For Them

by Rocketshipper

Sequal to "Being the Villain". Pete has settled back into a normal life with his family, but lives everyday in fear of Maleficent seeking him out in revenge. When the witch finally makes her move, how will Pete be able to protect his family from her?

For Them

-Hey, Rocketshipper, signing back on. I thought I was going to take a break from writing for a while, but I guess the new story was just burning a hole in my brain and I had to start getting it out before I exploded, lol. It's a sequel to the previous story I wrote "Being the Villain", continuing Pete's story now that he's back home. I originally never even planned for this to be a full story, the first two scenes were just the small spark of an idea I had in my head, thinking "what might happen to Pete after he's left Maleficent?" I even thought of having the first scene as the last scene of the previous story, but changed it. But now it's a full out storyline, and I hope it turns out. See you at the finish. Oh and, the usual, I don't own any of the characters or locations or stuff like that in the story, Squenix and Disney do. Kingdom Hearts rocks! Dream Drop Distance next year! (gonna be a Three Musketeers world, which means more Pete, wooo!) Anyway, enjoy.-

- 1 -

The sky was lit up with the fiery orange glow of sunset as Peter Pete sat down on the front porch steps of his modest suburban home on the outskirts of Disney town. He sighed and wiped his sweaty forehead with a black bandanna, before stuffing it roughly into the back pocket of his jeans. Behind the house, the sound of the kids whooping and shouting as they played drifted to Pete's ears; PJ and Max had dragged out their old homemade skateboard ramp for the first time since they'd gotten back and where currently daring each other on who could do the most impressive tricks. It was great to see them having fun together again, acting like *normal* kids, especially after everything that had happened. Pete had worried that they'd never be able to adjust back to normal, especially since all their old friends had grown up in the time they'd been stuck in another dimension, but they had surprised him with their resilience.

Pete leaned back and starred up at the sunset, lost in his thoughts. Everything was almost back to the way things had been before the kids had gotten lost. The children were back in school and training, acting normal; his job at the castle was finally settling back into its routine, and he was managing to avoid stepping on the toes of his coworkers, who still weren't ready to trust him completely again, and he felt like he and Peg were finally starting to loosen up on the tension that had been between them when he first returned. Things were good. But that was exactly what was starting to bother Pete. It felt almost unreal, or like the eye of the storm. Pete couldn't help feeling uneasy about the future. The Heartless and Nobodies were still out there. And so was Maleficent. Sora and his friends were still out there almost every day fighting the war, while he was officially out of the loop for the most part.

Pete shifted his butt on the steps and flinched a bit as the dull ache resurfaced in his right knee. He sighed; not *everything* was really back to normal, or ever could be, not with him. He leaned forward and pulled up the right leg of his jeans, revealing a dark grey mechanical leg, starting right below the knee. Gears and pistons whirred on the outside, and little puffs of steam issued from the joints at regular intervals. Pete reached out and gripped a bolt on the side of his leg with the three fingers on his right hand, the only fingers he had there, and began tightening it, grimacing a bit at the dull pain that shot through his nerves. The leg really was an impressive bit of machinery; commissioned for Pete by the King, using technology from one of the many parallel worlds he had visited in his travels. Attached directly into his nerves, he could manipulate it just like his original leg, although it still had its glitches sometimes, and required constant maintenance and attention. It was kind of a pain, and sometimes Pete thought it might have been better to just have a regular peg leg or something. But Pistol loved it, of course. Now she could tell everyone her dad was a cyborg.

"Pete dear, are you coming back to the barbeque?"

A hand fell on Pete's shoulder and he jumped nearly three inches off the step. He turned his head to the left quickly to see his wife Peg standing there, concern in her eyes. Pete sighed in relief, letting his heart slow down a bit. "You startled me." He said. "I've asked you before, not to come up behind me on dat side."

Peg nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry." She said as she came around him and sat down on his right side. "I forgot. You're not wearing your eye patch today. I'm still not used to it"

"Yeah" Pete said quietly, reaching his left hand up to touch the lid under his left socket, nudging the artificial eye that was inside. Another bit of technology donated by the King. Pete had worn an eye patch exclusively for a while, until the king gave him the new eye a month or so ago. Pistol had been disappointed at first; she liked the eye patch and said it made him look like a pirate, but she had warmed up quickly when Pete had demonstrated that he could change the color of the iris to almost anything. He usually left it the normal color, but the kids all thought it was cool for him to have different colored eyes, so he changed it around every once in a while. Today the eye was a light blue, in contrast to the brown of his natural right eye.

"So are you coming back or what?" Peg asked again. "Goofy's almost done fixing the ladder on the tree house for the kids, and there are still some hamburgers left."

"I'll believe the ladder's fixed when I check it myself." Pete replied grumpily. "You know Goofy".

Peg let out a short laugh "Yeah, that's true. We better tell the kids not to try climbing it till you can test it first."

"So when it breaks, I'll be the one to snap my neck falling out of the tree." Pete added. He turned and looked back at the sunset, "Yeah I'll be back there soon, just gimme a few more minutes."

Peg looked at her husband with concern, "What's on your mind Pete?"

Pete sighed gain and looked at Peg, after a moment, he hung his head and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "Just…stuff, I guess." He looked up at the sky again. "Thinking about what's out there. What's ahead."

Peg gave Pete knowing look. "I think I know what you're worried about…" She reached out and put a supportive hand on Pete's shoulder. "There's no way those things could sneak into this world now, not with all the security and monitoring the castle and Keyblade masters are doing."

Pete turned and looked at his wife. His face betrayed the anxiety he'd been struggling with for these past few months. "I hope yur right" he said.

Peg smiled and squeezed Pete's shoulder gently. "I'm sure I am" she said sweetly, leaning forward and giving Pete a quick kiss. "Don't worry."

Pete looked in his wife's eyes and felt the anxiety fading away, becoming little more than background static for now. He leaned forward and kissed her back, short but deep. "I love you." He whispered as they broke apart. Peg smiled and squeezed his shoulder lovingly, before standing up and heading for the door. "Come on, lets get back to the party", she said, pausing at the door to wait for him.

Pete turned his gaze one last time to the orange sky, now finally starting to fade away to a dark reddish purple. "Alright, I'm, comin" he said, pulling himself to his feet with the porch banister, before turning to head back inside.

- 2 -

Pete opened his eye and was greeted by near pitch darkness. He was lying on his side under the covers of his bed next to Peg, in their darkened bedroom. He turned over slowly and looked at Peg, who was still sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by his movement. Pete turned and threw the covers back from his side, sitting up on the edge of the bed in his white undershirt and boxer shorts as he waited for his eye to adjust to the dim lighting. He felt for his fake leg, which he usually left at the side of the bed, and finding it with his right hand, he pulled it over and jammed his right knee down on the connector at the top, activating it. Pete gritted his teeth at the brief flash of pain as the nerves connected, and then stood up, and headed for the door. He felt worried and uneasy. Something had woken him up…

He opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the hall. To his right down the hallway were Pistol's bedroom and a guest room beyond that. PJ had moved to a slightly bigger downstairs room after returning home. Pete was about to turn to his right and check on Pistol, when his nose caught whiff of something. He stopped and sniffed deeply, trying to identify the familiar scent. It smelled like…smoldering charcoal or wood. It smelled like a cook out. Pete scratched his head in confusion; even though they'd had barbeque that night, the smell shouldn't still be lingering around. Could someone else by grilling out at this hour?

Pete sniffed again and noticed that the smell had gotten slightly stronger. Confused and curious, he turned to his left and headed to the top of the stairs. Slowly, he lightly descended the stairs, trying not to cause any creaking noises and wake the family. As he went, he continued to sniff the air, trying to figure out where this smell could be coming from. The uneasy worry in his heart was growing stronger. He crossed the TV room quickly and entered the kitchen, the smell growing in strength with every step. He looked around the dark kitchen and suddenly noticed a pale orange light glowing under the door leading between the kitchen and the garage. Pete's heart began to race faster; something was definitely wrong. He crossed the kitchen in three quick steps and flung open the door, stepping into the Garage. And froze, eyes widening in shock.

The wood pile on the right wall of the garage was blazing like a bonfire, the flames licking all the way to the ceiling. The fire was already spreading along the wall in both directions, as various flammable packages or bits of trash ignited in the heat. Pete's heart did a panicked somersault and he spun around on his heels, ready to race back into the house and get his family out. Something black and shadowy oozed out from behind a tool rack to his right and slammed the garage door in his face, nearly taking his nose off at the same time.

Pete stared down at the creature in front of him, unable to fully comprehend what he was seeing. The creature was black and shadowy, standing on two legs hunched over, with its long clawed arms hanging down to the ground between its legs. Its eyes glowed yellow, and its mouth opened in a hiss to reveal several rows of sharp looking teeth. It looked somewhat like a Heartless, but Pete saw a level of intelligence in its eyes above that of the typical Heartless drone. It was smarter, more cunning, and more dangerous.

Pete's hands clenched into fists immediately and he raised them into defensive postion, just as the beast leapt at him, snapping its jaws and hissing. The creature hit him in the stomach, and Pete felt the breath whoosh out of him painfully as the momentum drove both of them back into the tool rack next to the door. The wooden shelves on the rack collapsed down under the impact and a shower of tools and various containers rained down on both Pete and the creature, knocking them to the ground. Pete threw his right hand up above his head to protect it from the deluge of tools, and tried to grab hold of the creature with his left hand. It screeched and skittered away from his grasp, slithering under the bottom shelf of the rack, before turning around and pouncing back between the shelves, aiming to take a bite out of Pete's face. Pete caught it by the neck with both hands, but it struggled back fiercely, and the two of them rolled across the Garage floor, slamming into the parked car and the wall.

As he struggled with the creature, Pete caught something out of the corner of his eye. The fire on the far side of the wall had almost reached the spare tanks he used for their gas barbeque grill! Distracted by the fire, Pete's grip loosened on the creature, and it shot an arm out, snatching up a screwdriver that had fallen from the shelves during the struggle. Letting out terrifying snarl, the creature slashed its arm forward and buried the screwdriver up to the handle in Pete's right shoulder.

Pete bellowed in pain and reflexively pushed the creature away with his arms and feet, managing to hit it square in the chest with his mechanical foot. The impact sent the creature flying straight across the room, over the top of the car, to smack against the far wall. Pete was on his feet immediately. He spotted the gas tanks on the other side of the room, now completely engulfed. Immediately, he turned and bolted for the garage door, not giving another thought to the thing that had attacked him. He had to get out of there! He flung the garage door open with all his strength and flew into the kitchen, diving behind the large island in the center of the room, and covering his head with his arms.

The sound of the garage exploding was ear shattering. Pete felt the entire house shudder in its frame, and then the kitchen was filled with incredible heat and the sound of dozens of plates and glasses shattering as they fell from their cabinets. Pete felt debris raining around him and kept his hands over his head, waiting for the chaos to stop. And as quickly as it had occurred, the shocks from the explosion dissipated.

Pete slowly uncovered his head and sat up, looking around at the chaotic scene. The kitchen was utterly destroyed, debris strewn everywhere, the open door to the garage showing nothing but a blazing wall of orange flames. He looked down at his arms and then carefully picked half a dozen shards of glass and porcelain shrapnel out of the back of his hands and arms. He suddenly became aware of the sharp burning pain in his right shoulder and looked to see that the screwdriver was still embedded in place, a small ring of red staining the shirt around the handle. Pete leaned against the wrecked island for support and gripped the screwdriver's handle in his left hand, gritting his teeth in preparation. In one swift movement he yanked the tool out and sent it clattering to the floor, letting out a grunt of pain. The shoulder of his white undershirt immediately turned red as the wound began bleeding; soon the entire right side of his shirt was stained. Pete looked around and quickly grabbed a dish towel off the tiled floor, folding it up and pressing it hard against his shoulder. "Maybe I shouldn't have pulled it out…" Pete commented to himself. He continued to hold the pad against his shoulder as he looked around the kitchen again in a half daze, surveying the damage. Visible cracks ran through the floor, up the wall, and across the ceiling, and the fire was starting to spread through the room. Things were definitely bad, and he hoped that Peg had kept the smoke detectors in the house working while he'd been gone.

That thought suddenly snapped Pete's mind fully back to reality. Peg and the kids! He had to get them out of there! He suddenly became aware of Peg's voice, calling his name in a loud panicked voice from upstairs. Between coughing he could also hear Pistol faintly crying. "I'm down here. I'm comin back up!" he shouted, and then turned, sprinting out of the kitchen and through the TV room back to the stairs. He saw immediately that the banister and side railing for the stairs had broken away in several places, and that many of the steps were now cracked and on the verge of collapsing. Pete ignored the stairs' condition and rushed up, taking the steps three at time, barely hearing the loud creaks and cracking sounds as his bare feet hit the damaged risers. He arrived at the upstairs hall to see Peg and Pistol huddled together in the burning hallway, in front of the door to Pete's bedroom.

Peg looked up and caught sight of her husband, a look of relief breaking out on her face. "Pete! What happened?" she asked.

"The gas tank in the garage exploded." He replied simply.

He started to walk towards them when Peg suddenly shouted a warning. "Stop Pete! The floor is collapsing!" Pete stopped in his tracks and looked down at his feet, noticing for the first time the spider web of cracks running through the floor between him and Peg.

He looked around desperately, and then extended his left hand out towards Peg. "Come on. You're lighter than I am, you can make it across."

Peg looked down at the damaged hallway floor fear growing in her eyes. "I don't know…" she said shakily.

Pete gritted his teeth in irritation and panic. "If you don't move soon the floor is going to collapse anyway! Come on. I won't let you fall, I promise!" he urged, extending his hand further.

Peg took another reluctant look at the floor, and then looked up at her husband, meeting his eye. She saw the confidence and determination in his gaze, and the fear fell back momentarily. She hugged Pistol tightly to her chest, rocked back on her feet, and then took a running jump towards Pete. She landed right in front of him, on top of the cracks, and the hallway behind her collapsed into the kitchen underneath. Immediately, Pete grabbed her in his arm and pulled her away from the crumbling floor, the three of them falling onto the landing at the top of the stairs.

