60. The Keeper of the Keys

Pueblo de Niebla

"COME BACK, LITTLE MAN!" Bill Dauterive was hot on Kaleo's tail, reaching both arms and drooling like a child. "I just wanna plaaaay!"

"THIS REMINDS ME OF THAT SCARY ANIME WITH THE GIANT PERVERTS!" Kaleo screamed, growing more sweaty by the minute.

A chain-sickle swooped in and SLASHED off Bill's left leg. "OOOOOOG!" He fell over with unbalanced weight.

Kaleo turned in shock at the sight, taking the moment to catch his breath. "HEEEEE-YAH!" The chain-sickle sliced off Bill's right arm, and Leo gaped when its wielder flipped over the giant. "You call yourself a Titan?! You're a BUG compared to the godly might of Black Star!" the boy with spiky blue hair taunted.

"WOW! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Leo cheered.

"Thank you!" Black Star spoke with pride. "The great god acknowledges your-!" He perked when he realized: "WAIT A SEC, how do you see me? !" He pointed at Leo frantically. "I'm in spirit form, mortals can't see me, which means you aren't normal!"

"YAAAAH!" Leo gripped his head and rolled around. "I'M A FREEAAK!"

"Black Star, wait!" A woman's voice came from the chain-sickle. "I'm not sensing anything unusual, he's a normal human!"

"Are you sure, Tsubaki?" Black Star looked at the crying Leo weirdly. "Looks pretty weird to me."

"He certainly seems… odd. But he is a normal human."

"But he's still seeing me. I'm gonna see what's up."

"Ahh-ha-ha-haaaa!" Leo still cried as Black Star approached him. "WAAAH-ha-haaaa! WAH ha-"

"HEY, BIGMOUTH!" Black Star kicked him in the face. "CEASE your wailing and bow before Black Star!"

"YES, MY LORD!" Leo bowed down quickly. But then he looked up in confusion. "Wait, who are you?"

"Who am I?! I am the Supreme God of the Universe! My power outranks that of Arceus, of Dialga, of ALL gods combined!" He made many epic poses as he spoke. "The very stuttering of my name will cause mortals to faint! Brace yourself, lesser being, for I am Black Star!"

"Snoooore…" Leo fell asleep.

"PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" Black Star kicked him.

"DAAAH!" He fell back. He got up with an excited grin, "Hey, my name's Kaleo! I get Dandy grades in school and take a bath every month, give or take!"

"Oooooaaaaa…" They both turned to Bill Dauterive, whose amputated arm and leg turned into dark mist, and reformed on his body. When Bill got back up, he grew a few more feet tall.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Black Star shouted. "No one recovers from Black Star's reign of terror! I'll cut you as many times as it takes! AAAHHH!" He lashed his sickles and chopped all four limbs off. They reformed on Bill again, and he grew some more.

"Black Star, I feel his energy level increasing!" Tsubaki yelled. "Just take this human to a safe place!"

"How are we supposed to hide from him?!"

"I know how we can lose him!" Kaleo announced, grabbing a can of Green Flurp. He guzzled it up, got in a sitting position, and Fart Rocketed up to Bill's face. "SMELL YA LATER!" He turned around and Gas Bombed him up close, the blast blowing Leo forward as Black Star ran after.

"AAAAAA! It smells worse than I did on all my first dates!" Bill waved his hand by his nose in a desperate attempt to be rid of the smell. He opened his eyes and saw his prey had gone. "And they ran… just like all my first dates." Bill drooped his head in sadness. "Siiigh… Look how fat I am. I'm never gonna meet a woman like this. Well, I guess I still have a shot at Brittney Spears." He stomped away to search for the kids.

He bypassed a rocky enclosing, where Leo and Black Star were hiding. "That was an impressive maneuver." The spirit said.

"Thanks, it's Flurp!" Leo held up the green can. "Wanna taste?"

"Sure! It should quench my godly thirst!" Black Star took the can, put one hand to his hip, and poured it down his godly throat. "Eh?" The Flurp came through his pelvis like green pee. The can fell out of his ghostly hand and spilled on the ground.

"Kee hee hee heeeee!" Leo's grin stretched wide like The Joker.

"Deceitful little urchin." Star folded his arms and scowled. "Are you a member of the Human Kids Next Door?"

"Uh-uh." Leo shook 'no.' "I'm with The Gang. The Cleveland City Street Gang. Well, we're just 'The Gang,' but some people get confused by…"

"Then what's your deal?"

"Er, I came here with my friends because Kimaya's magic key told her to. But then Kimaya turned evil and attacked our singing skeleton, and Beat…" Leo gasped. "BEAT'S DEAD! BEEEAAAAT!"

"Kaleo, stop."

"Oh, Beeeaaat!" Kaleo pounded his fist on the ground. "I forgive you for all the times you wedgied me! I know that's your spirit trying to apologize!"

"I ain't apologizing, you dumbass! I'm tellin' you to look up!"

"Ahh?" He looked up. Beat was floating there with an intangible body. "HE'S A GHOOOOST! YAAAAAAAHHH!" Leo bolted across the field again.

"Beat?" Black Star looked up at him with a cocked brow. "Wait, you mean this is the kid you've been hanging around?"

"Yeah, yeah. Look, Ah never told 'em I was already dead until now, a'ight? I was afraid Django would find out, but he never said anything. Just go catch him, I need to help my sister." Beat flew back to town.

"Ugh. And you think I'm a troublemaker, Tsubaki." Black Star remarked before chasing Leo.

Lazarus Plant

"HA ha ha ha!" Carter chuckled as he entered his private quarters, where his wife was sitting on a chair and drinking tea. "Babs, you will not believe my luck! Ever since the Leaders told me one of the Seven Lights would come for that Gibberish Rock, I've been worried as hell! And it TURNS out that the person that was going to look for it is a SLEEPER Agent! And to think that little boney demon brought her! I mean, look at this!"

