A/N:  This chapter describes the mission that the heroes have to take on—it answers a lot of questions. Plus, more Final Fantasy characters are joining in the fun…::evil grin::

~*~*~*~

Chapter 10 – The Mission

Traverse Town/Bell Tower

"Hey Sora! Kairi! Where are ya guys?" Goofy asked.

Sora and Kairi had been making out on top of the Bell Tower. They separated when they heard their names being called.

Kairi got up and straightened out her new outfit (she'd changed out of the Agrabah Princess get-up into some normal clothes). Sora and Kairi fixed themselves up so that no one would suspect what they had been up to…

They jumped off the tower. Sora grinned at her sheepishly.

Goofy and Donald had brought some old acquaintances. Yuffie ran up to Sora and ruffled his spiky hair. "Hey Kiddo! What'cha been up to lately?"

Aeris and Cloud waved and Leon just stood there. "Long time, no see, dude. Looks like we got trouble on our hands…" Leon said.

Cid put out his cigar, stomped on it and spoke up. "Alrighty. So Ansem's back in business…"

Donald has his arms crossed and was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. "Yeah, yeah. But he wants revenge on Sora. He has to be plotting something huge right now."

Goofy spoke up. "Yuffie's got some clues as to where he went…"

Yuffie chirped, "Yup! The other day when I was practicing my Ninja I saw what appeared to be a silver-haired kid come through the Transporter. He talked to some by-standers and then he left with a scowl on his face. I talked to the people who he spoke to and they say that he's in search for an artifact known as the Crimson Skull."

Aeris looked serious. "I did research on this Skull and I found out that it contains mystical powers. With this object, the Dust of Death and the Demon's Heart he can create a powerful ritual that can destroy the Universe." The flower girl said.

Cloud stood up next to Aeris and leaned on his weapon. "We have to stop him." The blonde soldier said.

Leon joined in the conversation, "If we find this Skull before he does, he can't complete the Ritual. Then we kill him."

Aeris put a hand on Cloud's shoulder as she spoke, "Because he is a zombie, his mind isn't as intelligent and sharp as it once was. He's having trouble thinking and is struggling to stay alive. And I believe that Riku is fighting him…Fighting to keep his own soul."

"Riku's strong. He'll hang in there." Sora said, "So, we have two missions right now. One, to find the Crimson Skull before Ansem. And two, to exorcise Ansem's ghost out of Riku and destroy it."

Goofy waved his shield to get everyone's attention. "Uh, Sora? Wouldn't that be three missions?"

"Who gives? Let's just start planning. Aeris, you know where this Skull might be?" Sora asked.

Aeris shrugged. "No idea. It originated from Japan, but it's probably not there anymore…"

"Great…Maybe we should split up and start looking. The twelve of us have a better chance of locating it before that walking deadweight does…" Sora said.

~*~*~*~

Merlin and the Fairy Godmother were fully dressed and were eating breakfast when they heard a knock on the door. KNOCK, KNOCK! "Yo! It's me, Sora! You guys awake?" Sora asked. Kairi, Donald and Goofy were standing there beside him.

Merlin opened the door. "Hello Lad. Can I help you?" The wizard asked as he scratched his long white beard; moving aside to let the group in. Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy walked into the Study.

Kairi asked, "Do you happen to know where the Legendary Crimson Skull is, O Great Magician?" Sora elbowed Kairi. Kairi grinned.

"Look. I know I've done a terrible thing – Reviving Ansem…so I will do all in my power to help you defeat him. I might have an idea to a possible location of the Skull, but first I must tell you how to kill the evil 'living dead' Ansem." Merlin put down his cup of tea as he spoke, "You must perform a Ritual using valuable objects from each of the World's that he's terrorized with Heartless--The Worlds that you've sealed up with the Keyblade, Sora. Gather an object of immeasurable value from each World and bring them here. As to the location of the Skull, my first guess would be that it resides in Neverland under Peter Pan's protection. So…you have your mission, your team, and your courage. Go now and save Kingdom Hearts!"

Sora, Goofy, and Donald raised their weapons and bowed. Kairi sighed, "This is sooo cheesy…"

~*~*~*~

TBC – Ha-ha. OK. So the mission's in place! The adventure's far from over. Be prepared for some more, crazy, outrageousness in future chapters. Aw, come on. You know you can't resist. ^.~