Chapter 5 - True Memories

Chaos Hearts
Chapter 5 - True Memories
World - Halloweentown

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
Kingdom Hearts is (c) Disney & Square Enix. Related elements belong to their respective companies.


"I am the one hiding under your bed,
teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!
I am the one hiding under your stairs,
fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair!" - This is Halloween; The Nightmare Before Christmas

Thinking of you, wherever you are...
Lucky, Whisk and an alternate version of Tails have been traveling from world to world, honing Lucky's keyblade skills while keeping Zeke and Zim from collecting powerful objects for the evil lord Garland.
After an adventure in Game Central Station, Lucky's group set course for home where they were to attend the wedding of Punchy and Rainbow. The excitement was turned to danger when Richard Gunner brought troops to siege the chapel, seeking to arrest Copter the fox due to his recent turn as the villainous Aries. During the conflict, Felicia the wolf's glass eye was damaged, and seeing her damaged face jarred her into remembering her previous self; Fera.
Succumbing to darkness, Fera sent heartless to attack the city, forcing Lucky to combat them with his keyblade while others battled GUN and tried to talk Fera down. After repelling the threats, the wedding was moved to Rainbow's former home, restored to its pristine state with a bit of magic from Timothy the fawn.
Now that the wedding excitement is over, Lucky returns to his world-hopping adventures...
Now, let us journey to a new world...


Zeke wasn't invited to any wedding. He had no reason to return home. He did get a light scolding from Garland for his lack of efficiency, as did Zim. Then, the pair were sent to a new world, this time to seek a source of great darkness. Failure was not an option, it seemed. So, since Lucky didn't seem to be around, Zeke and Zim took to asking around directly. Why would the residents not want them to take their world's darkness away, anyhow? At any rate, the world they found themselves in seemed pretty dark itself, but Zeke and Zim didn't feel too out of place as they walked among monsters; Zeke being a dragon and Zim being a Zeti. "Yo, seen anything real DARK, dude?" Zim asked a rather scary-looking clown on a unicycle. "Hehe, how about this?" he asked, tearing off his own face to show a dark void beneath! Zim stared with wide, shocked eyes before the clown replaced his face and cycled away. "Uh... Not what we're lookin' for..." he babbled. "Hey, seen anything dark?" Zeke asked a small, smiling man with a ribbon that clearly stated he was the mayor. His entire head spun around, revealing a second, more frightening and upset-looking face. "Dark? What do you mean, dark? Isn't scary or creepy enough? We don't need anything like Oogie Boogie's sort of shenanigans around here..." he whimpered. Zeke rubbed his chin as the mayor hobbled off. "I can't talk now, lots to prepare for next Halloween!" he babbled. Zeke glanced at Zim. "C'mere... I think we're lookin' for an 'Oogie Boogie...'" he murmured. "I don't dance." Zim grunted. A young voice spoke up. "Oogie Boogie? What do you wanna know?" Turning around, Zeke and Zim saw a boy in a devil costume. He was followed by a girl in a witch costume and another boy in a skeleton outfit. Their names were Lock, Shock and Barrel, respectively. "We know ALL about Oogie Boogie!" Barrel offered. "Shh! See what they'll give us, first!" Shock insisted. "Oh, it's extortion is it, ya little brats!?" Zim sneered. Zeke yanked Zim aside by the tail. "Please, don't be rude. These children may be entitled to a reward...but it all depends on the value of the information they offer. Tell me, would this Oogie Boogie know anything about sources of darkness?" he mused. Lock nodded. "He's the darkest dude around! Or... he was." he sighed. "Stinky old Jack Skellington and his friends destroyed him..." Shock stated. "We've been so bored without him." Barrel added. Zeke nodded slowly. "Tell me more... Maybe I can do something special for you..." he said with a smirk.


