I'm so sorry for the slow update! I ran into writer's block! I'm better now though :D

In response to several reviews, I can't make any guarantees about the story thus far. If you keep an eye out, however, there will be hints...

As some of you know, next month is National Novel Writing Month. I'll disappear for that duration, but I will return, I promise. Hopefully I'll get a book written in that time…

Amity Invasion

By FlikFreak

Chapter Seven: Suspicion

Danny groaned as he took to the air, the black monsters beneath him hissing angrily at their retreating prey. "Geez, these things are all over the place!"

"They generally are," Sora grumbled. A quick flash emitted from the tip of his weapon and thunder struck several of the heartless, vaporizing them into black mist that soon faded. Taking the cue to begin, Danny fired off a short round of ectoplasmic blasts and finished a few more off. Thankfully, the group was small, and only a few were left after the barrage of attacks from both ghost boy and keyblade wielder. The remaining heartless lunged at their opposition, only to be met with the shaft of the keyblade, shoving them off. Before another move could be made, the remaining heartless scampered back, as though in fear, but were quickly disposed of by a handy display of Sora's swordsmanship.

"Is that the last of them?" Tucker asked. Sam nodded, obviously sharing the sentiment.

"I doubt it," Sora replied. "Heartless aren't easy to stop."

"We should put out some kind of warning about these things," Sam suggested. "At least to keep people safe."

"That's not a good idea," Clockwork protested softly but sternly.

"Let me guess," Danny began. "It would 'alter the time stream' or something?"

"No," was the time master's reply, much to Danny's surprise. "It would be against the rules."

"You sound like Walker."

Clockwork gave Danny a quick glare which quickly silenced him, but he continued with the subject at hand. "While warning the populace of this threat may seem a good idea, it is best if you keep silent about it. The majority of the heartless will be drawn to keyblade, regardless of what you do."

"But what rules are there to follow?" Tucker asked. "This isn't like the laws of physics, is it?"

"No," Sora replied. "According to the rules, I'm not supposed to reveal certain things to you guys, like where I'm from and things like that. It's about keeping order. If everything is chaotic, the heartless will have an easier time taking over."

Sam snorted. "As if everything wasn't already chaotic before you came here."

The look on Sora's face at the goth's comment was indescribable. It was some mixture of pain, amusement and annoyance. "The chaos I'm referring to is something you might not want to experience."

Danny had a strange feeling that Sora had already been through what he was describing.

It hadn't taken long to come to a decision. The group of teenagers had already gotten into more than they should have, and according to Clockwork they were safer if they remained under cover (to which Tucker enthusiastically replied that it was what they did best). After they had carefully re-entered the human world via the portal and shut off the speeder, the group made their way upstairs to find that the Fentons had returned home. Judging by sound alone, Danny could tell that his mother was in the kitchen, Jazz was probably upstairs reading, and his father was in the living room avidly speaking with someone. The halfa shifted to human form cautiously. Whoever this visitor is, he can wait, He grumbled inwardly as he led Tucker and Sam to the door. "I'll meet you guys at the Nasty Burger tomorrow if I can," he said. "Sound good?"

"Fine with me," Sam replied. "My parents won't mind."

Tucker checked his PDA. "I'm free, too," he said. "You going to come, Sora?"

Sora grinned eagerly. "Of course! You can't leave me out of all the fun, right?"

After bidding his friends farewell, Danny closed the door carefully and turned to Sora. "So what now?"

The keyblade master blinked in minor confusion. "Why are you asking me?"

"You know more about them than I do," Danny began, heading for the staircase with Sora following close behind. "How do you normally handle them?"

"Long story short, I have to find something," Sora explained. "I can tell you more later. For now, it's easier to just keep an eye on them and make sure they don't hurt anyone."

Danny was about half-way up the staircase with Sora when his father's voice called out to him. "Danny! Can you come here for a moment?"

Sighing, Danny turned around. "I'll catch up in a moment. This shouldn't take long. You can play some Doomed if you want."

Sora nodded and headed up to Danny's room. As the halfa made his way down, he found that a familiar yet unpleasant face was waiting for him on the couch.

"It's been so long, Daniel! How have you been?" Vlad Masters asked in a sickeningly kind tone of voice.

