DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!

A/N: HELLO THERE! YUP! IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN - TIME FOR CHAPTER 48!

With This Now Being Normal, I'm Certain I Don't Have To State How LONG This Particular Chapter Might Seem. Therefore, In A Few Moments, I'll Be Allowing You All To Start Reading. DO NOT WORRY! I WILL NOT SPOIL ANYTHING!

First Of All, I Wanted To Share A Little Piece Of TRIVIA Today. DID YOU KNOW? The VERY First Mickey Mouse Cartoon Was NOT "Steamboat Willie". Actually, Mickey's First Appearance Was In The 1927 Cartoon, "Plane Crazy". The Most-Likely Reason Why Everyone Remembers "Steamboat Willie" Is Due To How Mickey Was Characterized SIGNIFICANTLY Different In "Plane Crazy".

Next, I Wanted To State How MANY Of You Who Once Reviewed Nearly Every Chapter In This Story Seemed To Have Disappeared Suddenly! I Sincerely HOPE This Does NOT Happen Should The Next Story Be Started! PLEASE TRY TO REVIEW! Sometimes, I Wonder If Anyone IS STILL Reading This Story...

Yes, I Know I Made It Clear How I'm Currently In School, So I Wanted To Re-Ask That You Please Keep On Reading AND Reviewing Alike! I have absolutely NO INTENTION TO ABANDON THIS STORY ANYTIME SOON! Do NOT Forget: THE NUMBER OF REQUIRED REVIEWS IS 107! YET, IF 120 ARE POSTED, I WILL ADD A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THIS STORY'S SEQUEL - I HAVE PLANNED MOST OF IT OUT ALREADY! I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO WRITING IT, TOO!

Of Course, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL THOSE REVIEWS SO FAR!

Keep In Mind, I Decided To Change Things A Little, So This Chapter Starts With A Villain's Scene! I'm SURE You Know Which One(s) I Mean!

Welp! That's ALL I Have To Say Today! IT'S TIME FOR RIKU AND VIOLET TO DESCEND INTO SORA'S HEART! PLEASE READ TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! PLUS, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW - PRETTY, PRETTY PLEASE WITH A CHERRY ON TOP - TOO!

CHAPTER 48
"It's Our House Now!"

The chasm was continuing to refill with Heartless. The further the thick clouds of inky Darkness lingered above, the more Heartless continued to appear. The bluish stone walls of the valley was gradually becoming impossible to see as the Heartless began squirming around. It wouldn't be long before the entire region of the Great Maw would be swamped with countless Heartless. This time, the population of monsters would be much, much greater than ever before.

Upon a relatively decent-sized plateau in the center of the valley was a roughly-constructed fortress that resembled thorns sticking out from beneath a pile of ruined buildings from an ancient civilization. The majority of the structure's towers had turrets and an occasional window or two. The central, and tallest of these towers had a small, curved balcony near the top that ran to a doorway on either end. In the middle was a large opening with the infamous Heartless emblem positioned directly above it; the logo's red paint looked like blood more than smashed cherry juice.

Peering out from this spot was a tall woman with pale-green skin and a pair of black, curved horns sticking out from the top of her head. She had long, red fingernails, sinister-yellow eyes, and was wearing a black cloak with creepy dark-purple lining down the middle. The cloak was tattered on its edges and was large enough to cover her entire being and drag a little behind. A long, black scepter with a transparent, green ball at the end was clutched in her left hand while a black raven was perched upon her right index finger. She was giving an evil smile to the bird, who gave an equally dark grin in return.

"Yes, Diablo," she said in a voice that echoed each and every word. "Soon every world will be under my control."

The sound of marching footsteps came up from behind. Barely turning her head, the woman caught a glimpse of the figure behind her. Her smile faded in an instant, alongside Diablo's grin.

The individual was a tall, slender mouse wearing an orange, long-sleeved shirt in a similar design to Jiminy Cricket's jacket, a cream-colored shirt showing through the collar, very dark-tan trousers, and huge, flat-like dark-grey shoes. His white gloves, facial color scheme, and black, round ears strongly-resembled King Mickey, with the notable exception of his extra-long-and-large snout.

Behind the figure came a few other individuals. One was a portly, cat-like man wearing what seemed to be blue-and-purple-colored armor over a red, short-sleeved shirt, navy blue-and-white sneakers with two periwinkle straps each, and two navy-blue pauldrons with two cyan bumps on the lower sections on each of his shoulders. His navy-blue pants with light-blue lining and two giant pouches on either front side that were attached by four pins, sporting two silver, horizontal zippers, two blue suspenders that intersected over his chest and fastened onto his shoulder pauldrons, and a comically gigantic zipper going down the front of his pants and led around to the back side. He also had a pair of fingerless gauntlets with light-blue wrists, a pale-yellow semi-circle on top, and periwinkle gloves with a bump on each of the knuckles, and dark blue-green design on the back that descended from the knuckle to the end.

Another was a female duck with short, black hair sporting periwinkle-colored patches along with a pink flower, light-blue eyes with purplish eyelids, and a tiny pimple on her right cheek beneath her right eye. Her outfit consisted of a long-sleeved, dark-magenta, kimono-shaped dress fastened by faded-orange buttons in the shape of the capital letter "Y", orange tight-fitting pants, and black high-heeled shoes. What stood out the most was about her was how her eyes were typically half-closed and seemed hypnotic when opened all the way. She was very slender and seemed almost like a girl version of Donald Duck if compared to the long-snouted mouse standing beside her.

The last individuals consisted of a trio of dog-like people sporting black masks over their eyes. Two of them were the same height while the third was approximately half as tall. They were dressed in black from head to toe and each wore a black cloak with a hood fastened by a gray-colored, circular clip on each of their chests. All three had sharp-pointed swords with hand-guards tucked into some dark-colored belts around their waists.

The horned woman seemed to snort at the others behind her. "You're late."

"But we came as fast as we could," the cat-like man started to say. "I couldn't find those three fast enough!"

He gestured at the trio with the black masks. The three looked frightened.

"It wasn't our fault!" one of the taller ones said in a hurry.

"It was her hypnosis!" the second tall one added.

"Yeah!" the third, short one affirmed. "She told us to do it!"

A small smirk started to form on the duck-woman's face. "Perhaps," she began, staring at the three. Her eyes started glowing again. "You should look into my eyes?"

The three glanced away. The tall, long-snouted mouse chuckled at the sight. "Ha, cha, cha!" he declared. "This reminds me of the time I tricked Mick into breakin' into my house to steal his own baseball."

The green-skinned woman was feeling irritated by all the complaints. She raised her arms into the air and some magical, green fire erupted from them. "Enough!"

The group stepped back a few steps and started to feel uncomfortable. They all knew without a doubt what would happen should any of them choose to defy her. This evil fairy had already been classified as an evil witch, which made sense considering her ability to manipulate the Heartless without fearing anything happening to her in return.

"Now then," the witch said in a much calmer voice. "Is everything ready to start the meeting?"

"Yes, ma'am!" the cat-like man replied.

"No problem, toots!" the mouse added.

The duck-woman placed her hands onto her hips. "Ready whenever you are."

The trio of masked individuals saluted. "Sure thing, miss!"

The witch gave a creepy-looking smile. "Indeed. Assemble the Council!"

The interior of the night club was bright and very colorful. Red curtains and doors… orange chairs and ceiling… yellow stripes along some of the white walls and around certain signs… green tablecloths… a blue movie theater-like screen… indigo tiles on the floor… a violet stage… the whole building seemed to have all seven colors of the rainbow. This is what had grabbed Violet's attention when she and Riku had first entered.

Well… not really "entered". After stepping through the doorway from the Darkness-covered platform, both Violet and Riku had arrived in a city street at night. When they had first noticed the peculiar building illuminated before them, there was no indication of a voice shouting from the middle of nowhere and startling them. Before either Riku or Violet could have reacted, they had suddenly been shoved towards the building by a crowd of various individuals.

Some of them, Riku had immediately recognized. Jafar… Hades… Maleficent…Ursula… Captain Hook… Oogie Boogie… Mortimer Mouse… Cruella De Vil… Pete… and McLeach… who had all been members of Maleficent's Council back when he was on the side of Darkness. He recalled how Mortimer had been sent out with Pete to gather more Heartless for the group's army, although it appeared Mortimer had deserted afterwards; Riku had neither seen nor heard from him ever again. Cruella had seemingly disappeared upon learning how all ninety-nine of the Dalmatian puppies she had scattered about had been reunited in a house in Traverse Town. As for McLeach, Riku wasn't sure what had become of him… maybe he was back in his own world? He didn't know and never wanted to find out for sure.

On top of them, the silver-headed youth had also noticed the beast he had encountered at Hollow Bastion… the Cheshire Cat from Wonderland… the bear-pilot named Baloo from the airplane-delivery service in Cape Suzette… the woman he had seen floating through the nightly air in Twilight Town with an umbrella… and the sorceress he had failed to invite into Maleficent's group; Madam Mim. Seeing all these faces from such evildoers only brought back memories of Darkness.

He gave a silent sigh. Remembering how Naminé had offered to place a lock on his heart so Anse—Xehanort's Heartless would be unable to escape, Riku wished he had accepted. Kairi's Nobody had explained how both the villain and all the memories involving Darkness would be trapped within the silver-haired Keyblade wielder's heart. If that had happened, he never would be having these dark memories returning at the mere sight of the various villains scattered about the clubroom. Hopefully none of them would recognize him… he scratched that possibility out in a flash; Maleficent probably would notice his presence.

Of course, Riku had mainly refused Naminé's offer due to wanting to help Sora, prove he was strong enough to face his own Darkness, and so he could scold his friend for being so lazy. He had succeeded in achieving the first two goals, which left him still having to scold his best friend. Even so, he would still have to wait a bit longer until Sora's heart had been awakened from its slumber. It didn't matter to him how long that took; he had to emerge victorious. Besides, what Keyblade 'Master' slept through his Mark of Mastery Exam? Now he had another reason to scold his best friend!

"Hello!" an overly-happy voice called out.

Riku and Violet swerved their eyes to the opposite side of the table they were sitting at. There stood a tall, hunched dog with long black ears wearing a long white shirt, black pants with red suspenders, a red-black vest, long black shoes, a small green hat, and white gloves. On his right wrist was a white cloth. One mere glance was all it took to confirm they were gazing at Goofy.

Goofy smiled brightly and his eyes were closed. "My name is 'Waiter'," he declared, gesturing to himself. "And I'll be your 'Goofy' tonight!"

As Goofy spoke, a penguin about as tall as Donald came rushing over with a stainless-steel rolling tray. As the penguin uncovered each plate, Goofy held it up for Riku and the angel to see. "Here's today's specials! Bed Crumbs and Pretzel Sticks… Hakuna Matata Stew… Peg-Leg Pizza… Never-Never Lamb… Holly-Barley Soup… Capped Ten Stacked Sparrow Pancakes… Chim-Chim-Chili… Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Steak… I've Seen An Elephant Fries… and Poca-Humus!"

Riku stared at the plates. Through the corner of his eye, he caught a view of Violet covering her mouth with her left hand. Although he had never heard of these types of food, Riku had to admit the "Chim-Chim-Chili" sounded good to him — so did the "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Steak". He wasn't sure about Violet, though the angel was showing signs of uneasiness. He quickly made up his mind to show her the menu so she could decide, too.

"So," Goofy added. "Ready to order?"

One look at the table and Riku's eyes grew. He gazed at the club's head-waiter. "No. There's no menus."

Violet's eyes met Riku's left eye. Despite his head being turned, the silver-haired seventeen-year-old could see the angel's realization through her eyes. She rapidly turned to Goofy. "How can we order if we lack anything to visually examine prior to constituting such an action?"

Goofy's eyes opened and he stared at the empty table in surprise. Less than three seconds later, he reached underneath his left arm and handed a pair of pinkish-red menus to the two. He pulled out a tiny pencil and slightly-bigger pad of paper. "So, ready to order?"

Riku had to shake his head. This was Goofy all right. He was always the one who got into all sorts of trouble due to his frequent clumsiness and regular mishaps. He also seemed to lack a sense of time. "Not yet. Sorry."

