nightelf37: Remember, only the OCs belong to me. The plot is derived from the original game. Whatever doesn't happen there (or the manga), or even the movie where the current world is based on, I 'own' it. And here is 'my' current Power Orb inventory:

In bracers: (max. 12)

(spells) Fire, Cure, Esuna, Aero, Gravity, Regen, Poison, Silence

(skills) Shield Boomer, Sky Dropper, Boomer Blast

(summons) Baloo

In storage:

(spells) Thunder, Blizzard

(summons) Bahamut (not 'activated' yet)

nightelf37: 'I' used 'Boomer Blast' during the battle against the Opposite Armor and Jia, and Sky Dropper during the battle against Jafar and Bing in the Cave of Wonders, during the 'invisible ceiling' part. Decided to put this in to keep track.

Chapter 10: Monstro

Part I. An Encounter, a 'Reunion', And a Chase

I was having yet another dream…

It was a nighttime in the islands. Everything was quiet, save for the waves crashing on the shore and the night critters chirping. Suddenly, a portal of light appeared out of nowhere. Out of it emerged four individuals.

One was a bonde girl in yellow clothes and a blue headband. One was a boy with a green beanie, pants, and jacket, and orange shoes and undershirt. One was another boy with a blue beanie, t-shirt, and shorts, and green shoed and vest. The last was a silver-haired boy with a silver shirt, grey pants, and black boots.

It's them!, I thought.

They fell to the sand as the portal disappeared. Time sped up and nothing seemed to disturb the four until the sun rose. Time then seemed to slow to normal and Sora, Kairi, Riku, and their island friends came over to the beach. This seemed to be only a few years or months before my arrival at the islands. Upon seeing the four, they quickly came to their assistance.

"Who are these, ya?", Wakka asked.

"Do you know them, by any chance?", Riku asked Kairi.

"No. I'm certain I don't know or remember any of them."

"Well, what should we do?", Selphie asked.

"What do you think?", Sora replied. "We're not leaving them be."

"Where do you think they came from?", Tidus wondered.

"Apparently, not from the same world as Kairi.", Riku said.

KHKHKHKHKH

I slowly opened my eyes as I woke up from my dream. I was in my seat, strapped tight thanks to the seat belt. The nose of the Destiny was pointed slightly downward. There were a few emergency lights on. I seemed to be the only one inside. I undid the straps on my seat and slipped out of it. I made my way out of the cockpit, crawling up the slight upward slope. Luckily, the lift seemed to work and I used it to get down to the hallway. None of the gadgets to my right seemed to have fallen off. However, there seemed to be a note on the shelf holding them. I took it and read it.

"The Transwarp Room is down for repairs. Take the room to the left and look for a hoop in the floor. There's an emergency exit there. Use it to exit the Destiny.

Gregorio"

I pocketed the note, wondered why that AI that gave me the Diary hasn't been communicating with us lately, then followed Gregorio's instructions. I made my way into the living room and after searching in the dim light of the emergency lights, I found the hoop and puled on it. A hatch opened, showing a ladder leading downwards. Left with no choice, I made my way down the ladder in the darkness. I eventually found 'light' at the end of the tunnel. When the ladder ended a few feet above the 'floor', I let go of the ladder and landed.

My feet touched on a squishy pink floor. It moved slightly under my feet, giving me an unsettling feeling. I raised my eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where we were. It looked like a large, cavernous room. Everything was pink or red, drenched in water and slimy fluids. The whole place had a very organic feel to it, which creeped me out. The air itself was warm and humid. There was a large body of some sort of liquid nearby, with tall pillars of wood scattered all throughout.

"Are you okay?", a voice came.

I turned to see Sora, who was perfectly fine. "Yeah.", I replied. "I'm okay."

"Knock it off!", we heard another voice.

We turned around and saw our companions staring up at one of the large pillars. Donald was the one who made the shout was tapping one webbed foot on the wet floor, muttering something under his breath. Goofy stood with his shield over his head as a small box suddenly flew out and landed near their feet. Yoris and Gregorio just looked on. There were several different kinds of boxes and chests littered around them. We approached carefully, our shoes making a loud squish with every step.

Goofy turned his head slightly and looked at us, a concerned look on his face. "Hey, guys. Are you okay?"

Sora and I nodded, the former rubbing at a small bruise on his head.

"What are you guys doing?", Sora asked. "Where are we, anyway?"

Suddenly, another small chest fell to the floor, flying toward me. I quickly called out my shield, and the block hit it.

"Whoa!", I gasped.

"Uh, ya know, I think that big ol' whale Monstro just swallowed us.", Goofy chuckled.

I gulped in nervousness and so did Sora. After all, we were just practically eaten by a whale. I turned around to see a set of large sharp teeth behind us. It was hard to believe that Donald and Goofy seemed to be fine with the idea, but the fact that it was somehow airtight, being out in space and all, and that there was oxygen inside the whale… Plenty of questions about the impossibility of this flooded my mind, but my thoughts were interrupted by Goofy.

Still smiling, the knight glanced upward. "And for today's weather: expect showers." Just then, one more box dropped on top of Goofy's shield. The captain of the guard laughed nervously as the box fell to the ground. "Heavy showers!"

"Hey! Who's there!", Gregorio demanded.

A head suddenly popped up from inside a red treasure chest. It was the head of a young, bright-eyed boy with dark black hair and a yellow hat. His skin looked strangely fake, like polished wood. We all turned to him and I realized who it was. The boy smiled at Donald and waved one gloved hand in the air.

"It's me.", he said cheerfully.

The duck relaxed. "Oh, it's just Pinocchio." He did a double-take. "Pinocchio!"

"Wait! Wasn't he at Traverse Town?", Yoris asked. "How did he get here? He certainly didn't get here on a Gummi Ship."

Right at that moment, Jiminy hopped up onto Sora's shoulder and joined us in staring at the live puppet with a stunned expression on his face.

"Pinocchio?"

The boy puppet pulled something out of the treasure chest and began to walk away. It looked like a huge green block, made of some strange substance. Unless I was wrong, and I might very well be, Pinocchio had just walked off with a giant green Gummi block. I glanced at Gregorio in confusion, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Pinocch!", Jiminy called again, "Where are you going? Pinocch!"

There was no answer from the puppet. Pinocchio leapt from one wooden platform to another, carrying the Gummi block in both arms. He then looked to us for help. "Come on, everybody! After him! Quick!"

We looked at Pinocchio as he jumped from pillar to pillar, then back at Jiminy. "And how do we do that?", I asked. "It's not like we can jump onto those platforms."

"I suppose you're right. How about you swim in the water here?"

We turned to look at a dirty-looking lake nearby. Sora groaned, staring worriedly at the liquid. Even Donald and Goofy seemed skeptical of the idea. Gregorio and Yoris seemed hesitant as well. I on the other hand was outright grossed out.

"Seriously?", I asked. "Let's just go over it." I pulled out my scooter, and pushed its buttons for it to widen its platform and turn into his hoverboard mode. We all hopped on as I directed us over the liquid.

"How do we even know that's water?", Donald asked.

"What do you mean?", Jiminy asked. "What else would it be?"

"Oh, I don't know.", Sora muttered. "Something like... stomach acid?"

"Or some other digestive fluid stuff that could somehow hurt us.", Yoris suggested.

Jiminy laughed. "Of course not! This is only Monstro's mouth! There couldn't possibly be any stomach acid in his mouth."

"Well, I'm not getting any of us wet anyways.", I said as we crossed the liquid, following where Pinocchio presumably went. Jiminy jumped into Sora's hood and secured himself within the folds of cloth.

"Oh wait. I also found these after I took down Bing." Gregorio took out two scrolls, one red and one blue. They were a little bigger than the scrolls he was given before, but still relatively small. Sora took it, and they disapeared like usual, although he did seem to feel hot and cold at the same time.

Donald widened his eyebrows in realization. "Hey. I feel like my Fire and Blizzard spells are stronger."

"You're welcome, Sora, Donald."

KHKHKHKHKH

Pinocchio had carried the Gummi block all the way to the shipwreck. I didn't notice it before, but I could see a warm light emanating from the deck of the ship. I got us closer, getting curious. It wasn't long before I could hear voices.

"What have you got there, Pinocchio?"

"With this, we can get out of here, Father."

