Kingdom Hearts: Simple and Clean

by SoKai4ever

The beginning of an adventure that will change lives, both for the good and the bad. A novelization of the first Kingdom Hearts.

10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Gummi ship kept humming along to its next destination. While their goal was still to find the King, Kairi, and to some extent Riku, the trio had also adopted Sora's no stone unturned approach to world hopping. Keyholes needed locking, and it had become a responsibility to Sora, the longer their journey went on.

Goofy was an easy sell for this mindset, but even Donald had warmed up to the idea. Albeit, so long as he remained under the guise that stopping in a particular world was his idea, entirely.

"Hmmm..." he puzzled aloud as they looked over the approaching world. Sora had gotten better at reading the old duck. He knew he was looking for a reason to land here that didn't involve stopping and locking the Keyhole, solely.

"It looks like the sun never shines on this world." Sora said, reading his screen's information.

"Gee, you're right, Sora." Goofy added. Donald raised an eyebrow.

"Well, well. I'd say that'd be something the King would take notice of. Wouldn't you, Goofy?" Donald asked, turning in his seat. Goofy cocked his head to the side.

"Uh, I guess so..." Sora held in a chuckle.

"Yeah, and who knows where Kairi ended up? Besides, Riku could be anywhere, too. We should land, huh?" Sora asked. Still, Sora had to insert his ideas, at least a little. Donald raised his shoulders. He didn't want to agree.

"Well..." Sora rolled his eyes. Goofy read his own screen.

"It looks like there's definitely folks down there, Donald. Or somethin' movin' around, anyway." Indeed the radar indicated that something was moving on this world, but not necessarily living things.

"Alright, alright. Settle down." Donald quacked as he began to enter the dark world's atmosphere.

Splitting through the world's seemingly endless cloud cover, they finally neared a landing spot, just outside of what appeared to be a settlement, or town. Setting down, the Gummi ship lowered its ramp, allowing the trio access. With a small beep, and cloaking activated, she was locked up tight, and concealed from sight, entirely. The minute Sora stepped into this world he felt the temperature change.

It wasn't freezing, but there was most definitely a chill in the air, much cooler than any he was accustomed to. He suddenly felt goosebumps all over, as the trio began to walk toward the gates of the town.

"Kinda nippy, huh?" Sora asked. Goofy nodded, and inhaled, deeply.

"Uh-huh. Reminds me of Autumn, back home." He sighed, smiling.

"Yeah, that's the smell. I knew it was something familiar." Donald added. It wasn't long before they were upon the town's outside gate. Tall, black, and wrought iron, it looked as if it needed to be opened from the inside.

"Gee, this place is kinda spooky, huh?" Goofy asked. Sora nodded, whilst Donald produced his staff.

"Good thinkin', Goofy. We've been playing a little too fast and loose with world order. Even that old King noticed that." He quacked. "We really need to blend in, here." With another flourish, Donald directed a spell toward Sora, and Goofy. In an instant, they both felt a change occur, and boy did they look a fright.

Goofy appeared now as an undead tramp, whose clothes were tattered, and messy. His eyes sported two different pupil sizes, and an oversized bolt had been driven into the back of his head, which thankfully was no pain to him. Sora's appearance was shockingly different as well.

Black, from head to toe, his new clothes were gothic, and he had a pair of tiny bat wings protruding from his back. His vision hadn't been obstructed, somehow, as he now had a large pumpkin pin, pressed against his forehead, covering one eye. His skin had become an even paler shade of white, and he had two, sharp, little fangs poking out of his mouth.

"Whoa..." Sora sighed. "We look cool!" He said happily. Goofy too gave himself the once over.

"Ah-yup! We sure do! What about you, Donald?" He asked. Donald had turned the magic on himself, and he too had been changed.

Wrapped in old cloth, he had taken on the appearance of a mummy. His webbed feet remained the same, but the rest of him was positively Egyptian.

"Do I look cool too?" He asked. Sora nodded, and gave a thumbs up, Goofy doing the same.

"Yeah!" They said in unison.

Donald smiled, that smug smile he had whenever he'd done something right. He quacked, "Well, let's see about getting this gate open no--" he was cut off however, as the large gate in front of them began to creak open.

Slowly it raised upward, until it reached about halfway and stopped, with plenty of room for the traveling trio to slip inside. Walking cautiously underneath they'd made it to what Sora reckoned was the town square.

"I guess no one's here?" Goofy asked aloud.

"So it's a..." Sora smirked, as he looked at Goofy, "Ghost town?" He was pleased with his little joke.

Donald sighed. "I swear, if we walk into one more town where everyone is gone..." he grumbled. Sora just snickered. Indeed, it was empty, for the moment.

The color black was popular here, and where it wasn't, in its place was grey, or orange. The whole place had an eery vibe to it. In the center of the town was a well, with mysterious green water glowing inside. The streets were cobbled, and old, and all of the buildings appeared shoddily erected. Some even appeared to just have boards covering the windows, or any other various holes. To their right it looked as if there was an alleyway that led somewhere, and past the well, a large guillotine stood, and behind that a house behind a fence, at the top of some stairs. It was the only thing in town that could maybe have someone home, as a light burned within.

"Boy, I'll bet the people here are scary..." Goofy commented. Donald pointed to himself, "We're scary too! We'll just scare 'em right back!" He quacked.

Then, as if summoned, the clouds began to part above, and the large moon that hung in the sky shone brightly down upon the seemingly deserted town. In that instant, a dozen or so familiar monsters materialized.

Heartless.

Each had long, whispy, ghost like hands, and no legs, but a long trail that further enhanced their spectral appearance. Their dead yellow eyes were all the same as the previous monsters, with one exception. They all had one that hung from a chain, out of the socket! They floated admist the town square, whilst Sora summoned his new Key of the Ocean, and Donald and Goofy their own staff and shield, respectively.

"Heartless!" Donald quacked, noticing the signature emblem that had been stitched into their ragged shirts.

"Already?" Sora asked, awaiting their first move. Interestingly enough, that move was taking a long time to come. A really long time.

"Uh, fellers?" Goofy asked, never taking his eyes off of the Heartless.

"Yeah?" Sora asked.

"Is it just me, or are these little guys just kinda floatin' around?" Donald lowered his staff for a moment.

"Uh..." he mumbled.

"Well..." Sora said through a sigh, loosening his grip on his bright blue Keyblade. Indeed the usually blood thirsty monsters were harmlessly floating about the town, almost as if they were confused, or depressed.

"I'm not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed." Sora chuckled.

Donald nodded, "Who knew Heartless could be broken. Or, just stupid?" He asked, approaching one and casually bonking it on the head with his staff. It didn't even react.

"And now..." the trio's heads all snapped in the direction of a booming new voice. It came from a short, oddly shaped little man, with a comically tall, skinny top hat, and a pinstripe suit. A dead flower protruded from his lapel, as he held up a megaphone to further amplify his already loud words.

"The master of terror..." his voice lowered a bit, in tone. Sora suddenly felt as if he heard movement behind him, as well as to his left, and right. This "ghost town", was very much alive.

Or, perhaps un-alive!

He saw a pair of pale, black haired folks with sharp fangs, like his own. A hairy, dog or wolf man lumbering forward. A horrible, green monster with webbed feet and hands, as well as gills and fins. A jackal with snakes for fingers and spiders in his hair, a clown with a tear away face, a goblin with sharp teeth and red eyes, a trio of kids dressed as a witch, skeleton, and devil, and even more!

Bats, toads, zombies, goons, monsters, beasts, goblins, trolls, witches, vampires, there were becoming too many to count for Sora! The crowd just kept growing, as did their loud chant! This was no ghost town! It was a city alive with horror! The larger deeper voiced monsters chanted rhythmically, over and over one word.

"Halloween!"

The littler, higher voiced monsters chanted in tune, "La, la, la, la, la, la!"

The trio was becoming overwhelmed, they crept from the sewers, crawled out of the buildings, leapt from the alleyways, and swooped in from the sky. They were the inhabitants of this macabre world, and they only answered to one other.

A crane, made of bones, that had only just now appeared, lowered a scarecrow with a jack-o-lantern for a head into the boiling well in the center of town.

"What's goin' on?" Goofy shouted, still barely audible to Sora, or Donald.

"I don't know! They're in a frenzy or something!" Donald replied.

"Look!" Sora pointed toward the well. In the scarecrow's place emerged a menacingly tall figure. With bone white hands, and a smooth round head, it was evident that it was a skeleton, who sported a black and white pinstripe suit, and a dried up, old, dead, bat for a bow tie. It didn't take long to figure out who he was.

"The King of nightmares!" The man from before hollered, as the crowd all dropped to their knees and began bowing repeatedly. They were worshipping him.

"Allow me to introduce, Jack Skellington!" The megaphone weilder shouted. The crowd's chants became less rythymic, and more frantic as they went ballistic whilst their leader stepped out of the well and raised his hands high, a gesture of appreciation for the intense admiration. With a swift swing of his right arm, the crowd took that as their cue. A deafening sound escaped all of their lips.

"WHEE!"

Sora watched as the harmless Heartless circled round this Jack Skellington, before assisting him to the street below. The crowd began to quiet down slightly, and even disperse some, as the little man from before approached the tall skeleton.

"Oh, bravo, Jack! Bravo! Well done! Fantastic!" He praised, as Jack took a bow. "Those ghosties are gonna be a HUGE hit this Halloween! I just know it!" Sora thought the little man quite excitable. Donald was no fan.

"Why thank you, Mr. Mayor!" Jack's voice was theatric and, surprisingly, laced with a happy-go-lucky sound. "Though I must admit, their movement needs some work. They're not quite scary enough!" He rubbed at his chin, whilst he gave the Heartless a once over. He smiled, "I want to strike bone chilling terror. I need to speak to the doctor!" He reckoned, before strutting off, up the stairs Sora saw earlier, when surveying the seemingly empty town.

Which is something it certainly was no longer.

Scores of heebie jeebies walked the streets now, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy couldn't help but feel like this was certainly the oddest world they'd visited yet. They watched as the crowd of horrible monsters simply conversed, or strolled the streets of town together. They weren't up to anything nefarious, devilish, or heinous. They were just people, living their lives.

Well, sort of.

They weren't exactly people, but, they were just living their lives, and harming no one in the process.

"Excellent, Jack! I'll begin working on the decorations!" The mayor hollered in response.

"Uh, you know, I was kinda afraid when we first saw all these folks, but I'm startin' to get the feelin' they ain't so bad!" Goofy said to his companions, quietly.

"Yeah, they seem decent." Sora replied. Donald shook his head.

"It doesn't matter how they seem. We've got a job to do, here. I'll bet that big skeleton knows everything that goes on. C'mon. Let's see where he went." Donald waved his hand as if gesturing for Sora, and Goofy to follow him. Navigating the crowd, Sora was run into on accident by the werewolf from before.

"Pardon me! So sorry!" He said with a gravelly voice.

"Oh, uh, no worries." Sora replied with a smile. Meanwhile a little vampire's bag of groceries had spilt out of her paper bag.

Goofy stopped, "Oh, let me help ya there!" He offered, leaning down to help collect all of the jellied rats.

Wait.

Jellied rats!?

"Oh, uh..." Goofy paused, before the vampire had it all collected. With a nod, she smiled, "Why thank you! You're looking positively awful! Good day!" Goofy scratched at his head, whilst Sora playfully nudged him with his shoulder.

"I think that was a compliment." He snickered. A metaphorical light bulb shone over Goofy's head.

"Oh! Thank ya, ma'am!" He hollered, as the pair tried to catch up to Donald, who was in the midst of a conversation.

"No, no, no. I don't want a re-robing! My cloth looks fine!" He replied, much to the chagrin of another local mummy. "This place gives me the creeps." He quacked.

Sora rolled his eyes, "Of course it does. The people are some of the nicest we've met, so you'd hate it."

Goofy chuckled, "He's got a point, pal."