"Could you return sometime later?" Violet asked, a hint of irritation present in her voice.

Goofy stood up as straight as possible and seemed to be looking at them with a faint of seriousness showing on his face. "Hmph! I knew that!" he declared. "What'd ya think I am? Stupid?"

Spinning around, Goofy marched in long strides towards a red doorway with a curved sign above; it read "KITCHEN". A passing penguin with a black vest strode by with a plate covered in banana peels. One of the banana peels slipped off the plate and landed on the floor. Without warning, Goofy stepped onto the peel and wobbled for several seconds as he slid across the floor. He went in a straight line before sliding through the door on the right. A number of crashing sounds echoed from within, a small vibration shook the room, and Goofy's voice could be heard screaming in alarm.

"Yeow! Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Eeeeeeeeee!"

Violet's right hand flew to her face. Riku had to shake his head again. If there was one thing Goofy definitely did well, it was slipping on stuff and making messes because of it. He gave a small grin at the idea of Goofy bumping into Sora and then both of them ramming into Donald. That was one chain-of-reactions he would never wish to miss out on!

A high-pitched chuckle filled the air. "Looks like Goofy's slipped on another banana peel," it said. "He's always losing his balance!"

As everybody around them started laughing, Riku and Violet found the source of the voice on the stage. It was a short mouse with big, round ears wearing a black jacket, clean white shirt underneath, black pants, and black shoes. He also had white gloves that helped give away his true identity. Riku had to smile.

It was Mickey… Mickey Mouse, that is.

"So," Mickey said. "Would ya like to see what else Goofy's lost?"

The audience cheered in return. Riku placed his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. He knew he was behaving like Sora now and didn't care. If anything, he just wanted to see what else Mickey would be saying. Sora would just have to wait… wait for a little bit longer.

Mickey pointed at the television screen. "Then check out this cartoon!"

The screen changed until it showed Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's faces in the middle of it. A somewhat-sinister sounding piece of music started playing as the faces shrank and allowed some words to appear; they read, "A Mickey, Donald, & Goofy Cartoon". Next, some additional text showed up, revealing the cartoon's title.

One look and Riku was questioning what it was about.

"MICKEY AND THE COLOR CAPER (2002)"

It was nightfall in the city of Mouseton. In a particular blue house, Minnie Mouse was yawning in bed. She reached over to her nightstand and pulled the cord to turn off the light. A picture of Mickey could be seen beside the lamp. Minnie pulled his covers on and rolled over and straight to sleep.

A dark shadow loomed above her bed. At once, all the colors in the house were slowly sucked away. The suction woke Minnie. "What's that strange sound?" she inquired aloud.

Minnie glanced at her window and gasped when she spotted the dark, shadowy figure zipping away with a strange gadget in its possession. She switched on her lamp, only to discover everything around her was black-and-white. She froze. "Oh, what… what happened?"

After glancing over herself, she screamed.

Following an iris-opening, a tall, red building came into view. Towards the top of the building, a window showed up. A sign on it read,

LOST & FOUND

"Somebody get the phone!" a familiar, high-pitched voice shouted from inside. Inside, three individuals were rushing around an office with opened, empty cardboard boxes. The individuals were a mouse, duck, and tall dog. The mouse had big, round ears and was wearing white gloves, yellow shoes, and red shorts with yellow buttons. The duck was wearing a blue sailor's uniform with yellow lining in some places and red lining in others along with a blue cap and a black ribbon. The tall dog was dressed in a green shirt, blue pants, black vest, huge brown shoes, white gloves, and a small green hat on his head.

There was no doubt they were Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. In the background, the ringing of a telephone could be heard echoing around.

"I think I lost it!" Goofy yelled in reply to Mickey's question.

The tall dog was busy throwing everything but the kitchen sink from a pile of boxes. The items he was tossing back were carelessly aimed at Donald. The duck, in turn, was busy attempting to dodge the flying debris. A golden trophy flew through the air and clanged onto Donald's head. Donald stumbled backwards as Mickey stared in surprise. When the duck tripped over a red cord and fell into a pile of boxes, Mickey smiled.

"Aha!" the mouse declared, scooping up the cord in his hands. "Found it!"

Following the cord with his eyes, Mickey noticed how it continued across the floor and up Goofy's legs. The back of Goofy's pants were vibrating faster and faster. Goofy noticed it and chuckled.

"A-Hyuck! I wondered why my pants were ringin'!"

Mickey yanked on the cord and pulled a red telephone clear out of Goofy's back pocket. The phone few through the air and landed directly into the mouse's hand. He answered it. "Lost and Found!" he said on the phone. "If we can't find it, it ain't lost!"

There was silence for a couple moments before Mickey realized there was nothing on the other end except for a dial tone. He chuckled nervously. "Lost the connection."

It was at that second when a beyond-worried Minnie stepped into the room; she was completely black-and-white. "Mickey! I've lost my colors!" she cried, showing her once-blue skirt. "Look at me! I look like something out of… 1931!"

Mickey was astonished. "Gosh!"

"It's not just me," Minnie went on. "My entire house… an-and the street… and the neighborhood… All the color is missing!"

"Now don't you worry, Minnie," Mickey said, sounding very encouraging. "Donald, Goofy, and I are gonna find those lost colors."

He glanced behind himself. "Right, fellas?"

Mickey swept his eyes around the room in a hurry. The only things in sight were piles of boxes scattered about the sides of the room. Mickey was shocked, but not enough to be silent.

"Well," the mouse said to Minnie with an anxious smile and chuckle. "First I gotta find them."

A second later — following a clock-like-transition — a street came into view. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were bent-over and scanning the ground with magnifying glasses in hand. Behind them, and entirely unknown to them, a large, dark-grey vehicle pulled up. The vehicle was shaped a little like a bullet train with a point on the front that resembled the tip of an ink pen. All of a sudden, the color of the sky and everything else in the city were rapidly sucked away.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were so busy staring at the sidewalk, they wandered into the street and Mickey rammed head-first into the car, followed by Donald and Goofy. Mickey glared at the car. "Hey! Watch it! The light was green!"

Goofy stared up in surprise. "Uh, don't ya mean 'grey'?"

Mickey looked perplexed. "'Grey'?"

Gazing up into the air, Mickey and the others saw how the traffic light was a shade of grey. Donald stared down the street. "Look!" he exclaimed.

It was now clear. All the colors in the city were gone. The entire street and all the local buildings were shades of grey. Only Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were still in color.

"Great Caesar's Ghost!" Mickey exclaimed in alarm. "All the colors are gone!"

At that moment, the vehicle's window rolled down. Mickey and the others stared inside. "The Phantom Blot!" the mouse declared.

The figure poked his head out. It was an individual wearing a black cloak that strongly-resembled an ink-blot. His eyes were a glowing-red color and were glaring at the three. "In living color!" the Blot stated in his sinister-sounding voice.

The Phantom Blot reached into his vehicle before pulling out a strange water gun-like device with a red container, blue container, and green container. He pointed it at the group with an evil chuckle.

"Watch out!" Mickey exclaimed.

In a state of panic, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy took off running when the gadget's tip turned into a fan and started whirling. Before they could count to thirteen, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were monochromatic like Minnie. After taking a few moments to glance over themselves, the three switched their focus back to the Blot. With a sinister laugh, the Phantom Blot shouted, "Now get lost!"

With another evil laugh, the Blot drove off. All the colors of the environment still around him were sucked away in no time. By the time the entire city and everything in it was black-and-white, the vehicle was long out-of-sight. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were left nearly speechless on the city sidewalk.

"Oh, let's face it," Goofy sighed. "As Lost and Founders,… we're losers."

Donald looked down in turn. Mickey shook his head in denial. "We're not losers, fellahs!" he declared. "If we can find the Blot's hideout, there's still a chance we can get the colors back!"

Goofy looked unconvinced. "But how are we gonna find his hideout?"

Following another clock-like-transition, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were inside a telephone booth and looking at a phone book. Mickey was pointing at one of the pages and reading the names written in it. "'Phantom Blob'… 'Phantom Blonde'… 'Phantom Blossom'… Oh! Here it is! 'Phantom Blot' — 'Blot's Hideout Road, Burbank, California'!"

In the meantime, the Phantom Blot was driving straight to his hideout at the top of a very, very, very tall mountain. The building was shaped exactly like an ink bottle. Above the doorway in humungous, grey letters was written, "BLOT".

Inside the building, the Phantom Blot was standing at a railing overlooking a set of gigantic cups holding red, blue, and green colors. His voice echoed throughout the building. "All the colors in the world," he declared with pride. "All mine!"

As the villain gave an evil laugh, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were silently climbing to the upper half of the hideout on a ladder. Once on the platform above, they snuck around past a series of windows in the form of silhouettes. Mickey stopped suddenly, causing Goofy and then Donald to slam into him. Mickey put a finger to his lips before pointing at the window. He bent down and grabbed the bottom of the frame. When it didn't budge, Donald tried to help him. The two grunted as they attempted to open the window. Theypanted a few seconds after, only to stare at Goofy, who was waving to them on the other side. That's when the two spotted the huge doorway to their right — a should-be-flashing sign above it read, "SECRET ENTRANCE".

Inside the hideout, the Phantom Blot was looking very excited. He stepped up to a photograph of an ink-blot-like figure holding a pitchfork beside another ink-blot-like figure with wig-shaped hair. "Mom, Dad," the villain said to the photo. "Ever since I was a little ink-blot, I donned this filthy, inky cloak. But now, those days are over. The rest of the world will live without color so I may be known as 'The Phantom Rainbow'!"

With yet another sinister laugh, the Phantom pushed a lever up. A light-bulb flashed as the enormous cups of the three primary colors started moving. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy appeared on the balcony above and gave silent gasps of alarm. In a state of shock and determination, the three slid down a nearby ladder and down the current balcony. A column of rainbow-colored matter splashed onto the Phantom Blot, transforming him into a living being of rainbow colors. Most of the red, blue, and green colors in the cups were empty.

"My plan has come through with flying colors," the Blot proclaimed with yet another evil laugh. "I think I could get used to this."

"Think again, Blot!" Mickey shouted from above, seizing the Phantom Blot's focus. The mouse, Donald, and Goofy were glaring in anger at the villain. "We're returning those colors to their rightful owners!"

"Well, if it isn't the 'Lost and Found'," the Phantom scoffed, climbing a ladder up to the three's location. "Well, when I'm finished with you, that's exactly what you'll be. Lost, and never Found!"

The villain pointed at Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, sending a beam of colorful matter at them. Mickey and Goofy sped off, leaving Donald to get struck and turn a faint shade of violet; the duck stared at his new color in alarm.

At the same time, Mickey hopped onto a dangling rope, swung around the Blot's humungous contraption in the middle of the room, and kicked the villain in the back. Returning to his feet, the Phantom glared at the mouse and sent several more beams of colorful matter at the latter. Mickey tried to swing out of range and barely made it against the now-splattered walls of the hideout.

The whole time, Goofy felt nervous, which was also evident on his face. When the rope whirled around the enormous contraption, the Blot shot another beam of matter at Mickey and succeeded in knocking the now-faintly blue mouse onto the floor. The Blot leapt to the floor in turn.

Goofy grabbed the sides of his head in alarm and started rushing around in circles. "Oh no! We're losers! What should I do?! What should I do?!"

Unaware of where he was stepping, Goofy tripped over Donald and fell over the balcony. Down Goofy went — straight onto the Phantom Blot's control lever. It flew down and the machine's "REVERSED" light lit up. The entire gizmo started running in an inverse operation.

"Nah!" the Phantom Blot snorted at the currently defenseless and worried Mickey. "I liked you better in black-and-white."

Before the villain could use his gadget on the mouse, he was struck by the same beam of colorful matter from before. He stared up in total alarm and shock. "Wha—? What's happening?!"

Mickey gave a determined glare at the villain as he snatched the latter's gadget. "Looks like we're gonna see your true colors!"

As the colors on the Phantom Blot's cloak vanished and returned to the cups above, the evildoer was panicking. He started wailing in complete dismay. "No! My colors! My beautiful colors!"

