Chapter 5

Deep Jungle

Sora, Donald, and Goofy flew by the next world. A thick jungle mostly covered it and not much else could be seen.

"Keep going," Donald told Goofy.

"But the King might be down there," Goofy said back.

"In a backwater place like that? No way. Keep going."

"Wait!" Sora stopped them. "My friends might be down there!"

"We don't have time! We need to find the King!" Donald shouted.

"I don't care! We're going!" Sora slightly pushed Goofy (not to forcefully since Goofy had not even been in the conversation) and pressed the landing button.

"No! Don't press that!" Donald tried to stop him but it was to late as the ship went hurtling toward the world below.

Sora smashed through the roof of a wooden building that was on top of the trees, much like a tree house. He had fell from the Gummi Ship on the way down and was separated from Donald and Goofy. He brushed himself off and stood up. A low growl from behind caught his attention. He whipped around, Keyblade ready.

A large leopard shot out at Sora, claws extended. Sora rolled away as the leopard landed behind him and got ready to strike again. Sora struck with the Keyblade, which hadn't sharpened, and hit the leopard in the side. The vicious cat showed his dislike of this as he crouched and pounced on Sora again. Sora tried to move but received a cut on his left arm and winced.

"Blizzard!" Sora fired the spell and while the leopard was frozen he ran in and hit him a few times. The leopard shook the spell off after a while and started running at Sora again. Sora dodged again trying to think of a way out of this. The leopard wasn't a smart fighter and his strikes were sloppy, giving Sora slightly more time to move. Sora focused some magic into his Keyblade and pointed it at the sky. "Thunder!"

The lightning came down and struck the leopard hard. He was thrown back and slid on the wooden floor. The leopard got back up with his fur singed and flew at Sora with paws extended. Sora brought up the Keyblade to block but it was knocked away and Sora knocked to the ground. Sora closed his eyes and waited for the final strike.

It never came. Sora opened his eyes to see a man standing above him. He had brown hair and wore only a loincloth. He held a spear that kept the leopard at bay. The leopard broke away and ran.

"Sabor. Danger," the man said, not sounding very educated in speaking.

"Who are you?" Sora asked as he summoned the Keyblade back to his side.

"Me Tarzan," he said pointing to himself.

"Well, I'm Sora and I'm looking for my friends. The loud one is Dona..." Sora stopped.

"Dona?" Tarzan asked.

"You know what? Never mind. I'm looking for my friends Riku and Kairi. Have you seen them?" Tarzan made some noises, sounding like a monkey. Must have been his language. Maybe monkeys raised him. Yeah right, like that could happen.

"Friends here," Tarzan repeated the monkey talk.

"Really!" Sora shouted. "Can you take me to them?"

"Tarzan go," Tarzan nodded.

"Tarzan go, Sora go!" Sora yelled in excitement. Tarzan motioned for him to follow and walked out of the tree house and onto a balcony. Tarzan leaped from the balcony and into the trees below. Sora was a little shocked but followed quickly.

Donald and Goofy sat on a rock with their weapons leaning on the rock. Sounds of footprints caught Donald's ears and a small gorilla ran up to them. In its hands was a Gummi Piece!

"Hey! That could be the King's!" Goofy shouted as Donald took it from the gorilla and stashed it in Goofy's pocket. More footsteps and a man stepped up to them in old English-style hunting clothes. He brought up a shotgun and pointed it at them.

Sora couldn't believe what he was doing. He jumped over another branch as he and Tarzan continued to "surf" down the large tree. Sora could feel his feet hurting through his shoes and yet Tarzan was doing this barefoot with no problem. The two were launched off at the end of the large branch and landed in a clearing with a bunch of luggage and scientific stuff around with a large tent pitched.

Tarzan motioned for Sora to follow him into the tent. Inside Sora saw a woman with brown hair and blue eyes with a white top and long brown skirt.

"Oh, Tarzan. And who's this?" she asked.

"I'm Sora," he told her.

"So you speak English? Obviously you're not related to Tarzan. Well, my name's Jane," she extended her hand, which Sora shook.

"There are more visitors," came a voice from outside the tent. The hunter from before led Donald and Goofy inside.

"Mr. Clayton. You're back," Jane said.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted. Donald and Sora grabbed each other's hands before remembering why they were apart in the first place and turning their backs to each other. Goofy sighed.

"Sora! Look at this!" Goofy brought out the Gummi Piece.

"A Gummi Piece? Does that mean..."

"Yeah! The King might be here!" Goofy said in an excited voice.

"Well, I guess I'll go with you...for now!" Sora said as he walked to the other corner of the tent.

"I guess you can tag along, for now!" Donald yelled before he took to the opposite corner. Sora turned back to Tarzan.

