Disclaimer: I do not own any of the anime series or video games mentioned in this fanfic.

I do, however, own the Blackhearted and the ADI.

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UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

Nightmare in Dreamland

"I still find it hard to believe that we were unable to save Daigo's world," said Takuya as he raised his stick to block another blow from Sora, with whom he was having a training session.

"I find it hard to believe that it was Riku who held the Stone of Darkness," said Sora as he swung his stick at Takuya again. He was blocked once again by the goggle boy, but the Keyblade master quickly dropped down and swept his stick across the floor, knocking Takuya off his feet and onto his back.

"Ouch!" Takuya yelped as he hit the padded floor.

"Be glad we actually have thick mats here," said Sora.

"I'll try to remember that," said Takuya.

"That should be enough for today," said Sora. He walked off the large mat in the center of the room and placed his stick back in the storage box before going over to put his shoes back on.

"Hey Sora. Do you know anything about the holder of the Shadow Stone?" Takuya asked as he sat down on a bench and pulled on his socks.

"Unfortunately, I do," said Sora, "Riku's my best friend. We grew up together on Destiny Islands. He was better at a lot of things, but one day he submitted to the darkness and became a servant of the Heartless."

"Well, if you could save him once, you can do it again," said Takuya, "And besides, you have the rest of us to help you."

"Thanks, Takuya," Sora said to the younger boy.

*          *          *

"So, that world was destroyed?" asked Cherubimon.

"Like I said, I took care of it," said Riku, "You wanna go there and find out for yourself, be my guest." And with that, he turned and walked out the door.

 "Well, now we should decide on where to strike next," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

"We should choose a world where those fools don't have the key yet," said Yami Bakura.

"How about we start off with the weakest world?" suggested Cell.

"You must be joking," said Ganondorf, "And you consider yourself the world's strongest fighter? We won't worry about petty worlds like Hello Kitty and Hamtaro. We should focus on something on a higher scale."

"And what do you suggest?" asked Zirconia.

"I say our next target should be more than just one world," said Ganondorf, "With their forces divided, they will stand a weaker chance of succeeding."

"Excellent," Yami Malik hissed.

*          *          *

Riku was practicing alone in a large circular room with his Keyblade. He swung the weapon through the air and made occasional forward thrusts.

"Out of all the people possibly, why did I end up with the Shadow Stone?" he thought out loud as he spun around and parried an imaginary blow, "I'm sure there are others who can handle its power even better than I can, so why choose me?" Riku stopped practicing for a while and went off to the side to catch his breath. He closed his eyes for a bit while he ran his hand through his silver hair. Setting his Keyblade aside, he discarded his armor, allowing his normal clothes to appear. Riku could still remember back when he was a pawn for the Heartless. He tried his best to avoid repeating such and event, but little did he know that his alliance with the Blackhearted was somewhat similar. Sighing, he picked up his Keyblade and re-donned his armor before resuming his training.

*          *          *

"You failed to save a world?" asked Otaku.

"For some reason, the Blackhearted were able to bypass the fact that they needed that world's key," said Kai, "But now we know who possesses the powers of Darkness."

"But that still leaves the question about who has the powers of Earth, Psychic, and Chaos," said Richie.

"Any of you have any clues?" asked Otaku. The members of the ADI shook their heads in response. The leader of the Anime Defense Initiative stood up from behind his desk and walked towards the door.

"Sir, where are you going?" asked Ryo.

"To see if I can do anything to correct the situation," said Otaku as he left.

"You can't blame him," said Squall.

"Guess we can't," said Kai.

*          *          *

Things seemed fairly quiet in Dreamland. The castle was still standing tall and proud over Cappy Town. And as usual, King Dedede was scheming to get rid of Kirby, although he wasn't having much success.

"Do you think the king will try to get rid of Kirby again?" Tiff asked her brother.

"Who knows?" replied Tuff, "The king's been pretty freaked out ever since those weird guys attacked."

"True," said Tiff.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Fololo and Falala answered it and standing there in the hallway were Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

"We've searched everywhere for Meta Knight," said Sword Knight, "He's nowhere to be found."

"That's really odd," said Tiff, "Meta Knight's usually around to help us out whenever we need him."

"Maybe those creepy things took him," suggested Tuff.

"No, not likely," said Blade Knight.

"They're right," said Tiff, "It's not like Meta Knight to get taken away like that."

Just then, there was another knock at the door. This time, Tiff went to answer it and found herself looking into the face of the monster hunter, Knuckle Joe.

"No luck finding Meta Knight," said Joe, "Just a whole bunch of N.M.E.'s monsters. I just hope that at least Kirby's okay."

"We all do," said Tiff.

*          *          *

Meta Knight was busy sparring with Squall. Sword clashed against Gunblade as the two warriors' weapons met halfway.

