"They don't believe in magic?" Sora was astounded.

He, Donald and Goofy had managed to escape the angry throngs of Aucklanders and had bumped into a girl by the name of Amanda. She was an attractive girl with strawberry blonde ringlets that tickled her shoulders. Hearing their plight, she had linked arms with Sora and explained as patiently as possible what and what not to wear if they were going to even attempt to fit in.

She had also been the genius to suggest that Donald and Goofy took on a human form.

"Well, I do, personally," Amanda confessed airily, smiling at Sora. "But most other people here think I'm weird for it. Personally, I don't care. They can go suck bananas, for all that I care- which I don't!"

Donald, whom was pouting for still being more than two heads shorter than Sora, muttered, "Ha! I don't care either! I'll cast as many spells as I like."

"We don't wanna purposely cause trouble, Donald," Goofy reminded his feisty friend.

He was in a good mood- he was taller than Sora, and Donald too, for that matter.

"Right." Sora nodded, and then turned back to Amanda. "So… have you seen any Heartless or Nobodies around here… in Auckland?"

Amanda shrugged. "No, but my dog keeps looking at me weirdly. Maybe you could check it out for me?"

"Okay!" Sora summoned his Keyblade in anticipation. "Lead the way."

"Sora, put that away!" Amanda waved her arms frantically, looking around to see if anyone had noticed. She calmed down only when Sora dismissed the weapon.

"Take us to your dog! We can handle it." Sora beat his clenched fist to his heart with a grin.

Amanda laughed at him. "Oh, you're so gullible, Sora."

"So your dog… is all right?"

"I don't have a dog," Amanda replied, her voice shaky with amused emotion. "I don't even have a goldfish. We're not allowed pets in the apartment."

Sora frowned. "Oh."

Donald sighed. "What do we do now? We need a problem!"

"Actually, I have an idea," Amanda said, her eyes lighting up suddenly. "We could go to the Mount Eden Prison. I'm sure there will be a few problems there."

Sora stared at her for a moment, and Goofy nudged Donald in the ribs.

"Here we go again."

Glaring at Goofy, Donald rubbed his tender side and voiced his opinion. "Sora, that's a really stupid idea!"

A slow smile spread over Sora's face. "Yeah. Let's go!"

"I'll lead the way, 'cause I know the way." Amanda tugged on Sora's arm and pulled him down Upper Queen Street.

As they were walking along the pavement, cars whizzing by like super-charged mosquitos, Sora couldn't help but notice that, compared to other worlds, Auckland was rather dull-looking. It seemed to be grey with odd splashes of colour. The only constant source of beauty was the sky, a clean cerulean canvas.

Sora was facing the others, walking backwards. "Maybe we'll meet a few weird guys here, like pirates!"

"Mhmm. Like Captain Hook or Silver." Amanda struck a distortedly villainous pose.

Donald folded his arms proudly as he walked. "We took Hook down a while ago."

"Funny!" Amanda said with a disbelieving grin. "You won't find pirates here. In Somalia, maybe, but not here."

Shrugging, Sora replied, "This is a small world. You never know who you'll-

He would've finished his sentence if he hadn't backed into someone who had stepped in his path from a side street. Both went down.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, won't you… Captain?"

Amanda rubbed her eyes as if she were seeing a dream manifest itself into reality. "Johnny?"

The pirate looked up at her from under Sora, who hadn't picked himself up yet. "Aye?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Er, Zoe, mate, I'm sure you're enjoying this as much as I am, but would you mind getting off me? Ta." Jack Sparrow flailed his arms wildly for emphasis.

Sora came close to blushing. "Sorry."

He hastily stood up, leaving the pirate free to get to his own feet.

Goofy asked Jack, "Uh, how did you get here?"

Jack cocked his head in question at him, and then raised an eyebrow in thought. "That is, in fact, not entirely clear to myself just yet. You're Goofy, am I correct?"

"Shucks. Ya remembered. I was wondering how ya'd been after we left Port Royal." Goofy smiled.

The pirate looked slightly sceptical. "Ah, right. Pleasant circumstances allowed us to bump into each other, I suppose."

Donald stomped between him and Goofy and demanded, "What about me?"