Pete held his shaking wife and daughter in his arms, kissing them on the head and neck, whispering assurances to them. Pistol wrapped her arms around Pete's neck and cried. Peg pulled away from Pete after a moment and looked at her husband with overwhelming gratitude. After a moment she leaned in and kissed him, quick and hard, and then pulled back again. Suddenly she noticed the blood on Pete's shirt for the first time. "What happened?" she asked with concern, reaching out and touching her husband's shoulder above the wound.

"It's nothin. I'll deal with it later." He replied, brushing her hand gently away. "Right now we have to get out before more of the house collapses…" he continued. Suddenly light dawned in his and Peg's eyes at the same time.

"Where's PJ!" Peg asked, panic edging into her voice.

"I ran up here right after I heard you callin, after the explosion. I was just thinkin about getting to you…" He turned and got to his feet, passing Pistol to Peg. "PJ!" he called down the stairs. There was no reply. Pete looked back at Peg, panic rising in his eye. "I'm goin to get him. He might be hurt!"

Peg looked at the stairs with concern. "I don't think those stairs are going to hold your weight again. Especially with that leg of yours."

Pete looked down at his metal prosthetic and then back at the stairs. "Yur probably right" he conceded. "But I have to try. It's the quickest way to get to PJ" He looked up at the supply closet down the hall to the right of the stairs. "Do you still have the emergency fold up ladder we bought stashed in the closet up here?" he asked. Peg thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Good" Pete replied "Take it and use it to get out the hallway window. Then go to the neighbor's house and call for help. I'll get our son."

Peg hesitated for a moment, and then nodded "Alright. Be careful Pete" she said, scooping Pistol up into her arms and heading for the supply closet. Pete watched her pull the door open and enter, waiting for her to find the ladder, feeling the seconds painfully tick by. He had to get to PJ, but he couldn't move until he was sure Peg and Pistol could make it out alright. Finally they emerged with the ladder, and the two of them quickly raced to the window at the far side of the hall, throwing it open and attaching the top of the extendable ladder to the sill. Peg cradled Pistol in one arm as she climbed onto the ladder and out the window. She met Pete's eye one last time, and gave him a determined nod.

Pete turned and charged down the stairs without thinking, desperate to get to his son. He heard the risers crunch and break under his feet with each step, but he managed to stay ahead of the collapse, until the final step. His metal right foot smashed straight through the last step like a pile driver, sending him sprawling to the entry way floor. He caught himself with his knees and hands, and choked back a cry of pain as the impact jogged his punctured shoulder. Quickly pushing the pain aside, Pete got to his feet and ran through the living room towards the back downstairs hall where the guest bedrooms were. Their were piles of rubble and small fires in the hall as Pete pushed his way through, reaching PJ's door and flinging it open.

PJ's room was a disaster, like the rest of the house, with books and models and game cartridges strewn all over the floor. Lying in the center of the room, underneath a large wooden bookshelf that had fallen over during the explosion, was PJ. The bookshelf lay across his shoulders, pinning him down. His eyes were closed, and a dark streak of blood was smeared across one side of his face.

Pete's heart nearly stopped in his chest. Everything suddenly seemed to be frozen, like a horrible nightmare snapshot, and then Pete was moving. "PJ! NO, PLEASE NO!" he cried in anguish and panic, dropping to his knees in front of his son and hauling the bookshelf aside with all his strength. He cradled his son in his arms, tears streaming down the right side of his face, totally at a loss. "PJ…please wake up…please be alright…" he pleaded, rocking his son gently. He felt the strength running out of his body as sobs shook his frame and he clutched PJ's body closer to his chest. This couldn't be happening! It just couldn't!

Suddenly PJ jerked in his arms, coughing harshly against the smoke in the room, and opened his eyes. "…Dad…" he said weakly, "Your choking me…"

Pete nearly dropped PJ from surprise, and then felt enormous relief flood through his body. "You're alive!" he whispered. Pete pulled PJ into tight hug, and then kissed him several times on the head. "Don't scare me like that again!" he scolded.

PJ pushed away from his dad. "I'm ok pop." He said. "The book case fell on me when everything started shaking. Bumped my head pretty good." He continued, wiping some of the blood off his forehead where it had been cut. He looked around at his destroyed room and out at the fires in the hallway. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later." Pete replied, getting to his feet, and pulling PJ up next to him. "We have to get out of here. Can you walk?"

PJ nodded "Yeah, I think I can" he said, before taking a few wobbly steps towards the door. Pete grabbed his shoulder to steady him, and PJ put an arm around his dad's waist. Together they exited the room, heading down the hallway back towards the living room and the front door. They slowly skirted around the fires in the hall, which were growing bigger by the moment. They reached the living room, which was also now starting to burn, and headed towards the door.

Suddenly, a black shadowy form leapt at the duo from underneath the coffee table. It stuck Pete in the chest and knocked him backwards into the wall. "Dad!" PJ cried, turning around to try and help.

Pete pushed the creature away from his face and looked at his son, shaking his head. "No, don't come any closer. Get out of the house now, see!"

"I can't leave you!" PJ shouted, taking another step forward.

"I'll handle this thing!" Pete replied as he struggled with the monster. "Just get out of here and find Peg and Pistol!" He wrapped his hands around the thing's neck and threw it across the room, into the far wall. He moved to place himself between PJ and the creature, holding his arms out in a protective gesture. "Get out of here PJ. Listen to your father!" he scolded, giving PJ a dead serious look.

PJ looked from his dad to the creature, struggling to its feet across the room, his face filled with indecision. Finally, he nodded. "Alright, I'll go" he said reluctantly, "But just so I can bring back help!"

"Fine fine, just go!" Pete snapped, keeping his eye glued on the monster. PJ cast one more look in the thing's direction, and then turned and ran for the front door. The creature saw his movement and snarled. It suddenly skittered off to the right with shocking speed, climbing up onto the wall, as it attempted to speed around behind Pete and get to his son. Thinking fast, Pete snatched a lamp off the table to his left and flung it at the monster with all his might. His aim was perfect, the porcelain body of the lamp shattered against the monster, knocking it to the floor. A few seconds later Pete heard the front door slam shut as PJ exited the house. Relief flooded Pete's heart, a feeling that was all too brief.

The creature struggled to its feet again and turned towards Pete, snarling. It charged straight towards him, and then suddenly veered to the right. Pete followed it, barely keeping up with this speed, and raised his hands in defense just as it turned and leapt at him again, waiting to sink its claws into his face. He caught it with both hands, but its momentum was still strong enough to knock him on his butt. The back of his head hit the wall, and he saw stars for a moment, but it wasn't enough to loosen his grip on the creature. It snarled and snapped its jaws at his face, but he slowly pulled it off of him. Squeezing it with his right hand as hard as he could, he forced it to the floor, raising his left hand above his head, preparing to pummel the thing into oblivion. The creature stared up into his eye, its own gaze filled with a frightening intelligence. At that moment, it shot its left arm out, and dug its claw tipped finger into the puncture hole on Pete's shoulder.

Pete screamed. The pain was unbelievable. Unimaginable. It filled his whole head and body, driving out every other thought and instinct. His right arm spasmed reflexively and released its grip on the creature's neck. The monster was immediately on its feet, pushing Pete back against the wall, digging its claw deeper into the meat of Pete's shoulder, twisting and flexing its digit almost sadistically. Pete screamed again, hoarsely, losing his voice. He felt warm blood streaming down his arm and side, soaking the waistband of his boxer shorts. The monster suddenly let out a terrifyingly human chuckle, giving its claw another twist. Pete gasped, out of breath, the pain dominating his whole mind. He felt the world wobble in and out of focus, and was vaguely aware he was on the verge of passing out.

The monster chuckled again and then ripped its claw out of Pete's shoulder, sending a ribbon of blood flying across the room. Pete collapsed into a heap against the wall, wheezing, all the strength driven out him. His left hand clutched against his ruined shoulder, blood running between the fingers. The monster stared at the cowering man in front of it, and smiled. "I bring greetings…from the master…" it croaked out in a terrifying inhuman voice.

Pete's half glazed eye rolled around to look at the creature. "M...Maleficent…?" he asked weakly, barely above a whisper.

The monster smiled wider. "She sent me to pay you a visit. To remind you that…she is still thinking about you…" The creature leaned in closer, staring into his face hungrily. "She hopes you are doing well…you, and your family. Your…delicious children. She so wants to meet them again…"

Pete felt a flare of pure rage flash through him, momentarily cutting across the glaring haze of pain covering his mind. Slowly, he slid his artificial leg to the side, until it was directly underneath the vile creature hovering over him. "Why don't you…take this back to the witch as a message?" Pete growled.

The monster looked puzzled for moment. Then its look of confusion turned to one of shock and pain; Pete flexed the muscles in his knee and a sharp bayonet like blade sprang from the front of his artificial leg, skewering the monster straight through the chest. The creature let out a shocked snarl, and then evaporated into a black mist, which immediately blew away.

Pete stared at the space where the monster had been, holding his breath, looking as if he expected the creature to pop back into existence at any moment. After several minutes with no encore appearance by the thing, Pete let out his breath in an exhausted sigh, and then slumped to the floor, crashing painfully onto his side.

The room seemed to be spinning around him, fading in and out, and he squeezed his eye shut, trying to hold back the nausea. His shoulder still burned with waves of incredible throbbing pain, and his right arm was completely immobilized. He could still feel blood running through the fingers of his left hand, soaking into the carpet under his shoulder. He knew that if he didn't get help soon, he would probably bleed to death, and if that didn't get him first, then the smoke and fire in the house would. But he was so tired. So utterly exhausted. It was probably the blood loss, he knew.

Opening his good eye, fighting against the urge to pass out, he squinted ahead through the smoke, towards the front door. It wasn't really that far in real distance, but at that moment it seemed like it was on the other end of the planet. Maybe he could crawl. Slowly, he stretched out his left arm and planted his hand on the floor, trying to push himself up to his knees so he could get going. He pushed with all his might, but his own bulk wouldn't move, and the exertion just sent another overwhelming wave of exhaustion through his body. He slumped forward onto his face, totally defeated. "At least…Peg and the kids made it out…" he thought to himself.

His vision grew darker, blurry and indistinct, and he felt his mind sliding down into unconsciousness. Through the haze of his fading vision, he caught movement, by the front door, and a garble of indistinct noises. He pulled his consciousness back and strained to hear and see what was happening, but it was like trying to hear a distant conversation underwater. He saw the movement again, shadowy blurs coming towards him, wavering like a mirage, and closed his eye again. Maybe it was another creature, sent by Maleficent, coming to finish the job the first had started. It didn't matter. There was nothing he could do.

He heard garbled hurried words, fading in and out of his senses. "There..h…is." "Look…ba…need…get him…" But his exhausted mind couldn't piece them together, and they sounded so far away, so disconnected. Vaguely, as if in a dream, he felt something grab his left shoulder, pulling him to his feet. Someone under his left arm, supporting his dead weight, holding him steady. He heard the voices again, more distinct, closer. "Gonna get you out of here…gonna be fine…hang in…". Everything seemed to be moving slowly, like a dream or hallucination. Was this real? A second something grabbed his right arm and a huge flash of pain shot through his shoulder. It was very real. Pete passed out.

- 3 -

Peg, PJ, and Pistol stood together on the lawn, there arms around each other, watching their house slowly burn, waiting. A fire truck was parked at the curb behind them, next to the hydrant, and half a dozen fire men were scattered about the yard, aiming water hoses at the various burning sections of the building. The hoses were doing a fairly good job of controlling the fires, and it looked at if the house might be saved from total destruction. But that didn't matter to Peg and her family.

"Mom…" Pistol said, her voice quivering "I want daddy…"

"Don't worry honey…" Peg replied, trying to comfort her daughter without letting her see the worry and panic that was affecting her as well. "I'm sure your dad will be fine. The firemen will get him out soon."

"As long as they can deal with that thing I saw." PJ added.

"PJ!" Peg exclaimed, giving her son a dirty look and then directing his gaze towards Pistol.

"Sorry mom…" PJ replied, looking down at the ground.

Peg turned her gaze back towards the front door of the house. The firemen had only broken the door down and entered a scant 3 minutes ago, but every second seemed like an eternity to her. The monster PJ had described to her terrified her the most. Could it have been one of those heartless creatures the king and everyone had been fighting all these years? But how had it gotten into their world? They were supposed to be safe here!

"Mom, they're coming back!" Pistol exclaimed, tugging her mother's leg

Peg's thoughts came back to the present, and she squinted at the door of the house, trying to make out what Pistol had seen. She thought she caught a glimpse of shadows moving behind the smoke, but she couldn't be sure. "I don't see anything honey" she said, looking down at her daughter. "Are you sure…"

"Yes, they made it!" PJ suddenly exclaimed too.

Peg looked up, and the sudden relief she felt nearly overwhelmed her. The two firefighters who had entered the house were now emerging through the open front door, and they were dragging an unconscious Pete between them. Their faces gleamed with sweat as the struggled with Pete's bulk, each with one of his arms around their shoulder. The yellow jacket of the firefighter of the left was stained red with blood from Pete's wounded shoulder. "MEDIC!" he cried out, looking across the yard "We need a medic right now!"

Peg didn't think twice; she detached herself from PJ and Pistol and ran across the lawn to where the fire men were lowering Pete's body gently to the ground, under a tree and well away from the house and the rest of the fire men crowded around. She reached Pete only moments before the white clad paramedic, and the two kids were right behind her. She fell to her knees beside her husband and gently grabbed his right hand, relief and concern both showing in her face. She was surprised at how cool Pete's skin felt to her hand, despite how he had just been dragged out of a burning house. His face and lips were also very pale. She squeezed his hand gently "Pete, can you hear me? Please show me your ok!"

The paramedic dropped to his knees beside Pete and gently but firmly pushed Peg back. "Please ma'm, step back. I'll better be able to help your husband if you give me some room."

Peg looked ready to snap at the paramedic, but PJ and Pistol both put a hand on her shoulder, and she fought back the angry impulse. "Alright," she responded, brushing a tear from the corner of her eye.

"It's going to be alright mom." PJ said reassuringly, "They got him out of the house, so the worst is over."