Donald neared the stairs Jack had ascended earlier, "Aw, what do you two know?" They climbed the stairs, and found themselves in front of a large metal door. Evidently this was the doctor's laboratory. Donald went to knock, but as he did, he noticed that the door had been left ajar. This Jack must've been in a hurry.

The trio cautiously slipped in, and down a small flight of stairs. Inside the room was like a large, metal dome. A bookshelf sat against one wall, and a desk with a wheelchair bound man sat at the one across from them. To their right laid a steel operating table, with a big, complicated looking machine hovering above, and behind it. This place had seen many experiments, Sora reckoned. Most probably stomach churning.

"I just don't understand it." They heard Jack say, as he looked over a motionless Heartless laid on the table. "Maybe the guidance mechanism was damaged during the explosion?" He mused.

'What explosion?' Sora thought, as he, Donald and Goofy watched on, silently. The doctor turned at his desk, his wheelchair mechanical, apparently, and scoffed.

"Nonsense! My devices are always perfect!" He remarked. His tiny eyes were covered by small sunglasses, and his cranium appeared bolted to his pale white face. HIs lab coat was far from immaculately white, and his black, rubber gloves had their own fair share of scuff marks. A massive book laid on the desk that was now behind the mad scientist, and Jack had now approached, thumbing through it.

"Hmm..." he thought, his bony arms crossed.

"Ah-ha! I've got it!" He exclaimed, turning to face the Heartless on the table. "Why of course! The Heartless need a Heart!" He reasoned. His gaze now fixed back on the doctor, "Doctor. Do you think we can add a heart to that device?" He asked.

The doctor shrugged his shoulders, "Certainly. A Heart isn't all that complicated. Let's get to work." He groaned, wheeling himself over to a nearby shelf that held many different odds and ends. "Read me the ingredients, Jack." He ordered.

Jack used his finger to trace each line, "Let's see. To make a Heart: first take a container with a lock..." he read aloud. The doctor grabbed at a pulsing heart on the shelf, that indeed had a cage around it.

"Oh!" He placed it on the table, next to the still motionless Heartless. "We need the key to this thing first!" He exclaimed. Sora felt that tingle in his hand, the first thing that actually had broken him out of the trance he'd been put in by this seemingly absurd conversation. He suppressed the feeling, as best he could for now.

"Uh, guys..." he whispered, slipping back outside onto the front step. Donald and Goofy followed.

"What?" Donald asked. Sora stopped resisting, allowing the Keyblade to materialize in his hands. Donald already knew what he was thinking.

"You're serious? You want to unlock it for them!? Are you crazy?" He half whispered. Sora thought, for a moment.

"Why not? If they succeed, we won't have to fight the Heartless, anymore. At least here, anyway. Right?" Sora asked. "Besides, I kinda want to see them dance. Don't you?" He smirked.

Goofy nodded, "Well, sure! That'd be a hoot!" He chuckled.

Donald shook his head, "I swear, you two are soft in the head!" He quacked. Donald's voice wasn't the easiest one to conceal, even in this wacky place.

"Hmm? Someone there?" Jack asked. Donald's shoulders raised, as Sora pushed the door open wider.

"Uh, yessir. Just us. Sorry about that, we weren't sure if we could come in, or not." Jack opened his arms wide.

"Why, of course! Come in, come in! How're you?" He asked, offering a hand for a shake. All three took his bony hand, the ice cold touch sending chills up each of their spines. There's another thing Sora never thought he'd do.

Shake hands with a skeleton!

"We're good, thanks, but I couldn't help but overhear. I think I can unlock that cage." Sora stated, brandishing his signature weapon. Donald crossed his arms and tapped his flipper impatiently, whilst Goofy simply watched on with a smile. Sora angled the Keyblade toward the lock, and within moments, it clicked, and was free.

"My, my!" Jack exclaimed. "That was marvelous." He smiled, a toothy grin. "What was your name again?" He asked.

"Oh. I'm Sora. That's Donald and Goofy." The Keyblade Master smiled.

"Well done, Sora." Jack praised, approaching the still beating heart. He glanced over at the trio. "I've the most fantastic idea. I'd love for you to play a part in this year's Halloween!" Sora nodded, but couldn't help his curiosity.

"Thanks! We'd love that, but, what's this Heartless doing here?" He asked, pointing toward the subject in question.

Jack's focus now too shifted to it, "Oh, the Heartless came to town, quite recently, in fact. What's frustrating is, I can't get them to do most things! I'd like them to trick, treat, scare, sing, and even perform a tasteful, little musical routine with me! But they only seem capable of the most basic of things!" He threw his arms up in defeat.

"But," he turned, "the doctor and I have been working on their guidance system, and I think we're close. He's a genius, you see!" Jack had walked over, and placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder, who'd been busy fetching ingredients.

"Let's continue, shall we?" Jack asked. The doctor nodded, and gestured to each "ingredient" he'd laid out on the table.

"The ingredients for a heart: Pulse." A ribbiting frog, whose belly jolted with each sound, was presented.

"Terror." The doctor uttered. A black tarantula twitched, somewhere between alive and dead.

"Fear." He sneered, running his gloved hand along a pain of glass, causing it to screech.

"Hope, and despair!" He hollered. A pair of snakes devoured each other, endlessly.

"Mix them all together!" Jack shouted.

"And we have a Heart!" The beating heart now attached to a mechanism of some type that had a connection to all of the ingredients, was about to be the subject of this experiment. Sora scratched at his head, because it was all so far above his.

"Uh..." he groaned. Were they serious? Those things didn't make up a Heart! Certainly not what Sora reckoned a Heart to be, either metaphorically, or anatomically. A Heart was made up of so much more than a pulse, terror, fear, hope, and despair.

Even here!

All they needed to do was look outside at the lovely, if frightening townsfolk. With a flip of a lever, Jack had set the laboratory abuzz with electricity. It charged and charged, beams of it shooting between the ingredients, the still beating heart, and the Heartless on the table. Sora, Donald, and Goofy watched as the monster rose at its waist, with its arms fixed in front of it.

It appeared as if they'd done it, the mad pair!

Had they found a way to control the Heartless?

Evidently, not. After a low rumble, the machine began smoking, and shut down as the Heartless laid back, without a care.

"It failed!" The doctor cried, as Jack sunk to his knees in disappointment. "Maybe we're missing some ingredients..." the doctor mused aloud.

'Ya think?' Sora thought. To the surprise of the trio, the doctor easily, and simply popped the top of his skull open, via a hinge at the back of his head, and scratched as his bare brain.

"Let's try adding memory. Sally?" He asked, closing his skull. Sora smirked.

'Now you're getting a little closer.'

"Sally!" He ordered again, apparently attempting to fetch an assistant. He slammed his fists into the arm rests of his chair.

"Good for nothing girl! Why did I ever bother creating her!?" He asked no one in particular. Sora shared a confused glance with Donald, and Goofy.

Create her?

With that the doctor turned to a now upright Jack, "Sally's got the memory we need. See if you can track her down, Jack."

Jack proudly placed a hand upon his chest, "No problem, doctor! Sora, would you and your friends like to come along?" The friendly King of Halloween asked, facing the trio.

Sora nodded, "Sure!" Donald's shoulders raised, again, as he stared a hole into the back of Sora's head, whilst Goofy just nodded along happily agreeing. There goes Sora and his helping nature, they both thought with differing attitudes behind it. They'd 'helped' on every world, enough, Donald thought. Goofy couldn't help but feel proud of his friend's willingness to do just that, no strings attached.

Help.

"Excellent! Well, shall--" Jack was interrupted by a blood curdling scream, outside. "Ah! The festivities are already underway? We should hurry!" Jack exclaimed, readying to step outside. Sora too was ready, but, something caught his eye.

A page, sticking out of a book it clearly didn't belong in, on the doctor's bookcase. Sora glanced over his shoulder.

"Uh, sir, would you mind if..." he began to ask, before noticing that the doctor was soundly ignoring him.

Jack's hand already had the door propped open, "Oh, grab whatever you like, Sora! I'll explain later." He smiled. Sora nodded, snatching the page, and pocketing it.

"Thanks, Jack!" The pumpkin King nodded, "Of course! Anything for a frie--" He was once again cut off, by another scream, yet also, the stressed voice of the mayor.

"Jack! Jack! We have a MAJOR crisis!"

The trio, plus Jack all stormed down the stairs and into the town square. Indeed, there certainly was a crisis. The townsfolk had fled for cover, "It's the Heartless! They're completely out of control, we can't stop them!" Cried the little mayor, who's head had done a one eighty, into a worrisome facade.

Jack rubbed his chin, "Hmm, maybe our experiment triggered something..." he mused. "Everything will be fine, mayor. You have nothing to worry about. They'll listen to-- whoa!" He exclaimed as one of the previously benign Heartless materialized in front of him, and swung.

Thankfully, Sora had the wherewithal to slice through the ghostly Heartless, sparing Jack a nasty hit. Donald and Goofy had also equipped their weapons, the latter even bashing a nearby Heartless as he did.

"What's happened to them?" Jack asked, as Donald fired a blizzard spell into a few in the distance.

"Somethin' tells me they're not in a listenin' kinda mood, Jack." Goofy commented, as Sora stabbed another through.

"Oh dear." Jack whispered, before dodging an attack from an ambushing Heartless. With a flick of his wrist, and a flourish, he'd managed to dismiss the attacker with a blizzard spell of his own. Donald was impressed. That was hard to do without a weapon.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed, causing Sora to turn, after cutting through another.

"What is it?" He asked.

Jack sidestepped another, and blew it apart with a fire spell, "Sally! I think she went to the graveyard, earlier! She could be in trouble!" Sora nodded, dodging a swipe from one of the enemies. Donald zapped it with a lightning bolt.

"Which way?" Sora asked.

"Follow me, gents!" Jack gestured toward the dark alley Sora had seen earlier. Following behind the tall skeleton and defeating any particularly persistent foes, they'd slipped into the dark alley and found themselves at the base of some stairs, again.

"Hold them off, I'll unlock the gate!" Jack ordered. Sora slashed through a Heartless horizontally, while Goofy blocked an oncoming attack, and used the Heartless' own momentum to twist it around and into the nearby brick wall, vanquishing it. Donald cast another blizzard spell, dismissing more than one as he did.

"Got it. C'mon!" Jack began to descend the other side of the stairs, while the trio followed. Once in the graveyard, things turned even cooler. It was only a section of a much bigger cemetery, but the barren ground was still littered with old, and new headstones alike. The night air was still, and quiet here, allowing the gang to hear the disturbing of earth. They watched, as several Heartless, dressed similarly to Donald, emerged from the ground.

"Look out!" The duck quacked, casting a fireball into one of the new monster's midsection. The cloth quickly incinerated, along with the beast it wrapped up, and Sora took note.

"Fire!" He hollered, and smiled as his own flame caught another on fire.

Jack followed suit, "Flame!", and with a snap, he'd set a third ablaze.

Goofy gripped his shield tightly, and slammed into the final monster, "Smash!" He hollered.

The dust having settled a bit, Sora slung the Keyblade over his shoulder, and smirked, "'Smash'? Really?" He asked.

"Well, you guys were sayin' stuff! I wanted to say stuff, too!"

The gang chuckled.

Jack approached Sora, and gave the Keyblade a long look, "What a marvelous sword, Sora. Where did you get it?" He asked, raising a metaphorical eyebrow.

"Oh, uh..." Sora paused.

'Don't say a different world, don't say a different world, don't say a different world!'

He thought, hastily.

"A different, uh, town..." he said, softly.

Jack chuckled, "Well, sure, that much I can guess. We've nothing so colorful in Halloween Town. Which town?" He needled. Donald couldn't stand it any longer.

"A town far away!" He quacked.

'Oh yeah, that's worked well for us so far, Donald.' Sora thought.

The pumpkin King smirked, "You mean--" he was cut off, again, this time by the sound of a little yapping dog.