We disembarked at a pile of wooden planks next to the shipwreck. After putting away the scooter, we carefully walked over the strips of wood until we were high enough to reach the deck. We grabbed onto the edges and strained to see who was there. There were two figures on deck, one of whom was Pinocchio, laying the Gummi block down on the floor.

The other was a tall, kindly old man with puffy white hair and a moustache. He wore a long-sleeved light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black vest over it. The man wore a pair of dark trousers with high socks and brown buckle shoes. He adjusted the small pair of spectacles on the tip of his nose as he stared at what Pinocchio presented to him.

"Really?", he asked the puppet in surprise. "With this Gummi block? You think so?"

"It's true.", Sora called. Both Pinocchio and the old man turned at the sound of his voice. The Key Bearer smiled at us as we pulled ourselves up on deck, Donald and Goofy following closely. Running his hands through his hair, Sora took a few steps forward, turning to the boy puppet. "So, how did you end up here, Pinocchio?"

The old man moved closer, gasping in surprise. "Oh, my! So the whale swallowed all of you, too?" He could hardly help but chuckle nervously. "My goodness!"

Sora laughed. "Yeah, looks like it."

The man then cleared his throat. "My name is Geppetto.", he said with a warm smile. "I'm Pinocchio's father."

Pinocchio smiled sheepishly, putting his feet together and hiding his hands behind his back. Everyone's eyes grew slightly wider, although I didn't seem to react much. After all, it's possible that Geppetto adopted Pinocchio, or even created him and thus his statement would technically make sense.

"When we got separated, I traveled all over, looking for him.", he went on. "Thank goodness we're together again."

Geppetto picked up the Gummi block that Pinocchio had brought him and carried it over to a small bed, sheltered by the remaining rooftop of the boat. There was a small fishbowl on top of a drawer, with a tiny stone castle and a delicate-looking goldfish inside. Curled up on the bed was a small black-and-white kitten, fast asleep.

"Hold on a second.", Yoris asked. "How did you even end up inside Monstro? The whale is obviously traveling across worlds, so there is no way he could've swllowed up your vessel unless it was a Gummi Ship."

"Well, after I got separated from Pinocchio, I ended up in the company of a couple of good people.", Geppetto explained as he lay the block on the floor. "They seemed to be from all kinds of places and they took me in. When I asked where I was, I was told that I were rescued before my world fell into darkness. I asked if they knew where my son was, but they didn't know. They did manage to find Cleo and Figaro." He gestured to the goldfish anfd the kitten. "While I stayed with them, I became fascinated with Gummi Ships and when I decided to go look for my son, they loaned me one for me to use. After teaching me the basics, I was off, taking my pets with me."

"Okay.", I said. "What happened to your Gummi Ship? We certainly didn't see it when we were sucked in."

"Unfortunately, it was destroyed by Monstro when he swallowed it up. Luckily, those good fellows gave me something that kept me and my pets from going hungry." He gestured to what looked like a lunch box, which had a certain logo on it, although I didn't bother figuring out what it was. "You seem to know Pinocchio quite well. I hope he was a good boy in my absence."

At that comment, Donald and Goofy looked at one another, debating in silence.

"Well, when we first saw him, he was 'playing' hide-and-seek.", Gregorio said. "He also had a—" He was elbowed by Yoris, who shushed him. "A present given to him for making it to Traverse Town, although how he got here is beyond any of us."

Geppetto seated himself down on the edge of the bed, gently scratching the top of the kitten's head. "Well, we've all had quite a journey. Right, Pinocchio?"

We turned to look over at the puppet, only to find him missing. A panicked look came over Geppetto's face as his eyes darted in all directions. He jumped to his feet and ran forward.

"Pinocchio?"

Goofy blinked. "Where'd he go?"

We all joined the search, wandering the deck of the ship and looking for signs of the puppet. Donald grunted, his gaze sweeping from one end of the ship to the other.

"Wasn't he just here?", he muttered.

"Damn, he moves fast for a wooden puppet.", Yoris grumbled.

"I should've put a tracker on him.", Gregorio said.

Sora leaned over the railing, looking toward the dark tunnel in the monster whale's gut and squinted his eyes. He seemed to notice something.

"There he is!", Sora informed us. He cupped his hands around his mouth and drew in a deep breath. "Pinocchio!"

No response. We hurried toward Sora and looked to the tunnel. Donald leaned forward and asked, "Where?"

"Inside that tunnel thing."

"I don't see him."

"Well, he definitely went in there."

Geppetto wrung his hands worriedly. "I told him not to wander off…" He then sighed sadly. "He can be a naughty boy. Even so, he's very precious to me."

Sora looked at Geppetto sympathetically. Taking a deep breath, he jumped off the ship and landed on the springy floor. He took a few steps toward the tunnel before looking back up at Geppetto, a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Geppetto.", he said with a nod. "We'll go get him."

Geppetto gasped in surprise. "You would do that? I'd hate to trouble you..."

Sora shook his head. "It's no trouble, Mr. Geppetto! Come on, you guys." As the Key Breared master walked off toward the tunnel, his we blinked in confusion. They looked at each other in mild surprise. Sora looked back up at us when he realized we hadn't followed him. "Guys!"

Goofy tumbled over the railing and fell to the floor with a loud howl. He lay there dazed for a moment. Sora sighed and hurried over to help Goofy up.

"You've really got watch where you step, Goofy.", he laughed.

"A-hyuck! Sorry!"

As soon as Goofy was back on his feet, he lost his footing on the slimy floor and slipped. He yelped in shock, grabbing onto Sora's shoulder for support. Goofy's heavier frame dragged Sora down as well, and they both fell to the floor. Sora's eyes grew wide in disgust at the slimy texture beneath his hands.

Having watched the entire scene safely from atop the ship, Donald laughed at their expense. "Those two would be in so much trouble without me around."

Sora folded his arms over his chest and grumbled while glaring up at the court wizard. Goofy just scratched his head in confusion. Only when Donald finished laughing did he jump down to join his friends.

"Well, we better go too.", I said. "We still have to find a way out of this whale."

Geppetto watched them warily as Gregoio, Yoris, and I joined Sora, Donald, and Goofy as they entered the tunnel. "Beware of the green monsters floating around.", he called out. "They'll try to drive you deeper into Monstro."

"Got it!", Sora called back, waving as we left.

KHKHKHKHKH

Goofy cupped both hands around his mouth. "Pinoooocchioooo!"

"Pinocchio, where are you?", Sora yelled.

He and I stared at our surroundings, sick to my stomach. I didn't know much about the insides of whales, but from what little I knew, they weren't meant to be like this. The walls were a teal color, speckled with bright multi-colored spots. They twitched and moved, pulsating in rhythm. We could could hear a heartbeat echoing from somewhere deep within the whale's body.

Jiminy tapped Sora's ear with his umbrella. "Enough staring, Sora."

"Oh, sorry."

I continued to look around. There were several other tunnels connected to the chamber we had entered, all spreading out in different directions. Our companions were inspecting a few of them, carefully peering into the deep shadows. Sora swallowed nervously, looking into a different tunnel.

He glanced back at his friends. "Hey... aren't you guys grossed out at all?"

Donald looked at Sora, one eyebrow raised. "Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean... we're inside the body of a giant whale. That doesn't crank up any disgusting points to you guys?"

Goofy blinked slowly. "Now that ya mention it... it is pretty gross, huh?"

"But it's not like we can help it, Sora.", Jiminy said matter-of-factly. "Monstro swallowed us. We can't just leave because the sight of whale insides makes us feel sick."

Sora gave up, letting out a breath. "You're right. I'll get over it."

"Well, what I'm surprised about is that Donald and Goofy look like they've been through things like this everyday.", I said.

"We've been through worse.", Donald answered.

Just then, as Sora was about to look into a different tunnel, he saw Pinocchio peering out at them from inside of one. Jiminy pulled himself up onto Sora's shoulder to see.

"Pinocchio!", he cried.

The young puppet smiled at us sheepishly. Sora sighed in relief. Pinocchio withdrew slightly as we all approached him. Noticing this, Sora came to a stop several feet away.

"What are you doing?", Sora asked him. "Come on, let's go back."

"You know, Geppetto's awfully worried about you.", Goofy said gently.

Pinocchio remained silent, pressing his hands into the fleshy walls. He lowered his gaze to the floor and inched slightly backward. "B-But I have to..."

"Pinocchio, stop fooling around!", Sora sternly said. "This is no time for games!"

