DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: WELCOME BACK! Just so you know, here comes another "DARK-LIKE" Chapter!

I hope you enjoy it!

To respond to your question, Digimonking99, in Kingdom Hearts 3D, they used the term "Jack-A-Mules" instead of "Jackass". Even so, I often prefer to stick much-more closely to that of the Disney-based Movies I incorporate in any KH Fan-Fiction I choose to write.

So, without further ado, here is 'LUCKY THIRTEEN'! (Yet, I personally am NOT Superstitious!)

CHAPTER 13
Tricks of The Darkness

Although it hadn't taken too long to arrive at the boarding platform for the Ferris Wheel, both Sora and Jiminy Cricket had to patiently wait for several minutes as the car containing the Pinocchio-resembling figure reached the station. Since the ride was moving at a snail's pace, Sora folded his arms and soon began tapping his right foot at a steady beat. Normally, this was how the Keyblade wielder could handle long waiting periods, which wasn't exactly his 'strong suit'.

Finally, after what seemed to have been seven hours (it was actually seven minutes) the car came to a stop at the platform. Not wanting to let it proceed without them, Sora leaped into the carriage with Jiminy still perched upon his shoulder. The two turned to face the puppet already inside.

"Gee Pinoke," a puzzled Jiminy said. "How'd you get on here all by yourself?"

"C'mon," Sora added. "Let's get you and Jiminy home."

A mere second after the words had left Sora's mouth, the puppet in the carriage swiftly transformed into another half-jester half-ghost creature. Startled, the brown, spikey-haired youth nearly jumped backward. Fortunately, he had already taken into account that the car was approaching the top of the Ferris Wheel. If he had jumped back in shock, the Keyblader might have fallen out of the carriage altogether.

Without wasting a single moment, Sora summoned his Keyblade and sliced its blade straight into the monster. The sole hit had been enough to vanquish the Nightmare in a matter of seconds. After it had disappeared into the usual bunch of transparent bubbles, Sora calmly put his Keyblade away.

"Another imposter!" Jiminy sighed in defeat.

Sora instantly noticed the cricket's behavior. "Don't give up yet, Jiminy," the Keyblade wielding teenager encouraged. "I'm certain we'll find Pinocchio before you realize it!"

As Violet gradually descended onto the second-floor balcony of the large, grey-stoned Mansion, her face rapidly turned into an expression of agitation and revulsion. Almost the entire rectangular-shaped balcony was littered with carelessly-thrown popcorn bags, smashed gum wrappers, and a large amount of abandoned half-smoked cigars. As the angel cautiously set foot on a supposedly less-cluttered section of the balcony, the sounds of a CRUNCH—CRUNCH instantly made her freeze in place. Holding her breath, the angel looked down and was unable to believe what she saw. There were translucent-colored shards of broken glass lying around directly where she stood. To top it off, she had already stepped upon two of the shattered pieces. Quickly whirling her eyes around to discover where all the shards of glass had originated from, Violet noticed a square-shaped window to her left. At least, it appeared to have been a window; a few crookedly-shaped pieces of glass were still stuck on its edges.

Now curious about what kind of place this Mansion really was, the angel proceeded to carefully sneak over to a doorway, though only one of the two, wooden doors remained. The other had been knocked off its hinges and snapped in half on the balcony. The other wooden door had been painted all over with a messy-looking mixture of colors; the outcome was a combination of dark brown, a deep, dark shade of violet, and a deep shade of black.

As Violet peered into the room beyond, her heart skipped a few beats; she was astounded beyond belief. Before her eyes was a large, golden-colored foyer with a curved staircase leading downstairs. However, the entire area was covered in all sorts of littered trash, broken furniture, muddy footprints, and even countless cigars having been tossed around mindlessly. The remains of what had clearly once been a shining, silver chandelier was hanging from the ceiling overhead. As several of its bulbs and arms had been ripped off, the light fixture had been damaged beyond all possible repair.

As she stepped into the room, a sign on the wall directly opposite the second floor caught her eye. As she carefully read it to herself, the angel was speechless.

