Hello, fellow readers! Getting to the swing of things, what do we have?

Spartastic 4: Oh, almost there! Oh don't worry, I know that. I'm just sticking to the main ones for this story, since they're not repeated to death yet from this point. As for Final Fantasy or even Blazblue... I'm not gonna lie, if I include a Final Fantasy world, it would just complicate what I already have planned and would make no sense since these guys are different counterparts of their original selves. On the Blazblue side, I have ideas... yeah. Overall, I'm just gonna stick with mainly Disney worlds for now.

ssjSega: Hey! Good to see you back with the discussions, man. And yeah, if anyone wants to join in, feel free. It'll help not only him, but me to make this story more accurate for the characters in terms of abilities.

So, with that said, let's dive deep into the jungle!

Chapter 7: Strangers... Like Me?

Riku was told to come to the chapel a few minutes ago, which confused him at first. Ever since he came here, he just stayed in his room mainly.

"Why change now?" Riku had that thought in his mind as he stood in the chapel with Maleficent.

"I believe it's time to give you some freedom." Her words surprised him, but also suspicious.

"I'm guessing there's a catch to this." He pointed out.

"Indeed there is, young man." Riku then sees Hazama walk over from the shadows and stops near Maleficent.

"I'll grant you access to other worlds... if you can prove your power." She offered.

"You mean to tell me he got here by pure luck?" Hazama doubted.

"Then I accept the challenge." Riku wasn't gonna let this chance slip away.

"OK... where's your weapon?" Hazama noticed he didn't have anything in his hands to defend himself.

At that moment, Riku realized he left his wooden sword in his room. It's not much, but that was the closest he got for a weapon.

"Very well. I'll give you your first lesson. Call out to the darkness in your heart, let its power channel into a physical form." Maleficent instructed.

Riku did as she instructed, holding out his right hand for what felt like almost a minute before a dark flame appeared and shaped itself into a sword. It resembled a demonic wing colored in red and blue, with the handle itself being dark purple braids and bears a creepy blue eye with a slit pupil.

"There we go... was about to fall asleep." Hazama yawned.

"Then this will wake you up." Riku commented.

Riku then got in his battle stance and ran at Hazama, swinging vertically to his head. In a swift motion, the attack was deflected by two butterfly knives that Hazama pulled out in a X-shaped slash. Riku was pushed back a bit, but kept his footing as he sees Hazama twirl his knives.

"All right, smartass. Let's see you back those words up, I was getting bored anyways." He taunted.

Riku rushed him again, but was caught off guard as a strange chain with a serpent's head launched at him. He narrowly sidesteps it, but sees the head close its mouth and retracted the chain towards itself to somehow pull Hazama to him. Riku tried to jump away, but Hazama was quick enough to deliver a simple kick into his chest, knocking him into the wall.

"Tell ya what, to make this fight brief, just land one solid hit on me." Hazama challenged.

"Really? You're making it too easy." Riku snarked.

Hazama smirked at his response, "Pretty cocky, aren't ya?"

Riku charged at him again, delivering a horizontal slash that Hazama actually leaned back just enough to dodge it. Hazama was smooth in his dodges as Riku kept swinging before conjuring a green aura around himself. Riku swing hard diagonally for an actual hit, only for the snake to slide right past him and retaliate with Venom Sword, hitting Riku in the back.

Riku quickly recovered to his feet with a roll, again charging at Hazama which makes him sigh.

"You're so predictable..." He commented.

Changing it up, Riku jumps onto the wall and leaps up into the air, ready for a lunge blade first. Seeing the darkness channel a bit into the sword, Hazama sends out his snake chain behind him and was able to fling back fast enough to avoid the attack. Landing onto the ground, Riku's attack sent a small shockwave on impact.

"Oh, did ya just do something interesting?" Hazama wondered.

"Don't be fooled, I got more tricks up my sleeves." Riku then remembers he wears no sleeves, "You know what I mean."

Riku stood there this time, thinking over his current approach. "Rushing him does nothing. Maybe closing the distance with a distraction, but what?"

He then feels a flicker in his left hand, conjuring a small mist in his palm. It somewhat resembled a flame to him, fully forming into an actual one. It surprised him as it exploded, making Hazama laugh.

"Afraid of a little spark, kid?" He taunted.

