Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue: The Death of a World.

Darkness. That is all that one could see if they were standing here. In every direction they looked, all they would see was the enveloping arms of darkness that welcomed them. An endless abyss. Except for a large, pulsating mass of light that shone as brightly as the sun, emitting a gentle warmth that reached out around, pushing back against the abyss that surrounded it.

At least until a pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, eyeing the mass of light with hunger as another pair of eyes joined it. Before another, and then another, until the entire space around the light was covered in yellow eyes peering in through the darkness, with what looked to be even more eyes behind them, stretching on for what could be called infinite.

While the constant sound of insect-like squeaking could be heard from all around, on a narrow piece of rock, a figure in a brown cloak stepped forward. Gazing at the orb, the surrounding eyes became increasingly agitated as some of them began to glow red.

            “This world has been connected…” The hooded man remarked before the darkness around the orb of light lunged right towards it. And in a split second, the light was extinguished.

            “Master, another star has vanished.” Lavenza reports to Igor. Around them, the Velvet Room takes on the form of an observatory when not visited by a Wild Card, the night sky around them twinkling with stars. But from where Igor sat, one star he was watching suddenly vanished. Its life extinguished, just like so many others he had seen over the past ten years.

            “So it has… This is most troubling.” Igor remarks, lacing his fingers. “Do we still not know what causes this?”

            “Regrettably, we do not.” Margaret replies, shaking her head. “It is mysterious, but we have no idea as to what causes it.”

            “Thankfully, there have been no such disturbances since the events of August.” Elizabeth reports, flicking through her tome. “It would be safe to reason that we are finally past our Metaverse Crisis.”

            “So it would seem…” Igor replies, watching as Theodore arrives with some tea for them. “…and yet, I cannot help but worry. The fate that befell EMMA… disturbs me.” The attendants all glance at each other, sharing their master’s worries, until a golden butterfly appears before them. Fluttering to the centre of the Velvet Room, it erupts into a golden flash.

            “Master Philemon!” Igor exclaims, seeing his master appear before them as the attendants bow in respect to his arrival. “What brings you to the Velvet Room today?”

            “I fear we have been blind, Igor.” Philemon remarks with sadness in his voice.

            “Blind?” Theodore asks with concern. “Did something happen to the Great Seal?” Philemon looks at him, shaking his head as he glances back at Igor.

            “The Great Seal, Erebus, and Nyx are now the least of our concerns. Nyarlathotep has done something I never imagined he would ever do.” The graveness of Philemon’s voice echoed throughout the Velvet Room as he looked at Igor with a face of resignation. “Nyarlathotep has allied himself… with them.”

            “Them?” Lavenza asks, recoiling slightly at hearing the venom in Philemon’s voice.

            “Yes. The same ones who are responsible for the countless stars vanishing these past ten years. The same ones responsible for the disappearance of many people in our world. And the same ones who allied themselves with EMMA when she took on that form.” The Velvet Room seemed to shudder at Philemon’s words as he looked right into Igor’s eyes. The gravitas of the situation, the anger, and the complete resignation in his eyes were plain to see.

“The Devourers of Hearts are here.”

September 20^th, 2017

The sun bears down on Tokyo, its people going about their daily lives. Billboards play with newsreels and adverts for the latest trends, fashion, games, anime, and manga. All the while, students and business workers move to and fro. And in a sleepy part of Tokyo, in a secluded café in a small alley, a small family was busy cleaning up the place after a busy lunch rush.  

            “Today has been a fast day for once. Not that I’m complaining.” Sojiro remarks, wiping the table down as he glances at his three adopted kids. “A shame you three were stuck here with me.”  

            “C’mon, Sojiro. Leblanc would go under without us!” Futaba replies, crouching on one of the couches, her laptop next to her. “We’re all in charge of this place.” 
 
            “Funny how you’re sitting there and not doing anything to help.” Morgana quips behind her, lying along the top of the couch as he stretches his legs. “Still, will we have time to catch that movie?”  

            “We’ll be fine, Morgana.” Hifumi replies at the sink, washing up the last couple of dishes. “We’ve already flipped the sign. We won’t have any more customers for the rest of the day.”

            “And if we do, then they can wait until we get back.” Ren finishes, wiping down the table. “We’ve all been waiting to see this movie for weeks now. Isara and Sophia, especially.” Morgana shrugs his shoulders as Ren and Hifumi take their aprons off, just as the sound of feet echoes from the door leading up to Ren’s room, with the door opening not long after.

            “Are we ready to go?” Isara asks as she and Sophia walk into the bar. Their android bodies, built by the Kirijo Group and looking almost identical to those of humans, are easily hidden under their clothes. While Sophia has a white blouse that is nowhere near as poofy as the one she wore in the Metaverse, along with black trousers and boots, Isara is wearing the same outfit that Futaba wore in the summer, just with longer sleeves over her arms and trousers as well. It is terrifying how accurately they were made to resemble how they looked in the Metaverse.

All that is missing is Isara’s backpack and the heart ponytails for Sophia.

            “Just about.” Sojiro replies, watching as Sophia hugs Ren with a smile. “You seem excited, Sophia.”

            “It’s a family outing with everyone! How can I not be excited?” Sophia replies with a giant grin before losing her smile. “Although… it’s a shame no one else can make it. Not even Mom could get the day off to come…”

            “You know that Makoto would have loved to come.” Ren tells his adoptive daughter, rubbing the top of her head. “But we’re all busy studying for our futures, after all. There is always next time though, alright?” Sophia looks back at Ren, nodding her head in acceptance as she lets him go, letting him walk over and grab a long shirt just as the news on TV plays.

            “The recent number of disappearances increased last night with the sudden disappearance of a family in the suburbs of Osaka. Police have asked both relatives and locals to assist in the search. Still, comments from search parties have already decided that such searches will be fruitless. This brings the total number of disappearances into the thousands, and it’s a trend that does not seem to be slowing down.”

            “Over a thousand people vanishing in five days? What is going on?” Isara asks, tilting her head, while Futaba closes her laptop and puts it into her bag.

            “Dunno, but it’s not happening just in Japan. Apparently, there are cases like this happening all over the world.” Futaba reveals as the family exits Café Leblanc, waiting for Sojiro to close it up. “What people can all agree on is that it always seems to happen in alleyways or suburbs with poor lighting. Like this one.”

            “Then it’s a good thing we have proper lights around here.” Sojiro remarks, watching Ren adjust his bag, holding Morgana. “Still, I have a bad feeling about this.” Ren shrugs his shoulders as they head off, any worries they might have left behind as they went to enjoy their family outing. It’s not like he had any recent dreams of the Velvet Room anyway, but his mind did fly back to that strange Calling Card he and the others received back on the 16th. But as they walked off, none of them noticed the pair of glowing yellow eyes in a nearby alleyway as they passed by. Sophia pauses for a second, feeling the stare, glancing over at the alleyway only to see nothing before racing off to join the others.

Shibuya Crossing was as crowded as ever when they arrived, the people moving and going about with their daily lives. And not a hint of danger to be felt. But as they stepped into the cinema to watch the movie, the sky above Tokyo suddenly began to get cloudy. Very cloudy. Thunder echoed over the city as rain started to pour down. It was not heavy enough to force people into their homes but noticeable enough to force them to either dive into cover or prop anything over their heads.

But it wasn’t just Tokyo that was experiencing this strange weather.

Chatroom: Shadow Operations.

Junpei: Dude, what’s up with the weather!?

Chie: What do you mean?

Yusuke: Are you talking about how it has suddenly become cloudy with rain and thunder?

Yukari: Wait, it’s happened in Tokyo as well?

Futaba: Hold up, there’s a thunderstorm!?

Futaba: But it was nice and sunny when we got to the cinema!

Yosuke: But that’s the thing! It just happened so suddenly!

Minako: Do you think Marie made a mistake with the weather?

Naoto: If she did, it would have only affected Inaba, not Tokyo or Tatsumi.

Mitsuru: I’m afraid it’s not just Japan experiencing these strange circumstances.

Ren: What do you mean?

*This message could not be delivered.*

            “Can’t be delivered?” Ren asks himself, checking the Wi-Fi on his phone, only to see that he has lost his internet connection. And it wasn’t just him. Futaba and Hifumi were glancing at their phones in shock as well, seeing their phones lose connection as well.

            “Did we all lose the internet?” Sojiro asks, his phone not connecting to anything. Isara and Sophia glance at each other, their internal communication devices not linking to anything either. Not even with the secure Kirijo Group internet connection built into them. It was then that the lights all around them flickered and died, including the screen playing the movie, as people in the audience started to mumble, either in worried, hushed tones or groans at the supposed power blackout.

            “A blackout?” Hifumi asks, looking around the dark room until she spots something moving out of the corner of her eye. It was quick and agile, its outline hidden in the darkness. But there was one thing that Hifumi managed to spot as it made its way along the side of the room: a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Before she could even comment on it, screams echoed from the front of the viewing room as people cried out in terror as more yellow eyes pounced on those sitting in the front rows.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yUIMyE45rY : Night of Fate)

Those sitting at the back and middle stand in alarm before rushing for the exits at the back. Ren and his family, while initially feeling the instinct to fight, instead turn to flee with the others as they all burst out into the dark halls of the cinema. And they aren’t the only ones, as people are all running from the viewing screens, crying out in terror as more yellow eyes, with their bodies obscured by black mist, leap onto people and drag them to the ground. Their cries become muffled as they are engulfed in darkness.

            “What is going on!?” Futaba shouts as the group rushes for the entrance, bursting out onto the street as they find themselves in the sudden downpour of rain. Thunder roars above as the wind starts picking up, and they find nothing but chaos outside in the streets. People run for their lives, and others rush out from alleyways before being dragged back into them. Their cries are ignored as people run for their lives, fresh blood pooling along the ground as rainwater mixes with it. Black tendrils grow along the ground and walls around them, some even grabbing onto people and dragging them into black inky pools. Their cries are muffled as they are pulled under.

            “Back to Leblanc! Now!” Sojiro orders, dragging his family towards the station. Ren takes a moment to glance at where Iwai’s shop was, seeing several people run down the street as shadowy figures chase after them along the floor. Before leaping out from the ground and revealing themselves to Ren, a small insect-like humanoid with a large head and antennae and giant glowing yellow eyes, with clawed three-fingered hands that stab into the backs of the unfortunate souls. The same ones that appeared alongside EMMA back in August.

Dragging them to the ground, the insect-like humanoids start tearing into their backs with their claws as more of their kind appear around them. Blood pools around them, drowning out the cries of pain of the two, while Ren shakes his head and chases after the others, forcing himself to not help, despite every bone in his body screaming for him to do so. Without his Persona, there was nothing he could do to help.

Rushing down into the station mall, Sojiro holds up an arm, blocking the others as he sees the chaos happening inside. More of those shadow-like humanoids are down here, attacking everyone they can see as they drag them all to the ground. There are even a few that look larger than the others, with longer arms and clawed hands that they thrust right into the chests of people, spilling blood all over the floor as they rip out something.

Not that Sojiro could see, with the chaos happening around them, but he couldn’t care as he forced his kids back up the stairs. With the mall a no-go, the group rushed over to Shibuya Square, where they saw the utter chaos unfolding around them. More of those strange shadow creatures rushed over the place like rats, swarming over anyone they saw as blood pooled all over the ground. There were even some that looked like floating balls with eyes and a giant mouth, and some that were holding what appeared to be serrated swords. Police tried to stop them, firing their guns into the swirling mass of darkness, and managed to take a few out. Or at least they thought they did. They couldn’t tell from the black mist obscuring the creatures.

And yet, it didn’t even seem to do anything to stop them, as more just appeared from the ground to charge at them. Some even appeared behind the police and leaped on them from behind, breaking them and forcing them to run alongside the civilians they were supposed to protect.

            “This can’t be real…” Isara quips with unbelieving eyes as Sophia hugs Ren tightly, watching as what looked to be a spiralling column of yellow eyes moved through the air like a snake, slamming into buildings and tearing through them like they were paper, swallowing up anyone who was still trapped inside. Ren was busy attempting to get into contact with anyone on the three group chats, but no one was responding. It did not help that he had no connection to anything.

            “Hey, what’s that!?” Morgana suddenly asks, poking a paw out from the bag and into the sky. Above them, a swirling mass of energy hovers high in the sky, pulsing with electricity as its dark red core gleams ominously in the centre, with the very clouds, rain, and even the lightning being sucked into it like a vacuum.

            “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it has to be behind all of this.” Ren replies, stuffing his now useless phone into his pocket. All around them, the shadow creatures prowl and stalk, having finished up everyone else as they now advance on Ren’s family, stalking low to the ground as they encircle them all like predators. Ren grimaces, glancing around for a way out before one of the creatures leaps right at him.

            “Ren!” Hifumi cries out, seeing the creature leaping at Ren from the right. Ren turns to look at it, feeling himself freeze in place as he instinctively brings his right hand up in a slashing motion. But without a weapon, it would be useless. At least, until blue fires run up from his feet, covering his entire body as he feels a familiar weight fall over him, along with a familiar blade forming in his hand as he slashes the creature apart with Paradise Lost R. The creature makes an unusual sound as it is struck, almost insect-like as it quickly disintegrates into black smoke.

            “Your Thief outfit?!” Futaba asks in shock, seeing Joker standing before them once again, before those same blue Flames of Rebellion flow over them as well. Once more, donning them in their Thief attire while around them, the shadows seem to become weary as they all step back away from them, clearly seeing them not as weak prey any more. “But we’re not in the Metaverse! And it sure as hell doesn’t look like it's fusing with reality!”

            “Heh! You won’t find ME complaining! Let’s teach these creeps a lesson! Diego!” Mona cries, pointing a paw into the air and summoning his other self to the field. “Garudyne!” Not wasting a moment, Mona blasts the creatures with the wind spell, sending them flying as Boss channels Bless magic into his book and blasts more of them with Kougaon. The searing light makes the creatures flee in terror as Shadow uses her kunai and chain whip to lash out at the surrounding ones.

            “Ziodyne!” Edelweiss shouts, blasting more with Elect magic as Sophie uses her yo-yos to hit them from afar. Joker takes out his gun and fires Curse-infused rounds at the foes, driving them back as he looks over his shoulder.

            “Oracle! Can you get in touch with anyone else!?”

            “I’m working on it!” Oracle replies, going into overdrive as she brings her screens up. There was something in the air that was blocking her viewing range, limiting her to Tokyo, but that was more than enough to pick up on the rest of the Phantom Thieves. At the same time, her scans of the surrounding foes brought back nothing but question marks. “I’ve got a lock on everyone else! They’re all scattered about Tokyo!”

            “All of them!?” Edel asks, letting loose a blast of missiles from her backpack at the surrounding creatures.

            “Yeah! But I’m getting nothing from these things!” Oracle shouts back until a deep rumble echoes through Shibuya as a giant figure erupts from the ground. Towering over them and reaching as high as the surrounding skyscrapers, it has a giant heart-shaped hole in its chest and small black demonic wings on its back. Its face is covered in tendrils, hiding what it looks like, except for the glowing yellow eyes that glare down at Joker and the others.

            “What is that!?” Boss shouts, looking up at the towering creature as Sophie stands closer to Joker. The creature forms a ball of energy in its right hand, channelling dark powers into it before letting it fly from its hand and into the giant sphere high above it. The sphere seems to shudder as it absorbs the orb, growing larger as it lowers itself down towards Tokyo. And it isn’t just over Tokyo that this sphere of energy appears.

Over every major city in the world, the most remote countryside, and even hidden-away spots, similar orbs float down towards the ground, kicking up ferocious winds as everything is battered around by the gale-force winds. Winds that prove to be far too strong as they start tearing the world apart.

Trees, buildings, mountains, and even the ocean itself cannot withstand the force of the spheres as they suck up everything without mercy. Nothing can withstand the forces as the very ground is torn apart, lifted in giant chunks and swallowed whole by the roaring spheres of darkness as though they were black holes. And in Tokyo, Joker and the others try to hold on to a street lamp as the winds suck up everything into it. Even the giant creature that fired the orb into the sphere allows itself to be sucked up as they fight to resist the pull.

But it is not to be, as the streetlamp they hold on to is violently torn from its foundation, sending all of them flying into the sphere. Holding on to each other as the world around them goes dark, while their world is all but consumed, leaving nothing but tiny shards of rock. Not even the moon or the Great Seal are spared, as they, too, are consumed by the endless darkness.

And if one were to look at it from the outside, all they would see is a star blinking out from the night sky.

Or rather, two stars blinking out.

On a sandy beach on a tropical island, a young fourteen-year-old boy with very spiky brown hair sat at the water’s edge, looking out far across the horizon. He was wearing large yellow shoes and a baggy red jumpsuit that reached halfway down his thighs while having no sleeves. A long zip went down the centre of the suit, while a black hoodie with white sleeves and a blue lining inside the hood was worn on top. A pair of fingerless white gloves covered his hands with black, blue, and yellow straps, while a lone blue belt wrapped around his waist, with a long silver shin dangling from the side. And resting on his chest was a silver necklace in the shape of a crown.

His mind raced with the imagination of what they would find when they left, his building excitement clouding his fear. Even if he should be finding pieces for the raft that they needed to build to even go on an adventure in the first place.

But at the moment, he just felt so tired. So he figured a quick power nap would do him good as he lay down on the sand. But as he let himself drift off to sleep, he could not help but ponder something he had been feeling so very recently.

I’ve been having these weird thoughts lately… Like, is any of this for real, or not?

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Station of Awakening and Destiny Islands.

It felt like he was falling forever. The moment he felt himself fall asleep, all he felt was that he was constantly falling down an endless abyss. At least until he felt himself slow down before reorienting himself. Landing on solid ground. Ground that, in turn, was a giant circular floor of green stained-glass. Images of animals lined the outer circle, while a giant image of a girl with black hair and a red ribbon, wearing a blue and yellow dress, holding an apple took up the majority of the floor. And behind her were seven portraits of bearded men. Well, six with beards, anyway.

            “W-Where am I?” The boy asks, looking around him. Only to see nothing but darkness surrounding him. A glance over the edge showed that the floor he was on was actually a giant tower emerging from the darkness below. “Am I trapped? But how? How did I even get here?” He asks out loud, puzzled, until a voice echoes around him. One that was not overbearing in its stature and sounded strangely familiar.

            So much to do, so little time…

            “W-Whose there!?” The boy asks, surprised by the sudden voice, as it lets out a chuckle. Yet not a malicious one. More of amusement.

            Don’t be afraid. I am a friend. Take your time. There is no need to rush.

            “Okay…?” The boy asks, not convinced, before looking at the glass floor. “Where do I go?”

            Hmmm, the door is still shut, it seems. Never mind. Now, step forward, Sora.

            “How do you know my name?” Sora asks, caught off guard as the voice lets out another amused chuckle.

            I could tell you… but it is not relevant for now. Slightly annoyed by the answer, Sora walks forward to the centre of the glass floor, glancing upwards at the beam of light shining down from above before it quickly vanishes. Before Sora had a chance to ask, three pedestals emerged around him in the formation of a triangle, each one holding a weapon above them.

A silver sword with a yellow guard and a hilt with a blue grip. A green wand with a blue head decorated in yellow and brown. And a red shield with a black, yellow, and silver decal. All of them with the image of three black circles, with two of them connected to one on either side like giant ears. Or, in the case of the rod, its head was the three circles but in spheres.

            Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.

            “So… all I have to do is choose a weapon?” Sora asks the voice, only to get no reply, before shrugging to himself. “Okay… guess I’ll try them all.” He remarks, walking up to the sword and grabbing it. The moment he did, the voice in his head returned.

            The power of the Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction.

            “Terrible destruction?” Sora asks, looking back at the sword before shaking his head. “No, thanks.” He replies, placing it back and taking a few steps from the podium before walking to the staff. “What about this one?”

            The power of the Mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin.

            “Wonder and ruin…” Sora comments, feeling the staff in his hands before shaking his head. “…that sounds dangerous.” He remarks, placing it back before glancing at the remaining one: the shield. Walking up to the shield, Sora gently grabs it and holds it in both hands just as the voice once more returns.

            The power of the Guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all.

            “A shield…” Sora comments quietly before nodding his head. “…then, this is the one I’ll go for!” At that, the shield vanishes into light, shocking Sora as the particles flow into his arm.

            Your path is set, Sora. Now, what will you give up in exchange?

            “Give up?” Sora asks, looking at the two remaining weapons as he thinks to himself. If he were being honest, his initial thought would be to give up the staff and keep the sword. But that quote about it being a weapon of terrible destruction left a bad feeling in his mouth, while the staff could be used for wonder and not just ruin. When he thought about it like that, it made his choice a bit easier as he walked over to the sword and grabbed it. “I’ll give up the sword.”

            Very well. At that, the sword vanished into light as the partials floated up into the sky. So, you have chosen the path of the Guardian and rejected that of the Warrior. How fitting for you.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?” Sora asks, irritated, right as the platform under him suddenly collapses. The other two platforms also give way as the entire floor starts to shake before the glass suddenly shatters right under Sora’s feet, sending him plummeting down into the darkness. But not for long, as another platform soon comes into view.

A deep purple one, with the visage of a woman with brown hair wearing a deep white dress with a castle behind her.

            “Wasn’t expecting that…” Sora comments as he gently lands on the platform before his right hand suddenly glows with light. The shield he had chosen earlier appears in his hand with a comfortable weight.

            You’ve gained the power to fight. The voice echoes as Sora gives his arm a swing, finding it a bit awkward to fight with such a weapon, but hey, it’s what he chose. He gives the shield a few swings, finding it awkward to wield in his usual stance, but a few swings were all it took for him to get used to it. Impressive. It would seem you have a handle on it. Do not be afraid to use this power to shield the ones you care about.

            “If you say so.” Sora replies, falling out of his stance before noting a shadow forming on the floor. “Um… what is that?” He asks, watching as the shadow pulls itself up from the ground, casting no shadow as it looks up at him with yellow eyes. It was smaller than him, only about up to his waist, but it and its buddy still looked menacing to him.

            There will be times when you will have to fight. No matter what, keep your light burning strong, and you will prevail.

            “Huh?” Sora asks, watching as one of them leaps at him. Instinctively, he brings the shield up, managing to hit and knock it to the ground. Following up, Sora bashes it two more times, the final hit a wind-up backward swing, managing to shatter the creature into dust. Its two buddies, seeing their friend die, merge with the floor and vanish. “Heh… not so tough, are you?” Sora asks, feeling a sense of pride.

Only for him to not realise one of the creatures had appeared behind him

            Behind you!

The voice yells, forcing Sora to spin as the creature jumps right into the shield. It bounces off, leaving it vulnerable as Sora finishes it off. Never drop your guard, Sora. Your foes will always seek to ambush you.

            “I’ll keep that in mind…” Sora replies, shaking his head, only to notice a puddle of darkness form on the floor, quickly multiplying until the entire platform was covered in darkness. With one final portal opening up under him, dragging him under, even as Sora tried to fight back.

As Sora continued to fight back, his vision soon became unclouded, leaving him sprawled out on the floor of another platform, with a single door illuminated by the light. “What now?” He asks, walking up to the door. “Do I go through here?” As he lays a hand on it, the door jumps open, blinding Sora with a beam of light as he feels himself getting teleported around. As the light clears, he finds himself standing on a wooden platform with fences connected to a giant tree with green and purple leaves. The sound of waves gently rolling along the beach catches his ears as the gentle wind blows past his face.

            “I’m back on the island? But I fell asleep on the beach.” Sora asks, looking over to where he fell asleep, only to notice he wasn’t alone. Around him were three of his friends he knew from childhood: a young blond boy, a girl with light brown hair, and a taller boy holding a white and blue ball.

            It would seem the door will not open just yet…

            “What are you talking about?” Sora asks, looking up at the sky.

            It would seem there is another task you must do. Please… tell me more about yourself. Things that I do not know.

            “Things you don’t know? What do you know about me?” Sora asks but gets no reply. “Great.” He moans, casting a glance at the girl. “Well, might as well start with Selphie…” He comments, walking up to her, expecting a usual cheery conversation from her. But instead, all he got was a question.

            “What’s most important to you?” Selphie asks, giving Sora a moment to pause.

            What’s most important? He asks himself, thinking hard. Well, being Number One is one thing, but that’s more Riku’s thing. My prized possessions are also important, but if I had to pick something… “…It’s friendship, especially my friends and the trust I have with my friends.” 

            “Is that really such a big deal?” Selphie asks before vanishing. Sora blinks in surprise, shaking his head before walking over to the boy with the ball. Wakka.

            “What do you want outta life?” Wakka asks Sora as he once more thinks hard.

            What do I want most out of life? Well, I want to see rare sights and broaden my horizons. But… if I want to do all of that, then… “…I want to be strong.” 

            “To be strong, huh?” Wakka asks before he, too, vanishes into particles of light. Leaving Sora even more puzzled as he looks at the last person waiting for him. The only other person who could stand up to him and Riku in a sword fight. Tidus.

            “What are you afraid of?” Tidus asks as Sora once again finds himself going into deep thought.

            What am I afraid of? Well, getting old is the big one. But so is being different from everyone else. But… I guess, at the end of the day, I’m scared… “…Of being indecisive.” 

            “Being indecisive? Is it really that scary?” Tidus asks before he, like the other two, vanishes into particles of light.

            “What was all that about?” Sora asks as he looks over the Destiny Islands.

            Your friendship and your bonds are important to you. You want to be strong. You are scared of being indecisive. Such fitting answers from you, Sora.

            “I just said what came naturally to me.” Sora replies as the voice lets out a chuckle.

            So you did. But do not be at ease. For your journey begins in the dead of night. Your road will not be easy, but a rising sun awaits your journey’s end. The day you open the door is both very near and very far.

            “You’re not making sense here…” Sora groans, just as his vision flashes with light once more. Finding himself on yet another platform, this time orange, with another woman with blonde hair in a dress, holding a red rose as thorns wrap around the platform’s edge. “Okay… now what?” Sora asks, looking around the platform just as insect noises start chittering around. Looking at the floor, he is shocked to see nine of those small creatures surrounding him in a circle as he summons the shield to his side. “Aw… come on!” Sora shouts, exasperated, just as one of them leaps at his back.

Sensing the coming attack, Sora spins on his feet and bashes the shadow away with his shield before hitting another with a three-hit combo. He manages to take one out and send another two flying from the final swing, only to feel a hit on his left leg as one of the creatures manages to get a hit on him before retreating into the floor.

Moving quickly to avoid another one jumping at him, Sora manages to hit two more with a three-hit combo, destroying them while sending one more flying before dodging out of the way of another jumping attack, only to get hit in his right arm by another as it sinks into the ground. Feeling his frustration getting to him, Sora goes on the offensive, taking the creatures by surprise and managing to take out four more, leaving only three left as they slink around the floor, trying to confuse him.

As Sora watches the ground, one of them moves behind him and tries to jump onto his back, only to find itself on Sora’s shield. The other two, seeing the opening, attempt to attack Sora, only to soon find their friend being thrown into them as Sora unleashes one final combo on them, taking them out with one final swing as he stands there panting.

            “That… was rough.” He admits, rubbing his leg but feeling no mark. “Huh? But… I felt that claw hit me…”

            This place is not reality. Injuries you feel here do no lasting harm, but they feel real. The voice echoes around Sora as a staircase of multicoloured stained-glass panels appears at the other end, leading up to another circular platform. With no other option, Sora heads up the flat staircase, finding himself on a platform with a golden orange surface. A woman in a deep yellow dress with light yellow highlights and brown hair stands there, accompanied by what looks to be a massive beast covered in brown fur with horns, wearing a torn but regal purple cloak.

            “How long is this going to last?” Sora asks, walking to the centre of the platform as a light shines down from above. “And where is this light coming from?”

            You should be careful, Sora. For the closer you get to the light, the darker your shadow will become.

            “My shadow?” Sora asks, turning around to look at it, only to see it stretching from where he stood, which was just past the centre of the platform, all the way to the edge. And it moved to face him before separating itself from the floor. “Whoa!” Sora shouts, seeing his shadow turn into a giant, only for its body to change. Its hands became clawed, its feet long and skinny, its face covered in dark tendrils while it glared down at Sora with bright yellow eyes. A large heart-shaped hole appeared in its chest, and small dark wings appeared on its back.

Feeling fear fill his veins, Sora turns and runs, only to stop himself as he reaches the edge of the platform. Turning back to the giant creature that was once his shadow, Sora summoned the shield to his side as the creature bore down on him.

            Do not be afraid… And don’t forget…

The voice echoes in his mind as the creature charges up energy in its right hand before slamming it down on the platform. A shockwave radiates out from the hit, forcing Sora to jump as more of the smaller creatures emerge from the dark portal and advance on Sora. Seeing them approaching him, Sora moves to take out the small creatures, using his shield to attack them just as the creature pulls its hand from the ground.

Just as Sora finishes off the last one, the giant shadow kneels, crossing its arms before charging up energy in its chest. Unleashing a blast of energy towards Sora, who either dodges out of the incoming shots or knocks back the ones he can’t hit. Sending them flying back at the giant's face, yet doing nothing to him even as one of the orbs slams into his back.

            “This isn’t working!” Sora tells himself as the creature stops its attack and stands back up slowly. “How do I beat it?” He looks at the creature, seeing the glowing eyes stare back at him as a lightbulb goes off above his head. “Maybe if I strike its face… but how do I get up there?” As Sora ponders what to do, the creature charges up energy in its hand again before slamming it down to the ground. As Sora jumps over it, he notices the hand is still embedded in the ground. And that gives him an idea.

            “I hope this works!” He shouts, rushing towards the hand even as the smaller creatures appear from the portal. Jumping over them, Sora lands on the hand and runs up along the arm towards the face, which continues to look back at him with an unimpressed gaze. “You’re open!” Sora shouts, slamming his shield at the head three times as the monster groans in pain, forcing it to stand and knocking Sora off him as the small shadows vanish.

            “Not so tough now, are you?!” Sora shouts back, seeing a way to beat this thing, only for his shield to vanish into light. “Wha—!?” He shouts before jumping back as the creature pounds its hands into the ground. The vibrations cause Sora to fall to the ground as a dark portal opens up under him while the creature continues to glare at him. Dark tendrils emerge from the portal and grasp around him; he fights to escape it. But the pull is too strong as a dark mist swarms over him just as he starts to lose consciousness. But before he passes out, the voice echoes in his mind one more time.

            —You hold the mightiest weapon of all. So don’t forget: You are the one who will open the door.

The sound of crashing waves and cries of seagulls awoke Sora as he opened his eyes with drowsiness. He could feel the soft, warm sand under his hands as he pushed himself up, looking out at the calm blue sea before him. What a dream… He thinks to himself, letting out a yawn while stretching his arms before letting himself fall backwards. But just as he thought about taking another snooze, he found someone else looking down at him, with auburn red hair and similar blue eyes to his own, wearing a cheeky smile as Sora suddenly found himself a lot more awake. And it happened to be the one he had a secret crush on.

            “Whoa!” He shouts, shooting straight up as the girl chuckles at him. “Give me a break, Kairi.” He says in a semi-joking manner as Kairi puts her hands behind her back. She is wearing a sleeveless white top with a black one underneath, while a purple skirt is worn over a pair of purple bike shorts, held up with a dark blue belt. A purple band is covering her upper left arm, while a large yellow band covers her left wrist. On her right wrist are a pair of bracelets, one yellow and the other black, while her feet are protected in white shoes with purple soles. On her chest is a necklace with a pearl-like bead on the end, resting on a black choker around her neck.

            “Sora, you lazy bum. I knew that I’d find you snoozing down here.” She tells him in a teasing manner. She knew by now that if she couldn’t find Sora, he was having a nap on the beach.

            “No! This huge, black THING swallowed me up! I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t—ow!” A light bump to Sora’s head from Kairi stopped him from rambling on about his dream as she leaned down to look him in the eyes. She was still wearing a teasing look on her face, although now it was mixed with some scrutinising.

            “Are you still dreaming?” She asks him, seeing the look on his face.

            “It wasn’t a dream! Or was it? I don’t know.” Sora tells her, looking down at the sand with a confused look on his face. “What was that place? So bizarre…. And that voice as well.”

            “Yeah, sure.” Kairi replies, walking past him towards the water, stopping just at where the water flows against the shore.

            “Say, Kairi, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up?” Sora asks her, turning to look at her while sitting on the sand. Kairi lets out a laugh at his question, as though she had been asked this question a hundred times.

            “I’ve told you before. I don’t remember.” She replies in good nature as her eyes gaze into the distance.

            “Nothing at all?” Sora asks again, with Kairi shaking her head once more.

            “Nothing.” She tells him, seemingly at peace with not being able to remember her home. Something that surprised Sora, since he figured he would be yearning to know about where he came from.

            “You ever want to go back?” Sora asks curiously. Sure, she might not be bothered about not being able to remember it, but she had to be at least curious as to where she came from. And judging by the hum she gave him, it was something she had thought about as well.

            “Well, I’m happy here.” Kairi tells him, with Sora shaking his head at her. “But you know… I wouldn’t mind going to see it.” She quickly adds, looking over her shoulder at him with a smile.

            “I’d like to see it too.” Sora tells her with a smile. “Along with any other worlds out there! I want to see ‘em all!”

            “So what are we waiting for?” Kairi asks him, spinning on her feet to look at him. It had always been their dream to explore beyond the islands and see what else lay out there beyond the ocean. But they weren’t the only two wanting to explore.

            “Hey, aren’t you guys forgetting about me?” A third, slightly more mature voice joins them, with the two teens looking behind them. There was a boy, one year older than both of them, with silver hair that reached his shoulders while his aquamarine eyes looked at both of them with an inquisitive look. As for what he was wearing, it was a yellow and black tank top with black straps over his chest and back, making two X patterns on both sides, while his hands were encased in black gloves that covered only up to his palms, with two matching armbands over his wrists. A pair of bright blue, baggy pants were connected to a second, darker pair underneath by black straps, similar to the ones over his chest, while black straps were tied around his ankles, and his feet were in a pair of white and blue shoes.

            “So, I guess I’m the only one working on the raft.” Riku comments, tossing the log he was holding on to Sora, who failed to catch it, as Kairi giggled at him. “And you are just as lazy as he is!” Riku tells her, walking up and placing his hands on his hips in a joking manner.

            “So you noticed?” Kairi asks, pushing some hair back as Riku sits on the sand while Sora pushes the log off him. “Okay, we’ll finish it together. I’ll race you!” 

            “Huh?” 

            “What, are you kidding?” Sora and Riku reply, both feigning exhaustion at the suggestion. But Kairi knew these two better if the subtle twitching of their legs was anything to go by. When it came to competitions, these two couldn’t help themselves.

            “Ready? GO!” No sooner do the words leave her mouth than the two boys jump to their feet and dash into a sprint towards the back of the island, where they were building the raft. All the while, the three friends laughed their way there, imaginations racing to what awaited them on the other side of the ocean.

And unaware of what destiny had in store for them.

Ren didn’t know what happened when he felt himself stir awake. All he could remember was those final moments before he was sucked into that strange orb. Even as he opened his eyes to find himself in a room with primarily green highlights, all Ren could think about was what had even happened to Japan or where he was now currently.

            “Urgh… where am I?” He asks, pushing himself up and shaking his head.

            “You’re in a world called Traverse Town.” A voice echoes to his left side, drawing his eyes. Leaning on the wall opposite him and next to a door with a clock above it was a tall man with a scar over his face and long brown hair, wearing a short leather jacket over a white tank top with black gloves, black trousers with three brown belts over his left forearm, two more brown belts over his waist with a black belt for good measure, and black shoes. While resting on his chest was a silver necklace with what looked to be a silver lion and a cross under it.

            “Traverse Town?” Ren asks, shaking his head. He had never heard of any place on Earth called that before. The man grunts, pushing himself off the wall and motioning to him.

            “You can walk, right? I’ll take you to the others.” He replies in an almost cool manner, as though nothing could really bother him. But it was what he said that got Ren’s attention.

            “Others? You mean my family?” He asks, pushing himself off the bed. That seemed to cause the man’s eyes to widen slightly, as his mouth almost morphed into a tiny smile before retaining his calm, passive look.

            “If you are talking about an old man, four girls, and a cat, then that’s them.” He replies, opening the other door in the room. Without wasting a beat, Ren followed him outside into a corridor with five more doors. Two were made of glass and brown wood that led out of what he assumed was a small hotel, and three other doors were coloured red, blue, and yellow. But as Ren followed the man outside, he wasn’t prepared to see what this ‘town’ looked like. The doors they exited led them to a stone walkway that connected itself to what Ren assumed was a white church, while the other path led to a pair of giant wooden doors before circling around to some stairs. A large fountain rested near the stairs with a mural on the front, while shops were dotted along the path. From what he could see, it looked as though two alleyways led out of the large stone courtyard before him. As Ren followed the man to the wooden doors, he took a moment to glance up at the sky, seeing the night sky above him. However, one of the stars in the sky suddenly blinked out of existence, causing him to pause

            “A star vanished?” He asks out loud, grabbing the man’s attention as he looks back at him, about to usher him on. Until his eyes widen at what is behind him.

            “Look out!” He shouts, rushing at him as a weapon appears in his right hand in a flash of light. Ren looks behind him, seeing one of those creatures from before appear out of the ground and jump at him just as the man rushes past him and slashes it in two. Allowing Ren a chance to look at his weapon, which looks to be a combination of a revolver cylinder and handle with a solid sword blade. Certainly a more interesting weapon he has seen in his time, before a sound from behind him grabs his attention.

Another one of those creatures has appeared and is already moving to attack him. The man has seemingly noticed as well and is moving to help him, but Ren has a different plan in mind. In all honesty, he isn’t even sure if this will work since, to his eyes, this place does NOT look like the Metaverse or even FEEL like it. But he has to try no matter what!

            “Persona!” He cries with all his might, willing his other self to appear. For a second, it felt like nothing would happen until the Flames of Rebellion flowed over him. As the creature jumped at him, a demonic hand reached out and grabbed it, surprising the man who was running to his aid as Ren’s Persona formed behind him, just as his Thief attire emerged from the flames, turning him back into Joker. But even as Joker felt his Persona easily taking it out, something inside him felt… strange. A mental dive into his heart found that the roster that had been with him since EMMA’s defeat was no longer there! And the blade in his hand was not Paradise Lost R that had seen him through many fights, but was now the knife he first started out with. But what was most shocking of all was… 

            “…Arsène?” He asks in complete surprise, seeing his other self has reverted back to his initial form. Even the man who helped looked at him with shock. “How did this happen? Why are you not Raoul?”

            “It would appear that something happened to us when that orb of darkness swallowed us.” Arsène replies, looking himself over. “Whatever that sphere was, it has drained us of our power. We are now only as strong as we were when you first awakened. And I fear we are not the only ones…”

            “Well… It looks like you are not a normal person.” The man comments, resting his weapon on his shoulder as Joker looks at him. “Still, this is no place to talk. C’mon.” With that, he walks past Joker as Arsène returns to him, before the flames wash over him and return him to normal. Needless to say, Ren had a lot of questions running through his mind right now, but those could wait until he was reunited with his family. Although he would be lying if he wasn’t worried that no one else was apparently here. Just what had happened? As Ren followed the man into the next area, he was briefly taken aback by how the lighting in the area got brighter. While the last area seemed to be in a dark blue hue, this area felt like it was in a deep orange glow, probably due to what was used to build everything. As Ren continued to follow the man into an open courtyard with two lampposts and two more large wooden doors, he was shocked to find something waiting for him the moment they approached.

            “Leblanc? How is it here?” Ren asks, shaking his head in shock at seeing the café before him. The man looks at him, face expressionless, as he rests a hand on the door.

            “It appeared the moment you guys did.” He says bluntly as he opens it, the iconic jingle echoing as a chippy voice calls out to him.

            “Yo, Leon! About time you got here with the tagalong!” A female voice calls out as Ren follows in after him, only to soon get tackled by a familiar set of long orange hair.

            “Ren! You’re safe!” Futaba shouts as she hugs him, with Sophia, Hifumi, and Morgana quickly following her and hugging Ren while Sojiro and Isara look at him with relieved expressions. And much to Ren’s relief, there are no visible injuries on anyone. Although Morgana was still a cat, so whatever was going on didn’t turn him into his Metaverse form permanently.

            “I’m just glad that all of you are safe.” Ren replies with some exhaustion in his voice, rubbing Sophia’s head. “But is it only just you guys? Where is everyone else? And how is Leblanc here?”

            “We don’t know.” Isara replies, shaking her head. “Sophia and I are unable to connect to anything that is Kirijo-related, and our phones aren’t working either. I think it’s safe to say we’re not in Japan any more.” 

            “As for why Leblanc is here, I have no idea.” Sojiro comments, shaking his head before looking at the stairs. “And that’s not explaining why there are so many rooms up those stairs now. Hell, it’s like our house and the café have become one, with room to spare for everyone.”

            “You’re not even in your homeworld any more either.” Leon replies, leaning against the wall as the girl who called out to him, who was wearing a green top exposing her midriff and shoulders, held up only by two blue belts over her shoulders. Brown fingerless gloves covered her hands, while a black net stocking ran up both arms, stopping halfway up past her elbows and held in place by metal straps. A yellow scarf hung around her neck, while very short tank shorts with a loose blue belt covered her hips, and long white socks ran up halfway to her thighs. Topped off with brown shoes covering her feet.

            “What do you even mean by that?” Hifumi asks as they break the hug around Ren, although Sophia is staying very close to her adoptive father. Not that he could blame her after what had happened. “What exactly happened to us?” Leon lets out a long sigh as he folds his arms, gesturing to the seats around Leblanc. Something that Sojiro took note of as he started making up some coffee and curry, with Ren and Hifumi moving around to help him instinctively.

            “You might want to sit down. It is a long story…” He replies before looking at Ren with curiosity. “And that's not even mentioning what it is you did back in the second district.”

It had been a long day for Sora and his friends, finding the remaining materials needed to finish up their raft. It didn’t help that Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie all challenged Sora at four different times during the day, even trying to gang up on him three-on-one. But he managed to beat them despite the close shave of the fight. Still, he couldn’t even come close to beating Riku when he tried challenging him, something that sort of left a sore spot on him. But he had to admit that Riku was the best sword fighter out of them, with Tidus right behind Sora.

But for now, none of that mattered. After all, it was just for fun as Sora, Riku, and Kairi either sat on the paopu tree looking at the setting sun. Their dream of setting out for new worlds was closer than ever with the raft fully built. Tomorrow would be the day they finished getting provisions for their trip. But there was something Sora did have to ask as they watched the sun set beyond the horizon

            “So, Kairi’s home is out there somewhere, right?”

            “Could be.” Riku replies, arms folded as he leans on the tree trunk. While Sora and Kairi sat on the tree next to each other. “We’ll never know staying here.” While that was something Sora and Kairi could agree with, there was something that they both couldn’t help but wonder about.

            “But how far could a raft take us?” Sora decided to ask. It was something he did wonder about as they built it, even if it made the most logical sense, seeing how they were surrounded by water.

            “Who knows?” Riku replies, throwing a hand up almost dismissively. Almost as though he never even thought about that or knew something else. “If we have to, we’ll think of something else.” It wasn’t a very reassuring answer for Sora, but he has known Riku for all his life, and that goes a long way with trusting him. If he was confident about this, then that was fine.

            “So, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?” Kairi asks Riku through a giggle. Instead of instantly replying, Riku pauses, thinking over the question, his gaze at the setting sun. Sora and Kairi look at each other, a little bit surprised at how Riku doesn’t instantly reply to her like he usually would. And when his answer came, it wasn’t what they were expecting.

            “Well, I haven’t really thought about it. It’s just… I’ve always wondered why we are here on this island.” His gaze glides over to the right, looking at the main island in the distance where they all lived and went to school. “If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose that there are other worlds… then ours is just a little piece of something much greater. So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right??” 

            “I don’t know.” Sora replies, leaning against the tree. To be honest, Riku had been like this for the past ten years, always looking out at the horizon for some reason or another. 

            “Exactly. That’s why we need to go out there and find out.” Riku replies, pushing himself off the tree and walking to the edge of the small island they were on, connected to the main play island by a wooden bridge. “Just sitting here won’t change a thing. It’s the same old stuff. So let's go.” 

            “You’ve been thinking a lot lately, haven’t you?” Kairi asks Riku, hearing just how serious he is.

            “Thanks to you.” Riku replies, looking at Kairi. “If you hadn’t come here, I probably would never have thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks.” Kairi blinks, caught off guard by Riku’s reply as she gives a nervous thanks in return. Eventually, the trio of friends decided it was time to return home as they made their way back over the bridge. But as they did so, Riku called out to Sora before tossing him a yellow star-shaped fruit.

            “You wanted one, didn’t you?” Riku asks with a teasing tone as Sora looks it over.

            “A paopu fruit…?” he asks, puzzled, as Riku walks past him with a teasing grin.

            “If two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. They’ll remain a part of each other’s lives no matter what. C’mon, I know you want to try it.” Riku tells him, his left hand pointing down at the beach.

            “What are you talking—” Sora replies, his eyes following Riku’s hand until they land on Kairi. He could instantly feel his face going red as Riku laughed at him in amusement. He always did manage to make fun of his crush on her, much to his annoyance, as he tossed the paopu fruit into the ocean. “That’s not cool, Riku!” Sora shouts, running after him as Riku takes off. The two friends rush to the boats while Riku laughs back at Sora, as Kairi looks at the two of them with a confused expression.

Just what did she miss?

Meanwhile, in a giant castle that towered into the sky, covered in blue roofs that pointed upwards like spears and lined with gold, yet somehow appeared to be stuck in the middle of wobbling like jelly, an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow beak and feet walked along a giant white hallway lined with a red carpet and golden trim. Wearing a dark blue wizard hat with a wide brim and gold lining, the tip curled in a very angular fashion. He wore a long navy jacket, very strange for what appeared to be a mage, with a blue addition to the bottom that covered the lower half of his body. The sleeves were long and resembled those of a sweater, sporting vertical creases. Two large yellow buttons lay on the front, with a gold-lined pattern of ovals on the lower half and a blue belt tie around the waist.

As he walked, or waddled, along the carpet, five sentient brooms with hands, each one holding two buckets of water, walked past him before he came to a stop before a pair of very large purple doors with a symbol on both of them: a black circle with two similar-sized ones on top that looked to be ears. The duck cleared his throat before knocking on the door in a specific pattern and opening up a much smaller and normally sized door as he entered a vast throne room, with two giant statues at the far end, one depicting a wizard like himself and the other a knight who looked to be an anthropomorphic dog.

            “Good morning, Your Majesty!” The duck shouts, walking along the red carpet towards the single golden throne on a brown platform just before the statues. “It’s nice to see you this morn—” The duck pauses, for instead of seeing his liege sitting on the throne waiting for him, all he finds is an empty throne. “What!?” 

As the duck’s words echo around him, a yellow dog with long black ears, a black nose, and a green collar appears around the throne, holding a green envelope in his mouth. “Pluto? What is that you got there?” The duck asks as the dog, Pluto, runs up to him and hands over the letter, his long, thin black tail swaying behind him. The duck opens the letter, scanning its contents three times before doing the only thing he can do.

“WWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!”

With a loud cry, the duck ran out of the throne room in a panic, startling the brooms as he sprinted past them, knocking one of the buckets of water onto a broom. The brooms all looked at each other before the one that lost its bucket went back for another one. As for the duck, he continued to run through the corridor before bounding down the stairs and bursting into a giant garden filled with bushes in the shape of more anthropomorphic animals playing instruments, while a large hedge in the shape of a castle stood in the middle, surrounded by flowers in a multicoloured pattern of yellow, orange, lilac, and green. Sleeping in front of it on the yellow flowers was an anthropomorphic black dog with a large mouth, tiny black nose, and long black ears.

Sleeping with a small knight-like helmet on his head with a curved blade on the top while wearing armour over his body, though most of it is on his left side, leaving his right side mostly exposed except for a metal armlet on his upper arm and a white glove on his hand. His left arm sports the same armlet but includes several more pieces of armour, such as a pauldron over his left shoulder, a thick, cylindrical gauntlet covering most of the rest of his arm, and a metal glove. A sleeveless, orange shirt with a high, yellow collar covers his chest, and over this, he is wearing an oblong, blue piece of clothing over his right half, held on by a black strap attached by yellow, star-shaped buttons. He wears a thick, metal belt around his waist with two blue straps looping around the back of it. Baggy and orange pants with a noticeable seam down the front of each leg make up the rest of his attire, with the bottom of the legs being black with gold lining. Lastly, his large shoes are made of metal and curl upwards.

            “Wake up, Goofy, wake up! This is serious!!” The duck shouts, sliding to a halt next to Goofy, only to get a snore in response. Annoyed by his long-time friend’s response, the duck points a finger to the sky and summons a bolt of lightning at Goofy, shocking him awake with a startled yelp. As Goofy pushes himself up with drowsy eyes, he finally turns to look at the duck with a large smile.

            “Hey there, Donald. G’morning.” He greets him cheerfully, but Donald is anything but cheerful.

            “We’ve got a problem here, Goofy! But don’t tell anyone…” Donald tells him, holding up a finger over his mouth, only for Goofy to raise an eyebrow at him.

            “Queen Minnie?” He asks, only for Donald to shake his head.

            “Not even the Queen.” 

            “Daisy?” Goofy asks again, his eyes going wide.

            “No, it’s top secret!” Donald tells him, leaning forward with narrow eyes, only to find out that Goofy wasn’t looking at him.

            “G’morning, ladies!” Goofy calls, looking BEHIND Donald, who suddenly goes as stiff as a statue. Feeling the gaze of two very important people, he slowly turns around, only to see a female duck dressed up in a purple gown with lilac and violet highlights and white gloves, with a golden tiara, and a female mouse wearing a crown with a red symbol in the form of her head, sporting a light pink gown with red details and a giant red ribbon on her back and white gloves. The female duck, Daisy, gives him an unimpressed look while the mouse, Queen Minnie, tilts her head at Donald, who only chuckles back nervously. But as he felt that his goose was cooked, a cry came out from behind them.

            “Your Majesty! We’ve got trouble!” Another anthropomorphic dog knight came running in, dressed in the same style of gear as Goofy, only with blue being his dominant colour with white decals.

            “Maxie? What’s wrong?” Goofy asks, seeing his son rush up to him with an alertness in every step.

            “A group of people just appeared right outside the castle! Around eleven of them along with a dog! It happened right after a star vanished as well!” And all of a sudden, whatever hot water Donald was in suddenly became irrelevant.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: Fall of Destiny Islands.

September 21^st, 2017

It was day two of getting ready for their adventure, and the raft was all ready to go! There was only one problem: they didn’t have enough provisions for the trip. Of course, that wasn’t helped when Riku challenged Sora to a race so they could name the raft. They were an island people, so it was customary to name all of their boats, even rafts. Sora wanted to go for Excalibur, while Riku chose Highwind. And it ended up with the two of them racing each other to decide on the name—a race that Sora lost by a hair's breadth.

            “Dang it, Riku… why did you have to throw me off by saying the winner got to share a paopu with Kairi?” Sora grumbles as he grasps a large bag over his back. “If it was a joke, you could have said so.” He shakes his head, focusing on his tasks as he double-checks the bags. “Okay… Riku is handling the fish and coconuts we need while Kairi is getting us drinking water. I got us some eggs we could have and a lot of mushrooms as well.” He glances up at the nearby waterfall, the water pooling into a small pool next to the large tree that dominates the play island, along with a secret path. “I wonder if I can find more in there?” He asks himself, grabbing another small bag and heading to a foliage of leaves.

Pushing the leaves out of his face, he finds a small tunnel formed in the side of the rock that the tree had grown both around and into. He shakes his head for a moment, seeing how small it is, before he kneels and makes his way inside. Sure, he banged his head a few times and scraped up against the rocks a bit, but soon enough, it opened up to a more reasonable height.

            “I haven’t been down here in years…” Sora tells himself as he enters a small cavern. Several tree roots spiral down from the ceiling, while a large wooden door with a golden decal is embedded at the far end. “Still don’t know what’s behind that…” Sora remarks, remembering how that door had been there for as long as he could remember. But before he could start looking for any more mushrooms, his eyes wandered around the walls of the cave, seeing the countless drawings that he, Kairi, and Riku had drawn back when they were small enough to fit in here. He couldn’t help but smile at the nostalgia as he started work, picking up what few mushrooms were in here.

            “That looks to be the last one.” Sora remarks, kneeling next to the door and picking up the last bundle of mushrooms. But as he stuffed them inside the bag, his gaze fell on the rock wall before him. A soft gasp left his mouth before he formed a sad smile. The drawing in question? A very well-done picture of his face and a poorly drawn one of Kairi’s, both of them facing each other with smiles.

            “I forgot that we even did that…” Sora replies, resting a hand on the drawing of Kairi’s face as he flashes back to when they were only five. It was the last space of the cavern that had not been drawn on, and the two of them decided to draw each other’s faces for fun. Sora always felt bad at how bad his art skills were back then, even if Kairi told him it was fine. Deciding to do a little addition, Sora grabs a small piece of rock and starts scratching away. His art skills had gotten much better in the nine years since he last drew that picture, so he was quite pleased with what he left as he dropped the rock. It was him giving a paopu fruit to Kairi.

            “Yeah… Like I’d ever have the courage to do that.” Sora tells himself, shaking his head with a sad sigh. But just as he started to let the memories of the past cloud his vision, a gust of wind from behind alerted him that he wasn’t alone. “Wh-Who’s there?” He asks, standing tall and reaching a hand for the toy wooden sword on his belt. Whoever it was that was watching him, they were standing in the shadows of the cave.

            “I’ve come to see the door to this world.” Sora tilts his head, confused at who he thinks is a man. “This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness… soon to be completely eclipsed.”

            “Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this.” Sora tells him, shaking his head as the man chuckles at him. Stepping out of the shadows to reveal that he was covered completely in a brown robe with brown belts crossed over his chest. Although… he didn’t really look human. Something that Sora instantly caught on to. “W-Where did you come from? I’ve never seen you on the island!”

            “You do not yet know what lies beyond the door.” The man replies instead of answering Sora, as though it should be obvious where he came from, with Sora catching on quickly.

            “So, you’re from another world!” Sora exclaims, but his voice is slightly subdued. The robed man seems to nod his head at Sora as though he is amused by him.

            “There is so very much to learn. You understand so little.” That rubbed Sora the wrong way as he felt his anger rising. Of course, he didn’t know anything beyond his own world; he didn’t even know what kind of worlds were out there in the first place!

            “Oh yeah? Well, you’ll see. I’m gonna get out and learn what’s out there!” Sora declares, his eyes narrowing as the man only chuckles at him as though he is an idiot.

            “A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.” The moment those words leave his lips, a ghostly wail echoes from the door, catching Sora’s attention. He looks at it, feeling a strange presence from the other side before looking back at the man, only to find him gone, with no trace of him being there left.

            “What was that all about?” Sora asks, picking up the bag full of mushrooms and heading for the exit. But as he does, he can feel something is wrong in the air around him. Almost like… this would be the last peaceful day he would have in a long time.

The sun was starting to fall beyond the horizon once more as Riku headed back to the main island, leaving Sora and Kairi by themselves on the pier, watching the sun set as the excitement for tomorrow built up inside them. They had already got everything they needed for the trip safely stored on the raft, so all that was left was casting off! But even as they sat there, watching the sky, Kairi couldn’t help but make an observation.

            “You know, Riku has changed.” She comments to Sora, who looks at her.

            “What do you mean?” He asks. If he was being honest, he did notice some changes in Riku over the past few days, but nothing that worried him. However, going by the uncertain look on Kairi’s face, it appeared that she didn’t really agree with that idea. “You okay?” He asks her, concern in his voice.

            “Sora, let's take the raft and go—just the two of us!” Kairi suddenly shouts, surprising Sora, who suddenly finds himself with slightly red cheeks. Only for Kairi to let out a giggle as she shakes her head. “Just kidding.”

            “What’s gotten into you?” Sora asks, letting out his own chuckle at her as she playfully pushes his shoulder. “You’re the one who’s changed, Kairi.”

            “Maybe…” She admits, pushing some hair back. “You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I’m ready. No matter where I go or what I see, I know I can always come back here. Right?” She looks at him with a smile, one that Sora returns eagerly.

            “Yeah, of course!”

            “That’s good. Sora, don’t ever change.” Sora tilts his head at Kairi, a little bit confused by that request. What did she mean by ‘don’t ever change’? Not that Kairi would tell him as she stood up on the pier, looking at the setting sun. “I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.”

            “Yeah. It will be.” Sora agrees as the two look towards the setting sun, knowing it would be the last time they would see this view from the island for a long time. For tomorrow, a new adventure awaited them.

Donald.

Sorry to rush off without sayin’ goodbye. But there is big trouble brewin’. Not sure why, but the stars have been blinkin’ out, one by one. And that means disaster can’t be that far behind. I hate to leave you all but I’ve gotta go check it out.

There’s someone with a ‘key’—the key to our survival. So I need you and Goofy to find him, and stick with him. Got it? We need that key or we’re doomed! So go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He’ll point you in the right direction.

P.S. Would ya apologise to Minnie for me? Thanks, pal

Mickey.

            “Oh, dear! What could this mean?” Daisy asks Minnie, who is holding the letter in her hands with a worried look. For Mickey to take off like this so suddenly with only a letter left behind… things had to be really bad for him to take action.

            “It means we’ll just have to trust the king.” She says resolutely, even if there is a tinge of sadness in her voice. She looks up at Max, the young knight standing next to his dad. “How are our guests?”

            “Clarabelle is looking after them right now, Your Majesty. But, they are still out cold.” Max tells her, with Minnie letting out a sigh. “Still, can’t help but be curious about them. I mean, one of them looks to be a robot!”

            “We can ask more about them when they awaken. For now, we should let them rest.” Daisy tells Max before shaking her head. “After all… it is possible that they have just lost their home if they arrived the moment a star vanished.”

            “Gawrsh, I hope King Mickey is alright.” Goofy comments, resting a finger on his chin. Donald looks up at Minnie, seeing the worry in her eyes as he gives her a salute.

            “Your Highness. Don’t worry. We’ll find the king and this ‘key’.” Minnie looks at him, giving him a grateful smile as she nods her head at Donald, who turns to look at Daisy. “Daisy, can you take care of the—”

            “Of course.” Daisy replies, cutting him off as she knows exactly what he is going to say. Goofy glances at Donald before looking back at Max and resting a hand on his shoulder

            “Maxie, look after the castle while I’m gone. Alright?”

            “You got it, Dad.” Max replies, patting Goofy on the back. “P.J., Bobby, and I will take care of this place. Just be careful out there, alright? You do have a habit of tripping over things.” Goofy lets out a chuckle at that while Donald just sighs in exasperation. As Minnie shakes her head, her eyes light up as she remembers something.

            “Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will accompany you.” She motions to the empty desk, with Donald blinking his eyes in puzzlement. Who was Minnie indicating to? Well, that answer soon became abundantly clear as a small figure jumped up and down on the spot on the table.

            “Over here!” The figure cries, an anthropomorphic cricket jumping in place before straightening out his yellow tie on his black gentleman suit with a red undercoat. “Cricket’s the name. Jiminy Cricket at your service.” He introduces himself, taking off his blue top hat and bowing to the duo. Minnie nods her head at him as he jumps onto Pluto; he walks over to Donald.

            “We hope for your safe return.” Minnie tells him as Max stands at her side and salutes him. “Please, help the king.” Donald salutes her in return, his eyes going from Max to Minnie, to Daisy, and then to Goofy standing next to her as he gives him a salute.

Hold up…

            “You’re coming, too!” Donald shouts, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him out of the study while Minnie and Daisy shake their heads fondly at them. As for Max, he was busy covering his face in embarrassment.

            “Gawrsh, Jiminy, your world disappeared, too?” Goofy asks the cricket who was now riding atop his helmet. The trio plus Pluto were making their way down a spiralling staircase leading deeper into the castle as Jiminy had just explained what had happened to him.

            “It was terrible. We were scattered. And as far as I can see, I’m the only one who made it to this castle.” Jiminy replies, shaking his head. “I dare say, that group that arrived after me was lucky to arrive together.”

            “Goofy? You remember what we talked about?” Donald suddenly asks, glancing back at Goofy, who tilts his head for a moment before snapping a finger

            “Oh, right… I gotcha. While we’re in other worlds, we can’t let on where we’re from. We’ve gotta protect the ‘World Border’.”

            “Order.” Donald quickly corrects while rolling his eyes.

            “Right. World Order.” Goofy replies with a chuckle while Donald lets out another exasperated sigh just as they come to a corridor leading to a steel door. “Guess we’ll need new duds when we get there, huh?”

            “That goes without saying.” Donald replies as the door opens, leading into a giant room that could be summed up as… chaotically complex. Gears spin around, machines whiz and whirl, and a giant golden trophy hangs on the wall while a small command station hovers over the area. Looking down on a large red spaceship with yellow decals, four small white wings, what looks to be a gun hanging from under it, two thrusters, and a cockpit with a 180° glass canopy with three seats inside. “No crashing the Gummi Ship this time, alright?”

            “Don’t worry. I’ll leave it on autopilot for the trip.” Goofy replies as Donald nods in satisfaction, waddling up to a yellow speaker horn.

            “Hello up there? Donald Duck to launch crew. Anytime you’re ready!” Up in the command room, two chipmunks, one with a black nose and the other with a red one and wearing almost identical aprons, get straight to work and activate the machinery around them. As the machinery kicks into overdrive, the giant hands moving about the room reach over and grab Donald and Goofy to transport them to the Gummi Ship. While upside down, Pluto just leaps inside.

Settling down inside the cockpit and making sure the canopy was fully secured, Donald activates the Gummi Ship as it hovers into position while a pair of giant doors opens up to reveal the launch tube. Just as Minnie and Daisy arrive to watch them go, Daisy gives Donald one last look, which he returns with a thumbs up and a wink. With that, the engines are primed, and the Gummi Ship prepares to launch.

            “Blast off!!” Donald cries, excitement evident in his voice. Only for a giant arrow pointing down to appear in the launch tube as a second tube opens up from under them. And all of a sudden, the ship somehow forgets how to hover as it plummets through the hole while Minnie and Daisy look on in bewilderment, while Donald and Goofy howl to the heavens.

            “Why do we even have that installed?” Daisy asks Minnie, who shrugs her shoulders with complete honesty as the duo’s voices become distant. This was something to ask Gizmo about when they next saw him, perhaps.

Night had fallen on Destiny Islands, and Sora was still wide awake on his bed. Listening to the sound of the waves rolling against the shore as he looked up at a wooden ship hovering from the ceiling, with two figures resting against the wooden rails, as Kairi’s words replayed in his mind.

I just can’t wait. Once we set sail, it’ll be great.

Sora smiled to himself, letting himself fall back on his bed before taking a moment to look out the window. He always had a great view of the play islands from where he lived, and tonight wouldn’t be any different. Only now there seemed to be a heavy cloud cover blocking out the stars and what looked to be lightning striking nearby.

            “A storm? That’s weird.” Sora commented before his eyes widened in shock. “Oh no! The raft!” Without even thinking, he opened up his windows and leapt out of his room. He swore he could hear his mom calling for him for dinner, but he would worry about skipping tea later. For now, he had a raft to save!

Which is why he wasted no time in jumping into his boat and starting to row out back to the island. Although the sea was starting to get a bit choppy, the wind was also starting to pick up. He could feel the beginning of rain start to fall around him. But he didn’t stop, rowing right up to the pier and hooking his boat, only to hear a deep rumble echo above him.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCQsyWaqBGo : Night of Fate)

            “What's that?” He asks, seeing a giant orb of darkness with a red core hovering above the island, seemingly sucking in anything that was nearby. Leaping onto the pier, he takes a moment to make sure it is properly connected, only to then realise he isn’t the only one here. “Riku’s boat. And Kairi’s! Are they here for the raft as well?” He looks back up, trying to see if any of them are nearby, only to find something else as dark shadows appear on the ground.

Sora’s eyes widen in shock as the shadows suddenly emerge from the ground, taking the form of the very creatures that he saw in his dream as they all turn their eyes at him. There are only three of them, yet more seem to appear around them as Sora grabs his wooden sword. One of the creatures jumps at him, forcing Sora to dodge as he takes a swing, only for his wooden sword to phase right through it.

            “What!?” He shouts before ducking under another one and tries again. Only for the same thing to happen as another creature leaps at him. Unable to dodge, Sora blocks it with his sword, only to be knocked back as the creature easily rips it in two. With his options slowly dwindling, Sora turns for the seaside shack as more of the creatures appear around him. But as he runs, he sees Riku just standing on the paopu island, completely unbothered by everything, just as he gets inside the shack and closes the door.

            “What’s going on!?” Sora shouts, shaking his head and the few specks of water from the rain. Thunder echoes outside as the sound of rain starts to intensify. “Why are those things here!? Where is Kairi!? And why is Riku just standing still!?” The door buckles as the creatures attack it, forcing Sora to take a step back as he runs up the stairs. He could worry about that AFTER he and the others get off the play island!

Bashing down the door upstairs, Sora rushes across the bridge to the paopu island, seeing Riku continue to stand there like nothing is happening. Something that made Sora not only mad but concerned. “Where’s Kairi? I thought she was with you!” He calls out, coming to a stop just at the end of the bridge.

            “The door has opened…” Riku replies, confusing Sora as he slowly turns to look at him with a wide smile, making Sora feel increasingly uncomfortable. “The door has opened, Sora! Now we can go to the outside world!”

            “What are you talking about? We gotta find Kairi!”

            “Kairi’s coming with us!” Riku shouts back, shocking Sora as he starts to feel very concerned for his friend. It was as though he was a completely different person! “Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There’s no turning back. But this may be our only chance. We can’t let fear stop us! I’m not afraid of the darkness!” With that, he holds out a hand towards Sora, almost as though he was offering him to join him, just as a portal of darkness erupts under him. A dark cloud slowly envelops him, and black roots run up over him while Riku just stands there, completely calm.

            “Riku!” Sora shouts, running forward only for a similar portal to appear under him, freezing him in place even as he tries to reach out for Riku. But he couldn’t, as the dark cloud enveloped him as well, blocking his vision as Sora felt his entire world go dark. But just as he felt that he was about to vanish, a bright flash of light cuts through the darkness, and Sora suddenly finds himself stumbling in place. Looking up, Riku was nowhere to be seen, but there was something else.

A comfortable weight rested in his right hand, and when Sora turned to look at it, he was surprised at what he saw. It was perhaps the strangest sword Sora had ever seen, looking like a classic skeleton key approximately 3.5' long with a long silver keychain and a token on the end of the keychain that looked like three silver circles forming a head, at least Sora thinks it’s a head. The blade and teeth of the strange sword are silver, the rain guard is blue, and the guard is bright gold. Strange teeth at the front, jutting out like the teeth of a skeleton key, forming the outline of a crown. One that matched the very necklace he was wearing.

            “What…?” Sora whispers, looking over the blade as a name whispered itself at the back of his mind. “Kingdom… Key? What is this?”

Keyblade…

            “Key… blade?” Sora asks again, now even more confused just as the creatures emerge around him. “Not again!” Sora shouts just as one of them leaps at him. Hoping that this… Keyblade/Kingdom Key would be better than his wooden sword, Sora took a swing at the creature and felt relief when he saw the blade physically connect with the creature and send it flying. The ones around him seemingly paused as they realised that their prey was no longer defenceless as Sora went on the attack.

Feeling confident, Sora let himself lose to the creatures, managing to take a few of them out as he felt himself grow stronger. But no matter how many he seemed to take down, more of them just spawned in their place. Not helped by the rain getting heavier around him, obstructing his vision. He swore that he could feel some of them hitting his clothes!

            “There’s no end to them!” Sora shouts after taking down what felt like his thirtieth one. As he looks at the constantly multiplying foes, he feels a strange pull tugging him towards the Secret Place. He didn’t know why he was being pulled that way, but it was better than fighting a pointless battle. But as he ran, one of the creatures managed to get a swipe at his arm and drew a tiny amount of blood from the scratch. Not that Sora paid it any mind as he rushed forward through the gap. For some reason, the horde of monsters gave up on chasing him, allowing Sora a moment to bandage up his cut before moving on. There, he found someone else just standing around like a statue.

            “Kairi!” He calls out, both in surprise and relief at seeing her here. But that was suddenly replaced by concern as she slowly turned around to face him, her face halfway between sleep and awake.

            “Sora…” She replies, her voice sounding weak. Even her skin looked to be a bit more pale as Sora looked over her for wounds. But he couldn’t see anything from where he was standing. Just as he was about to rush over to her, the door behind Kairi, which had for all this time remained closed, burst open, sending out a black gust of wind that sent Kairi flying at Sora. Just as he was about to grab her, she vanished into light the moment she almost collided with him.

Before Sora could even think about what was going on around him, the black wind soon sent him flying back as well, with him hitting his head on a random piece of rock on the way, knocking him out. By the time he came to, he was lying on the sand as the wind howled around him. Shaking his head, he pushed himself up, expecting to see the ocean before him, but instead, all he saw was a dark purple abyss, with the main island nowhere in sight.

Gasping in shock, he looked around, finding nothing but a small plot of land covered in sand, with the remains of the shack nearby and a single palm tree. Nothing else remained as Sora looked upwards, seeing the dark sphere getting closer to him, or rather, the land he was on getting pulled up towards it.

            “This is a dream… this HAS to be a dream!” Sora shouts, shaking his head just as the land rumbles behind him. Turning around, he is shocked to see that towering shadow from his dream reappear, looming over him with a satisfied look in its eyes. Sora narrows his own eyes, the Keyblade appearing in his hands with just a thought as Sora falls into his combat stance. The creature, seemingly taken aback by the weapon, instantly goes on the attack as it charges up energy in its chest and fires it at Sora. Remembering how this went the last time, Sora moves to deflect the incoming attack with his weapon. Only now noticing that whenever he struck something, golden stars would emerge from where he struck. Seeing its attack being redirected at itself, the creature then pulls its hand back and slams it into the ground, summoning a dark portal and more of the tiny creatures.

            “Not this time!” Sora shouts, jumping onto the arm and rushing up to the head. “I know your weakness!” He shouts, slamming it at the head and causing the creature to roar in pain as it steps back. Sora grins to himself before focusing on the smaller one as the giant creature slowly glares at Sora. Before doing a new move that Sora hadn’t seen before, kneeling on the ground, the giant creature slammed its hand into the sand, conjuring up a dark portal and sending out a shockwave that almost sent Sora flying off the edge. It was only because he slammed the Keyblade into the ground that he saved himself from going on a trip.

            “Didn’t see that coming.” Sora admits to himself as he looks back at the creature as it pulls something out of the ground. A sphere of dark energy that seemed to pulse with power before shooting up into the sky and merging with the giant one as it sent out a shockwave, sending Sora flying back into the rubble of the shack as the winds started to pick up in intensity.

Something that the giant creature allowed as it was pulled up into the sphere willingly as sand, rubble, and rocks followed after it. As for Sora, he was busy clinging to the only piece of wood that remained buried in the ground. But he could feel his grip weakening as his fingers slowly started to slip away.

Until they did, with Sora being dragged into the sphere as he watched the last remains of his island get torn up by the winds. Before all he could see was nothing but a black abyss. Plunged into absolute darkness.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Traverse Town.

Ren couldn’t sleep. Or maybe he did but couldn’t tell due to this place being perpetually at night. Either way, he couldn’t help but think about what they had all been told yesterday. How their home was just… gone. Just like that. How, in one single day, the world that they fought so hard to protect was just destroyed in what felt like a matter of minutes. And now, here they were, stuck in a completely different world, weakened and separated from everyone else.

It was certainly a shock to see that not only did his Persona revert back to Arsène, but the same thing had happened to Futaba, Hifumi, and even Morgana. The only ones not affected by that were Isara, Sophia, and Sojiro. But according to Futaba, both Isara and Sophia had been sent right back down to level one, while Sojiro was stuck at level thirty. Not that it made any of them feel better about their sudden drop in power. But more than that, there was something else plaguing Ren’s mind as he looked up at the stars from outside Leblanc.

And it was where the rest of them were.

            “They can’t be dead… they are stronger than that.” He tells himself, shaking his head as he lets out a long sigh of resignation.

            “Ren? Everything okay?” Hifumi asks as she, Morgana, and Sophia join him outside.

            “Are you still thinking about what Leon and Yuffie had told us?” Morgana asks, leaping onto his shoulder while Sophia hugs him.

            “Yeah. Hard not to.” Ren admits, rubbing Sophia’s head. “I just… can’t believe what happened. How our home was just destroyed so easily. It makes everything that we did to protect it feel so… pointless.” Morgana and Hifumi both wince at that, neither of them really having anything to rebuke that with. After all, they felt like that as well.

            “And that’s not even talking about where everyone else is either.” Morgana comments, shaking his head. “Did they end up on other worlds like us? Or did they…?”

            “Don’t finish that thought, Morgana.” Hifumi cuts in, shaking her head. “We’re stronger than that. We won’t fall to these creatures so easily.” Morgana slowly nods his head, even as Hifumi lets out another sigh. “Still… even though I’m glad we can summon our Personas without issue, I’m uneasy at how we have been set back so much.”

            “Does that mean Mom and everyone else are also set back as well?” Sophia asks, looking up at Ren, who lets out a sigh.

            “It is possible.” He comments, looking up at the sky. It still amazed him that all of those stars shining above them were actually different worlds. If the science community heard about this, they would throw a fit about everything. Although, now that he knew about that, it made the fact that those same stars had been blinking out for the past ten years all the more sad. And it looked like another one was about to vanish as well, seeing how bright it was glowing. And is it getting bigger as well?

            “That’s not a star!” Morgana shouts from Ren’s shoulder. The cat must have heard him mumbling about it. But he was right, as what was falling from the sky was clearly not a star, but rather what looked to be a ship on fire as it crashed outside the wall. The ground shook as the crash echoed from the other side, drawing the eyes of everyone who was in the courtyard.

            “Was that a ship?” Sophia asks innocently, just as Isara, Futaba, and Sojiro all come running out.

            “What the hell happened?! We felt that inside Leblanc!” Futaba shouts, before noticing the plume of smoke coming from outside. “Did something crash land?”

            “It looked like a spaceship.” Hifumi replies. “But it didn’t look like anything we’ve seen before.”

            “A spaceship?” Sojiro asks as all eyes turn to the door as it slowly opens, with three figures emerging covered in soot and with their hair all sticking out like from a cartoon. Only, two of them were not what they were expecting. “Is that a walking dog and duck? I’m not going crazy, am I?”

            “No, Dad… you’re not.” Isara replies, her synthetic eyes blinking in astonishment. And not only her, but the others all look at the trio with looks of astonishment as the duck angrily shakes the soot off him.

            “You COULD have told me that the autopilot used Launchpad’s data!” Donald shouts at Goofy in an annoyed tone as Goofy shakes the soot off him. “Now we have no ship!”

            “Hey! I didn’t know it used his data! I was told by Gizmo it used Duckworth’s!” Goofy defends himself as Donald lets out an irritated sigh while Pluto shakes the soot off him. The two of them had changed their clothing when they left Disney Castle, all in order to blend in.

Donald now wore a beret with a belt in place of a normal brim, and sported a zipper that spanned the length of the hat. A high-collared navy-blue jacket with sky-blue lining and cuffs rested on him with three pouches, all of which were blue with yellow lining, along the middle of the jacket.

The centre pouch was secured by a flap, while the other two used silver zippers. The middle pouch was framed by two other silver zippers that spanned the entire length of the jacket, from the top of the collar to the bottom. A short, blue cape with yellow lining was draped over his shoulders, kept in place by a silver strap, while thick, gold bangles were on each of his wrists.

As for Goofy, he had forgone armour completely, instead wearing an orange hat with a blue band around the centre, with the resembling teardrop placed on its side. A pair of red goggles, that look much smaller than his eyes, hang around the hat. A green turtle-neck sweater with sleeves that bell out slightly and a blue arrow-shaped strap on each cuff rests on his chest. His gloves were still white, but now with a brown band around each wrist. Over the sweater, he wears a sleeveless black combat vest with grey lining and four pockets of the same colour. His pants are yellow and secured by a thick black belt. They have rather large pockets and a pouch on each leg with a silver zipper. The legs of his pants have a peculiar style, with the bottom rims, which are dark orange, being pulled upward in the front by a brown strap. His shoes were still large and are brown with steel toes on the outside.

            “Argh! We can find a new ship later! Let’s move!” Donald shouts, clearly irritated by the current events as he walks forward with Goofy trailing behind him. The pair not realizing that Ren and his family were watching them walk past with interest, especially Sophia, until Goofy paused to look at the sky, pointing a hand up as his expression changed to worry.

            “Look, a star’s goin’ out!” That got everyone’s attention as they all looked up at the sky, just to see another star twinkling out of existence. The evidence of another world dying before their eyes.

            “That’s the second one already…” Isara remarks, shaking her head in dismay as they hear the duck telling his partner to keep moving. While Ren and the others were content to go back inside Leblanc, Sophia was curious about the unlikely duo and their dog, and so decided to follow after them, easily listening in on their conversation.

            “Where’s that key…” She hears Donald remark, tilting her head at what he said.

            “Hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon.” Goofy remarks out loud while Donald shakes his head in annoyance. That was what they were already here to do, after all! While Sophia, following them at a distance, tilts her head in confusion at why they were here to see Leon. But as she thought about rushing over to ask them, she saw the dog wandering off to a dead-end alley while the other two went for the path leading to the second district. Something that Goofy caught onto. “Uh, Donald. Ya know, I betcha that—"

            “Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?” Donald instantly retorts, throwing a hand in the air. Still clearly annoyed at their crash landing and throwing Goofy’s thought into the dumpster.

            “What do I know? Hmmm… Come on, Pluto!” Goofy calls out before following Donald. Just as Sophia reaches the top of the stairs and watches them go.

            “Palooka? Was that an insult?” Sophia asks herself, before looking down the path where Pluto went. “It’s no good if they separate.” She remarks, walking down the opposite path. “He couldn’t have gone far.” She remarks, turning the corner only to find Pluto sitting next to a box. Curious, she gets near Pluto, who turns to look at her before sprinting away, running right past her while revealing what it was he found.

It was Sora, leaning against the wall unconscious.

            “I haven’t seen him here before. Is he… also like us?” Sophia asks herself before walking over and kneeling next to him. She pokes him in the shoulder, stirring him awake with Sora looking around with drowsy eyes, completely confused at what was happening.

            “What a dream…” He comments, seemingly falling back asleep, only for Sophia to give him a slight slap on the face. “Ow!”

            “Nope. This is not a dream.” She comments, standing up. Sora, rubbing at his sore cheek, frowns as he also stands up before taking note of his surroundings. Suddenly, any words of annoyance at Sophia died the moment he saw his surroundings.

            “Where am I?” He asks, fear seeping into his voice.

            “I can take you somewhere you can find out.” Sophia instantly offers, grabbing his attention. “Follow me.” She turns around, running back the way she came as Sora calls out for her to wait, even as he chases after her. She eventually stops at the top of the stairs as Sora catches up to her. It was right there he realized where he was: in a completely different world.

At that moment, he should have felt joy at arriving at a new world, but that joy was quickly wiped away as he realized that Riku and Kairi were not with him to share in this moment. That, and the cloud of smoke outside coupled with everyone’s faces looking down, made him feel uneasy, even as he followed Sophia to a café embedded in the wall.

            “I’m home!” Sophia calls out, entering the café with Sora behind her. “And I found someone new.”

            “You found someone?” Hifumi asks from behind the bar counter while Sojiro glances over at Sora, his eyes soft as he gives him a nod. Sophia nods at her aunt before turning to look at Sora as he stands near the door.

            “Yes! I found him sleeping in an alleyway next to Cid’s shop.” She says with a smile as Sora rubs the back of his head. Ren, Futaba, Isara, and Hifumi all look at him, seeing how young he was as Sora glances around, feeling all the stares on him.

            “Um… hi?” Sora greets, waving a hand. “I’m… Sora Osment. And this might sound strange, but… where am I?” The family all look at each other, realization dawning on their faces as they quickly put two and two together and figured out whose home that star must have belonged to.

            “Well, it would be rude to not introduce ourselves.” Ren comments, standing up tall and giving Sora a kind smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Sora. I’m Ren Sakura.”

            “My name is Hifumi Sakura.”

            “Futaba Sakura! Nice to meet ya!”

            “Isara Sakura! A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sora!”

            “Sojiro Sakura. The stressed-out father of these kids.” His remarks with a smirk, the four Sakuras all playfully glaring at him in return. Sora had to take a moment to blink in surprise at hearing all of them with the same last name.

            “I’m Sophia Niijima-Sakura! It’s nice to meet you, Sora!” Sophia greets cheerily, shaking Sora’s hand.

            “Um… Niijima-Sakura?” Sora asks, tilting his head at Sophia.

            “Yes! Ren is my father, and his girlfriend Makoto is my mother." Sophia says with a smile with Sora now blinking his eyes in complete confusion.

            “By adoption. You missed that part.” Morgana remarks, jumping onto the table and grabbing Sora’s attention.

            “A cat spoke? This really IS another world!” Sora remarks, eyes wide as Morgana lets out a shaky laugh.

            “Yeah… sure is, spiky.” Morgana remarks, shaking his head. “Anyway, I’m Morgana. As for where you are right now, it’s a world called Traverse Town. It’s a place where people like us wind up when we lost our homes.” 

            “Lost your homes?” Sora asks, his eyes widening as everyone in the café lets out a sigh in unison.

            “Yep. Our world is gone.” Isara remarks, shocking Sora. “And since you are here as well, that means your home is gone too.” 

            “What!?” Sora shouts, standing up from his seat. “What do you mean!? What happened to my home?! My island!? Riku and Kairi!?” Sora shouts, panic seeping into his eyes as countless scenarios play out in his mind. Ren, seeing the panic building in Sora’s eyes, walks over to him and rests a hand on his shoulder.

            “Sora, calm down.” He tells him gently. “Getting into a panic won’t do any good. For now, it’s best that we look around Traverse Town and see if your friends or anyone else from your world are here as well.” 

            “We should also ask Leon if he’s found anyone as well.” Hifumi remarks, pushing some hair behind her. “I think Cid knows where he was heading off to when he left the café.” She turns to look at Sora, giving him a calm smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll see what we can do to find them. After all, we know what it’s like to be separated from those close to you.” 

            “What do you mean?” Sora asks, his eyes looking to Sojiro at the bar before his gaze falls on a large group picture, showcasing fifty-one people and a dog plus Morgana, all dressed in strange clothing that Sora hadn’t seen before. It looked like Futaba was holding some small model in her hands. Next to that photo were two pictures of separate groups. One of them had the dog in it along with twelve people, while the other had eight.

But it was the two behind that one that had Sora’s attention. One of them had everyone here, but with ten more people, while the one beside that had a picture of Ren and Sophia, and a young woman with red eyes and brown hair who he guessed was Makoto that Sophia mentioned. And that was all Sora needed to know about how they easily sympathized with him.

            “And that’s why we want to help you.” Morgana comments, grabbing Sora’s attention, almost as though he knew what he was thinking. “Besides, we’ve been here for a day already, so we know who to ask. Stick by us, and we’ll find your friends in no time.” Sora blinks at Morgana in surprise before giving the cat a grateful smile as he stands up.

            “So, how many of you are going to help him?” Sojiro asks, folding his arms. “I can’t have all of you vanishing on me right now.” 

            “Just me, Hifumi, and Morgana should be enough, Dad.” Ren replies, with Morgana leaping onto Ren’s shoulders. “It shouldn’t take long.” Ren turns to Sophia, patting her on the head before she runs around the bar to help Sojiro, with Futaba begrudgingly following after her. While Isara shakes her head at Futaba, Ren, Hifumi, Morgana, and Sora leave the café and go straight for the accessory shop. Opening it up, they find an old man with short spiked-up yellow hair and a toothpick in his mouth, wearing a white T-shirt, blue trousers held up by a yellow belt, black boots, and a brown charm hanging from his neck.

            “Well, if it ain’t Ren. What brings you here today?” The man asks, folding his arms as Ren and Hifumi walk up to him, with Sora right behind them. “And who’s the kid?” 

            “I’m not a kid! And the name’s Sora!” Sora shouts back, angered that he was called a kid. The man holds his hands up, showing that he meant no offence as Hifumi chuckles at him.

            “Sorry to barge in on you like this, Cid, but we need your help.” Ren replies, looking back at Sora. “We just saw another star go out, and Sophia found Sora not long after. We are wondering if Leon has reported finding anyone else in the other districts?”

            “Can’t say I have… things have been quiet on his end.” Cid remarks, rubbing the back of his head. Sora lets out a depressed sigh, with Cid quickly backpedalling. “But I’m sure your friends just ended up somewhere Leon hasn’t got to yet. Why don’t you head out and look as well? He’s probably out on patrol again with Yuffie.” 

            “And knowing him, he’ll take forever to get back to the café.” Morgana remarks from Ren’s shoulder. “Well, might as well go look for him. Alright?” 

            “I guess…” Sora remarks, sounding a bit unconvinced but reluctantly agreeing to go looking. Something inside him just told him that Riku and Kairi weren’t here, but he had to look! So, leaving Cid’s shop, the group heads up the stairs towards the second district. Walking through the doors, Sora is briefly taken aback by how much larger the second district is compared to the first district. But before he can say anything, a panicked cry echoes from the right as a man comes running around the corner before falling to the floor.

No sooner does he fall to the ground than a flash of light escapes from his back where he has a massive claw wound. From that flash of light, a glowing, almost transparent red and pink heart emerges from his back, with his body vanishing into light seconds later. As for the heart, it is sucked up into a portal of darkness, stolen away as the portal vanishes seconds later.

            “What was that!?” Sora shouts in surprise as Ren, Hifumi, and Morgana go on guard. And for good reason, for no sooner does that portal vanish than those creatures appear from the ground. Earning a sharp gasp of surprise from Sora as he summons the Keyblade to his hand, and surprising Ren, Hifumi, and Morgana at what he is holding. “It’s those things from the island! Stay back, I’ll handle them!” One of the creatures leaps at Sora, who manages to hit it back with the Keyblade before two more rush past him. Right at Ren and Hifumi. “Look out!” Sora cries in alarm, seeing the two creatures jumping at them. But Ren and Hifumi aren’t worried one bit.

            “Persona!” The two call out as blue flames erupt around them, surprising Sora and the creatures as the two leaping at them are bashed away by the flames. When the flames vanish, Sora is surprised to see Ren and Hifumi are now wearing completely different clothing. While Morgana still looks like a cat, he is now standing on his back legs, and his head is massive. But it is the glowing figures behind Ren and Hifumi that have his attention. One looks like a winged, demonic gentleman thief, while the other seems to be a female ninja wearing old armour and a heavy cloak.

            “Arsène! Eiha!” Joker shouts, with Arsène summoning orbs of red and black energy in his hands and throwing them at the creatures, hitting two of them and disintegrating them on impact.

            “Kunoichi! Psi!” Shadow commands as Kunoichi slashes out with her blade, sending a small wave of Psy magic at one of the creatures and sending it flying into another. Sora, momentarily distracted by the two, fails to notice one of the creatures leaping at him, only for Mona to leap in and slash it with his falchion.

            “Don’t lose focus, Sora! Zorro!” Mona yells, his other self coming to the field. “Garu!” With a flick of his sword, Zorro sends a gust of wind at the creatures, sending them flying as Sora, refocusing on the fight at hand, attacks two of the creatures before sending them flying over the edge.

            “Are you okay, Sora?” Shadow asks as the last of the creatures vanish, but Shadow doesn’t drop her guard.

            “I’m fine. But what were those powers you just used?” Sora asks, eyes wide with awe at the trio. “And why did you change clothes? And how did Morgana change form as well?” 

            “One thing at a time. First, let's get somewhere safe. Those things will be after us.” Mona comments, leaping onto Ren’s shoulder.

            “But what about Riku and Kairi? If they are still here, I need to find them.” Sora protests, pointing the Keyblade over the area. Joker and Shadow glance at each other, knowing the look that Sora was giving them. And if they were being honest, they couldn’t blame him for wanting to keep looking.

            “All right. We’ll do a sweep of the second and third districts. Then make our way back to Leblanc.” Joker allows, as the group soon heads off into the nearby hotel. But just as they enter it, Donald and Goofy enter the second district themselves, just missing them.

            “Doesn’t look like he’s here.” Goofy remarks as Donald folds his arms.

            “Keep looking!” Donald tells him irritably as Goofy wanders off to look.

This was going to be a long day…

It became a pointless search in the end. No matter where they looked, they couldn’t find Sora’s friends or anyone else from his island here in Traverse Town. Although they did take a quick stop through a large empty house with only two Dalmatians inside it, judging by all the pictures around it, they were missing their puppies. Another incident of families getting torn apart by these creatures. Speaking of, all they found were more of those creatures ambushing them from all sides. Even if they had grown stronger where they could easily take them out, it still wore them down. Not helped by finding these things appearing in the first district as well.

            “Where do they keep coming from!?” Sora shouts as he slashes through what felt like his hundredth one of the day.

            “That’s what we want to know as well!” Mona shouts, sending another one flying with Garu, only to miss one of them rushing past him and hitting Sora in his back. “Sora!” 

            “Zio!” 

A bolt of thunder streaks past, slamming into the creature and wiping it out with a single blast just as Edelweiss comes in from above. Thrusters ignited as she lands on top of another one just as Sophie comes running around the corner, yo-yos in hand.

            “Edel! Sophie!” Joker shouts, slashing through another before using Arsène to attack with Maeiha.

            “We got worried when you didn’t get back!” Edel shouts, firing a single missile from her shoulder launcher. “Boss is waiting for us at Leblanc!” Sora couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the names they were calling each other by. Ever since they donned this attire, they have been calling each other different names as they fought. Not like he had a chance to even ask them why, though.

            “Come on! We’re almost there!” Shadow shouts, spinning her kunai around and lashing out in an arc around her, hitting several and sending them back as Sophie channelled Pandora and healed Sora with a Dia. Not that it helped with the exhaustion he was feeling building inside him. Even as they turned the corner around the accessory shop, Sora’s vision started to become blurry as the adrenaline in his body started to run out.

            “Makouga!” Boss’s voice echoed from the front, grabbing Sora’s eyes as he sees Boss lash out with the wide-range Bless attack before he switched up and let out a blast of Curse magic soon after. With his Persona, Merlin, returning soon after to his heart as he looked over to them with a worried look, even as Leon fought by his side to give him cover. “Joker! Get everyone inside Leblanc, now!” 

            “You heard him!” Joker shouts, pulling out a gun and firing cursed-infused rounds at the shadow creatures around them. “Move!” But as they began to run for Leblanc, Sora’s strength finally gave out as he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

            “Sora!” Shadow shouts, leaping to his side and picking him up as Edel and Sophie gave her cover. Even as the creatures around them began to dwindle in number, Shadow still moved forward to get Sora inside where Oracle was busy keeping tabs on everyone, her screens flying around her.

            “Looks like they are backing off…” She comments, seeing the last few of the creatures vanish before closing her screens. “It looks like we are safe for now.” 

            “It is only temporary.” Leon remarks as he walks inside, followed by the rest. “Still, this place isn’t safe for us to talk.” 

            “What do you mean?” Sophie asks as she watches Leon take the Keyblade from Sora’s hands. His eyes widen for a second, as though he was surprised he could do that before narrowing them again.

            “What I mean is that things are a lot worse than we thought.” He replies, before giving Sora one more look. One that, while narrow, had a look of pity in his eyes. “A lot worse.” The Thieves all glanced at each other in confusion at that remark as they, reluctantly, followed Leon out of Leblanc and towards the second district.

Just what did he mean by that?

            Where… am I? Riku asks himself as he slowly comes back to consciousness. In his ears, he can hear the sound of water rushing past with a thunderous roar. How he managed to sleep in a place like this he doesn’t know. Or the hard cobble path under him as he pushes himself up. It is hard to tell where he is, what with the walls of water around him and the never-ending mist that is seemingly created by the water. And the less he thinks about those floating blocks of ice and giant bubbles, the better. Still, he can imagine how Sora and Kairi would react to seeing this—

            “Sora! Kairi!” Riku suddenly shouts, now realizing that he is all alone. “Where are you guys!?” His voice echoes around him as he peers into the mist. “Is anyone there!?” No reply. That’s all Riku gets as he hangs his head in dismay. “Why am I the only one here? I thought we would go together?” He shakes his head, rubbing between his eyes as he tries to recall what had happened back on the island. Yet… it feels like a blur. “Why is my memory… foggy?”

Unbeknownst to him, as Riku tries to recall what had happened that night, a figure in a dark robe looks down at him from atop a floating platform. With a bird-like figure with pink feathers resting on her shoulder, she lets out a dark smile at Riku. It would seem she has found a new tool to use.

Sora didn’t know how long he was unconscious for. All he remembered was falling to the ground as he tried to run for Leblanc. But right now, all he could say was that he felt a soft mattress under him as he swam back to the land of the living.

            “Come on, lazy bum. Wake up.” 

Kairi’s voice echoed next to him, prompting Sora to wake up faster as he pushed himself off what he now realized was a bed. Giving his head a good shake, he looked up to see Kairi looking down at him with a smile.

            “You okay?” She asked him, as Sora nodded back, still feeling out of it. “Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it is your heart they really want because you wield the Keyblade.” 

            “I’m not sure what you are talking about, but I’m so glad you’re okay, Kairi.” Sora replied, giving his head a shake as his vision was still a bit blurry.

            “Kairi? Who are you talking about? I’m the great ninja Yuffie.” As though a switch was turned on in his mind, Sora’s vision not only cleared up, but so did his hearing, revealing that it was Yuffie looking at him and not Kairi, while Ren and the others were also around the room, once more in their normal clothes.

            “Looks like he was more exhausted than we thought.” Futaba commented as Sojiro walked over with a flask, handing it to Sora.

            “Here. Some Leblanc coffee. Not as good as when in a cup, but better than nothing.” He told him. Sora took the flask, letting the smell of the coffee meet his senses before taking a drink. And though it was his first time drinking coffee, he had to admit it tasted good.

            “Thanks…” Sora replies, handing the flask back to Sojiro before looking to his right Seeing a new face standing next to the door with the Keyblade next to it. “Kingdom Key…”

            “Kingdom Key? Is that what it’s called?” Yuffie asks as she walks over to it. “Anyway, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that’s how they were tracking you.” 

            “It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won’t work for long.” Leon remarks, looking at the Keyblade before grasping it. “Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one.” He holds the Keyblade up, only for it to vanish into light seconds later and reappear in Sora’s hand. “That’s what I thought it would do. Well, I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.” 

            “Perhaps you should start from the beginning, Leon.” Sojiro remarks, folding his arms. “You are making no sense to Sora.” Leon glances at Sojiro, folding his arms as he leans on the wall, conceding the point.

            “So to start off, you know about other worlds being out there apart from your own, right?” Yuffie asks Sora, who nods his head. “Well, they are supposed to be a secret from each other.” 

            “A secret?” Sora asks, tilting his head. “Why a secret?” 

            “Because they have never been connected. They have always been separated from each other. At least… until the Heartless came anyway.” Yuffie remarks, falling into a chair with a heavy sigh.

            “The Heartless?” Sora asks, puzzled by the name.

            “Those shadowy creatures that attacked us.” Ren replies, folding his arms. “According to Leon, they are the darkness in people’s hearts made manifest. Beings without hearts, and it’s the darkness in people’s hearts that attracts them.”

            “And there is darkness within every heart. Even yours.” Leon replies as Sora rests a hand on his chest. “It doesn’t matter how big or small it is; it resides in everyone.” 

            “But… what was that strange power Ren used?” Sora asks, looking at Ren. “You summoned some sort of creature, and your outfits changed as well.” 

            “That was a Persona.” Ren replies, pushing himself off the chest of drawers. “In our world, it is known that everyone has two sides of themselves: the Real Self and their Shadow Self. A person’s Shadow is everything that they hide from others, and in some cases, it is the extreme version of themselves.” 

            “And we are people who have managed to not only tame our Personal Shadows but form a bond with them that fuses them with ourselves. This not only makes us more in tune with our emotions and makes it harder for our inner desires to spiral out of control, but it also transforms our Personal Shadows into what they truly are: a Persona, or our other selves in a sense.” Hifumi adds, resting a hand on her chest.

            “As for the change of clothes we undergo when summoning them, that is our Thief or Rebel attire.” Futaba adds, drawing Sora’s attention. “It helps protect us when we delve into a place that we call the Metaverse. Although, this is the first time we’ve been able to do so in real life.”

            “Your other self…” Sora replies, looking at his hand before glancing at the Keyblade. “But where did the Heartless first come from?” 

            “No one knows.” Leon remarks. “Our leader, Ansem the Wise, spent his life studying them to find the answer, writing everything he had in a report. But when our world fell, the report was lost. The only thing that we managed to find out from a single scrap of paper was that there was a ‘key’ to our survival.” 

            “And… this is the ‘key’?” Sora asks, holding the Kingdom Key in one hand.

            “Exactly.” Yuffie replies with a smile.

            “The Heartless have great fear over the Keyblade. It is apparently the only thing that can destroy them permanently. That’s why they will continue going after you, no matter what.” Leon replies, walking back to the door and leaning on it.

            “But I didn’t ask for this.” Sora replies, shaking his head. Something that Ren and the others could easily sympathize with. They didn’t ask to be thrown into Yaldabaoth's game, nor did the S.E.E.S team or the Investigation Team wish to get dragged into their fights either. And now… here they were, stuck in another crisis. It was honestly hard not to sympathize with him as Sora sat dejectedly on the bed.

            “The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you.” Yuffie tells Sora, patting him on the back as Sora shakes his head. “Hey, don’t feel too bad. I heard the Keyblade could lock and unlock anything it comes across! Give it a try when you see something!”

            “Not sure if I should feel happy about that or not.” Sora remarks, shaking his head as he lets out a sigh.

            “By the way, Leon, where is Aerith?” Isara asks, folding her arms. “I thought she would want to be here to talk.” 

            “She’s busy speaking with some other guests in the room next to us.” He points at the door behind him. “Aerith should be done by now. Let’s go—” Before he could finish, a black portal emerged at the foot of the desk, spitting out a creature with a strange metal helmet, red clawed fingers, and a symbol that Ren and the others could easily recognise. An outline of a heart, with a spiked fleur-de-lis coming from the bottom, only this time with two barbed wires strung along the inside of the heart in an X-shape, all outlined in red.

            “Heartless!” Yuffie shouts, jumping away from the table as the Thieves all shift into their Rebel attire.

            “Yuffie, go!” Leon shouts, grabbing his Gunblade as Yuffie barges into the next room. A muffled cry comes from the door as Sophie throws her yo-yos at the Heartless, stunning it in the face as Leon rushes up and kicks it out the window. “Everyone, let's go! Boss, stay here and look after Yuffie and Aerith!” Before anyone has a chance to object, Leon leaps out of the room. The group glances at each other before shrugging their shoulders and doing what Leon ordered as Boss runs into the red room.

Finding Yuffie and Aerith alongside the dog person he saw before. But where was his companion?

            “Donald? Are you all right?” Goofy asks, walking up to the door and pulling it back, revealing a rather squashed up Donald against the wall before falling forward, as flat as a pancake. As Aerith moved to heal him, Boss shook his head at the sight in exasperation.

            “Hoo boy…”

            “Find the leader! Such an easy thing to do!” Edelwiess shouts in annoyance as the Thieves and Sora fight in the second district. Leon had told them to ignore the ‘small fry’ and focus on the leader, but there was one problem with that. “Where the hell would it be hiding anyway!?”

            “Edel, to your right!” Oracle calls out over the comm, hovering above them inside Necronomicon. Edel glances to her right, seeing one of the emblem ones lunging at her only for Sora to intercept it and send it flying. “Nice one, Sora! That Soldier didn’t see it coming!”

            “Soldier?” Sora asks back as Sophie blasts one of them with Kouha. It was strange how he could hear Oracle speaking to him despite not having a headpiece like the others, but he wasn’t going to question it at the moment.

            “Apparently that’s what they are called. Ever since Leon told us what they are, I’ve been able to see their names. The small insect ones are called Shadows, by the way.”

            “Really thinking I should change my codename…” Shadow remarks, spinning her kunai around and slashing at two Soldiers.

            “We can worry about that later! Right now, we have this leader to find!” Joker shouts, sending out a blast of Maeiha at three Soldiers.

            “What about the third district?” Sora asks as they have a slight pause in the fighting. “We haven’t checked there yet.”

            “It’s better than wasting our strength here!” Mona shouts, just as more Soldiers appear around them, clanking away with rusted armour. “Let’s move!” With little other option, the team follows after Mona as they rush through the small alleyway connecting the second district to the third. Several Soldiers and Shadows appear to block their path but are easily brushed aside by Sora or Shadow using Mapsi.

Eventually, they find themselves in the third district, rushing down to the central plaza while Oracle stays inside Necronomicon. Unaware that Donald and Goofy had arrived at a balcony overlooking the third district and are trapped by two Heartless.

            “Gawrsh, are these the Heartless guys?” Goofy asks, summoning his shield to his side. Silver with golden circles while three black circles form a face in the middle. While Donald summoned a brown wand with a red jewel on the bottom. The top held a purple head covered by a coat and brown wizard hat with a belt as Donald aims it at the two Soldiers.

            “Let’s go get ‘em, Goofy!” 

The next thing they knew, both of them were flying in the air from Donald’s spell that went wrong. Their cries catching the Thieves on the ground as they run out of the way. Or at least, Sora tried to too as Donald and Goofy both land on him, sending all of them into a crumpled pile on the ground.

            “That looked fun.” Sophie comments as Joker and Shadow helped the trio up.

            “You think everything is fun…” Edelweiss comments, shaking her head just as the comedic duo come back to their senses and see the Keyblade in Sora’s hand.

            “Oh, the key!” They shout with joy in their voices, until the entire area starts to rumble around them.

            “What now!?” Mona shouts as suddenly, pillars erupt at all the entrances leading into the plaza, trapping them inside as several Soldier Heartless appear all around them.

            “A trap?” Shadow asks, holding her kunai next to her face.

            “If they think they can take us down easily, then they are wrong! Arsène! Eiha!” With his usual flair, Arsène appears behind Ren while Donald and Goofy blink at them in shock as Joker blasts one of the Soldiers with Curse magic while Sora charges in and unleashes a three-hit combo on another. Sophie is close behind him, swinging her yo-yos around and hitting two, but fails to see one of them doing a tornado kick at her from behind.

            “Look out!” Goofy shouts, jumping between her and the Heartless, his shield deflecting the attack as the Soldier crumples to the ground. Mona rushes up, slashing his falchion against it as it falls, with Goofy glancing back at Sophie. “You alright?” 

            “I am. Thank you.” Sophie replies, her visor showing a happy face before changing back to a serious one as she summons Pandora to attack with a Kouha. Just as Edel dashes past with her arm blades extended, spinning around her like a cyclone before firing two missiles from her shoulder launchers.

            “Fire!” Donald shouts, sending out a fireball at a Heartless that was sneaking up on Sora, as Shadow sends her kunai into another, dragging it towards her before kicking it into Joker, who sliced his knife against it.

            “Last one!” Sora shouts, bringing Kingdom Key down on the remaining Heartless as it vanished under the strike, releasing a heart from inside it, just like all the other ones he had struck down. And only the ones he had struck down.

            “Is that all of them?” Edel asks, glancing around the area. For a moment, everything was calm until Oracle let out a gasp from above.

            “Watch out, guys! We’ve got a big one incoming from above!” At that, all eyes turned skyward as several pieces of armour came crashing down into the ground. A pair of short, hammer-like feet, two large hands with three segmented claws, and an hourglass-like torso floated between them as it commanded its limbs telepathically. It was entirely covered in violet, except for the claws, which were silver, and the feet, which were black. The Heartless Emblem was emblazoned on its chest, while a diamond-like pattern in lilac circled around the body. Then its head came slamming down on top of the armour, stylized like an old knight's helm with spikes on the side.

            “I think we found the leader!” Sora shouts as he gets into a battle stance alongside everyone else.

            “Oracle! What are we dealing with!?” Mona shouts as the giant Heartless stomps towards them.

            “It’s called the Guard Armour! Watch out for those arms and legs!” Oracle warns, just as the Guard Armour spins its arms around it like a top, forcing everyone back while Goofy tries to block it with his shield. While he is knocked back, he is successful in stopping it from spinning around like a top. But it seems to only make it angry as it detaches the arms from its body while throwing itself into the air.

Slamming down hard on the ground and forcing everyone to dodge while the arm comes spinning in to slice them up. “Psi!” Shadow shouts, blasting Psy magic at the hands and managing to disrupt their flight path.

            “Focus on the limbs! They are weaker than the main body!” Oracle shouts over the headsets, as Joker drags his knife over one of the feet. Not appreciating the attack, the Guard Armour throws itself up into the air, slamming down once more onto the ground as the arm reattaches itself to the main body. Donald fires a fire blast at the Guard Armour, smacking it in its left hand as Sophie blasts its back with Kouha.

Enraged, the Guard Armour detaches its feet to stomp all over the place, heading right towards Edelweiss, who changes her wrist blades into arm cannon mode and opens fire at the feet, only for the feet to stop hopping in place to avoid her shots, almost like it is stepping on hot coals.

            “What the—?” Edel remarks, completely taken aback by how cartoonish the feet were before they resumed their march towards her. “Fine then! Lovelace! Zio!” Deciding she was done playing around, Edel blasts the right foot with Elect magic, managing to shock it as the left leg continued to march towards her. While Edel easily dodged the remaining foot, Sora took advantage of the shocked foot and did a Slapshot, quickly moving into a two-hit combo. The final strike destroyed the right foot while the left returned to the main body.

Shadow, seeing an opportunity, used her kunai and chain to climb onto one of the pillars blocking their way out. Grabbing her sniper rifle, she took aim at the weakened left arm and fired a round. The Psy-charged round easily tore through the arm and destroyed it. Shadow allowed a moment to smirk at taking out the arm, only to dodge out of the way of the second arm as it came at her with a vengeance.

But that allowed Joker and Mona to come in and slash at the remaining leg, weakening it where Donald finished it off with a blast of fire. Seeing it only had one limb left, the Guard Armour attempted to spin it around like a tornado once more, only for Goofy to once again step in and deflect it, sending it crashing to the ground where Sophie hit it with a blast of Kouha.

            “Nice work! Only the torso remains!” Oracle calls out from inside Necronomicon as the Guard Armour, seeing itself limbless, started to spin itself in desperation, charging at the group as it encased itself in wind before slamming into them.

            “Don’t give up! We can win!” Goofy calls out as he blocks the spinning attack, although he is sent into the wall from the impact. But it stuns the Guard Armour just enough as Joker blasts it with Eiha, just as Sora slashes across its chest one final time. The sound of Sora’s Keyblade slicing through the Guard Armour echoes around them for a few seconds before the Guard Armour starts vibrating. Almost as though it is going to explode until its helmet falls off its body with a heavy clang. The sound echoes around them as a large explosion erupts from the top of the armour, releasing a heart that floats up into the air before vanishing, with the Guard Armour itself vanishing into a flash of light seconds later.

            “Did we beat it?” Sophie asks as Oracle joins them, Necronomicon returning to her heart seconds later as she nods with a giant grin.

            “Yep! It’s beaten!” She shouts with a cheer as Sora lets out a loud sigh. It feels good to beat up that giant Heartless after everything that has happened. And… it feels like he managed to save this world from whatever they planned to do. But now he has another question on his mind as he turns to look at the two who crashed on top of him.

How did they know about the Keyblade?

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Into the Ocean of Stars!

            “So, you were looking for me?” Sora asks again, pointing to himself as Donald and Goofy nod their heads eagerly.

            “They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade.” Leon comments as he, Yuffie, Boss, and someone else Sora hasn’t seen before approach them. Wearing a long pink sleeveless dress with buttons going down the middle that reaches her ankles, with brown boots underneath. A light blue belt around her waist, bracelets along her right arm, and a small black ribbon around her neck. With brown hair framing her face, tied into a long ponytail that reaches the base of her spine with a red ribbon, and piercing green eyes.

            “Hey, why don’t you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel.” Goofy remarks before rubbing the back of his head nervously. “Or rather… we did have one.” Donald lets out a loud sigh at that remark as the Thieves all glance at each other knowingly.

            “I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi if I could leave…” Sora comments out loud, with Leon closing his eyes at him.

            “Of course.” Donald tells him, giving Sora hope in his eyes. Although Goofy did pull him to the side to speak to him quietly.

            “Are you sure?” Goofy asks, unsure whether this would hamper their mission or not.

            “Who knows… but we need him to come with us to help us find the king.” Donald whispers back, seemingly already having ulterior motives for wanting Sora to come along.

            “Sora, go with them. Especially if you want to find your friends.” Leon remarks, folding his arms. “As for a new ship…” 

            “Can they come with us as well?” Sora suddenly asks Donald, pointing at Joker and his family. “They are missing people as well. I’d feel bad if they can’t come with us.” 

            “They can’t come.” Donald instantly replies, causing Sora to gasp while Joker and the others look at him with irritation. “There’s no room on the ship for them.” 

            “Umm… but we need a new ship anyway? Couldn’t we just ask for a bigger one?” Goofy tells Donald, who feels like a vein is popping on his head.

            “Yeah. If size is the only problem, you could just get a bigger ship.” Oracle adds as the Thieves change back into their civilian clothes. Donald glances around, seeing that his objection was quickly losing ground. After all, they did need a new ship, and they could easily get a larger one if needed. But the king’s message only said to stay with the ‘key’. It made no mention of bringing tag-alongs or looking for friends! And they needed to find him anyway!

            “I do wonder if we even have a ship large enough for all of you.” Aerith comments, gently grasping her hands. “I’m not even sure if the ship we arrived on is even in working condition.” 

            “Exactly!” Donald shouts, throwing a hand up in the air. “And we don’t have time to wait for a larger ship! Where do we even get one anyway?!” Just as Donald was about to begin a rant, the doors behind them opened up, revealing Cid entering the third district.

            “Say, um, Ren? You guys have a visitor over at Leblanc. Says she knows you and the others.” Cid calls out, rubbing the back of her head. “Dunno why she called you a ‘Trickster’ though.” 

            “Trickster? There’s only one person we know who calls you that!” Morgana shouts, leaping onto Ren’s shoulders.

            “Yeah… There is only one person, isn’t there?” Ren comments as he heads for the door, the rest of the Thieves following after him. Sora, curious, follows too, with Donald and Goofy chasing after him, with Leon and his group bringing up the rear. It didn’t take long for them to get back to Leblanc, with the civilians of Traverse Town coming out of hiding now that the Heartless are, temporarily, gone. And standing outside the closed shop was a very familiar young girl with silver hair and yellow eyes.

            “It has been a while. Well, a very short while, I suppose.” Lavenza tells them as they approach, and Morgana rushes up to her with excitement.

            “Lady Lavenza! I’m so glad to see you’re safe!” He tells her, giving her a bow as she chuckles while giving him a stroke.

            “Who is that?” Sora asks, curious. His question grabs her attention as she stands up and walks towards him with a kind smile before giving him a curtsy.

            “Greetings, chosen wielder of the Keyblade. My name is Lavenza, denizen of the Velvet Room, and attendant to Ren.” She tells him calmly and eloquently before letting out a sigh of resignation. “Only, I am the only one who has escaped the fall of the Velvet Room.” 

            “The Velvet Room fell?” Ren asks, his eyes going wide as she nods sadly at him.

            “Yes. But it is best we discuss this in more accommodating scenery.” She turns to Sojiro, giving him a smile. “And I would very much like to sample the legendary coffee and curry you are renowned for.” Sojiro blinks at her before slowly looking over to Ren and the others, who were looking anywhere but him.

            “Kid… what have you been telling her?” He asks with narrow eyes and a smirk. Ren and the others remain silent as Sojiro shakes his head in good nature. Anyway, the team enters Leblanc with Lavenza making herself comfortable at the bar as Sojiro, Hifumi, and Ren get to work serving everyone up as Morgana leaps onto the bar.

            “So, what happened, Lady Lavenza? How did the Velvet Room fall?” Lavenza lets out a long sigh as she shakes her head, leaning over to pat Morgana.

            “It happened not long after Master Philemon warned us about his nemesis Nyarlathotep allying himself with the Heartless…”

            “The Devours of Hearts? You do not mean the Heartless, do you, Master Philemon?” Igor asks, shaking his head in dismay. “It has been over two thousand years since they last appeared in our world. How have they returned without our knowing?” 

            “It seems that events are at play that we have been ignorant of.” Philemon remarks, shaking his head as anger flared across his face. “To think that he has grown so desperate that he would ally himself with these creatures…” 

            “Hold a second, Master Philemon.” Elizabeth remarks, walking up to him. “If the Heartless are here, does that mean that every star we have seen vanishing was caused by them?” 

            “Yes.” Philemon replies, letting out a sigh. “And I fear they have already struck at our own world…” Just as those words left his mouth, the Velvet Room trembled as the sound of countless insects echoed from one of the stairs leading up to where they were. “Impossible… They have invaded the Velvet Room!” 

At that moment, a horde of Shadow Heartless streamed up the stairs, rushing right towards the Velvet Room denizens. Elizabeth, not wasting a second, summons a Pixie to her side and blasts them with a Megidolaon as Theodore summons Beelzebub and matches his sister with his own Megidolaon. They stopped the initial onslaught, yet more Shadow Heartless continued to arrive. Margaret summons Oberon and unleashes her own Megidolaon alongside Elizabeth and Theodore while Igor, his face unchanging despite the oncoming tide, summoned a Persona to his side for the first time in ages.

He had learned his lesson from Yaldabaoth and kept his own personal roster in case it was needed. And this was most certainly the case as he summoned Metatron to his side and unleashed Megidolaon on the Heartless.

            “Eternal White!” Philemon cries, generating a ball of pure white light in his hands before blasting out a cone of white magic, streaking forward like snow caught in a storm as the Heartless fell in droves to its power. As for Lavenza, she summons Lucifer to her side, unleashing Morning Star on the Heartless as the denizens of the Velvet Room continued their defence of their home. Yet the tide was still against them as countless more Heartless poured out from all angles. It was clear that this fight was lost.

A feeling only reinforced as the world that they watched over was consumed by darkness before their very eyes.

            “No!” Elizabeth shouts, seeing the world, moon, and Great Seal all get destroyed just as one of the Heartless leaps onto her. “Hands off!” She shouts, backhanding the Shadow off her only to get hit by one in the stomach that was a floating ball.

            “There are too many of them!” Theodore shouts as one of the Heartless manages to get a swipe at his leg.

            "At this rate, we won't last much longer!" Margaret yells as she backhands a Heartless holding a sword, only for a Shadow to be able to get her from the side. Even Philemon had to admit that the endless numbers would wear even him down. But even so, he would not let his nemesis win so easily! Gathering what energy he could from the Velvet Room, he sends it away into the vastness of space before conjuring a portal behind Lavenza.

            "Lavenza! Go! Find the Trickster!" He calls out to her before unleashing Armageddon R on the Heartless. "Find the new bearers of the Keyblade and bring this crisis to an end!"

            "But what about you!?" Lavenza shouts, not wanting to leave her family.

            “Do not fear for us, Lavenza!” Igor calls out to her, his grandfatherly voice a rock of calm in this storm. “We will not fall so easily! Now go!” Lavenza, with tears in her eyes, nods as she, with great reluctance, jumps through the portal and escapes the Velvet Room, tears falling from her eyes…

            “That’s impossible!” Morgana shouts, shaking his head in denial. “The Velvet Room couldn’t fall that easily! It can’t!” 

            “I wish that were the case, Morgana. But there are cases in which the Velvet Room can fall. Remember Yaldabaoth?” Lavenza remarks, causing Morgana to wince at the reminder.

            “So… Igor and the other attendants are gone? Or are they trapped?” Ren asks, looking at Lavenza as she lets out a loud sigh.

            “I do not know… It is possible they were able to escape, or they are now trapped within the Velvet Room. Unable to help.” She tells them, looking them all in the eyes. “However, I will not stand by and wallow in despair. Instead, I offer my services to help you once more in this trying time.” 

            “Oh yeah? And what can you bring?” Donald asks, folding his arms. While the Thieves all looked at Donald with some annoyance at how hostile he was being at the moment, Lavenza simply smirks at him with amusement.

            “Oh, I don’t know… perhaps provide a ship that will allow you to search for your friends?” She asks coyly, with Donald and Goofy’s eyes widening in surprise. “However, I will only allow you to use it so long as you agree to help search for not only the Trickster’s companions, but those of the Keybearer as well. There will be no negotiating on this front. After all, only I am able to pilot it.” Donald opens his mouth to object, only to let out a long sigh as he slumps forward.

            “Fine…” He acquiesces, turning to look at everyone. “Okay, you can all come along. And we’ll help look for your friends as well.” Ren nods in agreement as Goofy lets out a chuckle.

            “Well, now that’s all out of the way, how about we introduce ourselves now?” Goofy remarks. “Name’s Goofy.” 

            “Donald Duck.” Donald adds, now lacking the hostility that he initially had. Looked like he was making an effort to not be so antagonistic now that they were all working together.

            “I’m Ren Sakura.” Ren comments, holding out a hand that Goofy shakes. “Let’s do what we can and end this.” 

            “Name’s Morgana.” Morgana comments, leaping onto Ren’s shoulder.

            “My name is Hifumi Sakura.” 

            “Futaba Sakura. Let’s all get along now.” 

            “Isara Sakura, and what my sister has said.” 

            “Sophia Niijima-Sakura! I hope we all get along!” Sophia grasps Donald's hands before shaking them hard, causing Donald’s head to bounce up and down with his eyes bouncing around, with sounds from a slot machine echoing from his face. An amusing sight that had everyone chuckling at him in amusement as Sora walks forward.

            “And I’m Sora Osment.” He finishes as Sophia lets Donald go, with Goofy letting out a quote that signified the forming of their team”

            “All for one, and one for all!”

Meanwhile, unknown to them, their earlier conversation about the battle with the Guard Armour was being viewed on a stone table. The green and purple magic of its incantations fluttered around the holographic images of the team as one of the figures looking it over let out a huff.

            “That little squirt took down that Heartless! Who’d have thought it?” He looked over to his left, the sounds of flames dancing from his head as another figure standing beside him with a staff in his right hand hummed in contemplation.

            “Such is the power of the Keyblade. The child’s strength is not his own.” 

            “Why don’t we turn him into a Heartless? Ahaha! That’ll settle things quick enough.” A woman next to him cackled, only for a woman next to her to let out a groan.

            “Why a Heartless? We could turn him into a flea. A harmless little flea. And then I’ll put that flea in a box, and then I’ll put that box inside of another box, and then I’ll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives… AH HA HA …I’ll SMASH IT WITH A HAMMER!” 

            “What a bore…” A round man next to her with vials of potions on a belt shook his head at her. “I could easily make a potion that could kill him. Slowly and painfully…” 

            “You are missing the obvious!” A man next to him with what looked to be a glowing purple gem in his forehead loudly proclaimed. “He is not alone in this endeavour. His greed has given him allies!” 

            “And the brat’s newest friends are the king’s lackeys!” A man next to him with what looked to be a hook for a hand commented, sneering at the image. “Swoggle me eyes, they’re all bilge rats by the look of them.” 

            “You’re no prize yourself, gyahahaha!” A humanoid sack laughed at the pirate, who thrust his hook hand at its face, telling him to shut up as the one with potions around his belt reached for a few vials.

            “Enough.” A voice echoed from the front, turning all eyes to the source as a woman in a long black gown with purple and dark blue highlights that reached past her feet approached them. With pale skin and long purple nails, holding a brown sceptre with a green orb at the end, a black headdress that looked like a pair of dragon horns, purple lipstick, and yellow eyes with black dots for irises. “The Keyblade has chosen him. Will it be he who conquers the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way, he could be quite useful.” 

            “I dare say, you should not ignore his allies, Maleficent.” A voice that sounded almost like hers echoed from above as a pink cockatoo landed on her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed at the image. “Those Persona users have been more than a thorn in my former master's side. To neglect them would be to invite disaster.” 

            “So you say, Jerri.” Maleficent remarked, her eyes looking back at the image as she smiled evilly. “I wonder what sort of Heartless they would leave behind…”

The remainder of the day had the team prepping for the trip, loading up on supplies and items that could be useful for the voyage. Although Sophia did spend a moment to hang out with the two Dalmatian dogs in the second district, trying to help comfort them, she could see that nothing she could do would make them happy. As she was on her way back via the alleyway, she felt something hiding behind a stack of wooden crates. Curious, she shifted into her Thief attire and shadow-stepped her way onto the crates, finding a treasure chest hiding behind them.

            “A chest?” She asked out loud, landing next to it. "I wonder why it's here." Thankfully, it didn't look like those blue chests that only Sora could open, as Leon had given him one as an example to try out on. So without even thinking, she opened the treasure chest only to be surprised at what she found. It was three Dalmatian puppies, and they instantly jumped on her and started licking her.

            "That tickles!" She shouted, giggling at the affection she was receiving before coming to a realization. "Do you belong to those two?" The puppies looked at her, tilting their little heads as Sophia shadow-stepped back over the crates before making her way back to the house. Shifting back into her civilian attire as she opened the door, the puppies barked excitedly as they rushed through the rooms. The two adult dogs, hearing the puppies, rushed over to them and nuzzled at them with joy, even if it was only three out of their entire litter.

            "I'm glad I found them." Sophia commented before looking at the pictures. She had memorized every single one and came to the conclusion that there were ninety-nine in total. Something told her that they were not all located here. She looked back at the two parents, who looked back at her with hope in their eyes as she nodded at them. "Don't worry. I'll find the others." The two dogs nodded at her, as though they could understand what she was saying, as Sophia left the house, rushing back to the first district as everyone got ready to leave.

            “There you are, Sophia! Where were you?” Isara calls out as Sophia joins Ren’s side.

            “I was visiting the Dalmatians again.” Sophia comments as the Thieves all look at the ground with sad eyes. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all look at each other, confused as Hifumi looks at them.

            “We found a large home with only two Dalmatians living there. And from what we can tell, they have lost their puppies.” 

            “Awww…” Donald remarks, his eyes going sad as Goofy lets out a sad hum.

            “That’s not right…” Sora comments, shaking his head.

            “But I found three of them.” Sophia comments, grabbing everyone’s eyes. “They were stuck in a treasure chest hiding behind some boxes. And they were fine.” 

            “Puppies stuck in a treasure box? That’s just cruel.” Futaba comments, shaking her head before going contemplative. “But if we do find them when exploring worlds, it wouldn’t hurt if we picked them up, right?” She shoots a glance at Donald, who just stays silent and nods his head. He didn’t have the energy to argue with them about this.

            “In that case, leave it to me to mark them down.” Jiminy’s voice echoes from Goofy as he hops out of his pocket and lands on the ground. “Oh, please excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself. Cricket’s the name. Jiminy Cricket at your service.”

            “Jiminy here was asked to chronicle what is happening.” Goofy tells the others as Jiminy hops onto Sora’s shoulder. “He’ll be able to handle anything we need written down.” 

            “That could come in handy…” Hifumi comments, looking at the small cricket with a smile. “In that case, we’ll leave everything to you, Jiminy.” Jiminy nods at her with a smile as he makes himself at home in Sora’s hood while Goofy turns to Lavenza with a question on his lips.

            “By the way, Laven… er, Lavey… er, Laveven…” Goofy tries to say Lavenza’s name, who, instead of getting insulted, simply chuckles at him as she waves a hand.

            “It is Lavenza, Goofy. But besides that, what is your question?” She asks gently as Goofy shakes his head.

            “Erm, where is your ship?” Lavenza blinks at the question before motioning for everyone to follow her to the large wooden doors of Traverse Town. As they move outside, they see the remains of what was originally the Gummi Ship, now a smouldering wreck, as Donald and Goofy both let out a collective groan at the sight. Lavenza doesn’t bat an eye at it as she continues on towards a nearby dense tree line, moving to a small opening between the trees. As the team follows her, they are surprised to find what was hiding behind it.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_OncW610ho : Cosmic Voyagers)

A sleek silver ship in the shape of a gradually expanding triangle with violet markings lining the hull looks to be around 85.6 meters in length. Two giant wings stretch out from the back, the tips pointing upwards at 80-degree angles. What looks to be two large engines rests on top of the ship near the back, while more engines rest along the back, separating the wings. What looks to be weapon emplacements are housed near where the wings connect to the main body, while at the front, several windows mark where the cockpit is. And on the top, there appear to be solar panels, with a golden V placed right before them and on either side of the ship.

            “This… is the ship.” Lavenza comments, indicating the vessel. “Before Master Philemon bid me flee, he channelled what spare energy he could muster and fused it with the wreckage of this ship, repairing it while giving it similar properties to the Velvet Room inside, although not as powerful. You will find it to be larger on the inside than its size will lead you to believe.” 

            “It’s huge! Way bigger than the Gummi Ship!” Goofy exclaims as Donald blinks his eyes at it in complete shock. He didn’t have any arguments about space now.

            “Please, follow me inside.” Lavenza comments as a door opens on the side of the ship, extending a large set of stairs. Stepping inside the ship, they are greeted by a large recreational area that certainly looks bigger inside than on the outside, complete with seats, a bar, a large TV, several potted plants, and large windows looking outside. At the far back is a door with two stairs flanking it on both sides, while a door closer to them presumably leads to the cockpit. The floors, ceiling, and walls are all coloured in the same silver and violet as the outside, but also now include some gold decals, with the operation lights being a calm blue.

            “Damn… You weren’t kidding.” Isara comments as the group looks around in awe. Lavenza lets out a smile as she stands at the entrance to the cockpit.

            “Indeed. Behind those doors next to the stairs, you will find a training room. The stairs lead to the sleeping quarters upstairs. And behind me is the cockpit, although I suppose that is fairly obvious.” While Donald and Goofy were gaping at the ship they were in, Ren had his mind on a different concern.

            “Lavenza, do you still have your compendium?” He asks, grabbing her attention. “Somehow, I lost my Persona roster when our world fell. Not only that, but our Personas have reverted back to how they were when we first awakened.” 

            “I see… I had feared that had happened.” Lavenza replies in a semi-knowing tone. Ren and the others raise their eyebrows at Lavenza as she lets out a sigh. “It is best if we discuss this on the couches. What I am about to tell you is something that has been long lost to time.” The group all look at each other, surprised at the subdued tone in Lavenza’s voice, but sit on the couches regardless as Lavenza lets out a breath.

            “Now then, while it is currently known that the worlds are separate from each other, that does not mean that they were permanently separated from each other. There were those who had the means to travel between worlds to keep the balance of light and dark in check. Those people were ones who wielded the Keyblade.” 

            “You mean there are more people like me?” Sora asks, eyes going wide as he summons Kingdom Key to his hand. Lavenza looks at him, nodding before letting out a sigh.

            “Yes… but it has been over two thousand years since a Keyblade wielder visited our world. In those days, when Keyblade wielders and Persona users fought side by side, Personas were used differently than how they are now.” Lavenza looks at Ren and the others, making herself comfortable. “Back then, they did not turn their other half into a Persona. Instead, they formed contracts with free Personas, who they called Demons, to fight by their side. It was only after years of this that they became the Personas that you all know about today.” 

            “So… the first Persona users were more like Pokémon trainers? Never saw that coming.” Futaba remarks, shaking her head.

            “But I guess it makes sense…” Hifumi remarks. “Our Personas are based on famous people, historical or fictional. And if this happened over two thousand years ago, there would not be that many famous figures. At least, not to the extent that we have now.”

            “Yes. As for why your Personas are weak, it is because you are actively summoning them to the real world and not the Metaverse. Here in reality, their power is separate from how they are in the Metaverse. And the same can be said of the roster you previously created, Ren." She looks at him with sad eyes as she lets out a sigh. "And I am afraid that the Personas who resided inside you have been all but lost, returned to the compendium. You will need to once again rebuild your strength before you can summon them back.” 

            “I was afraid of that… but why did Keyblade wielders stop coming to our world?” Ren asks Lavenza. “Did something happen to them?” 

            “I do not know.” Lavenza replies, shaking her head. “They first came to help us stop the Heartless when they first emerged, fighting to beat them back. And when they were seemingly defeated and forced out of our world, they left. But if the Heartless have returned in such numbers, it can mean only one thing…” 

            “That they have either died out, or there are hardly any of them left.” Isara replies as Sora looks back at Kingdom Key again, feeling a heavy weight fall on his shoulders as he comes to the realization that he may be the only person left who could stop all of this. It almost felt suffocating to feel that weight.

            “Then I guess that means we have to pick up the slack.” Morgana remarks, snapping Sora out of his thoughts. “And if our past experience has taught us anything, there is someone pulling the strings behind all of this. All we gotta do is find out who it is and put a stop to them.”

            “Just like when we defeated EMMA.” Sophia chimes with a smile as Ren rubs her head.

            “Or when we kicked Salmael’s butt!” Isara adds with a grin, slamming her hands together.

            “Don’t forget about Yaldabaoth! We showed that metal goblet he made a big mistake trying to enslave all of us!” Futaba adds with a grin as Hifumi lets out a chuckle.

            “I suppose wishing for a normal life was never going to come true.” She remarks, shaking her head before looking at Ren. Ren nods at her before looking at Sora, seeing the young boy still struggling with the weight on his shoulders. It reminded him of when he first found out he had the power to change hearts. The weight that came with it and the fear of what would happen if he failed. Seeing Sora look at the Keyblade with that same expression… didn’t feel right.

            “Sora. You’re not in this alone.” He calls out, grabbing the boy's attention as he looks at him. “You don’t have to shoulder this burden all alone. We’re here to help you, okay? If it feels like the world is going to come crashing around you, just tell us. Okay?” Sora looks back at the Keyblade, letting out a sigh as he hangs his head.

            “Yeah… I guess.” He replies, still sounding a bit dejected.

            “But we can’t go anywhere while you look like that. Understand?” Donald suddenly says, drawing the team's attention. What was he saying now? “No frowning. No sad face. Okay?” 

            “Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!” Goofy adds, leaning next to Donald, who pushes him away before looking back at Sora.

            “This ship runs on happy faces!” He ends with what the team could guess was a smile. Hard to make out with his mouth being a duck bill. But it was clear what he was trying to do. Whether it would work or not was a different story altogether as Sora still looked down at his lap dejectedly.

Or that was the case until he suddenly looked back up sporting what could be called the silliest face imaginable, prompting everyone around him to start laughing at the face. It was such a surprising thing to see that none of them saw it coming as the gloom that seemed to be building up around them was battered away.

            “Heh. How was that? Funny enough for you?” Sora remarks, folding his arms with a smile as Donald and Goofy start to calm down from their laughter fest. The two toons nod as Lavenza, herself calmed down from her giggles, stands up and walks over to the door.

            “In that case, it is time we departed.” She comments, opening the door to the cockpit. Revealing a large room with one chair stationed at the top, presumably the captain's chair, with three more chairs around it at stations. In the lower section, connected by two stairs leading down from the top deck, there were three more chairs located at the front of the room, possibly the pilot seat and navigation stations, while three more stations lined the walls on either side. Along either side of the stairs were three more chairs, with one more chair located between the two stairs, surrounded by console terminals. And up near the entrance door were six more chairs, three on either side of the wall behind the captain's chair. And all of it coloured in the same style as the rest of the ship.

            “Gawrsh, if Gizmo could see this, he would be in heaven.” Goofy remarks as he and Donald sit in the passenger seats located on the bottom. Lavenza took the pilot seat while the Thieves spread out at the different stations. As for Sora, he didn’t know where to sit until Lavenza turned to look at him.

            “Sora. You can take the captain's seat if you want.” 

            “Really?” Sora asks, surprised as he looks at the chair. “But… is that okay?” 

            “Of course.” Lavenza replies. “You don’t need to feel forced if you don’t want it, but the seat is there if you do.” Sora turns to look at the seat, surprise written on his face before he lets out an excited grin and sits in it. Lavenza nods at him before turning back to the controls, but before she can take them off, Sophia calls out to her.

            “Does this ship have a name?” She asks, tilting her head. “If it doesn’t, then shouldn’t we come up with one?” 

            “I already have an idea for one.” Sora tells her as all eyes look at him. “Back on the island, Riku and I raced to see what we would name our raft. In the end, he won, so we were going to go with his name for it. And… I want to use that name.” 

            “What did he go for?” Morgana asks, lounging on Hifumi’s lap. Sora looks at him, putting on a big smile as he replies.

            “Highwind. That’s what he was going to call it.” 

            “Hey! That’s the same name as our old ship! Must be fate.” Goofy remarks.

            "I thought it was Kingdom…" Donald comments, shaking his head.

            “In any case, I think it’s unanimous.” Ren remarks with a grin. “I think we’ve wasted enough time here. Lavenza, take us away.” 

            “Of course, Trickster.” Lavenza replies, hitting a switch with the ship’s engines roaring to life. Through the glass windows, they can see the ship taking off as they zoom toward the stars. While on the ground, Sojiro watched alongside Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid as the ship took off into the sky before quickly flying off into the stars, leaving behind a twinkle in the night sky.

            “I hope they’ll be okay…” Yuffie admits, rubbing her head.

            “They will be fine.” Aerith tells her, grasping her hands. “Have faith.” Yuffie nods at her while Leon folds his arms, his eyes not leaving where the ship had vanished.

            “You okay with this?” He asks Sojiro, who lets out a long sigh.

            “To be honest, no, I am not. But I’m too old to help them. Even with a Persona, the best thing I can do is hold down the fort. Besides…” He looks at Leon with a smile as he folds his arms. “…I know they will be fine. This isn’t their first rodeo.” Leon nods at him, turning back to look at the skies, only for Cid to let out an annoyed groan.

            “Why couldn’t they let me have a look at that beauty!?” He shouts in annoyance as the four all shake their heads at him. Once a mechanic maniac, always a mechanic maniac…

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Down the Rabbit Hole.

With Lavenza piloting the ship, the team had a chance to explore the ship properly. Having a chance to look upstairs, they found the top half of the ship was just as large as the bottom, easily housing twenty-six sleeping quarters. While at the other end was a room that reminded Ren of where he could fuse Personas. Maybe this is where Lavenza would be located if she wasn’t piloting the ship…

As for the training room, it allowed the team to get a feel for each other’s combat abilities. Although Donald did seem mildly alarmed by Ren using Curse magic, Sora didn’t seem to have much of a problem with it. After all, he saw Sophia use what they call Bless magic, and he even saw Sojiro use both of them at once. He didn’t really understand why Donald looked so worried about Ren’s magic. Although the duck did warn all of them about the ‘World Order’ that they had to keep in check when visiting other worlds, unless there was a valid reason to interfere with what was going on. Something told Ren that rule was going to be quickly and constantly broken.

Although the training did allow Sora to find out how to use magic with the Keyblade, even if all he could use at the moment was a simple Fire spell. But it was strange to hear how, while they used similar elements, Ren and the others called them by different names. It was something that he couldn’t help but think about even as they continued training.

            “You’re getting a good hand on using magic, Sora.” Donald comments, watching as Sora sends out a Fire at Joker, who manages to block it with his dagger. “Not many people are fast at using magic for the first time.” 

            “Thanks.” Sora replies, wiping his head. “Still… it’s only thanks to you guys helping me that I can use it in the first place.” 

            “Don’t count yourself short.” Joker comments, shifting into his civilian clothes in a flash of blue fire. “You’re a quick learner, Sora.” Sora chuckles at the praise, even as Donald still gives Ren a weary look. Almost like he wanted to say something but kept quiet about it.

"Attention everyone. We are approaching a new world. Please come to the cockpit immediately.” 

            “Already at a new world? That was fast.” Futaba remarks as the group makes their way to the cockpit. Lavenza, still in the pilot seat, had brought up a screen showing the new world in question. Although… it wasn’t exactly what they imagined it would look like.

            “That’s… not what I was expecting.” Isara comments as the world grew closer. Looking like a giant egg painted with pink and red squares with hearts and clubs on them in the opposite colour. On the top looked to be some white castle with a giant heart-shaped hedge, while underneath was a strange house and some trees.

            “So… where do we land?” Hifumi asks, tilting her head. This place didn’t seem to have any viable landing spots.

            “You need not worry. There is a teleportation system in the lounge.” Lavenza replies, hitting another switch. “It will take you to what it believes would be the safest spot to enter. But to be quite honest, this is all a new experience for me.” 

            “I guess we’ll have to make do then.” Ren comments as Sora stretches his arms.

            “Right. Let’s go down there and start looking.” He replies as the team walks into the lounge. As Lavenza followed them, she took a path towards one of the stairs before glancing back at the others.

            “Ren… I will see what I can do to bring what limited capabilities that Philemon infused this ship with. However, I cannot guarantee the full capacity of what is usually offered to you…”

            “Even if I can just summon someone from my compendium, that would be helpful.” Ren comments as the system started to power on. As the energy surged around them, Futaba couldn’t help but shout a certain phrase at the top of her lungs.

            “Beam us down, Scotty!” 

            “Really, Futaba?” Isara comments as Hifumi and Ren chuckle at her just as they teleport onto the planet. Finding themselves in what looked to be a room filled with large purple tiles. “Did you HAVE to say something like that?” 

            “I couldn’t help it.” Futaba replies with a smirk, before tapping her foot. Only… she wasn’t tapping on anything. “What is—?” She asks, looking down, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

            “What’s wrong?” Goofy asks, seeing Futaba suddenly go very pale as he too looks down. Followed by everyone else as they all look at the floor. Only… there wasn’t a floor. Instead of being teleported onto a solid surface, they were instead in a giant tunnel.

            And they were all floating in mid-air.

            “Uh oh.” Sophia comments, before they all suddenly start falling down the shaft. Initially, it felt like they were falling at terminal velocity. But as they continued to fall, it quickly became apparent that they were actually falling a lot more slowly than they imagined.

            “Hey, this is kinda nice.” Goofy remarks, leaning backwards and closing his eyes.

            “Why am I already getting a headache from this place?” Hifumi asks as she and Ren, with Morgana on her shoulders, float past a mirror that shows them floating upside down. Eventually, the ground soon appears before them as they all gently come to a stop, except for Goofy who, in the process of flipping over, lands hard on his stomach instead.

            “That had to hurt.” Morgana quips, leaping off Hifumi’s shoulder. But just as Sophia and Isara help him up, the patting of several feet alongside a ticking clock rushes past them, accompanied by a very panicked voice.

            “Oh, my fur and whiskers! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” All eyes go to the source, only to blink in surprise as a large white rabbit in a red waistcoat, holding a giant golden watch, rushes past them. And judging by the laboured breathing, he has been running for some time.

            “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I’m here, I should be there! I’m late, I’m late, I’m late! The Queen, she’ll have my head for sure!” And with that, he disappears down the corridor, turning hard right around the corner while everyone else just stands still.

            “So… did anyone else see a giant white rabbit in a waistcoat, or was that just me?” Futaba asks, taking her glasses off to rub her eyes.

            “No… I saw it too.” Sora replies, rubbing the back of his head. “But what was he talking about?” 

            “Apparently he was late for something.” Goofy remarks, looking down the corridor. “But what is he running late for?” 

            “Well, we won’t find out by standing around here.” Ren comments, shaking his head. “And it’s not like we have any other direction to go either.” 

            “Then I guess we’ll just follow the white rabbit.” Sora comments, but a little bit unsure as the team follows after the rabbit. Although for Ren and the Thieves, something about this felt strangely familiar. Not that they could put a finger on it at the moment when they came to a door. But as Sophia opened it, it only showed another smaller door. Tilting her head, Sophia opened that one only to find ANOTHER smaller door.

            “This makes no sense.” She comments, opening it to, thankfully, show no more doors on the other side. “Why would you need three doors?” 

            “Best not question it, Sophia.” Isara comments as they move through the opening. “Something tells me this place won’t make any sense anyway.” Something that was immediately proven true as the moment they all move through the opening, the lights around them turned on, showing them inside a small room that looked like it would comfortably fit the rabbit they saw. But their exit was suddenly closed by a fourth door which they most definitely didn’t see when first entering the room.

As for the rabbit they were chasing, they found him running across the floor, somehow shrunken down, as he ran through a smaller wooden door with a golden doorknob.

            “How did he get so small?” Sora asks, kneeling to look at the doorknob.

            “No, you’re simply too big.” The doorknob replies, shocking everyone as Donald’s hat literally jumps off his head in shock.

            “It talks!” Donald shouts as Ren, Hifumi, and Futaba rub their eyes. This place was going to be a brain melter… As if a talking doorknob wasn’t bad enough, it then yawned at them as though they had just woken it up!

            “Must you be so loud? You woke me up.” He complains to the group.

            “Doorknobs need sleep?” Sophia asks, tilting her head. “Why do they need sleep?” 

            “Just… don’t question it, Sophia.” Morgana comments, slamming a paw on his face.

            “Good morning.” Goofy greets the doorknob, but the doorknob is not in the same mood as the others.

            “Good night! I need a bit more sleep…” He yawns, closing his eyes as he settles back on the door. How he could do that was anyone’s guess, but he somehow managed to make himself comfortable. But Sora wasn’t going to let him sleep just yet.

            “Wait, what do we have to do to grow small?” The doorknob cracks an eye open at Sora, almost amused at his request before looking at a picture of a table, chair, and two bottles on the floor.

            “Why don’t you try the bottle… over there?” At that, all eyes turn to the picture that Morgana just happened to be on. And it was with a mewl of surprise that a puff of smoke erupted from the floor, throwing Morgana into the air before he lands on a newly formed chair with a table and two bottles on it. One blue, the other red.

            “And just like that… all logic is out of the window.” Isara comments, sitting on the bed. Only for it to suddenly retract itself into the wall, leaving Isara with nothing to sit on as she falls to the floor, glaring at the wall and the now exposed hole that the bed was hiding. “Oh, that’s REALLY funny!” She shouts in annoyance, moving to join the others as they stand around the table, eyeing the bottles with suspicion.

            “I don’t trust this…” Donald remarks, glaring at the bottles. “It could be a trap.” 

            “Then let me have a go.” Goofy remarks, grabbing the blue one and taking a sip despite everyone’s worries. But it seemed that he really enjoyed it. “Hmm… Blueberry flavour.” 

            “Can I try?” Sophia asks, with Goofy handing her the bottle. And before Ren could stop her, she takes a sip, only to look at it confused. “Huh… Apple flavour?” 

            “What? Let me try.” Futaba remarks, gently taking the bottle before sipping, only for her eyes to widen in surprise. "Strawberry? What gives? Why can’t it make up its mind?” 

            “I think we have bigger things to worry about, Futaba.” Hifumi comments, grabbing the trio's attention. Only for them to find out that they were now only as big as the bottles themselves!

            “What!?” Futaba shouts dropping the bottle only for it grow as large as the other one. "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-!?"

            “Don’t question it…” Ren comments, shaking his head in exasperation. Even going back on everything they had been through, this single world had blown them all out of the water. “Let’s just keep moving.” 

            “I don’t think we’ll get past him.” Sora comments, pointing a finger at the sleeping doorknob.

            “Why don't we try that hole in the wall?” Morgana asks, pointing a paw at the wall. "We might as well see where it leads." With trepidation, the group heads towards the opening, unsure of what they would find. And it certainly wasn't them appearing in a hedgerow with towering hedges above them. At this point, they had all decided to stop questioning things as they moved through the hedges, eventually coming across an archway in the form of a heart with… sentient playing cards holding spears and axes? With some of them having either red hearts or black spades?

But what was more puzzling was the fact that they were forming two lines of rows, leading up to a podium with a young girl in a bright blue dress tied with a white ribbon around her waist and a black ribbon in her blonde hair. To the right of her was an empty gallery, while on the left was an observation platform with the rabbit on top, panting hard with a large trumpet in his hands.

But it was what was before her that had the group's attention. A towering podium with a throne, decked in royal banners with a cage on the right side. And sitting in the throne was a large queen, dressed in a black and red dress and a slim yet tall crown on her head, holding a fan that was in the shape of a red heart.

            “What’s going on here?” Sora asks, peeking around the corner in a whispered tone. The group shrugs at him while the girl on the podium seems to flinch for a moment before looking over her shoulder at them, almost as though she could feel they were there. Just as soon as she looked, the rabbit blew into the horn, drawing all eyes to him as he said the words that Ren honestly never wanted to hear again.

            “Court is now in session!” 

            “I’m on trial? But why?” The girl at the podium asks, honestly confused as to why she is there in the first place. And it was already giving Ren a bad feeling as the rabbit turned to the Queen.

            “Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding!” At that, the Queen opens her eyes to stare down at the girl, barely contained rage hiding behind her features.

            “This girl is the culprit. There’s no doubt about it. And the reason is… because I say so, that’s why!” All of a sudden, Ren felt the urge to charge in there and stop this sham of a trial. This reminded him way too much of what happened to him when Shido accused him. And judging by how Hifumi and Futaba were resting their hands on him to calm him down, they could tell what he was feeling.

            “That is so unfair!” The girl shouts back, slamming her hands on the stand. The Queen, almost amused by her, taps her fan on the podium.

            “Well, have you anything to say in your defence, Alice?” She asks, almost condescendingly towards her, in a tone that no one liked to hear.

            “Of course! I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong! You may be Queen, but I’m afraid that doesn’t give you the right to be so… so mean!” Alice replies, folding her arms as she glares up at the Queen, who in turn gave her a furious glare in return as she slammed her hands on the podium.

            “Silence! You dare defy me?” She asks, standing up from her throne as the two are locked in an intense glare stand-off. But while the two have their staring contest, the team continues to watch on with concern. Sora can tell by the way Ren is tightly gripping his hands that he wants to intervene in what is happening. So he decides to voice it.

            “Hey guys, we should help her out.” Sora voices to the team as his eyes don’t leave Alice.

            “Yeah, but uh… we’re outsiders, so wouldn’t that be muddling?” Goofy asks, tilting his head.

            “Are you really going to ignore an innocent person getting framed like this?” Hifumi asks Goofy, who shakes his head at the notion. But before any of them can continue, the Queen of Hearts gives out her verdict.

            “The court finds the defendant… guilty as charged!” All eyes turn to the Queen, who stares down at Alice with insatiable wrath, while Alice herself doesn’t seem all that bothered. Strange, seeing how she is being charged guilty of something. But it is what the Queen says next that gets Ren’s temper flaring, as even Futaba and Hifumi find themselves barely able to hold back any more. “For the crime of assault and attempted theft of my heart… Off with her head!” At her call, all of the card soldiers turn to Alice, ready to do as their Queen commands. But before they can move, there is one person who is even faster.

            “Hold it right there!” Sora shouts, rushing forward as the cards all turn towards him and the others, parting like a sea of cards as the Queen looks at them in shock at the interruption.

            “Who are you? How dare you interfere with my court!?” 

            “This isn't a court… it's a frame-up!” Ren shouts with anger in his voice, somehow managing to even make the Queen jump back in shock at the fury in his voice, not to mention how Donald and Goofy jumped back from him as well. Sora, seeing the rage in Ren's eyes, decides to walk forward.

            “We know who the real culprits are. She isn’t the one responsible for this!” 

            “That’s nonsense! Have you any proof?” the Queen asks, tapping her fan on the podium.

            “Do you?” Ren challenges, folding his arms. The Queen glares at him, only to slightly shrink at the glare Ren is giving in return. It was the Niijima-Sakura glare after all.

            “I… do not have any at the moment… But I can find proof if needed!" She retorts angrily. "And that is not all! She was sighted in the vicinity alongside two masked individuals! How could she not be the one if she was in their company!?" The Thieves all blink at the mention of 'masked individuals', but put that matter at the back of their minds for now.

            “In that case, we can find proof that proves her innocent!” Sora shouts at the Queen, who is growing increasingly frustrated. As for Alice, her eyes are instead on Ren, as though she is looking at him with recognition in her eyes.

            “FINE! Go and find whatever evidence you please! But until then…” She slams her fan on the podium as two guards grab Alice and take her over to the cage nearby. “Alice will remain in this cage! Failure to bring any evidence whatsoever, and it is off with all of your heads!” 

            “Fine by us.” Futaba remarks as the team exits the court via a path to the left. As they walk along the path, Ren pauses for a moment before punching a giant wooden log on the right, grabbing everyone’s attention.

            “Dad… are you all right?” Sophia asks, walking up to his side as Ren takes a long, hard breath of air.

            “Better now than back there…” He admits, rubbing her head before looking at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. “Sorry you had to see that back there.” 

            “What was that about, Ren? I’ve never seen you that angry before.” Sora asks as Donald folds his arms, waiting for an explanation. Ren lets out a sigh, shaking his head as he stands up tall, rubbing the back of his neck.

            “To be honest, I was framed for a crime I never committed as well.” Sora, Donald, and Goofy’s eyes widen in surprise and shock as Ren nods his head. “I was trying to save someone from getting… defiled by someone who wanted to become a dictator of our country. I managed to stop him, but he tripped over himself and banged his head. Next thing I know, I’m in a kangaroo court getting sued for assault. And everyone was paid off by that man except for my lawyers. But in the end, they couldn’t win the case, and I was sent off on probation for a year with a mark on my record. All for doing the right thing.” 

            “But you were innocent!” Sora shouts, shaking his head. “That’s not fair!” 

            “At the time, I thought so too.” Ren replies, pushing himself off the log. “But now, I’m happy that happened. After all, it led me to find my real family and beat up a couple of gods who wanted to enslave us as well. Can’t argue against that.” 

            “And besides, that case was overturned.” Hifumi adds, brushing her hair back. “Ren’s innocence was proven in the end.” 

            “Well, that’s good to hear.” Goofy remarks. “Anyway, shouldn’t we start looking for some evidence?” 

            “But what do we even look for?” Donald asks, letting out a sigh. “And who were these other people the Queen talked about?” 

            “Who indeed?” A voice echoes around them, turning all eyes to their surroundings. For a moment, they saw nothing until a disembodied head of a purple cat appeared before them. Grinning with a wide smile before quickly vanishing. The head does this several times before appearing on the tree stump, its body of purple and pink stripes dancing on top of its head like a ball. Then, it hops off its head, picks it up, and plops it back on its body as though it were nothing.

           "Okay… that's got to be the creepiest cat I've ever seen." Morgana mused.

           "Agreed. Who are you!?" Donald shouts as the Thieves shift over into their attire.

            “No one of consequence. But poor Alice. Soon to lose her head, and she’s not guilty of a thing.” The cat remarks, already giving the team a bad feeling with its large grin. Joker would say it reminded him of Igor, but at least that smile didn’t make you feel uncomfortable. “The Cheshire Cat has all the answers, but doesn’t always tell. All lie in the darkness. You search for evidence, do you not? You will find it with your masked friends. And a big reward if you do.” And with that, the cat vanishes, not even giving the team a chance to talk as they are all left alone.

            “Should we trust him?” Goofy asks, rubbing his head.

            “To be honest, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.” Edelweiss remarks, shaking her head. Before anyone could comment on it any further, the sound of an explosion echoed nearby, grabbing everyone's attention as they turned to see what appeared to be Elect and Psy magic in the distance.

            “What was that!?” Donald shouts in surprise as smoke rises in the distance.

            “Could they be your friends?” Sora asks Joker hopefully.

            “If it is, then I think I know who's currently here! Let's go!" Joker shouts, rushing forward with the rest of the team behind him. Moving through the tall grass, trees, and giant flowers, the sounds of combat grow louder, along with two familiar voices.

            “More of these stupid things! Buzz off already!! Zio!!” 

            “Milady! Psi!” The sound of an explosion echoed out after the call, just as the group circled around the corner. With Joker and the Thieves gasping in shock at who it was they had found.

            “Skull! Noir!” Oracle shouts as the team rushes forward, Sora, Donald, and Goofy close behind. Skull and Noir, fighting a large group of Shadows, Soldiers, and little floating red Heartless with orange caps, glance over at them with surprise and relief on their faces before turning their attention back to the Heartless.

            “Joker! Everyone!” Noir calls out, swinging her axe around and sending a Shadow flying into a Soldier.

            “We are SO glad to see you guys!” Skull shouts, bashing his iron pipe against a Soldier before ducking under a fireball from one of the new ones. “But who are the plus three!? And why are two of them a duck and a dog!?” A Shadow tries to jump at him, only for it to be cleaved in two by Joker in return.

            “Focus on the Heartless first! We can explain after!” Joker calls out, spinning around and grabbing his gun, firing at the new Heartless and forcing them to retreat. Noir and Skull nod at him, shelving their questions for later as they turn their attention back to the Heartless.

            “Then lets finish this up! Captain Kidd! Zio!” Skull shouts, ripping his mask off as the ghostly captain forms behind him. Sending a blast of lightning at two Shadows and disintegrates them on impact.

            “Milady! Hysterical Slap!” Noir commands, her other self coming to the field and slapping two of the little red ones with her hand, sending them into a daze as Sora jumps up and finishes them off in a single slash. It wasn’t long until the battle was wrapped up, with the last of the Heartless taken out by Edelweiss with her arm cannons. And it was only then that the Thieves allowed themselves to shift back to normal, with Sophia already running up to Haru and Ryuji.

            “Aunt Haru! Uncle Ryuji!” Sophia cries, latching onto Haru with a hug, the floofy-haired girl patting Sophia on the head. “I’m so glad you’re alright!” 

            “That same goes for us, Sophie-chan.” Haru comments with a smile before looking up at Ren. “It makes us so happy to see you alive, even if it is not all of you at the moment.” 

            “Same here.” Ryuji comments, walking up to Ren as the two share a bro fist. “I knew you wouldn’t kick the bucket so easily!” 

            “Was there any doubt?” Ren asks back with a grin, but soon loses it as he looks between them. “Is Makoto or the others with you?” Ryuji and Haru lose their smiles as they shake their heads at Ren.

            “No. It’s just us.” Haru replies, letting out a sigh. “To be perfectly honest, this place has been a mental strain ever since we arrived.” 

            “For real… that crazy Queen is out for blood. And we didn’t even do anything except protect Alice!” Ryuji remarks with a groan. “And nothin’ about this place makes any sense whatsoever!” 

            “But Alice is caught by the Queen.” Hifumi comments, grabbing the two's attention. “We just stopped her from killing Alice.” Haru and Ryuji look at each other before glancing back at the team, and then they both let out some awkward chuckles.

            “About that… it might be quicker to show you at our hiding spot.” Haru comments quickly, pointing up at an entrance in the trees. “Things are… complicated. And it will be safer to explain everything that has been going on there as well.” The team all glances at each other, a little confused at what Haru had just told them. Just what had been going on here?

As it turned out, getting back to their hideout was not as simple as it first seemed. First, they had to jump through a door that led them back to the room with the doorknob. Only now they were walking along the wall next to the stove! And THEN they had to jump into the firepit for the stove to appear on the OTHER wall! Following that, they then had to ignite two lamps on the wall in order to bring a picture to life! And it was only then, after jumping through the picture, that they found Ryuji and Haru's hideout. A secluded area in the forest that was extremely well hidden. Along with another surprise that no one was expecting. Kneeling on the ground and surrounded by twelve Dalmatian puppies… was Alice.

            “Oh! Welcome back!” Alice calls out, standing up while holding one of the pups in her arms. “I see you found some friends.” 

            “We did.” Haru replies as Sophia runs over to play with the pups. Something that Alice couldn’t help but giggle at while the rest of the Thieves looked at her in shock.

            “How is this possible?” Donald asks, rubbing his head. “We saw Alice at the court!” 

            “About that… that’s not Alice.” Ryuji remarks, hands in his pockets. “But to explain that, we need to talk about what happened when we first woke up here.” Taking a glance over at Alice and seeing her distracted with Sophia and the pups, the team moved to a different part of the hideout to talk. “Okay… so after whatever happened to our home, Haru and I woke up in this forest. After we had a moment to freak out about what was happenin’, those same freaks tried to attack us again.”

            “And it was then that we found out that we could summon our Personas again. Although… they are rather weak.” Haru comments, rubbing her arm. “It is like… we have just awakened.” 

            “We can explain that, but for now, continue.” Morgana comments, loafing on Hifumi’s shoulders.

            “Right. Well, after we did that, we soon saw Alice getting chased by some walkin’ cards of all things, with that crazy ass Queen after her.” Ryuji remarks, casting a glance at Alice. “We managed to distract those cards and get her away, but they still kept chasin’ after us. That was when that other Alice appeared and distracted them. We didn’t even get a chance to ask her anythin’.” 

            “It was really strange.” Haru comments, shaking her head and letting out a sigh. “We haven’t had a moment of rest for a while.” 

            “Well, things might change soon.” Ren comments before glancing at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. “Before I forget, I should let them introduce themselves.” He motions a hand to them, with Sora nodding in thanks as he steps up.

            “I’m Sora Osment.” 

            “Donald Duck.” 

            “Name’s Goofy.” The trio introduces themselves to Haru and Ryuji, with Sora holding up a hand to shake, one that Haru gently takes.

            “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sora-kun. My name is Haru Okumura.” Haru greets, giving him a polite nod as Ryuji gives them a wide grin.

            “Ryuji Sakamoto!” He greets before glancing back at Ren. “So, what’s the story so far? What happened back in Tokyo?” 

            “Right… you wouldn’t know.” Ren remarks, shaking his head as he sits on the ground. “Best take a seat, guys. This isn’t easy to say…”

            “FOR REAL!?” Ryuji screams out loud while Haru has a hand covering her mouth. “OUR WORLD IS GONE!?” All around him, everyone was busy rubbing their ears while the pups were huddled around Alice and Sophia, shivering as Ryuji glanced at them with a wince. “Ah… sorry ‘bout that… Force of habit.” 

            “Sheesh… you never change, Ryuji.” Morgana quips, shaking his head to clear the echo out.

            “But still… I can’t fault Ryuji-kun. Our home is… gone? After everything we did to save it?” Haru asks, a tear dripping down her face.

            “It’s hard to accept, but it’s true, Haru.” Hifumi tells her, reaching over to pat her shoulder. “We were all the same when we learned about it.” Haru lets out a sniffle, rubbing her eye as her mind goes to her father and whatever fate he ended up with when their world fell. She didn’t want to even think about that.

            “But how did these freaks do that so fast?” Ryuji asks, calming himself down. “How did these… Heartless kill our world like that?” 

            “We don’t know.” Isara replies, shaking her head. “It just happened so fast…” Donald let out an annoyed mumble about the ‘World Order’ as Alice walked over to them.

            “Excuse me… but did you say that you came from another world?” She asks, drawing their eyes as she holds up a hand. “Please don’t try to say no. In truth, I don’t belong here either. I fell into Wonderland from a rabbit hole, after all. That… and your attires do not match what I have seen in my world either.”

            “Busted.” Futaba comments as Donald shakes his head, exasperated. “Guess there’s no point in hiding it from you.” 

            “Oh, don’t worry. I have no intention of telling anyone. After all, I don’t think anyone would believe me about this place.” She holds up a hand around her, indicating the crazy world they are in. “But still… what are you going to do about the me in the cage?” 

            “Well, we are looking for evidence we can use to help prove her innocence in court.” Goofy comments. "Not sure what exactly…"

            “Evidence? Do you mean those?” Haru comments, indicating five pink boxes nearby. “We found them when we were exploring this place, alongside those puppies. But their contents are… strange.” 

            “Strange? How so?” Sora asks, walking up to the boxes.

            “Well, one of them is an antenna from those Shadows. Another is a picture of claw marks, another one is footprints. And then there was one that stunk.” Ryuji remarks, shaking his head at that last box. “But that fifth one we could never open up for some reason.” Sora tilts his head, looking at the box set aside from the others before reaching for it. But the moment he did, he felt an icy chill run into him from the box, immediately feeling the need to rub his arms before summoning Kingdom Key and pointing at the ceiling.

            “Blizzard!” At his cry, five ice crystals shot out from the tip of the Keyblade, embedding themselves into the canopy above as the chill running through Sora stopped. “Wait…? Did I just learn an ice spell?” He asks, looking at the Keyblade in awe as Donald walked up to him.

            “Looks like you did, Sora!” Donald tells him, slapping a hand on his back.

            “Ice magic… Just like Yusuke.” Haru comments, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “What are the chances that was what was in the box?” 

            “Astronomical.” Futaba remarks, rolling her eyes before looking at the four boxes. “As for these boxes… we might be able to use them in our case against the Queen…” 

            “It’s worth a shot.” Ren replies, grabbing one of the boxes. “I’ve had it with people trying to force others to take the fall.” 

            “Can’t blame you for that.” Hifumi comments, grabbing another box while Isara and Goofy grab the remaining two. As they got ready to head back, Sora took a moment to glance at Alice and the puppies, a strange feeling floating around him as he looked back at Haru and Ryuji.

            “Um… Ryuji? Haru? Can I ask a favour?” The two Thieves turn to look at Sora as he looks back at Alice. “I don’t know why, but I’m getting a bad feeling about leaving Alice here by herself. Like… what if the Heartless somehow find this place?” Haru and Ryuji glance at each other, thinking hard over the possibility in their heads. It's true that Alice and the pups had been safe so far, but that could all change if they let their guards down for a moment. At least, until Alice finds a way to get back home anyway.

            “He has a point, Ryuji-kun. It would be poor of us to leave her undefended.” Haru comments, bobbing her head up and down. Ryuji looks around, letting out a long sigh as he shakes his head in begrudging acceptance.

            “Fine… we’ll stay behind and keep an eye on things. Just make sure to throw in a few hits for us in case it breaks into a fight, alright?” 

            “Sure thing.” Ren replies as he hops into the portal, taking him back to the strange room before he and the others make their way back to the court, leaving Haru and Ryuji behind to guard Alice.

Thankfully, by the time they got back, the ‘Alice’ in the cage was still alive as they presented their evidence to the Queen, who had to begrudgingly admit that they had found quite a lot of evidence.

            “But I’m still not convinced! Cards! Bring forth my evidence!” At her command, the cards brought out her one and only piece of evidence, placing it next to the others before they randomly and completely unexpectedly randomized themselves. They plopped down in a row of five as the Queen looked at them with indifference. “Hmm, checking all five would only be a waste of time. All right, then. Choose the one you wish to present. I’ll decide who’s guilty with that evidence.” 