"Take this!" said Squall as he ran towards the armored knight. He jumped up into the air while slashing upward and brought his Gunblade down as he landed. Fortunately for Meta Knight, he was able to dodge the blow.

"One must never underestimate his opponent," said Meta Knight. He swung his sword and fired a Sword Beam at Squall, knocking his Gunblade clean out of his hand.

"Your skills are excellent," Squall commented.

"I was trained to fight against the Nightmares," said Meta Knight as he re-sheathed his sword and wrapped his cloak around him.

"Who are the Nightmares?" asked Sora.

"Creatures created by the notorious N.M.E.," explained Meta Knight, "The Star Warriors were a force with whom the Nightmares battled. In the end, the Star Warriors won the war, but so few remained. I was one of those few."

"Somehow, I get the feeling that the Blackhearted are going to try to control the Nightmares," Squall muttered.

"They already have," Meta Knight said gravely.

*          *          *

Kaiba was sitting in the lounge looking over his deck. Since he was now able to bring the inanimate objects to life, he had to reorganize his strategies. Casting a glance over to the side, he focused on his four rarest cards: his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and God of the Obelisk. He soon began to wonder if the Blackhearted had possession of any of the other God cards. Since Malik was on the side of the evil creatures, he was certain that they had Sun Dragon, God of Ra. But he was completely unsure if the same held for Saint Dragon, God of Osiris.

In another corner of the room, Takuya was scrolling through the Spirits stored inside his D-Scan. With the Human and Beast Spirits of Fire, he could use them to Double Spirit Evolve into Ardhamon. Unfortunately, he was still two sets of Spirits short of reaching his Zeta Hybrid form. He had the Human and Beast Spirits of Earth and Wood scanned and stored, but he still needed the Spirits of Wind and Ice. Upon recalling the sacred element, he suddenly remembered his friends, who had fallen victim to the Blackhearted that had attacked the Digital World. The memories brought back the pains he had the day he received the Pyro Stone. Takuya swore silently to himself that he would destroy the Blackhearted or die trying.

Elsewhere in ADI Headquarters, Shinji was lost in thought. In the past few battles, he had done nothing to help the team defeat the Blackhearted. He knew he was weak and he was sure that the others knew it, too. But without EVA-01, he was completely helpless.

The other stone holders – unlike Kaiba, Takuya, and Shinji – were busy training instead of thinking up strategies, mourning over lost friends and family, or wallowing in self-pity. But everyone knew that they had to be ready for the Blackhearted and they would use any means necessary.

*          *          *

"A summon gem?" Sora asked.

"Exactly," said Otaku, "We've been trying to recover any lost souls from different worlds. Unfortunately, we don't have the means to bring them back to life. So we've decided to turn these lost souls into temporary summon gems."

"And you want me to use them," Sora guessed.

"Partially, but I also need you to free them from their current locked state," corrected Otaku.

Sora sighed and turned to face the spherical gem on the table. He took out his Keyblade and aimed it at the gem. Just as the Keyblade had shot beams of light to seal Keyholes, it now shot a beam of light at the gem, unlocking it.

"So what's this one called?" asked Richie.

"Menchi," answered Otaku.

Silence fell upon everyone in the room.

"Are you telling us that Sora just unsealed a dog?" asked Kai.

"We were running out of food," said Otaku, causing everyone to fall over in disbelief.

"You wanted that dog just so we could eat it?!" Richie practically screamed.

"You have a better idea?" asked Otaku, "If so, I'd love to hear it. Because our food supply IS running low."

"We've lost our main suppliers thanks to the Blackhearted. The only thing we can do now is go to another world and take what we can," said Squall.

"You know we can't meddle in the affairs of other worlds," Ryo reminded the Gunblade wielder.

"That won't be necessary. The Blackhearted have done that, already," replied Squall.

"Good point," said Ryo, scratching the back of his head.

"So I guess we don't have much choice," said Kai, "The only problem now is trying to find a world that hasn't been destroyed by the Blackhearted, yet."

"Give me a minute," said Otaku. He began to type rapidly on his computer. A short time later, a list of names appeared on his screen.

"That's not a lot," said Albert.

"Well, what choice do we have? We're desperate," said Sora as he began to read the list, "Okay, we've got Kattalox Island, Traverse Town, Dreamland, Hoenn, and Monster Island. Take your pick."

"Let's ask the stone holders," suggested Jim, "Besides, they're the ones going to other worlds, not us."

"Right. I'll get them," Ryo volunteered.

"I'll come, too," Richie piped in.

*          *          *

"And then you just push this button and the gravity accelerator will take effect," said Trunks as he explained the machine to Takuya, who had somehow forced himself to get something useful done.

"Thanks," said the ten-year-old.

"And if you need to stop, press this red button," Trunks finished as he pointed to a red button near the edge of the control panel.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," said Takuya.

