Chapter 12

I finally had a clear shot of Heartless Flint's weak spot on his chest and threw my keyblade to finish him off. The giant black creature then wailed as he pressed on a red button above us, causing the pipes above to begin shooting more laser beams before he disintegrated. By now Jim had finished fixing the ship and he was at the steering wheel, "Yes! Guys we are SO out of here!" Morph laughed hysterically, excited to leave.

"Ah, Jimbo!" Mr. Silver climbed on top of the ship through a rope. "Aren't ya the seventh wonder of the universe?"

I still had my keyblade with me, and Jim took out a gully that was on the ship and pointed at the cyborg, "Get…BACK!"

Mr. Silver looked up slowly from the tip of the sword; "I liked ya, lad." he approached slowly towards the brunette. "But I've let you come too far to stand between me and me treasure." Jim backed up against the steering wheel, gully still pointing at the cyborg's chest. Before Mr. Silver could harm him the laser beam struck the boat and I, along with Mr. Silver and Jim, was thrown overboard. I hung on the edge of an inclining ramp when I slid off it, while Jim was thrown off and was hanging on the edge of a protruding wall, yelling desperately as he tried to climb upwards. Mr. Silver was holding the edge of the ship, while Goofy helped Donald up from the side. "Hang on! Sora!" They called.

I climbed on top of the ramp, but I was still slipping from the metallic surface. Goofy and Donald made a chain from the side of the boat and I reached out to Donald's hand, grabbing hold of him. "Jim!" I cried as I saw the teen boy struggle in his grip.

The laser beam was disintegrating the boat slowly, but Mr. Silver, using all of his might, pulled it towards the ramp "Oh no you don't!" This had allowed more distance between Jim and me. The pink blob muttered something in despair to the pirate, and he noticed that my team and I were trying to reach out to Jim.

"Goofy," Mr. Silver said as he gave Goofy his hand. Goofy took it and made a longer chain of beings, trying to reach out for Jim.

"Reach out, Jim!" I cried as I tried extending my arms further, with my left foot tiptoeing on the edge of the ramp, nearly dislocating my muscles.

Jim was still two inches too far from us, "I can't!" the protruding wall then sank inwards, causing him to slip even lower but he still cling on to another ledge. Mr. Silver, now in a dilemma, looked at the treasure, then at Jim, and muttered "Oh, blast me for a fool!" he then let go of the boat full of treasure and then slid us down, long enough for me to catch Jim. He swung the chain of bodies upwards, and we climbed on top of the ramp. Jim looked at all of us gratefully, and then we saw the ship explode, and fragments of the treasure rained down on us.

We found our way out of the portal

"Silver! You gave up-" Jim was bowled over by Mr. Silver's decision.

"It's a lifelong obsession, I'll get over it," Mr. Silver waved it off. Morph coed and stroked the cyborg's cheek.

"Hey look, the galleon!" Donald pointed up at the R.L.S. Legacy, now headed to our direction to get us out of here.

"Aloha, Jimmy!" The robot called out as the ship began descending to pick us up. "Hurry people, we got exactly two minutes and thirty four seconds to planet's destruction!" The robot took out his calculator on his chest and indicated in a distraught manner. I wondered how did the robot had the doc and captain set free, but I sure was glad that it was done.

The doctor steered the ship abruptly when the captain commanded him to lean in on us. All of us climbed on board.

"Take us out of here, metal man!" The captain ordered while still gripping onto her injury.

"Aye, captain!" Ben called out as he pushed the levers forward, causing the ship to accelerate forward.

"Captain," Mr. Silver began as he took his hat off, walking up the stairs. "You dropped in from the heavens in time-"

"Save your clap-trap for the judge, Silver" the captain cut him off sternly and walked ahead.

The pirate just giggled and stroked his chin, looking at Morph nervously.

A flying piece of metal smashed onto a solar sail and it came crashing down. The pole smashed onto a laser cannon. As the solar sail became useless, the engine died down, but we were still moving. The android, using his calculator explains that the ship's engine is at 30% capacity. With that, the doctor calculated and gave a conclusion, "We'll never clear the planet's explosion in time."

Jim looked back at the portal, thinking fast, and then he looked at the broken cannon. "We gotta turn around." he leaped into action and took that broken part of the cannon.

