Episode 4

Gadget Town

Walking out into the plaza, Sean knew for sure that he was now in another world. And the ground wasn't the only thing that looked unfinished. The entire plaza seemed to be composed of random, cobbled-together pieces.

The two lampposts in the center of the plaza looked completely different; one was black and icy, with an oil candle providing an unusually bright light. The other one had a colorful head which swirled around and changed from blue to red every half hour, making a strange dinging sound.

Two large wooden doors lay, respectively, on the far left side of the plaza and just straight ahead. The latter door had a large clock right above it, which wasn't exactly on straight. On the right side of the plaza was a place called the Jazz Café, as well as a quaint Item Shop. The café definitely had a jazzy feel to it, but it also had spinning yellow gears above it. Sean could also see metallic walkways way above the plaza.

"Wow," Sean expressed as he went down the metallic steps, "What a weird town this is." At the bottom and to his left was a large tube chute, supposedly for sending mail. Sean started walking around the plaza, looking over its details with wonder. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking, though, and it wasn't too long before he bumped into someone. Someone small, in fact.

"Hey, watch where you're going, kupo!," squeaked the little white creature, "You almost ruffled my pom-pom!" "Eh, sorry about that," Sean apologized, looking at the creature with curiosity. It had a large pink nose on an even bigger head. Its body, arms, and legs were tiny in comparison to the head, and it also had tiny wings and a big pom-pom atop its head. "What, you've never seen a Moogle before, kupo?," the creature asked, noticing the curious expression on Sean's face. "Well…No. Not exactly," Sean said, "I can't say I have."

"You new to this town, kupo?," the Moogle inquired. Sean nodded, then the Moogle spoke again, "Well, seeing everything here will take some time, kupo, especially for newcomers." "Thanks," said Sean, "But…Where exactly AM I?" Pointing to the Accessory Shop at the top of the steps, the Moogle responded, "Go ask Peter, kupo. He should be able to tell you everything you need to know." Glancing at the Shop, Sean said, "Thanks. By the way…Why do you keep calling me 'kupo'?" "That's only for us Moogles to know, kupo," said the Moogle as he turned to leave.

"Okay," Sean said, "Thanks again."

On the outside, the Accessory Shop looked like part of an outlet mall, except with two wooden doors on the front. What kind of town is this, anyway? Sean thought as he entered the Shop. The inside of the Shop certainly didn't defy its exterior, though, as it looked just like the jewelry section of a department store. The glass cases all contained different kinds of jewelry, from plain rings to highly decorated bracelets. Standing near the far wall behind one of the cases was a big penguin, about the same height as Sean. It was wearing what looked to be a jacket-vest, with zippers on the front and sides, as well as a yellow belt and collar that had small Velcro strips. On its head it wore goggles and a red, polka-dot bandana. On the sides of its black face were large yellow spots.

"Well, hello there," the penguin said cheerfully as Sean came in, "And welcome to the Accessory Shop. Could I interest you in something, like a brand-new Protect Chain?" "Well," Sean responded, a bit taken aback by the sight of a talking penguin, "No. I'm actually looking for Peter." "Oh!," exclaimed the big bird, "Why, that's me. Well, what can I do for you?"

Surprised, Sean said, "Wait, you're Peter?" Peter nodded in response. "Wow," said Sean again, "I…I've never met a talking penguin before." Peter just smiled and said, "That's okay. A lot of people tell me that when they come to Gadget Town for the first time."

"Gadget Town?," Sean inquired, "Is that what this world is called?" "Yes," Peter responded, then dropped his smile, "It's a haven for those who've lost their home worlds to darkness." Perking back up, Peter continued, "You must be new here. What's your name?"

"I'm Sean," Sean responded. "Anyway, I was hoping you could help me." Peter smiled and said, "Sure, I can help. You can always count on me." Sean could tell that he's already made a new friend, and a great one at that. "Great. Thanks," he said to Peter.

"OK," Sean explained, "I got separated from my friends Blood and Rain. Have you seen them, by any chance?" "I don't know," Peter said, "What do they look like?" "Well, for starters," Sean continued, "They're wolves. One has bluish-gray fur, and the other has bright red fur. And they're both quadrupeds."

"Four legs?," Peter asked. Sean nodded. Peter thought for a moment, then said, "Well, no, I haven't seen them. I'm sorry." Sean responded with a heavy sigh and the lowering of his head. "But take a look around town," Peter assured him, "I'm sure they landed somewhere nearby." Sean lifted his head slightly back up and said, "OK. Thanks, Peter." "Hey, don't mention it," the penguin responded. "In the meantime, I'll look out for them."

Peter continued, "I would suggest that you start searching in the Residential District. The door to it is right behind the Shop." "Great, thanks again!" Sean said as he turned to leave. "You're very welcome," said Peter as he waved good-bye to Sean, "And good luck!"

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As Sean entered the Residential District, he noticed that it seemed a lot bigger than the Market District, where he was previously. The metallic walkways were suspended high above the Market District, and there were various pieces of machinery placed between the paths. There were futuristic-looking high rises everywhere, as well as a fancy-looking white hotel to the left of the District entrance. Right below the entrance was a colorful fountain, and straight ahead was a massive yellow clock tower. There were also colorful lights everywhere, ones that looked very much like large Christmas lights.

As Sean walked into the District, he spotted a fat man running across the walkways. "Help! Someone please help me!" the man shouted. But before Sean could run to help, he saw a strange creature pounce on the man. It looked a lot like the shadow creatures he ran into at Forest Hill, with the glowing eyes and claws. But this one looked like some sort of soldier, sporting a pointy helmet and a black-and-red jumpsuit. It also had some sort of emblem on its chest, a black heart with a red "X" through it and three branches off the bottom.

