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Luminary Uprise 17

Deviation Actions

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A Kingdom Hearts II fan fiction with krazy krossovers
WARNING: there’s more singing in this one!

17: You Can't Stop the Beat

“How…what…why…” Myed looked like he was about to hyperventilate. “No music? I think my new heart is about to have cardiac arrest. Seriously, I’m gonna die!”
“Calm down,” said Riku. “We need to think about this rationally. Obviously, Xehanort’s behind this, right?”
“Of course,” said Sora. “But he couldn’t do it without Triton’s permission. I think we should go talk to Triton about this.”
“You expect a follower of Xehanort to listen?” asked Riku.
“Well…” said Sora, “maybe not to me…but won’t any father listen to his daughter?”
“All right,” said Ariel, “I’ll talk to him. I can’t believe Daddy let this happen!”

They set out for Triton’s palace.
“We’re not really going to follow this stupid ban, are we?” asked Myed. “I mean, especially now that we know music strengthens hearts…”
“That’s a good point,” said Merlin. “I say we pass the time by singing.” He cleared his throat.

“Who can say where the road goes,
Where the day flows? Only time.
And who can say if your love grows,
As your heart chose? Only time.”

The Prince joined in:

“Who can say why your heart sighs,
As your life flies? Only time.
And who can say why your heart cries
When your love lies? Only time.”

At last they reached Triton’s palace. Sora and Ariel entered, telling the others to stay outside.
Triton sat on his throne, looking as regal as ever.
“Your majesty!” Sora called out, bowing.
“Daddy,” Ariel growled, “we need to talk. Why did you let this ban on music happen?”
“It is necessary for the betterment of the universe,” Triton droned.
Ariel turned to Sora, worried. “He doesn’t sound…like himself.”
“Your majesty?” Sora asked. “Are you alright?”
“Do not concern yourself with anything but the darkness,” Triton said, completely deadpan.
Ariel leaned over to whisper to Sora. “There is a yellow light in the centers of his eyes,” she told him. “I’ve seen that once before. I saw it in Eric’s eyes when Vanessa hypnotized him.”
Sora knew there was no reasoning with a hypnotized man, so he simply turned about and left the throne room, Ariel in tow, without another word.
“Darkness is the answer!” Triton, or the shell that was Triton, called after him.

“What happened?” Donald asked.
“He’s hypnotized,” said Sora. “It’s no use.”
“Well,” said Goofy, “we could always try and go find who’s hypnotizin’ him! I’ll bet they’re hidin’ in Ursula’s old lair! Nowhere else is creepier!”
“You have a point,” said Sora. “Let’s go.”

On the way, Luxord wouldn’t stop humming.
“If you’re going to hum,” said Peter Pan, “then why don’t you just sing?”
“I haven’t sung in years,” argued Luxord. “Besides, I can’t carry a tune to save my own soul.”
“Oh, come on,” teased Peter.

“Sing us a song, you’re the piano man,
Sing us a song tonight!
Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody,
And you’ve got us all feelin’ all right!”

Luxord rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to play that card,” he sighed. He cleared his throat and began to sing.

“Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.”

After watching Luxord for a while, Xigbar softly took over the next verse:

“I came across a fallen tree.
I felt the branches of it looking at me.
Is this the place we used to love?
Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of?”

Xaldin and Saïx somehow felt compelled to join in:

“Oh simple thing, where have you gone?
I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.
So tell me when you’re gonna let me in,
I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.”

Sora noticed a look of definite pain on Xigbar’s face as he sang,

“And if you have a minute, why don’t we go
Talk about it somewhere only we know?
This could be the end of everything,
So why don’t we go
Somewhere only we know?”