"What?" the captain asked, confused.

"There's a portal back there, it can get us out of here!" Jim explained.

"Pardon me, Jim" the doctor said, feeling unsure, "but didn't that portal open on to a RAGING INFERNO?"

"Yes," Jim said as he took a metallic piece from the fragmented cannon. "But I'm gonna change that. I'm going to open a different door."

"Captain, really I don't know how it is possible," the doctor mumbled fast and nervously.

"Listen to the boy!" Silver walked down the stairs and approached Jim.

"One minute twenty nine seconds to planet's destruction." Ben was calculating away, his eyes flashing like a clock.

"What do you need Jim?" Silver asked, and my team ran towards their direction.

"Just some way to attach this!" Jim tried tying a rope around the engine to the board.

"Alright, stand back now," Mr. Silver changed his cyborg arm into a flamethrower and set it into luminous flame, aiming it at the small gap between the two metallic parts. "There you go," Mr. Silver lifted the board up, and Goofy gave a hand too. Morph joined in and lifted from the bottom mimicking "There you go."

Jim leapt on the new board, "Ok. Now, no matter what happens, keep the ship heading straight to that portal." he commanded us.

"Aye 'aye, Jim!" I saluted him heading towards the doctor.

Mr. Silver and Jim looked at each other, taking a moment, before Ben called out "58 seconds!" So Jim activated his new skyboard and flew off.

"You heard him!" Mr. Silver cried, "get this blasted heap turned 'round!"

The captain repeated Jim's order, asking the doc to turn the ship around. So the canine did as he was told, "Aye, captain."

Jim maneuvered the board to dodge every metallic piece that is falling apart from the planet, grinding off some and ducking a few. The engine of the board became faulty a few times and he had to keep on activating it by stomping on a button to ignite the fire.

The ship grinded on a few bulky pieces, the captain directing the doctor "Narrow on the right, the RIGHT!"

"I know, I know! Would you just let me DRIVE?" The doctor shouted back and took the wheel.

"25 seconds!" The robot warned, not really helping the situation.

At one point the engine of Jim's board completely shut down. I saw him helplessly as he frantically stomped on the ignition to get the board going but he was getting pulled down towards the gap by gravity. Donald tugged my jacket, "Use the Repair spell, Sora!" I took the parchment from Donald, completely unsure of my ability, but I shook my head as I called upon my keyblade and chanted "Repaira!" and a beam of light shot out from the tip of the key and it hit Jim's board, causing the engine to reignite and he flew upwards from that gap where he was falling.

Ben then counted down, "7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2…"

Jim pressed on Montressor spaceport on the green projection. The door quickly switched to that of the moon-shaped port as we exit the exploding planet, with detonations coming off the portal from behind us.

All of us cheered for surviving the expedition, Jim circled around us with his board cheering "Woohoo! Yeah!" then going out to give Mr. Silver, Donald, Goofy and I high fives. Mr. Silver commented "Didn't I say the lad had greatness in him?" Morph shapeshifted himself into different fireworks to celebrate Jim's success. The pirates that were captured also gave a loud cheer from the bottom deck. The doctor and the captain hugged each other affectionately. Jim hopped off his board into the deck and I heard from the captain that he was getting recommended for the Interstellar Academy for his bravery. I smiled at Jim, then looked down and took the stairs that lead to the hull.

"The mystery of the Organization is not solved yet…" I whimpered. Then I took a seat back at the same sack where I lie after comet chasing, covering my face with a hand. "And there's no sign of Riku or Kairi around either."

"Don't worry, Sora…" Goofy patted my back. "We'll be able to find more clues once we leave this place."

I heard footsteps from the staircase. "Sora?" Mr. Silver called when he saw me.

I looked away slightly, "What did that hooded guy want from me?"

"I don't know, lad. He didn't disclose anything." he shrugged his shoulders. "Listen, me apologies for hitting y'all back there." Morph cooed as he approached and stroked my cheek.

"It's ok," I flashed a big grin at Mr. Silver. "I just hope I can find my friends sooner or later. I don't know which part of the world they're in now."

"Oh, leaving soon, are ya, lad? Say, can ya help me get the long boat out? Gotta escape from the law ya know?"

