"Um, excuse me... but is this the way to Nerima?"

Ranma and the Tendos sweatdropped when they heard that phrase.

"It can't be..." Ranma groaned.

Creeper was so surprised that he nearly dropped his knife in shock.

The Horned King turned around. "Who are you?" he demanded to know. "How dare you trespass in my castle?"

Ryoga scratched his head. "Really sorry about this, but I must have taken a wrong turn in Osaka and..." He then suddenly became aware of several persons he knew. "Akane... is that you?"

"Ryoga, silly..." the youngest Tendo sighed. "How did you get here?"

The bandana-clad boy looked around. "So this isn't Osaka anymore?"

"This is an entirely different world, you moron!" Sailor Terra yelled.

Ryoga looked at her closely. "Uh... do I know you, miss?"

"Enough of this!" the Horned King bellowed. "Assistant pig keeper... this is your last chance! Tell the pig to show me where to find the Black Cauldron, or else..."

Creeper once again raised his knife with a grin.

A deep frown appeared on Ryoga's face. He knew how helpless little pigs could feel when faced with meat axes, mincing machines and kitchen knives. "Hey, put that thing down before you hurt anyone! Don't you see you're scaring the poor little thing?"

Creeper grimaced. "That's the idea behind it, you fool! What's it to you, anyway? This is just a stupid little pig!"

Ryoga had to disagree. Ever since he had acquired his curse, he felt a certain kinship with everything that squealed, snorted and had a curly tail.

He took his battle umbrella off his backpack. "You let go of it right now!"

Creeper giggled. "Or what, pathetic human?"

"Or I'll do THIS!" Ryoga yelled and threw his umbrella like a giant frisbee. Creeper yelped in surprise and raised his hands to shield himself from the sudden attack. But to do that, he had to drop his knife and Hen Wen. The little piggy quickly ran away.

"Get it, you fool!" the Horned King roared. Almost at once, all of the Heartless advanced on the helpless little animal.

"Oh no, you don't!" Taran shouted and slashed out with his sword. Whenever it sliced through a Heartless, it disappeared in a black puff of smoke, and a single, shining heart floated away through the darkness.

Creeper, intent on make up for his mistake, dove for the pig. "I've got it, Your Majesty!" he cried as he slid across the floor.

But just before he reached it, a sleek, yellow-furred shape came leaping across the room and snatched Hen Wen away.

Liomon landed safely out of the Heartless' or Creepers reach and put Hen Wen down next to Ryoga. "Guard it with your life," he growled and leapt back into battle.

Ryoga, confused that a talking lion had just left a small piglet in his care, scratched his head. "Um... sure! No problem!" He smiled down at Hen Wen. "Don't worry, little piggy, you're safe with me."

In the meantime, Ranma was busy bashing Heartless. "Crystal Hail!" she shouted and bombarded her enemies with a shower of razor-sharp diamond shards.

Akane was faced with two tall, lanky Heartless that resembled skeletal warriors, with various parts of armor hanging loosely from them. They were Emblem Heartless, as she could see on the now-familiar symbol on their broad foreheads.

With a battle cry, she twirled around her Keyblade and felt the familiar feeling of becoming one with her weapon. As long as she wielded it, she had nothing to fear from the Heartless.

Rydia and Tellah were fighting back to back. Tellah was using his black magic to hold them at bay, while Rydia was closing her eyes, chanting a summoning spell.

Then she opened her eyes. "I summon you! FAT CHOCOBO!"

In a puff of smoke, a giant, fat bird appeared in the air with a loud squawk, right above the Heartless that were approaching her... and then fell down with all his weight, burying them underneath his enormous behind.

Rydia grinned. "Nicely done, Fat Chocobo!"

The bird flapped his chubby wings happily before disappearing again.

The Horned King was furious. He managed to grab Creeper by his shirt and pulled him up from the ground. "Find the pig!" he growled and threw his servant across the room.

Bouncing off a Heartless' skull, Crepper soared through the air and then fell down, rolling across the stone floor. Dazed, he shook his head and saw the youth with the bandana who had caused him to drop the pig in the first place.

With a feral snarl, he pulled another knife from his belt. "GIVE ME THE PIG!" he shouted.

Ryoga pounded another Heartless against the wall and turned to face the little gnome. "In your dreams, shorty!" he shouted.

