The first one to attack was Riku. His body shot forward like a bullet. He jumped and swung his sword at Parasite Cage's top head, smacking it with the weapon's flat side before landing behind it.
Parasite Cage's top head leaned back in supposed pain, but regained its bearings.
Ed and Sora went together.
This time, the freakish Heartless reacted, sweeping both if its tentacles down at them.
Ed hastily raised his shield in front of his person, deflecting a tentacle, but falling backwards on his butt. Sora jumped over the other tentacle, ignited his Keyblade, and slammed it into Parasite Cage's top head's face.
At about the same time, Riku slashed at the being's spine, only to have his sword deflected. He tried a few more times, but to no avail.
"Sora! Attack the front! Its back only repels our attacks!!"
"Got it!" Sora responded. He landed from his strike. "Whoa!" he jumped backwards to avoid another swipe from a tentacle.
"Feel my wrath!!!" Ed growled, charging at Parasite Cage's lower head. He repeatedly slammed his shield into the 'bars' hoping to weaken or even break them.
"Watch it, stupid!" Wayne fell back into the mouth. "You almost--LOOK OUT!!!"
"Huh?" Ed's eyebrow took the shape of a '2'.
WHANG!!!!
Parasite Cage had put its tentacles together, volleyball style, and slammed them into the chinless boy.
Ed dropped his shield, and fell on his back, knocked out. Three miniature Parasite Cage's spun round his head in a comical manner, similar to stars stars. A tentacle wrapped itself around his body, and picked him up.
Sora's eyes widened from where he was, "Oh no. Riku, it's got Ed!"
"Think I don't know that?!!" Riku responded, dodging and swiping at the Heartless' free tentacle.
The tentacle flew at his face.
Riku batted it away with his sword.
The tentacle attempted to trip him in a low sweep.
Riku jumped, and made to chop the limb off in a downward slash. "RRGH!!!"
The tentacle contracted towards its body, dodging the swipe that would have severed it, and sprung forward like a whip.
Riku held his sword up in defence.
The tentacle's claws opened and 'bit' into the sword, and pulled back, trying to dislodge the weapon from Riku's grasp.
"Nnngh!!" Riku pulled, his shoes digging into the dirt.
"C'mon!" Wayne urged from his prison. "It stinks in here!! Get me the heck out!!!"
"YAAAAH!!!" Sora jumped in, swinging his Keyblade at the tentacle with all his might. He struck the limb, causing it to let go of the sword, and retract.
"Thanks, Sora," Riku said as he regained his balance, "but the fight's not over yet!!"
Both boys jumped in opposite directions to avoid the downward swing of Parasite Cage's tentacle.
This time, the tentacle holding Ed above the freak's head trashed in Riku's direction. The Heartless was actually using Ed as a weapon.
Riku ducked, sidestepped, jumped, rolled, and even deflected Ed's KO'd body.
Sora was running to Riku's position to provide assistance. He noticed Ed's shield on the ground, and picked it up with his free hand; just in time, because Ed's body was coming at him now.
"!!!!" Sora half-turned with the shield in his left hand.
The tentacle rammed into the shield. It kept its place, applying more and more pressure.
Sora pushed as hard as he could. He wasn't used to holding a weapon in his left hand. He slammed his Keyblade into the tentacle, careful not to hit Ed.
"Sora, hold on!" Riku jumped in, repeatedly smacking the tentacle with the flat side of his sword.
The other tentacle came for him, and Riku had to stop to defend himself.
"Sora, you can use magic with that Keyblade, right?" he asked, panting and dodging the tentacle.
"Y-Yeah…?" Sora weakly stammered. Beads of sweat formed on his brow. His body shook, and his knees were ready to collapse.
"Well, use a spell, then!!! We can't keep this up forever!"
"Yeah!" Wayne agreed. "Hurry up, so I can get my butt outta here!"
Sora thought for two seconds, before coming up with the right spell.
"Aero!" Sora yelled.
His Keyblade flashed grey for but a second before his entire body was surrounded by two tornado-like swirls, just like the shield Spongebob had used before.
Parasite Cage's tentacle dropped Ed, and retracted. The one fighting Riku also retracted.
"HAH!" Sora jumped at the Heartless. He smacked it upside the head, the shield doubling his strength. He deflected the tentacles coming his way. And he made one fatal cut between the Heartless' heads.