"Woof, woof, woof!" It barked. Sora glanced all around, but saw no signs of a puppy. That was until it appeared out of thin air, in front of his face!

"Whoa!" He hollered, jumping back. Lo and behold, a little whispy, white dog with a red nose floated in front of Sora.

"Ah, Zero! There you are, my boy! Have you seen Sally?" Jack asked, as the little ghost dog floated over happily to his Master. He nodded, enthusiastically, before flying behind a nearby tombstone with a gargoyle atop it.

"Zero?" Sora heard a woman's voice ask.

"Oh, Zero! Jack?" She asked, standing. Sora guessed this must be Sally.

A tall, doll like woman, who mad many stitches along her face, and exposed arms. Her dress too appeared patchworked together, and her red hair was made of yarn. Sora understood the doctor's use of the term 'created', now. He'd made this woman, somehow!

"Is something wrong?" Sally asked, approaching the skeleton.

"No, everything's going great!" Jack lied, "We're going to have the best Halloween ever!" He exclaimed. Sora, Donald and Goofy couldn't help but share amused glances. "All we need, is your memory." Jack said.

Sally cocked her head, "My memory?" She asked, before looking down at her hand. She'd been holding some sort of dead plant.

"Oh, you mean this?" She asked.

"Perfect!" Jack cried, grabbing the dead forget-me-not from Sally's hands.

"Jack. I've got a bad feeling about this. What's going on?" Sally asked, as Jack openly admired the long expired flower. Sora couldn't help but feel like this Sally was the voice of reason around here.

"Why don't you try something other than these Heartless? There's still time, and besides. They give me the creeps, and not the good kind." Jack pocketed the forget-me-not.

"Oh, but Sally. Nothing could beat what I've got planned! It's brilliant! Magnificent! Terrific! You see, once we give the Heartless a Heart, they'll do everything I need of them, just as I envisioned when I first laid eyes on the little buggers!" Sally shook her head. As usual, her worries went unheard, or not cared about.

"Trust me. You're going to love it, my dear!" Jack said. Sally sighed, and looked toward Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora gave her an apologetic shrug, Donald seemed irritated, and Goofy was attempting to play with Zero.

"Who're they, Jack?" She asked.

Jack turned, "My friends. Sora, Donald, Goofy. You've seen them around, I'm sure." Jack remarked, readying to leave.

"I don't think so..." Sally said. She was confused.

"Sure you have. Come along, all!" Jack ordered, ascending the stairs. All followed along behind, but Donald didn't like the sound of that. The way he'd said that they were his friends, and then the way he tried to convince Sally she'd seen them before. Donald had a feeling this skeleton knew more than he let on. He certainly seemed scatter brained, but not stupid, by any measure.

They closed the gate behind them as they left, but were completely unaware to the fact that they'd been spied on, the entire time. A large, stone, coffin toward the back of the little patch of graveyard they'd found Sally in, began to shake, and tremble as the lid began to slide open. From it emerged the three most mischievous little citizens in all of Halloween Town. The three kiddies Sora spotted in the crowd earlier.

Lock.

Shock.

Barrel.

"Did you hear that?" Barrel asked, removing his little skeletal mask.

"Yeah, I sure did! A Heart! What should we do?" Lock asked, dusting off his little devil costume.

"Gosh, you really are stupid!" Shock chided, straightening her little, tattered dress. "Isn't it obvious? We tell Oogie Boogie!" She giggled, alongside her little troublemaker friends. Oh yes, that's exactly what they'd do.

They'd tell their Master, and in exchange for such valuable information, they'd receive their pitiful little gifts they treasured so. What a horrible idea. What a wonderfully, nasty little idea they'd had.

With that, Shock whistled loudly, summoning their usual mode of transportation, a large, white, clawfooted bathtub, that walked and walked and walked, tirelessly. It approached from the southern graveyard, and all three hopped in.

"To Oogie's!" She ordered. The tub carried the little miscreants to their desired location. And what a location it was. The big bad, Oogie Boogie Man's manor.

A tall, fat, monstrous score of bugs, all stitched up into a burlap sack, with slits for eyes, and a mouth. He was horrible, and he was nasty. His lair, was a house of horror, and terror. Far from the good spirited, spooky ghoulishness of Halloween Town, and Jack's whimsical, macabre idea of a fun fright, or scare.

This place wasn't meant to be fun.

It was meant for one to never leave.

The tub deposited the brats just at his doorstep. Shock cautiously knocked three times, but noticed the door was already ajar. The trio slipped in, and listened, as they snuck around. Oogie wasn't alone.

"What should I care if the old hag got run through?" They heard a voice respond. A woman's voice.

"Because, you oaf, we've now lost two players in our little production. And the short tempered God of the Underworld seems to have abandoned our plan, in favor of an obsession with revenge on his own world. That just leaves you and the Captain at my disposal." Oogie Boogie didn't like her tone, apparently.

"Disposal? You'd better watch who you're talkin' to, ya skinny piece of work! Who says I work for you?" Finally the trio managed to get a good look at this stranger.

Black robed, from head to toe, she fit right in here, as she appeared to be a tall, sickly devil of sorts. Apparently, her senses were sharp. She hadn't even turned her head, yet she still felt the presence of the little troublemakers.

"It appears you have company. I shan't forget this, you buffoon. You'll regret crossing me." She hissed, before disappearing through a dark portal.

"Hah! I'm shakin' in my bag!" He laughed, before turning to spot the now trembling trio. "And what you little brats want?"

Shock spoke first, "H-Hey, O-O-Oogie, M-Master..."

Lock shook with nerves, "We j-just wanted t-to let you k-know somethin'..." He was tired of their beating around the bush, already, "Yeah? What? C'mon out with it, ya little nitwits!"

Barrel shakily replied, "W-Well, it's J-Jack. He's, he's..."

Shock was ready to leave already, "He's trying to make a Heart! For something called the Heartless!" She hollered in her bravest moment, yet.

"A Heart?" Oogie asked, towering over the shivering trio. "That bonehead Jack is really tryin' to make a Heart?" Oogie stood up straight for a moment, and thought. Actually, he liked this idea.

He liked this idea quite a bit!

The fact of the matter is, from the very first moment he'd been recruited into that horned hag's little league of bad guys, he'd been trying to figure out a way out of it. He liked the idea of power over Halloween Town, and especially Jack, but having to play nice with those clowns had him on the verge of snapping.

Yet, that Maleficent did have an excellent bargaining chip.

Those Heartless.

Yes, Oogie liked those little ghouls. She'd given out a few papers for everyone to read, but Mr. Oogie Boogie wasn't the readin' type. He'd gave his a scan, but it bored the bugs outta him. Her goin' on and on about doors, Hearts, keys, Darkness, and some Ansem fella had worked on his nerves too, and he was just about fed up. So now, she comes into his manor, on his world, and has the audacity to tell him that he needs to watch out for some Key carryin' brat, and the little rat King's bumblin' buddies?

He'd had it.

She could get stuffed, her and her fancy pants, sailor pal. Now, though. Now, his arch nemesis, that no good fool Jack Skellington was trying to make a Heart, so he could control those nasty monsters? Oh, this couldn't be more perfect.

"Well, well, well. I'll be jiggered! That suits me just fine." He bellowed.

He smiled, and looked down at his arms, "When I get my hands on that Heart-- Well, I ain't got no hands, but I'm still gonna nab that thing, and then it'll be me who controls the Heartless!" He laughed, so loudly it caused his whole torture chamber to shake.

"W-well, I guess we better go t-then..." Barrel said softly. That got Oogie's attention, "Huh? Oh yeah. Now you listen, and you listen good. Else, y'all ain't goin' nowhere..."

---

The trip back to the doctor's lab, was far less eventful, thankfully. They re-entered the door, and found the wheelchair bound little man reading at his desk.

"Doctor!" Jack hollered, presenting the forget-me-not. Sora couldn't help but notice Sally tucked away in the corner. Apparently she'd done wrong by the doctor, somehow.

"Hmm?" He turned in his chair. "Ah, yes. This is it. Splendid." He croaked. "Now," he cleared his throat, taking the dried up flower, "we need just one last ingredient. 'Surprise'. That ought to complete the Heart." He reasoned.

Jack frowned, "Ah, and where might we find that?" He asked. The doctor placed the flower on the table with the other ingredients.

"Ask the mayor. He should know where it is." Jack sighed.

"Very well. Come on, you three." Sora, Donald and Goofy all shared a confused look, as they'd once again been drafted into some crazy hunt for an ingredient to make a Heart, for a Heartless. Yet, they followed right behind the Pumpkin King as he left the laboratory. Down the stairs they stepped again, and back toward the graveyard they walked.

"Uh, where're we goin', Jack?" Goofy asked.

"Back to the cemetery. When the mayor gets stressed, he likes to go there to relax. I can't blame him. The moon looks marvelous from there, and the flowers are all dying perfectly just this time of night." Sora raised an eyebrow.

So many questions.

They'd slipped down into the graveyard again, but this time kept walking in, deeper.

"Oh Mayor? Mr. Mayor? You out here?" Jack called out.

"Jack?" They heard from the graveyard over.

"Ah, there you are. Mr. Mayor. We're in need of an ingredient, and the doctor seems to think you know where we can find it." The mayor's face was drastically different, Sora noticed. Long gone was the jolly, if crazed appearance he'd sported before. In its place was that of a deeply stressed individual.

"Oh, Jack. How can I help? Halloween is ruined! I can't do anything! I'm only an elected official!" He cried.

Jack placed a bony hand upon his shoulder, "No, it's not! Especially with your help! If we can find 'surprise', we can make a Heart! Then, I'll have everything I need to control the Heartless, and get things back on track!" Sora had to admit, Jack was enthusiastic. Even about what seemed to be a really dumb plan.

"R-Really? I can help?" The mayor asked.

Goofy smiled, "Well sure, Mr. Mayor!"

Jack nodded along, "Of course! Now, any idea where we can find this, 'surprise'?" The mayor nodded, as his head flipped back around into the previous face. Sora's eyes shot open. How'd he do that?

"Why, yes! I've got it right here!" He offered up a small box, with a crank on the side. Jack took it, and examined it.

"Ah, I see. Donald, do me a favor?" Jack asked. Donald looked up at the skeleton.

"Huh? Me? Why?" Jack held the box in front of the duck.

"Crank this box open? My hands aren't what they used to be, you see." Donald frowned, and looked over at Sora, who gave him a shrug. Donald focused now on Goofy who smiled, warmly.

"Go ahead, pal!"

Donald sighed, "I've got a bad feeling about this..." He gingerly took the crank in his hand, and gave it one twist round.

Nothing happened.

"Keep going, my friend! It takes a few..." Jack smiled, devilishly. Donald hated that look.

"Aww..." he groaned, before twisting the crank round again.

Nothing.

"Why I oughta..." Donald was beginning to become irritated now.

He cranked again.

And again.

And again!

"Say, what's the big idea! This box is broken or somethin' ya no good, two faced may-- WAK!"

Cranking furiously, Donald had freed the box's occupant, causing him to screech in shock as a little pumpkin headed, knife wielding toy sprung out at him. Jack, Sora, Goofy, and the Mayor all laughed, heartily, much to Donald's embarrassment, and chagrin.

"Gee, Donald, that sure was surprisin', huh?" Goofy asked.

"Shut it, ya big dummy!" Donald summoned his staff and slammed it into Goofy's shin.

"Yow!" Goofy hollered grabbing at his leg.

Jack meanwhile had sidled up to a laughing Sora, "What interesting companions you travel with, Sora. They're certainly a good time."

Sora nodded, "Yeah, they're my friends. We've been through a lot."

Jack nodded, "I don't doubt it. Speaking of which, what brought you all to town?" He asked.

Sora was caught off guard.

Jack had asked a question that the answer to seemed to change by the minute, and he'd asked it in the midst of a funny, somewhat chaotic moment. Plus, Sora was surprised with himself.

How quickly he'd started having fun, and helping out where he could, and all but forgotten about his closest friends. HIs best friends.

