A/N: You will notice that the title listed in the drop-down list and the title in the actual chapter are different. If it isn't obvious, it's because the actual chapter title is too long to fit. Don't be surprised if you find more either/or titles like this.

Also, I've got a surprise midway through the chapter. Let me know what you think of how I did it, and you might find a few more bits like it in the future.

Chapter 21

Most Certainly Not a Stereotypical Pub Filled to the Brim with Violent Criminals

In a not-too-distant field, roughly an hour's walk from the tower, Maximus continued his hunt for the thief and the stolen crown. He sniffed around, trying to pick up his scent, when he heard someone's footsteps. Judging from the loudness and the rate of the footsteps, whatever was approaching was most likely human. From what the horse could guess, there was nobody else who would be this far out into the forest, save for the guards, but they would be traveling in a group; if this was just one human, then it could be Flynn Rider. Quickly, he hid behind a large rock, where he waited for the person to come closer. This was his chance. In just a few seconds, the guard captain's horse would capture the thief and return the stolen crown.

Patience. Just a few more seconds.

Maximus leapt over the rock and glared at what he thought was his quarry, letting out a triumphant whinny.

Mother Gothel recoiled in shock at the ambush. When the horse realized that he was scaring some lady instead of apprehending the criminal, his face fell in disappointment.

Gothel calmed down and gave the equine a look of disdain. "A palace horse," she reassured herself, then she realized something. "Where's your rider?" She gasped, her eyes opening wide. "Rapunzel." She turned around, fear in her eyes. "Rapunzel!" she shouted as she ran back to the tower, leaving Maximus utterly bewildered.

Gothel hurried back as fast as she could. When she was at the base of the tower, she shouted upward "Rapunzel, let down your hair!" There was no response. "Rapunzel?" she pleaded.

When there was still no reply, she ran around to the opposite side, where the wall was covered in vines that sprouted purple flowers. She ripped a section of vines off, revealing an archway sealed entirely with rocks. She frantically tore the rocks out and opened the way, then ran all the way up the spiral stairs. When she reached the ceiling, she pushed upward, knocking a section out of its place, and pushed the stone trapdoor to the side. She climbed into Rapunzel's room and searched frantically for the girl, calling her name as she went. She tore the curtains off of the second set of windows, illuminating the room with an almost haunting glow.

Gothel started to wander around the room, distressed. Then she noticed a glint under the bottom step of the staircase on the opposite side of the room. She investigated and lifted a stone that sat on top of a wooden slat right where it warped inward, allowing a glance into the space beneath the step. Inside that space, she found a brown leather satchel. She picked it up and opened it to see what it was that reflected the light, and she took out the crown.

It took a second for her to realize exactly what it was, at which point she gasped in fright and dropped it. That was the crown given to her when she was a newborn. How did it come to be here? If she finds out who she really is, then I will lose her forever!

She looked into the satchel again and drew out a parchment. It had a drawing of a man's face. It said:

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

FLYNN RIDER

THIEF

Adopting a shifty gaze, Gothel opened a drawer in the desk and took out a long, thin dagger with a cross-guard that curved toward the blade and curled at the ends.

No. I will have the Flower back, whatever it takes.

She sniffed the air, detecting something rather unusual.

I smell… magic. A magic I that has not shown itself in centuries.

"So, if you're not from around here, where are you from?" Rapunzel asked Sora, Riku and Kairi. The party of eight (plus Pascal the chameleon) were trekking back through the forest. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were scouting ahead, checking to see whether the guards were still patrolling the area, leaving the Destiny Islands trio with the sheltered girl and the thief. They had been walking for over an hour. Much of the time has been spent by Rapunzel feeling conflicted over her decision, flip-flopping between feeling guilty over disobeying her Mother and celebrating at the top of her lungs. Flynn had also been trying to guilt her into giving up on her journey, while the others just rolled their eyes.

The three teenagers were taken aback by the question Rapunzel posed. Sora and Riku were not used to people asking such questions, and while Kairi knew that they were not supposed to tell others about the other worlds she did not know how to explain such things away. But she decided to come up with something anyway.

"We're explorers," she said, which was technically the truth. "We've wanted to travel and visit all the corners of the world, and now we're finally getting the chance to do it together."

