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kids next door mission

operation:

S.T.A.D.I.U.M.

Sora
Tries
Annihilating
Darkness
In
Useful
Monument

K-K-K-K-K-K

"Nice digs," Eddy said, examining the neighbourhood they were in as they walked down a sidewalk. "Kinda reminds you of home, huh, Ed?"

"But this one is so BIG, Eddy," Ed told him while looking left and right for any Heartless that might attack.

"So? I really wouldn't mind living here." Eddy grinned, "In fact, there might be some good suckers here too?"

"You mean pigeons?"

"Yes, Ed. Pigeons. Hehehe," Eddy rubbed his hands together menacingly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sora inquired.

"Um….nothing," Eddy responded with his hands innocently behind his back.

The group stopped in front of a large football stadium.

"Let's go in," Sora declared.

Eddy looked at him, "Why?"

"Is there anything else to do here?" Sora asked with a shrug.

"Good point," Eddy agreed. "C'mon, Ed." He urged him on with a wave of his hand.

"Got it, Eddy," Ed followed them.

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The doors opened from Sora's push, and the group walked into a small lobby. There was another door opposite them. To the left, near the second door, a short boy in an orange hoodie, baggy blue jeans, and big, white sneakers was on his tiptoes on a pedestal, adjusting a plaque. His blond hair was short and flat, minus two stubborn hairs which stood on end awkwardly. His back was turned to the group.

"Uh…," Sora began.

"Good timing," the boy said in an Australian accent. "Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me." He pointed at a large pedestal near a wall without even glancing. "I gotta spruce this place up for the games."

Sora, Ed, and Eddy exchanged shrugs. Sora approached the pedestal, flattened his hands against it, and pushed with all his might. Nevertheless, it didn't budge an inch. "It ways a ton!" Sora exclaimed.

He ran back to the kid.

"It's way too heavy," he told him.

"'Heavy'?" the kid sounded surprised as he slowly turned around. "Since when have you been such a little--?" he noticed the group and raised his tiny eyebrows for a second before they, along with his beady eyes, were covered by his hair. "Oh…wrong guy."

They stared.

Numbuh Four jumped down and walked towards them. "What're you doing here?" He didn't give them time to answer. "This is the newly taken over Kids Next Door Stadium--heroes and operatives only." He didn't stop walking, resulting in Eddy backing away. "And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks."

They still didn't move or say anything.

"Look, it's like this," Numbuh Four began to explain. "Heroes are coming from all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Stadium."

Eddy frowned and folded his arms in front of his shirted chest, "You got heroes standing right in front of you!"

"Yup," Ed nodded and put his hands on Sora's shoulders while looking over the boy's head, "Sora's a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!"

"And we're heroes, too," Eddy meant himself and Ed.

"'Hero'?" Numbuh Four remarked, his eyes coming into existence again. "That runt? Ah-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!" he hugged himself in laughter as he bent over.

"What's so funny? I've fought a bunch of monsters!" Sora jabbed a thumb at himself.

Numbuh Four went to the pedestal. "Hey, if you can't even move this….," he pressed his body against it as hard as he could, "….you can't call yourself…….," he struggled, his shoes creating squeaky noises on the tiled floor.

Sora smirked and, like Eddy, folded his arms in front of his chest.

"……a hero!" he stopped to catch his breath. The blond kid regained his toughness and spoke, "Okay…so maybe, it takes a little more than brawn."

He only received more smug grins.

He frowned, "Okay then, let's see what you can do! This test is hard. You ready?"

"I'm ready," Sora answered, equipping his Keyblade.

"Okay, let's see what you've got."

The trial was pretty straightforward: destroy every one of the barrels before time ran out. Sora proved worthy of the task twice, by winning two rounds with only his Keyblade.

Back in the lobby, Numbuh Four talked to him again. "Y'know what? You're not bad."

"Looks like I'm headed for the games, eh?" Sora confidently put his hands behind his head.

"Afraid not," Numbuh Four burst the Keyblade Master's bubble while putting his fists on his hips.