"Yeah. Tell us what you're looking for, and we'll find it for you."

Donald and Jiminy nodded their heads in agreement. Pinocchio looked somewhat shocked and embarrassed, dropped his arms to his sides and hung his head.

"But, Sora! I thought you liked games.", a voice came.

We saw two familiar figures walk out of the tunnel Pinocchio was hiding in. They strode forward and came to a stop next to Pinocchio, arms folded proudly over their chests and a teasing look on their faces.

"Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade?", the other person said.

I could hardly believe what was going on. "Riku? Windelle? Wh-What are you doing here?", Sora asked.

I half-expected them to explain how they ended up inside the body of a monstrous whale, or even a plan on how to escape, but Riku just gave us a casual shrug.

"Just playing with Pinocchio.", he said nonchalantly.

Riku smiled slightly in Sora's direction, an almost cruel gleam in his eyes. He and Windelle seemed to be…different. Sora seemed to shake his head vigorously in denial of something.

"You know what I mean!", Sora said firmly, taking a step forward. "What about Kairi? And Florina? Did you find them?"

"Maybe." Riku's smile darkened as he glanced at Pinocchio. "Catch us, and maybe we'll tell you what we know."

"Hold on a second, Riku.", Gregorio said. "Since when did you always want to play games and mess around?"

"Is there a problem with that?", Windelle asked darkly.

"Hello? We're inside a whale, for crying out loud! Even our usually goofy friend is taking things seriously!" He thumbed at Goofy, then turned to him. "No offense."

"None taken.", Goofy replied.

Sora let out an exasperated sigh and stomped one foot on the floor. "Come on!"

Still smiling, Riku took Pinocchio by the hand and led the puppet away, back through the tunnel he had entered. Windelle made a 'catch you later' gesture and followed. Jiminy leaned forward, his eyes growing wide. "Hey! Where are you taking Pinocchio?"

"Riku! Windelle!", Sora called after them, desperately confused. "Wait!" Sora clenched his hands into tight fists and immediately chased after them. The sudden movement pushed Jiminy backward, sliding from Sora's shoulder back into his black hood. Gregorio and Yoris swiftly followed, leaving me, Donald, and Goofy behind.

"Whoa!" Donald yelled as we set after them. "Sora, wait up!"

The Key bearer briefly glanced back over his shoulder. "Come on, guys!"

"Wait up!", I cried out.

"You heard Riku.", Sora said as he ran. "I've gotta catch him."

"Yeah, but look out for—"

Suddenly, Sora was struck in the side and went tumbling across the fleshy floor with a yell of shock and pain. He only stopped rolling when he hit the nearest wall in full force. Greogrio and Yoris were ahead of him, so they didn't get hit as they immediately fought whatever attacked Sora. Donald and Goofy came up as quickly as they could from behind as I joined in the fight. A Cure spell was ready on Donald's staff as they approached.

"Sora! Are you okay?", Donald asked.

The Key Bearer shook himself free of the shock. "Yeah, I'm fine. But what...?"

"We got Heartless on the loose!", I said.

We were currently fighting a Large Body, and two ghost-doll-like ones, with one yellow light bulb eye dangling out of the socket on a chain and dressed in purple suits and gloves. The insignia on their chests was altogether too familiar.

"Why are there Heartless here?", Sora shouted in shock.

"Shouldn't you be used to 'em by now?", Donald shouted back.

"They just pop up everywhere we go.", Goofy sighed. "Gawrsh, maybe they're stalkin' us!"

"Search Ghost. ", the Diary said as we fought. "Heartless that mostly appear in Atlantica. They roam in dark areas and emit light from their eye to target their enemies. They can warp from one place to another."

"Wait!", I said as I shot down one of said Search Ghosts. "What is this Atlantica? Is it a world? I could swear I've heard that somewhere before!"

Sora came up from beside me as he looked about frantically. There were two paths to choose from in this chamber.

"Which one had they gone through?", I wondered as he took out his Keyblade.

"This doesn't make any sense.", Sora insisted. "We're inside a giant whale! There's no Keyhole here for the Heartless to target."

"How do ya know?" Gregorio asked, skewering a Search Ghost with the edge of his shield.

Sora jumped back slightly, dodging the Heartless' swinging arm. "Well, Aerith and Leon said that the Heartless enter the Keyhole and do something to the world's core."

"You know, Irvine told us the same thing.", Yoris said as he shot down the Large Body.

"But why would there be a Keyhole inside of a whale...?"

Donald cast Thunder on the Search Ghosts that appeared sometime during the battle. These Heartless disappeared into a ring of bright light, only to appear again in a different spot. Donald prepared another Thunder spell, stepping back so that he would see where the Heartless would reappear.

"You might be right, Sora.", Donald said. "So what do we do?"

"I think they might be after Monstro's heart.", I suggested. "After all, a whale is a living being, right?"

With one last, powerful slash, Sora finally defeated the Large Body, then looked around again, checking for any more Heartless that may have appeared.

"We've gotta catch up to Riku and Windelle.", he answered.

Donald quacked loudly and his jaw dropped as he cast Gravity on a Search Ghost he was fighting.

"We what?"

Sora cast a Thunder spell on a Green Requiem in the area. The tiny Heartless shook its body vigorously, sparkly green lights raining out of its body, and then floated away through the tunnel. Sora followed it, determined not to let it escape. Gregorio and Yoris swiftly followed. Donald was still staring at Sora, frozen in place although he had defeated the Heartless.

"That wasn't the answer I was expecting!", he quacked. "You're not thinkin' straight! What happened to the hero you were at Agrabah? What happened to that wonderful feeling of respect I had for you? Sora! Come back here!" But they were already gone.

"I don't get it.", Goofy said, scratching his head. "What does talking to Riku and Windelle have to do with all the Heartless inside Monstro's body?"

"That's what I wanna know!", Donald screamed in frustration. He then stomped his feet on the floor and took a deep breath. "Let's go, Goofy. We at least can't let him get too far."

He took another deep breath and then took off after Sora. Goofy blinked.

"Gawrsh, Donald!", he laughed as he and I followed. "Yer gettin' real good at controllin' your temper!"

The duck growled. "Why, I oughta... I'll show you controllin' my temper..."

"We last saw Riku and Windelle in Traverse Town.", I said. "Something seems to be wrong. Maybe the Heartless have gotten to them."

We all tore through the floods of Heartless that awaited us in every chamber, weapons flashing. Be they Large Body, Search Ghost, Shadow, Air Soldier, Yellow Opera, or Green Requiem, it didn't matter. In a fit of rage, Donald used his magic on anything that came near him, just in case it was an enemy. The rest of us kept our distance from the duck so as not to get caught in his flurry of fierce attacks. Gregorio swatted enemies aside while Yoris shot down crowds of them with his cannon. Goofy charged shield-first into the Heartless while Sora sliced his way through, searching for signs of Riku, Windelle and Pinocchio all the while. I steadied my pace, shooting down any Heartless not covered by anyone else.

I was starting to lose track of our location. Every chamber looked exactly the same, and I just knew we were moving in circles. There were Heartless everywhere, particularly the Green Requiems. They seemed to be leading us from chamber to chamber, in a complex circle of some kind. Hadn't Geppetto warned us about these? Just as I was thinking of giving up, I managed to catch a glimpse of red trousers and a yellow hat on a lower platform. I turned to see if it was who I thought it was. Indeed, it was. Sora noticed too.

"Pinocchio!", I gasped.

Jiminy poked his head out of Sora's hood. "Pinocchio? Where?"

The wooden boy turned and looked up at the sound of his name. When he realized it had come from me, his eyes widened. Jiminy looked offended.

"Pinocch! Come back here! It's dangerous running around inside a whale!"

"Come on!", Sora yelled. "Geppetto's waiting for—"

"But they promised me!" Pinocchio insisted, turning to run away. "They promised they would help us get home! They said they knew a way out!" He then dashed into another tunnel and was gone. For a moment, Sora could only stare after him.

What were those two doing?, I thought. Oh wait…I have to tell Sora what I saw!

"Guys! We've gotta follow Pinocchio!", Sora called out to his friends, who were still fighting the Heartless. The four looked over at Sora, Donald and Goofy somewhat exasperated as they each knocked away another Heartless. "Hang on tight, Jiminy."

The small cricket ducked back into Sora's hood as he leapt down to the lower level. He looked back over his shoulder once to make sure that his friends were still with him, and then continued to chase after the young puppet. I was already right behind him, having forgotten wheat I was about to tell him. Suddenly, I received another vision.

