It took a couple hours to get back to their original course again. They reached the crossroad that led to Agrabah or Halloween Town. "So where to next?" Yui asked the group.
Kirito turned to Asuna, who was fearing the answer to which Sora was gonna say. "Halloween Town." he answered, "We need to go there first, then we can go to the Pride Lands."
"You gonna be ok with that, Asuna?" Kirito asked his fidgety girlfriend. The others turned back to her. They had just remembered that Asuna was afraid of Halloween Town.
"Well, I'm sorta not afraid of Jack anymore." Asuna corrected their theory, "And Christmas Town is always a safe zone. Just as long as we don't stay in Halloween Town for too long, I'll be fine."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Kirito confirmed, looking to the group, "Yui, set coordinates to Halloween Town."
"Setting them in!" Yui replied, pressing a few buttons, and the Gummi Ship flew to their destination.
They arrived above the surface of Jack Skellington's world. The Halloween part of the world was just as scary as before, well in Asuna's case. "I'll set our drop off zone in the woods." Yui explained, setting up the transporter, "That way, mama can be close to the Christmas Town door just in case."
"Thanks, Yui." sighed Asuna in relief.
"C'mon, let's go!" cried Sora. The team got onto the transporter, and they departed for the world down below.
The team finally arrived at the surface, now in their Halloween attire. "Wish mine was still a bit darker." Kirito muttered, seeing his Gleam Eyes costume.
"Everyone, look." Yui said, pointing ahead of the group. Presents laid scattered about in the forest.
"What are these presents doing around here?" Asuna asked, walking forward and picking up a present. She turned to the others, who shrugged as to say 'I don't know'.
Just then, Donald noticed something. Rounding the corner into the forest was none other than Jack Skellington. However, he was still in his Santa clothes, and he was gathering the presents up. That seemed mighty suspicious. For once, Asuna was frightened by the sight of him. The Santa uniform probably helped as well.
Jack noticed the group. "Perfect timing, ladies and gentlemen!" he greeted them, "Lend me a hand, won't you?" He walked up to the group, presents at hand. "These presents must belong to Sandy Claws." he assumed, "So I thought I'd better return them."
Sora, Kirito and Asuna looked to each other, then back at Jack. "You just happened to find them?" Sora asked.
"Of course, Sora." Jack replied, kneeling down and poking Sora's cheek, "I'm finished with Christmas fantasies. You know that."
"Your dress code isn't convincing us." Asuna told him as he walked away, "Why are you still dressed like that if you've given up on Christmas?"
"What, this?" Jack asked, "It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it! Come on. We've got work to do!" He started walking towards the door to Christmas Town.
"Since when did we become delivery boys…" Kirito muttered to himself. Despite his grumbling, he joined in with everyone with gathering the presents. Once they got them all, Jack opened the door to Christmas Town, and they dove in.
They arrived in their Christmas attire, and proceeded to Santa's workshop. They went down the hill, through the town, and into the workshop. They turned the corner to see Santa pacing a bit. He turned at hearing them, and noticed the presents they carried. "Oh!" he exclaimed as the team placed the presents down on the table, "Wherever did you find these?"
"In Halloween Town." Jack answered, "You'll be needing them for Christmas, right, Sandy?"
"Of course." Santa replied, examining the presents, "But these are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen." Everyone flinched in shock.
"Stolen?!" gasped Sora.
"Why were they stolen?" Kirito asked.
"And more importantly, who?" Yui asked.
Everyone looked up at Jack, who realized he seemed to be priority #1 on their list. "Oh, Sandy… You don't think it was ME?" Jack asked, stepping towards Santa.
"Still wearing the outfit, I see." Santa noticed.
"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion." retorted Jack, then he sighed, "But if you don't believe me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it!" The team looked to Jack, surprised.
Santa scratched his beard for a second, then said, "Very well, I'll leave it to you."
"All right!" Jack proclaimed, turning to the team, "Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy, Yui! We're off!" He started walking off, and the group watched him go. They slumped in agony. This was another fine mess they got themselves into.
Just then, they heard something that seemed a bit destructive and turned towards the door that led to the shipping and delivering station of Santa's house. "What's all that racket?" Santa asked.
"Only one way to find out." Asuna replied, and she led the team through the doors. The team looked around in the room. It looked all clear. They walked up to one of the elves, who said that the noise was coming from the 2nd floor workshop. They walked up the stairs and entered the door to the workshop. Once they did, they saw who was making the racket. Lock, Shock and Barrel were inside the room, looking at the toys. They walked in as Lock was showing Shock a toy sailboat.
