Years ago…

"It's true! I saw it!"

"You sure you didn't just hear it this time?"

Two children walked along the woodwork of a familiar island home.

"What difference does it make?!" Sora cackled, his childish voice excited. "There's a huge monster in there! I swear!"

"All right….," Riku said calmly, trying to keep up with his energetic friend. "If there really is a monster, do you think we can beat it by ourselves?"

They passed the little pond and waterfall, and approached the tunnel to the secret place.

"No problem. We can do it!" Sora clenched a tiny fist. He gasped, and pointed, "Listen! It's in there! Can you hear it growling?"

"Shh," Riku bent down and rested his hands on his little knees. "We've gotta be careful."

They kept silent for a few seconds. The only sound they heard was of the little waterfall and the calm waves lapping the shore.

K-K-K-K-K-K

They stopped inside the cave, having cautiously walked through the small tunnel to the hollow room. A hole from above allowed some light in.

"See?" Riku gestured. "It was just the wind making the noise, or something. There's no monster here."

"Aw, man!" Sora huffed, disappointingly putting his hands behind his head, "I wish it was a monster!"

His young eyes travelled beyond Riku's silver head of hair, and rested on an arch-shaped object at the end of the area. Riku probably hadn't noticed it.

"Hey…what's over there?" Sora asked, stepping his little body forward and pointing over Riku's head.

"Hmm," Riku hummed as he turned and saw it. He walked over, and slid his hands over the surface of door-shaped, wooden structure that owned no doorknob or handle.

"Do you know what it is?" asked Sora. He came closer, but kept some distance between himself and the door, for fear of his 'monster' jumping out at him.

"A window……..or maybe a door…?" Riku muttered. He pushed, but nothing happened. He tried to poke his fingers round the edges, but the wooden thing was too tightly fitted into the rock. "It won't open."

"Geez…," Sora said with a roll of his eyes, "…is that all there is here?"

"Well, what do you expect in a boring place like this?" replied Riku.

"You have a point," Sora said. "Let's get outta here." He turned to leave.

"Hey, Sora."

"What?" he half-turned.

Riku was facing him. His face was filled with determination as he clenched his fists. "When we grow up……let's get off this island." He added with a shout, "We'll go on REAL adventures! Not this kid stuff!"

"Sure," Sora shrugged, unaffected by his friend's passion. He gestured to leave.

Riku complied. He--like Sora--headed for the exit.

"Is there anything fun to do until we grow up?" Sora asked. "Hey! Y'know that new girl at the mayor's house? Did you hear? I think that……"

K-K-K-K-K-K

Sora stirred, laying on his front.

"Hey! Knock it off!!"

"Hey, Sora's waking up!"

"Not now, Ed. I'm busy over here!"

Sora weakly sat up, and rubbed his head. His eyes opened, revealing to him that he was on some dark grass. He stood up, shaking the cobwebs from his head. He examined his surroundings.

He was in some sort of simply-drawn swamp. He noted the outlines that stuck out, and the fact that the swampy landscape seemed to go on forever. The gummi ship's form rested in the mud some feet away, sticking out like a brightly-coloured, sore thumb. There wasn't an animal in sight; not even the sound of buzzing, croaking, or chirping. And how he was able to see perfectly under the dark, star-strewed sky only confused him more.

Sora headed for Ed and Eddy. Ed was standing in the mud with his shield over his head, and Eddy was angrily jumping up on a hummock while yelling at a figure hiding in a tree.

"I SAID QUIT IT, YA STUPID KID!!!!" Eddy screeched.

"Hi, Sora!" Ed waved as his friend walked up. "You okay? You took quite a nasty boo-boo when Eddy crashed the ship here."

"I did NOT crash the ship!" Eddy clenched his fists by his sides. "If anything, this crap-hole swamp crashed into US!!"

"Wh-What are you guys doing?" inquired Sora, eyeing his friends. "Did we crash into the swamp?"