PLEASURE ISLAND
"HOUSE OF DESTRUCTION"

What a complete surprise for Violet. She had ventured into some place labeled the "House of Destruction". No wonder the whole Mansion was in shambles. It was allowed to be that way.

As Violet took extra precautions in heading down the staircase, the remains of an oval-shaped mirror to her right seized her focus for a brief second. It was impossible to see a reflection within it; the glass had been totally destroyed and was missing.

Now, as the Angel of Dreams arrived at the ground floor of the Mansion, she spotted the Pinocchio-like puppet standing beside the ruins of a grand piano having been chopped into piece by a decent-sized axe stuck into it. After cautiously traversing the room, Violet was able to get the puppet's attention.

"Pinocchio," she said. "This place is too dangerous for anyone to explore! Let's go find—"

The angel froze mid-sentence; the puppet had transformed into a half-jester half-ghost monster. Unable to response, Violet just stood with her hands over her face; her eyes were wide with shock. The figure had been a Nightmare in disguise.

As the enemy charged, the angel leaped off to the side before it could harm her. Spotting the axe still situated in the remains of the piano, Violet grabbed its handle and tried to pull it out. Unfortunately, the axe's blade had been inserted too deep and broke clear off the handle.

The Angel of Dreams was both baffled and terrified alike. Her weapon-of-choice was no longer useful, and the Nightmare was about to attack. Desperately sweeping her eyes across the entire length of the foyer, Violet spotted the broken mirror still hanging on the wall of the staircase. In the wink of an eye, she had zoomed over to it and plucked it off the wall. She gasped in realization; the mirror's froze was too smooth to deal any harm to the creature.

Now seeing the Nightmare bouncing around to the center of the foyer below, Violet glanced upward and took notice of how the ruined chandelier was hanging from the ceiling by a weak piece of rope. Assuming the mirror could have the potential to break the rope, the angel tossed the item into the air in the same form as one who traditionally throw a Frisbee. As expected, the mirror had picked up plenty of momentum to spin fast enough as it sliced straight through the rope.

With a gigantic, obnoxious CRASH, the chandelier slammed into the floor, completely destroying it as well as crushing the Nightmare into a small bunch of quickly popping bubbles. Violet let out a deep sigh of relief. The monster pursuing her had been terminated. Yet, that still meant the real Pinocchio was somewhere else. Knowing time would be running out before the little, wooden boy would start the transformation into a donkey, the Angel of Dreams took to the air and hurriedly swooped out the gap in the second-floor doorway and into the nightly air.

By the time Riku had arrived at his destination, the silver-haired teenager had knelt down to catch his breath. Since he wasn't used to sprinting so fast, he was now wheezing, coughing, and gasping for fresh air. After wiping some sweat from his forehead, the Keyblade wielder turned his focus upwards.

As he had presumed, he was directly in front of the gangster-like statue. The figure was dressed from head-to-toe in black clothing with a cigar situated in his mouth. His face gave the immediate impression of fury as he was also holding a large, brown club in his right hand. Noticing a sigh beside the statue, Riku learned what the attraction was called.

PLEASURE ISLAND
"ROUGH-HOUSE"

For a few moments, the silver-haired teen was mystified why any type of Amusement Park would have anything as violent as a "Rough-House". Obviously such places would be intended for unneeded fist-fighting, punching, shoving, pushing, tripping, and everything else involved with such unnecessary quarreling. Such outcomes would most-likely be unwanted injuries — especially broken arms and bloody noses alike.

Recalling how Jiminy had claimed the park was designed to allow young boys to cause such chaos, Riku realized this was definitely just a location specifically meant for out-of-control misbehaving. Still, the very concept of actually having seen such an attraction was mind-boggling for the Keyblader. Who would ever believe him if he told anyone else about it?

Willing pushing the thoughts from his mind, Riku marched straight underneath the statue's legs, which had been stretched out to form an arch-shaped entrance for the location. Inside, however, was nothing more than a simple, sand-filled basin covered with all shapes and sizes of footprints. Based on the large number of different prints he saw, Riku concluded the spot was an extremely popular place for the young boys who had previously been there.

