DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE PLOT AND MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!
A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE OUT THERE! IT'S CHRISTMASTIME! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! HIP-HIP-HOORAY! YES!
So, since it is Christmastime, I decided to give you a present - a whole new Chapter! In This case, it is CHAPTER 22! Why not give a new Chapter for Christmas? After all, This Story's title IS "Kingdom Hearts - Season of Light".
"Season of Light"... I wonder what that means to you? To me, it means "HOPE" and shows that there's always "Light deep inside the Darkness". That's the main reason why I chose to title This Story "Season of Light". It even takes place during the Holiday Season! Coincidence? No way!
That aside, I wanted to give you a piece of TRIVIA today! That's the Bonus present I have for you!
DID YOU KNOW? "Kim Possible" was a record-holding Disney show. Unlike all the Disney shows before it, it had four seasons - making it the longest Disney show at the time. This record was later broken by "Phineas And Ferb". Despite this, "Kim Possible" STILL holds the record for being the only Disney show to have an extra season after its initial finale. The main reason for the show's continuation in a fourth season was due to its immense popularity.
What does this tell you? If a show you REALLY enjoy is on the verge of being cancelled, discontinued, or simply put on hiatus, make sure there's plenty of fans out there who also want it to return. If there are, the company might decide to bring it back and maybe finish the story they were telling (provided the show has a linear storyline).
On top of all that, I have an ANNOUNCEMENT!
Regarding those of you who read and enjoyed my "LATE story", "Once Upon A Time ~The Darkest Age~", I have recently completed a full storyline summary for its revival. Instead of making it a spin-off, I decided to move the story around and have it take place sometime AFTER the story of the show's Fifth Season has ended. It may not be completely accurate in comparison with the show since it was mainly being planned out this past Fall. Either way, I do have plans to bring it back sometime in the not-too-distant future.
I HOPE all of you "ONCE UPON A TIME" fans will be looking forward to it! I know I am!
So, since This Chapter is a little on the LONG side, I shall allow you to read on ahead.
PLEASE READ TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! AND PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO REVIEW, TOO!
LET'S GET BACK TO SORA AND HIS FRIENDS IN MIDDLETON!
CHAPTER 22
The Love Triangle
The dawn came early over the city of Middleton. To Sora, it had come a little too early. He was used to sleeping in at least two hours whenever he didn't have school the next day. Clearly, school was still in session in this world, unlike back home on the Destiny Islands. He sighed and carefully clambered off the couch.
As he stretched, Sora took a look around. He noticed the living room was a brownish color and the television on the other end was a large one. Donald was lying on the living room table covered by a blanket. Goofy and Launchpad were lying on cots before the television set. Amemi was still laying on the other couch near where Sora was. All of them were fast asleep.
So… what had awakened him?
The sound of footsteps rushing down a staircase filled his ears. Sora turned his eyes towards the house's entrance and hurried that way. He found Kim rapidly heading for the door. She was wearing a crimson sweater and tan pants.
"Hey!" he called, seizing the teenage girl's attention. "Where're you going?"
"To school," Kim replied.
"I don't think it's safe," Sora said, recalling the Heartless incident from yesterday. For all he knew, the city streets were probably swarming with Heartless by now.
"So not the drama," Kim reassured the brown-haired young man. "Those 'Heartless' are miles away."
She opened the front door. At once, an Air Soldier Heartless swooped inside. Kim ducked. Sora's Keyblade was in his hand and he swung it. The Heartless split into two and crumpled apart into Darkness.
"That was close!" Sora declared.
"What was?"
Sora and Kim turned around to see Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi were up and about and staring at them with perplexity in their eyes.
"A Heartless just came in," Sora clarified. He turned to Kim. "Looks like you'll need some help getting to school."
"School?!" Donald exclaimed. He nearly fainted from shock. How he hated that word! Aside from the time he'd been a truant officer, the idea of being in a classroom was just plain boring. His least favorite aspect of it was homework. That was one of the main reasons why he had decided to avoid going to college and instead enlisted in the Navy. Homework… and his lifelong desire to see the world.
Kim nodded. "While I'm there, you can look for Drakken's latest lair."
"Okay," Sora approved.
Before long, Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were walking down the street with Kim. As strolled along, some more Heartless crossed their path. They worked together multiple times to clear the way. Despite having a backpack with heavy textbooks and her homework assignments in it, Kim was still able to move about with ease, which came in handy when she had to punch and kick a giant Shadow Heartless into oblivion.
After about fifteen minutes, Kim turned to Amemi. "You were totally right."
"I was?" a surprised Amemi questioned. "What was I right about?"
"The Bonnie problem," Kim explained. "Non issue. Who cares about the 'food chain'? Ron and I are cool."
"What made you decide that?" the sandy-headed girl asked.
"I thought about it overnight," Kim went on. "Ron's been my best friend since we were in Pre-K. I mean, he's… "
At that moment, Sora and the others spotted a motorized scooter slowly driving down the street. It was a faded blue color with the image of a ferret displayed as a logo on its handlebars. Seated at the controls was Ron with Rufus riding on his shoulders. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be smiling.
Kim sighed. "…Full of child-like wonder."
"Hey, buddy!" Launchpad called to Ron. "Seems to me, you're enjoying the ride."
"Yeah," Ron took a deep breath and smiled all the more. "When it's just me and my machine scorching across the blacktop, I kinda lose myself."
Rufus gave Launchpad a thumbs-up. "Hey!"
"See you at school," Kim called as Ron started to pick up speed.
"Later, Ron!" Sora called in turn.
The school seemed a bit more inviting when Sora and his teammates arrived. The giant sign out front had been changed. It now read,
"MONSTERS! TAKE COVER HERE!"
Sora had to shake his head. He was not sure what it meant… unless it was referring to the Heartless. Either way, he didn't have the time to worry about it. He needed to track down Drakken, Pete, and Don Karnage in this very city. Then again, if this world was much bigger than this one city, they could very well be anywhere.
Wherever they were, Sora was confident he would be able to find and stop them before the day was done.
They all stopped at the school's entrance. Kim walked on inside. Sora waved to her and she waved back. "Later!" Sora called to her.
"See you later at Bueno Nacho!" Kim returned.
Before she could get two feet away from the doorway, a large man strode through. Sora and his friends stared at him. He was tall, muscular, with dark eyes and dark hair cut into a neat flattop. He was wearing a dark-brown suit jacket, grey shirt, black tie, khaki pants, and black shoes. He scowled at the sight at the group.
"H-Hi, sir!" Sora tried to say. He gulped halfway through the first word.
"Mr. Barkin!" Kim declared.
"I hope you're not planning to run late again, Possible," Barkin told her in a deep, gruff voice. "Or I'll be seeing you after school, in detention."
Since Barkin was focused on Kim, Sora took the opportunity to turn away. Donald whispered to the others, "He's mean."
"He reminds me of your admiral," Launchpad told the duck.
"No way!" Donald stated. "Admiral Grimace was nice! This guy's mean!"
Sora and the others had gotten only four steps away when a booming voice shouted. "You there! Stop!"
The group halted in their tracks and spun around. To Sora's horror and surprise, Barkin was scowling straight at him. "Trying to skip class, are we?" the tall, large man stated in a firm voice. He pointed at the doorway. "Get inside — now!"
Sora gave a deeper-than-normal sigh. He gradually made his way to the school's main entrance and opened the door. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi all dragged on in like kids dreading a Monday morning. Sora closed the door behind himself and followed the others inside.
Kim met up with them. "Sorry," she said to Sora. "Mr. Barkin's the principal. He often substitutes in class."
Sora sighed in dismay. "I thought I was done for the semester," he muttered. "Now I'm back in school."
He stopped. "How am I gonna find Drakken and Pete while I'm stuck in here?!"
"Don't worry, Sora," Amemi spoke up. "We'll take a look after school is over." She smiled. "I don't think we'll have to look too far."
Sora grinned. "Yeah, you're right."
That was when Sora realized Goofy and Launchpad were missing. He scanned his eyes around, but the tall dog and duck-pilot had disappeared. "Huh? Where'd they go?"
"Goofy!" Amemi called. "Launchpad!"
"They wandered off, again," Donald grumbled. He turned to face Sora. "I told you Goofy and Launchpad aren't the smartest around!"
Sora sighed, again. Could things get any worse? First, he had been unable to stop Pete and Drakken at the resort last night. Second, he had been forced into a high school by who he assumed was the principal of said school. Now, Goofy and Launchpad had wandered off someplace. With all those Heartless roaming the streets outside….
He shook his head. Things had not been working out lately. He'd been stuck trying to keep peace between his teammates, especially after Donald had declared he was not going to fight alongside Goofy or Launchpad anymore. He had nearly watched a few worlds fall to Darkness — Ancient Empire, Jamestowne, and La Ville de Sonner Les Cloches. His new cellular phone had been cracked by one of Xehanort's Organization members, Isa. He'd witnessed someone taking their last breath because he'd been unable to protect them from the Darkness. He had had to protect his sister ever since he'd learned she'd stowed away aboard Herbie. He'd even almost been burned at the stake!
Yet, other things had managed to work out well. He had succeeded in saving the lost city of Atlantis from the Heartless. He had restored peace between a Native American tribe and some English settlers. He had brought true justice to a city and put an end to the terror of a corrupt public official. He had encouraged Milo to save Atlantis despite how terrible everything had seemed, helped Pocahontas save John Smith and prevent a war, and convinced Quasimodo not to let his heart be a prison.