Eddy turned around to face Sora, a finger raised, "I just said we didn't crash the ship; the swamp crashed into--"

SPLORCH!!!

A ball of mud flew out of nowhere and struck him in the back of the head.

"OOF!" Eddy fell off the hummock, over Sora's ducking head, and into a puddle of mud. "Nnnghh!!"

From the trees…

"HA-HA-hahahahaaaa!!!"

"I recognise that laugh anywhere!" Tony exclaimed, coming out from nowhere.

"Hey! Who's up there?" Sora called out as Tony hopped onto his shoulder.

A big, chin-less, purple head popped out from the leaves. The figure jumped down, revealing itself. He had a very few black hairs on his scalp; some were pulled back while others were left undone. He had two tiny, purple dots where his nose would be, if he even had one. He had a triangular grin, and his horizontally ovular eyes were also grinning (if that was ever possible). His blue top had a yellow star in its centre. His trousers were black, and had their pockets sticking out. His black shoes were caked in mud at their undersides. His outlines were sticking out disproportionately.

"It's Wayne Cramp!" Tony pointed.

"I don't care what his name is!" Eddy was back on his feet, and marching threateningly towards 'Wayne'. "He's dead! I'm gonna kill you, you little….!"

"You'll have to catch me first!" Wayne replied. That said, he spun around, and sprinted away through the swamp.

"Get back here and take your lumps!!!!" Eddy ran after him freakishly, his hands grabbing at the air.

"That sounds like something Sarah would say, Eddy!" Ed followed.

"Quick!" Tony jumped up and down on Sora's shoulder. "After them!"

"But what about the gummi--?"

"It's not going anywhere! Now, let's follow them!" Tony had already grabbed a handful of the boy's coat.

Sora took one last glance at the gummi ship before breaking into a jog to catch up with the others.

"So, how do you know Wayne?" Sora asked as he pushed passed a bush and jumped over a puddle of mud.

"He was my next-door neighbour," Tony answered. "He had the reputation as a bully, constantly tormenting his twin brother. His hobby was collecting junk."

"Sounds…like…..a bad…..apple," Sora panted, breaking through a branch.

"Oh, he is, Sora. What puzzles me, though--" Tony rubbed the place under his face where his chin would be if he had one, while looked up at the star-strewn sky "--is not how he survived the Heartless attack……but how he's roaming the swam freely."

"What's……so……puzzling about……..that?"

"The Wayne I remembered was afraid of the swamp. I even remember Lucien--his brother--telling me that frogs make him cry."

"But notice…….how….there are….no animals………any-…….-where?"

Tony gulped. "Y-Yeah. That really makes this place feel empty."

"And the fact that…….we could……..be on………a floating……….cube….or something," Sora was beginning to slow down.

"Wayne could know the reason behind why this place is still stable."

"Maybe…it's……a…….cartoon……thing?"

"Maybe."

Sora finally stopped his jog. He panted, leaning on a tree. He didn't have to keep going though, because Ed and Eddy had also stopped. They were standing at the door of a simple, one-room shed, the latter banging a fist loudly, the former banging his head loudly.

"Get outta here!!" Eddy exclaimed. "I'm so gonna kick your ass, you little piece of--!!!"

The door opened, and out walked a boy of similar build to Wayne, but the similarities ended there. His skin was of a normal peach-ish colour. He wore an orange top with a horizontal, green line through the chest. His trousers were blue, and his tiny shoes were black. Under his head of brown hair, rested a pair of black spectacles over his eyes. He was roughly the same size as Wayne.

He took one looked at everyone, and his eyes widened, "C-Can I help you?"

"Lucien!" Tony jumped down from Sora's shoulder, and ran past Ed and Eddy to the spectacles boy in the doorway. "I'm so happy to see you!"

'Lucien' did a double-take. "Tony?!?!"

The little swamp kid hugged Lucien's leg.

Lucien was still a bit surprised. He took one look at the other three, and asked the little kid, "Are you with these people?"

"Sure, I am!" Tony pulled away, wiping a tear from his eye. "Let me explain everything."