"Well, good luck," said the Z-Fighter as he left the room. The door slid shut behind him and Takuya was left alone in the gravity simulation room.

"Well, best get started," said Takuya, "I'll start off with twice Earth's gravity." He walked over to the control panel and pressed the number two on the keypad. Nodding to himself, he pressed the green button next to it and the lights dimmed.

The first thing that Takuya noticed was that he suddenly felt heavier. He placed his hand on the console to steady himself.

"This is going to be harder than I thought," the Chosen Child said to himself. He decided that it would be best to discard anything that might add weight to his body, which included his shoes, socks, cap, gloves, goggles, and D-Scan. Slowly, he moved away from the console and began to walk around the room, trying to adjust to the new environment.

In another room, Link stood with his shield in his right hand and the Master Sword in his left (he's left-handed, people, if you've never noticed). On every wall, holographic image projectors could be seen.

"Now Link, we're going to generate realistic holographic images for you to battle," Squall explained from the control room via speakers, "Each time you deal a blow, it'll automatically be taken into account and your opponent will appear to be harmed. If your opponent lands a blow on you, you'll only feet a sharp sting."

"Understood," said Link.

"Let's start off with something familiar to you," said Squall as he keyed in some commands. Out in the combat simulation chamber, the projectors lit up. Link watched as a black hole appeared in the floor and from it emerged a Stalfos. The Hylian hero quickly brought up his shield and advanced towards the armed skeleton.

The Stalfos swung its sword at Link, but it only hit his shield. Link took that moment to strike. He withdrew his shield for a moment and slashed with his sword. Stalfos was hit and growled. It swung at Link again, but the warrior backflipped away.

Now's my chance, thought the Hero of Time. He quickly whipped out his Longshot and fired at Stalfos. His aim was true and the spearhead struck the undead creature, stunning it. Link quickly went in and slashed.

Stalfos quickly recovered and jumped back. It and Link circled each other for a moment, waiting for the other to make a move.

*          *          *

"Monster Island is definitely out of the question, considering the fact that it's dominated by Godzilla and various other creatures," said Otaku.

"We could go to Hoenn, but none of us have ever been there," said Richie.

"I thought you did," said Shinji.

"No, just as far as Johto," replied the young Pokémon trainer.

"None of us have been to Kattalox Island either," said Kaiba.

"That just leaves Traverse Town and Dreamland," noted Ami.

"Traverse Town's usually pretty quite," Sora said.

"I say we should go to Dreamland," Meta Knight said, "It is the world from which I come and I would like to see how it is doing so far."

"Well, since you put it that way, we might as well check it out," said Otaku.

"If I may suggest, I'd like to take along only a small portion of us," said Meta Knight.

"Why's that?" asked Ryo.

"True that we may fight N.M.E.'s monsters, but I doubt that we will need everyone," explained the cloaked swordsman.

"Alright, take two other stone holders with you. Richie, I want you to accompany them," said Otaku.

"Thank you, Sir," said Meta Knight.

"I'll do my best," said Richie.

*          *          *

It wasn't long before Meta Knight stood in the transporter room with Richie and his selected team, which consisted of Takuya and Li.

"What is this? Kids' day out?" asked Kaiba as he looked down at Meta Knight.

"They may be children, but they will prove to be a great asset in Dreamland," explained the spherical swordsman.

"Not to mention incredible inconspicuous," muttered Jim.

"What do you mean?" asked Li.

"I just took a look at what we have on Dreamland," replied Jim, "It's a regular little kids' cartoon."

"Does anyone else here feel like they've just been insulted?" asked Takuya.

"We should also try to find the key to Dreamland's core while we are there, in case the Blackhearted strike," continued Meta Knight.

"Good idea," said Jim, "Anyway, time to get going." He keyed in the coordinates and the portal opened. Meta Knight walked in first followed by Takuya, Li, and Richie.

*          *          *

"Jim obviously wasn't kidding," said Richie as he looked around. The three stone holders and one ADI official had stepped out into the center of Cappy Town. There was no sign of the Blackhearted and the Cappies seemed to be happy. The Cappy children were playing while the adults were going about with their business. Chef Kawasaki was busy cooking food in his restaurant, Mr. Curio was studying and dating artifacts, and a Waddle Dee would pass by every now and then.

"Looks like something my brother would watch," commented Takuya.

"Come. We must go to the castle," said Meta Knight. He led the three kids out of Cappy Town and up a long winding slope. At the top was a large seemingly deformed castle with a flag on each tower. As they approached the drawbridge, a creature with a single large eye appeared over the portcullis.

"Halt! Who goes there?" shouted the Waddle Doo.

"It is I," replied Meta Knight, "I have brought along a few companions."

"Come in, Meta Knight! The king has been expecting you," the Waddle Doo replied back.

