//------------------------------//
// Heartless: Facing the Boogeyman 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

As the group followed Jack out of Halloween Town, as that was what the place was called, Sombra decided to ask about the three youngsters that had run off with the heart he and the Doctor had been trying to create for the false Heartless, just to have some information on them.

"Oh, they're Oogie Boogie's henchmen: Lock, who wears the devil costume; Shock, the witch; and Barrel, the round one that is dressed like a skeleton." Jack replied, showing them that he did have some knowledge of the trio and that they must be a trio of troublemakers for the rest of the town's people, who seemed to be hiding or sleeping right now, though it also told the group that their new friend knew how to get to the trio's base of operations, "Don't worry about them too much, as they are just troublemakers that everyone in town has gotten used to, especially since they're the best trick-or-treaters in the whole town... the one we should be worried about is Oogie Boogie, a boogeyman who has a nasty habit of gambling and who happens to live on the outskirts of town."

"So he's like a rival or something?" Seras asked, because she knew what Fluttershy knew and, by looking at some of the worlds they had been to so far, she suspected that this 'Oogie Boogie' was either a rival seeking to take Jack's place and rule over Halloween forever, or he was calling in the Heartless to fulfill some other agenda they wouldn't know about until they confronted him.

"You could say that, even though next to no one likes him." Jack admitted, though at the same time Sombra had to wonder if there was more to the tale than just saying that they were rivals of the same holiday, but decided that if Jack didn't want to talk about it, and wanted to focus on reclaiming the stolen heart device, they could focus on the task at hand.

With that thought in mind the group returned to the graveyard and found that one of the larger coffins, which happened to rest above ground, was askew, as in the lid was no longer aligned to the bottom half, though when they approached it the lid opened and sucked all of them into it, only for them to be spat out in another section of the area. It was easy for a few of them to realize that this was just another part of Halloween Town, a graveyard that inspired terror and confusion in those that weren't familiar with everything, though Sombra wasn't even remotely afraid and she could see that the rest of the group felt the same way. Jack continued walking through the new area, passing by a large smashed pumpkin based on what they were seeing, before tapping one of the larger tombstones that looked like it had a crypt linked to it, only for the group to discover that it sucked all of them in again and spat them out near a hill with a curled tip that reminded them of a wizard's hat, or the tip of Donald's wand.

Sure enough they found that some Heartless wanted to take care of them, just more Shadows, Ghosts, and Wights, just like the group had seen throughout the first ten or so minutes of their visit to this world, and while Sombra slammed a few of the Wights into the ground, to attack them with her scythe, she found that her thoughts about Seras were far more correct than she originally assumed. Seras continued to be on the front lines during their fights, swinging at the groups of Heartless while moving faster than Fluttershy had done while she was in control, ducking and weaving around attacks as she struck the dark creatures and released their hearts. Such a thing made her wonder if the shy one was repressing most of her power, as she had told her and Radiant of the skills that the World had granted her, so that meant she must have been growing her attributes, much like how she could absorb the heart of a Heartless to gain more power. Radiant, on the other hand, seemed to be applying herself different to each of their battles, making sure to utilize her full power when she had need to do so and keeping her true power hidden when she knew there was no reason to use it.

Sora and the others were definitely improving with each battle, as Sombra could tell that the boy was making sure to let Donald and Goofy help him take out some of their enemies, and even Jack did well in taking care of the Heartless, though at the same time Riku tore through his foes.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sombra asked, speaking to Riku once the next group of Heartless had been dealt with, allowing Jack and the others to search the area for a moment, Sora activating a lift that Jack said would take one back to another part of the graveyard, one they had been to before, as she wanted to be sure he was fine with his new werewolf body.

"Yeah... I think so." Riku replied, as it was taking some time to get used to his new body, far more than when they were in Ariel's world, which he blamed on the tail that he really wasn't used to having, and while Sombra's lessons were good he still had to gain experience in walking with an extra appendage to make sure he didn't trip again, "Has anyone ever told you three how hard it is to walk with a tail?"

