Link to Life Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Stardom Key</i>

“What do you mean you’ve got to leave?”

Rika and Kuro sat down on a couch in Rika’s home as their parents informed them of a departure. Sora still retained his youthful nature and looks. His hair is as spiky as ever and still wore oversized shoes. THAT Rika couldn’t figure out why. Kairi was as beautiful as ever with her hair just a wee bit longer. And Riku looked exactly like he did years ago. “Well, Rika, we have to go meet with King Mickey,” Kairi explained.

“Yeah, but why do you have to see him?” she asked.

“Let’s just say that it’s very important,” Sora said.

“Saving the universe work, huh?” Kuro deadpanned.

Riku ruffled his son’s hair. “Heh, my son’s got a good head on his shoulders.”

Sora leaned down toward Rika, and whispered, “Still doesn’t know about the magazines, eh?” Rika giggled, shaking her head. “Thought as much. And everyone says I’m the oblivious one.”

“I’m sorry, you two,” Kairi said. “But I’m afraid you’ll have to-”

“Stay here,” Rika said, pokerfaced.

“Where it’s safe,” Kuro continued monotonously.

Sora scratched the top of his head awkwardly. “Well, that basically sums things up simple and clean-like.”

“I’d like to counter that the second you guys leave that something bad is gonna have to Destiny Islands,” Rika argued. “I just have a bad feeling about this…”

“And we’ve got to stop letting you watch Star Wars movies,” Sora said obliviously, patting his daughter’s head.

“And you call ME the oblivious one?” Riku muttered, arching an eyebrow.

Both Kuro and Rika sighed. “Fine.”

“Take care of her, kid,” Riku said to Kuro.

“But touch my daughter and I’ll have your lungs!” Sora hissed sinisterly, holding up a pair of scissors. Kuro gulped, and slowly nodded.

Rika stood up and hugged both of her parents tightly. “Don’t die,” she said simply, suppressing a cry.

“Come on, Rika!” Sora chuckled at his daughter’s paranoia. “It’s just a quick trip to Disney Castle! If anything happens, we’ll make a quick call back here.” Rika motioned her head up and down, releasing Sora and Kairi. “We’ll see you soon,” he said softly, giving her a kiss on the top of the head. Rika and Kuro waved farewell to their parents from behind the house’s window as their Gummi ship took into the sky and out the atmosphere. Rika sighed, hoping only for her parents and godfather to have a safe journey.

“Say, want to play spin the bottle?”

SLAP!

LTL-LTL-LTL</i>

Dear Daff-ster,

What’s up, Duck? How goes running the cartoons? I’m sure everyone’s acting…Looney. Anyway, I have to let you know I’m worried. A bunch of stars has been blinking out faster than Hollywood cranking out poorly-made movies based on old television shows. I can only guess this has some menacing force is threatening the universe. Nothing new. I went to check things out. But I need you and Porky to take care of something for me: Take a ship and head toward a world called Traverse Town. You should be able to locate a guy named No Limit. Real imaginative name, huh? Normally we wouldn’t be able to reach Traverse Town, but I already unlocked a path for you to take so don’t worry about that. Point is: Find No Limit, and he’ll tell you the rest of the story. I would tell you it, but I think I might be being followed. Toodles! So long, Screwy, see you in St. Louie!

The Academy Award-Winning Rabbit, Bugs Bunny.

P.S.

Lie to Lola for me. Lie like the DEAD!

“This doesn’t look good…” Melissa said.

The four Looney Tunes returned to the forest studio set as Daffy read the letter to them in perfect imitation of Bugs’ voice. Lola swiped the letter from the duck, and reread it. “I just wish that rabbit didn’t always take things into his own hands,” Lola sighed.

“Gee…” Porky said, putting his hand close to his mouth. “I hope he’s all ri-ri-ri, not hurt in any way.”

“Bunny Boy’s off to save the universe?” Daffy sulked. “Of course. He one-ups me again.”

“Daffy, this is serious,” Melissa scolded, and turned to her friend Lola. “Don’t worry; Bugs can handle himself.”

Lola shook her head sadly. “It’s not that I’m worried about him; it’s that he was so sure of himself,” she explained. “It’ll be his undoing… And, I also want him to know that we’re always here to back him up.”

“Of course, Lola,” Melissa nodded. “But he’s Bugs Bunny! Would you expect anything less than overconfidence?”

Lola gave a soft laugh. “Good point.”

“D-D-Don’t worry, L-Lola!” Porky said boldly. “You can t-t-trust us to find B-B-Bugs!”

