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[Carribean Sea ~ The Black Pearl]

Kuro hardly had to lift Noelle's leg to get her to fall, she was ready to collapse as it was. Hitting the deck seemed to effectively jolt her system and knock the air back into her lungs, making her gasp and cough. The head rush she felt was overwhelming, making her have to fight passing out as she kept as still as she could while lying on the deck. The agromancer tried to ignore the throbbing pain in her neck and ankle as her mind came back into working order, knowing they would be bruised. She also knew she was lucky the Replica hadn't crushed her trachea with how much force he came at her with--for a short second she thought he had. When her head cleared she could hear Ajora talking to Kuro Oni with disdain. Noelle thought it to be a typical move for Kuro; get under James's skin by hurting the people he cared about. Though it was a little strange that Ajora would really care, or that any of these villains would be working together. Well, it wasn't so far fetched for the Organization members, but what did the Replicas and Davy Jones have to do with any of this? One thing was clear, though--they were all on a leash and a certain someone held the reigns. But why? And why the hostage situation? It was obvious that the earthlings were missing a lot of key information, otherwise the situation might make sense. The trick was figuring out what that information was. That was never easy.

Noelle heard and felt Anthony before she saw him when he came to help her. She sat up with his aid, feeling dizzy at first. Her breathing was still a little ragged and she was trying to get over the shock and pain of the attack, but she was otherwise alright.

"Never been better." The small blonde grunted in reply as she gingerly touched the bruises already forming on her neck. She could almost hear Titan's snide comments in her head, Tough it out, you're pathetic. Noelle shot Anthony a small smile at the 'As much as you want to punch their faces in' comment.

You don't know the half . . .

The terramancer got to one knee, testing the stability of her right ankle. It was okay, a little sore, but it would hold her. When she got to her feet another wave of dizziness hit her, but she fought through it. She looked up and around at the others--someone else had to feel that things were a little weird. Or it could just be her, which was highly likely. She was used to over thinking things. Finally her gaze fell upon James and stayed there, the expression on her face reflecting the calculations going on in her head. Just two minutes ago Noelle wouldn't have wanted to go down without a fight--she wouldn't just let her spirit be dampened or snuffed out by some threats and pain. But now, despite her anxiety about what awaited them, she wanted to figure out what was going on, even if the likelihood of this was slim. She was tired of always being five steps behind.

"Yeah, I think it's the height thing." Noelle said to Anthony's last comment, her voice hoarse. Blinking, she tore her eyes from James and looked towards Sora crossing to the Dutchman.

"Here comes the fun part."

Jack turned and looked at those holding their spears trained on him with a weak smile, "Surely a few gentlemen can talk things through, sort some things?"

Jack's response was a sharp jab at his shoulder. At this he nearly jumped and hurried along, waiting for some of the others to cross between the ships before he recieved another poke, but in the back. He was not looking forward to seeing the slimy creature that was captain of the Dutchman.

{Kuro Oni, James, Auron : Caribbean Sea : The Black Pearl}

If Kuro Oni regarded Ajora's remarks and orders at all, he wouldn't show it. Though of course he still wanted Ajora's help, so he would obey for now...

"Yeah yeah... there won't be a scratch on them, not by my hand... at least not yet." He replied coldly, stepping into line to cross the plank behind James.

James couldn't believe he was actually relieved as Ajora basically told Kuro Oni to chill it. However, the fact that Ajora had mentioned helping the dark corsair made him wonder with what. However, that was soon put out of his mind as Ajora told them all to cross the plank and board the Dutchman.

'We don't really have a choice...'

He silently began to walk across the plank, only to notice that Kuro Oni had taken position right behind him while crossing. Obviously The Nightmare Dreadnought's intent was to isolate the corsair from his friends. He dreaded boarding this ship, it was home for sailors who were not yet ready to move to the other side, not that Davy Jones was ferrying them to the other side anymore. The ship smelled of rotten wood and mold, he could tell that even without his enhanced senses.

The Unsent Samurai had stood his ground after his first strike, all attacks would meet the same end, of that he was certain. As Ajora asked them all to cross the plank to board the Dutchman, Auron did so without complaint, his massive katana being carried behind him.

"Stay calm, we will get our chance." He told to anyone who might be listening.

[Anthony ~.~ Caribbean Sea ~.~ The Black Pearl -> The Flying Dutchman]

Anthony laughed at Noelle's last comment, but quickly stopped himself, thinking it was inappropriate to laugh during such a grim situation. He poked at the girl's side to get her attention, then said, "C'mon, Napoleon," he teased as he pulled the girl closer to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I think it's time we joined the fun." He pulled the girl along as he made his way over to the plank that connected the two ships.

