered the halls aimlessly. As she was walking past the entryway to some kind of factory floor, she saw a short green monster with one eye arguing with a slug-like monster with a very nasally voice.
“Come on Roz, my lovely slug flower,” said the green guy. “Randall had a door out on the floor last night, and we need to get it back. It might be the one the kid came through.”
“You didn’t file your paperwork last night, Wazowski,” said Roz. “Now, I have actual work to do.” A metal curtain came down, crushing the green guy’s fingers.
“Jeez, are you okay?” asked Kairi, getting the green guy’s hand free.
“Oh, she’s always like that,” said the green guy. “Hey, I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new here?”
“I…err…more of a private investigator,” said Kairi. “I’m looking for any information about the child.”
“Oh really?” asked the monster. “Well, let old Mike Wazowski fill you in on a secret.” Mike looked from side to side before whispering to Kairi. “I think a monster named Randall might have let the kid in.”
“How do you know?” asked Kairi.
“Because he wants the all-time scare record,” said Mike. “You see, my buddy Sulley was going back to the Scare Floor to pick up some paperwork I forgot to file…”
“Seems the two of you share that trait,” commented Kairi.
“Shut up,” said Mike. “Anyway, while he was there, he saw a door, even though the floor had been shut down and all doors were supposed to have been returned. He tried to find out who had left it there, only to find the child had come through. Then he tried to put it back, but it kept coming through. Then Randall came in and returned the door, and now we’re trying to figure out how to put the kid back.”
“I guess we’re on the same side then,” said Kairi. “Come on, I need to meet my associates soon. We might be able to sort this out between us.”

“Hello? Anyone here? I’ve got some questions about the child,” said Sora, walking through a locker room. The place seemed to be empty, just like the cafeteria he’d been in earlier. Luckily, he’d found some thyme there, the only thing left that he needed for Linguini. “Guess there’s no-one…” As he was approaching the bathroom area, he could hear the sound of a young girl singing. “What the…” Sora crept up to the bathroom, to find a big blue monster waiting patiently in front of one of the stalls. “Um, excuse me?”
“Oh, uh, hi,” said the monster, suddenly realising Sora was there. “Just, uh, waiting for my, uh, cousin’s sister’s kid to finish up in there.”
“Cousin’s sister?” said Sora. “Wouldn’t that just make it your cousin’s?”
“…Yes,” said the monster. “Speaking of which, she’s probably almost finished, so…” At that moment, the toilet flushed, and a small purple monster emerged from the stall. Except…
“It’s the kid,” exclaimed Sora, pointing at the child’s exposed head.
“I…it’s not what it looks like,” said the blue monster, picking up the child and backing away.
“No, wait,” said Sora, taking off the hood of his costume, revealing his head.
“You…you’re a human too,” said the monster. “But…how is that…”
“Look, it’s kind of a long story,” said Sora. “The short version: me and my friends need to take the child to protect her.”
“Protect her?” asked the monster. “But who would want to hurt Boo?”
“There’s an evil Organization who need her to help themselves,” said Sora. “So please let me take her, Mr…errr…”
“Sullivan. James Sullivan. But just call me Sulley,” said Sulley. “And I’m going to help Boo too. Let me come with you.”
“Are you sure? It’ll be dangerous,” said Sora.
“Heh. Let ‘em come. I’ll show them who’s dangerous,” said Sulley.
“Then come on. I’m meeting my friends in the lobby soon,” said Sora, leading the way back to the lobby.

“So, what did we all find?” asked Axel, leading the group into a quiet corner. “I found a secret hideout.”
“I found out who’s behind it, and what their plan is,” said Kairi.
“I found the kid,” said Sora.
“And without me and Sulley, you’d have none of that,” said Mike. “Now, please tell me one of you has a plan.”
“Working on it,” said Axel. “What can you tell me about who’s behind it? And their plan?”
“Randall wants to break the all-time scare record,” said Mike. “That’s the only reason he could have been working late.”
Axel laughed at this. “I don’t think so,” he said. “I found Randall’s secret base, and what I saw in there makes me think they’re up to something more sinister than producing a little extra scream energy.”
“But…what else could he be doing?” asked Mike.
“I’m not sure, but with a name like the Scream Extractor, it’s bad news,” said Axel, turning to face Sulley. “Give us the child. We’ll take her somewhere she can’t be harmed.”
“Wherever you take her, I’m come too,” said Sulley stubbornly. “She’s my responsibility now, and I’m not leaving her for any…”
“Ah, James, there you are,” said someone, and the group turned to see the monster with crab legs they saw on TV earlier. “Are you ready to give that scare demonstration I asked you about yesterday?”
“Mr. Waternoose,” gasped Sulley. “Ah, look, right now’s not good, can you just…”
“Nonsense,” said Waternoose, grabbing Sulley’s arm and pulling him towards one of the corridors. “Come on, the class is waiting.”
“But Mr. Waternoose…” started Sulley, trying to pull away. As he freed himself, his arm accidentally knocked Boo’s hood off, revealing her human face.
“The child,” gasped Waternoose. “James, what is going on?”
“Look, we can explain Mr. Waternoose,” said Mike. “You see, Randall let the kid in when he was working late, trying to get the scare record, and Sulley and I were trying to get it back home, and these guys are trying to help us…”
“Who are you anyway?” asked Waternoose. “You’re not from the CDA, you don’t seem to be the media. What’s your business here?”
“We’re humans too,” said Sora, revealing his face before anyone could stop him. “We just want what’s best for the child. We can take her somewhere safe.”
“Sora, what are you doing?” Axel whispered, slightly agitated.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be telling them that,” muttered Kairi.
“Don’t worry guys, I think we can trust him,” said Sora. “He wouldn’t want any more bad publicity, so he won’t try anything.”
“Wait, so you’re all humans?” asked Waternoose, looking quite shocked.
“We are,” said Axel, taking off his hood. “And we’re telling you this against out better judgement.”
“Who else knows about this?” asked Waternoose.
“No-one sir,” said Sulley.
“Good. We can’t afford any more scandal,” said Waternoose. “Come on. Let’s send the little one home.”

“I never thought anything like this would ever happen,” sighed Waternoose, swiping a card through a machine. Above their heads, a large metal door came along a conveyor belt, and slotted into a holder in front of the group.
“Err, Mr. Waternoose? That’s not Boo’s door,” said Sulley.
“I know,” said Waternoose. “It’s yours.” As if on cue, Randall appeared next to the door, opening it up to reveal a snow covered landscape.
“Probably should get rid of Axel while we’re at it,” said a female voice behind them. The group turned around to find Larxene, a knife between each finger in one hand.
“Hey Larxene, how’s it going?” asked Axel. “Is that a new haircut?”
“Can it, traitor,” said Larxene. “I’m going to have fun with these kids.”
“Not if I can stop you,” said Sora, keyblade in hand.
“You can’t,” said Larxene, snapping her fingers. Randall appeared next to Sora, tying him up and throwing his keyblade away.
“SORA!” cried Kairi, grabbing her own keyblade. Larxene smiled smugly, and threw her knives with perfect accuracy to pin Kairi to the ground.
“We’ve got the child,” said Waternoose, snatching up Boo. “Let’s go.”
“Not yet,” said Axel. “Don’t mean to brag, but I reckon I can take you.”
“How about me?” asked Larxene, just as four copies of herself appeared behind her. “Or me? Or me? Or me? Or me?”
“Bring it,” said Axel, chakrams in each hand.
“Let’s do this,” said Sulley, running straight for the crowd of Larxenes. One of them sped past him and punched him in the stomach, then in the back before he could react. As it was about to make a third pass though, Sulley held out one hand and grabbed her, before throwing her against the far wall with great ease.
“Way to go Sulley,” called Mike, just as he was yanked off the ground. Mike turned to see one of the Larxenes smile sadistically at him, before throwing him through the door.
“Mike!” cried Sora, struggling to get free.
“You won’t win,” said Larxene, who was working with another Larxene to push Sulley through the door, and failing. As it looked like Sulley was about to win, a third Larxene fired a thunder spell at him, stunning him long enough to get him through the door. “Now, that just leaves you,” she said, turning her attention to Axel.
“Ladies, please, there’s plenty of me to go around,” said Axel, knocking one Larxene away, only to have another jump on his back. “FIRAGA!” A wall of flames erupted around him, knocking a couple of the Larxenes away, but they soon regrouped, four of them grabbing a limb each.
“Sorry Axel,” said Larxene. “Well actually, not really. But honestly, this is just what happens to traitors.” The Larxenes holding Axel threw him through the door, just as Sulley was going to come back through.
Waternoose pressed a button on the control panel next to the door, and the door was removed from the floor, lifted back up into the hole on the wall. “Now, what should we do with these three?”
“Ooh, I have so many ideas,” said Larxene, smiling wickedly and looking down at a terrified Boo.