Part II. Ding and the Parasite Cage

'I' was in a different chamber of Monstro. I was seriously getting irritated by how anatomically wrong the whale was. 'I' saw Riku and Windelle stride one way, entering the chamber 'I' was in. They slowed in their step, listening carefully for Pinocchio, who was supposed to be following them. They couldn't hear it. Instead, they heard something else.

"Why do you still care about that boy?", a familiar female voice came.

They stopped walking and turned around to face Maleficent, Xin, and somebody else in the same clothes as him, although he looked more laid back. They approached him slowly, taking long, even strides. Maleficent looked at the two with a wicked, secretive smile, returning the grave gaze they set on her.

"He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new companions, after all.", Xin emphasized.

Riku lowered his gaze to the floor. He pressed his lips together in a stern line and quickly turned away.

"I don't care about him.", he told them gruffly. "I-I was just messin' with him a little."

"Oh, really? Of course you were.", the other guy said teasingly.

"Now's not the time to be funny, Ding.", Xin told his companion sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Riku just snorted in annoyance, his eyes shut tight. Their three 'companions' resumed walking. Xin and Maleficent kept their gaze on him and Windelle as they walked past them.

"Beware the darkness in your heart.", the sorceress warned them through her secretive smile. "The Heartless prey upon it."

Xin raised one hand slightly in the air in front of him and pushed something invisible aside. A dark, whirling vortex appeared before them, a deep purple glow coming from somewhere deep within it. This was one of the portals they used to disappear into. Maleficent cast one final glance at Riku and stepped into the portal. Riku glared at them, clenching his hands.

"Mind your own business.", he growled.

With that, Maleficent and Xin disappeared without a trace, leaving Ding with the two. Riku narrowed his eyes, his gaze still set firmly on where they vanished. Windelle remained expressionless all the while.

"I'll just get 'it' ready.", Ding said as he walked down a tunnel.

Only then did they hear the sound of creaking wooden joints. They turned to see Pinocchio, the expression on his face a mix of fear and worry. The puppet stumbled by as quickly as he could. Following close behind were the rest of us weapons in hand. As usual, as soon as 'I' saw myself, my perspective shifted back. Sora slid to a halt and looked at his friends in shock.

"Riku!", he cried out.

"Windelle!", Yoris and Gregorio cried out.

Neither of the silver-haired boys answered them. Riku merely stared at the fancy-looking Keyblade in Sora's hand. Windelle turned to Pinocchio and watched as the puppet hurried past him, passing through a different tunnel, the one 'I' saw Ding enter.

"What's the matter with you?", Sora demanded. "What are you thinking? Don't you realize what you're doing?"

Riku narrowed his eyes. "I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora." he said coldly. "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that Keyblade these days." Windelle also said that last sentence in sync with Riku, but replaced 'Keyblade' with Gun of Light, obviously talking to me, even though I didn't start.

"I didn't even ask for this!", I replied. "I'm no showoff!"

"Do you even want to save Kairi?", Riku asked, ignoring me.

Sora seemed painfully hurt from his words as he hung his head sadly, his voice barely audible.

"I... I do...", he said.

Just then, Pinocchio's voice rang out in a plaintive shout. We all looked toward where he vanished in panic. Riku and Windelle gritted their teeth in annoyance, turned sharply on their heels and quickly went to find the puppet. Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, and I stepped forward to follow, but stopped when we realized Sora hadn't moved. His blue eyes were once again lowered to the floor, still in a state of shock.

"C'mon, Sora!", Goofy urged. "We gotta save Pinocchio!"

He looked back up at us, disoriented for a moment. Then, pulling himself together, Sora nodded his head and we chased after our friends As soon as we came out on the other side, we joined them in staring at our surroundings in a mix of surprise and nausea. We had entered a large, circular chamber with pulsating walls. We could see fluids oozing out of several large pores scattered about. In the middle of the room was a very strange and almost disgusting-looking creature.

It was as if one of Monstro's organs came to life. It was still rooted in place, but two long valves that must've connected somewhere had been removed and now served as large, hammer-like arms. I couldn't tell which part was the head, as it seemed to have a pair of yellow eyes on each bulbous body part. Its gut was hollow, looking more like a cross between a mouth and a cage. Pinocchio was behind its cage-teeth, trapped inside and looking drained of energy and in pain. Just above the cage was the Heartless emblem. And on top of the Heartless was a man in green clothes and a halberd.

Donald leapt into the air, quacking incoherently and flailing his arms in a wild rage. "Why are there so many Heartless in here?"

"Help!", Pinocchio shouted sadly. "I'm scared!"

"Hang in there, Pinocchio!", Goofy called encouragingly. "We'll save ya!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean any harm! I just wanted to help Father!"

"Don't worry!", Yoris said. "Everything's gonna be okay!"

"Well, well, well, what have we here.", the man said. "Looks like the Key Bearer's in town. And I, Ding, will be the one to take you down."

Windelle turned to look sternly at us, ignoring Ding's banter. "You up for this?"

We all got into fighting stances, our weapons drawn. "No problem.", Sora answered. "Let's do it!"

With a soft grunt, Windelle looked away from Sora and at the Heartless. Riku pulled out his red and black sword and prepared to fight. Windelle summoned his GunDeLuna. Riku made the first move. He dashed forward, jumping down from the elevated platform and making a vicious charge at the parasite. He sliced into the monster's flesh, his sword brimming with a mysterious energy. The Heartless roared in pain and then swung one of its heavy, mallet-like arms, knocking Riku away.

"Riku!", Sora shouted in concern.

The silver-haired boy shook his head, picking himself up and quickly recovering from the hit. "I'm fine!" he assured Sora before leaping back into the fray. "You worry about yourself."

As Windelle shot away with his GunDeLuna, Sora clenched his teeth and charged forward as well, Donald, Goofy, and Gregorio on either side of him. He slashed downward with the Keyblade, only to get knocked into the air. He hit a distant wall and dropped to the floor. Goofy howled in concern, holding up his shield. He made to move to Sora's side when the Heartless swung its arms again, this time hitting Donald and Goofy and sending them flying. They hit the same wall as Sora and slid down so that they were next to him. Gregorio had dodged that tentacle with a forward flip, then leaped right foe where Ding was, who was defending against fireballs from Yoris with Ice magic. All the while, I made potshots at the head of what the Diary identified as the Parasite Cage.

"Don't knock out on me, guys!", Sora wailed, using Cure to revive them.

Meanwhile, Riku was dancing all around the monster, slashing his sword and damaging the monster greatly. He glanced back at Sora and his friends with a smirk.

"What's wrong?", he called mockingly. "Can't you or your little sidekicks keep up?"

The Key bearer spun around, a frustrated look on his face. "We can, too!"

"And we're not his sidekicks!", Donald shouted as he raised a fist into the air. "We're his friends!"

Riku seemed to flinch, then he suddenly released a bitter laugh. "Oh really? Then prove it."

Narrowing his blue eyes, Sora got to his feet and gripped the Keyblade even tighter in his hands. Donald and Goofy looked up at him in weary surprise.

"C'mon guys.", he said. "Let's go."

The wizard rolled his eyes as Sora looked over at his friends, both of whom gave him a thumbs up, and then charged at the Heartless monster. Gregorio managed to make it on top of the Parasite Cage and locked his weapon with Ding. Yoris and I switched our targets to the Heartless' cage mouth, trying to get it to open. Of course, we took care not to hit Pinocchio, who huddled at the back. Windelle just kept shooting at the Parasite Cage at random spots, seemingly not caring for friendly fire, although he seemed to never end up hitting Riku.

The poor puppet watched the battle rage desperately from within his fleshy prison, wailing helplessly. Donald was bombarding the monster with a flurry of Thunder and Gravity spells. Goofy just charged at the monster shield first, occasionally getting thrown back by another of the parasite's mighty swings. Yoris and I were trying to set him free by shooting at the mouth. He couldn't see Gregorio, although he knew he was fighting too. Sora and Riku, however, were putting on quite an interesting show.

Their attacks were fiercely competitive, but were strangely in sync. When one fighter was left wide open after an attack, the other covered for him. Their slashes came one after the other, alternating between Sora and Riku, creating a perfect combination. But at the same time, they were both determined to hurt the monster more than the other could, and the ferocity of their movements escalated throughout the battle.