As he turned to his right, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder spotted the Pinocchio-resembling figure standing on the opposite side of the lot. After strolling up to the puppet, Riku was able to grab its attention.

"Pinocchio," the Keyblade-Master-In-Training spoke up. "I'm here to take you to—"

The very instant the puppet had transformed into a half-jester half-ghost creature, the exact second Riku had halted mid-sentence to summon his Keyblade. It was barely thirty seconds after the monster had revealed itself when Riku had vanquished the Nightmare, causing a flurry of bubbles to burst from its place.

Relieved he had removed an imposter, Riku simply put his Keyblade away before venturing out of the attraction. Sure he had eliminated another fake from causing mayhem, but this meant the real Pinocchio was still out there someplace else.

Almost an hour had gone by after Sora, Riku, and Violet had split up to track down Pinocchio. Now, they were just returning back to where they had started from — the park's Midway. The first to arrive was Riku, though Sora and Jiminy were only moments behind. Flying into the plaza, was the last arrival, Violet.

It wasn't long before everyone had shared their experiences. While Sora had spoken about how startled he was upon finding the Nightmare on the Ferris Wheel, Violet had explained her encounter with the monster back in the Mansion, and Riku had informed them about his short fight in the sand-basin.

After having heard all these separate accounts, Jiminy sighed. "But where's the real Pinoke?" the cricket complained.

"No idea," Sora confessed. "He could be anywhere by now."

"Or he's already become a donkey," Riku suggested.

"No way," Violet disagreed. "I am certain he is still a puppet!"

"Hey," Riku retaliated. "I was being a little sarcastic!"

"This is not the time to be stupid," the angel argued. "Time is of the essence!"

"'Stupid'?!" the silver-haired youth declared, most-certainly having taken the comment as an insult. "The only one who usually is 'stupid' is Sora!"

With the accusation aimed at him, Sora snarled, "So what?! You're the one who can't handle his own Darkness!"

Before long, the trio of Sora, Riku, and Violet were engulfed in a heated storm of insults, accusations, put-downs, and total misunderstandings. Speculating the whole debate, Jiminy scratched the side of his head with a look of bewilderment. How had such an argument originated by a random piece of sarcasm?

"Y'know," the cricket called out. "Pinoke is out there somewhere and you're all just sticking around quarreling with each other!"

The instant the cricket's voice had entered their ears, the two Keyblade wielders and the angel came to an abrupt silence in their words. Knowing how pointless the whole argument had been, they all felt downright humiliation.

"Jiminy's right," Sora spoke up after a few minutes of silence had ended. "We're wasting time. Pinocchio is still out there!"

"Yet," Violet informed the others. "We have run out of places to search for him."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "Where else could he be?"

At that precise moment, a scream echoed into the air around the them — flooding their ears in record time.

"Help me!" it cried. "Jiminy! Help me!"

The whole group nearly jumped into the air with the sensation as though one had just been startled. Their eyes were wide and alert, their arms had swung out in syndication with their feet, their mouths were agape, and they were swiftly whirling around with their eyes sweeping all across the terrain surrounding the Midway of Pleasure Island.

"What was that?!" Violet exclaimed in a state of total shock.

"I'd know that voice anywhere," Jiminy replied in recognition. "It's Pinoke — calling for help!"

"But, where'd it come from?" Sora questioned.

Riku spun around and his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "He must be in there!"

Turning their focus into the direction Riku was pointing in, Sora, Violet, and Jiminy all took into account of a small building they had somehow missed entirely during their earlier searches. The building was in the exact shape of a ball normally seen when playing on a billiard table. In fact, the design of it was an almost-perfect replica of an "8-Ball"; the shade was slightly darker although it still had the numeral "8" painted on it within a circle in an identical shade of white as the number was. Below where the circled number was situated was a small doorway containing two wooden doors resembling the entranceway into how a saloon supposedly looked back in the days of the American Gold Rush.

Also making out a faint orange-colored light shining from inside, Violet asked, "You sure he is inside?"

"Yeah," Riku confirmed. "Besides, there's nowhere else to look."

Sora gave a nod of understanding. "Let's check it out!" he declared, dashing over to the tiny doorway. Jiminy leaped onto Riku's shoulder before the silver-haired Keyblader followed along. As usual, Violet was the last one in line.

