Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.36 Oogie Boogie
Once we made it past the graveyard it was simpler to follow Lock, Shock and Barrel, and we reached what looked like a huge mansion. Jack frowned and glared at the building. "This is the manor of Oogie Boogie! I knew he was behind this!" he said. "Well, then let's make sure he doesn't get the heart!" I said, and ran forward. The door inside was locked but I cast Firaga Burst, hitting it with an exploding fireball that blew it inwards. We ran into the Evil Playroom, and arrived just in time to see the three of them throw the heart down a pipe. "Where does that lead?" I asked, summoning Stormfell. Shock giggled. "That pipe leads straight down the Torture Chamber, where Mr. Oogie Boogie is!" she said.
The three of them laughed, and suddenly Lock pulled out a slingshot and fired a shot at us. I shouted and dodged it, and the trio laughed again. I glared at them, and they began to scatter, calling "Bet you can't catch us!" I frowned and dismissed my Keyblade. I wasn't even going to use Stormfell for this. "Oh really?" Sora said, doing the same. We charged and Lock shot at us again, but I ducked and cast Blizzard, hoping to freeze the little tyke in place. But he jumped high and out of the path of the spell, firing yet again and this time hitting me with a rock on the top of my head. "Ouch!" I yelled, and Lock chuckled. Behind me Goofy and Donald had both tried to charge Shock at the same time from opposite sides, but she spun around and moved out of the way. The two of them tried to stop but ended up crashing into each other, ending up as a mess of tangled limp on the floor.
"Okay, time to hear some screams! Ghostly Scream!" Jack called, and he threw two gravity-magic orbs at Barrel and Lock. Barrel rolled out away from the one aimed at him, but Lock foolishly tried to dodge by jumping again. When the orb burst beneath him the added gravity pulled him back down, causing him to land harshly on the floor. "Now! Stopga!" I called. I froze time around Lock to keep in place. One annoying kid down. Donald and Goofy stood and Donald cast Thundara, trying to zap Shock and knock her down. But she spun and dodged again, only this time Sora was there and waiting for her. "Here! Blizzara!" he called, and he fired a blast of ice crystals at her. They hit her and sent her flying, until she hit a wall and slid down.
Sora cast Stop himself to keep her from moving, and we all turned to Barrel. He froze, realizing that he was the only one left, and Jack merely walked up from behind and picked him up by the back of his shirt. "Hey!" Barrel called, but he stopped struggling when Jack fixed him with a glare. "I've just about had it with you three pranksters," he said, his voice level but still menacing. While Barrel audibly gulped Goofy pushed the frozen Shock until she was next to Lock, and Jack dropped him down next to them. I pointed my Keyblade at them and released the spell, and before they could try anything I said "Don't even think about it." "W-We were just following orders! Oogie told us to steal the heart! It's all Barrel's fault! It was his idea to tell Oogie Boogie about the heart," Shock said.
"Yeah, that's right!" Lock said, nodding. "B-But you guys said-" Barrel began, but Shock cut him off by saying "You should be ashamed!" I rolled my eyes at their attempts to toss around the blame, and I said "You should all be ashamed!" They stopped and looked at me, and I moved my Keyblade from pointing at them to at the door. "I'm going to give you all to the count of three to go home. Otherwise, I'm really going to have to get mad," I said. I began counting, but by the time I got to one they were already out the door, three trails of dust having been left in their wake. I blinked in surprise, before shrugging. "Okay, that takes care of it," I said. Jack nodded. "Now we just need to get the heart back from Oogie. Let's go," he said, and he climbed into the pipe.
Sora went in after him, then Donald, then Goofy, and I went in last. The pipe ended with a drop into the middle of what I could only assume was the Torture Chamber. We heard a huge laugh, and we looked up to see the bag of bugs himself standing above us. Oogie indeed looked like a living gray burlap sack, with huge seams on the sides, a large stomach, stubby legs and handless arms. His eyes were merely two large holes, and his mouth was yet another one that was sewed open. "Oh no, looks like Jack and his friends have found me! Whatever shall I do?" he said sarcastically, before smiling. "I know what! I'll just use this!" he said, and he pulled out the heart.
"Oogie Boogie, give that back!" Jack called. "You want it? Well, then come on over and get it!" he replied, before abruptly swallowing it. He smiled evilly, and said "Now, let's see if I can get their attention. Oh, Heartless!" There was silence for a second, and then two Gargoyles appeared. To our surprise though, none others did. Oogie looked around, before shouting in anger. "What?! This is it? Nobody disrespects me! Nobody!" he yelled, and he leaped into the air before crashing back down. The ground rumbled and ring-like platform Oogie stood on rose up, out of our reach. "Why didn't it work?" I caught him muttering, and I smiled. "The heart that you swallowed wasn't a true one. Without a true heart in your possession, you'll hardly attract the Heartless' attention," I said,
Oogie glared down at me, and said "I've had enough of all of you! Take this!" With that there a click before several circular saw blades flew from the wall around us and through the air. I shouted and dropped to the ground to avoid being sliced in half, and the others either did the same or jumped over them. I looked up at Oogie and held my Keyblade in hand. "Alright, you asked for it," I said. The others drew their weapons, and we prepared for battle. The two Gargoyles dropped down to meet us and slashed their claws, and I blocked one while Sora took the hit from the other. Donald cast Fira at one and Goofy used Charge on the other, while Oogie threw down a trio of dice that flashed violently.