"What?.!" Sora couldn't believe his ears. "Why not?"

"Two words," Numbuh Four held up three fingers, "you guys ain't heroes."

Ed counted the words on his fingers.

Eddy was speechless.

"Come on!" Sora begged.

"Besides," he went on, "I don't trust people your age!" he looked at them with disgust.

"What's wrong with our ages?"

"How old are you?" he asked them.

"Fourteen."

"Thirteen."

"Seventy-twelve."

"Just as I thought! You're too old!" the kid pointed a large finger. "You have to be under the age of thirteen to compete. Now, beat it."

"But--"

"If ya wanna be a hero, try mastering this spell," Numbuh Four gave Sora and Eddy the magic spell Thunder. He then turned to return to adjusting the plaque.

The group sighed sadly and left the lobby.

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"What a waste of time!" Eddy exclaimed. "We might as well have been counting Ed's teeth."

"Did it before I left the ship, Eddy," Ed answered stupidly.

"Rather stubborn little brat, eh?" a voice said.

"?" the group turned around and came face to………face (if someone would call it that) with Father in all his black glory.

"Who are you?" Eddy looked at him suspiciously.

"Wait, let me guess," Father went on, the pipe dancing in his mouth. "You want to enter the games, right?" The adult placed a black palm on the non-cartoon's shoulder from behind him. "Well, look at this," he flicked the fingers of his other hand and a piece of paper appeared as if by magic.

"A pass?" Sora looked at him in surprise as he took the pass from the black man's hand.

"It's all yours," Father said as he began to walk away. "Good luck, kid. I'm pulling for you, little shorty," he muttered the last part under his breath.

Sora, Ed, and Eddy looked at each other. Eddy grinned and gave a thumb's up, Sora examined the pass closely for no reason, and Ed simply smiled his small arced smile.

K-K-K-K-K-K

"How'd you get this?" Numbuh Four looked at the pass with an astonished expression.

"Can we enter the games now?" Sora asked.

"Well... I guess so. We start with the easy rounds. Ready for them?"

"We're ready."

"Some real weirdoes signed up for the games. Better watch yourself."

K-K-K-K-K-K

Sora, Ed, and Eddy stood in a small part of the football stadium. A large, square-shaped shield rose up, trapping them inside with whatever they were about to face.

Match 1: Shadow Scout

Four soldiers stood in a neat line, facing the group. Above them hovered three Heartless which resembled red nocturnes, but were blue instead of red. They were blue rhapsodies.

The match began.

Eddy immediately cast thunder, holding his staff high over his head. Yellow bolts of lightening came crashing down directly on one soldier Heartless, which was killed. Another two were struck ever so slightly and sent flying to the sides. Ed charged towards the remaining one and proceeded to kill it with his shield.

Eddy ran left to take care of one of the soldiers.

"Hff!" Sora was hit in the back by a cold projectile. He looked behind him with chattering teeth and saw a blue rhapsody floating about. He clutched the hilt of his Keyblade and sprinted towards it. However, before he could swing it, the blue Heartless zipped away to the side.

Sora ran towards it.

The blue thing spun around, using its 'hat' as a buzz saw.

Sora dodge-rolled just in time, coming up with an upper cut that killed it.

He looked behind him.

The soldiers were all gone. Ed and Eddy had chosen an opponent and were now fighting a blue rhapsody each.

Sora went to help Ed, knowing that Eddy could handle his pick by himself.

"Chiiii-aaaaaagh!" Ed smacked the Heartless, sending it back.

The blue rhapsody shot a ball of ice at them. Ed and Sora evaded the attack. Sora cast a fire spell, knocking the Heartless out, but not killing it. Ed finished it off with one more hit.

And that was at about the same time as when Eddy defeated the last enemy with a well-aimed fire attack.

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"You're no heroes yet, but you ain't doing bad," Numbuh spoke to them outside the small arena with his arms crossed. "Lucky you came to me for coaching."