Crepper snapped his fingers, and out of nowhere, a big Heartless appeared. This one looked like a black steed, with blood red eyes and a similarly colored saddle on its back. Its mane was made of flames and it reared up with a loud whinny. Creeper jumped on his back and spurred it on. "Attack, Night Mare!"

Ryoga's eyes widened when he saw how the horse Heartless ran at him at full speed, leaving a trail of fire behind. He quickly picked up Hen Wen and leapt to the side. A wall of fire rose up where Creeper and his scary mount had dashed past.

The little creep turned the Night Mare around and snarled. "Stop moving, you bastard!"

Ryoga smirked. "Come and get me!" he yelled and ran out of the door. Creeper wasted no time and rode after him.

"Hen Wen!" Taran yelled as he saw how Ryoga carried his protege out of the room.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Terra told him with a grin. "Pigs are practically Ryoga's soulmates, ya know?"

"Ranma, stop teasing Ryoga!" Akane snapped. She fired a few fireballs from the tip of her Keyblade, and the last couple of Heartless disappeared. "So much for them!"

Taran turned around to run after Ryoga and Creeper. "Hen Wen!"

But suddenly, a force field of energy appeared in front of him, blocking off every exit of the room.

"You will go nowhere!" the Horned King shouted. "You have interfered with my plans for the last time. Now, assistant pig keeper, and all of your allies... now you will DIE!"

"Big words, scary guy!" Ranma shouted. "Did ya notice you're all by yourself?"

The Horned King took a look around. Taran, Akane, Sailor Terra, Liomon, Tellah and Rydia approached him from all sides. He smirked, as far as that is possible for someone with a skull face.

"My such a brave and handsome crew! An assistant pig keeper, a flea-bitten cat, a whore with magical spells, a wrinkled old man, a helpless little maiden and a girl who looks like she should rather be a cookmaid than a warrior!"

Akane gritted her teeth when he looked at her.

"Who's a whore?" Ranma yelled.

The Horned King ignored her. "I see no reason to put up with the likes of you..." he muttered. "I have other things to take care of... the Armsmaster will finish you off!"

"The what?" Akane wondered.

The Horned King made a gesture with his arm, and another, huge Heartless appeared. It was a tall humanoid, with a red breastplate that covered the upper half of his torso. It had six long arms and carried six different weapons with them: A long sword, a rapier, a javelin, a whip, a hand axe and an enormous mace.

"Dispose of them!" the Horned King commanded. "I have an appointment... with a pig..."

"No," Taran cried, but the king disappeared. The Armsmaster swung all of his weapons around at once and glared at the warriors threateningly.

Akane gulped when she saw the whirlwind of weapons. "This... doesn't look good..."

"The six of us against only one enemy?" Tellah smirked and charged up another spell. "Please, that's hardly a challenge!"

"No problem!" Rydia smiled and prepared another summoning.

Taran looked over to the door, which was still blocked by the energy field. "I still hope Hen Wen's all right..."

"Trust me, if she's with Ryoga, I don't think any bad guy will lay his hands on her," Ranma grinned.

Creeper rode through the castle's halls and corridors, on the back of his Heartless steed. He wouldn't want to admit it, especially not to his king... but he had lost the human boy and the pig.

"They... they can't be far..." he mumbled. "I'm pretty sure they are around the next corner..."

The Night Mare snorted.

Crepper hit the four-legged Heartless on the head. "You're no big help, you dumb horse!"

Ryoga frowned. He had just stepped into a wardrobe to hide from the creepy little dwarf, but when he came out, he was in a completely different place.

He looked down at the confused little pig in his arms. "Well, I don't think this is Osaka either, little buddy..."

He looked around. And saw himself surrounded by giant trees, colorful flowers and a huge assortment of other, exotic plants. He could hear the voices of birds, screeches of monkeys and even the deep growl of some predator in the thicket. Right now, he was standing at the edge of a wide river.

"Well... I'm no expert, but I'd say that this is the jungle..." he spoke up... only to be drenched with a sudden splash of water, when something big jumped into the river from the other side.

The big bear with the friendly smile on his face resurfaced. "Oh, sorry! Didn't see you over there, little guys..." And then Baloo leaned back and let himself being carried off by the gentle stream of the river.

