A Noble Heart Restoration

by Matfix

The Restoration of Makoko Gunsou's Story A noble Heart the first 30 chapters belong to her.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 7: Double D-World II-Nottingham-Part I

In a clearing deep in the midst of a very green and healthy forest, there are two 'men'. Technically speaking, one's a big, robust bear who was wearing a rather lacy apron and the other's a quick-witted and clever fox who isn't being quick-witted and clever fox at that moment in time; he's stirring the stew in a pot from a sitting position, his head propped up against a stone, daydreaming and humming.

"La, da, di, da, da, da, di, dum. Da, da, hm, hm, hm, hm…" He had a very droopy and lazy look in his eyes.

"Hey lover boy, how's that grub coming? Man, I'm starved," the big bear made an attempt at getting the fox to pay attention to what he was doing as he hung the laundry up on the tree branch to dry.

"Hm, hm, hm, da, da, dee…" the fox was humming mechanically.

"Rob?" the bear tried to get his attention, a futile attempt.

"Hm, hm, hm…"

"Robin?"

"Hm, hm, hm…" the fox, apparently named Robin, did not hear him.

"Robaire, hey!" the bear yelled out in exasperation from behind a cloth.

"What? What did you say?" Robin asked, barely surprised by the exclamation.

"Ah forget it. Your mind's not on food," the bear, who was called Little John, waved the matter aside. "You're thinking about somebody with long eyelashes. You're smelling that sweet perfume-" he sniffed the air suspiciously, as a horrible smell drifted by his nose.

At that moment the pot began the boil over frantically and black smoke billowed from the great maw of the pot.

"Hey, whoa, it's boiling over," Robin stepped backwards in surprise.

Little John exclaimed, "You're burning the chow!" rushed at the pot and flapped away the smoke with a cloth.

Robin shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, Johnny, I was thinking about Maid Marian again. I can't help it. I love her, Johnny."

Little John, putting the pot on the stone to cool and dumping ladlefuls of water in, said straight to the point, "Hey, look, why don't you stop mooning and moping around? Just marry the girl."

Robin whirled on him. "Marry her? You don't just walk up to a girl under a bookcase and say, 'Remember me? We were kids together, will you marry me?' No it isn't just done that way."

Little John, slightly rolling his eyes, countered, "Oh, come on Robby. Climb the castle walls. Sweep her off her feet. Carry her out in style." He scooped up some chow in the ladle, stared at the wilted carrot hanging from it in disgust, and flung it away.

Robin, shaking his head, sighed, "It's no use Johnny. As I told you it just wouldn't work. Besides, what can I offer her?"

Little John began to tick off what Robin Hood couldn't do on his fingers. "Well, for one, you can't cook." He sniffed the food and his nose crinkled up instantaneously.

Robin sighed as he headed to the tree to finish putting up the laundry, "I'm serious. She's a highborn lady of quality."

Little John shrugged. "So she's got class. So what?"

As Friar Tuck approached, Robin Hood, now the one exasperated, explained, "I'm an outlaw. That's what. That's no life for a lovely lady, always on the run kind of a future is that?"

Robin Hood was unaware of Friar Tuck when the fat friar literally shrilled into his ear, "For heaven's sake, son! You're not an outlaw! Why, someday you'll be called a hero!"

Robin Hood jumped back in surprise, then laughter crept up his face as the friar's words registered in his mind.

"A hero?" Robin Hood laughed; in fact, he laughed so hard, he stumbled backwards and fell into the now-empty laundry basket. "Do you hear that Johnny? We've just been pardoned."

Little John chuckled over the pot of stew. "Ho, ho, that's a gas. We ain't been arrested yet."

While the two laughed it off, Friar Tuck shook his head, and headed for the previously burning pot of stew, saying, "All right. Laugh you rogues, but there's going to be a big to-do in Nottingham-" he tasted the burnt stew "-Well-done, ain't it?-" he coughed out smoke circles, tears streaming out of his eyes "- Old Prince John's having a championship archery tournament tomorrow."

Both perked up at this bit of news.

"Archery tournament? Rob could win that standing on his head, eh Rob?" Little John stated proudly about his partner. Robin Hood bowed to the compliment.

"Thank you Little John, but-" he wilted "-I'm sure we're not invited." Robin Hood sighed.

Friar Tuck, still testing the stew (maybe he's just eating it for free), stated boldly, "No, but there's somebody who'll be very disappointed if you don't come."

Laughing, Little John said, "Yeah. Old Bushel Britches-the Honorable Sheriff of Nottingham."

"No," Friar Tuck countered quickly. "Maid Marian."

Robin Hood perked up once more. "Maid Marian?"

Friar Tuck ladled up more stew. "Yeah. She's going to give a kiss to the winner!" He began to laugh again.

Robin Hood had a very 'evil' look on his face. "A kiss to the winner? Oo-de-lolly! Come on Johnny! What are we waiting for?" He cartwheeled about with exuberance.

Little John had a rather sour look on his face. "Wait a minute, Rob. That place will be crawling with soldiers."

Robin Hood, decked out with a full quiver of arrows and a rather long longbow, jumped up on the log table in the clearing and cried out, "Aha! But remember, faint hearts never won fair lady. Fear not my friends. This will be by greatest performance!"

He was very Shakespearean about it.

As the two bounded off to prepare for the archery tournament, Friar Tuck sighed and placed the ladle back in the pot. He then looked up at the sky, as though he was waiting for a sign. Presently, something shot across the sky. With a shake of his head in denial that he saw a shooting star during the day, he disappeared into the greenery of Sherwood Forest as well.

-

We now see a gummi ship land in a clear part of Sherwood Forest. And inside the gummi ship were Double D, Ami, Usagi, Mamoru, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. They were debating on who should come or not until they came to a temporary conclusion; Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy would all go to this world while Usagi, Mamoru and Mickey were left to guard the Gummi Ship. But Double D and company could not go without a walkie-talkie like device that they put around their wrists, so that they could communicate with each other.

Soon the two teens, the duck and the dog got out of the gummi ship and stepped out onto the new world.

Double D and Ami both made a deep sigh, "I've never thought I would get out of there," Double D stated.

"Oh come now Double D; it wasn't that bad," Donald responded to Double D's statement, "It was only two days."

"… Yeah, I guess you're right," Double D said, "Let's get going."

"Right," Ami chirped as she started to walk in one direction, only to be stopped by Double D, "What?"

"Ami, where did you think you were going?" he asked with slight amusement, "We have to decide on which direction we need to go."

Ami just blushed a little in her cheeks in embarrassment, "Oh, sorry! I-I was thinking right for a second."

"So, which way do we go first?" Goofy asked.

Suddenly, they hear trumpets out in the distance, signaling that something was going on.

"Maybe we should head that way?" Donald stated as everyone nodded their heads in approval.

They all then walked in the direction of the trumpets. It took them five minutes to arrive to their location. It looked like a medieval festival of some sort with tents and people in assorted medieval clothing. Weird thing was that the people weren't actually people, but they were, in fact, random animals.

"What-"Ami started to say, "They're all animals?"

"Hmm…"Double D muttered to himself, as if he were thinking hard about something, "We can't go out there; it looks like Ami and I are the only humans here," Double D said to everyone, "We just can't go waltzing into this place without some sort of disguise."

"No problem there, Double D!" Donald said as he got out his staff, "I can make you two into animals!"

But before Double D and Ami could respond, there was a flash of light that surrounds the two teens as they felt themselves change. And when the light disappeared, they were both the same animal with different fur, both still in their original clothes. Double D was now a red fox (AN: Like Robin Hood), he still wore his traditional sockhat. Ami was also a fox (a vixen, in this case), but with artic blue fur instead of just white.

"Wow, neat!" Ami muttered. Double D was practically speechless over his transformation.

"Can we get going now?" asked Goofy

The others nod their heads as they walk out from the woods and went into the festival. There they learned from the people that an archery contest was taking place. And the prize was to win a kiss from Maid Marian, a vixen that is a niece to King Richard.

Over the next hour was very entertaining to watch. And it came down to a fat wolf, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and a very tall, cloaked stork, whose name was still unknown to everyone. The stork won with an amazing shot with the help of two arrows. Everyone applauded for the stork, even Main Marian, as he came up to the royal box that was set up for Prince John, a lion wearing a crown on his head. Rhinos soon surrounded the throne, preventing anyone to see anything.

"… Aha," the lion's voice was saying to the stork at the stairs to the royal box, holding out his 'ceremony sword' out, "And now, I name you the winner, or more appropriately…"

Meanwhile, while a commotion was starting to happen at the royal box, Double D, who was in the back of the crowd, suddenly became aware of a presence behind him.

"Your Highness, look what I got me here," the Sheriff boomed out and took a hold of Double D left shoulder, "I've found me a Robin Hood look-a-like!"

"Ahh, why are you-?" Double D started to say but went silent quickly when he was pushed into the spotlight and was now face to face with 'Your Majesty'.

He also noticed a red fox that looked like him, all chained up. He was being held prisoner? And where was that stork from before? Unless… the fox was the stork!

"Aha! This is wonderful, as wonderful!" Prince John clapped eagerly, "Perfect! Now we have more heads to get off with!"

Double D widens his eyes; his head was coming off? Why?

Meanwhile, Ami, Donald and Goofy were going hysterical on the sideline; Double D was going to be executed if they didn't do something now! Suddenly, Ami came up with an idea; it had to work!

And back with Double D, he learned that the red fox that looked like him was named Robin Hood. Then a vixen that was sitting beside Prince John came up beside him, hugging him. Double D looked at the couple with sadness expressed in his eyes; what was the fox being executed for?

"You're taking off his head too, Your Highness?" the Sheriff asked about Double D, "Why him?"

"Because Sheriff," Prince John said with an evil smirk, "I know his true form is not just a Robin Hood look-a-like…" he then pointed to Double D and his sockhat, "But he is a Keyblade Master. I knew he would come here sooner or later."

Double D gasped; Prince John could see that he was a Keyblade Master. But why would he want to execute him? Unless… Then a feeling of anger washed over him, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," Prince John started to say, "You're a universal criminal."

"Criminal?" Double D yelped, "I'm a criminal? Who says?"

"I say so," Prince John snapped back, "And as long as this crown sits on my head; I make the decisions!"

"That crown belongs to King Richard!" Robin shouted out at the top of his lungs in bold protest, "Long live King Richard!"

The growing number of spectators reported back, "Long live King Richard!"

"King Richard…" Double D rolled the name on his tongue. What had he done to King Richard to gain that crown?

"Enough! I am King!" Prince John was throwing a terrible fit, stomping on his seat furiously, "King! King! Off with their heads!"

"What-?"

The Sheriff seemed to have made some movement of some sort because immediately, several rhinos detached themselves and came over with an iron collar and a long piece of rope. Before Double D could react, the Sheriff had him by both and he fought helplessly as he was roped up, his neck was stuck in an iron collar. Goofy looked horrified and Donald was shouting out something, but he couldn't tell what it was.

And where was Ami?

"Oh no…" Marian muttered.