He turned on the TV, displaying Kimaya and Django locked in battle, Keyblade against Mystic Guitar. "Not only can I finally get rid of Django, but once Kimaya is finished, I'll order her to kill herself. The Twenty Keys that the Leaders kept whining about GONE," snapped fingers, "just like that!"

"You're very diabolical, Carter." Babs said nonchalantly when a cute little Shadow Heartless brushed by her legs. "When are you going to call someone to get rid of these rodents?"

"Those things just showed up outta nowhere. I dunno what they are, but they just started doing what I say, and I say 'Why not?' YOU, Fatty, bring me a coffee in my Star Wars Collectors' Glass!" he ordered a Large Body. The Heartless saluted and marched off. "At least I'm getting service from somebody."

"Oh, buck off, Carter. You're so fat."

"And you're an old bat. HAH! Don't set me up for rhyme if you can't do the time!" Carter's phone rang. He answered, "Hello? 'EY, Director Bullock, mah man! Hey, I have a funny story!"

"President Pewterschmidt, we've received a notice that the Sleeper Agent 6767, aka Kimaya Heartly, has been activated! She was heading to your location, was she not?"

"Yeah, I activated her! Like, super convenient! You guys said she wasn't ready, but she's kicking ass!"

"Carter, you have to deactivate her right now!"

"W-What? I don't understand."

"She was programmed as Agent 6767, but we never had the chance to perfect her! Instead of turning on you in seven days, she'll turn on you in one hour!"

"AN HOUR?!"

"Deactivate her now! If she really is the Light, you can't risk it!"

"Grrr!" The fight was still continuing on the TV. He looked at his watch, which read 8:05. "It's only been 10 minutes since I activated her. If she doesn't kill that skeleton in time, I'll tell her to kill herself through the PA. Babs, I'll be in my office." He marched away. "If things go south, I may have to phone in CP10."

"Yes, you enjoy your Star Wars, dear."

Miners' Mountain

With its flight engines busted, Nolan drove the Sandmobile recklessly across the coal mountain. He was now speeding through the road with the opening/closing walls. "Nolan, when did you say you got your license?!" Kami exclaimed.

"I just assumed ex-KND ops and vigilantes were exempt from needing a license."

"You drive your son to school in this thing!" Crystal shouted. "For God's sake, no wonder you have parent/child drama!"

"That must be the village! Let's park here!" Nolan stomped the brake and stopped the car, the passengers lunging forward.

"I'm glad I don't read comic books." Kami sighed as the five got out of the car and ran to the village.

"Holy crap!" Yuki gaped at the sight of the rampaging Heartless. On the rooftops, there was a sandy-blonde girl slashing at Heartless with a scythe, her swings precise and her heart furious.

"I'd like to say that girl has it covered." Nolan said. "'Cause I wouldn't wanna be in her way."

"What girl?" asked Kami.

"Yes, I don't see anyone." Crystal agreed.

"Are you kidding, she's right there." Haru pointed.

"Wait a minute." Nolan scanned the girl with his goggles. "She's doesn't have any bio readings. In fact, I… can't seem to scan her at all."

"DAAAH!" They looked right and saw Django be blown out of an alley, raising his guitar to block Kimaya's jump-slice. The Mystic Guitar was shining red due to a defense spell.

"That's Django!" Haru exclaimed.

"And Kimaya!" Kami followed.

While the two headed over, Nolan used Detective Vision on Kimaya. Now viewing her skeleton, a red circle was marked around part of her brain. "There's some kind of micro chip inside her. That must be the Sleeper!"

"WATCH YOUR BACK!" Yuki grabbed Nolan and ducked aside, dodging the black lawnmower with buzzsaw teeth and fiery demon eyes. Hank Hill turned the mower about-face.

"Ah might look like a regular Old Joe, but I'm pretty dang handy with machinery, I tell you what." Hank rolled at Nolan again, but Sandman launched his grappler to the top of the gate, pulling him up and out of Hank's way. Hank grabbed a hammer, and the ordinary tool morphed into a larger, dark-purple shape thanks to the Heartless's chi. He bashed the town gate and caused it to vibrate. Unable to stay balanced on it, Nolan glided off and across town. Hank chased on his dark-powered lawnmower and chucked a burning propane tank, which flew surprisingly high and exploded near Sandman, forcing him to redirect leftward and crash somewhere in the village.

Kimaya had Django pinned as the latter pushed his guitar up against her Keyblade. He looked left and saw the two girls come over. "Oh hey, it's you guys! Nice of you to join us!"

"Kimaya, what are you doing?" Kami yelled.

"Carter said some weird phrase and brainwashed her!"

Kami gasped. "He activated her?!"

"Whaddyou mean 'activate'?"

"Kimaya's a Sleeper Agent." Haruka answered. "Kami told us about it. Django, what did Carter say?"

"I think it was… That Male Administrator Is The Most Reasonable Man I Know."

"RRRR!" Kimaya slashed sideways and cut Django's waist. Kami grabbed her daughter from behind and tried to pull back.

"It didn't work." Kami grunted. "You two hide someplace, I'll try to knock some sense into her."

Haruka helped Django up and ran away. Kimaya broke free of her mother and tried to chase, but Kami leapt in front and slashed her Keyblade. "Kimaya, I am your mother! If you don't stop what you're doing, no more music!"

Kim flipped and slashed down, her mom stumbling back. "As your parental figure, I ORDER you-" Kim right-slashed and up-slashed, knocking Kami on the ground. "Or maybe we'll just sit down and-" She blocked some quick strikes from Kimaya, before the Sleeper flipped behind and knocked her forward. Kami flipped and blocked another swing, jumping to her feet as she clashed with her daughter.

Haruka and Django hid in an alley a few blocks off. "Django, what's going on here?" Haru panted.

"This is my hometown. I brought my friends here to… Ugh, I just got done telling them!"

