His eyelids felt heavy as Flynn slowly came to, so he let them remain shut for a moment longer. He felt a plush pillow supporting his head, soft mattress beneath his body, and warm blankets piled on top him. It felt heavenly and he wriggled down further, his pleased sigh getting muffled in all the sheets. Perhaps he could fall back into the welcoming embrace of sleep and pleasant dreams.

Not like the one he had just been having. Oh no, screw that nightmare, it could go back to hell where it belonged. Boneless pale freaks with zippers for mouths trying to nab him? Shadow creatures trying to rip him limb from limb? Whacka-doodle teenagers running amok, making their hair glow, swinging mammoth keys around, unleashing snow storms, raining down electricity, and setting themselves on fire? Brain, where had all that even come from? Flynn tended to have an overactive imagination but even so, that dream had been way overboard! Perhaps something he ate earlier had disagreed with him.

Whatever, it didn't really matter now. It had only been a dream, nothing more. He could already feel the hazy details start to slip away from his psyche as he started to drift off once more into a blissful-

"Aha! See that? The GPS circuitry isn't wired into the main processor of the phone."

At the sound of the male voice, Flynn's eyes snapped open and he shot up in bed. He was in a hotel room - and not just any old hotel room. This was the penthouse suite, aka the fanciest, most luxurious room perched atop the fanciest, most luxurious five-star hotel in all of Corona, complete with all the amenities and comforts a guest could ever wish for.

He would know. He was the one who had booked the place the minute he'd stepped foot into Corona. After all, if you're going to travel, you better do it right. That is to say, in style.

However, it wasn't the opulent lodgings that presently surrounded him on which he focused. He didn't even notice the the bathroom door closed with light streaming out underneath it nor the sound of running water coming from the other side. No, all of his attention zeroed in on the two individuals currently sitting cross legged on the lush carpet in the middle of the room with their backs to him, both slouching over something held in the male's hands. He had bright, spiky red hair, while the girl had long blonde locks that sprawled about, practically covering every inch of the space. Flynn gripped the blankets to his chest, teeth clenching in panic.

"And that's… good?" he heard her ask as she tipped her head to one side.

"Yup. Means this'll be a cakewalk."

What were Blondie and Burning Man doing here? Was Flynn still dreaming? He had to be, that'd be the only thing that made any sense! He tried pinching himself. Yeouch, did that sting! Worst yet, his waking nightmares remained.

"All I gotta do is just…" the redhead lifted the device in his left hand and pointed at it with his right. A thin fiery beam shot off from his fingertip and struck the thing in his grasp with laserpoint precision. A few tiny sparks flew accompanied by a frail tendril of smoke.

Clutching the sheets harder, Flynns eyes widened and his mouth hung open in a silent scream.

"There!" Burning Man nodded, snapping what looked to be casing onto the thing and handing it over to her. "Now you can pop the battery back in and turn it on without your mom being able to track you down, at least not by GPS anyhow. If she gets the police involved however-"

She shook her head as she took it from him. "She won't. Trust me, she's, erm… she's very private… likes to keep things to herself."

"Still, even without GPS, those things aren't hard to trace with tower triangulation and whatnot. Probably good for one call before you should total it."

"This is wonderful, Axel! I can't thank you enough!"

"Aw, it's nothing," he brushed off with a flick of his hand before scratching the back of his head. "Don't mention it."

The suite's front door burst open then, nearly giving Flynn a heart attack. A second boy entered, this one with a mess of brown hair, a huge grin stretching across his face, and arms overflowing with vending machine snacks.

Aw hell, Keyboy Wonder was here too?!

"Dinner is served, everyone! Bon appétit!" the boy said looking very pleased with himself before dumping his haul on the floor in front of the other two. "Huh?" He locked eyes with Flynn, who audibly squeaked and scrambled further back on the bed. Beaming once more, the boy waved, "Hey, mister!"

His apparent friends turned to look at Flynn as well, only now realizing he was no longer unconscious. Quirking one corner of his lips up, Burning Man chuckled, "Welcome back to the land of the living, sleepyhead!"

Flynn opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came out.

Clearly he was still trapped in the nightmare. That had to be it! He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth, trying to will himself awake.

"Have you guys checked out the news yet?" Flynn heard Keyboy say and he flinched. He peeked one eye open, hoping against all hope…

...nope. Still there.

Blondie shook her head, "No, we left the TV off since Flynn was still taking his lil nap!"

"I caught a glimpse of it while I was in the lobby grabbing food." Keyboy jogged over to the massive plasma screen hanging on the wall and turned it on, flipping through the channels. "It wasn't just the The Snuggly Duckling, the whole city was hit."

He stopped when he found an anchorman talking earnestly into the camera. Different pictures flashed over his shoulder, images of buildings sealed off with caution tape and police cars parked out front, red and blue lights blazing. 'Boogeymen in Corona?' appeared to be the title of the current story, while 'Numerous unconfirmed reports of packs of living shadows assailing victims' scrolled along the bottom.