"Tarzan, where are my friends," he said slowly. "Riku and Kairi." Tarzan stared at him but slowly shook his head. "But I thought..."

"That leaves only one place!" Clayton interrupted. "They must be with the Gorillas but Tarzan refuses to take us to them!"

"Will you please change your mind, Tarzan?" Jane spoke softly to him.

"Tarzan go see Kerchak," Tarzan said.

"Ah! He must be the leader!" Clayton said. "Well, let us be off!" He said. Tarzan motioned for them to follow and they did so. Jane stayed behind but Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Clayton followed Tarzan. Clayton spotted a movement of black somewhere in the jungle and stepped back, following it.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood behind Tarzan as he spoke to a large Gorilla in the Gorilla tongue.

"Kerchak, we must help them!" Tarzan yelled to him.

"Help them? Why?" Kerchak asked.

"Because they need us. I trust them!"

"You will trust them until they have the fur of all the gorillas on their walls!"

"They're not like that!"

"I will not help them!" Kerchak yelled one final time before turning and walking away. Behind them, Goofy leaned down to Donald.

"Uh, did you get that?" he asked.

"No," Donald said simply. Tarzan turned to them and shook his head.

"Hey, where's Clayton?" Sora asked. Tarzan closed his eyes but then they snapped open.

"Tree house!"

Clayton took his shotgun and aimed it at the Gorilla before him. It had been quite a job keeping up with the gorilla but now it would pay off! As he pulled the trigger the frantic yelling of a familiar duck reached his ears. From the jerk of shock the shot missed.

"What are you thinking?!" Donald yelled. Clayton stared as Sora, Goofy, and Tarzan came up behind Donald.

"Well...I...um...a snake! A snake slithered by you see? I saved the poor gorilla's life!" he lied through his teeth. Tarzan came forward and grabbed him by the back of his shirt forcefully and dragged him back toward the tent.

"How could you?!" Jane shouted at Clayton. "I come here for knowledge on gorillas and you're up here taking shots at them!"

"Now, Ms. Porter I..." Clayton tired to defend himself.

"I don't care what you have to say! You will receive no payment!"

"What?! Why I should..." Clayton was about to jump for Jane but Tarzan and Sora stood at her sides and stared at him with furious gazes. Clayton forcefully smiled and walked from the tent.

"The nerve!" Jane raved some more before taking a seat. "I never should have..." A loud bang was heard from outside. "Clayton?" Jane asked but before it was out of her mouth Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan were out the tent.

"Oh no!" Sora shouted as he suddenly stopped running. Not far from the tent were several knee-high gorillas but they were an odd blue color and had the Heartless symbol on their chests. "Heartless!"

"Name?" Donald asked.

"Powerwilds," Sora said after using Scan. The four jumped into action as the Powerwilds came at them. Half came straight for Sora and the other half after Donald and Goofy. Sora took notice of this and how they weren't just coming after him. The Heartless were beginning to see Donald and Goofy as a threat.

"Fire!" Donald screamed and launched the attack. The Powerwild jumped away and brought his sharp claws down at him. Donald blocked with his staff and destroyed the Powerwild with a Thunder.

"Raging Boar!" Tarzan suddenly yelled and he zoomed forward with his spear nothing but a blur as he cut down three Powerwilds. Sora followed up by using his sharpened Keyblade to slice through one and blocked a strike from another.

Goofy blocked two Powerwilds with his shield and pushed forward, overpowering them. He brought his shield up and used the edges to cut through the two Powerwilds that had attacked him.

Sora jumped into the air and brought the Keyblade down vertically, effectively slicing through the final Powerwild. Sora turned to the others and gave them a thumbs up but a low growl caught his attention. From behind Donald and Goofy, Sabor came. This time there was a Heartless symbol on his forehead.

"Duck!" Sora yelled.

"What?!" Donald yelled back but Goofy grabbed him by the back of his neck and bent him forward just in time for Sabor to go flying over them. Sabor landed in front of Sora and brought up his claws. Tarzan came from nowhere, swinging on a vine, and caught Sabor by the neck.

"Sabor. Finished," Tarzan said before going as far up into the swing as possible and dropping Sabor. Sabor regained his senses and flipped in midair, landing on his feet. Sora immediately struck and created a deep gash in Sabor's side. Sabor winced before he let out a loud roar. Soon, about twenty Powerwilds appeared and stood between our heroes and the injured Sabor.

"Now what?" Goofy asked.

"Get Sabor," Tarzan said.

"There are to many Powerwilds," Donald told him.

"Tarzan get help," Tarzan said as he suddenly reared his head back and let out a thunderous yell while beating his chest. The yell was very rhythmic and apparently meant something to the others in the jungle as many gorillas suddenly showed up.

