Sorry for the long wait, everyone. It's just lately life has been... bleh, so it's hard to make myself sit and write, you know?

But, this chapter's pretty long and thrilling, with some familiar faces, so hopefully you'll enjoy it. :)

(I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or any Disney/Square-Enix characters.)

---

As the ship entered hyperspace, Sky, Brandy and Whiskers discussed the events of their most recent adventure, while Gadget busied herself with the journal.

"Golly," said Gadget, "it's strange, but we haven't encountered anyone directly associated with Maleficent in a long time."

"You're right," Whiskers agreed. "Does that mean we beat all her friends?"

Sky shook her head. "I doubt it. Over the past twenty-some years she's never had any trouble digging up other villains to use in her schemes. All the same, we need to work harder to find her castle and take her out once and for all."

"You know what I want to know?" Brandy asked. "I'd like to know what happened to that Will jerk. We haven't seen him since we left the Protectorate."

Sky immediately frowned at the mention of his name. "I hope we don't see him, either," she growled. She could still remember the cruel way he taunted her, tried to make her think she had lost her family… as far as she was concerned, she would never forgive him, no matter what.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the blinking light of Cid's "press me!" button, which Sky pressed after a moment.

"Howdy, kids," Cid greeted as his face appeared before them.

"What," Sky asked, "no heart-attack-inducing yelling? You're losing your touch, Gramps."

Cid shrugged his shoulders. "That joke was gettin' old. Anyway, Aerith wants you guys to head back, ASAP. Says she's got some vital information for ya."

"What is it?" Sky asked.

"And so help me, Cid," Brandy growled, "I've had enough suspense, so just tell us!"

"Relax, dog-girl," Cid said, holding up his hands. "I ain't in a mysterious mood today. Aerith said it was somethin' to do with Xeh--" Suddenly, the transmission was dropped.

"Typical," Brandy sighed.

"Wait a sec," said Gadget, "something's wrong. The transmission between the ship and Radiant Garden should be pretty strong. Something must have affected it."

"Like what?" Sky asked, but suddenly she felt the whole ship begin to shake, and suddenly it jolted and everyone had to hold on to keep from being thrown to the floor.

"What in the name of Ub Iwerks was that?!" Whiskers demanded.

"Something must be attacking from behind!" Gadget replied.

Suddenly the ship jolted again and Sky strapped herself in, grasping the controls. "So much for a relaxing joyride," she muttered. She pulled back on the controls and the ship began to climb up and back. Once the ship was upside-down she spun it so that it was right side-up again and facing their enemy.

There she saw another ship, which was similar to their own but completely black. The ship continued to fire at them, so Sky quickly shot back, but the black ship maneuvered too fast and dodged each shot. It fired again and shot one wing off of the ship, sending it into a spiral.

"Hold on!" Sky shouted as she tried to regain control.

The ship fell towards a large, yellow asteroid, one of the many strange, gigantic bodies floating through hyperspace. Merlin had once hypothesized that these structures were fragments of long-dead worlds, which had somehow been transformed by the strange dimension into the substance gummi ships were made from, but as the ship fell Sky didn't have time to ponder this theory. She struggled to right the ship, but to no avail.

With a loud crash the ship collided with the asteroid and rolled along for a minute before finally coming to a stop on its side.

Sky coughed as dust and smoke filled the cockpit. "Is everyone okay?" she called out.

"I'm okay," Gadget called back, and Brandy echoed with, "me, too."

Whiskers, however, cried out in anguish. "I'm blind!"

"Whiskers," Sky said, trying to keep her patience, "you're not blind, your ears are covering your eyes!"

Whiskers moved his ears and, sure enough, he could see again. "Oh. Well, that's a relief!"

Sky sighed and got out of her seat. She was about to ask Brandy and Whiskers to help her right the ship when she happened to look out the cockpit window to see the black ship land nearby. The door opened, and a figure stepped outside. Sky frowned angrily when she saw who it was.

"You alive, Sky?" Will called. "I hope so. I'd hate to think a little crash like that could stop you after all you've been through!"

"How is he outside his ship and still alive?" Brandy asked as she peered out at him with Sky. "Shouldn't his head have frozen or blown up or something?"

"Hyperspace isn't the same as outer space," Gadget explained. "It's not an empty vacuum, it's another plane of existence between worlds. It still takes a lot of strength to survive in its environment unprotected, though."

