Author's Note: Okay, I know last chapter didn't have much, but… um… OH LOOK CHAPTER WOO

Chapter 4: Keychains

Enter Pax:

We followed the path Bestovius pointed out to us for about an hour before we noticed a major difference. The grassy field surrounding us was slowly being replaced with a rocky ground, and the path began to slope upward. It was a steady incline at first, but eventually it became much sharper. We had just finished climbing a particularly steep incline and were resting on a plateau.

"Geeze, no wonder nobody comes or goes this way," I panted, wiping the sweat off my brow. "I'd hate to be somebody in this town who wants to just have a nice picnic."

Mario nodded in agreement, fanning himself with his hat.

"I can feel the presence of other people…" Tippi said, flying next to Mario's head. "The town can't be that far away."

"Perfect!" I stood back up, rolling my shoulders. "Maybe we can find a place to buy some bottled water or something. I don't know about you, but-"

"Pax!"

I turned my head in time to see Goombella slam into me, knocking me aside JUST in time to avoid a Koopa Shell.

"Ow… thanks Goombella," I nodded, standing up and summoning the Sword of Dreams.

"Would it kill you to be a little more observant?" Goombella asked as she got into battle position herself.

I think I like this girl, smirked Coron.

"What are Koopas doing here, anyway?" I asked, ignoring Coron. "They're not from this Dream!"

"I have no idea," Goombella shook her head. "What I DO know, though, is that they're standing between us and the town."

"Hey… wanna play a game, guys?" I asked as Mario stood next to me in battle position.

"I don't think this is a proper time for-" started Tippi.

"Let's see who can take out the most Koopas before we get to town," I smirked. "The loser buys the winner Lunch when we get back to Flipside."

"…oh you are SO on!" Goombella said, a competitive fire lighting in her eyes. Mario nodded and got a head-start, jumping on a nearby Koopa. Once it went back into its shell, Mario kicked it forward, knocking out a few Koopas standing in a line.

"You're going down, Mario!" I laughed as I ran forward, beating and slashing my way through Koopas. Goombella followed close behind as she took out her own number of Koopas.

"…" Tippi sighed as she slowly followed behind.

"Alright, final count!"

We stood in front of a chasm, a pile of unconscious Koopas around us.

"Mario got… twenty-three, right?" Goombella asked. Mario shook his head and held up four fingers.

"Twenty-four then," I nodded, smirking. "Me, I got twenty-FIVE. Looks like you guys are gonna buy me a nice hot-"

"Thirty," Goombella said smugly.

"…come again?" I asked. Mario looked surprised.

"You boys REALLY need some practice if you're being beat by a Goomba," Goombella winked as she walked past us. "You're just lucky I'm in the mood for Stew today."

"Oh, you're good," I nodded with a smirk.

"I know," Goombella replied. "Alright, back to the matter at hand… how are we supposed to cross this chasm?"

"Obviously there must be some way," I said as I stood next to her, scanning the area around the chasm. "Otherwise, how would the people in this town get supplies?"

"Then again, how do we know they don't supply themselves?" Goombella asked. "You saw how difficult it is to climb that mountain, plus how deserted the field back there was…"

"But a clear path led this way, so people have obviously traveled this way before," I reasoned. "Plus, it's not faded or anything, so it must be used for occasional travel at LEAST."

"Good point," nodded Goombella. "…hey, where did Mario go?"

The two of us looked around, not seeing Mario anywhere.

"He left toward that house over there while you two were talking…" Tippi said.

"Well that was rude!" I huffed.

"Eh… not really, I can see where he's coming from," Goombella said. "We do kind of get sidetracked when we talk about these kinds of things."

"I wouldn't say sidetracked, just trying to figure out what's going on in the world around us," I argued.

"I'd agree with you, but-where did that bridge come from?"

We both turned to the bridge that was suddenly crossing the chasm.

"…huh," I blinked as Mario walked back to us. "Did you do this?"

Mario shook his hand in a "so-so" fashion.

"Well, did you get somebody else to do it?" Goombella asked. Mario nodded.