Double D saw Robin give him a determined stare. Then Robin looked behind him and Double D followed his gaze, finding himself starting at a huge rhino with a black hood and, to his horror, a huge axe, newly sharpened and polished. It was the executioner.

"Stop! Executioner, stop! Hold your axe!" everybody turned their heads to Prince John, stupefied by his statement.

Prince John looked like he was struggling against something that held his neck or head. With a horrified look on his face he squealed out, "Eeek! Sheriff, release my buddy and that- I-I mean, release the prisoners!"

The Sheriff was beyond stupefied, "Untie the prisoner?"

The white hen got all bossy, "You heard what he said, Bushel Britches."

Prince John, still struggling against the unknown force gripping his neck, chocked out, "Sheriff, I make the rules, and since I'm the head man-" suddenly he whispered to something behind him, then turned back to the Sheriff, "- Let them go! For heaven's sake, let them go!"

The Sheriff, being extremely hesitant and confused the entire way, sliced the bindings off Robin Hood and Double D, and then undid the iron collars around their necks. As soon as Robin was released, Marian rushed to him while the white hen cheered at the top of her lungs, "Yeehee! Love conquers all!"

Robin and Marian were holding hands, "I owe my life to you my darling."

"I couldn't have lived without you, Robin," Marian whispered back as they embraced each other.

Double D was shaking the kinks out of his arms while the Sheriff, muttering, "Something funny is going on here," disappearing behind the royal box.

Within ten seconds, Double D heard the Sheriff growling out, "Why you little…" Goofy yelping, "Look out Ami!" and Ami screaming out in terror.

Everyone froze at the sound of the scream from behind the royal box and Prince John quickly rose up, bothered by that mysterious restraint, and shouted, "Kill them! Don't just stand there; kill them!"

Then the massive bear from before came forward to fight. Robin Hood quickly flashed out a sword and Lady Kluck ordered Maid Marian, "Run for it, lassie. This is no place for a lady."

Maid Marian backed away as a battle began to ensure. A rooster with a mandolin and a monk came about to do battle while Goofy and Donald joined the fray. Double D called the Starblade to his hand and maneuvered carefully around the rhino guards, knowing that they did have brute strength, which he defiantly did not have.

Prince John used the ceremonial sword to try and stab Robin Hood by the back when the fox backed up. Robin Hood, catching the flash of metal, whirled around and flipped the sword out of Prince John's hand. Prince John cries out in fear, "Don't hurt me! Help! Help!"

While Double D took a quick breather from trying to get out of the fray of rhinos and weasels, the lion crawled away frantically, falling out of the royal box unceremoniously, the crying out, "Kill them!"

He pointed at both Double D and Robin Hood.

Lady Kluck ducked the Sheriff. It was a short match. The white hen jabbed the Sheriff with a very interesting golden arrow. When he rushed her, she easily flipped him on his stomach and shouted, "Take that you scoundrel!" She then rushed off to battle some more.

Double D approved her actions. He also warned himself not to get the white hem mad at any moment in time.

"Help! Robin, help!" Main Marian panicked; she was surrounded by the fighting.

Robin, grabbing hold of the end of a banner, swung down from the top of a stand, grabbed her and they swung into the throne of the royal box. With Maid Marian on his right, he fought off three weasels on his left.

"Marian, madam, will you marry me?" he asked as he tipped the chair over.

"Darling, I thought you'd never ask me," Maid Marian gave him her heartfelt reply, "But you could've chosen a more romantic setting."

"And for our honeymoon… London," Robin added as he fought off more weasels.

Little John, Robin Hood's partner in crime (AN: Who just so happens to be a brown bear… duh), was having the time of his life. He fought a horde of rhinos, eventually shoving them all into a yellow tent. He jumped in, stating, "Oh, what a main event this is. What a beautiful brawl."

From the other end of the tent, Lady Kluck rushed more rhinos in. She jumped in as well and the capacity limit forced Little John out. Furious that he was missing the brawl, he charged back in. Lady Kluck was kicked out on her face.

Furious, she jumped up, golden arrow in hand, and jabbed at a rhino's butt that stuck out of the tent. There was a huge explosion of pain and the tent rose up on multiple pairs of feet. It charged.

Civilians screamed and ran out of the way as the yellow tent rampaged across the tournament grounds.

"We'll have six children," Robin Hood told Maid Marian as he ducked under a weasel's swipe.

"Six? Oh a dozen at least!" Maid Marian retorted, then spotted a vulture, who was about to pull an arrow on Robin Hood, "Take that!" he started to say.

Quickly snatching of a nearby cherry pie from a not-yet-ruined stand, she slammed the pie into the vulture's face.

"Duck!" she suddenly heard a foreign, feminine voice shout out an order. She obeyed without hesitation.

Sparks and flashes of cold, white and blue lights flew above her head as she crouched down low. When she finally peeked up, she found herself staring at a vixen (AN: A younger one than she was) with blue fur and dark, blue eyes. She wore the most interesting clothing (AN: It was a sailor suit, which I do not think existed in that time period… it's Ami, if you're wondering).

"Be careful, there're Heartless here within the shadows."

"Huh?"

"Make sure that you and your loved ones are safe," with that said, she ran off into the battle up ahead.

"Marian, darling, what wrong?" Robin Hood asked, not seeing the blue vixen.

"She was warning us," Maid Marian murmured as he quickly led her away, "Robin, she told us to watch out for something in the shadows."

"Indeed," Robin Hood was puzzled at her comment.

Meanwhile, Little John found himself sitting on top of a charging tent full of rhinos. He exclaimed, "Hey, who's driving this flying umbrella?"

Then he saw that they were on a collision course with the stone tower with the two elephants. He scrambled off the 'flying umbrella' before the imminent collision brought down the tower.

In the middle of the melee, you could see Double D in the middle of it all, trying to get out of this huge mess. He was dodging sword-wielding weasels and axe-swinging rhinos as he was still searching.

"Double D!"

Double D whirled around and saw Ami, who had a terrible, rather indescribable expression on her face.

"Ami, what's wrong?" Double D asked worriedly as the female archer approached.

Without another word, Ami took Double D aside, dodging a diving weasel, then hissed, "The Heartless; they're here!"

Double D started at her, "What?"

"We have to get out of here," Ami explained, "They're going to expose themselves if we don't, and the results would be disastrous."

"Where are we going then?" Double D insisted as Donald and Goofy, scuffled up from the battle, quickly approached them.

"I've found a man named Friar Tuck. He says we can go with him," Ami quickly explained as the Double D, Donald and Goofy then followed Ami out of the tournament grounds into the dense woods nearby.

Not many yards away, several Heartless materialized from the shadows. These 'Archer' Heartless looked a lot like the Knight Heartless but wore archers hoods. Their left hands were replaced with bows and on their backs were a quiver of darkness made arrows. Anyway, they did not follow Double D and company, but instead spread out around the tournament grounds, scaring off any remaining citizens.

Prince John tried to scramble for the safety of a certain barrel of ale when he saw Robin Hood and Maid Marian making their escape.

"Stop the girl!" he shouted in hopes that someone would hear him.

To his bad luck, Lady Kluck heard him. She turned and whopped the Prince on the side of his head with the golden arrow, "Take that, you scurvy knave!"

"Seize the fat one!" Prince John, infuriated, ordered in a furious tone.

Several rhinos advanced on Lady Kluck. The white hen did not waste anytime and kicked up her engines into high gear, 'If Prince John wants me, his men had better catch me first!'

She then bolted through a huge stretch of open land, making way to the dark, cool depths of Sherwood Forest. The guards tried to jump her, snatching her, charging her, etc…

They all failed. She easily evaded them, then ducked as two rhino guards went for her at the same time but his each other instead. She then sped faster as the last of the spectators cheered her from the edge of Sherwood Forest. She pumped her fist up in the air, then managed to evade a rhino that had dived for her and nearly got her. Lady Kluck got away and the rhino slid across the grass, only to smash head-first into a boulder.

Lady Kluck was victorious! Standing at the very edge of Sherwood Forest, she cried, "Long live King Richard! Yahoo!"

At that moment, Little John, who had escaped the rampaging yellow 'flying umbrella' unharmed, appeared, snatched Lady Kluck and pulled her to safety as several arrows hit the trees, missing their mark.

Prince John was frustrated, furious, embarrassed and humiliated. He sniffed back tears, then wailed out furiously, "Hiss, you're never around when I need you!"

He had the incredible luck of being near a barrel of ale stopped with a cork. For inside the barrel, he heard a bubbly, inebriated voice saying, "Coming, coming…"

Prince John whipped out the cork and a very woozy, intoxicated Sir Hiss appeared, his eyes crossed-eyed and unfocused, "Ha, ha, for I'm a jolly good fellow. Hoo, hoo, hoo… Oh, there you are, old boy P.J.; you won't believe this but the stork is actually Robin Hood."

Prince John glared at him, then reached out with both hands and chocked the yellow-green snake, "Robin Hood! Ah! And a wretched Keyblade Master too!"

He yanked out Sir Hiss and knotted him on a pole. He stomped away, snapping, "Get out of that if you can!"

Prince John stomped off, only to be greeted by several Neo Shadows and Shadow Heartless.

"If you make a commotion for the people around here, you'll draw out Robin Hood," Prince John told the Heartless in front of him, "And now, most likely that Keyblade Master will be with him. Destroy them both."

The Heartless nodded their heads and warped to somewhere to cause chaos.

-

Robin Hood and Maid Marian strode through very ethereal scenery. Fireflies flew around them in the dusk sky and pink blossoms from the trees fell softly. They passed by a lake with lily pads, smiling, devouring each other with their eyes, in love with each other, now and forever.

Under a single tree near the lake, the lovers stopped. Robin very gently placed a ring of flowers on Marian's ring finger on her left hand. They smiled to one another and drifted onward, towards a waterfall. There, they disappeared underneath the waterfall and went down the passage way of rock to the other side…

Chapter 8: Double D-World II-Nottingham-Part II

"So what you're saying is, is that Prince John is in league with the Heartless?"

"That's right Goofy," Ami stated with a nod, "Or else why would he try to kill Double D?"

"Good question," Donald said.

Double D made a heavy sigh; this situation was getting more serious. They were all by the moonlit lake, discussing what to do next.

"Well, we have to look for the Keyhole," Double D said, "Not to mention that we have to help Robin Hood overthrow a phony tyrant."

"That's right," Ami stated, "I've already talked to Robin Hood and he said it would be fine for us to help out."

"Great," Donald said sarcastically under his breath.

"Aww, it won't be so bad Donald!" Goofy said, hearing his little sigh, "We'll be out of here in no time!"

(One Week Later…)

"How long have we been here?" Donald asked in a sort of bland tone.

"About a week," Little John replied absent-mindedly as he handled the cooking; he never really trusted Robin Hood again after a burning episode on the morning of the phony archery contest (AN: As you saw in the first part of Chapter 7 and/or if you've watched the movie).

"And what are you planning to do again?" Ami asked from her sitting position on the wooden table in the clearing.

"Get Friar Tuck and the others out of the prisons," Robin Hood answered as he continued to fetch new arrows.