"King?" asked Richie as the four of them entered the castle.

"Cappy Town is ruled by King Dedede," explained Meta Knight, "He has ruled for years. However, he has a hatred for a certain resident of Dreamland by the name of Kirby."

"Kirby," Li repeated.

The group soon reached the doors to the throne room. Meta Knight motioned the others to remain in the corridor while he spoke with the king. So Takuya, Li, and Richie were left to sit on a bench just outside the throne room while Meta Knight entered.

*          *          *

"Good day, Sire," said Meta Knight as he knelt down before the gluttonous monarch.

"Where in tarnations have you been all this time, Meta Knight?" demanded King Dedede.

"I apologize for my absence," said Meta Knight, "I have been away on a crusade to…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just make sure you do what I told you to do," said the king, cutting off Meta Knight.

"Yes, Sire," said Meta Knight. He bowed before turning around and walking out of the throne room.

"Somethin' fishy's going on here," said King Dedede.

"I know what you mean, Sire. And where in blazes do you think Meta Knight got that blue crystal from?" added Escargoon.

"What does it matter, anyway?" asked the king, "Anyway, let's see if we can't get us another monster to clobber that Kirby." He pushed a few buttons on the armrest of his throne and the lights dimmed. The wall slid open and a large screen came out. Openings in the floor and ceiling emerged and from them came Dedede's monster transporter. Turning to the screen, the king watched as the face of the N.M.E salesman appeared.

"Welcome back to Nightmare Enterprises, King Dedede!" greeted the salesman. Even though N.M.E. had been taken over by the Blackhearted, King Dedede knew nothing about it, so it was easy to make him think that they were still called Nightmare Enterprises, rather than Blackhearted Enterprises.

"I need a new monster that'll take care of that Kirby," the king demanded.

"Anything in particular?" asked the salesman.

"Make an offer," said Dedede, waving his hand at the screen.

"Well, we've got one that'll get that Star Warrior, for sure," said the salesman.

"Well then, put it through," ordered the king as he pressed another button on his armrest. Almost immediately, the monster transporter hummed to life as light flashed and sparks flew. The king watched eagerly, hoping that it would be a powerful creature.

*          *          *

"Well?" asked Takuya.

"The king is still as I remember," said Meta Knight as he, Takuya, Richie, and Li walked through the castle corridors. As they turned a corner, they ran into Meta Knight's two companions: Sword Knight and Blade Knight.

"Meta Knight! It's good to see you again!" said Sword Knight.

"Where have you been all this time?" asked Blade Knight.

"It is a long story," said Meta Knight.

"Who are those guys?" asked Blade Knight.

"Allow me to introduce you to Takuya Kanbara, Li Syaoran, and Richie Park," said Meta Knight. (A/N: That is not Richie's official last name.)

"It hasn't been easy without you, Meta Knight," said Sword Knight, "The king's been ordering a lot of monsters I don't think Kirby can keep up to all of them."

"These monsters are weird. They're all black and we can't hit them. Some of them have a picture of a black heart on their chests," added Blade Knight.

"What…" said Li.

"Did…" said Takuya.

"You…" said Richie.

"Say?" finished Meta Knight, "Please leave us for a moment."

"Whatever you say, Sir," said Sword Knight.

As soon as Sword Knight and Blade Knight had left, Takuya, Richie, Li, and Meta Knight quickly huddled together.

"Did you guys hear what I heard?" asked Richie.

"Definitely," replied Li.

"There's no doubt about it. The Blackhearted are here," said Meta Knight.

"But why did the headquarters' computers not pick up the signal?" Takuya wondered.

"I am not sure. But we must be on alert," said Meta Knight, "I fear that the king may be behind this."

"Why is that?" asked Takuya.

"Remember what I said about the king having a hatred for Kirby? Well, he is always ordering monsters from Nightmare Enterprises to destroy him. Perhaps he has been ordering Blackhearted," explained Meta Knight.

"Still, why didn't the computers pick them up?" asked Li.

"I can answer that," said Richie, "The Blackhearted prey on the darkness in people's hearts. Our computers were designed to detect Blackhearted that react to that darkness. But because the king is ordering them online, they never picked up the signals because the Blackhearted weren't drawn to this world."

"Sounds logical," said Li.

"Indeed, it does. But just in case, we should try to keep an eye on the king," said Meta Knight, "Somehow, I feel that the Blackhearted will soon have a reason to come to Dreamland on their own."

"Agreed," said Takuya.

"We should also try to look out for Kirby," added the spherical swordsman.

"Uh, out of curiosity, what does Kirby look like?" asked Richie.

"Well…" Meta Knight began. He never finished as a pink round creature walked up to them and stopped. It made some sort of sound and waved at them.

"This is Kirby," said Meta Knight. Takuya, Li, and Richie just sweatdropped.