The Galestrom landed at what appeared to be the outskirts of a graveyard. Stepping outside, the group saw a dark and foreboding vista leading to a very spooky town up ahead. "Do we have to land here...?" Lucky murmured with a shiver. "I'm picking up something... Zeke might be using heartless here." Tails said, looking at the darkness detector. Whisk held up her wand. "Right! This world seems like no place for cuddly critters like us! My magic will help protect the world order!" she said, and in a flash of light, their group transformed! Lucky suddenly felt a bit shaggier, and grunted as his teeth seemed to sharpen and grow to stick out of his mouth. He'd become...a Werecat! Whisk took on a black and pink fur scheme, her wings turning black as well and losing a bunch of feathers. Her outfit took on a gloomy grayed color scheme, too. Tails received the most drastic change. His body seemed more reptilian now, his fluffy tails replaced with two large snake-headed tails. His body was still yellowy, but he now had greenish stripes up his arms, and what appeared to be spider legs replacing his bangs. He did not seem amused. "Couldn't I just have worn a cape and gone as a vampire?" he grumbled. Winston stumbled out of the ship as well. "Who wrapped me in toilet paper!?" he grunted, having not escaped the spell and finding himself an over-wrapped mummy. "Sorry, hehe... My magic seems stronger here." Whisk stated. "Yet you barely changed..." Lucky murmured, scratching his furrier body as though it had fleas. Before they could discuss this further, Whisk clasped her head. "Ahhh!!" she gasped. Winston pulled the mummy cloth from his eyes. "What's wrong, kupo?" he stammered. "...My memory only works now due to my magical powers. Before I was taught magic by the Zodiac Council, I had trouble retaining any memories at all... But here, with my magic power strengthened... I just had the weirdest memory flash." she explained, a frightened look in her eye. "Geez, what did you see, everyone dying?" Lucky joked. Whisk stared at him. "...I saw the world in pieces... The sky distorted... Everyone gathered, looking down. They see Sonic's friends... and in the midst of it all, Sonic is lying there. He seems to be dead." she described. Tails raised an eyebrow and Lucky tilted his head. "That uh... That never happened. You can't see the future, can you?" he asked. "I don't think so... That was weird." Whisk stated. Winston shrugged. "Maybe it's not a memory. Maybe it's something more to do with the nature of this world." he suggested. "Maybe..." Whisk said, looking unsure. Lucky smirked. "Well, no sense standing around here! Maybe we'll find the answers while we explore! At any rate, now that Tails is a monster, there's nothing to be scared of; he'll scare everything first!" he chuckled. "Very funny! Have you looked at yourself in the mirror, Lucky?" Tails retorted as they started to walk away. Winston hopped into the Galestrom and activated its computer. "Hmmm... Check records for Lucky and Whisk's world... Has it been destroyed in recent memory, possibly by a temporal anomaly?" he wondered curiously. The records he found astounded him. "This world's been through so much time manipulation it's not funny!" he gasped.