"No. Everyone has a tail on the world that we come from." Seras answered, which was true, as all of the creatures that called Equus home happened to have their own tail, such as ponies, griffins, changelings, dragons, and everything else, or at least she was sure of that since Fluttershy wasn't as knowledgeable as Twilight Sparkle was on such a subject, before she spotted Jack and the others continuing towards their destination, "Come on you lovebirds, we've got work to do."

"You do realize that we barely know each other, right?" Riku inquired, though at the same time Sombra could tell that he wasn't too displeased by what Seras had said, his new ears and tail really gave away his acceptance of the idea of him and her being a couple, all while they started to follow Jack as he brought them closer to Oogie Boogie's lair.

"And yet you are totally enamored by Sombra's beauty! It doesn't matter who she is, what she's done, or what powers she might have, you're already in love with her." Seras remarked, something that made Sombra wonder if all of this was what Fluttershy thought of her, or maybe it was what the bat inside her had been thinking after reviewing everything that her shy side knew, before Seras glanced at Sombra for a  few moments, "Not that I blame you, really, because while I'm not attracted to her... and by that I mean me, not Fluttershy... I can see the appeal of her, especially after seeing her in other forms."

Riku said nothing to that, even though Sombra could see that he was thinking about it while they walked, allowing them to focus on the task at hand while letting them shelve the thought for now, especially since neither one wanted to lose the rest of the group. While they did that, however, Seras found a new Heartless in the air and struck it down, where Sombra found that it was as tall as one of the Soldiers, had a pair of brown wings, curved horns on it's odd head, and a bare chest that had the emblem on it. It became easy to tell how to deal with the Gargoyles, as Seras called it, as they either needed to hit it with an aerial attack, like the bat had done, or strike it with a powerful blow like how Riku did when he spotted a second one hanging out in the air, allowing them to take out two enemies as Sombra collected their hearts. Following that they found that the path forward was to have the odd shaped hill extend the tip into a walkway for them to cross over the wall in front of it, bringing them to a stream with a bridge over it, though on the other side rested their destination, or at least that was what Jack told everyone.

On the other side of the gate that they walked through the group found a massive tree house that seemed to be where Lock, Shock, and Barrel were heading, as they were riding in a bathtub that was walking on it's own, and they seemed to be heading towards the peak as the group came to a stop.

"This is certainly an interesting place." Sombra commented, as the tree was definitely massive, because it went down into a large circular area, where she found a river cutting around the lower area, before she glanced at the bridge that was in front of them, which seemed to be leading right to the peak.

"This is definitely Oogie Boogie's domain. Be careful, he might have some surprises for us to deal with." Jack replied, as he trusted the group, they were good fighters and seemed like they would be great additions to Halloween Town if any of them decided to move into the town, even though that would mean more houses would need to be built, and knew that they would be able to handle whatever Oogie Boogie might throw at them.

With nothing else to say on the matter the group crossed over the broken bridge, as sections had been pulled up before being put down in other spots to form another walkway of sorts, and entered the 'manor', as Jack said that's what Oogie Boogie once called this place, the last time he faced his rival. As they stepped onto the actual ground of the manor, or the branch since it was a tree, Sora found that a number of Shadows, Ghosts, Wights, and even a few Gargoyles attacked him and his friends, causing them to lash out at the Heartless as Seras made sure all of them stayed near the walkway, since the flyers could be trouble. While she did that Sombra used gravity magic to trap some of the other enemies in place so one of the others could cut down on the number of enemies that were in front of them, while Sora's team pushed into a door that was in the way and found that it opened to a small room with one of the platforms they could light, by using the fire spell.

Such a thing brought them to another level of the manor and the discovered that the path was rather straightforward, as it was just keep going up a couple of stairs, short ramps, or some parts of the tree to reach what seemed to be the peak of the manor, bringing them to a decent sized chamber with the three kids standing in front of a hole that seemed to be a pipe leading somewhere else in the structure.