Sky didn't pay attention to Gadget. She just glared at the beast standing across from them, his feet planted firmly on the yellow surface of the asteroid.

"Come on, Sky," Will called again, sounding genuinely annoyed. "I've had enough tip-toeing around each other. Let's get this over with!"

Sky scowled at him as she prepared to summon the Keyblade and jump out to grant his wish, but Whiskers placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we shouldn't just rush out and fight him," he suggested.

"I hate to admit," said Brandy, "but he's right. Our ship's damaged, we're in the middle of hyperspace, we're still tired from the last fight… we can't just let our anger make us do anything stupid."

Sky frowned a moment longer, but let out a long sigh. "When did you two get so smart?" she asked, trying to grin.

"We're not," Whiskers admitted, "truth be told we're just trying to keep you safe." Brandy nodded in agreement.

Sky smiled--genuinely, this time--and nodded as well. "Alright," she said. "Let's just go out there and try talking. If anything, it should at least give us time to think of a good strategy."

"And Sky?" Sky turned her attention to Brandy as she spoke. "No matter what he says, don't let him get to you, okay?"

Sky nodded. After taking a deep breath she opened the cockpit door and stepped out onto the asteroid surface. Just as Merlin theorized, the asteroid seemed soft and rubbery, just like parts of a gummi ship, although the footing was solid enough. Sky, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers stood in front of their ship, staring down their long-time enemy.

And one-time friend, Sky couldn't help but think, despite all the hatred she could feel swelling in her heart.

"Glad to see you're not hurt," Will said to her.

"Save it," Sky spat. "What's your game this time, Will?"

"Simple." Will threw aside his purple cloak and drew a menacing-looking sword. "Maleficent ordered me to bring you to her," he said. "And she wants you alive… or dead."

"So what else is new?" Sky dead-panned. "And don't think that fancy new sword's going to help, cause nothing is more powerful than the Keyblade!"

"Maybe," Will said, and for once he had no cocky, self-assured tone in his voice. "But it's not meant for you…" Suddenly, Will lifted the sword and it began to glow bright green. Sky heard a sharp gasp and turned to see Brandy and Whiskers each grasping their chest and dropping to their knees as if in pain. "What are you doing to them?!" Sky demanded.

Will frowned, as if he, himself was troubled by the events unfolding. "It's called a Soulblade," he explained. "Maleficent has been working on it ever since Xehenort's Heartless used Riku's body and wielded the Keyblade which unlocked people's hearts. She wanted a similar power. However," he paused a moment, closing his eyes, "she stumbled across something entirely different. She couldn't make a Keyblade, but when she tried to make a sword with similar powers, she somehow found a spell that would affect a person's very soul."

Sky looked helplessly as her friends struggled against the pain in their bodies. "What does that mean? What's happening to them!" She gasped as she noticed Brandy and Whiskers seemed to age before her very eyes.

"The soul," Will continued, "is the life-force, controlled by the heart. It flows through a person, just like blood. What the Soulblade does… is tamper with that flow. It halts it, speeds it up, reverses it, whatever. When your soul's flow is disrupted… it has terrible consequences on the body."

"Stop it!" Sky screamed, horrified at the torment her friends were being put through. "Leave them alone!"

Will frowned again and lowered the Soulblade. Almost immediately Brandy and Whiskers fell limp, gasping for air as if something had been strangling them. Sky breathed a sigh or relief as they returned to their former appearances.

She turned to glare at Will, her lips pulled back in anger. "You monster!"

Will frowned back. "I don't like it any better than you do," he admitted. "Maleficent's done some terrible things… but creating something that tampers with a person's soul… it's unnatural…"

"And you're helping her!" Sky shot back. "You're the one wielding that thing, not her!"

"Maybe so… but it's too late for me, anyway. If I want to have any hope of freeing myself from Maleficent's servitude I have no choice."

"Fine," Sky growled and summoned the Keyblade. "You weren't always evil, Will… but you've crossed the line. You say there's no hope for you…" her grip on the Keyblade tightened, "then I guess there is none." Suddenly, she raised the Keyblade and charged for Will who raised the Soulblade to block her attack, then pushed her away and swung it at her. Sky parried again, and jumped up out of the way when Will tried to thrust the sword right into her.