"I hope" Pistol added, getting a dirty look from PJ for her comment.

The paramedic ignored everyone around him and quickly began his work. He took Pete's pulse and blood pressure and then listened to his heart with a stethoscope. The look on his face when he heard didn't look very reassuring. "Tachycardia…His heart's racing and blood pressure is low. He's in Hypovolemic Shock and he needs a blood transfusion right away." Peg and the kids visibly paled, but the paramedic ignored them, turning around and shouting over his shoulder to his assistant, who was back at their vehicle. "We need the stretcher over here right away!" he called. He opened his bag and began to pull out gauze and bandages, preparing a dressing for Pete's shoulder. "Are any of you compatible with his blood type?" He asked over his shoulder, not looking up as he continued his work.

Peg looked at PJ and Pistol with worry, trying to think. "I don't know." She replied, "We've never really kept track of that kind of information. Maybe…"

"But maybe not!" Pistol exclaimed, her face filled with panic.

"Calm down Pistol" PJ replied, trying to keep her and himself composed. "It will be ok. They have lots of different blood types at the hospital; they'll be able to find him some that matches"

The paramedic looked up and almost had to bite his tongue to keep from shooting down PJ's argument. In fact, the hospital was running fairly low on transfusion blood at the moment. But there was no need to add fuel to the fire. "You should all be tested just in case" he said instead, trying to smile and defuse the tension "It will be faster overall if one of you ends up being compatible. Although…" he continued, looking at Pistol "The girl is probably too young to donate anyway."

"No need." Said a familiar voice behind the group. "I'll be the donor."

Peg and the kids turned around to see Goofy standing behind them on the lawn, looking very tired and solemn. "Goofy!" exclaimed Peg, "What are you doing over here?"

"The King alerted Donald and me that something nasty had slipped past the world's defenses and was causing trouble somewhere in town. But soon after we split up to look around, I heard the sirens coming from over here and figured I'd check in." He said, glancing up at the Pete family's still smoldering house. "I guess I came to the right place. Bit too late by the looks of it" he continued.

"Well I'm glad you're here now." Peg said softly, and tried to smile the best she could.

"No problem, Peg" Goofy replied.

"Where's Max, Mr.G?" PJ asked

"He's at home, holding down the fort, in case his Majesty has to contact us again." Goofy replied.

"Excuse me Sir." The paramedic interrupted "You're saying that you can provide a transfusion for this man?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"Yup, Petey-boy and I are compatible." Goofy said, "We both had blood tests at camp when we were kids and I remember seeing his results too. Our types match."

"Are you sure Goofy?" Peg asked, nervousness creeping into her voice "You know how you are."

"Course I'm sure!" Goofy replied, not picking up on Peg's apprehension in the slightest.

"It doesn't matter; we'll test him for sure anyway once we get to the hospital" the paramedic replied quickly, as his assistant arrived with the stretcher. He quickly unfolded the legs of the stretcher, and then turned to the two fire fighters who were still standing with the group. "You two help me lift him up here" he ordered "You take his upper body and we'll take the legs" he continued, nodding to his assistant. The fire men did not reply, but simply sprang into action, each taking his place at one of Pete's shoulders. The two paramedics knelt down and grabbed Pete's legs, and with a count of three the four men lifted Pete up onto the stretcher.

The firemen managed well, but both Paramedics looked worn out lifting Pete's weight, especially the skinnier assistant, who'd ended up on Pete's right leg. "That metal leg contraption is heavy" he panted as he stepped away from the stretcher.

The other paramedic gave him a dirty look and then motioned him to start securing the straps on the stretcher. He turned back to address the group. "I only have enough room for one of you to ride with us back to the hospital, and its going to need to be him" he said, pointing to Goofy. "We'll have to start getting ready for the transfusion the second we get there." He looked at Peg "I'm sorry ma'm, but believe me your husband will be in good hands till you can get there."

Peg nodded solemnly "I understand." She turned and looked at Goofy. "You make sure everything goes well."

"Don't worry, I will!" Goofy said, before letting out a small chuckle "We better not tell Petey that I'm the one who gave him blood. You know him…"

PJ laughed and smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours, "Yeah, he'd probably make some comment about you turning him into a goof from the inside or something."

Peg laughed a little despite herself. "Yeah, that sounds like him"

"I…heard dat…" a weak strained voice replied, before letting out a serious of harsh coughs.

Everyone turned in shock and looked at the stretcher. Pete was conscious again; his good eye was open only a tiny amount, but they could see the awareness in it, as he weakly attempted to lift his head and look at them. The paramedic jumped into action, trying to get Pete to lie still. "Don't move too much Mr. Pete, your still very weak, from both the smoke and blood loss" he said, "You need to rest and let us help you." He motioned with his head to his assistant "Could you get us some oxygen from the truck?" he asked quickly

Peg was almost instantly at her husband's side, gently squeezing his right hand, looking at him with a mix of great relief and concern. "Its ok Pete, relax, I'm here with you. We all made it out and that's what counts, me and the kids and you. We're all safe."

Pete smiled weakly, and squeezed Peg's hand back. After a moment, he let his head fall back onto the pillow and coughed again weakly. "…I feel like a ton of bricks fell on me…and like I've been breathin an exhaust pipe…" he coughed some more. The assistant arrived with the bottle of oxygen, but as he began to try and place the oxygen mask over Pete's face, Pete weakly reached up with his left hand and held him back. "Just…a minute." He said, his eye turning and focusing squarely on Goofy and Peg.

"What is it dad?" PJ asked, standing at the foot of the stretcher.

Pete fixed them with a serious stare, but his eye was focused mostly on Goofy. "I need to talk to the King…right away. Tell him…" he said, forcing out each word with great effort.

"I will Petey-boy, don't worry" Goofy responded, nodding.

Pete's eye met Peg's and in the heat of the moment, Peg leaned forward and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, oblivious to everyone else around them watching. She pulled back and smiled, brushing one tear from her left eye. "I'll be there as soon as I can. You just do your best to rest." She said.

Pete smiled again and then closed his eye. The assistant slipped the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and started the tank up. Peg walked beside the stretcher, still holding Pete's hand, until they reached the back of the van. By the time the paramedics slid the stretcher into the back, Peg could tell that Pete was unconscious again, breathing much easier with the oxygen from the tank. She reluctantly let go of his hand and nodded to Goofy as he climbed into the back with the assistant. He gave Peg a brief thumbs up and reassuring smile, as the door to the ambulance shut.

- 4 -

Three Weeks Later

It was a crisp, cool night, and a gentle breeze rustled the green grass and the leaves of the nearby trees as Pete sat on the park bench, waiting. The large full moon provided ample light, and reflected off the water of the pond behind the bench; the air was filled with fireflies, winking on and off, and the sound of crickets. It was a beautiful night, the perfect time for a relaxing evening stroll. Too bad Pete didn't feel very relaxed. Goofy was late. With every passing minute that his friend didn't show up, Pete's anxiety grew. "Where could he be? Doesn't he realize dis is important!" Pete thought to himself, gritting his teeth in frustration. After a moment he pulled the right leg of his slacks up past the knee and began to fidget nervously with the gages on his artificial leg, tightening a bolt here, adjusting steam pressure there, trying to keep his hands and mind occupied, and away from thoughts of the past weeks, and of why he had come out here to begin with…

-Pete stepped into the dark alleyway behind the town hall on Main Street, Disney Town. He checked all around him nervously, making sure he was not being followed by anyone, and then headed down the dark narrow passage way, stopping beside a dumpster about halfway in. Suddenly his head was filled with a familiar crushing sensation, like his brain was being squeezed in a vice. Pete cried out in pain and scrunched his eyes shut, futilely grabbing his head as the dark power flowed through him.

"Hello Pete." Said a soft but somehow terrible voice. "It's been a while."

The pressure in his head increased until it seemed to Pete like his head might implode at any moment and then suddenly it was gone just like that. He opened his eyes, panting to catch his breath, and saw a dark cloud of energy forming in front of him, floating above the ground. The energy swirled about and came together, forming a kind of magical viewing screen. The energy flickered and then an image appeared; the image of a beautiful but terrifying woman in a long flowing black gown, with green skin, reptilian yellow eyes, and two large black horns growing from the top of her head She smiled at him.

"Maleficent…" Pete said, his voice seething with anger.

"Is that anyway to greet me after all this time?" Maleficent asked, feigning hurt in her voice. "Especially after I was so thoughtful as to send you a visitor." She continued, malevolence creeping back into her words.

"How DARE you attack my family!" Pete growled, baring his teeth and taking a step towards the image. "If you were here right now I swear I'd…"

"You'd what!" Maleficent roared, her eyes glowing a brighter yellow. Pete jumped back in surprise. "You puny insect, you have no power to oppose me!" She smiled coldly, and lowered her voice "You don't even have the power to protect anyone, even yourself."

Maleficent's words stabbed Pete's heart; a mix of pain and shame flooded his emotions and turned them to rage. Letting out a bellow, he lunged for the black portal, swinging his fists. But it was futile, his body simply passed through the dark energy like it was smoke, and Maleficent laughed evilly.

"I had almost forgotten how amusing you could be, Pete." She responded.

Pete spun around, glaring at the witch, still seething with anger. "I'm the one you want!" He said, "I was the one who betrayed you. So leave dem out of it!"

Maleficent shook her head slowly "No I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, you betrayed me for *them*. In fact it was only for them that you agreed to serve me in the first place. I knew of it all along, but I allowed it because it made you weak. Easy to predict. To control." Her icy smile grew wider. "As it still does…"-

"Hey Petey!"

Pete snapped out of his recollection at the sound of Goofy's voice and looked up to see the other man heading down the path towards him, smiling and waving. "What took ya so long, Goof?" Pete grumbled, sliding to the far left side of the bench as Goofy arrived. "I've been waitin here almost 45 minutes."

"Sorry Pete, I got kind of tied up at the palace" Goofy replied, sitting down on the far right side of the bench. "Sora's in town you know."

"No I didn't" Pete replied sharply. "I'm not really in the loop anymore". Inside, his heart beat faster. Sora was here? Why now of all times! Things just kept getting worse.

"Yeah, the King has him strategizing with us on future battles with the Heartless and stuff." Goofy replied. "I don't really get it all, but it seems like things are going well. We'll probably be heading off with him soon to visit some other worlds."

Pete grunted a half-hearted acknowledgement, causing Goofy to turn and look at him. "So what did you need to talk about Petey?" he asked,

Pete turned and looked at Goofy; his oldest friend and rival, seeing the selfless concern in his eyes, and felt his heart ache inside. He didn't even know where to start, and now he didn't know if he could or should. They didn't know what was going on. It was tearing him up inside. He dropped his gaze and starred at his shoes trying to figure out what he could say, where to begin. "Do…do you think I did the right thing before?" he began hesitantly. "I mean, you know. Trying to find the kids…"

Goofy's expression turned seriously, and he looked down too, studying his hands. "I don't think I could say that it was the right thing Petey." He began quietly. "But I can certainly feel it was understandable. You were desperate."

Pete turned his head and looked at Goofy. "You were the same way. I remember. But in the end, you accepted the King's say on the matter. And I didn't"

"Yeah" Goofy replied, nodding his head "It ate me up inside too, wondering where Max was, not knowing, and not having a way to search for him."

"Would you have done it, if you'd had the chance?" Pete asked, looking at his friend with eyes both sad and desperate. "If you'd been given Maleficent's offer, instead of me? Would you have done what I did, if you'd thought it meant seeing your son again?"

Goofy leaned his head back and gazed up at the stars. "I don't know, Petey. I know that I should say no, that I wouldn't do that no matter what. I know that's the "right" answer. But…" Goofy shook his head and then looked back at Pete "I just don't know. That's the truth."

Pete nodded, and then let his gaze fall to his lap. Goofy looked on with concern, and then reached out and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Why are you asking me this? What's bothering you?"

Pete swallowed hard, and continued to stare down at his hands, afraid to meet Goofy's eyes. Terrified that he'd somehow see what was in his head. What he was contemplating…

-Maleficent smiled down at Pete coldly, basking in the growing fear she saw in his eyes. "Wh…what are ya talking about?" he asked pitifully, the anger draining from his body.

"Come back and serve me again." Maleficent stated simply. "I can be a forgiving master; rewarding to those who obey me well. If you return, I give you my word that the people you care about will not be harmed, and the world they live in will remain untouched by my power." Her smile widened further, "It is a more than generous offer, I think."

Pete looked at Maleficent in horror. "N…No!" he stammered "I'm free of you! I'm never going back to that."

Maleficent's smile turned to a terrifying frown. "Do not delude yourself, fool" she hissed "You will never truly be free of me, just as you will never truly be free of the darkness inside your own heart." She smiled again. "Admit it Pete, deep down inside, you enjoyed being a villain. The power I gave you. The control. The conquest! Countless Heartless at your beck and call."

"No…that's not…true…" Pete responded, but his response was only half hearted. Because it was true…. He'd always been a trouble maker. A rebel. A bully. There had been darkness in him before Maleficent ever stepped onto the scene. And now? Pete summoned up mental images of his family, of Peg and the kids. Their faces gave him comfort and resolve. He shook his head emphatically and glowered back at the witch. "Maybe I was never the greatest guy in the world, but that doesn't mean I have to throw in with your side. And I'd never turn my back on my family."

Maleficent's face seethed with anger "But that's exactly what you're doing by refusing my offer. Their safety and happiness is in your hands. You don't want me to have to send another visitor do you?" she narrowed her eyes at him "Or perhaps come in person?" Pete's expression faltered for a moment, and then hardened again, sending a pang of irritation through the witch. Suddenly her eyes lit up "Or better yet…" she said, "Maybe there's someone else who would be more receptive to my offer…" Pete blinked in confusion and Maleficent smiled again. "Pete Junior showed quite impressive resolve and strength in the last battle in my castle. He could even be stronger than you. I wonder if he would be so rude as to reject my generosity as you have. Especially with the right persuasion…"

All the color in Pete's face drained, his expression betraying the utter horror and terror that hit him in that moment. His eyes were filled with panic. "Don't…Don't you come near my son, or anyone else in my family! Max neither! Just stay away from us!" he yelled, desperation and hysteria projecting in his voice. "If you even think about that I'll…"

Maleficent let out a terrifying cackle and barred her teeth at Pete. "Idle threats, you fool. You can do nothing. Nothing except make your choice." Her face became deathly serious, and she fixed Pete with her piercing stare. "I'll give you a little bit of time to think about it, but I want an answer soon. Will you return and serve me again, or will you gamble the safety of your family in a futile attempt to cling to the light? I will contact you again soon; I expect that by then you will be ready to give me the right answer…"

With those final words, the black energy forming the communication link swirled away and vanished, leaving Pete alone in the dark alley, trembling in panic and mental exhaustion.-

Pete swallowed again and continued starring down at his lap, avoiding Goofy's gaze. "I…" he started, before stopping again and shaking his head. How could he say this? He let his head fall into his hands, closing his eyes and digging his fingers into his hair.