Having done all these things in one quest so far, Sora had to grin brightly. Perhaps this was just another annoying setback he needed to wait out. Chances were, it would be over before he knew it. Then, he could leave this dreadfully boring school building and return to battling some Heartless!
A strong smell entered his nose. It wasn't a bad smell. It smelled like… food?
"Do you guys smell that?" Sora inquired.
Amemi took a sniff. "Yes, I do."
Donald looked further down the hallway. He noticed a sign that read "Cafeteria". "Aw phooey," he grumbled. "They went to the lunchroom."
Sora had to shake his head. Goofy and Launchpad were only being themselves. What better place to search for them than the school's cafeteria?
Kim led the way into the cafeteria. Sora, Amemi, and Donald were seconds behind her.
When they got inside, they looked around. The cafeteria was a wide room with lots of tables and chairs. The floor was tiled and there were rectangular windows on the far wall. One table was decorated, which made it stand out like a sore thumb. There was a short line at the counter and an older woman was serving… something or other.
"Let's take a look," Kim suggested.
Sora quickly noticed Goofy and Launchpad at a nearby table. They were chowing down on what appeared to be greenish slop. Donald took one look and turned away.
Sora walked up to the table. "Guys! How'd you get here so fast?"
"We smelled food," Goofy replied, despite his mouth being a little full.
"It smells like what mother used to make," Launchpad added. "But it doesn't taste as good."
Sora had to agree, the two each had a good point. The food on the pair's trays did not look very appetizing. The same thing was true about the food he had eaten at his own school back home. Well… at the leas the food back home seemed edible.
The seventeen-year-old Keyblader took a seat beside his friends. Amemi plopped down next to him. Donald sat beside her, so Kim took a seat beside him. To the duck's horror, Kim had a tray of the same sloppy mess Goofy and Launchpad had. He tried to look away since he was jammed between two people.
Ron came over to the table to join them. He was yakking away to someone who Sora didn't recognize. The stranger was a tall, young man sporting somewhat-messy, long, dark hair, tanned skin, dark eyes, and thick eyebrows. He was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt with a green stripe across his upper torso, white pants, and red-and-white sneakers.
Amemi stared at the young man. To Sora, she seemed to have been "taken in" as he'd heard it was called. Of course, this was something he was not well-informed about, so he was not sure if he had this information accurate.
"Hey, KP!" Ron declared.
"Ron," Kim turned to look at her friend. She stared at the unknown young man the same way Amemi was already.
"Hey, Erik, my man," Ron said as he prepared to sit next to Kim. "Pull up a chair. Why don't you… "
He was cut off mid-sentence when the young man took a seat on the other side of Kim from Sora. This sudden movement caused Donald to get pushed away from the table and knocked the duck mage onto the floor.
Ron seemed a little startled and puzzled. "Isn't that interesting? Actually, that's my chair. Not that my name's on it, but… "
"Hi," Kim said to the dark-haired young man.
"Hey there," Sora called with a brief wave. He then noticed the stranger was keeping his eyes only on Kim.
"Hey," the young man said to Kim. He gestured to himself. "Erik. How you doing?"
"Your name is 'Erik'?" Goofy wondered aloud.
"Yeah," Erik acknowledged. "What else would it be?"
Goofy paused in deep thought. "Hmm… good question."
"I like him," Amemi said with a large smile. She extended her hand to him from across the table. "I'm Amemi, but you can call me 'Amy'."
Erik shook her hand for a moment before he went back to looking at Kim. The red-headed teenager was staring back with a slightly-timid smile.
Monique suddenly passed by. She stared with excitement written all over her face. "Girl," she exclaimed to Kim. "I just went from so to whoa!"
Erik, Sora, Goofy, and Launchpad were equally mystified. "Huh?"
"It takes a while to learn 'Monique speak'," Kim chuckled with a nervous smile.
"How about you?" Erik asked.
Kim was seemingly caught off guard. "What about me?"
An impatient Ron pushed his way between the two. "Ha, ha! Yeah… Kim is such a kidder," he declared. "Did I mention we'd known each other since Pre-K? Good time. Good times!"
Everyone stared at him. For a moment, Ron was grinning with joy. The next, his face was downcast. He sighed and stood up to leave the table. As he walked away, Sora saw Bonnie sitting close by at a nearby table. She stuck out her leg and caused Ron to trip. He stumbled over and landed face-first onto the floor. His tray went flying and everything on it splashed onto Donald, who had been sulking against the wall.
Donald was furious, even at an anxiously-smiling Ron. The mage clutched at the ends of his blue clothes, now dripping with sloppy green who-knows-what. "This is very exasperating!" Donald grumbled out loud.
Ron gave a deep sigh and his eyes saddened within seconds. "I feel as though a loop has just been formed… and I'm not in it."
Sora turned back to the table. He could clearly see all the attention Kim and Erik were giving each other. This sight reminded him of how he often felt about all the attention Kairi had given Riku a few years ago. It was something he would rather not remember. Then again, this scenario was probably not uncommon. He had once seen Amemi try to have a date with a boy back on the islands. Yet, their mom refused to allow her to go on a date — at all.
…That wasn't related to what was going on here… or was it?
He wondered if he really did know what Ron was going through, watching Kim and Erik holding each other's attention….
The day seemed to move at a snail's pace. Sora and Amemi trailed Kim from class to class, while Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad followed Ron around. A few times, their classes did cross one another.
In one such class, Sora was pleased to see his entire team in there, even with Kim, Ron, and Erik also in it. He noticed how Kim and Erik were looking at each other every chance they got, much to Ron's displeasure. Yet, what stood out about this particular class was that Mr. Barkin was there to greet them.
"Listen up, people!" Barkin announced. "Ms. Carlson, while catching some big air at the skate-park, neglected to check for cross-winds."
Ron raised his hand and asked, "You're taking over this class, too?"
"No, Stoppable," Barkin replied. He pointed at the classroom door. "She'll be taking over this class."
The door opened. In stepped a young woman with long, black hair, pale-green skin and green eyes. She was decked out in a tan jacket over a sea-green shirt and dark-gray skirt. There was a teal headband nestled neatly in her hair, and she had black heels slipped on her feet. In her arms were a few thick books. She grinned at the class.
Sora was startled. Why did this woman seem so… familiar? He noticed her body was giving a faint, greenish glow. It seemed so strange, yet nostalgic. Why?
He caught a glimpse of Kim gasping from shock.
The woman stepped up to the chalkboard and wrote what Sora assumed was her name — "Miss Go". She turned around to smile at the class. "Good morning, class!" she declared in a happy voice.
"Good morning, Miss Go," most of the students returned. The ones who didn't say anything were Kim, Sora, Goofy, and Donald. The knight was busy doodling on his desk and Donald was starting to doze off.
Kim nudged Sora. "That's Shego," she stated.
Sora paused in thought. Was this young lady teaching the class really Drakken's sidekick? Could she be the same woman he'd fought in the showroom just the night before? He wasn't quite sure. Then again, he wasn't sure about a lot of things.
Barkin strode up to the teacher. "If there's anything I can do," he said with a friendly grin.
The young woman giggled a little. "Gee, thanks, Mr. Barkin."
"Please, call me 'Steven'," Barkin told her. "'Steve', whatever rolls off your tongue."
Sora was startled and confused. The first few times he'd seen this school's principal, he'd seemed rather loud, stern, strict, and completely unfriendly. Now it appeared Mr. Barkin had a softer side… was it all his imagination?
Barkin started for the open doorway. He stopped and turned back. "And don't let them tell you that they're supposed to have class outside," he stated firmly. "We put a stop to that after the 'jellyfish' episode."
The green-skinned woman gasped and smiled. "Aww, that's so sweet!" she remarked. "You took the class to the beach!"
"No beach," Barkin corrected from the doorway. "Just jellyfish. Don't ask."
He left the room, shutting the door behind him. Sora was as perplexed as Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, Amemi, Kim, and Ron were. What was this nonsense about "jellyfish"? Whatever it was, it probably did not matter anyway.
The teacher turned to the board and started writing a mathematical equation. It read,
2a – 3b + c = 0
She turned back and asked the class, "Does anyone know what the answers are?"
Goofy scribbled down on a piece of paper in a hurry. He then raised his hand and declared, "One, and one-half!"
The green-skinned young woman smiled. "That's right!"
"What?!" a shocked Donald exclaimed. His eyes with wide with the same sight as someone who had just witnessed something they had assumed was impossible. To Sora, this was not completely unfamiliar. After all, the duck had been pointing out pretty much all of Goofy's faults.
Amemi was also startled. Sora was not quite sure as to why she was. She had not known the knight as long as he had, so he wasn't sure how she could be taken by surprise over something like this so easily. Then again, he might've just answered his own contemplation.
Of course, this didn't mean Goofy didn't make mistakes easily. It meant that he could surprise others with quite a bit of intelligence. It was clear, the knight knew quite a lot about Math, the hated Quadratic Formula (at least as far as Sora was concerned), and probably had attended college sometime in the past. How else could he have solved that equation so rapidly?
The spikey, brown-haired youth's eyes wandered over to his left. He could see Kim and Erik holding each other's undivided attention. Ron was seated two seats behind them with a scowl written across his face and his arms crossed. He looked like he was sulking.
Sora shook his head a little. Deep down, he wondered if Ron was feeling left out. This could very well be the way Riku tended to feel whenever he saw Kairi and Sora himself spending time together. True… Kairi and Riku were his best friends. Still, did that mean he had to spend more time with one over the other?
