Chapter 14

And so, just to be a jerk to readers, the scene changed from an interesting fight to a boring stroll through the side streets of Radiant Garden. Sora was enjoying it; one could tell by the way he kept his hands folded behind his head as he walked.

"I hope those guys aren't getting into trouble already," he said with a grin. "It's only been about a minute or two." He watched six sparkles drift down lazily, and caught the closest one. He stared at it as it glittered in his palm, weightless, as if the slightest gust of wind would blow it away, perhaps even scattering it into smaller particles. He dropped it, and watched it float to the street, then stream through the grout between the cobblestones to various buildings, almost like circuitry in a computer. He smiled, thoughtful. "Heh… Guess Leon's been working with Tron to get things all cyber-y around here…"

"Tron?" asked Kairi, curious, "Who's that?"

"Pretty much, he's a computer program, but he runs the entire city's security system and anything else that requires techno-logic. I don't understand any of it, but Leon and Cid can figure that kind of stuff out."

"Hey! Here we are!" Goofy exclaimed. He walked up to a door before Sora could stop him, if he was trying to stop him, that is. The talking dog opened the door, and was instantly smacked in the face with a pan a sturdy old woman was wielding.

"That'll teach you dang robbers to mess wit' me!" she shouted before shamming the door closed again.

Kairi stood over him, smiling. "This is the reason Sora leads, and you follow. He can tell different-colored houses apart."

"Gawrsh…" he groaned as he heaved himself up and followed her into the building right next door.

As Sora opened the door, Cid was the first person they met. The scruffy blond was sitting at his computer, diligently typing away. "Hey there, Leon… Come look at this."

Sora, Kairi, and Goofy stood in the doorway, somewhat confused… No one else was in the house… Maybe they were mistaken for him? "Uh, we're not Leon…" Goofy began.

Cid turned, a smug grin on his face. "You guys ain't, but I wasn't talkin' to you. Turn around."

The three turned in unison, to find the tall, mysterious man directly behind them. They quickly cleared the way so he could get inside. He was closely followed by a small young woman with short, black hair; the great Ninja Yuffie. "Hey, guys," she called cheerily as she scurried around the room, picking things up that she thought useful.

"You came just in time," Leon said, adjusting his fur-lined coat. "Aerith is coming in a minute with something I want to show you."

"Does it look cool?" Sora asked. "Is it shiny? I only like cool, shiny things." Kairi and Goofy sighed in unison.

"Well, it's not, shiny, but—" Sora began walking away. "OK, I guess you don't want to see something that's fun to poke." Sora turned to him with rapt attention. Again, Kairi and Goofy sighed.

"It's a real live brain!" Yuffie shouted as Aerith walked in holding something in a large fishbowl.

Kairi gasped in shock, and Goofy raised a questioning eyebrow, but Sora rushed to it and immediately began to poke it.

"Lay off!" he heard a voice shout, and a sharp pain shot across his wrist. "Just because normal brains can't move doesn't mean I can't! Just because I was left without a body doesn't mean I'm not a person, too, alright?!"

Awkwardly, Sora backed away from the brain.

"It's been talking trash to me since we found it," Aerith explained. "Luckily, that's about all it can do, other than hit people."

"Do not mock me!!" the brain roared, "I am the great Samzen! Fear me, for I shall be your doom!!!"

"Riiight…" Kairi said, a small smile creeping across her face.

Later, after they had put the brain named Samzen in a closet, accompanied by a stream of curses, they convened around Cid's computer.

"So, what should we do with it?" Goofy asked, watching the door with apprehension, as if Samzen would use its limited mobility to somehow turn the doorknob and escape.

"More importantly," Kairi said, "where did it come from?"

Sora didn't say anything right away, but as the silence grew, he suddenly stiffened and shouted, "Ansem!"

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Its name is an anagram of Ansem with a Z! Just like Xemnas, only his was with an X. But you see, both he and Zehanort's Heartless took the name Ansem or a variation of it. Maybe," he paused. "Maybe who gave us the message isn't really…"

"Then that would mean…" Goofy's nose paled.

"Kairi also realized what had happened. "We may well have sent the others after an imposter. But what would he want with Ailie? The only other people really interested in things like that were Ansem the wise, and…"

Sora knew exactly who it was, and finished Kairi's sentence. "Maleficent."

"But we can't get 'em until tomorrow afternoon, because we don't even know where to go look for 'em," Goofy said, a troubled expression on his face.

A pause, and Sora yelled at the top of his lungs in frustration, causing everyone in the room to cringe.

Riku, Donald, and Tenna yelled at the top of their lungs as the girl and the duck cast their magic, and the boy cast what looked like darkness itself in the form of a fireball, which shot out of his Keyblade.

The Heartless weren't easy, and they effortlessly dodged that weren't accurately placed. Soon, they were taken care of, but it left the trio quite winded.

"Those guys definitely have a boss," Riku said, reverting back to his normal form. "To have so many Heartless concentrated in one area like that means they have to have something higher up telling them where to be."

"We'll have to fight it to get to that guy?" Tenna asked. "Oh, what was his name?"

"Something like 'John', I think," Donald replied.

"Wasn't there something like 'French' in it somewhere?" She paused. "What's French?"

"How would I know?!" the duck shouted.

"Can we focus, please?" Riku said, irritation showing in his eyes. "We have to find whatever his name is quickly, before things get really bad. And I hope I don't have to go into detail on what that would mean. All we really have to know, is once it gets to a certain point, I don't think even Keyblade bearers can be any use. So let's go." He began to walk through the circuit-streets at a determined pace.

Tenna and Donald watched him for a bit, too shocked to move, and then looked at each other. Donald glared at the girl, and ran after Riku. It took her another second of shock, this time at the duck, before she followed, too.