K-K-K-K-K-K

And so…

"So, you really travel from world-to-world, meeting several different people, and fighting those black creatures……?" Lucien asked, mesmerized.

"Yup," Sora nodded. "And those black creatures are called Heartless."

Lucien sat on the topmost doorstep of the cabin. Sora and Tony sat on either side of him. Wayne had come out, and was leaning against the cabin's wooden wall. Eddy was standing in front of the group, eyeing Wayne with irritancy. Every now and then, Wayne would stick his tongue out at him, only peeving him off more. Ed was roaming around the site, being sure to keep within eyesight of the others.

"Interesting," Lucien pondered. "May Wayne and I come with you? We'd like to get off this barren swamp and to a place with some people."

"Can they come with us, Sora?" Tony asked the Keyblade Master. "We can drop them off at Traverse Town or something."

Sora started, "Well, I don't know--"

"Even if we wanted to, we can't," Eddy gestured from his spot, catching everyone's attention. "When our ship crashed here, I checked it out. Turns out the engine's busted, and I have no way to fix it."

"Perhaps, I can assist you in fixing it," Lucien stated, raising a finger.

Eddy gave him a sideways glance, "You know how to fix stuff?"

"I just want to take a look at it; see if I can do anything to help."

"Hmmm, okay."

"Splendid," Lucien stood up happily. "Let's see this ship of yours."

K-K-K-K-K-K

They stood in front of the muddy ship.

"Interesting," Lucien passed around the vessel, rubbing his chin.

"Neat, huh?" Eddy smirked, receiving an eye-roll from Sora. "Found it under Ed's house. This baby can go almost as fast as the speed of light, I think! We managed to lose a group of flunkies with it."

"Mmhmm."

"So, how long have you been stuck here?" Sora asked, watching Lucien examine the ship.

"We've been stranded here for about a week," explained the boy. "Since those….uhh, Heartless invaded Soap City. I was playing with Tony in the swamp….when the sky was suddenly obscured with blackness. There was a huge, red spherical object in the sky, absorbing random debris."

Wayne continued from his post, "I was at the junkyard, and these freaks came outta nowhere and started wrecking everything!" he waved his arms around for emphasis. "They stole Dirty Joe's heart-thing, and then came after me!"

"And then what?" Sora inquired.

"I ran to the only place where those freaks weren't; the swamp," he said this with a disgusted face. "I HATE the swamp, but luckily they weren't here. I saw Girl-pants--" he pointed at Lucien, who frowned at him "--and shrimp-boy--" Tony also frowned "--Then, the ground started shaking! It rose higher and higher. The next thing I know, I'm smacked in the head. Hard. And then I wake up on this floating crud-ball!!!"

"Too bad they didn't steal your heart," Eddy muttered under his breath.

"And to add on to that," Lucien stood boy his sibling's side, "there's no escape."

"'No escape'?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"C'mon," Wayne broke into a jog. He urged the others to follow him with a waving arm, "We'll show you."

K-K-K-K-K-K

"One question, Lucien," Sora said as he followed the brothers. "How have you been able to live here for a week without dieing of starvation?"

Lucien glanced back from the front of the group. "The swamp offers a large supply of edible berries," he replied. "As long as we don't eat the bad ones--Wayne--we'll be fine."

"Right. And what about the animals? I don't see any here."

"Good," Wayne chirped.

"About that, I'm uncertain, but the swamp feels empty without any fauna to keep you company," Lucien sighed sadly. "All I have is my rotten brother…"

"I heard that, Girl-pants!"

"I feel your pain," Tony spoke from the spectacled boy's shoulder (if he even had one).

"We're almost there," Lucien announced, pointing at the last few trees in their way.

Beyond the trees, Sora could see nothing but the night sky. "What the….?" his jaw hung open.

"This can't be….," Tony gawked forward.

"What? What???" Eddy pushed past him. "I don't see anyth--WHOA!!!!" he feel.