The instant he had reached the entranceway, Sora hastily flung open the doors and stepped inside. In a state of complete astonishment, the brown-haired teenager had remained in place when both Violet and Riku (with Jiminy, of course) came darting inside and rammed straight into him. The impact had been more than enough to cause them all to fall onto the black-and-white tiled floor of the structure. Foreseeing such a crash on the verge of occurring, Jiminy had leapt from his place upon Riku's shoulder and used his now-open umbrella to land safely out of the way.

It took a few moments for the three to get off the floor, which Violet instantly realized was covered in half-smoked cigars, tossed playing cards, empty mugs typically used for everything stronger than cider, and red, white, blue, and yellow-colored chips usually in the design of how they would appear inside the gambling areas of a casino.

As he took a super-fast sweep of the room, Sora spotted a puppet-like figure crouching beneath a circular-wooden table on the opposite side of the room; a total of three, wooden chairs and one three-legged stool were lying sideways next to it, though the stool was still upright. The teenage Keyblade wielder did not even have to ponder over why the young puppet had terror inscribed all over his facial expression. As fate would have it, the answer was currently on the same side of the room with the crushed splinters of what had once been another wooden, circular table and a pair of matching chairs; a humungous lobster-like creature had previously trampled over them. The monster's claws and six feet were a bright reddish color, its body and shell were a dark, creamy-like color, and its curved tail holding its stinger was a deep shade of orange.

One glance at the creature was beyond extra for Riku. With a terrified stare in his eyes, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder proclaimed, "It's a Nightmare!"

After taking a look at the monster, Jiminy was appalled beyond shock. "Oh my stars above!" the cricket exclaimed. "We've got to do something!"

"Leave it to me!" Violet declared, courageously stepping out from the others. Taken note of how low the ceiling was, she realized there wouldn't be enough space to fly. It was time for the Angel of Dreams to improvise her strategy — fast.

Determined to make the most of each second, the angel carefully conducted a rapid, perfectly-done somersault underneath the billiard table. After three consecutive rolls, she had arrived at the other end and timed her movements to avoid the enemy's pinching claws and occasionally-striking stinger. Fortunately, she had made it safely across the large, circular room and immediately scooped up Pinocchio from his hiding place.

Well aware of a possible swipe from the Nightmare behind her, Violet proceeded with extreme caution (she was carrying the little puppet in both of her arms) as she had to frequently leap or sway to dodge the lobster-shaped monster's attacks. Having previously decided to go around the billiard table at the center of the room, the angel was able to quickly get out of range from the enemy's attempts to snatch her.

After what Violet thought was two hours — rather than two minutes — she had successfully rejoined the spot where the others had been awaiting her. After gently placing Pinocchio onto his feet, the angel's heart skipped two beats in a row. Noticing the same thing, both Riku and Sora were speechless.

Being the only one to speak, Jiminy exclaimed, "Pinocchio!"

The very sight of the little, wooden puppet would have most-certainly made any other eyewitnesses temporarily lose the capability to move a muscle. Sticking out of the sides of Pinocchio's head, directly in place of where his ears should have been, was the unmistakable form of light-grey, pointed ears; their shape gave a close resemblance to how Sora remembered Pooh's friend, Rabbit's ears had appeared. Yet, Pinocchio had also sprouted a tail in the seat of his red shorts; ironically, its shape seemed really close to how Sora had seen the easy-to-lose tail of the donkey, Eeyore. The truth was now in plain sight — Pinocchio was already in the process of transforming into a donkey.

"Jiminy!" a terror-stricken Pinocchio shouted. "Help! Lampwick turned into the monster!"

"Who's 'Lampwick'?" a puzzled Sora inquired.

Pinocchio's face was beginning to turn pale. "He was my best friend!"

"Look Pinocchio," Violet spoke up. "Until we get rid of that creature, you and Jiminy should head outside and wait for us."

"Okay!" Pinocchio acknowledged. Once Jiminy had hopped onto the puppet's shoulder, the pair rushed out the entrance doors.