The Keyblade Master landed, panting.
Parasite Cage wasn't down yet. It seemed that it had some fight left in it. Vapours poured out from the cut, like blood.
"Sora, let's finish this together," Riku walked up besides his friend.
Sora grinned slyly, and nodded, "Let's."
They both jumped and let forth battle cries in unison, and sliced their weapons at the monster's top head.
SLASH! WHIING!
They both landed in front of it, and took a few steps back.
"I think we did it," Sora commented.
"'Did it'?!" Wayne spoke through gritted teeth. "Hello?!? I'm still in--!!"
Parasite Cage started shaking.
"…here? What the heck is happening??"
Parasite Cage jumped backwards from the centre of the clearing, and landed in some mud. It kept all four of its eyes on the two boys. It stood on its tentacles, like a new pair of legs, and swung its body back and forth.
Sora and Riku gave each other questionable looks.
"Nnngh…..," Ed was beginning to come to.
Parasite Cage kept swinging.
"Whoa!" Wayne was being tossed around. "What's it doing?!"
Then, the lower mouth opened wide, and Wayne was ejected out from it at high speeds.
"WAAAAAAAIIII!!!!!" he flew over the boy's heads, over the trees…
K-K-K-K-K-K
…over Eddy's head, Tony's head, Lucien's head, the gummi ship, and some more trees.
"AAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!"
"…….," Lucien, Tony, and Eddy stared for a few seconds.
K-K-K-K-K-K
"Ed, are you okay?" Sora was leaning over his friend's body. "Riku, come and help me--Riku?!!" he raised an eyebrow when he saw the silver-haired teen running in the direction Wayne had flown.
Parasite Cage was also gone, having run through the thick undergrowth.
Sora sighed, and healed Ed with a Cure spell.
"Thanks, pal!" Ed said as he stood up, and brushed himself off. "I feel a lot better--"
"Quick! After them! I don't think Riku's finished with Wayne yet!" Sora was already sprinting away. "To the gummi ship!"
"Okey-dokey!"
K-K-K-K-K-K
"Was that Wayne, guys?"
"Yyyyy-up."
"And was he flying?"
"I would believe so, Tony."
"Where do you think he was heading?"
"The shed."
"Should we go there?"
"Yes, we should."
"Fix the ship, Lucien?" Eddy inquired.
Lucien smirked, "If you want to call it 'fixed'. All I did was reattach some wires."
"Good. Let's go and collect Wayne," Eddy started to head for the shed.
"Outta my way!"
"Huh--?" suddenly, the mage was pushed aside by Riku. He fell on his butt in the mud. "Hey!" he shook a fist. "What's the big idea?!"
Riku kept running and didn't reply.
"Quick, Tony!" Lucien picked up the swamp kid. "He could be after Wayne!" he started running.
"But what about Eddy?!" Tony asked.
"He'll be fine!"
Eddy used his staff like a cane to pull himself up.
"Thanks for frickin' helping me up," he muttered, glaring at the mud stains on his trousers. Something then clicked in his brain, "Wasn't that the guy we saw in Traverse Town…?"
"Eddy!"
"What now?" he looked.
Sora and Ed were heading for the shelter.
"Follow us, Eddy! Riku wants something with Wayne!!"
"What could he possibly--?"
"Hi, Eddy!" Ed waved as he passed by. Sora and the yellow boy disappeared among the trees.
"…..," Eddy sighed. "This is one messed up day."
He started running, like all the others.
K-K-K-K-K-K
"Hey! Give me back my brother!" Lucien ordered, standing some feet away from the shed.
"What do you want with him?" Tony asked.
Riku stood on the shed's roof, holding Wayne's unconscious body under his arm.
"Sorry, kid," he droned, "but I have some unfinished business with this boy."
Sora and Ed stumbled into the area.
"He is unusual," Riku commented, seemingly ignoring the newcomer. "Not many boys have hearts like his. I'm not sure, but……," his face saddened, "maybe, he can help someone…who's lost theirs."
"Hold on," Sora said. He had an eager look of curiosity on his face, "Are you talking about Kairi?"
"What do you care about her?!" Riku snapped, glaring at the spiky-haired teen.
Sora jumped at the sudden outburst.
Riku turned, and jumped down from the shed. He sprinted away, using his sword to cut through his obstacles.