Lucky, Whisk and Tails soon arrived at the town square. It was indeed pretty much as dark and spooky as the graveyard. A sign at the entrance read "Halloweentown" and the decor seemed appropriate for suck, skulls and pumpkins among the imagery. There was a fountain spewing greenish liquid into a well in front of them, but overall the square appeared deserted at the moment. "If a bunch of zombie bust out of the ground, I don't care if they start dancing, I'm bolting." Lucky whispered. Just then, they heard the fountain start to churn, and shivers went down their spines as they thought something was about to leap out. But the churning stopped. "Let's keep moving..." Tails suggested, "My darkness detector's picking up a big reading..." he murmured. "Daaaarkness? There's darkness...eeeeverywheeeere!" an eerie voice called out. The trio jumped, looking around cautiously for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Are you with Zeke??" Whisk stammered. Suddenly, the limited street lights went out, and all they could see was a grinning skull before them. "I'm with the darkness! Rrrraaaaarrrgh!!" it growled, causing Lucky to jump in alarm. "Mee-yow!! Back, heartless! Get back!!" he shouted, his keyblade popping into his hand as he stumbled backwards in terror! "Ow, you stepped on my tail...snake...ugh!" Tails whimpered. The lights came up, revealing a smiling skeleton in a black and white striped suit before them. He extended his bony hand to help Lucky up. "Great reaction. That's exactly what I wanna hear! Hey...that key looks familiar..." he murmured as Lucky nervously stood up. "Y-you're a... um..." he babbled. "Jack Skellington, pleasure to meet you!" he said, shaking his hand. "That's Lucky. I'm Whisk and he's Tails." Whisk said. Tails was distractedly looking at the detector, while Jack looked at the keyblade. "Hmm... I wonder if you know that other boy with a key... Oh! I totally forgot! I was on my way to see Dr. Finkelstein! He's working on an intriguing experiment. Something about true memories or something..." he muttered. Whisk's eyes widened. "True memories?" she asked. She then gasped and held her head again, undergoing another unexpected memory flash. "Vortex is gonna kill her! You have to come with me so we can clear her name!" a familiar voice sounded in her mind. Jack glanced at her. "My, that's a frightened look on your face. What's wrong?" he asked. "I... I need to unlock my true memories. I need to know what's missing..." she said urgently. Lucky nodded. "Alright. Let's see this doctor, then!" he smiled, twisting the keyblade around to scratch his back. "...You don't have fleas, do you?" Jack asked him. Tails let out a sigh. "You all go, then. I'm gonna check out the signal and see if I find Zeke. This spike of dark energy is worrying..." he stated. "Sounds exciting. Maybe we'll catch up with you later!" Jack said with a look of interest. Lucky looked more concerned. "Be careful, Tails. Come find us if you get in trouble." he said. "Let's go before my head explodes..." Whisk murmured. So, they split off to go their separate ways...

Dr. Finkelstein's lab was dark, gloomy and full of creepy books and experimental equipment. It felt oddly like home to Lucky and Whisk. The doctor himself was busy at a chemistry set. Confined to a wheelchair, he was a small fellow with a bit of a large cranium. Beady eyes covered by dark glasses rested above a bit of a large mouth, and under a larger forehead which...seemed to have hinges? Beside him was a tall, living rag doll with reddish hair and a patchwork body. "Doctor, are you sure we should continue with this experiment? The last test subject ran off in such terror..." she warned. The doctor lifted his head by the hinge, revealing his own brain underneath, and gave it a thoughtful scratch before mixing some chemicals and closing the hatch again. "Nonsense, stop my experiment? Any science worth doing ALWAYS comes with wonderful, terrible risk!" he stated. Lucky stared for a bit. "This guy reminds me of Bucky... Except for the whole...brain thing..." he babbled. Jack stepped over to the rag doll with a smile. "You worry too much, Sally... I'm sure that last fellow is fine, wherever he got off to." he murmured. Whisk looked around awkwardly. "Umm... Doctor? Could you maybe tell us about this experiment?" she asked. The doctor spun around his wheelchair to get a look at the visitors. "Hmm... Good to see more young minds taking an interest in science! Well, you see, the mind has its way of remembering things. Over time, our recollections of events tend to change do to how we choose to perceive them. Some memories become uglier, others become more beautiful... And some become fuzzy and difficult to even see. True memories, you could say, are what actually happened. Unfiltered by our nostalgic lenses... And uneroded by time. I'm seeking to create a potion that will show us our true memories. My hypothesis is that one who sees their true memories will at the very least undergo a change in personality...and at the very worst, their heart will become unbalanced when their emotional link to memory is broken..." he explained. Lucky looked nervous as he listened to this. "I, uh... I think I'm with Sally. Kinda sounds like a dangerous and unnecessary experiment." he murmured. Whisk frowned. "Says the cat who never had trouble remembering anything. Can this potion recover lost memories?" she asked. The doctor took another scratch at his brain. "...In theory..." he stated. Whisk nodded. "Then I want to try it! So many of my past memories are still out of reach... I want to know my own life..." she said. "Oh, my... To live in such uncertainty... I can't imagine." Sally said. Jack frowned. "Yes... Sounds uncomfortably frightening. Not the kind of scare I strive for. I hope we can help you." he added. Seeing their reaction, Lucky looked at Whisk and sighed. "They're right... I'm here for you, Whisk! All the way!" he smiled. He then scratched behind his ear. "Thanks Lucky... but stand back, will ya. I don't want fleas." Whisk murmured.