Stepping back from the television, the boy crossed his arms. "It seems all the Heartless are gone for the moment now. Vanished just as quickly as they showed up. Even though a lot of civilians are saying they were attacked, no one is taking them seriously, not really. And any videos recorded by phones have been too dark and blurry to prove anything."

"This happens all the time," Burning Man shrugged. "Heartless attacks getting hand waved as mass shared hallucinations. Something in the water, swamp gas… whatever new excuse they wanna come up with, and the public is all too eager to just eat it up. It's an easier pill to swallow than monsters being real."

"But why?" yet another new voice spoke up and Flynn jumped, almost tumbling off the mattress. The bathroom door had opened and a girl was stepping out, a toothbrush in one hand and a towel wrapped around her head with a few damp tendrils of pale blonde hair escaping here and there. "Why would the Heartless ambush the whole city one minute only to totally disappear the next?"

Annnnd now Ice Queen had shown up. Freaking fantastic. All he needed at this point was an appearance from Madame Sparkplug and his nightmare would be complete.

Keyboy tapped a knuckle to his chin as he hummed in thought. "...to cause panic, fear and confusion. That'd be my guess anyhow. Sure, they could wipe out all of Corona in one swoop if they really wanted to, but then they'd miss out on a whole lotta negative emotions - their favorite snack! On the other hand, multiple attacks and retreats get everyone freaking out, all while the Heartless take their time searching for the Keyhole."

...okay. All of that right there? Flynn had followed none of it. Absolute zilch.

His eyes darted to the front door, debating how good his odds would be on getting past this band of circus freaks and making a break for it.

"For being mindless killing machines, those things are pretty devious," Ice Queen shuddered and looked down. Her eyes fell on the toothbrush, seemingly just now remembering she was holding it. She raised it towards Blondie with a tiny smile. "Thanks again for letting me borrow this."

She flashed a thousand watt grin in return. "No prob! I have like a zillion more packed away in here," she pat her giant green backpack beside her. "Can never be too prepared."

"Hang on a sec," Burning Man hopped up to his feet, his words stopping Ice Queen in her tracks as she turned to finish up in the bathroom.

She blinked, facing him once more with an arched eyebrow as he approached. Stopping in front of her, his hand abruptly shot up to hook one finger under her chin. She gasped as he leaned down a bit, lifting her face up closer to his. A faint blush creeped into her cheeks as she stammered, "W-what are you doing?'

He frowned at her and didn't speak right away, expression unreadable as he brought them practically nose to nose. Then, "Go like this." He bared his teeth and ran his tongue along his upper gums before smirking. "You still got something stuck between those pearly whites of yours."

Her face reddened further and with a snarl, she punched him in the arm, a patch of frost left on his hoodie in the wake of her fist. He snerked and cackled as she ran back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

...okay, what was going on between those two?

On second thought, forget it. Flynn didn't have time to get wrapped up in whatever teen heartthrob drama these kids were going through. He had to escape! Maybe if he just tried to gun it for the door right now, he could-

Abort! Abort! Burning Man was now walking straight over to him!

He gulped back a whine as the redhead came to a halt before him with a smile. "By the way, thanks for letting us use your shower, man, you're a lifesaver. As you might guess, a few days on the lam does not do wonders for one's personal hygiene. And sorry about twisting your arm earlier back at the club. No hard feelings, right?"

He then clapped Flynn soundly on the back.

Which had the effect of knocking lose whatever mental verbal blockage Flynn had had going on. Apparently.

For the next thing he knew, "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL DOING HERE?!" had come exploding out of his mouth.

Everyone's heads rocked back at his outburst before exchanging confused glances. Blondie was the first to speak, "I'm Rapunzel… Ra-puhn-zelle," she enunciated slowly and loudly. "Remember? We met back at-"

"No, not you!" he scowled before jabbing out a finger towards the boys. "Them!" He pointed at the bathroom door. "Her! How did you guys get in my room?! How did you even find the place?!"

"Oh!" Keyboy produced something small, white and rectangular in his hand. "This fell out of your pocket while we were dragging your unconscious body all over the sewers." He tossed it at Flynn, who reflexive caught it before recognizing it as the keycard to room. "It has the hotel logo printed on it. Once we got here, we just swiped it to the card reader on the elevator and it brought us right up to your room."

"It's weird tho," Blondie piped up, crinkling her nose slightly, "it's booked under the name Eugene Fitzherbert."

Burning Man sniggered, "What kind of lame-o name is Eu-"

"It's an alias! Shaddup!" Flynn snapped.

He grinned and held up his hands in a placating gesture, "Woah there, no need to get all bent out of shape about it, jeeze!"

"I'm Sora, by the way!" Keyboy jumped in. "Since you were just asking. And that's Axel, and the other girl's Elsa."