Goofy leaned forward and put his arm on Pete's broad shoulders. "You can tell me Pete." He said softly.

"I don't know about dat, buddy" Pete replied sadly. "I'm…just so tired…" he let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "You still believe in me right Goofy?" he asked as he sat up again.

Goofy took his arm back and looked at Pete in surprise. "Sure I do Pete. So does your family, and Donald, and Sora, and the King."

Goofy comments caused an unexpected guilty stab in Pete's heart. He rubbed his artificial eye with one hand and glanced down with the other eye. "I'm not a screw up right? I can handle stuff if I try. Important stuff. Right?"

Goofy's face became sober and thoughtful again. "Well…you have made mistakes in the past. Pretty big ones. Everyone has. And sometimes you are kind of a jerk." Goofy said, eliciting a sharp glance from Pete "But your heart is in the right place when it comes to your family. I know you'll do right by them." He continued. Pete's looked relieved briefly for the first time that night, and then his face fell again, sending a pang of worry through Goofy. "Is this about them? About what happened last month?" Goofy put his hand back on Pete's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "You can't blame yourself for that. We were all caught by surprise when that thing snuck in. And you helped everyone make it through alive."

Pete snorted derisively "Pah! Some hero I was. The house nearly burning down, PJ needing stitches in his head, all of us barely making it out." He winced and rubbed his right shoulder, the vivid memories coming back "…Especially me."

"But you DID make it out and the rest of your family too. That's what counts. And you made it possible." Goofy replied.

Pete shook his head again. "But dat thing would have never been there if I hadn't been. It was there because of me. And If I'd woken up just a few minutes later…" He shuddered at the thought, and then put his head back in his hands.

"There's no point in dwelling on that anymore. Its over with now" Goofy said, reaching his hand out again "And the King is making doubly sure this time that that witch can't send anything else here…"

Pete brushed Goofy's hand away with his right arm and gave him an angry stare. "And what if something gets through again anyway?" he replied, almost shouting. Goofy jumped back a little at Pete's forcefulness, giving him a wary look. After a moment, the anger drained from Pete's face and he just looked ashamed. He stood up from the bench and looked up at the night sky. "I'm sorry Goof. I didn't mean to yell like dat."

"It's ok Petey." Goofy said, looking up at his friend.

Pete sighed again, rubbing his temple with his left hand, and then gazed back up at the sky. "If you had to make an impossible choice to protect someone or something you cared about, what would you do? How much would you risk?"

Goofy thought for a moment then replied "I'd probably risk everything, to protect Maxey, or Sora and Donald. …or you" he added at the end.

Pete turned and looked at his friend with gratitude and sadness. After a moment he looked away, ashamed. "I don't think I'm worth risking that for…" he said.

"Sure you are Pete! You are to me, and your family and friends." Goofy replied enthusiastically.

"What if risking everything meant possibly hurting people you didn't mean to hurt? What if it meant being hated?" Pete asked slowly.

"I don't know…" Goofy replied. "You're asking some pretty tough questions Petey. You know I'm not really very good at this" Goofy said, and let out a laugh.

Pete found himself chuckling in spite of himself. "Yeah, you're just a Goof after all." He responded good naturedly. He sat back down on the bench next to Goofy and smiled at him. "Thanks for coming out here pal. I'm glad we had this talk."

"No problem Pete." Goofy replied, throwing his arm around Pete's shoulder "What are friends for?"

Pete let out a small uncomfortable laugh and pulled Goofy's arm off his shoulder. "No need to get all mushy Goof, I already said thanks." He leaned back and looked up at the sky again. "I think I'll stay here a little while longer. Its pretty relaxing and I need time to let my thoughts settle."

Goofy nodded and stood up. "Ok Petey. I'll head back home. See you later."

"Make sure PJ and Pistol go to bed if they haven't already." Pete reminded him sternly.

"Got it Pete." Goofy replied with a laugh. "I bet they're still up with Max playing video games or telling ghost stories or something."

Pete laughed to himself. "Yeah probably." He smiled and gave Goofy a little salute. "Night Goof."

"Goodnight Pete. Don't stay out too late." Goofy replied, and then began walking down the path to exit the park. He stopped a moment later and turned back to wave. Pete waved back and then watched his friend disappear around the grove of trees to the left.

Pete slumped over, shaking in nervousness and relief. His mind raced with thoughts, with doubts and worries. He leaned forward and held his head in his hands again, breathing slowly, trying to collect his thoughts and calm his mind. He thought over everything Goofy said, and everything he'd felt and contemplated the past three weeks. Finally, after several more minutes, he felt calm enough to proceed. He stood up from the bench and closed his eyes, flexing a deep part of his mind that he hadn't used in many months. Not since that time. In front of him a black swirling portal came into existence, and the image of Maleficent appeared before him.

"Well…" the witch asked softly "What is your decision?"

Pete took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. He looked the witch in the eye, holding her cold gaze. "…Alright…I'll do it." He finally replied.

Maleficent face broke into a triumphant smile. "I knew you would come to the right decision, Pete. Very good."

Pete glared at her with anger and disgust. "Just shut it with your stupid false praise." He growled, eliciting an annoyed look from the Witch. "Just…tell me what you want me to do."

Maleficent told him.

- 5 -

Two Days Later

Sora charged down the corridors of Disney Castle, the ear splitting security alarm still ringing off the stone walls as he went. The Keyblade Master had been briefed on the new security technology that had been installed since his last visit and knew exactly what the incredibly annoying sound meant. Dark energy had been detected inside the castle grounds. But how could that be? Security around the world was extremely tight, and had only been strengthened since the last incident with the creature that had attacked Pete and his family. Of course, Sora reminded himself, they still didn't know how that creature had made it in to begin with, and Heartless had made it all the way into the Castle itself once, back during the conflict with Organization XIII. All security systems were fallible and Maleficent and her Heartless armies had only been growing stronger. But whatever the threat was now, Sora was going to have to deal with it.

Sora rounded the corner and nearly barreled straight into Donald and PJ, who rushed into the corridor from an adjacent doorway. Sora skidded to a halt inches away from Donald and then lost his balance and fell back on his butt. "Sora!" Donald exclaimed in surprise, "We've been looking for you. What the heck is going on!"

Sora shook his head as jumped to his feet, brushing off the seat of his pants with one hand. "I have no idea. I was hoping I'd run into someone else who does. The alarm just started going crazy."

"Maybe it's a malfunction, or like a drill?" PJ added, fidgeting nervously with the sword he had strapped to his side.

"I don't know, but we better try and find the King and Queen, just in case its not." Sora added glumly, "I'm totally lost in this place; you should lead the way Donald"

Donald gave Sora an annoyed look. "Been here so many times and you still don't know your way around." He turned and motioned for the two others to follow him and then ran for a door down the hall. Sora and PJ quickly followed.

"Hey!" Sora cried, catching up with the wizard. "I've got a bad sense of direction alright."

"Excuses excuses." Donald shot back, as the three of them headed through the door and into a narrow hallway, leading to a winding staircase that descended towards the lower levels.

"Hey, PJ, have you seen your dad around?" Sora asked over his shoulder as they descended the stairs.

"Not since this morning" the young Knight replied. "He and Mr. G left for work together after breakfast. I've been in combat training classes all morning. When the alarm went off, we all pretty much scattered. Max is looking for his dad."

The group reached the bottom of the stairs and exited out into another wide hallway. Donald paused for a moment to figure out which way they should go, when he suddenly spotted someone rounding the corner down the hall to their right. It was Goofy. "Hey Goofy!" Donald called, and the three of them ran down the hallway to meet their friend.

"Hey guys!" Goofy greeted, as they arrived. "Things are getting pretty hectic aren't they?"

"You could say that again…" Sora answered, pausing to catch his breath.

"Mr. G, Max is looking for you. We split up earlier." PJ said.

"I haven't run into him yet." Said Goofy, looking concerned "I hope he's alright…"

"He can take care of himself Mr. G., don't worry." PJ replied "Have you seen Dad?"

Goofy scratched his head and thought. "Petey? Nope, haven't seen him since we split up this morning. I think he had duty patrolling the opposite end of the castle today."

"Enough chitchat!" Donald interrupted, temper flaring "We've got more pressing problems. Goofy, do you know what's going on? Why did the alarm go off?"

"I know about as much as you do." Goofy replied "As soon as that thing started wailing, I high-tailed it this way."

"Great, so what are we going to do now?" Donald asked in annoyance "We're not going to solve anything just running around"

Suddenly all four companions felt an odd pressurized sensation inside their heads, and the air around them seem to grow thicker. A voice spoke out inside their heads. It was Merlin. "Everyone, don't be alarmed, I'm communicating by magic."

"No duh…" Donald muttered, shaking his head, trying to rid it of the strange invasive sensation.

"As everyone knows, the Darkness sensors were triggered several moments ago, sounding the alarm you now hear." Merlin's voice continued, unable or unwilling to acknowledge Donald's comment. "I've been able to confirm that the flash of darkness was detected near the royal library, and that the signature is now moving towards the throne room at a significant pace. I am unable to confirm who or what our suspect is, but it definitely appears we have an intruder and likely thief in our midst." Merlin's voice paused again, and then continued on, with great authority. "All guard personal in the vicinity of the throne room, please proceed there at once and try to head off this intruder before it can escape. The King is also on his way there now, and will need some backup. I repeat…"

"That's us." Goofy commented, blocking out the rest of Merlin's castle wide message. "We better get going and help the King."

"Right, the throne room's that way!" Donald exclaimed pointing down the hall to their left. The group turned and began running.

"I sure hope we can handle whatever this is." PJ commented, worry creeping into his voice.

"I'm sure we'll be fine. You and your friends nearly kicked my butt remember?" Sora replied, tossing a smile over his shoulder to PJ and they ran. "Besides, the King will be with us."

"Yeah, I guess." PJ replied back, still unable to beat the worry that was eating at him.

After a few more minutes, and several twists and turns, the group finally arrived at the humongous doors to the throne room. Sora summoned his Keyblade into his hand, and the others readied their various weapons. Goofy stepped forward and pushed the huge doors open, allowing the group to enter the room. The 4 companions stepped through the doorway and then froze in shock, as their eyes registered who was in the room.

Pete was standing near the center of the room, a few feet away from the King and Queen's thrones. He was glancing around franticly, as if he was expecting pursuers, and he had a large thick leather-bound book clasped under one arm. He finally caught sight of the group and turned his gaze on them, his good eye betraying a mix of fear and aggression. PJ gasped as he met his father's gaze, catching on to a small new detail a moment before the others. The iris in Pete's artificial left eye was now a deep fiery red.

"Dad! Wh…what's going on? Why are you here?" PJ asked.

"Shoot, this isn't good!" Pete swore in his head, as he turned his gaze on the 4 new arrivals. "I…was..er…just on routine patrol when the alarm went off, and I hustled myself back here to…try and find the king, yeah!" he stammered out, not sounding even half convincing.

"Hey!" exclaimed Donald, pointing with his wand at the object in Pete's arms. "That looks like the Book of Sealed Magic, from the Library's restricted section!"

"I…er…" Pete stammered, looking down at the book "I was just borrowin dis for a bit o light readin tonight. Got keep up to pace on my sealed magic ya know." He replied back lamely.

"You can't check books out of the restricted section!" Donald exclaimed angrily, "That's why it's restricted. You can't even get in there without permission from the King and Queen"

"Yeah, and Merlin told us the dark power was detected near the Library" Sora added, giving Pete his best suspicious look "Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Goofy took a step forward, his face reflecting the worry and disbelief he was feeling. "What's going on Petey? You didn't really steal that book did you?"

The pitying worried look from his friend struck a nerve in Pete's heart and anger flared up. He scowled back at Goofy and gritted his teeth "Why don't you shut up you simpering goody good. What's it to ya if I did steal it, huh?"

Everyone gasped, and Goofy stumbled back as if he'd been slapped, a look of complete shock and hurt on his face. "I don't understand Pete, why would you do that?" he asked, his voice almost pleading.

Pete glared at the group then threw back his head and laughed arrogantly. "Why? How bout because I'm tired of being a pathetic goodnik like all you bozos. I tried it for a while, but being so *nice* and angelic all the time was just makin me sick!" he explained, giving the group a condescending smile. "I want to be free. Want to cause a little trouble. Being on your side's no fun. That's why I'm takin dis here book and heading off to greener pastures. Figure Maleficent would happily take me back if I offer her somethin this valuable."

"Dad, no!" PJ shouted desperately as he dropped his sword and tried to run towards his Father. Sora grabbed his shoulder to restrain him; PJ shot an angrily look over his shoulder at Sora and then turned back to Pete. "What about us? Mom and Pistol and…me?"

Pete bit back the sharp emotional stab he felt and put on his best nonchalant expression. "Oh your mother'll be fine, PJ. She doesn't need me around anyway, would probably be glad to see me go. And you kids need to learn the harsh lessons of life, see?. Can't rely on others for long. The people you know won't always be there for ya. Gotta toughen up, PJ" He smiled an almost fatherly smile "You'll understand someday, boy. Might even thank me."

"No way! That's total junk and you know it!" PJ shouted, trying to pull away from Sora. "We need you!"

"Well hey, why don't you come along with me?" Pete asked jovially, extending a hand towards his son. "We can see the worlds together. We'd be a force to be reckoned with. Father and son, commanding amazing dark power. What do you say?" Inside, Pete held his breath.