Her.

"Oh, uh..." Sora paused. Which, was never a sign of a truth about to be told.

'Crap, crap, crap!' His mind raced.

Often times, as with most people, when Sora was caught this off guard, and put this on the spot, his next statement had a least a kernel of truth in it. Or in this case, nearly the entire truth.

"We're uh, looking for some people." Jack's faced turned to one of intrigue.

"Oh? There's lots of people in Halloween Town. Maybe I can help. Who?" Sora rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, um. Have you seen anyone out of the ordinary?" He asked. Jack smiled.

"Sure, Sora. You three."

Sora chuckled, nervously, "Uh, right. I-I mean outside of us."

Jack thought for a moment, "Well, a few days before you all showed up the Heartless started popping up, left and right. But they were harmless, then. Other than that, no. I've wondered where they came from, but you know, I'm curious. Where do you boys come from?"

Sora froze, but thankfully Donald and Goofy had settled down enough to overhear that question. Donald was ready to put this fire out with another vague, 'somewhere else, that you've never heard of, and couldn't possibly know where is' answer, but Goofy was feeling left out with this topic. He wanted to say something!

"We're from across the cemetery!" He hollered. Donald's eyes burned with a hot fire as he singled in on his oldest friend.

"Across the cemetery?" Jack asked.

"Sure! A little village. Spookyville!" Sora practically placed his head in his hands, whilst Donald was ready to unravel.

"Spookyville." Jack stated, more than asked.

"I can't say I've heard of it. I thought there was just woods past the cemetery." Jack mused aloud.

"Sure! Past them woods, is where we live!" Goofy clarified.

"I'd love to see it, sometime. Care to show the way?" Jack asked. Donald was about to lose it, but Sora came through this time.

"We'd love to, but we should really get this 'surprise' back to the doctor." The uncharacteristically quiet mayor spoke up,

"That's right, Jack! We're on a tight schedule! Please, get these Heartless under control!" Jack snickered. His hunch would have to wait, he supposed.

"Ah, quite right. Let's put this fire out, first. Come along, back to the laboratory. Stay close!" Jack began the path back, whilst Sora and Donald shared a sigh of momentary relief. Goofy on the other hand walked right behind Jack, as carefree, and even proud of himself as ever!

"Psst." Sora tried to get Donald's attention, quietly, as they followed along.

Donald nodded, and whispered, "I know what you're gonna say. He didn't want to let that go, but he seems kinda flighty. I'll bet those dancing Heartless will keep his attention busy, while we just slip away."

Sora cringed, "Yeah, but what about the Keyhole?"

Donald shook his head, "Forget about it. If he can control the Heartless, then who cares if it's locked or not?" Sora wasn't so sure about that. Still, they needed to stay far more undercover than they had so far, and right now, they'd at least thrown Jack off the scent. For the moment, anyway.

"This place is creepy, but in a cool way. You know?" Kairi said with a giggle.

Wait.

Kairi?

Sora's head whipped around, and there she stood, looking up at the moon, whilst leaned against a tombstone.

"Kai..." Sora trailed off, as he began to step toward her, slowly.

"Kairi...?" He asked, softly.

Their eyes met, and she nodded with a soft smile. Her eyes were so easy for him to stare into, and her hair was such a stark contrast in this dark place.

She hadn't had Donald's special 'scarify' magic placed on her, so she looked exactly like Sora remembered her, the last time he saw her.

Bathed in the moonlight, her pale skin was as stunning as ever.

Wait, stunning?

Sora neared her, and she stood straight, with her hand offered for him to take. His own extended out, they were moments away from touching.

"I've been looking for you, everywhere. I can't believe I found you..." Sora said, softly.

Just as his fingers neared her soft palm, he heard Donald call out, "Sora! What're you doing?"

Sora's head turned, "Huh?"

A warmth that he hadn't noticed come over him, until now that it was gone, had indeed left him.

"No..." he whispered, before slowly turning back to face her. She was gone.

"Damn it. Not again..." Sora said softly.

"You okay, pal?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah, sorry." He responded, before jogging to catch up with the others.

"What was that about? Everything alright?" Donald asked. Sora shook his head, "Yeah, it's nothing. Sorry." Donald wasn't convinced, and neither was Goofy, but they didn't have the time to pry. It could wait until later, during dinner aboard the Gummi ship. Besides, they were just about wrapped up on this world.

Right?

---

The gang made it back to the doctor's laboratory, again. Jack had placed the 'surprise' ingredient on the operating table, with the rest.

"Well, doctor?" He asked. The doctor nodded, "Yes. This is it. It's sure to work this time." He croaked, turning in his chair, to face the machine from before. He pressed forward on his joystick, and began to wheel himself toward it, heart in hand, now. Suddenly, the doctor spilled out of his chair, however, and the heart flew across the room, into the waiting hands of the kid dressed as a devil, Sora had seen before.

The little skeleton dressed child had tripped the old doctor, and in a mad dash, they made away with the organ, giggling with mischievous glee as they did.

"Wak!?" Donald quacked. Sora rushed to the doctor, as did Goofy who both helped him back up, into his chair.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked.

"Those little hooligans! I can't believe they have the nerve!" He yelled, dusting himself off. Jack meanwhile had slipped out after them, and once Sora and Goofy had made sure the doctor wasn't hurt, they too followed behind him and Donald, apparently. Evidently, they'd vanished, as Jack and Donald were only just outside in the square, looking around.

"You lost them?" Sora asked.

"They dissappeared!" Donald quacked. Jack patted as his lap, and the trio watched as the little ghost puppy from before flew in, happily.

"Quick, Zero! After them!" He ordered. With that, the spectral woofie, flew off, toward the graveyard. The gang followed, and watched as Zero flew toward an open patch of the cemetery, where Sora only just now noticed a very oddly shaped hill.

"Rats. I should've figured as much." Jack said.

"What's going on? Who were they?" Sora asked. Stepping through another gate that Jack had to open, they walked out into the largest stretch of graves yet. The moon hung low in the sky, making it appear enormous, and the strange hill that seemed to curl up like a slipper of an elf looked as if it was breathing.

"That, my friends, was Lock, Shock, and Barrel." Jack clarified. "Three little miscreants who always love causing trouble in Halloween Town, and never the good kind."

Goofy scratched at his head, "But, uh, what'd they want with that heart?" Jack was seemingly looking for something amongst the tombstones, as he answered.

"I don't know, but I do know where Zero is tracking them to, and that's much worse than them just causing trouble for fun. They had orders."

Donald asked, "Where are they going? And from who?" Jack finally found what he was looking for, and pressed in the skull on one of the gravestones. The curly hill began to unfold, creating a bridge of land from this graveyard, across a ravine to where, Sora didn't know. He did know that was a cool sight, however.

"Whoa..." he said softly.

"They work for Oogie Boogie, sometimes, and I don't know what he wants with that heart, but I know it's not good whatever it is. He's been trying to destroy Halloween Town for years." Sora was curious.

"Why?" Jack smirked, before motioning for the trio to follow him, over the hill. As they did, he explained, "Because he doesn't think Halloween, or scares or anything spooky should be fun, and harmless. He thinks it should be terrifying, and horrible. He thinks I'm a fool, and I think he's a menace."

Sora nodded along, as the trio carefully walked across the earthy bridge. Sora could see the murky running water beneath them, and could feel a chill coming from ahead.

"So, we're headed to where he lives?" Donald asked.

"Bingo." Jack replied. "His manor is just this way, and I'm warning you fellas, it isn't a nice place to be." The trio nodded. They were nervous, but they were ready. They had to be.

They'd made it to the other end, and before Sora's feet could even touch the cold, barren soil, they watched as a few Heartless materialized in the sky. They still sported the signature appearance of dead, yellow eyes and the emblem on their chests, but these were airborne, with large bat wings protruding from their backs. They had sharp teeth, and claws, and one descended upon Sora swiftly.

"Ice!" Jack summoned, watching as the Heartless was run through with an icicle. Sora surveyed the sky, and their battlefield. Two strips of land were separated by a stone bridge that crossed another ravine, though this water seemed only ankle deep, and running down into a sewer. The skies were still black, and cloudy, but the moon seemed to shine less brightly, causing visibility to be limited.

"Watch out!" Sora heard Goofy cry, as he tossed his shield into an oncoming Heartless. Sora needed to wake up, here!

With a roll, and slash he made quick work of another sloppy attack, and leapt backward from another. Donald burnt this one to a crisp, and then turned his staff skyward, readying for a strong spell.

"Thunder!" He hollered, and Sora, Jack, and Goofy watched as the night sky was brief illuminated by Donald's powerful lightning zapping every remaining Heartless from the sky.

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed.

"Way to go, Donald!" Goofy smiled.

"Well done indeed!" Jack cheered. Donald took a deep breath, and grabbed at his head.

"You okay?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's go." Donald confirmed. Sora frowned.

"Well, just to be safe..." he angled his Keyblade at the duck, and cast a heal spell.

Donald looked down at his body, and smiled, "Thanks, Sora. You're getting better." Sora smiled in return. Jack looked ahead.

"Oogie's lair is just on the otherside of that gate. C'mon." Indeed it was. Now that Sora could take a better look around, he saw the enormous structure just off in the distance. It looked pretty scary, even from here. He gripped his Keyblade tight, and followed along behind Jack, who'd just opened the black, wrought iron gate. A few steps through a dead field, and they'd made it.

"Wow..." Donald gawked, staring up at the tall structure. It looked as if heaps of grey brick, black iron, and rotten wood had been tossed together to make a structure. There was no rhyme, or rythym to the place, but it sure was imposing. A rickety bridge crossed a chasm from where they stood, to the front door, and crossing it wasn't easy. Careful steps were necessary to avoid plummeting to what they assumed would be certain death, as the boards seemed to be ready to give way at any moment.

"Steady, boys..." Jack said cautiously, as their feet finally connected on solid stone, which, thankfully the rest of the connecting bridge was made out of. The air here was still, and dead, whilst a few bats flew in the sky. One could tell this wasn't a place most visited, and returned from. A few stone stairs led up to tall double doors that were cracked, and falling of of their hinges.

"This place is a mess." Donald quacked.

Goofy smiled, "A real fixer upper opportunity, then." Sora chuckled, as Jack pushed open one of the creaking doors.

"Oogie! Where are you, you no good fiend?" He asked. There was no response.

"Alright, I'm going in. You three up for this?" He asked. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded, without hesitation. There was no way they were letting Jack inside this place alone! He smiled in return.

"Then c'mon. Stay close, we don't want to get separated, in here." It was eerily quiet inside, except for the occasional caw of a crow, or squeak from a rat or bat. Sora's hand tingled with anticipation, as he felt the need to remain ready.

Just inside was what appeared to be an old foyer, of some kind. There were holes in the ceiling, and a long winding staircase, with no hand rails, in the corner, whose every step alternated between wood, and stone. At the far end stood a fireplace, long defunct, shaped like a monster's mouth, and just above was its destroyed old chimney.

"I'll bet he's at the highest point, Jack." Goofy surmised.

"Good idea." Jack responded, before carefully taking each step up the tall staircase. The trio followed behind him, and before they knew it, they'd made it back outside, into the roof of the foyer, but still a ways from the actual top. Thankfully, this manor had been built on, or around an old, dead tree. A massive branch provided them an incline to walk up, making their way ever higher into the night sky. The higher they got, the cooler it seemed to get.

Before they could look down to see just how high they'd climbed, a band of mummy like Heartless appeared, and they were ready for a fight.

"Careful!" Jack hollered, narrowly avoiding a swipe from one, and slashing at it, as a counterattack, his sharp claw like fingers slicing it out of existence. Sora blocked one's attack and used its own momentum to simply let it fall from the thick branch, whilst Goofy managed to hop away from one, and bash it over the head.