"Well, whatever, at least we can cross now!" I said cheerfully, leading the way across the bridge. The town on the other side of the chasm was small, but it still held a sense of power around it.

"Alright, somebody around here aughta know where the Keyhole is!" I said optimistically as we walked through town. "Heck, maybe the Keyhole is in this town!"

I wouldn't put money on that, Coron said as Tippi stopped in front of a vacant house. But I will agree with you in the fact that this town has… SOMETHING powerful. I can feel it.

"Me too," I agreed. "…hey, Earth-erm, whatever planet we're on to Tippi?"

"There's… SOMETHING in here…" she muttered. With a shrug, Mario pushed the door open for her to fly in.

"…wait a second, isn't this technically trespassing?" I pointed out as me and Goombella followed suit.

"Do you see any of the villagers trying to stop us?" Goombella retorted.

"Eh, fair enough point," I shrugged as Mario rubbed his chin in thought, seeing as the room was completely empty. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers, having an idea. He held out his hands, and Mario kind of… well, space seemed to "flip" around him as he vanished. A few seconds later, space "flipped" once again, revealing Mario standing next to a treasure chest. His eyes were wide and he was shaking like a leaf.

"Are you alright?" Tippi asked. In response, Mario held up one finger before falling forward, landing flat on his face.

"I think that's a no," I answered for him.

Gee, you think?

"Uh, hey, mister 'I have arms,' Mario's trying to get up," Goombella said as Mario tried pushing himself up shakily.

"Oh, right!" I rushed over to him to help him up, leaning him against a wall. As I did this, Goombella and Tippi approached the chest to examine it.

"Fascinating…" my girlfriend muttered. "This seems to be based off the Dreamer technology I found in the world beyond the Thousand Year Door…"

"It is most certainly of Dreamer make, but it's much older than anything I'm used to," Tippi added. "Dream Keeper, try using the Keyblade to open the chest."

"Two things," I said as I attached the chain to the Sword of Dreams, turning it into the Kingdom Key. "One, just call me Pax. Two, you don't have to tell me twice!"

I jumped back and twirled the Keyblade above my head, swinging it down to point at the chest.

About a minute passed with nothing happening.

Just TAP IT you drama queen, Coron sighed, face palming.

"Hey, excuse me for trying to add some finesse," I huffed as I approached the chest.

Finesse… YOU ARE OPENING A CHEST WITH A GIANT KEY.

"KeyBLADE," I corrected him.

I'm beginning to miss being evil, Coron groaned, burying his face in his hands. I ignored him as I tapped the top of the chest twice with the Keyblade. The rim of the chest glowed for a second before it opened, and from it flew a… um…

"Tippi?" I asked, tilting my head at the creature that looked like it was made of a bunch of polygons fused together into a square hand-like shape. "What in the name of all that is good and holy is that?"

"HIM, thank you very much," the assortment of polygons huffed. "Don't you know a Pixl when you see one?"

"Cone again?" I blinked.

"You're even traveling with one for goodness sakes!" the Pixl noted, moving his "thumb" to motion to Tippi.

"Ahuh," Goombella said flatly, not buying it. "So you're telling me that the hand-shaped assortment of squares is the same species as the rainbow-colored butterfly?"

"Well, the Keyblade takes on MANY different forms," the Pixl retorted. "Doesn't mean it becomes a completely different weapon."

"…point," Goombella conceded. "So, what is a Pixl?"

"A Soul, basically," the Pixl clarified as Tippi slowly hovered to the back. "Well… kind of. Put simply, a Pixl is a mass of ideals and thoughts from all over the Dream World, fused with magic to become a Soul."

"Neat!" I said. "So, what ideals are you made of, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Movement!" the Pixl said emotionally, moving forward. "Society must always move, else it begins to stagnate! For the good of all humanity, we must be ready and willing to constantly change, to move forward! Even if it means disobeying the laws set to us by man that we believe to be unjust, we must stand by our beliefs!"

The Pixl turned. "I am Thoreau, the spirit of all cultural movement!"

"Thoreau?" I laughed. "Like, Henry David Thoreau?"