"You're… Donald. Ah, the treasure-happy one." Jack crouched to meet him eye to eye. "Last time, you were a duck."

"Wha? Why you…" Donald was about to hurl himself at the pirate, but Goofy made haste to restrain him.

"Gawrsh, Donald, Jack's right." He turned to Jack, who looked slightly amused, and said, "We have ta change the way we look to blend in to other worlds."

Sora raised his hand in greeting and grinned. "It's good to see you again, Captain. Have you seen any Heartless or Nobodies around lately?"

Jack shook his head. "Not at all. But there's something I commandeered recently that I thought you might be interested to see."

He extended his right hand with a flourish and produced his newly acquired Keyblade.

Sora's jaw dropped in astonishment. "You… have a… but how?"

"In very desperate circumstances I came to possess said weapon. And I am also desirous to know why, so don't waste your breath asking, savvy?" In a nonchalant manner, the pirate dismissed Duskwake.

Sora found that Amanda was glaring at him. "What's up?"

"You forgot to mention that you are friends with Johnny Depp?"

The younger Keyblade bearer frowned. "Who?"

Jack stared at the girl curiously. "Johnny who? Brief me, I'm feeling a touch lost."

Amanda sneered at him. "Funny." She turned back to Sora and poked him in the chest sharply. "Johnny. Depp. The hottest man on the planet- no, the universe! How could you possibly leave out that not-so-tiny little detail?"

"Who?"

She lost her temper and slapped Sora on the cheek. Furiously, the girl grabbed his chin and forced him to look at the pirate, who frowned and looked away.

"Johnny Depp. Does the name ring any bells in that clod you call a head?"

Sora looked at Jack with a bemused expression pasted on his face. "Captain?"

The pirate stepped back nervously and coughed into his hand. "Er, Zola, why are you looking at me as such?"

"It's Sora! Not Zoe, not Zola, not Cloud…"

Jack interrupted Sora in his rant to object. "And when did I ever call you Cloud?"

"Well…" Sora scratched his head and looked sheepish. "I sometimes get mistaken for this other guy…"

"Enough!" Amanda wrenched her hand away from Sora and directed her anger at Jack. "Dammit, Johnny! The joke is over!"

Raising an eyebrow, the pirate pulled a quizzical face. "Me, Johnny? Lass, I believe you've mistaken me for one of three people. One: my distant cousin John on my mother's side, two: my very distant Uncle John who is also on my mother's side, or three: er... let's say there were a few difficulties in 'gender specifics' for number three."

Amanda looked confused.

The pirate shrugged apologetically. "I fear you've merely found me, another derivative. Name-wise, anyway."

"I see." Clearly, however, she did not, but Amanda was generous enough to let it pass. "So you are Jack Sparrow?"

Jack shook his head. "Not at all, lass. I am Captain Jack Sparrow."

The girl looked sceptical. "There's a difference?"

Offended, Jack narrowed his eyes at Amanda and exclaimed, "'Course there's a difference! Jack Sparrow doesn't have a ship, and he's not a captain."

Amanda sneered, fully on the offensive now. "Where's your ship, Captain?"

Sensing the looming déjà vu, Jack rolled his eyes and set off down the street, ignoring the fact that Sora, Donald and Goofy were still there, staring at him, and the pain in his side that was his not knowing where on earth he was going.

Sora looked on after the pirate thoughtfully. "Did you really need to do that, Amanda?"

"Yes."

Goofy remarked, "Ya know, I think Jack looks as one with this world as chalk'n'cheese."

"Why couldn't you have said 'salt'n'pepper'?" Sora asked, hoping to be funny.

Of course, Goofy didn't take much notice of this. "Cuz salt'n'pepper go together. I was trying to make a point."

Donald stomped his foot down and asked, "Why are we talking about cheese?"

"Oh, go to sleep, Donald," Amanda cut in. She turned to Goofy. "I suppose you wanna go baby-sit Captain Underpants now."

Sora cupped the back of his head with his hands. "I don't think he would appreciate that."

"You think?" Amanda instantly ran off in pursuit of the pirate.

Goofy glanced at Donald and Sora.

"We really should go after them…"

"Yeah…"

So the trio followed at a pace that didn't resemble that of a stalker.