The cups of color were now so full, the machine was beeping and the building was shaking faster and faster. Mickey grabbed Goofy as Donald leapt from the balcony above; the duck slid down a giant, twisty pipe all the way down to the floor. The three dashed for the door and outside.

The Phantom Blot was furious and depressed alike. "Why me… foiled… "

All of a sudden, the entire building exploded in a flash of colorful light. The entire city below was struck by waves of colorful radiation. In a matter of minutes, everything in sight was full of colors, even though very few of them matched the exact locations they belonged to. The result was a whole city and surrounding scenery that significantly-resembled a splattered canvas covered in mixed-matched paint.

Even Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were not the correct colors. Mickey was now a red-orange color with green shorts and white buttons, violet shoes, and white gloves. Goofy was wearing a pink shirt, dark-blue vest, red-orange pants, plain-yellow shoes, white gloves, and an orange hat. Donald's clothes were all a pink color while the rest of his body was normal.

Mickey smiled at Goofy. "I gotta hand it to you, Goofy!" he said with a large, friendly smile. "Ya finally lost something to help us."

Goofy looked puzzled. "I did?"

"Yeah," Mickey nodded. "Ya lost your balance."

"Well, hooray for me!" Goofy beamed proudly. "I'm a loser!"

Following yet another transition, Mickey and Goofy were now at Minnie's house. The building was now a lime-green color. Mickey knocked at the door. "Minnie," he called. "We found your colors."

The still-monochrome Minnie opened her door. "Oh Mickey," she said with a smile. "W-Where are they?"

Mickey pointed the Phantom Blot's gadget at her. The beam it sent at the girl mouse was transparent, but Minnie's clothing — including her gloves — turned into a shade of blue. Minnie looked dissatisfied. "These aren't my colors," she said, holding her skirt's sides. "I was wearing pink!"

Donald grasped his still-pink sailor's uniform. "This is exasperating!" he stated in annoyance.

Mickey looked humiliated despite his not-red cheeks. "Now, now," he said in an attempt to sound reassuring. "Nobody lose their temper."

The cartoon ended with an iris closing.

As the televised screen returned to its normally-blue color, the audience burst into applause. A few whistles could be heard in the process.

Violet secretly giggled when she saw Riku clapping slowly. Despite not having known Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as long as the silver-haired Keyblade wielder had, the angel was certain she had just witnessed their true characterization being displayed in the cartoon. Mickey was a smart, leader-like mouse, Donald was a stubborn, easily-irritated duck-and-sailor, and Goofy was a carefree, easy-going, tall, hunched dog — not to mention very clumsy. It also appeared Minnie was supposed to be Princess Minnie from the long-awakened Country of The Musketeers.

Violet's favorite part of the cartoon was when Mickey had indicated how Goofy had lost his balance to stop the show's villain. The result was Goofy declaring how proud he was to be a "loser", which seemed very atypical to the angel. After all, who else would be so excited to be called a "loser"? Such words were often used as negative insults and/or put-downs. Talk about being completely "goofy"! That scene forced her to giggle out loud when the rest of the audience had laughed here and there. Thank goodness her voice did not echo!

Glancing back over the pinkish-red menu in her hands, Violet silently searched for something to order. Something that sounded very appetizing to her, which failed to apply to the majority of the entrees she had already scanned through. "Hakuna Matata Steak" sounded particularly bizarre — no way would she order anything along those lines! The same for almost all the other specials listed. The only thing that sounded good was the "Holly-Barley Soup".

Seconds later, Goofy zipped on over. "Sorry for bein' late," he said in a hurry. He saluted as though in the army before pulling out the notepad from his pocket and the pencil from behind his ear. "So, ready to order?"

Riku nodded before Violet could react. "The 'Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Steak' sounds good," he told the tall dog.

Goofy scribbled something down on the notepad before ripping off the page, crumpling it up, and tossing it onto a passing penguin-waiter. Violet was startled. Had Goofy just tossed Riku's order aside so carelessly? Why would he commit such an action?

"Did you just toss his order aside?" the angel questioned.

"Nope," Goofy answered with a shake of his head. "I lost muh game of 'Tic-Tac-Toe' to Maxie."

Leaning in close to the pair, the head-waiter added in a whisper, "He thinks he's so clever at thuh diagonals."

Taking note of how Goofy seemed to be gazing in the direction of a teenage, anthropomorphic dog who seemed very similar in appearance to Goofy — both in body and uniform, only younger. The figure was standing just outside the club's entrance to welcome incoming guests, although based on the guests' treatment towards him, it appeared he was a valet for parking their vehicles. Deep down within, Violet wondered if perhaps Goofy had a son and this was him… How had she never known this? Neither Riku nor Sora had ever claimed such a thing before.

After hearing Riku and Violet's orders, Goofy placed his notebook in his pocket and rose up as straight and tall as possible. "Okie-dokie! Comin' right up!"

Violet had the slightest sensation the waiter had forgotten to do something important. "Did you inscribe our orders in your notebook?"

"Huh?" a puzzled Goofy asked.

Riku had to stifle a laugh. It didn't go unnoticed by the angel sitting across from him. "She was asking if you wrote down our orders," he translated.

Goofy shook his head rapidly. "Nope!" he declared with pride. He leaned in so close to Violet, she nearly had to leap out of her chair. The waiter reached his arm behind his head and it seemed to look as though his hand was coming out his ear. "I got it mesmerised!"

Although she had doubts about Goofy's seriousness, Violet was unable to reply before the head-waiter rushed over to the kitchen in a flash. He sped inside. Before the angel or Riku could have counted to two, Goofy emerged from the kitchen with his hands empty. He dashed back to their table with his proud smile showing. "So," he proclaimed. "Ready to order?"

An irritated Violet was positive Goofy had forgotten what she had ordered only moments after leaving the table. It was clearly one of those "here we go again" scenarios…

"So," Goofy said with a slight pause. "Which one of ya wanted thuh crab?"

"'Crab'?" Riku inquired. "We didn't order any 'crab'."

"Oh yeah, A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled. "I forgot! Donald's already a crab!"

"What?!" a somewhat-hard-to-understand voice yelled from across the room. Stomping over with his hands in fists was the unmistakable figure of Donald Duck dressed in a nice, black suit complete with a black bowtie. "I'm not a 'crab'!" he snapped upon reaching the table.

"Yes you are," Goofy chuckled softly. "Daisy almost broke up with ya cause of your temper."

Now Donald was glaring furiously at Goofy. "You ruined that date!" the duck accused. "You were the waiter!"

Violet stared at the sight of these two supposedly-'True Friends' in such a heated debate. Whatever had truly sparked such a feud the angel did not know and wished not to know. After all, who would wish to comprehend what would ignite such anger and result in sparks flying through the air?

"Well now," Mickey said from the stage. "Looks like Donald and Goofy are at it again. A friendly squabble between such good friends. Kinda reminds me of how two unlikely friends can get into such debates and still get along! Why, it's happened lots of times!"

Donald and Goofy stopped talking to each other when they heard the mouse speaking. Violet and Riku watched as Mickey gestured to various individuals in the audience and said something in regards to them.

"Why, where would Timon and Pumbaa be if they went their separate ways?"

"Would there be any fun if Tigger and Rabbit refused to talk to one another?"

"Who would defend the townspeople if Robin Hood and Little John didn't get along?"

"There wouldn't be much of a jungle beat if Baloo and Mowgli had never been reunited!"

"Who else would keep Pinocchio on the straight and narrow if Jiminy Cricket were to quit?"

Violet smiled. She knew every world Mickey was saying was truthful in more ways than one. She had witnessed dreams from all these individuals the mouse had named. There was no doubt all of them were still True Friends, even if it would typically appear to be the other way around.

"And it's no wonder why," Mickey went on. "They're teams! Just like Donald, Goofy, and I in this next cartoon!"

As Mickey strode to the side of the stage, the blue screen behind him flashed to show a hand-drawn version of his face with an enormous smile. The image was in color. A happy-go-lucky song was playing, though it also sounded like the ones sailor's tended to hum and/or sing on their ships. The screen passed through a few images of credits before reaching the title, which showed Mickey holding the blueprints for something while standing on a ship dressed as an admiral.

"BOAT BUILDERS (1938)"

The opening scene showed Mickey, Donald, and Goofy kneeling on the ground looking at a picture of a ship's blueprints. Several advertising slogans were written on it.

"'Build your own boat'," Mickey read. "'All you do is put it together'."

"'Even a child can do it'," Donald read with a laugh.

Turning the page, the three stared at a painting of the ship from the blueprint, showing it sailing across the waves. It strongly resembled an enlarged tugboat.

"Oh boy," Mickey excitedly said. "Isn't she a beauty?"

"Oh boy!" Donald stated in turn. "Oh boy!"

"A-Hyuck! Yup!" Goofy agreed. "She's a humdinger!"

Mickey and the other two rose to their feet. "We'll call her the 'Queen Minnie'!" the mouse declared.

The scene quickly switched to the three happily attempting to open a giant, wooden box. Mickey was up above trying to peel open the lid while Donald and Goofy were below attempting to hammer the sides of the front open. Mickey's spot started to peel down like a banner being peeled. "Look out below!" he called.

Donald and Goofy rushed out of the way as the side of the crate fell and landed onto the ground inches from them. Mickey had landed onto the ground beside it. He turned to his friends and said, "Lend a hand, me hearties!"

Donald and Goofy saluted. "Aye, aye, captain!"

With a series of "Heave! Ho!" over and over again, the three pulled on the rope attached to the folded object inside the crate. Without warning, it began shaking. Mickey shouted, "Look out!"

The three hurried across the wharf as the object stretched out rapidly. It scooped them up and left them clinging to a few of the ship's ribs; it was the framework for the ship's hull. Mickey smiled. "'All you do is put it together'," he chuckled.

"Yeah!" Donald acknowledged with a laugh of his own. "'Even a child can do it'!"

The scene shifted to a view of Mickey standing near the middle of the ship's framework, holding a shiny, silver container. An indentation was located at the spot he was standing. Taking out the blueprints from his back pocket. He read through instructions on "How To Install Mast".

After skim-reading the "Caution" notice on it, Mickey placed the blueprints back into his pocket and placed the container into the indentation. He opened it up, revealing a folded item within. He stepped onto it and tried to pull the item out of the container. It was at that exact second when the item started wobbling as it raised straight up into the air — taking a startled Mickey with it. Next thing he knew, Mickey was high in the sky and stuck at the very tip-top of the mast. Not sure what else to do, he smiled and saluted ahead.

The scene changed to show Mickey and Donald installing the ship's wheelhouse while Goofy was down on the Starboard (right) side hammering boards into place for the ship's hull. He was singing a song where only a few words could be made out; "When the bow… when the line springs free… ding dong!"

Acting at the beat in which he was singing, Goofy placed a long, wooden board onto the ship's side. After hammering it gently into place, he turned around and started to bend down for the next board. At once, the board he had just finished adding popped out on the forward end and slammed into the side of his head. For a brief two seconds, Goofy was stunned. When he had regained his focus, he was startled to see the board had popped out. Rolling up his sleeves, he hammered it back into place. Despite his determined nod, the board started to pop back out.

Reacting swiftly Goofy ducked as the board swung above. He stood back up, only to get hit from behind as the board swung back. Now annoyed by this simple piece of wood, Goofy slammed the board into place and hammered it in ferociously. He gave a serious nod before turning to face the next board. Hearing the board trying to pop out once more, Goofy spun around and raised his fists at it; the board instantly stopped its attempt. With a relieved smile, Goofy turned to pick up the next board.

Out of nowhere, the board popped free again, banging into Goofy, and causing him to spin like a top off the scaffolding and into a small, wooden barrel below. Retrieving his fallen hat from the ground, Goofy paused to read the letters on the barrel.

"N… A… I… Nails," He said in a hushed voice.

He gasped in alarm. "'Nails'?!"

In one, giant leap, Goofy flew like a rocket into the air, sending a tiny shower of nails falling from above. He clung to a wooden board hanging on the ship's railing. "Gawrsh," he chuckled aloud to no one in particular. "'Nails'."

The scene switched to a spot below the now-constructed ship's hull where Donald was sitting on a swing as he painted the ship's rudder red. He was singing aloud, "Yo! Ho! Blow the man down!"