Being the only ones left in the room, Sora, Riku, and Violet all spun their attention towards the lobster-shaped Nightmare watching from the other side of the billiard table. Instinctively reacting, both Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades, poised to attack or defend on a moment's notice. Violet was about to step forward when the Nightmare reached its claws out and seized the billiard table — ripping it from where it had been securely positioned on the floor. With a huge amount of strength, the enemy threw the table aimed at the duo of Keybladers challenging it. Fearful about such an unexpected attack, the two teens raised their weapons in a desperate attempt to significantly nullify the impact. The instant the table collided with their Keyblades, the second it snapped into several pieces, which the Keyblade wielders countered by knocking back into the direction of the monster. The majority of the broken pieces hit their target, but the creature was able to avoid a few of them.

Frantic about the possibility of another such assault being launched, Violet marched forwards, raised her right hand towards the Nightmare, and yelled, "The game is yours, Flippers!"

Like an instant answer, a seal appeared in front of the angel's outstretched hand. The creature's skin was a slight-shade of grey, though it was sporting a green, blue, and red-striped swimsuit covering much of its body. Without waiting for anything, Flippers tossed a six-sided die into the air, the result was a side bearing a piece of ice. In seconds, a chunk of ice magically appeared directly above the Nightmare's head before crashing down onto its target.

As Flippers continued to attack using the various magical spells upon its single die, Sora and Riku were busy clobbering the enemy with a series of slashing, slicing, and stabbing with their Keyblades. After a few minutes of the nonstop action, the monster had been so badly injured it collapsed before exploding into a flurry of transparent bubbles. It didn't take much time for the bubbles to pop one-by-one as they hit the now-streaked floor.

Believing they had been victorious, Sora and Riku put their weapons away while Violet called Flippers back over, upon which the seal-resembling creature vanished. However, as the trio was about to march outside, the sound of a gust of wind seized their attention. Spinning around to learn whatever was occurring, the three found themselves face-to-face with the now-familiar face of the strange man in the black-hooded coat. Rather than speak, the man simply smiled as another figure stepped out of a dark portal behind the strange man in black.

Both Sora and Riku were nearly speechless. The figure was not only wearing the same outfit as Organization XIII had, but it had amber eyes, dark-tanned skin, and long, silver hair with some of it hanging around its shoulders, too. There was just one person the two could think of who matched every last one of these descriptions.

"Xemnas?!" Sora exclaimed, re-summoning his Keyblade. "This is impossible!"

"You're not even supposed to be here!" Riku agreed, re-summoning his own Keyblade.

"You both know him, too?!" a surprised Violet asked.

"You bet," Riku explained. "Xemnas was the leader of Organization XIII — Xehanort's Nobody!"

With a smile showing upon his lips, Xemnas said, "My, my! A hollow puppet that's managed to grow a heart. Just imagine that!"

"A 'puppet'?!" Violet exclaimed.

"Pinocchio's isn't anything like you, Nobodies!" Sora retaliated. After a brief pause, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder spoke again. "But if Pinocchio could be given one, shouldn't you be able to have a heart inside you, too?"

For a couple seconds, Xemnas gave a hint of what seemed to be imitating laughter. "Maybe so," he responded. "But, do not forget, Sora — you are not so 'different' from us!"

A moment later, another dark portal appeared, allowing both Xemnas and the strange man to proceed inside. After the pair had departed, Sora looked down.

"Sora?" Violet asked, noticing this atypical reaction.

"How am I anything like a Nobody?" Sora muttered aloud. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Must be some kind of trick," Riku supposed.

Both Violet and Sora gave slight nods in turn. All at once, the trio spotted Jiminy hopping straight for them. The little cricket was frantic. "Help!" he shouted. "Pinoke's been kidnapped by a stranger in a black coat!"

"What?!" the entire group exclaimed in shock. Based on what Jiminy had just told them, it sounded like the puppet had been snatched by another guy in a black-hooded coat. Certain this 'kidnapper' was up to no good, the three swiftly agreed to help Jiminy track the two down.