"I gotcha, Eddy!" Ed stretched his arm out, and caught Eddy by his shirt.

They all looked ahead.

The group was at the edge of the swamp. Literally. It was like a cliff with a wide view……but there was nothing out there, but space. The borderline of the swamp led to an infinite drop into oblivion (and a rise, too); it was like the swamp was one lone platform, passing through space. As the newcomers looked from left to right, they realised that the edge was perfectly straight. One side ended at another edge, while the other just kept on going. Lucien and Wayne were really trapped on this floating swamp.

"Thanks for catching me, Ed," Eddy said, dangling. "Can you pull me up now?"

"I don't believe it….," Sora mused.

"ED!! Pull me up, lumpy!!!"

"While this does break all the laws of science, it truly is a marvel to behold," Lucien murmured. "I have no idea how we're capable of breathing here."

"Dammit, Ed! This isn't funny!!! Pull me the Hell up!"

"Hey," Sora squinted as he leaned forward. "I think is that Shuggazoom?!"

"Huh?" Eddy looked outward.

The big pinkish sphere that was Shuggazoom, along with bright stars (probably other worlds), could be seen several miles away as the swamp drifted further from it.

"Cool! A star! Make a wish, Eddy!"

"Shuddup and pull me up, Ed."

"Sure thing, Eddy!" Ed finally brought Eddy back on his feet.

"As you can see," Lucien gestured towards the nothingness ahead, "there's no way out of here, but with your ship, we can leave this place."

While the others were talking, Wayne heard movement among the trees. He looked, and got the tiniest glance of a brightly-dressed, silver-haired figure disappearing among the flora.

"….," he silently went after it.

"Since your world is destroyed," Eddy spoke, resting on his staff, "I guess it wouldn't really be breaking the rules. We can take you to Traverse Town; we know a guy there who can help you find a place to stay."

"We just need to fix the gummi ship," Sora raised a finger.

"Splendid!" Lucien exclaimed gleefully. "Did you hear that, Wayne?" he turned in the direction where he assumed his brother still was. "We can finally…..leave?"

"He's gone!" Tony yelled. "A Heartless must have got him!" Eddy half-heartedly wished that that was so.

"I don't think so, Tony," Lucien shook his head. "He must have wondered off. He tends to do that." He faced the others, "Could you go find him, and bring him to your ship, please? I'd like to make some repairs to it."

Sora nodded, "Okay, guys. Lucien and Tony; you go back to the gummi ship. Ed and Eddy; come with--"

"Hold on," Eddy cut him off. "Since it's my ship, I'll go with Lucien to make sure he doesn't screw anything up. You and Ed can go and get the little bean-head."

Sora cocked his spiky head, "Eddy, didn't you tell me that you found the ship under ED'S house?"

"Yeah," he started walking in the direction from whence they came, "but Ed can't tell dirt from food." At that, Sora noticed Ed scoop up a handful of dirt, and cram it into his mouth.

Sora grimaced. Lucien looked away. Tony held back his lunch.

Ed swallowed the filth in one big gulp. A tennis ball-shaped lump formed in his neck, and travelled downwards to his stomach.

The yellow boy sighed sadly, "Not the same as gravy."

"Let's go, before those berries I ate come out the way they came in," Lucien followed Eddy, carrying the sickened Tony on his shoulder.

They were gone.

"Ed, that was the most disgusting thing I've seen," Sora said bluntly.

"Bah, that's nuthin'!" Ed waved him off, his eyebrow proudly curving into an 'S'. "One time, I sucked an entire gutter dry."

"Right. Let's go," Sora wanted the conversation to end then and there.

Ed followed him. He didn't stop his story-telling, though. "Another time, I swallowed a video camera whole, and Double D had to get it out. Got it all on tape. Huh-huh!"

"That's nice, Ed."

"This other time, I--"

"Ed, I'd like it better if you didn't tell me about the strange things you ate or swallowed hole."

"Okay-dokey!"