PJ's eyes narrowed in disgust and anger. "You'd want me to leave Mom and Pistol along? To betray the King and the Light and all the worlds! Are you crazy! I could never do that, Dad!"

"That's my boy…" Pete thought to himself, letting his mind relax. He laughed out loud and flashed a fake smile. "Well have it your way. Not gonna force ya or anything. You stay in school and mind your mother, and I'll see ya around sometime." He gave PJ a sarcastic salute and then started to turn away.

"Oh no you don't!" shouted Donald. A flash of lightning shot from the end of the magician's wand, striking the ground in front of Pete's feet. Pete turned back and glared at the group.

"Don't make me mad, duck…" He growled back, clenching his hands into fists.

"I'm not afraid of you." Donald retorted, brandishing his wand. "Bring it on."

"No, don't fight!" Goofy shouted, stepping in front of Donald. He gave Pete another pleading look. "What's wrong Pete?" he asked "You can tell us. The other day you were talking to me about making hard choices, about doing something you thought was right even if it meant hurting other people. Is that what this is about? Are you being forced into this in some way?"

PJ looked at Goofy and then back at his father, his face starting to relax as he grasped onto Goofy's theory. "Yeah Dad, is that it?" he asked hopefully.

"Shut up Goofy!" Pete thought to himself. Outwardly, he let out another arrogant laugh "Ha! Nice idea Goof, but it's just a fantasy. I'm doing dis of my own free will. It's true that I joined Maleficent to try and find the kids, but I can't deny that I had fun while I was workin for her. Now that the kids are safe, I'm ready to blow dis Popsicle Stand."

PJ's face fell, tears beginning to form in his eyes. Pete flinched inwardly, but kept his poker face. Goofy, however, didn't back down. "I don't believe you Pete!" he said forcefully "I think your just saying that to throw us off the trail. But I still trust you Petey! You should stop this nonsense and just come clean. I'm sure the King and all of us together can figure out a way to get you out of whatever it is without you needing to resort to this."

Pete kicked himself inwardly for ever having the idea to talk to Goofy like he did. Things weren't going like he'd hoped, like he needed them to. He put on his best glare and raised a fist, summoning up an orb of dark energy in his palm. "Why don't I show you how much you should trust me now, pal-y?" He asked with menace.

Sora brought his Keyblade to the ready position. "I may not like it, but we will have to fight you with everything we have if you won't come quietly." He threatened.

"Bring it on Pipsqueak!" Pete said

"Wait, all of you stand back! I'll handle this…"

Pete spun around and everyone turned their attention in the direction the voice had come from. Standing next to the thrones, behind Pete, was King Mickey, Keyblade in hand.

"You're Majesty!" Goofy and Donald exclaimed together.

"Mickey! Alright, now we can all definitely win!" Sora exclaimed.

"Everyone stay back, I say!" Mickey commanded "This is my responsibility." He turned his head and fixed Pete with an angry gaze. "I'm the one who pardoned him before, so I need to deal with this…"

Pete narrowed his eyes at Mickey. "So if it isn't the Boat Boy King" he said sarcastically. "Come to try and stop my escape, eh"

"I can't let you leave the castle with that book, Pete" Mickey said, "It's too big a risk to let it fall into Maleficent's hands. I'm going to have to stop you."

"Let's see you try, your Majesty" Pete replied, setting the book down at his feet and conjuring a dark energy shield around it. "I was your boss once before, long ago, and now I'm going to put you in your place, like I should have done then!"

The two stood staring each other down for what seemed like forever. Then they charged at the same time. Pete drew his sword and blocked as Mickey leapt into the air and aimed a downward swing of the key blade at his head. Mickey pushed off of the sword and landed behind Pete, spinning around and aiming a sweep at Pete's legs. Pete blocked the keyblade with a downward swipe of his own sword, without turning around. Dark energy gathered in his hands, and he spun around, aiming a punch at Mickey's head with his right fist. Mickey ducked, and then pushed forward with a flurry of swipes from his keyblade.

Sora and his friends stood with held breath, watching the King and Pete duel back and forth. It was an impressive battle to behold, even under the startling circumstances. Pete pushed Mickey back, raining sword blows down on him, but the king adeptly and acrobatically parried and blocked every one of Pete's swings, and then countered with his own, gaining ground and reversing Pete's advancement. It continued back and forth for quit a while, the two warriors seemingly on even ground. Slowly but surely though, Pete was losing stamina, his large heavyset body not able to push itself as far or as long as the King's could.

"I think his Majesty is going to win" Donald exclaimed excitedly.

Goofy and PJ stood together next to Sora, Goofy with a comforting hand on PJ's shoulder.

"He's not going to hurt Dad is he?" PJ asked

Goofy shook his head and squeezed PJ's shoulder. "No, I don't think so. Don't worry PJ, Everything will be fine. Once the King disarms Pete, we'll be able to stop him. Then we'll get to the bottom of all this."

Back with the fight, Mickey made his move, leaping forward and letting loose with an extremely powerful horizontal swing of the keyblade. The impact of the keyblade against Pete's sword sent a huge shockwave through Pete's arms and upper body. He felt the bones in his arms creak, his hands vibrating from the strength of the impact, and then his sword was driven from his hands and sent clattering across the floor. Pete and Mickey stood facing each other again, frozen, and then Mickey leapt forward, trying to hit Pete with the dull side of the Keyblade, to stun him. Pete ducked and dodged the King's swings, and when Mickey stabbed forward with his blade, aiming for the shoulder joint on Pete's armor, Pete saw his opening…and took it.

It happened quickly. Pete stepped to the side, the tip of Mickey's blade scraping along the metal of his armored shoulder, and then punched Mickey's weapon hand with his right fist. The King involuntarily let go of his Keyblade and Pete swept his left arm up, grabbing the handle of the blade, and then spun, following the momentum of the King's thrust, bringing the Keyblade around in an arc…and then stabbed forward with all his force, plunging the blade into Mickey's chest!

Eyes widened around the room, mouths gaped in shock. The King's face seemed to show utter amazement and surprise at what had just happened to him, and then his eyes slowly fell closed. His arms slumped to his sides. Pete stared down at the King with a cold stony gaze "I told you I'd show you…" he said. After a moment, The King's body was enveloped in a glowing white light, before suddenly breaking apart into a cloud of shining white twinkles, like fireflies, and then fading away

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" screamed Sora and Donald at the same time, rushing forward blindly, weapons drawn.

Pete saw the two heading towards him and knew there was no way he could fight them both off, not in his exhausted state. Without a word, he raised one hand, summoning up a portal to the corridors of darkness. He ran for the portal, scooping up the Magic book with his right hand as he went by it, and dove into the swirling darkness. Sora's keyblade swung for him, but hit nothing but air as the dark entrance vanished.

"Shoot, that slimy coward got away!" Donald shouted in frustration. Next to him, Sora let out an inarticulate shout and slammed his keyblade into the marble floor in frustration. Turning around, the two of them looked back at Goofy and PJ

PJ had fallen to his knees, his face a broken mask of shock and horror. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes and then began to run down his cheeks. "No….no….this can't be happening…it can't be real…" muttered weakly, staring straight ahead at the spot where the portal had vanished. "Dad…he…he killed the king…he…n…NOOOOO!"

Goofy fell to his knees beside PJ and embraced the boy, who began to sob inconsolably, clinging onto Goofy tightly. Goofy looked up at Sora and Donald, his face showing the confusion and devastation he was feeling inside. "I don't understand what's going on…How could this happen?"

Donald starred at Goofy, his face beginning to turn red with anger. "What do you mean how could this happen!" he screamed. "That no account rotten Pete betrayed us, just like we always should have known he would! We should have just attacked when we had the chance!"

"Shut up Donald!" Goofy shouted back, displaying uncharacteristic anger. "You have no idea what Pete could be going through."

Donald's mind reeled with nearly uncontrollable anger. "You *still* believe in him after what you just saw him do! I can't believe you! He killed the King! He's crossed the line, there's no turning back! He's gone, face it, Idiot!"

Goofy reeled back in surprise at Donald's blatant insult, then looked down at PJ and wrapped his arms around the kid tighter "I don't know what to believe…" he said quietly.

Suddenly the large doors to the throne room were thrown open and Queen Minnie, Daisy, Merlin, and Chip and Dale rushed into the room.

"We got here as soon as we could" said Daisy.

Queen Minnie glanced around the room in curiosity. "What happened? Did you find out what caused the alarm? Where's Mickey?" She spotted PJ, crying in Goofy's arms, and her expression softened into compassion and worry. "Something horrible happened didn't it?" she asked.

Donald, Goofy, and Sora looked at each other, no one feeling up to the terrible task of telling the Queen what had happened. Finally, Sora stepped forward, his Keyblade vanishing into thin air. "The culprit was Pete your Majesty." He explained.

Minnie gasped in surprise "Oh my…" she said.

"He was trying to escape the castle with a book he stole from the library, something about Sealed Magic" continued Sora. Merlin's face grew grave at the mention of the book. "The King confronted him and told us all to stay back, to let him handle the fight. It seemed like the King was going to win, but then Pete turned the tables. He…" Sora stopped, choking on the words, his face flinching in mental pain. "He's gone, your Majesty. Mickey's gone. …I'm sorry."

Queen Minnie's face froze in shock and disbelief. When she saw that the serious expressions on everyone's faces remained the same, she suddenly raised her hands to cover her mouth, her eyes welling with tears. "Oh…oh no…" she sobbed. Daisy rushed forward and put her arms around her mistress; who turned her head and buried her face in Daisy's shoulder.

"This is just terrible, terrible!" mumbled Merlin, shaking his head. "By far the greatest tragedy our Kingdom has ever faced."

Sora walked up to Merlin and looked the wizard in the eye. "Can you tell me what was so special about the book Pete stole?" he asked.

"Yes I think I can do that." Merlin replied. "That book contained information about a great many secret and forbidden magics that have existed throughout the many multiple worlds over history. Including information on how to unseal and harness the most powerful destructive magic force we yet know of. The spell called Ultima."

"If Maleficent got her hands on that…" Donald marveled.

"Yes, it would be a great disaster." Merlin finished.

"Well then we've got to go after Pete!" Sora exclaimed

"But we have no idea which world Pete and Maleficent may be in right now." Goofy interjected. "We can't just run around blind."

"I think we have a solution for that!" piped up Chip.

"Really!" Sora asked in anticipation. Queen Minnie turned from Daisy and stared at the two chipmunks as well.

"Yep!" responded Dale, bouncing in enthusiasm "Chipper and I had been working on a device to track dark wormholes, as an extra security precaution for this world."

"Yeah. It's still somewhat experimental, but the path of Pete's wormhole through the worlds should have been recorded on our equipment!" explained Chip. "All we should have to do is download the data to your Gummi ship's computers and you'll be able to follow him wherever he went!"

"That's great news!" Sora cried out.

Queen Minnie glanced around the group with sad eyes. "I'm not sure it would be wise for all of you to go running off right away like this." She explained.

Donald looked at the Queen with surprise. "No offense your majesty, but what are you talking about?" he asked "We have to go now; Maleficent and that traitor could be unsealing that spell as we speak!"

"I know this is a very emotional and tragic event, for all of us, and that we can't just sit back and do nothing" responded the Queen sagely, "But if you run off to confront Pete and Maleficent right now, in your emotionally charged state, something worse might happen. Mistakes could be made. I…don't want to see anyone else lost…"

Sora marveled at the Queen, how she could give such calm and wise advice despite the terrible pain she must surely be feeling at that very moment. Donald was not convinced though. "I'm sorry you're Majesty." He said, his voice somewhat calmer, but still full of emotion "I just can't agree with that. We need to strike now. I'm going!"

Sora looked at Donald with tired resignation, and then back at the Queen. "If Donald's going I've gotta go too. I can't let him face this along. Right Goofy?" Goofy nodded in agreement.

"But…" the Queen began, when suddenly PJ spoke up of the first time in a while.

"I'm going too…"

Everyone looked at PJ. He was standing on his own now, and the shock and pain that had shown in his face before was gone, replaced now with furious barely held back rage.

"No PJ!" Goofy exclaimed. "We can't take you with us."

"Goofy's right" Sora added. "Sorry to say that you're too close to this. You should wait here and trust us that we'll take care this."

PJ turned his burning gaze on Sora and Goofy. "You can't stop me from coming." He said quietly, the anger burning under his words startling the other two.

"Listen to them PJ, Please" The Queen pleaded. "I think I understand part of what you must be feeling right now, but confronting your father in the state your in now would be a very unwise decision! Think of your mother and sister!"

PJ turned and glared at the Queen, who flinched in shock from the boy's broiling emotions. "I don't care." He said flatly, clenching his fists. "I'm going. I'm going to find my Dad. And when I do…"

"No PJ, I forbid it!" The Queen cried.

PJ glared back at her and then marched towards the door, shoving the Queen aside with his left arm as he passed. Daisy caught Minnie and everyone looked on in shock at PJ's retreating back.

Sora looked around at everyone. "Come on guys, I guess we better get ready." He said, following after PJ. Donald quickly ran after them too.

Goofy looked at the Queen with shame on his face. "I'll try and talk PJ out of this I promise. But I guess we're going. I'm sorry, you're Majesty"

The Queen looked like she was about to object again, but then stayed silent and nodded sadly. Goofy stood up and quickly followed the others the door, heading towards the Gummi ship docking bay. Minnie and Daisy watched them go. "I…I should have done more to try and stop them." Minnie replied sadly. "I hope everything turns out alright." After a moment, she and Daisy embraced.

- 6 -

The dark portal opened and spilled Pete out onto the hard stone floor of the dungeon. Pete grunted in pain as his shoulder slammed into the hard rock, and then lay there for a moment, trying to catch his breath. He'd made it out. But just barely. And at such great cost… Pete rolled over onto his back and slowly pulled himself to his feet, feeling the aches and bruises of his worn out body. Suddenly he heard movement behind him and spun around. Maleficent swept into the dark room, her black cape flapping around her, a look of anticipation on her evil face. "Well?" She asked.