Donald smirked, "Fire!" He shouted, and watched as two fireballs collided with two Heartless, who were incinerated before his eyes. Several more of the bat Heartless materialized overhead, but it was Jack's turn to impress. With a flourish of his wrist, and a snap of his bony fingers, they were all zapped from the sky in a beautiful display of lightning.

"Wow, way to go Jack!" Sora cheered, with a smile.

"Alright, settle down. It was okay." Donald quacked. Sora raised an eyebrow down at the duck.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

Donald shook his head fervently, "Of course not!" Goofy chuckled, but Jack was uncharacteristically not in the mood for fun and games.

"Let's keep climbing, fellas." He kept moving, his long legs allowing for much bigger strides than his companions. A few more careful steps up the branch, and they'd inexplicably made it to another set of stone steps. Jack took the first few steps, and glanced around once at the top.

"I think we've made it." Sora concurred, as he too had just reached the top step.

"Yeah. So, you think he's in there?" Sora asked, pointing toward a horrible door, with a nasty looking toothy faced monster. It looked like a shed of sorts, with a grey nearly shingleless roof, and old wooden walls.

"Hmm..." Jack mused. Goofy had now made it to the top as well as Donald.

"It feels like a trap." Goofy noted.

Jack nodded, "I agree. But, it doesn't look like we have much of a choice."

Donald hated that. He gripped his staff tighter, "So, we're just gonna walk in there? Into what we think is a trap?" He asked.

Sora sighed, "It'll be fine. So long as we work together, we'll come out okay. Right, Jack?" Sora asked.

Jack smiled, that toothy grin of his, "I like your attitude, Sora. Let's go." Jack stepped forward and, with courage, slowly pushed the door open. It creaked loudly as it did, and, perhaps predictably, the lights were off. Donald stepped in front. He raised his staff, and summoned a small fire spell, only igniting the end of his wand, acting like a torch.

"Hello?" He asked, Goofy, Sora and Jack following closely behind him. A trio of giggles sounded from the corners of the room and Jack knew then that this was indeed a fool's errand. They'd walked right into these little brat's bear trap.

"Lock! Shock! Barrel! Enough of these little games! Where is he?" Jack demanded. With that, the dim lights were suddenly flung on, and Sora watched as the little witch, Shock, threw the beating heart down a chute, and cackled.

"Tee hee hee hee! You're too late, bone head!" She giggled. Suddenly, Sora felt something slam into his legs, and he was knocked flat on his behind.

"Whoa!" He exclaimed, as Donald turned to see what had happened. His attention elsewhere, Donald was also assaulted by a pair of tiny feet to the side of his head, "WAK!?" He hollered.

Goofy's eyes were quicker than the rest, allowing him to get a good look at what was happening. They were being ambushed by the other two, whilst Shock kept their attention. He tossed his shield in her direction, but was shocked to see her easily spin out of the way, forcing his shield to be embedded in the wooden wall. Jack dodged an attack from Barrel, causing the little skeleton dressed boy to slam into the wall behind him. Jack heard him groan, and reached for his head. The Pumpkin King smiled, and simply reached down to zap him into a subdued state.

"Argh!" He hollered, before slumping over.

"Hey!" Shock called, causing Jack to turn. She'd slung her hat, which apparently was fitted with a razor sharp brim toward him, but thankfully Sora had recovered, and managed to parry the hat harmlessly away. Donald too had gotten back to his feet, and was quicker to avoid a leaping attack from Lock. He side stepped the little devil, and bonked him on the head with his staff.

"Ouch!" Lock cried, before shoving Donald way. He was outnumbered however, as Goofy used his superior size and strength to wrap Lock up into his arms, and held the boy down, tightly.

"Only one left, fellers!" He cried through struggles. Shock growled, and stomped her foot.

"Oogie will make you pay, Jack! You and your little friends!"

Jack smirked, "I'm positively frightened. Now give it up, Shock! Where is he?" She pouted, turning her head and crossing her arms. Sora smirked, looking over at the opening she'd thrown the heart down.

"I've got an idea. Let's throw her down there, then follow the screams!" He laughed, alongside Donald.

"Oh!" Jack exclaimed. "What a wonderful idea!" That certainly got Shock's attention.

"Huh!? N-No! Stay away from m-me! Don't throw me down there! No!" She protested, as Sora, Jack, and Donald surrounded her.

"This isn't fair! You'd hit a girl? Come on! Mercy!" She cried, backing up, as they continued their approach. "We were just followin' orders!" She hollered. "Oogie told us to steal the heart! He threatened us, Jack! Besides, this is all Barrel's fault! He was the one who said we should tell Oogie Boogie about the heart!"

Lock struggled underneath Goofy's weight, "That's right! Stupid Barrel!" He groaned. Jack turned to face the still dazed boy. He looked up at the Pumpkin King, "B-But they said--"

"You should be ashamed!" Shock interrupted. Jack had heard enough.

"You should all be ashamed! I don't care who's idea it was, you all went along with it. How many times have I told you all to stay away from that old bag of bugs?"

Barrel was coming out of his daze, "But Jack, he gives us stuff! Besides, he doesn't always ask us to do stuff you know? We didn't have a choice!"

"Yes you did! When you came here you had a choice! Now you're gonna tell me exactly where he's hiding, and once I'm done with him, you'll all be in big trouble!" Sora, Donald, and to some extent Goofy all felt like disappearing into thin air. This was like being at a friend's house when their parents were mad and yelling at them.

"Aww man!" Lock sighed.

Shock shook her head, "No! You agree to let us go, and we'll tell you where he is!" Jack smirked, devilishly, before lowering his head.

"Shock..." he said quietly. Shock began to literally tremble, but she remained unmoved on her stance.

Bad call.

With a swift lift of his head, Jack twisted his face into the most terribly horrifying images one could ever dream of seeing, and made an awful guttural growl as he did. Thankfully, Sora, Donald and Goofy had all be spared the facade.

"He's downstairs! At the base of the tree! Please Jack! Stop!" She was weeping at this point, much to Donald's amusement. Jack smiled, as his face returned to normal.

"Was that so hard? Now you three get back to Halloween Town, and wait there for me. And don't even think of running away." Jack ordered.

"Wait, Jack!" Barrel cried, before stumbling over to a nearby lever, and pulling it down. "There. Now the door isn't booby trapped." Jack gave the boy a suspicious look, but nodded.

"Thank you, Barrel. If that's true..." he scratched his cranium, "...Maybe when I get back, I'll give you some snake and spider stew." Barrel's eyes shot open.

"No kiddin'?" Shock and Lock didn't like the sound of that.

"Huh!? No fair!" Shock cried. Lock had finally been freed from Goofy's clutches and dusted himself off, "Jack! Watch out once you're in Oogie's torture chamber! If he throws you in the wheel pit, there's a special switch on the floor that can get you out!"

Jack nodded, and smirked, "Why, thank you, Lock. That's ever so kind of you. Perhaps, when I'm finished with old Oogie--"

"Yeah, well, don't forget about the blades in the ceiling Jack! Or the one armed bandits! They shoot real bullets!" Shock interjected.

"How helpful you've all become." Jack chuckled.

"Now get outta here!" With that, all three nodded, and sprinted from the room, giggling as they did. Sora shook his head, "What was that all about?"

"Hm?" Jack looked down at him, "Oh, they're not so bad. They just don't listen as much as I'd like. They'll grow out of it. Eventually." Jack mused.

"I wouldn't put up with them." Donald quacked.

"Oh, they're only kids. Surely you did some silly things as a young boy." Jack smiled.

"No." Donald replied.

Goofy nodded along, "Gee, I know I sure did."

Sora agreed, "Yeah, I've mostly done dumb stuff, my whole life." He chuckled.

Donald giggled, "'Mostly'?"

Sora turned, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Jack and Goofy just laughed.

---

Back outside, the gang began a slow and careful descent, making sure to avoid any unnecessary slides, or slips.

"Steady now, boys. Just follow me." Jack ordered. They followed suit, and eventually made it back to the foyer.

"How're we gonna get down to the base of the tree, Jack?" Sora asked, glancing around the dilapidated room.

"Let me think. What're you hiding, Oogie..." Jack mused aloud. With that, the trio began to search the foyer. Donald checked a nearby bookcase, but it was no good. All the books were falling apart, and certainly held no secret switch. Sora was trying to inspect any floor boards, or tiles, wondering if maybe there was a false floor, or wall. Jack stood in the middle of the room, deep in thought, trying to get inside the mind of his oldest rival and foe.

Goofy had wandered over to the old fireplace and began tugging at the various fixtures on it.

Including an old gargoyle.

That seemed to give way. With a pull downward, Goofy had activated some kind of false wall in the back of the fireplace, causing it to slide to the side, revealing a slide that led down, one could imagine, to the bottom of the tree.

"Uh, I think I mighta found somethin', fellers." He remarked.

Sora turned, "Yeah? Way to go, Goofy." He smiled.

Donald rolled his eyes, "I wish I was that lucky." Jack too came over to inspect the slide.

"Well," he began, "as much as I hate sliding down this thing and not knowing what's at the bottom, I think that's about the only route we have left, outside of just jumping off the bridge out there." Sora shrugged his shoulders, whilst Donald protested.

"So, we are once again just going to leap into what we assume is a trap?"

Goofy scratched his head, "What choice do we have, pal?" Donald sighed, and rubbed his temple.

"After you then, Goofy."

Goofy smiled, and readied himself to slide down, "Well, see you fellers at the bottom!" With that he slid, and hollered loudly, that signature yell of his. Sora chuckled, before following suit, whilst Jack and Donald were behind him. Sora felt partially sick on the slide down. It was full of twists, turns, and even a loop, and there was a slight stench the entire time.

Additionally, the slide had several nails that felt awful when slid over, and were rusted from years of misuse.

"Whoa!" He cried, as he was finally deposited onto solid ground. Or, solid tree. Doing his best to get a good grip of his surroundings, Sora tried to stop his world from spinning first.

"Oh..." he groaned, closing his eyes.

"Ya okay, pal?" He heard Goofy ask. He opened his eyes to see he was offering a hand up.

"I think so..." Sora moaned, taking his hand, and coming shakily to his feet. Within moments, Jack and Donald too had shown up, and thankfully, it could be confirmed that this was not a trap.

Sora's world had finally stop spinning, and he was now able to get a good look around. Indeed, they were stood on a thick branch, or root, that protruded from the ground a few feet from the cold, black ground below. Sora looked up, and spotted the bridge high above them. That was one long fall.

"Ah-ha!" Jack called, pointing toward a nearby door, that was seemingly guarded by a guillotine. Sora's gaze followed Jack's bony finger, and spotted it. It sported an ugly, menacing face, which Sora could only imagine was that of the horrible Oogie Boogie man.

"What's up, Jack?" Goofy asked, whilst helping Donald steady himself.

"That door." Jack began, "That's Oogie's ugly mug. No doubt about it. And look, above. See the blade? That'd be the trap that Barrel was talking about. Let's see if the little heathen was telling the truth." Jack reached down, finding a discarded shoe, probably from one of Oogie's victims, and tossed it through the guillotine.

To Sora's surprise, it didn't trigger any kind of trap, and the blade stayed securely locked above the door. Donald frowned.

"Right, but let's just be safe." He quacked, summoning a wind spell for each one of them.

Jack snickered, "Oh, right. Good call." Donald shook his head.

"So, you think he's in there?" Sora asked, summoning his Coral Keyblade.

Jack nodded, "There's no doubt. He's holed up in there, and he's probably expecting me."

Donald sighed, "So," he began, "we're, for a third time, going to waltz into what we think is a trap..."

Goofy patted his back, "Aw, shucks, Donald. Quit worryin'! We'll be fine!"

Sora nodded, "Yeah! I'll protect you." He pointed his thumb toward his chest and smirked.

Donald didn't need to stinkin' protecting!

"Huh? Protect me? You're the one who needs protecting!" He hollered.

"You kidding?" Sora asked in response.