"Good. WAAAAAYNE!" Sora called out with his hands to his mouth. WAAAA--Hey, what's this?" he bent over to pick a piece of comic book-styled paper up.

"What is it, Sora?" Ed hopped behind him in attempts to see the piece of paper.

"It has panels, like a comic book," Sora said, turning the object round. "I think it's a torn page from that comic book in Og's hut." He put it away in his suit. "We'll check it out later. Right now, we need to find Wayne."

K-K-K-K-K-K

A few minutes later, the boys found themselves in a clearing.

"Wayne!" Sora shouted, his mouth dry from all the calling he had been doing since him and Ed started searching.

"There he is!" Ed pointed to where the missing kid in question was casually leaning against a large rock.

"There you are!" Sora said, relieved. "What're you doing?" he asked him. "Let's go back. Lucien's gonna fix the gummi ship so you can leave the swamp. Isn't that what you want?"

Wayne didn't reply. Instead, he raised an eyebrow.

"Stop fooling around, Wayne," Sora told him, putting his firsts on his hips. "This is no time for games. Let's go," he turned around to leave.

"But, Sora," a familiar voice, that made the boy's heart jump, said, "I thought you liked games!"

Sora abruptly turned around

"Or are you too cool to play them, now that you have the Keyblade?" Riku jeered, standing besides the grinning Wayne. He was using a mocking tone.

"Hey, I remember you," Ed spoke, his eyebrow flat as he thought. The brow suddenly arched upwards, "Oh! You're--!"

"Riku?!?!" Sora was in a state of relief and confusion as he moved his surprised self one step forward. "Wh-What are you doing here?!"

Riku shrugged. "Just playing with Wayne," he said with an ever-smug look on his face. He was definitely hiding something.

"You know what I mean!" Sora snapped at his friend, losing his patience. "What about Kairi?? Did you find her?"

"Maaaaaybe," Riku rolled his tongue. The left side of his mouth curved upwards into a cocky smirk. "Catch us, and then I might tell you what I know."

"What?!" Sora couldn't believe what he had just heard. Come on; be serious!!!" he stretched a hand out as if it would stop them.

"Let's go, Wayne!" Riku grabbed the purple boy by his arm, and ran they disappeared behind the trees.

"…..," Sora lowered his arm. "I can't believe he just did that," he scoffed.

Ed shrugged, "Maybe, it's his nap time?"

Sora sighed, "Let's just go, before we lose them!"

"Sure thing!" Ed saluted. "We'll catch 'em!"

Sora nodded before he broke into a jog. He headed in the direction Riku and Wayne took.

Ed was about to follow, when a glint in his peripheral vision caught his eye. He sauntered to a mud puddle, and picked up a small, circular object. Some of it was covered with mud, which Ed brushed away with his vest.

"Shiny," he commented on the sphere, which was actually purple, similar to Wayne's skin colour. "Sora might like this," he said before he pocketed it.

He then ran in the direction Sora went, trying to catch up with his friend.

K-K-K-K-K-K

"It would appear that your engine has a few wires loose," Lucien explained, on tip-toes as stuck his head into a compartment opened in the gummi ship's snout. He gave Eddy a sarcastic look, "Guess it's not 'busted', like you said."

"Can you fix it?" Eddy asked, arms crossed. He sat on a grassy hummock, watching Lucien as he worked.

"I believe so. It's just a mismatch. It's an easy task," he said casually.

"Great!" Tony gave a thumb's up.

Eddy glared at the swamp kid. He faced Lucien again, "You sure love this technical stuff, eh, Lucien?"

"Science and the environment are my passions," the boy answered.

"Not sure about the environment, but I know this guy--Gibson--who you'd love to meet and talk about science with."

"That's nice," the boy said indifferently.

And suddenly…

W-WARP!!!

Eddy jumped up, recognising the sound instantly.

"AAAGH!!!" Tony screamed and pointed behind the mage. "HEARTLESS!!!"

"Huh????" Lucien glanced behind him.

"Why here?!!" Eddy screamed, equipping his staff.