"No!" she barked, and Lock tossed it. Barrel was looking at a bear.
"This looks good." he said, patting it.
"No!" Shock barked again.
"Boooring!" added Lock, then he picked up another toy, "This one?"
"No!" Shock once again said.
"No way!" Barrel agreed.
"Hey!" squawked Donald, drawing the kids' attention.
"So YOU three took them!" barked Sora.
"Took what?" Shock asked.
"Don't deny it!" retorted Asuna.
"You stole the presents, didn't you!" Jack accused them.
"It wasn't us!" Lock denied.
"But…" Barrel started.
"It really sounds like fun!" finished Shock.
"Run for it!" the trio cried, scattering about the room. The group ran down after them.
The three of them were shrewd and annoying. Lock liked to toss explosives with a slingshot at Sora and Donald. Shock kept using a spinning attack at Asuna and Jack. Barrel kept charging at Kirito and Goofy with a cannonball sprint. The little buggers were also agile, bouncing everywhere in the workshop.
"We need to knock them down and make them stay down!" cried Kirito, blocking Barrel's attack and sending him flying, "Yui, any suggestions?"
Yui popped out, examined the opponents. then the area. "Those will work!" Yui shouted, pointing to three opened boxes that looked well-made and sturdy, "If we weaken then, we can trap them in those."
"Sounds like a plan!" Kirito stated, and the team dispersed to take on each kid.
Sora and Goofy went after Lock. Goofy used his shield to block the oncoming bombs, giving Sora time to counter attack with a barrage of attacks. Once he knocked him out, Sora took careful aim, and knocked one of the open boxes at his position. The kid got trapped into the box, and Goofy made sure to sit on the closed box lid just in case.
Asuna and Donald were after Shock, who was plenty trouble for them. Asuna got in close and unleashed repetitive jabs at her. She tried countering with a spin attack, but Donald conjured up a Thunder spell to stop her. Asuna did a backflip, then shot a triple dose of Blizzara spells at Shock, knocking her cold. Asuna's well trained accuracy made her didn't waste time knocking a box at Shock, trapping her.
Kirito and Jack were after Barrel, who kept cannonballing at them. Kirito sidestepped one of his attacks, and produced a Magnera spell to draw him in. Then while Jack ran wild with flaming pumpkins, Kirito unleashed a rapid combo, ending with a Horizontal Square Sword Skill. With Barrel knocked out, Kirito ran to a box and, after a couple swings, entrapped Barrel within it.
The three pairs moved the boxes together next to a conveyor belt. "Now…let's have a look at these little brats." Kirito stated, and the three unveiled the kids from the boxes, and forcefully made them sit with their backs to the conveyor belt.
"Where'd you put the presents?" demanded Sora.
"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Shock retorted.
"Why do I not believe you…" Asuna muttered.
"Then why are you in here?!" Donald squawked.
"We're looking for parts for the experiment." Lock answered.
"Experiment?" Jack asked, confused.
"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend!" Shock explained.
"One we get to boss around!" Barrel added.
"Is this true, Jack?" Kirito asked, looking at the tall skeleton.
"It's true the doctor's been hard at work making something lately…" Jack recalled, scratching his head.
The three kids got to their feet and stepped forward. "Besides, Christmas presents are boring!" Lock stated, "Not scary or gross… So what good are they?"
"Not everything has to be scary or gross." Asuna told them, "Some people, like myself, would rather have presents that are totally the opposite!" Kirito did remember the time when he got a whole lot of 'frog meat' drop items in SAO, which did fit the gross factor, and Asuna would not want to cook them at all.
"Whatever!" Shock said ignorantly.
"Yeah!" agreed Barrel.
"There's nothing fun here." Lock stated, "Let's go back to Halloween Town!" With that, the trio walked off and out the door.
"Were they telling us the truth when they said that they weren't the ones who took the presents?" Sora asked.
"I think so." Yui replied, "I observed them, and they seemed to be telling the truth."
"If that's the case, then who did it?" Jack asked. The group paused for a second, pondering on all the suspects, including Jack.
"Well, let's go back into the living room." Asuna suggested, "We need to report this to Santa." The team nodded, and with that, they walked out of the room.
The team walked back into the living room, just in time to see the trio of troublemakers walking out of the door. The team walked up to Santa. "So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" Santa asked.
"It doesn't look like it." Jack replied woefully.
"Then that means…" Santa started.