“BOO!” screamed Sulley, frantically opening the door they were just thrown through, only to find nothing on the other side.
“Forget it Sulley, we’re banished. We’re not getting home,” said Mike.
“I might be able to,” said Axel. “I just need to figure out where we are.”
“I’ll tell you where we are,” snapped Mike. “THE MIDDLE OF FREAKING NOWHERE! In the middle of a blizzard no less. We are going to die out…” Before he could his sentence, Axel created a fireball in his hand. “Okay, so we might not freeze to death as quickly as I thought. But we still have no idea where we are.”
“Then we need to start…” began Axel, then stopped. “Do you guys see that?”
“See what?” asked Mike, just as a large hairy shadow rose up behind him.
“Welcome, to the Himalayas,” said the giant creature, holding a tray of yellow snow cones for them. “Want one? Don’t worry, they’re lemon.”
“Himalayas, eh?” said Axel. “That I can work with.” Axel held up a hand, and created a dark portal. “Come on, we need to get to Boo now.” Axel disappeared through the portal, followed quickly by Mike and Sulley, before the portal closed.
“Hey, I wanna come too,” said the Abominable Snowman. “Oh well, more snow cones for me then.”

Axel, Mike, and Sulley emerged from the dark portal in an alley. “Okay, we should be back in Monstropolis then,” said Mike, heading towards the end of the alley. Axel and Sulley were following, when Axel noticed something.
“Stay back you two,” said Axel, pushing the two monsters back into the shadows.
“What’s wrong? Did you see the CDA?” asked Sulley.
“Worse,” said Axel. “I saw people.”
Mike and Sulley stared at him. “People?” asked Mike. “That’s crazy. We don’t even live in the same dimension as them.”
“Actually, you do,” said Axel. “I should have known. You guys come from a very distant future to scare human children in the past. There’s something about the doors that allows you to come back in time.”
“Through time?” asked Sulley. “Then can’t you send us to our proper year?”
“Maybe,” said Axel. “Though it helps if I know exactly how far forward we need to go. Stay here, I’m going to go investigate.”

“Now, who should we test this on first?” asked Randall. “Maybe the boy. Or maybe his little girlfriend…”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” said Sora, Kairi giggling at his embarrassment.
“Or maybe we should try it on the little one,” said Randall, towering himself over Boo.
“Need I remind you who’s in charge here?” said Larxene, pushing the reptilian monster aside. “I need all of them alive.”
“Understood,” said Randall. “But we do need to test our machine, and snatching another child may be problematic with the CDA prowling the place.”
“I said I need them alive, I never said anything about intact,” said Larxene, grinning wickedly.
“Oh…” said Randall, realisation dawning on him. “So, any volunteers?”
“I’ll do it,” said Kairi.
“No, I don’t want to see either of you get hurt,” said Sora. “I’ll do it.”
“Little brat it is then,” said Larxene, picking up Boo.
“NO!” cried Sora and Kairi at the same time, struggling against their restraints. Larxene sighed and zapped them with a thunder spell.
“Make sure she’s strapped down nice and tight Fungus,” said Randall. “Nothing’s going to get in the way of this.” Boo squirmed in her chair as a large machine came down from the roof. “Don’t worry kid, this won’t kill you.”
“LET HER GO!” yelled Sora, causing Larxene to zap him again. “Ow…” As he said that, and small ball of light appeared, which grew into a large, round, balloon-like man.
“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,” said Baymax. “I automatically activated when I heard you say ‘ow’.”
“Do you mind? We’re kind of in the middle of something,” said Larxene, preparing another thunderbolt. Before she could release it though, Baymax’s hand became covered in some kind of red metal, and he punched her with such force she hit the back wall.
“I’m sorry, but your constant assault of my patient is counter-productive to the healing process,” said Baymax.
“Why you…” started Larxene, firing a thunderbolt at Baymax. However, his outsides were made of rubber, so he was completely unaffected. “So you’re a balloon huh? I can fix that.” Larxene drew her knives and threw them all at Baymax, but Baymax simply pressed a button on his body, and covered himself in thick red metal. None of the knives penetrated his armour, and some were even reflected onto Sora and Kairi’s restraints, freeing them.
“Kairi, free Boo,” said Sora, as Baymax continued healing him.
Kairi didn’t need to be told twice. She drew her keyblade and easily sliced through the Scream Extractor, before undoing Boo’s restraints too. “Come on kid, we’re outta here.” A ball of light appeared in her hand as she ran back to Sora. “Hank, hide us.” The red septopus appeared, and soon the group disappeared.
“Baymax, hold them off as long as possible,” called Sora as they fled to scene. Baymax stood between the monsters and Larxene, ready to take them all on.
“I think we lost them,” said Kairi after a little while, and slowed to a walk. At that moment, she was slammed against a wall.
“I don’t think so,” said a menacing voice, and Randall appeared before her out of nowhere. “Now, give me the child.”
“No,” said Kairi defiantly. “Sora, get her out of here.”
“Not without you,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade. “I reckon I can take him.”
“Oh really?” said Randall, releasing Kairi and disappearing again. Sora looked around cautiously, but couldn’t avoid the kick to the stomach from an invisible opponent. Kairi brought out her keyblade, only to be attacked herself, without seeing where the blow came from. The two of them tried to listen to where Randall was, but the monster had had too much experience with his camouflage, so he knew how to avoid them.
“FIRAGA!” yelled someone down the hall, and as if on instinct Kairi grabbed Boo and pulled her behind a pillar, Sora not far behind. A large fireball filled the corridor, and when the smoke cleared, a very burnt Randall was all the remained. “You guys okay?” Sora and Kairi looked out of their hiding spot to see Axel, with Mike and Sulley in tow. “Come on, we need to go.”
“And look what I swiped from the red guy,” said Kairi, holding up a door card. “I think it’s her door.”
“Great, we just need to get to a door station, and we’ll be fine,” said Mike. “Except that the CDA are everywhere.”
“We’ll keep them at bay. You get her home,” said Sora.

The group ran onto a Scare Floor filled with monsters. Most of them scattered when they saw Sora, Kairi, and Axel, now without their costumes. A couple started calling for the CDA. Sulley found the first empty door station he could, and swiped the card. “Come on, come on,” he said, as a pink door with flowers on it appeared.
“GET HIM!” yelled Waternoose, followed closely by Randall and some members of the CDA.
“Guys, get ready to grab a door,” said Sulley, hitting a big red button that said Door Recall. Above them, the doors stopped, and began going back into the storage area. Sulley picked up Mike and Boo, then grabbed a passing door. Sora, Kairi, and Axel followed suit, grabbing a door each. Randall slithered his way up too, hanging onto a door behind the group.
“I’ll go help Randall for you, buddy,” said Larxene, patting Waternoose on the back before using one of her clones to throw her up to the passing doors.
“You know this human?” asked one of the members of the CDA.
“Well, err, you see…” started Waternoose.
“It certainly seems that way,” said a somewhat familiar nasally voice. “Henry J. Waternoose, you are under arrest.” Two CDA officers grabbed Waternoose’s arms, cuffing him.

“There’s Boo’s door,” Sulley called back to the others. “We just need to power it and get through it.”
“How do power the doors?” asked Sora.
“Screams,” replied Mike.
“Or laughter,” said Sulley. “Remember? Whenever she laughs it produces so much power it overpowers some circuits.”
“Well do something,” said Axel. “We got company.” Axel turned back to face Randall, who was leaping from door to door on his way to catching the group. Axel threw a fireball at him, knocking the door off the railing. However, Randall leapt up and grabbing the railing they were whizzing along, then turned invisible. “HURRY!”
“Okay kid, watch this,” said Mike, who opened the door they were hanging on to, then slammed it on himself. Boo let out a cheer of glee, which lit the red light above her door. And every other light in the storage area. “Quick, it’s open. Get it ope…”
“No, I don’t think you’ll be doing that,” said Randall, appearing above them. He began prying Sulley’s fingers away from the door.
“Stop that,” said Mike, trying to slap Randall’s hands away, only for Randall to knock Mike away, causing him to lose his grip on the fast moving door.
“Gotcha,” said Sora, grabbing Mike’s wrist as he went past and helping him back up. “Don’t worry, I’ll get him.” Sora began to aim his keyblade at the door in front of him.
“No Sora,” said Mike. “You might hit Sulley or Boo. Plus, if you damage the door, it won’t work.”
“Then what can we do to help him?” asked Sora.
“Open this door,” said Mike. “I have an idea.” Sora carefully opened the door, revealing a child’s bedroom. “Now Sulley.” Sulley managed to grab Randall, and threw him straight through the door, Mike closing the door behind him. “Now kid, break the light.” Sora swung his keyblade at the red light above the door, and the light went out. Mike opened the door again, but now it was just a doorframe.
“That’s great,” said Sora. “Now, we just need to get Boo through her door…”
“As if,” said Larxene, swinging herself from door to door by spawning a clone as she was passing each one to help boost her along the way. Each hero tried to take her down along the way, but her clones took the blow, disappearing as they did. Soon, she reached Boo’s door and snatched her from Sulley.
“Give her back,” roared Sulley, attempting to swat her with his claws, only for her to throw herself backwards onto a stationary work station. “NOOO!”
“Actually, yes,” said Larxene, opening a dark portal. Xemnas walked through the portal, and took the screaming child from his underling.
“NO! You can’t have her,” yelled Kairi, drawing her keyblade and throwing herself onto the work station. Larxene drew her knives and began hacking and slashing at Kairi, but despite her speed, she couldn’t seem to hit the annoyed teen.
“This child,” said Xemnas, watching Kairi. “Yes, I think I have some big plans for her.” With a smile, Xemnas turned around and disappeared through the dark portal with Boo, closing it behind him.
“BOO!” screamed Sulley, jumping across to a door going the other way. Sora, Mike, and Axel followed suit, and soon joined Kairi in the fight against Larxene.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” said Mike, picking up a door and opening it. The other four fought as hard as they could, Sulley with his claws, Axel with fire, and Sora and Kairi with their keyblades, forcing Larxene back, until she had her back against the open door. Mike held out one leg, and Larxene, not seeing the little green man, tripped over him as she fell through the door. Mike closed the door and threw it off the edge of the work station. As it fell, they saw the door open and Larxene poke her head out, but half a second later it smashed against the ground.
“Do you think she’s gone?” asked Sora. “I mean, she was half here and half wherever she was sent, so…”
“I don’t know,” said Axel. “But hopefully we won’t be seeing her for a while.”
“But what about Boo?” asked Sulley. “That guy took her, and…”
“We will get her back, no matter what,” said Kairi. “The Organization will not win.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” said Mike, just as a glowing ball appeared in his hand. “But hey, if you get into trouble trying to take them down, we’ve got some friends from our college days who’d be happy to help out.” Mike handed the ball to Sora, who took it gladly. “They may not be the scariest monsters around, but they won’t back down, no matter what.”
“We’ll get Boo back,” said Sora, spotting Lewis’s time machine coming into the storage area. “We’ll be back soon, I promise.”