Sora and Riku were surprised by how easily she was explaining the situation without revealing too much. Though, Sora noted, it was not too far off from what he said to Ariel when first arriving in Atlantica and asking her to teach him, Donald and Goofy how to swim underwater.

"It was originally just the three of us," Riku added. "We met up with Mickey, Donald and Goofy along the way." Again, this left multiple details out, but was technically true.

"Must be nice to see new places," Rapunzel mused. "Meet new people, have a lot of fun."

Sora smiled. "It sure can be fun," he replied.

Just then, a Shadow Heartless materialized in front of Rapunzel. Sora, Riku and Kairi stopped, preparing to bring out their weapons. Flynn, meanwhile, looked at the creature in confusion. However, Rapunzel stared in fascination. She squatted down to the creature's level and stared into its featureless round face with its simple yellow eyes.

"Aw, aren't you a cute little thing," the girl said, petting the Heartless on the head, much to the creature's bemusement.

"Rapunzel, be careful," Riku warned. "That's a Heartless, a being of darkness that will go after your heart."

This did not seem to register with Rapunzel, however, until the Shadow tried to strike her with its claws. "Eep!" She jumped back up to her feet and backed away from the attack. The Shadow lunged forward, but the girl drew out her frying pan and crushed it with a single hit, disintegrating the enemy into black smoke.

More Heartless appeared, including Shadows, Soldiers, Emerald Blues, and Green Requiems. There was also a large Heartless that resembled a centaur with a red tail, hooves, and cape, wearing blue armor and carrying a staff with a yellow blade shaped like a blocky spiral design on the top.

Sora summoned his Keyblade and leapt at the Assault Rider. He swung hid weapon at the beast's torso, pushing it backward, but the horse body remained stalwart. Before Sora could begin another combo, the Assault Rider twirled its staff in its hand, spinning it fast enough to hit Sora rapidly several times like propeller blades, ultimately throwing him to the ground.

"I hate these things," he muttered as he brought himself to his feet, only to be sent flying once again when the Heartless stomped hard on the ground, throwing him off of his feet with a shockwave.

Riku and Kairi fought off the Shadows and Emerald Blues. Kairi sustained a few scratches and was sent flying by a tornado, but she caught herself on a tree branch and regained her bearings. As soon as the winds died down, Kairi retaliated, cutting the floating Heartless in two.

Flynn had taken a hunting knife from his belt satchel and was cutting his way through the Soldiers and some of the Shadows. He ducked when Sora flew past him from the force of the Assault Rider's attack. He noticed that the Green Requiems were healing the Heartless' injuries, so he leapt after and jabbed his knife into one of them, slamming it into a tree until there was nothing left of it, but this left the knife stuck in the wood. He tried to pull the blade out, but had to leave it to dodge a Soldier's attack. He ran after the other Green Requiem, leapt and grabbed it by the feet. It tried to fly away, but his weight dragged it down. When his feet met the ground, he swung the Heartless through the air and bashed it into the same tree several times until it disintegrated.

Rapunzel helped Sora to his feet. "You okay?" she asked, concerned. Sora nodded. Rapunzel looked at the Assault Rider and got an idea. She grabbed a portion of her hair, swung her arm around a few times to flick it like a whip. She threw her hair to wrap around the enemy's staff, then tugged, starting a tug-of-war with the Heartless, which it ultimately lost while falling forward. Sora caught the staff and slipped it out of the loop of Rapunzel's hair. He thanked her, then ran straight at the beast, lunging and stabbing the tip of the spear into its leg. While it was thus incapacitated, Sora bludgeoned it with his Keyblade until it was slain.

Pretty soon, the Heartless were all gone. Sora cast Cura to heal whatever cuts and bruises were sustained. All weapons were dismissed or sheathed.

"Well, that was… mildly worrying," Rapunzel stated. "But it wasn't too bad." On hearing this, Flynn rubbed his chin, pondering something.

At this point, Mickey, Donald and Goofy rejoined the group. "The guards seem to have gone elsewhere, though they're probably still searching the forest," Mickey explained. "But the way ahead is clear."

Goofy noticed that the other five had recently been tensed up, and he saw a few scratches in nearby trees. "Did something happen while we were gone?" he asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Sora waved him off. "We took care of it."