"I missed the backstory?"

"Yes. Look, all you need to know is the town's being run by Carter Pewterschmidt. He's keeping this chemical called Lazarus all to himself—it's supposed to cure any disease, and he's not letting the town have it! They're suffering because of him!"

"I would say he's doing them a favor."

"That doesn't mean-… Wait, who said that?"

"Clown here!" Haruka held up her cellphone. "I already briefed her on the properties of Lazarus. I don't know how much reading Mr. Pewterschmidt did, but my knowledge is far superior. It's true that Lazarus can keep one alive to the point of being immortal. However, it is terribly addicting. You just feel so ENERGIZED every time you step in it! It really is like the Fountain of Youth in some ways: go too long without it, you'll start to look really, really ugly. You'll even go downright mad if you have no access to it. I must say, Carter keeps a very convincing demeanor."

"Are you saying that he's trying to get people addicted to it?" Django asked. "Why he's shipping it to stores?"

"Don't ask me. I'm not the vigilante."

"Mr. York said that Hugo Strange had them taken to stores." Haru corrected. "But that still leaves a lot of questions."

"I smell a rat hiding in my floor." They looked up when Dale Gribble hovered over, spreading a black cloud of gas. "What they failed to have realized was that I traded my day vision for night vision. …And my lungs for gills."

"Run!" Haru grabbed Django and ran down the street as the cloud was chasing. "YOU run, I'm already dead!" Django retorted.

"Hey-Dale, ten-ten-ten-o'clock, ten-o'clock, man!" Dale looked up when Boomhauer spun in for a crash-landing, his wind blowing the gas away. Rhyme was grabbing Boomhauer in her dark form, the surfer punching her until she came off. Boomhauer flew up and did a vertical air-slice, missing Rhyme and chopping a house in half.

"HEY, take the fight somewhere else!" Django strummed a sonic wave to blast Boomhauer back. Dale shot a black gas stream at the kids, but Haruka aimed both hands forward and made an invisible shield. She tried to withstand it, but the poison was overwhelming her. Thankfully, purple energy ropes appeared to bind Dale's arms from behind. They were cast by Ellen, who was flying above Dale.

"I'm not sure who those people are." Django said. Haruka ran into the broken house. "Hey, where you goin'?"

"To see if these people are all right, of course! Why, where do you wanna go?"

"Fine, you do that. I'll check the rest of town." Django ran further down the street.

Inside the house, Haru found two sick boys lain on either side of a bed. They looked at her with despairing, pale sick faces. "It's okay." she told them with a kind smile. "I'm gonna get you guys treated."

"Good plan! I'll mail you the recipe for NHC10."

"We are not making them into giants!" she argued.

"Come on!" Caesar was sitting in a McDonald's, awaiting his food. He wore a top-hat, a scarf, sunglasses, and a mustache disguise. "A village of giants would be way cooler than those sick little bastards."

"Sir, please don't cuss near my son." said a mother from the next table, sitting by a 6-year-old boy.

"YOUR SON'S a little bastard! Hey kid, ever heard of gigantism?" The disgusted mother took her son elsewhere. Caesar spoke back to his phone, "Haru, just use your parasite powers to bend the poison out of their systems. Then bend it out of yourself so we can study it."

"Okay. Hopefully, my lab equipment didn't get damaged by Mr. York's careless driving." Haruka stuck her fingers into the boys and sapped out their poison.

Elsewhere

Maka sliced Gargoyle Heartless that took turns swooping at her, and when they were gone, Search Ghosts and Trick Ghosts appeared around her. Icicles were launched from below, striking the ghosts as Yuki Crystal came up beside Maka. "Hey there. Should I ask who you are, or you wanna beat these things first?" the icebender asked.

"Maka, this guy's a normal human!" her scythe said with a male voice. "He can see us!"

"I'm on official duty." Maka answered. "What's your business, Human?"

"Harsh." When a Trick Ghost spat fire, Yuki blocked with ice and froze the Heartless.

"Jump." Maka ordered. Yuki jumped as she slashed a spin attack, killing the rest of the surrounding Heartless. But that's when a Grand Ghost appeared, a larger Search Ghost with white and yellow skin and a red shirt. Maka and Yuki used their scythe and bending, but no damage was being done.

Crystal Wickens saw Boomhauer spinning a dark tornado against the ground at one spot. Rhyme was pinned against the ground by it, screaming from pain, but Wiccan couldn't see her. But the wind was getting on her nerves. "My, you're a blowhard." Crystal used her staff to float up to the surfer, spinning and whacking Boomhauer in the face. Before he could recompose and view his attacker, Crystal flew above, turned the staff dial to Ground Quake, and SMASHED Boomhauer to the ground with strong force. She hopped off and examined the defeated Heartless, showing disgust at his purple jumpsuit. "And people say I dress weird."

Rhyme recovered behind her. The skull-faced being snarled at Crystal, unable to distinguish between friend or foe. Before Rhyme could attack, Beat dropped in and grabbed his sister in a headlock. "I'll hold her down. You get outta here, Lady."

Crystal was still staring at Boomhauer cluelessly. "Wut, you can't see us? Dammit." Beat cursed. "Hey hey, Raimu! Wanna wrestle?" He grinned deviously. "I gotchu in a headlock! Now I'mma do a knuckle-twist!" Beat twisted his knuckle on her head. Rhyme kept struggling. "C'mon, Raimu, it's your big brother, Bito! Rhyme…"

"BITO-NII!" Rhyme cried, clamping her ears shut at the sound of the gunfire. "Bito-nii, it's so loud!"

"C'mon, Rhyme, I'mma getchu outta here!" Beat hugged his sister and stayed down as he tried to maneuver through the fire. "AAAH!" A stray bullet got him from behind.

"BITOOOO!"

"Bito…" The dark creature calmed down. Her aura began to fade, and through the black-purple skin, Rhyme's normal body was seen. "Beat…" The skull mask disappeared, revealing her tired visage. The hole in her chest was sewing itself back.

