Last time found our heroes and allies learning the truth of what happened to Amber four years ago. Realizing that there was nothing to do to help her, our heroes left Amber to figure things out for herself. Meanwhile, just as The Ramblers arrived to help, Zotarius unleashed his most diabolical spell yet; a fear-inducing mist that reduced everyone it touched into quivering masses of cowardly jelly. Using the power of The Amulet of Avalor, Sofia sacrificed herself to protect her friends and family from the mist. Yet this small victory was tarnished by the sound of encroaching Titan footsteps. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

Chapter 6: Redemption or Damnation

"How many?" asked Roland as he, Tess, James, Jill, Eren, Mikasa and Armin, stood atop one of the towers, using several telescopes to try and locate the approaching Titans through the slowly receding mist.

"I can't see them, Dad," said a frustrated James, "there's too much mist!"

"What I wouldn't give for a pair of heat-vision binoculars," said Jill.

"What I wouldn't give for some of our horses from our world," said Eren, "we could just ride into that crap, take a look around and ride out."

"And get whammied by that fear mist? I don't think so!" said Armin.

"We don't know it'll affect us now, Armin," said Eren, "what Sofia did…"

"She stopped it and sent it back, Eren," said Mikasa, "but we don't know if it can still affect us."

"For all we know," said Armin, "we could wind up curled up in trembling balls as our worst nightmares torment us until we die."

"We don't know how long it'll last," said Aiden, "it could wear off like it did for Ed and Al."

"But they're still out to lunch," said James, "and they're the least we have to worry about."

"Sofia, she got hit by the mist," said Tess, "why did it affect her?"

"I don't know," said Miranda as she walked onto the tower balcony, a distraught look on her face, "I just don't know."

"How bad is it, Mom?" asked James.

"I did a sweep of the palace with Bailywick," said Miranda, "over a third of the staff and nearly half the guards were affected by the mist. Most are now unconscious, asleep but out of danger, but a few are still paralyzed with fear. Bailywick moved them to the infirmary where we hope they'll recover."

"What about Max and the others?" asked Jill impatiently.

"Exhausted but safe," said Miranda, "Katina's the only one still on her feet. She's trying to figure out how to psychically break the curse on those still affected."

"What about Sofia?" asked Roland.

"Sofia…she," said Miranda, "she, she's in her room with Ruby, Amber and Hugo…Sofia…she…" that's all Miranda could say before she started crying, only to be comforted by Roland and James as they embraced her.

"I think I may know," said Malcolm, "The Amulet of Avalor, its magic can grant wishes, but they have to be selfless wishes."

"We know that," said an annoyed James, "'With each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse.' What difference does it make? It helped us but not Sofia."

"That's the thing," said Malcolm, "Sofia must have wished to keep us safe from the mist, to keep everyone safe from the mist. However, like all magic, a price must be paid; in this case, Sofia sacrificed her safety for the sake of those she cares for."

"Meaning all of Enchancia," said Aiden as he looked out towards the mist, "it's definitely fading."

"Too slowly for my like," said Jill as she looked in the direction of the village, "I still can't see any Titans. I'd give my right eye for a pair of heat-vision binoculars!"

"I think you already gave you right eye," said Andrew, "and your left, and your limbs, and most of your internal organs, and…"

"I know how many times I've been hurt, you bloody idiot!" snapped Jill, "I just want some way to see through the mist, that's all!"

"Ask and you shall receive!" said a brown-haired girl wearing palace livery and an inventor's lab coat, strode onto the balcony, carrying a modified spyglass.

"Oh, Gwen!" said Roland, "good to see you."

"Everyone, this is Gizmo Gwen," said James as the former baker's assistant turned inventor walked up to Roland and Miranda, "Enchancia's official gadget maker."

"I'm sorry I haven't been much help lately, your majesties," said Gwen, "I've been working extra hard on new means to defeat Parzon's war machines. Anyway, as soon as I heard what happened, and heard that there were those horrible Giants nearby in that horrible fog, I remembered I made this."

She then handed the spyglass to Roland, "the lenses are made of special crystals that can see body heat."

"Titans have a lot of heat inside them," said Armin, "hence the steam they produce when damaged and destroyed."

"There!" shouted Roland as he used the spyglass to look towards Dinwiddle, "I can see those abominations! They're just…walking around."

He handed the spyglass to Tess, whom looked and saw, through a red filter, the village of Dinwiddle and several bright red gargantuan shapes moving about.

"They're probably looking for and eating the villagers," said Mikasa, "the mist has made them helpless."

"And by now the mist had affected the fort nearby," said James, "the garrison is in the same condition. Dad, we've got to get over to Dinwiddle and stop those things!"

"With just us?" asked Armin, "most of our forces are either unconscious or still curled up in fearful balls!"

"And there's still mist in the village," said Eren, "we could still be affected by it."

"I wasn't," said Aiden, "I got hit by it when Ed and Al were and I'm not curled up in a ball. Probably because of my Keyblade."

"That doesn't mean the rest of us are immune," said Tess.

"You wouldn't happen to have invented a gas mask to counter poison gas attacks, would you?" Andrew asked Gwen.

"I've got several working prototypes in my workshop," said Gwen, "Parzon hasn't used poison gas yet, but better safe than sorry."

"Okay, new plan people!" said Andrew, "Roland, you take James, Aiden, Malcolm, Eren, Mikasa and Armin to the village, put down those abominations and take out any Parzon commandos you find. No doubt they're controlling those creatures, so try to take one or two alive for questioning; the ones you captured earlier aren't in a talkative mood right now."

"Yeah, we really kicked their butts earlier," said James.

"Jill, you, Miranda and Tess stay here to help protect Sofia," said Andrew, "no doubt this whole mess is a move by Xenu to weaken and divide our forces."

"You think they're going to try and take Sofia again?" asked Miranda, "so soon?"

"I'm sure," said Andrew, "They're most likely sneaking into the palace grounds by now, if they're not here already!"

"Oh God!" exclaimed Miranda, "Sofia!" with that she dashed downstairs.

"Let's go," said Jill to Tess.

"Right," said Tess. With that they ran after Miranda.

"I'll check in on Max and the others," said Andrew, "we're going to need all the help we can get if what I think is coming is coming. And then," he looked at Gwen, "I'd like your help, especially your expertise with tools and gadgets."

"Really?" asked Gwen.

"I've more than a few ideas on how to improve the palace's defenses," said Andrew, "but there isn't time, so I need your help putting together some of my special equipment. Max and the others usually help me, but they can't this time."

"I'll do whatever I can to help," said Gwen proudly.

"Good," said Andrew as he led Gwen downstairs, "oh, and before I forget, have you any experience with high-powered explosives?"

"I…what?" asked Gwen as they disappeared down the stairs.

"We'd better get going," said Roland.

"Right," said Aiden, while Malcolm and James nodded in agreement.

"Eren," said Mikasa, "we don't know how many Titans are in the village so…"

"I know, Mikasa," said Eren, "if it comes to it," he then held up his right hand, "I'm ready."

"Ready for what?" asked Aiden.

"To attack some Titans, that's what!" said James, "Oh, you guys are going to love riding on flying horses."

"Flying horses?" asked Armin nervously, "can't we take a carriage? Or regular horses?"

"No time to ready a flying coach," said Roland, "and flying horses are faster."

"If they're as fast as a certain rainbow-colored Pegasus I know," said Malcolm, "then let's go!"


"How dare they!" snapped Zotarius as he and the Parzon commandos lurked just outside the palace grounds, "how dare these bumpkin magic users even think about attempting to break my curse! How dare they!?"

"He's been going on like that since the cauldron stopped boiling," said one of the commandos to his fellows, "if he doesn't shut up, I'll make him shut up!"

"It's his fault we're in this mess," said another commando, "if he had just waited for the next portal and reinforcements from Parzon, we wouldn't be trying this. We don't know what kind of beefed-up defenses they've put up here."

Just then the lead commando leapt over the boundary wall and walked up to his subordinates, "All clear. Every guard and servant I saw up to the palace proper is either unconscious or quaking with fear."

"Excellent!" said Zotarious with wicked satisfaction, "all according to plan. Of course, I knew that one of the local magic users would attempt to sabotage my work, so I imbued a special side effect in the curse. Those no longer helpless with fear are still helpless, lacking the strength to even stand up, let alone fight."

"You really think he did that?" one of the commandos whispered to his comrades, "planned it all?"

"I could care less," said the lead commando coldly, "all I care about is completing the mission; delivering Princess Sofia to Lord Xenu. Once that is done, Lord Xenu can exterminate that pompous outworlder and the others."

"Fine by me," said another commando as they crossed over the boundary wall and onto the palace grounds.


"Something's not right," said Jill as she stood tensely in Sofia's room, while Miranda and Tess sat around Sofia's bed. With them were Sofia's two best friends, Ruby and Jade, as well as Hugo, standing vigilantly off to one side.

"Darn right, something's not right," said Ruby irately, "Sofia's been cursed!"

"Look at her," said Jade as she watched Sofia occasionally twitch and jerk as she was tormented by demons tormented, "she's always been so fearless. What could she be so afraid of to make her like this? It's not fair!"

"Since when has dark magic ever been fair?" asked Tess, "I once nearly had my soul snuffed out and my body possessed by an immortality-obsessed dark sorcerer, and that was completely unfair."

"You were possessed?" asked Miranda.

"I got better," said Tess.

"It's still not fair!" said Jade irately, "where's one of the Princesses when you need them?"

"What are you talking about?" Tess asked.

"I'm talking about Snow White and the others!" said Jade, "every now and then when Sofia was little, whenever she was seriously in trouble, she'd get help from one of the Princesses."

"She met Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine and so many others," said Ruby, "whenever Sofia was in way over her head, The Amulet of Avalor would summon one of the Princesses and they'd give advice that would help Sofia get out of whatever sticky situation she was in."

"This is definitely a sticky situation," said Jill as she anxiously paced back and forth, "something's coming, something dangerous; I can feel it all the way down to my cells."

"What does that mean?" asked Hugo.

"It means my instincts are telling me that a threat is coming and I have to do something about it," said Jill, "I shouldn't be here, I have to go."

"You're leaving?" asked Miranda, "Why? I thought Andrew ordered you to stay with Sofia."

"Andrew may be a more than adequate strategist and an outstanding cook," said Jill, "but my instincts have never led me wrong, at least in this life."

"Didn't your instincts warn you about the mist?" asked Tess.

"My instincts told me to stay close to Sofia," said Jill, "but now they're telling me I have to be elsewhere. I'm sorry, but whatever danger is coming, I can best protect Sofia by meeting it head on. I'm sorry, excuse me." With that she hurried out of the room.

"I don't believe this," said Ruby, "our best friend is helpless and one of her protectors just walked out."

"Coward," said Hugo contemptuously, "I'll bet she's looking for a place to hide."

"Jill wouldn't have done that if it weren't important," said Tess, "I may not know this Jill, but if the Jill Sparrow's I've met are any comparison, then this Jill is by far no coward." She then looked at Sofia, "just as she's no coward. I saw Sofia face down those Titans in the swamp and didn't flinch when they tried to eat her. She didn't panic when she was taken by those commandos earlier and she didn't back down when the mist was about to get us all. She'll pull through, just you wait!"

"It's all my fault," muttered Sofia in a defeated tone.

"See? She's pulling through!" said Tess. She then did a double take as she realized just what Sofia said.

"Sofia, what is it?" asked Miranda as she sat next to her daughter, "what's all your fault?"

"I drove them away," said Sofia as she sat up, hugging her knees as she stared forward, ignoring Miranda and the others, "Snow White, Aurora, Belle and the others, I drove them away, I forced them away and they're never coming back!"

"You didn't, Sofia!" said Jade, "you could never do anything so horrible!"

"But she hasn't seen them in years," said Ruby in a somber tone, "not since after the incident four years ago."

"Well…maybe she hasn't needed them since," said Jade, "maybe she hasn't been in that serious a situation. But they'll come, just you wait! I'll bet Snow White or another will show up any second to say just the right thing to help Sofia."