Donald and Goofy were stunned by the display and would stop attacking every so often to watch. The court wizard let out a low, impressed whistle.

"They're really fighting out there.", he said.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed with a nod. "And not just with the monster, but with each other!"

"Like best buds, and rivals.", I added. "But I can't help but think that Riku's…darker than before."

With renewed strength and energy, resumed our onslaught. While Ding seemed to have disappeared from our view and so did Gregorio, the Parasite Cage howled in rage and fiercely swung its arms down on Sora and Riku. Both boys blocked the attack with their weapons, but Sora was overpowered and the Key bearer dropped to one knee on the ground. Riku, on the other hand, parried the attack and pushed the monster's arm to the side. Then, in one swift movement, Riku leapt high into the air and ran the tip of his sword into the monster's flesh.

Sora could only watch as Riku dug his blade deeper into the Parasite Cage's body, making it howl again. Then suddenly, the sword seemed to be surrounded by a dark energy that was quickly injected into the monster. With that, the Heartless sagged to the ground in exhustion. Riku pulled out his blade and leapt away. Sora blinked in shock, not sure of what he had seen.

"Man.", Riku chuckled, shaking his head. "Where would you be without me?"

"Is it... over?", Sora ventured softly.

"I hope so," Donald muttered, his shoulders drooping in exhaustion. He pulled out an Ether and took a sip. "That was exhausting!"

Just then, Gregorio seemed to be sent flying right above the Parasite Cage and right at our feet, encased in a ball of ice. I felt horrified, knowing the consequences. Donald cast Fire and the lancer was freed.

"Shoot!", he said as he got up. "He got away!"

"How did you survive that?", I asked.

"I was encased quickly, not slowly. And I was freed in a few seconds."

"The cage's still got Pinocchio.", Windelle reminded us.

The little wooden puppet looked worriedly at the others. "Get me outta here!"

"Hold on!", Sora called as he jumped to his feet and dashed forward, reaching out to grab the organic bars of Pinocchio's prison. "We'll get you out in no time."

He grunted with the effort as he tried to pry them open and let Pinocchio out. Riku looked as though he were going to help, but before he could even take a step forward, Donald beat him to it, dashing toward Sora and the Parasite Cage. But as soon as the duck came within reach, the Heartless stirred. Sora didn't notice, and was still busy trying to save Pinocchio. The court wizard's eyes widened.

"Sora! Look out!"

"Huh?"

Donald grabbed Sora and pulled him away from the Heartless. They tumbled to the ground as the creature moved backward and used its long arms to latch onto the ceiling of the chamber, pulling itself up off the ground. The floor where it had been standing suddenly opened and the Heartless swung forward, its cage-like mouth opening and throwing Pinocchio into the newly created hole.

"Pinocchio!" Sora cried out.

Riku immediately darted forward, jumping after the puppet into the hole. Windelle swiftly followed without a word. Sora quickly got to his feet and hurried after them. Donald stared at the hole in shock for a brief moment before turning to Goofy, who seemed to be cheering happily for no apparent reason. The duck groaned and rolled his eyes as he grabbed hold of his friend and followed the boys into the hole. Grregorio and Yoris had jumped in already while Donald looked at Goofy. I was left behind.

"Oh, screw it!", I said as I went after my companions.

KHKHKHKHKH

I tumbled out of the tunnel, rolling across the wet, fleshy floor and into Sora, Donald, Goofy, Yoris, and Gregorio in a tangled mess of limbs. We pulled away from one another quickly and looked around, confused and disoriented.

"Now how did we get back to Monstro's mouth?", I said. "This is an anatomical impossibility."

The whale had apparently expelled some of the excess water in his mouth as almost all of it was suddenly gone. Although that begged the question on how that was possible as Monstro was in outer space. In any case, it was now possible to wade from one side to the other.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!", we heard Geppetto say.

We all turned to look up at the broken ship, where he had walked out near the end of the plank and was looking up toward the top of one of the woodpiles. There was a desperate, pleading look on his face.

"Please!", he begged sadly. "Give me back my son!"

The we followed Geppetto's gaze and saw Riku with an unconscious Pinocchio casually tucked under one arm. Windelle was right next to him and I thought I saw Ding somewhere in the shadows behind. They two silver-haired boys looked back at Geppetto with an apathetic, expressionless face.

"Sorry, old man.", Riku said coldly. "We have some unfinished business with this puppet."

Geppetto looked horrified at the words. "He's no puppet! He's my little boy!"

We rose to our feet and approached the scene, eyes wide in shock. I can tell that they have changed. And not in a good way. Sora, Gregorio, and Yoris seemed to notice it too. Riku snorted softly, adjusting his hold on Pinocchio.

"He is unusual.", Windelle said. "Not many puppets have hearts." He glanced meaningfully at their captive. "I'm not sure, but... maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."

"Wait a minute.", Sora gasped. "Are you talking about Kairi?"

"Hold on.", I said. "Did something happen to Florina?"

A pair of icy, emerald-colored eyes turned on Sora and glared daggers at him. A pair of scary amber-colored eyes made contact with my ordinary brown ones and I felt frightened.

"What do you care about her?", they spoke, their voices sharp and cold. I was momentarily stunned.

"Of course we care about them!", Yoris spoke up for us. "They're our friends! You know that more than anything, Windelle!"

Said friend said nothing as he and Riku leapt down from their position atop the wooden pile, darting into another tunnel revealed by the lowered water.

"Riku, wait!", Sora shouted, somewhat panicked.

As he rushed forward to follow him, the Key Bearer tripped and fell clumsily to the lower level. Donald and Goofy jumped forward, their eyes wide with concern.

"Sora!"

"Sora! Are you okay?"

For a moment, Sora just let himself lie in the shallow water. Gregorio and Yoris just stood there unmoving.

"What's happened to you?", Gregorio said. "You were never this cold, Windelle."

As I walked over to where Sora was, he slowly pulled himself up out of the water so that he was on his knees, ruffling his hair to get the water out. He then glanced back to his friends and hesitantly showed them a faint, lopsided grin. As the dog and duck let out a relieved breath, Sora cast his eyes down into the water, his grin faded and one hand clenched. He threw a frustrated punch at the water.

Just as he began to withdraw his hands, Sora's fingers brushed against something in the water. He then seemed to pick up a gleaming blue stone from the water. Meanwhile, as I put my hands in my pockets, I felt something that wasn't there before. Having stored my water bottle in my bag, I took out a spherical grey orb. I knew it wasn't metallic as I was able to see through it. There seemed to be something inside it, but I couldn't identify it from the dim lighting of the place.

"A... summon gem...?", we muttered at about the same time.

"Hey, Sora!", Donald cried out.

Sora put the stone away and turned around to see Donald and Goofy standing near the entrance to the tunnel Riku and Windelle entered.

"C'mon!", Goofy urged. "We gotta go catch them!"

Sora blinked. "H-Huh?"

"He is your bestest buddy after all, right?"

For a moment, Sora was completely stricken by Goofy's words. He could only manage to nod his head dumbly, staring at Donald and Goofy in amazement. "Guys... I'm sorry for dragging you into this. I mean..."

"Gawrsh, Sora.", Goofy grinned, helping Sora up. "You don't hafta apologize for that. We'll stick with ya through thick an' thin! That's what friends are for, after all!"

"All for one and one for all, remember?", quacked Donald. "So let's get going!"

"…Thanks, guys.", said Sora.

"Remember, Riku and Windelle are our friends just as much as they are yours.", Yoris said as he and Gregorio joined Sora.

"I still need to find a way back to where I came from, and my chances are best in your company as I'm no good on my own.", I said as I put away the summon gem. "I may not know you guys much, but I can't risk losing the few friends I now have."

His resolve regained, he smiled with a determined face. We then made our way along the tunnel, trailing after Riku and Windelle and hoping we would catch them in time. Several Search Ghosts and barrel-like Heartless appeared every so often, only to be blasted by a Blizzara spell, a fireball, struck with a shield, skewered with a javelin, shot down by a Charge Shot, or slashed by the Keyblade. We didn't have time to stop, I thought as I rode on my scooter, deciding to save my energy for what I felt might be a fight ahead of us.

"Barrel Spider.", the Diary said. "Gunpowder barrel turned Heartless. They charge into their enemies and explode. Any physical impact or fire will set them off."