"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet." Kirito told him, seeing him leaning towards Jack as the culprit.
Just then, the door to the outside opened and closed, followed by hurried footsteps. The team turned to see Sally hurrying into the room. "Sally!" Jack called out.
"What are you doing here?" Sora asked.
"Oh, thank goodness! You're all here." Sally sighed, looking at the group.
"Is something wrong?" Kirito asked as she hurried to the group. Asuna flinched slightly at the sight of her, but she did her best to maintain her stance.
"The Heartless are back in the town square." Sally explained, "I thought you should know."
"That's our cue!" Sora stated.
"Wait, the Heartless?" Kirito repeated, then he paused for a few seconds before continuing, "You know, those guys could have done something with the presents."
"That is a possibility." Sora agreed.
"Actually, the Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them…" Sally explained.
"They were?" Jack asked, "Aha! We have our culprits!"
"Back to Halloween Town!" declared Donald.
"Oh no…" Asuna groaned.
"Asuna, you knew we had to go back there again. Might as well get it over with." Kirito told her off. Asuna looked hesitantly at the group, and nodded in response.
"Then lets skedaddle!" Goofy declared, and the team left Santa's workshop.
The team ran through the village, up the hill, then dove right into the door to Halloween Town. They arrived once again, and Heartless started to appear before them. The team worked their way through the Heartless, Asuna managing to actually fight up close and personal with them now, as they charged through the forest and through the graveyard. However, Asuna still was unable to handle the Tricky Ghosts and Graveyard Heartless, preferably running away from them and letting the boys handle them.
"Asuna just won't get over it, will she?" Sora asked Kirito, seeing what she was doing.
"Look on the bright side; more monsters for us." replied the fighting-loving swordsman.
The team made their way to Halloween Town Square, where there were Heartless a plenty, playing with some presents. The double headed mayor standing to one side, shouting through his megaphone. "You! You can't be here!" he shouted, "Leave Halloween Town, by order of the mayor!" His calls to the Heartless were ineffective. "Somebody? Anybody!" the Mayor cried, "I'm only an elected official, I can't handle this by myself."
"Sally was right." Jack confirmed, seeing the Heartless with the presents, "We've got to get the presents!" The others nodded in agreement and pulled their weapons out. Asuna shuddered as she looked around the town, but she shook her head to concentrate herself and pulled out her Lambent Light. The team charged in at the group of Heartless, which were composed of Wight Knights and Graveyards. Some of them had presents, others were defending them. Asuna went into Wisdom Form, and started barraging the opponents with magic and darts from a distance. Everyone else got up close and personal with the Heartless. They had to knock them out in order to take the presents they had. It took a few minutes, but the team managed to rescue as many presents as they could, and defeat the Heartless.
Jack noticed a doll and a opened, torn present box on the ground. The team watched as Jack walked over to the spot, stepped onto the doll, and picked up the present box. "What a shame!" he said, holding up the box, "It looks like it was such a nice present."
Sora and Kirito looked down at the doll Jack had his foot on. Did he really not see that was the present? Kirito thought to himself.
"Uh, Jack…" Sora started, but he was cut off abruptly by the sound of a metal door opening. The team looked to Dr. Finkelstein's tower, and saw the doctor himself roll out, rubbing his head.
"Oh, help! Someone help me!" he shouted, "My latest experiment is gone, it's been stolen!"
"Stolen?!" Kirito and Asuna said in unison. The team looked to each other, then stored the presents they've gathered, and entered Dr. Finkelstein's lab.
Once they all gathered, Jack asked, "So what happened? How was your experiment stolen, Doctor?"
"I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked!" Finkelstein explained, "I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!"
"Don't worry, Doctor, we know who took it." Jack told him.
"Who?!" demanded Finkelstein.
"The Heartless." Sora answered him. The others nodded in agreement. It was the most logical answer.
"What, those wretched things?" Finkelstein asked, "Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless."
"He does prove a point." Kirito told them, drawing the group's attention. Kirito and Yui were examining the table where he last noticed the experiment before.
"How so?" Sora asked.
"Well for starters, if the Heartless did attack Finkelstein, he wouldn't be here, would he?" Kirito told them, "He would have been turned into a Heartless, too."
"That…does make sense." Asuna agreed.
"And why would the Heartless want to take an experiment anyway?" Kirito asked them, "It's not like it was any worth to them. No offense, Doc." Finkelstein nodded.