Instead of saying anything Lock, Shock, and Barrel separated from each other and tried to attack the group, no doubt out of fear due to the fact that Jack's group had caught up with them or due to their loyalty to Oogie Boogie, though what the group found was rather sad and not worth any real effort. Lock, for example, seemed to be leaping across the room so he could avoid them entirely, while Shock spun around in an attempt to stun those that were in her way, leaving Barrel to just dash around like he had nothing better to do with his time, making Sombra think the trio were just trying to waste time for their master. With that in mind Seras caught Lock while he was in the middle of a jump, Riku picked up Shock when she got near him, as apparently she seemed frightened of his werewolf form and came to a stop, and Sombra just stood still as Barrel struck her legs, knocking him back without her doing anything. Such a thing allowed her to use her magic to put all three of them in a magical holding cell while the others looked around the room they were in, as Jack wanted the false heart back so he could focus on the rest of the work that he and the Doctor needed to do to make the false Heartless do their dance.

In the end, however, Sombra's concerns were proven correct once again, the false heart was gone and that meant that the pipe was likely linked to Oogie Boogie's part of the manor, which caused her to create a small orb with her magic and sent it down the pipe, feeling it go deeper and deeper until coming to a stop far below them.

"Oogie Boogie has the heart, doesn't he?" Jack asked, mostly to just confirm where it was, even though they knew that it wasn't in this chamber and the kids hadn't stopped anywhere on their way to the peak, so if it wasn't here then logic said it had to be in the hands of their master.

"Yeah, he told us to steal it, only after Barrel told him about the heart." Shock replied, where Sombra could tell that she and Lock loved to blame Barrel whenever something went wrong and now was definitely one of those times, and they got into a debate about who was right, who was wrong, and the odd lever that happened to be in the chamber.

Fortunately she and Seras had the same idea, as the bat walked over to the lever and pulled it, where they heard what had to be a clicking sound, to which she sealed the lever shut with her magic as she freed the three kids, causing them to walk back down to the start of the manor. Sure enough none of the Heartless they had taken out previously had returned, an odd fact since most of the other worlds had far more than what they had faced so far, but no one was willing to complain about this, as it meant that their time here would be shorter than what they spent on the other worlds. Sombra found that they were drawing closer and closer to where her magical orb was resting, which eventually brought them to the start, or a walkway that was cut off from everything else, before finding that it was a lift of sorts that ended with everyone closer to the roots of the large tree. Such a thing caused her to walk around before locating a green door that looked different than everything else that was attached to the tree manor, especially with the guillotine that was being used as the frame with the blade near the top, causing Jack to walk in first as everyone else followed after him.

On the other side they discovered that Oogie Boogie was a burlap bag that seemed to be moving on it's own, or maybe he had something inside him that gave him his movement, plus he had the false heart in his hand, though they were in what appeared to be some sort of gambling arena, complete with a sunken floor section.

"Oogie Boogie, give us back the heart!" Jack stated, confirming that this was, in fact, Oogie Boogie, though it was easy for them to tell since he was the only other person in the manor, but it was nice after Ursula not even speaking to them when they entered her domain.

"Oh, you want this? Well, come and get it!" Oogie Boogie replied, where he actually stuffed the false heart into his mouth for a moment and they watched as he swallowed it, all in the span of a few seconds and before anyone could react to what he was doing, causing the fat burlap figure to laugh as he faced them, "Now, let's see if I can get their attention this time. Oh, Heartless!"

What happened next was that two Gargoyles lazily appeared out of thin air and floated down into the area around Oogie Boogie, where he took one look at them and exploded in rage, declaring that 'no one disrespected him' as he activated the machinery that was inside his chamber. His attack pattern, as they found out, was to roll a pair of dice and determine his next move, and for some reason they only seemed to land in pairs, where if he rolled twos, threes, or fives he would call in Gargoyles, Wights, and Ghosts, and only in pairs of two enemies, which was easy to deal with. Rolling ones activated the buzzsaw that was in the area and fours seemed to activate the blades that were linked to the ceiling, all of which Sombra and her friends avoided with ease, in fact it was rather pitiful when she considered that this was supposed to be one of Maleficent's allies. Sixes, on the other hand, didn't seem to do much for Oogie Boogie, except make him mad, though what really annoyed him was the fact that everyone wasn't contained in the spinning lower floor that he wanted to trap them in, rather Seras and Riku seemed to have him cornered on the upper walkway.