            “What? After all this time looking for them?” Sora asks, shaking his head in dismay as Futaba does a sneaky scan of the boxes. There could be only one reason why the Queen wanted to do this.

            “You dare object? Then you will lose your head! Now choose one box!" The Queen shouts at Sora, who was starting to feel extremely annoyed at this so-called 'Queen'. But he had no choice but to choose a box, so, stepping from the stand, Sora walked around to look at the boxes. From what he could see, they all looked identical. But something was still telling him to be careful about what to pick. This had 'trap' written all over it.

            “Sora, pick the middle box.” Futaba’s voice echoed in his ear in a very silent whisper. “The box before you is giving me a friendly signal. All the others are hostile. So don’t choose that one.” Sora silently thanked Futaba as he walked to the middle box, looking up at the Queen with a determined look.

            “I’ll pick this one.” He announces, with the Queen letting her eyes roll.

            “Very well then. Let us see who the true culprit is.” With a tap of her fan, two cards walk over and open the box. And what jumped out of it shocked both of them as a Soldier Heartless appeared before them, ready to attack anyone before Sora struck it down with a swipe of his Keyblade, leaving a very shocked Queen gaping at the sight.

            “What in the world was that!?” She shouts, looking down at Sora, who shoulders the Keyblade with a grin.

            “Your evidence. Alice is innocent.” While Sora hoped that it would be enough to convince the Queen to release ‘Alice’, the growling coming from her voice said otherwise as she slammed her fan on the podium.

            “Silence! I’m the law here! Article 29: Anyone who defies the Queen is guilty! Seize them at once!” 

            “Should have seen that coming…” Isara comments from the bench as the team feels the tension rise. Looks like they were in for a fight after all. Almost as though it was listening to them, the entire area changed to a flat plane. With the tower, the stand, the benches, and even the hedges all vanishing while the Queen's podium shrank down to the ground.

            “Get them, you fools!” The Queen shouts as all the cards leap into the air in an attempt to dogpile them. But the team was quicker as they easily ducked out of the way. But as they did so, Donald noticed one of the cards was manning a small tower in the middle of the field. And that it was connected to the cage ‘Alice’ was in, as the card was spinning the gear to make the cage unreachable.

            “Hey! That tower is connected to the cage!” He shouts, letting out a Blizzard spell at the card, chilling it as it flops to the ground like a normal card.

            “Then let's destroy it!” Isara shouts as the team shifts into their Thief attire, a sight that shocks the Queen and her cards.

            “You—!?” She shouts just as Oracle jumps onto her podium with a grin.

            “Yeah, us!” She shouts before punching the Queen in the face, sending her sprawling on her back, with her heart-printer bloomers on full display, causing Oracle, Donald, and Edelweiss to burst out laughing at her. While all the cards turning to her in worry and completely ignoring the rest of the team as they work to destroy the tower. But Joker has a different idea.

            “Mona, do you have a lockpick on you?” Joker asks, using the opportunity to take down a card. Mona rummages through his belt, pulling one out as he nods at Joker, who flashes a grin. “Time to do a speedrun.” He flashes his grappling hook, with Mona’s eyes widening before letting out a grin as he leaps onto Joker’s shoulder. Without missing a beat, Joker fires his grapple hook at the cage, zipping him up as Mona gets to work opening it.

            “Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here.” Mona tells ‘Alice’, who stays silent as they open the cage. As they jump to the ground, Sora and the others have just taken down the tower right as the Queen pushes herself back up, only to watch as the team quickly makes their escape through the door leading to the forest.

            “You fools! Stop them now, I don’t care how!” As the cards all give her a salute, they rush after the team towards the forest. But in truth, they just want to get away from the Queen and her wrath, or they will all lose their heads!

            “We should be safe now…” Sora comments as the team rests on top of a large tree, with the Thieves now back in their normal attire, watching as the cards beneath them search in a panic.

            “That Queen really is crazy…” Goofy comments, rubbing his head.

            “More like a spoiled brat…” Futaba comments, shaking her head. As the team takes a moment to breathe, they turn their eyes to ‘Alice’ who is standing still with a calm smile. “Still, glad we managed to rescue you.” 

            “I didn’t have a doubt… Phantom Thieves.” ‘Alice’ replies, shocking everyone as she suddenly starts to glow with a blue aura. Floating gently into the air, her blue dress turns into a deep purple and becomes more streamlined, while her skin goes white. The blue chains of a Persona appear around her feet. It soon becomes obvious as to who this ‘Alice’ really is.

            “You know… I should have known it was you.” Ren comments, shaking his head with a smile. “You always liked to pull pranks on people, Alice.” Persona Alice giggles at him with childlike wonder, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy just look at her in confusion.

            “Um… Ren? Who is this?” Sora asks as Persona Alice turns to look at him.

            “I am Alice. Or rather, a different Alice from the one of this world. I hail from Ren’s world, or in other words, I am a Persona.” She tells him matter-of-factly. “When our world fell, the other Personas that resided inside Ren along with me were forcibly extracted. And while I could sense the others returning to the compendium, something dragged me to this world. And… I feel weaker than ever before…”

            “Maybe Lavenza could help you regain your strength?” Hifumi ponders, rubbing her chin. “Either way, it's good to see you again. But what made you jump in to save the real Alice?”

            “Why? Because she is me.” Alice replies, surprising everyone. “This entire world… I wasn’t sure of it at first, but the more I looked, the more I realised… this is based on the Alice in Wonderland books that I myself originated from.”

            “So THAT’S why it felt familiar!” Futaba shouts before shaking her head. “No wonder why we were going mad from this place…” 

            “I’m not sure if I understand…” Sora comments, dragging all eyes to him. “But we saved the real Alice, right? Then should we go and tell her the good news so we can all get out of here?” 

            “No complaints from me.” Isara comments, nodding her head up and down.

            “Ren!” Ryuji’s voice echoed behind them, grabbing all eyes as they see Ryuji, Haru, and the twelve puppies that they had found rush up towards them. Distress is present in all of their eyes.

            “Ryuji? Haru? What’s wrong?” Ren asks, seeing the distress on their faces. “And where is Alice?” Ryuji, leaning on his knees, looks up at Ren with wide eyes.

            “It was those Heartless! They captured her!” Ryuji shouts, stunning the group as Haru stands up straight.

            “They appeared not long after you left. Initially, it was the same types we had faced before. But not long after, two more types emerged.” Haru tells them, letting out a sigh. “One of them was large with large arms. And nothing we did to it even scratched it on the front. The only way we could beat them was by hitting them in the back or head.”

            “But that wasn’t the only one that appeared.” Ryuji reveals, shaking his head. “This larger one came in from above as we tried to deal with that large one. And it was giant! It managed to hit Haru and me with a baton, sending us into the wall before grabbing Alice and then it just left along with the others.” Ryuji lets out a groan, kicking the ground as he shakes his head. “Sorry, Ren. We failed big time on this.” 

            “I’m just glad neither of you lost your hearts. Or the pups for that matter.” Ren tells them as he shakes his head. “But still… why capture only Alice?” 

            “Do you need a guide?” The voice of the Cheshire Cat echoes around them as all eyes turn to it as the cat appears on a tree branch.

            “Great… him again.” Morgana groans.

            “You seek the large one, yes? Then why not try the Bizarre Room? Who knows, they may be after the doorknob as well.” And with that, the cat vanishes, leaving the team puzzled as to why it told them to check the Bizarre Room. But it’s not like they had any other option or leads to follow as they made their way back to the room, while avoiding any entrance that led back to the Queen’s court. They had enough of that crazy lady for one day.

            “Why does it feel like we’re walking into a trap?” Ryuji asks as they all jump onto the giant table with the bottles

            “I wouldn’t be surprised if we are.” Morgana quips on Ren’s shoulder while Persona Alice hovers beside him. “Now, if I were a Heartless, where would I hide?” 

            “I don’t think any of us want to be one, Morgana.” Goofy remarks as Donald shakes his head at the dog. As for the others, they were all looking around the room, trying to see anything that might indicate where the Heartless were hiding. But no matter where they looked, they couldn’t see anything until the flapping of paper caught Sora’s ears.

            “Up there!” Sora shouts, drawing all eyes upward as a giant Heartless falls from the ceiling, landing on its long black paper-like arms before propelling itself over the table and landing before the door. Its feet were giant black axe heads, connected by two thin sticks that joined up with two red sticks, connected by purple orbs. A thick chest and hip with large shoulders, all coloured red and black with gold decals, and a giant head that was five heads stacked on top of each other, each one alternating between red and black, all joined together by gold, with the Heartless symbol on top of its head. It had two giant purple batons in its hands that it started juggling between itself.

            “That’s the freak that ambushed us!” Ryuji shouts as the Thieves shift over to their Thief attire. The puppies run over to a secluded spot so as not to get caught up in the coming fight while Oracle, taking refuge inside Necronomicon, starts scanning the new foe as it walks toward them, juggling its batons between its legs.

            “It’s called the Trickmaster! Watch out for those batons while I zero in on its weak point!” No sooner does Oracle shout that, the Trickmaster swipes its baton at the table, forcing everyone off and spilling the bottles along the floor.

            “So much for growing big…” Edelweiss remarks as the Trickmaster stomps down with his axe foot, only for Skull to come in and block it with his pipe. As the Trickmaster attempts to push down on Skull, the rest of the team took a chance to attack the Trickmaster’s legs. Only for their weapons to barely do anything to it.

            “What’s going on? Why can’t we hit it!?” Sora shouts as he ducks away from one of the batons even as the Trickmaster still tries to crush Skull, who was now joined by Noir as the two fought back against it. Persona Alice, despite losing a lot of her strength, could still fight back as she flew up to the Trickmaster’s face and blasted it with Eiga. While it didn’t do much to force it back, the attack still managed to connect with Oracle letting out a finger snap seconds later.

            “Aim for the body and head! That’s its weak points!” Oracle calls out as Shadow jumps onto the table and runs off the edge, leaping at the body of the Trickmaster and dragging her kunai across it. The Trickmaster, not expecting the attack, loses its focus for a moment, which gives Skull and Noir the opening they need to push it back, almost sending it falling over as it stumbles into one of the chairs. This gives Sora and Edelweiss an opening to jump up and lash out at its body.

But the Trickmaster did not stay down for long as it soon got back up on its feet. Once more attempting to either slice them with its legs or hit them with its batons. Sophie, along with Mona, jumped up from the chair onto the table again and leaped at the Trickmaster’s body, managing to slash it in the head this time as it swayed from the impact. However, it seemed that the Trickmaster had had enough of that as it stomped onto the table and smacked its batons on it, sending it back into the floor as a painting.

            “Milady! Snap!” Noir calls out, blasting the Trickmaster with a Gun attack as Donald rushes up, fire licking the side of his staff.

            “Fire!” He cries, sending a ball of flame right at the Trickmaster, only for it to raise a baton and block the flame, igniting the baton as it continued to juggle it around with no problem. “Uh oh…” 

            “If fire won’t work, then how about ice? Blizzard!” Sora shouts, sending a blast of ice at the Trickmaster and hitting the ignited baton, extinguishing the flames as it looked at Sora with an annoyed look. As the Trickmaster stomped over to Sora to crush him, Skull jumped onto the table alongside Joker as the two took aim at the Trickmaster’s body.

            “Captain Kidd! Zio!” 

            “Arsène! Dream Needle!” The two attacks slam into the Trickmaster, first the bolt of lightning, then followed up by the double hit. The Trickmaster, stunned by the hit, then collapses into a crouch, its head dropping forward as small bubbles escape from its head.

            “It’s dosing! Hit it with a Psy attack!” Oracle calls out as Shadow lets out a grin.

            “With pleasure. Kunoichi! Psi!” Summoning her other self to the field, Shadow blasts the Trickmaster with the Psy attack. The magic rips through the sleeping Trickmaster as it collapses to the ground with stars flying around its head. Something that Joker had been waiting to see for a long time.

            “Now! All-Out Attack!” He shouts, leaping into the air as his team follows him, including Persona Alice, who has a grin on her face. And somehow, Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed after them, much to their confusion as they all lash out against the Trickmaster before leaping away, watching as it slowly stood up once more.

            “What was that?!” Sora asks, landing next to Joker, who gives him a smile.

            “A simple trick that we like to use on downed foes.” He replies with a grin before looking back at the Trickmaster as it walks towards the stove. “What is it doing now?” As if to answer his question, the Trickmaster places its batons on the stove, igniting them both as it turns around to face them. Then, it starts sending out countless mini fireballs at the team, forcing them to either duck or dodge the blasts until the Trickmaster spots the puppies hiding in the corner. Seeing an easy target, the Trickmaster places both batons together before unleashing a giant fireball at the puppies, who could only huddle together in fright.

            “Look out!” Goofy cries, jumping in to tank the blow. The giant fireball crashes into him, almost breaking his guard, but the flames are redirected away from the pups as the Trickmaster shakes his head in annoyance. But in this moment of distraction, an opening presents itself.

            “Sora, hold on.” Joker tells Sora as Skull and Edelweiss charge against the Trickmaster again, while Shadow and Noir attack with Psy magic. Sophie and Mona also join Skull and Edel in attacking the Trickmaster while Donald rushes over to check on Goofy. As for Sora, while confused, he places a hand on Joker’s shoulder just as Joker fires his grapple at the stove, dragging them up into the air and behind the Trickmaster. “Now!” Joker shouts, dropping Sora off on the stove before leaping and slashing his dagger at the back of the Trickmaster. Sora is fast behind him, leaping forward and slashing down in one mighty strike before landing on the ground before the team.

As for the Trickmaster, it freezes in place before its arms fall to its side, dropping the batons. Then, its legs give out as it falls once more into a couch, struggling to stay balanced as it looks up at the team once more. Before it finally loses its strength and falls to the ground with a giant crash. As it lies there, vanishing, a blast of light escapes its chest as a heart flies out from it, vanishing into the air with the Trickmaster following soon after.

            “Sheesh… that thing did not fight fair.” Skull comments, rolling his arm as everyone lets out sighs of relief. Until a giant yawn from behind them grabs everyone’s attention.

            “What a racket. How’s a doorknob to get any sleep?” The doorknob asks, completely unamused at what had just happened as it lets out another yawn. Just as Skull and Noir were about to question the talking doorknob, a flash of light escapes from the mouth of the doorknob, catching everyone’s eyes as the doorknob seemingly freezes in place. A keyhole of light appeared inside its mouth.

            “What is that?” Sophie asks, tilting her head at the sight just as the puppies run out to join them. Before anyone could ask, Sora’s Keyblade seemed to have a mind of its own as it suddenly shoots a beam of light right at the doorknob. As the light vanished, the sound of something being locked echoed from the doorknob as it spits out a green piece with yellow decals.

            “First we hear something being locked, now this?” Oracle asks as Goofy picks it up.

            “It’s a Gummi Piece. It’s what our ship was made out of. But… this ain’t like the others, no sir.” He remarks, placing it into his pocket.

            “Even more questions…” Noir comments, pulling her hat down. “But where is Alice? She should have been here with the Trickmaster.”

            “If you're looking for Alice, she is not here.” The Cheshire Cat tells them from behind. “She’s gone! Off with the shadows, into darkness.” And just as soon as he appeared, he vanished, leaving behind an annoyed group of teens.

            “Damn it! If only we were more careful!” Skull shouts, slamming his hands together.

            “It's not your fault. How could any of us know there was a giant Heartless lurking about?" Sora asks. Skull looks at him, the anger dying inside him as he begrudgingly accepts that answer.

            “But still… why kidnap her in the first place? Something does not add up.” Donald remarks, tapping his foot.

            “Why do I get the feeling something big is at play here…?” Mona comments, shaking his head as he lets out a giant sigh. “Anyway, there’s nothing else for us here. Let’s head back to the Highwind and move on.” He turns to Skull and Noir with a large grin on his face. “And you two are going to love the ship we have.” The two Thieves glance at each other, wondering what he meant by that as Persona Alice turned to look at Joker.

            “I'm afraid I won't be able to help you as much as I used to. At least… not until I regain my strength." 

            “Don’t worry. I’m sure Lavenza will be able to help.” Joker replies as Persona Alice nods at him before turning herself into a copy of Joker’s mask and combining with his. Once more returning to his heart, although he could feel just how much strength she had lost. It wouldn’t surprise him if his other Personas had also suffered a drop in power as well. Something to check with Lavenza on when they get back. Speaking of getting back… 

            “How do we even get back? The growth bottle is gone.” Sophie comments, pointing at the broken orange bottle, only for Donald to let out a chuckle.

            “Not to worry. My magic will take care of that.” While the duck had a look of pride on his face, something told the others this wouldn’t be an easy fix. At least there was one hope spot out of this… 

They would be free of this crazy world!

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Colosseum in the Clouds.

            “Welcome back.” Lavenza greets as the team returns to the Highwind. And at proper size as well. While Ryuji and Haru looked around them in amazement, Lavenza let out a happy chuckle at seeing them. “I see you have found two members of the Thieves, along with someone else.” At that, Persona Alice exits Ren’s heart, appearing before Lavenza and giving her a curtsy with a small giggle. “It is nice to see you again, Alice. When you didn’t return to the compendium, I was fearful of what happened.” 

            “Thank you for worrying about me. However… I have lost a lot of my strength.” She lets out a sigh as Lavenza kindly nods in understanding.

            “I see. Fear not, I will help you regain your lost strength. The same with the rest of Ren’s roster.” While Alice nodded happily, Goofy raised a hand in question, the sight making Lavenza chuckle as she nodded at him. “What is it, Goofy?” 

            “I was wondering about this back in Wonderland, but why are you called Thieves?” The team all looked at each other before doing a collective facepalm at once.

            “Right… we forgot to tell you about our team.” Ren remarks before looking at Lavenza. “Could you start taking us to the next world? This might take a while for us to explain.” Lavenza nods at him, heading for the cockpit as the team all sat around the lounge, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy all on the same couch, while Sophia was off playing with the twelve puppies they had brought with them.

            “Okay… to start off with, we are actually part of three teams. The first team, and the oldest, are the S.E.E.S, or Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, to use their full name, located in Iwatodai. They have been active since 2009, so around eight years ago, and they were in charge of freeing our world from a phenomenon called the Dark Hour.” Ren begins, lacing his fingers together as he leans forward.

            “The Dark Hour? What’s that?” Sora asks, tilting his head.

            “Simply put, a special time that only those who can awaken to a Persona, or someone who has already awakened, can experience. And the Dark Hour itself was brought about by a crazy old man trying to achieve time travel.” Futaba informs, bringing a leg up. “Instead, he unleashed what could have been the end of our world. In the end, they managed to save the world and prevent what was known as ‘the Fall’ from happening: a worldwide extinction event. Although… it cost the lives of eight people in order to seal Nyx, the one who would bring the Fall unwillingly, away.” Sora slowly nodded his head, filing away a question about those eight for later.

            “After them came the Investigation Team. They were located in a small town called Inaba, and they dealt with a mystery known as the Midnight Channel and the random murders that followed after them.” Hifumi adds, shocking the three.

            “Murders!?” Donald asks, eyes wide.

            “Yep. And that all happened in 2011, around six years ago." Ryuji comments, folding his arms. "Then came us in Tokyo in 2016, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.”

            “Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Why did you call yourselves that?” Sora asks, genuinely curious why they went with a name like that.

            “It’s because of what we specialized in.” Morgana quips, stretching on the table. “To make a long story short, a person’s desires can spiral out of control, turning into what we call a Palace. And these were usually the worst kinds of people you could imagine: gangster leaders, rapists, criminals, corrupt politicians, you name it. But at the core of every Palace, there is an item that we call a Treasure. And when you take the Treasure out of the Palace, it collapses. And the person it is connected to has a change of heart.” 

            “Change of heart? So… they become good?” Goofy asks, rubbing his head.

            “Yes. But that is not all.” Haru comments. “Even though they become good, they still remember everything that they did. And that includes all the guilt that they had suppressed. The moment their hearts changed, they willingly confessed everything they had done and handed themselves over to the police, no matter how untouchable they were before.” 

            “That sounds dangerous…” Donald remarks, folding his arms. “What was stopping you from targeting anyone?” 

            “A moral compass for one thing. We didn’t do this out of a misguided search for fame. We just wanted to give people hope to fight back against oppression.” Isara comments. “That, and we work along certain rules. And the number one rule we have, right after our ‘no kill’ rule, is that we always have to agree on a target unanimously. If even one of us feels like it’s a bad idea, we would do more research to be safe.” 

            “Back up a second… ‘no kill’ rule?” Sora asks, blinking his eyes.

            “Right. You see, the Palace wasn’t just the home for the Treasure and a person's twisted desires. It was also where their Personal Shadow resided, called a Palace Ruler.” Morgana informs. “You remember what we said about our Personas being our Personal Shadows in their true form?” The trio nod at Morgana as he lets out a sigh. “That’s not all they are. A Personal Shadow is the other side of a person. If something happened to it, then the person in real life is affected. Drive the Personal Shadow mad, and they go mad in real life as well. And if you kill one…” 

            “…they die in real life as well. Just like what happened to my Mom.” Futaba finishes, shocking the trio. And it was then that they realized something else.

            “Are you saying someone was going around killing people?” Sora asks, looking at Ren, who nods back at him.

            “Yes. The same guy who 'framed me'. A politician who went by the name of Masayoshi Shido. He had been doing this for two years, starting in 2014 when he killed Futaba's mother. The first person to die from what was later called 'Mental Shutdowns'." Ren growls, tightening his hands together. "Even now we are still cleaning up the mess that he and his party made. Or… we were cleaning up…" The trio glance at each other, feeling the weight behind those words as they bounce around in their minds. When they put it into that perspective, the name Phantom Thieves sounded less suspicious and more heroic.

            “So… you are like rebels fighting against tyranny?” Sora asks, leaning forward with the Thieves all nodding at him with smiles.

            “Well, those blue flames you see from us are called the ‘Flames of Rebellion’. And we are rebels at heart, so I think that tracks.” Ryuji admits, folding his arms with a grin. “It’s the same with all of us in the Thieves. We’re one family you don’t want to mess with.” 

            “Family? But you don’t look related.” Donald asks openly, with the team all laughing at him.

            “Well, you’re right about that.” Futaba remarks, throwing her arms around Ren and Hifumi. “The three of us are technically siblings by adoption. But after everything we have all been through, we all think of each other as family.”

            “So… Sakura isn’t your last name?” Sora asks the three as they let out sighs.

            “Yeah. My name was originally Ren Amamiya-Konoe. But I abandoned my old name after my parents abandoned me. Same with my twin brother, Akira, who now goes by Kurusu.” 

            “And I was originally Hifumi Togo. But like Ren, I dropped my last name after my mother tried to force me to become an idol.” Hifumi shakes her head, folding her arms. “She tried so desperately to control my life, yet she never let me have a chance to live it.” 

            “And my last name was Isshiki.” Futaba finishes. “Although, with how things were going, I would have ended up as a Sakura eventually. My Mom and Sojiro were that close to each other. I just wish she was alive now to see how large our family has grown…” 

           “I’m sure she would be happy, Futaba.” Ren tells her, rubbing her head before turning back to the trio. “And that’s the short version of why we are called the Phantom Thieves. We can tell you the long version at some other time if you want.” 

            “That would be nice.” Sora comments as Donald and Goofy nod beside them. He would be lying if he wasn’t interested in learning more. But a chime echoing through the ship put those plans on hold.

“Everyone, we are approaching a new world. And quite an interesting one as well, from what I can see.”

            “That was a quick trip.” Sophia comments, even as the puppies dash around her, wagging their tails.

            “Wonder what world we’re at now.” Isara comments as they head to the cockpit. When they arrived, they saw the new world on the screen hovering before them. A giant stone building lined with columns around the base, with two giant golden statues clashing their swords above it. While around it was a bed of sand, with some of it seemingly dripping off the side.

            “Is that a world?” Ryuji asks, raising an eyebrow at Ren, who nods his head. “Not what I was expecting…” 

            “The style of that building… it reminds me of Ancient Greece or Rome.” Hifumi comments, noting the Greco-Roman style of the building.

            “Let’s just hope this world has SOME logic to it…” Futaba comments, shaking her head. “I don’t think any of us could put up with another ‘Wonderland’.” No one was going to argue with Futaba as Lavenza took the ship into orbit. But as she got ready to activate the teleporter, she noticed something that made it redundant.

            “Everyone, it would seem there is a spot to land the ship.” She informs the team as she takes the ship towards the world. As she did so, the viewport was suddenly encased in clouds as though they were going through a proper atmosphere before the clouds broke, revealing a large stone building resting atop a mountain, connected to a large arena at the back along with the smaller buildings, all built out of a glowing yellow stone.

            “Is this… a colosseum?” Haru asks as the ship comes to land outside on a large streak of rock, right outside a pair of large wooden doors with thunderbolts engraved in them.

            “Well, we won’t find out by standing around here.” Sora comments with a smile. “Let’s go!” With that, he rushes for the exit, with Donald and Goofy right behind him, as the Thieves all shake their heads at him in good nature.

            “Someone sure is excited.” Ryuji remarks as they chase after him, exiting the ship and finding that they were literally above the clouds. It was a good thing none of them had a fear of heights. Ignoring the view around them, the team followed the trio towards the door as it opened up before them, revealing a grand entrance with pots of flames lining the back and two giant golden statues crossing their swords over the entrance.

            “Wow…” Donald comments as they look up at the statues.

            “That certainly makes an impression.” Ren remarks as they walk towards the entrance. “And this place does feel like Ancient Greece to me.” 

            “If a bit cartoony.” Futaba adds as Sora opens the doors, revealing a small room with two little alcoves on the sides, flames lighting the room, a giant block of stone with engravings on it, and a small column next to a stone plaque next to a door leading deeper inside. But it was the being standing on the column that had the group's attention.

            “Is that a satyr?” Hifumi asks, blinking her eyes at the half-man, half-goat who was busy chiselling away at the stone plaque. Although he was much smaller than they were told about, his fur was a deep red, the same colour as his hair, even if it was receding along the top. From what they could see, he looked a bit portly as well.

            “Um… excuse me.” Sora calls out to the satyr, but he was too busy working on the plaque to even notice.

            “Good timing. Give me a hand, will ya? Move that pedestal over there for me? I need to spruce this place up for the games.” The team all looks at the pedestal, blinking at it in complete disbelief. He wanted them to move that? By themselves? With no heavy equipment whatsoever?

            “Move that thing? It’s way too heavy!” Sora voices their thoughts all at once at the satyr, who pauses in his chiselling as though he was just slapped by a towel.

            “What!? Too heavy? Since when have you been such a little—” He asks, turning around and looking upwards only to pause. His gaze not meeting someone he was expecting to see as he looks down at Sora. His eyes blinking in realization that he had made an assumption. “Oh. Wrong guy. What’re you doing here?” He then looks up, now seeing that there was a crowd in the room. “When did all of you get here? This here is the world-famous Olympus Colosseum, heroes only!” He jumps down from the column, his height not only just under Donald as he steps forward. “And I got my hands full preparing for the games. So run along, pip-squeaks.” 

            “How rude.” Haru comments as Sora glares at the satyr. The satyr turns to look at Haru and Hifumi, almost like he was going to debate with them, only for his entire demeanour to change.

            “Well, hello there, sweet cheeks.” He greets, his voice suddenly becoming deep and suave. The entire change giving everyone whiplash at how he changed on a dime. “Philoctetes, trainer of heroes, at your service.” Haru and Hifumi blink at him in shock before quickly putting two and two together as they quickly step back.

            “Apologies, I am already taken.” Haru comments, looking away from him.

            “Sorry, but I am not interested." Hifumi adds, also looking away as Phil deflates.

            “Oy… Women. I never have any luck. Not even with those two from before.” The team all glances at each other, wondering who he meant by that.

            “But why is this place for ‘heroes only’?” Sophia asks Phil, who looks at her, seeing the innocence in her eyes.

            “Well, it’s like this, you see. Heroes are coming all over to fight ferocious monsters right here in the Colosseum on Mount Olympus.” Phil tells her, walking over to the stone pedestal.

            “Well, you’ve got heroes standing right in front of you.” Ryuji remarks, folding his arms, feeling some affront from this Phil.

            “Yup.” Goofy comments, placing his hands on his shoulders. “He’s a real hero chosen by the Keyblade!” 

            “And we’re heroes too.” Donald adds, pointing a finger at himself.

            “Hero!? That runt!?” Phil asks, before laughing out loud as though the entire notion was ludicrous. Something that really angered Sora as he took a step forward.

            “What’s so funny? I’ve fought a bunch of monsters!” He tells Phil, while the Thieves just silently stand still, waiting for Phil to calm down.

            “Hey, if you can’t even move this…” Phil turns to the pedestal and attempts to push it, only for nothing to happen as the team just looks at him unimpressed. “…you can’t call yourself…” Phil continues, still trying to push the pedestal as everyone folds their arms at him in silent amusement. “…a hero!” And with that, Phil collapses to the floor, exhausted as he glances over at the team.

            “Shouldn’t a hero also know when to pick his fights as well?” Ren asks, nodding his head at the pedestal. Something that Phil begrudgingly nods his head at.

            “Okay, so it takes more than brawn, I’ll admit that.” He pushes himself up, resting a hand on one of his legs. “Well… then let’s see what you can do.” 

            “Give us whatever you have.” Isara comments as the Thieves switch over to their Thief attire while Sora, Donald, and Goofy summon their weapons. Something that Phil couldn’t help but gasp at. “We’ll crush it.” 

            “Holy Hera… You guys are the same as those two girls I mentioned!” He shouts, pointing a finger at the Thieves, who widen their eyes in surprise.

            “You mean two more of us are here? Do you know where they are?” Noir asks, with Phil crossing his arms.

            “They’re not here at the moment. Out helping with an errand. Dunno when they’ll be back.” He tells them as the team lets out a collective groan. “But until then, I can put you through some trials. See what you lot can do.” 

            “Well, I won’t be doing anything.” Oracle comments, grabbing Phil’s attention. “I’m a navigator, not a fighter. Even if I wanted to fight, I’d just be a liability.” 

            “Navigator?” Phil asks, raising an eyebrow at that. Oracle nods, folding her arms back.

            “Exactly what it says. I help navigate and find weaknesses. Brawn and brain, remember?” She taps the side of her head with a smirk as Phil lets out a long sigh. Not much he could do to argue against that logic.

            “Okay then, let’s see what the rest of you can do then!” Phil shouts, pointing at the door. “Let’s get these trials started!”

When they were told they would be going through some preliminary trials, this wasn’t what they had in mind: running around an obstacle course and destroying barrels within a time limit. Although when one thought about it, it did test a person's brawn with destroying the barrels along with their brain in finding an efficient route. And using the tossed barrels to destroy others to save time. Although some of them struggled with the course, Donald and Goofy the most with their weapons, they all managed to pass through without issues. Although it did give Phil a chance to learn their names.

Of course, Phil then had to surprise them with another course filled with pots of varying sizes, the goal this time to get as many points as they could within a time limit. Once more, it challenged both aspects, but this time more of the brawn side of things. And this time the Thieves allowed their Personas to go wild, letting loose with their magic without a care. Even if Donald was still giving Ren a cautious glance with his magic. But regardless, the team managed to pull through yet again. Something that Phil himself had to admit was impressive when he went out to greet them at the obstacle course. And he was sure they wouldn’t get past the barrels!

            “You know, you ain't bad, kid. I see potential in you.” Phil admits, stroking his beard. “Same goes for the rest of you. Seeing you move through the courses like you’ve done it a hundred times… I’m very impressed.” 

            “Haha. Looks like we're heading for the games." Sora comments, placing his hands behind his head. But a certain satyr has a different idea in mind as he places his hands on his hips.

            “Afraid not.” Phil tells them as he looks Sora in the eyes. “I could give the guys beside you a pass, but you three can’t join. And the reason is two words: You guys ain’t heroes.” 

            “Come on!” Sora shouts, exasperated as everyone else just sighs at how stubborn the satyr was being. Never mind the fact that he said four words instead of two.

            “C’mon, dude! We all cleared the courses! Why can’tcha let them join?” Skull shouts, shaking his head. “And what do you mean two words?! That was four!” 

            “You trying to say something to me, smart mouth?” Phil asks back as the two glare at each other, sparks flaring between their eyes.

            “But why did you say four words if you were going to say two?” Sophie asks, tilting her upper body. “It does not make sense.” Phil looks at her, ready to try to correct her but stops himself. Even he could not answer why he did that as he shook his head.

            “Doesn’t matter. You want to be a hero, son? Then try mastering this spell.” He takes out a scroll from who knows where and throws it at Sora. The moment he catches it, he can feel sparks running through his nerves along with the uncomfortable urge to just move his limbs without control. It was so bad that the Kingdom Key appeared in his hands with Sora once more pointing the blade sky-high.

            “Thunder!” The moment he said those words, the feeling inside him vanished as a storm of lightning bolts rained down around him, almost hitting Phil as Sora sheepishly smiled at him. “Heh… sorry.” 

            “Oy vey…” Phil remarks, rubbing his arm from the close contact of the thunder. “Didn’t expect that… You best get that spell under control if you want to challenge the games, you hear?” It was clear that nothing was going to change Phil’s mind, so the team decided to head back out to the main entrance to cool off. It was stinging, no matter what, that they couldn’t partake in the games. But it was clear that Phil was dead set on not letting them join.

            “Man, what a stick in the mud!” Isara complains, kicking her foot along the ground. "Why can't he let Sora, Donald, and Goofy join!?” 

            “What a palooka.” Donald groans, tapping his right flipper as the team hangs around the middle of the area.

            “I’ve had my fair share of strict coaches, but that guy takes the cake.” Ryuji remarks, folding his arms in a huff.

            “Oh, I agree. A rather old stubborn goat, wouldn’t you say?” Another voice joins in, turning all heads to the source, where they find a tall blue man with a long jaw waving at them. Dressed in a long black toga, with a dark grey one underneath and held in place by a skull-shaped pin, exposing his thick blue arms, and with hair that was literally a ball of blue fire.

            “Who are you?” Sophia asks, standing slightly behind Ren.

            “Easy there, marshmallow. I’m a friend.” The person remarks, walking up to them. “Anyway, nice to meetcha, Hades, Lord of the Dead, God of the Underworld, yadda yadda, how’re ya doin’?” 

            “Another god?” Hifumi quietly asks Ren who slowly nods his head. But if he was being honest… this was not how he expected Hades to look. Well… going by what Persephone, Shiho’s fully evolved Persona, told them when they were resting in a Safe Room one time.

            “Who cares whether I’m a god or not? What matters is that YOU guys want to enter the games, right? But that old coach is saying no, yes?” Hades smiles at them as he holds up his right hand towards them. “Well, then, hey, get a load of this. Whoop!” At that, he summons a pass in his hands, granting entry to the games for those who hold it.

            “A pass?” Sora asks, eyes wide at seeing it as Hades holds it near him.

            “It’s all yours.” Hades presses, waiting for Sora to take it.

            “What’s the catch?” Futaba asks, folding her arms. “You don’t give someone a free pass without wanting something in return.” 

            “Catch? There’s no catch.” Hades dismisses, giving the pass to Sora. “I’m doing this out of the kindness of my heart.” The Thieves didn’t believe that for a second. In their experience, there was always a catch that came with things like this. But seeing how Sora was now holding it, there wasn’t much they could do to protest about it.

            “Well… I guess we could use it.” Sora comments, taking the pass. And that only seemed to make the grin on Hades’s mouth even wider.

            “Glad to have been of help. Good luck, kid. I’m pulling for you and your group, little shorty.” And with that, he vanishes in a puff of smoke, leaving the team to themselves as Sora looks over the pass in his hands.

            “So… does anyone else trust him?” Ryuji asks rhetorically as he folds his arms. “’Cause I sure don’t.” 

            “This screams ‘trap’.” Hifumi comments, shaking her head. “Does he really think we’re that dumb?” While the group is frowning at the pass in their hands, Ren, on the other hand, is looking at it with calculating eyes. If this was indeed a trap, and a very poor one at that, then there was only one other option left for them to do.

            “Let’s spring the trap.” He says, startling everyone. “Look, at this point it’s clear he’s planning something. Which means he probably has something planned in case we don’t use the pass. Knowing that, I’d say it’s better that we spring the trap rather than risk something else happening.” 

            “You do make a good point.” Morgana quips, tilting his head. “Still doesn’t mean I like it.” 

            “Even so, I would like to see what the games are about.” Haru comments, putting her hands together. “Who knows? It might be both fun and help us grow.” 

            “We could also use it as an excuse to wait for your friends to come back.” Goofy suggests to Ren, who nods his head in agreement. They were going to wait for them anyway in the Highwind, so why not do something else instead of sitting around?

            “Well, what are we waiting for?” Sora asks with a smile. “Let’s go show this to Phil and prove him wrong!” With a unanimous agreement, the team heads back into the lounge where Phil is still standing, a bit surprised at how they came back so quickly.

            “Did you guys change your mind?” He asks Ren and the others, who give him a smirk. A smirk that does not sit well with Phil as Sora hands him the pass. Something that also does not sit well with him, even if it was a completely genuine pass. “Hey, how’d you get this?” 

            “We found it outside.” Isara comments, telling a lie right to Phil’s face. Sophia turns to her, ready to correct her, only for Futaba to lay a hand on her shoulder and shake her head. “And with this, Sora, Donald, and Goofy should be able to join the games with us. Right?” Phil glances at the trio, then back at the pass, looking torn as he bounces it around in his head. But after what feels like an hour of waiting, Phil lets out a begrudging sigh.

            “Okay… I guess so. I’d be a dang hypocrite if I refused this.” He relents, holding the pass in his hands. “I’ll register you all as a team, and we are starting with the preliminaries. I understand that Futaba there is a non-combatant, so she’ll be either in the stands with me or where she can get a good view.” 

            “Thank ye kindly.” Futaba comments with a smile as she stretches her arms. “So, who are we up against?”

            “Some real weirdos for one thing. Don’t talk much either. But they all had a pass, so it’s not like I could refuse them.” Phil comments, folding his arms. “By the way, what name will you go by? Each match is a team fight, so you’ll need a name for your team.” The group all glances at each other, a bit surprised by that but suddenly realizing that they did need a name for their group. The only question was what?

            “How about…” Sora starts, eyes glancing over the room before a lightbulb appears over his head. “…Keyblade Phantoms?” While everyone was looking at Sora with a confused look, Phil was nodding his head while writing it down.

            “Okay, Keyblade Phantoms. Not bad, but I’ve heard stranger team names.” He remarks, putting the paper and quill away before looking at the door. “Just head through that corridor there and you’ll be at the arena. Watch yourselves out there.” 

            “Thanks for the warning.” Donald remarks as the team heads through the dark tunnel, with the Thieves shifting into their Thief attire. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the area, finding two rows of stone stands on either side. They were already starting to get full of spectators as the team headed for the middle for the first match. As for Oracle, she stood near the door, ready to help with analysing the battle just as Phil’s voice echoed over the arena.

“Okay, everyone! Welcome to the Preliminary Matches! These bouts of strength will put our fighters in head-to-head team matches! The outcomes of these matches will determine their position on the ladder for the games! To begin, we have our first match! The Keyblade Phantoms versus the Shadow Scouts! Ready? Fight!”

No sooner does Phil finish his speech than the opposing team appears on the other side of the arena. Four Soldier Heartless and three blue versions of the fire-casting Heartless they saw in Wonderland. And it was needless to say that the team was shocked at seeing them here. Just as an invisible barrier activates around them and the four columns standing on each end of the arena, locking them in the battle.

            “Heartless!?” Shadow shouts, already spinning her kunai as Joker lets out a scoff.

            “So these are the ‘other contestants’… Why am I not surprised?” 

            “Eh, they’re a trash mob. Easy battle ahead. Just don’t use ice magic on the Blue Rhapsodies.” Oracle calls out over the headset as the Blue Rhapsodies jump forward, each one of them charging up ice magic and aiming right at Joker.

            “Fire!” Sora and Donald shout as one, sending balls of fire right at them, smacking two of the Blue Rhapsodies in the face while the third fires its blast of ice at Joker. But it was not only a slow projectile but also easily dodgeable, as Joker sidestepped the blast while Shadow threw her kunai at the Blue Rhapsody. Hitting it in the face and dragging it towards her as Joker slashed across its body, going down almost as easily as the Shadow Heartless.

As for the last two, they were stuck in a daze from the blasts of fire, completely helpless as Edel and Sophie ran forward and struck them both, taking them out in a few easy swings. As for the four Soldiers, they all attempted a tornado spin on the two Thieves, only to run into Goofy and his shield, easily knocking them back as Sora, Skull, Noir, and Mona ran forward, lashing out at the Soldiers while they attempted to recover from Goofy’s defence and taking them out without much effort.

“And the winners are the Keyblade Phantoms!”

Phil’s voice echoes around them as the barrier deactivates, with the crowd letting out an applause for the team as they make their way back to Oracle. Phil stands next to her with an impressed look on his face.

            “Not bad. You’re no heroes yet, but you have teamwork down real good.” Phil compliments with a grin. “As for you three, you’ve got some good people to lean on and grow with. Don’t be afraid to take some lessons from them, you hear? Everyone works together in a team.” 

            “Ain’t that the truth.” Skull remarks as he and Mona share a glance. They know firsthand what discourse in a team can bring.

            “By the way, why are the Heartless competing?” Sora asks, rubbing his head. “They should be trying to steal people’s hearts.” 

            “I ain’t got a clue. They just showed up not too long ago and took up all the spots for the games. I don't know why they want to do that, but as long as they are stuck here and not ravaging the towns, I ain’t complaining. Besides, the gods on Mount Olympus can take care of any that break out.” Phil tells them with an easy confidence in his words, even if the team can’t feel anything but uneasy about that. “Anyway, take a break. The next match is set to begin soon. Who knows, you might see another competitor who isn’t a Heartless.”

            “Another competitor?” Noir asks, just as the door beside them opens. Exiting through the door was a man dressed in a uniform comprised of indigo pants with a sleeveless shirt, a belt, and a pair of brown boots. Gauntlets cover his arms, with a pauldron over his left shoulder and a metal plating over his right hip. The pauldron has protruding screws and bolts due to makeshift repairs, while a gear-like armlet lies on his left forearm, along with golden claws on his left glove. A billowing red cape flows behind him, covering his lower face while his yellow hair is spiked up in all directions. Easily giving Sora a run for his money, his calm blue and green eyes look over the team as he walks towards the arena, carrying a large sword that is easily bigger than himself, wrapped in bandages.

            “I think we just met him.” Sophie comments, watching as he begins his match with several more Heartless, one of them being a giant with clothing that is tied together with string, along with the red versions of the Blue Rhapsodies.

            “It’s that freak again…” Skull comments, shaking his head as Oracle does a quick scan on them.

            “Okay… the small red ones are called Red Nocturne, while the large one is called a Large Body. Kinda obvious when you think about it.” The team narrows their eyes as the swordsman lunges at them, his sword easily cleaving through the Large Body without issues as the Red Nocturnes bombard him with flames, only for the swordsman to jump in the air and slam his blade down on one before dashing across the arena in quick bursts of speed. The giant sword does nothing to slow him down at all.

            “Dang… that was quick.” Edelweiss remarks as the man holsters his sword on his back, walking to the large exit at the back of the arena as Donald and Goofy both gulp at him.

            “Something tells me he’ll be a tough one to beat. Who knows? Even you might go up against him.” Phil warns before glancing at the matchboard. “Alright, break’s over. Your next match is up.” 

            “Who are we up against?” Sora asks, looking at the board.

            “Says here they are called the ‘Sinisters’.” Goofy comments, rubbing his head. “Not very heroic, huh?” 

            “Considering who we are fighting, it doesn’t surprise me.” Joker comments, turning back to the arena. “Let’s show them who they are messing with.”

            This is too easy… Cloud thinks to himself. The foes in this tournament were hardly a threat to him. Not that he was complaining, as it saved him valuable energy for his main fight. But even so, he couldn’t take his eyes off one team, which was something he was doing right now as he watched the Keyblade Phantoms easily trounce their current opponents: The Big One. Considering they had one of those giant ones with them, Cloud assumed they would struggle trying to get past its defence.

But he was pleasantly surprised at how they not only found its weakness before the match started but how fast they targeted it as well. That, and how they managed to keep those small ones busy. He couldn’t help but wonder how they did it. And he was already getting an idea why when he spied that girl with the strange mask by the door, something that a good portion of this team shared in common. However, while Cloud was willing to sit and watch them, his current ‘benefactor’ was thinking otherwise.

            “That little punk is your next opponent, okay? Now, don’t blow it. Just take him and the masked ones out.” Hades tells him, with some noticeable tension in his voice. It was something that honestly puzzled Cloud as to why he was being so… insistent on them, especially given the terms of their ‘agreement’.

            “The great God of the Underworld is afraid of a kid, a duck, a dog, and some teens in fancy outfits and masks who can summon strange beings of blue? Sorry, but my contract says—”

            “I KNOW! You think I don’t know? I wrote the contract!” Hades shouts at Cloud, annoyed at the backhanded comment from him. “I know it says you’re only required to kill Hercules in this tournament. But you’ve got to fight through those punks to get to him! Come on!” Hades points a hand at the team as they stand around and speak with Phil, who is busy giving them some pointers. “Hey, it’s like that old goat says. Rule 11: It’s all just a game, so let loose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?” 

            “Hmph… whatever.” Cloud replies, pushing himself off the wall and heading to the arena. It was time for the final match after all. But as he left, Hades gave him the stink eye as he grasped his chin in annoyance.

            “Geez. Stiffer than the stiffs back home. Still, suckers like him are hard to come by…” As Hades chuckles to himself, a growl echoed behind him in the darkness as an evil grin formed on his face. He always had a Plan Beta if Plan Alpha didn’t work.

            “You kids are powering through this tournament! I’m glad I packed the right horse.” Phil remarks as the team rests up for the next match. It was also a treat for him to see as everyone was growing through the fighting. Sora even seemed to come up with a new move that he called Stun Impact, which sent out a small blast of energy that stunned foes around him. It was certainly a sight to see as the Heartless were all stunned by the blast, making them easy prey for the rest of the team.

Goofy also seemed to have picked up a new skill, if the glowing aura around his shield when he charged forward was anything to go by. And judging by how Skull and Noir were now using an AOE version of their spells, the others were all getting stronger as well. It always made him feel a sense of pride when he saw people grow stronger under his watch. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.

            “Thanks, Phil. I’m glad we are all getting stronger as well.” Sora comments, rolling his shoulder as the team rests up. “We’re at the final match now…”

            “I wonder who our final foe will be?” Sophie asks, sitting on the ground and hugging her knees.

            “Looks like it's that guy you saw before.” Phil remarks, glancing at the board. “Doesn’t have a team name and is fighting solo. Goes by the name of Cloud Strife. And he won’t be an easy foe to beat.” He turns back to the team, giving them all a large smile. “But I believe you can do it! I only wish he was here right now.” 

            “Who?” Goofy asks, tilting his head at Phil.

            “Hercules. He’s a hero if there ever was one. Too bad he’s off visiting his father right now.” Phil tells them, but while Sora, Donald, and Goofy nod their heads at him, the Thieves all glance at each other in confusion. Wasn’t his name supposed to be Heracles? “In fact, those two girls were with him on their errand, trying to figure out why three random pups just fell from one of the statues out back. Man, the girl with the ponytail almost had a heart attack when that happened, and that silver-haired fox gave me the biggest dress down I’ve ever had.” 

            “A girl with a ponytail and a woman with silver hair?” Shadow comments, before letting a smile form over her face. “I think we know who that is.” 

            “Well, you’ll have to tell me later. For now, your match is about to start.” Phil comments, pointing a thumb at the arena as Cloud walks towards it. A tension fills the air as the audience around them grows silent as the Keyblade Phantoms walk to the middle, with Phil once more providing a commentary for the fight.

“Ladies and gents! We are at the final match! It all comes down to this! Who will win!? Will it be the Keyblade Phantoms, or will it be Cloud Strife? Fighters ready? Begin!”

No sooner does Phil shout than Cloud is already off, jumping into the air to bring his sword down on them while forcing them to scatter. Quickly drawing his sword from the ground, Cloud then moves into a quick three-hit combo, managing to deflect Skull and Noir away from him on the sides while clashing his blade against Goofy’s shield. At that point, Sora and Donald blast Cloud in the back with Fire and Blizzard, forcing him to dodge before finding himself on the other end of Edel’s wrist blades. He manages to land a few hits on her before he bashes her away with his sword.

            “Take this! Spread Missile!” Edel shouts, firing two missiles from her launchers at Cloud. He easily ducks between them, letting them explode behind him, only to find Joker staring him in the face, a dagger coming right at him and forcing him to block.

            “Eiga!” Joker shouts, Arsène forming behind him and launching the spell at point-blank range. Cloud, not expecting the Curse attack, is forced back before letting a small smirk form on his face.

            “Not bad. Let’s see you stand up to this!” At that, he charges forward rapidly, an aura encasing him as he dashes between the group, blade held out like a spear. It is certainly something they weren’t expecting to see as he easily dashes around the field before charging at Goofy, who raises his shield in defence. And while it does stop Cloud’s attack, it sends him flying into the barrier around them with a hard thud.

But as Cloud worked to recover from the sudden stop, Mona was already over him, slashing at Cloud with his falchion before jumping back into the sky. “Zorro! Lucky Punch!” As Zorro takes the field, he sends out his cartoonish boxing glove at Cloud, hitting him in the face but failing to daze or stun him. But it was enough of a distraction as Sophie took a chance.

            “Pandora! Media!” While there was a gasp from the audience, as well as one from Phil and Hades, who were watching from the shadows, Sophie’s Persona took to the field and healed the team of their wounds, giving them a second wind as Cloud let out a grunt.

            “A healer, huh… This will be tough." He admits to himself as he watches Sophie run around. He really couldn't bring himself to harm a kid like her or Sora. But even if he could, the odds were still against him in this fight. "Guess it's time I stopped holding back." He comments, channelling power into himself as lightning radiates around him, with a black wing growing from his back as he glares up at the team. "Omnislash!” 

No sooner do the words escape his mouth than Cloud dashes around the field, slicing his sword at everyone he could while flying at crazy speeds. It was all the team could do to avoid his strikes as Cloud was holding nothing back against them. Even as Shadow and Noir tried to hit him with a dual Psi attack, Cloud just moved out of the way before it hit him, flying high into the air and slamming his blade into the ground, sending out blasts of lightning from the ground and managing to land a heavy hit on everyone.

But as Joker flipped himself back onto his feet, he felt a surge of power fill his veins as he noticed a crimson glow start to condense around him. A familiar glow that he couldn’t help but smirk at as Cloud turned to face him.

            “That was a nice move there, but let’s see you stand up to mine!” With a flourish, he tears his mask off, summoning Arsène to his side as he floats beside him. The two hold out open hands towards Cloud, as Joker lets a smirk cross over his face. “Phantom Judge!” He shouts as both he and Arsène tighten their hands into fists. Seconds later, an explosion ignites under Cloud, catching him off guard and sending him flying into the air and landing hard on his back. Leaving him disoriented as the team picked themselves up, with a golden opportunity right before them. Something that Sora seemed to catch on to as he shouted out the phrase right before Joker could.

            “All-Out Attack!” Sora cries as the team attacks Cloud from all angles at once. And even though Cloud was strong, even he couldn’t defend himself from all angles while disoriented. After feeling Skull land a powerful kick to his side, that was when Cloud fell to one knee. Exhausted by the attack as the team stood tall. Panting hard and heavy, even as the crowds cheered for their victory.

“And we have a winner!”

Phil calls out as the team lets the adrenaline filter out of their veins while Sora walks over to Cloud. The swordsman shakes his head but says nothing as he pushes himself up, allowing himself a small nod at Sora in recognition of what they managed to do. But it didn’t last long as a shadow suddenly fell over them before something came down hard and fast into the area, crushing Cloud under one of its giant paws as a massive three-headed black dog with red eyes snarled at all of them with fury in its eyes.

            “What the!?” Donald shouts as the team jumps back in shock.

            “Who let the dog out!?” Oracle shouts in alarm as her screens float past her. "Cerberus!? What's he doing here!? He's not supposed to look like that!" Unbeknownst to them, Hades was watching from the back entrance, letting a smile spread across his face as he let out a low chuckle and walked away.

            “Oh, right, there was one other rule I forgot: Accidents happen.” As Hades vanished, the team stared down the guardian of the Underworld as black smoke escaped from his mouths. They were all feeling exhausted after their fight with Cloud, so having to go into ANOTHER fight this quickly was not good for any of them.

            “Damn it… So this is what he planned for, huh!?” Skull shouts as Goofy holds his shield up to protect his face. All around them, the crowds were fleeing in terror, with even Phil getting knocked to the floor in the struggle while Oracle tried to do a scan.

            “Everyone, get ready!” Joker shouts, spinning his knife around. But if he was being honest, he was feeling exhausted after using his Theurgy. Must have taken more energy out of him than usual. But just as Cerberus prepared to strike at them, two voices rang out from above. And two very welcome voices at that.

            "Kore! Kouga!"

            "Justitia! Headbutt!" 

Following the two voices, a spear of light crashes down into Cerberus's right head, while a blue orb in the shape of a head slams into the left head, disorienting the dog as a figure dives under Cerberus and pushes him upwards without problem. Forcing the giant dog to stand on its rear legs while the middle head tried to attack the person holding it up.

He was extremely muscular, with broad shoulders and a comparatively thin waist, wearing orange-brown armour that ends in a sort of metal skirt. A brown belt around his waist and sandals that are knee-high and have cross-shaped straps that are brown. Two wristbands are attached around his wrists alongside a reddish-brown headband tied around his forehead, pushing back his rust-coloured hair. A short, deep blue cape, and a simple sword with a brown handle and yellow cross-guard finish his apparel as he holds Cerberus in place.

            "HERC!" Phil calls out, identifying the figure as Hercules as he turns to look at Phil while struggling to hold it back.

            "Phil! Athena, Spring! Get them out of here!" He calls out as two more figures rush over to the team. And they immediately get to work helping those too exhausted to move.

            "Come on, guys!" Spring shouts, helping up Edelweiss while Athena helps Joker up.

            "Athena… Spring…" Joker said as he breathed heavily.

            "Take it easy, Joker. We can talk later once we're out of here!" Athena shouts, silencing all questions as the team quickly makes their way back to the lobby alongside Phil, leaving Herc to deal with Cerberus alone

            “Whew! That was close.” Phil shouts, sliding to a stop as the team all gathers in the lobby. Some of them are breathing deeply not only from having a tough fight but then having to run on fumes. “You three arrived in the nick of time.” 

            “Kinda wish we got here faster…” Spring admits, hands resting on her knees before pushing herself up. “But we were sorta slowed down…” She looks over her shoulder at the three puppies they were looking after, once more being Dalmatians as they run up to Sophie and start licking her.

            “Well… that saves us the bother of looking for them…” Oracle remarks, shaking her head while Joker leans against the wall, taking in deep breaths as Athena passes him a drink.

            “We’ve only just reunited, and I find you almost dying from exhaustion… I suppose some things will never change.” She quips, shaking her head as Joker takes a long drink of water.   

            “That’s just how I am…” Joker replies before looking at Athena and Spring. “Still, it's good to see you two again, despite current circumstances.” 

            “Yeah.” Spring replies before dropping her smile. “I’m guessing you haven’t found Panther or Outlaw yet?” Joker shakes his head, letting out a long sigh as he pushes himself up.

            “No… We haven't found them yet. The same goes for Queen in case you're wondering, Athena. We're all that we've found so far." Joker replies, letting out a long sigh. "I just can't help but wonder where they are…” 

            “We’ll find them.” Athena replies firmly before looking back at the entrance. “But before we do, we have some unfinished business to take care of.” 

            “Hold up! You’re not seriously thinking about taking on Cerberus, are you!?” Phil shouts, completely gobsmacked. “This isn’t some match! This is for real!” 

            “So? What difference does that make to us?” Sora asks Phil, who looks at him like he’s grown a second head. “You can decide whether we are hero material or not, but we're going in there to help your friend.” Phil looks at them all, completely stunned at how they were all willing to help Herc, even though they hadn’t even met him yet. It was all he could do to let out a long sigh before shaking his head.

            “You’re a real something, huh? Be careful.” Phil tells them as the team turns and rushes back through the entrance. True, they wanted more than anything else to catch up on what has happened, but a rescue mission came first. As soon as they burst out into the open area, they find that the stands were blackened by scorch marks, and the arena itself had been destroyed with rubble lying all over the sands. As for Herc, he was pinned at the back of the arena, holding on to an unconscious Cloud as Cerberus loomed over him, breathing deeply as the guardian of the Underworld readied itself for the kill.

But before it could, it heard the team running up behind him, grabbing all three heads' attention and allowing Herc a chance to run past to the exit, Cloud slung over his shoulder. As he rushes in, he passes by Phil, who had some last-minute coaching for the team.

            “Kids, I got two words of advice for you: Attack!” 

            “That’s only one word!” Skull and Donald shout at him before dodging one of Cerberus's paws as the battle begins. Not wasting any time, Cerberus starts firing balls of fire at the team, forcing them all on the defence as they focus on dodging the balls of fire.

            “He’s just playing with us!” Edel shouts as Cerberus walks around the arena, firing balls of fire without a care in the world.

            “Then let's see how he likes this! Kouha!” Spring shouts, Kore forming behind her before launching a spear of light right at Cerberus, hitting him in the left head and stopping the fireball attack. Cerberus seemed to stumble from the attack, but no one was paying attention to that as Cerberus lowered himself to the ground and started attacking with his three heads, biting at anyone who got close.

At one point, the right head tried to clamp down on Athena, who jumped over just as the head almost bit down on her. Landing on top of the head, Athena was quick to deliver a few quick strikes as well as launching a blast of Almighty energy from Justitia before jumping off just as Donald brought down a swarm of lightning bolts. That seemed to only make the giant dog mad as it reared up on its hind legs and slammed down on the ground, sending out a large shockwave that threatened to take everyone out, but they managed to jump over it with ease.

            “Keep it up, guys! Cerberus is tiring out!” Oracle calls out, hovering over the field as Cerberus fires a ball of fire at her. “Hey! No attacking the navigator!” 

            “Goofy! Give me a boost!” Sora shouts, running towards him as Joker, Skull, and Noir latch their grapples onto Cerberus’s heads, pulling them up and allowing them to get several good hits on the hound. Distracting it as Goofy holds his shield over his head while Sora rushes towards him. Cerberus looked down at them, ready to bite down and stop whatever they were doing until a round from Shadow slammed into his left head, followed by Mona blasting his right head with wind.

Sophie, moving close behind them, sends a blast of Kouha at the middle head just as Sora jumps on Goofy’s shield, giving him a boost into the air where Edel was hovering. “Here’s an extra boost.” She remarks, spinning around and sending Sora flying at Cerberus, where he lashes out with one good strike. The sound of the Keyblade slashing through the air echoed around them all as Sora lands behind the giant dog.

Seconds pass as the giant dog stood over them, growling at them with laboured breaths until it fell to the ground with a thunderous collapse, sand kicking up all around him as Cerberus lay on the ground, defeated.

            “We did it!” Goofy cries out as Donald does a strange victory dance while Sora spins his Keyblade around in one hand before resting it on his shoulder. As for the Thieves, they just smiled at the victory, although there was something about this fight that felt off to them. It was too easy, almost as though Cerberus was already tired out before they fought him. But they weren’t going to tell Sora that.

At least… not yet anyway. For now, they could relish in their victory.

Returning to the lobby, they found that only Herc and Phil were waiting for them to hear about the news. Apparently, Cloud had just woken up and gone outside for some fresh air, allegedly, but the team didn’t have time to check on him as Phil was busy congratulating them for taking down Cerberus. After he had picked up his jaw from the floor first. And that was why the Thieves were now standing at the entrance with the three puppies that Shiho and Sae were looking after as Phil, standing on a pedestal, was reading from a sheet of paper, or papyrus or whatever they used back in ancient times, to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. With Herc standing next to him with a smile.

            “…Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes, and confer upon thee full rights and privileges to participate in the games. Further—"

            “Hey! What do you mean ‘junior heroes’?” Donald interrupts, tapping his foot slightly annoyed as Phil puts the sheet away.

            “You rookies still don’t understand what it takes to be a true hero.” Phil tells him, rubbing his beard as he looks at Donald with an unimpressed look. As for Ren and the others, they all shared a look between them as they stayed silent. They wondered if everything they did would ‘qualify’ in Phil’s books. But then again, he probably wouldn’t accept it without proof.

            “So, what does it take?” Goofy asks, tilting his head. Herc lets out a chuckle as he folds his arms at them. Now that they saw him from the front, they could see that he had a gold medal embedded in the front of his belt.

            “Well, that is something you will have to find out for yourselves. Just the way that I did. And the ones standing behind you as well.” Herc nods his head to Ren and the others as Sora follows his gaze, a knowing expression on his face as he looks back at Phil with a determined expression.

            “No problem. We’ll start by proving ourselves in the games.” Sora proclaims with a grin. “They will help us grow anyway.”

            “Sorry, but there won’t be any games for a while.” Phil comments, nodding his head at the door. “Got to clean up the damage that Cerberus did in that last battle first. Could be a while before they are back up.” 

            “We’ll be back then.” Ren comments, pushing himself off the wall. “We’ll be looking forward to when the games start back up.” 

            “Watch us. We’ll blow right through them with no problem!” Morgana boasts from atop Hifumi’s shoulders as she shakes her head in good nature. Not that anyone could deny that as Sora waved goodbye to Herc and Phil as he, Donald, and Goofy left the lobby, followed closely behind by the Thieves who sent them a knowing smirk towards Herc as the doors closed behind them.

            “Looks like they figured it out.” Herc comments, grabbing Phil’s attention. “Just between us, I already worn Cerberus down by the time they jumped in. And it looks like they figured it out as well.” Phil’s eyes widen before putting on a smirk as he folds his arms back.

            “I gotcha. My lips are sealed. Until the time is right, of course.”

            “Now that all that mess is out of the way.” Sae remarks, brushing her hair to the side as the team stands in the open entrance area, the three puppies following after them with eagerness. “It’s great to see you all again.” 

            “It’s the same with us, Sae-san.” Haru comments as Sophia hugs both Shiho and Sae. “It is heartening to see you alive.” 

            “It’s the same with us.” Shiho replies, patting Sophia on the head before looking at the new trio. “Sorry for not introducing ourselves earlier. My name is Shiho Suzui.” 

            “Sae Niijima. A pleasure to meet you.” Sae adds, giving the trio a nod.

            “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sora Osment.” 

            “Donald Duck.” 

            “Nice ta meetcha, I’m Goofy.” 

            “Those are interesting names.” Shiho comments with a smile before picking up one of the pups. “But do you know what has happened, Ren? We’re both at a loss as to what happened that day.”

            “It’s… complicated.” Ren remarks, letting out a sigh. “We’ll explain more on the Highwind. We can’t really explain much out in the open.” Sae and Shiho glance at each other, a bit confused as to why he said that but follow after them towards the main exit. They did see a large ship parked outside the Colosseum when they got back with Hercules. Did that belong to them? But before they could ask that, the team came across Cloud sitting at the base of the stairs with a dejected look on his face, as though he had lost something he was searching for.

            “Hey, are you all right?” Sora asks, grabbing his attention. Cloud looks up to see the group, giving them a nod. “So why did you go along with him, anyway?” Cloud leans forward, lacing his fingers together as he closes his eyes.

            “I’m looking for someone. Hades promised to help. I tried to exploit the power of darkness, but it backfired.” He admits, pushing himself up as he looks at the sky. “I fell into darkness, and I couldn’t find the light.”

            “You’ll find it.” Sora suddenly comments, grabbing his attention. “I’m searching too.” That seemed to get Cloud’s attention as he gives him a smile before turning to look at Ren, his eyes filled with interest.

            “How do you do it? Using the power of darkness and not letting it corrupt you?” Ren blinks at him in surprise, along with Sae and the others.

            “I don’t know what you mean by that, but if I had to give you an answer, it’s because I stay close to my own morals. I don’t let anything influence me or my actions.” Ren comments, although Donald is still giving him a look. “Besides, why do people always think that dark magic is evil? I’ve seen cases where light is used just as badly.” That got Donald to widen his eyes in surprise, while Sora looked at Ren with an inquisitive look. As for Cloud, he simply smiled and shook his head.

            “You’re right about that. Too much of both can be bad. Still…” He takes something out, tossing it over to Sora, who grabs it with his hand. The item turns into light and fuses with him seconds later as a new move comes to his mind. “Don’t lose sight of it. Both your light and your moral compass. Or you’ll end up like me.” With that, he walks through the team, not giving them a second look as he walks back to the lobby.

            “Yo! How about a rematch sometime!” Ryuji calls out, grabbing his attention.

            “And next time, no holding back from all of us.” Hifumi adds, brushing some hair back as Cloud lets out a chuckle, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

            “Heh… you’re on.” He replies before pushing forward as the team themselves turn back for the ship, as well as a long conversation for Shiho and Sae.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7: Rumble in the Jungle.

            “He’s strong, he’s kind. He’s always there for you, and he’s handsome to boot. He’s perfect. Perfect. Perfectly infuriating! He makes me crazy!” Hades screams as he lets out a blast of fire around him, almost scorching his fellow members as an image of Hercules is shown on the table. As the flames calm, Hades still glows red as his flames burn with fury until someone throws a bucket of water over him. “Whoa, is my hair out?” 

            “Your everything is out…” The rotund man with the potion belt comments, his figure still hidden in the shadows before glancing over at another member. “Your servant did it again…” A groan echoes from the side as a woman who is scary beyond all reason leans into the light, glaring at one side of the room.

            “Kronk…” She groans, rolling her eyes as a tall man with a well-built body and long black hair steps into the light, wearing an Incan guard outfit with gold décor while holding a wooden bucket.

            “Don’t worry, Yzma. I’ve got the fires.” Kronk tells Yzma with a jolly smile until one of the other members sniffs the air.

            “Is something burning?” The other woman in the room asks, with Kronk letting out a dramatic gasp.

            “MY SPINACH PUFFS!” At an inhuman speed, Kronk rushes out of the room as the man with the purple jewel in his head laughs at Yzma.

            “Such a bumbling idiot! Even in my own greed would I never hire such a fool!” 

            “All in the name of your Lord, you mean.” The man with the staff remarks as a bird lands on his shoulder.

            “What was his name again? Asmo-something?” The bird squawks out, with the man letting out a hurt gasp.

            “How could you insult the name of my Lord! His arrival will heed our plans for all eternity!” 

            “So you say, but we have yet to even see this Lord of yours.” The walking sack remarks, folding his arms. “How long will we wait until he comes? I for one do not think he has what it takes! To say the least of what you are doing on your world, Salve-Maker.” 

            “Do be careful not to insult me… I could make a potion that would disintegrate your bugs before you even know it!” The man shouts back as sparks fly, only for the sharp sound of a cane to silence everyone.

            “We are not here to argue like little children.” Maleficent remarks, walking towards the table. “We are here to greet two more allies to our cause. And ones who understand our new foes in great detail.”

            “New allies?” The pirate asks, tapping his hook on the table. Maleficent grins as Jerri and Diablo fly onto her shoulders, just as two more figures emerge behind her.

            “They come from the same world as those Persona users, and what they have told me has been very intriguing. Isn’t that right…” She turns around to the two newcomers, both of them smiling at her with deranged grins as a heavily armed SWAT squad appears behind them. “Ikutsuki and Owada?”

The air was heavy inside the Highwind as it soared through the stars. It had been a while since Ren and everyone informed Sae and Shiho about what had happened to their home and what the stakes were this time. Needless to say, both were horrified at what had happened, not to mention shocked at what their new mission was. Not that it didn’t stop them from agreeing to help. But even after they had their talk, there was some unnecessary tension in the air. And all of it centred around a certain duck who sat by himself in his room.

           “I can’t trust him… I just can’t.” Donald remarks quietly, shaking his head as he lets out a long sigh. “No matter what, I can’t trust Ren. Darkness… is evil, no matter what.”

            “Donald?” Sora’s voice echoes outside his door before opening, revealing the young boy as he enters Donald’s room. “Why are you cooped up in here? Ren is making us some coffee and curry.” Donald looks away, letting out a sigh as Sora tilts his head.

            “I’m sorry, Sora, but… I can’t trust him.” 

            “You can’t trust Ren? Why?” Sora asks, surprised that Donald would just tell him that out of the blue.

            “I just can’t. I’ve seen what darkness does to people. I’ve seen what it can bring! I just can’t trust him!” Donald shouts, jumping off the bed. “Why can’t you see that darkness is just pure evil!?”

            “Hey! Don’t shout at me!” Sora shouts back, shaking his head. “If you are that worried about Ren, why don’t you just sit down and talk to him? And who did you see use darkness before anyway!?” 

            “It doesn’t matter! Darkness is evil and light is good! No ifs, ands, or buts!” Donald shouts once more as the two start to feel a burning tension between them. But before either of them could continue this little spat, the ship shook violently as something hard impacted one of the wings.

“We’ve been hit! Everyone brace for crash landing!”

            “Where?!” Donald shouts before looking out his window to see a nearby world. It looks to be an overflowing green jungle with a waterfall flowing off one end and a wooden shack emerging from the side. Certainly not a place he would look to find the king, but at this moment they didn’t have a choice as the Highwind barrelled right toward the world.

“Emergency transporter activating.”

The mechanical voice echoes through the room as Sora and Donald find themselves being teleported out of the room. A few seconds pass, and Sora finds himself in the world, but not in a very good spot.

            “Why am I in the air!?” He shouts as he suddenly falls right down towards a large, well-built treehouse on a large tree. He didn’t have time to think before he slammed right through the roof and landed hard on the floor, where he found, to his surprise, he wasn’t alone.

            “That had to hurt, Sora.” Ryuji remarks as he rushes over to help him up with Shiho beside him.

            “Yeah…” Sora replies, shaking his head before looking around. “Is it just you two?”

            “I think so… Ryuji and I were the only ones in the training room when we got teleported. I think Goofy was also asleep in his room at the same time as Donald. Everyone else was in the main lounge with the puppies." Shiho tells Sora before looking around. "Although… I didn't expect us to end up in a treehouse of all places…" Sora glanced around, trying to see anyone nearby. But all he could see was a large, empty treehouse with a second level.

            “Just what the hell happened anyway?” Ryuji asks, leaning on his feet. “What hit us?” 

            “Good question.” Shiho replies, placing a finger on her cheek. Just as the trio started to think about what had happened, a cold feeling crept down their spines. A feeling that they were being hunted. Seconds later, a large leopard leaped from above towards them, forcing them to separate while slamming Sora into the nearby wall.

            “A leopard!?” Shiho shouts as she and Ryuji shift into their Thief attire, rushing forward to force the leopard away from Sora as he gets back up and summons the Kingdom Key to his side. “Are we in Africa!?” 

            “We can worry about that later! Right now, we need to drive this big cat away!” Skull shouts, brandishing his pipe and swinging at the leopard. The big cat ducks under it, running towards Spring, who slashes out with her spear. The leopard jumps away, seemingly wary of Spring’s weapon as it lets out a deep growl at her. Just then, Sora comes in from the side and hits the leopard into some nearby crates.

But the leopard easily pounced right back out, knocking Sora to the ground only for Skull and Spring to force the big cat back. They contemplated using their Personas on it, but they were hesitant to use them on a living animal and not a creature. A handicap that locked them away from their best moves as the leopard pounced at them again. But right before it could land on them, someone else jumped between them.

A muscular man whose deep brown hair was styled in dreadlocks, wearing nothing but a tattered brown loincloth and brandishing a wooden spear with a stone tip. The man used the spear to block the leopard, the big cat biting down on the wooden shaft before the man easily pushed it back. The two stared down each other, a tension filling the room as neither made any motion to move.

Until the leopard blinked first, sprinting away and leaping out a window, shattering the glass along the way as the man let out a breath of air before turning back to the trio. Only he wasn’t standing like a normal person. The way he was hunched over, leaning on his left arm with the knuckles on the ground… it was like he was mimicking a gorilla. “Sabor, danger.”

            “Sabor? Is that what that leopard was called?” Spring asks, glancing at the broken window.

            “Either way, thanks for the rescue.” Skull tells him as he and Spring switch back to normal clothes, the man not blinking at the change at all.

            “Yeah. Thank you.” Sora adds with a smile. As for the man, he looks between them slowly.

            “Thank you.” He repeats slowly, as it quickly dawns on the trio that speaking wasn't something he was comfortable with. Then again, judging by his attire, it was possible that he had never spoken to other people in his entire life.

            “Okay… this might be tricky…” Ryuji quietly whispers as Shiho gives him a tiny nudge.

            “So, do you know what this place is?” Shiho asks gently, hoping to understand something.

            “This place, this place.” The man replies, not really telling them anything at all.

            “Okaaay… Where did the others go?” Sora asks, only for the man to tilt his head at them in puzzlement. “Look, we got separated from our friends. Have you seen them?” The man tilts his head even more, still not understanding what Sora said. So he decides to simplify it a bit more and focus on the main issue. “Friends…” 

That seemed to finally click in the man's head as he slowly repeated the word ‘Friends’ back to them. Something that made the trio smile as they were making progress in communicating with him. Even if it was slow at the moment, they were managing!

            “Right, our friends! There are several of 'em; the loud one is Dona—" Sora suddenly stops himself before looking away, remembering how he and Donald were getting into an argument about Ren and his use of darkness, and how Donald was being stubborn about darkness being evil and light being good. To be honest… he didn't really want to see him right at the moment.

            “Sora?” Ryuji asks, seeing how he stopped himself from continuing, something that Shiho decided to finish for him.

            “We are looking for a lot of people. They are called Ren, Morgana, Futaba, Hifumi, Sae, Haru, Lavenza, Donald, and Goofy.” Shiho tells him nice and slow, so he can hear the names clearly.

            “I’m also looking for some friends as well. They are Riku and Kairi.” Sora adds at the end, silently thanking Shiho for saying everyone else. It’s not that he had forgotten about them; it’s just that they were at the top of his list.

            “Look for Ren, Morgana, Futaba, Hifumi, Sae, Haru, Lavenza, Donald, and Goofy. Friends?” The man asks, with Shiho and Ryuji nodding at him. “Look for Riku, friends?” 

            “Right.” Sora adds with a smile before noticing something behind the man. Or rather, someone. He couldn’t believe his eyes at what he was seeing because, standing near the entrance of the treehouse, was Kairi, smiling happily at him.

            “Kairi, friends?” The man asks again, with Sora nodding his head at him as he watches Kairi leave via the entrance, only to seemingly vanish in a flicker of the light. “Friends here.” 

            “Really?” Ryuji asks as the trio looks at him with hope in their eyes. But what he said next… confused them.

            “Ee-oo-oo-oo-ah.” He grunts at the trio, who blink at him owlishly. Now that he saw the confusion on their faces, he repeated it again. “Ee-oo-oo-oo-ah. Friends here.” 

            “Did anyone… understand that?” Ryuji asks, rubbing the back of his head.

            “No…” Shiho replies, shaking her head.

            “I don’t think we understand, but please, take us to our friends.” Sora asks the man, who nods at them before motioning to himself with a smile.

            “Tarzan. Tarzan, go.”

            “And I’m Sora.”

            “I’m Ryuji.”

            “I’m Shiho.” Shiho finishes, and seeing how Tarzan said 'go' after saying his name, she decided to try it as well. “Tarzan go, Sora, Ryuji, Shiho go.” Tarzan seemed to get that immediately as he turned to the door and opened it, revealing the trio. They had landed in a vast jungle as animal cries echoed from beneath the foliage. It was honestly the first time any of them had been in a place so overtaken by nature.

But before any of them could comment on it, Tarzan was already making a move, jumping off the side of the treehouse and into the forest below, motioning for the trio to follow him.

            “Something tells me this will be fun.” Sora comments as he chases after him. Shiho and Ryuji glance at each other, shrugging their shoulders before chasing after Sora. At the very least, it wouldn’t be boring!

Meanwhile, in a secluded bamboo grove, Donald and Goofy were resting on a stone stump, taking in their surroundings. Or rather, Goofy was, as Donald was lying on his side, seemingly stewing in some anger at their current predicament.

            “Gawrsh, where are we? I hope Sora and the others are okay.” Goofy comments, glancing around the area. Now that it was just the two of them by themselves, it made their mission feel all the more difficult to accomplish. Although for Donald, it seemed like he didn’t care.

            “Aw, who needs them! We can find the king without them!” He shouts, reaching over for his staff lying next to the rock. But instead of grabbing the head, his fingers feel something else. Confused, he looks over to his staff only to come face-to-face with a gorilla. A few seconds later, after the two are looking at each other, both Donald and the gorilla scream at each other in shock. The scream echoes around them before the gorilla runs off, leaving behind a red block with orange spikes and a purple spot on it.

            “Is that—?” Goofy asks, moving over to pick it up, only to hear the sound of a machete slicing through the bamboo. The two toons gulp in fear, worried about who it is until a large man with a tiny moustache, wearing dignified English hunting attire and wielding a large double-barrelled shotgun, appears. The look he is giving the two does not make either of them feel better about their current situation.

            “Well… this is quite a problem.” Lavenza remarks as the Thieves all stare at the Highwind. It had fared remarkably well at surviving re-entry from the unexpected hit, but only now it was entangled in vines and trees from the crash. Not to mention the large dent in the right wing from whatever had impacted it. “It would seem this ship is destined to crash no matter the timeline.”

            “Timeline? Don’t tell me Philemon got this ship from a different timeline…” Futaba groans as she shakes her head. That was something she did not want to hear after crash-landing in a jungle.

            “We can talk about the ship's origins later. More importantly, how long will it take to repair it?” Sae asks, seeing the large impact in the wing.

            “It shouldn’t take too long, especially if I use some Personas from the compendium.” Lavenza replies, opening her grimoire. “We are lucky that these Gummi Blocks are compatible with the Highwind. Otherwise, we would be trapped here for far longer.”

            “Still, what the hell even hit us?” Isara asks as Sophia is busy playing with the puppies. “Was it a stray meteor or something?” 

            “I’m not sure.” Futaba replies, folding her arms. “I was sitting at the nav station when we were hit, and I didn’t see anything come up.” The group lets out a sigh as they shake their heads at the current predicament. This was something none of them wanted to be in. But there was another problem sitting on their shoulders.

            “I’m worried about the others.” Haru suddenly comments. “The onboard teleporter transported them out of the ship when we came down, but we didn’t.” 

            “I’m sure they will be fine.” Morgana comments, shaking his head. “Still, where would we even start looking?” 

            “I could help search for them.” Persona Alice comments, floating next to Lavenza. “Although, I’m not sure how far I can search.” 

            “I think it’s best you stay with the ship, Alice.” Ren tells her as he folds his arms. “Something tells me that people wouldn’t react well seeing what could be called a ghost floating about.” Alice reluctantly concedes the point as the team all let out a collective sigh. But it was then that two voices echoed from behind them, a pair that none of them expected to hear.

            “I’m telling you, I saw a spaceship crash-land here!” 

            “Are you sure you’re not seeing things? I mean, I know I want to leave as well, but a spaceship sounds too good to be true.”

All eyes turn to the trees as two figures make their way through the thick foliage. The two freeze in place as they see who is standing before them. And they couldn’t be happier to see them.

            “Ren! Everyone!” Ann shouts as she and Mishima rush over to them.

            “Lady Ann!” Morgana mewls, rushing over to rub against her leg while the rest of the Thieves follow after him at a measured pace.

            “You have no idea how good it is to see you!” Mishima remarks with a smile as Sophia hugs him at the waist, with the puppies running around her. “And more Dalmatian puppies? How many are there?”

            “Too many.” Ren remarks as he and Futaba give Ann a hug. "Glad to see you and Mishima are still alive, Ann. Ryuji and Shiho will be extremely happy.” 

            “Ryuji is here with you?” Ann asks with hope in her eyes, the same hope that filled Mishima’s. “And Shiho?” 

            “They are.” Hifumi reveals before letting out a sigh. "Although we don't know where they are now. They were teleported out of the ship along with some new friends of ours when it was hit by something." Ann and Mishima look back at the ship before seeing Lavenza and Persona Alice nearby.

            “Lavenza? You’re here as well?” Ann asks with some surprise in her eyes as Lavenza lets out a chuckle.

            “Indeed, it is a pleasure to see you two again.” Lavenza remarks. “Although, I fear we won’t be leaving this world for some time.” Ann and Mishima look back at the ship, seeing the current state it is in before quickly putting two and two together.

            “In that case, do you guys want to come to the campsite? It’s where we’ve been staying ever since we wound up here.” Mishima offers. “And it’s not just us. There’s another one of us here as well.” 

            “Who?” Sae asks as Sophia ushers the puppies back to the ship before rejoining the team.

            “You won’t believe who it is until you see.” Ann comments, pointing in the direction that they came from. “In the meantime, how about you bring us up to speed on what’s happened?”

            “We were planning to do that anyway.” Ren remarks as Ann and Mishima lead them back to the campsite. As for Lavenza, she turns to look at all the veins entangled around the Highwind before letting her eyes narrow.

            “Now then… it is time I did some cleaning.” She remarks, materializing her chainsaw out of midair as Persona Alice hovers away slightly from her. This was something she did not want to be a part of.

            “YEAAH!!” Ryuji screams as he slides down a large tree trunk, Shiho right behind him. Out in front, Sora is sliding right ahead of him as Tarzan leads the trio over a long moss-covered branch that seems to just keep going. When they first followed after Tarzan, they didn’t expect to be doing this! 

            “THIS IS AMAZING!” Sora shouts, ducking under a branch with a wide grin on his face. He can hear Tarzan let out a grunt, almost as though he is agreeing with him, only for him to point at a nearby clearing in a bamboo grove with what looks like a camp set up in the middle of it. 

            “LOOKS LIKE THIS IS OUR STOP!” Shiho shouts as Tarzan leaps down, followed by Sora and Shiho. But as they get to the ground, Shiho looks back up at Ryuji, who seems to be too enamoured by the tree sliding that he didn't follow after them or notice what he was about to smash into.

            “Ryuji! Look out for that—” Sora tries to call out to him, but he is too late as Ryuji slams face-first into a tree while Sora, Shiho, and even Tarzan flinch before watching Ryuji fall to the ground in a daze. “…tree…” 

            “I swear…” Shiho comments, shifting over to her Thief form to cast a quick Dia spell on Ryuji before changing back. “Next time, keep your eyes on the branch.” 

            “I'll do that…” Ryuji groans, pushing himself up while shaking his head. But as he does that, a voice echoes from behind the quartet.

            "Well, I thought I heard some familiar people." It was then that the group noticed a person walking towards them, with three Dalmatian puppies running around him. But it wasn't the pups that had Ryuji and Shiho's attention. For the person walking towards them was…

            "Yoshida-sensei!?" The two of them shout in surprise, with Sora and Tarzan looking at the two of them in confusion as Yoshida, still dressed in his Prime Minister attire, walks towards them with a smile on his face.

            "Ryuji-kun, Shiho-chan. It pleases this old man's heart to see you alive and well." He greets them with a beaming smile. "I see you have found Tarzan, but I am not familiar with this young man who is with you.” 

            “Um… hi there. I’m Sora Osment.” Sora greets, with Yoshida giving him a wide smile. 

            “A pleasure to meet you, Sora-kun. My name is Toranosuke Yoshida.” He looks up, glancing at the bamboo around them before folding his arms behind his back. “I would advise we return to the tent. Sabor is no doubt on the prowl, and I would rather not let him find these young pups.” He glances down at the puppies at his feet, with the trio easily agreeing as they follow Tarzan to the central tent.

Inside, they find three more puppies sleeping in a corner, while a young woman dressed in a faded beige tank top and a long brown sarong that reaches her bare ankles stands nearby. In fact, she was also barefoot, as a slit in the sarong showed her right leg, possibly for ease of movement. Her long brown hair flowed down the back of her neck. 

            “Jane.” Tarzan calls out, grabbing her attention as she turns around to him with a smile. 

            “Tarzan. Oh, and Mr. Toranosuke as well.” She greets, seeing the three additional puppies at his feet before rushing to join their companions. “And even more Dalmatians… I do wonder how they all ended up here in Africa.” 

            “A question for the ages.” Yoshida remarks as behind him the trio follows in, instantly catching Jane’s eyes.

            “Oh, and who’s this?” She asks with interest. “I’ve never seen such clothing before as well.” 

            “My name is Shiho Suzui.” 

            “Ryuji Sakamoto.” The two Thieves introduce themselves as Jane nods at them with a smile. 

            “Ah… you’re both from Japan, yes? You have the same accent as Mr. Toranosuke, along with Ms. Takamaki and Mr. Mishima. I’ve always wanted to visit Japan one day.” She says with a smile before looking at Sora, not realizing that Shiho and Ryuji’s eyes were wide with shock at that bombshell. 

            “Hi there. I’m Sora Osment.” Sora greets as Jane lets out a chuckle. 

            “Hello there, Sora. What brings you all here to Africa? To study the gorillas?” Jane asks with some cheer in her voice. Clearly, being here and studying them was something she loved to do. But the jovial air did not last for long as the flap covering the tent entrance was soon pushed aside.

            “Highly doubtful.” A deep voice echoes behind them as the man with the double-barrelled shotgun enters the tent. Yoshida instantly frowns at his arrival even as Donald and Goofy enter after him. 

            “Sora! Shiho! Ryuji!” Goofy cries out as the two faces light up. 

            “Donald! Goofy!” Sora shouts as the two groups look ready to join until both Donald and Sora remember the argument they were having on the ship. At that reminder, the two of them turn away from each other, arms crossed and expressions soured. Something that Goofy, Shiho, and Ryuji were not expecting to see. 

            “A circus of clowns. Not much use hunting gorillas.” The man remarks, exiting the tent with a scoff. Not that what he said was making a good impression, as both Shiho and Ryuji turn to glare at him as he leaves. Something that Yoshida is also doing, staring at the man’s back in disgust as Jane angrily walks towards the entrance.

            “Mr. Clayton, we are studying them, not hunting them. This is research.” She calls out to him, but he just keeps on walking without an issue. Seeing that she was just blown off again, Jane lets out an annoyed grunt as she turns to look at everyone else, putting on a calm smile for them. “Well, the more the merrier. Do make yourselves at home.” 

            “Yeah…” Ryuji remarks as she, Shiho, and Goofy look at Sora and Donald in bewilderment. Just what happened to put these two in a sour mood with each other? And it certainly didn’t seem like they were going to speak to each other about it anytime soon. 

            “Well anyway…” Sora starts speaking, still glaring at the top of the tent, right as Donald starts speaking at the same time. 

            “I’m staying.” They both remark, surprising Sora. Why was he going to stay? 

            “Sora, look what we found. Look at this.” Goofy reaches into his back pocket, pulling out the strange block they found before. It almost looked like the same thing they found at Wonderland, but at the same time, it was completely different.

            “What is that?” Shiho asks, seeing the block in Goofy’s hands. 

            “It’s a Gummi Block. It’s what our old ship was made out of.” Goofy remarks with a smile. 

            “So that means…” Sora comments, folding his arms as Donald nods his head. 

            “The king could be here. So, we’ve gotta work together to look for him for now.” Donald remarks, shooting Sora a look as he folds his arms, doing nothing to help with the rising tension in the room. 

            “Fine. I’ll let you tag along for now.” Sora repeats, sending Donald an equal look as Shiho, Ryuji, and Goofy all sigh in unison. This tension didn’t seem like it would go away so easily… But until they figured out how to get rid of this tension, there was something nagging at the back of Ryuji’s mind.

            “So… why does Tarzan act like…” Ryuji glances over at Tarzan, trying to think of the best way to say this without sounding like an ass. "…or should I say, walk around like a gorilla?” 

            “That’s a simple answer, Ryuji-kun.” Yoshida remarks with a calm smile. “As Jane-san has explained to me before, Tarzan-san here was raised by gorillas ever since he was a baby. Communicating with him is still a trial and error, but one cannot fault Tarzan’s determination to learn.” 

            “So that means he was speaking gorilla back at the treehouse.” Shiho comments, bobbing her head up and down. 

            “That’s right.” Jane adds with a smile before walking to a projector. “We have been using this projector to help Tarzan understand English better. Perhaps we could use it to help match the words he is saying to a picture?” She looks at the box for the slides only to let out a gasp as she finds an empty box. “Oh… what happened to all the slides?” 

            “Slides. Scattered. Camp. Terk.” Tarzan grunts, looking at the tent entrance as Jane lets out a sigh. 

            “Why am I not surprised…” 

            “We’ll go looking for them.” Shiho comments, tapping Ryuji and Sora on the shoulders. “You boys come with me.” Sora and Ryuji glance at each other before quickly following after Shiho, leaving Donald and Goofy in the tent with the others. Goofy looks over at Donald, still seeing him looking at the floor with a glare before shaking his head. It wouldn’t be easy to snap him out of whatever funk he was in…

            “Alright, Sora. Now’s the time to tell us.” Ryuji remarks as the trio hangs around near a large table filled with scientific equipment. They had managed to find the slides easily enough, but there was still something else that needed to be said. “What’s the beef between you and Donald?” Sora looks at him and Shiho before letting out a loud sigh as he looks at the sky.

            “Well… before we crash-landed, Donald and I were having a fight. And it started because Donald told me he couldn’t trust Ren.” Shiho and Ryuji blink at Sora in surprise at that admission, along with shock filling their veins.

            “Can’t trust Ren? Why?” Shiho asks. 

            “Because of the magic he can use.” Sora replies, shaking his head. “Donald is adamant that darkness is evil and light is good. And he wouldn’t tell me why he thinks like that while trying to get me to distrust Ren.” He shakes his head at the notion. “I just don’t understand.” 

            “Seriously? That’s such a dumb reason to distrust him.” Ryuji remarks, shaking his head. “Didn’t he hear Ren back at Olympus that we’ve seen light get used for evil just as much?” 

            “He must have.” Shiho remarks, shaking her head. “Talk about a stubborn duck…” Sora nods his head in agreement, letting out a loud sigh as he leans on the table.

            “Why can’t he just open his mind?” He asks out loud. “This wouldn’t have happened if he were more open.” Neither Ryuji nor Shiho could answer that until footsteps echoed from the nearby path leading into the jungle. The trio tensed up, looking over towards it, expecting a hostile encounter. But instead, it was a group of faces that they were more than happy to see, along with a plus two. 

            “Ryuji! Shiho!” Ann shouts as she and Mishima rush towards them. 

            “Ann! Yuuki!” Shiho shouts back before the four of them are wrapped up in a giant hug. “I’m so glad to see you both safe!” 

            “That goes double for me!” Mishima shouts as the four separate, just to let the two couples between them hug it out instead. “I was so worried about you, Shiho.” 

            “I missed you too, Yuuki.” Shiho replies, hugging him tightly. 

            “I knew you were still alive, Ann.” Ryuji tells her as the two blonds hug it out. “You wouldn’t go down that easily.” 

            “What did you expect?” Ann asks back cheekily just as the rest of the team exits the jungle. “I missed you so much.”

            “Same here, Ann, same here.” While Sora smiled at their reunion, he felt a pang of sadness inside him. He still hadn't found his friends yet… but he wasn't going to let that get in the way of a reunion.

            "Oh, you must be one of Ren's new friends that he spoke of." Ann's voice spoke up as she separated from Ryuji to look at Sora. "I'm Ann Takamaki, Ryuji's girlfriend."

            "And my name's Yuuki Mishima, Shiho's boyfriend." Mishima adds, separating from Shiho and holding a hand out to Sora, which he ends up shaking.

            "Nice to meet you both. I'm Sora Osment." Sora says before looking at Ren. "And I'm glad to see you and the others are all okay, Ren." Sora calls out to Ren. "I was worried when the ship was hit.” 

            “So were we.” Ren replies, folding his arms before glancing around. “Is it just you guys?” 

            “No. Donald and Goofy are in the main tent but…” Sora’s face sours a little as he looks away. “Donald and I are… not on speaking terms right now.”

            “What? Why’s that?” Morgana asks, loafing on Ren’s shoulders. 

            “Because Donald doesn’t trust you, Ren.” Ryuji remarks bluntly, grabbing everyone’s attention. “All because you are using Curse magic.” 

            “For real?” Isara remarks, shaking her head. “What a dumb excuse.” While the rest of the group nods their heads at that, Ren frowns slightly as he folds his arms in thought. This would explain why he always gave him wary looks whenever they trained or fought. The only question on his mind was why he was like this. 

            “Something tells me he won’t be telling us why anytime soon.” Sae comments, folding her arms. “For now, it is best if we regroup inside the tent.”

            “Do you think you could get him to speak, Sae-san?” Haru asks, tilting her head. “You use both Bless and Curse magic; maybe you could get him to open up?” Sae ponders this train of thought, letting it bounce around in her mind before slowly nodding her head. 

            “I will see what I can do. But I make no promises.” Sae tells them as they head back to the tent. The group misses the grins that Ann and Mishima had on their faces as Ren enters the tent, letting out a gasp at who was waiting inside. 

            “Yoshida-sensei!?” Ren shouts, surprising the rest as Yoshida turns to look at him with a wide smile. 

            “Ren-kun! It is great to see you!” He greets with a wide and warm smile. The warmth in his voice surprises everyone, especially Donald, who watches Yoshida give Ren a massive hug. “It warms this old man’s heart to see you still with us.”

            “Heh… I’m not going down that easily, Yoshida-sensei.” Ren replies with a smile as the rest of the team enters the tent. Yoshida easily greets every member who enters with a warm smile as they all introduce themselves to Jane and Tarzan. It is surprising how she is seemingly welcoming so many people who speak with a Japanese accent, but they aren’t going to pass up the hospitality. As for Tarzan, it was hard to understand, but the grunt, head nod, and smile showed them that he was happy to meet them as well.

But as Sora hands the slides they have found to Jane, Sae notices Donald is looking away from both him and Ren with a conflicted look on his face. Almost as though there are two sides in his mind fighting over who is right. Looks like she will have her work cut out for her later on. For now, they are showing Tarzan different slides on the projector, something that Futaba can’t help but look at with fascination. Seeing something that would be relegated to a museum being used in action isn’t something you see every day, after all. 

At least until it comes to a certain slide showing a giant castle surrounded by clouds. A sight that makes Sora feel a sense of familiarity towards it. But he brushes it off; after all, how could he be familiar with a place he has never seen? He hasn't even left his island until this journey began. But as the last slide is taken out, Tarzan simply turns to Sora and shakes his head, indicating that none of these pictures match what he is saying regarding the whereabouts of Riku and Kairi.

            "That leaves just one place then." Clayton's voice echoes as he enters the tent, overhearing the conversation. "Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now. But we have yet to encounter these friends of yours besides the ones standing with us now. I'd wager they are with the gorillas.” 

            “And what makes you think that?” Ren asks, folding his arms as the rest of the team narrows their eyes at him. “What makes you think a pack of gorillas would take in a group of strangers? Tarzan being an exception, since he was a baby when they found him.” 

            “Ah, but it is because of Tarzan that I believe they are there.” Clayton remarks, folding his arms. “After all, if a group of gorillas had the compassion to take in a human baby, would they not do the same for kids and teens?” 

            “I highly doubt that…” Haru remarks under her breath.

            “You just want this as an excuse to go hunting for gorillas.” Ann accused, folding her arms. Clayton flinches just the tiniest amount at that, turning to look at her with a disarming smile. 

            “Why, of course not. But the chance that your friends are there, young man, is too much of a possibility to ignore. But the problem we have is reaching them. Only Tarzan knows where they are, and yet he refuses to lead us to them.” Jane and Yoshida narrowed their eyes at him, seeing exactly what it was he was trying to do. 

            “Really, Mr. Clayton. Tarzan wouldn’t hide—” 

            “Then take us there!” Clayton interrupts Jane as he towers over Tarzan. “Take us to the gorillas. Go-ril-las.” Everyone narrows their eyes at Clayton at that remark, seeing how he was treating Tarzan as though he were a lesser person. As for Tarzan, he didn’t seem one bit fazed by Clayton talking to him like this as he turned to look at Sora. A few seconds pass with no words spoken before Tarzan reluctantly nods at Sora.

            “Tarzan-san… are you sure this is wise?” Yoshida asks. He could see what Clayton was doing from a mile away, and seeing the look Ren was sending his way, he could understand what he wanted him to do. And he already had the perfect excuse to keep him here. 

            “Tarzan go see Kerchak.” Tarzan suddenly announces, grabbing everyone’s eyes. 

            “Kerchak? Who’s Kerchak?” Sophia asks, tilting her upper body. 

            “I would guess he is the leader of the gorillas around here.” Hifumi comments, hand on her chin. 

            “Perfect. Then I shall go along as an escort. After all, the jungle is a dangerous place.” Clayton offers, hiding the smirk that was waiting to burst onto his mouth. At least until a heavy hand landed on his shoulder as Yoshida stepped next to him.

            “Actually, your services are needed here, Clayton-san.” Yoshida remarks with a smile. “As you have said, the jungle is a dangerous place. And Sabor is always on the prowl. If you were to go with Tarzan-san, Ren-kun, Sora-kun, and everyone else, who would be here to protect Jane-san and me? Would you be willing to let a high-ranking official from Japan die in the jungle and lay the blame at the feet of the British Empire? Just as our two countries grow closer?” 

Clayton stammers, finding almost no reason to argue as the Thieves all silently chuckle at Yoshida. Judging by the way he was speaking, it was clear that Yoshida hadn’t revealed that he was a Persona user to everyone here, giving them the illusion that he was just an old man. And a very valued one in Japan as well. Not that he could say Prime Minister, what with Emperor Meiji being on the throne, according to the date on the nearby calendar. 

            “We’ll be back.” Sora remarks with a grin as the group heads out, following after Tarzan as he leads them towards the jungle path. But as they do so, Donald trails at the rear of the pack, conflicted arguments running through his mind.

            “You seem conflicted, Donald.” Sae remarks, walking beside him. "Reality clashing with what you believe?” 

            “Huh?” Donald asks, looking at her. 

            “It is clear that you believe that darkness is evil and light is good. But why is that? What did you experience that made you think this way?" Donald looks away, not answering her as Sae shakes her head. Looks like it was time to interrogate the duck. "Perhaps you saw someone use darkness for pure evil that tore apart people you knew? Or they were instead people that someone else knew and told you about?" Donald flinches, with Sae letting herself smirk at that. "And that said person was defeated by the light while they relied on the dark? Am I wrong?” 

            “Well… um…” Donald stammers, not expecting Sae to strike at the matter so easily. 

            “If you want to stay quiet about it, then by all means, do so.” Sae tells him, surprising Donald once more. “However, to blindly assume everyone falls into one category or another is plain ignorance, no matter what you believe.”

            “But… darkness is evil and light is good…” Donald replies weakly, feeling his conviction wavering at that. 

            “And who decided that?” Sae presses again. “We have seen many foes wield light as a tool for evil. Just like how many use dark for good. At the end of the day, it is not the magic that makes one evil or not; it is the person who uses it that defines it.” She looks at Ren as he walks beside Sora. “Tell me, other than what affinity they have, what difference can you make out between Ren and Sora?” 

Donald follows her gaze, looking between the two and finding nothing coming to his beak. Other than using opposing elements, there wasn’t that much Donald could say to differentiate between them. Much less label one as evil.

            “If you still feel yourself conflicted, then tell us why you believe what you believe. But only when you feel the time is right.” Sae remarks as she looks forward. “And besides, one cannot have darkness without light. They are two sides of the same coin. You can never remove both.” Donald remains silent as he lets Sae’s words bounce around in his mind. The rest of the trip was done in relative silence, with only the sound of nature as their company. But there was something that had put them all on edge. 

            “Why have we not seen any Heartless?” Morgana remarks, glancing around as they near a hippo lagoon. 

            “Maybe they haven’t found this world yet.” Goofy remarks as they come to a moss-covered tree, which Tarzan started to climb without issue. 

            “Looks like we’re going up.” Futaba remarks as the Thieves shift into their Thief attire, with Donald and Goofy jumping away from Panther as she stretches in her outfit. 

            “Alright, who goes first?” She asks.

            “Let's let the boys go first.” Spring remarks, as Sora is already climbing the tree. And quite fast as well. Joker and the others shake their heads as they follow up via shadow-stepping, while Oracle flies up via Necronomicon. As for Edel, she uses her thrusters to fly up. The team soon finds themselves in the treetops, with vines swinging to and fro. 

Tarzan lets out a grunt, leaping forward and grabbing one before swinging over to another platform. The group watches before jumping to copy his moves. While Outlaw does have some trepidation due to his fear of heights, a reassuring word from Spring is all he needs to make the jump. Before long, the team is swinging through the area like pros while Edel and Oracle continue to cheat. At least until Oracle decides to try swinging on one herself. 

Unfortunately, she mistimes her swing and ends up flying into a tree trunk, with Edel flying over to peel her off and drop her next to the rest of the team. Something only exasperated as a treasure chest falls on top of her, everyone wincing in pain at the sight. As for what is inside it, three more Dalmatian puppies that are quick to start licking the unconscious Oracle. With Mona giving her a quick heal to wake her up, and Panther, Spring, and Shadow picking up the pups, Tarzan looks up to a large branch higher up. Before long, a giant black gorilla appears on the trunk, alongside a smaller brown gorilla as they look down at Tarzan.

Tarzan then started speaking to him in gorilla, with the team only tilting their heads at him, wondering what it was he was saying. But it was clear from the outside that Tarzan wasn’t getting anywhere, as Kerchak was soon distracted by something else and walked away from the group, with the brown gorilla following him soon after. 

            “Where is he going?” Sophie asks, watching them leave. 

            “It looks like he was distracted by something.” Goofy remarks, rubbing his head. Spring and Skull followed up to where the gorillas were going before realizing something else.

            “Say… isn’t that where the treehouse is?” Skull asks Spring. 

            “Yeah, it is.” 

            “Treehouse?” Athena asks, hand on hip. 

            “Yeah. It’s where we appeared when the ship crashed.” Sora replies before folding his arms. “I wonder why he went up there?” 

            “I think it’s best we have a look for ourselves.” Joker comments, turning to look at Tarzan. “Do you know the fastest way up?” Rather surprisingly, Tarzan quickly nodded at them before motioning them up another tree leading towards the treehouse. The group didn’t waste any time following after him as they made their way back towards it. But no sooner do they get near it than a tense feeling was in the air as they saw Clayton moving around on the outside. 

            “Clayton? What is he doing here?” Panther asks, shaking her head in annoyance. Outlaw, feeling suspicious, rushes forward towards the treehouse before looking inside, seeing a small gorilla playing with a globe of the world and Clayton lining up a shot at her with his shotgun.

            “Drifter! Snap!” Outlaw shouts, jumping through the window and startling both Clayton and the gorilla. Clayton was so startled that he fired his gun right at Outlaw, only for the round to hardly hit him as Drifter forms behind him, sending out the Gun attack at Clayton and not only blasting the shotgun out of his hands but destroying it as well. 

            “What do you think you're doing!?” Noir shouts as the team either bursts through the open window or through the open door behind him. As for the gorilla that was saved, she had already moved to a higher location where Kerchak was looking at them all. And before Tarzan could even talk, Kerchak leaves while taking the small gorilla with him, leaving everyone to glare at the hunter with disdain in their eyes. 

            “You better have a good excuse for being here and not back at the camp, Clayton.” Joker tells him with zero enthusiasm in his voice as Donald stands next to him. Both of them give Clayton a glare that causes him to stutter out an excuse. 

            “You don’t understand! I was only trying to… Ah! A snake slithered by, you see! I saved that poor gorilla’s life!” 

            “By shooting me?” Outlaw asks, completely unimpressed. A small mark on his Thief attire showed where he had been hit, but thankfully it didn’t penetrate. Once more, he was thankful that he was resistant to Guns. 

            “Save your excuses for when we are back at camp.” Athena remarks, grabbing Clayton and forcing him to his feet. “I am sure Yoshida-sensei and Jane will be happy to know that their bodyguard vanished on them.” That shut Clayton up as the team dragged him out of the treehouse. 

A hunter's greed could never be satiated, it seems.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8: Deep Jungle Trouble!

            “How could you DO such a thing!?” Jane’s voice easily echoed outside the tent. Even though the flap was closed, her voice filled with pure anger easily escaped the thin material of the tent. And after what she had been told by the others, she was understandably furious with Clayton as he tried to back away from her with clear fear on his face. 

            “Now, Miss Porter, as I told you, I was not aiming at the gorilla.” Clayton tries to deny it, only for Jane to get right up into his face and jab him in the chest. 

            “You are NOT to go near the gorillas again!” She shouts at him, hissing the words out of her mouth as Clayton takes a step back. 

            “I quite agree with Jane-san.” Yoshida remarks, sending out a calm fury that hid his wrath. “I gave you a specific order to protect us from Sabor, and yet you disregarded such an action in favour of an inhumane hunt. I should write a letter of dissatisfaction with your attitude to Her Majesty just for that.”

            “Q-Queen Victoria would surely forgive me for one mishap. Come now…” Clayton tries to defuse the situation but is unsuccessful as he is met with an intense glare from everyone in the tent. Seeing this was a battle he was losing, Clayton wisely decided to leave the tent and head back outside, deflating the tension in the room just slightly. 

            “Asshole…” Ryuji mutters under his breath. 

            “What a bad man.” Sophia remarks, shaking her head. 

            “I can’t believe how serious he is about hunting gorillas…” Shiho remarks, shaking her head. “It’s like he’s addicted to hunting!”

            “I wouldn’t be surprised if all hunters are like that.” Sae remarks, shaking her head in dismay. 

            “So now what do we do?” Donald asks, slumping forward. 

            “I guess we just wait around until Lavenza tells us our ship is fixed.” Futaba remarks, sitting down on the floor. “But who knows how long that will last…” As the team stewed on that, Donald took a moment to look at Ren, suddenly feeling some guilt at doubting him so much. He couldn’t really shake off those doubts yet, but maybe he was being too harsh on him just because he used dark magic.

            “By the way, Jane, is it just you and Clayton who are here?” Hifumi asks. Jane looks at her before shaking her head and letting out a smile. 

            “No, we came here with a larger crew, but they have all left us recently. In fact, my father is here as well and is the only one who has not left, although he is taking his time to come back.” Jane remarks with a fond smile. But as she started talking about her father, Sora had a question to ask Ren ever since they started teaming up, and it was one he had been meaning to ask for a while. 

            “Say, Ren? Why do you guys talk in codenames?” Sora asks Ren, who looks at him before smacking his face with a sigh.

            “I can’t believe we forgot to tell you that.” He remarks before looking back at him. “To be honest, Sora, the reason we gave each other codenames was because we didn’t know what would happen if we said our names in that ‘place’.” He sends a glance at Jane and Tarzan, one Sora follows as he nods in understanding. “We didn’t want to risk the people we were up against finding our real names in case something happened. Although, to be honest, we’re not sure how effective that was when we first started.” 

            “What do you mean?” Sora asks as Ren lets out a sigh. Where would he even begin with THAT whole can of worms? 

            “It’s a long story… and I’m not sure if you’ll believe half of it.” Ren admits, shaking his head. While that only made Sora want to know more, he decided not to press at the time. It would be better to ask on the Highwind when they weren’t at risk of breaking the World Order. 

Although now that he thought about it… haven’t they broken it already?

            “ARGH!” Clayton roars, kicking over a box before stomping over to a nearby table. “What am I doing with these imbeciles!?” He shouts, flipping over the table while ignoring the fine china on it. “Blasted gorillas!” He screams, taking out his kukri knife and slamming it into a box. “I’ll hunt down every last one of them!” He drags his knife through the box, paying no mind to what he may be damaging inside it as he stomps towards the bamboo before slicing at it, cutting down several stalks as he continues to breathe hard. 

            “I’ll track them down somehow… I’ll stake my life on it.” He finishes, finding himself a lot calmer as he reaches for his pipe. “No matter what I have to do in order to accomplish it.” But just as he was about to take a smoke, a rustle from the bamboo catches his attention as he goes on alert. “That sound… Sabor?” He quietly asks, readying his kukri. He was REALLY wishing he had his shotgun right now, but with it destroyed, he would have to rely on his knife.

He tenses up, seeing movement from beyond the brush as his senses heighten, only to see multiple eyes flash from beyond the brush. And at that moment, for the first time in his entire life, Clayton understood what the true meaning of fear was as his assailants jumped at him like a wave breaking against the rocks. 

            “AAAARRRGHHH!!!”

            “What now?” Isara asks, hearing Clayton scream at the top of his lungs. 

            “Did Clayton get jumped by Sabor?” Ryuji asks as suddenly a cold tension fills the air around them, as though the very atmosphere has been changed. 

            “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Ann remarks as the group rushes outside, where they can see Clayton has left a small trail of rage from when he left the tent, but what it led to was something that none of them wanted to see.

            “Heartless!” Sora calls out, summoning Kingdom Key as several monkey-like Heartless rummage around the camp, ripping apart crates and throwing tables over. Even climbing the flagpole to try to attack the flag at the top. 

            “These are the freaks you’ve been fighting!?” Ann shouts as she shifts over to her Thief attire. 

            “Yep, and it looks like a new variant! They are called Powerwild!” Oracle calls out, just as a pebble zips over her head. “What the!?” She turns to the source, only to see some female versions of the Powerwild holding slingshots and tossing banana peels all around. “Another variant!?” Oracle shouts as she does a quick scan. “And they are called Bouncywild? Okay then.”

            “Thunder!” Sora shouts, bringing down a rain of bolts on the Powerwilds as the group spreads out to handle the new foes. Panther is already whipping a few into shape before ripping her mask off, Carmen forming behind her with elegance as flames dance around her. 

            “Carmen! Agilao!” With a grin, Panther orders Carmen to douse the Powerwilds in flames as Skull follows up behind her with a Mazio. Joker unleashes a blast of Eiga at a Bouncywild before following it up with a Double Shot on two more. With Donald not even batting an eye at him, just as Athena rushes forward.

            “Justitia! Mahama!” She calls out, blasting several of the Heartless with the Bless spell. While she did manage to hit a lot of them, she only managed to take out a small portion of them. “Mamudo!” Quickly moving to her other spell, she lashes out at the Heartless again, yet only manages to kill a small amount once more. She couldn’t help but grimace at how weak these two spells were compared to their more powerful versions. As for Donald, he watched as Athena was using both light and darkness in equal measure, once more casting doubt on his stance as he shook his head. He could figure it out later. 

            “Blizzard!” He calls out, blasting a Powerwild as it tried to attack Spring from the side, with Shadow and Goofy bashing it away with a dual attack. Meanwhile, Sora had managed to hit a good portion of the Heartless with a Stun Impact, making them easy prey for Joker, Mona, and Outlaw to pick off. As for Tarzan, he was fighting the Heartless who were crawling around on the boxes or flagpole, showing them who was the true jungle master here.

            “What are these things!?” Jane shouts from the entrance to the tent, the puppies huddling around her in fear. 

            “Stay back, Jane!" Edel shouts, sending out a blast of Zionga and managing to hit two Powerwilds in the process. "These things are dangerous!" While Jane nods at her, she fails to see a Powerwild coming in to attack her from the side. But one person did notice. 

            “Persona!” Yoshida cries, shifting over to his Thief attire before sending out a blast of ice at the Powerwild. Jane turns to look at him in shock as Yoshida, or rather, Sensei, walks forward with a calm composure.

            “It is time you learned not to mess with us. Abraham! Garula!” Summoning the famous president to his side, Sensei unleashes a powerful wind at the Heartless, catching several in its grasp as Sophie unleashes a blast of Makouga into the tempest. The Heartless inside were torn apart by the attack, leaving a few stragglers remaining who quickly retreat into the jungle. Even as Noir hits them with a last-second Snap, taking out a few Bouncywilds as the tension around them abates. 

            “What were those?” Jane asks, stepping outside the tent. “Those were not any normal animals I’ve ever seen…” 

            “Because they are not.” Joker comments, grabbing her attention. “They are called Heartless. And their only instinct is to rip hearts out of any living being they come across and turn them into new Heartless.”

            “We can stop them, thanks to our abilities, but Sora’s weapon is the only known weapon that can permanently kill them.” Shadow remarks, brushing some hair back. “And you can't negotiate with them.” Jane pales at what she is told, and she seems to go even paler as a thought crosses her mind. 

            “What about my father? He’s still in the jungle!” The team’s eyes widen as they all glance at the jungle, a touch of fear settling inside them. 

            “We have to help him! He could be in trouble!” Sora shouts, ready to rush in, only for Sensei to place a hand on him. 

            “Hold, Sora-kun. Rushing in without a plan will only lead to his demise. We should split up into separate groups and search for him.” Sensei glances around, looking at the two paths before them before letting out a hum. “Joker, can you lead a team toward the bamboo grove?”

            “Of course.” Joker replies, turning to Noir. “Noir, can you lead a group to the jungle?” 

            “Of course, Joker.” Noir replies before turning to the others. “Skull, Panther, Mona-chan, with me. Tarzan-san, if you would like to guide us?” Tarzan nods at her before rushing towards the jungle, with Noir and her team close behind. As for Joker, he looks back at those remaining before nodding to himself. 

            “Sora, Donald, Goofy, follow me.” The trio looks at him, Donald more surprised than anything else as Joker turns back to Sensei. “Sensei, can you and the others stay here? Something tells me the Heartless will be back.”

            “We shall make this place a secure bastion.” Sensei replies, nodding his head firmly as Sophie gives Joker a hug. Joker returns it, giving her a quick pat on the head while looking at Oracle. She is giving him a look that says she wants to come but is reluctantly staying behind to help hold down the fort. Joker gives her a silent nod of thanks before glancing at the trio, just as he breaks his hug with Sophie. It is game time. 

            “Alright, let’s move!”

Noir’s group was sprinting after Tarzan as he barrelled his way through, or rather, swung his way via vines hanging from above. So far, they had no luck in finding Jane’s father, but they did encounter several Heartless going after some gorillas. Why they were going after them was anyone’s guess, but they weren’t going to stop and let them have their way. 

But with every group of Heartless they encountered, the chances of them finding Jane’s father grew ever slimmer. For every second that passed by, the chance that he had fallen to a jungle predator or a Heartless continued to grow. And it was not doing them any favours in the moral department. 

            “Anyone see him?” Skull asks, looking over a mound of jungle growth only to see a wall of trees before him.

            “Nothing over here.” Panther calls out, walking away from a tree. Mona calls out a negative as Noir lets out a sigh, just as Tarzan lands next to them, shaking his head. “Do you think… we’re too late?” 

            “Don’t think like that, Panther! It’s not over until we find a body!” Mona declares, puffing his chest out. Although it didn’t really do anything to improve the mood. Finding a body would REALLY mean they failed. But just as they started to think about retracing their steps, the cry of an elephant drew the group's attention to their left, and Tarzan’s attention most of all.

            “Tantor!” He cries, rushing forward toward the trees. The Thieves accompanying him were taken aback by the sudden sprint in his step as they raced after him. As they chased after him, they could hear the elephant, presumably the one called Tantor, let out another cry of fright. Only this time, there was another voice mixed in with it.

            “I say! This is hardly sporting! Leave us alone now, you hear!?”

            “That voice… do you think?” Mona asks Noir, riding on her shoulder as she nods back at him. 

            “It must be!” She replies, hand grasping around her axe as the five of them get closer. Just as they near a row of trees, they see a large red elephant backed up against a cliff wall with a short old man with a bushy white moustache wearing an explorer's uniform sitting on top of him. “There he is!” Noir shouts as the Thieves ready themselves to jump in. But Tarzan is quick, letting out what they believe is a battle cry as he comes in from above. Slamming his head into a Powerwild before letting out a roar and swinging it around him, knocking back several more as the elephant lets out a trill at seeing him.

            “Tarzan, my boy! So good to see you!” Mr. Porter calls out with joy before seeing the Thieves burst out of the trees heading right for the Heartless. “And with help as well!”

            “Milady! Mapsi!”

            “Zorro! Magaru!”

            “Captain Kidd! Mazio!”

            “Carmen! Maragi!”

The four Thieves unleash their spells at the Heartless, striking them from behind and causing them to seemingly panic at the sudden attack. While some of them wanted to attack Tarzan, the rest turned to face the four Thieves. But with their attention split and their numbers reduced by the sudden two-pronged attack, the Heartless could not last long against the combined might of the five, with the survivors scurrying off into the jungle in retreat. 

            “Tantor. Porter.” Tarzan comments, moving towards them as Tantor gently places Mr. Porter on the ground. 

            “A fine rescue there, my boy! For a moment, I thought that would be the end of me and my friend here.” Mr. Porter remarks, while Tantor seemed to pull himself in more, as though he was still scared. It was honestly a puzzling sight for the Thieves to see, what with how they knew elephants should be. But it was as they looked between themselves that Mr. Porter turned to look at them with a smile.

            “Ah, before I forget my manners, allow me to introduce myself to your new friends.” He comments, seemingly not realising that Panther was Ann as he gives them a bow. “Archimedes Q. Porter, at your service. And, who might you be?” 

            “Well, you already know me, Porter-san.” Panther comments, before shifting over to her normal attire. Followed quickly by Skull, Noir, and Mona as Mr. Porter stood there shocked. As for Tantor, he was still looking at them with some slight fear in his eyes, only staying in place since Tarzan was there. 

            “Well, I’ll be! So this was the special powers that you were talking about, Ann.” Mr. Porter comments. “And am I to believe that these are your long-lost friends?”

            “Some of us.” Ryuji comments, before glancing behind him. “But it’s not safe to talk here. Let’s head back to the camp. We’ll exchange names as we move.” 

            “Ah, a fine idea.” Mr. Porter comments as Tarzan leads Tantor towards them. “But I still cannot fathom what Mr. Clayton is doing.” That caused the five of them to pause as they all looked at him with wide eyes. “Why is he commanding these creatures to begin with? And where did he find that strange rifle of his?” 

            “Clayton sent the Heartless after you?” Haru asks, her ears not believing what she had just heard.

            “Oh yes, it was him, no mistake about it.” Mr. Porter comments, shaking his head. “I fear he has finally dropped all semblance of working with us and is actively seeking gorillas. I knew it was only a matter of time until he did so, but in this fashion…” 

            “In that case, the camp must be in danger!” Morgana shouts, leaping off Haru’s shoulders and surprising Mr. Porter. “Let’s move!” At that, Morgana starts sprinting through the foliage, following the path they made as the others all chase after him. As for Mr. Porter, he was still coming to the realisation about what had just happened. 

            “Did that cat just talk?”

There was an uneasy tension in the air as Joker’s team made their way through the bamboo grove. Whether that was from the uneasy air between Sora and Donald, or Joker staying on alert for any possible ambush, it was hard to say. But the fact that it was completely silent did not help matters at all. 

            “Where did all the birds go?” Goofy decided to ask as they reached an open area. 

            “Maybe they flew away when the Heartless appeared?” Sora offered. It was a reasonable assumption to make, but there weren’t any Heartless around them.

            “I don’t like this…” Donald quips, looking around warily. As for Joker, he swore he could feel a pair of eyes glaring at him from somewhere nearby. But with all the bamboo, it made it almost impossible to see. Thankfully for him, he had a trick up his sleeve. 

            “Focus…” He quietly intones, his eyes glowing a calm blue. Something that caught the attention of the trio as Joker slowly looks around the area. 

            “What are you doing?” Sora asks, seeing the blue glow coming from Joker’s eyes as he slowly turns on the spot. Joker doesn’t reply, as he focuses on the bamboo while the trio looks at him perplexed. But as they do, none of them notice a small rustling from the bushes behind Donald as a pair of hungry eyes peer out from them.

Except for one of them. 

            “Look out!” Joker shouts, jumping in front of Donald just as Sabor attacks. The leopard, not expecting Joker to see him so fast, finds himself slamming into Joker hard. His claws dig into Joker's chest even as Joker manages to stab his knife into its arm. But it is clear the attack does more damage to Joker as he cries out in pain, being sent into a rock while Sabor growls in equal pain. Joker’s knife is still embedded in its arm. 

            “Goofy! Keep Sabor away from Joker!” Sora calls out as he and Donald rush towards Sabor. Donald unleashes a blast of fire at the leopard, forcing it to dodge right into Sora, who hits back with a Slapshot into his usual three-hit combo. Reeling from the attack, Sabor jumps back before trying to get around them, aiming for the injured Joker.

However, Sora would not let the leopard have its chance as he sent out a blast of ice magic at Sabor, forcing the leopard to dodge once more as Donald sent out another blast of fire. Sora, seeing Sabor getting tired from exhaustion and loss of blood from Joker’s knife wound, charged forward after bringing down a barrage of thunder as Donald switched up and sent out a blast of ice, forcing the leopard to dodge even more before it did the one thing that all exhausted fighters would do.

It tripped over its own feet, slamming down on Joker’s knife and dragging it deeper in just as Sora charged in with another three-hit combo, followed by a Stun Impact. With Sabor wide open, Sora brought Kingdom Key down in one final vertical slash, the silence echoing around them as Sabor continued to stand before Sora, breathing heavily before it started to sway on the spot.

As Sabor let out one more growl of hunger, he turned to look at the sky before going still, just before he collapsed to the ground in a crumpled heap. Sora, seeing Sabor was finally defeated, let out a long sigh as he grabbed Joker’s knife and pulled it from Sabor’s corpse before heading over to Joker, who was still wounded from Sabor’s ambush. 

            “Those wounds are deep.” Goofy comments, rummaging through his pouches for a potion as Joker lets out a groan. As for Donald, he was staring at Joker in shock for what he did, jumping right between him and the big cat and saving him from a nasty hit. Sora, meanwhile, could only look on in pain, wishing that he could do something, anything, to help! But as he thought that, a strange feeling built up inside him, almost like a soothing hand mixed with the gentle rays of the sun. And without even thinking, he raised the Keyblade above him, a command coming to him without prompt.

            “Cure!” Sora calls, with a green aura mixed with leaves and vines appearing over Joker. The moment it did, the wound on his chest instantly healed up, along with fixing the damage to his Thief attire as Joker blinks in surprise. 

            “Healing magic?” He asks in shock as Goofy helps him up. Sora rubs the back of his head bashfully as Joker lets out a chuckle at him. “Is there anything that a Keyblade can’t do at this rate?” Sora shrugs his shoulders at him as Joker shakes his head before turning to Donald. “You okay?” 

            “I’m fine, thanks to you.” Donald replies, nodding his head at Joker. “But why did you do that in the first place?”

            “Why? A friend was in trouble. Do I need any other reason to help?” Joker asks back as Donald’s beak hangs open cartoonishly wide. But before anyone could talk more, Joker’s comm flared to life. 

            “Joker! The camp is under attack! We need backup! Clayton is leading the Heartless!” Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped in shock, easily hearing Oracle’s panicked voice from how loud it was. They wouldn’t be surprised if Joker had a sore ear from that later on.

            “What!?” Joker shouts back, eyes wide before narrowing them. "We're on our way!" He lowers his hand from his ear before turning back to where they came from, sprinting down the path as the trio chases after him. It wasn't long until they started to hear the sound of battle echoing from the camp, with the sounds of spells reverberating amid the chaos. Bursting through the foliage, they find Sensei leading a circle defence of the main tent as more Powerwilds and Bouncywilds rush around them. Only this time, they are accompanied by green versions of the Red Nocturnes. And judging by what they are doing, it is clear to see these Heartless are healing the Powerwilds. But Clayton is nowhere to be seen.

            “Eiga!” Joker shouts, blasting a few of the green ones with the Curse spell as Donald follows behind with a blast of Thunder. Sora charges in, hitting a Bouncywild with a three-hit combo before turning around and grasping his Keyblade with both hands. He starts to glow with a faint light aura as he narrows his eyes at the Powerwilds around the tent. 

            “Sonic Blade!” He shouts, just as he starts rapidly dashing across the ground just like what Cloud did back at the Colosseum. The Heartless are clearly not expecting it, as they seem to be focused entirely on the tent more than anything.

            “Magarula!” Sensei cries, sending out a heavy blast of wind as Sophie uses her yo-yos to fire bullets of light at the Heartless. Shadow, taking refuge atop the tent, is firing with her sniper rifle at any of the green Heartless that float around, but more often than not is forced to fire at the Bouncywilds with their slingshots. 

            “We’re glad you’re here!” Spring calls out, using her spear to knock several Heartless away as Edel uses her arm cannons on the Powerwilds. “We were reaching our limit!” 

            “Where’s Clayton!?” Joker shouts, shooting several Bouncywilds in quick succession, Athena joining him in the barrage with her own two pistols.

            “Dunno! He just left the moment he saw us!” Outlaw shouts back, sending out a Double Shot at several of the green ones. “Those stupid Green Requiems keep healing the others!” Joker grimaces, watching as Goofy jumps in front of the tent entrance and knocks away a Powerwild that managed to get close. But it was at that moment, just when it seemed the Heartless would not stop their assault, a cry echoed from the jungle, drawing all eyes. 

As the cry got louder, a figure soon emerged swinging on a vine towards them, with a red elephant right behind him and four figures charging right in front of it. And it was from that height that Tarzan came down, landing his spear hard on a Green Requiem as Noir, Skull, Panther, and Mona lashed out at the remaining Requiem, taking them out and removing the constant healing that the Powerwilds and Bouncywilds were receiving. And with their source of healing gone, the Heartless turned and fled back into the jungle, even as the Thieves took potshots at the retreating Heartless.

            “That was too close…” Sensei remarks, sheathing his odachi as Jane exited the tent, eagerly reuniting with Mr. Porter as he got off Tantor, alongside Oracle, the small gorilla from before, and the puppies they had found. “The Heartless were solely focusing on this poor gorilla.” 

            “Turk.” Tarzan comments, moving towards the gorilla who started talking to him. Not that anyone could understand what was being said, but by the way Tarzan’s muscles tensed up and his eyes widened, whatever she said was not good.

            “Tarzan?” Jane asks as Tarzan narrows his eyes, looking back at the others with a determined expression. 

            “Gorillas trapped. Turk ran.” Oracle, already opening up her screens, brings up a detailed map of the area, shocking both Jane and Mr. Porter. 

            “I think I’ve got a lock on where Clayton is corralling them. Looks like there is a dead end on the other side of the bamboo thicket.” 

            “Then that is where we are going. We can’t let Clayton get away with this!” Sora shouts, gripping Kingdom Key in his hand as the team nods at him as one. 

            “Then let’s move!” Joker shouts as the entire group, including the non-combatants, rushes toward the bamboo thicket. They can only hope they make it in time.

A vast wall of stone covered in moss and ivy formed a small area with only one path out. That was where the gorillas had been trapped, huddled together in one large group as the Heartless blocked their path. There was a route they could use to escape, but the human leading the Heartless had them in his crosshairs.

Clayton, eyes fixed and narrow, glowing in a dark aura, walked forward. His hunter attire, once pristine, was now marred with black spots and scratch marks. His kukri in his left hand had somehow enlarged, becoming as long as a sword while still retaining its kukri design; only now it was joined by hook-like spikes along the side. As for his right arm, it had somehow fused with a shotgun, now sporting four barrels instead of two as Clayton, eyes mixed with fury, hatred, and the thrill of the hunt, took aim with his right arm at the gorillas.

In a panic, they flee to a higher level, but one of them remains still, petrified, as Clayton aims his gun at her. Kerchak, seeing his wife Kala in danger, leaps from safety to save her, only for the Powerwilds to jump and pin him to the wall, leaving him helpless as Clayton readies his gun. However, just as he was about to fire, a missile streaks into his arm, sending his shot wide as a blast of wind sends the Powerwilds flying off Kerchak.

All those present turn to the source, seeing Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves standing at the entrance, their eyes glued to Clayton. Kerchak, seeing the opportunity, takes Kala to safety as Clayton turns to face the heroes, his remaining Heartless forming around him.

            “This is Clayton?! What the hell happened to him?!” Skull shouts, shaking his head as Clayton reloads his shotgun wordlessly. Just as something hits the wall behind him. Hard. 

            “Not Clayton! Ee-oo-oo-oo-ah! Not Clayton!” Tarzan shouts, shaking his head, just as the wall erupts as something breaks through it, revealing a much larger area with a small moss-covered wall and what looks to be a large waterfall beyond it. Although to everyone’s surprise, it is invisible as Clayton mounts it, seemingly grinning with the thrill of the hunt as the camouflaged creature lets out a growl. 

            “Oracle, what are we up against?” Athena asks, spinning her tonfas around as Oracle gets to work scanning the new foe. As for Jane and the others, they take shelter in the bamboo, watching as the team gets ready for battle.

            “It’s called a Stealth Sneak, but I can’t find anything else while it’s invisible!” She shouts, quickly going into Necronomicon as Clayton fires his gun at her, narrowly missing her legs as Edel returns fire with her arm cannons. 

            “In that case, let’s make it visible! Kouga!” Spring shouts, sending a blast of light at the hidden Heartless, slamming it right on the head, chest, or wherever Spring thinks she hit it. The creature lets out a growl as energy seemingly charges out of nowhere before it unleashes a powerful blast of air at the team, forcing them to scatter as Tarzan and Skull leap at Clayton. 

But the invisible Heartless catches them in the air, sending them flying into the wall as Clayton takes aim with his gun. Just as he fires, Outlaw jumps between them, taking the blow while Athena charges in and tackles Clayton off the Heartless. Just as Panther blasts it with Agilao, combined with a Fire spell from both Sora and Donald.

Letting out a roar, the Stealth Sneak removes its camo, revealing itself to be a giant chameleon with the Heartless Emblem emblazoned on its chest. Annoyed at losing its camo, the Stealth Sneak stands on its rear legs, charging energy in its eyes before sending out beams of light at the team, forcing them to duck as Goofy manages to deflect a shot right at Clayton, hitting him in the back as he tries to stab Athena with his kukri sword.

Seeing him stunned, Athena held nothing back as she unleashed a full-blown beatdown on the fallen hunter, while Sophie gave her support in the form of Kouha, as well as Skull sending a blast of Zio right at him. Seeing its rider in peril, the Stealth Sneak moved to intercept, only for Tarzan and Noir to cut it off with a twin strike to the head. Sensei followed them up after getting a boost from Mona, flying into the air and slamming his odachi down on the Stealth Sneak's back.

As the Stealth Sneak stumbled around, Shadow blasted it with Psi in its side as Joker followed up with Eiga, forcing it towards Clayton, who was in turn forced towards the Stealth Sneak. The moment the two of them were close, Sora rushed in to deliver one final blow on the Stealth Sneak. While Clayton was unaware of what had transpired, he still aimed his four-barrelled shotgun at Athena until the guttural growls of the Stealth Sneak drew his attention. But as he turned around to see it, he was instead met by the Stealth Sneak collapsing on him, slamming him to the ground as the weight of the Stealth Sneak crushed him underneath.

Silence filled the area as the team watched the Stealth Sneak twitch in place, right as two hearts burst from its back and ascended into the sky, followed closely by both the Stealth Sneak and Clayton vanishing into darkness. A bitter victory for the team to swallow, as they finally understood what had happened to Clayton.

            “He became a Heartless.” Sora comments, shaking his head as Oracle walked up to them with a wince. 

            “I thought my scanners were playing tricks on me, but Clayton was giving off the same readings as a Heartless… But at the same time, he wasn’t a full one either. I just assumed my sensors were acting up.” 

            “There’s no point in worrying about it, Oracle.” Athena consoles, patting her on the shoulder. “What happened to Clayton has happened. There is nothing we can do to change that.” It was hard to accept, but there was nothing that could be done now. Even if he was a man consumed with the need to hunt, becoming a Heartless was still a cruel fate. Losing all sense of self and becoming nothing but a mindless monster.

But as the team stewed on that, the gorillas who were watching them all revealed themselves from hiding as Kerchak walked forward toward them. Even if they did save them, the team was still technically intruding on their territory. So they were already expecting the leader of the gorillas to kick them out of here without a thought.

What none of them expected was for him to grab onto Sora and then toss him onto the moss-covered wall, followed quickly by Donald, Goofy, and Mr. Porter. Jane was taken up by Tarzan, giving her a lift, while the Thieves simply shadow-stepped their way up with the puppies in their arms. Terk had decided to join them as well, but as for Tantor, he didn’t seem eager to join them as he left with the remaining gorillas, with Kala and Kerchak giving Tarzan one final look before leaving themselves. But while the method of getting up there was questionable, the view that they were met with was anything but.

For before them was a magnificent waterfall pouring water into a crystal-clear lake. The entire scene was almost like something one would find in a portrait, with a nearby cavern leading to a tunnel that led behind the waterfall.

            “Tarzan, home.” 

            “This is your home?” Sora asks, looking at Tarzan with wide eyes. “Then does that mean the others are here?” 

            “Only one way to find out.” Goofy remarks as the group heads for the tunnel, the Thieves shifting back to their normal attire as they sense no more danger waiting for them. They could finally relax, and it was good timing as they soon found themselves behind the waterfall. Seeing the sheer volume of water before them made the team stop and take it all in, once more proving just how beautiful Mother Nature could be, as well as terrifying. But as they made their way up, they found something hidden amidst the rocks that made up the interior of this cave.

            “Why is a treasure chest hidden here?” Hifumi asks as Isara walks over to it. It was again one without a lock, so she could easily open it. But what she found inside should have honestly surprised her as she was jumped on by three more Dalmatian puppies. 

            “Even more of them?” Morgana asks, shaking his head as Sophia earlier ran up to play with them, quickly followed by the nine they had already found. “How many does that make now?” 

            “By my last count, that would make thirty out of ninety-nine found.” Jiminy comments, peeking out from Sora’s hood and writing in his journal. “I dare say, we are making good work on finding them all.”

            “That’s good to know.” Ren comments as the group soon arrives at a dark tunnel leading deeper into the cavern. But as they enter, what they find at the end is an interesting sight: a long tree standing at the end of a cave, with a giant hole in the ceiling and moss and vegetation growing around it. Resting on the tree are an uncountable number of sapphire butterflies, none of which look like the ones from the Velvet Room. 

            “Well now, this is quite a nice little spot.” Mr. Porter comments, taking in the scenery while writing in his book.

            “But… where are Riku and Kairi?" Sora asks, looking at Tarzan, who holds up a hand before placing it near his ear. Confused at first, the moment Sora paused to listen, he could hear the distant roar of the waterfall echoing from above. For some reason, it was strangely calming to hear. And judging by how everyone else was looking around with a sense of clarity, they all found it calming as well.

            “Ee-oo-oo-oo-ah. Friends there. See friends.” Tarzan comments, placing a hand over his chest. And it was then that Jane clicked her fingers as though she had discovered an epiphany. 

            “Oh, now I've got it. Ee-oo-oo-oo-ah means heart. Friends in our hearts." Tarzan looks at her with a smile, nodding his head at her as he repeats the word. But while it was good to finally understand what he was trying to say, Sora, on the other hand, wasn't so happy.

            “Oh, so that’s what it meant.” He replies in a sad tone. All this time, he had believed that Riku, Kairi, and the rest of Ren’s friends would be here. But instead, it was another dead end. Just like the last two worlds. Was there even a chance he would be able to find them at this rate? Tarzan looks at him, seeing the sad look on his face as he walks over and places a hand on his shoulder, grabbing the young boy's attention. 

            “Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends.” Tarzan tells Sora, who meets Tarzan's gaze. Even if he was not speaking easily, it was clear to Sora what Tarzan was talking about. That as long as he kept them inside his heart, they would always be together, no matter the distance. And at this point, there was time for an overdue apology.

            “Sorry about snapping at you before, Donald.” Sora comments, rubbing the back of his head. Donald looks at him, nodding his head as he lets out a sigh. 

            “I’m sorry too. And to you as well, Ren. I’m sorry to have doubted you.” Ren looks at Donald, seeing the remorseful look on the duck's face before letting out a smile and shaking his head. 

            “Apology accepted. Next time, just tell us what’s bugging you instead of holding it in. It never works out.”

            “Trust us on that. It’s happened to us before.” Morgana quips, sending an apologetic look to Ryuji, who nods his head at him. 

            “Remember what I said before? All for one, huh?” Goofy comments, pulling Sora and Donald into a hug as the team shakes their heads at him in good nature. “And don’t worry, Sora. We’ll find your friends.”

            “Yeah! We’ll find everyone!” Donald adds with a grin, or at least as much as a duck beak could, while Sora rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. But while it was comforting to hear that, something else happened that quickly grabbed their attention. The butterflies hovering around the tree trunk suddenly started to fly away in great numbers, filling the cave with countless butterflies. One even landed on Sophia’s head, earning a giggle from her, while another landed on Morgana’s back. The cat, not really appreciating the loafer, swiped at it as another surprise soon appeared before them.

Carved into the side of the tree trunk was a glowing keyhole. Sora, remembering what had happened back in Wonderland, took out the Kingdom Key and aimed it at the keyhole, the Keyblade immediately shooting out a beam of light into the keyhole. Seconds after the beam connected, the sound of a door being locked echoed from the trunk as the keyhole vanished, leaving behind a wooden shape in the trunk alongside two other objects: another Gummi Piece and a keychain with one of the butterflies on it.

            “A Gummi.” Donald remarks as Goofy picks it up. 

            “But it’s sure not the king's.” He replies sadly as the two toons slouch forward. 

            “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find him eventually.” Futaba reassures them just as Turk walks up and nudges Donald. “Hm? What’s up with Turk?” 

            “Oh my. It would seem she has found a new admirer." Mr. Porter comments as Donald looks at Turk before jumping away, waving his hands in the air and suddenly looking very pale.

            “No, no, no, no! Daisy would KILL me!” 

It went without saying that everyone left the cave laughing at Donald's expense, and after everything they had gone through in this jungle, it was more than deserved.

            “What drew the Heartless to that world?” Jafar asks, looking at a hologram of the Deep Jungle. Beside him, Ursula and Oogie Boogie watch with disdain as the Keyhole of that world is locked by Sora. 

            “The hunter lured them there. It was his lust for power that was the bait.” Maleficent tells them, looking at the hologram with some amusement. “But it would seem the bait was too tasty for its own good.” 

            “Such is the fate of those who try to control power beyond their means.” Owada remarks, shaking his head. “If Shido were here, he would bend the Heartless to his will.”

            “If this Shido could do that, then why is he not here?” Salve-Maker Qada asks, stepping out of the shadows. “Oh, that’s right, he was defeated by those Persona users.” 

            “I still cannot fathom how they are still here.” Ikutsuki comments, shaking his head at seeing Ren and his team. Or rather, the ones he had reunited with. “They should not even be here to begin with.” 

            “What do you mean by that?” Ursula asks in a bored tone. Ikutsuki looks at her, contemplating telling her before shaking his head. 

            “You would not understand it. Even Maleficent-san struggled to believe it at first.” 

            “It was only after I collaborated with your story that she believed.” Jerri announces, landing on Maleficent’s shoulder. “But regardless, we best focus our attention on this Sora.” 

            “Indeed. For he is becoming a problem. He has found two of the Keyholes.” Jafar remarks in a worried tone. But Maleficent lets out a scoff, shaking her head as the projection changes back to the team as they board the Highwind, now freed of its bounds. 

            “Worry not, it will take them ages to find the rest. Besides, they are blissfully unaware of our other plans.” 

            “Yep. Them too-goody princesses.” Oogie remarks in a jovial tone. “And we already got two of them. Ain’t that right, Tamiel?” At that, all eyes turn to the darkened corner as Tamiel, the purple gem in his forehead glowing brightly, pushed not only Alice but another woman with ebony hair and skin as white as snow. 

And as the two girls looked around, all they could see were the faces of evil, just before their world went dark once more.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Walk the Llama.

The atmosphere inside the Highwind felt jovial for a change. Hard not to, seeing how many of the Thieves they had found, along with twenty-seven puppies. Not counting the three they had already found in Traverse Town. That, and the distrust Donald held for Ren had been dealt away with as well, not to mention Sora and Donald had also made up. All in all, crash landing in Deep Jungle proved to be more beneficial than anyone could imagine. Although there was still something left undone. 

            “You're still not going to tell them, Donald?” Goofy comments as the two head towards the training room. Apparently, Sora had just found something out with the Keyblade and wanted to show everyone.

            “Not yet… Once we get back to Traverse Town, then I’ll tell them.” Donald replies, shaking his head. “After all, it is what caused me to distrust Ren.” Goofy nods at him in understanding, just as they open the training room door. There, they find Sora already sparring against Skull while the rest of the Thieves watch in their normal attire. But as they walk in, they notice that Sora’s Keyblade looks a lot different from before. 

It now looks as though it is made from bone, with a circular guard supporting the grip and two tiny horns poking out at the top. The blade, which is also made of bone, looks to be longer than the Kingdom Key, while the teeth are also made of what looks to be large ribcages, five in total. And it is covered in deep purple wraps, while the keychain they found alongside the Gummi Piece hangs from the end.

            “Oh hey, you made it.” Futaba comments as Sora unleashes a Stun Impact, forcing Skull to back away before he counters with a Rampage, forcing Sora to Dodge Roll out of the way. 

            “What’s up with Sora’s Keyblade?” Goofy asks as Sora and Skull lock weapons once more before breaking apart, both exhausted but smiling all the same. 

            “That’s what we want to know as well.” Morgana comments as Skull turns back into Ryuji, cracking his back audibly as Sora wipes his head. 

            “Not bad, Sora. You’re improvin' a lot.” Ryuji comments with a grin as Sora lets out a chuckle.

            “Well, it helps that you all fight so differently. And with different magic as well. I feel like I’m always growing with you around.” He replies with a grin before glancing at the Keyblade as everyone stares at him. “So I guess you want to know what’s up with the Keyblade, huh?” 

            “Well, yeah! Why is it so different?” Isara asks as Sora holds it up, letting out a grin as he grasps the butterfly keychain, removing it from the end before putting on the original keychain. It was a shock for everyone as the Keyblade switched back to Kingdom Key. 

            “How did you do that?” Sae asks, the only one not having her jaw hung open to catch flies at the moment as Sora lets out a chuckle.

            “I just changed the keychain. I didn't know it would change Kingdom Key into a different Keyblade. But when it did, I felt it not only get stronger, but the reach improved as well. And it also went by a different name: Jungle King. 

            “Jungle King, huh?” Shiho comments, slowly nodding her head. “That’s fitting, considering where we got it.” 

            “I thought so too.” Sora replies, looking at Kingdom Key. “But… even though Kingdom Key changed, I could still feel it was Kingdom Key under it…” 

            “Maybe because Kingdom Key is your Keyblade and Jungle King belongs to someone else.” Hifumi puts forward. “And that, equipping the keychain gives you the power that Jungle King has, but underneath it is still Kingdom Key.”

            “Kinda like how our Personas, even when they evolved into more powerful forms, were still the same underneath it all.” Mishima comments with a smile. “Even when he was Ned Kelly or even Blondie, I could still feel Drifter residing inside.” 

            “I suppose that is one way to look at it.” Ren comments, looking at Sora. “And if different keychains give you different advantages, you should make an effort to get as many as you can.” 

            “I think so too.” Sora replies with a grin, turning Kingdom Key back into Jungle King. He would be lying if he said he wanted to stay with Kingdom Key, but Jungle King was stronger. And seeing how he also felt Kingdom Key agreeing to the change, Sora decided to just go with the flow. Besides, if all that was needed was to change keychains, what was stopping him from doing so mid-battle to throw off his foes?

“Attention everyone. We are receiving a communication from a world called Disney Castle. Can everyone report to the cockpit, please?”

            “Disney Castle? It must be Queen Minnie!” Donald shouts as he and Goofy rush for the cockpit. But as everyone else follows after the pair, the Thieves all glance at each other with curious looks. 

            “Disney? Why does that sound familiar?” Ann asks, rubbing her head. 

            “I think I saw something about how a young man named Walt Disney died during the Spanish Flu as a medical officer. He’s only mentioned because there were a lot of notes left behind of him talking about animation and his ideas for a mouse mascot.” Sophia comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I like to surf the internet.” 

            “I hope you have been looking safely, Sophia.” Ren tells her, shaking his head. “You know how Makoto is when you go looking.”

            “I’m being safe.” Sophia replies with a smile as the group shakes their heads at her. It was always impossible to get mad at Sophia, with how innocent she could be. But as they put that behind them, the group moved into the cockpit to find that the main screen was already activated, with a female mouse wearing a royal garment on the other screen.

            “Thank you for informing me, Lavenza. It is pleasing to hear that we have such capable allies.”

            “The pleasure is all mine, Queen Minnie.” Lavenza replies, just as Donald and Goofy rush up behind her and bow deeply. 

            “Queen Minnie!” Donald calls, posture rigid. Queen Minnie chuckles at both of them, motioning for them to stand up as she greets them with a smile.

            “Donald, Goofy. It is pleasing to see you again. When we lost contact with the Kingdom, we feared the worst. What happened to the Gummi Ship?” Queen Minnie asks, with the two toons letting out groans at the reminder.

            “The autopilot used Launchpad’s data. But I was told it had Duckworth's.” Goofy tells Minnie, who lets out a long sigh as she shakes her head.

            “That explains everything… I will let Gizmo, Chip, and Dale know about the error.” As Queen Minnie shakes her head, she sees Sora and the others form up behind Donald and Goofy. “Oh, hello. I do believe this is our first time meeting. I am Queen Minnie.”

            “The pleasure is ours, Queen Minnie.” Yoshida tells her as the Thieves and Sora bow respectively towards her. “I am Toranosuke Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan. Or rather… former Prime Minister…”

            “I know… Lady Lavenza has just informed me of what has happened to your world. To think that even the long-lost world of Persona users has fallen as well…” Minnie comments, sadly shaking her head. 

            “You know about our world?” Ren asks, but not in an accusatory stance. Rather, it is more of a genuine surprise. 

            “Of course. My husband, King Mickey, a Keyblade Master in his own right, was told of the legend of your world during his training. He will be pleasantly surprised to learn that they still exist to this day.” Queen Minnie reveals with a smile, but it is what she said about Mickey that surprised them. 

            “King Mickey is a Keyblade wielder like me?” Sora asks in shock, Kingdom Key coming to his hand on instinct. 

            “He is…” Queen Minnie replies before letting out a sigh. “…and as far as I know, he is the only one left, other than his master who has retired.” 

            “Only one Keyblade wielder other than Sora? No wonder the Heartless are on a rampage…” Hifumi comments, shaking her head.

            “It was not always the case. There were once many Keyblade wielders in the past, but they have either gone to different parts of the universe or slowly died out. Ten years ago, there was one other master training three students to keep the balance besides my husband, who was still an apprentice back then. But he was killed, and his students scattered. Even now, we do not know what happened to them.” The group all looks at each other in shock while Donald looks away with a grimace, as Sora feels a strange pang in his chest.

            “For real?” Ryuji simply comments, rubbing the back of his head. There wasn’t really anything else he could say as the team could only stand and let the reality of the situation fall on them. But just as they did, a door could be heard opening from Queen Minnie’s side of the video feed. 

            “Your Majesty, you called for us?” Another voice asks, one that Ren’s group instantly recognised as two figures appeared on the screen. Two very familiar and old friends. 

            “Minato! Minako!” Ren calls out, grabbing the twins' attention as they look at the screen, their eyes widening in both shock and joy. 

            “Ren! Everyone!” Minako calls out as the twins smile at them. “You’re all okay!” 

            “Some of us are… but we’re still looking for everyone else.” Futaba replies, shaking her head. The twins' joyous looks faded away at hearing that, seeing the distant look on some of them

            “You’re missing people as well? We’re missing Labrys.” Minato tells them, grabbing their attention. “The rest of the S.E.E.S team is here, along with Chidori, but Labrys isn’t with us. And neither is the Investigation Team. That… and our Personas have been weakened.” 

            “It’s because we’re summoning in real life for the first time and not under a special anomaly.” Ren tells the twins as he folds his arms. “It’s the same with us as well. And apparently, this was how the first Persona users started out as well.” 

            “That explains why we have become so weak, and that our Personas have reverted back to their base forms.” Minako comments, before frowning worriedly. “But… Koromaru is having problems. He can't call Cerberus because his Evoker is not working, and we don't have anything to repair it.” 

            “That’s… not good.” Morgana comments as the Thieves all look at each other worriedly. But as they do so, Minato and Minako look at Sora, Donald, and Goofy with new questions in their minds.

            “I’m guessing that you two are Donald and Goofy, from what Queen Minnie has told us.” Minato comments before looking at Sora. “And who are you?” 

            “I’m Sora Osment.” Sora replies with a grin. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

            “Nice to meet you as well. I’m Minako Arisato, and this is my twin brother, Minato Arisato.” Minako replies as Minato gives Sora a nod. But before they could continue their conversation, a beep from Lavenza’s console alerted them to a new world approaching. 

            “Looks like we’ve found a new world. I will send you a data package to inform you of what I’ve told the Thieves.” Lavenza informs the twins as she adjusts the ship’s course. “It is best that you understand what is happening.” 

            “Thank you, Lavenza.” Minako tells her before looking back at the team. “I hope you find the others, Ren. And if you find Labrys and/or the Investigation Team, please let us know, alright?

            “We will. See you soon, and give our regards to the other members of S.E.E.S." Ren replies just as the video ends, showing the new world on the screen. And it was certainly a strange-looking one, with several houses on a hill, a jungle, and a large waterfall, while underneath looked to be a stone city atop a mountain with a giant building shaped like a sun rising above the horizon. 

            “That is a world?” Ann asks as the group nods at her. “Talk about strange…” 

            “So, how are we getting down there?” Mishima asks as Lavenza takes them into orbit. 

            “We’ll beam down there.” Ryuji replies as the group steps into the teleporter, while Yoshida elects to remain behind with Lavenza and Persona Alice, just in case. Soon, the group feels themselves beaming down to the world below, finding themselves in a mountainous area near a jungle on a stone road. 

            “The air feels… a bit light.” Sora comments, giving his head a shake. 

            “Based on our current altitude, I would say this place resembles the mountains of Chile.” Sophia comments.

            “Oh, you mean where the Inca made their homes? That would explain why the air feels thin.” Shiho comments, just as the sound of a cart approaching them draw their attention. Coming along the path was a large man, walking a cart that was being pulled by a llama. Wearing a green poncho and a brown cap that covered his ears, with red shorts and sandals, he looked to be depressed as well until he spotted them and gave them all a kind smile. 

            “Hello there. Are you travellers?” He asks them with a friendly voice. 

            “Yes, we are.” Sae replies casually. “We were looking for a place to stay for the night. Would you recommend anywhere nearby?” The man looks at her, rubbing his chin before letting out a sigh that seems to be tinged with sadness. 

            “Well… there is my village nearby. You can stay the night there if you would like.” He tells them before eyeing their clothes. “You know… your clothes remind me of three others who are staying at our village. Are you all from the same place?” 

            “Yes.” Mishima replies casually, which makes the man smile as he lets out a chuckle. He could see how a lot of them suddenly had hope in their eyes the moment he said that. 

            “Something tells me those three will be happy to see you then. They have been down ever since they got here, although they haven’t told us what happened."

            “Something tells me it wouldn’t be easy to say.” Hifumi comments as they follow the man along the road, where they can see a village built on top of several mountains, with a single house at the top of a very large one. 

            “Oh, where are my manners? I’m Pacha, the head man of the village.” Pacha greets them, giving them a handshake as the team introduces themselves one by one. Although his eyes did slightly widen at hearing the name of the Thieves, along with a small smirk appearing on his face, what it was about they didn’t know as they soon reached the village, a small, quiet place with its inhabitants all either heading to bed or doing some final late-hour touches. But as they made their way forward, Haru noticed someone sitting by themselves, looking at the distant mountains with a sketchpad in his hand. And it would be impossible for her not to recognise his blue hair.

            “Yusuke?” She quietly breathes, slowly walking up to him as the group stops. It seemed her voice was just loud enough as Yusuke turned to look at her with shock in his eyes as he stood up, even as tears threatened to run down Haru’s face. 

            “Haru!” Yusuke shouts as the two quickly rush to embrace each other. “You’re safe… Thank the Kami that you are safe and unharmed!” 

            “I’m so glad that you are alright!” Haru replies, equally hugging him tightly as though he would vanish in just seconds. The rest of the team smiles at the reunion. Ren and Sophia just let out a joint sigh. Even as Yusuke and Haru broke apart, Yusuke saw everyone else with her.

            “Ren, everyone…. It gladdens me so to see you all safe.” Yusuke tells them as he approaches, still holding Haru with one arm. Not that she was any better, as she was still holding an arm around his waist as well. 

            “We’re glad to see you as well, Yusuke.” Ann replies with a smile, brushing some hair behind her ear before walking over and giving Yusuke a hug. While Yusuke returned the hug with one arm, his gaze soon fell to Sora, Donald, and Goofy before finally letting Haru go as Ann released him as well. 

            “Ah, my apologies. It would seem we have some new faces with us. Yusuke Kitagawa, aspiring artist.” Yusuke greets as Sora lets out a chuckle.

            “And Haru’s boyfriend.” He remarks with a smirk as Haru blushes, not that her smile was going away any time soon. “I’m Sora Osment.” 

            “Donald Duck.” 

            “Name’s Goofy.” The trio introduces themselves, with Yusuke shaking their hands. 

            “A pleasure to meet you all.” He tells them before looking at the others, watching as Pacha headed up towards his house and leaving them in privacy. “Much as I would like to hear what has happened in my absence, perhaps we should find a secluded spot to talk?” While the team eagerly agreed to that, Ren and Sophia seemed to be in a world of their own, something that Morgana seemed to spot.

            “Ren, why don’t you take Sophia and go for a walk?” He tells him, surprising Ren as he leaps onto Hifumi’s shoulders. “We’ll explain everything to Yusuke.” While the group was puzzled by Morgana’s suggestion, they soon separated themselves from Ren and Sophia, the two glancing at each other before going on a wander through the village. And despite the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere around them, it did nothing to ease the hole in their hearts.

            “I miss Mom…” Sophia suddenly comments, prompting Ren to hug her.

            “I know… I miss her too.” He tells her quietly as they take a moment to pause near a wall leading to a bend in the path, leading to a small plateau overlooking the mountains before them while the moon and stars hung overhead. “But we’ll find her again one day. We just have to believe.” Sophia slowly nods her head, but it was clear in Ren’s eyes that Sophia was getting tired of waiting. And he honestly couldn’t blame her.

He just wanted nothing but to be reunited with her right at this moment, but what were the chances she would be in this world? She could be anywhere, or even… He shakes his head at that, refusing to believe it for even a moment. But even after all this time, it was starting to weigh down on him. And if it was hurting him this much, he could only imagine how much Sora was hurting about not finding his friends either. 

            “Where are you, Makoto…?” Ren quietly asks, looking up at the sky, watching as the countless stars twinkle before them. So focused on the stars were Ren and Sophia that neither of them noticed someone approaching them from behind or the silent gasp they gave at seeing them. 

            “Ren? Sophia?” The two freeze in place, the voice echoing behind them as they slowly turn around. For a moment, they thought their imagination was playing tricks on them, but as they turned to face the voice, that notion was quickly shattered. For standing before them with tears threatening to fall from her eyes, was Makoto.

            “Mom!” Sophia shouts, running right towards Makoto and flinging herself at her. Makoto grabs onto her, not hesitating for a moment as the tears fall from her eyes. As for Ren, he stands there, frozen before he slowly makes his way over to her. A tear falls from his own eye before he wraps Makoto up in a hug without a word. 

            “I knew you were alive… I just knew it.” He tells her, his voice slightly quivering as Makoto lets out a shaky laugh. 

            “Your voice says a different story.” She replies, but her own voice is also quivering as the two stare at each other before locking themselves into a deep kiss. Sophia is locked between them, not that she is complaining as the two break and rest their heads on each other. “I missed you so much… both of you.” 

            “So did we.” Ren replies quietly as the three stand in silence. The peaceful atmosphere around them takes away their worries as they can finally relax, even if they still have others to find.

            “I see… Such a dark fate that has befallen our home.” Yusuke comments, letting out a long sigh even as Haru rubs his back. “How were we so blind to this foe?” 

            “We’re all asking that.” Shiho comments, letting out a sigh even as Mishima hugs her. “I guess that dream you had of the Heartless swarming over Shibuya came true. Not to mention about what happened to EMMA, that should have been our biggest clue.” 

            “So it would seem…” Yusuke relents, shaking his head before looking at Sora. “And now the responsibility of fixing this has fallen on your shoulders… Such a heavy burden to carry.” 

            “Yeah… it is.” Sora admits, rubbing his head. “But I’m willing to carry it no matter what. Even if I didn’t ask for it.” While Yusuke nods at Sora’s determination, the sound of footsteps drawing closer drew everyone’s attention. And while they saw Sophia run ahead with a giant grin on her face, it wasn’t until Ren turned the corner with someone else that they realize why Sophia was smiling so much.

            “Makoto!” Sae calls out, grabbing her attention even as she sticks close to Ren. Makoto turns to see Sae just as she rushes over to wrap her in a hug, dragging Ren into it as well. "I'm so glad to see you safe.” 

            “So am I, Sis.” Makoto replies, hugging Sae even as she lets out a single tear. “I’m glad that all of you are alive. I was worried sick when it was just the three of us who arrived here.” Sae nods as she lets Makoto go, who glances over at the others as they walk up to join. 

            “Welcome back, Makoto!” Futaba declares as she gives Makoto a hug. Makoto lets out a chuckle as she rubs Futaba’s head before her gaze falls on the new trio. 

            “You must be the three that Ren told me about. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Makoto Niijima.” She greets them, nodding her head at them as Futaba lets go of her, only for Sophia to take her place as Makoto lets out a giggle. “I don’t think much else needs to be explained.”

            “I think I got it. You're Ren's girlfriend, Sophia's mother, and Sae's sister based on the last name." Sora replies with a big smile. "My name is Sora Osment.” 

            “Donald Duck.” 

            “Name’s Goofy, ma’am.” 

            “My, those are some interesting names you have.” A voice echoes from above as a third person moves to join them. One that no one was expecting to see, but was glad to see regardless. 

            “Goro? You’re here as well?” Ren asks, seeing Akechi walk up to them as he nods back at Ren, right as the two share a fist bump. 

            “Yes. I arrived here at the same time as Yusuke and Makoto.” He looks back at the new trio before bowing to them. “Apologies for not introducing myself. My name is Goro Akechi. Detective Prince.”

            “Detective Prince?” Sora asks as Donald and Goofy tilt their heads. “Are you royalty?” That got an amused chuckle out of Akechi as the others shook their heads.

            “Hah haha… No, I’m not.” Akechi replies, shaking his head. “It was just a fancy title given to me by the public. But I am a detective.” His smile doesn’t last, though, as he looks back at Ren with a sigh. “I’m guessing you haven’t found Sumi yet?” 

            “No… we haven’t.” Ren replies, folding his arms. “The Investigation Team and the rest of the Thieves are missing as well. We found out where the S.E.E.S team is, but Labrys is still missing.” 

            “I see…” Akechi replies, narrowing his eyes. “I assume you’ve found out what has happened to us already?”

            “We have.” Hifumi replies, brushing some hair back. “We just finished telling Yusuke, while Ren told Makoto. And it’s not good…” 

            “Considering what had happened to us, it can be anything but good.” Akechi remarks, shaking his head, just as Pacha descended down to them. The cart was still with him along with the llama. 

            “I see you have all reunited.” Pacha comments, but his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “I guess that means you won’t be staying here any longer. Not that we will be…” 

            “What do you mean by that?” Haru asks Pacha, who lets out a sigh and sits down on a rock bench.

            “I shouldn't tell you this, but I can't keep it hidden any longer. Earlier today, I was summoned to the palace by Emperor Kuzco. I didn’t know what it was he wanted to tell me until he showed me a model of my village. Then he asked about where the sun hits the most. When I told him, he then told me what he planned to do to my village." Pacha lets out a long sigh as he shakes his head. “He’s going to destroy my village and turn it into his summer home.” 

            “What!?” Everyone shouts as one, not believing what they have just heard from Pacha. 

            “Are you for real?! He’s going to tear this place down for a summer home?!” Ryuji shouts, only for Ann to slap her hand over his mouth. They look around, wondering if anyone heard him, only to let out breaths of relief as no one noticed with Ann releasing her grip. “Sorry… force of habit. Again.” Ryuji tell him with a wince, with Pacha shaking his head.

            “Well, I don’t blame you for acting like that.” Pacha tells him, pushing himself up. “This place has been our home for the past six generations. Maybe even longer than that. To hear how he’s going to tear our home down tomorrow… I don’t even know how to tell everyone. Or Chicha… and she’s pregnant with our third child as well…” 

            “That’s not right. No one should be forced to leave their home because of others.” Sora replies, shaking his head.

            “That’s just what happens when the wrong people are put in charge. They treat everything like they are entitled to do whatever they want.” Ren remarks, shaking his head. This Kuzco person sounded like someone they would target back in their world. But it was at that moment something groaned from a large sack on the back of Pacha’s cart. 

            “I don’t remember putting that sack there.” Pacha remarks, walking over to it and untying it. But what was inside it was something he or anyone else was not expecting to see. 

            “A llama?” Isara asks, watching as a llama with black fur going from its head down to its body before changing into red fur looks around in a daze. 

            “Where did it come from?” Mishima asks as Pacha rests a hand on it. 

            “No… touchy…” The llama suddenly remarks, holding up a hoof like one would with a finger. Not expecting a llama of all things to talk back, the entire team jumped back in shock while Pacha fell on his back and started crawling away from the llama.

            “Aah! Demon llama!” Pacha shouts, with the llama in the bag suddenly becoming alarmed as he looks around in a panic. 

            “Demon llama?! Where?!” He shouts, before looking at Pacha’s llama, Misty, who screams at him, causing the llama to scream back before trying to run away like a human, only to end up tripping over himself and rolling along the ground like a stone before slamming into a stone wall upside down. “Ow, my head…” 

            “Okay, this was something I wasn’t expecting to see.” Ann remarks as the team all falls into some combat stances while Sora, Donald, and Goofy are ready to summon their weapons just in case. As for Morgana, he is shaking his head at everyone around him. Did they all forget that he was a talking cat? Or that Donald and Goofy were a talking duck and dog as well? Then again, they were wearing clothes, and he hasn’t really said anything to Pacha since they encountered him. 