It was barely four minutes after Sora, Riku, and Violet had left the building (Jiminy was perched upon Violet's shoulder) when they caught up with a black-hooded figure walking along, dragging a struggling Pinocchio behind. As it turned out to be, the group had approached the plaza at the entrance to the park.

"Hey!" Sora snapped at the figure. "Let Pinocchio go!"

Turning around to face the new arrivals, the group noticed how the figure's face was perfectly concealed by his hood. Instantly after turning, the figure hastily released its grip on its captive, allowing the puppet to sprint over to the others. Jiminy hopped off Violet's shoulder and ran to meet the young puppet.

"Pinoke," Jiminy began. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, Jiminy," Pinocchio confessed. "I've messed up real bad. Father must be really worried about me!"

Jiminy gave a smile in return. "Gosh Pinoke! It looks like you're finally starting to learn."

Yet, Riku had a funny feeling in regards to the stranger before them. He interrogated, "Who are you?"

In reply, the figure reached out and pulled down its hood. To everyone's bewilderment, the figure's face was an identical copy of Riku's. Shocked, all Riku could say was, "Me?!"

Before another moment had gone by, the figure had left the area by means of a dark portal. Baffled by this event, Riku realized what he had just seen.

"That was my," he stammered. "My dark side!"

"Your 'dark side'?" Violet questioned, clearly perplexed.

"I gave into the Darkness once," the silver-haired youth explained. "Ever since, I've been chased around by it in one form or another."

As he took a deep breath, Riku recollected the various times the Darkness in his heart had taken another form. "The Seeker of Darkness who stole my body," he recalled. "That puppet-replica of the shadows in my heart. Now, I'm facing me."

"Wow!" Violet commented, unsure of what else to say. "That is… quite a story you have got there!"

"Gee Riku," Pinocchio suddenly spoke up. "Don't you have a 'Jiminy' like I do? He's my conscience! Maybe you just need somebody to show you what's right and wrong!"

"He's right!" Jiminy agreed. "You can't shoulder all your problems alone. You must have someone — maybe a friend you can talk to?"

"Actually, I do," Riku smiled. "That stupid grin he's always wearing. He's the best teacher I could ever have."

It was obvious to everyone present that Riku had been referring to Sora. In return, Sora gave a great, big smile. "What'd you expect?" he asked. This resulted in a few moments of laughter from the whole group.

"Gee whiz," Pinocchio said. "I wish I had lots of good friends."

"You will, Pinoke," Jiminy reassured the puppet. "More than you can count."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. After a few seconds, the puppet nodded in turn.

"Well," Sora spoke up. "I think it's time we get you both home. Geppetto's probably worried sick."

"Yup!" Jiminy affirmed. He turned back to Pinocchio. "C'mon, Pinoke! Let's go home!"

It was nearly an hour after Sora, Riku, and Violet had ventured out of Pleasure Island with Pinocchio and Jiminy before the group finally had reached a cobblestoned plaza in a small, quaint village. At one corner of the shadow-filled plaza was a small building with a green door diagonally facing the street. As soon as Pinocchio strode up to the door, he began knocking and ringing the bell as loudly as he could.

"Father!" the puppet yelled. "Father! I'm back!"

After a few minutes of knocking and ringing, there was still no response. Mystified as to why Geppetto was not coming to answer the door, Sora suggested, "Maybe… he's asleep?"

In the meantime, Violet had approached a window near the front of the house. It's panes were partially fogged up, giving the impression the place was deserted. Still, the angel took a brief moment to wipe off enough of the smog to peer into the dark room. What she saw startled her.

"Everyone," Violet called. "Look in here!"

Wondering why the Angel of Dreams was beckoning the group over, Sora, Riku, Pinocchio, and Jiminy all hurried over. As they all peered into the dim-lighted room inside, Pinocchio was speechless. While it was too dark to make out much for everyone else, both Jiminy and Pinocchio were able to notice something most-certainly was wrong. There was no sign of the woodcarver, his black cat [Figaro], or his goldfish [Cleo].

Geppetto was gone.

A/N: UH-OH! Geppetto isn't home! Hopefully he's safe someplace rather than in the belly of some whale or something!

... Well,... we'll see when the next chapter comes.

In the meantime, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!

This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"