Sky landed behind him and turned to block another attack. It surprised her how well he fought with a sword, after having only fought against his strength and claws, but she dug her boots into the gummi asteroid and pushed against him, throwing him off balance long enough to lift the Keyblade and bring it down, striking the Soulblade with a loud, metallic scrape, sending sparks flying.

The force of the blow sent Will to his knees, and Sky lifted the Keyblade again, higher this time, determined to bring it down again with more force than ever.

But just as the Keyblade was at the height of its ark above her head, Will thrust the Soulblade up, stabbing her directly in the chest. Sky stopped and gasped at the sudden pain, and with a look of horror realized Will had been trying to get her to open her defenses.

And it worked, she realized as blood stained her shirt and tears involuntarily fell down her cheeks.

Will looked at the blood which flowed from around the end of the Soulblade, still buried in her chest. The heart on her shirt disappeared, replaced by a large, red blotch, and to Will's surprise… the sight sickened him. He had trained his whole life in the art of fencing, had practiced fighting for years and battled several enemies under Maleficent's command… but he had never drawn blood before.

Sky gasped at the pain in her body, but a chill ran down her spine, followed by a horrible, gut-wrenching sensation she couldn't identify. It wasn't pain, but it felt just as bad. She felt as if everything inside her mind darkened, and she felt the very energy in her body bunching and twisting, fading away one moment and then growing unbearably powerful the next. She could feel her skin crawling and her hair stand on end.

The Soulblade is doing this, she realized. This must have been what Brandy and Whiskers had felt.

Will watched Sky as her hair went stark white and her skin turned pale and seemed to hang loosely on her body. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and body became limp. Suddenly, Will's nerve abandoned him and he pulled the Soulblade from her chest before falling to his knees and vomiting.

Sky fell to the ground as well, gasping for air. She no longer felt the Soulblade's effects, but she was still terribly weakened by the experience, and losing too much blood.

"I can't die…" something inside her said. "It can't end like this…" thoughts of her family flashed through her mind. Donald, Goofy… Mickey, Riku and Hanna… Koji… Sora and Kairi…

"I can't die…" the voice inside her gasped as her vision blurred. "I have to live… I have to fight to save my family… have to fight… to fight…fight… Fight!!!"

Something inside her snapped suddenly, like a cage deep inside her soul had broken open, and something stepped--no, flowed out of it, filling her heart and her mind with darkness. Her thoughts seemed to fade away one by one. Names, memories, hopes, fears, all seemed to leave her, while the basest of instincts like survival and hatred remained and grew more intense within her heart than ever.

Will, after he had finished vomiting, looked up to see Sky's body darken, and the wound in her chest closed up. Suddenly, a dark energy shot from her body and consumed Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, pulling them to her, and it seemed as if her body absorbed them both.

In Sky's mind, she could feel their consciousnesses close to her own, but anything they felt aside from anger or fear was suppressed. In her dark, instinctually-driven state, she had all but imprisoned them inside her, drawing on their energy as well as the new energy that flowed through her. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, now round, yellow and empty, and her skin, hair and clothes were pitch-black. With an unnatural movement, reminiscent of a vampire rising from its coffin, she rose to her feet and crouched down like an animal, tilting her head to the side as she stared at Will.

Will stared back, shocked and confused at her current appearance. He cautiously moved to grab the Soulblade from where he had dropped it, but Sky jerked forward, moving strangely fast, and grabbed the Soulblade. With a growl, she threw it up and away from the asteroid, letting it float away through hyperspace.

Will was about to make a move, but Sky grabbed him by the collar and threw him through the air. He landed ten feet away from her, but she was on him again in an instant and she turned him on his back. She grew long, razor-sharp claws on her fingers and went to work, leaving deep cuts on his face and shoulders, before clasping her hands together and bringing them down like a club on his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

In her mind, Sky had no control. She could only act upon one, base thought: To kill the enemy that had tried to kill her. But as her strange burst of energy began to fade again, her hold on Brandy and Whiskers' consciousness began to dwindle, and they rebelled against her, desperately trying to make her stop. "Stop this," they would tell her, "you're killing him." But she couldn't stop.