"What was that about…?" Lucien asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing," Sora told him. "He's got your brother. We'll go get him. Will you wait at the gummi ship, please?"
"Certainly," Lucien said, adjusting his glasses. "C'mon, Tony."
"Actually, I'd like to go with them," the swamp kid stated."
Sora raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"
Tony nodded his misshaped head, "Positive."
Sora smiled, "Hop on."
Tony took a deep breath, and hopped onto Sora's shoulder.
Lucien gave a thumb's up, "Good luck." He walked past them, heading for the gummi ship. "Oh, hi, Eddy," he greeted Eddy, who had just walked in, panting with his long tongue hanging out.
"Let's go, guys!" Sora took the route Riku had taken.
"More running?!" Eddy clenched a first. "I can barely--WHOA!!" Ed grabbed his arm, and ran after Sora.
"C'mon, Eddy! We gotta save Wayne!"
K-K-K-K-K-K
Sora ran and ran, cutting through every bush, jumping over every mud puddle, and skirting past every tree. Tony held on tight to his shoulder, trying to keep himself seated. Ed and Eddy weren't far behind.
And suddenly…
W-WARP!
Several search ghosts appeared.
"Dah!" Tony screamed.
Ed came to a screeching stop, "Uh-oh."
"Oh man…," Eddy removed his cap and rubbed his head.
"Rrrrgh!" Sora growled. "We don't have time for this!!!"
"Not to worry," Eddy marched out, and gently pushed Sora aside. He jabbed a thumb at himself and smirked, "I've dealt with these before. They're walks in the park!" he sent a fireball at one random ghost.
The ghost disappeared, dodging the attack…
…and reappeared much closer to Eddy. It spun around, its hands increasing the radius of their owner.
Eddy was slapped across the face, and sent tumbling backwards. He tripped over a tree's root, and fell on his back.
"They never teleported before!!!" he cackled.
"H-RAAAAH!!!" Sora charged, swinging his Keyblade left and right like a madman, cutting through every ghost that didn't teleport out of the way.
Tony held onto Sora's coat for dear life.
One ghost drifted towards Sora.
He ducked, but kept his Keyblade at a vertical angle, slashing the ghost in two.
Three of them appeared right in front of him. Their hands rotated, and flew like a miniature squadron of jets.
Sora jumped, vaulted off a tree, flew over the hands, embedded his Blade into another tree, hung in front of the ghost, and kicked them in their disfigured faces with his big, yellow boots. They fell backwards.
Sora pulled his Blade out of the tree. "YYAAH!" he held his weapon like a golf club, and whacked the ghost's heads off.
Behind him, Ed was carrying Eddy on his shoulders. The mage fired well-aimed shots of ice at the ghosts. The knight held his shield forward, feeling invincible.
"Take that!" Eddy shouted. "And one of this! And two of those! And three of these! YEAH!!!"
"We are invincible, Eddy!!" Ed said with joy, smashing his way through four ghosts at once.
"Hell yes!!!" Eddy grinned. He noticed three ghosts coming up from behind Sora, and another five blocking Ed's path. He took a breath, and chanted, "Force!" A dome of purple energy enveloped the Heartless, flattening them like pancakes.
Ed's mouth watered, "I like pancakes!"
"Keep your head in the game, Ed! We may be winning, but we're still under attack!"
A ghost sent its hands flying at Sora's face.
Sora held his breath, and positioned his Keyblade at the right angle to deflect the loose body parts. The hands bounced back to their master, sending it crashing into a comrade.
W-WOO-OO-OOP!!!
Sora heard a ghost appear behind him.
"Raagh!!" he ignited his Keyblade, and did a one-eighty. He managed to hit the Heartless. Although he didn't destroy it, he set it on fire, and into two of its comrades. The boy spun around, and kept running. He hopped across a river, using the stepping stones.
More ghosts materialised behind him, converging one Ed and Eddy.
Ed threw his shield like a Frisbee. The shield cut through the ghosts, and embedded itself into the ground right next to the river Sora crossed.
Ed ran to the shield, and bent over to pick it up……forgetting that Eddy was still on his shoulders.
"Whoaa--!" Splash! Eddy fell into the mud. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrghh," he slowly stood up. "ED! I'M SO GONNA--!"
"Quick, Eddy!" Ed cut him off by grabbing him and positioning him back on his shoulders. "We gotta get going!"