"There's a couple more thing." Yui stated, eyeing the table and floor, "The door which enters this place hasn't been oiled for a while, right? I could tell because of how much noise it makes when we open and close it. If Dr. Finkelstein was the only one here for quite some time, how could someone enter in without being noticed?"
"Maybe he was hidin'." Goofy suggested.
"True." Yui assumed, "But it doesn't look like there are a lot of good hiding spots in this room. Plus, I assume that the experiment would weigh quite a bit, yet there is no sign of it being dragged out."
"You two are quite clever at figuring these stuff out." Jack commended them. Kirito and Yui looked to each other and smirked. Kirito and Asuna had once dealt with an unknown mystery involving people dying in safe zones in SAO. Kirito then had to solve the Death Gun incident in GGO, and how could he kill someone outside of the game, when it seemed impossible. This mystery was no problem.
"Not the Heartless, huh…" Sora muttered to himself.
"Who else could it be?" Donald asked.
"Maybe the Organization?" Goofy asked.
"I don't think so." Asuna replied, "I don't see how the experiment will benefit their goal."
"Not to mention that the timing of these two thieving incidences, Dr. Finkelstein's experiment and the presents, are too close together." Kirito added, "Is it a coincidence? I don't know, but it could be the same thief." The team pondered on the ideas on what to do next.
"Say, I have an idea." Jack stated, turning to the group, "The thief must like Christmas presents. So we place irresistible gifts about to draw him into a trap."
"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" Finkelstein asked.
"That's right." Jack responded.
"It is possible that it is the same person." Yui agreed, "Though let's not jump to conclusions just yet."
"How will we know for sure?" Sora asked.
"Well, now, that's easy!" Jack answered, "We'll scare a confession right out of him!" Asuna shuddered. Scaring does seem to work, at least this world's idea of scaring to her. She was not the only one hesitant on that idea.
"Gawrsh…" muttered Goofy, thinking on the idea.
"What do you say we go with Jack's plan…just for now?" Sora asked the group.
"Ok." Kirito answered, not disturbed whatsoever on the idea.
"Where should we do this?" Yui asked.
"Let's get to Sandy's house posthaste!" Jack declared, "We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!" Asuna sighed in relief, glad to get away from Halloween Town. The team walked out of the lab, towards Santa's workshop.
It took some time, but the team managed to make their way to the door to Christmas Town, then down to Santa's workshop where they needed to talk to Santa himself. They needed his permission after all. They brought him the presents that they got from Halloween Town, though there were still plenty more that haven't been found.
"Have you found the presents yet?" Santa asked them.
"Almost, Mr. Claws!" Jack answered.
"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait." Sora explained.
"With your permission, we would like to use your factory to create some presents?" Asuna asked him considerately.
"Presents as bait?" Santa repeated, "Goodness…I don't like the sound of that." Jack looked somewhat disgraced at his plan.
The others noticed his expression, and Asuna decided to step forward. "Listen, Mr. Claus." she started, "I know this sounds like a downcast onto Christmas, but if we don't stop the culprit, Christmas won't be the same cheery feeling either, right? So please, just this once, go with Jack's idea."
Santa paused for a second, looking to Asuna, then to the others, and finally at Jack. "Just this once, I suppose." he finally decided, "It's for a good cause… All right, use the second floor. And put some heart in it."
"Will do, Santa." Sora replied eagerly.
The team walked out of the room, through the delivery room, and finally to the second floor, where they confronted the three miscreants before. It was now cleaner, and ready for action. They walked up to an elf who worked there, and he explained how to wrap the gifts. It was simple; there were three cannons, and they shot toys out. There were boxes that came down chutes to the floor, and depending on the size, they had to shoot a certain amount of toys into each box. The cannons could only hold thirty toys each round, so needed to reload every once and a while.
Sora, Kirito and Asuna went to a cannon each. They set their sights on the chutes before them, ready to fire as soon as the boxes started falling. There was a green light, and boxes started coming down. The small ones took only one toy, the medium sized one took five, and the large ones took ten. The team started firing at the boxes, placing the toys in them. Donald and Goofy moved them out of the way so they wouldn't bother them. It was obvious that Asuna was far better than the boys, due to her excellent accuracy. Kirito and Sora weren't gonna give up without a fight, and all of a sudden it turned into a battle between Asuna and the two. Lock, Shock and Barrel somehow snuck into the place again, and attempted to stop them. However, shooting them with the toys was effective enough. In the end, the team finished gift wrapping all the presents.
"All done!" cheered Donald, tossing a present in the air.