            “Okay, demon llama. Just take it easy. We mean you no harm.” Pacha attempts to speak to the llama, who still seems to be in a daze even as his eyes focus.

            “What are you talking… Oh wait, I know you. You're that whiny peasant." The llama suddenly says, his voice taking on an angry tone as he pushes himself up. Something that made Pacha gasp in shock as he narrowed his eyes at the llama. 

            “Emperor Kuzco?” Pacha asks, shocking everyone around him as they all look at him with surprise. 

            “That’s Kuzco?” Mishima asks, blinking his eyes in shock. 

            “I don’t remember you telling us that he was a llama.” Makoto tells Pacha as Kuzco pushes himself up. 

            “What are you all mumbling about? And OF COURSE I’m Kuzco! Did you forget already?” He glares at all of them, as if he were expecting them to serve him. “If you have anything to say, then say it to your Emperor!” 

            “But you don’t look like one.” Goofy comments, rubbing his head.

            “What do you mean I don’t look like one?” Kuzco asks back, sounding almost insulted at that. 

            “Perhaps if you looked at your hands, you would find out.” Akechi comments, folding his arms. 

            “What is this, some sort of game you play out here?” Kuzco asks back, holding up his left hand. But instead of seeing a human hand, he was met with a llama foot as he very quickly and very panickily realised that he had been turned into a llama. Not helped by the fact that he made his way over to a nearby well and saw his reflection in the water. Before anyone could speak, Kuzco then started to throw what one would call a temper tantrum as he complained about what he looked like, something that made the team all sweat drop at watching. 

            “It would appear the emperor has a childish attitude.” Yusuke comments, shaking his head.

            “And he’s supposed to rule this place?” Shiho asks, rolling her eyes. 

            “How has this place not collapsed already?” Haru asks, shaking her head as Pacha tries to calm Kuzco down. 

            “Shh, just calm down and try to remember.” Pacha tells Kuzco as he tries to stand up like a human, only to fall again to the ground as he laughs hysterically, stopping as he sits up with his eyes wide. 

            “Wait a minute. I remember you. I remember telling you that I was building my pool where your house was, and then you got mad at me. OH!” He covers his face with his two hooves before glaring at Pacha. “Then you turned me into a llama!” 

            “What? No, I did not!” Pacha shouts back angrily as the team around him shakes their heads in exasperation.

            “Yes, and then you kidnapped me!” 

            “Why would I kidnap a llama!?” 

            “I have no idea! You’re the criminal mastermind here. Not me.” 

            “What?” 

The two continue to glare at each other while the Thieves silently stand behind Pacha, arms folded and eyes narrowed at this ‘emperor’. They didn’t like him when they first heard what he planned to do, but this only made their distrust of him even more potent. 

            “Fine. You win this round.” Kuzco remarks before looking towards the jungle, brushing Pacha’s stare off. “Okay, I have to get back to the palace. Yzma’s got that ‘secret lair’. I’ll just snap my fingers and order her to change me back.” At that, he turns around and uses a nearby wall to help him move towards the jungle before glancing back at Pacha and the others. “Hey, you lot. No waste, let’s go.”

            “Does he really think we’re just going to follow him?” Hifumi asks Ren and Makoto, who shake their heads as one. As for Pacha, he was looking at the emperor struggling to even move forward as he realized that he now had a chance to save his village. Which is why, when he looked at Kuzco, he narrowed his eye before folding his arms. 

            “Build your summer home someplace else.” He tells Kuzco, earning an angry stare from the llama, but Pacha stands his ground. “I cannot let you go back unless you change your mind and build your summer home someplace else.” 

            “Pish, fine then. You can stay. The rest of you, come on.” Kuzco remarks, looking at the Thieves, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, only to see all of them shaking their heads at him. 

            “We’re not helping.” Ren replies, hands in his pockets. “And unless you change your heart, we won’t lift a finger to help.” Around him, the rest of the Thieves nod in agreement as Kuzco lets out a groan.

            “So long as you want to destroy this village, we won’t help.” Sora adds, folding his arms as Donald and Goofy nod their heads in agreement. 

            “Fine then. I don’t need you. I will make my own way back.” Kuzco suddenly decides, letting himself fall to all fours and start walking like a normal llama, right towards the jungle. Something that Pacha, while still angry with Kuzco, finds alarming. 

            “I wouldn’t recommend that way. It’s a little dangerous if you don’t know the way. Follow the stone paths if you’re so desperate.” He calls out, despite not wanting to help. Something that Sora and the others can’t help but take notice of. 

            “Nice try, pal. This is the shortcut, isn’t it?” Kuzco brushes off, still heading towards the jungle. 

            “No, really. I’m telling you, there are jaguars, snakes, and quicksand. I’m not kidding. Listen, you can’t go in there!” Pacha tries to warn Kuzco, but he brushes him off without a care, singing a song to himself as he walks right into the jungle, much to everyone’s annoyance.

            “He just brushed us off.” Ryuji remarks in an annoyed tone. 

            “Unbelievable…” Makoto groans, rubbing between her eyes. 

            “What a palooka.” Donald remarks, shaking his head as Pacha lets out an irritated huff. 

            “Fine then. There's no Kuzco, there's no Kuzcotopia. That's fine with me. Takes care of that problem." Pacha remarks, turning around to head back home only to pause and look back at the jungle. The anger that was on his face slowly melted away into one of concern, something that Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves couldn't help but admire. 

            “You still want to help him, huh?” Goofy remarks out loud as Pacha lets out a big sigh. 

            “Even if he’s gone and keeps your village safe, you still feel that it goes against who you are.” Sae remarks. Pacha looks at her and everyone else as he slowly nods his head at them before turning back to the jungle.

            “He’s a bad man, and bad people need to be punished.” Sophia chimes up, looking at Pacha as she stands next to Ren and Makoto. “But… that doesn’t mean we should abandon him. Even if he deserves it.” 

            “Yeah… it does go against our morals.” Ryuji remarks, shaking his head. 

            “But there is a chance this could change his heart.” Sora suddenly tells the group as they look at him. “Even if it is a slim chance.” 

            “You’re right. I know I’m going to regret this, but I can’t just sit by and not help. And this might change him for the better.” Pacha remarks before looking at his house. “I’ll go and let Chicha know I’m heading back to the capital to talk to Kuzco. Hopefully, she can handle those three puppies we found a few days ago.” While the team blinked at that before realizing what Pacha was talking about and reminding them to tell Makoto, Yusuke, and Akechi about their little side quest, Morgana decided to speak up. 

            “Good idea.” Morgana comments for the first time as Pacha nods at him, before falling backward and looking at him in fright. 

            “AAH! Demon cat!” 

            “I am NOT a demon cat! I am a house cat!” Morgana hisses back as the Thieves all burst out into laughter at Morgana. It had been a long time since they last heard that from him, even if he had changed it up a bit. 

They could only wonder how Pacha would react to their Thief attire.

            “Scary jungle, yeah right.” Kuzco mocks as he walks through the jungle. He wasn’t scared of this place. He was the emperor! He could go wherever he wanted and be perfectly fine! Even as he mocked himself for getting scared at silly things like a leaf or a branch, he still continued his march through the jungle without batting an eye. At least until he came to a small clearing. And it was only then that he realized that he had somehow gotten lost. 

            “Okay, where am I?” He asks out loud, trying to see anything that could help him get out of this situation. At least until the bushes behind him started to rustle. For a moment, he thought that a jaguar or another predator had found him and was making its way right toward him. However, the figure that emerged from the bushes revealed itself to be nothing but a normal squirrel. Not that Kuzco was amused.

            “What do you want?” He asks irritably. The squirrel, in return, holds up an acorn towards Kuzco, the llama looking at it with a touched expression. “Oh, for me? Why, I don’t know what to say.” Kuzco says, picking up the acorn before throwing it at the squirrel's head,  now looking at him with irritation. “Hit the road, Bucky!” 

As the squirrel, ‘Bucky’, chatters away in an annoyed tone, Kuzco marches on without a care in the world. At least until he finds himself falling down a cliff and landing hard on the ground. Letting out a groan, he opens his eyes only to find himself standing right in the middle of a jaguar nest. Thankfully, they are all asleep. 

But as he ponders how to get out of this, Bucky makes his appearance again atop a branch with an inflated balloon, which he then quickly turns into a balloon animal of a llama, along with a metal pin in his other hand. It would seem that he had come back for revenge, as even as Kuzco tried to get him to stop, Bucky popped the balloon. Only none of the jaguars woke up.

            “HAH!” Kuzco shouts, only to cover his face in shock as the jaguars all wake up and surround him. Without even thinking, Kuzco runs as fast as his llama legs can take him while the jaguars all race after him, which is surprisingly fast considering he is still getting used to being a llama in the first place. At least until he finds himself coming to a dead end overlooking a sharp drop. Not that his alternative is better, as he is quickly surrounded by jaguars behind him. Just when it seems like it is the end for him, a voice calls out from above, just as it is accompanied by the sound of another.

            “Carmen! Dormina!” Panther’s voice echoed above them as several of the jaguars fell asleep while the others turned to the source of the man yelling out. And much to both the jaguars' surprise and Kuzco’s, it was Pacha swinging on a vine, accompanied by the others. All of them swung in to help him. At least, that was the plan, as the jaguars who did not fall asleep simply leaned out of the way and let them swing past harmlessly. 

            “Should have seen that coming!” Kuzco could hear Outlaw shout as they reached the end of their swing, just as the remaining jaguars got ready to pounce on him. But just when it seemed like they would make a meal out of him, the team came swinging back in with Pacha grabbing Kuzco on the return. 

            “They didn’t see that one, huh!?” Spring shouts as the others chuckle at her in amusement.

            “This is fun!” Sophie shouts, even as Queen keeps an arm around her for safety while Kuzco is panicking in Pacha’s arms. 

            “Don’t worry, Your Highness. We’ve got ya. You’re safe now!” Pacha shouts as everyone looks at him. But in this moment of neglect, they didn’t realize where they were swinging as they soon found themselves getting wrapped around a large tree trunk with the vines wrapping around them tightly, pinning their arms to their sides. 

            “Well… this is quite the pickle.” Crow remarks with zero enthusiasm. 

            “Okay, who skimped out on tree watching duty?” Oracle asks, shaking her head. 

            “Not me for once.” Mona comments, grabbing Kuzco’s attention before he lets out a sigh. 

            “You know, maybe I’m just new to this whole rescuing thing, but this, to me, might be considered a step backwards, don’t you think?” Kuzco asks with some slight sarcasm in his voice.

            “It was either that or we risk you getting eaten.” Shadow replies, letting out a groan as she tries to reach for a smoke bomb, even if she is unsure what good it would do here.

            “Perhaps we should have thought of our plan more carefully before leaping.” Fox comments to Pacha, who shakes his head.

            “No, no, no. It’s okay! This—This is all right. We can figure this out together.” He replies, looking to Joker on his left. “Do you think those blue flames of yours could snap these vines?” 

            “That’s… a good question.” Joker comments, but before anyone could test it, a large crack followed by a groan echoed from the tree as the trunk leaned forward more.

            “Uh-oh.” Donald remarks as the trunk cracks again.

            “I don’t think this trunk can handle our weight…” Noir comments as the trunk cracks one more time, and Kuzco puts on a very unimpressed and resigned look.

            “I hate all of you.” He tells them, completely deadpan as the trunk breaks, sending them falling down the cliff as Goofy lets out a scream. Or was it more of a cry? Either way, the trunk they were on slammed down onto countless rocks, somehow only hitting both ends and none of them before splashing down into a river. A few seconds after it splashed down, the trunk resurfaced with everyone above water. All of them coughed out water while shaking their heads free of water.

            “Well… that was a trip.” Edel comments, testing herself against the vines. How these simple vines could hold her against the trunk, she did not know.

            “We are lucky to have survived that fall.” Athena remarks, shaking her head.

            “I’m just glad we resurfaced the right way up.” Spring remarks, letting out a sigh as she rests against the tree.

            “Hey! At least we're out of danger!" Goofy tries to reassure the group. But that matter only lasted around two seconds until Pacha, with Fox, Noir, Outlaw, and Skull tied on his right, and Joker, Queen, Sophie, and Spring tied on his left, all suddenly looked forward with wide eyes as they spoke at the same time.

            “Uh-oh.” 

            “What? Uh-oh, what?” Panther asks, trying to see what Skull was seeing. But for Kuzco, who had Mona, Edel, Athena, Crow, and Panther on his right, and Sora, Donald, Goofy, Oracle, and Shadow on his left, he simply stared ahead with a deadpan expression.

            “Don’t tell me. We’re about to go over a huge waterfall.” He asks them as everyone goes wide-eyed.

            “Yep.” Pacha replies with an equally deadpan expression; those looking forward just looked at the approaching edge with resignation on their faces.

            “Sharp rocks at the bottom?” Kuzco asks, still deadpan, as those who couldn’t see simply closed their eyes in acceptance.

            “Most likely.” Pacha replies, closing his eyes in a tired voice, as those facing forward also close their eyes. As for Kuzco, he simply stares ahead before he too closes his eyes, uttering one final sentence before they go over the waterfall.

“Bring it on.”

And like that, they went over the falls as Kuzco screamed to the high heavens as though it were a ride. A pity no one was there to take a picture.

Meanwhile, back at Kuzco’s palace, Yzma was having the time of her life. She had just given everyone a heart-wrenching sermon for Kuzco, the populace completely convinced that he had been killed. But that was so far from the truth, as SHE was the one who had killed him. Even if the initial plan to poison him failed due to a mislabelling on a vial of llama potion instead of poison.

But even so, the body was disposed of, and now SHE ruled the land as Empress. In time, this world would soon fall to darkness, just as they planned. Which was why she had only now sent the Heartless into the jungle to find the Keyhole. But until then, she would just kick back and relax while bathing in her victory.

            “This is the life.” She remarks, watching as Maleficent approached her with Ikutsuki. “Ah, Maleficent, Ikutsuki. Welcome to my empire.”

            “So I have seen. Your plan to remove Kuzco seems to have gone off without a hitch." Maleficent remarks, watching as Kronk works on a barbecue.

            “It has.” Yzma replies with a grin. “Soon, this world will fall to darkness and fall under your domain. And by our agreement, I will rule over it with your permission.” 

            “Of course.” Maleficent agrees, before looking at Ikutsuki. “And how about you, Ikutsuki?” 

            “Frankly, these powers you have gifted me have been a dream come true.” Ikutsuki remarks with a large grin. "The power over the Heartless… If I had such power years ago, the Fall in my world would have happened long ago. And I would be its ruler.” 

            “So you say. But what do you plan now?” Maleficent asks as Ikutsuki lets out a deranged chuckle.

            “Why rule one world when you can be part of an empire? Owada agrees with me in that regard, even if he wishes Shido were with him.” Maleficent gives him a grin as Yzma looks toward Kronk.

            “Kronk, darling. I must admit you had me worried when you mixed up those potions, even if the labelling was a fault on my part. But now that Kuzco is dead, all is forgiven.” Kronk seemed to flinch at that as he focused on the barbecue instead.

            “Ah. Oh, yeah, yeah. He’s… heh. He’s dead, all right. Heh. I mean, you can’t get much deader than he… than he is now.” Ikutsuki looks at Kronk, noticing how he was stammering in his reply. Almost comedically so. Especially as he dropped a rag that caught fire before quickly putting it out with his foot. “Unless, of course, we killed him again.” Kronk seemed to freeze at saying that as Yzma and Maleficent looked at him with questioning looks.

            “I suppose…” Yzma replies, suspicion in her voice. “Kronk. Kuzco is dead, right? Tell me Kuzco is dead. I need to hear these words.” Kronk flinches, slowly looking over towards her with some hesitation in his eyes.

            “Do you want to hear all those words exactly?” He asks back, to which Yzma drops her glass of wine, letting it shatter on the floor as her face contorts in anger.

            “He’s still alive?!” She asks through gritted teeth as Maleficent shakes her head in disappointment.

            “You had one job, Kronk. One job. And you failed spectacularly.” Ikutsuki remarks, shaking his head. “You are sure to be ‘fried’ for this, for certain.” 

            “Enough of the puns!” Yzma snaps as she stomps up to Kronk. “Kuzco can’t come back! You and I are heading out now to find him and finish the job!” 

            “In that case, allow us to help.” Maleficent comments, tapping her staff against the ground as she summons several Shadow Heartless to her side. But as for Ikutsuki, he summoned something else.

Not that Yzma could see in the shadows, but there was one thing about them that was obvious. None of them bore the emblem of the Heartless, yet all of them glowed with a dark aura and had yellow eyes.

            “I am sure you will find our help to be quite… demonic.” Ikutsuki adds as one of the shadowy figures flutters over and lands on his shoulder, letting out a girlish chuckle while Yzma smirks in glee. But as for Kronk, he was feeling out of place in this exact moment, and he was starting to wonder if he made the wrong choice.

After all, he did not like the look that pixie-looking thing was giving him on Ikutsuki’s shoulder.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10: To The Secret Lab!

            “Urgh… how did we survive that?” Akechi asks as everyone rests on the bank next to the river. It was a miracle that they had all managed to survive that fall from such a height. They could chalk it up to the fact that there were no sharp rocks at the bottom, for one. It was surprising how the impact managed to shatter the tree and vines holding them, though, but there was a moment of panic when Kuzco was unconscious, prompting Pacha to try to use CPR on him. But that led to its own awkward situation. 

            “For the last time, it was NOT a kiss.” Pacha groans as he struggles to light a fire while Kuzco is busy gargling some water before spitting it at the fire he is trying to make. 

            “Well, whatever it was, it was disgusting!” Kuzco complains as Pacha lets out a groan at the fire being extinguished. “And if you had all done what I told you from the start, we would have been spared your ‘kiss of life’.”

            “For the last time, it is called CPR.” Makoto tells him as she rolls her eyes in annoyance. 

            “And as I said, disgusting!” Kuzco shouts back, shaking out the remaining water from his fur and putting out Pacha’s fire. Again. “But now that you are all here, you will take me back to the palace. I’ll have Yzma change me back, and I’ll start constructing Kuzcotopia. Oh, yeah.” 

            “Why do you even want to build it?” Sophia asks Kuzco with her innocent voice. “What purpose does it serve? Why do you want Pacha’s home in the first place?” 

            “It’s a birthday gift for me!” Kuzco tells her instantly. “It has a waterslide! And those hills sing when the sun hits it just right! What’s not to want about it?”

            “But why do you not look for other locations like Pacha’s home?” Sophia asks again, tilting her head. “Why do you want to destroy their homes and leave them with nothing? Isn’t an Emperor supposed to serve his people?”

            “Well, I am entitled to have a little getaway from all that work.” Kuzco replies, folding his front legs. “There’s only so much a guy can do before he collapses from work.” 

            “Like he ever worked a day in his life…” Ryuji comments quietly, even as Ann jabs him in the side. 

            “Anyway, now that I’ve told you why, take me back.” Kuzco once more demands as everyone lets out a collective sigh of annoyance. 

            “How can you be this way?” Pacha demands, shaking his head in annoyance. “All you care about is building your summer home and filling it with stuff for yourself.”

            “Uh, yeah. Doy. Me. Everyone in the kingdom gets it. You’re the only ones who don’t seem to be with the program. Am I wrong?” Kuzco asks everyone, who all turn and look at him with glares. This attitude he had… it reminded them of someone. Or rather, some people. 

            “You sound just like our old teacher Kamoshida.” Mishima remarks with noticeable venom in his voice. Something that startled not only Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but Pacha as well. And especially Kuzco. "I bet you would beat people up for the fun of it if given the chance, am I right?” 

            “Break their legs and ruin their lives because they looked at you wrong?” Ryuji remarks angrily.

            “Or how about bullying girls to hang off you every second of your life…” Ann adds as Shiho lets out a growl. 

            “Only to then defile them and toss them away like a used toy.” She adds with an equal amount of venom. 

            “It would not surprise me if you also acted like my former sensei, Madarame, who steals precious objects from others and proclaims to the world that you made them yourself while silencing their creator's voice." Yusuke asks with dangerously narrow eyes. 

            “Or how about forcing people to pay enormous sums of money that they can’t pay back without ruining their own lives?” Makoto adds, glaring at Kuzco with the Niijima-Sakura Death Glare.

            “And having your own guards follow them for every step of their lives until they pay up.” Hifumi chimes in, folding her arms. "Just like a mob boss who went by the name Kaneshiro." 

            “I bet you would even forge a suicide note and lay the blame on someone’s child for their parents' death.” Futaba adds just as bitterly. 

            “Or selling off their daughters and sons into unhappy marriages without their consent.” Haru also remarks, glaring right at the llama. 

            “Maybe you would even throw out your empire's rules just because they bored you.” Morgana adds, loafing on Makoto’s shoulders. 

            “And turn it into a mockery of everything that it stood for.” Sae adds, tossing her hair back. 

            “All so you could get away with murders of your own, killing any rivals who would want your throne.” Akechi adds, frowning at Kuzco as Ren sends the llama his own Niijima-Sakura Death Glare.

            “I'm just going to say this to you right now, Kuzco. Your actions are almost reminiscent of a tyrant my friends and I know. A tyrant who went by the name of Shido. A heartless, egotistical stain of a man who would kill others all for his own goals. All so he could rule the country with an iron fist. And as far as we are concerned, you are well on your way to becoming one… just like him." Kuzco blinked his eyes at them, feeling a fear take root in him as the team continued to stare at him with pure anger. As for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they were slightly taken aback by how much anger the Thieves were showing Kuzco. But then again, those people they mentioned were the ones who almost ruined their lives. Hard not for them to be angry. As for Pacha, he had recovered from his shock before turning to look at Kuzco himself. 

            “You know what? Someday, you’re going to be all alone after becoming just like what they talked about. And you’ll have no one but yourself to blame for that.” Kuzco blinked, seemingly coming out of his trance as he looked away from the Thieves. And even though it looked like he had recovered, there was some noticeable tension in his shoulders.

            “Thanks for that… I’ll remember that.” Kuzco remarks, moving to a different spot before lying down, his back turned to everyone just as Pacha manages to get the fire going. 

            “Well, it may seem your words got to him somewhat.” Jiminy remarks, jumping from Sora’s hood. 

            “You think so? Something tells me he’s still spoiled under all that.” Isara remarks, pulling her legs up. 

            “He may be a spoiled brat, but even I don’t think he’d be that heartless as those people you just mentioned.” Pacha remarks, poking the fire. “The way you described them… I could feel that anger.” The Thieves all glance at each other, sheepishly rubbing the backs of their heads even as Kuzco pretends to sleep, keeping one ear open to the conversation.

            “Yeah… Kamoshida only cared about himself. After all, he broke my leg just because he hated my sports team.” Ryuji remarks, rubbing his healed leg. 

            “And I wasn’t kidding about him abusing others. Everyone on our volleyball team was abused as well.” Mishima remarks as Shiho lets out a shudder. “And he really did defile any girl he set his eyes on.” 

            “And he almost did so to Shiho and me.” Ann adds, shaking her head. 

            “Gawrsh…” Goofy remarks, rubbing the back of his head while Donald sighs. “That’s just not right.” 

            “It never is.” Ren comments. “And it’s always the people in power who dish it out. Those people we just mentioned are the tip of the iceberg. All because they have money and wealth, they think themselves untouchable and can do whatever they want.” 

            “King Mickey would never do anything like that…” Donald quietly comments, shaking his head. Sora lets out a hum, glancing at Kuzco, who has seemingly fallen asleep, albeit shivering slightly. 

            “Do you think… Kuzco could have a change of heart?” Sora asks Ren, who takes a moment to glance back at Kuzco before letting out a sigh.

            “Maybe if he saw how his actions were affecting everyone, he might.” Ren comments before stretching his arms. “It’s getting late. Let’s call it a night.” 

            “No complaints from me.” Futaba remarks as she starts to lean on Isara. “I’m about to clock out any…” And before she could finish, she was already asleep, much to the group's amusement as they all lay down on the sand. But as Pacha got ready to fall asleep, he noticed Kuzco was shivering a lot by himself. So, once more letting his compassion get the best of him, he walked over to the llama emperor and put his poncho over him. 

While Pacha went back to the fire, Kuzco opened an eye to see Pacha’s poncho over him. He looked back over to Pacha, seeing him fall asleep on the sand before looking back at the poncho. But he opted to remain silent as he let himself fall back asleep. 

While the words of the Thieves continued to echo in his mind, he flashed back to everything he had done as an emperor, the words hitting him harder than he had ever thought imaginable.

Dawn soon broke over the small impromptu camp, with the team slowly waking up as the morning mist surrounded them. It was a strangely soothing night they had, despite the chill in the air. Then again, they did have a nice fire keeping them warm as it gradually died out over the night. Now all that was left was smouldering embers, nowhere near enough to start a fire. 

            “What a night…” Ryuji remarks, pushing himself up and cracking his back as Ann lets out a yawn next to him. 

            “I slept like a log.” Goofy remarks as Donald gives himself a full-body shake. 

            “Felt like I was camping back on the islands.” Sora comments, shaking his head free of sand as Pacha walks to the river to splash water on his face. A brief look over at Kuzco showed the llama was still asleep with Pacha’s poncho over him, keeping him nice and warm.

            “Did you give him your poncho, Pacha?” Hifumi asks as the team all stands up and stretches their bodies. 

            “I did. Couldn't stand to see him shiver like that." Pacha replies, splashing water on his face. But as he did so, he noticed a pair of eyes looking at him from under the surface. Or rather, several eyes looking at him as he slowly backed away. "Um… why are there eyes in the water?" He asks the group, who turn to look at the water just as Kuzco stirs awake. 

            “What did I miss?” Kuzco asks groggily, pushing himself up before coming face to face with a pair of yellow eyes. “AAAGH!” He screams, flopping backward as the team looks over to him, where they let out a gasp of shock as several Shadow Heartless appear around Kuzco, along with a new variant that looked like a jaguar. 

            “Heartless!” Sora shouts, summoning Jungle King to his side and rushing forward, quickly moving into a Sonic Blade to clear Kuzco a path just as the Thieves shift into their Thief attire while Donald and Goofy summon their weapons.

            “Pacha! Take Kuzco and run! We’ll catch up to you later!” Joker shouts, quickly summoning Arsène to his side and blasting the Heartless with Eiga. Pacha, honestly confused about what was going on, quickly rushed over and grabbed Kuzco before rushing into the forest just as the Heartless moved to attack. But Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves would not let them pass by so easily. 

            “Robin Hood! Eiga!” Crow calls out, bringing Robin Hood to his side as the bow-wielding thief sent out a blast of Curse energy at the Heartless, managing to hit several of the Heartless Jaguars while the Shadows simply went flat and moved along the ground. “Tricky little things, aren’t they?” 

            “Johanna!” Queen shouts, leaping into the air as Johanna forms under her. With Queen landing on the seat with expert precision, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are shocked at what they see. After all, Queen's Persona is a bike! "Freila!" Spinning Johanna around, Queen sent the Nuke spell right at the Heartless, getting quite a few of them in the blast.

            "Goemon! Bufula!" Fox calls out, summoning the mystical ninja to his side as it sent out a blast of ice, freezing the Heartless in their tracks as the rest of the team let their spells fly.

            “Keep it up, guys! But watch out for those Terrorwilds!” Oracle calls out, identifying the new jaguar variant as a Terrorwild, only for a feminine grunt to echo behind her. Turning around, Oracle is surprised to see a woman with long green hair and green eyes sitting on a rock. But that is not what surprises Oracle. It is the fact that she has fish scales covering her breasts and hips like a bikini, while her legs start as human before morphing into a long silver tail. Two flaming skulls hover beside her, while her hands have silver webbing between them, and the scales go up her arms like gloves. 

Oracle blinks at her in surprise, just as around six more appear out of the water. All of them look at her with an evil glint in their eyes as they start to glow with a dark aura. 

            “Um… guys?” Oracle calls out as she steps back, summoning Necronomicon to take shelter as one of them starts to float into the air. “We've got company!” The team turns to look at her, just as the new foe that is rising lets out a powerful screech, forcing the team to cover their ears just as a blast of ice swarms over them. Panther and Joker are hit hard by the attack, with Joker even getting turned into an ice block as the other foes start to rise as well.

            “What are these?” Donald shouts, blasting one of them with Fire and earning a shriek of pain from it. Just when the others are about to unleash that same ice attack on all of them, Edel and Skull send out a joint Mazio attack on them, disrupting them and managing to shock three of them.

            “Apparently, they are called Mermaids! Kinda obvious! Weak to Fire and Elect, but block Ice!” Oracle informs them from above. “But… I’m not getting an Arcana or Heartless signal from them! Instead, they are listed as Femmes! What the hell?”

            “We can worry about that later!” Queen shouts as Sora uses Fire on Joker, freeing him from the block of ice as Fox helps Panther up. “For now, focus on taking them down! Don’t let them use that spell again!” 

            “Look out!” Goofy cries, jumping between Queen and a Shadow that managed to sneak along the ground. Queen, seeing Goofy knock it away, rushes forward and delivers a heavy punch to it, dissolving it instantly as Noir hacks a Terrorwild in half. As for the seven Mermaids, they attempt to use their big spell again, only for Sora and Donald to hit them with a joint Thunder spell, injuring them greatly as the Thieves finish off the last of the Heartless. Leaving only the Mermaids, a few of them attack with Dormina and Marin Karin, but they do not manage to hit anyone as Noir takes aim with her grenade launcher.

            “Do pardon me.” She tells the Mermaids before firing a grenade, landing it right in the middle of them and taking them all out. But unlike Heartless, who dissolved into darkness, or a free Persona that turned into ichor, the Mermaids seemed to just burn up as they let out one more scream, leaving the Thieves confused at what they had just encountered. 

            “What were those? I don’t remember seeing a free Persona like that.” Outlaw comments as Spring leans on one foot. 

            “And they definitely weren’t Heartless either.” She adds before letting out a gasp. “Wait! What about Pacha and Kuzco!?” At that, everyone felt a bead of sweat appear on their heads as they turned towards the jungle and the direction that Pacha had fled in with Kuzco.

            “Wak! There might be more Heartless looking for them!” Donald shouts in alarm as the team sprints towards the jungle. Even if they didn’t like Kuzco, they couldn’t just abandon him here in the forest. It would go against who they were! But as they ran through the jungle, they soon found Pacha lying on the ground with Kuzco nowhere to be found. 

            “Pacha!” Sora shouts as he runs to his side, holding Jungle King above him. "Heal!" He shouts, the healing energies of the Cure spell washing over him as Pacha slowly wakes up with a groan.

            "Thank you, Sora." Pacha tells him as the team gathers around him while he slowly pushes himself up.

            "Pacha, what happened? Where's Kuzco?" Athena asks as Pacha rubs his head and stumbles a little bit.

            “He took off running when he heard some familiar voices. I think he called them Yzma and Kronk.” Pacha comments, rubbing his face before shaking his head. “But as I chased after him, I tripped over a branch and hit my head. I have no idea where he’s gone now.” 

            “Great…” Panther comments in an annoyed tone. As for Oracle, she hums to herself before scanning the area, looking to see if she could pick up where Kuzco was located. It took her a while, but eventually, she found out where he was. But it was honestly a surprise for her when she double-checked his location. 

            “Huh… Say, guys, I’ve found Kuzco, but he’s not in the jungle or going towards the palace.” All eyes turn to Oracle as she spins her map around, showing the area around them as well as their current location, along with Kuzco’s. “He’s heading towards a nearby llama pasture.”

            “A llama pasture? Why is he going there?” Shadow asks, tilting her head as Crow lets out a hum. 

            “Something tells me he learned something that has shattered his worldview.” Crow comments before looking at Joker. “I suggest we follow after Kuzco and see what has happened. It may be that he has had a change of heart sooner than we expected.” 

            “Good idea. Let’s move out.” Joker calls out to the others as they start making their way to the llama pasture. But as they did, they couldn’t help but wonder why Kuzco was going towards it. Just what had happened when they were all separated?

Meanwhile, in a different part of the jungle, Kronk was busy transporting a giant tent without a problem while jogging. But as he was carrying the tent holding Yzma to the next village, he suddenly paused mid-stride, almost coming to a complete and sudden halt. It was sudden enough to send Yzma flying out of the tent without warning as Kronk thought back to when he initially lost Kuzco. 

            “The peasant with the cart! He had a stain on his poncho." He shakes his head, remembering the wet stain that was on the man's poncho as he readied himself to move forward again, only to stop himself as he thought harder. "Wait, he's the one who left the city carrying Kuzco on the back of his cart. He must have taken him back to his village." He lets out another gasp as he starts to pace around the place. 

            “And didn’t Maleficent and Ikutsuki summon their friends to help us look for them? They should be nearing the village that Kuzco is in. So if we find the village surrounded by them, we find the peasant who took Kuzco, and we find Kuzco.” He lets out a grin as he turns around to an invisible camera, his face smug with pride. 

“Oh yeah, it’s all coming together.”

            “What is coming together!?” Yzma shouts in anger as she pushes herself out of the mud, her hair fallen out and two large leaves covering her eyes. The sight of which makes Kronk step back in disgust. “This had better be good!” She tells him as the leaves fall off, revealing angry eyes glaring right at him. At least, until her head is covered in bees. 

And suddenly, Kronk had a different mission to complete.

            “The llama pasture should be just over this hill.” Pacha tells the group as they reach the top. It had been a hard trek, but thankfully there weren't any other Heartless trying to stop them. Or any Free Personas trying to attack them either. That still made the group feel uncomfortable as they pushed forward. Those Mermaids they encountered… they did not feel like Free Personas. That, and it felt like they were already bound to someone else, but not in the same way that Ren does as a Wild Card, let alone the Arisato twins, Aigis, or even Yu for that matter.

Not that they had time to think about that as they looked over the llama pasture before them, filled with llamas all simply passing the day by munching the grass. It was strangely a rather warm sight as they descended towards them. But they weren’t here to look at the llamas; they were here for one specific person. And it wasn’t hard to find Kuzco as he was all by himself, trying to eat the grass but was obviously not enjoying it as he almost spit it back out.

            “The grass not to your liking?” Yusuke asks as the group converges near him. But instead of hearing a smarmy response, all they saw was a remorseful look on Kuzco’s face. One that was not forced or faked, but instead a genuine one. 

            “It would seem that you have had a reality check.” Akechi comments as Kuzco nods his head slowly. 

            “Yeah. Not too long after you told Pacha and me to flee from those creatures, I overheard some familiar voices. I ran towards the source, despite Pacha telling me otherwise, and I… managed to find Yzma and her henchman Kronk. The former of whom I mentioned having the skill to change me back… But that's where I learned the truth after I overheard a conversation between the two of them." Kuzco starts, letting out a sigh as he plops himself down. "Yzma is the one responsible for me being a llama…" Kuzco admits to them, and while they are shocked, they are somehow not surprised as well. "Yzma tried to poison me during dinner but got the potions mixed up. Not that it didn't stop her from taking over after me… I heard Kronk talking about how everyone in the capital is happy that I'm gone. No one is mourning me at all… I'm no victim, just a villain who got what he deserved.”

            “You have only yourself to blame for that.” Sae remarks, brushing her hair to the side. “It was your attitude toward everyone around you that has left you in this predicament.” 

            “I know…” Kuzco remarks, shaking his head. “I… kept thinking about what you all said last night. How I was becoming like those… people you mentioned.” Kuzco lets out a visible shiver at that. “I guess… I really am just a spoiled brat who had everything handed to him.” He looks up at Pacha, unsure what to say as he lets out a sigh. “Hey Pacha… about everything I said…” But Pacha holds up a hand as he gives him an understanding smile. There would be time for apologies later. For now, there was something else that had to be done. 

            “So… you tired of being a llama?” Pacha asks Kuzco. And it didn’t take much for him to break out into tears as he replies with a resounding yes, even as he finds it hard to respond. “Well then, let’s head back to the village and stock up on supplies. If Yzma is out here looking for you, we need to be quick.” 

            “How long will it take us to get to the capital?” Haru asks as the team follows after Pacha as he leads them back to his village. 

            “If we are really quick, we should be there by dusk!” He calls back as they sprint down the path. The Thieves are on high alert for any ambushes while Sora, Donald, and Goofy keep pace with Pacha and Kuzco, just in case something happens to them at the front. But when they get back to the village, two elderly men call out to Pacha even as they play a game of chess.

            “Hey there, Pacha. You missed your relatives." One of them calls out, causing Pacha to stop and look over at him with confusion. 

            “My relatives?” He asks, his confusion audible to the others. 

            “Yeah, we just sent them up to your house.” The other elderly man replies. “But they certainly were interesting. A real big guy and an old woman who is… how would you describe her?” 

            “Scary beyond all reason?” 

            “Yeah, that’s it.” 

The reply the man’s friend gave made Kuzco pale in fright, something that the others all took notice of as they glanced up at Pacha’s house. It seemed they were too late.

            “So, remind me again how you are related to Pacha?” Chicha asks Yzma, even as she pours her a cup of tea. The fact that she had arrived completely unexpectedly and was claiming to be a relative of her husband did not sit well with her. And it wasn’t the mood swings from being pregnant that were causing this. 

            “Oh… Why, I am his third cousin’s brother’s wife’s step-niece’s great-aunt… twice removed.” Yzma lies through her teeth, taking a quick sip of her drink. But the reply Chicha gave her showed that she clearly was not buying it as Yzma let out a slight cough. “Isn’t that right, Kronk?” But as she turned for a reply, instead she found Kronk playing jump rope with the kids Chaca and Tipo, with three Dalmatian pups watching them in awe. Seeing that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Kronk, Yzma let out a silent groan before turning back to Chicha. It was becoming hard for her to keep up this fake smile. 

            “You know, why don’t you just come back when Pacha gets home?” Chicha decides to ask politely, not wanting this woman, who was living proof dinosaurs once walked the Earth, in her house a second longer. “I’m sure he’d love to show you the…” Her words die in her throat as she sees Pacha outside the window, motioning her to the back with a worried expression. And that only made her dislike of this scary, beyond all reason, lady grow. Just how old was she anyway? “Wai-Wai-Wait a moment! I think I left something in the oven!” Before Yzma could comment, Chicha was already heading to the kitchen, leaving her alone as she looked over at Kronk, who was now spinning the jump ropes while the kids jumped.

            “This is my take on Double-Dutch. On the signal, we switch places.” He tells the kids, just as Yzma slinks up to him, telling him it was time. Unfortunately, that was the wrong time to do so, as Kronk switched places with her and now forced Yzma to spin the ropes. And she looked mighty annoyed at doing so.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Pacha was just finishing explaining the situation to a very shocked Chicha." So we have to get back to the palace, find the lab, and change him back." Pacha finished explaining to her just as Kuzco popped his head in the window to show himself, only to receive a frying pan in the face for his trouble. "Um… that was him.”

            “Whoops…” She comments with a wince while following Pacha outside, finding to her surprise everyone else as they all got ready to head out. Not that she had any time to talk to them as they were on a time limit. “Go, I’ll keep them distracted while you go on ahead.” 

            “Thanks, honey.” Pacha tells her, giving Chicha a quick kiss before rushing off with the team. As for Kuzco, he was following after them in a daze, which Chicha shook her head at before re-entering the house, finding a very annoyed Yzma who was fed up with her kids' antics. Something told her it would be fun distracting her. “Now, where were we?” 

            “Listen, sister. We are not leaving—!” Yzma starts, slamming her foot down, only for Chicha to grab her and start walking her towards a closet.

            “—until I show you around the house, of course!”

            “Hey, are you sure it was wise to leave them back there?” Kuzco shouts as they head down the road. “Yzma can be pretty mean!” 

            “Don’t worry, they can handle it.” Pacha shouts, just as they hear Yzma let out a scream. Turning all eyes back to Pacha's house, they see Yzma barrelling down on a cart covered in honey and feathers before hitting a rock and slamming right into a rope, replacing the piñata that was originally on it. She soon found herself on the receiving end of the kids' bats as the team laughed at her predicament.

            “Well, that’s one way to slow her down.” Akechi comments, shaking his head as the team continues their rush towards the capital. It wouldn’t be long until Yzma would chase after them, so they needed as much of a head start as possible. But as they made their way forward, Sophia noticed something strange behind them as they continued to run, and it honestly confused her.

            “Why are we leaving red arrows?” She asks out loud, causing everyone to look back behind them even as they continue to run forward.

            “Don’t question it…” Everyone says at once as they focus on rushing forward. Far behind them, Yzma and Kronk are on their tail, only for them to also be confused at the trail of arrows being left behind. A quick glance behind them shows their own trail of purple arrows being formed. Glancing at each other, they shrug it off before refocusing on catching up to the others, just as they reach a chasm.

While Pacha fired an arrow to get him, Kuzco, Sora, Donald, and Goofy across, the Thieves shifted to their Thief attire and used their grapple hooks to travel across. Or, in Edel’s case, her thrusters while carrying Oracle. And just in time too, as Yzma and Kronk were about to catch up to them. Kuzco, acting quickly, bites the rope to cut them off.

But the duo were not phased as they put on flight goggles and activated a pair of giant wings from the side of the tent. The two took off, aiming to reach the other side with ease. And they almost did, until a rogue thunderbolt hit them, along with a downpour of rain. With the two dropping to the bottom of the chasm while the rest of the team raced towards the palace, they found themselves entering a very empty city as the rain started to pour down.

            “Okay… this place is giving me bad vibes already.” Futaba comments as the team enters the equally empty palace. “Where is everyone?” 

            “Maybe Yzma turned them into Heartless chow.” Ryuji comments offhandedly.

            “Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me.” Kuzco comments offhandedly but soon realizes the true extent of what Ryuji had just mentioned. "Wait a minute, what makes you think that she has control over those creatures?"

            "Given what we saw with her appearance and the fact that she's trying to kill you, I can wager that she is someone who has a very distorted heart." Ren replies with everyone agreeing as Kuzco leads them to Yzma's secret lab. But if even HE knew where it was, then was it so secret to begin with? That was something to ask later as they soon came to a rhino statue with two tusks pointing out.

            “Oh, a hidden room behind a false wall! Classy.” Shiho comments as the team stands around it. “So, which one is the right tusk?” 

            “I dunno, I’ve never seen her pull it.” Kuzco admits as the team looks at it, contemplating which one to pull.

            “Well, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. Might as well go and pull one, right?” Mishima comments as Sora nods at him.

            “In that case, pull the lever, Goofy.” Sora remarks as Goofy heads for the right lever. But as he did so, Futaba shifted over to her Thief attire to do a quick scan of the levers and found out what that lever was going to do.

            “Wait! That’s the—” Oracle tries to tell Goofy, but she is too late as Goofy pulls the lever, opening up trap doors under Oracle, Kuzco, Sae, Morgana, Akechi, Donald, and Yusuke. “WRONG LEVEEEEEEEER!” Oracle’s voice echoes from the trap door while the others cry out in shock. As for everyone else who didn’t fall down the trap, they all look down to hear a splash at the bottom as they blink in surprise.

            “Huh…” Isara comments as a door opens up nearby, revealing the seven who had fallen into the trap, soaked in dirty water, while an alligator bites Kuzco’s tail.

            “Okay, why does she even HAVE that lever?” Kuzco asks in annoyance as Donald and Morgana hit the alligator, causing it to whimper away like a scared dog before they join the others.

            “Don’t mention this to anyone.” Sae warns Ren, Makoto, and Sophia, who silently nod at her. It is strange how her wet hair makes Sae look even more intimidating. As for Akechi, he is silently glad that Sumire isn’t here to see this. She would be laughing about this for days on end…

            “What’s the point of a trap like that if it doesn’t even kill you?” Ann asks, scratching her head as Yusuke pushes his hair out of his eyes.

            “A complete indifference.” He remarks as Sora pulls the correct lever this time, only for a voice to echo above them.

“Too many people on the platform. Only two people at a time.”

            “Only two people at a time?” Haru asks as they all back away from the statue. “Why is that?” 

            “Dunno.” Sora replies, shrugging his shoulders. “So… should we split into pairs?” 

            “That may be wise.” Hifumi comments as Morgana leaps onto her shoulders. “I think we would rather avoid anything else happening to us.” Sora nods as he walks back to the statue, as for who was going to accompany him… 

            “I'll go with him.” Isara comments, standing on the platform. "I mean, just how bad could it be?" Before anyone could comment, Sora pulls the right lever. But instead of spinning it around, it flips upwards, depositing Sora and Isara into a roller coaster car. This is then exemplified by bars going down over their legs as the automated voice speaks once again.

“Please remain seated and keep your hands and feet inside at all times.”

            “What does that mean?” Sora asks Isara, but before she can respond, the roller coaster takes off, spiralling down a fast and twisting path as the two can’t help but let out cheers of joy. For a path to a secret lair, it was a fun ride as well! But all fun came to an end as it eventually hit the bottom, ejecting the two as they landed on the ground. But somehow along the way, they were put into white lab coats, with black gloves and goggles.

            “Huh… not bad.” Isara comments as the two step away from hearing another cart coming down, depositing Ren, Makoto, and Sophia this time, who seemed to have managed to slip past the security check. And just like them, they were also wearing the same gear, much to their puzzlement and surprise.

            “How did…?” Makoto starts to ask before stopping herself. “You know what, never mind.” 

            “That was fun!” Sophia giggles, hopping on the spot. “Can we go again?!” 

            “Maybe next time.” Ren tells her, rubbing her head as one by one, the rest of the team comes down. Until eventually, Pacha and Kuzco are the last to join them. Although… the clothes they were given did not fit them at all. After a brief moment of the two looking at each other and wondering why they got the wrong clothes, everyone took off the lab equipment and rushed through the lair, finding countless bottles filled with pink liquids of varying shades.

            “This is going to take forever.” Mishima comments, shaking his head at the table he was at. “Why doesn’t she label any of these?” 

            “Something tells me she thinks of herself too highly.” Akechi remarks, looking over some research notes before turning his nose up at it. “Nothing but gibberish over here…” 

            “She has to keep some form of labelling somewhere.” Donald remarks, poking his head out from under a table. “She can’t be THAT idiotic.” 

            “I think I found something!” Sora calls out, grabbing everyone’s attention as he stands next to a giant owl cabinet. It was almost hidden by how dark the place was, but Sora had somehow managed to find it. As the team approached him, Sora opened the cabinet to find countless potion bottles all lined along the shelves, each one with a symbol of an animal beneath it.

            “It would seem she does have a form of labelling… but in a rather crude sense.” Yusuke remarks, looking at the potions in the wing.

            “Which means it has to be one of these.” Pacha comments, looking over the bottles near the middle. “Lions, tigers, bears…”

            “Oh my…” Haru remarks with a gasp, eyes locked on an empty spot in the cabinet. And the symbol under it was that of a man. “There’s no human potion!” As everyone looks at the empty spot in shock, a sinister chuckle echoes behind them as all eyes turn to a pair of eyes in the dark.

            “Are you perhaps looking for this?” Yzma calls out to them, stepping out of the shadows with the potion in hand.

            “No, it can’t be!” Kuzco shouts in alarm as the team falls into a defensive stance.

            “How the hell did you get here before us!?” Ryuji shouts at Yzma, who grins and raises a hand, only to pause as she seemingly falters in her reply. After a second of silence, her sinister grin is replaced by one of complete confusion as she turns to look behind her.

            “How did we, Kronk?” 

            “Well, ya got me.” Kronk replies, the burnt-out remains of the tent still on his back as he reaches up and pulls down a map, showing both groups' routes along with the time it would take for them to get back to the palace. “By all accounts, it doesn’t make sense.” 

            “That doesn’t answer anything…” Futaba groans, rubbing the space between her eyes.

            “Oh well, back to business.” She snaps her fingers as several Shadows and Terrorwilds emerge around her. But they are accompanied by three other types of foes as well. One looks to be a purple humanoid with a bulging belly while wearing red strips of paper from its ears. Another looks to be a thin cyan ghost with a large head topped with a point, holding a hammer and a wrench. While the final foe looks to be a raven wearing a fancy black waistcoat with a green undershirt and white frills, a rapier at its waist and a hat similar to noirs with a red feather.

            “More of those?” Ren shouts as the Thieves quickly switch over to their Thief attire while Sora, Donald, and Goofy summon their weapons. Something that only seems to make Yzma’s smile even wider.

            “Ah… the one who holds the key. And the Persona users as well.” She remarks, surprising them all. “I had been warned about you all… My benefactors will be quite pleased to learn of your capture.” 

            “Sorry, but we’re not in the mood.” Queen remarks, smacking her hands together and cracking her knuckles. While Yzma shakes her head indifferently, Kuzco lets out a tiny laugh as he looks around the place.

            “Okay, look, I admit it. I wasn’t as nice as I should have been.” Kuzco admits, looking up at Yzma with hurt in his eyes. “But really, Yzma, you really want to kill me?” 

            “Just think of it as… you’re being let go. That life’s going in a different direction. That your body’s part of a permanent outplacement.” Yzma replies with a sinister smile. Something that seemed to hit hard for Kuzco while the team continued to tense up.

            “Hey, that’s kinda like what he said to you when you got fired.” Kronk comments offhandedly with a goofy smile as he took off the burnt tent while Yzma lets out an annoyed growl. The entire moment killed as the team all glanced at each other.

            “I know. It’s called a cruel irony. Like my dependence on you.” She replies to him, completely annoyed that he killed the mood.

            “Um… what is he talking about?” Sora asks Kuzco, who rubs the back of his head.

            “Well… this entire mess started when I fired Yzma for trying to run the empire from behind my back after catching her too many times to even remember.”

            “Hold up… Yzma is trying to kill you just because you fired her!?” Panther shouts as the Thieves all glare at Yzma.

            “The hell is wrong with you!? Are you THAT desperate for power!?” Skull shouts in anger, slamming his pipe against the ground.

            “Isn’t everyone desperate for power?” Yzma replies in a sinister tone.

            “Not us!” Spring shouts back with a growl.

            “You need to get a new hobby!” Outlaw shouts at her, pointing one of his blades at her.

            “A new hobby? I suppose I do have one. But I don’t suppose you are expecting this?” Yzma asks as she starts to pull up her dress. Something that everyone was not expecting to see and reacted accordingly.

            “THERE’S A CHILD HERE!!” Joker and Queen shout, covering Sophie’s eyes while everyone else either looks away in horror or covers their eyes. Sophie was a little annoyed at how Joker and Queen were behaving, but at the same time, she couldn’t fault them.

            “Aha!” Yzma shouts, pulling the skirt back to reveal… a dagger strapped to her leg.

            “Oh… it’s just a dagger.” Noir comments as everyone lowers their hands.

            “Geez Louise! Are you TRYING to give us a heart attack!?” Oracle shouts as Yzma chuckles at them evilly before tossing the dagger over to Kronk.

            “Finish them off with the Heartless and Demons.” She tells him, while the Thieves let out a silent gasp at what Yzma just said. But while they focused on that, Kronk was having a moment of crisis. He didn’t want to kill anyone, but at the same time, he couldn’t defy orders from his boss. He was stuck in the middle with no easy way out.

            “Hey, you’re not backing down now, are you, big guy?” A voice echoes next to Kronk before a mini devil version of him appears on his left shoulder, holding a three-pronged trident.

            “Um, where’s the other guy?” Kronk asks, noting the absence of someone. Just as he said that, an angelic poof of smoke appeared on his right shoulder as an angelic version of him appeared. Only he was getting his hair done while reading a magazine. “Yo!” The angel looks at him, casting aside everything before putting a halo back over his head and grabbing a harp.

            “Sorry I’m late. What did I miss?” 

At that, Kronk started to explain the situation to them while Yzma looked on in complete confusion. Because in her eyes, she couldn't see anything. Even the Heartless and Demons around here looked at Kronk in complete bafflement as Yzma turned to look at the team, pointing a thumb at them as if she were trying to say, 'Can you believe this right now?'.

            “Um… what’s with the big guy?” Goofy asks out loud as Sora, Donald, Kuzco, and Pacha all look at him and shrug their shoulders.

            “It would appear that he has a shoulder angel and a shoulder devil.” Fox comments as the Thieves could clearly see what was going on. “The fact that we can see them and you can’t is a strange occurrence.” 

            “I suppose that phrase has a certain truth to it.” Athena remarks, shaking her head at Kronk as he continues to talk to his angel and devil. Yzma, having overheard the Thieves, had finally had enough as she turns back to Kronk with disappointment and anger in her eyes.

            “Kronk! Why did I think you could do this? This one simple thing? It’s like I’m talking to a monkey!” 

            “Whoa now!” The angel comments, not that Yzma could hear her.

            “A really, really big stupid monkey named Kronk!” 

            “Ouch.” The devil remarks, looking completely insulted by what Yzma had just said.

            “And do you want to know something else? I've never liked your spinach puffs!" All three versions of Kronk gasp at that, including the team standing at the owl cabinet as Yzma looked back at Kronk with a triumphal smile. "Never!" At that, hearing how his precious spinach puffs were insulted like that, Kronk started to cry as his shoulder angel patted his face reassuringly.

            “She did NOT just insult his cooking, did she!?” Edel shouts, appalled as Joker lets out a very low growl.

            “She just did… And as a cook myself, I also feel insulted!” 

            “As if we couldn’t hate you even more.” Crow comments as Yzma sends them all a glare.

            “Oh, sticks and stones. This doesn’t concern any of you.” 

            “I can see why you fired her. There is not a single good bone inside her.” Shadow remarks to Kuzco, who nods back, completely shocked at what Yzma did to Kronk. Sure, he was her hired muscle, but he liked the guy AND his cooking!

            “That’s it. She’s going down.” The shoulder devil remarks, pumping his trident like a shotgun.

            “Now, now, fellas. From above, the wicked shall receive their divine judgement.” Just as the shoulder angel said that, all eyes turned upward to see a chandelier hanging above Yzma.

            “That’ll work.” All three Kronks say at the same time, with Kronk then slashing at a rope connected to the chandelier. Setting it free, it comes crashing down on Yzma as everyone closes their eyes in shock. But when they opened them, they found to their horror that… Yzma was so skinny that she slipped through without any injury.

            “That was a failure.” Sophie comments, tilting her upper body while Kronk looks at the chandelier with confusion.

            “Strange… that usually works.” He remarks with a frown.

            “And so does this!” Yzma shouts, rushing to a table and pulling a bottle down, revealing it to be another secret lever. And this one opened up a trap door under Kronk, which the big guy simply looked at as he hung in the air for a moment.

            “Ah… Should have seen that coming.” Kronk admits before dropping through the hole, with his two shoulder friends following after him soon after. And it was with that action that the Heartless and Demons charged towards the team. Kuzco and Pacha duck behind the owl cabinet while the team engaged the foes, Sora sending out a blast of Thunder at the Heartless before sending out a Blizzard at some of the Demons. But the ones he hit didn’t even bat an eye.

            “What? That did nothing?” Sora asks, jumping away from a poison potion tossed by Yzma.

            “Those cyan ones resist Ice and Elect! So don't use Blizzard or Thunder on the Gremlins! Use Fire or a Wind spell instead!" Oracle calls out to Sora before having to dodge one of Yzma's potion bottles. "Hey! Leave the navigator alone, you jerk!”

            “So cry me a river!” Yzma shouts back, mixing two potions before tossing them at the Thieves. Just before they hit, Shadow caught them with a Psi spell and tossed them back at two of the bird Demons, turning them into real birds as they flew away in a panic.

            “Watch out for those potions!” Mona calls out, slashing upwards at one of the purple Demons. “Who knows what you’ll get turned into!” 

            “Those purple ones known as Pretas are weak to Fire, Wind, Light, and Bless! So don't hold back on them! However, don't use Dark or Curse as they resist them! The same also applies to the crow-like ones known as Halphas, with the difference being that they also resist Light and Bless but are weak to Elect!"

            “Good to know!” Joker shouts, dragging his dagger across a Halphas before jumping back. “Arsène! Double Shot!” Bringing his other side to the field, Joker blasts several of the Demons with his Persona, forcing them back before having to dodge out of the way of a Preta trying to bite down on him.

            “Joker! Here!” Queen calls out, tossing him a few potions as several Pretas and Gremlins chase after him. While he didn’t know what these would do, he couldn’t help but smirk as Joker tossed the potions at the Demons. The moment they collided, the Demons were turned into various different types of woodland animals, all of them looking around in a confused manner before rushing away out of the battle.

            “Cowards!” Yzma shrieks as a few more Gremlins appear beside her, followed by several Mermaids. “Get them!” The Gremlins zoom forward while the Mermaids seem to swim under the stone floor towards the team before leaping out and hitting them with their tail fins. But just as they re-emerged back on their rocks, Skull and Edel were already hitting them with a joint Mazio, shocking all of them as Crow rushes in with Robin Hood.

            “Eiga!” Crow shouts, blasting the mermaids with Curse magic and watching them dissolve from the attack. It was shocking to see how these Demons seemingly dissolve after being struck by magic, but they could worry about that later as Fox was surrounded by several Terrorwilds.

            “Goemon! Mabufu!” He called, summoning his other self to the field before sending out a blast of ice around him, freezing the Heartless in place as Queen came roaming around on Johanna. Outlaw rode shotgun as he fired his rifle at the frozen Heartless before Queen spun around and blasted some Halphas with Mafrei. The explosion shook the secret lab as Yzma dropped the vial in her hands on the ground. Thankfully, it was made of some sturdy glass as Mona quickly rushed over and grabbed it, rushing towards the owl cabinet as Yzma growled.

            “Stop him!” Yzma shouted, with two Gremlins slamming into Mona and snatching the vial from him, only to be blasted by fire from Donald as Athena kicked a Terrorwild at Yzma, forcing her off the table she was standing on. As for the potion, it rolled along the ground towards Sophie, who picked it up just as Spring joined her, right as a group of Pretas, Terrorwilds, and Shadow Heartless charged towards her.

            “Kouga!” Spring and Sophie shouted at the same time, sending lances of light right into several of the Preta while Goofy bashed away a Terrorwild. It was then that Goofy showed off a new move by spinning around rapidly in the air like a tornado, hitting several Terrorwilds and Shadow Heartless before sending them flying. While Sora was aiming Jungle Key at them, he was about to use Thunder on them, but just before he was about to use it, he felt a different spell come to his lips.

            “Gravity!” He calls out, generating a dark sphere around the Heartless before sending them crashing to the floor, destroying them instantly as Sora blinks in surprise. “What was that?” 

            “Sora, look out!” Athena cries, tackling him out of the way just as a potion bottle crashes where he was standing, with Yzma letting out an audible cry of anger at missing him. “You okay?” 

            “I’m fine.” Sora replies, getting up before bashing away a Preta. “But those potion bottles are getting annoying!” 

            “What’s wrong? Not a fan of my potions?” Yzma gloats as she plays with another potion. “Don’t be shy, come have a sip. I promise it won’t be painful.” 

            “Yeah, right!” Panther shouts, sending out a blast of Agilao at her, forcing Yzma to duck under the blaze. “We’re not falling for that!” 

            “Why, you little…” Yzma growls, grabbing another potion with the label of a cat on it. "You like cats? Then how about you become one!" Without a care, she throws it right at Panther with a surprising amount of force. But before it can reach her, Noir grabs it in the air with Milady using her psionic powers, the bottle spinning in place as Yzma looks at it in shock.

            “How about you have some of your own medicine!?” Noir shouts, sending the potion right at Yzma. The moment it connected, the potion exploded into a cloud of smoke, obscuring everyone’s vision as Yzma lets out a deep laugh at them. For a moment, they thought Yzma had tricked them with a different potion until the smoke cleared, revealing that Yzma had been changed into an adorable silver cat.

            “She’s adorable!” Sophie chimes, jumping on the spot at seeing Cat-Yzma. But Cat-Yzma did not share that thought as she leaped at Sophie in anger, only for Mona to bash into her and knock her away.

            “Hey! If you want a fight, then fight me! Cat to cat!” Mona shouts, changing into his cat form as Cat-Yzma lets out a growl.

            “Is that what you want?” She asks, only to pause at hearing how her voice had changed into a high-pitched squeak. Something that everyone else was taken aback by, as the girls of the team couldn’t help but giggle at Cat-Yzma. “Is that my voice? Is that MY voice?”

            “What’s wrong? Not a fan of the change? Personally, I find it an improvement.” Morgana quips back, angering Cat-Yzma as the two hiss at each other. While the team focused on the remaining Heartless and Demons, whose numbers were slowly dwindling, Cat-Yzma launched herself at Morgana.

Morgana, seeing the incoming attack, ducked under her before swiping a paw at her side. Cat-Yzma lets out an annoyed growl before trying to leap at Morgana again, who jumps over her and lands on her tail, earning a shriek of pain from Cat-Yzma as Morgana kicks her away, letting out a chuckle.

            “Do you really think you can beat me? I’ve been a cat all my life.” Morgana taunts as Cat-Yzma hisses at him. Grabbing a random potion, she throws it at Morgana, who jumps out of the way before rushing right at her and body slamming her into the table. “Face it, kitty, you’re leagues behind me.” 

            “I am NOT a kitty!” Cat-Yzma shouts, rushing at Morgana, who simply steps to the side and trips her up with a paw, sending her tumbling head over tail before crashing into another table. This time, she knocks over a heavy book that lands hard on her head, knocking her out as she face-plants on the floor.

            “Better get used to it. It’s your new life now.” Morgana quips with a smirk, shifting over to his Thief attire as the last of the Heartless were cleaned up. As for Pacha and Kuzco, they were amazed at seeing how the team cleaned up so fast and how Mona put Cat-Yzma in her place. And as the two came out of hiding, Sophie walked up to Kuzco holding the vial.

            “Here you go.” She tells him innocently. Kuzco gently takes the vial from her, looking around at everyone as he pops the cork.

            “Well, see ya on the other side…”

Hours later, Pacha was sitting in a room with a large table showing a detailed model of his village. Only the spot where his house would be was replaced by a golden palace and waterslide. Nearby, the rest of the team watched as Pacha held the model of his house in his hands. Kuzco had drunk the potion back in the lab and was now busy fixing all his mistakes and helping to get Kronk a new place to live after getting him out of that trap hole. But there was still one thing the team was worried about.

            “Do you think Kuzco will change his mind?” Donald asks Sora, who shrugs his shoulders.

            “We can only hope.” He replies as Goofy rubs his head. Just then, an old voice echoes from the hallway as an old man walks by with Kuzco, now a human and wearing his royal regalia.

            “Oh, now, you—you… you stop being so hard on yourself. All is forgiven.” The old man tells Kuzco, who still had a look of unease on his face.

            “Are you sure? I could give compensation if you want.” Kuzco replies with genuine honesty in his voice.

            “Oh, it’s not the first time I was thrown out of a window. What can I say? I’m a rebel.” The old man replies, playfully punching Kuzco, who just laughs him off. It was certainly a far cry from the ‘no touchy’ llama they first encountered as Kuzco sent him off with a smile. At least until he saw Pacha sitting by himself next to the giant table. Without a word, Kuzco entered the room, giving a nod to the team in the corner before clearing his throat.

            “So you lied to me.” He comments, with Pacha looking up at him in confusion. Something that the rest of the team also showed as Kuzco nodded his head at him. “Yeah. You said that when the sun hits these mountains just right, these hills sing. Well, pal, I was dragged all over those mountains, and I did not hear any singing.” 

            “Really?” The Thieves all ask as one, knowing exactly what Kuzco was doing.

            “Oh yes. That’s right.” Kuzco replies, sending them all a wink before turning to the golden model and removing it from the hill. “So that’s why I’ll build my summer vacation on a more magical hill. Thank you.” Pacha looks at the model in his hands, letting out a chuckle as he gives it to Kuzco.

            “Couldn’t pull the wool over your eyes, huh?” He asks, playing along with Kuzco as he smiles back at him.

            “No, no, I’m sharp. I’m on it. But it looks like you and your family will be at the top of a tuneless mountain forever, pal.” Pacha smiles thankfully at Kuzco, who easily returns the smile as he sits next to him. But just as he does, a glow emerges from the table as a keyhole appears in the mountain model. Sora, wasting no time, summons Jungle King to his side and aims at the keyhole. Firing a beam of light into it, sealing it up as it spits out a new keychain for him. Even if he didn’t know what these were for, if they got something out of it, it was worth doing.

            “Well, I suppose that means it’s time for us to go.” Ren comments as Sora picks up the new keychain, the end being a red and black llama, almost like what Kuzco was.

            “Do you really have to go?” Kuzco asks as the team all glance at him.

            “We do.” Sora replies, pocketing the keychain. “We’re still missing some people dear to us. We can’t stop looking now.” 

            “I see. I hope you find them.” Kuzco tells them before giving them a smile. “And… thanks for helping me change. But something tells me Pacha would have gotten me to change sooner or later.” 

            “What can I say… I always look for the good inside people.” Pacha replies, giving Kuzco a big pat on the back as Makoto, Yusuke, and Akechi walk up to him.

            “Thank you again for letting us stay with you, Pacha.” Makoto tells him as the three bow.

            “We won’t forget your kindness.” Yusuke adds as Pacha waves them off.

            “It is nothing. I just did what anybody would have. Having said that…” He looks to the side before rubbing his head. “Can you take those puppies with you as well?”

            “We had already planned to take them with us.” Akechi reassures gently. “And once more, thank you for your hospitality. I hope you and your family continue to live a happy life.” 

            “Thank you.” Pacha replies as the three rejoin the others before they all leave as a group. Sophia eagerly holds both Ren and Makoto's hands while Haru hugs Yusuke. They still have many friends left to find, but at this moment in time, they can feel content with whom they have found. But still, many questions remain in their minds.

How were Demons working with the Heartless? How did Yzma even know about them? And more importantly… how did Yzma know about them being Persona users?

Something was telling them that things were not going to be easy going forward.

Chapter Text

Chapter 11: Reunion.

There seemed to be even more people walking around Traverse Town lately. Or maybe more people were venturing outside of their temporary homes? Either way, Sojiro did notice he was getting an influx of customers for the past few days. Or at least he THINKS it’s been a few days. The passage of time seems to have been completely lost to all of them, which was why he was outside of Leblanc, having a smoke break as he stared at the stars above. There hadn’t been any new stars vanishing since Ren and the others took off with Sora. He couldn’t really help but wonder how they were all doing… 

            “I hate being left behind.” He remarked, taking another long drag from his cigarette until he noticed one star start to grow brighter. Until it morphed from a bright star into the shape of the Highwind as it came in gently to land outside the walls of Traverse Town. And it certainly got everyone’s attention when it came in to land. Not long after it landed, the doors leading outside opened up, revealing Ren and the others entering the town once more. But this time with far more people and thirty Dalmatian puppies jumping around their heels. And it was a group of people that Sojiro was more than pleased to see again.

            “Sojiro! We’re back!” Futaba calls out as the group approaches. Sojiro lets out a warm laugh, putting the cigarette out as he gives Futaba a hug before looking at everyone else with warm eyes. 

            “I can see that. Hard to miss seeing you come in.” He remarks good-naturedly. “Even so, I’m glad to see all of you again. It’s reassuring to know all of you survived as well.” 

            “We’re happy to know you’re alive as well, Boss.” Makoto replies, brushing some hair back as Sojiro moves to hug each of them, even giving Sae and Yoshida a hug as well. “Still, I’m more amazed that Leblanc also ended up here.”

            “At this point, Makoto, I think Leblanc is an entity of its own.” Ren comments, shaking his head as Hifumi opens the café door. “Anyway, let’s head in. You said you had something to tell us, Donald?” 

            “Yeah. I did.” Donald replies as the group enters the café. The puppies join them as well, with Sophia promising to take them to their parents as soon as Sojiro gets to work handing out coffee and curry to everyone.

            “Ah. So this is Leblanc’s famous coffee and curry.” Lavenza remarks as a plate is placed before her. “I missed out on the chance before, but I am glad to finally have a taste.” As she takes a spoonful of curry, her eyes seem to glow in surprise as she looks back at the curry with astonishment. “Astonishing… Ren’s tales were of no exaggeration.” She comments, taking another spoonful while Donald and Goofy have literal stars in their eyes. As for Sora, he is busy inhaling his as Sojiro shakes his head at the four. 

Once more, the curry is a hit. And seeing the rest of the newly found Thieves inhaling the curry as well, Sojiro can tell they all miss it dearly.

            “Well, now that we are all comfortable.” Akechi starts, glancing at Donald as he sits with a contemptuous face. “What did you have to tell us?” Donald lets out a sigh, glancing at Ren as he makes himself comfortable in the seat. 

            “It’s about why I initially distrusted Ren. And it relates to what Queen Minnie mentioned from ten years ago.” Donald starts grabbing everyone’s attention. “Of course, what we were told was from King Mickey and what we could piece together from clues. But from what we learned, it all started when Master Eraqus, the one Queen Minnie talked about, sent his students Terra and Aqua into the worlds to investigate a new foe.” Sora’s eyes seemed to widen at hearing those names, as a pang of guilt flared in his chest. But he didn’t know why. 

            “Do you mean the Heartless?” Sae asks first, her hand on her chin. 

            “I don’t think that was them. They were dealing with ‘negative emotions’, but I can’t remember what they were called.” Goofy adds, scratching the side of his head.

            “Anyway, Terra, Aqua, who was just recently made a master, and Eraqus’s last student, Ventus, went out to find the cause of these foes. King Mickey, who was still an apprentice at the time, also went out despite Master Yen Sid telling him no, too." Donald continues, letting out a sigh. “But it was all a trap.” 

            “A trap?” Ren asks as Sora hides a wince. 

            “Yeah. Another Keyblade Master, called Master Xehanort, used it to drive a wedge between Terra, Aqua, and Ven while fuelling the darkness inside Terra." Goofy adds, shaking his head. "He even managed to kill Master Eraqus as well, after tricking Terra into attacking him when Master Eraqus attacked Ven.” 

            “He attacked his own student? Why?” Yusuke asks as the team looks at the two toons in shock, only for Donald and Goofy to shake their heads.

            “We weren’t told.” Donald replies. “As for why Master Xehanort was doing this, I think we were told, but I’ve forgotten what it was. But I do remember one thing: Xehanort used darkness, and he corrupted Terra into using it as well.” 

            “So that’s why you couldn’t trust me.” Ren comments, folding his arms. “You saw me using magic that looked similar to darkness and believed that I was like Xehanort or could become him.” 

            “Yeah. Sorry about that.” Donald admits, rubbing the back of his head. 

            “But what happened to Terra, Aqua, and Ventus?” Makoto presses. 

            “Well, the three of them went to confront Xehanort to stop him, but only Aqua came back. Ven lost his heart, leaving his body forever sleeping, and Terra vanished. Aqua then left to search for him after making sure Ven’s body was safe. And… that’s the last we heard of her.” Goofy finishes, letting out a sigh. “And it’s been like that for ten years.” A silence filled the room as the group let that information sink into their minds. But as they did so, there was one thing that kept coming back to their minds.

            “You said the person who caused all this was… Master Xehanort, right?" Ren asks again, with Donald and Goofy nodding at him. Ren's eyes narrow as he stands up before heading up the stairs to his room. Or rather, into the corridor that held all of their rooms. How Leblanc became like this, he would never know, but that didn't matter. For as he entered the door to his room, which was an EXACT replica of his room back at the original Leblanc, he grabbed a card that he had kept on him the day before their world fell. Nodding to himself, he went back downstairs. Looking at Donald and Goofy, he handed them the card while Sora tilted his head.

            “What’s that?” Sora asks, feeling a wave of both fear and uncertainty at seeing the emblem on the back. And how familiar it felt to see it as well, despite it being the first time he was seeing it.

            “A Calling Card we got four days before our world fell.” Ren replies with narrowed eyes. "We didn't know who or where it came from. The only thing that was left was the initials at the bottom: M. X.” 

            “M. X.?” Donald asks as Goofy looks over the letter. “Do you think… this is from Master Xehanort? But that can’t be! He hasn’t been seen since Terra, Aqua, and Ven left to fight him!”

            “Maybe he's been waiting in the shadows… until the time was right for him to return.” Hifumi comments in a worried tone. "Either way, it makes our mission all the more important.” 

            “Then we should find Leon and let him know what’s happened so far.” Sora comments, before looking at the thirty Dalmatian puppies they have with them. “After we get them back, that is…” 

            “I can take them.” Sophia chimes in, standing up as the pups gather around her. “I know where the house is.” Makoto did look a little hesitant to let Sophia go, but a simple look from Ren convinced her not to speak up about it. Besides, Sophia could handle some Heartless by herself. 

            “That’s all well and good, but does anyone know where Leon went?” Morgana asks as everyone shakes their heads at him. 

            “You should try asking Cid. He should know where he went.” Sojiro tells everyone as he wipes down the counter. “He should still be in the accessory shop.”

            “That’s a good idea. He might even know about those strange Gummi Blocks we found.” Futaba adds, pushing herself off her stool. “I say we go and ask him!” 

            “Better than just wandering around aimlessly.” Ryuji remarks as the team heads towards the accessory shop, while Sophia takes the puppies towards the second district. Yoshida elected to stay at Leblanc with Sojiro, while Morgana decided to go with Sophia, just to be safe, along with Ren and Makoto. Even if the Heartless were gone, they could still come back, and with Demons possibly with them. And as Lavenza had told them on the trip over here, Demons were indeed what Personas had once been called in the past. But why they had returned now, she could not say. 

It was worrying, no matter what. But for now, they pushed those thoughts out of their minds as they entered the accessory shop.

            “Well, ain't this a crew I haven’t seen in a while. And with more members as well.” Cid remarks, nodding his head at the new people before looking at Lavenza. “And you have been holding out on me! You could have told me you had that beauty of a ship!” 

            “My apologies, but I did not feel comfortable letting other people look at it.” Lavenza tells him before looking at Sora. “Having said that, we do have something that requires your expertise.” Sora, knowing what she was talking about, reached into his pocket and pulled out the two Gummi Blocks they got from Wonderland and Deep Jungle. He had yet to try out the Keyblade he got from the Chilean Mountains, but he could tell it was about as strong as Jungle King from a glance. Maybe a bit more in the magic department. 

            “Well now…” Cid comments, looking at the two Gummi Blocks. “Looks like you’ve found yourself a couple of Navi-Gummies.”

            “Navi-Gummies? You mean for navigation?” Futaba asked before tapping her foot. “I mean, it sounds obvious there would be a Gummi Block for navigation, but why did these pop out of keyholes?” 

            “I dunno about that, but what I can tell you is that Navi-Gummies are needed to get to new places. Sure, you could fly all the way there, but the distance can be so vast that it’d take you years to get there. A Navi-Gummi, however, can reveal secret paths you can take to reach them in only a few days.” Cid told them before picking up the two pieces. “Problem is, they always come in pairs. And you need to install both in order to access the data in them.” 

            “That’s interesting to know.” Sora commented. “Can you install it on the Highwind?” 

            “I’d be more than happy to! Of course, that’s only if your friend here will let me.” Cid looked at Lavenza, who was silently debating in her mind, before looking back up at Cid and nodding at him. 

            “Very well. Perhaps we can talk about additional improvements that can be made. The Highwind was made from the remains of a ship from another timeline, after all. There are perhaps some functions that are not operational.”

            “And you still haven’t told us about that yet…” Isara groans alongside the rest of the Thieves. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Cid all blink at Lavenza as she casually drops that information on them without batting an eye while Cid rubs the back of his head nervously. 

            “Sure… I can look into it.” He replies before snapping his fingers. “But first, there’s this book I need to deliver back in the third district.” 

            “We can deliver it for you.” Sora offers. “By the way, do you know where Leon is?” 

            “He’s in the underwater waterway in the second district. As for the book, thanks for offering. The house is hidden behind a door with a fire emblem on it. I think it can only be opened with a Fire spell.”

            “Much appreciated, Cid.” Hifumi replies as the team exits the accessory shop while Lavenza stays behind. “We’ll be back later.” 

            “Take care.” Lavenza calls out as the door closes. But as they start to move out, Donald and Goofy look at the nearby item shop before glancing at their own weapons. 

            “I think we should upgrade our weapons…” Donald comments, rubbing his head and grabbing the rest of the team’s attention. “We could use the boost.” 

            “That is a good point…” Ann comments, shifting over to her Thief form and looking at her whip. “It might be a good idea to get some new gear.” The team nods at her as Panther shifts back. It is becoming second nature for them to shift between both forms at will.

            “In that case, half of us should go with Donald and Goofy and acquire some new gear.” Akechi comments, looking between them. "Ann, Ryuji, Shiho, Mishima. Can we trust you four to acquire us some new gear with Donald and Goofy?” 

            “You can count on us.” Shiho replies with a grin as the four of them follow after Donald and Goofy. With that easily settled, the team heads into the second district. Thankfully, there are no Heartless waiting for them, possibly already taken out by Leon on patrol or Ren’s group as they made their way through. But either way, it didn’t take long for them to reach the entrance to the waterway. At that point, Futaba and Isara separated from them, heading over to the Dalmatian house to check on the others while the rest continued on. Although they did end up having to swim for a bit when they reached the underground cavern. 

            “I must admit, I did not think we would be swimming while down here.” Yusuke comments as they swim through the water. Surprisingly, it isn’t cold but a nice warm touch. “You seem to be a natural swimmer, Sora.”

            “Well, I DID live on a world made of islands. Kinda have to be when growing up.” Sora comments back as they reach dry land, where they find both Leon and Aerith near a set of stone stairs, along with an unsealed chest with three more Dalmatian puppies sleeping nearby. “There were more of them down here?” 

            “We just found them.” Aerith comments as they watch Sora’s group approach them. “It’s nice to see you again, Sora and Hifumi, but where are the others? And who are the ones standing with you and Hifumi?” 

            “They are busy getting supplies and returning the thirty Dalmatian puppies we found so far.” Sora replies with a smile. “And we have found a lot of Ren’s friends as well, including them.” Sora turns to Sae and the others as they bow to Leon and Aerith in greeting.

            “A pleasure to meet you. Sae Niijima. Defence attorney.” 

            “Goro Akechi. Detective.” 

            “Haru Okumura. It is nice to meet you.” 

            “And I am Yusuke Kitagawa. Our thanks for looking after Ren and his family while we were separated.” Leon and Aerith nod at them with small smiles, happy that Ren had found more of his friends. But the small look on Sora’s face told them something else. 

            “You still haven’t found your friends yet?” Aerith asks gently as Sora lets out a sigh. “Don’t lose hope. You’ll find them soon.”

            “I know. Thanks.” Sora replies, nodding his head at her before looking back at Leon. “By the way, when we were exploring new worlds, something happened with Kingdom Key.” At Leon raising an eyebrow, Sora continued, “After we defeated a major Heartless, a strange keyhole appeared. And then Kingdom Key fired a beam into it, with a giant lock echoing not long after.” 

            “So you found a world Keyhole.” Leon remarks, catching the team's attention. “That’s good. In every world, there is a Keyhole that leads to the heart of the world. That is what the Heartless are after.” 

            “The heart of a world…” Akechi remarks with a cold stare. “So… that’s how our world fell. The Heartless somehow found our world’s Keyhole and used it to reach our world’s heart, after which our world was consumed.”

            “And that’s why the Keyblade is so important.” Leon adds, looking at Sora. “You’re the only one who can lock the Keyholes.” 

            “Well, there is also King Mickey, who is a Keyblade Master. But something tells me he has his own mission.” Haru adds, catching Leon and Aerith’s attention. “I am sure he is locking Keyholes on any world he reaches, but that still leaves only two Keyblades in a sea of stars. If only the three that Donald and Goofy told us about from ten years ago were still around…” 

            “But they’re not.” Sae remarks, shaking her head. “And until we can figure out what happened to them, or where King Mickey is, Sora is the only one who can seal the Keyholes. But that does not mean he will do so alone.” 

            “Of course.” Yusuke adds, looking at Sora. “We are with you until this crisis is brought to its end. No matter what.” Sora smiles at Yusuke, nodding his head at them as Aerith claps her hands together. Leon nods his head before reaching into his trouser pocket and taking out an earth-coloured gem.

            “Sora, here.” He calls out, tossing the gem to Sora, who catches it. “It’s a good luck charm I’ve been holding onto. It could come in handy for you.” Sora looks at the gem in his hands, feeling a sense of power behind it as he nods at Leon, only to then look at the three puppies as they continue to sleep. 

            “Want me to take them to their parents?” Sora asks Leon, who shakes his head. 

            “Don’t worry. We’ll take them when they wake up. Besides, you have that old book to deliver, right?” Sora looks at the book under his arm, smiling sheepishly at it as the team shakes their heads. “Best you head on over. I think the owner is on his way back.” 

            “You go on ahead, Sora.” Sae tells him as she and Akechi separate from the team. “We have some questions we want to ask them first. We’ll meet you back at Leblanc when we’re done.”

            “Got it.” Sora replies as the group of four makes their way to the third district. But as they do, Sora couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes gazing at him from above. Whenever he looked up, he couldn’t see where they were coming from. It was honestly a little unnerving to feel the gaze and not see where it was coming from, but he decided to brush it to the side for now.

Instead, Sora's team focused on finding that door with a fire emblem on it, which, as it turned out, was easier done as they found the door hidden in a small alleyway. The only question they had now was how to open it, as it had no visible handle or anything. At least until Sora decided to blast the door with Fire magic just to see what it would do. He wasn't expecting it to open the door just like that without any issue.

            “You know… I’m not even surprised at this point.” Hifumi comments as the four of them move through the opening. “I think all my sense of logic was destroyed in Wonderland.” 

            “I agree…” Haru admits while Yusuke looks at the two of them with concerned looks. Sure, they had all been told about the horrors of that world, and they had seen the seemingly strange laws of physics working against them in the Chilean Mountains, but still… 

            “How about rocks that float side to side?” Sora suddenly asks, pointing forward with the Keyblade. Sora had attached the new Keychain to it, changing the guard into a fanciful sun shape plated in gold, while the blade and handle were seemingly made of stone, wrapped in red cloth. The teeth were stylized like Kuzco’s crown, only with some spaces between instead of a solid half circle. Golden Llama, it was called apparently.

But while Yusuke wanted to admire the appeal of the new Keyblade, it was the floating rocks in the water leading up to an old house with a roof stylized like a wizard's hat that had his attention. 

            “A fair argument.” Yusuke simply replies as the four of them proceed to jump across the stones, which turned out to be a little harder than expected, considering how they were constantly moving about. They almost fell off a few times as well, seeing how the stones were covered in water. But they persevered and made it to the other end, only to find the entrance all boarded up.

Not wanting to give up, the team proceeded to walk around the right side of the house to see if there was another entrance. But as they did so, Haru noticed a treasure box sitting on another stone in the water. It was too far for any of them to jump to, but not far enough for her to grab it with a Psi spell. So, without missing a beat, Haru switched to Noir and grabbed the treasure box, gently pulling it over before switching back to Haru. And it was with no surprise that when she opened it, she found three more Dalmatians eagerly jumping out of the box. 

            “How did I have a feeling?” Haru asked the others, gently picking up all three before rejoining them. She saw that they had found a hole in the wall covered by a green tarp. 

            “It would appear we have found a way in.” Yusuke commented as Sora pulled the tarp back. But when they entered, they found nothing but a single empty room with a stone pedestal and steps going up to it.

            “Are we sure there is someone living here?” Hifumi asks as the group spreads out. Sora, walking by himself, approaches one of the windows, watching as light faintly pours in. Being here reminded him of the Secret Place back at the islands. And remembering it only made him feel more hurt that he still hasn’t found Riku or Kairi. Or anyone else from his home, that is. Would he even find anyone at this rate? He was starting to think that maybe they were gone forever… 

            “What am I doing?” Sora quietly asks himself, resting a hand over his heart. "And… why does my heart hurt?" Ever since Donald told them that story, his heart had seemingly been in pain for some reason. And he just couldn't figure out why. But just as he shook his head to focus back on the here and now, a soft voice echoed behind him. One he had been longing to hear. 

            “There’s something about this musty place…” Sora turns around, shock on his face as Kairi walks up to him, eyes fixed on the window. “It reminds me of the Secret Place back home, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?” She asks him, coming to a stop under the window and smiling at him. Sora, for his part, couldn’t believe what his eyes were seeing. Even as he reached out a hand towards her, thinking she would vanish any second.

            “Sora-kun? What’s wrong?” Haru asks, catching Sora off guard as he looks back at Haru, still holding the three puppies. Sora turns back to where Kairi was, only to feel his heart sink as Kairi has once again vanished. 

            “It’s nothing.” Sora tells her, hiding his sadness from the others. Yusuke, Haru, and Hifumi all glance at each other, wondering what was wrong with Sora just as the tarp moved again. 

            “Well, well. You’ve arrived sooner than I expected.” All eyes turn to the tarp, where an old man with a long white beard and glasses, wearing a long blue cloak, long blue shoes, and a really long blue hat, was smiling at them, holding a bag in one hand and a wand in the other. 

            “You… knew we were coming?” Sora asks, blinking his eyes in surprise. 

            “Indeed I did, my boy.” The man replies, glancing at the other three. “But I must say, you are most certainly a surprise. I was expecting Donald and Goofy to be here, but it would seem I have members of the Phantom Thieves instead.” 

            “Huh?” Sora asks out loud as Yusuke, Haru, and Hifumi all gasp in shock. “You know about them?”

            “Of course. Hard not to, considering who I am.” The man replies, placing the bag on the giant stone dais. “My name is Merlin.” 

            “Merlin?” Hifumi asks, blinking her eyes in shock. “That is the same name as Sojiro’s Persona…” 

            “That is correct, my dear Hifumi.” Merlin replies, looking at her. “And it is quite a surprise that I have experienced everything that Sojiro has due to that connection. Quite strange indeed, but it has given me insight on everything so far. Quite useful.” 

            “But… how can this be?” Yusuke asks, blinking his eyes in shock. 

            “It is best if you do not think about it too hard, my lad.” Merlin tells Yusuke with a smile. “Even I do not know how this is possible. But I digress.” He looks towards Sora, giving him a polite nod. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Sora. King Mickey has asked me to give you my help, but first I have some unpacking to do.” While Sora and the others tilt their heads at him, Merlin simply walks onto the dais and taps his bag with his wand. “Presto!”

What followed next was something right out of a magic show as countless pieces of furniture, tableware, and living accessories came pouring out of the bag. All of them flew around the room, turning it from a cold hovel into a warm home for a wizard. There really wasn’t that much for them to say as Merlin nodded to himself in satisfaction at the change and turned back to Sora. 

            “Now then, the king asked me to help train you in the arts of magic. I can already see that you are well on your way to learning magic, but you still have quite a way to go until you are a master. But don’t feel that you need to be forced to do so; we can start whenever you like.” 

            “Thank you, Merlin.” Sora told him, bowing in respect along with Yusuke, Haru, and Hifumi.

            “Think nothing of it, my lad.” Merlin replies, stoking his beard before his eyes fall on the old book Sora is holding. “Ah, I see you have brought me the book I requested Cid to repair.” 

            “It’s yours?” Haru asks as Sora hands it over. 

            “As a matter of fact, no, it is not. I found it inside my bag one day after it had mysteriously appeared. It was around ten years ago when it was last opened as well.” Merlin opens the book, letting out a sigh as he sees the pages inside. “Although it would appear that several of the pages are still missing…” 

            “Pages are missing?” Yusuke asks, walking up to have a look. 

            “Indeed. The book was badly damaged when we fled the destruction of our home nine years ago. And it would seem that there are still pages scattered among the stars.” Merlin lets out a sigh, walking over to a small desk and resting the book on it. “And it is such a special world as well…” Sora spares a glance at Haru and Hifumi, the two of them giving him a silent nod as they know what he is thinking. Looks like they just had another side quest added to their missions.

            “Such a shame… The images that I could see had a sense of warmth.” Yusuke remarks before looking at Sora, who was pulling out the good luck charm Leon had given him. Merlin seemed to sense the energy coming from it, as he turned around to look at Sora with a surprised look. 

            “Well now… is that not a surprise?” He remarks, folding his fingers. “While this may fall under my tutelage, I believe my friend can help you with that stone you are carrying.” 

            “Your friend?” Hifumi asks, just as a faint blue sparkling mist envelops a small area of the room. Suddenly, a brief flash of light blinds everyone as an old woman with silver hair and a kind smile appears before them, holding a silver wand in one hand and wearing a sky-blue robe with a red bow under her face. 

            “Hello there, dearies. You may call me Fairy Godmother.” She tells the group, giving them a slight bow as the team blinks in surprise. 

            “Another character from an old fairytale?” Haru quietly asks Yusuke, who silently nods his head. But they decide not to push more about it.

            “Hello, I’m Sora Osment.” Sora replies before showing her the gem. “Merlin said you would know about this?” The Fairy Godmother looks at the gem before quickly letting out a small gasp of shock.

            “Oh, the poor dear! He's been turned into a Summon Gem." She replies with sadness before looking back at the group. "As you already know, when a world vanishes, its inhabitants are either transported to this town, scattered to other worlds, or lost amidst the darkness. But there are some who are so strong of heart that instead of falling to darkness, they are turned into Summon Gems.”

            “Somehow… that sounds like a much worse fate than being consumed…” Hifumi comments, letting out a shiver. “Is there a way to free them?”

            “There is, but only his spirit. And even then, the effect will be temporary. But I can guarantee he will be helpful in battle.” The Fairy Godmother replies before giving the stone a tap. Before Sora could ask what she was doing, the stone shone with a brilliant light before jumping into the air and then right into Sora. “You can call upon him whenever you need to, but be careful. It will drain you when you do. If his world were still around, the negative effect would not be present.” 

            “I’ll keep that in mind.” Sora replies, rubbing his chest as he feels the information about summoning magic fill his mind, along with the name of whom he could summon. But as he felt the information take hold, Sora took a moment to glance at Yusuke, Haru, and Hifumi. They were seemingly caught up in a conversation with Merlin about the difference between him and Sojiro’s Persona. And it made him feel… left out.

            “I’m going to head back to Leblanc. See you guys there.” Sora tells them before exiting the home. For some reason, he just wanted to be by himself for a moment as he made his way back to the third district. It’s not like he didn’t like being around them, but he just wanted some time alone. He couldn’t get over the fact that it was the third time he saw Kairi, only for it to be an illusion. But that third time… that felt so real. But if it really was Kairi, then where did she go? And why was his heart still hurting? 

            “Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this…" Sora comments out loud, walking into the third district. But just as he did, three Soldier Heartless appeared right before him, surprising Sora as he summoned Kingdom Key to his side. But before he could even take a swing, all three of them were struck down by a single slash, as a familiar face stood before Sora. Only now holding a sword that looked like a large bat wing in black and red with a blue and green eye in it.

            “There you are. What’s going on?” Riku asks jokingly as she gives his sword a swing, as though he were trying to shake off the blood from the Heartless. Not that he had any. 

            “Riku?” Sora asks, not believing his eyes before rushing up and pulling on his cheeks. Riku, slightly annoyed, pushes Sora off him but not in an aggressive way, as though he could understand why Sora looked at him with a disbelieving expression. “I’m not dreaming this time, right?” Sora asks Riku, who lets out a chuckle, pushing his hair back. 

            “I hope not. It took forever to find you.” Riku replies, giving Sora all the confirmation he needed that this was indeed Riku standing before him as he lets out an exhausted laugh, until he quickly realizes that someone was still missing.

            “Wait a minute, where’s Kairi?” Sora asks, hoping that Riku knew where she was, but the answer he got quickly shattered those hopes. 

            “Isn’t she with you?” Riku looks as Sora bows his head to the ground, the answer coming clear to him as he shakes his head. He could already imagine what Sora was thinking about as he rested a hand on his shoulder. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure she made it off the island too. We’re finally free.” Riku looks up at the stars above, not realizing that a Shadow Heartless was appearing behind him. “Hey, she might be even looking for us now. We’ll all be together real soon. Don’t worry. Just leave everything to me. I know this…” 

The sound of the Keyblade slicing through the air interrupted Riku as he turned around, seeing Sora in a pose as the remains of the Shadow Heartless slowly vanished into the wind. After holding the pose for a few more seconds, Sora turned to look at Riku with a cheeky grin as he shouldered the Kingdom Key on his shoulder.

            “Leave it to who?” he asks back as Riku stares at him in shock, not expecting to see this at all as he walks up to him. 

            “Sora, what did you just do?” Riku asks, looking at the blade in Sora’s hand. 

            “Just saved your life from a Heartless.” He replies, letting Kingdom Key hang loose in his hand. "I've been looking all over for you and Kairi as well, with some help.” 

            “Some help?” Riku asks, placing a hand on his hip. 

            “Yeah. We’ve visited so many worlds together, not only looking for you but for their friends as well.” Sora replies. “They are currently scattered around Traverse Town, getting supplies before we head back out to look for you again.”

            “Really? Well, what do you know? I never would have guessed.” Riku replies offhandedly. But there was some hint of something under Riku’s tone. It almost sounded like… jealousy? But that couldn’t be right! What would Riku be jealous of? “Anyway, what is this called?” Riku asks, grabbing the Kingdom Key from Sora’s hand and holding onto it. While it irked Sora a little how Riku simply grabbed it out of his hand, he shook it off for now. 

            “That’s called the Keyblade. And it’s the only thing that can kill the Heartless.” 

            “Is that so?” Riku asks, his eyes slightly narrowing as his grip tightens. Without a word, he tosses it back to Sora, who grabs it with his right hand. “You certainly have been busy, huh?”

            “Well, yeah. I’ve been looking all over for both of you.” Sora replies honestly as Kingdom Key de-summons itself. “I was beginning to think I would never find either of you.” 

            “Really?” Riku replies, hand on hip. “And you’re sure you’re not replacing us?” 

            “Replacing you?” Sora asks, blinking his eyes in surprise. “Why would you think that?” Riku lets out a huff, looking to the side as Sora tilts his head before shaking it. “Anyway, you’ll come with us, right? We’ve got this awesome ship. Wait until you see it! We even named it the Highwind!” That got Riku’s eyes to widen in surprise for a moment before it was quickly hidden under a stern look.

            “Thanks for the offer, Sora. But I'm making my own way over the worlds." Riku replies, deflating Sora. "But think about it this way. If we split up, that means we double our chances of finding Kairi. Okay?" Sora looks back at Riku, still unsure about this as Riku heads for the second district. "Don't worry about me, alright? Good luck on your end." And with that, he heads off, leaving Sora behind as he lets out a sigh before heading for the third district. 

Why did Riku not want to join them? Why did he look jealous of him for a moment? Sora had way too many questions floating around in his head as he went back to Leblanc. Maybe some coffee and curry would help him make sense of all this. 

Or maybe he was just hungry.

Chapter Text

Chapter 12: The Guard Armour Strikes Back!

            “Ah, you're back.” Sojiro comments, watching as Sora entered Leblanc. The cool music of the radio played in the background. Yoshida was not present, so he was probably out exploring the town. “Where’s everyone else?” 

            “They are busy getting supplies for the next trip.” Sora replies, sitting down at the booth. “And we ran into a wizard named Merlin.” Sojiro paused, looking at Sora with some shock in his eyes before letting out a chuckle. 

            “You did, did you? Well, now ain't that something?” He casually remarks, shaking his head. But as he looked back at Sora, he noticed there was a tension in the boy's shoulders that wasn’t there before. “What’s got you all riled up?” Sora blinks, surprised at Sojiro’s question. 

            “It’s nothing.” Sora tries to deny, but Sojiro lets out a long sigh. 

            “Sorry, kid, but I can tell that’s a lie.” He remarks, folding his arms. “Keeping it inside does you no good. It will only continue to eat you up unless you let it out. Believe me, I’ve had to do that with Ren and the others more than I can count.” Sora looks up at Sojiro, seeing the warmth in his eyes as Sora lets out a sigh.

            “To be honest, I don't really know what's going on.” He admits. "When we were at Merlin's house, everyone was busy talking to him about how different he was from your Persona. And it made me feel… left out." As Sojiro raised an eyebrow, Sora continued, "It's just… I can't help but wonder what it's like to have a Persona. And when I started thinking that, I started to feel… envious that you guys have one and I don't.” 

            “I see…” Sojiro comments slowly, rubbing his chin. 

            “It’s why I wanted to come back alone, just to clear my head for a moment.” Sora continues, hands on the table. “But as I was coming back, I ran into Riku.”

            “Oh. One of your friends?” Sojiro asks with a smile. 

            “Yeah. Riku’s a year older than me and was better at everything as well. Sword fighting, running, you name it, he was better.” Sora comments, shaking his head. “And while it was annoying at times, it always pushed me to be better as well. But when we met up, Riku looked… jealous of me.” 

            “Jealous? Of what?” Sojiro asks, surprise in his eyes.

            “I don’t know. I’m not sure if it was the Keyblade or being with Ren and everyone else, but he wouldn’t tell me. Not like I asked, though…” Sora comments, rubbing the back of his head. “And when I asked if he wanted to come with us, he said no. He talked about how he would make his own way when looking for Kairi. I mean, sure, it would double our chances of finding her, but I can’t help but think about why he’s not joining us.” Sora lets out a sigh, shaking his head. “Does he really think I replaced Kairi and him with everyone else? I would never do that…”

            “Unfortunately, Sora, when people see things without the full picture, they are easy to jump to the wrong conclusion.” Sojiro tells him, walking around the counter. “Misunderstandings like that are easy to make when one does not have all the information before them.” He places a hand on Sora’s shoulder, giving him a calm smile. “If you want my advice, sit him down the next time you find him and make sure he knows how much you’ve done to find both him and Kairi. Alright?” Sora looks up at Sojiro, slowly letting the words bounce in his mind before nodding back at him.

Just as Sojiro nods back at Sora and gets ready to head back around the counter, the café door opens with the Thieves, Donald, Goofy, and the Traverse team entering Leblanc. Cid and Lavenza were not with them, most likely still working on the Highwind, while the Dalmatian puppies they had found were all gone, most likely returned to their parents.

            “Hey guys. Everything okay?” Sora asks with a smile. 

            “Sure are! We all got new gear ready to go. Bit of a surprise to find they were selling the same stuff that Iwai did when we were doing Phantom Thief business back in our world." Ryuji remarks before looking at the two toons. "Still, it was an even bigger shock to learn that your nephews are running that shop, Donald.”

            “They should be with Uncle Scrooge…” Donald groans, shaking his head in annoyance. He was now holding a new wand that was blue in colour with a yellow star on top. As for Goofy, he was holding a blue shield that looked smaller than his old one with a green fleur-de-lis on top. 

            “Pongo and Perdita were really happy that we found so many of their puppies." Sophia chimes, sitting at the bar with Ren and Makoto on either side of her. "That's what the names on their collars were.”

            “Yeah. They had almost knocked Ren and Makoto over with how happy they were.” Morgana adds with a grin as the two chuckle in agreement. “They even gave us a reward as well. Still don’t know how they had Gummi Blocks, though.” 

            “Eh, Lavenza could use them to upgrade the Highwind with Cid if she wants. Anyway, I hunger!” Futaba loudly comments as the group shakes their heads at her. “I want curry!”

            “Didn’t you have some not that long ago?” Ann asks, before a growl echoes from her stomach, followed closely by Yusuke, Sophia, Goofy, Yuffie, and Isara. “Then again, maybe a little snack wouldn’t hurt.” At that, everyone finds themselves falling into subdued chatter as Sojiro gets to work serving up coffee and curry once again, with Ren and Hifumi helping him out.

Everyone did need a break now and then.

Outside in the first district, Riku was walking by himself. He had a moment to sneak outside and get a glimpse of the ship that Sora was talking about, and he had to admit it looked amazing. And the fact he named it after what they were going to call the raft after he won the race… he couldn't help but smile at that. Guess it really showed that he was making an effort in looking for both him and Kairi.

And yet, why did he feel this jealousy in him? Why did he feel angry that Sora had the Keyblade? He could easily remember that interaction he had ten years ago with that man who held his own Keyblade at him. Did someone do the same with Sora and ask him to keep it a secret like he did for himself?

Riku wasn’t sure about that. Keeping a lie was never one of Sora’s biggest strong suits. But that still didn’t explain why he felt more anger than joy at seeing him again. He was his best friend, right? A quick glance at his left hand showed a shadowy mist around his left hand before vanishing. The fact that he was being told to focus on these dark powers was not helping. Ever since he had, he felt like he was becoming more prone to anger, while rational thought was becoming harder to maintain. And as he took a moment to glance at the nearby café, seeing Sora hanging out with those new friends inside, he could feel his anger and jealousy building.

            “Stop thinking like that, Riku. You know Sora better than that.” He tells himself, pushing himself forward towards the steps before heading for the nearby alley. He wouldn’t jump to these conclusions until he found out for himself if Sora had abandoned them. 

            “You see. It’s just as we told you.” Maleficent’s voice echoes to his side as the witch manifests out of thin air, with Jerri perched on her shoulder. “While you toiled away trying to find your dear friend, he has quite simply replaced you with some new companions.”

            “I don’t know about that yet. Not until I know for certain.” Riku tells her, not wanting to look at either of them. 

            “Come now, dearie. Can you not see it is obvious that he now values them far more than he does you?” Jerri asks with a crooked smile. “You are far better off without him.” Riku silently growls, trying not to let their words get to him. It was hard to fight, seeing how they seemed to just sink into him relentlessly. 

            “Now think no more of him and come with us. We’ll help you find what you are looking for.” Maleficent tells Riku, who gives her a cautious glance. “Or we can leave you here with no method of traversing the worlds on your own. Is that what you want? To be a prisoner of a world once more?”

            “No!” Riku shouts, shaking his head. "I'll go with you… but you should know I'm only doing this reluctantly.” 

            “Oh, we are quite aware of that.” Jerri remarks as Maleficent opens a portal of darkness for Riku. He gives the two a look before entering the portal, as Jerri lets out a sigh. “I fear he won’t be so easy to manipulate.” 

            “Patience, my friend. All he needs is the right persuasion.” She replies with a sinister grin. “And certain acts that he can never walk away from.” With that last remark, Maleficent and Jerri both chuckle darkly at one another as they move through the dark portal, their plans for Riku forming in their minds.

            “By the way, have any of you guys ever heard of Maleficent?” Yuffie suddenly asks everyone in Leblanc, grabbing their attention. “Apparently, some people have said that they have seen her in town.” Leon seems to let out a growl at that, while Aerith shakes her head. 

            “Who is she?” Sora asks, seeing Leon and Aerith’s reactions. 

            “She’s a witch! An evil witch!” Yuffie shouts with anger in her voice. 

            “She’s the reason why Traverse Town is full of Heartless.” Leon remarks, folding his arms.

            “Known as the Mistress of Evil, she has been using the Heartless for years. Our world was lost thanks to her." Aerith remarks with sad eyes, which causes Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves to frown as well.

            "Mistress of Evil, huh? Talk about a cliché title for a witch. Still, I'm sorry that you lost your world." Ren replies, to which Aerith gives a small smile.

            "It's okay. That event happened nine years ago when a swarm overtook our home. Cid managed to rescue us and bring us here. But two of our members have disappeared…” 

            “Don’t forget about Zack.” Yuffie suddenly interjects. “He was here when we first arrived and was keeping an eye out for Maleficent before he disappeared last year.” Aerith seems to look away with a hurt expression at hearing that, with Yuffie looking away with a guilty look. “All we found left were some pink feathers.” The Thieves all look at Yuffie in muted shock. She couldn’t possibly be referring to her, could she?

            “Our ruler was a man named Ansem the Wise. He dedicated his entire life to researching the Heartless.” Leon remarks, snapping them out of their thoughts as he leans on his seat.

            “You mentioned his research notes before, Aerith.” Donald comments. “Do you think Maleficent has them?”

            “It is possible she does.” Aerith agrees. “After all, it is possible his report can tell us how to defeat the Heartless. Sealing Keyholes won’t be enough if we can’t find a way to stop them.” As the group let that information sink in, Yusuke’s eyes drifted to the wall at the entrance. But as he did, his eyes widened in shock.

            “The Sayuri… Where is the Sayuri?" He asks with alarm in his voice as all eyes turn to the wall. Where a portrait of Yusuke's mother holding him as a baby should be hanging, there is now an empty space. 

            “What the!? Where did it go!?” Futaba shouts, standing up in alarm. “It was there when we first arrived!” 

            “Did someone steal it? But how did they do it without us knowing?” Ren asks, shaking his head. They would have heard someone coming in! But even as they tried to piece this puzzle together, a loud bell chimed outside, grabbing everyone’s attention. 

            “A bell?” Makoto asks curiously.

            “That must be the bell in the second district. But it hasn’t been rung in ages.” Yuffie remarks, folding her arms. 

            “First the Sayuri is stolen again, and now a bell is rung?” Morgana asks, shaking his head. “What is going on?” 

            “Could it be… the Heartless?” Sora asks before shaking his head. “But why would the Heartless steal a painting? Or ring a bell?”

            “I suggest we head to the second district and find out.” Sae comments, pushing herself up. “We may even find a clue as to what happened to the Sayuri.” While everyone nodded at her, Haru was busy trying to get a response from Yusuke as he stared at the empty wall, only for his eyes to narrow in anger as his fists clenched. 

            “Horrendous Heartless… I vow to slice them to ribbons.” He speaks with venom in his voice as everyone sweat drops at him. Although they really couldn’t blame him either.

            “Got to admit, it is pretty quiet here without Yzma and Kronk.” Hades remarks, picking his ear. “I’m even missing the big guy's cooking.” 

            “That was the only thing he had going for him.” Ursula remarks, folding her arms. Just then, Maleficent and Jerri returned to the room, with Diablo joining them seconds later. 

            “Welcome back, Maleficent. How was your outing?” Jafar greets, bowing to her as she lets out a chuckle.

            “Rather uneventful. And I believe our newest ‘friend’ will be of great help to us. However, I did happen to find a ‘souvenir’.” She glances to the side as a Soldier Heartless walks towards her, carrying the Sayuri in its arms. 

            “A painting? I did not take you for an art collector, Maleficent.” Qada remarks with surprise in his voice while Tamiel lets out a grin. 

            “Ah, it is the Sayuri.” Owada remarks as he steps out of the shadows with Ikutsuki. “The great prize of Madarame. So we have finally found it.”

            “Indeed we have.” Jerri remarks as the Soldier Heartless carries it to the back, placing it next to several other items they had collected. “And with that, we have everything we need…” Owada turns, smiling deeply as Maleficent walks towards the items, looking over each one with a calculating look.

Apart from the Sayuri, there is a golden Olympic medal, a golden briefcase, two model kits, one of which is a Ratte tank and the other a burger-shaped spaceship, a presidential award, and a legislator pin. And this was only just the start as she grins devilishly.

            “I can still feel the darkness radiating from them. It is time that we increase our members to recuperate our loss.” With that, she glows a deep green aura, enveloping the items as Owada grins darkly, just as seven figures start to materialize before the items. Retribution was coming. And there was nothing the Thieves could do to stop it.

            “So this is the bell?” Shiho asks, being the last to climb the ladder. “Why is it behind a wooden wall?” 

            “Dunno.” Futaba comments as they look at the dull yellow bell and the old brown rope hanging from it. They were surprised to be ambushed by the Heartless inside the gizmo shop, but it was more of an annoyance than anything else. Although the new variants they had encountered, the flying Air Soldiers and Yellow Opera, were an unwelcome surprise.

Not helped by the fact that they had to deal with flying versions of the Soldier Heartless and the thunder-spewing cousins of the Red Nocturne, as they had two of each try to ambush them up here, not that they lasted long anyway. But now they were here, with Sora walking up to the rope. 

            “Should we pull it?” He asks, grasping the rope. “It might reveal something.” 

            “I see no reason why we shouldn’t.” Akechi comments, folding his arms. Ren agrees with him, giving Sora a nod as he pulls the rope. The bell lets out a chime, the sound gently echoing around them. But while nothing around them changed, the mural at the other end of the district spun around as fires lit up under it.

            “Wait… so the mural changes when the bell rings?” Ryuji asks, rubbing the back of his head. “The hell does that work?” 

            “Can we ring it again?” Sophia asks, running up and pulling the rope. Just like clockwork, the bell rings once more as the mural changes again. This time the decorative metal glows a rainbow of colour.

            “It’s kinda anticlimactic.” Ann comments as Donald walks up to the rope. “I was expecting something, I dunno, exciting.” Just as she says that, Donald rings the bell, causing the mural to change once more. This time, fountains spring up from the water as the mural lands on a white background with butterflies. But it doesn’t stay that way for long, as it quickly changes to a purple backdrop with a golden frame. 

And a giant glowing cyan Keyhole right in the middle. 

            “It’s the Keyhole!” Goofy cries as everyone stares at it in shock.

            “It was hiding there this entire time?!” Isara shouts as Sora quickly jumps to the ground, quickly followed by everyone else as Sora rushes to the Keyhole. They couldn't waste any time! Now that it was exposed, they had to seal it before the Heartless could get to it! But before they could reach it, an old foe familiar to Sora, Donald, Goofy, Ren, Morgana, Futaba, Hifumi, Isara, and Sophia dropped from the sky to block them, kicking up dust as the team came to a halt, with Ren and the others switching to their Thief attire. 

            “It's the Guard Armour!” Oracle shouts as the Guard Armour, now sporting a different colour palette as it was now primarily white with yellow, red, and blue decals and red feet, stomps towards them, arms spinning around.

            “So what?! We beat this thing once; we can do so again! "Zionga!” Edel cries, sending a blast of thunder at the Guard Armour and smashing it right into its right arm. Skull follows up, launching an Assault Dive at the same limb while Goofy deflects a strike from the left limb. Queen leaps up, landing a mean punch on the left arm, quickly followed by Athena, while Spring and Sora lash out at the chest. 

The Guard Armour stumbles backward from the attack, just as Joker, Noir, Fox, and Crow rush forward, slashing at the legs, while Panther, Donald, Shadow, and Sophie launch a joint magical blast at the Guard Armour's head. The strike seemingly makes it unbalanced as Mona hits it with a blast of Garula. The wind is more than enough to send it limping to the ground in a crumpled heap.

            “HA! He ain't so tough!” Outlaw shouts, sending a Double Shot at the downed Guard Armour. But just as Joker was about to tell them to initiate an All-Out Attack, the Guard Armour quickly shot back up and reconfigured itself. As it did, it gave out a shudder as it slammed its hands into the ground, shifting its body around so that it was now floating upside down, with the head still floating above it. Once it assumed its new position, the feet collapsed into claws, while the metal visor covering the head retracted down like a jaw, revealing the yellow eyes that hid behind it.

            “I think you just jinxed us, Outlaw!” Skull shouts as the Guard Armour rears its limbs back before shooting them forward, hitting several of them and sending them flying before quickly lashing out with a spinning uppercut with its feet, forcing those not hit to dodge out of the way, just as several Soldiers appear alongside it. Only their attention is not on the team. 

            “They are heading for the Keyhole!” Goofy calls out as the Soldiers rush towards it, only for Joker and Queen to get in front of them and bash them away. But as they do so, several Air Soldiers appear alongside Shadow Heartless, forcing the two to break out into a sweat as the Guard Armour focuses on keeping everyone else away from the Keyhole.

            “What now!?” Sora shouts, sending a Fire spell at an Air Soldier and knocking it out of the sky as Shadow switches to her sniper rifle to shoot down the others. But while Joker and Queen try to keep the others back, a few Shadow Heartless slink right past them, heading straight for the Keyhole. Not wasting a second, Sora rushes forward with a Sonic Blade, knocking them back but sees even more Shadow Heartless slipping past Joker and Queen, the two of whom are busy dealing with the Soldiers and Air Soldiers.

            There are too many of them!

            By yourself, there is. But you have other strengths.

Sora’s eyes widen, the voice from his dream echoing in his mind. But before he could think about that, he remembered what he had obtained from Merlin’s house. And, well, now was as good a time to try it. “Courage!” Sora calls, resting a hand over his chest as his necklace seemed to glow. Without missing a beat, Sora aims Golden Llama forward, generating an orb of energy before swinging it upward. The light seemed to glow bright, as a lion’s roar echoed from inside, followed closely by an orange lion with a red mane, leaping forward and lashing out at a Shadow Heartless.

            “Did Sora summon a lion!?” Spring calls out as the lion turns to look at Sora. The two seem to share a connection as the lion nods at Sora with a grin before leaping at the Shadow Heartless, driving them away with powerful swings and a mighty roar. 

            “We’ll keep the Keyhole safe! Focus on the Guard Armour!” Sora calls out, sending out a blast of Blizzard at an Air Soldier as Queen fires her revolver at some Soldiers. 

            “It’s called the Opposite Armour! Kinda a weak name if you think about it!” Oracle calls out over the headset before dodging out of the way of an attack from the giant Heartless. “This is getting REALLY annoying now!”

            “Then let us expedite its fall.” Fox comments, narrowing his eyes as he suddenly starts to glow red while resting a hand on his mask. “Goemon!” Taking his mask off eloquently, Fox summons Goemon to his side. Goemon then takes a long draught of his pipe, blowing the crystal blue smoke onto Fox as he is surrounded by it, before suddenly dashing out with three more copies of himself. “Like a Phantom!” He cries as Fox and his three copies slash into the Opposite Armour six times before leaping back. As Fox sheaths his katana, the copies vanish as the six strikes all impact the Heartless commander at the same time, causing it to lose both of its clawed feet.

In retaliation, it grabs its head with its clawed hands and starts spinning it around like a top, charging at everyone as the body spins around like a tornado once more, bashing into everyone and forcing them into the path of the spinning head. The summoned lion spots the head heading for Sora and knocks them both out of the way, avoiding a grievous injury.

            “Okay, that’s it! Let’s go, Captain!” Skull shouts, ripping his mask off as Captain Kidd comes flying in. Glowing with a red aura, Skull points right at the Opposite Armour. “Get that treasure! Brigantine Blitzkrieg!” With a ghostly chuckle, Captain Kidd dashes right at the Opposite Armour, smashing right through it and disrupting its attack while destroying its two clawed arms. 

            “Nice! It’s only the main body left!” Panther calls out, as the tide of Heartless attacking Joker, Queen, Sora, and the lion seems to die out. But it was then that the Opposite Armour brought out its ace. It connected its head to the side of its body, aiming what was originally the bottom at the team before charging up a blast of energy. Without warning, it then blasted them with a beam of darkness, sending everyone caught in the blast flying back except for Edel and Sophie as it turned towards Joker and Queen, already charging up another energy blast inside it.

            “No!” Sora calls out, feeling another spell come to him as the wind starts to wrap around him. “Wind!” He shouts, generating a sphere of wind around Joker as the Opposite Armour fires. But the blast is mitigated by the wind shield around Joker, with Queen taking cover behind it, the shield protecting her as well. But what neither of them notices is a blue glow coming from Joker’s pocket. A glow that only a certain two seem to catch. 

            “Let's show this Heartless what we’re made of, Sophie!” Edelweiss shouts, jumping to her side with a grin. Sophie looks at her for a moment before nodding her head with determination. 

            “I’m ready when you are!”

“It’s Showtime!”

The two A.I.s leap into the air, quickly followed by the familiar sight of falling red curtains as the second district is changed to a digital landscape, with Sophie and Edel looking over the Opposite Armour as they glance at each other. 

            “Let’s go!” Edel shouts, jumping off and changing into her tank form in a flash of blue fire with Sophie riding on top. Sophie glances at the two missile pods before charging them up with Bless magic as Edel unleashes a storm of missiles at the Heartless, slamming it with Bless magic before ramming it at full speed with an electric aura around her. 

The impact sends Sophie flying at the Heartless, but she uses her yo-yos to grapple onto it and spin around it, forcing the Heartless to sway in the air as Sophie lands back on Edel’s turret. Before charging Bless magic into the cannons, Edel charges them up with both Electric and Almighty magic.

            “Shows over!” The two shout as Edel unleashes the combined magic into one blast, slamming the Heartless in the chest as the blast sends it flying into a digital wall of code. With the wall of code collapsing and burying the Opposite Armour under it, Sophie lets out a little cheer on top of Edel.

As the area turns back to normal, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy looking at the two in complete shock, the Opposite Armour slowly rises back into the air, seemingly determined to keep on fighting until Sora, snapping out of his daze, rushes forward and cleaves the Opposite Armour right through the middle.

With that, the Opposite Armour does the same death rattle as its cousin, with the head falling into its chest as a heart escapes from its clutches, vanishing into light seconds later as the team all lets out a sigh of relief.

            “That was too close.” Shadow remarks as Athena walks up. 

            “Indeed. Had we been a second closer, the Heartless would have swarmed into the Keyhole.” She comments, watching as Sora quickly works on sealing the Keyhole. Letting out a sigh of relief as the Keyhole seals itself up. And while it did spit out another Navi-Gummi, he didn’t get a Keychain from it. Oh well, there were two other things he had to focus on first, one of them being the lion walking by his side right now. 

            “Thanks for the help.” Sora tells the lion, not expecting it to reply as everyone joins him.

            “It is no problem.” The lion replies, shocking him and everyone else. "Although… I am a bit lost as to where I am…” 

            “He talks!” Noir shouts in amazement even as Mona shakes his head in amusement. Had they forgotten about him, Donald, and Goofy again? The lion looks at her, tilting his head in curiosity. 

            “Well, of course I can. I have been able to talk all my life.” He replies, looking at everyone. “Besides that, who are all of you?” Seeing how they hadn’t exchanged names yet, the Thieves all glance at each other before shifting back to their normal attire, surprising the lion.

            “I guess that’s fair.” Sora comments, rubbing his head. “I’m Sora. Sora Osment. This is Donald and Goofy.” He indicates the two toons on either side of him as Ren steps forward. 

            “My name is Ren. With me are Makoto, Sophia, Morgana, Futaba, Hifumi, Isara, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Haru, Shiho, Mishima, Sae, and Akechi.” Ren introduces his side as the lion slowly nods his head before putting on a smile. 

            “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Simba.” He replies before looking at Sora. “But you still haven’t told me what’s happened.”

            “That’s a long story…” Sora comments as the group gives Simba the short version. Something that greatly troubled him, judging by the frown on his face. 

            “I see… so that’s what happened.” He comments, shaking his head. “Do you think you can restore my world?” 

            “I don’t know.” Sora replies, shaking his head. “I like to think I can… but there’s still so much I don’t know.” Ren and the others nod sympathetically at Sora, knowing that he is right in that regard. As for Simba, he can see the worry clear on his face as he puts on a smile. 

            “Hakuna Matata.” He tells Sora, grabbing his attention. “From where I am from, it means no worries. So keep those words with you, Sora. I know you and the others can fix this.” But as soon as he said that, his body started to glow. “What’s happening now?” 

            “You’re still a spirit.” Donald comments, shaking his head. “Sora can only summon you for a short while. After that, you turn back into a gem to recover.” Simba frowns, unhappy that his resurrection was temporary, but he lets out a begrudging sigh.

            “I guess I’ll have to deal with it.” He comments, looking once more at Sora. “Call me whenever you need me, okay?” And with that, he vanishes into light, returning to Sora’s Keyblade as Sora looks at it. 

            “I will.” He promises, de-summoning Kingdom Key before looking back at the others. Now for the other question on his mind. “What was that big attack you two pulled off? It’s nothing like that super move Joker, Fox, and Skull used. And speaking of, what was that super move anyway?” Sophia and Isara look at each other, letting out some chuckles as Joker pulls out the Wishing Star, completely surprised that he even still had it or that he had forgotten about it in the first place.

            “We call it a Showtime attack. Simply put, it’s when we get to be extra fancy in our attacks while dealing critical damage.” Ren tells Sora in a simplistic way. “You’d be surprised at what can be done.” But even if it was simplistic, it didn’t do much to diminish the glint in Sora’s eyes. "As for that super move, we call it a Theurgy attack. Basically, it is a powerful attack that works in tandem with our Persona, but it can only be activated under specific conditions. And even then, we usually only have two we can use, but we've been reverted back to having one at the moment."

            “But that’s still so cool!” Sora shouts, holding his hands under his chin. “Do you think I could do one as well? For either of them?” 

            “I'm not sure about Theurgy, but maybe with Showtime attacks.” Makoto remarks, brushing some hair back. “But it all comes down to the Wishing Star. You never know. Just let your imagination run wild, and you may be surprised at what happens. The same goes for the two of you.” She tells Donald and Goofy, the two toons easily nodding at her just as the doors to the first district are opened, with Leon walking in.

            “Is everything alright?” He calls down as Sojiro, Yoshida, and Yuffie join him. “We heard a battle.” 

            “Everything is okay.” Ren calls back up as they head up the stairs to join them. “We managed to seal this world's Keyhole.” 

            “You found it?!” Yuffie shouts as a giant smile forms on her face. “Yippee!” 

            “That is heartening to hear.” Yoshida remarks, folding his arms as Sojiro lets out a sigh. 

            “I swear, sooner or later you are all going to give me a heart attack.” He tells them all, shaking his head. “But at least this world is safe. That is something, I suppose.”

            “It is.” Sora replies before looking at the doors. “By the way, is the Highwind finished yet?” 

            “You betcha!” Yuffie comments with a grin. “Lavenza and Cid just got back not that long ago, telling us they finished installing the Navi-Gummies. They are waiting for you at the Highwind to explain more.” 

            “Then let’s not keep them waiting.” Sae remarks, brushing her hair back. “After all, we still have companions to find.” 

            “No arguments from me.” Donald comments as the team heads back to the Highwind, Sojiro once more staying behind with Yoshida. When the team arrives back at the Highwind, they can see very little has changed on the outside. Perhaps it was more internal than external upgrades, as Lavenza, Persona Alice, and Cid all wait for them at the entrance.

            “Welcome back.” Lavenza greets the team with a smile. “We have just finished upgrading the Highwind. We can now explore farther than before.” 

            “It was a surprise to find that this ship had its own warp drive functions, but they were unusable until I got to work on them.” Cid remarks, folding his arms. “But now you can warp to any world you’ve been to.” 

            “That should make our trips a lot easier.” Ren remarks, nodding his head. 

            “I also had a look at the weapons in the wings and gave them a tune-up. Should be helpful in case you run into any Heartless ships on your way out.” Cid adds, glancing at the weapon ports.

            “We appreciate it, Cid.” Makoto comments as Sora walks forward, holding another Navi-Gummi. 

            “By the way, we found the Keyhole for this world, and it gave us another Navi-Gummi. But I’m guessing this one is part of a pair, right?” Cid looks at the Gummi Piece, picking it up and giving it a look over before nodding his head. 

            “Yep… this one comes in a set. You’ll need to find its twin before I can install it.” He replies, handing it back to Sora as Persona Alice floats towards Ren.

            “Lavenza has been a great help in restoring our strength, but we are still too weak to join.” Persona Alice lets out a long sigh, looking at the ground in disappointment as Ren shakes his head. 

            “Don’t worry about it, Alice. We’ll all be fighting by each other’s side soon enough.” Persona Alice seemed to smile at that as Ren looked back at the Highwind. “Well, we might as well get going. We’ve still got a lot of people to find.” 

            “Good luck. If you find any more Navi-Gummies, look for me behind the accessory shop. I’ll be opening up my old business back there.” Cid remarks as he walks away from the team, even if what he said has piqued their curiosity. 

            “Your old business?” Sophia asks, tilting her head as Cid looks back with a wide grin. 

            “Yep! Gummi Ships!” He calls back, waving at them as he leaves with a smile. Somehow, his response did not surprise anyone in the least as they boarded the Highwind once more. It was time to return to the sea of stars.

Chapter Text

Chapter 13: Arabian Days~

When they were told they would be going via a shortcut to the next world, everyone assumed it would have been a casual fly like the others. And it was, until they hit the warp tunnel. Before they even realised it, the Highwind was flying through a field of asteroids, banking hard as everyone held on for dear life from Lavenza’s driving. And that wasn’t the only problem they were facing. 

            “We’ve got Heartless ships inbound!” Futaba calls out from the nav station, located to Lavenza’s left. On the main screen, images of the Heartless ships appear before them, all in wacky styles that show no semblance of an internal cockpit. Almost as though these ships were living Heartless ships.

            “Yuuki! Use the main guns!” Ren calls out to Mishima, who is sitting on Lavenza’s right. Mishima doesn’t respond as he is already gripping the controls and pressing the trigger down, sending blasts of blue light from the Highwind’s wings right at the Heartless ships, managing to shoot down several as they swarm over them. The shields of the Highwind flare to life and negate the blasts, but they can only hold up for so long as they start to quickly drop.

            “Shields at 95% and dropping!” Isara calls out from her station as Lavenza banks the ship to the left, avoiding another asteroid as several Heartless ships slam into it. 

            “We should be exiting the warp tunnel soon!” Lavenza tells everyone, her eyes glancing to the screen to her left as a blue portal appears before them. Without wasting a beat, Lavenza speeds the Highwind up, deploying two more thrusters from under the ship located at the back to increase their speed, leaving the Heartless ships behind as it blasts through the portal, emerging on the other side unscathed, with a new world floating before them.

A giant ball of dust with what looked to be a massive dark cave in the form of a tiger head emitting a glowing red maw on the underside. While on top was a massive white palace with giant golden orb domes, surrounded by a city that seemed to have been made out of stone. 

            “So, this is the next world?” Sora asks, tilting his head at it. 

            “Sheesh, just by seeing how it looks, I can already tell it’s gonna be hot as hell.” Ryuji groans, shaking his head.

            “We will have to bear with it just like we did when we were outside Futaba's Palace.” Makoto comments as the team heads for the teleporter. "Just to make sure, we have plenty of water, right?” 

            “I’ll go check.” Goofy comments, heading to the training area. It was strange how it was connected to the supply rooms, but who were they to judge ship design? As they made last-second checks before beaming down to the new world, inside the empty city, two robed figures moved through the abandoned streets. 

            “And the Keyhole?” Maleficent asks Jafar, the evil vizier moving to join her side.

            “The Heartless are looking for it now. I’m certain we’ll find it soon enough.” He tells her, putting on a dark smile. “And we need not worry about the Sultan or his guards stopping us. The Demons Owada has sent us are keeping them locked inside the palace. And so that just leaves…”

            “Jafar!” A squawking cry echoes above as Jerri and a red parrot with a large golden beak fly down towards them. Jerri lands on Maleficent’s shoulder, while the new bird takes roost on Jafar’s shoulder. “We’ve looked everywhere for Jasmine! She’s disappeared like magic!”

            “Not magic, Iago.” Jerri rebukes, shaking her head. “It was those two Thieves. They are hiding her in the shadows.”

            “Hmph, the girl is more trouble than she’s worth.” Jafar remarks, shaking his head. 

            “You said you had things under control.” Maleficent remarks, looking at Jafar. “And how did you not realise these Thieves were among you?” 

            “It was not until we made our move to capture Jasmine and the Sultan that they made their move. Their ability to hide in plain sight is certainly a nuisance. And Agrabah is full of holes for rats and Thieves to hide in.” Jafar remarks, slowly shaking his head. “But worry about Princess Jasmine? With her or without her, surely this world will be ours when we find the Keyhole”

            “It is not possible, Jafar. We need all Seven Princesses of Heart to open the final door. Any fewer are useless.” Maleficent reminds Jafar carefully. This was something they could not screw up on, regardless of their ambitions. And seeing how Jafar nodded back at her, he reminded himself of that same mindset. 

            “Well, if the princess is that important, we’ll find her.” He tells her, tapping his staff on the sandy ground as three Heartless appear behind him. Dressed in white turbans around their heads, hiding their faces, while dressed in bandit attire and holding curved scimitars in their hands. “Find Jasmine, and bring her to me at once. As for the Thieves who protect her, kill them.” The new Heartless eagerly nod at him before rushing out into the streets, with Iago following after them.

            “Don’t steep yourself in darkness for too long. The Heartless consume the careless.” Maleficent warns Jafar as he walks ahead. He pauses for a moment before letting out a slow laugh as he looks over his shoulder back at her. 

            “Your concern is touching but hardly necessary.” He replies before vanishing in a flash of fire. As for Maleficent, she and Jerri shake their heads at him before vanishing into a dark portal of their own. All the while, none of them realising that they were being watched from the stands by three pairs of eyes.

            “Father…” A woman wearing a blue dress suited for the desert environment and long black hair tied into a long braid comments, letting herself sink behind the wooden stand, even as three Dalmatian puppies huddled against her. Just as a hand in a white glove that looked to be made of silk rested on her shoulder. 

            “It’s okay, he will be freed soon, Jasmine.” Fortune tells her before looking back over the stand, her face forming a frown as her eyes narrow. “To think that Jerri would align herself with someone like that…”

            “Honestly, after everything we’ve done to stop her plans, I’m not surprised.” Violet tells her, crouching low. She had taken off her jacket due to the heat, which gave her more ease of movement. She could easily imagine Joker doing the same if he were here as well. “Still, we can’t stay here. Those Heartless might come back and look.” 

            “In that case, follow me.” Jasmine replies, grabbing a grey poncho and putting it on, making sure the hood was up and her lower face was covered. “I know a place we can hide.” 

            “Lead on.” Fortune replies, taking a moment to look at a Tarot card, letting out a smile as she sees what she has drawn just now. Before, it had always been the Tower alongside that same symbol on the Heartless. But this time, it was neither of them. 

For she had drawn the World and Hope.

When the team beamed down to the new world, they expected they could get a lay of the land like they did for the past four they had seen. But they quickly found out that they would be getting none of that here, as the moment they appeared, the Heartless were already on them. Forcing them to duck under a wave of scimitar blades. Futaba, switching over to her Thief attire, found herself at the centre of the attraction before quickly hopping into Necronomicon for safety. 

After they had a moment to regroup, the team counterattacked with extreme vengeance, forcing the new Heartless and their Shadow allies to fall back, while others were cut down as they tried to kill them. Eventually, they finished off the last of the remaining Heartless, giving the team a much-needed pause.

            “What the hell was that? They jumped us the moment we arrived.” Panther remarks, stretching her arms. 

            “They can’t have been waiting for us… Could they have been searching for something as we arrived?” Crow comments, hand on his chin before looking at the nearby stalls, seeing them not only abandoned but ransacked as well. “I fear we may have arrived too late to save these people…” 

            “But we can still save their world.” Sora comments, looking down the only road open for them. “And maybe someone is still around but is hiding from the Heartless. I say we should explore and find out.”

            “I second that.” Joker comments before tugging at his jacket. “But still… the heat is a killer…” 

            “For real…” Queen groans, already feeling her Thief attire start to stick to her. And judging by how Panther, Oracle, and Spring were looking at themselves, the same could be said for them. 

            “Let’s find some shade before we move on.” Athena comments, pointing at a tunnel connecting this bazaar to the next, even as she takes off her jacket. Something that Joker and Outlaw copied, letting themselves breathe as the team takes cover in the shade. Why they didn’t have this trouble back in the Deep Jungle, they wouldn’t know. Although the difference in temperature as they entered the shade was like night and day.

            “Ahhh… sweet relief.” Donald comments, giving himself a shake. “So, where should we look first?” 

            “How about a nearby alley?” Oracle comments, bringing up a screen. “I’m picking up something there, but more importantly, I’m picking up two friendlies as well.” 

            “Friendlies? You mean more of our team?” Spring asks with growing hope in her voice. 

            “That’s what it looks like.” Oracle replies, nodding her head while closing her screens. “And that makes it all the more important to check.”

            “Then what are we standing around here for? Let’s go check.” Skull comments with a grin. No sooner does he suggest it than the team heads out back into the sun. But if you were to ask the original eight, Shiho, and Mishima, they would say it wasn’t as bad as the heat in Oracle’s Palace. 

Well… maybe a little bit better. 

But regardless, they couldn’t waste time having their strength sapped by the heat. Not like they had much to go, what with wooden barricades blocking most of the entrances around the city. It seemed like those who were living here, or had lived, had erected them to keep the Heartless at bay. But there was only so much those could do when the foe could just appear on the other side of them.

            “Looks like we’ve reached a dead end.” Shadow comments, seeing how they found themselves in a boxed alley with literal stacks of boxes nearby. “I don’t see any other way we can take to continue forward.” 

            “So what do we do now? Head back to the entrance?” Sora asks, just as a shadow moves behind the boxes, freezing in place.

            “I would say that is a wise idea.” Crow comments, nodding his head at Sora. “Ideally, we should find a higher elevation and—” 

            “Crow?” Violet’s voice echoes from the boxes as she slowly steps out into the light, all eyes turning to her in both shock and surprise. But none more so than Crow as he reverts back to his civilian clothes in a flash of blue flames, with Violet doing the same a second later as the two rush toward each other.

            “Sumire!” Akechi shouts, the two enveloping each other in hugs as Fortune and Jasmine emerge from behind the boxes with the three Dalmatian pups. “I’m so glad you’re safe!” 

            “So am I…” Sumire replies, nuzzling her head into Akechi’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you are alive.” While Akechi silently nods at her, Fortune approaches them before dismissing her Thief attire, once more standing before them as Chihaya. 

            “Glad to see you are all right.” Chihaya tells them as the Thieves all switch back to their normal clothes while Jasmine watches them with surprise. “I knew the cards wouldn’t let me down.” She holds up the World and Hope card, causing the team to chuckle at her as Ren shakes his head.

            “It’s good to see you, Chihaya. And you as well, Sumire.” Ren comments, grabbing the redhead’s attention. “Akechi was worried sick about you ever since we found him.” 

            “Just like how you were worried about Makoto?” Morgana cheekily asks Ren, who blushes as the group chuckles at him, just as Sophia rushes forward to hug Sumire and Chihaya. 

            “Hello, Sophia. It’s so good to see you again.” Sumire comments, rubbing her head before seeing Sora, Donald, and Goofy. “Oh, hello there. I’m Sumire Yoshizawa. It’s nice to meet you.”

            “And you're Goro's girlfriend if I have to guess.” Sora replies with a grin as Sumire blushes at the reminder. "I'm Sora Osment. It's nice to meet you.” 

            “Donald Duck.” 

            “Name’s Goofy.” The two toons reply, as Sumire chuckles at them, just as Chihaya steps up beside her. 

            “I’m Chihaya Mifune. It’s nice to meet you.” She tells them before looking behind her. “And we have a very special person with us as well.” The team all takes note of at Jasmine as she walks forward, a bit nervous but otherwise calm as she bows to them.

            “My name is Jasmine, Princess of Agrabah.” She greets them politely. The team, seeing that they were in the presence of royalty, all bow respectfully while introducing themselves to her, but she waves them off with a smile. “Thank you for being courteous, but as of now I’m only a princess in name. My father, the Sultan, has been deposed by Jafar and is being held hostage along with the guards inside the palace.” 

            “Jafar?” Goofy asks, with Sumire looking at him. 

            “He’s the royal vizier, or at least he pretended to be one.” She tells the group, eyes simmering with anger. “When Chihaya and I first arrived, the Sultan was more than generous to let us stay at the palace when we told him what happened to our home. But Jafar seemed to know about our Personas, as he summoned those Heartless after us.”

            “You know they are called Heartless?” Sora asks as the team looks at them with surprise. 

            “We overheard Jafar call them that.” Chihaya replies. “But that wasn’t all…” She looks up at Ren, her eyes mixed with anger and shock. And what she says next has everyone else share in that anger. “Ren, Jerri is working with him.”

            “Jerri!?” The Thieves shout in anger, surprising Sora, Donald, and Goofy. 

            “That pink parasite is here?!” Ryuji growls, slamming his hands together. 

            “Why can’t she just leave us alone?” Shiho asks, rubbing her head in annoyance. 

            “I take it you know this… Jerri?” Sora asks hesitantly. 

            “Long story…” Haru comments, shaking her head. “At least Tao, Toshiro, Eri, and Tsuchiya are not here to hear this. All of them would be furious. Especially Tao.” While the group forced themselves to calm down, there was something else they had to ask.

            “So, what did Jerri do while she was here?” Hifumi asks, barely holding her anger in check. 

            “She summoned ‘Demons’ to try and keep Chihaya and me busy while Jafar tried to capture Jasmine and the Sultan. But we managed to escape with her while her pet tiger distracted them.” Sumire replies as Jasmine lets out a worried sigh. “Although we don’t know what happened after that.” 

            “After he became ruler of Agrabah, Jafar has been ordering the Heartless and Demons to look for something that he calls a 'Keyhole'.” Jasmine informs the group as she lets out a shiver. "He even almost managed to capture me one time… but luckily I was saved thanks to him.”

            “Who?” Yusuke asks, although the question did bring a slight tinge to Jasmine’s cheeks. Something that Sumire and Chihaya smiled coyly at. But it didn't last long as another voice joined them, shattering the mood as all eyes turned to a platform above them. 

            “Indeed. Who is this street rat that helped you?” Jafar asks them, his voice mixed with mockery as he glares down at the team. “Jasmine, allow me to find you more suitable company, my dear princess. These Thieves are no good for you, see?” 

            “Jasmine, run!” Sora shouts, summoning Golden Llama to his side as the Thieves shift into their Thief attire.

            “Fortune, go with her!” Joker shouts, spinning his knife in one hand. Fortune nods, grabbing Jasmine’s hand as the two sprint off down the alleyway while Jafar watches them with a glare in his eye before returning his attention to Sora and the others. 

            “Ah, the boy who wields the key. And the infamous Phantom Thieves of Heart. Jerri has been quite vocal in her dislike of you rats.” Jafar hisses at them, almost sounding like a snake.

            “What can we say? We just like beating up people who want to be tyrants.” Edel shoots back with a smirk. 

            “It would be wise if you surrendered.” Athena tells him, spinning her tonfas around. “We have you outnumbered.” 

            “Do you?” Jafar asks back, tapping his staff on the ground and summoning more of those bandit-like Heartless to his side. Only this time they were accompanied by a new Demon: a small dragon-like creature whose body alternated between red and black while a ribcage-like structure encased it. Its wings were more like connecting lines in a spider web, the colour of which was like that of a rainbow that ended in feathers.

As Jafar took his leave, Oracle wasted no time in hopping into Necronomicon as the foes swarmed over the team, Violet already slashing out with her rapier before tearing her mask off during a backflip. 

            “Cendrillon! Kouga!” Following her command, Cendrillon forms behind Violet before blasting the Heartless with light. Just as Oracle finishes scanning their new foes.

            “Okay, guys! The new Heartless are called Bandits, and the Demons are called Zhen! They resist Dark and Curse but are weak to Fire!”

            “Maragi!” Panther calls, dousing the Zhens in flame as Sora uses Gravity to force them to the ground, also flattening them before they pop right back up. But they didn’t last as Outlaw fired his gun at them alongside Crow, while Goofy bashed away a Bandit that tried a spinning vertical slash at him.

Opening itself up to a joint Thunder and Zionga blast from Donald, Skull, and Edel, clearing out a good portion of the Heartless, even as more seemingly appear along the top and drop down into the fight. Several more Zhens appear in the air, swooping down at the team only to be blasted by Mona with a Garula.

Several Bandits bear down on Sophie, only to be shot up by Joker and Queen as Sophie uses her yo-yos to trip some into each other, leaving them open to Spring, who blasts them with Kouga while Athena fires her guns at the remaining Zhens, forcing them back as Fox attacks with a Dormin Rush on the few Bandits that remain before Noir comes in, spinning herself around with her axe and slicing them to pieces as Shadow uses Psio on the retreating Zhens, slamming them into the ground and clearing the area of foes. 

            “That’s the last one!” Mona calls out in a cheer, just as Violet rushes past him.

            “Follow me! I know where we can hide out!” She tells them, rushing out of the alley. With no other option, the team rushes after her, just avoiding the Heartless reinforcements that look around confused. As the team follows Violet, they are led to an out-of-the-way hole with a pole leading up, which Violet is quickly climbing. Left with very little option, the team follows her up the pole, with the Heartless just missing them once more and rushing past it, without even giving it a passing glance. As for where the pole led, the team found themselves in an abandoned room lined with old cabinets, carpets, and tarps, while a large hole in the side of the building, half-covered by a tarp, looked out at the palace, shining in all its glory. Sitting on the steps leading up to the hole were Fortune, Jasmine, and the three puppies sleeping on a large purple carpet with red and gold embroidery.

            “You’re alright.” Jasmine comments as the team relaxes inside the hideout, with the Thieves shifting back into their normal attire. “I was worried Jafar would have harmed you.” 

            “Nah, he turned tail the moment you fled.” Futaba comments with a grin as she crouches down. “Now that we have a chance to calm down, who was it that helped you escape?” Jasmine looks at Futaba, a faint blush on her face as she lets out a sigh.

            “His name is Aladdin. He might be poor and a thief, but I’ve seen him give out the food he steals to orphans in the suburbs. Even if the guards are always after him, Aladdin never stops looking after people like him. Even when helping me to escape, he never took advantage of me or robbed me blind. He was always looking out for me." 

            “He’s an honest guy.” Sumire remarks before looking out at the palace. “Although he left before you guys arrived. He said he had to take care of something that could help us bring down Jafar.”

            “Really? Where did he go?” Akechi asks Sumire, who points out at the vast desert beyond the city. “He went into the desert?” 

            “Apparently, there is a place called the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin has been to it before, but he was chased out by the Heartless.” Chihaya tells the group. “It’s where he found this carpet.” As all eyes turn to her, the carpet under her feet moves on its own, standing up straight like a living person as everyone blinks in shock.

            “Whoa!” Sora cries, almost falling backwards as the carpet bows to all of them. 

            “It’s a magic carpet!” Shiho exclaims, the carpet nodding at her in pride. 

            “Aladdin found it in the Cave of Wonders, where it helped him escape.” Jasmine explains before letting out a sigh. “I don’t understand why he left the carpet here, though…” 

            “Doesn’t the carpet know where the Cave of Wonders is?” Morgana asks, with the carpet nodding at him. “In that case, we could follow it to find Aladdin and see what it is he’s after.”

            “You would do that?” Jasmine asks as the team nods at her. 

            “Of course we would. Aladdin is someone you care about, right?” Sora asks Jasmine, who nods back at him. “Then leave him to us. We’ll find him and whatever it is he’s after. Then, we’ll kick Jafar’s butt!” 

            “But who will stay behind and look after Jasmine?” Sae asks, looking at the princess. “Sooner or later, the Heartless will find this place. And while I don’t doubt your abilities, there is only so much you can do when you are by yourself.”

            “Then allow me to stay with her.” Chihaya comments, pulling out her Tarot cards. “My cards haven’t let me down before, and I trust them fully.” 

            “If that's what you want, Chihaya.” Ren comments. "But are you sure you don't want any more of us to stay here?”

            “I’m sure. Too large a group will make it hard to hide.” Chihaya comments, giving Ren a smirk. “Isn’t that basic Phantom Thievery?” Ren and the others blink for a moment before all chuckling at Chihaya in good nature. She was right about that. No sooner was that decided, the magic carpet took to the air and flew out of the hole in the wall towards the desert. Leaving Chihaya behind to look after Jasmine, the team rushed after the carpet as it patiently waited for them outside the castle wall. Although there was a problem that quickly became apparent. 

            “How are we all going to fit?” Sora asks, indicating all of them. From the looks of it, the magic carpet could carry around six of them if needed, but any more than that would not work out for the better.

            “Don’t worry. We’ve got another way.” Isara comments, separating herself from the others. Morgana looked over at her, almost like he was about to object but stayed silent while shaking his head. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy tilted their heads in confusion, Isara simply breathed deep for a second as she closed her eyes. “I haven’t done this ever since we started apart from that Showtime attack… But now, I think it’s time I go back to my roots.” Opening her eyes, she slams her hands together just as the flames of rebellion spiral around her.

For a moment, it looked as though she would just be donning her Thief attire until the spiral of flame grew larger and larger. Just when it looked like it would reach them, the flames parted like the mist, revealing Isara. Or rather, a giant tank.

            “Whoa!” Sora shouts as Donald and Goofy gasp in shock. Sure, they might have seen it during that Showtime attack, but this was completely different! “Isara turned into a tank!?” 

            “Actually, Isara started out as a tank before she gained sentience.” Ann tells Sora with a grin. “And the story behind how that happened is best saved for on the Highwind.” While the trio was floored by that reveal, a side door in Isara’s tank form opened up between two of the treads.

            “Get in, losers! We’ve got a thief to find.” Isara calls out, surprising the trio that she could actually SPEAK while in that form as the Thieves all board her. As for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they all looked at each other and shrugged indifferently as they got on the magic carpet. They could ask about Isara and her origin later, but for now, they had someone to find. Something that was proven as the magic carpet shot forward through the air, with Isara following close behind on the ground, her treads easily manoeuvring over the sandy terrain. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be a long hunt.

Night had fallen over Agrabah, with the Heartless and Demons looking all over the city for Jasmine and the Keyhole. Meanwhile, in the imperial palace, Jafar was pacing about impatiently as he waited for word that she had been caught. 

            “Still nothing?” He asks Iago, who shakes his head. 

            “Nothing.” He replies with a scared tone as Jafar glares at him, the eyes on his staff glowing in an eerie light as he lets out a tsk.

            “She is more trouble than she is worth… I should have removed her heart from her body long before this.” He grumbles to himself, casting an eye at the stairs that lead to the dungeons. “Perhaps I should give her a little… ‘incentive’ to come freely. After all, I am sure losing her father and pet would wound her terribly.” 

            “Such an intriguing plan. But I do wonder if she will take the bait.” Maleficent remarks, walking through a portal with Jerri on her shoulder. Accompanying them with great reluctance was Riku.

            “Ahh… if it isn't our young friend.” Jafar greets with a bow while Riku looks anywhere but at him. “But may I ask why you have brought him here?” Maleficent grins darkly as she looks at Riku, who is looking everywhere but at them, as she lets out a chuckle. 

            “Let's just say that if he does what I have asked of him… his wish shall be granted. After all…" Jerri lets out a chuckle as Maleficent looks at Riku, noting the faint glow of a dark aura around him. "His journey into darkness is only beginning…”

            “Are we there yet?” Futaba asks, letting her head hit the back of her seat. They had been going for so long that it had turned to night outside! At least Isara had better air conditioning than Morgana did in his van. 

            “Not yet, Futaba.” Hifumi replies, shaking her head as the rest of the team sleeps around her. A glance out of one of the windows shows Sora, Donald, and Goofy also asleep on the carpet as they fly through the sky. Futaba lets out a groan, letting herself drop forward before looking out the main viewport, where she can see a large rock formation up ahead, with the carpet speeding up towards it and waking the three on it.

            “Hey! I think we’re reaching it!” Futaba calls out, waking everyone as they all look out the viewport. 

            “Looks like it! But it seems we’re not the only ones there!” 

            “What do you mean?” Haru asks as Isara slows to a stop near the rock formation. Just as what could be described as a rock spider leaps on top of her, with the face of a demon, long red hair, and two large horns coming from its head.

            “What is that!?” Ryuji shouts as the foe slams its pincers into Isara, trying to pry her open like a tin can. 

            “Stop that!” Isara shouts, firing a few missiles at the foe and blasting it off her just as she opens a side door, letting the Thieves rush out as they switch over to their Thief attire while Fox blasts the giant spider with Bufu, encasing it in ice as it shatters to pieces. Isara shifts back to human form as Edelweiss, only to find three more of them attacking Sora, Donald, and Goofy near a sandpit, the carpet floating above it as Bandit Heartless appear around the giant spiders.

            “What are these spider freaks?!” Skull shouts as the team rushes forward to help Sora, Donald, and Goofy while Oracle takes to the sky. 

            “They are called Tsuchigumo! They are weak to Ice but resist Elect!” 

            “Sora! Donald! Hit them with Blizzard!” Queen shouts, drop-kicking a Bandit as Shadow spears another with her kunai. Sora and Donald glance at Queen before blasting two of the spiders with ice magic, instantly freezing them as Spring and Outlaw shatter them. 

            “Did you find Aladdin?!” Joker calls out, blasting a Bandit with Eiga before hitting another with Dormina.

            “We did!” Goofy calls out, spinning around like a tornado. “But he’s trapped!” He points at the sand piling up in a sinkhole next to him, revealing a man with short black hair, a small red hat, and a purple vest trapped in the sand, with a monkey wearing a similar small hat and vest next to him, desperately trying to push the sand away. 

            “Noir!” Athena shouts, bashing a Bandit away with her twin tonfas while Crow and Violet dance around the remaining Tsuchigumo, forcing it to try and spear them with its legs but never letting it get a chance to strike.

            “Right!” Noir cries out, rushing towards the sandpit as Skull, Fox, and Mona give her support. Looking down at the sand, Noir quietly intones Milady to use Psio on the two of them, gently dragging them out of the sand even as the monkey awkwardly spins around in a panic. As for the man they were definitely sure was Aladdin, taking him out of the sand showed he was wearing a pair of white baggy pants that were connected at the bottom, possibly due to either ease through the sand or to combat the heat, even though he was barefoot. 

But as Noir gently put him and the monkey on the ground, more Heartless and Tsuchigumo appeared behind them, with Edelweiss, Sophie, and Queen unleashing a joint Zionga, Kouga, and Frelia attack on them, wiping out a large portion as Sora went into a Sonic Blade while Donald peppered the Bandits with Thunder.

            “Maragi!” Panther shouts, blasting a couple of Bandits and a Tsuchigumo with fire as Skull follows up with an Assault Dive on the Tsuchigumo. Just as Aladdin starts to come to, much to the help of his monkey who is patting his face, he catches a glance of Violet fighting side by side with Crow, his mind racing to wake up. 

            “There’s just no end to them!” Fox calls out, letting out a Dormin Rush and slicing several Bandits in half before ducking under a thrown scimitar. 

            “At this rate, we’ll be exhausted!” Mona agrees, sending out a blast of Garula at several Bandits and kicking up a lot of sand in the process. While Joker lets out a grimace as Sora comes to a stop next to him, Aladdin, fully alert, jumps to his feet before taking out an old golden lamp. Letting out a few coughs to get rid of any sand in his mouth, he quickly rubs it while confusing Noir.

            “What are you—?” 

            “Genie! Get rid of these guys!" He suddenly shouts, holding the lamp aloft as it lets out a blue and pink cloud that quickly rises into the air, along with the scream of a man as he emerges from the cloud before looking out at everyone before him. With a large muscular body, a short black beard, and a ponytail for hair, he has a red sash separating his body from the wisps that flow right back to the lamp, and two metal cuffs around his wrists. 

            “Wish Number One, coming right up!” The genie shouts before snapping one of his fingers and banishing the Heartless and Tsuchigumo out of existence, leaving everyone standing there blinking in shock.

            “So… did anyone understand what just happened?” Outlaw asks, lowering his rifle from the empty space that once had a Tsuchigumo in it. 

            “Nope.” Sophie instantly replies as the genie returns to the lamp. Aladdin looks it over, almost sighing to himself before looking up and nodding at Violet before he turns to Sora and Joker. 

            “How about we head somewhere safe?” Aladdin offers as he walks up to them. “I think there's an oasis nearby where we can rest.” 

            “Sounds good to me.” Joker replies, stretching his arms. “That, and we could use a rest.” Aladdin nods at him, just as carpet glides down to let him, Sora, Donald, and Goofy on as Edelweiss turns back into her tank form. Aladdin looks at her in shock before shaking his head as carpet takes to the sky. He could ask about what happened later once they have rested up. 

It has been a long night, after all.

No one knew how long they had been sleeping, but seeing how the sun was in the sky, it must have been quite a while. The good news was that the palm trees around them provided plenty of cover, while the oasis helped alleviate their thirst. Something they were all thankful for, considering they were in a desert. During this period of rest, the team introduced themselves to Aladdin, barring Sumire, who had already encountered him back in Agrabah. But despite that, there was no doubt in their minds about how grateful he was for saving them. Now they had the chance to ask him a question.

            “So, Aladdin. Why were you out here in the desert? I thought Jasmine said you were visiting the Cave of Wonders?” Sora asks Aladdin as he splashes water on his face. 

            “Well, I was in there until Abu touched a gem.” He shot the monkey a look, who was rubbing the back of his head. “Once he touched a gem, the Cave of Wonders collapsed on itself in an attempt to kill us. Thankfully, we managed to reach the exit right as it collapsed.”

            “That explains why you were in a sand trap.” Sae remarks, arms folded. “But why were you there in the first place?” 

            “Well, other than finding that magic carpet and looking for buried treasure that wasn’t cursed, I found this.” He pulls out the lamp from before, it shining in the sun. “This lamp is special. Legend has it that whoever holds the lamp can summon the—”

            “Please, kid, leave the intros to a professional!” A booming voice echoes from the lamp as it lets out a cavalcade of fireworks before ejecting the blue and pink clouds again. No sooner was it over than the genie once more appeared from the lamp, a giant smile on his face. "The one and only, GENIE OF THE LAMP!" He grabs the lamp from Aladdin, giving it a few rubs before tossing it back to Aladdin. "Rub-a-dub-dub the lamp and have your dearest wishes granted! And today's winner is… Aladdin! Congratulations!" Genie poofs before Aladdin as confetti rains down around him, giving him a hearty handshake.

            “Hold up! Did you say… any wish?” Morgana asks, his eyes going wide. 

            “Patience, my fine feline friend…” Genie tells Morgana, waving a finger before his face before splitting himself into three. “Any three wishes! A one wish, a two wish, a three wish! Then I make like a banana and split!” At that, his two clones vanish as he counts down before vanishing himself and appearing next to Ren and Sora. 

            “But I’m guessing you have some rules for that, right?” Makoto asks, brushing some hair back.

            “Well, of course! The most obvious one is ix-nay on the more wishes thing! Three wishes… and that's that. No substitutions, exchanges, or refunds. Other than that, I have three rules that I follow. Rule number one: I can't kill anybody, so don't ask.” 

            “Never.” The Thieves instantly reply as one as Genie slices his head off in one clean slice before he quickly puts it back on. 

            “Rule number two: I can’t make anybody fall in love with anyone else.” 

            “Who would wish for that?” Sora asks, shaking his head, something that everyone present could easily agree with.

            “Rule number three: I can’t bring people back from the dead. It’s not a pretty sight. I don’t like doing it!” To emphasise the point, he turns into a zombie version of himself, almost making Makoto jump behind Ren for a moment before she centres herself. Genie quickly changes himself back to normal, though, as he folds his arms with a grin. “But other than that, you can wish for anything you want.” 

            “Really…” Morgana comments, his eye wandering while the team shakes their heads at him. They could easily imagine what he would wish for. But as they did so, Futaba’s eyes wandered over Isara and Sophia as a thought entered her mind about them. And not only just them, but Aigis and Labrys as well. But would it work?

            “Our lucky winner has made his first wish—and let me tell you, what a doozy that wish was—so he has two left! So, master, what do you have for Wish Number Two?” With that, a spotlight shines on Aladdin, with the Thieves looking up to see a spotlight that has been manifested over him as they shake their heads in acceptance. Considering what was before them, they could easily let this slide. 

            “Hmm… how about making me a fabulously wealthy prince?” Aladdin asks, with Sumire already shaking her head at him.

            “Aladdin, is this about Jasmine?” She asks, catching him and Genie off guard as Aladdin looks away, both with a blush and a downcast look. 

            “Well… yeah.” Aladdin comments, letting out a sigh. “But she’s a princess. And I’m… she’ll never fall for a guy like me.” The moment those words left his lips, the couples in the Thieves looked at Aladdin with looks of understanding. After all, they had been in his shoes before until they all worked up the courage to tell their significant others. But while they would have very much liked to tell him what they thought about that, there was something else on their minds that quickly got their attention. 

            “Shit! We forgot about Jasmine!” Ryuji suddenly shouts, grabbing Aladdin’s attention.

            “We left Chihaya to keep her protected until we got back with you, but it has been almost a day since we left.” Yusuke added, his own eyes narrowed in worry. 

            “They could be in trouble right this moment!” Mishima added as Aladdin’s eyes narrowed in determination. 

            “Genie, cancel my second wish! I can worry about my last two once Jasmine is safe!” 

            “Already done!” Genie replied, taking out a letter that had Aladdin’s second wish and throwing it into a shredder. Just as he did that, Isara turned back into her tank form, reminding Aladdin that he didn’t ask her about that while Futaba shifted into Thief form and summoned Necronomicon. Before long, the group was speeding off back to Agrabah as the sun approached its zenith in the sky. 

They could only hope they would get back to Agrabah in time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14: A Sorcerer’s Arrogance.

            “Ahhh… Fresh air, the great outdoors!” Genie comments, soaring through the air next to the flying carpet. Down below, Isara ploughed through the sand with little issue as the group beelined straight for Agrabah. The city was getting closer on the horizon.

            “I take it you don’t get out much, huh?” Sora comments, seeing the giant smile on Genie’s face, only for that smile to falter as he looks away.

            “Well, he is a genie. It makes sense that he only ever appears when the lamp is rubbed.” Futaba chimes in through a speaker on Sora’s jacket. “Still, I can’t even imagine how it must be like to be stuck in a lamp for who knows how long.”

            “Coming from someone who was locked in their room for two years?” Morgana chimes in with a snarky comment.

            “Hey! That was a choice, and I was depressed as hell back then. I don’t think Genie was ever given one.”

            “She’s right about that.” Genie remarks sadly. “Just came into being one day and life was like, ‘Hey, good news, you’re a genie! Here’s all this amazing power you can use! But your home is a tiny lamp, and you can only leave when someone rubs it so you can give them wishes. Have fun!’ I tell you, if I saw that in the fine print, I would have walked away.”

            “Well, what’s stopping you from granting your own wish?” Goofy asks Genie, who lets out a sad chuckle.

            “It’s a forbidden rule that genies can’t wish for themselves. Even if I do have one wish I would love to come true.” He looks up at the sky, seeing a lone cloud in the distance fly by. “Freedom.” That got everyone’s attention, especially Aladdin’s.

            “Freedom?” Donald asks, tilting his head.

            “Considering what his life currently is, it is no surprise he sees himself as a prisoner of the lamp.” Akechi comments from the speaker.

            “You are correct there, my good man.” Genie suddenly shoots up into the sky, growing large and red as clouds and sparks of lightning course around him. “PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS!!” He then shoots right back into the lamp, showing just how cramped and compressed it is. “Itty-bitty living space.” 

            “And you can only get out when someone rubs the lamp?” Sora asks as Genie slowly exits the lamp, nodding his head before looking up with a whimsical expression.

            “But oh, to be free… No need for me to go POOF! ‘What do you need?’ POOF! ‘What do you need?’ POOF! ‘What do you need?’ Just to be my own master!” He lets out a sigh, sitting on the edge of the carpet as he folds his arms. “But what am I talking about? Let’s get real here: it’s not gonna happen. Genie, wake up and smell the humans.”

            “I’m guessing the only way for you to be free is if your master wishes for it, right?” Ann asks through the speaker.

            “You are correct, my lady. And you can guess how often that has happened.” Genie lets out a loud sigh, looking more depressed than ever. As for Aladdin, he looked at the lamp in his hand, a million thoughts running through his mind. But as he tightened his grip on the lamp, he could already feel a choice forming in his mind. Not that he was against it either.

            “Hey, Genie, what if I use my last wish to free you from the lamp? What do you think?” Aladdin asks Genie, who looks at him with wide eyes and a hopeful expression.

            “You’d do that?” He asks, hope in his voice, even as he fights to keep it down. But Aladdin nods, his face sporting a genuine smile.

            “Genie, it’s a promise. After we help Jasmine and her father.” Aladdin promises, turning his eyes back towards Agrabah as they near it. The oppressive nature of Jafar’s rule billows from the walls like an evil wind. While inside Isara’s tank form, Morgana couldn’t help but think as he crossed his cat arms together.

            “Say… do you think Genie could turn me into a human?” Morgana asks, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Or at least, give me a human form?” 

            “He could. But would it work on you?” Sae asks, holding an open hand out. “After all, you were created from the hope of humanity. Would Genie’s power even work on you with that in mind?”

            “Yeah… I don’t know either.” Morgana admits, but his face is determined. “But I still want to ask him. Once Aladdin frees him, I’ll see if he can give me a human body.” 

            “Well, it’s something you’ve always wanted. Doesn’t hurt to ask.” Ryuji agrees, nodding his head.

            “But just be ready in case he says he can’t do it.” Sumire warns, grasping her hands together. “I’m sure even Genie has his limits.” Morgana nods at her as he settles back on Hifumi’s lap, but Futaba nearby is off in her own world.

            I wonder… could Genie help us gain the ability to fight? And can he do the same for Fuuka and Rise, even if they aren’t here? She asks both herself and Necronomicon before her eyes wander over to Sophia. And… could he make Sophia, Isara, Aigis, and Labrys human as well?

            Such curious questions, Futaba. To wonder if we navigators can gain the ability to fight with the others while retaining our skills to navigate. And can our dear companions become flesh and blood? But I know why you are asking. After all, I am thou…

            …thou art I. You’re right about that, Necronomicon. And I have nothing to lose if I don’t ask!

            “We’re about to reach the gates! Everyone ready?” Isara asks as she slowly comes to a stop. The Thieves are already standing up in response, eager to get into the action as the magic carpet comes flying down, dropping off Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin as Genie returns to the lamp for safety. The moment Isara comes to a stop, she opens the side door and lets the Thieves out, all of them shifting into their Thief attire with Isara morphing into Edelweiss. But just as the team charges into the city, the Heartless and Demons are already on them.

And while it was the same Bandits, Shadow Heartless, and Zhens from before, they were now joined by moving pots with four spindly legs coming from them, as well as a bandit version of the Large Body. Only this time, they spewed fire from their mouths like flamethrowers or spat fireballs in rapid succession before following it up with a torrent of flames. Not that Panther was bothered by the flames, calmly walking through them before using her whip to wrap around the face of the Fat Bandit.

            “You like fire? Then try some of this.” She remarks, sending flames running up her whip and enveloping the Fat Bandit’s head in flames, causing it to run around in a panic, smashing into other Heartless and Demons before Aladdin slices his scimitar across its back. With the Fat Bandit taken care of, the Bandits and Zhens proved to be easy pickings, while the Pot Spiders were more of a nuisance than anything else.

Not that it eased their concerns as they followed Aladdin back to his home. But when they arrived, they only found the three Dalmatian puppies in the house. Chihaya and Jasmine were nowhere to be seen.

            “They must have been found and had to leave.” Queen remarks as Aladdin looks out the hole in the wall, his eyes locked on the palace.