Jack interrupted, "Here's an idea, boys. Let's all protect each other. Besides, we're all friends right? Isn't that what friends are for?" Sora liked that reasoning.

"Right! One for all!"

Goofy, and Donald answered back, "And all for one!"

With that, Jack took the lead again, and cautiously stepped through the guillotine trap, thankfully, not triggering it. With that, the door slid upward, and Sora could feel a cool burst of air from the opening. It gave him chills. It reminded him of that horrible night, he'd lost his islands.

Talk about living in a nightmare.

Inside, the walls and floors were all made of the same grey brick, and stone, but this room seemed much sturdier. Indeed, this must have been Oogie Boogie's secret lair, he'd use only in emergencies. They had him cornered, Sora reckoned.

Which was either very good, or very bad.

The lights here were dimmed, and there even seemed to be a flicker, indicating that it was candle light that illuminated this horrible torture chamber. They made careful steps deeper in, each with a hollow echo accompanying it, even Donald's flippers. Once the hallway widened, they could see a circular room, with a high ledge surrounding a pit of some kind. The inside of the pit resembled a wheel.

"Oogie!" Sora heard Jack call, pointing an accusatory finger at what appeared to the Keyblade Master to be a huge burlap sack.

With slits for eyes and a mouth, he was huge, he was ugly, and he was scary.

He was the Oogie Boogie Man.

Sora's hands instinctively gripped the Keyblade tightly, Donald and Goofy doing the same with their weapons.

"Give me back that heart!" Jack ordered. The horrible monster cackled, and held the heart in both of his 'hands', if one could call them that.

"You want it, scrawny, then why don't you come on over and get it?" He laughed again, causing the whole room to shake. With that, he shoved the beating heart into his wide mouth, and, with one gulp, had it swallowed whole! He laughed again, his belly shaking with chaotic joy.

"Now," he growled, "let's see if I can get their attention! Oh, Heartless!" He beckoned.

Similarly to Oogie's previous comrade, Ursula, when called upon, the Heartless made, more or less, a fool out of him.

Two pitiful examples of the winged Heartless flew to his side, the wings fluttering weakly. Sora could barely contain a chuckle.

So very boisterous with the talking. So very feeble with the Heartless.

"Wha--?" Oogie Boogie was shocked. But that surprise very quickly turned to rage.

"This is it!?" He hollered. He stamped one of his 'feet', and growled, "Nobody disrespects me."

He shouted now, "Nobody!" With that, Oogie flung a switch that was on the wall behind him, and in an instant, Sora felt heat at his back. He, Jack, Donald, and Goofy had all been thrown into the shallow pit below, by and explosion.

Sora barely had time to look up, before the wheel began to spin, at first slowly. Sora tried to get to his feet, but that simply wasn't happening. The wheel was increasing its speed, and Sora had been flung against one of its walls. His back colliding hard, he opened his eyes to spot Jack, who was gripping a black fence piece, tightly. It was then that Sora realized, they'd all been separated into sections on this horrible wheel of pain.

Donald, and Goofy too were behind their own set of black, spiky prison bars. Sora felt sick, as the spinning reached a fever pitch, until it suddenly stopped, again flinging the group forward. Sora's vision was blurry, but he could hear that awful Oogie Boogie laughing away above them.

"Awww, baby. I'm gonna enjoy this!" He shouted, before throwing another lever. With that, Jack narrowly avoided a shot from the one armed bandits that Shock had mentioned. He dropped down, but still felt the bullets whiz by, and embed themselves in the wheel's central pillar. Jack stood, but couldn't help but notice they were reloading. He had to think fast, and he only had one idea.

That lovely wind magic the duck had placed on them earlier! Jack focused, and he was quite the Mage himself.

With a flourish he called, "Wind!" And suddenly felt himself encased in the aerodynamic shell.

"Hah! Excellent!" He said with a chuckle, and smiled as the bullets ricocheted off of his protective wind armor, and shot back up, towards Oogie.

"Whoa! Huh!?" Oogie asked. Jack smiled, that mischievous smile of his. He knew what to do. Thanks to Lock.

He stepped backward, and stomped on the switch on the floor. With a shudder, the iron gates that had been erected around the ledge above the wheel lowered. Jack readied to climb atop, but watched in frustration as Oogie dissappeared into a false wall, and reappeared in the cage over, now bearing down on Donald.

The duck Mage, meanwhile had already incinerated the measly Heartless that Oogie Boogie had summoned forth, and was now the subject of the bag of bugs ire.

"Take this!" He cried, pulling a sconce on the wall. Donald noticed a panel open in front of him, and barely had time to duck and avoid decapitation, as a large flying saw shot forth. Oogie laughed, as Jack watched on in horror, "Keep your head down, Donald!" He hollered.

Donald was doing just that, but he was getting tired. They'd been running around for nearly a day, already, with no sleep, rest, or food! He panted, hard, before tripping, and landing on his front. It appeared all over for him, as the saw was heading for his limp form, but Donald wasn't done just yet.

He still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He held his staff, and pointed it toward the incoming saw.

"Gravity!" He quacked, and summoned forth the strongest spell he could in his weakened state. Thankfully, it was enough. A heavy dose of the natural force came down upon the saw, and pressed it into the floor of the wheel so hard, it shattered.

"Wha--?" Oogie was shocked.

Jack smiled, and pumped his fist, "Atta boy, Donald! Now, the switch! On the floor behind you! Press it! Fast!"

Donald felt like he could barely stand up, let alone run, but he clambered to his flippers as fast as he could, and, rather than stomp on the switch to lower the gates, simply fell on it.

Which was enough.

Oogie watched as the gates around this section lowered, and he growled with frustration as he slipped into another false wall, and into the next area, to begin torturing Goofy.

The Knight was busy blocking bullets from more bandits in the wall, when he suddenly heard their foe, cackle above and pull yet another switch. That was when Goofy's keen hearing picked up another sound. That of a mechanism, lowering down.

Goofy's eyes shot upward, and he quickly reacted by bringing his shield above his head. A large blade had come cascading from the sky, but it simply broke in two when it collided with Goofy's mighty shield of the Royal Court. Goofy smiled, and threw his shield up into the air.

Oogie easily dodged it, and laughed, "Hah! Some shot, you flea bitten mongrel!" The shield ricocheted off of the wall, and bashed into the wheel's mechanism which aloud it to spin, high above them. Which, also caused the other devices to malfunction. Oogie was running out of defenses.

"Wasn't aimin' for you!" Goofy called back, and stomped on the switch behind him. Summoning his shield back, he made a mad dash for the now gateless ledge upon which Oogie stood, but, like Jack wasn't quick enough.

All eyes were now on the only part of the wheel left that had any restraints.

Sora's.

Holding his Keyblade tightly, he watched as Oogie Boogie walked out from his magical wall, and smiled down at him.

"Well, well..." he chuckled. "I guess that old witch hadn't gone all batty on old Oogie. Y'all really do put up a fight." He laughed. Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Old witch? Do you mean, Maleficent?"

Oogie shrugged, "Well, sure, kiddo. See, she can't handle things without a little help, so she enlisted the best. And buddy, once I take care of you, she'll be pleased as punch!" He laughed, reaching to fetch something from a skeletal box he had in the corner.

Sora frowned, "So you do work for her? You, and Jafar, and Ursula?" He asked.

"Work for? Nah. She works for me! She just don't know it yet!" He laughed, holding a pair of large dice above his head. Sora didn't like the look of those!

"I'll be sure to take good care of your buddy, and your girl, chump! See ya!" Oogie laughed, throwing the dice. Sora held the Keyblade up, ready to block their attack as his mind raced with thoughts of Riku and Kairi.

Oogie Boogie couldn't be referring to anyone else, and that thought sent shivers down his spine. As the dice neared Sora's defending form, the most peculiar thing happened to them, however.

A burst or green, what seemed to be fire, appeared in front of the Keyblade master and repelled the dice. To the surprise of everyone, they shot back quite a bit, and exploded as they did, blowing holes open in the wall and ceiling of Oogie's torture chamber.

"Huh!?" Oogie was perplexed, until realization set in. He knew what that fire was.

"Why that no good, skinny..." he growled. He hadn't much time to dwell on it, however, as somehow Jack had figured the secret walls of this place out, and arrived just behind Oogie. Sora smiled up at him, and watched as Jack gave the fat bag of bugs a swift kick in the rear end, sending him careening forward.

"Whoa!" Oogie cried, and Sora took the moment to roll behind where he'd land. With a turn, and slice, Sora felt the Keyblade meet the slightest resistance, and listened as it tore open the bottom of Oogie Boogie's bag.

Suddenly, all the gates dropped, and the room ran silent. Oogie stood still, before turning to face Sora. Sora couldn't ever forget the look on his otherwise hard to read face. It was one of fear, and pain.

Feelings he'd been inducing in people for years had finally caught up to him, and they were hungry to haunt him.

"No..." he whispered, before looking down. To Sora, and the now approaching Donald and Goofy, it was a disgusting sight, and for Jack it was that of a bitter sweet end.

"No, no, no!" Oogie cried as he grabbed at the bugs pouring from his wound. He tried putting them back in, eating them, even shoving them inside his eye slits, but nothing could stop the deluge that poured from him.

"NOOOOOOO!" He hollered, as pain, and fear overtook his very being.

His bag began to melt, and his wails began to fade, as he slowly met his demise. It was a disturbing sight, in all honesty. The bugs that poured from him melted into a sickening ooze, all except one, which tried its best to scurry away.

Donald's flipper crushed it with a squelch, and he looked up into Sora's eyes. They exchanged nods, whilst Goofy patted their shoulders in approval. Amidst the mess on the floor, a translucent heart floated high into the air, and the anatomical beating one Oogie had swallowed earlier sat, locked, and still thumping away. Jack walked up, and picked it up.

"Well..." he said, softly, looking up, "Goodbye, Oogie. What a waste." He mumbled.

"You okay?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah." Jack replied, "It's just, he wasn't always so bad. What went wrong, I wonder?" He mused aloud.

The thought turned Sora's blood cold.

He wondered if he'd be in Jack's shoes, sooner rather than later. He'd already almost come to very serious blows with Riku, whilst in the belly of Monstro. Would he be musing about his defeating Riku, and wondering if it was his fault for Riku's turn, or was he always going to do bad things to accomplish what he wanted?

Sora shook his head. He didn't like this feeling.

No, he hated it.

His attention now regained, he also noticed a paper, where Oogie stood. He scooped it up, whilst Jack's attention was on the heart, and pocketed it. Donald noticed, and gave him an appreciative wink.

Jack sighed, "I guess this heart was a failure afterall..."

Sora dismissed the Keyblade.

"Yeah, I, uh..." Sora began, "I wasn't gonna say anything, but, just because it beats and has a few spooky ingredients doesn't make it a Heart, Jack. Not a real one, anyway." Jack lowered the caged heart, and cocked his head at Sora.

"A real Heart, not just the thing that pumps blood through your body, but a real Heart is full of a lot of stuff. All sorts of feelings, emotions, and memories. You can't just mix one up. You've got to live, really live, to have one." Jack set the heart down, and raised his hand to his chin, seemingly in deep thought.

"Insteresting..." he said softly. "Thank you, Sora. You're quite the insightful young man." Sora smiled, whilst Donald waved a dismissive hand, "No offense Jack, but you're the only person alive, or unalive or whatever, that actually believes that."

Sora smirked, "Aw, what do you know, ya little palooka?" He asked, nudging Donald's shoulder. Goofy laughed, loudly.

"Hey, Donald! That's what you always call me!"

Donald stamped his foot, "No kidding, you big pal--" he stopped himself short, now even more irritated. Everyone else laughed.

---

Back outside, the gang couldn't help but notice that the usual chill of Halloween Town had replaced the icy air surrounding Oogie's manor. The clouds too had parted, slightly allowing the moonlight to shine brighter here than before. It was still eerily quiet, and now even the crows and bats had left. Rats were scurrying away from the treehouse, and even though they'd won, Goofy couldn't help but feel like something was off.