“I’d rather he stay M.I.A!” Daffy scowled, crossing his arms, and turned away. “We got some cartoons to make!”

“Daffy…” Lola whispered angrily, glaring daggers at the little black duck – literally. Daggers suddenly appeared and were launched toward Daffy, who gulped.

“Uh-oh.” He yelped as he dodged the knives as they stuck to the wall he was standing by, leaving him in an extremely uncomfortable position. “Okay! Okay! I’ll go search for Bugs!”

“Thank you,” Lola smiled deviously. “But just to make sure you do what the letter says, I’m gonna have these guys journal your travels.”

After Porky pulled away enough daggers from the wall to allow Daffy to fall down in a heap, the duck looked left and right around the set, but didn’t spot a single person. “Uh…is your brain all right there, rabbit chick? ‘Cause I don’t see-”

“HIIIIIIIII!!” three anthropomorphic creatures hanging upside down dropped an inch before Daffy’s face.

“AHHHHHHHHH!!” Daffy screamed as he zoomed into the air, slamming into the ceiling and getting his head stuck there.

The three creatures landed on their feet. They all had black fur, white gloves, and faces with red noses that are similar to a clown’s and were brother and sister. The oldest was also the tallest, and he only wore a pair of brown slacks. The middle child had his tongue stuck out, and wore a blue shirt and a backward red cap. The youngest child was the smallest, and wore a pink skirt and had a yellow flower to tie her hair…ears…whatever together.

“Who are you?” Porky asked as he grabbed a latter to pull Daffy out of the ceiling.

“We thought you’ll never ask,” the youngest sibling smiled.

“We’re the Warner Brothers!” the oldest and middle child declared as they placed their arms around each other’s shoulders.

“And the Warner Sister!” the youngest added.

“Yakko!” the oldest shouted.

“Wakko!” the middle child boomed.

“Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca…the Third,” the youngest smiled cutely. “But you can call me Dot!”

“Oooooooh no!” Daffy snapped, empting the dirt out of his ears. “Not them! Anybody but them! Why do you think the studio keeps them locked in the Warner Tower?!”

“Aw,” Yakko, Wakko, and Dot pulled Daffy into a tight embrace. “You’re our new special friend!”

“Just shoot me…” he bemoaned.

“Well,” Porky said to the girls. “We better ge-ge-ge, leave and get to Traverse Town.”

“Be careful, boys,” Lola said.

“And don’t do anything stupid,” Melissa sighed.

Daffy unhappily led Porky and the Warners out of the set. “So how are we get-get-get, arriving at our destination?” Porky asked.

“Why, with my spaceship,” Daffy answered simply.

“You have a spaceship?” Porky deadpanned.

“Of course, Eager Young Space Cadet. I am, after all, DUCK DODGERS OF THE TWENTY-FOURTH AND A HALF CENTURY!!” Daffy roared mightily as he held his finger up high in the air and struck a heroic pose with a bright searchlight shooting out in the background.

“Where did the light come from?” Dot asked.

“Yo!” Wakko waved to you, the readers.

“Ye-Ye-Yeah,” Porky rolled his eyes. “You stole it from the set, didn’t you?”

“Right!” Daffy smiled as he pulled out a remote with a big red button on it, and pushed the button. The door to one of the sets’ slowly raised open with a groan as mist flooded out from the inside. Inside were a launch bay, and a balcony control area where an anthropomorphic brown coyote was at, and a hi-tech, long, blue, futuristic spaceship with the name “S.S. Dodgers” engraved on its side.

“Faboo…” Wakko whistled, gaping in awe.

Daffy walked over to a red telephone and picked up the receiver. “Hello? Daffy Duck/Duck Dodgers to Wile E. Coyote! Whenever you’re ready, let us know!” Daffy placed the receiver back in its place, and rested casually as he examined his finger-feathers. After about five seconds, he pulled the receiver up again. “Hurry up! We don’t have all day! Why won’t you answer?! What’s the matter?! Cat got your tongue?!”

“Eh, coyotes don’t talk, Daffy,” Porky said obviously.

“So can’t duck and pigs, but here we are,” Daffy shrugged, setting the receiver back.

“Mheep, mheep!”

“YAHHHHHHHHHH!!” Daffy screamed as he, once again, blasted to the ceiling again. Behind him was a large blue and purple roadrunner with a few long feathers jutting out the top of his head and tail.

“Hey, Roadrunner,” Porky greeted the bird. The Roadrunner held out his wing and handed the pig a piece of paper. “Thanks.”