"Pleasure," Axel said, snatching up Flynn's hand to shake it. There was a sudden sharp pain and Flynn pulled back with a soft hiss. Looking down at it, he realized for the first time that his palm was bleeding.

Blondie gasped, on her feet and running over him in the space of a heartbeat. "Flynn, you're hurt! When did this happen?"

"I… I don't know," he murmured with a small shake of his head.

"Probably sometime during all that fighting at the Snuggly Duckling," she guessed, plopping down on the bed beside him and taking his hand in both of hers to inspect it more closely. "Or maybe it happened in the sewers. Either way, this isn't good! It could get infected!" And with that, she started looping a lock of her hair around the injured hand.

As if it were the completely natural, most normal thing to do in the whole wide world.

Flynn's brow furrowed, eyes flicking from her to his palm and back. "What do you expect to do? Glow it away?"

Her wrapping didn't falter, though her face scrunched up a bit. "It... doesn't just glow."

"...you're being strangely cryptic as you wrap your magic hair around my hand," he deadpanned.

Blondie sighed and finally stopped coccooning his hand. "Just don't freak out, okay?"

He scoffed. "Me? Freak out? When have I ever?"

Eyelids drooping, she struck up a finger. "The first time my hair glowed." Up went the second digit. "When I rescued you from that ravenous horde of monsters." Another finger. "When Elsa conjured the huge ice wall." Another. "When Axel burst into flames." Yet another. "When-"

"Alright, alright, enough already, I get it!" He huffed with a roll of his eyes. "Those were… extenuating circumstances! Who wouldn't have reacted the way I did, really? But I'm good now, trust me." A confident grin spread across his features. "At this point, there's nothing you could do to surprise me, little lady."

She still looked dubious, but she only sighed again, "Okay, here goes nothing."

Her eyes closed and she began to hum. No words, just a soft, gentle melody that sounded like it may have possibly been a lullaby. One that was old and strangely somewhat familiar, yet all but forgotten, just tickling at the back of your brain as you tried to remember where you'd heard it before. Her hair flared up gold, starting at her scalp and flowing down like a waterfall of shimmering honey.

The bathroom opened up again, Elsa now toweling off her hair as she leaned one shoulder against the doorframe, looking on with interest. Axel waggled his fingers at her in greeting, to which her only response was a dull stare. Meanwhile, Sora was utterly transfixed as he watched Blondie do… whatever it was she was doing.

The glow had traveled along far enough now to reach the strands coiled around Flynn's hand. His lips pursed to one side as he waited.

Okay… what exactly was this supposed to accomp-

Wait! What was that?

...was his palm tingling now? His eyebrows knit together as he squinted down at it.

A few seconds more before the tune ended on one final lingering note. Blondie eyelids gave a gentle twitch before she opened them back up. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, she then set about unwinding her hair, freeing his hand once more.

...his perfectly fine, undamaged and pristine hand, the skin of his palm as smooth as a baby's bottom. There wasn't even so much as a scar. It was as if the cut had never existed at all.

"Woah…" Sora breathed.

Flynn's eyes grew round as he stared at where the wound once was, hyperventilating before he opened his mouth and bubbling up his throat came a screa-

"Don't freak out!" Blondie said quickly as her hands flew up in front of him, her eyes pleading with him. The noise died in his throat.

"Freak out?" Sora beamed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Why would anyone freak out? Your hair heals! That's amazing! Not even I can do that with my bracer, believe me I've tried!"

Taking a seat on the other bed in the room, Elsa pressed an index finger to one side of her chin, "I wonder if that's why the Organization is after her?"

"It's possible they don't even know she has the power to heal," Axel shrugged. "All that they need to know is that she's magical or supernatural somehow and that's reason enough for them to want to bag n' tag her. The Organization has always been a kidnap-first-ask-questions-later sort of group. Plenty of time to figure out the specifics after they've got the goods."

"Um, excuse me," Blondie politely raised her hand like a student in a classroom before lowering it and poking her index fingers together. "Oh gosh, so many questions, where to begin… Who are the Organization? What do they want with my hair? You mentioned Heartless earlier, were they those shadow bug monster thingies? What's their deal? Why are they looking for a keyhole? There must be so many in the city, is it really that hard for them to find one? And what about the Pyjama Monsters? What-"

"Alright, slow down there, Punzie, one question at a time," Axel cut in with a snort. Sora began to open his mouth, but Axel raised his finger with an, "Ah ah! I think I'll just tell her the cliff notes version if ya don't mind."

Sora gave a small petulant frown, but said, "Fiiiiine."

"Thank you. Okay so," he interlocked his fingers and stretched out his arms in front of him, cracking his knuckles, "You are correct. Heartless equal shadow bug monster thingies. And not just any ol' keyhole will do, they want the Waypoint Keyhole, a magical mystical doodad that protects the heart of the city."

"Corona has a heart?" Blondie tipped her head to one side.