Chapter 14: La Ratatouille

Summary:

After collecting all the ingredients for the meal, Sora helps Linguini prepare for a visit from Anton Ego.

Oh, and the Organization attack, but who cares about that when there's food and stuff?

“Is he here yet?” asked Linguini, frantically running around the kitchen. It was weird, but his actions seemed kind of…jerky. Like he was being suddenly pulled from place to place like a puppet.
“He’s not,” said Colette, peaking out the door again. “Just like when you asked fifteen seconds ago. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Well, the fate of our restaurant rests on whether or not Anton Ego gives his seal of approval, and we have to do this without him finding out our little…secret,” said Linguini. “So yeah, I’m just peachy.”
“What’s the secret?” asked Sora.
“Kinda defeating the purpose of a secret if they tell you,” said Axel.
“Linguini, you should tell them,” said Colette. “I mean, Sora went to a lot of trouble to get you the ingredients, it’s the least you could do.”
“Well…okay,” said Linguini. “You see, I…” Before he could finish, the group heard the front doors slam open, and a pair of heavy footsteps began walking to a table. “Is…is that him?”
Colette poked her head out through the door. “It’s him,” she confirmed. “Are you ready?”
“I don’t know,” said Linguini, just as he seemed to be tugged sharply towards the stove. “No, wait, apparently I have to taste test the…” Linguini shot upright all of a sudden, and arranging the food on the plate. “No I don’t, I have to…” Linguini continued to move around in strange ways, until he had everything prepared.
“Okay…that was weird,” said Axel, picking up a tray with a glass and a bottle of wine.
“I still don’t understand why I can’t bring him his wine,” said Sora.
“Because you’re fourteen years old,” said Colette, picking up the tray with the critic’s food. “Don’t worry Linguini, you’ll be fine.” She pecked him on the cheek before following Axel onto the restaurant floor. “Monsieur Anton Ego, may I present to you, your dinner,” said Colette, removing the cover from the tray to reveal his meal: ratatouille.
Anton Ego eyed the meal suspiciously, then slowly looked up at Colette. “Ratatouille,” he said, somehow sounding condescending with just one word. “A simple peasant dish. You believe this will be enough to appease me?”
“Well hey, if you don’t like it, you can just…” started Axel, before getting an elbow in the ribs from Colette.
Ego kept his very uninterested gaze, and slowly picked up his fork. He cut a small piece away from the food, and slowly placed it in his mouth. All of a sudden, his face lit up, and a smile began to spread across his face. “This…is perfection,” he said, sliding down in his chair a little. He proceeded to finish the dish, and wiped his mouth with his napkin. “May I have a word with the chef?”
“Certainly,” said Colette, going back to the kitchen. As she entered the kitchen, Linguini stood up straight, trying to pretend he hadn’t been sitting and listening at the door. “Linguini, Monsieur Ego would like a word with the chef.”
“But I’m not sure the chef will have a word with him,” said Linguini.
“Why? What’s wrong Linguini?” asked Sora.
“Come with me Sora. There’s something you need to see,” said Linguini, leading the way out into the restaurant.

Anton Ego looked up with interest when he saw Linguini approaching. “Oh, so you’re the genius chef behind this dish?” he asked.
“Not exactly,” said Linguini, reaching up to his hat. “You see, the real chef…” Linguini removed his hat, revealing a grey rat holding a couple of handfuls (pawfuls?) of hair “…is him.”
Sora, Axel, and Anton Ego stared at him in shock. “A…rat?” said Ego. “A rat cooked this meal?”
“Yes sir,” said Linguini. “I swear, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. You see, he knows cooking really well, and I’m really clumsy, but he can control me…” As if to demonstrate, the rat pulled on one of the clumps of hair he was holding, and Linguini’s hand rose in response. “…so I’ve been letting him cook for people, and if you don’t like it you can…”
“Enough, Mister Linguini,” said Ego. “I’ve made my decision about this restaurant. You can expect to hear about it in tomorrow’s paper.” Ego stood up, and left the restaurant without another word.
“Wait, so…is this good, or…?” started Linguini.
“There’s nothing else we can do,” said Colette. “We just have to hope he approves of…this.”
“You’ll be fine Linguini,” said Sora. “I mean, he liked the food right? Surely it shouldn’t matter who cooked it.”
“Unless the one who cooked it was a filthy rodent,” said Linguini. In response, the rat pulled on Linguini’s hair, causing him to slap himself. “Sorry Remy.”
“Guess there’s nothing left to do…” started Axel, just as a loud explosion sounded from the direction of the castle. “Except find out what that was.” Axel and Sora ran out of the restaurant and back down the road to the castle as a second explosion rang out…

“Hi there,” said Marluxia. “How would you like to be the last child in our quest to regain our Hearts?”
“Not gonna happen,” said Kairi, keyblade in hand.
“That wasn’t a question, it was a demand,” said Saïx, swinging his claymore at her. Kairi blocked it, before quickly ducking under Marluxia’s scythe.
“Good thing I don’t take orders from you,” said Kairi, sweeping Saïx’s legs out from under him.
“KAIRI!” cried Elsa, coming into the room, followed by most of the other occupants of the castle. “Wha…what’s going on?”
“Your majesty, get everyone out of here,” said Kairi, hitting Marluxia in the chest with her keyblade.
“She is safe,” said Saïx. “We have no intention of harming her. We’re only here for you.” Saïx waved his hand, and out of the ground appeared a large horde of Heartless.
“Don’t worry Kairi, I know someone who can help,” said Penny, a ball of light appearing in her hand. “BOLT! We need you boy.” The ball of light landed on the floor in the middle of the Heartless, revealing a small white dog. The Heartless quickly fell on him.
“BOLT!” cried Kairi. “Are you okay? Speak to me.” From under the pile of Heartless, a loud bark rang out, and half the Heartless were blown out of existence. Kairi stood there shocked for a moment. “Do that again,” she said. Bolt just stood there. “Bolt? Erm…speak?” Bolt turned to face some more Heartless and barked again, knocking out more of the Heartless. Kairi smiled, and turned her attention back to the two Organization members.
“Look ,we don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Marluxia. “Though a bit of leverage couldn’t hurt.” Marluxia grabbed the queen and held his scythe to her neck. “Now child, will you come quietly?”
“Don’t you dare Kairi,” snapped Elsa, before Marluxia covered her mouth.
“Don’t you dare hurt her,” said Kairi, preparing to attack Marluxia.
“Ah ah ah,” said Marluxia, wagging his finger. “Take a step forward, your queen loses her head. Agree to come with us first, and I’ll gladly let her go unharmed.”
Kairi gritted her teeth, then put her keyblade away. “Okay, fine,” she said. “Just let her go.”
“Very good,” said Saïx. “But first, I need to make sure you’ll co-operate. SLEEPGA!” There was a flash of white light, and when it faded Kairi was out cold on the floor. “Come Marluxia, we have what we came for.” Marluxia smiled and pushed Elsa away.
“Kai-Kairi,” wheezed the ice queen, trying to get up.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” yelled Sora, running into the room and swinging at Marluxia. Marluxia knocked him aside easily with the shaft of his scythe. Sora glared at him, but then saw Saïx opening a dark portal and picking up Kairi. A white light appeared around Sora, which began to funnel its way into his keyblade. Sora pointed it at Saïx, and a flash of light fired at him, knocking the Nobody down.
“Wha…Holy magic?” said Saïx, just as a shadow fell over him. Saïx looked up to see Axel standing over him.
“Hey Saïx,” said Axel, grinning wickedly. “You know how you said you’d kill me yourself if I turned against the Organization? Well, I don’t take too kindly to threats, so…” Axel clicked his fingers, and a column of flames sprung up around the blue haired Organization member. “It’s too bad really, we could have stayed friends.”
“You think killing Saïx will be enough to stop us?” asked Marluxia, picking up Kairi’s unconscious body. “We now have the seventh child. We win.” Marluxia walked through the dark portal and closed it, just before Sora could strike him down.
“That’s…not good,” said Axel.
“Not good? It’s a complete disaster,” said Elsa, getting up.
“Not only that,” said Axel. “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to go to The Castle That Never Was. That’s where Xemnas is at his strongest.”
“Are you saying…” started Sora.
“Yes,” said Axel. “We have to take the fight to them. And probably die in the process.”
“Great speech Axel,” muttered Elsa.