The clock on the wall now read "2:05 P.M.". It was the last class of the day. As far as Sora could tell, it was going to be the longest one, too. This class was named, "English 301", but it felt more like a detention room than a normal classroom. It probably had something to do with the fact Mr. Barkin himself was filling in for the teacher. Unlike the other teachers that day, the principal did not write anything on the chalkboard except for a list of assignment instructions. Other than that, he demanded silence and kept an eye out for possible troublemakers.
With Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Ron all in this class with him, Amemi, and Kim, there was still the possibility of trouble coming their way.
Sora was forced to look at a book on the desk before him. The title, "To Kill A Mockingbird" sounded rather boring. Of course, the story itself didn't seem as uninteresting as he had heard it was. Since it took place during the 1930s, he found the style kind of interesting. The characters were mostly likable, although it reminded him a little of the various townspeople back home on the Destiny Islands. There were no pictures and the story seemed to drag on at times. That was particularly boring….
He was starting to doze off when a large shadow loomed over him. He looked up with half-shut eyes to see Barkin was standing directly over him. "Wake up!" the principal shouted.
This caused a startled Sora to tip his desk over and fall sideways onto the floor. He was in a slight daze for a moment or two. He could then hear the sounds of hushed laughing. He swung his focus over to Donald and Goofy. The two were laughing behind their hands. Amemi was also staring at Sora with a look of relief. Launchpad wasn't paying the Keyblade wielder any mind. Kim and Ron were busy reading, even though Ron's eyes were half-closed.
Sora gave a deep sigh as Barkin returned to the teacher's desk. The young man righted his own desk and picked up the book from the floor. He sat back down and tried to read it some more. His hands flew to the sides of his face for support. One of his elbows started to slide off the desk, so he had to readjust it.
He could not wait for this dull class to end. He looked up at the clock. Either it was his imagination, or the hands were moving very rapidly….
Barkin strolled up to the clock and banged his fist against it. The hands stopped moving. "Darn clock's busted again," he muttered in a soft voice.
He returned the hands to the correct time — "2:15 P.M.". Sora gave a deep sigh.
The door opened. Sora gazed towards the doorway to see Miss Go was standing there with a startled look in her eyes. "Is everything okay in here?" she asked Barkin. "I heard a crash."
"Everything's taken care of," Barkin replied.
In that moment, Sora sensed something familiar about Miss Go. Her eyes… they were the same eyes Shego had — the ones that had been glaring at him the night before. Did this mean Drakken's sidekick was living a double-life?
Whatever that meant, that is… Sora didn't really understand all of his own thoughts. Sometimes, his mind would wander about and he would think of something he never knew he actually knew. Talk about astounding!
With a smile, Miss Go turned to the rest of the class. "Be careful and pay attention to Steve-y."
When Sora realized she was referring to Mr. Barkin, he rolled his eyes and shook his head. He noticed Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad were all exchanging puzzled looks. Kim and Ron were both startled and bewildered alike.
The last bell rang. People ran out of the school building like a stampede of kids on the last day of school. To Sora, this reminded him of the last day he had had to attended class back on the islands. He had to grin about that!
He remembered how he had walked out the door into the late-afternoon sun. He had smiled and cheered while tossing a broken pencil to one side. That was when his mom's voice had crossed his mind and he had been forced to wait the next twenty or so minutes for Amemi to come out. The two of them had then headed home for the rest of the day.
"Finally!" Sora said with relief. "Class is over."
"Until tomorrow," Kim added from his left. She was walking alongside Erik. Ron was about ten paces behind them, dragging along. To Sora's right were his sister, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad.
"Let's search the town," Sora told his teammates. "Drakken and Pete could be anywhere."
"Along with that wolf-man," Launchpad indicated.
Sora gave a nod. "Right."
Kim and Erik hopped aboard a red-and-black motorcycle and sped off towards Bueno Nacho. Ron hopped onto his motorized scooter and slowly dragged along behind. Judging from the dismayed expressed on Ron's face, Sora had the feeling the young man viewed Kim as more than just a friend.
He brushed this pondering aside and headed in the opposite direction. Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi were directly behind him. They hurried down the street for two or four blocks when a pack of Heartless of various types appeared. Shadows… Soldiers… Air Soldiers… Large Bodies… Mega-Shadows… even a roller skate-shaped Heartless with a bright red color scheme were all there in a large group.
Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged into battle. His teammates were ready only seconds later. The Heartless seemed relentless! Every time he destroyed one of them, Sora found himself taking on three more. Donald's magic was holding back a few more, Goofy was knocking several aside as he rushed through the area, Launchpad was shooting two or so aside, and Amemi was knocking them down one by one.
After a few minutes, the street was clear enough for the group to continue on their way. More Heartless showed up further down. Each time more enemies appeared, they whipped out their weapons and attacked. This seemed to go on for hours… and it did go on for a few hours.
By the time the group could rest for a minute or five, the sun was starting to dip down low in the sky. They had crossed about ten blocks of nearly nonstop skirmishes. Hopefully now they could take a breather.
As everyone knelt down to catch their breath, Sora looked around. They were standing in front of a large, white building that consisted of three smaller buildings that were connected as one larger structure. A towering structure that resembled an elevated alien spaceship was located behind the main building. A parking lot separated the group from the building. A sign out front read,
MIDDLETON SPACECENTER
Sora paused in thought. Recalling what Kim had said the night before about her father being a rocket scientist (something her father had confirmed himself), he wondered if her dad was here, at this place.
He looked around the immediate area. There were no Heartless left. The sky was now starting to turn a shade of orange. The sun was setting below the horizon. He yawned and stretched. It seemed Drakken, Pete, and whoever the third guy was weren't anywhere close by… at least not anywhere close by where they'd already searched.
The spikey-haired Keyblader swung his attention to his companions. "Let's go back to Kim's house," he suggested. "There's no sign of Pete, Drakken, or anyone else around here."
"Unless we missed 'em," Goofy pinpointed.
"Yeah," Donald agreed, which was not something he tended to do with Goofy. He even said so. "I agree with Goofy — for once."
Sora shrugged and turned back the way they came. Amemi was next in line. She and her brother were quickly trailed by Goofy, Donald, and Launchpad. Behind them, the shadows from the sunset grew longer. Crickets started to chirp, and the air steadily grew cooler.
By the time they were down the street, they were too far away to notice the large cat-man sneaking up to the spacecenter's main entrance. He was accompanied by a blue-skinned man, an anthropomorphic red wolf, and a few dozen shadowy creatures.
Night had descended by the time Sora and his team arrived at Kim's house. The house was lit up in all its windows, making it seem there was a party going on inside. When they opened the front door, they heard two voices echoing about. "Attention, please!" one called.
"We detect cooties in the area," the other shouted in turn.
"Repeat. Cooties in the area."
"This can mean one thing."
The two voices echoed a chant at the same time. "Kim's got a boyfriend! Kim's got a boyfriend!"
"Waak!" Donald yelped in surprise. Sora and the others laughed when Tim and Jim strode down the stairs with a pair of megaphones. "What's the big idea?! That wasn't funny!"
"Sorry," Tim said.
"But Kim's got a boyfriend," Jim stated. "They're in the kitchen."
At that moment, Kim's mom came into the foyer and was a little surprised to see Sora and his friends in the doorway. "Come on in," she said. "We're having pizza for dinner."
"Okay," Sora agreed.
"Oh boy!" Donald declared.
"Yum!" Goofy said. He licked his lips and rubbed his stomach.
"I like pizza," Launchpad stated aloud. "Get one with extra pickles."
"Pickles on pizza?" Amemi exclaimed. "That does not sound very good!"
Sora and his friends headed into the dining room and sat down at a long table. They saw Kim and Erik sitting side by side on one side with Ron seated on the other side. Ron was scowling and Rufus was pouting along with him.
Kim's mom returned to the kitchen. "Who wants what on the pizza?" she called out.
"Cheese!" Donald, Launchpad, and Goofy all said.
"Pineapple," both Sora and Amemi chimed in together.
"Pepperoni," Kim and Erik shouted out together.
"Jinx," Erik told Kim. "You owe me a soda."
"Very cute," Kim's mom said as she walked into the room.
"Yeah," Goofy remarked. "A-Hyuck!"
"Get in line," Ron grumbled, still scowling with his arms crossed. "You know, she owes me a soda from before she even met you. No soda for you."
Sora felt a little downcast. Perhaps there really was something serious going on between Ron and Kim… something he probably didn't understand. Or… maybe he did? How would he know for sure? When would he know for sure?
The next half-hour flew by. Launchpad and Goofy spent a little time with Tim and Jim, even though they had no idea what the twins were talking about. Donald was sulking in the living room with Ron and Rufus. All Sora did was keep an eye on Kim and Erik. He noticed that Amemi was doing the same thing.
Finally, it was time for dinner. Kim's mom had gone out and brought back a few boxes of freshly-baked pizzas. There was one for each person. Sora dug into his pineapple pizza, while Goofy and Launchpad devoured their cheese pizzas. Amemi and Kim were eating their food, but they looked a little green watching the duck-pilot, Captain of The Royal Knights, and brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder chowing down so rapidly, tiny pieces of food went flying in all directions. The whole time, Donald seemed to be glaring at Erik. Ron and Rufus were doing the same thing.
