Three updates in one week for the same story? That's a record. :) Looks like I'm in rare form this week. Thanks for the reviews. While you guys had fun reading the last chapter, I definitely had fun writing it. ^_^ Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's almost 3,600 words long?! *whistles* Enjoy!

Chapter Nine: For Who The Bells Toll

Kairi couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun. Goofy had made both her and Donald laugh until their stomachs hurt while trying to cheer up his feathered friend after the dunking booth. Goofy had been making fun of the jester in monk's clothing, normally he wouldn't make fun of someone, but even he would admit, 'He did kinda deserve it'.

Donald's beak was a little bit sticky from the caramel apple he was eating and Goofy was munching on some popcorn. Kairi had eaten a small slice of pie that seemed to be a double layer. The top layer was strawberries while the bottom was blue berries. It surprisingly tasted pretty good.

As the trio walked down the isle of booths Donald and Goofy were telling Kairi of the many adventures they had while traveling with Sora. "Heh, sounds like you guys really had some amazing adventures."

"Yeah,..." Goofy agreed, "...and during our first journey all he ever talked about was finding you and Riku."

"Remember when he flew?" Donald asked his friend.

"I sure do, he kept saying how much he wished you could see it, Kairi." The friendly knight replied.

"That sounds pretty amazing. I wish I could fly. How'd he do it?" She asked.

Both Donald and Goofy glanced at each other with a knowing smile.

"Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust!" They both answered together.

It didn't make much sense to Kairi. She had nothing but faith and trust in her friends. However, she didn't exactly know what pixie dust was or where to find it."

"I'm assuming it had something to do with his keyblade?"

Goofy smiled. "Why don't ya ask Sora? I'm sure he'd love to tell ya about it."

Kairi smiled and nodded as she followed the two as they made their way along the street. They were soon drawn over to a commotion coming from one of the several contest booths.

"Look at those two go!" The announcer cried out. "In all my years of running this event I've never seen a pair of boys tunk in that many pies! Even last year's reigning champ has thrown in the towel!"

Kairi's group exchanged knowing looks. 'Pair of boys'? That could only be Sora and Riku. "Let's go!"

They tried to make their way through the crowd, but it wasn't easy. Everyone was trying to catch a glance at the two scarfing titans who wolfed down any pie that dared to stray too close. It was Donald's idea to clear the crowd as he used his magic to send a small, yet weak electric beam through the crowd. It worked pretty well and as people jumped to avoid the static shock the trio quickly filled the gaps. Now with good spots the trio was free to get a clear view of the table. Kairi nearly doubled over in laughter.

Seven people were sitting at the table altogether. Five of them were sitting back with their hands over their bulging stomachs, obviously full and given up any hopes of winning the contest. On the far end was an entirely different matter. Several empty pie plates were piled high next to each boy. There had to be at least twelve in each stack. Both Sora and Riku were looking pretty full, but their speed didn't waver. Riku finished his fourteenth pie and grabbed the next one while Sora was right on his heels, barely three bites behind his friend.

"These boys sure know how to put it away, the question is, who will break first?" The announcer continued to shout the play-by-play as if he were broadcasting the final match of a major sport.

The two were now on their seventeenth pie and Riku was really struggling. Sora was catching up and they were soon neck and neck. However, their pace had slowed quite a bit and it was easy to tell they were fighting to finish each bite. Finally, as they both looked fit to burst they came upon the last bite of the pie. Riku tried, he took the last scoop on his fork and ate half of it, trying to force himself to swallow. He painfully managed that bite, but as he tried for the last piece, his will gave out and he dropped his fork.

It fell to the ground in slow motion and once it hit the ground, Riku's head hit the table as his stomach began to hurt, though to Riku it was screaming in pain. Now all eyes were on Sora as he tried to do what even Riku could not. He was in just as much pain as Riku, but if there was one thing he couldn't do, it was give up.