"And I believe I got more presents than you two put together." Asuna said smugly.
"Did not!" Sora and Kirito argued.
"Actually, Mom did beat you by two presents." Yui calculated for them.
"Huh?!" cried the boys, and they turned to Asuna, who was giving a cheeky grin at them.
"Were not quite done yet." Jack told them.
"There's more?" Goofy asked.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest." Jack assured them. The team grouped up all the presents to one side. Once they knew where to put them, then they would move them. Jack stayed behind while Sora, Asuna and the crew walked downstairs to where Santa was waiting for them.
"Did you finish making the presents?" Santa asked as they entered in.
"Yup, just waiting for Jack." Sora answered him.
"I wonder what he's planning?" Asuna asked, looking back at the door they entered from.
"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" Goofy asked Donald and Kirito. The two pondered, then looked to Santa.
"Where do you think will be a good spot, Santa?" Kirito asked.
"Hm…" hummed Santa, then he said, "Oh, I know a good spot. Whenever you're ready, just say the word."
"Once Jack's back, then were ready." Sora told him.
"I'm back!" Jack waved to the others as he entered the room.
"Speaking of the Pumpkin King himself…" Kirito muttered, "Okay, let's go."
Santa led the team outside into town, where they walked towards a gate. Santa unlocked the gate and opened it up for them. "This plaza should work well for your plan." Santa said, then turning to Jack, "Now, Jack…what is your plan?"
"I've got it all figured out." Jack answered him.
"You do…" Santa said in an unconvincing tone.
"Of course!" Jack responded, "And I also have a wonderful idea. If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the-" But Jack was cut off by Yui diving in and covering his mouth with her body while Kirito and Sora grabbed his arms.
"And on that note, we'll be going." Sora told him. The two started to push Jack away as he shouted in a muffled tone. Yui uncovered his mouth and scolded Jack with a wave of her finger. Sora pat his shoulder, telling him he shouldn't go any further. They knew that Jack wouldn't give up so easily on Christmas. Jack grimaced as he was carried away into the plaza. The team found a perfect spot where to put the presents in the plaza. The team gathered up all the presents from the factory, and placed them here. Jack also brought out a very large present box. It was empty, but for a good reason. His plan was simple; they would hide in the big box until the culprit arrived. They squished themselves inside the box, and covered it with the lid. For a while, it was pitch black for them.
"Stop kicking!" Donald squawked.
"It's not me, Donald." Goofy told him.
"Ah! Sora, don't touch me there!" Asuna cried.
"I didn't do it!" Sora told her.
"Don't look at me, Asuna!" Kirito defended.
"Patience, friends." Jack told them.
"Shhh!" Yui hushed them.
"I said cut it out!" Donald squawked again, shaking the box.
"Gawrsh, was that you?" Goofy asked.
"Take your skeletal hand off my shoulder, Jack! It's creepy!" Asuna told him off.
"How come we have to be the bait?" Sora asked.
"Good plan, eh?" Jack asked.
"Yeah…real good plan." Kirito replied sarcastically.
"Ouch!" cried Donald, shaking the box again.
"Quiet, everyone!" Yui said to them, "I can't hear properly."
The group tried to keep quiet as well as they could. Suddenly, Yui squeaked, "I hear something." The others started to hear it, too. It sounded metallic, whatever it was. It sounded as if it was walking forward towards their position. It stopped near them, then they heard something that sounded like metal shutters opening. "Now!" whispered Yui.
The team popped out of the present, surprising the thief. "Gotcha!" shouted Sora, ready to face their thief. However, it wasn't who, or rather what, they expected.
"Is that…?" Asuna gasped, seeing the metal machine that they noticed before in the lab in Halloween Town.
"Dr. Finkelstein's experiment did it!" Jack accused in surprise.
The crew jumped out of the box, and looked at the machine. "Wow…this is unexpected." Asuna stated, seeing the machine.
"Actually, it makes perfect sense!" Kirito stated, "At least, how Dr. Finkelstein was knocked out anyway. Why it was stealing presents? I have no clue."
Just then, the experiment lunged at the group. They dodged it, but were hit by the shockwaves it created from its' hand. They fell back onto the ground, where the presents dispersed everywhere. "Ow! Hey, why do do that!" Donald demanded.
"The Experiment is hostile!" Yui told them, "It has been overcome by the Heartless' power!" The others were shocked at the news.
"In that case, we need to stop it!" Sora declared, pulling his Keyblade out. The others pulled their weapons out, ready to take on the Experiment.