Eddy shut up, keeping his balance on Ed's shoulders.
Up ahead, Sora was dealing with the last few ghosts.
He sliced one diagonally, decapitated another, and impaled one through its head.
There was one more, trying to block his way.
Sora stabbed his Keyblade into it, and threw it behind him, into the waiting path of Eddy's lighting attack.
That was it; there were no more search ghosts. The group kept going.
K-K-K-K-K-K
They came to a skidding stop. Up ahead was one more clearing; perhaps, the biggest of them all; more or less the size of a basketball court. This one, however, wasn't like the other clearings they had seen. There were numerous tree stumps, and the trees along the clearing's circumference were bending outwards.
"What happened here?" Sora scratched his head.
"I don't know," Tony looked at the site suspiciously, "but this is definitely not manmade. I know the swamp like the back of my little hand, and last time I saw it, this was not here."
"Then, the Heartless did this?" Eddy inquired, jumping down from Ed's shoulders.
"Let's check it out!" Ed exclaimed.
"Definitely," Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade, and walked into the open space. The others followed him.
And the first thing they saw was Riku standing besides Wayne, who lay unconscious on a tree stump. The silver-haired teen had his back turned on the group, and hadn't seen them arrive.
"Hey!" Sora shouted. "Let Wayne go, Riku!"
Riku half-turned, and glanced at Sora. He then rested his eye back on the purple boy.
"A kid that's lost his heart to the Heartless…," he spoke, eyeing Wayne. "Maybe, it holds the key to helping Kairi." He faced Sora, and held his hand out, "How about it, Sora? Let's join forces to save her!" He stepped forward, turning his hand into a first. He continued speaking as he walked towards the group, "We can do it together."
Sora narrowed his eyes. He pointed his Keyblade at Riku.
Riku's eyes widened. He stopped. "What?!" he frowned. "You'd rather fight me? Over some cartoon that has no heart??"
Sora furrowed his brow, "Heart or no heart, at least, he still has a conscious…"
Tony jumped down from the Keyblade Master's shoulder, and started running to Wayne's body.
Riku pulled a face, "'Conscience'?"
"You might not hear it," Sora explained, "but I sure can; loud and clear. And it's telling me that you're on the wrong side!"
Riku gave Sora a disgusted look. "Then, you leave me no choice," he seethed, pulling out his sword.
"Wayne!" Tony called, nearing the downed boy. "Wayne, are you alright??" he asked as he jumped and landed on the boy's slowly rising and falling belly.
"Nnngh…," Wayne weakly raised his head to look at the swamp kid. "Sh-Shrimp boy….T-Tony…..I don't think I'm gonna make it…."
Tony's face saddened, "I never liked you Wayne, but I would never wish this fate upon you…"
"Come closer," Wayne beckoned.
Tony stood on Wayne's sternum.
"C-Closer…"
Tony stood besides Wayne's mouth, a hand to his ear.
"Tony……..I………..I………..I……."
"What, Wayne? What?"
"I……….," he suddenly grinned. "BOO!!!" he abruptly sat up.
"Dah!" Tony fell off him, and landed on his butt in the grass.
"HA-HA-hahahahaaaa!!!" Wayne hugged himself as he laughed. "Got you! I was all like 'I'm not gonna make it', and you were all like--" he put on a silly voice as he said "--'I never wished this upon you'. HA!!! Got you good, shrimp boy!"
Tony frowned. He stood up angrily, "WAYNE! I thought you lost your heart!"
"I thought I did," explained Wayne, standing up from the stump, "but I guess it just came back…..or something."
Somewhere, Eddy sighed sadly.
"Well, I'm somewhat relived," Tony uttered.
Riku, like the others, had seen everything. He was about to speak, when a rustling in the trees caught his attention.
"Huh?" he looked.
Suddenly, Parasite Cage burst through the trees, and landed in the centre of the clearing.
Riku reached a hand out, and opened a portal similar to the ones Judge Doom used. He disappeared.
Ed jumped.
Tony stared.
Sora gasped, "Again?!"
Eddy's eyes bugged. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?!?!?" he exclaimed, pointing his staff at the Heartless.
"It's the freak that trapped me inside it!" Wayne exclaimed, running to the group. "I'm outta here! Let me know how it goes back at your ship!" and he was gone.
"I've changed my mind!" Tony also came running. "I'll see you guys back at the ship!" and he was also gone.