“I’m sorry,” said Xigbar, “I can’t do this anymore. Let’s stop.” He swam ahead of the crowd.
“What got into him?” asked Hayner.
Xaldin sighed. “Of the six of us apprentices, he was the only one who was married. When we lost our hearts, Braig had to leave Deminé behind forever in order to avoid hurting her. I sometimes think he wishes he could go back to his old life in Radiant Garden, as Braig, with his job, his home, his motorcycle, and especially his beloved wife. I guess we reminded him of it a little too strongly.” Xaldin paused. “But I want to go back to normalcy as well. And I would guess the same of Saïx and Luxord. Why else would they have joined the song?”
“That’s so sad,” said Kairi. She looked ahead at Xigbar with melancholy in her eyes. “I wish there was a way to help him. I wish there was a way to help all of you.”
“As do we,” said Xaldin. “As do we.”

“Mickey?” Sora asked. “You all right?”
“Yeah,” Mickey sighed.
“You don’t sound all right.”
“I’m fine, Sora. Really, I am. I’ll be over it in a minute. I just feel sometimes like this is never gonna end. Like these crises are going to ensure I’ll never get home.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Sora! It’s not your fault! It just sometimes seems like…it seems like…”

“I’ve been trying to make it home.
Got to make it before too long.
I can’t take this very much longer!
I’m stranded in the sleet and rain.
Don’t think I’m ever gonna make it home again!
The morning sun is risin’,
It’s kissin’ the day.
Oh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’,
I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow.
The wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’.”

“Excuse me?” said Arista.
“Arista?” Ariel was surprised to see her sister there…and Arista wasn’t alone. The other five daughters of Triton accompanied her as well.
“You KNOW that music is banned,” Arista growled.
“But it’s the only way we can hold on to the light!” Ariel argued. “You don’t seriously believe that darkness is the way, do you?”
“Ariel,” said Arista, “you’ve always been like this. You don’t respect authority, you don’t respect your family…you don’t respect anybody! If this is the only way we can get through to you…then so be it. Ladies, let’s teach her what she’s supposed to know.”
Ariel’s sisters sang,

“No, no no, no,
No no no!
Stick to the stuff you know!
If you wanna be cool, follow one simple rule!
Don’t mess with the flow, no no,
Stick to the status quo!”

“But I don’t think—“ Ariel tried to interrupt, but her sisters continued angrily.

“No, no, no, no,
No, no, no,
Stick to the stuff you know!
It is better by far
To keep things as they are,
Don’t mess with the flow, no no,
Stick to the status quo!”

“FINE!” Ariel yelled. “NO MORE SINGING!”
Arista nodded. “Our job here is done.” The sisters swam off.
Of all people, it was Saïx who swam up next to Ariel and asked, “You’re not really going to let them intimidate you, are you?”
“But…how can I go against everyone in my whole world?” Ariel asked. “I’m already marked as a rebel here! Even my own FAMILY doesn’t understand! Can all of them really be wrong?”
“It doesn’t matter whether they are right or wrong,” said Saïx. “It matters that you are acting under your own will, and not that of someone else. Not like I submitted constantly to Xemnas’ orders.” He looked up to the surface of the ocean. “And yet…it seems that ever since I broke free, since I decided to act of my own will…”

“Something has changed within me,
Something is not the same.
I’m through with playing by the rules of someone else’s game!
Too late for second guessing,
Too late to go back to sleep!
It’s time to trust my instincts,
Close my eyes…and leap!
It’s time to try defying gravity!
I think I’ll try defying gravity,
And you can’t pull me down!”

“Ah, if only the Superior could hear me now…” Saïx sighed.
“If he were here now, you know what I’d say to him?” said Xaldin.
“You’d brag,” said Marluxia.
“Of course,” Xaldin continued. “I’d let him know…”

“I’m not even angry.
I’m being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart and killed me!
And tore me to pieces,
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned, it hurt, because I was so happy for you!”

“Um…” Sora pointed out, “I was the one who killed you. Not Xehanort.”
“If it weren’t for Xehanort,” Xaldin pointed out, “you wouldn’t have needed to kill me. And I didn’t quite end up dead, now, did I?”