In the week since Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy arrived; the Sheriff and Sir Hiss were caught singing Robin Hood and Little John's song about Prince John. It was learnt the people of England were singing it, and Prince John taxed everyone viciously. Most, if not all, could not pay up continuously and were thrown in jail.

Then, as if that weren't bad enough, Friar Tuck got thrown into jail for having a brawl with the Sheriff yesterday night. The two mouse residence of Friar Tuck's church rushed to Robin Hood with the news, and he went sneaking off to Prince John's castle to figure it all out himself later in the morning after it happened. He came rushing back that afternoon with the news that Prince John planned to have Friar Tuck hanged the next day for high treason.

-"We can't have that happen to him!" Little John was pacing after they got back, "That's impossible; he's our friend! Rob, we're gonna save him, right?"

"Right, but there will be more than guards there, John," Robin Hood replied as he was polishing his bow, "You guys know what I mean, right?"

He was referring to Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy.

"Yes, the Heartless," Double D answered to Robin.-

"Are you sure we can raid a castle?" Donald questioned to the other people later in the day, "We're here to find the Keyhole, remember?"

"Yeah but it's been taking days to find it!" Goofy said, "When will it show up?"

"…I think it will show up soon," Double D stated, "If I remember correctly, the Keyhole is at an important place in this world. And after we help Robin Hood, we'll go look around to find the Keyhole."

"Sounds good," Ami stated with a nod.

-

Meanwhile, in the castle's prison, we come upon a cell with only one individual inside, chained to the wall by chained iron rings on his wrists; it was Friar Tuck. He seemed to be sleeping at the moment…and dreaming strange dreams (AN: Let's take a look into his mind, shall we?).

He was in a very, very foggy area. It was also cold and rainy. When the fog started to clear, he was standing on a strange road not made in cobblestone that was a huge circle. Around him were huge, unusual-looking houses that looked like nothing he's ever seen in Nottingham, "W-What is this place?" he asked himself.

"This is where we live," said a sudden voice behind him as he turned around to see who said what.

A portal of darkness appeared as a person stepped out from the darkness. It was something Friar Tuck has never really seen before; it was a human figure, not an animal figure. He was dressed in a white cloak, hooded jacket.

"W-What are you?" Friar Tuck stuttered with fright, being that he's never seen a being quite like this.

Soon the being slowly took off his hood, revealing his face. It was Dox.

"I am a Lightheart," said the man, "And I have taken you to this place in you mind to tell you something; something important about-"

Suddenly, another portal of darkness appears beside the man as another person stepped out of the darkness. It was another human, but with a figure more fit for a woman than for a man. It was also cloaked in a white jacket with a hood over the face of the figure.

"… Oh!" the figure stated with a feminine voice, "Did I come at the right time?"

"…No," replied the man in a bland tone, "You're late again, like always."

The woman made a little giggle, "Sorry."

The man just shook his head in embarrassment, "Anyway…" he turned back to Friar Tuck, who was now beyond confused about everything and made a little cough, "My name is Dox, and this is Naux, my partner."

"We came to tell you that Robin Hood needs to be protected from the Heartless," Naux said.

"That's half right," Dox said, picking up on a note that Naux didn't say, "And Double D needs to also be protected."

"Double D?" questioned the friar, "I can understand why Robin Hood needs protection, but why Double D?"

"Double D is a Keyblade Master; the Starblade Master, to be exact," Naux explained, "He needs to seal the Keyhole in the church, or else…"

"…The world of Nottingham would fall into oblivion to the Heartless," Dox finished off with a bit of a sour note.

Friar Tuck widened his eyes, "But how do I tell them this? I'm in a jail cell."

"They'll come soon; Little John and the others," Naux said to him, "So don't worry."

"Naux, we need to get going," Dox stated, "Or else the Heartless will get us if we stay."

Suddenly, all Friar Tuck could see was a blinding light in front of him. He opened his eyes again to see that he was back in the cell with his wrists still chained to the chained iron rings. He made a sigh, "Oh dear…"

-

They were all getting ready for a night raid of Prince John's castle. Robin Hood and Little John were whistling rather merrily as the created a crude map of the castle and planned their course of actions. Double D added a bit here and there after seeing a few flaws, but let Robin Hood and Little John do most of the planning; after all, it was their home turf, not his.

Upon arriving and creeping deep into the castle, Robin Hood, Little John, Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy analyzed the problem laid out before them. Donald then saw a possible action.

"They're hiding in the shadows as usual," Donald noted about the Heartless, "But they can't move elsewhere this time because they're under Prince John's control. And they're doing what he's doing now; sleeping."

"Great, it makes things a whole lot easier," Robin Hood breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah! That's-"

"Goofy, be quiet!"

"Uh? Oh…sorry," Goofy apologized as they hid in the shrubbery near the spot where a vulture, interestingly named Nutsy, patrolled.

Nutsy approached their hiding spot, unaware of those who were hiding in the shrubbery. Little John signaled everyone to be quiet, and then reached out to snatch Nutsy.

Nutsy turned his back to the spot and set his pike/axe on the ground, then trumpeted out, with Little John's hands a few inches from his head and the church bells began to toll, "One o' clock! And all's well!"

Robin Hood and Double D yanked Little John back and they all watched with wary eyes as the bells rang three times.

"Nutsy, set your brains ahead a couple of hours!" the Sheriff yelled out sleepily from his seat next to the prison gates.

"Yes sir," Nutsy answered dutifully, "Does that mean adding or subtracting?"

Donald snorted at Nutsy's stupidity. Everyone threw him a warning glare.

"Oh, let's forget it!" the Sheriff answered in irritation.

"Yes, sir, Sheriff, sir," Nutsy said.

The Sheriff yelled back, "Nutsy, how can I sleep with you yelling 'all's well' all the time?"

"Sheriff," another vulture guard, named Trigger, hissed. He patted his loaded crossbow as he continued, "Everything ain't all's well. I got a feeling in my bones that there's gonna be a jailbreak any minute."

Robin Hood, Little John, Double D, a very nervous Donald, Ami and Goofy looked at each other in surprise.

"For peat's sake Trigger!" the Sheriff yelped as he found Trigger's crossbow pointing up at his face, "Point that peashooter the other way!"

He pushed it aside. Trigger tried to reassure him, "Don't you worry not Sheriff. The safety's on old Betsy."

He patted the crossbow and it fired. The Sheriff and Trigger both ducked as the arrow flew all over the place, hitting ground, the wall, the gate and then sailed over to where Robin Hood, Double D and the others were.

"And I thought he was nuts," Ami slightly giggled and pointed in the direction of where Nutsy had vanished off to.

"What are you trying to do, you birdbrain?" the Sheriff railed at Trigger, who pulled back his head meekly.

"Just doing my duty Sheriff," he replied with humility.

"Oh, you and that itchy trigger finger of yours," the Sheriff growled. Nutsy approached the hiding spot again. Robin Hood nodded to Little John, who reached out and was not interrupted in snagging the vulture guard.

Their only bad luck was, Nutsy made some noise while being yanked away.

"Hey, you hear that?" Trigger hissed immediately.

'Oh shoot!' both Double D and Ami thought.

"Sure did Trigger," the Sheriff agreed in a whisper, "There's something funny going on here. Come on."

He gestured to Trigger to cover him, "You cover for… Wait a minute."

He froze and Trigger nearly bumped into him. The Sheriff whirled around on Trigger, "Is the safety on old Betsy?"

"You bet it Sheriff," Trigger answered happily.

"That's what I'm afraid of. You go first," Trigger moved to the front as they approached where Little John mugged Nutsy, "All right you in there! Come on out with your hands up!"

"Yeah," Trigger added with a threatening gesture of his 'Old Betsy', "Reach them up to the sky."

Double D looked to Robin Hood, who was finishing up on putting on the disguise, "Just you watch this performance, boys and girl," Robin Hood said with glee as he tied a crooked sock to his face.

"Be careful Rob," Little John told him.

"Good luck," Double D added.

"And I thought that guy was nuts," Donald muttered under his breath in the direction of the roped up bundle of feathers that Goofy was guarding.

Robin Hood hopped out of his hiding place and went into his act.

Meanwhile, back in the shrubbery, Ami seemed to have dazed off into a thought for a second before making a short gasp. She had a sudden, bad thought about tonight. Double D, Donald, Goofy and Little John looked at her in surprise.

"Something wrong?" Double D asked worriedly.

Ami shook her head, trying to look as though nothing was wrong; her eyes, the hue of dark ocean as usual, shore through with an icy sheen.

"I, uh, no; nothing's wrong…"Ami replied, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Shh!" Little John reprimanded, "You guys are missing it! Rob's gotten way too good with this."

'Huh?'

Double D looked in the direction Robin Hood had gone.

Adorned in Nusty's purple cloak, the vulture guards pike leaning against the prison wall, the crooked sock cleverly shaped like a vulture's beak, Robin Hood was saying something to a very oblivious Sheriff, who was leaning against his chair and had a look of contentment on his face.

"Just close your sleepy little eyeballs," Robin Hood was crooning to Sheriff, who yawned and was on the borderline of dozing off, "The sandman's a-coming, why don't you… let me loosen that belt? Rock-a-bye Sheriff, just you relax…"

Double D felt his jaw drop open, 'Man, Robin was good.'

"Oh relax…" the Sheriff sighed as Robin Hood carefully loosened the belt and gently fingered the keys out from the Sheriff's side.

"Di, di, di…" Robin Hood murmured, trying to keep the Sheriff too stupefied to know what was going on.

He inched the keys out of the belt slowly and carefully, but as bad luck would have it, the keys squeaked.

The Sheriff suddenly yawned and said, "Aww, Nutsy, that's mighty sweet. Sing it one more time."

Robin Hood, who had nearly jumped back, carefully sang, "Rock-a-bye Sheriff, just you relax, dum, pump, pump, do, do, do, do…"

"Amazing," Donald muttered to Little John, "He's so stupid."

"We knew that from the beginning," Little John said with a wink.

Robin Hood slid the keys out of the Sheriff's belt, and then made frantic hand signals to the others to come.

"Come on, we gotta go," Little John whispered as they sneaked out.

"Let the party begin," Donald was heard muttering under her breath as Robin Hood handed Little John the keys as they quietly opened the prison doors.

They all snuck in, one by one, and all seemed safe until two things happened; Goofy's shield banged into a stone wall while, at the same time, the prison door squeaked as Robin Hood closed it.

"Wait a minute…! Jail break! Jail break!" the ever attentive Trigger yelped at the top of his lungs as he rushed to the prison, "I hear it, Sheriff! The door! The door!"

Robin Hood, Little John and Double D looked at each other in surprise. Donald was already scowling Goofy with rather silent hisses while Ami looked on with slight fear in her eyes.

Sheriff woke up with a start. He growled at Trigger as the vulture guard approached him with panic, then looked to the prison door, which Robin Hood had shut.

"Now, for the last time," the Sheriff growled, "No more false alarms!"

Trigger nodded unhappily, seeing that he was wrong, and went back to his post. The Sheriff tripped him in the process, then went back to sleep.

"Phew… that was close," Robin Hood sighed as all six turned to the scenario behind them.