With a crack all three of the dice exploded, and Jack so happened to be standing in the middle when they did. He crossed his arms over his face and cried out from the triple blast. "Jack!" Sora called, and he cast Cure on him. His body was suffused with green light for a second before fading, and he said "Thanks, Sora!" Oogie laughed and threw down another trio of dice, all three of them landing on two. At that two more Gargoyles appeared, and I jumped into the air before using Meteor Rain and slamming my Keyblade against the ground. A slew of small comets appeared and rained down, automatically destroying three of the Heartless while Jack cast Blazing Fury and incinerated the last one.
Oogie threw down yet another trio of dice, and these one came up all threes. "Oh, a good roll!" Oogie said. Suddenly a trio of cowboy-like robots appeared from the edge, and lowered their guns to point at us. "Fire!" Oogie called, and they did just that. One shot got me in the arm, another knocked Donald's hat off, and a third almost hit Goofy in the foot. I grimaced and cast Curaga, watching the bullet slide itself out and the hole close up. Donald picked up his hat and examined the hole the shot had made, which was large enough for him to fit a finger through. At that I saw his eyes bulged, and I heard a hissing sound before literal plumes of steams issued from the sides of his head, whistling sound included. "That was my hat!" he yelled, before he raised his staff and charged forward.
"Take that! And that and that!" Donald called, casting Fira, Blizzara and Aero. Oogie summoned a trio of Wight Knights and they dropped down in front of him, but the wind-shield created by the Aero spell sent them back. "I'll get you all, just wait!" Donald continued, and he cast Thundara, Stop and Gravity. The Heartless were blasted with lightning before being frozen, and then crushed to the ground. Jack ran up behind him and cast Bots of Sorrow, creating a barrage of lightning that helped destroy them that much quicker. Oogie tossed yet another trio of dice, and these one came up all sixes. Oogie's body glowed with healing light before he rolled again, and these were fours. "Time to cut you down to size!" he called, and a trio of hanging scythes dropped down from the ceiling.
The stopped once they hit the ground and spun around, and we all had to jump to avoid them. Oogie laughed at seeing us hop like rabbits, and I glared at him. This guy was really starting to get on my nerves. He saw me and said "Aw, did I make you all mad? Maleficent was right; you are a hothead." I froze and was outraged at the insult; I considered myself pretty level-headed, if a little too harsh on myself. And I caught another meaning from his words too; he had been working with Maleficent. Just that name was enough to bring back bad memories, and I grunted. "Maybe, but this 'hothead' is going to be the one that takes you down!" I said, and I leaped into the air before calling "Sacrifice!"
I could feel a large chunk of my health drain away, and my Keyblade glowed with power before shot down towards Oogie. His eyes grew wide and he stomped on the ground, a large fence rising up in front of him. My attack instead hit that, and bent the metal so hard that the tips were now perpendicular to the ground. I was prepared to leap over it and attack Oogie, when I heard a cry of pain and looked down to see that Sora had been right in the middle of another set of exploding dice. "Sora!" I called, and I jumped down to help him. But behind me Oogie tossed yet another set, and these ones hit me right in the back. I cried out and landed on the ground, severely hurt from both the hit and using the Sacrifice attack without healing.
Then Oogie gasped, and said "Oh, I've got it now. I know just the thing that'll get the Heartless to come right to me!" He reared his head back, and yelled out "Oh, Heartless! I may not have a heart on hand for you, but I got not one but two wielders of the Keyblade in here with me. If you can take them out, their hearts are yours for the taking!" We all froze and looked up, hoping that wouldn't work. There was absolute silence for a few seconds, and then just as Oogie was beginning to get angered again, thinking that even this wasn't enough.
Then the whole room started shaking.
His expression changed to pure joy, and he said "Oh yeah, that's what I'm taking about!" The ground beneath us and on the wall turned black in over and dozen spots, and all sorts of Heartless began pouring forth. Search Ghosts, Neoshadows, Wizards and Invisibles were just a few to name. "Oh no!" Goofy said, seeing the already countless dark beings emerge around us. Oogie laughed victoriously, and I stood and started moving back. I could feel their hunger; just one wielder of the Keyblade would have been enough to summon the number of Heartless Oogie wanted. Two was bringing forth more than twice that. Oogie kept laughing, and Donald said "What do we do?" I gritted my teeth; I didn't like it but there was no other choice. "The only thing we can: Retreat!"
Hearing the urgency in my tone and seeing the number of Heartless filling up the room, Sora and the others decided not to argue. We all turned and ran for the exit, which I blasted open with Geo Impact. Donald ran through first, followed by Goofy, Jack, and then Sora. But just as I neared the one of the Heartless, a full-on Behemoth, roared and charged. I rolled to the side and out of the way, and the beast crashed into the doorway. The wall rumbled as cracks appeared in it, and with a groaned the ceiling above the doorway caved in, creating a rain of debris that completely blocked the doorway. On the other side Sora and other others looked back and gasped, seeing that I was trapped inside. "Dexal!" Sora called, and he ran back. I could see him through the tiniest of holes in the rubble, and I said "There's no time! This won't stop the Heartless, but I can! Go!" Sora shook his head firmly.
"No way! You're my best friend, just like Riku and Kairi! I'm not leaving you behind!" he yelled. I was about to reply when I realized that we had no time for this, and nodded. "Okay. You all work to get rid of this rubble. I'll keep the Heartless occupied over on this side!" Sora nodded, and I turned away from him and back towards the Heartless. On the other side Oogie was watching, and smiled. "Think you can take all these by yourself?" he taunted. Rather than get angry, I smiled back and cast Curaga on myself, restoring my health. "Well, we'll just see, won't we?!" I yelled, and I leaped into the middle of the Heartless.
Oh no, Dexal is now alone against an entire horde of Heartless. Can he make it through them to Oogie Boogie? Can Sora and the others get him out in time? What will happen if they can't? All of this will be revealed… next chapter! So stay tuned!
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