Sora appeared to take note of this behavior. Had Donald sensed something about Erik he didn't like? Was the magician just being stubborn for no real reason? Or was he siding with Ron and Rufus when he wasn't actually directly involved in whatever Ron was feeling?
"Say, I just remembered," Launchpad declared, breaking the almost silent atmosphere. "I left a half-eaten slice of pizza at Sora's house. I wonder whatever happened to it."
"My mom probably threw it out," Sora replied. "That's what she does."
"Yeah," Donald agreed with the seventeen-year-old Keyblader. "She tossed it out the window! I saw it!"
Kim's mom took notice of Ron's discouraged behavior. "Ron?"
Ron sighed. "Actually, Doctor P, I've got the… uh… belly-flips."
"Got my endoscope in the car," Kim's mom informed the young man. This seemed to make Ron shake himself into alert mode. "I'm kidding! Why don't you stay?"
Ron hesitated. "Well… "
"Later, Ron!" Kim and Erik called at the same time.
"Jinx," Kim said a moment later.
Erik smiled. "Again? Man!"
A scowling Ron scooped up one of Tim and Jim's megaphones from the table. "Cootie alert!" he shouted into it. His voice echoed about the house.
Less than five minutes later, Ron set the megaphone back down and walked out of the room. Rufus followed him to the front door.
Kim's mom seemed a little disturbed, although she didn't show it. "He's always been prone to drama, I guess."
Kim waved one of her hands to the side. "He's fine."
Goofy and Launchpad were looking the empty seat at the far end of the table. Jim and Tim were there, looking at the untouched pizza still in its box.
"Dad's pizza's getting cold," Jim said.
"Cool!" Tim added. "Can we heat it up?"
"No," their mom said. She snatched the box away and frowned at the two boys. "The fire department said no more fusion experiments."
"Why not?" Goofy asked.
"They might have caused a few fires," Donald informed the knight. He was still scowling at Erik.
"You're not kidding," Kim commented.
Kim's mom was now staring at the empty seat at the end of the table. "Where is your father?" she inquired out loud.
Sora was also staring at the empty chair. He paused in contemplation. Recalling how Kim's dad had said he was a rocket scientist, and the sight of the Middleton Spacecenter, the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder started to wonder what could be holding him up at work. For all he knew, Kim's dad might be in trouble with Heartless…
…or worse.
"Sora?" Amemi suddenly asked.
Sora spun his head to face his sister. "Huh? What?"
"I was wondering," the sandy-haired girl said. "Since we're here in another world, have you seen anything about what happened to Aunt Shelly?"
Sora was a bit startled. "Wha… what do you mean?"
"You've been to multiple worlds. You've seen so much and met so many people. I have only met a few of them and seen a few other places. But you've been all over this universe."
Sora grinned and placed his hands behind his head. "Yeah… it's been a blast."
He thought back to how he had been so enthralled when he had first seen the dimly-lit streets of Traverse Town, which had been shortly after the islands had vanished. He had explored lots of hidden passages, nooks, and crannies in Wonderland. He had battled a number of dangerous monsters at Olympus Coliseum. He had swung on vines and slid down trees in the Deep Jungle. He had flown on a magic carpet over the sands of Agrabah. He had wandered through miles of chambers inside of Monstro's intestines. He had swam like a fish under the sea in Atlantica. He had walked along a curled hilltop in Halloween Town. He had flown like a bird… or fairy in Never Land. He had helped some friends get reunited in The 100-Acre Wood. He had even battled Riku and Maleficent inside of Hollow Bastion. Had stopped Ansem — Xehanort's Heartless — at that Heartless world.
Sometime later, he had explored the streets of the "somewhat" quiet Twilight Town, brought order to Hollow Bastion — The Radiant Garden, climbed a mountain in The Land of Dragons, saved his friends from an Organization XIII member in the Beast's Castle, defeated the Hydra at Olympus Coliseum, restored the Light to Disney Castle, sang in an undersea musical in Atlantica, stopped a powerful curse in Port Royal, helped stop an evil genie in Agrabah, saved Christmas in Halloween Town, restored a kingdom in the Pride Lands, freed the computer system of Space Paranoids, reunited more friends in The 100-Acre Wood, and even found Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey, and stopped Organization XIII in The World That Never Was.
After all that, he finally had returned home safely. Unfortunately, he ended up travelling through the Realm of Sleep and met more friends and saved more people. He had reunited the Cybersquad, encouraged Rapunzel, helped Tinker Bell, saved Pinocchio, restored Tron's memory and stopped CLU, reunited Pooh with Christopher Robin, learned a few things from Merlin (which wasn't much at all!), helped Mickey, Donald, and Goofy save Princess Minnie from Peg-Leg Pete and the Beagle Boys, and use a few "Sound Ideas" to break a powerful spell and save Mickey, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. In the end, he had excitedly watched Riku and Violet be declared True Keyblade Masters.
When he thought about, Sora realized a lot had happened. And his quest was still far from over. Yet, he was not sure if he really had met his Aunt Shelly. Had that been a dream? He wasn't sure anymore and could not tell his sister otherwise.
"Well," Sora finally said. "I'm not sure. I might have… but I don't know if it was her. It might've been her… but I don't know. You know what I mean?"
Amemi crossed her arms and turned away. Sora wondered if she had noticed his hesitation. Oh well!
The Middleton Spacecenter was atypically quiet and dark. The only light on was in one of the smaller laboratories. It was here, Kim's dad, Dr. James Possible, was busy looking through a microscope and some miniature robotic data.
"Come on," he said to himself. "Daddy needs to see some cybertronic replication."
The fragment of data in the viewfinder started to vibrate. As if on cue, it grew and filled the whole thing. James smiled with enthusiasm. "Oh! Outstanding!" he cheered happily. "The Hephaestus Project is a go!"
He pressed a small button on his portable, computer device. "Who's the man?"
He seat suddenly spun around. To James's shock and surprise, he was looking straight at a giant creature. He glanced around the room and saw a few more such creatures and a number of smaller, shadowy ones.
Three figures were also in the room. One of them resembled an anthropomorphic red wolf in a pirate's uniform. Another was a large, cat-man. The third he instantly recognized as the blue-skinned man his daughter often took on while saving the world.
Doctor Drakken.
"I'm the man," Drakken announced as he strode forwards. "The man who wants the Hephaestus Project!"
James scowled at Drakken. He recalled how this very man had once attended a college class with him. Only difference was he himself had passed and the other had become a college dropout. "My teenage daughter is not afraid of you," he struck at Drakken. "Why should I be, Drew?"
Drakken winced at the name. He caught a mere glimpse of Pete and Don Karnage chuckling from behind. "I hate it when you call me that!" Drakken yelled. "I am not the man you knew in college, Possible."
"Still can't get a date, though, I bet," James stated with a grin. He enjoyed teasing his former college roommate.
Pete and Karnage went on chuckling. Drakken felt so humiliated, he only wanted to rant. "Why is it every Possible I capture feels the need to give me lip?" he cried out. "Doesn't anyone respect the traditional captive-captor relationship anymore? Has society just gone completely to seed?"
"If I could interrupt your rant to point out," James spoke up. "That I'm not telling you anything about the project."
Drakken gave the older scientist a sinister grin. "Oh, I anticipated that," he said. "You know what they say. If you want to make an omelet, you've gotta break a few eggheads."
With one last evil chuckle, Pete snapped his fingers. An enormous creature appeared. It was shaped like a velociraptor (dinosaur) with red fangs and matching sharp toes, dark-blue skin, and glowing yellow eyes. Its tail had orange spikes and it also sported the Heartless emblem on its stomach. "Meet the new 'Vamptor Heartless'," Pete told James Possible.
The Heartless glared at the scientist and opened its jaws. A ferocious roar echoed about the room for a couple of seconds. A startled and slightly-anxious James Possible stared at the creature. "Okay," he said at last. "Hold the phone, here."
He spun around to his handheld device, which was situated on the table in front of him. He pushed something on it. "Do you wish to delete File Hephaestus?" the device asked in a monotone voice.
Drakken was shocked. "No!"
"Yes," James stated.
The device spoke again. "Dr. Possible voice print acknowledged."
A moment later, the device went blank and turned off. Drakken was shaken. Had his archenemy's father really deleted all the information regarding such an important project?! No one else in this world had been known to discover how cybertronics worked. Without this data, his plans would be ruined.
Not to mention, no one would ever benefit from this new technology… not that he really cared about that.
"You deleted it," Drakken exclaimed. "Are you mad?"
James spun back to face the villain. He was smiling and seemed rather calm considering what had just happened. "No worries," he said in a proud voice. He pointed at his forehead. "Got it all up here."
Drakken immediately recalled something… something that now sounded important. He gave a sinister grin. "Well, good news then, because I have a brain-tap machine and I've been just dying to use it."
James stared at Drakken in shock and worry. He had not expected this response. In addition, he had never noticed how Drakken's clean, white teeth always shown whenever the villain gave his sinister smile….
The dinner plates had all been put away and the Possible residence had never been so active… for the most part. Kim and Erik were in the foyer looking at pictures of the Possible family. In the living room, Sora, Amemi, and Donald joined Goofy and Launchpad around the television. Goofy was busy flipping through channels, which made Donald wish he would stop on one or the other.
Finally, the knight stopped when he heard the familiar song from an older classic show. "Just sit right back and hear a tale — a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropical port, aboard this tiny ship."
As he watched, Sora relaxed in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. He knew this show anywhere. It was one he could watch over and over and over and over… without getting the least bit bored of it.