Annoyed at this point, he pulled back and lunged his arm out to fire a dark fireball. Hazama counters it by throwing one of his knives straight at it, cancelling it into a puff of smoke. As soon as it appeared, it disperses at a sudden dash straight through the smoke as Riku delivers a swift strike fast enough for Hazama to block instead. Block or not though, it still was a hit.

"Well, you learn fast, kid." Hazama commented.

"You've proven your strength. As a reward, here is your first mission." Maleficent said as Riku and Hazama listened.

"Wake up, Sora!"

He doesn't know how, but when he opened his eyes, all he saw was the sky with clouds throughout as he feels the wind hitting him. He finds himself in someone's arms, who turns out to be Aqua.

"What happened..." He asked.

"All I know is the cockpit was opened as it fell here, we fell too and you're the first one I saw. Then, here we are." Aqua summarized the events prior.

Sora remembered what led to this and only sighed before Aqua noticed where they were landing.

"Brace yourself!"

She conjured a barrier as the two broke through the roof of a large treehouse, it dispersing as soon as they hit a support beam on the way down and land on the floor. The two tried to shake off their dizziness as they got to their feet.

"You all right, Aqua?" Sora asked.

"Yeah. Glad you are." She answered.

However, they felt a presence that thrives on a hunt. They look around to then see a female yellow leopard pounce from the balcony above, black claws protruding from her paws as the two summoned their keyblades. They rolled out of the way, the leopard lashes out at Sora upon landing to knock him against the wall.

"Back off!" Aqua swung to get the leopard away from Sora, only for the animal to swipe its claws to deflect the attack.

Aqua was quick to recover as she blocked a deadly bite from the leopard, the two in a power struggle for a moment before Sora swung from behind to stun it, followed by Aqua delivering a sucker punch by swinging the hilt into the leopard's head to knock it away. It slammed into a large dresser and rolled on the floor a bit before stopping, staying still for the moment.

The two stayed on guard as they inch slowly towards the leopard, only for it to lunge at them in one swift motion. The lunge was actually quick enough to get Aqua before her barrier spell came up, pinning her down on the ground.

"Oh no, you don't!" Next thing Aqua knew, Sora actually hopped on the leopard's back and grabbed its head in a headlock in a desperate attempt to at least hold it off.

The leopard shook, jumped and rolled in a random pattern into the surrounding furniture to try getting Sora off, to no avail. This gives Aqua time to cast the chains, if she can get a good target on the animal as it was very fast. Sora saw this and tightened his grip, making the leopard halt in its track. Right as that happen, Aqua heard something land on the roof, her attention away long enough for the leopard to slam Sora against the wall to release his grip.

Aqua realized what happened and sees the leopard jump at her once more, only for another person to lunge from the side to knock it into the wooden doors, breaking them open on impact and slid into the railings.

The new arrival surprised Aqua, as it was a man that wore nothing but a loincloth around his waist. He held a spear that was made from a long branch and a sharp rock as a weapon as the leopard got to its feet, growling as it glared with its yellow eyes. Then, it ran off into the forest.

Aqua then lets out a breath and places her hands on her knees as the new arrival notices her, turning his head in curiosity as he moved closer. Aqua notices this and sees his entire appearance. He had long brown hair styled in dreadlocks, light blue-green eyes, and tanned skin on his muscular body. He stood in a hunched position, similar to an ape, as he then spoke.

"Sabor... danger..." The man warned.

Aqua now knew the name of the leopard before responding back, "Thank you for your help."

The man blinked at her once before speaking again, "...Thank you..."

She noticed his speech was rather slow. Maybe he was just shy? She made her keyblade disappear as she crouches down to introduce herself.

"My name is Aqua. Yours?" She spoke with a friendly smile.

The man stood there for a moment before stepping closer, putting down his spear before standing a bit taller and putting his hands near his chest.

"Tarzan..."

"Nice to meet you, Tarzan." Aqua said.

The man, now known as Tarzan, made a few happy grunts in response before hearing a groan from behind him. He swiftly turned around while grabbing his spear, which Aqua remembered Sora and halted Tarzan.

"No need for that. He's my friend." She briefly explained.

Tarzan pointed his spear down as he repeated, "Friend?..."

"Yes, friend." She confirmed, then turning around to check on Sora. "You OK?"

"Yeah... yeah, just a bit sore." Sora answered as he rubbed the back of his forehead.