"They won't come," said Sofia, "I…I sent them away."

"I don't believe it!" snapped Tess, "I know Snow White and the other Princesses of Heart. I don't know how Sofia's been in contact with them, but they would never abandon someone in need."

"They abandoned me," said Sofia, "and I abandoned them!" she then held up her right palm, displaying the broken circle scar.

"What…the revenge scar?" asked Miranda, "what does that have to do with anything?"

"She used a questionable magic ritual to give herself The Circle of Vengeance," said Tess, "but, if it was dark magic, then…"

"They tried to stop me," said Sofia, "the Princesses, before I gave myself the scar. They appeared before me, begging me not to perform the ritual. They said I was about to start down a path I might not be able to come back from, that revenge was not the way.

"I then shouted at them, demanding to know where they were when Amber was abducted and ravaged. I wanted to know why they didn't help Amber when they helped me so much? I accused them of being spiteful, all because of the incident with Ivy."

"Long story," said Miranda to Tess, "one I barely remember." She then looked back at her daughter, "Sofia, you weren't thinking right at the time. But it doesn't matter now; Amber wasn't ravaged. You can get rid of the scar and be done with revenge."

"I can't get rid of it!" said Sofia, "the ritual won't be complete until I kill Lord Xenu. I knew I would have to pay a price in order to be satisfied, a price I might find unbearable, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to see Xenu and all of Parzon punished and I wanted to be the one to do it."

"I then told Snow White and the other Princesses that if they wouldn't help me, then they should leave me alone. I then did something completely unforgivable; I used The Amulet of Avalor to make the Princesses go away."

"You…you didn't," said a shocked Miranda, "you used the Amulet's magic for something like that?"

"I did," said Sofia as tears of unbridled sorrow fell from her eyes, "I wished them away, and now I'm paying for it. I used the Amulet for evil and now I'm cursed! And it's not just me, it's all of Enchancia!"

"That's nonsense!" said Jade, "the Amulet's magic only affects whoever holds it. How can it curse the entire kingdom?"

"Enchancia is cursed!" wailed Sofia, "everything that's happened since I took the Circle of Vengeance; the Parzon raids, the Titan and Raztonian attacks, the Chimera, all the people who've died, it's because I abused The Amulet's power! It's my fault!"

"No it isn't!" said Miranda as he placed her hands on Sofia's shoulder, "it isn't your fault!"

"It is my fault!" shouted Sofia, "It's All My Fault!"

CRACK!

At that Sofia let out a scream of agonized despair as dark energy began covering her body.

"What is this!?" a horrified Miranda asked as the dark energy began converging on Sofia's heart, "What's happening to her?"

"I think I know," said an equally horrified Tess, while Ruby, Jade and Hugo looked just as horrified, "and I hope I'm wrong. Oh God and gods, I've never wanted to be so wrong before in my life!"


…Castle Oblivion…

"Something's amiss," said Columbina as she stood in front of a hundred and fifty-foot tall spear-like construct composed of the condensed Heartless, "a disturbance in the balance."

"What are you talking about now?" asked Regina as she and the other villains stood a few feet away, looking up at the Spear Heartless.

"Something has further shifted the balance of light and dark," said a viciously grinning Columbina, "a new Princess of Dark is about to be born! I must be there to witness and ensure its germination!" with that she vanished.

"Okay, am I the only one who has had enough of her?" asked Dio Brando, "that bitch is really getting on my nerves."

"She has worn out her welcome," said Gaston.

"Yes, but how are we to get rid of her?" asked Lady Tremaine, "we still know next to nothing about her."

"Give me enough time and I'll find her weakness," said Insano.

Just then Columbina reappeared, startling the goggled mad scientist.

"I didn't mean it!" wailed Insano as he held up his hands in a placating manner, "I was only joking! Please show mercy!"

"I almost forgot," said Columbina, "it'd be a shame to let all my hard work go to waste." With that she waved her hand at the massive Heartless, before vanishing again.

"What hard work?" asked Regina, "all she did was compress a lot of Heartless together and…"

That's as far as Regina got before the villains were nearly bowled over by an intense rush of wind. The Spear Heartless began rising into the air like a rocket, accelerating faster and faster until it flew out of sight.

"What was that about?" asked Sephiroth.

"I think she sent that thing into space," said Young Xehanort, "come, we can track it on The Interocitor."

"Now why would Columbina make a rocket Heartless when there's plenty of Space Heartless floating about the either?" asked Insano, "come to think of it, what was she planning to do with all those Space Heartless in orbit?"

"We'll find out soon enough," said Regina, "but what of this new Princess of Dark? And will she be as great as Darklight?"


"Something's wrong," said Alegra as she, Sabrina and Salem, floated through the Time Vortex, which was now violently convulsing as if in the middle of a storm.

"I'll say something's wrong," moaned Salem as he steadied himself while the protective bubble was tossed about like a cork on the ocean, "I don't feel so good!"

"I told you not to eat so much while we were at the BPRD," said Sabrina. She then looked at Alegra, "what's causing this?"

"Something has happened to disrupt the flow of time," said Alegra as she closed her eyes in concentration, "an instability that the Vortex is trying to correct. It'll calm down eventually, time has a way of fixing itself. But what caused the change? Unless…no…NO! Not again!"

"What again?" asked Sabrina.

"We've got to go to Enchancia!" said Alegra, a desperately serious look on her face, "We've got to go now before Columbina gets there!"

"Wait, we're going to fight Columbina now?!" exclaimed Sabrina, "but…we're not ready yet! We haven't found Sora and the other Keyblade Wielders yet! And we still need to recruit that fourth ace to help out in Enchancia!"

"There's no time!" insisted Alegra as she closed her eyes in concentration again, "we need to be in Enchancia like five minutes ago, for if what I fear has happened has indeed happened, then we're about to lose a lot of hope to the darkness. I just hope we're not too late."

"I just hope I don't lose my lunch along the way!" exclaimed Salem as Alegra guided the protective bubble through the torrential Vortex.


…Enchancia…

"Mmm…ever had the feeling that something wasn't kosher with the situation?" asked Zotarius as he and the commandos crept closer to the palace. They were now within fifty yards of the front door and had yet met no sign of resistance.

"Yeah, you," muttered the lead commando.

"What was that?" asked Zotarious.

"Nothing," said the lead commando, "I'm just edgy. No way we could have gotten this close without encountering one sentry or guard."

"Maybe we're just lucky," said one of the commandos.

"No, you just happen to be fortunate that my curse did its job," said Zotarius smugly.

"Still say we're just plain lucky," muttered one of the commandos, just as Jill jumped out of the tree she was hiding in and landed feet first on him, knocking him unconscious.

"Oh, come on," said Jill in a disappointed tone as she stepped off of the fallen commando and faced the startled others, "is this all Parzon has to send? A handful of special ops and one second-rate magic user? I'm disappointed."

"Second-rate?!" exclaimed Zotarius, "Second-rate!? How dare you! Who do you think you are?!"

"Someone willing to lay down her life for the sake of the greater good, that's who," said Jill as she drew her saber and faced down the commandos, "now, boys, who's first?"

"It's just one defender," said one of the commandos as he leveled his automatic rifle at Jill, "just shoot her!" he then fired a stream of bullets at Jill, whom easily dodged them all.

"That's not right!" said the commando as he reloaded, "that's not right at all! Come on, everyone! Shoot the bitch!"

Jill then ran up and cold cocked the hapless commando with the hilt of her saber, knocking him to the ground.

"I've been called worse and done worse to those who insulted me," said Jill, "now, who's next?"

"Save your ammo, men!" said the lead commando as he dropped his firearms and drew a saber of his own, "this one isn't to be underestimated."

"Oh, a proper swordsman," said an eager Jill, "fancy a proper duel?"

"To the death?" asked the lead commando cautiously, "because I will kill you in order to complete my mission."

"And I will kill you and yours to complete mine," said Jill, "I'll die before I allow any of your bastards to lay a finger on Sofia. And even then I'll still stop you."

"I don't know what nonsense you think you're driveling," said Zotarius, "but if you think you can delay the acquisition of Princess Sofia, think again, now," he then summoned his spell book and flipped through the pages, "which curse should I try out on you?"

"Put that away!" snapped the lead commando, "she's mine!"

"You dare to give me orders!?" bellowed Zotarius, "I should turn you into a catfish and fry you up!"

"You do that and you'll be perforated before you can blink," said the lead commando, "and I have every right to order you back! A challenge has been thrown and I've accepted. Under Parzon laws, when a duel to the death has been declared, it must be followed through, and anyone who interferes will have their life forfeit. Men!"

At that two of the commandos grabbed Zotarius by the arms, while the others cocked and aimed their rifles at him.

"How dare you!?" exclaimed Zotarius, "unhand me! Lord Xenu will hear of this!"

"I'm sure he will," said the lead commando, "and I'm sure he'll very unhappy that you tried to violate Parzon law. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a duel to win." He then walked up to Jill and stopped three paces from her. He bowed and saluted her with his saber, "just because we're fighting for our lives doesn't mean we can't be civil."

"Yes," said Jill as she bowed and saluted back, "manners above all." With that the two assumed fighting stances with their saber blades touching. They hesitated for only an instant before hacking and slashing at each other with intense but controlled fury.

"Now things are getting interesting," said one of the commandos as he and his fellows eagerly watched the duel.

"Waste of time if you ask me," said Zotarius irately.

"You're the waste of time," said the commando, "our squad leader is one of the finest swordsmen in Parzon. Whoever this woman is, she's out of her league."

"Or maybe the other way around," said another commando as he and the others watched Jill easily match the lead commando move for move, "either way, this is going to be one hell of a fight."


"Can we go down now!?" exclaimed Armin as he clung to the neck of his mount.

"We're almost there!" said James, "another minute and we'll be over Dinwiddle!"

"Look!" shouted Aiden as he pointed ahead, "the mist is breaking up!"

Indeed, the terror-inducing fog was dissipating over the village.

"Remind me to thank Sofia when she recovers," said Malcolm.

"First things first!" said Roland, "save the village!" he then directed his flying horse to descend.

"I really don't like flying!" moaned Armin as the others began descending.

"Oh come on, Armin!" said Eren happily, "this is great!"

"Just imagine what we can do against The Titans if we had flying horses!" said a brightly smiling Mikasa, "we could…"

It was then that they landed on the edge of the main square of the village, only to see a dozen Titans roaming freely, devouring the terror-paralyzed villagers.

"My God!" said Roland as he and the others dismounted and looked at the ambling Titans, just as one of the taller creatures reached into a house, pulled out a girl no older than five and swallowed her whole, "those things, they…they're monsters, true monsters!"

"They're dead monsters, that's what," said James with outraged fury, "let's get them!"

"Wait!" shouted Malcolm, "something's coming! I can feel it!"

It was then that a large portal opened up on the far right side of the square. From it walked another dozen Titans, accompanied by three Parzon commandos. The human intruders dispersed into the streets, while the gargantuan creatures began wandering the village, looking for victims to devour.

"So it's true," said Mikasa, "Parzon is controlling the Titans.

"I say we find one of those bastards and make him talk," said an irate James, "find out how they're doing it. I say we force feed him a bucket of scorpions."

"I vote for waterboarding," said Aiden.

"What's the point?" asked Roland as he fell to his knees, "what's the point of fighting those things? Even if we kill them, Parzon will just send more."

"Dad? What's gotten into you!?" asked James.

"He's falling into despair," said Malcolm, "something must have made him give up hope."

"You can't give up hope, dad!" shouted James, "we've got to protect the people of the village! We've got to protect the kingdom!"

"My people," said Roland, "these are my people and I can't help them! I can't stop these abominations from slaughtering my people."

"Dad! Please! Snap out of it!" said James, "we need you! Mom and Sofia need you! I need you! All of Enchancia needs you!"

"What's the point?" asked Roland, "everything we try, Parzon just sends something worse."