Finally, however, the energy that gave Sky her strength disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared, like a drug which gives a sudden boost of energy only to leave you drained minutes later. Sky's color returned to normal, and Brandy and Whiskers reappeared at her side, looking tired and confused, but otherwise unharmed. Sky fell to the ground, unconscious.

Brandy and Mr. Whiskers rushed to her, ignoring Will as he lay nearby.

"We have to get her some help," Brandy said, her voice shaky as she looked at Sky's blood-stained chest.

"I think I could heal her," Whiskers said, sounding equally afraid, "but her chest looks worse than anything I've tried to heal yet, and she's lost a lot of blood!"

"Do the best you can, then we'll get her somewhere someone can take better care of her." Whiskers nodded and did as Brandy ordered, casting a spell to cure her wound, but he feared he hadn't healed the flesh deep enough, or that there might have been further complications. But Brandy looked at the scarred tissue where the wound had been and nodded to him. She knew she would need more help, but she didn't want to worry herself or Whiskers about that at the moment, and together they carried Sky away.

"Gadget!" Brandy called, and once the mouse hopped out of the demolished ship she nodded towards Will's ship. "We're have to get out of here now!"

"Isn't this stealing?" Whiskers asked.

"Whiskers, he almost killed all of us. I think giving us his ship is the LEAST he can do."

"But are we just gonna leave him? I mean, he's evil, but we can't just let him rot here, can we?"

Before Brandy could reply, Gadget called out and pointed towards where Will had been laying a moment before. She frowned when she saw he had disappeared once again. "Looks like the choice has been taken out of our hands," Brandy grumbled, and she and Whiskers carried Sky into the ship, laying her gently in the back.

"Whiskers, stay here and take care of her," Brandy ordered, and she went to the cockpit, taking a seat at the controls. "Gadget, help me figure this thing out."

Gadget jumped to Brandy's shoulder. "Press that button," she told her. When she did, a screen lit up showing hyperspace routes to several worlds. "Golly, look at all of them!" Gadget stared in awe at the collection of worlds mapped out on the computer before her. "Maleficent must have spent the last twenty years documenting routes we've never even heard of!"

"We need to get Sky some help," Brandy reminded. "find the nearest world where someone can heal her."

Gadget looked through the listed routes and pointed one out. "There!" she said, and when Brandy saw it she sighed in relief.

"Alright," she said, "we know where to go, so let's go!" She activated the ship's engines and took off at full speed through hyperspace.

"Whatever you do, Sky," Brandy mumbled to herself, "don't you die on us…"

---

Sky's face lit up, as an idea came to her, and she grabbed Koji's hand. "C'mon!" She said, all traces of her anger completely vanishing. "I wanna show you something cool!"

Sky pulled Koji away, and led him back to the cave. There, she showed him the carvings her parents had shown her, and the freshly carved picture of herself.

"Isn't it the coolest?" She asked Koji.

Koji just shrugged his shoulders. "They're pictures on the wall…"

Sky puffed her cheeks out angrily. "They are not! Mommy and Daddy drew them when they were kids!"

"How come Dad didn't draw one, too?"

"I dunno." Sky smiled. "But they drew this before they had their adventures, Koji! When they were kids like us."

Finally, Koji nodded. "Cool." He touched the wall gently. "Someday, I'll have an adventure, too."

Sky turned to him with an even bigger smile and giggled. "You're not gonna have one without me!"

"What? You're a girl, you'll get in my way."

"Nuh-uh! Mommy never got in the way, and she's a girl!"

Koji sighed. "Fine, you can come…"

Sky clapped her hands happily. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise. Someday, we'll go on an adventure, and be just like our parents!" Koji turned to her with a smile.

Sky turned to look at her mother and father's pictures on the cave wall. "I can't wait," she said, "till we have our adventure, Koji…"

---

With a groan, Sky awoke. She opened her eyes, just to shut them again in protest to the bright light before slowly opening them again, shading her face with her hand. When she looked around, she saw that she was in a clean, white room, laying in a soft bed. Her shirt and jeans had been replaced by a white nightgown and her hair was down. After a moment, she recognized the room as her own. That is, it was the room reserved for her during visits to Disney Castle.

"Disney Castle?" she asked herself. "But how did I get here?" Suddenly, the memory of her fight with Will replayed in her mind and she gasped. Quickly, she unbuttoned the front of her nightgown and inspected her chest. To her relief, there was no wound, but an odd black mark was in its place. The doorknob rattled and Sky quickly buttoned up again as the door opened. She smiled when she saw Daisy walk in, carrying a tray of food.

