- Chapter 36 -

In the Jungle

The Lanes Between

It was Hikari's turn at the wheel of the Highwind, Sora and Riku giving her pointers.

"Okay, not bad for your first try." said Riku.

"Thanks." Hikari replied. "It's not as hard as I thought it would be."

"Yeah, it's the weapons systems that are the real challenge." Sora confessed.

"That's what you guys are for, right?" Hikari said with a giggle.

"Yeah, but you're doing great!" Sora patted her on the shoulder, getting a blush. Riku noticed, giving a small smirk.

Who knew Sora was such a ladies' man? he thought.

Before anything else could happen, Hikari checked the screen.

"New world coming up!" she exclaimed.

"I'll get the others." Sora departed to do so.

-X-

They gathered around as Hikari checked the HUD.

"Rhythmic Jungle..." she noted. "Weird name."

"C'mon." Sora insisted. "Let's go."

Rhythmic Jungle

"What the heck is this?!" Lea exclaimed.

"Ow!" Hikari yelped. "Watch it, Ven! You just stepped on my tail."

"Sorry." Ven apologized.

After a few minutes, what Hikari just said dawned on her, and her eyes widened. "Tail?!"

They had all become animals once they had landed. Donald and Goofy had taken on the forms of a tropical bird and tortoise, much like in the Pride Lands, while Sora had become an Asiatic lion with a spiky mane and Max was a tortoise like his father. Riku was a silver-furred wolf, and Ven was a clouded leopard. Kairi had become a red panda, and Lea had become an Indian crested porcupine with red quills. Mickey was an Indian giant flying squirrel, Aqua, Sï'Lea, and Nixe had become blue, normal-colored, and snow tigers respectively, and both West and Hikari had become monkeys, a rhesus macaque and capped langur, respectively.

"Wh-what is this?!" Hikari demanded.

"Ohhhh..." Sora realized. "It's one of those worlds."

"Those worlds?" Aqua asked.

"Donald's magic changes us in certain worlds so we can blend in better." Sora explained.

"So you've done this before." Riku realized.

Sora leapt onto a rock quickly, clearly showing off. "Yep!"

Riku took a few steps before tripping. "Since you obviously know what you're doing, come down and help us!"

Sora just lazily rolled onto his back. "In a minute."

"Show off." Lea grumbled.

Sora laughed before climbing back down. "It just takes a bit of practice. Take it slow. One foot in front of the other."

"But how are we supposed to fight like this?" Ven asked.

"Remember how I fought in the Pride Lands?" Sora asked. "Basically like that."

Ven perked in realization. "So... basically, those of us who don't have thumbs have to hold our weapons in our mouths."

"That sounds... uncomfortable." Riku muttered.

Sora watched as Riku continued to walk off-balance. An evil grin spread across his face before he pounced on Riku, the two beginning to wrestle.

"Seriously?" Kairi sighed, putting a paw to her forehead. "Some things never change."

"Boys, cut it out!" West snapped. "If we can all walk, let's explore."

Sora almost immediately stopped, getting off Riku.

"Yeah, let's go!" he declared before beginning to run off.

"Slow down, will you?" Aqua called.

They followed Sora, soon coming across a watering hole filled with numerous animals.

"There's... a lot of animals here." Sora mused.

"I say we mingle for a bit." Hikari decided. "Try and figure this place out."

West nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me."

She hopped onto Riku's back as he traveled for a nearby wolf pack, the others dispersing. Sora looked around for any other lions, seeing none.

"Well, we don't see many lions around here."

Sora jumped, turning to see an older black panther there.

"Oh!" he let out. "Hi, I'm Sora."

"I am Bagheera," the panther greeted. "It's not normal to see a lion, especially not one so young alone."

"It is?" Sora asked.

"Yes, lions are a rare sight nowadays." Bagheera looked to see Kairi approaching. "And with a red panda, no less."

"It's... a long story." Kairi told him. "We came from far away and all decided to travel together."

After a minute, Bagheera nodded. "Very well, then."

-X-

As this went on, Riku and West approached the wolves.

"You sure you wanna join me?" Riku asked West.

"Pretty sure, yeah." West assured.