"Raimu…" Beat smiled warmly.

"RAAAAH!" Beat looked back and saw Maka and Yuki dodging Grand Ghost's attacks, unable to damage the Heartless. "I'll just be a second, Rhyme!" Beat turned fully and sucked in breath, roaring a Song Beam that blasted the large ghost away. "You just like to nose around, don'tchu, Maka?"

"Beat, what are you doing here?" Maka asked hotly. "You better be here with your sector!"

"'Fraid not. We'll talk later, I need to help my buds." He took Rhyme and flew off.

"WHAT buds?! BEAT, YOU GET BACK HERE!" Maka swung her scythe in a childish fashion.

"Did I show up in time for an awkward reunion?" Yuki asked. Before receiving an answer, Maka chased after him.

Kimaya shot laser bullets that Kami deflected with her Keyblade, then jumped back when Kim performed a jump strike. Kimaya threw more forceful swings, Kami keeping her blade horizontal to block them, only for her weapon to be flown out of her hand by an upward strike. Kimaya aimed the Keyblade at her mother, who raised her hands.

"Look, Kimaya, I didn't know what they were going to do to you, I didn't mean for it to happen. I guess I thought that school would… discipline you better and you wouldn't grow up like a troublemaker. Which you… sort of did." Kimaya swung at her legs, Kami jumped back. "But maybe that was my fault for not trying to understand you better. I mean, I would have, but I can't stand that rap, I don't see how you would-"

Kimaya rolled to Kami's left and kicked her off her feet, aiming the Keyblade close to her face. "OKAY, OKAY! The truth is, deep down… I would've liked to have a daughter that was more like me. I wanted a daughter that I could really bond with, talking about the same shoes, the same shows, and about… boys that we may have crushed on. Let's be honest, you've made some pretty bad mistakes yourself, but… Sigh, I guess I'm no different. I should've told you about the daycare, but I just didn't wanna worry you."

Kami's Keyblade poofed back to her hand. She blocked when Kimaya struck down, pushing with equal force. "Dammit, what the hell are you doing, Double-67?!" Carter shouted from the PA. "I ordered you to kill the skeleton, forget about that woman!"

"Kimaya, if there's one thing you took from me – besides some magic key with no explanation," Kami continued, "it's your stubbornness. Don't let that man control you with some magic words. You disobeyed me for all these years, why don't you put that to good use!"

"Eh…eh…" Kimaya's strength faltered, and her eyes looked tired. She hunched over and started panting.

Kami heard a bursting sound, looking right to see Nolan roll out of an alleyway, avoiding a wall of purple fire. Hank Hill used a flamethrower to rocket at Nolan. The Sandman turned his fist Armament, pulled it, and dealt an uppercut to Hank's stomach with perfect timing. "BWAAAH!" Hank hacked as he was propelled up into the air. "Now I have a narrow colon!" He crashed a few houses over.

"What a pain. Kami, you doing okay over there?" Nolan turned and asked her.

"I think so." Kami smiled, getting back on her feet. "I guess all Kim needed to fight the control was a heartfelt speech."

Nolan scanned Kimaya with Detective Vision. "Or maybe her faulty microchip needed to malfunction because it hasn't been perfected."

"I still say the heartfelt speech played a role."

"Ugh, I don't have time for this! Agent 6767, stab yourself with that key and just DIE!"

Kimaya flinched, jumped away, and aimed the Keyblade at her chest. "KIMAYA, DON'T-!!" Kami ran to stop her—but Kimaya stabbed the key through herself.

A light poked out of her chest. Kami and Nolan stared with both horror and wonder. Kimaya fell back, gasping as she held the key in place. Kami pulled the weapon out, but the light still leaked as Kimaya held her chest. She kept gasping, feeling like her heart would burst. Her chest flashed, the light vanished, and Kimaya woke up agape. "Ahh… Man! It feels like I jus'… gave myself surgery!"

"Kim…aya?…" Kami said lowly.

"The chip just wore out." Nolan observed.

"Mah?" Kim sat up. "What you doing here? And why am I on the ground?"

"Don't you remember anything, Kimaya?"

"I feel like some old bat was naggin' at me. …Was it you?" Kami glared.

"Kimaya!" Django yelled from behind them. "We gotta go to the east field, Leo's in trouble!"

"Dang Leo! Well, later, Mom!" She jumped up and ran with Django.

"KIMAYA-!" Kami called after, but to no avail. "…Grrrrr, I GIVE A HEARTFELT SPEECH AND YOU STILL DON'T LISTEN!!"

East field

"YAAAAAAH!" Kaleo's mouth stretched open as he screamed and ran from Bill Dauterive. "HEEEELP! GIANT PERVERT!" He stopped when he encountered a chicken. "AAAAAH! MUTANT BIRD!" He ran the other way. He stopped at an old wood sign with Spanish words. "AAAAH! ALIENESE!" Ran the other way. Stopped at an animal's skull with horns. "AAAAH! NICOLAS CAGE!"

A large shuriken flew around and chopped off Bill's arms, legs, neck, and some parts around his body. The shuriken returned to Black Star's hand, but Bill's body merely reformed and grew larger. "My godly patience is wearing thin by this giant's unwillingness to die! How can we make this fool fall before me?"

"Try to make him fall off that cliff!" Tsubaki said. "The ground is so loose and slippery that he might not be able to climb up. It'll be nice to knock him out of the way for a while."

"I suppose you're right." Black Star glanced at the cliff behind him. "Now to lure him over here. HEY, FATASS! I can't tell where your head begins on that gross excuse for a body!"

"Do you mean meeee?" Bill looked over with a downtrodden expression. "I'm not FAT, I'm HUSKY!" He started sobbing. "I'm just husky, Lenore… Just husky… sniff…"

"Are you kidding me?! You look like your real belly exploded, so they had to replace it with a whale!"