"You're awake!" Daisy cheered, and she set down the tray to rush over and hug Sky. "We were so worried about you when Brandy and Mr. Whiskers brought you here yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Sky asked. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "What exactly happened?"

Daisy sat down on the edge of Sky's bed and explained to her that Brandy and Whiskers had arrived the previous night, yelling for help. Immediately, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Donna and everyone else who heard them rushed to the gummi garage to find them carrying her, unconscious, out of a black gummi ship. Daisy mentioned the scar on her chest, and how Whiskers had healed her wound as best she could, but that it was deep, and still bleeding inside. She went on to recount how they had rushed her inside and Minnie had almost exhausted herself using her own, powerful magic to completely heal her, though that strange, black mark remained.

"Where are Brandy and Whiskers now?" Sky asked once Daisy had finished.

"They rested for awhile," Daisy explained, "and now they should be in the library giving the queen a full report. Believe me, Sky, when we saw the state you were in we all had a lot of questions."

Sky nodded. That was understandable. "Where are my clothes? I want to go see them."

"Your clothes were in pretty bad shape, too. We've sent them to be washed and repaired, but the hole in your shirt was pretty bad, and the blood stains…" Daisy shuddered, and Sky remembered how rare a sight like blood must be for the inhabitants of Disney Castle.

"Is there anything else I can wear for now?" she asked.

Daisy thought for a moment. "Hmm… Well, there is one thing…"

---

In the library, Brandy and Whiskers stood at attention before Queen Minnie, and Brandy finished recounting their mission so far, giving the most detail to their recent fight with Will, the Soulblade Maleficent had created, and especially about the way Sky had absorbed them and turned into… something.

Minnie nodded, her face betraying how troubled she was by the news. "The Anti-form…" she whispered.

"Auntie who?" Whiskers asked.

"The Anti-form," Minnie repeated. Twenty years ago, after Sora first acquired the power to use forms…" she shook her head. "There are others better suited to explain," she said. "At any rate, I'm very proud of the way you both handled this situation. Thanks to you, Sky is safe and sound."

Brandy frowned. "With all due respect, your majesty… if it weren't for us this wouldn't have happened." Minnie tilted her head to the side, a look of confusion on her face.

"Sky wouldn't have gotten hurt if we'd been there to help her," said Whiskers.

Minnie shook her head again. "You had been incapacitated by the Soulblade. You did nothing wrong."

Brandy and Whiskers remained silent, but when they heard the door open they turned around and smiled to see who walked in.

"Sky!!!" they both shouted, and tackled her in a hug. Sky laughed and hugged them back. "We were so worried!" Whiskers cried.

Sky smiled and patted him on the head. "But I'm okay," she said, "thanks to you guys. Hey, where's Gadget?"

"She's in the gummi garage, visiting Chip and Dale," Brandy explained. Then, for the first time, she took a good look at Sky and laughed. "What are you wearing?"

Sky blushed, looking annoyed by Brandy's laughing. The only clothes Daisy could find for her was a dress Sky usually wore when she and her parents visited Disney Castle on important business. The last time she'd worn it was when they had to meet with Prince Edward and Princess Nancy of Andalasia. It was light purple, with white lace around the collar, sleeves and the hem of the skirt.

"Fancy duds," Whiskers said as he looked at the dress. "Oh, can we dress up, too?" Brandy promptly smacked him.

"It was all Daisy had for me to wear while my other clothes are getting cleaned," Sky explained. When Minnie walked over Sky gave her a quick hug.

"I'm so glad to see you back on your feet," said Minnie. "How do you feel?"

"Good," Sky replied. "But there's a weird mark on my chest…"

Minnie nodded. "I tried to get rid of it, but it just wouldn't go away… Sky, do you remember what happened after William used the Soulblade on you?"

Sky thought for a moment, but could only shake her head. "I just remember something taking over my mind… something bad… Aunt Minnie, what was it?"

Minnie paused a moment, a thoughtful look on her face. "The only person who can answer that… is Yen Sid."

"Yen Sid?" Sky asked and Minnie nodded. "Then that's our next stop."

"You can't just go off like that," Minnie told her, "not till you've rested. You've had quite an ordeal, Sky."