Up above, Mickey was whistling to the same tune. He pulled out a folded gadget from a box and opened it like an umbrella. The device he was holding could be easily identified as a ship's wheel (or helm). Still whistling along, the mouse inserted the helm into its proper place at the controls. He started to spin it to ensure it was working properly.

Down below, Donald watched in surprise as the rudder swung out of his reach and he painted nothing but air. "Hey!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What's the big idea?!"

Donald reached over to where the rudder was now, only to have the rudder swing out of his reach again. He tried to reach over to where it was once more, and the same thing happened. This took place a few more times before he scratched his head. "There's something very screwy about this," he concluded.

In one last attempt to paint the ship's rudder, Donald grabbed it as it started to swing and held it in place as he wiped his paintbrush alongside it. At once, the rudder slipped from his fingers and his swing's rope got wrapped around it a little. Shocked at what had just occurred, the duck muttered to himself, "What's the heck's going on?"

The rudder continued to move in an odd behavior pattern.

Up above, Mickey was struggling to turn the ship's helm, which had gotten caught on something. The harder he tried to turn it, the more difficult it became.

Down below, Donald was shouting in pain as the rudder shook, sending his swing into the air, yanking it back to the rudder, and then sending him back into the air over and over again. The rudder was slapping the duck from behind each time.

Finally, Mickey got the helm to turn, and fell onto the deck. The ship's wheel spun with such haste, it nearly became a blur of movement. Mickey stared at it, getting his nose bumped by its handles in the process.

Back down below, the rudder was whirling in circles. Donald's swing rapidly got wrapped around it until it had stopped the rudder in place. Donald found himself tied in place by the rope from the swing. His red paint can flew through the air, so he ducked. It missed him. His paintbrush also flew through the air and landed smack-dab into Donald's bill. With his mouth stuffed up, it was impossible to understand the words the now-glaring duck was muttering.

The scene now shifted to a location up on deck where Goofy was carrying a long, wooden box across it. He was singing out loud to himself, "When the bow… when the line springs free… ding dong!"

Once again moving at the same pace of the music, Goofy placed the box short-wise on the deck. He took out a crowbar and used it to open the box like a door. Inside was a figure of a mermaid with long, golden hair, blue eyes, a sea-green tail, and a faded-purple-colored sash over her chest. He jumped in surprise before slamming the box closed. He leapt in front of it, grabbing the top of his head in total astonishment.

"Gawrsh," Goofy gulped with huge, wide eyes. "A lady!"

After taking a few seconds to brush back his hair, Goofy strode up to the box and knocked on it. It opened. The tall dog removed his hat and bowed very politely. "Gawrsh," he said to her. "I didn't know you was in there."

To Goofy's horror, the figurine woman fell forwards and nearly landed face-first on the deck. He caught her at the last instant. His eyes were filled with alarm and panic. "Help!" he yelled out. "Help! She's seasick!"

In one super-swift movement, Goofy rushed away from the figurine. She started to fall over when he returned just as rapidly as he had left, just with a foldable chair. He immediately placed it behind her, resulting in the figurine landing upon the chair. Goofy spun around to face her. "Are you feelin' better now, miss?" he asked.

The figurine didn't respond and continued to stare upwards. Goofy removed his hat and started to blush as he squeezed it in his hands. "Gawrsh," he murmured. "But you sure are purty… Golly! I could fall for a gal like you."

Stepping onto the figurine woman's base, Goofy made her rise up and her lips touched his; the two shared a kiss. An extremely thrilled Goofy stared whirling around, muttering this and that, before leaning against a crate on the ship's deck. It was then Mickey came over, picked up the figurine, and started off with it. A still love-struck Goofy spun around and gave the figurine a kiss, or so he thought. Seeing he had kissed the chair, he rapidly glanced around. "She's gone!" he realized.

In the meantime, Mickey was carrying the female figurine down the ship's deck. As he stepped past the smokestack, the figurine's neck got caught on the whistle and made it blow. Mickey was yanked back.

Goofy was seating in the folding chair when he heard the whistle. His eyes lit up. "It's her!" he declared. He placed his right hand over his right cheek. "Yoo-hoo!"

The ship's whistle blew twice more as Mickey struggled to get the figurine woman free.

"Yoo-hoo!" Goofy replied to the additional two blasts as he clambered to the upper deck. Up ahead, he could see the figurine's head poking out from each side of the smokestack at the same rate of the whistle blasts.

Finally getting the figurine untangled, Mickey moved on. One final blast from the whistle filled the air.

"A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled as he saw the figurine disappear behind the smokestack. "She wants ta play!"

Sneaking up on the supposed hiding place, Goofy leapt forwards and grabbed what he assumed was the figurine girl. To his shock, the ship's whistle went off in a very, very loud volume. In a state of panic, the tall dog raced down the ship in the opposite direction. He jumped over the side and grabbed onto the anchor. He continued to cling on as the anchor descended downwards. The chain suddenly stopped, so Goofy fell onto a pile of half-splintered wood. He was still chuckling loudly. "A-Hyuck! What a gal! What a gal! A-Hyuck-Wha-Wha-Whoo!"

The scene once again changed, this time to a view of the finished ship. A crowd was gathered down below to cheer for the completed ship's launch and an entire band was present. Up on the ship's deck, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were peering down below. Mickey was dressed in an admiral's-style clothing, Donald was wearing his normal sailor suit, and Goofy was in a white seaman's uniform. Mickey turned to his friends. "Ready, men?"

Donald and Goofy saluted. "Aye, aye, captain!"

Mickey gazed over the railing to a small platform. "Okay, Minnie! Let 'er go!"

Standing on the stage with a full bottle of champagne in her hands was an especially excited Minnie Mouse. She giggled before declaring, "I christen this ship, 'Queen Minnie'!"

With a thrust of her arm, Minnie slammed the bottle into the ship's bow. Since nothing had happened, she frowned at the bottle before smashing it with extra force. This time, the bottle broke in half and the ship started to slide down the ramp for the harbor. She smiled, alongside everyone else present. Unfortunately, the bottle had also split a few boards loose on the bow's front.

Up above, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were waving at the spectators down below. Out of nowhere, the side of their ship started to fold up and come apart. They were astounded and tried to get away when the deck rolled up like a tent canvas and/or scroll. It wasn't long before Goofy was trapped, clinging to the ship's helm. Mickey and Donald raced up a ladder; it folded and pinned Donald's bill in place. Mickey escaped to the deck cabin until it folded up shortly after.

By the time the ship reached the bottom of the ramp, all that was left was its wooden frame outline. The smokestack popped off along with a few other things. The ship had now reached the water and what was left of it instantly sank. Mickey swam into a ventilation funnel and found Donald and Goofy beside him; Donald was sitting on the ship's helm while Goofy was inside the smokestack. Mickey smiled at his friends.

"'All you do is put it together'," Mickey chuckled louder than before.

Donald was in no mood for such silliness. "Aw phooey!"

The cartoon closed out in an iris fashion and ended with a reddish background bearing the words, "THE END".

The cartoon ended and the bluish screen returned. The audience burst out in applause. Watching from their table, Riku had to shake his head. He had understood the plot of the cartoon. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had built a ship using instructions that appeared to be from a store such as IKEA. Despite all their mishaps during construction, they had completed the ship. The launch, on the other hand, was another story. Minnie's irritation at the bottle had caused such an extreme impact, it had damaged the ship. It wasn't long before the ship crumpled up into the individual pieces it had been made from. Once they had reached the water, Mickey had something that now made total sense.

No wonder the ship had fallen apart so easily! It wasn't supposed to be built to last. Recalling how he'd learned the famous luxury ship, Titanic, had been constructed like a battleship, Riku was certain those two were complete opposites. All the advertisement company had claimed was how the only thing you could do with the ship was build it; it wasn't designed to sail, let alone float. This very concept reminded the silver-haired teenager of how he had spent so much time working on the raft so Kairi, Sora, and he could sail off to other worlds beyond their home. This cartoon showed stuff that was probably no different.

"Here ya go!" Goofy said as he approached the table with two covered plates in his hand. He placed them onto the table, one before Riku and the other in front of Violet.

Riku wasted no time removing his cover while the angel across from him cautiously removed her own. To the surprise of the two, their orders had been reversed; Riku had a bowl of greenish-blue broth and Violet had a piece of steak with a baked potato shaped like a rabbit's ears. They stared at Goofy, who looked puzzled.

"What's the matter?" the head-waiter asked. "Did I get ya the wrong stuff?"

"You placed on orders on the reversed sides of the table," Violet informed him.

Since Goofy started to scratch his head, Riku had translate the angel's words — again. "She means our orders are switched."

"Oh, yeah, A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled in return. He rushed to the side of the table and spun it so fast, everything was a blur. He raised his arms into the air and cheered, "C'mon, steak!"

Several guests rushed over and began chanting, "Steak! Steak! Steak! Steak!"

Riku was shocked. Was Goofy treating this like some kind of casino game? He didn't think it was particularly funny, even if it was Goofy's true colors being shown.

The table stopped and the steak and potato were on Riku's side. The stew was before Violet. Before either of the two could start eating, Goofy spun the table again. "I win!" he shouted excitedly. "Double or nothing!"

The table spun and spun before stopping once again. Riku's potato flew from his plate and slammed into the back of another guest's head. Violet's stew splashed around and got all over her wings. She was now showing signs of complete annoyance. This time, when the table stopped, the dishes were in the correct place, but there was still a mess on the tablecloth. Goofy was cheering proudly as all the other guests clapped for him.

"I win again!" the head-waiter proclaimed in an atypically-obnoxiously-loud voice.

Riku glanced at the guest where his potato had been flung. A giant, muscular man wearing a blood-red shirt, black pants and boots, and a black belt around his waist was glaring back from one of the club's booths; three girls in different-colored dresses were seated around him while a short man with a large nose was sitting on the opposite side of their table. The larger man had black hair tied into a ponytail and yellow gloves on his hands. In his right hand was a half-squashed potato shaped like rabbit's ears.

"Hey!" the man snarled in the silver-haired Keyblader's direction. He crushed the potato in his grip. "No one throws potatoes at Gaston!"

Riku gave a nervous grin. "Sorry… "

Turning back to what was left of his meal, Riku picked up his fork and started eating. He noticed Violet was carefully holding her spoon and staring at the broth in it. He shook his head slightly before inquiring, "Is it okay?"

Violet shook when she raised her head; Riku knew he had caught the angel off guard. "Huh?" she said. "Oh, yes. It is good. It is not perfect — simply good for consuming."

Riku had his doubts about the angel's words. Was she trying to cover up her uncertainty about the food the club was serving? He wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to find out either way. Then again, how well did he know Violet?

True, he had first met her in the sleeping Traverse Town at the start of his quest. She did lend a hand while venturing throughout the other six Sleeping Worlds (and two illusions). Even after Sora had accused her so unjustly, Violet still returned to warn Riku and Sora about Xehanort's plot. Apparently, she'd discovered what was taking place while leaving the just-about-to-be-awakened Symphony of Sorcery.

Yet, how well did he know the angel personally? Even though they were friends, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder didn't know anything about Violet's personal life beyond what she'd told him and Sora. Whether or not she had any relatives… if there was anything else that scared or worried her… how long she'd been living inside the Realm of Sleep — Riku was certain she hadn't been there forever. Had she?

"Violet," Riku started to say. "Do you have any family?"

Violet looked at the seventeen-year-old in surprise. Perhaps he'd chosen the wrong question to start with? Maybe angels didn't have families? That didn't exactly make sense… they had hearts and feelings, so they should've had someone close to them.

"Yes and no," Violet answered. Riku watched her in anticipation for why she'd given him such a strange reply. "Angels are typically created single."

Noticing how the angel had taken into account his concentration, Riku listened intently, wondering if she was about to reveal something he never would've expected.

"Yet, every now and then, an angel can be created as two separate individuals," Violet went on. "The heart initially created for one individual splits in half and becomes two. The outcome is simple — two angels are created. However, such an occurrence is extremely rare."