Aqua used a small Cure spell to heal the soreness as he then noticed Tarzan behind her.

"Um, hi." Sora was a bit confused, which Aqua noticed and explains. "He's Tarzan, he helped us chase away Sabor the leopard."

"Oh, OK." Sora then got up to his feet as Tarzan walked closer to the two, "Nice to meet you. Is this place yours?"

"This place, this place." Tarzan repeated, which confused the two.

"Yes. This place is your home, right?" Aqua asked.

"...Home..." It looked like Tarzan didn't even know what this house was until now.

Sora then sees someone walking behind Tarzan, now knowing the figure is Kairi. He wasn't sure why he was seeing her again, but it reminds him about the others.

"Oh right, we have friends out there! Can you help us find them?" Sora asked.

"Friends need help... we go search." Tarzan answered.

Sora was glad about that, "Great! There's Goofy, Terra, and Ragna."

"Goofy... Terra... Rawgna..." Tarzan sounded out the names, which two of the three he got right.

Aqua would have corrected him right there, but she was too busy staring at Sora with her hands on her hips. Sora noticed this at the corner of his eyes and shifted a bit.

"T-That's right. We better get g-going..." Sora was now sweating a bit as Aqua gave him a stern stare.

He lets out a nervous laugh with an equally nervous smile, all the while trying not to look at Aqua. She slowly started to lean closer, which Sora jumped after a second.

"OK, OK, OK!" Sora was waving his arms around in a panic, which then slowed down to then poke his fingers together. "There's also Donald..."

Aqua stood straight again as she sighed and turns to Tarzan, "And it's pronounced Ragna."

"Ragna..." Tarzan sounded out again correctly before ending with, "Donald..."

"Yes. Now, we get going." Aqua said.

Right after she said that, a loud blast echoed at the jungle below.

"Clayton." Tarzan was quick to respond at it.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Aqua asked, which Tarzan delivered a simple nod in return. "Then take us to him."

"How the hell did I end up here..." That was the only thought in Ragna's head as he is currently tied up in vines from the trees when he landed in the branches above.

He looks around at his surroundings and sees his sword dropped at the ground a few feet right below him.

"Oh come on!" He shouted in frustration at his luck.

After he said that, he hears the large leaves and bushes rustling a bit before a gorilla and an elephant came out. The two saw the sword and began to examine it, which Ragna decided to get their attention.

"Hey, hey!" He kept his voice from being too loud to scare them, which didn't really help as they were surprised at seeing him. "Don't touch that, it's mine!"

The elephant seemed to tiptoe around his sword as the gorilla was more curious about Ragna. "If you can understand me, mind helping out?"

He then heard more rustling from the same bushes before seeing a familiar duck, "Donald!" He called out.

"Wha-" Donald glances around before looking up to see Ragna tied in the vines, "Ragna! How did you get up there?"

"Good question. Sadly, no answer. Mind helping out?" Ragna shook a bit to emphasize his point.

Donald sighed and conjured a small Gravity spell to pull the vines until they snapped, dropping Ragna. He was quick to recover and landed on his feet before removing the vines, "Thanks."

He finished taking them off as the gorilla got closer to him, examining from head to toe as she circled around him. Ragna was able to see more of her characteristics.

She had dark hair that has a crest on top of her head, gray skin, and brown eyes. "Her name is Terk. The elephant's Tantor." Donald mentioned.

"And you know that..." Ragna wondered.

"My watch has a universal translator. Very handy." Donald bragged.

The elephant, now known as Tantor, lets out a friendly blow from his trunk. He was a rather large red elephant with two hairs sticking out from his head and a pair of white tusks.

Terk went to Donald and made a bunch of grunts, which he translated with his watch. "Is he a friend of yours?" The watch said.

"Uh, yeah." Donald hesitated on his answer, but Ragna picked up on that and remembered what he wanted to ask him.

"Speaking of which, I wondered what happened to the others. You know, since they FELL OUT with us?" Ragna questioned.

"Hey, Sora grabbed the wheel! I was just making sure HE didn't break it!" Donald was quick to defend himself.

"Then tell me, why did he grab it? Because he wants to find his friends or YOU didn't want to look here at all!" Ragna recalled.

"I-I didn't want to waste time finding the king! We have a mission!" Donald shouted.