"Right!" Thoreau nodded. "To be honest, his ideals influenced my creation the most, hence the similarity in names… though I must say, I'm pleasantly surprised a kid your age knows about him."

"Eh, my Mom was a hippie," I shrugged. 'I grew up learning about famous pacifists."

"You have GOT to tell me more about your world later," Goombella said, honest curiosity in her voice.

"But anyway," Thoreau said, "I digress. Since you're here, I take it the prophecy is about to be fulfilled?"

"Prophecy?" I asked. "What prophecy?"

"Wait… you don't know the prophecy?" Thoreau asked. "You are the legendary Dream Keeper himself, and you don't know the prophecy?"

"Uh… no," I shook my head. "Merlin never mentioned one."

Thoreau sighed. "Right. It went something like… um… 'When the Void appears and Devours worlds, the Chosen one, the Innocence, the Beast and the Man in Green will stand by the Dream Keeper as they face the Nothing in the Void."

"The Nothing in the what now?" I asked as Mario perked at the mention of the "Man in Green."

"Hey, I didn't write it," Thoreau shrugged. "If I did, I would have simplified it a decent bit. But, that's neither here nor there. My sole purpose of creation was to aid you in your quest."

"Well, sweet!" I grinned, holding out a hand. "Come on with us, the more the merrier!"

Thoreau smiled sadly and shook his head. "Uh, I don't think you quite understand. See, Pixls aren't supposed to remain like this, with a full conscious and all."

"Come again?"

"The reason we're like this is a by-product of creating a soul," Thoreau explained. "Once a connection has been established, I take on the form of a Keychain for you to use."

"So you're just going to… stop existing?" Goombella asked.

"Oh not quite," Thoreau assured. "I'm just going to be… not me, I guess. But there's no reason to get sad or anything, this is literally the entire reason for my creation. To tell you the truth, it was getting a little boring sitting in that chest for so many years."

Thoreau approached the Keyblade in my hand. "Now, at least I'll be doing something. Use me as you will, Dream Keeper, to keep society-and anything else you see fit-moving!"

Thoreau touched the Keyblade. There was an explosion of light, and when the room dimmed again, the Keyblade I was holding took on a different form. The texture looked blocky, and they Key's teeth looked like square fingers emerging from the side. The Keychain itself looked like Thoreau, attached to a chain that hooked to the end of the Keyblade.

"…we shouldn't mourn his departure," Tippi clarified. "As he stated, he was created for this purpose, so it would be silly of us to-"

"Neat!" I blurted, interrupting Tippi as I swung the new Keyblade around. "This thing looks awesome!"

"Alright, I can see I'm not needed…" Tippi muttered, coming to a rest on Mario's hat. He pushed himself off the wall, finally well enough to stand on his own.

"I wonder what this thing can do…" I muttered, looking at the empty chest in front of us. A thought occurred to me as I concentrated on the chest, flicking the Keyblade in its direction. A clear box seemed to spring around the chest. I slowly lifted the Keyblade skyward, and as I did, the clear box, along with the chest inside of it, lifted as well.

"Awesome!" I laughed, making the chest fly around the room. "A telekinetic Keyblade! Two awesome things rolled into one!"

"Uh, Pax?" Goombella slowly backed away from me, keeping her eyes on the chest. "You might want to be a little more careful with that…"

"Oh, what's the worst thing that could happen?" I shrugged, Keyblade still in my hand. This shrug took the chest with it, making it crash through the ceiling and fly off.

"…oops," I blinked.

"That's why I was worried," Goombella clarified. "We might want to, you know, make sure that chest didn't hit anybody."

"Yeah, good idea," I nodded, making the Keyblade vanish in a flash of light as I rushed out the door. My friends followed suit, and it didn't take any of us long at all to see where the chest wound up.

"MY BACK!" the old man screamed, clawing at the ground in front of him. "SWEET MERCIFUL DREAM GUARDIANS, MY BACK!"

"Who could have done this?!" one villager asked as she and a few others tried to shove the surprisingly heavy chest off the old man. Mario, Goombella, Coron and Tippi all turned to glare at me.

"…so we all make a few mistakes here and there," I shrugged.

