Fanfiction ► The Xehanort War

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 71: Touch The Sky:
Radiant Garden – Conference Room:
"What did you find?" Cassim asked as he debriefed the newest recruit to the Coalition's intelligence division, a young man named Zidane Tribal. The young had only been twelve when Radiant Garden fell, and had ended up stranded in La Cite De Cloches for a few years before that world had fallen into darkness. After the restoration of the world a year ago, he'd hitched a ride back to Radiant Garden with Aqua, Ventus, and Lea following their brief visit to the world to find allies against Xehanort. Because of the politics of that world, only a few people pledged their support to the group: a soldier named Phoebus, his wife Esmerelda, and a bell-ringer named Quasimodo. The three (plus Esmerelda's pet goat, Djali) had come along to Radiant Garden so that they would be right in the center of the action. His attention returned to the presence as the young warrior gave his report.

"I found out how Maleficent is obtaining so many resources for her campaign," the nineteen year old replied as he stood at attention in the small conference room. "One of her allies has seized control of his world and is taxing his subjects to pay for Maleficent's equipment. And they're using the abandoned lair of the forty thieves as vault to hide their loot, thinking that an abandoned lair would not be an obvious place to hide their gold." That's genius, the former King of Thieves thought to himself as he thought over the best way to handle the situation. All three teams of Key bearers are unreachable at the moment, so our options are limited.

"Here's what we're going to do," the older man began. "Sora, Donald, and Goofy shouldn't take long helping with our delegation on DunBroch, so as soon as they leave that world, we'll need to contact their ship and let them know our plan of attack. This will have to be a two-pronged assault. While they overthrow Maleficent's pawn in, what world was it again? Sherwood Forest? Anyway, those three will strike there while we lead a contingent of Coalition troops to raid the villains' treasure horde on Agrabah."

"Brilliant strategy sir," Zidane responded as Cassim stood up. "Shall I inform the council of the plan?"

"Please and thank you," he replied as they walked out of the room. "This will go a long way towards crippling Maleficent's schemes." The pair went on to discuss the recent delegation sent to the Kingdom of Corona (consisting of Zed, Mara, Aerith Gainsborough, and Aladdin) as they walked upstairs to the Grand Hall. The number of worlds in the Coalition was growing day by day, and with each new world, there was one less place for Maleficent's cabal to hide.

DunBroch – Royal Bedchambers:

"It's gotta be here somewhere," Queen Elinor whispered as she looked through her late husband's wardrobe for the enchanted helmet the witch had spoken of. Behind, her Merida walked slowly into the room. The off-worlders were searching the rest of the castle for other places where Fergus could potentially have left the helm.

"Ye won't find the helm here," the future queen said softly.

"I will if ya help me look," her mother snapped as she turned from the wardrobe and went to search another corner of her and Fergus' bedroom. "Check that sideboard," she instructed her daughter as she walked over to the window.

"No," Merida replied, turning to face her mom. "Ye won't find it because it's not here. I packed that's helm in dad's trunk me self when we went to fight off Maleficent's minions when they attacked the Dingwall clan."

"You mean…" her mother began, "he was wearin' it…"

"When he was killed," she finished sadly as her mother sat down in shock, sadness, and horror. "What was that witch on about when she said dad didn't know how to lead?" she asked as she sat down across from her mother. "What do you think the helm's magic did?"

"Well whatever it did," the older woman answered, "I'm sure Fergus had good reason for needin' it. But right now we have a more pressing question. If the helm's lost, what are we goin' ta do about the witch?"

"I didn't say it was lost," Merida replied with a smile. "I just said it wasn't here."

"Ye know where it is?" Elinor asked hopefully.

"After that man killed dad," the red-head began. "He took the helm, right there in the middle of the battlefield. But for either he didn't realize it was magic or he just decided at the last moment that he didn't want it, 'cause he threw it away. It's still there."

"No, Merida," her mother said bluntly, realizing where her daughter was going with this line of thought. "Absolutely not."

"I haven't even said anything yet," she retorted.

"But I know what you're thinking," Elinor replied. "You are not going back to that battlefield. Those monsters and their allies are still out there. This Maleficent's minions already took Fergus from me. I can't lose you too"

"If I don't find that helmet, my entire kingdom will be doomed," Merida said as she picked up her bow.

"Those people killed your father," her mom warned. "If they figure out his helm has magic, they'll come back to look for it, and they won't give it up without a fight when they find it."

"That's what I'm counting on," the young queen answered. "Because this time, my arrow won't miss. Don't worry about me, mum. I won't be going alone. Those off-worlders are after those monsters too. Most likely they'll all be coming with me whether I want them to or not." Elinor reluctantly agreed to that, and a short while later, Merida, Sora, Mulan, Donald, Goofy, and Shang rode out to the battlefield where the late King Fergus had been killed, hoping that they could find the helmet before Maleficent and her minions figured out what it was and came back for it.

"This is it," Merida said sadly as the group of six walked through the fields where only a few short weeks ago, her father had perished at the hands of one of Maleficent's allies. "This is where my dad died." After a few minutes of searching, they finally found the helm. Unfortunately, the instant they laid eyes on it, a swarm of Heartless appeared around them. Between the six warriors, the monsters were destroyed within minutes, but when they looked back to the tree the helm had been resting against it was gone.

"Did you lose something?" A familiar voice called out mockingly. Sora, Donald, and Goofy immediately, recognized who it was. So the Replica snatched the helmet while we busy with the Heartless, then, Sora realized as his best friend's clone emerged from a corridor of darkness. Having been given a description of the Organizaiton members by Mulan, Merida immediately drew an arrow and fired at Riku's doppelganger, making the first move so he didn't make it for them. Unfortunately for everyone, the Replica caught the arrow in his hand mere inches from his heart. Then in a blink of an eye, he vanished before plunging the arrow into Sora's shoulder.

"SORA!" Donald and Goofy shouted while the young Keyblade Master screamed in pain as he dropped to his knees. They quickly raced to the seventeen-year old's side while Merida, Shang, and Mulan readied their weapons.

"What was that for!?" Merida shouted as Donald yanked the arrow out of his friend's back and cast a Curaga spell on the wound, sealing it up and washing away the blood in seconds. "What do you want!?" She demanded. But instead of the clone, a woman's voice answered.

"I don't know what that pathetic imitation of a Keyblade Master wants, but I'm here for you father's helm, my dear," Maleficent said menacingly as she appeared in the air in a column of green fire.

"Why does everybody want that stupid helmet?" the young queen asked angrily as Goofy helped Sora to his feet while Donald and the other two off-worlders faced the dark fairy.

"You don't even know what the helmet does, do you?" The Replica asked as Merida lowered her bow, unwilling to trust the Nobody but curious to know just what was so important about the object that cost her father his life.

"It has the power to make other men fight your battles," Maleficent added, her usual smugness less pronounced than normal. "However dangerous they may be."

"You're lying!" Merida shouted back. "It can't be!

"Unfortunately, it is," Repliku commented. "And while it's only a back-up, it may still be necessary to keep those in the Organization who disagree with Xehanort's goals in line."

"Organization XIII tearing itself apart over infighting and double-crossing," Sora commented sarcastically. "Big surprise."

"So it seems the rumors that Terra flew the coup were true," Maleficent commented tauntingly, savoring the rare look of surprise on the face of any associate of Xehanort. "As I expected they were."

"WHAT!?" The Keyblade Master shouted, processing this all. If Terra broke free of Xehanort's control, he realized, then Xehanort has one less vessel, and we have one more ally.

"No!" Merida declared. "My dad would never use magic to force people to fight for him!"

"Well apparently your father wasn't the good king you thought he was after all," the green-skinned sorceress commented with a trace of sadness in her voice.

"Back off!" Mulan snapped, aiming her blade within inches of the replica's throat while Shang did the same for Maleficent. Suddenly, the Replica vanished before reappearing with Merida's bow in his hand.

"THAT BELONGED TO MY FATHER!" Merida screamed as she lunged at the Organization member.

"I know," the Replica taunted, "I figured it would make a nice trophy to bring back to the Castle That Never Was."

"BUT THAT BOW WAS THE LAST THING HE EVER GAVE ME!" The queen shouted with tears in her eyes.

"Well then you'll have to console yourself with memories," the dark Riku taunted. "And the knowledge of what a terrible ruler he turned out to be. See ya!" With that, the clone was gone through a corridor of Darkness with Maleficent hot on his heels. Merida angrily stormed back to where their horses had been tied up.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked as the red-head stormed back to her horse.

"Where do you think?" she retorted. "Home!"

"You can't just give up!" Mulan snapped. "What would your father say if he could hear you now?"

"I don't know, because he's DEAD! He isn't here because I did save him!" Merida shouted as she broke down from all the stress. Between saving her brothers and now the quest for the helm she hadn't really had a chance to properly grieve for her father, and she was letting it all out now. "And now I understand what the witch meant when she said my dad couldn't lead!" Merida snapped. "If he can't do it without magic, how can I?"

"Merida…" Mulan began.

"No!" the queen interrupted. "My father used dark magic to lead innocent men to their deaths. He died too. I won't let the kingdom suffer just to prove I can do what he couldn't."

"Wait a minute!" Sora shouted as a thought came to him. "Merida, don't go back yet. They don't have the real helmet! The witch said it "glistened like the sun". The helmet the Riku Replica had didn't even glisten at all! It was all rusted and worn. Your dad never wore it in that battle!"

"And the reason he took my bow is because he managed to get a tracking potion from the witch and he needs something that belonged to my dad in order to find the real helm!" Merida finished the thought as she dried her eyes. Her spirits lifted, the queen told everyone she realized where the helm was, and the group quickly split up. Sora, Donald, and Merida went after the helm while Mulan, Goofy, and Shang rode back to the castle to get reinforcements. They were going to get the helmet and save the kingdom, even if they needed to fight their way through both Maleficent and the Organization to do it.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 72: The Games:
DunBroch – Witch's Cottage:
"I guess this is the witch's house," Goofy commented as he looked at the wide variety of cauldrons and bottles lying around the small cottage. "Looks like somebody already came through and trashed the place."

"My best guess says that this Replica either broke in to steal the locator potion when the witch wasn't home, or he threatened her into giving up what he needed," Mulan suggested as she, Goofy, and Shang turned around to leave. They'd stopped by the cottage to see if the witch could offer aid in the battle, only to find she wasn't home. As they walked towards their horses, they heard a growling noise and turned around to find two wolves trotting out of the cottage growling menacingly. Mulan and Shang drew their blades but Goofy took a good long look at the witch's guard dogs.

"You're not really wolves," he declared as the two canines pounced, pinning Mulan and Shang to the ground. "You just need help remembering who you are." Acting quickly, the anthropomorphic dog threw his shield at a cauldron lying on the ground near where Mulan and Shang were pinned, knocking the kettle to the ground and causing multi-color smoke to wash over the two wolves. From the smoke emerged two men Goofy was all too familiar with.

"Sorry about that," Ludor apologized as he stood up and helped Shang to his feet.

"Ludor," Terra warned as he reached out a hand and helped Mulan up. "That is the last time we go to that witch for help."

"Well, Terra," the Gambler of Fate replied. "How was I supposed to know that her idea of hiding us from Sephiroth was to turn us into wolves and make us be her guard dogs as payment?"

"You could have asked to read the fine print before we agreed to the deal," the Key Bearer retorted before turning to address the three warriors. "Sorry about that," he said sheepishly.

"Nice to finally meet you, Terra," Goofy replied as he shook the man's hand. "Mickey and Aqua have told me a lot about you." He then went on to introduce Terra to Mulan and Shang, and Terra in turn introduced them all to Ludor.

"Not all of it good, I'm sure," Terra replied sadly. "So what brings you all here to DunBroch? Expanding the Coalition, I take it?"

"Well that's what Mulan and Shang are here for," Goofy answered. "Sora, Donald, and I came to investigate because the previous king was killed by one of Maleficent's allies because of some magic helmet that can control people. And the Organization's looking for it too so they can use it to control you guys again."

"Great," Terra remarked sarcastically. "One more reason to get out of here before Sephiroth comes back to grab us."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Goofy offered. "Pride Land is one of those worlds where you change to match the inhabitants. Sora was still powerful as a lion but his skills and mobility were really limited to what a four-legged body could do. If Sephiroth follows you there…"

"He'll be weakened enough in whatever animal form he ends up with that it'll level the playing field," Ludor finished as the two fugitives followed the dog's train of thought. "Excellent. We need to get going before Sephiroth figures out we're here. Sorry we can't stay and help but we can't risk Sephiroth massacring everyone on this planet just to hunt us down." After Goofy promised to pass on a message to Aqua from Terra, the duo fled DunBroch through a Dark Corridor, heading for a world they'd never been to before outside of doing recon for the old Organization.

DunBroch – Sea Shores:

"And what makes you think you should have this helmet?" the Riku Replica asked tauntingly as he waved the enchanted helm around in his hand. He tuned out the dark fairy's insults as he reflected on how he'd gotten here. He'd arrived on the shores of a nearby lake to find Maleficent levitating the helmet out of the water. Without preamble he warped around before snatching it from the witch's hands, and now he was taunting her, knowing that she'd been trying to avoid picking a fight with the Organization. He wasn't too concerned about Sora and the others interrupting. He'd sent out enough Heartless and Nobodies to make sure that he'd be long gone by the time the heroes finally got here. Unfortunately, that might not have been enough, he realized as a fire spell came out of nowhere and knocked the helmet out of his hands and into the forest.

"That doesn't belong to you," Merida declared as she, Sora, and Donald raced out of the trees to face the two.

"You don't know when to give up, do you little girl?" the Replica jeered, amused with the young queen's perseverance. Ignoring him, she turned her attention to the dark fairy standing near him.

"So you're Maleficent," Merida said as Mulan, Shang, and Goofy emerged from the forest to join them. "You're the one whose soldiers killed my father."

"Indeed I am," the dark sorceress replied smugly. Enraged, the queen drew her sword.

"Merida, stop," Mulan warned. "This isn't about revenge. This is about finding the helm and saving your kingdom."

"I know," Merida replied grudgingly. "I'm just glad that my dad never wore that helmet into battle. Those men followed him because they believed in 'im, not because 'e compelled them to."

"As touching as this family drama is," Maleficent cut in, "I need that helm."

"I'll do whatever it takes to stop both of you from leaving DunBroch with that helm," Merida warned as she and the two off-worlders prepared for battle. "My people are counting on me."

"So are mine," the clone replied as the battle began. Sora drew the attention from the Riku Replica while Donald and Merida focused on Maleficent.

"Make another move," A voice called out warningly. Maleficent and the Riku Replica turned to find arrows being pointed at them by the sons of Dingwall, MacGuffin, and Mackintosh. "And you'll look like a porcupine!" the heir of clan Mackintosh finished.

"One of those arrows bound to hit its mark," Merida warned with a smile as she retrieved her father's bow. "And even yer magic can't stop all of them," she said to Maleficent as more archers emerged from the trees. Realizing she was out-numbered and temporarily outmatched, the green-skinned sorceress disappeared in a burst of black smoke and green fire. Moments later, the Replica retreated through a Corridor of Darkness himself. As the two villains fell back, Merida dashed forward and grabbed the enchanted helmet before either villain could snatch it away.

"I wouldn't have the helm if it wasn't for ye," she told the soldiers as they all came down to greet her.

"We couldn't let our queen fall," the young man from the Mackintosh clan replied respectfully as he and all the other warriors kneeled before her.

"After all this, ya still want me to be your queen?" she asked cautiously. She'd recovered her self-confidence but was unsure of where the loyalties of the clans truly lied.

"Ye were willing to give up your life for the good of the kingdom," the Mackintosh heir replied. "I only ever saw one person ever make a sacrifice like that – Yer father. If ye're not fit to lead the clans, no one is." Merida smiled, and a short while later, everyone cheered as Merida was finally crowned queen of DunBroch. This time, when the witch returned at sundown, Merida was ready. When the witch demanded the helmet back, the new queen refused, announcing her intention to destroy the helmet, believing that nobody should have the power to make people fight for something they didn't believe in.

"I'll find another way to defeat your curse," Merida declared firmly. "But I will not be bullied into giving this back." To everyone's surprise, this was exactly what the witch wanted to hear. Apparently the entire thing was a test the witch set up at the request of King Fergus so that Merida would understand what it took to be a leader.

"Your magic's never very direct, is it?" Elinor asked impatiently, recalling the bear incident (which forced her and Merida to come to understand each other better) as she glared at the witch. Doesn't sound like it, Sora mentally agreed.

"It gets the job done," the elderly sorceress replied defensively. "I pride myself on satisfied customers." Before she left, the witch presented Merida with a coronation gift: magical ale that would allow her to talk to her father's spirit. After a few hours of festivities, Merida and her mother went outside to talk to King Fergus' ghost. Sora, Donald, and Goofy snuck out after the first couple hours (saying goodbye just before Merida went to use the ale to talk to her father) and set off for another world. Mulan and Shang stayed for the duration of the celebration, since after agreeing to bring DunBroch to the coalition, Merida had appointed her mother as her representative on the council. As they left, Sora felt an increasing sense of foreboding, as if the conflict with Xehanort and Maleficent was about to reach a boiling point.

With DunBroch finished, we're getting close to the turning point people. The roller coaster is approaching the top of the hill. Hold onto your seats because in a few chapters things are going to heat up very quickly.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 73: The Jungle:
San Fransokyo – Akuma Island:

"How's Project Dark Bot coming along?" Hades asked as he paced the laboratory. While Maleficent was popping over to DunBorch, he had volunteered to come check on the hamster-like alien's progress.

"Almost there," Hamsterviel replied. "Although if Yzma were here to help me it would go along much faster. But alas, she's off on some jungle world collecting DNA samples for her potion cabinet."

"How soon do you think until the project is ready?" the lord of the Underworld inquired, leaning against the wall of the lab. The sooner they could get this thing up and running, the better.

"A few days at most," the mad scientist replied. "Once it's ready I plan to test drive it out in the city. This "Big Hero 6" team has abilities close to base line fighting skills and combat magic. If the project can defeat them, then it will stand a chance against the so-called heroes of the Keyblade."

"Excellent," Hades exclaimed. "I'll pass along the good news. And Yzma's supposed to report back in in about a day or two, so things should speed along once she gets back. I gotta go check back in at HQ." With that, the Greek god warped back to Cable Town in a puff of fire and smoke. After so many weeks, all their planning and preparations were nearly complete. Once Xehanort was dead, they would finally be ready to strike.

The Jungle – Man Village:

"So let me get this straight," Lea began, addressing the boy. "You were raised in the jungle. By wolves." He, Aqua, and Ven had arrived on this world because its lack of large cities made it an ideal place for Maleficent and her allies to hide equipment and supplies. They'd landed their ship further downriver on the edge of the jungle so it would stay hidden, and hiked down towards the village. Since this world was extremely small, the trio initially went with their pre-planned cover story rather than worry about giving them the big long-winded explanation of the Daybreak Coalition, figuring they'd tell the village leader, Nathoo, when it was necessary. Which they then did after he explained that the village had recently been attacked by "red devils" that matched the description of Maleficent's alien henchmen. He was a little skeptical about the whole story, but accepted their offer of help nonetheless. After that first meeting, they'd been introduced to the village leader's adopted son, a boy named Mowgli, who'd apparently been orphaned as a baby and raised by wolves.