Pete narrowed his eyes in disgust at the witch. He tossed the book he was holding across the room to land at Maleficent's feet. "There's yur stinkin book alright?" he growled. "I did what you wanted."

Maleficent's eyes flashed with anticipation at the sight of the book. "Very good Pete!" she crooned, picking the book up. "With this my power will grow even greater."

Pete stared at her with hatred, and then casually tossed the other object he'd been holding towards the Witch. "Oh yeah. Brought you a little something extra."

Maleficent looked at the object that had been deposited at her feet and her eyes grew wide with surprise. It was a purple and blue Keyblade, with various star shapes and patterns adorning the blade and hilt, down to the keychain hanging off the bottom. It was unmistakably the style of Keyblade used by King Mickey. Maleficent looked up from the blade over to Pete, an expression of almost comical surprise on her face, distorting her usually beautiful and terrifying features into something rarely seen. "This is…" she began, "I…I don't believe it!"

Pete returned her gaze with cold anger. "I did what I had to do, ok?" he said defensively. "He got in my way, so I had to take care of it…" As soon as he said the words, he felt a stab in his heart and dropped his face in shame.

Maleficent looked again from the Keyblade to Pete's reactions and back again, and then let out a long sinister cackle. "Well, well, Pete, you continue to surprise me" she said, wiping her eyes with one hand "I never would have guessed you could go that far in your dedication to protect your family from me! Or that it would give you such strength. I have under-estimated you. I see now that I made a very wise choice in arranging to bring you back under my control." She waved her staff and the Keyblade on the floor floated up before her. "This item will serve as a worthy trophy of my magnificence."

Pete grunted in disgust and began to turn away. "Yeah, yeah, I'm tired of listening to you yap. I'm going to my room."

"Wait!" Maleficent commanded, turning her fiery gaze back to Pete. "There is one last thing." She said.

"Yeah, what!" Pete fired back, turning back and crossing his arms as he tried to stare down the Witch.

"Just a little…precaution." The witch replied. She waved her staff through the air and a mist of mingled green and black light flowed forth from the orb on the end.

The mist swirled around Pete and then enveloped his body, quickly settling on his skin before being absorbed into him. Pete felt light headed and slightly sick for a moment, and then the feeling passed. "What the heck was that?" he asked gruffly.

"Just a bit of my magic." Maleficent began to explain, giving Pete a smile that chilled him to his bones. "I know that you won't dare betray me again, not after I've seen how dedicated you are to making sure your family is safe…but it never hurts to take as many precautions as possible."

Pete's face suddenly filled with fear and worry. "What do ya mean?" he asked timidly, his former anger quickly evaporating.

"Think of it as a fail-safe" the Witch replied. "If you should betray me again, the trigger will activate, and the magic I placed inside you will attack…" she smiled wider. "And destroy you from the inside."

Pete's face drained of all color, and he looked as if he might be sick. Maleficent laughed.

Several hours later, Pete still lay on his bed in his small cramped dungeon room. His mind was a tempest of doubt and fear, his heart throbbing painfully in his chest, to the point where he felt like he could barely breathe. His minds eye kept replaying the scene at the castle over and over. PJ and Goofy's hurt, shocked expressions. The tears in his son's eyes. The pain Pete had heard in his voice, that had cut his emotions like a knife. He couldn't imagine what they were going through right now, what PJ was going through, how Peg and Pistol must be reacting to the news. Pete leaned forward on the bed and held his head in his hands, desperate tears beginning to form in his right eye. "How am I going to get through this…?" he choked out desperately. After a moment he pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest, laying his forehead on his knees, making himself small, like a scared little kid, and let the emotional pain sweep over him. He knew he was probably not going to come out of this like he had before. There probably would be no third chance for him. The idea of his family, of everyone he knew, hating him and never knowing the truth was almost too much to bear. But bear it he must. There was no other choice. "For them…" He repeated softly for himself. "Everything for them…"

Suddenly Pete felt the unpleasant sensation of Maleficent broadcasting directly into his brain. "Get up here now. We have intruders in the castle. It seems you were followed. I need you to help hold them off while I continue the preparations to unseal the magic."

Pete's heart leapt with fear. No! They weren't supposed to be here! How did they figure out which world he fled to? Pete jumped to his feet, his heart racing. "What if they brought PJ?" He asked to himself, suddenly finding himself so scared that he could barely move. Only the thought of what he stood to lose if he disobeyed the witch now was able to get him moving. He threw on the new armor Maleficent had left in his room and headed out the door.

Maleficent and Pete stood on a raised platform in the center of a large room with a tall vaulted ceiling. In the center of the platform was a stone pedestal on which Maleficent had placed the sealed book of magic, and she was currently absorbed in reading from its pages, occasionally waving her staff about according to some vague instruction that Pete didn't understand. Leaning against the pedestal was the Keyblade Pete had brought back with him; no doubt placed there deliberately by the witch in hopes that the sight of it would strike fear into the intruders from Disney Town, should they make it this far. Pete stood with his back to the witch, watching the main entrance to the room. His face was stoic and serious, but inside he was desperately praying, hoping that his pursuers would not reach this inner sanctuary, that he wouldn't have to face them after that horrible confrontation in the Castle. "Please…just let this be done with before they ever get here." He plead desperately in his mind.

Unfortunately it was not to be. Pete heard the sounds of fighting outside the entrance to the room, sounds of magic whistling through the air and blades slicing through Heartless, grunts of exertion and shouts of encouragement, anger, determination. The battle was getting closer, and closer. Pete held his breath, waiting to see who would come bursting through that door, desperately hoping for at least the small mercy that his Son would not be among the intruders. After a few more tense moments, the huge wooden doors exploded inward, blasted by a well aimed fire spell, and 4 figures charged into the room. It was Sora, Donald, Goofy, and… Pete's heart skipped a beat and then dropped into the pit of his stomach. PJ was with them! His son stood next to the others sword in hand, a look of uncharacteristic aggression glinting in his eyes. His stance, his face, the dirty disheveled look of his armor and hair, gave him a presence that was completely alien to everything Pete had ever thought and known about his son. He looked like a completely different person. "PJ…I did this to you…" Pete thought, and his heart broke all over again, seeing the vengeance and anger in his son's eyes. For one brief second Pete lost his will entirely, just froze in horror at the thought of having to go on anymore, to have to live even one more minute while seeing that look in his own Son's eyes. But then he regained his composure and resolve. Nothing had changed; he still knew what he needed to do. "For them…" he repeated again silently under his breath, "Just a bit longer…"

"Pete!' Donald exclaimed first, raising his wand to the ready. "We've found you. You should have known you couldn't get away."

"Nice trick figuring out which world to look in, Goof." Pete said sarcastically. "What did ya do, throw a dart at a name and get lucky?"

"Chip and Dale invented a device to track dark energies." Goofy replied stoically. "Lead us right to this Castle."

"Shoot." Pete exclaimed in his head. "Figures. Never thought of that."

"We're here for the book Maleficent!" Sora shouted, focusing on the main mission at hand. "We can't allow you two to awaken Ultima!"

Maleficent turned to glance at the new arrivals with disdain. Then she let out a hearty laugh. "What a child you still are, Keyblade Master. You're already too late. Preparations are moments away from being completed, and soon I will have more power in my hands than you could ever imagine." She glanced at Pete "Deal with them until I'm ready."

Pete began his act. "With pleasure." he said happily, cracking his knuckles in feigned anticipation.

"Let me take him!" PJ growled, stepping to the front of the group, raising his sword. Pete winced inwardly.

"No PJ, you should stay back, let us handle this." Sora said, trying to grab the boy's shoulder. PJ shrugged his arm off and gave Sora a nasty look.

"Sora's right, PJ" Goofy added.

"Lets just do this now!" Donald exclaimed, before racing forward. The other three broke into a run to try and catch the wizard.

Pete watched them come, waiting for the right moment. Seconds passed. And then they were in place! Pete raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Four black stone pillars, each topped with a triangular cut purple crystal, rose from the floor around Sora's group. Before they could do anything, purple lightning shot from the 4 crystals towards the group. The lightning hit Sora, Goofy, and Donald, sending wave of tingly numbness shooting through every inch of their bodies and sending them sprawling to the floor paralyzed.

Pete laughed. "A little something I cooked up just for this occasion. That should keep you still and out of our hair for a while." He exclaimed. "Just sit back and watch the show."

"I think your forgetting someone…Dad"

Pete suddenly caught sight of PJ, standing to his right, near the far pillar. He had somehow managed to roll out of the way of the paralyzing lightning just in time. Now he stood facing his father, sword out in front of him, staring him down with hatred in his eyes.

Pete fought to stay composed, and then put on his most stern parent voice. "So you think you're ready to play with the big boys now, huh Junior?" he asked.

PJ didn't rise to Pete's insult. He continued to glare at his father with unbroken anger. "You left us…" he said in quiet fury. "We fought to bring you back. We forgave you for what you did. All we wanted was for you to stay with us! That's all! But you still left… You threw us away. WHY!" he screamed, taking a step forward.

Inside Pete felt like he was dying, but he held his composure, against all odds. "You're still a child, PJ. You wouldn't understand. The world's a harsh painful place. You need to grow up!"

PJ's eyes flashed, and angry tears fell from his eyes. "If being an adult means throwing away the people who care about you, and stomping on their feelings, and only caring about yourself, then I never want to "grow up"" he shouted, raising his sword into a battle stance. "I'll never forgive you!"

PJ's words cut so deep into Pete's heart that he nearly lost his resolve right then and there. He could feel his body losing strength, rebelling against him. How could he fight his own son! Suddenly, he felt the unpleasant pressure of Maleficent's mind in his head. "Fight him Pete. Destroy him." She encouraged mockingly. "Do it for the sake of your family. Fight him so that the others can live. You know you have no other choice…"

The sound of her evil voice made him sick, even more so because he knew she was right. In her own way, she had restored his determination. "For them…" he whispered tragically in his head…and then raised his fists to the ready stance.

The two stared each other down, neither moving, neither wanting to take the first action. Sora, Goofy, and Donald watched silently from the electrical prison, unable to do anything to help. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Pete and PJ charged each other at the same time. PJ swung his sword at his father, but Pete blocked the blows with the metal guards on his forearms, and replied back with a sweeping kick to try and knock his son off his feet. PJ jumped Pete's sweep easily and brought his sword down in an overhead slash. Pete crossed his arms over his head and blocked the blow, but the strength of the strike was enough to drive him to his knees, his arms vibrating from the absorption of the shock. He felt a twinge of dull deep pain in his left arm, but ignored it; channeling his dark power through his body, he turned his hands towards PJ and launched two dark energy orbs into his son's face. PJ jumped back several steps, the orbs skimming over the top of his head. Pete retreated back several steps as well and used the opportunity to launch a barrage of miniature dark energy balls across the room. PJ slashed the air, knocking the balls aside, and the found Pete right in his face, pulling back with a large punch aimed straight at his head. PJ swung his sword up to defend himself, and right into the line of his father's punch.

Pete's fist collided with PJ's own hand curled around the handle of his sword. Pete felt his fist grinding his son's fingers against the handle of the blade, and heard something audibly pop. PJ cried out in pain and lost his grip on the sword. Before it even had a chance to clatter to the floor, Pete kicked it to the side with his foot, sending the sword sliding into the dark corner of the room. PJ glanced franticly towards the sword and then back to his father; his face plastered with surprise, pain, and anger…and then caught Pete's fist right in his left eye.

The punch knocked PJ to his knees. Sora and the others gasped in shock at the reversal. Donald seethed in anger and shouted "Hey pick on someone, your own size!".

Goofy felt as if he was going to be physically sick, watching this fight. "Petey, you've got to stop this!" He pleaded desperately "Think about what you're doing, this is insane!"

PJ got to his feet, his eyes looking half dazed, but still full of anger and defiance towards his father. His eye was already starting to swell. Pete looked down at his son, trying to keep an expression of stern stoicism on his face. He thought of the words and threats Maleficent had spoken in his head. "For them…" he though again…and punched PJ again across the jaw line. PJ stumbled back but didn't fall this time, and Pete pressed forward, slamming his fist into PJ's lower belly, in the vulnerable spot underneath his chest plate. The punch drove PJ's breath from his lungs and doubled the boy over; Pete followed it up with a swing from his left fist that caught PJ in the side of the head and sent him sprawling onto the floor. Before he could get up again, Pete was on top of him, raining down blows.

It was the single hardest thing Pete had ever done in his whole life. He had always been a very strict, even harsh, disciplinarian with his kids over the years, but he had never hit either of them before…till now. Every punch Pete landed on his son was like a claw ripping out a piece of his own heart, the sight of his own son's blood on his knuckles physically sickened him. But he kept going. He had to. To stop would be to allow everything he'd done and sacrificed up to this point to become meaningless. And he would never allow that. So he would play his part. For them. Everything for them. Inside he was crying, crying and dying as he pounded his son into the ground without mercy. For them.

Pete grabbed PJ by the collar of his armor and lifted the boy's limp body in front of him. He was barely conscious, his face a mess of cuts and bruises, his cheeks and chin stained with blood from his nose and busted lip, both eyes nearly swollen shut. Pete raised his right fist high, drawing dark energy into his hand, preparing one final decisive blow.

"NOOOO!" screamed Sora and Goofy at the same time, struggling against the paralysis that held them.

Pete stood their frozen, his hand raised at the ready, looking at his son, so torn up inside he could barely breath. The moments continued to pass. Pete held his attack at the ready, thinking desperately, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, he heard Maleficent's evil laughter echo inside his skull. "That was quit an amusing show I must say" She intoned in his head "But I think you handled the situation quit well. There's no need to go any further at the moment. You may spare him."

Pete lowered his right fist and then tossed PJ's semi-conscious body towards Sora and friends. He landed next to Goofy, letting out a weak groan. "Take care of him Goof" Pete said gruffly, turning away without a second glance at his son.

Pete took a few steps towards Maleficent when he suddenly heard a change in the pitch of the electrical current running through the 4 crystals. He spun around just in time to see Sora unleash a huge burst of gravity distorting energy from his Keyblade, blowing away the static current around his body and freeing him. Sora leapt forward glaring angrily at Pete. "You've gone too far Pete" he stated seriously. "I've forgiven a lot of things in the past, but seeing what you did tonight, to the king and to your own son, after everything that's happened…it's just too much!" He brandished the Keyblade in front of him. "I'm going to take you down now, for the sake of everyone you've hurt! You won't escape this time."

