"MOKO TAKABISHA!" Ranma yelled, cupping his hands and throwing his signature ki attack at the Heartless.

"CRITICAl STRIKE!" Liomon shouted, crunching a hapless Soldier between his jaws, making it evaporate into darkness and a lone heart that soared away before it dissolved into nothingness.

Akane finished the last of the Heartless with a powerful strike of her Keyblade.

Ranma wiped his hands. "Piece of cake," he grinned.

"Well done, Liomon!" Kasumi said to her partner.

Akane pointed her Keyblade at Creeper. "Now, what was that about taking us to your king?"

Creeper was furious. "The Horned King will make you pay," he hissed, then he turned around and ran away.

"Hey, not so fast!" Ranma shouted, and together, they ran after him.

But just when they thought they could catch up with him, they saw him jumping on the back of a slightly bigger, winged Heartless that resembled a small dragon of some kind.

They could hear his cackling laughter, while the Wyvern carried him away.

"Nuts, too late!" Liomon growled.

Akane groaned. "Why is it that all the bad guys we meet always run away?" she asked.

"Don't you worry, Akane, they have a tendency of doing that," Ranma pointed out. "I've gotten used to that by now. In the end, they all get what they deserve, so don't let it bother you."

"Well, at least we have learned a few things about this world," Akane then said. "The Heartless have already appeared here, this so-called 'Horned King' is bad news, and he and his lackeys already have control over the Heartless. But what is that 'Black Cauldron' he was talking about?"

"Sounds like some magical thing," Ranma assumed. "Too bad the old ghoul's not here, or else we could have asked her. Wait, did I say too bad? Of course I mean: Thank goodness!"

"I doubt Cologne would be able to help us," Kasumi spoke up. "After all, she has never been on this world before and therefore wouldn't know anything about it."

"Um, hello?" Akane asked. "Do we even have to bother? I mean, this clearly isn't the world we are looking for. I think Cait Sith would have informed us about any 'Horned King', don't you agree? I suggest we just go back to the Evangelion and try the next world."

"You have a point there," Leormon said, after digivolving back from Liomon. "After all, if he's really the king, it's not like we could do anything against him."

"It's settled, then," Akane nodded. "Let's go back, maybe Nabiki is already finished with her 'experiments'..."

Ranma pouted. "Too bad..." he grumbled. "I was hoping I could beat up some bad guys again..." Reluctantly, he followed the two girls and the lion Digimon.

"Oh, I have the feeling there will be many chances for you to do that, Ranma-kun!" Kasumi smiled.

Suddenly, Akane stopped. "Wait a minute..." she whispered. "Did you hear that?"

Kasumi and Ranma listened. "I can't hear anything," Ranma admitted.

"I hear it as well..." Leormon growled. "Up ahead, in the shrubbery..."

"More Heartless?" Kasumi wondered.

And then, a fuzzy blur came leaping out of the shrubs, clinging tightly to Akane.

"GAH!" Akane yelped as she felt furry hands groping around her clothes. "Gedditoff! Gedditoff!"

"Ooooh, what have we here?" a gleeful voice shouted while reaching into her pockets. "Munchings and crunchings for poor, starved Gurgi! What a joyous day..."

"Hey, get off her!" Ranma shouted, while raising his fist. Besides him, Leormon bared his fangs.

"Hold on, you two!" Kasumi said. "I don't think he's evil..."

"Well, yeah, then he should stop climbing all over my body!" Akane yelled. Finally, she managed to take the furry, little critter's arms and pulled him off her body. "Hey, you! What's the big idea?"

The little, kobold-like creature smiled in triumph and raised the little item it had pilfered from Akane's pocket high above his head. "A tasty cookie! How nice of the cute girl to give Gurgi his munchings and crunchings!"

"Hey, that's mine!" Akane protested. "I made those myself, and I need them as provisions, so give it back!"

Gurgi clutched the cookie close to his furry chest. "No, that belongs to Gurgi now!"

"Um, you really DON'T want to eat that, you know?" Ranma spoke up. It didn't feel right to him if the small, cute-looking creature would have to suffer from Akane's cooking.

"How about this," Kasumi suggested while approaching Gurgi. "You give that back to Akane, and we'll give you something nice to eat when we get back to my sister Nabiki. How does that sound?"

Gurgi was a bit uncertain, but the charming smile of the human girl in front of him made him surrender pretty quickly.

"Okay, Gurgi agrees," he said and gave Akane back the cookie. "Gurgi is sorry for taking away your munchings and crunchings..."