It was Gilligan's Island. This particular episode was in black-and-white. The camera view switched through the first mate and the captain before showing the boat sailing towards the sea. "The mate was a mighty sailin' lad, the Skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour. A three hour tour."
A lightning bolt flashed across the screen. Donald yelped and nearly jumped onto Goofy. Launchpad grinned at the screen when it showed the captain and first mate pushing each other around the ship's wheel. "The weather started getting rough. The tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost. The Minnow would be lost."
When the camera showed the ship's wheel going round and round into a blur, Launchpad's head started to do the same. He suddenly wobbled and fell out of the chair he'd been sitting in. The result was an audible THUD as the pilot hit the floor. "I meant to do that," the pilot commented softly.
No one except Donald took any notice. Sora felt his heart racing, knowing his favorite part of the song was just up ahead. The camera showed the boat lying on the beach of a tropical island. It started to show the cast members moments after. "The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle… with Gilligan… the Skipper too… the millionaire and his wife… the movie star… and the rest… "
Sora stared for a moment. "And the rest"? What had happened to "The Professor and Mary Ann"? His mind jumped around for a moment before he remembered how the show's first season didn't have them introduced in the same way as the others. Only seasons two and three did. No wonder — he and the others were watching the wrong season for what he had expected!
The screen showed the island from a distance and the title appeared. "…Are here on Gilligan's Isle."
"…Here on Gilligan's Island!" Goofy cheered along with his arms in the air. "A-Hyuck!"
The episode started. To Sora's surprise, he instantly recognized it. He glanced at his sister and saw her smiling from the couch. He turned his eyes back to the show.
This one was of his favorite episodes. It was the one where everyone tried to fix the Minnow so they could get off the island on a high tide. After Gilligan discovered some super-sticky tree sap that settled like cement, the Professor had decided to use it to fix the boat. However, Gilligan's usual mishaps got him and the Skipper pasted onto their ship. If it hadn't been for Mrs. Howell's perfume, they'd still be stuck on it.
Later, Sora's favorite part of the episode came along. Goofy and Amemi were watching it intently. Even Launchpad was enjoying it. Donald, on the other hand, was either half asleep or just plain bored.
This was the part where Gilligan discovered the tree sap wasn't as permanent as everyone had thought and tried to warn them. When the Skipper had tried to show Gilligan how sturdy the Minnow was, the boat started to come apart.
Goofy and Launchpad burst out laughing when pieces of the Minnow flew through the air and landed all over the beach. Sora started to laugh when he saw Gilligan standing amongst the wreckage, holding the ship's wheel. All the first mate was able to say was, "Well, at least I saved the wheel, Skipper."
After the episode ended, another one started. Sora looked around the room. He wondered what had become of Ron and Rufus. The two had left suddenly and he hadn't seen them for a few hours. Where were they?
"Say, Amy," he said to his sister. "Where do you think Ron went?"
Amemi shrugged. "It's hard to say. He might've gone back to that restaurant."
Sora paused for a moment. He remembered how Ron had behaved at the Bueno Nacho restaurant. He assumed the young man loved the restaurant more than anything else — besides his pet, Rufus. Maybe he was there. After all, Ron hadn't eaten his pizza before he left. He might've been so hungry after he left, he had decided to go somewhere else to eat.
Sora gave a nod. "Yeah! Good idea."
He rose from the chair and headed for the front door. He was almost there when a voice called out, "Where ya goin', Sora?"
Sora spun around. Goofy was standing the front hall behind him. The brown-haired youth grinned. "I was going to look for Ron," he admitted, knowing he couldn't hide anything from the knight. Goofy was too smart to trick easily… at least not anymore.
He always noticed things everyone else missed. The best example Sora could recall was when his team had met Mulan when she was trying to join the Imperial Army. Only Goofy had taken note of how Mulan wasn't a boy named "Ping", but was a girl in disguise. "Yer pretendin' ta be a boy, aren't ya?" Goofy had said.
Ever since then, Sora had known never to question Goofy's intelligence.
"Where'd he go?" Goofy asked, swinging his head around from side to side.
Sora shook his head a little. "I think he's at the restaurant."
Goofy nodded in confirmation. "A-Hyuck! Let's go! I want some of them tacos."
Sora sighed, knowing he had to bring Goofy along — no matter what. The two went out the door.
No sooner had they gotten onto the driveway did a small group of Heartless appear. These creatures were a light-blue color and shaped like blades of grass. When Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged in to fight, he was attacked and got his right sleeve torn through to his elbow. He realized these Heartless were sharp blades of grass.
"Goofy!" he declared. "Watch out! These Heartless are more dangerous than before!"
A curious Goofy knelt down and touched the edge of a Heartless's leaf. "Yeowch!" he yelped. "That thing's sharp!"
Sora had to roll his eyes and sigh. He slashed his Keyblade through several of the Heartless. They took a few tries to eliminate. Goofy spun around like a top and used his shield to smack the Heartless away. Sora was nearly caught off guard when one of the Heartless Goofy had smashed into went flying at him. If he hadn't swung his Keyblade and sliced the enemy in half, the sharp leaves would have cut into his lower neck!
After about three minutes, the Heartless were gone. Knowing this meant there were more Heartless elsewhere, Sora and Goofy hurried down the street. They soon had to resort to sidewalks when a car suddenly came up from behind and honked its horn.
The Bueno Nacho restaurant was rather quiet and lit up considering the time of day… or the time of night (whichever it was). The place was nearly deserted. The background music which had been soft before was now much louder and easier to hear.
Sora wondered where everyone had gone. It felt strange being one of the few people in a restaurant. Then again, he hadn't been to many restaurants during his adventures while exploring the worlds. For that matter, this was first quest he'd had where he'd actually been to a restaurant or two. Then again, if he were to count "The Snuggly Duckling" tavern from the Sleeping World of Corona… maybe he had been to a restaurant before this quest.
Goofy marched straight up to the counter. Ned was there. Before Sora's eyes, Goofy glanced at the menu for a few seconds and said, "I'd like twenty-three of them yummy tacos."
"You mean 'nachos'?" Ned asked. Sora noticed how nervous the young man was acting.
Goofy nodded. "Yeah."
Ned rang up the total. With a sigh, he looked back at the knight. "That'll be $24.57."
Goofy pulled out a handful of shiny, golden Munny from his pocket. Before his eyes, the Munny transformed into paper bills of the same value. He handed the cash to Ned. Before long, Ned handed Goofy his change and Goofy strode back to Sora.
"A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled. "Yummy!"
Sora had to shake his head. It was clear Goofy was getting distracted by food, as usual. The spikey-haired seventeen-year-old suddenly spotted a blonde-haired young man seated at a nearby booth. A tray of nachos… or tacos… or whatever they were was placed in front of him. A small, pink mole-rat was happily chowing down on the food.
"Hey, Ron," Sora said as he walked over. Ron didn't answer. He simply saw Sora and scooted over to make room. Sora took a seat. A few minutes later, Goofy climbed in beside Sora, his tray overloaded with the nachos he had ordered.
It didn't take Sora two minutes to realize Ron was depressed. His eyes were drooping and he wasn't the smiling, happy-go-lucky young man Sora and his team had first met at the school upon arriving in this world. He wondered if something was on Ron's mind. There was only one way to find out.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Sora inquired.
Ron still didn't answer. Recollecting how Ron had seemed envious of Kim and Erik spending so much time together earlier that day, Sora concluded seeing such behavior was bothering Ron quite a lot. He knew how it felt, having been jealous of all the time Riku and Kairi had spent together years ago.
At that moment, Ned came strolling over and plopped himself into the other side of the booth. He looked just as dismayed as Ron did. Sora thought there was something different about his appearance.
Ron was first one to speak. "Dude, your clip-on tie."
"Clipped off," Ned sighed.
"But you're assistant manager."
Ned gave a deeper sigh. "Not any more. Lars is in charge."
Sora was mystified. "'Lars'?" he questioned. "Who's that?"
Ned pointed in the direction of the counter. Sora saw a large, muscular man who lacked hair standing in the back. He wasn't paying any attention to the group. To Sora, he looked stern and more like a ship's captain than the manager of a restaurant.
"Gawrsh," Goofy remarked despite the food still in his mouth. "That there guy sure looks mean."
"Home office sent him," Ned explained. "Change is in the air. Serious change. Kiddy meals."
"With toys in them?" Ron asked.
Ned nodded. "Affirmative."
"Wait, hold on," Sora spoke up. "What's wrong with that? I used to collect toys from the restaurants back home."
"Imagine the brat factor," Ned said. He looked worried and a little frightened. "Next they'll add a playground. And then what? A spokesclown?!"
Sora could tell Ned was frantic about these changes. He wasn't sure why. To him, it sounded like Bueno Nacho was trying to reach out to a younger audience. Of course, having seen this location's new manager, he wasn't sure if such changes were going to be a good thing.
The whole thing. It felt somewhat… somewhat like a setup. Maybe even a cover-up. Could this have something to do with the Heartless? Was Pete using the Heartless to force the restaurant's owners to do this stuff? How did Kim's enemy, Drakken, fit into all this? What about that other guy… Donald Karnage (at least, that's what Sora assumed his name was)? He didn't seem to be from these world… or any world the brown, spikey-headed Keyblade wielder had been to before.
There were so many questions, and so few answers. As far as Sora could tell, something funny was definitely going on. He just couldn't tell what it was. Everything felt so… so random. None of the other villains using Heartless had created schemes this complex. Then again, none of the other villains he'd dealt with before were mad scientists.