In a dark woods, Zeke took on the ultimate test of his dark powers. Using what darkness he could muster, he managed to do the unthinkable, and once more rebirth the evil bag of bugs known as Oogie Boogie! It was this spike of dark energy that Tails had been detecting, and he hid behind a tree as he found Zeke, Zim and the three kids standing around the reborn Boogie-man. "Ooog... W-where am I? Come to think of it, WHO am I? What even am I?" Oogie Boogie babbled, looking around in utter confusion. "What's wrong with him?" Shock asked. Zeke scratched his head. "You try bringing someone back from oblivion! I probably couldn't get his memories back..." he shrugged. Zim gave Zeke a poke. "Doesn't that mean he's useless to us?" he muttered. Tails peered out from behind the tree. "No way... They brought someone back from the dead??" he gasped. Zim glanced in his direction and growled. "Hey! Get that punk!" he shouted, prompting Lock, Shock and Barrel to jump into action! Tails got up to run but found himself quickly surrounded by the kids! "Trick or treat!" Barrel sneered as Lock and Shock jumped at Tails, pinning him to the ground! Barrel then tried to grab his tails only to get bit by the snakes. "Yow!" he grunted. Oogie Boogie stomped around to get a look at what the kids had caught. "Yah ha ha!! You little guys could be useful... I needed a snack after whatever it is I've just been through!" he cackled, licking his lips with a snake for a tongue. Tails looked up at him in terror. "Y-you're gonna eat me!?" he babbled. Zeke tapped his foot in annoyance. "Eat him if you must but we need to get your memory back. I need to get some info out of your bug brains." he growled. The kids teamed up to lift Tails over their heads. "Eat up, boss! Maybe you'll feel better with a full belly!" Lock suggested. Desperate, Tails blurted what he could think of. "Wait, there's another way to fix your memory!" he stammered. Oogie hesitated. "Wuzzat? Out with it, short stack!" he ordered. "W-well... There's this memory experiment going on in Halloweentown. This doctor that Jack Skellington knows..." he murmured. Oogie stood up straight and narrowed his eyes. "Jack? Jack... Why does that name kill my appetite and make me wanna smash stuff!?" he snarled, "That's it! I'm gonna nab this memory-whatsit from Jack and find out! And then... Then, I'll be back to finish this morsel! Eh heh heh heh!!" he laughed, bounding away from the area. "Oogie! Halloweentown is that way!" Lock shouted, letting go of Tails and giving chase while Shock and Barrel wobbled and dropped him! "Yeowch!! You klutz!" Shock shouted at Barrel. "Sorry..." Barrel sighed. As the kids ran off, Zeke and Zim stood over Tails. "Well, he'll want you here when he comes back, won't he?" Zeke sneered, "Let's tie him up like his friends tied us up on the trip to Neverland..." he snickered.


Dr. Finkelstein soon completed his memory potion, turning to the group with a smirk. "Success! Who's ready to try it out?" he asked. Sally looked nervous, but didn't say anything as Whisk approached. "The answers you seek could be right in this flask... Don't be nervous. Frightened, maybe. Who knows what you'll find out?" the doctor said ominously. Whisk glanced back, seeing Lucky smile softly at her. "I'm right here for you, Whisk." he said. She nodded and took the flask. "Here goes..." she said, nervously taking a small sip. She gagged on it a bit. "Ughhh... what's this taste!?" she stammered. "What? I added worm's wart for flavor..." the doctor said indignantly. Whisk gasped softly. "Wait... I'm remembering something..." she said. "Ohh! A true memory?" Jack asked, "Can you tell us?" he wondered, "I mean, if we're not prying..." he added awkwardly. Whisk nodded. "Well..." Whisk murmured.