"He's had," said Malcolm, "looks like it's up to us."

"Right," said Aiden, "Malcolm, you and I will try to come up with some kind of trap to take out the Titans. Eren, you, Mikasa and Armin are going to act as bait. When we're ready, you three start luring the big buggers into the square. At the same time, we'll figure out some way to catch one of the Parzon commandos. James, you…you keep your father safe."

"But…" said James, only for Eren to push him aside and deliver a hard right cross to Roland's jaw, knocking the king of Enchancia to the ground.

"Eren!" exclaimed a shocked and appalled Mikasa, while Armin, Aiden, Malcolm and James looked equally shocked.

"You bastard," said Eren contemptuously at Roland as the king pulled himself to a seating position, "you pathetic, spineless bastard."

"Eren, have you gone nuts or something?!" said Armin.

"You just punched the ruler of the kingdom in the face," said Malcolm, "they can cut your head off for that."

"We don't do that in Enchancia," said James as he helped Roland to stand up. He then glared hatefully at Eren, "but you're still in a lot of trouble. How dare you strike the King of Enchancia!?"

"How dare the King of Enchancia give up!?" Eren shouted back. He then looked Roland in the eye, "you just said that these are your people, but then you asked what was the point? You gave up on your people without a fight; how dare you!?"

"Uh, Eren?" asked Aiden, "I think…"

"What I think is that Roland should be ashamed of himself!" snapped Eren, "a king is supposed to lead his people, care for his people, be there for his people, not falling down and giving up hope!"

"Uh, Eren!?" asked Aiden in a more urgent tone.

"In times like this, a king should stand up and fight!" said Eren, "He should fight, he should keep fighting and never stop fighting!"

"Eren!" said Aiden with dire urgency.

"Just as I'll never stop fighting!" said Eren, "as long as there's breath in my lungs and blood in my veins, I'll keep fighting! As long as there's one Titan threatening to eat an innocent, I'll fight! And I'll never stop, not until I've wiped them all out! It doesn't matter where The Titans are, this world, my world or another! I will never stop fighting!"

"EREN!" shouted Aiden.

"WHAT?!" asked Eren irately.

"Just thought you should know about that," said Aiden as he pointed across the square, where three Titans, a 7-meter-tall specimen and two 5-meter-tall ones, were approaching our heroes, their distorted faces grinning at their forthcoming meal.

"Eren, if you're going to do what I think you're going to do," said Mikasa as two more Titans joined the oncoming three, "do it now."

"Right," said Eren with grim determination. With that he started forward.

"Do what?" asked James as Eren walked alone towards the approaching Titans, "he's not thinking of fighting those things by himself, is he?!"

"We'll only get in his way," said Armin, "and he could accidentally hurt us and wouldn't realize it until it was over."

"What are you talking about?" asked Malcolm as Eren stopped in the middle of the square, less than ten yards from the first Titan in the approaching group. Without warning, Eren bit his right hand hard enough to draw blood.

"What is he doing?!" exclaimed James, only for him and the others to be momentarily blinded and deafened by a sudden bolt of lightning that came out of nowhere, striking the center of the square where Eren stood.

"Oh my gods! He's dead!" wailed Aiden after he could see and hear again. But then he and the others had to flinch back from a sudden cloud of steam emanating from the center of the square, then flinched at the sound of a near-deafening roar. Something enormous rushed out of the steam cloud and charged towards the oncoming Titans, something that left Roland, James, Malcolm and Aiden stunned.


…The Royal Palace…

"Huh, strange weather we're having," said Zotarius as he looked out towards the village, "but it matters not, Dinwiddle is as good as exterminated." He then frowned irately at the commandos restraining him, "just as you and yours will be exterminated if we do not carry out the mission!"

"We will!" said one of the commandos irately, "just give the commander time!"

"He's had…like…like over five minutes!" said Zotarius as he glared at the lead commando, whom was still dueling with Jill. The fight had indeed been going on for over five minutes with no clear winner in sight as Jill effortlessly countered every move the lead commando made and vice versa.

"This is asinine!" snapped Zotarius at the lead commando, "Hurry up, already!"

"Oh, you want me to finish it?" asked an eagerly grinning Jill, "okay!" She then rushed up to and delivered several lightning fast cuts to the lead commando, striking on the arms and legs at key pressure points.

Jill finished up by leaping over the lead commando and gracefully landing behind him. With an elaborate flourish she sheathed her sword, just as several blood spurts erupted from the lead commando, leading to him to collapsing to the ground.

"Alright then," said Jill as she smiled at the other commandos, "who's next?"

At that the other commandos, including the ones restraining Zotarius, backed away fearfully.

"Oh, come on!" snapped the rogue warlock, "she's just one fighter! And a mutant of a fighter at that!"

"For that," said Jill irately as she unsheathed her saber, "I should cut out your foul tongue and make you eat it!"

But then the lead Commando, despite the wounds and increasing blood loss, tried to get back up.

"Oh, you want to go again?" asked Jill as she looked at the struggling lead commando, "care for another round?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?!" said the lead commando wrathfully as he pulled out something from his pocket, something that turned out to be a black, USB drive with a white S on it. He then tore open his uniform, revealing a USB port tattooed onto the side of his neck, while pressing the button on the black Gaia Memory.

STEAM ENGINE

The lead commando then pressed the Gaia Memory into his Living Connector. With a flash of energy, he became another Steam Engine Dopant, its wounds healed completely as it stood up.

"Oh, smeg!" said a worried Jill as the Steam Engine Dopant rushed at her. She barely dodged a piston-powered punch, then dodged a flamethrower blast.

"Satisfied?" asked one of the commandos to Zotarius as he and the others watched Jill duck and dodge for her life against the relentless onslaught of the Steam Engine Dopant.

"At what?" asked Zotarius, "that we're still delayed and that you miscreant mooks are still touching me? I am far from satisfied!"

It was then that the Steam Engine Dopant let lose a blast of coal smoke that briefly obscured the area, followed by an intense fit of coughing from Jill. The wind then blew the smoke away, revealing a still coughing Jill and the Steam Engine Dopant sneaking up behind her. She tried to dodge but tripped on a rock and nearly lost her balance, allowing the creature to get in and deliver a massive backhand strike that sent Jill flying and slamming into the palace doors. She slid to and tumbled down the front stairs, lying at the foot of the stairs in a heap.

"Alright, I'll admit it," said Zotarius, "that was satisfying."

The Steam Engine Dopant approached Jill as she struggled to get back up, grabbing and lifting her up by her hair, earning a cry of pain as she was left dangling several inches off the ground. She tried to kick her way free yet the creature ignored it as it carried Jill back to the other commandos and Zotarius.

"You're a highly skilled and beautiful woman," said the Steam Engine Dopant to the struggling Jill, "and I admire you for it. If circumstances had been different, we might have attempted a relationship."

"Go bugger a toaster!" snapped Jill as she glared defiantly at the creature, "and bugger Lord Xenu while you're at it! You're gonna kill me anyway, so get it over with!"

"Such a waste," said the lead commando as it readied its free claw to crush Jill.

Just then a deafening gunshot rang out and the Steam Engine Dopant was nearly knocked over, staggering as something powerful hit it in the side and causing it to drop Jill.

"Get away from her, you festering sack of pig vomit!" shouted Andrew as he appeared from behind a tree, his .475 Magnum aimed at the Steam Engine Dopant.

"Took you long enough!" snapped Jill as she picked herself up and backed away, while the Steam Engine Dopant stared at Andrew.

"Sorry if I couldn't match your schedule," said Andrew, "I was busy. But I'm here now."

"You…you shot me," said the Steam Engine Dopant. It then looked at its right side where an enormous circular dent had formed, while a flattened .475 Magnum bullet lay on the ground.

"There's more where that came from," said Andrew, "so unless you want to have led force-fed down your throat, leave and don't come back. Or you can surrender, that works just as well."

"Parzon will never surrender!" shouted the Steam Engine Dopant as it aimed and shot its flamethrower at Andrew. But then to everyone's surprise, the burning liquid passed right through Andrew, while his body seemed to flicker and distort.

One of the commandos rushed up to Andrew and, waving his hand through Andrew, looked around and picked up a small hologram projector, causing Andrew to vanish.

"It's a trick!" shouted the lead commando, "the bullet didn't even come from there!"

Just then they all heard a loud whistle from above. The Steam Engine Dopant looked up and saw Andrew on one of the towers, armed with a grenade machinegun attached to a vest harness that allowed him to lean over the tower roof.

"Say hello to my little friend!" shouted Andrew, whom then began firing grenades down at the Steam Engine Dopant. The creature attempted to dodge the raining explosives but too many fell for it to evade. Though mostly unharmed by the blasts, the sheer number of explosions and hail of fragments disoriented the creature to the point where it could barely see straight.

Jill, meanwhile, had recovered her saber and, after taking several bracing breaths, ran into the hail of grenade explosions, her instincts guiding her away from the blasts and towards the disoriented creature. Jumping up and riding the blast of a grenade, she stabbed the Steam Engine Dopant in the neck up to the hilt of her saber. Leaving her blade in the creature's neck, Jill jumped away as the grenades stopped falling.

The Steam Engine Dopant staggered about as it tried to dislodge the saber in its neck, all the while sparks flew from the wound. It then fell down and exploded. When the blast cleared, the burned and bleeding but still alive lead commando lay on the ground, surrounded by charred metal fragments.

"Again, took you long enough," said Jill as she looked up at Andrew, whom then used the harness system to rapidly lower himself to the ground.

"I had to get my stuff set up, thank you very much," said Andrew, he then looked up and waved at Gwen, whom was smiling and waving back out of one of the tower windows.

Andrew then looked at Jill, "And your welcome for saving your life, again! What is this, the seventh time in three years?"

"Six!" snapped Jill, "that time in Guatemala doesn't count!" she then glared at the remaining commandos, whom were all trembling with fear, "and what are we to do with this lot?"

"Don't change the subject," said Andrew, "and as for them," he then aimed his grenade machinegun at the commandos, "time to make it rain!" he then fired off a salvo of grenades at the commandos, causing them to flee in terror at the incoming explosions.

"What are you doing?!" exclaimed Zotarius as his restrainers abandoned him and ran for their lives, "fight! Fight, you cowards!"

"I think they've had enough for one day, in my humble opinion," said Jill as she retrieved the fallen saber of the lead commando, giving it a few experimental swings to test its mettle.

"So take the hint and take a hike," said Andrew as he aimed his grenade machinegun at Zotarius.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" snapped Zotarius, "awfully confident, aren't you? Well, we'll see how confident you freaks are when you find yourselves in the belly of a Titan!" With a flick of his finger he zapped himself out of the area.


Arriving outside the storehouse, Zotarius looked around for the Parzon commandos who stayed behind to coordinate the Titan attack, yet found no one.

"Unbelievable," said Zotarius irately, "must I do everything the hard way?!" he then zapped himself to the town square and found one of the commandos, leaning against a street lamp.

"Finally!" said Zotarius as he walked up to the commandos, "just what do you think you're doing?! Taking a nap!?" he then grabbed the commando's shoulder, only to find the man dead, stabbed in the heart.

Just then Zotarius heard the sound of something huge crashing to the ground. He looked back and saw an 8-meter Titan, its head half caved in.

"Now what?!" exclaimed Zotarius as he looked around, then up at the sound of approaching footsteps. He saw, to his confused shock, a 15-meter Titan with a lean, muscular build. It had shaggy, shoulder-length black hair and sunken green eyes, with a jagged jaw and exposed teeth.

The creature let out a deafening roar of fury as it rushed at the fallen titan, whose head was regenerating as it tried to get up. The Rogue Titan then stomped its foot on the smaller Titan's head, further damaging it.

"What…what is this?!" exclaimed Zotarius as he watched the Rogue Titan pick up the 8 meter one, flip it over and tore open the back of its neck, destroying the creature. The Rogue Titan then saw two approaching Titans, one 6 meters the other 7. Letting out another wrathful roar, it charged at the approaching creatures.