            “But why did they leave the puppies?” Sophie asks, kneeling and letting the three pups run around her.

            “They probably did not have time, or something else forced their hands.” Fox comments, folding his arms.

            “I think I found out why.” Violet comments, walking towards them with a piece of paper in her hands. “Fortune left a note. She says that Jafar is threatening the Sultan and Rajah unless Jasmine reveals herself and tells him where the Keyhole is. And despite her trying to reassure her, Jasmine was adamant about saving them.” 

            “It's a trap. An obvious trap." Crow comments, shaking his head. "But an altogether effective one as well." While Aladdin shakes his head in irritation, knowing that Jasmine was put in a terrible position, Genie lets out a thoughtful hum.

            “Keyhole, you say? I’m sure I heard something about that.” Genie remarks, grabbing everyone’s attention.

            “Really? Where?” Donald asks with some hope. But that was quickly dashed as Genie suddenly put on a cap and summoned a cabinet of folders, each one filled to the brim with papers as he started rummaging around.

            “Now where was it… It was only a century or two…” That response was all everyone needed to hear as they shook their heads at Genie. For someone with comic-like powers, memory was not one of those things.

            “Well, either way, we can’t let Jafar get away with this.” Aladdin replies, eyes narrowing. “I know a way that leads to the palace gates. If Jafar plans to ambush Jasmine and Fortune, it would be there.” 

            “Fortune must have done a Tarot reading as well. They won’t be going in blind.” Joker comments, nodding his head at her. “Still, we can’t waste time standing around here. Let’s move!” With Aladdin leading the way forward, the team makes their way over the sun-scorched roofs of Agrabah. Down in the streets, Heartless and Demons prowl like tigers, searching for them or anyone not hiding in their homes. In all honesty, they want to jump down and ambush the Heartless from above, but saving Jasmine comes first.

Soon, the team arrived at the palace gates, a pair of sizeable brown doors, with Jafar standing before them. By his side were several Bandit Heartless, holding scimitars at the throats of a large tiger, chained to the ground, and a man who was as tall as the tiger. Wearing white sultan attire with a large white hat topped off with a feather, he sported a white bushy beard. Standing before them were Jasmine and Fortune, with Fortune spinning her chakrams around her wrists as a tense stand-off ensued.

            “Now, princess, I will say this one more time.” Jafar remarks, his teeth almost clenched together as he glares at Jasmine and Fortune. “Surrender yourself to me, and I will spare your father and pet without harm.” 

            “And as I already told you, I will only surrender myself once you let my father and Rajah go.” Jasmine replies, eyes narrowed. Jafar sneers at her, clicking his fingers as the Bandits hold their scimitars at the Sultan and Rajah’s throats.

            “Don’t test me, princess.” Jafar tells her, oblivious to the team as they look down from above and silently ponder a plan.

            “This isn't good… One wrong move and they're either dead or losing their hearts." Queen remarks with narrow eyes. Aladdin looks at the Sultan and Rajah, his eyes drifting over to Jasmine as he makes his choice, silently reaching for the lamp and rubbing it.

            “Genie… help them, please.”

            “Say no more, master! Wish Number Two, on its way!” Genie’s voice echoes in his mind, just as the Sultan and Rajah vanish in a puff of blue and pink smoke, surprising Jafar, the Heartless, Jasmine, and Fortune as the two reappear nearby. Only for them, a squad of Byzantine Legionnaires, all looking exactly like Genie, to appear and form a walled wall around them. “For a wall! Keep shields locked!” One of the Genies shouts in a more gruff and commander-like voice as the rest of the team jumps down to join Fortune and Jasmine.

            “Nice one, Genie!” Sora shouts as everyone forms up opposite Jafar, who can only growl in anger at the sudden turnaround.

            “Setting your sights a little high, aren’t you, boy?” Jafar asks Aladdin in a rhetorical manner. “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”

            “You lost that chance when you tried to kill me at the Cave of Wonders while disguised as a beggar! Taking advantage of me like that and planning a coup against Jasmine and the Sultan… I won’t forgive you!” Aladdin shouts back, scimitar pointed at Jafar. Jafar’s eyes narrow, seeing the lamp just poking out from Aladdin’s back. If he weren’t surrounded by so many people, he would have sent Iago down to grab it. And with Jasmine, her father, and Rajah protected, it would seem he would have to resort to a different plan.

            “Very well… if this is what you want… Heartless! Attack!” Jafar slams his staff into the ground, vanishing into the air like mist as the pots all around them sprout spider legs, while several Shadow and Bandit Heartless leap down from above, quickly surrounding everyone as they move to keep Jasmine safe while the Genie keeps the Sultan and Rajah secure.

            “Why can’t these things just bug off?!” Skull shouts, slamming his weapon against a Shadow Heartless before taking out his shotgun and blasting several Pot Spiders.

            “Less talking, more fighting!” Panther shouts back, whipping away a Bandit before leaping away from a Fat Bandit, only for Fox to dash around it and slice it in two with his katana. As for Aladdin, he is staying close to Jasmine, slashing out with his scimitar and forcing them back while Fortune tosses her chakrams around. As one of them returns to her hand, she tears her mask off with the other.

            “Tyche! Kouga!” Fortune cries out, sending lances of light slamming into the Heartless as Sora calls down Thunder before squashing a Fat Body with Gravity. But it was at that moment that the Demons decided to join in on the fun, with Zhens diving down from above, forcing everyone to duck. Edel spins around, firing a Swarm Missile at the Zhens as Donald sends out a blast of Thunder before quickly casting an Aero shield around Oracle, knocking back a Shadow Heartless that almost jumped on her before Shadow took it out with her kunai.

            “They just keep coming!” Outlaw shouts, sending out a Triple Down at several Zhens as Haru sends a Fat Bandit flying with Psio.

            “Stand firm, Outlaw!” Crow shouts, firing his laser pistol at several Bandits as Joker fires his own pistol in tandem. “They will soon run out!” 

            “It doesn’t feel like it!” Spring shouts, deflecting a Bandit as Goofy deflects a scimitar away from her. Mona, in return, sends a blast of wind at the Heartless that threw it, sending it smashing right into a pot and revealing what could be called the rear end of a centipede with two long tails hiding inside it.

            “What is that!?” Donald shouts, watching as it comes to life, electricity sparking along its tails as it spins forward at them, forcing the team to dodge as another pot breaks, revealing the head of a centipede with two claws as it rushes forward, knocking Aladdin to the side and causing the lamp to fall out of his pocket as the Heartless speeds towards Jasmine. Grabbing onto her leg as it starts to pull her away, only for Joker and Queen to come in and slam their weapons against it, forcing it to let go and back away. But as Aladdin jumps back to his feet, a Zhen flies in from above and grabs the lamp from the sand, flying up to a higher level as Jafar reappears, the lamp dropping right into his waiting palm.

            “No! The lamp!” Aladdin cries in shock as the wall of Genies starts to slowly dissipate.

            “I’m sorry, Al…” Genie tells him in a sad voice, vanishing into smoke and leaving the Sultan and Rajah exposed, with several Fat Bandits rushing towards them.

            “Oh my word!" The Sultan shouts as Rajah moves to protect him, just as Aladdin and Violet dash in and slash the Fat Bandits in the back. Followed closely by Sora casting Blizzard on them, with Fox doing the same with Mabufu, freezing them in place before shattering them.

            “Ah, you okay?” Violet asks as Aladdin deflects another scimitar thrown at the Sultan.

            “Y-Yes… I am.” The Sultan replies, only for Jasmine to shout in shock as a Tsuchigumo grabs her from behind, climbing the wall and dropping her right next to Jafar before entrapping her in its web.

            “Just as planned.” Jafar remarks, glancing down at the team. “And now, I bid you all farewell.” With that, Jafar vanishes with Jasmine, the Heartless and Demons all following after him apart from the two centipede heads, which link up with the pot spiders to form a long centipede, looking down at the Sultan and Rajah with hunger in its eyes.

            “No you don’t!” Panther shouts, glowing with a crimson aura. Summoning Carmen to her side, they take one of the men entangled in her vines and hand him a bomb before they both blow a kiss to him and send him charging directly at the Pot Centipede. “Femme Fatale!” Panther shouts just as the minion leaps at the Pot Centipede and explodes into a column of fire, entrapping it and sending it flying back into an abandoned stand.

But much to the team's dismay, the Pot Centipede was able to recover and scurry right towards them, forcing everyone to dodge out of the way as its tails lashed out around it. As Sora ducks under one, he comes to a stop next to Joker before dashing forward with a Sonic Blade, tearing into the Pot Centipede and forcing it to separate. Leaving it vulnerable as Athena attacks with a Headbutt, forcing the head to bash into the rear with Sophie sending out a blast of Kouga. And as the Pot Centipede calls out for more pots to join it, Sora dashes forward and slashes both the head and rear in a single slice. The Pot Centipede freezes for a moment before collapsing to the ground and vanishing into darkness, a single heart floating into the air as the remaining Pot Spiders all vanish alongside it.

            “Sultan! Are you all right?” Aladdin asks, running up to him with a worried expression.

            “Yes… Yes, I am.” The Sultan replies, giving his hat a brush before looking at Aladdin. “Are you the boy who protected my dear Jasmine whenever she ventured into the city?” Aladdin nods hesitantly, completely unsure what the Sultan would say until he sees the kind smile on his face. “Well, I must say I offer you my thanks. She always talked fondly about you, and I can see why.”

            “Thank you, sir. But I failed this time.” Aladdin tells him, shaking his head.

            “He was after the Genie's lamp the entire time.” Joker comments, flipping his dagger around. “And he used that moment of distraction to grab Jasmine. I can’t believe we fell for that.” 

            “But he still hasn’t found the Keyhole.” Donald comments, trying to lighten the mood.

            “And that’s why he probably wanted to find the lamp so he could force Genie to reveal it for him.” Athena remarks, folding her arms. Crow taps a finger on his chin, glancing at Aladdin.

            “You said at the start that Jafar tricked you into looking for the lamp while he was disguised as a beggar, yes?” 

            “That’s right.” Aladdin replies, shaking his head. “I didn’t realize it was him at the time, until he tried to backstab me. He probably would have used the lamp to take over Agrabah as well.” 

            “He has already done that…” The Sultan replies, shaking his head as Rajah sits next to him. “And I fear that as long as he still lives, I won’t be able to restore order.” 

            “But where has he gone?” Sophie asks, tilting her upper body. That was the number one question they had on their lips at the moment. Where had Jafar disappeared to now that he had both the Genie’s lamp and Jasmine? Was he even still in this world at all? But not only that… 

            “How could Jafar use the Genie’s lamp anyway? Doesn’t Aladdin still have one wish left?” Skull asks, looking at Aladdin, who rubs the back of his head.

            “I think it doesn’t matter so long as one has control over the lamp.” Queen comments, before shaking her head. “We can discuss this later. Right now, we need to find Jafar and fast.” 

            “Then let’s head back to the desert.” Aladdin suddenly comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I don’t know what a ‘Keyhole’ is or why it’s important, but if I have to guess where it is, then it has to be in the Cave of Wonders.” 

            “The Cave of Wonders?” Goofy asks, rubbing the side of his head. “Why there?” Aladdin looks at Goofy, unsure of himself.

            “I don’t know, but it’s something my gut is telling me.”

            “Then let’s waste no time and head over there. If we’re lucky, we should reach the Cave of Wonders before night falls.” Sora comments before looking at the Sultan. “Sorry to run without introducing ourselves, but we can’t wait.” 

            “And I won’t force you.” The Sultan replies, bowing to them as the team quickly heads for the desert. While the Sultan lets out a long sigh, Rajah lies down. “Please… Please save my daughter.”

Unfortunately, by the time they reached where the Cave of Wonders was located, night had fallen around them. It seemed they had lost more time during the fight with the Pot Centipede than they had imagined. But it was during this trip that Hifumi had a lot of time to think. And she had come to a decision that was honestly due for a while.

            “I’m thinking of changing my codename.” She comments to everyone in Isara. “At the start, ‘Shadow’ did not have many conflicts with our old foes. But now that we are facing foes that are called ‘Shadows’, I feel it is best if I change my name.”

            “Well, we’re not going to argue against it. It’s your choice after all. So, what are you thinking of?” Hifumi looks at Morgana for a moment, letting out a hum of thought as she goes over the few names she had come up with before eventually settling on one.

            “Shinobi.” She replies.

            “Shinobi, huh? Fitting since it represents your ninja aesthetic. Well, if that's what you want, then that's what we'll call you." Ren replies as everyone else nods in agreement, just as they feel Isara coming to a stop. But as they look outside the viewport, they are surprised to see a giant lion head made of sand waiting for them.

            “Is this the entrance?” They could hear Sora’s voice over the comms as they exited Isara, watching as the magic carpet came to land not far from them. Letting Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin off, with Abu riding on Aladdin’s shoulders.

            “Yeah. This is it. The Cave of Wonders.” Aladdin announces, looking at the lion head with both a sense of awe and fear. After all, this would be his third time returning to this place. Hopefully, Abu will keep to himself this time. “Jafar should be located at the deepest depths of the place, right where Genie’s lamp was previously held.” 

            “Then let's not waste any time and get moving already!” Ryuji shouts as the Thieves shift into Thief mode. Aladdin nods at them, motioning with a hand for them to follow him as they head right into the lion's mouth. They can only hope they get there in time.

Everything was going as planned. Jafar could not be any happier. With the lamp in hand, he finally had control over the fabled Genie, while to his side, Jasmine was held down before him. Now dressed in a red version of her clothes with golden embroidery, along with a gold see-through sash around her arms and hips. As for the beings holding Jasmine down, they looked to be made of glowing yellow rocks. And seeing how Jasmine could not even make them budge, they were as hard as rocks as well.

But now it was time for what he was really after, as he grabbed the lamp and looked at Genie. The being wasn’t even bothering to look at him or say anything, but that was alright with Jafar. After all, he had the lamp. And there was nothing Genie would be able to do to defy him. Considering where they were, in a vast chamber with several outcrops, he could already guess where it was. But why waste his magical power on digging?

            “My first wish, Genie! Show me the Keyhole!” Jafar commands, with Genie going stiff as a brick before looking over his shoulder with an exasperated look.

            “Fine, you want a Keyhole?” He remarks, pointing a finger at an outcrop in the chamber. All of a sudden, the wall explodes into a flurry of rock shards, revealing what Jafar had been looking for the entire time. “THERE! There’s your Keyhole!” Genie shouts at him, folding his arms and glaring away from his ‘master’. But if Jafar was insulted by how Genie was addressing him, he did not show it as he let out a laugh of victory.

He then drags Jasmine up to the platform, gazing at the Keyhole with glee just as Maleficent appears beside him, Jerri once again perched on her shoulder.

            “Well now… It would seem you have found the Keyhole." Maleficent remarks with a sinister smile. "I knew you would find it eventually.” 

            “It was certainly well hidden, buried behind a wall of rock.” Jafar admits before looking at Genie. “But there’s nothing that a simple ‘wish’ can achieve.” 

            “Is that so…?” Jerri asks, looking up at Genie with an evil look. “Then perhaps you would be willing to allow me a wish or two? There are some very annoying rats that I would like to exterminate.” 

            “Sorry, bird breath. Rule number one: I don’t kill.” Genie tells her with his back turned. Jerri lets out a long growl at that, irritated by how the Genie had a stupid rule.

            “Well then, I suppose one of us should wish that you don’t have any rules.” Maleficent remarks, with Genie suddenly feeling very nervous at that prospect. He had never had any past master try to wish away his rules, and now he wondered if such a thing was even possible. Those rules were his moral compass as well!

            “Then perhaps you would like to do the deed, Maleficent.” Jafar offers, holding up the lamp. “But perhaps we should finish with this world and leave. Those street rats are no doubt on their way here.” 

            “That boy again? Along with the king’s fools and the Persona users?” Maleficent asks, genuinely annoyed at how persistent they are being.

            “I did warn you about how persistent they are.” Jerri remarks, shaking her head.

            “Then why not explain the situation to that boy, Riku?” Jafar remarks, tapping his staff on the ground. “Doing so may prove useful to our plans going forward.” 

            “He is proving to be more resistant than expected.” Maleficent admits. “It seems he still has some hope in the boy. But it is only a matter of time until the darkness corrupts him. I can see it, the jealousy building within him, even as he tries to bury it.”

            “Indeed. And it is so delectable as well." Jerri remarks with a grin. "So, we will just abide our time until he sees things our way. Then, he will be the perfect—" Before she could finish speaking, the stone door leading to the chamber was blown open, grabbing the attention of all five occupants as Aladdin, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves rushed inside the chamber. Along with nine Dalmatian puppies? How did they get in here? "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts… We meet again at long last. And with some pups as well… You fools must be so desperate.” 

            “JERRI!” The Thieves all shout as one, the venom in their voice clear for all to hear. And it honestly gave Jafar and Maleficent a moment to pause at hearing the anger coming from them. Jerri had told them how she was a foe to them, but clearly, that was an understatement.

            “Finally decided to show yourself again?” Violet asks, pointing her rapier towards Jerri.

            “Don’t think you will keep running from us forever.” Shadow, or rather, Shinobi, remarks, grabbing her sniper rifle and racking the bolt.

            “Who’s the old hag with her?” Outlaw asks, causing Maleficent to sneer at him.

            “Maleficent, I presume.” Crow remarks, as the team watches in annoyance as Maleficent departs with Jerri a second later. And while it inflamed them that Jerri managed to escape again, there was one other target here they could still get.

            “Jafar… let Jasmine go!” Aladdin shouts, aiming his scimitar at Jafar. In response, Jafar summons more of the rock Demons to his side, accompanied by two Tsuchigumos and around sixteen Bandit Heartless.

            “Not a chance. You see, she is a princess.” Jafar comments, causing the Thieves to roll their eyes at Jafar calling her a princess. Of course she was one! “One of seven who somehow hold the key to opening the door.” 

            “Open the door?” Queen remarks quietly. “What do you mean by that?” 

            “It matters not, for you fools won’t live to see what lies beyond it.” Jafar rebukes, holding the lamp up high as he looks at the Genie with sadistic glee in his eyes. “Genie! My second wish, crush them!”

            “What are you talking about?! Genie can’t kill!” Panther shouts back, only for Genie to look at her with a regretful expression.

            “Technically… he told me to crush you, not kill you…” Genie weakly comments, causing the team to blanch as Genie rears up his hand. “I’m so sorry about this, run!” At that, the group separates as Genie slams his hand on the ground, growing cartoonishly wide as the Heartless and Demons charge forward while Sophie ushers the puppies to hide. Jafar holds back, laughing at them all until he notices how the Bandit Heartless were not as effective as he wanted to believe.

Watching as the Thieves simply drew their guns and mowed them down made him blink in surprise for a moment before he sneered at them in anger. “Very well, then try to avoid this!” He holds his arms up high, summoning a giant ice storm that envelops the centre of the chamber. Giant balls of ice slam into everyone caught in the middle, while Abu runs around to Jafar unnoticed.

Before Jafar even knew what was happening, Abu was already leaping onto him, rushing over him like a monkey would before grabbing the lamp and jumping off him, already running over to join the others.

            “No more monkeying around!” Jafar shouts, suddenly blasting Abu with a beam from his staff, turning the monkey into a children's toy with cymbals. He drops the lamp to the ground while Aladdin calls out his name in shock.

            “You shall pay for that!” Fox calls as he and Panther rush forward, lashing out at Jafar with ice and fire magic and forcing him back as he looks at the pair's masks.

            “You like foxes and panthers, do you? Then how about you become one!” He shouts, blasting the two of them and turning them into a literal fox and panther.

            “Panther!/Fox!” Skull and Noir shout in shock, just as Edel dashes forward to try to land a punch on Jafar, only for him to teleport away.

            “Stay still, coward!” Edel shouts, firing her arm cannons at Jafar, who flies into the air.

            “Don’t toy with me!” Jafar shouts back, blasting Edel in the chest with his staff and turning her into a model tank.

            “Edel!” Oracle shouts, only to get knocked to the ground by Mona as Jafar fires a beam at her, just narrowly missing her as he lets out a tsk of annoyance. Only then does he feel a sudden pain in his back as Joker and Queen land a double kick on him.

            “You might be a master of magic, but you’re weak up close!” Joker shouts as the couple lashes out at him, only to be met by flames from Jafar’s hands, forcing them back.

            “You think so? Then how about a game of cards!?” He shouts, blasting both of them with magic and turning them into playing cards. Just as he notices Crow trying to ambush him.

            “Mom! Dad!” Sophie shouts, rushing forward to grab the cards, just as a Tsuchigumo tries to crush them. At the same time, Jafar quickly turns and blasts Crow with magic, turning him into an actual crow that flies over to rest on Violet’s shoulder as she looks at him in shock. Thankfully, Sophie is quick as she grabs Card-Joker and Card-Queen and leaps back towards Athena, with Skull and Noir taking out the Tsuchigumo. Gently passing them over to her right before she is then hit by a blast of magic from Jafar, turning her into a phone that Athena quickly catches.

            “That’s got to hurt.” Jafar mockingly calls out, only to then find an arrow just missing his head from Spring, who quickly aims another. “A fan of deer, are you? Then become one!” He shouts, firing magic at Spring, who tries to dodge but is caught and turned into a deer by Jafar, who lets out a laugh at her predicament.

            “Spring!” Outlaw shouts, only for Shinobi to drag him to the floor as Jafar fires a blast of ice at him, missing him but managing to freeze Donald in place and getting Goofy’s leg caught as well.

            “Why don’t you just chill out?” Jafar remarks to the frozen Donald before noticing Carpet flying around with Oracle onboard. “Things are unravelling fast now!” Jafar shouts, blasting the carpet with magic and causing it to unravel, with Oracle quickly summoning Necronomicon so she doesn’t fall. “Get the point?” Jafar then adds, summoning several scimitars ready to slice them before they all ignite. “I’m just getting warmed up!”

            “Enough of the puns!” Mona shouts in annoyance as Sora narrows his eyes. He has just reached his limit as Sora snaps in irritation.

            “What’s the matter? Are you too scared to face us head-on, you cowardly snake?!” Sora calls out to Jafar, who stops his laughter to look at Sora with an irritated expression on his face.

            “A snake, am I?” He asks back, a noticeable ‘hiss’ in his voice as his face slowly starts to contort, with his tongue becoming that of a snake as his eyes dilate. “Well, let's see how sssssnake-like I can be!” With that, Jafar continues to grow until he reaches the top of the chamber, turning into a giant snake as he hisses at the team with a glint in his eyes.

            “Sora… rule number one when it comes to sorcerers: NEVER assume they can’t do anything!” Oracle shouts at him inside Necronomicon before dodging a bite from Jafar. But as he tried again, he was met by an uppercut from Athena, disorienting him for a moment as Sora hit him with a Sonic Blade while Fortune threw her chakrams at Jafar’s head, slicing across his nose.

Jafar attempted to strike back but was hit in the side by Outlaw and his twin blades, just as Noir, Skull, and Shinobi bore down on his tail. Distracting him, Aladdin, Sora, and Violet rushed up and stabbed him in the chest just as Mona slashed across his back, forcing Jafar to let out a cry of pain.

            “Rick ‘em, rack ‘em, rock ‘em, rake! Stick those swords in that snake!” A cheerleading squad of Genies calls out, all of them wearing tops with ‘A’ on them while surrounded by everyone’s weapons.

            “Hey! We got our own cheerleaders!” Mona calls out, irritating Jafar, who glares at Genie with an intense stare.

            “You ssssstay out of thisssss!” Jafar shouts at Genie, his double all vanishing at once as he holds up a tiny flag with ‘J’ on it.

            “Jafar, Jafar, he’s our man; if he can’t do it, GREAT!” Genie mocks Jafar, who tries to swipe at him with his tail, only to miss. Letting out a loud hiss, Jafar then attempts to blast the non-trapped Thieves with magic, only to coil his tail around Aladdin, Sora, and Skull as he begins to tightly squeeze them.

            “Guys!” Oracle shouts, just as Jafar turns to look at her.

            “Your time isssss up!” He shouts, blasting Oracle with magic and trapping her in a giant hourglass with sand pouring down from above. Before the others could move to help her, Jafar blasted the surrounding area with fire, trapping Oracle alongside Mona as Jafar returned his gaze to the captured trio.

            “You little foolsssss.” Jafar gloats as he tightens the squeeze on them. "Did you really think you could beat me? Me, the ssssstrongest in all of Agrabah?" As the captured trio looks at him, Skull lets out an annoyed huff as he shrugs his shoulders.

            “Meh.” He replies, causing Jafar to stop squeezing as he blinks his eyes in shock.

            “What do you mean!?” He shouts back in anger as Skull looks up at him.

            “You call yourself powerful? We’ve faced foes ten times stronger than you! Compared to them, you’re nothing!” While Sora and Aladdin blink at Skull in puzzlement, the two of them quickly catch on as they both let out grins.

            “I mean, Skull is right. There are way more powerful things out there than you. I mean, you’re only this strong because Maleficent gave you power, right?” Sora asks Jafar, who stammers in reply.

            “That’s right! You only became Sultan because you had that power! And that can easily be taken away from you! And the Genie has more power than you’ll ever have!” Aladdin shouts back as Jafar lets out a gasp. As for everyone else, they notice what Aladdin is trying to do as they stay quiet. Well, apart from one of them anyway.

            “Al… what are you guys trying to do? Why are you bringing me into this?” Genie asks with a worried tone.

            “Face it, Jafar, you’re just second best. Always have been, and always will be.” Aladdin sums up as Sora and Skull wink at everyone else. As for Jafar, he was more than tempted to finish squeezing the three of them right then and there. But as the words continued to bounce around in his mind, he couldn’t find it in him to resist. And the temptation of more power before him was too great an allure to resist.

            “Then I ssssshall have to fix that!” Jafar shouts, turning to look at Genie with a mad glint in his eyes. All the while, Mona is busy trying to crack the glass holding Oracle. “Genie! My final wish! I want you to make me an all-powerful genie!” Genie, trying to delay for as long as possible, manifests a book on ‘Genie Rules’ and quickly skims through the pages, only to find nothing stopping him.

            “Your wish is my command…” Genie comments in a deadpan voice as he turns to Jafar. With regret in his eyes, Genie shoots Jafar with magic, infusing his body with magical energy as the floor beneath them collapses, sending everyone, transformed and non-transformed alike, into the depths. The only ones not sent are Jasmine, Mona, Oracle, and Genie, the latter of whom returns to his lamp due to granting Jafar's last wish.

            “Crap, crap, crap!” Mona shouts in growing alarm as his falchion bounces off the glass hourglass. “Damn it! I’m not strong enough to break the glass!” He looks at the sand, seeing it already reach Oracle’s waist. “C’mon, there has to be something I can do!” He looks around, glancing up at Jasmine as she continues to fight against the two Erthys holding her in place until his eyes fall on the discarded lamp next to toy Abu. His eyes widen as a thought comes to his mind, but he doesn’t know if it will work. With one more glance at Oracle, he decides he has to try.

            “I hope this works!” Mona shouts as he rushes for the lamp, quickly grabbing it and giving it a rub. Not a second later, Genie appears before him with a worried look on his face.

            “It’s nice to see you again, Mona, but what are we going to do now!?” He points down at the hole, showing a red genie floating above the lava, raining down attacks on several stone platforms before him. “Jafar is a genie! The same power as me!”

            “We can worry about that later! Right now, I need to save Oracle.” Mona looks at the trapped Oracle, seeing the sand reaching her neck as he looks back up at Genie. “I wish you to save Oracle!”

            “Say no more!” Genie replies, turning himself into a hammer and nail and smashing the hourglass, shattering it in one go and freeing Oracle, who lets out several coughs before shaking her head.

            “That was close…” She remarks, brushing sand off her. Mona smiles at Oracle before looking back at the lamp in his hands. He only had two wishes now, but he already knew what to wish for. And as he looks up at Oracle, he can tell she is thinking of something as well.

            “Genie, I know what I want for my second wish…”

            “Psio!” Noir cries, sending out a stream of psionic energy at Jafar, who barely flinches from the strike. “This is not working!” 

            “Has anyone found that lamp yet!?” Skull shouts in irritation, blasting Zionga at Jafar, who tanks it with his chest. It quickly became apparent that the lamp that was supposed to appear when Jafar became a Genie was not going to just appear before them in plain sight. The fact that they were all dropped into an arena just after he transformed was not in the cards either.

            “You cannot stop me!” Genie Jafar shouts at them, grabbing a giant chunk of magma and tossing it at the platform, forcing everyone to scatter. “The universe is mine to command!” 

            “Is that right!?” Genie’s voice suddenly echoes above them as he comes in, landing a mean right hook on Jafar’s face. Jafar blinks in shock, looking at Genie to see he is the same size as him, wearing a giant smile.

            “What are you doing!? I am your master!”

            “Did you not remember the rules? Three wishes only! And you are not my master any more! My current master has wished for me to beat you up!” At that, Genie materializes two boxing gloves as he puts on an exaggerated boxing style. “Round one!” Genie shouts before landing a solid punch to Jafar’s stomach, followed by an uppercut, then a barrage of punches to his chest. "ORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!" Genie shouts, causing the non-transformed Thieves to chuckle at the unintentional reference as Genie lands one more punch to Jafar's face, sending Jafar flying into the wall.

            “You idiotic—"  

            “Garula!” Mona’s voice echoes above them as a blast of wind slams into Jafar’s face, sending dust into his eyes as he cries out in pain, just as Mona joins them. But he wasn’t standing around as a cat, much to everyone’s surprise. Instead, Mona was… 

            “Whoa, did you become human, Mona!? And what about Jasmine and Oracle!?" Outlaw shouts in shock as a very human Mona stands before them, at Shinobi's height and wearing his Thief attire. It was the same as it was when he was a cat, only now the white paws were proper boots and gloves, while his mask was like a traditional cloth mask covering half of his head. But there were two noticeable things that made him stand out.

He still had cat ears and a cat tail.

            “Don't worry, they are safe. Jasmine is waiting for us to finish up down here with the puppies. As for my current form, it was my second wish." Mona replies with a smirk, his voice now sounding like the version of him that was in Maruki's simulation, before looking up as Genie laid a smack down on Jafar. "And that was my third.” 

            “You mean you used Genie's lamp?” Shinobi asks, to which the now-human Mona nods in reply.

            "Then if that's the case, who has it now?" Fortune questions, which causes Mona to let out a small chuckle.

            “That is obvious.” 

            “Eiga!” Oracle’s voice echoes above as a blast of Curse energy slams into Jafar, just as Genie sends another punch to his gut, cracking the wall behind him even more. But all eyes were on Oracle as she floated down to join them, safely held by Necronomicon while she had model Isara and toy Abu in her arms. But it was what she was holding that had their surprise. In her right hand was a long battle staff, and on her back looked to be a laser rifle. “What’s up?”

            “Amazing! Did you wish you could help in battle, Oracle?!" Noir asks as a wide smile forms on the non-transformed Thieves. Oracle nods at her with her own grin before looking back at Genie Jafar.

            “I can explain later! Right now, we have an evil genie to beat!” 

            “Can you find out where the lamp is? There should be one that is tied to Jafar.” Aladdin calls out. Oracle, already knowing what was going on, quickly started a search before getting a ping on the other side of the platform. Just over the edge.

            “Right over there! That parrot has it!" She points out, causing everyone to rush over and glance over the side, where they find Iago holding onto the lamp with a sheepish expression.

            “Um… do you want to give me a cracker?” He asks, seeing everyone looking at him with smirks. Before he suddenly finds himself flying for his life as the team chases after him. Oracle, however, skids to a stop before looking back at Genie Jafar. She still has two wishes left, and she is saving the third one for something special. But for her second one… she decides that Jafar could have some last-minute humiliation before he goes back to his lamp.

            “Genie! I have a second wish!” She calls out, grabbing his attention. “I wish that Genie Jafar had the ears and tail of a donkey!” 

            “A what!?” Genie Jafar shouts back, only to suddenly see the glint in Genie's eyes as his fingers charge with magic.

            “Why didn’t you say so!?” Genie asks, shooting magic at Genie Jafar and giving him long grey ears on the side of his head, while a long grey tail emerges right above his purple sash. “He’s been an ass since the beginning! Now he is one! He should be glad I didn’t give him an accent as well!”

            “You insolent curs!” Genie Jafar shouts until a strange sensation rushes through him. “What—What is this!?” He shouts, watching as golden cuffs appear on his wrists. “What!?” 

            “Didn’t you read the fine print, Jafar!? When you become a genie, you get one free lamp to be your prison!” Violet shouts at him as Sora holds on to the lamp.

            “And we sentence you to life imprisonment, forever!” Athena shouts.

            “Phenomenal cosmic powers, itty-bitty living space!” Aladdin shouts as Sora holds the lamp up.

            “So back to your lamp, Jafar!” And it was only then, as red energy swirled around him, that Jafar realized he had been outplayed. As the lamp began to suck him back in, Iago attempted to flee the scene, only to be grabbed by his tail feathers by Jafar and dragged right into the lamp with him.

And with one loud ‘POP’, Jafar and Iago were sucked into the lamp, leaving behind two pieces of paper that Sora quickly picked up. The moment Jafar and Iago were gone, everyone who had been transformed by him reverted back to normal. Fox, Panther, and Spring were standing on all fours before quickly jumping to their feet, while Violet was holding Crow, who had been perched on her shoulder the entire time. Same with how Athena suddenly found herself holding Joker, Queen, and Sophie before all of them collapsed to the ground in a heap.

As for toy Abu and model Isara, they both changed back to normal at the same time, almost knocking Oracle to the ground while everyone started laughing at the situation. Even if they all had questions for Mona and Oracle, at the very least, they had won this fight.

But there was one more thing for them to do, as they either quickly boarded the magic carpet, which had also recovered from Jafar’s spell, or got on board the Monacopter. Something that Sora, Donald, Goofy, or anyone from Agrabah was not expecting him to do, even IF they saw Isara turn into a vehicle. It was surprising that Mona could still change into a helicopter, and possibly his van mode and cat form as well, but he told them he would explain what he wished for later.

But for now, they had to regroup with Jasmine. However, when they got to the top, Jasmine was nowhere to be seen. The only ones left were the nine puppies they had found inside the Cave of Wonders' underground catacombs. While Aladdin and the others looked for Jasmine, Sora quickly moved to seal the Keyhole before any Heartless could get to it. It was honestly lucky that nothing had tried to get inside while they were busy fighting Genie Jafar, but they weren’t going to take any chances.

And as Sora seals the Keyhole, it spits out a keychain with a lamp on it, alongside another Navi-Gummi Block. One that looked to be the pair to the other one they had. But no sooner did Sora seal the Keyhole, and the Keyhole allowed itself to be sealed by quick-drying sand, the Cave of Wonders started to shake around them. Rocks fell from the ceiling as the place started to come down on top of them.

            “We’ve gotta get out of here!” Goofy shouts as Mona changes into his copter form, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy force Aladdin onto the magic carpet with Abu, even as he lets out one more cry before the two teams make their escape with the puppies.

But not without one last question plaguing their minds: What happened to Jasmine?

Chapter Text

Chapter 15: Tall Tale.

            “Heh, that smarmy vizier could’ve had 'em if someone had stuck around to lend a hand.” Hades remarks, casting a glance over at Riku, who wore an uncomfortable expression. Hard not to, seeing how he had hit Jasmine with a sleep spell before she even knew he was there and then dragged her here to Maleficent’s headquarters. He was secretly glad Sora did not see him do that… or any of his current companions, that is.

Companions… Just the mere thought of that sent a stream of jealousy down his spine. And it was getting harder and harder to quash these feelings, as well as the more he used these dark powers. How HE should be the one using the Keyblade, how those new friends of Sora should be fighting by HIS side. Those thoughts only screamed louder and louder these days…

            “I only did what I was asked to do, alright? You didn’t tell me to help Jafar, only to bring the princess.” Riku snaps back, shaking the intrusive thoughts away. “And anyway, where are the rest of your friends? Shouldn’t they be jumping at the chance to help Jafar as well?”

            “They have business to attend to on their own worlds. As for Jafar, he was beyond help, consumed by his own hatred. One should beware of letting it burn too fiercely.” Maleficent remarks, her eyes closed while slowly shaking her head. She wouldn’t say it out loud, but losing Jafar was a considerable blow to them. After all, he was a powerful sorcerer in his own right, and the power offered as a genie would have boosted their cause.

            “Such is the fate of those who fail to plan ahead.” A voice echoes from the shadows as a bald man wearing a suit enters the light, with Owada standing by his side. “Such is the lesson that I have learned from fighting those Phantom Thieves.”

            “And a lesson I am sure to keep, Shido.” Maleficent replies, looking at him. “Tell me, how much of your strength have you and your companions recovered?”

            “Not as much as we want, I shall freely admit.” Shido replies, clenching his hands. “We are more than grateful for reconstructing us from what remained of our Treasures. And we, the Shadow Selves, free from being chained to our other halves, are more than grateful to you for bringing us back to life. Even if we still need time to recover our full strength.”

            “And I eagerly await that day.” Maleficent replies. Shido nods at her before his golden eyes fall on Riku, causing the young man to flinch at the gaze.

            “As for you, young man, we have a special reward for your actions.” Riku tilts his head, unsure of what Shido was talking about until he looked back at Maleficent.

            “We had a deal, yes? You help us, and we grant you your wish.” With a tap of her staff, she summons a projection on the table before Riku: a projection of Kairi, asleep and lying on the ground.

            “Kairi!” Riku shouts, his hands reaching up instinctively, even though he knows it is but an illusion.

            “Go to her. Your vessel is waiting.” Maleficent remarks, causing Riku to turn around to see two more figures approaching him. One was a man dressed in a red pirate outfit, while the other was one of Shido’s closest allies, even if he did have a slight chip on his shoulder. Kobayakawa, dressed in his principal attire.

            “Just remember this will be no pleasure cruise. It won’t be a pleasant voyage.” The pirate captain comments before flicking some sand from his eye, much to Kobayakawa’s disgust.

            “Must you do that every time, Hook?” Kobayakawa remarks in irritation. But as for Riku, he couldn’t help but feel something was going on. Why were they doing all of this for him? They had to be expecting something from him in return, but what?

            “Why are you doing all of this for me? What’s the catch?” Riku decides to ask, looking at Maleficent with a narrowed stare.

            “Catch? What’s the catch?” Maleficent asks back, seemingly insulted by the notion as she walks up to him. “Silly boy. You are like a son to me. I only want you to be happy.” She tells him, trying to rest a hand on his cheek, only for Riku to slap it away.

            “I seriously doubt that.” He replies, suspecting everything that was happening.

            “Believe what you wish. But lest we forget, I kept my end of the bargain.” Maleficent reminds Riku, who begrudgingly nods as he walks over to Hook and Kobayakawa, leaving Maleficent alone with Shido, who folds his arms with a hum.

            “That boy… He is no fool.” He remarks to Maleficent. “Why do you still humour him?”

            “Because what he seeks blinds him.” She replies with a grin. “Once he figures out what has happened to Kairi, he will do anything to save her. Even if it means giving himself over to darkness and aligning with our ideals.”

            “And if he doesn’t?” Shido asks with a knowing smile.

            “If he doesn’t… then his Heartless will make the perfect replacement.” She replies, before letting out a loud cackle while Shido just grins in satisfaction. As for Hades, he just shook his head as he turned around to look at a wall.

            “Sheesh… why did I agree to join this circus?”

It was a mixed atmosphere back in Agrabah. Even though Jafar had been defeated, and the Heartless and Demons under his control had all vanished, leaving the citizens and guards free to roam once more, the same joyous atmosphere could not be said inside Aladdin’s home. After all, Aladdin, Genie, the Sultan, and Rajah had all been told about what had possibly happened to Jasmine.

            “So… Jasmine is no longer in Agrabah?” Aladdin asks, looking out the hole in the wall.

            “It is most likely so.” Akechi comments. “Considering how the Heartless have abducted Alice from her own world, the same could be said of Jasmine.”

            “But why? Why would they kidnap my daughter?” The Sultan asks, heartbroken.

            “Before we fought Jafar, he said how Jasmine was one of ‘Seven Princesses’ who could ‘open the door’.” Sae remarks, folding her arms. “But what door is he talking about? It is clear that Alice and Jasmine are two of the seven, but who are the others? And why them?”

            “Something tells me we won’t find out until we find Maleficent’s stronghold.” Ren comments, shaking his head. Next to him was Morgana, still as a human but now in normal clothes, although he still had the ears and tail of a cat—something that Hifumi couldn’t help but keep looking at every now and then.

            “Then, let’s go find her.” Aladdin tells Sora, ready to begin looking. But the look on Sora’s face killed that fire before it even had the chance to burn.

            “I’m sorry… but we can’t take you with us.” Sora tells Aladdin, his voice tinged with sadness.

            “But, why?” Aladdin asks, sitting down on the stone steps.

            “It’s not that we don’t want you to come, Aladdin. If we could, we would be more than happy to bring you along.” Makoto tells him, brushing some hair back. “But… doing so would be a violation of the World Order. Even telling you about other worlds is considered a breach of that rule.”

            “To be honest, I’m not sure how long that rule has left to live with the Heartless running amok.” Futaba remarks as Donald lets out a long sigh of resignation. There is some truth to that. Not that it helps Aladdin or the Sultan as they look to the ground in defeat. 

            “Aladdin, Sultan. We’ll find Jasmine. I promise.” Sora says to the both of them, who looked back at him with kind smiles. But there was one person in the room who still had something left to say.

            “Um, earth to Al? Hello? You still have one wish left! Look, just say the word. Wish me to find Jasmine for you.” Genie offers, much to everyone’s shock. 

            “But don’t you want your freedom, Genie?” Goofy asks, to which Genie lets out a long sigh.

            “It is fine… I’m sure there’ll be another master like Al who’ll find me one day. Besides, it’s an unwritten rule that only people from our world can wish me free.” Then the team all looks at each other, wondering why Genie wasn’t asking any of them to wish for that instead. 

            “Before I do that… doesn’t Futaba have one wish left as well?” Aladdin asks, looking at Futaba, who lets out a small chuckle.

            “Yeah… I do.” She replies, rubbing the back of her head. She looks up at Genie, who nods back at her as she takes a breath before looking at Sophia and Isara. “It’s not fair if Morgana is the only one who can get his wish.” 

            “Huh?” Isara asks as Sophia tilts her head. Before anyone can ask, Futaba looks up at Genie with a resolute look. It is time for her final wish.

            “Genie, I wish that Isara, Sophia, and our other friends Aigis and Labrys were human like us!” 

            “WHAT!?” Everyone shouts as one as Genie turns to look at Isara and Sophia with a warm grin on his face.

            “It's your lucky day!" He shouts, charging magic into his fingers. "With a one!" He blasts magic into the air, the beam of pink light quickly shooting right into the sky. "A two!" He fires a second beam into a portal he conjured up. "A one, two, three, four!" With that, Genie fires two more beams of magic right into Isara and Sophia as they are enveloped in a magical flash of pink energy. Everyone covers their eyes from the flash before slowly removing their hands to look at them.

While they couldn’t see anything visually changed with them at first, since their clothes did cover up the gynoid bodies they had been using, there were two things that quickly became apparent. Sophia’s hair had now become the same colour as Makoto’s, while both Sophia and Isara’s eyes no longer had the artificial black rings in them. Instead, they looked like normal human blue eyes as they slowly looked at themselves in stunned silence.

            “Are we… real?” Isara asks before resting a hand on her chest, feeling a very real and very active human heart beating under her hand. “No way… It really did work…” 

            “I'm real?” Sophia asks, slowly closing and opening her hands as she lets out a smile. With a tear running down her face, she turns around and leaps onto Ren and Makoto. "I'm real!" The two of them are too stunned to even ask what had happened, even as they return the hug. But while the rest of the team, apart from Morgana, can only look at Sophia and Isara in shock, with Isara now hugging Futaba out of sheer joy, Aladdin has his own wish to fulfil as he gently holds the lamp.

            “Genie… I… I wish for your freedom.” He breathes out as Genie turns to look at him while rolling up a nonexistent sleeve. 

            “One last wish coming right up… wait, what?” Genie suddenly asks, realising what Aladdin had said as even the Sultan looked at Aladdin in surprise. Before it quickly morphed into a smile as he rested his hands on his belt.

            “Genie… you're free." Aladdin repeats as the magic lamp floats out of his hands and envelops Genie's lower half in a cloud of pink magic. Seconds later, the cloud of magic vanishes, revealing that the wispy tail that was once there has now been replaced by two legs, with the cuffs around his wrists detaching themselves from his arms. It's job done; the lamp clatters to the ground, devoid of any magical power as Genie slowly picks it up. Stunned into silence, he looks it over in shock. 

            “I’m free… I’m free…” He repeats before quickly looking around and handing the lamp to Ryuji. “Quick! Quick, wish for something outrageous! Say, uh, um… anything you want! What’s on your mind right now? Just say it!”

            “Um… I wish for a gold bar?” Ryuji asks, with the team looking at him with amused expressions. 

            “NO WAY!” Genie shouts back before quickly laughing at Ryuji. He then literally bounces between the walls in Aladdin’s home, cheering in sheer joy that he is finally free from the lamp, hugging everyone he can as he constantly exclaims that he is finally free.

            “That’s right, Genie, you are free.” Aladdin finally comments as Genie calms down. “You’re your own master, like you always wanted. But…” He looks at Sora and the others with a pleading look in his eyes. “I know I have no right to ask this of you now that you are free, but it would be really great of you to go along with them and help Sora find Jasmine.”

            “Sorry, Al…” Genie replies, turning to look away. “But I am done taking orders from others.” 

            “Of course.” Aladdin replies, shaking his head. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” 

            “Hold the phone there, buddy, I’m not done.” Genie cuts off, turning to look at Aladdin with a grin. “A favour, on the other hand, that is entirely different. I suppose I could give that a try. After all…” He moves up to Aladdin, wrapping him in a one-arm hug. “We’re friends, right, Al?”

            “Genie… thanks.” Aladdin replies gratefully as Rajah walks up and gives both Aladdin and Genie a lick, something that the Sultan doesn't mind as he nods with a smile. But while they are content, Ren has a different question in mind as he turns to Futaba. 

            “Futaba… how did you manage to include Aigis and Labrys in that wish?” He asks, still in shock that Sophia is now a real girl, and with Makoto's hair colour as well. 

            “Well, I asked him if that was possible before I made my first wish so that my Persona could both fight and navigate.” Futaba replies with a grin. "And that wish was not just for me either…”

In a forest bathed in the rays of twilight, Rise Kujikawa was out on a walk to clear her mind. Ever since she and the other members of the Investigation Team, which was thankfully all of them, had arrived at this place that the locals called Twilight Town for some reason, she had done nothing but worry about everyone else in the Shadow Operatives. After all, as far as she could tell, it was just them who had landed here. Well, them and two more.

            “What's wrong, Rise? Feeling down?" Rise perks up, turning to see Nanako Dojima, who also arrived with them along with her father, walking toward her with a grin. 

            “It’s nothing, Nanako.” Rise replies as the two start walking toward a manor nearby, where the Investigation Team has taken residence. “How about your dad? How is he doing? Or is he arguing with that Disciplinary Committee again?”

            “Hah, looks like they wised up when they found out who Dad is. That Seifer is still smarting from when he challenged him to a ‘Struggle’ match. As for right now, he’s still pestering Yu with questions about the TV World and Personas.” Nanako replies, shaking her head. “Ever since you guys showed us those Personas when that storm hit Inaba, Dad has been asking Big Bro a lot of questions. And what happened to me as well… I can’t believe you guys didn’t tell me what happened.”

            “That doesn’t surprise me.” Rise replies, shaking her head as she lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry we kept it from you, Nanako. But we didn’t know how you or Dojima-san would take it, or if you would believe us at all.” 

            “Yeah… I can understand that.” Nanako remarks, shaking her head. “I’ll get over it. At least you guys weren’t being overprotective of me because of that.”

            “I don’t think we would be THAT bad.” Rise replies, shaking her head before letting out a sigh. “Although… I do wish there was more I could do to help. Being a navigator while unable to help in a fight… it takes its toll on you.” While Nanako tilts her head at Rise, neither of them notices a beam of pink energy slam into Rise’s back, enveloping her in a pink aura as she lets out a gasp of surprise. 

            “Rise!? What’s wrong!?” Nanako asks, seeing Rise enveloped by the aura before resting a hand on her chest, eyes wide as a new feeling forms inside her. One that she couldn’t believe was happening as she felt a smile form on her face. 

            “I… don't know. I don't know why this is happening, but… Himiko… she's changed." She looks at Nanako as a wide grin threatens to split her face. "My Persona… can now fight!”

            “Thanks for the help, Fuuka! Now we don’t have to use the emergency shoot again!” Chip compliments as Dale rushes around with final checks. Fuuka lets out a smile as she stands up, brushing her hands on a rag. 

            “I’m happy to help. But I still have to wonder why this emergency shoot was even installed.” Fuuka nods her head at where a new Gummi Ship is being built, in the same spot that the old Kingdom once took up, with the shoot under it sealed up.

            “That’s something we’ll need to ask Gizmo about. Why we let Ludwig convince us, we’ll never know.” Dale remarks, shaking his head just as Aigis walks into the hangar. 

            “Is everything okay, Fuuka?” Aigis asks, walking up to the navigator of the S.E.E.S team, wearing her blue dress. 

            “Yes. We’ve just finished fixing the main launch tube, so the emergency exit won’t be the standard way to leave.” Fuuka replies, before looking back at the Gummi Ship. “While the system is working to replace the Kingdom, I’m still trying to find a way for it to make similar ships like the Highwind.”

            “Indeed… If we had a ship like the Phantom Thieves, we could be out looking for the Investigation Team and Labrys as well." Aigis lets out a sigh, resting her metallic hand on her chest as she thinks about her little sister. "Just where did she go?” 

            “I’m sure she is fine.” Fuuka replies. “By the way, how are Palladion and Psyche?” 

            “They are stable, if still weak.” Aigis replies, shaking her head. “Minato and Minako are also struggling without their full rosters. And I can only imagine Yu and Ren are having problems as well.”

            “I’m still shocked at what Lavenza has sent us… and that the Velvet Room has fallen.” Fuuka admits, letting out a sigh. Just at that moment, two beams of pink energy beam down towards them, hitting both Fuuka and Aigis in the chest as they are covered in a pink aura, which quickly becomes a flash of light from Aigis as Chip and Dale cover their eyes.

When the flash of light clears, Fuuka and Aigis are still standing there as though nothing had happened. At least, at first glance, until they catch a look at Aigis’s eyes. They no longer have the look of artificial eyes; instead, they are real eyes. Something that Aigis herself is confused by as she slowly looks at her hands and feet.

            “What… happened to me?” She slowly asks, gently closing and opening her hands. 

            “Lucia… she's changed.” Fuuka comments, grabbing Aigis's attention. "She can still navigate, but… how is this possible? She can now fight?" Fuuka looks up at Aigis, her face a mixture of confusion and surprise before going wide with surprise. "Aigis! Your eyes! They're…!” 

            “Real?” Aigis asks before looking at her gloved hand. Slowly taking the glove off, she is met by a very real and very human hand as her confusion builds. “I am… a real person? How?”

            “So, you wished for both Fuuka and Rise to be able to fight as well?” Ann asks as the team hangs around the interior of the Highwind, specifically in the training room. Lavenza and Persona Alice join them, while the twelve puppies they found in Agrabah sit around Sophia, who is still coming to terms with the fact that she is now a real girl. 

            “I did.” Futaba replies, rubbing her arm. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would even work. And Genie did tell me that he couldn’t just magically bring anyone to him if they weren’t in the same world.”

            “I guess that’s why you couldn’t wish for him to find Kairi…” Sora comments, letting out a sigh. 

            “Believe me, Sora, that would have been my first wish.” Futaba tells him. “But even that was beyond him. Even though he couldn’t bring people to him, he could still send his magic towards them. Even if he didn’t know WHY that was allowed when he couldn’t just bring them towards him. Something about a cosmic law or something…”

            “Either way, it is still amazing.” Yusuke comments with a smile. "No longer will you be watching from the sidelines, but fighting with us. And the same can also be said for Fuuka and Rise. Although it still doesn't help that we don't know where the latter is, along with the rest of the Investigation Team.” 

            "I have a feeling that they may have also survived the fate that befell our world. After all, you guys did tell Sumire and me that the S.E.E.S is still alive. So it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Investigation Team might still be alive as well." Chihaya explains. which allows Yusuke and everyone else to consider that theory.

            “But more than that, I never realised how much I wanted to be human.” Isara comments, giving herself a look over once more. “I mean, I still can’t get over how happy I am!” 

            “Everyone will be certainly surprised when they see you.” Haru comments, before looking at Morgana. “Especially you, Morgana.”

            “I quite agree.” Lavenza remarks, shaking her head. “Did you not think that such a wish would work on you, Morgana?” 

            “To be honest, I had a feeling it wouldn’t.” Morgana comments, rubbing behind his left ear. “But I’m glad it did. And I have no regrets about it. Plus, I can still change between cat form, van form, and helicopter form. And I think Isara can still do the same with her tank form.” But the smile soon fell off his face as he looked away from Lavenza. “Sorry if I’ve been selfish about this, Lady Lavenza…”

            “What is there to apologise about?” Lavenza asks with a smile. “After everything you have done, you are more than deserving of a chance to be selfish. Why would I be mad at that? And I am sure Master Igor would say the same.” While Morgana blinked his eyes for a moment before letting a small smile form on his face, Lavenza looked over to Sora, who was busy giving his new Keyblade a swing.

It was golden in colour, and made entirely of metal, with the teeth forming a curve that seemed to create a grip. The hand guard seemed to be in a heart shape, with the bottom part a light blue—the same colour as Genie. But it was the magic that Sora was firing from it that had the team's attention.

            “Fira!” Sora shouts, sending out a bigger blast of fire at a training dummy before looking at another. “Blizzara!” Just like with the upgraded Fire spell, the upgraded Blizzard spell sends out more shards of ice towards the target, and larger shards as well. 

            “Did your spells get better, Sora?” Sophia asks, standing between Ren and Makoto. Sora turns to look at her with a grin as he rests the Keyblade on his shoulder.

            “They did! Well, only Fire and Blizzard at the moment. But it’s still something.” He then holds the Keyblade out, gazing at its new form. “And this keychain is called Three Wishes. Kinda fitting, to be honest.” 

            “Considering how you have gained the ability to summon Genie as an ally like Simba, I can see why.” Sumire comments, leaning on one foot before looking at Futaba. “By the way, Futaba, what spells can your Persona now use?” 

            “Well, I had a little dive, and it looks like I’m primarily a Curse and Support with one Bless move on the side.” Futaba replies, rubbing her head. “I didn’t actually specify what I wanted to specialise in.”

            “Even if you did, your Persona would already determine what it is you would learn.” Lavenza replies, just as a chime echoes through the ship. “It would seem we have a communication coming from Disney Castle.” 

            “Maybe it’s about Fuuka and Aigis.” Ren comments as they head for the bridge. The ship was on autopilot towards Traverse Town anyway. 

            “It wouldn’t surprise me.” Makoto agrees as they enter the bridge. As soon as she reaches her seat, Lavenza opens up the comm channel, revealing Minato and Minako on the other end with Queen Minnie.

            “Hey guys! How’s it going?” Minako calls to them, her smile getting wider as she sees the recently found Thieves. “I’m glad you found more of your team.” 

            “We’re glad to have found them as well.” Sae remarks as she folds her arms. “How are things at Disney Castle?” 

            “Well, for one, we are currently building a new Gummi Ship to replace the one we lost. Fuuka is also working with Gizmo and Ludwig on building more ships similar to the Highwind.” Queen Minnie informs them. “Although, something has happened to Fuuka and Aigis.”

            “Let me guess, Fuuka can now fight and Aigis is human?” Futaba asks with a knowing smile, surprising all three of them. 

            “Yes… but how did you know?” Minako asks before looking at Isara and Sophia, only now noticing that the two of them are sporting human eyes. And that there is now a man with cat ears and a tail. “Wait… has the same thing happened to Isara and Sophia as well? And is that Morgana as a human!?” 

            “Funny story about that…” Futaba comments before the team explains their latest adventure in Agrabah and what exactly happened at the end.

            “So that’s what happened? Unbelievable.” Minako replies, her eyes blinking as she shakes her head. “Looks like you finally got your wish, Morgana. But how did you know that would even work?” 

            “We didn’t; we just went with our guts.” Futaba replies cheekily as Morgana nods with pride, only to then look concerned. “Did Fuuka and Aigis not like it…?” 

            “Why don’t you ask her for yourself?” Minato comments, looking to the side as Fuuka walks into view. And suddenly, Futaba was feeling very nervous.

            “H-Hey, Fuuka… how’s it going?” She asks, waving slowly at her. 

            “Futaba…” Fuuka starts, sounding annoyed as she looks at Futaba, only to fold her arms and let out a small smile. “Couldn’t you have given me a warning before asking for that wish?” 

            “Huh?” Futaba asks back, eyes blinking as Fuuka lets out a chuckle.

            “Did you really think I would be mad at you? Of course not. You’ve given me the ability to fight beside Minato and the others. I couldn’t be any happier. As for Aigis… she couldn’t stop crying when she realised she had become human.” Fuuka looks off towards the door. “Shinji was still trying to calm her down when we left them.” Futaba blinked for a little bit more before letting out a relieved laugh, flopping down into one of the seats as Fuuka looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "You must be the three that Mino was talking about. It's nice to meet you. My name is Fuuka Arisato, Minato's wife and navigator for the S.E.E.S team. Although, I suppose I can do more than that now."

            “It's nice to meet you too. I'm Sora Osment."

            “Donald Duck.”

            “Names Goofy, ma'am.” The trio introduced themselves as Fuuka smiled gently at them, just as the navigation computer alerted them.

            “Looks like we’re approaching Traverse Town again.” Sora comments. “Do you think Cid can install those Navi-Gummies?” 

            “Something tells me he will.” Ren remarks, before glancing at Morgana. “But I’m more curious as to how Dad will react to Morgana, Isara, and Sophia.” At hearing that, Morgana suddenly became a bit nervous as everyone shook their heads at him while Makoto rubbed Sophia’s head.

            “I'm sure that will be a surprise for him.” Minako remarks. "See ya later!" And with that, the call ends as the Highwind comes in to land outside Traverse Town. Upon stepping out of the ship, the team notices that more people are seemingly out and about, no doubt due to the Keyhole being sealed, as a strange creature floats over to them. It looks like a small, puffy white creature with two small arms and legs, bat wings, tiny lines for eyes, and a red pom-pom attached to its head by a single black antenna. 

            “Excuse me, kupo! Which one of you is Sora, kupo?” The creature asks the team, surprising them for a moment before Sora steps forward.

            “I’m Sora. But who are you?” Sora asks the creature, who lets out a gasp. 

            “Oh, how rude of me, kupo! My name is Nektar, kupo! I am a moogle from the world of Valisthea, kupo. Although… my home was recently consumed by darkness… kupo." The moogle tells the team as it lets out a long sigh. "I seem to be the only one who made it here as well, kupo.” 

            “Oh, you poor thing.” Haru tells Nektar, walking up to gently hug the moogle, only for Nektar to squirm a little.

            “That tickles, kupo!” Nektar comments as Haru lets him go. Albeit reluctantly due to how fluffy he was. “Anyway, the reason I wanted to speak to you, Sora, is to offer you a valuable moogle service, kupo.” 

            “Service?” Donald asks, folding his arms. “What kind of service?” 

            “Moogle synthesis, kupo!” Nektar replies, bouncing in the air. “My fellow moogles from different worlds are gathering in the shop above the accessory shop, working on creating powerful accessories, potions, and even the most powerful weapon, kupo! And when Leon told us about your mission, we knew we just had to help, kupo!” 

            “I'm guessing there is a catch to all this, right?" Isara comments as she folds her arms. Her assumption being proven when Nektar sheepishly rubs the side of his head.

            “Well… there is something, kupo. All our synthesis materials come from defeated Heartless, kupo…” 

            “And there’s the catch…” Akechi remarks, shaking his head. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t change much, seeing how we are currently fighting against the Heartless anyway. I suppose anything we find can be stored on board the Highwind.”

            “But that is what’s been happening already.” Persona Alice comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “You haven’t seen it, but the Highwind has been picking up money and items that the Heartless leave behind when they are defeated. I thought Lady Lavenza told you about that?” At that, everyone turned to look at Lavenza, who was looking away while letting out a little whistle. Apparently, she had forgotten to tell them about that particular feature. Not that it really mattered…

            “Anyway, follow me to the shop, kupo! I guarantee it will be worth it, kupo!” Nektar lands on Sora’s shoulder, patting his head. “And, while you’re there, could you take the three Dalmatian puppies that are hanging around the shop, kupo? We can’t get them to leave, kupo…” 

            “Sure. I’ll take them to their home along with the twelve we found in Agrabah.” Sora agrees, watching the twelve puppies running around him playfully. While Sora, Donald, and Goofy went to the accessory shop, Ren, Makoto, and Futaba took Morgana, Isara, and Sophia to Leblanc to surprise Sojiro with their new human forms. Meanwhile, everyone else took the chance to relax around town or check on the three nephews in case they had any new weapons in stock.

As it turned out, there were some new weapons in stock for the team to use, providing them with a nice boost in their combat abilities. As for Sojiro and Yoshida, they were left speechless when they saw Morgana, Isara, and Sophia walking around with human bodies, even if Morgana still had cat ears and a cat tail. As for Cid, he was positively salivating when they brought him the new Navi-Gummies. It was all Lavenza could do to stop him from drooling all over the Highwind.

Thankfully, he got himself under control and installed the two Navi-Gummies, increasing their navigation range tremendously. And with the puppies safely delivered to Pongo and Perdita, who gave Sora a torn piece of paper resembling the same one they found from Jafar, not including the other one that looked to be an encrypted research note. They didn’t know where they belonged, but they decided to keep them on hand just in case they needed them.

And so it was with newfound adventure that the team returned to the stars, while Chihaya stayed behind to hold down the fort at Traverse Town. Sure, she could have gone with them, but making sure their base of operations was safe was more important. Even if the Keyhole was sealed, that didn’t stop the Heartless from invading and claiming more hearts. 

But even as they used the warp drives on the back of the Highwind to get back to Agrabah, which the team initially thought were large thrusters, they couldn’t help but feel that they were walking into a trap. This was proven when they quickly found themselves being chased by a giant Heartless ship of all things!

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVulaCFNL4A : Asteroid Chase)

            “Where did they come from?!” Donald shouts as Lavenza banks the Highwind to the side, dodging blasts from the giant ship while five smaller black ships in the shapes of crosses chase after them. As for the large ship, it has a long, narrow front, with four prongs emerging from the bow. At the back were what looked to be two arms emerging from the bottom, while the top half looked like a head with a mono eye. All coloured red and black with orange running lights, with the Heartless Emblem right in the front of the bow. 

            “I don’t know! They showed up out of nowhere!” Futaba shouts back from the navigation station. 

            “We’ve got another problem!” Goofy suddenly shouts, pointing forward. “There are two more ahead of us!” The group could only grimace at that, seeing two more of the large ships bearing down on them.

            “They got us in a pincer attack!” Morgana shouts as Lavenza lets out a huff.

            “From two angles, yes. But we still have options!” She shouts, sending the Highwind into a deep spinning dive as the smaller Heartless ships chase after her. As for the three large ones, they couldn’t manoeuvre in time and crashed into each other, sending out a shockwave of debris even as the Highwind peeled away, not noticing a piece of debris slamming into one of the warp engines on the back.

            “I think we should withdraw for now and find another route.” Sae comments as the ship buckles from a hit, shields registering at 90%. “There may be other ships waiting for us.” 

            “Understood. Initiating warp back to Traverse Town.” Lavenza acknowledges, activating the warp drive, only for nothing to happen as the engines seemingly give out a splutter, causing everyone to look at each other with some uncertainty.

            “I have a bad feeling about this…” Haru comments as the ship shudders from another hit. 

            “Did something hit the warp drives!?” Isara asks Shiho, who brings up a readout of the ship, showing that the left warp drive is damaged and blinking red.

            “Something must have happened when those ships blew up! The left drive is damaged!” 

            “Just great…” Ryuji groans, just as the ship is rocked by something else that isn’t from the Heartless ships. “What now?” 

            “Looks like an asteroid field up ahead!” Mishima shouts, dragging all eyes forward. “Maybe from a world that was destroyed!” The team winces at that reminder, just as another hit from a Heartless ship sends the shields down to 70%. The shots are threatening to start damaging the hull if they don’t do anything.

            “Lavenza! Take us into the asteroid field! We might be able to lose them!” Ren shouts, shocking everyone except Lavenza, who just lets out a grin as she takes the Highwind right into the asteroid field. 

            “Ren, are you sure? Wouldn’t such an act doom us as well?” Yusuke asks as Lavenza starts weaving the Highwind through the asteroids, dodging rocks with relative ease. 

            “I agree, Dad. I just did the calculations in my head, and they aren’t good.” Sophia agrees, hugging Makoto.

            “Even if you did, I don’t think it would stop Lavenza.” Sora remarks as the entire team holds on for their lives. Just as Lavenza brings the Highwind around a large piece of debris, shooting through without a care as one of the Heartless fighters slams into a floating piece of rock.

Another Heartless ship is hit in one of its wings and sent spiralling away right into a large piece of rock, while another manages to get above the Highwind’s left wing. Almost as though she knew it was there, Lavenza spins the Highwind around, knocking the Heartless fighter away as it goes screaming into a shard of rock, leaving behind two Heartless fighters that are attacking with some unusual caution.

            “We still have two more on our tail.” Ann comments with a grimace. “And it looks like they are playing chicken with us.” 

            “In that case, let us even the playing field.” Lavenza remarks, looking at a large shard of rock nearby. "We shall draw them closer to one of the larger ones.” 

            “Closer!?” Sumire and Akechi shout, just as the ship shakes from another hit. Without batting an eye, Lavenza sends the Highwind into a barrel roll as she closes in on the large asteroid, avoiding shots from the Heartless fighters before leading them into a narrow canyon. The Highwind, with its thinner profile, could easily pass through without issue. But for the two fighters, they had no such luck as they collided with the walls and detonated, leaving the Highwind free to escape into open space. At least… that was the plan until they came across a different problem.

            “Um… are my eyes playing tricks, or is that a giant whale floating in space!?” Ryuji shouts as, to the team's entire collective shock, a massive whale soars right before them. Something that Jiminy easily notices with growing alarm. 

            “That’s Monstro! He’s a whale of a whale! And he looks even larger than he normally does!” 

            “He’s from your world?” Makoto asks, just as Monstro floats right by them. “On second thought, we can talk more when we’re away from it.” 

            “Lady Lavenza! Get us out of here!” Morgana shouts, just as Monstro turns around to them with its mouth open wide, intent clear as day to all. 

            “It's too late!” She calls out, just as Monstro swallows the Highwind whole while everyone screams in terror.

Chapter Text

Chapter 16: Truths and Flames.

It was strange. One second, Sora was holding a hand over his face as Monstro swallowed the ship whole; the next, he was having an out-of-body experience watching his five-year-old self walking on Destiny Islands to what would be the Secret Place, with six-year-old Riku beside him. 

            That’s right… I remember now. Sora comments with a smile. I mistook the wind inside the Secret Place for a monster and dragged Riku in there to find it. But all we found was that strange door.

As though it could read his mind, the scene before Sora shifted to show the moment when they found the door, along with Riku telling Sora about their dream to leave their home and go on real adventures. But just as he watched his younger self and Riku leave, a flash of light blinded him as he suddenly found himself somewhere else. Only now, it looked like he was watching from the eyes of a person as he glanced around the giant room.

From what Sora could see, the walls looked to be made of a brilliant white stone, while a giant stained-glass window on his right let light shine through. The floor, railings, and decorative styling all seemed to be made of gold, broken up by light blue stone and more stained-glass windows. But it was the two people he could see standing before him that had Sora, or the person he was seeing all this through, attention.

One was a tall young man with brown hair that reached the base of his neck, styled with two bangs over his face. The other was a young woman whose height reached the man’s shoulder, with short blue hair that spiked out slightly at the bottom.

The young man was wearing two intersecting straps over his chest, almost resembling crisscrossed suspenders, while on his obi belt was a golden emblem. He wore a skin-tight, grey and black, high-collared shirt, showing that he was rather muscular. His hakama pants were dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which were undone. The rest of the pants were tan, with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. He wore a plain black wristband on his right arm, while his left arm was significantly more armoured.

What was strange was that he had armour on one arm. The armour has a large, ornate golden crest and a long, segmented section alternating between dark grey and dark red, reaching all the way to the bottom of his hand. He also wears a black, fingerless glove on his hand and what appears to be a black gauntlet on his forearm, over the segmented armour, which also has small pieces of dark red armour on it. Finally, his armoured boots are dark brown and gold. 

As for the young woman, she is wearing a black and blue, high-collared halter top, two pink, intersecting belts over her chest, and black shorts. A silver badge similar to the young man’s is present on her chest. On her arms are white bell sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also wears a small, segmented piece of armour on each of her upper arms. She wears what appears to be black stockings or socks on her legs, which reach to about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin on her upper thighs.

The young woman also bears two strips of blue cloth that drape over either side of her hips, along with a smaller white strip of cloth tied around her waist, draped in the same manner. Finally, she wears pointed, armoured silver boots with a sharp 'hook' on the outer side of each.

            Who… are these people? Sora asks himself, sensing a great sense of familiarity with these two. Almost… sibling-like? But he didn’t think about that for long as his attention was soon drawn to a man stepping down from a trio of thrones, with what appeared to be another person sitting on the far right, but Sora couldn’t see him due to the standing man.

Bearing a distinct Japanese influence in his choice of clothing, or what Sora could guess was Japanese after speaking with Ren and the others, he was wearing a white, red-lined haori that had a hood, along with slightly shorter-than-normal, light-coloured hakama. Underneath his haori, he wore a navy blue shirt with a large white X pattern on the front. He also had jagged scars over his right eye and left cheek, probably from a fight.

Like the two before him, the man is wearing pieces of armour. In his case, gold and black armoured boots and a dull blue-green section that covers his abdomen. This second piece of armour sports the same symbol worn by the other two near the top. His black hair is tied into a short, high topknot, with one bang falling off to the right side of his face. He also has a short, triangular soul patch and a moustache. He looks between the two, giving them a nod of his head as he looks forward with purpose. 

            “Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade’s chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy. Not a test of will, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail, or neither.”

            Mark of Mastery? For Keyblade wielders? Sora thinks to himself as he lets what he believes to be a memory play out before him. 

            “But I’m sure our guest, Master Xehanort, did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospect in years fall short of the Mark.”

            Xehanort!? Sora shouts internally, recalling what Donald and Goofy told him and the Thieves about Xehanort as the person he was watching all this through looking at the chairs. But instead of seeing a man, all Sora could see was a black mist. As though the memory he was watching was blocked or something. So much for finding out what he looks like… 

            “I trust you are ready.” The man asks the two standing before him, who nod back with conviction. 

            “Yes, Master Eraqus.” The two reply, shocking Sora even more as the now-identified Master Eraqus summons his Keyblade. With a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapers outward at both ends, it has a boxy guard made up of two small, light grey boxes and a copper rod. The base of the guard connects to the grip, and both sport several small indentations lining them. The grip itself is somewhat unique in that it is squared, while the teeth are in the shape of a capital E. As for its keychain, it was the same emblem that was present on all three of them.

            “Then, Terra, Aqua, let the examination begin.” Eraqus commands, using his Keyblade to summon several orbs of light, with the two students, Terra and Aqua, summoning their own blades in response. 

Terra’s Keyblade has a textured, dark brown colour, with brass edges. The teeth are made of two pick-like points, with two hammer-like protrusions on the opposite side. The guard is an off-blue colour and seems to be crafted from two Omega insignias. The pommel is a dark blue cone. The Keychain token is a reddish rock fragment with brass armour-like plating. 

Aqua's Keyblade is thin and predominantly a dull, metallic blue colour. There is a teardrop-shaped gap in the base and near the tip of the blade's shaft. The head of the Keyblade is roughly diamond-shaped, though the left corner of the diamond is absent, and there is another small, white diamond on the inner edge of the right corner. The teeth are formed by four blue spikes lining the outer edge of the Keyblade's head. The handle is smooth and black. The guard is angular, predominantly white, and does not fully connect to the Keyblade. The Keychain links and its token are all made up of water droplets. 

But before the two could even fight, the orbs of light were suddenly engulfed in a dark aura, moving about with minds of their own as one of them shot right at the person Sora was spectating.

            “Ven!” Terra and Aqua shout as Sora, now realizing who the person he is seeing all this from, could feel Ven falling into a stance as the sound of a Keyblade being summoned chimes in his ears. But from his point of view, Sora couldn't really see the blade as Ven swung at the orb, showing that he held his Keyblade in a reverse grip of all things. 

            “Don’t worry about me. You two focus on the exam!” Ven calls out to Terra and Aqua, the two of them going back to back as the orbs circle around them. 

            “But Ven, you’re in danger here! Go wait in your room.” Aqua tells him, her eyes not leaving the orbs as they spin around them. 

            “No way! I’ve been looking forward to this, seeing you two become Keyblade Masters! I’m not going to miss it now!” Ven calls back as Aqua blinks at him in surprise, while Terra looks over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. 

            “He can take care of himself. He’s been out there training just as hard as both of us. You should be more worried about me taking more down than you.”

            “Oh? Is that a challenge?” Aqua asks back with her own smirk. “Better watch out, or you’ll find yourself losing.” 

            “Guys, can you flirt after the exam?” Ven calls out to the two of them, who shake their heads before getting serious. Before the vision can continue, Sora’s vision flashes white as he finds himself lying on a hard surface. 

            “What was that?” Sora asks himself, pushing himself up until he hears some rustling coming from his side.

            “Glad to see you’re awake.” Hifumi comments, kneeling to him. “How are you feeling? You took a nasty hit when Monstro swallowed the Highwind.” 

            “I’m a bit dazed… but I’m fine.” Sora replies, standing up before shaking a little bit. It was only then, as he got a better look around him, that he saw the Highwind taking up a good portion of wherever they were. Although judging by the row of giant teeth behind him, it wasn’t hard to imagine where in Monstro they were. “Where is everyone else?” 

            “Lavenza and Alice are in the Highwind, seeing what they need to fix while repairing the warp drive that was damaged. As for everyone else, they’re down at a wooden sailing ship that was swallowed by Monstro, along with some old friends.” Hifumi replies, standing up. “Follow me.” With little else to do, Sora followed Hifumi over several wooden planks, letting them avoid the water that was pooling in Monstro’s mouth. Or was it saliva? Well, neither of them wanted to find out either way, so they stuck to the wooden planks.

Eventually, they came to the remains of a wooden ship, half embedded in Monstro’s mouth as a small light illuminated from the inside. Inside, Sora found the rest of the team hanging around the cosy room, along with several other people, while Morgana had seemingly shifted into his cat form for some reason. And it would appear they were just finishing up a conversation. 

            “…And that's everything that we know so far, Toshiro." Ren finishes, folding his arms as Toshiro lets out a long sigh. At his side, Tsuchiya and Eri are with him, dark expressions on their faces, while nearby, Maruki and Rumi stand in silence, sadness plastered on their faces. 

            “I see… to think that we were blind to this threat…” Toshiro remarks, rubbing his head. “I can’t believe how foolish we were to let our guard down.” 

            “I don’t think anyone could have guessed that would happen, bro.” Tsuchiya replies, shaking her head. “At the very least, we should be glad that Yoshida-sensei and the others are still alive. Even if we don’t know where everyone else is.” While Toshiro nodded at his sister, Eri’s eyes caught sight of Hifumi as she entered the ship, with Sora right behind her.

            “Welcome back, Hifumi. Is this the ‘Sora’ you were talking about?” Eri asks, grabbing the attention of the other four. Seeing Sora nod at her, Eri smiles as she moves over. Despite being able to regain her full mobility in the Metaverse, it would seem she was unable to shift into said form in real life. “Nice to meet you, Sora. My name is Eri Natsuhara. Well, it would have been Eri Kasukabe by now…” 

            “Oh, that’s right… You and Toshiro’s wedding was two days from when our world was lost.” Makoto comments sadly as Toshiro lets out a long sigh.

            “Yes… That is right. And we were both looking forward to that as well.” He admits, before shaking his head. “But we can reminisce on that later. It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Sora. My name is Toshiro Kasukabe, a member of the Diet that's under Yoshida-sensei.” 

            “You work for Yoshida? That’s amazing.” Sora comments with wide eyes as Toshiro lets out a laugh at him. Seeing his eyes filled with wonder and excitement, he couldn’t help but smile at him. 

            “You got that right.” Tsu remarks, walking up and holding out a hand to him. “Tsuchiya Kasukabe, Toshiro’s twin sister and a diplomat. Not that I’ve done much of that inside a whale, of all things.”

            “I'm sure you’ll have a chance.” Rumi comments before smiling at Sora. “Rumi Maruki. It’s nice to meet you, Sora. And this is my husband, Takuto Maruki.” 

            “A pleasure to meet you.” Maruki greets, nodding his head at him. “I understand you’ve been through quite a lot on your journey so far. And yet you’ve managed to stay strong no matter what.” He lets out a smile, folding his arms as he nods at him. “That takes some strong willpower to do so.” 

            “Shifting over into counselling mode already, Doc?” Ryuji remarks with a smirk as Maruki shakes his head. He just couldn’t help himself, it seems. 

            “It's nice to meet you all. I assume you all are part of the Phantom Thieves as well?" Sora asks with wide eyes, the five adults all chuckling at him in response.

            “You could say so. Even if only two of us can use Personas.” Eri remarks, letting out a sigh. “Kinda wish I could fight as well…”

            “We wish so as well, Eri.” Sumire comments sadly, just as steps come from the back of the room, revealing an old man with glasses, holding a fishbowl with a goldfish while a black-and-white cat perched on his shoulder. Around his feet were twelve Dalmatian puppies that the cat seemed to be wary of. But it was who came up behind the old man that surprised Sora. It was a walking, living puppet.

            “Oh, hello there. I take it you were the one still asleep?” The old man asks, placing the fishbowl down on a cabinet.

            “Um… yeah.” Sora replies, glancing at Ren for help. 

            “This is Geppetto. He was swallowed by Monstro just as his world fell to the Heartless, along with his pets, Figaro the cat and Cleo the goldfish.” Ren introduces before glancing at the puppet. “And this is Pinocchio.” 

            “Hello!” Pinocchio greets back with a wide grin. Riding atop his hat, hidden from Geppetto, was Jiminy, who seemed to be back at home in Pinocchio's hat. While Sora looked confused as to why the cricket was in the puppet's hat, Ren came up to him and whispered in his ear.

            "Apparently, from what we were told prior to meeting them, Jiminy comes from the same world as Pinocchio and Geppetto and at the time acts as Pinocchio's consciousness. But Geppetto doesn't know about this." Ren says quietly, to which Sora nods in understanding after taking a bit to process. 

            “It was quite a surprise when we saw Monstro swallow up your ship. I'm honestly surprised that he was able to do so." Geppetto remarks, indicating back to the Highwind. It still boggles the mind how it could easily fit inside the whale's mouth with room to spare. "I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of amenities, but please, make yourself at home. It is the least I can do.”

            “Thanks.” Sora replies, watching as Geppetto makes his way back down with Pinocchio following after him. But while his mind wandered back to that vision he had of Terra and Aqua, there was something else on his mind that had been bugging him for a while. “So… what did Jerri do to you?” Sora suddenly asks, grabbing everyone’s attention. Especially a certain trio. 

            “Jerri? That pink parasite is back?” Eri asks as her eyes narrow in anger. 

            “Yes. It seems she’s teamed up with Maleficent for whatever reason.” Makoto replies, brushing some hair back. “I can’t believe we forgot to mention that.” 

            “But who is she exactly?” Donald presses. “And why did you sound so angry when you saw her?” 

            “It's a simple answer, Donald. She is one of our nemeses from our world." Yusuke replies, folding his arms. "We first encountered her when she attempted to brainwash another friend of ours named Tao into becoming an avatar of destruction by using the very arts she created as a medium to kill everyone.”

            “Did she do that?” Sora asks, his eyes going wide. 

            “Yes. All so she could serve her ‘lord’.” Sumire replies with a growl. “And even when we defeated her the first time, she still came back and tried to turn Toshiro into her puppet, and us along with him. And she almost succeeded in that.” 

            “How so?” Goofy asks, rubbing the side of his head. 

            “I suppose you could say it was partly my fault.” Toshiro comments. "Because I refused to abandon my will of rebellion, Jerri's master, Salmael, dragged me into what we called the Kingdoms in order to break me entirely. With the ruler of the first kingdom being based on my ex-fiancée, Marie. And she was the one who almost captured everyone.”

            “How did she do that?” Sora asks, none of them noticing that Pinocchio has ventured outside the ship. 

            “She Dominated us.” Futaba replies, letting out a full-body shake. “One hit from her ‘Kiss of Love’, and you became her slave. Body and mind, both under her control, and you could do nothing as she forced you to do whatever she wanted. All the while, she was constantly speaking to you in your head about how ‘great’ she is. I still get nightmares about that…” 

            “And… how many of you were caught?” Donald hesitantly asks before seeing eleven hands raise into the air, making Donald feel very intimidated. 

            “But it was only eleven of you, right? What about the rest of you?” Sora asks.

            “Back then, Sora, it was just the fourteen of us.” Morgana replies, shocking him. "Isara was still a model tank, we hadn't met Sophia yet, and everyone else that was with us at the time hadn't awoken to their Personas yet.” 

            “The only reason we got out of there in the first place was thanks to Erina.” Sae replies, folding her arms. “But explaining Erina is… complicated.” 

            “How complicated?” Goofy asks, only to receive a look from everyone that told him it wouldn’t be a simple conversation. At least they now understood why the Thieves hated Jerri so much.

            “Pinocchio! Pinocchio!” Geppetto’s voice soon echoes outside, grabbing everyone’s attention as they see Geppetto wandering outside. And judging by him calling out his son’s name, it is clear that Pinocchio has either gotten lost or wandered off. 

            “Geppetto-san? What is the matter?” Toshiro asks as the team heads over to him. Geppetto looks back at them, worry etched on his face as he lets out a long sigh. 

            “Pinocchio has wandered off again into Monstro’s bowels. I’ve told him not to numerous times as well…” He lets out a long sigh, shaking his head as the team all glances at one another. A look back at the wall of flesh before them shows two entrances that lead deeper into Monstro. And it is clear Pinocchio can’t reach the top entrance, so it is the bottom one left for them to explore, as much as they do not want to indulge in the idea of adventuring through a whale's bowels.

            “This is going to suck…” Mishima groans as Ren lets out a sigh. 

            “Should we all go looking for him?” Goofy asks, looking around. 

            “I think Tsu, Eri, and Rumi should stay behind.” Toshiro suddenly comments, earning a look from all three of them. “Look, I am not saying this to be mean, but we have no idea what awaits us inside Monstro. And I would rather not risk any of you falling into whatever may be waiting for us.” The three looked ready to argue against him, but they begrudgingly conceded the point as they stepped away from the group, especially Eri. 

            “Don’t worry. We’ll be back.” Sora comments as the group heads off into the bowels of Monstro. It wasn’t long until they found Jiminy standing by himself at the entrance, letting out a sad sigh before Sophia gently picked him up, startling him.

            “Jiminy? Why are you on the floor?” Sophia asks, tilting her head at him as Jiminy fixes his hat. 

            “This is rather embarrassing, but I fell off when Pinocchio ran into Monstro’s bowels. He said something about seeing someone moving in the shadows.” Jiminy tells the group as Futaba shifts into Oracle to do a scan, only to let out a groan at seeing how inconclusive her scans were. 

            “I can’t pick anything up. Monstro’s insides are messing with everything.” Oracle tells the group as she shifts back to normal. “Looks like we’re doing this the hard way.”

            “Great…” Ryuji groans as the group all collectively sighs at that. 

            “Well, we won’t find him standing around here. Let’s start searching.” Morgana comments, shifting over to his human form while surprising Toshiro and Maruki. Sure, they were told Morgana can now become a human, but this was the first time they saw it! But that moment of surprise vanished as soon as they stepped into the first chamber of Monstro’s bowels. And they certainly were not expecting it to be a room of purple with strange patterns decorating the walls.

            “Okay… this goes against everything I’ve learned in biology.” Sumire comments as the team looks around, completely baffled at what they are seeing. 

            “We’re in a whale flying through space. I think EVERYTHING about Monstro goes against biology.” Donald counters as he shakes his head, only to then spot a familiar puppet looking out of a connecting tunnel. “Hey, look!” 

            “Pinocchio!” Shiho calls out as the team lets out a collective breath of air. “We were worried something had happened to you.” 

            “I’m being careful. And I thought I saw someone around here.” Pinocchio calls back.

            “This isn’t the place to fool around, Pinocchio.” Ren calls out, folding his arms. “You could get hurt if you rush around.” While the team expressed their worries, Jiminy, standing on Sora’s shoulder, looked at Pinocchio with a curious expression.

            “Normally, when Pinocchio ends up telling a lie, his nose ends up getting bigger. He's telling the truth." He whispers to Sora, who glances back at Pinocchio. If that is true, then who did Pinocchio see?

            “Your father is really worried about you, Pinocchio. It is best that you come back with us before something happens to you.” Sae calls out to him as she rests a hand on her hip. “This is not the place for games.”

            “But I thought Sora liked playing games. Or is he too cool to play them now that he has the Keyblade?" A voice echoes behind Pinocchio, startling everyone as Riku soon makes his appearance. 

            “Riku? What are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Kairi?” Sora asks, surprise in his voice at seeing him here. For that matter, how did he even GET here in the first place? 

            “I am. But I decided to take a break and play with Pinocchio.” Riku replies with a smirk. Sora couldn’t help but shake his head at Riku. How could he think of playing with Pinocchio at a time like this!? But now that he had a moment to look at Riku, there was something about him that seemed… different. There was an aura around him that wasn’t there back at Traverse Town. And that sense of jealousy seemed to still be there even now. But why?

            “Sora? Is this one of your friends that you were looking for?" Hifumi asks, her gaze not leaving Riku. There is something… off about him. And judging by how the others are looking at him, they can feel it as well.

            "Yeah. Riku Gallagher. My best friend." Sora replies, a small smile on his face. Riku's face seemed to twitch at that, but it was so quick that no one seemed to notice it. "But still, what about Kairi? Were you able to find her? Or anything that gave a hint?" Riku's hand seemed to flinch at that as he glanced to the side. 

            “Maybe.” He comments, the smirk never leaving his face. “Catch us, and I might tell you where she is.” 

            “Come on!” Sora shouts, clearly not amused as Riku leans down and grabs Pinocchio, dragging him deeper into Monstro. “What is going on with him? Why is he acting like this?”

            “Let’s chase him down and ask him then.” Akechi comments, hand on his chin. “After all, there is something he’s not telling us. The way his eyes moved and the twitch in his hand are evidence of much.” 

            “I can agree on that.” Maruki comments, stroking his chin. “The way he was acting, it was like he was purposefully acting like that in order to bait you.” 

            “Bait me?” Sora asks, eyes wide as he looks back at Maruki. “Why?” Maruki shrugs his shoulders, shaking his head as he lets out a sigh. 

            “I don’t know… but something tells me we won’t like the answer.” That didn’t sit well with Sora as he glanced back at the tunnel Riku had vanished into, along with that strange aura that seemed to be wrapping itself around him.

            Riku… what are you doing?

            What am I doing? Riku asks himself as he paces about in a chamber. Why am I acting this way towards Sora? I know where Kairi is, so why didn't I just tell him? He pauses in his steps, feeling a pain drill into his mind as a dark aura envelops him for a second. These headaches… Why won't they go away? I can hardly think straight any more! 

            “Why do you still care about that boy?” Maleficent asks him as she appears beside him. “He has all but deserted you for the Persona users, the Keyblade, and his new companions after all.” 

            No, he’s not. He still cares about us… right? That’s what Riku would have replied with, but the headache returned like a shadow, striking at his mind as he found himself replying with a different tone instead.

            “I don’t care about him. I was just messing with him a little.” Riku replies, shocking himself as he feels a dark urge building inside him. That wasn’t what he was going to say! 

            “Oh, really? Of course you were.” Maleficent replies, but the smile on her face is another story. “Beware the darkness in your heart. The Heartless prey upon it.” She tells him, slowly walking past as she conjures up a portal of darkness.

            “Mind your own business!” Riku shouts at her as she vanishes. He lets out a scoff as he leans on the wall, his mind racing at what had just happened. Why did he say that? Sora was his friend! So why… Why was he thinking more and more negatively about him? He spots his right hand glowing a faint black before vanishing as more dark thoughts circle his mind, pushing out his calmer and more rational side and letting his inner emotional side lash out. 

But as he stood there brooding away, Pinocchio ran past him with a giant grin on his face just as Sora and the others ran in after him, only to pause as Riku glanced at him with a look of two emotions.

            “Riku! What’s the matter with you? What are you thinking? Don’t you realize what you are doing?” Sora asks him, seemingly fed up with all the running around they had to do to get here, even though he did find another Summon Gem and another torn page along the way. Not that Riku would blame him; it was a maze inside this damn whale anyway. But still, hearing those questions aimed at him seemed to only ignite an anger in him that was slowly pushing away his calmer side. 

            “I was about to ask you the same thing, Sora.” Riku shoots back, pushing himself off the wall. “You only seem to be interested in running around with the Persona users and showing off that Keyblade of yours. Do you even want to save Kairi?” While Ren and the others blink in surprise that Riku knew they were Persona users, Sora glanced down at the Keyblade, currently in its Three Wishes form.

            “I do want to save her, but I’m also saving worlds from the Heartless as well!” Sora shouts back, shaking his head at Riku, who glances to the side. He couldn’t really argue against that; at least his rational side wouldn’t. But right now, he wasn’t thinking rationally or calmly at all. All he felt was a dark anger pushing him forward.

However, before either of them could continue, Pinocchio’s cry echoed from behind Riku. As one, everyone charged into the area where the cry originated, finding themselves in a large space that was all shades of light pink. But it was what was waiting in the middle of the room that had everyone’s attention.

A large Heartless whose main body is a large, magenta blob with glowing yellow eyes and thin, rounded teeth that resemble prison bars, which ended up holding Pinocchio inside its body. This body rests on a flower-like base that is violet and aquamarine. A much smaller pink head rests on top of the main one. This second head sports a jagged mouth, glowing yellow eyes, two short, dark purple spikes under its mouth, and a curled, magenta antenna on its head. Two long, aquamarine tentacles sprout from either side of the second head and end in violet 'hands' with three fingers, each with a dark purple spike on it. Its Heartless Emblem is between its eyes. 

            “Looks like we found the leader!” Isara comments as the Thieves all shift into their Thief attire. Riku almost jumped away from the blue flames, not expecting them even if Jerri had told him about them. Nor was he expecting them to change their appearance and suddenly gain a whole lot of weapons.

But it seemed that this Heartless was waiting for that as it summoned two different kinds of allies to help it. One looked to be a yellow woman who was split in half, the torso floating above the lower body with bat-like wings and a long tongue. The other looked to be a white man with a yellow chest and belly. A snake-like tail extended from its lower back, while its hands and feet were coloured red. Its head looked similar to a snake with black hair, while its right hand was a long wooden staff. 

And there were about five of each of these alongside the giant Heartless. 

            “What are those!?” Riku shouts, summoning his dark sword into his hand. Something that Joker, Crow, and Athena took note of as it appeared from a dark mist. Almost similar to Dark or Curse magic. But this looked… like something else. Almost like the magic that figure used in that dream battle… 

            “Those white ones are Mishaguji! They absorb Dark and Curse, block Elect, and resist Physical. But they are weak to Ice!" Oracle calls out, spinning her battle staff around like a pro. "The others are called Manananggal! They block Dark and Curse, but are weak to Light and Bless! And that Heartless is called a Parasite Cage!”

            “Spring! You, Violet, and Sophie can handle the Manananggal! Fox, take Donald and engage the Mishaguji!” Joker sends out commands as his eyes stay on the Parasite Cage. “Everyone else, either focus on rescuing Pinocchio or take down the Demons!” 

            “Right!” Sora calls out, rushing forward and jumping at the Parasite Cage as Spring, Violet, and Sophie unleash Kouga at the Manananggal, managing to take three of them down at once. Sora slashes a three-hit combo on the Parasite Cage’s head before dropping to the floor just as Panther blasts the head with Agilao. Managing to leave a burn on the head, Queen follows up with a Frelia, igniting the burn and causing the Parasite Cage to let out a roar of pain just as two Manananggal leap towards her, only to be hit by Hamaon from Athena, wiping out the two of them, only for two more to appear behind the Parasite Cage.

            “We’ve got more of them!” Mona shouts, dragging his scimitar across the Parasite cage with a flourish, just as Riku does the same before blasting an orb of black fire at the two Manananggals. But the smirk that was on his face was quickly wiped away as the two Demons lunge forward at him. 

            “Adam Kadmon! Makouga!" Doc shouts, summoning his other self to the field and blasting the two Demons with Bless magic. While Riku is still stunned at how his magic does nothing to them, despite being able to easily wipe out a Heartless, he is blind to one of the Mishaguji sneaking up behind him and hitting him with its staff. Sending Riku to the floor as he glares up at the Demon right as it is frozen by Fox before Outlaw shatters it with his twin blades. As for Oracle, she is spinning her staff around her like she has been doing this for years, knocking foes back with every hit before summoning Necronomicon and blasting them with Kouga. Noir, with Milady by her side, catches two Demons with Psio and sends them flying towards Goofy and Skull, who bash them together before Donald freezes them both with Blizzara.

As Mona continued to get used to fighting in his new cat-like human form, he failed to see one of the Demons sneaking up on him, only for a kunai and chain to wrap around its neck, followed by Shinobi pulling herself towards it and kicking the Demon in the chest, sending it into Joker, who blasted it with Double Shot before joining Crow and sending out a blast Eiga at the Parasite Cage, something that caught Riku's eye. 

            “Ernesto! Baywell 45!” Rebel commands, summoning Ernesto to his side and sending out a weaker version of his signature Gun attack as Edel sends a barrage of missiles at it. The round and missiles slam into the Parasite Cage's head, knocking it around as it suddenly lashes out with its arms, forcing everyone back as the Parasite Cage gives out a shiver. While Riku can only look at the Persona users with a new sense of envy building inside him, something that only seems to fuel the darkness that is building inside him, drowning out the calm side of his mind.

            “This is supposed to be a boss? This is nothing compared to the Guard Armour!” Skull shouts with a grin as the Parasite Cage looks around with growing worry. Just when it looks like it will be an easy fight, the Parasite Cage suddenly connects its suckers to the ceiling and lifts itself off the ground before spitting Pinocchio out into a gaping hole in the ground and retreating further into Monstro. 

            “It's getting away!” Noir calls out as Riku, without warning, chases after Pinocchio with a determined look, completely ignoring Sora even as he calls out to him, much to his dismay. 

            “What’s going on with him?” Sora asks out loud, shaking his head. 

            “We can ask him when we catch him.” Crow comments as everyone rushes to the hole. “For now, after him!”

When they jumped inside the hole, they didn’t know where they would end up. But finding themselves back at the mouth on top of Geppetto’s ship was not on their bingo card. Nor was seeing Riku standing on top of the Highwind with Pinocchio under his arm, sending a cold glare at Geppetto on it either. Seemingly unfazed by the man calling at him to give Pinocchio back. 

            “Sorry, old man. But I have some unfinished business with this puppet.” Riku calls back down to him in an uncaring voice as the dark aura around him seems to only grow. 

            “He’s no puppet! Pinocchio is my little boy!” Geppetto shouts back, praying that Riku would see the light and let his son go. But judging by how the dark aura around him only intensified, it was clear that whatever light still shined inside him was being smothered by every passing second.

            “He is unusual. Not many puppets have hearts.” Riku comments before glancing at the sleeping puppet. “I’m not sure, but maybe he can help somebody who’s lost hers.” That comment got Sora’s attention as he looked up at Riku with wide eyes. Was he doing this, all of this, because…? 

            “Are you talking about Kairi?!” Sora shouts up at Riku, who turns to look at him, seeing only a cold, jealous glare directed at him. 

            “What do you care about her?” He asks back before shaking his head as the aura around him seems to die down a bit. It wasn’t much, but it was still noticeable as Riku turned and made his way to the upper opening nearby. 

            “That dark aura…” Ren comments quietly, just as footsteps rush up behind them, revealing a distressed Rumi and Tsuchiya.

            “Rumi? Tsu? What's wrong?" Maruki asks, seeing her distressed look as Tsuchiya looks at Toshiro with wide eyes. 

            “It’s Eri! She’s been captured!” 

            “What!?” Everyone shouts as one, while Toshiro's eyes widen before narrowing in anger. 

            “It was the Heartless.” Rumi comments, letting out a shiver. “They appeared out of nowhere and ambushed us. Eri tried to fend them off while Tsuchiya went for her gun, but they just dragged Eri into a dark portal and then left.”

            “Why do they want Eri?” Isara asks, shaking her head. “That's, like, totally random!” 

            “Random or not, they have crossed a line.” Toshiro growls as he glares at the exit Riku took. “That young man must know where Eri is. Let us follow him and rescue Pinocchio at the same time!” 

            “But how do we get up there?” Donald asks, until something is tossed at his beak and bounces into his hand. Just as two more similar devices are tossed to Sora and Goofy. With the two of them catching them without issue.

            "Wait… aren't these the devices that I've seen you guys use in our earlier battles?" Sora asks as he looks at the device.

            "Yup. Grappling hooks." Morgana tells them, adjusting the one on his wrist. "We use them all the time. Just follow our lead." Without a word, the Thieves all fire their hooks at the Highwind, grappling on top to reach the second entrance. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all glance at each other before letting out a joint shrug and following after them. Sora is able to copy them with no problem, but Donald and Goofy have a few problems. Donald's shot is too low, so he slams into the edge of the Highwind and skids across the hull. As for Goofy… he goes too high and slams into the roof of Monstro's mouth before falling onto Ryuji and Ann. After a quick heal from Sora, the team chases after Riku, hoping to stop him before he does something he will regret forever.

Riku honestly had no idea what he was doing. Why did he kidnap Pinocchio? Why was he acting cold to Sora? It was like he was acting on autopilot as he looked at the sleeping puppet. And that wasn’t even considering who else was being held here. 

            “Let me go, you dumb ghosts!” Eri shouts, trying to fight back against the two ghostly-looking Heartless as they hold her arms. Each one of them looks to be sewn up, with one of their eyes hanging from their face. But neither of them budges at Eri as Riku continues to stare coldly at Pinocchio. The dark aura around him seems to grow, just as Sora and the others manage to catch up to him. 

            “Let Pinocchio and Eri go, Riku!” Sora shouts at him, grabbing Riku’s attention as he turns to look at him. The dark aura around him seemingly settles on him.

            “There’s that dark aura again…” Ren comments quietly as the Thieves shift in their Thief attire. “Something is not right with him…” 

            “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Spring remarks as Riku turns to face Sora, ignoring everyone else in the room. 

            “Let Eri and Pinocchio go now, young man.” Rebel tells him in a low voice. “You do not understand what you are doing.” 

            “I think I do.” Riku replies, glancing back at Eri. “I don’t know why they brought her here, but she’s not the one I’m interested in. It’s this puppet.” He looks back at Pinocchio, his eyes seemingly clouding. “A puppet that lost its heart to the Heartless. Maybe it holds the key to helping Kairi.” He looks back at Sora, the cloud vanishing from his eyes as the dark aura disappears. “How about it, Sora? Let’s join forces to save her. We can do it together.” He holds out a hand, beckoning Sora to join.

As for Sora, he looked at Riku’s hand before looking back at him. With his eyes narrowing, he summoned the Keyblade to his side and pointed it at Riku. “You heard Rebel, Riku. Let them both go.” 

            “What?” Riku asked back, his eyes widening in shock. "You would rather fight me? Over a puppet that has no heart and a crippled woman?" Sora couldn't help but narrow his eyes even more at how Riku was acting. Like he was almost a completely different person. 

            “Heart or no heart, crippled or not, at least they still have a conscience.” Sora replied. Riku raised an eyebrow at that, noticing Jiminy run across the floor towards Pinocchio. “You might not hear it, but right now it’s loud and clear. And it’s telling me you’ve lost your way and are fighting on the wrong side!” 

            “Lost my way? What are you talking about?” Riku asked, shaking his head. “I am in control of the darkness. It doesn’t command me.”

            “Are you sure about that?” Joker asks, walking forward. “I saw that dark aura around you. You might think you’re in control, but you're not. You’re the one who is becoming a puppet.” 

            “What did you say?” Riku asks as Jiminy rushes past his feet. “I’m no one's puppet! My heart is strong, and I'll prove it! I won’t end up like Jafar or Yzma!” That got everyone’s eyes to widen in shock. How could he know about those two unless… 

            “Riku… don't tell me you are working for Maleficent!?” Sora shouts, shaking his head as Riku lets out a scoff.

           "Of course not! I'm only with them until I get Kairi! And I will do whatever it takes to get her back!" Riku shouts back with a growl. And it was then that Sora, Donald, Goofy, and almost all of the Thieves, apart from Doc and Rebel, had a sudden realization regarding a lingering question that had been bothering them ever since Agrabah, but they may have just now found the answer.

           "By any means necessary, huh? Does that include kidnapping Jasmine, I presume?" Joker asks, which causes Riku to flinch slightly as he breathes heavily while his teeth clench.

           "It… wasn't my choice to take her. I'm only… doing what's necessary… for the sake of my friend. Once I get Kairi back… I'll be leaving Maleficent and her goons!" Riku admits, causing the team's eyes to widen even further at Riku's admission of kidnapping Jasmine. None more shocked than Sora, who was finding it hard to even recognise his best friend any more.

            “And what must you sacrifice to work alongside them?” Crow asks back, narrowing his eyes. “You may be able to keep your hands clean for now, but sooner or later, you WILL be forced to stain your hands red. It is only a matter of time until you do so, and when it happens, you won’t even think twice about it. After all, you have already kidnapped Jasmine, even if you were forced to do it!” 

            “Like I would ever let that happen to me!” Riku shouts back, shaking his head. “I’m not weak-minded! Neither Maleficent nor Jerri will trick me!” 

            “Then why do you have Eri?” Sophie asks, tilting her head. “If she is not needed, then why do you have her?” Riku turns to look at her, ready to argue only to find it dying in his mouth as he blinks at her. Why DID he have her as a prisoner? He didn’t remember giving that order out. Does he even command the Heartless? He certainly doesn’t control the Demons. 

            “Why do I have her?” Riku asks out loud, rubbing his head. “Why is my mind foggy?” That got the team's attention as Athena turned to look at Donald with understanding eyes.

            “So, this is what you meant by darkness being corruptive.” She tells him, with Donald nodding back at her. Just as it seemed that this would go on without resolution, a flash of light from behind Riku caught the attention of everyone, showing that Pinocchio was awake and his nose had grown a little bit longer while Jiminy jumped before him in joy. Something that seemed to cast doubt in Riku’s eyes, just as the Parasite Cage came dropping down from above, now sporting a new colour scheme of orange. 

            “Not this thing again!” Oracle shouts in irritation as Riku takes the opportunity to escape through a corridor of darkness. As for Eri, she is still being held down by the two ghost Heartless as the Parasite Cage slams its tendrils into the acid pools around them. 

            “What’s it doing?” Panther asks, only to get her answer when it spews up poison at the team, catching all of them in the spray before throwing its body at them, smashing into them and forcing them either into the acid around them or onto the platforms.

Before any of them had a chance to counter, the Parasite Cage spun its arms around like a helicopter, forcing everyone to duck while Pinocchio and Jiminy huddled in a corner. The only thing Eri could do was struggle against her two captors in vain.

            I’ve got to do something! I can’t just sit here like a damsel in distress! Wasn’t I a rebel leader in the Kingdoms?! Didn’t Erina give me her strength to fight by Toshiro’s side!? I refuse to end up a prisoner again!

Such valeur.

A gasp escapes Eri's mouth as her eyes widen in shock. The feeling of a sword of ice pierces her mind as the two Heartless that are holding her prisoner gaze at her in confusion.

You désir to command from the front again.

Even though you are crippled from a révolution of your own making.

Tell moi, are you willing to endanger yourself again?

To risk life and limb for others?

            “You’re me, right? You already know that answer.” Eri silently comments, looking up at the Parasite Cage as it grabs Rebel. “And I’ve always been a rebel.”

Oui. We both have.

I am thou… thou art I…

May the guiding light illuminate your path.

And bring freedom and liberté to our oppressed people!!

With that, a flash of fire crosses Eri’s face, the flames licking the Heartless as they let go of her in shock. As for her mask, it was the same as Toshiro’s, yet the blocked side covered her right eye, while the mask itself was coloured a calming white mixed with blue. Without even hesitating, Eri grabbed the mask and pulled on it with all her might, ripping it off in one clean motion as she yelled to the very heavens while the flames of rebellion erupted around her, consuming the Heartless that once held her prisoner.

Her battle cry caught everyone’s attention, including the Parasite Cage, as it turned to look at her in shock. But not as shocked as everyone else, as the Thieves, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all saw the blue flames encase Eri like a storm. Then, like the pulling back of curtains, the fires peeled away, revealing Eri standing tall in the outfit that Erina always wore. Only now, it was in pristine condition, with matching leg armour on her right leg and a small cape hanging from her back. In her right arm was her partisan spear, while her left held her automatic pistol.

But it was the figure standing behind her that had everyone’s attention. A woman, dressed head to toe in gleaming silver armour with giant pauldrons and skirt armour sat atop a white horse in gleaming silver armour with white and blue drapes covering its legs and a pair of gleaming blue eyes on its head. Light blue edging lined the armour of the woman, while a silver emblem of a cross was embedded in the chest of the armour, along with a flowing deep blue cape.

In one hand, she held a long silver sword with blue gems, while in the other, a lance whose shaft was dark blue, detailed with silver gems. The woman's head was encased in a silver helm with wings, covering the top of her face, while a blue cloth covered her mouth and dark hair flowed from under the helm. 

            “What happened to Eri!?” Goofy shouts as Eri looks over herself, giving her left leg a few taps while pushing her hair to the side, revealing an eye that is fully repaired once more. 

            “She awoke…” Rebel comments, grabbing the trio's attention even as the Parasite Cage held him in its grasp. “Eri awoke to a Persona!” Rebel’s call seemed to only make Eri’s smile larger as she looked at the Parasite Cage with a rebellious glare right before pointing her partisan at it.

            “Joan of Arc! Great Partisan!" Following her command, Joan conjured a partisan of light blue light and sent it flying at the Parasite Cage, slamming it right into its head and forcing it to drop Rebel as Eri leaped to his side. "No more sitting on the sidelines. I'm joining the front line once again!” 

            “And we are more than happy to have you back!” Noir calls out as Goofy gives Sophie a boost to hit the Parasite Cage in the head with a yo-yo. Rebel looked at Eri, shock still on his face before it morphed into a warm smile. He already had an idea for a codename for her. 

            “Welcome back to the fight, Erina.” He tells her as Eri looks at him in surprise before it morphs into a chuckle as she brushes her hair back.

            “It’s good to be back.” She replies as the two look at the Parasite Cage, which is now on the receiving end of the Thieves' onslaught. “How about we show this bastard not to mess with us?” She asks Rebel, neither of them noticing a glow coming from Joker’s coat. 

            “It would be my pleasure.” Rebel replies as the two smirk at the Heartless. 

“It’s Showtime!”

Once more, the red curtains descend, enveloping the field before revealing a new scenery. One in which the Parasite Cage finds itself in the middle of a ruined city plaza, with Rebel looking at it from the top of a nearby gate.

            “Advance!” He shouts, as countless people in hats rush out from the alleys around the Heartless and start attacking it with everything they can find: pots, pans, rolling pins, even pitchforks and torches. And as the Heartless is attacked from all angles, it fails to see Erina standing behind it on a catapult before she is launched into the air.

Rebel, seeing her fly above the Heartless, fires his flintlock pistol at her with an Almighty round. But it doesn’t hit her. Instead, it fuses with her partisan, mixing with the Bless energy inside it as she sends herself flying down into the Heartless, slamming her spear into its head and unleashing a giant explosion that sends her flying back onto the gate, where she lands on one foot while holding her spear in one hand, and Toshiro looks away with folded arms.

            “Nice Showtime, guys!” Mona calls out, sending a blast of Garula at the Parasite Cage. The Heartless seems to growl in anger as it places its arms into the acid once more, aiming to poison them all again. But for Sora, he felt a new spell come to the front of his mind as he raised Three Wishes into the air. What this new spell would do, he had no idea. 

            “Stop!” Sora cries, with the symbols of a clock appearing around him and the Heartless. The moment the symbols float around the Heartless, it freezes in place just as it is about to blast them with acid.

            “Quickly! While it’s frozen!” Queen shouts as everyone jumps to the platforms around the arena while Goofy rushes over to protect Pinocchio and Jiminy. Something told him he had an idea of what was coming next. “Now! Hit it with everything you’ve got!” As one, everyone unleashed their most powerful spell or attack on the Heartless, blasting it from every angle just as the Stop spell started to wear off. And while it had the desired effect of enveloping the Parasite Cage in a massive explosion, they were unsure if it dealt lethal damage to it.

Something that was proved as the Parasite Cage emerged from the smoke, gravely wounded but alive. But not for long, as Sora rushed forward and gave it one final slice, once again showing that the Keyblade was the only thing that could kill a Heartless boss. But while that finishing blow was enough to release the captured heart inside the Heartless, it caused another problem to reveal itself.

The constant fighting inside what was Monstro’s stomach, coupled with the fact that Eri had practically given the giant whale heartburn, and the dying Heartless falling into the acid with an explosive flare, led everyone to a very real and very unwanted realization. Monstro was about to throw up. Hard. 

            “Everyone! Back to the Highwind!" Joker shouts as Rebel and Athena grab hold of Erina, helping her move through the post-awakening fatigue. But due to the reduced speed at which everyone is moving, it would only mean that they would still be caught in the blast. 

            “What about Riku!?” Sora calls out, trying to look for his friend despite the rising gas. 

            “He’s gone! I lost his signal right before the fight started!” Oracle calls out, grabbing his arm. “But we need to go now!” Right at that moment, everyone was engulfed in a flash of light as they found themselves back in the Highwind, along with the surprise of seeing Tsu, Rumi, Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo, and the twelve puppies with them as well, with Geppetto and Pinocchio already moving to embrace each other.

“Everyone, brace for exit.”

Lavenza's voice echoes over the comms, and everyone suddenly remembers what is happening outside. No sooner had they all grabbed onto something than they felt Monstro puke out the Highwind with a vicious force. 

They were finally free, but with even more questions on their minds and hurtful truths.

Chapter Text

Chapter 17: Under da Sea!

The sound of waves breaking against the hull of an old wooden ship echoed inside the cabin. But for Riku at this current moment, he did not care about that. Instead, his gaze was fixed on the motionless body of Kairi before him, resting on the bed as though she were sleeping. But no matter what Riku did, she refused to awaken. A great wave of despair had washed over him the moment he realised that, and before he knew it, he was in Monstro trying to take away Pinocchio, thinking that it would help wake her up.

But whether that would work or not no longer mattered, now that Sora had managed to stop him. And that giant Heartless dropped in between them before they could finish their battle of words. A battle that he felt he was starting to lose when they pointed out that the woman was being held by the Heartless. But now, he was reduced to the one option he had been pushing away the entire time, and as things stood, it was the only one he had left.

            “So… Kairi’s like a lifeless puppet now?” Riku asks Maleficent, trying to keep his voice steady. Yet it is already wavering when Maleficent answers him. “And her heart was…”

            “Taken by the Heartless, no doubt.” Maleficent tells him with a smirk on her face. One that Jerri copied as Shido watched from the side. They could see it: the last wall of resistance around the boy finally crumbling away, especially as he turned back to them with desperation on his face.

            “Tell me! What can I do!?” Riku shouts, desperation in his voice.

            “It is quite simple, deary.” Jerri tells him, hiding her beak with a wing. “For you see, there are seven maidens of the purest heart. We call them the Princesses of Heart. I am sure you remember Jasmine, yes?” Riku nods slowly and hesitantly. “As you can surmise, she is one of the seven that we need.”

            “If we gather all seven of them together, then a door will open to the heart of all worlds. Untold wisdom and knowledge dwell within, and surely there would also be a way to recover Kairi’s heart.” Maleficent adds, seeing the desperation in Riku’s eyes grow larger.

            “As of now, we have successfully obtained six of these maidens.” Shido comments, hands behind his back. “All that remains is the final maiden, and we can open the door. I am sure a person of your stature will have no trouble finding this last maiden, yes?” Riku looks at the wooden floor, contemplating this in his mind before looking back at Maleficent.

            “Is that why those two Heartless tried to take that woman called Eri?” He asks, only for Jerri to let out a squawk of indifference.

            “Bah! She is no maiden! Those Search Ghosts mistook her for the real one.”

            “It matters not what they seek. We have other worlds to explore.” Maleficent remarks before looking at Riku with a devilish grin. “For now, I have the most remarkable gift to bestow upon you: the power to control the Heartless and Demons!” Before Riku could object, she had already raised her arms into the sky and engulfed Riku in a dark spell. Filling the darkness within him, Riku could feel it rush into every space in his body. The calm, reasonable thoughts in his mind vanished, replaced by hate and envy, all aimed at Sora and his new friends, quashing the thought he had that Maleficent had commanded the Heartless to steal Kairi's heart before it even had the chance to take root.

And as he turned back to look at Kairi, a new wave of determination washed over him as his eyes narrowed. No matter what, he would save her, regardless of what morals he had to break in order to do so.

            “Soon, Kairi. Soon.” Riku promises her as Maleficent, Jerri, and Shido all smile at him with evil intent. But even as Owada walked in to start telling Riku how to command the Heartless and Demons, Shido had a different question on his mind.

            “Riku Gallagher will be an excellent puppet, Maleficent. However, you said that there are seven of these maidens that we need. But what of these rumours I have heard from Qada? About a possible eighth maiden?”

            “Ah… that.” Maleficent remarks, turning to him. “I must admit, I do not know whether the rumour is true or not. However, it makes no difference. We will find them no matter what, regardless of whether it is one maiden or two.”

            “I quite agree, but that leads me to another point.” Shido comments. “The Heartless that attempted to capture that woman… perhaps they felt the seventh maiden among the Phantom Thieves.”

            “Hmph. I find that hard to believe.” Jerri remarks, shaking her head. “Who among them would be pure enough to count as one? None of them. The Search Ghosts made a mistake; that is all.” Shido stayed silent, himself not convinced, but at the same time, he had no evidence to back him up. Not that he could go and check anyway, seeing how he and the others were still recovering from their revival. But his question did manage to get Maleficent to wonder.

If there is a maiden among them, who would it be?

            “How are you doing, Eri? Post-awakening fatigue can take a lot out of someone.” Morgana asks as everyone hangs around in the main lounge area. Eri, who is sitting on one of the couches, lets out a sigh as she shakes her head.

            “I feel like I’ve just run a marathon. Part of me just wants to fall asleep.” She replies, raising a hand to her covered right eye, hidden by her hair. “Having said that… I can’t complain about the benefits.” To show her point, she pushes her hair away, revealing her once-damaged right eye, which is now healthier and full of life. “I still can’t believe how my eye and leg are healed… This is just cheating.”

            “Like you said, you can’t complain about the benefits.” Sae remarks with a grin as Eri nods her head.

            “But what was that back there?” Sora suddenly asks, grabbing everyone’s attention towards him, Donald, and Goofy. “You just exploded into a pillar of fire.”

            “That was an awakening.” Ren tells him with a smile. “Well, the tail end of one anyway. You didn’t see the migraine part.”

            “Migraine?” Goofy asks, rubbing his head.

            “Yep. Think of it like someone drillin’ a jackhammer into your head while on fire.” Ryuji tells the trio as they look at him in shock. “And I’m not makin’ that up. That part does hurt like hell.” 

            “Then we have to rip the mask off for the first time.” Ann adds, shaking her head. “And you take off half your face at the same time.” 

            “WAK! Is that true!?” Donald exclaims, with everyone who had awoken to one looking back at him and nodding their heads. Well, apart from Morgana, Futaba, and Maruki, who shook their heads. But that was still only three of them! As for Sora, he felt glad that he didn’t have to go through anything like that when he got the Kingdom Key, and a small feeling from the Keyblade gave him a sense that the Keyblade itself was happy about that as well. But still, he couldn’t help but think back to how Riku was acting.

            “I think we should discuss how Riku was behaving.” Maruki suddenly comments, grabbing Sora's attention. He was met by Maruki's concerned glance, as though he could tell what was going through his mind. "Or rather, the dark aura that was enveloping him.” 

            “It was darkness, no question about that.” Donald immediately replies. “It’s clouding his judgement. Just like what I feared would happen to Ren.” 

            “Makes me glad that Persona magic is different…” Ren admits with a sigh.

            “Seeing how he didn’t even realise that Eri was being held, or why she was there, that is a reasonable assumption to make.” Toshiro comments, a hand resting on Eri’s shoulder. “Should we assume that the same cloud obscuring his judgement is what caused him to kidnap Pinocchio?” His gaze glances over to Geppetto, the father and son listening intently while Sophia played with the puppies they had found. 

            “It would be fair to assume that, given how he acted before the Parasite Cage attacked.” Akechi agrees, hand on his chin. "Which only begs the following question… How long will it take until he completely loses sight of everything around him?" Sora couldn't help but let out a shudder at hearing that question. He didn't want to believe that his best friend could change that much. But it was getting harder and harder not to see Riku changing after each encounter.

            “There's another factor we need to include regarding Riku. How much is it from the darkness itself that's influencing him, and how much is it from being manipulated by Maleficent and Jerri?" Makoto also adds, tapping a finger on her arm. That was the big question. It was clear that the darkness inside Riku was affecting his ability to make rational decisions, but how much of that darkness was being fuelled by Maleficent and Jerri? Either way, it did not bode well for Riku in the long run. And all this did was weigh down Sora's mind even more, even without bringing up the dream he had.

“Attention everyone. We are approaching a new world.”

            “Looks like we made it past the asteroid field.” Futaba comments as the team heads for the cockpit. “I wonder what world we are at now, let alone who is waiting for us down there?” 

            “Who knows at this point?” Shiho remarks, just as they enter the cockpit. But as the group sees the world appear on the main monitor, they are completely taken aback by it. For one thing, it looks to be a world encased in a giant sphere of black rock or coral, with the inside filled with water, along with what looks like a palace, a sunken ship, and the remains of some sort of creature.

            “Um… is this the world?” Ryuji asks, rubbing the side of his head. 

            “Yes.” Lavenza replies, turning to look at him. "This is the closest world we can visit until I can finalise repairs to the Highwind."

            "Huh." Futaba suddenly comments, standing next to the nav station. "I just did a scan on that world to see if any of our fellow Phantom Thieves might be somewhere down there, but I got nothing. Despite this, we should still check this place out just in case."

            "Very well then. We'll check it out and see if any Heartless or Demons are wreaking havoc." Ren says as the main members of the Phantom Thieves nod in agreement along with Donald and Goofy, while Sora remains a little hesitant upon closer inspection of the world.

            "Then if that's the case, if you guys are planning on going down there…" Eri says, a determined look on her face as her next words catch everyone by surprise. Especially Toshiro and Tsuchiya. "…then I'm going as well."

            "Eri? Are you sure about this?" Tsu asks, worry on her face.

            "I second that. You only just awakened to your Persona. Don't you think you should rest a bit more before going back out there?" Rumi follows up.

            "Don't worry. I should be fine." Eri replies. "Besides, I did say that I'm sick of being on the sidelines. And this will allow me to get a feel for fighting with a Persona."

            "Then if you're being serious about this, then I'll join you." Toshiro says before looking towards Ren and the other Thieves. "There's no way I'm letting Eri out of my sight again after what happened last time. If you guys don't mind, I wish to partake in this excursion as well."

            "Not at all. I can say that all of us wouldn't mind the extra company." Ren said, with the rest of the main Phantom Thieves nodding before the leader turned to Maruki. "What about you, Doc? Are you interested in joining us for this trip?"

            "Of course. I am kind of curious to see what these other worlds are like based on the stories that you and the others told back in Monstro."

            "That's all well and good, but where do we even land on this world? We'll drown if we just go straight into the sea." Sora points out at the clearly oceanic world. 

            “And none of us have swim attire with us either.” Haru points out. And it was fairly obvious that none of them wanted to go diving into a world dressed in their normal clothes. Would they even be able to breathe or fight for that matter as well? 

            “Not to worry.” Donald tells her with a grin. “We’ll be fine with my magic.” 

            “Are you sure?” Sumire asks, feeling very nervous about this. “You won’t make a mistake or anything, will you?”

            “Of course not.” Donald replies, grabbing his staff. "Come on. Let's go." None of them were really assured by the duck's words, even if Goofy gave them all an encouraging nod. So, leaving Rumi and Tsu behind for safety, along with Pinocchio, Geppetto, Figaro, Cleo, and the puppies, the team steps into the transporter and is beamed down to the surface. All the while, Donald's magic mixed with the teleporter, working its way over them as they felt themselves change. Just as they all suddenly found themselves appearing underwater inside the ocean. 

            “We’re underwater!” Sora shouts before blinking for a moment, a hand resting on his throat. “And… we’re not drowning? How?” 

            “Best look at yourself, Sora. You’ll see why.” Maruki’s voice echoes to his right, prompting Sora to spin around, only for his jaw to drop as Maruki floated before him. He was topless and without glasses, but below his waist, he had the body of a dolphin with gold scales, similar to his thief attire. 

            “Huh?” Sora asks before looking down at himself, seeing that he is also topless and has the body of a blue dolphin below his waist. “Is this your magic at work, Donald?”

            “Yeah.” Donald replies in a grumpy tone, floating into view upside down. The poor duck had somehow given himself blue and yellow octopus legs, which he was having a hard time using. 

           “This is certainly… interesting.” Sae’s voice comments behind Sora, grabbing his attention. Finding that she was just like them, but thankfully with a bra of silver seashells over her chest while her dolphin tail was black. But her gaze was not on herself. “And it would seem everyone is distracted.” She comments, folding her arms. Puzzled, Sora follows her gaze to see everyone else floating before him with similar forms to either himself or Sae.

The guys were all topless with dolphin tails from the waist down, each one coloured after their respective elements. Ren’s tail is red and black, Ryuji’s is yellow, Yusuke’s is a lighter blue than Sora, Mishima’s is a deep brown, Akechi’s is similar to Ren but inverted, and Toshiro's is stone grey. As for Goofy, he had become an actual turtle with his head poking out.

As for the girls, Ann wore a light pink seashell bra with a deep red dolphin tail, Makoto’s tail is steel blue while her seashell bra is dark blue, Futaba’s are both neon green, Haru’s are dark pink, Shiho has a white tail and a dark green seashell bra, Hifumi has a dark purple tail and a black seashell bra, Sumire has a red seashell bra and a black tail, Sophia has a red, black, and a steel blue tail and a blue seashell bra, and Eri has a silver tail and a light blue seashell bra.

But there were two people who had very different looks.

            “Is this some sort of joke, Donald!?” Isara exclaims, looking at Donald with a very unamused look. Or as much as she could as a mini-sub. The best way to describe it would be a small and slim profile, with a clear canopy at the front that would house the cockpit, with two small ‘fins’ on either side pointing down. The back had three more fins, while the emblem of the Thieves was displayed proudly on the nose of the sub. As for the colours, it was clearly based on the same red and black colour scheme with blue lights that Isara has while in her tank form. “Why am I a mini-sub!?”

            “That’s just how it lands, Isara.” Morgana tells her, swimming up to her. “Guess you got the short straw.” 

            “She’s not the only one…” Toshiro hesitantly tells him. “It appears you are now a… catfish.” 

            “Again, Toshiro?” Morgana asks him, spinning around to look at him better. "Do I need to remind you that I'm no longer a…" The words die in his throat as Morgana gets a glimpse of himself reflected on the windscreen of Isara. And what he sees is… not great. "WHAAAT!?” 

Morgana’s reaction was about what was expected, as he was literally a black-and-white fish about as long as Donald, but with his cartoonishly big head. “DONALD!! WHY AM I A CATFISH!?!”

            “Calm down, Morgana. You can still change forms, right?” Futaba asks him, folding her arms with an amused look. Morgana blinks for a moment, closing his eyes as he concentrates just as he is engulfed in blue flames. When the flames retreat, Morgana now has the human half of his new body, still with the cat ears, while his tail is that of a killer whale, complete with black and white. 

            “Ah… that’s much better.” He comments, giving his arms a stretch, not realising that Hifumi was looking at him with a slight dusting on her cheeks. Not that she was the only one who was blushing, as the resident couples among the Thieves couldn’t take their eyes off each other.

            “Daaaaang. You look stunnin', Ann.” Ryuji remarks with a grin as Ann gives her tail a kick. Ann can’t help but chuckle as she manages to move herself forward and wrap herself around Ryuji, surprising him as they both blush up a storm. 

            “And so are you, my dashing pirate.” She tells him with a cheeky grin. 

            “This is rather interesting.” Haru comments, giving her tail a few swishes. “I had always wondered what it would be like to have a dolphin tail.” 

            “And you are stunning with one.” Yusuke tells his girlfriend as he pulls out a notebook and pen. “I must commit this image to paper, if that is alright with you, my darling flower.” Haru giggles at Yusuke, giving him a nod while Donald shakes his head. How the hell did Yusuke manage to get a notepad and pencil out?

            “This feels… strange.” Sophia comments, waving her hand through the water even as Ren and Makoto float on either side of her. “The water feels… salty.” 

            “That's how ocean water is, Sophia.” Makoto tells her, wrapping her arms around her. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

            "Still, at least you are now able to see what the ocean is like, given the last time was when you were in my phone." Ren remarks, recalling the time when the Thieves were in Okinawa.

            "I must say, the three of you look very natural together." Akechi comments as Sumire hovers beside him. "Sophia's tail has the combined colours of both of you."

            "Yeah. She looks adorable." Sumire adds, tilting her head as Ren and Makoto blush. They really couldn't deny that, even if they did find their eyes wandering over each other every now and then. Not that Akechi and Sumire were any different.

            “I’ve always wanted to be a mermaid.” Shiho admits, managing to swim a bit before crashing into Mishima. “Although… it might take a bit to get used to having a tail.” 

            “Doesn’t make you any less beautiful, though.” Mishima admits as Shiho blushes, rubbing the back of her head with a smile. Toshiro, Eri, Sae, and Maruki shake their heads at the group, watching as they all seemingly fall in love all over again. As for Futaba, she just rolled her eyes until she saw Hifumi’s blush as she continued to look at Morgana.

            “What’s going on, Hifumi?” Futaba asks slyly, giving her a nudge in the side, snapping her out of her daze. “Someone on your mind?” 

            “N-No.” Hifumi replies, looking away as she lets out a cough. “Anyway, shouldn’t we be more focused on finding out where we are?”

            “Or maybe getting a better understanding of moving about and fighting?” Isara adds. “I don’t know about all of you, but how am I going to fight as a mini-sub?”

            “You should have something to fight with. Mini torpedoes? And what about your Persona?" Eri questions, her hand on her chin. "Speaking of, how DO we summon our Personas in a place like this? I don't see any of us wearing masks.” 

            “That’s… a good point.” Ren admits, rubbing the back of his head. He could still feel Arsène ready to jump out, but what about his weapons? He was sure his gun would not work underwater, but can he still summon Arsène and his weapon? There were just way too many questions right now. But as of now, trying to figure out how they could swim was the pressing issue. Sora seemed to have a good time figuring it out, and Isara had propellers she could use to move, but the rest of them… they were all going to struggle.

            “Come on, Sebastian!” A woman’s voice echoes not far from them as, around a corner nearby, swam out a mermaid with a yellow and blue fish, with what looked to be a red hermit crab following after her. As for the mermaid, her tail was a deep green with light green frills and fins, while her hair was long and a deep red, matched by her blue eyes and red lips, and her seashell bra was a deep purple. 

            “Ariel, wait! Don’t leave me behind!” The crab, possibly Sebastian, calls out to her as he frantically spins his arms around just as Donald floats right into him, shocking the crab as the mermaid, whom they pegged as Ariel, comes to a stop near them with the yellow and blue fish hiding behind her, followed closely by Sebastian.

            “Oh, relax, Sebastian. They don’t look like one of them.” Ariel comments, hands behind her back as she glances behind her. “Right, Flounder?” 

            “I don’t know… There’s something weird about them. And what is that strange… fish next to them?” 

            “Now that’s insulting…” Isara comments, the windscreen flashing as she speaks, surprising the three residents of this world. Ariel, curious about them, swims up and moves around them, taking in all of them with burgeoning curiosity.

            “They do seem… a little different. Where are you from?" She asks with an innocent smile. The team all quickly glance at each other, wondering how they are going to explain this, right before Akechi decides to take the lead. 

            “We’re from a faraway ocean. And we are still adjusting ourselves to the currents around here.” Akechi comments, although it was perhaps the weakest lie he had ever told. Something that Sumire sent discreetly his way with the slight look she had. But thankfully, it would seem that Ariel had managed to buy it as she lets out a chuckle. 

            “I see, in that case… Sebastian can help show you how we swim around here.” She offers, much to the hermit crab's shock as he floats up to her.

            “Ariel! King Triton will not like dis!” He tells her, only for Ariel to let out a sigh of exasperation, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. 

            “Oh, don't worry. It's only to help them swim properly." Sebastian, clearly not amused but resigned to his fate, lets out a long sigh as he turns to the group and starts to help them, with Flounder acting as a goal for them to reach, all while Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves introduce themselves to Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder. But as Sebastian helps out with the swimming lessons, Ariel can't help but look at Isara. Seeing something that had to have been created from the 'other side', it intrigued her. And it also worried her what her father would do if he found out. But there was another thing that had her attention: Sophia and her uniquely coloured tail, with Ren and Makoto hovering beside her.

            “You have such a beautiful tail.” She comments to Sophia, grabbing her attention. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

            “Thank you!” Sophia replies with a smile. “It has both of my Dad’s and Mom’s colours in it.” Ariel’s eyes widen slightly, glancing between Ren and Makoto, who let out some embarrassed chuckles. 

            “I had a feeling.” She comments with a smile, rubbing her hand against Sophia's head. “She’s really lovely.” 

            “Thank you.” Makoto replies, pushing some hair back just as Sebastian claps his claws.

            “Good job.” He comments, watching as Donald easily swims around Flounder with no problem. “Now let’s move on to self-defence.” However, before he could start, Sebastian noticed movement coming from the canyon they took to get here. What floated out were several jellyfish with a very unwanted emblem plastered on them. 

            “Heartless!” Sora calls out, summoning the Keyblade to his side. Donald and Goofy do the same, summoning their weapons while Ren and the others all glance at each other. They still didn't know how they were going to fight around here! At least, that was until their weapons appeared in their hands in a flash of blue flames, but just as Joker expected, it was only their melee weapons. Even Shiho's bow and arrows failed to appear, while Ariel hid in a small outcove along with Flounder.

            “Class is over, good luck!" Sebastian calls out, swimming past them as fast as his little claws can carry him. What followed next would be called the most awkward battle they had ever done. With the water around them slowing their swings by just a tad, coupled with the strange weightlessness of being underwater, the team was… floundering… for lack of a better word. Of course, the same could be said of the Heartless jellyfish that Futaba had identified as Sea Neon. Watching them slowly curl up before launching themselves forward rather… pathetically. 

The only one who didn’t seem to have trouble was Isara. Apparently, in this mini-sub form, she had mini torpedoes she could fire from her ‘nose’ at the Heartless. As for Donald, he was quick to find out that his magic could easily work underwater, especially Thunder. How it didn’t fry all of them at the same time, they didn’t know. But at least it helped clear out the Heartless as Sora joined in with his own magic. As for the Thieves… since they couldn’t feel their masks, they didn’t know if they could even summon their Personas to help. It was… just a strange situation for all of them to be in.

But eventually, they managed to finish off the last of the Heartless just as the team started to understand how to use their weapons effectively underwater. 

            “That was annoying…” Ryuji remarks, rolling his arm. “Why does it feel like we need to relearn how to fight?” 

            “We might have to…” Sae replies, shaking her head just as Ariel, Flounder, and Sebastian float out to join the rest of the team.

            “Are you all okay? From the looks of it, you look like you were all struggling." Ariel asks them with concern in her voice. 

            “It’s nothing. We’re just not used to fighting in these waters. But we’ll adapt.” Makoto tells her, although she is slightly unsure. 

            “Were the Heartless chasing after you?” Sophia asks, tilting her head. 

            “Heartless? Is that what they are called?” Ariel asks, holding her arms behind her. “But to answer your question, yes. They chased us all the way here. There were even some mermaids mixed in with them, along with others that I’ve never seen before.” 

            “Demons…” Mishima quietly whispers.

            “Oh no! Those monsters might be heading to the palace, too!” Sebastian warns with great alarm in his voice.

            “We’d better head back right away!” Ariel replies before growing contemplative. “But we might run into more of those creatures again…”

            “Why don’t we go with you?” Sora offers. “We can deal with the Heartless and Demons in your path.” While the team all glances at each other cautiously, Ariel looks seemingly ready to accept Sora’s offer.

            “Oh, that would be a tremendous help! But…” Her eyes fall on Isara, worry in her eyes. “…we might have a problem with you. My father, King Triton, is not a fan of those beyond the waves. Or what they make.” 

            “Oh joy…” Isara groans, sinking downward. The team all glances at each other, not particularly happy about that, as Ariel glances at Flounder. 

            “Instead, can I ask you to keep Flounder safe? There’s someplace he needs to go that’s outside the palace.” Flounder catches Ariel’s eye, knowing what it is she is talking about as he nods in agreement.

            “That’s right. There’s someplace I really need to go.” He repeats. The group all looks at each other, not happy with having to split up. But if this ‘King Triton’ did not like them, then it might be best if Isara didn’t go into the palace.

            “If that's what we have to do, then let's do it.” Isara groans out. " What path do we need to take anyway, Ariel?”

            “It’s not that hard. Simply follow the golden tridents in the walls.” Ariel comments, pointing at one nearby. “They point the way.” 

            “Then I guess we better start swimming.” Ren comments, kicking his flipper forward. Without a word, the team follows after Ariel and Flounder as Sebastian hitches a ride in Ariel’s hair. Something tells them this world will not be easy to navigate…

As it turned out, ‘easy to navigate’ was a bit of a stretch. Having to swim through underwater caverns and caves, fight through roaring rapids, and streams of bubbles that almost forced them back was challenging. It was at that point that Isara was actually happy she was a mini-sub, ferrying the group through the maelstrom. 

But the time soon came when Isara had to part with them and follow after Flounder while Ariel led the rest towards the palace. And it was there that the Heartless and Demons sprung their ambush. A swarm of Sea Neons and Screwdivers, with Futaba identifying the latter Heartless, awaited them along with Mermaid Demons. Given their unfamiliarity with fighting underwater and without finding out how to summon their Personas, the team elected to simply rush past them as fast as they could.

Not that it stopped the Heartless or Demons chasing after them, as they soon swam through the interior of the palace. Donald and Sora did their best to thin out the attackers with Blizzara and Fira, but they were starting to get tired. To the point that they had de-summoned their weapons in order to catch up to everyone, just as they reached a long corridor that led to a throne room. With a blast of lightning shooting right past them all and into the remaining foes still chasing after them. 

            “That was too close.” A voice booms through the room, drawing all eyes to it. As for Ariel, she was speed-swimming her way to the throne, where a giant of a mermaid with a blue tail sat with an equally large trident. With gold cuffs around his wrists and a large white beard that seemed to meld with his long white hair, only broken by a golden crown peeking through. “As long as I have my trident, I will not tolerate those creatures inside this palace.” He speaks resolutely, even as his eyes land on Ariel.

            “Daddy!” Ariel calls out with joy, only for it to quickly vanish as her father, King Triton, lets out a long groan. 

            “Oh, Ariel! When will you listen? It’s dangerous outside!” He tells her, both anger and worry mixed in his voice. Although the anger appears to be more relevant than the worry. As for Ariel, she remains quiet as Sophia glances at her. “Strange creatures lurk outside.” Triton remarks, his eyes falling on the ones Ariel had brought with her, suspicion filling his eyes to the brim.

            “Ahem! Behold. You swim before da ruler of da seas! His Majesty of Atlantica, King Triton!" Sebastian announces, with the Thieves all giving him a bow of respect. Even if they didn't know what kind of ruler he was, the last thing they wanted was to start on the wrong foot. At least, until they knew what kind he was.

            “And who are they?” Triton asks Sebastian in turn, his eyes not losing their suspicion for a second.

            “They helped fight off those creatures.” Ariel replies with a smile. Triton’s eyes widen for a second as he looks at her before turning back to the others.

            “Is that so…? I suppose some thanks are in order. However, they do not look familiar.” He replies, stroking his beard. 

            “Yes, Your Majesty. We hail from a place far beyond your realm.” Toshiro tells him with a bow. “We have been travelling for a while when these creatures attacked and have been fighting them whenever they appear.” 

            “I see. And what brings you to my realm?” Triton asks, his suspicions not leaving for a moment. 

            “We were merely seeking a place to rest after a long voyage. We do not mean to intrude upon your realm.” Toshiro replies, hoping to keep things as civil as possible. “It was by luck that your daughter found us.” 

            “Right. We came to find the—” Goofy was about to spill the beans, but Yusuke and Haru were quick to put their hands over his mouth.

            “Find where they originated from.” Haru quickly finishes. “We are hoping to put a stop to their rampage.” Triton narrows his eyes slightly, finding their behaviour to be… suspicious. If that was what the turtle was going to say, then why did they cover his mouth? Or… were they even sea creatures at all? 

            “Daddy? Can’t we help them look for the source?” Ariel asks her father, but it looks like he is not in the mood for talking as he gives her a stern look. 

            “No. We shall not. And as for you, you are not to leave the palace. Is that clear, Ariel?" What might have sounded like a request to him came out as more of a demand towards Ariel and the others. And she certainly thought so as she quickly swam out of the palace, the rest of the team following close behind her as Triton let out a long sigh of resignation.

            “Your Majesty?” Sebastian asks, swimming up to him. 

            “Maybe I am being perhaps too strict.” Triton admits, shaking his head. “I’m just concerned for her safety.” 

            “Of course, Your Majesty. It is only natural for you.” Sebastian agrees, landing on the armrest. “I have a report to give to you about those creatures. Just as you suspected, Your Majesty. They seem to be coming from Ursula’s grotto.” 

            “I knew it!” Triton shouts, slamming a hand on the throne. “That sea witch is up to no good again! I see exile from the palace has taught her nothing!” Sebastian nods his head at him, floating into the air.

            “Yes, she poses a serious danger.” But the moment he said those words, he was fixed by a glare from the King of the Seas.

            “And I told you to keep Ariel away from danger, did I not?” He asked back, with the hermit crab sputtering out an excuse before quickly swimming after Ariel. He did not want to be on the Sea King's wrath.

            “Man, that king looked to be real stubborn.” Ryuji quietly admits to Ann, who nods her head. They had just left the palace and were following Ariel to somewhere outside. Where that was, none of them knew. 

            “Yeah. Makes me glad Toshiro was the one who talked to him.” Ann admits, glancing at Toshiro, Eri, and Maruki. 

            “That king… his eyes were filled with suspicion towards us.” Maruki comments to the two of them. “And the tone of his voice, that anger he has against Ariel… is born of worry.” 

            “But too much worry will only do the opposite.” Eri comments, shaking her head. “Why does it feel like he’s got a hair trigger for anger?” 

            “So it was not just me then…” Toshiro admits, shaking his head. As for where they were going, they soon saw that Ariel was taking them over to a seawall with an alcove blocked by a boulder. And waiting next to it were Flounder and Isara.

            “You guys made it.” Flounder calls out as the team groups up. 

            “So, where did you need to go?” Goofy asks Flounder, who looks away sheepishly as Ariel lets out a chuckle. 

            “To be honest… I wanted to go behind that rock.” She reveals with a smile. “I said that Flounder had somewhere to go to keep what’s behind it hidden from Sebastian before he told my father. If he found out about this place…” Her smile falls before quickly replacing it. “Come on, I’ll show you.” She swims to the rock, pulling it to the side to reveal a small entrance for the group to enter. Although it had to be opened a bit wider to fit Isara, eventually the team all followed her into her secret grotto, a cavern filled with countless items from above the water.

            “Wow… this is quite the collection you’ve got, Ariel.” Mishima remarks, floating next to a mirror. 

            “Thank you. Flounder and I have collected all of these wonderful things.” Ariel admits, floating next to a shelf filled with chests. “I think they came from the outside world.” 

            “The outside world, you say?” Yusuke comments, stroking his chin. 

            “They certainly do look otherworldly.” Sumire remarks with a giggle while Isara allows herself to rest on the bottom. “So, do you believe there are other worlds out there?” 

            “I do.” Ariel replies, none of them noticing that Sebastian had managed to find his way inside as he listened in. “I know it sounds crazy, and it is probably untrue, but I would love to go out and explore other worlds someday. I want to see other worlds. Does that sound strange?” 

            “Not really. Everyone thinks like that every now and then.” Ren remarks, shooting a glance at Sora, who picks up on his words.

            “Yeah. Like me and my friends.” Sora replies with a head nod before glancing at a certain spot on the wall. It looked like a blue holder for something, yet whatever it was supposed to hold was missing. And judging by the shape, it was for something in the shape of a trident. “Hey, what’s that supposed to hold?” Ariel follows his glance, looking at the empty spot in the wall as she lets out a sigh. 

            “That’s been here ever since I found this place. But I’ve never been able to find what’s supposed to fit in there. It has honestly been eating away at me.” Ariel admits, before her eyes glint with a sense of adventure. “Hey, why don’t we go looking for it? I know a spot that I haven’t checked completely yet.” 

            “But… didn’t your father tell you to—?” Haru starts, only for Ariel to let out a long sigh.

            “Oh, he only treats me like a little girl. He never wants me to do anything, already wanting to control everything I do. He just… He just doesn’t understand me.” Ariel comments, letting herself float down onto the stone platform in the middle of the cave. Something about her words seemed to echo in Sophia as she glanced up at Ren and Makoto. Something about the way she was talking… 

            “Hey, Mom? Dad?” Sophia asks gently, grabbing their attention. “Does the way King Triton acts towards Ariel sound…” 

            “Overprotective?” Ren finishes for her, earning a nod from Sophia. “Yeah, it is. And a very extreme case at that.” He glances at Ariel, a small shiver going through him as he shakes his head. “I guess we are sort of protective of you as well, Sophia.” 

            “Maybe.” Sophia admits, rubbing her arm. “But you don’t limit me like what King Triton is trying to do. Warn me, yes, but not control me”

            “We would never do that, Sophia.” Makoto replies, shaking her head. “We know what it’s like when people try to control your lives. We would never do that to you.” She pulls Sophia into a hug, rubbing her head. “If at any point you do feel that we are overstepping our bounds, don’t be afraid to tell us, okay?” Sophia nods at her, a small smile on her face as everyone else hovers around the hideout. While Ariel tries to help Donald get himself unstuck from a grandfather clock, some of the team can’t help but think about how Triton was acting towards Ariel. 

            “Don't you think he was being rather rude towards Ariel?" Morgana asks Hifumi, the two of them floating near the top. "She's his own daughter, yet he keeps acting cold towards her.” 

            “Perhaps it has something to do with his past.” Hifumi agrees, slowly nodding her head. “But I will admit, I’m no fan of how he is currently acting. He reminds me of my ex-mother in that regard, trying to control Ariel.”

            “Hey guys! We’re about to head out!” Eri’s voice from below grabs the two's attention as they glance down, nodding at her as they descend. Although the two of them did bump into each other for a moment, apologising to each other as they followed after the others. Neither of them noticed that two eels were watching everything take place. Each of them bearing a single eye that glowed with a yellow light as they watched the group leave in silence, projecting the scene before them right back to their master. 

            “Hah! Such impudent fools. Do they really think they can find the Keyhole of this world? They are fools to keep such a search hidden from Triton.” Ursula remarks, watching everything play out from her cauldron with a grin. “But Triton's daughter could prove useful. And I’ve got the Heartless and Demons on my side. Triton, my old friend, your day is coming.” With one last laugh, Ursula lets a wide grin form on her face as she sees a plan come to her mind. 

And she would be able to knock two birds with one stone if what she suspected about Ariel were true.

Chapter Text

Chapter 18: There’s Always a Bigger Fish.

The team didn’t know how long they were swimming after Ariel, other than ducking through more underwater caves and fighting off more Heartless and Demons, but it certainly did feel like forever. Not helping was the fact that the Heartless were seemingly attacking in low numbers as well. Perhaps even they were struggling to adapt to the underwater environment. Regardless, the team continued to follow Ariel until they reached the sunken remains of an old ship surrounded by seawalls. Judging by the style, it resembled a galley or trade cog from the era of exploration. Certainly, a quaint little ship as well, despite its rotting frame.

            “This is where I found most of my treasures.” Ariel admits as the team floats around it. “I haven’t fully checked the interior, but I think there might still be something inside it.” 

            “It’s quite a large ship…” Sumire comments, glancing alongside it. “Is there a way inside?” Ariel nods at her, motioning for her to follow while leading them to a set of stairs leading inside the ship. The only problem was that I was too small for Isara to enter, so Morgana, Hifumi, Sae, Maruki, Toshiro, and Eri decided to wait outside with her while the rest ventured inside, allowing Isara a chance to finally speak her mind.

            “This sucks being stuck as a mini-sub… Why can’t I have a mermaid form as well?” She asks, letting herself drift from a small current flowing past them. 

            “Can’t you change form like Morgana?” Eri asks Isara, who lets out a long sigh. 

            “Believe me, I already tried that.” Isara replies. But before she could start another rant about being stuck as a machine again, a flicker of movement behind some rocks caught her eye. “What was that?”

            “Huh?” Hifumi asks, glancing over at the rocks. “Did you see something?” 

            “I’m not sure.” Isara replies, as the small group suddenly finds themselves going on alert. 

            “I don’t think we’re alone any more.” Maruki comments, his staff appearing in his hands. 

            “Heartless?” Morgana asks. “Or Demons?” 

            “I fear it’s neither.” Toshiro remarks slowly as a level of fear falls over him. “After all, what do you think is a natural predator for a majority of sea creatures?” The moment that question leaves his lips, a sudden flash of movement bolts from the side, heading right for Morgana as silver fangs glisten in the low light.

            “Morgana!” Hifumi shouts, grabbing him out of the way as the figure misses them by a few inches. Just as Sae says the words that none of them wanted to hear.

            “It’s a shark!”

            “Man… how old is this thing?” Ryuji asks, floating past the empty captain’s cabin. 

            “I couldn’t tell you. I found it like this.” Ariel replies as she looks through some shelves. “But I never get tired of looking through it.” 

            “I can tell.” Ann remarks, pushing herself away from a table. “Well, there’s nothing over here. Want to check with the others? They might have found something already.” 

            “We did!” Sophia’s voice echoes from the stairs, followed shortly by her head popping out. “We found a chest hidden under some wood.” 

            “For real? Sweet!” Ryuji shouts as the trio follows Sophia down into the ship. When they get to the others, they find them all floating around an old chest with a crystal trident head shimmering inside it.

            “Is this the only thing we’ve found?” Ann asks Haru, who nods at her. Yusuke is beside her, drawing the trident in his book alongside other sketches he has done during their world travelling. 

            “Yes.” She replies, looking back at the trident. “But this crystal… doesn’t it resemble the holder back in Ariel’s grotto?” 

            “It does…” Ariel comments, picking it up. “Let’s bring it back. It always felt strange that it was empty—” Suddenly, the ship violently shakes as a loud impact echoes from the side. The old wooden beams splinter and crack, grabbing all eyes to it.

            “Uh… what was that?” Mishima asks as the wood is struck again, this time a small hole forming as a flash of grey streaks past. Before anyone could reply, something slammed into the wall again, and this time the wooden wall broke away, revealing the large snapping face of a giant grey shark. 

            “It's a shark!” Shiho shouts as the team summons their weapons. The shark angrily snaps its jaws at the team, trying to bite them, only for something to hit it right in its side. Pulling itself out of the hole, it swims away as Isara chases after it, firing mini-torpedoes at the shark to drive it off.

            “This way!” Maruki’s voice echoes from outside, where he, Toshiro, Eri, Sae, Morgana, and Hifumi float around the cave they entered from. Those in the ship wasted no time swimming towards them as Isara kept the shark busy. Once she saw that everyone else was safe, she disengaged from the shark and followed after them. The shark tried to follow, but it was too large to enter the cave, and so it left with a visible huff, annoyed that its afternoon meal was interrupted. 

            “Is everyone okay?” Sae asks as they take a moment to breathe. 

            “We’re good.” Sumire replies as Akechi nods his head next to her. 

            “Thanks for the save there, Hifumi. I almost became shark chow.” Morgana tells her, with Hifumi brushing some hair back behind an ear.

            “Don’t worry about it. You’d do the same for me.” She replies. Morgana nods back before he finds his eyes staring at Hifumi for a bit longer than he thought before looking away. 

            “Sharks… A natural predator, no matter where you swim.” Akechi remarks as Donald and Goofy let out joint sighs. “But I suppose we are not some helpless sea creatures, are we?” 

            “Thanks for the help back there, Isara.” Eri compliments the mini-sub. “It was hard to even get a hit on it.”

            “You’re welcome.” Isara replies cheekily. “Now then, how about we head back to the grotto and relax rather than stay out here and be shark bait?”

            “No complaints from me.” Sora replies, with Ariel taking the lead. It wasn’t hard for the group to retrace their steps, or rather, their currents, as they were soon back at Ariel’s grotto before they knew it. With Ariel holding the crystal trident in her hands, ready to insert it back in its spot. But before she could do so, Futaba lets out a soft gasp.

            “What’s wrong, Futaba?” Ren asks, seeing the wide eyes on her face.

            “It’s Triton! He’s on his way here!” She says in alarm. Ariel, knowing just how volatile her father could be when angry, hid the crystal trident in a chest while Isara hid behind some items, with Makoto and Sophia helping to cover her up. And just in time too, as the moment they were done and rejoined Ren, Triton made his appearance. And not with a happy look.

            “Ariel! You disobeyed me again! I told you not to leave the palace!” He booms, looking at his daughter with fury behind his eyes. 

            “But Daddy—!” Ariel tries to reply, but the glare in his eyes cuts her off. 

            “No more! From now on, I forbid you from ever leaving the palace, indefinitely!” He shouts at her, the glare in his eyes not abating as Ariel feels tears threatening to leave her eyes. As for the Thieves, they can feel their anger building at Triton, seeing how hard-handed he is being towards Ariel. Ren and Makoto most of all.

            “How could you?” Ariel asks back, her voice filled with hurt as she swims away, bashing into him without a care. As for Triton, he now turns his gaze on Sora and the others, his eyes narrowing in anger.

             “As for all of you, you are not from another ocean, are you? You are all from another world.” The surprise on all of their faces is evident enough for Triton to continue. “Then one of you must be the Keybearer.” He looks between all of them, judging them until his eyes land on Sora. “It’s you, isn’t it, young man?”

            “Huh?” Sora asks, completely shocked that Triton managed to pick him out.

            “You may have all fooled Ariel, but you can’t fool me. You don’t know your dorsal fin from your tail.” Triton remarks, as his eyes glare at the Thieves. “As the Keybearer, you must already know! One must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds!” 

            “And how has that not already happened?” Toshiro suddenly asks Triton, grabbing the Sea King's attention. "Surely, even you must have noticed that the stars in the sky have been vanishing for the past ten years. If so, then you know what that means.”

            “That the worlds are dying.” Triton remarks, his eyes filled with knowing. “And how do you know that?” 

            “Because OUR worlds are already dead!” Eri shouts at Triton, the stone-faced visage of the king shattering at the words. “You talk about how the World Order has to be upheld and that we can’t interfere in what’s going on in the worlds. But all of that means nothing when the Heartless are already doing this!” 

            “Silence!” Triton shouts, his trident glowing as he takes aim at Eri. Before anyone can shout, he fires a bolt of lightning at her. But it was at that moment that the lock on the Thieves' Personas was finally unsealed.

            “Persona!” Eri shouts, summoning Joan of Arc to her side and nullifying the blast of lightning with her affinity. This ended up shocking Triton as his eyes widened in disbelief. 

            “A Demon?! You are Demon users?! The legends were true?!” 

            “Yeah. But they are not Demons. We are Persona users.” Ren replies, his eyes bearing down on the King of the Seas. “And you are not as wise as you think you are.” 

            “Has it not even crossed your mind that there is another force at play here that is commanding them?” Mishima asks Triton, folding his arms.

            "Indeed. I suppose it's safe to assume that you haven't heard of the witch Maleficent, Your Majesty?" Akechi asks, which leads to a sudden reaction from the king. 

            “M—Maleficent?” Triton asks in shock, feeling whatever ground he had against these people quickly vanishing. He was aware of the witch that hailed from the outside world, but from what he last heard, she was supposed to be dead. And that's not even considering what he heard about tales of Demon users, or Persona users as they now call themselves apparently, and the legends surrounding their world. But to actually see them in the flesh supporting a Keybearer… he didn't know what to consider true any more.

            "That's right. She's the one who started all of this ten years ago. SHE'S the one that's been commanding the Heartless and Demons to invade and destroy worlds." Sae adds, folding her arms. "If you think what we are doing is bad in trying to help protect worlds, then I wonder what you think Maleficent is doing." Triton splutters, the wind from his anger taken away. But there was one person who was not done yet. 

            “Why are you acting like this to Ariel?” Sophia asks, her voice quiet. Triton looks over at her, seeing Sophia looking at him with both anger and hurt in her eyes. “Isn’t she your daughter? Why are you locking her up like a bird in a cage? Can’t you see that it is only making her unhappy?” 

            “It’s for her own protection…” Triton tries to reply, but he finds himself unable to shout at the young girl.

            “But what does she need protection from? Do you not trust her to keep herself safe? Do you not love her at all?" Sophia asks back, a tear threatening to fall from her face. "You're not acting like a dad. You're acting like a controlling master." Triton gasps at that remark, the words like a dagger to his heart as Sophia latches onto Makoto, who slowly rubs her head. Letting those words bounce around in his mind allows Triton time to reflect on how he was acting towards Ariel. And he was starting to see just how controlling he had been around her. 

            “I… need time to think.” He comments, turning around and swimming out of the grotto. “But… I at least thank you for saving my daughter.” He manages to get out before leaving the grotto in peace, leaving the Thieves behind as they stewed at how he reacted.

            “What the hell is wrong with him!? Why is he being so salty!?” Futaba asks, shaking her head with indignation. 

            “Seriously. What is his problem?” Shiho asks, shaking her head. 

            “It's the way he's trying to control his daughter… While there is some love under that, in the end, it all comes down to a sense of worry about her." Maruki comments, shaking his head. "But that worry has completely clouded his judgement, leading him to act tyrannical toward her instead of providing fatherly protection.”

            “He reminds me all too well of my former father.” Toshiro comments, shaking his head. “But it would seem that he has realised that somewhat.” 

            “Glad I decided to hide.” Isara comments, as Yusuke and Haru help remove the items keeping her hidden. 

            “How did you manage to summon your Persona, Eri?” Ann asks, hands behind her back. “You didn’t have a mask.” 

            “I don’t know… I just did.” Eri replies, shrugging her shoulders. “But I could feel Joan wanting to appear when Triton attacked. Maybe… we are wearing our masks, but we can’t see them?” 

            “Urgh… this is way too much for me…" Ryuji groans, rubbing the space between his eyes. As for Sophia, she ends up quietly crying into Makoto, who is slowly rubbing her back to calm her down as Ren floats beside them.

            “Why is he acting like that to Ariel? Why?” Sophia asks between quiet sobs. Ren and Makoto couldn’t really answer her as they stayed close. And while they wouldn’t say it outright, Triton was being a perfect example of what they SHOULDN’T be like. But there were a few things he said that caught their attention. 

            “Triton knows about us.” Ren comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “He knows about what our world was like in the past, along with the Keyblade.” 

            “Ren… you’re not thinking we should go and ask him, do you?” Sae asks, folding his arms. “I don’t think he will take too kindly to all of us being there.” 

            “Even if he doesn’t, I want to ask him.” Sora suddenly comments, summoning the Keyblade to his hand. “If he knows anything about the Keyblade, then I want to know more. And why it sounded like he didn’t trust it either.” The team all glances at one another. What Sora said made sense in a way. If Triton was that knowledgeable, then it made sense to ask him what he knew. That is, if he was willing to answer them.

            “I don’t know… This sounds like a bad idea.” Donald replies, folding his arms and shaking his head. 

            “Well, King Mickey isn’t here to tell us, Donald. So we might as well go ask.” Goofy replies, putting a flipper on Donald. “Besides, what’s the worst that could happen?” 

            “Why do I feel that Murphy’s Law has just been tripped?” Yusuke remarks to Haru as the team swims out of the grotto. It was all Haru could do but shrug in return, but she couldn’t deny Yusuke’s fears. And that led to another thought in her mind. Where did Ariel go?

Ariel wanted to be alone. That’s all she could think of right now. Even as she cried by herself in a secluded area, all she could think of was the words that her father said to her. How could he not see that he was strangling her freedom while confining her to the palace? All she wanted was to be free and explore. How was that too much to ask? If only she could be free like Sora and the others and not have to deal with her father’s strict rules and regulations. Just for a chance to be free. 

But even as she thought she had managed to get away from everything, the sound of movement above her drew her attention as a pair of eels appeared before her, swimming around her with crooked grins as they started speaking cryptically to her.

            “My, my, the poor child suffers such deep sorrow. What a pity. If only there were something we could do…”

            “Wait. Maybe she could be of some help.”

            “Yes. Maybe she can be of some use to you.”

            “Who are you talking about?” Ariel asks back, but if she were feeling honest, she does not like how these eels are talking to her. It is like someone poured sea slug slime down her back as the words echo in her mind. But the eels don't tell her as they float upwards, coiling around each other.

            “Oh, she would surely help you. She’d make all of your dreams come true. Ursula can help…” And with that, the two eels explode into a cloud of ink as the sea witch herself makes her appearance before Ariel with a disarming smile. 

            “You called, my dear?” She asks, floating down to Ariel. 

            “You’re Ursula?” Ariel asks, feeling a growing sense of unease inside her. But she finds her mouth already speaking before she has a proper chance to think. “I was just wondering if—” 

            “It’s all right. Helping others is what I live for.” Ursula tells her in a voice that sounds genuine to Ariel’s ears. Yet she cannot see the giant smile on Ursula’s face, which she quickly hides when turning to look at her. “Let me guess. You wish to see other worlds. That shouldn’t be too hard. After all, your new friends came from other worlds.” 

            “What?” Ariel asks, shock filling her voice at that admission.

            “But they had special help. That mysterious key the young boy holds and the special powers the others have.” Ursula tells Ariel, who glances to the side. She could guess it was the weapon that Sora was holding that was the ‘key’, but what was the ‘special power’ that the others had? “Now, now. Cheer up, sweetie. You have something special, too.” Ariel looks up at her, surprise on her face, right as her eyes go dull as Ursula casts a charm on her. “Now listen, carefully…”

            “Doesn’t this place look… quiet?” Morgana asks as the team swims through the palace towards the throne room. But as Morgana had pointed out, there was hardly any activity happening here. 

            “Is everyone asleep?” Sophia asks, hanging onto Makoto. 

            “I doubt that.” Hifumi replies, glancing upwards. “You can still see the sun above the water.” 

            “We'll find out when we reach the throne room. We should be almost there." Ren comments, before glancing at Isara with Sora, Donald, and Goofy riding along. "How are you holding up, Isara?”

            “I’m doing fine. I’m just glad I can fit in here.” Isara comments just as they reach the final corridor. Right as a loud, echoing cackle comes from the throne. 

            “The trident is mine at last! And I couldn’t have done this without your help, my dear.” 

            “Ursula, no! I didn’t want this!” Ariel’s voice echoes after, with the team swimming hard towards the throne. 

            “Why not? Aren’t you tired of following your dear daddy’s orders? Oh, yes. We had a deal, didn’t we? Time for a little journey… into the dark world of the Heartless!”

            “Not good!” Donald shouts as the team turns the corner, finding a giant octopus lady with two eels, four Demon Mermaids, and two humanoids that look to be made of water. 

            “We cannot find the Keyhole. The Keyhole is not here.” One of the eels tells Ursula as Isara arms two torpedoes. 

            “The Princess of Heart is not here. Ariel is not the one.” 

            “What!?” Ursula shouts, just as Isara fires her torpedoes. The two projectiles slam into the two water people, catching them and the four Demon Mermaids in a subdued explosion and grabbing everyone’s attention. “Why, we have company. But I’m afraid you’re all a little late, gentlemen.” With that, Ursula flees in a cloud of ink, the two eels vanishing with her just as the team arrives in the throne room.

            “Dang it! She got away!” Ryuji shouts, slamming his hands together. 

            “Daddy!” Ariel shouts, grabbing the team's attention to a gravely injured Triton lounging on the throne with a worried Ariel next to him. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” 

            “There is time… for apologies later…” Triton grunts, hand over his abdomen. “The trident… we must get it back. Who knows what that witch… can do with it.” Triton lets out a groan as he holds his hand closer to him, something that Shiho could feel Kore yearning to heal. And who was she to say no to herself?

            “Kore! Diarama!” Shiho shouts, as just like with Eri, her Persona manifests behind her, casting a healing spell on Triton and relieving him of his injury, much to his shock and surprise. “We might agree to disagree, but we won’t stand by and do nothing when someone is in pain.” 

            “Right. Let's go after that witch and get the trident back!” Sora shouts, summoning the Keyblade to his side.