“Mheep, mheep!” The Roadrunner nodded as he took off with a trail of smoke.

Porky’s eyes looked back and forth on the paper as he read it. “Hey look, Daffy! Wile E. says we have to wa-wa-wa, use our feet to get to the ship.”

“Fantastic,” Daffy groaned as he held up his left thumb, his head still impaled through the ceiling.

Daffy, Porky, Yakko, Wakko, and Dot seated their bottoms into their seats of the S.S. Dodgers. Daffy had put on a green space jumpsuit with blue gloves, boots, and belt. And Porky also change outfits as he switched into a purple number with a hood pulled over his head, and a little antenna ending with a yellow ball bobbling on top. Porky pushed a few button on his control panel, and nodded. “All right. We’re ready to g-g-g, to take off.”

“Then let’s fire this baby up!” Daffy/Dodgers exclaimed, slamming his foot to the petal to the metal – but the ship sank backwards into the ground. “Whoops!” he chortled awkwardly. “Had the silly thing in reverse.” After a quick stick shift, the S.S. Dodgers took off into space, and in for an adventure it’ll never forget.

DI-DI-DI</i>

Rika sat on her bed, feeling useless that her parents were off fighting off a new evil in the universe, and was useless to do anything about it. Being sick of the uselessness, she jumped out of her bed and walked out of her house. She just needed some air. It was a dark night. A very abnormal dark night. There was no tropical wind. No hot air. As a matter of fact, there was no sound at all and Rika could feel a chill down her spine. “What’s up with this weather?” she mumbled as a breath of hot air showed. “What the…?” Rika breathed out again, seeing the breath that could only happen in the coldest times. “That’s so serious freaky-doo. Jeez, where is everyone?”

“Gone,” a sinister voice said, seemingly out of nowhere. Rika gasped, her head darted around to find the source of the voice. But she saw nothing, but her own breath.

“Show yourself!” Rika shouted bravely even though she was terrified inside. “And what do you mean ‘gone’?”

“Calm yourself, is that any way to greet your father’s old friend?”

“Old friend…?” Rika repeated. “Who are you?”

“Didn’t he tell you? I’m hurt. After all, if it hadn’t been for me, he wouldn’t be alive today.”

“What?” She shook her head, utterly confused.

“No matter. Now, after all these years my revenge will be complete!” A huge green fire erupted from the ground, startling Rika. Emerging from the flames was a dark figure. Rika could hardly draw breath as she quickly realized who the figure was from the description her father gave to her as he told of his previous adventures.

“Maleficent.”

An evil witch with pale, green skin in a raven black robe, horns jutting from the top of her head, and wooden staff in her left hand. “What…what are you doing here?” Rika whispered, feeling nothing be dread in her heart. “I thought you died!”

Maleficent scoffed. “If I had died, why have I returned? And now I will have my revenge. Where is your father?”

That gave Rika great relief. She didn’t know where he was. “Sorry to disappoint, Maleficent,” she smirked boldly. “But my parents and Riku have already left.”

“What?” Maleficent snarled. “They think that there’s an evil greater than I?!”

“You seriously got to get your ego deflated,” Rika said, sticking out her tongue and blowing a raspberry.

“You impotent…! No matter. I shall have my revenge. And you all will soon bow to me!” the dark leader of the Heartless laughed evilly. “Now this world will end. Such a shame that my enemy’s child will go with it!” She cackled maliciously as she disappeared in another blast of green flames. But she left behind a present: a horde of Shadow Heartless.

“Heartless…” Rika gasped quietly. “They’re back.” She stepped backwards, bit by bit, and broke into a run. The Heartless weren’t going to let her get away that easily, as they took chase. Come on, Rika! Remember what you learned! she thought bitterly to herself. Rika spun around in a dime, and held out her hands side-by-side. “FIRE!” she exclaimed, channeling the magic in her heart. But only a little spark fell out of her palms, landed on the ground, and fizzled out. If the Heartless could laugh, they would have.

“Aw, crap!” Rika ran away again, the Heartless not far behind. She looked back for only a moment, but tripped and fell to the ground. She turned around just as one Shadow pounced. She held up her arm to defend herself.

A bright light exploded around her. She had to shut her eyes from such a light. Rika felt great warmth that she had only felt once before – during her dream. When the light disappeared, Rika opened her left eye, then her right, and lowered her arm. All the Heartless seemed to have been vanquished. “Either I pulled a Houdini, or that light killed all those Heartless. What the hell happened?” Rika shook her head, but was relieved that the Heartless were gone. When she tried to rest her body by leaning backwards on her arms, her left hand collided with something metallic. Barely addressing it, she picked the metallic object up to see what it was.