He sighed contentedly. "This is life... just the bear necessities! Don't you agree, little guys?"

The black, bandana-wearing piglet looked at the surprised pink piglet sitting next to him and sighed.

"Bweeee..."

Taran grunted as he parried a sword stroke of the Armsmaster. "He's a good fencer..."

"Good maybe, but not good as us," Akane smirked while exchanging blows with another of the Heartless' arms, the one that was holding the huge rapier.

Liomon growled as the Armsmaster flicked his whip and tried to hit the four-legged Digimon. "Liomon, watch out!" Kasumi shouted with worry. But Liomon was able to dodge all of his opponent's attacks. "THUNDER OF THE KING!" he roared and shocked the Armsmaster's whip arm with his lightning.

Ranko and Tellah, in the meantime, were bombarding the Heartless with their spells, while dodging the javelins he was throwing at them, of which he seemed to have an infinite supply of.

"Look out, old man!" Ranko gasped when in the corner of her eye, she saw the enormous axe coming down on them. In the last instance, she threw herself in front of Tellah and conjured up her Diamond Drill. Blocking the axe blow with her indestructible weapon, she let the drill spin and turned the axe into a heap of metal fragments.

Rydia, on the other hand, had preferred to let somebody else do the fighting for her.

"Disciple of the burning inferno..." she murmured. "Let loose thy flames of fury! I summon you... Ifrit!"

With a mighty roar, a tall, devil-like creature with fur as red as fire and a pair of curved horns appeared in front of her. When the Armsmaster swung his mace at the young summoner, Ifrit effortlessly caught it and tried too wrestle it out of the Heartless' hand. After a short struggle, the summoning spirit growled and ignited his hands with fire, burning the Armsmaster's arm and the shaft of his mace.

With one skillful strike, Akane managed to knock the rapier out of the Armsmaster's grasp. She then dodged the sword and pinned it down on the floor. "Now, Taran!"

Encouraged by Akane's skills, Taran raised the magical sword high above his head, it glowed brightly... and when he brought it down on the Heartless blade, it got sliced in half.

When Liomon managed to rip his whip in half, Kasumi shouted: "He's unarmed now! Everyone, hit him with your hardest attack!"

"You got it, sis!" Akane shouted and aimed her Keyblade at the monster. "Fire!"

Sailor Terra invoked her Senshi powers. "Crystal Hail!"

Liomon added his own attack: "Thunder of the King!"

"Thundara!" Tellah shouted as he cast his own lightning spell.

"Now, Ifrit!" Rydia commanded. "Let him taste your Hellfire!"

The summoning creature roared loudly as he was engulfed with flames. Jumping at the Heartless, Ifrit let him taste the hotness of his fire. In one last, fiery explosion, the Armsmaster was hurled up into the air, then he fell back down, where he lay twitching on the floor.

Taran swung around his weapon with a sudden burst of resolve that nobody who knew the young assistant pig keeper would have thought possible. And once again, the magic sword lit up as bright as the sun as Taran pierced the Heartless' breastplate.

The Armsmaster twitched one last time, then he limply fell to the side, and his whole body dissolved, only leaving behind a gleaming heart that floated up into the darkness, where it vanished.

Akane sighed. "Well, that was one heck of a battle..."

"Aw, no problem!" Ranma grinned cockily. "I could have beaten him myself, but with you guys on my side, I just had to win!"

"Now, now, young lady," Tellah smirked. "I rather think that our victory was unavoidable, since we had the Keyblade Master on our side."

"Well, yeah, Akane can put that key thing to use," Ranma admitted. "But still I don't think she would have had it that easy if she didn't have my help..."

Rydia sweatdropped. "You say that was easy?" she murmured while dismissing Ifrit.

"Oh, that's just like you, Ranma!" Akane grumbled. "One time I manage to accomplish something, and you still want to depreciate what I did... you're such a macho jerk!"

"Hey, at least I'm not an uncute tomboy that can't cook!" Ranma said.

"Grrrrr... RANMA NO BAKA!"

Kasumi chuckled. "Oh, those two... they will never change."

Just as Akane was going to pull out Mr. Mallet, she saw something on the wall, just above the throne of the Horned King.

Tellah, Rydia and Taran looked at the bright light with awe. Eilonwy and Flewwddur were coming closer as well. "What... what is that?" Eilonwy whispered.