"You have to got be kidding me," Takuya muttered.

*          *          *

"Any Threes?" Sora asked.

"Go fish," replied Ryo.

Sora reached over and drew a card from the deck between him and Ryo. The two of them were on monitor duty and it was pretty clear that sitting in a small room for a few hours surrounded by computer monitors filled with maps stats on different worlds was incredibly boring.

"Got any Kings?" asked Ryo.

"Here," said Sora as he pulled the King of Spades from his hand and handed it to Ryo, who placed it to the side along with the King of Diamonds.

"Thank you very much," said Ryo with a bit of a smirk.

"You know, I have never been able to look at playing cards the same way ever since my trip to Wonderland," said Sora.

"What happened?" asked Ryo.

"I fought an army of cards," Sora replied.

"Betcha I've been through something weirder," said Ryo.

"Like what?" Sora shot back.

Ryo opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out since the alarms in the room suddenly went off. The two brunettes quickly turned around in their chairs and began to type wildly on their keyboards.

"Try to isolate the sector, first," said Ryo.

"Done," said Sora, "Now isolating world." Keys tapped and monitors flashed as the two of them worked like mad. Finally, Sora was able to bring up an image of the emergency.

"I've isolated the system. Location: the Pop Star," said the Keyblade Master.

"Which world?" Ryo quickly asked.

"Dreamland," answered Sora, "That's where Takuya, Richie, Li, and Meta Knight are!"

*          *          *

Takuya, Meta Knight, Richie, and Li were just walking back into Cappy Town when several dark shadows suddenly emerged from the ground.

"Blackhearted!" exclaimed Richie. Li and Meta Knight tore their swords from their scabbards and stood ready.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION!" shouted Takuya.

"AGNIMON!"

Richie took out two Pokéballs and threw them forward. "Zippo! Happy! Come out!" he shouted. The two red and white orbs hit the ground and from them popped out Richie's Charmeleon and Butterfree.

"We must act quickly!" said Meta Knight. He ran towards the Shadows and began slashing at them with his sword.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li. He placed an incantation against the hilt of his sword and the parchment shot forward several bolts of lightning, hitting a few Blackhearted.

"BURNING SALAMANDER!" shouted Agnimon. He smashed his fists together and flames erupted from the backs of his hands and surrounded his arms. He drew both fists back and threw them forward, launching the fiery projectiles at the deadly creatures.

"Happy, Stun Spore! Zippo, Slash attack!" Richie commanded. Happy quickly flew over the Shadows and released a yellow powder from his wings, which paralyzed the creatures. Zippo then went in and slashed them with his claws, destroying them.

"Char…" muttered Zippo. A Soldier suddenly appeared and tried to attack from behind, but the Charmeleon slammed his tail against it, knocking it back, allowing Meta Knight to stab the insignia with his sword.

"There's still too many," said Agnimon.

"We need some help," said Li. Just then, everyone heard a noise behind them. They turned to see Kirby watching the fight.

"Kirby, get out of here! You'll get hurt!" Richie called.

"No wait! Kirby can help us!" said Meta Knight, "Richie, have one of your creatures attack Kirby with an elemental attack."

"WHAT?!" screamed the Pokémon trainer.

"Do it! We don't have much time!" said Meta Knight.

"I'm gonna regret this," muttered Richie, "Sparky, attack Kirby with a Thundershock!"

"Pika!" shouted Sparky. He leapt off Richie's shoulder and launched a bolt of electricity at Kirby.

"Kirby, inhale it now!" shouted Meta Knight.

Kirby nodded and ran forward. He opened his mouth wide and began inhaling large amounts of air. The Thundershock was sucked in and Kirby gulped. He immediately leaps into the air and several bolts of electricity sparked behind him. A golden headband with a bluish gem appeared around his head and a number of lightning bolts appeared on it.

"He changed!" exclaimed Li.

"Kirby has now become Spark Kirby," explained Meta Knight.

Spark Kirby landed on the ground and the Blackhearted suddenly turned on him.

"Kirby, look out!" shouted Agnimon.

Kirby's body began to spark and he suddenly surrounded himself with a powerful electric field. The Blackhearted were shocked upon contact and destroyed. In no time, not one minion was left.

"That's some power," Richie commented as he watched the Star Warrior.

"Quickly, we must head back to the castle!" said Meta Knight.

"Right!" said Agnimon.

Together with Kirby (who had returned to normal for some reason), Richie, Agnimon, Li, and Meta Knight ran as fast as they could back to the castle. Upon reaching the royal structure, they heard a laugh coming from inside.

"That sounds like the king!" exclaimed Meta Knight as they rushed inside. They reached the courtyard and found King Dedede standing by the fountain with his hammer in hand. For reason, though, he seemed a little different.