"YER GETTIN' ON MAH NERVES, you little snot mouth!"

"Better than what YOUR mouth is probly full of! NYEEEAH, NYEEEAH!" Star stuck his tongue out and spanked his bottom.

"ROOOAAAAH!" Bill charged and shook the earth harder under his stomps. Black Star threw his chain-sickle around Bill's ankles and ran between them, causing Bill to lose balance. The giant Heartless flailed his arms and fell over the cliff, shaking the world so great that it was surprising the mountain didn't crumble. Black Star looked down and saw him miles below. The giant failed to climb the soft soil cliff without slipping and falling.

"MWAH HA HA! In the end, you are FAR beneath my powers and talents! It's like this cool catchphrase I just invented: the more humongous they are, the more humiliatingly they plummet!"

"I think you got that from somewhere." Tsubaki said sheepishly.

"Black Star, here you are." Ellen said from behind. Black Star turned to find her and Maka, along with The Gang members.

Kimaya, Leo, and Django looked up at Beat and Rhyme—awestruck at the fact they were ghosts. The Bitos looked between them and the KND, who looked between both groups, as did the former three. "Alright, we clearly have a lot of questions," Ellen said, "so why don't we find a place to sit down and discuss?"

With that, Django led them to a tall hill of rugged rocks, where a very withered house was stationed. It was the house that belonged to Django's old friend, Luviro. They hid behind the side of this hill and sat in a circle.

"We're operatives of the Spirit Kids Next Door, Sector SCYTHE." Maka explained. "I'm Numbuh Pair, Maka Albarn, and this is my scythe, Soul. He's Black Star, Numbuh Star, and she's Ellen, Numbuh Aged."

"Which sounds like 'Nevuh Aged.'" Ellen chuckled. "Which is funny if… you know."

"Beat and Rhyme are KND operatives, too." Soul said. "They're part of Sector REAP. Care to explain?"

The Gang looked at the Bito siblings with suspicion. With a darkened Rhyme sitting and hugging her legs, sadness on her features, Beat spoke. "Look, the thing is, me and Rhyme has been dead for like, five years."

"That don't sit right!" Kimaya stood up. "Me and Leo ha' known you for three years!"

"We been using Gigai!"

"Giga?"

"No, it's- Sigh…" Beat calmed himself. "Lemme start from the beginning. Me and Rhyme are from Shibuya, Japan. Our big dumbass brother had ta babysit us, and he took us with him downtown to hang with this bad crowd. His gang got in a shooting with this other gang. Rhyme started crying, and when I tried to get her out, I got shot. And then Rhyme started crying over me, but there were Reapers already there to take the dead people. They already took me to the Underworld before Rhyme got shot.

"When she became a ghost, she flew around looking for my ghost. And when she couldn't find me, she started to cry again, and she turned into a Hollow. I told the Reapers to take me back there after they made me a spirit. They told me what happened, and they wanted to do an exorcism or something. But I told 'em 'no.' I tried to talk to Rhyme, I sang her favorite hip-hop song, and she started to calm down. And then…"

"Then they hugged each other." Maka said with a warm tone. "It was a real touching sight, looking back…"

"We let them join the Spirit Kids Next Door." Ellen followed. "We were able to call the Music Spirit, Meloetta to give them their bending back. It was a rare sight for someone to be able to change a spirit back from a Hollow. Rhyme was only happy when she was around Beat, but if they were apart…"

"When they didn't go on missions, their sector said that they took Gigai to hang out in the Mortal World." Black Star said with a smug look. "I guess they've been hanging out with you."

"Normally, humans can't see us unless they witness someone die." Maka mentioned. "Kaleo saw Beat die, but even though it was a Gigai, it was still the same as watching a real body die."

"But Kimaya was brainwashed at the time, how is she seeing you?" Django asked.

"We don't know."

"So wait," Kimaya said, "the reason we never see you at school or come to your house is 'cause y'all were ghost people?"

"Yeah, we didn't think we was gonna hang out with you very much." Beat said. "We just walkin' 'round town and we fall into your hideout, and you say 'Join the Gang.' We didn't think we was gonna go that long without you askin' who we were. But ya never did, and we just sorta… started hanging out with you when we had time. Jus' like with Django."

Kimaya bit her lip and looked down. Yeah… she just let Beat and Rhyme hang with them, and they did… even though they weren't around as much as Leo. One year later, Django fell into their hideout. Freakin' dead kid.

"Look, man, Ah don't care if you're a spooky skeleton dude." Kim told him. "See, the reason we're a Gang is 'cause our home lives ain't too good. We got too much drama goin' on, that's why we need a place to hang out and socialize. I don't know WHY you a dead kid, but you prob' have WAY more drama than any of us do. Why don'tchu hang with us?"

She never asked Django about his background… She never inquired Beat and Rhyme about their 'troubled background.' …She really didn't know much about her Gang at all.

"…Ha ha ha ha ha." Django started laughing. "HA HA ha ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha! All—Ah-hall this time—I-hi thought I… was the one with the traumatic past! AND LOOK! You two were dead, too! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA! And all this time, I wanted you guys to help me get revenge on Carter! But I was afraid you would say no, and you wouldn't want me around anymore, HA HA HA HA ha ha ha ha! And I was only afraid because…" Even though his grin was permanent as a skeleton, it seemed wider than ever, "I really like hanging out with you guy-uy-uy-uys! Sigh, but now I feel like a drama queen!"

"…" Kimaya stood and spoke strongly, "This Gang needs a real makeover. We dunno jack shit about each other. Like, why are the Kids Next Door so tight? Why do all them sectors like hangin' with each other?"

"Well, I don't know about you humans," Maka said, "…but we Spirit Kids Next Door are connected by our souls and our hearts. We resonate with each other, because we have the same goals. We…"

"We understand each other because we love each other." Ellen smiled. "Even though our quirks are different." She winked at Star.