"I dunno... I'm holding a Chaos Emerald. I'm surrounded by GUN robots. It looks like they're after me. But then, when they're about to catch me... FERA of all people is there, protecting me. I...don't get it. Why was I holding that emerald? Why did she help me...?"

Whisk looked at the flask. "Maybe if I drink more I'll get the answer..." she murmured. "Well, too bad, girlie! I need a swig of that more than you!" boomed a voice through the lab. Suddenly, the flask was poked out of Whisk's hands from below and caught by Lock, Shock and Barrel dashing out from under her! "H-hey!" she gasped. "Oh, those brats again!!" the doctor growled. "That voice... Could it be?" Jack gasped. They chased the children to the door, only to find thin, mummified heartless appearing in their path; wight knights! Lucky gripped his keyblade and growled like the wolf he looked like. "Outta the way!" he shouted. Whisk zapped the heartless with a bolt of thunder magic before Lucky could do anything. "There, they're outta the way. Let's go!" she shouted. However, opening the door, they found the streets of Halloweentown teeming with heartless. "Jaaaaack! Do something!!" the mayor could be heard shouting. "That's funny. Oogie was never actually able to call the heartless..." Jack said curiously. "This has Zeke written all over it. And where's Tails?" Lucky said with concern. "Never mind, fellas! We've got to help the town! Follow me!" Jack said, marching into town with a look of purpose on his skull.

The Wight Knights had nasty claws, but Lucky's keyblade had no problem striking back at them. Whisk had to manage to fly with her low-feather wings in order to take on some airborne gargoyle heartless. "Boy, you guys don't look like the gargoyles back home..." she murmured as she shot blasts of fire to attack them. Jack took on some warping Search Ghost heartless using a mix of his own bony claws and some magic of his own. The battle wasn't incredibly easy, but Tails soon arrived to lend a hand. "Oh, you guys are dead! Time for my upgraded shield!" he said, pulling out a new shield he'd built after a certain "bad guy" had wrecked his old one. Winding it up, he gave it a whirl, and the shield spun off its handle, spinning rapidly as it flew at the nearest heartless and zapped it with electrical energy! Then, Tails used a magnet in the handle to call the shield back! "Ha! Bullseye!" he smirked. Before long, the heartless swarming the town were dispatched, and Lucky went to hug Tails in relief only for the fox to back away. "Fleas! Fleas!" he groaned. "Well... Splitting up was a disaster. I got caught." Tails told them, looking sheepish. "Well, you're safe now." Jack stated. Tails nodded. "This bag of bugs that Zeke called upon was gonna eat me after getting his memory back... Fortunately these snake tails actually came in handy chewing through the ropes Zeke and Zim tied me up with..." he said with a chuckle, "Sorry, I told Oogie Boogie about the experiment to stop him from eating me..." he frowned. Whisk sighed. "Well, I don't want you eaten so I guess I forgive you..." she said, "Can you track him down with your detector?" she asked him. Tails gulped. "Uhh... Zeke took it from me..." he said nervously. Lucky frowned. "Let's never split up again. Geez, that's like rule one for horror movies and we fell for it in Halloweentown." he groaned. Jack didn't seem discouraged. "We'll find them, don't worry. Oh, Zero!!" he called. From the shadows, a ghostly canine with a glowing pumpkin shaped nose flew over to greet them, barking cheerfully at Jack. "Oogie Boogie is back again! Can you sniff him out, boy?" the skeleton asked. With a cheerful bark, Zero lit up his nose and started to fly off in search of Oogie Boogie. "I'm holding off on saying 'Now I've seen everything.' I see more crazy things every other month it seems." Lucky murmured. "Follow that spirit!" Whisk shouted. With Zero leading them, they'd find Oogie in no time!