“We got her,” said Marluxia, entering Xemnas’s chamber. “Unfortunately, Saïx didn’t make it, but still…”
“It’s okay,” said Xemnas. “He went in knowing full well he might not come back.”
“Sir, you seem awfully calm about the fact we’ve lost everyone except us,” said Marluxia.
“We have,” said Xemnas. “But have you ever wondered what happens once a Nobody dies? They don’t completely cease to be like you’d expect. The Nothing where their Heart is becomes something for me to control. And do you know what I do with it?”
“You add it to your own power?” asked Marluxia.
“I used to,” said Xemnas. “But lately I’ve been funnelling it into something else.” Xemnas drew back a curtain, revealing the unconscious Riku. “The boy is full of Darkness, and I’ve been feeding him my own power. Now, he is almost as powerful as me.”
“But he’s still out cold,” said Marluxia. “He won’t be much use for when they come to stop us.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” said Xemnas, snapping his fingers. Riku woke, sitting up straight in his bed. “Do you want a demonstration of his power, Marluxia?”
“I am curious about it,” admitted Marluxia.
“Okay then,” said Xemnas, turning to face Riku. “Riku, attack.”
“Attack? But I’m the only one…” started Marluxia, before realising what was happening. Riku threw himself at Marluxia, drawing his keyblade as he did, and began viciously attacking the final Organization member. Xemnas smiled as he watched, and as Marluxia faded away, redirected the fading power into Riku.

Notes:

Nice short chapter, before getting into the MASSIVE final chapter. If it’s anywhere near as long as I imagine it’s going to be, you could be looking at a three week wait. Well, unless I decide to pick up the pace of the writing. I’ll try, I promise. For now, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I’ll see you next time.

Chapter 15: The World That Never Was

Summary:

The epic finale. Who will win: Sora or Xemnas?

“At last,” said Xemnas, looking around the lab. Seven capsules were placed around the outside of the room, each with a child locked inside it. “Soon, I will have Kingdom Hearts, and will have a Heart of my own.”
“And what about Kairi?” asked Riku, who was standing beside him.
“She will be a worthy sacrifice to a noble cause,” said Xemnas. “All of them will be.”
“Can’t you simply take another child?” asked Riku. “I’m sure if you looked hard enough and acted quick enough, you could…” Xemnas turned to face the boy and smacked him hard across the face.
“Silence boy,” snapped Xemnas. “I have waited far too long for this moment. I’m not wasting any more time trying to gain another child for your sake.”
“But…” started Riku.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Xemnas. “I didn’t revive you to let you have free will. You will do as you’re told by choice, or I will make you. Either way is fine by me.”
Riku still looked defiant, but eventually relented. “Fine,” he sighed.
“Very good,” said Xemnas. “Now, I need you to keep watch for your friends. They will be coming soon.”
“You have a thousand Heartless outside guarding the castle,” reminded Riku.
“This is a boy who defeated Luxord by a fluke when he didn’t even know what a keyblade was,” said Xemnas. “Now he’s a trained fighter, with plenty of back-up coming with him. I have no intention of being distracted by his interference. You will stop him from getting in here when he comes.”
“Yes sir,” said Riku, leaving the room.

“Your Majesty?” called Sora, entering a small room. Inside he found Elsa sitting beside a bed. Sora stepped closer, and saw a girl of about sixteen with dark skin and black hair lying there, unmoving. “Is…is this…?”
“Moana,” confirmed Elsa. “She was such a big help to us, she fought so hard to protect us. But in the end…”
“I know,” said Sora. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” said Elsa. “You weren’t you then. You wouldn’t have allowed something like this to happen.”
“At least let me do something for her,” said Sora, a bright ball of light in his hand. “Ow.” The ball expanded until it took the form of a big balloon man.
“Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion,” said Baymax. “I heard a sound of distress. What seems to be the trouble?”
“I’m not the one in trouble,” said Sora, revealing the bed behind him. “It’s her. Is there anything you can do for her?”
“Initiating injury scan,” said Baymax, the sensor in his chest sending a blue light across Moana’s body. “Scan complete. The patient appears to be in a coma, though physical injuries seem to be minimal. Some head trauma and some fluid build-up in her brain. Estimated time of treatment completion: one hour.”
“Wow. You can really do that?” asked Elsa.
“This is one of the things I was programmed to do,” said Baymax.
“Thank you Baymax,” said Elsa. “Come on Sora, we have a world to save.”

“Alright, everyone’s here,” said Axel. “Now, there’s no easy way to say this, so I might as well be as blunt as possible: we’re probably going to die. However, since Xemnas will probably kill us anyway, we’ve got nothing to lose, right?”
“Axel, we’re trying to motivate everyone,” said Elsa. “Though unfortunately, he’s right. We’ve got very little chance of success and even less of surviving, so I want each of you to give everything you’ve got.”
“Are you guys sure you want to tag along for this mission?” asked Sora, facing the team from the castle. “I mean, I know Elsa, Judy, and Rapunzel can fight, but what about…”
“I’ve got these,” said Hiro, lifting his hand. Suddenly, hundreds of tiny metal things erupted out of some barrels behind him. “These are my microbots. I control them with this headband, and their use is only limited to my imagination.”
“And Penny?” asked Sora. “I mean, Bolt might be able to do something, but…”
“Hiro gave me this cool suit,” said Penny, pressing a button on her chest. Suddenly, she became engulfed in a nine foot tall hologram with enormous hands. “See, now I’m Wreck-It Ralph. But wait, there’s more.” Penny swung Ralph’s hand downward, nailing Sora into the ground. “If you get hurt, I can do this.” Penny pressed another button, and suddenly her hologram was a short handyman with a golden hammer. Penny hit Sora with the hammer, and suddenly he felt much better. “If I feel like shooting something, I can also turn into Sergeant Calhoun…” Penny pressed another button, and became a tall blonde woman in black armour and a lot of guns. “…and for speed, I can become President Vanellope von Schweetz.” Penny pressed the last button, and became a short dark-haired girl, before disappearing and reappearing behind Sora.
“That’s pretty cool,” said Sora. “So Lewis, what did you get?”
“I…err…I don’t anything,” said Lewis. “But that’s okay. I’ll just give them a bit of this.” Lewis threw a few punches into empty air, before accidentally tripping over his shoelaces.
“Yeah, you’ll do great kid,” said Axel sarcastically.
“I know what you should do,” said Sora, a glowing ball appearing in his hand. “Do you remember the first time we met?”
“You mean…” started Lewis, and Sora nodded.
“Trust us Sora,” said Hiro. “After all the times you’ve put yourself in danger for the greater good, it’s time to let the six of us be the big heroes.”
“Alright guys, this is it,” said Axel, opening a dark portal. “No backing down for anything.“

“What…is this place?” asked Sora, walking at the front of the group, keyblade in hand. Either side of them were large buildings, though everything was still dark.
“This is The World That Never Was,” said Axel. “Mostly, this was Xemnas, showing us the extent of his power. He wanted us to know he could create such an intricate world without breaking a sweat. He wanted us to know he was powerful.”
“You make him sound unstoppable,” said Sora.
“I have faith that you won’t be killed by him immediately,” said Axel. “Now, be on the lookout for…”
“HEARTLESS!” cried Rapunzel, as several shadows rose up from the ground, giving shape to some dark monsters.
“Yeah, that,” said Axel, chakrams appearing in his hands.
“Quick, this way,” called Elsa, only to be stopped by more Heartless. The group looked around them, only to find every pathway blocked by Heartless.
“Well, guess we’ll have to fight our way out,” said Sora, readying himself for a fight.
“No Sora, you need to get to the castle and fight Xemnas,” said Elsa. “We can hold these guys, but you need to get moving.”
“But…” started Sora.
“GO!” yelled Rapunzel, shocking everyone. The long-haired blonde whipped her hair at a group of Heartless in the direction of the castle, clearing a path. “What are you waiting for?”
“Here, take this,” said Sora, a glowing ball in his hand. “They might be able to help.” The ball shaped itself into a door, which swung open to reveal four monsters. Except…
“These are the guys Mike and Sulley told us about?” asked Axel.
“Ho ho, don’t let our not so threatening demeanour fool you,” said a pink monster with tentacles. “Name’s Don Carlton, and me and the boys from Oozma Kappa will help you with the fight against these creatures.”
“Are…are you sure?” asked Axel, looking very sceptical at the thought.
“Hey, don’t worry,” said one of the heads of a two headed orange monster. “Terry can perform magic…”
“And Terri can dance,” said the other head, dripping with sarcasm. “Seriously, what are you gonna do with that?”
“I can do the splits,” said a furry purple monster, who kicked out both his legs, and accidentally killed two Heartless in the process.
“And the other guy?” asked Axel, looking around. “Hey, where did…?”
“Hi,” said a squishy pink monster, who was suddenly behind him.
“…well, if you think they’ll be of much help,” said Axel with a shrug. “Let’s move.” Axel dragged Sora behind him as they proceeded down a nearby street. Their remaining allies formed an honour guard around them, attacking Heartless as they appeared.
“Is she gonna be okay?” asked Sora.
“As much as it pains me to say this, we have to hope she and the monsters can handle things,” said Elsa.