"Armatures, I swear," a well-animated, fat man stopped by the group. He was attired in a black cape and had shoulder pads. His long hair was orange. He smirked, exposing cheesy teeth, "These guys are no match for the competition with skills like that."

"Hey!" Eddy fumed.

Numbuh Four sighed, "Control Freak, I thought I told you to wait in the East Wing."

"It was boring there," the villain said. "No cable T.V."

"Are T.V. and internet all you know?"

"No," Control Freak put his hands behind his back casually. "I also know the entire cast of Star Trek." He grinned smugly. "Wanna hear 'em again?"

"No." Numbuh Four muttered.

"Fine," Control Freak rolled his eyes. "So ignorant."

"Wow, this guy's a total nerd," Eddy's lips stretched towards Sora so he could whisper to him.

Control Freak had heard that comment. "And who's this little runt?' he looked down at Eddy.

Eddy's eyes narrowed. "What did you say?" he hissed.

"Look at the size of you!" Control Freak pointed with a grin. "Ahahahahaah! You're a regular Edward Elric, y'know?"

"Who?"

"Watch some T.V., will ya?" Control Freak hated ignorance towards what he said. "There are several things to see now that worlds are connected."

"Okay, Control Freak," Numbuh Four said with an irritated face as his eyes came into view. "Go to the East Wing now."

"Alright, alright," the fat nerd held his gloved hands up in defence, "I'm going." Before he left, he looked directly at Sora and smirked, "See ya around, Shinobi." And he was gone.

"Sorry about that," Numbuh Four said sheepishly. "His world was destroyed and he arrived here."

"He kinda reminds me of you, Ed," Eddy said coolly as he looked up towards the oaf. "Maybe, he knows a lot more about monster movies than you."

"Now way!" Ed waved him off. "I know………….everything?"

And that was when another person walked by the group. He was rather tall as his booted feet slowly paced themselves while he moved. His blond hair was spiky. He was wearing a claw on his left arm. His mouth was covered by a scarlet veil that doubled as a torn cape. He had a circular pad on his left shoulder. His torso was covered in belts which tightened his blue body suit. He wielded a buster sword that was covered in bandages. He never lost sight of Sora with his vivid blue eyes.

"Something tells me he'll be a tough one to beat," Numbuh Four said. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up facing him."

K-K-K-K-K-K

Match 2: Sinisters

Three blue rhapsodies and ten shadows. Easy.

"FIRE!" Sora and Eddy yelled in unison as flames emitted from the tips of their weapons. Two shadows were killed instantly.

Ed charged forward. He missed a blue rhapsody by a hair and went for a shadow instead. "Dah!" he was sliced in the leg by another one. Growling, he slammed the dark fiend into a blue rhapsody that was about to attack an unsuspecting Eddy, killing both Heartless.

Eddy smacked the shadow on the head. The black thing jerked back and prepared to slice at the sorcerer. However, it was hit with an ice attack before it could do anything else. Eddy didn't have time to gloat, because he was under attack from two blue rhapsodies. He jumped both ice attacks and let loose another of his many fireballs. One Heartless was hit point blank, knocking it out. Eddy didn't bother with it as Sora was fighting near by.

Sora killed the knocked out Heartless and went for three shadows. He killed one with a three-move combo. When he tried to hit the other two in a horizontal slash that would have surely destroyed them, they sunk into the ground.

When one came up, he extinguished it with a Blizzard attack. When another came up, he cast Thunder.

He looked behind him to see that Ed and Eddy had killed the last enemy in the round.

Once again, they had won.

K-K-K-K-K-K

Match 3: Heat & Freeze

Five red nocturnes and five blue rhapsodies.

Sora ran forward, jumped, vaulted off a red nocturne like a steppingstone, sending it to Eddy's ice attack, kicked off another red enemy, and flew Keyblade first into a blue rhapsody.

"Catch, Ed!" Eddy said as he jumped into Ed's arms. "Hold me up!"

"Got it, Eddy!" Ed held Eddy over his head easily. The mage stood up straight and fired.