As Riku approached, a few wolf pups saw him and ran over, sniffing at him. A larger male wolf approached as well, glaring at him and causing the pups to scatter.

"And what brings you here?" the alpha demanded.

"I'm not from around here." Riku told him nervously. "We're... travelers."

"What do you want with my pack?" the alpha growled.

"Nothing." Riku assured. "I just wanted to come and interact with others of... my kind."

"I think he doesn't like another male wolf coming over." West whispered. "Maybe bow or something."

Riku nodded before lowering his nose to the ground in submission, which seemed to placate the alpha.

"Fine." he conceded. "But I'll be watching."

With that, the alpha walked off, leaving the pups to swarm Riku and West.

"What's on your back?" one asked.

"A monkey." Riku answered. "She's my friend."

"You wanna play?" the pup asked, getting a surprised blink from Riku.

"Go ahead, Riku. What can it hurt?" West said, hopping off his back. "I'll be fine here."

Riku nodded, gently playing with the pups at his feet.

"Mowgli!" one pup called. "We made a new friend! Come play!"

Much to the surprise of Sora and his friends, a little human boy wearing red shorts came into view, laughing as the pups tried to jump up on him.

"Yes, that's a man-cub." Bagheera said to Sora. "I found him and brought him to Akela's pack years ago."

"Are these your new friends?" the human boy, Mowgli, asked the pups.

"Uh, hi." West greeted. "I'm West."

"I'm Riku."

They heard gasping, turning to see a large tiger entering the area.

"Mowgli, hide!" a large female wolf ordered, Mowgli obediently getting behind a rock.

"Uh... what's the big deal?" Ven asked.

"You don't know of Shere Khan?" Bagheera asked.

"No." Sï'Lea answered. "We're not from around here."

Shere Khan calmly headed to the water to drink, everyone giving him a wide berth.

"They're afraid." Nixe remarked. "What is it about that tiger that's got everyone on edge?"

"Shere Khan is the fiercest among us." Bagheera explained. "And he hates man."

Shere Khan eventually stood up, looking around.

"I can't help but notice there's this strange odor today." he mused. "What is it, this scent that I'm on? I almost... I almost think it was some kind of... man-cub."

It was then he saw Mowgli, the alpha wolf standing before him.

"Mowgli belongs to my pack, Shere Khan." the alpha warned.

"Mowgli?" Shere Khan repeated. "They've given it a name! When was it we came to adopt man into the jungle, Akela?"

"He's just a cub." the female wolf warned.

Shere Khan scowled, turning to reveal the left side of his face was covered with burn scars, and his left eye was whited out.

"Does my face not remind you of what a grown man can do?" he snarled.

"He's a cub! My cub!" the female defended.

"Shift your hunting ground for a few years and everyone forgets how the law works." Shere Khan growled. "Well, let me remind you. A man-cub becomes man, and man. Is. FORBIDDEN!"

The female wolf snarled, taking a step forward.

"What do you know about the law?" she demanded. "Hunting for pleasure, killing for power. You've never known law. Mowgli is mine. Mine to me. So go back to where you came from, you burned beast!"

That got an angry growl from the tiger, causing Sora and his friends to tense.

"The tiger knows who rules this part of the jungle." Akela cut in. "I'm sure he doesn't mean to come here and make threats, especially during a water truce."

"But the truce will be over eventually." Shere Khan warned. "The rains will return, and the river will rise. You want to protect him, fine. But ask yourselves this: how many lives is a man-cub worth?"

With that, he sauntered off.

"What a jerk." Sora spat.

"Someone oughta put him in his place." Lea remarked.

"Looks like he runs the show here." Hikari mused. "But out of power and fear."

"What should we do, Sora?" Kairi questioned.

"I will speak with Akela." Bagheera told them. "If there is anything you can do, I will let you know."

-X-

Some time later...

Sora and the others were lounging about, getting used to their new bodies when Bagheera approached.

"You wished to know how you can help?" he asked them. "Well, I have a way."

"We're listening." said Riku.

"I'm taking Mowgli to the man village." Bagheera explained. "It's the only place he'll be safe from Shere Khan. I could use some others to help keep an eye on him."

"We'd be glad to come and help." Hikari told him.

"And we can protect him should Shere Khan attack." Aqua added.

