The day had not been a terribly busy one for Sora. He woke up, spent a short shift at work, and was now on his way back to the complex in hopes of finding Riku and Cissie. Maybe, with enough effort, he'd be able to convince them both to come out and have lunch with him. Sora didn't think that he would have much trouble with Cissie; it was Riku that he would have to really put the effort into getting to come along. Riku was stubborn and cranky most of the time and, even though Sora felt like he'd be better off with a smile on his face more often, he wouldn't have had him any other way. All it meant was that he had to deal with sarcastic remarks and a bit of difficulty in convincing Riku to do some of the stuff that Sora enjoyed. Some people might not have had the patience for it, but Sora knew Riku. He just needed a few nudges in the right direction and he was fine. At least he was fine if he wasn't crankier than usual. If he was, then there would most definitely be trouble. Hands buried into his pockets, Sora crossed the street and walked along the sidewalk toward the apartments. If Riku actually was crankier than usual, Sora had to admit that he couldn't blame him for it. With the news of the sixtieth seal having been broken, it was difficult for a lot of people to be as cheerful as usual nowadays. Even Sora felt like something was on the horizon. And whatever it was? It wasn't good. Sure, he tried to smile and joke and be as lighthearted about things as possible, but deep down Sora knew that they were in trouble. His gut instinct was to skip off and seek out as many solutions to this apocalypse problem as possible, but Sora knew that he couldn't manage something as large as all this on his own. Maybe if he sat down and talked to Riku about giving this all a try together. Riku was plenty tough and he was great with his Keyblade. If they worked together, then maybe...
Sora rubbed a hand along the dark fringe at the back of his neck, turning to go around the next corner. There were a few small shops on this street, but beyond that it appeared to be fairly empty...save for the black van parked at the end of the street. Sora didn't pay it much attention though. He simply shrugged, buried his hands back into his pockets, and kept on walking.
"Heya, kid. Wanna buy some candy?"
Sora looked up from the sidewalk, gaze flicking off toward the voice. Naturally, it had come from the black van. A head was poking out from the drivers side - from what Sora could see, the head belonged to an old man. The man had wiry gray hair, a worn beard, and a cigar poking out of the corner of his mouth. Sora raised his brows uncertainly, turning around on the sidewalk in a complete circle before he realized that the old man was indeed addressing him.
"I'm sorry? What'd you say?" Sora stepped off the curb just a little, sneakers hitting the street. He didn't know the man, the black van in itself looked kind of shady, and Sora most certainly wasn't stupid enough to go running up to strangers that were offering him things (selling, actually) no matter how bouncy and stupid he may well have seemed at times to other people. One didn't go around saving the world being a complete moron, now did they? The old man leaned a little more out the window. His beard was much longer than expected. It would have impressed Merlin! His Merlin. Not the younger one that was running around here. The older one that had taught him bits and pieces of magic when he had needed help with his journey back throughout the other worlds before this one. The old man took a puff from his cigar, smoke streaming out from the window in a dark cloud. Sora didn't like the smell of smoke. He cringed a little, not daring to go any closer for the sake of his lungs, at the very least.
"I'm sellin' some candy. You wanna buy a box? We got all kindsa chocolate in'ere."
Oh. Oh! Sora had heard this one before! It wasn't good, was it? He wasn't supposed to talk to people like him! Yes, Sora had talked to plenty of strangers. It was kind of inevitable when you went world hopping. But this? This was bad. He wasn't supposed to take candy from old men with stinky cigars and shady black vans. That was bad. It wasn't taking, exactly, since the man was offering to sell the candy. But it still felt off to Sora all the same. "No, thanks! I didn't bring any money with me and I'm kinda late for a thing." Sora shot the old man a sheepish look, then cast him a wave of farewell. "Thanks anyway! See ya!" As he turned, he could have sworn that he heard an exasperated sigh coming from the van. Sora didn't look back to really take note of the man's frustration. Instead he moved for the sidewalk again, suddenly feeling more than eager to get back home and into the safety of the apartment complex. It was just one old man. Surely Sora could have taken him down with his Keyblade without any trouble. But the old man kinda freaked him out. Who went around driving through the street in a black van offering to sell candy like that? Put on a fun costume! Set up a stand somewhere in a public place! Fighting off the chills of disgust and feeling of weirdness, Sora moved for the corner again....only to hear the screeching of tires lurching in his direction.
"Wait a sec! How you feel about Disneyland? I got a few passes here that I can sell you real cheap! Don't you wanna go and see Mickey Mouse?"
Sora fell to an abrupt halt. Mickey Mouse? Mickey Mouse? "You know King Mickey?!" Sora turned again, eyes going wide in shock and admiration. "I need to see him! He's here? Oh wow, I had no idea!"
The old man pushed the van door open and hopped out with much more energy than Sora would have expected of a person his age. He brought a long finger to his lips and shushed him. "He's been here a while, kid. You just ain't been lookin' in the right places! Why don't you come 'round back and buy yourself a couple'a passes, huh?"
Sora knew that he shouldn't have trusted the man. He had already played the creep with a candygram card. But this was King Mickey. If there was anyone out there who could have helped them with the apocalypse? It was him! Feeling a rush of excitement flood through him, Sora nodded eagerly and bounded forward. The old man clapped his hands together and led him around the side of a van. Unknowingly, Sora was walking into a trap. Inside the back of the van there happened to be a group of demons huddled together, waiting to pounce on him the second the doors opened. It didn't take them very long to drag him inside and rip the amulet from his neck. It took even less time for the demon chosen to wear him to hop inside his body and shut Sora down completely.