“And believe me, I am still alive!
I’m doing science and I’m still alive!
I feel fantastic and I’m still alive!
While you are dying, I’ll be still alive!
And when you’re dead, I will be still alive!
Still alive!
Still alive!”

A few hours later, the party was closer to Ursula’s lair. Jack Sparrow killed time by singing,

“I’m sailing away, set an open course for the virgin sea.
‘Cause I’ve got to be free…free to face the life that’s ahead of me!
On board I’m the captain, so climb aboard!
We’ll search for tomorrow on every shore!
And I’ll try, oh Lord, I’ll try to carry on!”

“Sh,” said Sora. “We’re here.”
“That’s it?” Kairi asked, shivering slightly.
The water around the great dragon-head-shaped cavern was a few degrees colder than the rest of the ocean, despite the hot-water vents that erupted nearby. An eerie magenta glow came from the “dragon’s eyes,” while the cave was completely dark. Whatever was at the heart of that cave could NOT be friendly.
“Um…do we really have to go in there?” Myed squeaked, hiding behind Xigbar.
“It’s the only way to save this world,” Hercules pointed out.
“But…it’s dark and scary in there!” Myed insisted.
“We’ll be together,” said Mulan. “We’ll protect each other. It will be okay.”
However, a glance around proved that Myed wasn’t the only one with doubts. Everyone but Aladdin, Hercules, and Mulan was shying back from the cave.
“We’ve come this far,” said Aladdin. “How can we stop now?”
“We can’t give up,” Mulan insisted. “We’ve never given up before!”
She, Hercules, and Aladdin all sang at once,

“So now we’ll fly ever free, we’re free before the thunderstorm!
On towards the wilderness, our quest carries on!
Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight,
Deep inside our hearts and all our souls,
So far away, we wait for the day,
For the lives all so wasted and gone.
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days…
Through the fire and the flames we carry on!”

Sora came forward, and belted,

“Now here we stand with their blood on our hands,
We fought so hard, now can we understand?
I’ll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can
For the freedom of every man!”

“THAT’S the spirit!” cheered Mulan.
“Let’s go,” said Sora.
The party entered the dark cavern.

Sora fully expected to see Ursula in the inner chamber. It was, after all, her lair. He was surprised to meet up with a statuesque mermaid bearing a black tail fin, a black bikini top, and several black braids that tossed in the current. It took Sora a while to recognize her.
“Maleficent,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Have you come to fight me?” Maleficent teased. “I’m afraid that such a thing would be against the will of the Chosen One. I have also heard your singing, which means you are guilty of a second offense.”
“Oh, yeah?” challenged Riku, barging forward. “What are you going to do about it?”
Maleficent grinned. She threw her hands up, and a chorus line of Heartless erupted from the seafloor—mostly Sea Neons and Search Ghosts.
“Attack them, my minions!” Maleficent commanded. The Heartless set upon the resistance like parasites. Maleficent herself laughed, and taunted her victims:

“Night creatures all,
And the dead start to walk in their masquerade!
There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time!
They’re open wide!
This is the end of your life!
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night,
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike!
You know it’s thriller, thriller night,
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight!”

The heroes struggled with the myriad of Heartless that was attacking. Riku and Sora felt anger building up inside them the more Maleficent sang, and eventually, Riku slashed through the Heartless he was dueling and charged right for Maleficent. Sora joined him, and the two challenged Maleficent directly:

“I’m tired of your mind games!
I’m sick of playing don’t wake daddy,
Good sir, no more rock, paper, scissors for me!
But wait, are we not civilized gentlemen here?”

Maleficent grinned widely, summoning a sword to her side:

“I challenge you to a battle of knifes.”

Sora, Riku, and Maleficent went spinning off into a fencing match, belting out,

“KNIFE FIGHT! You’re gonna fight for your life!
KNIFE FIGHT! You’re gonna fight with a knife!
KNIFE FIGHT! A really really really sharp knife!
Yeah, knife!”