"Yeah," the twelve-year-old replied, curious as to why the visitor was asking.

"And you wore that same piece of fabric for ten years, correct?" the red haired man asked again.

"I didn't start wearing them until after my pack taught me how to control my bladder," Mowgli answered with a chuckle as he realized that the man was incredulous as to how to he managed to keep his red loincloth clean without accidentally wetting himself in it. Come to think of it, Lea thought to himself as the pre-teen regaled the Key bearer with stories of his life in the jungle, the whole "raised by wolves" thing kind of reminds me of Roxas and Xion. Organization XIII certainly felt like a pack mentality at times. Xemnas was basically the Alpha wolf, Saix was directly beneath him on the social ladder, and all of us were beneath him. Roxas and Xion were the anomalies, the humans raised by wolves, the two unconventional Nobodies who were raised by the Organization (with me doing the heavy lifting as far as parenting was concerned) but were at the same time always different from the rest of us no matter how much they tried to be like everyone else.

As Mowgli finished telling the older man about the time he'd been faced the vicious tiger, Shere Khan, Aqua, Ventus, and Nathoo walked up. The three had spent the last hour discussing plans about bringing the village under the protection of the Coalition and packing supplies for a multi-day trek through the jungle to drive back Maleficent's foot soldiers. Mowgli had been eager to go with them, and finally managed to convince his adoptive father to let him tag along. He argued that 1) he had been raised by wolves and thus knew how to fight off any wild beast that meant him harm, 2) that the three visitors were obviously capable warriors and would protect him anyway, and finally 3) he grew up in the jungle and knew the terrain and geography better than anyone else in the village. After a lengthy argument, Nathoo finally agreed.

Realizing that there needed to be a Keyblade wielder in the village should the Heartless or Nobodies show up, Aqua asked Ven to stay behind. Although initially frustrated about being left behind, once Aqua explained why she needed him to stay , Ven agreed to remain and protect the village. Once they were all packed and ready, Aqua, Mowgli, and Lea set off into the jungle. Although Lea smirked when Mowgli stopped to say goodbye to a girl in a purple skirt on the way out of the village. Once they were out of sight from the river, Mowgli leaned back and let out a long, low howl, clearly attempting to communicate with his wolf family. He perked up when an answering howl echoed through the trees.

"We'll meet the pack at Council Rock," Mowgli said firmly as the howling faded. "They'll be able to point us in the right direction. With that, he took off into the underbrush, the two Key Bearers right behind him.

Square Enix has been trying to put a Jungle Book world into KH1 since the beginning. They wanted to include it in KH1, but Deep Jungle made the whole jungle theme a bit redundant. They got as far as creating areas for King Louie's lair for BBS. In KH3 I think it's about time the Jungle Book world finally showed up. As for the story, I felt that both the original movie and the 2003 sequel didn't really have much to go on in terms of how it relates to the overall KH3 story arc, so I figured an original story was the best approach.

So basically my timeline is that it's been two years since the end of the first Jungle Book and about a year since the end of the sequel. Events of the sequel are canon with this story in Broad Strokes. Some parts of it are canon with my story (Shere Khan going Knight of Cerebus to get revenge on Mowgli, Mowgli being homesick, the Elephants and Baghera teaming up to stop Baloo from reaching the village, the vultures, the musical numbers, that kind of thing), some parts aren't (Kaa's exaggerated incompetence, the Elephants panicking when the humans come into the jungle looking for the kids, etc.) And some elements are entirely made up as part of my head-canon (Mowgli misses the wolf pack as much as he misses Baghera and Baloo and gets to visit them, his wolf parents and siblings come and stop by when he starts sneaking back into the jungle to visit everyone at the end of the movie, etc.)

For those who don't know, the name Nathoo that I gave to Mowgli's father is a Mythology Gag to the original books. In the books, when Mowgli moves into the Man Village, he's adopted by a couple whose son was snatched away by a tiger (implied but not confirmed to be Shere Khan), and they believe that Mowgli is their amnesiac child, coming home to them at last (The books never give a definitive answer as to whether that's true, and one adaptation explicitly said it's not). I figured if I was going to give a character who was nameless in the movie a name, it should be something from the books that wasn't in the Disney movies.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 74: Bear Necessities:
The Jungle – Council Rock:

Sheesh, Lea thought to himself as he looked out at the assembled creatures. Looks like half the jungle showed up for this. Despite a few Nobody and Heartless attacks along the way, he, Mowgli, and Aqua had reached Council Rock by nightfall. When they arrived they found not just the wolves, but the elephants, vultures, monkeys, and assorted other animal species waiting as well. Although Mowgli explained how he and his friend (more like future girlfriend in Lea's opinion) Shanti had helped improve relations between the human village and the different social groups of the jungle, tensions were still there, and everyone was hesitant to trust the two humans. Fortunately, because Mowgli vouched for them, their presence was at least tolerated. Aqua did most of the talking while the pack leader, Akela explained that the "red dogs", as they called Maleficent's shock troops, had taken up residence in a cluster of ancient ruins deep in the jungle. Lea was only half paying attention as the alpha wolf explained that the beasts had driven the monkeys out of their home in the process.

"Sounds like Maleficent's lackeys alright," Lea commented. Unfortunately this forced the man to give the animals a basic explanation of who Maleficent was. He left out everything to do with the Keyblade War, magic, other worlds, and all that, explaining that Maleficent was a powerful warrior who sought dominion over the entire world. This made it a lot easier for the animals to digest, since both he and Aqua figured that the entire story would be a little hard for them to comprehend in their terms. He did catch Mowgli raising an eyebrow during the entire story, as if he knew there was more that the red-haired man wasn't telling. He'll probably still have a hard time wrapping his head around all of it, the former Flurry of Dancing Flames thought to himself as Aqua continued talking with Akela about battle strategy. The so-called "red beasts", had killed or captured several animals since their arrival for no apparent reason, and everyone was eager to finally drive the monsters way from their part of the jungle once and for all.

After a lengthy discussion of what to do, Aqua and the pack eventually came to an agreement on how to approach the problem. The two Key bearers would attack the ruins form the main entrance, while the wolves and other animals would attack from the sides. The red monsters would be boxed in with nowhere to run. Lea and Aqua had no intention of killing the things, but they were definitely going to freeze them and bring them back to Disney Town or Radiant Garden for incarceration. Since the wolves were leading the way to the ruins, Mowgli stayed behind with a few others to protect the mothers and children of the different animal groups. At dawn, the group set off for the ruins. As they left, Lea looked back and saw that Mowgli had already started setting up defenses around the perimeter with the help of that bear, Baloo.

The kid's pretty good at surviving out here, the red-haired man thought to himself as he and Aqua followed Baghera the panther through the underbrush. He may be living with other humans, but from what I saw at the village the people there don't really accept him either. Sure that village leader accepted the kid with open arms, but I heard people whispering about him when he walked by. They see him as a wild child who doesn't know how to act civilized. But the wolves, and the elephants, and the vultures all treat him like one of their own, even when he's been living in that village for over a year. And Lea could tell that given the choice between civilization and the untamed wilderness, Mowgli would choose the wilderness every time. He could tell just from what little he'd seen of the kid's behavior. In the village, he clearly had a few friends, but outside that small group he was obviously a bit of a loner. Kind of like me, Lea mused inwardly. By contrast however, the moment they stepped into the jungle, the kid's meek façade evaporated instantly. The jungle was his element, and it showed in how easily the "man-cub" navigated the maze of trees and shrubbery. How he could interpret what the howling of wolves meant, or track an animal based on smell.

Lea turned his thoughts back to the coming battle as he, Aqua, and Baghera made their way through the jungle. The three of them were roughly around the middle of the pack. The wolves charged ahead through the jungle. It would take until sunset to get to the ruins from Council Rock, so the Seeonee pack was scouting ahead while serving as the group's vanguard, while Colonel Hathi's elephant herd brought up the rear. As the humans and animals raced through the jungle, Aqua and Lea discussed what Maleficent was planning by setting up shop in this jungle. While the ruins were isolated, this world didn't offer her anything significant in terms of strategic value. So why her allies had chosen this world as a base of operations was a puzzle to them. One they hoped to have answered by the time her alien troopers had been rounded up and taken off to prison.

All through the night and day the miniature army stealthily crept through the jungle. Or tried to at least. The elephants preferred to stamp and crush their way through the underbrush, making it a bit harder for everyone to maintain the element of surprise. Because of this, the entire group was attacked by Heartless and Nobodies every few miles. By the time the sun set again, they had reached the outskirts of the temple ruins. On cue, the wolves surrounded the perimeter while the pachyderms stood ready to charge in and catch the Leroys off guard. Meanwhile, Aqua and Lea stealthily climbed to the top of one of the outlying structures in the area so they could scope out the camp's defenses. Once they did, Lea would light a fire on top of the building to signal that it was time to begin the attack.

When the two Key bearers looked down at the camp, Lea fought back the urge to vomit. Animal corpses had been piled up in the center of the ruins, almost as if they were meant as fuel for a bonfire. Realizing what the dead animals were for, Aqua looked around in horror at the red aliens cleaning up the blood near a table, where a pale woman in a long purple dress was prodding an Ocelot with syringes in multiple locations. When she was finished, the woman walked over and emptied the contents of the syringes into a single jar. Once the jar had been sealed, labelled, and placed in a storage trunk, the woman turned around. Picking up what the two heroes presumed to be a dagger, the woman walked back to the table and slit the feline's throat. Lea gagged as this woman casually ordered the alien troops to clean up the blood and add the body to the pile in the center, then light the bonfire.

No wonder all the animals want revenge, Aqua realized as she and Lea crept away from the edge. If they were being killed by humans, they wouldn't do anything because most humans only hunt these animals for food. But this… this torture and murder cannot be allowed to continued. Aqua nodded to Lea, wordlessly instructing him to light the signal fire. As the flames rose into the night sky, a voice called out.

"Well, well," the woman remarked. "It looks like the Keyblade Wielders finally caught on to us."

The World That Never Was – Braig's Room:

Time to get going, Braig thought to himself as he wrapped the tattered red scarf around his face over his eyepatch. He'd owned the old thing since his days as Ephemera. It had been a birthday gift from Emma. The Freeshooter fought back the urge to cry as he recalled the day the love of his life died. The day Ava was murdered. The day Atlantis sank. The day the Keyblade War began. He shuddered as he started flashing back to what had happened that day. First Ava died, and then Emma. Leopardos' betrayal. Being trapped in Atlantis as a massive tidal wave bore down on the island nation. The only thing that saved him from drowning was the timely intervention of King Triton. The sea king, disgusted by the power plays and infighting of the Keyblade unions, severed all ties with the surface. The only reason he'd saved Ephemera was as one final favor to Ava.

Can't say I blame him though, Braig thought as he continued applying makeup to his face and clothing so that when he arrived in the caves leading to the remnants of Atlantis, he would appear to be a lost, disheveled hiker. After all the chaos we caused, it's no wonder the worlds became the way they were. I keep forgetting that it was because nobody wanted to mess with Keyblade Wielders. As he finished applying his makeup, he took one last look in the mirror before heading off. He told Xehanort that he was going to scout for potential backup vessels that didn't necessitate time travel to bring them into the fold. But in reality, he was heading off to the ruins of Atlantis. He knew the ancient civilization still existed, and he needed to talk to the king while he still had the chance.

Time was running out, and Xehanort was growing impatient as he dispatched his underlings to sew chaos and fear around the known worlds in order to strengthen the darkness until the Heartless were able to break through the barrier Yen Sid had set up around his castle. Braig would prefer to avoid revealing the fact that he knew how to break that particular spell, but if worst came to worst he would let a little forbidden knowledge slip in the name of finally stopping the Outcast. At least I'll get to try and reach Ava one last time, he hoped as he left the world in a dark corridor and found himself inside a large cavern, waiting for the princess of Heart to come nearer.

Lea's comments about Mowgli are based on a combination of elements from the Jungle Book 2, the original books, and my own head-canon about how he'd do fitting in with other humans. It makes sense that because he was raised in the jungle he'd have trouble adjusting and fitting in to human society, despite how easily he made some friends in the sequel.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 75: Tiger Fight:
The Jungle – Temple Ruins:

As soon as the words left the pale woman's lips, the battle began. With a trumpeting charge, Colonel Hathi and his elephants stormed into the ruins. The Leroys were caught off guard and scattered towards the jungle, only to run head first into the angry, vengeful wolf pack, along with every other justice-seeking carnivore in the jungle. Aqua and Lea quickly cast Blizzaga spells on a large cluster of the red aliens to limit the casualties. Even so, there was inevitably bloodshed as the carnivores tore into Maleficent's minions with their fangs and claws. As the Leroys fell Heartless and Nobodies began crawling out of the shadows, the death and anger of the aliens drawing them out like moths to a flame. While all of this was going on, the pale woman was frantically closing her cases and pitching them through Dark Corridors back to what was presumably Maleficent's lair. As she turned to retreat into the jungle, Aqua cornered the woman.

"You're outnumbered and surrounded," the blue-haired Keyblade Master warned. "Surrender now and we'll be merciful." She gestured at the pile of animal corpses. "What does Maleficent want in this jungle that requires torturing and killing animals in droves? What is she after?"

"My lips are sealed," Yzma replied mockingly as Aqua casually froze another cluster of Leroy troops.

"I may be merciful," Aqua warned before indicating the menagerie doing battle with the woman's guards. "But they aren't. You experimented on and killed their friends, loved ones…"

"They're just animals," Yzma halfheartedly tried to protest.

"They still have others that they care about," Aqua retorted, shutting down the woman's half-baked attempt to justify her actions. "And they are much less merciful than my fellow Key bearers and I are."

"You wouldn't dare…" Yzma gasped in shock at what the young woman was insinuating.

"Try me," Aqua replied bitterly with a hard glare on her face. She meant what she was implying. If this woman wouldn't give up the information she and Lea need, Aqua would let the law of the jungle decide her fate. While she wouldn't normally be so harsh, after what she'd seen Yzma had been doing, the Keyblade Master was not in a forgiving mood. The pale woman quickly spilled just enough of her secrets to avoid being thrown to the wolves. Apparently the woman brewed potions that transformed whoever drank them into animals. Maleficent needed predator potions to supply her armies, and to brew the potions, Yzma required a gene sample for each bottle she brewed. So the continued capture of local animals was used as a means of acquiring the tissue samples she needed en-mass.

Disgusted with the impossibly ancient woman's actions, Aqua froze Yzma into a block of ice before the potion brewer could flee. With Yzma out of the way, Aqua's attention returned to the battle, where Lea was using his pyrokinetic powers to tear the attacking Heartless and Nobodies apart before they could harm the local wildlife. In the blink of an eye Aqua leapt into the fray, freezing the last of the Leroys before moving on to help mop up the creatures of Darkness that remained. The battle ended just as the sun began to rise. After explaining what a Keyblade was to the assembled animals as best as they could, the two Key bearers assisted in giving the dead animals whatever passed for funeral rights in the jungle. After that, the animal army returned to Council Rock with the two Keyblade wielders in tow.
Once the group had returned to their staging area, Mowgli said goodbye to his jungle family before leading Aqua and Lea back to the "Man Village" as the jungle dwellers called the human settlement. Before they left however, Akela declared that the two Keyblade bearers and anyone who was a friend of theirs was welcome in the jungle. The entire population of the jungle was still wary over the whole magic aspect of the Keyblade, but after fighting in the battle all through the night, the two heroes had at least gained the trust of everyone who'd participated. The entire walk back (which included Lea carrying the frozen sorceress on his back), Mowgli pumped the two warriors dry for information about the Keyblade, and while they left out some parts (like the whole Xehanort conflict), they gave the kid enough to satisfy his curiosity. Upon their return to the small settlement, the villagers cheered and celebrated when they heard that the red monsters would not be troubling the land any longer. Aqua, Ven, and Lea snuck back to their Gummi ship just as a celebratory feast broke out. As they boarded their ship and set off through the Lanes Between once more, they were overcome with an intense feeling of dread, as if something terrible was about to transpire.

Radiant Garden – Gummi Hangar:

"The Council approved Cassim's plan," Cid Highwind announced to the assembled soldiers and Gummi ship crewmen. "The mission is a go." A chorus of cheers immediately rose up from the crowd. After shouting for everyone to be quiet, the Gummi engineer continued. "Most of you already know the plan but for the sake of those who don't, listen up! I'm only gonna say this once! I'll be flying troops down to Agrabah on the Shera. Once I drop you all off, Cassim'll lead you in a surprise attack on the old lair of Agrabah's Forty Thieves while I provide air support. So let's pack up and go, people! I'm not getting any younger, here!" With another chorus of cheering, the strike team boarded Cid's Gummi Ship, named in honor of his wife, who'd died during the Fall over a decade ago.

Once the entire strike force was aboard and the crew Cid had hired for the trip were prepared for launch, the ship slowly glided out of the underground hangar hidden in the mountains outside the city before taking off into the sky for Agrabah. They'd been on the defensive against Maleficent for too long, now. It was finally time to take the fight to her. Down in the ship's hold, Cassim, Leon, Yuffie, Yao, Ling, Chien Po, and a small group of others sharpened their swords and checked their equipment to prepare for the coming battle. Leon and Yuffie chuckled a bit, envying that Sora, Donald, and Goofy would have the easy part in the two-pronged attack. The three heroes were being directed toward the world that was home to Maleficent's primary financial backer. All those three had to do was help overthrow the guy while the rest of them did all the dirty work of laying siege to an isolated cave with only two entrances.

Bit of a short chapter, but the story for the Jungle Book world wasn't as long as some other Disney Movie worlds are. Anyway, if you're paying attention to who else is on Maleficent's payroll, you know which world is coming next.

Based on my limited knowledge of Final Fantasy, from what I know Shera was Cid's implied girlfriend/love interest in Final Fantasy 7. They were never explicitly married to my knowledge, but I figured since Kingdom Hearts has completely different backstories than in the FF games, it would be good to flesh out everyone's histories more.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 76: Sherwood Forest:
Sherwood Forest – Forest:

"So Maleficent has been using all the money Prince John collects from taxes to finance her army?" Little John asked as the group walked towards the archery tournament. Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been directed towards this world by Cassim, and raced over when they learned that one of Maleficent's allies had taken it over and was taxing the people to finance the dark fairy's empire. Upon their arrival, they bumped into Robin Hood and Little John. Although they'd passed wanted posters for the two fugitives on the way, the three heroes already knew from Cassim that they were the good guys, stealing gold from the villainous prince and his thugs and giving it back to the people who needed that money in order to feed their families and keep a roof over their head.

"Unfortunately," Sora answered sadly as his tail brushed against his leg. Sherwood Forest had turned out to be another world where the magic in their clothes changed their appearance on arrival. Donald and Goofy were actually unchanged, but Sora now resembled an anthropomorphic version of his lion form in the Pride Lands, only with a more human face. Once they'd gotten acquainted with the two rogues and explained why they were there, the quintet made their way towards the field where Prince John was hosting an archery tournament, with a kiss from Robin's old flame, Marian, as the grand prize. Eager to see the girl he loved again, the fox had decided to enter the tournament incognito after finally being convinced to confess his true feelings for Marian.