"Yup! All cities do. And that's what Heartless want: hearts. People's hearts, cities' hearts… whatever, they're not picky. They steal human hearts to makes more of themselves."

"That's awful! What'll happen if they steal the heart of Corona?"

"Poof! Gone. Finito, along with all the people in it."

She gasped, hands rushing up to her mouth. "That's what happened to that other city in the news earlier today! And… and to those islands over a week ago!"

"My home," Sora smiled sadly with a nod before digging his phone out of his pocket. "I managed to get out safely and I'm hoping a couple of my friends did too. Long shot, but… have you seen these two?" he asked hopefully as he handed it to her, the screen showing his picture of Kairi and Riku.

Blondie scrutinized the picture but shook her head. "No, but then today's the first day in all my life that I've left my room, so haven't really had the chance to meet new people," she chuckled softly. Completely oblivious to the surprised looks from the other teens, she held the phone up to Flynn. "Do they look familiar to you?"

His mouth still gaped and he didn't even so much as glance at the photo, his eyes round and unblinking as they stared at seemingly nothing in particular. "...hair… glow… heal… h-hair…" he mumbled.

Axel snapped his fingers in front of Flynn's face and got no reaction. "Wow, I think ya broke him, Punzie."

Handing Sora back his phone with an apologetic look, Blondie then asked, "Okay, so then… how do we stop the Heartless and save Corona?"

Slapping a hand down on Sora's shoulder, Axel grinned. "You're in luck, girly! He may seem like a scrawny lil wimp-"

"Hey!"

"-but don't let appearances deceive you! This here is the Keyblade Master! That big ass key you saw him running around with earlier? That'll lock the Waypoint Keyhole and keep the Heartless out! Presto, city saved!"

Her eyes lit up. "Great! Where do we find the Keyhole?"

"No clue!" Axel chirped back. "That's why we're in town, to look for it."

Blondie bounced in her seat, "Oh oh, I can help! It's the least I can do after you all rescued me and Flynn back there. Besides, this is my home, I want to help rescue it if I can!" A frown then crept across her face. "But what about the Organization and the Pyjama Monsters? How do they play into all of this?"

"You mean Nobodies," Elsa interjected. "Those white, squiggly creatures, right? It's kind of a long story, but basically when the shadows steal a heart from someone, the body is left behind. Those become Nobodies. Some look like..." she paused with a tiny smile, "like those Pyjama Monsters, as you so eloquently put it. Others-"

"-come out looking like me!" Axel jerked a thumb at himself with a wink.

Both eyebrows shot up Blondie's forehead. "You mean you're one of them?" she said slowly, her gaze flicking over to her frying pan, discarded next to her backpack on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'm one of the good ones!"

"So he says," Elsa side eyed him. Despite her words however, the hint of a smile was still there. "Larxene too. They're both Organization members."

"Ex-member here," Axel emphasized with a raise of his finger.

"So... the Organization are Nobodies that still look human?" At the nods from the others, Blondie furrowed her brow. "But that still doesn't explain what they want with me."

Elsa sighed. "They came after me too. Axel was supposed to be the one to bring me in, but that's when he turned on them. We don't really know why they wanted me… Axel guessed they wanted to experiment on me and my ice powers, possibly turn me into one of them. Whatever plans they had for me, I'm guessing they have the same in mind for you."

Blondie shuttered slightly. "Alright then… don't get caught by the Organization. Got it. So, what's our next move?" Her eyes then widened slightly, followed by a wince. "Oh shoot. I really, really wanted to go to the festival tomorrow… but this is more important! I-"

"Wait," Sora ran over to her, "are you talking about the Starlight Festival?" She nodded and he grinned big, eyes closing, "That's where we were planning on heading tomorrow too!"

She shot up to her feet, bouncing up and down on her toes, hands clasping his excitement, "Really?!"

"Uh huh! Figured it was a good a place as any to look for the Keyhole!"

She gave a whoop before joining Sora as they both frolicked about the room in glee.

"Healing… glowing… hair…"

Blondie stumbled to a halt, eyes drawn back to Flynn. Still muttering to himself, there was no change in his posture or expression. Elsa worried her lower lip between her teeth as she eyed him, "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, just... give us a sec to talk," Blondie sighed, taking a hold of Flynn by the wrist. With a small tug, she had him standing up from the bed and was leading him towards the front door, him following in a zombie-like daze.

They exited the room into a hallway and she shut the door behind her to give them some privacy. She then leaned back against one wall, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes. He still seemed out of it and she waited in silence for a moment. Then she sighed again, eyes now focusing on the rug beneath her feet. "...you said you wouldn't freak out."

This seemed to at last knock him out of his stupor. He gasped back to life and like a dam bursting, words started gushing out of his mouth in a rushed, jumbled mess. "I'm-not-freaking-out-are-you-freaking-out-no-I'm-just-very-interested-in-your-hair-and-the-magical-qualities-that-it-possesses-how-long-has-it-been-doing-that-exactly?"