Sombra and the others joined them from time to time, hitting Oogie Boogie all over as she found that his body was full of bugs, which meant insects had to be controlling the entire body, and when they delivered a crippling blow to him they just watched as his bugs escaped from his body, reducing him to nothing and leaving a page of Ansem's report behind for the group to take.

"Well, that was anticlimactic... are all of Maleficent's allies going to be this way?" Sora asked, though at the same time Jack jumped up to where his rival had been standing previously and found that nothing of him remained, not even the heart he and the Doctor had put together was there, but it did give him some insight to share with the Doctor.

"No... we aren't done yet..." Sombra replied, where she could feel the darkness surging into the manor and knew that their foe had one last trick to use against them, causing her to turn towards the others as she motioned for everyone to get out before they were caught in what was coming next, "Everyone, get out of here. NOW!"

Radiant, Seras, and Riku, trusting her the most out of everyone, were the first to react as the others followed her outside, where they and Jack came to a stop on the other side of the bridge, over on the cliff, before the manor was rocked, where everyone watched as Oogie Boogie merged with the manor. Sombra glanced to Seras for a moment and the bat took off, flying around the area as she pointed out seven dark blobs that had appeared all over the manor, power sources that had to fuel the figure merging with the entire manor, causing her to come up with a plan. She and Seras would move everyone else into position, the bat pinpointing where all of the blobs were while Sombra would teleport someone over to them, all so the seven of them could be positioned all over Oogie Boogie's manor form, with Jack keeping an eye on things to make sure everything went smoothly. Once all seven of them were in position they struck the blobs at the same time and put an end to Oogie Boogie with ease, causing him to shudder in pain as his power source was broken, eventually collapsing the entire manor into nothingness, as the darkness consumed everything about him.

While Sombra found a new spell in their tome, Gravira to be exact, they found a massive Keyhole under where the manor was resting, something that caused Sora to raise his Keyblade and fire a beam into the air that separated into bits and rained down on the Keyhole, locking it to keep the world's core safe from the Heartless.

"Sora, what was that?" Jack asked, as he had never seen something like that before, especially with the large shape that had been right under Oogie Boogie's manor, and knew that the group knew what to do when they saw something like this, which only made him more interested in what they knew.

"Oh, nothing special. It just means that we need to get going." Sora replied, which was technically the truth, they shouldn't stay on a world for longer than what was necessary, especially after King Triton chewed them out after discovering that four of them carried Keyblades, before he considered something as he glanced at Jack, "Do you think we can come back for a visit in the future?"

Jack was delighted by the idea and was sure that Sally and the Doctor would agree with him as well, he even said that they could visit him whenever they wanted, though with that done he bid them all farewell for the time being and returned to Halloween Town, leaving Sora and the others to find a safe spot nearby to warp back to the Gummi Ship.

"You know, after all the trouble I had learning how to walk with a tail, I think I'm going to miss being a werewolf." Riku said, as the moment they returned to the Gummi Ship everyone changed back into their original forms, where he looked at his attire and human appearance for a few seconds, which was around the time that everyone noticed that Seras was still in control of Fluttershy's body.

"Can't help you there, even though you were such a good boy during our time in Halloween Town... however, since we are done with this world, it's about time I gave Fluttershy her body back." Seras remarked, where they watched as she focused her mind for a moment and her bat features started to fade away, her wings and ears returning to normal while her fangs disappeared, and when her eyes returned to normal they all knew that the bat was no longer in control.

"Is... Is it over?" Fluttershy asked, sounding like her old self again as she glanced at the others, no doubt trying to ignore all of what Seras had seen since it freaked her out so much, though Sombra knew that if she ever needed help with such a thing she had someone reliable to fall back on, all while Radiant told her that she'd tell her about their visit to Halloween Town later, once Fluttershy was calm and wouldn't freak out over the tale.

Sombra sighed as she and Riku headed to their respective rooms as the group dispersed to relax, as they needed time to think about what had happened during their visit to Halloween Town, all while wondering what the next world might have to offer them and if they would have another new form to experience when they started to explore it, which only made her all the more eager to see what the future held in store for them.