"You can't do that!" bellowed Zotarius as the Rogue Titan grabbed the 6 meter one with one hand and crushed its skull and neck. It then grabbed the 7-meter-tall one and delivered a powerful right cross that tore its head clean off, then finished it off by ripping open its neck.

"You can't do that!" Zotarius shouted again as the Rogue Titan looked around for more Titans to fight, "you're supposed to slaughter humans, not your comrades! Hey! Where do you think you're going?!"

The Rogue Titan had seen another Titan a few streets away and began walking towards it.

"Get back here!" screamed Zotarius, "get back here and obey! You Will Obey! Obey Me!"

"I don't think that's how it works," said James as he, Roland, Malcolm and Aiden, walked up to and surrounded Zotarius.

"None of the others were willing to tell us how they're controlling the Titans," said James, "maybe you could tell us."

"Unlikely," said Malcolm, "he would have done so if he could."

At that Zotarius scoffed at Malcolm and the others, "as if I'd tell you the secret to The Titans."

"You don't know," said Malcolm, "but you're responsible for other atrocities."

"Boy, the atrocities I've committed would scar your soul," said Zotarius.

"I'm talking about one particular crime," said Malcolm. He then looked at Roland, "one he committed this very night."

"Then is he the one?" asked Roland, "the one who let lose that mist that hurt to many of my people? Is he the one who cursed Sofia?"

"And augmented those Chimera with flaming claws," said Aiden, "don't forget them!"

"Yes, I admit it," said Zotarius with smug viciousness, "and I'll do a lot worse to Enchancia before I'm done."

"Just who do you think you are that you can come into our kingdom and make people miserable?!" James demanded, "my sister's suffering because of you!"

"I do it because I can!" boasted the rogue warlock, "for I am Zotarius the Despoiler! Summoner of a thousand demons! Ravager of ten thousand worlds! Shatterer of a hundred thousand hearts!"

"Never heard of you," said Malcolm.

"It doesn't matter," said Zotarius, "you'll still be destroyed," he then glared at the Rogue Titan as it demolished another Titan, "as soon as that abomination learns who's the boss! Why won't it obey!?"

"That one will never obey," said Mikasa as she and Armin walked up.

"What are you talking about, mortal child!?" snapped Zotarious.

"That one has a power other Titans lack," said Mikasa, "a human soul, a will of his own."

"What nonsense is this!?" asked Zotarius, "Titans have no souls or will of their own! They exist only to kill and devour humans!"

"Not him!" said Armin as he pointed at the Rogue Titan, "that one hates other Titans and will stop at nothing to kill any it comes across."

As if to prove Armin's point, the Rogue Titan grabbed a 9-meter Titan, flipped it over his shoulder and crushed the back of its neck, letting out a roar of fury and drawing others to it.

"Even if it is mortally wounded," said Armin, "even if it is being eaten by other Titans," he then looked at James, Roland, Aiden and Malcolm, "and believe me, the Titans will eat him if things get too much for him."

"Ugh! Nasty!" exclaimed Malcolm.

"Yeah," agreed Armin, "anyway," he then looked back at Zotarius, "no matter what, that Titan will keep fighting until the bitter end!"

"Well then," said Zotarius, "It looks like I'll have to bring about its bitter end, personally! After I take care of you miscreant mortals first!" He then pointed and shot a beam of dark magic at Roland, whom managed to dodge by a hairsbreadth.

Zotarius then fired off more beams of dark magic at our heroes, forcing James and Aiden to take cover. But Malcolm, his Keyblade out and ready, blocked the dark magic beam and countered with a beam of his own dark magic.

"Oh, a fellow follower of the dark arts?" asked Zotarius, "why, then, are you with these pathetic peons?"

"I may use dark magic," said Malcolm, "but I walk in the light! I use my powers to protect the innocent and defend the helpless!"

"Pathetic!" shouted Zotarius as he fired a massive dark magic beam at Malcolm, whom countered with a dark beam of his own from his Keyblade. Yet Zotarius's beam was stronger as it forced Malcolm's back, overpowering and knocking him down.

"You truly underestimate the power of the dark side," said Zotarius contemptuously as he aimed his finger at Malcolm, "now, witness the true power of DARKNESS!"

But all that came out of Zotarius's finger was a small spurt of feeble sparks.

"If that's the true power of darkness, then you're in the wrong line of work, man," said Aiden as he and James helped Malcolm up.

"What…no! This cannot be!" exclaimed Zotarius as he tried to blast Malcolm and our heroes, yet all he got were feebler sparks, "I USED TOO MUCH OF MY MAGIC!"

"You think he may have overstated his résumé?" asked James.

"Must hide!" said Zotarius as he franticly looked around, "must recharge!"

"Don't let him get away!" shouted Roland, "he could lead us to whatever Lord Xenu is planning!"

Just then a smaller portal opened and from it emerged a very unhappy Halenio'ketalc, whom blasted James, Roland, Aiden, Malcolm, Mikasa and Armin with dark spheres, forcing them back several paces.

"Davis Blackwood was right," said Halenio'ketalc contemptuously at Zotarius, "you are a smeg head."

"Ah, good," said Zotarius as he ignored the verbal slap from the Raztonian sorceress, "you've come. Now, finish them off!"

Instead, Halenio'ketalc rushed at Zotarius, her face becoming more insect-like as she grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. "If I had my way," said Halenio'ketalc, "I'd eat your head and toss your body to the maggots! But you're lucky Lord Xenu still needs you, though I fail to see why!"

She then tossed the fear petrified Zotarious into the portal. Taking a calming breath, Halenio'ketalc's face returned to normal as she started towards the portal.

"Raztonian!" shouted Aiden as he and the others recovered, "your life-sucking days are over!"

"Your days are numbered, Keyblade Wielder," said Halenio'ketalc, "I'd stay and fight, but I'm needed back in Parzon."

"Wait!" shouted Roland as he and the others recovered, "I won't let you and your kind harm any more of my people!"

"I'd worry more about your family, King Roland," said Halenio'ketalc, "by now my people and more of Davis Blackwood's chimera are in position to overrun your castle. Enjoy!" with that she stepped through the portal, which closed up after her.

"We've got to get back to the palace! Now!" said Roland, "Miranda, Sofia, they don't know what's coming!"

"I think we've got something more important to worry about," said a nervous Armin.

By now the Rogue Titan had finished destroying the last of the enemy Titans in Dinwiddle. It looked around, searching for more prey, before letting out a roar of frustration, followed by swatting the top floor off of a house.

"He's out of control!" shouted Mikasa as she and Armin rushed towards the Rogue Titan, "Eren!"

"Stop it, Eren!" shouted Armin as he and Mikasa used their 3DMG to get onto one of the building roofs and closer to the Rogue Titan, only to dodge a wild arm swing from the creature.

"I still can't believe that that thing…" said Malcolm as he pointed at the rampaging Rogue Titan, "that it…that it's really Eren!"

"I don't get it," said James, "if Eren can become a Titan, why is it that he and his friends haven't wiped out the Titans on his world?"

Just then the Rogue Titan kicked a building into countless fragments that went flying towards James, Roland, Malcolm and Aiden, forcing them to take cover against the deadly rain.

"I stand corrected," said James.


…Parzon…

"How can you use up all your magic like that?!" snapped Davis Blackwood at Zotarius, "it's not like Alchemy, where the amount of energy put in has to equal the end result of the transmutation."

"He simply drained his Midi-chlorians," said Halenio'ketalc contemptuously.

"There's no such thing as Midi-chlorians!" snapped Zotarius, "I simply forgot to recharge after casting the fear mist curse." He then grabbed his spell book, sat down and opened it to the desired page. He then briefly chanted in a language the others couldn't understand, then reached his hands into the pages. The book glowed dark purple as the words on the pages began flowing up and down his arms.

"Ah, much better," said a satisfied Zotarius as he pulled his hands out of the book and closed it, "now I can go back and finish off those pathetic fools in the village!"

"You're not going anywhere!" said Lord Xenu irately, "I've had it with your failed plans!"

"It didn't fail!" snapped Zotarius, "the fear mist worked! Hundreds if not thousands were affected by the curse, while who knows how many were devoured by the Titans? Not to mention that Princess Sofia was cursed as well and is laying helpless at the palace!"

"And is Sofia here?" asked Lord Xenu, "No! She isn't! The commando team was disrupted by those two mutants guarding the palace! And what did you do all the while? Nothing! That's what!"

"Now I had to send my latest batch of Chimera before they were ready," said Davis Blackwood to Zotarius, "true, I managed to cultivate 100, but they're even less powerful than I intended, all because you were too impatient!"

"And my people aren't as ready either," said Halenio'ketalc. "I could only get 30 together in time to make the portal. Do you have any idea how hard it was to cram 100 Chimera and 30 Raztonians through a portal when it could only be open for 37 seconds?!"

"A lot of my creations were trampled!" said Davis Blackwood, "and for all we know, they didn't arrive where they were supposed to be; right outside the palace front door."

"We had to rush the opening of the portal and may have gotten the exit coordinates wrong," said Lord Xenu, "and all because you just couldn't wait until everyone was ready! I should have you locked in the dungeons to rot! Or better yet, throw you to my scientists for experimentation! Perhaps we can use your blood to infuse magic back into Parzon's gene pool!"

"No!" said Columbina as she appeared, "I need him," she then glared at Halenio'ketalc and Davis Blackwood, "I need all three of you."

"What are you doing here?" asked Davis Blackwood.

"Who is this interloper!?" demanded Lord Xenu.

"The one who originally brought the Black Triskellion together," said Halenio'ketalc, "but why has she returned?"

"To ensure the birth of another Princess of Dark," said Columbina.

"Another?" asked Zotarius, "was Bethany not enough?"

"Has she become more than you can handle?" asked Davis Blackwood.

"Maybe she just wants another as a contingency," said Halenio'ketalc.

"Enough prater!" snapped Columbina, "Sofia's metamorphosis awaits!" With that she waived her hands, causing herself, Halenio'ketalc, Zotarius and Davis Blackwood to vanish.

"Sofia?" asked Lord Xenu, "now wait just a damn minute here!" but he was too late as Columbina and the three villains were already gone.


…The Palace…Enchancia…

"There has to be something we can do!" said Miranda desperately as she held Sofia's hand comfortingly, while Sofia thrashed about in agony as more and more darkness crept into her cracked heart.

"I don't know what to do," said Tess franticly, "I don't know what to do."

Just then Columbina, Zotarius, Davis Blackwood and Halenio'ketalc, appeared in the room, "you can stand aside, that's what you can do."

"You!" shouted Tess as she summoned her Keyblade, while Hugo unsheathed his double-edged buster sword, "Get the fuck out of here!"

"Now why would I leave when I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be?" asked Columbina in a smugly pleasant tone, "when what I need is right here?" she then pointed at Sofia, "the girl, give her to me, NOW!"

"No!" shouted Miranda as she stood in between Sofia and the villains, "not my daughter! I won't let you!"

"We won't let you!" said Hugo, "Don't worry, Queen Miranda, I'll die before I let those vile cretins touch Sofia!"

"And take a few of them with us if we're lucky," said Tess as she glared hatefully at Columbina, "Why are you even doing this? You've already have a Princess of Dark!"

"That's what we told her!" said Davis Blackwood.

"But apparently she wants another," said Zotarius, "perhaps the first has become unsatisfactory."

"Or maybe she wants a set of seven," said Halenio'ketalc, "to match seven Princesses of Heart."

"Over our dead bodies!" said Tess defiantly.

"I hoped you'd say that," said Columbina with a vicious smile. She waved her hands, forcing Tess, Miranda and Hugo away from the bed and slamming them against the wall.

"That was…too easy," said a suspicious Halenio'ketalc as Miranda, Tess and Hugo found themselves trapped against the wall, unable to move.

"I agree," said Zotarius as he glared at Columbina, "how did you do that?"

"I have more than adequate magic at my disposal," said Columbina.