Pete glared back at Sora, clenching his fists in anger. His hands stung badly from the previous fight, and his left arm ached deep in the bone, as if he had strained it somehow. He was not in a good mood at all, especially for Sora and his self-righteous act. He didn't understand anything! "Well dats just fine with me!" he answered back, with genuine emotion for the first time in hours. "I've got no problem at all taking you on with everything I've got, pipsqueak." He boasted, cracking his sore knuckles and readying himself. "You're Toast."

"Get him for us Sora" Donald called angrily. "Show him who's boss!"

Sora charged forward, sending out a barrage of fire and ice bullets at Pete, who blocked them by putting up a quick energy shield, before firing off a flurry of dark energy balls. Sora batted the energy aside without breaking his stride and soon he was on top of Pete, slashing away.

The fight was incredibly fierce and intense, Sora throwing himself passionately into his attacks, swinging the Keyblade with all his strength, jumping and flipping every direction, trying to find a break in Pete's defenses. Pete kept up with Sora's moves valiantly, but he was constantly on the defense, always blocking, never able to get an attack in edge wise, and he was coming to the end of his endurance, while Sora was still fresh.

Sora kept up the relentless onslaught of swings, and Pete's blocks become slower and weaker with each successful move. Finally, a powerful sideways swing from the Keyblade made it through Pete's guard and slammed into his left arm just above the elbow with rock cracking force. Pete screamed in agony as his left arm broke along the weakened fracture line, where his bones had been set the previous time. He fell to his knees panting, gasping for air, waves of burning pain rolling up and down his useless left arm. The pain seared into him, making him feel faint and nauseous, but he clung to consciousness and starred up at Sora through his blurry pain-strained vision.

Sora stood over him, gazing down with a serious unforgiving expression on his face. Behind them, Donald cheered "That's it Sora, wrap it all up!" Goofy held PJ in his arms, not really knowing how he should respond to the situation.

Sora gave Pete a cold look and raised his Keyblade. "It's over Pete." He said simply. "You brought this on yourself."

Watching Sora raise the Keyblade, everything that had gone on the past few weeks flew through Pete's mind at warp speed. Everything he'd been through, all his efforts, all the pain he'd endured. It couldn't end like this! To be beaten at the last second, when he was so close, and by SORA of all people! The indignity and unfairness of the situation was too much to bare. He couldn't allow it! Not after he'd come so far! Not after he'd sacrificed so much. He HAD to see this through to the end, no matter what!

Pete felt his dark powers start to gather strength inside his body, spurred on by his powerful emotions and resolve. The energy flowed through every cell of his body, and suddenly all the pain in his arm was gone, completely blocked out by the storm of energy. Pete raised both hands and caught Sora's Keyblade in mid air. Sora's expression changed to pure shock. The blade cut into Pete's palms but he didn't feel it. Dark energy waves flowed over his whole body and up his arms, gathering into his hands. He looked Sora straight in the face, his good eye flashing with anger. "You…ARE NOT going to stop me!" Pete growled in rage at Sora. At the same time, he channeled and released all the dark energy in his hands, blasting Sora across the room with a burst of energy, straight into the paralyzed Donald. The magician quacked in surprise as The Keyblade master slammed into him and sent them both bouncing several feet across the floor. Pete immediately fired off a blast of energy with his right hand, which surrounded Sora and Donald in a powerful force field. "This time, stay down…" Pete grumbled to himself.

"Donald, Sora, you alright?" Goofy called with concern, trying to break free of the paralysis to get to his friends.

"Yeah, I guess I'm fine." Sora replied, rolling off of Donald and getting to his knees, ducking to avoid the roof of the energy barrier. "But I wasn't expecting that move."

Donald sat up with a dazed expression on his face. "Did anyone get the number on the truck that hit me?" he asked, before falling over again.

Pete slowly got to his feet, all the aches and pains that the dark energy had blocked out suddenly hitting him again. His broken arm flared with renewed agony from the exertion he had put it through defending the attack. He gritted his teeth against the pain and stood still for a minute, letting the light-headedness pass. The palms of his hands throbbed and he felt blood dripping down between his fingers. He was definitely a mess. Maleficent looked over the group and laughed. "Well done Pete. I must admit I am impressed. You really have become motivated in a way you never were before." She smiled and then turned back to the magic book. "Now come. Let these fools bare witness as we complete the ritual to harness Ultima. Let them tremble in fear at our new power."

Pete looked over Sora and friends with a cold disdainful gaze and then nodded to Maleficent. He began to turn to join her, when Goofy spoke up. "I can't believe you've gone this far Pete…" Goofy began sadly. "I believed in you. I thought you would always do what was right for your family. I still think that Maleficent must be coercing you to help her in some way but…" he looked down at PJ, and then up at Pete again with renewed emphasis "Can't you see that this isn't the way! If you were in trouble, you should have asked us for help. We're your friends. We're supposed to handle this stuff together! The King and Sora and Donald and me could have figured something out! You didn't have to do this. You shouldn't have gone it alone!"

Pete turned slowly back towards Goofy and looked his old friend straight in the eye. They stayed that way for several moments, neither of them moving or saying anything. "You…don't…understand…ANYTHING!" Pete growled, forcing out each word with incredible effort, gritting his teeth with the anger he felt that moment towards Goofy. Goofy was stunned into silence by the forcefulness and emotion of Pete's reply and not for the first time felt himself suddenly in the dark about what to think at all. Pete let his intense gaze linger on Goofy and his friends for a few moments more, then he turned away.

"Well…then make us understand…" PJ suddenly spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper.

Goofy looked down to see the boy's eyes were now open, as he struggled to sit up. "Careful PJ." Goofy said, holding the kid's shoulders to steady him.

PJ tried to sit up further and then collapsed back against Goofy, watching his father's back with an expression that was nearly unreadable on his swollen bruised face. "Make us understand…if you can." He repeated.

Pete didn't turn around. "Maybe you'll understand eventually." He replied coldly, before walking across the room to join Maleficent on the raised platform.

"Yes, one day I'm sure everything will be clear." Maleficent mocked, smiling at her captive audience. "Soon all that will matter in the worlds is power and darkness. My darkness. Then everything will be simple. Won't it Pete?"

"Shut up witch." Pete broadcast back to her with his mind, but it was a half-hearted tired reply. Maleficent smiled at him knowingly and then turned back to the book again. Pete mounted the platform with some difficulty, pressing his broken left arm to his side tightly while he awkwardly pulled himself up with his right arm. He got to his feet beside Maleficent and began to pulling loose some of the straps on his armor. With a bit of effort, he managed to create an impromptu sling/binding for his left arm. He gasped in pain as he cinched the straps tight, and then turned to watch Maleficent conduct the ceremony.

Maleficent scanned through pages, moving one green finger back and forth across the lines. She reached the end of the page, and then smiled. "I see now. This will be simple." She flung her arms wide over her head and began to chant in a mysterious unintelligible language. Sora and friends suddenly felt the temperature of the room drop several degrees, and the air around them began to feel thick and tingly, as if an electrical storm was forming. Bright tendrils of black and green flames began to swirl about the room, converging into a spiral above Maleficent's outstretched hands.

No one in the room noticed the iris in Pete's artificial eye slowly change color, going from the intimidating blood red to faintly glowing pale amber.

More and more greenish black energy filled the room, swirling towards the center and forming a roaring cyclone of power around the platform on which Pete and Maleficent stood. Donald watched the energy with growing worry. "Guys, this isn't looking good. How are we going to get out of this mess?" He asked.

Sora tried to hide his own worry and flashed Donald a weak smile. "Don't worry. Things are never hopeless. I'm sure we'll figure out something…" he turned and eyes the growing green storm "…eventually."

Maleficent finished her chanting and then watched the energy gathering around her. She let out a terrifying maniacal cackle. "The greatest magic in the universe will now be mine!" She gloated. "All worlds will be devastated before my power. I will rule all!"

"I don't think so Maleficent!" shouted a voice over the roar of the cyclone. A very familiar voice…

Maleficent whipped her head around, trying to locate the person who had spoken. Sora and his friends looked around in confusion as well. That voice…it couldn't be!

Suddenly a sparkling orb of silvery energy burst into life above the platform to Maleficent's left. A rainbow spectrum of light poured out of the center of the ball and the onlookers could even see what appeared to be stars and nebulas and space swirling about inside it. Then a blinding flash of light burst from the strange portal, forcing everyone to shield their eyes, and a small figure dropped down onto the floor in front of Pete and Maleficent. The glowing ball promptly vanished. Everyone lowered readjusted their gaze, as the glare cleared up, and looked at the new arrival. Stunned silence filled the room.

"I can't believe it…" said Goofy

"Is it really true…" Sora asked, somewhat in shock.

"I'm seeing things…" Donald said, rubbing his eyes.

"NO!" Maleficent snarled. "This is impossible!"

King Mickey stood on the platform in front of Maleficent, holding his Keyblade at the ready in one hand. "You're wrong about that Maleficent." Mickey said defiantly, giving the Witch a wry smile. "I'm here alright, in the flesh! And you're going down!"

"Your Majesty, you're alive!" Shouted Goofy enthusiastically. "Thank Goodness!"

Mickey turned his head, catching sight of Sora's group. "Goofy, guys! PJ!" he exclaimed, obviously surprised to see them there.

"Kick their butts for us, Your Majesty" Donald exclaimed. "Teach that traitor and the Witch a lesson!"

Maleficent took a step back from the King, and then cast an angry look at Pete. "What is the meaning of this?" She asked. "You said you had disposed of this nuisance."

Pete stared at the King, ignoring Maleficent's angry gaze. "Yep, I did say that." He responded, taking a few steps forward to stand just behind Maleficent, clenching his right fist. "I guess it didn't take like I thought. Although I have no idea how." He continued, staring at the King. "I watched you disappear…"

Mickey turned his gaze to Pete, his face flashing a look for genuine concern for a moment. "You're not looking too hot, Pete." He said.

"Thanks for the concern, Boat boy." Pete replied sarcastically "But I can take care of myself."

Maleficent glared at the King and then addressed Pete without looking at him. "I am not pleased with this Pete. I expect you to handle this little unforeseen obstacle at once, if only to make up for your failure to deal with him fully the first time."

Pete snorted in annoyance. "You expect me to take him on with only one arm?" he asked.

"I don't care I you broke every bone in your body, this is your responsibility. Do as I command!" she thundered, before turning her gaze back to the King. She studied him with genuine curiosity in her eyes, and then focused on the Keyblade he was holding. "How is it that you still have your blade?" she asked. "I know that the Keyblade Pete delivered to me was not a fake. How did you fool him?"

King Mickey smiled almost playfully. "Why don't you take a look at that other blade?" He said. Maleficent's eyes narrowed and she glanced to her right, at the Keyblade currently lying against the pedestal where she had placed it earlier.

It was still there, and as far as she could tell, had not changed in any way. She glanced back and forth between the blade in the King's hand and the one against the pedestal. They both looked identical. Suddenly, the blade learning against the pillar vanished in a bright flash of light, right before their eyes. Maleficent glanced back at the King with fire burning in her eyes. "What is the meaning of this!" she yelled.

Pete cleared his throat to grab the Witch's attention and then fixed his eyes on Mickey. "I think I can tell what's going on now." He said, anger creeping into his voice.

"What would that be, cretin?" Maleficent asked icily, not even bother to look at Pete.

"Well…" Pete began, taking a small side step to his right. "It's pretty simple actually. The Keyblade I gave you wasn't the King's at all…"

*flash!* *shunk*

Maleficent's eyes bulged in sudden pain and surprise. She glanced down to see a gleaming blade protruding from her stomach, green and black fire escaping from the place where the shaft exited her torso. She glanced over her shoulder to see Pete's right arm trust forward, holding the handle of the blade, the blade that had just run her through. "…It was mine." Pete finished, obvious enjoyment playing out across his face. Maleficent looked down again at the Keyblade jutting from her chest, as if she was still unconvinced at what was happening. Then she gazed over at Pete again, her eyes filled with such a palpable look of pure rage and hatred that it could have melted rock. Pete starred back at her defiantly, not flinching or looking away, taking all her anger and hate and returning it, and then looked past her to where the King was. Their eyes met, and then Pete smirked and nodded his head. "Exactly as planned, your majesty." He said.

Sora and friends watched the scene unfold, their own eyes bulging in stark disbelief at what was playing out before them. Donald tried to say something, but his words came out as nothing but an unintelligible stutter, and he immediately lapsed back into silence. PJ watched the scene unfold, his mind reeling and seeming to turn in on itself. "Dad…" he spoke weakly, still desperately trying to process what was going on.

"Planned…?" Goofy whispered to himself, looking back and forth between Pete and the King, completely confused.

Maleficent suddenly shrieked with rage and pain, a sound that nearly rattled the whole room. Pete let go of the Keyblade and the Witch stumbled forward, the sword still stuck through her. "You dare betray me again!" she screamed at Pete, whirling towards him with murder in her eyes.

Pete gave a laugh and thumbed his nose at the witch, smirking. "How could I "betray" you, Maleficent, when I was never really on your side to start with?" he asked.

Maleficent roared in rage at Pete and slammed her staff into the floor, causing the orb on the end to glow. "Well, now your actions have sealed your fate" she hissed at him. "The magic I placed in you will now rip your body apart from the inside out. A fitting end for someone like you!"

Everyone's eyes widened, and both PJ and Goofy cried out in disbelief. Pete's body was suddenly enveloped in a black cloud of dark energy, flowing and covering every inch of him. Pete looked at Mickey and then the witch with panic in his eyes, and then the black cloud covered him completely, obscuring his features.

"Pete no!" Goofy cried out, and Maleficent let out an evil laugh of triumph.

Suddenly the black cloud around Pete blew outward and vanished. Pete stood before them, seemingly unharmed. He looked up at the witch, and then his face broke into a mocking grin and he let out a long belly laugh. "That kind of tickled." He gasped out between breaths.