Riku continued to listen, although he remained unsure why Violet was discussing how angels were born. If this was the case, many angels probably existed — much more than seven. Unless, only seven of them had hearts of pure Light like the Princesses of Heart. Still, the thought of two angels being created in place of one was difficult for him to understand.

"What're you getting at?" Riku finally questioned.

Violet hesitated in her response. "Well… "

Some loud barking stole the pair's attention. They gazed down at the floor where a golden-furred dog with long ears and a red collar was looking at them. The animal's tail was wagging and its reddish-pink tongue was hanging out of its smiling mouth. Over the dog's head was a pair of headphones complete with a microphone. Its eyes looked friendly.

"Pluto?" Riku asked.

"Why is he loitering around us?" Violet inquired.

Riku shrugged. Before he could answer the angel's query, Mickey called out from the stage. "Welp," he declared. "Looks like Pluto's found some new friends! Hopefully they aren't like the three in this next cartoon!"

Mickey gestured from the stage's side as the blue screen showed a hand-drawn version of Donald Duck's face with an enormous smile. The image was also in color like the last cartoon. A playful-sounding song was playing, which reminded Riku of the melody from "Pop Goes The Weasel". The screen moved through a few scenes of credits before the title came into view. Below the letters were a trio of young ducks who resembled younger versions of Donald. They were identical in every appearance, except the color of their otherwise-matching clothes. One was wearing a red shirt and baseball cap, another had an orange shirt and cap, and the third was decked out in a green shirt and cap. Their hands were hidden behind their backs and two of them were looking up as though saying "It wasn't me!" The third was gazing down at the floor where a smashed capital-letter "A" was lying around. Behind one of the three's hands behind their back was a slingshot.

"DONALD'S NEPHEWS (1938)"

The opening scene started with the view of a postcard. Words were scribbled all over it. A somewhat duck-sounding voice read what was written. "'Dear Brother, I am sending your angel nephews to… '"

A white finger points at the next word and spells it out. "V, I, S, I, T… 'Visit you. Sister Dumbella'."

The postcard turned around to show three, small ducks in the form of little beings with golden halos and feathery wings. Three names were cursively written, one above each duck's head. The voice the names. "'Huey'… 'Dewey'… 'Louie'… "

The camera immediately changed to a view of Donald Duck sighing happily, the postcard in his hand. He was wearing his sailor uniform, including the hat. The room he was standing in was a reddish-brown color and a green chair was located a few feet away. The doorbell rang with a buzz. "Ahh," Donald said. "There are the little darlin's now."

Putting the postcard in his pocket, Donald strode up to the door. With a thrilled smile on his face, he calmly opened the door and gestured warmly. "Welcome!"

The door flew open so fast, it slammed the duck against the wall. Three smaller ducks who looked almost the same came riding into the house on a trio of tricycles; one had a red shirt and cap, the other had an orange shirt and cap, and the third was wearing a green shirt and baseball cap. As the door swung back from the wall, Donald fell from where he had been smashed in. Upon landing on the floor, the duck gazed up and noticed the three smaller ducks riding around the living room; in each of their hands was a croquet mallet. They lined up in a row side-by-side and cheered with glee, "Yippee!"

Donald smiled when he saw the trio. "Hello, Unca Donald!"

The red duck pointed to himself. "I'm Huey."

"I'm Dewey," the orange duck said, pointing to himself.

The green duck did the same. "I'm Louie," he said in turn.

Donald chuckled. "Well… hello, boys!"

At the blow of a whistle in his hands, Huey dropped a croquet ball onto the floor; he struck it with his mallet, sending the ball straight ahead. The other two began striking it between each other, sending the ball through the air. Dewey rode his tricycle so far down the room, he skidded to a stop to catch the ball — inadvertently ramming into a sparkling blue vase on a stand. The stand toppled and the vase shattered into several, splintered pieces. When Dewey struck the ball, it flew across the floor, allowing Louie the chance to catch it. With a swing of his mallet, Louie sent the ball flying like a bullet; a dark-blue lamp, a small mirror, and some transparent glasses displayed on a shelf were struck and shattered into countless shards that got scattered all over the floor.

A shocked Donald was forced to duck down as his nephews knocked the ball through the air and continued to spread pieces of broken glass all over the place. He took cover beneath a bookshelf. The croquet ball slammed into the books, knocking them into a pile on the floor. One of them, a bright-red book, instantly grabbed Donald's eye. He picked it up and took a second to read the cover.

"MODERN CHILD TRAINING"

Opening the front cover, he read the first page. "'Music hath charms to soothe the savage child'."

Donald was so pleased, he gave a great, huge smile. "Well, well."

The sound of a mallet striking the ball filled the air. Whirling his attention to his right, Donald ducked as the ball flew through the air and just missed him. The noise of something shattering echoed about. Placing the book into his mouth, Donald crawled across the floor and over to a fancy, black piano. Along the way, he was forced to keep an eye out for a few more flying croquet balls. Upon arrival, he used his hat as a decoy in case his nephews were aiming at him on purpose; the ball seemed to be flying his way every second.

Seeing how nothing bad was happening, Donald placed the open book on the piano's music stand and sat on the stool. He started to play the melody written in the book at a very slow and graceful pace. When his nephews didn't respond, he played louder and faster. Huey slammed on his brakes, skidded to a stop, hopped off his tricycle, and ran towards a set of instruments lying against a wall near the piano. As Donald continued to play the song, both Dewey, and Louie leapt from their tricycles and joined their brother. When the music called for it, Donald stuck his finger in his mouth and pulled at the side of his chin. The sound of a loud POP could be heard before the trio of younger ducks finished the song in turn. Huey was playing a giant cello, Dewey was blowing a trombone, and Louie had his hands on a red accordion.

Donald was pleased. He placed his right hand to the left side of his face so the three couldn't overhear him as he glanced towards an unknown audience. "Oh boy," he whispered. "Let's do it over."

Turning to face his nephews, Donald showed a friendly smile. "Now, all together, boys," he instructed. "One, two, three, four!"

The song started once again. Louie was having a grand time playing his accordion with one hand. Dewey grinned at his brother before grabbing an apple from a bowl on a side table behind him. Placing the apple into his trombone, the duck waited a few seconds before the cue of the popping noise. Instead of Donald doing it, Dewey blew into his instrument, sending the apple flying into the rod holding the piano's lid open. At the same time, Donald was trying to untangle a few strings within. The rod fell when the apple made contact, dropping the lid onto Donald's head and trapping him inside. The three younger ducks finished the rest of the song.

After yanking his head out from beneath the piano's lid, Donald gave an irritated glare in the direction of his now-laughing nephews. He snorted as he placed the rod back into place on the piano. He started to play the song from where he had left off. Meanwhile, Huey used the cello's strings as a bow and the bow as an arrow. When the song called for the POP, he sent the instrument's bow flying into Donald's rear end, knocking him into the piano's interior again. The rod popped out and the lid shut on him. The nephews completed the song once again.

Once he had gotten free from the piano's lid, Donald gave another glare at his nephews. "Doggone kids," he sneered in a hushed voice, placing his hat back onto his head.

Taking another look into the red book, Donald turned the page and read what was inscribed on it, "'Never lose your temper in front of children'," he read in a very, very, very soft voice full of annoyance.

"Yeah," Donald agreed with a nice grin. "That's right."

Turning to face his three nephews, he said in a calm tone of voice, "Now boys, you must be nice."

A shocked Huey, Dewey, and Louie glanced at one another with looks that equally appeared to say, "Huh? What's he talking about?" They stared at their uncle with total perplexity.

A now-pleasant Donald returned his focus to the piano. "Let's go on now! One, two, three, four!"

The song resumed from the beginning. In the process, Dewey used the trombone to blow up a large, blue balloon. Huey filled paper bag with water from a fishbowl, pouring the goldfish in along with it. Donald didn't notice as Huey tied the balloon to the bag and it drifted into the air. Louie watched it happily as he pulled out a toy slingshot; he was now playing the accordion with his left foot. He aimed his toy at the bag.

A still-suspicious Donald rapidly played the part of the song before the popping moment and hastily glanced at his nephews. All three of the smaller ducks were looking at the ceiling with fake, innocent smiles. Assuming they weren't going to play another prank on him, Donald smiled and resumed to song. He played the last two segments over as he approached the song's climax. Taking his slingshot back out from behind his back, Louie aimed at the hovering paper bag, which was now located directly above Donald's head. When the song's popping moment came along, he shot a tiny rock at the balloon. It burst, sending the bag onto Donald's head; the bag exploded, sending water splashing all over the duck. Donald jolted for a brief moment before he froze. Huey, Dewey, and Louie completed the remainder of the song.

Donald shook the cold water off like a dog, knocking the goldfish into its bowl; there was still enough water for the fish to breathe. Donald spun around and glared at his once-again-innocent-looking nephews. "Who did that?!" he demanded.

Huey pointed at Louie. "He did."

Louie pointed at Dewey. "He did."

Dewey pointed at both Huey and Louie. "He did."

The three scowled at each other. "Who did?!"

In a matter of seconds, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were engaged in a serious brawl — one involving punching, rolling around, kicking, and everything else to do with rough-housing.

Donald scoffed at the quarrel before his eyes. "'Music soothes the savage child'? Phooey!"

Flipping the book's pages, Donald found something he assumed might resolve this new issue. "'When children quarrel, they may… be only hungry'," he read to himself.

Donald gazed up with delight. "Hungry!"

Spotting a full, roasted turkey sitting upon a silver platter on his kitchen table with several plates gathered around it, Donald walked over and picked up the platter. He turned to face his still-fighting nephews. In a loud voice, he called out, "Food! Come and get it!"

With what sounded like galloping horses, Huey, Dewey, and Louie raced into the kitchen, swiping the turkey from Donald's hands. Donald was left whirling in place before he realized what his nephews had done. Looking into the kitchen, Donald was shocked to find his three nephews standing on the table, fighting over whose turkey was on the platter. Donald stepped over and frowned at the trio. "Hey!" he scolded, seizing their attention. He took the turkey from their hands. "Wait a minute!"

Placing the turkey back onto the platter, Donald remained his scowl. "Sit down!" he ordered.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie immediately obeyed and sat in the three available seats. Climbing into his own seat, Donald leaned forwards, bowed his head, and folded his hands. He gave stern looks at each of the younger ducks, who copied his example one by one. Once the three had obeyed, Donald started to give thanks. In the meantime, he kept himself alert; he slapped his nephew's hands as they attempted to swipe slices of bread from another plate. He had to do this many times. "We give thanks for this food, bless all the little boys, and bless our happy, little home. Thank you very much! Yours truly, Donald Duck."

Following a momentary pause to ensure the smaller ducks were behaving, Donald added, "Amen!"

That one word was all it took for the next problem to emerge. Huey, Dewey, and Louie all lunged at the turkey at the same time Donald reached for it. Louie grabbed a two of the bread slices, put them around his uncle's left hand in the form of a sandwich, and chomped down hard. Donald let out a wail of pain before Louie reopened his mouth and hopped backward. Donald pulled his hand from the bread slices; he stared, taking note of how his hand was now a flashing red color and swollen. Huey, Dewey, and Louie burst out laughing so hard, they might've choked.

Donald was unamused. Leaning against the table, he tapped his fingers on it. "This is very exasperating."

Taking another look at the red book, Donald flipped to one of the last pages in it. He read it softly, "'When all else fails, arouse their sympathy'."

With wink at the supposed audience, Donald placed his book into his sailor uniform and leaned onto the table. He started crying with dismay; tears started flowing from his eyes. "Oh my! Oh my!" he wept. "I'm so discouraged! I've tried so hard!"

Huey, Dewey, and Louie all glanced at each other in surprise. "What shall I do?" Donald continued. "Oh! What shall I do?"

Peeking out to see if his tactic was working, he added, "Oh! Dear me!"

Huey, Dewey, and Louie all seemed to be feeling sorry for their uncle. "Poor, Unca Donald," Huey said.

The three huddled together and started speaking illegible words to one another. Louie took a look over at the still-sobbing Donald before rejoining the other two. They broke up a second after and each gave a nod simultaneously. Huey rose from his chair and approached Donald.

"Aw," Huey said with a sad look on his face. "We're sorry, Unca Donald."