"If you have your own power, why do you need us?" asked Davis Blackwood, "why did you need us to perform the ritual that turned Bethany Greenwood into Lady Darklight?"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed a horrified Tess, "Bethany's Darklight?!"

"Oh, you didn't know," said Columbina as again smiled viciously, "I only told Kairi and she didn't take it very well. Yes, your friend from Banoi, she was a potential Princess of Heart, until I cracked her heart and flooded it with darkness."

"We helped," said Davis Blackwood. He then looked at Columbina, "but why us? Why did you need us to perform the ritual?"

"Because I couldn't!" snapped Columbina.

"Your power is limited," said Zotarius, "you can only do so much magic."

"And you needed other magic users to do what you couldn't," said Halenio'ketalc.

"Yes, I have limits," said Columbina irately, "but those limits will soon be surpassed once I've finished cracking twelve Keyholes and flooding the Realms of Light with darkness."

"You're going to do what?!" said Tess.

"It's complicated," said Columbina, "not that you're going to live to see it anyway. Needless to say, once I have twelve cracked Keyholes and enough gathered Darkness, I shall use the Sampo to ascend to a new level of evil and become all powerful. Then I shall have my revenge on those who wronged me back home!

"And it'll all come about much sooner now that I am about to bring into being a second Princess of Dark. You!" she glared at Davis Blackwood, "Bring me Sofia! You!" she glared at Halenio'ketalc, "Kill them!" she then pointed at Hugo, Miranda and Tess.

"You're mad!" shouted Miranda, "you're all mad!"

"And dead!" said Tess wrathfully, "you're dead, Columbina! I'm going to kill you!"

"Promises, promises," said Columbina offhandedly, just as Davis Blackwood was about to pick up Sofia.

"NOOOOOO!" shouted Amber as she emerged from behind the curtain and hit Davis Blackwood on the head with a brass candlestick, knocking the rogue Alchemist away from Sofia.

"You stay away from my sister, you horrible people!" shouted Amber as she stood defensively in front of Sofia, brandishing the candlestick as if it were a dagger.

"Amber…what…what are you…?" asked Miranda.

"Not now, mom!" said Amber, "right now I need to keep these monsters away from Sofia."

"Impudent child!" snapped Columbina, "do you really think you can stop me from getting what I want?!"

"And stop me from tearing your arms out of their sockets?" asked an irate Davis Blackwood as he stood up, his organic hand holding the side of his head to staunch a sorely bleeding scalp laceration.

"I'll certainly try," said Amber defiantly, "it took me a while, but I finally realized that I shouldn't hide myself away from the world. I may have a murderous dark side, but instead of locking myself away from those I love, I should use that inner darkness to protect my family."

"Oh, good for you!" said Tess proudly.

"Brave words, human child," said Halenio'ketalc, "but bravery only goes so far in the face of impending death. I think I'll eat you whole, energy and flesh."

"I say use her as an experiment for a new breed of Chimera," said Davis Blackwood.

"I say we test a new poison formula on her," said Zotarius.

"You can kill me if you want," said Amber, "I'm no hero, not like James, Sofia and my father, but I'll fight to the bitter end if it means keeping Sofia safe, even just for a moment longer!"

"Touching," says Columbina as she charged up a dark sphere, "now die."

She then threw the sphere of dark magic at Amber, whom vanished just as it was about to hit her. Sofia vanished as well, while the dark sphere continued on and blasted a hole in the wall and jarring Miranda, Tess and Hugo lose from the wall as well.

"What…What is this?!" Columbina demanded.

"Phew! Made it just in time," said Alegra as she appeared, followed by Sabrina and Salem, "displacing two individuals in time, haven't done an emergency move like that in a long, long while."

"They're safe, right?" asked Sabrina, "they can come back, right?"

"When the time's right, they can and will," said Alegra, "and they're perfectly safe, just outside of normal time."

"You meddling bitch!" snapped Columbina, "I'll…" but then she looked and saw Sabrina, "No!" she exclaimed with a fearful tone, "no, not now! I'm not ready!" with that she vanished.

"Uh…what was that all about?" asked Hugo as he helped Miranda and Tess back up.

"Was that Columbina?" asked Sabrina, "and why'd she leave like that?"

"With a deranged mind like hers, who knows?" Alegra responded.

"I'll bet she took one look at us and realized she was outmatched," said Salem.

"No, I don't think she's afraid of us," said Sabrina in a thoughtful, concerned manner.

"Be nice, though," said Salem.

"Wait! I know that voice," said Zotarius, "but…it cannot be, can it?"

"Oh, hey, Zotarius," said Salem nervously, "long time no see."

"IT IS!" exclaimed Zotarius, "Saberhagen!"

"That's Saberhagen?" asked Halenio'ketalc, "your schooldays roommate who betrayed you?"

"The same!" said Zotarius as he glared at Salem, "but how? How did you become like…like this?!"

"I…kinda got in over my head," said Salem sheepishly, "but it wasn't my fault, it was…"

"Don't bother, I can guess," said Zotarius, "you tried to take over the world and got caught, so Drell and the rest of those hedonistic idiots on the Witches Council turned you into a cat, right? Of course right," he then grinned viciously, "which will make my revenge even better! I do hope your feline form comes with nine lives, killing you once carries only so much satisfaction!"

"You'll have to kill me first!" said Sabrina as she picked up Salem and aimed her free hand at Zotarius, her fingers crackling with magic.

"Stand aside, little witch," said Zotarius, "this is no concern of yours!"

"It is, I'm kinda responsible for taking care of Salem," said Sabrina.

"Wait, of course," said Zotarius, "I recognize your blood; you're of the Spellman clan, and not just any, you're only a half-witch!"

"I still pack a mean spell up my sleeves!" said Sabrina, "especially since I've been boning up on attack and defense spells!"

"Yes, but can your magic defend against all three of us?" asked Davis Blackwood as he revealed his metal arm. The fingers extended into machinegun barrels, while a flamethrower nozzle popped out of the wrist.

At the same time, both Zotarius and Halenio'ketalc prepared dark magic attacks of their respective arts.

"Wake up, little witch," said Zotarius smugly, "time to die!" He and Halenio'ketalc shot their spells, while Davis Blackwood let lose a barrage of bullets from his machinegun fingers.

Yet the spells and bullets seemed to pass through Sabrina and Salem, blasting out a huge part of the wall behind them.

"What the hell?!" exclaimed Davis Blackwood.

"Sorry we're late," said Saul as he let go of Sabrina's arm, "I was a bit under the weather, but I made it."

"That mutant phased the girl!" snapped Zotarius.

"I'd like to see you do that again, human freak!" shouted Halenio'ketalc as she charged up another dark spell.

But then a fist attached to a stretched arm punched Halenio'ketalc in the face, causing her to discharge the spell into the floor, blasting a hole in it.

"I'm also sorry I'm late," said Cal as his arm retracted back to normal, "but I'm feeling much better."

"You meddling mutants!" snapped Zotarius, "I'll…"

"Like so many children growing up in the 90's," said Kaylee as she appeared next to Zotarius, "my favorite Pokémon…was Pikachu!" she then grabbed Zotarius by the arm and delivered a powerful electric shock that dropped the warlock to the floor.

"Blackwood!" shouted Al as he and Ed ran into the room, "you won't escape this time!"

"Copper Alchemist!" shouted Davis Blackwood, "found your little brother, have you?!"

"Don't call me small!" snapped Ed, "I'll rip your legs off and beat you to death with them!"

"Beat this!" shouted Davis Blackwood as he pulled out a glass sphere full of green liquid and threw it at Tess, Miranda and Hugo. The sphere shattered on the wall behind them, releasing a cloud of poisoned gas that left the three of them coughing for air as their bodies began to die.

But then Ed clapped his hands and unleashed a pulse of Alchemic energy, transmuting the poison gas into harmless water vapor, earning sighs and gasps of relief from Miranda, Tess and Hugo.

"Hey, they're gone!" said Kaylee as she and the others realized that Halenio'ketalc, Davis Blackwood and Zotarius had indeed vanished.

"Bastards used the poison gas as cover," said Saul as he, Ed and Sabrina helped Tess, Miranda and Hugo back up.

"You'll see them again soon enough," said Alegra, "now," she then looked at her watch, "for now, we just need to wait for Amber and Sofia to return from the time displacement, and then…"

That's as far as Alegra got before Tess punched her right in the face, nearly knocking her over.

"I…suppose I deserve that," said Alegra as she felt where Tess punched her, but then Tess punched her again, and again and again.

"Why! Won't! You! Leave! Us! ALONE?!" exclaimed Tess with each punch. She was then grabbed by Sabrina, Kaylee and Al.

"Have you gone mad?!" shouted Miranda, "this woman just saved us all!"

"She's a meddling bitch who won't let things go!" shouted Tess, "She deserves so much more!"

"I do deserve more," said Alegra as she tenderly felt the bruises forming on her face, "but you can relax, Tess, this will be the last time Alegra Wells meddles in your life."

"It's true," said Sabrina as she zapped in an icepack and gave it to Alegra, "she's very sick."

"Her brain's slowly going down the drain," said Salem, he then looked at Miranda, Tess and the others, "I can talk by the way."

"We figured as much," said Miranda. She then looked at Alegra, "now, where are my daughters?"

"They should be returning in…" said Alegra as she looked at her watch, "in…hmmm, they should be back by now."

Just then Amber and Sofia reappeared right where they vanished. "Uh…mom? What's going on?" asked a rightfully confused Amber, "who are all these people?"

"There's no time to explain," said Alegra urgently, "Sofia's heart is filling with darkness! If the crack isn't healed soon, she'll loose her inner light and devolve into a Heartless, if we're lucky!"

"And if not?" asked Miranda fearfully.

"She'll become a Princess of Dark on her own," said Alegra, "rougher, simpler than Darklight, but still as powerful."

"How do we stop it?" asked Sabrina, "we stopped Columbina from taking her, but how do we stop the darkness?"

"We don't," said Alegra, "it's out of our hands."

"Then whose?" begged Miranda, "please, I'll do anything, just tell me what to do!"

"I'm afraid you can't do anything to help your daughter, Queen Miranda," said Alegra. She then looked at the assembled heroes, "none of you have the power to healed this cracked heart."

"Stop bullshitting!" snapped Tess, "for once in your long life, give a straight answer!"

"I did give a straight answer!" Alegra snapped back, "you can't help Sofia," she then looked at Amber, "but she can."

"Me?" asked Amber, "but…what can I do?"

"You've already started by coming out of your shell to protect your sister," said Alegra, "by acknowledging your inner darkness, you've accepted the duality of human nature, that we are all capable of good and evil. You've accepted your anger in a positive manner, so now you must use your love."

"My love?" asked Amber, "I…what do I do, then? Write Sofia a get well card?"

"Whatever you're going to do," said Kaylee, "do it soon; I don't think Sofia's going to last much longer."

"Just be honest with your feelings and speak from your heart," said Alegra, "reaffirm the bond between siblings, the love of a family."

"Oh, I get it," said Tess, "you've got to tell Sofia that you're alright."

"She kinda got into this mess because you shut yourself away and made everyone think you were raped," said Salem.

"The Circle of Vengeance is on her hand," said Alegra, "a powerful magic that Sofia performed in order to avenge your supposed defilement!"

"Oh," said Amber sheepishly, then in a horrified manner, "oh, oh no! I'm sorry! I…I didn't want this to happen!" she then rushed over to Sofia and held her right hand, "Sofia! I'm so, so sorry! I never wanted you to do something like this! I shouldn't have shut myself away like that!"

By now tears were welling up in Amber's eyes, "I'm so sorry, Sofia! I'm sorry I was afraid of myself. I should have known better, but it's alright now. I'm alright now, I'm no longer afraid! Please, Sofia, don't go away! Don't go into the darkness!"

A pair of teardrops then fell onto Sofia's palm, right onto the broken circle scar. There was a flash of white light and the scar erased itself.