She blinked once, then twice at the little outburst, taking in the nervous smile now plastered to his face. Then she tucked a few of her golden strands behind an ear with a shrug. "Uh… forever, I guess?"

"Uh-huh-okay-sure-sure-makes-sense-that-tracks-and-the-others-what-about-them?"

"You mean… how long have they had their powers?" He gave several rapid nods in reply, crossing his arms, shoving his hands into his armpits with the gesture and rocking on his feet a bit. She frowned. "Well, I'm not sure. Like you, I just met them. You don't think us superpowered people all just magically know each other like some sort of secret club, do you?"

"Whaaaaaat? Noooooo, don't be silly!" His words had slowed down a tad, but his tone was still unnaturally high pitched as his eyes shifted anxiously about. "Hey, here's a random thought, and I'm just spitballing here, but have you ever tried, say, I dunno, maybe possibly potentially cutting your hair to see how that goes?"

Her gaze hardened and she shook her head firmly. "No, never. Not once have I ever even considered it. I just couldn't do that! My hair can save lives! It's a gift that must be protected! That's why mother never let me…" she faltered, her eyes now less certain as she looked away. "That's why I never left my…"

A lightbulb flashed in Flynn's head. His muscles relaxed as the uneasiness drained out of his body, now replaced with concern. "...never left your room," he finished for her. She said nothing, only flinched ever so slightly. That was all the confirmation needed. This poor kid… "...and you're still gonna go back?"

"No!" she snapped vehemently. But then more weakly, "Yes? I dunno… it's complicated, ugh!" She buried her face in her hands and slid down against the wall behind her until she was sitting on the floor.

Flynn took a seat as well and slowly reached a hand out towards her, fingers stopping just short of contact as he hesitated. A few long seconds ticked by, then with newfound resolve, he gently pat her on the shoulder in a somewhat awkward attempt to comfort her.

"...have you," she began after a short pause, dragging her hands down her face to reveal the hint of a smile tugging at one corner of her lips, "ever heard of The Mists of Bane?"

He stiffened, retracting his hand quickly. "Huh? The mists of… uh, no, no, don't believe I-"

"It's this old eighties cartoon that only ran for like ten episodes," she explained, eyes crinkling as she stared at the wall opposite of them. "Super obscure, no one really remembers or knows about it. Only reason I do is I've spent a lot of time on the internet while cooped up in my room. Old episodes are still out there on abandoned websites if you know where to look."

His eyes darted about. "You don't say… fascinating, really, but I don't see what this has to do with-"

"The hero of the show was this swashbuckling rogue type. Richest man alive, not bad with the ladies… you get the picture. Do you know what his name was?" Now she slyly glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and said smugly, "Flynnigan Rider."

He winced, then blew out a heavy sigh. "Fine, you caught me."

"I knew it!" she cried out with a laugh. "I knew it sounded familiar, it's been bugging me this whole time! That's not your real name! No, it's Eugene Fitz-"

He clapped a hand over her mouth and held a finger up to his lips. "Shush! I don't want them," he nodded back towards the door on the other side of which their new friends were, "hearing you all but shouting it from the rooftops. I have a reputation to maintain."

With a snort, she pulled back from his palm. "Right, and we wouldn't want to go about ruining your fake reputation," her eyes rolled and she shook her head. "Why Flynn Rider?"

"Aliases in my line of work are very useful."

"No, why Flynn Rider? Why that name specifically?"

"Oh." He pursed his lips to one side, rubbing the nape of his neck with one hand. "Ah, well… when I was a kid, there was this one channel that used to run the cartoon. It was on well after midnight, I'd sneak out of my room just to watch it. And there was just something... neat about the fact that Flynnigan had enough money to do anything he wanted to do, go anywhere he wanted to go, and well… compared to the orphanage, it just seemed, I dunno… nice, I guess." When she didn't say anything, he hazarded a glance her way and his eyes widened. She had to have the saddest look he'd ever seen on anyone's face before. "What?"

Her bottom lip quivered. "...you were an orphan?"

He blinked. Had he let that part slip? He hadn't meant to. Damn those puppy dog eyes of hers, hard to keep anything back from those. He waved a hand dismissively, "Listen, Blondie, it's not a big deal. Just… this is only between you and me, okay?"

She gave a tiny nod with a soft sniffle.

Oh come on now, don't do that! How to fix this… ah ha! With a grin, he held up his little finger in front of her. "Pinkie swear?"

She stared at it blankly for a second, then a genuine smile broke through. "Okay, but on one condition. You and me, we're good now, right? With the whole powers thing? And Sora and the others, their powers too? You're not gonna freak out anymore?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're good."

So what if superpowered mutants were real? As long as they were on his side, he was a-okay with it!

Blondie beamed now, hooking her pinkie in his, sealing the deal. "For the record," she glanced to the door again, lowering her voice to a whisper, "I like Eugene Fitzherbert much better than Flynn Rider."