"Oh, a mission? Then how about this? What if the king WAS here? What if his friends ARE here?" Ragna brought up good points as he walks around the duck, which Donald only fumed at before he stopped in front of him.

"...What if he did that to you?" Ragna finished.

Donald couldn't look him in the eye at this point, only resorting to yelling gibberish and running off. Ragna sighed before walking over to pick up his sword. He puts it on his belt as Terk and Tantor tried to process what just happened.

"His heart's in the right place, I'll give him that." Ragna admitted as he looked at the two, "Just needs his priorities straight. Now, gotta make sure he doesn't hurt himself."

Before he went after Donald, he then hears a gunshot that echoed through the trees from the direction that Donald was heading.

"That's a coincidence..." Ragna wondered before he finally headed after Donald with the animal pair following him.

Goofy finds himself sitting in the middle of a large nest filled with gorillas, covered in various fruits with the juices spilled out. He pretty much got the gist of what happened, he crashed into their home. Now the gorillas had their attention on him, and they were livid.

"...Uh, hello. I didn't mean to..." Goofy started, but to no avail.

The gorillas let out a fierce cry as Goofy sprinted through the group to a large tree, getting chased close behind before reaching a large tree branch. Getting to the end, he had nowhere to run as the group closed in. Once they were only a few feet away, they stopped. Goofy was confused by this until he sees what seems to be the leader of the group moving to the front.

The gorilla was practically the biggest of the group, with black fur that has a silver patch that covered his back. He had a gray round belly as he stared intently with yellow eyes that had mahogany red irises at Goofy, who was quickly pressing on his watch on his left wrist.

He set it to the universal translator, which did a quick scan before setting the language. "I come in peace!" Goofy quickly said to the watch, which translated to their language that was a set of grunts.

The silverback stopped in his tracks as he listened, only letting out a low growl in response. He moved closer to examine Goofy's arm before letting out a set of grunts.

"Who are you?" The watch translated.

Goofy moved his arm to talk to his watch, "My name is Goofy. I arrived here by accident when we crash landed."

The watch translated that as the gorilla listened. He then let out a deep breath before following with a set of grunts.

"There are others with you?" The watch translated.

"Yes, sir. I don't know where they are, though." Goofy answered.

The gorilla glared at him for a few slow seconds before two grunts left his mouth, "Leave. Now." The watch translated.

Goofy nodded at that, quickly but carefully moving back down the branch past the other gorillas before going down to the ground. He didn't look back once as Goofy went deeper into the trees, stepping over large tree roots and going through bushes for a bit before hearing what sounded like someone struggling. Following the noise, he then sees a familiar face trying to get out of tangled vines.

"Terra! What are ya doing up there?" He calls out to him.

Terra stops struggling and turns to see Goofy, "Goofy! Glad to see ya. Trying to get free, mind helping?"

"Sure thing!" Goofy then summoned his shield, aiming it just right to throw at the remaining vines to cut him free.

Terra finds himself falling right after, quickly recovering to just barely landing on his feet.

"Thanks for that. I guess I'm the first you saw?" Terra wondered.

"Well, I ran into a bunch of gorillas earlier. Barely avoided a fight too." Goofy admitted.

"Guess we're in some sort of jungle. We better find the others before-" Terra was then interrupted as a loud blast was heard throughout the trees beyond.

The two were quiet for a moment before Goofy whispered, "What was that?"

"Best to check it out. May be the clue we need." Terra answered.

The two were a bit uncertain, but pressed on towards the destination.

AND DONE! All right, finished this chapter. So, I split up the group a bit differently this time and the meetings are different.

Sora/Aqua: The two have a similar meeting as the original, fighting Sabor and meeting Tarzan.

Ragna/Donald: Honestly, I paired them up since I wanna have Donald have someone to talk with if he should have some development. That and have Terk in a bit more prominent role along with adding Tantor.

Terra/Goofy: Similar fighting styles came to mind when I did this, same with meeting the gorillas instead of Clayton. The gunshot was a last minute idea that I went with.

And like I said, I wanna show Riku's side more to have a better view of his mindset.

I would have put this chapter up earlier, but I remembered that I wanted to reboot my horrible Pokemon story a long time ago and I wanted to do that before this year's end. If you're interested, feel free to check it out. Anyways, thanks for reading and see ya next chapter!