"Thank you." Bagheera said gratefully. "We will set out at dawn."

At dawn, the group met up with Mowgli and Bagheera.

"Ready to go?" Sora asked.

"I guess..." Mowgli remarked as they went along.

"I think you'll like the man village." Kairi told him. "So many new things to see and learn."

"Yeah." Sora agreed. "Change isn't a bad thing, Mowgli."

"But it's scary." Mowgli answered. "I was raised by wolves. What if they don't like me?"

"Don't think like that." West insisted. "You can learn to be like the other people. I've been around people a bunch. Why don't you ask me things about people? I'll answer any question you have."

"Okay." Mowgli nodded. "What's the red flower... fire?"

West blinked. "Fire?"

"Everyone talks about how man is the only one who can use it." Mowgli explained. "But I can't."

"It's... complicated." West answered. "You can't really explain how to make fire, it just happens. They'll teach you when you get to the man village."

"But what about Shere Khan?" Mowgli questioned.

"You'll be safe at the man village." Sora promised. "And if he tries anything before we get there, we'll handle him."

"Why hate Mowgli?" Hikari asked. "He's just a ki- man cub."

"Shere Khan hates man with a vengeance." Bagheera replied. "He fears man's gun and man's fire."

"But Mowgli doesn't have either of those." Ven objected.

"And Shere Khan won't wait until he does." Bagheera interjected. "He'll kill Mowgli when he's young and helpless."

"Monster!" Nixe spat.

"I'm not scared." Mowgli insisted. "I understand why I have to go, and I'll do it. But I'm not scared of him..."

Eventually, they neared a buffalo herd, and Bagheera stopped suddenly.

"Mowgli... run." he warned.

"Why?" Mowgli asked. "Bagheera, what's going on?"

Out of the blue, Shere Khan burst out of the underbrush, lunging at Mowgli. Bagheera intercepted him, and Mowgli took off running.

"West! Hikari!" Sora shouted. "Go with Mowgli!"

The two nodded and went with him, while the others faced off with Shere Khan. Suddenly, Heartless appeared.

"Heartless?!" Sï'Lea shouted.

"Get out of my way!" Shere Khan roared.

"Forget it!" Sora snapped. "Mowgli is leaving the jungle! Isn't that what you wanted?!"

"I want him dead." Shere Khan snapped. "I will never let him become a man. Especially after what his father did to me."

"What...?" Riku let out.

"Are you saying... Mowgli's father burned you?" Aqua asked.

"And I slew him." Shere Khan confirmed. "My face is living proof of man's destructive potential. Do you not see?"

"Not all humans are bad!" Goofy pointed out. "You just haven't met the good ones."

"There are no good ones!" Shere Khan growled. "I'll slay them all!"

"We won't let you, ya big palooka!" Donald squawked.

As Mowgli ran, West and Hikari on his shoulders, the buffalo began to stampede.

"Run, Mowgli!" West screamed. "Down the riverbank!"

Mowgli slid down into the mud as the stampede raged above him. As the thunderous footsteps faded away, they were suddenly surrounded by Heartless.

"Keep going!" Hikari ordered, hopping down. "We'll hold them back!"

"But-" Mowgli began.

"Just go!" Hikari yelled, swinging her sword. "NOW! And don't look back!"

Mowgli hesitated before taking off, West hopping down to join Hikari.

"C'mon! We gotta hurry!" the perky thief insisted.

They dealt with the Heartless as fast as they could, but by the time they were finished, Mowgli was nowhere to be seen.

"No!" Hikari cursed. "Dang it!"

Back with Sora and the others, they had slain the Heartless and were fending off Shere Khan. Before long, the scarred tiger stopped, sniffing the air.

"The man cub is gone." he noted.

"Too bad for you." Sora retorted.

"You think I can't find him?" Shere Khan demanded. "One way or another, I will have the man cub in my teeth!"

"You won't touch him!" Sora shouted, drawing his Keyblade and charging. As they clashed, Shere Khan growled.

"You smell of man as well." he hissed. "So you must die too."

They clashed furiously, tooth, claw, and Keyblade, before Shere Khan withdrew.

"You are wasting my time." he snarled. "I will deal with you later."