Sora, Ed, and Eddy were left. They stood before Parasite Cage, waiting for it to attack.
Parasite Cage looked in their direction, its tentacles twitching with every second.
"Well, well, well," a gruff voice sing-songed. "If it isn't Sora and his gang of losers. Hahaha!"
Sora raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
Johnny Rancid walked into the clearing from behind Parasite Cage, brandishing a revolver. He twirled the pistol, as he sauntered along. "Remember me? The guy who kicked your scrawny butts in zero gravity?"
"Johnny Rancid?" Sora guessed, recognising the gruff voice.
"That's funny," Eddy gave the biker a sarcastic look. "What I remember is US kicking YOUR butt in zero gravity!!"
"Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-ha!" Ed chuckled. "Eddy said 'butt'!"
Johnny's expression changed to a pissed off one. "Shuddup!!" he spat. "That Skeleton guy gave me a crappy weapon, okay?!" He calmed down, and smirked again.
'This is strange,' Sora thought. 'Why isn't the Heartless attacking him?'
"That shitty thing I was using was a Formless," Johnny explained. He jabbed a thumb at Parasite Cage, "This shitty thing is a Heartless. Hehehehe, something that I'm sure kicks more butt than semisolid crap. It was provided by the generous Judge Doom himself, so it must be worth something."
"What?!" Sora gave a sceptical look. "That can't be! How can you control a Heartless?!"
"Hey, if Doom can control the Heartless, who's to say everyone else can't?"
"…..," Sora was speechless.
A shield suddenly appeared around the clearing. They were trapped.
Eddy gulped, "Not good."
Rancid pointed, "Get 'em, boy!"
"CHARGE!!!" Sora impulsively jumped forward.
Ed and Eddy followed.
Parasite Cage stood on its tentacles, and swung its entire body forward. The three young warriors were slammed in their bodies by the freak's lower head.
Sora fell backwards.
Ed tumbled next to him.
Eddy flew overhead.
"RAAAGH!!!" Rancid ran, aiming his revolver squarely at Sora's chest. He pulled the trigger.
Sora instinctively held his Keyblade up at the right angle to deflect the shot. The bullet bounced off with a loud PING!. Unfortunately, Sora's eyes were closed, and he didn't see the large fist fly into him and send him to the other side of the clearing.
"Ooof!!" Sora coughed as he rolled away.
Rancid cracked his knuckles, sauntering towards the boy. He half-turned his head to see Parasite Cage. "Yo, Heartless thing! Take care of the other two! The kid's all mine!"
"Ed…..Eddy…," Sora stood up. "I'll fight Johnny. You guys get rid of that Heartless."
Ed saluted, "Roger that!"
Eddy sighed, "Fine. Get the easy kill."
The two boys converged on the Heartless again.
On the other side…
"Come on," Johnny urged, twirling his gun. "Show me what you got, punk!"
"RAAAGH!" Sora jumped up to the biker's height, and slashed his Keyblade downwards towards his spiky head.
"HAH!" Johnny caught the Keyblade in his free hand.
Sora tried to pull it out, but to no avail.
"What the Hell was that?!" Johnny blurted. "You really don't know how to fight, do you?"
Sora stopped pulling. He smirked, "Fire!"
Johnny raised an eyebrow, "Huh?" Suddenly, the Keyblade's mystical metal heated up. "DAAH!!" he withdrew his reddened hand, blowing on it. "Hot, hot, hot, hot!"
"Nraaaagh!" Sora's Keyblade slapped him in the cheek.
"Nngh!" Johnny spat blood, stumbling backwards.
"HAA!" Sora stabbed his Blade forward.
Johnny caught it with his hand, and put all his strength into pushing the weapon back to avoid another spell.
Sora hobbled backwards.
"Eat lead, punk!" Johnny aimed with his revolver, and fired.
Sora dodge-rolled out of the way. The ground where he was a second ago exploded.
"Hold still!" Rancid aimed again.
On the other side of the area, Ed and Eddy were having some difficulty fighting their opponent.
Parasite Cage swung its tentacles at Ed, who deflected them with little effort. Eddy jumped out from behind Ed, and sent bolts of lighting down on PC.
PC's top head shook side-to-side. Its tentacles reached into two separate puddles of mud, absorbing the liquid into its own body.
Eddy raised an eyebrow, "Is it having a drink, or something?"
