CHAPTER LXI

STRANGER THAN STRANGE

"Why do you care? What good has life brought you?" the Strange Man taunted, taking another step toward the friends. Biggs and Wedge had smartly backed up so that they were next to Sora, Riku and Kairi.

"What are you getting at?" Riku demanded.

"I mean…you struggle so hard to defend your way of life…but your way of life is so flawed…so futile…so…" he paused, searching for the word. "Meaningless."

"Shut up!" Sora said, pointing his keyblade at the Strange Man.

"A compelling argument. What good is talking, either?" he said, not expecting an answer. Turning his head back toward Sora, he said, "you must be the keyblade master…"

"One of 'em…" he said, smiling at Riku and Kairi from the corner of his mouth.

"Ask yourself what that will matter when you're trapped in limbo, doomed to live out your days in a pitiless, never-ending existence." he said, breaking out into an evil laugh. His head rocked back and forth like a ragdoll until he became silent.

"Why did you kill them…" Wedge said, choking on the words.

"They wouldn't cooperate. I sought the Frozen Eel; they knew nothing; they died. Simple cause and effect. They're lucky – they don't have to be a part of this charade any longer…"

"Lucky!" Biggs screamed. "You son-of-a-bitch!" he bellowed, dashing at him with his golden hammers drawn. Before he could even think about where he was going to strike, the man swung his leg over his head, cracking Biggs across the jaw with the heel of his foot. Biggs slid across the pavement, completely incapacitated.

"GYAHH!" Wedge screamed, doing his best impersonation of a ninja as he leapt into the air, trying to catch the Strange Man off guard. It was no use, however – before even letting his foot touch the ground from the first attack, he launched it upward, digging it directly into Wedge's stomach, hurling him upwards…as he spun helplessly in the air, his backpack dropped its most prized possession…the Frozen Eel…right into the Strange Man's slim fingers.

As Wedge flopped down to the ground, lifeless, the Strange Man turned toward Riku, Sora and Kairi.

"Anyone else want to give it the good old college try?" he said, opening a black portal.

Riku, Sora and Kairi stood there, motionless. Riku would have ripped the man's head off his shoulders, if he could summon his keyblade around him…he had a feeling that the Strange Man felt the same way.

He hesitated for a minute, genuinely waiting for them to reply. When they didn't, he said, "suit yourselves. You'll just die later…" He stepped into the portal, disappearing with the Frozen Eel. Riku, Sora and Kairi dashed over to Biggs and Wedge, who had remained motionless the whole time.

"Let's get them back to the Barrett…" Sora said, slinging Biggs' arm over his shoulder. Riku put Wedge on his back as they slowly trudged between the wreckage, heading for the Barrett. When they arrived, Donald, Goofy and Eddy were impatiently standing in the cargo bay.

"Cast as much cure on them as you can afford. It doesn't look good, but they're still breathing," Sora said to Eddy and Donald, just as Biggs started to cough up blood. He wiped it from his mouth as Biggs sat up, struggling against every aching bone in his body.

"Where is he…I'll shove that stupid mask down his goddamn throat…" he said weakly, falling back onto some pillows Kairi had brought down from the sleeping quarters.

"Relax," she said, adding her curing magic to Eddy and Donald's. "He's gone…but at least you're alive…"

Wedge sat up, looking around the ship's interior nervously. "Where are we going?" he asked, panic dripping from his words.

"Nowhere, yet…but we were planning to take you guys back to Disney Courtyard…it's safe there," Riku explained as he folded a wet cloth and handed it to Wedge.

"No. Take us to Figment Plateau…it's on the other side of this world, past the castle…we have friends there…" he said, collapsing from the strain of sitting upright.

"Figment Plateau?" Goofy asked, perplexed. "Ya mean there's another hidden city in the World That Never Was?"

All Wedge could do was nod while unzipping one of the pockets on his vest. He pulled out a small, gray sheet of paper with coordinates scrawled neatly on the front. Sora took the paper and headed straight for the deck – there was no time to lose.

After punching the coordinates in, Sora raised the ship so that it was higher than most of the taller buildings in the World That Never Was. It took off, slowly weaving through the sky over the remains of Emptiness Crossing. As the ship passed by the castle, Sora turned his head upwards in hopes of seeing Kingdom Hearts – but the thick, dark clouds overhead prevented any chance of that. Idly twirling the sheet with the coordinates in his hand, he noticed another short message written hastily on the back:

"Your friend, Lae."