PROLOGUE:

STITCH TAKES THE WHEEL

From where he sat in between Donald and Goofy within the cockpit of the Gummi Ship, Sora yawned.

"Wake up, sleep head!" a voice chimed inside the boy's right ear. Sora turned his head to see Jiminy the Cricket perched on top his right shoulder, as always. The recorder was wearing a wide grin across his round, emerald face. "We're almost there."

Sitting up straight, Sora rubbed at his big, blue eyes, which, usually being as wide as saucers, were drooping so low that he could hardly blink the sleep from them.

"Where are we going again?" he asked. To the right of him Donald guffawed. Looking over at the duck, Sora frowned at him and asked what his problem was.

"Boredom!" the duck quacked. Sora shook his head, making his spiky hair bounce. Being the Court Magician at Disney Castle, a person would suspect Donald to be a bit more contained but, to tell the truth, the feisty duck behaved quite the opposite.

Goofy, on the other hand, at least tried to appear more respectable and friendly in public. Looking over at him, Sora saw that the tall, dangly dog was sitting formally in his chair, his oval eyes focused intently outside the cockpit, where worlds, stars, and whole galaxies flashed by them at the speed of light. He also had his gloved hands placed across his armored shield, which sat proudly on his lap.

Despite the obvious difference in his friends however, Sora loved them. He wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, not even if it met his not giving them up presented a good chance that he couldn't see Riku and Kairi again…

Thinking of his friends caused Sora's heart to twinge painfully in his chest. He hadn't seen them in so long…he had forgotten the color of Riku's hair, which had been so blue that it was the first thing you noticed about Sora's childhood rival….and Kairi…her hair had been so red, and her laughter so sweet…

"…Sora, are you listening? Sora…" someone called out to him. Sora, after willing his mind not to question troublesome matters that couldn't be dealt with now, saw that it was Donald, who had been poking him nonstop with his feathered fingers while squawking at him for sometime now.

"Hey, cut it out!" Sora smiled a little as he pried the duck's wings way from his ribs. Not wanting to worry his friends Sora whispered, "Sorry, I just…zoned out…what is it Donald?"

"I've been trying to tell you!" the duck began, sliding his tailbone back and forth across the seat indigently. "We are heading back to the Coliseum, for more training but…it's taking so long to get there…! Could you speed things up a bit?"

"How?" Sora wondered, blinking at the duck in disbelief. They couldn't speed up the Gummi Ship any faster! If they did, they would sail off course and go crashing into a wandering asteroid…

"I'm not talking about the ship!" Donald cried, reading Sora's mind. "I'm talking about time! We need to do something to make it go by faster!"

Sora rubbed his fingers across the back of his neck, thinking. There were all sorts of magic he could do now, thanks to the new apparel that the Three Good Fairies had given to him back in Master Yen Sid's Tower but, Sora wasn't in the mood to change forms; there was a good chance that he could turn into a shadow and that wasn't fun…still, there was always his keyblade, and the summoning magic that Merlin had taught him on his first journey…but who would he summon?

"Well?" Donald pressed. Sora snapped his fingers as a resolution hit him.

"I got it!" he cried, extending his hand out and calling forth the keyblade into its grasp. "I'll summon Stitch!"

Stitch was, actually, a new summon that Sora had just recently obtained, and Sora had yet to try him out. He had befriended the evil little alien back in Hallow Bastion as Leon had guided them about the place and Sora figured that now was as good as time as any to see what the mischievous alien was capable of.

"Brilliant idea!" Donald cheered just as Jiminy shouted: "Bad idea!"

Yet, it was too late. Just as Sora's friends had cried out in unison, the keyblade tugged and jerked Sora across the cockpit, emitting puffy blue smoke and bright, yellow stars as it summoned Stitch into their midst.

After the smoke and light had cleared, Sora coughed and blinked dust from his eyes, finding himself lying smack down in the floor, where he was faced to face with Stitch.

"A bit small, ain't he?" Goofy asked. Sora could feel him and Donald peering over his shoulders at the little guy, who whipped his head about excitedly, his bat-like ears swaying vigorously on the top of his blue, furry skull.

"Stitch in ship?" the alien asked, turning its bulbous eyes up at Sora and the crew, who all nodded.

"Yup, this is the Gummi Ship!" Goofy proclaimed boastfully.

Stitch began to scurry about the ship on his six clawed feet in delight. searching every nook and cranny within the craft before emerging back in the cockpit to say, "Stitch wants to flies it!"

Before any of them could protest, Stitch was at the helm in seconds, cackling madly as he took the wheel and steered them straight off course.

"I told you that this was a bad idea!" Jiminy hung on to Sora for dear life as the boy shot across the floor, plowing head-first into Donald and Goofy just as the odd pair slammed into the hull of the ship, which rocked back and forth like a sinking pirate vessel at sea as Stitch suddenly swooped the ship into a violent dive…

"Stitch coming Lilo!" the alien cried, and that was the last thing Sora heard before he blacked out.