I grinned, and pulled the lever down to open the trapdoor, and then undid the ropes. "Hurry, lad, we don't want them to notice us-" Mr. Silver whispered.

"You'd never quit, do you?" Jim sounded from behind.

"Oh, Jimbo." the pirate stood up. "I just wanted to make sure that the trapdoor works just fine and the last longboat still safe and secure," he then crouched down and did a loose knot.

Jim walked over, turned the lever up, then tied the knot securely, "There, that should hold it."

"I taught ya too well, boy." Mr. Silver laughed. "Now if you don't mind, we should sympathise with little Morphy here, he's just a free spirit like Sora. Being in a cage breaks his heart…" the little morph cooed as the pirate gave him a soft pat. We all remained silent for a while, then Jim turned the lever to open the trapdoor once again. Mr. Silver looked surprised, Jim then approached to undo his rope too.

"What say you ship out with us, lad?" Mr. Silver invited him to be travel buddies, "You and me, Hawkins and Silver," he gestured his arm out like he was laying out the future. Morph mimicked "ship out with us" before shapeshifting into a pirate's hat, and Mr. Silver continued "Full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!"

"You know," Jim took Morph off his head, "when I got on this boat," he tickled the shapeshifter and it chuckled and turned back into a pink blob, "I would've taken you up on that offer for a second." he looked at Morph, then looked away slowly, "But I met this old cyborg, and he taught me, I can chart my own course. That's what I'm going to do. I have a future" he looked at the old cyborg, grinning.

Mr. Silver giggled, "Look at ya, glowing like a solar fire. You're something special, Jim. You're going to rattle the stars…"

Jim squinted his eyes a bit, holding back his tears. The cyborg held his arms up for a hug and Jim gave him one affectionately. After a moment, the cyborg then coughed and backed off, "there's a grease in me cyborg eye."

Jim also wiped away his tears, whereas Morph began crying a river as he melted into a pool of tears, Jim catching hold of him, "Hey Morph, I'll see you around." Morph imitated him "See you around" and kissed him on the cheek and floated back to Mr. Silver. I couldn't help but to also wipe a tear of my eye seeing them both separate. They really had a strong bond between them, like father and son…this moment made me miss my friends all the more.

"Morphy," the cyborg commanded, "I need you to keep an eye on this pup. Will you do it?" The morph then straightened up, and said "aye 'aye sir!" stroking Mr. Silver's face before floating happily to Jim. "One more thing," the cyborg called out, and then tossed the remnants of Flint's treasure to Jim, "it's for your dear mother, to rebuild that inn of hers."

"Stay out of trouble, old scallywag." said Jim, saluting the pirate off.

Mr. Silver laughed full-heartedly, "Jimbo lad, when did I ever thought otherwise?" he said as the longboat exited the trapdoor, and I waved him off from above. I sighed out deeply and then looked at Jim, "You're going to miss him, aren't you?"

"Yeah." he replied, "He's like a father I've never had." He petted Morph as he smiled at me, approaching the lever as he shut it off. "So, after this whole adventure, where are you going to head off next?"

"I don't know, I'll just have to get on my Gummi ship to find out." I proceeded to walk upstairs, looking from the deck the ship docking at Montressor spaceport.

"So, I guess this is the part where we say goodbye, huh?" I said, having my hands held at my back. "I hope everything works out for you."

"Back at you, mate." said Jim, smiling, and we both embraced, Donald and Goofy joining the embrace a bit later. As I backed out, I told Jim to thank his mother for everything. Then, my keyblade appeared, and a whoosh of air began to swirl around me. The keyhole of this world appeared before my eyes. I took a stance and pointed my keyblade at the hole, locking it to prevent heartless from bringing this world into darkness.

"Well, that's that, Sora." Donald said, and we exited the ship. I looked back, and I could see Jim hugging his mother, both of them happy to see each other. I smiled, knowing that Jim's going to do just fine, and then we looked for where we've docked the Gummi ship.

Author's Note: really sorry for spamming emails if you've subscribed to this. Yep, this is pretty much where it ends. I personally have no idea if I should work on an epilogue of either Sora or Jim, rate and reviews are very much appreciated.