“A Keyblade,” she mused, and set it down again. Rika’s eyes shot wide open, bugging out. She did a double-take as she pulled the Keyblade to her eyesight again. It was an exact duplicate of Sora and Mickey’s, but hers had a whitish blade and black hilt, and its keychain was of a rabbit’s head instead of King Mickey’s. “That dream must’ve been like a test or something for Keyblade wielders…” Rika whispered to herself as she pondered for a possible explanation. Suddenly, she smirked. “Wait ‘til Kuro gets a load of this.”

The ground rumbled beneath her bum, shaking furiously as Rika attempted to stand up again. “Oh, what now?” she griped. Rika looked down at the sandy ground as a silvery portal seemed to appear. Rising from it was a monstrous beast – the very same beast from her test dream. Rika gulped nervously. Sure, she was able to take that dinosaur rip-off in her dream, but this was real. And the real Rika wasn’t a match for a monster like this. She was going to be die.

Aw, for God’s sakes! Just jump in to attack!

“Oh, great. Now I’m going insane,” Rika declared.

Insane my ass! Just avoid the tail and go for the throat!

Rika raised an eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I’m not going insane. Probably just a coping mechanism-” She yelped, jumping away as the monster swung its tail at her. “Maybe I should stop talking now.”

Rika leaped high into the air, landing on the beast’s arm and stabbed her Keyblade down. It released a high shriek of pain, thrashing about and threw Rika back to the ground. The beast charged its jaws forward, attempting to devour her. But Rika’s reaction was quick; she dashed in, and slid on her knees as she avoided its teeth barely – like a game of limbo. And with a final thrust, she impaled its neck with her weapon. It cried tremendously, stomping backwards with the Keyblade still speared into its throat as blots of silvery blood leaked from the wound, until the monster finally dissipated into nothing.

Rika smiled with relief, but a puzzled look dawned on her face as she saw a little white orb floated away into the sky. “What was that?” she asked herself as she walked over to her Keyblade that dropped when the monster was vanquished. “That wasn’t a heart…” Rika picked up her Keyblade. “And what was that voice earlier?” She looked down at the Keyblade, and smirked. “It wasn’t you, was it?” She chuckled.

Suddenly, the ground shook wrathfully again. Rika almost lost her balance, but a hand reached out and caught her arm. She looked up the arm to see its owner. “Kuro!” she exclaimed cheerfully, throwing her arms around him for a hug, and then slapping the back of his head. “I could’ve used your help back there!”

“I know…” Kuro said awkwardly. “Sorry…and OW! You’re strong for a girl!” He shook his head. “This isn’t the time! The Heartless are attacking the Islands! We’ve got to get outta here ASAP!”

“Who are you calling a sap?” Rika sniffed, feeling undignified.

“I meant ‘as soon as possible’!” Kuro groaned, rolling his eyes. He jabbed his left thumb behind himself, where a Gummi ship was floating. “I brought the extra Gummi ship!”

“You mean they’re going to destroy our world?” Rika said. “We can’t let them do that! Look!” She held up her Keyblade. “See? I have a Keyblade, so we can seal the world’s Keyhole! I’m not going to let them do this to our home!”

Kuro shook her shoulders. “Get a grip, Rika! There’s no time left for that! There’s nothing more we can do!” He dragged a struggling Rika into the Gummi ship. But before he could get in, a group of Heartless was marching to them. “I’ll hold them off!” Kuro yelled. “You get going!”

“You idiot!” Rika shouted. “You don’t stand a chance!”

Kuro just smirked arrogantly. “Says who? You got the Keyblade, Rika. They’re going after you, anyway. I love ya, Rika.”

“I’m not letting you die here!” Rika said, but Kuro shoved her inside and sealed the door shut. Rika continued screaming from inside, pounding against the door’s window as the ship took off.

Kuro stared as the ship’s engines were about to fire up, and turned to the Heartless. “Sorry, boys. Your dessert is gone.” He held up his arms. “But your main course is still here!”

“YOU DUMBASS!!” Rika screamed. “YOU HAVE TO BE A HERO?!” Tears dripped from her eyes as she continued slamming her fists against the door until they bled.

Rika sank to her knees, crying. Her home was going to be destroyed and her best friend was down there. She started feeling the uselessness again. She couldn’t do anything right, even with the Keyblade. She was useless.