"I do not remember this," Ed removed his traffic cone helmet so he could scratch his head.
PC's top head's mouth opened, and torrents of the mud it just absorbed spewed out at the two boys.
"AAAAAAGH!!!!" they were thrown backwards.
Elsewhere, Johnny fired his revolver for the sixth time.
BANG!
Sora gasped. He hissed through clenched teeth, and held a hand to the new bullet wound in his shoulder. He quickly tapped the wound with his Keyblade, healing it with a Cure spell.
Cl-Click! Johnny stood over him, aiming the gun directly between Sora's blue eyes.
"Say goodbye, kid. Hahahaha--!" he was cut off when Sora's Keyblade flew up, and knocked the firearm out of his hand. "HEY! I WAS JUST ABOUT TO--!!"
A whack to the face shut him up.
"Nngh!" Johnny reeled backwards.
"NRAAAGH!!!" Sora repeatedly slammed his Keyblade into the biker's body. At one point, he heard a sickening crack echo from the biker's pelvis, but didn't care, and continued pummelling him.
Suddenly, Johnny's foot landed in Sora's stomach. The boy bent over, coughing abruptly. Johnny wiped the blood from his lip, and snatched the Keyblade from Sora's hand. He threw it over his head.
Sora's watery eyes watched his Blade land besides the revolver he disarmed his opponent of a few moments before.
Johnny also saw it. He reached behind him, and pulled out a Hi-potion. One big gulp healed him of his wounds, and he leisurely strolled towards his fallen weapon.
Sora tried to move, but the pain in his stomach was too much to bear.
"Nnngh-KAFF!-nngh…."
FLASH!
He was suddenly healed.
He gazed to his left, and saw Eddy give him a thumb's up, right before continuing his fight with Parasite Cage.
Better, Sora began to run to his Keyblade.
Johnny heard this, and glanced behind him. His dark eyes widened when he saw Sora stumbling towards his weapon. The biker, hastily picked up his revolver, spun around, and aimed.
Sora came to a skidding stop. The Keyblade was at equal length between him and Johnny. He didn't move, knowing that if he did, he'd have a bullet in his brain…….. Then again, if he didn't move, he'd also have a bullet in his brain.
"Adios, kid," Johnny's finger tightened around the trigger.
Sora screwed his eyes shut, and faced away, knowing that even if his friends had seen what was about to happen, they would be too late to save him..
Click.
"……?" Sora opened one eye.
"Huh???" Johnny looked at his gun stupidly. He pulled the trigger several times. It then dawned upon him that he was out of ammo. "Oh, shi--"
WHAM!
Sora struck him in the gut, and fight continued.
Elsewhere, Parasite Cage swung its tentacles.
Eddy ducked, and sprung up with an ice spell aimed at one squirming limb. The blizzard spell struck the tentacle's 'claws', freezing them in a block of ice.
"HA!!" Eddy put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes in momentary victory, all for the sake of affect. "I iced you! HAA!" he was silenced when the ice-cold tentacle clobbered him away.
"I got you Eddy!" Ed reached a hand out, and caught his airborne friend.
"Thanks, Ed. You sure stopped me from my twentieth concussion."
"Huh, that's something Double D would say, Eddy."
Parasite Cage absorbed more mud through its good limb, and expelled it through its mouth again.
Eddy jumped behind Ed, who held up his shield and took the milder torrent.
"Ed!" Eddy began. "Do that thing where you throw your shield!" He pointed, "Aim at the part I froze!"
Ed narrowed his eyes. His eyebrow became a straight, horizontal line as he tongued his cheek, and aimed. He held his shield between his fingers like a ninja ready to throw a shuriken.
"I'll distract it," Eddy made a beeline for the Heartless. "Hey! Yoo-hoo! Down here, ya ugly piece of crud! Your mother was an ugly octopus, who married an even uglier squid!!!"
PC shifted all of its attention to the tiny, pink boy. It readied its iced tentacle to strike down, when Ed's shield flew like a saucer with a 'swish', and cut right through it at half of its length. The tentacle hit the ground near PC, and evaporated into nothing. PC looked at its new stub, where dark vapours were pouring out.
"WAYTA GO, ED!!!" Eddy cheered.
"Thank you," Ed bowed for affect.
"I'm here," Sora walked up. "What did I miss?"