The same white light flowed up Sofia's arm and into her heart, illuminating a crack mark that began to close up, while also driving the darkness away from Sofia's body. Within seconds, all traces of darkness had vanished from Sofia, while the crack in her heart had fully closed.

Sofia then opened her eyes and sat up, "Amber? Are…are you really alright now?"

"Yes!" said a now joyfully crying Amber, "and so are you!" with that the two sisters joyfully embraced.

"Well, that's one crisis averted," said Sabrina.

"There's still a lot more to do," said Tess as she walked up to Sabrina and held out her hand, "Tess Thatcher, Keyblade Wielder."

"Sabrina Spellman," said Sabrina as she shook Tess's hand, "Teenage Witch."

"Uh…people?" asked Hugo as he looked out one of the blasted walls, "we've got another problem!"

Tess and the others looked out and saw Andrew and Jill at the front steps of the palace, facing off against a hundred Chimera, each a classic creature in the form of a lion with an additional head of a goat, while also having a snake-head for a tail. Also there were thirty Rastonian Warriors.

"We've got to get down there and help them!" exclaimed Miranda.

"No need," said Cal confidently, "the others have this covered."


…Downstairs and Outside…

"Well, Jill," said Andrew as he loaded a fresh magazine of grenades into his weapon, while the assembled creatures cautiously advanced towards them, "you take the 115 on the left, I'll take the 115 on the right."

"Screw you!" snapped Jill, "I'll take 116!"

That's the spirit!" said Andrew eagerly as he cocked his grenade machinegun.

"Whatever!" said Jill as she readied her saber, "just make sure your death is out of the way of mine; I don't want my corpse touching yours."

"So long as our bodies are buried in different cemeteries, I'll be fine," said Andrew, "see you when they wake up our new bodies back home!"

"Hey! You Guys!" shouted Leon from behind Jill and Andrew, before speeding past them and towards the oncoming Chimera and Raztonians, streaking through and destroying over a dozen Chimera before they could react.

"PAYBACK TIME!" shouted Max as he charged into the enemy ranks, smashing and crushing every Chimera and Raztonian he could get his hands on. Those that managed to survive his fists were tossed into the air so high, the impact of landing finished them off.

Panicking, the Raztonians and Chimera tried to retreat, only to find themselves penned in by a telekinetic barrier. Katina emerged at the top of the stairs and lifted her hands, psychically lifting scores of Chimera and several Raztonians in the air and crushing the life out of them.

"Oh, I wanted a heroic death," pouted a disappointed Jill as she sheathed her saber, while Andrew put the safety on his grenade machinegun.


…Upstairs…

"Oh, never mind," said Hugo.

"Are we out of danger?" asked Sofia, "for the moment, that is?"

"For now, yes," said Alegra.

"My God!" exclaimed Miranda, "Roland! He, James and the others are still in the village!"

"There's still Titans there!" said Tess. With that she, Miranda and the others ran downstairs and out the front door, just as they were joined by Jean, Connie and Krista, all feeling groggy but slightly sore, but otherwise unharmed.

"Man…what happened?" groaned Connie.

"If this is what a hangover feels like, I don't ever want to drink," said Jean.

"Look!" shouted Krista as she pointed up in the air towards the village, where several flying horses were approaching. On then were Roland, James, Aiden, Malcolm, Mikasa and Armin, with an exhausted Eren riding with Mikasa.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Roland once the horses landed and they dismounted.

"We're fine, dad," said Sofia, "I'm fine, and so's Amber."

"I…I'm sorry I put everyone through so much trouble," said Amber.

"Hey, I'm just glad you're alright," said James as he gave his twin sister a big hug.

"But what about the Titans in the village?" asked Miranda.

"Oh, my god, you should have seen it!" said James eagerly, "Eren was like 'I'm not gonna let the Titans win!' then he bit his hand and turned into a Titan that totally demolished the other Titans but then there weren't any more Titans to fight so he kinda went crazy and started wrecking the town himself…" he then gasped for air before continuing, "…and we were all about to be crushed by him but Mikasa and Armin managed to calm him down so Eren was all like standing there for a few seconds before he ripped his own neck open and then he fell down and started dissolving and then Eren walked out of it like he was in control of that big Titan thing and…"

"Whoa! Stop before you give yourself a stroke!" said Max. He then looked at Eren, whom, while looking ready to pass out from exhaustion, had a satisfied look on his face, "you can turn into a Titan?"

"Yes," said Eren in a tone both proud and ashamed, "sorry I didn't say anything about it before."

"He can turn into a Titan?" Ed asked Alegra, "why didn't you say anything about it before?!"

"It's complicated," said Alegra, "look, everyone, it's been a long night, longer for some than others, so why don't we all try to get some sleep and pick this up in the morning."

"It is morning," said Sabrina, "actually," she then looked at the lightening sky, "it's almost dawn."

"In that case we'll sleep in and pick this up around lunchtime," said Alegra.

"Why do I have a feeling that things are only going to get more complicated?" asked Malcolm.

"You're not alone," said Aiden.


…Parzon…

"So, you all just up and left with that strange woman and returned empty-handed," said an irate Lord Xenu as he stood in one of the many dungeons of his citadel, facing Halenio'Ketalc, Zotarius and Davis Blackwood, all three bound to torture racks.

"It's complicated, Lord Xenu," said a visibly afraid Zotarius.

"That's your explanation?!" demanded Lord Xenu, "that it's complicated!?" he then snapped his fingers and the torturers began winding up the racks, stretching the limbs of the three bound villains and earning cries of pain from them.

"I've had it with excuses and failed plans!" snapped Lord Xenu as he paced back and forth, "I should never have accepted your help in the first place! Not only have I wasted valuable resources and personnel on you outsider oddballs, your plans have also cost me political strength! My approval rating among the Parzon ruling council is dropping.

"And even worse, I've lost face internationally! It's only a matter of time before word of Parzon's failures spreads to other nations. Instead of a nation to be feared we'll be a laughingstock! Next thing you know, Ustoria will have changed its neutrality policy and sign the right-of-passage agreement with Enchancia! Hell, they may even form an alliance with Enchancia and invade Parzon, just for the hell of it!"

He then signaled to the torturers again and they cranked the racks another notch, earning more cries of pain from the trio of villains.

"It's not our fault!" yelled Zotarius, "Saberhagen was there!"

"Oh, yes," said Lord Xenu viciously, "your traitor of a roommate. Let me guess, he's responsible for all your failures?"

"It was that woman!" said Halenio'Ketalc, "the one Columbina's afraid of, Alegra Wells! She's the one who brought in those heroes who foiled our plans! But we can still win!"

"Oh, really?" asked Lord Xenu, "and just how?" he then signaled to the torturers.

"We do the opposite!" said Halenio'Ketalc hastily.

At that Lord Xenu lowered his fingers and gave the Raztonian sorceress a curious look, "Opposite?"

"We do the opposite of what Roland and the rest in Enchancia would expect," said Halenio'Ketalc, "they think we'll try another commando raid combined with dark magic. They'll think we'll use more Titans."

"Or more of my Chimera," said Davis Blackwood, "or something else involving Alchemy."

"Or something else from my spellbook," said Zotarius.

"Instead," said Halenio'Ketalc as she gave a crafty smile, "we try diplomacy."

"Yes! Diplomacy!" said Davis Blackwood, "you're a politician, Lord Xenu, right?"

"I like to think I am," said Lord Xenu, "what are you suggesting? That if I can't beat them on the battlefield, then I beat them with politics?"

"Exactly," said Halenio'Ketalc.

At that Lord Xenu gave them an appraising look, assessing the proposal in his mind. He then snapped his fingers again and the torturers released the three villains.

"Very well, then," said Lord Xenu, "I'll make an offer Roland cannot refuse. No doubt they'll think it's a trap and will still want my flayed skin."

"Maybe so," remarked Halenio'ketalc as she, Davis Blackwood and Zotarius rubbed their sore limbs and joins, "but I sincerely doubt Roland and his family want the deaths of so many of their people on their hands. Enchancia truly doesn't want this war and would grasp at any attempt to avoid it. The promise of peace would most surely draw them in where they can be destroyed."

"A trap then," said Davis Blackwood.

"Anyone, no matter how wise or weary, can be lured into a trap," says Halenio'ketalc, "if you use the right bait that is."

"And this won't be a trap those Enchancian idiots and their otherworldly allies will escape from," said Zotarius. He then looked at Lord Xenu, "tell me, despite the loss of so many commandos, surely you have some assets in Enchancia that you can use?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Lord Xenu, "I just remembered that I have a sleeper agent in close proximity to the Roland and his family, a spy I planted years before this whole fiasco began."

"Then we can use that sleeper agent to our advantage," said a viciously grinning Zotarius, "my fiendish friends, I have one last plan, and if this one doesn't work, I'll throw myself into a pit of poisonous animals."

"That's a bold statement," said Davis Blackwood.


…Radiant Garden…

"I can't believe they managed to put together a prototype together so fast," said Kairi as she, Yuffie, Selphie and Quistis, stood out in a flat area of the Crystal Wastes. Also there was, Leon and several others, while further out on the rougher terrain was Professor von Drake, Cid and Ansem, standing next to a kneeling humanoid mecha with three camera lenses arranged on the head piece, with the head open to reveal the cockpit.

"Just goes to show you the ingenuity of the mind and heart when needed," said Yuffie, "that and a lot of spare parts lying about to be recycled."

"Yeah, those Zangyak idiots really left a mess," said Katarina.

"You mean our idiots left a mess," said Nikolai, "our warships massacred the Zangyack armanda."

"I'm just glad those crashing warships didn't hit the city," said Kairi, "Those giant monsters and giant robots made enough a mess as it was."

"We'll finish rebuilding the city, your grace," said Quistis, "it'll be bigger and better than before, not to mention safer. SeeD or no Seed, this world will be protected."

"Our smart friends will see to that," said Yuffie as she pointed at von Drake, Cid and Ansem, while Tidus, wearing a pressure suit and helmet that had a cable connecting to a set of goggles, walked towards the mecha.

"Wo-ho!" cheered Rikku as she, Paine and Yuna, watched on a nearby crystal outcropping, "You go, Tidus!"

"Oh, I hope that thing's safe," said a worried Yuna.

"He'll be fine," said Paine, "so long as he doesn't push the wrong buttons and blow himself up."

"You just had to put that image in my mind, didn't you?" asked an annoyed and fearful Yuna.

"Don't push the wrong buttons, Tidus!" cheered Rikku.

At that Rikku gave the Gullwings the thumbs up, then gave Kairi and everyone else the thumbs up, before climbing into the cockpit of the mecha. Cid and Ansem helped adjust the harness, while von Drake showed Tidus an outlet to plug in the cable.

"According to our feathery genius," said Quistis, "Tidus will be able to see through his goggles whatever the AT unit sees. Those three lenses are for different cameras. One of them is infrared vision, one for normal vision and one has a…I forget the last one, but it's supposed to make combat more efficient."

"The onboard computer for an AT unit can be programmed for just about any combat situation," said Nikolai, "the pilot can turn over basic navigation and tactics to the computer, allowing him freedom to oversee the area around him and take manual control when needed."

By now Tidus was strapped in and his helmet wire was plugged in. He gave one final thumbs up to Ansem, Cid and von Drake, before turning on the mecha. He then gripped the controls, causing the helmet hatch to close. The mecha stood up and began moving about.

"He's testing out the unit's maneuverability," said Ansem as he, Cid and von Drake, walked up to Kairi and watched the mecha, "just the basics for now; forwards, backwards, turning, sideways."

"That's good, Tidus," said von Drake into a walkie-talkie, "you're doing great. Now try strafing to the left."

"Ah, I'm bored with this simple stuff," said Tidus eagerly over the radio, "Let's see what this baby can do!"

"What? No!" exclaimed von Drake, "this is no time to be messing around!"

"I'm just letting lose a bit," said Tidus as the mecha began running, "pushing the envelope."