The view of the dark, dark prison slammed into their faces. The innocent prisoners, chained to heavy iron balls, looked at them with at first with confusion, then with some recognition, as Robin Hood handed Little John the keys and told them all in an extremely serious voice, "Now, you guys release Friar Tuck and the others. I'll go visit the royal treasury."

He turned to go.

"Wait," Double D said, "Let me help you."

Everyone seemed to stop breathing.

"It's dangerous," Robin Hood finally said, "Very dangerous. And you gotta be very quiet."

"I'll be quiet," Double D stated, "Plus I have a feeling that the thing we're looking for is there."

"… Very well, let's go."

They snuck out of the prison and tip toed out of sight. Ami made a sad sigh and a worried look; she had that sudden feeling again that something will go wrong.

"Oh don't worry Ami," Little John said, noticing the sadness in her eyes, "Robin Hood's really good at this. And it seems your friend is too."

"…Yes, you're right," Ami said with a smile, hiding a little of her true emotion at the moment, "Come on, let's free the others."

Little John, Donald, Goofy and Ami crept through the prison, finally making out a single cell. Little John signaled the others to be quiet, and slowly unlocked the cell. Inside was Friar Tuck.

"Oh, Little John! It can't be!" the friar exclaimed in surprise as the prison door opened.

"Shh!" Little John quickly reacted, "Quiet. We're busting out."

He leaned forward and unlocked the iron rings on Friar Tuck. Friar Tuck spotted Donald, Goofy and Ami behind Little John at the doorway to his tiny, moldy cell; but he didn't see Robin Hood or Double D. His mind began to panic.

"Where are they?" Friar Tuck demanded urgently as Little John helped him up.

"Robin Hood and Double D?" Little John asked as he undid all the keys from the ring and handed one to each person to unlock the prisoners, "They went to raid the treasury."

He could see Friar Tuck go pale in the face, "So, that's what Naux meant…"

"What?" asked Ami, who had overheard Friar Tuck and Little John's conversation, "What about Naux?"

"She and another person came to me when I was sleeping," Friar Tuck explained, "They both said that it was important to guard Robin Hood and the Starblade Master."

Ami, Donald and Goofy made worried glances at each other; maybe it was not such a good idea to let him go with Robin Hood.

Little John, putting the keys back into the large iron ring they were originally from, then headed to one of the prison windows. He looked intensely outside for a few seconds, and then backed off as an arrow, with rope tied to it, sailed in. Little John borrowed a bow from a ten year old boy rabbit named Skippy, strung the bow then shot the arrow back.

"What are you doing?" Ami asked.

"Receiving the riches," Little John said with a grin as money bags began to appear.

-

"Robin Hood! I'll get even," Prince John tossed and turned in his royal bed, "I'll get… It's Robin Hood I want. It's Robin Hood and that wretched child. Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Robin Hood and Double D froze. They stared at each other, then at Prince John.

"He's obsessed," Double D mouthed to Robin Hood, who nodded and carefully picked up a bag of gold.

"Come on Double D," Robin Hood was tying a long chain of money bags to the rope that was constantly moving, "There's no time."

With that, the two gradually depleted Prince John's store of gold.

At the receiving end of the line, Little John and Friar Tuck undid all the money bags. Goofy, a very excited Donald, and Ami distributed them among the others.

"Ha, ha. Praise the Lord and pass the taxes rebates!" Friar Tuck let out a mild laugh.

-

"Is that all?" Double D whispered to Robin Hood as they tied (hopefully) the last of the money bags onto the moving rope.

"Actually, there's one more…" Robin Hood's voice drifted off into the night as they both eyed the bag of gold Prince John had tight in his arms.

"Oh great…" Double D muttered as they watched Prince John suck on his thumb, his arms creating a protective cradle around the bag of gold.

"We've got no choice," Robin Hood sighed as he tiptoed towards the prince and an oblivious Sir Hiss, "Double D, get ready to leave as soon as possible."

"I'm already ready," Double D replied. He had his Starblade ready to appear in his hand at a moment's notice, but he felt he really was not going to need it tonight.

How wrong he was.

-

The sound of a coin hitting the ground alerted Trigger. He did not know where Nutsy was and he was not aware of the Sheriff's predicament. His 'Betsy' loaded and on the ready, the vulture guard carefully walked back to the prison.

"Sheriff, don't get your dander up," he was saying as he approached what seemed to be the Sheriff sleeping next to the prison door, "But I still got a feeling-"

The Sheriff suddenly moved. He snatched Trigger before the vulture guard could react and threw him into the prison. He then slammed the prison gates shut.

(A Few Minutes Later…)

"Friar, get going!" Little John whispered as he pulled off the Sheriff's clothing; he had stolen them from the Sheriff after shoving him into the prison, "Hurry!"

The friar and the villagers, each holding as many gold bags as possible, hustled away from the dreaded prison and towards a two-wheeled wagon. They clambered into the rickety wagon and Friar Tuck, after placing his bags of gold into the wagon, went to the front and set himself in between the poles that the cart horse would normally stand in. He pulled the poles and the wagon towards the suspiciously opened castle gate. Little John looked behind him worriedly as the inched towards the draw bridge. Where were Robin Hood and Double D?

Ami seemed to be having the same thoughts and kept throwing nervous glances behind her. She had begun to slow down, as though anticipating that any moment from now, Robin Hood and Double D would appear. Donald, who sat in the wagon, kept watch, on the lookout. Goofy was also beginning to slow down as well, looking behind him, wondering where Robin Hood and Double D had gone.

And then…

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh… Aah! Aah! Hoo! Guards! Guards! My gold! Oh no, no, no!" they all heard Prince John's voice cry out, "They're getting away with my gold! Guards! Guards! Stop them! Stop them!"

"Jump!" they heard Robin Hood's voice yell a split second later.

"Guards! Get them!" Prince John shrilled at the top of his lungs, "No, not them! Them! Them! Rhinos halt! Stop! Desist! Aah! Ooh! Aah!"

The sound of wine barrels rolling was coupled by Prince John throwing a nasty fit. And then…

"Well, don't just stand there, you idiots! Get them! Stop them! Before they get away - no, not them! Them!" Prince John's voice was suddenly strong and angry.

Ami had a sinking feeling in her heart and soul. She had a very good idea of who Prince John was talking about.

Robin Hood and Double D suddenly appeared, sprinting as madly and quickly as possibly towards the two-wheeled cart. Friar Tuck by then had abandoned his position at the head of the cart and was reassuring some worried villagers in the wagon. Little John had taken up the task of pulling the wagon.

"Everybody!" Robin Hood shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come on! That's all of them. Get going!"

"This ain't no hayride people!" Little John bellowed as he gripped the poles and yanked the wagon forward across the draw bridge, "Let's move!"

"Onto Sherwood Forest!" Friar Tuck shouted and pumped his fist into the air as the villagers scattered the squabbling rhino guards.

Ami surveyed the whole group,'Everyone seemed to be here, yes everyone was here-'

Ami stumbled. Robin Hood was to her quickly, helping her back up. It was then the red fox saw crazed fear in her ocean eyes.

"Double D," the teenager whispered and her eyes darted to the castle they were leaving behind, hopefully forever.

"Stop! My baby!" Mother Rabbit shrieked, her arms reaching out from her helpless position in the wagon.

Everybody looked behind their shoulders or turned to the castle.

"The Heartless!" Goofy yelled, "It's the Heartless!"

"May the Lord protect us," Friar Tuck whispered.

Double D was fighting off the Heartless that surrounded him and Tagalong, Mother Rabbit's youngest child.

"Double D!" Ami yelled and made a dash to go back but Robin Hood was too fast for her. He darted back inside the castle and dodged the Heartless coming towards him.

"Double D! Give her to me and let's get out of here!" Robin Hood yelled.

Double D made a wide arc with his Starblade, pushing away the circle of Heartless surrounding him and Tagalong. He then picked up Tagalong and tossed her to Robin Hood. Then, to keep the Heartless from following Robin Hood and Tagalong, he literally threw himself into the group of Heartless, Starblade at hand.

"Mama, Mama!" Tagalong yelped as Robin Hood made a mad dash towards the castle gate.

Then, quite suddenly, the castle gate crashed down before their eyes, locking them within Prince John's castle. Little John, Ami, Donald and Goofy, who had made a mad dash of their own to Robin Hood and Double D, stopped short of the gate, horrified out of their wits.

"We got him now!" the Sheriff's voice shrilled over the chaos Double D was creating, "We got the both of them! Get them now!"

Robin Hood quickly pushed Tagalong through the spaces between the long, crude iron bars that made up the castle gate, "Get going and don't worry about me."

"It's not just you we're worried about though Rob," Little John hinted as he handed Tagalong to Goofy and the tall dog made a mad dash for the wagon, "You know what I mean."

Robin Hood took nearly half a second to realize who he was referring to, "No… we gotta get him out of here!"

"This time we got 'em for sure!" the Sheriff yelled. He grabbed a flaming torch and charged at Robin Hood.

"Go! Go now! I'll take care of him!" Robin Hood yelled.

The others nodded their heads and ran back towards the wagon.

"You're not going anywhere now!" the Sheriff growled at Robin Hood as she chased him all the way to the castle's throne room.

"We'll see," Robin Hood answered as he jumped on top of the throne.

The doors suddenly crashed open and Double D tumbled into the room, followed by a massive swarm of shadow Heartless.

"Double D!" Robin Hood shouted, then jumped over the Sheriff and headed for the Starblade Master, who had suddenly crumpled to the floor.

Grabbing a pike from the wall, he swung it in a wide arch, pushing back some and even destroying a few Heartless, as he hoisted Double D up against his body.

"Double D, Double D, can you hear me? Double D?"

Double D would not answer.

"There is no way I'm letting the two of you go," the Sheriff snarled behind him, "This is gonna be so easy."

Robin Hood's mind worked furiously. He was handicapped carrying Double D. He had only one free arm and that held a pike. And the Sheriff was equipped with a burning torch. A strange sensation ran through his body. He had suddenly formed an idea; an incredibly crazy idea. It involved climbing a tower.

Robin Hood hoisted Double D onto his back and bolted past the Sheriff. Furious, the Sheriff and the Heartless followed him. But the Sheriff had the bad luck of waving the torch around like crazy. The torch set ablaze the whole room, something nobody ever expected.

The Heartless shrieked and shield away from the burning flames; some of them even being devoured in the blaze. The Sheriff could not reach Robin Hood and Double D and dashed outside while Robin Hood got Double D and himself out of the window and carefully climbed up the tower.

"Oh no," Little John was saying from down below, safely hidden near the moat, "Oh no, they're not gonna make it!"

"No!" Ami exclaimed, her eyes shining fearfully, "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…"she fell to her knees in helplessness.

"Double D!" Donald and Goofy both yelled, "No, they're not gonna make it," Donald continued, "They're not gonna survive!"

Robin Hood looked behind him to the burning mess. Weasel archers were flinging arrows to Double D and him. The Heartless were doing something to the towers, something he knew wasn't good. And the only way out of the castle was down, into the moat.

"Friar Tuck, now I will pray to God above," Robin Hood murmured as he looked to Double D, who was still knocked out. He looked at the peaceful face of the Starblade Master, "God help us all."