He took his hand back with a low chuckle. "Well then you'd be the first… but thank you." Flynn then raised his hand out before him, flipping back and forth as he cast a discerning eye over it. "So… is there any chance that I'm gonna get super strength in my hand? Cuz not gonna lie, that would be stupendous. Superhuman good looks, I've always had them. Born with it! But superhuman strength? Now that I could get on board with."

She snerked, nudging his shoulder with hers. "You never know. There's a first time for everything."

He nudged her back before rising to his feet once more, jerking a thumb towards the bedroom door. "Alright, I'm gonna head back into that lil nuthouse and hop in the shower if it's free. Turns out get getting dragged around the sewers while conked out? Doesn't exactly have you coming out the other side smelling like daisies."

"Sorry," she half winced, half laughed. "Axel said he tried to avoid the slimier puddles down there, but I'm not sure I fully believe him."

"It's fine." He opened the door and held it open for her. "You coming back inside?"

Blondie nodded, still seated on the ground. "I will, I just need another minute."

"Alright, just don't take too long," he waggled his eyebrows at her playfully before sobering a bit. "No seriously, don't. I'd rather not be stuck with that pack of weirdos in there all by myself."

She giggled, shaking her head as she shooed him away. Even after he shut the door behind him leaving her alone, a tiny smile still clung to her face that just would not go away. Her hands went to her cheeks. Were they warm? They felt warm. And there was this new fuzzy feeling in her chest. It was odd, but she think she liked it. Maybe…

...she and Flynn…

Rapunzel lightly slapped her cheeks and gave herself a shake. So not the time to be thinking about such things! But definitely worth revisiting later. For now, she had a more important matter to attend to.

Taking a deep breath and releasing it, her hands went digging into her pockets, pulling out first her phone, then its battery. She frowned down at them both for a moment. Then pressing her lips into a determined thin lined, she popped off the back of the phone, snapped the battery into its empty slot and powered the device up.

"Whatever you did, Axel, hope it worked," she whispered as she watched the screen. After a few seconds, it lit up to inform her that she had missed forty-eight calls from mother. No surprise there. Still, she couldn't help the small cringe upon seeing it.

She didn't even bother to listen to the messages. She had a pretty good idea of what they all boiled down to. Instead she opened up her contacts lists, staring at the one and only phone number in there. Her thumb hovered over it and she hesitated, closing her eyes. Alright, one more time… inhale… exhale… Then with a firm nod, she pressed down on "Mom" and held the phone up to her ear.

It didn't even make it through the the first ring before there was an answer.

"Oh, so that's what that noise was: my phone," was the dry greeting she got from the other end of the line.

Rapunzel's whole face scrunched up There was a deathly calm to the voice that she knew all too well. This was already off to a rough start. "...Mother?"

As if her daughter hadn't spoken, she continued in a cold sing-song, "Because here I was thinking it was the sound of complete and utter betrayal."

Her eyes rolled. "Ugh, Mother! I'm sorry but-"

"If you think that pathetic excuse for an apology gets you off the hook, you're in for a rude awakening, Missy! Where are you? Why isn't your app giving my phone your location?"

Relieved, she looked up at the ceiling as she mouthed the words, 'thank you Axel,' before sitting up a little straighter and squaring her shoulders. "That doesn't matter right now. I just called you to tell you I'm safe and happy, so you don't have to worry. I'll be fine! And I've been having such an amazing, wonderful time, the world is not as dangerous as you made it out to be. I've made friends! I've even…" she paused, feeling the heat return to her face as she bit back a grin. "...I think I've even met someone."

"Ah, yes. The wanted criminal. I'm so proud," was the deadpan reply.

Her nostrils flared. "He's not a criminal, he's a-!" she began, but then the words died in her throat as her eyes widened and brow furrowed. Actually, she… still didn't really know what Flynn was. She remembered what he'd said he was, but they'd both known it was a lie, a flimsy one at that. It hadn't bothered her, she'd figured he'd had his reasons for keeping secrets about himself. But now, she had to wonder… After all, just what exactly was the story behind that crown she'd found in his bag? And what was it Flynn had just said? Aliases were important in his line of work? "...he's a… window… washer…" she finished lamely.

"Of course he is." The statement positively oozed sarcasm. "You have something of his, don't you?"

Rapunzel gasped, thinking of the crown again. "How did you-?" She cut herself off once more, clamping a hand over her mouth.

Now Mother's voice turned smug. "Yes, something he stole and that you in turn stole from him. Something he wants back and so he's helping you. So that's why he's sticking around. It all makes so much more sense now."

"No!" she scowled at the wall. Her breathing had become shallow. "He's not like that, he-"

"Then give it back to him."

That brought her up short. "...What?"

"You heard me. Give it back. If he's such a dreamboat, then he's not going anywhere, right? But if he's lying, don't come crying to me."