Sora's mind was a battlefield. The voices were telling him to stop, but they had taken form. He saw them as his greatest enemies. Xemnas, Maleficent, Hades, Pete and several of the nobodies he had defeated were all trying to persuade him to stop, but there was no way he was giving into their demands. He had already beaten them, thanks to the help of his friends and the power of his own light. There was no way this little piece of pie was going to stop him from reaching the top! with his last bit of strength...Sora swallowed.

The crowd exploded into cheers and applause as the announcer raised Sora's arm in victory. "We have a winner! For the first time, our champion, Augustus has been defeated! By not one one person, but two strapping young men who have proven themselves to be pie-eating masters!"

The man looked over at Riku who was taking his defeat a bit hard. "Riku, was your name correct? Well, Riku, do not feel discouraged that you lost, you both have acheived quite an impressive feat, make no mistake! Lets give it up for our winner and our second place champion!"

"Sora! Riku!" The crowd chanted among cheers and applause, Kairi, Donald and Goofy cheering the loudest.

Sora looked over at Riku after the crowd began to drift away. "Man...I sure don't feel like a winner."

Riku failed to hold back a loud belch as he nodded. The key bearer felt just as horrible as his friend. "Who's idea was this again?"

"Not one of my best." The silver-haired teen replied.

"Wanna call it a draw?" Sora asked, wondering if all of their eating contests would end up with sore stomachs.

"Nah, you won this round." Riku admitted, painfully.

"This round?"

"Yeah, because next time I'll double whatever you manage to scarf down." Riku replied with a smirk.

Sora returned his friend's expression. "You're on."

"Sora!"

Both boys looked up to see the rest of their group approach. Sora made to greet Kairi when his stomach released a loud belch. The boy quickly covered his mouth and turned away in embarrassment. Riku tried not to laugh, but it was hard.

"It's okay, I'd probably do the same if I had eaten that many pies in one sitting. How'd you pull that off?" Kairi asked.

"I have no idea." Sora replied.

The group made their way over to a fountain where Sora and Riku were able to rest. Goofy had ran to get them something to drink to help wash the pie down. He returned with some ice tea. Both boys accepted it gratefully and chugged away.

"Easy, you'll make yourselves sick if you drink that fast." Kairi warned.

Not far away on another stage Clopin, the leader of the parade from earlier and apparent head leader of the festival addressed the large crowd that had gathered.

"And now, ladies and gentleman, the 'piece de resistance'!"

He began singing his announcement in the same tune as the parade's theme.

"Here it is! The moment you've been waiting for.

Here it is! You know exactly what's in store.

Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore.

Now's the time we crown the King of Fools!"

He looked around the audience. "You all remember last year's king?" He pointed over to a chair that was being carried by four other people. In the chair sat a man who seemed the very definition of a fool. He wore an orange jester's shirt with purple pants and a matching jester's hat with bells. He waved clumsily to the crowd with a goofy grin as he let out a loud belch. Putting it flatly, the man seemed drunk beyond all reason.

"So! Let's see who's can dethrone him! Who here has the most horrible and frightening face? Who's face is as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing? For you know the face's that ugliest belongs to the King of Fools!"

He began to help people crawl up on stage. They were all wearing costume, some of them were the same costumes Sora had seen earlier that Riku had pointed out to him. He had secretly wanted to enter, but his stomach was hurting too much now to try.

The group of five merely sat back to enjoy the show. The first man tried to cover his lower lip over his nose, which he somehow managed to pull off quite nicely. However it wasn't ugly enough. The woman in the red dress from before took a step back and nodded to her companion; a goat who bucked the man from behind and sent him flying into the crowd. It parted leaving him to fall face-first into the mud.

Next came a man who was trying to make his face uglier by pulling on his lips to expose his lower jaw. It was less impressive than the first and he too was bucked into the mud. Several others met the same fate as hardly anyone seemed to have what it takes to out-ugly the current king.

Finally there was only one man left on stage. Esmeralda went to pull off what she thought was his mask when it didn't come off. She gasped in shock and surprise as did some of the audience.

"That's no mask!" Cried one man.

"It's his face!" Shouted another as they soon began to realise who this man was.

"It's the bell ringer from Notre Dame!" A third man shouted.