            “I’m going with you!” Ariel suddenly shouts, surprising everyone. “My father is hurt, and it’s all my fault. I have to stop Ursula!” The team all glances at each other, unsure whether to let her come or not. But seeing the resolute look on her face, they can’t say no as Sebastian perches himself on Ariel’s shoulder while Flounder stays next to the King of the Seas. 

            “If this is your choice, then I won’t stop you.” Triton remarks, making himself a bit more comfortable on the throne. “But remember this warning: Ursula draws her magic from her cauldron. You must strike it with your magic if you are to defeat her.” He looks at Ren and the others, slowly nodding his head. “I leave it in your hands, Demon users.” 

            “But we’re not… Oh, forget it…” Futaba starts before shaking her head as the team leaves the castle. They can explain things when they have beaten Ursula.

            “How? How is that girl not one of the Princesses of Heart?” Ursula asks herself, floating around her cauldron. “Did those Search Ghosts make the same mistake again? How infuriating. Unless…” She waves a hand over her cauldron, showing an image of the group as she narrows her eyes at them. “Perhaps it is not Ariel at all… It must be one of those Thieves. But who? It is not the one called Eri; Jerri is more than adamant about that. But if that is the case, then who could it be?” Ursula’s eyes narrow on the Thieves, looking at each of them one by one until landing on one of them. “Could it be—” 

            “Ursula!” Ariel’s voice echoes behind her, snapping her from the cauldron as the image of the one she was looking at vanishes. “Give me back the trident!” Ursula growls, seeing the entire team before her summoning their weapons while that annoying mini-sub hovers behind them.

            “You want this?” Ursula asks, showing the trident in her right hand. “Then come and claim it! Flotsam! Jetsam! Get them!” With a snap of her fingers, the two eels attack the team, slipping through them and lashing out with their tails as Ursula summons more Demons to her side. Mermaids, as they expected, along with the water men, but two more Demons came to her side. One looked to be a fish man, more than ideal for fighting underwater. But as for the other five… 

            “Jack Frosts!?” Morgana shouts, dodging a snowball from a Jack Frost as the five Demons form a formation around Ursula. “How can THEY fight underwater!?” 

            “HEE-HO!” The five Jack Frosts shout, each one sending a blast of Bufula at the group, only for Yusuke to block the strikes.

            “Watch out for those Azumi and Aquans! They both resist Ice, but the Aquans are weak to Fire and the Azumi are weak to Elect!” Futaba shouts, whacking her staff against a Mermaid before looking at Flotsam as the eel ties himself around Donald. “Kouga!” A spear of light shoots forward, slamming into the eel as it lets go of Donald, who whacks it on the head before sending out a blast of Fira at an Aquans. 

            “Thundara!” Sora shouts, bringing down thunder on several Azumi, letting out a small smile at seeing his Thunder spell upgraded. A Mermaid tries to ambush him from behind, but Ariel slams herself into it before doing a spinning attack and knocking the Demon away. Right into Mishima, who cleaves it in two.

            “You pathetic fools!” Ursula shouts, throwing a potion vial into her cauldron. “I rule the seas!” She shouts, spinning around like a top and slamming into everyone as the five Jack Frosts all fire Bufula at the group, managing to freeze Ann, Goofy, Akechi, Sae, and Hifumi in place before they are struck by Isara’s torpedoes while Sora and Donald work on defrosting the frozen team.

But it was a distraction that Ursula wanted as she threw another vial into the cauldron, sending out a blast of magic at the team and injuring them gravely. She lets out a cackle, pleased to see her handiwork, but that smile soon vanishes as Sumire glares at her.

            “Cendrillon! Mediarama!” Calling her other self to the field, Sumire heals the team back up as Ursula watches with wide eyes. 

            “Impossible! You have no masks! Jerri assured me you would be unable to summon your Personas underwater!” 

            “Apologies, but perhaps you don’t realise who we are.” Haru comments as Milady forms behind her. “We like to break the rules! Psio!” With Milady by her side, Haru grabs both of the eels and slams them together, much to Ursula’s shock and outrage as Ren, Sae, and Akechi float above the cauldron. They had an idea of what to use, but they weren’t sure it would work. But as they said, fortune favoured the bold!

            “MEGIDO!” All three of them cry, sending out the weakest form of Almighty magic at the cauldron. As it proved far too much for it to handle, or it was the first time it had ever experienced such powerful and primal magic raging through it, the cauldron cracked and boiled from the Almighty magic until it violently exploded. Sending shards flying into all the Demons and pinning the Azumi to the walls while the Aquans were left unscathed, due to already being mostly water.

Not that they lasted for long, as Goofy came in and bashed his shell against them, with Sophia following right behind him and sending her yo-yos at them. This distracted them as Morgana and Hifumi came in from behind, slicing their weapons at them while Maruki, Toshiro, and Eri unleashed a pincer attack on the stunned Ursula.

            “Zionga!” Ryuji shouts, sending a blast of lightning at Ursula as Ann follows up with an Agilao and Makoto with Frelia. The sea witch cries out in pain as Flotsam and Jetsam come to her aid. But it is the moment that Shiho has been waiting for. 

            “Hamaon!” She cries, sending the instant kill magic right at the eels. The attack lands, with the eels freezing in place for a moment before disintegrating into light, shocking Ursula greatly as she finds herself increasingly isolated. And it is at that moment she decides to flee.

            “You’ll pay for this!” She calls back, retreating through a hole in her room and sealing it up behind her. But there was one thing she forgot to include in sealing the exit. 

            “I’ve got this!” Isara shouts, firing several torpedoes at the exit and clearing it, while also making it large enough for her to enter. “Let’s go! We’ve got that witch on the run!” 

            “Don’t get cocky. After all, a cornered wolf is just as dangerous as a wild wolf.” Makoto warns as the team follows after Ursula, finding themselves entering open waters, far away from any natural barriers or reefs. If this wasn’t any indication they were walking into a trap, then nothing would be, even as Ursula turned back to face them with a furious expression, the trident grasped tightly in her hand.

            “The game is up, Ursula! Surrender, and we will give you a merciful beating!” Eri shouts at her, pointing her partisan spear at Ursula. But Ursula only growls back at them, refusing to budge under their combined glare. After all, she still had one more card to play. 

            “You pathetic fools! Did you not hear me?! I RULE THE SEAS NOW!” At that, she spins around, holding the trident up high as it glows a vibrant yellow. The moment it glows, a vast cloud of soot and ink condenses around the team, forcing them to fly up high as Ursula descends into the mist. But her voice does not get any quieter. “THE SEA AND ALL ITS SPOILS SHALL BOW TO MY POWER!!!”

At that, giant tentacles emerge from the smog, reaching out to grab the team as they fly higher, just as a large shadow falls over them. When they turn to the source, it is only then that they figure out what Ursula is doing. And if they are being honest, they should have seen it coming a mile away. 

            “She grew into a giant?!” Toshiro shouts in alarm as Giant Ursula stares down at them. A crown is now on her head as she holds the trident in her right hand. Toshiro’s yell seems to only make her laugh at him with glee.

            “YES! FEAR ME! I AM THE ABSOLUTE RULER OF ALL THE SEAS!” Giant Ursula holds the trident up high, summoning countless bolts around her and forcing everyone to dodge lest they want to become fried calamari. But even as she grinned at that, she was suddenly hit by several mini-torpedoes fired at her by Isara. Each one slammed into her forehead. 

            “How do you like that!?” Isara shouts, a smile audible despite having no face. 

            “YOU INSIGNIFICANT WORM! I SHOULD SWALLOW YOU UP!” That got the team to go wide-eyed as Giant Ursula opened her mouth and started sucking in a large volume of water right into her mouth. While everyone managed to swim out of the way, Isara was not as lucky, as she was dragged right toward Giant Ursula.

            “NOT AGAIN! AND I THOUGHT MARIKO WAS BAD!” Isara manages to shout as she is sucked into Giant Ursula’s mouth, who somehow swallows her with a grin.

            “VERY TASTY.” She remarks, looking at the others. “I WONDER HOW YOU ALL TASTE? WHY DON’T WE FIND OUT?” 

            “NO THANKS!” Everyone shouts back, spreading out around her as Giant Ursula shoots out several bubbles at the team. With each one homing in on them as she summons more thunder around her. She swipes the trident around, manages to hit Ren, Makoto, and Sophia with the prongs, sending them flying into the wall of water around them. She grins, ready to start sucking in water again until she lets out a grunt and rests a hand on her stomach. Something that everyone immediately takes notice of. 

            “What’s wrong with her now?” Ariel asks, concerned. But the look Morgana was giving her somehow dispelled those fears as he looked at her with a grin.

            “Looks like Ursula has a stomach ache!” He says back, just as several explosions rip through Ursula's mouth, punching a hole right through a tooth as Isara shoots right out. Only now she wasn't a mini-sub any more, but a mermaid as she was now sporting a dolphin tail that was black with red and blue lines and a black seashell bra. 

            “Isara! You have a mermaid form!” Futaba calls out as Ariel blinks her eyes in surprise at Isara, who quickly joins them with a frustrated look on her face. 

            “Typical! I get eaten, and I figure out how to change form! What’s my luck in this world!?” She shouts irritably as she glares back at Giant Ursula, still doubled over from the pain in her stomach. Something that Isara took great pride in as she activated her wrist blades on her arms. “What’s wrong? Sore stomach after eating something funny? Maybe next time don’t eat someone who has blades on her arms!”

            “WHY YOU!!” Giant Ursula shouts, gathering energy in her mouth before unleashing a giant stream of lightning right at Isara. Only to be intercepted by Ryuji, Ann, Sae, and Eri as they swim right in front of her and block the attack thanks to their resistance. Much to Giant Ursula's shock and anger, Goofy and Maruki come in and bash their weapons at Giant Ursula's right eye, followed by Sora and Donald sending Fira at her other eye. 

            “Frelia!” Makoto shouts, Johanna forming under her and sending a blast of Nuke magic at Ursula's throat. Even after seeing it happen twice, some of the Thieves were curious as to how Makoto was able to ride Johanna while being a mermaid, but that was a question for another time.

            “As long as Ursula has that trident, this battle could go on forever.” Akechi comments to Ren and Sora. "We need to disarm her.” 

            “But how?” Sora asks, motioning at Giant Ursula. “She’s got a tight grip on it.” 

            “I’ve got an idea.” Ren comments, looking at Haru and Hifumi as they swim nearby. “We just need to keep her distracted.” 

            “Allow us.” Yusuke remarks, swimming above them with Morgana and Sumire by his side. The three Thieves swim right up to Giant Ursula’s face, appearing right before her eyes. Judging by the surprise on her face, she wasn’t expecting them to be there so fast.

            “Bufula!” 

            "Garula!" 

            "Kouga!" 

The three spells slam right into Giant Ursula's nose, disorienting her as she jerks her head back before glaring down at them.

            “THIS WON'T BE PRETTY!” She shouts at them, gathering magic in her mouth before blasting at the trio, forcing them to swim up to avoid the blast. The distraction offered by them was enough for Haru and Hifumi to start using Psy magic on Giant Ursula's hand. But it would only be a matter of time until Ursula figured it out, so to give them more time, Mishima, Shiho, Toshiro, Eri, Maruki, and Goofy all slam themselves into Ursula's crown, knocking it off her head and distracting her even more. 

            “MY CROWN!” She shouts, reaching for it only for Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Isara, Sophia, and Donald to swim in and hit her in the stomach, distracting her even more while Ren, Makoto, Futaba, Sae, Akechi, and Sora hit her in the back of the neck. And it was just enough to force Ursula to let go of the trident, with Haru and Hifumi sending it towards Ariel. The trident shrinks down to normal size, allowing Ariel to grab it as she looks up at Ursula with a determined expression.

            “You want my father's trident, Ursula? Then take it!" She shouts, spinning it around and tossing it right at her. The trident spears right through her body, piercing her spine as it blasts out of her back. Ursula gasps in pain, feeling the magic inside her run rampant as lightning races around her. Somehow, she loses the ability to breathe underwater, drowning with the very water she intended to rule as she shrinks into the oily abyss she had spawned. And with one loud cry of anguish, Ursula vanishes beneath the soot as the trident returns to Ariel's hands. 

            “Hah! Take that, you big stupid octopus!” Ryuji shouts out, not that he believes Ursula can hear him. If she even is alive after the beating she received. I mean, who could survive getting a magical trident thrown through them? 

            “That was an amazing throw you did there, Ariel.” Yusuke remarks, folding his arms. “Your form was perfect.” 

            “Indeed. Are you sure that was your first time using the trident?” Haru asks with a smile as Ariel lets out a chuckle.

            “Yes, it was.” Ariel replies, looking the trident over. "And now… I understand why my father is so protective of it. The power it wields… can be used for both good and evil.” 

            “Then let’s get it back to its rightful owner.” Toshiro replies, folding his arms. “I have no doubt that the king is worried about you.” Ariel did not need any more convincing about that as the team turned to leave, with one more ally of Maleficent defeated to boot.

It didn't take long for them to return to the palace. Thankfully, it seemed that with Ursula's defeat, the Heartless and Demons that were plaguing the seas had retreated. Giving the team a nice, easy swim back to the palace. But there was still a growing amount of fear as they returned to King Triton, that he would break into another furious lecture as Ariel handed back the trident with an apologetic look. 

            “I’m sorry, Daddy.” She tells him, looking away. The Thieves were already expecting him to go ballistic on her, but instead, he looked at Ariel with an apologetic smile.

            “No… I’m the one who should be sorry. All of this is my fault. You followed Ursula because I refused to let you follow your heart and kept you trapped here like a cage.” Ariel looks at him in surprise as Triton nods at her. “I see now that my protection of you has become obsessive. As of now, I rescind all my orders regarding you. You are free to do whatever you want.” 

            “Daddy!” Ariel shouts, flinging herself around Triton, who returns the hug as he looks over at Sophia with a kind look.

            “I must thank you, young lady, for making me see the errors of my ways. Your parents have raised you well.” Sophia lets out a tiny chuckle as both Ren and Makoto place their arms on her. 

            “King Triton, what do you know about the Keyblade?” Sora asks the Sea King, who looks at him in surprise. “I only got the Keyblade not that long ago when my world fell, and the only other Keyblade Master is out trying to stop the Heartless. There’s no one left who can teach or even tell me about the Keyblade. Is there anything you can tell me?” 

            “And about our world as well.” Ren adds, grabbing the Triton's attention. "You called us Demon users, and that's what we were told the first Persona users were. But what exactly happened during that time?" The Sea King looks between them, letting out a long sigh as he leans back in his chair.

            “There is not much that I truly know other than rumours I have heard in my time. Rumours of how Keybearers of both light and dark, who once protected the worlds together, turned on each other in a vast war that destroyed their home and many worlds.” That caused Sora’s eyes to widen as he looked at the Keyblade. The weapon that he now wielded caused the destruction of whole worlds? 

            “And what about us?” Hifumi asks, grabbing Triton’s attention.

            “Apparently, the world of Demon users was stuck in never-ending cycles of death and rebirth. At least, until there came a being that was called the Nahobino. I do not know who this person was or what they experienced, but I did hear from a Demon of that world the path that he chose. Instead of aligning with a Goddess of Law, he sided with a Goddess of Chaos. No one knows why, but the Demon I conversed with believes it was to break the never-ending wheel of death and rebirth that their world was trapped in.” 

The Thieves all floated in silence at that. To learn about what their world was once like, even if it was but a rumour, made them feel as though they were but a footnote in a long lineage. It only made them curious as to who this person was and if they were still alive.

            “Keybearer, I have but one request.” Triton suddenly comments, grabbing the team's attention. “Seal the Keyhole.” 

            “The Keyhole? You know where it is?” Sora asks, eyes wide. “I mean, that’s what we came here to do in the first place.” 

            “I see…” Triton replies with a smile. “I suppose I had jumped to conclusions prematurely. As for where it is, you should know better than anyone, Ariel.” Ariel blinks in surprise as Triton pushes himself off the throne. “It is in your grotto. The holder in the wall reveals the Keyhole. However, the crystal that belongs to it is missing. But my trident holds the power to reveal it.”

            “Crystal?” Shiho comments. “We found a crystal in a wrecked ship. Ariel was about to place it in the holder until Futaba picked you up approaching the grotto.” 

            “Is that so?” Triton asks, surprise in his eyes. “Then that makes things easier. Although, had you placed the crystal in the holder, I would have lost my temper even more. After all, I was determined to keep the Keyhole a secret, no matter what.” 

            “Then let's head over and seal it.” Sora replies with a wide grin. “The sooner we seal it, the sooner this world is safe, right?” Triton looks at Sora in surprise before letting out a small chuckle at him.

            “Yes, you are quite right.” Triton agreed readily. The team nodded at him as they all headed back to Ariel’s grotto, while the Thieves' opinion of Triton had improved slightly. Sure, their initial opinion of him was negative, but now that he had calmed down and was thinking more rationally, they could see who he really was: a king who was genuinely worried about those under him, just prone to overzealousness in protecting them.

Eventually, the team returned to the grotto with Triton, Sebastian, and Flounder in tow as Ariel scooped the crystal trident out of its hiding spot and inserted it into the indentation. Not long after she did, a swarm of bubbles formed before the holder, the Keyhole shimmering on a transparent surface. Not wasting a second, Sora summoned Three Wishes to his side and aimed it at the Keyhole. And without hesitation, he fired a blue beam into the Keyhole, the sound of it locking echoing before them as it ejected a Navi-Gummi and a keychain into Sora’s hand. But even as Sora began to wonder what this keychain would give him, Ariel had a question for him.

            “Tell me, Sora, about your world. What was it like?” Sora blinks, looking up at Ariel with surprise before putting on a guilty expression. 

            “About that, sorry we all lied to you.” Sora replies, rubbing the back of his head. “That… and my world is completely different from Ren and the others.” 

            “It’s okay.” Ariel replies, looking at all of them before swimming upwards. “Besides, if you guys can travel to other worlds, maybe I can too. Even if it's just new locations in my world. So many places I want to see; I know I’ll get there someday.” 

            “Just so long as you don’t make any bad deals again.” Ann snarks as the team all chuckles at her. Until a groan from Sebastian grabs everyone’s attention as the hermit crab rests on the king’s shoulder. 

            “Well, if you find it, do me a favour and keep me out of it?” Sebastian asks in an exasperated voice, causing everyone to laugh at him instead. Either way, everyone was glad that they managed to protect this world. 

Even if it was hard to get around.

Chapter Text

Chapter 19: The Civil War Country!

It was infuriating. That’s what Maleficent had nailed down as Ursula failed to answer her summons yet again. No doubt she had been defeated by the Keybearer and the Persona users, despite the disadvantage they had. Or perhaps they had broken the rules. No matter; she was down an ally and was nowhere closer to finding the last remaining Princess of Heart. She did not want to admit it, but the rumour was true. There were eight of them. But that was the least of her worries.

            “I need to plan for the future.” She comments to herself, walking around the stone table. All of her other allies had returned to their own worlds, barring Shido and his kind. One of them just so happened to be here with her.

            “It would be wise if you did.” Madarame remarks, arms folded. “For if things continue as they do, Yusuke and his ‘friends’ will be at our very door.”

            “I know… they are indeed more powerful than I imagined.” Maleficent remarks with a scowl. “It is why I have asked Shido to renovate a second castle in this world, so that if the worst comes to pass, we will still have a base of operations.”

            “And what about you? Have you planned for your own defeat?” Madarame asks with an eyebrow raised, only for Maleficent to let out a chuckle.

            “Never underestimate a witch, my dear friend.” She replies with a grin. “By the way, what have the Search Ghosts reported to us? Have they narrowed down the last Princess of Heart?”

            “I'm afraid that we have bad news on that part.” Another voice echoes as Kaneshiro appears from the darkness, hands behind his back. "It seems that one of them is indeed with the Phantom Thieves. One that we have yet to figure out.”

            “I see… I suppose that complicates things.” Maleficent acknowledges with a snarl. “But I am a patient woman. We shall have our opportunity one day. And if not… then they will bring her to us of their own will, whether they know about her or not.”

            “Regardless of who it is, I still have some unfinished business with those girls.” Another voice echoes as Kamoshida waltzes into the room. “And they won’t escape me this time.” Maleficent shakes her head at the man yet stays silent as her gaze roams around the room. Shido, Owada, and Ikutsuki are talking among themselves with Kobayakawa, possibly about adding more members to their alliance. Kusumoto and Okumura are talking among themselves just as Jerri makes her appearance once again. But there is something else she has to deal with. After all, it is time to communicate with Qada.

            How terribly dull… Why do I bother putting up appearances here any more? Qada asks himself, glancing around the room at his fellow ‘comrades in arms’. But in reality, none of them knew about his true allegiance. Such a shame, Grand Marshal. You were useful to a point.

            “Is that everyone?” A calm voice echoes through the room, grabbing the Salve-Maker’s attention. He had to hide the sneer that threatened to break on his face when Swordmaster Nobutsuna Kamiizumi, Commander of the Black Blades, addressed the people in the room. With shoulder-length black hair and grey eyes, wearing a green and white kimono with a light green sash around his waist and dark green sandals with a pink pom-pom on each foot, along with a white hat and white gloves, a grey and green shrug hangs around his left shoulder with a large pink pom-pom. “Then let us begin.” He glances around, laying a hand on his katana.

            “Commander! The ship thought to be harbouring the Wind Vestal and her guardians has been sighted in the waters around Grandship!” Hayreddin Barbarossa, the Pirate, announces with his loud and commanding voice. With short white hair and sideburns, he wears a long black jacket with red lining and silver trim, a large black pirate hat with silver lining, and brown pants with gold trim. He has a scar on his left shoulder and a black eye patch over his right eye with a white skull design, a single black fingerless glove on his right hand, and a silver hook on his left hand shaped like a small anchor or harpoon, a white and black boot on his right foot, and a wooden peg leg on his left. Qada had to shake his head at the obnoxious noise as his mind wandered back to the Wind Vestal.

            She has to be the one we seek. How could a Wind Vestal, or any Vestal for that matter, not be one? It is such a shame the other three are dead, though… He shakes his head, bemoaning the easy victory Maleficent would have had if all four Vestals were under her control. But such were the cards he had to play with.

            “The Wind Vestal has already arrived in these lands. I spoke with her myself a while ago, Barbarossa.” Kamiizumi admits, folding his arms much to the surprise of everyone in the room. Well, visible surprise anyway. The thin Ninja, Konoe Kikyo, with long teal hair tied into a ponytail with a white band and golden eyes, was as silent and stoic as ever. Her face was covered in white makeup, contrasting with her small black eyebrows. As for her dress, she was wearing a short blue kimono with pink lining and a white flower pattern on the left side, long white sleeves with blue tips, white tights, and thigh-high black boots.

            “Oh? Please tell me you have not captured her yet. I would hate to miss out on that honour. Hah har har!” Barbarossa booms while folding his arms. How that loudmouth became captain of Eternia’s fleet, Qada would never know.

            “No, we did not get the chance. Some of our forces were retreating, so we opted to aid our allies as they withdrew.” Kamiizumi admits, shaking his head. “These strange creatures have been on the rise recently too. Did we not receive reports of similar ones in Caldisla, Ancheim, and Florem?” He looks at Kikyo, who nods her head at him before shifting into a different disguise and talking rapidly.

            “This is true. We have received multiple reports from our forces about these mysterious beings that refuse to die and have claimed many lives. Only those with Asterisks like ourselves or the Wind Vestal’s party have had any luck in stopping these creatures. That, and whenever the Vestal reaches one of the Crystals, the creatures’ numbers in the region drop considerably. Yet, their numbers continue to rise regardless of what we do. We have even received reports of these same beings appearing in Eternia as well.” With that, she changes back into her normal form, once more going silent as the group shakes their heads at her. How they could understand her talking so fast, they would never know.

            “For real! I mean, they don’t even appreciate my song!” Qada glances to his side at the last member of the Black Blades. Praline à la Mode, the Performer and Diva of the Battlefield, pushes her long blonde hair away from her green eyes. “No matter what I sing, they never stop and listen!” She rests a hand on her hip, once more glancing over her attire: a blue dress with a white corset-like middle and blue puffy sleeves, with the skirt flaring out and having a white ruffle rim. A blue bow is tied around her neck while blue earrings hang from her ears. She has knee-length white platform boots with blue bows down the front and white elbow-length gloves, while a blue and white headband that sticks up like rabbit ears rests atop her head. In her hand is her favourite white and pink mic, stylised like a rod.

            “I must admit, their appearance has complicated matters. It is why I decided not to capture the Wind Vestal at the time.” Kamiizumi agrees, shaking his head. “I wonder how Lee is taking things. Regardless, how are things on our other fronts?” 

            “Well, those Shieldbearers are just as bad as those creatures. I get up and sing my best, but none of them pay attention. Oh well, at least I’m keeping them all stuck at the bridge.” Praline reports, giving Kamiizumi a goofy salute.

            “Our search into another way to the Temple of Fire has not been successful. The cliffs along the coast are sheer palisades, and the lava spewing from the volcano does not appear to be ending anytime soon.” Barbarossa reports, shaking his head. Kamiizumi looks at Kikyo, who passes him a report in writing that Kamiizumi glances over briefly. 

            “And it would seem a path through Hartschild is not an option either. It would seem there are two warriors there clad in flames of azure helping with its defence…” Qada’s eyes almost widen in shock before quickly hiding it with a mask. But if he was being honest, that shouldn’t shock him. “Leaving only a rumour of secret passages towards the Temple as our only option…” He nods at Kikyo before looking at Qada with narrow eyes. “And what of you, Qada? I have heard your cleansing of the Eastern City is nowhere near halfway completed. Considering it was you who unleashed that poisonous gas in the first place…”

            “Things are moving along slowly.” Qada replies cautiously. It is difficult to hide his new allegiance to Maleficent, especially after showing her his newest airborne poison. “We are making sure all safety measures are taken, Commander.” Kamiizumi narrows his eyes further, as though he is staring right into Qada’s soul. Qada can’t help but feel a drop of sweat roll down the back of his neck, at least until one of the guards barges into the room with worry on his face.

            “Commander! Those creatures have attacked the Mythril Mine!” Everyone in the room, apart from Qada, went wide-eyed at that as Kamiizumi let out a silent curse. 

            “Those creatures are getting bolder… Tighten our security around the checkpoints and heighten our guards at Eisen Bridge! I don't want any of these beings to reach Starkfort!" The guard salutes as Kamiizumi dismisses the group, Kikyo vanishing into a cloud of smoke while he, Barbarossa, and Praline leave via the door. As for Qada, he takes a moment to look around before waddling over to a secure place, just as a portal of darkness opens up with Maleficent walking through.

            “Maleficent. Welcome to Luxendarc.” Qada greets with a bow.

            “Thank you for the hospitality, Qada. Tell me, are you close to finding the Keyhole?” Maleficent asks.

            “I believe I have narrowed it down to the Temple of Fire. However, with the death of the Fire Vestal, all paths leading to it have been blocked by lava. And the aura emitted from the Crystal of Fire is preventing any Heartless or Demons from nearing it.” Maleficent lets out a tsk as she shakes her head in annoyance.

            “I see… Is there anything else that you have found that you would like to report on?" Qada looks up at Maleficent with a dark grin as he rubs his hands together.

            “I believe I have a lead on the Princess of Heart we are looking for…”

In the vast reach of space, the Highwind powers through a small asteroid field. Its destination is unknown, but that has not stopped those onboard from speculating on what new world they would find and hoping they wouldn’t be forced to change forms again. Although it did give them the time to look over the papers they had found on their trip so far. Three of the pages looked like they came from a children’s book, possibly the one that Merlin has. But it was the three other pages they had found that had their attention. Even though they were written in a cipher, what they could translate told them what they needed to know. 

            “So we’ve found three pages of Ansem’s report?” Isara asks Futaba, who is sitting at a console that is decrypting them.

            “Yep. Apparently, we’ve found reports 1, 3, and 11. Yzma had report 11, Jafar had report 1, and Ursula had report 3. Guess that proves that Maleficent got her hands on them.” She shakes her head, letting out a long sigh. “But seriously… this Ansem guy knew how to keep his reports hidden.” 

            “All we can do is wait until the computer can decipher them.” Akechi tells her, shaking his head. Just then, a chime echoed from the controls, grabbing Lavenza’s attention as she let out a smile.

            “We are approaching a new world.” She tells everyone as all eyes turn to the main screen. As for what this world looks like, it is like a giant chunk of land with a volcano, while a giant chasm seemingly splits it in two with a bridge over it. On one side, there appears to be a city of metal surrounded by lava, while on the other, there appears to be a towering castle of black steel.

            “Not exactly welcoming, is it?” Sora comments, watching the lava flow off the sides of the world.

            “Eh, we’ve seen worse.” Ryuji remarks with a shrug, just as a chime echoes from another terminal. “What’s that?”

            “OH! That's the program to scan for our friends! It's what allowed me to see if there were any of our fellow Phantom Thieves back in Atlantica." Futaba shouts with a growing smile as she types away at her terminal.

            "I've been meaning to ask, Futaba. But when did you have the time to create such a program for the Highwind?" Makoto asks, curiosity written on her face.

            "I was able to create one during our brief rest period at Traverse Town before we got eaten by Monstro. Cid was able to assist me with this after he installed the Navi-Gummies that we got from Agrabah." Futaba replies as she notices something pop up on the terminal. "According to the scan, I'm getting two pings coming from the surface near a city! But they're not alone. I'm getting several more pings around them and… a LOT of Heartless and Demons!”

            “Then let’s not waste any time!” Ren shouts as everyone heads for the transporter. No one was going to argue with that as they quickly beamed their way to the ground, once more leaving Rumi and Tsu behind with Geppetto and Pinocchio. They found themselves landing in a sparse rocky area with the volcano looming in the distance. There was some small vegetation growing around them, yet the area looked more like rock and sand than anything else. But that wasn’t their main focus, as they could hear the sound of combat nearby, with the Thieves instantly switching over to their Thief attire while Sora summoned his Keyblade with the new chain. Primarily blue with some deep indigo around the guard, and with a large orange crab acting as the teeth, it was fitting for the name Crabclaw.

            “Let’s go!” Sora shouts as the group rushes toward the sound of combat, the din of voices just audible as they get near.

            “Where do these freaks keep coming from!? Why can’t they just go away!? Fira!”

            “Edea! Watch out! Strong Strike!”

            “Don’t let your guard down, kids!”

            “Datz, get back! Agilao!”

            “Those last two voices! It couldn’t be—!” Noir comments just as they reach the edge of a cliff. Down below, fighting in a ravine were four young adults in a circle protecting a larger man from the Heartless and Demons. But it was the two standing with them that had their attention.

            “It’s Wolf and Teach!” Outlaw shouts, recognising the two Thieves as they fight back to back against several Erthys. “But who are the other four?” 

            “We can figure that out later!” Queen tells him as Joker jumps down. “Let’s go!” Without a word, the group leaps down towards the ongoing battle, getting a better view of the four fighting alongside Wolf and Teach.

            “Triple Down!” Joker shouts, summoning Arsène while announcing their presence to those below. Not that it helped the Heartless that much, as the Gun attack slammed into the Search Ghosts that had been wandering around, followed closely by the other Thieves lashing out with their weapons at the Green Requiems healing the Heartless and Demons. Something that gave the group of four a sense of relief as they fought back with renewed vigour.

            “Joker! Everyone!” Wolf shouts as he cleaves his greatsword into a Large Body. “Are we glad to see you! As for these freaks… Valjean! Megido!” With his other self roaring onto the field and swiping his chains around, Wolf blasts the Heartless and Demons with the Almighty spell. "Any idea on what these guys even are!?"

            “We can catch up later, Wolf!” Oracle shouts, rushing forward and spinning her staff around, much to Wolf and Teach’s surprise. “For now, focus on the Heartless and Demons! Speaking of, those Erthys are weak against Wind, but they resist Elect!” The two glance at each other before quickly focusing on their new foes as Teach sheaths her two daggers and grabs her RPG.

            “Just so you know, we have a LOT of questions for you!" Teach tells Oracle, firing a rocket at a group of Shadow Heartless, taking them out in a single blast as she quickly reaches for her mask. "Chiron! Maragion!" As her Persona is summoned, Sora, Donald, and Goofy do a double take at seeing a male Persona behind Teach, while Chiron burns several Shadow and Soldier Heartless before it.

            “And do we have a LOT to tell you!” Erina shouts, leaping over them and slamming her partisan down before ripping her mask off. "Joan of Arc! Triple Down!" Following her command, Erina's Persona, which caught the attention of both Wolf and Teach, lashed out at the Erthys charging towards them, giving the group much-needed breathing room. But as Sora dove in and delivered a Sliding Dash at a Soldier, he caught the eye of one of the four: one dressed in thigh-high red boots or stockings with white trim, a large-brimmed white hat with red lining, and a sleeveless white robe and cape with elbow-length red gloves.

            “Is that…” She whispers to herself, brushing her long brown hair from her brown eyes, not realising one of the Heartless was charging towards her. 

            “Agnès!” One of her companions shouts, jumping between her and the Heartless. Wearing heavy armour over leather armour and with a white cape, a chain mail hood covering his head while his silver-brown hair could almost peek out, he held his shield up to deflect the attack from the Air Soldier but was almost knocked down by the hit, only to glare back at the Heartless with his brown eyes, bringing his sword down and slicing the Heartless in two. Although he did wear a pained expression that Agnès was quick to catch.

            “Tiz! Cura!” Agnès chants, healing Tiz of his injury just as lightning streaks down on a Large Body near them. He glances over to the side to the source, seeing the concerned gaze of his friend as she holds a rod in her right hand while wearing a short black one-piece dress under a high-collared black cloak with purple lining held by a black cat brooch at the neck and black elbow-length gloves. A large-brimmed hat with blue lining and a red tassel on the top rests on her head with a black and red bow, while black thigh-high boots with blue trim cover her legs. She also wears a garter belt for some reason.

            “Watch out, Tiz! These ones look more desperate than the others!” She calls out, brushing her blonde hair away from her marine-coloured eyes. No sooner does she say that than one of the Shadows jumps at her, only to get punched by the last member of their group, wearing navy-blue shorts over orange leggings with a white shirt that only covers his chest and a brown band around his torso, alongside brown and grey gloves and brown boots.

            “The same can be said of you, Edea." He tells her in a suave voice, brushing his pale blond hair, which almost looks like a pompadour, away from his light tan eyes. "We don't want your lovely face marred, do we?” 

            “Put a sock in it, Ringabel!” Edea shouts back, casting Fira at a Blue Requiem as the Heartless and Demons are forced to retreat. Their new foes proving too much even as Sora blasts them with Blizzara in the back. “Mrgrgr… Why can’t these things just call it quits! They have been after us since Caldisla!” 

            “I’m just glad we got through that without injury.” Tiz remarks as all four of them are enveloped in blue light, surprising the Thieves as they now stand in different attire.

Tiz was now wearing a white collared shirt with crests on the shoulders, brown leather gloves, a belt with potions and satchels attached to it, tight-fitting brown trousers, and knee-high boots, indicating a country-style life.

Agnès had her hair held in place with a dark hairband, a knee-length white dress with dark sleeves and black fur trimming at the hem, and black embroidery at the bust. A black bolero, a black cinch belt, knee-high black boots with pom-poms, and elbow-length black gloves finish her garb, with a blue pendant hanging around her neck.

As for Ringabel, if that was his name, he had a light blue shirt with fur around the collar and black elbow-length gloves. Black pants, a white belt with white pouches hanging on each side, and black boots finish off his attire, while a black journal with a large 'D' on it hangs at his hip.

Edea, meanwhile, has a short high-collar red dress with a mail-plated skirt. Her sleeves are black, and her collar is white. She wears white tights, thigh-high black boots, and black gloves. And to top it off, she still has that bow on her head.

            “You can thank these guys who came to our aid.” The big guy in the middle remarks, grabbing their attention as they look at the rest of the Thieves. Or rather, Agnès was more focused on the Keyblade in Sora’s hands. “You guys came in at the right time.” 

            “They always do.” Teach remarks as she and Wolf switch back to their usual attires in a flash of blue. “Do you always have to steal the show?” The Thieves all chuckle at her as they shift back to their normal attires, shocking the other five.

            “What can we say? It’s in our blood at this point.” Ren comments with a grin before it morphs into a warm smile. “Still, it’s great to see you again, Kawakami-sensei. And you too, Gramps.” 

            “Do you guys STILL have to call me that?” Zenkichi asks, shaking his head as Kawakami laughs at her boyfriend. “Still, it’s good to see you guys again. But… have you found Akane?” 

            “Akane-chan isn’t with you?” Haru asks as worry fills the faces of everyone present. Zenkichi and Kawakami shake their heads, inflaming the worry of the team until the big guy steps forward.

            “I can tell you guys have a lot to talk about, but not here in the open. We’re almost back at Hartschild. You guys can talk once we're in the city.” Sora and the others glance at him as he looks back at Tiz and the others. “I mean, if that’s okay, Lady Vestal.” Agnès looks at him before glancing back at the others; then she lets out a sigh.

            “Of course, Datz.” She replies in a quiet tone, although Tiz was giving her a concerned look. As for Edea, she was looking away from her with a guilty look while Ringabel just sighed and shook his head. It was clear to the team that there was some… tension between this small group of friends. Datz, seeing the tension building, let out a cough before waving his hand down the path for them to follow. But as they did so, Zenkichi and Kawakami finally noticed that something was different with three of their members. 

            “Morgana… did you finally become human?” Zenkichi asks, his eyes blinking in surprise at him. Morgana turns to look at him with a wide grin as he folds his arms.

            “Yep! But it’s a long story about how that happened. Same with how Futaba can now fight.” 

            “I saw that.” Kawakami remarks, her eyes falling on Isara and Sophia. “And are the two of you human as well?” 

            “Yep!” Isara replies with a grin as Sophia hugs Ren and Makoto. “And we are more than happy about it. Not only that, but Eri awakened to a Persona.” 

            “So we saw.” Zenkcihi replies, glancing at Eri as she stands next to Toshiro, Maruki, and Sae. “Looks like we have a lot to catch up on.” 

            “You don't even know the half of it…” Donald remarks, causing Zenkcihi to pause as he blinks his eyes rapidly.

            “Did that duck talk? Is he a monster duck?”

            “What did you call me!?” Donald asks back in anger as the Thieves just chuckle in good nature. Leave it to Zenkichi to call Donald a monster duck. "My name is Donald Duck!"

            "Whoa! Sorry, there, bud." Zenkichi replies, holding his hands up before fixing his glasses as he now gets a good look at the three newcomers to Ren's group. "But it does seem I skipped over introductions. Inspector Zenkichi Hasegawa. Pleasure to meet you."

            "Sadayo Kawakami. I'm the principal of the school that Ren and the others were taught at, and I'm also Zenkichi's girlfriend." Kawakami adds with a smile.

            "It's nice to meet you both. I'm Sora Osment." Sora introduces himself as Goofy gives Kawakami a handshake.

            "Nice to meet'cha. Name's Goofy, ma'am." Kawakami lets out a chuckle at that while Zenkichi shakes his head at him. He certainly was acting gentlemanly.

            "Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Kawakami says as Zenkichi, still wrapping his mind around seeing both a talking duck and dog, turns to Ren.

            "So, are these three new members of the Phantom Thieves or what's the situation here?" Zenkichi asks as Ren lets out a sigh.

            "It's a very long story, Zenkichi. We'll give you and Kawakami-sensei the full rundown of the situation along the way." Ren replies, and with a nod from the PubSec officer, the team proceeds to follow the five new people that they just met, all while telling both Zenkichi and Kawakami everything that has transpired so far.

It was a long road through the rocky terrain of what they came to know as Eisenberg, one of four continents on the world of Luxendarc. Although that was all they managed to learn so far on their trip, the group of four they were with seemed content to walk in silence, not helped by the tension that seemed to be between them even as they reached a city that appeared to be rising from the magma. The outside was covered in steel plates, while the inside was made of stone buildings with a fountain in the middle, something that Datz stopped at as he turned back to everyone with a smile on his face.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydxuFm0mKbM : The Land in War)

            “Welcome to Hartschild, bastion of the Shieldbearers. Make yourselves at home.” Datz informs the team with a smile as they all glance around. They see people walking around doing their daily tasks while members of the Shieldbearers, dressed in full silver plate armour with blue cloth and capes, stand guard against any potential threats. But there is something else that is pressing to them.

            “That is… some heat.” Yusuke comments, fanning his face as the heat from the lava moat around the city can easily be felt here. 

            “Yeah… Is this city at risk of being swallowed by the lava as well?” Edea asks, fanning her face with worry.

            “Not at the moment, but if it gets any worse, we may have to think about evacuating.” Datz reveals, rubbing the back of his head. “Ever since the Fire Vestal passed away into the light, Mount Karka has been raging without cease.” That only made the Thieves tilt their heads at Datz. Just what was a Vestal? “Anyway, feel free to look around town. I’ll be at the commander's residence, so feel free to get all caught up.” With that, he turns and heads for a large building at the centre of the city, leaving the group next to the fountain, along with a bit of an awkward silence as they all considered what to do. At least until Agnès stepped forward. 

            “Young man, are you one of the fabled warriors of the key from beyond the sky?” She asks Sora, surprising not only him but the others as well. 

            “You mean the Keyblade?” Sora asks, summoning Kingdom Key to his side. “Do you know about it?” 

            “Only what I was told as a vestaling. And the stories I was told may be more legend than reality.” Agnès replies until a voice echoes from her side.

            “Hey! Aren’t you going to introduce us!?” A small voice echoes as a fairy suddenly appears next to her. And it certainly wasn’t one of the Pixies that Ren and the others knew so well. Especially since this one had long silver hair and was wearing a white one-piece with black stockings and gloves. “It’s rude to not exchange names!” 

            “Airy is right. We should probably introduce ourselves." Tiz comments, with Agnès nodding in agreement while Tiz steps forward. "It's nice to meet you all. My name is Tiz Arrior.” 

            “Agnès Oblige. Vestal to the Crystal of Wind. And this is Airy.” While Airy’s smile looked genuine, there was something behind it that gave the team an… uneasy feeling. 

            “Edea Lee.” 

            “My name is Ringabel. No more, no less.” That got the group's attention. Morgana, Toshiro, and Sophia’s more so as they instantly clocked Ringabel’s situation.

            “You have amnesia, don’t you?” Morgana asks, surprising not only him but the others as well. “I can tell. After all, I was in the same position as you once. And it’s not just me; some of us have been in that spot before.” 

            “I see…” Ringabel comments, before putting on a smile. “I suppose it is heartening to know I’m not the only one. What say we and your female friends have a chat over some delicious dinner?” Before anyone could respond, Edea had already hit him on the back of his head with an exasperated look.

            “There he goes again…” Edea comments before bowing to the others. “Sorry about that. Ringabel has a habit of speaking before thinking.” 

            “It's fine. We're used to it." Ann remarks, brushing some hair to the side. Just as everyone, barring Zenkichi and Kawakami since they met them earlier, introduced themselves to the group of five, the group couldn't help but wonder what was going on, especially with the tension that seemed to be between Agnès and Edea.

            “Getting back on track, how do you know about the Keyblade?” Akechi decided to ask, going into detective mode. “Am I to understand that you know about the outside worlds?” The four of them nodded at him, surprising the group at how aware they were of worlds beyond their own. “That is quite a surprise. The other worlds we have seen have had no knowledge of worlds beyond their own.” 

            “Is that not common knowledge?” Edea asks, shrugging her shoulders. “Everyone knows that there are worlds besides our own.” That seemed to make Airy flinch on the spot, not that anyone was paying attention to her.

            “Not all of them.” Sae remarks, folding her arms. “In fact, it’s more common for worlds to be ignorant of each other.” 

            “I suppose it falls down to one’s own eyes then.” Ringabel comments, opening his book to look through the pages. “Puzzling that your arrival is not written in my journal.” 

            “Your journal?” Goofy asks, rubbing the side of his head.

            “Yes. My journal." Ringabel comments, showing them the book. "It was the only thing I had with me when I awoke. And everything that was written on its pages has come true. The winds dying, Tiz and Agnès meeting, the awakening of the Crystals of Wind and Water. Everything written on its pages has come true. Although… your arrival was not foretold in its pages.” 

            “And ain't that a shocker.” Edea remarks with a sigh. Maruki couldn’t help but notice just how things were going between them, yet elected to remain silent. There would be a time and place he would speak to them.

            “Hold up, what do you mean ‘awakening the Crystals’? What’s going on here?” Sora asks. Tiz looks at Agnès, a silent conversation passing between the two as she lets out a sigh and nods back, although it is a begrudging nod. 

            “In truth, we’re on a mission to save our world.” Tiz starts. “The Crystals are what govern our world, and Agnès is one of four Vestals who are in charge of them.” 

            “What’s a Vestal?” Shiho asks, hands behind her back.

            “A Vestal is one who serves the Crystal." Agnès chimes in. "We are brides to the Crystal, offering up prayers, care, as well as dedicating our lives to them. We recite prayers to them to keep them purified and to prevent disasters from engulfing our worlds. And… I am the only one left.” 

            “The only one left?” Hifumi asks with slightly wide eyes. “What happened to the others?” 

            “The Duchy of Eternia. My homeland.” Edea comments, grabbing the team's attention. “I don’t know why, but my father has ordered the army to spread out and capture the temples holding the Crystals of Wind, Water, and Fire. I was originally part of the Sky Knights, who were tasked with looking for Agnès until I left them after they tried to burn down Caldisla.” 

            “And is that why there is this… tension among you?” Toshiro asks, with Edea and Agnès looking away from each other, only for Ringabel to clear his throat.

            “A word of caution, my good man. Girls are complicated things, and it’s a foolish man who asks too many questions.” While that got him a look from the girls on the team, it did send a message that it was best not to ask about it at this moment. “Having said that, may I ask why you are all here? It is not every day that we get visitors beyond our own moon, after all. Let alone one who is considered special by Agnès’s faith.” That caused the team to pause as they all looked at each other before motioning to some stone seats nearby. This was going to take a while to tell.

Night had fallen over Hartschild, not that it did anything to lessen the heat from the surrounding lava. And it certainly was a pain for the Thieves as they tried to get some form of sleep. But while some of them did manage to doze off, there were a few who couldn’t. 

            “It’s too hot…” Sora comments, rubbing his head as Yusuke and Isara stand beside him. Their own weakness to the heat proves to be a nuisance. 

            “Aren’t you an islander? Shouldn’t you be used to the heat?” Isara asks, rubbing her eyes.

            “Hey, even we can only take so much.” Sora comments as the three of them step out into the nighttime air, feeling some relief from the cool wind blowing their way. But it wasn’t the wind that had their attention. 

            “Is that not Tiz and Ringabel by the fountain?” Yusuke comments, drawing their attention to the duo. 

            “It is. Maybe they can’t sleep either.” Isara puts forward. Sora, ever curious, walks towards the duo, who turn to look at them in surprise. 

            “Oh, good evening. I take it you can’t sleep either?” Tiz asks the trio. 

            “Yeah… it’s way too hot.” Isara comments, wiping her head as Ringabel lets out a chuckle.

            “Then you are lucky we are not in Ancheim. Not only was there no wind until Agnès awoke the Wind Crystal, but the ex-king was also forcing people to pay so that they could drink from the wells.” 

            “Why did he do that?” Sora asks as Yusuke frowns in disgust. 

            “He was trying to force everyone to hate Agnès by making them work in the mills.” Tiz reveals, shaking his head. “He was also an ally of Eternia. Edea was not happy about that when we found out.” 

            “She really doesn’t like what her country is doing, huh?” Isara remarks, sitting on the fountain.

            “Well… she didn’t say this at the time, and we only found out about this earlier… But Edea is actually the daughter of Eternia’s ruler.” Tiz reveals, shocking the trio. “I know, it was a shock to us as well. And Agnès… didn’t take it very well.” 

            “That is an understatement, Tiz. Her childhood friend Olivia was just murdered by two members of Eternia’s council.” Ringabel remarks, shaking his head. “It is a miracle that our group hasn’t fractured to pieces.” Tiz nods his head absentmindedly, his gaze not leaving the fountain as Ringabel lets out a sigh. “That’s not the only thing worrying you, is it, Tiz?” 

            “Huh?” Tiz asks back as Sora, Yusuke, and Isara look at the two of them in puzzlement.

            “Ever since we started our adventure, you have been having trouble sleeping regardless of where we have been. It’s not the temperature, the neon lights, or even the beds. But something else entirely.” Tiz couldn’t help but let out a shaky laugh at that, something that the trio caught onto as well. “Do you have any idea why? Surely, there is a reason for that?” Tiz stays quiet, letting the silence around them fall on them like a blanket until he lets out a long sigh of resignation. 

            “You got me, Ringabel.” Tiz replies, shaking his head to look at him. “There is something, actually. You know about the Great Chasm, right? Where my home, Norende, was?” 

            “I do.” Ringabel replies before looking at the trio and seeing the looks of confusion on their faces. “Tiz’s home, Norende Village, was swallowed by a Great Chasm that appeared the same day that the Crystals lost their light. And Tiz is the only survivor.” That shocked the trio, who turned to look at Tiz with sympathetic stares.

            “I see… Our condolences, Tiz. We know what it’s like to lose your home.” Yusuke tells him, who nods back with a sad smile. 

            “Thanks… I know that my village is nothing compared to losing an entire world, but still, thanks. And I’m also doing some reconstruction work as well, so Norende is being rebuilt right now.” Tiz tells him before losing the smile. “But… there is one memory of that event that is forever stuck in my mind. When the Great Chasm opened up, my younger brother, Til, was caught right on the edge.” All eyes turn to Tiz as he starts to breathe heavily. “I managed to grab his hand right as he fell, and I tried to pull him back up. But… his hand slipped right out of mine. I watched him fall to his death with fear on his face…”

            “And you see that face every time you fall asleep…” Isara finishes, rubbing her head. “That’s… horrible…”

            “I agree.” Ringabel comments, letting out a sigh. “And you have kept this to yourself this entire time? That’s not healthy, Tiz.”

            “Yeah. You need to tell people about it.” Sora agrees, grabbing his attention. “Keeping something like that all to yourself… it won’t do any good. All it will do is eat you up from the inside out. You need to tell other people so they can share it with you.”

            “I know.” Tiz replies, shaking his head. “But it's been so hard… And with how things are between us right now… I don’t know if it’s even a good idea to tell Agnès and Edea.” 

            “I believe you should.” Yusuke comments, grabbing his attention. “The tension between Agnès and Edea was due to keeping secrets, yes? Would it not be wise to tell them this as well to prevent further tension?” Tiz blinks his eyes at Yusuke, letting the words bounce in his head as Ringabel places a hand on his shoulder. 

            “If you want to, you can let me tell them.” He assures him, letting Tiz take a moment to breathe as he closes his eyes.

            “Thanks… I’ll think about it some more, but you're right. They need to know.” 

            “That’s all we ask.” Yusuke comments as Ringabel gives Tiz one more pat on the shoulder.

            “Agnès! It’s time to fall asleep!” Airy pesters the Wind Vestal once more, who continues to ignore her. Instead, her eyes are outside, seeing Tiz and Ringabel conversing with three of the outsiders. Her mind honestly couldn’t believe that this had been happening for the past ten years. Worlds vanishing one by one at the hands of the Heartless? And that Sora was now the only one who could stop it? It made her mission look small by comparison, yet the way he was dealing with it was different from hers.

In a way, they were similar in some regards. Both had no knowledge of what lay beyond their respective borders, his being the islands and for her, it was the Temple of Wind. And yet, the way they reacted was completely different. Sora, despite taking his mission seriously, was enjoying every moment of his adventure. Almost to the point as though he was treating it like a game, yet one look behind his eyes showed how serious he was taking this. As for her… she was scared with every step she took. The weight of everything bearing down on her made her feel small. All she wanted to do was yell out at someone, but the one person she trusted, Sage Yulyana, was nowhere near her.

            “HEY! Are you listening to me!?” Airy once again shouts in her ear, almost sending her to the floor until a knock at the door drew their attention. And with that, the last of Airy’s patience was gone. “Urgh! Fine! Go to sleep when you want to!” With that, she flies out the window to sleep someplace else as Maruki enters the room.

            “Good evening, Agnès. Apologies if I’m intruding.” 

            “No apologies needed.” Agnès replies. “What do you need?” Maruki takes a breath, settling himself down in a chair as he looks at Agnès.

            “I guess I’m just letting my old instinct take over.” He tells her cryptically. “Back on my world, I was once what we call a therapist. Whether I was a good one or not is up for debate, but there is one thing I know that you desperately need: someone to talk to.” Agnès’s eyes widen in surprise as Maruki holds up a hand. “I’m not saying you need to tell me everything. After all, I am a stranger to your world. It would be rude of me to assume I could help you with everything. But if there is one thing I can do, it is listen.” 

            “Listen?” Agnès parrots, tilting her head. 

            “Keeping things bottled up inside you does no one any good. And it’s clear to me that you are keeping a lot of things to your chest.” He pushes his glasses up, the light reflecting off them for a moment. “And if there is one thing I've noticed, it's the tension you have in your group.” 

            “That’s…” Agnès starts before looking away with a sigh.

            “I’m not asking you to tell me.” Maruki tells her again. “If you want me to go, I’ll go.” He leans forward, chin resting on his hands. “But if there is something you want to get off your chest, then don’t hold back.” Agnès blinks at Maruki in shock before taking a moment to look back outside at Tiz, seeing Ringabel place a hand on his shoulder as what looks to be a small weight is lifted from his shoulder. But not the entire weight, as Agnès had come to realise. Something that she herself could feel.

            “There is much I would want to say, but as of now, there is one thing on my mind.” Agnès comments, grabbing Maruki’s attention. “Before we came here, we were in Florem looking for the Water Vestal, who was my childhood friend, Olivia Oblige.” 

            “Oblige?” Maruki asks, puzzled as to how Olivia has the same last name as hers but is a childhood friend.

            “All Vestals take the name Oblige as their last name.” Agnès clarified before sighing. “But… when we found her, members of the Eternian army found us. And… Olivia sacrificed herself to save me.” 

            “That’s… I’m so sorry to hear that.” Maruki replies, shaking his head.

            “It was after that I learned about Edea being related to the leader of Eternia. And I… snapped at her, accusing her of being the reason why Olivia died. But that’s not true at all… In truth, the one who killed her was me. Because I failed to notice that we were being followed, Olivia paid the price.” 

            “And because you snapped at Edea, you now feel guilty about accusing her of something she did not do?” Maruki asks. Agnès looks at him, slowly nodding her head as he lets out a long sigh. “Agnès, what you did was what anyone would do in your shoes. You just lost a childhood friend and learned that one of your friends was related to the leader of the country that killed her. What you did was natural.”

            “And yet Edea had been by our side since Caldisla… True, I may have been suspicious, but she was always on our side. To throw all that away in an instant… I feel nothing but shame.” Agnès admits, letting out a sigh. 

            “Then tell her how you feel.” Maruki tells Agnès, who looks at him in shock. “If you feel guilty about how you acted, then tell her. Only by admitting mistakes can one move forward, like what I had to do.” Agnès tilts her head at Maruki as he pushes himself up and walks to the door. “That’s all I had to say. Goodnight, Agnès.” With that, he leaves her alone as he enters the corridor, where Sumire is waiting for him with a concerned expression. 

            “Do you think it helped?” She asks him as the two walk down the corridor. 

            “I don’t know. We can only find out in the morning.”

            “It is WAY too hot…” Morgana groans, rubbing his forehead as Hifumi lets out a sigh next to him. 

            “You’ve never been well with the heat, have you?” She asks, shaking her head in amusement. “Certainly ironic, considering you were always chasing Ann.” 

            “I suppose so… But then again, I could say the same about you given your weakness for the heat." Morgana comments as Ren and Futaba let out some chuckles nearby. The four of them were hanging around the main residence in the city. Apparently, it belonged to the Commander of the Shieldbearers, the one who was allied to the Vestals. From what they heard from the people around him, the commander sounded like a very honest person. But they would save their opinions until they actually met him. Even as they tried to get some respite from the heat, they soon noticed another person wandering about at night with a worried look.

            “Is that Edea? Why is she up?" Futaba asks, seeing Edea's conflicted face. 

            “Why don't we ask her?” Hifumi offers as she and Ren start walking towards her, followed closely by Futaba and Morgana. It wasn't long before Edea spotted the four of them, giving them all a weak wave with a faint smile.

            “Oh, hey guys… Having trouble sleeping?" She asks them. 

            “Not helped by the heat from the lava.” Ren comments, earning a chuckle from Edea. 

            “Yeah. No doubt Tiz is finding it hard. Sleepy blockhead.” She comments with teasing familiarity in her voice. 

            “Sounds like you call him that a lot.” Morgana comments.

            “What can I say? He’s like the brother I’ve never had but always wanted.” Edea replies before letting out a long sigh. “Although… he probably hates me for not telling him the truth.”

            “What do you mean?” Hifumi asks. Edea looks at them, her eyes conflicted before letting out a deep sigh.

            “No reason to hide this since everyone else knows…” She looks back at the four, eyes resolute even as she leans against a lone stone wall. “My father isn’t just the commander of the Eternian army; he’s the leader of the entire Duchy of Eternia.” 

            “The leader of the entire Duchy?” Ren asks again as the others' eyes widen slightly.

            “Yep.” Edea confirms, leaning backward. “My father is the leader behind Anticrystalism, a counter faith that goes against the Crystal Orthodoxy that Agnès represents. But growing up, he never told me about any of this. He never said that he was telling everyone to hunt down and kill the Vestals or take advantage of the populace. And now I find out that my master, Swordmaster Kamiizumi, is leading a civil war here in Eternia? I just don’t understand anything any more!” She slams a hand down on the stone wall as a tear threatens to leave her eyes. “And now Agnès has lost a friend because of my father, and she hates me for it! Blaming me for her death! I just… what am I supposed to do now? Why am I even here in the first place? What is black and what is white?”

            “Black and white? Is that how you view the world?” Hifumi asks Edea, who looks back up at her. 

            “For a long time, yeah. But after everything that has happened… I’m starting to see just how… stupid that is. But still… how can I even apologise to Agnès about Olivia? Would she even accept it? How do I know she won’t just tell me to leave?” Edea lets out a sigh, letting herself fall to her knees as she shakes her head. “I just don’t understand any more. I’m a traitor to my people, so I can’t go home. Yet, I lied to my friends and broke their trust. Just what am I supposed to do?”

The four Thieves all look at each other, seeing the distress on Edea’s face clear as day. For Ren and Futaba, this hit them close to home as it reminded them of when Sojiro cornered them about being Phantom Thieves in the original timeline. And perhaps that was what Edea needed to do.

            “Tell them how you feel.” Edea’s eyes snap open, looking at Ren as he folds his arms. “Everything that you have said now is what you fear will happen, right? Then stop keeping it all locked up and let them know. It doesn’t do anyone any good if you keep things from others.” 

            “But how do I know it will work?” Edea asks, shaking her head. 

            “You can’t.” Futaba replies bluntly. “But ask yourself this: Do you think they would just abandon you on the side of the road?” Edea’s eyes blink at Futaba’s question. “If they wanted to, they could have told you to leave the moment they found out about you, but they haven’t. So why are you afraid that they are going to do that if they haven’t already?”

            “Didn’t you also say that Tiz is like a brother to you?” Hifumi asks Edea, who slowly nods her head. “And how does he think of you? Like a sister?” 

            “Well… he did say that when I was teasing him in Florem…” Edea remarks slowly. “But…” 

            “Family doesn’t leave each other behind so easily.” Morgana comments, cutting her off. “Sure, blood ties might be broken easily, but found family is a lot harder to break. Look at all of us, for example. After everything we went through, we all think of each other as family. And I can tell you that whatever is on your mind, they will listen. All you need to do is give them the chance.” Edea blinks at Morgana in surprise, her gaze falling to her knees before she slowly pushes herself up.

            “Yeah… you’re right. No more keeping things to myself.” She agrees, giving her face a slap on the cheeks. “If I’m going to make things up, I need to set things straight.” While the four give her reassuring nods, Edea lets out a loud yawn while stretching her arms. “That being said, I need some sleep.” 

            “I think we all do.” Ren remarks, glancing at Futaba, who ended up falling asleep against him. “We can talk more in the morning. After all, if the Heartless and Demons are here, then that means we are needed as well.” 

            “As if things around here couldn’t get any crazier…” Edea remarks, shaking her head as the five head off to sleep. While none of them knew about what was coming tomorrow, there was one thing for certain. 

It was going to be a very busy day.

Chapter Text

Chapter 20: Shield vs. Heartless

When Sora opened his eyes again not long after falling back asleep, he found himself looking through the eyes of Ventus. Judging by the location, it seemed to be the same hall where Terra and Aqua were having this ‘Mark of Mastery’. Yet the corrupted orbs of light were nowhere to be seen. Was this a continuation of that memory?

            “That was unexpected…” Eraqus’s voice echoed from the stairs, grabbing Ven’s attention and, in doing so, Sora’s vision. “…but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold.” Eraqus gave Terra and Aqua an approving smile and nod, while Sora could feel Ven holding back a smile of his own.

            So, you need to keep a steady head and a calm heart when a situation changes unexpectedly? Or is it something else? Sora mentally asks himself as Terra and Aqua separate and stand at either end of the hall, Keyblades in hand. What now?

            “Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you shall face each other in combat. Remember, there are no winners—only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed. Begin!” At that, Terra and Aqua began their spar, each one taking the fight seriously as they exchanged blows. Sora could feel Ven’s apprehension about the fight as he watched, but as the two sparred, something happened that caused Sora’s eyes to widen.

            For a split second, a dark aura surrounded Terra’s left arm. It was faint, and Terra managed to will it away, but he could see it. Especially the look of shock on Terra’s face for a few seconds when he saw it.

            That was just like the aura surrounding Riku! Sora mentally shouts. But it looked like Terra wasn’t trying to use it… Did it come out on its own? Is Riku the same? Sora thinks about this as he folds his non-existent arms until the vision seemingly fast-forwards to the end.

            “We have deliberated and reached a decision.” Eraqus’s voice was hard yet firm. “Terra, Aqua, you have both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery.” Sora could feel the shock radiating throughout Ven, along with the looks of shock on Aqua and Terra as well. Shock that was quickly joined by sadness. “Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But there is always next time. That is all.” As Sora followed Ven’s gaze over to Eraqus, he could see the shadowy form of Xehanort leave towards the stairs in silence. “Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please, wait here for further instructions.” 

            Just like that? Sora mentally asks as Eraqus turns to walk away. Not even giving Terra some pointers on what to do? Isn’t he his student? As Eraqus walks away, Sora can feel Ven run up to Terra and Aqua. Aqua herself looks heartbroken that Terra didn’t become a master like her, while Terra’s face is filled with both shock and confusion.

            “Hey…” Aqua speaks, resting a hand on his arm. “Are you all right?”

            “No…” Terra replies, slowly shaking his head. “Just… confused. The darkness… Where did it come from?”

            “Terra…” Ven says in a quiet tone, grabbing Terra’s attention as he turns to him before ruffling his hair.

            “Thanks for the support today, guys. But… I need some time alone right now, alright?” He tells them as he lets out a long sigh.

            “I’m here if you ever need me. You know that, right?” Aqua tells him, her hand not leaving his arm for a moment.

            “Yeah… I know. Thanks, Aqua.” Terra replies, giving her a small smile before heading for the stairs. And just like that, the vision comes to an end as Sora wakes up back in the inn, along with hurt in his chest.

            “So… that’s what happened.” Sora comments, rubbing his head. “Why am I even seeing these to begin with? Will I see more?” He lets out a sigh, bringing his feet over the bed and standing up. “I can think about these another time. Right now, we need to find the Keyhole of this world and do what we can to help Tiz and the others.” He reaches for the door, pausing for a moment. “I hope Tiz can talk to them about his problems.” Letting out a breath of air, Sora opens the door and heads out, already finding the entire group hanging around the fountain, with three Dalmatian puppies for some reason, seemingly waiting for him as Goofy waves to him.

            “G’morning, Sora. Had a nice nap?” He asks as Sora lets out a yawn.

            “Not really… It was so hot I couldn’t get a good sleep.” Sora replies, shaking his head. “Where did the puppies come from?” He looks at the three pups, already trying to jump on him with wide smiles.

            “It is stifling, that’s for certain.” Haru comments, trying to brush down her hair. “As for the puppies, they were in Commander Goodman’s home. His wife, Eleanor, has been looking after them, and when we explained what happened to them, she agreed to keep them until we are finished with our current mission so we can bring them home.” Sora nods at that, leaning down to pet them as Zenkichi clears his throat.

            “Well, with that out of the way, what are our plans next?” Zenkichi asks, pushing his glasses up. As everyone looks at each other, pondering what they should do now, three of them are instead looking at the ground. Tiz, Agnès, and Edea all stand in silence, each of them taking a glance at the others as a conversation starts to build around them until one of them decides to take the first step.

            “Before we discuss that, there’s something I want to say.” Edea cuts in, grabbing everyone’s attention. She lets out a long sigh, turning to look at Tiz, Agnès, and Ringabel. She looks all three of them in the eyes before suddenly bowing to them at a steep angle. “I’m so sorry for not telling you about my heritage!” 

            “Edea?” Tiz asks, eyes wide, alongside Agnès and Ringabel.

            “I’m so sorry that I never told you. If I had, Olivia would still be alive, and Alternis wouldn’t have destroyed the float stone. I understand if you hate me for not telling you guys, and if you want me to leave, I understand that as well. I’m just… so sorry for not telling you.” Tiz, Agnès, and Ringabel all blinked their eyes at Edea in surprise. None of them expected her to come out and say that, especially in front of everyone here. But it was then that something seemed to click in Agnès as her eyes softened before she walked up and rested a hand on her shoulder.

            “Edea… if there's anyone who should be apologizing, it is me.” Agnès tells her, surprising Edea as she looks up. "I'm sorry for how I snapped at you back on the Eschalot. At the time, I was blinded by Olivia's death and lashed out at you without thinking. It has been eating away at me ever since." Edea's eyes widen in surprise as Agnès gently pulls her up. "In truth, if anyone is to blame for Olivia's death, it should be me for not knowing we were being followed." 

            "I think we all share that blame." Ringabel comments, grabbing their attention. "We were all focused on reuniting you with your friend that we threw caution to the wind. Olivia’s death is something that we all bear the burden of—a mistake we can never fix." Agnès and Edea both look at him, letting the words bounce in their minds as Tiz lets out a breath of air.

            “Agnès. Edea. There is something I’ve been keeping from you two as well.” His voice grabs them, confusion racing across their faces. “It’s the reason why I’ve been having trouble sleeping at night. I’ve been having nightmares about my brother.”

            “Your brother?” Edea asks as Agnès silently gasps.

            “Yeah, Til. He died when the Great Chasm opened up under Norende. Right before my eyes.” Agnès and Edea silently gasp, while the Thieves who had not heard the story close their eyes in silence. Losing a family member… would always be a wound on the heart. “The look on his face as he fell into that dark pit has never left my mind since. Same with Olivia. Seeing her pained face as she died… It was agony.” He lets out a loud sigh, leaning against the fountain while shaking his head. “I’ve seen enough death to last a lifetime.”

With that, the tension that seemed to fester over the group started to vanish, as though a mist that had been masking their vision began to evaporate before their eyes. This was something that was visible to the Thieves as they all stood in silence. It was with a loud clap of Ringabel’s hands that they were snapped from their gaze.

            “In that case, let’s let bygones be bygones and move forward as one. Yes?” He tells them with a disarming smile. “For now, let us focus on our main missions.” 

            “For us, that would be finding the Keyhole and sealing it up so the Heartless don’t destroy your world.” Makoto remarks, brushing some hair back. “And something tells us it won’t be easy to find.”

            “What about splitting up to find a way into the Temple of Fire?” Airy suddenly speaks up, floating onto Agnès’s shoulder. “With so many of us here, we could easily find a way in.”

            “I don’t think so.” Hifumi replies, shaking her head. “I already had a talk with Datz about that, and they have tried every way they could think of to get close to it. And nothing has worked.”

            “Couldn’t we just use the Highwind to beam us into the Temple?” Ryuji asks Futaba, who shakes her head.

            “Nope. It can only do so in areas we have already visited. And there is no way there will be any safe landing spots for the Highwind.” That elicited a groan from everyone as Agnès put a finger to her chin.

            “Should we awaken the Earth Crystal then?”

            “I don’t think it will be easy getting into Eternia.” Edea comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Eternia is surrounded by high mountain ranges that even the Eschalot would struggle to get over. When I left, I was in a high-powered airship that carried the Eschalot. I don’t know how large your ship is, but Eternia is dominated by small canyons and narrow passageways. The only other way would be to dock at the city of Gathelatio, on the edge of Eternia where the mountains don’t rise, but that place is under lockdown. No way in or out.”

            “In that case, why not help the Shieldbearers?” Ren offers to the four, even as Airy gives him a pout with her hands on her hips. “Standing around won’t solve anything, so why not help the Shieldbearers defend their home? Who knows? You might even find a way that no one has discovered yet.”

            “It is better than just standing around doing nothing.” Tiz agrees, looking at Agnès and seeing the conflicted distress on her face. “We’re not going to go to war, Agnès. We’re going to bring this war to an end so that no more lives are lost.” 

            “You can count me in, Tiz.” Edea tells him, folding her arms. “Even if it means going against my master, I can’t stand around and watch as he cuts down innocent people. That is not what he taught me to do.”

            “You have our support as well.” Toshiro comments, grabbing their attention. “After all, with the Heartless and Demons present, it is clear that this is no longer an ‘internal world’ conflict. Maleficent and Jerri have their eyes on this world, and we won’t allow them to do whatever they please.” 

            “In that case, may I recommend we meet with Commander Goodman and ask what needs the most attention?” Ringabel remarks. “After all, he is in command of the Shieldbearers. He may know of someplace that needs assistance. He should still be at Eisen Bridge.”

            “Can you lead us there?” Akechi asks, with Ringabel nodding his head before turning to the exit.

            “Of course. Just be on your guard. The wildlife of Eisenberg is particularly upset with everything happening around us.” The group all looks at each other uneasily as they follow Ringabel and the others out of the city, with Mishima looking at Kawakami and Zenkichi.

            “What did he mean by that?” Mishima asks as the two let out some awkward chuckles.

            “Well… have you ever wanted to fight a giant worm?” While the Thieves all looked at him with varying expressions, Edea walked up to Tiz with an apologetic look.

            “I’m really sorry about what happened to your brother, Tiz. And I’m sorry if my teasing reminded you of him.” She tells him, grabbing his attention. “If you want me to stop, then I can stop.” 

            “Why would I want that?” He asks back, surprising her. “Edea, what I said back in Florem, about how you were like a sister to me, I meant what I said. And yes, Til’s death is something I might never recover from, but being around you guys… it’s helped me in some way.” He pats her on the shoulder, giving her a smile. “So don’t stop acting like a sister to me, alright? It’ll make me feel like I’ve lost another family member.”

            “Tiz…” Edea breathes before putting on a goofy grin. “Then you better get used to me teasing you even more, you country bumpkin!” She tells him, grabbing him into a headlock and rubbing his head hard. While those around them smiled at the two, Agnès had a moment to glance back at them as a small smile formed on her face. The people who were around her, she would never trade for anyone, especially him.

It took the team a while to get back to Eisen Bridge, but not because of the climate. It was because of the giant worms that burst from the ground, trying to eat them. Soil Eaters, according to Ringabel’s journal. It was not helped by the occasional Heartless and Demons that appeared alongside them.

It was during this time that Tiz and the others explained how they were changing every time they encountered a fight. They were switching to different ‘jobs’ that had different fighting styles or magical disciplines obtained from a small gemstone called an ‘Asterisk’. So far, the ones they had obtained were from high-level commanders in the Eternia army, four from each region for a total of twelve. They left the commanders alive instead of killing them, though they couldn’t tell you why. However, they had their eyes on two particular ones who would not be spared that fate when they got to Eternian High Command.

But eventually, the group arrived at Eisen Bridge, finding the main contingent of the Shieldbearers holding down the south side of the bridge. Giant barricades were erected along the walls, protecting them from the cannons of the Swordbearers. Blue and red flags flapped in the wind, marking each faction as Datz led the team up a tower that held the forward command post. Waiting for them was a man clad in metal armour, with the top of his head visible.

            “Wind Vestal, it is good to see you.” He greets, his eyes drifting over the others. “And I see you have brought your new companions with you. Datz informed me about you not that long ago. Daniel Goodman, commander of the Shieldbearers, at your service.” He bows to the team respectfully, surprising them with how warmly he greets them.

            “Erm… thanks.” Futaba replies, rubbing the back of her head. In all honesty, the rest of the Thieves had a similar reaction to how Goodman was greeting them so quickly. Was it because they were with Agnès? Just how much respect do Vestals have here?

            “Sir Goodman, after discussing our options, we have decided to help you in your plight.” Agnès tells him, her hands grasping. “It is all we can do for now until a way into the Temple of Fire is discovered.”

            “You would truly aid us?” Goodman asks, his eyes going wide before filling with relief. “My eternal thanks! This should help raise the troops' morale, especially against those strange creatures.” Goodman lets out a sigh, shaking his head. “They have struck at Shieldbearer, Swordbearer, and Black Blade alike, and our weapons seem to do nothing against them.”

            “They are called the Heartless.” Sora explains to Goodman. “And they attack anyone in order to grow their numbers.” 

            “Heartless? Well, that is certainly a fitting name for what they do.” Goodman remarks, shaking his head. “In truth, there is a place I would like you to head to first: the Mythril Mines.”

            “Mythril?” Sophia asks as the team silently blinks in surprise. Such a metal was common in stories back home, but to actually hear that it existed was another thing entirely… 

            “Yes. About a year ago, the enemy captured the Mythril Mine we had been working on. We tried to recapture the mine, but the Swordbearers have put children to work down there…” 

            “Children!?” Everyone shouts as one.

            “Yes. I’m sure you have heard stories of miners taking canaries into the mines as an early warning for dangerous gases. Well, the Swordbearers call the children they have abducted and forced into hard labour ‘canary boys’. When we tried to retake the mines, those cowards used them as human shields.” 

            “Those assholes!” Ryuji screams, slamming a hand on the stone wall. “What the hell’s wrong with ‘em!?” 

            “Using children as forced labour and as a human shield… that is an evil that cannot be described.” Haru comments, shaking her head.

            “Monsters…” Kawakami grits her teeth while Zenkichi’s glasses hide his eyes.

            “Using these canary boys to warn of danger… I cannot believe the Black Blades would stoop so low.” Edea remarks, her hands gripping tightly.

            “I fear it may have gotten worse.” Goodman remarks, his voice grim. “Just a few hours ago, I received word that those Heartless attacked the mine.” 

            “They what!?” Isara shouts as the team’s skin turns pale.

            “Then what are we waiting around here for!? Let’s go take back the mine!” Shiho shouts as the Thieves all nod their heads in agreement.

            “Even though the mines are filled with both Swordbearers and Heartless?” Goodman asks, worry in his eyes.

            “Regardless of whether the Heartless are there or not, we cannot in good conscience stand and do nothing.” Eri remarks, shaking her head. “If we stand here, all we will do is condemn those children to death. And I refuse to stand around and let that happen.” Around her, everyone nods in agreement. Even Agnès, who did not want to join the war, couldn’t help but agree with what was happening. It was with a reluctant sigh that Goodman nodded his head.

            “Very well. I will send word to the guards located at the western checkpoint. That path leads to the Mythril Mine. Please be safe.” The team all nod at him before turning to leave, while Goodman turns back to look at the other side. It had been worryingly quiet from them for a while, with even the Diva of the Battlefield not making an appearance. It only told him that they were planning something big.

The group didn’t know what to expect as they rushed toward the Mythril Mine. The fact that the Heartless were attacking it was worry enough, knowing just how ruthless they could be. So it was with heavy hearts that, when they reached the entrance, they found it not only abandoned but also ransacked. Clearly, whatever defence the Swordbearers and Black Blades had tried to put up had been torn apart, and with fresh blood still on the ground, it must have been very recent as well.

            “We can’t wait out here! Those children need help!” Edea shouts as she grabs a small orange-like gem with a black star in it. “Black Mage!” No sooner does she shout those words than Edea is engulfed in a flash of light, once more clothed in the garb Ren and the others first saw her in, with Tiz, Agnès, and Ringabel pulling out their own jewels and holding them close.

            “Knight!”

            “White Mage!”

            “Monk!”

One by one, each of them was encased in flashes of light, once more dressing them in new garb as the Thieves shifted into their Thief attire, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy summoning their weapons.

            “Let’s go! But watch your corners! There could be ambushes waiting for us.” Wolf calls out as the team descends into the mines, finding only devastation left as the sounds of battle echo in the dimly lit halls, along with the screams of men falling to the Heartless and the cries of children.

            “Which way do we go!?” Skull shouts, seeing the three paths before the group.

            “Split up! One group per path!" Joker shouts as he and Sora rush down the middle path with Agnès and Tiz. Queen, Sophie, Edel, Doc, Wolf, and Teach all chase after them, while Crow leads a team consisting of Donald, Ringabel, Mona, Oracle, Shinobi, Violet, Rebel, and Erina down another path, leaving Athena with Goofy, Edea, Skull, Panther, Fox, Noir, Spring, and Outlaw for the final path.

It didn’t take long for Crow’s team to find four of the canary boys, the six of them huddled away in a corner as several Black Blade members tried in vain to stop the Heartless attacking them. A horde of Shadows mixed with Soldier Heartless and several new Demons that the team had yet to encounter. The best way to describe them was as literal bodies of flame hovering in the air.

            “There they are!” Violet shouts, drawing her rapier.

            “Then let’s save them like the gentlemen we are!” Ringabel shouts as Mona lets out a chuckle.

            “I’m starting to like you already! Zorro! Magarula!” Mona shouts, summoning his other self to the field and sending out a blast of wind at the foes, disorienting them as the flaming men turn towards them and unleash a stream of fire, forcing the team to dodge as the Heartless split in two. Half of them rush towards the team, while the rest focus on the remaining Black Blades.

            “Kunoichi! Mapsio!”

            “Blizzara!”

Shinobi and Donald’s spells mixed together, sending a barrage of ice at the new foes as Oracle whacked several Soldiers away with her staff before grabbing her laser rifle.

            “That’s the idea, you guys! The Flaemis are weak to Ice and resist Fire!” She calls out, firing her rifle at several Shadows just as a few Blue Rhapsodies float down from above. “Great, more of them!” 

            “Allow me! Ernesto! Liberator!” Rebel cries out, his Persona forming behind him while casting a smirk at Erina, right before it unleashes the Almighty spell at the Blue Rhapsodies. While it hasn’t reached its full power yet, it is still powerful enough to force the remaining Blue Rhapsodies to scatter, giving Erina an opening.

            “Shining Great Partisan!” Erina calls out, summoning several spears above her head before raining them down on the Blue Rhapsodies, giving Crow, Violet, and Ringabel an opening as they dash forward toward the children. Just as the last Black Blade falls before their eyes, his heart is forcibly ripped out before them.

           "Robin Hood! Maeiga!"

           "Cendrillon! Makouga!"

           "Qigong Wave!

As Ringabel unleashes a kick at the Heartless, it mixes with both Crow's and Violet's magic into a form of AOE kick that sends the Heartless flying away from the children, while Ringabel stands in front of them protectively, with Crow by his side. Just then, several more Heartless, along with some Flaemis and Erthys, appear before them. "It would seem we are on the back foot.”

            “Not for long.” Crow comments as he glows scarlet next to him. “I refuse to allow any harm to come to these children! Robin Hood!” At his side, Robin Hood takes form, drawing his bow back as he aims at the sky with a golden arrow. “Truth Seeker!” With that, Robin Hood unleashes the arrows, each one raining down on either a Thief, Donald, or Ringabel. The moment they make contact, the team can feel themselves empowered as they not only speed up but also feel their magic slowly regenerate.

            “Well then, that is handy.” Ringabel remarks with a grin. "Let us wrap this up with haste!" With that, he dashes forward as Crow and Violet follow right behind him, the three leaping into the fray even as they think about how the others are holding up.

In truth, Athena’s group is finding themselves in a difficult situation. They have managed to find four of the canary boys—hard not to, since they are running right into them—yet the Heartless chasing after them are an entirely different beast altogether.

            “Why did we have to fight a Heartless Soil Eater!?” Outlaw shouts, firing his rifle as the team initiates a fighting retreat, with Goofy acting as a bulwark to keep the kids safe as he uses his shield to knock the Heartless away from them. "Wasn't the normal kind bad enough!?”

            “Less talking, more fighting!” Edea shouts, staff held high. “Blizzara!” Shards of ice form around Edea before streaking forward at the Heartless. Each shard impacts against its thick hide, yet does not do the damage that she wanted. “Mrgrgr! What’s going on!? Aren’t Soil Eaters weak to ice!?”

            “It must have gotten a buff!” Spring shouts, sending a blast of Kouga at the Heartless. It roars in pain as the light slices against it, calling more Heartless to its side as it continues to tunnel closer to the group. Fox sends out a blast of Mabufula toward the Heartless, slowing them down as Skull and Panther unleash a joint Zionga and Agilao at the Heartless Soil Eater. Yet it still continues to approach them without issue.

            “Nothing’s working!” Skull shouts as the team continues to back away. Athena, firing her twin guns at the Heartless, glances at the Soil Eater’s mouth as an idea pops into her head. But whether it will work or not is up in the air.

            “Noir! Fire a grenade into its mouth!” Athena calls out, grabbing Noir’s attention as she cuts two Soldiers in half. “It might be our only way of stopping it!” Noir narrows her eyes, grabbing her grenade launcher as Athena turns to Edea. “Edea! Can you infuse Noir’s grenade with magic!?”    

            “Huh!?” Edea asks back with puzzlement on her face before going contemplative. “Well… I can do that with a sword… Okay, I’ll try!” While they wanted to know what Edea meant by that, they had a more pressing issue on their hands as the Soil Eater got closer to them. Not wasting a second, Noir aims at the Soil Eater as Edea channels fire into her staff before willing it to imbue Noir’s grenade launcher with said magic. In all honesty, she did not even know if it would work. But to her surprise, Noir’s grenade launcher was encased in a fiery red aura as she fired a flaming grenade at the Soil Eater. The Heartless swallowed it up without a thought, but it proved to be a fatal mistake as the grenade exploded from the inside.

Flames burst from the mouth as well as gaps in the hide as the Heartless Soil Eater was cooked from the inside out before vanishing into darkness, leaving the team with the stragglers that were far less intimidating now that the main threat had disappeared.

Meanwhile, with Joker’s team, they were rushing down the last passage towards a dead end with a steel door. To their horror, they found nine of the canary boys huddling in fear as a Large Body and several Soldiers surrounded them, accompanied by several new Demons who could be best described as a combination of a rooster, bird, and dragon. Coloured black with a bronze-coloured belly, a flaming tail, and a head of red, orange, yellow, and black. Not that they were paying attention to it, as the Large Body was raising one of its large hands above its head, ready to bring it down on the kids.

            “Adam Kadmon! Kouga!” Doc cries, sending a blast of light into the Large Body. The spear instantly pierces right through it and vaporizes it in an instant, grabbing the attention of the rest as the team leaps into the fray. Tiz rushes past the Heartless, taking up a defensive stance before the kids.

            “Ironclad!” Tiz shouts as he glows with a blue and green aura. Several of the Heartless leap at him, aiming to go through him and get the kids, only to bounce off Tiz’s shield. If the Heartless could look surprised, they would be, until Edelweiss charged in with her wrist blades and sliced them up while spinning around.

            “Zionga!” She cries, blasting Elect magic at several of the new Demons and managing to take a few down, only for the others to fire back at her with Agilao, forcing her to dodge the flames.

            “Aerora!” Agnès shouts, generating a small tornado of wind around the Demons and forcing them to bash into each other, giving Wolf the chance to shoot them all down with his twin revolvers as Teach dashes forward with her twin daggers. She weaves her way through the Heartless, taking them down as Sora follows up behind her with a Sliding Dash into a Sonic Blade.

As for Joker, he and Queen were dealing with a fresh wave of Heartless led by another Large Body, while Sophie supported them with Bless magic. The two Thieves expertly manoeuvred around the Large Body, striking at its back and head as Sora helped them with Gravity, squashing the Large Body into the ground and leaving it helpless before the Thieves.

            “The way is clear! Let’s move!” Joker shouts, taking his gun out and providing covering fire as everyone else helps the children run to the exit. Joker follows behind, making sure no remaining Heatless or Demons are still after them before racing to catch up. By the time he makes it outside, everyone else is waiting for him with the nineteen children they have found. “Is that everyone?” Joker asks, walking up to Queen as the Thieves change back to their normal attire.

            “Everyone that we could find.” Akechi replies with a grimace. They really didn’t know how many kids were in the mines before the Heartless attacked. There could have been a real chance that they lost some—something that Ren and the others had to begrudgingly accept, even if they wished they could do more.

            “In any case, let’s take them back to Eisen Bridge. Commander Goodman should know what to do with them.” Sae suggests. “It would be better to discuss this in safety and not in the open.” 

            “No arguments here.” Futaba replies as the team turns for Eisen Bridge, some of them picking up the young boys to carry them, seeing how tired and exhausted they were. They could only imagine what happened to them in the Mythril Mine… and it was nothing good.

            “You have returned! I was beginning to worry!” Goodman calls out as the team reaches the observation tower. “Is this all the kids who were in the mines?” 

            “All the ones we could find.” Eri remarks, shaking her head. “We have no idea how many of them were there before the Heartless attacked.” Goodman lets out a long sigh, shaking his head at that while placing his hands on his hips.

            “I was afraid of that… If only we had acted sooner.” He remarks, regret evident in his voice. “By the way, what were the Swordbearers and Black Blades doing at the mine? We have seen some activity on our end, yet they have been far quieter than usual.” 

            “They were all taken out by the Heartless.” Sora replies, shaking his head. “We only got there as the last of those guys were being taken down.”

            “I see…” Goodman replies, shaking his head. “Things are getting out of hand… Just what is going on in the enemy camp?” Edea lets out a nervous hum as her mind goes to her master. Even if they were now on opposite sides, she couldn’t help but worry about him facing the Heartless. Or her father, for that matter. “In any event, there is another place I would like you to check out. It’s called—” Before he could finish, an explosion from the Swordbearers' side drew all eyes as cries of surprise echoed from their side of the bridge. “What is going on!?”

            “An attack?!” Ringabel asks as everyone looks over the side, seeing smoke rising from the other end of the bridge. But that was not all they could see, as several Flaemis and the rooster-like Demons were floating above the Swordbearers, sending down orbs of fire at them from above.

            “The Demons are attacking them! But why!?" Edea shouts, her eyes wide at the scene before her as one of the rooster-like ones swoops down at the group. Causing them all to duck. "And what is that!?"

            "It's an Aitvaras!" Futaba shouts, shifting to her Thief form and grabbing her rifle. "Weak to Ice, Gun, and Pierce, but immune to Fire!" With that, she fires her laser rifle, striking the Aitvaras right in the wing and sending it plummeting to the ground.

            “It would seem that someone has betrayed them from the inside.” Yusuke remarks with narrowed eyes. But while the team was watching the ambush take place before them, Goodman had another idea.

            “Inform all troops to move out! Cross the bridge and assist the Swordbearers!” Goodman calls out to the men, who all look at him in shock. “We may be foes in this war, but I refuse to stand by and watch as our fellow countrymen are cut down by these creatures! Is it not our duty to shield those who need help, regardless of the circumstances!?” The troops all stand in silence, while the Thieves look at Goodman with respect. The same could be said of Tiz and his group, especially Agnès.

            “In that case, let us lead the charge.” Ren comments, shifting into his Thief attire. “They’ll need all the help down there.” Goodman turns to him, giving him an approving nod, even if he wanted to ask how he changed so quickly. But he didn’t get the chance as the rest of the Thieves shift over and leap down to the bridge while Sora and the others take the stairs. Meanwhile, on the other side of the bridge, chaos was rampant. Heartless and Demons tore into the backs of the Swordbearers and Black Blades, taking all of them by surprise. As for their commander, she was having a hard time trying to calm everyone down, but it was all she could do not to panic herself.

            “W-Why are they here!? Why are they attacking us?!" Praline shouts, confusion lacing her voice as one of her guards is knocked back by a Large Body while a Soil Eater Heartless tears through the ranks. "I've got to help them!" She grabs her mic, ready to put the power of her Asterisk to use, only to suddenly find herself knocked away by an Air Soldier, hitting her head against a stone wall and knocking her out cold while her mic tumbles off the edge and into the chasm under the bridge, leaving Praline unable to sing any of her songs to help bolster her allies. Not that she could, being knocked out cold.

Just as a Flaemis was about to attack her, shards of ice slammed into its side, sending it tumbling to the ground as Spring came in from above and slammed her spear into it. She looked over at the unconscious Praline, confused as to why someone like her was there, before ducking under an Air Soldier that was quickly shot out of the sky by Fox. But she wasn’t alone, even as three Soldiers charged at her.

            “Takeover!” Tiz shouts as a large orb of money shoots past Spring and slams into one of the Soldiers just as Tiz slides next to her. Now dressed in a red pinstriped suit with large gold buttons, a black overcoat, white gloves, a large gold watch worn around his neck, a very tall top hat with a red ribbon wrapped around the bottom, gold-tipped brown shoes, and white frills at the bottom of his sleeves and pants, Tiz holds a staff in his hand before glancing at Spring. “This might help. BP Drink!” He takes out some money that turns into a bottle before it itself turns into light and flows into Spring. As it takes root, she can feel herself invigorated, as if she has just been given a Heat Riser buff, and she looks at Tiz with a smirk.

            “The power of money, huh? Well, at least you’re not acting like Kaneshiro.” Tiz lets out a nervous chuckle as he glances at himself. He never really liked the Merchant job anyway… But before either of them could continue, another Large Body appeared before them along with two Air Soldiers, ready for battle. Before they could do anything, Rebel was already moving in with his sabre, slashing at the Large Body’s back as a flash of grey streaked past them.

            “Godspeed Strike!” Ringabel's voice echoes as the flash of grey streaks past the two Air Soldiers while Rebel unleashes a Baywell 45 on the Large Body. The three foes vanish into darkness soon after as Ringabel comes to a stop next to Rebel. Now wearing long tan pants with an orange belt and tan satchels on the side, brown boots, a green fringed scarf, and thin red and green bands on his upper arms, alongside a long-sleeved blue jacket and black armlets to finish his look.

            “It would appear we arrived here in time.” Rebel remarks as the four group around the unconscious Praline. “But who is this?” 

            “Perhaps a member of the Black Blades.” Ringabel comments, reaching for the orange jewel hanging around her neck. “She has an Asterisk. Only those who are commanders in Eternia’s army have them.” 

            “Just like the one that turned you into a Thief? Or Tiz into a Merchant?” Spring asks as Tiz nods at her.

            “We don’t really understand them either. But we can worry about that later.” Tiz remarks, looking at the unconscious Praline. “Right now, we need to get her and any other survivors to safety.” 

            “No argument here.” Rebel agrees, easily picking her up. “Let us fall back for now.” As one, the four quickly make their way back over the bridge, where healers are already busy tending to those who were injured. Even if they are on opposite sides in this war, when faced with a common foe, there are no enemies.

            “This is horrible…” Spring remarks, seeing all the injured before her and the others.

            “The Heartless showed no mercy…” Rebel remarks, shaking his head. “Such primal instinct can be hard to stop.” Tiz and Ringabel remain silent as the group brings the unconscious Praline over to Goodman, who lets out a gasp.

            “That’s the commander of their shock troops! So she survived.” Goodman remarks, surprising the four just as the others make their way over to them, with Agnès and Edea both wearing different outfits, no doubt related to the ‘jobs’ they were using at the moment. Agnès is now wearing a black set of robes and boots embellished with silver lining and buttons, as well as a black cowl and a long cape. The cape is black with a cream lining, while an ornate bronze headpiece sits on top of her cowl, a bronze chest piece is in front of her robes, and a bronze gear is behind her head. Finally, a grey corset wraps around her while her hair peeks through her cowl.

As for Edea, she was now wearing a stereotypical belly dancer's costume, consisting of a black bikini top and bottoms embellished with beads, a gold belt around the waist, along with a sheer floor-length pink skirt with a slit at the knees, gold sandals worn with large anklets, a choker with a gemstone in the front around the neck, bracelets on each wrist, and a long, sheer sash carried around the wrists that reached down to the ground. Around her forehead, she had a headband of different-sized medallions and beads, and her face was covered by a pink sheer dancer's veil.

            “She was the one leading the assault here? How’d she do that?” Edelweiss asks, raising an eyebrow at Praline.

            “She did so with the power of song. Her music sent our forces into confusion, while hers were whipped into a frenzy. It is a powerful tool.” Goodman replies, shaking his head. “Either way, with her in custody, we can start making progress. However, I am concerned about the state of things on the other side. If the ones here at Eisen Bridge were attacked, then what about their other outposts? And if their other generals were also targeted.” 

            “We could go and check them if you want. Which one is the closest?” Panther asks, resting a hand on her hip. Goodman looks at her as he pulls out a map of the region.

            “The closest outpost is Grapp Keep. I was originally going to ask you to go there anyway to retrieve something.” 

            “Back up a sec. What’s bein' held there?” Skull asks as Goodman lets out a long sigh.

            “Four years ago, a terrifying weapon was unleashed on the East City near Grapp Keep. It was known as the Toxic Mist." Everyone gasped in shock at that, no more so than Edea and the Thieves. Especially for the Thieves, as it brought up history lessons of the Great War to their minds. "A hundred thousand Shieldbearers were stationed near the city, and they all perished inside the mist, along with the Swordbearers and Black Blades they were fighting against. As a result, the East City became a mass grave for both sides, but we have yet to identify the nature of this Toxic Mist. If we could find out what it was made from, we could not only neutralize it but also find a cure.”

            “Then let's hope we find something there.” Rebel remarks with a frown, his voice deep and grave, which earns the commander's attention. “As you are already aware, we come from another world. In ours, poison gas such as this is considered a war crime and is punishable by extreme measures.”

            “After seeing what had happened to the East City, I would agree with such measures.” Goodman replies, shaking his head. “Please be careful. There might still be pockets of gas that have not been dealt with yet.”

            “We'll be safe.” Joker replies as the team heads towards their new destination, taking the bridge now that it has been secured. But as they set off, they can only feel a cold sweat build on them, even as they head for Grapp Keep, along with worries about what they might find inside.

Chapter Text

Chapter 21: Grapp Keep.

Grapp Keep. On the outside, it looked to be a standard stone fort. A normal stone fort that overlooked a dead city. It was certainly a macabre sight, even as the team entered through the front door, finding nothing but an empty stillness that awaited them. This was certainly not helped by the green lanterns illuminating the interior, along with the bones of fallen warriors littering the ground.

            “Ohhh…” Donald quivers in fright, and Goofy shivers next to him as the two toons look around with fear in their eyes.

            “This place is certainly cheery.” Ringabel comments offhandedly as Tiz switches back to Knight. Merchant was never going to work out for him, although Ringabel was sticking with Thief while Agnès stayed with Time Mage. As for Edea, she stayed with Spell Fencer, despite the outfit it gave her.

            “This place has certainly seen better days.” Mona replies. But even as they pressed forward, there was one member of the team who was very silent during their travels. Something that Joker, Sophie, and Athena all recognised was that Queen was pressing herself closer to Joker.

            “Are you doing okay, Queen?” Joker asks, knowing exactly what is wrong with her.

            “I-I’m fine.” Queen replies a little hastily. Joker wasn’t convinced, and neither was Athena, even as the group continued to advance further into Grapp Keep.

            “Where are the guards? Shouldn’t there be some posted here?” Outlaw asks, a hand instinctively reaching for one of his blades.

            “This is starting to freak me out…” Mona admits as his eyes glance around the area, looking at every suspicious shade and discarded barrel. Agnès finds herself standing closer to Tiz due to the nature of the place, as everyone can feel the tension rise. Every discarded chain on the wall, every broken table or chair, and every pool of unidentifiable liquid on the ground raises their expectations higher until a flicker of orange light grabs Donald's attention.

            “What’s that?” He asks, slowly creeping up on the orange light. All eyes turn to him as Donald steps closer, his hand reaching out to touch it. But just as his hand is about to brush against it, the flame explodes.

            “Wooooooeee…” A ghostly voice echoes from the flames, causing everyone to jump back and others to summon their weapons as a ghostly figure emerges from the flames, taking on the form of a Shieldbearer with a pained expression on his face.

            “IT'S A GHOST!!” Oracle screams, ducking behind Mona and Shinobi as Agnès latches onto Tiz with a scream. One that was only matched by Queen as she did the same to Joker while Sophie jumped behind him. Skull, for some reason, had jumped into Panther's arms, with Spring and Violet doing the same with Outlaw and Crow, while Athena, Doc, Rebel, and Erina had their weapons at the ready. Wolf would have done the same had Teach not latched onto him in fright, while Fox and Noir were looking at the ghost in muted silence. Well… Fox was trying to do a sketch of the ghost anyway.

            “A ghost's trying to get us!” Edea shouts, jumping behind Ringabel, while Edelweiss shakes her head at everyone. As for Donald, he has rushed behind Sora and Goofy in a panic.

            “But… haven’t they been following us ever since we got here?” Sora asks Goofy, who shrugs his shoulders. The two turn back to the ghost, seeing that it has not made any moves against them; instead, it looks like it is trying to talk to them. “Hey, is the ghost trying to talk to us?”

            “I think so.” Goofy replies as the ghost finally finds his words once more.

            “Almost… We almost made it… The Shieldbearers were on the verge of routing the Swordbearers. We had them surrounded, and their spirits were broken… Then that little round commander unleashed the mist. A green haze began drifting slowly over the battlefield. Then… naught but agony…” With that, the ghost vanishes, allowing the group to breathe easily while those clinging to others are put back on their feet.

            “That was… unexpected.” Shinobi remarks before realizing that Mona was grasping her arm. “Um… Mona?” She asks in a quiet voice, grabbing his attention before pointing to where he was holding her. Quickly realizing what he was doing, he let go of her while looking away.

            “Sorry about that. I didn’t realise what I was doing.” He tells her while Oracle shakes her head at the two of them.

            “So now we have ghosts of those who were killed by the Toxic Mist accompanying us? What’s next?” Erina asks, shaking her head until a quiet whimper from Queen drew all eyes to her. They find her kneeling on the ground, latched onto Joker’s leg with a terrified expression, quietly muttering to herself in a rapid fashion.

            “I’msosorryI’msosorry… Where are you, Sis!? I’msosorryI’msosorry…”

            “I’m here, Queen. I’m here.” Athena tells her, reaching down to pat her arm while Joker rubs her head. Blinking, Queen comes out of her terrified trance, seeing everyone’s stares at her as she stands back up with a blush on her face.

            “Erm… Sorry you had to see that… again.” She tells them while Sora, Donald, and Goofy blink at her in surprise. To see the Queen get scared like this was… completely unexpected.

            “Will you be all right going forward?” Agnès asks, although she has yet to let go of Tiz. “We may encounter more ghosts.” Queen winces at that, clearly not enjoying the thought of finding more ghosts.

            “I might… struggle. But at the very least, these ghosts don’t want to attack us. As long as I keep that in mind, I’ll be okay.” Queen reasons. Still, it was very strange how the ghost Heartless, ghost Demons, ghost Personas, or monster ghosts don’t scare her, yet these ones do. They could only chalk it up to fears working in mysterious ways. But before they could continue, a groan from down the hall caught their attention as another figure stumbled into view. It was Captain Barbarossa of the Black Blades, his axe missing and his right hand trying to stem a heavy wound on his side.

            “Well… guests who still breathe? A rare honour in a place like this…” He breathes before collapsing against the wall. “Alas… I am in no shape to greet you…”

            “Are you a member of the Black Blades?” Rebel asks as the group approaches him cautiously. Barbarossa looks at him with his good eye, letting out a grin despite the sweat dripping down his face.

            “Aye… I am Captain Barbarossa, leader of the Black Blades naval forces.” He replies before letting out a pained grunt. “Alas… me adventuring days seem to be nearing their end. For a while, at least…”

            “You’re in command of the Black Blades navy?!” Erina shouts as everyone goes wide-eyed at him. “Why are you in Grapp Keep!? And with a chest injury?” Barbarossa lets out a pained cough, spitting out blood. Something made Spring feel the instinct to help, but she felt conflicted in doing so. He was an enemy commander, so wouldn’t his death make it easy for Goodman to win this war? Yet… doing so went against who she and the others were as people. So it was that she let her heart decide her path, as she always did.

            “Kore. Diarama.” Spring intones, healing Barbarossa of his injury, but not enough to bring him back to full strength. “Now that you are not at death's door, perhaps you can tell us what’s going on?” Barbarossa looks at her and the others in confusion before letting out a laugh as he leans against the wall.

            “So… the rumours of the Wind Vestal and her companions be sparing the lives of us is true… How fortunate for me.” He remarks, shaking his head before losing his smile. “Regardless, you have taken me from the edge. It be only right to tell you why we were here to begin with.”

            “We?” Edea asks, her eyes going wide. "You mean my master is here as well?" Her worry for her master grabs Barbarossa's attention, along with a look of surprise on his face.

            “Ah, so you be the Grand Marshal's daughter? An honour to meet you, lass." He tells her, giving her a nod. "But aye. Me, alongside the commander and Kikyo, came to Grapp Keep to deal with Qada. You see, it had reached our ears that Qada had refused to destroy the Toxic Mist he created despite both the commander's and the Grand Marshal's orders to do so. That, and he had been seen colluding with a witch he called Maleficent.”

            “Maleficent is here!?” Sora shouts in alarm as everyone’s eyes go wide.

            “Ah, ye know of the witch?” Barbarossa asks. "Whatever she is, it was clear that Qada had turned his back on all of us. Thus, the commander decided that enough was enough and came here to end him. However, none of us were expecting those creatures to attack us the moment we arrived. Their numbers were so great that I bid the commander and Kikyo to continue on without me. I do not know whether they were successful or not." Barbarossa shakes his head as he lets out a sigh, reaching for a jewel tied around his neck and taking it off. "Here… I cannot fight any more. It best be with you for now." He tosses the jewel to Tiz, who catches it in his left hand as Barbarossa pushes himself up. "My war is over. I shall turn myself in to the Shieldbearers, but until then, I shall wait for the commander and Kikyo. If they are still alive, that is.”

With some struggle, Barbarossa makes his way to the exit, dragging his peg leg along the floor as the team watches. They are taken aback by how the Black Blade general surrendered so easily. Then again, he had lost his weapon and was gravely injured. Fighting them would have been a death sentence.

            “My master is here to deal with Qada?” Edea asks out loud before resting a hand on her chest. “I hope he is all right…”

            “We won’t find out until we continue to climb.” Doc comments as the team heads for the nearby stairs. “Let’s hope that your master and this Kikyo have not been turned into Heartless.” That sent a shiver through the four Luxendarcians as the team ascended the stairs, finding yet more decay and destruction, along with evidence that a battle took place here just recently.

            “They must have come this way.” Crow remarks, seeing the gashes in the walls and floor. “Judging by the marks, they must not have been holding anything back.” 

            “That sounds like him.” Edea remarks, passing by another wooden box, only to get jump-scared by another ghost. “AHH!” She shouts while jumping back, grabbing everyone’s attention as a Swordbearer appears before them. His armour is a dark grey with red fabric, contrasting against the silver steel and blue fabric of a Shieldbearer.

            “A Swordbearer ghost?” Ringabel asks calmly, while everyone else is standing on edge. “This is quite the surprise.”

            “There were no allies or enemies…” The ghost tells them, clearly not interested in attacking any of them. “All those on the battlefield withered in the mud and perished, clawing at their throats. I’d never known such pain. Every breath felt like fire, and my vision turned blood red… It was as if countless parasites crawled upon my body… There were no allies or enemies… Together, we gasped for breath, sharing unbearable pain as we met our demise.”

            “How horrible…” Spring comments as the ghost vanishes.

            “The pain they suffered… one cannot even begin to imagine what they went through.” Athena remarks in a quiet voice. Joker, for his part, stays silent, thinking back to the beating he received in the interrogation room. Suddenly, what he went through back then sounds tame compared to what these people experienced. Well… in comparison, at least…

            “How could one person do this? How could one person throw away lives without a second thought?” Agnès asks, hands over her chest as her eyes look on in pain. For the Thieves, they could only feel their anger burning at this ‘Qada’ person. Not only was he colluding with Maleficent and Jerri, but he also developed this Toxic Mist in the first place AND used it on a city! Just how many innocent people were killed by his hand? But before any of them could think on this further, movement out of the corner of Noir’s eye grabbed her attention.

            “Look out!” She shouts, pushing Fox out of the way of a fireball as several figures emerge around them. Skeletal warriors, all dressed in rags and holding weathered weapons, emerge from the shadows, their void eyes filled with an aura to kill. But it is the ones hovering behind them that have the team’s attention.

            “Jack-o'-Lanterns?!” Panther shouts, ducking under an Agilao fired from a Jack-o'-Lantern's lantern. "What are they doing here?!”

            “Just like with the Jack Frosts from before!” Outlaw shouts, his two swords parrying a strike from a spear as Fox cleaves its holder in two.

            “Blizzara!” Sora and Donald shout, sending a wave of ice at the Demons and freezing several in place, while Queen dashes in and smashes them to pieces with her fists.

            “Blizzara!” Edea shouts, enveloping her scimitar in ice magic before dashing in and cleaving at the few Jack-o'-Lanterns that evaded the barrage of ice. Just as several skeletal warriors charge toward her, Agnès spots their advance.

            “Quara!” She shouts, slamming her staff on the ground and causing the earth under the warriors to rupture into spikes, skewering them and leaving them open to Sophie as she blasts them with Kouga.

            “So there IS earth magic!” Oracle shouts, bashing her staff against a Jack-o'-Lantern. “Why can’t we use magic like that!?”

            “Focus on the moment, Oracle!” Shinobi calls out, spinning her kunai around before throwing it at a Jack-o'-Lantern. Seeing it take hold, Shinobi drags the Jack-o'-Lantern towards her before kicking it right into a group of skeletal warriors, allowing Wolf the chance to wipe them out with a Megido. Seeing their numbers quickly dwindle, the remaining foes retreat into the shadows as the other Jack-o'-Lanterns fall back, creating a wall of flame to cover their retreat, leaving the group alone as they take a moment to rest.

            “That was unexpected…” Teach remarks, shaking her head while sheathing her twin daggers. “I wonder what else is waiting for us in here?” 

            “Whatever it is, it won’t be good.” Tiz remarks, shaking his head. “Should we keep moving?”

            “I think we should.” Joker replies, glancing at the nearby stairs. “We should be nearing the top, but I don’t hear any sounds of combat above us.” That got everyone worried as they all glanced at the stairs. If what Barbarossa had told them was true, then the other two should be higher up. Yet, they couldn’t hear anything coming from above. Pushing the dread building inside them to the back of their minds, the team continued on to the third floor, finding it in even more ruin, with a few walls seemingly crumbling away. But that wasn’t the only thing they found.

            “What are these marks?” Noir asks, kneeling next to a large mark on the ground with shards of ice. It is one of several that mark the walls and ceilings of the place. Tiz kneels, looking at the mark before his eyes widen in shock.

            “Hey. These are the same potion bottles that we use.” Tiz remarks, grabbing the potion bottle from a pouch. The bottle holds a blue liquid inside it.

            “So… did someone spill a cart full of potions then?” Skull asks, rubbing his head while Edelweiss walks up to one of the marks. She holds her hand up to it but is surprised to feel a faint heat emitting from the stone. That, and the stone looks to be dissolving as well.

            “I don’t think those potions were the healing kind.” Edel replies, stepping away from the wall. “I think they were filled with some sort of acid or something. The stone is melting from where it’s been hit.”

            “Really?” Violet asks as Outlaw jumps away from a splash mark. “Do you think Qada made these, then?”

            “If he did, then it is possible he attempted to use them against Edea’s master and Kikyo while running away.” Ringabel remarks, looking around them. “There are certainly a lot of marks around here as well…” It was certainly an uneasy feeling, looking at all the marks around them. But even as they moved forward, a pained groan from the left drew all eyes to a barely lit room, the furnishings inside all trashed to pieces as a small light illuminated the lone person inside: a badly injured Kikyo.

            “Is that the Kikyo that Barbarossa mentioned?” Athena asks as everyone enters the room. Around them, they can see the remains of several skeletal warriors, no doubt the same ones that ambushed them. Although there is evidence that she has also been hit by magic repeatedly, possibly from Demons or Heartless. This is also evident by her two blades lying shattered at her feet and her pouches empty of anything she could use.

            “She must have acted as a decoy to let Edea’s master push on.” Rebel comments, folding his arms as Kikyo’s face twitches in pain. Just then, she opens her eyes, pain evident in her expression as her gaze sweeps over everyone in the room. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she is engulfed in a puff of smoke and transforms into a different person before she starts to speak.

            “So, my end is to be at the hand of the Wind Vestal and her allies? A fitting end, seeing how I failed to capture the Fire Vestal.” She remarks, speaking so fast that the group almost doesn’t understand what she is saying. But it was what she said about the Fire Vestal that got Agnès's attention.

            “Capture the Fire Vestal? But she’s dead. Why would you kill her if your order was to capture her?” Agnès asks, anger rising in her voice as her eyes narrow. Tiz rests a hand on her shoulder to calm her as Kikyo starts speaking once again.

            “The Grand Marshal's orders were to capture the Vestals of Fire, Water, and Wind alive. But I failed when the Fire Vestal threw herself into the volcano of her own volition, despite my pleas. It was never my intention to kill her, yet her death is on my hands regardless.” Kikyo reveals, before changing back to her true self, sweat building on her forehead as it became a strain to maintain that form. Her revelation was a shock to Agnès, as her mind went back to Olivia and what the two who confronted them had said before they killed her.

            “If that is true, then why did those two kill Olivia?” Agnès asks in a whisper. “Why did she have to die if your orders were to capture us? Why are you doing this in the first place? What have we done to deserve this hate?” Kikyo remains silent, either because she can’t speak or is too injured to change and speak.

            “Something tells me we’ll only find that out from my father.” Edea remarks, shaking her head. Kikyo looks at Edea with surprise on her face before slowly closing her eyes in acceptance. Edea looks at Agnès, the two of them sharing a silent conversation before Agnès nods at her. “But even so, we won’t allow you to die, Kikyo. Mona, if you can?”

            “Sure.” Mona comments, walking up as Kikyo looks at them, confused. “Zorro. Diarama.” To Kikyo’s surprise, the figure in blue that appeared behind Mona healed her of her wounds the moment those words left Mona’s mouth. While it was not enough to bring her back to fighting shape, it would be enough to get her out of this place. But she couldn’t understand why they did that. It was clear that her fight in this war was done, so without a word, she reached for the Asterisk around her neck and removed it, handing it over to Mona as she pushed herself up and made her way to the door.

            “She must be heading over to turn herself in to the Shieldbearers.” Wolf remarks, folding her arms. “I wonder if they will believe her story about the Fire Vestal?”

            “Who knows? The war here has lasted for four years. A simple apology wouldn’t solve all that in a single night.” Queen remarks, hands clasped while leaning on one foot. It was clear that she was still on edge in this place, but at least she wasn’t clinging to Joker. Not that he would say that he hated it. As for Agnès, she had conflicted feelings about letting Kikyo go, but unlike with Olivia, she never really knew the Fire Vestal. That, and there were more pressing matters at hand than trying to claim vigilante justice.

            “We should be approaching the final floor.” Fox suddenly comments, glancing at the stairs nearby. “If Qada and Edea’s master is here, it would be beyond those stairs.”

            “But I think we have something else to deal with first.” Goofy suddenly comments, pointing at a glowing wisp that approached them before changing into the form of a Black Blade.

            “Another ghost… another victim.” Crow remarks with a grimace as the ghost starts to speak.

            “Qada, the Salve-Maker. That corpulent commander of the Swordbearers… He has returned to these lands once more. He had those of us who died from the Toxic Mist carried to this keep. Then, the tests began… Gleeful slicing, all to gauge the effects of his poison! All under the gaze of that witch and her bird! 'A great success!' he said with a smirk… 'Another breakthrough!' as he danced a little jig… There were no allies or enemies… All who died to the mist were sealed within this keep and left to rot. Who knows how long has passed… With excruciating pain, chilling cold, hatred, and despair growing within us…"

            “Unacceptable…” Agnès comments as the Black Blade ghost vanishes. “All of this is unacceptable…”

            “Looks like Qada is one of those mad scientist types… great.” Oracle comments, shaking her head. Just then, the ceiling above them rumbled, and dust floated down from above. “What was that?”

            “It must be a fight.” Ringabel comments as more dust falls from the ceiling. “Perhaps Edea’s master still lives.”

            “Then what are we waiting for?” Sora asks, summoning Kingdom Key to his side. “If Qada is allied with Maleficent, then Edea’s master could be in trouble! He might even be trying to find the Keyhole!”

            “Let’s go then!” Skull shouts, bounding for the stairs as everyone chases after him. But even as they reach the next floor, they are all suddenly hit by an unexplainable sense of dread. It is something that the Thieves haven’t felt before, and it is nothing like a Heartless, Demon, or even a Personal Shadow. This aura feels… wrong. It is as though a sense of joy is being smothered by never-ending despair, bordering on suffocation.

            “What is this feeling?” Sophie asks, shivering on the spot. “It feels… wrong.” 

            “Urgh… I’m getting goosebumps all over.” Outlaw admits, giving his arms a shake. Not that anyone could deny that, as they all felt the strange sensation on the other side of the door before them. Whatever it was, it was waiting for them.

            “Either way, we need to push forward.” Joker comments, gripping his knife harder. “No matter what waits for us, we have to push forward. Stay by each other’s sides and don’t drop your guards for a second.” While the group all nodded at each other and calmed their nerves, Crow and Wolf walked to the doors and kicked them open, allowing the team to rush into the large area, finding the roof had been torn open. Qada stood over Kamiizumi, the Swordmaster holding his side in pain as he stared at Qada with anger in his eyes.

            “Curse you, Qada… To think you would go this far…!” Kamiizumi growls as he forces himself to stand, while Qada just laughs at him, holding a potion in his right hand.

            “Now, now, Swordmaster. You mustn’t push yourself when so gravely injured.” Qada’s eyes glance at the potion in his hands, the same expression on his face growing wider. “Here, how about you take this? I guarantee it will be to die for! After all… it’s a Poison Hi-Potion!” With that, he throws the potion at Kamiizumi, who can only grimace as the potion gets near him. Only for a shot to ring out and shatter it before it gets close to him, as a shield of wind envelops him, rendering the potion harmless, and Qada gasps in shock. “What is this!?”

            “Master!” Edea shouts, grabbing Kamiizumi’s attention as the team rushes into the room, taking up formation around the injured Swordmaster. “Are you all right?”

            “Edea? Why are you here?" Kamiizumi asks, shocked to see her along with the Wind Vestal and everyone else, as well as the fact that she has stepped right into danger without knowing. "It's too dangerous for you to be here! You must flee!”

            “We came to investigate the Toxic Mist. We can't leave until we destroy that sample." Tiz replies, his eyes not leaving Qada. "But it looks like that has changed." As for Qada, he looks at the new arrivals with a mixture of apprehension, anger, and excitement. After all, the Wind Vestal had revealed herself right before him!

            “Well now… if this is not a pleasant surprise. The Wind Vestal in all her glory.” Qada comments with a wide grin. “It looks like my job has become a lot easier now…”

            “The game is up, Qada!” Erina shouts, pointing her spear at him. “We have you outnumbered and surrounded!” While she and the others expected him to argue back, none of them were expecting him to laugh at them with deranged glee in his voice. “What’s so funny?!”

            “What is funny, you ask?” Qada replies, the grin not leaving his face as the shadows around them start to twist and turn. “You fools have still not realized. You have all walked right into my trap!” Before anyone could reply, the shadows around them lashed out, enveloping their vision.

            “What’s going on!?” Donald shouts as their vision darkens, only to slowly return as they find themselves in a dark void. Or rather, a dark void showing them a church on a hill with a starry backdrop.

            “Where are we now?” Goofy asks, rubbing the side of his head. As for everyone else, they could feel the tension around them rise as they all glance around, waiting for whatever was lurking to reach out and attack them.

            “You fools… You shouldn’t have come here…” Kamiizumi grunts as he falls to a knee. “Now you have fallen into its trap… like I did.”

            “What? What trap?” Edea asks again, only for a bird's screeching cry to echo above them, followed by a shadow as the being that trapped them reveals itself. But it wasn’t like anything they were expecting to see: a skeletal avian that bears a similarity to the European turtle dove, donning a tiara with a white wedding veil and long strands of ribbon flowing behind it. Hanging off its lower neck is a heart-shaped bouquet of flowers, while its wings carry a sort of web-like plumage with small, coloured baubles sticking out of them. Multi-coloured paper chains are wrapped around both of its legs as it lets out a screech at the party before taking up position before the church on the hill.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHFef5btenA : Ba’al Theme.)

            “What is that!?” Wolf shouts as everyone readies their weapons while the creature screeches at them.

            “I’ve just run a scan, but it’s got a crazy name!” Oracle shouts, spinning her staff around. “It’s called Ba’al i; Turtle Dove!”

            “Ball?” Sophie asks, pronouncing the name wrong just as the Ba’al unleashes its attack on them. Charging up energy in its mouth before unleashing a blast of red fire at Sophie, she is quickly tackled out of the way by Queen as the blast shoots past them and slams into Wolf, almost sending him to the ground in a single hit as everyone spreads out.

            “Wolf!” Teach calls out, rushing over to him with Doc, who quickly gets to work healing him with a Diarama. “Are you all right?”

            “In a moment…” Wolf replies, rolling his arm as Skull and Panther blast the Ba’al with Zionga and Agilao. However, their attacks do nothing, as the Ba’al powers through with minimal damage.

            “What the!? That did nothing!?” Panther shouts as the two avoid its clawed talons while Oracle leaps over and whacks her staff against it.

            “I forgot to mention, it resists Fire, Ice, Elect, Bless, Light, Curse, and Dark magic while absorbing Wind! But it's weak to Psy and Nuke!” Oracle calls out, ducking under one of Ba’al’s wings and jumping away just as it blasts another fireball at her.

            “Johanna! Frelia!” Queen shouts, leaping onto Johanna and blasting the Ba’al with Nuke energy. The magic causes the monster to screech in pain before taking a swipe at her with a talon. But as the Ba’al turns back to face them, it sends out a barrage of multi-coloured crystals from its wings. The crystals slam into everyone, sending several of them into dreamland before lashing out with its wings again, bashing Goofy into Fox and Crow and waking the two sleeping Thieves up.

            “Psio!” Noir calls out, slamming Psy energy into the Ba’al and earning its ire. But what it did next surprised them as it sent a red arrow right at Noir, hitting her in the arm and dealing seemingly no damage. Until they saw Noir’s eyes take on a pink glow as she started giggling to herself in an almost dreamy trance while looking at Outlaw.

            “What’s wrong with Noir!?” Spring shouts as she lets an arrow fly, just as Tiz jumps before her to tank another hit from the Ba’al.

            “Hang on! Give me a moment!” Oracle calls back as she hops away from the fight momentarily. With Outlaw rushing forward to cover her, he attacks with Memory Blow. But what surprised him was Noir following up behind him and using the exact same move as him! But that was impossible since she couldn’t even LEARN Memory Blow!

            “What the!? Did Noir just copy Outlaw!?” Skull asks, jumping away as the Ba’al attacks with a fire blast once more, only for it to send out another arrow right at Mona. Hitting him in the leg, he lets out a yelp of surprise, only for the same pink glow to cover his eyes as he looks at Sophie with the same expression.

            “Comet!” Agnès shouts, sending down a small meteor at the Ba’al and hitting it in the wing, only to receive an arrow for herself as she now stares at Tiz with the same glowing pink eyes.

            “I’ve figured out what that move is!” Oracle shouts, rushing over to Joker, Queen, and Sora. “It’s called ‘Fall in Love’! And it does exactly what it says!”

            “But that doesn’t explain WHY they are copying us!” Tiz shouts as he uses a Shield Strike on the Ba’al, which Agnès copied move for move. Before anyone could figure out why it was doing this, the Ba’al unleashed another attack, sending out a piercing cry filled with broken hearts at the team. The hearts passed by them harmlessly, but for those who were struck by the ‘Love’ attack, they took massive damage from the broken hearts while snapping them out of their daze.

            “W… What happened?” Mona asks as he shakes his head. “And why am I in so much pain?!”

            “We’ll tell you later! Mediarama!” Violet shouts, healing the injured three while others help bring them back to their feet. Only for them to be forced to dodge again as the Ba’al unleashes another blast of energy from its wings. Thankfully, no one fell asleep this time, but they still found themselves scattered about as the Ba’al lashed out with its talons once more.

            “Sonic Blade!” Sora cries, slashing into the Ba’al from multiple angles, each one driving a deep gash into it before jumping away as it lashed out with its wings. But as he did, the Ba’al turned around and fired two arrows at Shinobi and Edel. Both arrows hit them by surprise as the same pink glow filled their eyes before they both turned toward Mona.

            “Uh oh…” Goofy remarks, seeing two of them succumbing to the status ailment before they quickly looked at each other. Then they did one thing none of them wanted: they started fighting each other, neither of them holding back.

            “Hey! Stop that, you guys!” Erina shouts as she and Rebel rush up and grab the two from behind. “You’re supposed to be sisters!”

            “Everyone! Watch out for those arrows!” Joker shouts, taking out his gun and firing a few shots at the Ba’al. “No matter what, don’t let it touch you with any of them!” Not that anyone had a choice, as the Ba’al soon unleashed another two arrows, this time managing to hit Panther and Violet, the two girls looking toward Joker before getting into a fight with each other. This was something that Joker couldn’t help but shake his head at in exasperation.

            “Godspeed Strike!” Ringabel calls out, dashing across the place before unleashing a heavy hit at the Ba’al, with Edea and Sophie rushing right up under him.

            “Aspir!” Edea cries out, imbuing her blade with Aspir as the two drag their weapons against the Ba’al’s wing, causing it to roar in pain before trying to hit all three of them with arrows. Thankfully, they managed to avoid them, but one did manage to hit Doc, as he soon found himself looking at Teach with the same dreamy gaze as the others. However, it didn’t last long, as the Ba’al unleashed another heartbreak attack, snapping those caught out of their daze while gravely injuring them. Sophie quickly moved to patch them up as Fox dashed forward, hand on his katana.

            “Tempest Slash!” He calls out, slashing against it as the Ba’al cries out in pain. But it seemed that they were only tickling it, as it once more unleashed a fiery blast from its mouth. As it did so, Athena countered with a Megido combined with a Swarm Missile from Edel, the attacks slamming into the Ba’al with a vengeance as it suddenly pulled out a new move. It created a little gift box that one would see at weddings before opening it and granting an aura that encompassed it in a white glow.

            “Look out! It's buffed itself!” Panther shouts as she grabs her SMG and fires at the Ba’al, forcing it to take flight before having to dodge a flurry of red fireballs from its mouth. But no sooner does she dodge than the Ba’al unleashes a storm of magic toward her, catching her off guard. Before it can land, Tiz and Edea jump in front of her, the two of them raising their guards as one.

            “Default!” The two of them shout, their defences raising and negating the incoming attack—just barely. But it was enough of a distraction as Agnès rushed forward, staff in hand.

            “Brave!” She calls out, a red aura flashing around her as she spins her staff and points it at the Ba’al. “Quara x2!” Without warning, the Quara spell erupts from under the Ba’al, catching it off guard before it suddenly strikes a second time, forcing it into the air as Shinobi snipes it with her rifle while Goofy gives Donald a boost to allow the duck to slam his staff at its right wing. With the Ba’al forced back down, Ringabel dashes forward with a grin on his face.

            “Let’s start the show!” He shouts, glowing with a blue aura as, for some reason, the team could hear music playing around them. That sounded like an accordion? But that wasn’t their main focus as Ringabel suddenly generates several daggers of light and tosses them at the Ba’al in rapid fashion. Each one pierces through with little resistance before he jumps back and brushes a few strands of hair out of his eyes. But Ringabel’s attack had the desired effect, as the Ba’al started to show signs of slowing down—something that Kamiizumi can only watch in surprise as the team continued to fight tooth and nail with the creature. Wolf and Teach follow up behind Ringabel, with Wolf unleashing a barrage of rounds from his twin revolvers while Teach fires an RPG at the Ba’al, forcing it back into Crow, who unleashes a Megido on the creature. 

But that was when the Ba'al decided to pull out one more move as it took to the sky above them all. Church bells rang around them as white flowers floated down from above, while the Ba'al's wings glowed with a vibrant light, blinding everyone as a wave of magic washed over them. When Erina, Sora, and Mona opened their eyes, they found, to their shock, that everyone else had been struck by the 'Love' ailment and that they were all now in a brawl with each other as the Ba'al looked down with what could be called a smug grin on its face. It was then that Erina's patience snapped.

            “This has gone on for long enough!” She shouts, glowing with a red aura that takes Sora by surprise. But for Mona, he knows exactly what is happening as Joan of Arc appears behind her. Without saying a word, Joan sends out a wave of magic that infuses with Erina's spear while she spins it around her, generating a whirlwind of magic before holding it high above her head with a golden glow. This reveals that it has taken on its flag form from the Kingdoms, just before Erina slams it into the ground. “Flag of Freedom!” she cries, sending out a golden wave that knocks the Ba’al to the ground while also healing them and everyone else.

            “Nice one, Erina!” Mona shouts, looking at the Ba’al as it pushes itself up. “Now let’s show it what we can do! Ready, Sora!?” Mona looks at Sora, catching a glow of the Wishing Star in Joker’s pocket. Seeing how Sora followed his gaze, he could tell that Sora was thinking the same thing he was.

            “You bet! I've been wanting to take part in one of these attacks!”

“It’s Showtime!”

With that, the two of them leaped into the air as the red curtains descended once more. Changing the area to a secluded city park, the Ba’al looked around at its new environment, confused. Not realizing that Mona was behind it, already aiming his slingshot and empowering it with wind before letting the pebble fly. The wind-empowered shot sent the Ba’al headfirst into a pond, with Sora nearby, Keyblade pointed in the air.

            “Thundara!” He cries, bringing down a storm of bolts that electrify the pool and the Ba’al in turn. While the Ba’al finds itself paralysed, Mona rushes up and lashes out with his falchion at the surrounding trees around the Ba’al as Sora unleashes a Sonic Blade at the stunned monster. As Sora jumps away, the trees all fall down on the Ba’al as Mona throws down a cartoonishly large bomb, landing it on the Ba’al’s back just as the trees fall onto it, detonating and trapping the Ba’al in a mighty explosion.

            “The park needed renovation anyway.” Mona quips to Sora, who shrugs his shoulders, just as the area returns to normal with the rest of the team snapping out of the ‘Love’ ailment. As for the Ba’al, it was knocked down to the floor in a daze, leaving itself open to one final attack.

            “I believe some payback is in order. All-Out Attack!” Joker shouts as the Thieves, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Luxendarcs leap into the air and come down on the downed Ba'al, lashing out at every angel as the Ba'al cries out in pain. With one final strike, the team leaps away from the Ba'al as an explosion erupts from underneath, consuming it in one blast as it lets out one more scream of anger. As the fires vanish, the Ba'al dissolves into a red and black ichor, with the area around them returning to normal.

            “Did we… do it?” Violet asks, breathing heavily as she stands close to Noir and Agnès. The three of them are exhausted after the battle as they collapse onto the floor.

            “Looks like we did…” Skull remarks, wiping his forehead.

            “Hmmm… how disappointing. I was sure that would have finished you off.” Qada’s voice echoes behind them, grabbing all eyes as the Salve-Maker appears before them through a portal of darkness. “Oh well… I suppose the Swordmaster did weaken it for you.”

            “Qada!” Kamiizumi shouts, trying to stand, only to fall again, causing Qada to laugh at him in amusement.

            “Still trying to stand? You have an iron will there, Commander." Qada mocks with a smile. "But I'm afraid I'm not interested in fighting with any of you at this moment.”

            “Well, too bad! Because we sure as hell want to fight you!” Outlaw shouts, pointing his combined swords at him. But Qada was not phased as he let out another chuckle.

            “Do you really? What about the Wind Vestal? Or have you forgotten about her?” With a snap of his fingers, three figures, looking almost like a demonic version of a genie, appeared behind Agnès, Violet, and Noir. Each one grabbed one of them and quickly vanished into portals of darkness before anyone could react.

            “Agnès!/Violet!/Noir!” Tiz, Crow, and Fox all cry out in alarm, watching as the three are taken without a second to act while Qada lets out a belly laugh.

            “And with that, my job is done. Ta-ta!” With a wave of his hand, Qada vanishes into a portal of darkness, leaving the team behind as they stand in muted silence and shock. They had really fallen into the enemy's hands.

Chapter Text

Chapter 22: Salve-Maker Qada.

            “Damn it! How did we let him trick us?!” Skull shouts, slamming his mace against a wall. All around him, the rest of the team are equally furious at Qada for managing to kidnap not only Agnès but also Violet and Noir. Crow and Fox, especially, are barely able to contain their anger.

            “I understand why Qada would want Agnès, but why did he capture Violet and Noir as well?” Ringabel asks, hand on his chin. Tiz, standing next to him, is barely able to contain his anger even as Edea tries to calm him down. As for Airy, she hovers around worriedly as Ringabel turns to Kamiizumi. “Do you know, Swordmaster?” He asks Kamiizumi, who is still kneeling with a hand on his abdomen. Kamiizumi looks up, seeing everyone's expectant gaze as he lets out a long sigh.

            “I do not know if that is the reason why, but as I attempted to subdue him before he sent that creature after me, Qada was talking about finding the 'Princesses of Light'. He believed that not only the Wind Vestal might be one of them, but that your companions might also be one as well.”

            “What?!” The Thieves all shout as one.

            “Is Qada really being serious about this?!” Panther asks, shaking her head in disbelief.

             “I second that.” Shinobi remarks, putting a hand to her chin. “None of us among our group are royalty!”

            “And if one were to put our rankings into traditional titles, Noir would be a noble, not a princess.” Athena remarks, shaking her head. “Unless there is some other factor that we are overlooking.”

            “Regardless, we cannot allow him to get away with this." Crow replies through gritted teeth as he looks at the Black Blade commander. "Where has Qada gone off to?" Kamiizumi lets out a grunt, forcing himself to his feet as he turns to look at him.

            “Starkfort, at the northern end of the continent.” He reveals through a grunt. “It is our main headquarters in Eisenberg. I would suspect Qada is hiding out there.”

            “Then let's head over there and rescue them right now!” Outlaw shouts, ready to rush out of here but Kamiizumi shakes his head.

            “It would take you two days of walking to reach Starkfort. By the time you arrive, Qada would most likely already be gone.” The Thieves could only growl at that as Tiz tightened his hands into fists. As for Sora, he was looking at the Swordmaster with a question in his mind.

            “Then how did you get here so quickly?” Kamiizumi lets out a pained chuckle as he shuffles his way over to him.

            “It is simple. We took an airship.” All eyes go wide as Edea slaps a hand to her face, moaning that they should have thought of that as Kamiizumi takes an Asterisk from his pocket and tosses it to Edea. “It is hidden behind a bluff to the west of Grapp Keep. If you intend to rescue the Wind Vestal and your companions, use it. The command room is located on the highest floor, along with the landing pad. The rest, I will leave to you.” Kamiizumi grunts, shuffling toward the stairs. “My role in this is over. What happens to me now, I leave in the hands of the Shieldbearers.” With one last glance at Edea, a hidden smile not visible on his face, Kamiizumi descends the stairs, leaving the team alone as they ponder their next steps, which, in all honesty, weren’t hard to take.

            “What are we waiting for, people! Let's head out and find that airship!” Oracle shouts, thrusting a fist into the air as everyone nods in reply. They didn’t have time to waste as they all rushed out of the room. Time was against them, and who knows how long Qada was willing to stay in this world or what he planned to do, for that matter.

Qada could not believe his luck! He had done it! He had managed to capture the Wind Vestal and two of the female Thieves right under their noses! It was all he could do not to break out into a little jig as he watched all three of his captives bound by ropes while the Efreets that Owada had given him looked over them. He had to make sure to thank him for that later. But even though he had succeeded in this objective, he still had one more to do: finding the Keyhole.

            “Now then, Vestal. Tell me, where is the Keyhole?” Qada asks, rubbing his hands together as Agnès glares at him.

            “I do not know! And even if I did, I would never tell you!” Qada suppressed a groan at Agnès, surprised at how stubborn she was being. But he was a patient man. After all, it would take the others two days to reach Starkfort, and by then he could easily leave this world without a fight. And if Agnès wouldn’t tell him, then he would just force it out of her.

            “So be it… I suppose I’ll just have to make a potion that will tell me. A simple enough task.” He dismisses, walking away from Agnès as three Search Ghosts hover around the room. The three of them look at Agnès, Violet, and Noir with interest. “I wonder what reward Maleficent will give me for bringing her the final two Princesses of Heart? Oh, I cannot even imagine it!”

            “How about nothing?” Jerri asks as she floats down into the command room, shocking Qada as Maleficent appears alongside her, while also insulting him.

            “Nothing!? What do you mean, nothing!?” Qada shouts at the bird, his anger rising. “I have captured the Wind Vestal and two of those Thieves! It is all but certain that the last Princesses of Heart are ours!” Jerri looks at him with an unimpressed expression as she flies over the three captives, landing on a Search Ghost's shoulder.

            “She is not one of the chosen.” Jerri remarks, looking at Agnès. “Your search was wasted. As for the girls…” She looks first at Noir, watching as she tries to force her way out of the Efreet's grip. “She is not one of them. Far from it. As for the last one…” Jerri turns to Violet, who is glaring at Jerri with anger. “She is a false signal.” Qada blinks at Jerri while Maleficent narrows her eyes.

            “A false signal? What are you talking about?” Qada asks as Jerri flies back to Maleficent’s shoulder, letting out a huff.

            “What I mean is that what the Search Ghosts are sensing is a link between her Persona and the Princess of Heart we have already captured: Cinderella.” Jerri reveals, turning back to Violet. “Meaning she is nothing but a red herring, hiding the identity of the Princess of Heart among their number.”

            “Is that so…?” Maleficent asks, turning to look at Violet and Noir. “In that case, would either of you be willing to share who it is that we seek?”

            “Never!” Noir shouts, even as she tries to summon Milady. But with her arms held at her sides, she is unable to remove her mask and summon her. How she wishes they were back in Atlantica to summon her…

            “Even if we did know, we wouldn’t tell you!” Violet shouts, the Efreet tightening its grip around her. Maleficent lets out a tsk of annoyance while Jerri huffs in disappointment. It would seem they were still nowhere closer to finding the last two princesses. But at the very least, their search has been narrowed. And from what the Search Ghosts had told them, there was only one person among their number they had yet to rule out. The only problem was finding a way to isolate her from the others…

            “How stubborn…” Jerri remarks, until her gaze shifts to a small unconscious child in the corner of the room. “Why is that boy there?” The captured trio turns to look at the boy as Qada follows Jerri’s gaze.

            “Ah, him. Apparently, he has found a secret path that leads to the Temple of Fire. However, he has been surprisingly stubborn in not telling us.” Qada admits, shaking his head. “It has been a pain, if I am being honest.”

            “How brave… but utterly foolish.” Maleficent remarks, shaking her head. “If he won’t tell us in person, then his Heartless can lead us to the entrance instead.” The captured trio lets out shocked gasps at seeing how willingly Maleficent was to turn an innocent young boy into a Heartless, all for her own plans.

            “In that case, if they also are not needed, then why don’t we get rid of them as well?” Qada asks suddenly, grabbing Maleficent and Jerri’s attention, indicating the captured trio. “They will only bring further trouble to us if they live, yes? Then why don’t we deal with them right now and avoid any problems later? And I have been looking for new test subjects, after all…” Agnès, Violet, and Noir felt their blood run cold as Qada turned his eyes on them. Their minds returned to the three ghosts they encountered at Grapp Keep. Whatever Qada had planned for them in his ‘experiments’… it would be anything but good. This was not helped by how both Maleficent and Jerri were giving dark smiles of their own at the suggestion.

            “Very well. Do what you will to your heart's content.” Maleficent replies, with Qada letting out a gleeful laugh in return. He turns back to look at the trio just as Maleficent and Jerri take their leave, with several Heartless and Demons appearing around Qada.

            “Now then… shall we begin—” Just as he was about to snap his fingers, the wall behind him was destroyed by a sudden and violent force, knocking debris everywhere while a Large Body protected Qada from the shards of metal. “What is going on!?” Qada shouted, turning around to the source, only for his eyes to widen in shock. He came face to face with the Thieves, the Keyblade wielder with the king's fools, and the Vestals' party, all staring at him in pure anger. “Impossible! How did you arrive here so quickly?!”

            “Master kindly lent us the airship you used to get here.” Edea growls, decked out in a new outfit with a spear in hand. She wears a modified set of light-coloured armour with prominent points along the ankles and hips, a blue bow on her chest, and a draconic headband on her head. “We’ll give you only one chance, Qada. Surrender, and we’ll give you a less painful beating.” Qada could feel some sweat building along his brow as he looked at all the glares facing his way, at least until he remembered what was backing him up.

            “You fools. Do you really think I would surrender so easily?” He snaps his fingers, and the Heartless and Demons come to his side. “It is YOU who are surrounded! I believe it is you who should be grovelling at my feet!”

            “It appears he has misread the room.” Ringabel remarks to Tiz, bow in hand. Now wearing a moss green jacket with fur trimmings and a teal-coloured kilt, black gloves and brown cowboy boots protect his hands and feet, while a large teal wolf head covers his head. A teal wolf tail extends behind him, acting as a quiver for the arrows.

Tiz doesn’t respond to Ringabel, his glare locked on Qada while his hand grips tightly around the rod he holds. Dressed in black leggings that flow into black shoes, a deep indigo shirt rests over his chest with silver armour over his shoulders and wrists, and black gloves encasing his hands. Two small jewel-like pauldrons shaped like flames emerge from the gauntlets, while a pink cape flows down his back.

            “Not in your life!” Mona shouts, aiming his falchion at Qada while Crow and Fox walk up.

            “You have made the biggest mistake of your life, Qada.” Crow tells him in a dark voice. It reminded the Thieves of how Akechi spoke like that in the original timeline, but this time it was not directed at them.

            “To take the light of our lives away from us… Such a sin shall not go unpunished, fiend!” Fox cries out, pointing his katana at Qada, who lets out a scoff before jumping into the air and landing hard on the ground. Just as the Asterisk in his possession lets out a brilliant glow. Engulfing the area in a blue light while sealing off the exits.

            “Do not think you can escape so easily!” Qada shouts as he falls into a battle stance, hands held in the air. “I possess the Salve-Maker Asterisk! I can create any poison known to man with a lethal dosage! And all of you will become my new test subjects!”

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du7KD92zy7s&t=284s : That Person’s Name Is…)

            “And to start us all off…" Qada reaches for two of his potions, mixing them together in quick succession before throwing them into the air. "Water of Life!" The potion explodes in the air, raining down green liquid on Qada, the Heartless, and the Demons just as they launch their attack. The team charges back, the Thieves firing their guns at the Heartless and Demons, but they immediately find a problem.

           “Are they regenerating!?” Spring shouts, seeing an Efreet pull an arrow out of itself before quickly healing the wound. “That’s cheating!”

           "Chiron! Agilao!" Teach yells, blasting the fire at Qada, only for an Efreet to tank the blow. Or rather, absorb the flames. "Dang it, those Demons absorb Fire!"

           "Can confirm!" Oracle shouts, casting Kouga at an Efreet. "Hit those Efreets with Ice! That will stop them!"

            “Blizzara!” Sora shouts, sending shards of ice at the Efreet and catching it cold before ducking away from an Air Soldier while Oracle blasts it with Eiga. He ducks under a Poison Hi-Potion thrown by Qada, who is still sporting a wide grin. Two Jack-o’-Lanterns arrive and start blasting the area with Maragion, bringing more chaos to the area while Panther and Teach block as much fire as they can. But as Qada glances around, he sees that one of them is not present in the fight.

            “Where did—?”

            “High Jump!” Edea’s voice rings from above as she lands hard on Qada, her spear knocking him back as Edea leaps backward. “What’s wrong? Forgot to look up?”

            “You…! To think you had the Valkyrie Asterisk! Take this!” Qada shouts, throwing another Poison Hi-Potion, only for Goofy to jump in and deflect the potion away, watching as it slams into a Large Body and poisons it instead. “How annoying!”

            “Valjean! Triple Down!” Wolf calls out, summoning his other self to the field and unleashing a barrage of rounds at the Heartless, watching as the weak Shadows are instantly vaporised from the attack. Sophie follows up behind him, unleashing a blast of Kouga at the Heartless while Teach protects her from an Aitvaras, her twin daggers easily slicing through the Demon. Yet more seem to arrive, forming a defensive wall around Qada as Tiz channels energy into his rod, glaring right at the Salve-Maker.

            “Girtablulu!” Tiz calls out, summoning a giant scorpion with a city on its back before unleashing a wave of earth magic at the Demon wall surrounding Qada. The magic collides against the Demons like waves on the rocks. Such was the power of a Summoner.

            “Struggle all you like! You cannot escape my potions!” Qada shouts, grabbing several vials from his belt and tossing them at the team. Some explode into tornadoes, while others burst into balls of fire. Some even blind the team with blasts of light, while another causes the entire floor to shake as if an earthquake has struck the building.

            “Dang it! He just keeps throwin’ those stupid potions at us!” Skull shouts, ducking under one as it hits a Flaemis, causing it to melt from dark flames.

            “And I thought Yzma was bad!” Edel shouts, dodging a Search Ghost before firing a missile at it. Joker grimaces, watching as Queen and Athena duck under a Large Body while Donald blasts it with Thundara. They were holding their own for the most part, but they couldn’t stay on the defensive for long. They HAD to break through and get Agnès, Violet, and Noir free. But the foes before them were proving to be a stubborn lot. It didn’t help that Qada had given them all a regen. Sure, Oracle had Dekaja and Dekunda, but these spells were not the same. And while Queen, Mona, Doc, and Spring could get rid of the poison, they had no way of getting rid of that regeneration! And until they did, this would be a losing war of attrition!

            “Fools! Why don’t you give up already!?” Qada shouts at them, throwing another potion that hits Panther, giving her a red glow as the flames she was blocking suddenly hurt her. “I can do ANYTHING!”

            “Panther!” Skull shouts as Panther jumps away from the flames, rubbing her arm as Mona gives her a heal. “You okay?!”

            “The flames hurt me, Skull!” Panther shouts back with worry on her face while Doc sends out a blast of Magarula, sending several Soldiers flying. “He did something to my resistance!”

            “Did you already forget? I can do anything! Like this!" He grabs more potions, tossing them at the Heartless and Demons as they coat them in a multitude of auras.

            "Uh, what's happening to them now?" Donald asks as Oracle's eyes widen behind her mask.

            "Oh crap! He just granted them all resistances to every element!" Oracle cries out in growing alarm as Ringabel fires an arrow at one of the Aitvaras. The arrow hits it right in the wing, sending it plummeting onto a Shadow Heartless.

            “Not fair!” Erina shouts, jumping away from a group of Soldiers as Rebel brings down a Liberator on them, although still weak compared to what it normally could dish out.

            “Oh, boo hoo… I’m so sorry… NOT!” Qada shouts back, letting out a jolly laugh as the anger in the team continues to build. Crow and Fox, most of all, try to cut their way through to the girls, only to find their path blocked. But as Qada keeps his attention focused on the team, he fails to realize a certain Cryst Fairy fluttering behind him, holding on to an Asterisk as she floats down to Noir and undoes her bindings.

            “You better appreciate this.” Airy remarks through gritted teeth, undoing Noir’s bindings. Noir silently nods her head, feeling her arms free as she does the same to Violet before the two move on to Agnès. As the two remove the rope around her, Airy passes the Asterisk to Agnès, who nods in thanks, before all three of them turn to look at the fight before them. Neither of them speaks a word, as they all silently agree on what to do.

            “It is futile! Surrender now, and I may be forgiving in my experiments!” Qada bellows, his victory seemingly complete. At least until he hears Agnès’s voice shout from behind him.

            “Dispel!” No sooner does Qada hear those words than the regenerative magic that empowered him is suddenly cut off like a tap getting clogged. And it isn’t just him either, as the regenerative magic on the Heartless and Demons ceases to exist, along with the buffs he had given to them. This gives the team the breathing room they need as they renew their attack, just as Psy and Bless magic slam into the rear of the Heartless and Demons. It is fear on his face that prompts him to turn around to his captive, only to find they are no longer bound by ropes.

            “This is the end, Qada!” Agnès shouts, pointing a rapier at him as the form of a Red Mage settles over her. Dressed in a red sleeveless dress that reaches her ankles, she wears blue slacks with rose patterns along the sides, disappearing into red boots. Her hands are encased in red gloves, and a red flower is nestled in her hair.

As for Noir and Violet, they were both glaring at Qada with unbridled fury as Agnès gripped the rapier in one hand. Charging up wind magic in the blade before sending it out at Qada, the wind blade slammed into him, knocking him off balance just as Outlaw used Goofy as a springboard to leap into the air and rain down rounds on the Heartless and Demons. Joker and Shinobi took advantage of the distraction, dashing through and sending out a joint Eiga and Psio blast right at the centre of the formation. Followed by Erina launching a Great Partisan to further weaken them.

Queen and Athena rush up and body-check the Efreets that are aiming to capture the trio again, before slamming the two with a barrage of punches while Violet glows a scarlet red. “Time for payback!” Violet cries, tearing her mask off with Cendrillon forming behind her. A look of both disgust and anger is on her face as she glares down at Qada. “Pathway to the Ball!” Violet cries out as she and Cendrillon leap into the air, doing a magical backflip before landing on the ground in a gymnastic pose. Their landing sends out an aura that buffs everyone up as Tiz looks back at Qada.

            “Hresvelgr!” Tiz calls, summoning a portal of wind as a shadowy commercial jet flies out of it. The windows and engines glow green until it suddenly stops in midair and flaps its wings like a bird, gathering wind in its wings before sending them down with a furious force that almost sends Qada flying.

While Qada found himself falling flat on his face, Noir stepped forward with the red aura flying over her as Milady appeared behind her. She pointed directly at the Heartless and Demons separating Qada from the team before running around to take cover as Milady took aim with all of her weapons. “Noble Lady's Invitation!” At that, Milady unleashed a sphere of psionic energy, watching as it crashed right into the Heartless and Demons with powerful force, scattering them as Ringabel unleashed a swarm of arrows in rapid succession, backed up by Skull and Panther sending out a barrage of Zionga and Agilao, kicking up a smoke cloud around Qada.

But as the smoke cleared, Qada was met by Crow and Fox, who were slowly walking up to him in a calm fury. Causing the Salve-Maker's eyes to widen in panic.

            "Shall we show him what happens when he takes away the people we treasured the most, Crow?" Fox asked as Crow let out a small chuckle.

            "Oh, most definitely, Fox." Crow replies as the Wishing Star in Joker's pocket glows a faint blue.

“It’s Showtime!”

The two don’t give Qada a chance as they leap into the air and bring down the red curtains yet again, transforming the area into a large art studio with Fox sitting at an easel and Qada standing in the centre of the room.

            “If you would help me gain inspiration?” Fox comments out loud as he starts to paint. But as he does, Crow dashes out from the side, blade infused with Curse energy, and slams into Qada, messing up his pose while Fox hastily redraws. Only for Crow to come in again, messing up the pose once more as he repeats this several times, causing Fox to grow more and more impatient until he freezes the easel and picks it up.

            “Are you incapable of standing still?!” He shouts, throwing it at Qada, hitting him in the chest before quick-drawing his katana, just as Crow fires a Curse-infused round at Qada. The two strikes hit Qada at the same time, causing the ice-encased easel to explode, slamming ice shards into Qada as Crow lands next to Fox, patting him on the shoulder.

            “Perhaps next time.” Crow comments with a smirk as the area returns to normal, with Qada stumbling around in a daze, leaving him wide open to the team's favourite attack.

            “Time for payback! All-Out Attack!” Crow shouts, he and Fox leading the charge as the rest of the team follows suit. Qada finds himself unable to respond as the team unleashes their entire wrath on the Salve-Maker, Joker even managing to shatter the Asterisk around his neck in half. With one last blast of Megido from Joker and a Sonic Blade from Sora, Qada is flung right into the wall, falling flat on his face with the wall collapsing right on top of him. This signals his defeat as the blue arena vanishes, allowing the team to finally breathe a sigh of relief as Noir and Violet rush up to Fox and Crow. The two couples hug each other as Tiz walks up to Agnès, resting a hand on her shoulder.

            “Agnès, are you all right?” Tiz asks, worry evident on his face as Agnès turns to look at him. Agnès smiles gently at him, placing a hand on his as she nods.

            “I am. Thank you for rescuing me, Tiz. All of you.” Agnès replies as the two look into each other's eyes, almost forgetting what is around them until Airy lets out an annoyed huff.

            “If you two are done looking all goo-goo-eyed at each other, we have a Crystal to awaken.” Airy tells them in a huff, folding her arms as the two blush at each other. She does not like how everyone is giving them coy smiles in return, at least until a groan from the young boy grabs everyone’s attention.

            “Huh? Why is he here?” Mona asks, now realizing that there is a young boy present—a boy who made Tiz’s heart stop.

            “Apparently, he had found a way into the Temple of Fire.” Violet replies, rubbing her arm. “Qada brought him here to try to force it out of him, and when he didn’t, Maleficent threatened to turn him into a Heartless.”

            “Maleficent was here?” Sora asks with wide eyes.

            “Yes. Along with Jerri." Noir replies, letting out a sigh. "They are still looking for the remaining Princesses of Heart. Qada believed Agnès to be one, but she's not. Maleficent and Jerri ruled me out instantly, and they thought Violet was one, but they confused her Persona with one they have already captured: Cinderella.”

            “Cinderella? From the old fairytale?” Queen asks, with surprise. “That’s a surprise. But that’s not the main problem here, is it? Other than the fact that they have already captured six of them.”

            “It’s not. Maleficent and Jerri are convinced one of us is an extra Princess of Heart.” Violet replies, rubbing her arm. “But… I don’t see how any of us could be one.”

            “They must have just gotten themselves confused with your Persona.” Rebel comments, shaking his head before looking at the young boy. “But what shall we do with him?”

            “Let’s take him outside first.” Tiz replies, picking the boy up. “I don’t want him to stay here for a second longer. And… he looks like my brother, Til.” The group's eyes widen for a second before nodding in understanding as they make their way downstairs, leaving behind the pile of rubble where Qada was now buried, none of them noticing wisps of darkness coming from between the rocks

Night had fallen outside, with the team camping a good distance away from Starkfort. They had decided to take the path toward the Mythril Mines to get back to friendly territory but had chosen to make camp for the night. Considering how Edea had just taken an item from her pocket that turned into a proper cottage, they certainly were not going to pass this up.

But as they sat inside the spacious cottage, a small groan from the young boy grabbed everyone’s attention as he slowly came back to his senses. His eyes were filled with surprise at where he was.

            “Where am I? And… who are all of you?” The boy asks, seeing the faces around him as Tiz turns to him with a calm smile.

            “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” Tiz tells him kindly. “My name is Tiz; with me are Agnès, Edea, and Ringabel.”

            “My name is Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy.” Sora goes next, motioning to his friends as Ren gives the young boy a smile.

            “My name is Ren. With me are Makoto, Sophia, Morgana, Hifumi, Futaba, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Haru, Shiho, Mishima, Goro, Sumire, Sae, Maruki, Toshiro, Eri, Zenkichi, and Kawakami." The young boy blinks, slowly nodding his head until he glances at Agnès, Haru, and Sumire.

            “You guys… I remember seeing you when that man was hitting me.” The young boy replies before shaking his head. “My name is Egil. Thank you for rescuing me, but I have to go back to the mines.”

            “Does this have to do with finding a way to the Temple of Fire?” Haru asks, grabbing the boy's attention. “We overheard Qada mention that back at Starkfort.”

            “Yeah, but it’s not just that. The Fire Vestal visits me in my dreams.” Egil replies, surprising everyone. “She always looks so sad, and she tells me to go to the deepest part of the mines and to lead the wind there.”

            “Lead the wind… Is she talking about Agnès?” Sae asks, hand on chin. “But she is dead… How is she able to… Never mind.” She quickly throws that chain of thought away. There is no use trying to explain things such as this.

            “Does this mean that Egil can show us the way?” Sophia asks, tilting her head. Tiz looks at her, shock on his face as he opens his mouth to protest. However, Toshiro holds up a hand to stop him.

            “Tiz, I can already understand what it is you want to say. That Egil will be in danger and that he is in no state to go there. And this would be true if you were by yourself, correct?” Tiz’s mouth hangs wide open as Toshiro folds his arms. “You said it yourself; Egil here reminds you of your brother, Til. And you may not have realized it, but your mind has already decided you will protect him no matter what. That is why you don’t want him to accompany us, correct?” Tiz’s gaze falls to the floor, unable to believe how easily he was called out. Not that he could deny it.

            “…Okay. I don’t really have anything to say about that…” Tiz admits as he shakes his head before turning back to Egil. “You can come with us, but no wandering off on your own, all right?”

            “Got it! And thanks!” Egil replies with a big smirk before letting out a giant yawn. “That said… I am tired…”

            “Well, it is rather late outside.” Goofy remarks, stretching his arms. “What say we all call it a night and rest up?”

            “No arguments from me.” Isara replies, already indicating to the sleeping Futaba next to her. “Sis is already knocked out cold.”

            “No surprise there.” Ren replies with a grin as everyone lays down around the tent, letting the gentle embrace of sleep take them. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and they had still yet to find the Keyhole.

Returning to the Mythril Mines was a sombre affair. The outside had been completely abandoned, and the interior was not much better. Marks of battle littered the mines, evidence of the Heartless and Demons unleashing their rampage still fresh as the team decided. At one point, Egil managed to find some ore that he gave to both Tiz and Sora. Initially, he thought of it as just Mythril Ore of high quality, but it turned out to be Orichalcum. And quite large pieces at that, as the chunk Sora was given was about the size of his chest.

Luckily, the Highwind was able to beam it up, relieving him of the burden of carrying it. Eventually, the team found themselves at the end of the mine, standing opposite a door that was stained with the blood of a Black Blade. With a tiny opening nearby that was big enough for Egil to fit through, it led to a switch that opened the doors and blasted the team with intense heat. Not that Panther, Skull, Rebel, or Teach would be able to tell you, as they were perfectly fine.

As for the path ahead, it was a winding pathway with spurts of fire and blasts of searing steam escaping from the floor. A tight and compact pathway that looked ready to swallow them up at any moment. Oracle could have scanned them a map to follow, but instead, Egil managed to show them the way, all thanks to what he had seen in his dreams.

There was a moment when the earth shook, almost causing a cave-in and collapsing the stone bridge under them, which would have sent them plummeting into a lava river. However, quick action from the Thieves and their trusty grapple hooks saved them from that situation, even if some of them ended up with soot on their faces. But it was all worth it, as they soon came across a hidden entrance leading to the Temple of Fire.

Carved from stone and glowing with a faint red hue, the silent stillness of the Temple greeted the Thieves in calm silence. Their footsteps echoed through the empty halls as the stone floors beneath them were scarred from the rampage that had desecrated its interior.

            “Does anyone else feel that?” Sora asks suddenly, grabbing everyone's attention.

            “Feel what?” Edel asks, tilting her head. Sora looks at her before glancing at a distant door, the wooden frame marred with sword cuts.

            “I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like… a light that is hidden by a thick blanket.”

            “It is probably the Crystal of Fire, trapped in a blanket of darkness.” Agnès replies, her hands grasping as Ringabel walks to the door and opens it, revealing a vast chamber with a long stone walkway leading up to what was supposedly the Crystal of Fire. Yet all the team found was what could be called a large floating black sludge, hardly befitting what a temple should hold.

            “This is a Crystal?” Skull asks, rubbing the back of his head. “Doesn’t look like one.”

            “That’s because Agnès has to purify it.” Airy tells him, hands on her hips. “Only when she has done that will it return to its proper state.”

            “I think we’ve got bigger problems first…” Oracle comments, summoning her battle staff to her hands. “I’m detecting a foe heading our way!” Before anyone realizes it, a giant floating yellow slime with countless weapons embedded in it floats down before them, blocking their way to the Crystal as Agnès lets out a gasp.

            “That’s Chaugmar, the Mark of Doom!” She cries out, grasping an Asterisk in her fingers. But before anyone could do anything, a painfully familiar laugh echoes from atop Chaugmar.

            “Wait! That laugh!” Spring shouts as all eyes turn to the top of Chaugmar, revealing a person they did not want to see.

            “Not so fast, Wind Vestal! The Crystal of Fire is ours!” Qada shouts at her, a deranged expression of glee plastered on his face as he glows with a dark aura.

            “Qada?! But how?!” Edea shouts, her eyes wide as Joker lets out a growl.

            “He must have used a potion on himself…” He remarks, flipping his knife in his hand. Qada lets out another laugh, glaring down at the team as Chaugmar floats forward.

            “This is the end of you, Vestal! I will end your life here and now!!”

            “Unacceptable!” Agnès shouts back as she, Tiz, Edea, and Ringabel all grasp the Asterisks in their hands. “We will not fall, no matter what! Ninja!”

            “Pirate!”

            “Swordmaster!”

            “Performer!”

With the Asterisks from the Black Blades in their hands, Agnès and the others switch over to new jobs to combat the threat while the others summon their weapons. Agnès was now wearing a light blue wrapped kimono with white sleeves and an obi sash, along with black boots and gloves. A cut in the kimono allowed Agnès manoeuvrability while her hair was tied back with a white sash, with twin kunai in her hands.

Tiz was now in an outfit that largely resembled Barbarossa, with Edea in a similar outfit to Kamiizumi, but with a large skirt and a lighter colour scheme. As for Ringabel…

            “Why does he look like Elvis?” Doc asks as the Thieves' eyes all blink in surprise at Ringabel’s attire. It was scarily and strikingly similar to Elvis’s famous outfit.

            “We can think about that later. Right now, we have a mad scientist to stop!” Teach rebukes, bringing Doc’s attention back to the here and now as Qada lets out a laugh while Chaugmar creates a barrier around him.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IT3jzRcBrc : At the Battle’s End…)

            “Tremble and despair!” Qada shouts as Chaugmar opens its eyes and sucks the mana out of everyone, weakening them as it closes its eyes once more.

            “Bufula!” Fox calls out, sending a barrage of ice at Chaugmar, only for the attack to do nothing against the barrier surrounding Chaugmar. “What in the—?!”

            “That barrier is blocking all of our attacks!” Oracle shouts, shaking her head frantically. “Until it goes down, we can’t do anything!”

            “That’s right!” Qada shouts, grabbing some potions. “You can’t do anything, but I can!” He shouts in glee, tossing several potions at the team and forcing them to dodge as Tiz leaps into the air.

            “Shell Split!” Tiz cries, bringing his axe down on Chaugmar. While it did nothing, it had the effect of lowering its defence, much to Qada’s annoyance.

            “Stop that!” Qada shouts, watching as Crow buffs the team with Matarukaja while Ringabel sings a song that boosts their speed. While Qada growls in annoyance, Chaugmar draws in more energy from the team, seemingly reaching a point where it has drawn all it needs to as it suddenly gathers energy in its barrier.

            “Everyone, brace!” Joker calls out as the team raises their defences or Defaulted. And just in time, as Chaugmar unleashed a ferocious blast on the group that easily could have dealt tremendous damage if they were not careful. But there was one upside to the attack.

            “His barrier is down! Hit him with everything you have!” Violet calls out, summoning Cendrillon and attacking with an Assault Dive, followed by Donald bringing down a Thundara boosted by Sora, striking hard at Chaugmar and almost throwing Qada off. In anger, he grabs a dark potion and tosses it toward Sora, only for Edea to jump between them and hold her katana out at an angle with her eyes closed. Just as the potion is about to hit her, Edea opens her eyes.

            “Nothing Ventured!” She calls out, sending a sword slash that tore through the potion and sent the damage back at Qada, earning a shocked cry from him as Agnès and Shinobi leap into the air and attack from above. This forces Qada to dodge their strikes as Noir blasts Psio at Chaugmar. Finding itself in danger, Chaugmar retreats into its protective barrier as several Efreets appear beside it.

            “We don’t have time to deal with you!” Erina shouts, leaping at one and driving her spear into it while Spring does the same with another. While in its barrier, Chaugmar once more starts to drain the team of their energy, aiming to hit them with an explosive blast again. But just like last time, the team is quick to put their guards up as Chaugmar unleashes its easily telegraphed attack. However, there is an unwanted revelation from that attack.

            “It’s damaging the Crystal!” Airy shouts in alarm, frantically pointing a hand at the Crystal as large cracks start to form on the surface.

            “We need to finish this now!” Queen shouts, jumping away from an Efreet before blasting it with Frelia.

            “But how do we do that?!” Goofy shouts, blocking an attack from Chaugmar as Qada throws another potion at them. The black liquid inside disintegrates anything it touches. Sora narrows his eyes at the foe, knowing that if they don’t stop it, it will just go back into its shell and unleash another blast of magic at them. Thankfully, he has a spell that could do just that… he hopes.

            “Stopra!” Sora calls out, the Roman numerals flying around him and Chaugmar, with the giant slime suddenly coming to a halt in mid-air, much to Qada’s confusion.

            “What are you doing?! Move, you stupid slime!” Qada shouts, jumping on Chaugmar, with a slip of paper escaping from his pocket and floating down towards Teach, who grabs it out of the air.