Maleficent's face contorted with shocked anger. "What is going on, why didn't my magic destroy you!" she ranted.

Pete pointed at his artificial eye with the thumb of his right hand. "Dis baby right here is my own secret weapon. Protects me from all your nasty mojo, Maleficent. You have no power over me at all!"

"NOOOOO!" Maleficent screamed, raising her staff and firing off a blast of green energy. The ball flew towards Pete…and then his eye glowed brighter and the attack exploded harmlessly in front of him and evaporated.

"It's no use Maleficent. I just told you, your magic doesn't work on me anymore." Pete said. "You've lost."

Mickey stepped forward, looking down at the witch crumpled at their feet. "That's right. And we'll be taking Ultima too." He stated, giving her an ironic smile. "Thanks for doing all the work unsealing it for us. Too bad you won't be using it to further your evil plans." Mickey raised his Keyblade and thrust it into the center of the swirling energy vortex. Suddenly the energy changed color, going from the evil green black flames to a softer golden color. The energy swirled faster and faster and then was promptly sucked straight into Mickey's Keyblade, leaving it glowing faintly. "Mission Accomplished!" Mickey exclaimed, admiring the Keyblade. "Won't Merlin be surprised hen he sees this."

Maleficent crumpled further to the ground, coughing as the strength ebbed out of her through the hole in her chest. "No…this cannot be! It can't end like this…" she lamented, trying to pull herself up and failing. "I am the mistress of all evil. I cannot lose to the likes of you. I will be back one day, I promise you!"

Pete stepped forward and looked down at the witch without any pity in his eye. "Your not the mistress of anything anymore, you witch" he said coldly. The Keyblade sticking out of Maleficent's chest vanished in a flash of light and reappeared in Pete's right hand. He raised the Keyblade over his shoulder as he stared at the Witch. "Goodbye Maleficent. You're never going to threaten my family again…" he said quietly, before slashing the blade down with all his strength.

Maleficent let out an inhuman shriek and exploded into green and black flames, blowing Pete and Mickey back off the platform. Suddenly the entire room began to rumble and vibrate. Mickey and Pete exchanged panicked glances. "Sounds like this place is going to collapse!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Not again." grumbled Pete, before casting a look back to Sora and the gang. "Let's get dem and get out of here!"

Mickey nodded and then the two sprinted towards Sora's group. Pete and the King threw their Keyblades at the same time, aiming for the crystal pillars generating the paralyzing electricity. The blades spun through the air like Frisbees and neatly severed the crystals, de-activating the energy. At the same time the barrier around Sora and Donald disappeared. Mickey arrived by their side, catching his Keyblade on its return trip as he helped Sora and Donald to their feet. "We need to get out of here."

"But…" Donald began, still looking completely bewildered.

"No time! Explanations Later. Run now!" Mickey replied quickly, and then sprinted towards the exit. Sora and Donald looked at each other with confusion and then shrugged and followed.

Pete dropped to his knees next to Goofy and PJ, putting his right hand on PJ's shoulder. "Can you walk son?" he asked, his voice full of genuine concern.

PJ still looked like he was half in shock, but he registered Pete's question and nodded. "Yeah, I think I can" he replied.

"I'll be sure to help him." Goofy replied, as he pulled himself and PJ to their feet. He looked at Pete with relief and brotherly affection. "I knew I could keep believing in you." He said.

Pete quickly looked away; feeling embarrassed, and then motioned towards the exit, where Mickey, Sora, and Donald were waiting for them. "Save the sappy stuff for later Goof. We can talk after we get out of this death trap."

"Right." Goofy replied, nodding his head.

The three of them stood up and ran for the door, Goofy with his arm around PJ's shoulders to help him.

The group ran through the endless corridors of Maleficent's castle, dodging falling rocks and leaping ever widening cracks as the place crumbled around them. Pete and Mickey lead the way at first, navigating the winding halls and slashing through any Heartless that got in their way with the Keyblades, But Pete soon began to fall behind, unable to keep up with the King's pace with only one hand to fight with, and Sora quickly pulled up to take the lead. They ran on and on, for what seemed like ages, and it started to appear like they would never reach the exit before it was too late. But just when everything seemed hopeless, Sora spotted the castle entrance, the large doors knocked off their hinges by the shaking, the bright sunshine outside streaming through the archway. With renewed strength, the group sprinted for the exit, and out into the bright warm sun.

- 7 -

They stood silently on the cliff overlooking Maleficent's castle, watching it crumble to dust before their eyes. They had gotten out just in time. Sora, Goofy, Donald, and the King stood near the edge of the cliff, with Pete and PJ standing on almost opposite sides of the group, slightly apart. Pete watched the last of the turrets disintegrate into pebbles and then let out a huge sigh of relief, plopping down on the stony ground and leaning against a large boulder. He had never felt so exhausted in his whole life. "I'm about ready for a month's worth of sleep" he stated, looking over at the King.

Mickey laughed and nodded "I'll bet. We need to get you back to Disney town, to treat your arm."

Pete rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh goody, another Hospital visit. Like I haven't had enough of them these past few months…"

Donald glanced back and forth between the King and Pete, and then felt his temper flare up again. "Hey, hey, hey! Enough beating around the bush!" he cried in annoyance "We need an explanation. What the heck is going on!".

"Yeah your Majesty" Goofy added, turning around to face Mickey. "We saw Pete stab you with your own Keyblade back there. We saw you disappear in that flash of light!"

"We though you were gone for good." Sora chimed in. "How did you get here?"

Pete laughed. "Never thought our little act would really be so effective." He said. "I never stabbed him. It just looked dat way from your angle."

"But the vanishing!" Sora interjected.

"Pete sent me into the Lanes Between." Mickey explained. "We had to make it look like he'd beaten me, to fool Maleficent."

"But don't you need a Keyblade to access the lanes…" Sora began to ask, and then stopped, turning to look at Pete. "Oh…"

Pete chuckled and nodded. A Keyblade appeared in his right hand in a flash of light, and he held it up admiringly. "Yup. Got one. The King did that fancy smancy succession thing to me right after I got out of the hospital a few weeks ago." He smiled slyly at Sora. "Guess I'm part of your little secret club now, hey Pipsqueak?"

Sora smiled. "Yeah I guess. Riku and Kairi aren't going to believe this when I tell them."

"Wait your Majesty, you still haven't told us how you got here!" Goofy exclaimed. "We had to use Chip and Dales fancy new tracking device to find this place. How did you get here from those spacey lane things?"

Pete grinned and interrupted before Mickey could answer, pointing to his artificial eye. "It was all this baby." He answered proudly. "Not only does this thing block dark magic, but it also works as a locator beacon. All I had to do was activate it and the King could open a portal straight here."

"Yep" Mickey added "That's about the size of it."

"Wait a minute." Goofy interrupted, looking a bit confused. "Petey you've had that eye for almost two months now, quite a while before the incident at your house." He said, counting on his fingers. He looked up at Mickey. "How long have you two been planning this?"

Mickey blushed and looked down for a second, somewhat embarrassed. "The specific details weren't worked out till a few weeks ago…but we've known we were going to have to do something like this for a while. Almost since Pete came back."

Pete nodded sadly. "Maleficent wasn't going to let me go so easily. The King convinced me that we'd need to have some kind of plan ready for if she ever tried something." He explained, turning his head to look at his son, who hadn't said a word since they'd escaped the castle. "I knew that you and Pistol and your mother would never be truly safe until the witch was defeated. I lived every day worrying that she might make her move…and I wouldn't be able to stop her before one of you got hurt." PJ looked back at his dad, a mixture of emotions playing across his face. He looked like he was about to say something, and then suddenly cast his eyes down.

Goofy nodded thoughtfully. "I guess it all makes sense now…Sorta" he laughed and shook his head.

"Yep, that's pretty much everything. Stage my defeat to make Pete's defection look believable. Infiltrate Maleficent's castle, strike at the right moment, and finally defeat that Witch once and for all." He laughed "We even came away with Ultima as an unexpected bonus! Now we've eliminated a threat in this Heartless war and bolstered our strength." His face suddenly became serious and He looked are the group with a remorseful expression. "I'm sorry we had to put you through all this and keep you in the dark, but it was the only way that we could figure to make it work out and look genuine. Maleficent had to believe Pete had really rejoined her side. And part of that was making you all believe it too."

"Yeah I guess…" Sora replied, scratching his head and not looking totally convinced.

Donald glared and the King and fumed. "I can't believe you two cooked all this up behind our backs!" he replied angrily. "You should have told us…somehow! Think about how we all felt. Think about the Queen!"

Mickey let out a little chuckle. "Actually…Minnie was in on it too."

Donald starred at the King with a dumbfounded expression on his face, totally speechless. Goofy laughed and slapped his knee. "I guess that kinda explains why she was so calm back at the castle."

"You know, you guys were really the only thing that went wrong with the plan." Mickey said seriously. "We never expected that you'd be able to find Maleficent's hide-out so easily. Weren't expecting Chip and Dale to come through with some new invention like that. Plus…Minnie was supposed to order you not to leave."

Goofy suddenly blushed red. "Well, we kind of didn't listen to her."

Donald looked down at his feet, his anger quickly dissipating. "We…were so desperate to rush off and find Pete that we completely ignored her." Mickey gave them both a stern disapproving look.

Sora suddenly slapped his forehead with his hand and then looked at PJ. "Shoot! What would have happened if we'd actually won against Pete! This could have been a disaster!" Sora looked at Pete apologetically. "Sorry about your arm. I kind of lost control of myself there and…"

Pete raised his hand and cut off Sora, shaking his head slowly. "It's ok." He replied. "You guys reacted exactly how anyone would have. You…" he looked at PJ, and he felt his heart break at the sight of him. PJ's face wore a devastated expression, his face was already wet with tears. He quickly looked away from his father's eyes, his face flushing red, and starred down at his feet. Pete suddenly recalled all the words his son had said to him that day, and the thought pierced his heart. ("You left us…you threw us away! …I'll never forgive you!) Was PJ remembering too, recalling what he'd said in anger and hatred, not knowing the truth? Pete felt his eye start to tear up and choked on his next words, his face growing warm with embarrassment. He continued on forcefully, looking at PJ as he said every word. "You all acted just like you should have. You tried to bring the traitor, who you saw kill you're King, to justice. You couldn't have known any different…" PJ looked up, meeting his father's eye, seeing the sincere remorse in his face. "You couldn't have known…" Pete repeated, his voice almost pleading.

PJ wiped his swollen eyes with his hand and took a step towards Pete. The memory of what he'd said tore at his heart. "Dad…I…" he began and then choked up. Fresh tears ran down his face and he didn't bother to wipe them away.

Sora caught on to the atmosphere and took a few steps back. "Maybe we should give them a little privacy?" He asked, a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Mickey said. He turned and he and Sora walked together a few paces down the cliff, but not before Mickey gave PJ a gentler reassuring smile.

"Come on Donald." Goofy said, grabbing the reluctant wizard by the shoulder and dragging him off with the others.

Pete and PJ watched them go, and then turned back to look at each other. Pete dropped his eyes after a moment, unable to keep looking at his son's bruised swollen face. He starred at his hands, the hands that had inflicted pain on his own son, and clenched his right fist in disgust. "I can't believe I hit you." He said; his voice heavy with remorse and sorrow. "I understand if you can't forgive me. Even if I was trying to protect all of you…I went too far…" a tear ran down his cheek and landed on his hand. "I can't even forgive myself." He said, his voice trembling.

"No..dad…" PJ began, taking a step forward.

Pete looked up at PJ again. Tears were now freely streaming down the right side of his face. "I never meant for you to get involved in this, believe me. You weren't supposed to be there. Go to work, get the mission done, get back home before anything got too bad." he said. "That's why I told you you should stay home this morning. Take the day off. You weren't supposed to be there…" he repeated.

PJ's eyes suddenly flashed with anger. "How was I supposed to know?" He shouted, anger and sorrow mixed in his voice. "I thought you were just joking around. You'd never let me stay home from school or anything in my life unless I was sick." Tears streamed down his face, as the anger died down as quickly as it had come. "How was I supposed to know…?" he sobbed. After a moment, PJ fell to his knees, still crying, rubbing his swollen face. "When I saw you taking that book, when I saw you fight the King…I felt like my whole world had been smashed. I couldn't stand to lose you again Dad… And all those things you said, about me, about being with us…" He let out a shuddery choked breath. "I felt like it hurt so bad that I could die…I…" His voice broke off and he wept silently.

Pete felt his heart bursting with emotion. Tears streamed down the side of his face. Without hesitation he leaned forward and wrapped his right arm around his son, pulling him into a tight embrace. PJ wrapped his arms around his Pete's torso and buried his face in his dad's chest, clinging on tight and crying like a young child. Pete squeezed him tighter, not wanting to let go, ignoring the pain in his left arm. "I'm sorry PJ, I'm so sorry…" He whispered quietly. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you…I'm sorry for everything I said. I didn't mean any of it. Not one word." He squeezed PJ's shoulder and laid his head down next to his. "I'll never leave you guys again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Watching from the sidelines, Sora wiped a small tear from his own eye and sighed. "Well, I guess it all turned out alright in the end." He said simply, turning to the others.

"Yep. I guess it did." King Mickey said. "Let's go get the Gummi ship fired up and get the heck out of dodge."

Donald and Goofy gave an agreeable cheer and the four of them turned and began to walk back to the ship, leaving PJ and Pete to finish their reconciliation in peace.

- The End -

-And it's done! Whooo. That took a while. I was hoping to get this finished before new years, and I just barely made it. I think it turned out ok. What do you think? Leave a review if you liked it! I think I'm done writing stuff for a while now. Gonna take a nice long break and wait for KH 3DS to come out. Can't wait! The new trailer is mind blowing! Anyway, need to get home now. Boss is probably going to wonder why I stayed at work so long. See ya! Oh yeah…random little piece of trivia here, in case you didn't catch it, the Technology for Pete's artificial leg and eye came from the Treasure Planet world ^_^. That movie is great. They should make it into a world in a future KH game. Extra Note: Finally gave it a title (it was the last thing I did, lol). Not really all that satisfied with it, but it fits and is better than nothing.-