Zero led them back to the graveyard, to a place where they could see a large hill ending in a strange spiral ahead. There stood Oogie, holding the potion and staring up at the moon. "Aaah... All that runnin' around's made me thirsty!" he snickered. Lock, Shock and Barrel tried to block the group's way, but Jack simply made a terrifying face at them and they yelped, scrambling out of the path. "So, you're Oogie Boogie..." Lucky murmured as they approached him. "Monster! You robbed the doctor and tried to eat Tails!" Whisk shouted. Oogie glanced at them with a look of mock confusion. "Hmm? Sorry, I can't recall a single thing. Maybe this little brew will jog my memory!" he snickered, fumbling with the cork that he'd stuffed in it to prevent spillage while running. Jack shook his head. "The doctor can brew more potion, I'm sure. But threatening the little guy like that... Seems no matter how many second chances at life you get, you'll always be an utterly deplorable bag of bugs!" he shouted. Oogie chuckled as he unpopped the cork. "I don't know 'bout that. Why don't we see what my memory says, eh? ...Maybe then I'll remember which one of you is Jack..." he babbled before lifting up the flask, "Down the hatch!" The group winced as they watched him sloppily gulp the potion down, licking his lips with his snake-tongue. "Mmmm... worm's wart... Not bad... Wait...what's this!" he gasped, freezing in place. Jack watched him curiously. "Does a resurrected Oogie even have any true memories?" he wondered. Oogie suddenly held his head and wailed, frightening off Zero and making Lock, Shock and Barrel even more nervous in their hiding places. "What's happening to him?" Lock wondered. "I died... and died... and died!? Ohhhh, the pain!! Aaaahh...the horror!! Rrrrrrraaaaauuuuggh.... The ANGER!!" he shouted. His body pulsed with dark energy, and he seemed to be growing in size. "So much darkness... What's happening?" Tails gasped. Oogie's bag turned a shadowy black, his eye holes glowing yellow. "Yeah, I think that potion was past its expiration date..." Lucky stammered. Oogie glared at the group and cackled. "Jaaaaack.... Wanna gamble? This time with your life, hmmm? I don't have any lives left myself... I'm a heartless monster!!" he roared. He had about doubled in size, still not as big as a house but certainly terrifying. Lucky was shaking as he held his keyblade. "So... He's a heartless now? Does that even make sense?" he asked. Whisk nodded. "The doctor was right... the potion unbalanced his heart way too much..." she said. "Talk talk talk! You kids are dull! I know what'll get you on your feet! A slick roll of the dice!" Oogie snickered, holding up some rather large and glowing red dice in his pointed fingerless hand. "Umm... Unless your bones reassemble, I'd suggest you run." Jack told them. They nodded and took off in different directions as Oogie gave the dice a toss!