Anthony looked down at the girl sympathetically, his heart going out to her as he was filled with empathy. "We'll get out of this mess," the boy said reassuringly. "We're the heroes of this story and we're destined for something much greater then dying in the middle of the Caribbean Sea..." He paused to smile at the girl, then continued jokingly, "Especially on a ship that looks like something that came out of a whale's butthole..."

[ Xaldin ; Kyle ; Sora ; Kuja ; Zexion ; Ajora : Caribbean Sea : Black Pearl ]

As they passed along to the Dutchman, Ajora merely kept his jovial smile up, his hands once more behind his back in a business-like manner. Yes, everything was going quite according to plan- how enjoyable.

Kyle was shaken from his reverie by Joe's grasp, which he almost instinctively attempted to pull away from, as if it were fire. He inhaled, albeit shakily, and began to walk forward, never locking eyes with Ajora or Zexion or... damn near anyone.

I brought him with us.

Almost immediately after any of them reached the other side, they were pushed and shoved, searched for weapons of any sort by the other crew members; if they had any obvious weapons, they were immediately taken away, like Louis' rifle and Auron's blade.

The Nobodies also vanished into Dark Corridors, leaving for some other place; the Negator, however, remained in the air, and the giant mage Heartless remained looming over Prote, as if daring the Geist to do anything other than what it was told.

As Jacob shouted, Ajora turned his attention to the dagger wielder, who moments later attempted to dash off the ship. Ajora never moved; rather, he merely rolled his eyes and sighed, an eerie purple gleam coming from his irises.

It was at that point, without word or warning, that a woman clothed in a dark blue outfit blurred into existence from above, delivering a swift and inhumanly powerful twisting-axe kick directly to the back of his head, slamming him face first into wooden deck with more than enough force to knock out an average human.

"Meet Celia," Ajora said as he looked toward Kyle, whose eyes once more seemed to both widen and narrow with shock. "Anyone else want to try and escape? I'm all for sport."

In the distance, another ship could be seen making it's way over, though this one appeared entirely normal. Some might immediately have recognized it as the Endeavor, the flagship of Cutler Beckett. But it was too far away at the moment to be of any concern.

[Carribean Sea ~ The Black Pearl]

"Wha--Napoleon? Whoahey, whatcha think your doin' there?" Noelle said, a little surprised by Anthony pulling her along. He's trying to keep you from getting into more trouble, you big dummy. she told herself. She really missed Titan's angry voice in her head. With a sigh, the blonde let herself be carted along to the Dutchman, arms crossed over her chest as if she had to prevent them from punching things on their own. As soon as they had gotten to the other side, however, she was roughly pulled from Anthony's grip and spun about by one of the creepy fish men. At first she shouted in protest, but with how easily the pirate was able to toss her around she thought it better to keep her comments and fists to herself. She didn't need any more bruises. The agromancer's vials and seed pouch were poked at but not taken, which she was glad for. She had quite a selection of seeds now, and she didn't want to have to start over.

Noelle turned and looked back across to the Pearl when she heard Jacob, eyebrows knit together in concern. When she saw Celia attack him her eyes grew wide and a hand covered her mouth in shock. Her expression of surprise was soon replaced by one of rage, her arms pressed to her side and fists clenched as she ground her teeth. Ajora's cool comments didn't help to calm her much.

" . . . Monster . . ." Was the only barely audiable whisper that made it past her lips, but it was clear that there was a great deal more for her to say.

Prote stood among the earthlings on the Dutchman, passing a glance to the Heartless looming at his back every once in a while. The coolness of the air in the storm was making it highly difficult to collect heat profficiently, so it was unlikely that he would be back in serious action any time soon. The appearance of the crew was beginning to trouble him greatly. None of his memories could support what he was seeing. Being close to Noelle, he reached out and touched her arm gently. The blonde jumped slightly, tearing her eyes away from Ajora to look back at the Geist as she tried to rub the warmth back into the spot Prote had touched.

"The crew . . . they are not human?" He asked in a low voice, bending slightly so she could hear him.

Noelle nodded and glanced around, "Doesn't look like it, huh? It's a long story. I can tell you later."

