Chapter 3: Battle of the Slimes

Sora was the last one to get up the next day. He sheathed his Keyblade—with the Chocobo keychain—in the scabbard on the side of his waist and hastily left the tent. Everyone was outside making last-minute preparations on their equipment, while Squall started to fold up his tent. Surprisingly, no one scolded Sora for getting up late.

"Hey kid," Cloud said as he took a couple of practice swipes with his bandage-covered Buster Sword. Sora's mouth gaped open once again; Cloud's 'coolness' was just too much for him. "Don't just stand there," Cloud continued, "help Leon fold back the tents."

Sora snapped out of it and obeyed his command. On the way to help Squall, he bypassed Donald and Goofy, who were arguing as usual.

"No, no, no; not from this side…the hole for your head is up!" Donald yelled, helping Goofy to wear his brown shirt properly. Right now, Goofy's head was out from the right arm hole of the shirt, while his right hand stuck out from the head hole and was covered by his hat. Goofy tried again, but somehow his head got stuck inside the shirt.

"This is useless," Donald muttered as he turned back to observe Cloud practicing on his sword. "Showoff," he muttered again.

In a couple of minutes everything was packed and they were set to go. Goofy finally wore his shirt right and surprisingly was able to strap his shield behind his back without any problems. Cloud sheathed the Buster Sword back in the scabbard hidden behind his cape and took a head start. Squall and Sora walked alongside each other, deep in conversation about Squall's friends – it felt like a one-sided conversation since Squall had one-word replies to Sora's barrage of questions. Donald waited for Goofy, who was fiddling around with his shield for no reason whatsoever. The short-tempered Duck stopped him—before he does any more 'damage' to himself—and dragged him along forcefully, stomping his flat feet on the ground while muttering endlessly.

The journey was underway once again! The sky was blue with white 'spots' all over, and the morning sun was throwing its javelins of sunlight to the grassy ground underneath it. The grass and leaves rustled about, the wind howled loudly, and the birds chirped a beautiful melody – indeed, this was the song of a brand new day.

"Listen up," Cloud yelled, gaining the party's attention. "Right now we're in the 'Crossroad between Worlds' and we're looking for a portal back to Traverse Town, home base. The King informed Squall and I of a Sacred Staff which has the power to teleport us out of here. The Staff is owned by King Trode, who will hopefully fully cooperate once we explain our situation."

"Hold on there," Goofy interrupted. "There's something wrong with this picture."

"Please do share with us your words of wisdom captain of the Disney Knights," Donald sarcastically said.

"Well I'll be most happy to Donald my boy," Goofy said happily, not noticing the sarcasm in Donald's voice. "Think about it; is the 'Crossroad between Worlds' actually a…er…world? Or is this world actually a…um…crossroad? Yeah, a crossroad…that's pretty deep thinking I tell you. Ha-yuck!"

Cloud sighed, Sora chuckled, Squall grinned, and Donald slapped his hand on his forehead, sliding it slowly downward and across his beak. "Oh brother," the Duck said in a low tone.

"Thank you Goofy," Cloud said, unimpressed. Goofy kept repeating the words 'world' and 'crossroad' whilst muttering gibberish in between the repeats, making fast hand and pointing jesters.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand," Cloud continued. Nobody fully recovered from Goofy's 'deduction', especially Donald. "As we head north, we should find clues of its whereabouts. So be on the lookout for anything suspicious."

"Aye-aye, captain!" Everyone shouted.

The gang walked for hours and hours, yet they had seen nothing but empty meadows. The once-blue sky eventually went dark, the white clouds were replaced with gray ones, the song of a brand new day was overshadowed by the sound of thunder, and the sun's javelins of light couldn't reach the earth anymore, for the lighting brewing in the sky seemed to be the primary light source of this world. Everyone started to feel uneasy.

"Something bad is happening," Squall announced. "I can feel it."

"Well you're not the only one," Sora said. After all, he was the bearer of the Keyblade. He freed lots of troubled worlds before, and what was going on now felt no different from the other worlds he once visited.

"Could it be…Heartless are here?" Goofy stuttered, looking a bit shaky.

"Bring it on! I'm afraid of no shadowy sh—ouch!" Goofy elbowed Donald on the ribs before he continued his sentence.

