Kingdom Hearts II: Home Sweet Sanctuary

Chapter 28: Timeless River

Oh, I see..." She looked to the ground.

"What should I do?" I blinked, "Is there anything I can do...?"

"I'm not sure but all we can do is hope for the best and believe in the light." She said.

I sighed in worry but I still smiled, "Thanks, Queen Minnie. By the way, where's Sora, Donald, and Goofy?"

"They went to get Merlin-"

Just as she said that, Merlin appeared with the boys. After Sora dashed towards me a tight hug and after he scolded me for running off (which I tried to keep myself from laughing), Merlin summoned a strange door. He told us that something was causing trouble in the world the door lead to. He warned us not to do anything to alter the world. Sora opened the door and we all stepped through. There was some shaking and then something forced us forward. I looked down at the ground to see was a gray color. That's when I looked all around the area to see everything was black and white.

"Hey, look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" We looked at the direction Goofy pointed and saw the large stone sitting on 4 small rocks. Sora then looked at himself.

"What's going on? Everything's black and white." Sora said. I looked at Donald and Goofy and stifled a laugh. They both looked so funny looking. I also notice my clothes were all black and white and were much more simpler.

"Hey, this is kinda like... um... uh..." Donald stammered.

"Déjà vu?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, that's it!" Donald said.

"Have you guys been here before?" I asked. Just then, someone ran past us. I couldn't believe it. It was Pete! He turned to us.

"Hey you! Seen any bad guys around here?" Pete asked. We all pointed to him. This got him mad. "Why I oughta..." We got ready to fight. "Bah! I don't have time to waste on punks like you. So, I guess I'll go easy on ya!" Pete runs off toward of to the pier.

"Well, there's our villain." Sora said. While Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement, I wasn't sure. There was something off about the Pete we had just seen. We followed him to the pier.

"What's with you squirts? You got some kinda bone to pick with me?" Pete asked, annoyed.

"More than one!" Sora said.

"Them's fighting words!" Pete said. That's when the sound of a whistle interrupted the argument. Pete started going off, but we stepped in front of him.

"Not so fast!" Sora said.

"Yeah!" Donald said. We fought Pete and my thought that he wasn't the same Pete grew as we defeated him rather easily. Not only that but while we fought, anytime he was hit he'd panic and run like a scared little girl. He also didn't call any Heartless to back him up.

"What's you punks' beef with me anyway?" He cocked his head to a side, as if not recognizing us. "Who are ya? You new around here?" Pete asked. Now I was positive this wasn't the same Pete we knew.

"Cut the act." Sora said. Again, some kind of whistle sounded. Pete tried to get up, but a large cracking sound indicated he hurt something and fell backwards in pain.

"You know, somethin' doesn't seem quite right here. Are you sure you're Pete?" Goofy asked.

"Well, of COURSE I'm Pete. I'm the captain of the steamboat. So stop botherin' me, see?" Then there was another large crack. "So hit the road! I gotta go find the little runt what stole my steamboat!" Pete exclaimed.

"Gawrsh, maybe we made a mistake." Goofy said.

"I'm starting to think the same thing. He hasn't even called any Heartless." Sora pointed out.

"We own him an apology." I said.

"Sorry we attacked ya like that, Capta'n Pete." Goofy said.

"Oh yeah? Well, if you're really sorry, then go find my steamboat." Pete said.

"Y-yes sir!" Sora said. Again, there was a sharp cracking sound and poor Captain Pete slumped to the ground in pain.

"Ooh, my achin' back." Pete complained. We decided to both look for the door and Pete's steamboat. We went back up to Cornerstone Hill to see 4 strange doors. Then, a strange floating theater appeared. Donald pulled on the rope and the curtains opened. It revealed that shortly before we arrived, Heartless had gone through the doors. We need to get rid of those Heartless before they cause any damage to this world. We managed to get rid of the Heartless in each of the little places the doors held. Each time we got rid of the Heartless, 'Mickey' would come and shake my and Sora's hand. After that, Donald opened the last theater to reveal Pete was the one who was causing trouble.

"Pete tricked us!" Donald exclaimed.

"Donald, something still doesn't click with the Pete here." I said.

"The Pete here did have an attitude, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy." Sora said.

"Look!" Goofy exclaimed. We looked to see the Pete we knew looking over the area.

"Now that castle's as good as ours!" Pete exclaimed. He ran off. Then, we discovered the Cornerstone of Light was stolen! The Disney castle would be filled with darkness if we didn't get it back. He hurried after Pete. We followed him to the pier to see the other Pete was there too. Evil Pete was using Good Pete's steamboat to steal the Cornerstone. Evil Pete got the boat running and started hurling stiff at us. Me and Sora would counter it and send I back to hit Pete. We knocked him out and the boat swung around to us. All of us struck the wooden cage that held the Cornerstone and broke the cage wide open. The Evil Pete headed back to the doorway and the Good Pete followed him.

"Do you think the Cornerstone will be alright if we leave it here?" I asked.

"It'll be fine." Sora said. We hurried to find the 2 Petes fighting. We needed to stop him. Fighting Pete was no big challenge. The real challenge was when Pete would change the scenery to one of the scenes from the doors. We finally came to the construction site scene. The rafter we were on would always propel us into midair and we would attack Pete while we were hanging there.

"Sora. together!" I said. He nodded. When we got propelled in the air, we both attacked Pete and defeated him. Pete, in frustration, summoned the door he had used to get here.

"Sora! Piri!" Donald shouted.

"We know!" Sora said. We pointed our Keyblades at the door and locked it.

"Would somebody tell me what's been goin' on here? Who was that creep, anyways?" the good Pete asked.

"Hello? That creep was-" I slapped my hand over Sora's mouth. "you from the future!" Sora said. Luckily that part was muffled.

"Sora, shut up!" I said. Pete apologized for making us go through everything and actually let us use his steamboat. We used it to get the Cornerstone back to the hill. "Well, the caste should be safe."

"Wait! As long as were here..." Donald muttered.

"Donald!" the 3 of us exclaimed. Me and Sora each grabbed one of our duck friend's arms and threw him through the door. We came back to the Disney Castle to see the thorns had disappeared. Daisy soon came into the Hall and Donald was happy to see her. She scolded him for forgetting about a date that they had. She started chasing around the Hall and we all had a good laugh. Suddenly, the Cornerstone started glowing. Together, me and Sora opened a new path. Before we left the castle, I sensed Riku's aura and looked around. Then I spotted a black coat and he went into a portal. I smiled.

"Riku is with us..."