By the time they arrived, Robin and John had prepared their disguises for the event. After overhearing Marian talking to her lady-in-waiting about him, the rogue fox stepped out of the bushes dressed as a stork, while John walked over to the royal booth masquerading as a nobleman to distract the Prince. Sora, Donald, and Goofy made their way towards the stands where all the others animals were gathered to watch the stadium while Robin tested his disguise against the local Sheriff who was one of the prince's main thugs. Sora chuckled as he overheard Robin flattering the pudgy wolf with false praise. The disguise was working. As they walked past Prince John's tent a minute later, a talking snake slithered out mumbling and complaining about how casually he'd been dismissed. Clearly Little John's disguise had fooled the greedy prince.

"He's definitely up to something," Sora commented as the snake slithered away. With a nod to Donald and Goofy, the three heroes quietly followed the snake to make sure he didn't expose Robin Hood. As they looked around to find where the serpent had slithered off to, the archery tournament began in the background. As the contestants paraded in front of the royal observation tent, Sora spotted Prince John's serpentine minion hiding inside a cluster of balloons that a dog on crutches was holding as he gave them out to the children attending the event. The snake breathed to blow up the balloon his head was in before using his tail as a propeller to move through the air while the rubbery balloon kept him aloft. Sora and his friends followed the flying reptile as he flew around the field, looking down at the parade of archers.

"The tournament of the golden arrow will now begin!" announced an alligator as the elephants perched atop the stone towers began to trumpet with their trunks. The trio cheered and clapped with everyone else when the contestants all started shooting. Only a few people managed to hit the targets, and of them, only Robin was good enough to hit a perfect bulls-eye. After the second round of shooting (in which Robin scored another bulls-eye), the snake got a good look under the tail feathers of the "stork" competing in the archery tournament. As the snake flew off to alert Prince John of Robin Hood's presence in the tournament, Sora threw his Keyblade at the snake's balloon and popped it, sending the serpent tumbling to the ground. Before the reptilian spy could get away, Sora grabbed him and stuffed him in a nearby barrel before sealing it up with a cork.

Their work done, the three heroes returned to the stands just as the alligator announced that the Sherrif and the "Spindle-legged stork" were the final contestants of the tournament. Everyone jeered when the Sheriff clearly cheated to make a bulls-eye, and the three off-worlders joined in the cheering when the "stork" managed to not only hit the bulls-eye even after the sheriff sabotaged him, but tore the smug canine's arrow to shreds in the process. But the laughter died down as the Rhinoscerous guards followed Robin as he made his way towards Marian. It's a trap, Sora realized as he and his friends immediately started moving toward the tent.

After a grandiose, exaggerated speech proclaiming the stork the winner of the contest, the villainous feline unmasked Robin Hood by cutting through his costume with a sword.

"Seize him," the prince casually ordered before the Rhinos quickly began to tie the fox up. Once Robin was tied up, Prince John sentenced the rogue to immediate execution. Marian immediately started tearing up as she begged her uncle to spare the fox. After the two foxes confessed their love for each other, Prince John ordered the execution of the thief anyway, calling him a traitor to the crown.

"That crown belongs to King Richard," Robin Hood retorted angrily. "Long live King Richard!" Immediately the cry echoed across the tournament field. Despite Donald's protests even Sora joined in, having been informed of how Prince John had usurped the throne from his older brother Richard, who unlike his greedy brother actually cared about the needs of the people. Apparently the snake, Sir Hiss, had hypnotized Richard into going off on some wild goose chase.

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" The usurper declared after silencing the protests with his temper tantrum. But before the executioner could reach the fugitive, the prince quickly ordered the executioner to stop and "hold his ax." Confused, Sora, Donald, and Goofy sneaked around the back of the tent to find Little John threatening the prince with a dagger in order to make him release the heroic fox. The trio walked back to the front of the tent in time to find the newly freed Robin Hood hugging Marian. Unfortunately, the Sheriff of Nottingham had discovered the rotund bear's meddling, leading to a duel that forced Little John to release the feline prince from his dagger.

"KILL HIM!" Prince John roared. "DON'T JUST STAND THERE! KILL HIM!" And everyone sprang into action. Little John raced out and handed Robin the sheriff's sword before they joined Sora, Donald, and Goofy in fighting off the Rhinoceros troops. As the battle intensified, Lady Cluck, Marian's handmaiden, ordered the girl to flee, declaring that this was "no place for a lady" before promptly diving into the fray herself. As Marian fled the battle, some of the guards went after her, but Robin quickly swept her out of their reach. Her lover proposed to her right then and there as he swatted aside axes and spears with his sword.

This is insane, Sora thought to himself with a loud cackle as he, Donald, and Goofy quickly dealt with most of the guards. Over in the royal tent, Robin Hood and Marian were discussing their honeymoon plans in the midst of fighting off weasel soldiers, while over in one of the other tents, Little John and Lady Cluck had herded some of the guards into the tent and started a brawl with everyone blindly beating each other up inside the unlit tent. The teen laughed some more when every time Little John ran into the brawl, Lady Cluck got knocked out the other side, and vice versa.
Eventually, Lady Cluck stabbed one of the guards in the rear with the golden arrow trophy she'd retrieved from the royal tent at the start of the battle. This caused every guard in the tent to start running in the same direction, taking the entire tent with them.

"Who's driving this flying umbrella!?" Little John shouted as the moving tent stampeded through the area while everyone else scrambled to get out of its way. While all of this chaos was happening around them, the two newly engaged foxes were cheerfully discussing how many kids they'd have while Robin dueled the alligator from earlier and Marian threw pies at the vulture trying to hit her fiancé with a crossbow. That duel ended when the "flying umbrella" came through and trampled the two villains. Eventually, the sheriff got stuck to the front of the moving tent as it plowed through one of the stone towers on the edge of the field.

Sora couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of the situation as Lady Cluck smacked the corrupt prince over the head with the golden arrow as Marian, Robin Hood, and Little John retreated into the forest.

"SEIZE THE FAT ONE!" Prince John ordered, causing Sora to laugh even more as the rotund hen single handedly defeated all of the remaining soldiers with almost no effort. Everyone cheered as the energetic chicken took down multiple Rhinoceroses with the ease of a wrestler. Sora final managed to stop giggling at the insanity of what had just happened as they joined the group in heading back into the woods.

"LONG LIVE KING RICHARD!" Lady Cluck shouted defiantly behind the three heroes before Little John pulled her pack into the trees before she could be hit by arrows from the guards.

Agrabah – Gummi Ship Shera:

"Are we ready?" Yuffie Kisaragi asked as the Shera flew across the oceans of Agrabah, gliding a few hundred feet above the clouds. The ninja glanced over at Leon to make sure he'd heard her.

"Almost," the man answered. The plan of attack was deceptively simple. Leon and Yuffie would lead a small strike team of combat-ready Restoration Committee members in parachuting down to the ledge where the Forty Thieves used to hold their initiation ritual, and from there sneak in through the cave's back door and draw the villains' attention towards the infiltration team. Meanwhile Cassim would lead a platoon of soldiers from various Coalition member worlds in a frontal assault on the lair's main entrance. Easy enough in theory. Whether it would be that simple in practice was yet to be determined.

Once everyone on the strike team had adjusted their wing chutes (brought over from the Grid in preparation for the attack because ordinary parachutes were a bit too conspicuous), Leon pressed a button on the wall of the Shera's cargo hold. A warning klaxon blared as the boarding ramp lowered, revealing nothing but clouds beneath the ship. With a nod to the rest of the group, Leon took a running jump off the ramp and spiraling down through the clouds. Yuffie, Barret, Lightning, and Vincent followed shortly afterward. One after the other they all dove down towards the mountain below.

As they fell through the clouds, Leon reflected on his life up to that point. He'd only been sixteen when Radiant Garden fell. Before The Fall, he'd always been a bit of an introvert. He never really hung out with the other kids, but when the Heartless came, he rose to the occasion. That dark day was not one he wanted to remember. He and his parents had been evacuating the city under the protection of the few royal guards who remained along with a bunch of other families. The Kisaragis, the Gainsboroughs, the Strifes, plus a few others. When the Heartless attacked, he and the other kids were the only survivors of that group. Yuffie, Aerith, Cloud. The ones who would become his surrogate family over the years. He shivered in spite of the sweltering Agrabah heat as he recalled his horror at watching his parents get consumed by the Heartless while he and the rest of the strike team rapidly approached the top of the clouds.

He unconsciously brought his hand to his face to touch the scar he'd received that day. When he'd picked up a fallen guard's gun-blade and tried to fight the Heartless, only to receive a claw swipe to the face for his troubles. If it hadn't been for the intervention of a spear-wielding Cid Highwind, he and the other kids would have joined their parents in whatever place people's souls go to when their hearts are devoured by the Darkness. Even though he'd had no fighting experience or any weapon capable of stopping the Heartless, he blamed himself for failing to save his parents. That was why he cast aside the name Squall Leonhart and became just Leon. But the only that that rivaled the trauma of his parents' death was that until a year ago, he thought that his long-time girlfriend, Rinoa, had died in the chaos. For ten years his guilt and regrets warred within his heart as he and the other Radiant Garden survivors grew up on the streets of Traverse Town.

Then once they started rebuilding their world, he got a letter. A letter from Rinoa, letting him know she was alright, but was stranded on a world that was so far from Radiant Garden that the stars were completely different. The world had a decent level of technology, but since they didn't have Gummi Ships, she was trapped there. In her letter, she told him about how, realizing that she was stuck on this isolated world, she'd started building a life for herself there. His heart ached at the fact that she was alive but unreachable, even when she joined up with that world's defense agency in the hopes of finding her way off world someday. Most of the survivors of the Fall had made their way home by now. Except for her. And he wouldn't go back to being Squall until she was home, safe and sound.

He returned his attention back to the present just as the strike team reached the point where they needed to pull their chutes in order to land safely. In the blink of an eye, the five warriors deployed their Wing Chutes, reducing their rapid downward acceleration to a gentle glide. As silent as a grave, the five warriors stealthily touched down in the small temple courtyard at the top of the mountain. Disengaging their chutes, Leon motioned for the others to follow him as they quickly made their way downstairs toward the entrance leading back into the main cave. When they arrived to find the entrance blocked by a heavy metal door, the twenty-six year old survivor gestured for everyone to back against the walls on either side of the door. Once everyone was hidden, he stretched out his arm and knocked on the door.

Nobody dared breathe as the door opened and one of Maleficent's alien soldiers emerged from it. Leon knocked it unconscious instantly with a swift kick to the head and left behind a lit Blizzaga bomb from Halloween town to keep it from escaping or sounding the alarm. With practiced ease, the group crept down the hallway, closing the door behind them. The battle had begun.

Sora's look is inspired by unused concept art for KH1 which had Sora designed as a human/anthropomorphic lion hybrid with a chainsaw-sword like weapon instead of the Keyblade we all know and love.

The Blizzaga bomb is one of those exploding pumpkins in Halloween Town from 358/2 Days.

For those not knowledgeable about Final Fantasy characters, Rinoa is Leon's love interest in Final Fantasy 8. I think you all know where I'm implying she ended up. I know, I took that little Hollow Bastion end credits scene from KH2 and made it all bittersweet. Don't pull out the torches and pitchforks just yet, the Squall/Rinoa reunion is definitely going to happen in my post KH3 stories.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 77: Ooh – De La – Lee:
Sherwood Forest – Nottingham Castle; Seven Hours Ago:
"Did you say Friar Tuck?" Prince John asked his servant for confirmation. In the last twenty-four hours, Prince John drastically increased taxes on his subjects to the point where entire families were being thrown into prison because they couldn't meet his impossibly high demands. Sir Hiss had just reported that Friar Tuck had been arrested for assaulting the Sheriff when the corrupt wolf took money from the church's poor box.

"Did I?" the snake answered nervously, cowering in fear. "Yes I did."

"Aha!" the villainous lion exclaimed as he walked over to the window. "Hiss, I have it! I'll use that fat Friar as bait to trap Robin Hood."

"Another trap?" the serpentine servant inquired meekly, recalling how well the last trap had gone yesterday.

"Yes, yes, you stupid serpent," the usurper replied excitedly while leaning against the windowsill. "Friar Tuck will be lead to the gallows in the village square don't you see?"

"But sire!" the snake gasped. "Hang Friar Tuck!? A man of the church?"

"Yes, my reluctant reptile," Prince John answered with a maniacal laugh as he opened the window. "And when our elusive hero tries to rescue the corpulent cleric, my men will be ready."

"They had better be," a woman's voice called out. Sir Hiss looked frantically around the room, but there wasn't anyone there. Suddenly, there was a burst of green fire in the center of the room, and the cowardly serpent was faced with a woman with green skin, horns on her head, and long black robes.

"No need to fear, Maleficent," the prince commented reassuringly. "This time Robin Hood will die."

"That's what you said about your last trap, and I can tell from your attitude how well that turned out," the dark fairy retorted. "Yzma never returned from the Jungle. We are losing ground and if we are to survive, we are going to need gold to acquire more facilities."

"Have no fear," the cowardly lion replied. "I have drained my kingdom of its gold. We need only transport it to Agrabah for storage. Once Robin Hood and those silly heroes have been dealt with, we can convert my castle into your new base."

"Which ones?" the green-skinned sorceress demanded. If Keyblade Wielders had come to this world, their plans for Sherwood Forest were already lost.

"Some human/lion hybrid with spiky brown hair and a giant key," John answered casually. "Along with a duck and dog. A most peculiar menagerie, I must say." Sora, Donald, and Goofy, then, Maleficent realized before quickly deciding on her next course of action.

"I want the gold in Agrabah before dawn," she barked. "Once that's taken care of, meet me in San Fransokyo."

"What!?" the self-serving feline protested. "But my kingdom…"

"Is already lost," the horned woman interrupted. "Your best option is to withdraw while you still have the chance."

"Alright, alright," Prince John responded lazily. "I'll get everything ready. I'll move the gold once my trap for Robin Hood has been sprung." So that's how it's going to be then? Maleficent thought as she narrowed her eyes at the feline. Alright, it's his choice. As long as I get the gold, he can stay here and rot for all I care.

"Very well," she answered angrily. "But allow me to warn you: do not underestimate those three. It will be your undoing if you do." She returned to Cable Town before the immature lion could protest. This will end badly for that inept prince, she thought to herself as she walked through her Corridor of Darkness. Fortunately, that's what backup plans are for.

Sherwood Forest – Outskirts of Nottingham; Now:

"We've got to do something!" Sora exclaimed when Robin Hood delivered the news that his friend, Friar Tuck, had been arrested and was going to be executed at dawn. After a lively celebration the night after the archery tournament, the villagers of Nottingham all went back to their houses just as Prince John brought the hammer down.

"I agree," Goofy spoke up. "The raid in Agrabah starts in a few hours. The jailbreak would be the ideal time to get Prince John off the throne and free this world from Maleficent's influence."

"Now hold on a minute," Little John interjected. "If King Richard doesn't come back soon, who's gonna rule the kingdom once Phony Prince John's been overthrown?"

"Marian could do it!" Robin Hood suggested. "She's King Richard's niece, so she has the authority to keep things running 'till her uncle comes back." With the plan set, Robin went to talk to Marian while Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Little John geared up for the jailbreak. Little John protested the odds against them, but Robin Hood reminded the bear that they had to do something or else the badger died at dawn. Shortly before three in the morning, the five animals (or human-turned-animal in Sora's case) snuck over the walls of the castle. After binding and gagging one of the sheriff's vulture minions, Robin was able to lull the sheriff to sleep and steal his keys while disguised as the guy they'd tied up.
Within a few minutes, Goofy and Little John were quickly inserted into the prison with the sheriff's keys for the jailbreak while Sora, Donald, and Robin Hood snuck inside the castle itself to take back the peoples' money. Assuming that Maleficent hasn't already taken it back to Agrabah, Sora thought nervously as the team crept through the shadows of the castle. A few minutes of stealth, parkour, and Flowmotion later, and the trio found themselves standing on a ledge overlooking the prison and situated directly beneath the balcony of Prince John's bedroom. Using Sora's parkour skills and some rope, they soon entered the greedy prince's room to find him asleep on his bed, surrounded by hundreds of sacks full of gold.

While Robin Hood and Little John stealthily set up a pulley system to carry the bags of money over to the prison, Sora and Donald quietly snuck through the castle to check for any more of the people's gold. When they found none, they realized that Maleficent likely had John send most of it to her hideout in Agrabah. Hopefully what we can give the people here back tonight will be enough for now, Sora thought to himself as he and Donald made their way back to the prince's bed chambers. At least until the Agrabah team can ship the rest of their gold back here. When they returned to the royal bedroom, Robin Hood directed the two off-worlders to head down to the ground and guard the fleeing townspeople as they escaped the jail. As they lead the crowd out of Nottingham's castle, they immediately snapped to attention when they heard the wailing of the prince.

"Guards! Guards!" the crybaby shouted. "My Gold!" Little John continued to lead the people of Nottingham out of the castle, but Sora, Donald, and Goofy couldn't help but notice something familiar happening to the Prince. As he shrieked and tried to hang onto the pulley, the lion prince was coated in an aura resembling black smoke. Darkness, Sora realized. Meaning that soon there's going to be a lot of…

"Heartless!" Donald shouted as the familiar forms of the heart-stealing monsters began appearing on the ground and in the air. Knowing what they had to do, the three heroes put themselves between the fire themed Heartless and the fleeing villagers. The battle was on.

Agrabah – Lair of the Forty Thieves:

This is it, Yuffie thought to herself as the group split up to complete their objectives. Leon and Lightning went to eliminate security measures in the cave's main entrance while she, Vincent, and Barret made their way towards the main treasure room to cause as much chaos as they possibly could. As she and her two combat partners snuck through the network of tunnels that comprised the lair of Agrabah's infamous Forty Thieves (or used to at least. Apparently they'd all been wiped out by the time Maleficent's inner circle moved in), she thought back at how far her life had come. She'd only been seven years old when Radiant Garden fell, and the horrors of that fateful day still haunted her even now.

At least I never had it as bad as Cid did, she reflected as she and her team made their way through the catacombs of the mountain. He and his wife had been fighting about something stupid right before the attack happened, and she was one of the first casualties. He still beats himself up over the fact that the last conversation he ever had with her was an argument. Our first few days in Traverse Town, he felt like a piece of trash because the last time he'd ever gotten to see her, they'd both been angry with each other. She could never remember exactly what they were angry about, though. Something about Ansem's apprentices setting up a space exploration program and Cid volunteering to be their first test pilot. Shera didn't want her husband to risk his life on something that might blow up and kill him. They argued about it for days. And then the Heartless came.

After the Heartless, the "Great Ninja" mused as the three warriors neared the top of the mountain, he loaded us all into the same untested Gummi Ship he'd been arguing with his wife about, and brought us straight to Traverse Town. After that, he took us all in. We all became like one big family in Traverse Town. For some of us, Cid was like a surrogate father figure, and to the rest, he was the protective older brother. Although Cid was old enough to be her father, Yuffie viewed the Gummi engineer as being more of the latter. Yuffie shook her head to clear her thoughts and focus back on the present as her team reached the main chamber. She looked down and checked her watch before holding up her fingers to her teammates and started to count down.