I ignored the Diary as we continued on. However, the enemy seemed to be too numerous.

"Darn it!", I said. "About time I called for backup." I raised the bracer that held the red Power Orb and cried out. "Lend us your power!"

The red Power Orb glowed in my bracer and a force exploded outward, knocking down everyone in the area a little. Beams of light shot out of the floor around my feet and quickly spiraled upward, swallowing me in a spiral of blue light, just like when Sora summoned Simba. When the light faded, a grey bear had appeared right in front of me. Baloo was in the scene.

"What's up, fellas?", he said.

"We need your help to get through those guys!", I said as I pointed at the Search Ghosts and Barrel Spiders, which were now accompanied with Large Bodies, Air Soldiers, Shadows, and Green Requiems.

"Can do.", Baloo readied his claws. "They're gonna pay for what they did to my world." When the bear charged, so did we. As we continued fighting the Heartless, I couldn't help but be amazed by Baloo's power, or that of any bear for that matter. He swatted the Air Soldiers to the walls like they were merely nuisances and they were eliminated upon impact. All those Large Bodies we had problems with, he was able to take them down in two slashes. And he was able to attack them at the front, which we weren't able to do.

Just as we saw the end of the 'tunnel', Baloo seemed to sparkle in places. We all paused as the sparkling seemed to increase.

"What's happening?", Goofy asked.

"Looks like my times up.", Baloo answered with a slight smile on his face. "Catch you later." The bear then disappeared in a flash of light.

"Wow.", I managed to say, somehow tired. "Summoning seems to take a lot of energy.", I said.

"Here." Donald offered an Ether, which I took. After emptying it, I felt my energy return.

"Thanks, Donald."

"Let's hurry!", Sora reminded as he ran on to the tunnel's end. We quickly followed him.

Part III. Betrayal

Finally, we made it to the other side and entered a large, dome-like room. The floor was separated from the walls, allowing a small, narrow space to walk. Between the walls and floor was a gutter, filled with a bubbling, green fluid. In many spots on the wall were fleshy platforms, sticking out to the center of the room. On the far end of the area on one of them was Pinocchio, sitting slumped on the floor with a glazed look on his face. Riku and Windelle stood over him, staring at him.

Upon seeing them there, Sora balled his hands into his fists and stepped forward. "Hey, let Pinocchio go, Riku."

They turned around at the sound of Sora's voice. Jiminy carefully emerged from Sora's hood and looked helplessly at the wooden boy.

"Oh, Pinocchio..."

"A puppet that's lost its heart to the Heartless... Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi.", Riku murmured. He then turned back to Sora, and he and Windelle stretched out one hand, meaning for us to take it.

"How about it, guys?", Windelle said. "Let's join forces to save her. We can do it, together."

We just stared at him, hardly able to believe what he was being asked.

"Something's wrong with Windelle.", Yoris muttered. "He'd never sacrifice anybody to help another, no matter the cost."

"Huh?", I asked.

"I'm afraid something's happened to them. They didn't even mention Florina. Something must have happened to Kairi."

I then saw Sora take a deep breath, pulling out the Keyblade and preparing to fight. I then saw Gregorio and Yoris take out their weapons. At once, Riku and Windelle stopped dead in their tracks, taken aback. Their eyes widened in surprise.

"What? You'd rather fight us?", Riku asked. "Over a puppet that has no heart?"

"Heart or no heart, at least he still has a conscience.", Sora retorted as he narrowed his eyes.

The look on their faces washed away as they raised an eyebrow. "Conscience?", Riku echoed.

Jiminy leapt out of Sora's hood to the floor and ran toward the puppet, his arms outstretched as though he meant to embrace the boy. Pinocchio slowly rolled his eyes to look at the cricket as he approached, seemingly too weak to do anything else.

"You might not hear it, but right now it's loud and clear.", Sora went on, gripping the Keyblade even tighter.

"And it's telling us you're on the wrong side!", Gregorio and Yoris finished simultaneously, to Sora's surprise.

There was a pause as they looked at each other, analyzing one another carefully. After a moment, Riku and Windelle looked at Donald, Goofy, and me and narrowed their eyes in anger.

"Then you leave us with no choice.", Riku said darkly.

During the face-off, Jiminy finally reached Pinocchio's side, crying his name in fear. The puppet just looked at him through half-shut eyelids and drew in a deep breath. Jiminy released a plaintive wail over his poor condition.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!"

"Jiminy.", he moaned. "I'm not gonna make it."

Suddenly, there was a flash of light. Pinocchio's wooden nose gained a few inches in length. Pinocchio also stared at his longer nose in surprise for a moment, not knowing what he had lied about, and then smiled.

"Oh!", he exclaimed cheerily. "I guess I'm okay!"

Jiminy seemed to hop up and down in joy. For some reason, a lie had saved the puppet's life.

Riku turned slightly to watch the scene with wide eyes, confused and disgruntled. "But... H-His heart... He should have..."

Sora was confused by the shocked tone in Riku's voice. He was about to speak when the doubt suddenly washed out and he and Windelle looked sharply at us, seemingly angry and their fists clenched. Donald, Goofy, and I immediately fell into a fighting stance.

"We can do this, Sora!", Donald encouraged him.

The Key Bearer drew in a breath, his gaze fixated on his 'friends'' faces. "Yeah. Let's do this."

"You don't know the power of the dark side.", a voice suddenly came.

Suddenly, the Parasite Cage from before dropped in, blocking Riku and Windelle from view. The thud made the room shake slightly, some of the bubbly green fluid sloshing up near Goofy's feet. The dog howled in horror when he heard the stuff sizzle.

"That stuff is acid!", he shouted.

Donald looked at his friend incredulously. "Acid? Then that means we're in Monstro's stomach!"

Sora made a face. "Oh, perfect."

"Oh, I just love it when a plan comes together.", the same voice said. We looked around, and then noticed Ding on top of the Parasite Cage's head. His halberd was aimed at us. "You're gonna become Heartless in no time."

"Pinocchio! Jiminy!", Yoris called. "Run for it!"

On the other side of the room, Pinocchio got to his feet, scooped up Jiminy, and ran for the exit. Sora smiled weakly at them as they passed, tightening his hold on the Keyblade.

"Just leave this to us.", Gregorio said.

The Heartless released a deafening cry as the puppet and his conscience escaped. As the Parasite Cage opened its mouth, Ding jumped off and went inside it. As its mouth closed around Ding, who didn't seem to be panicked, the Heartless slammed its arms into the floor and lifted its body off the ground. It then propelled itself forth and swung violently into us, knocking us into the wall. We all groaned as we slid back down to the floor, Donald quacking loudly when his tail feathers almost touched the stomach acid that lined the room. He scrambled back to safety, breathing hard. Then, Donald cast several stronger Fire spells in rapid succession, aimed straight at the monster's head. As it turned out, he was casting Fira.

Goofy swallowed hard as the rest of us got back to our feet. Sora, Gregorio, and Goofy looked at one another, and then charged straight at the Heartless. Yoris kept his distance and shot fireballs at the Parasite Cage, which were countered by Blizzard spells from Ding, who shot in the safety of th Heartless's mouth.

The Parasite Cage swung its arms around, striking Donald once again and throwing him back. This only made the mage angrier and he started rapidly firing Blizzara and Thunder in a fit of rage.

However, none of this seemed to be affecting the Heartless at all. If anything, we were only annoying the monster with our attacks. Sora pulled himself up onto a higher platform to avoid getting hit by another of the Parasite Cage's lunges. He then rose to his feet and stepped away from the edge, breathing hard.

"Man, this thing's tough!", he groaned. "Riku'd probably be able to—" His eyes widened as he then frantically searched the area. The silver-haired boys were nowhere to be found, as though they had vanished into thin air.

"Riku?", Sora yelled, still searching. "Riku!"

"Sora!", Goofy cried out. "Look out!"

The Key Bearer spun around to look back at the knight when a thick, murky green cloud of gas engulfed him. He instantly dropped to his knees, and put a hand over his mouth and nose, coughing heavily. I immediately came to his assistance, jumping onto the platform where Sora was. I cast Esuna on him, and he was instantly revitalized.

"Thanks, Rael.", Sora told me.

"You're welcome, Sora.", I replied. "Thank goodness for Esuna."