"Donald, not in front of the kids," Goofy whispered loudly, "we have a reputation to maintain you know."

"Sorry," Donald said as he rubbed his side. "But for once I'd like to act my age!"

"Stop!" Cloud yelled, extending his arms in a horizontal manner. Everyone stood their ground silently, but when Cloud suddenly unsheathed his Buster Sword and posed for battle, all of them jerked except for Squall.

"Everybody get ready! I can see something heading this way," Cloud said as he held his battle posture. The wind was getting even stronger, and Cloud's fluttering cape was an indication of that - the leather scabbard strapped to his back was fully visible now, no longer hiding under the cape's shelter. Everyone mimicked Cloud – Sora and Squall unsheathed their blades and held their battle stances; Goofy pulled out his round shield (gold engraved with a blue Mickey symbol) and simply stood his ground; and Donald waved his hands and fingers about, getting ready to cast some magic, kick ass, and take names.

The shadowed figures were heading closer and closer. In a short time everyone was able to make out what they were…

"…slimes!" Donald exclaimed. Yes, slimes…four slimes with faces to be exact, each one donned a different color – blue, red, metallic, and green from right-to-left. The latter slime had a knight riding on it, fully equipped with sword and armor. The height of the slimes was exactly like Donald's.

"Dog-gone-" Donald was muttering as he marched forward, approaching the metallic slime. The rest of the group calmly observed; they knew it was no use stopping Donald when he started feeling overconfident.

First, Donald cast a fire spell on the metallic slime, but it seemed unaffected after the smoke cleared. Donald started losing it, and cast a variety of elemental-based spells in succession, yet the slime was still holding its ground. It didn't even budge to counter attack; it just stood there with a semi-happy face. Donald tried pushing and carrying it, but it was no use; it still didn't move from its place. Then, the Duck finally lost his temper and gestured his typical 'put-up-your-dukes' pose while jumping around mumbling nonsense. As the final straw, he kicked the slime with full-force…a metallic sound followed by Donald yelping in pain was heard as he kept hopping around in one leg while holding his other foot.

"Donald, stop wasting time!" Cloud scolded, turned back to the party and started shouting instructions. "Goofy, you take the far right. Sora, the red one is all yours." Cloud turned back to an injured Donald and shouted, "Donald, go and take down that knight in the far left."

"And what are you and Leon going to do?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.

Cloud chuckled in reply, resting the Buster Sword on his shoulder plate as Squall began to answer, "Well isn't it obvious? Somebody has to take the middle, and for your information Cloud and I are those perfect 'somebodies' for the job. Don't ask why."

Sora and Goofy exchanged confused looks while Squall whispered to Cloud, "so, wager still on, spiky?" Squall extended his hand, waiting for his reply.

"Hell yeah! Bring it, Squall. Or should I call you 'Puff'?" Cloud whispered back coolly with a mocking tone, shaking his rival's hand for a second.

Squall replied with a 'whatever' and then everyone charged towards their respective opponents, weapons held up high and adrenaline flowing in their veins. Donald shook the pain out of his foot and followed them to battle.

Goofy charged at the blue slime with his shield held in front of his face. The slime just stood there, waiting forits opponent. Unfortunately—yet typical of Goofy—he forgot was that he was much taller than the slime, thus he had charged at thin air, tripping over the slime and falling face-first on the grass. Spitting the grass out of his mouth, he stood up and faced it once again only to notice that its face was twisted up a bit. Apparently, that simple trip caused damage. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Goofy charged again extending his shield in front of him, but this time he lowered his arms to the slime's height. The attack connected with flying colors; the slime exploded upon impact and its remains flew about, parts of it stuck on the shield and Goofy's eyes. Despite being temporarily blind, Goofy kept on running with his shield-equipped hands fully extended in front of him. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" he yelled, heading towards Sora and the red slime without even knowing.