When the countdown reached zero, the three Restoration Committee members charged into the upper treasure room guns blazing (in Barret's and Vincent's cases at least. Yuffie's shuriken couldn't really blaze since she wasn't good at combat magic outside of basic healing spells). The two men blasted at the guards while the lone young woman in the group threw her shuriken like a boomerang before switching into hand-to-hand combat mode. As the skirmish began among the piles of gold coins, they all felt a deep rumbling in the floor. The lair's main entrance was being opened from the outside. Now it's time to really get this party started, Yuffie thought to herself as she kicked a tall skinny man before catching her shuriken and throwing it back into the fray.

Barret Wallace and Vincent Valentine are from Final Fantasy VII, and Lightning is from Final Fantasy XIII.

And basically, all the Agrabah scenes are happening at the same time as the last twenty or so minutes of Robin Hood, when they're pulling off the jailbreak.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 10, 2016

Chapter 78: The Phoney King of England:
Sherwood Forest – Prince John's Castle:

"Everybody! This way!" Robin Hood called out as he led the citizens of Nottingham out the gates of the castle. While Robin and Little John took care of the villagers, Sora, Donald, and Goofy continued to battle the fiery monsters to keep them from following the townspeople. Sora threw his Keyblade at one before turning around as he summoned the mystical weapon back to his hands and cast Blizzaga on the flaming Heartless. As that battle raged on, the fleeing critters loaded themselves and their money all into one large cart while Robin lowered the drawbridge. The off-worlders finished off the last of the Heartless just as Little John and Friar Tuck pulled the fully loaded cart out of the castle.

But before the three heroes could follow the group, they heard one of the rabbit children calling out for help. Spurred on by a child in danger, Goofy raced over and picked up the bunny toddler, carrying the little girl right back out the gates. Unfortunately, Sora, Robin, and Donald weren't as fleet footed as Goofy was at the moment, and didn't make it back before Prince John's troops cut the ropes holding up the main gate, trapping the three of them inside. Worse still, the collective anger of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottigham was strong enough to summon a gigantic Heartless. Sora and Donald immediately charged the beast while Robin scrambled up the castle towers to get away from the guards.

As the Key bearer and the magician battled the Heartless, the tower into which Robin Hood and the Sheriff had gone quickly went up in flames. The inferno was only exacerbated when the dragon-like Heartless breathed fire on the castle. Realizing that they needed to find Robin and get out before the whole place burnt to the ground, Sora and Donald swiftly finished off the gigantic monster just as the foxy felon emerged onto one of the castle spires as the flames consumed the building.

"KILL HIM!" Prince John roared as the outlaw dove off the tower into the castle moat. While Robin dodged the raining arrows from the castle parapets, Sora and Donald quickly vaulted over the walls and into the moat themselves. Their hearts sank as they surfaced to find Little John pulling a wounded Robin Hood from the water. The three heroes helped the bear carry his friend to safety as Prince John's soldiers poured out of the castle gates to pursue the fugitives. After eluding their pursuers, the group took rescue in Friar Tuck's church, where Marian, who'd been waiting there since the jailbreak began, tended to her fiancé's injuries.

While Little John left to get medical supplies to properly treat the fox's injuries, Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood guard in case the soldiers managed to pick up their trail. Their fears were confirmed when Prince John himself barged in with Sir Hiss by his side. But before the usurper could say or do anything, Sora quickly cast a Sleep spell on the leonine prince and his serpentine lackey before binding and gagging the both of them. A few minutes after they finished detaining the dictator and his second-in-command, King Richard himself walked into the room, having shaken off Hiss' hypnosis and newly returned from his "crusade". The king was furious with his younger brother's actions, and after hearing from Sora about John's dealings with Maleficent, readily pledged his support to the Coalition.

"But what of all the money stolen from my kingdom?" he asked as he swiped his crown from off his brother's head, concerned that John's alliance with the dark fairy had left the kingdom broke.

"Some of it was saved tonight," the Keyblade Master reassured. "As for the rest, Coalition forces are conducting a raid on the facility Maleficent's allies are using to store all that stolen money as we speak. Once Maleficent's troops have been driven out, all the gold there will be sent back to the worlds it came from."

"That's good to hear, lad," King Richard replied. Once Little John returned with the medical supplies, the mice living in the church quickly pathed Robin Hood up so that he was as good as new. Incidentally, Prince John woke up around the same time as Robin Hood and started raving about meeting Maleficent in a world called "San Fransokyo," before panicking at the sight of his older brother. Once the Prince John, Sir Hiss, and the Sheriff had been safely incarcerated and Robin had recovered enough to walk, Sora, Donald, and Goofy said goodbye before beaming back to their Gummi Ship. From the sound of things, this "San Fransokyo" was where Maleficent's main stronghold was located, so that was where they would head next. Once Maleficent was no longer an issue, the Keyblade wielders would be able to focus on putting all of their efforts into the fight against Xehanort.

Agrabah – Lair of the Forty Thieves:

"All clear!" Aeleus shouted as the main battle group dispatched the last of Maleficent's troops. That witch is almost as big a problem as Xehanort, he thought to himself as he quickly drank a Potion to heal what little battle injuries he had. The only reason Xehanort is the bigger threat is because he wants to destroy all reality, whereas Maleficent just wants to conquer it. Both are despicable, but Xehanort's racks up a little higher on the severity scale. The Organization's former number V returned his focus to the vast chambers full of gold hidden within the mountain before ordering the troops to begin packing up all the riches to transport back to their original world. That part was fairly easy since most of the gold coins were engraved with the same symbol, indicating that they all came from the same world, so all they had to do was bag them all up together.

"That was an interesting experience," Captain Phoebus commented as he walked up carrying a sack that sounded like it was full of gold coins.

"Agreed," Aeleus replied with a nod as the two walked through the tunnels up to the temple on top that had been set up as a loading area for the Shera. Given the amount of gold and other treasures in the cave system, two more Gummi Ships were being sent from Disney Town since the Shera wasn't big enough to carry it all. As they walked through the catacombs for their next trip, they passed Mulan, Shang, Yao, Ling, and Chen Po at work bagging more of those gold coins in one of the smaller chambers off the main tunnel. This might take a while, the former Nobody realized as he and Phoebus started working on the next load. Hopefully everything went well for the Keyblade Wielders. We've struck a major blow against the witch's cabal, but she's far from finished.

San Fransokyo – Akuma Island:

"We've lost both Sherwood Forest and Agrabah!" Maleficent fumed when she received news of the attack. "Our only source of income is gone! Not to mention all the troops captured by Coalition forces! ARGH!"

"Maleficent, darling," Hades reassured in an attempt to calm the dark sorceress down. "We'll rebuild like we always do. We're like a hydra. Cut off a head and two more grow back. Cruella's thugs didn't have any vital information, and the Leroys can't even speak. Despite the reduction in manpower, our secrets are safe." This seemed to calm the green fairy down a bit, and Hades leaned in to give his lover a kiss.

"Alright," she acquiesced once they came up for air. "We do have enough contingencies for these situations anyway, I just wish we didn't have to suffer so many losses consecutively."

"I know," the lord of the dead replied. "Nobody likes having plans go awry, but that's what backups are for. Hamsterviel already knows all the protocols for what to do if Keyblade Wielders or the Coalition show up in San Fransokyo, and unlike that imbecile of a prince, the gerbil's smart enough to follow through with them. So, what next?"

"Next we return to Cable Town," Maleficent answered. "Should San Fransokyo fall into the hands of the heroes of light, we will need our extra bargaining chips more than ever. Speaking of which, how is that going by the way?"

"Last I heard from your feathered friend, he was headed for Pride Lands, the Greek deity responded. "He thought that the two fugitives will go somewhere with a form shift that will take away Sephiroth's advantage. He's due to report back to Cable Town in the next day or two for a status update. In the meantime, Hamsterviel's finished the containment devices, which have already been transported back to Cable Town."

"Good," she remarked. "Let's head back there then. I need some rest after all that travelling."

"Before we go, I have a question to ask," Hades interjected, acting a little uncharacteristically nervous and fidgety. "We've known each other for a long time and we've been attracted to each other for almost as long, and after getting to know each other better, I just want to ask, Maleficent…" he got down on one knee. "Will you become my queen of the underworld?" he asked as he pulled out a small velvet box and opened it to reveal a ring with a crystal carved into the shape of a skull. In a rare moment, Maleficent was rendered unable to speak. To simply say she was speechless would be an understatement. So she gave her answer in a way he'd understand. She pulled him up off his knees and kissed him, sliding the ring onto her finger with her free hand.

That's right, people, Big Hero 6 is coming up next! You already know of course that the BH6 world is not Maleficent's HQ, but I just put in a bit of dramatic irony because the heroes don't know that yet.

The way the story plays out with Robin Hood being wounded is based on an alternate ending for the movie that never made it past the storyboard phase. When Prince John finds Robin and Marian at the church, he attempts to murder Robin Hood right then and there, only to be stopped by King Richard showing up. The storyboards and dialogue for the alternate ending were included on the movie's Most Wanted Edition DVD re-release.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 11, 2016

Chapter 79: San Fransokyo:
The World That Never Was – The Grey Area:

"We've pinned down the location of one of Maleficent's primary bases," Xemnas reported to his original self as he stood in the Grey Area. "What should we do?"

"Take some Heartless and Nobodies to sweep the world until you find the base," Master Xehanort answered after taking a deep breath. "Do not stop until you find them."

"Very well," the Superior replied. "And what is to be done on the project should Sora interfere?"

"Nothing for now," the old Keyblade Master said ominously. "The Replica's attempt to draw out Vanitas by angering Sora through physical injury failed. If we are to retrieve my thirteenth vessel, we must do it the hard way."

"As you wish," the old man's Nobody said before leaving for San Fransokyo in a corridor of Darkness. There was work to be done. The completion of Master Xehanort's plans were almost upon them, and all of the pieces were slowly but surely falling into place.

San Fransokyo – City Streets:

"How are we going to find Maleficent's lair in a city this big?" Donald wondered aloud as he, Goofy, and Sora wandered the streets of this new world, San Fransokyo. They'd been looking high and low for the sorceress's lair, and so far they hadn't even found a single trace of the villains. After a while, they took a break from their search to find lunch. After a long debate between Sora and Donald over where to eat, Goofy broke the impasse by choosing a quiet little restaurant nearby called The Lucky Cat Café. The three heroes walked inside and sat down. As they ate, they quietly began discussing places in the city where Maleficent could possibly hide.

As they finished paying for their meal, a group of five people came downstairs from what was obviously the place where the Café's owner lived. But the strangest thing was that they were being followed by what appeared to be a walking balloon with two beady black eyes. As the trio looked around and noticed that nobody was paying any attention to the rotund balloon with legs, they failed to realize that one of the humans in the group had walked up to their table.

"Whoa," the guy said. "Nice costumes you guys!"

"Thanks…" Sora replied cautiously as he started to wonder why Donald and Goofy hadn't drawn any curious/concerned stares yet while examining the guy talking to them. He looked like he was only a few years older than Sora himself, wearing a white sweatshirt underneath a faded red T-shirt. He wore white sneakers and baggy green pants, with a blue beanie on top of his head.

"Oh your outfit's cool too," the stranger said. "But your friends' costumes are so detailed. It's almost lifelike."

"Thanks, I guess," Donald replied slightly nervous. If anyone who saw them freaked out, they'd have to leave this world before they could be captured and experimented on.

"Fred, quit bothering people," the black-haired girl from the group commented as she came up and slapped the guy, Fred apparently, in the head. "Sorry," she said as she turned to address the three off-worlders. "He tends to not think before he speaks when he sees something he thinks is cool." With that, she promptly dragged Fred back to the rest of the group. Just as Sora was about to ask them if they knew where to get a map of the city, the waitress walked over and turned up the volume on the TV situated above the trio's table. As the news broadcast got louder, Sora's blood ran colder.

"Downtown San Fransokyo is in chaos right now," the reporter on television said. "It's unclear whether these strange, multi-color monsters are the vanguard of an alien invasion or just a lab experiment gone wrong. But one thing is certain, if these monsters aren't stopped soon, innocent people will die." Sora immediately looked to Donald and Goofy and nodded. They were all thinking the same thing: Heartless or Nobodies. Maleficent's alien troops all had red fur, so Xehanort was likely sending the Heartless to root Maleficent out himself since she had one of the Princesses. If they followed the Heartless as they searched the city for the witch's lair, they'd find it.

As they quickly raced out of the café and towards the swarm of Heartless, they never noticed that the group from earlier had darted out the door minutes ago, and already had a head start. The heroes quickly arrived to find Heartless and Nobodies of all shapes and sizes rampaging through the city. What surprised the heroes though was the presence of four people in high-tech outfits, a red robot, and some kind of blue fire creature were trying to fight the monsters themselves. However, since they clearly weren't experienced in dealing with the Heartless, they weren't doing a very good job. Once the three off-worlders entered the fray, the battle was over within minutes.

Once the Heartless were completely destroyed, the trio quickly slipped off into an alleyway to avoid the press. As semi-modern as this world appeared to be, this was one of those worlds where a delegation would be better off convincing the government of this world to join the coalition than three interstellar travelers. But they didn't get far before they found their path blocked by the six heroes from earlier.
"That was amazing!" a blonde-haired girl in a purple outfit with red armor on her upper body shouted as the three heroes stopped in their tracks. "Where'd you guys get all your gear!?"

"It's a secret," Goofy answered cautiously.

"Wait," the kid in the middle with purple armor spoke up as he looked at the three off-worlders. "Weren't you guys at the café earlier?"

"Yeah…" Sora replied cautiously.

"Guys, guys," the blue and orange creature spoke up before lifting off the top of its head to reveal Fred in a monster costume. "They're clearly new to the whole superhero team, and they're a little self-conscious about all the attention. Let's all go back to mi casa and exchange introductions without worrying about the paparazzi dropping in on us." Everyone else agreed to the idea, and so Sora, Donald, and Goofy reluctantly followed the six superheroes as they made their way through the city towards a large mansion further up in the hills. Once they were all inside Fred's house the group exchanged introductions. The girl in yellow went by Gogo, everyone called the man in green Wasabi, and the boy in purple was Hiro Hamada, the only one in the group besides Fred without a nickname. Underneath the thick plated armor, the balloon-shaped robot was Baymax, a medical robot built by Hiro's older brother, Tadashi, who'd died in a fire a year ago. Compared to the origin story of the "Big Hero 6," the three off-worlders' story was a much longer and more complicated one. Nevertheless, once the Keyblade Master finished his tale, the six superheroes wholeheartedly agreed to help find Maleficent's base.

Pride Lands – Savannah:

"This place is fun," Ven commented as he practiced walking around on all fours, experimentally twitching his lion tail as he did so. Behind him, Aqua and Lea were busy getting used to their new feline forms as well. After dropping Yzma off in Radiant Garden for interrogation, Goofy had informed the three Keyblade wielders that Terra and Ludor had been discovered and were on the run. After being told that the two fugitives were headed for the Pride Lands, the trio quickly set off for the jungle world at once, hoping to bring the duo back to safety before either Xehanort or Maleficent captured them. Once they'd adjusted to their new forms, they headed for Pride Rock to ask King Simba if he'd seen either Terra or Ludor. Hopefully they were still here and could be brought home in time.

Meanwhile, the duo in question were locked in combat with the notorious One-Winged Angel in the middle of the nearby Wildebeest Valley. Or in this case, One Winged Lion. As predicted, being trapped in a four-legged body had drastically limited Sephiroth's powers, allowing the two fugitives to even the odds. Which is exactly what we need, Terra thought to himself as he bit into the assassin's left foreleg with a snarl. Sephiroth's reflexes, however, were not affected by his new body, and he quickly swatted the Key bearer across the face with his paw, knocking him loose. As soon as Terra released his grip on Sephiroth, Ludor charged in and sank his claws into the demon's wing. Sephiroth roared in pain before shaking off the Gambler of Fate, only to be blindsided when Terra lunged at him from the side. Ludor grinned triumphantly as he got back to his feet. After running from the monster for so long, now they stood a chance at defeating him once and for all.

A few worlds ago, I mentioned that the roller coaster was approaching the top of the hill plot-wise. Well once Sora and the others are done in this one, it will be at the top of the hill. Prepare yourselves people. Things are going to start getting intense.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 11, 2016

Chapter 80: Upgrades:
Pride Lands – Pride Rock:

"It's nice to finally meet you," Simba said after the three Keyblade wielders had introduced themselves. "I've heard a lot about you three." Having been told of the other Keyblade wielders by Riku, Mickey, and Kairi when they'd visited a little over a week ago, Simba and his Pride welcomed Aqua, Lea, and Ventus into his kingdom with open arms, or paws, in this case.

"All good things, I'm sure," Lea replied, causing everyone to burst out laughing. Once the laughter died down, Aqua asked if there had been any sightings of Terra and Ludor. Aqua was a little disappointed when Simba answered that neither of the fugitives had been spotted on this world in the last week. But before they could ask any further, a pillar of fire erupted from out on the savanna, accompanied by three loud roars. Concerned, Aqua, Ventus, Simba, and Lea raced down from Pride Rock towards the sounds of battle. As they reached the open plains of the savanna, they were shocked at the scene before them.

Terra was fighting Sephiroth with his Keyblade while Ludor held the winged assassin in place. Sephiroth parried most of Terra's blows with his ten-foot katana, but it was clear the Organization defectors had the upper hand. Aqua cast a Blizzaga spell as she darted forward into the fray. Unfortunately, the spell bounced right off the winged lion and had no effect. Behind Aqua, Lea held his fiery blade between his fangs while Simba, knowing that the youngest Key bearer was out of his league even when the battle was four against one, held Ven back from the fight. In between combination attacks against Sephiroth, Terra and Aqua managed to catch up on what was going on. After another two hours of fighting it became clear that Sephiroth would not be brought down so easily. Realizing that prolonging the battle further would only endanger Simba's subjects, Terra and Ludor were forced to flee once again. Althought Terra was able to sneak in another kiss with Aqua before they left in a Corridor of Darkness. Recognizing that he was still outmatched, and no longer had a reason to stay anyway, Sephiroth departed a few minutes later.

San Fransokyo – Fred's Mansion:

"I know where they are!" Fred shouted. After their first meeting Fred had insisted everyone spend the night at his family's mansion. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were a little reluctant to impose on Fred's family, but Fred's father, being a retired Superhero who had become the team's mission control during their battles, happily welcomed the interstellar travelers into his home. Despite napping aboard the Gummi Ship while travelling between Sherwood Forest and San Fransokyo, the trio were still exhausted from staying awake all night pulling off the jailbreak, so everyone had gotten some shut eye before they started brainstorming where Maleficent's base could possibly be hidden. After a night of bonding over sharing stories of their adventures, they'd spent the whole morning bonding over a large breakfast.
"Where!?" Everyone asked in unison. They all poked their heads up from wherever in Fred's room they were seated, be it a couch, chair or just leaning against a wall, eager to hear what the guy had to say.

"Remember that island where we fought Callaghan the first time and Hiro took out Baymax's medical chip and made him go all psycho?" the wealthy comic-book geek began. "That facility is still abandoned since Callaghan was arrested last year. What better place to hide than somewhere that's already abandoned?" Everyone agreed with the logic of the idea, and Hiro suggested using Baymax's sensors to double check Fred's theory. But before as they suited up, Fred's butler, Heathcliff, came in and informed the group that there was another Heartless/Nobody attack in the city. Realizing they needed to protect civilians first, the group headed out to confront the next group of monsters.
A little while later, the last of the monsters were vanquished, freeing up the group to go scan for Maleficent's lair. But before they could take flight (either by riding on Baymax or the jet-packs Hiro had quickly designed for the trio before their departure to the scene of the attack), they heard someone clapping. On a regular day, this wouldn't have bothered anyone in the group. But this wasn't the usual applause for heroics. This was the slow deliberate clap of a bad guy acknowledging his respect for his foes. The nine heroes turned towards the sound of the clapping to find a silver-haired man wearing the signature black coat of Organization XIII.