"No! There will be no envelope pushing!" insisted von Drake, "No, Tidus!"

"Yes, Professor!" teased Tidus as the mecha jumped. On its back a booster pack activated, allowing the mecha to jump higher and farther, then activated to break the unit's fall. The mecha landed on its feet, the legs bending and retracting to bleed off the force of impact, allowing a soft landing.

"Well?" asked Tidus over the radio "what do you think? Can I blow up some stuff now?"

"Get out of that thing, young man!" bellowed von Drake as he rushed at the mecha, followed by Cid and Ansem.

"I think that was a successful test," said Yuffie.

"You're easily pleased," said Quistis as Tidus exited the mecha, only to receive a verbal tongue lashing from von Drake, "he could have damaged the unit, or worse, hurt himself."

"He's fine," said Katarina, "I wouldn't mind giving that thing a spin myself."

"It's not a car you can test drive," said an annoyed Nikolai.

"Just a thought," said Katarina modestly.

"You disobey me like that again, young man, and you're out of the project!" snapped von Drake as he, Tidus, Ansem and Cid walked over, "I'll find someone else to test the VOTOMS unit! Someone who isn't as big an imbecile!"

"Hey, I tested it like you asked," said Tidus, "and finished a whole bunch of tests in a heartbeat. If we went as slow as you wanted, we'd be at it all day."

"We need to go slow in order to gather data," said Ansem, "to test the unit for flaws and to see if anything needs to be improved for the next model."

"If we send this thing into mass production as it is," said Cid, "the finished ones could end up breaking before they go into battle."

"Or worse, break during battle!" said von Drake, "do you want that on your conscience, young man? What am I saying? Of course you don't!"

"And you could have hurt yourself there and then, Tidus," said Ansem.

"I…I was just…" said Tidus.

"Don't argue, dummy!" snapped Yuna as she flew over and got in Tidus's face, "you could have killed yourself back there!"

"Just be careful next time!" said Kairi, "okay? The last thing anyone wants is for you to needlessly hurt yourself or die!"

"Alright, I'll be careful next time," said Tidus, "seriously, it wasn't that big a deal."

"It is a big deal!" shouted von Drake, "it's a very big deal!"

"Just follow instructions next time, okay?" asked Cid.

"Okay, I will!" said Tidus.

"Promise you will!" insisted Yuna.

"Alright, I promise," said Tidus, "happy?"

"No, but it'll do," said Yuna.

"There's just no pleasing some people," muttered Tidus.

Just then everyone heard Pence shouting as he ran towards them from the city, "YOU GUYS1 YOU GUYS! SERIOUSLY1 YOU GUYS! SERIOUSLY!"

"Whoa! Calm down, man!" said Tidus as he held out his hands to stop Pence, "you're going to blow a gasket."

"No time! No time to blow gasket!" gasped a severely winded Pence, "big trouble! Keyhole! Giant Heartless!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Yuffie.

"Oh no!" said Kairi as her hand went to her suddenly pounding heart, "not another!"

"It is," said King Mickey as he walked up, a grave look on his face, "another Keyhole has been cracked; Halloween Town this time."

"Darklight?" asked Leon.

"No, no it wasn't her," said King Mickey, "we're still getting all the details, but according to an observation satellite, Halloween Town was attacked from space. An armada of Space Heartless towed this enormous Heartless that was aimed right for the planet. The Space Heartless then sacrificed themselves, using their energy to accelerate the giant Heartless until it pierced the world like a spear and cracked the Keyhole open like an egg. Halloween Town is gone, flooded by darkness."

"Dear heavens!" said Ansem, while the others looked gravely somber.

"That's why Columbina hasn't made a move for a while," said Quistis, "she can now crack a Keyhole without a Princess of Darkness!"

"Heavens help us!" said Ansem.

"I'll settle for Sora and the others," said Kairi as she looked up at the sky, where the setting sun had brought out the stars, just as one, Halloween Town, faded out. "Everyone, where are you?"


…The Land of Ooo…

"We're getting closer!" shouted Finn as he, Jake, Riku, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, Lumpy Space Princess, Flame Princess and Cinnamon Bun, ran after a set of massive footprints that looked to have been made by an enormous machine.

"Gee, is it the cloud of really gross smoke above us that gave it away?" asked Marceline as she indicated the black gas that she and Jake had first smelled as they all earlier investigated the carnage wrecked on The Candy Kingdom. Princess Bubblegum had ran full speed all the way back from the hinterlands, examined the wreckage of her castle for clues as to who or what had taken her brother.

Jake and Marceline had detected a rather noxious gas around the castle and city, tying it in with the massive footprints left by the creature as it trudged away from The Candy Kingdom, so now here our heroes and allies were, chasing after the as of yet unknown enemy and Neddy.

"What on Ooo could make such a horrible stench?" asked Flame Princess.

"Nothing of this world," said Riku, as he sniffed the air, "I think…it's factory smoke, coal smoke the be exact!"

"What's coal smoke?" asked Finn.

"Exactly," said Riku, "if there's one thing I've learned about Ooo, you don't use fossil fuels anymore."

"Then what, pray tell, is making that lumping noise?" asked Lumpy Space Princess as she and the others heard the sound of massive footsteps, accompanied by the sound of extensive machinery.

Our heroes crested a large hill and saw, to their shock and horror, an enormous, mobile factory walking on multiple metal legs. On the roof of the mobile building was a large smokestack spewing the cloud of coal smoke, while several smaller smokestacks adorned the roof and sides, spewing steam and more smoke. Dozens of mechanical arms extended from the building, and in the grip of one of those hands was a large, pink dragon screaming in terror.

"NEDDY!" exclaimed Princess Bubblegum. With that she put her fingers to her lips and blew a loud whistle. Out of the sky dropped Lady Rainicorn, upon whose back Princess Bubblegum jumped, "Let's go, Lady!" she shouted as she kicked her heals on Lady Rainicorn's sides.

With that, Lady Rainicorn shouted a battlecry in Korean and took off towards the hulking metal monstrosity.

"Hey! Wait for us!" shouted Finn as Jake morphed into a larger, faster form, dashing after Lady and Bubblegum.

"Wait! You don't know what you're doing!" shouted Riku as he and the others chased after Finn, Jake, Princess Bubblegum and Lady Rainicorn.

"Since when has that ever stopped them?" asked Flame Princess. She then looked at the walking factory, "but yeah…we're gonna need some kind of strategy on this."

"And more fists to fight," said Marceline as she sent a text on her phone, "or perhaps magic. I just hope he actually decides to help."

"At least it's not moving very fast," said Lumpy Space Princess.

"But where is it going?" asked Riku.

"Who cares?" asked Flame Princess, "that thing has Bonnie's brother!" with that her fire aura flared up and she took flight, hurtling towards the walking factory. She then shot a flamethrower burst at the creature, damaging a sizable area of one side and melting several metal arms, yet the creature kept on walking.

"Whoa! Hold it, Phoebe!" shouted Princess Bubblegum, "you'll hurt Neddy!"

At that the pink dragon saw his sister and cried out for her, reaching towards her with his short forearms.

"I'm here, Neddy!" called Princess Bubblegum, "Just hold on!" she then directed Lady to fly closer, but had to back off as several robotic arms reached towards them.

"Let's get it, Jake!" shouted Finn as he and Jake charged at the walking factory. Jake grabbed the creature from behind, stopping it, but was forced to let go as several jets of superheated steam and coal smoke blasted out of the smokestacks, earning a yelp of pain from both Finn and Jake. Forced back, Jake shrank to his normal size and shape, where he and Finn lay on the ground, both singed all over.

"'Darling!'" shouted Lady in Korean. She fired a beam of rainbow colored magic at the walking factory, damaging more of the superstructure, yet it kept going.

"We need to get closer!" shouted Riku as he and Cinnamon Bun struggled to catch up.

"You wanna get closer?" asked Marceline as she gave a mischievous smile, "no problem!"

Utilizing one of her many vampiric powers, Marceline morphed into one of her many demonic forms, this one a massive creature with enormous arms. She picked up Riku and tossed him at the walking factory like a fastball.

Yelping in fright in midair, Riku quickly regained his composure as he neared the walking factory, grabbing onto a pipe and swinging onto another, and another, each pipe slowing his momemtum, until he stopped on a platform. He then had to duck as Cinnamon Bun crashed onto the platform.

"You alright?" asked Riku as he helped Cinnamon Bun up.

"Yeah, I'm okay," said Cinnamon Bun, whom glared at Marceline as she landed on the platform with Lumpy Space Princess in her arms, "no thanks to her!"

"Hey, I was just helping," said Marceline as she unslung her bass axe, "now let's help this thing stop!" she swung her axe at some nearby pipes, slicing through the metal and creating showers of sparks. She then slammed her axe into an electrical panel, creating more sparks.

"When in doubt, smash everything!" shouted Cinnamon Bun as he began punching electrical parts. Shrugging Riku summoned his Keyblade and joined in on the destruction.

"Uh…I don't think this is helping, you guys," said Lumpy Space Princess.

"At least we're doing something!" said Marceline, "and…" that's as far as she got before a Neo Shadow, wearing gray overalls, a Con Edison helmet and welding goggles, swung and hit her on the head with a large wrench, knocking Marceline to the platform.

"What the glib glob?!" exclaimed Marceline as she felt a bump form on her head, only to roll out of the way of another wrench swing, then brought her axe up to block a third.

Riku soon found himself facing another, similarly garbed Neo Shadow, this one carrying a large electrical drill. As he ducked and dogged drill stabs from the creature, he saw more Neo Shadows emerge, some attacking Marceline and the others, while more Heartless began repairing the damage to the factory.

"They…they're workers," said Riku, "'Gray Collars,' they work in the factory."

"Well duh!" exclaimed Marceline as she managed to disarm one of the Gray Collars and cut its head off, destroying it.

Just then they saw Flame Princess fly overhead, dodging robotic arms and blasts from the smokestacks. She reached the arm holding Neddy and burned right through it.

Neddy screamed for his life as he plummeted to the ground.

"LADY! GO!" shouted Princess Bubblegum. Lady Rainicorn dove for the ground and shot a beam of telekinetic magic at Neddy, stopping him before he struck terra firma.

"It's okay, Neddy!" said Princess Bubblegum as Lady gently lowered him to the ground, yet the pink dragon was inconsolable with terror, trembling and whimpering, oblivious to the world.

At that Princess Bubblegum began singing in a tong clicking manner, causing her body to glow brightly. After several seconds of this, Neddy Began to calm down enough to recognize his sister.

"It's okay, Neddy," said Bubblegum as she gently stroked her brother's head, "you're safe now, you're safe."

"'Not for long!'" shouted Lady in Korean, "'it's coming back!'" True enough, the walking factory was turning around.

"P Bob! Run!" shouted Finn and he and Jake, recovered from their scorching, attacked the creature again, Jake stretched up to a platform a few levels lower than Riku's group. Together, he and Finn began smashing pipes and electrical parts, only for Gray Collar Heartless to appear, attach them and repair the damage.

"This is way not fair!" shouted Flame Princess as she incinerated more of the factory superstructure, yet her efforts were undone as more Gray Collar Heartless appeared to enact repairs, "we break it, they fix it!"

But then Flame Princess flew around the front of the walking factory and saw what looked to be the control center. In a glass room, several Gray Collar Heartless were pulling levers, turning valves and monitoring gauges, while three Neo Shadows wearing trousers and white shirts and ties stood at piloting wheels.

"Hey! Everyone!" shouted Flame Princess, "here's the bridge! Or whatever it…!" that's as far as she got before she was blasted out of the air by a jet of coal smoke.

"PHOEBE!" shouted Cinnamon Bun as he jumped off the platform. He landed on the ground and ran to Flame Princess.

"I'm alright," said Flame Princess as Cinnamon Bun helped her sit up, "I just need a minute.

"I don't think we have a minute!" said Cinnamon Bun as he and Flame Princess saw the walking factory stomp towards them. Within seconds, one of its massive legs would step on them.