            “Now! While it’s distracted!” Crow shouts as everyone unleashes their most powerful spells or abilities at Chaugmar. Qada looks on, horrified, as Chaugmar does nothing to avoid the strikes until the Stop spell wears off. When it does, every single attack that had been landed on it strikes all at once, causing the giant slime to literally explode in mid-air and send Qada falling to his death with a terrified scream. As for the remaining Demons who came to aid Qada, they all turn and flee the moment Chaugmar is defeated, escaping from the faint aura coming from the Crystal.

            “Is it over?” Sophie asks, looking at the spot where Chaugmar was.

            “Not yet! We need to do the Rite of Awakening before Chaugmar returns!” Airy shouts, turning to Agnès, who nods back before quickly vanishing into the Temple. When she comes back, she is now dressed in a short white dress with decorative patterns, black gloves, and boots. While the team has no idea what this Rite of Awakening will be, they all stand in silence as Agnès kneels at the small stone altar and starts to pray.

At first, nothing happened until white lines started to break through the dark aura surrounding the crystal. Cracks continued to glow until a bright light emerged from the Crystal. Shattering the darkness and revealing the Crystal of Fire's true form: a giant monolithic stone that glowed with a calming red light, emanating pure light as a barrier formed around it. The glow was practically blinding to everyone as they held up their hands to cover their eyes from the brightness.

            “You did it! The Crystal of Fire has awakened!” Airy shouts in glee while Agnès lets out heavy breaths. Clearly, whatever Agnès had to do took a toll on her, as she almost collapsed on the spot. This was something Tiz was already aware of, as he was by her side to help steady her.

            “Man… that’s bright!” Outlaw comments, covering his eyes from the Crystal of Fire’s glow. “I wish I had brought sunglasses.”

            “They don’t help as much as you think…” Ringabel comments, still in the Performer attire and holding his hand over his face despite wearing sunglasses. But before anyone could comment on it further, another glow behind them grabbed their attention as manifestations of wind, water, fire, and earth appeared before them, combining to form the Keyhole of Luxendarc.

Sora, wasting no time, walks up to it and aims the Keyblade at the Keyhole, firing a beam of light and sealing the Keyhole for good. With the Keyhole letting out one final glow, it dissipates into the air, leaving behind a keychain that looks like a mini version of the Crystal, mixed with red, blue, green, and yellow.

            “Was that the Keyhole?” Edea asks as Sora grabs the keychain. “It was here the entire time? Guess the Fire Vestal did more than just protect the Crystal of Fire, huh?”

            “So it would seem.” Athena remarks, folding her arms. “Either way, our job here is done. It is time we moved on. After all, we have our own mission to fulfil.”

            “We do, don’t we?” Sora comments, joining the team as Agnès bows to them all.

            “Thank you for helping us here in Eisenberg. I do not know what awaits us on our journey, but I pray that yours has similar success.” She tells them before standing up straight. “And… thank you for helping us settle our differences.”

            “Don’t worry about it. Something tells me you would have worked them out sooner or later.” Panther comments as she stretches her arms. “Having said that, I’m pooped. Want to head back to Hartschild before we head out?”

            “Well, we do need to collect the puppies that Eleanor has.” Queen reminds, pushing some hair back. “I’d say we can afford a stop at Hartschild.”

            “I’d say it's unanimous then.” Fox remarks, with Noir staying close to his side. Not that anyone could blame her or Violet for sticking close to their significant others. But now was the time to relax and rest while Sora looked at the new keychain in his hand. Curious, he clips it to the Keyblade, changing its form once more. The entire Keyblade looked to have been carved from crystal, complete with jagged points. The guard was in a circular shape, glowing with a verdant green, while the handle was an earthy yellow. The main body of the Keyblade looked to be a watery blue, while the teeth, which were in the shape of the top half of the Crystal of Fire, jutted out, glowing with a deep fiery red.

Sora couldn’t help but wonder if this Keyblade was made from all four of the Crystals in this world, as the name of the blade echoed in his mind: Crystal Hope. And that was what he resolved to bring, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Chapter 23: This is Halloween!

Another defeat. The mere thought boiled in Maleficent’s mind as Qada failed to report back to her. She should have known that the Keybearer and his friends wouldn’t waste time rescuing their companions. They should have brought them here, to Hollow Bastion, when they had the chance. And now… they have lost another ally. Their numbers were growing thinner by the day.

            “They are getting stronger…” Owada remarks as he and Ikutsuki walk into the room, Owada’s SWAT team right behind them. “It is only a matter of time until they discover this place.”

            “So it would seem…” Maleficent remarks with a growl. “And how goes preparation for our second base?”

            “We have located a suitable spot in this world from which we can operate.” Ikutsuki remarks, taking his glasses off to clean them. “However, it will take a while to get it cleaned out before we can remodel the interior. The Demons we can summon have been a boon in that regard.”

            “Yes, they have.” Owada replies with a wide smile. “Those Thieves will not be expecting us to wield such powers.”

            “Be mindful of your overconfidence, Owada.” Shido remarks, walking into the room. “Otherwise, that factor will bring about your end, just like with EMMA.” Owada, for his part, shrank back at that reminder as he nodded his head at Shido. As for Shido, he just nodded at Owada before turning to look at Maleficent. “In other news, I believe I have found five more individuals who can assist us.”

            “Oh?” Maleficent asks, turning to look at Shido. “Go on.” Shido smiles as he turns to look at Jerri, the pink bird watching the Highwind on the central dais as it flies back to Traverse Town.

            “Jerri, do you remember the rulers from the Kingdoms?” Shido asks the bird, grabbing her attention.

            “Yes, I do. The ones who would have broken Toshiro. Other than you and the others, are you referring to the other six who have yet to join us? Besides his false shadow, that is.”

            “I am indeed referring to five of them.” Shido replies with a grin. “After all, my Kingdom self was connecting with me, so my memories of that place are quite fresh in my mind. I began to wonder…” His smile seemed to grow even larger as he placed both his hands on the dais. “…what is stopping us from bringing them into our ranks?”

            “Are you sure you and the others want to stay, Toshiro?” Ren asks Toshiro, while Eri, Tsu, Maruki, and Rumi hang around the First District. They had only come back to Traverse Town to drop off Pinocchio, Geppetto, Cleo, Figaro, and the fifteen puppies they had found so far: twelve from Monstro and three from Luxendarc, despite Eleanor having grown fond of the three she was looking after. However, it came as a surprise to the rest of the Thieves to hear that Toshiro had decided to stay in Traverse Town for now. As for Zenkichi and Kawakami, they were staying with them until they found Akane. They were not going to stay behind until they found her, no matter what—something that Ren and the others couldn't blame them for.

            “I'm certain about this, Ren. With Maleficent targeting us because her group needs the Princesses of Heart, it's no longer safe for Tsu and Rumi to travel, as much as they hate it." Toshiro lets out a sigh, looking at his sister and Rumi with a guilty expression. “I can't help but feel bad that they are being left behind.”

            “Something tells me they won’t be like that forever.” Makoto remarks, brushing some hair back. “But besides that, I’m worried about who else they will have their sights on.” Her eyes glance over at Ann, Shiho, and Hifumi while Sophia hangs around nearby. “I can’t help but wonder what they’ll do next.”

            “Whatever they try to pull, we won’t make it easy for them.” Morgana replies, folding his arms as Sojiro walks over to them with Futaba and Isara. “Hey, Boss. Have things been good around here?”

            “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you like that, Morgana.” Sojiro admits, shaking his head. “Then again, I’ve already gotten used to Isara and Sophia, so who knows. As for here, things have been quiet, but we’re not sure how good of a thing that is.” He folds his arms, glancing up at the stars. “Leon is convinced the Heartless and Demons are planning a large attack one day. So, we’ve been training with them to get our strength back.”

            “Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. But I guess it's a good call for you all to train up, and it will do good for Eri since she's still a bit new to her Persona." Ren admits, looking up. "Although, the more I think about it, things have been going a bit too easily for us as of late…”

            “Chin up, Ren. We’ll get through whatever comes our way.” Futaba comments, giving his arm a slap. “We just need to keep moving forward, alright? Just like we always do.” Ren couldn’t help but chuckle at that, knowing that Futaba was right, of course, just as the rest of the team got back to them, armed with new weapons from Donald’s nephews. Although there was one among them missing.

            “Where’s Sora?” Isara asks, noticing that their spiky friend is missing.

            “He went to the Moogles to see what he could make. That, and what they could do with the large Orichalcum that Egil gave him back in Luxendarc.” Sae replies, looking up at the Accessory Shop just as Sora emerges. “And it looks like he’s back already.” Everyone follows her gaze as Sora rushes up to them, a smile on his face as he comes to a stop.

            “Welcome back, Sora. What did the Moogles have to say?” Shiho asks, her hands behind her back.

            “Well, they were really excited when I brought it to them. Nektar, especially.” He rubs the back of his head with a sheepish grin. “I think it sparked something inside them.”

            “Why does that give me a bad feeling?” Zenkichi asks as everyone shakes their heads. "Anyway, should we head out? We still need to find Akane and the others.”

            “I think I saw a world that was near Luxendarc we could head to next.” Haru comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “It shouldn’t be too hard to reach it.”

            “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s hit the road!” Goofy shouts, thrusting a hand toward the gate. With everyone giving their last-second goodbyes, the team returns to the Highwind and takes off back into the stars, while their minds race about what the next world will be.

Returning to Luxendarc was easy, as was the journey to the next world. And in its ease, it was more of a worrying quiet. No Heartless ships waited for them as they made their way to the next world, which was alarming considering how they had attacked them in the past. But to find nothing now? Something was going on… So it was all they could do to try to calm themselves inside the ship, trying not to let the anxiety of an ambush drown them out.

Sora, for his part, was training with his new Keyblade, Crystal Hope, against Fox and Donald. Fox’s speed, paired with Donald's magic, gave Sora a tough fight as he spent most of the time on the defensive. But on the plus side, he had managed to find a way to swiftly counterattack after parrying a strike from Fox, allowing him to gain the advantage before Fox jumped away. After dodging a blast of Thundara from Donald, Sora managed to master another move.

            “Strike Raid!” Sora shouts, throwing Crystal Hope at Donald, who ducks under the spinning blade, only for his eyes to widen as it reappears in Sora’s hands before he throws it again. Fox watches with a smile as Sora repeats it about four times before giving the last swing a powerful toss that ends up knocking Donald to the ground, with Fox clapping his hands in applause.

            “Well done, Sora. That was a masterful move.” He compliments, shifting back to normal clothes. “Where did you learn such a technique?”

            “I don’t know.” Sora admits, looking at Crystal Hope. “It just came to me… like those visions I’ve been having.”

            “Visions?” Donald asks, pushing himself up. “What visions?” Sora blinks his eyes, now just realizing he has spoken aloud about that as he rubs the back of his head.

            “I… don’t really know how to explain it… and I’d rather say it when everyone is here.” Sora replies, looking slightly uncomfortable. Yusuke and Donald could see the uncertainty on Sora’s face as they gave him some space, not wanting to push it if he didn’t want to tell them. Besides, if Donald waited until he felt ready to tell them, he could give Sora the same leeway.

“Everyone, we are approaching a new world. Please come to the bridge as soon as you can.”

            “Looks like we’ve arrived.” Sora remarks as the trio leaves the training room, quickly joining the others as they all see the new world on the monitor. One that suddenly made Makoto feel a little worried. After all, it was a literal floating pumpkin carved to look like a jack-o'-lantern, while a town built of dark stone with a fountain spewing green liquid rested on top.

Futaba checks her scanners, finding that she is getting two friendly readings from the world. Something she was quick to relay to the others. Yet the feeling they got from the world was… interesting.

            “This looks… interesting.” Kawakami remarks, folding her hands. “Looks like it comes right out of Halloween.” Makoto lets out a groan as she places a hand on her face, while Ren rubs her back sympathetically.

            “Do you want to stay behind, Makoto? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Sumire asks, with Makoto letting out a long sigh in return.

            “No… I’ll come along as well…” She replies, but it is clear in her voice that she is not going to like this one bit. With everyone looking at Makoto in concern, none of them noticed Futaba’s station displaying an alert.

            “If you’re sure…” Isara remarks as the team heads for the teleporter, along with a reluctant Makoto. With a simple press of the button, the team is beamed down to the surface, where they can feel Donald’s magic already affecting them. That, or it is the world itself that is changing them, for as soon as they appear in the world, they all find themselves with drastically different forms.

            “What the!? What happened to us!?” Outlaw asks, looking at himself. Sure, he was already in his Thief attire, but now it was ragged and torn, as if he had just crawled out of a grave, with the dirt marks being evident. But that wasn’t the least of his worries, as his body had taken on the black mist that Drifter was made up of.

            “Did we fuse with our Personas?” Crow asks, now looking a lot like his fully evolved Persona, Hereward. Athena’s skin has become solid marble, although with a very dark grey tone and cracks running along it. Even her clothes have become the same coloured marble as well.

            “It would appear so.” Joker remarks, looking down at himself. He was practically walking about as Arsène now! Queen had been turned into Anat, while Sophie bore similarities to both Arsène AND Anat! At least Queen wasn’t freaking out as much; she was more taken aback by her new attire. Joker had to admit he was curious as well if those tires could also be used in battle.

            “This is… strange.” Spring remarks, looking at all the rotting vines running up her. Her voice sounds like a certain Ent. Her skin has taken on the form of a dead tree, with black flowers sprouting in her hair. Skull has… well… become a skeleton. More accurately, he has taken on the form of William, while Panther now looks like Hecate. Violet also looks to be made of glass like Cendrillon, something that makes her a bit self-conscious about not falling over and shattering. 

            “Noir! Your head's gone!” Edel shouts, her body now made up of large metallic parts that give her an even more robotic appearance, almost like an old transforming robot from the '80s or an anime mecha suit. Even her voice has a robotic tinge to it. As for Noir, she is busy waving her hands at where her head SHOULD be, but instead, all that is floating there is Milady’s mask with Noir’s eyes, while her hat floats above. Noir’s outfit also takes on the form of Milady, while Fox stands next to her with a worried look, looking exactly like Kamu Susano-o.

            “Are you okay, Noir?” Shinobi asks, having turned into a walking shadow of herself, complete with glowing white eyes and mouth. Mona stands next to her, taking on a darker form of Mercurius, with tattered clothes and dark wings that have lost about half of their feathers, the remaining ones looking jagged.

            “Y-Yes… I am.” Noir replies, lowering her hands while her voice sounds like a distant echo. “But it is… strange. I can still ‘feel’ my head is there, but at the same time, it’s not.”

            “Join the club…” Donald remarks with an annoyed tone, turning all eyes to him. He had become a mummy duck, but with the wraps around his stomach and left elbow gone, revealing nothing.

            “At least you kids don’t have a cage over your head and hands…” Wolf remarks, looking himself over. He, like the others, wears an outfit similar to his Persona, complete with the cages around the hands. “How the hell am I going to fight like this?”

            “At least you don’t have multiple legs…” Teach remarks, indicating her own transformation. She has become a literal centaur with a black horse body and red stains around the hooves. At least her upper body is still the same, if not diluted in colour. “How have I not fallen over already?”

            “Don’t question it…” Oracle comments, looking herself over. She was now in the same attire that her Shadow took on, with the bandages wrapping around her exposed skin while the robes had been torn from ages of neglect.

            “This sure is a spooky place…” Goofy comments, looking around the area. Looking like a Frankenstein monster, his hat had been turned into a large bolt that was screwed into his head; his eyes were mismatched, and his nose was a pumpkin. His clothes were still the same, but like everyone else, they were torn with holes and frayed edges. It even looked like they were sewn together, while his hands were now claws. Even his feet were claws, as they burst out from his shoes. “I’ll bet the people here are scary too.” That seemed to snap Queen out of her gaze, as she now looked around with some fear in her eyes, just noticing how the place seemed to be so… dark. This was not helped by the red sky above them or the old walls with pumpkin lights around them.

            “It’s okay, Queen, we’re here.” Joker silently tells her, grabbing her hand while Sophie grabs her other hand. Their presence did help calm Queen as she paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “If it helps, just think of this as Halloween, okay?”

            “Yeah… sure.” Queen replies, not convinced but still appreciating the support. She could only hope she could get used to this place. And quickly.

            “So, where do we go first?” Sora asks, with Joker now looking at him, only to be puzzled by his appearance. It was clear that he had taken on the form of a vampire, what with the spiky teeth and dark clothes, but there were other parts that did not fit with the attire. Sure, the clawed hands might be passable, but the way his feet seemed to almost spike out reminded Joker of a bird's foot. And the wings on his back, small as they were, did not look bat-like to him. Instead, they looked draconic, and to top it all off, a pumpkin mask was covering half his face.

            “Well, the only way out of here is through the gate.” Panther replies, indicating toward the gate not far from them, leading to a rather large plaza with a fountain spurting out green water.

            “Well, I guess we don't have any other option.” Athena replies, her voice having a hint of gravel to it as she pauses for a moment to touch her throat. “That’s… interesting.” With their new forms and Queen’s fear contained for the moment, the team heads toward the gate, which opens for them without anyone touching it, already giving the area an even spookier feeling. But as soon as they reach the fountain, a large bang echoes from a lab towering in the distance as smoke rises from the building, along with another unwanted surprise.

            “Heartless!” Sora cries out as around six Search Ghosts appear before them, and compared to the colourful abominations from before, these ones are all in dark muted colours. But even as their team draws their weapons, the Search Ghosts do nothing but continue to look at them, sending confusion among their ranks as they slowly approach.

            “This is… new.” Fox comments, tapping his sheath against one of the Search Ghosts, only for it to remain motionless.

            “Does anyone know what is going on here?” Violet asks as she stands next to a Search Ghost in utter bafflement, her voice having a noticeable sound of glass shattering. No one could reply to her as they all stepped away from the Search Ghosts, with Queen even forgetting about her fear for a moment as they took in the strange sight before them. At least until they saw a strange small man in a tuxedo with a large badge with the word ‘Mayor’ written on it and a large top hat that made Joker and Arsène feel a tinge of envy. Even his eyes were… strange.

            “Who is he?” Skull asks, his voice having a slight echo to it as he is a walking skeleton right now. Before anyone could answer, he produced a megaphone that he had somehow hidden behind his back and brought it to his face.

            “And now, allow me to introduce the master of terror, the king of nightmares, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!” While everyone looked at him in bafflement, the six Heartless floated towards the fountain and created a line before floating backward, gesturing their hands towards the fountain as a figure emerged from it. As the green liquid, which they now realised was supposed to be slime, peeled off the figure, it was revealed to be a very tall and very thin skeleton wearing a black and white pinstriped suit with black shoes. Someone who looked like he could easily tower over any of them, apart from Teach in her current form. But it was the way he made his entrance grandiose, from how he exited the fountain, that made it clear to the group that this guy was someone high up or maybe even in charge around here, evident by the ‘Mayor’ running up to him with a pleased expression.

            “Bravo, Jack! BRAVO! Those ghosts will be a big hit at this year's Halloween!” The ‘Mayor’ tells Jack while pointing at a clock on a nearby building. That got the group's attention as they all looked up at it. After all, they had all lost track of when they started all this, so perhaps it would tell them what day it is. Only it said 36 days to Halloween, and the clock above it was broken, meaning that it could either be counting down or that no one had bothered to replace it.

            “Thank you, thank you!” Jack’s voice rings out, grabbing the team's attention. “But their movement still needs work; it’s not scary enough. I want to strike bone-chilling terror!” He punctuates this, giving the ‘Mayor’ a slight scare before putting his friendly smile back on. “I’m going to consult the doctor and his assistants.” With that, Jack heads off to the building that is ejecting a large amount of smoke while the Mayor fixes his bow tie.

            “Then I’ll go attend to the decorations with the townsfolk!” He says in a jolly attitude before rushing off in a different direction. Showing that he had a SECOND face on the back, only this one stuck in a frown with a grey, gloomy expression. But it was what the two of them were talking about that had the team's attention.

            “You guys don’t think they are trying to control the Heartless, are you?” Outlaw remarks as they watch the one called Jack vanish behind a door.

            “I’m afraid that’s what it sounds like.” Mona comments, shaking his head. “At least they are not trying to control any Demons as well.”

            “Do they really think having them around for Halloween is a good thing?” Teach asks, shaking her head. “And speaking of that, why is everyone here so fascinated by Halloween anyway?” No one could really answer that while Queen remained silent. It didn’t help that her eyes couldn’t leave the guillotine in the middle of town. That was something Joker couldn’t blame her for. He had seen enough of that from Yaldabaoth’s Velvet Room. Then again, it also reminded him and the others who had been to the SIU Director's Palace as well…

            “How about we go ask him?” Sora suggests, pointing at the door that Jack entered. "Not all of us, but I want to see what that guy is doing.”

            “Well… that is fair, I suppose.” Wolf comments, glancing at the floor. “But I agree that only some of us should go. The rest should stay here in case these Heartless go berserk.”

            “Good idea.” Joker replies, giving Queen a look before looking back at Sora. “Me, Queen, Sophie, and Edel will go with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. The rest, hang around here for now, but stay on guard.”

            “No problem, Joker.” Oracle replies as the group splits up, with Sora's group heading over to the door Jack went through. They find a large workshop just beyond the door, with the smoke finally under control. But even as they approach it, they can tell that Queen is still nervous about this world, even if she isn't visibly showing it. At least Joker and Sophie can tell. As for getting inside the building, the team is shocked at how easy it is for them to just open the door and walk inside—no security questions or anything. But before they can even question it, they can already hear Jack's voice echoing from inside.

            “I don’t understand… Maybe the guidance system was broken in the explosion.” Jack remarks as the team sees him looking through a large book, while an old person in a scientist's jacket in a wheelchair looks over a Search Ghost on the table.

            “Nonsense. My devices are always perfect!” The scientist complains, arrogance oozing from his words, which gives Sora’s team more than just bad vibes, especially considering what he is experimenting with. But it was the next voice that had the team in stunned silence.

            “Are you SURE this is a good idea, Jack? Because I am still not convinced about this.” A familiar voice echoes from the side along with the sound of a metal foot hitting the floor as two more people emerge: one going to the doctor and the other walking up to Jack.

The one approaching the doctor looked like she was made of DNA strands while wearing a combination of a reaper and scientist outfit, with mechanical wings and potions around her body, all of which were apparently empty. As for the one walking up to Jack, she appeared to be a humanoid cat with a metallic left leg, while metal plating with cybernetic devices was built into her body at random points.

            “I agree with Devil. Doctor Finkelstein, are you absolutely sure you can control these things?” Medic asks him in an unconvinced tone, with Finkelstein waving her off.

            “Do not question me! My plans are flawless!” He tells her, with Medic shaking her head in annoyance. Jack hadn’t even answered Devil as he was still looking through the book until he spotted something that made his non-existent eyes widen.

            “Oh! I got it!” He exclaims, grabbing all eyes in the room. “Why, of course! The Heartless need a heart!”

            “As if it could be THAT easy…” Devil snarks, turning around while folding her arms with a huff, showing the hiding team that one of her eyes is cybernetic.

            “Don’t worry, Devil! It should be simple.” Jack reassures her before looking back at Finkelstein. “Doctor, do you think you can add a heart to that device?”

            “Certainly. A heart’s not all that complicated. Let’s get to work.” Finkelstein remarks, rolling over to the foot of the large table while Medic, Devil, and Sora’s hiding team all roll their eyes at him. If only he knew how complicated a heart really was…

            “To make a heart, first take a container with a lock…” Jack reads off as Finkelstein grabs a heart container, only to realize that they have one large problem.

            “We need a key to this thing first!” He shouts in annoyance, grabbing Jack’s attention, along with Sora’s, as he pulls himself back into the shadow of the entrance. He shouldn’t really be thinking this after seeing just what they were capable of, but the chance that they could control the Heartless could exist…

            “We should help them out.” Sora whispers to the others, who all look at him with wide eyes.

            “Sora, do you know what you are saying?” Edel asks in a hushed voice. “This is the Heartless we are talking about. If we try to control them, we might end up becoming one.”

            “I know, but what if there is a way to do so without risking ourselves?” Sora asks, giving the group a moment of pause. "Besides, if they do succeed, then that means we only have to worry about the Demons, right? Therefore, the worlds, or at the very least this one, won't be at risk of falling.”

            “That is a good point.” Sophie comments to Joker and Queen, who share a concerned glance. This just didn’t sit right with them. After all, creating a heart like that could not be simple or easy. Heck, they had been fighting INSIDE hearts for years! But if this could work out…

            “You’re really gonna unlock it?” Donald asks Sora for confirmation, who nods back with a small grin.

            “Yeah. And not only would it make our job easier, but we could also see the Heartless dance. Don’t you want to see that?”

            “Not really.” Donald and Queen remark, shaking their heads at him.

            “Well, might as well tell them then.” Goofy remarks as Sora nods back, with Joker letting out a long sigh. They might as well announce their presence anyway, seeing how Devil and Medic were here. So it was with grace that the group removed themselves from the shadows, with Joker coughing into his hands to grab their attention.

            “Sorry to interrupt, but I think we can help.” Joker remarks, instantly getting Devil and Medic’s attention, especially as Queen, Sophie, and Edel walk up beside him while Sora, Donald, and Goofy appear on his left.

            “Who are you? Why are you in my workshop?” Finkelstein asks in an annoyed tone, only for Devil to let out a laugh as she and Medic approach him.

            “Joker! Queen! I knew you two lovebirds were still around!” Devil remarks, pulling the two into a large hug while Medic walks up to Sophie and Edel. “Along with you, Edel and Sophie!”

            “It’s nice to see you four again.” Medic remarks, rubbing Sophie on the head while Edel gives Devil a high five. “Have you changed, Sophie?” Sophie lets out a giggle while Sora walks up to the heart container and summons Crystal Hope to his side, sending a beam of light into the lock and unlocking the device holding the heart, surprising Jack, Finkelstein, Devil, and Medic, while Joker mouths ‘later’ to the two.

            “My, that was amazing!” Jack exclaims, looking at the now unlocked device. “And, er, you are…?” 

            “Sora Osment.” Sora replies before looking behind him. “This is Donald and Goofy, along with Joker, Queen, Sophie, and Edelweiss.” 

            “Oh! You are four of the friends that Devil and Medic talked about, yes?” Jack comments with as much of a smile as his face can allow. “It is a pleasure to meet you. And I must say, you have a really frightening daughter by your side.” Joker and Queen blink at each other, puzzled on numerous levels until they think that he was actually giving Sophie a compliment in this world, judging by how Jack was.

            “Y-Yes… Thank you.” Queen remarks, standing a bit behind Joker. Try as she might, her fear was still with her, something that Jack took notice of as he looked at Joker.

            “Is she okay?” He asks with visible concern in his voice. Something that did shock Queen was how sincere he was in asking, as Joker took a moment to glance at her. She gives him a nod, granting him permission as Joker turns back to Jack.

            “She’s just very easily scared, is all…” He tells him as Jack slowly nods his head. 

            “I see. But there’s nothing to be afraid of here, Queen. In Halloween Town, we only scare for fun! It’s our job, after all, to bring frights and joy to the children every Halloween, but we're not mean at heart.” 

            “Thank you… for telling me that.” Queen comments, stepping away from Joker. “It may take me some time… but I’ll try to get used to being here.” Jack nods at her in acceptance before walking back to the table.

            “And thank you for unlocking the heart, Sora! As thanks, I would like all of you to be a part of this year's Halloween.” While the offer was nice, the team already had a refusal on their lips. After all, they were busy trying to save the worlds, but they couldn’t really say that out loud. However, it did give Sora a chance to ask the burning question in his mind. 

            “Well, we'll have to think about it. But by the way, Jack, what's this Heartless doing here?" That got Jack's attention as he turned to him with a surprised look.

            “Oh. The Heartless came to town just recently. Not long after Devil and Medic arrived here, by the way. But what is frustrating me is that I can’t get them to dance with me.” That certainly helped alleviate any fears that I had about what Jack wanted to use the Heartless for. But still… just dancing? Talk about setting your priorities. “So the doctor and I are trying to improve the guidance system. He’s quite a genius!” 

            “And as we have been saying, we’re not sure if it’s going to work.” Devil remarks, shaking her head while Medic lets out a long sigh. But Jack ignores them as he turns to the doctor, who is reaching under the bed for some items.

            “Okay, doctor, let’s continue. The ingredients for a heart: Pulse…” A live frog is placed on the table, ribbiting loudly. “Emotion…” 

            “Terror…” Finkelstein remarks, placing a large spider on the table that makes several members jump away slightly.

            “Fear…” Jack continues as the doctor places a pane of glass on the table before rubbing his hands together. “Hope and despair…” Two snakes trying to eat each other are placed on the table, completely confusing everyone at the scene. “Mix them all together… and we have a heart!”

            Are you sure about that? The Thieves couldn't help but ask themselves as Finkelstein activated the device, sending electricity coursing through the ingredients and into the heart, which then directed the current of energy at the Search Ghost. Then, out of an old movie, the Search Ghost came to life, arms facing forward as it stared ahead, only to slam right back onto the bed as the machine powered down.

            “It failed!” Finkelstein shouts as the team feels themselves breathing a little bit easier, secretly happy that it did fail. “Maybe we are missing some ingredients… let’s try adding memory.” But as the doctor goes back to the book, he pops open his head to start scratching at his brain, causing the group to wince in disgust, Queen especially as she looks away from the doctor. “Sally? Sally! Good-for-nothing girl! I don’t know why I bothered creating her!” He shouts in annoyance before spinning his chair around and closing his head with an audible click. “Sally’s got the memory we need. See if you can track her down!” 

            “Will do.” Jack replies as he turns around, but it is at that moment that Joker’s comm flares to life, with everyone present able to hear Oracle’s panicked call over the headset.

            “Joker! We’re in trouble! The Heartless are attacking!”

            “What!?” Joker shouts as everyone’s eyes go wide, Jack's and Finkelstein’s more than anyone else’s.

            “Worse, we’ve got Demons in the mix!”

            “We're on our way! Oh, and inform the others that we have found Medic and Devil." Joker shouts, which is followed by Oracle thanking him as the leader of the Thieves ends the call.

            "I'm guessing whoever you just spoke to is a friend of yours, Joker?" Jack asks him in a curious tone as Joker nods his head.

            "That's correct. She was keeping an eye on the Heartless outside alongside a couple of other friends of ours as we checked things out in here. But it looks like something happened that caused the Heartless to go into a frenzy." Joker replies before looking back at Jack. "Sorry, Jack. But it looks like your plan is on hold for now."

            "Hmmm… maybe our experiment triggered something." Jack admits, rubbing his head. "Well, I can't stay here and do nothing. I have a town to save!”

            “Then what are we waiting for!?” Edel shouts as she opens the door, and already the sounds of combat can be heard from outside. Just how soundproof was this place? But no one had time to think of that as they all rushed toward the main plaza. As they were running, Sora used this short time to inquire about something from both Medic and Devil as he ran with Donald and Goofy beside him.

            “By the way, I don't think I have really gotten your actual names yet since I'm guessing Medic and Devil are considered your Phantom Thief codenames?” Sora calls out to the two aforementioned Thieves, which causes Devil to let out a small chuckle.

            “You are quite an interesting fellow. I'm Ichiko Ohya, a photographer who helped the Phantom Thieves in the past by digging up dirt on their previous targets."

            “And I'm Tae Takemi. I've been the Thieves medical supplier since day one." Medic replies with a smile on her face before turning towards Joker. "By the way, care to explain what has been happening since we last saw each other, Joker?"

            “Don't worry. We'll tell you and Devil everything that's been going on after we're done here. Right now, we have a town to save." Joker says as the group arrives at the main plaza, where the rest of the team is already in combat against not only the Heartless but Demons as well. While the Search Ghosts and Shadow Heartless were expected, the new Demons were not. The best way to describe them is that they look like black imps with wings and red hair, holding golden tridents. And there were already several of them trying to skewer the Thieves with dive bombs while the Search Ghosts attacked with their hands, teleporting all over the place as Shadow Heartless emerged from the ground.

            “Oracle!” Joker calls out, watching as one of the new ones tries to attack her, only to get hit in the face by Oracle’s staff.

            “Thank goodness you guys are here! Watch out for those Demons! Those Daemons are immune to Dark and Curse while resisting Fire! However, they are weak to Elect, Light, and Bless!”

            “Daemons? Seriously?" Edel asks, firing a few missiles at some Daemons while Wolf slams his greatsword down on a Search Ghost. "That's literally almost the same name as what they are all called!”

            “Come on, folks! Let’s start the show!” Jack shouts, doing a random slide towards several Shadow Heartless. But as he does so, fire emerges around him as he slams into the Shadow Heartless, knocking them away before jumping up and casting Gravity on a Search Ghost, sending it plummeting to the ground, where Skull slams his mace into it.

            “We have so many questions, but we can ask later!” Devil shouts, charging forward with her shotel. “For now, let’s kick butt! Diane! Mapsio!” Summoning her other self to the field, Devil unleashes a psionic blast on several Shadows and a Daemon, sending all of them flying, where Fox manages an Iaai slash in one go. Not to be outdone, Medic rushes forward with her scythe, spinning around and taking out two Search Ghosts in one hit before turning toward two more Daemons charging at her.

            “Franklin! Frelia!" Not wasting a chance, Medic's Persona roars behind her before unleashing a powerful blast of blue fire at the Daemons, incinerating them in the blast but not outright killing them as Panther, Shinobi, and Sophie wrapped their weapons around them and brought the Daemons to the ground, leaving them easy prey for Wolf, Outlaw, and Noir. Meanwhile, Teach was riding around with Crow and Violet on her back, the two using their ranged weapons to shoot at the Heatless while Teach cast Agilao up front. Sora used his new Strike Raid to good use, managing to hit several Daemons at once while Queen, her feet cast aside in the heat of battle, pummelled her fists against the Search Ghosts along with Athena.

Although it was during the fight that a Search Ghost attempted to attack Queen from behind, the moment it attacked one of the wheels on her back, the wheel spun on its own, damaging the Search Ghost while Queen spun around in surprise before roundhouse kicking the Search Ghost away.

            “Well, that answers that question!” She remarks, jumping backward to go back to back with Athena. Strange how her fear seems to vanish when fighting against the Heartless and Daemons.

            “You know, I'm surprised you're not asking us to hold back on the Heartless, Jack!” Joker shouts, his knife cleaving into a Shadow Heartless as Goofy knocks a Daemon away with his shield.

            “I'm not going to lose any sleep over losing some for my Halloween. But these new ones, on the other hand, are a bit too ferocious for the holiday!" Jack remarks, sending a blast of fire at a Daemon, forgetting that they resist fire, only for Spring to come in and strike at it with her spear as Donald finishes it off with a Thundara spell. Jack's comments only served to confuse those who were not present for the discussion as they slowly finished off the remaining Heartless and Daemons, clearing out the plaza with the townsfolk cheering them on from the sidelines. But while Jack wanted to stay and check on the townsfolk, there was someone else he had to look for.

            “Where is Sally? It’s far too dangerous for her with the Heartless attacking everyone.” Jack remarks before tapping his leg, only to let out a curious hum. “Strange… Zero always comes running when I call for him.”

            “Zero?” Shinobi asks, grabbing Jack’s attention.

            “My pet dog. He normally hangs around the cemetery. Although, now that I think about it, Sally usually hangs around with Zero as well. But if he's not coming here despite me calling for him…”

            “Then that could mean the graveyard is in trouble?”  Wolf remarks while Queen lets out a silent groan. She did NOT want to go to a graveyard.

            “That might be the case.” Jack replies, rubbing his head before freezing in place and turning to Wolf. “Oh, I am so sorry, but I forgot to ask for your names.”

            “Ah, right. I didn’t have a chance with the Heartless and Daemons attacking.” Wolf agrees, nodding his head as Teach walks up to him, still carrying Crow and Violet on her back. “Name’s Wolf. Next to me is Teach, along with Crow and Violet.”

            “My name is Shinobi.” She introduces herself as both Medic and Devil looked at her with confusion before looking at Joker as he mouths 'later' again while the shogi player gestures to the people behind her. "And behind me are Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Noir, Oracle, Spring, Outlaw, and Athena.”

            “A pleasure to meet you all.” Jack replies, giving them all a gracious bow. “But now that introductions are out of the way, let’s head to the graveyard. I worry that something may have happened to Sally and Zero.” While Jack went for the gate leading to the graveyard with gusto, the team was slow to follow him. Queen, especially, did not like the idea of going to a potentially spooky graveyard. But with some confidence-boosting from Joker and Sophie, Queen steeled herself as the trio followed everyone to the graveyard.

Hopefully, they will be done here soon.

Chapter Text

Chapter 24: Heart Heist.

Finding the graveyard was no issue, seeing how there was only a single path that led up to it. That, along with the fact that the area was a typical graveyard with tombstones and coffins, did not help Queen in the slightest. Nor did the moon in the background illuminate a hill that looked like a witch's hat. The only saving grace she had was that the residents of this place would only scare her for fun, with no malice behind them—something that everyone was secretly thankful for, if they were being honest.

But they didn’t have long to relax as the Heartless once more made their return, this time bringing two new Heartless along with a new Demon to the fight. One looked like a lanky skeleton wrapped in bandages with its ribs showing, while a single white eye glowed under the bandages. Another looked like a stone gargoyle that had been granted life. As for the Demon, it looked like a little yellow person with two eyes. Certainly not very threatening at first, until it started using Psy magic on the group, grabbing loose tombstones and throwing them at the team while the new Heartless leaped at them. The lanky skeletons leaped high into the air while the gargoyle ones came swooping in with their feet. But that was their first mistake, as the Thieves all aimed their guns at the Heartless in the air and unloaded on them, not giving them a chance to drop down on them while Sora and Jack dashed forward to deal with the Demons. The small creatures proved to have no close-quarters combat skills, as they were easily taken down.

            “That was a rude welcome.” Jack comments as the last of the Heartless vanishes into darkness. “And I don’t remember seeing them around here before.”

            “Well, I managed to find out what they are called.” Oracle comments, folding her arms. "Those Heartless were known as Wight Knights and Gargoyles. As for the Demon, it was a Poltergeist. Weak to Wind, Light, and Bless, but blocks both Elect and Psy. And as we saw, it is very weak up close.”

            “Kinda like Donald.” Mona snarks, the mage looking at him with an unamused stare. Not that he could say he was wrong, though…

            “So, now that we’ve cleared the graveyard, where’s Zero?” Shinobi asks, looking around the place. Jack doesn’t reply to her; instead, he walks over to a small grave that has been mercifully untouched by the battle—a grave that has the name Zero on it.

            “Wait… are you saying Zero is—?” Before Athena could finish, a white figure emerged from the tombstone, with Queen letting out a frightened cry and jumping behind Joker as the white figure took form. It was a small floating cloth with a dog's head and long ears, and a glowing light on its long nose in the shape of a pumpkin.

            “Aww… he looks cute.” Spring coos as Zero floats up to her, spinning around her with a happy look as Queen peeks around Joker. Seeing the small ghost floating around Spring with a happy look makes her feel very silly as she steps out, her face having a small red tint to it.

            “He’s just a friendly little ghost dog.” Panther agrees, trying to rub Zero, only for her head to pass right through. “Aww… I can’t pet him.”

            “He's a ghost, Panther. We wouldn't be able to touch him." Noir comments as Zero floats up to her and licks her mask, somehow managing to tickle her as Noir rubs her mask. "That tickles.”

            “I hate my fear sometimes…” Queen remarks, shaking her head while Joker pats her. Zero looks at her, zipping over in a flurry and startling her as he gives her a lick. While Queen does feel her fear rising, it isn’t as bad as when Zero first appeared, especially seeing just how friendly the ghost dog really is. Maybe this world will help her get over her fears entirely one day.

            “I’m glad to see you are alright, little buddy.” Jack calls out as Zero floats over to him. “But tell me, have you seen Sally anywhere?” Zero’s ears shoot up as the ghost dog darts over to a tombstone. The moment he goes behind it, a startled gasp catches everyone's attention as a new figure emerges behind. A tall woman, around half of Jack's height, with blue skin and long brown hair. Her eyes are as large as the hollow sockets in Jack’s skull, while her lips are a deep red. But while her tattered and patched-up clothes cover her body, it is the stitched seams around her joints that have the team's attention. Now they understand what Finkelstein meant by ‘creating her’.

            “Is something wrong, Jack?” She asks, stepping out from behind the tombstones. To the team's collective surprise, six Dalmatian puppies are with her as well. Of course, they had not changed physically, but their colours were certainly a lot more muted than normal, no doubt to fit with how everything around here was dark and grey.

            “Not any more, now that I know you are safe. That is a worry of my heart.” Jack replies with a smile, walking up to her with gentle footsteps. “Not only that, but we are about to have the best Halloween ever. But right now, what we need to get the Heartless under control is your memory.”

            “Memory? Do you mean this?” Sally asks, taking out a bundle of withered Forget-Me-Nots. It was something that the team couldn’t help but admit was a nice play on words.

            “Yes. That is it, Sally.” Jack replies as Sally hands him the Forget-Me-Nots. But while Jack looks at them with endless possibilities in his mind, Sally does not share his optimism.

            “Jack, I have a bad feeling about this. I saw the Heartless attacking everyone, including those strange ones as well. Why don’t you try something else? There is still time, after all.”

            “I don’t think he’s changing his tune anytime soon, Sally.” Devil remarks, shaking her head and grabbing Sally’s attention, along with her gaze falling on everyone else in surprise.

            “Oh, hello. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself.” She tells them, giving them a bow. “My name is Sally.”

            “Nice to meet you, Sally. I’m Sora Osment.” Sora replies, holding his hand out to shake Sally's. Only for Sally’s hand to come off as she tries to shake his, surprising everyone as they see how she is made of straw on the inside. “I’ve heard of lending someone a hand, but I’ve never seen it in action.” Sora comments, giving Sally her hand back before looking behind him. “Behind me are Donald and Goofy, along with Joker’s team.”

            “Oh, so you are the Joker that Devil and Medic mention?” Sally asks, with Joker nodding to her.

            “That's right. With me are Queen, Sophie, Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Noir, Oracle, Edelweiss, Spring, Outlaw, Shinobi, Crow, Violet, Athena, Teach, and Wolf." Joker motions to all of them, with Sally giving them all a kind smile. But with introductions done, Joker turned his attention back to Jack, who was still looking at the Forget-Me-Nots. "That being said, are you still going through with this, Jack? With the Heartless and Demons attacking?”

            “There is no need to worry about that. Once we give the Heartless a heart, they will dance just as I have envisioned!” While the team shook their heads at Jack’s optimism, Sally could only look at the ground with worry in her eyes. Something that Jack could clearly see as he walked up to her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. “Trust me, Sally. You're going to love it.” And with that, Jack turned around to head back to Finkelstein’s lab, with the team following after him with growing uncertainty. But as they did, Oracle paused for a moment to glance at the tombstone at the far back. Something about it was giving her a strange feeling. Not that she bothered to check it as she chased after everyone back to town.

But the moment she left the graveyard, the tombstone moved ever so slightly, accompanied by the laughter of three kids as they scurried away into an underground passage, one leading all the way back to the giant hill in the distance. Each one of them jumped out into the moonlight, revealing the Halloween costumes and masks they were wearing. They had all heard about the conversation the team had in the graveyard, most of all the heart they were making for the Heartless, something that they all agreed to tell their master as they ran off over the hill, deeper into the dark wastes around them.

And when they did manage to inform him, while quivering together in a huddled pile, Oogie Boogie could not help but let out a joyful laugh at the news he had received.

            “A heart? That boneheaded Jack is REALLY making a heart? Well, I’ll be jiggered! That works for me!” He tells his three minions with as much of a smile as a sentient walking bag full of bugs could manage while spinning in place. “Oh, when I get my hands on that… Well, I’ve got no hands, but I’m still gonna nab that heart and take over the Heartless and Demons! And then, I’ll swipe those girl Thieves right from under them and find out which one is the Princess of Heart. Gyahahaha!” And while Oogie Boogie planned his next move in his bug mind, his three minions could do nothing but cower away in a corner, fearful of what he would have them do… or turn them into his next soup dish.

When the team delivered the Forget-Me-Nots to the doctor, they figured that would be all they needed to grab. At least, that was until they were told they needed one more ingredient for the heart. Surprise. Considering what everyone in this world lived to do, that sounded more than reasonable, even if they truly didn’t believe that they could easily make a heart with all these ingredients. It was during this time, as half of the group elected to stay in the lab, that Wolf found a torn page hidden away on a shelf. Out of sight and out of mind. A page that matched the other torn pages they had already found.

Meanwhile, with Sora’s group, they followed Jack back out to the graveyard, where they found the Mayor next to a giant pumpkin. He told them he would hand over the ingredient after they played a small game, or rather, just watched some ghosts fly out of some tombstones and remembered the order. This somehow made the giant pumpkin explode, revealing a Jack-in-the-box toy waiting for them. With the last ingredient found, the team returned to the doctor's lab, where he could barely hold back his excitement as he took the toy from them and repeated the experiment. They watched as the heart was soon brimming with life while the team could only watch with growing worry.

            “There you go. This time it's sure to work." Finkelstein remarks, gently picking up the heart and taking it to the table. With the Search Ghost lying still, ready to be given a heart, he got closer to the table when a small flash of light blue bumped into him, sending his wheelchair, himself, and the heart flying. While everyone watched in shock, the heart bounced around the room before landing in the hands of Lock, with the small devil running out of the room with Shock and Barrel hot on his heels.

            “Where did they come from?” Outlaw shouts as Spring and Noir help Finkelstein up.

            “I don’t know! I didn’t pick them up at all!” Oracle shouts, shaking her head. How they managed to evade her is a mystery for the ages.

            “Never mind that! Those hooligans have stolen my work! The nerve of those brats!" Finkelstein shouts, slamming a hand on his wheelchair the moment he got back in it.

            "Don't worry, Doctor Finkelstein. We'll do whatever it takes to get that heart back." Medic tells him as everyone else nods in agreement.

            "Quickly! We must go after them!" Jack shouts, leading the charge out of the lab with the rest of the team behind him. But despite their speed, the kids were seemingly faster, as they had managed to escape out of the town with no one knowing where they went. Except for one faithful ghost, Zero was signalling to Jack and the others by the graveyard, leading the team along the path the kids took to escape. But along the way, Teach couldn't help but ask Jack more about those three troublemakers.

            “Jack, what is the story behind those three?” She asks, riding up next to him at a steady pace. Jack blinks, somehow, and looks at her with surprise before letting out a sigh.

            “Those three kids, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, have a reputation in town. While mischievous trick-or-treaters, they mostly like to play harmless pranks for fun. But this is one prank that goes too far.” 

            “How could this be considered a prank?” Donald asks, shaking his head as the group follows Zero up the giant hill, which somehow managed to uncurl itself and form a bridge over a large wall. As they follow Zero over an old stone bridge with green water beneath them, they soon find themselves in a very desolate part of Halloween Town, where even the old, gnarly trees seem to be few and far between. This becomes apparent as they reach the end of a pathway and find themselves at a large, ancient tree.

Or rather, a dead, gnarly tree that was more of a twisted tower and had a giant house built into it. While it matched the look that Halloween Town had, it clearly did not have any safety in mind, considering how the pathways around it had no safety barriers, as well as the giant bear traps lining the area. It was not helped by the fact that part of the house looked like it was being eaten by a giant monster, and the cages that hung around it swayed with creaks in the wind. Although to the Thieves, it felt like something they might have seen in the Metaverse with how outlandish the look was; for Jack, it was something else entirely.

            “I KNEW Oogie Boogie was behind this!” He snarls, slamming a bony hand into a bony palm while grabbing the team's attention.

            “Oogie Boogie?” Skull asks, rubbing the side of his head. “You mean… the Bogeyman?” 

            “The Bogeyman does exist? What’s next, Santa Claus is real?” Oracle asks, shaking her head vigorously.

            “He doesn’t sound so tough.” Goofy remarks to Jack, who lets out a long sigh.

            “I wish that were the case. Oogie Boogie is the meanest, foulest person here in Halloween Town. In truth, Lock, Shock, and Barrel often work for him so much that they are all called ‘Boogie's Boys’, which is rather insulting to Shock. While we scare for fun and joy, Oogie shares none of that. His idea of ‘fun’ involves dangerous traps that go against our very code.” 

            “What sort of traps are we talking about, exactly?” Sophie asks curiously.

            “Saw blades, spinning scythes of doom, lava pits, spinning daggers, or even just firing guns.” Jack replies, causing everyone to sweat drop at how serious he is being. “In truth, everyone in town is afraid of him. I am the only one who refuses to be afraid, and no matter what that bag of bugs tries to do, I will never let him win!”

            “Either way, we need to start climbing if we want to find the heart.” Joker comments, taking a few steps forward onto the wooden bridge. “Let’s start—” Before he can finish, the plank of wood breaks under him, sending Joker plummeting to the ground. Or at least, it would have, were it not for one small thing about his attire. He has Arsène’s wings, so now he is struggling to control himself in the air while the rest of the team looks on in amusement. Even Jack can’t help but let out a chuckle at Joker’s unfortunate situation.

            “Sure, really funny, guys.” Joker tells them while flying upside down. “Now can you stop laughing and give me a hand here?!” For a moment, his concentration fails, and he falls, before flying back up, only to hit a nearby tree. This causes everyone to laugh at him even more until Edel activates her thrusters and takes to the air to help her brother, taking pity on his unfortunate situation and helping him get free from the tree.

            “Need a few tips on flying, bro?” She asks with a grin as Joker gives her a nod. While Edel helped Joker with his newfound flight, Mona looked at his own wings and wondered if he too could fly, while Oracle just summoned Necronomicon to fly up. Shrugging his shoulders, Mona decided to give it a test as he leapt off the bridge and found, to his surprise, that his wings, despite looking like they couldn't lift anything, actually worked in helping him fly. That suddenly made the rest of the grounded Thieves, along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, a little bit envious that they could all fly except for them.

But eventually, after navigating the bridge and its falling planks, the team entered Oogie’s Manor and started climbing. They found the inside to be surprisingly hollow despite its massive size. Not that it stopped them, even with the Heartless and Demons appearing to hinder them, along with a new variant: skeletal warriors dressed in red togas wielding two swords. A surprise, to be sure. But not an unwelcome one, as the team easily made their way through. Although they had a moment of fright when a Gargoyle managed to knock Sophie off the edge, it only showed that, just like Joker, she had Arsène’s wings. This only made Queen feel even more envious of the two. At least Sophie also had Anat’s tires, showing that, just like her, she could use them in a fight. Although Sora did grumble about how small his wings were and that he felt they should be bigger.

In truth, everyone had found out that some part of their transformed bodies could do something, like how Shinobi could act like a Shadow Heartless, or enemies' attacks would fly over Noir's shoulders, leaving his head untouched due to it being… well… missing. The same was true for Donald and the gaps in his own body, as a Daemon tried to skewer him from behind, only to go right through the gap in his stomach. Although it did tickle Noir and Donald when it happened.

Eventually, they managed to make it to the top, where they found a lone room at the end of a wooden pathway with ribcages growing along the side. The full moon loomed behind it. Not letting it intimidate them, the group entered the room only to find the three kids chucking the heart right into a chute. All three of them laughed at what they had done until each of them felt a single bony finger touch them on the shoulder. Their laughter stopped instantly as all three of them turned around slowly to see a very mad Jack displaying a frightening face while screaming like a banshee at them. It was a shock for the team to see that, but it had the intended effect of scaring all three of the kids into the corner as Jack looked over them with a very disappointed expression.

            “Lock, Shock, Barrel. I am VERY disappointed in you three. However, if you tell me where the heart has gone, I will consider lightening your punishment.” Jack tells them as the team gathers around him, all of them looking at the three kids whose masks are lying on the floor.

            “Oogie Boogie has the heart! We were just following orders to give it to him!” Lock tells them, but that only makes the group's glares even more intense.

            “It’s all Barrel's fault! He said we should tell Oogie Boogie about the heart!” Shock suddenly shouts, pointing at Barrel, who looks at them with a hurt expression.

            “Y-Yeah! That’s right!” Lock agrees, even as Barrel tries to speak up, only to be shut down by the other two.

            “You three certainly live up to the phrase ‘no honour among thieves’.” Crow comments, shaking his head. “However, we have no interest in your squabbles. Tell us where Oogie is, and we shall leave you alone in peace.” While Jack raised an eyebrow at that, despite not having any eyebrows to do so, what they got next was child’s play. Literally.

            “Oogie Boogie is in his secret hiding place, but we’re not supposed to tell you where. Oh, and we can’t talk about the lever either.” Barrel replies, to which the team can’t help but smirk at how easy Barrel is to spill the beans. Then again, he is only a kid.

            “You mean like this lever?” Mona asks, pulling down a lever that starts several gears along the wall.           

            “Yeah! That one!” Lock confirms before both boys have a face fault at what they have just revealed.

            “W-Well… good luck finding Oogie Boogie! You’ll never find the green door!” Shock taunts as the team leaves, only turning their smirks into smiles as Teach turns back to them.

            “So, if we find that green door, we'll find Oogie then? Thanks for the tip, kids." She tells them before leaving, with Wolf holding the door open and shooting the kids one last smirk.

            “Full marks for you.” He taunts, closing the door with the last thing he saw being the growing panic on all three of the kids' faces. Was it cruel to taunt those three? Maybe. Did they deserve it? Also maybe. Did they bring it on themselves? Possibly. But as the team descended the steps, Goofy couldn’t help but voice his opinion on what had happened.

            “You know, I may be a goof, but even I’m not that dumb.” His remark got chuckles from the team as they faced off against another squad of Heartless and Demons. It was hard to blame those three anyway for spilling the beans. After all, they were still just kids.

As it turned out, finding where Oogie's hideout was located was a cakewalk. Hard not to be when the green door they were looking for was sticking out of the roots like a glowing neon sign. Then again, the guillotine located above the door did give them pause until Fox decided to freeze it in place. With the potential threat out of the way, the group entered Oogie's lair, which turned out to be… a giant casino roulette. All of a sudden, the original eight Thieves felt that they were back in Athena's Palace, despite how the roulette had spikes and dangerous blades around it. Clearly more Halloween-based than anything else. But it was the giant sack standing at the very top that soon had the team's attention as Jack pointed a finger at it.

            “Oogie Boogie! Give me back the heart!”

            “Hold up, THAT’S the Bogeyman!?” Oracle shouts as everyone looks at the giant sack with great disappointment. “Hell, MARA is more frightening than he is!” 

            “Seriously. I can’t believe I was ever afraid of him as a kid!” Violet agrees, shaking her head. While everyone else is ready to agree, Sora is wondering what this ‘Mara’ Oracle mentioned is.

            “What’s a Mara?” Sora asks, only to be met with the shell-shocked faces of all the Thieves.

            “You don't want to know.” They all tell him in subdued voices while Oogie lets out a giant laugh.

            "Well, well, well, nice to see you as always, Jack." Oogie says sarcastically before looking at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves. "And it's a pleasure to meet the troublemakers who've been hindering Maleficent's plans."

            "Maleficent!? You're working with her!?" Sora asks as he and everyone else summon their weapons. Including Medic and Devil, who were told earlier of what's been going on while they were helping Jack and Finkelstein with the rest of the ingredients.

            "Guilty as charged." Oogie answers with a giant grin on his face. "You all have been nothing but thorns in Maleficent's side, and now I will see to it that your meddling ends here."

As soon as he said that, Oogie picked up the heart and showed it to Jack.

           "You want the heart back, Jack?" Oogie asks. "Then come on over and get it!" And before anyone could act, Oogie eats the heart in one gulp, shocking everyone while also letting them see just what was inside him: nothing but countless bugs. "Now then, let's see if I can get their attention! Oh, Heartless and Demons!" But while the team readied themselves for a full-on swarm, all that appeared next to Oogie was a couple of Gargoyles, two Daemons, and two of the new ones. Judging by the surprised look on his face, this was not what he was expecting. "Uh… that's it?"” 

            “Are you supposed to be scary, Oogie? So far, you are the ONLY thing that hasn’t scared me at all.” Queen calls out, mocking him with a smirk while Joker and Sophie nod in agreement. But that seemed to be the last straw as Oogie lets out a low growl while curling his non-existent hands into fists.

            “Nobody disrespects me! NOBODY!” Just then, the platform everyone was on turns into a steep slope, dropping everyone into the roulette machine as Oogie lets out a laugh while the Heartless and four Demons attack.

            “Not again! I’m fed up with these pitfall traps!” Mona shouts in annoyance as he parries away a Gargoyle.

            “Damn it! What now!?” Skull shouts as one of the skeletal warriors attacks him. “Damn Turdak! Bug off!” 

            “Remember, guys! Turdaks are weak to Wind but resist Dark and Curse!” Oracle calls out, blasting one with Kouga while Mona unleashes a Magarula, only for flaming dice to fall around them and force them back. “What the!?”

            “Gone, baby!” Oogie cries out, throwing flaming dice from above and onto the team, forcing them to dodge out of the way before he throws a pair of dice that aren’t on fire, all three of them showing a one that Oogie couldn’t help but chuckle at. “BUZZ SAW!” At his call, a giant buzz saw shoots out from the side of the area, bouncing off the walls and forcing everyone to either duck or dodge as Oogie laughs out loud, at least until he is hit by a Strike Raid from Sora, with Spring letting an arrow fly in tandem while Shinobi throws her kunai at Oogie, forcing the walking sack of bugs to move while throwing more dice at them.

            “We have to keep the pressure on him!” Outlaw shouts, firing a Riot Gun at Oogie Boogie, who jumps to his feet to avoid the shots, dropping two more dice that land on the floor and total four.

            “Time to chop some heads!” Oogie calls out, with three scythes dropping from above and spinning around the roulette table, forcing everyone to either duck or jump over the scythes. This is something that Teach found extremely annoying as she took aim at Oogie Boogie with her RPG and fired a missile at him, with Edel firing her own missiles as well. They hit him square in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall. With Oogie temporarily taken out, the scythes retract, only for several Wight Knights and Daemons to appear instead, not giving the team a chance to rest as Oogie peels himself off the wall.

            “You little pests are getting on my nerves!” Oogie calls down at them, watching as Wolf and Crow cleave through several Wight Knights while Sophie, Violet, and Athena take care of some Daemons. Feeling his temper rising, Oogie throws more fire dice down at them, with Goofy deflecting some into the Heartless while Jack dances around them, sending out blasts of Thundara and Gravira around him. As Oogie gets ready to throw more flaming dice down, a blast of fire and thunder from Panther and Skull forces him to drop his dice once again onto the floor. But the number they added up to this time was snake eyes. “WHAT!? Snake eyes!?” He slams his foot on the ground, causing the dice to jump up and show a different number. “TWELVE!”

            “Uh-oh…” Donald comments, not liking the joy in Oogie’s voice as he walks up to the highest spot in the room.

            “Looks like I’ve won the jackpot! Time for you to meet the most hideous demon that has been lent to me! One that a certain someone enjoys having around!” Everyone tenses up as a large door appears on the side of the room, engraved with Oogie’s grinning face as it slowly opens, with smoke billowing out. “Say hello to the most fearsome, most ferocious, most disgusting Demon to ever roam Halloween Town! Say hello… to the—!”

            “NOOO!!”

            “WHY!?!?”

            “WHY IS THAT HERE!?”

            “NOT AGAIN!”

            “WHY CAN’T WE ESCAPE IT!?”

            “GO AWAY!”

            “ARE WE CURSED!?”

            “I'm starting to think so!”

            “Urgh…”

            “Mom! I can’t see!”

            “THERE’S A CHILD HERE!”

            “A bit late there, Devil.”

            “I’m glad Ace is not here…”

Oogie found himself speechless upon hearing the reaction from the girls, not expecting such a response from them at all. It certainly killed what he was going to finish saying as his pet Demon rolled into the area. As for the guys, they were looking at it with resignation in their eyes.

            “Why…? Just why?”

            “I want to know too, Joker.”

            “C’mon, man… seriously?”

            “I hate this…”

            “Disgusting…”

            “Why THAT of all things?”

            “Ace, I am so glad you are not here right now.”

            “That’s… a Demon?”

            “Sora! Don’t look!”

            “Too late, Goofy.”

            “Oh my… that’s far too disgusting for Halloween.”

No one was going to complain about that, as the dreaded Mara made its appearance once more. Although it did not stay for long, Noir immediately blasted it with Psio, followed closely by Fox slicing at it with a Tempest Slash. Not giving the Mara a chance to counter, Donald hit it with Stopra, allowing Medic and Devil to slice the Mara up as Queen delivered a devastating punch directly to its face, returning it to whatever dark pit it spawned from. As for Oogie, he couldn't believe how fast they took down the Mara as he got ready to run again.

At least, he was going to until he found Joker, Edel, Mona, Sophie, and Oracle floating before him with Sora hanging from Necronomicon. Oogie only had a moment of realization to understand he was in for a world of pain until all six of them jumped on him at the same time, each of them slamming their weapons into him while those sitting below could only wince at the sounds coming from above. Then an explosion echoed from above, with all six of them being thrown off the balcony and back into the pit, while Oogie walked up looking none the worse for wear. Or so he thought, as Mona had somehow managed to grab a piece of string from him. One that Jack took from him with gentle grace.

            “How dare you treat my friends so shamefully!” Jack shouts at Oogie, glaring at him with the same expression he gave to Lock, Shock, and Barrel before yanking on the string, ripping off Oogie’s sack and revealing the countless inner bugs that make him up.

            “Look what you have done! My bugs! My bugs! My bugs…!” As Oogie cries out for his bugs, he grows smaller and smaller as bugs rain down from above and onto the ground below, until only the heart remains standing, with all that is left of Oogie Boogie being his burlap sack. As for the heart itself, it has ceased beating.

            “So, that heart was a failure after all…” Jack comments sadly, looking at the non-functioning heart as a slip of paper floats down towards them. One that Athena quickly grabs.

            “Probably for the best.” Violet comments as the team leaves the roulette chamber. “Besides, I’m sure you can think of something else that will be a lot scarier than this.” Jack looks at her, giving Violet a smile as the group returns to the bridge, finding the area free of Heartless and Demons once more. But the moment they cross the bridge, the entire area is struck by an earthquake, almost sending everyone to the ground.

But as everyone turned around to Oogie’s Manor, they were shocked to see it covered in black smoke as Oogie’s voice echoed over them. By the time the smoke cleared, Oogie had somehow fused with his home, although it did nothing to make him scarier in that regard.

            “How did Oogie get so big?” Sora asks as they look over the now-giant Oogie. 

            “I think I can tell you that.” Oracle comments as a screen appears before her. “I’m picking up seven pockets of energy around Oogie that are powering him up. If we destroy them, we should be able to finish him off for good.” 

            “Do you know where they are?” Donald asks. Oracle nods, bringing up a map of Oogie that details the seven points where the dark magic is emanating.

            “Well, I suppose that makes this easy.” Joker commented as he gave his wings a flap. “Those of us who can fly, start from the top and work our way down. Those who can’t, start from the bottom. Let’s not give Oogie a chance to counter!” With that, Joker, Mona, Edel, Sophie, and Oracle took flight while the rest leaped down to the bottom. But it soon became apparent that it wouldn’t be an easy fight.

Even though Oogie was now rooted in place, he could still swing his right arm about to try to hit Joker and the others. Every time he did so, flames would gush out from the cage strung from his arm. Not only that, but a giant gash in his stomach spewed out a dark mist that forced Sora’s team to halt in their tracks, waiting for the mist to vanish. While they waited, several Heartless and Demons ambushed them from behind, forcing them to fight as they waited. But eventually, after having to dodge another swing from Oogie’s arm, Mona had had enough.

            “Garula!” Mona shouts, blasting the cage with wind magic. To his surprise, he manages to cut the string holding it to Oogie's arm, sending it slamming down onto the Heartless below and freeing Sora's team as they find the first dark spot. Panther blasts it with Agilao the moment they get close. As for Joker's group, they find another spot all the way at the top as Oogie sends out more flames from the cage at them, forcing them to do aerial manoeuvres as they shoot the dark spot with various spells until Sophie manages to destroy it with Kouga. But while it is easy to wipe out the dark spots on the way down, by the time they regroup with Sora's team, they soon have a problem.

            “Where’s the seventh spot?!” Noir shouts, cleaving a Wight Knight in two.

            “We didn’t see it on the way down!” Edel calls back, firing her wrist guns at some Gargoyles. “You guys sure you got them all on the way up!?” 

            “Positive!” Wolf calls out, blocking a Turdak while Violet and Spring double-team some Daemons. “Unless we missed a spot!” 

            “I think we did!” Oracle calls out, scanning the area while Goofy, Teach, and Athena give her cover. “I’m getting a reading on Oogie’s lower back!” 

            “Lower back!?” Skull shouts, ducking under a Search Ghost as Panther whips it away. “How did we miss that!?” 

            “We can ask that later!” Joker calls out, firing his gun with Queen by his side at several Poltergeists. Sophie stands next to them with Mona, batting away several Shadow Heartless. “Right now, we need to destroy that last spot!”

            “Then allow me!” Jack suddenly shouts as he grabs both Sora and Oracle and leaps off the side, grabbing onto a piece of rope as he spins around while Sora and Oracle cry out in surprise. But Jack’s sudden move is effective, as they soon find themselves at the back of Oogie Boogie, with the last dark spot pulsating on his back. “There!”

            “We’ve got it! Fira!

            “Eiga!”

Sora and Oracle's attack seemingly joined together as they streaked toward the dark spot. The attack slammed into the spot and destroyed it instantly. What followed was instantaneous, as Oogie Boogie started to collapse in on himself, with wood, stone, and pieces of cloth flaking off him as fires burst out of his body. As for the team still on top of him, they all leapt off the moment Oogie started to collapse, making sure they got far enough away as Jack, Sora, and Oracle regrouped with them. Out of the corner of their eyes, they could see Lock, Shock, and Barrel running away with a small blue bug in their hands, escaping from the collapsing building as Oogie Boogie started to vanish into black smoke.

But while the team felt relief at seeing Oogie Boogie defeated, what was left behind was a very pleasant surprise. It was the Keyhole, glowing in the ground where Oogie’s home was once located. The one spot he apparently never searched, but then again, how would he even know that the Keyhole was under his own house? Not that Sora or the others were going to question it as Sora took aim at the moon and fired a blue beam of light into the sky. The beam exploded mid-air and rained down like rain on the Keyhole, locking it as it vanished in a blue glow, leaving behind a single Keychain and half of a Navi-Gummi Block.

Something that Sora picked up with glee as the group turned back to Halloween Town, with a silent Jack who took a moment to look back at where Oogie’s Manor once was and let out a long sigh.

His plans for Halloween were gone. But what hurt him even more was that everyone was telling him that it wasn’t going to work, yet he pressed on regardless, ignoring all the signs of danger, no matter what others told him. Looking back on what he had done, Jack couldn’t help but feel stupid for ignoring their pleas, Sally more than anyone else. That was why, when they got back to the lab and informed Doctor Finkelstein of the heart's failure, Jack couldn’t help but look at Sally with regret in his eyes.

            “Sally… why did I not listen to you?” He asks her with clear regret in his voice. But while he expected Sally to shout at him for failing to listen to her, she instead smiled gently and walked up to him to hold his hands.

            “Don’t feel bad, Jack. We’ll come up with a better plan for Halloween. Next time, we’ll do it together.” Jack couldn’t help but smile back at her as the resident couples in the Thieves found themselves all standing closer to each other or giving one-armed hugs.

            “I hope you have given up on your plans, yes?” Crow asks Jack, who nods in response. 

            “Yes. The Heartless Halloween is hereby cancelled. It is far too dangerous to try to control them. That, and those Demons that accompanied them are far too destructive for Halloween.” Jack agrees readily as the team all smiles and nods back at him. But there was one person in the room who wasn’t paying attention, with his back turned to all of them.

            “Emotion, memory… We put all the necessary ingredients together… What else do you need to make a heart?” Finkelstein asks aloud before turning to the team. “What even is a heart, anyway? I can’t figure it out!” 

            “It is the greatest mystery.” Fox admits while Edel and Sophie glance at each other. They embody that mystery more than anything else, having created hearts of their own. And they still don’t know how that happened in the first place. “Regardless, it is time for us to depart. We still have friends missing that we need to find.”

            “I suppose that means you won't be staying for the festival. A shame, but I understand." Jack replies with a smile. "I wish you all luck on your journey. And please, know that you are always welcome in Halloween Town! Now and forevermore!” 

            “We’ll be back. Count on it.” Sora replies with a smile as the team and the six puppies leave. They had to find a secluded spot before beaming back up to the Highwind, but that shouldn’t be too hard with how dark Halloween Town was. As they made their way back to the main entrance, Joker noticed that a certain someone was acting much less scared than when they first arrived.

            “Looks like you finally got used to this world, Queen.” He tells her, earning a surprised look from her before she lets out a smile.

            “Well, why would I be? This place is all about the holiday, after all.” She puts an arm around Joker, the two of them trailing at the end of the group. “I’ll admit, I was being silly for being scared of everything around here. What we faced in the Metaverse and Kingdoms was far worse than this.” 

            “Can’t argue with that.” Joker replies as they join the others, just as they are beamed aboard the Highwind. But unknown to all of them, even as they set their destinationback for Travers Town, the next location they were heading to would be a sudden stop, and none of them would be ready for it. Or the truth of what the Highwind once was.

Chapter Text

Chapter 25: Planet Fall.

            “Man, does it feel SO good to be human again!” Ohya remarks as she stretches her arms in Café Leblanc, with Tae next to her and an empty plate right before them. They had decided to return to Traverse Town to see if Cid could do anything with the Gummi Block they found or if Nektar had finished with that Orichalcum, while Sophia took the pups they had found back to Pongo and Perdita. “Although that doesn’t only apply to us now, does it? I still can’t believe that Morgana, Isara, AND Sophia are human now!”

            “Better get used to it, because we’re here to stay.” Morgana quips with a grin while Sojiro shakes his head. Ohya had been going on about how great it was to be human again after getting back on board the Highwind, but it surprised them when both she and Tae decided to stay here in Traverse Town instead of coming with them, even though the Highwind could easily fit everybody. Then again, so could the new Leblanc.

            “Still, are you sure you want to stay here? You can accompany us if you want.” Makoto asks, pushing some hair back.

            “We’re sure.” Tae replies, nursing some coffee. “Leave managing the home base to us. You kids focus on locating the source of all this trouble. Besides, it’s what you’re best at doing, right?” Ren and Makoto couldn’t really say no to that as they shook their heads.

            “In that case, we should be heading out.” Ren comments, pushing himself up. “Sumire thought she spotted a world not far from Halloween Town that needs checking, so we’re going to explore that first.”

            “Just don’t do anything crazy, you hear?” Sojiro remarks, folding his arms. “None of us have a ship to come help you if you get in trouble.” 

            “Don’t worry. We’ll be careful.” Morgana quips as the trio leaves Leblanc. They find everyone already gathering in the central plaza, waiting for them to join back up. But unbeknownst to them, their movements are being watched.

            “I told you that sack of bugs couldn’t beat them.” Kamoshida remarks, folding his arms. “And now I need to summon a new Mara.” 

            “Why do you even HAVE a Demon like that?” Kusumoto, the former SIU Director, asks, shaking his head. “I swear, you think more with that than with your brain. If you had used it in the first place, you could have gotten rid of the Thieves before they even became the threats they are now!” Kamoshida growls at the former director, knowing that he was right even if he wanted to argue.

            “It matters not what happened in the past.” Maleficent remarks, looking at the hologram. “We must ensure steps are taken so that the same outcome does not come to pass.”

            “And what do you suggest we do?” Madarame asks, arms folded. “Our powers are returning to us at a frustratingly slow pace. If we were to engage them now, it would end in disaster.”

            “Oh, I know. And I have no intention of sending you to face them in such a state." Maleficent agrees, walking around the pedestal. "It is why I have decided to have that second castle built. In the event they make their way to Hollow Bastion, we will still have one to operate from if our main one falls, even if it is far from completion.”

            “Better to hide in the shadows and gather our strength than to challenge them in the open in a weakened state." Kaneshiro agrees. "And besides, as long as we stay hidden, they won't find us unless they stumble across us or we reveal ourselves to them, which is something we remember quite well.”

            “Perhaps we should discuss something else.” Kobayakawa comments, walking into the room with Okumura. “What shall we do about the Thieves? They need to be stopped, and soon.”

            “Worry not, for they are entering Tamiel’s domain.” Maleficent remarks, looking at the hologram of the Highwind. “Tamiel has been rather vocal about his kind's abilities, even if they are not appearing in the world he has made his base. I wonder how the Keybearer and his friends will deal with these… Phantoms.”

            “And what about the outcome in which they beat Tamiel?” Okumura asks Maleficent, who looks at him with a smirk.

            “Should they win, a certain pirate will be in a position to ambush them, along with our special guest.” Maleficent turns back to the hologram, her smile widening. “Yes… very soon the Princess of Heart among these Thieves will be revealed to us. And once she is, she will be ours for the taking, no matter what they try to do to stop us.”

Flying through the vast reaches of space, the Highwind continued on its steady course. With nothing to do, the team aboard the Highwind took a chance to either rest in the cabins, train in the training room, or relax in the lounge as they waited for the next world to appear. But as they travelled, Shiho took a moment to look outside as a thought crossed her mind.

            “So… has anyone noticed how space is glowing with different colours?” She asks Yusuke, Sae, Haru, Mishima, and Sumire. "At Traverse Town and Olympus, the colour of the space was blue, while Deep Jungle was a deep red and blue.”

            “Wonderland and Agrabah are the same.” Haru admits, brushing some hair back. “But now we are travelling in a space that is predominantly yellow.”

            “I suppose it's better than travelling through a black void.” Sumire comments, shrugging her shoulders. Now that they think about it, it is strange how space looks like this. But after everything they have experienced so far, it is the least shocking thing for them to consider.

            “Anyway, are we near the next world yet? We’ve been travelling for a while now.” Mishima asks, pulling a leg up. But before anyone could respond, the ship rocked from an impact on its right wing, almost sending everyone to the floor and more than likely waking those sleeping upstairs. “What was that!?”

“We’re under attack! Everyone to the bridge!”

            “Who’s attacking us!? Heartless or Demons!?” Sumire shouts as they head for the bridge, with everyone else either running down the stairs or rushing out of the training room right behind them.

            “What’s going on!?” Futaba shouts as she and Mishima take their stations next to Lavenza, with the rest of the team sitting around the bridge.

            “We’re being attacked by two unknown foes.” Lavenza replies, bringing up a screen of their attackers. But what they saw sent a chill down their spines.

            “The hell!? They look like the Highwind!” Ryuji shouts as, on the screen before them, they see two ships that look exactly like the Highwind firing at them. The only difference is that they seem to be made of a red and black material that appears to be biological in nature. The front part of the ship dips down slightly, while a massive turret emerges halfway up from the front.

            “We can worry about what they are later! Right now, we need to—!” Before Ren could finish, another vibration rocked the ship as an alarm blared. “What now!?”

            “We’ve been boarded!” Shiho shouts, sitting at her station and showing the ship's readout. “Something crashed into the left side of the ship!”

            “We’ll check it out!” Sora shouts as he, Donald, and Goofy head to the exit, only for the door to open before they reach it. But what came out caused them to pause, as a strange humanoid walked toward them. Seemingly made out of the same material as the attacking ship, it was wearing what looked to be futuristic armour and a helmet while wielding a sword glowing with dark red energy. Before any of them could react, the strange figure attacked Sora, forcing him to summon his new Keyblade: Pumpkinhead. A black metal shaft with a head designed after a bat, while the guard had Jack's face in a circular pattern based on Jack's clothes. 

            “Sora!” Goofy cries, helping Sora bat away the foe while Donald blasts it with Fira. The spell seemingly turns the foe into a puddle, confusing the three while the others rush up to him.

            “What was that?!” Ann asks with wide eyes, just as the ship lurches from another impact.

            “Those ships are still firing on us.” Lavenza replies calmly, already moving into evasive action as a third ship attacks from behind.

            “And those intruders are moving to the engine room!” Shiho calls out from her station, the implications of her warning already sending a cold dread down everyone’s spines.

            “Mishima, Shiho! Stay here and man the guns and keep an eye on the ship's stats! Everyone else, repel the intruders!" Ren calls out, already shifting into Thief form, followed by the rest of the team, excluding Mishima and Shiho. Without wasting a second, they rush into the lounge, finding a large cylinder of the same material as the ship sticking right into the left side of the ship, right next to the bar, yet somehow managing to avoid hitting it. That was the least of their worries, as a strange liquid seeped from the cylinder and onto the floor, forming more of those strange soldiers, some armed with guns, as they slowly walked toward either them, up the stairs, or to the engine room.

            “The hell are these freaks!?” Skull shouts as the team gets ready for a fight. But as Oracle does a scan, the name she receives back from all of them is completely confusing. 

            “The hell? They are just called Phantoms! Weak to Light and Bless, but null to Dark and Curse!” 

            “Phantoms? That's all?” Noir asks, tilting her head just as one of the Phantoms aims a gun at her, only for Wolf to take aim with a revolver and shoot it in the head, instantly dissolving it.

            “We can talk about their names later! For now, we need to get that hunk of metal, or whatever it is, out of the ship!” He shouts, indicating the strange cylinder spawning more of these 'Phantoms'.

            “You heard him! Split into three groups!" Edel shouts, dashing forward while her blades come to life, slicing at the Phantoms with quick efficiency as battle ensues. Joker leads a team up the stairs with Mona, Donald, Skull, Panther, and Crow, while Queen leads a group consisting of Sophie, Sora, Fox, Oracle, and Teach towards the training hall and engine, as Edel's group, consisting of Noir, Goofy, Shinobi, Violet, Athena, and Wolf, works on kicking the hunk of metal out of the lung of the ship. Although there is a slight problem with that. 

            “How do we get rid of the cylinder and not lose our air!?” Violet asks, sending a blast of Kougaon at the attacking Phantoms. It is a legitimate question; after all, that cylinder is now the only thing stopping the air from rushing out of the ship and dragging all of them along with it.

            “Noir! Can you make a forcefield with your Psy magic?" Athena asks, unleashing a Megidola on a Phantom. Noir looks at Athena, taken aback by the question. She had never even tried to do anything like that, and yet, would she be able to do so?

            “I don’t know!” She calls back honestly, spinning her axe around and taking several down. “But I can try!” 

            “In that case, Shinobi, use your Psy magic as well and get this cylinder out of the ship!” Wolf cries out, spinning his great sword around and trying not to cut up the furniture at the same time. “Goofy, Edel! Give them cover!” 

            “No problem!” Goofy calls out as he and Edel run to Noir and Shinobi’s side while the two focus on the gap in the hull. Meanwhile, with Joker’s team, they find that the Phantoms have broken into the central chamber above, where Persona Alice has spent much of her time. She is finding these foes to be a hard battle due to their affinities nullifying her magic. Not that it saved them when Joker and his team came in from behind.

            “Alice! You okay!?" Joker calls out, dagger stabbing into a Phantom's back while Crow blasts another with his beam pistol. Panther is already getting to work as she burns the Phantoms up with Agidyne, while Skull fights back with Deathbound. As for Donald, he is casting Aerora on the Phantoms, not as a protective shield but as an offensive weapon. This is something that Sora is already picking up on in their training sessions.

            “I’m fine. But these new foes are my bane!” Persona Alice shouts, floating away from a Phantom, only to let out a gasp of shock as one of them takes aim not at her, but at a certain point above her. Before she can react, the Phantom opens fire, the black round slamming through the metal and hitting something critical as alarms start to blare inside the ship. 

            “What did it hit!?” Panther asks, using her whip to grab the Phantom’s gun and pull it out of its hands, with Mona rushing up and slicing his dagger down its back.

“The air supply has been hit! We’re losing oxygen!”

Shiho’s worried voice echoes throughout the ship as another rumble vibrates through it.

“The right warp drive is damaged! We can’t warp back to Traverse Town!”

            “That's not good…” Donald comments worriedly as Joker and Crow share a grimace. Whatever these Phantoms were, they weren't mindless creatures like the Heartless or Demons. Meanwhile, Queen's group was busy fighting their way through the training room, noticing that the Phantoms were already hard at work opening the door leading to the engine room. If they got inside, then it would all be over for them! 

            “Freidyne!” Queen shouts, sending a powerful blast of Nuke energy right at the Phantoms near the door. The blast manages to engulf them all, but the door has been partially opened, resulting in some flames getting into the engine room, though not far enough to do any damage. However, it was already too much of a risk as the group forced their way to it. Just as they were about to reach it, one of the Phantoms took out a grenade and tossed it into the small gap.

            “No!” Oracle shouts in alarm, watching as the grenade flies inside. Just as it does, it detonates, blowing the doors open and damaging several crucial systems inside, as the warning lights flashing around them clearly indicate.

“The sub boosters are no longer responding! Engine output has been reduced to 75%!”

Shiho’s voice echoes as Sora unleashes a Sonic Blade on the Phantoms, followed closely by Fox and Teach dashing their way through the Phantoms. Oracle and Sophie rush into the engine room, hoping to fix whatever they can while Queen takes up position at the entrance, beating back any Phantom that gets close to her.

As for the Phantom Ships outside, they continued to attack the Highwind as it struggled to fight back. With several of its internal systems damaged, the Highwind lost crucial manoeuvrability against these Phantom Ships. However, there was one system that was still working at full power.

            “Got one!” Mishima calls out, firing the ship's guns at a Phantom Ship and blowing it apart. A second one dashed through the debris but was quickly met by the same fate, while the third ship suddenly became a lot more cautious in its attacks. However, it seemed satisfied with what had been done, as it soon left without an issue, seemingly abandoning the Phantoms on board the Highwind.

As for the reason why, Shinobi had managed to push the cylinder that was constantly spawning Phantom soldiers out of the ship, with Noir managing to erect a barrier to keep the air in. Without their constant stream of reinforcements, the Phantoms fell to the team in quick succession. However, the damage that had been done was already severe, as the team, except for Noir, returned to the bridge while changing back into their normal clothes.

            “This isn’t good… We’ve lost a lot of crucial systems.” Shiho comments, a schematic of the ship before her. “Air supply has been compromised, and we’ve lost power to the booster engines while the main engines are operating at less efficiency. Not to mention the external damage we’ve received, and the right warp drive is damaged.” 

            “For a bunch of copies calling themselves Phantoms, they certainly knew what to target.” Futaba comments, shaking her head while Persona Alice floated nervously next to Lavenza.

            “But what do we do?” Sora asks with worry in his eyes. “We’re too far from Halloween Town to get back for repairs.” While everyone is brainstorming what to do, a small chuckle from Lavenza breaks the tension. 

            “It would seem that luck has not yet left us.” Lavenza comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Despite the chaos of the fight, we have neared a new world where we can take refuge. However, with the damage the Highwind has sustained, I will need to land the ship to conduct repairs.” 

            “How long will that take?” Kawakami asks, prompting Lavenza to turn to her.

            “It won't take long. Ren's Personas can help with the repairs. Speaking of which, they have all almost reached their former strength, yet they still need time to adjust to the real world, with Alice being the only exception.” 

            “Does this mean that Alice can rejoin us?” Sophia asks, tilting her upper body. To answer her question, Alice simply smiles at her before turning into a copy of Ren’s mask and fusing with his, returning once more to his heart, ready to help whenever she is called.

            “She has yet to regain her full strength, but she has enough returned to her that she can once more fight by your side.” Lavenza replies before turning back to the console and bringing up the viewing screen. "As for the world we are near…" All eyes turn to the screen, expecting to see another strange-looking world. Yet what appeared before them was instead a very normal-looking planet against a starry backdrop. From what they could tell, there appeared to be three large continents on this world, with the oceans appearing a crystal-clear blue. "This is the nearest one I can find, and it is a world that the Highwind already has some limited data on. Apparently, it is a world called Roak.” 

            “Huh… A normal-looking world for a change.” Isara comments as Lavenza takes the ship into the planet's atmosphere, heading for what looks to be a large central continent. But as they descend towards the planet, a sudden thought comes over them that they honestly should have talked about first.

            “Wait! What about the World Order!?” Donald shouts in alarm as Lavenza hits a switch next to her. 

            “Do not worry. At our last stop in Traverse Town, Cid and I managed to bring the Highwind’s cloaking system online, although we found no use for the Navi-Gummi just yet. No one will be able to find it except us.” 

            “Why didn’t we have that on when we were travelling?” Akechi asks, shaking his head as they see Lavenza take them toward a large mountain overlooking a coast with a lighthouse. “A lighthouse? Interesting.” Akechi admits as a large landing area is found at the stop, with Haru joining them with beads of sweat on her forehead. Now that they were in the atmosphere, Haru didn’t need to keep the field up, but it was certainly a draining task. As Lavenza takes them in, the computers before her bleep out a warning before turning the ship around into a specific area.

            “What was that?” Ann asks, noticing how the ship seems to change spots without Lavenza doing anything. 

            “It would seem that there is already something resting where I was going to land us. But it would appear to be invisible as well.” That got everyone’s attention as they looked outside. What could already be sitting there that was large enough to make the Highwind change course?

            “That is certainly interesting…” Sae remarks before looking over at Futaba, who is standing at her station with wide eyes. “Futaba? What’s wrong?” 

            “I’ve got a hit!” She shouts with glee, turning around to face the others. “I’m picking up three friendly contacts nearby! Not only that, but a large town is located next to them as well.” 

            “For real?! Sweet!" Ryuji cheers, pumping his fist in the air. 

            “I suppose this is a blessing in disguise.” Yusuke comments to Ren, who nods his head in agreement.

            “In that case, let's head out and find out who’s here. Then, we’ll stop at the town and find out where we are.” With unanimous agreement, the team leaves the Highwind, stepping into an area that is rich with green grass and trees. A gentle and clean breeze flows over them, while a small river rushes by nearby. The air is tinted with the smell of the sea. After everything they have seen and done, this place feels more than relaxing already.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucdQk2-56Zc : Past Days)

            “Suddenly, I feel like I’m back home in Japan.” Haru comments as the team takes in the warm atmosphere around them, along with the distant sound of the ocean not far away. 

            “How far is it to the town?” Sae asks Futaba. 

            “Should be a pretty simple path. Just keep following the dirt road.” Futaba comments, indicating the path. With nothing else left to say, the team follows Futaba’s direction, descending from the large mountain they had landed on down to a beachfront. There, they find themselves next to a small pier and lighthouse, but it is the people standing at the pier that have the team's attention.

            “Huh… looks like the people living here are like Morgana.” Ann remarks, indicating the two cat-like people nearby, both of whom have ears and tails like Morgana, although one of them has a bushier tail than the other. 

            “Do you think they know a route to the town?” Hifumi asks Ren, who shrugs his shoulders. 

            “Well, it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” Zenkichi remarks as he fixes his tie. “Let’s put our best foot forward, people. We don’t want to give the locals the wrong impression.” With the confidence of an experienced officer, Zenkichi walks up to the two locals, who eye him with a degree of interest.

            “Hello there. Are you all related to the other group that passed by?” One of them asks, surprising Zenkichi before he even asks his question. “They were a rather strange group. There were even footsteps appearing behind them out of thin air.” 

            “Erm… no, we are not. We didn’t even know there was another group walking past here.” Zenkichi replies, readjusting his glasses. “I hope I am not being rude, but can you point us to the nearest town? We are a bit lost, as it were.” 

            “Nearest town? That would be Tatroi. Just follow the path, and you’ll be there. It’s also where you can enter Astral City, the capital of the Astralian continent.” 

            “Really? You have my thanks.” Zenkichi replies, giving the man a bow.

            “Don't worry about it. By the way, if you head past Tatroi, you will find the port of Tropp. You can head to either the Muah continent or the Silvalant continent from there. But…" The boy glances at the girl next to him before taking a step forward. "…to be honest, my dream is to found a new port town here to make it easier to reach the Muah continent. I'm hoping the king will like my idea one day.” 

            “I see… Thank you for the information, my good man. And keep working towards your dream. Who knows, you might just make it real one day." Zenkichi replies before peeling away back to the others. By the time he joined them, they had moved down the beach a little bit more, finding nothing but tall cliffs forming their path.

            “What did you learn?” Akechi asks as Zenkichi rejoins them with a grin. 

            “Quite a bit. Apparently, we are on the Astralian continent, the other being Muah and Silvalant. The town we are heading to is called Tatroi, and it is the only way to reach the capital, Astral City.” 

            “That’s good to know. So we are basically on our way to the capital city.” Donald remarks, folding his arms.

            “Yes, but that is not all. Apparently, there is another group of people who passed by them. According to the boy I spoke to, footprints were appearing behind them from thin air.” That got everyone’s suspicion as they all let out a curious hum. This group certainly sounded… suspicious. 

            “There is a chance we might encounter them in Tatroi.” Makoto comments, her hand on her chin. “What should we do, Ren?” 

            “For now, I’d say we play it by ear. It’s far too early to jump to conclusions, especially since we are stuck here until Lavenza can repair the Highwind.” It was all they could do as the team made their way along the only path open to them. Moving through the winding paths, the sand under their feet soon transitioned to dirt and grass, with the bare cliffs around them soon covered in trees and grass. Eventually, one of the cliffs parted way for a large rushing river, with more mountains on the other side, while a wooden fence blocked off the river’s edge. Following the river soon brought them to a forest, where a wooden bridge, aged but well-used, allowed the team to traverse smaller rivers while the sun beamed down above.

Cloud cover gently rolled over, mixing with the shade of the trees as a small town soon started to emerge from the side of the mountain. Aged stone walls lined with moss, all leading up to a small entrance that led inside the walled town. But while the town looked to be their main destination, it wasn’t where Futaba had picked up on the friendly visuals. Instead, they came from what looked to be a pagoda hut draped in black cloth. 

            “Is that where you got the pings from?” Isara asks Futaba, who nods her head with a grin.

            “Yep! Right over there.” She points at the pagoda, where they can see several people already moving about outside. Hopefully, one of them can point them toward the location of their friends. So it was with some hope in their hearts that the team approached the camp, seeing one of the possibly nomadic people hanging some clothing out to dry. It was then they noticed that all of them were dressed in the same black as the tent, but hers was mixed with some green and yellow. As for her white hair, it was braided on the side. Apparently, she had heard them approach, as she turned to greet them with a smile, although she didn’t have a tail or cat ears.

            “Visitors? Welcome to our humble home.” She greets them with a smile and a bow before taking into consideration their unique clothing. “How strange. You are the third group of people I’ve seen with unusual clothing.” 

            “Third?” Sophia asks, tilting her upper body. 

            “Yes. The first group was with us when we found them in the desert several moons ago, while the last group came asking about how to traverse the quicksand to reach Tropp. I was more than happy to tell them, although one of them did grow excited by our means of summoning.” She lets out a tiny giggle, clearly already a fond memory for her. “So, what brings you to us today?” 

            “We’re looking for some friends we’ve lost.” Ren remarks, hands in his pockets. “And they should be wearing clothes similar to ours.” That seemed to spark recognition in the girl's eyes as her smile appeared to grow even bigger.

            “Then it is probably the first group I mentioned that you are after. They just went into Tatroi not that long ago. Apparently, something had caught their ears at the Colosseum, but such a place bears no interest for us.” 

            “The Colosseum, huh? Thanks. We’ll go and check it out.” Morgana tells her as the girls give him a smile, but there is something in her eyes that gives the Thieves pause. Her eyes display a small sense of fear and worry. Something is troubling her.

            “Is everything alright? Nothing troubling you?” Haru asks suddenly, catching the girl off guard for a second. 

            “Well, no, not really. But I have been feeling… uneasy.” She replies, glancing at the trees nearby. “I’ve felt like I’ve been watched for a while now… and the feeling won’t go away.” That puts the team on edge as they take a moment to glance at the trees. While they can’t see anything, there is a strange aura coming from them. But it’s not like they could just go into the forest and search it out. Maybe the girl was just feeling anxious for some reason. But if there was one thing that being Phantom Thieves had taught them, it was to never disregard a gut feeling. Which is why Ren went fishing in his pocket for a certain something—something he had been holding on to for a while but never had found a use for. But perhaps they didn’t need it any longer. 

            “Here.” Ren comments, gently tossing a smoke bomb to the girl. “Keep that close with you. If you ever feel like you need to use it, throw it down at your feet. And when you do, make sure you believe with all your soul it will work.” The girl tilts her head at Ren in confusion before pocketing the item. But with their new location plotted, the team heads into Tatroi proper, leaving the pagoda behind.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvwyjKBeWlY : Innocence)

For a small town, Tatroi looked rather well-built as the team walked down a single main pathway. Stalls lined the road, while houses flanked behind them. A large building at the first turn turned out to be an inn, while smaller alleyways split off between the houses. Banners hung from above, and armed guards in silvery-blue armour made their rounds. All around, the team could hear people going about their daily lives, some calling out for others to buy from them and others just chatting the day away. But there was one thing that was common among all of them.

            “Everyone has tails and cat ears.” Sophia points out with growing curiosity.

            “I wonder if everyone in this world is like this, or are we the minority?” Sae comments quietly, watching as a few civilians walk past and greet them. “They are quite friendly, though.”

            “I could get used to living here." Morgana comments, hands behind his head, as the team all shakes their heads at him in amusement. As the team turns the corner, they see what could be called a plaza, with a statue of either a warrior or king taking up the middle, sword drawn and held up high. Behind it, in the distance, was what the team could only think of as the Colosseum. And judging from the looks of its design, it was certainly a lot more traditional-looking than what's on Mount Olympus. But it was the trio standing before it that had the team's attention.

            “Iwai! Tao! Kaoru!” Ren calls out to the trio, his voice snapping their gaze away from the statue and back to him, where they all give their own versions of a smile. 

            “Ren! It’s so good to see you all!” Tao shouts as they move to join him. “We were beginning to worry we wouldn’t see you again.” 

            “The same goes for us, Tao.” Yusuke greets with a grin as Iwai and Kaoru walk up to them. 

            “Had a feeling you punks would still be alive. And you didn’t disappoint.” Iwai comments with a smug look. “Huh, so you finally became human, Morgana. Gratz.” 

            “Thanks.” Morgana replies with a smile. “But I’m not the only one who’s changed.” He looks at Isara and Sophia, with Iwai’s eyes widening for a moment as he quickly puts the pieces together, only for his smile to grow bigger.

            “It’s good to see you guys again.” Kaoru comments, although it looks like his eyes are more on Futaba than anyone else. The same goes for her gaze, which seems to linger on him as well, without either of them noticing it. “We have so many questions about what happened that day.” 

            “And we have A LOT to tell you.” Futaba replies, folding her arms. “But besides that, we have three more friends we’d like you to meet.” She turns around, indicating Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who walk forward, surprising Tao and Kaoru, while Iwai raises an eyebrow.

            “Hello. My name is Sora Osment.”

            “Donald Duck.”

            “Name’s Goofy.” The three introduce themselves, although Goofy’s name almost got a laugh out of Tao, but she managed to keep it in. 

            “That’s certainly a name.” Tao remarks, shaking her head. “Name’s Tao Munehisa. Street art is my passion and life.” 

            “Finally decided to let Iwai adopt you, Tao? We were beginning to wonder when you would allow that.” Akechi comments with a grin, and Tao sticks her tongue out at him in response as Kaoru lets out a chuckle. 

            “My name is Kaoru Munehisa. Nothing really special about me at the moment.” Kaoru comments while Iwai looks at Sora with a calculating look.

            “Iwai Munehisa. Since you’re travelling with Ren, you know all about Personas, huh?” Seeing Sora, Donald, and Goofy nod put him a bit more at ease. “Well, so are Tao and I. I also helped give them their weapons and armour back in the day.” 

            “Really? That’s awesome.” Sora replies with a grin before looking at Ren. “So, how many more are you missing now, Ren?” 

            “Just two from our team: Shinya and Akane.” Ren replies before looking at Iwai. “I take it they aren’t here, are they?” 

            “Nope.” Iwai replies with a huff while Zenkichi and Kawakami let out sad sighs. Sora had already figured out that Akane was Zenkichi’s daughter, so he could only imagine how much stress he was going through right now.

            “By the way, Iwai. Why are you guys heading to the Colosseum?" Hifumi asks, taking a moment to glance at the Colosseum, with Iwai mimicking right after. 

            “Ah. Apparently, there is an event happening at Tatroi's Arena. That's another name for it. Some guy is running ten matches back-to-back with no breaks. It seems it's some sort of event that, if a person clears it, they are absolved of all charges or crimes they have committed.” 

            “For real!?” Ryuji asks as the Thieves' eyes all widen in shock. “They can just do that!?” 

            “Apparently.” Tao remarks, shrugging her shoulders. “But that’s not to say the matches are easy. And you get no break either. The moment you beat one, the next comes right in.” 

            “Meaning a high chance of failure. And if one does, then it’s cuffs for them.” Akechi comments, folding his arms. The team's eyes all glance up at the Tatroi Arena, a burning curiosity building inside them as they can’t help but wonder what is going on right now.

            “So… are we able to just go in and watch?” Mishima decides to ask. Iwai turns to him with a grin before nodding his head.

            “Yep. No fees needed to watch.” He replies, unfolding his arms. “Come, we’ll show you.” While the group may have some trepidation about entering an arena, if it was only to watch, then they could spare some time to see what these fights were about. Entering the Tatroi Arena was no problem, as the bouncers allowed them in and showed them to the viewing stands. All around them were numerous civilians cheering for the contestant down in the sands: a bald man with a very muscular build, wearing a black vest, a blue necklace, and loose cloth pants with a sash around his waist. In his hand was a scimitar, but it was the tattoo on his back that was the most striking feature: a black eagle.

            “That’s the contestant?” Shiho asks as the team finds themselves close to the arena wall. One wrong step, and they would fall into the arena. 

            “Yep. Seen him around here a few times as well.” Tao remarks, folding her arms. “Apparently, he’s a bouncer for the Tatroi Arena. Not sure what he’s done to put him through this, though.” 

            “A serious crime, from my point of view.” Sae remarks, just as the announcer echoes through the arena.

“The final challenger for a man who has already defeated nine, and has his freedom staked on the outcome! That challenger… Edddge Maaaaveriiiick!”

            “Edge Maverick?” Zenkichi asks, raising an eyebrow at the name as a gate in the side of the arena opens. “That doesn’t sound like a name that fits in this world.” 

            “And his attire definitely doesn't fit." Sumire comments, turning all eyes to the gate that has opened, revealing the challenger. Immediately, his gear sets him apart from everyone else. While clearly made of metal, the golden armour on his right arm and the white armour on his chest and shins was made from metals and techniques not yet discovered in this world. That, along with the red cloth and black suit underneath, looked to be made of synthetic fibres. Where this blond-haired, green-eyed contestant came from, it was clearly not this world.

            “He’s breaking the World Order…” Donald groans as the contestant, Edge, takes his stance opposite the man before him, his hand reaching behind his waist for a sheath connected to the back of his hip. He grabs the handle, and the sheath retracts, revealing a long silver blade with blue decals and an edge that seems to be made of light-blue plasma. But it was the stance he took and the aura that came off him that gave Ren’s group a moment of pause.

            “This guy… he's not doing this for fun." Morgana comments, narrowing his eyes. "That's the aura of a person who has too much to lose." Just as Morgana said that, the bell rang, and the man with the black eagle tattoo ran forward. Around them, the team could hear some people cheering on the contestant, called the 'Black Eagle', as he rushed forward towards Edge. Yet the new arrival didn't waste any time, jumping in the air and slamming his blade down to unleash a blade beam at the Black Eagle. He clearly wasn't expecting that, as he was forced to dodge to the side, only to suddenly find Edge shooting towards him in a red aura, hitting him in the chest before jumping up and slashing down with his sword.

            “He’s good.” Iwai remarked, watching as Edge jumped back from the Black Eagle, staying out of range and forcing him to expend energy in charging at him. “He’s no amateur.” This was proven as Edge immediately jumped to the side and blindsided the Black Eagle, unleashing a furious set of swings that not only disarmed the Black Eagle but also sent him tumbling down, ending the match as he pointed his sword right at the Black Eagle’s face when the bell rang once more. But while the announcer called out the victory, the team could hear what this ‘Edge’ person was saying to the Black Eagle.

            “You’ve got something that belongs to the king. Hand over the remedy and the raw materials.” That made the team’s eyes widen in shock. This guy stole from the king, and it was some sort of remedy and raw materials? Was this place suffering from a pandemic? Apparently, the Black Eagle was not cooperating as he tried to go for his sword again, but Edge was quicker; he attacked the sword, shattering it into three pieces as the crowd roared in applause. 

            “You gonna give ‘em back, or not? Answer me?” Edge pressed, pointing his sword back at the Black Eagle’s face. And it was then that his face finally broke.

            “F-Fine! Take it all! Just… Just don’t kill me! I only got my advance, but that is better than dying or getting turned into one of the creatures!” The Black Eagle’s confession, as he threw what he stole at Edge’s feet, surprised not only him but the team in the stands. 

            “Creatures? He couldn't mean the Heartless, could he?" Ann asks, only to receive confused looks from Iwai, Tao, and Kaoru. "Right. Long story, you guys. We'll fill you in later.” 

            “And he was given an ‘advance’ to steal this remedy, or be turned into one… This stinks of Maleficent and Jerri.” Isara comments, although she and the others immediately felt a sudden cold wave flow over them from a certain someone as the team all looked at Tao and how she was silently fuming right before them.

            “Did you say… Jerri?” Tao asks through gritted teeth. “She’s behind this?” 

            “Deep breaths, Tao.” Iwai tells her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You can explode someplace else that isn’t crowded.” Tao glances around, noting the crowd around them as several knights enter the arena, heading right for Edge and the Black Eagle. She could tell she was right as she forced herself to stay calm. She could explode later, as the knights took the Black Eagle away. 

            “It would seem he failed to win his freedom.” Akechi comments, shaking his head. 

            “Considering he stole from royalty, and a remedy at that, it is best he didn’t.” Sae comments, flicking some hair back.

            “Everyone, show your respect to this valiant warrior!” A man’s voice echoes from the area, turning all eyes to a knight standing next to Edge, who was looking increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. “This man recovered the sickness remedy for not only his friend but for the kingdom as well! He is a true hero!” As the crowd cheered for him, the team could see just how uncomfortable Edge was with all the attention he was getting. But they would be lying if they said their curiosity wasn’t piqued. It’s why, as they left the area, they decided to follow him to see where he was going, as well as to address the many questions they had about why he was here on Roak in the first place.

Chapter Text

Chapter 26: Past Days…

Following this ‘Edge’ person proved to be easier than they expected, considering the company that was with him as he boarded a ship to Astral City. And it certainly was an interesting company as well. A young girl in a poofy pink robe, another young girl with purple hair, cat ears, a cat tail, and green cat eyes wearing an outfit that barely covered anything, if they were being generous. A young woman in a yellow robe with feathers and brown hair, with ACTUAL wings on her back, which somehow were not causing her to fall over from the weight. And a teen around Edge’s age wearing white clothes under a black robe like the hermits outside. Although his green hair and purple eyes were what caught the team’s attention, along with his elf ears. Judging by his futuristic-looking clothes, he clearly did not belong on Roak either.

And the same could be said for that first young girl, now that they thought about it. Only the cat girl and bird lady looked like they belonged here. But there was another person among their number, judging by the marks on the ground. Whoever it was, they were clearly invisible. But as much as the team wanted to interact with them right now, they decided to wait. Considering what they heard back at the arena, Edge was busy trying to save a dear friend of his who was suffering from a sickness in this world. And considering the name they heard, they couldn't blame him.

Stone Sickness. A disease that turned a person into a statue. Certainly not a kind way to go, all things considered. To their surprise, they found themselves shadowing Edge and his team to Astral City before seeing them enter an inn in the city centre. Considering how the sun had begun to set, the group decided to take up residence in an inn as well, just opposite theirs, coincidentally. But while the rest of the team was willing to get some sleep, Ren and Makoto did not find sleep coming to them so easily. After leaving Sophia with Morgana and Hifumi, the two headed outside for some air. After everything that had happened, it felt good to just sit down and relax without having to worry about any world-ending events or battles. However, there was another issue that was plaguing Makoto’s mind.

            “I’ve been thinking of changing my career.” Makoto comments to Ren out loud as the two of them sit by the fountain.

            “What brought this on?” Ren asks, genuinely surprised at Makoto’s admission. Makoto lets out a long sigh as she allows herself to lean into Ren, her gaze going up to the stars above.

            “It’s just… being trapped in the Chilean Mountains had given me a perspective on what it would be like as a Police Commissioner. I know Zenkcihi had warned us that our lives would be difficult, but I never realized how much I would miss you and Sophia until we were separated. And it’s been making me think… I should change my path while I still can.” Ren stays silent, honestly surprised that Makoto has decided to change her path. But if he is being honest, he can’t blame her for that. His own experience of being separated gave him time to think as well.

            “To be honest, Mako, I’ve had the same thoughts as well.” Ren admits, letting out a sigh. “Being a politician… while it would help clean Japan, it would also bring me a lot of stress. It could also challenge me in ways that might force me to betray who I am. Yoshida-sensei and Toshiro are managing fine with it, but after having more time to think, I believe it’s best for me to change tracks to a different career.”

            “Like taking over Café Leblanc?” Makoto asks with a small smile as Ren lets out a laugh.

            “To be honest, I wouldn’t mind if that’s what I did. Although, I’m thinking of asking Ohya if she could give me some pointers on being a reporter.”

            “A reporter?” Makoto asks as she becomes thoughtful. “You know, I could see that happening. Bringing hidden truths to light, no matter who or what tries to bury them. But you do know that people will try to sue you, right?”

            “So? I’ve got three lawyers I can call on to help me if that happens.” Ren replies with a smirk, one that gets a chuckle out of Makoto as she rests a hand on his.

            “Make that four lawyers.” She tells him, surprising Ren. “If you’re going to be a reporter, I’ll be a lawyer. We could even base ourselves out of Leblanc if Sojiro is willing for us to expand it.”

            “Something tells me he might dig his heels in at that.” Ren replies with an easy smile. “But I like that idea.” While the two were more than content thinking about what their lives would be back home, as the stars above twinkled in innocence, in their ease they failed to realize a second pair of eyes staring at them from the shadows. A pair of eyes that soon drifted over to the opposite inn as Edge exited the door, seemingly walking out with a weight off his shoulders as he let out a sigh. At least until his eyes fell on Ren and Makoto.

For a moment, he looked at them in confusion before rubbing his eyes. But to his shock, he wasn’t seeing things as he tentatively walked up to the couple.

            “Excuse me. Mind if I sit here?” Edge asks the two, grabbing their attention as they look at him in surprise before shifting into easy smiles.

            “Not at all.” Ren tells him as the two shift over to give Edge room. Edge nods his head at them in thanks before taking a seat on the bench with a sigh. “By the way, my name is Ren Sakura, and this is my girlfriend, Makoto Niijima. We saw you fighting in the arena earlier. That was very impressive, Maverick-san.”

            “Please don’t praise me. I’m no hero.” Edge remarks, shaking his head. “I just wanted to help Reimi and the others affected by the Stone Sickness.”

            “We understand that.” Makoto comments as she and Ren take a glance at each other. This was their chance to talk to him about why he was here in the first place. “After all, we didn’t know this world had such a disease until we heard about it back at the arena.”

            “This world?” Edge asks, his eyes widening as he looks at the two in shock. “You mean you are not from Roak as well?”

            “I thought our attire would have given that away.” Ren comments with a chuckle as the two look at Edge. “But yeah. We’re not from Roak. To be honest, we’re only here because our ship, the Highwind, got damaged by some foes. Imagine our surprise to find out that there’s another group of travellers apart from us.” Edge didn’t know what to say about that, with the two of them just blurting that fact out to him. Then again, it’s not like they were going to hide anything from a fellow traveller from the stars.

            “I see… I’m sorry to hear about that. Hopefully, your ship is repaired soon.” Edge replies as he leans forward. “As for why we’re here, our ship, the Calnus, is having engine trouble, so we landed here to give the engines time to readjust. It was as we were coming to Tatroi that Reimi somehow contracted the Stone Sickness, although she didn’t start showing symptoms until later.”

            “We’re sorry that one of your members contracted it.” Makoto comments as Edge waves her off.

            “It’s okay now. Reimi is safe, along with everyone else who is suffering from it. The king here actually gives the remedy out for free to everyone. He looks like the kind who always puts his people first, from what we’ve managed to learn from interacting with him, anyway.” 

            “Sounds like a wise ruler. A far cry from a large portion that we have had to deal with.” Ren remarks bitterly, shaking his head. While that piqued Edge’s curiosity, there was something else that was bugging him more.

            “So… what’s the name of your homeworld? If you don’t mind me asking.” Edge asks, grabbing the two's attention. “It’s just that you two have the same accent from a country on my world. That, and the way you addressed me by my last name… they also do that as well.”

            “We don’t mind telling you. Although… what happened to it is not a happy ending.” Makoto remarks, the comment wiping away the smile on Edge’s face. “Our homeworld, which has been destroyed by the Heartless, is called Earth.”

            “Huh?” Edge asks, his eyes going wide as he sits up straight. “Your homeworld is Earth? And it’s destroyed?”

            “Yeah. Didn’t last even an hour when the Heartless attacked.” Ren remarks casually. “And we’re from a country called—”

            “Japan?” Edge cuts off, surprising the two as he lets out a slow laugh. “What are the chances of that? Another Earth.”

            “Another? Wait…” Makoto pauses as both her and Ren’s eyes widen in surprise. “Your homeworld is also Earth?”

            “Yep.” Edge replies, shaking his head. “Who could have seen that coming, huh? Well, you can call me Edge if you like.” Ren and Makoto could feel their mouths hanging open in shock. Of all the worlds that could be out there, to hear that there is a SECOND Earth apart from their own…

            “So… what year is it for you? It’s currently 2017 for us.” Ren remarks, before wincing. “Or rather, it was.” Edge glanced at them before pondering his answer. Part of him wanted to ask about these ‘Heartless’, but he could ask about that later.

            “For us, it is Space Date 10. Ten years after the first successful faster-than-light travel experiment was completed. Although if we were to use the old world calendar, it would be 2097. Thirty-three years after World War III.” Ren and Makoto gasp at that, hearing the name that no one ever wanted to hear.

            “World War III… So it did happen." Makoto remarks with a sad sigh. "If you don't mind me guessing… nuclear radiation?”

            “Pretty much.” Edge remarks, shaking his head. "It's the reason why we're out here. As part of the Space Reconnaissance Force, our goal is to find a new world to call home while Earth recovers. Although things have not been easy. That… and something has happened that has made me question how free we are in our exploration.”

            “What happened?” Ren asks, curious as Edge lets out a long sigh. 

            “It was after we escaped the Cardianon Mothership. We were on our way to a world called EN-II, but the Calnus got sucked into a black hole. Or at least, we think it was one. Because when we woke up, we found ourselves on Earth in the year 1957.”

            “1957? You went back in time?” Makoto asks, blinking her eyes as Edge lets out a huff. That was something neither of them ever wanted to hear again after everything they had been through. 

            “I’m not even sure if that Earth was real or not any more, considering what happened to it.” He looks at the two as he leans back on the bench. “While we were there, a lead scientist told me about how badly their Earth was faring. Nothing compared to how our Earth was back in 1957. And that’s when… I agreed to give them the power source for the Calnus. But all that ended up doing was causing their experiment to go haywire, and in the end, the entire planet destroyed itself.”

            “Seriously?” Ren asks as Makoto silently gasps. 

            “Yes. The only reason we escaped was that Meracle, someone we rescued from the base, had a crystal that was a purer version of what powered the Calnus. But still, even if what we saw was fake, what happened there was still my fault. If I hadn’t agreed to hand it over, that Earth would still be around. Even if it was fake.” He leans forward, grasping his hands as he lays his arms on his legs. “That weight will never leave me. It’s a lesson we need to learn now and not later. Our presence on an underdeveloped world can and will lead to disastrous results.”

            “Hence the reason for a World Order…” Ren comments, grabbing Edge’s attention. “I suppose we should explain why we are travelling to other worlds as well now.” As Ren got himself more comfortable so he and Makoto could start explaining, movement from the shadows caught the eyes of all three as they slowly stood up. “On second thought… maybe later.” No sooner does he say that than three youths from this world approach them. They could tell from their eyes that these three were not here for a midnight chat.

            “Hey, man. Pretty nice show at the Colosseum! You sure were impressive, Mr. Hero!" One of them taunts as Edge lets out an annoyed huff. 

            “I don’t know, you think so? I think we could do better than that.” Another of the youths gloats, causing the three warriors to shake their heads in annoyance. 

            “No kidding. Maybe he had weak opponents." The third of the youths agrees as all three of them laugh at one another.

            “Yeah, whatever. It was a fluke, okay?” Edge dismisses, not wanting to deal with this. 

            “If that’s all you wanted to say, could you leave us alone, please?” Makoto asks politely. 

            “Why the rush, pretty face? We know this guy’s secret.” The apparent leader comments, pointing a hand at Edge’s sword. “That sword of yours… It’s not often you see a treasure like that. A blade like that, with that kind of power? I’m impressed…” 

            “You sure? Looks to me like it was his fighting skills that did the heavy lifting, and not the sword.” Ren remarks, folding his arms in annoyance. “It takes more than a fancy sword to win.” 

            “Hey, don't get smart with us. With a blade like that, anyone would win." The tallest youth bites back, all three of them wearing dangerous grins on their faces. Something that made Ren, Makoto, and Edge all come to the same conclusion.

            “Why don’t you get to the point already?” Edge remarks, already growing tired of these three goons beating around the bush. Something that the three youths agree with as they all pull out daggers from behind their backs. 

            “Yeah, why don’t we? Because this is what you boys are going to do. You will drop that sword on the ground, nice and easy. And you will leave your lady friend here with us for the night. I promise we will take REAL good care of her.” The leader demands, spinning his knife in his hand. 

            “Not these types again… Ann and Shiho would go ballistic at them.” Makoto groans under her breath, only heard by Ren and Edge.

            “There are always people like these, no matter where you go.” Ren quietly remarks.

            “I guess they didn’t notice the attacks I used in the Colosseum, like you said.” Edge quietly tells the two as his eyes dance between the would-be punks. “These guys are the same as her, Millia Bachtein, that scientist from the fake Earth. Lusting for power beyond their means… As if I need more evidence for this World Order you guys mentioned.” Ren and Makoto silently nod as the three of them tense up. There is only one way to get out of this situation.

            “You kids must be desperate if you think I’ll just go along with whatever you want.” Makoto warns as she cracks her knuckles. “I’m no mere damsel.” 

            “And you’re idiots if you think I’m going to leave her alone.” Ren adds, cracking his neck. As for Edge, he slowly rests a hand on his sword, his eyes darting between the foes as he sizes up his options.

            “Look, this sword is not nearly as powerful as you think. It’s like a toy compared to antimatter.” Edge’s comments made the three goons tilt their heads in confusion, not understanding what ‘antimatter’ was or even is. “But I won’t hand it over to anyone who doesn’t properly respect it. Got that?” 

            “Quiet your blabbering and hand them over!” One of the punks shouts, charging to stab Edge only to suddenly find his arm in a pin before getting swiped from under his feet. Another goon tries to stab Ren, only to suddenly have an elbow jab into his face, followed by a kick to the shin. As for the one trying to grab Makoto, he is met with a kick to the chest, followed by a punch to the elbow. All three of them drop their knives as the trio gives themselves some distance.

            “Face it, kids. You’re small fry compared to what we had to face.” Ren remarks with a grin.

            “You’re no mobsters. Just some arrogant punks.” Makoto taunts, flipping her hair back.

            “Who needs to draw a weapon on some rank amateurs anyway?” Edge quips with a grin as the three punks push themselves back up, each one grabbing a knife as they glare daggers at the trio. But right before any of them could strike, all three are struck by bolts of lightning from above, knocking them out as they fall to the ground.

            “What now?” Ren asks in a slightly annoyed tone as a new figure emerges from the shadows. A tall, curvaceous female with very long, pointed ears, pink hair, and blue eyes holds a black staff with gold décor and an orange orb held in a golden cage at the top. But it is her attire that is the more revealing part of her: she wears nothing but a blue shawl over her shoulders with gold trim, a blue bra that covers her breasts, and a blue and gold mini skirt with a purple underlay. Blue and purple gloves cover her hands, while tall blue boots go up to just under her knees. Tattoos are painted on her exposed skin as she walks up to the trio with a calculating stare in her eyes.

            “Well, well. Fate connects us, boy.” The woman remarks as her gaze falls on Ren and Makoto. “And isn’t this a surprise: Persona users on Roak.” 

            “How do you know about us being Persona users?” Makoto asks as her and Ren’s eyes widen in surprise, while Edge looks at them, puzzled.

            “You’d be surprised at what we Morphus have learned in our vigil and the ongoing rise of Heartless attacks. Myuria Tionysus. Not that any of you need to remember.” She introduces herself as she walks up to them in a suave manner. 

            “You know about the Heartless destroying worlds?” Ren asks in a semi-accusatory tone. 

            “Of course we do. But it’s not like we can be everywhere at once.” Myuria remarks, brushing some hair back. “There are an infinite number of worlds, after all.” 

            “That’s the second time you saved me, Myuria. The first being back on the Cardianon Mothership.” Edge comments, surprising Ren and Makoto.

            “Well, I don’t know about the Cardianon, but it looked to me like you had the situation under control.” Myuria remarks as she stops right before them. “But that’s beside the point. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while, boy. I never imagined I’d run into you here, of all places. What luck.” That took Edge by surprise, as Ren and Makoto looked at him in surprise as well. What did she have to ask him? 

            “What do you want to ask him?” Makoto decides to ask. 

            “I’m looking for someone, and I thought you might have some idea of where I might find him. The man I seek is on a ship that looks much like your own, but with red markings instead of blue.” 

            “What?” Edge asks in a gasp as Myuria glances at the couple.

            “Now that I think about it, their ship looks like yours as well, but with a violet decal and a golden V on both the side and top.” 

            “How did you see that?” Ren asks in surprise. They didn’t see anything else on the radar when they came in to land. Or was that also damaged from the Phantom attack? 

            “And as I also recall, he wore clothes similar to yours as well, boy.” Myuria continues, nodding her head at Edge, whose eyes only seemed to grow larger. “I believe he is an Earthling, just like the three of you. An Earthling with red hair. And I tell you this, boy: he will die by my hands.” That shocked all three of them to their core. Why would this woman want this person dead? And judging by the look on Edge’s face, it was clear he knew this person well.

            “C-Crowe…? Wh-Why would you want to…?” Edge quietly asks, supplying a name to Myuria, whose eyes widen in surprise along with Ren and Makoto, the latter two noting how Crowe almost sounded exactly like the codename they used for Akechi. 

            “Oh? So it’s Crowe, is it…? The name of the man I’m going to kill.” Myuria comments as her voice grows dangerously quiet while pointing her staff at Edge. Ren and Makoto could feel their Personas itching to burst out, but they held their hands. For now. “Tell me, boy. Where can I find him?” 

            “I don’t know. And I wouldn’t tell you even if I did.” Edge replies, his voice firm and resolute.

            “And neither would we.” Ren adds as Makoto nods behind him. They were itching to shift into their Thief attire, but they didn’t know who else could be watching after that lightning strike. 

            “Your eyes were so lifeless when you fought those thugs. Who would have guessed they could show such fire?” Myuria teases, her eyes flickering to Ren and Makoto, noting how tense they were as they held themselves back. “I have no interest in getting into a fight with Persona users. I’m only here for information. Nothing else. But I wonder if any of you would continue to stare at me if you learned what Crowe did to me.” 

            “And what did he do to you?” Makoto asks, her eyes slightly narrowed as Myuria pulls her staff back.

            “Something I bet you would understand. He… He killed my beloved. That wretched man destroyed my life.” The pain and anger in her voice were audible to all three of them. What she said wasn’t a lie. Whoever her beloved was is dead. But the fact that it was Edge’s friend who did it? 

            “Nonsense.” Edge replies, his voice firm and determined, but also with a hint of anger. This was not what Myuria wanted to hear as she slammed her staff on the ground in anger.

            “What makes you so sure, boy!?” Myuria shouts at him, now showing who she really is: a grieving widow with revenge on her mind. 

            “Because Crowe is my best friend!” Edge shouts back, taking a step forward. “I may not be able to believe in myself right now, but I still believe in Crowe! And I know him! He would never do anything like that! He is incapable of ever hurting anyone like that! And it’s not just him either. I believe in all of my friends. And right now, they are all I have to believe in.” While Ren and Makoto could get behind Edge, Myuria could not as she turned away to leave, her mind still hell-bent on hunting down Crowe.

            “No matter what you say, boy, I can only believe in what I've seen with my own eyes. I despise that red-haired man, and I will do whatever it takes to get my revenge on him.” 

            “And you will feel nothing but a void if you do so.” Ren remarks, grabbing her attention. “Revenge is a poison. We know that more than anything else. If you continue to search for him, you will only destroy yourself. Is that what your husband would want? To die a fool's death?” 

            “What life do I have anyway, now that Lucian is dead?” Myuria bites back, anger in her voice. “I saw his ship fly away as ours exploded, all while I was trapped in an escape pod.” 

            “So you only saw the end, right?” Makoto presses as Myuria freezes in place. “You base your revenge on only one point of view, and you’ll find yourself as the villain in this story, not the victim.” Myuria doesn’t respond as she walks away into the night, leaving the trio alone as silence once more envelops them.

            “Well, that’s a downer to a fun conversation.” Edge remarks, stretching his arms. “Think I’ll call it a night. Do you want to meet up sometime tomorrow so we can exchange stories? I think the rest of my team would like to hear what you have to tell.” 

            “I like that idea. And we have some other friends of ours that we can introduce to you as well." Ren remarks, hands in his pockets. "But fair warning, regarding our story, what we have to tell you will sound like it came out of a video game.” 

            “What else is new?” Edge shoots back, getting a chuckle out of the couple as they all bid each other good night. They would have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow.

Dawn soon broke over Astral City, its inhabitants all waking from their slumber. This was no different for the team as they awoke in the inn, thankful for how soft the beds were for a good night's sleep and for the absence of the suffocating heat they had back in Hartschild. But as they gathered in one of the rooms to discuss what to do for the day, none of them was ready for the bombshell that Ren and Makoto were about to drop on them.

            “FOR REAL?!” Ryuji screams, only for Ann to quickly place her hand over his mouth before he can say anything else. Not that anyone could blame her, considering what they all heard.

            “Is this true, Mako-chan? Edge is from another Earth?” Haru asks, her eyes just as wide as everyone else's.

            “It’s true.” Makoto replies, pushing some hair back. “He even told us why they are exploring other worlds to begin with. Their Earth has been ravaged by World War III.” That killed the mood faster than anyone could expect. It was something that even Sora, Donald, and Goofy could all see, and just from the name alone, it gave them nothing but bad vibes.

            “World War III… the end result that made the Earth contaminated by nuclear radiation, correct?” Sae asks the two, who both nod with glum expressions. “Well, that’s more than enough reason to start exploring new worlds and to find a new habitable one.”

            “I can understand that…” Donald begins with some hesitation in his voice. “But what about the World Order?”

            “To be honest, Donald, Edge has come to his own realization about how they should be careful about exploring other worlds as well. This is something that I think the rest of his team also agrees with.” Ren replies as he lets out a sigh. “Although we did find out something else last night that surprised us.”

            “What did you find?” Akechi asks, hand on his chin. 

            “Apparently, there are these people called Morphus who not only know about Personas, but they have been monitoring the Heartless as well.” Makoto reveals, shocking everyone. “However, seeing how they didn’t mention the Keyblade or Demons makes me think they have only known about the Heartless recently or have been focused on them.”

            “If they know about the Heartless, then why haven’t they done anything about them?” Sumire asks before quickly coming to her own conclusion. “Or is it that they are unable to stop them?”

            “Knowing what we do, it's possibly the latter.” Zenkichi remarks, turning to Sora. “After all, only the Keyblade can destroy a Heartless permanently, and it is the only thing able to lock a Keyhole.” Sora summons the Kingdom Key to his side, glancing at the blade as he once again feels the weight on his shoulders. Only this time, it wasn’t a suffocating weight as it used to be. Now… it felt more like it should be there. 

            “So, what’s next?” Iwai asks, pulling his hat down. “Something tells me that Edge has more questions for the two of you.”

            “And we agreed to talk more with him today.” Makoto replies, pushing some hair back. “After all, if he and his team are exploring other worlds like us, they need to know about the Heartless and Demons that are attacking them. And Myuria did call us out as Persona users right in front of him. He will definitely want to ask us about that.”

            “Then what are we waiting for?” Goofy asks, pushing himself up. "The sooner we talk, the sooner we get along, right?" That was a rather abbreviated summary, but they could tell Goofy was right. After all, the sooner they all talked, the sooner they could figure out where to go from here. And it's not every day you talk to people from an alternative Earth. So it was with that thought in mind that the group left the inn and stepped into the light of day, where they saw Edge and his team already outside, although there seemed to be some tension among them.

The young woman with giant wings wasn’t with them. Instead, there was a girl with brown eyes and brown hair tied into a ponytail, around Edge’s age, wearing the same futuristic equipment as him. She wore a blue and white armoured vest over a black garment with six-segment hip protectors—three on both sides—and white gloves protecting her hands. Black hot pants and light violet leggings reached up to the pants but exposed her inner thighs for some reason. Similar armoured boots to those Edge wore protected her feet, but with high heels at the back, while a folded-up compact silver and blue bow hung on the back of her hip in a similar spot where Edge kept his sword.

            “What’s up with them?” Tao asks, noting how serious they all look.

            “Did something happen last night?” Yusuke ponders, his hand stroking his chin.

            “Why don’t we ask them?” Shiho suggests, something that is quickly accepted as Ren and Makoto lead the group forward, quickly grabbing the green-haired boy's attention.

            “More Earthlings?” He asks in a surprised voice, something that Edge was quick to catch on to as he turned around and spotted Ren, Makoto, and their rather large group.

            “Wow… you two certainly have a large group.” He remarks in good nature, something that those around him quickly pick up on.

            “This isn’t even all of us.” Ren remarks with a smile as the two groups converge. “I take it you are the rest of Edge’s team he talked about last night?”

            “We are.” The girl with brown hair replies as she steps forward. “And you are the Ren and Makoto that Edge mentioned this morning, right? My name is Reimi Saionji. It’s nice to meet you.” She gives them a polite bow, with the green-haired boy walking up next.

            “My name is Faize Sheifa Beleth. I am an Eldarian from the planet Eldar.” Faize greets, giving the team a bow. As for the young girl with them, she ducks behind Reimi, giving the team a cautious look as Reimi puts a hand on her head.

            “Don't be scared, Lym. They're not bad." Reimi tells her, but it was clear she was a shy girl at heart.

            "Not really talkative, is she?" Kawakami asks Faize, who nods his head.

            "Yeah. This is Lymle Lemuri Phi. She's always been quiet." Faize acknowledged, but that remark had Lymle walk over and give his leg a small kick, just as the next member of Edge's team greeted the Thieves. 

            “I’m Meracle Chamlotte. Nice to meet you, meow!”

            “Oh boy…” Morgana comments, shaking his head and grabbing Edge’s team’s attention. “Even I don’t say that when I’m a cat…”

            “You have a Roakiling with you?” Faize asks in surprise as Morgana shakes his head.

            “No, I’m not. My situation is… complicated.” Morgana remarks, rubbing the back of his head. “Anyway, my name is Morgana Sakura.”

            “I’m Sophia Niijima-Sakura. Nice to meet you!” Sophia greets, walking up and shaking Meracle’s hand, while Edge looks at Ren and Makoto with surprise.

            “You have a kid?”

            “She’s adopted.” Makoto replies, walking up and gently hugging her. “But we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

            “She is adorable.” Reimi comments, with Sophia bouncing on the spot with a big smile on her face. As they all go around introducing themselves, Futaba couldn't help but feel that there was another presence with them. One that they couldn't see, but she could 'feel' was there.

            “If you don’t mind me asking, Maverick-san, we noticed that your team had some tension earlier.” Zenkichi remarks, folding his arms. “And that you seem to be missing a member.” This caused Edge’s group to suddenly become tense once again.

            “That's right! Our friend, Sarah Jerand, was kidnapped last night!" Meracle shouts as her ears prick up.

            “Sarah? Was she the woman with large wings?” Sae asks. “We saw her leaving with your group yesterday.”

            “Yes, that’s her.” Edge replies, folding his arms. “She was the one to help us learn about the remedy to cure Reimi. But when we woke up, we found that someone had broken into her room last night. And from what Faize has managed to learn, it’s the same ones who tried to kidnap her when we arrived in Tatroi the first time.”

            “The same people?” Akechi asks, his eyes narrowing. “It sounds as though we are dealing with a cult…”

            “Yeah… this screams of either a cult or gang-like activities.” Zenkichi agrees with a growl before looking at Iwai. “You’re thinking the same, right?”

            “Yeah… Some Yakuza members might do that as well, but something tells me this sounds more foul than that.” Iwai remarks with a growl. “Do you have an idea where to start looking first?”

            “At the moment, there is only one place that we know of that we’re going to check.” Reimi confirms. “It’s a place called the Purgatorium, but other than knowing there are some statues in there, we don’t know anything else about it.”

            “And you think Sarah is being held there?” Ann asks, tilting her head. "Well, if it's the only lead you have, you might as well check it out. Do you mind if we tag along?”

            “You want to help us?” Meracle asks with surprise in her voice.

            “Of course! It’s what we do.” Mishima remarks with a grin. “And we may not look it, but we’re pretty tough as well.” Iwai turned to look at Kaoru, no doubt planning to tell him to stay. But the look he got from him told him that Kaoru was coming with them no matter what. And that was an argument he was in no hurry to run into.

            “Right…” Edge remarks, remembering what Myuria said last night. “I think it’s best if we talk outside Tatroi. I don’t want anyone else overhearing us.”

            “No arguments here.” Ryuji remarks, giving an alleyway a glance. The last thing they wanted to do was grab a crowd or get overheard by curious onlookers. Then again, considering how many of these people had cat ears, what was stopping them from listening in anyway? So, in silence, the two groups made their way back to Tatroi via the river, letting the calm atmosphere soothe them as they set their attention to their new objective: rescuing Sarah, while Sora mentally added finding this world's Keyhole as well.

But now that he thought about it, it was strange how they had not encountered any of the Heartless or Demons in this world yet. Not even those strange Phantoms had tried to attack them again ever since they landed. Sora couldn't help but wonder if they were walking into a trap or if they were all located in this Purgatorium. Either thought being true didn't sit right with him, and it didn't help that he hadn't seen Riku ever since their encounter inside Monstro, let alone being close to finding where Kairi could be. Eventually, the team left Tatroi and found themselves outside with no one around them. It finally gave Futaba the chance she needed.

            “Okay, I don’t know who you are, but can you drop the active camo already? I can still sense you, you know?” Edge’s group all looked at Futaba in surprise, just as a shimmering blue outline formed in the air, quickly filling in to reveal a massive cyborg. Coated in silver and green armour, with only his face visible to them, he was looking at Futaba with a mixture of shock and intrigue.

            “Hmm, to be able to see me despite my optic camouflage… It would seem that the abilities of Persona users are something to be reminded of." He remarks in a monotone voice, betraying no sense of surprise.

            “You could see Bacchus?” Reimi asks Futaba, shock on her face. “And… what did he mean by Persona user?” At that, the Thieves all glance at each other as Ren separates himself from the group. Before any of them can ask, the blue flames wash over him, his Thief attire forming while his mask burns away. Arsène hovers behind him with his usual suave, while Edge’s team looks on in shock.

            “This is a Persona.” Joker comments with a smirk while Arsène returns to his heart. “Every person has two sides to themselves, and a Persona user is one who has not only bonded with their other self but has accepted them as well. There is a lot more to explain about our origins, but that’s the basis of it.”

            “Wow!” Meracle shouts with wide eyes as she looks at the rest of the team. “And can all of you do that?!”

            “Not all of us.” Kaoru remarks, with some bitterness in his voice. "Unlike my father and sister, I haven't awoken to one.”

            “And I have a different weapon.” Sora remarks, holding his hand out as the Keyblade appears in his hands. Something that Bacchus was not expecting to see.

            “A key?” Lymle asks in a quiet voice that also sounds emotionless.

            “Close. It’s called the Keyblade. And it’s the only thing that can stop the Heartless.” Sora replies. “As for what the Heartless are, they are monsters created from the darkness inside people’s hearts. They are the ones who have been destroying worlds for the past ten years.”

            “Indeed. We Morphus have been tracking them for the past two years since we became aware of them. However, despite our efforts, we have been unable to pinpoint their origin." Bacchus remarks in a calculating voice, causing Ren and Makoto to realize that he's from the same group as Myuria. "All attempts to halt them have been met with failure. Every world they have appeared in has fallen to them at some point in time.”

            “It’s because they found the world’s Keyhole.” Hifumi comments. “Once they find it, it leads the Heartless to the heart of the world. And once they reach it, that’s the end. It’s what happened to our world as well.”

            “Your world fell to them as well?” Faize asks with wide eyes. 

            “Yes.” Sophia comments, standing close to Makoto. “It was a sunny day as well. Then, before we even knew it, a thunderstorm appeared all over the world. Less than half an hour later, our world was gone.”

            “The same thing happened to my world as well.” Sora admits with a sigh. "Everything happened so fast I didn't even have time to think. And before I knew it, the Destiny Islands were gone as well." Edge's team couldn't even think of words to say to that. And if they were being honest, what was happening to these worlds reminded them of what happened to that fake Earth. Only here, it was happening to real worlds.

            “You’re lucky to have not encountered them yet.” Kawakami tells Edge as she folds her arms. “They don’t give you a chance once they’re after you. And that's not including Demons from our world helping them as well.”

            “Great…” Edge remarks, shaking his head in annoyance. “Can you tell us what they look like? And what are Demons?”

            “Well, for one…” Isara starts, until her eyes drift to the nearby pagoda where the hermits lived. Her eyes widen in horror at what she sees. "They look like that!" She shouts, pointing a hand at the pagoda, causing everyone to gasp in shock. Two Large Bodies, several Green Requiems, ten Shadows, and what looks to be a new Demon are hovering around the pagoda, with the Demons themselves appearing to be made of wind. How they appeared without anyone seeing them can be asked later, but for now…

            “We have to save them!” Edge shouts, grabbing his sword as Reimi pulls out her bow. Bacchus summons a giant cannon that forms over his right arm, while Meracle pulls out some claws that glow with green plasma. Faze unsheathes a black sword with a red gem in it, while Lymle gently grasps a black rod with a black head, red fur, and black horns. The rest of the team wastes no time shifting into their Thief forms, with Sora, Donald, and Goofy summoning their weapons to their sides. But Kaoru looks around with a frustrated expression. He has nothing to fight with or even to help.

At least until Edge tossed him a sword. It was a long piece of metal, almost industrial, with an orange edge that seemed to hum or vibrate. Kaoru looked up at Edge, who gave him a nod before looking back at the Heartless. Then he looked at his dad. Gecko, although concerned, nodded approvingly at Kaoru as father and son prepared for a fight.

            “Alright, gamers! It's the usual Large Body, Shadows, and Green Requiems!" Oracle calls out, spinning her battle staff around. Gecko, Guernica, and even Kaoru still couldn't believe Oracle could fight, but it was still a boon regardless. "As for the new Demons, they are called Aeros! They are weak to Elect but resist Wind!” 

            “Good to know!” Spring shouts, spinning her spear around as the Heartless charge. Something that Guernica is happy to see.

            “You know, I still have a lot of anger about hearing that Jerri is back… so you guys are going to be my outlet! Let’s go, Banksy! Riot Gun!” While Edge and Reimi looked at Guernica in surprise at the name, her Persona formed behind her, sending down a barrage at the charging Heartless and scoring several kills as Gecko rushed forward.

            “Kiryu! Agidyne!” Gecko calls out, his own Persona forming through a deluge of flames, spewing his own at a Large Body and consuming it in a blaze of glory. As the battle began, Faize jumped back before concentrating, a glyph of energy appearing before him before he cried out the name of a spell.

            “Earth Glaive!” At his command, the earth split as a giant spike of earth erupted under the second Large Body, sending it flying into the air with Noir taking aim.

            “Psio!” She calls out, grabbing the Large Body and sending it hard into the ground. While Reimi fired a few arrows at the Aeros, she soon found herself surrounded by several Shadows. Not that it stopped her, as she jumped into the air while firing an arrow upward before landing in a crouch.

            “Seraphic Thunder!” At her call, bolts of lightning rained down around her, striking the Heartless while Edge charged into several Soldiers that had decided to join the fight.

            “Stampede Slash!” He yells, charging through them with the same move he used on the Black Eagle, while Meracle dashes around like a violet blur. The only one who manages to copy her is Sora with his Sonic Blade, while Kaoru proves to be no slouch with the blade given to him by Edge, easily slicing apart some Shadows and Soldiers while avoiding the Large Bodies. He may want to help, but he isn’t an idiot.

            “Mazionga!” Skull shouts, bringing down a rain of lightning on several Aeros around him while Bacchus opens fire with his main gun before deploying a canister on his back, sending out several missiles all around him. Lymle sends out several fireballs at the Heartless. One tries to ambush her but is intercepted by Donald and Goofy, who send it flying. It isn’t long until the Heartless and Demons are beaten back, retreating into the shadows from which they came. But the camp they were attacking is in a dire state, with the pagoda torn up and valuables spilled everywhere. It is certainly a disheartening sight, especially for Faize, but there is one thing that is missing from the carnage that the Thieves take note of.

            “There’s no blood.” Violet comments, walking around the pagoda and grabbing Edge’s attention. “Whenever the Heartless or Demons attack, they always leave blood in their wake from when they steal a person's heart. But there’s nothing here.”

            “Does that mean the camp was already abandoned when it was attacked?” Reimi asks as Faize looks at the group with some hope in his eyes.

            “That seems to be the most likely situation.” Crow remarks, rubbing his chin. "But that begs the question: who would kidnap an entire group of hermits? And could this coincide with what happened to Sarah as well?”

            “This smells like the work of Maleficent or Jerri. Or maybe one of their underlings.” Mona remarks as Fox nods his head in agreement. 

            “And a foul odour at that.” 

            “I take it they are the ones behind the Heartless?” Edge asks Joker, who nods with a scowl. 

            “Yes. Although Jerri is actually an old foe from our world. Long story about that." He replies, shaking his head. "But still, this changes everything. If the Heartless and Demons are here, then we need to find the Keyhole so that Sora can lock it up with the Keyblade. And if we go by our past experiences, it will most likely be in the same place where Sarah is being held.”

            “All the more reason to get to the Purgatorium.” Sora comments, shouldering the Keyblade. “So… which way do we go?”

            “Well, according to what we learned yesterday, we need to head towards Tropp to find the path.” Reimi supplies, pointing at a path leading to a desert. “But we need to cross the desert to reach it, and it is filled with quicksand.” While normally that would be some cause for concern, Edel just let out a chuckle as she started walking towards the path. “Where are you going? We need to find transportation to cross the desert.”

            “Don’t worry, I’ve got that covered.” Edel remarks with a grin as she looks back. “After all, I’m not a normal human either.” While that only confused Edge’s team, the rest of the Thieves were not confused as they followed after her with smirks on their faces. They could only imagine how Edge and the others would react to Edel’s tank form.

Chapter Text

Chapter 27: A Slight Twist.

            “It is scientifically impossible.” Bacchus comments again as the team heads into a long dark cave. “For a humanoid to transform into a tank… it goes against all laws of physics.”

            “Sorry to say, but I’m a living embodiment of ‘screw physics’.” Isara remarks with a grin. “After all, I started life as nothing but a model toy tank!”

            “So you told us…” Faize comments, shaking his head. “Just what was happening on your Earth?”

            “Arrogant gods thinking they could do whatever they wanted.” Sae remarks, flipping some hair over her shoulder. “Nothing more needs to be said about that.” Edge and Reimi were silent as they continued to stare at the Thieves with a mix of awe and shock. After all, they had seen Isara turn into a TANK of all things and were then explained what their world was about. Cognitive Psience, the Metaverse, the Dark Hour, the TV World… it was a lot to take in, if they were being honest. And that was on top of the origins behind Morgana, Isara, and even Sophia!

            “I guess you weren’t kidding when you said your life is like a video game.” Edge remarks, shaking his head. “Next thing you’ll say is that you also time-travelled.” While said as a joke, it made the original eight Thieves freeze in place for a moment, each of them trying not to let a guilty-sounding laugh escape from their lips. That was a can of worms they did NOT want to open anytime soon. But while Edge’s group didn’t see them freeze up, Sora did, and it made him wonder why they froze like that.

            “Still, I can’t believe what you all went through.” Reimi remarks, hand grasped. “I can’t believe people would take advantage of you like that. Then again, our situation is a lot different…”

            “When everyone is trying to survive, personal greed is thrown away.” Akechi comments, shaking his head. “At least until survival is no longer a priority.” While Lymle tilted her head at Akechi at that line, the rest of the team stayed silent as they soon neared the exit of the tunnel. What they found on the other side was an area surrounded by cliff walls, with an incline rising to a stone temple carved into the side of the wall, made of dark grey stone. Several trees swayed in the breeze, giving the place an ancient aura, even as the team ascended the slope. Getting closer, they could make out numerous runes all over the temple, even on the doors themselves, as Edge and Goofy opened them. This revealed a large interior with stone stairs at the far end, with stone pots lighting the room up with green flames, while a small flowing channel of river framed the edge of the room, separating it from the elevated area to which the stairs led.

            “Such interesting architecture.” Yusuke remarks as the group walks forward. “I think I’ve found some more inspiration for my art.”

            “I don’t know why, but some of these emblems give me Celtic vibes.” Shiho remarks, looking at some of the patterns that resemble a pair of lines crisscrossing each other.

            “You sure? They look Scandinavian to me.” Hifumi counters as the group reaches the middle, only for Sumire to spot something on the floor: a single white feather that she picks up.

            “Is this one of Sarah’s feathers?” She asks Edge’s team. Bacchus looks at it, his eyes scanning the feather as he nods in confirmation.

            “Yes. I can say with 99% certainty that this is indeed one of her feathers. It would seem that our hunch was correct.”

            “Which means we could already have some unfriendly eyes looking at us.” Zenkichi remarks, looking up at the darkness around them. “Can’t see anything up there, though.”

            “I’m not picking up any lifeforms.” Futaba remarks as a screen hovers around her. “No Heartless or Demons either. They must be farther inside.”

            “They probably don’t even know that we are here.” Meracle comments, bobbing her head up and down. “Should we split up and look for clues?”

            “As long as we don’t make any loud noises.” Kawakami cautions, folding her arms. “I understand you guys want to save her, but if we try to force our way, we might only put her in more danger than she might already be in.” It was a cold truth, but one they had to remind themselves of as everyone nodded in agreement. They couldn’t be rash; they had to take it slow, as painful as that could be.

            “Then let's split up. We can cover more ground that way." Iwai suggests. This was quickly agreed upon as they headed up the stairs. When they reached the top, Meracle, Lymle, Bacchus, Futaba, Akechi, Sumire, Isara, Sophia, Kaoru, and Donald went right, while Faize took Zenkichi, Kawakami, Sae, Yusuke, Haru, Hifumi, Morgana, Tao, and Goofy left. But when Edge and his group, consisting of Reimi, Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Makoto, Mishima, Shiho, Iwai, and Sora, reached the top, he and Reimi paused as they looked at the two statues before them, standing tall and silent as they depicted two people who looked like them.

            “That’s strange… Why are there two statues depicting Earthlings?” Ann asks, her hand on her hip.

            “Supposedly, they depict a race of people that lived on this world: the Muah.” Edge comments, turning to look at them. “Sarah told us about them when we first met here, although I wasn’t really in a talking mood at the time.”

            “There’s also a continent named after them as well.” Ryuji adds, rubbing his head. “Makes you wonder what these guys did to leave such an impact. But that doesn’t explain why they look like the two of you.”

            “It’s because they used to live on our Earth as well.” Reimi reveals, turning to look at them. “Long ago, there was another continent in the Pacific Ocean, but it vanished under mysterious circumstances. The remains were found after the Third World War, and in an attempt to save us, a project was begun to inject Muah DNA into our own, all so we could survive the wastelands above.”

            “That sounds… unpleasant.” Sora comments, rubbing his head. Sure, what they were talking about did go over his head a bit since he was never taught this in school, but he could understand some of what they were discussing.

            “Something tells me that wouldn’t be public knowledge, though.” Makoto remarks, as Reimi nods at her with an uncomfortable expression.

            “Yes… The only reason I know about it is that I am one of those Seeds of Hope.” Reimi reveals. “And as Edge and the others have found out, the DNA I possess allows me to survive any deadly environment and recover from any fatal disease, although it feels more like a curse than anything else.”

            “That’s certainly a hard burden to carry.” Ren comments, shaking his head. “Do you know anyone else?” Reimi nods her head as she turns to Edge, the silent observation shocking the group as Edge lets out a sigh.

            “Yeah. Apparently, I'm also a Seed of Hope. Guess it's why I've never been able to use a gun properly." Edge shakes his head as he puts a hand on his hip. "And there is a third survivor as well: our best friend, Crowe." Ryuji, Ann, Makoto, Shiho, Mishima, Iwai, and Sora all blink at that name, hearing how similar it sounded to Akechi's codename. Now they understood why they both looked at Akechi with some surprise while explaining their codenames on the way here.

            “But how could these Muah exist on your Earth and Roak at the same time?” Ann asks, shaking her head. "That's like… so strange." It was truly a strange question, one that did not seem likely to be answered anytime soon. But as the ten of them looked at the two statues with numerous questions on their minds, Donald's voice caught their attention, dragging them over to Meracle's group as they stood next to a wall with three braziers around it, one of which was left unlit, while the other two glowed with a purple fire.

            “What’s up?” Sora asks as they group up, noticing that Faize’s team hasn’t joined them yet.

            “Meracle caught Sarah’s scent around here.” Isara reports, with Futaba and Bacchus standing at the wall. “But all we found was this stone wall.” 

            “Leading us to conclude that it is actually hiding a secret path that leads deeper into the Purgatorium.” Akechi remarks, folding his arms. “Although we have yet to find a way to open the wall.”

            “I’m not finding anything at all.” Futaba replies in an annoyed tone, while Lymle stands next to her, gazing at her screens with childlike curiosity. “How about you, Bacchus?” 

            “Negative. I have yet to find anything that can be of help.” He lets out an annoyed grunt as he lowers his arms. “It would seem we are missing something.”

            “Well, we can’t just blast our way in. We might alert whoever has kidnapped Sarah.” Sumire cautions, looking at the stone wall. “Even if it is really tempting to do so.”

            “Well, what do we do now? Other than camp at the entrance and sneak our way in? I doubt they are going to be coming out anytime soon.” Ann comments, shaking her head.

            “Meowreka!” Meracle suddenly shouts, startling everyone.

            “What is it, Merry?” Lymle asks, calling her by the nickname she gave her. In fact, she gave everyone, barring Faize, a nickname while allowing them to call her Lym. Except for Faize, who had to call her Lymle. Why he got the short end of the stick, no one knew.

            “I just had a revelation: When you’re stuck like this, there’s only one solution: ask for help! And I know just the person: Lady Eleyna in Tropp!” 

            “Lady Eleyna? Are you talking about Sarah’s friend?” Reimi asks for confirmation while the rest, not in the know, all tilt their heads in confusion. Who was this ‘Lady Eleyna’? 

            “Of course! Lady Eleyna probably knows EVERYTHING! I mean, seriously! She’s a sage! A holy maiden! Sarah herself said she was going to visit her too! She must know something!”

            “Well… it’s a lead, if nothing else.” Akechi comments slowly. “After all, standing around here solves nothing for us. If this Lady Eleyna can supply us with answers, then it would be wise to seek her out.” 

            “But what proof do we have that this Lady Eleyna can be trusted?” Bacchus asks, blunt and honest—something that is appreciated from the big gentle giant. He was quick to learn, but Bacchus could still show some very small, faint emotions left in him. And he certainly was the walking personification of a gentle giant, at least when not in battle. 

            “Sarah said it herself. People who have lost their way go to her.” Edge replies. “I agree it’s not a strong argument, but at the very least, she would probably hear us out. And we may not have proof, but I want to trust Sarah.”

            “Then I guess we are heading to Tropp.” Ren comments before looking around. “But before we do, shouldn’t we go looking for Faize and the others? They should have linked up with us by now.” 

            “Good question.” Edge agrees as the group retraces their steps. But as they get to the main area, they find, to their surprise, Faize and the others standing around the centre, with the girl from the tribe standing in the middle of them and close to Faize. 

            “Everyone! Over here!” Haru calls out, waving them over as the black tribe girl looks at them with both relief and fear in her eyes. 

            “You’re from the pagoda outside Tatroi.” Edge comments as the two groups converge. “Why are you here? Where is everyone else?”

            “Dead.” The girl replies, her voice scared and trembling. The words plunge a dagger deep into everyone’s hearts. “They are all dead. They came for us in the night, dragging us away with those strange creatures. They brought us here, where they started killing everyone in an altar room deep in the Purgatorium. But… they left me alive. Their leader wanted to do a ‘check’ on me before they used me as a sacrifice tomorrow, but I never saw who it was. It was too dark for me to see. And that Featherfolk woman is to be killed in the evening after me.”

            “They mean to kill Sarah tomorrow!?” Futaba shouts with wide eyes, the girl flinching a bit even as Faize keeps a steady hand on her shoulder.

            “Yes… But only after they kill me first. Without me, they can’t go forward.” She looks up at Edge, Ren, and Sora, a silent plea in her eyes. “I… I can’t stay here any longer… They might find me again.”

            “We're already heading for Tropp to speak to Lady Eleyna. We'll take you with us." Ren replies, his voice firm as the girl seems to sigh a breath of relief while the team quickly makes their exit. But as they do, several thoughts swarm through the group's minds as they make their way back to the cave, with Bacchus, Sae, Zenkichi, Kawakami, and Iwai casting glances behind them to make sure they are not being followed.

            “By the way, we never got your name before.” Akechi comments, stroking his chin. This is something that the girl seems to realize as she looks at him.

            “That’s right… I never got the chance to. My name is Amina. And now… I am the last of my tribe.” She lets a tear fall from her face, unable to keep the sadness within her from seeping out. “Those people… the Church of Sydonai… they’re using us and that girl as sacrifices to summon Asmodeus so they can destroy the world.”

            “They are what?” Edge asks, his eyes narrowing while his hands clench. A small flicker of light appears on the back of his right hand, but it lasts for only a second. 

            “Cultists… the worst kind to deal with.” Zenkcihi remarks through gritted teeth. “And there is nothing worse than trying to deal with a fanatic.”

            “Let’s hope we don’t have to deal with any of them for now.” Sae remarks, casting a glance behind her. “Especially if they are using what we think they are.”

            “Our list of problems continues to grow.” Yusuke bemoans while Haru side-hugs him. It really was an apt description of their current situation. Why could things never go simply for once? 

            “How did you escape? I highly doubt they would have let you walk out unopposed.” Bacchus asks, curious as to how she got out.

            “It was that charm that you gave me yesterday.” Amina replies, looking at Ren. “When I found out I still had it on me, I threw it at my feet like you said. And then, I found myself at the entrance of the Purgatorium. But… I couldn’t run, so I hid in one of the rooms where the rest of you found me.”

            “I’m glad that came in handy, but I hoped you didn’t need to use it.” Ren replies, nodding his head. “Either way, let’s get into Tropp and find Eleyna. The sooner we get inside, the sooner we can save Sarah and end this madness.” 

            “No complaints from me.” Sora agrees readily, nodding his head up and down as they move into the dark caves. They can only hope these cultists will keep Sarah alive until they rescue her.

The journey to Tropp was strangely smooth, all things considered. Well, other than having to deal with attacking trees, sentient bees, giant birds with axe-like beaks, and small scumbags trying to steal from them, it was far smoother than being attacked by the Heartless and Demons. But that only made their absence all the more imposing. Even in Luxendarc, they were still making their presence known, but here on Roak… it was something that no one could help but worry about. At least they weren't bored, as Meracle spent no small amount of time telling them all about Lady Eleyna and her fortune-telling abilities, along with the rumours that she could see both the past and future. Certainly, someone you would want to be friends with.

As for Tropp itself, it was a walled port town that looked to still be expanding, given how the buildings appeared to be either relatively new or still under construction. They could only imagine how large the port could grow in the future. But today, there seemed to be some sort of event happening in the middle of town, as a group of people dressed in dark purple robes with light accents stood before a crowd with their hoods covering their faces. The sight of them caused Amina to jump behind Faize, panic in her eyes.

            "Amina? What's wrong?" Tao asks, seeing the fear in her eyes.

            "That's them. The Church of Sydonai." She whispers, nodding her head at the group as the team looks at them in both shock and anger. Some of them wanted to go and confront these fanatics right here and now, but if they did, what would happen to Sarah at the Purgatorium if they didn't return?

            "Wait… so these guys are the ones who took Sarah and killed your tribe!" Morgana asks, clenching his fist.

            "I can already tell that these guys scream trouble. Especially that guy right there." Mishima remarks, indicating the only man in the middle of the group without a hood. Brown hair flows down his head, a giant moustache that seems to be joined to the hair, and a glowing purple jewel with a white centre in the middle of his forehead.

            “O righteous flock of wandering souls, give pause and lend me your ears. The advent of our long-awaited Hour of Salvation is at hand." All eyes are glued to the cult member, arms spread high in the air. "Yea, he who shall save our wretched, iniquitous souls… The Supreme Being, the Almighty Lord, Asmodeus… His resurrection is nigh."

The words the cult speaker had said sent shivers down the spines of the original eight Thieves, as they reminded them of how Takaya had a similar mindset when he spoke of Nyx and the Fall during the time they helped S.E.E.S when they went back in time.

            "I guess they haven't found out you escaped yet." Tao silently tells Amina as the group covers her from all angles. There was no way they were going to let the cultists see her.

            "Indeed. We are the Church of Sydonai. But I ask you all… what reason is there for you to be worried?" The cult speaker asks, his voice easily reaching the group as he speaks not just to the people before him, but to the entire town. "It is Asmodeus who shall deliver this world unto salvation. Avert your eyes from false peace, and witness the truth of this world! If you would do just that… you shall surely begin to see. Your beloved families, friends, and neighbours blighted, becoming cold stone, trapped within the clutches of darkness and pain forevermore… The remedy that would cure us all is monopolised by the ruling elite and does not reach the hands of the common man. That is unjust. Would you not agree with me?"

            “That’s a lie.” Donald grumbles, folding his arms. “I saw some guards handing the cure out to beggars in Tatroi without a second thought.”

            “But the people here don’t know that.” Goofy replies, rubbing his head. “He’s twisting the truth.”

            “And that’s how they get you.” Sae grumbles, watching as some among the crowd silently agree with this cult member. 

            “Yes, my friends. This world of ours walks the wrong path. The virtuous and chaste writhe in agony throughout the land, while the wretched and shameless fill the vessels of their desires. But there is one who would consume this miserable world in his flames of purification: yea, none other than the magnificent Archfiend… Asmodeus.”

            “But if he burns the world, wouldn’t they burn as well?” Sophia asks, tilting her upper body. “Why would they worship someone like that?” 

            “Here’s something to remember, Sophia. Cultists never make any sense.” Zenkichi tells her, folding his arms. “Oh, they may sound as if they know what they are saying, but in truth, they are only fooling themselves. Trying to make sense of them is a waste of brainpower. Better just ignore them.”

            “And it looks like some of the folks here are realizing that.” Meracle points out, as a sizeable portion of the crowd repeats what Sophia said back at the cult speaker. He didn’t even bother hiding this fact, telling them all they would be reborn from the flames as new beings. But even that seemed to turn more people away as the man brought his speech to an end, walking to the entrance while spinning his arms in circles near his head and singing a chant. The Sydonists with him follow after him, while the crowd remains in place.

Not wanting to be any nearer to them, the group moved away from the entrance, keeping Amina hidden as the man and his goons walked past. The man even seemed to bow to them as he passed, sending a cold shiver down their spines. None of them spotted the crystal on his head letting out a purple light as he walked by.

            “So this is Sydonasim… the Cult of Asmodeus. They are clearly not to be taken lightly.” Bacchus tells them over the headset, not willing to speak and reveal himself.

            “A group like that will cause problems no matter the world.” Faize remarks in a casual tone while Amina looks at him with wide eyes. What did he mean by that?

            “Everything he said was a big fat lie.” Ryuji grumbles, rubbing his head. “The sooner we break in there, rescue Sarah, and smack his head upside down, the better for Roak.”

            “No arguments from me.” Ann agrees, folding her arms.

            “I wouldn’t be surprised if the bandit Edge defeated was hired by them.” Akechi remarks, rubbing his chin. “Take out the raw materials and slow production of the cure, thereby limiting where it can be used. A common fear tactic.” 

            “Well, that won’t be working now that the Black Eagle is in jail.” Hifumi agrees, nodding her head.

            “Urgh… just hearing him speak made me feel uncomfortable.” Kaoru remarks, rolling his arm. Edge’s former workman blade is strapped over his shoulder. “Don’t you agree, Edge?” He looks at Edge, but instead of getting a reply, all he sees is a face that is lost in thought. “Edge? You okay, man?”

            “Hm?” Edge asks, blinking out of his thoughts. “Sorry. I was just thinking about that gem in that man's head.”

            “The gem? What about it?” Sora asks, puzzled at why Edge was wondering about a gem in the guy's head. Although now that they all think about it, why DID he have a gem in his head?

            “This might be me jumping at things, but it reminded me of something we encountered on Lemuris and the Cardianon Mothership. But… there’s no way it can be that.” While’s Edge seemed too quick to discard whatever it was he was thinking about; it did leave the others curious about what he was referring to. Although the look Reimi and Faize were giving him showed that they knew what it was. “Anyway, we came here to find Eleyna. Let’s start looking and worry about this later.”

It wasn’t ideal, but then again, they didn’t really have a choice. They needed to find Eleyna so they could get deeper into the Purgatorium without alerting the Sydonists. They could only hope she would be easy to find. At least they didn’t have a time limit on their hands… for now, anyway.

            “What do you mean the Dawn Maiden is gone!?” Tamiel shouts in outrage at his goons. "I saw her in the cage myself before I left for Tropp! How could she escape under your watch!?" Around him, the members of his Church of Sydonai all quiver in fear at seeing their leader stare at them with unbridled fury. At the far end, looming over them all with two sacrificial tables on either side, was a statue of Asmodeus.

            “Please forgive us, Lord Tamiel! But we don’t know how she did it!” One of his goons pleads, prostrating himself on the floor.

            “She was trapped in the cage without any tools to escape! We believed it was impossible for her to escape her bonds!” The other goons pleaded, also kneeling on the floor. Tamiel could only scream in rage as he looked at one of the tables, holding a sleeping Sarah.

            “You buffoons should be glad that the Dusk Maiden is still with us, considering how you failed to capture her the first time! Forcing me to send the Heartless and Demons after her! What if they discovered that we are in control of both of them!?”

            “You would already find them at your doorstep.” Maleficent remarks, slowly walking up behind Tamiel. “It would seem your plan to summon Asmodeus so that we may bend him to our will has suffered a setback.” The ones around Tamiel seem to quiver at Maleficent’s presence until they are shooed away by Tamiel, leaving just him and the witch by themselves.

            “One that I intend to rectify soon.” Tamiel replies, shaking his head. “But where are my manners? Welcome to Roak, Maleficent. I trust the journey has not been too harsh?” 

            “Far from it. It was rather relaxing, all things considered.” She replies with a grin as two Phantom soldiers walk up beside her. “I must admit, having these Phantoms with us is certainly a boost to our power. Are you sure your fellow Grigori will not stop us?”

            “Your goals align with ours, Maleficent. It is in our best interest that we work together.” Tamiel replies with a smile. “By the way, I happened to spy on those Thieves and the Keybearer in Tropp earlier and took the opportunity to see which of them is the Princess of Heart we are looking for.” 

            “I see… and what have you found out?” Maleficent asks, with a growing sense of intrigue.

            “As much as I wanted an accurate search, I was blinded by their radiance the moment I took a glance. All I can say is that it is the smallest among them who glows the brightest.” Maleficent couldn’t help but let out a small frown at that. She had hoped to hear a name, not a vague mention of their height.

            “Not the most illuminating of insights, but I suppose it is something.” She remarks. “No matter, we will find her identity soon enough. In the meantime, I suggest you prepare yourself, Tamiel. They will no doubt come here to rescue your sacrifice to Asmodeus.”

            “And with them, the Dawn Maiden shall come. She will not sit by and let my slaughtering of her tribe go unpunished.” Tamiel agrees with a dark smile. “But all she shall do is hasten her own downfall. Soon, my Lord will walk among us once more, and you shall have a new ally in our plans.”

            “Yes, we shall. Provided that you are victorious, my friend.” Maleficent replies, walking backward into a portal of darkness. “Do not let your greed get the better of you, or you too shall fall like the others.” And with that, she leaves Tamiel alone as he looks back at the statue of Asmodeus, raising his arms while his smile never leaves his face. Everything will fall into place, no matter what.

They had been wandering around Tropp for what felt like hours. For a small town along the sea, trying to find Eleyna’s house proved to be harder than they initially believed. It turned out this Eleyna was a bit of a social hermit, living in a house on the edge of town. That, along with people not being very helpful in giving them directions, made them waste quite a lot of time. But eventually, they did find her house. However, when Sora tried knocking on the door, they received no reply.

            “Did we just miss her?” Shiho asks, seeing that they aren’t getting a reply. 

            “Please tell me that’s not the case.” Kawakami says, shaking her head. 

            “I doubt that. She would have heard us asking about her." Iwai remarks casually, pulling his hat down. While everyone pondered what to do from here, Lymle wasn't so eager to talk and thus walked up to the door and pushed it open, much to everyone's shock.

            “The door’s not locked. I’m going in, ‘kay?” She tells them in an innocent tone. While it was very abrupt of her to do so, no one was going to really question her actions as they followed after her. But what they found was that, while it was a large and nice house, it was also very empty.