"HEY, whaddoes that mean?!" the spike-haired panicked.

"Then maybe we should do the same." Kim said. "We gotta be a Gang that loves chillin' with each other. Not just for chillin', but 'cause we feel… chill around them. Know what I'm saying?"

"Be that as it may," Maka said, "there are other issues to attend to."

"Yeah, like teachin' Carter a lesson!" Beat fist-palmed.

"NO! The Spirit Kids Next Door is not allowed to harm mortals, no matter how evil they are. We can only hunt evil spirits, which includes Heartless. However, it is also forbidden for us to interact with humans unless they're in danger or if they see us. Not only that, but if other humans find out they can come back to the Mortal World using a Gigai, it'll discourage people from living their life to the fullest. Beat, Rhyme, I'm sorry to say this, but you can't hang out with these people now that they know who you are."

"Hold up!" Beat refuted. "You just said the KND resonates with each other. Yeah, I resonate with my sector, but I also do it with these buds! We ain't have any friends when we was alive, hangin' out with this Gang is like a second chance for lost opportunities! We don't get 'em involved with our biz."

"Beat, it's a'ight." Kimaya said. "You never had to tell us, and we won't tell anyone else. And if you really gotta, you can leave. But before you do, we gonna do what we came to do." She turned and stepped toward the factory. "If y'all can't hurt Carter, then I will. I'm calling him out."

"Kimaya, wait!" Django grabbed her arm. She turned to him with a surprised look. He was silent for a minute.

Django remembered lifting the stone cube out of the Lazarus pool. It had strange writing. Django remembered Sector V talk about the Gibberish Rocks. The Seven Lights were meant to find them. "…Don't ask me why, but I think Carter wants to keep you out of that factory. I think, the voice in your head that told you to come here… I think it wants you to find it. It wants you to find the cube that I lifted out of the Lazarus."

"How would you know that?"

"Because that cube had a keyhole. You have a giant key. That's a connection if I saw one. Kim, you have to get in the factory and find it."

"Okay, but… what about Carter?"

"We'll lure Carter out here and distract him. If we're lucky, we can beat him ourselves. The important thing is that you find that cube."

"But if he's trying to keep out Kimaya, he'll stay in and make sure she stays out!" Black Star argued.

"I've got a plan! You spirits just fight the Heartless, and we'll lure Carter out like this:" Django strummed his guitar and spawned a kid-size skeleton. With a few more notes, strings flew out of his instrument and wrapped around the corpse, forming Kimaya's skin and clothes.

"…That looks… so wrong." Kim said.

"This doppelganger will distract Carter, while the real Kim," Django played and sent magic notes around Kimaya that turned her invisible, "will walk in undetected! The spell only lasts a short time, so make it count."

"This feels weird, but… Let's go for it!"

"Sweet!" Django smirked. "…Hey, now that I think about it, if Beat and Rhyme are dead, what about their Negatives?"

Negaverse

The powder-faced kids of The Club sat at their table, drinking tea. "Flow and I are in actuality ghosts." Pat said tonelessly.

"We were aware, but it made little inference." Ayamik said with the same disinterest.

"Accurately." Flow affirmed.

Lazarus Plant

Carter paced around his office, feeling more anxious about the chaos taking place outside. He spared one look at the Gibberish Rock behind his desk. The PA rang. "President Pewterschmidt! The guards outside have been knocked out, and the Hill Gang is preoccupied! That Kimaya child is about to enter the factory!"

"It can't be!" One of the monitors depicted Django, Kim, and Kaleo standing outside the front gate. Carter stormed over to the window and pushed it open to view the three kids from his ten-story office.

"This can go one of two ways, Pooperschmidt!" Django shouted. "Either you come down, or we'll come up! Either way, we're kicking your ass!"

"I came up with that insult myself!" Kaleo cheered.

"I had a different one, but they said it was too gross!" Django rejoined.

Carter glanced once more at the cube. "Well, if that's how you wanna play, I'm coming down!" With that, the president jumped out the window.

"I didn't think you would that way!"

"UURAAAAHH!" Carter spun like a torpedo and built momentum before crashing on the ground and blowing the three kids back. Django recovered and gasped: an invisible energy blew around Carter. His sleeves were ripped, as well as the middle of his shirt, exposing the muscular arms and abs, and he was taller. "I… didn't think you would do that either." Django said.

The spirit operatives saw this from above. "Yow! Carter's been takin' steroids!" Beat exclaimed.

"It looks like Old Man Fist!" Maka observed. "It's a martial art where the user conserves their Personal Chi at a young age, and makes it available to them at an old age."

"What does that even mean?" Black Star asked.

"I think it requires them to harness their chi as they're growing up, but not to use it too much."

"The Lazarus could've helped Carter with it, too." Ellen figured. "Come, we need to focus on the Heartless. Let's just hope they know what they're doing." Sector SCYTHE flew back to the village. Beat and Rhyme stayed to watch their friends before joining the spirits.

Carter lunged to attack Kimaya, but Django sprung up three skeletons to grab him. Carter spun and threw them off, but wasn't prepared to block the Gas Bomb Leo shot at his face.

The real Kimaya used her Keyblade to unlock the factory entrance and slip in while Carter was dizzied by the gas. Kim's invisibility wore off. "Ah'm just lookin' for a cube with Gobbledegook on it? If you say so, Django." (Play "Modern Chemical Plant" from Sonic Generations!)

Stage 61: Pueblo de Niebla

Mission: Find the Poneglyph!

Act 2: Lazarus Plant

Kimaya hopped on her skateboard and rolled to grind on a minecart track, jumping carts of Lazarus that sped up at quick speeds. The track angled up and right, and the decreased momentum kept her from jumping high enough over the carts. She had to switch to a small rail on her right to avoid a cart, jump back when it passed, jump to a left rail to avoid a cart as well as a gap behind it, then back on. The rail ended at a walkway, where Kimaya had view of all the machines and Lazarus tanks in this vast factory room.