"It's good to see you're still as skilled as ever, Sora," Xemnas said.

"As if you care, Xemnas," Sora snapped, as the collective anger of Roxas and Xion welled up within him. As the Keyblade Master glared at Xehanort's Nobody, his eyes briefly flashed gold before quickly snapping back to their natural blue. Nobody except for Sora even noticed the change. And Sora only noticed because immediately after, he felt Roxas and Xion's anger at Xemnas die down significantly. Almost as if they were deliberately holding themselves back.

"So this is the sinister Organization XIII," Wasabi commented as the rest of Big Hero 6 prepared for battle. "This guy doesn't look that tough," the burly young man commented casually.

"Don't let your guard down," Fred immediately retorted. "When it comes to creatures like Nobodies, the more human they look, the more dangerous they are."

"What do you want?" Sora demanded as he continued to glare at his Nobody's former boss.

"To destroy Maleficent's base, just like all of you," the Superior of the In Between answered stoically.

"And what?" the seventeen-year old snapped. "You think some big speech about putting aside our differences to work towards a common goal will actually work? Yeah right. We'll handle Maleficent on our own, thank you very much. And we're still going to keep destroying every monster you send after us." He nodded as everyone around him voiced their agreement. Not even bothering to wait for Xemnas' reply, the group took off into the sky, rocket feet, jetpacks, and all. As they flew up towards the blimps hovering in the sky, Sora looked down to make sure Xemnas hadn't summoned more Heartless or Nobodies while their backs were turned.

More likely he's going to watch us and once we find Maleficent's lair, he's either going to storm it himself or let us all do his dirty work for him, the Keyblade Master thought to himself as the group flew up into the sky. In order for Baymax's long range scanners to get the best results, they needed to be at a higher altitude, where there would be less interference from buildings and other obstacles.

Cable Town – Floating Islands:

"Are the containment fields secure?" Maleficent asked as she examined the two large pods Hamsterviel had created to serve as prison cells for Terra and Ludor when they were finally captured. The green-skinned witch found it ironic that after sending out scout parties to hunt the two fugitives down, they stumbled into Cable Town completely by accident. Nevertheless, their capture was a rare prize, and she did not want them to escape.

"They're secure," the rodent-like mad scientist confirmed over the holographic transmission from San Fransokyo. "No Dark Corridors can be opened or closed within those containment units. I checked." Alright then, the dark fairy thought to herself. Now I just have to recall all the hunting parties and start sending out my demands to Xehanort and the Keyblade Bearers.

"And what of the Keyblade Wielders?" she asked cautiously.

"They have arrived in San Fransokyo," the doctor replied. "I am purging my laboratory of sensitive materials and information as we speak. Project Dark Bot will be online and ready for deployment within a few hours."

"Good," the sorceress stated bluntly. "Once the test run has been completed, return to Cable Town so we can plan our next move. Do not fail me, Doctor. If you are somehow captured and let critical information slip, I will hurt you in such ways as to make you beg for death." With that, she abruptly cut off the transmission. It's almost time, she mused as she looked through the semi-transparent material of the pods at Terra and Ludor's bodies, floating unconscious in the clear gel that nullified their powers and kept them sedated. Soon, I will have all five books of Prophecies in my possession, Xehanort and the heroes will destroy each other, and from the ashes, my new empire will be born.

I know, I know, that cliffhanger is evil. In all seriousness, things are definitely going to start heating up. So far things have been going moderately well for the heroes, but trust me when I say that not all the good guys are going to make it to the end of this story alive. That's right. Someone is going to die. Enjoy speculating about who will bite the dust. J

KeybladeOrder · Apr 11, 2016

Chapter 81: The Man in the Mask:
The World That Never Was – Braig's Room:

No, no, no, no, NO! Braig fumed silently to himself as he RTC'd back from Atlantis. Tears streamed down his face as he recalled Kairi's rejection of her past as Ava. It wasn't supposed to be this way. She was supposed to Unchain herself. To gather those of us who remain and lead us to victory, not to reject her memories and blindly stumble along the path that The Outcast wants! After resisting the urge to pull out his Keyblade and start tearing apart the room, he sat down on his bed. The Ava I knew really is gone… forever.

He sighed as he recalled the days following the sinking of Atlantis. It was only thanks to the intervention of King Triton of Atlantica that he didn't drown that day. The sea king was just as furious with the infighting of the Foretellers as Kashekim was. But he still rescued Braig as a favor to Ava. The Vulpeus foreteller was well-loved all over the world, and being referenced as one of her closest confidants had given him some influence. After that first day, the war went on for another seven long, bloody years. Without Ava as a voice of reason, the four factions were all at each other's throats. Anguis and Unicornis fought with each other as much as they fought with Leopardos and Ursus, and that had only increased the bloodshed a thousand-fold.

Knowing that Ava would object to the warriors of her union getting involved in the senseless conflict, Derax took over the Vulpeus union and focused their war-time efforts on evacuating civilians and protecting them from getting killed in the crossfire between the other four unions, taking the evacuated refugees to safe haven in Asgard. While the Vulpeus union was occupied following Ava's wishes, Ephemera had gathered together his fellow Unchained together so that they could find the X – Blade themselves. They weren't doing it for peace or so that the factions would stop fighting. They were doing it to get justice for Ava's murder.

Snapping back to the present, Braig quickly went to check in with the old man. Master Xehanort still trusted him, and he needed that trust to remain intact for as long as possible. As he warped around the castle in search of the bald Keyblade Master, he felt a sense of foreboding, and he found that thought comforting. The ominous feeling meant that it was almost time for the final battle to begin. Hope it hurries along then, he thought to himself as he found Master Xehanort standing up on the Altar of Naught. The sooner we get this over with, the better.

San Fransokyo – Up in the Sky:

"That was amazing!" Sora exclaimed as he, Donald, and Goofy joined Big Hero 6 on the airborne dirigible. Thanks to a few clusters of airborne Heartless and a few more Nobody attacks on the ground, the sun was just beginning to set by the time the nine heroes finally reached the requisite altitude for Baymax to scan for life signals that didn't match human vital signs. Everyone voiced their agreement as they all spent a few more minutes admiring the view and catching their breaths after the last battle. Kairi will love this place, the Keyblade Master thought to himself as he mentally added San Fransokyo to the list of places to take his girlfriend on future dates.

Once everyone had caught their breath and regained their stamina, Baymax stood up and started scanning the city for non-human vital signs. The healthcare robot recognized dog and cat vital signs after seeing them every time he used his medical sensor, and so San Fransokyo's house pets were automatically excluded from the search. After a few minutes of scanning, the armored robot located several unfamiliar vital signs coming from the abandoned island that used to house Krei Tech's research facility. With Fred's theory confirmed, the group flew off towards the island, hoping to rescue Snow White and take down Maleficent for good.

When they arrived at the island, the two teams immediately switched to stealth mode. They crept around to the hole the six superheroes had used to enter the island last year, only to find it boarded up. Sora led the group around to the other side of the outdoor area to a locked door. Sora pulled out his Keyblade and silently unlocked the door. For the next few minutes, they silently sneaked through the corridors of the seemingly abandoned research facility. As they walked through, they could see the telltale signs of habitation. The lights were on. The floors cleared of rubble. Ripped cables repaired and fallen panels put back where they belonged. Maleficent's cabal was definitely using the building as their lair. Motioning silently to the group that they needed to split up in order to cover more ground, Sora was about to lead Donald, Goofy, and Fred down one corridor while the rest of the group took another when…

"Oh no," Baymax said in his usual calm monotone before the three off-worlders heard the familiar guttural gibberish of Maleficent's Stitch-like minions. Sora and Donald quickly threw up Reflega spells while the rest of the team took cover as plasma bolts came flying down the hallway. As the magical shields deflected the laser blasts, Honey Lemon started throwing her chemical balls at the attack alien monsters, trapping them in foam. Once the guards were all disarmed, Donald used the radio on the Gummi remote to send a message to the Coalition requesting reinforcements. But by then it was already too late. The alarm had been triggered.

The heroes raced through the long metal hallways of the facility, hoping to find wherever Maleficent was keeping Snow White locked up. Each time they encountered more guards, they repeated the routine from earlier. Deflect the shots with Reflega, then bind the guards with Honey's chemical grenades. After a few repetitions, they reached the room that used to house Krei Tech's experimental portal device. Once they all raced into the room, Sora sealed off the entrance behind them with a Blizzaga spell, so that the Leroys couldn't follow. Once that was done, they looked around the room in horror. What was once a small portal room had been converted into a large laboratory. On one side of the room was a machine that appeared to be mass-producing small black shapes that looked eerily familiar to the city's resident superhero team.

"My Microbots!?" Hiro gasped as he recognized his invention being mass-produced. Only this time, it was being done by a megalomaniacal conqueror instead of a revenge-seeking college professor. And everyone's eyes widened when they looked at the other end of the room and saw a large, familiar, armored robot. The armor was deep purple instead of red, the wings and helmet were shaped to look more demonic, and there were horns all over the armored body, but the shape was unmistakably the same. The shape of Baymax.

"How…" everyone spluttered in shock at seeing the form of such a love-able and innocent robot twisted into something monstrous. Their confusion was interrupted when a small white gerbil with a red cape walked into the room.
"Ah, I see you've all found Project Dark Bot," the gerbil began. "Amazing technology, isn't it. We found it drifting through the Lanes Between, broken, but with such formidable fighting skills programmed into its body, Maleficent felt that it was an ideal super-soldier for her new army."

"That doesn't belong to you," Hiro snapped, angry at his brother's invention being twisted in an even worse way than when he'd tried to have Baymax kill Callaghan.

"Maybe not," the gerbil replied. "But thanks to the genius scientific mind of I, Doctor Jacques Von Hamsterviel, Greatest Evil Genius In The Galaxy, Maleficent will spread her reign across all worlds and conquer the entire galaxy. And in return for my services, I will become king top ruler of the remains of the STINKY GALACTIC ALLIANCE!" With an evil cackle, the gerbil-like alien jumped onto the computer console in front of Baymax's old body and pressed a button. This is not going to be good, everyone realized as power cables disconnected from the robot's body. As the dark robot powered up, the Microbots on the other side of the room began rising up from their containers and flying over and attaching themselves to interface sockets on the robot's right arm.

As the robot finished powering up, the lights on its helmet where Baymax's eyes used to be lit up a dangerous red. They kept the battle-chip in, Hiro realized with an expression of horror dawning on his face while Hamsterviel silently scurried out of the room. Once the old robot was fully online, all hell broke loose. The Robot immediately went after the superheroes with punches and kicks that were only enhanced by the stream of Microbots plugged into its arm. They must have combined the neural-cranial transmitter with the old body, the fifteen-year old genius deduced as everyone dodged the Microbot-enhanced attacks of the monstrous robot. When Fred's attempt to breathe fire at the robot failed, Dark Baymax took off through the roof.

"He's heading for the city!" Fred shouted as everyone immediately sprang into action. They all immediately took off to stop the evil robot. Sora, Hiro, and Fred rode on Baymax while Donald, Goofy, Gogo, Honey Lemon, and Wasabi took the jetpacks. As they flew through the sky back towards the city, they did everything they could to bring the demonic machine down. Honey Lemon threw explosive chemical balls, Donald threw offensive spells, Sora hurled his Keyblade like he did against the Rock Titan in Olympus, and Fred spewed fire at the robot, but they only slowed it down.
As the battle stretched out into the city, the pattern continued. One half of the group used long-ranged attacks to keep the monstrosity off the ground and away from the city, while Gogo and Wassabi would periodically dart in and slash at the armor with razor wheels and plasma blades. Eventually, after a long and tiring battle, they brought the robot down just as the sun set. Once the remains were disposed of, the group returned to the island, only to find the facility completely abandoned.

"They knew we'd be coming," Sora voiced what they were all thinking aloud. "They sent the robot to attack the city as a distraction so they could clean out and move to another base." Sora was upset that they'd failed again, but everyone cheered the seventeen-year old up by pointing out that they'd still saved the city. Deciding that it was time for them to regroup with their friends and figure out what the next step to stopping Xehanort and Maleficent was, the trio spent one more night in San Fransokyo before heading back to the Mysterious Tower. The sense of foreboding Sora had felt a while ago grew stronger once again.

Cable Town – Mountains:

Shit, Sephiroth cursed mentally as he shakily dragged himself to his feet. I haven't been wounded this badly since Xehanort hired me to kill Thanos, or whatever his name was. The injuries inflicted upon him in lion form were more severe than anyone else believed. His one wing was broken and incapable of flight. His left wrist, his sword fighting hand, was fractured, and his right ankle was sprained. His entire body was covered from shoulders to thighs in so many claw and bite marks that he couldn't even begin to count them all. It would take at least a week for the healing abilities inherited from his Mother to fully repair the damage. At least half a day before he'd even be able to stand up again. If Cloud came for him now, he was finished.

Fortunately, he thought to himself as he looked around at his surroundings, I appear to have landed on an undiscovered world, and it's unlikely that anyone will find me here. As he resumed examining his injuries, he failed to notice the blonde haired woman looking down at him from the floating islands above. Nor did he see her walk back into the ancient temple that had been converted into Maleficent's stronghold and inform the green-skinned fairy of the One-Winged Angel's arrival. Perhaps he should have paid more attention. If he had, the events to come might have turned out drastically different.

And thus, the second-to-last Disney world is finished. There is only one more Disney world left, but it's not going to come for a few more chapters. If you know your Pixar movies and you know what the Organization wants, you can already guess which world it will be.
Timeline wise, Riku, Mickey, and Kairi just left Atlantis. Next chapter everyone's meeting back at the Mysterious Tower to regroup and plan their next move again.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 11, 2016

And so Act 2 ends, and Act 3 begins.

Chapter 82: Working Together:
Mysterious Tower – The Tower:

"How did the Heartless manage to break through Master Yen Sid's barrier?" Sora asked rhetorically as he, Donald, and Goofy rode around in a summoned car with laser cannons on the sides, firing at the Heartless gathering at the base of the tower. "I thought the spell was supposed to keep Xehanort and the Heartless out?" The trio had returned to the Mysterious Tower to find it under siege by the Heartless. As the cart disappeared in a flash of light, the three heroes went right back to destroying the dark monsters with Keyblade, shield, and magic. Fortunately, most of the Heartless were of the weaker variety, like Soldiers, so they'd already mopped up the last of the little demons by the time the others landed.

"Hey guys!" Sora shouted as he walked over to the rest of their friends. He gave Riku, Aqua, Ventus, and Lea high-fives before they all started heading inside. While everyone else was busy talking, Sora gave Kairi a quick kiss, ignoring Lea's startled exclamation of "When did THAT happen!?"

"I missed you," he told her as they walked into the tower together.

"I missed you too," she replied as they walked up the stairs. "There were a lot of worlds I saw that felt like great places for us to go for our next date."

"I found a few ideas myself," he said with a conspiratorial wink. They went on to tell each other about all the places they'd been on the way up to Yen Sid's chambers, laughing at some of the funny parts of each other's adventures. After discussing their adventures they moved on to discussing where to go for their second date, since there were so many options to choose from. Everyone else even chimed in with their suggestions during the long walk up the stairs to the Loft. By the time they reached the final flight of stairs, the couple eventually decided on Never Land, since Sora had been wanting to take Kairi flying there since his first adventure. Sadly, the humor came to an end as the group of nine walked into Master Yen Sid's study.

After exchanging greetings with the old Keyblade Master, they all took their seats. Riku and Lea each sat on opposite ends of the arch of chairs, while Mickey, Donald, and Goofy sat in the middle. Sora and Kairi sat next to each other between Riku and Donald, while Aqua and Ven sat between Goofy and Lea. Jiminy hopped out of his place in Sora's hood and stood on the desk. Once everyone was seated, Master Yen Sid began.

"I'm sure you've all noticed that my barrier spell has weakened," he began. "Xehanort and Maleficent's actions are tipping the balance of power toward Darkness. Because of this, the Heartless are becoming stronger, while my spell is growing weaker. Because of this, I've reduced the shield to only include the tower itself, and I've had Belle and Jasmine move up into the wardrobe room in the event that I must shrink it again." As he said this, gestured to indicate the door to his left. Once that announcement had been made, everyone reported on their progress.

Upon reading Braig's letter explaining the secrets of the Unchained and the Foretellers, Master Yen Sid's face paled with shock and fear, even moreso when Kairi relayed the Atlantean king's tale of the beginning of the Keyblade War. Even though they all knew that what they'd done in their past lives didn't matter, and that they were different people than the Foretellers had been, the fact that his past life had been the one to kill Ava and start the war left Ven shaken. Everyone immediately reassured him that he wasn't to blame for what happened back then. Kairi especially was vocal in her belief that their past lives were practically different people, so it really wasn't anyone's fault for the actions of a past incarnation.

The mood brightened a bit when Aqua and Lea reported on the capture of Yzma and the addition of a few more worlds to the Coalition, and everyone went on to pool in all the information they'd uncovered in the last few days. Once everyone had gotten out everything that needed to be said, now came the time to decide on their next course of action. With no current leads on Maleficent's location, they eventually agreed that it was time to storm the World That Never Was and rescue the other Princesses of Heart. But before they could head back down to the Gummi Ships, a loud cawing interrupted them. The heroes all looked over to the window to find Maleficent's raven familiar perched on the edge of the star-shaped opening with an envelope clutched in its beak. The raven flew over and dropped the letter on the table before flying back out again. Cautiously, Master Yen Sid opened the envelope, and read the letter within.

"Greetings, heroes of Light,

In recent weeks I have come into custody of certain individuals who hold high strategic value to both sides of this ever-growing conflict. Terra. Ludor. Snow White. I will hand these three over to you in exchange for the remaining two copies of the Book of Prophecies. I know one exists in the Land of Departure, and I suspect one more is hidden in Yen Sid's tower. Bring them to Cable Town tomorrow, and if Xehanort doesn't give me a better offer, I'll give you the ones you want.

-Maleficent"

Below the witch's signature were the coordinates for the world she wanted them to meet her at. For a few minutes, everyone sat in silence as they processed what they'd just read. Maleficent was trying to sell her captives to the highest bidder. But if Xehanort was being made the same offer, then…

"She wants us to kill each other," Sora said as he realized the dark fairy's goal. "She wants us and the Organization all in one place, so that we'll all destroy each other in order to get her prisoners before the other side does, eliminating her competition in one swoop." Everyone quickly agreed as they realized the logic of the witch's plan, but as for her demands, they quickly found themselves between a rock and a hard place. If they showed up without the Books, which Yen Sid had explained were a crucial piece of the history of the Keyblade War, and had the power to create illusions of worlds and people that didn't exist yet, then she would just hand her hostages over to Xehanort. But if they gave her the books, they'd be putting tremendous power in the hands of an evil conqueror.