Rapunzel stared down at her feet with a frown. "...I… he wouldn't…"

"Hm, what's this?" she all but purred. "You don't sound so sure. Tell you what, sweetie. Let's just put all this messy business behind us. I won't even say I told you so. Just tell me where you are so I can come get you and we can go home and-"

"No!" Her sudden snarl was met with a stunned silence. Before Mother could gather her wits again, Rapunzel ground out, "I'll be home after the festival. Don't call anymore, it won't work, I'm tossing this phone. Bye."

With that, she pushed "End Call" on her phone with more force than necessary. Then she was ripping the battery out of the back again, dropping it to the floor and stomping her foot down, twisting her heel thoroughly into it. Next she hurled the phone at the wall and it struck with a loud crack before crashing to the ground with a few pops and fizzles. Her gaze lingered on it and her breathing was heavy. She could feel the corners of her eyes prickle.

Why did Mother have to be so, so… gah! So Mother!

She used one arm to angrily scrub at her eyes. She didn't care what her mom said. She was only trying to manipulate her anyways, like she always did! Maybe Flynn was a criminal… so what? Did that change her feelings about him? Hell no! He was still her friend! He could still… Towards her, he might...

Taking a deep breath, she held it for a few seconds before gradually letting it out to calm her raging, incoherent thoughts. Having settled down somewhat, she then stood up and dusted her clothes off.

Tomorrow was the festival. She was not about to let Mother ruin this for her. She was going to go with her friends. And damn it, she was going to have fun… with Flynn. And then she was going to help the others find this Keyhole Watcha-ma-call-it and save the city!

And then she was gonna rub it all in Mother's face! Ha!

Nodding to herself with a new fire in her eyes, she opened the bedroom door and rejoined the others.

"Idiot… you had one job and your stupid ass still managed to screw it up…"

Josef trudged along wandering the late-night streets of Corona, hugging himself for warmth and grumbling under his breath. Jakob had failed to meet up with him after they got separated. It'd now been a couple hours since Josef had climbed out of the hole made by that jumbo-sized… thing before making his escape.

Since they were supposed to find each other outside of the police station, Josef was still in that general area but was trying not to get too close. Not long after he got away, backup cop cars had arrived at the scene and the precinct building had been taped off. The uniforms were probably trying to deal with that strange swarm that had infested the joint. Either way, Josef needed to keep a safe distance, what with him now being a wanted fugitive on the run after having just broken out of prison. So he currently circled the place, always maintaining at least one block between him and the station, slipping from shadow to shadow, doing his best to stay out of sight.

All while looking for that big dumb moron he called a brother.

No luck so far.

The alley that he dragged his feet through now was completely abandoned. The only sounds were that of a cold wind blowing and the rusty old fire escapes overhead creaking. It was spookier than he cared to admit. Glaring down at every step he took, he tried to ignore creep factor as he continued to grouch. "If he's dead, I'mma kill him! ...then mom and dad'll kill me. Dammit, this is all that ice freaks fault! If it weren't for her, none of this would have ever-"

There was a sudden loud bang behind him, making him jump and whirl one-eighty. Eyes wide and heart racing, he looked around but found nothing. Just the same dirty, vacant alleyway. "...huh." With a gulp, Josef began to slowly turn back around, "Weird. Wonder what that-"

The words died on his tongue.

He was no longer alone.

Standing in his path now was a figure. One single, solitary person. Frail in comparison to himself, looking ridiculous wearing that oversized green jacket with yellow horizontal stripes running down the sleeves. The hood was up, hiding their face as they pointed it at the ground.

Josef blinked at them a couple times before his features settled into a scowl once more. "Yeah, whaddya want?" he growled.

They didn't reply, just stayed silent and didn't move a muscle.

Narrowing his eyes, Josef scoffed and started walking again, cracking his knuckles. "Back off, buddy. You don't wanna mess with me." He shouldered past the person, who stumbled a step before catching themselves. Glancing over his shoulder, Josef called, "Just run crying back to wherever you came from and leave me the hell a-"

Eyes forward once more, he found the same figure suddenly standing in front of him again. Stopping dead in his tracks, he cocked an eyebrow before looking behind him to the now empty backstreet.

What the…?

"Hey, how'd you move so fast?" he asked suspiciously as he looked to the stranger once more.

Again, they said nothing. Instead the palm of one hand began to glow purple. Their fingers splayed out before wrapping around the grip of a weapon that appeared as if my magic. It had a red blade shaped like a bat wing and a reptilian eye carved into the hilt.

Josef yelped and threw up his hands in surrender, taking a step back. "Woah, hold it, put that thing away, pal! There's no need for that!" What was the deal with this whackjob? Seriously, who roams the streets so late at night carrying around a frigging sword?

…murderers, that's who! Damn, what if this nutso got to Jakob? Was that why he couldn't find him? Feeling beads of sweat forming at his temples, Josef's eyes started darting about for an escape route.