"Well, I certainly hope so," Akane huffed, accepted the cookie and took a big bite herself.

Shortly afterwards, her face turned green and she ran into the bushes.

"Excuse me..." she muttered. Seconds later, they all could hear sounds of puking and vomiting.

Kasumi sighed. "Poor Akane... I certainly hope she'll learn how to cook one of these days..."

Gurgi suddenly felt as if he had barely managed to avoid a gruesome fate.

Suddenly, a loud, inhuman screech made them all jump in surprise. A sharp squeal followed quickly.

"What... what was that?" Leormon gasped.

"It's coming from over there," Ranma shouted. "Yo, Akane, it's time to go!"

"Just... give me... a second here..." the Keyblade Mistress gasped while she came stumbling out of the bushes, pale as a sheet.

"Gurgi, hurry up!" Kasumi said and picked the little guy off the ground.

"N-n-no..." Gurgi protested. "Evil screams... bad sign... Gurgi no wanna go..."

Together, they followed the loud screeches and squeals.

"NO!" a voice in front of them shouted. "NO, COME BACK, PLEASE! NO!"

"Sounds like someone's in trouble," Leormon pointed out.

"Oh no, is that great prince Gurgi met earlier?" Gurgi asked in a worried tone of voice while being carried by Kasumi.

They reached the edge of the forest and saw how a young, human lad in peasant's clothing was frantically running after a pair of flying Heartless, the very same ones Cribble had been riding on earlier. One of the Wyverns was holding a struggling and squealing form in his claws.

"No, come back!" the boy shouted. "Come back!"

"Hey, you, hold up!" Ranma shouted. When the other boy didn't reply, he just ran after him.

"What's wrong with him?" Akane wondered. "Why is he running after those Heartless?"

"Gurgi met generous prince in forest, shortly before he met nice girl..." He smiled up at Kasumi. "Asked Gurgi if he had seen his piggy, but Gurgi could not help him..."

"A... pig?" Ranma suddenly had to think of Ryoga. "Is that what the Heartless are carrying?"

"Why would the Heartless be after a pig?" Akane wondered.

They caught up to the young boy at the foot of a huge, towering mountain... with a menacing-looking castle on its top. The two Wyverns had vanished inside, along with their prey.

"Hen Wen..." he murmured. "I have to get her out of there..."

"Hey, you!" Ranma said when they arrived next to him. "What are you doing? Those Heartless are dangerous."

"Yes, and you don't even have a weapon," Akane pointed out.

"But... but Hen Wen!" the boy protested. "They've got Hen Wen! I have to save her..."

"Oh no," Gurgi gasped. "Great Lord not go in there, forget the piggy!"

A dark frown appeared on the boy's face. "What, you again?"

Gurgi smiled. "Gurgi come back to be your friend."

"Friend? You're no friend? Why did you run away when..."

"Wait a minute... maybe we can help you," Ranma offered.

Akane looked up at her fiance in surprise. "We can?"

Ranma smiled. "Yup, it's a martial artist's duty..."

"... to help those in need, yeah, I heard that somewhere before," Akane sighed. "Oh well, I guess we can help him, but... what is this place anyway?"

"The Horned King's castle..." the youngster murmured.

Akane sighed. "Why am I not surprised? Okay, and why would he want to steal your pig away from you? I doubt he's like Azusa..."

"Like who?" the boy asked.

"Long story..." Akane said. "But wait, before you say anything, maybe we should know each other's names. I'm Akane Tendo, and this are my sister Kasumi, her partner Leormon, and my fiance Ranma Saotome."

"Um, I'm Taran... and, well... there's a very good reason for why the Horned King would kidnap Hen Wen."

"And that would be?"

"Well, you know, Dallben, my guardian, told me about this Black Cauldron..."

In the large dining hall of his castle, the Horned King was sitting on his throne. All around him, the lifeless skeletons of dead men were lying and hanging from the walls.

"Oh, yes..." the Horned King began to mumble in his dark voice. "Yes, my soldiers. Soon the Black Cauldron will be mine. It's evil power will flow through my veins, and I, shall make you CAULDRON-BORN! Yes! YES! Oh, yes! Then you will worship ME! Me. Oh, my soldiers, how long I have thirsted to be the God, among mortal men..."

He then let his gaze sweep across the Heartless in front of him, all of which had once been his loyal followers. "You might be better soldiers than my old henchmen, but I need more than that... I need immortal soldiers who will be as loyal to me as are you. And the cauldron-born... will be just that."