To the horror of Little John, Ami, Donald and Goofy, Robin Hood and Double D fell into the moat.

"Little John, Little John, what-" a young boy rabbit named Skippy yelped as he approached the four people, then skidded to a stop as he heard a huge splash. Then arrows flitted from above and they ducked away. The arrows were aimed at the water, however, where Robin Hood and Double D vanished. Bubbles blossomed from the water as the arrows pummeled into the water, then floated back up.

"Come on Rob, come on," Little John whispered, not knowing what to think.

"He's just got to make it," Skippy agreed.

Ami only felt hope slipping away from her. Hope then slipped away for good as only Robin Hood's hat surfaced. There was no sign of either one of them, "Double D…" she silently cried.

"Yes! They're finished!" Prince John cheered. He was wearing a nightgown and his castle was burning; but he did not seem to notice, "Done for! La, la, la! Ha, ha, ha!"

"He's gotta make it," Goofy was saying aloud to himself, "They have to be alive."

"He's going to make it… they're gonna make it, aren't they Little John? Aren't they?" Skippy looked to the large bear helplessly.

"No… W-We failed…" Ami sat down suddenly, slumped over in sadness. One of her best friends, her love, was gone; and, the worst part about it was that she saw it happen to him.

"Wait a minute…" Skippy stared at the water. Two reeds were sticking out of the water. That was normal, considering that there were other reeds sticking out of the water as well. But reeds don't move, especially in a line towards them, "Hey, what's that? Look it! Look it! Look it!"

Ami perked up. She knew what purpose reeds had. And if two reeds were heading towards them, sticking out of the water… "… Double D?"

"Ha ha, did you have us worried Rob. I thought you guys were goners," Little John wiped water off his face as Robin Hood surfaced from the water, pulling a woozy, yet conscious Double D after him.

"Ah not Robin Hood!" Skippy was jumping for joy, "He could've swum twice that far, huh Mr. Robin Hood?"

Sir Hiss, who had been watching Prince John jump for joy, spotted the commotion near the moat, "Look Sire! He made it! They've made it! They got away again!"

Prince John ran to the wall aghast.

"A pox on the phony King of England!" Robin Hood, Little John, Skippy, Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy shouted as they vanished, "Oo-da-lolly!"

Seconds later, Prince John was found sucking on his thumb and using a stick to whack Sir Hiss as the snake tried to flee.

-

(About Three Days Later…)

It was a sunny day, when the fields were green, the sun shone bright, and life and joy bloomed everywhere. King Richard had returned and now Prince John, Sir Hiss and the Sheriff were forced to work in the Royal Rock Pile as punishment for what they had done to all of England.

And somewhere bells were ringing; a wedding.

"Long live Robin Hood!" the people were cheering as Robin Hood and Maid Marian, the newlyweds, appeared at the front of the church. Smiling, they kissed and the crowd cheered. Then, as they headed for the carriage that waited for them, the regal King Richard appeared, "Long live King Richard!"

"Oh Friar Tuck!" King Richard could not stop laughing, "It appears I have an outlaw for an in-law! Ha, ha, ha!"

"Ha, ha," Friar Tuck agreed, "Not bad."

His eyes though, darted to the four outsiders, who were now talking to Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Ami said to the newlyweds, "And I would've expected as much that the Keyhole was in the church."

Indeed it was true; during the wedding, while they did their marriage kiss, the stained glass window behind Friar Tuck (AN: Who was the priest, I guess) started to glow, indicating that the Keyhole that they were looking for was here in the church. Double D sealed it before the marriage kiss was done. Double D also found a strange gem during the wedding. The newlyweds soon got into the carriage.

"Gee Skippy, how come you're going?" Toby, the slow turtle, asked Skippy as he jumped to the front of the carriage beside Little John, who was driving the coach.

"Well, Robin Hood will have kids, so somebody's got to keep things all right," Skippy answered, then clutched to the seat as Little John shouted, "Ho!" and got the horses moving.

"Ack! I've never been so happy in my life!" Lady Kluck wiped away a tear, before leaving by a different route to where Robin Hood and Maid Marian were headed.

"Farewell friends!" Robin Hood and Maid Marian called back to Double D, Ami, Donald and Goofy, "Good luck Starblade Master! Good luck!"

"Goodbye!" Double D yelled back, "Thank you so much! I hope we meet again!"

"Don't we all!" Maid Marian laughed with joy as the carriage vanished into the distance…

Chapter 9: Double D-World I, Revisit I-Transverse Town

It was a somewhat peaceful, quiet night here in Transverse Town as we see Double D and company enter the entrance of Transverse Town through the First District. Double D seem to notice to the left of the entrance in a vacant lot was a garden full of vegetables that was not there before when they left. He quickly concluded that this was Rolf's doing, being that he was a farmer and all.

"So, why did we come back to Transverse Town again?" Double D asked as they walked towards the flight of stone stairs.

"We need to re-supply ourselves; plus we need to see Leon and ask him about the gem you found," Mickey said.

"Really?" asked Usagi, "What's so special about the gem?"

"It's a Summon Gem," Donald explained as they were now walking towards the Second District door, "We need to ask him if someone here can revive the person inside."

"Revive?" questioned Ami, "You mean that there is someone inside this gem?"

"Yeah!" Goofy stated, "The person can be summoned out in battle to help us."

"That's… kinda creepy," Mamoru slightly muttered.

They soon came upon the hotel in the Second District and entered the nearest door. Everyone soon walked down the hallway and entered the blue door. Inside, they saw Leon, Terra, Riona and Vivi, whose attention was now directed on the people that came into the room.

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," Leon stated with a rare, friendly smirk, "What brings you all back here?"

"We found a summon gem in the last world we were in," Donald explained as Double D showed him the gem, "We need to find someone who can revive the person in it."

"Hmm, let me see it for a moment," Terra stated as Double D handed the rust colored gem to her, "… I think I can revive it."

"Really?" questioned almost everyone.

"Yes, all I have to do is sense the name of the person in the gem. That is all that there is to it," Terra explained as she closed her right hand with the gem in her palm. She held it there for about five seconds before she opened her hand again.

"I got his name, but we're going to have to go outside to summon him," Terra instructed as she handed the gem back to Double D, "Only the Keyblade Master that found the gem can summon the person out."

"Thank you," Double D said as he, Ami, Usagi, Mamoru, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Terra walked out of the room, down the hallway and exited the hotel. They soon made their way to the little courtyard in the middle of the Second District.

"Okay, now call out the name Mater and he'll be summoned out," Terra explained.

Double D only nodded his head and held the orange-brown gem in the air, "Mater!"

Suddenly, a flash of light erupts from the stone as a ray of light lands on the ground beside Double D. Then the light started to get bigger and started to form into a shape. And when the light disappeared, the only thing there was… a rusted old tow truck?

"What the…a tow truck?" Donald, Usagi and Mamoru questioned, "I thought you said it was a-"

But before Donald could finish what he was saying, a sudden yawn came from the direction of the truck, "Boy, how long have I been nappin'?" stated a southern-accented voice.

Suddenly, the tow truck turned around… only to reveal to have eyes where the windshield would be, and was smiling, with his buck teeth, where the bumper met the front of the truck, "And when did I get here in… uh, some place I don't know?"

(… Awkward Silence as a tumbleweed rolls by out in the street…)

"AHHH!" both Usagi, Donald, Goofy and the tow truck exclaimed.

"Mutated car!" Usagi exclaimed in terror.

"Where?" the tow truck asked in fright as he looked around for a mutated car, "I don't see one!" he then noticed that something wasn't right, "… Uh, what kind of cars are you?" he then noticed more of his surroundings, "And where am I, anyway?"

"We are humans, not cars," Terra stated to the tow truck, "As for where you are, you're in another world called Transverse Town, and we've summoned you here for your help."

"Help?" asked the tow truck in half-confusion, half-fear, "What kinda help?"

"We need you to travel with us to help us fight the Heartless and save a few worlds," Double D said.

"What can you do to fight?" Mickey suddenly asked.

"Uh…" the tow truck thought about it for a moment, "… I'm the best backwards driver in the world!" he said with a hint of pride. His face dropped a little, "… Uh, does that count?"

"Umm… I guess it can help," Double D said, "I'm Double D."

"Well nice to meet ya, I'm Mater. Kinda like Ta-Mater without the 'Ta' in it," the tow truck said.

"Okay Mater, we'll call for you when you're needed," Double D stated with a smile, "Hope to see you soon."

"Alrighty then, I'll see y'all later!" Mater said as he disappeared in a flash of sudden light and went back into the orange-brown gem.

There was a moment of silence before Usagi said, "Wow, that was weird."

"Yeah, really weird," Mamoru agreed as they saw Terra walk back to the hotel.

"Thief!" shouted an angry voice from the entrance to the First District as everyone turned their heads to that location. There, they see Rolf running after something or someone that they could not see at the moment. Right behind Rolf was Makoto, who was also helping Rolf catch the 'thief'. They soon see a stem of broccoli sticking up on the other side of the stone fence. Apparently, the thief was bent over so he could hide himself, "Stop him!"

Everyone rushed over to the stairs that was to their right only to see the culprit running down the stairs. It was a duck, a little bit shorter than the height of Donald, with hunter green feathers and a bit of black hair on the top of his head. He wore a black tuxedo with a red bowtie and had a dark purple cape that went to the ankles of his webbed feet.

"Ack!" yelped the duck as he stopped dead in his tracks, "I'm trapped!"

The duck soon felt himself being lifted up off the ground by the collar of his purple cape, "Ah-ha! Rolf has got the thief now!"

"Ah, don't hurt me!" the duck stated, "I-I just wanted some-"

"Rolf does not care about Talking Duck's rumble in the tummy!" Rolf stated back as Makoto came up from behind Rolf and noticed the others.

"Oh, you're back already?" she asked as Rolf then notices them as well, "What brings ya back here so early?"

"We came back for supplies and such," Usagi explained as she and the others looked at the duck that Rolf was holding by its cape collar, "Do I even have to ask?"

"This duck has been stealing vegetables from Rolf's garden," Rolf explained, "Now, Rolf and Makoto-Girl have caught the fiendish duck in the act!"

"Hey! I have a name, ya know!" the duck stated, "It's Count Duckula!"

"Rolf does not care for the name of the fiend that steals his vegetables," Rolf said as he grabbed the vegetables away from Duckula, "Now Rolf will be taking these back, thank you!"

Rolf soon dropped Duckula to the ground of the stairs, "Now go away, Duck Fiend!" he soon walked back up the stairs and trailed back to his garden in the First District. Makoto soon followed him back to the garden as well.

The duck named Count Duckula made a sad sigh to himself, "Oh well, now where can I get good broccoli at?"

He soon walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. Double D made a sad face at the duck, 'Why would he go so far for stealing broccoli?'

"Come on guys, we gotta finish getting the supplies," Donald said with annoyance; the little scene made them get off track a little.

They soon started to walk up the stairs, but soon noticed that Double D was staying put, "Double D?" questioned Ami, "What's wrong?"