The creature turned the man over on his back and thrust its claw into his chest. After a few seconds, it pulled something out. Getting a closer look, Sean noticed that what the creature pulled out was the fat man's heart. No, he thought, That's not possible! It can't really be…his heart?!!

Then the creature crushed the heart right in its claws. Afterwards, the man's body started dissolving into thin air as the creature disappeared in a flash of darkness. Sean just couldn't believe what he just saw.

Then all of a sudden, the same shadow creatures from earlier emerged from the ground around Sean. "Augh! It's those creatures from Forest Hill!" Sean exclaimed as he pulled out and readied his Keyblade.

Suddenly, a large figure dropped down in front of Sean. He couldn't exactly see who it was, though, as it was running around smacking the creatures with its sharp claws. They were all defeated rather quickly, and the figure even lunged over Sean's head at a shadow creature that was about to pounce on him.

Recovering from the quick and chaotic fight, Sean finally saw what the mysterious figure looked like. At first it looked like some sort of wolf, but it then morphed into a muscular man as it stood back up. He had straight grayish-brown hair and was completely barefoot. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a faux fur collar and belt; the jacket was torn up on the right arm. And he was also wearing blue jeans that were torn up on the left leg, as well as on the behind.

"Uh, thanks," Sean said to the man. Without turning, the man said, "They'll keep on coming at you out of nowhere." "Huh?" Sean said, perplexed by those words. "And they'll attack you without warning," the man continued as he glanced back at Sean with a rather serious expression, "as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sean inquired. "Never mind," the man said as he finally turned around. Walking forward, he continued, "Now, let's take a look at that Keyblade."

"What if I say you can't?" Sean asked as he readied the weapon. The man stopped walking, but he didn't look fazed at all. "Fine," he said, "Then have it YOUR way."

Sean then witnessed the man transforming right in front of him. The man's bare hands turned into furry grayish paws with sharp claws. His feet stretched and also grew claws as a long tail emerged from a rip in the back of his jeans. He grew bigger as his human face turned into a wolf face and his body covered itself in grayish fur. His ears became pointed and he formed a snout with a big black nose on the end. After transforming, the wolf-man bared his claws and snarled, ready to attack.

The wolf-man lunged right at Sean. Sean held the Keyblade up to his face to block the assault, but the force of it threw him right against the District entrance door. "I'm sorry," said the wolf-man as he pressed against Sean's chest, "But I'm afraid you'll have to come with me." "Not a chance!" Sean exclaimed as he pushed the wolf-man away and rolled away. The wolf-man lunged again, but Sean swung the Keyblade just in time to deal a solid hit. He ran back up to the wolf-man to deal more hits, but the wolf-man quickly recovered and delivered a blow with his claws. He lunged once again, and wrestled with Sean on the walkway.

The wolf-man grabbed Sean's arm to prevent him from swinging the Keyblade. Sean was struggling to resist the grip, as it was so strong. They rolled and attacked each other on the walkway as Sean tried swinging the blade, but he was losing his strength. They stopped rolling, and the wolf-man tried to attack Sean with his fangs. But Sean butted him with his head, which took the claws off his arm long enough to deliver a solid hit. The wolf-man was blown backwards right into the walkway's railing. As Sean stood back up, the wolf-man transformed back into his human form as he tried to recover from the beating.

Out of breath and with his strength fading, Sean said, "…Ha! How's…How's that?!? Now…Now you're gonna…Gonna…" Then he fainted backwards from exhaustion. As the man finally got back up, a female voice came from behind him, "Great job, Claw. You found him!"

Claw looked behind him to see a green and blue female dragon. She had pronounced round cheeks, flat pointy ears, a thin roundish snout, small head spikes, and small wings. She was wearing a white top with brown belts going down her chest and across her sleeves, as well as smaller orange belts crossing across the chest. She also had on brown pants without legs, and with another belt going down her pelvis.

"But I have to admit you are getting a little rusty," the dragon said to Claw. Looking at the passed-out Sean, Claw assured, "I went easy on him."

Claw spoke again, "Looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse."

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In an isolated alley next to the hotel, Rob, Hobbes, and Cody looked around as they walked down. "Uh, guys?" Rob said to the others, "I…don't think Claw is here. Besides…It's pretty dang creepy here."

"But if we don't look here," Hobbes responded, looking back at Rob, "We won't have one more area to check off our list." "List of what?," Rob expressed. "Huge, creepy places covered in cold, dark metal?? We should look somewhere else. You know, somewhere that WON'T give me the heebie-jeebies!"

"Uh, excuse me," a soft voice came from behind Rob. After doing a double take, Rob rocketed into the air and landed right on Cody. "Augh! We're dead, we're done for, we're kaput!" Rob spouted out as he latched onto Cody.

Hobbes spun around, slightly annoyed at Rob. "Rob," he said, "Will you calm down? We're just –" He stopped as Cody and Rob turned around as well to see a tigress behind them.

She had a long body, her front legs decorated with skinny bracelets. She was wearing a purplish collar as well as a pair of crystal earrings, but nothing else. She was on all fours, had a short roundish snout, short ears, long tufts of white hair on the sides of her head, beautiful brown eyes, and a white underside.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for sneaking up on you like this," the tiger said. "Yeah, you should be!" Rob exclaimed, "You practically gave me a conniption!"

"Oh, pay no attention to Rob here," Hobbes said, pointing to the snake. Meanwhile, Cody was looking at her with wide-eyed amazement. "Anyway, what do you want?" Hobbes asked her.

"My name is Tara," the tiger said. "I came because I heard Lord Storm sent you. Would you mind coming with me, please?"