[Cory .:. Angel Grove .:. Outskirts]

Cory grinned as Cloud cut open the Heartless' side, deciding to take that as his own cue to do some heavy damage himself. The rogue burst off to the side, both Revblade held overhead as the Engine began to fall. Both Revblades began to roar loudly as they gathered energy, the ronin grinning before shouting, "God Cutter!"

Cory swung both blades, unleashing a massive crescent-shaped shockwave from them and into the side opposite of the one attacked by Cloud. The ronin grinned, thrusting the tips of his Revblades into the ground before sliding his hands in his pockets and watching the Heartless slowly vanish as it crashed into the ground. This was the first time Cory had the chance to use his Summon Drive in battle... and he was pleased with what it had to offer. Cerulean Samurai... I'll have to make sure to charge my Drive back up after this so I can use it again later... It was then that it hit him again. Not the hallucinations, but the sudden sick feeling. The feeling that he had simply attributed to his return from the dead, the one he thought had passed. He covered his mouth as he coughed, pulling his hand away to stare at the black phlegm he'd coughed up. It was clear now to the ronin that this was not a side effect of returning from the dead... There was something wrong.

But it would have to wait for later.

The ronin remained in his Drive state just in case something else happened and walked over to Cloud, leaving his Revblades where they were. "Any special reason you're here watching me throw building-sized Heartless around instead of helping the losers?"

[ Kyle ; Sora ; Kuja ; Ajora : Caribbean Sea : Black Pearl -> Brig of the Dutchman ]

"No? Didn't think so," Ajora said with an almost bored sigh; shrugging his shoulders he followed the last of them on-board, but did not seem to follow them to the brig.


The group had been herded into a set of cells (which were locked afterward) within the brig of the Dutchman, which was deep below the main deck. All they had for lighting were the lanterns that hung along the walls (just outside their reach, beyond the cell walls); standing guard were a number of the fish-crew, as well as Celia, who quietly remained leaning against the wall, and the Black Waltz Heartless, watching them all silently

Will was the only one absent from the group; for unknown reasons, he'd been taken away the moment they got on the ship. Of the group, James was also in an interesting position- he'd been granted a cell to himself, also for unspoken reasons.

There was nothing in the cells to use for, as Jack would call it, 'leverage'; there were only chains and bindings in James' cell.

Sora had, for the most part, been unable to remain still. Sometimes he'd sit down; sometimes he'd lean against the walls; sometimes, he'd just pace, or even grab the bars and shake them with frustration. He couldn't remember feeling this... powerless. Was he really so reliant on the Keyblade? He tried to remember when Riku had taken it from him, back at Hollow Bastion... He'd barely managed to scrape through, and even then it was only really due to the Beast's help.

His friends had given him strength- but then again, it had only been strength to resummon the Keyblade. Here, there was no Keyblade... he was just an ordinary boy. It wasn't easily comprehensible for him.

Kyle, on the contrary, had remained almost perfectly still: upon being forced into the cell, he'd taken a seat on the ground, leaning against the wall, stretched out one leg and kept one knee close, crossed his left arm over his chest and pulled his right hand up to his mouth, elbow on the left arm, as he simply stared forward, obviously contemplating something. His face was devoid of any 'emotion', unless one counted a stressed or focused face 'frustrated'. Every once in awhile, he'd take his hand away from his mouth, his fingers moving wildly as if to open and close a fist rapidly (the pinky finger seemed specifically jerky in its movements), but this only ever lasted for a few seconds.

"Ugggh, let us OOOOUT!!!" Sora shouted for the second time as he shook the bars angrily, earning nothing more than a jab from one of the fish-crewmen, causing Sora to growl and begin pacing again.

In the distance, a faint whistling could be heard, drawing nearer.

[Dawn & Elizabeth : Caribbean Sea : Brig of the Dutchman]

Dawn remained silent as they boarded the ship and being poked by the fish crew down to the cell they all shared, minus James and Will. She wrapped herself around herself as she moved around the cell. Her eyes drifting over where James was being held. She didn't know what to do or say. Her own state of mind shaken by not only by being captured, but by her surroundings.

She slowly wandered over to where Joe and Kyle were sitting, Dawn slowly sat with them, with her back as far away from the slimy fish wall as she could have it. She wrapped brought her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

She slowly laid her head on her knees, trying her best not to shake. After several moments she finally spoke, "Wh-what do they plan to do to us....?"

Elizabeth looked from Dawn when she spoke to the guards that patrolled the brig. The same question weighted on her mind as well, along with another one.

"Hey you!" Elizabeth yelled out at one of the guards from the bars, "Where'd they take Will?"