"… You guys go on ahead," Double D stated, "I'll meet back with you soon. I got a couple of things I need to take care of first."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion, "Okay, we'll meet you back in the First District."

"Okay," Double D said as the others left him.

He soon turned back to where the duck was on the bench. Duckula seem to be thinking about something.

"Hey, are you alright?" asked Double D as he came up to Duckula.

Duckula looked up to see Double D coming to sit beside him on the bench, "Yeah, I guess so; even though I'm hungry right now."

Double D then asked him something else, "Why would you steal broccoli? Can you not buy it at the market?"

"Well, for starters, I'm broke at the moment," Duckula explained as he opened up his right tuxedo jacket pocket. A bunch of dust and lint came flying out if it, "Plus, when I did have the money, I bought it at the market. It tasted so nasty!" he made a disgusted facial expression with his tongue at the thought of it, "But when I found that garden; oh, I was in heaven! It tasted so good, I couldn't even believe that it was just broccoli!"

Double D felt a little saddened for him, "Oh, I see…" he soon thought of a way to make him happy, "You know you can probably come with us."

"Huh?" Duckula questioned.

Double D then explained to him how he and the others are helping save other worlds from being destroyed by the Heartless. He told Duckula that he had an idea to chronicle everything that's happened so far in his journey, "I may need some help writing all of these events down."

"Well, doesn't sound too hard…" Duckula stated, "But what's in it for me?"

"Well, besides restoring the worlds that have been destroyed, you can have all of the broccoli you want," Double D explained, "I'm sure Rolf wouldn't mind if he supplied us with some."

"Really? You would do that for me if I helped you out?"

"Of course."

"Yippie!" Duckula exclaimed with happiness as he got up from the bench with a leap of joy, "Thank you Double D!"

"Oh, it's no problem at all!" Double D said with a smile as they soon trailed all the way back to the First District, where they soon got some broccoli from Rolf, who was a little suspicious about Double D buying the broccoli.

The two of them met back with Double D's other party members and Double D explained to them that Duckula would come along with them to every world and chronicle everything that happens. The others were skeptical about it, but Mickey, Donald and Goofy did not seem to mind at all, "It would be like have another Jiminy around," Goofy said.

"Good, let's get going!" Mamoru said as they soon went back to their Gummi Ship and took off to another world…

Chapter 10: Ed-World II-Far, Far Away-Part I

It was a somewhat peaceful ride here on the Krusty Ship as we see Sandy and Spongebob in the two pilot seats of the ship. They were entering the atmosphere of a new world. Meanwhile, in the back of the ship, we see Ed, Hotaru, Dimitri and Patrick. They were all sleeping soundly on two chairs that were occupied by Dimitri and Patrick, and a couch, which was shared by Ed and Hotaru. Of course, Ed and Hotaru slept away from each other since it was a slightly big couch and all.

Suddenly, the alarms of the Krusty Ship started to sound off as they all woke up with startled faces. The ship started to shake a little violently.

"Guys, you gotta come in here to the cockpit, now!" Sandy's voice yelped over the intercom as they quickly rushed to the front of the ship. They saw Sandy and Spongebob with panic on their faces, "The ship is in a very bad turbulence, and it's probably gonna crash soon," she explained, "I just wanted everyone up here so we don't get separated during the crash."

"I-Is there nothing we can do?" Hotaru asked as she held onto Ed's arm a little in fright.

"Afraid not," Spongebob stated as the ship shook violently again.

Without warning, the ship suddenly broke in two in midair. Everyone screamed as they were all separated from each other…

~~~

"Is he alive?"

"I think so. But he's been out of it for a while, I can tell…"

"He's gotta be alive! He's still breathing!"

Ed heard those two foreign voices as he woke up.

"Look Shrek, he's waking up!" stated one of the voices in happiness.

"I see that Donkey," said the other voice in a sort of Scottish accent, "Now, will you be quiet for a moment!"

Ed soon opened his eyes to see a donkey standing over him, "Ack!"

"Donkey!" shouted the other voice again, "Get out of his face!"

"…Oh!" the voice from before muttered as the donkey walked away from where Ed was lying.

Ed soon got up from where he lied down and noticed more of his surroundings. He was in a forest that was all sorts of shades of green. He soon noticed that the people that were with him were not actually humans. It was a green ogre with weird-shaped ears. There was a donkey by his side.

"What're ya doin' all the way out here in this forest?" the ogre asked.

"Yeah, we didn't expect anyone but us to be out here," the donkey suddenly spoke, revealing that he was the other missing speaker.

Ed blinked a couple of times before he remembered what happened, "Oh!" he stated as he looked around for anyone else, "What happened? Where're the others go?"

The ogre and the donkey made perplexed faces, "There was no one else here when we found you," the ogre said.

Ed made a sigh, 'Great, I'm lost in this world now.'

"Say, what's your name?" the ogre asked.

"I'm Ed," Ed replied, feeling like he could trust the ogre and the donkey.

"Pleased to meet'cha Ed, I'm Donkey…" the donkey then pointed his muzzle to the ogre, "… And that's Shrek over there!"

"Now, when you said 'others'…" Shrek started to say, "You meant that there're others with you, right?"

"Yeah," Ed said with a nod of his head, "I was separated from them when-"

"Ed? Ed, is that you?" stated a voice from up ahead as everyone turned to see who said what. Ed soon saw Sandy and Patrick coming to him, "You're alright, Ed?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," he stated back as he soon noticed that there were three heads short, "Where's Hotaru and the others?"

"We don't know," Sandy replied to him with a shake of sadness from her head.

Sandy and Patrick soon noticed who Ed was with.

"…"

"Ahh!" yelled Patrick as he tried to run away, but Sandy grabbed him by the back of his shirt, making him run in place.

"No Patrick, is that anyway to behave?" Sandy questioned to him as he stopped running in place.

"… No," he replied as she lets go of the back of his shirt.

Shrek and Donkey looked at the two in an odd way. Ed, Sandy and Patrick (AN: But mostly Sandy) explained about how they got here and such, while not really telling them why they were here.

"So, what are you two doing out here in these woods anyway?" Sandy asked.

Soon Shrek and Donkey explained the pickle that they were in. Harold, the King of Far, Far Away, asks Shrek if he would join him for a morning hunt the next morning (AN: Or, this morning). He tells Shrek it would mean the world to Fiona, Shrek's wife and the Princess of Far, Far Away, and for them to bond. Shrek agrees to the outing as he had promised to try to get along better with Fiona's parents. But, unfortunately, it looks like they're lost, and that's when they found Ed.

"Well, why don't we try to find this King of yours," Sandy said, "I'm sure you don't mind if we trailed along, now would you?"

Shrek nodded his head, "Alright, you can come."

The five of them soon trailed off deeper into the woods. But something seemed to be bothering Ed's mind at the moment. Where was Hotaru?

~~~

"Is she awake?"

"I don't know Mom. I found her in the royal garden, along with the other two men."

Hotaru could hear voices beside her to her right as she felt herself lying on something soft and warm. She opened her haunting, violet eyes to see two women hovering above her… well, they were both women, but one of them was actually a female ogre with red hair and a royal tiara in her hair.

"Where am I…?" Hotaru stated weakly as she tried to get up, but felt a headache coming to her as she sat up, "Ohh, my head hurts…"

"You must have hit your head somehow," said the older woman of the two, "Why don't you lay back down?"

Hotaru could only nod her head weakly as she laid her head back down on the soft pillow, "What is your name?" asked the female ogre with a voice that did not match her appearance.

"My name?" Hotaru repeated, "My name is Hotaru."

"Hotaru; what a beautiful name," stated the older woman, "I am Queen Lillian, and this is my daughter, Fiona."

"Hello," Fiona said with a little greeting bow.

"Umm, hello to you two as well," Hotaru stated as she felt a little lightheaded again.

"You probably need more rest, dear," Queen Lillian said as she and Fiona soon left the room.

Hotaru soon fell back asleep. But as she fell into slumber, a figure that was about the same height as Ed; very tall and very thin. Her hair was all the way down to the woman's ankles. She was now wearing a long dress with a thick-strapped, sleeveless blood red vest that went to the line of her waist, while the black skirt part of the dress went down to her ankles and flowed out into a dress train in the back. The dress also had three lines of black beads that went across her chest and shoulders.

The woman smiled maliciously at Hotaru, "I will do nothing to you yet, little Firefly of Death," the woman stated with a very malevolent voice, "But you will soon suffer greatly… very soon."

