Chapter 4

Sora yawned as he walked into the cockpit of the Gummi Ship.

"Hey guys, anything come up yet?", Sora asked as he was suddenly blindfolded and a bat was placed in his hands.

"What the?"

"Around and around and around he goes!", Keigo shouted as he spinned Sora around. "Where's the melon?", he asked.

Sora just swung in a random direction and conked Keigo on the head with the bat.

"OW! Not my melon!", Keigo shouted as he clutched his head. Sora took the blindfold off and smiled sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry."

"Hey everyone! Another world's coming up!", Goofy shouted. "Really? Where?", Sora asked.

"Um... it looks like it where Belle and Beast live!", Goofy said.

"Let's go then! It's been forever since we last saw them!", Sora shouted. Donald nodded and they sped towards the new world. They landed in the courtyard and stepped out of the Gummi Ship.

"Hm, still gloomy looking as usual," Xion said as she looked around.

"You think the doors are unlocked?", asked Riku.

"I don't know. Let's see," Sora said before he pushed the doors open.

"Whoa... this place is bigger than Captain Byakuya's!", Renji exclaimed as he glanced around the entrance hall.

"Who's Byakuya?", asked Riku. "He's my older brother," said Rukia.

Suddenly, there was a roar. Everyone jumped at the sound of it.

"What was that?!", Tatsuki asked. "Hm, sounds like Beast is angry again," said Sora.

"Who's Beast?", asked Ichigo. "A friend of ours who has some anger issues. When you see him, don't draw your weapons, OK?", asked Roxas.

"Why?"

"You'll see," Donald said simply as they walked up the stairs.

"It sounded like it was coming from this way," Ven said as they took the stairs to the right. They walked for a while before they heard voices.

"The master is not pleased."

Everyone quickly ducked around a corner.

"He hasn't been a good mood since that man appeared."

Sora, Ichigo, Roxas, and Riku peeked around the corner and saw a clock and a teapot talking to each other.

"What the-?!", Ichigo began to say but was cut off by Sora's hand covering his mouth.

"Hm?", the talking clock said as they turned around and saw them.

"Ah! Sora! How nice it is to see you again!", the talking clock said.

"Hi Cogsworth!", Sora said cheerfully.

"Are these friends of yours?", asked Cogsworth, gesturing to Ichigo and his friends.

"Yep. Guys, this is Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts. They're servants to the Beast," said Sora.

"We heard you talking about some guy in a black coat," said Renji.

"Ah, yes. Come with us, we'll explain what's happened," Cogsworth said as he and Mrs. Potts turned around and walked down the hall, followed by the gang.

"A few days ago, a strange man wearing a black coat appeared inside the castle...", Cogsworth began saying.

Everyone but Keigo was listening. Keigo stopped walking and stared into another hallway.

"Ooh... what's down here?", he asked himself as he sneaked away from the group and entered the hallway. This did not go unnoticed by Anne.

"What's he up to?", she asked as she walked into the hallway Keigo entered.

Meanwhile...

"The strange man said that if the master didn't surrender, he'd destroy the rose," Mrs. Potts said as they walked down the hall.

"What's the big deal about this rose?", asked Rukia.

"A long time ago, an old beggar woman came to the castle and asked for shelter, but the master of the castle refused. The old woman told him not to judge others by appearance, but the master refused. The old woman then turned into a beautiful enchantress. The enchantress placed a spell on the master and turned him into a beast and placed a spell on the rest of the castle. She then gave him an enchanted rose and said that if he didn't change his ways and find true love by the time the last petal fell, the master and everyone under the spell would never be human again," Cogsworth explained.

"Wow, you must have been through a lot," said Chad.

"But things are looking up, because the master had met Belle, a girl from the village," said Cogsworth. "They have fallen in love."

"But this man has caused the master to lose his temper, so now Belle is doing everything she can to calm him down," said Mrs. Potts.

"Speaking of Belle, where is she?", asked Sora. "She is in her room right now," said Cogsworth. "Would you like to see her?"

"We sure would!", said Sora. He turned to the group and said, "What do you say guys?"

"Why not? It's been ages since I last saw her," Kairi said with a smile.