Donald felt his stomach growl. "Now would be a good time to get something to eat," he said. The others could not help but agree.

Flynn snapped his fingers. "You're in luck, boys, because I know the perfect place!" he announced, a devilish smirk on his face. "Follow me."

"I know it's around here somewhere," Flynn said as they walked, scanning about the area. He looked to the left and, down a path lined with low-level fences not unlike highway guardrails, he saw a purple-roofed single-story building that looked like an architect's nightmare, twisting and curving with the lay of the land, and it appeared to be built around a large tree. "Ah, there it is. The Snuggly Duckling." Several yards ahead of the front door, there was a sign that hung at the side of the path, with a section in the middle cut out in which sat a painted planar carving of a yellow duckling surrounded by some cattails. There were some horses tied off at the front, indicating that the establishment was indeed occupied.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Donald shared suspicious glances.

"Don't worry, very quaint place, perfect for you. Don't want you scaring and giving up on this endeavor now, do we?" Flynn reassured Rapunzel.

"Well, I do like ducklings," Rapunzel said with an innocent smile.

"Yay!" Flynn said with a sarcastic cheer.

As Flynn started to lead her inside, the other six hung back, still following but keeping a good enough distance to chat quietly amongst themselves.

"You know, I'm thinking it's not as nice as it looks," Goofy guessed. Donald rolled his eyes at how obvious a trick this was.

"I've never actually been in a bar brawl," Sora mused. "Granted, not old enough to drink, of course, but still. And punching a guy that Sion is in the process of bouncing does not count."

"They can be fun," Riku said, earning an inquiring eyebrow-raise from Kairi.

"All the same, we'd better go in and watch their backs," Kairi added. With that, they increased their pace as they closed the gap with Flynn and Rapunzel.

Flynn threw the door open inward. "Garçon, your finest table please!" he called out. Rapunzel gasped in horror.

The modestly-lit bar was filled with brutish-looking thugs decked in armor and warrior garb that some would find reminiscent of Vikings. One had a moustache divided into two sections at either side of his mouth; he wore an enormous brown spiked pauldron on his right shoulder, and he had a hook in place of his left hand. The enormous man next to him wore a helmet with a wide set of horns that curled up and inward at the tips. One of the scrawnier men, though only relatively, had a large red nose and uneven teeth. Another, who appeared to have some girth, wore a large metal, bucket-shaped helmet that covered his entire face and also had a pair of tiny horns at the top, and, interestingly, he had a tattoo of a cupcake on his right upper arm. Among other fearsome-looking ruffians, there was also a short old man who appeared to be in a senile and inebriated daze.

Afraid, Rapunzel held her frying pan out defensively. Flynn leaned on her shoulders as he led her through the crowd.

"You smell that? Take a deep breath through the nose," he said right into her ear, inhaling the smell when he said that. "Really, let it seep in. What are you getting? Because to me, it's part man smell, and part really bad man smell. I don't know why, but overall it just smells like the color brown. Your thoughts?"

Rapunzel was yanked back as she felt something grab onto her hair. It turned out to be one of the thugs holding it. "That's a lot of hair," the guy muttered.

"She's growing it out," Flynn replied. He took a better look at the man. "Is that blood in your moustache? Blondie, look at all the blood in his moustache!"

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy made their way through the crowd, glaring confidently and warningly at any thug who dared to meet their eyes. One poked Mickey's ears, but the mouse king glared upward at him, intimidating him into backing off. Another reached out toward Kairi, but she slapped his hand away.

Rapunzel had gathered up most of her hair into a large bundle and backed away quickly, only to bump back against another large thug who was sitting near the fireplace. She spun around to give him a quick warning frying-pan-point, then turned back.

"Ooh, you don't look so good, Blondie," Flynn teased. "Maybe we should get you home. Call it a day? Probably better off. This is a five-star joint, after all. And if you can't handle this place, well, maybe you should be back in your tower," he suggested as he led Rapunzel to the door, right past their glowering traveling companions.

"If he gets her hurt, I'm going to kill him," Riku grumbled, balling his fists.

Before they could reach the door, however, the thug with the giant horns slammed the door shut, pinning a sheet of paper to the door with his hand. "Is this you?" he asked sternly.