The mechanized mayhem started to use one of its' claws to blow the team away from it. Everyone was pushed back except for Kirito and Donald, who braced themselves. Suddenly, the Experiment shot a laser beam from its' head, blasting the duo into the air. The machine fired twice more, sending Jack, Sora and Goofy flying. Asuna was the only one swift enough to avoid its' attack. As soon as the monster stopped blowing, it started to move away. Asuna was the first to make a move, making lighting fast jabs at the Experiment. The others caught up to see it start blowing again and shooting lasers. Asuna was blown back but was quick to use Reflega just as the laser was about to hit her, not only defending but reverberating the attack a bit. However, she was unable to block the second and third round of lasers, and she was knocked back.
"Asuna!" cried Kirito, seeing her fall to the ground. Asuna managed to flip herself to her feet before landing to the ground. The boys were thankful to see that she was alright, but angrily turned to the Experiment, and started striking it without mercy.
Suddenly, the Experiment dislodged its' head, which hovered in the air. It started firing down a laser beam to the ground, which was easily avoidable. The body of the Experiment made a rolling charge at the group, bowling over Donald and Goofy. It then started to blow the team towards the oncoming laser. Kirito barely avoided from being hit by the laser by this means. Sora quickly dodge rolled to one side and produced a Thundara spell on top of it. Asuna, now with the group, and Jack both struck the mechanized mayhem hard when it stopped blowing.
The Experiment got his head back on its' body, and attempted the same 'blow and laser' attack again, but the team dispersed just as it started attacking, confusing it on which target to pick. Kirito, Donald and Jack took one side when Sora, Asuna and Goofy were the distraction. The trio charged at the Experiment, and struck it hard with slashes, Thunder, and flaming pumpkins. The machine attempted to retaliate, but their attack made it lose track of Sora, Goofy, and Asuna. They attacked it from the other side, damaging it hard.
"Look out! It's doing something!" Yui pointed out. It did something alright; it dislodged both its' head and claws, and the parts grew in size. The body flipped upside down, which made it look like it had another skeletal head, and it started to float around wildly, spinning like a top. The other parts started firing lasers, clawing, and blowing, making it difficult for the others.
"How do we deal with this?!" Kirito asked, flipping over a nearby laser.
"Send the main body to one of the other parts." Yui explained, "Use its' own body part to damage it!"
Sora acknowledged and, nearly dodging a claw slash, made his way to the main body. He made a running leap for the head, then using his own strength he tossed the body over to the head. The head shot a triple laser fire at its' own body, damaging it. "Hah!" laughed Sora, glad to see the plan working.
Before they could repeat the act, the body merged itself together again. It was no longer the same body as before. It was floating and even more of a menace than before. It started flailing its' arms to its' sides as it charged through the group, damaging them all but Jack and Asuna, who dove out of the way. Kirito and Sora recovered and started striking relentlessly damaging it. It retaliated with triple laser fire, which got Kirito, but Sora used Reflega to block and repel. Donald healed Kirito, and the boys and girl joined up once more to attack it. After a few more assaults of this, the body parts of the Experiment dispersed themselves again, and the body parts formed a triangle around as the main body started spinning again. Kirito wanted a little vengeance, so he grabbed ahold of the main body, and tossed it over to the claw. The claw slashed the main body, damaging it.
"My turn now!" Asuna shouted, and she grabbed the main body and tossed it to the blowing claw. It made contact, and the strong blowing, combined with Sora's joined in slashes, caused severe damage.
"This thing's going down soon!" Sora shouted.
The Experiment put itself together again, in its' floating form once more. It rapidly slashed at the crew once more, and it got Sora, Goofy and Kirito, leaving the magic experts remaining. "We need to finish this off, now!" Asuna cried, seeing the Experiment hurt her boyfriend.
"And I've got the plan to do it." Jack proclaimed, getting the duo's attention, "Donald, see if you can stall it."
"You got it!" Donald replied, and he charged at the Experiment.
"Ok, what do you have in mind?" Asuna asked, turning from the direction Donald was heading to Jack, and saw his hand reached out to her.
"Asuna, may I have this dance?" he asked her. Asuna was surprised and puzzled at first, then realized where he was getting at.
"Ok, sounds good!" Asuna replied. Donald had used the last of his magic when Asuna shouted to him, "Switch!" Donald, knowing what that meant, leapt back just in time to dodge a slash as Asuna and Jack stepped forward, their hands met. They went into their 'Dance Call' Limit Break.