He shot, fire, ice, fire, ice, fire, ice, ice, ice, ice, fire, fire, fire, fire, fire, "Hold still, dammit!" fire, fire, fire, fire, and lastly, ice. "Oh no!" he yelled. "I'm out of magic."

"You should have gone before we left, mister," Ed let Eddy fall ("WHOA--OOOMF!") as he closed his eyes and shook a finger. And he was ploughed in the back by a blue rhapsody.

Sora landed from an aerial attack, having killed the last red nocturne.

There were only three blue rhapsodies left. "C'mon, guys!" he yelled.

He ran up to one, and didn't give it time to attack. He just swung his Keyblade with all his might and dematerialized the enemy.

Ed ran towards one with his shield bared. The Heartless evaded the attack easily and shot an ice projectile at him. Ed held his shield up as defence, blocking the cold attack. He then jogged, deflected another attack, and slammed his shield through his opponent.

Eddy's fire spell killed a knocked out enemy. "Heh, had one shot left."

They were victorious.

K-K-K-K-K-K

"Say, you're better than I thought, teen!" Numbuh Four said. "Wish they were here to see this."

Sora leaned his head to the side, "Who?"

"My fellow operatives," Numbuh Four answered. "They're on some big mission, while I'm stuck here, tending to the Stadium."

"Say, you got something to recharge magic?" Eddy asked. "I'm all out."

"Here you go," Numbuh Four used something unseen and Eddy's magic was restored.

"Hey!" Eddy smiled triumphantly. "I'm magical again! Yeah!"

"Wow, you've obviously never heard of ethers," Numbuh Four commented.

"A what?" Sora asked him.

"Tell ya later."

K-K-K-K-K-K

Match 4: Shadow Platoon

Three red nocturnes, three blue rhapsodies, two soldiers, and two shadows.

Before the fight had begun, Sora's group had agreed on what to fight. Ed fought the soldiers, Sora fought the shadows and red nocturnes and Eddy fought the blue rhapsodies.

"HI-YAH!" Ed swung his 'CN' shield at a soldier, sending it back a few feet.

He was hit in the back by another soldier doing a high kick. He stumbled forward, grabbed the other advancing soldier, pushed himself back up, squished the Heartless had had his grip on, spun in a crouch, jumped, and belly-flopped on his attacker.

Sora deflected a fire attack back to where it came from. He then proceeded to slice away at a shadow in front of him. "Take this!" and he destroyed it with one impalement. "This is too easy--OUCH!" he was hit square in the butt by a shadow's claws. He clenched his jaw and cast a Thunder spell, annihilating it.

The Keyblade Master dodge-rolled out of the way of a fire attack. He skidded to a stop and used an ice spell, knocking the red nocturne out. He then attacked and killed another shadow.

Ed and Eddy came along and each took a red nocturne, having already defeated the blue rhapsodies. Within seconds, they had won the fourth match.

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Match 5: Blue Revenge

Ten--count 'em--ten blue rhapsodies.

"Man, these Heartless are really getting on my nerves," Eddy said, aggravated.

They won with fire and physical attacks.

K-K-K-K-K-K

From one of the gates to the Stadium, Father spoke with the blond boy. They could see Numbuh Four talking with Sora, Ed, and Eddy from where they were.

"That little punk is your next opponent," Father clarified. "Don't ruin it. Just take him out, okay?"

"The all-powerful leader of the adults is afraid of a little kid?" the boy, Cloud, remarked, leaning against a wall. "Sorry, but my contract says--"

"I know!" Father interrupted, his black body igniting slightly. "You think I don't know?.! I wrote the contract myself!" He calmed down. "It says you're only required to kill Numbuh One in the tournament. But you've gotta fight that kid to get to him."

Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, it's like that little kid in the hoodie says: Rule 11: It's all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" his yellow eyes changed expression, as if requesting a laugh after a joke.

Cloud stood up straight walked away.

"Hmmm," Father hummed to himself in thought, "stiffer than the stiffs back home….."

His eyes narrowed.

"Still…..suckers like him are hard to come by….."

transmission interrupted