Soon the woman disappeared into a portal of darkness behind her, leaving Hotaru alone… for now.

~~~

"We're lost!" Shrek hollered through the bright forest. "We've been walking for hours!"

"We can't be lost," Donkey muttered, "We followed the King's instructions exactly! Head to the darkest part of the woods…"

"Check!" Ed said, looking around.

"Pass the sinister looking trees…"

"Check!" Patrick said, looking at the trees with scary faces with a little bit of fright.

"There's that bush shaped like Shirley Bassey!"

"We've passed that three times already!" Shrek shouted.

"Well, maybe if we had stopped and asked for directions…" Patrick muttered.

"Who are we going to ask for directions!" said Shrek. "The flowers? The air? That stupid bush?" Patrick sniffed disdainfully, "My one chance to fix things up with Fiona's dad and I end up lost in the woods!"

"Don't get mad!" Ed said, "We're only trying to help!"

"I know!" Shrek shouted, "I know," he sighed, "I'm sorry everyone. I just really need to make things work with this guy."

"Hey don't worry about it, big guy!" Donkey reassured, "Everything will work out! Once you're in with the parents, you've got it all!"

"I guess you're right," Shrek sighed.

No one noticed the mysterious shadow moving in the tree tops. It followed them as closely as a cat stalking its prey.

The team continued to walk in silence, trying to find Shrek's new father-in-law. While they walked, a sound reached Shrek's ears. Perplexed, he turned to four-legged companion. "Donkey, are you… purring?" he asked.

"What?" Donkey asked.

"I know it was tense and all back there, but really! Purring?"

"I ain't purring! Patrick, am I purring?" Donkey asked the person that walked beside him.

"I don't know, are you?" Patrick replied.

"I'm not purr-"

Suddenly, something jumped down from the trees and landed a few feet in front of them, large black rubber boots crashing to earth.

"Ha-ha! Fear me, if you dare!" exclaimed what appeared to be an orange tabby cat with a Spanish accent. Yes a cat, dressed in large boots, a black hat with a yellow feather, and wielding a small rapier, was now standing before them. He hissed at them.

"Just when you think you've seen it all," Sandy sighed.

"Hey look, a little cat," Shrek said, cheerfully.

"Careful, Shrek! He got a piece!" Donkey warned.

"It's a cat, Donkey." The cat dug his sword into the dirt and used it as a coat-rack for his hat. "Come here, little kitty." Shrek said, cutely. "Come on. Come on, little kitty, kitty. Come here." In a single bound, the cat launched himself out of his boots and straight at Shrek with claws outstretched. Shrek's smile quickly vanished.

"Aaaahhhhh!", he cried as the cat dug its claws into Shrek's green flesh. Quick as only a cat can be, it crawled under his clothes and scurried all over his body, scratching and clawing everywhere. "Ow! Ow! Get it off! Get it off!"

"Whoa! Hold on, Shrek! I'm coming!" Ed called. He summoned his Crestblade and came to assist the ogre.

"Get it off! It hurts! Get it off!" Shrek cried.

"Hold still, Shrek!" Ed said. Aiming for the lumps where the cat was, he started whacking way.

"Ow! What are you doing?" Shrek shouted when he was hit.

"Just hold still!" Sora replied as he continued hitting.

"I'll help!" Patrick said, summoning his large shield.

"No!" Shrek exclaimed.

"Alright, Shrek! I got this!" Donkey shouted, galloping over.

"Oh, for the love of criminy, get it off!" Shrek cried as the cat continued to use him as a scratching post. Donkey placed himself in front of Shrek.

"Alright, Shrek, hold still! Just hold still!" Donkey instructed. Rearing back on his front legs he kicked Shrek where the sun does not shine. The ogre fell to his knees, his face scrunched up in pain. "Did I miss?"

"No," Shrek groaned. "You got them." The cat finally emerged from Shrek's clothes and launched himself back to his boots, landing inside them perfectly. He put his hat on again and withdrew his sword from the dirt. He soon etched something into a tree nearby; it was the letter 'P', Zorro style.

"Pray for mercy from… Puss," the cat exclaimed, "… in Boots!"

"I've got him!" Ed declared, readying his Crestblade.

Puss in Boots grinned a sharp toothed grin. "En guard!" he shouted, jumping for Ed. The tiny sword clashed with his Crestblade. Puss in Boots was obviously a skilled fencer. With the literal reflexes of a cat and tiny body he was quite the opponent. Puss jumped in the air and off Ed's head. Soon Puss landed back onto the ground in a fighting position.

"Ha-ha! Have at ye, scoundrels!" Puss grinned, "No one escapes the wrath of Pu-hack!" The small cat began coughing and hacking all of the sudden. He then fell to his knees and retched out a large ball of wet fur, "He, he… Hairball," he grinned.

"Oh that is just nasty!" Ed, Patrick and Donkey all exclaimed, disgusted.

Shrek, having recovered from his worse pain ever, walked up to the still coughing cat and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, glaring into his slanted green eyes, "What should we do with him?" he asked the team.

"How bout we give him the Bob Barker treatment?" Donkey asked.

"No! Please! Por favor!" Puss pleaded, still held up by Shrek, "I beg of you! I meant nothing personal, Señor! I was only doing it for my family! My mother is sick! My father is about to be neutered!"

"Oh, look I'm playing the world's tiniest violin," Sandy joked.

"The King, he offered me much mula in gold and I have a litter of brothers and sisters!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up the truck!" Shrek said. "Fiona's father paid you to attack us?"

"The rich King? Si," Shrek dropped Puss and stormed off, shouting to the air.

"This whole thing was trap!" Ed realized. "He wanted Shrek dead!"

Shrek stormed around, muttering darkly, "Well so much for Dad's royal blessing!"

"Don't feel bad," Donkey chided. "Almost everybody that meets you wants to kill you!"

"Gee, thanks." Shrek stopped stomping about and sighed in defeat. "Maybe Fiona would be better off if I was some kind of Prince Charming."

"That's what the King said!" Puss spoke up. Everyone glared at him, "Sorry, I thought the question was directed at me."

"Aww, don't give up Shrek, I'm sure everything will go fine soon for you and her dad," Sandy stated, "I'm sure you would change some."

"Well, it's not like I wouldn't change if I could! Heaven knows she's made changes for me!" Shrek looked at the ground sadly, imaging his dear Fiona's face before she transformed. The face she had given up to be with him. "I just… want to make her happy."

"Shrek…"Ed said.

Shrek's head suddenly snapped up, "Hold the phone," he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the card that Fiona's Fairy Godmother had given, "Happiness is just a teardrop away," he read, "Quick everyone! Think of the saddest thing that's ever happened to you!"

"Oh, where to begin?" Donkey drawled. "Well there was that time that these kids tried to pin a tail on my butt."

"I meant, I need you to cry," Shrek hissed, trying his best to keep calm.

"Cry? What am I a faucet?" Donkey asked, "Besides, men don't cry! We burp! We play sports! We pass gas! We-Ouch!" Puss had just stomped on Donkey's hoof. "Ouch! You little piece of litter box trash…"

A single tear began to form in Donkey's eye. Shrek held the card under Donkey's eye just as the tear dropped. As soon as the tear hit the card, it glowed and a small image of the Fairy Godmother appeared on top of it.

"Is it on? Is it…?It is?" the image said. She cleared her throat, "This is Fairy Godmother. I cannot come to the card right now as I am currently engaged. But if you come by the office, we'll be glad to make an appointment. Have a 'happy ever after!' Cut it. I said cut it!" The image disappeared.

Shrek grinned with yellow teeth, "Who's up for a little quest?" he asked the group.

"Oh, yeah! Shrek and Donkey on another whirlwind adventure!" Donkey exclaimed, "With some help from their eager sidekicks!"

"Who you calling a sidekick?" Patrick stated, as all of them started off through the forest.

"Wait! Hold on! Ogre!" Puss in Boots ran up to them, "I have misjudged you. All of you! I attempted to take your lives and yet you spared mine. On my honor, I am obliged to accompany you until my debt his repaid."

"Sorry, but we're fresh out of kitty litter," Donkey said, "Let's go guys!" Everyone moved on but Ed and Shrek who stayed behind with Puss, "Guys? You stuck in hole?" Ed and Shrek did not respond, mesmerized by the biggest, cutest, shiniest puppy dog eyes that Puss was now giving them.

"Aw, come on, Donkey!" Shrek smiled, "Look at him…"

"… In his wee little boots!" Ed cooed, "How many cats wear boots?"

"I'm gonna be sick," Donkey groaned.

"Let's keep him!" Ed and Shrek said together.

~~~

Ed, Shrek, Beast, Donkey, Patrick, Sandy and their new companion, Puss in Boots, made their way through the forest heading in the direction of the Fairy Godmother's house. Puss knew the way so he sat on Shrek's shoulders pointing out which way to go. This was to the annoyance of a certain donkey since Puss was whispering into Shrek's ear and both were laughing. It irritated him more when he realized that they were talking about him.

The team reached the top of the hill they were climbing and spotted a medium sized house in the distance. It was a wooden cottage that had many pipes running in and out of it. 'There it is, my friends!" Puss exclaimed. "The Fairy Godmother's cottage. The source of all potions and hexes in the Kingdom."

"Are you sure about this, Shrek?" Ed asked, concerned, "What's the Fairy Godmother gonna give Fiona that you couldn't?"

"Happiness," Shrek stated.

"You can make Fiona happy without magic," Sandy said.

"Doesn't hurt to have a backup. Now how bout we pop in there for a spell? Ha-ha! Get it? Spell?" Nobody laughed except Puss in Boots, who shrieked with laughter.

"He makes me laugh!" Puss said between breaths as they made for the cottage.

"Kiss tail little feline," Donkey muttered.

They walked inside the front door where they met their first obstacle: a receptionist. "Fairy Godmother's, please hold. Fairy Godmother's, please hold," the small fairy man with the goatee sitting at the desk said as he typed at his crystal ball.

"Excuse me," Ed said. "We're here to see-"

"The Fairy Godmother," the fairy finished. "She's not seeing anyone right now."

"That's okay, buddy. We're with the union," Shrek explained. The others stared at him but he shushed them with a gesture.

"The…union?" the fairy repeated.

"Yes, the union that represents workers in all magical industries, both evil and benign."

"Oh, that union!" the fairy realized.

"Are you feeling at all under-appreciated or depressed?" Ed asked, catching on.

"Well... a little," He leaned in to whisper, "We don't even get dental."

"They don't even get dental," Shrek repeated, "It's a good thing we're here. We'll just have a look around. Oh, and maybe it's a good idea not to tell the Fairy Godmother we're here, huh?"

"Yeah, huh? Huh?Huh?" Donkey exclaimed.

"Stop it," They all walked inside the doors.

The receptionist doors lead to a wooden railing that overlooked a large factory area. Large vats full of what seemed to be a sparkling substance were about. Conveyor belts carried empty potion bottles waiting to be filled. Different animals were kept in cages around the workplace. The employees of this operation were small plump men in white jumpsuits that completely covered their bodies. They stirred the substance in the vats, tended to the animals, and filled the empty bottles. All were kept busy. The group took all of this in while following a path that lead to a pair of large white doors. They opened them and walked inside.

"A drop of desire," a voice laughed as they entered. Inside was the Fairy Godmother flying around a large bubbling cauldron and pouring in different potions. "A pinch of passion," Another small explosion, "And just a hint of… lust!" Her 'hint' as she called it was a large jug labeled lust which she poured in with delight. This triggered a thick colorful cloud of smoke that filled the room. The Fairy Godmother laughed amid the smoke, giving her a rather sinister appearance.

"Excuse me?" Shrek interrupted. Fairy Godmother gasped at their sudden arrival and the smoke faded away. "Sorry to barge in like this…"

"What in the world are you doing here?" Fairy Godmother demanded harshly. "Oh, and you brought friends! They look exactly as I expected your chums to look. I wonder how your wedding looked."

"Shrek needs some help," Ed explained. "At least he thinks he does."

"Oh, really?"

"Well, it seems," Shrek said trying to put his problem into words. "Fiona's not exactly…happy."

Fairy Godmother laughed loudly and cruelly. "And why do you think that is? It doesn't take someone as smart as him…"She pointed at Ed, "… to figure it out."

"That was uncalled for… I'm trying to work that out," Ed groaned.

"You are an ogre," Fairy Godmother continued. "An abomination. A disgrace. A monster! Princesses fall in love with charming princes. Princes that slay the monster. Princesses don't fall in love with the monster! And monsters don't live happily ever after!" Shrek's anger grew at each comment she made. She was wrong. Wasn't she? Fiona was happy with him. Right?

"Alright. Listen, lady!" Shrek shouted, fed up.

"Don't you shout at me!" They each glared into each others eyes, sparks flying between them. Both too stubborn to look away.

"Your Pepto Bismol, Fairy Godmother," said one of the small jumpsuit-wearing men walking inside and tearing Shrek and Fairy Godmother away from each other. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were in a meeting. I can come back…"

"No, we were just leaving," Shrek said stiffly. "Sorry to waste your time, Miss Godmother."

"Just…go," she hissed. Shrek gave her one last dirty look before he and the others walked out or, in his case, stormed. Fairy Godmother snatched the pink bottle from the tiny man and downed it in one gulp. The man then ran off and she turned back to her potions, a lot angrier then she had been before. She heard a noise behind her. She rounded furiously. "I thought I told you to- Aaaahh!" Standing before her cauldron was the woman from before that was watching Hotaru sleep, "Zianxa! W-What a surprise!"

"Hello Godmother," Zianxa smirked, "Still in the magic business I see?"

"Yes. So, out of potions again? Well, I'll just call Jerome and he'll get you your stuff lickety split! Nothing but he best for my favorite customer! Jerome!"