The eight newcomers leaned in and noticed that the sketch on the Wanted poster greatly resembled Flynn. Nervously, Flynn pinched the thug's index finger, which was covering the nose, and moved it out of the way. To his dismay he saw that the sketch was perfect except for the fact that the nose extended three inches. Sora, Donald and Goofy started laughing, while Riku, Kairi and Mickey entered their own fit of snickers.

"No, now they're just being mean," Flynn muttered.

"Oh, it's him, all right," Hook-Hand sneered as he approached the thief and grabbed him by the shirt. "Greno, go find some guards," he ordered, prompting one of the patrons to run out the door. "That reward's going to buy me a new hook."

The helmet-wearing thug pulled Flynn out of Hook-Hand's grasp. "I could use the money!" he shouted.

"What about me? I'm broke!" The enormous thug did the same. Almost instantly, the thugs swarmed on Flynn, trying to grab him so they could claim the reward.

Realizing the predicament, Sora and Riku cracked their knuckles, ready for a fight. Goofy summoned his shield and Mickey picked up a stool.

"Leave him alone! Pinocchio's with us!" Sora called out, chuckling at his joke to which Donald and Goofy joined in. Then he stopped awkwardly. "They don't know who that is." He looked back at Kairi. "You don't either."

Rapunzel tried to get into the clump of warring brutes, trying to rescue Flynn, while the thief made his own attempts at pleading. "Guys stop! Hey, leave him alone! Give me back my guide! Ruffians!" She even started pummeling against one thug's shield with her frying pan, to no effect.

Finally, she threw her hair over a support beam and let it wrap around a branch. She pulled her hair, using the beam like a pulley to pull the branch up. Just as Hook-Hand was about to punch Flynn while the others held him still, she released, and the branch fell back down and bounced off of Hook-Hand's head. The other thugs stopped roughing Flynn about and stared in shock.

"Put him down!" she demanded. Hook-Hand turned to glare at her. "Okay, I don't know where I am, and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven't any of you ever had a dream?" she pleaded.

Hook-Hand unslung an ax from his back and started marching toward Rapunzel. The enormous thug lifted Flynn up and hung him by the shirt on a hook. Sora and Riku discretely summoned their Keyblades and Kairi placed her hand on the handle of her rapier, ready to come to the girl's defense. As Hook-Hand approached, Rapunzel backed away in fear until she found herself leaning back over against a barrel.

When it looked like Rapunzel was about to get hurt, Hook-Hand said something surprising in his deep voice. "I had a dream, once." He then threw his ax so that it hit the wall above a bard's head, slicing the feather off of his green hat. A fearful stare in his eyes, the purple-and-green-clad musician, who was manacled by the ankle to a ball-and-chain, started playing on his accordion.

Hook-Hand:I'm malicious, mean and scary, my sneer could curdle dairy, and, violence-wise, my hands are not the cleanest. But despite my evil look, and my temper, and my hook… [He back up to a piano as a spotlight comes on and focuses on him] I've always yearned to be a concert pianist!

[While playing on the piano with both his hand and his hook] Can't you see me on the stage performing Mozart/ Tickling the ivories till the gleam? [He strums across the keys, accidentally launching them out of the piano while Rapunzel and Goofy block them with frying pan and shield]

Yep, I'd rather be called deadly/ for my killer showtune medley. Thank you! 'Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream!

Chorus of other thugs:He's got a dream! He's got a dream! [Flynn and Donald are confused, while all else look on in amusement]

Hook-Hand:See, I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem. Though I do like breaking femurs/ you can count me with the dreamers. Like everybody else I've got a dream!

Big-Nose:I've got scars and lumps and bruises/ plus something here that oozes/ and let's not even mention my complexion. But despite my extra toes, and my goiter, and my nose/ I really want to make a love connection.

Can't you see me with a special little lady/ rowing in a rowboat down the stream? Though I'm one disgusting blighter/ I'm a lover, not a fighter. 'Cause way down deep inside I've got a dream!

Chorus:He's got a dream! He's got a dream!

Big-Nose:[at the same time] I've got a dream! I've got a dream! [on his own] And I know one day romance will reign supreme. Though my face leaves people screaming/ there's a child behind it dreaming. Like everybody else I've got a dream!