Meanwhile, the Keyblade bearer was having a hard time connecting a hit on the red slime. It was a slippery foe because it kept bouncing around like a beach ball. Sora attempted a huge swing on the slime, but in the last second it dodged the attack and bounced up high. Sora stumbled in front as a result of that miss, leaving him open for attack. The red slime landed hard on Sora's head, pinning him flat on the ground and knocking the Keyblade out of his grip. The slime stood next to a prone Sora, who started crawling towards his keyblade. Little did he know thatit was getting ready for a follow-up attack. Defenceless, the boy looked back as he kept on crawling, noticingit flattened stance. It looked like the slime was going to jump on him again, but luckily Goofy came to the rescue in the nick of time. The blinded knight bumped into the slime, knocking it away yet stopping Goofy's running. Sora yelled a 'thank you' to a clueless and blind Goofy, picked up his Keyblade, and ran towards his fallen opponent. Sora jumped up high and pointed his blade vertically to the paralyzed slime. He connected forcefully with a perfect downward thrust, and luckily for Goofy he was able to witness the whole thing because he had wiped the slime off his eyes just before Sora started his attack. The lanky Knight's jaw dropped as the red slime exploded upon impact, sending its remains everywhere…and once again, a piece of slime connected with Goofy's face.

A slime-covered Sora approached Goofy and helped remove the slime off his face. Both of them smiled at each other.

"Wow," Goofy blurted out, "I have never seen an attack like that Sora. Amazing!"

Sora blushed and scratched the back of his head in reply. "Aw, it was nothing."

"Gawsh Sora…you HAVE TO teach me that attack some day."

"All in good time pal. Now let's go and check on the others. I can't make out the action from here." And with that, Sora and Goofy ran to the middle area, where Cloud, Squall, and that metallic slime were fighting.

"Taste cold steel, metal-ass!" the ex-SOLIDER shouted as he continuously slashed the metallic slime. Squall and Cloud had been taking turns on damaging it, but everything they tried was useless. Even Cloud's Meteor attack didn't work. Both swordsmen were on their knees panting heavily, for they were fresh out of ideas…until…

"Cloud, screw the bet," Squall said in between pants. "We got to go at this thing at the same time."

"Yeah," Cloud replied, "I'm too tired to object to that idea. In fact, it sounds so crazy it just might work. Let's get it on!"

Cloud and Squall stood up slowly and started running towards the slime, swords held high. No longer were they panting; their newfound hope replenished their energy. The sound of their combined battle cries was even louder than the thunder. Just a couple of more steps and their final attack will connect. All of a sudden, it started to rain…the sound of raindrops falling on the slime's metallic exterior joined the warrior's battle cries and the sky's thunder, creating an unusual yet eerie symphony.

Just a little more…

A little bit more…

Now!

"Double Slash!"

Both warriors simultaneously swung their swords, directly connecting with the metallic slime. The sound of steel slashing on metal roared loudly, and a bright light flashed from the point of impact, causing the swordsmen to shield their eyes and step back. Once the light disappeared, they removed their free arm from their eyes…

…only to see the metallic slime smiling back at them, standing its ground unaffected.

The sound of raindrops falling on the metallic slime haunted the swordsmen ears, as their azure-eyes remained fixated on its face. Unexpectedly, the slime blinked once, and his smile faded to a frown. Then, it turned its back on them and hopped away. Cloud and Squall stood like stones as the voice of Sora calling their names echoed from a distance. They didn't even turn their heads to greet the approaching Sora and Goofy.

"Cloud! Squall! Are you guys…okay?" Sora said as he and Goofy stopped running.

The black-clad warriors replied with a nod. Their sword-wielding arms slumped to their sides, a muffled metallic sound resulting from the tips of their blades connecting with the wet dirt.

"So didya get that metal monster?" Sora asked.

Cloud and Squall replied simultaneously; the former warrior with a 'yes' and the latter one with a 'no'.

"Huh?" Said Goofy, as he and Sora exchanged flabbergasted looks.

"Well…erm…both yes and no," Cloud said with an emotionless tone.

"How so?" Sora asked again.

"Well…erm…it ran away after we attacked it?" Squall intentionally phrased it as a question, thinking that Sora and Goofy would not believe his 'excuse'.

After a moment's silence, Sora and Goofy started yelling and dancing in celebration.

"You guys rock!" Sora yelled.

"I second that!" Goofy also shouted.

While Sora and Goofy were busy dancing and hooting, Cloud whispered to Squall, "this NEVER took place." The SeeD agent nodded in reply.