“Heads up,” said Hiro, blocking a Heartless who’d burst out of one of the buildings. “I’ll take these guys.”
“Mind if I help?” asked Penny, morphing into Calhoun.
No…not at all,” squeaked Hiro, turning a bunch of his microbots into a sword. The others snickered at his embarrassment as they continued on down the road.

As the group progressed down the road, the number of Heartless began to increase, as did the strength of each Heartless, slowing the group’s progress more and more. “This is getting ridiculous,” said Lewis, holding the glowing orb in his hand. “I’m calling him.” Lewis closed his eyes for a moment, then a large dark portal appeared in the road. Out from the portal appeared a large shape, that of a tyrannosaurus rex.
“You called?” asked Butch, looking down at the group, surrounded by the swarming Heartless. “Wow, you really do need my help.”
“We just need to get Sora to that castle,” said Lewis. “Do…do you mind if I ride you as a means of helping you kill as many of these things as possible?”
“I’ll allow it,” said Butch. “Just watch my back, and tell me if one wants to try and sneak up on me.”
“Fine by me,” said Lewis, climbing up Butch’s back. “First up, just go straight down this road, and take down anything in your path.”
“Fine by me,” said Butch, slowly picking up his pace as he charged down the street, swinging his tail to sweep down Heartless either side of him, and snatching up other Heartless in his massive jaws.

“Well that helps,” said Judy, leading the four remaining fighters up the street. Butch didn’t manage to get all the Heartless in his charge, but most of the ones left over were in no condition to fight back. The group made it to the end of the street, where they found the entrance to the Castle That Never Was. “Come on guys, we’re almost…”
“Judy, look,” said Elsa, pointing behind them, where hundreds of Heartless were converging on the stairs outside the Castle.
“Oh…” started Judy, before straightening herself up. “Your Majesty, Sora, Axel, leave them to me.”
“Judy, there’s no way…” started Sora.
“That I’ll survive?” finished Judy. “But how many more will die if you don’t get in there? Now get going.”
“You’ll need some back-up,” said Sora. “And I know just the guy.” Sora cleared his throat, then began to sing. “♪Who’s your friend who likes to play…♪”
A glowing ball appeared next to Judy, which soon formed into a pink, fluffy, cat-elephant. “♪Bing-Bong. Bing-Bong♪” sang Bing-Bong. “Hi Sora, what can I do for you?”
“Would you be able to help Judy get rid of those Heartless?” asked Sora.
Bing-Bong looked out across the crowd of Heartless approaching them. “Wow, there’s a lot of them,” said Bing-Bong.
“Please Bing-Bong? We need to keep them away from the castle to save Riley,” said Sora.
“You’re saving Riley? Why didn’t you say so?” said Bing-Bong. “What are you waiting for rabbit?” Bing-Bong ran straight into the middle of the Heartless, decimating many of them as he went.
“Well, that’ll help,” said Judy. “Thanks Sora, now get in there.” Judy followed Bing-Bong into the fray, as the rest of the group entered the castle.

“Let me guess, Xemnas is up the top?” asked Elsa.
“That’s where his lab is,” said Axel. “I can’t imagine he’d be anywhere…” Axel was interrupted by a loud bang. The group turned to see an enormous Heartless had just landed in the room.
“Go,” said Elsa. “Defeat Xemnas. I’ll take care of this guy, then catch up to you guys.”
“You sure?” asked Sora.
In response, Elsa fired a massive blast of ice between them and the Heartless, making a wall to separate them. “I’m sure,” she said, just as the ice started to crack. “Now go, before he breaks through.” Sora and Axel nodded, before running up the nearby staircase.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” said Axel. “She only has to fight the one Heartless. Your other friends are fighting a much larger…”
“I’d rather not think about it,” said Sora. “The sooner I can get rid of Xemnas, the sooner I can get back to help them.”
“Do you really think you can do that?” asked someone behind him. Sora turned to see a familiar silver-haired boy standing there.
“Riku?” said Sora. “Are you here to help us, or…”
“Help you?” laughed Riku. “You left me, you wanted me to get caught by the Organization.”
“What? No,” said Sora. “Riku, that’s not what…”
“Luckily for me, the Organization does want me around,” said Riku, drawing his keyblade. “Don’t worry Sora, I’ll forgive your betrayal, but you do have to come to see Xemnas peacefully.”
“Riku, I didn’t betray you,” said Sora. “Xemnas is lying to you.”
“YOU’RE THE LIAR!” yelled Riku, charging at Sora. “You will pay for your ignorance.” As Riku got close to Sora, a fast moving circle of red flew at the silver-haired boy, and bounced right off.
“Okay, that didn’t work at all,” said Axel, retrieving his chakram. “That’s a worrying thought.”
“Riku, listen to me,” said Sora, blocking a powerful blow from the other boy. “Xemnas just wants you to help him regain his Heart.”
“And what’s so bad about that?” asked Riku. “Is it so wrong for a Nobody to want to be a Somebody?”
“He’s going to kill Kairi to do it,” said Sora.
This seemed to strike a chord with Riku, whose face fell for a moment, but then he shook his head as though to clear it. “Don’t try to confuse me,” snapped Riku. ”You’re the evil one. You are. Now, you’re coming with me to Xemnas, whether you like it or not.” Riku swung his keyblade at Sora, and hit him with such force that Sora flew into a wall.
“Whoa, Riku. You’re…so strong now,” gasped Sora, picking himself off the ground, only for Riku to kick him down the hall.
“Yeah, Xemnas gave me a ton of his power,” said Riku, picking Sora up by the neck.
“FIRAGA!” yelled Axel, as a large column of fire erupted around Riku. As the smoke cleared, the two of them saw Riku standing there, unfazed by the powerful spell. “Oh, this is even worse than I thought.”
“Exactly,” said Riku, turning his attention to Axel. “ULTIMA!” A dark purple blast shot from Riku’s hand, sucking Axel into it. Seconds later, Axel fell out from the energy, unconscious.
“No…” wheezed Sora, still struggling against Riku’s grip.
“Oh, don’t worry, he’s not dead,” said Riku. “I think Xemnas wants some words with him too, before he kills him. Come on.” Riku grabbed Axel by his long hair, and began to drag the two of them down the hall.

‘Am I awake?’ thought Kairi, trying to open her eyes. ‘I don’t know. I remember being at Radiant Garden, then those Organization guys turned up, then…’
Kairi’s eyes shot open, then she closed them again. The light outside was extremely bright. Slowly, her eyes adjusted, and she looked out to see a room that appeared to be a laboratory. ‘Oh no,’ thought Kairi. ‘Xemnas has me. That means he’s got the seven children.’
Kairi was started to regain her senses. She appeared to be in some kind of suspended animation. She could feel some kind of liquid around her, but it didn’t feel like water. A gel to keep her alive? It was hard to tell. Over her mouth was a breathing apparatus, so she was in no risk of drowning at this stage. She looked out of the tube she was in, and saw Xemnas examining something. Around the sides of the lab, Kairi could see other tubes like hers, with some of the other kids within them. At that moment, the door to the lab opened, revealing Riku, who was dragging two familiar faces behind him.
“I got them, Master,” said Riku, bowing to the Nobody.
“Excellent work, Riku,” said Xemnas, turning his attention to Sora.
‘Master?’ thought Kairi. ‘Oh no, Riku’s being controlled by the Darkness. I have to do something. But I can’t do anything in this tank.’ Kairi thought for a moment, then came up with a plan. She may only have one shot of it working, but now wasn’t the time to worry about success rates. “Hank,” she whispered. “I need your help.”

“You have been a bit of a thorn in my side, young Roxas,” said Xemnas. “But now, I’m about to win. I have the seven children, and soon I will unlock Kingdom Hearts.”
“My name is Sora,” snapped Sora. “And I won’t let you win. My friends will be here soon, and together we’ll…”
“Oh, you mean these friends?” asked Xemnas, showing Sora a screen.

“Wow, these Heartless fellows are a bit tougher than they look,” panted Don. “I…I think…I need to stop.” Don stumbled back to the door, and walked through it.
“Yeah, sorry princess,” said Squishy, throwing one Heartless into another. “I don’t know how much more I can do.” Squishy sighed, and retreated to the safety of the door.
“Ooh, are we going home now?” asked Art, who rolled himself back through the door.
“Don’t worry princess, I still got plenty in me,” said Terry, clicking his fingers, and a ball of fire exploded another Heartless.
“But I’m done,” said Terri, breathing heavily.
“That’s because you think dancing is an effective method of fighting,” said Terry. “Just stop, man.”
“You stop,” said Terri, trying to drag his conjoined brother back to the door.
“Hey, stop that,” said Terry, trying to pull himself back, with Terri pulling the other way, until Terri tripped, sending the two of them back through the door. As soon as the twins were gone, the door closed, and vanished from sight.
“Well, thanks anyway guys,” said Rapunzel. On the plus side, the number of Heartless was a lot smaller, much smaller than if it had just been her doing it. Rapunzel smacked another Heartless away from her with a frying pan, but failed to see the even larger Heartless behind her. The creature of darkness punched Rapunzel with enough force to send her into a wall.
Rapunzel picked herself up, before wrapping herself in her hair and whispering an incantation. Her hair glowed for a moment, healing her wounds, but the big Heartless wasn’t done. Grabbing her by the hair, the creature swung the girl around until she fell unconscious, before dragging her towards the castle.