Others:Toll would like to quit and be a florist.

Gunther does interior design.

Urf is into mime. [A chubby man dressed and made up as a mime demonstrates in front of the party]

Attila's cupcakes are sublime! [The helmet-wearing thug brings out a tray of cherry-topped cupcakes]

Bruiser knits! Killer sews! Fang does little puppet shows!

Hook-Hand:And Vladimir collects ceramic unicorns. [The enormous thug brings out a pair of tiny items of such description and clinks them together]

Hook-Hand: "What about you?"

Flynn: "I'm sorry, me?"

Big-Nose: "What's your dream?" He takes Flynn off of the hook and sets him on the ground.

Flynn: "Sorry, boys. I don't sing." He finds himself surrounded by swords, along with one Keyblade and a staff.

Flynn:I've got dreams like you. No, really. Just much less… touchy-feely. They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny. [He grabs one of Vladimir's unicorns, earning a scowl, and places it in a bowl with a pile of oatmeal] On an island that I own/ tanned and rested and alone/ surrounded by enormous piles of money! [Some of the thugs grab him and throw him into the air, cheering]

Big Nose: [to Sora and the others] "What about youse guys?"

[An accordion solo swells up but Sora is left in silence]

Sora: I… don't know.

The music came to an awkward halt.

"I mean, I'm enjoying my adventures, but in the long run, I'm not sure where to take it when there are no more monsters to fight and lands to save," he explained somberly. Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy looked at him sympathetically. The former two knew better than anyone how he lived in the moment.

The elderly "thug", nicknamed Shorty, shrugged. "Eh, we can't all have it mapped out," he said.

"Yeah, you'll figure it out. I'm sure of it," Hook-Hand reassured him. "Any other dreams about?"

Kairi snapped her fingers to signal for the music to start playing again.

Kairi:So, the three of us who were never apart/ planned to sail to lands great and far. But we were split and I couldn't go with them to new stars. But now we're together and ready for some fun/ and I'm ready to fly with them to each and every one! [she wraps her arms around Sora and Riku's necks]

Can't you see me running with my greatest friends/ fighting with the shadows' darker schemes? I was just a simple girl/ now I'm soaring between worlds! Oops.

Sora: You're fine.

Kairi:Like everybody else I've got a dream!

Thugs:Huzzah!

Rapunzel:I've got a dream! (She's got a dream!) I've got a dream! (She's got a dream!) I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam! And with every passing hour/ I'm so glad I left my tower. Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream!

Chorus:She's got a dream! He's got a dream! They've got a dream! We've got a dream! So, our differences ain't really that extreme. We're one big team!

Call us brutal! Sick! Sadistic! And grotesquely optimistic! 'Cause way down deep inside we've got a dream! I've got a dream. I've got a dream. I've got a dream. I've got a dream.

Rapunzel:I've got a dream!

Chorus:Yes, way down deep inside I've got a dream! Yeah!

The door opened, and Greno came back in. "I found the guards," he announced. Realizing the predicament, Flynn pulled Rapunzel off of the table that she had been using as a center platform at the end of the song, and Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy followed them as they hid behind the counter. The captain of the guard and two other soldiers marched in, with the captain shoving Greno to the side.

"Where's Rider? Where is he?" the captain demanded. "I know he's in here somewhere. Find him. Turn the place upside-down if you have to!" He slammed his fist onto the counter to emphasize.

Once the captain had walked away, Flynn peeked over the counter, as did Riku. A couple other guards led the Stabbington Brothers, still in their custody but not yet back in prison, into the bar.

Hook-Hand held his hook in front of Flynn to get everyone's attention. He glanced toward the back wall to indicate where to go. As they snuck toward the wall, Sora summoned his Keyblade and pointed. A beam shot out and hit a rectangular panel in the floor as it curved up to meet the wall, which opened backwards and downward like a trapdoor, revealing a hidden passage. The party of eight, with Hook-Hand behind Rapunzel and Flynn, crouched before the opening.

"Go. Live your dream," Hook-Hand said.

"I will," Flynn replied.

Hook-Hand glared at him. "Your dream stinks. I was talking to her." Sora and Kairi wagged their heads from side to side as if conceding to the point. Disappointed, Flynn crawled into the passage.