"Sire! What is going on?" asked the spherical swordsman. Rather than answer, King Dedede rushed at them with his hammer.

"Watch out!" shouted Li. The five of them leapt away just as the king brought down his hammer, slamming it into the ground.

"FIRE DARTS!" shouted Agnimon. He pelted the king with a series of small fireballs. The gluttonous monarch stumbled back, but quickly recovered.

"Zippo, Flamethrower!" ordered Richie.

"Char!" replied Zippo. He opened his mouth and launched a stream of flames at King Dedede. The king evaded the attack and smashed Zippo into a wall with his hammer. The Charmeleon slumped to the ground, dazed.

"Uh-oh. Zippo, return!" shouted Richie. He held out Zippo's Pokéball and a red beam of light shot. It hit Zippo and recalled him back to his ball.

"Agnimon, let's hit him together," suggested Li.

"Good idea," said Agnimon, "BURNING SALAMANDER!"

"ELEMENT FIRE! COME TO MY AID!" shouted Li.

The two fire attacks merged together into a massive fire blast and struck the king with incredible force. Dedede stumbled for a bit while he tried to steady himself with his hammer.

"Give it up, Dedede! It's no use," said Richie.

The king shook his head to regain his senses and grinned. A large shadow covered the area and a massive creature dropped down into the courtyard. It almost seemed like a combination of all of N.M.E's previous monsters. Its back was covered with Kracko's spines, its mouth was filled with Wolfwrath's teeth, its body looked like it was made of stone like Blocky, Bugsy's pincers were around its mouth, its head was surrounded by Fire Lion's mane, and it carried Slice 'n Splice's weapons in two of its four hands. King Dedede climbed onto its head and positioned himself between the monster's horns, which looked a lot like Bad Sheep's.

"We're in trouble," said Agnimon.

"Say hello to Gargantuas!" shouted King Dedede.

Gargantuas reached out and slammed its hand down on the ground, knocking everyone down.

"This isn't good," said Li.

"We nay not stand much of a chance against it, but we must try," said Meta Knight.

Gargantuas moved forward and advanced towards Kirby. The pink Star Warrior tried to run, but it turned out that he was backed up against the wall.

"Kirby!" called a voice. Everyone looked up to see Sword Knight and Blade Knight. Sword Knight drew his sword and threw it at Kirby. The Star Warrior quickly inhaled the weapon and swallowed it. Immediately, he leapt up and a green and yellow cap appeared on his head. He then reached to the side and pulled out a sword.

"He has become Sword Kirby!" Meta Knight exclaimed.

Gargantuas roared as it stomped its way over to the heroes, ready to squash them underfoot.

"We should probably take this to the air," said Li.

"I hear ya," replied Agnimon.

"Agnimon Slide Evolution! VRITRAMON!"

Li and Meta Knight climbed onto Vritramon's back while Richie summoned his Fearow and climbed onto its back.

"What about Kirby?" asked Richie.

"Kabu, send us the Warp Star!" Meta Knight said into the air.

Deep within the woods, the wise old tree opened his mouth and the star-shaped transport flew out and zipped through the sky towards the castle. As soon as it came within visual range, Kirby leapt up and made a perfect landing on the Warp Star.

"You guys can fight from up here," said Vritramon as he allowed Li and Meta Knight to disembark from his back onto the terrace of the castle walls. After giving each other reassuring nods, Vritramon flew back down to resume the battle.

"Get him!" ordered King Dedede. Gargantuas followed through with his orders and proceeded to try to slash Vritramon with the Moon Rod.

"CORONA BLASTER!" shouted the Beast Hybrid. The blasters on his arms rotated so that the barrels were facing forward and he let loose a barrage of red-hot laserfire.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" shouted Li. With a little bit of repositioning of his sword and incantation, he was able to aim the blast down at Gargantuas while Meta Knight fired a few Sword Beams.

Kirby was continuously flying around the courtyard on the Warp Star avoiding attacks while making passes of his own.

"Don't let them land another hit!" shouted Dedede.

"We're going to need some help," said Li. He sheathed his sword and closed his eyes while placing his hands on either side of the Arbor Stone. "Arbor Stone, know my plight. Release the light!" The emerald-green crystal immediately lit up and leaves began to blow around Li as the Bear Spirit of the stone emerged and roared.

"Kirby, let's get out of the way," said Vritramon as he led the pink Star Warrior away.

"Bear Spirit, attack now!" ordered Li. The Bear Spirit of the Arbor Stone roared loudly and flew down towards Gargantuas.

"Don't let it hit!" ordered the king, "Attack! ATTACK!" He stood up and began hitting Gargantuas' head with his hammer in an attempt to get it to move. He only succeeded in getting knocked off by the monstrous behemoth. The Bear Spirit opened its glowing green maw and smashed itself into Gargantuas.

"Got him," said Li.

