We had been following these kids for some time now, and I felt like we were doing nothing but going in circles. Letting out an inward sigh, I wondered why we were letting them lead us around like this. It wasn’t doing anything helpful and felt like it was taking forever. Was it a mistake to come to this world?
Some whistling then entered my ears from up ahead, and I saw Peter Pan just resting on a tree branch. “Ah, there you are.” Taking notice of us, he flew over to where we were. “It’s all ready. You’re going to love it.”
“What is it?” I asked.
Giving a big grin, he said, “You’ll see.” With that, he led us forward into the woods. What was with all this secrecy? I found it was getting on my nerves.
Folding my arms, I asked, “Can’t we hurry it up?”
“Now, now. Patience, Jason.” Jiminy said over my shoulder.
“But–“
“Ah, ah, ah.” The conscience cut me off while wagging his finger
I was starting to regret this, but before I could make a retort we were led into a clearing where in the middle sat an open chest. Raising an eyebrow, I asked, “What is this?”
“This is the surprise. This chest used to be full of treasures, but I hid them all around Neverland. We’re going to find them all.”
“Yay!” The Lost Boys cheered. I, however, wasn’t as enthusiastic. We had to waste our time wandering around the island finding Gri-knows-what and it was supposed to be fun?! What kind of world was this place?
“Peter? What exactly are we supposed to be finding?” My cousin asked.
The flying boy then began to list off the items. “Three swords, two hammers, a couple of bows, and…”
I was about to make a complaint when I noticed something. Out of the ground appeared several blue creatures with narrow red eyes and antennae. I recognized them as some of the creatures that appeared in Wonderland when Mortem summoned that giant one. Some were medium-sized with big hands loaded with sharp claws, and the others were fat with purple bottoms. Also, they had some sort of symbol on their bellies. I couldn’t tell what, but it didn’t match the crossed-out heart insignia I had seen on some of the Heartless. “It’s those monsters we fought before!”
“Unversed!” Scrooge said as he held up his can. “Jason, Clair. Get ready for a brawl. The rest of you stand back.”
While the Lost Boys ran back, Peter flew up to us, pulling out his dagger. “Oh, no. These things are not ruining our fun.”
Rolling my eyes while I called my Keyblade out as did Clair, we charged at the monsters. I swung at one, but it zipped around my weapon so it only hit the ground. Clair tried to stab one, but it did the same thing. One zipped over to Scrooge where the old duck managed to hit it back with his cane. “Back off, ya hooligans!” He told them in that accent of his. Peter kept flying in, out, and around these creatures, doing a surprising amount of damage with that knife of his. How was he so good with such a puny weapon?
I tried to hit another of the Unversed with my Keyblade, but it zipped around my weapon before it took its shape again and attacked me from behind. Worbazz, these things were getting under my skin, and my back stung from where I was struck. Memories of my father and his “training” entered my mind and filled me with rage as I resumed my attack on the one that attacked me. It managed to dance around my attacks, though in an instant it was frozen and I was finally able to destroy it.
Scrooge kept whacking them with his cane, even though several of them zipped around him. Clair fired a Fire spell at some of them, knocking them back and giving the old duck and me a chance to destroy them. However, as soon as we beat the last of them, at least nine more of these creatures appeared, and two of them were different from what we faced already. Five of them were similar to the first ones, but they had stumpy legs and hands with long sharp claws. Two were these big obese brutes like the Large Bodies and Fat Bandits, but they were blue and purple. The last two were more of the sleek blue ones we fought before.
With a groan, I tightened my grip on my Keyblade. “Oh, come on,” I growled as we went on the offensive again. One of the ones with the claws leaped at me and started slashing the air with its claws. I managed to block it with my Keyblade but I was forced to take a step back from them. These guys were surprisingly nimble. However, it got knocked back by someone I thought would leave me.
“Take that, ya ghastly beast!” Scrooge taunted the creature. I prepared to help Scrooge, but I got knocked back by one of the huge ones. As I grunted from the impact, I noticed the other one was ramming itself into my cousin. With a growl, I tried to get over to her but two of the sharp claws began slashing me, turning my attention away from her to focus on my problems.
As one of the pure blue creatures leaped up it got attacked from behind. Peter had flown over and destroyed it with his knife. Doing a loop-de-loop he flew down and grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me out of the mess I was in. “Need a lift?” He asked as we flew into the air.
“Thanks.” I truly meant that as I was set on the ground while he attacked the big one that had my cousin pinned. As the other big one came at me, I managed to block it with my Keyblade while I checked on the rich duck. Scrooge managed to defeat the one that he had been facing and quickly dueled with another. Taking the time to push back against the big one, I got out of the way while I brought my weapon on one of the sharp claws.
“Blizzard!” Clair called out, freezing another sharp claw before a jab from Peter destroyed it. They then attacked the big one together, destroying it as well before Clair cast a Thunder spell that weakened the other of the sleek blue ones before she hacked it down. Turning to Scrooge, she fired another Blizzard spell, freezing the one he was facing before he knocked it over with his cane.
As it shattered, he laughed with victory before the three of them rushed to help me, as I was trying to get behind the big one again. One of the sharp claws attacked me again, making me grunt. “I hate these things!” I frowned as I impaled it on my Keyblade, destroying it. The other sharp claw leaped up, but Peter parried its blows with his knife while Clair fired another Fire… wait. It seemed stronger than before.
“Fira!” My cousin called out as it hit the monster, doing significantly more damage to where it was destroyed. As we all rushed the last of the big monsters, our combined attacks were enough to take it down. Peter then let out a crow as if signaling a victory. I took a breath as Clair cast her healing spell on us, erasing the pain of our struggle.
From where he had hidden, Jiminy poked his head out. “I can’t believe this. Not only Floods but Scrappers and Bruisers too.”
“Floods? Scrappers? Bruisers?” Clair raised an eyebrow. “Jiminy, do you know what those things are?”
As the Lost Boys came out of hiding, their leader began to look around. “I think they were called… Universes… or Universal…”
“Unversed.” Jiminy corrected him.
Looking at him, I asked, “You know about them?”
“I’ve read about them. The King said they were negative emotions given physical form in the shape of monsters.”
“Ah, I remember now,” Scrooge said. “I’ve encountered them before, almost thirteen years ago when I was expanding my business to Radiant Garden. Then, they vanished only to reappear last year according to my nephew and his friends while they were on their adventures. But…”
“But what?” I asked.
“The person who controlled them was supposed to have been defeated a year ago at the end of their last adventure. So how could they be back?”
“Mortem. He’s the one controlling them. Creating them.” I explained, “Think back to the last time we faced him. He created that giant monster, and it had the same symbol as the fat ones. We also faced several of the smaller ones. This can’t be a coincidence.” With a sigh, I added, “We need to be careful. If he wanted to, he could create an army in a second.” If those things were here, and if I was right, then that must mean he’s here too.
“Is this going to spoil our fun?” Slightly asked.
“What? Of course not.” Peter shook his head.
“It just means we need to be more careful and aware,” Scrooge reassured them. “Nothing like a little excitement to spice up a good game.”
I wasn’t sure what to think of that, but then Peter said, “Hear that men? We’re still going to have our game.” As they cheered, he turned to me. “You lead the way.”
“What? But I don’t know where we’re supposed to find this stuff.”
“That’s the game. It’ll be fun.”
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