"Thanks for everything," Rapunzel said, giving Hook-Hand a kiss on the cheek before following Flynn. The thug smiled at this.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy started to follow, but Hook-Hand stopped Sora. "You'll find your dream. And when you do, you follow it to the ends of the earth. Got it?" he said. Sora nodded. Hook-Hand glanced over the party. "You all, you're pals. You stick together." With those words, he shook hands with Sora and let them through, turning a blind eye as Donald and Goofy crawled through carrying some food. When they were all in the tunnel, Hook-Hand flipped a lever upward to close the trapdoor.

While this was happening, the other thugs were trying to distract the guards. Vladimir, holding the Wanted poster, picked up the diaper-wearing Shorty.

"I believe this is the man you're looking for," the enormous thug proclaimed.

"You got me!" Shorty said, holding his arms forward to get cuffed.

The captain could only look on, baffled, wondering if everything, including the guy in the blue shirt coming to alert them, was just an elaborate prank. A guard came back from his own search.

"Sir! There's no sign of Rider," he reported.

They heard a whinny coming from outside, drawing their attention. Maximus ran in and blasted the door open.

"Maximus!" the captain said, both glad to see his horse again and curious as to what he was doing.

Maximus sniffed the ground until he came upon a scent. He pushed a group of thugs aside with his forelegs and made his way to the counter.

"What's he doing?" one of the guards asked. The captain, confident in his steed's intuition, slammed his hand over the man's mouth.

Maximus neighed, standing with his forelegs on the counter and pointing at the lever. The captain shook his head lightly in confusion. Maximus gave him a look as if to say Come on, you moron. It's obvious. He pushed down on the lever, opening the trapdoor.

"A passage!" the captain said triumphantly. "Come on, men. Let's go. Conli! Make sure those boys don't get away!" The guards followed the captain and Maximus into the tunnel, leaving the scrawny guard who was armed with a halberd to watch over the hulking robber brothers.

Mother Gothel watched as the events unfolded inside the pub. She had trailed the party to the pub and was about to enter and retrieve Rapunzel but was stopped due to the activity that had developed inside, as she had arrived in the early stages of the musical number. Then she had hidden when the guards appeared, and waited for them to catch the thief, in which case she would not have to kill him and could drag Rapunzel back without trouble. However, she had still lost her target.

"I've got a dream… I've got a dream…" Gothel turned on hearing the drunken singing and saw Shorty stumbling around. When the little old man saw her, he smiled and leaned against the door frame. "Oh, somebody get me a glass, 'cause I just found me a tall drink of water," he said flirtatiously.

Oh, stop it, you big lug," Gothel replied, acting flattered. She laughed briefly, then drew out her dagger, pointing it into Shorty's nose. "Where does that tunnel let out?" she asked sternly.

"…Knife!" the old man exclaimed hoarsely.

The tunnel was hollowed out of the earth, with stone all around leaving plenty of open space to carry in a cart full of supplies. Judging from the skeleton with a sword embedded in its chest as well as that observation, Riku determined that it must have been used for smuggling purposes, be it to smuggle items inside or to smuggle people outside, though the transport was not completely incident-free. Based on the layer of dust covering the skeleton and the sword and the cobweb connecting the skull and the handle of the weapon, this passage had been in use for a very long time.

Flynn carried a lantern as everyone made their way through the cavern. Sora was in front of Rapunzel and Flynn, keeping a lookout. Flynn carried a globe-shaped lantern to light the way. Next to him, Rapunzel was smiling giddily. Goofy and Riku were right behind them, then Kairi, then Mickey and Donald guarding the rear. Sora and Mickey reflected light off of their Keyblades, and Donald added illumination by filling the top of his staff with an aura of fire and thunder. Everyone made sure not to step on Rapunzel's long hair.

"Well, I've got to say, didn't know you had that in you back there. That was pretty impressive," Flynn admitted.

"I know!" Rapunzel said excitedly. Her voice echoed a bit. She calmed down a bit. "I know…" Flynn smiled back at her.

"That was pretty amazing," Sora commended. "Even though… I threw off the groove in the middle."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up over that," Goofy reassured him.