Tellah smiled. "Well, I'll be damned! I've never seen one of those before, but read much about them in the scripts of the Scholar... this is a Keyhole, my friends."

"Right, I already saw one of those back at our dojo," Akane nodded. She looked down at the Keyblade in her hands. "I think I know what to do..."

She raised the Keyblade and pointed it at the Keyhole. A bright ray of light came shooing out of its tip, and with a flash, it sealed the Keyhole. Afterwards, the Keyhole vanished back into the wall.

"What... what just happened?" Taran asked.

"The Keyblade Master sealed the Keyhole," Tellah explained. "Now the Heartless won't be able to engulf this world with darkness anymore."

"Yeah, but there might still be many left from when that Horned King summoned them," Akane assumed.

"And... and what about Hen Wen?" Taran asked.

"I'm afraid she could be anywhere now, buddy," Ranma told him. "With Ryoga in tow, you can never know when she's gonna show up again. But at least we know she's in good hands."

"That's right," Kasumi smiled. "Wherever she is, she is safe from that evil man... and should we run into Ryoga on our travels, we will tell him everything and bring Hen Wen back to you."

"Can't I... can't I come with you?" Taran pleaded. "Dallben entrusted me with Hen Wen... I can't disappoint him now."

"No, Taran, please, don't leave!" a certain, blonde princess suddenly shouted.

Taran looked back at her in surprise. "Eilonwy?"

"Please," she said. "I need your help. Flewwddur and I can't fight, and we need to stop the Horned King. He will still try to find the Black Cauldron, I'm sure of it. We have to find it before he does... it's the only chance we have."

"Hey, what if we take care of that guy now?" Ranma suggested. "We managed to beat his Heartless, and I'm sure we can take him on as well."

"Well... I'd like to help them," Akane said. "But... I promised Cait Sith to help his friends. So... as long as Rydia and Tellah aren't going to stay here..."

"I'm afraid we have to leave," Tellah said in an apologetic voice. "Our own friends are waiting for us as well, and if we wait any longer, I'm afraid the dark stranger who invaded our home world will do something horrible to our imprisoned comrades..."

"I guess I understand," Taran sighed. "Every world and its inhabitants must deal with their own problems, right?"

"I will come back," Akane said. "That's a promise!"

Taran smiled. "Well, I guess I will try to do my best even without your help... but thanks anyway, Akane!"

"I hate to be a bother," Flewwddur suddenly interrupted. "But I don't think we should stay here for much longer. Your victory might be a glorious one - and I will certainly write a ballad of your deeds - but since this is the Horned King's castle, we still are not safe from his wrath."

"Yeah, I'm kind of surprised myself that old skull-head didn't come to finish us off," Ranma grumbled. "I mean, he must have noticed that the pig is gone by now..."

"Let's not tempt fate, then," Tellah said. "Hurry, the exit is this way!"

The Horned King watched from the highest spire of his castle as the assistant pig keeper and his companions fled through the main gate. "It is against my nature to let my prisoners just leave like that," he growled. "Are you certain that the maiden with the key-shaped blade will not pester me any more?"

"Definitely," the black-robed woman next to him smiled. "And as soon as they are gone, you are free to concentrate on the boy and his friends... just let them find the cauldron for you, and you will have your army of Cauldron-Born in no time!"

"Why are you telling me this, woman?" the Horned King asked. "What do you expect me to do after I have found what I seek?"

"Simple!" the witch smiled. "When your army is complete, I will open the path to other worlds, so that your dark influence will spread to them as well. All I want in exchange is that your Cauldron-Born will help us to find the Keyholes... and the Princesses of Heart."

She had faith in her little puppet called Riku, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Very well... Maleficent," the Horned King grumbled. "But do not try to double-cross me... for my wrath will be horrible if I find out that you try to seek the Black Cauldron for yourself!"

"Please, I have never betrayed any of my allies before," Maleficent smiled. "And with so many Keyblade Masters wandering about, I can't afford a shortage of troops... double-crossing you would only be to my disadvantage."

'At least until I have found Kingdom Hearts...' the evil witch thought to herself and smiled. 'With the wisdom found in there, your precious cauldron will be nothing against me... as will the powers of a genie or the god of the Underworld... no, then I will be the ruling force in the worlds!'