He ran off as West and Hikari came back.

"Guys, Mowgli's gone." West reported. "We lost him in the chaos."

"No!" Bagheera cried out.

"We can find him." Riku insisted.

"Oh, can you?"

They turned to see a lion similar to Sora, but pure black, casually lounging on a rock.

"That voice..." Ven's eyes widened. "Vanitas!"

"Thought I'd drop by, and see how things were going." Vanitas said casually. "Had my fun at Radiant Garden, but I got bored."

"Fun?" Sora repeated.

"Yep." Vanitas grinned. "Let me tell you, Sora, your parents are pretty resilient."

They stiffened at that.

"What did you do?!" Sora demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Vanitas taunted, standing up. "Maybe I'll tell you if you can catch me!"

Ven jumped at him, only for Vanitas to dodge and run off in the same direction Mowgli went.

"Keep up if you can!" he mocked.

"Don't let him get away!" Mickey shouted.

They chased after Vanitas, who sent Unversed after him the whole way.

"You're gonna have to do better than that!" West shouted, slicing through a Flood.

"I don't have to beat you, but slowing you down..."

Sora put on a burst of speed, tackling Vanitas and pinning him to the ground.

"Enough of your head games!" he shouted. "What'd you do to my parents?!"

"Sadly, nothing." Vanitas answered casually. "Kazekiri had to butt in and ruin my fun. And your dad is annoying. Must be where you get it from."

"Leave them alone!" Sora snapped.

Vanitas just scoffed. "Why do you do-gooders always tell us stuff like that? You should know by now we'll do the exact opposite."

Sora placed a paw on Vanitas' throat, applying pressure and getting a choked gasp from him.

"Whatever you do to them, I do to you." he warned.

Vanitas let out a guttural laugh. "So you do have a dark side... good."

He turned, smirking to see Ven approach. "Well, look at this. We're all together: the brothers of light, and the brother of dark."

The two were suddenly tackled to the ground by Unversed.

"Now, I came here for a special prize." Vanitas said, running off. "You should find that kid you were with... before it's too late."

They stiffened at that.

"Oh, no..." Kairi said in shock. "Mowgli!"

"Vanitas is gonna have to wait." Riku insisted.

"But how do we-" West perked. "Oh! Riku, you can sniff him out! You're a wolf, right?"

Riku slapped his forehead with a front paw. "Duh... of course."

He put his nose to the ground and sniffed. After a little bit of wandering around, he stood up. "This way."

They hurried after him, their path soon leading them to a dark area full of trees.

"I don't like this..." Nixe whimpered.

"Tell me about it." Lea agreed. "My fur's standing on end."

"Uh... g-g-g-guys?" Max let out.

They turned, seeing he was standing on a truly massive snake skin.

"Holy-" Mickey managed.

"Well..." a voice came in. "I thought my meal was wassssss gone when I losssssst the man cub. But lookssssss like I wassssss wrong."

A python slowly emerged from the bushes, looking them over.

"He's huge!" Donald gasped, intimidated by the sight.

"My, what a delicccccious looking group." the snake hissed. "Why not stay and join me for dinner."

Sora just drew his Keyblade. "You said a man cub came by here before. Where is he now?"

"I'm not ssssssssure, but forget about him." the snake's eyes flashed and began to swirl. "Why not ssssssstay with Kaa? Dont you trusssssssst me?"

Hikari quickly realized what was happening, averting her eyes. "Don't look him in the eye!"

Some managed to look away in time, but Donald, Nixe, Ven, West, Max, and Sora weren't so lucky and were put into a trance.

"Oh, sssssssssmart girl, but not fasssssssst enough." Kaa taunted.

"Crap!" Riku cursed.

"How do we fight this thing if we can't look at it?" Lea demanded.

"You can still hear him, can't you?" Hikari questioned. "My bodyguard always said a true warrior must be in tune with all of their senses."

"Then those of us who know how to fight like that need to move!" Riku charged, eyes shut, and clashed with Kaa.

"Annoying pup!" Kaa swore. "You have made a ssserious missstake, my friend!"

Hikari charged as well, hacking at the snake.

"You wouldn't want me to misssss my dinner, would you?!" Kaa demanded.