He used a cloth napkin to wipe the tears from his uncle's face. "We've been good boys."

"Yeah!" Dewey and Louie agreed in unison. "Very good boys!"

As they spoke, Dewey and Louie used a knife to wipe the filling from a slice of cherry pie. In its place, they poured some sticky substance from a container on the table that was labelled, "Volcano Brand Mustard". The new filling matched the pie's crust with such perfection, it resembled pumpkin pie.

Taking the slice of pie to where his uncle was crying, Dewey held it up. "Here, Unca Donald!" he said. "Do you want some pie?"

"'Pie'?!" Donald leapt up with excitement. He gratefully accepted the pie. "And how!"

Patting Dewey on the head, Donald complimented him. "That's a nice boy!"

"Oh boy!" Donald said to himself, placing the pie on the plate before him. "It works!"

Donald lifted the pie slice into his hands and gobbled it up quickly. He continued to chew it until something inside of him started feeling funny. His eyes began watering and his face turned red. Smoke billowed from his nose and through a tiny gap in his mouth. He let out a loud shout, sending a patch of flame out; the fire vanished in an instant. "Help!" he screamed. "Water! Water!"

Huey, Dewey, and Louie scattered around as Donald ran around, waving his arms in the air in a frenzy. Dewey dumped a bucket of water onto his uncle, knocking him backward to where Huey and Louie dumped a wide basin of water onto him. Donald was now sitting on the floor in a pool of water. Through a nearby window, Dewey sprayed Donald with a hose; the force of the water sent Donald reeling. When Huey and Louie came racing over with a makeshift fire-cart and aimed a fire extinguisher at him, Donald exclaimed, "Stop! Stop!"

Instead of paying attention to what their uncle was saying, Huey and Louie sprayed him with the fire extinguisher; foam clouded the inside of Donald's mouth. Donald was sent soaring into the air and landed upon the floor; the foam was covering his eyes. Huey, Dewey, and Louie rode their tricycles by.

"Goodbye!" Louie said, shooting his uncle with a toy water gun.

"Unca… " Dewey added, doing the same.

"…Donald!" Huey finished, throwing the same red book at his uncle.

A furious Donald watched as his three nephews rode their tricycles out what was left of his house; they had their croquet mallets and ball with them. Their bells could be heard ringing away as they left. Donald glanced at the open book before him. He stared in alarm before scowling at it. "'After all, little children are only angels without wings'."

"'Angels'," he sneered in complete disagreement. "Phooey!"

In a state of total anger and frustration at witnessing his own nephews destroy his house, torture him, and simply humiliate him, Donald grabbed the book and ripped it to shreds. He yelled in anger as torn paper flew all over the place. The cartoon ended with an iris-transition.

The words, "THE END" appeared in cursive writing against a red background.

The audience erupted with applause. From their table, Violet was busy rolling her eyes. Her left elbow was placed on the table and her head was slouched into her left palm. She gave an inaudible sigh.

Angels without wings. Whoever the author of that book was, what did they know? There was no doubt in her mind how an angel without wings was nothing more than a demon, which made perfect sense for how Huey, Dewey, and Louie were portrayed. If Donald Duck really did have such nephews in reality, and they really were like the ones in the cartoon, she would rather not learn. After all, those three were most-likely demons in disguise. Such a theory suddenly lacked any form of validity.

It was simple — there was one major difference between an angel and a demon. Demons lacked wings, which tended to make them creatures of Darkness. If Donald's nephews truly did exist and were as troublesome as she had seen, they could be demons — which would mean they used to be angels.

Although she had never informed Sora or Riku about it, Violet knew she had once witnessed an angel losing their wings. Such an event was solely a form of severe punishment based on the actions a particular angel committed. Yet, for one reason or another, she was convinced the accused suspect, who had been transformed into a demon, was innocent. Sadly, such a sentence could never be revoked — at least as far as she knew. There was such a variety of methods an angel could be transformed into a demon. A torn wing… refusing to protect the Light… betrayal… giving into the Darkness… and worst of all, not willing to save or help his or her friend(s). There were others, of course, but Violet did not wish to recall every last one. There were simply too many.

"Violet?"

Returning from her deep pondering, Violet snapped back into attention. She found herself staring at Riku eye-to-eye. "What is it, Riku?"

Riku looked the angel straight on despite being across the table from her. Violet took a mere glimpse down, realizing she had not taken a single bite of her soup. On the other hand, the silver-haired youth had finished his steak and left his fork and napkin neatly upon his plate.

"Something's troubling you," Riku said.

"No," Violet said rapidly. "Nothing is wrong. I was… contemplating."

Riku stared at the angel with no hint of a smile. Violet felt a slight feeling of hesitation surge through her body, including her wings and antennae. For all she knew, her friend had discovered something she had never desired for him to know.

"I can feel it, too," he admitted.

Violet was shocked. "Feel… what? Did you sense something?"

Riku gave a nod. "Darkness," he explained. "There's a lot of Darkness here. No wonder Sora hasn't awakened. His heart's already full of Darkness."

In an instant, Violet knew exactly what the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder meant. This very building they were inside was located someplace deep within Sora's heart. It was not another universe; it was a world inside a person's heart. "He must be somewhere around this nightclub!" she realized. "If we can locate him, we should be capable of awakening him."

"Yeah," Riku confirmed with another nod. "But first, we've gotta find him."

Following a nod of approval from Violet, the two rose from the table and stepped away. Violet stopped when Riku put his hand in the air. Before the angel could inquire what was wrong, Riku put a finger to his lips. He pointed ahead. Violet was shocked. Directly ten steps away was a group of evildoers gathered together at a table. Violet stared at them, unsure who they were; she sensed Riku had met them previously.

"What are their identities?" she whispered.

Riku sighed deeply. "Jafar, Cruella, Hook, Hades, Ursula, and Maleficent. I think they're plotting something."

Violet's antennae started spinning a little. She stepped directly behind Riku when he took notice. "Yikes!" she said softly.

"Can't you make it stop?" Riku questioned, a concerned look on his face.

Violet shuddered nervously. "I cannot say. I have never possessed control over them."

The two hurried back to their seats. Violet's antennae stopped moving as they reached the table. Both the angel and silver-headed teenager sighed with relief.

"Okay," Riku said, turning to face the angel. "I have an idea. Let's split up. You look by the stage and I'll go search where we were."

Violet's eyes lit up with anxiety and fright. "Wait, Riku!" she stated in a firm voice. "What type of action should I perform given my antennae start vibrating? I cannot allow anyone here to notice it!"

Riku had to smirk a grin. "I thought you were the 'Angel of Dreams'," he pinpointed. "Just do what you've always done."

When Violet felt another wave of uneasiness flash throughout her being, she also sensed Riku's hand on her right wrist. "C'mon," he said with a faint laugh. "I thought you were stronger than that!"

Violet had to smile and shake her head. Her glow seemed to increase for a moment. "I shall do what Sam Flynn said back in The Grid," she answered. "I shall improvise."

When Riku stared at her in question, the angel added, "I shall simply follow my instincts and alter this dream."

Riku nodded before releasing her hand. He turned around and stepped towards the back of the club. Violet watched him for a few seconds as she took a deep breath. "I am the Angel of Dreams," she said in a soft voice. "I can accomplish such a simple task — for my friends."

Without another word, Violet hurried in the direction Riku had recommended she head in. As she passed a table with a well-dressed mouse-like individual, her antennae began twitching. She froze when she noticed a mouse-resembling figure approaching. Violet stared nervously as one of them followed what would have been a trail of footprints leading to her current location. In this mouse's hand was a magnifying glass. Behind him jogged a second mouse.

Violet felt a little mystified. The two mice were completely different in appearance. One was tall and slender with light-brown fur and was wearing a brown cap and waistcoat, white shirt, green necktie, and black shoes with spats. The other was a tad shorter and large with a mustache; this mouse was dressed in a white shirt, grey trousers with matching jacket, maroon vest, blue bow tie, grey cap, and unidentifiable shoes.

"We're on the trail, Dawson!" the first mouse said as he kept his eyes peeled to the floor. "We'll catch our culprit once we learn where these footprints lead!"

"Yes," the other mouse agreed. Violet noticed how he was huffing and puffing. "Q-quite right!"

Violet was both startled and confused. The first mouse was behaving almost exactly like how Sherlock Holmes would search for clues. The other seemed to resemble the doctor who was narrating the stories surrounding the world-famous detective. Violet had to shake her head. Now she'd seen just about everything!

The first mouse came to a dead stop when he reached the angel's feet. He rose to his feet and stared at her for a quick second. He hastily brushed off his coat. "So those were your footprints, miss," he said in a heavy British accent.

Violet gave a nervous giggle. "Yes," she admitted. "I would have to assume they are, even if I cannot see them."

"Name's Basil," the mouse said, extending his hand. "Basil of Baker Street."

Violet carefully shook it. "My name is Violet. I am—"

"Basil!" At that moment, the other mouse came rushing forwards. "Basil, I think I've found something."

"Not now, Doctor," Basil said. "I'm trying to learn more about our suspect from this angel."

Violet was taken by surprise. "How do you know I am an angel?"

"An 'Angel of Dreams' to be exact," Basil elaborated. "Your wings aren't shaped like the ones in a cathedral. You have a glow giving off a radiant Light. Your antennae can detect the slightest notion of Darkness. In addition, you're also wearing a necklace bearing the symbol of the Spirit 'Dream Eaters'."

Violet was impressed. Just from looking at her, this mouse had determined precisely who she was. Deep down, she was certain he was a real detective.

"Yeesh!" Violet allowed herself to say. It suddenly occurred to her how Basil could very likely provide much-needed assistance in her search for Sora's whereabouts within the nightclub. "Perhaps you can provide some assistance for me?"

Basil seemed hesitant. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I am searching for someone — a friend," Violet informed the two. "His identity is 'Sora'. He should be around here someplace. Can you please offer some assistance?"

Basil shrugged. "I may not know this 'Sora', but I shall help you look for him. His whereabouts may be linked to the culprit the Doctor and I have been searching for."

Violet gave another nod. "Then let's resume our search."

The two mice started off to a spot near the club's stage while Violet held her quivering antennae with her left hand and scanned the room with her right over her eyes.

"Looks like Basil's on the case once again," an all-too-familiar voice called from the stage. Violet spun around, noticing how she was standing directly in front of the platform. On the stage was Mickey. "I wonder what would've happened had he been around when me and my pals lost our key!"

The crowd in the room cheered as the screen changed to show animated versions of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy's faces. A silly-sounding piece of music was playing as the three's faces disappeared to show words that read, "A Mickey, Donald, & Goofy Cartoon". Some more text revealed the cartoon's title.

The audience cheered louder and louder. In turn, Violet willingly decided to watch this next presentation.

"LOCKSMITHS (2000)"

A giant, red-bricked building was located near the heart of Mouseton. A sign painted on one of the windows contained a key.

LOCKSMITHS

The office inside was deserted. A red telephone was situated on a desk. A tiny, red light was blinking slowly on the phone. The door to the office opened and in stepped Mickey, Goofy, and Donald — in that order. As Donald shut the door behind them, it locked with an audible CLICK. Noticing the red light on the phone, Mickey was excited. "Ho boy!" he declared. "A message!"

Pressing the button on the phone, Mickey listened to his voice on the machine's recording; "Locksmiths! We smith locks!"

"Mickey?" Minnie's voice said in the message. "Mickey Mouse? Oh dear! You're not there! And it's so important that I talk to you! Call me back! It's urgent!"

An astounded Mickey immediately lifted the receiver and dialed on its base. "Hello, Minnie?" he said into the phone just after it rang once.

"We're sorry," a monotone voice replied. "All circuits are busy now."

"'Busy'?!" a startled Mickey exclaimed.

"Please try your call again later."

Mickey looked ready to panic. "B-but Minnie said it's urgent!"

"This has been a recording."

Mickey scowled at the phone. "You… You lousy!"

"Do not yell at the recording."

Mickey picked up the phone in anger. "Oh! I'll show you who's yellin'!"

"Do not smash the phone. Put me down. That's right."