Three Black Fungus Heartless (kid-size humanoids with blue robes and purple shroom caps) impeded her progress by puffing purple gas clouds into being. Kimaya channeled her poisonbending through her Keyblade (apparently she can do that) and moved it aside, then quickly struck the shroom-capped Heartless. She simply batted them over the edge before turning to face a dead end of the walkway. Kimaya could jump and grab a pole sticking from the wall, then waited for a Lazarus waterfall to disappear before swinging to the next pole. The third pole retracted and extracted, so Kim had to wait for the poisonfall to stop, jump to the extracted pole, and quickly jump again before it retracted.

Kimaya kicked off a vertical platform, and began to Wall Jump between that and another one. At the top, she could jump over the left wall and grab another horizontal pole that stretched over the previous area. She climbed across quickly when Amps chased her along the pole. She stopped to wait for a couple poisonfalls to pass, bending the toxic off the pole to crawl further, and she eventually made it to a platform.

Kimaya entered a new room of the factory, which had towering tanks of Lazarus, with hatches on the sides that would open and release gas. Since these hatches lined up like stairs, with the lids facing up, Kimaya could jump up them when they opened. Kimaya struck the thermometer on the first tank to make all the hatches along the right spurt open. She ran up them and could jump to hit the thermometer on the second tank. One of the hatches shot out gas above the main line-up, so Kim used her bending to stuff it back inside and progress. For the third tank, Kimaya shot laser bullets to hit the thermometer that was too high, then she jumped hatches that were further apart.

Kimaya set foot on the ledge at the other side, entering a door into a hollow, tall cylindrical chamber. It was the inside of a factory chimney. There was a Rare Truffle, a kid-size Heartless with a blue robe and yellow shroom cap. It was raising its arms and jumping, so Kimaya batted him up and flew him several feet high. Kimaya smiled at its carefree spirit, and felt like taking it with her. She hit the Heartless up some high grated platforms, which she could access by jumping herself. However, a cloud of gas burst up from below, so Kim quickly hit the Heartless into a dent in the wall, jumping in herself to avoid the huge geyser.

Kimaya pushed the Heartless out when the gas stopped, then knocked him up to a platform that was scrolling up and down. She couldn't jump high enough to grab the platform, but a ladder was available to her. She could jump to the platform from it, and the foothold protected them from the gas geyser. Kimaya then had to hit the Truffle up a slope with barrels rolling down. She could jump on the barrels to get a boost and hit the Truffle to an enclosing, grabbing a ladder to climb up with it and hide from the geyser. After the barrels, Kimaya hit the Truffle across two platforms that turned vertical and horizontal. On the final foothold, she let the Heartless hold down a switch to open a door to the next room.

There were Lazarus waterfalls spilling everywhere, giving the room a bright green glow. Kimaya picked up a propane tank that was sitting by itself, figuring she'd need it. She carried the container through a maze of poisonfalls, and when Red Nocturnes ambushed her, she quickly put the propane down to attack the fire Heartless. A Fat Bandit coughed fireballs at her from afar; Kimaya hit the fire away as she ran at the Heartless and sliced it in the head. Eventually, she brought the tank to a barred gate, standing back and shooting it with laser bullets to blow the gate open.

In this room, Kimaya jumped up some round grated platforms where Lazarus spouts shot up from. Kim got to a platform with an Ice Cannon Heartless, dodging its blast, which in turn froze one of the spouts. She decided to grab the cannon and shoot the other spouts. Her foothold was high enough for her to jump atop the first one, then she jumped the other ice pillars to reach a ladder. She climbed up to a platform with another Ice Cannon, using it to freeze a stairway of poisonfalls lined up on a wall.

She made it to a walkway with three gas geysers sprouting out of pipes. The middle one was pointing up at a ceiling pipe that was pouring a poisonfall over a door on the opposite side. Kimaya bent the gas of the left and right pipes back in and sealed the lids, creating a stronger output from the middle pipe. There was an Icy Cube Heartless lollygagging around, and Kimaya threw it into the geyser to blow up and smash against the ceiling pipe. The pipe froze, creating blockage that stopped the poisonfall and let her enter the door.

Kimaya entered a room with disorganized Lazarus rivers, seeing a pool of Lazarus covering the way to the next door. "Okay, why is every room in this factory some sorta puzzle?" Kimaya questioned. She could jump over the thin rivers, which were spread around like abstract strokes of paint. There was an Icy Cube in the center of some rivers, and knowing she had to use the Heartless to cross the pool, Kimaya started kicking it around the rivers. If it touched the rivers, the ice cube would freeze a path and shrink slightly, giving Kim less to work with for the pool.

Kimaya defended the Icy Cube from Fat Bandits' fireballs, then jumped over to slay them – these enemies didn't make the puzzles challenging, but more tedious, thought Kimaya. When Kim made it to the pool, she whacked the Heartless across to the doorway, freezing a path. It was too thin for Kimaya to step on, but she could skateboard across and make the jump to the entrance. Kimaya faced up a long stairway in a narrow hall. It seemed like a simple journey up, but that was before a stream of Lazarus washed down.

Kimaya Wall Jumped her way up the hall to avoid the stream. Partway up, the walls started pouring poisonfalls, so Kimaya switched to a skateboard to grind up a center rail. Two-thirds of the way, Kimaya swung more poles on the walls, each of which had an Amp that would slither up to shock her, but she quickly timed her jumps and successfully landed on the platform where the door was. She entered Carter's private quarters, where Babs was still drinking tea. "Don't mind me, Dear." The triangle-nosed woman said. "Carter makes me go through all those puzzles, too."

Kimaya offered her condolences before heading to the office. There were Star Wars figurines on shelves. The window Carter jumped out of was still open, and she saw him locked in battle with Django and Leo. Behind Carter's desk was the rock that Django described. (End song.)