Monsters, ghosts, rules, staying under cover, and now I have to deal with Vlad? Sheesh… Danny glared back at the man before him. "Fine before you showed up," he growled. "What do you want?"

"Why, I'm hurt, Daniel!" Vlad exclaimed lightly, placing a hand daintily on his chest as though to exaggerate the point. "I'm only here to check on a few things. I can't have my favorite hero getting hurt from these mysterious creatures, would I?"

Danny gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so tightly that his fingernails threatened to draw blood from his palms. Vlad knew something, that much was certain, but there was no telling if and how he was going to get anything out of his arch-enemy. It took nearly all his focus to keep his eyes from shifting to their glowing green state as they tended to do when he was exceedingly frustrated and not in ghost form. "If you're so concerned, why don't you sic them onto someone else?"

Vlad smirked. "Really, Daniel, there's no need for suspicion! I'm here to look out for you!"

"I seriously doubt that."

Both Vlad and Danny turned their gaze to the staircase nearby. There stood Sora, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. Danny never thought Sora was capable of such an expression; it was apparently something the boy never made much use of.

"You must be the exchange student!" Vlad exclaimed. "I hear you come from a long way away. How are your parents back at home? Still wondering where you are, I assume?"

Sora stiffened at the comment, causing Danny to blink in confusion. Sora's parents had arrived to drop him off, hadn't they? Or was that another ruse to keep order? The keyblade master, however, quickly brushed off this comment and replied. "My family is doing just fine," he hissed through his teeth. "I don't know who you are, sir, but you know way too much for whom you say you are. If I were you, I'd keep out of what you have no business in unless you really want to get hurt."

"And if it is my business?" Vlad replied, narrowing his eyes and taking on his truly malicious tone while still managing to be quiet.

Surprisingly, however, Sora seemed to smirk. "Someone like you wouldn't last long."

Vlad was not without a retort. "Ah, but the way you put it, it sounds like nobody has business with them. Someone your age and experience would barely last a few seconds against even a small crowd like the one that gathered here just a few hours earlier-"

The elder halfa's comment was cut short when, in the blink of an eye, Sora had dashed across the room and summoned the keyblade, the tip of it suddenly a fraction of an inch from the man's throat. A ringing silence rang through the room, interrupted by the sounds of the older Fentons in the laboratory working. Sora's glare made his earlier expression look like a simple frown. His eyes had narrowed to slits, his focus locked onto Vlad Masters so intently it was as though it could have been glued there. Vlad himself seemed only slightly disgruntled, but Danny knew that he was covering up his shock.

"You know nothing about my experience," Sora snarled coldly, his anger seething in his words alone. Leaving things at that, he dismissed the keyblade right from where it was and stalked up the stairs, leaving Vlad and Danny to stare in stunned silence.

Moments later, however, Vlad resumed his usual façade. "Your new friend is quite testy, isn't he?"

Danny narrowed his eyes, not bothering to keep them from going green this time, and swept his gaze to his arch nemesis. "You know too much, don't you?"

"Now, now, Daniel, there's no need to be so angry." Vlad stood, brushing his pants off. "I'd keep an eye out if I were you. Your friend Sora is obviously hiding plenty from you."

"He's doing it to protect us," Danny retorted, "And he's saved my butt before. I trust him."

"But can you trust someone whom was once one of the enemy?"

Danny did a double-take. One of the enemy? Who's he referring to?

Vlad cast an over-dramatic look at the clock. "Oh, would you look at the time! It seems I am late for a conference. Tell your mother I said hello, will you?" And with that, Vlad took his leave.

It was the most confusing thing Danny had ever experienced. He was seething in anger at Vlad as he normally was, then he was in shock at Sora's response to him, and then there was the confusion about what Vlad had said about trusting one of the enemy. The concept wasn't new to him – he had to work with the very ghosts he had captured before to get out of more than one tight spot – but in the light of recent events, who exactly could he be referring to?

And on that note, what else could Sora be hiding?

So, then. A decently-sized chapter for once. Yippee! Well, close, but still.

TO MY READERS! Which ghosts do you people want to see in this fic? Clockwork and Plasmius are kinda givens already since they've already appeared (and the Box Ghost will have to show up at some point for the sake of humor), but I could use some ideas. I can't put every single ghost in, but there are already a few which are already guaranteed an appearance. However, I cannot say which these will be. I can't spoil the surprise, now, can I?