Jack started to spin Asuna around, and then he started to spin in the air above her. The two then started moving at the Experiment, and the duo conjured up a glowing pumpkin that released ghosts to damage the machine. Over and over, they continued this attack, damaging it even further. Donald helped the other boys to their feet, with Sora conjuring Curaga to heal everyone. They watched as Jack and Asuna entered the finale, in which Jack flung Asuna into the air, conjuring an abundance of ghosts and shadowy bats all around them. As Asuna's face turn to where the boys were at, they saw, to their surprise, that Asuna had her eyes open. Despite the fearful attack she had around her, she looked as if she actually enjoyed herself. She spun around, landed on the ground and struck a pose with Jack, causing a blast of energy confetti to explode around them, dealing the final damage to the Experiment. The machine started to shake violently as the group gathered in front of it. The arms and head started to fall until the main body still floated for only a few seconds, then it collapsed. The body parts then started to be envelop a dark vapor.
"The Heartless is disappearing from the machine." Yui explained, seeing the vapor disappear.
"Way to go, you two!" Sora congratulate Asuna.
"We did it!" cheered Jack, "The mystery is solved!"
"Wait until Santa hears this!" Kirito told them.
"Why wait?" Asuna stated as she looked up, "Here he comes now." They heard the sound of jingle bells, and they looked up to see the ever-famous look of Santa, riding his sleigh, pulled by his reindeer. Santa twisted around and landed on the ground near from them. He got off the sleigh, and walked towards the team.
"Did you catch the thief?" He asked them.
"Naturally!" Jack replied promptly.
"But I just can't figure out why the doctor's experiment would go around stealing Christmas presents." Sora stated.
"His experiment?" Santa questioned.
"That's the thief." Kirito explained, pointing the dead machine out to Santa, "It was a mechanism made by Dr. Finkelstein."
Santa walked forward to the dead machine. "Hmm..." he hummed, "The doctor's made a moving puppet? I see... He is always tinkering with things." He paused for a second, then turned to the group and continued, "Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you. And while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like."
Jack looked excitedly at him, seeing where he was getting at. "Sandy Claws!" he said excitedly. He looked to his friends.
"Go on, Jack!" Asuna told him, "But make sure you do it right."
"I will!" Jack assured her. He jumped into the seat of the sleigh, grabbing the reigns, ready to get a move on,
"Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart." Santa stated, looking at the dead robot.
"The poor thing..." Yui muttered, touching the machine.
"If we only knew..." Asuna added sadly.
Santa turned to the reindeer, and issued them to move. The reindeer started to pull the sleigh with Jack on it, and they started to fly in the air. "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Jack called as he was soaring away into the night sky.
The team watched as Jack flew away, then Asuna looked down to the ground, and noticed something that was in the spot where the sleigh was at. It was a Keyblade Keychain, with a white and pumpkin chain, with the token as Jack's pet ghost, Zero. "Look at this." Asuna said, picking up the keychain.
"That's the Decisive Pumpkin." Yui explained, seeing the keychain, "It has high attack power, and it increases the combos."
Asuna looked to the keychain for a second, then said, "I think I'll use it for my Master Form." Kirito and Sora weren't complaining. With what she dealt with in this world, she deserved it.
"We should report this back to Dr. Finkelstein." Kirito suggested. The others nodded in agreement. Asuna was hesitant, but she nodded.
"I might give you a special present there soon." Santa told them.
"What is it?" Donald asked excitedly. "Oh, you will find out soon enough." Santa answered. The group looked to each other, then decided to wait. They walked away from Santa and the machine, and made their way to Halloween Town.
They arrived at the scary-looking town again, and found Dr. Finkelstein and Sally waiting for them close to his lab. The team explained who the thief was, and all of what it done. "Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all!" Dr. Finkelstein stated, "It ran away on its own. In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!"
"If it was a success, it wouldn't cause so much havoc." Asuna retorted.
"So why did the puppet run away?" Sally asked.
"Santa Claus thinks maybe it left because it was trying to find a heart." Sora told them. Donald and Yui nodded in agreement.
"That's quite possible." agreed the doctor, "Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart."
"Your Sally?" Asuna asked, thinking for a second, then coming to the frightening conclusion, "You mean you created her?"
"Why, of course!" Dr. Finkelstein answered her, turning his wheelchair around. Asuna shuddered as the doctor rolled away.