"I'm not here for business, Godmother," Zianxa replied. "I'm here to ask a favor."

~~~

Their previous attempt having failed, the strange group took more inventive measures. Stealing three jumpsuits, they planned to move through the factory in disguise. The uniforms were much too small for them, so they adjusted them as best they could.

They made their way onto the factory floor, trying to look as casual as they could look with small suits on their faces. The small workers paid them little heed as their taller bodies walked among them. Some of them even waved hello. "Fish in barrel," Shrek whispered.

They headed to the end of the work floor to an archway that had the word 'Potions' displayed overhead. They walked inside.

The room contained huge shelves of potions that reached all the way to the high ceiling. There must have been hundreds of different bottles there, perhaps even thousands. The three disguised heroes stood in front of this, craning their necks to see the top. They took off their masks and Shrek lifted up his shirt, causing Donkey and Puss to tumble out of their hiding place in a heap.

"Get your fine Corinthian footwear out of my face!" Donkey shouted, pushing Puss off of him.

"Well you don't exactly smell like a basket of roses!" Puss hissed. "Boss, please allow me to rip his eyes out."

"One of these has got to help," Shrek muttered, eyeing the potions. "Now we just need to find the right one."

"And what is the right one?" Sandy asked, "What are you trying to do?"

"Something that will make me look better, that'll make Fiona's Dad accept me. We need to get to the ones higher up. Puss, could you climb up there?" Shrek asked the cat.

"No problemo, boss!" Puss exclaimed. "In one of my nine lives, I was the great cat burglar of Santiago de Compostela!" With a laugh he launched himself at the cabinets, clinging to the handholds and swiftly scurrying up to the potions on the upper shelves.

"Shrek, are you off your rocker? This is a bad idea! Let's get out of here before that wicked witch comes and delivers a world of hurt to our backsides!" Donkey stressed.

Puss climbed higher and higher up the shelves, checking the labels of the bottles as he went. "What do you see?" Patrick called.

"Toad Stool Softener?" Puss called back.

"No thanks!"

"Anything on 'handsome'?" Shrek asked.

"Hold on!" Puss saw something that caught his eye on a shelf that was behind a glass case. These were apparently the more powerful potions in the storage. "How about 'Happily Ever After?'" In the middle of the case was a bottle that contained a blue liquid and read in large words 'Happily Ever After'

"What does it do?" Shrek asked.

"It says 'Beauty Divine.'"

Donkey, fed up with everyone paying attention to Puss, looked out the archway they had come in from. Outside was the pointy eared man they had met at the reception desk. He was talking to one of the small workers with a scowl on his face. To Donkey's horror, the man in white pointed straight at him. The goateed fairy turned his scowling face to him. "Uh, guys?"

Ed turned to the talking donkey and saw the reason for his concern. "Uh oh. I think our cover's blown!"

"It'll have to do!" Shrek called back to Puss. "We got company!" Puss grinned and used one of his razor sharp claws to cut a perfect hole through the glass. He reached through the new hole and pulled the bottle out.

"Catch!" He dropped the bottle down.

"I got it! I got it!" Patrick said, running under the bottle and catching it in his hands. "Now let's get out of here!" At that moment, alarms started going off, alerting the whole factory to their presence. Puss jumped down from the shelves and landed on Ed's back. They rushed out of the potions room with their prize in Patrick's hand.

As soon as they emerged, the small workers ran around the factory in a panic, knowing that there was a robbery and that they were the thieves. The heroes paid them no notice and headed straight for the doors at the end of the room. Unfortunately, the doors swung open and several pointy eared men emerged armed with crossbows, all pointed at them. Without a chance to surrender they opened fired. Shrek picked up Puss and Donkey under his arms and ran to the left while Ed ran to the right with Sandy and Patrick beside him.

Shrek jumped onto a conveyor belt and ran against it while arrows rained down behind him. Shrek finally got the brains to jump off the belt and took cover behind a vat of magical potion. Setting down Puss and Donkey, he pushed the vat until it began to tip over. With some help from Ed, who cam over to help, they managed to topple it over. Gallons of purple liquid spilled forth in a massive flood. The security screamed and ran away as did the workers as the liquid completely drenched them. The magic wave changed the animals in cages into people, workers into pieces of furniture and the security into flocks of pure white doves that flew through the factory.

Ed, Sandy, Patrick, Shrek, Donkey and Puss soon made a run for the exit, with no plan on returning anytime soon.

~~~

"Oh, that disgusting creature!" Prince Charming exclaimed. The workplace was a complete disaster area. Furniture walked about, doves flew everywhere, and puddles of the potion still flooded the place. "How dare he come here! And look what he's done! It's a mess! Clean up this place immediately!" he ordered a flock of doves. They flew off in haste. Prince Charming looked to the ceiling to see what damage was done there but instead he saw his mother flying down to him, looking anxious and happy despite her ruined factory.

"Hello, dearest!" she said, cheerfully.

"Mother! That disgusting ogre was here! Look what he did! But don't worry, Mother. I shall strike him down not only for what he has done today, but for stealing my bride! And when he is dead, I shall marry Fiona and the Kingdom will be mine!"

"Forget ruling the Kingdom, honey," Fairy Godmother said. Her son looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "After the deal I just made, we'll be ruling this entire world! But to do that, we have to be very clever."

"Fairy Godmother." The goateed fairy, now turned dove, flew up to her with a checklist in his feet. "All potions are accounted for, Fairy Godmother. Well… except for one," The Fairy Godmother grabbed the checklist and scanned it carefully. When she found what she was looking for, she smiled deviously.

"Perhaps we could use this to our advantage."

~~~

"'Happily Ever After Potion. Maximum Strength. For you and your true love.'" This was the label Shrek read from the bottle of blue liquid they'd pilfered. "'If one of you drinks this, you both will be fine. Happiness, comfort and beauty divine.'"

"You both will be fine?" Ed repeated.

"I guess that means it will affect Fiona as well."

"I don't like this, Shrek," Donkey said. "My donkey senses are tingling! That stuff is bad news!"

"It says 'Beauty Divine,'" Patrick reasoned. "How bad can it be?"

"Bad enough that it came from the home of Miss Wings On Too Tight! Get rid of that voodoo!"

"Boss," Puss said stepping in front of the ogre. "Just in care there is something wrong with the potion… allow me to take the first sip. It would be an honor to lay my life on the line for you."

Donkey glared at the cat and rushed up. "Oh, no you don't! If there's any animal testing, I'll do it! That's the best friend's job." He snatched the potion from Patrick's hand with his mouth and took a large gulp. Shrek took it back after he was done.

"Feel anything?" Beast asked.

"Gassy. That's about it. Do I look different?"

"You still look like an ass to me," Puss said slyly. Donkey glared at him again.

"Maybe it doesn't work on donkeys," Shrek muttered. He raised the bottle to his lips.

"Shrek, wait!" Donkey exclaimed. Shrek stopped the bottle just before he could drink it. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yeah, once you drink that, there's no going back."

"I know."

"No more wallowing in the mud!"

"I know."

"No more itchy butt crack!"

"I know."

"But you love being an ogre!"

"I know!" Shrek finally shouted. He then sighed. A sign he had made his decision. "But I love Fiona more." He drank the potion.

"Shrek! Wait!" Donkey shouted but it was already too late. The ogre gurgled the blue liquid quickly. He finally stopped, leaving little left in the bottle. All his friends held their breaths. Shrek just stood there, waiting for something, anything, to happen. He willed something to happen.

Nothing happened.

"Maybe it's a dud?" Puss offered.

"Or maybe Fiona and I were never meant to be," Shrek sighed. It was the only reason he could see. All the other magic the Fairy Godmother had used had worked. She must have been right after all. Monsters don't live happily ever after. Dark clouds began to form in the sky, followed by the sound of thunder.

"See? Look! Something's happening! Don't give up yet!" Patrick said, trying anything to get the ogre's spirits up.

"It's just the rain, Patrick," he sighed again. He tossed the Ever After potion over his shoulder and it landed on the ground.

By the time they found an old barn in which to take shelter, the rain had already begun to pour heavily. They ran inside, soaking wet. Puss licked himself while the others dried themselves best they could.

"Hey, don't be sad everybody," Donkey said, "Things just seem bad because it's dark and stormy and Fiona's Dad hired a sleazy hit man to whack us." Puss hissed at the dragon.

Sandy nodded her head, "Yeah, everything will be better in the morning."

Shrek didn't answer any of them. Looking out the doorway through the rain he saw Fiona's castle. That's where she was right now. Did she miss him? He missed her. But sadly, he thought that didn't matter.

"The sun'll come out…" Donkey began to sing, "… Tomorrow." Donkey sang along, "Bet… your… bottom…"

"Bet my bottom?" Ed asked. Donkey was swaying left and right, as if his legs were unable to support him. Finally he collapsed in the hay, snoozing soundly.

"Donkey?" Ed panicked. "Are you okay? Shrek! Let's help them! Shrek?" To Ed's dismay, Shrek was also moaning and holding his stomach. He staggered over to Ed, unable to stand up anymore. He fell straight for him. "Uh oh," Ed whimpered. The last thing Ed remembered was a crushing weight before he passed out.

~~~

Hotaru stood at the window of the royal lounge watching the rain patter on the glass. Every now and then, thunder boomed through the night. It had been a full day already and Ed still has not come here to the castle. She knew she should not worry too much. Ed and the others could take care of himself. Ed had proven that time and time again. But she just couldn't shake the feeling. Someone came up behind her shoulder and snapped her out of her thoughts. It was Spongebob and Dimitri.

"Don't worry," Spongebob said. "Ed's a tough kid. He'll be fine. And remember, he's not alone."

"I know," she sighed.

In the middle of the room was a grand fireplace that roared with a bright flame. King Lillian and Harold sat before this in large upholstered chairs. Fiona then walked in the room, with suitcases in both her hands.

"Dad," she began. "I've been thinking about what you said. I'm going to set things right."

Harold let out a sigh of relief. "Excellent! That's my girl!"

"It was a mistake to bring Shrek here. I'm going to go out and find him. And then we'll go back to the swamp were we belong." Harold and Lillian both turned, alarmed.

Fiona headed for the castle exit. Harold and Lillian jumped from their seats and followed behind her, hoping to stop her rash actions.

"Fiona. You can't go anywhere right now! There's a storm raging outside!" Lillian pleaded.

"What about the celebration tomorrow?" Harold reasoned. "Everyone in the Kingdom is going to show up! You can't just leave!"

Fiona paid them little attention, fully set on finding the one she cared for. Fiona swung open the doors that lead outside into the pouring rain. As soon as Fiona took her first step, she faltered. A strange feeling began to wash over her.

"Fiona?" Hotaru called from where she was nearby as she ran over to Fiona. The ogre princess then suddenly fainted in the doorway. "Fiona!"

"Fiona!" her parents cried.

With the help of Dimitri and Spongebob, they managed to carry Fiona into her bedroom and get her into bed. Her parents hurried everyone out after she was safely settled, suggesting that she'd had a long day. Worried and exhausted, everyone left the bedroom. If they had stayed a little longer, they would have seen the bright light that soon enveloped her…