At last, Sora and Riku had Maleficent backed up against the wall, the sword lying uselessly on the cavern floor.
“You may have won for now,” said Maleficent, “but this is not the last, and you all know it!”
Maleficent portalled away before Riku could deliver a killing blow. The rest of the Heartless were struck down by their opponents.
“Well,” said Kairi, “that was interesting.”
“Let’s hope that did something,” said Ariel.

Triton shook his head. “I truly do not know what came over me,” he said. “It was as though I was hypnotized…but suddenly, I heard voices coming from all over the ocean, and I came out of it!”
“That must have been our singing,” said Sora.
Myed’s face was plastered with a large smile, though the others suspected that at that time, his ego was even bigger.
“Thank you, Sora,” said Triton.

“Well,” said Zexion, “we should go back up to the surface and find Axel, Larxene, and Simba. As Maleficent said, that was not the last. There are other worlds to protect.”
“Sure, we could do that,” sighed Riku, “if we could just get THEM to stop singing!”
Sora, Kairi, Skellington, Ariel, and Myed were having too much fun dancing in a circle and singing:

“’Cause the world keeps spinning
Round and round,
And my heart’s keeping time
To the speed of sound,
I was list till I heard the drums,
Then I found my way,
‘Cause you can’t stop the beat!

‘Cause you can’t stop
The motion of the ocean,
Or the rain from above,
They can try to stop this paradise
We’re dreaming of,
But you cannot stop the rhythm
Of two hearts in love to stay!
You can’t stop the beat!”

“Okay, okay!” Vexen called out. “Fun’s over! Everybody say your goodbyes; we have other worlds to get to!”
“Awwww,” the singing five pouted.

“…and that’s what happened,” Kairi finished.
“Awww,” said Axel, “I missed all of that?”
“I’m GLAD I missed all of that,” Larxene huffed.
Simba just smiled.
“So,” said Myed, “what have you all been doing up here while we were down there?”
“Not much,” Axel and Larxene said in unison.
Simba grinned. “They danced to your songs together.”
Axel blushed again while Larxene shot Simba a death glare.
Myed cast a glance at Zexion, who smiled back at him. Then the two belted,

“Toora loora toora loo-rye-aye!
Larxene, I’ll hum this tune forever!
Come on Larxene, oh I swear
(Well he means)
At this moment you mean everything!
With you in that dress,
Oh, my thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty,
Ah, come on, Larxene!”
YEAH! ZEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS STRIKE BACK!

A little shorter than normal, but that's okay.

I promise this will be the LAST musical chapter...for a while, anyway. But you can expect to have the next chapters progress without characters randomly breaking into song.

This time, I tried to integrate the songs into the plot, rather than just having them be performed on a setlist.

Sorry, ravenswing12, but it just HAD to be Thriller. If you can think of a better song for Maleficent, let me know. I won't change it...but I'll at least know there's a better one out there.

If you all noticed that Lexaeus and Tarzan didn't get to sing...well...Tarzan's English capabilities wouldn't allow him to pull off most sets of lyrics, while Lexaeus...well...two words: SILENT hero.

I will eventually have a story up explaining Xigbar's past life and relationship with his wife, if that got ya interested. Oh, what's this? An OC in Jacey's canon? Well, they had to start breaking in SOMETIME!

Song credits:
Only Time--Enya
Piano Man--Billy Joel
Somewhere Only We Know--Keane
Wheel in the Sky--Journey
Stick to the Status Quo--cast of High School Musical
Defying Gravity--Idina Menzel
Still Alive--Jonathan Coulton
Come Sail Away--Styx
Through the Fire and Flames--Dragonforce
Thriller--Michael Jackson
Knife Fight--Lemon Demon
You Can't Stop the Beat--cast of Hairspray
Come on Eileen--Dexy's Midnight Runners

Final word: yes, the HSM song WAS necessary!!!!
© 2008 - 2024 JaceyRae
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larxelfan1's avatar
this would make a great movie!! :D