Chapter Text
Through the evening sky the ship soared, its destination long forgotten to the sheer intensity of the feud on board.
“Just gimme the map back, an’ I won’t hurt ye!” came a heavy, guttural voice. Brandishing a makeshift cutlass from what appeared to be an interchangeable, mechanical arm, the cyborg snarled at his opponent, his build as heavy as his voice.
“We’ll never give you the map!” Sora grunted, sweat trickling down from his brow. Wielding a two foot long metal key of all things as a weapon, this teenager had infuriated John Silver to no end, simply for turning up and impeding his plans. All he wanted was that map, but it seemed as though everyone and everything was getting in his way. First the cabin boy, Jim Hawkins, who had cottoned onto his motley plan in the first place, and now these three – a boy, a dog, and a duck, who had arrived literally out of nowhere, and sided against him!
“Ye’ll die by those words, boy!” Silver growled, throwing out his other arm and hitting the obnoxious duck in the face. “All I want’s me map! And then I’ll be outta ye hair!”
“Well you’re not getting it!” Sora cried back, but Silver had an easy hundred pounds on him and the ship’s edge was creeping ever closer. "Jim! Any luck?!” He glanced back to his temporary accomplice.
“I-I can’t find it!” Jim yelled, scanning desperately through what seemed to be a 3D space map, pulsating from a glittering golden ball in his hands. “Just keep holding him off, got it Sora?!”
"Hah, no biggie then!" Sora panted. Gritting his teeth from the effort, he strained, wrenched, and excavated a pocket of hidden strength from somewhere, pushing the cyborg back. Wielding his Keyblade in both hands, he leapt forward and slashed with it, knocking Silver away.
“Why ye little-” Silver seethed, wiping fresh blood from his cheek. His robotic eye glowing red, he yelled. “Now ye’ve gotten me mad!”
Sora attempted another slash with his keyblade, but Silver's cutlass cancelled him out effortlessly. He couldn't react in time to stop the foot. A heavy boot to the gut sent him tumbling across the deck, crashing into the wooden railings at the ship's edge. Sora's head swam dangerously as Silver's blurry mirage stomped towards him.
“Now…” He threatened, the blade of his cutlass tracing a line of blood on Sora's neck. “What’s te stop me guttin' ye?!"
Sora scrabbled helplessly against the columns. This wasn't ideal. He was just supposed to hold the guy up for a few minutes while Jim found out where they were going. Why were people always trying to kill him, no matter where he turned up?
His best efforts to shove the pirate away were coming up empty, meanwhile Jim seemed to remain clueless about his situation, still poring over vague green shapes in the distance. Goofy came to the rescue, slamming Silver with his shield, but the man didn't even flinch. Maybe it was because he was half robot, or maybe he was just that huge, but either way things were looking pretty bleak.
"Ye should've just stayed away, boy," Silver snarled, applying just enough pressure with his cutlass to eke more blood out of Sora's neck. "Just left well enough alone. Then I wouldn't have te carve ye up like the rat ye are."
Goofy tugged at Silver's shoulder in an attempt to drag him away, but was launched skywards when Silver countered by swinging his arm outwards.
It was getting hard to breathe now. His Keyblade was out of reach, so he couldn't even whack the guy and catch his breath. With Goof and Donald out of commission, and Jim still busy, he guessed he was just going to have to sit here and flail.
"Any last words, boy?" Silver's robot eye glinted dangerously, "But not just yet. Trust me, I'll be taking my time with you. Showin' up here, ruinin' me plans, I think ye deserve a nice slow, painful r-"
"Hey Silver! Want the map?!" Jim suddenly butted into the conversation. A look of victory shone in his eyes, as the little golden ball sparkled in his hand. Silver took the bait almost instantly, pulling away from Sora and lunging.
"Give it here!" He cried, charging towards Jim with all the fury and steam of a train, meanwhile Sora could finally breathe again. Every inhale was another blade against his throat, but he hacked, spluttered, and flailed for his Keyblade all the same. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but he needed to stop Silver getting that ball somehow.
Hopefully Jim had a plan here...
"Well go and get it!" Jim cried, launching the ball into the endless skies. It was better than no plan, at least.
“No!” Silver gasped, crashing against the wooden columns. Three pairs of eyes scanned the ether for a golden gleam to streak across the skies, but it still hadn't appeared.
And then of course, Silver's day could only get worse;
"What a lovely gift." Came another voice from nowhere, and a mousey haired man descended from the clouds themselves, hanging upside down from the supporting beam of his own ship with the little ball ensnared in his left hand.
"You're kidding me." Silver's face dropped.
“I presume you no longer want this?” He asked. Wearing a fancy gold tunic, dark pants and a smirk, the man examined the map in his hand. “Much appreciated! I’ll be taking it then!”
Cocking a single-barrelled shotgun, he took careful aim and loosed a round, shattering the main mast of Silver's ship and sending it crashing to the floor.
“BALLLTHIIIIERRRRRR!” Silver roared, flailing his limbs in fury and charging back to the ship’s wheel. The damage to the mast was too severe however, and the ship had nowhere to go but down.
"Well don't just stand there!" Silver barked at Jim and his 'acquaintances'. "Give me a hand al-"
But Jim and his acquaintances were nowhere to be seen. Faced with the solitary option of a crash landing, Silver grimaced, swore, and prepared for the worst.
And his anguished roar rumbled through the purpling skies. It really had been a bad day for the sky pirate.
But what had happened to Sora and the others?