The large glowing dice rolled around the area, before exploding upon stopping! Fortunately the gang had already moved out of the way, but unfortunately more Halloweentown heartless emerged to keep Tails and Whisk busy, leaving just Jack and Lucky to deal with Oogie Boogie. "Jaaaack! You wrecked my house! You trashed my game room! And you stopped me from... uhhh... Well, even with true memories I got no idea what I was aimin' to do at Christmas Town, but you stopped me again!" Oogie growled, leaping at Jack to try and body slam him, only succeeding in toppling a couple gravestones as Jack slipped out of the way. "Maybe that potion doesn't work after all; I'd think you'd know what you did!" Jack retorted. As Oogie struggled to get back to his feet, Lucky pointed his keyblade at him threateningly. "You did what to Christmas Town??" he growled, his werecat eyes glowing red. Oogie looked at him with a chuckle. "Aren't you scaaaary... Well, boogie to you!" he laughed, spitting several creepy crawly bugs at Lucky from his mouth as a distraction as he leapt to his feet! "Gross, gross, gross!!" Lucky yelped, swinging the keyblade wildly to try and swat the bugs away! Oogie Boogie then produced another set of exploding dice. "Maybe if I blow on 'em for luck, I'll roll a jackpot!" he sniggered, giving them a little blow before hurling them at Lucky! Jack tried to get his attention by hitting him with one of his magic spells, but it didn't seem to do much good on the powerful heartless Oogie. He turned to Jack with a smirk. "That tickles... What's wrong? Can't just yank a string and rip me to pieces now? Ha ha ha! I'm held together by darkness!" he teased. However, the boogie-man gasped as he was struck by an explosion! Lucky laughed as Oogie turned with a growl. "Throw me another pitch! I'm on a hot streak!!" he laughed, holding the keyblade like a bat. Oogie realized that Lucky hit the dice back at him and growled. "You stinkin' cheat! That's not how you play the game!!" he shouted, "I'll squash you flat!!" he growled, his dark energy seeming to grow in power, and making him grow even larger in size! "...Eeep." Lucky gulped. "Look out!" Jack shouted as Oogie moved to flatten him. "Ah! Lucky!!" Whisk gasped, witnessing what was happening. She gritted her teeth and vanished from where she was, appearing next to Lucky and then teleporting them both away as Oogie Boogie crashed down to body slam the ground below! Whisk emerged high in the sky above, her and Lucky's silhouette's blotting against the moon. "I'm gonna drop you now, Lucky." she whispered. Lucky was looking into her eyes in a confused daze. "...Wait, what?" Then, he was falling, but he thought fast and twisted in the air, pointing the keyblade down at Oogie Boogie. The speed of his fall powered up his strike, and Oogie let out a wail as the keyblade penetrated the darkness of his shadowy bag! "No... nooo, not again!! What have you done!!" He howled as creepy crawlies went fleeing from his insides! "My bugs!! My buuuuugs!!" he wailed repeatedly, his voice heightening in pitch until it faded. Tails gave the final bug a stomp as it tried to scurry away. "Eat me, will you?" he scoffed.

They took a moment to look for the three kids, but they'd fled by now. Jack reasoned that they wouldn't cause any more trouble now anyway. "We could head back to the lab. I'm sure the doctor could whip up more potion." he said to Whisk. She shook her head. "I saw what it did to Oogie. Maybe it's best I let the answers come to me naturally...if they ever do." she sighed. Jack nodded. "Very well. After all, a bit of uncertainty can keep your life full of surprise and excitement!" he grinned. Tails heard footsteps and turned around. "Huh... is that...?" he muttered. "There you are!!" Of all people, Gator was heading their way...and accompanied by a reindeer no less. "What is Gator doing here??" Lucky babbled. The reindeer hovered up to the group really quickly, shaking everyone's hands with his feet gliding just off the ground. "Hey, fellas! Name's Booster! Good to see ya! I brought Gator along with me from Christmas Town!" he chuckled before stopping at Jack, "I needed to see you anyway on behalf of Santa." he smirked. Jack looked up sheepishly. "Ah, how is Sandy? I was thinking of visiting him after Halloween, maybe..." he murmured. "Just so long as you're not thinking of 'making Christmas' again..." Booster smirked. Lucky looked at Gator jealously. "...You know Santa? As in... Claus?" he babbled. Gator nodded. "Silly, everyone knows that guy. But I was looking for you! Important message... Uhhh... what was it again?" he babbled. Tails frowned. "Maybe he needs the memory potion..." he murmured. "Speaking of remembering things, should we try to track down Zeke?" Lucky murmured. Gator shook his head. "We gotta go! Let's find your ship and I'll captain us where we need to be!" he declared. The group turned to Jack and Booster briefly. "It's alright. The doctor will be disappointed I'm sure but there are other experiments!" Jack told them. "You kids keep being good! Christmas isn't too far away!" Booster chuckled. Lucky smiled and nodded. "Neither is Halloween. Happy Holidays you guys!" he said, waving to them. "You're welcome back anytime!" Jack waved back. The group then started slowly on their way back to the ship, and as they went, Whisk stopped to scratch herself briefly. "Oh shoot... You did have fleas, Lucky!" she groaned. "Your dumb magic gave them to me. Your magic should fix it!" he growled, scratching himself. "I kinda appreciate that your spell took away my fur to make me less appetizing to the buggers." Tails chuckled softly, "But change us back soon, please." Gator glanced at them in confusion. "Change you back into what? Isn't this how you normally look?" he babbled. The others groaned a little in response...