Riku took a bite of the okonomiyaki. He then smiled up at Ukyo. "This is really good!"

She blushed. "Th-thank you..." she murmured. 'Dangit,' she thought. 'He's cute as heck, and he's not Ranma...'

Seeing that Riku had finished his first serving, she stammered: "W-w-would you like to have one more?"

He nodded. "Yes, please!"

"Right away, Riku-kun!" she blurted out before running back to her grill.

'Riku-kun?' she wondered. 'Where did that come from?'

Konatsu watched with envy how his mistress was scampering around the restaurant, trying to make the new customer's life as pleasant as possible. He knew it was Ukyo's own decision who she chose, but... he wished she would make up her mind for once. First it was Ranma, now it was this guy...

If only he wasn't so handsome...

When Ukyo returned with the next okonomiyaki and put it in front of Riku, the white-haired boy decided it was time to ask her.

"Say, Ukyo..." he began.

"Y-yes?" Ukyo asked.

"I was wondering... those 'Sailor Senshi' everyone talks about... do you know where I can find them?"

'Huh?' Ukyo wondered. 'Why would he want to know where the Senshi are?'

Riku leaned back in his chair. "Well, it's like this... I was always a HUGE fan of them, but I never had the chance to see them. So, I would be very thankful if you could help me further..."

One look into his icy blue eyes, and Ukyo couldn't resist. "Th-they usually have been spotted in Juuban," she murmured. "That's where most of the monsters they are fighting appear..."

Riku smiled. 'Bingo!' he thought. 'Maleficent was right... say the right stuff to a girl, and she's willing to tell you anything you wan to know.'

"Then I will go there... as soon as I've finished this DELICIOUS oko... onoko..."

"Okonomiyaki!" Ukyo quickly said.

Riku nodded and took another bite. Damn, this stuff sure was good. He wondered how it would taste with Paopu fruits...

He blinked in surprise, when suddenly, the restaurant's front door was slammed open, and a buxom, young woman with lavender hair came storming in.

"Spatula girl!" she shouted. "Where is Airen?"

Ukyo glowered. "First of all, Ranma is NOT your 'Airen'... and second, what do you think you're doing? Don't you see I have a customer?"

"Airen, violent girl, nice girl and mercenary girl are gone! Panda-man and violent girl's father no know where they can be. You not worried?"

"Hey, if they are with Ranma, they'll be fine," Ukyo grumbled. "Now could you PLEASE stop making a scene in my restaurant?"

Shampoo was surprised. "Ukyo NOT worry about Ranma being together with Akane?" She felt the young chef's forehead. "Is you sick?"

Ukyo angrily brushed her off. "I'm NOT sick, you... look, can't we take this outside?"

Riku stood up. "I was going to leave anyways..."

"What?" Ukyo asked in surprise. "No, please stay, you haven't even tried my shrimp okonomiyaki yet..."

"AH-HAH!" Shampoo shouted and pointed her finger at Ukyo's face. "Spatula girl has NEW boyfriend, right? Ranma and ninja-boy aren't enough for you, so now you also try white-haired boy?"

Konatsu blushed. "Please, Shampoo-san, don't bring me into this..."

Ukyo glared at her rival fiancee. "How DARE you? Ranma is the only one for me! Riku is nothing but a friendly customer, and Konatsu... well, he is just my friend."

'JUST her friend...' Konatsu thought to himself again and again. 'JUST her friend... JUST her friend...'

He averted his eyes from the scene and ran out of the room. UKyo was surprised. "K-konatsu?"

Riku sweatdropped. He really didn't want to get involved with those girls' love affairs, so he decided to leave... only to be grabbed by Shampoo by his shirt.

"You think Shampoo is blind?" the amazon shouted at Ukyo and gestured at Riku's face. "Spatula girl went all gaga over white-haired boy... not that Shampoo blames you, he is quite handsome... but if you not want Ranma anymore, you should have said so."

"He is NOT my boyfriend, dammit!" Ukyo yelled. "Now let go of him already!"

Riku looked down at Shampoo's hand. "Would you kindly remove your hand?" he asked angrily.

Shampoo didn't listen. "If you want white-haired boy, fine, Shampoo will have Ranma!" She smirked. "I mean, he IS cutie, isn't he? Those eyes... those muscles..." She poked the ex-Keyblade master in the ribs. "Nothing like Ranma of course, but still quite the catch..."

Riku reached out with his right hand and grasped Shampoo's wrist. "I warned you!" he stated.