Sora wondered… had he been underestimating Drakken, Pete, and Karnage's scheme from the start? He sighed. It would be quite some time before he could leave this world in peace. Besides, he had to find its keyhole before the Heartless did.
At that exact instant, Ron's beeper went off. Rufus, the same naked mole-rat Sora and Goofy had seen chowing down on Ron's food, popped his head out and pointed at it. Ron scooped up the pager and his eyes widened.
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"It's Kim," Ron announced. "911!"
Sora didn't have to hear anymore. Anytime he heard "911", "SOS", or "CQD", he automatically knew it meant trouble. Chances were, Kim needed their help — immediately. "Let's go!" he shouted, his voice echoing about the almost empty room.
Sora leapt from the booth. Goofy held out a paper bag and dumped the rest of the nachos from his tray into it. He left the tray on the table and hurried behind Sora. Ron and Rufus were moments behind.
Still seated at the table, Ned sighed deeper than before. "Ned! Get up and get to work!" a voice yelled.
Ned spun around to see Lars towering over him. "We've got a long line in the drive-thru. Get moving! And don't forget to ask if they want Diablo Sauce with it!"
Ned shook with anxiety. "Y-Yes, sir."
It did not take long for Sora, Goofy, and Ron to reach Kim's house. As soon as they arrived, they found Kim, Amemi, Donald, and Launchpad standing in the driveway. Kim looked horrified. Amemi was worried, as was Donald. Only Launchpad seemed a bit confused.
"What happened?" Sora asked. "What's going on?"
Kim now had a grave look on her face. "Drakken has my dad," she quickly said.
Ron was shocked. "No! Not him!"
He paused. "Wait? Why am I getting so worked up? He's not my dad."
Sora had to shake his head. He wondered if Goofy and Launchpad had rubbed off on Ron. Or… maybe it was the other way around? He would never be able to tell for sure.
Sora approached Kim. "Don't worry," he declared. "We'll save him. My friends and I will help."
"We will?" Donald asked in surprise.
Amemi nodded. "My brother always wants to help. That's who he is."
Sora had to grin at his sister. Sometimes, she was standing by his side, ready to help on a moment's notice. However, there were those other times when he had had to fight alone… but that was beside the point.
"Where'd that there Drakken feller go?" Goofy asked.
Launchpad shrugged. "Maybe he's in a haunted mansion. Maybe he's really 'Count Dracula Duck'."
"He must have taken my dad to his 'secret' lair," Kim realized. "But, that could take forever. He has lots of lairs all over the world."
A loud beeping sound came from Kim's pocket. She pulled out the same blue device she had had earlier. The same boy Sora remembered was on the screen. "Wade," Kim said. "What's the sitch?"
"I've tracked your dad to one of Drakken's lairs," Wade said. "The Caribbean islands."
"Wow!" Donald remarked. "I can go swimming in the sun!"
Sora shook his head. He looked up into the sky. "It's night, Donald. We can't go swimming at night, even if Kim's dad wasn't in trouble."
Donald turned away. "Aw phooey."
Ron looked at the device's screen. A picture of the lair appeared. "That's Drakken's oldest lair," he informed Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi."
Sora looked closer. The image was of a tall mountain. At the peak was a large building with lots of lights. "That's a strange place," he commented. "No wonder it's a lair."
"That's not all," Wade explained. "Local legend has it the island is haunted."
"Gawrsh," Goofy gulped.
Amemi looked around at everyone. When she saw how worried and nervous everyone (except for Sora, of course!) looked, she shook her head. "Look, we'll never save Kim's dad if we stay here. Let's go!"
Sora nodded. "She's right," he told the others. "We're wasting time. Let's get goin'!"
It took a little more than two hours to reach the island. Sora's team had boarded a super-fast plane with Kim and Ron. The plane had taken them to an island in the Bahamas. From there, they had boarded a sight-seeing boat captained by an older, kind man.
Now, they were approaching the island with the tall mountain. Sora recognized it from the image Wade had showed him on the device… whatever the device itself was called, that is. He was certain Drakken, Pete, and Karnage were holding Kim's dad captive up there… somewhere.
As they drew closer, Amemi pointed out a few wooden signposts. They read various messages such as "KEEP OUT", "HAUNTED", and "STAY AWAY". Sora stared at them. He noticed Donald and Goofy looked a tad nervous. He shook his head; this was the same reaction they'd had when the three of them had ventured into the Underworld to meet with Hades.
"Man," Sora muttered. "Someone must really want to keep us out."
"There's a legend," the captain of the boat informed them. "The island is haunted. No one wants to go there, especially after strange creatures started to show up on the mountainside."
Sora was shocked to hear this. Were there really Heartless crawling along the mountainside? He grabbed a pair of binoculars from on top of a wooden crate. As he scanned the steep cliffs with them, Sora kept his eyes peeled. He froze. He had spotted a few Shadow Heartless patrolling the upper cliffs.
With a sigh, Sora lowered the binoculars. He turned to his teammates. "Guys, there are Heartless here. We need to be careful."
"You sound like King Mickey," Launchpad remarked. "He's always tellin' me to be careful — even when I crash."
The boat finally drew to a safe spot against the shoreline. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi all stepped off. Ron and Kim were next in line. "Thanks for the lift, Mr. Hernandez," Kim told the captain.
"Kim," the captain replied with a smile. "It's the least I could do after you saved me in that hurricane."
Kim waved her hand to the right. "No big," she returned. "It's not like it was a perfect storm or anything."
The captain nodded before he sailed away. In the meantime, Sora and his team followed Kim and Ron up the steep mountain slope. The higher they got, the steeper the terrain seemed to get. At one point, Donald started to slide, so Sora used his Keyblade to catch him.
With thirty minutes, the group reached the summit. "Phew," Donald panted.
"You're tellin' me," Launchpad gasped for air.
Amemi sat down and tried to catch her breath. "Climbing… it really… takes it out… of you."
Goofy panted like a dog for a moment or two before he was ready to go. Ron and Kim didn't have to pant, let alone catch their breath. Sora did not have to either. He assumed his Keyblade might be the reason (for him). As for Kim and Ron, they'd probably been to this location several times before and were used to climbing up the mountain.
"So, where's the entrance?" Sora asked. All he could see was a large wall of rock with a metal wall jutting out the top.
Kim pointed to a particular spot on the rock wall. "There," she said. "Drakken's lair is through there."
Sora nodded. He marched up to where Kim had pointed. When he saw a rocky keyhole on the wall, he pointed his Keyblade at it. A beam of Light from the Keyblade shone into the keyhole. The keyhole unlocked and the wall opened. Just before Sora and the others could proceed inside, a bunch of Heartless appeared to the right.
"Not again!" Donald complained.
"KP!" Ron exclaimed.
Sora's team and Kim raced at the creatures. They kicked, shot, burned and iced, and slashed and sliced every one of the Heartless. The enemies started to retreat, so Sora and the others all nodded. They hurried into the lair.
All the Heartless that had retreated had left with such haste, they slid off the edge of the cliff and tumbled down the mountainside. Within a minute, they had bounced across the sand and vanished into the deep, blue ocean beyond.
The interior of the lair was a gigantic cavern. To Sora and the others' surprise, it was held up by enormous, metal supports. The design seemed to remind Sora and Amemi of a sports stadium back home on the islands.
The whole area looked deserted. Other than a few boxes, a large Hi-Tech computer, a widescreen television, and a few more gizmos of strange design and function, there was absolutely no sign of anyone being around. It appeared Drakken and everyone else in the lair had gone out.
Sora knew better. He had sensed the powerful Darkness coming from inside this place. He looked around, but there was no sign of anyone lurking in the shadows. Then again, a Heartless might be hiding and be about to spring onto him. There could be an ambush at any moment. He knew they had to proceed with extra, extra, extra caution.
As Sora and Kim led the others into the gigantic room, Kim held out her device. The current location of Kim's dad was represented on the screen as a red dot. Sora had his Keyblade out, just in case. Donald and Launchpad were hiding behind Goofy's shield. Amemi was carefully trailing her brother by a few inches.
"I don't like this," Kim said. "It feels too… "
"Trappish?" Ron suggested.
Kim looked at Ron. "Not a word, but yes."
"What does that mean?" Amemi asked. "WordGirl doesn't know it?"
Ron stared at the sandy-haired girl. "Who's 'WordGirl'?"
Amemi smiled. "She's my favorite animated character."
"Really? Mine's the Fearless Ferret," Ron declared with pride.
Amemi had to smile all the more. Sora took note of this and shook his head.
As the group neared a shadowed doorway, a trapdoor in the floor opened. Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all fell in, shouting in surprise. Kim and Ron also fell, although they weren't screaming or shouting at all.
When the tunnel the trapdoor had led into ended, Sora's team, Kim, and Ron all found themselves in another underground room. They clambered off the floor.
"Is everyone okay?" Sora asked.
Donald, Goofy, Launchpad, and Amemi all nodded.
"That's good," Kim said with relief. Even Ron felt a little better.
"Kim Possible," a voice said from behind the group.
Sora, Kim, and the others spun around to see a blue-skinned man standing on a platform. "Drakken," Kim scowled at him.
"Yes," Drakken nodded. He paused. "Kim Possible and her sidekick, whose name escapes me."
Ron looked upset and frustrated. "Kay," he shouted. "After all the time you battled him, how can he not know my name?"