“This is pretty easy,” said Penny, mowing down a bunch of Heartless with Calhoun’s machine gun. Another Heartless tried to jump on her back, but Penny casually grabbed her knife and stabbed backwards, killing the thing with ease.
“Yeah, I thought this would be a little more of a challenge,” said Hiro, hacking and slashing his way through a group of Heartless. A few Heartless came up out of the ground, but Hiro had a bunch of microbots set up either side of them. With a click of his fingers, the monsters were crushed between them. “Guess we’ll be catching up to the others soo…PENNY LOOK OUT!”
Penny turned to see a Heartless bringing its fist down at her. Before she knew what was happening, Hiro had pushed her out of the way, taking the blow for himself. “HIRO!” she cried, before narrowing her eyes at the Heartless. “I’m gonna WRECK YOU!” Penny pressed a button, morphing her into Wreck-It Ralph. The Heartless tried swinging another punch at her, only to have her block it with one hand, the other punching through the Heartless’s chest, killing it. “WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?!” screamed Penny, as hundreds of Heartless took her up on that offer…

“YEEHAW!” cried Lewis, as Butch continued to tear through the Heartless. “There’s no way we can lose now.”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet kid,” said Butch. “There are plenty of these things still to kill.”
“But surely the others have taken care of some of them,” said Lewis.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” said Butch, nodding in front of him. Lewis looked ahead of him, and saw a massive crowd of Heartless waiting for them.
“Do you think you can take them?” asked Lewis.
“Kid, I’m feelin’ mighty drained,” said Butch, panting a bit.
“Oh…” said Lewis.
“But that doesn’t mean I can’t take out as many of them as possible,” said Butch, charging straight into the crowd of Heartless.

“Wow…there sure are a lot of them,” said Bing-Bong, no longer running, but slowly walking around the battlefield. “Is…is there any chance we can take five?”
“Sorry Bing-Bong, but these guys don’t play fair,” said Judy, expertly disposing of a few more Heartless.
“Oh…” panted Bing-Bong, falling to his knees. “Can you do me one favour then?”
“What is it?” asked Judy.
“Whatever happens, make sure Riley’s okay,” said Bing-Bong, collapsing, then fading away.
“Can do, Bing-Bong,” said Judy, as she ran between two Heartless who tried to strike her, but ended up hitting each other. Her speed was keeping her from getting hit, but she knew she couldn’t keep this up much longer.
Judy ran straight at one Heartless, kicking it in the face as a way to boost herself up. While airborne, she grabbed one Heartless, which she threw into another Heartless with such force, they both disappeared.
Judy landed perfectly, but she was breathing heavily. She looked up to see the crowd of Heartless was definitely a lot less, but she still had a long way to go. Much longer than she had left…

“You are a tough one, aren’t you?” said Elsa, blocking another blow from the Heartless with an ice shield. “But I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.” Elsa created a bunch of ice daggers, and threw them in rapid succession at the monster. The Heartless seemed to feel them, but never slowed down its assault.
“Alright, fine,” said Elsa, focusing her energy. “All in then.” Ice began to form just above her head, shaping itself into a large spear. Elsa threw the weapon at the Heartless, and got it right through the middle of its chest. More ice attached itself to the spear, in the shape of pointed claws and spikes. Elsa started spinning the spear around and around in the Heartless’s chest, until it eventually collapsed.
“Finally,” she gasped, falling to her knees in exhaustion. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she saw more Heartless entering the castle…

“You see Roxas,” said Xemnas, turning the screen off. “Your friends won’t be coming to save you. And you’re nowhere near stronger enough to face me alone. I have won. I have the seven Hearts I need right here, and will soon be able to…” Xemnas cut himself off as his eyes flashed over one of the tubes, only to see it empty. “What? One of them has escaped. But how?”
Sora looked around, trying to figure out which one was missing. “There Spot, Nemo, Boo, Ace, Jack-Jack, that one must be Riley. So that leaves…” Sora’s face lit up when he realised what had happened. “Kairi…” he whispered. “But how did she…?” Then it dawned on him. Hank. He turns things invisible. She hadn’t escaped, at least, not yet. “Hang in there Kairi,” yelled Sora, pulling out his keyblade. “THUNDAGA!” A blast of electricity shot out of his keyblade, hitting the door to the tube and opening it. A bunch of strange liquid spilled onto the floor, some staying in mid-air in the shape of a young girl. Kairi coughed, tried to get up, and fell back on the floor. “CURAGA!” yelled Sora, a beam of white light shooting out of his keyblade.
“Thanks Sora,” said Kairi, getting to her feet. “Now, how about we finish…”
“Oh, don’t be so hasty child,” said Xemnas, just as the door opened. A bunch of Heartless marched into the room, carrying Elsa and the others with them. “If you know what’s good for them, you’ll do what you’re told.”
“Kai…Kairi…” moaned Elsa. “Don’t…you dare…let him win.”
“But, Your Majesty…” started Kairi.
“She’s right,” said Axel, getting to his feet. “As long as Xemnas is stopped, everyone is expendable.”
“Axel, don’t think you’ll be getting out of here without being punished for your betrayal,” said Xemnas.
“So, I guess it’s too late to say I captured Sora and his friends for you then?” said Axel.
“Enough of this,” snapped Xemnas. “Heartless, kill them.”
A large Heartless was just about to strike Rapunzel, when a wooden pole with a metal spike on the end came out of its chest. The harpoon withdrew from the Heartless, who fell to the ground and revealed Moana holding the weapon. “Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” said Moana defiantly.
“Moana?” gasped Elsa. “But…how? Who…? When…?”
“Approximately seventeen minutes ago,” said a robotic voice, as Baymax entered the room. “I explained the situation to Moana, then proceeded to track Hiro and Sora from my internal hard drive.”
“And I came too,” said Olaf, appearing next to the robot. “I couldn’t just sit around and let my twin get killed.”
“Twin?” asked Kairi.
“Long story,” replied Sora.
“ENOUGH!” yelled Xemnas. “This ends now.”
“Kairi, Axel, let’s get him,” said Sora, drawing his keyblade, while Kairi and Axel grabbed their own weapons. Sora began to charge with his friends, when he was grabbed by the collar.
“Not so fast,” said Riku, spinning Sora around. “We settle this now.”
“Riku, can’t you see Xemnas is controlling you?” said Sora. “He’s made you his puppet, and you…”
“I AM NOT A PUPPET!” yelled Riku, attacking Sora.
“Riku, please…” Sora begged, blocking Riku’s attacks. “This isn’t you.” Sora ducked under one swing, only for Riku to kick him in the stomach, which sent him flying across the room.
“Finish him, Riku,” said Xemnas, dodging an attack from Kairi.
“Riku…” said Sora, desperately thinking for a way to escape this. “I…I healed you at Paradise Falls, remember? Why would I do that if I wanted to betray you?”
“Yeah right. Why would you…?” started Riku as he raised his keyblade, then he paused. “Wait…you did do that. But why…?”
“Because you’re my friend,” said Sora. “Riku, Xemnas has been lying to you. He wants you to help him hurt Kairi and the others. Come back to us. Please.”
“Yeah, let’s do…” started Riku, before he started clutching his head. A purple aura started emanating from him. “ARGH! No, I must defeat you Sora.” The purple aura started to recede. “No, Sora’s my friend.” “But the power Xemnas offers…” “GET! OUT! OF! MY! HEAD!” Riku shook his head, and the purple aura disappeared. “XEMNAS! You’re going down.” Riku ran past Sora straight into the fight against the final Organization member.
“Way to go Riku,” said Sora, joining in.
“Foolish child,” said Xemnas, Ethereal Blades in each hand. “This is what happens when some betrays me.” Xemnas threw one of his blades at Riku, only for Riku to knock it away easily. Xemnas threw the other, but Riku ducked under it, before jumping up to strike Xemnas. Xemnas smiled, and with a flick of his wrist, brought the discarded blades flying back towards him. Except, Riku got in between him and the blades, which stabbed Riku through the right arm and left shoulder.
“RIKU!” screamed Kairi, running towards him, only to watch in surprise as Riku continued fighting, as though nothing happened. Xemnas was pretty surprised too, quickly grabbing his blades out of Riku and trying to avoid being killed by the enraged child.
“I commend your courage child,” said Xemnas, blocking Riku’s attacks as they came. “But I’m afraid this ends…now.” Xemnas summoned a ball of dark energy, and threw it at Riku, hitting him in the stomach. Riku stepped back in surprise, and Xemnas took the opportunity to impale Riku with one of his blades.
“NO!” yelled Sora and Kairi at the same time, as Riku slumped to the ground.
“Well, he certainly was a fighter,” said Xemnas, gasping for breath. “But I’m afraid his fate will be shared by the lot of you if you don’t bow down to…”
“Excuse me, Mr. Scientist Guy?” called Olaf from the other side of the lab. “What’s behind these weird doors?” Olaf turned the knob on the one he was standing in front of, only to have it open, and Ace slid out covered in gel.
“DON’T OPEN THOSE!” yelled Xemnas.
“Olaf, keep opening those,” said Sora, turning his attention back to Xemnas. “Come on guys, let’s do this. For Riku.”
“FOR RIKU!” yelled Kairi and Axel, running at Xemnas. Xemnas managed to dodge Axel’s chakram, but couldn’t avoid Kairi’s keyblade. Sora came at Xemnas from behind, and the Nobody didn’t have a chance to dodge a series of vicious blows.
“You will not win,” growled Xemnas, holding both arms outstretched, which sent the three heroes flying across the room. “Now, you will FALL!” All around the room, dozens of Ethereal Blades appeared, all pointed at the three of them. Xemnas, waved his hand, and the Blades went loose.
Sora and Kairi swung their keyblades around in an attempt to keep themselves from getting hit, while Axel just dodged the blades with his own agility. Sora felt a sharp sting on his cheek as one Blade made it past his defence. Instinctively, his hand flew up to his face to check the wound, as another Blade flew right through his chest.
“SORA!” screamed Kairi, as the last of the Blades fell to the ground, but the world was already going black…