Indeed, his hunch was right. They'd made it to the ground, and it was a good thing, because Oogie's manor was beginning to shift, and change. The ground rumbled beneath them, and once the group had backed up and turned around, they watched as a dark aura was enveloping it. Sora summoned the Keyblade again, whilst Jack took a defensive stance, alongside Donald and Goofy.

"What's happening?" Donald asked.

Jack shook his head, "I don't know!"

Goofy pointed, "Look!"

The dark shroud that had surrounded the manor was now clearing and as it did, the sight to behold was twice as horrible as anything they'd seen yet.

For there, the manor and tree still stood, but it was very different. It appeared to be a massive, moving and groaning hybrid of Oogie Boogie himself, and his own home! Sora's keen eyes spotted something atop the ridge where the bridge used to connect. The horned witch.

He gasped, "Maleficent?" He asked, causing Goofy and Donald to look as well. It certainly appeared to be her! Almost as soon as Sora saw her, she vanished into Darkness, apparently satisfied with her work.

The now enormous Oogie Boogie screamed into the night sky, an animalistic sound, echoing in everyone's minds, and spines. He was no longer the evil bag of bugs they'd known, but instead a monster, who acted on instinct.

An instinct to destroy.

He was a Heartless.

"Watch out!" Goofy cried, before shoving everybody aside, narrowly missing one of Oogie's swings down at them with a large lit lantern. He roared, causing Sora to grip at his ears.

"Fire!" He heard Donald call, and watched as the flame simply dissipated as it neared Oogie Boogie. This was gonna be one tough piece of work to take down. They didn't even know where to start.

"Look!" Jack hollered, "Those black globs! I'll bet if we can destroy those, he'll lose his power!" Sora took notice, and nodded. It was true. This monstrosity was dotted with several oozing, black sores that leaked darkness. Jack rushed forward, ready to scale the Oogie Heartless, and just as Sora, Donald and Goofy readied to join him, several Heartless appeared.

Mummies, shadows, bats, and even gargoyle Heartless all were ready for a fight. Jack too noticed this, and waved them off.

"You handle them! I'll handle Oogie!" Sora nodded, and swung through the nearest foe, before blocking another's attack. Goofy ducked under one swing, and took his shield directly into the chin of another, whilst Donald zapped a few airborne Heartless from existence.

Donald cast another wind spell on everyone, Jack included, and deftly dodged an attack from one of the slow moving shadows. He bonked it over the head, before sending icicles through it and a few of its allies behind it. Goofy blocked one attack, and Sora finished off the offender, before spinning round and now finding himself back to back with Goofy.

They charged in opposite directions, and continued to slice and bash through one after another.

Jack meanwhile had already torn apart one glob of darkness, and was currently kicking in another. With his long, lanky frame it was easy to climb the soft, yet moving structure, and he was making decent time.

That was, until Oogie's Heartless began to try and shake him off, like a flea off a common werewolf.

Jack held on tight, and waited for a lull in the action before continuing on. He spotted a sore, too high to reach, and summoned a powerful fire spell. His aim was true, and he watched with satisfaction as it dissappeared from existence. He was nearing what could be considered the new Oogie's shoulders, but had to glance back down at the Keyblade Master and his companions.

Lo and behold, they were doing quite well! Those Heartless weren't even standing a chance! His attention elsewhere, however, the Pumpkin King was nearly knocked from his hand holds by a Heartless swooping down at him. He waved it away, before dismissing it with a quick fire spell. Things weren't under control just yet.

With a few more efforts, and pulls, he'd nearly reached the top, and was honing in on the last one. He swung his way to one of the lanterns that were hanging from Oogie's arm, and began to climb its metal frame. Reaching the top, he tightroped across the chain that connected it to one of the few remaining tree branches.

Jack landed upon the branch, and finally made it to flatter, wooden ground where the last glob of darkness festered. Jack smiled, and readied a powerful ice spell, before something else caught his attention. There, upon the ground marched a large horde of monsters, beneath.

Sora, Donald and Goofy were still fighting, still hanging on, but they were getting tired. They'd been on their feet for hours now, and whilst destroying Heartless had become old hat to the trio, the simple fact remained.

They weren't invincible.

Goofy blocked another attack, but hadn't the strength to counterattack, whilst Sora was slashing through another offender. He then felt the much too familiar burn and sting of a slash at his lower back, followed by the cool sensation of blood. Thankfully, Donald vanquished the offending fiend, with a pitiful if effective fire spell.

"Jack! Hurry!" Donald quacked, before all three heads turned to the only now noticed river that flowed nearby.

Indeed, from a canyon that it ran through roared the thunderous sounds of feet marching along.

It was Halloween Town, in all its spooky, and ooky splendor.

Sora swung through another Heartless, and stepped backward, but within moments, he watched as the Heartless became mince meat. Led by the Mayor, the motley assortment of ghouls, werewolves, vampires, zombies, and monsters overwhelmed the Heartless, in a terrific display of what they were very best at.

Civil disobedience.

Sora sighed, and smiled, as he, Donald and Goofy were all helped to the side, and safely away from any more combat. The Mayor sidled up to Sora, and this time, he had his jovial, happy face on. He was a politician, afterall.

"Where's Jack? We came as soon as we could!"

Sora pointed, "Up there! He's trying to take down Oogie's manor!"

The Mayor was confused, "Hmm? Well, it looks a little different then I remember?"

Donald quacked, "It's a long story! What're you all doing here?"

The Mayor laughed, "Well, little Lock, Shock, and Barrel said that Jack as his stranger friends were in trouble at Oogie's. Of course, no one believed them, that was until Sally told us that they'd stolen the doctor's heart he'd been workin' on, and took off for the old bag's place! We came as soon as we could!"

Goofy scratched at his head, whilst Sora watched on in awe as the inhabitants of Halloween Town tore the Heartless to pieces.

Goofy wondered aloud, "Uh, how'd ya get everyone here so fast, Mr. Mayor?"

The Mayor laughed, "Are you kiddin'? This is Halloween Town! If there's one thing we know, it's angry mobs!" The battle raged on for only another moment or two, before they'd thoroughly, and quickly dispatched the Heartless. Jack meanwhile, had finished tearing the last orb to smithereens, and smiled at his work. From his perch, high atop the defeated Oogie, he was confused now. Why hadn't the structure come down, yet?

"Hello Mayor!" He called, as loudly as he could. The Mayor however, and everyone else for that matter, were on the ground, and therefore, much too far away to hear him properly.

"Jack! Come down!" He ordered. Jack also, could not hear him, in return.

"You all really helped turn the tide!" He called in response.

Before the Mayor could even shout anything back, one werewolf who's hearing was sharp enough, but mind dull enough, enthusiastically shouted out, "He said something about 'burn'!"

The misguided, and pyrotechnic happy citizens began gathering anything they found, "Yeah! Burn it to the ground!" One little goblin laughed.

"Burn, burn, burn!" Another hollered.

The Mayor's face turned sour, as he tried to quash the notion, "Oh, um, please! Folks! Calm down, Jack is up there!" They didn't hear him, though, as they'd already begun preparations, and were chanting as they did.

"Burn!" They recited, over and over and over.

"No! Please! Stop!" The Mayor called. Sora too was becoming worried.

"Hey folks, c'mon! Jack isn't safe yet! Wait! Wait!" He pleaded. Jack meanwhile had taken notice of their behavior, and knew he needed to move fast.

He clambered downward hastily, but he simply wasn't moving fast enough. Within seconds the rowdy crowd had begun lighting the makeshift brazier they'd erected at the base of the abominable Oogie/tower hybrid. They chanted the same word over and over and cheered as the flame sparked and grew.

Jack was nearing the bottom, but unfortunately, it was now ablaze! Sora glanced over at the panicking mayor then down at Donald.

"We've gotta do something!" Donald nodded.

"Goofy! Come on!" He ordered as the trio tried to make their way into an opening in the crowd. There, they stopped and began waving their arms up at Jack.

Thankfully, he spotted them, and waved back with a shrug as if to say, "I don't know what to do!"

Panick was beginning to set in.

Their friend was trapped on that thing, and the flames were growing higher. Donald had an idea, however. It wasn't a strong one, but it was something.

"Sora, Goofy, stand there!" He pointed to spots on the cold soil. They did as they were told. Donald assumed position just behind them, so that they were now making a triangle of sorts.

"Jack!" Donald shouted, as loud as he could manage. Jack still couldn't quite hear over the crowd's chants, or the encroaching flames, but his eyes never left the trio. He could tell they were trying to do something to help. Albeit he couldn't figure out what exactly.

"Jack! You're gonna have to jump! We'll catch you!" Donald quacked. Throughout the inaudible instructions, he'd been beckoning with his wings toward the trio.

A skilled charades player could tell he was asking, or telling Jack to jump to them. An idea Jack wasn't too keen on. However, getting cremated was a lot less fun, and entirely deadly.

A risky jump it was!

Facing the three and taking a deep breath, Jack bent his bony knees and leapt. It was most certainly a leap of faith, but one he was willing to make.

It seemed strange but he trusted them.

Even though he'd only known them for a very short time, they were his friends! He sailed through the night air, and had jumped away from the burning monstrosity so hard, that he'd actually jumped past the three! Adjusting they did their best to try and get underneath the tall skeleton, shuffling their feet backward.

"We got him, we got him!" Goofy hollered. It was close but indeed they did. Jack's front landed in their connected arms and with a low, gentle set down they'd done it.

They'd saved the Pumpkin King from becoming a pile of ashes!

Rising to his feet, Jack placed an appreciative hand upon Sora's shoulder.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy. Thank you. You saved me." He smiled.

Sora thumbed his nose and chuckled, "Aw, don't mention it, Jack. It's what friends do!" Goofy and even Donald nodded, before Jack turned to watch the tower/Oogie Boogie Heartless be eclipsed by the cleansing flames. Jack had successfully drained it of its dark energy, but the hybrid structure would've remained standing. Considering that it wasn't the prettiest of sights, even amongt the citizens of Halloween Town, the crazed crowd's reaction was probably going to be the plan after Jack was safe anyway.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Jack all watched the fire burn brightly, lighting the dark night. The warmth felt nice and the fire was mesmerizing in a way. For Sora the crowd's dancing and loud chanting was beginning to fade away.

He watched as Donald and Goofy talked casually and Jack comforted the panicked yet relieved mayor. His eyes kept on being drawn back to the fire though. It reminded him so much of a night that didn't feel all that long ago.

A night where he and a bunch of the other island dwellers, mostly high school students, had hosted a party on one of the main beaches. It was a typical beach party, nothing special.

Live music played, folks laughed, games were played, a large fire burnt, and general mischief was gotten up to, but it was a memory Sora cherished.

He, Riku, and Kairi had all been there and had a blast. They'd laughed, they'd played games, they'd sung along to local hits. They'd sampled some of the vendor's cuisine, they'd swam in the ocean only for a little bit.

Sora and Riku had engaged in a good natured fight, which had drawn some bets. He and Riku had been challenged by Tidus and Waka, once again drawing some wagers. And at one point, he and Kairi had even taken a walk through some of the otherwise deserted streets that were a block or two off of the beach. Riku had begun showboating, to impress girls or make guys jealous, neither one knew.

They'd talked and laughed.

They'd brushed hands.

They'd blushed.

The party could be heard raging on, but only faintly so raising their voices was never necessary.

Her laughter. It was like music to him.

Her smile. The way she looked in the streetlight was like art to him.

"I guess Riku is a hit." He'd remembered her saying after a louder roar from the party.

He'd laughed, "Yeah, I guess so. Do you wanna go back?" He'd asked. She'd shook her heard.

"No. I like this. Riku's my friend too, don't get me wrong it's just..." she'd paused, "...he amuses me. You on the other hand. You make me smile and not just 'cause you're funny."

She'd giggled.

Sora too giggled but now, looking back on it, what she'd said gave him chills. Sora had gotten completely lost in the memory of that night. It was one of those memories that was easy to do that with.