Shampoo glared. "You let go of Shampoo, or she..."

With a powerful move, Riku threw the amazon across the room. Ukyo gasped when she saw Shampoo soaring past her.

The amazon curled up her body in mid-air and landed on her feet. Out of nowhere, her bonbori appeared in her hands. "If you want a fight, white-haired boy, you got one!"

With a sudden burst of darkness, Riku's Soul Eater blade appeared in his hands. "I have no time to play with little girls, but if you insist..." he grumbled.

"Shampoo is strong amazon warrior, and she will beat you!"

"HEY! Can you please stop fighting in my restaurant?" Ukyo yelled.

They ignored her. Shampoo leapt at Riku, bringing down her bonbori. Riku blocked the attack with the Soul Eater and slashed at her. Shampoo dodged, but he still managed to slice up part of her Chinese dress.

'He's good...' Shampoo thought. 'But not as good as Ranma.'

"Shampoo beat you now," she said and threw one of her bonbori at him.

Riku simply knocked it away and held out his left hand. 'Time to try out this new trick Maleficent taught me...' he thought.

A sphere of dark energy was focussed in the middle of his palm.

"Dark Firaga!" he shouted and fired it at Shampoo. The amazon warrior gasped and tried to block it with her remaining bonbori, but the dark fire flew past her weapon and hit her in the chest. Shampoo cried out from the burning sensation and was knocked back from the force of the blast. She was thrown in-between several chairs, which collapsed on top of her.

Riku lowered his hand. "That's what you get for meddling with the wrong people... little girl!"

Shampoo struggled to get back up, but failed miserably. The darkness made her feel weak and feeble.

Riku let his Soul Eater vanish and glared at her. "The next time you decide to pick a fight, try to take one who's not out of your league!" And with those words, he turned around and left the restaurant.

Ukyo's heart fluttered when she saw him strutting out of her restaurant. 'He... he looked so awesome...' she thought. 'So brave...'

She then gave herself a few knocks on the head. 'Get a grip, girl! Ranma's the only one for you, got it?'

Shampoo, in the meantime, had managed to slowly climb back to her feet. She also looked after the white-haired warrior who had just walked out of the door.

'He... he beat me in combat...' she thought. 'He is strong... just like Ranma...'

"Airen..." she whispered. "Wo ai ni."

When Riku was walking down the street, he realized that he had forgotten to ask the female chef for the directions to Juuban.

"Well, whatever," he grumbled. "I can still ask someone else."

At least he had the chance to unwind a little. It was interesting to see that many people in this world seemed to be so powerful...

Suddenly, a metal chain was wrapped around his upper body, keeping him from walking on. He looked around and saw a young man in a white robe with long, wide sleeves. The metal chain was coming out of one of those sleeves.

"How dare you beat up my Shampoo?" Mousse yelled. "She is mine and mine alone! Do you get that, Saotome?"

Riku frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"DIE, RANMA!" Mousse yelled as he threw a training potty at Riku's head. Riku shrugged, twirled around, jumped up into the air and kicked the duck-shaped pot back at the nearly-blind master of hidden weapons.

Mousse dodged his own projectile, and it slammed into the asphalt. "You are good, Saotome, but not good enough to escape my wrath! Now, away with you!" He pulled at the chain with all his might and twirled it around his body, Riku with it.

Riku grimaced and tried to struggle free. When that didn't work, he tried to summon his Soul Eater, so he could slash these chains apart... but a sudden attack of nausea made it hard to concentrate...

Mousse yelled and yanked his arm upwards... Riku got propelled up into the air, the chains unwrapped themselves from his body, and he flew high above the rooftops of Nerima...

...until he crash-landed on a certain roof, broke through, and landed on something soft.

He coughed a few times, then he tried to get his bearings.

"Well, good thing this bed was here to cushion my fall..." he muttered to himself. It was a very soft bed, even if it was a bit too pink... and those frills weren't quite his taste either. And those stuffed animals...

"Awww, how nice! Are you a present of Mikado?"

Riku blinked and saw the girl with the pink dress who had just entered the room. "Huh...?"

Azusa Shiratori smiled. "This is the first time a cute boy willingly came into Azusa's room. And even in my bed... naughty, naughty..."

Riku sweatdropped. "Listen, this is just a misunderstanding, I only want to..."

"Come to Azusa, little Claude!" the kleptomaniac shouted as she leapt at him, a pink collar in her hands.

All Riku could do was gulp and think to himself:

'Mommy...'