This seemed to take everyone by surprise, even the man in the black robe from before seemed shocked by this turn of events.

Sora was having a hard time understanding what the big deal was. "Why are they getting so worked up over what the guy looks like?" He didn't focus on the features of the man's face, but instead saw the fear and embarrassment the man was feeling.

"Their just being ignorant." Riku answered. "They're too stupid and simple-minded to see someone for who they are, rather than what they look like."

"I think it's cruel." Kairi added.

Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement. "It's what's inside that counts." Goofy chimed in.

They continued to watch the events unfold.

It was Clopin who stepped in and stopped the crowd from going any further.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't panic. We asked for the ugliest face and Paris, and here he is!"

This seemed to do the trick as the people stopped fretting and slowly began to smile. This was soon followed by applause and cheers.

Clopin pulled out a new crown that resembled a king's crown the spikes were floppy and small bells jingled at the end of each point.

"Quasimodo, the hunchback of Notre Dame!" He proclaimed as he placed the crown atop of Quasimodo's head.

More music broke out as the hunchback was lifted from the stage and carried high by several people as a path was made for Clopin who led the group. More confetti rained down over the new king as the old king was knocked off his throne with a comical 'sproing' sound and the people placed Quasimodo in the throne that was now his.

Quasimodo was led to a new stage that seemed a bit strange. It was a small stage and at its center was a large wheel that resembled a turn-table. As Quasimodo was led on stage Clopin draped a king's cape across the hunchback's shoulders. As the people continued to cheer the new king could barely hold back tears of joy. This was obviously beyond what he had expected.

Donald folded his arms while Goofy nodded in approval. "Well, it seems everything turned out alright for 'im."

"Yeah, I guess so." Sora replied, feeling a little better than his did before. The tea seemed to be doing the trick as Riku also seemed to be feeling better.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Kairi asked the group as she looked around the area.

"Hey, don't forget why we're here!" Donald reminded her. "We've got a keyhole to lock."

"And a clue to find." Goofy added.

"Right!" Replied Donald.

"Well, we did have a lot of fun. Guss it's time to get back to our mission." Sora admitted as he slowly stood up.

"Aren't you coming, Riku?" Kairi asked, but the older teen was focusing on the crowd gathered around the stage. "Something strange is going on over there."

The group followed his gaze. At first people were throwing flowers at the new king. It soon escalated into throwing coins and other cheerful trinkets, but then something else was thrown and it hit him right in the face. It was a tomato. This was followed by a gasp from the crowd.

One of the soldiers who was among the crowd pointed and laughed. "Now that's ugly!"

Another soldier threw another tomato his way. "Hail to the king!" Once again striking the hunchback in the face. More gasps followed, but not as many as before. Some of the crowd began to laugh.

As Quasimodo tried to get off the stage one of the people in the crowd pulled out a rope and lasso'd it above his head. "Where you goin' hunchback? The fun's just beginning!" He threw it and it roped around the man's neck, pulling him down and causing him to fall onto the stage. The crowd burst into fits of laughter.

Several people climbed onto the stage and used the rope to tie the hunchback down onto the turn table and made it spin. During this time more people began throwing eggs, tomatoes, lettuce and other foods at him.

"Master!" Quasimodo called to the man in the black robe. "Master...please! Help me!" But the man turned his head. He had no intentions of stepping in.

Sora on the other hand was enraged by this act of cruelty. Without saying a word to his friend he rushed into the crowd. Riku and the others followed right behind him.

Before Sora's group could get to the stage the crowd gasped as the woman from before; Esmeralda, now dressed in her normal attire stepped onto the stage. The crowd was forced into a hushed silence as she kenlt down by the man who cringed at her approach.

"I'm sorry." She said. "This wasn't suppose to happen."

"You there! Gypsy girl! Get down at once!" Demanded the man whom Quasimodo had begged for help from earlier.

"Yes, your honor. Just as soon as I free this poor creature." She replied.

"I forbid it!" He replied.

No sooner had he finished did she pull out a small knife and cut the ropes tying the man to the stage, freeing him.

"How dare you defy me!" The man growled.