"This town just keeps getting creepier and creepier." she whispered to Kirito. Kirito had to admit that it was slightly unusual. Now he couldn't tell if Sally was a zombie or something like Frankenstein's monster.
"But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing all those Christmas presents?" Sora asked the others.
"Maybe because presents are a way to give your heart to someone special." Sally answered, walking to them.
"Give your heart to someone special?" Yui questioned, confused at the meaning.
"Hmm...when you put it that way, I feel sort of bad for it." Sora sympathized.
"Me too." agreed Asuna, "I wish we could've done something for it."
"We gave it peace." Kirito told her, wrapping his hand around her shoulder, "Maybe next time, the doctor can revive it with a heart." Asuna wasn't intrigued by creating life the way the doctor did, but she did care.
Just then, they heard sleigh bells, and the team looked around, wondering where it came from. "Up there!" Yui said, pointing upwards. They looked to see Jack falling down from the sky. He landed neatly on his feet in front of the startled team. He smiled at them, then looked up to the full moon in the sky. The shadow of the sleigh with reindeers appeared from the moon's light, along with Santa in the sleigh.
"Happy Halloween!" Santa's voice boomed from the sky. All of a sudden, snow started to fall from the sky all across the town. The team looked up, gazing in wonder as the snow fell.
"What a nice present." Sally said admiringly.
"It is quite amazing." Kirito acknowledged.
"I don't understand!" Jack said in confusion, "There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!"
"Jack, it's not about the box or the ribbons." Sora told him, "It's about what's inside the box!"
"It's not that either, Sora." Asuna stopped him, "What really matters, what's really special about it, is the act of giving the gift."
"It is to wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy." Sally ended. Asuna and Kirito looked to each other. Kirito also didn't think of presents in that sense, but now that he did, he found the idea of giving gifts something deeper and more caring than before.
"Right...of course!" realized Jack, "Thank you, Asuna, Sally you're absolutely right." Then he was startled by something, and touched his chest. "Wait! What's this?" Jack asked, feeling his heart, "I feel so strange, so very happy!"
"Jack, that must be Sally's present!" Goofy assumed.
"Really? This wonderful feeling?" Jack asked, walking up to Sally and taking her hands, "Oh, Sally! You've given me the nicest present in the world! And I've nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything."
Sally removed Jack's hands from hers, and placed them on top of Jack's. "The nicest present I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you." Sora, Donald and Goofy looked embarrassed at the lovey-dovey scene in front. Asuna giggled. Kirito blushed slightly. Yui just smiled.
"You don't even have to ask for that." Jack replied. He hoisted Sally up into his arms, and carried her away. He carried her all around the town square, then once they were down, they begun to dance together around the swirling snow.
"Kirito?" Asuna started, "Do you have any ideas on what kind of present you want for Christmas?"
Kirito looked to her, surprised at what she was asking. "I don't really have one that I want much." Kirito answered, "Although, as long as you are with me, Asuna, I don't think any presents will be necessary."
Asuna smiled at Kirito. "That's the same exact thing I want, Kirito." she replied.
"I want mama and papa to stay together, too!" Yui squeaked, "As long as you are my mama and papa, I'm fine with that."
"Same here." Asuna agreed. Kirito and Asuna looked to each other, and rested their foreheads onto each other, expressing their love for one another.
"Maybe I never gave her a real present after all." Sora muttered, looking to Kirito and Asuna, then to Jack and Sally.
"Who?" Donald asked, turning to him.
"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her." Goofy told Sora, shaking his shoulders.
"I know." Sora replied, "That's what made it so hard to decide."
"It's not the gift, it's what's in your heart!" Donald quoted.
"My heart..." Sora echoed.
"You bet, Kairi's like Sally or Asuna!" Donald compared.
"How?" Sora asked questionably.
"Well, as long as she can be with you, what else does she need?" Goofy answered. Donald nodded in agreement.
Sora paused, then looked to Jack and Sally dancing, and pictured him and Kairi dancing instead, with Kairi giggling as she looked at him. He then looked to Kirito and Asuna, and pictured him and Kairi resting their foreheads against each other, smiling. He brought himself out of that imaginary world, and giggled a bit as he blushed. He then looked up at the snowy sky, thinking about her. He missed her, and he hoped to see her again. Maybe Leafa and Recon have figured out where she was. Either way, they had a few more worlds to take care of, so things would have to wait.
He looked to see Kirito, Asuna and Yui come to his side. "Ready to move on?" Kirito asked. Sora nodded. And with that, they left, going back to the Gummi Ship to the next world.