Gargantuas planted its feet into the ground and began pushing against the Bear Spirit. Both forces pushed their full weight forward with maximum strength. Eventually, Gargantuas gave and the Bear pushed it backwards. The gargantuan monster smashed through the wall of the castle and was pushed all the way to the edge of the cliff until the Bear Spirit ran out of energy and returned to the Arbor Stone.

"We got him!" cheered Richie, "Let's go get him!"

"Way ahead of ya!" said Vritramon as he flew towards Gargantuas, "FLAME STORM!"

Meta Knight and Li got a ride from Richie and they flew towards the hybrid monster with Kirby flying alongside them.

"Sparky, THUNDER!" ordered Richie.

"Pi-KA!" shouted Sparky as he charged up.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" shouted Li.

Both electrical attacks flew straight towards Gargantuas followed by a series of Sword Beams from both Kirby and Meta Knight, all of which exploded against the monster's body upon contact.

"Did we get him?" asked Meta Knight.

The smoke slowly cleared. To everyone's horror and/or dismay (whichever you personally think works better), Gargantuas was still alive.

"This…is bad," said Richie.

Gargantuas suddenly let loose an enormous blast of energy, sending everyone flying back. Vritramon hit the ground hard and devolved back into Takuya. Li attempted to use his Wind incantations to slow his descend, but failed. Richie tried Happy's Whirlwind, but had just as much success as Li did with the Wind incantation. Kirby changed back to normal bounced along the ground until he halted against a tree.

"Wait a second. Where's Meta Knight?" asked Takuya. Looking back at the cliff, he saw Meta Knight backed up against the edge with Gargantuas looming over him. "Meta Knight, get out of there!"

Meta Knight bravely faced Gargantuas with his hand gripping his sword tightly. He knew he stood an extremely slim chance to none against the massive monster. But as a Star Warrior, it was his duty.

"Meta Knight, don't!" screamed Richie.

"You'll be killed!" Li added.

"I will not run," Meta Knight said calmly, "I am a Star Warrior. It is my sworn duty to be rid of N.M.E.'s monsters." The waves crashed against the base of the cliff as the spherical swordsman stood facing Gargantuas. His sapphire-blue cape flapped in the ocean wind. Gripping his sword in both hands, he took up his stance, prepared for anything. A light as blue as the sea slowly began to radiate from the Aqua Stone around Meta Knight's neck. At the same time, a light blue aura surrounded his body.

"What's going on?" asked Takuya.

"It looks like the spirit of the Aqua Stone is finally awakening," Richie replied.

A particularly large wave crashed into the cliff, sending a massive spray of water into the air behind Meta Knight, who was now glowing brightly. The Aqua Stone suddenly flashed and filled the area with blue light.

"Ow…" said Li.

Another wave of water swept up behind Meta Knight. Instead of going down like all the other waves, a part of the water remained in the air in the form of a large serpent. Its eyes were bright yellow and it appeared to have fins on various parts of its body.

"It's the Leviathan!" exclaimed Richie.

"It even fits the Aqua Stone," said Li as he got up.

Gargantuas looked up from Meta Knight at the Leviathan that hovered behind the Star Warrior.

"Now you shall see the power of the Aqua Stone of Water!" said Meta Knight. He swung his sword at Gargantuas and Leviathan launched itself at the monster. Gargantuas attempted to deal a blow to the spirit, but its weapons merely passed through its long slender body. Leviathan wrapped itself around its foe and squeezed. It then turned to face the ensnared monster and blasted it with a powerful high-pressure jet of water.

"Finish him off!" shouted Takuya.

Meta Knight guided Leviathan with his sword. He pointed the weapon over the cliff and the water spirit dove over the edge and into the water, dragging Gargantuas with it.

"He did it!" yelled Richie.

"Yeah!" cheered Takuya and Li as they high-fived each other (A/N: Okay, so that's a little out of character for Li).

Leviathan resurfaced and floated up to Meta Knight. The two of them locked eyes for a while, looking into each other's eyes. A few moments later, Leviathan reverted into its elemental form and flew into the Aqua Stone.

"Thank you for your assistance," Meta Knight said to the Aqua Stone.

*          *          *

"What do y'all thing you're doin'?!" demanded King Dedede.

"We're here to destroy your monster transporter so you can't order new monsters," answered Takuya as he picked up a pipe.

"Considering what happened here not too long ago, it would be for the best," said Li.

"Now hold it right there!" started the king, "You lay one finger on that machine and I'll…"

"Which one? This?" asked Takuya as he smashed the screen of one device with the pipe.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" screamed King Dedede.

"ELEMENT LIGHTNING!" Li unleashed several bolts of lightning, which overloaded the circuits of several machines and destroyed them.