"YOU PUT AN OLD MAN IN PHYSICAL PAIN," Goombella replied bluntly.

"Hey, you've seen the old people in our adventures!" I defended. "They ALWAYS bounce back!"

"That was in another world entirely!" Goombella reminded me. "You don't know the laws of this world!"

I opened my mouth to argue, but after a moment's thought, closed it again.

"Point," I admitted, hurrying to the Old Man as I summoned the Keyblade again. "Hang on, old dude!"

Using the Keyblade's powers, I lifted the chest off the Old man's back before swinging it over my head and tossing it as far away as I could. It vanished far off into the horizon with a *ding!*, like how Team Rocket always disappears in the Pokémon anime.

"There we go!" I said cheerfully, this time remembering to remove the Keychain from the blade before making it vanish. I put it in my pocket as I turned to face the Old man. He, and everyone else in the village, were staring at me with wide eyes as Mario helped the old man up.

"Y… you're the Dream Keeper!" one villager gasped. "By the Dream Guardians! The prophecy is finally coming into fruition!"

"Hey, hey!" The old man pushed Mario away. "Watch it! I'm perfectly capable of carrying myself, thank you very much!"

He turned to walk to me. "Now then, I think I'll be the judge of-YEOWCH!"

The old man fell over again, gripping his back in pain. Mario silently walked to his side and offered a glove hand, smiling in a friendly fashion. After a moment's hesitation, the old man took Mario's hand. The plumber helped him back up.

"Sorry about the chest," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.

"Ah it's fine," the old man shrugged off. "It's not like you threw it on me or anything."

I avoided eye contact.

"Anyway, who are you?" Goombella asked, trying to help draw attention away from me.

"I'm old man Watchitt-" the old man started.

"Hey, sorry!" Goombella backed up. "Didn't mean to freak you out."

"Wha… hey, watch it!" the old man barked. "I didn't say watch it, I said Watchitt!"

"Watch WHAT?" I asked in exasperation.

"MY. NAME. IS. OLD. MAN. WATCHITT!" he screamed. "W-A-T-C-H-I-T-T!"

"…oooooooooh," Goombella and I said simultaneously.

"Yeah, now I feel stupid," Goombella admitted.

"Welcome to my world," I smirked.

"Uh, hey?" Watchitt called. "Watch it, I'm still right here."

He shuffled over toward me, Mario staying by his side to keep him upright. "Now then… what proof do you have that you're the Dream Keeper?"

"…you JUST saw me use the Keyblade to move that Chest off you," I pointed out.

"Well any Dreamer could come around with a Keyblade," Watchitt rebutted.

"Even after the Keyblade War?" Goombella raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I'm not buying it."

"I can also vouch for him being the Dream Keeper," Tippi piped in. "And the man helping you up is none other than the Chosen Hero."

"Plus, I just got the Pixl that resided in this town," I motioned to the house we just came from. "And that was his chest that landed on you, AND you saw me use his Keychain to move it off you."

"All the evidence points to him being the Dream Keeper, so if you're done playing 20 Questions, can you PLEASE tell us where the Keyhole is?" Goombella finished, tapping a foot in frustration.

…I REALLY like this girl.

"Hey, she's my girlfriend," I whispered to Coron as Watchitt looked between us in defeat.

"…right," he sighed, pulling out a cell phone. "Hey, Green? Yeah, it's Watchitt… no, Watchitt… hey, WATCH IT! …I wasn't even saying… gah, never mind. Listen, I got the Dream Keeper here… yeah, he needs access to the desert… alright? Alright. Bye."

Watchitt hung up. "Take the bridge at the far end of town. Follow the desert path to a pillar, then show the Sword of Dreams. The ruins that contain the Keyhole will show itself to you."

"Got it," I saluted. "Need help getting back to your house?"

"Hey, watch it," Watchitt warned. "I may be old and frail with a bad back and kidney and ribs and…"

As he continued to list these off, Mario gently let go. Watchitt didn't even seem to notice as he closed his eyes to continue complaining. We nodded to each other and snuck off toward the far bridge.