But then the leg stopped in midstride, barely two yards from crushing Flame Princess and Cinnamon Bun, stopped by a beam of magic that froze the leg solid.

"LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE, YOU METAL MEANIE!" shouted Ice King as he hovered in front of the walking factory. He aimed his hands and shot another beam of freezing magic, hitting several robotic arms and Gray Collar Heartless.

"Simon!" shouted Marceline, "you came!"

"Like I could let you guys have all the fun!" said Ice King as his beard flapped him over to the platform, "speaking of fun," he looked at Riku, "who's the new guy? He looks weird."

"Takes a weirdo to know a weirdo," said Riku. He then looked at Marceline, "you know this old coot?"

"He's my oldest friend, thank you very much!" snapped Marceline as she hovered with her hands on her hips. "I've known him for almost a thousand years. Yeah, he's a little…out there, but…"

Just then a robotic arm swiped at our heroes.

"Oh, party's still on!" said Ice King, "we'll talk later, new guy!" with that he flew out a few yards and froze the robotic arm, then flew off to freeze more of the factory.

"He's really not that bad once you get to know him," said Marceline.

"Yeah, if you ignore that he's totally crazy," said Jake as he and Finn climbed up to the platform.

"Ice King's not that crazy," said Finn, "just wish he stop kidnapping princesses for a while."

"He does what?" asked Riku. He then shook his head to clear confusing thoughts from his mind, "I can't deal with this right now. We can damage this thing as much as we want," he then indicated the Gray Collar Heartless repairing the superstructure, "as long as those things are working."

"Or maybe we need to find what's powering this walking horror," said Marceline, "or," she grabbed a Gray Collar Heartless, crushed its head and picked up its wrench, "throw one of these in the gears," she said with a mischievous smile.

"That could work," said Riku, "if we can find a way inside, and I don't see any doors or hatches or anything."

"Hey you guys!" shouted Lumpy Space Princess from above, "check this out!" she then prodded part of the wall and an opening appeared like an iris expanding.

"LSP, I could kiss you!" said Finn as he and the others made their way up to the opening.

"Yeah, well," said a somewhat smug and embarrassed Lumpy Space Princess, "like I told you before, Finn; if you want these lumps," she held up her ring finger, "you gotta put a RING on it!"

With that our heroes passed through the opening. Inside it was a chaotic clamor of pistons pumping, gears cranking, steam hissing and other noises associated with a factory.

"How are we gonna do this?" asked Jake over the noice as our heroes made their way through the inner workings, "we smash something, those repair Heartless will just come and fix it."

"And fix us while they're at it!" said Jake.

"We've gotta find the weak point," said Riku, "the one element in this whole factory that'll cause it to fall apart."

"What makes you think there's such a place?" asked Marceline.

"There's always a place in a factory or a giant machine that causes it to break," said Riku.

"Like this?" asked Finn as he saw a door with a large sign in big red letters…

…Danger…

…Master Gear…

…Do Not Touch…

"That'll do," said Riku.

"Well, sorry, it's locked," said Marceline as she tried the door.

"Gimme that!" said Lumpy Space Princess as she tried the doorknob, "wait, hold on," she then pulled out a credit card, "I borrowed this from Brad when he tried to make up with me last month," she then tried to jimmy the lock with the credit card.

"That never works," said Marceline as she shoved Lumpy Space Princess aside, "here, this is how you open a door!" she then swung her bass axe at the door. But the door withstood the blow, while part of the bass axe broke off.

"Oh, good one, Marcy," said Lumpy Space Princess in an annoyed tone, while Marceline looked at her broken axe with stunned eyes.

"I got it!" said Riku as he aimed his Keyblade at the door, shooting the lock with a beam of light that unlocked it within seconds.

"You couldn't have done that before I wrecked one of my most prized possessions?!" demanded Marceline as our heroes rushed inside. They saw an enormous gear connected to other gears. Above the big gear was another sign warning against tampering.

"That's the one!" said Riku.

"Then let's smash it!" shouted Finn as he raised his sword and rushed at the big gear. But then a huge, muscular Heartless wearing black overalls and carrying a massive sledgehammer, jumped in front of Finn. He barely dodged the sledgehammer, which unleashed a massive pressure wave as it hit the floor.

"Great, just what we need," said Marceline through gritted teeth, "Let's get that thing before it crushes Finn!"

"No," said Lumpy Space Princess as she and the others watched Finn dodge more sledgehammer blows from the massive Heartless, "this is Finn's fight."

"I never said you couldn't help!" said Finn as he blocked a sledgehammer swing with his sword but was forced back by the creature's sheer strength.

"Oh, never mind!" said Lumpy Space Princess. With that she picked up a nearby hammer and threw it at the big Heartless, "LUMPING DIE!"

The hammer hit the creature, distracting it enough for Finn to get behind and stab it with his sword. Riku, Jake and Marceline rushed in, dealing damage with Keyblade, fists and metamorphic attacks.

Finn then ran up, jumped and stabbed the creature in the head, dealing the critical blow that caused the creature to collapse into smoke, from which rose a crystal heart that vanished in the air.

"Now let's break this thing so we can go home!" said Jake as he stretched his hands large enough to grab the big gear and, straining with all his strength, ripped it free of the rest of the works. It wasn't long before the whole factory began to violently shudder.

"Okay, now we run!" said Marceline. With that our heroes ran back the way they came as the factory fell apart around them. They reached the outside just as the factory's legs gave out and it fell.

"JUMP!" shouted Jake. With that he, Riku, Marceline and Lumpy Space Princess jumped off the platform. Jake wrapped his arms and legs around Finn, Riku, Marceline and Lumpy Space Princess, expanding his torso into a parachute that gently lowered them to the ground.

"OH My Glob! You Guys!" shouted Flame Princess as she and Cinnamon Bun hurried over, "that was so awesome!"

"You did it!" said Princess Bubblegum as she hurried over, while Lady Rainicorn flew over to and embraced Jake.

"We sure did, PBles," said Jake, "how's Neddy?"

"He's still freaked out," said Princess Bubblegum, "but I managed to calm him enough so he won't run away." With that she walked over and took Finn's hands in hers, "I'm glad you're alright, Finn, I'm glad it's over."

"No, it's not," said Riku as he and the others watched the wreckage of the factory settle, the pile of broken machinery still emitting coal smoke and steam that was slowly dissipating, "someone or something made that hulking abomination, someone or something that's still out there."

"Still think I'm to blame, Flame Princess?" asked Ice King as he flew over.

"No," said Flame Princess, "and how did you…?"

"Hey, I've been watching the whole time," said Ice King, "not my fault you didn't notice me."

"And you just stood by while we chased that thing halfway across the continent?!" exclaimed Riku.

"I was waiting for the right moment," said Ice King, "and you ought to be thanking me for saving your sorry but, new guy!"

"Behave, Simon," said Marceline, "Riku's a friend."

"Seems to me he's more than a friend," said a slyly smiling Ice King, earning blushes from both Riku and Marceline.

"'Hey! What's that?'" asked Lady Rainicorn in Korean as she pointed to a nearby copse of trees, where a black cloaked figure glared hatefully at our heroes, before vanishing.

"That's a suspicious character if I've ever seen one!" said Jake.

"I'll bet you he's the one behind all this trouble," said Riku.

"Then let's go get him!" said Finn, "coming, PB?"

"You guys go on ahead," said Princess Bubblegum, "I'm gonna bring Neddy home."

"Okay, cool," said Jake. He then looked at Riku, Marceline and the others, "okay, guys, let's go hunt a bad guy!"


…Castle Oblivion…

"Well, this is an unexpected welcome," said Columbina as she walked back into the Interocitor room, where a dark-themed party had been set up, complete with black balloons, streamers and confetti.

"It worked!" said Dio Brando eagerly, "that big Heartless you smooshed together cracked that Keyhole open like a walnut shell!"

"And they never stood a chance!" said Lady Tremaine, "not that they stood a chance before!"

"As if they ever stood a chance in the first place," said Gaston.

"Well done, madam," said Young Xehanort as he uncorked a bottle of Champaign and began pouring into glasses, "well done indeed."

"Thank you," said Columbina as she accepted a glass, "but what I did pales in comparison to what is to come. Lady Darklight must be found and returned at once."

"Why bother with that idiot?" asked Dio Brando, "you're the one who keeps calling her a spoiled brat!"

"That she is," said Columbina, "but circumstances have changed. Seven Keyholes have been cracked, but I must accelerate my plans to crack the remaining five. I must be ready assemble the Sampo and ascend to ultimate power! I must! But first, but first I need to tie up some loose ends."

With that she walked of the room.

"What was that all about?" asked Gaston.

"For a moment, it looked as if she was afraid of something," said Sephiroth, "something that chilled her to the core."

"Whatever she's afraid of, it hasn't broken her concentration," said Dio Brando as he looked out the window, "she's outside again, gathering more Heartless."

"Persistent, I'll grant her that," said Lady Tremaine.

Just then Regina walked in, followed by a pair of Neo Shadows wheeling in a cake on a cart.

"Where's Columbina?" asked Regina, "I baked a cake!"

"She's back in her zone again," said Dio Brando, "and before you ask, don't bother, she won't hear you."

"No reason why we shouldn't enjoy the cake," said Dio Brando as he walked over to and cut several pieces of the cake.

"Help yourself," said Regina.

"You're not having any?" asked Young Xehanort as he and the others were served cake.

"I had a big lunch," said Regina, "and a girl's gotta watch her figure."

"Whatever floats your boat," said Dio Brando. He then took a bite out of the cake, "wow! This is delicious!" At that the other villains made sounds of enjoyment as they too ate the cake.

"I never knew you were so good at baking," said Young Xehanort to Regina, "and this icing, it's so…so…"

"Yummy?" suggested Dio Brando, "that sums it up pretty much."

"But I can't figure out what kind of cake it is," said Lady Tremaine, "it's not chocolate or yellow cake."

"It's some kind of fruit, I can tell that," said Sephiroth.

"Come on, Regina," said Young Xehanort, "what kind of cake is it?"

"It's an apple cake," said Regina proudly.

"What?" asked a shocked Young Xehanort as his hand paused with another cake bite paused halfway between his plate and mouth, while the others also froze in shock.

"With real apples too," said Regina.

"Excuse me," said Sephiroth as he set his plate down and hurried out of the room.

"I need to use the bathroom!" said Gaston urgently as he hurried out of the room, followed by Lady Tremaine, Dio Brando and Young Xehanort, passing Insano as he walked in.

"What's gotten into them?" asked the goggled mad scientist.

"I don't know," said Regina in a depressed tone, "maybe my cake wasn't as good as I thought it was."

"I'll be the judge of that," said Insano as he walked over and picked up a piece of cake. He then ate a forkful and smiled, "this is by far a scientifically proven delicious cake! With SCIENCE no less!" he then raised his fork triumphantly.

"Enjoy," said Regina as she walked over to the window and watched Columbina summon more and more Heartless.


…Somewhere Else…

"Another heart cracked," said Darklight as she paused in her destructive rampage, "yet that heart was healed."

"Makes you wonder," said The Lord of Illusions as he appeared next to Darklight, "what could happen to you if things play out right."

"Leave me alone, trickster!" snapped Darklight as she summoned her black Keyblade, "unless you want to end up like so many of your doppelgangers!"

"By all means, kill me," said the Lord of Illusions, "but if you do, you'll miss out on the news."

"What news?" asked Darklight, "no tricks, Leslie, or I'll cut you in half!"

"The news," said the Lord of Illusions, "is that you may be out of a job. Columbina may have another means to crack Keyholes."

"What are you talking about?" asked Darklight as she lowered her black Keyblade, "no one can crack Keyholes like me!"

"Not anymore," said the vile trickster as she grinned maliciously, knowing that he truly had Darklight's attention now.

The End of Chapter 6.

Next chapter, diplomacy takes over as our heroes take the chance to end the war. But several secrets are revealed, including one shocker that will leave our heroes shaken to the core. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!