The gorillas attacked the Powerwilds with superior strength and slammed them around. Many more Heartless appeared as the others were destroyed. Sora caught sight of Sabor limping away from the battle.

"After Sabor!" Sora yelled.

"Go! Tarzan stay! Tarzan join you soon!" Tarzan told them as the jungle man jumped into the fray of gorilla vs. Heartless. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded and ran after Sabor.

Sabor sighed and dropped to the ground like dead weight. He was going to die because of the Keybearer. He heard the footsteps of the approaching people.

"There he is!" Donald shouted as they made it to Sabor. Sabor lifted his head and stared at the heroes but then dropped his head again.

"Bravo," Sora heard a voice. He looked up to see Clayton with several Powerwilds and Shadows behind him. Clayton chuckled and clapped. "I didn't think you would defeat Sabor. Oh well, he is useless now." Clayton raised his shotgun and aimed at Sabor's head and the shot rang out.

"You didn't have to do that!" Sora shouted.

"I just helped him. He would have died slow and painful before and I changed that," Clayton walked forward and the Heartless followed. "We should finish this."

"I agree," Sora dropped into attack stance. The Heartless ran for Donald and Goofy as Sora and Clayton faced off.

Tarzan sliced another Powerwild down with his spear. The elephants had arrived and were now crushing the Powerwilds under their feet and ramming them with their tusks. Kerchak took charge in his fight as he grabbed two Powerwilds by their necks and he slammed them into the ground.

"Get away!" the scream of Jane made Tarzan very alert. He jumped onto a nearby tree and climbed to the top. He spotted Jane near the tent and swung down on a vine, kicking away the Powerwild that threatened her.

"Jane must leave!" Tarzan said. He picked Jane up by the waist and jumped from tree to tree until he reached the tree house. "Jane be safe here. Tarzan sense. Sora, danger."

"Well then, go help him," Jane said.

"Jane be fine?"

"Yes, Jane be fine."

"Tarzan believe Jane," Tarzan said before jumping onto another vine and swinging back toward the battle.

"Good luck, Tarzan."

Sora sliced upward with the Keyblade but Clayton moved back from the sharpened edges. Clayton fired from the shotgun but Sora deflected it with the Keyblade. As Clayton made an amazing jump onto a high wall Sora tried to follow but could not jump that high.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled out the name of his new attack as magic energy surrounded him and he slammed through the Heartless with no resistance. Donald used a Thunder spell that hit two Shadows and they were destroyed. A Powerwild attacked Goofy from behind and knocked him to the ground. Numerous Shadows jumped on top of Goofy and searched for his heart.

Sora dodged a shot from Clayton. It was all he could do since he couldn't reach the hunter. Clayton took aim and fired. Sora moved to the right but Clayton had calculated this and the bullet tore through Sora's shoulder. Sora dropped to the ground and grabbed his shoulder. Clayton smiled at the sight Sora and took aim once again.

Goofy tore through the Shadows with all of his strength and a little help from Donald's Thunder spell. Goofy went into a full battle rage and took down Heartless left and right. As Goofy was doing this three Powerwilds were attacking Donald. One jumped at him but a Fire spell knocked it out of the air. Donald shot the other two with a Blizzard spell but a fourth jumped at his back. Goofy blocked the Powerwild with his shield and this alerted Donald to turn around. With one more Fire spell, the Heartless went down.

The finishing shot never came for Sora as Tarzan swung from above with his fierce yell and knocked Clayton from the cliff he stood on. Sora took this chance to reach inside himself for a new spell. He had seen Leon, Cid, and Aerith use it and it would be very useful to him. He closed his eyes and found the spell he needed.

"Cure!" Sora shouted and the green light washed over him as the bullet wound stopped bleeding and closed up and the pain faded.

"No!" Clayton shouted. "I won't lose!"

"It's over Clayton!" Donald shouted and he walked toward the fallen hunter.

"Oh no! It's just beginning!" Clayton said as he was suddenly thrown into the air and landed on top of something but there was nothing there. The way he sat made it look like he was riding something but he sat in mid-air. Tarzan let out a yell and ran for Clayton but he seemed to hit an invisible force field and was thrown back into a wall.

Clayton pointed down with his shotgun and took another shot but Sora, Donald, and Goofy dodged it.

"Sora, what's going on?" Goofy asked. Sora focused as hard as he could with the Scan ability until a name appeared in his head.

"It's a Stealth Sneak! My guess is it can become invisible!" Sora told them. Donald rolled his eyes as if to say "duh" and jumped at Clayton. He stopped where he thought was far enough away and used Thunder. Clayton was almost thrown from the invisible beast, as it must have jerked back from the electricity. Sora ran forward and slashed down until he heard blade meet skin.