"Sparky, Thunderbolt! Zippo, Fire Spin!" ordered Richie. Sparky let loose a powerful bolt of thunder and struck the machines on the walls while Zippo created a tornado of flames and launched it at the main transporter.

"This is for your own good, Sire," said Meta Knight. He swung his sword and launched a Sword Beam up at the screen on which the king spoke with the N.M.E. salesman.

"Stop, please! All this stuff cost me a fortune!" pleaded Dedede.

"Well, you're a king. I'm sure you can afford a whole new set, your highness," said Takuya, emphasizing the last part of his sentence. He swung the pipe one more time before tossing it to the side and stepping back to look back and admire his handiwork, "Not bad, if I do say so myself." Meta Knight, Li, and Richie joined Takuya and took a look. All of Dedede's monster transportation equipment had been completely destroyed.

"Well, we'll be off now," said Richie.

"And don't call us," added Takuya.

The doors closed behind them as the four of them left the throne room, leaving Dedede sitting on his throne amidst the wreckage. The gluttonous monarch heaved a heavy sigh and muttered something about declaring bankruptcy.

*          *          *

"Think the king learned his lesson?" asked Li.

"If he hasn't, we've already made sure that he doesn't repeat the same mistake again," said Meta Knight.

"Well, we shouldn't have to worry about this world being destroyed," said Takuya as he placed his hands behind his head.

"What makes you say that?" asked Richie.

"I found this inside the castle fountain," said Takuya as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bright yellow key with a star on the end.

"The Dreamland Key!" exclaimed Meta Knight and Richie.

"I thought we should take it in case the Blackhearted come back," Takuya explained.

"Good idea," said Li.

"Well. It's time to head back," said Richie. He lifted his arm and pressed a button on his wrist communicator. "Beam us back, Jim."

"That's not funny," Takuya muttered as they returned to ADI Headquarters.

*          *          *

No sooner had Takuya, Li, Meta Knight, and Richie left, a dark portal opened and from it emerged two figures. One was Riku, dressed in full armor. The other was a grey-skinned creature with a purple abdomen and tail. Its facial features were covered by a black helmet. Black armor covered its body and shins. A pair of black metallic gauntlets covered its forearms minus its fingers. On a purple lanyard around its neck was a deep purple crystal.

"So this is where the Blackhearted attacked," said Riku as he looked around, "Hmph. So child-like."

Too peaceful for even the Blackhearted to think of coming here, said the creature.

"No doubt about it, Mewtwo," the wielder of the Shadow Stone commented.

Let's get on with it, said Mewtwo as he stepped up to the edge of a cliff. His eyes lit up with an eerie blue light, which shone through the visor of his helmet. A blue aura surrounded his body as the purple crystal around his neck began to glow.

Spirit of the Eye Stone, unleash your psychic powers! commanded the psychic Pokémon. A purple aura blasted out from the crystal and took on the form of a large winged creature with three heads, each of different animals.

"Get on with it," muttered Riku.

Chimera, seek out this world's key! ordered Mewtwo. All three of Chimera's heads nodded in unison and the spirit of the Eye Stone flew up into the air. After a few minutes, it landed on the ground, shook its heads, and returned to the Eye Stone.

"Nothing?" Riku asked, though the answer was obvious.

The key is no longer here, replied Mewtwo.

"We can fix that," said Riku. He held out his hand and his Keyblade appeared in a flash of light. Just as he had done back on Daigo's world, he plunged the weapon into the ground and a black vortex formed where here had struck.

"Spirit of Darkness, oh mighty Sphinx! Plunge this world into darkness!" chanted the silver-haired teen. The Shadow Stone began to pulsate with the powers of darkness and the Sphinx spirit emerged and dove down into the vortex. In no time at all, it consumed the world's core and Dreamland started to fade into the shadows.

We're done here. Let's go, said Mewtwo.

"Yes, let's," said Riku after the Sphinx returned to his stone. Together with Mewtwo, the Keyblade wielder left as Dreamland fell into eternal darkness.

*          *          *

"What could have possibly drawn the Blackhearted to that world?" asked Cell as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"The king lured them there," answered Yami Malik, "It was his hatred for the Star Warrior that attracted the Blackhearted. He was unable to control his rage and the darkness in his heart grew until he could no longer control it."

"One must be cautious not to let darkness overcome oneself," said Yami Bakura.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, Bakura. You have difficulty controlling the darkness within, yourself," warned Yami Malik.

"Enough," said Ganondorf, "We must start planning the next attack."

"Perhaps we can add another to our forces," said Cherubimon, "I know of one who will make a great asset."

"Then let's get a move on," said Dr. Meda-Evil.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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NEXT TIME:

Their forces have been divided. Can the stone holders stop the Blackhearted when split into smaller groups? And who possesses the last two stone?

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Well, that's the end of that chapter.

Only two more stones left: Earth and Chaos. Who holds them? Keep reading to find out.