Ultimately, they realized that their only option was to bring the books along and play things by ear. Their decision made, the group headed downstairs to the guest rooms to eat dinner before getting some sleep after all the constant fighting and travelling. Once everyone else had left the kitchen/dining room area and headed off to bed, Sora and Kairi took advantage of their time alone to talk about the battle that was sure to come.

"I'm terrified," he admitted sadly. "I'm scared that if we get into this big battle like Maleficent clearly expects us to, Xehanort will just take you and leave. I know you can take care of yourself but you're nowhere near the level you need to be to fight a member of the Organization, Kairi."

"Sora, I get it," she answered as she leaned towards him and gave him a hug. "I'm scared, too. But I can't just stay cooped up all the time. I want to get out and help with everything, make a difference. If it'll make you feel better, we'll stick together for the entire meeting how's that?"

"That sounds good," Sora replied as he wiped the tears that had welled up in his eyes. "We can stay by each other's sides the whole time so neither of us has to worry. I guess being worried about each other is one of the things that comes with being together as a couple."

"Yeah," Kairi replied with a chuckle. "I guess so." She kissed him on the lips before getting up and grabbing two Sea-Salt Ice-cream bars from the refrigerator against the far wall. A storm was coming, they could both feel it. But whatever happened, they'd weather it together. So the young lovers talked about ideas for future dates as they ate their ice cream to take their mind off the oncoming storm. An hour later, they went to bed nervous about the battle to come, yet hopeful for their future as a couple.

Alright. Take deep breaths. This is it, people. The Countdown-to-the-Final-Battle train has left the station. The Rebel Fleet has entered Hyperspace bound for Endor. The Avengers have taken off from the Helicarrier for New York. This, my faithful readers, is the beginning of the end.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 83: Cable Town:
Cable Town – Mountains:

"We've got to help these people," Kairi declared as they walked up the mountains of Cable Town. They'd arrived on this previously undiscovered world to find a city in chains. While the apparently famous Floating Islands were connected with the three mountains by thick steel cables, but the heroes were concerned more with the emotional and mental chains, rather than the physical ones. Upon their arrival, they discovered that Maleficent had taken control of the world and was forcing the townspeople to provide food and maintenance for her new base.

"I agree," Sora added as they walked up the mountain slopes. "It's horrible that these people have to toil away to serve Maleficent's whims, but the only way we'll be able to do anything is if we hit Maleficent when her guard is down, and drive her off-world." Behind the couple, the rest of the group marched up the mountain with them. Aqua and Mickey each carried a Book of Prophecy under one arm, with everyone else trailing behind. Eventually, they reached the top of the mountain, where they found a gondola station that was once used to take people to and from the Floating Islands.

Since the gondolas could only seat four people at a time, they went in shifts. Riku, Ventus, Lea, Donald, and Goofy crammed into one car for the first trip, while Aqua, Mickey, Sora, and Kairi waited for the second round. As they waited, the people of Cable Town came out to see these alleged heroes, eager for someone to save them from Maleficent's reign of terror. None of the four heroes could resist helping people in need, and promised to drive Maleficent from their world as soon as they possibly could. After about an hour of waiting, the cable car returned to the mountain. Knowing that waiting would just make things worse, the four Keyblade wielders all climbed into the car before it began the ascent to the Floating Islands.

They were all nervous, so they spent the ride up talking about more pleasant things to take their mind off the upcoming parley with Maleficent. Sora and Kairi were pumped dry for information on their dating plans. Mickey gave Kairi advice on balancing duties as a monarch with being a Keyblade Master. Aqua told stories about her apprenticeship to Eraqus, and all the crazy stunts she, Terra, and Ven had gotten in trouble for. Talking about things that had nothing to do with their current situation helped them all take their minds off their unease.

When they reached the top, they found the others waiting for them. Once they were all together, one of Maleficent's red Stitches arrived and gestured for them to follow it. It led them through the twisting corridors of the old temples built on the Floating Islands and across two bridges until they reached what was clearly supposed to be an audience chamber. On the opposite side of the room stood Master Xehanort, Xemnas, his Heartless, and Isa, while Maleficent herself stood on the raised dais against the wall between the two factions.

"Good afternoon," she began, welcoming the heroes and villains to her domain. As she went on to outline the rules of the negotiations, the tension in the room was so thick even Keyblade wouldn't have been able to cut it. Sora nervously squeezed Kairi's hand to reassure himself that she was still there, that Xehanort hadn't used the distraction to snatch her away when his back was turned. He took a deep breath to steady himself. A coalition strike team was in orbit, ready to swoop down at a moment's notice if anything went wrong. Unfortunately, he and Kairi were both wary of the fact that Braig was nowhere to be found. Where is he? She wondered to herself as she looked around at the assembled faces of the Organization members. As the thought passed through her head, she was struck with a terrible feeling of nausea, as if something terrible was about to occur.

Mysterious Tower – Sorcerer's Loft:

"I thought you would be older," Braig commented as he stood facing Master Yen Sid in his study. Master Xehanort has sent the one-eyed sniper to attack the Mysterious Tower and capture Jasmine and Belle while the rest of the Organization procured Snow White from Maleficent. Breaking the old sorcerer's barrier spell was child's play. He'd invented it himself, after all. Now they faced each other, warrior to warrior. Although Braig had heard many things about the old loon's mentor, he was expecting the man to be even older than Xehanort. Clearly that wasn't the case.

"Unlike Xehanort," the great wizard answered, "I prefer ways of preserving my body that don't involve the possession of others."

"Of course," the Freeshooter replied before casting an Aero spell that sent the ancient Keyblade Master's beard billowing around the room. "The old coot always has to do things the hard way, doesn't he? He transferred his Heart into a new, younger body, when all along he could have been using an Atlantean Heart Crystal." As the wind died down and the old man's beard returned to its normal state, Braig caught sight of the telltale turquoise glow of Atlantean crystal beneath the sorcerer's beard, confirming his suspicions.

"There must be another way," Yen Sid began as he smoothed his ruffled facial hair. "In your letter you spoke of stopping Xehanort single-handedly, but you need not do it alone. You do not have to stoop to Xehanort's level in order to defeat him."

"But I must," Braig retorted. "Because your way of stopping him will end the cycle thousands of years too early. The worlds aren't ready yet. It's not yet time. Thwarting the old coot now will eliminate his plans. I need the princesses of Heart. Xehanort is after the Key to Return Hearts." When the old man's eyes widened in shock and horror, the one-eyed man continued. "I take it you've heard of it. Anyway, the old fool is trying to create it by gathering all seven Princesses. He wants to use it to awaken the remnants of Vanitas buried deep inside Sora's heart." At this, the sorcerer's face paled in pure, unrestrained terror. "I'm taking the girls," he added smugly.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Master Yen Sid roared angrily. Braig actually took a step back. Righteous fury rolled off the old sorcerer in waves, but the Unchained warrior was ready. He had eight thousand years of experience on the ancient magician. The Freeshooter smiled an eager grin as Yen Sid pulled the Land of Departure's Keyblade, the Master's Defender, out from under his desk, and assumed a battle stance.

"That can be arranged," Braig replied as he summoned his Keyblade for the first time in nearly forty years. He readied himself in his fighting stance, and the duel began. At the start of the battle, the two Keyblade bearing warriors were evenly matched. For every spell each man cast, the other quickly blocked and returned fire. Every swing of the Keyblade was blocked. The longer the impasse went on, the more heated the battle became. Eventually, a stray Firaga Burst spell tore open a large hole in the wall, roof, and floor.

"Not bad," he commented as he dodged a swing of Yen Sid's blade. "But I have something you don't have." He warped away from the spells and swings until he was inches from the old man's face. "Eight thousand years of experience." Before Yen Sid could say anything, Braig drove his Keyblade through the old man's heart. After dropping the Master's Defender, Master Yen Sid staggered back, the Unchained's weapon lodged in his chest. "Don't worry," Braig said apologetically as he walked towards the old man. "Xehanort will die like he does every cycle. The X – Blade won't be forged for another two thousand years." As Master Yen Sid stood on the edge of the crumbling hole. Beneath him was an endless drop through the orange clouds below.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way," he added sadly as he removed his blood-stained Keyblade from the old man's chest. "I really am." With that, he kicked the older man out into the empty air, sending his body plummeting down into the endless abyss beneath the tower. Braig stood on the edge looking down until the old man's body fell out of sight. Once Yen Sid's body was no longer visible, the Unchained Keyblade wielder walked towards the door to the wardrobe room where the two Princesses of Heart were hunkered down with a look of grim satisfaction on his face. He didn't like it, but it needed to be done. Soon Xehanort would be dead, and hopefully he'd be heading to the afterlife along with him.

And I leave you on that bombshell until next chapter. Cheers.

Okay, okay, put down the torches and pitchforks, I'll explain my decision (angry mob lowers implements so I can explain cliffhanger)

In all seriousness, I felt that something like killing off Yen Sid would be a big moment. I like how he became the main coordinator for the heroes, but one thing that I thought would make sense is after KH3 for the heroes to have to figure out how to preserve peace and protect the worlds without the guidance of mentors like Eraqus and Yen Sid.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 84: Snuff Out The Light:
Cable Town – Floating Islands:

"You brought the books then." Maleficent's assessment was more of a statement than a question. The heroes glowered at the green-skinned fairy as they reluctantly confirmed that they had indeed brought the copies of the Book of Prophecies, as she had requested. When asked for proof that she had all three of her alleged hostages, she snapped her fingers and three of the red alien soldiers came out of the side doors behind her pushing carts holding translucent versions of the stasis pods in the Twilight Town mansion. In each pod was one of her three hostages. Terra, Snow White, and Ludor. This at least managed to quell the heroes' fears that Maleficent was trying to trick them into handing over the books.

"And what do you have to counter-offer, Xehanort?" she asked the four Organization members standing on the opposite side of the room from the heroes of light. As it turned out, since Xehanort had a lot to offer despite not having the Books of Prophecy. The ancient Keyblade Master stepped forward and offered Maleficent a very tempting package deal. In exchange for her three prisoners, he was prepared to offer Organization XIII's entire fleet of spacecraft used to protect the World That Never Was, all of the Organization's reconnaissance reports for every world they had ever made contact with, a stasis pod containing a man with red skin and a misshapen head whom Xehanort claimed shared Maleficent's interests, and lastly, the severed head of a purple-skinned alien who was apparently a rival of hers in the field of galactic conquest.

The arguments quickly began in earnest. Maleficent was sorely tempted to take Xehanort's offer. However, Sora made a convincing argument to choosing the heroes.

"First of all," he argued. "Trading with Xehanort just means he'll stab you in the back later on, and he'll take our copies of the books and try and get his hands on your copies. Second of all, what Xehanort's offering you, information, new allies, and killing off rivals; that's all stuff you can get yourself. But we're the ones who have something you can't get anywhere else. Would you rather trade your irreplaceable hostages for something you can get for yourself any time you want, or something rare and valuable that you'll only ever have one opportunity to get your hands on?"
As much as Maleficent despised the young man, his argument was valid. So reluctantly, Sora gave her the books as the Leroys opened the pods to release Terra, Ludor, and Snow White. Aqua, Riku, and Lea quickly put themselves between the former hostages and the Organization. For a single moment, things actually looked positive for the Guardians of Light. But then Braig showed up, and their joy quickly turned to ashes in their mouths.

"The old man's dead and I got the girls," Braig announced as he emerged from a Dark Corridor carrying a bound and gagged Belle and Jasmine over his shoulders. Immediately, the heroes' collective blood boiled as they realized what the Freeshooter had done. That he'd killed Master Yen Sid. A man who was a mentor to some and a friend to others. But every Keyblade Wielder (except Xehanort of course) and the two soldiers of Disney Town glared angrily at the Unchained warrior.

"YOU MONSTER!" Kairi snapped furiously as she drew her Keyblade. All around her the rest of the group followed suit. But before they could move to attack, Xehanort pulled out his Keyblade and cast Mega Flare. Everyone barely had enough time to cast Reflega before the massive explosion engulfed the room. When the dust settled, Sora still clung to Kairi's hand beneath the protective glow of their shield. A few feet away, Aqua and Terra did the same. Riku, Mickey, and Lea looked toward the raised dais on which Maleficent had been standing only to find her now singed robes lying on the ground in a flaming heap while her alien minions frantically struggled to put out the fires in their furs.

The heroes quickly regained their senses before launching into action. Aqua cast a Blizzaga spell on the alien troops, unwilling to allow them to suffer such agony despite everything they'd done for Maleficent. Meanwhile, Donald quickly used the Gummi Auto-pilot remote to silently send a signal to the Coalition troops waiting in orbit. It's time, the message said. Land the troops. Now. As that was happening, Terra swiftly transformed his Keyblade into a cannon and fired a massive ball of white-hot fire at the Organization members on the opposite side of the hall. While Xehanort easily deflected the destructive projectile into an empty wall opposite Maleficent's throne, more of the madman's black-cloaked minions emerged from Corridors of Darkness and readied their weapons. In the blink of an eye, the two groups charged into battle.

Cable Town - Lower Terrace:

I have to hurry, Sephiroth thought to himself as he limped through the streets of Cable Town. If Cloud finds me here, I won't last till sunset. His broken wing hung limp behind him. Surprisingly, nobody paid him any mind. Nobody stopped him or tried to speak with him. If anything, they ran to get out of his way the instant they saw him. Better than having to fight my way out of here, he mused as he clutched his injured side. That fireball clearly means that someone, either Xehanort or Maleficent is on-world. Hopefully I can get out of here before Cloud finds me.

"SEPHIROTH!" the blonde haired man's voice shouted out behind him. Speak of the devil, the One-Winged Angel cursed in his head as he turned around to face his progenitor. This time, it wasn't just him and the black-haired girl, Tifa. This time, he had back up. Accompanying him were that brunette man from Radiant Garden and that so-called "Great Ninja" Yuffie, along with two other people he'd never seen before. The moment Sephiroth laid eyes on the group, he knew his time had come. But he refused to admit defeat and let them kill him. So he would go out the way he was always meant to go out: dying in the heat battle.

"You really think that bringing more people for me to kill will actually stop me?" he taunted as he released his side. His voice steady and even to mask the pain he was in.

"What the Keyblade wielders did to you in the Pride Lands just proves that you can't deal with multiple attackers at once," Cloud retorted angrily. So they figured it out then, the assassin realized. Alright, let's get this over with.
"You just never get it, do you, Cloud?" he fired back as he unsheathed his blade. "To hate me is to give me breath. To fight me is to give me strength! NOW PREPARE TO FACE OBLIVION!" With that, he charged into battle, slashing with only a fraction of his legendary speed. The One-Winged Angel knew he was going to die, but he refused to breathe his last without a fight. I will not stop fighting while there is still breath left in my lungs, he resolved to himself as he parried a blow from a gun-blade before swinging his katana once more as his last battle began.

And so the battle of Cable Town begins. For the record, the title of this chapter comes from a deleted song from the Emperor's New Groove. In the beginning it was going to be a Lion King-style musical epic called Kingdom of the Sun (hence the name of the ENG world a few chapters back). Snuff Out the Light was written to be Yzma's Villain Song before the script was overhauled into the comedy movie we all know and love because of behind-the-scenes drama and executive meddling. In the original script, Yzma's motivation can basically be summed up as wanting to summon an ancient demon to blot out the sun and gain eternal youth. Though the script was overhauled and the song cut from the final film, Snuff Out the Light was recorded and is included in the movie soundtrack. For fellow ENG fans who haven't heard this amazing villain song yet, give it a listen on youtube. It's extremely catchy and a great Villain Song for Yzma.

Yes, Sephiroth just quoted Vaatu from Legend of Korra. Yes, Xehanort offered Maleficent Red Skull in a box (pod, whatever, you get the point), and yes, he quite literally gave Maleficent Thanos' head on a silver platter. And yes, the "joy turned to ashes in their mouths" bit was a deliberate shout out to Game of Thrones.

Anyway back to discussing plot elements. I felt that if Sephiroth is going to be part of the main storyline, then they'll really have to finally kill him off in KH3, and I felt that a few worlds before the final boss battle with Master Xehanort would be the ideal point in the story to actually have a final boss in which Cloud finally puts him in the ground for good. That battle will essentially be the beginning of the next chapter.

And for the record, regarding Maleficent, do you guys really think I'd just kill her off like that after all that development in this fic? She's not dead. I just needed a way for her to Exit Stage Left before the fight with Xehanort in such a way that anyone who doesn't want to read the sequels can interpret her as being killed. She'll still be a significant presence in my sequels, but right now this is the part where Xehanort takes center stage for the remainder of the story as far as conflict goes.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

hapter 85: Beginning of the End:
Cable Town – Floating Mountains:

Sora ducked behind the crumbling wall as another Firaga spell from Xemnas shook the room. A soon as the battle began, the room erupted into chaos. Riku, Mickey, and Lea were hunkered in the throne room fighting off Braig and Isa. Terra, Aqua, and Ven were pinned down in the barracks by Maleficent's troops. Donald, Goofy, and Ludor were trapped on the roof holding off Ratcliffe and Hans. Meawhile, he, Kairi, and Snow White were being battered by Ansem and Xemnas in the entrance hall as they tried to board the gondola and get Snow White to safety. After deflecting a few of the dark duo's attacks, he quickly summoned an enchanted pirate ship and used it to knock both men out of the entrance hall long enough for them to jump onto the steel cables connecting the floating islands to the mountains below.

With Snow White holding onto Kairi's back, they used Flowmotion to glide down the thick cables, leaving their two pursuers in the dust. As they slid down the cables, Sora glanced back to see explosions bursting up from all over the ancient temple complex. As the battle against Xehanort began, what was left of Maleficent's forces started pushing back in order to drive both factions out, only to be forced on the defensive by the arrival of Coalition Troops. He thought he'd spotted a few familiar faces from the Land of Dragons or La Cite Des Cloches as he, Kairi, and Snow fought their way out of the witch's lair. Snow White had proved surprisingly adept at hand to hand combat, having spent the years since her rescue from Maleficent the last time training herself to fight so that she would not be defenseless the next time someone tried to abduct her.

As they broke through the cloud layer, they discovered that the battle was being waged on the ground as well as in the air. Sora recognized the telltale glow of Leon's charged-up gun-blade, and once the trio was safely off the cables, they raced down the mountain to help. When they reached the lower terrace, they found a sight none of them expected to see. Cloud, Tifa, Leon, Yuffie, and two members of the Restoration Committee Sora had never met before were locked in combat with Sephiroth. The most unusual thing about it though, was not that the six warriors appeared to have the upper hand, but that Sephiroth seemed weaker than usual. His movements were more sluggish, less flashy, and devoid of any combat magic. At first Sora thought that the One-Winged Angel was simply feigning weakness in order to get his opponents to lower their guards, but the giveaway to what was really happening however, was that the assassin's lone black wing hung limp behind him, clearly broken and incapable of flight.

Realizing what these signs meant, Sora asked Kairi to stay back and protect Snow White before he raced down the hill and joined the battle. If Sephiroth was surprised by his sudden entrance, he didn't show it. Sora turned his Keyblade into two pistols and started shooting fire spells at the winged assassin. Sephiroth was able to deftly dodge them, until the man with the metal arm managed to hit Sephiroth with a laser blast to the chest from his arm cannon. The teen winced upon hearing the distinctive crunch of bones breaking as the One-Winged Angel hit the ground. Even more so when Sephiroth took a few labored breaths before leaping back to his feet.