Tarzan climbed to the top of a tree and swung down, grabbing Clayton by his shirt and throwing him from the Stealth Sneak. Goofy ran straight until he hit something and then started to strike the Stealth Sneak with hits from his shield. The Stealth Sneak retaliated by hitting Goofy as hard as it could and knocking him away.

Tarzan and Clayton had lost their weapons and were in fist-to-fist combat. Clayton punched at Tarzan but living in the jungle had made him quick and he easily dodged the blow. Tarzan flipped over Clayton and kicked him in the back on his way down. Clayton slid forward but got back up and kneed Tarzan in his gut. Tarzan recovered quickly recovered and clubbed his fists across Clayton's face and the hunter was sent to the ground, knocked out.

Donald was thrown into a rock from one of the Stealth Sneak's attacks. Sora pulled the Keyblade back and summoned up his magic.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora launched forward at an impossible speed and he felt the Keyblade tear through something and watched as a leg of the Stealth Sneak became visible as it was separated from the body. The entire Stealth Sneak then became visible. It was a large chameleon-like creature. Even though it was down it still had a trick or two left.

Goofy pushed Donald to the ground as two beams flew form the Stealth Sneak's eyes and hit the ground they had been standing on. Sora ran at the beast but was blasted away from an eye beam. The Stealth Sneak stood victorious over them and charged up two more eye beams. Just as he was about to launch them, Tarzan's spear ripped through its chest and the Stealth Sneak's eyes widened before falling, dead, on top of Clayton. As the shadowy heart emerged from the Stealth Sneak, both Clayton and the monster disappeared.

"We won," Sora said as he stood with Donald and Goofy. Tarzan joined them after grabbing his spear from the ground.

"Kerchak," Tarzan said and Sora saw the lead gorilla walk up to them. Kerchak grabbed Sora by the shoulder and tossed him to an upper level of the cliffs. Sora stared at the beauty of the lake that was on top of the cliffs and the many waterfalls. Donald and Goofy landed next to Sora and Tarzan swung in with Jane in arm. Tarzan motioned them into a cave at the bottom of the even higher cliffs.

"Tarzan, home," he said. Tarzan then spoke in his gorilla language the same thing he had said to Sora when they first met.

"This is your home?" Sora asked.

"The waterfalls, they echo all the way here," Jane heard. Tarzan once again spoke the phrase in gorilla.

"Friends here. See friends," Tarzan pointed to his chest.

"Oh, now I've got it," Jane said and she repeated the gorilla phrase. "That means heart."

"Heart," Tarzan repeated.

"Oh, so that's what you meant," Sora said in a slightly disappointed voice.

"Friends, same heart," Tarzan said. "Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no friends." Sora rubbed the back of his head and turned to Donald.

"Sorry about what I said," Sora said.

"I'm sorry too," Donald told him.

"Yeah, all for one huh?" Goofy laughed as he put his arms around Sora and Donald. A bunch of bright blue butterflies flew from their nesting place and a hole shaped like a keyhole appeared.

"Another one," Sora said. He brought up the Keyblade and pointed the tip at the Keyhole. A thin beam flew from the Keyblade and the Keyhole was locked.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?" asked one of the men in the dark room. There were only two of the men and Maleficent.

"The hunter lured them there," Maleficent said.

"But he got chomped himself!" the second man laughed.

"A weak-hearted fool like himself could not control the Heartless. But the boy found yet another Keyhole," the first man said.

"Relax," Maleficent assured them. "Everything is falling into place."

"Tarzan give you this," Tarzan handed Sora a small object. Sora examined and saw it was a Keychain.

"I wonder," Sora said as he took the original Keychain from the Keyblade and put the new one on. The Keyblade then transformed. The handle and blade was made of some sturdy wood and the key part was five hard bamboo sticks sticking out from the side of the top. "I'll call this the Jungle King." Sora said. "I'll call the original the Kingdom Key."

"Goodbye you guys," Goofy waved to Tarzan and Jane as they went to leave. Tarzan and Jane thanked them and said their goodbyes.

When Sora, Donald, and Goofy reached the Gummi Ship Donald pulled out the two Gummi Blocks he had found. One from Wonderland and one from here.

"Those aren't ordinary Gummis. No sir," Goofy shook his head.

"Maybe we should go ask Leon. He might know," Sora suggested.

"I guess," Donald said. "Let's go."

"I wanna be pilot!" Sora ran past them into the ship.

"Hey, stop it!" Donald yelled.

"Oh, come on! I'm the Keyblade Master!"

"I don't care who you are! No!"

"Here we go again," Goofy shook his head and climbed aboard.