There were three of them. They were ghost-like, complete with a ghostly tail. Above their zigzagged mouths, were their strange eyes. Their left eyes were yellow and ha swirl-like patterns. Their right eyes hung out from their socket, connected to their round heads by a chain. They had big, gloved, pointy hands, which hovered besides the cuffs of their purple shirts. The centre of their shirts had the familiar emblem. They were search ghosts.

"Tony! Lucien!! Hide somewhere!!!" Eddy ordered.

Tony ran and jumped into Lucien's hands. The spectacled boy ran behind the gummi ship.

Eddy held his staff at the ready, a frown plastered across his face.

The first ghost drifted forward. It leaned back, and jerked forward, its hands flying from the main body, Guard Armour style.

Eddy ducked, and watched the hands return to their owner. The pink boy jumped over another fling, and sent a ball of fire at the Heartless.

The search ghost caught fire, and evaporated, its stolen heart leaving its body.

The other two converged simultaneously.

"Ice!!!" Eddy shot a blizzard spell. The ghosts separated, dodging the attack.

Eddy repeated the attack, firing ice spell after ice spell at the ghosts. They flew left and right, swooping away from the spells coming their way.

"Hold still!!" Eddy cast Lightning.

One of the ghosts was caught in one of the pillars of lightning. It was destroyed.

One left.

It came from behind, slicing Eddy in the back.

"OW!!!" he screeched. "Rrrgh!" he spun around, and incinerated the Heartless with a fire spell.

The fight was over, and Eddy was victorious. He healed the cut in his back with a Cure spell.

"Are they gone?" Tony asked, stepping out from behind the ship, with Lucien in tow.

"Yeah," Eddy answered, adrenaline still pumping from the short fight.

"Those magical skills you used were quite impressive," Lucien commented.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked.

Eddy lowered his staff. "Not good," he said. "For some stupid reason, there are Heartless here, which means that Sora and Ed could be under attack right now." He pointed at Lucien, "Fix the ship fast, kid! Right after that, we're going after the others."

"Uhh….sure," Lucien said, right before he scampered off to finish the repairs.

"If we're lucky, they already found Wayne," Eddy murmured.

K-K-K-K-K-K

And they had.

"Wayne, stop!" Sora struggled to keep up the pace, slashing his way through branches and bushes with his Keyblade. Mud splashed on his legs. His formerly-yellow boots had lost their colour.

"Wait up, Sora!" Ed was a little bit behind. He seemed to be unaffected by the branches; he simply ran through them, snapping them with his body mass.

"Catch me if you can, losers!!!" Wayne cackled back. He was shorter, and, therefore, had the advantage. He thanked his lucky stars that they weren't in the open, knowing that his short legs wouldn't help him keep his distance at all.

They kept running, unaware that they were heading towards another clearing.

K-K-K-K-K-K

"Why do you still care about that wretched boy?" Judge Doom's eyes narrowed behind his spectacles as he paced towards Riku. He was careful not to step into any mud he thought was deep. They were sheltered by some low trees. "He has all but deserted you for the Keyblade and his new cartoon companions, after all."

"I don't care about him," Riku grumbled, doing anything he could to prevent eye-contact with the man. "I was just screwing around with him a little. Just having some fun. It always pissed him off when I kept something to my self and was cocky about it," he added, to make sure Doom didn't ask anymore questions.

"Oh really?" the Judge lifted a smart, well-trimmed eyebrow. "Of course you were," he answered, a small amount of amusement in his tone. His smirk disappeared when he stepped into a three-inch-deep puddle of muck. "Nnngh! I hate this filthy place!" he stood on one leg, trying to shake the mud off his shoe.

Riku smirked.

"Anyway," Doom stood both legs again, "I received word from Mr. Rancid."

"The dumbass biker?"

"Yes. Him. He survived the destruction the Formless body the late Skeleton King provided him with. He's on his way here to finish things."

"How can an idiot like him defeat the 'all-powerful' Keyblade Master?"