"Kairi sure can sing," Donald interjected.

"Oh, you should have seen her at the eighth grade talent show," Sora said. "Ahem… When you walk away, you don't hear me say…" he riffed.

"Please! Oh, baby. Don't go. Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight. It's hard to let it go," Kairi pitched in, only to start laughing, with Sora and Riku joining in.

Sora saw movement to the left and jumped out of the throng to strike down some Heartless.

Rapunzel nervously pushed some hair behind her ear. "So, Flynn. Where are you from?" she asked.

"Whoa, whoa! Sorry, Blondie, I don't do backstory," he interrupted. "However, I am becoming very interested in yours. Now, I- I know I'm not supposed to mention the hair."

"Nope," the girl responded.

"Or the mother."

"Uh-uh."

"Frankly, I'm too scared to ask about the frog."

"Chameleon," she corrected.

"Nuance. Here's my question though. If you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven't you gone before?"

This took Rapunzel by surprise, causing her to chuckle nervously. The others in the group raised their eyebrows questioningly, wondering the same thing.

Before she could answer, a pebble fell on her head, and they heard a rumbling that shook the loose stones. Everyone turned around and saw the guards coming their way.

"Ryder!" the captain of the guard shouted, him carrying a torch.

"Run!" Flynn said. Riku and Goofy helped Rapunzel gather her hair up and the group ran through the tunnel. Sora rejoined the line and cast a Blizzard spell on the ground behind him to try to cause the guards to slip, though this did very little to impede them. Some Heartless appeared and tried to block their way, but Donald eliminated them with a Thunder spell.

Soon, they saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but when they came out they were standing at a rock ledge into a canyon. Behind them, a wall made of wooden boards formed a dam, while against the rock wall to their right, a complex system fed water from the reservoir down through a chute that led down through the canyon. They ran to the edge, but found that the only way out was down a long rope ladder and through a hole into another cavern on the canyon floor. And they did not have the kind of time to go down that way.

To the left of that passage, a boarded-up path was blown open, and out stepped the Stabbington Brothers, brandishing their swords. The one with the eyepatch held his with his right hand while his brother used his left.

"Who's that?" Rapunzel whispered.

"They don't like me," Flynn replied, figuring that was all he needed to say.

"How did they get free?" Riku asked.

"Those guards must not be good at their job," Sora observed.

The guards came out of the tunnel, leaving the party surrounded. "Who's that?" Rapunzel asked.

"They don't like me either," Flynn said.

Maximus burst out of the tunnel as well. "Who's that?!" Rapunzel asked again.

"Let's just assume for the moment that everyone here doesn't like me!"

"We'll hold them off," Riku said, the six adventurers brandishing their weapons.

The captain's eyes went wide with surprise as he recognized the group. "You… You're the young lads from before. The ones who fended off those monsters. You're aligned with Flynn Rider?!"

Sora shrugged. "At present, it's like an alliance of convenience. Sorry," he said flatly.

Rapunzel shoved her frying pan into Flynn's hands. "Here!" She threw her hair so it wrapped around a broken beam, then pulled it taut.

Sora saw what Rapunzel was doing and looked across the canyon, where he saw, on a ledge on the opposite side, Heartless materialized in wait for her arrival. He turned to address Mickey. "Your Majesty! Cover Rapunzel!" he told him pointing in the direction of the long-haired girl as well as the Heartless.

Mickey nodded in understanding and, just as Rapunzel began to swing across the canyon, jumped onto the girl's back. This surprised Rapunzel, but she did not let it distract her, and it did not interfere with her swing. When they landed, Mickey dropped off of Rapunzel's back and swiftly slew the Heartless on the platform.

The captain dropped his torch and pulled out his sword. "I waited a long time for this," he said.

Before the fighting could begin, some Heartless appeared between both groups. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy quickly took on the Heartless, including some creatures resembling blue monkeys and others resembling orange monkeys with hair bows and slingshots. The five of them took out the brute force-utilizing blue Powerwilds, though some stragglers tried to flee by climbing the rock wall, while the orange Bouncywilds hung onto the canyon wall, firing glowing purple orbs at the party, forcing Sora, Riku and Goofy to run up the walls after them while Donald tried to take them out with Blizzard and Thunder spells. A Bouncywild began sniping at Mickey, who could only block the shots with his Keyblade. Rapunzel lashed her hair out, wrapping the Heartless up with one end, then she swung the hair and released the Heartless, letting it fall to the bottom of the gorge.