A shocked Mickey gave a nervous smile as he returned the phone to the desk and gently replaced the receiver. He spun around to face his friends, Donald and Goofy. "Welp, c'mon!" he said. "We've gotta go help Minnie!"

Mickey raced to the door. He grabbed the doorknob, only to realize he couldn't get it to move; it wouldn't even turn. He pulled on it, but when he released his grip, it snapped back into place. "The door!" he shouted. "I can't get it open!"

Yanking on the knob with all his might only resulted in Mickey tumbling back straight into Donald, causing the two to ram straight into Goofy. They all slammed into the desk beyond.

"Must be locked," Goofy suggested.

"'Locked'?!" Mickey exclaimed, rushed back to the door. He searched his pockets, realizing they were empty. "W-where's the key?"

"Maybe it's on Goofy's keychain," Donald spoke up.

After a momentary pause, Goofy smiled as he cleared his throat. He pulled out a large ring containing a variety of all sorts of keys; they were mostly shaped in the literal form of what they were intended for. He read them off one-by-one. "Let's see here," Goofy began. "We've got a car key… piano key… skeleton key… keyboard… key to the city… keyhole… key lime pie… key to muh heart… "

Goofy paused as he admired the pink, heart-shaped key in his hand. "Gawrsh… "

Mickey and Donald were feeling irritated as Goofy continued to go through more of his keys. "Florida Keys… High Key… Low Key… On Key… Off Key… Tricky… Okie-Dokie Artichoke-y… Don Key-yote-y… "

Goofy stopped and stared at the windmill-shaped key in doubt. "Now that's a stretch," he concluded before tossing the key behind him. "Get rid of that one."

Mickey and Donald's patience continued to dwindle as Goofy proceeded through the remainder of his keychain. "Smoky… Hokey… Pokey… Markey… Cherokee… Malarkey… Frankie… Cranky… Spanky… Hanky-Panky… Monkey… Donkey… Parakeet… And… "

With a call of "A-Hyuck," Goofy declared, "Get ready!"

The tall dog gestured to the impatient mouse standing at the door, tapping his foot with his arms crossed. "…Mickey!" he announced.

Mickey was downright flustered. "That accomplished absolutely nothing!"

Goofy reached into his mouth and pulled out a dullish-gold key from underneath his tongue; it had a tag that read "SPARE". "Well, maybe we should just use the spare key."

Mickey snorted his disapproval of Goofy's methods to find something. Donald reached for the key. "Gimme that!" he snapped.

"Hey!" Goofy yelled in return. "That's mine!"

The two both grabbed at the key, only to inadvertently send it flying through the air. The key bounced off a ceiling lamp, the filing cabinet on the opposite end of the room, the desk's top, the ceiling above, and through Mickey's legs before vanishing through the mail slot in the door. Taking notice of how the mail slot was moving, Mickey frowned at his friends. Both Goofy and Donald were worried. "Uh-oh!" the latter gulped.

Goofy strode to the door and reached his arm into the mail slot. "I think I can reach it," he said.

Unknown to the three, Goofy's arm extended past the key and entered an air vent. He continued reaching around to the air vent in the office and reached over at Donald. Touching the duck's tail, he chuckled, "A-Hyuck! I got it!"

With one great pull, Goofy yanked the feathers off Donald's tail; the duck yelled in alarm. Seeing how his tail was featherless and Goofy was holding all of them in his hands, Donald scowled at the tall dog.

"A-Hyuck!" Goofy chuckled innocently. "Pick one?"

An already well-beyond-irritated Donald snatched the feathers from Goofy's hands and placed them back onto his tail.

Now it was time for "Plan B". Using his fishing pole, Donald cast the line into the open window directly above the door. His hook landed directly on the key outside. "Aha!" he shouted, leaping up and down excitedly. "I got it!"

As Donald began reeling his line in, Mickey felt nervous. "Great! Now, be careful, Donald," he warned.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed, approaching the duck. "Not too fast."

"Let go!" Donald snapped, kicking the tall dog away. "I can do it!"

Mickey peeked through the mail slot and saw the key rising on Donald's hook. He glanced back, only to discover Goofy grabbing the fishing pole, too. Donald tried to force the tall dog away, but it was no use. Mickey rushed over and grabbed the pole, too; he attempted to break up the pair's argument.

Outside, the line was spinning around, sending the hook with the key still on it into the elevator. The doors closed and the elevator started its descent to the first floor. The three were sent flying into the wall around the windowsill above the door.

When the elevator reached the first floor, the hook and key flew out the building's front door and got wrapped around the rear bumper of a passing truck. As the truck drove off, the fishing line continued to unwind.

The truck rounded a corner, where a duck who was much older than Donald and wearing a scientist's laboratory coat was shoved into the wall by a red-and-blue mailbox the line had knocked into him. He spat out a few envelopes after poking his head through the lid. The next person the line affected was a large, cat-like man wearing dark clothing. The line passed him along with the truck, causing him to get knocked aside and tangled into a clothes line. When the truck picked up speed, the fishing line got caught on a birdhouse and yanked it off its post. A nearby resident (who resembled a horse) stuck his head out his window; the birdhouse landed directly on it.

After several seconds had passed, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy finally managed to reel in the line, only to find a giant, blue-green fish at the end. Their key was nowhere to be found.

"C'mon, fellas!" an optimistic Mickey said to his now-dismayed friend. "Don't give up! We're the best locksmiths in town!"

Pulling a tiny, crooked pin from his pocket, Mickey stepped to the door. He fiddled with the lock for a moment before it clicked. Opening the door, however was another story. Mickey was startled to discover there was another door behind the main one. From there, there was another door, followed by another. Then another. This continued for several, very uniquely-designed doors before one with a talking doorknob came up.

"Still locked," the doorknob said.

Mickey hastily opened the door and did so for several more of various shapes and styles. Finally, he opened one last one and heard a scream. He instantly slammed all the doors shut in a flash, including his own. He gave an embarrassed smile and nervous chuckle at Donald and Goofy. "Wrong pick."

Goofy looked through the phonebook on the desk. Two matching telephones were located beside it. "I'll just call a locksmith to come and get us out," he informed the other two.

Goofy found a number in it and dialed on the phone to his right. He waited a second before the phone on his left rang. He answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi," he said into the phone on his right. "I'm lookin' for a locksmith."

"Well, you called the right number," he said into the phone on his left with pride. "We're the best in town."

Goofy stared straight ahead before he glared at the phone in his right hand. "But we're the best locksmiths in town!"

The next sight was Goofy glaring into each phone as though having an argument with himself. He started yelling in the middle of the conversation.

"Oh yeah? Says who?"

"Says me!"

"That's what you say!"

"That's what I said!"

"There's no reason to be rude!"

"'Rude'?! I'll show ya rude!"

With a thrust of his arm, Goofy slammed the phone in his right hand onto its base. He stared in surprise at the phone in his left hand; the dial tone could be heard from it. He hung it and scowled. Glancing at the others, Goofy stated, "Remind me never to use that locksmith!"

Mickey and Donald looked at each other with blank faces.

It was time for "Plan C". After taking several seconds to ensure the rolling stool before him was level, Goofy hopped onto it and laid on his stomach. Mickey placed a target-like indicator onto the green helmet Goofy was wearing. Both the mouse and Donald grabbed the tall dog's feet and aimed at the door. Mickey counted. "One… two… three!"

The three rushed ahead and went straight through the door, leaving it spinning like a flipping playing card. They were moving with such speed, they accidentally rammed into a pile of soft pillows on the elevator and got bounced back. Feathers flew all over the elevator as they were sent back into the office and ended up inside a filing cabinet. The force of the collision resulted in the cabinet being thrown out the window. As it fell, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy clambered on out. They were now standing in mid-air.

"See?" Mickey said with a laugh. "Told ya we'd get out!"

Goofy glanced down and tapped Mickey on the shoulder. The group all looked down and saw how they were headed for the street far below. They screamed in alarm and both Mickey and Donald hid inside the first two drawers of the three-drawer filing cabinet. The third drawer closed and Goofy tried to open it. When he was unable to, he folded his hands and waited for the end. At that moment, Donald's drawer opened and he pulled Goofy inside. The drawer sealed shut and the cabinet plunged for the street.

The impact was so significant, the filing cabinet went straight through the street and left a gaping hole. A sewer lid opened and Mickey, Donald, and Goofy came stepping out. They were dazed from such a landing and Goofy had both a drawer from the cabinet and an elbow-pipe on his figure.

A car horn honked. Gazing at it, the group spotted Minnie driving up. "Mickey Mouse," she said. "There you are! I've been trying to call you all morning."

Holding up a small key on a ring, she added, "You left your key at my place."

After Minnie dropped the key into his hands, Mickey chuckled anxiously at his friends. "So that's where I left the door key."

While Donald scowled in irritation, Goofy muttered, "I'd say this endin' was kinda… dorky. A-Hyuck!"

The cartoon closed up with an iris-transition.

The audience erupted into extreme applause following the end of the cartoon. There was so much of it, Violet was having a difficult time trying to make sense of what she had just witnessed on the screen.

Keys… keys… keys… keys… and more keys…. That was the very theme of the cartoon. Keys and locks. Recalling what she had learned not too long before, there was also a Keyblade, which could open any lock. While inside The World That Never Was, she had discovered Mickey was capable of wielding such a weapon, so why had he not used it to unlock the door? It could have saved all that precious time Mickey, Donald, and Goofy had wasted there! Of course, that was probably simply her own opinion of it.

Otherwise, the very sight of seeing Goofy call himself on the telephone, pretend to be two different people with the same personality, and… and then have an argument failed to make any form of sense to the angel — especially after Goofy had told Mickey and Donald to remind him never to hire the locksmith he had called up. Clearly, he meant to never hire himself to do a job requiring a locksmith. Even so, the very concept of someone calling themselves and then having an entire conversation with no one else before hanging up very impolitely lacked any form of common sense in her mind.

Having watched Goofy go through a whole list of words that rhymed with "key" or had something to do with a key, Violet was still questioning over how the tall dog could do such ridiculous things. Even when Donald had used his fishing pole to fetch the key, why did his line not snap? For that matter, why had he caught a fish instead? When Mickey had tried to pick the lock on the door, why had there been so many additional doors inside?

There were so many different questions created from such a cartoon, and Violet suddenly realized there was only one logical explanation. It was a cartoon; it was supposed to be silly! Despite realizing this was an accurate conclusion, the angel wondered if there were any more cartoons of this nature.

"Miss Violet!"

Turning to see where the voice had come from, Violet spotted Basil and Dawson approaching her. "I found an eyewitness — someone who's seen your friend," Basil explained.

Violet was amazed. Had this rodent detective uncovered Sora's whereabouts? "Really? Where are they?"

"Right here," Basil confirmed, gesturing to a tiny, glowing figure on his shoulder.

One glance at it and Violet's eyes grew in recognition. The figure was a fairy with blonde hair tied in a bun and wearing a green strapless dress with a mini skirt, and green shoes with white pom-poms. She had transparent wings glowing a faded blue tint.

"Tinker Bell?" Violet inquired.

The fairy gave a nod and started moving her lips and gesturing. Every word she said was unrecognizable; she spoke in what sounded like a series of bells. Violet shook her head. This was very different to when she, Riku, and Sora had initially met the fairy in Pixie Hollow. Back then, Tinker Bell had spoken in plain, easy-to-understand English. Now, it was impossible for the angel to comprehend a single word the fairy was saying.

"I cannot comprehend your speech," Violet said. "What is it you wish to say?"

It was then, Violet felt a dark presence looming somewhere close by. Whatever it was… she did not wish to find out. Unless… it was where Sora was.

On the other side of the clubroom, Riku was having troubles of his own. There was only one individual who had been willing to help him search for Sora. However, it would've appeared they weren't the dog he'd been told about. The supposed-animal was a strange blue color with huge eyes and seemed to resemble a combination between a dinosaur and an alien.

"Anything yet?" he asked the creature.

"Ih," the creature replied, sniffing the air again for the third time. "Stitch still searching for scent."

Perfect. Not only was this creature unable to keep a simple scent, but for all he knew, there was no way he'd find Sora until it was too late. No… Riku refused to accept defeat. He had to locate his friend and save him from within such a strange, Darkness-infested location — even if it was inside Sora's heart.