"Attacking us is a big mistake!" Hikari shot back.

Kaa hissed and lunged, mouth open, shooting past Hikari and wrapping around the hypnotized Max.

"Maxie!" Goofy cried.

"One false move, and I'll squeeze him till his head explodes!" Kaa warned, tightening her grip for emphasis.

Goofy scowled angrily, charging in with his shield.

"Get your coils off my boy!" he shouted.

"You sealed his f-" Kaa was cut off when Riku slashed at her, allowing Goofy to slam into her and knock her off of Max, who was snapped out of his trance at that.

"D-dad..." he let out.

"Hikari!" Riku shouted.

"I'm on it!"

The two charged, hacking and slashing at Kaa and eventually forcing him to retreat. With that, Kairi turned to Sora, shaking him until the hypnosis wore off. Riku rapidly slapped West's face lightly until she came to, Aqua and Sï'Lea doing the same for Ven and Nixe respectively as Mickey roused Donald. They all snapped to, looking around.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"The snake hypnotized you guys." Riku replied.

"Yikes..." Sora let out before shaking his head. "But, it's over. Come on, we need to find Mowgli."

Elsewhere, Mowgli was wandering around by himself.

"Oh, look. A man cub all alone."

Mowgli jumped, turning to see Vanitas lounging nearby. "You must be the one everyone is talking about."

"W-who are you?" Mowgli asked.

"The name's Vanitas." Vanitas answered. "Don't worry, I'm not going to try and eat you like that snake. I'm here to help."

"Really?" Mowgli questioned.

"Yep." Vanitas nodded, standing up. "I'm here to help you get that tiger off your back."

"But... everyone's scared of Shere Khan." Mowgli pointed out. "Aren't you?"

"Nah." Vanitas shook his head. "See, I know how to beat him. And it's not by going to live in the man village."

Mowgli's eyes widened. "How did you-?"

"I've been around." Vanitas said simply. "Traveled to many places. Unlike those other guides of yours. Y'know, the ones who lost you when the tiger showed up?"

"The others?"

"Yes, the ones who don't know the jungle at all and are currently nowhere to be found. Really, what have they done for you?"

"They saved me when Shere Khan attacked!" Mowgli defended.

"And look where that got you." Vanitas retorted. "Stuck in a forest with that snake. Trust me, they won't find you because they cant. They're soft. Never been in a jungle before. And be honest: do you really want to go to the man village?"

"No." Mowgli admitted. "But Shere Khan will kill my family if he doesn't."

"Then take him out first." Vanitas replied. "Kill or be killed. Eat or be eaten. Isn't that the law of the jungle?"

"Yeah..." Mowgli admitted.

"So what do you say?"

Getting no answer at first, Vanitas pulled his trump card. "Oh, so then I guess you don't care that the tiger has been threatening your mother and siblings in the pack."

"What?!" Mowgli exclaimed.

"You heard me." Vanitas answered. "He's threatened to kill your siblings. You just gonna let him?"

"No way!" Mowgli insisted. "What do I need to do?"

"Just keep going." Vanitas assured. "I'll help you. After all, we're friends now."

He gave an evil grin as Mowgli turned and began walking...

Enchanted Dominion

At Maleficent's castle, the fairy was sitting with her eyes closed, thinking.

"My lady?" Diablo cut in.

Maleficent opened her eyes at last. "I believe Sora was correct."

Diablo tilted his head quizzically. "About what?"

"Kurt Zisa was powerful, but Sora has confronted him before and won."

"You mean that comment about you needing to try something more original?"

"Yes." Maleficent stood up. "I'm taking the boy's advice. Gather as many Heartless as possible, as many different kinds."

"Yes, my lady." Diablo bowed and departed as Maleficent kicked back on her phone, an evil smile crossing her lips.

"Your luck is about to run out, Sora." she swore.

Author's Note:

My sincerest apologies for the ungodly wait. Got distracted by my Sonic fanfic. That, and my lousy work ethic and crappy attention span. Not a good combo.

Anyway, Maleficent is plotting something big, while Vanitas is going to act as the little devil on Mowgli's shoulder. The Jungle Book arc here will be a mix of both the original movie and live action remake.

Please R&R. Until next time!