A second figure was on the platform. One look at it, and Sora saw it was a large, cat-man. "Pete!" he yelled.
"What's a lil' brat ta do?" Pete laughed.
With his Keyblade in hand, Sora rushed at Pete. He swung his weapon. He suddenly found himself falling off the other side of the platform and landing onto the floor. He looked back in time to see Kim rush as Drakken and go straight through him.
Sora gave an irritated sigh. Drakken and Pete were holograms — just like Maleficent when she had magically appeared in Disney Castle's Hall of The Cornerstone. Even then, Donald had charged at Maleficent and gone straight through her.
Pete laughed with his signature sinister tone. "Youse can't get your mutts on me that easily!"
"Miss Possible," Drakken said. "You would do well to save your energy. Your father is in quite a pickle."
The villain pointed at a nearby tank of water. Sora and the others stared at it. Inside was a humungous, orange-yellow octopus bearing the Heartless emblem. Wrapped in its tentacles was Kim's dad.
"Dad!" a frantic Kim exclaimed. She rushed at the tank. Sora was directly behind her.
"Look out!" Amemi hollered. A beam of strong energy nearly struck them. Kim and Sora slid to a stop. They looked back to see a tall laser weapon aimed at them.
"Sora!" Donald and Goofy yelled in alarm.
Pete gave another sinister laugh. "You'll need ta be more careful than that!"
"I must warn you," Drakken added. "My latest death-ray is killer!"
Ron looked confused. Goofy and Launchpad exchanged perplexed looks. "Hey," Ron stated. "Isn't that redundant?"
"I wish we could be there," Drakken went on. "But we're busy settling into our new lair, the lair from which Pete, Karnage, and I shall take over the world. Farewell, Kim Possible and key-brat! Farewell… what's his name again?"
Drakken pointed straight at Ron. "Whatever, you know who you are."
Ron was still complaining. "I mean, come on, it's really not a hard name to remember."
"Gee," Launchpad muttered aloud. "I thought your name was 'Ron'."
"Ron," Kim said.
"Yes," Ron sarcastically yelled. "Thank you."
"Sora!" Donald declared. He pointed into the distance. "Look!"
Sora spun his head around. Sure enough, a number of flying and land-dwelling Heartless had appeared in the room. Among them was the anthropomorphic red wolf. He was brandishing a curved sword — a cutlass, Sora realized.
"So," the wolf said. "We meet again."
Sora readied his Keyblade. Donald prepared his wand and Goofy raised his shield. Launchpad took out his gas-gun. Amemi held out her slingshot. All eyes were pinned onto the wolf.
"Who are you?" Amemi inquired.
"What are you?" a puzzled Kim added.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the wolf said as he bowed politely. "I am Don Karnage, captain of the Iron Vulture and leader of the air pirates. I stalk Khan's planes and steal their cargo. I hunt priceless treasures. I plan to plunder all of Cape Suzette. If it wasn't for the interfering of that idiot pilot, Baloo… "
Karnage continued to ramble on and on. Seeing how distracted the pirate was, Sora knew this was the best time to stop him, the Heartless, and save Kim's dad. "Let's go," he told the others.
Within seconds, Donald and Goofy were rushing into the Heartless horde. Launchpad was directly behind them. Amemi and Ron headed for the tank. Sora and Kim rushed at Karnage.
The laser swerved around, trying to choose which of them to shoot at. It focused on Donald before aiming at Amemi. Each time, it missed and struck a Heartless or three. Not wanting to be fried to a crisp, Amemi reached into her jacket pockets and pulled out a small, hand-sized mirror. She held up the mirror at the laser. The laser shot at her. The beam bounced off the mirror and struck the weapon. It exploded in an instant.
Amemi gave a short sigh of relief. "That's one dilemma solved."
Sora and Kim stopped before Karnage. When he saw them, the wolf-pirate was not pleased. "Hey!" he declared. "No fair! I'm supposed to be slicing you into itsy-bitsy pieces!"
"Maybe you shouldn't go on and on about stuff nobody cares about," Kim stated.
"Yeah," Sora agreed. "I never thought this fight would be so easy. I'm a Keyblade hero!"
"As you wish," Karnage responded. He swung his sword at Sora. The Keyblader blocked and countered. Karnage evaded the attack and swung his sword from above at Kim. She leapt over the sword and kicked him in the face. Karnage glared and snarled. "You can't beat me easily! I'm the infamous Don Karnage, captain of the Iron Vulture and leader of…. "
Before Karnage could finish his statement, Sora sliced his Keyblade through the villain's hand. Karnage dropped his sword and turned away. He opened a dark portal. "Then again, he who runs away lives to steal another day."
Without another word, Karnage disappeared into the Darkness. The portal sealed shut a moment later.
Sora gave a sigh of relief. "That's that," he remarked.
"Not yet," Kim said as she hurried to the tank.
Sora whirled his attention over to the tank. When he saw Ron and Amemi were trying to pull Kim's dad out of the tank, his eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!"
He rushed at the tank, too. He found Kim jumping into the tank. "Stop!" he yelled at her. "It's too dangerous!"
To Sora's shock and surprise, the Heartless octopus suddenly became limp. Kim's dad fell into the tank, along with Amemi. A giant, captive heart came from the tank and the creature vanished into Darkness. All Sora could say was, "Whoa…. "
Ron leaned onto the edge of the tank. "I'll have you out of there in no time," he told Amemi.
When Amemi grabbed his arm, Ron fell into the tank. "Man," Ron commented. "This is awkward."
Amemi shook her head and took a deep breath. She dove into the water. A moment later, Kim and Amemi surfaced from the tank with Kim's dad. They dragged him out and helped him onto the floor in the middle of the room. Sora rushed over to make sure the scientist was okay. At the same time, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad finished defeating all of the Heartless and turned their attention to helping Ron out of the tank.
Kim was relieved her dad seemed alright. She still had to make sure. "Dad, are you okay?"
"Yep," Kim's dad replied. "Least, I think so."
"So, what did Drakken do?" Sora inquired.
Kim's dad paused in thought. "I… I have no idea."
"He captured you in your lab," Kim spoke up. "Right?"
"Didn't he?" Amemi added.
"Did he?" Kim's dad said. "I don't remember. I remember wanting bacon on my pizza. Then nothing."
Kim led her dad to the room's exit. "Come on, Dad, better get you home."
Kim's dad looked around. "Which is where?"
"1642 South Main Street," Launchpad blurted. This drew in the attention of everyone else. The pilot shrugged and chuckled with nervousness. "That's the street I grew up on."
Sora shook his head. He decided the best option was to get Kim's dad home as soon as possible. They could move on from there. Maybe they could locate Drakken's next lair and stop him, Pete, and Karnage before the three had the chance to take over the world. Maybe they could stop the Heartless before it was too late.
Whatever Drakken did to Kim's dad, they'd probably never know. Either way, Sora was determined to make Drakken pay for his crimes. Same with Pete and Don Karnage.
The next day, Sora and his team were spending time with Kim, Ron, and Monique. They had all gone to a local shopping mall so Kim and Monique could buy some dresses for the upcoming "Christmas Prom". When Amemi had seen a golden-yellow dress decorated with sunflower petals, she decided to try it on, even though she had to wait a moment for the last dressing room to become available.
While they were busy trying on some possible outfits, Sora yawned and stretched. He'd always hated shopping for clothes. He wanted to be outside, fighting Heartless with his Keyblade. Yet, for all he knew — mainly given the events of the night before — Drakken, Pete, and Karnage might very well send some Heartless to get rid of Kim. He had stand guard over her… at least, until the situation was resolved. He just didn't know when that would be.
He gazed out the store's front window. He could see Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad busy looking at model trains and LEGO sets over at the toy store across the way. If only he could leave his post for a minute or two. If only he could….
To keep himself busy, Sora helped Kim tell Monique all about their last mission. Monique was amazed about what had happened. "You saved your dad?!" Monique exclaimed.
Kim shrugged. "So not the drama, Monique."
"You know what this mean. You got it goin' on."
Kim seemed bewildered. "I do?"
"You can never be grounded, girl. Why did evil dude pull the dad-napping anyway?"
Kim shrugged. "To play me, I guess. Something's off the road, here, though."
Now Sora had a turn to speak. "What do you mean?"
"Usually, I can crack Drakken's sicko plots no prob," Kim replied. "This time, it's all so random."
Sora had to nod. He was still trying to determine whether or not Drakken, Pete, and Karnage were responsible for changes happening at the Bueno Nacho restaurant. Was that the new lair they had been referring to? He had no idea.
This mystery was as big as the time he'd first learned about Xehanort from the King. That time, the spikey-haired Keyblade wielder had been completely lost about what King Mickey had been telling him, Donald, and Goofy.
Amemi stepped out of her dressing room. "What do you think?" she asked.
Sora stared at her. So did Kim and Monique. There was Amemi wearing the golden dress. It seemed to sparkle. There were several sunflower petals attached to it, mainly around the collar.
"That's what I'm talking about," Monique commented.
"It's nice," Sora remarked.
"'Nice'?" Amemi asked her brother. "You should be saying 'It's beautiful' or 'It's lovely'. 'Nice' doesn't work here."
Sora shook his head. "You know I don't like shopping for clothes." He gestured out the window at the toy store. "Mainly if Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad are looking at toys."
Amemi shook her head. She rolled her eyes. "I'm still buying it. I may not dance, but I love this dress."