The hooded figure took a step towards him.

That was it. That's all Josef need it effin' turn tail and book it. In the blink of an eye, he was tearing down the alley and away from the blade-wielding crackpot, screaming at the top of his lungs. He didn't know how long he ran for, he just kept going, turning left and right down random streets, trying to put as much distance between himself and the creeper! It wasn't until he was wheezing and his legs felt like jelly that he finally slowed to a stop, doubling over and panting. Gulping down a few breaths, he pressed his back against a wall and cautiously peeked around the corner back the way he'd come from.

Nothing but a cramped alley with a large dumpster pushed up against the left brick wall and a crumpled piece of a paper tumbling across the ground as a breeze carried it along.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Lost them!" he chuckled weakly, looking ahead of him once more and-

There the figure in the green and yellow hoodie stood again, barely inches before of him now, sword still in hand. Josef opened his mouth to cry out but before he could utter so much as a sound, the stranger lightly pressed the tip of their blade to his chest. Josef went very still, his jaw slack and his expression blank.

The slit eye on the hilt of the weapon lit up with a sickly putrid green color.

As did Josef's eyes as well.

AN: I hath returned with a new chapter! And it only took me a month - which isn't too shabby imho given it turned out to be a rather loooooong one (jeeze, it wasn't supposed to be!) and also given that I've been playing lots and LOTS of KH3! :DDD

MUCH praise and MUCH worship to all my fabulous readers, in particular these beautiful individuals who left me such stupendous reviews last chapter: SoraKairiRikuNamine and LupisCanus! You're glorious people and I shower you both with all the love and adoration!

Oh gosh, did you notice? This is the FIRST official chapter that I got to click a little "Elsa" checkbox for characters without making it a crossover story :3 That's right, baby, this story is now 100% KH with 100% selectable Frozen characters and it's 100% canon now! Booyah! It made me sooooo happy, you have no idea! All my stories have been switched out of crossover to strictly KH now, and I'm doing backflips over here, YAY!

Regarding the contents of this chapter, that's right! In this AU, Sora doesn't have Cure spells xD Only Punzie and her magic hair have the ability to heal! Sorry, Sora just being able to make all boo-boos all better all the time would have taken some of the fun out of it for me. And hopefully we all remember the mysterious figure in the green and yellow hoodie xD It's been a while (seeing as I am and always will be a self proclaimed sloth of a writer) so I wouldn't blame you for forgetting, but they're important, trust me! What have they done to poor ol' Josef here, huh? You'll all find out... sooner or later xD

Which brings us to the next item of business! Originally, the plan was to write one more chapter for this story (ch20) and then put it on hold while swapping back over to 31 Days and getting some updates out for that one. Buuuuuuuut... then KH3 happened xD Bee-tee-dubs, I am absolutely LOVING it! Sure, it's not... shall we say 'perfect' (for reasons I'll keep to myself so as not to spoil any of you out there who haven't played it yet), but nevertheless I friggin' adore it! (Also, score! The game didn't steal the Tangled world boss fight idea I've had for this story, so I look forward to still getting to rock that here eventually xD) Already beat the game weeks ago, but currently in the process of 100 percenting it as well - not quite there yet, but closing in on it! And we got DLCs coming this year too, I'm SUPER excited for what those might reveal! Anyway! Back to the topic at hand - as you may or may not recall, I mentioned in last chapter's AN that about a year before KH3 came out, I started working on an Axel x Elsa KH fanfic set in KH3 canon. I had decided to put any further writing for it on hold until I'd played KH3. But now that I have... I'M REALLY EXCITED TO GET BACK TO WORK ON IT! It does need some revisions now that I've played the game, some scenes added here, some scenes removed there, but actually a lot of it already fits really well even before revisions, which is friggin' superb! That's what I've actually been working on lately, also while juggling getting this chapter here written and done. As soon as those revisions are complete however, I think I'll be posting what chapters I have ready and most likely start writing the next chapters as well :3 So look forward to that in the very near future!

And sorry about putting off updating 31 Days yet again Dx I WILL get back to it, I swear! I love that story and absolutely want to get to work on the next chapters! I've been really good up to this point too - I have like 10 new AU story ideas been I've been wanting to write that I've been ignoring because I wanted to finish my current WIPs and not start yet ANOTHER new project, but... I've just been bitten by the KH3 canon bug and I just can't resist this one xD I must see it through! But I promise once my excitement over the new story dies down, I'll get back to 31 Days! And what with 31 Days actually really close to being done, when I do get to it the goal will be to just pump out the chapters until I reach the end and can mark that little "Complete" checkbox! In the meantime, many thanks for your continued patience there!

Thank you so so sooooo much for reading, I super duper appreciate it! If you have any comments or friendly feedback, please make my day and leave a review! Next time you hear from me should be when I post the first chapter of my new KH3 story! Which should be soon so hopefully I will see you all there, lovelies! Much love and peace out!