"But I have to get back to looking for Maleficent's castle," Sky protested.

Minnie patted her hand gently. "Your parents wouldn't want you to endanger yourself, Sky. Please, just stay and rest a bit. We've already contacted Leon and told him everything, and they agree you should rest here before continuing."

Sky sighed in defeat. "Oh, alright…"

Minnie smiled. "In the meantime, Sky, why don't you head to the garden? There's someone waiting to see you."

"Who?"

"You'll see, dear. It's a surprise." Minnie gave Sky a warm smile and turned to Brandy and Mr. Whiskers. "Thank you for your report, Captain Brandy, Magician Whiskers." Brandy and Mr. Whiskers gave a salute and followed Sky as she left the library.

The group headed for the garden, as Minnie had suggested, and saw Donna standing out on the grass, talking to a tall, dog-like young man in a red shirt and jeans. When Sky saw him she jumped for joy, letting out an excited yell before running to him, hugging him tightly. "Max!" she cried happily. "I've missed you!"

Max laughed as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged her back. "Hey, Sky," he said. "I missed you too, kid."

"Thank goodness you're awake," said Donna, putting her arms around them both. "We were so worried!"

Sky pulled back, smiling at them both. "I'm sorry I worried you two."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Max told her. "As long as you're okay."

Brandy, standing nearby with Whiskers, loudly cleared her throat to gain Sky's attention. "Excuse me," she said, "but I believe we have yet to be introduced…?"

"Brandy, that's Sky," Whiskers told her. "Don't you remember?" Brandy just elbowed Whiskers in the gut.

"Oh, sorry guys," Sky told them. "This is Max."

"So, you guys must be Brandy and Mr. Whiskers," Max said, holding out his hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Oh…?" Brandy asked, a flirtatious smile on her face as she shook Max's hand. "Such as…?"

"That you've been a big help to Sky while she's been looking for our parents. Oh, and that people keep mistaking you for my dad."

Brandy's smile quickly faded into an annoyed frown.

"Oh, so your dad is Goofy?" Mr. Whiskers asked.

Max nodded. "Yup, that's my dad."

"But what are you doing here?" Sky asked him. "I thought you were at school."

"I was," Max explained, "but when I heard what happened I came home as soon as I could."

"You'll be staying for awhile this time, won't you, Sky?" Donna asked.

Sky sighed. "I'd like to get back to looking for our parents, but Aunt Minnie insists I stay and rest up."Donna smiled. "That's great! It'll be just like the old days, then!"

"Old days?" Whiskers asked.

Sky nodded. "When we were kids, Donna, Max and I were like the three musketeers. We used to play 'Sora, Donald and Goofy' together all the time."

Max laughed. "When I wasn't getting you girls out of trouble, that is."

"That's what you get for being the oldest, Max," Donna teased. "Hey, let's go grab some ice cream and hang out, like we used to do. We all have some catching up to do."

"That's a great idea," said Sky.

"Yeah," Brandy agreed. "I could use a snack."

The group was about to leave when Sky stopped. "Wait, shouldn't we check on Gadget and see about the gummi ship?" she asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Whiskers told her. "Brandy and I can take care of that. You go ahead and have fun with Max and Donna."

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! You go have fun catching up on old times."

Sky smiled. "Aw, thanks, guys. I'll bring you back some ice cream, okay?"

"Sure. Now go have fun, you crazy kids, you." Sky smiled again and waved as she left with Max and Donna. Whiskers waved back, smiling, till he turned to see Brandy frowning at him, her arms folded. "What?"

"What do you mean, 'what?'" Brandy replied. "You just told Sky to go off and leave us."

"What? She's had a rough time, why shouldn't she relax with her old friends?"

Brandy sighed. "I guess so…"

"Aw, don't tell me you're jealous of Donna and Max, are you?"

"No. Why would I be? Sure, Sky's known them her whole life, but she's been through a lot with us, too, right?"

"Exactly," Whiskers told her. "She's not gonna like us any less just cause she's hanging out with her old friends. Now come on, let's check on Gadget."

Brandy sighed again as she followed Whiskers toward the Gummi Garage. "When did you get to be the voice of reason?"

"I know, scary, isn't it?"

"Very. Please go back to being the idiot of the group?"

"Alrighty."