"Big Ed over here--" Eddy handed Ed his shield "--just sliced that Heartless' tentacle right off!"
"Nice going, Ed," Sora smiled at him.
"Thank you!"
"How's Johnny?" Eddy asked.
"Taking a nap," Sora jabbed a thumb behind him, where the unconscious body of Johnny Rancid lay, bruised and beaten.
"Great," Eddy nodded, "now, let's get rid of him." He pointed at Parasite Cage.
Sora smirked, "I'm down."
"Me, too!" Ed added.
"Hell yes!" Eddy grinned.
They brought out their weapons, and attacked.
Parasite Cage swung its last tentacle at them.
Sora and Eddy ducked, leaving Ed to deflect the limb with his CN-engraved shield. The tentacle bounced back, giving Sora and Eddy time to simultaneously cast Lightening down on the Heartless, which shook with an electric shock.
Suddenly, Parasite Cage's top head leaned far back. Its lower head's mouth, where Wayne was previously trapped, opened wide, revealing a dark blue orb.
"Something tells me that's his weak spot," Sora commented.
"Then, let's destroy it!" Eddy screeched.
"WAA-TAAH!" Ed jumped up to the mouth, and slammed his shield into the orb.
"Fire!" Eddy sent a fireball into the orb, lighting it ablaze.
Finally, Sora leapt towards the orb, and swung his Keyblade diagonally. The orb was sliced in two, and burst into several dark droplets.
Parasite Cage fell backwards. It twitched. Then, a large, blue heart was emitted from its body, before it disappeared.
"We did it!" Sora cheered, holding his Keyblade high.
"Again!" Eddy added.
"Pancakes for everybody!" Ed commented.
And that was when three balls of energy drifted out of nowhere from where Parasite Cage last was.
"Let's see what our reward is," Eddy held his staff out. He got used to new spells after every kill.
The little energy balls flew into Sora's Keyblade, Eddy's staff, and Ed's shield.
"It's a spell called 'Stop' for you and me, Sora," Eddy stated. "And Ed got something called 'Tornado'."
"Hey, now Ed can use magic, too," Sora mentioned.
"Cool!" Ed hugged his shield.
Several feet away, Johnny Rancid was coming to. The grey-skinned biker painfully sat up. He rubbed his spiky head, and surveyed the clearing. When he saw that Parasite Cage was gone, he gasped. He knew that he couldn't take these three on his own, and all those search ghosts he summoned earlier were no match for them.
"Now, what do we do with that 'Rancid' guy?" Eddy pointed out.
Johnny's heart skipped a beat when he heard his name. He was about to run, when something caught his eye, "????"
"We can get him to tell us about what Judge Doom is planning," Sora suggested.
"Great idea," Eddy agreed. He grinned evilly, cupping his fist. "I know exactly how to make him talk, don't I, Ed?"
"……"
Eddy raised an eyebrow, "Ed? What are you looking at?"
Ed, who had been staring up, pointed.
Sora and Eddy looked.
Johnny was also looking.
Up high and far, a humongous mothership loomed overhead. It was shaped like some kind of long needle, with all kinds of protruding guns sticking out from it. One gun in particular was aiming directly at the swamp, gathering enough power to send a devastating attack that would surely obliterate the drifting cube.
"I don't like this one damn bit," Eddy commented. "Let's get out of here. NOW!!!"
"But what about Johnny?!" Sora asked.
Eddy replied by silently pointing. Johnny could be seen riding his motorcycle further away from the soon-to-be-destroyed swamp.
Sora gulped, "Right. Let's go."
The three turned, and started running for the ship.
K-K-K-K-K-K
The mothership belonged to none other than Gorrarth. The Glorft leader had his lackeys position the gargantuan vessel to point at the swamp, where three meddling junior heroes were, in hopes of wiping them out for good.
Inside the control room, a bionic hand was pointed at the monitor displaying the swamp and a deep voice gave the command.
"FIRE!!!!!"
A huge ball of pure energy flew from one of the ship's many guns, and headed right for its target.
K-K-K-K-K-K
POW!!!!!!!!!
The tremor could be felt all over the large cube.
"Uh-oh," Eddy shook. "That doesn't sound good!"
"Keep running, Eddy!" Sora was up ahead, panting and sweating bullets.
The ground began to shake. Trees were uprooted. Rocks were cracked. Puddles bubbled. Huge fissures formed in the ground. The swamp was literally falling apart.