At that moment, Riku's nose picked up a strong smell. He gasped in alarm; it was the scent of a powerful Darkness. Where it was, he was yet to determine. For some reason, he had the slightest feeling Sora was somewhere close.

"Okay, everybody," Mickey called out from his position before the televised screen. Riku swerved his eyes toward the stage. The mouse was smiling brightly. "Now it's time for a change of fate!"

At that instant, all the lights in the clubroom went out, including the screen itself. The audience gave an audible gasp. Riku froze in shock. Whatever was happening, it wasn't good.

Like everyone else around her, Violet was taken by surprise. The lights had just gone out and the room was nearly pitch-dark. The one sources of light still around were a few candles on some of the tables and her own violet glow.

A spotlight shone down behind where Mickey stood. The mouse spun around in astonishment. Violet stared at the stage, getting a good look at the figure standing in the light; it wasn't hard to do considering the stage was directly before her eyes.

There stood a tall, very slender man with haughty eyebrows, brown eyes, and a twisted goatee beard. He was wearing long black robes possessing red sleeves, a black turban, and a black cape with red lining on the inside. In his hands was a golden snake-shaped staff with ruby-colored eyes.

"Right you are, Mickey," the man said in an excited, yet sinister voice. "It's almost midnight, you know. Just the right touch."

The man gazed out across the stage, making eye contact with each of the guests in the audience. "This could be quite the place," he said aloud.

A woman stepped on stage. Violet stared uncomfortably at the sight. This woman was slender with fair skin, thick black eyebrows, red lips, teal eyelids, red-polished fingernails, huge eyes that appeared to be bulging, and hair that was white on her left and black on the right; she looked a little like a skeleton. Her outfit consisted of a skintight, short tank dress, red gloves, and a giant cream-colored fur coat with a red interior. "Full of wholesome happy faces."

A giant octopus-like woman showed up next with light-lavender skin, white hair, and red lips with matching fingernails. She also had gray eyes, eight black tentacles, and a necklace with a golden nautilus shell. She said, "Hanging out."

Before Violet could think of a thing to say, another figure showed up and snatched Mickey with a sharp hook in place of his left hand. This man was tall and slender (like many others) with a long mustache, black hair that seemed to be a wig, and wearing a bright red captain's uniform, a huge matching hat with an enormous feather in it, magenta pants, dark-red shirt, and black boots. His sleeves and stockings seemed to be stuffed like paper in a present. The man gave a dark grin at Mickey. "Feeling fine," he said.

The last figure to approach the stage was a tall, slender, muscular man with gray skin, sharp teeth, yellow eyes, and blue fire for hair. His clothing was the simplest, consisting of only a black robe with skull design, which included its clip. "Where everyone's a friend of mine," he stated in a serious voice.

Although she was not exactly sure who each of these evildoers were, Violet had the feeling Riku had told her their names. After all, they had all been sitting at a table together. Using her best judgment under the circumstances, she concluded the man with the turban was Jafar, the woman in the fur coat was Cruella De Vil, the octopus-like woman was probably Ursula, the captain with the hook was obviously Captain Hook, and the man with the fiery hair was Hades.

When some of the audience members gave sinister grins at the stage, Violet realized there were lots of more villains around than she had assumed. Cruella De Vil called out, "Inside this evil joint… "

"…Every guest gets to the point," Captain Hook finished.

Jafar raised his staff at the screen above. He declared, "This day will live in infamy."

An image of a blood-red clock with black hands appeared on the screen. The minute hand was steadily approaching the position of the hour hand; 12:00. Violet's eyes grew. In just a matter of seconds, it would be midnight. Based on her own experiences, the worst Nightmares tended to appear shortly after or before midnight. This was not something she would have ever been looking forward to witnessing.

"The 'House of Mouse' is history!" Ursula proclaimed, followed by her famous, dark laugh. Clutched in her tentacles, a worried Minnie Mouse was wrapped up tight.

The clock rang with a deafening DONG! A swarm of bat-like creatures rushed into the room from a spot directly above the screen. In the meantime, a strange figure leapt from above and landed on the stage before the villains.

Violet stared in complete alarm and terror. This new creature had black, spiked hair similar to Sora's and the shape of its body was just like Sora. The major difference was how this creature was as black as night with glowing yellow eyes, a radiance of pure Darkness, and claws on its hands and feet and tentacles sticking out from its back. It was on all fours like a wolf and growled almost like it was a werewolf.

Violet knew better. True, this was a monster. Nevertheless, she also knew it was Sora himself. The angel's heart skipped about thirteen seconds worth of beats. The brown, spikey-headed teenage Keyblade wielder she had befriended in the Realm of Sleep had been transformed into a being of Darkness.

Sora had become a Nightmare.

Before Violet could react, she was grabbed suddenly. When she was lifted into the air, the angel saw how a brown tail with patches of tan and black had wrapped itself around her waist and was now holding her captive. She attempted to break free, but her arms and wings were also pinned in place.

Next thing she knew, Violet was face to face with the tail's owner; a snake she realized was typically found in the jungle. The animal had hypnotic eyes and was staring at her. "You'll forget your troubles," he said in his slurred, snake-like voice. "Put your trust in me."

Violet turned her head away from the snake and slammed her eyes shut. Nothing was going to force her to obey this snake. Nothing would. She had to get free. She needed to save Sora.

Most importantly, she had to awaken this nightmare.

The villains gathered on the stage were instantly recognized by Riku. Jafar, Cruella De Vil, Ursula, Captain Hook, and Hades all had shown up one by one. The instant the clock on the screen had rang, Ursula had shouted, "The 'House of Mouse' is history!"

The swarm of bats had flown out over the audience. The villains on the stage all yelled, "It's our house now!"

"Shut the windows!" a frantic Donald shouted in alarm, waving his arms around. "Hurry! Lock the doors!"

The evildoers remaining in the audience all chanted, "Raise your mugs, you thieves and thugs! Join the rabble-rousing crowd! It's our house now!"

Riku stood in total shock as he watched the various villains about the clubroom celebrating. He had to cover his nose; the stench of Darkness was too great for him to handle. Only one thing mattered now.

He had to find Violet and Sora — fast!

With his left hand covering his mouth and nose, Riku rushed through the now-darkening room. The swarm of bats had vanished and a cloud of Darkness was in the air. Being in such a rush, the silver-haired Keyblader nearly ran into Maleficent. She suddenly transformed into her dragon form Riku knew all too well.

As he neared the stage, Riku stared in alarm. Violet was trapped in the tail of a giant snake, who was attempting to hypnotize her. He summoned his Keyblade and dashed over. Slicing his weapon through the end of the snake's tail, Riku forced the animal to release his grip on the angel. Violet fell from above and landed into Riku's open arms. She smiled at him, so he smiled back.

"Thank you so much, Riku," Violet said.

"No problem," he replied.

After setting the angel onto her feet, Riku asked, "Where's Sora?"

Violet pointed at the middle of the stage. Wondering what she was referring to, Riku took a glance. He stared in shock at the Heartless-like creature who did resemble Sora, only in Darkness.

"We have to free him!" Riku declared.

He and the angel rushed over, only to lose their balance and slide down what turned out to be a deck of cards forming a slide. Up ahead, Mickey and Minnie were sliding down the same slide.

The villains were chanting away. In fact, Riku took note of how they were celebrating with the type of line used at parties; he couldn't remember what it was called.

"It's our house now! Join the fun with no regrets! Only greedy, dirty deeds are allowed!"

As they slid past the kitchen, Riku saw how many of the non-villainous guests were being locked up inside. Among them, he recognized Baloo, Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Alice, Jasmine, Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Snow White, and Merlin.

"Get those puppies!" Cruella hollered, pointing at a pair of Dalmatians and about ninety-nine puppies.

"Game over, Mickey!" Captain Hook quipped from the stage.

"Hit the road, Minnie!" Ursula snapped as both Mickey and Minnie slid straight at the doorway leading outside. Riku and Violet were moments behind.

"Take a hike, chickies!" Jafar declared, pointing at them all.

Before he could respond, Riku found himself sliding through the doorway and flying through the air. He landed onto the street beside Violet, Mickey, and Minnie. Donald, Goofy, Pluto, a girl duck Riku recognized as Daisy, and a tiny fairy who Riku realized was Tinker Bell all approached them.

"Are you okay?" Donald inquired.

"Yeah," Riku admitted. "But what about… "

Gazing back at the nightclub, Riku and the others watched as the colorful sign above the building's entrance changed from "HOUSE OF MOUSE" into "HOUSE OF VILLAINS".

"Oh no!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Yikes!" Violet declared. "Sora!"

"No!" Riku yelled in alarm. He couldn't believe his luck. No only had all those villains taken over the House of Mouse, but Sora was still trapped inside! How could he and Violet save him now? There had to be a way!

Goofy looked worried beyond hope. "What'll we do?"

Donald glared at the club and raised his sleeves in anger. "I know what I'm gonna do," he snarled, raising his fists. "I'm gonna show those big fat palookas why they never should've tried to steal my club!"

"Donald, wait!" Daisy exclaimed. "It's too dangerous!"

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "We need another plan."

"So," Violet said aloud. "What we need is a strategy to infiltrate the club and restore it to what it was less than five minutes ago. Am I correct?"

Everyone else nodded. Tinker Bell zipped around Riku's head. "Huh?" he said. "What's wrong?"

The tiny fairy was pointing at the side of the building alongside the street. Riku noticed how a small doorway was located there. "You want us to go through there?" he asked.

Tinker Bell nodded.

"We can't go through there!" Minnie exclaimed. "That door has an alarm on it! They'll hear us coming a mile away!"

"Perfect," Riku sighed. "How can we get inside without all those villains knowing?"

Spotting a shape crawling along the ground, Riku gazed down at the street. There was Stitch, searching for something or other. He smiled. "I think I have an idea."

Although he could tell the others had no clue what he was talking about, Riku had the feeling the tide was just about to turn.

A/N: WHAT A COMPLETE AND TOTAL SHOCK - WITH ALARM! THE "HOUSE OF MOUSE" HAS BECOME THE "HOUSE OF VILLAINS! To Make Matters Worse, SORA'S STILL INSIDE!
Looks Like It's Down To Riku, Violet, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Daisy, Tinker Bell, And Stitch To SAVE Him - IN CHAPTER 49!
Therefore, Try To GUESS What Riku's Plan Is! Until Chapter 49, Who KNOWS What It Shall Be?!
Also, Try To Guess Who Those Villains At The Very Start Of This Chapter Are!

So, I'm Wondering... How Many Of The Cartoons Did You Recognize? I Decided To Use Two Classic Ones From The 1930s And Two From The "House Of Mouse" Itself! Yes! I DID Include An IKEA Joke In There! Also, The Cartoon With Huey, Dewey, And Louie IS Their First Known Appearance!

Plus, I Knew Would Have To Say This Sooner Or Later!
Basil And Doctor Dawson Are From Disney's "The Great Mouse Detective (1986)".
Gaston (He WAS In There Momentarily) Is From Disney's "Beauty And The Beast (1991)" - I'm Sure You Already Knew That!
Stitch Is From Disney's "Lilo And Stitch (2002)".
The Others I'm Sure You Can Identify Yourselves, Given That There ARE Any Others I Didn't Name. Please Let Me Know Should That Be The Case!

Also, PLEASE DO NOT Expect Me To Write So Much In Such A Short Time! I Am Still In School, So THAT ALWAYS Takes Top-Priority! I HOPE You'll Understand! Thank You So Much!

So, THAT'S ALL FOR NOW! And Don't Forget, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!

REMEMBER - A MINIMUM OF 107 IS REQUIRED FOR THE SEQUEL! IF 120 ARE POSTED, I WILL INCLUDE A "SNEAK PEEK" FOR THE SEQUEL ITSELF! HOWEVER, THAT/THOSE GOAL(S) MUST BE MET BY THE TIME CHAPTER 49 IS POSTED! THAT WAY, I WILL HAVE TIME TO ANNOUNCE WHETHER OR NOT EITHER GOAL WAS MET!

This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!" And, Of Course, "Have A ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH DAY!"