Sora had to smile. He calmly placed his hands behind his head. He had to admit it. His sister was naturally drawn to yellow and golden things. Once she had her eyes set on one, you couldn't tell her "no".
Kim sighed. "Maybe I should just raid my closet."
"Not for the prom," Monique stated with a quick shake of her head. "You're gonna be Kim-derella."
Kim strode out of her dressing room. She was wearing a long, shiny and silver dress. Sora smiled when he saw her. It almost made her look like a princess. It reminded him of Kairi… only she would have been wearing a pink dress.
At that moment, Erik walked into the store. "Hey, hey," he greeted the group. Everyone turned their eyes to him.
"Hey," a shy Kim returned.
Erik pointed at the dress the red-haired young woman was wearing. "You should buy that dress," he said.
Kim hesitated in her response. "I… I sh-should?"
Erik nodded. "Yeah. And I know I've only gone to Middleton for five minutes… "
"That's an understatement," Amemi whispered to Sora. Sora rolled his eyes and shook his head. He knew it was simple an expression — one his sister sometimes took literally.
"But," Erik added. "About this prom…. "
"Have you met Ron Stoppable?" The voice cut Erik off and drew everyone's attention to the dressing rooms. One of the other dressing room doors opened. Out stepped Bonnie. She was wearing a short dress with blue, green, and yellow colors. "Kim and Ron are, like, inseparable."
Sora and Amemi both rolled their eyes. It was clear Bonnie was meddling in other people's business. Talk about being rude!
At that moment, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad strode into the store. They had heard everything Bonnie had said. Goofy looked around and spotted a large, young man with short, blonde hair talking to someone in the middle of the space between the stores. "Gawrsh," he said. "Ain't that there Brick fella talkin' to thuh purty lady outside?"
"He's hypnotized by her big hoop earrings!" Bonnie exclaimed. She raced out of the store. The store's alarm went off as she dashed away. Red lights started to flash. A security guard outside chased down Bonnie.
"She didn't buy the dress," Donald realized.
"What's the sitch?" Ron shouted as he raced out of the last dressing room.
One mere glimpse of the young man and Kim, Erik, Monique, Sora, Amemi, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad all turned their eyes away. "What? What?" Ron inquired.
Erik was frowning. "Dude…. "
Ron looked down. "XYZ?"
Sora could not look. He noticed his sister had shut her eyes before covering her face with her hands. In his peripheral vision, he saw Ron race back into the dressing room. Once he was in there, everyone was able to look again.
Erik turned to Kim. "Wanna go get a bite?"
Kim gave a nod. "Hey," Erik went on. "It's pretty weird to just run into you here, isn't it, Kim?"
Kim and Erik smiled at each other. Kim hurried into her dressing room to change. Goofy's stomach growled. "Gawrsh! Can we join 'em?"
Sora shrugged. "Why not?"
Amemi took a deep breath. She clenched the edges of the dress she was wearing. "I should buy this before we leave. I don't want that alarm going off because of me."
She hurried into her dressing room. In the meantime, Monique came out with a smile. She had a nice, dark-purple dress in her hands.
Sora took a look over at Ron's dressing room. The blonde-haired young man looked saddened at the sight of seeing Kim and Erik. He knew this look. It was the same way he'd felt whenever he'd seen Riku spending so much time with Kairi all those years before.
"What's wrong?" Amemi asked as she exited the dressing room.
Sora did not answer. At this time, he was as mystified as Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad.
Drakken's lair was rather quiet. In one of the rooms, Shego was staring at an enormous computer monitor. She could see lots of things on the screen. She knew these were all key components in Drakken's latest scheme to take over the world. It was his so-called "Master Plan".
Having never been filled in on any of this, she was lost and staring at the screen, trying to put two and two together. Yet, everything she was seeing seemed so random. None of it made any sense when combined. Ever since Drakken had teamed up with that witch, Maleficent, he'd seemingly been losing his mind.
Slumber parties… mutant lifeforms… death-rays… none of these projects of his made any sense. Had the idea of working with someone as strange as that witch and the rest of her so-called "Council" gotten to him? There were no real connections. "What is he up to?" Shego finally said out loud. "A child's toy design, top-secret cybertronic technology, Syntho-drone personality and performance upgrades, teen-zine junk, and weird creatures with no feelings?"
She gave a deep sigh of disbelief. "What's he gonna do? Throw the world's weirdest pajama party next Halloween?"
"You really haven't figured it out, have you?"
Shego leapt from her chair and whirled around. She relaxed. It was only Drakken, Pete, and Don Karnage. Deep down, she wondered why Drakken would ever choose to work alongside a giant cat-man and a talking red wolf pirate.
"There is no plan here," Shego stated. "No way."
Drakken, Pete, and Karnage all grinned. "Oh," Drakken said in a taunting voice. "But there is!"
"Yeah," Pete nodded.
"It's a most-brilliant plan ever!" Karnage agreed.
"Spill!" Shego demanded. To further illustrate her point, she allowed one of her hands to become engulfed in her green plasma powers. She glared at all three of them.
Drakken seemed unfazed, even though Pete and Karnage were ducking down. "No," the blue-skinned man said.
"Why not?!" Shego snarled.
"Kim Possible is not smarter than you."
Shego's powers disappeared from her hand. This allowed Pete and Karnage to gives sighs of relief. "True," the young woman approved.
"If you can't figure it out, she can't figure it out," Drakken indicated.
"What about the key-kid?" Karnage asked.
Pete shook his head. "That runt with the Keyblade's clever, but not clever enough for all three of us. We've got 'im confused 'til doomsday."
"Yes," Drakken acknowledged. "And that means… "
Shego paused for a moment. If Kim Possible couldn't figure out the plan — and that annoying kid with the Keyblade couldn't solve it — there was only one answer. Neither one would be able to figure out the villains' scheme. That meant….
Shego's eyes were filled with complete astonishment. "You just might win."
"Oh, I'm quite confident," Drakken stated. He turned to Pete and Karnage. "Once this planet is ours, I'll let you each have a continent of your own."
He paused for a moment. "Except Europe."
"Now den," Pete said to Shego. "If youse excuse us, we've gotta be somewhere."
Shego looked puzzled. "Where?"
"We're due at a board of directors meeting," Drakken replied. The three started for the exit.
Shego was more perplexed. "You? At what company?"
Drakken, Pete, and Karnage were now at the exit doorway. They turned their eyes back to the shocked and puzzled Shego. "Oh," Drakken said. "The one we recently acquired in a hostile takeover with the Heartless."
A/N: Huh? I wonder what "company" Drakken, Pete, and Don Karnage are talking about? What a mysterious cliff-hanger... EVEN IF IT'S NOT HANGING FROM A CLIFF! ...AND THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED A "CLIFF-HANGER"!
So, I certainly HOPE you enjoyed your present! I had quite a LOT of fun writing it! I'd like to go over a few of the points in there.
(1.) The scenes with Shego as a teacher are based on the episode, "Stop Team Go" from Season 4, Episode 12. I thought it would be interesting to have Sora and the others see her and have this encounter seem to "hint" at the story's conflict... unless you don't know what I mean.
(2.) I know a LOT of people who HATE using the Quadratic Formula. Personally, I find it rather intriguing... I even have it memorized!
"Negative 'b' plus or minus the square root of 'b' squared minus four 'a', 'c' divided by two 'a'."
See? Goofy's true knowledge can be VERY surprising. That's why I had him answer the question.
(3.) I decided to have Sora read "To Kill A Mockingbird" for one simple reason. That story was one my class had to read in High School. I thought it was really good all things considered. I liked how I made Sora start to doze off during one of the slower parts. I think that shows his true character when it comes to school.
(4.) Yes, yes. Mr. Barkin is the school's principal. Whenever I included his dialogue in there, I pictured Patrick Warburton's voice. It worked since he is the actor who voiced that character. I do think his character resembles that of Admiral Grimace - Donald's admiral - from the Disney show, "DuckTales".
(5.) The "Vamptor" Heartless Pete summons is based on a Velociraptor dinosaur. I thought it would be interesting to include one. No, no, no! It was NOT intended to be a reference to any of the "Jurassic Park" movies. That is simply a pure coincidence.
(6.) When Sora and his friends are watching "Gilligan's Island", the episode they watched was Season 1, Episode 8: "Goodbye Island". I know this is true since I have the entire show on DVD. I also tend to watch it on Sunday Mornings when it comes on. That particular episode is one of my favorites.
(7.) After I wrote it, I found myself snickering at Don Karnage's rambling. I can't remember for sure, yet I think there might have been an episode where he goes on and on about something or other like that. I still found it to be in character enough (as far as I could tell).
(8.) I HOPE I don't have to tell you why no one was looking at Ron while in the clothing store. If you've seen "Kim Possible: So The Drama (2005)" or any of the episodes of the show itself, you can make an educated guess.
(9.) Sometimes, I do wonder why it seems Drakken doesn't want to give Europe to anyone he agrees to team up with. Why is that? I might just be my opinion, yet it seems it's probably just a notable quirk of his.
True, that was a LOT to cover. Still, I thought it was necessary to go over all of it. I'd STILL like to hear YOUR Reviews about THIS Chapter.
With all that said and done, Stay Tuned for the Next Chapter! Have A Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year!
So Then, I'll See You Next Time!
In other words, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!
REMEMBER THIS - A MINIMUM OF 214 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 240 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME THE-SECOND-TO-LAST-CHAPTER IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!
This Is SoraLego278 Saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" Plus, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!"