"Oh no!" Sora looked fearful. "We won't make it to the ship in time!"
"Yes, we will!" Eddy sounded. "Ed, grab hold of us, and run like Hell!"
Ed grabbed both of his friends. He held them under his arm, and gradually picked up speed. His legs became a circular blur. He cartoonishly ran at the speed of a cheetah.
K-K-K-K-K-K
At the gummi ship…
"There you are!" Tony screamed. "I was getting worried! Get in the ship; the swamp's falling apart!"
"What about Lucien and Wayne?" Sora looked left and right for the two brothers.
"I dunno!" Tony hopped from one leg to another. "They simply disappeared a few seconds before that big, blue thing hit us!"
"We don't have time to search for them!" Eddy ran for the ship. "Everyone, get in!"
Ed, Sora, and Tony reluctantly complied.
K-K-K-K-K-K
The gummi ship stopped its course in deep space. From the vessel's view, the group watched the swamp break apart, piece-by-piece….until there was nothing left.
Tony sighed sadly, "I hope Lucien and Wayne are alright." He stood on Sora's shoulder, looking out from the gummi ship's glass dome.
"Me, too, Tony," Sora said.
"Sora, look what I found," Ed marched up, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the purple sphere he picked up earlier. "Shiny, huh?"
"Is that a summon gem?" Sora took the reflective object and examined it. "Where'd you find this?"
"In a puddle of mud in the swamp," Ed responded.
"Thanks, Ed," Sora put the gem away in his suit. "I can show this to Grim later."
The trapdoor opened, and Eddy stepped out. He smelt like a combination of soap and cheap gel. He was wearing clean clothes.
"Shower's all yours, Sora," he said, sauntering to the gummi ship's control room.
Sora let Tony down from his shoulder, and made for the trapdoor. "I can't believe this ship has a shower," he said with a roll of his eyes.
"Rather stay dirty?" Eddy asked.
"No."
"Good. By the way, I used up all the hot water; hope you don't mind."
"Terrific."
K-K-K-K-K-K
Inside a room in the Glorft mothership….
"Hmm," Judge Doom hummed, strolling towards Riku. "Mr. Rancid just called. He informed me that he was not going to work for me anymore. He stated that the job was too dangerous." He shrugged it off, "Oh well."
Riku didn't care. He had his back turned to the man. His blue eyes were fixated on Kairi's body, which lay on a bed against the wall in front of him. If her chest was rising and falling, it would be as if she was sleeping.
"So…..," the boy began, "…Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"
"Precisely," Doom said, leaning on his cane.
Riku's fists clenched, "And her heart was……"
"Taken by the Heartless, no doubt."
Riku abruptly turned around, and looked Doom in his spectacled eyes. "Tell me! What can I do?!" he sounded desperate, thinking that the Judge was the only one who knew how to save the girl.
"There are seven maidens of the purest heart," Judge Doom explained. "We call them the Princesses of Heart. Gather them together, and a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Within it lies untold wisdom. There…you will surely find a way to recover Kairi's heart."
The Judge waved his gloved hand over Riku suddenly.
"And now, I will grant you a marvellous gift that will aid you in your quest," Doom's hands began to glow a green aura. "Something I granted Mr. Rancid before he quit, but much more powerful… The power to control the Heartless!!" He waved his hand over Riku's head.
Riku looked at himself. He was glowing a light green colour. The wisps of green made him feel much, much stronger, and more confident that he would find Kairi's lost heart. He felt enriched with energy. He could feel the new power coursing through his system. It was almost intoxicating. He inhaled and exhaled softly and deeply.
The glowing stopped.
Riku turned, and gave Kairi's body a promising look.
"Soon, Kairi. Soon."
K-K-K-K-K-K
A few hours later, the gummi ship drifted towards another world.
"Shall we prepare for landing?" Sora asked Eddy.
"Hmm," Eddy was rubbing his chin, examining the ship's monitor. "The ships' scanner says that they're some freaky things going on down there in that city."
"What do you mean?" Sora leaned over the pink boy's chair, where Ed was also leaning.
"I mean that we might not blend in if we go down there looking like this," Eddy clarified.
"What should we do, then?"
Eddy grinned, the corners of his mouth meeting his ears. "Just leave it to me!" he brought out his staff, and prepared to cast a spell.