Chapter 13 – Minibossa Nova Baby, Part I

"Yoko Ono?" said Donald. "Who's that?"

"Yoko Ono is the woman who used the Beatles to come to power and then destroyed them," said Mira. "She hates music. It's said she only married John Lennon because she couldn't stand what he and his band were doing to the world. He only wanted a little peace, and she just wanted a piece of the world. She poisoned their music, broke up the band, and eventually killed John. Then the others. She then used her dark powers to gain control over the entire world, stamping out all good music."

"Dark powers?" Sora shook his head.

"Sounds like the Heartless to me," said Goofy. "That's probably why we saw so many on the way over."

Donald slapped the back of Goofy's head. "Everyone else already figured that out, you doofus."

Mira ignored the violence and continued. "Those dark being have been running loose around the world ever since Yoko Ono came to power, but there are others. The shadow creatures are like something straight out of a nightmare, but there are other, more primal evils lurking, probably even nearby. Not everything foul is a shadow."

Sora struck a heroic pose. "We'll just have to smash those monsters, too!"

"Brave one, Sora," Mira giggled. "Cute, too. But beware. I have no doubt that you are powerful, but I do not wish to see you hurt."

"I have the Keyblade," said Sora. "Nothing can hurt me, and if it does, Donald can just heal me back up."

"Donald is a doctor?" Mira made a face betraying a whole truckload of skepticism.

"Not exactly," said Sora. "He's a magician."

"Wait, Sora!" said Donald. "My magic doesn't work in this world."

Sora hung his head. "I forgot about that part."

"Don't do anything too rash, then, Sora," said Mira. "I just want to get out of here alive."

"We all do," said Sora, "but our first task is to stop the Heartless. With them running around, no world is safe. Magic or no magic, we need to find this world's keyhole."

"Keyhole?"

"Yeah, it's a giant… keyhole. It appears whenever we do something particularly noble or gallant, and we lock it and move on to the next world. It's kinda our thing."

Mira giggled again. "You're so cute sometimes."

"I am," said Sora. "I really am."

"But enough," said Mira. "We're going to get caught if we stick around here."

"Before we go," said Goofy, "I want to know why that Satan Panama-tear person gets to sing if Moko Jono banned all music."

"She banned all good music," said Mira. "All music that makes you feel good when you hear it. The Ice Princess can quite literally kill you softly with her song."

"Wow," said Sora. "Maybe I should get some ear plugs."

"They don't work," said Mira. "Nothing does. There's something unnatural about her powers."

"She must be in league with the Heartless, too!" Donald offered. "Then we have no choice but to defeat her, as well. Sora, lead the way!"

"Which way?"

"She's probably in her torture chamber," said Mira. "I… can show you where that is. I think."

"Are you going to be okay going back there?" said Sora.

"I should be," said Mira. "And if I start to feel bad, I can just look at those cute baby pictures of yours."

"Hey, I want that book back," said Sora. "That's not funny."

"Too late." Mira winked at him. "In any case, follow me down this hallway. It's not too far."

The group set off behind Mira. Sora walked just behind her, holding her hand. Donald marched behind him, and Goofy took up the rear guard. Nothing attacked them on their way, but a series of potted plants lining the walls cast shadows that looked very much like Heartless. The resemblance was enough to keep everyone on edge; nobody spoke until they reached Hayden Panettiere's torture chamber. Mira's palm grew sweaty inside Sora's grip.

Sora pulled open the door and peered inside. Total darkness met him. Undaunted, he and his friends stepped out into the room. They stood there in silence for several seconds, breathing heavily.

Hayden Panettiere herself broke through the silence, with a wail that split Sora's ears and forced him to the ground. His brain shut off before he even had time to complain that Hayden didn't even taunt him before attacking.

The screeching lasted longer than any human could be expected to go without drawing breath. Sora reflexively threw his hands on top of his head to see if it was still in one piece, but he found the tactile evidence that it was unconvincing in light of the pain racing through it. At first, it only affected his head, but it spread quickly to the rest of his body. He writhed in agony on the floor, certain he was going to die.