"Let's go then! Hold on, where's Keigo and Anne?", Sora asked once he saw that they were missing.

"They must have wandered off!", said Orihime.

"We must find them! The master will be angry if he finds them!", said Cogsworth.

"Let's go!", Sora shouted as the gang turned around and ran through the castle.

Meanwhile...

Keigo was wandering through the halls.

"Man, if there were more girls here, this place would be a lot less gloomy," Keigo said.

"KEIGO!"

Keigo jumped in surprise and turned around to find Anne standing behind him with an angry look on her face.

"Annie?!", he asked. A tick mark appeared on Anne's face when he said that.

"First of all, it's ANNE, and second, what the heck are you doing down here?! Do you realize how dangerous it is to wander off from the group in a place like this?!", asked Anne.

"Uhh... no," was Keigo's response.

"Do you have any idea that there could be a dangerous Heartless in this castle right now?", asked Anne.

"A Heartless?! OK, now I wish I stayed with the group!", Keigo shouted before grabbing Anne by the arm.

"Hey, what the?!", asked Anne.

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!", Keigo yelled as he ran down the hallway with Anne in tow.

"Keigo! Slow down!", Anne shouted.

While the two goofballs were running around in the castle, Sora and the gang was walking around calling their names.

"Anne! Where are you?", Ven shouted.

"Keigo! Get your butt back here!", shouted Tatsuki.

"What's going on?", they heard a voice say as a door opened up, revealing a woman with brown hair wearing a blue dress with a white apron.

"Belle!", Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi shouted happily.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Kairi! Everyone, it's so good to see you again!", she said happily as she pulled Donald into a hug.

"WAK!", Donald cried out in surprise. Everyone snickered at his predicament.

"Put me down!", the duck shouted.

"Oh! Sorry Donald," Belle said apologetically as she put him down.

"We've heard that the Beast is angry," said Riku.

Belle sighed. "He is. Ever since that man threatened the rose, he's been very protective over it," she said.

"Do you know where he is right now?", asked Sora. "He's probably in his room, or he could be roaming around in the castle," said Belle.

"That's not good, cause a couple friends of ours wandered away from us," said Ichigo. "And if this Beast guy finds them..."

He was cut off when they heard a roar followed by screams from a boy and a girl.

"That's gotta be them!", Uryu shouted.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to them!", Belle said as everyone ran towards the direction the screams came from.

Meanwhile...

Anne and Keigo were backed against a wall by a certain beast

"Who are you and what are you doing in my castle?!", the Beast angrily asked as it walked closer to them.

"Beast! Don't!"

Beast immediately stopped and turned towards the source of the voice. Belle and everyone else was standing several feet away from them.

"Guys!", Anne and Keigo cried as they ran over to the gang and hid behind Ichigo.

The Beast noticed Sora and said, "You... you're friends of Sora?"

Anne and Keigo peeked out from behind Ichigo and nodded. Sora walked over to Beast and said, "Hey Beast, how's it going?"

"Not so well. My rose has been threatened to be destroyed by a man that appeared a few days ago wearing a black coat," said Beast.

"A black coat, huh? Sounds like the Organization," said Roxas.

"Them again? Oh, dear, remember what happened the last time they were here?", asked Cogsworth.

"Indeed. They tried to turn the master into a Heartless for their evil plan!", said Mrs. Potts.

"Where was the last place you saw this guy at?", asked Ventus.

"He first appeared in the ballroom, when the master and Belle were dancing together," said Cogsworth.

"You think he could be there right now?", asked Goofy. "Well, we won't find out if we all just stand here, right?", asked Uryu.

"If he thinks he can get away with this in my castle, he's wrong!", said the Beast.

"Let's go and take this guy down then!", Sora said.

Everyone nodded. Beast turned to Belle and said, "Belle, stay here."

"But-", Belle began to say but was cut off by Beast.

"I don't want you to get hurt," he said.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of this," said Ichigo.

"Let's go kick some Organization butt!", Lea shouted.

"YEAH!", the gang yelled as they ran down the hall towards the ballroom.

Author Note: Sorry to keep you all waiting. By the way, Kingdom Hearts III has FINALLY been announced for the Playstation 4! I am so psyched!