            “Well, there’s no one upstairs.” Isara remarks as she, Faize, Mishima, and Morgana descend the stairs. “Nor any hint about where she could have gone.”

            “Maybe she went out for some shopping or a walk?” Makoto suggests, tapping her knuckles on her cheek. 

            “But if she did, why did she not lock the door?” Mishima asks, scratching his head. “Or does she have that much trust in everyone that they won’t break into her house?”

            “Just what I would expect from Lady Eleyna! No one would have as much trust as she would!” Meracle shouts with a big smile on her face. But while the team was quick to dismiss her clear worship of this Eleyna, there was something else in the air that was starting to alert them.

            “Does anyone else smell smoke in the air?” Sae asks, holding a hand over her nose. It was something that everyone was quick to smell as well, and the answer to that question soon came quicker than any of them wanted.

            “Look! Outside!” Reimi shouts, pointing a hand at one of the windows as flames race up outside. This was quickly evident from all the other windows as the entrance door was blown open by a flood of fire. Flames soon spread everywhere inside, and the wooden house became a giant tinderbox, with all of them trapped inside.

            “Who set the house on fire!?” Futaba asks, hands covering her nose and mouth as the windows explode. Glass, wooden frames, and fire fly everywhere. But just when it looks like they will all burn to death, a glyph appears on the floor beneath them. Seconds later, the entire team is teleported from the building into an underground cave. Sora summons the Kingdom Key and holds it up, letting it glow with a gentle light to illuminate the cave walls.

            “Did we just get teleported?” Ren asks, looking around slowly. “But how?”

            “That was because of me, welp.” A voice echoes from the side of the cave as a lantern is soon ignited, just as Bacchus turns invisible. All eyes turn to it, where a tall woman with long furry ears stands before them. With green eyes and long blue hair tied into a ponytail, she wears a sleeveless dress with a white top exposing the upper part of her chest, while the green cloth flows down to her ankles with slits along the sides, complemented by brown boots reaching just under her knees. Her arms have green sleeves that stop just after her elbows, while two decorative white pauldrons hang on the sides of her biceps. “I knew you were Sarah’s friends, along with the Persona users and Keyblade welp with the kings' guards. And the one who would become the Dawn sacrifice tomorrow if not for a Trickster intervention. I also knew you would enter my house, getting trapped in a fiery blaze and almost burning to death. That’s why I prepared a transfer symbol for you wretches. Show some appreciation.” The Thieves could only stare at her in shock, while Sora blinked his eyes like mad. As for Donald and Goofy, they had their mouths hanging open cartoonishly wide. How did she know all of that?

            “She doesn’t mince words, does she?” Iwai asks, pulling his hat down as the woman looks at him.

            “No, I don’t, Ex-Yakuza.” That got the Thieves to gasp in shock while Iwai just looked at her with a blank stare. How the hell did she know that? “And are you all deficient? Show some appreciation, all of you. And this includes the hulk hiding behind an illusion.” While the team was quick to express their thanks, Bacchus decloaked with an astounded look on his face. He could understand Futaba finding him out, but this woman as well? He wasn’t even illuminated by Sora’s Keyblade when she called out to them earlier. “Very well. Now you may rejoice. I am the one whom you seek—the one and only Eleyna Farrence.” That got everyone looking at her with wide eyes as she turned around, showing that she had a very bushy brown tail. “Come. I don’t recall summoning you, but you might as well stick around for tea.”

            “Um… wait a minute, please!” Edge calls out, causing her to pause. “Are you really the Eleyna that Sarah was talking—” 

            “I won’t say it again, stripling. Come.” Eleyna replies in a very firm tone. One that made Edge shut up while making everyone else a little bit intimidated by the woman. Even if they outnumbered her, the aura she gave off was… intimidating, to say the least. Something that seemed to hit Meracle the most as Lymle walked up to her.

            “Merry? Is something wrong?” 

            “I think she’s just having a crisis.” Isara remarks, walking up to her. “I mean, she’s not just meeting someone who’s a hero to her but is not like what she imagined her ‘Holy Maiden’ to be.” 

            “I can still hear you, toy tank.” Eleyna calls out, causing Isara to almost face-fault while Eleyna snaps her fingers, causing several wooden burners to light up, illuminating a path forward. “But ‘Holy Maiden’ has a nice ring to it. I think I’ll start calling myself that: ‘Eleyna, the Holy Maiden’.”

            “D-Don’t! My beautiful bubbles… Stop bursting them!” Meracle shouts at Eleyna as she walks off, completely unfazed by Meracle’s outburst while the team quietly follows after her. 

            “Isn’t this… bullying?” Morgana asks, shaking his head. 

            “I’m no bully, house cat. I’m simply blunt.” Eleyna calls back, with Morgana now almost tripping over his feet.

            “I guess her reputation is certainly… earned.” Sora comments, rubbing his head. “I mean, she’s talking about things that only you guys know about. She even knows about the Keyblade and how you guys are Persona users.” 

            “She even knows that we are King Mickey’s guards.” Goofy comments, rubbing his head. “That’s not something a person should know in this world.”

            “And not only that we are friends with Sarah, but also the fire as well.” Edge adds, shaking his head. “I’m certainly starting to believe the stories now.” 

            “Then I wish she would have saved us a little faster!” Meracle shouts in annoyance, clearly not happy to see her ‘hero’ be so… blunt. 

            “If I had, you wouldn’t know the proper gratitude. I saved your life, and in doing so, showed you how precious it is. I believe I ought to be thanked for that, not blamed.” She tells Meracle, who is slowly following after her.

            “This is wrong… all wrong! Lady Eleyna is supposed to be beautiful, wise, and kind…” 

            “You see? That’s me to the letter.” She calls back as Meracle completely deflates, with Shiho patting her on the back in sympathy.

            “Where are you taking us, anyway?” Zenkcihi asks, folding his arms. “Do you have a hideout down here or something?” 

            “You would be correct there, Gramps.” Eleyna calls back, almost sending Zenkcihi to the floor. “There are more after my life than I can count, you see. Not helped by the appearance of those Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms.” 

            “Hold up! You know about those freaks that attacked us!?” Ryuji shouts with wide eyes.

            “Phantoms? What are those?” Edge asks, tilting his head. 

            “To be completely honest, even we don’t know.” Akechi remarks, shaking his head. “They appeared out of nowhere, attacked and boarded our ship while damaging crucial systems, and then left. The only reason we are here is because of these Phantoms to begin with.”

            “We’ve arrived.” Eleyna calls out, drawing all eyes to a wooden door surrounded by stone bricks. “However, the hulk will remain outside. You might fit, but with how many of you there are, your presence would be suffocating.” 

            “As you wish.” Bacchus replies with zero complaint in his voice as he sits down on a large piece of rock. “I shall remain on watch here.”

            “Bacchus? Are you sure?” Sumire asks, with some concern in her voice. 

            “You need not worry. I will still be able to hear your conversation from here.” Bacchus tells her with confidence in his voice. While they felt bad about leaving him there, there wasn’t really anything they could do. So, with reluctance, the team entered Eleyna’s hideout. They found it to be pretty spacious, all things considered, but at the same time small enough that if Bacchus were there, they would have some difficulty moving about. However, they still had to get some questions off their chests.

            “Miss Eleyna, can you really see everything?” Edge asks, watching as Eleyna puts some tea on to boil.

            “I do. Everything that has happened until now, and what may come after. Of course, the future is always in flux, so what I see can change depending on what happens in the present. But the past I see more than clear enough.” Eleyna remarks, stepping from the stove and sitting on a stool. “As for what is happening now, I presume you have already met the Sydonists and what they are planning to do with Amina? But what if I told you that their leader, Tamiel, has plans bigger than just Roak? An imbecilic cretin who has joined hands with another imbecile. I am sure you know of Maleficent?” 

            “Maleficent?” Sora asks with wide eyes. “Tamiel is with her as well?” 

            “From what I have managed to see through my augury.” Eleyna remarks. “However, what they plan to do is the only thing that eludes me. But what I can tell you is that these cultists have always been working in the shadows. Even after Asmodeus was defeated millennia ago, they still work to bring about his resurrection. And for that, they need sacrifices: Sarah… and you, Amina.”

            “But… why us? Why me?” Amina asks, hands on her chest. “Why do they want us?” 

            “It is your blood and your special symbology. They are tools needed to bring about his resurrection. The same tools that Sarah’s blood also carries; she is a Featherfolk, after all. And he is fated to be revived and defeated for good. However, now is not the time. It is far too soon. Tamiel is speeding up the resurrection by thirty-six years. The heroes who are to destroy him forever have not yet been born.”

            “And you want us to stop the resurrection from happening?” Ren asks Eleyna. “We planned to do that from the start with rescuing Sarah. And if Tamiel is in cahoots with Maleficent, then we don’t mind adding him to the list. We’d be saving Roak and taking away another ally of Maleficent as well.”

            “Hmmm… you are quick with the numbers, Trickster. Fitting for a person who cheated death not once, but twice.” Ren felt himself tense up for a moment, along with the rest of the Thieves. Of course, she knew about that… 

            “And what happens if we fail? What will happen to this planet?” Edge asks with fear in his voice. Ren and Makoto look at him along with Edge’s team. They have a feeling about where this fear is coming from. At his question, Eleyna closes her eyes while placing one closed fist into the other, just as she is enveloped in a silver light. When she opens her eyes again, she appears to be in a daze. 

“The holy virgin, clad in white, walks upon the path to the altar. The way shall soon be cleared, feathers of purest white stained deep crimson, scattered upon the winds. The vile Archfiend, bade forth from his realm of deepest darkness, shall awaken to feast upon the corpse of the virgin. But as he feasts, vile darkness from the depths of the heart shall strike, consuming the Archfiend into something more. And with his ascension, he will consume and burn not only this world but every star in the sky until naught remains but ash. Thus are all things consumed in the unending void of the abyss.”

With that, the glow around Eleyna vanishes as she collapses in her chair. Shiho and Sophia rush to her side, helping her up even as she breathes deeply. Clearly, what she had done had taken a lot out of her, as the two girls helped her over to a bed to lie down.

            “So… that was an augury of what happens if we fail, huh?” Kaoru asks, rubbing his arm. “Talk about depressing.”

            “But they need Amina to start the ritual, don’t they?” Faize asks, standing closer to her. “If we keep her away from them, then that means they will be unsuccessful, correct?”

            “But what's stopping them from finding another one who could fill her spot?” Sae counters, taking the wind out of Faize's sails. “Sure, we could hide Amina somewhere they could never find her, but that won't stop them from finding someone else to take her place.” Faize couldn't really counter that. What Sae said had merit.

            “There's something else about that augury that bothers me.” Sora comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “What she said at the end, about how Asmodeus is consumed from the darkness of the heart, is she talking about him becoming a Heartless?” 

            “That’s the only thing that I can think of right now.” Ren replies, shaking his head. “And we have enough problems on our hands already. The last thing we need is a world-hopping Heartless Archfiend burning everything to the ground.” 

            “But what can we do? We still don’t have a way inside the Purgatorium.” Ann points out, flipping one leg over the other.

            “All we can do now is wait for Eleyna to wake up, no matter how long that might take.” Kawakami comments, looking at Eleyna’s sleeping body as she breathes heavily. Sweat builds along her face as her body is wracked by pain. Clearly, doing an augury was taxing on her body. With their only source of information currently out cold, all the team could do was sit around and wait until she woke up, no matter how long it would take.

Chapter Text

Chapter 28: Roak’s Future.

No one knew how long they were waiting for Eleyna to wake up, but it was certainly enough time for them to get some shut-eye. Bacchus, being a cyborg, stayed on sentry duty all night in case the Heartless or Demons attacked the hideout. But thankfully for them, no attack came, and Amina was still with them when they awoke. It was not long after that Eleyna herself woke up, still groggy from using her ability, but alive nonetheless. Although she was still surprised to see them all in her hideout.

            “Why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be rescuing Sarah?” She asks with little amusement in her weary voice.

            “That’s what we wanted to ask you about.” Ren tells her, folding his arms. “We found a fake wall they took Sarah through, but we have no idea how to open it without forcefully bringing it down and alerting everyone inside as well.”

            “I see… That was smart thinking on your part.” Eleyna remarks, sitting on the edge of her bed. “Had you forced your way in, Sarah would have been killed for sure, regardless of whether they had the girl or not.” Amina flinches at that, even as Faize leaves a calming hand on her shoulder. As for Eleyna, she reaches into her jacket, pulling out a strange grey card with runic writing on it and handing it to Reimi. “Had I given you this earlier, you would have reached the inner depths of the Purgatorium by now.”

            “Is this… a Keycard?” Edge asks, raising an eyebrow at what Reimi holds in her hand.

            “This goes against the World Order…” Donald grumbles, grabbing Eleyna’s attention as she lets out a huff of annoyance.

            “Oh, quit your whining, royal duck mage. The World Order is in its dying grasps even as we speak.” Donald looks at her in shock as Eleyna continues to look at him with narrow eyes. “Such an order was needed in the past, this is true. However, events are unfolding that render such an order non-existent. You know of the stripling’s homeworld and its current condition. How will you stop an entire world’s population from exploring the star ocean?”

            “Well… erm…” Donald tries to counter but comes up empty.

            “The times are changing, and the old World Order needs to change as well. Otherwise, it shall be forgotten in all its memory, discarded to the past. The Heartless and Demons have already made sure of that. What has been broken cannot be remade completely.” Donald could feel his fire burn out, the rants he was going to give Edge and his team all but vanishing.

            “But… what about you? Looking into people’s pasts without their consent. Are you not breaking rules yourself?” Donald challenges, folding his arms as Eleyna lets out a chuckle.

            “Of course I am. But I do so with the knowledge that I may save my home from disaster. I’m not some tyrant in the making, simply a person who wants to protect their home.” Eleyna finishes, letting a smirk form on her face as she looks back at the rest of the team. “And without the Lamp of Guidance, you would never be able to reach the Purgatorium's inner sanctum.”

            “Where did you get the Keycard… I mean, the Lamp of Guidance?” Faize asks, looking at the card. It was certainly something that no one on this planet should even have, let alone develop.

            “It was given to me by one who claimed to hold the blood of the Muah.” Eleyna replies simply, shocking everyone in the room. “That is everything I have to tell you. Now go… and please, save Sarah.”

            “We plan on it.” Iwai remarks, pulling his hat down. “As for Amina—”

            “I’m going as well.” She suddenly comments, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I know what I’ve said sounds crazy, seeing how I escaped my own death, but if I stay behind, what is stopping them from summoning those creatures and kidnapping me again? I refuse to stay behind as a damsel and offer myself up as easy bait. I can fight too, and…” She lets out a shaky breath, resting a hand on her chest. “I want to show them that we, members of the Black Tribe, are not to be messed with.”

            “Are you sure? Revenge is a powerful drug.” Tao cautions, folding her arms. “You might do something you’ll regret.”

            “I’m not going for revenge.” Amina replies, shocking everyone but Eleyna. “It’s as Lady Eleyna has said: Asmodeus is destined to awaken. Whether it is someone from my tribe or a different person, he will awaken and fall to the heroes of his time. However, I won’t let their leader walk away after trying to accelerate his revival with my death. He wants me to be there so badly; then I’ll be there with bow in hand and arrow drawn.” The group all looks at each other, surprised at how Amina was so willing to go right back there despite escaping her own death—something they couldn’t help but admire as Reimi handed her a spare bow, one that looked to have a frame made from white oak with green decals and string.

            “Then you might want to use this.” Reimi tells her calmly. Amina smiles at her, picking up the bow and holding it naturally. With Amina holding her new weapon, she, Faize, Lymle, Zenkichi, Kawakami, Iwai, Tao, and Bacchus leave the hideout. But just as Meracle is about to rush out, Eleyna calls her to stop—something she isn’t eager to do.

            “Wh-What? You want to burst even more of my bubbles!?” Meracle asks, clearly not happy. But instead of getting a snide remark, she receives what looks to be a genuine smile from her.

            “Come see me next time this is over and tell me about your Holy Maiden. Next time I will not make fun of her.” Eleyna tells Meracle, surprising the Lesser Fellpool, who quickly turns away to hide her face, even as she places her hands on her hips in a mock huff.

            “M-Maybe, if I feel like it! And I’m no alley cat, you hear!?” With that, she skips out of the hideout, with Donald and Goofy following after her, leaving the remaining Thieves, Sora, Edge, and Reimi alone with Eleyna. She could see the look of conflict on Edge’s face. Whatever it was that he was stressing over was clearly eating him apart, so she decided to confront it.

            “Stripling. I don’t know what it is that frightens you, and neither do I care. But I will say this: stop being so full of yourself. It is ridiculous.” Edge looks at her in shock, along with the others, as Eleyna looks at him with narrow eyes. “The star ocean is endless, the world vast beyond knowing. If you presume to think you can carry it all yourself, you’re a fool. It is the stars themselves that decide between prosperity and destruction. All is fate. Or are you so arrogant as to believe you can manipulate fate itself? What you are capable of doing and the influence you wield are limited. Only by working with those around you can you alter fate, such as the Phantom Thieves and those who came before them, or the ones who wielded the Keyblade before Sora.”

The Thieves all glance at each other, pondering if Eleyna knew about the original eight's 'sacrifice' and that they time-travelled. They quickly agree that, of course, she does. But Sora could only wonder what the wielders of the key did before he came to wield his. What threats did they face? Part of him wondered if he could see this through Ven's memories, if he had any more, that is.

            “Yes, something that you trigger might eventually swell into an enormous wave, enveloping everything… The very fate of a world might even be swayed. But your actions alone are not enough. A great many factors conspire to bring a world's fate to its ultimate conclusion. Fret! Fear! Weep! But do not stop! Leave pride by the wayside, move forward with every fibre of your being, and you will discover what you are capable of. Insignificant as you are, you will find something that only you will be able to do. That is the path you must walk. What all of you must walk.”

Eleyna turns her gaze to the Thieves, her eyes filled with knowing.

            “The trials you have overcome, the gods you have toppled, have all been stepping stones on your path to self-discovery. Indeed, the same is true of the rest of your Shadow Operatives. But there is so much more for you to find. So don’t stop! Keep walking forward, no matter how shrouded your path becomes. And as for you…” She turns her gaze to Kaoru. “The chains you feel holding you back are there for a reason. When they break and set you free, you will find your true place to call home. So endure, rebel, and stand tall! Your time is coming, and the chains holding you down will be broken.” While the Thieves blink at her in silence, with Kaoru wondering what she is talking about, Eleyna turns her gaze to Sora, softening for a moment.

            “You are burdened by a fate no other would wish upon you. Yet it is your journey to see it through. But do not forget, you are not alone in this fight that has dragged you in. You will find your faith waver, you will find your path lost, and you will find your hope taken from you in an instant. Yet, so long as you carry what truly makes you, you will find your true power.” Everyone stands in silence as the words from Eleyna bounce around in their minds, the weight of the words seeping into their very souls.

            “Was that an augury too?” Sophia asks, looking at Eleyna with innocent eyes. Eleyna lets out a smile as she leans back on her bed, a small chuckle escaping her lips.

            “No, just some advice from a pretentious fortune-teller.” Eleyna replies with a smile. “Now go. The fate of Roak rests on your shoulders. Oh, and do me a favour, girl.” She addresses Reimi with sly eyes. “Keep an eye on your stripling. I’m sure you have faced incredible pain and hardship. But the Muah blood within you both is there for a reason. So stay with your stripling, you who were born under the blessing of the Muah… children of hope.” That got Reimi to shed several tears from her eyes. But these were not tears of sadness, but ones of joy, as even Edge seemed to have a weight lifted from his shoulders. It looked like some good old-fashioned wisdom was what these two needed, apparently.

So it was with light steps that the group exited Eleyna’s home and stepped into the bright sunshine of a new day. The rest of the team waited for them patiently, even as they joined the others.

            “What did Lady Eleyna tell you? It looks like a weight has been lifted from all of you.” Kawakami remarks with a grin, seeing how everyone seems to be standing a bit taller.

            “Just some good old-fashioned encouragement.” Ryuji snarks with a grin. “Well, now that we’re all ready, let’s head back to the Purgatorium and kick some cultists down!”

            “I was beginning to wonder if you would even be leaving. If we're going, let's hurry up and get moving." Myuria's voice echoed behind them, catching everyone's eyes, especially Edge, Ren, and Makoto, as she walked up to them. Although some of them found her attire to be… something.

            “What’s with that outfit?” Sumire asks, shaking her head. “Is she TRYING to get attention?”

            “I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.” Hifumi quips, shaking her head.

            “Seriously… she so does not belong here.” Ann comments, shaking her head. “Now I don’t feel so bad about my Thief attire.”

            “I had the same thoughts when we encountered her last night.” Makoto quips, shrugging her shoulder. As for the boys, they were looking anywhere but at Myuria, especially Sora. The poor kid was starting to feel traumatized after seeing the Mara back in Halloween Town; now this lady was walking up to them like this? Sure, one could say Ariel could be the same, but she was at least underwater, same as all of them!

            “You know I can still hear you, right?” Myuria calls out to the girls with a smirk. “And why shouldn’t I try to flaunt myself? If it gives me an opening in battle, why not take it?”

            “Why does she have a point?” Kawakami asks in annoyance, rubbing her eyes.

            “What are you doing here? Were you listening in on us last night?” Edge asks with some hardness in his voice. After all, he had not forgotten about what she had said to them either.

            “I told you I had business on this planet, didn’t I? Well, would you look at that. It would seem we even share the same goal now. Halting the resurrection of the Archfiend Asmodeus was the mission I was given as a Morphus.” Myuria reveals to them with a smile, surprising those who hadn’t met her yet, apart from one.

            “I see. So you are Morphus as well.” Bacchus comments, earning Myuria’s gaze.

            “I’ve heard plenty of stories about you as well, Bacchus D-79. It’s an honour to meet you, I suppose.” Myuria comments before looking over the rest of the group. “I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself to the rest of your group yet. I’m Myuria Tionysus. And I remember some of you from the Cardianon Mothership.” Reimi, Faize, and Lymle all nod their heads at her, acknowledging that.

            “But what are you doing here on Roak?” Goofy asks, rubbing the side of his head while Donald folds his arms.

            “I want to know that myself.” Myuria asks back. "That business with the Cardianon, now Roak… even managing to bring in Persona users as well. Why are you people always at the centre of things…?" She asks Edge's group in particular before shrugging her shoulders in resignation. "I suppose it doesn't matter. Anyway, I'll be joining you.”

            “Just like that?” Isara asks in annoyance as Myuria starts walking along the beach. “What makes you think that—” Before she can continue, Edge rests a hand on her shoulder, pausing her as he steps forward with narrowed eyes.

            “Do you still intend to kill him?” Myuria pauses in her walk, looking over her shoulder at Edge before turning around.

            “I’ll let you be the judge of that and what he has to say from his perspective. And don’t worry, I’m staying with you until that time comes.” With that, she put her hands on her hips while giving him a flirtatious wink, which sent shivers down the spines of all the males present, including Bacchus.

            “Oh… I feel like I could learn some things from her.” Ann whispers to Shiho, who nods her head in agreement. Ryuji and Mishima stare at their girlfriends with wide eyes before looking at each other and shrugging in resignation. Not much they could do to argue with them, after all. But others were far less welcoming of her, as Reimi walked up to Edge with a question on her mind.

            “Edge, who is she talking about?” Edge glances at her before looking at Ren and Makoto, who silently nod at him.

            “Oh, it's simple enough.” Edge tells her before looking back at Myuria. "She's coming with us because she wants to kill our best friend, Crowe." Reimi lets out a sharp gasp while Akechi looks at Myuria with narrow eyes. As for Sumire, she suddenly steps in front of Akechi in a protective manner. The last thing she wants is for Myuria to target him because he has a similarly sounding codename.

            “That’s a low move, Myuria.” Futaba remarks while Iwai lets out an annoyed grunt.

            “Don’t worry. I’ll make her understand.” Edge suddenly comments with a grin. “I won’t let her harm him.” While it could be seen as a false promise, it was more than enough to calm down Reimi. As for the rest of the team, while they didn’t like the idea of having a future killer among them, almost like with the original Akechi in Sae’s Palace, at least she wasn’t out for any of them. And besides, if they were going up against an ally of Maleficent, having an extra pair of hands would be welcome.

            “Well, shall we?” Myuria asks, letting out another wink while blowing a kiss at the boys. This was going to be a long day for them…

Getting back to the Purgatorium was originally a simple walk, but today things were not so straightforward. Now, instead of an empty cave and plateau outside, they were met by several Shadow Heartless, Soldier Heartless, Large Bodies, and the small elemental Heartless. Additionally, the Aeros Demons had also appeared to stop them, while their earthly cousins attempted to ambush them in the cave alongside several green slimes with teeth. While it was an unwelcome surprise, it did give the group a chance to see both Amina and Myuria in action.

While Amina proved to be just as good with a bow as Reimi, she didn’t have any of the close-range kicks that Reimi had. Instead, she focused more on firing at range, even summoning a giant pink bunny to ride around on and shoot from the back. Queen, Sophie, and Noir almost squealed at the sight of the giant bunny before focusing on the fight. Myuria did raise an eyebrow when she heard Akechi’s codename but quickly dismissed him since he didn’t have red hair or armour, something the detective was more than thankful for.

Speaking of Myuria, she proved to be a formidable mage, bringing down not only blasts of thunder and ice but also some healing and a dark spell similar to Faize, alongside some buff magic. Although she did seem to have a habit of rushing forward and hitting foes with her staff, much to the team's confusion, she’s a mage after all, so why is she attacking on the front lines? While she seemed to get a rush out of teasing the boys with her style of combat, stance, and other things, there were a few things she was not expecting that threw her for a loop.

            “Out of our way!” Edelweiss shouts in her tank form, firing her main guns at three Large Bodies that blocked the entrance to the Purgatorium. While they normally would have nullified such an attack with their fronts, this time they stood no chance as they were all taken out by Edelweiss’s main guns. Something that Myuria still could not believe was possible while Mona drove around in his van form, running over several Shadow Heartless, as Shiho, Reimi, and Amina fired arrows from on top of the roof. But what was shocking her most of all was that the Heartless were not returning as they were defeated.

            “Why are they not coming back?” Myuria decides to ask as they reach the entrance. “We Morphus have been trying to stop the Heartless for the past two years, yet nothing we have done has even slowed them down. Whenever we take them out, more seem to come. So how are you able to stop them?”

            “It’s thanks to the Keyblade.” Sora comments, shouldering the weapon on his shoulder in its Crystal Hope form. “It’s the only weapon that can destroy them and why I’ve got a large target on my back.”

            “The only thing, huh?” Myuria asks, looking at the blade. “And why are you using it, boy?”

            “Because it’s not just a weapon. It’s a sentient blade.” Fox tells her with arms folded. “The Keyblade chooses who its master will be, and no one can take it from him either. If they do, it shall return to his hand in a flash of light.”

            “A pity. We could use something like that.” Myuria comments, shaking her head as Edge and Joker open the doors to the Purgatorium. “So then, where do we go?”

            “There’s one spot that we noticed before that leads deeper in. But until we got the Lamp of Guidance, we couldn’t get further in unless we broke the wall down.” Oracle tells her as they ascend the stairs. “And alert every Sydonist inside.”

            “Which could have led to Sarah’s death.” Meracle adds as they all group up at the wall. The two pots with purple fire still illuminated, while the third pot remained empty. “So… what do we do now?” The group looks at the wall as Reimi pulls out the Lamp of Guidance. She couldn’t see anything that looked like a slot in the wall, except for what appeared to be one in the pots around them. Or perhaps… that is what they needed to do.

            “Maybe we do this.” Reimi comments, walking up to the empty pot and sliding the card in. To everyone’s shock, the pot ignites with a purple flame while Reimi pulls the card out. All around them, the pots suddenly change to green as the wall before them slowly lowers silently, revealing the way forward.

            “Huh… would you look at that.” Wolf comments, folding his arms. “That’s a pretty nifty security system they’ve got here.”

            “But if we needed the card to do that, doesn’t that mean the cultists also have one?” Faize asks, rubbing his chin.

            “I don’t think so.” Amina remarks, grabbing his attention. “When I was captured, they dragged me into some strange portal of darkness. When I woke up, I was in a cage.”

            “A portal of darkness?” Teach asks, tapping her chin. “Why does that sound familiar?”

            “We can worry about that later. Right now, we need to find Sarah and get her out of here.” Sora comments, earning nods from all around as the team steps forward. But just as he takes a step forward, a roar echoes from the entrance as a giant beast leaps at him. Violet tackles him out of the way as Reimi pulls Lymle to the side, forcing the beast to miss its prey as it spins around to face them.

            “What is that?” Sophie shouts as everyone readies their weapons. 

            “It’s the Guardian of the Purgatorium!” Amina shouts, bow in hand. “But why is it attacking us!?” 

            “I think we already know why.” Crow comments, pointing at the emblem on the beast's chest: a Heartless Emblem. "It's been turned into a Heartless." At that, the beast lets out a howl, summoning two Large Bodies to its side while also calling three new Demons that appear to be floating bodies made of hay with pink kimonos.

            “Oracle, who are the new freaks?” Wolf asks, shouldering his great sword.

            “They are Kaya-no-Hime. They resist Ice but are weak to Fire.” Oracle calmly tells them as the beast slowly stalks toward them. “As for the Guardian Beast, it’s weak to Fire, Ice, Elect, Dark, and Curse, but resists Light and Bless.” 

            “Then let’s get this over with, shall we?” Myuria asks, pointing her staff at the Guardian Beast as a sigil appears around her. “Thunder Flare!” At her call, an orb of thunder appears over the Guardian Beast, pulsating and shocking it repeatedly as the Kaya-no-Hime charge forward, where Panther, Teach, and Lymle are already waiting for them.

            “Agidyne!” Panther and Teach call out, blasting two of the Kaya-no-Hime with fire while Lymle conjures up a portal behind her. From the portal of fire, a hound of flame with a pink scarf and a pink bow tie on its tail leaps out, glaring at the last Kaya-no-Hime.

            “Cerberus. Scorching Star." Lymle commands in a quiet voice. Without even raising a fuss, Lymle's Cerberus carries out her order, breathing out a wave of flames that consumes the last Kaya-no-Hime. It certainly was surprising for the Thieves to see a third Cerberus in their current adventure, and it only made them wonder if there were even more out there. But while all three of them managed to survive the attack, they were left unable to move as Bacchus suddenly shot up into the air.

            “Termination!” Firing a beam of light from his chest, Bacchus’s attack seemed to do nothing as it left a glowing line along the ground. For a few seconds, anyway, until it unexpectedly exploded upwards, catching all three of the Kaya-no-Hime in the blast. This left them in the air, where Spring, Reimi, and Amina had their sights set on them.

            “Kougaon!”

            “Crimson Squall!”

            “Hunter's Moon!”

With Spring's Bless spell slamming into the central Kaya-no-Hime, Reimi's arrow shot forward to the one on its left, followed by a torrent of rapid-fire crimson bolts. As for the Kaya-no-Hime on the right, it was impacted by Amina's arrow, which exploded into numerous smaller arrows that rained down on all sides. Seconds later, the three Kaya-no-Hime vanished.

As for the two Large Bodies, they were busy trying to attack Fox, Gecko, Guernica, Kaoru, Faize, and Meracle. However, due to their slow movement, they were easily avoidable while the group struck at their backs with ease. Fox, Gecko, and Guernica especially blasted the backs of the Large Bodies with Bufudyne, Agidyne, and God's Hand. Kaoru, Faize, and Meracle, using the magic as cover, rushed up to the Large Bodies and struck at them, with Meracle unleashing a brutal wind-up punch that she called Comet Impact, while both Kaoru and Faize simply dragged their swords across the Large Bodies' backs.

With the Guardian Beast, however, it had managed to leap out from Myuria’s Thunder Flare, aiming to claw her to pieces but found itself impacting Goofy’s shield instead. Disoriented, it didn’t see Noir and Shinobi flanking it on the right, with Queen and Wolf flanking its left. Without warning, all four of them sent out their most powerful spells at the Guardian Beast, earning a howl of pain from its maw as it raised its tail. Unleashing a blast of homing magic energy towards Outlaw, Oracle, and Violet, while Mona and Edel retaliated with Garudyne and Ziodyne. The attacks almost knocked the beast off balance as it let out a low growl.

            “Makarakarn!” Oracle shouts, summoning a barrier around the three of them as the lances of magic slam into them, only to be neutralized by the barrier. Outlaw and Violet counterattack with a Megaton Raid and a Vorpal Blade. As the Guardian Beast jumps back from the attack, Skull sends out a blast of Ziodyne alongside Donald's Thundara, double-teaming the Guardian Beast with its weakness as Sora hits it with a Strike Raid. While the Guardian Beast attempts to eat the Keyblade as it comes toward it, the blade vanishes in its mouth. Crow and Athena hit it with a joint Megidola while Sophie follows behind with Kougaon, kicking up a cloud of smoke around the beast.

            “Arsène! Heat Riser!" Joker calls, buffing himself while Edge sends out Aura Spark, unleashing a wave of focused energy with a downward swipe of his sword at the Guardian Beast, which is now clearly limping from the damage. But while the attack connected, the Guardian Beast leaped backward as it extended both of its wings and generated red blades of plasma from each.

            “Meep! It’s charging up a big one!” Meracle shouts in alarm as the Guardian Beast readies itself to pounce toward them. But Joker only smiles to himself as he rests a hand on his mask, mentally switching his Personas around.

            “Then it’s time for a mask change. Even if she hasn’t reached her full power yet.” While Edge’s crew looked at him with puzzled expressions, Joker’s crew all looked at him with knowing smirks. As for Sora, Donald, and Goofy, they had a feeling about what Joker was going to do. After all, they had seen her turn into a mask back on the Highwind.

            “Alice! Die For Me!” As Joker’s mask burns away, a childish giggle echoes behind him as Persona Alice appears from the flames, surprising Edge’s crew with the change. As for the Guardian Beast, it shows no interest as it barrels towards Joker while Persona Alice points a finger at the charging beast. But before it can, a clock appears above it, its hands spinning around without stopping as playing cards rain down around the Guardian Beast. It pauses, looking around in confusion until a black portal mixed with red opens beneath it, followed by countless black and red spears puncturing it from below as the beast roars in pain. It collapses to the floor as it struggles to pull itself towards the team, only to then fall to the ground in a crumpled heap as it is engulfed in a flash of light, transforming into a ring that lands on the floor with a tiny clink.

            “HAH! Take that, ya dumb animal!” Skull shouts triumphantly. “We got our Wall Breaker back!”

            “What did you just do?” Reimi asks, looking at Joker as Alice hovers behind him. “You were using Arsène, right? So how…?”

            “I’m a Wild Card. I can change to a different Persona depending on the fight.” Joker replies with a smirk as Alice curtsies to her. “Alice is just one of eleven that I keep with me, other than Arsène.”

            “You have around twelve that you can call on?” Faize asks with wide eyes. "But then… why are you only using two?" Joker lets out a long sigh as Alice returns to him while Meracle skips over to the ring.

            “Because they are still recovering. And Alice hasn’t recovered her full strength yet either. And that move I used doesn’t always work.” Joker glances at Donald, expecting to see a look of concern on the duck's face. But instead, all he sees is a shocked expression. He should probably talk to him at some point about what his other Personas are and their affinities.

            “Hey, check it out!” Meracle shouts, rushing over with the ring in her hand, which looks to be made of a white metal. “This looks like those Disintegration Rings that you have, Edge!”

            “Disintegration Rings?” Queen asks, walking up. Edge looks at her while reaching into a pocket, pulling out two more rings. One looks to be made of red metal, while the other is yellow.

            “Yeah. They have helped us get past barriers that were blocking our path in the past. Maybe this ring will help us here.” Edge comments, looking at the white ring before glancing back at the entrance. “Either way, we need to keep moving. Hopefully, the cultists didn’t hear our battle.”

            “Let’s hope not.” Oracle agrees as the group rushes through the entranceway. They could only hope this little distraction wouldn’t come back to bite them.

Getting through the Purgatorium turned out to be a lot more of a pain than anyone expected. The reason why? The pot puzzles. It turns out that what they had to do to even enter the depths was just a taster of what was to come. It was not helped by the fact that they had to follow a specific order from some statues holding illuminated bows, and breaking said order would reset the flames. Then came the doors that were blocked with darkness. The Disintegration Ring they got could wipe away the darkness with no problem, but they quickly found out it held only a single charge. While they could recharge it with glowing crystals floating around, the fact that it held only a single charge was more than infuriating for them.

At least Sora’s Keyblade could do the same thing, saving them much-needed trouble. But then came the foes that waited for them inside the Purgatorium’s depths: corpses that were on fire, giant bats, succubus floating on crescent moons, small cat-like priestesses holding maces, and giant walking chimerical abominations. It didn’t help that the Heartless and Demons were also fighting alongside them. It made Joker’s team glad that the Phantoms hadn’t shown up as well, but something told them they would appear soon. It eventually got to a point where Mona volunteered to scout ahead while in cat form, shocking Edge’s team, at least until Meracle showed that she could do the same thing. She turned into a violet cat about Morgana’s size, although Shinobi felt jealous for some reason.

Either way, while everyone else dealt with the annoying foes, Morgana and Meracle rushed forward on a scouting mission, looking for a way down to save them all a lot of trouble. So far, their search hadn’t been good, finding nothing but dead ends. At least until they came across a room with a slightly opened door. The two cats took a look inside, seeing a room decked out with tables filled with chemical concoctions, while a large cage stood nearby, large enough to hold several people all at once. But at that current time, it held only three… three Dalmatian puppies, to be exact.

            “More Dalmatians… How many does that make now?” Morgana asks himself, while Meracle looks at him with a curious expression. She can’t speak while in this form but can still understand what is going on. Before Morgana can reply, a door on the other side opens as two cultists walk into the room.

            “Distribution of the remedy cannot be stopped. There is no point in spreading the stone sickness any further. It is clear that infidels motivated by money are of little use." One of the cultists bemoans as he rests his hands on the table.

            “Our hour would be nigh, had we still the Dawn Maiden in our grasp.” The other commented, shaking his head with great sadness. “Asmodeus’s resurrection would happen today.”

            “His resurrection is nigh, brother. Soon, the Dawn Maiden’s cry of death will sing for us all. And the Dusk Maiden’s cries will join her. How I long to hear them… for their souls will be what stirs Asmodeus awake.”

            “Good… that means Sarah is still alive.” Morgana silently quips to Meracle, who nods back at him. But when they look back, they see one of the men grabbing a glass bottle before walking up to the cage holding the Dalmatian pups.

            “Even so, it would be a shame not to offer up anything to our lord today. These will be a fine sacrifice.” The first man comments, with the three pups huddling together in fear and Morgana and Meracle’s eyes going wide.

            “Such meagre souls will do nothing to stir him, yet it will be a fulfilling appetizer.” The other man remarks, walking up to join him as they stare down at the pups, while the two cats tense up, readying themselves to pounce. “After all, at dawn, the black hermit’s soul openeth the door…”

            “At dusk, the white maiden’s soul calleth him forth…” His fellow cultist continues as the two of them raise their hands to the air, unaware of the door behind them opening.

“O Asmodeus, most exalted Archfiend…”

            “That's enough!” Mona and Meracle, now back in their regular forms, shout as they burst through the door. The two of them pounce on the cultists, slamming their weapons into them and sending them crashing back into the cage before the two cats kick them away and into the tables, spilling concoctions everywhere. The two cultists look up in a daze, shocked at the two intruders, just as the sound of footsteps outside alerts them to more. Seeing no way out, the two cultists dig into their robes and pull out a brown vial each.

            “We offer our souls to Asmodeus!”

            “Receive the souls of your faithful servants!”

And as one, the two drink the vials just as the rest of the team reaches the room, just in time to watch the two turn completely to stone before dissolving into sand right before everyone’s eyes.

            “What the hell!?” Shinobi shouts in shock as Mona gets to work opening the cage, releasing the three pups, who run up to Sophie.

            “What happened?” Edge asks Meracle, who looks back at him with narrowed eyes.

            “These freaks are the ones who spread the stone sickness! We overheard them talking about it.” Meracle tells him, pointing at the desk. “And they planned to use them on these pups.”

            “Why would they do that?” Reimi asks, kneeling to pet one.

            “But other than that, we heard that Sarah is still alive.” Mona reports, stretching his arm. “They can’t do anything without Amina, but judging by how they were talking, they would only kill her at dawn, with Sarah dying at dusk.”

            “That’s some small comfort, I suppose.” Joker remarks before looking at the desk with a frown. These people had caused so much harm with their fanatical faith and untold suffering and death. If he had Lucifer with him right now, he would set the entire place ablaze!

            “Fira!” Sora suddenly shouts, sending a fireball at the equipment and setting it all alight. Everyone looked at him in surprise as Sora de-summoned Three Wishes, turning back to look at them with a calm expression, even though there was some anger in his eyes. “We were all thinking it. And sure, this might be going against the World Order, but can any of us really walk past without doing something?” Donald looked ready to berate Sora, but that look quietly vanished as he let out a sigh. This situation really couldn’t be argued against.

            “Hey, if you didn’t do it, I would have.” Panther remarks, hand on hip. “And I'm pretty sure Teach and Gecko would have the same idea.”

            “I could have done that all by myself.” Lymle comments, walking up to the nearby door. While the team shrugged their shoulders, no one was going to question what they did here.

            “By the way, do you believe going through there will lead us to the inner chamber?” Crow asks, pointing a hand at the door Lymle is walking toward.

            “Those two men walked out of it, so I think so.” Mona replies, folding his arms. “Either way, we must be getting close.”

            “Then let’s not waste any more time.” Edge comments, walking to the door and opening it, revealing a set of stairs that lead deeper into the Purgatorium. In silence, the group descends, walking past more walls engraved with ancient symbols and patterns before coming across a single door. Hopefully, they have reached the end.

            “Mr. Edge. A moment.” Bacchus suddenly calls out, grabbing everyone’s attention. Lymle was riding on his shoulder, so it wasn’t hard for her to look at him. “I am detecting two life forms in the neighbouring room. I theorize that we have reached the end.”

            “Finally, about time too.” Skull comments, rolling his arm.

            “Time for their leader to get the beating he deserves.” Panther adds, slamming her hands together. Without another word, the team opens the doors and rushes inside, finding themselves in a very open area with a statue of Asmodeus looming before them and two sacrificial altars on both sides. Each one has a small hole in the side, with empty channels leading to a large symbol in the middle of the room. But it was the one sleeping on the altar on the left that grabbed everyone's attention.

            “Sarah!” Reimi calls out to the Featherfolk, but she is unresponsive. For a moment, their fear spikes until Oracle does a scan alongside Bacchus.

            “Don’t worry! She’s just sleeping!” Oracle calls out, her screens spinning around her.

            “I can confirm Oracle’s assessment. I have verified her breathing.” Bacchus follows up, with the group letting out sighs of relief. Even if they weren’t going to kill her yet, it was still a load off their backs to see her alive.

            “But where is the cult leader?” Wolf asks, glancing around the place. That only serves to tense everyone up as they form a circle around Amina.

            “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Guernica remarks, nunchaku in hand.

            “Why be afraid? You are more than welcome here, my friends.” A voice echoes around them as a dark portal opens before them, with Tamiel walking out and a wide smile on his face. “After all, you have brought the Dawn Maiden with you, along with the eighth Princess of Heart.” He locks eyes with Oracle, Edelweiss, and Sophie, the three he had deduced had to be the Princess of Heart. Yet the light around them blinded his ability to see them, and all three felt a chill run down their spines as they pushed themselves deeper into the group.

            “You were the one we saw back in Tropp…” Edge comments as his eyes narrow. "Why am I not surprised that you are the leader?”

            “I take it you are Maleficent’s ally?” Joker asks, spinning his dagger around in his hand.

            “Indeed, I am. I am Tamiel, leader of the Church of Sydonai. And yes, I remember all of you from Tropp. What a delightful coincidence that you are all here.” Tamiel comments, his smile never leaving his face.

            “Spare us the script. We’re not here to talk.” Queen remarks, cracking her knuckles. “We’ve come to stop you and rescue Sarah.”

            “And why do you want that? With Lord Asmodeus’s resurrection, not only shall this world be burned, but all worlds will burn once he turns into a Heartless.” Tamiel reveals, sending everyone wide-eyed. “And with the universe's destruction, a new one shall be born in its place. One where we shall rule as gods!”

            “Are you mad!?” Sora shouts, shaking his head. “Why do you want that!?”

            “Is it not obvious? This universe is on the path of destruction from events long ago, in a war that has long been forgotten. What we are doing is merely serving to help it along to its inevitable conclusion.” Tamiel speaks, his eye moving from person to person.

            “What war are you speaking about?” Athena asks, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

            “A war that sundered its own home. Yes… we were there to witness it, powerless as we were.” Tamiel comments, confusing everyone with that remark. “Your young Featherfolk friend will be the new universe's cornerstone. So why will you, her friends, not rejoice in the honour she has been given? I fear I do not understand you.”

            “Like we want you to understand us.” Gecko remarks with a growl.

            “And what the hell are you talking about!? The destruction of the whole universe!? That’s not what Sarah wants!” Edge shouts with anger in his voice, something that everyone could easily agree with as they see nothing but a crazed man standing before them.

            “My, my. You speak foolishness, my son.” Tamiel comments, with Edge letting out a shiver at being called ‘son’. Of course, he would say that… “That is exactly what she wants. What both of the Maidens want. I know this to be true.”

            “That’s a lie!” Amina shouts, shaking her head. “I don’t want any of that! You are using us as nothing but an excuse to bring destruction upon everyone!”

            “You delude yourself, my daughter. You deny what it is that is inside you. Yes… I know it all too well.” Tamiel remarks, his eyes wide with a crazed look. “Even if neither of you knows it, I do.” All around them, the temperature seemed to drop as Tamiel continued to stare at them like a man possessed, which, considering everything that was happening, could be a possibility. “Taking this form allowed me to truly understand. The appetite of human beings is insatiable.”

            “Taking on this form?” Spring asks with narrowed eyes. “What the hell are you?”

            “Humans are never satisfied with what they have for very long. They endlessly seek new and exotic pleasures.” Tamiel continues, ignoring Spring as he slowly raises an arm to the sky. “But the reality of this world is not conducive to supporting such an appetite. It has limits, you know. Thus, you see… I am unsatisfied. Land, glory, money… no matter how much I acquire… I’m afraid I’ve completely exhausted the world’s resources of such things. But still, I want more, more, more. Yes… even if my mortal body should decay and burn. Now you see just how insatiable the human appetite really is.”

            “What is he talking about?” Donald asks through his gritted beak.

            “He’s delusional. Completely delusional.” Teach adds, hands gripping her daggers.

            “You are a sick freak, you know that, right!?” Violet shouts, her hand on her rapier.

            “Such greed puts even my father and Kaneshiro to shame.” Noir remarks, hand on her axe.

            “This is your reason for doing all of this?” Joker asks, eyes narrowed as blue flames whip around him. Arsène and Alice are raring to be let out. “That is perhaps the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard!”

            “You’d throw everyone to the Heartless just so you could feel happy!? How could anyone side with you!?” Sora shouts, summoning the Keyblade as the Kingdom Key. The Keyblade seems to glow with a bright light, as though resonating with Sora’s emotions.

            “You bastard… You miserable bastard.” Edge comments quietly, his right hand clenching into a fist as he slowly raises it. “You’d kill Sarah and Amina for something so stupid!? Everyone who lives on this planet!? The entire universe!?” Suddenly, a bright light shines from the back of Edge’s hand, joining with the fires from Joker and the light from Sora’s Keyblade, banishing the cold air around them and surrounding them all in a warm light that seems to give them energy.

            “What is this light!?” Tamiel shouts, blinking away the glow with his arm just as it dies down, only to see everyone drawing their weapons at him. “So you would stand against me? Very well… For the sake of Maleficent’s new universe, I bestow upon thee destruction. To me, my faithful!” At his call, a summoning glyph appears behind him, summoning a horde of Fellpools, all decked out in cultist robes and armed with daggers. “Slay them! And bring me the Dawn Maiden and the three girls!” He points at Oracle, Edelweiss, and Sophie, alerting everyone to who his targets are just as the Fellpools launch their attack.

            “Back off!” Gecko shouts, jumping forward and landing a hard punch on a Sydonist before roundhouse kicking another. Kaoru rushes in behind him with Guernica and Oracle, while Meracle dashes alongside them. Another group of Sydonists charges at Edelweiss, only to be pelted by missiles and arm cannon fire from her as Bacchus stands by her side, bringing down a rain of lasers on the Sydonists while Myuria, Lymle, Reimi, Spring, Outlaw, and Donald provide support.

Meanwhile, Amina was busy protecting herself from several Sydonists, with Faize standing beside her with his rapier. Goofy stood with them, deflecting strikes as Fox and Teach supported them on the flanks while Crow and Violet aided them with magic. Meanwhile, Sophie found a large group heading towards her and the three pups hiding beside her, with Joker and Queen standing protectively in front of her, while Edge, Sora, Skull, Athena, and Wolf stood beside them, with Mona, Panther, Noir, and Shinobi supporting them with magic. Tamiel laughed at the sight, seeing them all split into four groups as he summoned more cultists, alongside several Heartless and Demons, sending them into the fray as well. Among them was a new Demon that was a werewolf wearing a torn noble garment, three of which were charging towards Oracle and Teach.

            “What are these!?” Teach shouts, grabbing her RPG and firing a missile at them. The three werewolves duck under the rocket, although the Large Body that was behind them was not so fortunate.

            “They are called Loup-garou!” Oracle shouts, ducking under one of them and smacking it in the face with her battle staff. “Weak to Ice, Light, and Bless! Resist Fire and immune to Elect!”

            “Such an interesting ability you have there, my dear.” Tamiel comments, noting Oracle’s ability to scan them. “Perhaps it would be best to eliminate you first! Dark Devourer!” Holding his left hand up, Tamiel sends out a mass of darkness with red claws right at Oracle and Teach. The two of them jump out of the way on instinct, but Oracle finds herself separated from everyone as two Loup-garou rush at her. She manages to smack one away and is about to summon Necronomicon to blast the other with a Kougaon, but she is tackled to the ground by two Shadow Heartless from the side.

But before they could do anything, Kaoru rushed in and slashed at them, forcing them back while blocking the claws of the other Loup-garou, almost being sent to the floor by the strength of the Demon.

            “Karou!” Oracle shouts, jumping up and hitting the Loup-garou back, giving Karou some breathing room. “Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine.” Kaoru replies, shaking his head, only for the two of them to be surrounded by several Shadows, Soldiers, Large Bodies, and Aeros, cut off from everyone else as the area is filled with Heartless and Demons.

            “This has been an amusing diversion, but it is time to surrender.” Tamiel calls out, his smile never leaving his face. “Surrender the Dawn Maiden and the three girls, and I shall spare you all. Refuse, and I shall show you no mercy.”

            “You’re a fool if you think we shall surrender so easily!” Fox calls out, sending Mabufula at the Heartless around him.

            “If you really are Maleficent’s ally, then you know we don’t give up!” Edelweiss shouts, sending out a Megidola around her. Tamiel lets out a tsk, focusing his eyes on Oracle and Kaoru as the Heartless and Demons surround them.

            “Kaoru, I can make an escape route for you. The moment I do, take it.” Oracle whispers to him, shocking him as he looks at her with wide eyes.

            “What? But what about you?” He asks as Oracle winces.

            “It’s me they are after. Not you.” She replies, only causing Kaoru to tighten his grip on the blade lent to him. “I know what I’m saying is stupid, but—”

            “Like hell are you going to do that!” Kaoru shouts, cutting her off mid-sentence as he glares around them. "I get it; I don't have a Persona like you, Gecko, Guernica, Joker, or the others. I get it; I'm weaker than anyone else here. But there is no way I am going to abandon you, even if I can't do anything!" Oracle's mouth hangs open as Kaoru shoulders his blade. "Even if I can only bring down one or two, I'll do whatever it takes to help out. Thieves stick together no matter what, right?! Well, I'm staying no matter what!”

So your will remains, even now.

Kaoru lets out a gasp, his left hand rising to his face as the Heartless and Demons around him pause in their movement. Oracle looks at him, eyes wide behind his mask as Kaoru forces himself to stand against the rising pain.

You remained on the sidelines for all your life.

An outsider looking into a world beyond your grasp. And still, you reach to grasp it.

But are you willing to embrace it? The pain, the strife, the ruin that such a path will bring?

Or would you rather turn around and surrender yourself back to a life of normalcy?

            “And why would I do that? We both know that I would be killing myself, right?” Kaoru asks, looking up as his eyes glow a golden yellow. The voice in his mind lets out a deep chuckle as the pain in his head vanishes. Just as a flash of blue blankets his face, a mask forms on his head. Not that Oracle could see, as her attention goes back to the foes around them.

So we would. A death ill-suited to us. Very well.

I am thou… thou art I…

Let your anger, your wrath, your determination to fight be unleashed at last!

Do not falter, do not look back! Walk upon your new path of rebellion with no fear or weakness!

With a cry, Kaoru rips the mask from his face, which looks like the shape of two golden eagle wings joined together with eyeholes, a flash of blue erupting from him and sending the Heartless and Demons flying. The shockwave also disrupts the rest of those who are fighting, turning all eyes to the source as the flames die back. Kaoru stands tall in an outfit that, while looking like Gecko's, has some major differences.

Instead of a thick jacket, Karou was wearing a gambeson of dark silver, crossed with two brown belts with gold clasps. On his right shoulder was a padded pauldron, coloured bright silver, while a gladiator-esque pauldron rested on his left. It was coloured a deep gold with light blue highlights. Similarly styled armour in the same colour scheme protected his arms, while orange gloves covered his hands. He had camo-styled trousers like his dad, but these were in black and blue. However, they could barely be seen beneath the large greaves that rose to his knees, coloured similarly to his shoulder pauldron.

And hovering behind him looked to be a gladiator wearing a style of armour best known for being used by the Dimachaerus. With two blades in his hands and a red tattered cape hanging from his neck, broken chains hung from his wrists while his head was encased in a full helmet, with only a blue glow emitting from behind the holes.

            “Intriguing… so that's what it's like to awaken to a Persona.” Myuria whispers to herself, in awe of the sudden spectacle alongside Edge and his companions.

            “What sorcery is this!?” Tamiel shouts, feeling the burst of power emanating from Karou as he holds Edge's blade in his right hand. While on his back, an RPG materializes from the flames. It is something that Teach can't help but smirk at as Karou glares at Tamiel.

            “Like hell am I going to tell you! You want Oracle?! Then you’ll have to go through me! Let’s show them we mean business, Spartacus! Deathbound!” Kaoru commands, with his Persona Spartacus unleashing a heavy wave around him, sending the Heartless and Demons that had yet to run flying while giving the rest of the Thieves a much-needed moral boost. Gecko and Guernica, in particular, couldn’t help but smile at seeing Kaoru become a Persona user. While Edge’s team wanted to ask what had happened, there was a more pressing issue at hand.

            “Foolish heathens…” Tamiel growls, summoning a staff into his right hand as he floats forward, conjuring another portal behind him. “Let us find eternity together! To me, my brethren!” While the group gets ready for more Sydonists to come from the portal, what appears instead surprises them all.

It was the Phantom soldiers that attacked Joker’s team back on the Highwind.

            “It’s those Phantom freaks!” Skull shouts in anger, catching Myuria’s gaze as she lets out an audible gasp.

            “Those are the Phantoms you’re talking about!? They look like our friends back in the SRF!” Reimi shouts, her words shocking everyone as Tamiel lets out a laugh while the Phantom troops rush forward.

            “Fall to my power! Fire Bolt!” Tamiel cries, sending out bolts of fire toward them, only for Panther, Teach, and Gecko to jump in and block the fire bolts, much to Tamiel’s dismay.

            “What's Tamiel weak to, Oracle!?” Goofy asks over the commotion, deflecting shots from a Phantom holding a gun as it is struck down by Spring, Reimi, and Amina's arrows.

            “Ice and Elect! But don’t use Fire, Dark, or Curse!” Oracle shouts, sending out a blast of Kougaon at the Phantoms as Kaoru strikes with an Assault Dive before charging up and sending a Skull Cracker at Tamiel. The attack smashes him right in the chest, forcing him back as Oracle whistles. “Nice one, Kaoru! I bet he’ll be feeling that tomorrow!” Kaoru grins at her as he rests his blade on his shoulder, feeling alive as Tamiel lets out a growl of anger while Edge, Joker, and Sora rush around him.

            “You will not win! Vampiric Blade!" Tamiel roars, summoning blades that force the trio back just as Fox and Skull pepper him with Bufudyne and Ziodyne. Mixed in with a Lightning Blast from Myuria, it forces Tamiel back while more Phantoms appear alongside the Heartless and Demons.

            “Damn it! There are too many of them!” Outlaw shouts, grimacing at how many there are.

            “Please stand back!” Bacchus commands, shooting forward with thrusters on his back before generating an orb of darkness in his right hand. “Black Hole Sphere!” While Joker’s team goes wide-eyed at the name, Bacchus throws the sphere toward their foes. The sphere explodes into an event horizon, sucking them all in yet leaving the floor unscathed before exploding itself.

            “Fools! You cannot hope to win!” Tamiel roars, the crystal in his forehead glowing bright before he fires a beam of purple energy at them. “Divine Punishment!” Without warning, the beam lashes forward, hitting Bacchus in the chest and sending him to the floor with a heavy thud. But it doesn’t stop as Tamiel moves the beam by simply turning his head, aiming it at everyone without a care and sending them all to the ground. Edge dives into Reimi to save her from the beam, with Shinobi doing the same for Mona while Karou dives Oracle to the floor. All six of them avoid the beam while the others are hit, as Tamiel lets out an echoing laugh, not realizing that Faize did the same for Amina as the two moved to the side.

            “You cannot hope to defeat me, my young sheep!” Tamiel shouts in glee, watching as everyone forces themselves back up. “I am untouchable!”

            “Deep Freeze!” Faize’s voice echoes to the side, surprising Tamiel as ice suddenly surrounds him on all sides. “Are you sure? It would seem you have forgotten who we are.”

            “You dare!?” Tamiel shouts, trying to face him as Amina pulls back on her bow, the arrow aimed directly at Tamiel.

            “This is for my people that you murdered!” Amina shouts before jumping up and taking aim once again. “Heavenly Flight!” Without hesitation, she lets the arrow fly, turning into a beam of light that slams into Tamiel, shattering the ice and dazing him in the blast, forcing him to one knee while Mona and Lymle heal the team. As they get back to their feet, they see Tamiel kneeling on the floor in a daze, something that Joker and Sora smirk at seeing. After all, it was time for their favourite move.

            “All-Out Attack!” With smirks on their faces, the Thieves, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all leaped into the air. To their surprise, Edge’s group followed them up, much to their shock and bewilderment, as they all wailed on Tamiel from all sides. Not giving the fanatical leader a chance to breathe, they tore up his clothes, shattered his staff, and damaged the crystal in his head. They all leaped away as a massive explosion erupted from under Tamiel, his scream echoing around them as the fires cleared, revealing Tamiel still standing before he fell onto his back, landing right on top of the symbol in the middle of the floor.

            “I beg your forgiveness, great Asmodeus… I was not worthy enough… My greed prevented your resurrection.” Tamiel breathes as his body starts to evaporate into darkness. Yet motes of white are mixed in as he slowly looks up to glare at the team. “But… I beseech you, almighty Archfiend… Bring to these people their destruction… and bless them in your beautiful new universe…” And with that, life leaves his body as he evaporates into darkness and a white mist, leaving behind a piece of paper that floats into Karou’s hand. Right before he almost falls forward, Oracle grabs him and holds him up.

While they had so many questions left, they knew at least one thing at this point in time: Asmodeus would not be returning today.

Chapter Text

Chapter 29: Unscheduled Stop.

            “We did it… We beat him.” Kaoru comments, breathing heavily before almost collapsing forward, if not for Oracle catching him and holding him up. “Man… am I tired…”

            “That’s the post-awakening fatigue. Don’t worry, it will pass.” Oracle tells him with a smile as Gecko and Guernica walk up to him, both of them wearing proud smiles.

            “Nice one, bro! Now you’re one of us!” Guernica shouts, slapping him on the back as Kaoru gives her a weak smile. Gecko nods, giving Kaoru a gentle pat.

            “I had a feeling you would awaken. And I’m glad to have seen it.” Gecko tells him. “So, what name are you going by now?” Kaoru blinks, honestly shocked they were accepting him so fast. But seeing the approving looks from not just Oracle, Guernica, and Gecko, but from the rest of the Thieves, Kaoru couldn’t help but smile. He already had an idea for his name.

            “Legion.” He says, standing up. “Might sound strange, but considering who my Persona is, it feels fitting.”

            “Glad to have you with us for real, Legion!” Oracle shouts, slapping her hand on his back, while Edge’s team looks at him in confusion.

            “What happened? He went all explody and loud, kay?” Lymle asks in her childlike voice.

            “That, Lymle, was a Persona Awakening.” Mona tells her, folding his arms. “But I don’t think you’d understand how it works.”

            “Heh… don’t worry about that, kitty cat. I’ll tell her.” Myuria remarks, walking past Mona while flicking her hair back. Mona felt slightly annoyed about being called ‘kitty cat’ by her, not knowing how Shinobi was sending her an equally unamused look. Meanwhile, Edge was still looking at the spot where Tamiel had vanished. The white motes of light he saw reminded him of something else he and his companions had faced back on Aeos, Lemuris, and the Cardianon Mothership. It did nothing to ease his fears, even as Reimi placed a hand on his arm, just as Legion walked up to them with Edge’s old sword.

            “This belongs to you…” He tells Edge, holding the blade up to him. But to his surprise, Edge shakes his head.

            “You can keep it. You’ve proven to me that you won’t abuse it.” Edge replies, nodding his head. “Just don’t let others in your world see it until you think they are ready.” Legion’s eyes widen before he nods back with a determined look. He can feel the weight behind those words, and he won’t squander them.

            “Man, what a freak!” Edelweiss suddenly shouts, kicking a stray rock nearby. “I can’t believe he was one of Maleficent’s goons!”

            “Even so, we have managed to learn important information from his lips.” Athena remarks, looking at Edel, Oracle, and Sophie. “One of you is their ‘eighth princess’.”

            “But why?” Sophie asks, standing close to Queen. “Why are they focusing on us? We are not royalty.”

            “We still don’t even know what makes a ‘Princess of Heart’ special to begin with.” Crow remarks with a growl, folding his arms. “We are still lacking crucial information.”

            “So… what exactly are you lacking?” Meracle asks as the Thieves all glance at Edge’s team. On one hand, they should have been careful about talking about this in the open. On the other hand…

            “Right. I think it's best if we tell you.” Joker comments, until a soft groan from Sarah draws all eyes to her sleeping form. “After we make sure she is alright.” No one was going to argue against that as they all rushed up to the sleeping Sarah, who had just started to wake up, pushing herself up and fixing the glasses on her face as her blue eyes scanned the room with a bleary expression.

            “Oh, good morning, everyone…” Sarah greets in a sort of whimsical voice. “But where am I…? Oh yes, now I remember. I suddenly had guests come to visit me through my window. I thought I would go and make them some tea, but then… Yes, that’s right. They took me away somewhere. Goodness gracious, I wasn’t expecting that.”

            “She’s certainly… not phased by this.” Guernica remarks, seeing how Sarah wasn’t panicking, afraid, or even angry at what had happened to her. In fact, she was treating this as nothing but a bewildering experience.

            “I wonder if all of the Featherfolk are like her?” Crow comments, a hand on his chin.

            “You’re not hurt, are you?” Goofy asks Sarah, who looks at him, not bothered by his appearance one bit. Or Donald’s, for that matter. She looks at her wings, extending them to their full lengths with a smile.

            “I’m fine.” Sarah replies joyfully. “I was asleep, so I’m not quite sure what happened next, but it seems that you’ve all come down here to rescue me? I’m so grateful for your help. I really can’t thank you enough.” But as she said that, she took a look at Edge before leaning forward, looking right into his eyes as Edge took a step back. “I take it you had a chance to talk to Miss Eleyna, huh? You look just a little better, you know. Yes, yes. I’m so glad.”

            “A little better, huh?” Edge asks, letting a small smile form on his face. “Yeah… I guess you are right about that. I didn’t screw up this time… Roak is alive and safe.” Just as those words left Edge’s mouth, a glow of light emitted from the statue of Asmodeus. All eyes go to it as a beam of light shoots out from the statue's head, impacting the wall above the door and revealing the Keyhole.

            “You’re right, Edge.” Sora commented, walking up and summoning the Keyblade, aiming it at the Keyhole. Not long after, the blue beam fired into the lock, sealing it up once again as a keychain and Navi-Gummi piece fell to the floor. “Roak is definitely safe.” While Edge blinked his eyes at Sora, the young wielder of the Key walked over and picked up the two items. But he couldn’t help but look at the keychain with a bit of confusion on his face.

Why did it look like the Highwind?

Stepping out from the dark confines of the Purgatorium, everyone could feel themselves breathing a lot easier. Notably, as the Thieves all shifted back into their normal attire, Kaoru was still slightly exhausted. Still, the warm sun above and the cool wind blowing against their skin were more rewarding than any of them could imagine.

            “It feels so long since I last saw the sky.” Edge remarks, holding a hand up to block the sun's rays. Although he is still processing what he and the others were told on the way up.

            “Nothing like a good old dungeon crawl to make you appreciate the outside sun.” Ryuji comments, stretching his arms as Sarah walks to the cliff edge.

            “Um… there is something I need to tell everyone. I have to head back to Tropp and let Miss Eleyna know that Mr. Asmodeus wasn’t resurrected after all.”

            “Mr. Asmodeus?” Shiho asks as the Thieves all feel themselves sweating at that. She really was the walking version of Miss Polite, wasn’t she?

            “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Well then, see you later!” With one last curtsy to the team, Sarah turns and jumps off the cliff edge. Immediately, everyone goes into a panic until they see Sarah gently gliding down with her wings and landing safely with graceful ease.

            “Huh… Those wings aren’t just for show, huh?” Mishima comments as they watch Sarah head back to Tropp.

            “I guess she could fly with them if she wanted. But wouldn’t her bones need to be hollow like a bird’s?” Ann asks, rubbing her head.

            “Something tells me the biology of the Featherfolk might be a bit too complicated for us right now.” Kawakami comments, shaking her head. Just then, a sound chimed from Edge’s wrist, something that he picked up on as he mentally translated the message in his mind.

            “What was that?” Donald asks Edge.

            “A message from one of our friends, Welch Vineyard. 'Return to the Calnus immediately.' Something must have happened while we were in the Purgatorium." Edge comments with a worried look. "I hope it's nothing too serious." While Edge's team all looked at each other with concern, other than Amina, Ren's group couldn't help but have a question wander to the front of their minds.

            “So… where is your ship, anyway?” Haru asks, tilting her head. “I think we might have almost landed on it when we arrived, but I’m not sure if it’s the same place.”

            “The Calnus was landed on the top of a mountain near a beach with a lighthouse.” Reimi tells her, with Ren’s team instantly putting two and two together. “In fact, I think the person we passed by mentioned something about founding a new port town there.”

            “Yeah… That sounds about right.” Ren comments, surprising Reimi as he lets out a chuckle. “Who would have guessed we would have landed right next to each other, huh?” While Edge’s group, barring Myuria, all looked at each other with surprise, there was one among them who had a look of confusion on her face.

            “Excuse me, but what are you talking about?” Amina asks, with puzzlement in her voice. That made everyone face fault as they had completely forgotten that Amina was still with them and had no knowledge that they were not from this world. Donald looked ready to start ranting about the World Order again, but for some reason, he refrained from talking about it. Perhaps Eleyna’s words were ringing in his ears.

            “Yes… we have a lot to explain, Amina.” Faize admits, rubbing his neck. “Perhaps it would be best if we explained on our way back?”

            “That might be for the best.” Bacchus admits while Zenkichi shakes his head. What makes them think she would be ready to accept that they were from another planet?

As it turned out, Amina seemed to accept the notion of other worlds far easier than anyone expected. Whether that was because of everything she had seen or heard from them was up in the air, or maybe she had a suspicion about them not being from Roak from the beginning. Either way, it was still shocking how fast she came around to it. But with that explained, the two groups soon fell into a comfortable silence, each team discussing what they would be doing once they left Roak. While Ren and Sora's group was intent on finding Maleficent's base and ending her threat to the worlds, Edge's team was more interested in hearing what Welch had to say. Although there was one other thing that was on their minds, and it wasn't the fact that Myuria was tagging along with Edge and the others.

            “You’re going to inform your superiors about changing your exploration methods?” Zenkichi asks, folding his arms. They are currently travelling up the mountain path toward where their ships are parked, and Amina is still busy talking to Isara about how she could transform. It still shocks everyone who is not used to seeing it.

            “Yeah.” Edge replies, letting out a sigh. “It was okay when we crash-landed on Aeos since there was no intelligent life on that world. But on Lemuris, Lym’s homeworld, the people there treated us like gods when we arrived. If we are not careful, we might cause similar incidents on future exploration ventures. However, I’m not sure if anyone back at base will take it seriously.”

            “I’m sure Lightspeed Kenny will.” Reimi tells him with a grin before looking at Ren’s team. “Commander Kenny was the first person on our world to go faster than the speed of light. He was the test pilot of the craft that would form the basis of our exploration ships. Five of them were made, but only the Aquila and Calnus have survived. The other three, Balena, Dentdelion, and Eremia, all crashed on Aeos when our warp was hit by interference from a meteor. At least, we think it was a meteor.”

            “When we Eldarians travelled to Aeos to help, we repaired the Calnus and upgraded its warp capabilities. Although it is a shame that the crew of the Eremia was all lost to hostiles.” Faize reveals, shaking his head. “We never found out what happened that day.”

            “Did the creatures that attacked you have the Heartless Emblem?” Sora asks curiously, only for Edge, Reimi, and Faize to shake their heads.

            “Nope. Until we met you, we didn’t see any of them.” Edge replies as he folds his arms. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”

            “It does.” Ren replies in a quiet voice. He is already trying to think of a reason why, but so far he is coming up empty. Soon, the team reaches the open area on the mountain, the river nearby still flowing gently while Lavenza seems to be resting under a tree. The moment she spots Ren and the others, she waves to them with a small smile before quickly standing up.

            “Welcome back, everyone. I am pleased to say that repairs to the Highwind have been completed.” Lavenza tells them before glancing at Edge’s team. “And it would seem we have guests. Greetings, travellers from across the stars. My name is Lavenza, resident of the Velvet Room and attendant to the Trickster. And for the foreseeable future, pilot of the Highwind.”

            “It’s nice to meet you.” Edge replies, a little confused by what she was talking about, especially the Velvet Room, but puts it at the back of his mind before looking around. “I guess your ship also has active camouflage?”

            “Indeed. It would not do for the residents of this world to find it.” Lavenza replies. “However, there has been no one exploring the mountain, so I was just about to deactivate the cloak. Would you like to see our ship?”

            “Are you sure that's alright, Lavenza?” Sae asks, her hand on her hip. "Is it wise to do that?”

            “Of course I do. After all…” She looks back at Edge with a grin. “…I believe it will be a pleasant surprise for you as well.” Edge’s team looked at her with confusion, as did Ren’s team, while Lavenza looked back at the spot where the Highwind was. She took out a small device that looked like a remote control for a TV, and it wouldn’t surprise Ren and the Thieves if that’s what it used to be until being brought into the Velvet Room. With a simple click, a shimmer of light appeared before them all as the cloak around the Highwind vanished, revealing her in all her glory to the surprise of Edge and Reimi.

            “T-That’s your ship!?” Edge shouts with wide eyes.

            “It looks just like our own SRF ships!” Reimi adds, also in shock. And now it was Ren and his team’s turn to look at them in surprise as Edge sent Bacchus a head nod. Without a word, Bacchus typed onto his arm, with another shimmer of light happening right in front of the Highwind, revealing a ship that looked EXACTLY like it. Only with blue decals instead of violet, no golden Vs on the top or sides, and with two large engines on the wings near the tips, along with a giant stabilizer connecting the wing engines to each other, going over the back of the ship and giving its warp engines some additional protection.

            “WHOA! WHAT THE HELL!?” Ryuji screams, with Ann too surprised to even cover her boyfriend's mouth this time. Not that anyone could blame him, as they were all seeing doubles right in front of them.

            “H-How is this possible?” Faize asks, blinking his eyes. “Four of the originals crashed on Aeos, and the Aquila is still flying with Crowe at its command. So how…?”

            “Let's just say that Master Philemon can do mind-breaking activities.” Lavenza tells him with a sweet smile. Not that it helped to stop his shock, but while they were all content with standing in muted silence, Sora was busy looking at the Calnus and the keychain he held. They were both the same ship, although the one on the keychain was missing the wing engines and stabilizer. Curious, he clipped the keychain to the Kingdom Key, watching as it changed into a new form.

The guard now looked to be made from the same material as Bacchus’s armour, while Reimi’s bow served as the guard, with the bottom guard appearing to be based on Amina’s bow. Faize’s rapier served as the main blade, with a ribbon that looked to be from Lymle wrapped around it. As for the teeth, they were spiked out like a claw, but with small purple scythe energy blades, while the side running next to it glowed with the same blue energy as Edge’s blade. As for the grip, it looked to be the same as Myuria’s staff, while a spear point seemed to spike out from the top. And as Sora held the blade in his hands, the name came to him as a gentle whisper in his mind.

            “Last Hope… Strange how the one from Luxendarc is called Crystal Hope.” Sora whispers to himself before letting out a chuckle. “Not that I’ll complain. I’ll take good care of all of them.” For a moment, he felt the Keyblade pulse as though it were agreeing with him, just as Edge’s group started walking to the Calnus.

            “Well, I hate to break apart so fast, but we better see what Welch needs to tell us.” Edge tells them as the rest of his team boards the Calnus, with Amina joining them. “Safe travels in the star ocean, you hear?”

            “Same to you.” Ren replies as the two give each other a handshake. “And good luck on finding a new world to call home.”

            “We’re not giving up on our Earth that easily, but thanks.” Edge replies with a grin as the two teams separate. “See ya on the other side of the star ocean.” Ren and the others couldn’t help but smirk at Edge as they waved back at him before heading back to the Highwind. With both ships once more engaging their active camouflage, a certain Featherfolk arrived and spotted the Calnus. Not that anyone could see Sarah as the Highwind took off back into the air while Sarah boarded the Calnus for whatever reason. Maybe she wanted her own adventure or something.

But even as the Highwind left Roak’s atmosphere and set a course for a new destination, the crew aboard failed to realize they were being tailed—by a giant pirate ship, of all things.

            “Tamiel has been slain. Such an event was not what I had envisioned to happen so easily.” Maleficent remarks, looking at the hologram before her, showing the two teams as they separate. “I suppose it is our fault for not expecting more travellers from beyond the stars to land on that world.”

            “It is indeed a failure on our part, but we should be glad the Phantoms are still with us.” Shido admits, glancing at a few Phantom soldiers with a Heartless and Demon next to them. “Still, I will admit it is interesting to see that another Earth does exist, although one that is now a barren wasteland.”

            “I am reminded of the many times our own Earth came close to such a war.” Ikutsuki remarks, shaking his head. “I suppose we should be lucky in that regard.”

            “Even so, what shall we do now?” Owada remarks, folding his arms. "We still don't even know whom to look for regarding the eighth princess.”

            “For that, we are already in luck.” Jerri announces, flying onto Maleficent’s shoulder. “After all, Tamiel has managed to narrow it down to three of them.” She holds a wing out, the hologram before them changing until it shows Futaba, Isara, and Sophia. “And it is one of them.”

            “Them, huh?” Kamoshida asks before a large grin forms on his face. “Good… that means Takamaki, Suzui, Niijima, and Okumura are all mine…”

            “You can take the younger Niijima; I have my eyes on her elder sister and that Togo chick.” Kaneshiro brushes off, both men’s eyes filled with lustful greed. “After all, I want payback for what they did to me.” Maleficent, Shido, and Owada all shook their heads at the two, while Jerri rolled her eyes in annoyance. Of course, those two wouldn’t be thinking with their brains, which is a downgrade compared to how they acted in the past.

            “By the way, Lord Shido. Have you managed to track them down yet?” Madarame asks, his arms crossed in his kimono. Shido glances at him, letting out a small smirk as he looks back at the hologram, which changes once again, revealing a set of five dark brown towers with dark blue roof tiles towering over the ruins of what was once a fort, with the emblem of the Heartless grafted on top of the highest tower.

            “We have managed to locate Marika Iwatsuki and Reika Ichino and have them inside the new castle. They are currently having their Personal Shadows removed to become like us, something that I am more than happy to have.”

            “Ah, that's right. Marika was your lover.” Kobayakawa remarks, prompting Kusumoto to whack him on the top of his head, while Shido just lets out a chuckle.

            “I will admit, it will be nice to have her back. As for their real selves, the Heartless can do whatever they want with them. Same with our own ‘real selves’. We have no need for them any more.” Ikutsuki and Owada glance at each other while Owada’s SWAT team all glance nervously at Shido. If Shido was willing to do that to them… what was stopping him from doing that to…

            “As for the others, Marie, Yoshiki, and Ichiro have not been found yet. But I am confident they will be located soon.” Okumura comments, hands behind his back. “And they will undergo the same process as well.”

            “Such an… intriguing move, Lord Shido.” Ikutsuki remarks with a nervous smile. “But moving back to the Thieves, how do you plan on separating those three from the others? I do not think it will be such an easy objective.”

            “Why, my dear Ikutsuki, that is where the backup plan comes in.” Maleficent remarks, glancing at the hologram of the Highwind, with the Jolly Roger shadowing it from a distance. "And even if we fail to separate them now, we can still narrow our search once more. The identity of the final Princess of Heart is within our grasp. And nothing will stop us…”

“Nothing.”

            “Okay, I think it’s time you told us, Lady Lavenza.” Morgana quips, sitting in one of the seats in the cockpit. “Why does the Highwind look like the Calnus? I mean, I know you told us it came from an alternate timeline, but is that really what happened?” Lavenza looks at him, then at everyone in the cockpit as she lets out a thoughtful hum before turning around and leaving the ship on autopilot.

            “I suppose I owe you that, considering what happened on Roak. Very well, I shall explain how Master Philemon came to find this ship." Lavenza replies, looking at everyone. "In all honesty, when Master Philemon found this ship, it appeared to us from a dark portal that, at first glance, one would assume to be a black hole. And yet, it was not. As for its state, not only did it have considerable damage along the outside, but its rear engines were destroyed along with the under engines, and the right wing was missing.”

            “And what was the ship's name?” Hifumi asks, folding her arms.

            “This ship's original name was indeed the Calnus.” Lavenza confirms. “And seeing the ship back on Roak, I can confidently say that both were indeed the same ship. Although, when Master Philemon channelled his energy into this ship to repair it, he had reverted it to how it looked before it had the engines on the wings.”

            “So… does that mean that the ship that appeared before you came from the future?” Futaba asks, already holding a hand against her aching head. “Just what the hell did they go through to give it THAT much damage?”

            “I think it’s best if we don’t think about it.” Goofy comments, grabbing her attention. “Otherwise, all we will do is hurt ourselves by thinking about it.”

            “Well… he’s not wrong there.” Ren admits, shaking his head. “I’m getting a headache just thinking about it as well.” Letting out a sigh, he walks over to a nearby station, looking at the navigation around them. “Well, where should we go now? Wanna head back to Traverse Town and have Cid install those Navi-Gummies?”

            “We also have the three Dalmatian puppies we found on Roak as well.” Sophia chimes in with a smile as the three pups run around her. “I’m sure Pongo and Perdita will be happy to see them again.” Now that they had fought about it, they certainly did have some things to do back at Traverse Town. Not to mention what the computers were doing to decode Ansem’s report. Speaking of which, Futaba had just placed the newest page onto the scanner, with the system already getting to work on decoding it. But it was still taking an annoyingly long time to do so.

            “We could do that, but we are also near another world we can explore.” Makoto comments as the main screen activates, showing the new world in question. It looks to be an island surrounded by water with tall peaks and a rainbow over it, along with a rock formation off the coast shaped like a giant skull.

            "Based on the recent data that the Highwind was able to gather, this world goes by the name of Neverland." Lavenza comments, her hand on her chin.

            "Huh… So our next world is an island? Certainly a nice change of pace." Ann remarks, folding her arms.

            “I’m not so sure if it will be pleasant, Ann-chan.” Haru comments, looking at the image. “That skull-shaped rock off the coast is giving me some bad vibes.”

            “Then let's teleport to the mainland.” Sora suggests, pointing at the island. "Besides, it'll be nice to walk on an island again, even though it's not my home.”

            “It certainly does look like a nice place to rest as well.” Akechi comments, before glancing at Futaba. “By the way, are you picking up on any of our friends down there?”

            “I’m only getting one reading.” Futaba replies with a frown. “But I can’t tell if it’s Shinya or Akane.”

            “If I recall correctly from when we were in Roak, those two are the only ones from your group that are still missing, right?” Donald asks as the team heads for the transporter.

            “That's right, and both of them are Persona users like us, even if they are the youngest." Zenkichi replies, folding his arms. "And I don't think I had a chance to mention this to either you, Sora, or Goofy, but Akane is my daughter, with Kawakami here being a pseudo-mother for her ever since my wife, Aoi Hasegawa, died when she was hit by a car a few years ago… by someone with whom all of us had a bone to pick back in our world."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy's eyes then widened upon hearing this, especially the former. While Sora was already aware that Akane was Zenkichi's daughter, he was wondering what had happened to her mother. Although he had a theory about Kawakami being Akane's mother, he certainly didn't expect to hear something like this.

            “I'm… so sorry about your loss, Zenkichi. It must have been hard on both you and your daughter." Sora says with a frown, which causes Zenkichi to let out a small smile.

            “It's alright. Although Akane and I at the time were not on the best of terms, we were able to reconcile, thanks to some help from Kawakami and the rest of the Phantom Thieves. And not only that, we were able to put Aoi's killer behind bars as well." Zenkichi explains before letting out a small sigh. "Still… I can only hope my daughter and Shinya are okay.”

            “We’ll find out when we get down there, Zenkichi.” Kawakami tells him, patting his shoulder. “Besides, she’s tough like you. I’m sure she’s fine, no matter what’s happened to her.” Zenkichi looks at her, giving Kawakami a tired smile as he lets out a low chuckle.

            “Yeah… I’m sure she—” Before he could finish, the Highwind lurched violently, and everyone was sent to the floor.

            “What the hell!?” Ryuji shouts as the ship continues to vibrate. “Did somethin’ just hit us!?”

Outside, the Jolly Roger had slammed into the Highwind’s left wing, sending the ship into a spin while the Jolly Roger continued on to the world. Inside the Highwind, everyone continued to hold on as the ship shook in its out-of-control spin. While Lavenza attempted to get the ship back under control, she accidentally hit the teleporter, sending the team down to the world, but not as a uniform group, as three beams of light zoomed down to the world: one at the main island, another toward Skull Rock, and the last directly toward the Jolly Roger.

What had looked like a fun stop had now turned into unscheduled mayhem.

            “Urgh… my head.” Sora groans as he pushes himself up. That was certainly a rough landing, considering what happened.

            “Anyone get the licence plate of that van that hit us?” Futaba asks, a dazed look in her eyes, while Shiho tries to snap her out of it.

            “Fate really hates our guts, huh?” Tao asks, giving her arms a stretch as Donald and Goofy help Isara up. “Although, it looks like it’s only us here.” At that, Sora jumps to his feet to find them at the front of a wooden ship. With the gentle rocking beneath them, it is clear they are on the ocean and near that island as well.

            “Where are we, anyway?” Sora asks, walking to the railing and looking over the side with the others.

            “Haven’t got a clue.” Isara replies, shrugging her shoulders.

            “Well, well… it's about time that I see you again, Sora.” Riku's voice echoes behind them, turning all eyes to the platform above. Riku stood there, looking down at them with a very dark and cold glare in his eyes.

            “Riku!? What are you doing here? And not only that, where have you been since we last saw you back inside Monstro?" Sora asks, shocked to see his best friend here, of all places.

            “If you really must know, I've been getting stuff done on my end. Unlike you and the rest of your… friends." Riku replies in a cold voice as he hardens his glare—a glare that sends a cold shiver down Sora's back.

            “No… did the darkness finally take him over?” Sora whispers, a plea in his voice.

            “So, you must be the friend that Sora and the other Phantom Thieves told my family and me about earlier. Were you waiting for us?" Tao asks with narrowed eyes. "And not only that, where the hell is everyone else?" Riku remains silent, looking at her before slowly turning to Sora.

            “Is this really what it's coming down to, Sora? Are these new friends of yours more important than your old ones?”

            “What? Of course not!” Sora shouts, shaking his head. “Why the hell are you thinking that?”

            “I don’t know… maybe it’s because of her.” He replies, stepping to the side and earning a sharp gasp of air from Sora.

            “KAIRI!” Sora shouts at the kneeling form of Kairi, her eyes half-open but showing no life in them as the four Thieves gasp in shock.

            “No way! So that's your other best friend, Sora?" Shiho asks, with a look of concern at seeing Kairi's current state.

            “Yeah. That's my other best friend, alright. Kairi Panettiere." Sora says in a soft voice, still in shock at seeing Kairi here, before turning his gaze back to Riku. "What happened to her, Riku? She doesn't look so good."

            “Does it really matter, though? The main thing here is that while you and your 'friends' were off goofing around in other worlds, I succeeded when you failed and finally found her."

            “I resent that remark!” Goofy shouts back, irritation in his eyes.

            “You call saving the worlds a goofy act!?” Futaba shouts back as Donald gets ready to run forward, only for several Heartless to appear around them on the ground and in the air. All of them are themed like pirates, with those on the ground holding large iron swords.

            “Heartless!” Donald shouts as he jumps back, only for a new surprise to appear: several flying Demons surround them.

            “What the—!? Pixies!?” Shiho shouts, her eyes wide at the sight of that particular Persona floating around. Or is it a Demon now?

            “Riku! What’s the matter with you!? Why are you siding with the Heartless and Demons!?” Sora shouts, feeling the urge to summon the Keyblade to his hand.

            “The Heartless and Demons obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear.” Riku replies in a calm voice, which only makes the chill run deeper down Sora’s back.

            “Is he insane!?” Isara asks with wide eyes.

            “I think that darkness you guys have been talking about is messing with his head, big time.” Tao replies with a furrowed brow.

            “HAVE YOU GONE CRAZY, RIKU?! The Heartless are attracted to those who have darkness in their hearts. Sooner or later, they'll swallow yours!" Sora shouts at Riku, hoping he will snap out of it and come back to his senses. But all Riku does is scoff at him without a care.

            “Not a chance. My heart’s too strong.” Riku shakes his head before looking back at Sora as a cruel smirk forms on his lips. “I’ve picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance.” He raises his hand at Sora, and all of a sudden, Sora feels like a part of him is being torn away without a care. He swears he can hear a voice in his head for a moment until he catches a glimpse of his own shadow moving out from under him and turning into a solid form before him.

            “The hell did you do, Riku!?” Isara shouts as Futaba and Shiho gasp.

            “Like I'd tell you." He replies, turning around. "Hope you enjoy the accommodation… alongside the other prisoner that we have." With that, the floor under them opens up, dropping the group into a compartment while Sora's Shadow hovers in the air. Riku couldn't help but smirk, seeing how they had now got two of the three that Tamiel had flagged as the possible eighth princess. Yet that smirk soon vanished as he quickly realized something.

            “Fan out and search the island for the last one! I want all three of them onboard this ship before we return to Hollow Bastion. And keep Sora away from Kairi at all times!” The Heartless and Demons around him all nod their heads as they vanish, heading to the island to search while Riku gently picks Kairi up. “I won’t let him near you… I promise.”

Meanwhile, down in the hold, the gang was all nursing some bruises on the backs of their heads while Sora was out cold on the ground. Not that they could blame him, with both Donald and Goofy falling on top of him.

            “Urgh… just great. Dropped right into another trap.” Futaba groans, rubbing her head. “What is our luck, really?”

            “Something that we all have in common, I guess.” A female voice echoes, turning all eyes to the source as a new figure emerges from the surrounding shadows. One that Futaba, Shiho, Isara, and Tao recognise instantly. "Glad to know I'm not the only Thief caught as well.”

            “Akane! We finally found you!” Shiho shouts, walking over to give her a hug. “Your dad and Kawakami have been worried about you!”

            “That makes three of us. But assuming they're with the others, I'm glad they are okay." Akane replies, returning the hug before noticing changes with Isara. "By the way, what happened to you, Isara? Where is everyone else, anyway? And who are those three? Are they new members of the Phantom Thieves?" Futaba glances between them all and the knocked-out Sora as she lets out a sigh.

            “It’s a long story. But first, shouldn’t we bust out of here?” She asks, going to summon Necronomicon, only to find that she can’t. “Huh? What the hell?”

            “Can’t summon your Persona, right?” Akane asks with a sigh. “Same with me. Something in here is stopping us from calling either them or our weapons. Believe me, I’ve tried a lot.”

            “Guess we have to wait until the others break us out.” Goofy comments before sitting down. “Until then, how about we introduce ourselves?” Futaba couldn’t really argue against that, seeing how they were stuck for now. So, with some annoyance, she sat down on the floor and got ready to inform Akane of everything that had happened so far. Yet she couldn’t help but wonder… what happened to everyone else?

            “Urgh… that was rough.” Iwai groans, pushing himself up and looking around. He could easily see Ren, Makoto, Sae, Haru, Yusuke, Mishima, Sumire, and Akechi all around him, coming back to consciousness as well. But there were several missing that had him on alert. “Great… separated again.”

            “Ow… my head.” Sumire groans, pushing herself up and rubbing her forehead. “What happened?”

            “Another impact on our ship.” Sae remarks with little amusement in her voice. “This is starting to become ridiculous.”

            “And it would seem we are all separated as well.” Akechi remarks, glancing around. “This is very frustrating.” Ren and Makoto are silent, pleading that Sophia was still okay and not captured by the Heartless or whatever foe had attacked them this time.

            “We can’t stay here. We should explore our surroundings properly before coming to any conclusions.” Yusuke comments, his left hand stroking his chin. “Letting ourselves panic now would bring nothing but misfortune to us.”

            “Yusuke is right.” Haru comments, looking at Mishima. “We can’t allow ourselves to panic until we know where everyone is.” That seemed to calm him down as Ren and Makoto take a moment to breathe. They could lose their heads later. Right now, they needed to find out where they were. And without Futaba, this would be hard to do.

            “In that case, the first thing we should do is—” Just as Makoto started to outline a plan, the sound of oars splashing against the water caught the group's attention. “What is that?”

            “A rowboat, maybe?" Mishima asks as Ren moves into the shadows, going down the path leading to the sound of the oars breaking through the water alongside the others. It doesn't take long for them to reach the source, but what they find is equally disturbing. It is a man dressed in a fancy red pirate outfit with his left hand replaced by a hook, along with a small, portly man in colourful pirate clothes that look a bit too small, with glasses on his nose. But it is the other person with them, being dragged by several Phantoms, that has the team's attention. It is a teen, dressed in green clothes and a hat with a red feather, tied to an anchor and placed on a rock surrounded by water.

            “What is going on now?” Ren quietly asks as his eyes narrow, just as the pirate in the red coat lets out a chuckle.

            “It has been a fun time, Peter Pan. But it ends here today.” Hook remarks with a smug grin. “I would say I would miss you, but I would be lying.”

            “You won’t get away with this, Hook.” Peter bites back, even though his arms and legs are tied to the anchor.

            “On the contrary, my dear Peter, I believe I will.” Hook replies, walking back to the boat while three Phantoms stand around him. “Do enjoy the company I leave you with. After all, the tide will be coming in soon. And don’t worry, I will take care of your Lost Boys.”

            “Leave them alone!" Peter shouts back, trying to pull his arms out of the ropes. But, much to his chagrin, the ropes are tied too tightly. Hook can only laugh as he hops into the small rowboat while his first mate, Smee, starts rowing them out, just as the water level around them begins to rise.

            “It would appear we are watching a pirate punishment.” Sae remarks with zero enthusiasm in her voice, watching as the water slowly makes its way up to the bound Peter. “Well, shall we make our way over?”

            “Is that even a question?" Ren asks, shifting into his Thief form along with the others before firing a grapple up to the stone roof. Finding purchase, and with the others quickly copying him, Joker and the team swing over towards the bound Peter while Violet, Outlaw, Athena, and Gecko fire their guns at the Phantoms, catching them off guard and surprising Peter just as they land. Crow, Fox, and Noir charge at the Phantoms while Joker and Queen rush towards Peter, quickly working to undo his bonds just as the water starts to rise faster.

            “Where did you all come from!?” Peter asks as Joker cuts his binds.

            “We can tell you later! Right now, we need to go!” Joker replies, watching as the Phantoms are quickly dealt with before firing a grapple at a nearby alcove, far enough that the water can’t reach them.

            “That’s the last one.” Queen comments, cutting the last rope on Peter’s legs. But what followed next was a surprise for all of them, as Peter, instead of stumbling around, suddenly floated into the air with tiny gold lights around him before he shot towards the alcove where Joker’s grapple landed.

            “Hey! Don’t just stand there! The water level’s rising!” He calls down to them, snapping them out of their daze as they quickly grapple up toward him. They could ask him questions when they were safe, something that was quickly becoming a priority as more water started pooling in from around.

Hopefully, the others were having better luck than they were.

Chapter Text

Chapter 30: Lost.

            “Why can’t we ever have a nice landing for a change?” Ann groans, rubbing her back as she, Ryuji, Morgana, Hifumi, Sophia, Kaoru, Zenkichi, and Kawakami make their way through a jungle. “I mean, how many times have we crashed now?”

            “Too many…” Ryuji groans, rolling his arm. “Still, I can’t help but wonder if what hit us was the same thing that sent us crashin’ into Deep Jungle.”

            “That could very well be a possibility.” Morgana quips, stretching his arm. "Still, I can't help but wonder where everyone else went, though.”

            “I’m sure they are here somewhere.” Hifumi replies, a hand gently resting on Sophia’s shoulder. “Still, we can’t drop our guard. The fact that we are separated makes it easy for them to capture Futaba, Isara, and Sophia.”

            “It’s a classic move. And a dastardly one as well.” Zenkichi groans, rubbing his eyes. “How did we fail to see it coming? They have known about this ‘eighth princess’ being among us for a while now?”

            “We got complacent.” Kawakami remarks, shaking her head. “We got used to being together that we failed to account for being separated.” Sophia lets out a nervous sound as Hifumi hugs her closer, while Kaoru stands beside her. Neither of them was going to risk Sophia getting kidnapped. “Regardless, should we look for somewhere to camp? The sun is just crossing the midpoint.”

            “Yeah… just around noon, isn’t it?” Kaoru remarks, holding a hand over his face. Not that it helped distract him from the bigger problem in their minds. “It would be great to find a spot to rest up. We might even be able to do—” Just then, a flash of thunder lit up near a rock formation with a waterfall. Considering that there were no clouds in the sky, it could only mean one thing.

            “That must be the others!” Sophia shouts as the team rushes forward.

            “And judging by that attack, the Heartless and Demons must already be on the move!” Morgana agrees, with the Thieves all shifting into their Thief attire. They couldn’t tell who was fighting, other than the bolt of lightning maybe coming from Edelweiss, Sora, or Donald. Joker had yet to get Zeus back into his roster, so it didn’t come from him. It was with great alarm that, as they got closer to the sound of battle, they could only hear a single voice fighting against whatever Heartless and Demons were attacking them. A voice whose identity was soon revealed as the group rushed around some rocks.

            “Char! Ziodyne!” King shouts, summoning his other half to his side, dual laser guns in hand. The bolt of lightning from Char zooms toward the foes attacking him, revealed to be a bunch of Shadow Heartless alongside some pirate Heartless, while a group of new Demons floats next to them. With a giant fox head and red eyes, they hover in the air with a bow and arrow and a small white body. They look only as big as a Shadow Heartless, yet the arrows they hold look dangerous enough.

At least they weren’t immune to Elect magic, as two of them were caught by King’s attack, vanishing into sparks of lightning while three of the pirate Heartless charged towards him. He fired his twin laser guns at the Heartless, only to gasp as they jumped in the air while a few Shadow Heartless ran up towards him, splitting his focus. Well… his focus anyway.

            “Spartacus! One-Shot Kill!”

            “Kunoichi! Psiodyne!”

King’s face flashed with shock as the two attacks slammed into the attacking Heartless, while the flying Demons and remaining Heartless jumped back in alarm. Just as Mona and the others rushed in to support King, he let out a shaky breath.

            “Guys!? You’re here!” He shouts with clear joy and exhaustion in his words as he almost falls to the ground.

            “We’ve got this, King! You hold back and rest up!” Mona shouts as King looks at him with wide eyes. It seems that despite the change in his voice, he still managed to recognize him. “Zorro! Garudyne!” Pointing his falchion forward, Mona sends a blast of wind right at the Heartless, sending several pirates flying back while the Shadows simply sink into the ground. The Demons float out of the way before returning fire with their bows, forcing the team to dodge while Panther takes aim at them with narrowed eyes.

            “Carmen! Agidyne!” She calls, sending a giant orb of fire at the Demons. But she is surprised to see the Demons dash through the flames with minimal damage before firing arrows at her while Skull tackles her to the ground.

            “Looks like they resist Fire!" Wolf calls out, slashing another Heartless with his greatsword as Teach lets out an irritated groan.

            “Pandora! Kougaon!” Sophie calls out, sending spears of light at the Heartless and Demons. But while the Heartless melted under the light, the Demons once more only emerged with light scrapes. While Sophie was focused on what was in front of her, she didn’t realise that something was behind her until three Shadow Heartless leaped into the air.

            “Sophie!” Teach cries, jumping behind her and throwing her daggers at two of the Heartless before grabbing her RPG. Using it to smack the third one away while the other two dissolve into darkness, she spins around and takes aim at the Demons, with Legion aiming his own rocket launcher. Without even saying a word, the two fire rockets right at the Demons, catching all of them in one giant blast that takes out a good chunk of them.

Seeing an opportunity, Skull and Panther rushed forward, slashing at the remaining Demons with their weapons while the Heartless soon turned around and fled, realizing their ‘easy meal’ was no longer easy. And seeing the danger had finally passed, King allowed himself to shift back into civilian clothes, breathing deeply and hard as Morgana helped him up.

            “Glad you got here in time… Don't think I could have lasted much longer." Shinya admits as Morgana pats him on the back. "And… what happened to you, Morgana? You look different, and I could also say the same for Sophia as well.”

            “Long story.” Morgana replies, giving Shinya a nod as his arms drop.

            “Are you okay, Shinya?” Sophia asks, lightly walking up to him.

            “I’ve been better…” Shinya replies, shaking his head and taking off his hat. “Those things wouldn’t leave us alone.”

            “Us?” Ann asks, until movement from the trees catches the team's attention. Out from the bushes came a sight that none of the Thieves expected to see. It was a group of kids, six of them wearing animal clothes for some reason, another in some old 1900s child sleeping clothes, and the one who looked to be the oldest, with a long white gown, slippers, a top hat, glasses, and a black umbrella.

            “Kids? What are they doing here?” Zenkichi asks with narrowed eyes. “And where are their parents?” Shinya glances at them before letting out a long sigh. This was going to be a long talk.

            “It's best if we move somewhere else. You guys can fill me in on what's been happening, and I can do the same." Shinya remarks before letting out a sigh. "Especially since I haven't seen any other Phantom Thieves besides Akane."

            “Akane!?" Zenkichi shouts, looking at Shinya with wide eyes. "My daughter's here!? What happened to her?"

            “Well…” Shinya replies, shaking his head. "It's sort of his fault that this happened.”

            “So… how did you get captured, Akane?" Futaba asks, sitting on the only cot in the room. She still hadn't figured out how their powers were being blocked, but whatever it was, it was outside the room. And it didn't help that Sora was still out cold for some reason.

            “I suppose you can say it’s a certain boy in green tights' fault.” Akane remarks, shaking her head. “After what happened to our home, Shinya and I found ourselves in this world called Neverland. After taking a moment to try to calm ourselves, we were found by someone called Peter Pan, who is leading a group of kids he calls the Lost Boys while a silent fairy floats with him. And for some reason, he can fly.”

            “Fly? Seriously?” Isara asks with a sceptical look.

            “Yep… seriously.” Akane replies, shaking her head. “After he found us, Peter brought us into their little group, where we soon found ourselves getting into trouble with a pirate called Captain Hook. He’s the captain of the ship we’re on, and he’s missing a hand that’s replaced by a hook.”

            “Fitting name, then.” Tao remarks, arms folded.

            “I'll admit, playing pranks on that pirate did help us stay sane while trapped here, but all that changed when those creatures started appearing.” Akane shakes her head with an irritated sigh. "Even though we TOLD him that things were getting dangerous and that we should stop going after him, Peter didn't listen to us. And THEN he somehow lost his shadow, which caused him to travel to LONDON of all places, and as a result, he came back with three more people!" Akane pounds her hand on the wall in irritation. "Peter should've realized how dangerous things had gotten. Hell, when he came back with the three newcomers, they almost got hit by a cannonball from Hook's ship.”

            “That’s certainly irresponsible.” Goofy remarks while rubbing his head.

            “You don't know the half of it…” Akane groans, pinching her brow. "Then Peter got the bright idea of showing one of the newcomers, Wendy Darling, around the island while leaving her two brothers, John and Michael, with the Lost Boys to go hunting for Indians.”

            “Even though the Heartless and Demons are here?” Donald asks, tapping his flipper on the floor.

            “Yep.” Akane replies. “Although, in his defence, we could easily take them out, no problem. And he does get serious when in a fight. But it doesn’t excuse him for being so… ignorant of what’s happening.”

            “You know, for someone who's supposed to be in charge of a group of kids, he certainly sounds like one himself.” Shiho remarks, kicking a foot.

            “Well… you’re not wrong there.” Akane replies, leaning on the wall. “Apparently, in this world, no one grows up, and Peter has been here all his life.”

            “No growing up? Seriously?” Tao asks with slightly wide eyes. “Guess that means he still has the mentality of a kid, huh?” 

            “I don't even know any more." Akane groans. "Anyway, to make a long story short, I decided to go with Peter, Wendy, and Peter's fairy friend Tinker Bell—yes, that's her name—just to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. Shinya decided to stay with the rest of the Lost Boys and Wendy's brothers to keep them safe as well. But when Peter was taking Wendy to see the sights, that's when we got ambushed by some creeps who looked human but didn't look like them either.”

            “Phantoms… great.” Isara groans, pinching her brow. “Of COURSE they are here as well…” Akane tilts her head at the name, a bit puzzled as to why they are called Phantoms but decides to ignore it for now.

            “But yeah, those Phantoms jumped and captured us. Wendy, Tinker Bell, and I are trapped on this wooden hulk of crap while Peter was dragged out to Skull Rock with an anchor tied to his back.”

            “An anchor tied to… Yeesh… Talk about a bad way to go.” Futaba remarks as the group all has looks of sympathy. Sure, Peter sounded like a hyperactive kid, but still drowning to death? They wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

            “But what about the rest? Are they okay?” Donald asks, looking at Akane, who shrugs.

            “If Shinya's not in here with me, then they have to be. And Hook certainly hasn't told me anything while I've been in here." Akane replies before suddenly remembering something. "However, I was able to take note of a silver-haired boy among Hook's crew who doesn't look like he's from around here either."

            “I assume you must be talking about Riku, then.” Shiho remarks, which causes Akane to raise an eyebrow in surprise.

            “Riku? I'm guessing you guys know him?" Akane asks, now with curiosity written on her face.

            “Yeah, it's a long story.” Futaba replies, shrugging her shoulders. "But boy, you won't believe what has happened…”

While they talked, Sora was experiencing his own exchange of knowledge. Although for him, it was rather one-sided, as he was now lying down on a bed, watching through Ven’s eyes as he swung a wooden Keyblade above him in a reverse grip. It was a Keyblade that looked like the one Terra used; it even had his name engraved on it.

            Did Terra… give that to him to train with? Sora asks mentally, even as a smile forms on his face. Heh… reminds me of when Riku did the same with me when my old wooden sword broke. But before he even had a chance to reflect, the sound of a bell rang through the room, with Sora feeling Ven jump to alert as he leaped off the bed, still holding the wooden Keyblade in his hand as he dashed for the door. But before he could open it, a voice echoed behind him.

            “Better hurry, Ventus… or you’ll never see Terra again.”

            “Huh?” Ven asks as he turns around, allowing Sora to get a view of who has appeared before Ven. It is someone around Ven’s height, wearing a skintight black suit that looks to be mimicking muscle patterns in red lines, with a deep red and dark blue half-skirt around his waist. As for his face, it is encased in a helmet with a large black visor, hiding everything.

            Who… is that? Sora mentally asks as he hears Ven scoff at the intruder. And… why does he feel so… familiar?

            “What? Get real. I can see Terra anytime I want.”

            “Like right now? He’s leaving you behind, and by the time you catch up… he’ll be a different person.” The figure turns to look at Ven, his face hidden by the helmet, as Sora feels a chill run down his non-existent spine.

            “Look, whoever you are, you don’t know the first thing about Terra.” Ven bites back, already jumping to defend his friend. “He and I will always be a team. Are you trying to pick a fight or what?” Sora could feel Ven fall into a combat stance, but the figure just lets out a tsk as he pushes himself off Ven’s drawers.

            “Oh, grow up. Is that what you call friendship? You’ll never know the truth unless you go out and look for it yourself.” He looks at Ven, his body language indicating he isn’t going to be fighting anytime soon. “Come on, what could you possibly know when you’re stuck here, looking at nothing but what’s in your tiny world?”

            Tiny world… Sora whispers, thinking back to how he was before going on this adventure. He didn’t know about everything happening beyond the borders of his own world. What this person said had some truth to it. But why did it feel like he was trying to goad Ven into doing something? Before Ven could say anything, the figure opened a portal of darkness and walked through it, with Ven not even reacting as he seemingly thought back on something before rushing out the door. A second later, Sora’s vision changed as he saw Ven running down a staircase leading out to a small area with Terra standing in the middle.

            “TERRA!” Ven’s voice grabs Terra as he turns to look at him, just as Ven stumbles to a stop, panting hard. He looks up at him, words ready on his lips, only for Terra to rest a hand on his head and give his hair a rub.

            “It’s okay.” He tells him in a calm voice, letting out a confident smile before turning around and walking some distance away. Then, he holds up his right hand before suddenly punching the pauldron on his left arm, encasing him in a flash of orange light that quickly vanishes. This suddenly makes Sora feel very jealous as Terra is now wearing a full suit of armour, mostly in shades of dark black, bright gold, and vibrant red. Dull orange lines decorate the armour as well. The more notable additions in this armoured form include upturned, sharp red hooks on the backs of his boots, a navy-blue cape, and a black-visored helmet. His helmet sports two tall red prongs on either side as well.

But that was not all that Terra had to show, as he summoned his Keyblade and shot a beam of light into the sky, opening a portal of light. He then threw his Keyblade into the air, transforming it into a glider! As if Sora couldn’t feel any more jealous at seeing the glider fly around, it looked like a flying bike, to be honest, as Terra soon jumped on it and rocketed off into the portal of light. As for Ven, he watched as his best friend flew up into the portal before looking at his own pauldron.

            Wait… is Ven going to— Before Sora could even finish, he watched as Ven slapped the pauldron and encased him in light. When it dissipated, he found himself wearing a strikingly similar suit to Terra’s. Although he couldn’t see the helmet, he could tell it was black like Terra's but with an orange tint. As for the armour, it was coloured in shades of steel blue, black, and gold, with red lines going along the undersuit. Following that, Sora watched as Ven summoned his own Keyblade and tossed it into the air, seeing it transform into a large hovering skateboard that he had to admit looked pretty cool.

            “Wait, Ven!” Aqua’s voice echoes behind him as she and Master Eraqus rush out from the entrance of their home, but they are too late as Ven dashes for the portal of light, and the vision soon comes to an end, just as Ven starts his own adventure as well.

And it was with a gasp that Sora woke up, surprising everyone as he blinked the sleep away from his eyes while rubbing the back of his head.

            “Good morning, Sora. Had a nice nap?” Goofy asks as Donald and Tao help him up.

            “Not really.” Sora replies, shaking his head. “What happened while I was asleep?”

            “Nothing much aside from being locked up.” Donald replies, shaking his head. "And we can't escape either. Something is stopping us from summoning our weapons." Sora furrows his brow, holding his hand at his side. But the Keyblade did not come to him. Or rather, it tried to come to him, but something outside the room was blocking him from summoning it. Like a suppressor or something.

            “We can't do anything else until we get help from outside.” Akane tells Sora, grabbing his attention. "Name's Akane Hasegawa. You're Sora Osment, right? Futaba and the others told me about you. Well… some, anyway.”

            “Yeah…” Sora replies, rubbing the back of his head. “Wait, are you Zenkichi’s daughter?”

            “That's right.” Akane replies with a grin. "Codename Ace as a Thief. The others were telling me what's been happening while you were out cold." She turns back to Futaba, who is sitting on a barrel and making herself comfortable. "Anyway, you were just talking about a world called Deep Jungle?" Futaba nods back at her, continuing to explain their journey so far while Sora lets himself rest against the wall. His mind can't help but wander back to the latest vision he had seen and the implications of what it would lead to. But that only leads to more questions in his mind.

           What happened to Ven, Terra, and Aqua, anyway? Was what I saw the start of what led to their fates, as Donald described earlier back in Traverse Town? Who was that masked individual talking to Ven? And why can't I see Xehanort? He shakes his head as he listens to Futaba regale their journey, catching a glimpse of Jiminy on her shoulder going over his notes to help fact-check her at certain points. And why did that masked boy feel so familiar?

            “…You’re right… I’m still finding it hard to believe all that.” Shinya remarks to Morgana as they move through the jungle. “But I guess the evidence is here.”

            “Yep.” Morgana quips, folding his arms. “And things have only gotten crazier. Now here we are, all separated and scattered. What is our luck these days?” He lets out a sigh before looking at Zenkichi, seeing the stress in his eyes even as Kawakami pats him on the back. He didn’t take the news that Akane was captured well, again. Nor was he happy about hearing how this ‘Peter Pan’ just brushed off Shinya and Akane’s worries. Listening to these ‘Lost Boys’ didn’t help much either. Judging by the look on Ryuji’s face, he wasn’t happy with what was going on either.

            “The hell is he thinkin’, just ditching them like this?” Ryuji asks bitterly. “Aren’t they supposed to be a team?”

            “Sounds like he treats everything as a game…” Ann comments, shaking her head. “Anyway, we don’t have time to wait for this Peter. We need to find the others and then rescue Akane.”

            “And how do you plan to get on board Hook’s ship?” The child with glasses, John Darling, asks while adjusting his glasses. His younger brother, Michael, is staying pretty close to him. “Don’t tell me you plan to swim out to it?”

            “If we have to swim, we’ll swim.” Zenkichi remarks as he stands a bit straighter. His eyes are still closed, but his left hand is tightened into a fist. “I’m saving Akane, no matter what.” That caused the two kids to glance at each other, while the rest of the Lost Boys all looked at him in confusion—something that the rest of the Thieves couldn’t help but notice. Did these kids even have parents to begin with? Not that they had time to think about that, as a cockerel's call echoed from above, turning all eyes to someone flying in the sky, diving toward them.

            “It’s Peter Pan!” The boy in the fox outfit shouts as he and his fellow Lost Boys rush over to greet him as he arrives in a land right before them.

            “So that’s Peter Pan, huh?” Hifumi asks, seeing the Lost Boys gathering around him.

            “Where’s Wendy?” Michael asks his brother, who shrugs his shoulders. That only makes the kids' shoulders slump while the Thieves look at Peter with narrow eyes. Wasn’t he captured by this ‘Hook’ person? So why was he here and alone as well?

            “What happened, Peter? We heard you were captured.” Another of the Lost Boys, wearing a bear costume, asks Peter, who lets out a chuckle as though the entire situation doesn’t seem to bother him.

            “I had help. Some people in masks similar to Shinya and Akane cut me loose from the anchor and helped me escape Skull Rock before the water came in." Peter tells them with a smile that only makes the Thieves' eyes widen in shock. He couldn't be talking about them, could he? And did he just leave them behind as well?

            “Whoa! Really!? Where are they!?” One of the Lost Boys, wearing a rabbit costume, asks while Peter places his hands on his hips.

            “Still on Skull Rock.” Peter replies, almost too casually. “But I’m sure they will be fine. And when I borrow one of Hook’s boats, I can go get them. Or better yet, find Tink and Wendy first.” Hearing how carefree he was being made the Thieves feel a bit of anger toward him.

            “And you just left them there?” Ryuji asks with narrowed eyes. “Without any way of helpin’ them get back?”

            “Yeah.” Peter replies, not even sounding ashamed. "So? They'll be fine. They can take care of themselves until I find a boat. And who are you guys supposed to be, anyway?"

            “That's not important right now!” Ryuji shouts, slamming a foot down. "What is important is that it doesn't matter if they can 'take care' of themselves or not! You said that water was rushin' in when you left them! They could drown if we don't go and help them now!”

            “Drown? What’s so bad about drowning?” Peter asks, rubbing his head. His comment seems to do nothing more than piss Ryuji off.

            “They could die!” Ryuji shouts as he shifts into Thief form without even thinking, surprising himself as his eyes widen in shock while the Thieves and Lost Boys all back away. “All you are doing is thinkin’ that this is some sort of game! It’s not! It’s life or death!” Without even calling him, Captain Kidd manifests behind Skull, with the tension around them all rising while Peter just looks at him with a cocky smile.

            “A pirate, huh? I wonder if you’re any fun to fight as Hook is!” Peter calls out, getting his dagger out and flying into the air. But just hearing him not take this seriously at all only helps to fuel Skull’s anger. How could he not see that this attitude of his would only endanger everyone around him?

            “Time you learned a lesson, Peter! Megaton Raid!” Skull shouts, Captain Kidd already zooming ahead to land the attack on Peter while the rest of the Thieves usher the Lost Boys away.

            “Shouldn’t we try to stop him?” Kaoru asks, watching as Peter manages to avoid the strike and head toward Skull, dagger aimed at him, only to be blocked by Skull’s mace.

            “I don’t think anything we say will snap him out of his anger right now.” Kawakami comments, watching as Skull lets out a blast of Mazionga. Peter, taking to the sky, suddenly finds himself having to dodge several bolts of lightning in rapid fashion while Ann looks on with a worried expression.

            “Why is Skull attacking him?” Sophia asks Ann, puzzled as to why Skull is fighting. Ann looks at her before looking back at the fight as Peter avoids a Headbutt from Skull while the two lock weapons again.

            “I suppose it’s Peter’s attitude. The way he was being casual about everything and not caring about the consequences is something that Skull hates a lot.” Ann tells her as Peter once more takes to the air while Skull sends out a blast of Ziodyne. The attack manages to hit Peter, who lets out a cry before falling to the ground, small bolts of lightning zapping over him as Skull walks up to him. As for the Lost Boys, they are all in shock at how easily Skull managed to take Peter down with a single attack.

            “What did you do to me? This isn’t fun.” Peter tells Skull as he tries to move.

            “Now do you see?” Skull asks Peter through gritted teeth. "I could have done somethin' else, y'know. Hell, I could start swingin' my mace at you right now for 'fun'. And what would have happened if I went for someone else instead?" Peter looks up at him with wide eyes as Skull bobs his head in the direction of the Lost Boys. "They are your team, yeah? Then why the hell are you not treatin' them like one? Hell, you even BROUGHT people over here, and yet according to Shinya, you only focused on givin' one of them a tour!? Why are you ignorin' everyone else around you for your own interests?!”

            “Ignoring?” Peter asks, looking at him before glancing at the Lost Boys and the two Darling brothers.

            “You said that you'd find a boat to help our friends, but only after you had a fight with this Hook.” Skull tells him before shifting over to his normal attire. "And then when I snapped, you decided to lose interest in all of that and fight me? What does that say about you if you keep losing interest in things? And what about Wendy, Tink, and Akane? Are you just goin' to ignore them as well?”

            “Of course not!” Peter shouts back, the cocky expression he was wearing vanishing in an instant. “I’d do anything to help them!” Ryuji narrows his eyes at Peter, arms folded as the two hold a stare-down.

            “If that is what you want, then stop treating everythin' as a game and get rid of that bloated ego of yours.” Ryuji tells him, lowering his arms. “Unless you think you can take on the Heartless and Demons that are with Hook all by yourself?” Peter looked ready to argue against that but held his head down in defeat as he remembered what happened: how he was easily captured by the Heartless and Demons, along with those others that Hook had by his side. It was his overconfidence that got Wendy, Tinker Bell, and Akane captured as well. Maybe if Shinya had been there, they could have all escaped.

            “Okay… you win.” Peter relents with a sigh as Ryuji nods his head in acceptance. “Can someone free me?” Ryuji looks over to Hifumi, giving her a nod as he walks away, with Ann quickly joining him. Just as Hifumi shifts into Thief form and casts Amrita Shower on Peter.

            “Ryuji… are you good?” Ann asks gently as Ryuji lets out a long sigh.

            “I’ll be good… Just had to get that off my chest.” Ryuji admits, turning to look at Peter as he stands. “Just seeing that ego of his rubbed me the wrong way, ya know?”

            “I do.” Ann replies, giving him a gentle hug as Shinya walks up to Peter.

            “So, who was it that helped you at Skull Rock? We’re going to rescue them first. And then we’re going to board Hook’s ship and rescue everyone else.” He gives Zenkichi a glance, the poor soul maintaining a steady look even if he wanted nothing more than to charge at Hook’s ship right now. But saving the others from possibly drowning was the higher priority here, as much as he hated it. Peter rubs the back of his head as he thinks back to Skull Rock, reflecting on anything that might have stuck with him from that chaotic mess he left.

            “Well… I didn't hear any names, but I recall one of them being called Joker…”

            “That’s my Dad!” Sophia shouts, shocking Peter as she runs up to him and grabs his arms. “Where is Skull Rock!? Please tell me! Please!” She shouts, jumping up and down and almost causing Peter to have a headache from how hard his head is bobbing up and down.

            “Sophia, calm down.” Hifumi tells her gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. “He won’t be able to tell you if you’re shaking him like this.” Sophia begrudgingly lets go of Peter, who stumbles for a moment before shaking his head back into focus.

            “Whoa… that was something.” He remarks, slapping his hands on his face to refocus. “Anyway, Skull Rock is this way! Follow me!” With that, he flies into the sky, making a beeline toward where Skull Rock is located while the rest of the team chases after him on the ground. Hopefully, they can fashion some boats to swim out to Skull Rock, and fast.

            “We can’t go this way! The water is rushing in!” Violet shouts, running away from the rising seawater and onto higher ground. Joker couldn’t help but grimace at the dead end they had walked into, again. Ever since Peter left to find help, they had been stuck facing off against wave after wave of Phantoms trying to claim their heads. It was reaching the point where they were about to collapse from exhaustion.

            “Fox! Get back!” Gecko shouts, moving forward to block a Phantom blade from Fox, who is starting to slip in attention span as Athena drags him away. As for the Phantom, Gecko kicks it back, leaving it open to Crow, who blasts it in the head with his gun. But as he tries to fire another round, all he gets is a fizzle instead of a blast.

            “My gun is out!” Crow shouts, holstering it and activating his beam sabre again. Joker can’t help but grimace at that. After all, at this point, all of them are running low on ammo. The only one who isn’t is Noir, and that is because she doesn’t want to risk opening up a hole and letting in more water.

            “We’re running out of room around here!” Queen shouts, firing the last few shots from her revolver while slowly backing away. It isn’t a statement but more a matter of fact. The rising water has pushed them all to the outside of Skull Rock, with nothing but a drop into the water below waiting for them, making them easy targets for the gun-wielding Phantoms if they try to swim away while exhausted.

Speaking of the Phantoms, they were slowly growing in number with every second. To be honest, it was worse than fighting the Heartless and Demons. At least with them, it felt like they came in waves, yet these things felt like an unending tide. It was something that Joker couldn’t help but growl at, knowing that his magic wouldn’t do much against these creatures. He was really wishing he had his full roster right about now…

            “This might be it for us…” Noir comments as the Thieves find themselves at the edge of the cliff.

            “Looks like it…” Athena quietly admits, watching as Phantoms seem to pour out from every entrance around them. From the ones that didn't, water seemed to rise with a constant rhythm. There wasn't even an overhang above them they could use to grapple away from either. The setting sun behind them didn't help, casting dark shadows all around like a growing abyss, ready to swallow them all. At least, that's what they thought was going to happen until a green blur shot past them.

            “Peter!?” Outlaw exclaims, giving everyone relief that he has come back.

            “Sorry about the wait, you guys!” Peter shouts, dragging his dagger against a few of the Phantoms. "Had an errand to take care of!”

            “Hey! Down here!” The Thieves all turned around, looking down the cliff to find, to their surprise, Skull and the others waiting for them in a handmade raft, along with King, giving them all a playful salute. How it was holding up so far they could wonder later. Right now, they were more pleased to have an escape route.

            “About time you showed up!” Crow shouts as the Thieves all jump down, firing their grapples into the cliff wall to slow their descent and land safely. “We were about to start swimming.”

            “What can we say? Thieves arrive in style.” Mona replies as Sophie hugs Joker and Queen with great relief. “Now let’s head back to shore. Start rowing, guys!”

            “You can help as well, Mona.” Teach groans as she, Wolf, Skull, and Panther start rowing the raft back to shore. Up above, Peter is proving to be a nice distraction as the Phantoms are all busy firing at him until he sees the Thieves get far enough away from Skull Rock. Giving the Phantoms one more childish insult, he breaks off and follows after the Thieves, landing on the beach just as the Thieves come ashore.

            “Thanks for the save, guys.” Joker replies as the group shifts back to normal attire. "And good to see you again, Shinya."

            “Same goes for you and the others, Ren. And don't worry, the others filled me in on your situation." Shinya tells him with a smile, stretching his arms.

            “Still, we're thankful you guys were able to come for us.” Mishima remarks, letting out a deep breath. "We were almost out of options."

            “We're just glad we got to you in time.” Hifumi replies, stretching her back out. "Now we can focus our efforts on getting Akane back.”

            “Akane is here?" Makoto asks with wide eyes before they soften with relief. "That means… we've just about found everyone who is a part of our group. But where is she?" Ryuji's group lets out a sigh as they all turn to look at a red ship not far from the coast. Its light is starting to come on as the sun sinks deeper toward the horizon.

            “She's being held on Captain Hook's ship. And if I have to guess, Sora and the other missing members of our current group are with her as well." Zenkichi replies, folding his arms. "Hope you kids are ready because we are heading over to rescue her right now.”

            “While I agree that saving Akane and the others is our highest priority, how do you suggest we sneak aboard?” Yusuke asks, motioning at the ship with his hand. “We would no doubt be spotted as we attempt to approach, even under the cover of night.”

            “That’s true… Any movement on the sea during a moonlit night could be seen from miles away.” Kawakami agrees, tapping her foot on the ground. But while they figured out a plan for what to do, Peter let out a chuckle, drawing all eyes to him.

            “I think I have an idea of what to do.” He tells them with a grin. “And it’s something that will get that old codfish to focus on his ship and not outside.” While the team didn’t feel confident in letting him hash out a plan, it’s not like they had any other option.

They could only hope that whatever it was he was thinking of wouldn’t give them away.

Chapter Text

Chapter 31: Scurvy Rats!

Night had fallen on Neverland as the Jolly Roger floated not far from the shore. The lights illuminated its red paint, while Heartless and Demons patrolled its deck, all looking for any sign of movement on the water's surface. But while they were busy looking out at the island, none of them were really looking up as a figure silently flew high in the sky. Before they suddenly dove right towards the water, skimming gently across it and right next to a porthole near the bow of the ship.

Taking a moment to breathe, Peter slowly opens the porthole and lets himself in, finding himself at the bow of the ship, just under the deck, and right next to a room with a locked door. He could hear some voices outside, but that wasn’t the main focus for him at the moment. His eyes were locked on the strange contraption sitting nearby. It looked like a pillar with the Heartless Emblem on it, carved to look like a pink bird for some reason. At regular intervals, it seemed to generate a faint pulse that encompassed just this part of the ship, including the nearby room. Whatever it was, it only gave Peter a bad feeling. But he could worry about it later. Right now, he had some people to find.

So, without making a sound, Peter flew over to the locked room before giving it a few taps. There was a small slit at the top of the door to allow someone to look inside, but he couldn’t be sure if anyone was there.

            “Who’s that?” A voice echoes from inside, that of a boy.

            “Probably Hook, coming back to gloat about capturing us.” Akane’s voice echoes, putting a smile on Peter’s face as he looks through the viewport.

            “How about a friend?” He asks, surprising Akane, who looks at him in shock.

            “Peter!? I thought Hook had tied you to an anchor!" Akane asks as Peter undoes the lock outside, letting the captive Thieves, along with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, out.

            “I was. But I had help from your friends.” Peter replies, folding his arms. “They are waiting outside, ready to board the ship once we make a big enough raucous. The old codfish probably thinks I’m gone, so he won’t be expecting me.”

            “A raucous?” Futaba asks before putting on a grin. "So the plan is for us to be a distraction and allow the others to board while they are focused on us? You know, for someone who acts like a kid and treats these dangerous adventures like a game, that's not a bad idea."

            “I would take that as a compliment, but I did get my just deserts from one of your friends earlier on that particular matter. Also, nice to meet all of you." Peter says as Futaba, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the rest of the Thieves who were captive alongside Akane introduce themselves. But his smile didn't last long as he noticed one person was not with them. "I take it Wendy and Tinker Bell aren't with you?"

            “Nope. Probably held in Hook’s cabin.” Akane replies with a huff, folding her arms until she notices a strange totem nearby. “What is that? A bird totem?”

            “Wait a second… that's Jerri!” Tao shouts with anger in her voice, storming up to the totem and giving it a hard kick, sending it to the floor and shattering it. "Stupid bird-brained bitch!” Peter jumps back at the sight of the anger coming from Tao but wisely decides not to ask her about it.

            “I guess this proves that Hook is working with Maleficent.” Shiho comments before shaking her head. “But then again, that felt rather obvious after seeing the Heartless and Demons on the deck.” Just as they were going to comment about it more, a flash of light appeared in Sora’s hand.

            “Hey! I can summon the Keyblade again!” Sora shouts with joy in his voice, seeing Last Hope once more in his hand. As he summons the Keyblade, the rest of the group either summons their own weapons or shifts into their Thief attire.

            “Oh yeah! We are so back in action!” Edelweiss shouts, pumping a fist into the air as Ace lets out a chuckle. Until she notices something about Sora now that they are in a better light source. Or rather, what is missing.

            “Um, Sora? Where is your shadow?” She asks, pointing at Sora’s feet and the glaring absence of his shadow. Sora looks down at his feet before letting out a groan as he rubs his eyes.

            “Right… Riku did something to my shadow…” He replies, forgetting about what Riku did when they arrived.

            “Sounds like what happened to me.” Peter remarks, folding his arms. But before he can say anything else, the sound of Heartless appearing behind them derails the conversation as pirate Heartless and walking barrels appear before them, alongside the cherub wolf Demons.

            “So much for having a chance to run.” Donald grumbles as the team falls into combat positions.

            “Oracle, what Heartless and Demons are we dealing with here?” Goofy asks while Oracle scans the enemies.

            “Let's see! We've got Pirate Heartless and Barrel Spiders on the ground! And as for the Demons, they are called Chironnupu! Weak to Dark and Curse, but resistant to Fire, Ice, Light, and Bless!”

            “Gravira!” Sora shouts, pointing Last Hope at the Demons and forcing them to the ground while turning them into pancakes at the same time. Although a few of them managed to avoid the blast, Peter Pan was already on them with a flurry of dagger strikes while letting out a rooster call. While the Pirate Heartless got ready to charge, Ace smirks at them while placing a hand on her mask.

            “If we’re going to be a distraction, we might as well be a big one! Cosette! Freidyne!” With Ace’s Persona forming behind her, she creates an orb of blue fire between her hands while Goofy deflects several pirates away from her and Donald casts Aerora around her. With a flick of her wrist, Cosette sends the orb of blue fire right at the Barrel Spiders as they leap into the air, catching them all in a massive explosion that sends the ship rocking and no doubt alerts every Heartless, Demon, and Phantom onboard the ship to their escape.

            “Hah! If they didn’t feel that…” Guernica comments as Banksy forms behind her. “…then let’s see if they feel this! Riot Gun!” With a roar, Banksy sends the Gun attack right into several Chironnupus, slamming them against the hull of the ship and rocking the boat even more.

            “Just be careful not to punch a hole in the ship!” Spring calls out, using her spear to take down a few Pirates. "I'd rather we not sink this place.”

            “Hey! If it helps the others get on board, then let's not hold back!” Edelweiss shouts while Oracle uses her staff to pole vault over a few Barrel Spiders, which explode harmlessly beneath her. “Heat Riser!” Boosting herself with the spell, Edel glances at a few Phantoms forming on top of a raised entrance leading deeper into the ship. Not that it would stop her, as her thrusters ignite. “Try and stop us!”

When Hook entered his cabin, he had a wide smile on his face. Finally, after all this time, his rival, Peter Pan, was now sleeping with the fishes. He should really thank Maleficent for lending him the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms in capturing him. And not only that, he was sure he had managed to obtain the seventh Princess of Heart. Combined with the two that Riku had managed to capture, he was sure they had all they needed before returning to Hollow Bastion.

At least… he was feeling jolly with himself until Riku turned to look at him with a shadowed expression. The words that came out of his mouth stripped away any joy he had.

            “What? So none of the girls we have are the chosen ones?” Hook asks again, not believing the words he has just heard from the boy's mouth.

            “There are eight princesses, supposedly… And neither Wendy nor those girls in the hold are them.” Riku repeats, a hidden anger laced in his words. He had hoped that they would have been it, but the Search Ghosts that had looked at them confirmed that none of them were the chosen ones. While it meant they were back to square one in looking for the seventh princess, they now knew who the eighth princess was. “Have the Heartless and Demons found that girl in the white blouse yet?”

            “You are talking about the one they call Sophia, yes?” Hook asks, playing with his moustache. “It would seem that she has heavy guards around her. Getting close to her with our forces has proven to be an exercise in futility. To say nothing of the girls’ parents.” Riku couldn’t help but groan in agreement with that. Even if he no longer had any parents, he could still remember when his own were protective of him when he was young. This made getting to her even more of a struggle than anything else, not helped by the fact that she can defend herself, unlike all the others they have captured. But while there was nothing he could do about that, there was something he could do right now

            “Hoist anchor and get ready to sail. Leave behind all the dead weight, including Wendy and those in the hold. We have no need for them any more.”

            “After all the trouble of capturing them?” Hook asks, shaking his head. They had viable hostages on their hands, and yet here Riku was, ready to just toss them all away. He rolls his eyes to glance at his bedside, looking at a lamp with a yellow fairy in a green dress hammering away against the glass in a futile attempt to break it. Then there were the twelve Dalmatian puppies that he had chained to his bed. They would make fine hunting hounds when they grew up, after he broke their spirits, that is. But even as he let his mind wander into fantasy, he brought his attention back to Riku, who had his back turned to him. “And why those eight? What is Maleficent planning anyway?”

            “Who knows? I don’t care.” Riku replies, shocking Hook. “As long as it allows me to get Kairi’s heart back, I couldn’t care less.”

            “Hmph… You are wasting your time, boy. The Heartless have obviously consumed that young girl's heart. I stake my other hand it’s lost forever.” Hook tells him in a rather surprisingly sombre tone, almost sounding sympathetic to the young boy. Then again, he did lose his hand, so maybe he knew about the foolish hope of getting back what is forever lost.

            “I’ll find it, no matter what it takes.” Riku replies to him, not convinced in the slightest. While Hook simply sighs at the young boy, a look of sympathy in his eyes, the ship suddenly rocked as if it were struck by a great impact. The lamp holding the yellow fairy wobbled for a moment while the pups all huddled together.

            “What was that!?” Hook shouts as he regains his footing, only for another shock to wrack the ship, this time sending both him and Riku to the floor while the lamp holding Tinker Bell falls to the ground, shattering and letting her free as she hides behind Hook’s bed. But Hook could care very little about her as he stumbles to his feet, staggering over to a communication pipe. “Smee! What is going on!?”

            “C-Captain! The prisoners have escaped! What’s more, Peter Pan is with them!”

            “WHAT!?” Hook screams, slamming his hand down on the bench. “BLAST THAT PETER PAN!! HOW IS HE ALIVE!?” While Riku would have found Hook’s breakdown funny, what his current situation had become was anything but. The Persona users had escaped, no doubt having destroyed Jerri’s nullification totem, and were now wreaking havoc inside the ship. It was only a matter of time until Sora found Kairi and…

He shakes his head, a furious frown forming on his face as he turns to Sora’s Shadow hovering nearby. Now that he looks at it, it seems to have changed from when he last saw it. When he initially pulled Sora’s shadow from him, it looked just like him. But now… it seems to have grown additions. Not that he could tell, due to it being completely black with no highlights. However, he could tell that it was now holding a shield in its left arm and had some small draconic wings on its back. There seemed to be pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves as well, and something appeared to be on its face, too.

A mask?

Not that he cared.

            “Stop Sora! Do not let him anywhere near Kairi! Understand!?” Riku commands the shadow, but it only stares back at him with its yellow eyes, not moving from its position. Riku can only growl in anger at the defiance coming from the shadow. How dare it act against him! As though it had its own mind!

            “All right! Bring the girls to me cabin, Smee! On the double!” Hook shouts into the tube before closing it shut. “It would seem Wendy will be of use to us after all…” Riku turns to look at him with a confused expression, while Sora’s Shadow remains motionless, looking around the room. For a moment, a small blue flame washes over the front of its face, taking the form of a dragon-shaped mask.

            “Hah! That ought to have grabbed their attention!” Guernica shouts with a victorious grin, sending out a Deathbound at several Pirate Heartless. “Think this will give Joker and the others the opening they need?”

            “It better!” Edel shouts, firing her arm cannons at a few Pixies. “Somehow, I don’t think we’ll be able to take on a whole ship by ourselves!”

            “Have faith, sis!” Oracle shouts, slamming her battle staff against a new Demon that has joined the Heartless. A Nezha, of all things, and according to Oracle, they are weak to Elect but resist Fire and Wind. “The sooner we’re on the deck, the sooner we can join the others!”

            “Fira!” Sora cries, sending an orb of fire at a Barrel Spider, only for Nezha to jump in and block the blow. "You might resist Fire and Wind, but not Elect! Thundara!" Seeing the smile on Nezha's face vanish right before it was struck by the Thundara spell was somewhat satisfying, considering how these things could also fly about on their flaming wheels like Peter. But now that he thought about it, how did Peter fly anyway? He didn't have any thrusters like Edel or wings like Joker, Sophie, or Mona did back in Halloween Town.

            “So, uh, how can you fly anyway, Peter?” Goofy asks as the last of the Heartless are taken down. They are currently in a corridor with several doors on either side, but where they actually are inside the ship is still a mystery, even with the map Oracle managed to give them.

            “Anyone can fly. You want to try?” Peter replies with a smile before losing it instantly. “Although… without Tink around, I can’t give you the important part.”

            “Tink?” Sora asks, tilting his head.

            “He means Tinker Bell. Apparently, the dust she has can make people fly.” Ace tells him, shaking her head. “Not that it ever worked with me or King, though. Are you SURE you’re not missing an important step, Peter?”

            “Positive. I think…” Peter replies, scratching his head before shaking it. “But until we find Tink, flying won't be happening for us.”

            “Well, I can fly without help anyway.” Edel remarks, pointing at her thrusters. “Same with Oracle and how Necronomicon can just carry her.”

            “Lucky.” Guernica grumbles under her breath as they enter a storage room. A small fire glows from the nearby cooker, while rows of supplies line the walls. It only makes the group realise just how many human pirates once called this ship home at one point. At least, until the Heartless came. What happened to Hook’s crew, anyway?

            “This looks to be a safe spot.” Spring comments, sitting down on a barrel. “Do you think we’ve managed to cause a distraction?”

            “I think so.” Donald replies, holding his hands up to the fire and letting out a sigh. While the group was more than willing to have a rest, part of the room was covered by a metal grate, allowing one to look between the floors even if they couldn’t get past. It certainly allowed people to talk through it, as a voice soon echoed from above.

            “Is someone there?” A female voice with a British accent asks, drawing all eyes to the grate, where a young woman with brown hair and a blue dress looks at them with surprise. “Peter? Ace?”

            “Wendy! You’re okay!” Peter calls, floating up to the grate. “I was worried about you! Is Tink with you?”

            “No, she’s not. Hook trapped her in a lantern and clipped it to his belt.” Wendy reveals with a shiver. “I think she’s in his room.”

            “A lantern!? Tink won’t last long without fresh air.” Peter replies, shaking his head.

            “Talk about abuse of rights…” Oracle comments, shaking her head in disappointment.

            “Hang on! We’ll be up there soon!” Peter calls up to her, but before they can move, Sora walks up to the grate.

            “Wendy? Is there another girl up there with you?” Wendy blinks at him before looking up at the catatonic body of Kairi, resting against the wall.

            “Why… yes. But she seems asleep. She hasn't moved an inch." Wendy replies, with Sora's heart plummeting. She didn't move at all on the deck, and from what Riku said back in Monstro regarding her needing a heart… something's not adding up! If her heart was stolen, then her body should have vanished, right? So she had to be unconscious, right? Not that he had a chance to ask, as suddenly the door in Wendy's room was broken down. Wendy lets out a cry of shock before the sound of something hitting her rings out, along with the sound of two bodies being dragged away.

            “Wendy!? WENDY!” Peter shouts, slamming a hand against the grate. While Peter tries to break it down, Edel notices another side of the room with a torn grate, possibly from a pirate trying to escape the Heartless.

            “There’s a way up over here!” She calls out, grabbing the group's attention as she leaps up. “If we’re quick, we can still catch them!”

            “Then what are we waiting for?” Guernica asks, jumping up after her. “Let’s chase them down!” It was all they could do at this moment, and Sora could only pray that they could still catch Riku and Kairi before he managed to escape with her to who knows where.

            “What do you think? Do you think we can sneak up next to them now?” Yusuke asks as Sumire looks through a telescope lent to them by the Lost Boys from their hideout under a tree.

            “Well, it looks like the Heartless and Demons are confused about what’s happening inside. After all, the ship did rock violently earlier.” Sumire replies, lowering the spyglass. “I think we can approach them now.”

            “Let’s take the risk.” Ren replies as Ann, Mishima, Akechi, and Morgana start rowing the boat. They had made sure to leave no lights on during their approach, yet the moon shining down from above still made it possible to get spotted. “We need to get as close as we can to board.” Zenkichi’s eyes were glued to the ship like a hawk. He had been silent the entire time they initiated the plan, his eyes hidden by the glare of the lenses in his glasses. Kawakami’s hand rested on his shoulder, a single small tether keeping his mind from spiralling. At least he could feel some pride in seeing how Akane and the others were running amok inside the ship.

            “Hey, does anyone hear a ticking sound?” Kaoru suddenly asks, with the sound of a clock ticking next to them. As one, everyone looks over the side to see a large green crocodile swimming next to them. Its tail flicks back and forth to the sound of the clock as it looks at them with a wide, happy grin before charging forward toward the ship.

            “From the looks of it… that sound came from that crocodile.” Haru remarks, confusion written on her face.

            “I always thought crocodiles were supposed to be stealthy predators, but that one looks to be the complete opposite.” Akechi comments, a hand on his chin.

            “Indeed. Why is that crocodile making that ticking sound?" Sophia asks, tilting her head as Shinya lets out a chuckle.

            “Oh yeah… I forgot to mention. There's this crocodile that's obsessed with Hook ever since Peter fed it the captain's hand. And somehow, it also ate a clock as well." Shinya shakes his head as he struggles to stop laughing. "Hook is so scared of clocks because of it that he now can't help but go into a panic attack whenever there is one ticking nearby. Apparently, Smee has to destroy every clock nearby just to calm him down.”

            “So… the sound of a ticking clock is enough to cause him to run away in terror?” Hifumi asks before shaking her head. “I know I shouldn’t be amused at someone’s fears and trauma, but for some reason, I can’t help but find it funny.”

            “We shouldn’t find it funny, no.” Makoto replies, shaking her head. “But somehow it is… Maybe it’s the feeling we’re getting from this world.”

            “Maybe.” Sae agrees, folding her arms as she looks at the ship. "I suggest we fall silent now. We're approaching the ship." The Thieves all nod as they stop rowing, letting forward momentum drift them toward the bow of the ship. Iwai and Kaoru hold their hands out to gently stop them as the boat is lined up next to the Jolly Roger. Now, all they have to do is wait for the signal. Something that they hated to do, but agreed was a necessary step in the plan.

But the question now was what Sora and the others were up against and whether they had found Akane, Wendy, and Tinker Bell yet.

The floor in Hook’s cabin seemed to buckle for a moment until a large square was forcibly pushed open as Sora leaped upward. Sure, he could have used the grappling hook to get up, but after recently learning High Jump, he figured it would be quicker. That, and he could easily use both if needed.

            “Hey! There are puppies up here!” He calls back down to the others as Oracle and Goofy quickly join him. The trio makes room as they rush toward the bed, the twelve puppies looking at them with pleading eyes. But when they reach the bed, Sora turns to the other side of the room, seeing a familiar figure just turn around the corner. Without even thinking, Sora rushes forward, finding Riku holding Kairi right next to a door leading outside. “RIKU! WAIT!”

            “No.” Riku replies in a cold voice, walking back as a dark shadow moves beneath him. “Goodbye.” And with that, Sora’s Shadow leaps up from the floor, taking on a defensive stance with its own shadowy version of the Kingdom Key held in its right hand in Sora’s usual stance while holding its shield out front with its left, blocking Sora from going forward. Without even speaking, the shadow lunges at Sora, forcing him back as it attacks with a quick three-hit combo.

            “Sora!” Oracle shouts, rushing forward to strike with her battle staff, only to be surprised when this shadowy version of Sora blocks her attack with a parry before using its shield to block a strike from Peter.

            “What is this thing anyway!?” Guernica shouts, sending out a God’s Hand, only for the shadow Sora to slip into the floor like a Shadow Heartless and rush toward her. Goofy jumps between them, blocking a heavy strike from the shadow as it soon turns to strike at Edel, forcing her back until Donald strikes it with a Fira. Oracle narrows her eyes, focusing on this doppelgänger, only to come back puzzled.

            No name…? What the hell? She frowns, unsure why she didn’t get a name from this before charging back in as Spring attempts to spear the shadow. But the only thing it did was split into three copies that ran along the floor before sprouting up around them. At once, all three of the shadows jumped at them, forcing the group to dodge the swings while Ace and Edel countered. Their weapons sliced into two of the copies and destroyed them instantly, while the third one attempted to attack Sora again.

            “Aerora!” Sora calls out, generating a stronger wind shield around him that manages to deflect the blow. It also puts the shadow off balance as it struggles to reorient after the blow, but a kick from Guernica puts a stop to any thoughts of rebalancing. Instead, it allows itself to hit the floor, turning into a shadow and running around while splitting into more copies of itself and leaping from the ground.

The copies all lash out, some scoring hits and one even sending Goofy tumbling into Hook’s bed, his shield hitting the chains holding the pups and shattering them on impact. With the pups freed, they ran forward, snapping at the heels of the shadows and forcing their attention to change. This gave the Thieves a chance to lash out and thin their numbers, once more leaving only the real shadow Sora around. But what it did next shocked them all as it unleashed a blue stream of fire at them.

            “What was that!?” Spring shouts, watching as the fire hits Ace yet does nothing to her, while Edel lets out a cry of pain.

            “I don’t know, but whatever it was, it was Nuke-based! I think!” Oracle calls out, her head shaking in confusion. “Just what IS this shadow?!” As Sora pushed himself back up, he glared at the shadow as it got ready to attack again. Seeing this dark version of himself attacking everyone around him built an anger inside he didn’t know he ever had. And with how the Keyblade seemed to be humming in agreement, a new skill suddenly materialised in his mind. Now he felt it activating without even trying.

            “How about this!?” Sora shouts, rushing forward as Last Hope glows with a bright light. His shadow looks at him just as Sora unleashes a rapid series of strikes that leave no chance for a counterattack. Each blow is fast and hard, knocking the shadow’s shield and Keyblade to the side and sending it to one knee as Sora leaps up for the thirteenth and final slash. “Ars Arcanum!” Sora shouts, bringing the Keyblade down in one final swing, almost as if he were cutting it in half with the sound of the Keyblade slicing through the air.

For a moment, all was still as the shadow knelt there without speaking. It slowly looked up at Sora, its eyes betraying nothing as it seemed to start sinking into a dark puddle. At least until the end, when it seemed to give Sora a look that, while he couldn’t see the mouth due to the pitch blackness of its face, the glowing yellow eyes seemed to smirk at him as it vanished into the dark puddle. And as it did, Sora could feel something returning to him once more.

            “Your shadow is back!” Edel shouts, pointing at Sora’s feet. Sora looks down, once more seeing the familiar outline of himself as he lets out a sigh. He never realised how wrong it felt to be walking around without a shadow until now.

            “But where did Riku go?” Spring asks, looking at the door.

            “Must be outside with the codfish and Wendy.” Peter suggested, floating to the door. “Tink must be with him as well… I swear if he has harmed a hair on her head—” Just then, the sound of what could be called bells chimed from a nearby cabinet as a ball of light suddenly shot out from behind it. Coming to a stop right in front of Peter, it turned back into Tinker Bell. “Tink! You’re okay!” While Tink made what could be called happy noises at seeing Peter again, not that she was talking to begin with, the rest of the Thieves all looked at Tink with some curiosity.

            “Huh… a real fairy. And not like the Pixies we have been fighting either.” Spring comments, seeing Tink spin around Peter and leaving behind a golden trail. “She looks happy to see you.”

            “And I’m just as happy to see her.” Peter replies with a grin as Tink comes to rest on his shoulder. A sudden realisation comes to him as he snaps his fingers. “Oh, that’s right! You guys can fly now.”

            “How?” Goofy asks, rubbing his head, just as Tink suddenly shoots forward and sprinkles them all with golden dust.

            “Just a little bit of pixie dust is all.” Peter replies with a grin before rubbing his head. “Although… I’m sure there is one other thing needed as well, but I can’t remember.” He turns to look at Tink, who shrugs in mid-air, not sure of what the other thing needed is herself, as the group all shakes their heads at him. Well, he has been flying ever since he was born, so it would be no surprise that neither of them knows how.

            “Are we done? Because I think Riku has made his escape by now.” Ace comments, nodding her head at the door. Sora narrows his eyes, feeling an anger inside him at what Riku had done. Whether he was angry at Riku, the darkness that corrupted him to be like this, or Maleficent and Jerri, he couldn’t tell you right now. But he was sure of one thing: he was not losing Kairi again! So, without missing a beat, Sora sprints for the door and bashes it open, finding the deck swarming with Pirate Heartless and Demons. Among the Demons were the recognizable Pixies and one more type they had yet to see. It looked like a young girl in a red dress, white slacks, and brown boots. The boots and arm cuffs were trimmed with black fur, while the girl's long purple hair spread out behind her like a pair of giant wings. But the Heartless and Demons were the last things on Sora’s mind as he looked down at Hook standing next to the wooden plank, with Wendy tied up on the edge.

            “Wendy!” Peter shouts, ready to jump into the air, only for two Pixies to float on either side of Wendy, each one holding a rope and pulling it tight, ready to drag her off the edge.

            “Not one more step, boy! Or your friend will take an icy plunge!” Hook shouts, pointing his hooked hand at Wendy as she is tugged closer to the edge. Peter growls, his body wanting to jump to save her before he forces himself to stay. Something that Hook raises an eyebrow at but smirks regardless. “Well now… that was easy.” He quips before turning to look at Sora. “Still, quite a codfish, that Riku. Running off with that girl without even saying goodbye.”

            “Run off where!? Tell me, where did he go!?” Sora shouts with uncharacteristic anger, slicing Last Hope down and doing some damage to the banister in front. But if Hook was put off by his sudden outburst of anger, he didn’t show it as he looked at the sky with a smug grin.

            “To the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent and Jerri reside.” He tells them truthfully. “But none of you will be going there, assuming you want your friend to die a watery death, that is?” The Thieves all growl at that, their Personas itching to come out and fight. But one look at Wendy told them that if they did, she would be taking an icy plunge. “Now then, brat, hand over the Keyblade, and I will spare all of your lives.”

            “Even if I could, I’d never give it to you.” Sora replies in a defiant tone. Hook’s eye twitches for a moment before letting out a slow breath.

            “As you wish… then the girl dies!” At that, the two Pixies violently pull on the rope, sending Wendy off the plank while the two Pixies fly back over to Hook. But while everyone either looked in shock or, in Hook’s case, amusement, the whooshing sound of Wendy’s fall soon came to a halt. However, the splash that should have followed didn’t sound. Confused, Smee runs over to the edge as two Pirates follow him. But when he looks over the edge, he sees no evidence of Wendy even hitting the water.

            “Captain… no splash…” Smee replies, looking over at him with a fearful expression. While Hook moves to join him, Sora, Peter, and the Thieves all glance at each other until they spot movement on the other side of the ship. Movement that makes them realise just what happened to Wendy, as Joker and the others slowly look over the edge, with Wendy right next to them.

            “Ahh… that’s sneaky.” Oracle whispers to the others while Hook is busy looking over the edge. Right until he starts hearing an all-too-familiar sound ticking over the edge. A sound that even makes his moustache seem to tick in harmony as he looks over the edge, seeing the green croc waiting below with a hungry look in its eyes.

            “It’s him! The crocodile that took me hand! Oh, Smee! He’s after me other hand! Go away! Oh, I can’t bear the sight of him! SMEE! YOU TAKE CARE OF THEM!” And with that, Hook dashed past all the Heartless and Demons and fled into the ship’s hull. Not his cabin, of course. After all, Sora and the others were still standing at the door. As for poor Smee, he found himself increasingly surrounded by Heartless and Demons while Sora’s group got ready for a fight.

            “C-Come along now. No need to put up a fuss.” Smee tries to tell them, but there is fear evident in his voice. “A-After all, you are outnumbered here.”

            “Are you sure about that?” Joker asks as he and the others reveal themselves at the front. Joy lights up Ace’s eyes as she catches sight of Wolf and Teach, both of whom are equally happy to see her. “If you ask me, it’s still a fair fight.” Smee’s eyes widen as the Heartless and Demons find themselves caught between the two groups, just as everyone summons their weapons to their sides. As for Smee himself, he knows a losing situation when he sees one, so he makes the only logical choice he can. He dives into a dinghy and starts paddling toward shore.

            “Alrighty, gamers! Let’s rock this boat!” Oracle shouts as Sora’s group leaps into the air while Joker’s team rushes along the ground. As for Peter, he goes over to Wendy to pick her up and take her to the top of the mast, just so she won’t get caught up in the fight that is brewing down below. A fight that begins with an onslaught of magic from the Thieves, decimating the close confines of the Heartless while the Demons fly into the air, where Peter ambushes them from above.

            “Guys! The Muu Shuwuu are weak to Fire, and they nullify Wind!” Oracle calls out, informing both groups. “So let loose!”

            “Agidyne!” Panther, Teach, and Gecko call out, sending orbs of fire at the Mu Shuwuu and catching them in a furious blaze. Sora joins in, sending out bursts of Fira at them while Donald uses Aerora to blast several Pirates away. King charges forward, using his beam axe to cleave through a Pixie and Nezha before ripping off his mask.

            “Char! Ziodyne!” Without missing a beat, Char forms behind King and sends out a blast of Elect magic at the Heartless, although the Pixies are not bothered by the attack while countering with their own Ziodynes. One manages to clip Edel, knocking her to the ground as Goofy rushes up to protect her from a few opportunistic Heartless.

            “Hah! We’re mopping the deck with these scallywags!” Skull shouts out in jest, using his mace to send two Pirates flying off the edge of the ship before Noir fires a grenade at them, catching them both in one blast.

            “Really, Skull?” Outlaw asks, firing his rifle at several Pixies. “That was lame.”

            “Hey, c’mon! I can’t help it!” Skull shouts back as Spring and Athena land next to them. The two girls manage to double-team a Nezha that got too cocky for its own good. Meanwhile, Sora has fought his way to Joker, Queen, and Sophie, sliding up to them with a Slide Dash before using Strike Raid on a few Pirates.

            “Glad to see you guys are still around.” He tells them before firing Blizzara at a few Pirates that had just spawned in.

            “It’ll take more than this to stop us.” Queen remarks, backhanding a Pixie while Sophie uses her yo-yos to tie up a Muu Shuwuu.

            “Less talking, more fighting.” Joker quips back, firing his gun at several Chironnupus before they are struck down by Crow’s Megidola. “We’re not out of the woods yet.” Sora nods at him, rushing back into the fray and swinging Last Hope at several Pirates until he feels a new presence to his left. Turning around, he is surprised to see a flying pirate ship, captained by a single man with two oars and cannons, a mean-looking bow, and a sail with the Heartless Emblem on it. On top of the sail is a propeller, with several more on the back that seem to be speeding up. Before he even has a chance to shout, the new Heartless charges toward him, smacking him in the chest and sending him off the edge of the boat, knocking the grapple hook off his wrist.

Time seemed to slow as Sora fell off the side, everyone turning to look at him in shock. As Sora looked at the ocean, he could see the croc waiting for him with its mouth wide open, ready to swallow him whole. He realised there was nothing he could do but close his eyes and accept what was coming. But as he fell, he found himself looking back on all the memories he had made on this journey: the new friends he had found, the enjoyment of discovering new worlds, and the memories he had from the island with Riku and Kairi. They were the only things in his mind as he felt himself fall into the croc’s mouth.

At least… he was falling as he suddenly found himself shooting upward while opening his eyes. To his utter surprise and delight, what he felt wasn’t an illusion, as specks of golden light floated off him like Peter. He was flying all by himself! Something that the croc down below didn’t take much joy in, as it slapped the water with the base of its clenched hand.

            “Whoa! He can fly!” Mona shouts in surprise as Sora floats above the group.

            “He can fly!?” Donald and Goofy shout in amazement as Sora summons Last Hope to his side, eyeing the flying Heartless with narrowed eyes.

            “He can fly!?” King and Ace shout in shock. They honestly couldn't believe that it was possible. After all, the dust never worked on them. So how? Peter smirks as he flies up to join him, dagger drawn, as the two stare down the flying pirate ship. But it wasn't alone, as several more Heartless appeared next to it, each one with large wings while still retaining the pirate look: Air Pirates.

            “We can figure it out later! For now, focus on the Heartless and Demons!” Athena calls out, going back to punching several Heartless while Ace runs up to Wolf and Teach. The two of them are back to back until Ace leaps over them and slices two Pixies.

            “You don't know how happy I am to see you two again!” She tells them with a wide grin, summoning Cosette and blasting several Air Pirates down with a Nuke spell.

            “You’re not the only one!” Wolf shouts back at her, sending his greatsword flying and impaling the Battleship Heartless while Sora and Peter double-team it before pulling out his two pistols and rapid-firing at the Heartless. “I’ve been worried about you ever since this happened!”

            “Let’s catch up with each other AFTER we are out of danger!” Teach tells them, using her two daggers to bring down a Nezha. “But be warned, I am going to hug you to death, young lady!” Ace could only laugh at her as the Thieves all continued chipping away at the Heartless and Demons. Fox used his ice spells to freeze them, with Mona, Shinobi, and Guernica shattering them with physical strikes, and Violet using her acrobatic arts to leap away from the Demons while Oracle, Legion, and Edel carved them up. But no matter what they did, they just seemed to be coming nonstop, even bringing three more Battleship Heartless in to fight.

            “This will never end!” Peter groans as the two go back to back, the three Battleships floating around them. On the ship, the rest of the Thieves are getting exhausted from the never-ending reinforcements. Sora looks at the Keyblade, thinking back on all the spells he knows at this point, before remembering a certain spell he had neglected until now. He might as well use it!

            “Power!” Sora cries, focusing on the spell in his mind as the Keyblade starts shooting out blue and pink magic. Once, twice, and then a third time, the blue and pink cloud shoots forward before transforming into the Genie, wearing a Scottish golf suit and holding a club?

            “And just one more strike for the birdy!” Genie remarks, spinning around and hitting one of the Battleship Heartless with his club, sending it colliding into the Jolly Roger’s mast. “Oops, sorry!”

            “Genie! A little hand!” Sora calls out, diving away from a Battleship Heartless as it tries to ram him and Peter. Genie looks at him, then at the thieves on the ship as they battle the Heartless and Demons before slapping himself back to normal and cracking his fingers.

            “Duty calls!” Genie shouts as, in his mind, he locks onto all of the Heartless and Demons with tiny images of himself before pointing forward with his hands. "It's Showtime!" Genie shouts as he starts blasting all of the Heartless and Demons with magic, even casting Gravira on the Battleship Heartless and sending them plummeting into the ocean, while the ones on the deck are bombarded by the air that makes the entire ship sway.

            “And for extra measure…” Genie pulls out a phone before speaking into it. “Yes… Uh huh… Excessive? No! Be here in a few seconds? Great, thank you!” With a grin on his face, Genie looks up as a blue plane flies over the ship, with the remaining Heartless and Demons looking up in bewilderment. As for Sora, Donald, Goofy, Peter, Tink, Wendy, and the Thieves, they are all encased in protective blue domes as the plane opens up its bomb bay doors, dropping around twelve blue bombs onto the Jolly Roger. Each blast obliterates the Heartless and Demons while shaking the ship as though it were in a savage storm. But when the dust settles, none of the foes remain, with Genie nodding in approval.

            “Thanks, Genie. We were starting to struggle.” Sora tells him, floating up to the big guy as he lets out a chuckle.

            “No thanks are necessary. And it’s a nice break from my worldwide tour.” Genie replies before glowing a faint glow. “Looks like my time is up. Back to my game of golf. Ciao!” In a poof of blue and pink, Genie vanished back to Agrabah while Sora and Peter joined the others back on the deck, with several questions going through their minds.

            “How are you flying, Sora?” Mona asks as Sora hovers before the group.

            “To be honest, I don’t know.” Sora replies. “When I got thrown off, I was just thinking back on all the memories I made and then, whoosh.” All the Thieves looked at each other, completely baffled at how thinking happy thoughts allowed Sora to fly. But maybe… that was all it took?

Not that they had time to ask, as Peter had already walked up to the door where Hook was hiding and knocked on it. “I-Is that you, Smee? Did you finish them off?” Peter couldn’t help but hold his laughter in as he pointed for everyone to go up. While they were unsure of what he was going to do, they decided to follow his direction and made themselves scarce, hiding in the shadows or jumping to a higher level as Peter grabbed his nose.

            “Aye, Cap’n! They walked the plank, every last one of them!” Peter replies to him in a surprisingly accurate Smee voice. Hook took the bait as he opened the door and rushed out, looking around with a fearful expression while Peter snuck up behind him and poked his dagger at his butt, sending him jumping into the air with fright. The Thieves couldn’t help but let out a few chuckles at this. However, for Skull, he felt something else as his Persona was itching to come out and say hello.

            “P-Peter Pa… BLAST YOU!” Hook bellowed in anger as the Thieves all made their presence known, stepping out of the shadows and looking down at him, while Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped up to the top with the twelve Dalmatians from the cabin.

            “Y’know, you’re not a great captain.” Skull remarks in a bored tone as he walks up, shouldering his mace while blue flames dance around him. “You’re supposed to look out for your crew, yeah? To keep them safe no matter what?” Hook could feel a chill running down his spine as Skull’s mask burned away, the flames behind him growing bigger. “Well, I have someone who is VERY unamused at how you captain a ship, Hook. Ain’t that right, Captain Kidd?” From the blue flames, Captain Kidd reveals himself before Hook, who is now trembling before the Persona, almost as though he knew the captain from another lifetime.

            “Well now… what have we here? A lost fish that fancies itself a shark." Captain Kidd remarks in a lazy tone as he floats closer to the ground. "Or rather, a lost fish that fancied itself the top of the food chain but was willing to throw away the lives of its fellow fish to get the rank it wants. How fitting that you stand here, alone and with no one to help you.”

            “S-Silence! You are but the shadow of a dead man!” Hook bellows, aiming his rapier at Captain Kidd, who lets out a dark, ghostly chuckle.

            “A shadow, aye? Well, I suppose that is correct in a way.” Captain Kidd remarks as electrical energy builds in his cannon arm while he and Skull glow a scarlet red. “But even a shadow values the lives of his men! Ain't that right, First mate?”

            “Sure as hell!” Skull shouts as he aims his left hand at Hook. “Let's wrap this up, Kidd!” As Captain Kidd lets out a chuckle, electrical energy wraps around him as he glares at Hook; the Persona has one more line left to say to the soon-to-be former captain.

            “I hope you believe in nightmares, Captain Hook. For tonight, you’re in one!”

            “Brigantine Blitzkrieg!” Skull yells, with Captain Kidd charging forward toward Hook. In a panic, Hook takes out a present and tosses it toward Captain Kidd, the present exploding in his face the second it makes contact. But the red aura of the Theurgy nullifies the blast as Captain Kidd slams into Hook, sending him flying off the deck of the ship and leaving behind a piece of paper. As for Hook himself, he lands hard in the water with a loud splash before breaking for air. But he finds himself not alone, for to his right…

…was a very hungry croc with a wide grin.

            “SMEEE!! HELP!!!” Hook cries out in terror as he runs across the water, the croc chasing after him and biting at his coat tails. As for everyone on board the ship, they can’t help but laugh at him as he runs off into the horizon.

One more of Maleficent’s generals had been taken down, and they had finally learned of her home base. Hollow Bastion was their next destination, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Chapter 32: Three Cups of the Colosseum!