Kimaya chopped the desk in half and moved both halves aside. She could see the front of the cube in its entirety, from the foreign writing to the keyhole below. It certainly looked like her key could be used for this. But why did Django think she needed to find it, what use did she have for this rock? She was a cowgirl/gangster, not an archaeologist. She would rather be down there helping her friends. Oh well, might as well check this out.

Kimaya aimed the key at the lock. It shone with a light, shot a laser, and an aura appeared around the stone. The letters and the keyhole glowed. Kimaya could read them perfectly. "'If you're reading this, you are the Keeper of the Keys in this dimension. So, congratulations! You're gonna be real important! Deliver these keys to the others, but keep one to yourself.' –Sora."

The entire cube shined white, leaving only the letters dark. The stone turned into light and vanished. The letters turned into floating black things with single eyes, all shaped like the letters. "Unown, Unown, Unown, Unown!" The letters circled around Kimaya before flying out the window. She didn't know what they were, but she saw something floating where the cube was previously standing.

It was a key ring with seven keys on it. Kimaya held and stared at each key. One was light-brown with a sun for teeth, and a keychain of a Jolly Roger with a straw hat. One was light-blue with icicle teeth and a whitish-blue flame keychain. One was dark-gray with a tornado tooth, and a keychain of a swirly leaf. One was dark-pink with bubble teeth, its handle looked like a bubble wand, and the keychain was a purple top-hat. Another was striped and colorful with a paintbrush tooth, a hilt ring shaped like a palette, and a frame keychain. Another was silver, had a king's crown for teeth, and a throne keychain.

But Kimaya was more into the black key with the black star keychain. In fact, she felt a bond with it. She smirked.

Outside

Nolan tossed boomerangs to chop the Air Soldiers' wings off, and when two Large Bodies charged at him from behind, Maka sliced them. They heard the whir of an engine and looked up, seeing Hank Hill piloting a darkened Sandmobile. "I'm not much into this newfangled technology, but as long as it kicks your ass. Heh heh."

Haruka set up her lab equipment on the ground to analyze a sample of the poison she collected from the sick kids. She snapped photos with the microscope, transferred them to her phone, and mailed Caesar. "Well, does it look familiar?"

"DAMMIT, woman, I told you not to give me the peanut butter sauce! I'm allergic to this stuff, do you want a lawsuit?!"

"Caesar?"

"Sorry, I had a problem with this dumb waitress." Caesar munched his burger on the other end. "Hmm, those are interesting samples. I'll need a quick peek at my handbook."

Haruka found herself surrounded by a whirlwind of black gas. "Ah know you." Dale said. "Yer one of them science people that like to experiment with my brain. Well, you wouldn't like it if I injected your brain with DEATH stuff."

Black Star finished killing the Defender Heartless in the east field. The ground shook when two massive purple hands grabbed the cliff behind him. Black Star looked in disgust when Bill Dauterive hauled himself up, bigger and uglier than ever. "I gave those comments of yours some thought, and they only hurt more. Now I wanna hurt you. A lot…"

Django summoned a row of skeletons to attack Carter, but the businessman swung a kick that sent an air wave to cut them and knock Django and Leo over. The fake Kimaya attempted to sneak in the factory, but Carter lunged over and punched her away, knocking her clean out. Django tried to get up, but the skeleton was pinned down by Carter's foot.

"Pathetic demon. Did you really think a gang of street rats were going to help you? Thirty years and that was the best help you can find? You belong with those urchins; you belong with them and ALL these hopeless people. Living off the scraps that the kings are generous enough to throw you. We are the gods of you demons."

A comet shot out of the factory window and swatted Carter away when it crashed down. Carter landed against a coal pile, recomposing to see his assaulter. Django gaped at his savior, and Leo's mouth was in an 'o'. (Play "Number One" from Bleach!)

Kimaya Heartly crossed her keys over her shoulders, her hat tipped over her eyes. She slashed both keys at the air before looking up to smirk at Carter. "Kimaya…" Django said in awe.

"I dunno either." She told him. "All I know is I got two keys now. Oathkeeper," she noted the white one, "and Oblivion." Then the black one. She spun both keys like propellers before holding them forth. "And as far as I care, these're my pistols. Now I'm really gettin' Western."

"Does this mean you found the cube?"

"Yep… Ah reckon."

"…" Django smiled and faced the sky. "You owe me one, guys."

Kimaya awakened herself as-

"HOLD ON, little fanfare!" Kimaya stopped. "We ain't done, yet! I still need to whoop this guy's ass!"

Carter recovered and growled at the dual-keyed child. "This town ain't big enough fer a bigwig like you, Carter." Kimaya crossed both keys in an 'X'. "I'm calling you out. You done this town wrong, and it's time you were busted. Django wanted me to git back at you… and mah response is 'hell yeah.'"

Django felt a sense of relief and excitement. Kim glanced back at him and Leo. "Y'all git back in town and round up them bulls. It only takes two to tango." The boys grinned and headed back for the village.

Bill Dauterive towered over Black Star, who showed no fear at the titan. Boomhauer soared over Beat and Rhyme. The sister was still downtrodden, but when Beat patted her shoulder and sported a smile, Rhyme smiled back. Wiccan was confused by what Boomhauer was looking at, just empty space. Haruka readied herself against Dale, and when Ellen appeared beside her, she passed the spirit a friendly smile. Kami saw her daughter with that extra key, and she was soooo confused.

"Huff, huff, huff!" Black Star looked left when Kaleo ran up. "Huff… huff…" The boy sweated like he just ran a marathon. He probably used the last of his energy just getting there. "I need a minute." He fell on his back. "Let's just do it next chapter."

"A'ight." Kimaya winked at the readers. "Next chapter then."

Augustus and his crew were flying over the village in their biplane. "Whoo." The captain whistled. "I think we're just in time for a show."