Sora quickly blocked as the Inhuman assassin aimed his blade at the young man's heart. The team fighting Sephiroth was so focused on their target that they failed to notice the Heartless emerging from the shadows to surround Kairi and Snow. Kairi knew that Sephiroth was a bigger target than these Heartless, so she pulled out her Keyblade and started casting spells at the dark monsters as she put herself between Snow White and the Heartless. Her months of training were really paying off, as she cut down her demonic foes with ease. As the crowd of Heartless thinned, Sephiroth continued to grow weaker and weaker. Until finally Cloud drove his blade through his dark half's heart.

"You're finished," he said with an air of finality as he panted heavily from the exhaustion of the fight. "For good this time. You will hurt anyone else ever again." All Sephiroth could do as he faded away into Darkness and nothing was sit there in silence, glaring defiantly at his killer.

"I may be gone, Cloud," he retorted weakly. "But as long as you have darkness in your heart, I will continue to haunt you until… the day…. You…" The One-Winged Angel never finished his sentence as he disintegrated in a wisp of black smoke that quickly rose into the air before fading into nothingness. Satisfied that the monster was finally gone, Sora and everyone else stood there for a few moments catching their breath, but Sora immediately turned around when he heard a scream.

"SORA!" Kairi shouted as he turned his head to find her holding onto Snow White's arms and attempting to pull her out of a Dark Corridor that had opened up in the ground beneath the Princess, dragging her in. Sora raced over and grabbed Kairi's waist as he tried to pull the two Princesses of Heart back from the portal to what was presumably the World That Never Was. Despite Sora's added strength, Kairi's feet edged closer and closer to the edge of the Corridor. Their hopes lifted for a brief second when the force dragging Snow into the portal momentarily lessened. Then it instantly came back even stronger. Kairi's feet slipped off the edge and through the Darkness. Kairi quickly let go of Snow White's hands and desperately latched onto Sora's.

"Sora," she gasped as she felt the force, which turned out of be several Organization members attempting to drag her into the portal by her legs. "I love you." Both of them understood what she was leaving unsaid: this was a losing battle. No matter how hard he pulled to drag her free of the Darkness, more and more Organization members were coming, and inch by inch she sank deeper into the Corridor.

"I love you too," Sora whispered as tears began welling up in his eyes. "And no matter what happens, no matter how long it takes, no matter what I have to do or how far I have to go, I will find you, Kairi. I will always find you." And the combined pulling of nine Organization members finally broke the two lovers apart, dragging the last free Princess of Heart off to the World That Never Was, the portal quickly closing behind them before Sora could follow. For a moment, the teenage Keyblade Master just stood there in shock, tears flowing down his cheeks at the realization that he had failed to protect Kairi. Failed to save the girl he loved. Before Cloud, Leon, or any of the others could walk over and offer words of comfort, he snapped.

For ten solid minutes he simply swung his Keyblade at everything nearby. Rocks, trees, cliff faces, he didn't care what he hit. He was so grief-stricken at the thought of losing Kairi again that he failed to notice a dark presence welling up in his mind. None of the Coalition soldiers were close enough to notice his eyes flicker between blue and gold, or his hair flashing back and forth from brown to black. Only when the voices of Roxas and Xion started ringing in his head did he finally stop. The young man dried his eyes as Roxas and Xion reassured him that they were going to get Kairi back. They were going to storm the Castle That Never Was, save Kairi, and make Xehanort pay for everything he had done to everyone in the monster's excessively long life. Sora's mood brightened a bit, and the dark presence died down, but the urge to make Xehanort suffer for what he'd done lingered.

By the time he'd finished up in the woods, the battle was over. Maleficent's allies had scattered to the wind after her apparent death, even though none of them could be certain she wouldn't find a way to come back later. While Cable Town had been liberated from Maleficent's control, their victory was not without setbacks. It wasn't just Kairi and Snow that Xehanort had grabbed. Terra and Ludor had been snatched up in the chaos of the battle. With the knowledge that now was the time to storm Xehanort's stronghold, the eight heroes boarded their Gummi Ships, heading for the one place they hoped would still have a link for them to access the World That Never Was: Twilight Town.

The World That Never Was – The Soundless Prison:

"It's not use," Cinderella commented bleakly as Kairi attempted to break the barrier keeping the seven princesses in their cell with her Keyblade. "The barrier is unbreakable." Kairi, Belle, Jasmine, and Snow White had been dumped into the same cell as Aurora, Cinderella, and Alice. Upon their arrival, Kairi immediately went into a panicked frenzy as she tried to escape their prison. Her attempts to escape grew even more desperate when Master Xehanort arrived to taunt them accompanied by a repossessed Terra and Ludor.

"No!" Kairi snapped as she continued striking the force field keeping the seven young women imprisoned. "I refuse to accept that. There has to be a way out!"

"Kairi, calm down," Jasmine urged. "I know you care about Sora but panicking right now won't accomplish anything." Realizing the princess of Agrabah was right, Kairi slumped down in her cell in defeat. After a few moments of catching up on each other's lives, the other six princesses began talking about what Xehanort was going to do to them, and what they were going to do about it. While this was going on, Kairi was reminded of a conversation she and the others had had with Master Yen Sid back before they'd woken up Ven. About what would happen when all seven Princesses of Heart combined their powers together.

"We need to make the Key to Return Hearts!" Kairi declared before going on to explain to her fellow Princesses what that meant. Everyone quickly realized that doing so would temporarily remove their Hearts from their bodies, which was exactly what Xehanort wanted. Kairi had countered by pointing out that if they didn't do it, Xehanort was prepared to kill them all for their hearts of pure light, and that since they created it themselves, then they could send it wherever they wanted it to be formed. As long as someone like Sora had the Key, Xehanort would never be able to get their hearts.

So after a few minutes of trial and error, the seven Princesses of Heart combined all of their powers together, sending their pure Hearts out of their bodies and off into the universe in search of the Keyblade Masters they knew would know what to do with it.

The title is a reference the season 1 finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The "I will always find you" part was a Once Upon A Time quote.

Sora's little rampage was inspired by a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which I will not spoil for those who haven't seen it yet.

So yeah, that happened. I've basically been building up to all of this since Act 1 ended. With Sephiroth dead and Maleficent's power base, whether she'd dead or not () scattered and broken, Cable Town was the world that really shakes things up and gets everything changing gears in preparation for the final battle. Only 20 more chapters to go, my ever faithful readers, and in the words of Axel, it's going to be "One hell of a show." You'd better start preparing for a whole string of Wham Episodes.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 86: Twilight Town:
Twilight Town – Mansion Dining Room; 8,010 Years Ago:

"Foreteller," the Master of the Unicornis Union looked up from his book as one of his warriors poked their head in through the open door. "Ephemera of the Unchained is here to see you," the young woman continued. The Keyblade Master silently nodded for them to send the man in. Before Vulpeus' trusted confidant walked through the door, he pulled his unicorn-head hood over his face, covering his silver hair in the process.

"Are the rumors true?" The Unchained Key bearer asked without preamble once he entered the room. After seven years of war, the young man before Unicronis had changed rapidly. Besides the burn marks on his face from the Sinking of Atlantis, Ephemera's who attitude had changed. Gone was the idealistic teenager who Vulpeus saw as a trusted friend. The years of warfare had taken their toll on the young man, hardening him into a ruthless warrior crusading for revenge. His attitude towards authority had been changed as well. Were any other Keyblade wielder to address him so flippantly, Unicronis would have severely reprimanded them. But after Ava's murder, Ephemera had long since lost what little respect he had for the surviving Foretellers, and Unicronis had simply learned to take the young man's disrespect in stride.

"Unfortunately," he answered. "My spies were able to confirm that Leopardos has begun mining in the mountains of Daybreak Town in search of the X – Blade. It's only a matter of time before he unearths the Master's weapon."

"Thank you," Ephemera replied before turning on his heels and marching out of the room.

"Wait!" Unicornis called out after him. "Where are you going?"

"Someone's got to keep that thing out of the traitors' hands," the Unchained snapped angrily. "And if it isn't going to be your people, or Anguis', it'll have to be mine." Before Unicornis could tell the young man that they needed to pool their resources since Leopardos and Ursus controlled Daybreak Town, Ephemera left the mansion before stepping into a portal of Light. A short while later and a few thousand miles away, he emerged into the dimly lit command center of the building he and his fellow Unchained were using as their headquarters.

"It's time," he announced to the assembled Keyblade wielders. "Leopardos cannot be allowed to get his murdering hands on the X – Blade. Anguis and Unicornis will not be of any help. If the traitors are to be stopped, we must take Daybreak Town ourselves."

The Lanes Between – Sora, Donald, and Goofy's Gummi Ship; Now:

"Can't this thing go any faster!?" Sora exclaimed as Donald flew the Gummi Ship towards Twilight Town as fast as realistically possible. Everyone could tell that Sora was anxious to get to the World That Never Was and rescue Kairi. But there was another layer of urgency for storming Xehanort's citadel. In the chaos of the battle in Cable Town, Xehanort had managed to abscond with all five copies of the Book of Prophecies. Knowing the power that those books possessed, the heroes were scrambling to get to the World That Never Was as quickly as they could.

"Calm down, Sora," Donald reassured. "I'm going as fast as I can. Badgering me to fly faster won't make us get there any sooner. You have to be patient." Unfortunately, the duck's pleas fell on deaf ears. This was the second time the Organization had kidnapped Kairi and once again he'd been helpless to stop them from taking her. He was furious with Xehanort and now he was on the warpath. He would stop at nothing to bring Kairi back safely.

"I can't be patient!" he snapped. "Kairi could be dead right now and you don't even care!"

"SORA! ENOUGH!" Goofy shouted, his uncharacteristic anger shocking Sora out of his fear-driven frenzy. "You're not the only one who cares about Kairi," the dog continued. "But if we fly around too fast we'll crash into an asteroid and get ourselves killed before we even get to her. Do you want that!?"

"No…" Sora sobbed sadly as he buried his face in Goofy's shoulder. "I'm sorry I yelled at you guys. I just…"

"Say no more," Goofy replied. "We understand." One of the things Goofy had learned as a parent was that sometimes, no matter how old they got, when a kid was really stressed, they needed a chance to just let it all out instead of bottling everything up inside. So he stood there, giving Sora a comforting hug as the seventeen year old cried from all the stress of the last few days. With all the travelling and fighting they'd been doing for the last few weeks, they hadn't really had much time to really rest and relieve all their stress, and the pressure was clearly starting to get to Sora. After a few minutes, he finally calmed down. Letting out all the pent up stress clearly helped him feel a little better.
As Goofy let the young man out of the bear hug, Sora perked up when he heard a voice. A faint whisper on the nonexistent wind, but clear and distinct nonetheless. Kairi's voice.

Sora… he heard her whisper. He immediately turned towards the sound of his girlfriend's voice. As he squinted into the darkness around the ship, he could just make out seven small points of light in the distance off the ship's starboard side. As the seven lights began to glow brighter and brighter, the Keyblade Master quickly realized what the lights were.

"Donald," he said, a tiny ray of hope blossoming in his voice. "Would you open the starboard exterior airlock?"

"What!?" the duck exclaimed. "Why?" Without saying a word, Sora simply lifted his arm up and pointed at the seven lights making a beeline for their Gummi Ship. Donald quickly followed the young man's train of thought and complied with his request. As he did so, Sora raced down to the airlock. When he go there, he peered through the window of the interior hatch and watched the breathtaking sight of the seven pure lights of the Princesses of Heart merge together to form a familiar shape. The Key to Return Hearts.

Unlike the incomplete, dark Keyblade Riku had used in Hollow Basion all those years ago, the Key to Return Hearts had a shaft and blade comprised of a transulecent white crystal, instead of the deep black of Riku's dark Key. Instead of the dark Keyblade's blood red, the hilt was made of pure gold. After the outer airlock closed behind the newly created blade, Sora opened the inner hatch and stared as the blade made from seven pure hearts, from Kairi's heart, floated in the air as if hung from an invisible plaque on a wall. With a deep breathe, Sora grabbed it by the hilt.

As he grabbed the Key of pure light out of the air, a buzzing sensation raced up his arm towards his heart. Almost immediately, he realized what was happening and why. Kairi's heart was trying to communicate with him from inside the blade. She was reassuring him that once the Key to Return Hearts had served its purpose, it would break apart, and the Princesses hearts would all be returned to their respective bodies. Comforted to know that Kairi was alright in spirit, if not in body, Sora walked back up to the bridge to show Donald and Goofy the new Keyblade.

Twilight Town – Base of the Mountain:

"That's new," Goofy commented a few hours later as they emerged from the mountain in which they'd parked their Gummi Ship. With technology loaned from Radiant Garden and The Grid, the city government of Twilight Town had carved out an air and spacecraft hangar in the upper reaches of the mountains on which the town had been built. Needless to say, it made finding a place to park their ship where it couldn't be potentially damaged or stolen much easier. Once they emerged from the hangar, they started the long walk downhill towards the Old Mansion.

The plan was fairly simple. All three teams would meet up in Twilight Town's old mansion before pressing on to the World That Never Was. Since they had all of the Princesses' hearts inside the Key, they had decided over the short-range radio that they would use the extra time the seven Princesses had bought them to spend the night at the mansion so that they were all well rested for the final battle with Xehanort. It was easy enough in theory, but like many things, it remained to be seen how well the idea would fare in practice.

As they reached the station plaza, they were far from surprised when they ran into three old friends. Hayner, Pence, and Olette were glad to see the trio again, but they were horrified to hear that Kairi had been kidnapped again. Despite their lack of combat experience or training, the three teens resolved to do whatever they could to help rescue Kairi and stop Xehanort once and for all.

The enlarged group immediately sprang into action when several Heartless materialized inside the plaza. Knowing how Xehanort operated, Sora knew that the evil Keyblade Master was was going to leave the Princesses alone until the heroes were storming his base, getting their hopes up before crushing them beneath his boot. Well he's in for a really big surprise then, Sora thought to himself as he, Donald, and Goofy immediately formed a protective triangle around the three unarmed Twilight Town residents before turning to doing what they did best: slaying monsters.

So the heroes now have the Key to Return Hearts, and we start learning more about the final battle of the Keyblade War. As we get closer to the final battle against Xehanort, I felt like there should start being flashbacks to the final battle of the war. Despite his sympathetic backstory, Braig is still a bad guy. He's just a well-intentioned one with a backstory worthy of pity.

Genre Savvy readers can start picking up where I'm going with including Hayner, Pence, and Olette in the Twilight Town story. Though to be honest it's pretty obvious once you think about it.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 87: The Afternoon Streets:
Daybreak Town – Seacoast Park; 8,010 Years Ago:
From his vantage point atop the lighthouse observation tower, Ephemera watched Daybreak Town burn. They'd landed on the shores of the capital only a few hours before, and the Unchained warriors had quickly cleared out the park as a landing zone. Unfortunately, the way across the bridge into town was blocked by a contingent of Ursus troops. Althought the Unchained had more weapons, the darkened Keyblade wielders still outnumbered them twenty to one. When he realized that they wouldn't be able to break through with Keyblades, he'd called in an airstrike. Now they were just waiting for it to land.

Another explosion bloomed along the coast as Unicornis warships bombarded the shoreline. Though too small to be visible from this vantage point, Ephemera was aware of the Anguis soldiers rowing towards the beach. Cowards, he insulted the other unions to himself. The only reason they're attacking at all is so they can take the credit when this is all over. If I hadn't made the first move they would have just sat back and let the traitors destroy the world. He was distracted from his thoughts by the roar of an Atlantean Marag. An instant later, he shielded his eyes as the Ursus troops occupying the bridge were vaporized in a blinding flash of teal blue light.

He winced and placed his hand over the burns on his face as he recalled Emma's death. Just because there had been Unchained who had brought those Marags to their side when they defected from the Leopardos and Ursus unions during the war, didn't mean the presence of the weapons which killed the love of his life made him any more comfortable. Shaking himself back to the present, he leapt down from the tower and ordered his troops across the bridge. The siege of Daybreak Town had begun.

Blood flowed through the streets and dark smoke filled the air as the three armies fought their way through Keyblade Wielders and Heartless alike in the battle to stop Leopardos, Ursus, and the Outcast from getting their hands on the X – Blade. Despite the contempt he felt for the other Foretellers, Ephemera was at least grateful that Unicornis and Anguis had enough common sense not to try and kill him for interfering with their union's business when they were in the middle of a battle.

After almost an entire day of nonstop combat, the three armies had managed to secure a large portion of Daybreak Town. The Foretellers camped out in the second district while their troops took shifts firing artillery up at the clock tower throughout the night. But despite its strategic significance, the citadel in the center of Daybreak Town was not their main target. The primary target of the siege was the traitors' mining operations within the mountains. That was where the rumors indicated that the (former) Grand Master's blade had been hidden away. If any one of the three traitors got their hands on that ancient weapon, nothing could ever hope to stop them, save for the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master. But that relic had been lost since the beginning of time.

We're on our own, as usual, Ephemera thought to himself as he laid down on his cot in the command tent the two Foretellers had set up. Despite his contempt for their decision making skills, he had to admit that Unicornis and Anguis were still decent people when push came to shove. At least he wouldn't have to worry about them stabbing him in the back while he slept. Comforted by that thought, he drifted off into slumber with the rhythmic explosions of cannonballs, Meteors, and Firaga spells against the steel and concrete of Daybreak Town's clock tower echoing throughout the night.

Twilight Town – Tram Common; Now:

"TAKE THIS!" Sora shouted as he summoned a Pegasus drawn chariot that demolished the surrounding Heartless with Thundaga spells. Because of the high quantity of Heartless in their way, it had taken at least an hour just to get from the Station Plaza down here to the Tram Common. Behind him, Donald and Goofy were flinging spells and shields at the airborne monstrosities. A little further back, Hayner, Pence, and Olette were bludgeoning the Shadows and Soldiers on the ground with shields bought from one of the shops on Station Heights.

Sora waded through the fray towards the hole in the wall leading to the mansion, turning his Keyblade into fire-spewing pistols as he did so. The flames burned the Heartless, forcing them to back away. At least they're not coming after me in packs, he thought to himself. When they'd passed by the entrance to the Sandlot, the Shadows had come flying after them in torrents. Sora had had to use a lot of Magic and parkour to defeat the massive swarm. Thankfully, the other small Heartless weren't capable of achieving such a feat.

Donald and Goofy raced over to him as he activated a new summon, creating three spinning teacups out of thin air. Hopping into the enchanted cups, the three heroes quickly decimated the surrounding Heartless. After checking that the Key to Return Hearts was still firmly secured with his belt, Sora turned his attention back to the battle to find that the ranks of the enemy had been thinned considerably. He once again called up the enchanted pirate ship, using its circular swinging to clear out the last of the monsters.

With the Heartless in tram common gone, the group of six walked through the hole in the wall that lead to the woods on the outskirts of town. The woods were relatively quiet, and turned out to be completely devoid of any Heartless or Nobodies. Once they got to the mansion, however, they quickly found a swarm of Nobodies crowding the mansion courtyard, attempting to force their way inside the building. After warning Heyner, Pence, and Olette to stay back this time, the trio rushed into the swarm. With their combined combat skill, the empty husks were vanquished within minutes. Once the coast was clear, the group headed inside to recover. They were the last ones to arrive, so Lea already had dinner cooking by the time the six walked in.

