Author's note: Finally, Chap. 2 is up! This is a good one, so have fun reading!!!

Kingdom Hearts: Return of the Heartless

Chap. 2 Trouble Strikes

Sora lay on his bed looking at his keyblade, which was laying on the floor. He had kept it...just in case. He looked out his window. The sky was pitch black.

"How could it be dark now?" he wondered, "...That's weird..."

Several bright lights began to fall from the sky. Sora ran out his door and out of his house to take a look. Outside, Kairi stood on the beach.

"Kairi! What's going on?"

"I don't know. Do you think..."

"It couldn't be..."

"Guys!" Riku had also come out, "What's the matter?"

"Riku...I think it's happening," said Sora.

"What?"

"The door. It's been opened again."

"But how?" Kairi wondered, "...How could it happen again?"

"That's what we need to find out," Sora started running toward his house, "Follow me!"

When they got inside, Sora grabbed his keyblade and asked Riku, "Do you still have your sword?"

"Right here."

They peeked out Sora's window and a heartless came up to it. It kept hitting the glass, trying to get in. Kairi shivered. She hated seeing one of those awful creatures again.

"Should we go back outside and fight?" asked Riku.

"I don't think that---"Sora didn't finish, for the heartless had broken the window. Many others were coming in also.

"Kairi, stay back! Riku and I can handle this!" Sora told her.

They began attacking, trying to make the black figures not get by Kairi. Once all of them were destroyed, more kept entering, and some up through the floor.

"They're going to keep multiplying!" Riku knew.

"Aaaaaah!" screamed Kairi. A heartless had come up from the ground and was holding on to her leg.

Sora swung at the heartless, which went back into the floor. All of the others went back under, too.

"Did they just...disappear?" Kairi stood still, still frozen in terror.

"I don't know. But, maybe they went back out...waiting for us," concluded Riku.

"Well, maybe we should go. You could beat them, couldn't you?"

"Of course."

Sora thought for a moment, "It could be a trap."

"What do you mean?" pondered Kairi.

"They could...you know...Oh, never mind. It's nothing."

"Wait! Sora might be right! They're all on the beach...but I don't see anything else. Whatever, or whoever, is hiding...is definitely waiting for something," Riku said when he looked outside.

So, after Riku spoke, everyone stayed inside. Ten, twenty, thirty minutes passed. The heartless grew impatient.

"Oh, no!" Kairi peeked out again, "Where are they?"

"They've went to their leader," Sora concluded.

"How do you know?" Riku glanced at him, "They could've gone anywhere."

They waited...and waited.....and waited.......

Kairi felt relieved, "They probably left."

Just when she finished, the earth beneath them quivered.

"I'm not so sure about that!" knew Sora, "They're still here!"

"We need to get out of here!" yelled Riku.

"That's a good idea!" Sora had to raise his voice so they could hear him over the howling wind, "...How?"

Then, a tentacle suddenly broke through the wooden floor. Two more broke through on opposite sides of the room.

"What is this thing?...It must be their leader!" Riku realized.

"I told you!" Sora held on to his keyblade tightly. Another tentacle came out behind him.

Riku saw and warned, "Sora! Look out!"

Sora turned around, and was prepared to attack. But, before he had the chance, a tentacle knocked the keyblade out of his hands. The one next to Sora wrapped around him, the slimy, green skin squeezing harder.

"Let go of me!" he shouted.

A tentacle, as it slinked toward Kairi, touched one of Sora's mom's flowers, making it wilt instantly.

"They're poisonous!" she told Riku.

"Get away from it!"

"I know, but they're everywhere!...Wait! What about Sora? If they are poisonous, then....." Kairi feared for the worst.

"Oh, no!" Riku ran over to Sora with his sword ready to strike the coil around him. When he did, the tentacle wasn't affected by the blow, "Nothing will work!"

Sora struggled, trying to get out, "The grip's too tight!"

Kairi was closed in by some tentacles and heartless. She couldn't do anything, "Someone, help!"

All of a sudden, a bright light flashed, and she held a long whip.

"What's this?" Kairi saw it spark at the end, "Hmmm..." she swung it at the heartless, destroying all of them in seconds, "Cool!"

"Sora! I can't get you out! Now what?" Riku panicked.

"I'm not...sure..." the poison was taking affect sooner than they had thought, "...Help...Kairi....."

"What about you?"

Sora didn't answer.

"Sora!...Sora!!!"

Kairi attacked the tentacles one after another, but nothing worked. She swung and struck twice as hard, and the monster underground shrieked. The tentacles went back under, and Sora was pulled under with them.

Kairi cried out, "No!...Riku, what should we do?"

"We can't do anything..."

Author's note: Where did Sora go? What are Kairi and Riku going to do about it? You'll have to find out in the next chapter!