"You mistreat this poor boy the same way to mistreat my people. You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help!" She declared.

"Silence!" He shouted.

"Justice!" She replied.

She then turned to help the man up, ignoring what the Judge or anyone else had to say.

"Mark my words, Gypsy. You will pay for your insolence." The judge threatened.

Esmeralda turned to return the man's glare. "Then perhaps we've crowned the wrong fool..." She took the crown from Quasimodo. "The only fool I see is you!" She threw the crown which landed at the judge's feet with a small squeak.

"Guards, arrest her!" The judge ordered.

As the soldiers made their way to the stage the girl winked once again at the hunchback before jumping off the stage and running through the crowd. However, the soldiers soon had her surrounded.

"No where to run now." One of them said as he made to grab her. That's when Sora and his friend came to the rescue. The group shoved and tripped some of the guards as they pushed past to get to Esmeralda.

"This way!" Sora shouted as he pushed past the crowd with Esmeralda close behind, being led by Riku with Kairi, Donald and Goofy covering her from either side and from behind.

As they came to a more open area they found themselves surrounded. "Alright, you're all under arrest!" The guard proclaimed.

"I don't think so." Sora replied as the keyblade appeared in his hands.

"Witchcraft!" The judge gasped with a look of pure horror on his face.

Donald used his staff to shoot small bolts of lightning to clear a path as they made their escape.

"Captain!" The judge summoned his lead soldier. "I want them found!"

"Yes sir." He replied as he organized search teams to scout the area.

The judge then turned to Quasimodo who hadn't moved from the stage. Without a single word, the look on his master's face was enough to make the man cower and run back into the cathedral. As the door closed behind him rain began to pour down as if the sky was trying to wash away the events that had taken place.

Meanwhile, Sora and the others were trying to sneak out of the area, but found that every exit was blocked by soldiers.

"This way." Esmeralda whispered to them as she slipped into a side door of Notre Dame.

Kairi followed close behind her while the other made sure they weren't spotted.

"We should be safe here." explained the Gypsy as she took a deep, relaxing breath to calm her nerves.

"Don't worry. We won't let them arrest you." Riku told her.

"Yeah, you didn't do anything to deserve it." Sora added.

"You don't have to do anything to get arrested in this town." Esmeralda replied. "If you're a Gypsy, that's more than enough reason for Judge Frollo."

"Who?" Donald asked.

"That man who refused who help that poor boy." She replied. "He's suppose to be the one who upholds justice in the city and help those in need, but he's done nothing but make life miserable for the people of this city. My people have suffered the worst of it."

"That's awful!" Goofy exclaimed.

"That's messed up!" Sora agreed.

"There they are!"

The group turned to see not only a group of soldiers, but Judge Frollo himself standing behind them.

"Take them!" He ordered.

"Hold it!" Sora shouted, waving his hand to point out where they were. "We claim sanctuary!"

"Excuse me?" Frollo asked.

"You can't arrest us here!" Kairi retorted.

"Very well then, men, drag them outside and arrest them!" The judge ordered.

"Frollo! You will not touch them!" Came the voice of the head monk. "Don't worry, my children, Frollo learned long ago to respect the sanctity of Notre Dame."

With a look of anger, Frollo turned to leave with his soldiers following close behind. He stopped at the door and addressed the group. "You have chosen a magnificent prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. Set one foot outside, and you're mine!" With that he slammed the door.

"Aw, now what do we do?" Asked Donald.

"We'll think of something." Sora replied. "At least we're safe."

"For now." Riku replied.

"What's with this crazy town?" Kairi asked. "What to they have against people who are different?"

"I've asked the same question many times." Esmeralda replied.

"I sure hope that other guy is okay." Goofy stated.

"Well, we saw him run in here, why don't we see if we can find him?" Sora asked.

"There's not much else we can do at this point." Donald replied.

The halls around then suddenly seemed to echo with the sound of bells. The group noticed that the melody seemed sad.

Well, this is a nice jam our heroes have gotten themselves stuck in. How will they escape and how will they achieve their mission now? more will be revealed soon. ;)