This left Flynn and Kairi alone with the guards. Kairi came to the thief's defense but the captain easily swatted her aside. At first, Flynn was concerned, but then he remembered that he was holding a frying pan that had knocked him out a couple times already. So, when the captain charged at him, Flynn swung the pan, hitting his opponent in the face and knocking him to the ground. Another guard came at him, but he deflected the man's sword and knocked him out as well, and did the same to the third and fourth.

When all of the guards were unconscious, Flynn looked at the frying pan in amazement. "Oh, mama! I have got to get me one of these!" he exclaimed.

"Glad to see you're having fun," Kairi quipped as she picked herself up.

A sword came into view, and Flynn brandished the frying pan, but was surprised to see that his opponent was Maximus holding a sword between his teeth.

Sora and Riku landed on the ledge. Goofy was not so close, and he hit the wall beneath, barely grabbing the ledge. Sora grabbed his hands and pulled him up.

Flynn started parrying Maximus' sword strikes, running around to try to dodge the horse's vicious charges. Sora, Riku and Goofy tried to knock the horse down, but he just kept getting back up. Donald tried to cast Fire on his tail, but he bucked and kicked him away.

Flynn continued to parry Maximus' attacks. "You should know that this is the strangest thing I have ever done!" he shouted over the sound of iron and steel clanging. At the edge of the platform, however, the horse managed to knock the frying pan out of his hand. They watched as the cooking implement fell to the bottom of the canyon.

"How about two out of three?" Flynn suggested. Instead of taking him up on his offer, the horse pointed his sword at Flynn's neck. Sora pushed the blade away with his Keyblade, then kicked the horse in the flank.

"Yeah, that was pretty strange," the Keyblade wielder admitted.

"Flynn!" Rapunzel called. She had wrapped a section of her hair around a rock sticking out of her ledge, and threw the rest of her hair to wrap around Flynn's hand. Much to Maximus' shock and Sora, Riku and Kairi's amusement, Rapunzel pulled Flynn and swung him across the canyon. When she saw that he was headed right for the angry Stabbington Brothers, she shouted a warning and pulled her hair to shorten the length from the rock to the swinging object, pulling him out of the range of the brutes' swords.

"Ha! You should see your faces, because you look—" Flynn started to gloat before finding himself hitting a wall. Everyone else, including the horse, winced.

Riku shook his head. "Ridiculous," he said plainly.

Flynn let himself drop onto the water chute, all while Maximus kicked at one of the support columns holding the dam up. The column broke off, causing water to spill out of a hole in the wall, and landed evenly to create a bridge between his platform and Rapunzel's, which he began to cross. Sora and Riku quickly followed, though Kairi, Donald and Goofy made their way across more cautiously.

"C'mon, Blondie! Jump!" Flynn called. Just as Maximus reached her, Rapunzel jumped off of the ledge and swung down. Mickey jumped and kicked the horse in the neck to stun him, then leapt off of the platform himself. Rapunzel swung down and when she reached the bottom of her swing, she landed and skidded in a puddle of dripping water. She pulled the rest of her hair down and ran. In the meantime, Flynn jumped into the chute and slid down the current of water, reminding Sora of a fondly-remembered escapade in a certain jungle. He jumped over the side and landed on another section of the chute, which started to collapse under his sudden weight. Using its collapse to guide his descent, he reached the ground and quickly joined Rapunzel.

Donald noticed the dam starting to collapse. He tapped his finger on Sora's thigh, and when he noticed, he tapped on Maximus' mane. The horse snorted angrily at him, only to notice the dam completely fall apart. The guards, who had just come to, saw the falling wall of water and screamed. Maximus snorted defiantly as everyone on the upper level was swallowed by an enormous wave.

The wave hit the Stabbington Brothers as well, and the massive torrent caused a boulder tower to fall down. Rapunzel and Flynn barely made it into the cave, and Flynn retrieved the frying pan, which had washed up to them, right before the boulder fell and blocked their way, leaving them in the dark.