Donald was having trouble attacking his opponent. At first he thought of taking out the knight's "slimy ride" to ease his situation, but it was hopeless since the green slime seemed immune to all elemental attacks. Moreover, the knight had a shield which protected him from the wizard's magic. Thus, the only way to take it down was by brute force, and that was exactly what Donald had in mind

He charged at the slime like a bull, but this proved to be a huge mistake…for the slime opened its mouth and gobbled up Donald whole. His muffled muttering can still be heard from the outside. Moments later, the slime spat him out, the force causing him to tumble face first on a mucky puddle of dirt and water. He tried lifting his head up, but the slime hopped on top of it, burying it underneath the wet dirt. The slime and knight had their back turned on Donald, and all of a sudden the knight started laughing. Donald managed to lift his head up once again, and now he was furious. They had crossed the line with that cheap stunt, and he was going to show them that no one messed with the Duck. Donald slowly stood up, dirt and water dripping from his face, as he fixated his beady black eyes on the knight. He suddenly jumped and screamed in fury, catching the knight's attention. The knight signaled his slime to turn around, and once it did, the knight noticed Donald charging at them with blinding speed. Unfazed, the knight laughed and put away his shield, expecting Donald to be eaten again. But this time Donald did the unthinkable; he jumped up and nailed the knight with a powerful clothesline, dismounting him from his slimy steed. The knight landed head-first on the ground with a loud thud, and Donald was kneeling next to him. The slime hopped away in fear and the knight was moaning in pain, but the ill-tempered Duck wasn't finished. He mumbled a couple of nonsensical words and thrust his hand on the knight's breastplate, and instantaneously after removing his hand, a blue force-field formed around the knight, closing in on him fast. The space around the knight was getting smaller and smaller by the second, crushing the knight slowly. The knight begged for mercy while he was forced to curl himself into a ball, but Donald said nothing. The duck stood up and observed his surroundings. No one was in sight. No Goofy to elbow him. At last; this was his chance to act his age. He looked down his trapped opponent and grinned.

"Who's laughing now, bitch!"

On the other side of the field, Cloud and Squall were wiping the sticky slime off Sora and Goofy. Everyone was dead-tired from the battle, and the heavy rain wasn't helping. They almost seemed to be choking for air in this weather. Finally, Squall revealed his backpack and signaled everyone to help him set up camp.

"Does anyone know where the heck Donald is?" Sora asked as his spread the tent sheet on the ground.

"Here I am!" Donald yelled from a distance. He seemed to be carrying something blue. The gang couldn't make it out until he was near enough.

"I got a prisoner," Donald announced, as he threw the imprisoned knight on the ground next to the gang. Everyone noticed that the blue force-field was closing in on the knight, as he kept yelling in pain. Donald raised his head up high and puffed his chest, placing his flat foot on the knight. Goofy and Sora applauded and whistled, causing Donald to bow in reply.

"Donald, release it," Cloud said, silencing the celebration. "We can't question him in this state."

"But I-"

"Donald," Cloud said again, being as patient as ever. "Do it."

The Duck did as he was told, for he released his foot from the knight and the force-field immediately disappeared from around him. He wanted to punch Cloud in the face for his arrogance. Who does he think he is, anyway?

Cloud kneeled before the fallen knight. "Tell us all we need to know, and we'll set you free."

The knight stuttered in reply, "A-A-Aktemto."

"What?" Cloud said.

"Aktemto," the knight replied again, stuttering and shaking. "It's a mine town east of here. You'll find everything you need to know there. Now please let me go before the duck fries me!" The knight sounded hysterical. Donald grinned.

Cloud picked him up from his collar, stood up, and threw him across the field. The knight landed with a loud metallic thud, and limped as far away as possible.

The gang set up one tent and squeezed inside. Everyone gave each other looks, as the sound of thunder remained fresh outside. Somehow, they had a strange feeling about all this…a feeling that they were being watched.

In the meantime, as the knight limped further and further, a huge black shadow appeared out of nowhere. The knight whimpered in fear.

"You told them," the shadow said in a deep voice.

"But I-I-I…the duck…he was going to kill me…I c-couldn't-"

"That's not an excuse. Goodbye, Slime Knight. I sentence you to an eternity in the corn field."

"No…not the corn field! Please, anything but-"

The knight was cut off by a bright light engulfing him, screaming in pain and agony. The mysterious figure laughed manically.

"Welcome to the Twilight Zone, heroes. Soon, I'll get to face you...Goofy…after humiliating me…you'll pay for what you've done."