Zeke had made good use of the darkness detector during all the drama with Oogie Boogie. It led him and Zim to a place outside Halloweentown proper, secluded and foreboding. The rubble of Oogie's old manor still cluttered the landscape here and there after a time when the power of darkness had fused the torn bag with his own manor, and a brave keyblade master defeated him with Jack's help. The detector was going bonkers in this area. Zim sat in an odd crawling bathtub while Zeke searched around the rubble for the source of the signal. "We're probably wasting our time again. I wanna go home before master Zavok forgets all about me..." the Zeti complained. "You are absolutely no help. We'd be out of this cobweb infested nut house if I could just find whatever this glorified metal detector was pointing us to..." he grunted before tripping over something. "Ick! What did I almost step on!?" he grunted. The detector was going haywire, so Zeke moved some rubble. What he found was...a sort of heart-shaped container with a big lock on it. "What the holy heck is this? Is this it...?" he babbled. Zim jumped out of the tub to get a look at it. "Hmm... A heart of darkness?" he asked. "You might say that..." came the voice of Garland, stepping through a corridor of darkness. Zeke turned and handed the heart to the knight, bowing to show his respect. "I found it, boss, all by myself!" he proclaimed. "Lies! It was Zim's brilliant idea to steal the device from the usually-a-fox-but-not-today boy!" Zim protested. Garland accepted the heart, holding it up to examine it. He ignored their petty competitiveness. "The denizens of this town thought that giving the heartless a heart would enable them to control them. But they had no understanding of what the heart is. The heart is glorious chaos... All they could forge is darkness... Especially once their creation was consumed by the darkest denizen of this world." he stated, glancing at Zeke and Zim briefly. "This trinket is steeped in deepest darkness, even years of neglect could not strip it away. It will serve my purpose well. You two are finally showing some promise...but we have two power sources still to claim." he told them, turning to the corridor of darkness, "Come...while I begin preparing this trinket for its final purpose, we can determine which world you two will search next..." he stated. Zim smirked. "Promise. He says Zim has promise!" he bragged. "Shut up, Zim..." Zeke groaned as they followed their master through the dark corridor...


Changed back to normal and taking off aboard the Galestrom, Winston fought over the ship's controls with Gator for a bit while the others wondered what their next destination was. "Gator! Stop it! Deep breath... Where are we going?" Lucky asked. "He can't even reach the pedals!" Gator shouted. "It's still my ship, kupo." Winston retorted. "How does he reach the pedals?" Whisk asked Tails. He just shrugged in response. Gator then stood up suddenly. "I remember! I had a message from Master Yen Sid!" he shouted. "Mee-yow!! Don't shout like that, we're all right here!" Lucky yelped. "Who's Master Yen Sid...?" Winston asked. Gator shrugged. "Well, his name spelled backwards is Disney. And he's an old guy. He used to train keyblade masters." he stated. Lucky tilted his head. "You should have led with the last thing." he muttered, "But I do seem to remember Travis mentioning him..." he added. Gator nodded. "Master Yen Sid wants to meet with whichever one of you guys has the key, to check your progress with it! Or something! So, we gotta go see him at Twilight Town!" he explained. Everyone took to their seats as Winston turned to the controls. "Twilight Town it is, kupo... Hang on..." he muttered. Lucky looked a bit nervous. "No one said I'd be graded on my keyblade skills..." he sighed. "Maybe you can learn a thing or two from him Lucky. Keep an open mind." Whisk said. Tails nodded. "Besides, without my darkness detector we'll have to rethink how we track Zeke and Zim." he stated. Lucky sighed again. "All right... At least I got you guys with me." he smiled. "And me!" Gator butted in, grinning. "Uh... Yeah..." Lucky replied awkwardly. And so our team was on their way to Twilight Town... the place where another keyblade wielder had also met with Master Yen Sid quite recently, to be set on his fateful path that would determine the fates of all worlds...and Kingdom Hearts itself. But that's a story largely separate from this one...

To be continued...

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