“Hey? Hey! You gonna wake up soon?”
“He will. You’ll see.”
“He better. We didn’t die for him to start sleeping on the job.”
“Roxas! That’s really rude.”
Roxas? Isn’t that…
“Hey, knock it off guys. An Ethereal Blade through the chest hurts. I would know.”
Hey, that sounds like…
“Guys, I think he’s coming around…”
Sora’s eyes began to focus, and soon his surroundings became more apparent. He was on a beach, by the feel of the sand, but everything was dark, shaded in blacks and dark blues. Around him, Sora saw three figures. One was Riku, one was a young blonde girl, and one was a boy with golden blonde hair.
“Riku!” cried Sora, getting up and running to his friend. “I thought you were dead.”
“Yeah, about that…” said Riku. “I am dead.”
Sora stopped dead on his tracks. “You’re…dead?” he asked. “But…does that mean…?”
“Not yet,” said the girl. “But you are on the verge right now.”
“Oh…” said Sora. “So that Blade Xemnas got me with…”
“You’re not dead yet,” said the other boy. “We won’t let you.”
“Well, thanks,” said Sora. “Uh…I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”
“You don’t know who I am?” asked the boy. “You should. I am you.”
Sora took a closer look at the boy, and saw plenty of familiarity in his face. “You’re…me,” he whispered. “But you’re not me…Roxas?”
“That’s me,” said Roxas. “And over here, we have the reason for your existence, Naminé.”
“Naminé,” said Sora. “The witch?”
“Yes,” said Naminé. “Now, we must hurry. You don’t have long before you pass on forever.”
“Okay, what do we do?” asked Sora.
“You do nothing,” said Naminé. “We have to merge our essence with yours.”
“Okay,” said Sora. “What does that mean?”
“It means we will completely cease to be, though our power will be transferred to you,” said Naminé.
“What? No,” cried Sora. “We could bring you back. We could…”
“Sora,” said Naminé. “If there was a way to do that, I would have. We can’t go on like this forever. We need to move on.”
“No,” said Sora. “Somehow, we’ll find a way to…”
“No Sora,” said Riku. “We’re finished. We can’t come back. But we can give you the strength to stop Xemnas.”
“It’s okay,” said Roxas. “We’ll still exist in your Heart. You just have to let us in.”
“Please Sora,” said Naminé. “We don’t have much time. Look.” Naminé pointed down to Sora’s feet, which had already begun to fade.
Sora took a deep breath, then exhaled in a sigh. “Okay,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t still try and find a way to save you guys.”
“I know you will,” said Naminé. “But you won’t find one. Trust me, you should just live your life, knowing our sacrifice was one we chose to make.” Naminé closed her eyes, then turned into a glowing ball. The ball flew into Sora’s chest, and immediately Sora’s body became whole again.
“Well, this is it,” said Roxas, shaking Sora’s hand. “I risked everything to take down Xemnas once. Don’t waste this.” Roxas turned into another glowing ball, and flew into Sora, giving Sora a bright glow.
“Sora,” said Riku. “It was an honour meeting and fighting alongside you. I’m sorry it had to end like this.”
“It’s okay,” said Sora. “That wasn’t you, it was Xemnas influencing you.”
“Can you do me a favour when you get back?” asked Riku. “Take care of Kairi. I think she really likes you.”
“Of course,” said Sora. “I’ll take care of all our friends.”
“No, I mean Kairi really likes you,” said Riku as he turned into a glowing ball.
“Wait, what do you…” started Sora, as Riku’s essence fused with him.

“Come on Sora, wake up. WAKE UP!” screamed Kairi. She shook him by the shoulders, trying to get a response, as his eyes started to open.
“Whoa, hey, Kairi, I’m okay, I’m okay,” said Sora, gently taking her hands off of him.
“SORA! You’re okay,” said Kairi, throwing her arms around him.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Sora, getting up.
“Hold on, I’ll heal you up,” said Kairi. “Cur…”
“No need,” said Sora. “I’m just gonna finish him now.”
“You? Finish me?” asked Xemnas smugly. “You couldn’t stand up to me before. What makes you think you can now?” As if to prove his point, Xemnas summoned more Ethereal Blades, and shot them all at Sora. However, Sora casually knocked the blades aside as he walked towards Xemnas. “WHAT?! What is this?”
“It’s over Xemnas,” said Sora. “I have the power of those who fell to bring you down. Roxas, Naminé, and Riku stand with me.” Sora swung his keyblade at Xemnas, and knocked him into the far wall. “HOLY!” A blast of light magic flew at the Nobody, knocking him to his knees.
“NO! You will NOT win!” yelled Xemnas, getting back up and blasting the walls of the room down. The Nobody smirked as hundreds of Heartless began to rise from the floor.
“Elsa, get everyone who can’t fight out of here now,” said Sora, preparing to try and finish of Xemnas.
“Ye…yes,” said Elsa, picking up a box and putting Nemo into it, as well as a little ice. “Axel?” Axel threw a small fireball into the box, melting the ice and giving Nemo something to swim in. “Lewis, Hiro, Penny, you help the other kids. Judy, Rapunzel, Moana, cover us.”
“Come on, we’re getting out of here,” said Penny, picking up Jack-Jack and helping Riley to her feet.
“Wha…what’s even going on?” asked Riley, not resisting Penny pulling her up.
“You are currently experiencing shock,” said Baymax, carrying Spot and Boo. “This is a natural response to stressful or terrifying situations, and some therapy methods will be implemented as soon as we are out of danger.”
“That’s nice Baymax,” said Moana, picking up Ace. “But can you do the thing you did to get us here?”
“Activating portal,” said Baymax, holding out one hand, then blasting out a dark purple ball. The ball opened up, and became a dark portal.
“Whoa?” asked Axel. “Hiro, how did you…”
“I might have upgraded him to copy your magic,” shrugged Hiro. “You know, in case we need it.”
“Heartless, capture the children, and destroy anyone who tries to stop you,” commanded Xemnas.
“Try it,” said Moana, sticking her harpoon through one Heartless, then flinging its body at another one. Rapunzel whipped one with her hair and hit another with her frying pan. And Judy kicked one with such force it knocked another two down.
“Sorry Sora,” said Olaf. “I know you’re my twin and all, but I’d rather join the others somewhere safe.”
“It’s okay Olaf,” said Sora. “There’s no point in both of us dying here. You go back.”
“Okay,” said Olaf. “Wait, what was…?”
“Off you go, young snow boy,” said Baymax, pushing Olaf through the dark portal, before following him through.
“You ain’t dying here Sora,” said Axel. “Look at him. He’s on his last legs. That Heartless summoning was just to scare us.”
“I know,” said Sora. “But even if he loses, he’s not going to let us win.”
Axel chuckled to himself. “I knew it would come to this,” said Axel, walking up to Xemnas and grabbing him around the neck. A circle of fire began to swirl around the two.
“What are you doing?” demanded Xemnas. “You’ll never survive this. You’d just be throwing your life away for nothing.”
“No, I’d be throwing my life away to finish this once and for all,” said Axel. “Face it, I may die, but you won’t be in much better shape.”
“AXEL! NO!” screamed Kairi.
“Hey,” said Axel. “The name’s Lea. Got it memorised?” The swirl of fire picked up more and more around the two Nobodies, until there was nothing but a column of fire where they had stood. Sora and Kairi flinched at the sheer heat coming off of the blast, until it disappeared, leaving a severely burned Xemnas where it had been.
“No…” wheezed Xemnas. “No, I will not let it end like…ACK!” Before he could finish his sentence, Kairi stabbed her keyblade through Xemnas’s chest. The Nobody looked up at Sora, as he held his keyblade next to Xemnas’s neck.
“It ends now Xemnas,” said Sora. “The prophecy said it was my choice, and I choose light.” A second keyblade appeared in Sora’s other hand, and Sora sliced both keyblades across Xemnas’s neck, ending his life.
“Sora…” said Kairi. “Did…did you…” A loud explosion cut her off, as the roof began to fall in.
“Talk later, we need to leave,” said Sora, grabbing Kairi’s hand. Judy, Rapunzel, and Moana had just finished off the last of the Heartless, and together the last five heroes dived through the dark portal, landing in a heap on the ground seconds before it closed on them.