Donald suddenly threw himself at the Heartless, leaping up onto the monster's head and pounding on it in a fury. The Heartless leaned back with the weight, the cage suddenly opening wide, exposing Ding. Gregorio charged, only for the samurai to jump out and attack him and Goofy. Yoris noticed a dark orb left inside the Parasite Cage. As Goofy and Gregorio held off Ding, Yoris shot fireballs at the orb.

"A weak spot!", the cannoneer hurrahed as he attacked. "The orb in the Parasite Cage."

Sora got to his feet. "H-Huh?" I took out a Potion and handed it to him. As he drank it, I looked at his Keyblade, then the lamp keychain. I then remembered Genie's words, held the lamp keychain, and started to rub it. Sora seemed to notice as he tried to pull his Keyblade off my hands.

"What are you doing?", he asked me.

"Genie, I wish for your assistance.", I invoked.

Suddenly, a ring of light rippled out from under our feet and stars flew up from the ground around us. A sudden surge of power lifted Sora to his feet and he raised the Keyblade slightly. He then turned it like he was unlocking something and the tip began to shine with a bright pink light. Sora pulled the Keyblade back and tossed it into the air, spinning around and glowing brilliantly. He caught it as it came back down to the ground, and the weapon started to go out of control. Sora gripped the handle with both hands as the Keyblade shook violently. Flashy pink and white sparks and smoke were shot out of it, making loud popping sounds.

I helped Sora hold on to the Keyblade, which threatened to fly out of Sora's hands. Blue smoke rushed out of the tip, rising into a spiral and growing higher and thicker. A figure started to form within the smoke, yelling loudly and stretching his limbs. As the blue smoke thinned out, the figure was revealed to be Genie, spinning around with a big grin on his face. He moved toward us with an extended hand, and I gave him a high-five.

"That will give you such a crick in the neck!", Genie said with a laugh. He then looked around, making a face as he realized he was in a giant stomach. "Yech... Here's something that doesn't happen to you everyday. So whaddaya need me for?"

"We need your help fighting that thing.", Sora said as he pointed at the Parasite Cage, which our allies were valiantly fighting against.

"And that guy.", I pointed at Ding, who was spamming Blizzard spells and pushing our comrades to the acid. Luckily, it didn't seem to be as corrosive as I expected. And shallow too.

Genie screwed his face up into a serious expression, then rolled up a pair of imaginary sleeves and cracked his knuckles, the tips of his fingers suddenly sparkling with pink light.

"Leave it to me, guys!", he said with a wink.

"Guys!", I called to our companions. "Outta the way!"

The king's men and Sora's island friends looked up at my call and, seeing Genie suddenly dressed as a superhero, jumped away from the Parasite Cage. Genie threw his chest out proudly before unleashing a flurry of every magic spell that he knew on the Heartless and Ding. They were suddenly bombarded with fireballs, streams of lightning, beams of ice, and gravitational fields, gales of wind, and what-have-you. It even seemed like it was being rapidly transformed into various objects in the midst of Genie's attacks.

As we all watched, I saw Ding manage to sneak out of Genie's onslaught. However, a copy of Genie stood in his way, dressed up as an Americal football player.

"Now where do you think you're going?", he said.

"Genies can't kill, remember?", Ding said as he aimed his halberd. He was grabbed by Genie and was constricted as the blue djinn hugged him.

"Maybe not, but you'll surprised with what you can live through." Genie then turned into a catapult, Ding loaded, and then launched him into the air. The samurai landed with a thud on a platform close to our friends' location. Gregorio took the chance to attack and so did Donald. Meanwhile, Goofy and Yoris were busy marveling at Genie's performance on Parasite Cage.

As the djinn reared his arms back for one final blast, Sora dashed forward and I reared by arm to toss my shield for a Shield Boomer attack. Then, with the Keyblade raised high over his head, Sora leapt at the Heartless, flipping in mid-air to give him greater lift.

"This may leave a mark!" Genie told the Heartless mockingly. He fired a powerful beam of light at it, engulfing it in a blinding white light. It was so bright that Genie conjured up a pair of sunglasses for everyone, allowing everyone to see the moment when Sora sliced the Keyblade into the Parasite Cage's body, which was followed with my thrown shield, which swifty returned to my hand afterward.

Only then did the bright light dissipate (and the sunglasses disappear). Sora jumped away from the Heartless, landing with his feet wide, and one hand on the floor, the other outstretched opposite him, holding the Keyblade high. Meanwhile, Donald cast a Blizzara spell on Ding, who had also bothered to watch the battle with everyone else.

"This is what I get…", he said as he backed away. "…for messing with somebody with a genie." He then fell onto the acid floor and, much to my surprise, began to dissolve into it. I was horrified by it and turned away, then remembered the Barrier Jacket phenomenon Merlin explained to me. The barrier goes away when one loses consciousness, and Ding certainly lost it when he fell.

Behind Sora, the Parasite Cage fell backward into a heap on the floor. The Heartless emblem on its body shone and a single heart emerged from it, only to float up into the air and disappear. The Parasite Cage's body began to glow as it tumbled to the floor, inches short of Sora, and then dissolved into a series of bright purple lights. Once that was over, Sora got up and turned to Genie with a wide grin.

"Thanks, Genie."

Genie grinned back. "Any time, kids. Any time."

Genie saluted us, bowed low to the ground, then vanished in a puff of blue smoke. Suddenly, there was a great tremor, knocking us off balance. We looked around, and decided to run. We all hurried back out the way we came. Sora hesitated before following, looking around with a worried look on his face.

"Riku! Windelle!" he called again, praying for an answer this time. "Where are you guys?"

"Come on!", I cried out as I took out my scooter and grabbed him by the hand. However, as we escaped, I entered 'vision mode' once more.

Why now?, I thought. Why now of all times?

KHKHKHKHKH

'I' was now on what was apparently the deck of a ship. Not one of those I once rode but the sort after medieval times. 'I' didn't get to see much of it as my attention was turned to the Heartless all over the place, kinds I haven't seem before and seemed to be fitting to be part of the ship's crew. In the middle of the chaos was Florina, who was shooting down the Heartless. She dodged attacks with grace and ease as she seemed to look around for somebody.

"Windelle?", she cried out in a seemingly angry tone. "Where are you?"

"Please stop fighting.", 'I' heard Windelle say. "Stop fighting and the Heartless will stop too."

Florina did as he said and sure enough, the Heartless stood at ease. "Why are you on their side anyway?"

"Our friends have abandoned us."

"You really expect me to believe that? Do you plan on taking revenge? Take me to them so I can see for myself!"

"I can't let you do that."

"Why not?"

"…I see you won't be convinced."

"You made a pretty bad job at doing it."

"Then you leave me with no alternative."

Then, as one, the Heartless charged right at her. Before 'I' could cry out her name, 'I' was 'teleported'.

This time, 'I' was in a wooden room. There were all sorts of red furniture. There was also a yellow piano close by. Riku was staring down at Kairi, who could very well be lifeless were it not for her steady breathing and the strangely peaceful, content expression on her face.

"So.", he choked out, addressing Xin, who appeared behind him. "Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"

"Exactly."

The silver-haired boy drew in a shuddering breath as he once again tried to digest what he had been told about Kairi's current state.

"And her heart was..."

"Taken by the Heartless.", he was answered calmly.

Riku immediately spun around to look at the man in green.

"Tell me!", he pleaded. "What can I do?"

"There are seven maidens of the purest heart.", Xin told him, turning his stare on Kairi. "We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within lies untold wisdom. You will certainly find a way to recover Kairi's heart in there."

Riku lowered his gaze to the floor as he absorbed the information.

"Gather the Princesses of Heart.", he muttered. "Sounds easy enough."

"Now.", Xin continued. "I'll bestow upon you a gift."

A confused look appeared on Riku's face as he turned to look at Xin again.

"The power to control the Heartless." Xin raised his free hand and seemed to cast a spell.

A green glow suddenly encompassed Riku's body. He seemed to be taking it in very well as the energy coursed within him. When it faded, he turned to look back at Kairi, still lying unconscious on the red silk cushions. He then looked back at the comatose Kairi.

"Soon, Kairi. Soon."

Suddenly, 'I' was 'teleported' once again. 'I' was back at the deck of the ship. The Heartless were gone, and Florina lay on the floor, unconscious. 'I' stood there, helpless, unable to do anything but watch as Windelle walked up to her still body and picke her up. He seemed to be…off. There was a dark aura about him and his eyes seemed to be red. They weren't bloodshot, but actually red.