Despite the victory they had over Captain Hook, the happy atmosphere did not last long. After all, even though they had rescued Wendy and Tinker Bell, Kairi had still been taken away by Riku, who they could all agree was all but a puppet of the darkness at this point. They honestly couldn’t even imagine how Sora must feel right now as he looked over the edge of the Jolly Roger, his eyes locked on the ocean below. But there was another thing that was possibly on the young boy’s mind: the fact that Kairi made no motion at all, even with everything happening around her, which could only mean one thing…

            “I hate to admit it, but we may have to assume the worst has happened.” Akechi quietly tells Ren, his gaze not leaving Sora. Ren doesn’t reply, instead only giving him a silent nod as Peter walks up to Sora, while Wendy and her two brothers stand nearby.

            “I still can’t believe it…” Sora suddenly speaks, his voice quiet as all eyes fall on him. But what he said next shattered their worry as he looked up at the sky with a giant grin on his face. “I really flew! Wait ’til I tell Kairi! I wonder if she’ll believe me? Probably not…” The Thieves all blink at Sora before shaking their heads with smiles, while Donald and Goofy sigh with some relief in their hearts. For a moment, it looked like Sora was about to fall into a depression, but it seemed he was thinking about other things. Or… he was only putting up a brave front.

            “You can bring her to Neverland sometime! Then she can try for herself.” Peter offers, gently resting a hand on Sora’s shoulder. But it was the mention of flying that got Akane to walk up to Sora.

            “How did you do it anyway? How did you fly?” Akane asks, folding her arms. Sora blinks at her before thinking back to the moment when he fell off the ship.

            “I don’t know. As I was falling, all I did was think about all the happy memories I made on my journey and back home. Next thing I know, I’m flying in the air.” Sora replies honestly, which causes Peter to suddenly slap himself in the face with a loud groan.

            “So THAT’S what I forgot! I can’t believe it!” Peter shouts, shaking his head as everyone looks at him. “Pixie dust is the most important factor to fly, but the other factor is happy thoughts.”

            “Happy thoughts? Really?” Isara asks, tilting her head as the rest of the Thieves look at each other. That didn’t sound logical to any of them, but again, logic so far had been blown out of the water far too many times already. Not to mention everything they had done in the Metaverse and the time travelling as well. At this point, thinking happy thoughts to fly suddenly didn’t sound as absurd as they would have initially thought it would be if they had come here first. It was at that moment that Tinker Bell decided to fly over all of them, casting dust all over the Thieves who didn’t get it the first time.

            “Is this really going to work, though?” Ann asks, even as the dust settles over them. “I’m still finding it hard to believe.” Ryuji nods his head next to her, even as they see the three Darling children float into the sky with the telltale golden glow, followed quickly by Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Peter. While the Thieves watch, Sophia looks at Sora before closing her eyes, thinking back on all the happy memories she has made, mostly the ones involving Ren and Makoto.

And before she even knew it, she started to float into the air, surprising the two as she quickly opened her eyes in both shock and joy.

            “I can fly!” Sophia shouts with joy as she shoots up and does a barrel roll around a mast. “All I did was think of Mom and Dad, and I can fly!” Ren and Makoto blink in surprise before looking at each other and shrugging their shoulders. If she could do it, why can’t they? So, without missing a beat, the two of them close their eyes and think back on all the good times they have experienced, blocking out all the pain they have endured. And before they know it, they begin to feel themselves start to lift off from the deck of the ship, much to their surprise.  

            “Yo! You guys too!?” Ryuji shouts in shock as Ren and Makoto hover next to Sophia. They look back at him, nodding their heads with looks of bewilderment and shock as, one by one, each of the Thieves copies them. Pretty soon, all of the Thieves find themselves floating in the air, including Shinya and Akane, while Isara simply uses her thrusters in Thief form. As for Futaba, she is comfortable with Necronomicon carrying her, even if she does feel some jealousy watching the others float around. Well, at least she didn’t float up and bang her head into the mast like Mishima and Sumire did.

            “Okay. I'll admit. This is pretty awesome." Shinya admits, doing a backflip in mid-air before finding himself next to Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "Oh yeah, sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself to you three. I'm Shinya Oda. Codename King.”

            “Nice to meet you, Shinya.” Sora replies, shaking his hand. “I’m Sora Osment.”

            “Donald Duck.”

            “Name’s Goofy.” But as Goofy goes to greet him, he suddenly finds himself doing a continuous somersault in the air. Much to everyone’s amusement, Donald tries to stop him, only to join in on the spin. While Peter is smiling at seeing everyone flying next to him, even watching as Akane helps Zenkichi and Kawakami get the hang of it, he lets out a sigh as he turns to Wendy and her brothers.

            “So… ready to head home?” He asks them, much to their shock. “I’ve realised far too late that all I’ve done is put you three in danger. And while it has been fun having you around, I think it’s best if I take you home.”

            “Are you sure?” Wendy asks, with some surprise in her voice. But seeing Peter nod back at her with a smile, she feels her worries vanish. It would be a shame if it were only the three of them who returned. "In that case, would all of you want to travel to London as well?" She offers to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves, who all look at her in surprise.

            “Are you sure?” Haru asks, tilting her head.

            “Of course.” Wendy replies with a smile. “I may not understand, but I do know that you are about to embark for this ‘Hollow Bastion’, yes? Then, I would like you to have some form of rest, even if for a moment.” The Thieves, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all look at each other as Wendy’s offer bounces in their minds. She did have a point, if they were being honest. After all, Hollow Bastion was going to be their next stop, so it would be wise to get some rest now while they can. But even so…

            “How do we even get to London? Which way do we go?” Futaba asks, dressed in her normal clothes while swinging from Necronomicon. Strange how she could summon her Persona without going into her Thief attire, or maybe they could always do that now in reality.

            “Easy. Just follow me.” Peter tells them with a grin as he shoots into the sky, the Darlings right behind him. Without any other option, the group all follows after him into the sky, finding just how easy it was for them to glide through the night sky as Neverland got smaller and smaller. Before they knew it, they were in the clouds, soaring like birds as they followed Peter and the Darlings, while the puppies were teleported to the Highwind for safety. Gradually, the land beneath them seemed to change as lights slowly illuminated under the clouds, until eventually the clouds began to part, revealing the City of London in all its 1904 glory. Before them, taking up the sky, was Big Ben, the four clocks glowing gently as three of its hands pointed at midnight. But as they made a pass, they noticed something about the fourth hand.

It was stuck at 11:45 p.m.

            “That won’t do. Everyone will be confused about the time.” John remarks as the group softly lands atop Big Ben, the giant clock ticking away quietly beneath them.

            “We can fix it.” Shiho offers as she and Hifumi jump off and fly down to the large hand. Without even speaking, the two of them push the hand up, correcting the time so that it shows 12:00 a.m. While the two take a moment to pat each other on the back, a sudden glow from the clock’s face draws everyone’s attention as Sora flies down to inspect it, with the Keyhole appearing between the numbers II and III. Without even saying a word, Sora aims the Keyblade at it and fires a blue beam into the Keyhole, sealing it up and keeping both Neverland and this version of London safe from the Heartless. Just like all the others, a keychain flies from the sealing Keyhole, landing safely in Sora’s hand—a keychain that looks like the red feather in Peter’s hat.

            “Guess it’s time for us to go.” Ren comments, watching Sora, Shiho, and Hifumi join them. “We still have a journey to finish.” While Peter nods at them, Tinker Bell suddenly flies around Sora excitedly, sending more pixie dust onto the Keyblade as it glows with a soft light before returning to Peter.

            “What did she do?” Sumire asks, seeing the soft glow from Sora’s Keyblade as it settles.

            “I think I just got a new summon.” Sora replies with a smile while Tink puts her hands on her hips with a proud smirk. He wasn't sure what summoning her would do to help, but if she gave him the ability, then it must be useful. But eventually, all good things had to come to an end as the team was soon beamed aboard the Highwind, while Peter, Wendy, John, Michael, and Tink waved goodbye to them.

They couldn't stop yet, not while Maleficent and Jerri were still out there.

            “That IDIOT!” Kobayakawa shouts, slamming a hand on the stone table. “Why did he tell them our location!? Now those Thieves will be coming here next!”

            “Such foolishness…” Kusumoto groans, rubbing the space between his eyes. “The fool was so assured of his victory that he told them where to find us.”

            “There is no point in bemoaning our loss.” Shido comments, folding his arms. “It was inevitable they would find our location. It was only a matter of time.”

            “Time that we had hoped would allow you to regain your full strength.” Maleficent remarks, shaking her head. “Alas, such an opportunity is now lost to us. We are left with no other choice, Shido.”

            “That we are…” Shido agrees, shaking his head before looking at Okumura. “Initiate the fallback protocol. Relocate everything that is essential to our cause to our second base. It is far too soon for the Thieves to learn that we have returned.”

            “And what of the items used to bring us back?” Okumura asks, glancing at the pile nearby. “Shall we take them with us?” Shido looks at the pile, pondering their use before shaking his head.

            “We no longer have any use for them. Leave them be.” Shido commands as Okumura bows to him before turning to leave with Kusumoto, Kobayakawa, and Madarame. “Tell me, Ikutsuki. Has the procedure with Marika and Reika proved successful?” Ikutsuki glances at Owada, the two starting to sweat as Ikutsuki fixes his tie.

            “Y-Yes. It has been a success. The two Shadows have been freed from their other selves and are walking free, although they are still weak.” Shido grins darkly at the news as he slowly turns to look at the two of them, Owada’s SWAT squad conspicuously missing from the room.

            “In that case, I see no need to prolong this.” He snaps his fingers, with Kamoshida and Kaneshiro marching forward and grabbing the two men, holding their hands behind their backs as they struggle against them. “It is time for you to discard the flesh and become one of us. Your inner Shadows wish for this, after all.”

            “L-Lord Shido! Please!” Owada cries as a portal of darkness opens, with Kamoshida and Kaneshiro dragging the two men into its dark depths. Shido chuckles darkly as Jerri flies into the room, landing on his shoulder as she lets out a sigh.

            “I have placed several of my totems around the place. From what Riku told me, they proved effective in stopping them from summoning their weapons or Personas.”

            “But it only affects a small area, one they can easily walk out of.” Maleficent warns, stepping up to the table. “Either way, we must prepare accordingly.”

            “I trust you know what you are doing, Maleficent.” Shido cautions. “Even if you have the ability to cheat death, it will be no easy feat to accomplish.”

            “Hence, I trust you to overlook our new location in the event I am defeated.” Maleficent tells him, looking at the table as it shows the Highwind returning to Traverse Town. "The same cannot be said of the bumbling fool." Shido, having been made aware of this 'fool' Maleficent is referring to along with his allies, nods quietly, hands behind his back, before looking at Jerri.

            “Where is the boy?” He asks with some irritation in his voice.

            “He had collapsed the moment he returned.” Jerri replies, shaking her head. “Such a fool, to use the power of darkness to traverse without any means of protection. I suppose he truly does mean it when he says he is not afraid of the darkness.”

            “Such recklessness will be the end of him. Tell him to come to me the moment he has recovered enough to walk.” Maleficent tells Jerri, who soon flies off. “Regardless, we have now found the identity of this eighth princess.”

            “That we have. And I will say it shall be nigh impossible to claim her by force.” Shido remarks, shaking his head. “Although we won’t have to worry about that, will we?” Maleficent matches his smile as she lets out a loud cackle in the middle of the room. Even if they had not found the seventh princess, the eighth will more than make up for her absence. All they have to do now… is wait.

The team felt their spirits soar the moment they returned to Traverse Town. It wasn't really hard for them to feel that way, considering what they managed to accomplish. Not only had they found all of the missing Thieves and gotten in contact with the S.E.E.S team, barring Labrys, alongside both the Investigation Team and the remaining Velvet Room residents, but they had also managed to seal ten Keyholes from different worlds, one of which was from Traverse Town itself, and rescue 87 Dalmatian puppies. This was something that Pongo and Perdita were more than happy with, given what they provided in return. However, they still didn't know what the torn page they were given was for, along with the other four they had managed to find.

On the other hand, Cid and Lavenza were now busy installing the Navi-Gummi block they got from Roak, while the report they found in Hook’s cabin was in the process of being decoded. But even then, it left the team with very little to do as they hung around Café Leblanc. This was evident in Sora as he looked glumly at his empty plate, even as Akechi rested a hand on his shoulder.

            “Are you okay, Sora?” He asks gently as Sora shakes his head.

            “No, I'm not. Even after everything we've done, I still feel like I'm nowhere near close to being done." He looks up at Donald and Goofy, the two toons still smiling and joking with each other. "And how can you two still be cheerful? We haven't found your king, let alone Labrys or any of the other remaining missing Persona users. Aren't you worried?" The two of them stop talking to look at Sora, understanding in their eyes.

            “Aw, phooey.” Donald replies, folding his arms, not sounding worried at all.

            “Simple, Sora. The king told us to go out and find the Keybearer, and we found not only you but Persona users as well. So long as we all stick together, it will all turn out okay. We found the rest of Ren’s team after all.” Goofy nods his head to Ren and the others as he throws an arm around Donald and pulls him into an uncomfortable hug. “You just gotta believe in yourself; that’s all.”

            “Just believe…” Sora whispers as he closes his eyes. It is such a simple concept, and yet it is a hard one to accept all the same: to believe in oneself. The smallest amount of doubt could easily bring that belief crumbling down like a house of cards. And yet, it provides such comfort as well. At least, that’s what Sora feels. Maybe I should believe in myself… If everyone around me does, then why shouldn’t I? I mean, who will believe in me if I don’t?

I believe in you.

For a moment, Sora thought he heard Kairi’s voice echo in his mind as a flash enveloped his vision. When it cleared, he found himself standing in a library, but at the same time, he wasn’t, as he was not only see-through but also standing in the middle of a table. Letting out a small chuckle, Sora stepped out from the table and looked around until a small girl in a white dress with pink decals rushed past him. A young girl with red hair.

            Wait… that’s Kairi. Back when we first met. Sora tells himself as he watches her run up to an old woman in a chair, looking at young Kairi with a gentle smile.

            “Grandma, can you tell me that story again?” Young Kairi asks as her now-identified Grandma lets out a chuckle.

            “Why, of course.” She pats down her dress as she looks at Kairi with gentle warmth. “Long ago, people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light. Then, people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves, and darkness and Demons were born in their hearts. The darkness and Demons spread, swallowing the light and many people’s hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared. But small fragments of light remained in the hearts of children, protected by Demons who disagreed with their kind. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It is the world we live in today. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That’s why the worlds are still scattered, divided from each other. But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open, and the true light will return. And the worlds will once more be connected.”

She leans forward, rubbing a gentle hand against young Kairi’s head. “So listen, child. Even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away. Do you understand, Kairi?”

            “I do, Grandma.” Young Kairi replies, just as the vision comes to an end with Sora blinking his eyes open. 

            “Are you doing okay, Sora? You sort of just blanked out.” Mishima asks, seeing the dazed look on Sora’s face as he shakes his head. 

            “No, I’m fine.” Sora deflects, shaking his head. Before anyone can ask, Cid soon comes strolling in through the front door with a grin on his face

            “Good news, folks. I got that Navi-Gummi installed, no problem.” He tells them, folding his arms. “That, and we also got a message from those two chipmunks at Disney Castle. Apparently, the Olympus Colosseum is starting the games back up and has three cups ready to go.” 

            “For real!? Sweet!” Shiho shouts, doing a fist pump in the air. 

            “I’ve been waiting for this. After hearing from Ren-senpai about their time at Olympus, I'm curious to see just how strong these cups are." Sumire comments with a grin, standing up.

           "This could be a good opportunity for us to train up, just so we are already fully prepared for when we go to Hollow Bastion." Futaba comments, stretching her arms.

           "I can already assume it will be filled with both Heartless and Demons." Yusuke comments, brushing his coat down. "But what about the Phantoms?”

            “If they are there, then we’ll deal with them like the others.” Sae replies, flicking her hair back. “They haven’t stopped us before, and they will fail to do so again.” While everyone felt eager to take on the cups, Sojiro let out a sigh as he wiped his glasses.

            “You’re only just back, and now you’re heading out again?” He asks, shaking his head. “I worry about all of you sometimes…” 

            “About that, apparently Leon and Yuffie are heading over as well.” Cid suddenly comments, rubbing the back of his head. “Even managed to convince me, Aerith, Merlin, and the Fairy Godmother to tag along to watch. Hell, I’ll be bringing the Dalmatians too.” He looks at Sojiro, folding his arms. “What’s stopping all of you from coming to watch them as well?” Everyone’s eyes widen for a moment before Sojiro lets out a small chuckle and puts his glasses back on.

            “In that case, how could I refuse?” He folds his arms, looking at Ren and the others as he leans back. “You heard him, kid. We’re coming along to watch, no matter what you say.”

            “And then we'll have to give you a ride back here…" Ren bemoans, shaking his head. Not that it did anything to wipe the smile off his face. "Still, I suppose it will be nice to have the entire team of Phantom Thieves visit a world together. Especially since, out of all of us, you were the only one who stayed behind since the beginning, Dad.”

            “In that case, I’ll go and let everyone else know.” Cid replies, waving to them before heading out. Soon, everyone else follows after him as they all leave for the Highwind, waiting for the rest of the team to board while Lavenza stays at the controls. 

            “May I presume our next destination will be Olympus?” She asks with a smile, watching as everyone takes a seat. 

            “That's right. We're going to be using this opportunity to train ourselves for Hollow Bastion by taking on these cups." Makoto replies, brushing some hair back just as the door behind them opens and all 87 puppies run into the cockpit, with Pongo and Perdita right behind them. 

            “At least we won’t be bored.” Haru comments, picking up a puppy and rubbing its back. 

            “It shouldn’t take us that long to get there anyway.” Hifumi comments, patting Pongo on the back. Not long after, the rest of the team, including Rumi and Tsuchiya, enter the cockpit, with Lavenza bringing the ship up and out of the atmosphere. 

They didn’t know what to expect, but whatever it was, it would be a fun time!

Stepping through the gates of Olympus Coliseum, it was not hard to feel the infectious mood of the place. Everywhere they looked, they saw countless people smiling and laughing, even as they entered the main room where Phil stood by the entrance. Arms folded and eyes narrow, at least until he saw the team arrive.

            “Hey, if it ain't the Keyblade Phantoms! I was wondering when you kids would show up.” He calls out in good nature. “And with quite the crowd as well. Don’t tell me all of you are going to participate, right?”

            “Not all of us.” Toshiro remarks, arms behind his back. “A good portion of us are here for moral support.”

            “I see. Nothing wrong with that. A good hero always needs help, even from the sidelines. Like with your navigator.” Phil remarks, looking at Futaba only to see the large grin on her face.

            “Well, I’m no longer ‘just’ a navigator, Phil. I can fight on the front lines as well.” She tells him, folding her arms with pride in her voice as Phil blinks his eyes before letting out a chuckle.

            “Well, that will make things interesting for sure. So, which cup are you here for? The Phil? The Pegasus? Or the Hercules?” He looks at Sora, folding his arms and expecting to hear only one cup. But what he got next shocked even him.

            “That’s easy. We’re here for all three.” Sora tells Phil with a large grin, much to the satyr's shock.

            “For real? You are challenging all three of them at once?” Phil asks before narrowing his eyes. “Although… you kids do have a large enough team…” The saty narrows his eyes, thinking hard to himself before nodding in acceptance. “Okay, I’ll allow it, on the condition that you split yourselves into three groups. Each one will take on a different cup, with a maximum of eight per group, but if either group loses, you lose all three. Capiche?”

            “For real?” Ohya asks, shaking her head. “And why only eight?”

            “To be honest, any team can be as large as they want. But with how you folks fight, eight will be your maximum limit. Take it or leave it.” Phil tells them, crossing his arms as the team all sighs. Kaoru and Akane each cast a glance at each other before nodding and looking back at the others with determined looks. 

            “Dad, let me take part in the cup.” Kaoru suddenly remarks, catching Iwai off guard. “I want to grow stronger, and I feel that taking part in something like this will help.” Iwai lets out a sigh while rubbing his eyes.

            “And I take it you’d want to go with them to the next world as well, right?” He asks Kaoru, who nods back. Iwai nods slowly, pulling his hat over his eyes. “Fine. I’ll allow it. Besides, you’re a grown man, Kaoru. I can’t keep protecting you forever.” Kaoru smiles at Iwai before reaching in and giving him a hug. "That being said, Tao is going with you."

            "For real?" Tao asks, eyes wide with surprise. "Are you sure you want me to go?"

            "Yes. I figured at the very least you should go with him to have his back. And that's not even mentioning that you also have a score to settle with Jerri." Iwai replies, letting Kaoru go. "I'm not going to stop you from growing. Either of you." 

            “It's the same with me." Akane adds, looking at Zenkichi and Kawakami. "You guys have got more experience than I do, and I don't want to feel like I'm dragging all of you behind. So I'm taking part in not only this, but the next world the Thieves go to as well." Zenkichi and Kawakami glance at each other before looking at Akane, seeing the fire burning behind her eyes. And who were they to stop her from going?

           "Alright, Akane. We'll allow it." Zenkichi replies, with Akane beaming at him before he holds up a hand. "On the condition that, like with Iwai having Tao go with Kaoru, you take Shinya with you."

           "Huh?" Akane and Shinya ask at the same time, the latter being more surprised.

           "You… want me to go with Akane?" Shinya asks as Kawakami lets out a chuckle.

           "I figure we owe you for being with her when you both were in Neverland together. And besides, you think I didn't catch the gaze in your eyes. You want to stay with the Thieves for a bit longer, right?" She asks Shinya, who sheepishly nods back. "Then that's fine. Safety in numbers, after all." That quip earned her a small kick from Shinya, and she rubbed it in mock pain. As for Eri, she glanced at the entrance before nodding as she turned to Toshiro.

           "I'll take part as well. And before you ask, while I will leave Hollow Bastion to Ren and the others, I've had a combat itch for a while, and I want to scratch it." She tells him, with Toshiro letting out a sigh.

           "Somehow, I had a feeling you would say that. And I'd be an idiot to say no." He gives her a smile as she walks over to join Ren's group, leaving him and the others with the Dalmatians. "So, how will you decide on your teams?”

            “I suppose we’ll just have to figure it out as we go.” Morgana quips before looking at Sojiro and the others. “You can head in and grab a seat. We’ll work out who’s going in which team.” 

            “Just don't take too long." Yoshida tells them as they head for the entrance, with a staff member already there to guide them. "We will be watching with great interest." With that, Sojiro's group, comprising himself, Yoshida, Ohya, Chihaya, Iwai, Tae, Toshiro, Tsuchiya, Maruki, Rumi, Zenkichi, Kawakami, and the Dalmatians, followed the staff member to the open-air arena, where they were guided to the stands where Cid and the others were waiting. However, they noticed that two members were missing. 

            “Where are Leon and Yuffie?” Tae asks, settling down on the sun-touched stone. 

            “Apparently, they saw someone who they think could be Cloud. But we haven’t seen him or Tifa in over two years.” Cid remarks, rubbing the back of his head. “They… never took Zack’s—”

            “Cid… please stop.” Aerith cuts him off as a lone tear drops from her eye. Cid, wisely, shuts his mouth while Merlin and the Fairy Godmother both shake their heads at him. Just as the stands begin to fill up, Phil’s voice soon echoes over the stadium.

“Welcome, everyone, to the games! Today, we have something really special for all of you! Our winners of the Preliminaries, the Keyblade Phantoms, are back today with a daunting challenge ahead of them! They are going up against all three of the cups, and if any of their teams fail a single match, they lose all three cups! Will they be victorious, or have they bitten off more than they can chew? Let’s find out! So come on out, Group One of the Keyblade Phantoms!”

At the crowd's roar, the first group emerges onto the sands, consisting of Athena, Mona, Shinobi, Fox, Noir, Spring, Sophie, and King. With all eight being ready for whatever surprises the Phil Cup has in store for them.

“Is everyone ready? Then let's get this show on the road! Our first challengers, Jungle Vice!”

No sooner does Phil call out the opposing team's name than the foes emerge: four Powerwilds and three Soldiers, accompanied by two Terrorwilds. Seeing the weak foes from Deep Jungle only helped bolster the Thieves' confidence, even if the Powerwilds were now sporting an orange colour instead of the blue in Deep Jungle. The same goes for the Soldiers, who were orange-green and not the dark blue as usual. But they weren’t here to judge Heartless fashion choices; they came here to win.

And so, with the ring of the bell, they charged in with the roar of the crowd surrounding their ears.

            “Sounds like they are doing well.” Cloud comments to himself, hearing the roars from above him. “Already done with the Phil Cup, huh? Well, no surprise there.” He pushes himself off the wall, noticing how the sun outside has started to set before heading for his quarters. At least he was going to, until he heard several steps approaching him from behind.

            “Cloud! It really is you!” Yuffie calls out as she runs up and gives him a hug from behind. Leon follows her, arms crossed as he takes in Cloud’s current attire. “We were worried about you!”

            “Good to see you again, Yuffie.” Cloud replies, patting her on the arm as he looks at Leon. “Leon.”

            “Cloud.” Leon greets, nodding at him. “Glad to see you’re still alive. But what happened to you?” He motions at his attire. “Where have you been for the past two years? And where’s Tifa and Rinoa?” Cloud looks away, gently lowering Yuffie’s arms as he lets out a sigh.

            “I don’t know… I’ve been looking for them for the past two years.” He holds up his hand with the golden claws. “I tried to exploit the powers of darkness to find them, but it backfired.”

            “That explains your new look.” Yuffie comments, stepping back. “But why? Why did Tifa and Rinoa vanish?” Cloud balls his hand into a fist, letting out a growl as his eyes narrow.

            “Sephiroth.” He spits the words as if they were poison. “He’s the reason why they vanished. He ambushed us during our patrol and flung her into a portal of darkness. I chased after them but got I lost. In order to escape, I used the darkness, but at a cost.” He looks at Leon with anger in his eyes. “My darkness is now linked to Sephiroth. And until he’s gone, it will never leave me.”

            “Cloud…” Yuffie comments softly, patting him on the arm. “You know you’re not alone, right? We’re here if you ever need us.”

            “And that’s why I'm hunting him alone.” Cloud responds instantly. “If he targeted any of you… I wouldn’t know what I would do. He’s not to be messed with.” Leon looked ready to object but instead shook his head in annoyance as the sky outside turned a deep red.

            “That’s one thing about you that hasn’t changed: you’re still as stubborn as ever.”

            “I could say the same about you, Squall.” Cloud quips, shooting him a smirk. “Still using your last name, huh?”

            “And I will until our home is restored to its full glory.” Leon retorts, folding his arms. “And when we have, only then will I use my real name and build a grave for all we have lost…”

            “Zack’s not dead.” Cloud replies, turning away. “He’s not.”

            “How can you be sure?” Yuffie asks, tilting her head at him, only to receive a smirk from Cloud in return.

            “Trust me. I just know. And anyway, aren’t you needed up there? Sounds like the Pegasus Cup has started.”

            “Already? Man, they work fast.” Yuffie comments, hearing Phil’s exciting commentary through the stone. “And they’re already on the Toadstool team? We better hurry, Squall!” 

            “That’s Leon!” Leon calls back as the two rush to the stone stairs, leaving Cloud behind as he chuckles softly at them. He didn’t realize how much he missed talking to them until now. 

            “I’ll come back one day. And when I do, Tifa, Zack and Rinoa will be with me." Cloud promises under his breath before turning back to make his way to his sleeping quarters. He needed his rest; after all, he was in the Hercules Cup.

“And the Giant Impact are down! The Keyblade Phantoms are now on to the final seed of the Pegasus Cup!”

            “Heh… too easy.” Guernica remarks, left hand on her hip. “You’d think they’d have stronger foes for us.”

            “Don’t get overconfident, Guernica. We still have the final round to go.” Queen warns, taking a moment to centre herself. Skull and Panther were doing the same, stretching their muscles while Outlaw did a quick check on his weapons.

“And now for the final round of the Pegasus Cup: The Keyblade Phantoms versus Leon and Yuffie!”

            “What?!” Violet asks out loud as the two combatants appear in the arena. “You guys are our final opponents?”

            “We sure are!” Yuffie shouts, spinning a few shuriken in her fingers. “And just so you know, we won’t be holding back.”

            “I had assumed you wouldn’t.” Crow comments, assuming his combat pose with Ace next to him. “Shall we begin?” Leon doesn’t reply, instead firing an orb of Firaga right at Crow, forcing him to dodge as Yuffie throws several shuriken at them. While some of the team dodges, Outlaw stands still and absorbs the blows, smirking a little as Yuffie lets out a nervous chuckle.

            “Sorry, but ranged weapons won't work on me.” He gloats, summoning Drifter and launching a One-Shot Kill at her. Yuffie, seeing the attack coming, vanishes into a cloud of smoke as Leon rushes forward, Gunblade dragging against the ground as he leaps into the air at Outlaw. Before he can bring it down on him, Skull and Violet jump forward and deflect the blow, all three skidding back from the impact as Leon fires another burst of fire at them.

            “Not today!” Panther shouts, jumping between them and absorbing the hit. “Agidyne!” Counterattacking with her own flames, she forces Leon back while Yuffie sends out more shuriken toward Queen and Guernica. The two dodge each one thrown at them, although some do manage to rip their attire in several places.

            “This is gonna hurt!” Yuffie calls out, sending energy into a shuriken as it grows into a large four-pointed star of blue energy. With a smirk on her face, she throws it towards Queen and Guernica, not knowing that Crow has already taken aim with his laser gun until he fires a shot. The beam hits the glowing shuriken, sending it off course towards Leon, hitting him in the side and disrupting his momentum against Ace.

            “You’re wide open!” Guernica shouts, rushing forward and spinning her nunchaku in her right hand, while Queen jumps into the air and delivers a diving kick at her. Caught between the two, Yuffie couldn’t do much except take the heavy hits, knocking her back and right into the range of Crow.

            “Megidola!” He cries, blasting Yuffie with the Almighty magic and knocking her out cold. As for Leon, he finds himself in a tight corner, with the Thieves easily surrounding him on all sides and blasting him with all kinds of magic. It is time he got serious.

            “It’s over!” He calls out, planting his feet and raising his Gunblade into the air, enveloping it in a flash of light that extends its reach while becoming thicker as well. “Hya!” With a single swing, he forces the Thieves off him, sending some of them flying back and instantly knocking Outlaw out, thanks to his weakness against Physical strikes.

“Oooh! Yuffie is down, but so is a Keyblade Phantom! It looks like Leon is not holding back any more!”

Phil's voice rings out as Leon swings his massive sword around, keeping the Thieves back and landing heavy hits with the blade, managing to even knock Panther and Violet out with his swings. But it was clear that using such a skill was sapping his strength, as he began to pant heavier with every swing. It was with his next swing being blocked by Skull that Ace saw her opportunity.

            “Freidyne!” She cries, blasting the area around Leon and knocking him to the ground, his Gunblade knocked from his hand with a clatter. A clatter that signalled the end of the fight as the crowds cheered for the team.

“They’ve done it! They have beaten the Pegasus Cup!” Phil's voice rings out with pride as the sky goes from dark back to day while Leon helps Yuffie up, with the Thieves doing the same for those knocked out during the fight. “But will they be able to take down the Hercules Cup? Let us find out, shall we?!”

            “Not even a second to breathe.” Crow quips as they all take a spot on the winning podium nearby, next to Athena’s team, while they watch Joker and Sora’s group enter next.

            “Gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting Leon and Yuffie to be a part of the match.” King comments, folding his arms. “I thought they were only here to watch.”

            “Still, it was a nice change of pace from fighting all the usual enemies." Noir comments with a grin, watching as Joker and Sora's group take on the first wave of the Hercules Cup. The Dusk Vanguard comprises five Gargoyles and three Shadows. Just like the others, these Gargoyles look different from the ones faced in Halloween Town, appearing all purple instead of the stone-grey colour.

            “I wonder what challenges will await Joker and Sora in this cup?" Shinobi asks, watching as Legion teams up with Goofy to leap into the air and take out a Gargoyle. Although their eyes did take note of Sora's new Keyblade, Fairy Harp. It was the shortest by far, with a wooden and green aesthetic along with pan pipes as the teeth, but it looked to pack quite a punch.

            “I think we already know who the final opponent will be in this cup.” Fox comments, leaning back. “After all, it is in the name.”

The next several fights passed by without issue. But considering how they were fighting Heartless with no Demons or Phantoms, it wasn't much of a challenge for the team. If they were being honest, it was easier fighting the Heartless than the Demons. This is why, after they took down the third seed, Flying Pirates, they felt more than confident going into the final two. At least, they were until they saw their second-to-last opponent.

            “Huh… looks like we are having that rematch already.” Joker quips, watching as Cloud enters the arena with a tiny smile.

            “Looks like it.” He replies, holding his sword up. “I can tell you folks have gotten stronger. Think you can still keep up with me?”

            “You’ll find that we are full of surprises.” Edel quips back, extending her arm blades as Erina stands next to her, spinning her partisan spear in her right hand. Cloud lets out a huff of amusement just as the bell sounds, and he wastes no time dashing forward with his Buster Sword. The team instantly splits apart from Goofy, who holds his ground to deflect the incoming sword strike. The two collide, with the impact sending both skidding back while Donald peppers Cloud with Blizzara, and Oracle rushes forward, battle staff in hand, as he unleashes a quick flurry of strikes that Cloud blocks with his large sword before leaping back to avoid Legion slashing at his back.

Cloud had to admit he had gotten better as he started to quicken the pace of his speed, unleashing a quick three-swing chop on Sora before bashing away Erina with the flat of his sword. Just as Joker came in, sending a blast of Eigaon at him, he powered through to slash back at Joker, forcing the Thief leader to duck under the blade as it clipped off two strands of his hair. But while Cloud would have allowed himself to grin at his near strike, a sudden blow to his left side struck that away as Erina unleashed a series of thrusts at him, forcing him toward Legion, who lashed out with his Persona, sending Cloud tumbling back before he regained his balance.

            “Got you!" Edel shouts, coming up from behind and hitting him with a spinning attack with her two blades, disrupting Cloud before he had a chance to use Omnislash against them. It was just then that Joker fired his grapple at Cloud's left arm, holding him in place for a few seconds as Sora came in and delivered a quick series of strikes, finishing up with a new move called Blitz that sent Cloud's sword tumbling to the ground. Even though he still had plenty of fight left in him, just like with Leon, he lost the match due to losing his weapon.

            “Hmph… That went by far too fast.” He remarks, walking over to grab his weapon and holstering it before tossing a keychain towards Sora. “Next time we fight, I won’t lose my weapon.” Sora looks at the keychain in his hand, which seems to take the form of a golden bird, before clipping it to the Keyblade, transforming it into something that looks very similar to Cloud’s Buster Sword.

            “Counting on it.” Sora replies, looking up and nodding. Cloud lets out a grin before walking to the far side, passing by the final challenge of the Hercules Cup as the crowd lets out a large roar of applause.

“This is it, folks! The final Match! Will the Keyblade Phantoms be able to take home the glory? Or will they fail at the final hurdle? For before them lies the hero you all know and love! HERCULES!”

Hercules waves at the crowd around him with a warm smile as they cheer his name, striding forward with every bit of confidence he has. As for the team, they feel some nervousness at facing the son of Zeus. But for Sora, he has something else on his mind.

            “Joker, I want to try facing Herc by myself.” He tells him in a calm tone. “I want to see how far I’ve come on my own.”

            “Are you sure? He won’t be an easy foe to beat.” Joker tells him with some caution in his voice. Sora nods back at him, resolute in his decision as Joker lets out a sigh. 

            “Oh brother… what a show-off.” Donald groans, hand on his face. 

            “Hey, if he wants to try to face him one-on-one, who are we to say no?” Legion asks, folding his arms. 

            “Good luck, Sora!” Goofy calls out as the team leaves the field, shocking everyone as Herc raises an eyebrow at Sora. 

            “You want to face me one-on-one?” He asks Sora in a good-natured voice. 

            “Yeah! I want to see how far I've come, and I want to do it alone." Sora replies, summoning his new Keyblade, Metal Chocobo, to his side. "So don't hold back on me, okay?" Herc can't help but chuckle at Sora, seeing the fire in his eyes as he falls into his own combat stance. 

            “In that case, show me what you’ve got, Sora!”

“Now ain't this something, folks! Looks like one of the Keyblade Phantoms wants to face Herc one-on-one! Is it sheer stupidity, or does he want to challenge himself? Only one way to find out! FIGHT!”

No sooner do the words ring out than Herc is encased in a shining golden aura, something that Sora takes note of as he keeps his distance from the demigod. He isn’t sure what that aura is, but if it is glowing around him, then it can only mean bad things for him. And why are there suddenly barrels appearing around the arena as well?

            “Psst! Sora!” Oracle’s voice echoes over the headset in a quiet whisper. “Herc has a barrier around him that blocks everything. But I’m getting a reading from those barrels around you. Try throwing one at Herc and see what it does.” Slightly confused, Sora decided to try it as he slowly walked over to a barrel while Herc took a moment to pause.

            “Giving up yet?” Herc asks as he starts posing with his arms, which raises an eyebrow from Sora until he glances at a barrel. With the pieces slowly clicking into place, Sora can’t help but chuckle for a moment. It looks like Herc was going to go easy on him just a bit, or at least give him a way of ‘deactivating’ his barrier. So, without missing a beat, Sora picks up a barrel and tosses it at Herc.

The second it hit his face, Herc fell into a daze as his barrier vanished, allowing Sora to rush in and land some lucky hits before Herc recovered. He pulled back his right hand and unleashed a heavy punch, forcing Sora to dodge to the side or risk having an imprint of Herc’s fist in his face. Ducking under the swing, Sora lashed out with another combo before being forced to dodge as Herc spun around like a top with his sword drawn. He smashed into barrels, breaking them apart before coming to a stop and then jumping into the air, sending out a ground-pound shockwave.

            “Sonic Blade!” Sora cries, dashing forward and hitting Herc several times before coming to a stop and changing his grip on the Keyblade. “Strike Raid!” Not giving Herc a chance, he throws the Keyblade at him in quick succession, landing several hits as Herc lets out a laugh.

            “You’re good, Sora! But can you try this on for size!?” Herc pulls his arms in, generating a large aura around him that encompasses almost the entire field. Sora looks around, searching for a safe spot just as Herc unleashes his attack. Detonating a large portion of the arena in a blast of golden light, it destroys any barrels caught in its path and seemingly catches Sora in the blast.

The crowd goes silent for a moment, eager to see what had happened as Herc lets out gasps of air. Using such an attack took a lot out of him, and judging by the smoke cloud around him, he used a bit more energy than he intended. But just as Phil was about to ring the bell for his victory, a flash of golden light shimmered in the dust cloud right as Sora leapt through, injured from the blast but still standing thanks to a shield of wind surrounding him.

            “Ars Arcanum!” Sora shouts, unleashing one more attack on Herc as the big guy stumbles to stay on his feet. With the last attack hitting him in the chest, Herc can’t stand any longer as he falls to one knee, smiling in defeat.

            “You got me.” He comments as the bell rings, with the crowd cheering in applause.

“I don’t believe my eyes, folks! But they did it! The Keyblade Phantoms have beaten all three cups in a single go! Such a feat has never happened before! We have history in the making here, people!”

As Phil continued to speak to the crowds, Sora stumbled to the podium where the rest of the team waited, with Donald and Goofy helping him up the steps as Spring gave him a heal to remove his exhaustion. As soon as he reached the top, Sora turned around to face the crowds with the Keyblade in hand, pointing it high in the sky as he let out a cry they all wanted to shout.

“We’re the champs!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 33: Hollow Bastion…

            “Are you SURE you weren’t holding back, Herc? Because to me, it looked like you were.” Futaba asks as the team hangs around the main lobby, watching Phil place three trophies around the room. One looks like a simple bronze plaque, the other a thin gold trophy, while the last is a large golden one with wings on the top and a thunderbolt emblem on the front. As for Herc, he only shot Futaba a smirk as she shook her head in amusement. Even if he did hold back, he wasn’t going to openly admit it, even as he handed Goofy a golden shield for him to use.

            “You know, I think I finally understand what you meant, Phil.” Sora suddenly remarks, grabbing his attention. “About one's strength of heart. Mine comes from everyone around me.”

            “Come again?” Phil asks, his eyes going wide.

            “If all of us stick together, we’re unbeatable. Not even Hercules stands a chance.” Sora boasts with newfound optimism. Everyone around him could not help but shake their heads at Sora’s boundless nature, but at the same time, they couldn’t help but smile at him. He was right, after all. There was no stronger power than teamwork. “With these guys beside me, I’m ready for anything.”

            “But that’s not exactly what I—”

            “Of course. Your friends give you strength.” Herc cuts off Phil as he picks him up with a grin. “Isn’t that right, Phil? And besides, you all make great heroes. As a team, I’m sure you’ll overcome anything.” He holds out a hand, grasping Sora’s in a firm handshake while Phil drops to the ground in a huff.

            “Don’t think you're out of it yet, champ. I still need you to push that pedestal for me.” He points at the pedestal that has not been moved at all. Herc looks at it before shrugging at Phil and taking a seat. “Hey!”

            “Maybe later, Phil. I’m tired from the match.” Herc comments, shaking his head. While the Thieves would all shake their heads at Herc, Sora and Isara decided to walk up to the stone pedestal.

            “I’m sure we could easily move this. Ryuji, Mishima, Goofy, give us a hand here.” Isara calls out to the three who walk over, and with certified ease, the five of them push the pedestal away. But when they do, they have a very interesting surprise as the Keyhole of this world finally reveals itself.

            “That's where the Keyhole was this whole time?” Tae asks, watching as Sora summons Metal Chocobo to his hand. "I suppose that explains why the Heartless were always coming here." No one had anything to say about that as Sora held Metal Chocobo up high, and with a glow of blue light, he sealed the Keyhole, keeping this world safe and finding another keychain waiting for him. One that looked like the medal in Hercules's belt.

            “Well, I suppose we should get everyone back to Traverse Town.” Ren comments, rolling his arm. "And once that's done, it's off to Hollow Bastion.”

            “Are ya sure you really wanna go there?” Cid suddenly asks, his eyes narrow and serious. “That place is crawling with Heartless.”

            “You say that like you and your friends have history with Hollow Bastion. Have you all been there before?" Sae asks, with Cid rubbing the back of his head nervously.

            “Let's just say… that we had some history with that world. Just don't say I didn't warn ya." With that foreboding message, Cid took off back to his own personal Gummi Ship, taking the rest of the Traverse Town team with him. Strangely, Cloud was not among them despite the group having seen him talking to them earlier. But they did need to return and drop everyone off before heading to the next world. Yet even as they returned to the Highwind, Sora couldn't help but feel some building dread at what was coming their way, and that his left hand seemed to shake for some reason.

            Am I afraid? But why? Why am I afraid? I’ve got everyone with me, so I know I’ll be fine. So why?

            What you are feeling is only natural, Sora. For you are about to dive into the heart of your foe's stronghold. No doubt you will be faced with challenges that will test your resolve. That is what you are afraid of, for it is what I am afraid of.

            Afraid? How are we afraid of the same thing? Who are you, anyway? The voice in his head lets out a chuckle, not a malevolent or dark one, just one of good nature.

            You will find out soon. The time is almost upon us. I look forward to seeing you make your choice.

Sora could only furrow his brow in confusion as the presence vanished from his mind once more. Just who was this mysterious voice in his head? It had been there ever since he had that strange dream on Destiny Islands, always coming whenever he needed help. The only time he couldn’t feel it was when he lost his shadow, and yet it returned when he got it back.

But Sora couldn't dwell on that for now. Whatever the voice was, he would ask who it was later. Right now, his mind was focused on what was about to come. Even though he caught wind of Ren and the others discussing something about a Calling Card for Maleficent for some reason, he paid little attention to it since he assumed it was a Phantom Thief thing.

Hollow Bastion… The headquarters of Maleficent and Jerri, as well as where Riku and Kairi, along with the other Princesses of Heart, were being held. He wasn't going to abandon them, no matter what.

            “You truly have no notion of the word self-preservation, do you, boy?” Jerri asks in a scolding manner towards Riku, the boy kneeling on the ground and panting hard. “Do you not want to see her eyes open again?”

            “S-Shut… up…” Riku replies through heavy breaths as he takes a moment to glance around. He could feel it the moment he entered the room, but it really was only Maleficent and Jerri who were in Hollow Bastion now. Everyone else had left, to where Riku did not know.

            “Unfortunately, I agree with Jerri. It was reckless to bring her here without a vessel.” Maleficent agrees, giving Riku a scolding look. “Remember, relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost you your heart.” Riku looks up at her, eyes narrowed as he gets ready to yell back at her. But before he even has the chance to, a roar echoes throughout the room. It sounds distant, yet with how loud it must have been to be heard all the way up here…

            “It would appear we have an intruder.” Jerri remarks with an annoyed tone.

            “A castaway.” Maleficent clarifies with an intrigued grin. “Though his world perished, his heart did not. When we took the princess from his castle, he apparently followed her here through sheer force of will.” Riku’s eyes widen for a second, looking back at the doors behind him with astonishment. Forcing their way here with nothing but their will? He couldn’t help but admit that was admirable. “But fear not. No harm will come to you. He is no match for your power.”

            “My power?” Riku asks, looking back with confusion. What was she talking about? Didn’t he have all the power he wanted?

            “Indeed. The raw, untapped power within you." Jerri adds with a dark grin. "And now, deary, it is time for that power to be unleashed!" It was then that the green fires once more surrounded Riku, pulling at him from within as something was dragged to the surface. But even as this new power filled his veins, he thought he could hear a cry of pain inside his own mind before it was violently snuffed out. A cry that Riku found himself not caring for, as his mind was filled with darker and darker thoughts.

And whatever conscious thought had managed to survive until now was well and truly enveloped in darkness.

This was something none of them expected to see when they left Neverland again. They had dropped everyone who wasn’t coming on the trip back at Traverse Town before jumping back to Neverland and following the only route open to them. Yet everything seemed to change as the space around them grew cold and dark, transforming into a hue of dark purple with red and green mixed in, all being sucked toward a central black sphere. It also seemed to suck the joy right out of the Highwind.

            “Is that… a black hole?” Ann asks with some fear in her voice, seeing the large dark sphere before the group.

            “Dude… don’t tell me their hideout is inside a black hole.” Ryuji asks, shaking his head. Lavenza lets out a hum, the scanners of the Highwind searching for anything until they pick up a nearby ping. A world is nearby, although it is dangerously weaving close to where the black hole will swallow it up.

            “Fear not. It would seem the world we are looking for is nearby.” Lavenza informs, bringing up a screen of the world in question. A twisted remnant of a castle, one half covered in nothing but pipes and the other built from brick, rests atop a thick stalk that is connected to what could be called a solid mass of water with a crystal top. All the while, white smoke billows from the pipes, and the emblem of the Heartless is crudely inserted right in the middle.

            “So this is it… Hollow Bastion.” Tao comments, folding her arms as the Highwind draws closer. “Y’know, it’s fitting that it’s near a black hole.”

            “We won’t get squashed into atoms if we get too close, right?” Mishima asks worriedly. “I don’t think any of us wants to die like that.”

            “I don’t think it is a normal black hole.” Lavenza replies, her gaze fixed on the pitch-black sphere behind Hollow Bastion. “I think… we are observing the source of where the Heartless originate.”

            “Wak!? You mean there could be a world in there?” Donald asks with wide eyes.

            “We can speculate on what lies inside at a later point.” Akechi comments, standing from his seat. “For now, we should make landfall and find Maleficent. It is time we brought her schemes to an end.” He looks at Ren, a serious expression on his face as he stands up before heading to the exit, quickly followed by everyone else as they soon make for the transporter and beam down to the surface. They find themselves on a stone platform that appears to be paved, with roaring waterfalls around them that are going up instead of down, while a thick mist surrounds them, blocking their view.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V1CsSUNf-U : Hollow Bastion)

            “Well, this place is not what I was expecting.” Shiho comments, in awe of the area around the group.

            “Waterfalls that go up? I didn’t expect that.” Shinya remarks, rubbing his head at the waterfalls.

            “It’s probably because of the black hole messing with gravity.” Kaoru comments, hands on his hips. “At least, if it was a normal black hole, anyway.”

            “Gawrsh, look at that!” Goofy suddenly calls out, pointing through the mist as it starts to gradually clear. It reveals floating ice platforms and giant floating bubbles, along with more stone platforms that look as if they had once been part of a garden. But it was the towering structure that loomed over them in the far distance that had their attention: a giant castle, half of it twisted and defiled with pipes and some smokestacks, while the remaining marble parts struggled to hold on. And in the middle, the Heartless Emblem stood in the sunlight, an imposing image for all.

            “Yeah, this place screams final level to me.” Futaba comments, hands behind her back.

            “I know this place…” Sora suddenly comments, grabbing everyone’s attention as he rests a hand on his chest. Recognition is in his eyes, yet at the same time, there is visible confusion.

            “How do you know that, Sora? You’ve never left your island before?” Makoto asks gently as Sora shakes his head.

            “I don’t know… but I feel this warmth inside, right here.” Sora replies, his hand still over his heart as Donald waddles up to him.

            “Aw, you’re just hungry.” He tells him, only to receive a sharp smack to the back of his head from Isara. As for Sophia, she felt herself pressing into Ren the more she looked at this place. All of her senses were screaming at her to run away from this place, that she shouldn’t be here. But she refused to allow these emotions to cower her; she was not alone, after all.

            “Not the time for jokes, Donald.” Hifumi comments to him with her arms folded, just as a loud roar echoes across the area, turning all eyes to a raised platform near the end of the canyon they are in.

            “What was that?” Haru asks as another roar echoes through the area.

            “Someone else is here with us?” Sumire asks, with some hope in her voice.

            “If they are, then they'll need help.” Ren replies with narrow eyes. "Let's head up to the source, but watch out for any ambushes. We have no idea what to expect from this place." With a unanimous nod, the group starts using their grapple hooks to traverse the landscape, finding the ice platforms rising in the air for some reason, possibly due to the black hole once again. But as they make their way across in silence, a new sound echoes through the chasm. One that sends a chill down Sora's spine from the coldness of his voice.

            “No vessel, no help from the Heartless… So tell me, how’d you get here?” Riku’s voice echoes around them as they feel the need to increase their speed, only for another voice to echo around them. One that sounds deep and feral, but with a hint of nobility.

            “I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again, no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!”

            “Take her if you can.” Riku’s cold response came, followed by a loud roar that prompted everyone to accelerate their climb. By the time they reached the source of the voices, they found Riku standing over a large beast that looked to be a combination of a wild boar, wolf, buffalo, bear, gorilla, and lion, with dark brown fur and black horns. His purple cape was tattered and torn, as was what remained of his dark blue pants, while he clutched a hand to a large wound on his abdomen. Riku held his sword above him, ready to deal the final blow.

            “STOP!” Sora shouts, tossing the Keyblade at Riku in its normal form. He could have used his new one that he got from Olympus Colosseum, but he felt the need to have it as the Kingdom Key here. As for the Kingdom Key, it easily bashed away Riku's blade, sending it tumbling off the edge as Riku jumped back. He watched as Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the Thieves all gathered on the platform, with Shiho already moving to help the wounded beast.

            “So, you finally made it. About time. I’ve been waiting for you.” Riku remarks in a cold voice, with zero joy left in him.

            “Riku… how could you let Maleficent and Jerri do this to you?” Sora asks, shaking his head as the Kingdom Key returns to his hand. The beast looks up at him, hearing the pain in Sora’s voice, while Riku ignores him.

            “We’ve always been rivals, haven’t we? You’ve always pushed me, as I’ve always pushed you. But it all ends here. There can’t be two Keyblade Masters.” Everyone looked at him with confusion, especially Sora, after he had seen all of Ven’s memories so far.

            “Da hell are you talkin’ about!? Of course, there can be more than one! Hell, their king is a Keyblade Master!” Ryuji shouts at Riku as he points at Donald and Goofy, with Riku seemingly acknowledging his outburst.

            “What I mean is, there can’t be more than one master of the same Keyblade. So let it choose its true master!” At that, Riku holds up his right hand to Sora, confusing him for a second until the Kingdom Key starts to vibrate violently in his hand. Then, it is pulled forward, Sora desperately keeping both hands on it as it fights to stay with him against this unknown pull. Only for the Kingdom Key to dissolve in a flash of light, stunning everyone as it reappears once more…

…in Riku’s hands.

            “Maleficent and Jerri are right. You don’t have what it takes to save Kairi.” Riku tells Sora with sadistic joy in his voice as he holds the Kingdom Key aloft. “It’s up to me. Only the Keyblade Master can open the secret door… and change the world.”

            “What’s going on?” Akane asks Akechi as she feels herself tense up. “How did he do that?”

            “That is quite the mystery…” Akechi agrees with narrowed eyes as Sora continues to look at his hand, stunned at what has just happened, and he slowly closes his hand.

            “How did this happen? That’s impossible. I’m the one who fought my way here with the Kingdom Key!” Sora shouts at Riku, who lets out a scoff, looking at the Keyblade with desire in his eyes.

            “Kingdom Key? What sort of lame-ass name is that?” Riku scoffs, waving the Keyblade around without showing it due respect.

            “Coming from a guy who sold out his own heart, that’s just rich!” Kaoru shouts, throwing a hand in the air.

            “Yeah! All you did was hang out with the people who DESTROYED your world, you idiot!” Isara shouts, shaking her head. “And now you go and steal Sora’s weapon!? You’re no master! You’re just a petty thief!”

            “That's rich, coming from a 'Thief' like yourself?” Riku calls back. "But it changes nothing. The fact remains that Sora was nothing more than a delivery boy." That only inflamed everyone's emotions as Riku took out a toy wooden sword and tossed it towards Sora in a condescending manner. "Sorry, your part's over now. Go play hero with that." He looks at the Thieves, Donald, and Goofy with a cocky smirk as he turns to the nearby lift. "You guys are following the Keyblade, right? Then you have no choice but to follow me." Without even giving them a second look, he heads for the lift, taking him straight to Hollow Bastion as the Thieves all simmer in anger. As for Donald and Goofy, they are now stuck in a bind.

Do they follow the king's orders, or do they stay with Sora? Either choice would mean betraying the other, and that proved to be more emotionally draining than either had expected.

            “It would seem you two in particular are at an impasse.” Yusuke tells them, even as his gaze remains fixed on Sora while Sophia and Akane try to cheer him up. “Do you follow your orders… or stay with Sora? Either choice is hard, with no easy answer." He glances at Ren and Akechi, the two of them in muted silence before they glance at him, Donald, and Goofy. They both give him a nod, a silent confirmation that Yusuke takes to turn back to the two toons. “However, if you feel the need to do something, then do this for us: slow Riku down. We'll stay with Sora." The two's eyes widen for a moment before nodding in acceptance. Even if they were leaving Sora, it was only so they could slow Riku down. Why… they didn't know, but if it would help everyone out, then it was the best they could do.

Even if they did leave with heavy hearts, watching as everyone they knew was left behind. Not long after they left, the massive beast began to move again, attempting to go for the lift, only to collapse once more. Something seemed to snap Sora out of his tears as he rushed up to help it alongside Haru.

            “Hey, don't move! You're hurt!" Sora tells him as Sophia walks up and casts another heal on him.

            “There, this should help.” Sophia comments as the beast's wound seals up once more, causing him to let out a sigh before turning to look at Sora.

            “Why… Why did you… come here?" He asks Sora, earning a shocked look from him while the Thieves all stood around, on guard for any ambushes as the beasts turned to look back at the castle. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her." The beast's words echoed around them; all eyes turned to him while Sora looked down in contemplation. Wasn't that the reason he was here in the first place? To save Kairi and snap Riku out of whatever was controlling him? Even if all he had at his side was a flimsy wooden sword, did that make him powerless?

            “You’re right…” Sora agrees, reaching to pick up the wooden sword. “I’m not going to give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me and knock some sense into my best friend.”

            “And you’re not alone in this either.” Morgana tells him, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ve got your back. Keyblade Phantoms stick together till the end.”

            “Since when did we go from Phantom Thieves to Keyblade Phantoms?” Ann asks in jest as the Thieves all shift into their Thief attire, shocking the beast for a moment before he lets out a gruff approval.

            “Since Olympus Colosseum.” Spring quips back before looking at the giant beast. “Sorry, but we didn’t ask what your name was.” The beast looks at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the castle.

            “Call me Beast.” It was a simple name, even if they could tell it wasn't his real name. But if he was going to call himself by that name and not his real one, then they would not push him on it. For now, they had an out-of-control teen to chase down. So, after they introduced themselves to their new ally, they ascended the lift. But as they were making their way up, Sora could once more hear the voice in his head echoing in his mind.

The time is upon us. What was once divided shall soon be united.

            “Do you think it is wise, Maleficent?” Jerri asks as the two make their way through a large chamber, past an open casket holding the sleeping body of Kairi, while on either end are six chambers, each holding a different young woman, with Alice and Jasmine being two of the prisoners. “We are still missing two of the princesses.”

            “Even with only six of them, it shall be more than enough to reveal the Keyhole. Once we have found it, all we need to worry about is bringing Sophia and the seventh princess to us.” Maleficent replies, coming to a stop between two stairways. “Although, I must admit, I was sure that Riku would have brought Sophia to us by now.”

            “It would seem he plans to ambush them inside the castle.” Jerri replies with a smug tone. “And he has chosen a perfect place to do so.” Maleficent smiles at Jerri before returning her gaze to the captured princesses around her. It is time to accelerate their plans.

            “O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!” At her command, six beams of ruby light shoot out from the six caskets along the walls, combining into a single orb before shooting toward a large machine behind her. A faint glow emits from the top as Maleficent and Jerri smile at each other.

They were so close!

No sooner did the Thieves, Sora, and Beast use the lift to travel into Hollow Bastion proper than they were ambushed by several new Heartless that looked tailor-made to defend this bastion of evil. Towering metal guards with animate three-eyed wolf shields that spewed fire and ice, giant wyvern-like Heartless that swooped from above, and even some that looked like high-fantasy mages with wands that peppered them with magic from afar. Then there were the ones that Joker, Mona, Oracle, Shinobi, Edelweiss, and Sophie recalled seeing back in Shibuya when the Heartless invaded their world, as these looked to be nothing but floating balls with a tail and two ears, and a gaping maw that seemed ready to eat anything.

There were also several Phantoms stationed here, not just the humanoid ones wielding guns and knives. There were even some that looked like small bipedal dragons with giant claws on their arms, and some that resembled security robots. The Demons waiting for them were ones that the Thieves knew all too well.

Onis. The hulking mass of muscle with the double-bladed pikes proved to be as annoying as always, with even the beast finding these foes a challenge as he was forced to rip their weapons from them and use them against them. It didn't help that more of Jerri's totems were scattered around the castle, generating small areas that prevented them from summoning their Personas. And that wasn't even getting into how they had to travel to the underground waterways in order to open the main doors leading inside the castle. This sort of back-and-forth gimmick was annoying for the Thieves back in the Palaces and Jails, and it was still annoying even now.

Not that it would stop them, as they once more fought their way back to the main entrance, with the Beast taking the lead as he easily cleaved his way through the Heartless. Sora had proved that even though he had a wooden sword, he could still cast magic with no detriment. That, and the Keychains he had gathered, had not left his side despite not being able to summon those Keyblades, causing the Thieves to doubt that Riku was the 'real' wielder of the Kingdom Key. Maybe a different Keyblade, if he still had the ability to wield one once they were done.

            “Finally, we can move forward!” Guernica shouts, throwing a hand at the open doors as the team heads inside. “Do you think Donald and Goofy managed to slow Riku down?”

            “We’ll find out for certain soon.” Violet replies as the group comes to a gradual halt. They find themselves in a large foyer with two staircases leading up to a second level, surrounding a fountain in the shape of a lion. Above them is another floor, along with a hanging platform that has a blue light glowing from it. Yet, there is no sign of Riku, Donald, or Goofy.

            “How far do you think they made it?” Noir asks cautiously, looking at the platform.

            “At this point, they could be halfway up the castle.” Shinobi cautions, glancing at the stairs. Sophie looks around, warily observing all the dark corners as she feels something terrible has happened. It seems as though the world has grown just a bit darker as she pushes herself further into Queen.

            “What’s wrong, Sophie?” She asks, gently resting a hand on her head.

            “Something’s happened… Something's wrong.” She whispers in a quiet voice, shaking her head. She couldn’t put it into words, but something had happened; she was certain of that. The Beast sniffs the air, eyes narrowing as he lets out a low growl, hunching his back as he readies his claws.

            “Be on your guard. They’re close… I can feel it.” Oracle looks at him, bringing up one of her screens to double-check the area, only to see it glitch out.

            “Damn it… Something is interfering with me. Maybe another one of Jerri’s totems.” She remarks in an annoyed tone. “We’ll need to find it and destroy it before moving forward.”

            “Just like the other ones we’ve found so far.” Sora replies, his eyes not leaving the fountain. “But they won’t stop me. I’m ready for whatever comes next.” The Thieves nod at him in approval as they all get ready to move out. But just as the Beast was about to move forward, he felt a presence behind him that felt familiar. Turning around, he saw, to his surprise and joy, a young woman with brown hair dressed in a flowing golden dress that exposed her shoulders, standing in the doorway. But that joy soon vanished as she was suddenly enveloped by darkness, revealing her to be nothing but a Shadow Heartless.

In an instant, the Beast’s rage reached a fever pitch as he bounded toward the Heartless in a blind fury. Before anyone could even have a chance to stop him, the doors slammed shut, locking the Beast outside from the rest of them and removing them of some heavy muscle that wasn’t affected by Jerri’s totems.

            “That complicates things…” Athena mutters, tightening her grip on her tonfas.

            “So why don’t you just quit while you're ahead?” Riku’s cold voice asks, turning all eyes to him as he stands atop the lion head fountain. Donald and Goofy are nearby, both of them with looks of exhaustion on their faces after doing whatever it took to keep Riku there.

            “Didn’t Jerri tell you anything about us?” Mona asks Riku, shouldering his falchion. “We don’t quit. And as long as there is at least one of us still standing, we won’t stop fighting.”

            “And I’m not going anywhere, Riku. Not without Kairi.” Sora replies, hand clenched. “Even if it means I have to beat some sense back into you.” Riku scoffs at him, jumping from the lion head and landing on the floor in a dark aura, cladding him in something that sent shockwaves through Sora. “Vanitas?” He asks out loud in a quiet voice, shocked at seeing Riku in the same garb as that person in Ven’s dreams. Wait a minute… Vanitas? How do I know that name? While the Thieves all look at him in confusion, Riku doesn’t blink an eye, but Donald and Goofy look at Sora with wide eyes.

            “Bold words, but the darkness will destroy you.” Riku replies in an uncaring voice, summoning Kingdom Key to his side. “And once I’m done, there won’t be anything left of you.” While the Thieves all feel themselves tense up, Sora doesn’t back down as he takes a step forward.

            “You’re wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy our bodies, but it can’t touch our hearts. Our hearts will stay with our friends and family. They will never die!” Sora shouts back, standing defiant even as Riku charges up some dark magic in his left hand. A black and blue flame seems to grow more powerful the longer he holds it.

            “Really? Then we’ll just see about that!” Riku screams, sending the ball of fire right at Sora even as Joker and Crow jump forward to tank the hit. Even if it wasn’t Curse or Dark damage, they could still take it better than Sora could. Not that it stopped Oracle from casting Makarakarn on Sora as well for extra measure. But it turned out that such measures were unnecessary, as the blast hit none of them due to being blocked by something else.

            “No one is gonna go anywhere!” Goofy calls out, standing tall before the Thieves with his shield out, somehow managing to not only stop the attack but nullify it as well. This visibly shocked Riku, who quickly shook it off and levelled a glare at Goofy.

            “You’d betray your king?” He asks, thinking that would get him to move. But he is thoroughly disappointed when Goofy shakes his head and plants himself further on the floor.

            “Not on your life! But I’m not gonna betray any of them either, ‘cause they have become some of my best buddies after all we have been through together!” Goofy shouts back, his eyes locked on Riku before glancing at Donald. While he hoped that Donald would put friendship over orders, there were times when Donald did put orders above friends. And seeing how their orders were from the king and their lifelong friend, this might be one of those situations. “See ya later, Donald! Could ya tell the king I’m really sorry!?”

            “We’ll tell him together!” Donald shouts back, running over to join them while Riku just looks on in befuddlement. Why were they siding with Sora and not him? He had the Keyblade, so all of them should be following him, right? That’s the only reason they sided with Sora in the first place, right?

            “It would appear you have misjudged the room.” Crow remarks to Riku in a smug tone. Riku lets out an annoyed tsk before looking back at Sora with a hard glare.

            “Big deal! So what if I have? How do you expect Sora to fight without a weapon?” He points the Kingdom Key at Sora, indicating the wooden sword in his hand. “Sure, you might still be able to use magic, but even you must know that you’ll eventually run out.”

            “Simple, Riku. I know now I don’t need the Keyblade. I’ve got a better weapon: my heart!” Sora shouts back with a smile on his face, something that Riku could not believe he was hearing.

            “Your heart? What good would that weak little thing do for you?” He asks back, missing all the smirks that the Thieves are giving him. They might not call themselves experts on the heart, but they already know just how strong one can get when allowed to grow.

            “You might have been right back when we were on Destiny Islands, Riku. But not any more. It might still be weak, but it’s not alone. It’s grown with each new experience, and it’s made a home in all the friends I’ve made.” Sora glances back at the Thieves with a smile before walking forward, wooden sword in hand. “I’ve become a part of their hearts, just as they have become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then, if they don’t forget about me, then our hearts will be one.” He looks back at Riku, falling into his combat stance with no fear in his eyes.

“I don’t need a weapon. My friends are my power, and I’m theirs!”

For a moment, it sounded like a second voice was behind Sora’s, but it was so small that no one thought much of it. That was immediately forgotten as Riku, holding the Kingdom Key up in his usual high ward stance, suddenly found the blade vanishing from his hands and reappearing in Sora’s.

            “WHAT!?” Riku shouts, looking between his hand and Sora’s. “HOW!? IT WAS MINE!”

            “Guess the Keyblade doesn’t like your attitude, punk.” Skull gloats with a grin. “Maybe if ya toned down the edginess, it would have stayed with you.” Riku looks back at him, fury in his eyes but, at the same time, shock and a sense of loss. How could he save Kairi without the Keyblade? How could he open the door without it? How could he lose it to Sora?!

            “Fool. How could you let this happen?” Maleficent’s voice echoes around them as she reappears atop the fountain in a flash of green fire. Diablo is perched on her shoulder while Fuu-Kis and Sui-Kis form a wall at the top of the stairs. Dark Balls, Wizards, and Defender Heartless follow after, mixed with countless Shadow Heartless, as the entire team soon finds themselves surrounded on all sides. Along the upper platform, several Phantoms appear with their guns aimed down at the team.

            “Maleficent!” Sora shouts in anger, seeing the witch looking down at them with an unamused glare. But before he can do anything, a wave seems to pulse through the room, dismissing the Kingdom Key, Goofy’s shield, and reverting the Thieves back to normal as a cocky laugh echoes above them.

            “My, that was far easier than expected!” Jerri cries, flying down to perch on Maleficent's shoulder as one of her totems appears next to Maleficent, sending out a constant pulse that renders everyone powerless. "Such an easy trap. Almost makes me wonder why we did not do this in the first place."

            “JERRI!” Tao screamed in anger, the venom in her voice even making Riku flinch back in shock. "YOU BITCH! YOU'RE SO DEAD!"

            “Yes, yes, yes. As you have told me SO many times, my dear Guernica." Jerri replies in a bored tone. "But I'm afraid we're not here for you today. We are here for the eighth princess." Futaba and Isara feel themselves tense up while Ren and Makoto stand closer to Sophia.

            “Indeed. You have our deepest thanks for delivering her to us." Maleficent remarks, a wicked grin appearing on her face.

            “If you think we're just going to hand over members of our family so you can succeed with your plans, you are sadly mistaken!” Ren shouts, anger building in his voice.

            “And not only that, thanks to Hook's failure, you still don't know the identity of the eighth princess!” Makoto exclaims as she glares at the two villains. But what they didn't expect was for Maleficent to let out a dark laugh.

            “On the contrary, we were able to figure out the eighth princess's identity, thanks to what we found out from Riku when he came back from Neverland. And in case you're wondering who it is…" Maleficent then points her staff at Ren, Makoto, and Sophia, her smile becoming more deranged. “The identity of the eighth Princess of Heart is none other than your daughter.”

            “WHAT!” The Thieves, Sora, Donald, and Goofy all shout out as one, shock and horror written all over their faces.

            “I'm the eighth Princess of Heart!?” Sophia exclaims, now realizing why she has had such a bad feeling since arriving here.

            “Indeed. And I must say, we didn't expect someone like you to be the eighth maiden." Jerri comments, satisfaction written on her face. "Especially since, given our encounter back in Agrabah, you were at the time not an actual human."

            “Despite not being able to find the identity of the final seventh Princess of Heart, Sophia will do just nicely as a replacement to see my ambitions come to fruition. So, if you two value your lives…" Maleficent tells Ren and Makoto as she points at them and Sophia again. "…you will hand over your daughter to us immediately!"

            “NEVER!” Ren and Makoto shout back, stepping forward while Yusuke and Haru stand in front of Sophia to protect her in their place. All around them, the Heartless and Demons look ready to pounce, along with the Phantoms itching to fire their weapons, all of them seeing nothing but weak prey and targets. Sora glances around, seeing no way out as Maleficent lets out a cackle, floating down next to Riku as she lays a hand on him.

            “I must admit, you and your friends have put on quite an entertaining show.” She tells him with a smile. “You have proven yourselves to be far more capable than my inner circle. And for that, I offer up a choice: serve me and be reunited with the ones you care about, or fall to our forces.”

            “You're the sole reason why my friends and I ended up getting scattered in the first place!” Sora shouts back, feeling anger toward this witch. "What makes you think I'll join you!?"

            “What hope do you have? You have none." She throws a hand out to the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms. "Look around you, boy. You have no hope of combating the darkness. All is destined to be consumed by it! The light will not protect you here!" She lets out a cackle, her smile growing wide. "Oh yes, your precious light… What has it done to protect you all these years? Nothing! It has done nothing but watch as my darkness rises up and consumes all! And soon, the entire universe will be mine to mould as I see fit! Darkness will once more rule the worlds, and light will be nothing more than a forgotten memory!”

Sora feels his hands clenching as he closes his eyes. Light… Dark… Why are people so focused on one or the other? What good does that bring to anyone, focusing on one but ignoring the other? He remembers the memory he had of Eraqus dismissing Terra because he used a small bit of darkness instead of helping him come to terms with it. And how the darkness has done nothing but take instead of protect.

            “Why bother with this feeble resistance?” Jerri asks with a smug grin. “You have no way of combating my totems. This is the end for all of you. All of you, who are nothing but a rebellious stain that shall be forgotten forever. Powerless and useless, like you always have been!”

            “Powerless? Useless?" Sora asks, his eyes still closed, but his words carrying a heavy weight. Maleficent, Jerri, and Riku all look at him as Sora slowly looks up, his eyes opening as a fire burns behind them. "You think that I'm powerless without the Keyblade by my side? That I'm useless without my magic? That is wrong… Totally wrong!" He stamps a foot on the ground, his eyes glaring right at Maleficent. "It doesn't matter if I have nothing; that won't stop me from still trying! Even if I'm battered, bruised, or even on death's door, nothing will stop me from walking forward to protect my friends! Even if it costs me my life! Because, as I just told Riku, my friends are my power, and I AM THEIRS!”

Sora’s voice echoes throughout the room, sounding as though it would go on forever, even as he takes heavy breaths. His glare does not leave Maleficent or Jerri, while Riku looks at him, speechless. But even so, it seems as though their situation will not change, as the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms get ready to—

The time has come.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ume3sbCFzMc : Awakening and Willpower)

A pulse rips through Sora's mind as a blue wave pulses out from him, disrupting Jerri's totem and causing all the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms to pause. The wave even makes Maleficent, Jerri, and Riku pause as Sora reaches for his head in pain, while the Thieves, along with Donald and Goofy, watch in complete shock.

You have seen much on your journey, suffered many trials and truths, and yet you have refused to break.

Sora lets out another cry of pain, falling to one knee as he feels his nails biting into his scalp.

And yet your journey has only begun, as your path has only been lightly tread. Tell me, of what you have seen so far, what would you say is the true cause of this pain?

The light?

Or the dark?

Sora curls his right hand into a fist, slamming it down on the tiled floor beneath him and managing to leave a small crack. The pain in his head is almost unbearable, and yet the voice that speaks to him is one he recognizes all too well.

            “You are me, right? Then you already know that it's both that need to be changed." Sora replies, glancing up as his eyes glow a bright yellow. A yellow that stuns Riku and Maleficent, while Jerri looks on, horror written on her face.

            “No… No… This is impossible!" Jerri shouts as Sora slowly stands up. "He's from a completely different world! He can't awaken to one… He can't!”

Indeed, you are right. Very well.

I am thou… thou art I…

Let my wings bear the burden of your path. Let them shade you from the wrath of those who would drown our homes in chaos and bring death to those we care about!

It's time for us to bring an end to this stagnant light and corrupted darkness, and once more let true balance guide the worlds to the future!

In a flash of blue, a mask appeared on Sora’s face. One that Riku recognized as the same as Sora’s Shadow from the Jolly Roger, only now he could see the colours and its shape. It was definitely shaped like a dragon's head, with the scales seemingly coloured like an azure sky with white lines. The mask seemed to extend down to Sora’s chin, with two horns sticking forward that went around Sora’s cheeks, stopping just at his mouth. The front of the mask resembled the upper half of a dragon's face, with the eyeholes where the dragon's eyes would be.

            “STOP HIM!” Jerri screams as the Heartless and Demons lunge at him while the Phantoms get ready to fire, just as Sora reaches for the mask with his left hand. He gives it a pull, finding it stuck harder to his face than expected as three Shadow Heartless leap into the air. Seeing them about to land on him, Sora gives the mask one more tug, ignoring the pain spiking across his face as he rips the mask off, exploding into a pillar of blue fire mixed with some streaks of light and instantly dissolving the three Heartless that tried to jump at him while causing the others to freeze in place.

            “SORA!” Riku shouts in shock and alarm, for once feeling the slightest bit of concern for his best friend as he watches the flames seem to build until Riku realizes they aren't building. They are actually giant wings of fire spreading out and revealing Sora standing tall and unharmed, but in new attire, as the giant flaming wings curl around themselves like a cocoon, hovering behind Sora as the fire continues to rage.

His feet, once held in large shoes, were now encased in streamlined azure greaves with white decals, going up to his knees with two metallic guards on the sides in the shape of wings. What looked like black shorts with dark blue lines rushed up from the greaves, held in place by a belt with azure metal plates on the sides. An azure chest plate engraved with a dragon's face covered his chest, with what appeared to be a long black hooded jacket underneath, the hood covering his head. Two pauldrons covered his shoulders, the left pauldron featuring a silver protective part jutting out at an angle, while the other appeared to be made of interconnected plates. The jacket under the armour covered his arms, featuring two pairs of gauntlets that protected his arms and the backs of his hands, while silver gloves covered his fingers. On his back were a pair of small dragon wings made of the same azure metal as the rest of his attire with white decals, while in his left hand he held a shield that looked to be made from two dragon wings folded together with a dragon head at the top, and in his right hand, the Kingdom Key rested at his side.

            “Did that really happen!?” Shinya shouts as Sora gives himself a look over, taking in his new attire with some childish glee.

            “It did! It really did!" Akane shouts while Maleficent and Jerri look on in stunned silence, and Riku can only look on with some building envy as Sora turns to the flaming mass behind him. "Sora awakened to a Persona!"

            “Well, I'll be. I didn't think he had it in him." Ren comments, watching with a proud smirk alongside the other Thieves, while Donald and Goofy are still in utter shock at what has just happened.

            “So… it was you. You were the one with me ever since I had that dream on the Destiny Islands. The voice I was hearing in my head throughout my journey… It was you all along, wasn't it?" As though the being had been waiting for Sora to say those words, the flaming wings slowly spread apart. The fires peeling back revealed two large draconic wings mixed with grey and white, or rather, six wings with small claws on the joints that were tied together with heavy black chains and metal plates, the metallic chains seemingly digging into the dragon's flesh. The same black chains and metallic armour were grafted onto different parts of the giant humanoid dragon's body, its scales a dark grey while tusks extended from its mouth, and horns formed on its tail, while its two arms were crossed over its chest. Its legs were far larger than its arms, yet the feet and hands all ended with three pointed claws encased in the same metal and chains. On its head was what looked to be a restraining crown with four spiked points that was also held down by chains.

An azure glow seemed to emanate from the metal encasing the Persona as it opened its eyes to reveal them to be a deep purple before it let out a giant roar. Extending its arms to the side, it launched countless Almighty blasts from its wings, slamming into Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms without a care. One of the blasts slammed into the totem, sending out the nullification wave, destroying it and allowing the Thieves, Donald, and Goofy to once more fight while Maleficent looked around with a worried expression before turning to Riku with a scowl.

            “He is your problem! Finish this!" She commands, fleeing into a pillar of fire as Jerri follows her and Diablo, leaving Riku and the remaining Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms to deal with Sora and the others.

            “I don’t know what you’ve done, Sora, but it won’t stop me!” Riku shouts, summoning his dark blade to his side. Although the cocky tone he had until this point was now gone, it was replaced with some hesitation in his voice as Sora pointed the Kingdom Key at Riku with narrowed eyes.

            “You’re wrong. Nothing is going to stop me from rescuing Kairi and snapping that darkness right out of you! Let’s go, Bahamut! Megaflare!” As though the Persona was expecting it, Bahamut flew into the air and unleashed another Almighty attack on Riku, forcing him to dodge while several Fuu-Ki were unluckily caught in the blast. While the rest of the Heartless and Demons charged forward to intercept Sora, the Thieves instead countered them. As for the Phantoms, they suddenly found themselves facing Edel as she used her thrusters to get to their level. Sora was left alone to fight against Riku as he attempted to slam Soul Eater on Sora, who blocked with his new shield. But he really wasn’t alone, as Goofy came in and hit his shield into Riku, forcing him back as Donald blasted him with Fira.

While it didn’t do much, it was still enough for Sora to rush in and attack with the Kingdom Key before pointing it at him and unleashing Blizzara at point-blank range. It turned out he could still use the magic he learned with the Keyblade separately from what his new Persona could use. But he didn’t have time to think about that as a large Phantom mech dropped down from above, flanked by two Defender Heartless who spun their shields around.

            “Bahamut! Earthshaker!” While the name may have sounded like a Physical attack, what came out was not what any of the Thieves expected to see. It was instead an Earth-based attack, sending spikes of earth into the Defenders from below while pinning the large Phantom in place, which was soon dealt with by Fox in a single slice. It honestly reminded them of the Earth magic Faize used back on Roak. Oracle could feel herself wanting to examine Sora’s new Persona with so much interest that she had to force herself to focus on the here and now. She could examine Bahamut when they weren’t fighting for their lives. It was here that Riku started to internally panic, even as he and Sora crossed blades again. He couldn’t believe how he was now managing to be a match for him, considering how he had always been the one to win their bouts on the island.

            “You may have gotten better, Sora, but you still won’t beat me!” Riku shouts, forcing Sora back with a burst of strength. “And once I’m done, you’ll never take my Keyblade away from me ever again!” He goes for a stab at Sora’s chest, finding it blocked by Sora's new shield before ducking under a swing from the Kingdom Key. He counters with a Dark Firaga but is shocked to see the attack bounce off Sora and fly toward a nearby Defender and two Wizards, taking all three out in a single blast as the shield that Oracle placed on him earlier vanishes.

            “I’m not the same as I was back on the island, Riku!” Sora shouts, grabbing Kingdom Key with both hands as the Keyblade begins to glow. “How about I show you some new tricks!? Sonic Blade!” Without giving him a chance to breathe, Sora dashed past Riku in a flurry of strikes, sending him off balance before he even had a chance to use a dark spell. Riku let out a furious cry, boosting himself as he lunged at Sora, forcing him back even as Skull and Outlaw came to his side and blocked the attack before jumping away from a Dark Ball.

            “These freaks are becoming a real pain!” Panther cries out, ducking under a Thundaga from a Wizard while a Sui-Ki attempts to impale her, only for Legion to come in and deflect the blow.

            “Keep them away from Sophie!” Queen shouts, sending out a Freidyne while Joker empties his gun before switching to Alice and unleashing her unique attack. Riku is momentarily caught off guard at seeing Persona Alice, knowing that the real one is in their grasp. That opening allows Sora to bash his shield into Riku, sending him stumbling back as Legion and Ace jump to his side.

            “Let’s show him what we can do together!” Ace tells him as the star in Joker’s pocket glows a faint blue.

            “Yeah!” Sora and Legion shout as Riku looks back at them with a dazed expression in his eyes.

“It’s Showtime!”

As one, the trio leaps into the air as the red curtains descend. Cloaking the field before parting ways, they reveal the scenery has changed into an underground dungeon with a treasure chest sitting in the middle while a beam of blue light falls on it. Sora, Ace, and Legion walk up to it, Ace excited about finding treasure, while Riku and the remaining foes lie in wait around them, much to Riku’s confusion. How did he get here, anyway?

            “Haha! Treasure!” Ace shouts with joy, rubbing her hands together before stepping up to it. As soon as Ace touches it, Riku springs the ambush, only to find the trio has vanished in a cloud of smoke. Along with an empty treasure chest that slowly rises, letting out a loud click, countless darts are fired from the wall at Riku and the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms.

            “Got you now!” Legion shouts as he and Ace dash in from the sides, slashing at them with rapid strikes as the dart storm comes to a stop while Sora stands on a pillar holding what was in the treasure chest: a comically sized bomb that has its fuse lit.

            “I’ve seen worse treasure.” He remarks casually, throwing it at Riku as Legion and Ace jump to his sides, watching as Riku catches the bomb before all three of them slash their weapons at the ground. They send three waves of Nuke, Physical, and Almighty energy at the bomb, detonating it and destroying the remaining Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms. As for Riku, he finds himself flying through the air as the area returns to normal. He lands hard against the wall before falling to his knees, the dark suit he is wearing vanishing into dark particles as he breathes heavily.

            “It's over, Riku.” Joker tells him as the Thieves walk up to him. "Surrender." Riku glares at him with both fury and fear before watching as a lone Phantom drops from above towards Sophie. With this distraction, Riku sprints for the exit while the lone Phantom is quickly disposed of. But as Sora tries to go after him, he suddenly finds himself almost face-planting into the floor. It is only with Athena and King catching him that he avoids hitting the floor entirely as he struggles to stay awake.

            “Why… am I so… tired?” Sora asks, looking up with weary eyes.

            “That’s the post-awakening fatigue.” King replies before glancing around. “We should find someplace for you to recover.”

            “I know a spot.” Goofy comments, heading for the stairs. “Riku showed it to me and Donald while waiting for you guys. He tried to get us to join his side by showing us all these books.”

            “Yeah. It was a library.” Donald adds, waddling after him. “We should be safe there.”

            “What makes you think that?” Spring asks as the team quickly follows after them, while Athena and King help Sora up the stairs.

            “Just a feeling.” Donald replies, before letting out a sigh. “That, and we could all do with a rest.” Everyone could agree with that, even as the main doors into the foyer were opened.

            “Of that, I agree.” Beast's voice echoes as he makes his way into the room, the look of exhaustion in his eyes before he looks at Sora. Taking in his new look and the Keyblade once more in his hands, the Beast couldn't help but give him his own version of a smile. "So… your heart won this battle." Sora gives him a tired nod and smile before letting sleep take him as Athena and King keep him upright.

For this moment, he could be proud of what he had managed to do. After all, he accomplished something before Riku could. If he even could at this point. He awoke to his Persona!

Chapter Text

Chapter 34: …Sacrifice…

            “Why…? Why…? It was mine!” Riku shouts as he runs through the dark halls, breathing hard even as a lone tear drops from his eye. How did this happen? How did Sora steal the Keyblade from him? How did he awaken to that new power? What even IS a Persona, anyway? Jerri had been very reluctant to explain it, and even Shido and his group never told him much about the Thieves’ powers. Were they trying to stop him from getting one himself? But why? Why was Sora so much stronger than him? Why did the Keyblade go back to him?

            “Know this. The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade.” A dark voice echoes behind Riku, bringing him to a stop. He turns around, seeing the man in the brown robe walking toward him with a dark blue glow. The same one who told him to open the door back on Destiny Islands. “And one who is in tune with their inner self shall awaken a Persona.”

            “What?” Riku asks back, his ears not believing what he was just told. “Are you saying my heart is weaker than his? And he somehow talked to his… ‘inner self’?”

            “For that instant, it was.” The man replies, with Riku’s anger vanishing in seconds. Everything he did was made worthless in a single moment, all because his heart was weaker than Sora’s. The figure seemed to notice this as he moved closer. Each step was silent yet, at the same time, heavy as his voice grew deeper. “However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the Door to Darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunge deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger.”

For a moment, Riku considered his choices. Such an offer sounded too good to be true. After all, he had been submerging himself in darkness this entire time, so just how much more did he need in order to grow stronger? But at this point, feeling the desperation eating away at him and his inability to do anything, he was willing to take any risk. “What should I do?”

            “It’s really quite simple.” The figure replies, a smile evident on his face as he walks closer to Riku. “Open yourself to darkness; that is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself.”

Without even questioning him, Riku opened himself up, feeling the dark energies swarm into him. And yet, unlike the other times he felt in control, this was anything but that, as the darkness washed over him like a tidal wave. As for the mysterious figure, he simply walked up to Riku, watching as the young man froze on the spot while the darkness stormed inside him. It was time for his plans to start gaining momentum.

            “When you said he tried to sway you with books, you were not kidding.” Queen remarks as Donald and Goofy lead the team through a large library. Or would it be a study? “Just what is written in these tomes, anyway?”

            “Duno. Never really had a chance to look.” Goofy replies as they come up to a seat next to a table, with a curving staircase leading to another floor. “Here. This should be a good spot.” Nodding back, Athena and King gently place Sora in the chair, watching as he continues to have a small power nap while the rest of the team rests either on the ground or leans on the bookcases. All of them revert to their normal attire as the past events finally catch up to them.

            “Now that we are in relative safety, I presume we should talk about one of the revelations we have experienced.” Akechi comments, glancing over to Sophia. “Sophia is the eighth princess they have been searching for.”

            “But why her?” Shiho asks, bringing a leg up. “Sophia’s not royalty, and as Jerri pointed out, she and Isara only became human back in Agrabah.”

            “Perhaps it doesn’t have to do with royalty.” Sae comments, hand on her chin. “After all, we have yet to consider the fact that Alice may also be one of the chosen princesses, and she herself did not strike me as someone of royalty.”

            “So… is it some other factor?” Isara asks, tilting her head. “But what is that? What is it about Sophia that makes her different from us?” Sophia looks at the floor, curling her legs up even as Ren and Makoto sit on either side of her. Beast remains quiet, unsure himself as he folds his arms in contemplation. It really is a question that plagues their minds. Just what makes a Princess of Heart so special? While everyone is busy thinking about that question, Sora lets out a loud yawn as he comes back from his brief nap, his Thief attire vanishing as he stretches his arms.

            “Welcome back, sleeping beauty. Have a nice nap?” Akane asks with a snarky tone as Sora shakes his head.

            “Yeah, I did.” Sora replies, standing up and jumping on the spot a few times. “In fact, I feel even better than before.”

            “That’s the benefit of waking up to a Persona.” Futaba replies before snapping her fingers and summoning a screen. “Speaking of, let's have a look to see what yours can do.” Her screen blinks for a few moments while everyone looks on in silence, with Futaba’s eyes widening in surprise at what she got back. “Huh… okay. Well, Bahamut is part of the Fool Arcana, so no big surprises there. He resists Light, Bless, Dark, and Curse, but is weak to Psy attacks. Dang… Freidyne, Magarudyne, Megaton Raid, Heat Riser, Almighty Boost, and Enduring Soul… And then there’s Earthshaker and Megaflare. Talk about packing heat.”

            “So… does that make Sora a new Wild Card? Since, ya know, he’s part of the Fool Arcana?” Ryuji asks, rubbing the back of his head.

            “I don’t think so.” Ren replies slowly before looking at Sora. “You’ve not encountered Igor or the Velvet Room yet, so I don’t think you’re a Wild Card. That, and you awoke to the Keyblade first before becoming a Persona user.”

            “It would be nice if Master Igor or Master Philemon were around to explain things to us.” Morgana comments, shaking his head. “I don’t think even Lady Lavenza would know what is happening either.”

            “It certainly is a mystery.” Ann comments before looking back at Sora. “Speaking of mysteries, who was this ‘Vanitas’ you mentioned back in the lobby?” Sora blinks for a second, confusion visible in his own eyes even as Donald walks up.

            “To answer your question, based on the little information Goofy and I were told by the king, Vanitas was an ally of Master Xehanort, as well as the reason for Ven slipping into a coma after they struck each other down, causing Ven to lose his heart.”

            “So that’s how he lost his heart?” Hifumi asks again before looking at Sora. “But how did you know his name?” Sora lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head as he sits back down in the chair.

            “I’ve been having these… visions of the past since Monstro.” He admits. “And they have all been from Ventus’s point of view. I saw Terra and Aqua during their Mark of Mastery, with Eraqus and Xehanort watching them.”

            “You saw Xehanort?” Haru asks, with everyone else's eyes widened in shock, including those such as Kaoru, Tao, Shinya, and Akane, who were told the story of Xehanort, Eraqus, Ventus, Aqua, and Terra during their travel to Olympus Colosseum alongside the other members of the Phantom Thieves, while Sora shakes his head.

            “I only saw a black mist. I couldn't see what he looked like or sounded like." Sora replies. "Anyway, during the exam, something happened that caused some orbs of light that Eraqus summoned to be corrupted by darkness. But Eraqus let it pass, saying it was a good test for a Keyblade wielder to adapt to sudden changes. When the next test happened, which was a spar between Terra and Aqua, some darkness appeared around Terra's left arm. It was faint, and it vanished seconds later, but it was enough for Eraqus to fail Terra because he failed to keep the darkness in check, while giving Aqua the rank of Keyblade Master. Then he just dismissed Terra so he could talk to Aqua.”

            “Just like that?” Isara asks with wide eyes. “Not even bothering to help Terra with what happened, or even give him some comforting words? He saw Terra tap into darkness and just ignored it?”

            “Sheesh… why does it sound like he went down the same path as Anakin Skywalker?” Mishima quietly asks Shinya and Akane, who nod back at him.

            “So, what happened after that?” Tao asks Sora, who puts a hand to his chin.

            “Well… the next thing I saw was Ven in his room playing with a wooden Keyblade with Terra's name on it. Maybe it was a gift given by him to help him train. Then a loud ring from a bell caught his attention, but before he left his room, that's when Vanitas appeared, telling him that Terra was going to leave him behind and goading him to chase after him. As a result, Ven did just that, as he chased after Terra on his own adventure." He lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head as he suddenly has a look of annoyance on his face. "And can I say that I am so jealous of Ven, Terra, AND Aqua!? They get Keyblade armour AND can turn their Keyblades into flying vehicles to travel between different worlds!”

            “Well, they DID have a teacher, Sora.” Sumire tells him gently, although it is amusing to see Sora be jealous about that considering how he has both a Keyblade AND a Persona. “Maybe the king can teach you that when we find him or Master Aqua.”

            “That would be nice…” Sora admits, shaking his head. “But… Vanitas never said his name to Ven. So… how do I even know it?” That certainly was an interesting question to them, adding to their original question about the princesses.

            “Something for us to find out later.” Akechi remarks, pushing himself off the bookcase and jostling some pages from the top. “I say we have rested enough to continue our climb.” Before he could, the pieces of paper land on his head as he gives an annoyed huff while Shinya and Akane chuckle at him. “How inconvenient…” He remarks, picking them up before blinking in surprise. “Or not… It would seem these are more pages that belong to Ansem’s report.”

            “Huh. Lucky.” Futaba replies with a grin before frowning. “But what about the remaining Dalmatian puppies? They have to be here, right?”

            “If there are any, then they would be held with Belle and the others.” Beast replies, looking upwards. “I can smell them faintly from above.”

            “Then that is where we go.” Yusuke replies as everyone shifts into their Thief attire. Sora lets out a little jump when he does so as well, not yet used to it or to Bahamut ready to appear from his heart. But it does get a grin out of Ace as she looks at him.

            “So, what are you going to call yourself?” She asks, grabbing his attention as they head up the stairs, while Fox passes a red card to Joker. “You have a Persona and Thief outfit; now you need a codename.”

            “How about Paladin? Since you look like one." Legion offers, taking an overall look at Sora's attire.

            “Why not Guardian? He has a shield, after all." Violet offers, glancing at the shield that Sora is holding.

            “Defender? No, wait, that conflicts with that one Heartless…" Panther argues against herself while Sora lets out a chuckle. He gives himself a look over, thinking about a name before going back to the games he, Riku, and Kairi used to play, along with what Kairi always used to call him while doing so.

            “Knight.” Sora decides, grabbing everyone’s attention. “It’s what Kairi always called me when we played as kids, and I think it fits with how I look.”

            “I like it.” Sophie tells him with a smile, with even Donald, Goofy, and Beast giving him agreeing nods.

            “Well then, welcome to the team officially, Knight.” Joker replies with a grin while Skull and Edel push a bookcase aside, revealing a new passage that Oracle had found. "But for now, it's Showtime!" But even as the team rushed forward, Oracle couldn't help but think back to her scan on Knight. Why did she pick up two other pings coming from him? One had to be Bahamut, maybe, but what was the other one?

            “Do you feel it, Maleficent? The power that awaits on the other side?” Jerri asks as the two stand before the portal containing the Keyhole. Maleficent doesn’t reply, instead only smiling darkly as the portal continues to pulse and churn. After all, they have won. Even if they have failed to contain Sophia, the fact that the six they have with them is more than enough to reveal the Keyhole is more than a victory for her.

And soon, the power behind it shall flood across this world, surrounding it with the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms after all this time. True, their new second base in this world might get caught in the rushing tide, but they had all accepted that such a possibility might happen. They could always rebuild somewhere else. At the very least, their problems with the Persona users, the Keyblade, and the king’s fools would all be washed away when the darkness consumes this world. Although they did have a small problem of not having a Keyblade any more to open said keyhole. And Riku had—

            “So, I see the path has emerged at last.” A voice that sounded like Riku, yet was tainted by another’s, echoed behind the two. Turning around, they found Riku walking up to them in his dark form, yet there was something about him that felt… different. The darkness that surrounded him was not his own. Jerri’s eyes widened for a moment, realizing to whom it belonged, but she remained quiet. After all, she had not told Maleficent or Shido who she had really sided with. At least, for the moment, anyway.

            “Yes. The Keyhole to darkness.” Maleficent replies, her eyes turning back to the portal as Dark Riku joins them.

            “Unlock it, and the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms will overrun this world.” Dark Riku tells her, with an unusual warning in his tone. Maleficent scoffs at him, not bothered in the slightest by the possibility of losing Hollow Bastion or herself to the dark void.

            “What do I care? The darkness has no power over me. Rather, I would use its power so that we may rule all the worlds.”

            “Such confidence.” Jerri replies, shaking her head while Dark Riku holds up his hand, intending to summon his weapon. But when he does, it is not his trusty Soul Eater, but a black Keyblade with teeth stylized to look like half a heart, while the guard is blood-red. Interestingly, it has no keychain as it fits itself into Dark Riku’s palm, with Jerri giving it an intrigued look. “Well now… it would seem you have found your own.”

Maleficent looks over, intrigued by the blade as Dark Riku points it at the portal. However, nothing happens. No beam of energy shoots from the tip; the blade remains quiet while Maleficent lets out a gasp of shock.

            “Impossible! The Princesses of Heart are all here!" Maleficent shouts, looking back at the portal while slamming her staff on the ground. "And with Sophia's presence in the castle, the portal should be complete! So what—!?" She pauses in her rant, a dark scowl forming on her face as she looks behind her at the unresponsive body of Kairi. "Of course… It must be her… She's the last one!”

            “Yes. And without her heart, she will never be able to unleash her power.” Dark Riku replies as they walk up to Kairi’s sleeping body.

            “How ironic that the girl we promised to help turns out to be our seventh princess this entire time. And yet, her heart is nowhere to be found." Jerri replies, shaking her head. "But still, is that not odd in itself? How does a heart as pure as hers vanish anyway? The Heartless would have no doubt brought it to us. And yet, nothing." Maleficent and Dark Riku had nothing to say back, given how right Jerri was. All the other princesses, except Jasmine, were brought to them by the Heartless. So how did her heart manage to avoid them? Did something happen to her when the island fell that caused her heart to vanish? But what?

Unfortunately for them, they did not get a chance to think long about it, as a deafening echo reverberated from the far side of the hall, soon followed by the sounds of combat and explosions mixed with gunfire, which could only mean one thing.

            “Looks like those fools are almost here.” Maleficent sneers as Jerri narrows her eyes.

            “We should not be surprised they made it here so fast. They are experts in traversing the surroundings.” Jerri comments with annoyance in her voice. “It would seem we have no choice but to confront them ourselves.”

            “So be it.” Maleficent sneers as she heads for the stairs. “You stay here and guard the princesses. We shall deal with them ourselves.” Dark Riku remains silent, watching them go with a smirk on his face. As for Maleficent, she can feel her annoyance at these pests growing with every step, yet the speed at which they reach the top is the most concerning part. Perhaps she should have put more effort into making the levels harder to reach.

She shook her head at the notion as she entered the meeting hall. With a tap of her staff, the entrance behind her closed before she moved to the centre of the room. But as she did, something floated past her face, prompting her to grab it as Jerri raised an eyebrow at the object.

            “A card?” Jerri asks, before narrowing her eyes. “No… a Calling Card.” Maleficent's eyes narrow as she takes in the emblem of the Thieves on the front, now with the addition of the Kingdom Key poking out from the left side of the mask. Flipping it over, she can only feel her anger boil as the message on the back burns into her soul.

To the self-proclaimed Rulers of Darkness, Maleficent and Jerri. Your reign of terror has done nothing but bring misery to countless worlds, uncountable deaths, and the displacement of millions of people. But today, that all ends.

We will bring your reign to an end, no matter what it costs us to achieve it. For we have challenged gods whose power far eclipses yours and have been victorious every single time. This is not the day of your triumph; this is the day of your reckoning.

We will be victorious, no matter what.

From, The Keyblade Phantoms of Heart.

            “Such pretty words will not deter me!” Maleficent shouts, turning the card to dust with her flames before turning to the entrance. To her shock, she finds the team seemingly melting out from the shadows before her. “For you are all too late! Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed, and this world will be plunged into darkness! It is unstoppable.” Maleficent goads the team, but if she was hoping to see their spirits break, she was very disappointed as they all summoned their weapons. Meanwhile, Sora held a different Keyblade than before. Seemingly made from white stone, with the guard designed after Greek columns, the main body had additional grey stone along the edges. The key looked to be a cloud made from white stone, while the name ‘HERCULES’ was written along the side. From the bottom, the Keychain hung.

            “We’ll stop it! After coming this far, there is no way we are gonna let that happen!” Knight shouts, pointing Olympia at Maleficent, who growls back at him.

            “And as for you, Jerri, this has been a long time coming!” Guernica shouts, spinning her nunchaku around. All around her, the rest of the teams fall into their battle formations, while Beast hunches down, ready to pounce.

            “You poor, simple fools. Do you think you can beat me!? Me, the Mistress of All Evil!?" Throwing her arms into the air, Maleficent sends out a shockwave that buffers the team, while a circle of purple light surrounds her. Seconds later, the area of the circle she was in rises into the air as three Defenders spawn around her, alongside two Wyverns. On the ground, three new Demons appear alongside two of the mech Phantoms: Chernobogs. But they were not done as Jerri took to the air.

            “And for extra measure, to me, my dearies!” Jerri spreads her wings, summoning foes that the majority of the Thieves had not seen in a long time.

            “Whoa, what are these things?!” Knight asks as he, Donald, Goofy, Legion, and Ace take note of the new enemies among the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms.

            “Legionnaires! Long story short, these are enemies that we fought durin' the last time we encountered Jerri back in our world!" Skull shouts in annoyance as the Legionnaires from the Kingdoms make their return. Thankfully, it was only around ten Troopers and three Brutes, all of them wearing the attire from Marie's Kingdom, but it was more than enough to pin the Thieves down as the Brutes charged forward. Well, almost all of them were pinned anyway.

            “Let’s rock, Drifter! Riot Gun!” Without even blinking an eye at the round hitting him, Outlaw sends his attack right at the charging brutes, interrupting their charge and, predictably, forcing them to jump into the air to slam down on him. At least, they would have done so back in the Kingdoms.

            “Magarula!” Mona cries, sending a blast of wind at the Brutes, forcing them back and into the three Chernobogs, causing a large pile-up that Violet was all too happy to take advantage of.

            “Cendrillon! Kougaon!” With a twirl, she summons her Persona to the field, sending the lance of light right into the pile and dealing heavy damage to the Chernobogs while taking out the three Brutes. Although she then had to jump right back into cover as the ten Troopers unleashed a volley at the team. Outlaw withstood the barrage, while Goofy deflected as much as he could with his shield. Maleficent lets out a cackle at them as Jerri lands on her shoulders, the two Wyverns dashing forward while the three Defenders made her almost untouchable.

Taking advantage of her situation, Maleficent conjures lightning into her staff and blasts it into the ceiling, bringing down countless bolts on the team and forcing them to move. The two giant Phantoms move forward to engage, but one of them is stopped by the Beast, who holds it in place, while the other finds itself facing off against Fox and Legion. The Wyverns dive down, aiming at Sophie, only to be hit by arrows from Spring before Noir grabs them both with Mapsio and smashes them together, letting them fall to the ground in a crumpled heap, with Sophie finishing them off with a blast of Kougaon.

But while Maleficent was focused on what was happening in front, she and Jerri failed to pay attention to their rear as Joker, Queen, Guernica, and Knight dropped down from behind. While Guernica and Knight rushed forward to hop onto the platform, Joker and Queen had a different idea as they focused on the three Defenders.

            “Megidola!”

            “Mafreidyne!”

The two attack streaks forward, slamming right into Maleficent’s back and the Defenders on her sides. Jerri, herself caught in the blast, was knocked off Maleficent’s shoulder and soon found herself avoiding Guernica’s attacks while Knight leaped onto the platform, Olympia glowing in his hand.

            “Strike Raid!” He calls, tossing the Keyblade at her several times. To his surprise, Maleficent didn’t budge from her position but instead retaliated with a blast of green fire from her hands, forcing Knight to leap off the platform as Maleficent moved to the back. Joker and Queen dove out of the way, not wanting to be roadkill as Maleficent charged up energy in her hands.

            “Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!” To everyone’s shock, Maleficent conjured up portals that opened to the vastness of space before summoning giant meteors toward the team. Far too many to dodge and far too large to destroy in a single hit. In a normal moment, this would be a difficult situation. But fortunately for them, they had one thing that neither Maleficent nor Jerri could counter.

            “Not today!” Oracle shouts as Necronomicon forms above her, with the two of them glowing a deep red. "Let's see you handle this! Final Guard!" In an instant, a green barrier forms around them just as the meteors impact against the shield. Each one pounds away with destructive force, building up debris all around and blocking Maleficent and Jerri's view of them. This is something that the Thieves take into account as Panther, Noir, Athena, and Crow shadow-step into the shadows and move into Maleficent's blind spot. Jerri has once more perched on her shoulder, summoning two more Brutes while another Phantom mech has decided to show itself to replace the one destroyed by Beast.

            “We need to immobilize her.” Athena comments as the four stealthily lower themselves to the ground. Noir’s eyes are fixed on the floating rock under Maleficent, with around six of the Troopers hunching under it. Seeing it gives her an idea.

            “What about the platform?” She whispers to the others. “If we target that, we might interrupt her.”

            “It’s worth a shot.” Crow agrees as all four of them aim at the platform. “Hold nothing back. Eigaon!”

            “Agidyne!”

            “Psiodyne!”

            “Megaton Raid!”

While Maleficent was busy bringing down meteors on Oracle’s barrier, the cries from her left not only shocked her but also snapped her concentration. It brought an abrupt end to the meteor rain just as the magic slammed into her platform, sending her crashing to the floor and crushing the six Troopers beneath her.

The remaining four Troopers glance over at Crow and the others, raising their weapons to open fire, but are cut off by Skull and Ace, blasting them with Ziodyne and Freidyne. Caught off guard, the Troopers fail to regroup as Donald freezes them in place while Noir fires a grenade at them, all while the two remaining Phantom mechs are taken down by Beast and Edel, the latter using a Homing Missile to dislodge the last remaining Defender guarding Maleficent and Jerri.

            “You’ll pay for this!” Jerri shouts, taking to the air as Maleficent brings down more lightning, only to suddenly find Oracle and Guernica firing at her with their weapons, forcing her back toward Maleficent as King rushes forward.

            “Ziodyne!” He calls out, bringing down lightning on both of them for a change and disrupting Maleficent's storm. Fox and Legion follow in after, unleashing a Bufudyne and Skull Cracker on Maleficent while Shinobi grabs Jerri with a Psiodyne and tosses her into the wall behind them. As Maleficent recovers, she is met by both Joker and Knight rushing toward her as they leap into the air, with Alice forming behind Joker with a furious frown on her face.

            “Alice! Eigaon!” Joker calls out, with Alice quickly obliging and blasting Maleficent with the Curse magic. Gasping in shock at the attack, she stumbles back right as Knight rushes at her. Unleashing a quick combo before holding Olympia back and charging up gravity magic at the end, he slams it down on her. Gravity Break is what he called it. The attack sent Maleficent reeling back as she desperately grasped at her chest. Panic shone in her eyes as she opened a portal behind her and fled through it, with Jerri limping after her a second later, leaving behind another slip of paper that Sophie quickly picks up.

            “After her! We can’t let her escape!” Beast shouts, pounding toward the portal, with the rest of the team quickly rushing after him. They are not going to let this witch get away.

            “How… How are they so strong?" Maleficent asks, hobbling her way to the centre of the tower she and Jerri fled to. A tower that had numerous thick vines weaving through it like a parasite.

            “It should not be possible… for them to have grown so strong in reality so quickly…” Jerri agrees, tiredly following after her. Maleficent looks at her, seeing the exhaustion in her eyes as she makes a decision. One she had hoped she wouldn't have to make, but with the odds against them, she has no choice.

            “Jerri… You must flee.” She tells her in a strained tone, tapping her staff on the ground and healing Jerri of some of her injuries with what little strength she has left. “Regroup with Shido and the others… It would seem we must initiate that plan…” Jerri looks at her with wide eyes before heaving a sigh and taking to the air with reluctance.

            “It will be done, Maleficent.” She tells her stoically before flying towards one of the open windows, passing by Diablo, who looked down at his master, struggling to get to the middle of the tower. She didn’t know how long she had to rest before they got here, but it should be enough to fight back somewhat. Even so, she did not fancy her chances. It was then, at that moment, that a new portal opened behind her, with Dark Riku appearing with a smirk on his face.

            “Do you need some help?” He asks in a cocky tone, clearly insulting her for her weakness. And as much as she would like to scold him, she is in no position to do so as she slowly turns around with annoyance in her eyes, only to widen in fear as she spots the entire team appearing from her portal of darkness. All ready to fight, but also surprised to see Riku standing before them.

            “Riku!” Knight calls out, grabbing his attention. But soon, Knight’s attention is drawn to the weapon in his right hand—something that sends a shiver down his spine while Sophie instinctively hides behind Joker and Queen.

            “Hold up… is that a Keyblade!?” Edel asks in shock as Dark Riku holds it up for them all to see.

            “Yes. It is indeed a Keyblade. Full marks for you.” Dark Riku taunts with a grin that seems to grow wider every second, as though he has just found something he has been seeking for a long time. “But unlike Sora's, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people’s hearts.”

            “What is he talkin’ about?” Skull asks, getting a bad vibe from how Riku’s voice sounded.

            “I don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t like how his voice sounds.” Panther replies, her grip tightening around her whip.

            “Where is Jerri?!” Guernica shouts, noting that the pink parrot is missing from Maleficent’s shoulder.

            “It would seem she has fled the coup. But enough about her; allow me to demonstrate… BEHOLD!” Dark Riku shouts before spinning around and impaling Maleficent in the chest, shocking all into horror, especially Maleficent, as darkness seems to seep out of her like a font of blood. “Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness. Become darkness itself!” Letting his Keyblade linger in Maleficent’s chest for a few seconds more, Dark Riku yanks it out with vicious force before vanishing into a portal of darkness.

But instead of leaving Maleficent in agonizing pain, she looked revitalized, grinning from ear to ear as she surveyed herself with deranged glee. This did nothing but raise everyone’s concerns as she began to glow with a dark green aura, cackling madly to herself as she looked back at them with menace in her eyes.

            “This is it… This power! Darkness… the true DARKNESS!”

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYzWUZh5YW8 : Deep End)

In an instant, Maleficent is engulfed in a fiery tornado of green, her figure growing behind the flames. When it pulled back, the team suddenly wished they had brought some larger weapons, as Maleficent had turned herself into a massive black dragon with purple scales, yellow eyes, and green flames seeping from her mouth as she crawled on all fours before them, taking up almost the entire room with her size.

            “I wish I had a bigger shield…” Knight comments, looking at the shield on his arm as Goofy nods beside him.

            “So… anyone got any dragon-slaying weapons on them?” Oracle asked with a shaky grin. Before anyone could respond, Dragon Maleficent unleashed a blast of green fire at all of them, with Goofy, Panther, and Legion jumping forward to block as much of the flames as they could. Which, for them, was not much considering how Dragon Maleficent was spewing it all over the floor.

But as they fought through the flames, Dragon Maleficent changed her tactics by spinning her tail around to smash into everyone. While Beast, Skull, Fox, and Guernica stood in the way to block it, they were barely able to stop the attack as they were all pushed back several feet. Dragon Maleficent, seeing the opening, reared back to bite at them but was stopped when Spring fired an arrow at her face, forcing her to dodge or risk getting an arrow in her eye.

In response, Dragon Maleficent spewed out more fire, forcing everyone into a small area where they had very little movement and were easy prey for Dragon Maleficent as she brought down a clawed hand on them. The move would have crushed them if not for Queen, Athena, Crow, and Edel all stepping up to block the attack. However, they found themselves struggling as Dragon Maleficent put her whole weight on her claw.

            “What now!? We’re stuck!” Outlaw shouts as they find themselves increasingly cornered. Fox attempts to clear a way for them with a Bufula, but the ice melts before it gets close to the flames. Knight grimaces, wishing he knew some water magic to counter these flames until he remembers the other summon spell he hasn’t used yet. He isn’t sure if it will work, and he feels more confident that Genie would be better here, but he has to give it a try regardless.

            “Power!” Knight calls out, pointing Olympia into the air. Soon, a flash of light appears above him, with what looks to be a baby elephant with a hat and neck frill falling from above before opening its VERY large ears and flying down toward him. Then, Knight does something unexpected and shrinks down so he is riding on the hat.

            “A baby elephant?” Sophie asks, tilting her head at the mammal just as Sora points his Keyblade forward. The elephant points its trunk forward, sending out a large burst of water that douses the flames around them, giving them room to move away from Dragon Maleficent’s claw. But while they could move, the ones holding Dragon Maleficent’s claw back could not, as they felt her pressing down even harder. However, with her attention on Queen and the others, Dragon Maleficent failed to realize the others had escaped until Outlaw hit her with a One-Shot Kill in her left eye, sending her falling to the side and giving the others a chance to rest while everyone else pelted Dragon Maleficent with magic.

But even with such a bombardment, Dragon Maleficent refused to fall as she got back up. Swinging her tail again at all of them, she forced them to duck while Sora and his new summon flew higher. Dragon Maleficent spotted them, sending a deluge of flames at him, only for Sora’s summon friend to send water right back at her. The two attacks cancelled each other out.

            “Hold on, Dumbo!” Knight calls out to the baby elephant who is struggling to hold the flames back. Just then, Beast rushes forward and unleashes a brutal uppercut at Maleficent's jaw. With both Queen and Athena lending their punches, they almost send Dragon Maleficent onto her back as Fox and Violet dash forward while unleashing a Deadly Fury and Vorpal Blade. Many cuts line her body from the strike, while Skull smashes his mace into her knee, followed by Mona giving Shinobi a Garudyne-boosted jump and unleashing a Mind Slice at Dragon Maleficent.

She lets out a defiant roar, sending more flames down at everyone. But at this point, they had had enough of the flames, reverting to their grapple hooks to zoom out of the fire and onto the large vines surrounding the walls. Beast had to be helped up by Joker, Crow, and Goofy, but he was thankful to be free of the flames. As Dragon Maleficent looks up to see them in the vines, she is pelted by multiple bombardments of magic from everyone while Knight continues to douse her in water with Dumbo. Beast, with an Aerora boost from Donald, then leaps into the air and delivers a brutal body blow to Dragon Maleficent’s back.

            “Beast has the right idea!” Joker calls out, using his grapple to take him to the middle of the room before dropping down, dagger in hand, and landing hard on Dragon Maleficent. One by one, each of the Thieves copies him, while Donald and Goofy stay up high, with Donald coating Goofy’s shield in flames before he throws it at Maleficent. It hits her in her right eye, earning another scream of pain as Knight hovers right above her.

            “Time to end this! Bahamut! Megaflare!” Leaping off Dumbo and turning back to normal size, Knight rips his mask off to bring his Persona to the field. The dragon king, giving Dragon Maleficent a look of disgust, merely flaps his wings before sending the Almighty attack screaming down on her. Dragon Maleficent could do nothing as the attack slammed into her from above, each blow more damaging than the last as everyone landed on the ground. But it was still not enough, as she pushed herself up, still aiming to burn everyone alive while Joker and Queen exchanged glances.

            “Let’s end this, together.” Queen tells Joker, who nods back at her as Sophie joins them.

            “It’s payback time!” She shouts as the star in Joker’s pocket glows ever brighter.

“It’s Showtime!”

The red curtains, now with golden stars and a blue moon, descend into the tower. When they pull back, Dragon Maleficent is left alone in a room with a tall black box, a lone beam of light shining down on it, with ancient Greek symbols around it. Curiosity getting the better of her, she approaches the box and moves to open it with her nose.

But when the lid was removed, a burst of light fired out and blinded her. As Dragon Maleficent's vision returned, she saw a myriad of ethereal figures in three different colours: red of the Thieves, gold of the Investigation Team, and blue of S.E.E.S. Leading the army of phantoms was an enraged Joker and Queen.

Without a word, the two went on the attack, the righteous fury burning in their hearts unleashed with every slice and punch. Blades brimming with Curse energy and punches radiating with Nuke magic. The assault was so relentless that Dragon Maleficent didn’t see Sophie emerge from the box, her Persona forming behind her and flying up to meet the golden phantoms of the Investigation Team as Arsène and Johanna, appearing from the opened box, did the same for the Thieves and S.E.E.S. The phantoms nodded, and as the three Personae began charging their strongest attacks, the phantoms lent their own power to them.

Sophie throws her Bless-infused yo-yos at Dragon Maleficent, wrapping around her and tying her in place before Joker and Queen leap away to join her. Dragon Maleficent tries to break out of her bindings, but any idea of trying to stop vanished the moment she saw Personae and their amplified attacks.

            “Checkmate.” With Joker’s one word, the three Personae launched their power while the three Thieves went in for an All-Out Attack. Curse, Bless, and Nuclear all struck Dragon Maleficent head-on. As the Thieves landed and Dragon Maleficent erupted into darkness, Sophie turned and gave her parents a big hug, which the two Thieves returned in kind, calming them from their rage.

That scene of the three hugging is then framed in a photo album, with the caption, ‘In the wake of catastrophe, hope was found.’ As the book closes, the battlefield returns to normal. With Dragon Maleficent consumed in green fires and falling to the ground, kicking up a cloud of smoke as the vines around her are all ignited.

And when the dust cleared, all that remained of Maleficent was her ragged cloak and a red gem that landed next to Knight, which he picked up without thinking. But before anyone had a chance to celebrate, Dark Riku reappeared with a smirk as he stepped over Maleficent’s remains. “How ironic. She was just another puppet all along.”

            “What?” Donald asks out loud as everyone narrows their eyes at Dark Riku.

            “The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning. She failed to recognize the darkness in her heart eating away at her. A fitting end for such a fool.” Dark Riku rubbed his foot into her cloak, desecrating it before turning away into another portal. While everyone had many questions on their minds, Dumbo floated up to Knight and gave him a pat on the shoulder before vanishing. It seemed like he was a shy one if he didn’t talk. But even if he didn’t want to talk, that didn’t mean everyone else did.

            “So… who wants to bet that Riku is possessed by someone else right now?” King asks as everyone gathers in the lobby, watching as the door that Maleficent entered from reveals itself once more.

            “High. Very high.” Violet agrees, shaking her head before looking back at the only way forward. “So… how much do you guys want to bet that the remaining princesses are down this path?”

            “Again, very high.” Mona quips as Knight walks up to it. It was strange; he could feel something was at the end of this path, but at the same time, he didn’t know what. But if he had to guess one thing, it could only be…

            “Kairi… She’s down this path.” He comments, resting a hand on his chest.

            “In that case, let’s not waste any more time.” Joker replies, patting him on the shoulder. “Let’s find her, knock whoever is posing as Riku out of him, and then head home. Sound good?” Knight smirks at Joker, nodding back before looking forward once more as he takes a step. No matter what was at the end of this hall, they would face it together

But if they had stayed in the tower for a bit longer, they would have seen Diablo flying down to grab Maleficent’s torn cape before leaving through a window, leaving nothing behind.

When the Keyblade Phantoms moved through the hall, they had expected a large swarm of Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms to stand in their way. But instead, all they found was an eerie silence, the hall abandoned and devoid of any form of life. It was strange how, after Maleficent’s defeat and Jerri fleeing again, the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms had given up on their pursuit. Or… they were leading them into a trap.

Then again, it was infuriating that Jerri had managed to escape again, much to Guernica’s fury. Oracle even quipped that she was like an old-school villain from a Sentai show. But all conversations came to an end when they reached a pair of large doors. A pair of doors that slowly opened to reveal a vast hall with a raised area not far ahead, featuring what looked to be a portal in the shape of a heart, with countless pipes leading toward it. A large carpet with the Heartless Emblem lay spread out across the floor, leading to the two stairs that ascended to the platform. But it was what was on the walls that had the team's immediate attention.

            “There's Alice!” Noir calls out, pointing at the container holding a sleeping Alice.

            “Jasmine is here as well!” Violet adds, pointing at the Sultan's sleeping daughter.

            “So these are the six princesses they have captured.” Crow comments, looking between Alice, Jasmine, and the other four. Two of them had blonde hair; one had her hair tied in a bun and wore a crystal white dress, while the other had long hair and a deep blue dress. They were obviously princesses based on their attire. Another had hair as dark as ebony and skin as white as snow. As for the last one, Beast was slowly walking up to the pod, placing a gentle hand on it with a look of relief.

            “Belle…” He comments softly, his eyes softening at the sleeping figure.

At the same time, Violet was also drawn to the princess wearing the silver dress as she walked towards her. Upon resting her hand on the pod, she felt a strange sensation as her eyes widened, and she took a step back while breathing heavily.

            “Violet, is something wrong?” Crow asks, noticing his girlfriend in her current state.

            “That princess… is Cinderella.” Violet comments in between breaths. “She and Cendrillon… are one and the same. Just like Alice and Persona Alice."

            “Okay, so how do we break them out?” Skull suddenly asks, tapping his mace against one of the pods. “Do we smash ‘em?”

            “Somehow I don’t think that will work.” Athena replies, shaking her head before looking at the portal above them. A dark feeling creeps up on her as it seems to glow for a second. “Something’s up there…”

            “Then let’s go check it out!” Knight calls out, already running ahead with Donald and Goofy. The rest of the team races to catch up to him, almost reaching them as Sora and Donald reach the top. But when Goofy tries to join them, he slams face-first into an invisible wall, tumbling back onto Fox and Outlaw and bringing everyone to a halt.

            “What’s going on!?” Edel shouts as King and Ace bang their fists on the invisible wall. Donald looks back at them, shocked at what has happened as the Thieves try to use their grapples to jump over the low wall around the edge, only to find, to their shock, that the barrier circled the entire platform. And while Knight would have been concerned about what was happening around him, he was more focused on something else.

            “KAIRI!” Knight shouts, rushing forward and dismissing his Thief attire before gently hugging Kairi's body and holding her up. "Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!" Sora shouts, pleading for her to wake up. But he gets nothing, as Kairi's body remains unresponsive no matter what.

            “It's no use.” Dark Riku's voice echoes above him, drawing all eyes to Dark Riku as he lounges atop the portal with a solemn look. "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up." The words cut into Sora deeply as he looks back at Kairi's body with a disheartened expression. She had really lost her heart, after everything he did to save her? He felt his will shatter for a moment as he gently placed Kairi's body back on the ground before looking back at Dark Riku as he slowly jumped down. "The Keyhole will remain incomplete so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps."

            “The princess…? Kairi's a princess?!" Sora shouts, eyes wide along with everyone else as Dark Riku lands on the ground. "But she's not royalty!”

            “It matters not if they are; it does not change what her heart is.” Dark Riku clarifies, grasping his left hand. “For they all share the same trait: not a speck of darkness exists inside their hearts. Their hearts are nothing but pure light.”

            “Well, that explains that.” King remarks as Sophie places a hand on her chest. Her heart held no darkness at all? That was what made her special?

            “And without her heart, the Keyhole will remain incomplete, even with the presence of the eighth princess. It is time she awakened.” Dark Riku tells them all, his grin never leaving his face.

            “Well, whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!" Sora calls out to Dark Riku, not amused at all that this unknown person is currently using his best friend like a puppet.

            “But first… you must give the princess back her heart.” That only caused Sora to raise an eyebrow, even as Dark Riku pointed his Keyblade at him. At least, that was until he felt a sharp pain in his chest, sending him to his knees even as everyone called out his name in worry. “Don’t you see yet? The princess’s heart is responding. It’s been there all along. Kairi’s heart rests within you!”

            “So… that’s what I picked up.” Oracle comments, earning everyone’s gaze. “When I was scanning Sora’s Persona, I got another ping from him. But… I didn’t know what it was at the time.”

            “Kairi's heart… is inside mine?” Sora asks in pained gasps, looking at her sleeping body as his mind goes back to when his home was about to fall to darkness. Suddenly, her body vanishing right before his eyes makes so much sense. That was the moment her heart took cover inside his to get away from the Heartless, even if neither of them knew about it.

            “I know all that there is to know…” Dark Riku gloats, drawing all eyes to him as he locks eyes with Sora. “For it is I… Ansem… the Seeker of Darkness!”

            “For real!?” Skull, Outlaw, and Mona all shout, while the rest of the team narrow their eyes or gasp in shock.

            “So, the wise kingdom’s ruler becomes its destructor…” Queen quips as Ansem looks at her with a gloating expression before walking forward. Donald, being the only one there to protect Sora, rushes forward to stop him but is unceremoniously punched to the side, shooting through the barrier and smashing into Shinobi and Legion. This leaves everyone helpless as Ansem stops before Sora, pointing the dark Keyblade at him.

            “And so, I shall release you now, princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power! Open the door! Lead me to everlasting darkness!”

For everyone watching, time seemed to slow down as Ansem held his dark Keyblade above his head, a manic smile on his face as he slowly brought it down on Sora. For a moment, it looked as though the blade was going to slam right into Sora’s spine, even as the Thieves all attempted to force their way through the barrier surrounding them. As for Sora, he could still feel whatever it was inside him violently attacking his heart, attempting to pull Kairi’s heart right out of him. He couldn’t think or even focus—

SORA!

Focus!

In a flash of blue flames, Sora brings his hands up, summoning the Kingdom Key into his grasp as the Keyblade blocks the dark blade, sending out a shockwave as Ansem attempts to push down on Sora. He watches as Sora shifts into his Thief attire, the blue flames washing over him before peeling back with finesse, a narrow glare in his eyes.

            “Forget it! There’s no way you're taking Kairi’s heart!” Knight shouts, forcing Ansem back and falling into his combative stance. “You want it, then you’ll have to go through ME first!” Ansem looks at him, letting out a scoff as he assumes Riku’s stance, a dark smirk forming on his face.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKFOgkVQArA : Forze Del Male)

            “Then come, hero. You shall fall to my blade, no matter what!” With that, Ansem leaps forward, blade spinning overhead and streaking towards Knight, who blocks it with his shield before countering with a three-hit combo into a Blitz. Ansem leaps back, putting distance between them before jumping forward and sending out a shockwave at Knight, forcing him to jump back as Ansem spins at him with his blade, aiming for his chest to free Kairi’s heart.

Yet Knight held up his shield, blocking the strike and quickly hitting back with a Counterattack into a Stun Impact. Ansem let out a snarl, not expecting Knight to counter him so easily. Instead, he decided to imbue himself with some dark magic, blasting Knight at point-blank range with a Dark Firaga and sending him flying into the wall. The impact briefly stunned Knight, leaving Ansem a chance to stab Knight, only to find his strike blocked again as Knight deflected it. Although the strike did clip his side, drawing some blood, he blasted Ansem with Fira in the chest.

            “Magarudyne!” Knight cries, summoning Bahamut to his side and blasting Ansem with the powerful Wind attack. Ansem growls, his eyes narrowing at the Persona as it returns to Knight while he charges forward, unleashing a series of rapid strikes that force Knight back. Finding himself on the back foot, Knight conjures an Aerora shield around him for added protection before dodge-rolling away from another of Ansem’s overhead swings.

            “Ars Arcanum!” Knight cries, hitting Ansem with thirteen strikes and sending him back into a console. How their battle had not hit Kairi’s body yet, he didn’t know. But at the moment, Knight wasn’t thinking about that as Ansem was suddenly enveloped in a dark aura.

            “Now witness true power, you runt!” Ansem shouts, slashing forward and sending a spiralling disk of energy at Knight, forcing him to dodge as it cleaves into the wall, leaving a large gash. Ansem sends out two more disks at Knight, keeping him on the move until he fires the fourth one, watching in surprise as Knight deflects the attack right back at him, forcing him to dodge his own attack.

            “Freidyne!” Knight calls out, Bahamut forming behind him and unleashing a surge of blue flames from his mouth. Catching Ansem in the blast, Knight allows himself to smirk as Ansem lets out a cry of pain. But that doesn’t last for long, as Ansem suddenly rises into the air, the dark aura around him growing bolder, along with the entire room darkening.

            “Behold the power of my Dark Aura!” Ansem shouts before rapidly dashing across the room. He smashes into Knight before vanishing into a portal of darkness, making himself a speeding bullet and striking Knight from every angle like a clock before appearing above him in the air. “Vanish!” Ansem shouts, slamming his blade into the ground and sending out countless pillars of darkness. Some hit Knight and lightly injure him while Ansem laughs at him in amusement. “Is that it?”

            “Not yet…” Knight replies, pushing himself up and using Cura on himself. "I'm not done yet! Heat Riser!" Ansem watches as three orbs appear around Knight, each one glowing red, purple, and green as they are absorbed into Knight. And while he can't see it, he can feel Knight growing stronger from the move as he charges forward again, slamming his dark Keyblade into the ground and sending out waves of energy at Knight, forcing him into the air as he counters with a Hurricane Blast. Knight looks up at Ansem, feeling a surge of power within him as one of his spells reaches the next level, while a new ability awakens inside him.

            “Firaga!” Knight calls out, blasting Ansem with the third-tier fire spell. He watches as an even larger orb of fire speeds forward at an even faster rate, slamming into Ansem and knocking him back. Ansem, growing tired of this little game, rushes forward and leaps into the air, aiming to bring his blade down on Knight and finish this fight.

However, he was not expecting Knight to do the same. Meeting him in the air with a quick flurry of strikes that not only managed to disarm him but also left him floating in the air as Knight aimed the Kingdom Key at him. A large orb of energy glowed at its tip, consisting of numerous streaks of light that were dying to be unleashed. All Knight had to do was say the name out loud.

            “Ragnarok!” Knight cries, detonating the sphere of light as multiple streaks of light shoot forward, slamming into Ansem from all angles as he lets out a gasp of shock. Just in time to see Knight rushing up to him and bringing Kingdom Key down in one final strike, Ansem glares at Knight, as though he is cursing his very existence, before falling to the ground and vanishing seconds later, before Knight even has a chance to grab him. At that moment, the barrier surrounding the platform drops, letting everyone rush onto the platform. But they have no time to celebrate as the portal behind them sends out a dark wave, sending goosebumps across everyone’s skin.

            “What’s going on now!?” Ace shouts as they all stare at the portal.

            “It must still be attracting the Heartless towards it.” Athena comments as they walk up towards the portal. “Even in its current state.”

            “Then there's only one thing we can do. Sora, seal it up!" Fox shouts, with Knight overhearing as he points the Keyblade at the portal. But, much to his shock, along with everyone else's, nothing happened. Not even a speck of blue light emerged from the blade.

            “It won't work! The Keyhole’s not finished yet!” Goofy shouts as the gravity of the situation falls on them while Knight dismisses the Kingdom Key.

            “If the Keyblade won’t work, then what do we do?” Noir asks as Joker looks back at Kairi.

            “The only thing left is to wake up Kairi and complete it so that Knight can seal it up.” Joker tells them before folding his arms. “The only question is, how do we do that?” While everyone started to brainstorm ways to help free Kairi’s heart from Knight’s heart, Knight had his gaze locked on the discarded Keyblade lying in the centre of the platform and on what Ansem had said it could do.

            A Keyblade that can unlock people’s hearts… I wonder…

            Sora, you do know the implications of what you are thinking, correct? If you take such a path, there is a certainty that you will not survive. Yet, knowing this, are you willing to make that choice?

            Do I really have a choice, Bahamut? Knight asks back, silently separating himself from the others as he walks toward the discarded Keyblade. It’s the only option we have. Am I scared of what will happen? Of course I am. But, as I said back in the main foyer, if I have to sacrifice myself to save my friends, I will do it in a heartbeat.

            I know. I am you, after all. Knight could hear Bahamut letting out a soft chuckle in his mind as he grasped the dark Keyblade in his hand. At the very least, you will not be alone in this endeavour. For I am thou…

            Thou art I… Thank you, Bahamut, for being with me since the beginning. And I’m sorry about this. Knight could feel Bahamut patting him on the shoulder with a phantom touch as he held the dark Keyblade up. This was his choice, and he was going to see it through as he changed back to his normal attire. He couldn’t risk the armour of his Thief form blocking the strike.

            “Sora? What are you doing?" Joker asks, only now catching him holding the dark Keyblade in his hand. Sora looks over to her and the others, giving them a smile as he spins the dark Keyblade around…

…and aims it at his chest.

            “What are you doing!?”

            “Sora, stop!”

            “No, wait!”

But Sora doesn’t listen, and he plunges the Keyblade into his chest.

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFGJq8SuGs : Sora’s Sacrifice)

A flash of light escaped Sora’s chest as his arms fell limply to the side, even as everyone watching let out gasps of horror. The dark Keyblade then pulled itself out, falling to the floor before dissolving into darkness, revealing six captured lights that shot from the platform and toward the captured princesses. Beast, who had spent the entire time guarding them, could only watch in shock as he saw the hearts return to their owners. But he could hear what had happened as he closed his eyes in grief.

As for Sora, his chest flashed once more with a burst of light as a heart left his body. Floating gently over to Kairi, it hovered over her chest before gently lowering itself into her. The moment it did, her eyes snapped open in alert, with the portal holding the Keyhole giving off another flash of light, while Sora, seeing her open her eyes, gave one last smile before his own eyes closed as he fell backward. His entire body glowed as particles of light flew off him.

All the Thieves could only stand in shock, even as Donald rushed forward to try and catch him while Kairi slowly pushed herself up. The first thing she sees is Sora falling backward, encased in a glowing light.

            “Sora!” She cries, jumping to her feet to try to catch him. But the moment she reaches him, he completely shatters into particles of light. Each particle rises into the sky as Kairi watches with horror on her face.

            “SORA! COME BACK, SORA!” Donald screams into the air, even as Goofy lets the tears run down his face. As for the Thieves, they can do nothing but look at the ground, their own tears threatening to fall as Sophie grasps onto Joker and Queen.

Could this even be called a victory when the price was the life of a dear friend?

            “Something happened…” Rumi comments to Maruki, her gaze locked on the sky above them. The two of them were at the outdoor café in Traverse Town, relaxing in the night air until something suddenly struck Rumi, turning her gaze upward.

            “I feel it too.” Maruki comments as the two stand from their table and walk out to the middle of the courtyard. From Café Leblanc, Sojiro, alongside Toshiro, Tsuchiya, and Eri, all make their way out too, each of them looking at the sky with some form of hurt in their eyes.

            “Did anyone else feel that?” Eri asks, her hand on her chest.

            “You mean like something was just ripped out of your chest?” Tsu asks, eyes locked on the stars. “Because I definitely felt that.”

            “Something has gone wrong. Terribly wrong.” Toshiro remarks, folding his arms while Sojiro lets out a sigh. Whatever happened, he hoped it wasn’t Ren or the others. But at that moment, something in the air shifted. An imposing darkness suddenly washed over the area, sending everyone on edge as Toshiro, Eri, Sojiro, and Maruki all shifted into their Thief attire.

            “Something is coming…” Boss remarks, book open as movement from a nearby corner catches his eye. Something he wishes he never had to see again. “Heartless…” He growls, watching as the humanoid shadows he saw back in Shibuya slowly emerge from the darkness. But they are not alone, as several Defenders, Wyverns, and Dark Balls emerge all around them, joined by one thing they do not want to see.

            “An Abaddon!?” Doc shouts, seeing the giant Demon appear before the gates alongside several knife-wielding Phantoms.

            “Where did they all come from!?” Erina shouts, spinning her partisan spear around. “The Keyhole is sealed! They have no reason to come here!”

            “We can figure that out later! For now, we must push them back!” Rebel shouts, taking his stance. “Tsu! Take Rumi and find Leon and the others! Tell them that we have a situation!” Tsu lets out an annoyed growl alongside Rumi, the two of them being pushed away to find help. But before they even had a chance to complain, more Heartless appeared behind them, cutting them off as the six of them were surrounded by the Heartless.

            “What is going on!?” Erina shouts in dismay, just as a new Heartless appears before them. One with wings, a long tail, and a serrated sword in its right hand.

And it looked at all of them with a primal hunger in its eyes.

Chapter Text

Chapter 35: …And New Strength.

Silence. That’s all that could be heard in the Grand Hall with the portal. Even the sparking of electricity running through the pipes seemed to have quieted down after what had happened. Something that no one had seemed to accept as they all continued to look up into the sky. Sora was gone. A loss that none of them were expecting, or even dreamed of after everything they had been through. And now, his absence felt like someone had barged in and ripped away all the lights in a house at night. It certainly seemed to have that effect as the Grand Hall grew even darker around them.

            “Damn it… Why did he have to do that?” Skull asks, kicking the ground with frustration while Panther hugs herself tightly.

            “Why did he sacrifice himself? Surely there was another way?” Violet asks, hugging Crow, who remains quiet. No one really has an answer for her, as they are all asking that very same question in their minds, especially one person among their ranks. Kairi can only stand in silence, her eyes fixated on the spot where the light that had once been Sora vanished. She doesn’t know what to think, having just been brought back to life and seeing Sora vanish before her eyes.

            “Sora… are you really…?” Kairi asks, her moist eyes not leaving the ceiling. Her mind is still wrapping around what happened, trying to accept the reality. But instead, a growing defiance builds inside her as she holds a clenched hand to her chest. “No. He can’t be! I won’t let him go!” The Thieves all look at her, seeing the determination in her eyes. “He’s not dead!”

            “How can you be sure?” King asks, shaking his head. “We all saw him—”

            “I don’t know… Somehow I just know it.” Kairi replies, hand still on her chest. “He’s not dead.”

            “And how long will you continue to believe that false hope?” A dark voice echoes around them, prompting the Thieves to form a defensive circle around Kairi, along with Donald and Goofy. “How predictable.” A dark laugh resonates as a portal of darkness appears on the platform, with a figure emerging from its depths.

With tan skin, amber-orange eyes, and smoothed long silver hair spiked into three points, he wears a black, high-collared leather coat that has a red interior and yellow lining. This coat is grey from the waist down and has several buttons lining the hips, a belt around his waist, and a second one that extends from the waist up to the collar to connect to several smaller straps. The four shorter straps are buttoned to either side of the front of the collar, while the remaining ones are buttoned to the shoulders to form spaulders. A black leather pauldron is attached to each spaulder by three buttons and two straps that button the rim of the coat, along with two more that cross over his upper back.

On his upper chest is the Heartless Emblem in the form of a brooch that holds the outer coat in place of a zip or buttons. Underneath this coat, he wears a white, thigh-length vest. This vest is also high-collared and exposes most of his chest, with three black buttons and two thin belts near his waist closing it up, while the three remaining buttons below are undone. In addition, this person wears wide-brimmed white gloves with three buttons lining the forearms and a grey band on either wrist. He also wears black pants that are tucked into knee-high boots with silver trimming and high concave indentations at the top.

            “Okay… who is this?” Outlaw asks as everyone feels themselves tense up. The man seems to laugh at Outlaw as he gives them all a dark smile, placing a hand on his chest.

            “Surely you have not forgotten who I am already, have you?” He replies, a cockiness in his voice that is far from pleasant.

            “Ansem…” Joker comments, his eyes narrowing as he tightly grips his dagger. “So, this is what you really look like. Finally decided to show yourself in the flesh?”

            “Hmph. As if a fool such as you would understand.” Ansem dismisses coldly, his eyes moving to Kairi. “So, you have awakened at last, princess. The Keyhole is now complete. But now it is over. Your presence, and that of the ones around you, is nothing more than a hindrance. It is time for all of you to return to the darkness.”

            “Just try it!” Mona shouts as the Thieves all get ready for a fight. "We've faced foes far worse than you!" Unfortunately, Ansem did not get the memo that he was to be intimidated by Mona's proclamation, as he simply walked forward with a dark aura surrounding him, one that seemed to feed off the very air around them. But as he got closer, Ansem suddenly froze in place, his body twitching as he tried to force himself to move forward, causing everyone to look at him in confusion.

            “What's happening to him?” Sophie asks as the group watches Ansem being frozen in place.

            “Impossible…” Ansem grunts, trying to move himself, but to no avail. However, what came next led everyone's eyes to widen with shock as a familiar faint glowing outline appeared in front of Ansem.

An outline of Riku.

            “No! You won’t… use me for this!” Riku shouts, his corporeal form finally taking shape as he blocks Ansem’s approach.

            “Riku!” Kairi calls out, about to run over to him, only to be gently held back by Athena and Goofy. “Fight it! Don’t let him win!”

            “I can’t… He’s… too strong!” Riku shouts, grimacing as he looks up, his eye sending them all a desperate plea. But not to save him. "I'm sorry… for everything! You've all got to run! They are coming!" No sooner does he say that than a horde of Shadow Heartless emerges around them. Accompanied by countless Demons and Phantoms, it is almost as though the entire room has become them, with how many are appearing.

            “Crap! This is bad, you guys!” Oracle shouts, a screen hovering behind her showing more and more red dots appearing. “They’re not stopping!” Joker grimaces, looking around at everyone before letting out a sigh. He really wishes he had a smoke bomb on hand.

            “Everyone! Fall back!” Joker calls out, summoning Arsène and pointing at the platform edge. “Megidola!” Without wasting a beat, Arsène blasts away the Shadow Heartless blocking the way, forming a path for everyone to escape. Although Kairi wanted to stay behind and help Riku, there was very little she could do as Edel and Donald pulled her away. That, and seeing just how many Heartless were swarming them, made her realize they had to flee, even if that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

            “What about the Keyhole!?” Goofy shouts as the team flees toward the door. Beast looks at them, seeing them run just as a large tornado of Heartless chases after them, or more specifically, toward Kairi and Sophie.

            “Look out!” He cries, jumping forward and pushing them out of the way just as the tornado slams into him, spiriting him away even as he lets out a defiant roar.

            “Beast!” Violet calls out, only for more Demons to appear behind them.

            “Keep running! We won't be able to do anything as we are now!" Guernica shouts while Fox, Noir, Oracle, and Legion lay down covering fire with their guns, even as they initiate a fighting retreat.

            “Freidyne!” Queen cries, sending a blast of blue flames at their pursuers and managing to take out quite a few of them even as they run. Meanwhile, Ansem, regaining control of his body once again, merely scoffs at them as they flee. He turns back to the portal as he slowly approaches it, arms raised. But as he does so, another Shadow Heartless emerges from the floor in the exact place where Sora had died. Catching a glimpse of the Thieves' retreating forms, a sudden urge to go after them enters its being, but not to attack them or claim their hearts.

Instead, it felt the need to stay with them, to keep them safe. Why it felt like this, it did not know, but who was going to tell a Heartless to ignore its instincts? And so, with Ansem completely unaware of what had happened, the Shadow Heartless leaped from the platform and started chasing after the Thieves, waddling as fast as its little legs could carry it instead of crawling along the ground like a Shadow.

It has to catch up to them, no matter what it takes!

            “Come on! Give us a break already!” Ace shouts in annoyance, firing a crossbow bolt at a Wyvern, with Spring sending an arrow in tandem. With two arrows lodged in its wings, the Wyvern fell to the ground, and Fox finished it off with a quick slash to its throat. As it turned out, trying to get back was harder than going up. All of the internal elevators, including the large one outside, had been shut down by some form of power surge, preventing them from taking the easy way down.

This left them with no other choice but to jump off the sides of the buildings and use their grapples to slow their descent, while Oracle used Necronomicon to carry her and Kairi down to the lower levels. While normally this wouldn’t be an issue, the Heartless, Demons, and Phantoms made it a much more treacherous descent. As for where they were now, they were along the outside wall that led back to the main foyer where Sora awoke to Bahamut. What was once a joyous awakening now felt strangely bitter.

            “We can’t stay here! We’ll be swarmed in a matter of minutes!” Shinobi calls out, sending out a blast of Psiodyne while Mona backs her up with Garudyne. They clear out the main foyer as they descend the stairs, but Kairi hesitates at the top, still feeling the urge to go back and help.

            “Kairi, come on!” Goofy calls out to her, waving his left hand.

            “I can’t just leave them behind!” She calls back, the urge to go back overriding her sense to flee.

            “We don’t have a choice! We must escape now, or do you want Sora’s sacrifice to be meaningless?” Athena calls to her. Kairi winces, not from the tone of Athena’s voice, but because she knows she is right. If she went back and got caught by the Heartless, Demons, or Phantoms, then Sora’s sacrifice would have meant nothing. The last thing she wanted to do was dishonour his memory by doing something like that. So, with a heavy heart, she descended the stairs to join the others. But no sooner does she do that than a Shadow Heartless jumps from above, startling everyone as they all go on alert.

            “A Shadow!? Where did that come from!?” Panther shouts, already cracking her whip.

            “I’ll take care of it!” Donald shouts, already rushing over with his staff held high. The Shadow sees Donald coming towards it before quickly moving to the side as Donald leaps into the air and lands heavily on the floor while the Shadow rushes towards Kairi. Joker, Crow, and King raise their weapons at the Shadow, fingers already pulling on the triggers as it rushes towards Kairi. But just as they are about to fire, the Shadow does something none of them expect it to do.

Instead of jumping to attack Kairi, the Shadow hid behind Kairi’s legs.

            “That’s… new.” Edel quips as everyone stares at the Heartless, while Donald pushes himself up. Tension thickens in the air as the Shadow seems to hide behind Kairi even more. “What’s up with this Shadow? It’s not acting like all the others?”

            “Don’t drop your guard…” Joker cautions the others, his pistol still aimed at the Shadow. “It might still go hostile.” While the Thieves, Donald, and Goofy were still wary of the Shadow, Kairi found herself staring right at its large yellow eyes. There was something… familiar about this Shadow. But she couldn’t understand what it was. The longer she looked, the more familiar this Shadow felt to her, until what felt like a clearing of thick mist lifted from her mind.

            “Sora…? Is that you?” She asks hesitantly.

            “Hold up… SORA?!” Skull shouts as everyone looks at the Shadow. “He became a Heartless?!”

            “Unfortunately… it does add up.” Crow remarks with a sad expression. “Considering what had happened to him, the fact that he has become a Heartless was the most likely probability. However, it is still an unfortunate outcome.” It really was saddening to see Sora as a Heartless, cowering behind Kairi as though it were scared of them. Although it did give the team a good look at one that wasn’t trying to attack them like a wild animal for a change.

            “You know… despite the fact that they are trying to kill us, the Shadow Heartless look kind of cute in a strange way.” Spring comments, tilting her head while grasping her hands behind her back.

            “Really, Spring?” Queen remarks, shaking her head in amusement.

            “Not the time, Spring! We've got hostile Heartless incoming!" Oracle suddenly calls out, spinning her battle staff around her as a horde of Shadow Heartless appears around them, while Sora's Shadow seems to push itself closer to Kairi, scared of the new ones currently surrounding them.

            “Not even a moment of respite!” Noir calls out, already unleashing a Psiodyne around her. The rest of the Thieves open up with their firearms, sniping at any Heartless that get close to them. As for Kairi, she stands protectively over Sora’s Heartless, even as her right hand shakes with fear.

            “This time… I'll protect you." She tells Sora's Heartless, even as fear builds inside her. But even as the Thieves fight off the Heartless, five Shadows appear above them, all eyeing Kairi with desire in their eyes. A primal desire for her pure heart of light. As the Shadows get ready to drop, Sophie feels a chill down the back of her spine, prompting her to spin around and look up, spotting the five as they descend.

            “Kairi! Above you!" She calls out, summoning Pandora and sending a blast of light at the Shadows, but only managing to hit one as the other four drop down onto Kairi.

            “Sora!” Kairi cries, spinning around and hugging Sora's Heartless to protect it from the hostile ones. At that moment, time seemed to slow down as all eyes turned to Kairi, watching as the Shadows slowly fell towards her. Spring reached for her mask, readying Kore to save her while Fox aimed with his assault rifle. But neither of them was fast enough as the Shadows got closer and closer to Kairi, claws ready to slash into her back.

Just as the Shadows reached her, a flash of light erupted from Sora’s Heartless, disintegrating the four Shadows and scattering the remaining Heartless in the foyer. The flash of light was bright enough to blind everyone, while Kairi had already closed her eyes before the flash. But as the warm light peeled away, she felt two arms hugging her close to someone. A faint hope sprang in her chest, blossoming into an inferno as the words that came from them were a balm to her soul.

            “Kairi… Thank you.” Sora tells her, someone returning to normal with a smile on his face. For a moment, Kairi thought her mind was playing tricks on her, but when she opened her eyes, those fears were quickly dashed. She could feel a teardrop from her left eye as she quickly returned the hug with a beaming smile on her face.

            “Sora!” Donald and Goofy cry out, rushing forward to leap onto him while pulling Kairi into a crushing hug. As for the Thieves, they stood there slack-jawed at what happened, before relief quickly replaced that as reality returned to them. Something that a few of them were more than willing to let Sora know.

            “You idiot!” Ace shouts, walking up and hitting Sora in the arm while Donald, Goofy, and Kairi separate from him. “What made you think that stabbing yourself with that Keyblade was a good idea!?” Sora doesn’t reply, instead looking away with a guilty expression while rubbing the back of his head. He had a feeling everyone was going to chew him out for this but was surprised when Ace hugged him instead. “Next time, don’t do anything stupid like that, okay?”

            “What Ace said.” Joker replies, walking up to him. “Coming from a person who’s almost died more times than he can count, next time talk to us about other options before sacrificing yourself.”

            “R-Right.” Sora replies, rubbing the back of his head again until he feels Joker’s hand resting on his shoulder, giving him a tired but relieved smile.

            “Even so, we're glad to have you back, Sora.” Joker tells him before catching a glimpse of movement from the stairs. "But it looks like we'll have to talk later! We've got Demons and Phantoms!" No sooner does he say that than several Onis and reptilian Phantoms holding guns with blades on the end charge down the stairs. Sora, narrowing his eyes, summons Kingdom Key to his side as the flames of rebellion rise around him, cladding him in his Thief attire while also surprising Kairi.

            Can’t even catch a break from getting brought back to life? Knight mentally asks himself, watching as a few of the Phantoms take aim at him before he counters with Thundara.

            Such is life. Bahamut replies to him mentally. And I must admit, what we experienced was certainly not pleasant.

            Not going to question that… so why don’t we let them know about it? “Bahamut! Megaton Raid!” Ripping his mask off, Knight once more brings back Bahamut to the scene, sending out the attack at the Phantoms and disrupting their formation. But it would appear that he wasn’t the only one to come back, as the Beast made his appearance known from above by tossing an Oni onto two of the Phantoms before grabbing another and using it as a makeshift weapon.

            “Beast! You’re alright!” Legion calls out, blocking a strike before retaliating with a quick punch and slash.

            “Go! Now!” Beast calls back, using his impromptu weapon to clear a path for them before jumping back to the staircase.

            “You can come with us! It’s too dangerous here!” Knight calls out, hoping he will come. But the Beast looks back at him and shakes his head.

            “I can’t. I told you before, I’m not leaving without Belle.” He replies before looking back at the exit. “I will hold them here and free the princesses. Go! Recover your strength! They are coming.” Knight wanted to protest, but he knew the Beast was right. They were all exhausted, and he had just been turned back into a normal person. Staying here would only be a greater risk for them.

            “Alright…” Knight relents. “Let’s get out of here.”

            “Lavenza should be able to beam us to the Highwind the moment we reach our original entry point!” Crow shouts as the team rushes out the main doors, hearing the Beast let out another roar of defiance as he holds the line. But while the Beast is holding back the main wave, it does not stop several smaller groups from ambushing them on their way back to the rising falls. Thankfully, the moment they reach the falls, they are all beamed aboard the Highwind in mere seconds.

But as much as they all wanted to collapse from exhaustion, they instead wasted no time in heading to the cockpit, where Lavenza was already piloting the Highwind away from Hollow Bastion. And for good reason, as the scanners around her were picking up a vast armada of ships chasing after them from the black hole behind Hollow Bastion.

            “Where did they come from?” Fox asks, taking his seat.

            “I am not sure.” Lavenza replies, her gaze not leaving her terminal as she quickly sets coordinates for Traverse Town. “Not long ago, a vast wave of darkness emerged from Hollow Bastion and the black hole. What happened down there?”

            “We'll explain back at base. For now, we need to get out of here!" Joker tells her, the urgency in his voice causing Lavenza to quickly understand as she activates the warp drive and sends them all back home, just as the armada of Heartless ships is about to open fire on them.

Meanwhile, in the forests outside Twilight Town, the world placed between light and dark, a young male teen materialized on the forest floor, not far from a large mansion. He wore a black, high-collared jacket with a zip resembling a four-pointed shuriken. Over this, he wore another jacket, this one unzipped and white, with several black block designs and a grey hem at the end of each sleeve. This jacket's collar was red, pleated, and folded back.

He also wore two-coloured pants; the legs of his pants were beige with several what looked like buttons on the hem that appeared to attach the legs to the rest of the cloth, which was dark-coloured. His shoes were coloured in shades of grey and black and had red straps in place of laces. Finally, a wristband with a black-and-white chequerboard pattern lay on his left wrist, as well as a plain black ring on his left index finger and a plain white ring on his left middle finger.

But the one thing that was on his mind at the moment, even as he pushed himself up, was the very thing that was lacking in his mind. He had no memories. Nothing. Not even a peep of a past. All he could find was a dark void where his memories should be, and yet there was nothing. Why couldn’t he remember anything? Where was he? And WHO was he? It was then that he also noticed that it wasn’t just his memories that were gone. He couldn’t feel anything either. Well, that was a lie in some way. He could still feel the clothes on his skin, the wind gently passing by him, and the sun's rays coming down. But feelings… were surprisingly muted.

Unbeknownst to him, he was also being watched by several eyes from the nearby mansion, hidden behind the curtains as they debated whether they should venture out or not. But the choice was taken out of their hands as a new figure emerged from a dark portal, wearing a black coat that went down to his ankles, with black gloves and boots covering his hands and feet, and a hood that shrouded his face in darkness.

            “You seek answers.” The man tells the teen, as though he already knew what was going through his mind. The man raises a hand, gently weaving it through the air as it spells out a name: ‘Sora’. Something that felt strikingly familiar to him, yet he could not remember why. “You feel nothing. Nothing is real. I can give you purpose.” The man offers, holding a hand out to the boy. With nothing else, he nods at the man, who then commands the letters before him to spin around. Faster and faster they spin, creating a mini circle around the boy before they are abruptly stopped by the man. Inserting a large X into the name, the jumbled-up words form a new name. The moment he saw it, his eyes, which were devoid of light, suddenly had life in them as he finally found his voice.

            “…Roxas.” He speaks, seeing the name before him as he lets out a smile.

            “That is right. The new you." The man replies, forming a dark portal before him and gently motioning Roxas into it. Before he steps through, he pauses for a moment, turning to look at the mansion before walking into the portal. For a moment, he thinks he feels eyes on him but shrugs it off, unaware that he has just missed the eyes of the Investigation Team, which includes both Dojima and Nanako, as they hunker down inside the main foyer of the mansion.

            “Does anyone know what the hell we just saw?” Dojima asks, folding his arms around himself. “You lot are used to all this, right?”

            “Even we are unsure of a lot of things.” Naoto replies, brushing her hair back. “And this is one of those things.”

            “For real! I mean, that kid appeared out of a flash of light, then that guy walked out of a portal of darkness and took him away!” Kanji remarks, rubbing his head. “Almost as though he was expecting him to appear.”

            “Dang it… This is just so confusing.” Chie comments, rubbing her head. “If only we could contact the others, if they are even still alive, that is.”

            “I’m sure they are still alive.” Yosuke tries to reassure, but the tone of his voice speaks otherwise. “At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.”

            “All we can do for now is just sit and wait.” Yu remarks, folding his arms. "We have seen several of these people in black coats a few times now. It's safe to say they are all part of the same group. As for why they are bringing that boy in with them, we can only guess." He lets out an annoyed sigh, rubbing the back of his head as he runs through multiple scenarios in his mind, and none of them are good.

            “Still, if only we knew more about those people. Not to mention those creatures that attacked us back in Inaba." Nanako comments, still confused like the rest of them about what happened to their home.

            “If you are in need of help, then allow me to offer my services.” A new voice suddenly joined them, prompting all to turn to the source while Dojima put Nanako behind him. Above them, next to the door that led to a library, was a man whose face was covered in red bandages, save for his right eye and mouth. Two intersecting belts are tied around his head, one passing over where his left eye should be. He wore a long, red cape with a quadrate cross-cut taken out at the chest, the edges of which were yellow. This cut exposed a similarly oblong white symbol on a pitch-black shirt.

Over this shirt, he wears what appears to be grey, segmented armour over his sides and abdomen. His legs are covered by a long, black cloth lined with yellow, which itself has several brown straps pinned onto the front, seemingly for no purpose other than to create yet another angular pattern. On a yellow sash that hangs around his waist are three brown pouches, descending downward diagonally on his left hip. These pouches are all identical, all sporting the same design on the top flap, and all closed by a darker brown strap that attaches to a silver button on the right side, with a grey tassel hanging from each button. There is also a dark-coloured scarf around his neck, while his sleeves are lightly coloured.

            “Who are you?” Yukiko asks, as everyone can feel their Personas ready to come out, evident by the Tarot cards appearing next to their hands. It is not really helped by how this guy sounds like a certain Count of Serrano. But the stranger simply raises both hands, indicating that he has come to talk and not to fight.

            “Peace. I have no intentions of clashing with Persona, or from my perspective, Demon tamers of old." The man tells them, causing them all to raise their eyebrows in confusion as he slowly descends the stairs. "I must admit, I did not expect people to make this old mansion a home once more. I suppose it is true that life can hold many surprises.”

            “Who are you?” Rise decides to ask, even as she holds a Tarot card close to her.

            “And how do you know about Personas?” Teddie asks, shoulder tense as the man stops before them.

            “There are many things that I know about, including what you have witnessed.” The man replies, nodding his head at the outside as he turns his lone orange eye onto Yu. “As for what you may call me… my name is DiZ.”

            “We’re about to exit warp soon.” Lavenza tells everyone, eyes glued ahead. “It would be safe to say we are now out of danger.”

            “Finally…” Panther remarks as she and everyone else shift back into normal attire. “We can take a chance to rest.” No one was going to argue against that, as they all could feel the tension leave their shoulders. It had been rough on the way back, finding themselves forcibly removed from warp several times due to Heartless and Phantom ships blocking their path. In all honesty, the number they were encountering was far more than what they had seen at any point in their adventure so far. No doubt due to the Keyhole at Hollow Bastion being completed, which was an unfortunate complication. Not that any of them even expected such a Keyhole to exist until it was too late. But anyway, it finally allowed them to do something they had neglected to do.

            “Apologies for the wait, but I think it’s time we introduced ourselves to you.” Akechi remarks to Kairi. “Circumstances being what they were, we never had a chance for proper introductions.”

            “That's okay.” Kairi replies, brushing her lap. "For some reason, I already know your names… But I suppose it doesn't hurt to have a refresher." She clears her throat, looking at everyone as she gives them all a smile. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Kairi Panettiere." One by one, each member of the Thieves, as well as Lavenza, Donald, and Goofy, introduces themselves to Kairi, and she even gushes about Sophia. But after Sora catches his friend up on everything that has happened so far since Destiny Islands fell to darkness, which Kairi was amazed by, all things had to end as the Highwind soon came out of warp near Traverse Town. What they found was far from comforting, as a black aura had seemingly enveloped the world.

            “The hell is going on now!?” Mishima shouts as Lavenza takes the Highwind into the atmosphere.

            “The Heartless must be launching a full-scale attack on Traverse Town! But why? We sealed the Keyhole!" Haru shouts, just as the ship comes in to land.

            “We can worry about that later! Right now, everyone needs our help!" Makoto calls out as everyone stands up before she turns to look at Kairi. "I'm sorry, Kairi, but it's too dangerous for you to go out right now." Kairi pouts, folding her arms as she is about to argue, but Lavenza simply lets out a chuckle as she joins them.

            “Have no fear. I will keep her safe." She replies, summoning her chainsaw into her hands, causing everyone to sweat drop. "Rest assured, no Heartless, Demons, or Phantom shall touch her." In a comical moment, the Thieves all rapidly nod their heads at her in silence. And while Sora was still unsure about letting Kairi come with them, based on what he, Donald, and Goofy were told of Lavenza's power when the other Thieves recounted the times they decided to have a few test matches against her—and that they won only once—he should be okay as long as Kairi stays by the Velvet Room attendant's side.

            “Then let’s stop wasting time and go!” Donald suddenly calls out, running for the exit. The rest of the team chases after him, knowing that what was happening was more important than talking as they rush out of the ship. They find the doors leading into Traverse Town wide open, with the sound of combat echoing from inside. But it was what was in the middle of the First District that caught the eye of everyone.

            “An Abaddon!? What is that doing here!?” Edel shouts, watching as the large Demon attacks with a Mabufudyne, creating a vast ice wall as the Heartless around it march forward. At least, that’s what they were doing until some of them were blasted by silver and cyan spears and howling winds. But they did nothing to the Abaddon, which continued to move forward, eyes glued on whoever it was fighting and completely ignoring everyone behind it.

            “Freidyne!” Queen and Ace shout, blasting the Abaddon with Nuke magic. The spells slam into its back, catching it off guard, while the Heartless around it all turn to face the Keyblade Phantoms as they rush in. But that only gives their other foes an opening, as Rebel and Erina charge into their ranks. However, there is someone else charging alongside them. Dressed in armour that looks right out of medieval times, it naturally fits her body while being coloured in different hues of silver and gold. Specifically, she wears a set of interwoven metal plates over chain mail, looking as though it came from the 14th century. A small cape flows down her back, stopping just above her hips, while a longsword, consisting of a long silver blade with a red jewel in the guard and a handgrip coated in red leather, is held in her right hand, along with a Sten gun hanging from her hip. She wears a mask that takes the form of both Rebel's and Erina's masks, yet with both eyes uncovered and the rock a silver-white.

While Rebel and Erina cleaved into the Heartless, this new person used her longsword to slash at the foes around the Abaddon before ripping her mask off, revealing herself to be Tsuchiya as she shouted to the heavens, glaring at the Heartless around her. “Gwendolyn! Brave Blade!” At her call, an ethereal figure of blue materialized behind her, wearing a garment fit for a queen, coloured in snow-white with royal red and gold, yet clad in silver armour with a lion design on her chest, lion heads on the pauldron, and Pegasus wings sprouting from her knee guards. On her back were a pair of fairy wings, with her long brown hair nestled between them while her face was covered by a silver veil, topped with a blue tiara.

With an elegant sword in hand, the Persona let loose and slashed around her, tearing into the Heartless even as the Thieves charged in. They were surprised but focused on the here and now instead of letting their questions run wild.

            “Glad to see you're back!” Erina calls out to them just as they join up, spearing a Wyvern as Fox dashes past and slices a Dark Ball. "Mind telling us what's going on? Because these things don't know when to quit!”

            “We’ll explain everything later!” Joker calls out, firing his gun at some Dark Balls while Queen and Ace focus on the Abaddon. “For now, focus on the Heartless and Demons!”

            “Psiodyne!” Noir and Shinobi call out, blasting the Abaddon with Psy magic. The Abaddon roars back, attempting to grab them with its large hands, only to be blocked by Goofy as Knight jumps up, sending a Strike Raid at the Abaddon while Lavenza and Kairi stay near the entrance. Several Defenders attempt to grab Kairi but are met by Lavenza’s chainsaw ripping through their shields without mercy. While she is focused on that, something else catches her attention as she returns her gaze to Knight as he takes off his mask