"With help," the Judge winked.

Riku glared, "I'm not helping him."

"You don't have to, my boy. There are Heartless in this swamp. MY Heartless. They will be his support."

"I see."

The Judge examined his pocket watch, "And now, I must be off," he said. "Gorrath's ship is on the way here to pick you up. I'll see you there." He pocketed the watch, and strolled towards a portal he had just created.

"Yeah. See ya."

"Beware the darkness in your heart," Doom dripped as he sauntered past the teen. "The Heartless pray upon it."

"Rrrgh!! Mind your own business!!" came Riku's annoyed reply as the dark man disappeared into the portal.

He was alone

Riku glared at the last spot where he saw Doom. Something inside him wanted to smash the man's face.

"Wayne!! Stop!"

"Nuh-uh, killjoy!!"

"I don't think he's gonna stop, Sora!!"

"???" Riku blinked.

The next thing he knew, Wayne jumped out from a bush. He panted as he ran past Riku, not even glancing at him, and out into an open clearing.

"Riku!"

He looked back at the bush, where Sora and Ed had just emerged.

"What's the matter with you?!" Sora demanded, clenching a gloved fist. "What the heck are you thinking? Don't you realise what you're doing?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Sora," replied Riku. "You only seem interested in running around and showing off that stupid Keyblade these days," he said with his fists on his hips. "Do you even want to save Kairi?" he asked with his head tilted to the side.

"I-I do," Sora answered, looking at the ground. Riku's question made him forget about how angry he was.

"AAAAGH!!!"

Sora and Riku jumped.

"What sounded like Wayne!" Ed stated with a raised finger.

Riku turned around, and ran into the clearing; the path Wayne had taken a few seconds before.

"Let's go, Ed!" Sora equipped his Keyblade. He sprinted in the direction of the scream, "Wayne could be in trouble!"

"Right behind you, Sora!" Ed answered, close behind with his shield ready.

K-K-K-K-K-K

Sora, Riku, and Ed stared into the clearing.

"……"

"……"

"……"

"HEY!!!" Wayne cackled. "QUIT GAWKING, AND HELP ME!!!"

"……"

"……"

"……"

Wayne was caged inside some sort of Heartless. The Heartless had two pairs of eyes, each pair on one of its two heads. The upper head was smallish, and had a light purple colour. It possessed some sort of curl growing out from the top, two horns under its zigzagged mouth, and two long and blue tentacles that ended at some kind of triple-clawed 'hands'. It was situated on top of the lower head, which was much bigger and rounder. The lower head had the Heartless emblem between its yellow eyes, and kept the entire Heatless' body balanced on three tiny, root-like legs. Above the 'skirt' of leaves, the lower head had a large mouth, with teeth acting as bars, forming the cage Wayne was currently trapped in.

Perhaps, the most freakish Heartless Sora had seen yet.

"And I thought that Heartless we fought in the garbage dump was weird," Sora said, jaw-dropped. "What the heck is that thing?!"

"I don't even know which movie it reminds me of," Ed was just about as freaked out by the monstrosity. He took a step back, cowering behind his shield.

"As weird as it is, it's got Wayne," Sora narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip around his Blade.

"You up for this, Sora?" Riku asked.

"No problem!"

"Hmph," Riku equipped a weapon of his own. It looked like a fleshy dragon's wing attached to a hilt. The 'membrane' was crimson, while the 'bone' was a blue-purple colour. Each colour stretched to the hilt, where a blue slitted 'eye' was. The hilt was pure black.

Sora blinked, "Where'd you get--?"

"Let's fight first and ask questions later," Riku cut him off sharply.

Sora helplessly nodded.

Riku held the sword over his head, in a fighting pose. Sora spun his Keyblade once, before gripping it tight in a fighting stance. Ed stood to Sora's side, one fist clenched, and another holding the shield tightly. Parasite Cage stood perfectly in the centre of the clearing, its tentacles squirming menacingly. Wayne gulped, holding on tight to the 'prison bars'.