He could feel the warm, pleasant island air and breeze, smell the burning wood, and hear the distant hum of the party going on, on the beach. The only thing that could drag him from that memory was the feeling that was ruminating in his hand.

The Keyblade was beginning to stir, without Sora's summoning of it. It sensed the Keyhole. Materializing in his hand, Sora was finally snapped from his thoughts and stared down at the bright blue, oceanic Keyblade. Meanwhile, the crowd had dispersed, Jack had finally calmed the Mayor's worries about Halloween being ruined, and Donald and Goofy had given up asking Sora if he was alright or not.

They probably just thought he was a budding arsonist or something, the way he stared into that fire.

The Oogie Boogie Heartless tower had also finally been burnt to the ground and in its place sat nothing at all. It was simply a barren, empty field now.

Sora held the Keyblade tightly with both hands as he could feel something happening all around. For it was here that the Keyhole to this world had been concealed. Underneath that palace of pain and misery. Without any words being exchanged, Sora watched as the Keyblade shot forth a beam of sparkling white light from its tip, into the Keyhole in the ground.

As with all the worlds before, a large, booming, resonating lock sounded and the Keyhole faded away In a brilliant display of illumination. Sora nodded, and smiled.

He felt better knowing that even a place like Halloween Town, with all its ghoulish, spooky, and downright freaky ilk, was safe.

---

"Oh Sally. Why didn't I listen to you?" Jack moaned, frowning and hanging his head apologetically. After watching Sora lock the Keyhole and congratulating everyone on a job well done, Jack had escorted the trio back to Halloween Town proper. Once there they'd made their way back to the doctor's laboratory and inside where Sally and he had been waiting. Sally hadn't joined the angry mob as she disliked conflict and the doctor didn't go for obvious mobility reasons. The created woman smiled softly, and took Jack's bony hand in hers.

"Don't feel bad, Jack." She comforted. "We'll come up with another plan for Halloween. Next time, we'll do it together." She now held both his hands in hers their eyes meeting as her gaze was directed upward into his. Jack smiled.

"Thank you." She nodded. Separating for a moment, Jack turned to face the Keyblade master.

"Well boys I guess we have no choice. We'll have to cancel the Heartless Halloween festival, since you locked the Keyhole and all." Sora cringed slightly, as did Donald.

Found out again.

They knew it all along, but it didn't change the fact that they'd been figured out, yet again. Though, this Jack wasn't exactly the airy headed, silly master of fear he was purported to be. He actually was a rather deep character, Sora reckoned. He felt more than he let on.

"I'm sorry Jack. About--"

Jack shook his hand and waved a dismissive hand, "Oh Sora, don't worry about it. I had you three pegged since the moment I saw that wonderful Keyblade. In truth, I knew you'd show one day. Now that it's happened, I'm glad. I had no idea the Heartless could be so dangerous!" He laughed. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all shared a chuckle of their own. Jack grabbed at Sora's wrist and placed something inside his hand. A keychain.

"Here. I want you to have this, Keyblade Master." Sora smiled and nodded.

"Thanks." Jack offered a hand to shake to Donald, then Goofy.

"And thank you, gentlemen. I had no idea the Keyblade Master would travel with such fascinating companions. Those screams of yours! They're magnificent!" Jack shouted with a laugh. Donald and Goofy laughed in return, though admittedly a forced and uncomfortable laugh.

"Aw well. Shall I walk you back to your ship?" He offered. He was perceptive.

"Sure! Thank ya kindly!" Goofy replied. With that they walked out of the lab, down the stairs and through the chilly, dark night in the city. They made for the gate, walked through it and, producing the keys, Donald unlocked and un-hid the Gummi ship. Jack nodded down at his three new friends.

"Please. Visit any time. There will always be a place here for you three." Sora offered his own hand for a shake.

"Thank you, Jack." Jack took his hand and shook it.

"No, Sora. Thank you." With that the trio ascended the loading ramp and the Master of Terror watched as the Gummi ship whirred and hummed. The rockets activated and it began to lift off the ground, slowly but surely heading ever upward into the dark night of Halloween Town and past the cloud cover.

Jack took a deep breath and sighed. He turned and began to slowly stroll through the mostly empty town. Folks were tired from that fight and apparently needed some rest. Jack's shoes clicked against the stone, echoing throughout the town.

His hands found their way into his pockets and his head hung low. He knew he should head back to the lab and offer to buy Sally a nice dinner or something. Perhaps help the doctor figure out how exactly to make a heart, per Sora's instructions. Perhaps he should get with the Mayor, and begin preparations for a newer, better Halloween. Like something they'd never seen before!

Then again, that was just it.

That was the source of Jack's uncharacteristic and unpredictable sadness.

He wasn't lonely or angry.

He was just blue.

Depressed, because he knew that there wasn't anything else. He'd done it all, for Halloween. What else could he possibly think up? That was why he was so excited about the Heartless. It was something he could've never seen coming and something that really had freshened up and rejuvenated Halloween! Jack had walked for so long, so deep in thought he'd found his way to the graveyard.

A star above flashed in the night sky, unbeknownst to him.

He liked it out here and even still, he couldn't shake this feeling of despondency or hopelessness.

But it was even more than that.

Something worse, somehow. And why? He'd gotten everything he wanted. Hadn't he?

His longtime companion turned foe had finally been defeated. The Keyblade Master had finally shown and fulfilled his prophetic mission. The Keyhole was finally locked and Halloween Town was finally safe. For good. Now he could celebrate Halloween and all its ooky, kooky glory every year.

The exact same way.

He and it would be a hit, year after year. Without anything to stop him or get in his way.

He'd won.

This was it.

That was the feeling.

Afterall, he was Jack! The Pumpkin King! Yet, he'd grown so tired of the same old thing. The feeling he had. It was a longing that he'd never known.

Jack had walked so aimlessly and so long that he'd reached the woods they spoke about earlier. He knew there was nothing on the other side. No 'spookytown' that the Knight had so haphazardly claimed. He figured he could probably just walk for eternity deeper and deeper into these woods. He knew this world like the back of his bony hand, didn't he?

Or, did he?

Jack had walked into a clearing, of sorts. The monocolored grey trees had parted and Jack looked upon a semicircle of them, peculiarly marked each with an emblem.

One with a firework, one with an egg.

One with a bird with a strange neck, and even one with a sparkly tree.

With a golden handle.

This one had piqued his interest. He cocked his head sideways, and approached. With a furrowing of his brow, he grasped the handle and opened it, slowly.

The most frozen of air seemed to escape and Jack couldn't help but wonder as he peered inside, 'What's this...?'

---

Sora, Donald and Goofy had all been returned to normal, and Donald's magic had even put them back in their normal attire cleaner and the clothes feeling much softer. Sora sat at the table alongside Goofy, whilst Donald prepared dinner.

So, the usual.

And even though Sora's clothes had changed the contents of his pockets had not. He emptied them onto the table.

A black keychain with a little wrought iron bat, a sheet of paper that Sora found on the doctor's bookshelf depicting more little characters engaging in more activities, and a crumpled up piece of paper that Oogie Boogie had left behind.

"Hmm. I wonder who they are..." Goofy thought as he grabbed at the paper and examined the little characters at play.

"I don't know." Sora replied, unfolding the other paper, "But they definitely match the other pages that're in my nightstand. I'm guessing they belong in that book of Merlin's."

Goofy nodded, whilst Donald quacked from the stove, "Probably. We'll have to go back at some point, to restock. You can see then." Sora agreed. Flattening out the other page, he read the contents and his eyes widened as he did. It was another one of Ansem's reports!

I am studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch, and when two pieces are combined, they bond easily. None of the records even mention such a substance.

Was it introduced to this world when I opened the door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this tiny world... I wish I could soar off and find out! Could there be uncharted worlds up there? My curiosity never ceases to grow.

But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.

Sora finished reading aloud, setting the page down.

Goofy remarked, "He's talkin' about Gummis!" Sora nodded, whilst Donald shook his head.

"Ya don't say? What I wanna know is, what door is he talking about?" The duck wondered aloud. That thought had crossed Sora's mind as well. He thought back to the door inside the secret place. His train of thought was interrupted by one of Donald's pots boiling over on the range.

"Aw phooey!" Donald cursed causing Sora and Goofy to chuckle. Sora pocketed the keychain again. He'd apply it later, he reckoned. He leaned back and watched Donald tend to dinner, but Goofy's eyes were on him. He was ready to ask. It was something he and Donald had silently agreed on.

"So, Sora, what happened in the graveyard?" Donald stopped stirring and turned to face the two. Sora was caught off guard and even confused.

"The graveyard? Hm?"

Donald nodded, "Yeah. When we were bringing the 'surprise' back to the mad scientist. You kind of just wandered off for a second, then came to. Remember?" Realization hit Sora.

"Oh. That was, uh..." he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. The pair stared on, ready to wait for an explanation. Sora was too tired to lie and besides they probably wouldn't believe him.

"Well, I've been, sort of, I guess..." he mumbled, "...seeing things. Or someone." Goofy raised an eyebrow.

"Seein' someone?"

Sora nodded, "Yeah. My friend. Kairi. Look, I know I'm gonna sound crazy but I've been seeing her, or I guess some kind of apparition of her or something. Back on Tarzan's world I saw her, but she wasn't really there. I saw her in Merlin's house before he got there, but same thing. I think I may've even seen her in that crazy world with the Cheshire Cat, but I'm still not sure on that one. Point is, I saw her again in the graveyard. I even heard her speak, but, just like every other time she wasn't really there."

Donald was skeptical, but then again, the Keyblade master had no reason to lie. It didn't benefit him in any apparent way.

Goofy rubbed his chin, "Hmmm. Well, maybe it's just that you're thinkin' about her an awful lot. Maybe you're mind is showing you what ya want to see when ya need to see it most." Sora hadn't thought of that.

"Yeah, maybe. So, you don't think I'm crazy?"

Donald smirked, "Yeah we do. Girl crazy." He laughed, whilst Goofy stifled a chuckle of his own.

"Huh!?" Sora asked in return.

"Oh please." Donald began, "The way you light up whenever you talk about that girl? The only person you're kidding is yourself, Sora."

Sora couldn't believe his ears.

He looked to Goofy who shrugged in response and nodded along. "Aw shucks, Sora. Don't let him tease ya. I think it's nice that ya like this girl so much. Downright sweet!" Sora's mouth hung agape, and his hands laid flat against the dining table.

"Y-You guys think I like Kairi? Like, like like, her?" He asked through shock. Donald and Goofy just giggled some more.

"N-No, guys! It's not like that! We-We're friends. All of us, me, Riku, and Kairi! There's nothing like that between me and her!" Sora protested.

"You sure about that?" Donald asked with a smirk.

"Of course!" Sora replied.

"Oh, okay. Our mistake." Donald replied, putting everyone's dinner into their bowls. Goofy was confused. Sora was definitely smitten with the girl they'd never met so why was Donald so quick to give up?

"Uh, Donald, I don't--" The duck Mage raised a hand, "So then there's something going on between Riku and her, right?"

Sora's eyes shot open, "No! No, definitely not, no!" He responded quickly.

Donald giggled, "Okay, okay. No reason to be so defensive about this girl you have no feelings for that aren't purely platonic and friendly..." Donald took his seat. Goofy smiled. He got it now.

"Well, it's not defensive, it's just that..." Goofy took a cautious bite of his food, before finishing Sora's thought.

"Riku is your best friend. Kairi is your friend. But, you and her are different kinda friends than she and Riku are. Right?" Goofy asked.

Sora nodded, enthusiastically, "Right! That's it!" Donald couldn't resist.

"Yeah, boyfriend and girlfriend." He ribbed.

"What!? Hey! No!" Sora protested. Donald and Goofy just laughed.

Ah to be young and afraid of your feelings again. What a time. What a silly and funny time. They'd really grown to love this kid. It was hard not to!