Kairi got to her feet, panting hard. “We did it,” she quietly said to herself, then the enormity of what they’d just done dawned on her. “WE DID IT! Sora, we did it.” Kairi pulled Sora to his feet and swung him in a circle, then pulled him in close and pecked him on the cheek. Sora stood there in shock for a moment, before embracing her and kissing her, applause coming from the others around them.
“Congratulations you two. You just saved the world from darkness,” said Elsa. “We’re very proud of both of you. But Sora, isn’t that Riku’s keyblade?”
Sora looked at the second keyblade he was holding, and sure enough it was the one Riku had been using. “Huh, guess it is,” said Sora. “I must have got it when he gave his power to me.”
“He what?” asked Kairi.
“When Xemnas stabbed me,” explained Sora. “I was nearly dead, but then I woke up to see Riku, Roxas, and Naminé there. They said if they gave me their powers, I’d have the strength to beat Xemnas, but they’d cease to be. Guess I inherited Riku’s keyblade in the process.”
“Naminé,” said Elsa, smile on her face as she shook her head. “Even in death, she’s helping us.”
“But now, we have to take everyone home,” said Lewis. “I better get the time machine fired up.”
“Time machine?” asked Riley. “Kairi, what the heck is going on? You never said anything about having a boyfriend. And what were those monsters, and those guys in black, and…”
“It’s a long story Riley,” said Kairi. “I’ll explain it all eventually, I swear.”
“Does this mean I can go home too?” asked Nemo. “My dad must be real worried about me by now.”
“And now there’s talking fish?” said Riley. “I’m never gonna understand all this, am I?”
“Don’t worry kiddo, everything’s going to be okay,” said Judy. “Now, I have to fulfil my promise to Bing-Bong…”
“Bing-Bong? My imaginary friend from when I was three?” asked Riley. “Why does a talking rabbit know…?”
"Guys, Ego’s review just came out,” said Linguini, rushing into the room clutching a newspaper. He cleared his throat, and began to read. “’Tonight, I experienced something new, an extra-ordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions about fine cooking is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at La Ratatouille, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in Radiant Garden. I will be returning to La Ratatouille soon, hungry for more.’ He loved it. I’m saved.”
“Good work Linguini, I knew you’d be fine,” said Sora, shaking the chef’s hand.
“Come on, we need to be going soon,” said Hiro. “Lots of stops to make as we get everyone home. And I do mean everyone.”
“Everyone?” asked Elsa. “As in…”
“As in we can go home,” said Hiro. “All our Fixed Points, they’re back.”
“They’re…back?” asked Elsa. “They’re back! We can go home.” There was a loud celebratory cheer from everyone around the room.
“Well everyone, it has been an honour fighting alongside you all,” said Judy. “But I will never forget any of you.”
“Same here,” said Hiro. “I am going to mi…”
“Hold on,” said Penny, walking up to Hiro. “Back when we were fighting the Heartless, why did you block an attack with your own body, when you could have just as easily done so with your microbots?”
“Oh, right,” said Hiro, clearly embarrassed. “You see, I…err…”
Penny giggled, then pecked Hiro on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I know you like me,” she said. “Hey, if you’re ever back in my time, it’ll be great to hang out sometime, okay?”
“I…err…okay,” said Hiro, at a complete loss for words.
“Guys, the time machine’s ready,” said Lewis. “Anyone who wants to go home, come this way.”

There were many stops to make in returning everyone to where they were supposed to go. First up was Spot, who was quick to jump out of the time machine when he saw Arlo.
“Guys, you did it. You got Spot back,” said Arlo. “I don’t know what to…” Before Arlo could finish, a howl rang out across the valley. On a nearby hill, a family of humans appeared. “Humans…” said Arlo, looking down at Spot. Spot was staring at the family, looking wishful. Arlo sighed. “Spot, it’s not right of me to keep you if you want to live with your own kind. If you want to go, go.” Spot looked up at Arlo sadly, hugged the dinosaur’s leg, then ran off towards the family.
“It’ll be okay Arlo,” said Sora, patting Arlo’s flank. “If it’s any help, we saw a farmhouse just past the next hill there. Do you think it could be your home?”
“I think so,” said Arlo, wiping away a tear. “I recognise this area. Thanks Sora, thanks for everything.”
“No problem,” said Sora. “Well, gotta go. See ya buddy.” Arlo waved goodbye as Sora boarded the time machine.

“Here we are Jack-Jack,” said Kairi, picking up the baby as they landed out the front of the Parr family house.
“Jack-Jack, you’re home safe,” said Helen Parr, taking her baby from Kairi. “Thank you so much for bringing him ba…” Before she could finish, a light blue beam shot out and imprisoned her.
“Yes, thank you for bringing him here,” said Syndrome, picking up Jack-Jack. “Now, if you don’t mind, me and Syn-Jack will be…” As he was monologuing, Jack-Jack enveloped his body in flames, except for one of his fists, which was made of hard steel. “WHOA! What the…” started Syndrome, as Jack-Jack punched him in the face. Syndrome fell to the ground, unconscious, as Jack-Jack crawled over to his mother.
“Would you look at that honey? His just beat his first villain,” said Bob Parr. “Thanks for bringing him back guys.”
“No problem,” said Sora. “Hopefully we’ll see each other again someday.” Sora waved as the time machine flew away.

“That’s it, they’re never coming back,” said Marlin. “I knew we couldn’t trust humans.”
“Hey now, don’t say that,” said Dory. “I’m not sure what you said, but don’t say it.”
“Well, it’s not like Nemo’s ever coming back,” said Marlin.
“He could,” said Dory, as there was a splash just above her. “See, look, here he is now.”
“What are you…” started Marlin, as he turned to see Nemo swimming next to Dory. “NEMO!”
“DAD!” cried Nemo, swimming over to his dad to give him a hug. “I thought I’d never get to see you again.”
“Don’t be silly, I never gave up hope,” said Marlin, signalling to Dory to not say what he’d just said. Dory just looked at him confused. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“Where is she?” demanded Mr. Andersen. “Riley should have been home an hour ago.”
“I’ll try her cell again,” said Mrs. Andersen, picking up her phone, just as Riley came through the door with Kairi. “RILEY! Oh my gosh, what happened?”
“I…I…” started Riley.
“She was attacked by some thugs,” said Kairi. “Luckily I found her, and chased them off.”
“WHAT?!” yelled Mr. Andersen, wrapping his arms around his daughter. “Riley, are you okay?”
“I…don’t know…” sobbed Riley, burying her face in her father’s shoulder.
“It’s okay sweetie,” said Mr. Andersen, hugging his daughter tight. “Thank you so much Kairi. If there’s ever anything we can do…”
“Oh, don’t mention it,” said Kairi dismissively. “Hey, I gotta get going. I just wanted to make sure Riley got home safely.”
“Alright sweetie, but you have to come back for dinner one night,” said Mrs. Andersen. “It’s the least we can do for you.”
“Thanks Mrs. Andersen. I’ll come by real soon, I promise,” said Kairi, running back down the street towards the time machine.

“You did it. You got Boo back,” said Sulley. “But…uh…”
“What’s wrong?” asked Sora.
“She has to go back to her own time,” said Mike. “Like, forever.”
“Really?” asked Kairi.
“That’s the way it has to be,” said Roz, now wearing a yellow CDA vest. “We can’t have humans knowing too much about this place.”
“That’s not fair!” snapped Sora. “After all Mike and Sulley did to protect her…”
“Sora…” said Mike, holding Sora’s arm, then pulling him in close and whispering. “Don’t worry, I’m planning on reassembling Boo’s door in secret.” Sora nodded and winked, careful not to let Roz see.
“Well, I guess this is goodbye Boo,” said Sulley, carrying the young girl through her door. “Sora, Kairi, thank you.”
“It’s what we do buddy,” said Sora, climbing back into the time machine. “Maybe we’ll see you again sometime.” The door to the time machine closed, and the monsters and humans waved goodbye to each other.

“Next stop is Destiny Island,” said Lewis, as they arrived at a beautiful tropical island. “Sora, it’s been nice knowing you.”
“It’s been nice knowing you too Lewis,” said Kairi. “I’ll be getting off here too.”
“Kairi, are…are you sure?” asked Sora.
“Sure, why not?” asked Kairi. “I have nowhere else to go, why wouldn’t I want to stay with my boyfriend?”
“B…boyfriend?” stammered Sora. Kairi giggled at his embarrassment, before pecking him on the cheek and jumping out of the time machine onto the beach.
“Go get her Sora,” said Elsa. “If we’re ever in need of a hero again, we know where to get two of the best.”
“Of course,” said Sora. “If darkness wants to come back, it’ll have to go through us first.” Sora jumped out of the time machine, and caught up to Kairi on the edge of the water. The two teens held hands as they watched their friends fade away on their way home.

Notes:

Holy moly, that was a long chapter. 21 pages in Word, almost 8500 words. But, it came out about as good as I hoped it would. Thank you everyone for reading this and being so patient waiting for this final chapter (can’t believe it’s been three weeks since I last updated). Now, should I do that prequel and/or sequel I’ve been thinking of doing…
Now, for those of you who read my stuff regularly, I have some good/bad news (depending how you look at it). My normal upload schedule is to work on two fanfics at the same time, working on a chapter of one then doing a chapter of the other. Well…for the time being, I’m only going to be working on LMNT, at least in terms of fanfiction. This is because I want to write an original novel. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while (in fact, I tried it once, but…kinda didn’t like how it came out, so I scrapped it). So, I’m gonna try again. I intend to keep the same work schedule though, so each time I upload a new chapter of LMNT, it means I’m one chapter closer to finishing my novel, and when I start uploading two fanfics again, it means I finished it.
Until next time guys…