After all the wham episodes the last couple of chapters, the next chapter will be relatively less intense (key word: relatively less), and aside from the flashback it'll mainly be everyone recuperating from the last few chapters and planning their battle strategy for when they get to the World That Never Was. After Twilight Town will be the last Disney world of the story. Considering what the Organization wants and what Nobodies allegedly do not feel, the movie in question should be obvious

Just a little bit of trivia, the Gauntlet of the First Keyblade Master is another little easter egg for the sequels that knowledgeable readers can easily guess what it is. It won't have anything to do with this story, it's just a little bit of Keyblade War lore that will be expanded on in the sequel.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 88: Sinister Sundown:
Daybreak Town – Mountains; 8,010 Years Ago:

"Damn it!" Ephemera cursed once the courier had delivered the news. Anguis and Unicornis cast nervous glances at him as he slammed his fist down on the table in their command tent. The scout had just reported in from the northern front that the traitors had unearthed the X – Blade up in the mountains. This was not what the war weary Unchained needed to hear. After a week-long siege, the three armies had driven the combined forces of Ursus and Leopardos out of Daybreak Town and into the mountains. With the X – Blade now in the hands of the enemy, all the forces of light were gathered in one place, ready for the slaughter.

The worst news however, was what came after the blade's discovery. The three traitors had quickly started to bicker over who would be the one to wield the legendary weapon. The argument quickly escalated into a three way duel to the death, with Ursus ultimately emerging as the victor. With the infinite power of the X – Blade in the hands of a power hunger madman like Ursus, the battle to come was going to be a massacre. As if on cue, an ominous black cloud appeared over the mountains and moving swiftly towards Daybreak Town.

As it got closer, the three leaders realized to their horror that what they thought was a cloud was in reality a swarm of the Heartless. Millions of them, hovering in the air like bombs waiting to be dropped. And standing in midair, just below the swarm of demons, was Ursus, wielding the unmistakable gold, silver, and turquoise shape of the X – Blade. War horns sounded throughout what was left of the magnificent city of Daybreak Town as Unchained, Anguis, and Unicornis troops prepared for battle. For several long minutes, no living thing moved. Every Keyblade wielder in the city glared angrily up at Ursus. Finally, the traitor lifted the X – blade up in the air… and then death rained down on the once proud capital of the world.

Every Key bearer in Daybreak Town frantically cast every offensive projectile spell in their repertoire as rapidly and repeatedly as they could while Heartless fell from the sky on the people below. It was as if, Ephemera reflected, the creatures of darkness had blotted out the sun as they rained down from above. The only light sources visible through the storm of monsters were stray explosions from Meteor, Mega Flare, and Firaga Burst spells, and the fires burning on the streets below. As the Anguis and Unicronis unions fought to destroy the dark horde, Ephemera realized that the battle was already lost. Ursus needed to be stopped, but he refused to sacrifice his troops in a hopeless battle.
He turned to his lieutenant and gave the order for the Unchained army to withdraw from Daybreak Town. His people would live to fight another day, but as Ava's confidant, he had to stand with the Foretellers and stop this madness. Most of the Anguis and Unicronis casualties in the last seven years were the result of the two Foretellers arrogantly throwing as many bodies at enemy encampments as they could, no matter how hopeless the battle in question was. He would not follow their example and treat those who followed him out of loyalty to Ava like cannon fodder. He nodded in grim satisfaction as he caught glimpses of his fellow Unchained falling back toward the boats in Seacoast Park. He might die, but others would live and continue the fight.

Twilight Town – Old Mansion; Now:

"This place really brings back a lot of unpleasant memories for me," Lea remarked as he, Hayner, Pence, and Olette sat in the backyard after dinner. Being back in this mansion, in the place where Roxas died made him feel slightly melancholy about the whole situation. Sure, Roxas and Xion were still buried somewhere in Sora's subconscious, but it just wasn't the same being able to talk to them face to face. I just hope none of these three ask about it, he thought to himself. Even if they never really met Roxas, knowing that he thought he was friends with them in the fake Twilight Town just makes all my memories of this place more unpleasant.

"Why?" Olette asked innocently. "What happened?" I spoke too soon, he chastised himself before taking a deep breath. Reluctantly, he told the three Twilight Town teenagers the story of what had happened to Roxas and Xion. From beginning to end. The good times, and the bad. Everything leading from their induction into the Organization to Roxas' death in the virtual Twilight Town. To his surprise, the three teens were easily able to grasp what he was saying (he supposed he had the Coalition distributing information on Heartless and Nobodies to thank for that).

Even though they'd only ever met Roxas once in their life, they couldn't help but feel guilty upon hearing how he'd been friends with their simulated counterparts. Lea was actually touched by their response. He had been expecting them to be freaked out that someone they didn't know thought they were his friends, or that the simulation of Twilight Town was programmed to behave exactly like the real thing, but to his surprise, none of the acted that way at all. After hearing about Roxas' life in the simulated Twilight Town, they wanted to be friends with him for real.

The former Flurry of Dancing Flames couldn't help but smile at their compassion. Which was why once he had gone inside to use the restroom, he let out a few tears of bittersweet happiness once the coast was clear and nobody was around to see. A few minutes later, he was walking through the hallways back to the inner courtyard when Riku called out to him from the open door to the dining room.

"Hey Lea," he began. "Have you seen Sora at all? Nobody's seen him since dinner."

"Can't say that I have," the red-head answered while his mind immediately began speculating where the seventeen year old Keyblade Master could have gone. Xehanort could have found out about the Key to Return Hearts and snuck in to steal it, only for Sora to follow him back to Never Was in order to rescue Kairi on his own. Or one of Maleficent's allies could have snuck into the mansion looking to kill someone in revenge for Maleficent's apparent death and Sora just happened to be the first Keyblade wielder they found or… His eyes nearly popped out his head as he realized what the young man was planning.

"I figured out where he went," he announced before quickly explaining to Riku where exactly Sora had gone and what he was preparing to do.

Regarding Braig/Ephemera's backstory, what I've been trying to show is that as Ephemera, during the timeline of Kingdom Hearts X, he's something of an idealist. But after the Keyblade War and eight thousand years as an Unchained, as Braig he's a Well-Intentioned Extremist/Knight Templar.

New Disney world coming up next. The last one of the story. I'm not saying which one it is because given what Lea seems to be implying that should be obvious. You all know what's coming next, dear readers. I suggest you grab a box of tissues because the next three chapters were specifically planned to press that great big button in the middle of the heart marked "Feels."

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 89: Inside The Mind:
Twilight Town – Mansion Computer Room:

Despite the fact that everything was technically made of data and therefore shouldn't have any scent, the computer room in the simulated Twilight Town nevertheless smelled musty when Sora walked out of the digitizer. He looked to his left and saw the shattered computer screens indicating that the fake Twilight Town was still running. The door to the left led nowhere, just like last time. But unlike last time, he knew why. Once he had awakened from his Namine-induced coma two years ago, Ansem the Wise had decided that the simulation of Twilight Town was no longer needed. So he deleted everything in the computer except for the simulation of the Mansion's lower levels. That part couldn't be erased because of the link to the World That Never Was Axel had created after his duel with Roxas.

Thinking of that snapped Sora out of his reflection and back to the reason he was here. With steely resolve, he walked through the door on the right into the Basement Hall to find Axel's – now Lea's – portal to the World That Never Was miraculously still open even after two years. But as much as he wanted to dive in and rescue Kairi here and now, he had to wait. He had a promise to keep. Reluctantly, he walked past the dark portal and into the Basement Corridor. Realizing that with the amount of pods in the room, this was the best place to start, he stopped walking.

Sora gathered his thoughts for a moment to prepare himself for what he was about to do. Before the group had left for Cable Town that morning, he and Master Yen Sid had talked about what information had been gleaned from Ansem's research data, and whether it could be used to fulfill his promise. As it turned out it could, but there wasn't a 100% guarantee that his plan would work. Which was why he had come into the simulated Twilight Town alone. He didn't want to get Lea's hopes up only to crush them if he failed.

Knowing that waiting wasn't going to make things happen any faster, he took a deep breath. As he breathed out, he removed the Key to Return Hearts from its place wedged between his belt and his back. With the Keyblade of pure light in his hands, he took another breath and steeled himself for what he was about to do. Sure he'd technically had practice, but Ven's heart had been so much easier compared to what he was trying to do now. His mind made up, he relaxed as he plunged the Key to Return Hearts into his chest. It was time to fulfill his promise to Roxas and Xion and give them their lives back. A satisfied smile crept onto his face as a small light emerged from the tip of the Key just before he lost consciousness.

Inside The Mind – Headquarters:

As Sora groggily regained consciousness what felt like a few moments later, he heard voices muttering around him.
"How is he here?" one of them asked.

"Does this mean he's dead?" inquired another.

"I know he wanted to bring back Roxas and Xion but I wasn't expecting it to go this far!" a third voice exclaimed. As Sora regained awareness, he realized that he was lying on a soft, flat surface that felt like carpeting. He opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground in a large room that resembled a cross between his bedroom back home on the Destiny Islands and the small island where he, Riku, and Kairi liked to hang out. Behind him was a large control console covered in buttons and levers of all shapes and sizes, and on either side of the console were shelves holding multicolored orbs with different images moving around inside.

As he stood up from the bench and took in his surroundings, he noticed five people standing in front of him, their expressions ranging from confused and nervous to terrified and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Each of the five guys had one thing in common, however. With the exception of the tall, thin purple one or the bald red one, the all had hairstyles that matched his own. And all five were wearing the exact same clothes that he was wearing now.

"Um…" he said nervously, unsure of where he was or who these people were. "Hi." Immediately, the purple man launched into a panicked frenzy spouting off things so quickly Sora couldn't even begin to understand what he was saying. Eventually, the one with yellow skin and blue hair managed to talk the other guy down from his ranting.

"Fear, calm down," the guy said. And the purple skinny guy reluctantly did. Once everyone had calmed down, introductions were made. Apparently by using the Key to Return Hearts on himself, Sora had somehow managed to transport himself inside his own mind. The five people dressed like him were the anthropomorphic personifications of his emotions: the yellow one was Joy, blue was Sadness, red was Anger, green was Disgust, and purple was Fear. Joy gave Sora a quick explanation of how the mind world worked, and that in order to release Roxas and Xion, he most likely have to bring them back here to Headquarters.

Sora was a little confused as to how it was even possible for him to interact with his own mind like this, but thankfully Fear had the answer. Interacting with the mind world essentially amounted to a lucid dream, but in order for Sora to be able to see what was going, the reality distortion filter in the cameras used in Dream Productions was removed, allowing him to see the inside of his mind as it was. Sora was a little concerned about the existence of the mind world, questioning how much free will he had given the existence of the console and the idea bulbs. Fear quickly put those fears to rest by explaining that while they caused the feelings he felt, he ultimately chose how he reacted to each situation, not them.

Once all that confusion and existential angst was cleared up, Sora decided that it was time to get going and bring Roxas and Xion back to Headquarters. According to Sadness, Roxas usually spent most of his time bouncing between Imagination Land and Long-Term Memory, while Xion liked to spend her days in Dream Productions and hang with Roxas in Imagination Land at night. Since it wasn't nighttime just yet and Roxas would most likely be in Long-Term Memory, Sora decided to go there first. But before he left, Joy had one question.

"Would you rather take the Recall Tubes or the Train of Thought?"

Ever since I saw Inside Out last summer, I just knew it had to be included in Kingdom Hearts 3. The whole premise and world of the movie just makes so much sense within the Kingdom Hearts universe, and given the whole thing about Nobodies not being able to feel emotion until they start regrowing hearts, it has so much storytelling potential beyond just seeing what Character X's Mind World is like compared to the ones we see in the movie.

Now that we're literally inside Sora's head, you can see where I'm going with this part of the story now as far as bringing back Roxas and Xion. The explanation of the whole "Lucid Dreaming" thing and how free will fits in with the Emotions and idea bulbs is based on the amazing Inside Out fanfic Intercom, which is basically a continuation fic of the movie with a very fun and interesting premise. Another fanfic I thoroughly recommend for any Inside Out fan. Another source of inspiration for including Inside Out in this fic would be the amazing KH/IO crossover, At The Core of Being, a great story that gives an interesting interpretation of where Xion went after her death.

KeybladeOrder · Apr 14, 2016

Chapter 90: Bundle of Joy:
Daybreak Town – Clock Tower Castle; 8,010 Years Ago:
"STOP!" Ephemera roared as he and the two Foretellers raced into the lowest level of Daybreak Town's clock tower to find Ursus standing there with the X – Blade next to an open hole in the floor. But their urgency wasn't just from the fact that Ursus was wielding the X – Blade, but from the hole he was standing next to. For it was no mere hole. Ursus stood next to The Well of The Kingdom, a massive shaft that led straight down to the world's core, to Kingdom Hearts itself.

"Brother, what do you hope to accomplish!?" Anguis demanded as she, Ephemera, and Unicornis approached The Well. As they did the walls shook as their forces outside continued to lay siege to the castle. "What do you hope to gain by attacking Kingdom Hearts itself!?"

"I am not attacking it, sister," the darkened Foreteller replied. "In order to ensure we are powerful enough to protect the world from all threats, the X – Blade needs to absorb the power of Kingdom Hearts. Only then will I be strong enough to protect everyone."

"Draining Kingdom Hearts will destroy the world, brother!" Unicornis protested. "The protection of the world does not fall on your shoulders alone. The burden is on all of us. Taking more power for your own selfish ends will not change that."

"It is my burden to bear," Ursus retorted. "You all spend more time bickering with each other than you do actually doing anything about the problems of the world that lie just beneath the surface. While the cities of the world have been going for each other's throats, your only concern has been stopping every Union who opposes you. So if none of you are going to do your job, then I will!" He lowered the blade into place above The Well, preparing to use its ability to call on the power of Kingdom Hearts to drain the source of all light of its power.
"NO!" Ephemera roared as he ran towards the traitor. The Unchained warrior leaped into the air to bring it down Ursus' head, only to be stopped when Anguis tackled him to the ground. But before he could question her, Unicronis' blade whirled through the air and wedged itself in the far wall. A moment later, the sound of shattering glass and steel echoed through the basement chamber as the X – Blade shattered. None of the people inside had any time to think before a massive explosion ripped through the room.

In an instant, the clock tower and everyone in it were completely disintegrated as the dome of white-hot fire expanded outwards. With the exception of the ancient tomes, which had already been evacuated from the city before the Rain of Heartless, everything in Daybreak Town, living and non-living, was reduced to ash. Only the Keyblades of the fallen remained as Daybreak Town and the surrounding landscape were incinerated. And as the explosion spread the world broke apart.

The force of the X – Blade's destruction sent a beam of fire down at the world's Heart. At Kingdom Hearts. The power of the explosion, combined with the shattered remains of the X – Blade, sent chunks of the planet blasting off into space, taking their populations with it. The ruins of Daybreak Town were the last to go. As the chunk of land that was once the capital of the united world tore through space, the fires of the explosion finally faded. All the fires left behind were a barren desert, the mountains in which the blade had been unearthed, and an endless field of Keyblades.

Inside The Mind – Imagination Land; Now:

"What are these things?" Sora asked as he dodged another of the strange blue monsters that had appeared when he, Roxas, and Fear had entered Imagination Land. The Recall Tube had deposited Sora and Fear (who insisted on accompanying the teen to protect him from potential dangers of human-to-mind interaction) on the border between Long Term Memory and Imagination Land. Coincidentally, they got out just as Roxas was walking through on his way to Imagination Land. Roxas was surprised that Sora had actually come inside his own mind world for him and Xion, but Sora had countered that he always kept his promises.

"Nobody knows!" Roxas shouted back as he whirled through a floating red version that looked like a jar. They'd encountered the monsters as they jogged through Imagination Land, and they'd been a persistent thorn in the group's side since then. Eventually, Fear was able to shout to Sora that in Imagination Land, he could make change what was happening around him with a thought. Using this to his advantage, Sora was able to make all of the monsters disappear just by picturing Imagination Land as it normally looked without the monsters present.

Once they were gone, Sora and Roxas raced through the remainder of Imagination Land towards Dream Productions. According to Fear, who was sprinting along behind since the two were taller than the emotions, time passed more slowly in the outer layer of the mind world than it did in Headquarters. Meaning that an hour here was at least two out in the real world. So they had to finish up in here as quickly as possible.

The welcome they received in Dream Productions was astounding to the teenage Keyblade Master. While Roxas and Fear were already familiar with the small, jelly bean-shaped Mind Workers, they treated Sora almost like a celebrity. After a few seemingly endless minutes of signing autographs, they were eventually able to ask about Xion's whereabouts. The mind workers directed the party to Soundstage D. They walked in just as Xion finished singing along to a song she had playing over the loudspeakers. None of them had heard it before but Sora was able to hear the words "defying gravity" through the walls as they walked to the door.

"It's nice to finally met you in person, Xion," he greeted warmly once his Replica had finished the song. Xion was as surprised to see Sora there as Roxas had been, but like Roxas, she took it in stride.

"You didn't have to do this for us, Sora," she said as they walked out of the studio and toward the train of thought, stopping to gather the two former Organization member's core memories along the way.

"Of course I did," he replied. "I promised you guys I'd give you your own lives back. And even if I didn't, I'd still do it anyway. After everything you guys have gone through, you deserve to live your own lives." That put a stop to the duo's protests as Sora drove his Train of Thought back to Headquarters. Once they got back, Roxas asked the question of how they were supposed to leave Sora's mind. But before anyone could answer that question, the world went dark.
Fear immediately switched back into panic mode as the lights in Headquarters faded. Under normal circumstances the lights all turn off during the night and the sky would change to indicate that Sora was asleep. Because he was currently lucid dreaming, everything from the sky to the lights in Headquarters was locked halfway between day and night modes. But once Sora, Roxas, and Xion got within seven feet of the console, they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"WHAT HAPPENED!?" the nerve-shaped emotion shrieked. "WHAT DO WE DO!? THIS IS VERY, VERY BAD!"
"Fear, calm down!" Anger shouted. "Sora went into REM sleep."

"But what about Roxas and Xion?" Fear stuttered. "They're just gone. That's never happened before and we have no idea what it means."

"Oh I think we know exactly what it means," Joy interjected with a smile. Understanding dawned on the other four emotions' faces.

"Well we won't know if it worked until he wakes up," Sadness commented with his usual gloom.

So yeah, Daybreak Town became the Keyblade Graveyard. I've held that idea for as long as I've known about the world, and it's one of those theories that has a high chance of being proven correct.

A lot of Inside Out-related stuff, like Sora being taller than the emotions in the Mind World, the whole thing with the lights and the sky, and Sora disappearing when he goes back to normal sleep also comes from Intercom. Roxas and Xion having their own Core Memories, and the names of Sora's Personality Islands come from At The Core of Being.

The bit about Xion singing Defying Gravity is a shout out to this amazing Kingdom Hearts fan vid I found on Youtube that combines the music of Wicked with footage from 358/2 Days. It's very well put together and draws a lot of interesting parallels between the two.

And to clarify, the creatures Sora and Roxas are fighting this chapter? The Unversed. You all know what that means, dear readers. Be afraid. Be very afraid. (cue the maniacal laughter in the background)
Now for that cliffhanger of an ending, prepare your tissues patient readers, you all know what's coming. Bring on the waterworks

Fanfiction ► The Xehanort War

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