Maleficent appeared via a dark portal and walked up to Windelle.

"May I ask why you spared her?", she asked. "She is not a Princess of Heart and her Gun of Light can pose a threat to us."

"Let's just say I want to spite our enemies.", Windelle suddenly said with a evil chuckle.

"Our plans do not involve the Keyblade bearer or his friends in any way.", the sorceress told Windelle. 'I' raised an eyebrow, although I felt I knew the answer. "They merely serve as obstacles. While we indeed are evil, Stickee, we have reasons and agendas. Not like you, where you just do evil just for the sake of it."

"Whatever, Maleficent.", Windelle made a rude gesture as if to shoo her off. "I'll at least make sure not to get in the way of your plans."

Oh no., I gasped. Windelle's been possessed. But Riku…

Gummi Ship Time: Escape

Once I exited 'vision mode', the first thing I did was cough. We were in Monstro's mouth, and it was filled with thick, black smoke. The source of the smoke was a large bonfire going on the deck of Geppetto's ship. Geppetto and Pinocchio pushed a crude raft made up of various Gummi blocks toward the front of Monstro's mouth. It had a blanket for a sail and on the front was what looked like a small room, also made of Gummi blocks, with Cleo and Figaro inside of it.

"A raft?", I asked.

"What's going on?", Donald cried out.

"It won't work.", said Geppetto worriedly to his wooden son. "We'll never get by those teeth!"

"Yes, we will!" Pinocchio assured him.

"Wait!", I cried out. They stopped and turned. "Are you sure you can breathe out there? This isn't the sea, y'know." (1)

"Uh oh!", Geppetto said. "Why did I not think of that sooner?"

"Get back here! What are you guys trying to do anyway?"

Jiminy suddenly hopped up from Sora's hood and onto his shoulder, panting hard. He used his umbrella to point at the large fire still raging on the ship's deck.

"Pinocchio came up with a way for everyone to escape.", he explained quickly. "They built that huge fire so that the smoke would make Monstro sneeze."

"Make him sneeze?", Goofy echoed. "Gawrsh, won't that just make him mad?"

"That's what Geppetto said. But it seems like the only way."

As if on cue, Monstro's teeth parted slightly, opening up and air was sucked out from the mouth. We braced ourselves for it.

"This is what I feared!", I said as we held on tight. "I don't wanna die out in space!"

Jiminy grabbed hold of his top hat so it wouldn't fly away and pointed his umbrella to the Excalibur. "Chip and Dale are all through with the repairs and even prepared the ship for takeoff. We're just waiting for you three."

Sora nodded firmly. "I'm game. Guys?"

He looked back at us expectantly. Donald scratched his head in frustration and then ran to the Gummi Ship. "This is crazy!"

"Well, we've gotta go for it.", reasoned Goofy as he followed his friend.

Sora grinned and ran after them as well, scrambling toward the Gummi Ship with Jiminy back in his hood. As various items fluttered about in the air, Gregorio, Yoris, and I ran to Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"Geppetto, get your son and pets together and hold on tight to me!", Gregorio said as he took out the teleportation device. "Now!"

Quickly, as the old man went in the raft to get Cleo and Figaro, a sheet of paper hit me right in the face, which I quickly removed. I looked at it and recognized a rabbit and tiger there. Feeling this was another of the missing pages, I decided to pocket it. By that time, Geppetto exited his raft, holding his goldfish bowl and cat.

"Make sure everybody's held tight!", Gregorio said. Geppetto offered Cleo's goldfish bowl to Yoris, who held Pinocchio's hand, who held on to his father, who held onto me as I held on to Gregorio. "Hold on to your butts!" Gregorio pushed the button and we were teleported to the Transwarp Room.

"Everybody follow me!", Yoris ordered.

Quickly, Gregorio, me, Geppetto, and Pinocchio followed him out of the Transwarp Room and into the living room. Suddenly, a computer screen came down from the ceiling and the AI began to speak.

"While you guys were gone, I took the liberty of fixing up the ship.", the figure said. "Chosen One won't be too happy."

"Nice to see you too.", Gregorio said as he secured Geppetto, Pinocchio, and Figaro onto seats and fastened seat belts. "We're about to experience serious turbulence in a few seconds."

"We're out in space, so that technically isn't possible."

Yoris put Cleo's fishbowl on the table, took out something from one of the shelves, and used it to secure her bowl and water tight. "Better brace yourselves, guys. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."

Gregorio, Yoris, and I made our way to the cockpit and strapped ourselves in. As Gregorio started up the Destiny, a screen came down and the AI showed up again.

"I'm sorry for not communicating with you since giving you the Diary.", it said.

"It's okay. I understand."

"Say, where're Windelle and Riku?", Yoris asked.

I then remembered the visions I saw. "Uh, they—"

Suddenly, Monstro let loose his mighty sneeze, sending both the Destiny, the Excalibur, and Geppetto's empty raft hurtling through interspace. The ship's machines were disoriented by the force and we were spinning around, but since there was no gravity outside the ship, we didn't stumble about. Gregorio then slammed his hand down on the turbo button to propel us forward, taking us far away from the giant whale. It was a while longer before both ships stabilized and we were flying peacefully through space.

"We made it.", sighed Sora in relief as the communications system activated. Then his eyes seemed to widen as he looked elsewhere. "Ah! Pinocchio!"

I unstrapped myself and looked out through the window as the raft spun in space and out of sight.

"Don't worry.", Gregorio said. "We boarded them up on our ship."

"Thank goodness.", Sora sighed once more. "May I talk to them?"

"Will do.", Yoris said as he got up and went to the lift. A minute later, Yoris returned with Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"How are you guys?", asked Sora.

"We're fine. Thank you very much.", Geppetto said. He then turned to me. "Oh almost forgot. I'd like to hand you these." The old man rummaged in his pocket and took out four spheres, a scroll, and one object that looked like a 9-volt battery.

"Hey.", Yoris said. "Another 'part'."

"Part?", Pinochio asked.

"We're after them for the person who loaned us this ship."

I took the items, gave the battery to Yoris, stowed the scroll to give to Sora later, and saw that the four spheres were Power Orbs, three of them green, and one of them yellow. The first green one had a clock, the second had a pink bow and arrow, and the third had three stars in a circle. The yellow had what I could only describe as a shockwave. I stored them in my bag as well, thinking of asking Merlin about them later.

"Wait a second." Pinocchio said. "Where are those two silver-haired friends of yours, Sora?" Sora seemed to react to this and look down, no longer smiling. "Uhh, did I say something wrong?"

We all turned to look at Sora, the sadness and confusion was apparent on his face. Donald and Goofy exchanged concerned looks, then the latter turned back to Sora with a smile on his face.

"Don't worry, Sora!", he said, trying to cheer him up. "I'm sure they're okay somewhere. Yer gonna meet 'em again, you'll see!"

"Yeah!", Donald added with a nod. "They're tough guys, so they'll be fine!"

Sora turned back to his friends. "You're right.", he said with a boyish grin. "There's no way they would let something like getting swallowed by a monstrous whale hold them back. At least Riku."

As the grin returned to Sora's face, we all relaxed. As he, Donald, and Goofy began to joke about the peril we just escaped, Yoris and I turned to Geppetto and Pinocchio.

"Well, you better get back down.", I said as Donald taught Sora how to drive the Excalibur. "It'll be a while before we get to Traverse Town."

"Traverse Town?", Geppetto asked.

"It's a refuge for people who have lost their worlds to the Heartless like you.", Yoris explained.

"Okay." Both father and son make their way to the lift and went down.

"Wow, that was a confusing episode.", I said as I leaned back on my seat and immediately dropped off.

Geppetto

The kind, gentle clock maker. All his skill went into making Pinocchio. When the little puppet disappeared, Geppetto set out to find him, but he and his tiny boat were swallowed by Monstro, the whale.

He provided shelter in "Pinocchio" (1940).

Parasite Cage

Heartless that appeared inside Monstro. It's known to swallow its enemies. Sora and the others rescues Pinocchio, who was trapped inside it.

Ding

A member of Maleficent's group. It's unknown why he was in Monstro, but Rael assumes he was presumably assigned to look for survivors in the whale.

(1) Well, how could one expect a raft to work in outer space, even if it's made of Gummi Blocks? Sure, Birth By Sleep calls them the Lanes Between, but they'll be exposed to darkness instead.

-See ya on Third.-